Happy New Year!

May 2009 be your best year ever, filled with joy, friends, and laughter, and a renewed sense of God's love and presence in your life!

Facebook Fun

You may have notice my blogging has died down lately, and it is all due to facebook. i love facebook. it is a way to keep up with friends, reconnect with old friends, and play games.
in my case, word games like scrabble.
but none of my loser friends will play with me. i currently have 5 scrabble games waiting for other people to take a turn, and enough time has passed that i coudl force a forfeit, should i so choose.
all that to say, that i created a second facebook identity, using my second email address, so i could play facebook with myself. my second identity is "Francesca Galliano". Doesn't that sound awesome for a name? i could so totally become a Francesca Galliano.
And of course, Francesca has one friend. Me.
Until today.
Today I log on as Francesca, and there are no fewer than FIVE Italian people who want to be my Facebook friend. No lie. Rodolfo Pambianco, Giulia Gallo, Gianluca Trovati, and Daniela Golia all want to be my friend. I have a feeling that somewhere in Italy there really is a Francesca Galliano....boy, is she going to be mad if i take all of her friends...

Christmas

I hate to say this as a Christian woman, but i am glad Christmas is over. It is such a rushing, stressful time trying to get everything done for Christmas in addition to getting all one's normal activities done.
We are at my mom's, playing the Wii Fit, and it is funfunfun. Tho I suck at soccer, I'm pretty good at step.



P.S. To all my out of town relatives: you will receive your gifts soon. Before the 12th day of Christmas.

Just In Cast You're Interested...

I wrote and directed a series of short videos for church. Here's the link if you want to see them:

http://cumc.mychurchmediaonline.com/
The shepherds are my fave.

Out in the Fray

So the girls and I headed out into the fray today, as I am sorely behind on all things Christmas. My coping strategy was to give each of the girls three No Complaining/Free Treat Coupons. We left the house at 11:40. If by 12:40 they had not complained one time, they got one free treat. Tess chose a small Icee. Jillian got some little toy.
I take that back. I wrote on their coupons "Beginning 11:40 a.m." and we actually left the house at 11:37, so my funny daughters spent the next three minutes saying, "I'mhungryI'mboredI'mtiredThisisboringCanwegohomenow?" over and over. It was very funny.
Crowds weren't bad, really, but the traffic! Wow! I left the house with 0 makeup, and by the time we got to the mall, normally a ten-minute drive, I had on foundation, powder, lipstick, eyeliner, three shades of eyeshadow, blush, mascara, and eyebrow pencil. Cuz I had a LOT of time to sit in traffic.
We got home 7 hours after we left. Whew!

Zzzzz

Whatever the state beyond "exhausted" is, I'm in it. I've had nonstop meetings, rehearsals, performances, writing, directing, errands, and a bit of Christmas stuff thrown in for days now. Right now, I just finished making Christmas candy for Jillian to give to her teacher tomorrow, and I'm doing some laundry so she can have a clean pair of jeans and her one Christian t-shirt that references Christmas, to wear tomorrow, her last day of school of the year.
this was after going to the grocery store at ten o'clock at night to buy some Barbasol because Tess spill some red nail polish on our beige carpet, and eHow.com says Barbasol will get it out.
tomorrow we have more filming, then the Christmas party is at 1:30.

Christmas Day

I have decided today will be a Christmas day, where I spend the majority of my time doing Christmas stuff. Because, of course, I am way behind. Decorations aren't up, tree isn't up, cards aren't sent, letter isn't written, still have gifts to buy and wrap and mail....

She's Growing Up Too Fast

My older daughter has decided to write her own blog. Facebook won't let her have her own page yet, so she has decided to blog instead. I have told her not to use her own name, and not to name any details about where she goes to school or anything.

Sports Woes

So, this year the girls are involved in sports instead of dance, drama, or gymnastics. One thing I am discovering about being involved in sports is that it is expen$ive. You have to buy equipment, and uniform$, and $HOE$.
Volleyball is over, soccer is winding down, and so in December, the girls start playing Upwards Basketball, which is a basketball program, that also teaches the kids bible verses. And Tess' coach has requested the girls play with high top shoes. We went to Payless Shoe Source today, but they didn't have anything Tess would wear. Sears ditto, so we went to Kids Footlocker, and they didn't have anything for under $60, and most of their shoes were in the $70 to $80 range. Which is fine, for adults, who don't outgrow shoes EVERY SIX MONTHS. I bought Jillian a pair of size 2.5 shoes and a pair of size 3 shoes from Zappos (she wears extrawide shoes so we pretty much have to get hers online) in May as she was wearing size 2.5 then, but I knew she would be wearing size 3 soon. We measured her feet while we were at the shoe store, and she wears a size 4 now. Six months later, and her feet have grown a size and a half.
So I came home, went to Zappos.com, put in Tess' size and found a pair of high tops for $43, free shipping.

Post Thanksgiving

I got up Friday at 4 a.m., because Sports Authority was giving out scratchoff cards to the first 100 people through the door, and you got extra money off your purchase from $10 to $300, and I can sleep anytime. Plus, they have a trampoline and enclosure for $170. It's an 11', which is about as big as our tiny back yard can hold. So, I got there about 4:20. The poor lady at the Jack in the Box next door was all alone, and she had all these customers who were on their way to sales.
Anyway, I was #37, and I got a $10 off card. Not bad.
Went from there to the mall, where I went to Macy's $10 off coupon), Sears ($10 off coupon), Limited Too (BOGO), and then headed to Barnes and Noble, which! was closed! It was already 8:30! Went to World Market (another scratch off card, but I didn't win the trip to Peru), a Christian Book store where I bought a Christmas gift for myself that I will wrap and put under the tree (Phillip Yancey's book on prayer, which was 50% off), Pier One, and then home to pick up the girls and drop them off at a local gym where they could play until 1 pm. Went to Barnes and Noble (one book 40% off, Holiday music 30% off) I got Ender's Game, and the soundtrack to Elf.
The last two places I went to were for my sis, but neither store had what I was looking for, so I went to see "Four Christmases", which was about what you would expect. If you go see it, though, the travel agent is Peter Billingsley (also an executive producer on the film) from "A Christmas Story", and the two redneck brothers are the director of the film, and Tim McGraw.
Picked the girls up, and pretty much rested the rest of the day. I did a little bit of writing in the evening, as the ideas in my head kept interfering with my reading, and if I don't put them on paper, they don't leave me alone.
The funny thing was, my whole rhythm was off. I started feeling that "I'm tired, so it's probably about the girls' bedtime" feeling, but I looked at my watch, and it was only 6:30. I was ready for bed, though!

Post Dinner

I am tired. To be expected, of course. Ran around yesterday getting ready for today, and then stayed up late ditto. Then got up this morning, ran to the grocery store for two things I forgot: Eagle brand sweetened condensed milk, and pie crusts. Then, started baking and cooking as soon as I got home. The girls helped when I asked them to, stirring, setting the table, coming up with the centerpiece, etc.
I know I could have had a less complicated meal, but I would have felt cheated somehow, if we'd had Stouffer's frozen sides, and pre-made pies. The sugar-free pie we did buy, but we made the pumpkin and mincemeat pies.
I asked everyone last week what were two things they wanted for Thanksgiving, and that's how I built the menu. So, no cranberries, no mashed potatoes and gravy, no stuffing -- because no one requested those.
I guess the fatigue is worth it,because we had a nice meal, a nice prayer of thanks, and we spent time together preparing it.

The Approved Thanksgiving Menu

Honey-baked Ham (DH's request)
Yeast Rolls with cinnamon butter (my fave)
Cheesy Cauliflower (DD1's request)
Scallopped Corn (DH's request)
Broccoli Rice Casserole (me)
Green Bean Casserole (DD2's request)
Black Olives (everyone)
Grapes (DD2's request)
Devilled Eggs (me)
Sugar-Free Chocolate Pie (me)
Pumpkin Pie (DD1)
Mincemeat Pie (DH)

Just In Time for Thanksgiving

I have a cold. Not a stay-in-bed-groaning-faintly cold, but one of those where you cough, sneeze and blow your nose more than normal, and you feel achey. So, we'll just have to see how much effort goes into the Thanksgiving Meal this year.
We're staying in town this year, and it'll be just the four of us, which is a little sad. I like having lots of people around for the holidays. Anyone wanna come over?

A Movie Review Of Twillight

Bleaugh. Badly directed, choppily written. And who cast Edward Scissorhands' little brother as Jasper? And who made Bella as pale as the vampires? And who decided to make Carlton look gay? Deanna and I burst out laughing every time Jasper appeared on the screen. He looked like he'd suffered a concussion lately -- pupils fixed and dilated.
Deanna said she wouldn't mind her middle schooler watching it, but she didn't want to have to sit through it again....

Waaaaaahhhhhhhh!

I have a few favorite shows that I watch. I never watch live TV any more -- it's just annoying. My fave shows are: 30 Rock, Grey's Anatomy, Pushing Daisies, Dirty Sexy Money, Eli Stone, Chuck, Amazing Race, DWTS, and Terminator:TSCC.
Nine shows. Not a lot. And? ABC, in its infinite wisdom, has canceled THREE of those: Daisies, Money, and Stone.
Are you kidding me?
Daisies, especially, is a cut above. Charming, witty. Of course it failed while drek such as Married With Children survived for YEARS.

Yesterday

Got up uber-early to bake cookies for the TWO cookies exchanges. Ended up having to go to Walmart (ew) to get supplies. I hate Walmart. They don't have organic stuff, I hate their pricing policies, how they force smaller stores out of business. Anyway.

Baked 4 different kinds of cookies, got the girls off to school, went to cookie exchange #1, josted by Cynthia Broom, who is moving to the east coast. Went to the grocery store, bought apples, came home and sliced them and brought them to DD2's school for the feast, which, it turns out is Friday. So I left them there so her class could have a snack.
Came home, tided the house, and planned the girl scout meeting to be held at our house. Went to pick up DD2 at 3. It was Science Club day, so she was busy until 4:15. Fine. Go home, more tidying.
The girls scouts arrive around 6:15, and I have them make little pilgrim hats out of fudgestripe cookies turned upside down, and marshmallows dipped in melted chocolate chips. Then they mashed potatoes, and milked a "cow" (a ziplock with a tiny hole cut in the corner), mashed yams, and tried acorn squash as we talked about the difference between the first Thanksgiving meal and the ones we enjoy today. The girls scouts left around 7:40, then i hopped on my bike and rode down the street to the second cookie exchanged of the day, at Brenda Walker's.
You know how, when you get a bunch of woman together, they start talking loudly? You get a bunch of women with wine in them, and wow....
Came home around 9, was in bed by 10.
On deck for today, field trip training, lunch with Deanna, rehearsal at DD2's school for the school play where, God willing, we will have some boys show up, filming an Advent video at church.

Halloween In Brief

jillian went as a minimalist kitty: drawn-on whiskers, cat ears, white shirt, khakis. i am all for simplicity, but not when i've spent $30 on another costume.
tess went as a zombie goth girl.
i went as a jedi soccer mom.

JC Penney Loves Me

Remember my tale of the smokin' hot brown sandals that I ended up getting for $14 from JCP just by going down to the dang store and using my $10 off coupon, plus they were on sale? (Still my favorite shoes, btw)
Anyway, I get another $10 off coupon in the mail from them, and I need a pair of boots. So I go on the website, find a pair I like that look comfortable. They're listed as being originally $100, marked down to $50. OK, $40 for a pair of boots, that's not bad. I get to checkout, and they're marked down further to $26, minus my $10 off -- I got them for $16 plus $8 shipping! (The shipping is a bit high, because I ordered two pairs, one in 9.5 and one in 10, as I don't know which size will fit my gargantuan feet better...I'll return the other pair...)

All Clear For Another Three Months

Went to see my BC surgeon the other day, and got the all clear in regard to my ultrasound. He and I were discussing the frequency of my Breast-Specific Gamma Imaging test. It is very new, and many insurance companies have not decided how often they will pay for it. He said, "I think if you have it every two years, that should be fine."
I said, "But given that I have extremely dense breast tissue, and that my triple-negative BC would come back within five years if it does recur, and that originally it grew from non-discernable in February to fully differentiated 2 cm tumor ten months later...."
"You're right," he ssiad. "In your case, I think you should have it every year. You're already at the highest risk you can be."

Yay for convncing him, but wow! for the casual way he doffed that last bit. I mean, I know it COULD come back, and that given that I am young in regard to BC survivors, but wow! I am praying against recurrance, and eating more veggies and doing more exercise than ever b4 in my whole life. Sample: today, walked 15 minutes with Jillian in the morning. Did 30 minutes of zumba tape at home. Biked 15 minutes two and from Tess' school.

This and That

We tried to go to our church's pumpkin patch tonight, but we were too late. We'd intended to go Tuesday, but I got sick. So, off we went to the grocery store, where the pumpkins were $4, and they had a special mini-fall festival where the kids got to decorate their own cookie, get their face painted, and get candy from the meat department. So, though we didn't get any cool pictures, the kids still had fun.
We bought 3 jack-o-lantern pumpkins for Mike and the kids, and i bought 2 pie pumpkins, as i am going to try to make pumpkin pie from scratch this year.

I went by Sonic the other day to get a drink.
Me: (at the drive-thru menu) I'd like a large mostly Diet Dr. Pepper, with a little bit of regular Dr....
Kid Who Works There: (interrupting) What?
Me: I'd like a large mostly Diet Dr. Pepper, with a little...
KWWT: What?
Me: I'll drive around and explain it to you. (drive around. to KWWT) I like a large 75% Diet Dr. Pepper and 25% regular Dr. Pepper.
KWWT: So, half and half?

Fall Festivals

Friday night, we went to our church's Fall Festival. The girls wore their official Halloween costumes of Goth Girl and Asoka, the Paduan (it's a Star Wars character). Getting them ready was a bit of a hassle with makeup and finding costume pieces and trying to get stuff to fit, blablabla.
The girls had fun, but were disappointed they didn't win the costume contest.

Saturday was the neighborhood's Fall Festival. And I was tired. And I'd volunteered to make cupcakes for the cake walk, so halway thru making them, I said, "Go get ready for the festival! Costumes or not, I don't care!" So we ended up with a volleyball player, and Lily from Hannah Montana. Much easier.

And we got home to discover Mike had made turkey chili! Bonus!

The Trip(s) to the ER

If I had a laptop with Wifi, these posts would have been made earlier and would have been longer, as there's nothing like sitting in a hospital room for hours on end to make you think of funny posts to write on your blog.
Anyway.
October 1. We get home from volleyball practice. We eat supper. We tell DD1 after supper to go take a shower. She disappears into the master suite. About ten minutes later, we hear a scream. We tend toward the dramatic in our house, so neither DH nor I go running. We just look at each other, and decide it's DH's turn to see what the dealio is. I hear him yelling. OK.
Turns out DD1 instead of taking a shower, had been spinning around, and had fallen on our tile floow.
Then she starts repeating herself.
DD: I don't remember what happened.
Me: You fell and hit your head.
DD: What day is it?
Me: Wednesday.
DD: Oh. (pause) I don't remember what happened.
Me: You fell.
DD: Oh. What day is it today?
Me: Laura's birhthday.
DD: We forgot to call her!
ME: No, we didn't. We just talked to her 30 minutes ago.
DD: We did?
Me: Yep.
DD: I don't remember what happened.

trust me, it went on much longer than this. i was FREAKING OUT, because i'd just seen a Grey's Anatomy ep where this lady gets in a car wreck and can't remember anything for more than 5 minutes.
DH still thought she was faking, so after I decided to take her in to the ER, he goes in and says, "Mommy's going to take you to the ER, and it's going to cost us a lot of money, so if you're faking, you'd better own up to it right now."

So, driving to the ER:
DD: I'm sorry this is going to cost us a lot of money.
me: It's ok, we'll figure it out.
dd: I don't remember what happened.
me" You hit your head on the floor.
me: oh. I'm sorry this is going to cost us a lot of money.

Went to Cy Fair ER. No parking spots. Not a good sign. So, go to north Cypress ER, which had 1. Blablabla, CT scan showed she had a fractured skull and a small subdural hematoma. Dr said it was so small he missed it the first time. He said she was fine, she was passing all the tests, but procedure called for her to be transferred to Texas Children's for 24 hours observation.
So, on a night where I had planned to go to bed early, I found myself driving behind the ambulance at 1 in the morning. I scooted home and threw some stuff in a bag, and we got to Texas Children's ER, where we waited until SIX O CLOCK IN THE BLESSED MORNING for the neurologist to show up. DD got one hour of sleep. I don't know if I got any, because there was no comfortable place for me to sleep.
We got admitted, and slept until about ten.
Her repeating herself had gone away by about 2 that morning, so basically thereafter was a little 24 hour vacation for her. she got to watch tv, do crafts, be on radio lollipop (an in-hospital radio station), check out books from the hosptial library...
When we checked out Friday, she was upset that we didn't get to go to the hospital hair salon....

so we get home, change clothes, and i take her to school, so she would be counted absent, since I knew we were going to Iowa a few days later, and she'd miss 4 days of school then...
DD1 won a prize at Radio Lollipop, a stuffed animal, so when DD2 saw it, she said, "I want to get sick and go to Texas Children's!"

Miss Me?

Sorry it's been so dang long since I posted. I promise I 'll catch up with the ER ordeal, the trip to the Midwest, and everything.

Today, however, I would like to talk about little girls who declare that the only thing they want to be for Halloween is Atsoka from the Star Wars movie, and then when you spend $30 on a costume, decide they want to be something else. Too bad.

This is the same child, who after telling me she wanted a unicorn bedspread, and I bought a pretty used one on ebay, decided she really wanted a DRAGON bedspread. I told her to squint and pretend the unicorns were dragons.

My Morning

Wake up. Wash face, etc. Go in and wake up DD2, which takes a while. Try to get her to figure out what she wants to dress as for Career Day, as she does not like any of my suggestions. Finally we decide on Large Animal Veterinarian: jeans, boots, white shirt, Daisy vest worn inside out. While I am helping her dress, the doorbell rings. It is the substitute house cleaner, showing up unannounced to clean the house. The house is not tidy. I tell her so, and let her in so she can start working.
Fine. I get the lunches made and packed, and DD2 and the dog and i start off for school. We get to school. She gets out, and I notice that her band new pair of jeans still has a size sticker on them. So I get out to take the sticker off, and the dog gets out and runs in the school.
Fine. I get the sticker off, and pick up the dog, and realize we forgot DD2's backpack.
Fine. I drive back home, and pick up the backpack. Which is dripping, because the water bottle leaked.
Fine. I dry everything off, get a substitute bag and lunch kit, and get everything put back together, and take it to the school.
Then come home and start tidying so the house cleaner can clean. Just got done.
Whew!

Career Day

This is homecoming week at DD2's school, and to celebrate, the kids get to dress up each day. Tomorrow is "Career Day". Last time I talked to DD2 about her future, she said she wanted to be a mom. Guess I'll send her to school in her pajamas, with curlers in her hair....

Sunday

The youth were acting out the parable of the talents today in all four services, so i had to be at church at 7:45. got done with that, then it was time to go listen to the band rehearse and make sure they were singing the same lyrics we had on the screens. the youth performed at the 9:30 sanctuary service and then rushed over to the worship center to do the same. the pastor had just introduced them, and they were still getting their microphones on.
after the 9:30 service, i went looking for the pastor who was supposed to assist in the 11:00 service, so we could go over the annoucements. Can't find him. Finally someone says, "Oh, he went to the other campus to preach, because Pastor Stephanie took sick."
Oh. I really need to give these people my cell # so they can LET ME KNOW WHEN THINGS LIKE THAT CHANGE.
Anyway. Went to eat a salad after church, then came home for about thirty minutes before I had to take DD1 to Girl Scouts, and DD2 to a bday party. after those, we were home for about 90 minutes before I had to take DD1 to an acolyte training meeting at church.
Who said Sunday was a day of rest?

Udpate

The repair guy shoed up at 4:30, and had it fixed with 15 minutes. yay! so we had time to scoot to the grocery store and get the food, before Branon & Heather showed up. B&H really liked the dog, as they have two massive dogs of their own. I was tempted to let them have her....
I fell into bed around 10:30 and woke up at 7:30. whoops! the girls were, of course, watching TV in the living room.


me: what's your first responsibility when u wake up on a school day?
dd1: we thought it was Saturday!

The Way Things Are

My friend the internationally known musician Branon Dempsey and his wife the lovely Heather are to come over tonight to watch the season premiere of "The Office".

And I have picture on my big TV, but no sound.

So I was on the phone for over an HOUR between being on hold and talking to the lady on tier 1 of help, and the guy in tier two. Soft booted it 3x. Unplugged and replugged it 2x. Nothing. I can watch and hear a DVD; I can hear a CD through the system. Just no TV.
So, praise God, a technician is coming between 2 and 4 to fix it, which means that by the time I got off the phone, I only had time to scoot to the gym, do the elliptical for 30 minutes and scoot back home 'cause I just knew the guy would show up right at two.

Nope.

When Is An Appropriate Time to Tell Your Mom Need An Orange To School?

NOT thirty minutes before school starts.


7:45 this morning
DD1: Mom! Come look at the oranges!
(I walk in, and one of the them has some green mold on it. So I throw it away, and peel the remaining one and hand it to her.)
DD1: No, I need an orange with peel on it for school today!
Me: And you couldn't have told me that when we were at the grocery store YESTERDAY?
DD1: I forgot.
So, off we go to the grocery store.


Now, before you think I'm overindulgent, let me just say that she'd hurt her fingers Monday, and they still hurt yesterday morning, so I took her to the ER to get them Xrayed. She was thus late to school, and wasn't there when the teacher gave the assignment. Plus, we needed eggs and butter and stuff like that, so since i had to go anyway....)

What's One Sure Way to Find Your Cell Phone?

Spend $60 to get a replacement phone.
I lost my cell phone around the 4th of this month, and after looking and looking, and waiting and waiting for someone to call me to tell me they found my phone, and going down to the YMCA TWICE to see if they had my phone, because I was almost certain that's where I left it, I finally gave up and went to the AT&T store yesterday and got a cheapie (ha!) replacement phone.
Twenty minutes after I got home from the phone store, the landline rings, and a lady who works at the Y called to say she saw the note they wrote the second time I went in looking for my phone, she had my phone, she'd had it since that day. She'd been keeping it safe for me since that day because she just knew she'd see me at the Y.
Which was kind, because she was afraid someone would have stolen it if she'd turned it in.
But still. Over two weeks? She kept it for over two weeks without trying to call me? Or leaving a note at the Y saying, "If someone comes in looking for their phone, I have it"?
So now I get to go see if I can get a refund on my $60 phone.

Today

the morning was kind of low key. I tidied the kitchen from last night, and then did a couple loads of laundry.
In the afternoon, we went to the laundromat to wash DD1's and my comforters, ate lunch, picked up Sophie, went to a local jumping place and played, went to the Y to see if they had my MIA cell phone (no), dropped Sophie off, went to volleyball, came home and printed out a script, went to youth drama at church where I rehearsed the dramatic reading of the parable of the talents for Sunday, and handed out the script for the next week, went out for ice cream to commemorate the end of the hurrication, and then came home.

ZZZZZZZ

Slept ok last night, but my body has decided rain or shine, fatigue or not, 6:30 is the time to wake up. it doesn't matter if i fall asleep at 11 pm. or 2 a.m., I'm awake by 7.

Whooo Dogies, Am I Tired

I did not sleep well last night, then, got up this morning and went to church/work at 8:30. After our last service ended at 12:02, the musicians and tech people from Cypress Bible Church, a church down the street that still has no power, came in and started setting up. They had services in our Worship Center at 2 p.m. and 4 p.m. So I was at church from 8:37 a.m. to 5:47 p.m.
Their two services were mirror ones of each other, but it was cool to see how other churches schedule their services. Their music was awesome. Still, about 3 p.m., I just started yawning.

DD1 has school on Tuesday. DD2's school still has no power, so TBD.

Awesome Quote From My Friend Cris

My friend Cris has parts of her roof missing. Here is a quote from her blog:

here is the running dialogue in my neighborhood . . . . .

"so which house is yours? - or - can you give me directions to your house?"

"sure - turn left at the clear tarp, then turn right at the roof with the plywood showing on the left side, go straight until you pass the house with the tree in the living room and we are the third blue tarp on the left."

Post-Hurricane, Day 6

It's almost a week since the hurricane hit. Life for us is pretty much back to normal, except the kids being out of school, and electricity being a hit or miss proposition. I went to get lunch for everyone today. Jason's was closed. Boston Market was closed. DH wanted a hot coffee to clear up the congestion in his chest, so I went to a nearby strip mall where there was a Starbucks and a Philly Cheesesteak place. Got the sandwiches first (only beef and small size buns available), and then walked 4 doors down to the Starbucks. Closed.
The girls and I wanted to see Fly Me to The Moon this afternoon. Willowbrook 24 and Stantikos were closed. Drove on Highway 6 (2 traffic lights out) to the Rave theater, which had just lost power an hour previously. Drove to Studio Movie Grill, which hadn't received their copy of Igor yet due to the storm. As a last resort, we went to Cypress Cinemark, and saw the 5:00 showing of Igor. (Which was cute, but not charming.) The guy who got us our popcorn said his power just came on today.

If...

..I owned a grocery store, and I was closing early because of the power being out across half the city, I would put a sign stating so on the ENTRANCE, not in little letters on the EXIT.
And if I had one of the those little signs you can program to say different things, I would have it say what time i was closing, instead of letting the customers drive in, park, get to the doors, and then find the doors locked.
I'm just sayin'.

Progress

The bedroom is organized. We have gone thru their clothes, the hall closet, and the seasonal decorations. DD1 had a great time putting up the fall decorations.
We ventured out today and headed to Half Price Books to sell the two boxes of books they had outgrown as well as my old LPs. $13.
Then we went over to a secondhand kids' clothing store to sell the clothes they had outgrown. $10.
We ate at Panda Express, and then went to Best Buy to get a DVD player for the toy room.
The frustrating thing about traveling is half of the traffic lights are out, so there's quite a backup of traffic. Going out at night, as I did last night, is a bit scary, as whole sections of streets are dark. A lot of businesses are closing early.

A Week Off

DH and the girls are all off this week, because power is still off in much of the city. We feel so blessed to have had power since Sunday, since many of my friends in Spring and The Woodlands are still without power.
Gas is in short supply, so we are not going anywhere. Milk and meat and other perishables are also nowhere to be found nearby, so last night we had potato pancakes, spaetzle, sauerkraut, and applesauce.
Anyway, we are redeeming this time of enforced downtime in organizing. The girls and I have completely gone through the toy room, throwing out trash, and bagging up toys they have outgrown to give to GoodWill. We almost have their bedroom done.
Today I plan to go through the bags of clutter in the garage. The weather is beautiful here, in the 70s, with a cool breeze.
Continue to pray for those without homes, without power, without hope.

Ike, Ike Baby

We are fine. There was no school or work on Friday, and I spent the morning buying some last minute necessities, and the rest of the day catching up on laundry and dishes. In the evening, I filled ziploc bags with water and put them in the freezer, to keep the stuff cold once the power went out. Which it did about 1 a.m. We had cleared DH's closet floor, and my closet floor, and put sofa cushions down. So we slept in there that night. We got high winds and rain.
We walked around the neighborhood Saturday afternoon, and there are some downed fences and uprooted trees and missing shingles, but nothing major.
The biggest inconvenience was the lack of A/C. I got so hot last night, I went into the van for a while to cool off.
I went to church this morning. We had a 9:30 service in the Worship Center with acoustic guitar and candlelight. The 11:00 service we had in the foyer, which had lots of natural lights. The church's generator provided A/C for us.
Drove around a bit afterward -- some listing street signs, hanging street lights, and so on.
Came home and cooked up some rapidly defrosting hamburger meat. The power came back on at 1 p.m.
We are praising God for His protection.

Oh.

I hardly ever pay attention to the forecast, so when my mom called me Wednesday and asked me if i was all packed, i hesitated.
For the hurricane, she said.
There's a hurricane coming? I asked
Yes. Ike. Straight your way.
Oh.

So, DH and I have decided to tough this one out, our 20 hour exodus from Rita a few years ago still fresh in our minds. We have plenty of water, and food, and we are hunkering down and staying. Since we're from the midwest, this will be our first hurricane we've stayed for. I don't count Allison, because I had just had a baby, who was eating every 90 minutes round the clock, and I don't remember much of that period of my life...

A Bit of History, Courtesy of DD2

Me; Who was the president responsible for helping to free the African American slaves?
DD2: George Lincolnton!

A Review of "Star Wars: The Clone Wars"

The theater the girls and I sat in was 16 acoustical ceiling tiles wide, and 11 acoustical ceiling tiles deep.

Little Blue-Haired Lady

I have not many years left in my 40s, and so I have determined that if I'm going to do something freaky to my appearance, I'd better do it now. That said, I went to Sally's Beauty Supply the other day, and got some temporary blue highlighting stuff. I was going to do permanent, but apparently you have to bleach your hair first for that. So, it looks like blue mascara, and in the morning, I just put a few subtle blue streaks in my hair. It is awesome. Gives a whole new meaning to the expression "little blue-haired lady."

A Blazing New Sales Technique

(phone rings)
Me: Hello?
Guy on Phone: Hi, this is Chad, and I'd like to offer you an extended warranty on your Honda.
Me: OK.
GOP: It covers blablablablabla, and all you'd have to pay would be $250 upfront, and then $180 a month for 18 months, and then nothing more ever. How does that sound?
Me: Well, I'd have to talk to my husband...
(Guy hangs up.)

What a way to make a sale! I wonder how many people he talks to on the phone who make the decision WITHOUT discussing it with their spouse? Seriously.

Facebook

DH decided to get a FB page since he'd heard me talk about it. However, I am the one that added his photo, and added some friends to his page.
"He and I" are currently playing Scrabble and Scramble on FB. I put the quotes on because he despises word games. So, I log on as him, play a turn, log out, then log on as me and play a turn. And guess what! I'm winning!

Today

Did the dishes and unloaded/loaded the dishwasher while i talked to my sis and then Deanna.
Then I loaded up the car with dirty clothes and went to the laundromat down the street. I had to go there anyway because one of the mammals we live with decided to use DD1's bedspread as a urinal. So, I decided to go ahead and get a few loads done at the same time. It was nice. I got to read during the washing and drying, and then I got to chat with the gal that worked there while I folded.

Eek!

So, I take Calista to the vet today to get a couple of teeth extracted, and then this afternoon I take Bella in for her physical. We decided to have some allergy tests run on Bella because she's itchy all the time. And she has yeast in her ears. And she needs special hypoallergenic food. And she needs some medicine for a few days, and ....EIGHT HUNDRED DOLLARS LATER, I'm walking out the door.

Watch Out for Women With Knives

So, yesterday, in my attempt to be a good helpmeet and mom, I got out some frozen pork chops for my family to eat while I was entertaining. And two of them were stuck together with plastic in the middle. And I used a knife to separate them. And the knife slipped and sliced my thumb.
Fine. So I put a big ole bandaid on my thumb, as the Barbie one didn't want to stay.
Then, later, I got out a Southern Living serving dish, which I discovered the hard way was chipped on the side. And so now I have bandaids on FOUR FINGERS.
Sigh. This is why I don't cook. It's dangerous.

Aaaaaahhh

I have been looking forward to today with much anticipation. Monday, school started for DD1, and I went and volunteered at the school, so bzbzb. Tuesday, I had meetings all morning until 12:30, ate lunch, and then went and got my car tags renewed. By the time that was done, it was time to pick up DD2. Yesterday, I was having company over for a CABi party, so I spent all day getting the house company ready, and doing laundry. That last bit was a mistake, as laundry is a big ole time sucker, and I still ended up putting dirty dishes in a laundry basket and hiding them in the pantry at 6:55.
Anyway. Today. Glorious Today. Aside from having to get the DDs ready early, and leaving the house at 7:15 so we could drop Calista off at the vet by 7:30 a.m, it is a wonderful day. I don't HAVE to do anything. I will probably continue with the laundry, and work on my taxes (I KNOW. Shut up.) but I don't HAVE to.

Today

Church, Arby's for lunch, waited for a while at the AT&T store to get a new phone to replace the one that went thru the washer, then helped Debbie & Mark finish packing up their house. There's only a bit left in the garage now, and they are out of there!

Came home around 7, and DH cooked! Nothing like coming home to a hot meal.

If...

...your pastor comes back from Hershey, Pennsylvania, and gives you a chocolate bar from there, don't eat two squares and then put the rest of the bar in your purse, and then leave your purse in your car all day while you help your friends move in 90 degree weather.
I'm just sayin'.

Olympian Returns Home

Jonathan Horton, the Olympic gymnast, lives 7 houses down from me. He got home last night, and a bunch of us welcomed him home with flags and signs. We got his autograph, and DD2 got her pic taken with him. It was very exciting, tho, DD2 i think was more excited about the dogs.
"Mommy, take my picture with this dog! OK, now i'm going to find another dog, and you take my picture with that dog!"

Funny/Not So Funny Letter From My Insurance Company

You may remember that I need to get a BRCA test, a genetic test that will determine if I have either the BRCA 1 or BRCA 2 genetic mutation. A positive result would mean my changes of getting cervical cancer, uterine cancer, or a recurrance of BC are high.
The test costs $3,000.
So, a few months ago, I called my insurance company to see if they'd cover it. Yes, they said, but we need a letter of medical necessity from your doctor.
I called my onc a few times and left messages telling him he needed to write the letter. No response, of course, so at my next appointment, he said, "'Ave you 'ad ze BRCA test yet?"
No, quoth I, have you written the letter of medical necessity yet?
He looked confused. Of course, the man goes thru nurses like nobody's business. I think he's on his 6th one since I started going there in February of '07. So, he scrawls a letter on some letterhead, and hands it to me. I fax it to the insurance company.
I get a CC of a letter sent to Dr. Casimir. The insurance company couldn't read his writing (surprise!), so they sent their response to the 1st doctor listed on the letterhead. I called Dr. Gressot's nurse, who talked to Dr. Casimir's nurse, who of course had no idea what letter she was talking about.
I call the insurance company again, and have them re-send the letter to Dr. Gressot.
Then, two days ago, I get this letter from the insurance company, edited to avoid boredom:

We have completed our review of your request for coverage of BRCA test. Based on the information reviewed, we are pleased to inform you that coverage is available. All covered services are subject to screening for allowable charges. The final allowable charges will be determined when the bill is submitted and will be based on the actual services provided. Please note this letter does not guarantee payment. Benefit payment is based on the provisions of your benefit plan.

Huh?

notable Events of Today

A local furniture store is closing its doors. They were closed the past three days to slash! their! prices!
So, DD1 and I went down there about 9:30 and waited with about 100 other people for their doors to open. I'd visited this store about a month ago and saw a desk I liked. The price at that time? $449. The doors open, and we head to the desks. The price of the desk now? $450. Wow! What a bargain! Needless to say, we didn't buy anything.

This evening was Meet the Teacher at DD1's school. This school has between 500 and 800 students. It has about 45 parking spots. They invited all students to show up tonight between 5 p.m. and 6 p.m. to meet their teachers. Needless to say, DD1, DD2 and I rode our bikes....

Trip to Kansas

So, I didn't post while we were in Kansas, because my overactive imagination is convinced that there is a band of burglars just waiting for the slightest hint that we are out of town to come in and steal all our stuff.
Anyway. The trip went well. We left Houston Sunday the 3rd about two hours after I'd wanted to, as I had to finish packing, stop the paper, tidy the house, etc. I was so tired that at one point we stopped at the Sonic in Calvert and I got a Diet Dr. Pepper AND an iced coffee.
We stayed at the Omni Mandaylay in Irving. I always go to Hotwire.com to make our hotel reservations because you can stay at nice hotels for cheap. They have a whirlpool (aaaaaaaaaaahhhhhh), and free stuff for the kids. We ordered room service that night, and I had this vegetable ratatouille en croute that was fabulous.
(I have morphed into an almost total vegetarian, for a lot of reasons: the phytochemicals that fight cancer, the lack of fat in vegetables, and the unwillingness to cause another being to die so I could eat.)
Anyway, Monday the 4th we met Emily and her grils at the mall, and walked around, and ate at RainForest Cafe. After lunch, we hit the road.
During our trip, we went to the zoo and Cowtown. I'd post pix of cowtown, but i forgot my camera at my mom's house. At the zoo, there was the peacock that was stalking my niece Laura, and another blue crested bird in the rain forest house that freaked her out. So, being the supportive aunt that I am, I bought her a glass figurine of the blue-crested bird in the gift shop...

Assumptions

I'm going to quit envying other people's marriages, i swear. first there was my friend M from church, who used to do lots of drama and stuff with her husband. they are divorcing. now, one of my best friends from high school, who has been married over 20 years, and they used to go camping and do all kinds of stuff with their kids, is divorcing her husband.
i guess that old adage about not comparing someone's outsides with yr insides is true.

I. Am. So. PRETTY

next year? if i talk about taking a vacation just before school starts, will y'all just slap me? we got back from KS Monday, Tuesday was a nonstop day, with a meeting from 9 to 3, then meet the teacher, and Jillian's last blast of summer. It ended with me going to 6 stores at 8:30 p.m. trying to find those last bits of school supplies. I had bought 80% of the supplies a month ago, and had separated them into two bags, one for each daughter.
So, this morning, which bag do I pick up and take to school? THE WRONG ONE.

Too Soon

DD2 starts school WEDNESDAY. I'm not ready! Where did the summer go? The day b4 school starts, I always let them pick something fun to do. The problem with DD2 is that she can't make up her mind. She'll say she wants to go to the Aquarium Downtown, which is a bit expensive, so I'll tell her she can't take a friend, and then she'll say she wants to go bowling and bring some friends. Then ten minutes later, she'll want to go to Build-A-Bear....I'll keep u posted what the final decision is...

Funny Comment

DD2 wakes up the other day with crazy hair. DD1 takes one look at her and says, "Mrs. Frankenstein called. She wants her hair back."

tonight

DH bought the girls a new movie at Target yesterday, and this evening, he got it out so they could watch it. He asked DD1 where DD2 was, and she replied that DD2 had been sent to bed early, because she had not been listening to Mommy.
DH: That's weird. It's normally you who gets sent to bed early.
DD!: I know. It's been a long summer, Daddy.

So You Think You Can Dance (spoiler)

R U Kidding Me?
I was SURE Will would win the whole thing. Obviously the most talented of the bunch. and he gets voted off? What?

Supper

Fixed (read: heated frozen) lasagna for the fam, and made them fresh green beans sauteed in onions and bacon fat.
I had a bit of the above, and braised organic radishes. Mmmmm.

Today

Yesterday was spent at home, because it was supposed to rain. Did it? No.
Today, we went to the Y so I could Zumba, then lunch, Best Buy to buy a new remote to replace the one that is MIA, and then bowling.
I love bowling with little kids. their technique usually consists of throwing the ball like a shotput, or rolling it from the floor. we played two games. the first one i got 2 strikes in a row, so i beat them handily, the second game? couldn't get a strike to save my soul. i ended up with 70 points. each of the girls -- demonstrating the technique described above -- got a strike and a spare. DD2 got 120 points and beat us all. she was very proud.

A(nother) Post for Ladies Only

Just when I was about ready to throw my Tampax out, looks like I'll be needing them again. Sigh.

This W/E

The girls and I went on a mini-vacation. We went to the circus Friday afternoon at Reliant stadium (in the south part of town -- about 30 minutes drive from our house), and then went to the dog show next door to the circus.It was nice. We ate supper Friday night at a Mexican restaurant near the stadium that had a fabulous spinach enchilada with fresh tomatillo sauce, and a portobello mushroom taco. There was a little band playing in the restaurant, and all the kids danced to the music. It was fun.
We stayed at a hotel right by Reliant, and went back to the dog show the next day after the girls swam and I worked out. Got back home around 4 in the afternoon. Then at 6, Debbie and I went to our friend Amy's wedding reception. She got married in the Virgin Islands a couple of weeks ago.
After the reception, we went to see Mamma Mia, where we unashamedly sang along with the movie. I love ABBA.

In Case You Ever Wondered...

Some of you have asked me if DH has a hobby beyond playing World of Warcraft, and the asnwer is yes. He paints miniatures. But what, you ask, do these miniatures look like, ChemoGirl?
Well, now you can see for yourself. DH has joined the blogosphere with a blog devoted to some of the miniature zombies he's painted.
http://miniaturesandmayhem.blogspot.com/

Recap

Sunday, did the church thing, and just puttered around the house.
Monday, i had DD2 try on all of her uniforms to see which ones were too little, and then dropped off the too-little ones at the school for the uniform sale on Friday. Went looking at desks, as I need a new one. I don't have anywhere to lay stuff on my current desk, as it is about 30" wide.
Today, woke up this morning, and opened the bedroom door to discover that apparently the dog did not like us shutting the door on her, as she had left a large pile of her displeasure. went to meetings at church in the morning, and then came home and heated a frozen margherita pizza with a cracker crust for lunch.

Video from the Rink

Today

we went ice skating at a local mall. The first half hour was spent with me beside DD2 as she inched her way around the perimeter of the rink, holding on to the wall with both hands for dear life.
Then, she got braver, and the second go-round was spent only holding on with one hand.
By the third go-round, she was brave enough to hold my hand and let go of the wall every now and then. I was so proud of her, especially since the first time we went ice skating --Christmas Eve of 06 --- she fell as she stepped onto the ice, and steadfastly refused to go back on the ice. She just sat there for an hour and a half, watching DD1 and I skate.

Yesterday

was quiet. I did some scrapbooking and reading, ran some errands....

Looong Meeting

We have a worship planning meeting every Tuesday from ~9:30 to 11. Last week, the pastor announces we'll have our meeting the UMC in Waller (abt 30 min from here). OK. So I arranged to have a babysitter come from 9 to 12.
Noooo. Turns out the meeting is supposed to go until two, as we will be talking about the themes for the next several months. The pastor said he said that, but i didn't hear it, so i had to call the babysitter, and see if it was okay that i wouldn't be home until 2:30...
By the time we left the meeting, and loaded the bus to come back to Houston, my brain was full, so I read on the trip back. Which made me carsick.
I'm going to lie down now.

Toxic Well in Conroe

I'm not a very "cause"y kind of girl, but this post from mamasource.net concerned me:

The Texas Enviromental Commission has given permission to Texcom to build a toxic injection well site on Creighton Road in Conroe. This is a huge mistake that can have huge negative implications. The wells will go through our drinking water aqueducts that provide water to 54 counties. PLEASE take a moment to inform yourself on this issue at stopthetoxicwells.com and sign the petition and fight this to stop. The last hope to have this from getting any further in the process is public outcry. There will be one last public hearing up in Austin (date to be announced, stay informed through the above website). The surrounding counties are fighting a silent opposition to this project. Silence will not stop this, we need to use our voices and oppose this whole heartily, unless we want to see childhood cancer rates rise and home values plummet. PLEASE, PLEASE pass this information on and go to www.stopthetoxicwells.com

Apparently this will affect 54 counties, with things like antifreeze seeping into our water...

The w/e

DH took Thursday off, so it felt like Saturday to me. i kept thinking about what i needed to church at church the next day.
Friday was bzbzbz. We had a neighborhood parade and pool party in the morning, then we came home, and I had to put the house back together after getting the carpet cleaned on Wednesday. I worked about 5 hours getting everything ready for the Langfords to come over. They came over shortly after 6, and we ate and played games, and then set off and watched fireworks till about 11.
Saturday was a day of rest for me. I didn't do anything of any worth except go get lunch. Otherwise, I read, watched TV, played with the girls...
Today was church, then lunch, the gym, and then just hanging out at the house.
DD1 and I did some scrapbooking together tonight, so that was fun.

You Know You Scrapbook Too Much When...

your daughter walks up to you with one of her hairs in her hand, and says, "Here. Put this in my scrapbook."

At Sam's Club The Other Day

I went to Sam's the other day with James, the worship director at our church. He needed to buy supplies for a youth party, and i went with him to keep him company. And at Sam's they have this dental area, where they whiten teeth.
This was of great interest to me, as you know I have tetracycline stains on my teeth, and I hate their color. Hate it, hate it, hate it. I've looked at porcelain veneers, but it would be around $13,000 to get that done.
I got bonding put on them back in the late 80s, which lightened their color, but in the ensuing years, the bonding has darkened.
So I asked the guy if if would work on bonding, and he said it would lighten the bonding to its original color. The whole package will cost around $183. Works for me! So, I think with my next paycheck from the church, I'm going back to Sam's!

Sorry I've Been Neglecting You

I've been on FaceBook a lot, and have been neglecting my bloggerly duties.

That being said, can I just tell you that I turned on the TV the other day, which defaults to the infomercial channel. And they were advertising the Cricut on there. A Cricut is this electric diecutting machine that scrapbookers use, and i've wanted one for the longest time, but they are expensive, around $130 to $180. So, I waited to see what the price on the informercial was, and truly, they said, "for just $49.95, we'll send you a Cricut and all these die cuts!"
Wow! What a bargain!
So I called -- first time in my life responding to an informercial. After the lady on the phone repeated all the benefits of owning a Cricut to me (blablabla), she said it would be $49.95, plus $24.95 shipping, with a 30 day money-back guarantee. ok, i thought, that's still cheaper than the store. But THEN, quoth she, i would be billed $49.95 THREE MORE TIMES, for a whopping total of $225.
Oh, I said. I thought it was just $50.
No, she said. You can't get the Cricut anywhere for just $50.
I KNOW. Click.

here's the link to the article i wrote

http://www.lbbc.org/content/newsletter/just-for-me-supplement-to-insight-for-the-newly-diagnosed-summer-2008.asp#s154

Keeping Score

my BFF Debbie and I went to the movies last night to celebrate my bday. we made the trek inside the loop to a small arthouse cinema that shows movies that the critics love and no one else has ever heard of. we saw "Roman de Gare" -- a French thriller. it was very good. it was bloodless, and kept u guessing the whole time.

deb and i were talking, and i mentioned that i am constantly keeping a running score in my head of the stuff i eat. let's see: broccoli, good. french fries, bad. ketchup: bad because of the high fructose corn syrup, good because of the lycopene...

she says she does that every day on behalf of her kids, because they are both diabetic.

i long for the bad old days, in a way, when i didn't have to worry about what i ate. i want to take care of my body, sure, but it's tough wondering if i have x amount of bad stuff in a given time period, will i get cancer again?

YIPPEE!

i am on the summer schedule, which means staying up late and sleeping late, so i was awakened this morning at 830 by Rita, my breast surgeon's nurse to tell me that the MRI was clear!!! yay!! praise God!!!

A Funny Thing

So, it's common for people to attach "aholic" to describe something they're addictied to, such as chocoholic, cokeaholic, etc.
that being said, there was a notice in our church bulletin today, announcing the formation of "Scrap Alcoholics". The pastor had to make sure everyone knew the group was just for people addicted to scrapbooking, not those alcoholics who liked to scrap...

Whoops!

so, MD anderson had a blood drive at our church today, to benefit john, one of our members with leukemia, and i dropped by just to verify when i could give blood again. their answer?
NEVER. MD Anderson will NEVER accept blood donations from me because i've had BC. as a sop, the guy said the Blood Center may accept my blood in a few years...
then, i was talking to a guy at church, who works in rads somehow, and he was talking about how chemo affects the quality of yr blood, and all oncs want to do is presribe chemo because it makes them a lot of money, blablabla. kinda freaked me out, esp when he said john's cancer was a secondary cancer that he got from taking chemo for lung cancer. wow.

worked out on the elliptical machine today at the gym. covered in sweat. forgot my hand towel. wiped my face on my white tshirt and got beige makeup all over it.
went and got a pedicure afterwards, then ate at maui tacos. love that place.

By The Way

Doing laundry today. more than i had expected because Kitty Butthead peed on my bed for the 2nd day in a row, and i didn't get a chance to put my waterproof mattress pad on the mattress. grrr.

Took a vegetarian cooking class last night. that was fun. we made a tomato salad, a salad with a spicy avocado dressing, some quinoa/rice stuff, fresh pasta with fresh pesto, carrot vichyssoise, and fruit salad. Afterward, i went across the street to the tiny movie theater, and watched "Then She Found Me." It was a private showing, as i was the only one who apparently felt the need to see this movie at 9:50 on a Wednesday night.

My New Addiction(z)

my DDs have tons of Webkinz, and so everyday, i log on to their webkinz accounts, play a few games, and earn them some Kinzcash. i do this not merely out of niceness, but because some of those games are seriously fun. not for me the World of Warcraft games that DH is addicted to -- too, too complicated. i like the games where you have to click on the three matching balls, or make words up out of random letters.
my 2nd addiction is Face Book. My sister's SIL asked me to be on it, so we could play Scrabulous. (online Scrabble). then FB went thru my address book and told me which of my friends had a FB page, which led to me finding who THEIR friends were, and finding lots of people i'd lost contact with. i have like 35 friends now on FB. it's fun, because you can see photo albums, see what they've been up to, etc. you can play games, take quizzes, join groups, etc.

Our Weird Pets

We have to keep the cat food up on counters because the dog LOVES it. Recently, I purchased some all-natural, hypoallergenic food for the dog so her food allergies wouldn't act up. And she hated it. Refused to eat it at all. So, I went to Target and bought some IAMS Lamb and Rice food, which she loves, as do the cats.

Nothing Much

Finished VBS yesterday. Jennifer took the girls home to play with Sophie, yay! Did some housework.
Today, we went to Target, and then out to lunch at the new Chuy's that just opened up. The waitress was a bit confused that I wanted a veggie enchilada and a beef taco. "You know there's meat in the taco, right?"

VBS

VBS is this week, and my sole responsibility is to a) rewrite the canned script from the curriculum and gear it toward a preschool audience, b) rehearse it a couple of times with the other two actors, and c) perform it. i get there at 815, and leave by 935, feeling horribly guilty. ever since DD1 was born, i have taught VBS, which at my old church meant hours of preparation and decorating, and buying food and assembling supplies, and leaving the house at 8 to get to church by 8:30, and not leaving the church until 12:30
and yet, there are moms out there who send their kids to VBS, and don't help out, and they don't feel guilty. wow, what is that like?

Pretty Bird

Just Hanging Out, Dude

This picture from our trip to the Fort Worth Zoo cracks me up.

Happy Fathers' Day!

Went to church, where DD1 performed a short sketch of my devising in all three services. She was very happy to Finally Be in One of Mommy's Plays.
We had a great shadow dance to "Cinderella," by Steven Curtis Chapman. Made me tear up, even tho i'd sat thru rehearsals for it and had seen it about 12x.
DH liked the fancy pen, the shirt and the himalayan sea salt sphere we got him. Then! He took the girls to the pool! and the puppy is asleep!
aaaahhhhh, so nice and quiet.

There Are Days....

...when you look and feel fabulous.

And then there are days like today, when someone at the swim meet turned to me and said, "Don't you have grandkids at Cypress Christian School?"

Adding to My Panoply of Acronyms

You may recall that I have had a PET scan and a CAT scan in the past. Yesterday, I had a BSGI, and, based on the results of that BSGI, now I get to have an MRI. Hi, United Healthcare! Remember me?

I was talking to United Healthcare Monday, making sure they would pay for the BSGI, and getting the address to send the letter of medical necessity for the BRCA, and the guy said, "Yeah, and uh, we need to update your records. Are you covered by any other insurance?" Nope! Just y'all!

I was mildly freaking out yesterday when they told me I'd need to have an MRI. Having an active imagination is a double-edged sword. On the one hand, one can create many wonderful things, like plays and partially finished mystery novels. On the other hand, when I received the news yesterday that I'd need more testing,
a.)I immediately assumed the suspicious area they found was cancerous
and b.) started thinking about what clothes I should pick out to wear in my coffin.
The sermon Sunday was about the importance of exercising your faith, so after indulging a bit in morbid thoughts like those above, I started reciting memory verses about peace, and trusting God.

I heard from the surgeon's office today, and the nurse said the area was probably a fibroidenoma (a benign tumor originating from glandular tissue, but given my history, they want to make sure.

I called the scheduling office:
Me: Hi, I need to schedule a bi-liateral breast MRI with contrast.
Scheduling Girl: Ok, the first available is Sunday at 1 p.m.
Me: That's fine.
Scheduling: OK, let's put you down for that. (I write it, in pen, on my calendar.) What part of the body is it for?
Me: The breast.
SG: Oh! We don't do breast MRIs on the weekend.

So we rescheduled for Tuesday the 24th.

Not Much.

I know some of you check this every day (hi, deanna!), and i apologize for not writing anything Sunday or Monday, but nothing really funny or interesting happened those two days.
Today, i had a meeting at church, and then the princesses and i met my BFF Debbie for lunch in the Galleria, and then Deb went back to work, and the princesses and i went to the Galleria to get DH's father's day gift.
Before we got there, they declared that a) they were tired, b) they didn't feel that well, and c) could we just go to the store, get the gift, and leave? All of which I acceded to.
Then they saw the wonders of the Galleria, which they hadn't been to for 3 or 4 years at least. Instead of feeling tired and sick, they declared they wanted to go ice skating. Next time, I said.And we were there for 2 hours.
We wandered around a bit, as I parked in a different parking lot that the previous times I'd been there. We got the gift, then went to the Disney store, and then got a snack and watched the ice skaters.
I looked in at the candy store, and saw a sugar-free candy bar! i took it to the front to guy it, but it turns out they wanted NINE DOLLARS for the blessed thing, so i put it back.
I stopped at sonic for a Diet Dr. Pepper on the way out, where the sign said, "Let the manager know if we "fail" to give you a receipt."
Why did they put "fail" in quotes?

Saturday

Went to a lingerie shower for my friend Amy Ray, who is getting married soon in the Virgin Islands. They had a R.J. Goodies cake. Mmmmmmmmmm. For those of you who don't live in Houston, R.J. Goodies has the Best. Cake. Ever. Ever since Amy and the other hostesses at my baby shower back in 2000 had an R.J. Goodies cake, I have never gone back. I only had 4 bites -- I was good. And I chewed slowly, savoring the frosting.
In the evening, the girls and I went to a party honoring our new associate pastor, Stephanie.

Back Home

Just got back from a few days at Fort Worth. We accompanied DH on a biz trip there. We stayed downtown, in Sundance Square, which is a cool area with lots of shops, theaters, restaurants, etc.
We arrived around noon on Wednesday and dropped DH off at work, then we checked in, and went to eat at one of those restaurants that turned out to be really expensive, and to have about 7 things on their menu. I ended up ordering a $9 appetizer, consisting of peppers, tomatoes and cheese marinated in oil. The princesses shared a meatball pizza. Then we walked to a water garden, and dabbled our feet in the water. We walked back to the hotel, stopping at Barnes and Noble for liquid refreshment and books. DD2 had a gift card that was burning a hole in her pocket, but i told her she couldn't spend the whole $20 on stuffed animals -- she had to spend half on books. So she chose a stuffed octopus, and a set of easy reader books. I bought the second in the Stephenie Meyer Twilight series, and DD1 chose a book of Mad Libs.
We went back to the hotel and changed into our swimming suits and went swimming, tho my "swimming" consisted of sitting in the hot tub for a while, and then lying on a chaise loungs out of the sun to dry off.
We ate Mexican that night.
Yesterday, we went to the Fort Worth Zoo, which was fun, but expensive. $5 to park, $20 total admission. The Houston and Wichita zoos don't charge to park, so that was a surprise. The funnest part was the Parrot Paradise, where you can pay $1 for a stick with some seeds attached, and you hold it out, and parakeets will come and land on your hand and eat the seeds. I'll post pics later.
In the late afternoon and evening, we hung out with the Evanses, and ate at Red, Hot and Blue (of course. every time i go see the Evanses, we eat at Red, Hot and Blue. and i always get the same thing.)
Today, the princesses swam while I worked out in the adjoining room, keeping an eye on them through the glass walls. Then we went shopping a bit, but the only shirt i found i liked was $98 on sale. so, not so much.
we ate at Uno's, and headed home.

Sometimes It Just Pays To Drive Down to the Dang Store

I am a big fan of online shopping. A goodly percentage of my shopping is done that way, and there was a pair of shoes on jcp.com that i was lusting after. however, i got a $10 coupon in the mail from jc penney for in-store only. the web site said the shoes were available in-store as well, so today the princesses and i went down to the store. i circled every shoe display 3x, including the clearance racks, and couldn't see the shoes. i found some similar ones, but none that i loved. so i asked the clerk if they had them -- Mudd Chachi -- and he went back and found them in my size! no surprise there, since i doubt many people are asking for them, SINCE THEY DON'T HAVE A PAIR ON DISPLAY.
anyway.
the price online? $44.99 + 8.75 shipping + 4.43 tax. a whopping $58.17
the price in the store? $24 - $10 off coupon = $14 + $1.15 tax = $15.15
i have no idea why they were priced $20 less in the store than online, but woohoo! i saved $43!
and let me tell you, while i love these shoes, i never would have paid $58 for them....

Monday

swim practice, then we picked up two friends and went bowling to celebrate DD2's bday. We have gone to the every other year plan in regard to big birthday parties. we bowled for a couple of hours and then went swimming at the Y. The DDs had fun, but they were tired by the time we got home. So was I!

DD2's Bday, or Yes, Virginia, There Is Such A Thing As Too Many Sprinkles

declared for her bday this year that she wanted a bunny cake. I looked at Hobby Lobby and Michaels to no avail for a bunny cake pan, so i found a design online. This is the result. DD2 wanted to put sprinkles on it -- apparently all the sprinkles we had.

Happy Anniversary!

Today is DH's and my 11th wedding anniversary. To celebrate, I have a. gone to swim meet. b. gone shopping for DD2's bday tmrw, and c. given DH his gift. I got mine on Monday == tanzanite earrings.
DH is not feeling well, so we had to cancel our babysitter. The princesses were Not Happy. They wanted to go over to the babysitter's house anyway.

Happy Summer!

Today is the First Day of Summer in the ChemoGirl household -- both girls are done with school. That being said, I look forward to June 21, when we will no longer have to get up AND BE AT THE POOL AT 8 O'CLOCK IN THE BLESSED MORNING for swim practice.

My Hair

I really liked having long hair. It was pretty, and once I grew my bangs out, my beauty routine consisted of: 1. Combing it.
2. Putting it in a ponytail
Estimated time: 1 minute or less.
Now that my hair is about 3" long, it's going through an awkward phase. I can't spike it anymore, so now I have to style it. And it has a mind of its own. I've taken to wearing ball caps a lot....

Classes at the Gym

My obsession with Zumba continues apace, and while I like it, and exercise classes in general, I have realized that no matter what the leader does, most of us will try to imitate her.
Today, the leader was leading us in a u-shaped move that was three steps up, three steps back, three steps to the side, then three steps up and back again. To help us figure out what she was doing, she held up her forefingers and thumbs with her thumbs touching. I look around, and sure enough, half of the people are holding up their hands just like her.

Missing: One Tent

We had some high winds yesterday -- to the point that I was making Wizard of Oz jokes. And the tent that DH had erected in our back yatd 10 days previously that he'd never gotten around to taking down? Now missing.

Wow!

OK, believe what you want, but in my belief system, there is no such thing as coincidence, because God is in control. So, I'm giving glory to God.
Given that proviso, I went to the gym today because I thought I had a meeting with my trainer. Turns out my appt was for Wednesday. So, there I was, all dressed up and nothing to read. I went to the women's center at the Y, because they usually have some kind of reading material.
The only book I had in the van was "The Historian", which is about 900 pages long, not a conducive book to read while one is exercising, as it is too thick to fit comfortable on the little bar that they have on the elliptical machines or bikes. I really wanted to read "The Italian Secretary", by Caleb Carr, as that is the book on CD I've been listening to in the car, and it was just getting interesting.
So, I go to the women's center, and cross to the little bookshelf. They have mainly magazines, and about three books. One of the books? "The Italian Secretary," by Caleb Carr.

Ow.

Just got back from my second ever Mat Pilates class. I am convinced that "pilates" is Roumanian for "doing things your body was never meant to do." There were a lot of times I just had to lie there on the mat and watch every body else, because there was NO WAY I could do what the instructor said.

Me and My Reading

I saw a neighbor yesterday, and was chatting, and during the conversation, I said, "I love swim practice, because the kids get exercise and I get to..."
"Visit with your neighbors," she said, interrupting.
"Uh, yeah," I said. "Or read."
"Oh, you and your reading," she said dismissively.

That aside, can I just comment on the glories of a well written book? I've been re-reading "The Beekeeper's Apprentice," by Laurie R. King -- it's about Sherlock Holmes and his teenaged partner/apprentice Mary Russell. Very well written. I just lose myself in it. You know how some books are just meh? You read them once, and you never need to read them again? Then there are others that you know you have to keep, because you will want to re-read them? This is one of those.

Making Do

DD1 has had a sore neck lately, and to remedy it, someone suggested I fill a tube sock with rice, and nuke it for 2 minutes. Unfortunately, the only rice I had was chicken flavored...

Today

Swim meet. Got up at 6:30, got to the away meet at 7:30ish. Meet was supposed to start at 8:30. Didn't start until 9:15. Was there until 2:30. It was hot and humid today. I must have scrubbed a inch of sweat off of me in the shower once I got home.

Today

DH took today off, and at 8:45 this morning, i went in to tell him I was going to the gym. I have DD2 the option of going with me, or staying with Daddy, and she picked going to b'fast with Daddy.
So, after the gym, I went to Michael's, went to the piano store and looked at pianos (wow! are they expensive!), and then ate lunch. Got home around noon, chatted with DH a bit, told him where I went, what I ate and so on.
At one o'clock, a scant hour after I got home, I got ready to leave to pick DD1 up from school, as she wasn't feeling well.

Me: I'm leaving to pick up DD1.
DH: Ok. Can you pick lunch up?
ME: Sure. What would you like?
DH: A burger for me and one for DD2. Have you eaten?

To Be Fair...

Apparently the gal at the Plantation Homes model home was just a hostess, as I heard from the sales rep today, wanting to meet me. Still.

Yesterday

I had a meeting, so DD2 spent some time at a friend's house. On my way into their subdivision, I stopped at a couple of model homes, just to see and dream. The first house was David Weekley Builders. The gal there spent time figuring out what kinds of spaces I wanted, starred a couple of designs in the brochure that she thought might work best, talked about the energy savings their designs include, got me a bottle of water, yadayada. When I left, I was fairly salivating to buy a house from them.
The second house was Plantation Homes. The gal there shoved a card at me for me to fill out, gave me the brochure with the available designs on it, and buhbye. Thanks! I really want to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars with a company who treats me like an inconvenience!

Today

...is laundry day, as i don't want to go ANYWHERE. we have been really bz lately, with swim meets and church and shows and graduation...
during swim meet season, my one day to sleep late (Saturday) is no more. Of course, I could have slept late today (e.g. until 8 a.m., since DD2 is out of school), but my body decided 6 a.m. would be a cool time to awaken. grrr.

here's how the Laundry Day Game goes:
i make the bed. the dog takes one of her paws and scrabbles at the comforter until she can lift it and go under the comforter to sleep, thus messing up the newly made bed.
i take a load from the dryer, put it on the bed, fold and hang the clothes while watching recorded tv. until a commercial break, when I put the stuff away. while i am gone, Winston the Butthead Kitty, sneaks over and pees on a piece of clothing or two, and then goes back to his windowsill, to wait and see if i can figure out where he peed. this entails me shoving my nose in all sorts of clothing...

he's currently hiding in DH's closet, because I waved his latest marks in his face and said, "DON'T PEE ON THE LAUNDRY!"

There is actually a tree guy outside trimming the tree. It's a miracle! I have called 4 separate tree trimming businesses, and he's the first one who actually bothered to show up when he promised. Or at all.
One guy showed up a day early, and of course I wasn't home. Did he come back the next day, when he was supposed to? No.
What bugs me is, two of these companies had paid for coupons to be delivered to our neighborhood. Why would you pay for advertising if you only wanted to alienate potential customers?

Recap

Sorry I haven't posted in a few days. A few notes:

* Tuesday, DD2 and I went to the Pizza Factory with her Daisy Troop, and while there, had I so desired, I could have ordered a pizza with CASHEWS on it.
* DD1 is now 8, and this means that I have to stay thru event 70 in swim meets, instead of being able to leave after event 40. Or, to put it in practical terms -- we leave around 2 p.m. instead of 11:30. After showing up at 6:45, of course.
* I had to be at church briefly to perform in a sketch Monday evening, and then I rushed to DD1's school to see her perform. She was a mouse in the 2nd grade show. I got there at 7:09. The whole show was over at 7:19.
* DD2's Kindergarten graduation was tonight. The teachers asked each student what they wanted to be when they grew up. We had a lot of aspiring vets, artists and doctors. One little girl said she wanted to be a waitress. I bet her parents were proud. Other responses of note: a princess, a pirate, a Navy SEAL, and a Scientologist. (We think he meant psychologist.)DD2 said she wanted to be a Christian....

A Note

DD1 said something last night that really hurt my feelings. She didn't mean to -- it was just one of those things. Anyway, I went to the gym afterward, and when I got home, she'd left me this note:

I am super duper sorry.
My whole body is sorry.
My byseps and tryseps rist ankel toes knuckles heel Quadursps and hamstrings elbows shouldersnose ears nose holes nose hairs eyebrows eyes cheeks scalp hands palms shin thigh kneecap brain lungs heat chest back ribcage toenails fingernails lips teeth espeshully my big fat vocal cords vocie box mouth

Volunteer Day

I volunteered today at the Science Resource Center. I was in charge of having the kids act out high tide and low tide in a saltwater marsh. The way I'd been trained to do it, involved taking the smocks (with the pictures of the plant or animal each child was to play) off hangers, handing them out with the cards explaining what each one was to do, and then having each child read it out loud.
No. Because fully half of the allotted time was taken up by handing out costumes, and then hanging them back up at the end. So, when I got there, I took each costume and folded it and put it where the character was supposed to be, with the card on top. When each group arrived, i assigned parts to each child, they put the smocks on, I introduced each character, e.g. the curlew, the blue crab, and so on. We acted out what happened at low tide, and then what happened at high tide. Afterward, I had them fold their costume back up neatly, and then come and get the seek and find puzzle.
Several teachers commented on how much better it worked that way, and the kids ended up with several minutes to complete the puzzle in. The only thing was, when I showed up this morning, there were only about 14 puzzles, so I sent my helper to the office for more. She came back with enough for the morning's kids, so in the break between the morning and the afternoon sessions, I went back to the office and asked for more. "Well, they're not supposed to do them now, they're supposed to do them at home," quoth the lady. "Fine, but we still need enough for each child to have one." "I made 25," she said. "OK," I said, "I'm going to have 50 kids this afternoon."
The thing is, they set up these stations, and they knew we would have 8 sessions today with anywhere from 14 to 21 kids per sessions. Why wouly they not give us enough puzzles from the get-go?

A Prediction

Probably none of you watch Battlestar Galactica, or care about it at all, and you will not understand the following post at all. Still.
It is the last season of BSG, and they are nearing Earth. I predict there will be two survivors -- Lee Adama, whose name will be shortened to Adam, and a female Cylon.

Epilogue

So, after Mr. Grumpy said he didn't want to go out to eat, or eat pizza, he said he wanted Italian. So, from the pool -- where I'd taken the girls so they could swim and I could make Mother's Day calls to the grandmothers -- I called Sicily Pizza, which delivers. 45 minutes later, we were home from the pool, and Sicily delivered: Chicken Parmigiana for Mr. Grumpy, the girls got ravioli, and I got my beloved olive oil, tomato, garlic, spinach and basil pizza. Don't laugh until you've tried it. It is yummilicous.

Actual Conversation At My House on Mother's Day, Only Slight Modified For Clarity

Me: So, what would you like for supper tonight?
DH: Oh, I don't care. It's all about you today.
Me: OK, then I want to go out to eat at Skeeters.
DH: I don't want to go out.
Me: OK, then, let's take the girls to the pool and have food delivered there.
DH: I don't want to go to the pool.
Me: OK then. Pizza?
DH: I don't want pizza.

I love those days when it's all about me.

The Scarecrow

Here are some pics of DD1 in her costume after her play was over. We dropped her off at 10:45, went and had lunch at Gringo's (yummm), and then went back for the show at 12. She did well: she projected well, and had clear diction. There was a show after hers of older elementary kids, and I fell asleep because I couldn't understand the kids and what they were saying.
We went to RJ Goodie's afterward so she could eat and the rest of us could have dessert.

It's A Mom Thing

DD1 has been taking drama once a week since August, and they are getting ready for their Big Show. They are doing "The Ants and the Grasshopper," and DD1 is the scarecrow narrator. Which is good, because she gets to have a lot of lines, but the costume for the ants?
a black leotard.
grasshopper?
a green leotard.
Scarecrow?
not so much.
For the scarecrow, I went to the 2ndhand store, bought a pair of XS junior overalls (only ones I could find), and a boys' plaid shirt, went to Michael's and bought raffia, cut off the pants legs to fit her, sleeves ditto, trimmed the raffia, put it on a strip of packing tape, sewed the tape to the inside of the pants hem, same with the cuffs, and sewed the cuffs back onto the sleeves, cut some squares of fabric, and sewed raffia on to them, and then sewed them onto the overalls.
I sat and watched a rehearsal yesterday for the first time. I hadn't b4 because of DD2, and because I knew I would want to take over. And the show? Probably a 6 to 10 minute show. Took me at least three times that long to get the costume ready.
]

"Excuse Me, My Mom Is Lost"

The DDs and I went to our church's carnival Saturday. We were there two hours. During that time, there were two announcements that a mom was lost. Guess who the announcement was about BOTH TIMES?

Another Movie Review

Deanna and I went to see "Made of Honor" Friday, and it was much better than "Baby Mama". Yes, predictable, and some comedic elements were too broad for the overall tone of the show, but i still liked it. Plus, Patrick Dempsey!

Movie Review

Deanna and I had free movie tickets, so we went to see Baby Mama at a local theater last night. And it was meh. Not quite the train wreck that Smart People was, but still not the broad comedy I'd been hoping for.

Today!

was 31 cent scoop day at Baskin Robbins! and there was a line! i can't understand that....

Huh?

So, I don't really want to go back to work, but i have monster.com email me if there are any job postings in Houston with the word "writer" in them, just to see. And apparently, the jobs that fit into that parameter encompass a broad range.
Here is today's list of jobs:

Retail Store Manager
Bankruptcy Paralegal
Pre-Flight Technician
Houston Financial Services Tax Manager-Hedge Fund
RESEARCHER Invensys IPS
Strategic Acct. Executive
Senior Software Design Engineer
IT Technical Analyst
Journalism, Design and Photography Opportunities
Principal Systems Engineer

Wow, I can't decide if I want to be a bankruptcy paralegal or a principal systems engineer!

Still Coughing Up Hair Balls

My head cold is now a chest cold. Buy stock in Kleenex, 'cause I'm sure using enough of them to sink a boat.

Just Got Back

Went on a scrapbooking retreat this weekend. And I have a head cold! So, while I forgot to pack my pajamas, I did remember to bring a full box of kleenex....

My Day

The automated We Need A Substitute system called me at 6:30 a.m. Asked me to enter my PIN, which I tried to do. No go. I hang up. It calls back at 7, I try a different PIN. Nope. Calls back THREE MORE TIMES. Finally, I call the school and say, "Do you still need a sub for today?" The receptionist was almost sobbing with relief as she replied in the affirmative. So I taught 1st grade today. They were very helpful to tell me what we were supposed to be doing at each part of the day. "You're supposed to be calling the reading groups over to you now so they can read out loud."
Hoo doggies, tho, I am tired. I don't know how all you working moms do it.

Of Intelligence

I have been getting grief from my children lately because I don't know what a thorax is. DD2 had to make an insect for show and tell today, and it had to have a head, an abdomen and a thorax. I said, "Well, that might be kind of hard because I don't know what a thorax is." They turned to me, this second grader and kindergartener, and said disbelievingly in unison, "You don't know what a THORAX is?!"
I continually have to assure them that I am As Smart As Daddy. The problem is, Daddy knows lots of stuff about animals. Which is what they are interested in. Were they interested in French or English literature, or the Regency era of English history, I'd be their girl. But no. They are interested in ANIMALS. And Daddy can read a fact one time about an animal and remember it years later. So, DD2 wanted to make a praying mantis, and DH is playing a computer game, and telling her all these facts about praying mantises at the same time.

Bluebonnet Pics

The Latest Bon Mot from DD2

We drove by a goat farm the other day, and I said, "I wonder why they're raising goats. Is it for the meat, or the milk, or the skin?"
"Or for the rides," DD2 said.

Goat rides, anyone?

Today

DD1 has apparently complained of a upset stomach off and on today at school, but she isn't running a fever. Probably due to the antibiotic she's on. I dropped her off some Tums, and she wanted to come home with me, because she "wanted to spend time with you." Notice she didn't say anything about not feeling good.

Did I Tell You?

lbbc.org (stands for Living Beyond Breast Cancer) has asked me to write a guest column for their newsletter. It'll be directed toward women who have just been dx'd with early stage BC. So, i've submitted my rough draft, entitled Finding the Funny In Breast Cancer Treatment or I Was Diagnosed With Breast Cancer and All I Got Was This Lousy Bald Head.

House of Sickness, Day 2

Neither of the girls felt well enough to go to school today. They are both on antibiotics. The dr didn't say, but I'm assuming DD1 has an ear infection, and DD2 an upper respiratory infection. They love sick days, as they get to watch TV all day.
The bad thing is, DD2's show and tell for today was to be a live insect (ew). So, we have a cricket, a moth, and some fleas which Winston gladly donated to the cause, all in their little receptacles. The cricket and moth have celery leaves to chew on. I'm not feeding the fleas anything.
Plus, yesterday was the 30th anniversary of DD2's school, and they had cake and a school picture and everything. And she missed it.

Today

The kids are both sick. DD2 more than DD1, but DD1 is going to pick up whatever DD2 has -- she always does -- so I am taking them both to the doctor.
I am tired, as I stayed up late working on our taxes. This year, I get to add up all our medical expenses to see if they add up to enough to claim.

Whew!

I don't know what possessed me, but I volunteered to have DD2's Daisy troop over tonight for their meeting. So I basically spent all day doing laundry and tidying. DH was home sick today, so I did take a couple of breaks to eat lunch with him and watch one of our fave TV shows, but other than that, working all day.
The leader complimented me on my house when she walked in. I thought, "You should have seen it ten hours ago!"
The leader asked what I'd like to to have the girls do, and since I'm not a craft girl, I decided we should make oatmeal cookies, so everyone took turns putting in the ingredients and using the mixer, and then we got to eat the cookies for our snack! And there were leftovers! Yay!
But I am tired. Going to go to bed early tonight.