BIG TIME UPDATE. GRAB SOME COFFEE AND HAVE A SEAT.

I can't believe I've been away from my blog for nearly a month. I hope I haven't lost all my cyber friends in my absence. I'll do my best to not let it happen again.

Here we go!

Thursday, April 6th – Went to Payless to buy some new shoes for K. He now officially has bigger feet than I do. He’s twelve years old, for goodness sake. That depresses me.

On the way home from the shoe store, I heard a weird banging sound, which was followed shortly thereafter by a very loud hum. Turns out I’d blown a tire without even running over anything. Leave it to me. Heh.

Morning of Friday, April 7th – Went to Discount Tire to have the tire replaced. I was so happy that I had full replacement coverage on that tire. But upon closer inspection, it turned out that what I really needed were four new tires. Thankfully, the one that had blown out, and its twin on the other side, both had replacement coverage, and thus cost me $14 each. Then I had to buy two new ones for the front. How on earth two $90 tires plus two $14 tires ended up costing $300 is beyond me…fuzzy math, that.

While at Discount Tire, I heard someone call my name. I looked up to see my old (like, since-first-grade old) friend G standing there. We spent the next hour catching up on recent events. During our chat, she invited me to go scrapbooking with her that night, and of course I jumped at the chance.

Evening of Friday, April 7th – G picked me up and drove us to the place where we’d spend the next few hours scrapping. For some reason, I was unhappy with every page I worked on, so I eventually gave up and spent the last hour or so just organizing my stuff. We left the crop at 12:30 a.m. and were driving home when BANG! We were hit by a drunk driver. A 17-year-old drunk driver. Thank God no one was seriously injured – although I did later call my EMTsis and tell her to watch out, because that made two of us three sisters who’d been hit by drunks within a month!

Saturday, April 8th – Hubby, the kids, and I went to watch Houston’s new Major League Soccer team, the Dynamo, play the Kansas City Wizards. In a stunning loss, the Dynamo folded to the Wiz 2-1. But on a high note, we met some really cool ladies who had flown in from San Jose (from whence the Dynamo came) just to watch the game. Ry was wearing a San Jose t-shirt, so we joked that we were going to send him back to California with them.

Sunday, April 9th – Tired from the week’s activity, I stayed in bed until nearly noon. When I did get up, I spent the day doing a little laundry and a lot of grocery shopping (wow, exciting...wonder why I stayed in bed so long?). By evening, I was very grateful for our new tradition of having dinner at the in-laws every Sunday night.

Monday, April 10th – Six more hours of laundry; five hours of ironing; NO sleep last night.

Morning of Tuesday, April 11th – Today I checked out a new dollar store. It had a lot of stuff, but was not as “cool” as Dollar Tree. (Dollar Tree has cheap scrapbooking supplies, so yes, they are cool.) Anyway, while I was at this other store, I picked up a bottle of Lysol and accidentally knocked an openbottle of ammonia on the floor and all over myself. I was soaked from my knees down. I sloshed up to the register and told the cashier what had happened. In spite of the fact that someone had left an open bottle of disinfectant on a shelf, and in spite of my discomfort and the disinfectant-y smell permeating from my jeans and shoes, I was actually pleasant to her. In response, she grunted and turned her back on me. Guess you get what you pay for.

Afternoon of Tuesday, April 11th – Took the canine for her first official vet visit since we adopted her. She was a barking, growling, straining-at-the-leash pain in the rear, even though she didn’t need shots or anything. Goofy dog. Fortunately, she’s perfectly healthy. Yay.

Also today: Happy birthday, J! I hope you had a great day. Love ya!

Wednesday, April 12th – Took Bailey to the groomer for a much-needed bath and haircut. She loved it last time; hated it this time. I reiterate: goofy dog.

Tonight was P’s Seussical Musical performance at school. She had a small singing and dancing part, which was terribly cute. Elementary school shows can be so entertaining.

Thursday, April 13th – Spent the day packing for Florida. The excitement is about to kill me.

Friday, April 14th – Got on a plane for the first time in 5 1/2 years. I wasn't drinking or anything, and I actually boarded willingly! The flight couldn’t have gone more smoothly. If all flights were like that, I’d become a flight attendant.

Yeah right.

Morning and afternoon of Saturday, April 15th – Hubby and I drove two hours south of Ft. Lauderdale to Homestead, where we’d been rudely kicked out by Hurricane Andrew 14 years prior. What we saw there was almost indescribable. Heartbreaking. Emptiness. I couldn’t stop the tears for what was, what is, and what could have been…

Evening of Saturday, April 15th – The reason for our trip to Florida in the first place: Alan Parsons concert. For the record, “Silence and I” – best live song EVER. After the show, we got to go backstage to meet the band and Alan (again). It was great to see them, but we also met some goofy-ass fan club members...geez, people; get a life.

Sunday, April 16th – Celebrated Easter with lunch at Bennigan’s. Later that day I had a backache for no apparent reason, but overall it was a great day. We also went to the beach – Florida has the BEST beaches, by the way - then later went out to dinner. Hubby got lit. He never gets drunk anymore, so it was quite funny to see. He tried to get me to buy a Corona bikini. Yes, the actual beer Corona. Fortunately, *I* was not lit.

Monday, April 17th – Sad to leave Florida, but couldn’t wait to see the kids. Flight back was as nice as the flight out, so apparently I had good flight juju this weekend.

Tuesday, April 18th – Back to the grind. Whee.

Rest of this week – Fairly uneventful. At least, I don’t remember much about it. Same old, same old.

Monday, April 24th – Kids out of school. Agreed to take them down to daddy’s office so they could see it, then we’d all go out to lunch together. But before we left, I took them to the local Donuts and Burgers (yes, that’s the name of it) for breakfast. As I was reaching for my Diet Coke (no donuts for me; good little me), my back spasmed so hard I could not breathe nor speak. Scary, that. We did end up going to lunch with hubby, but it was a long drive for me to make with a pained back. By the time we got back home, I was in misery. Every time I’d try to move, get up, turn around, reach, whatever, I felt what could only be described as a full-blown labor pain contraction. Only I’m not pregnant. I don't think I’ve ever hurt that much.

Tuesday, April 25th – Went to the doctor about my back pain. She did not listen to me at all – told me I had no tolerance for strenuous activities; that the last time I was in their office, it was also for pain (see blog entry “Tennis, Anyone?” – from months and months ago); that she once had muscle spasms when she reached up to get a dish from her cabinet (I was not reaching up – see, she didn’t listen to me). I was ready to read her the riot act, but I was already in tears from the pain. Then she said she was going to prescribe Vicodin and a muscle relaxant, which sounded good to me. So I just waited for the scrips and got out of there. Oh, I also had to have eight X-rays, which was misery in and of itself. But the sweet X-ray tech felt sorry for me because I couldn’t stop crying, and her concern did redeem the medical office somewhat. But I’ll never go back to that doctor again. How hard is it to listen to a patient? I couldn’t fit a word in edgewise over all her "uh huh, uh huhs" and nonsensical chatter.

Wednesday and Thursday, April 26th and 27th – Still in pain, but it’s definitely abating. I even did some grocery shopping on Thursday.

Friday, April 28th – Spent all day doing laundry. All.Day. Of course, I have more to do now, but it was nice while it lasted. And hopefully all that activity won’t re-injure my back.

Saturday, April 29th – Hubby and the boys went camping, so P and I spent the day scrapbooking with hubby’s sister and mother. It was a very good day, and I was exhausted by the end of it. Who knew scrapbooking was so labor intensive?

Sunday, April 30th – P and I went to the dollar store to buy some more scrapbooking supplies (to all scrappers out there: check out your local Dollar Tree. They’ve got great stuff!), then we picked up Sonic for lunch and ate it here at home. Hubby and the boys got home around 3:00, then hubby and I mowed and edged the front lawn. Then we all went to the in-law’s house for dinner. We even watched “Shane,” the old Alan Ladd movie. Got home around 9:30 and put the kids straight to bed.

Monday, May 1st – Played a serious catch-up game with my blog. Even hubby has been nagging me to update it. I hope you’ve all been doing well. As soon as I get a minute, I’m going to catch up on reading your blogs, too!

Tuesday, May 2nd – Had lunch with sisters today. It was nice to see them. Just got back from lunch (Tnk paid the bill, but I said I'd leave the tip). It was really good to sit and visit for awhile. Tnk is doing well - she's healing nicely, although her hands are going to have some serious scarring. But her demeanor was good, and she's motivated to get back to 100%, so I'm optimistic about her recovery. I still get sad, though, when I realize how close we came to losing her. I can't even think about that - it makes me cry every time. In spite of everything, they're my family and I love them.

Good news: The drunk who hit her still sits in jail, and it's been about 50 days since the wreck. Thank God for small favors. Or big ones. This might qualify as a big one.

And Pezzie – I’ve missed you guys, too. :)

I AM ALIVE

Just been out of it for a few weeks. I promise an update very soon. I know you're all waiting with bated breath... ;)

XOXO,
Moi

WHADDAYA THINK?

I like this new format. It fits the new me, don't you think? All lighthearted and gay...yep, that's me.

Today I availed myself of the local thrift shop, where I got some really nice clothes for some really crazy-cheap prices. Even scored a pair of brand-new-with-tags Gap khakis for $1.25. Now that, my friends, is a good deal.

I was able to shop today for two reasons: (1) my foot is feeling better, and (2) we're going to Florida, baby! And get this - we're flying. We got a great deal from Hotwire.com, so we decided to go for it. In a way, I'm relieved we're not going to be spending 25 hours in the car. On the other hand, I'm scared freakin' snarfless of flying.

Stupid 9/11.

I'm not a chicken, really, but I do admit to wondering aloud how early in the morning I'm allowed to have hard liquor before I board a plane. Okay, not really. Well, not really that you know. Heh. [sigh]

In other, less exciting news, some of our digital cable channels went out this morning. Frustration ensued. We can't get Food Network (ch. 52), nor any channel over 100. I've already called the cable company, but unfortunately they can't fix it just by sending a new signal, so a service tech is scheduled to come out tomorrow afternoon. Bleh, I hate waiting on techs, particularly when I'm home alone.

Oh my dog, I am a chicken. Buh-GAWK!

THIS IS WHAT FOOLISH PEOPLE DO

This weekend I did this tour with my sister in law and mother in law:


Basically, I wasted fifteen bucks and killed my feet. Seriously, I killed my feet. Okay, just the right foot, but it hurts enough that both of them wish they were dead.

A word of advice: If you're going to take a walking tour, wear walking shoes.

I know, I know, that's so obvious that it technically doesn't qualify as advice. But did I take my own "advice"? I think we all know that I did not. I foolishly went straight from church to the tour. Actually, that's not true; I did go home first. But I didn't change shoes because I was thinking we'd drive to each house, get out, walk through, get back into car, drive to next house, lather, rinse, repeat. Only that's not what happened. We drove to the bus stop, rode bus to first house, stood in the heat for 35 minutes just to get in to the house, then caught the bus again.

This pattern would have worked, had we stuck with it, but nope. After the second house (a beautiful 3-story of recent construction - ripoff, in my opinion; this was supposed to be a historical tour) SIL said, "it's just a few blocks to the next few houses - let's walk!" I said, "..."

So the fault lies completely with me for not speaking up. The moral of this story is that cute little 3" wedges are good for church, but suck for walking tours.

First of all, what the heck is up with the title-less blog entries? I can't do titles this morning - the box is completely missing, no matter how often I re-sign in or refresh this page. Growl. Anyway, if it ever shows up again, this will be the title of this post:

Somewhat Plagiarized

This post, that is. The following is a little ditty my husband wrote up for me (speaking as if from me, even) after the chaotic events of last Tuesday. And I quote...

My opinion on opinions
"The thing is: I don’t think the blog issue is something to be UPSET about. I do think it is something one can have an opinion about. In this case, my opinion differs from that of my sisters’ -- and guess what? I realize my differing opinion doesn’t trump theirs. If I had known their opinion, I would have respected it and taken my online therapy down. That’s the really cool thing about opinions: they don’t all have to be the same. In fact, something the most vociferous and opinionated of Americans fail to realize is that opinions can even be mutually exclusive and both be correct. Opinions are not truths.

I realize this and would have shelved my opinions for the sake of my sister’s (or sisters’, since they often act as one) comfort.

The question here isn’t whether my opinion on blogs is better than another’s opinion on blogs; the question is: should one bestow so much sanctity to their capricious opinions that those opinions must be fed by the ruin of others. Do one’s opinions deserve more attention than one’s humanity, civility, or familial love? In America that seems more and more the case…and it certainly does in this family."

I couldn't agree more, hubby. Thank you for always, always having my back.

I didn't have to cook last night...

...because my daughter made dinner instead. She's only 8 years old, but she made some delicious vegetarian lasagna from a kids' cookbook that she bought at book fair. The only parts I helped with were separating the egg and putting the dish into the oven. That's it! I am so proud of P. Man, I wish I'd taken a picture of her cooking - she was absolutely beaming.

She's supposed to cook again tonight (spaghetti squash this time), but we'll see if she wants to. Sometimes the school day just sucks the energy right out of you. If she does end up cooking, I'll definitely take pictures.

In other news, hubby and I are going to Florida next month to see Alan Parsons. Airfare to the sunshine state is ridiculous this time of year, so we've decided to drive. We'll be covering about 3000 miles in about 4.25 days. Don't worry, it sounds worse than it is - hubby and I are actually excited at the prospect of spending a few days alone together. (Gotta love grandparents! :)

I spent most of yesterday and part of today online trying to figure out the best deals on car rentals, hotels, and the like. I love this kind of stuff. I always wanted to be a travel agent, and now I get to pretend I am one.

Update on K: He is still wearing his splint and sling to school, but per doctor's orders, he takes both off at night. For the most part, his arm is healing very well, but it does ache after awhile. He ices it down nearly every night. Next Monday, K starts taking private guitar lessons. He's SO excited about that - so much so, in fact, that he's actually bringing some of the arm-achiness on himself: he practices guitar every night so that he'll be "ready" when the lessons start. I'm proud of his perseverance, but sometimes I do wish he'd take a little time off to rest his arm.

Update on R (since I haven't talked about him in awhile): Last night was the end of the one-month deal we made with him about Karate. [Deal: We pay for one month; you stick it out for one month. Period.] Up until yesterday afternoon, he was saying, "Only one more class to go! Yay!" But then last night he changed his mind and said he wants to stay in the class. I don't know what caused the turnaround, but I am so happy that he's decided to follow through with this. We're still doing the "one month paid/one month committed" deal with him, and will continue to do so as long as he's enjoying it. Personally, I think he likes it because he "owns" it. Meaning, K and P do not do Karate. He's a big shot in his little world. What a sweetie.

Update on Me: Well, this week has been very quiet so far. And that's a GOOD thing! I haven't been able to see Tnk since last Friday, which sucks, but I understand how busy she is with all her doctor appointments. Hopefully I'll be able to visit with her tomorrow. And the other good thing is that I have no funerals to attend this week. That I know of...oh dear, I hope I didn't just jinx myself!

Well, now you're all caught up. I'll post tomorrow about whether Pey cooked or not. Maybe I can even figure out how to attach pictures here with my camcorder (don't have the luxury of a digital camera yet, but hubby wants one before we go to Florida - we shall see!).

Day late; Dollar short

I know it's not Thursday, but this looked fun.

Thirteen Things about Trace 1. I love to scrapbook, but rarely find the time or inclination to do so. 2. I am so frustrated right now I want to scream. 3. My kids are the best, but I do not want to have another one. Might jinx myself. 4. I struggle with my body image on a daily basis. 5. I don't have many friends, but the ones I do have are amazing. 6. I want to go to church more often. 7. I do not like or respect my biological father (see amended "Numb" post). 8. I love having manicures, but hate getting them done. 9. I am a fantastic speller, and typos stress me out. 10. I want to go to Europe someday, but am terrified of flying. 11. I have met Alan Parsons twice; Steve Burns (yep, the Blue's Clues guy) three times. Alan is more talented. Steve is much more fun. 12. I am afraid of going back to work someday. 13. I want to meet more of my Internet friends. Links to other Thursday Thirteens! 1. (leave your link in comments, I’ll add you here!)

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The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others comments. It’s easy, and fun! Be sure to update your Thirteen with links that are left for you, as well! I will link to everyone who participates and leaves a link to their 13 things. Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!

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Hmm

Catchy title, is it not? My creative juices aren't flowing as abundantly as usual.

Yesterday I went to Jen's mom's funeral. It was excruciating. So much so that I had to leave the building for several minutes in order to compose myself. When I looked at the casket, I envisioned two things: one, my own mother in the same silver casket several years ago; two, Tnk, had things been different. Strangely, it was the latter that had me crying so hard I couldn't catch my breath.

I called both of my sisters on the way home yesterday and told them in no uncertain terms were they allowed to die. Ever. Capisce? They both agreed that this was a good plan. I made the same deal with my husband. So there you go - none of my loved ones are allowed to exit the mortal plane; y'all help me keep an eye on them, okay?

K rode the bus to school for the first time in weeks this morning. I hope things went well for him. He's still wearing a splint and a sling (doctor's orders - four more weeks), so he struggles sometimes. His arm often aches in the evenings, and we've found him more than once sitting in a chair with an icepack on his arm. Overall, though, he's doing better.

I am now in the midst of doing laundry, so I'd better get off the computer for awhile. Darn laundry, always messing up my loafing plans.

Amy is not evil, and other newsflashes

Today I received a beautiful bouquet of flowers from none other than our own Evil Amy. I have really been feeling the love here lately, and I seriously cannot tell you how much you all mean to me. Without your support, these past two weeks would have done me in.

So thank you, Amy. The flowers are lovely - even moreso because I know the thought that was behind them. You're a terrific person. I'll try not to let that get out. ;)

When it rains...

My best friend lost her mother yesterday. Jen's mom had been very sick for a long while. While I am glad that she is no longer in pain, I am still so sad for Jen and her family.

It's never easy to lose a loved one, but when it's your mom, the pain runs so deep that it can become unbearable. Seven years have passed since I lost my mother, and the sharp stabs of grief have certainly (and blessedly) dulled over time. Yet I would be remiss if I didn't admit that there are still days when the tears flow freely.

For Jen, my prayer is this: that your happy memories of your mom are stronger than your sad ones; that your husband and beautiful children are a comfort to you during this difficult time; and that you never forget that I love you and am here for you.

Mrs. C, may your journey into the next life be a blessed one. We'll see you on the other side.

All my love,
Trace

Numb

Guess what? I got some sleep last night, and was not excruciatingly tired all day today. I thought I was starting to recover from the events of the past two weeks; apparently, however, I am just numb.

My biological father went to the doctor today complaining of a painful lump on his arm. The doctor took one look at it and said he needed to do a biopsy as soon as possible.

So now, on top of everything else, it is possible that my father has cancer. Honestly, when he called and said, "I really need to talk to you," I knew it was bad news. I was not surprised. I did not know what to say.

I should be shocked. Scared. Worried. Sad. Instead, I'm just numb. I can't even squeeze out a single tear for my father. I guess I am all cried out.

Am I awful?

Edited 3/23/06 to add that last night I had a huge blowup with him. I have spent years trying to forgive and forget many, many wrongs he has committed. But no more. I cannot let my children be exposed to that type of behavior, and thus have cut him out of my life. Naturally, I still do not want him to have cancer, but now I have even less emotion about this than before. Overall, I wish him well. And I'd like him to know that these two letters would definitely help: "AA".

I know that if I was reading this blog for the first time, I might be thinking that the writer was making this stuff up. Lord help me, I wish I was. Instead, tomorrow I will wake up from this awful dream ... and still be living it.

I know that you all are probably sick of praying over me right now, but if you could fit in just one more word with the man upstairs, I would be forever grateful.

Happy Birthday, Ry!

My middle kiddo is ten years old today. I am not sure how on earth an entire decade has gone by already, seriously.

To my son: I am continually amazed at your warmth, your intelligence, and your humor. You are a light in my life - always ready with a kiss and a smile - and I thank God for sending you to me. Your dad and I love you very much.

So have a terrific birthday, kiddo. Here's to a few more decades under your belt.

Monkey hugs!

And now for something completely different

Katiefleck directed me to this rather introspective website: Johari Window

The Johari Window was invented by Joseph Luft and Harrington Ingham in the 1950s as a model for mapping personality awareness. By describing yourself from a fixed list of adjectives, then asking your friends and colleagues to describe you from the same list, a grid of overlap and difference can be built up.

Here's mine: Pleyton's Johari Window

I am looking forward to hearing others' opinions about me, so if you have a minute, please visit the website and click on a few words that describe how you think I am. (You don't have to sign up for anything in order to do this, by the way.)

On another note: K is doing a little better today. He slept some last night, and his arm pain now registers only about a 6 without meds. With meds, he says the pain is like a 2. The biggest frustration for him right now is that he's bored - books are hard to hold open with only one hand, video games are all but out of the question, and TV is "boring" after so many hours (which I completely agree with). Hopefully the arm will heal quickly and Kane will be back to 100% soon.

Thank you, and good night

First of all, thank you to everyone who posted their well wishes here. Your words stayed with me today, and I thank you for the comfort you all brought.

Fish, a special thanks to you for calling me so early this morning and praying over our family and the doctors and all. You have no idea how much I appreciate your friendship. Thank you from the bottom of my heart.

Now for the "good night" part: I am exhausted. Scratch that - K and I are exhausted. I barely slept a wink last night. K slept some, but still, we had to get up at 4:45 a.m. in order to be at the surgery center by 5:30. (By the way, both of those times should be forever stricken from the clock, if you want my two cents. Just.too.early.)

We got K all checked in at 5:30, and they put him into the pre-op room by 5:45. He got his first-ever IV line, which was a less-than-pleasant experience for him, but he was a real trooper and barely even winced. We then spent the next two hours waiting for the operation. That's a long time to sit and worry, but I'm pretty sure that's what K and I both were doing. The doctor came by and talked to us for a few minutes somewhere in there, but he had to take care of another child's surgery before he could get to K. Thus the delay.

[Sorry if this post rambles. I am beyond exhausted right now.]

Sometime after 7:30, the anesthesiologist came in and gave Kane what he called "happy juice." I'm pretty sure K was feeling no pain. Then they wheeled him into surgery. Over an hour later, the doctor came out and told hubby and me (hubby had arrived during that time, having had adventures of his own this morning - getting the little ones on the bus, and chasing our goofy dog down the street again - but I digress) that K's surgery had gone well. He also showed us some X-rays:

Before:





Annnnd After:



The first one still makes me shudder. That break had to have hurt something fierce. My poor baby...

The second one is less gross. It's strangely comforting to know that Kane's arm will be stronger than ever. Of course, we'll have to deal with having all that stuff removed in a few months (ugh!), but in the meantime, his injured arm will be safe.

When we saw K in the recovery room, the first thing he asked was if it was over yet. (Gotta love those drugs.) Then he dozed on and off for a little while, awakening several times to tell the nurse that the pain in his arm was a 9 on a scale of 1 to 10. Two IV shots of Demerol, and one straight-in-the-butt shot of Demerol and Phenergren later, the pain was finally bearable enough for him to get dressed.

We left the surgery center sometime after 11:00 a.m. K is still having a lot of pain in his arm, despite the Tylenol with codeine he's taking, and he cannot lift the arm without help. Right now I'm not all that worried - I'm pretty sure this is normal. But if we don't see some improvement by Monday, I'll be calling the doctor again.

But for now, I think a good long nap is just what the doctor ordered. Thank you, and good night.

Hold me...

Today K saw the orthopedic doctor, who informed us that the break in his arm was bad enough to warrant surgery. So at 5:30 tomorrow morning, we have to be at the surgery center so that his ulna can be plated. The surgery is at 6:45 a.m.

Fortunately, it's outpatient surgery, so we should be home by lunch.
Unfortunately, as with any medical-related issue, it is going to be very expensive.
Fortunately, this doctor will work with any insurance. In our case, that means he's pretty much waiving our deductible.
Unfortunately, the surgery center has no such deal. We have to cough up a bunch of money for them first thing tomorrow.
Fortunately, K's doctor came highly recommended, so we have faith that his arm will be as good as new in a few months.
Unfortunately, despite having the very best surgeon, K's soccer season is over. :(
Fortunately, Spring break is next week, so he should be able to heal quite a bit over the next few days.
Unfortunately, K will have to have surgery again in about a year so that the plate can be removed from his arm.

Please keep us in your thoughts and prayers. We can use all the help we can get.

Kodak moments

Saturday morning, K had a soccer game. A bunch of family went - hubby, the littles, me; my stepdad, my brother, and hubby's mom. Pretty much a full complement (compliment?). The weather was absolutely beautiful that morning. Seriously, I can't think of a better soccer day EVER. And I've been to more than my fair share of soccer days.

K was chosen to be one of the team captains at this game, which is kind of a big deal for the kids because they get to go onto the field before the game and shake hands with the opposing team captains, plus they get to talk to the refs all adult-like and such. I had taken my camera to this game to get some action shots (scrapbooking! yeah!), and I got a good one of the team captains on the field. I don't often take my camera, and I didn't know K would be captain, so it was pretty cool that I was able to take pictures.

So the game starts, and K's team is doing well. I even got that action shot I was talking about. Then about twenty minutes into the game, three kids go after the ball and end up in a pileup. K was on the bottom. But the kids all jump back up and continue vying for possession. My stepdad even said, "Way to get back in there, K!"

As K heads off down the field, I noticed that he was rubbing his arm and grimacing. I asked his dad to go check on him, so he went around the field and called to K, who told him that he was okay. Hubby headed back to tell me what K had said, but by then I'd noticed that K's forearm was bending the wrong way. I met hubby halfway and told him to get K off the field now.

By the time he got off the field, he was in tears. In typical prepubescent-male fashion, had tried to run it off. But the pain was getting to be too intense. As we sped toward the emergency room, he started to hyperventilate. Drawing from my own pain experience (mostly childbirth x3), I taught him how to breathe more slowly. Surprisingly, that seemed to help. (I say "surprisingly" because it sure didn't help me birth three babies. Anyway.)

Three hours later, we were discharged from the hospital - K in a fiberglass splint with a broken ulna, and me with his referral to an orthopedic specialist.

Side note: Because I had my camera, I'll be able to scrapbook that day. I'm not sure I want to, though. Well, eventually I probably will, but right now it is not something I want to remember at all. I keep visualizing him running down the field with his arm bent backwards, trying to be strong. It brings tears to my eyes every time. He is such a wonderful kid, and I love him so much.

I'm spoiled

Well, not really spoiled, but whenever I get a haircut during the day when other mommies are at work, I feel uber-pampered. After cutting my hair (just a trim, really) the hairdresser spent about 45 minutes drying and styling it. 45 minutes! That's a long time, especially since she was the only worker in the shop, and three people were waiting.

Okay, yeah, today I'm spoiled.

One bit of bad news: Tnk adopted a new little dog (Sophie) last week, and she is just over the moon about her. But at 3:00 a.m. this morning, Tnk had to rush Sophie to the emergency clinic. It turns out that the poor thing has kennel cough and pneumonia. Neither of them got any sleep last night, either, so Tnk is exhausted. And she has to work the night shift tonight. Goodness, I'm not sure who I feel worse for...

Please keep Tnk and Sophie in your thoughts and prayers. As much as I gripe about my silly dog, I can't imagine how much it would hurt to lose her.

Accomplishments

1. Five loads of laundry. Thought I was done. Then the kids brought down their laundry hamper. Three more loads. Crap.

2. Bathed the dog. Pleasant doggie smell didn't last five minutes, unfortunately. Bailes went out to poop and came back smelling like doggie sweat. I should be thankful she didn't smell like crap. Okay, I am thankful for that.

3. Found cool Easter craft project for P to do. It's a cute little sewing project (pre-punched holes; felt bunny; plastic needle), but it's apparently frustrating. The yarn is too long; it tangles too easily; the bunny's ears keep flipping backwards...you know, the usual stuff that keeps us up at night.

4. Blogged twice today. My only self-complaint is that I wish I could remember all that I want to say. My posts are frustratingly short (to me, anyway). One day I'll sit down and write that All-American Blog Entry; just you wait.

5. Made a scrapbook page for my sister Tnk. If I do say so myself, the page came out beautifully. I think I'm going to frame it so she can hang it in her house. As some of you know, she bought the house we grew up in, and we've been working on it for months now. During our demolition projects, we've come across a bunch of small pieces of wallpaper that somehow remained on the walls after all these years (usually behind curtain rods, which explains the nail holes). Some pieces are better than forty years old. I've been collecting all the pieces, and here's the page I made:




Oh yeah, the Monopoly card. I don't know why, but that one card never seemed to make it back into the box, no matter how many times we played the game. Years after I was grown and gone, I could still find it sitting on Mom's bookshelf. It may seem silly, but to me, it represents our childhood and the fun the five of us kids often had.

Musings for my own amusement

So I renamed all my blogger peeps today - see left sidebar. I couldn't bring myself to say that Pez is sour, nor could I come up with a good "F" word that went with "Fishbowl." "Fishbowl Fanatic"? "Fishbowl Flippancy"? "Fishbowl Food"? None of those seemed to "work," so I went the boring route. If I think of anything cool later today, I may change it. But maybe not, as it's my "prerogative." And I do solemnly vow to try and cut back on my use of the "quotation mark."

As I type this, I'm preparing to take K to school for math tutoring. My niece's school has a cool name for it - "Math Club." Once you get to junior high, it's just tutoring. Sometimes K thinks it also means "help for the dumbass," but of course it doesn't. (And by the way, he never said that D word - that was just me making up cool phrases again.) He's way too hard on himself.

Things have been scooting along here at the Pl3ytime household. I could type more, but then K would be late for tutoring. So I'll see y'all later.

Tagged by a Pez!

Four Jobs I've had in my Life:
1. H&R Block receptionist
2. Leasing agent
3. Executive secretary
4. Transcription supervisor
Four Movies I'd Watch Over and Over
1. The Wedding Singer
2. Shanghai Noon
3. Grease
4. Steel Magnolias
Four Places I've Lived:
1. Houston
2. Homestead, Florida
3. Austin
4. Spring, Texas (hmm, I'm seeing a rather strong pattern here)
Four TV Shows I like to Watch
1. Olympics (granted, this is … um, seasonal, lol)
2. Desperate Housewives
3. DIY Scrapbooking
4. America's Funniest Home Videos
Four Favourite Places I've been on Vacation:
1. Belize
2. Lowry City, Missouri
3. Miami
4. Florida Keys
Four Web Sites I Visit Daily:
1. My own blog, natch
2. SAHP Forum
3. Delphi Forums
4. Comics
Four of my Favourite Foods:
1. Nachos
2. London Broil
3. Oreos
4. Chocolate-covered peanuts
Four places I'd rather be right now:
1. On the beach
2. Spending the week at the Omni Hotel in Austin with my hubby
3. At the thrift store
4. Under the covers
Four People I feel sorry for because they're getting tagged:
EMTsis, Tnk, Evil Amy, Snapper

Updates!

Forgive me, bloggers, for I have sinned. It has been over a week since my last blogfession.

So without further ado, here's a recap of the past weekish's events:

Rain Rain, Go Away

The weekend of the 11th found the greater Houston area deluged with the wet stuff. As a result, K's first soccer game of the season was cancelled. As he was supposed to be at the cold, godforsaken fields at 7:30 a.m., Mom was not exactly heartbroken.

Happy Early Heart Day

Hubby came home with a dozen beautiful pink roses tonight. They smelled SO good. I love you, hubby.

Happy Heart Day

Despite the fact that K had soccer practice tonight, Valentine's Day was actually fun. I'd bought a bunch of little things for the kids (like storage cubbies for their rooms - SO cool, by the way; I'll post pictures later) and hubby ("Truth or Dare" card game; chocolate...ahem, there will be no further update on that). I had also picked up a bunch of helium-filled heart-shaped balloons at the dollar store. [Aside: Dollar Tree is THE way to go for balloons. Seriously.] Anyway, after soccer practice we ordered pizza and sat around opening our little gifts and just enjoying being a family. Hubby had gotten the new Collective Soul CD from Amazon that day, so we were serenaded by "live" music, too.

What a great night.

It's Green!

This was my week for our sisterly workday get-together, and I decided we'd paint my master bedroom. (My sisters love me.) Tnk and I went to Home Depot so that I could force her to choose what color my bedroom should be. (She's so good at that.) She chose "Surrey Beige," which is greener than it sounds. It's gorgeous. Hubby and I love the color, and our bedroom looks a million times better than it did before. Best of all, I think my sisters and I are all over having sore muscles by now. Right, sisses?

Well, we'd better be not-sore - tomorrow we're painting Tnk's office. Payback's a bitch, y'all.

News on the job front

Hubby was flown to Dallas for a job interview last Friday. Weird, since the job is in Houston, but whatever. It sounds like they really want him, so now we're into the "fill out this application; how much money do you want; haha, you're funny, no seriously; etc." process. Fun.

Rain Rain, I thought I told you to go away!

The rains returned on Friday, and continued through most of Saturday. K's soccer game was rained out for the second week in a row. At this rate, we'll be playing Spring 2006 soccer games in December 2008.

P had her first Girl Scout camp this weekend. The weather couldn't have been worse. It rained almost constantly, and the high temperature Saturday was a balmy 39*. Their cabins had electricity, but no heat. The girls and leaders called it quits a day early, so I found myself driving out to pick them up Saturday night. That was pretty miserable in itself. But I don't blame them one bit for wanting their nice warm beds. Brrr.

K's Sunday soccer game did end up being played. It was cold there, too, but at least the fields were fairly dry. They won 3-1, so the season is off to a great start. Congrats, K!

Mmmm, Food!

Last night we went to dinner at hubby's parent's house. Hubby's sis and her hubby were there, too. MIL made lasagne with garlic bread and two great salads - one green; one fruit. She also made brownies and homemade hot fudge sauce for dessert. I was pretty proud of myself. I had one small serving of lasagne, one decent-sized salad, and a lot of fruit. And NONE of the chocolate, which is a feat in and of itself. The patting sound you hear is emanating from my back.

And now we're up to today. Not much to report at the moment, but give it time. I'm sure I'll come up with something exciting for you. Eh, who am I kidding.

Toodles!

Public Service Announcement

The following Girl Scout cookies have been tested by a panel of experts (my kids and me), and have been found to be tasty and addictive:

Lemon Pastry Cremes
Thanks A Lots
Peanut Butter Patties
Peanut Butter Sandwiches

This has been a public service announcement from your friend in Houston. Be warned: If you value your waistline, avoid the above-mentioned evils at all costs. Straight from the devil, they are.

That is all. Have a nice day.

Bad mommy

Yesterday I received an e-notice from R's school that he was in the hole $1.10 on his lunch money account. As I always send in the same amounts for all three kids, and K had $4.00 left at the time, I was curious as to why R's account was so low.

He'd mentioned before that he liked to buy "extras" after lunch - generally fruit rollups and the like - and that those cost an extra 50 cents per day. Apparently that adds up quickly, so this morning I fussed at him and told him to stop buying extra things at lunch, that we couldn't afford it, and basically that he was bleeding us dry. (Not exactly true, but I had to make my point.)

R looked sheepish, which made me think, "Aha, he IS buying fruit rollups every day! Well, I'll put a stop to that!" That's when he told me about Akhilesh, the new student in his class. Akhilesh just moved here from India, and he had had no lunch money for two days. On his own, R was buying extra food so his new friend would have something to eat.

Never felt so small in my life.

Way to go, kiddo. I love you so much.

Today I made 15-bean soup

And boy, was it good. I got up at 1:30 a.m. to put the beans on to soak (I'd forgotten to do so last night), then started cooking them at 6:30 this morning. By 9:00, the house smelled great. I could hardly wait until lunchtime. In fact, I am still not sure how I held out until 11:00.

My sisters were supposed to come over today and help me with some stuff around the house (we've been alternating weeks at each other's houses), but neither of them could make it. Tnk's dog got very sick last night, so she didn't get much sleep at all. EMT fell yesterday and hurt her knee again. It's pretty swollen, and she's going to the doctor tomorrow. Please keep her in your thoughts and prayers - she's been struggling with her ACL injury since last summer, and this setback is discouraging for her.

Take care of yourself, sis. And let me know if there is anything I can do to help. I'm always here for you. Hey, do you need some soup? ;)

Today I saw the inside of a police station

Intrigued? Heh. Well, fortunately for me, my visit to the station was not under duress. I ran an errand with my sister Tnk today, then she drove me out to where she works. It was pretty cool seeing all the police cars and police scanners and such. I even met one of her bosses - a big bear of a man with a heart the size of Montana. It made me happy to know that she's being watched over by the good guys.

It also made me happy to run errands with Tnk today because our main purpose of driving out to BFE today was to pick up her Kevlar vest. Finally. I can't tell you how relieved I am that her heart and lungs will be more protected now. She pooh-poohs my concerns, but I hope she knows deep down that I only nag her because I love her.

If you haven't seen the latest police vests, they're really pretty cool. They are much thinner than the Michelin Man vests of the past. In fact, I kept poking Tnk's vest and asking the sales guy if he was SURE it would stop a bullet. He assured me it would. Then he laughed at me, which I didn't appreciate much. I'm sure I seem like a goofy little civilian in that big ol' policeman store.

Tnk tried on her vest, it fit, then she had to sign over her firstborn in order to take it with her. Okay, not really, but they did make her write down her social security number before she could leave. I've heard that security measures have been stepped up, but this was the first time I'd seen it in action. Wow. I guess it makes sense, though - they only want the good guys to have that kind of protection.

After the policeman store (sorry, police "person" store), we drove out to the station. Turns out Tnk drives a long way to work every day. She doesn't mind, though, because she loves her job. And hearing her bosses talk about her, she's also good at it.

Proud of ya, Tnk. Keep up the good work. And hey - let me know when I can do that ride-along. I'd love to see you in action!

Yoga is real exercise. Who knew?

Did y'all know? Did I miss a memo?

Yesterday hubby and I discovered that one of the benefits of having digital cable is that you get some "free" channels (of course, we pay a hundred bucks a month for the freeness of cable and internet, but whatever). Anyway, among the freebies are exercise channels. There's a channel for cardio, one for toning and sculpting, one for yoga, and even one for underwater basketweaving, if I remember correctly. (I probably don't.)

So yesterday morning, hubby decided to watch one of the yoga programs. Me, I thought yoga was wussified (and watching yoga even more so) and decided to get down on the floor and do the exercises. Eleven minutes later, I had not broken a sweat and I felt no different. This was supposed to be "exercise"? Suuuure. Yoga, I was certain, was for girlie-girls who couldn't handle a "real" workout.

Today after the kids left for school, I did a different yoga program. This one was only nine minutes long. I'm thinking, cool, I can now tell everyone I'm "exercising." This easy exercise thing rocks.

A couple of hours later, I'm sitting at lunch with my sister and reaching for the pepper when suddenly my forearm muscles started to scream. I first thought, "wow, that pepper shaker is heavy." It weighed twenty pounds, I swear.

Thinking I'd just shake it off, I flexed my arms a little bit.

Yeaaaaah, I won't be doing that again soon.

M'kay, yoga, you win. You are actually a real form of exercise. I apologize for ever calling you wussified. May I please have my non-achy muscles back now?

Why is it so hard?

To come up with a topic to write about, that is. Maybe I need to come up with a list of things to write about, then I can pick one every day and blog away.

Ideas, anyone?

Life is moving right along. As I type this, hubby and the boys are playing an XBox game called Battlefront II. It's a Star Wars game. Anyway, they play a few rounds of this game a couple of times a week. I like it when they play because they're making memories and bonding. Heh. Actually, I like it because I'm left alone for a little while to piddle around on the computer, take an uninterrupted bath, or scrapbook.

Okay, that's a lie - I haven't scrapbooked at home in months. I did go to a crop a couple of weeks ago, and did about 50 pages there, but at home I have no motivation. I always think it sounds cool to crop, but I guess I'm too lazy to drag out all my stuff and get busy. Well, that, plus it makes a mess and I hate having a messy room - particularly since the room I craft in is also my formal dining room, which is very open. There are no doors to close it off in case someone stopped by.

Again with the messiness. No one cares, really. But *I* do, so my feelings are justified. Wow, I think I just psychoanalyzed myself.

This weekend has been fun for P. Friday night, she went to movie night at church with her best friend J, then J came over to spend the night here. The girls had a good time, and believe it or not, P's room was NOT a disaster area when J left. You could have knocked me over with a feather; I was so impressed. Then I discovered that the girls had put all the stuff from the floor on top of P's bed so that the dog couldn't get to it. Not the same as "clean," but it's a start, I suppose.

More weekend fun: Last night P went to her cousin's (my sister's) to spend the night. She was SO excited because she and E are the only girl cousins in the family. They're a year apart, and are very close. I hope they always stay that way. When I left, they were playing with E's air hockey table. Hmm, wonder why the girls like it so much better there than here...?

In a little while, we're going to my sister's house to watch the Super Bowl... wait, can I say that here? I've heard the NFL is anal about people putting those two words together. Like they don't have enough money. Good grief.

But I digress. We're going to sis's house for the "big" "game" and also because it's stepdad's birthday. It will be good to visit with family for awhile. Too bad Tnk has to miss the party - she's on duty tonight, keeping the streets safe for all the revelers. (Be careful, Tnk!)

One more thing: doggie update. Bailes is cute, and just like with babies, it's a good thing she is. She tore up the carpet the other day, and I was ready to toss her out with the dishwater. Seriously. Okay, not really. But I was pretty damn mad. There's a reason I didn't want another child, and having a dog, as it turns out, isn't that different.

At least there aren't diapers to contend with.

For Evil Amy, with evil love

You are not alone. I despair over things all the time. Sometimes I get so depressed that I resent the sun rising in the morning. I feel like a complete failure because (a) I have quit school, (b) I have lost the will to attend church, (c) I need to lose weight, (d) I bitch about things that don't matter, (e) all of the above, every.single.day.

Unlike your concerns (abortion is certainly a valid one), the things I get worked up over don't matter one iota in the real world. *gasp!* Someone made a flippant remark that annoyed me! Like *I* have never done that? And so what if someone left a mess behind when they left my house? If I wanted perfection all the time, I'd never open the damn door. I'd also get rid of my spouse, kids, and dog, which is not likely to happen, and I'm not sure cleanliness would be a good trade-off anyway.

What is my problem?

I live in a beautiful home, I have beautiful children, and I have an awesome family (including my in-laws; go figure). My biological father is a bit of a question mark, but I'd better not get into that here ... for many reasons. Anyway, big picture: I should spend my days counting my blessings, not complaining about everything else.

And I can assure you, that will never happen.

Whatever my problem is, I may never know. But I want you to know this, Most Evil One: you are NOT alone.

Dog days

The newest member of the family has arrived. Please give a warm welcome to our recent addition, Bailey!

We officially adopted Bailey on Monday, January 16, from a Scottie rescue agency. She is a Brindle Scottish Terrier who had been found wandering the streets in a town outside of Houston. She was obviously loved and cared for - when the rescue worker took her to the vet, they found that she had already been spayed, and had no heartworms (or fleas, yay!). They vaccinated her, so she is current on her shots. (Side note: I do hope she's not over-vaccinated - as I said, someone had obviously been taking care of her. Can dogs be over-vaccinated?)

Bailey is just over a year old. Her birthday is December 1; at least, that's what the Scottie rescue paperwork says. She's hyper sometimes, but the kids love that. Heck, hubby loves it, too. She sleeps on a blanket in our room at night, and is already housebroken (and yes, we know how lucky we are! LOL)

Welcome to the family, Bailey!

Today I learned electrical stuff

Hey, what's up, yo homey dogs? (That's "hello" to my children, in case you were wondering. They're so ghetto. And no offense intended, just in case my little joke is not P.C.)

So today I went to Tnk's house to help her with some more house-stuff. It's been a long road, but man have I enjoyed it. Tnk is all moved in to the house now, but there is still much work to be done. Today's chores included caulking the baseboards in her bedroom and changing out all of the old, yellowed, grungy electrical outlets and light switches with shiny new white ones. MAN did that make a difference! If you want to improve a room, just follow these steps: paint it; caulk the trim; change the outlets. Voila! Taj Mahal, baby.

Anyway, I learned how to change out a light switch - not just the plate, mind you; the whole wire-y thing. I felt so studly when I was done and the light actually came on! Go me. If you need help with this stuff, just let me know and I'll come over. You'll have to fly me to exotic locales like Washington and Michigan and Florida, of course, but I'll definitely come help you change your switches. Chances are, I'm cheaper than a real electrician.

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In other news, you may have noticed that my blogger friends' links have changed. I had a little fun with the names. It all started because Fish created a new blog, and I couldn't resist referencing the great Steve Burns when I linked her. Hey, don't laugh. The man behind Blue's Clues rocks - and not in a "hey, what happened to the cute green striped shirt he used to wear?" kind of way. He really does ROCK.

Anyway, Fish was the catalyst behind the fun little name changes. If you love your new nick, let me know. Evil Amy, I know you hate everything, but if you want to say something anyway, well, I can't stop you. Fire away!

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Last weekend we went to Austin for a day trip. It was so much fun! I'll blog more about it when I've got the pictures developed and I can post some here. Pictures make things so much more interesting, don't you think?

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Want to know what I think is stupid? Car dealerships who promise that if they can't beat a competitor's deal on a new car, they'll give you a car for free. Actually, I suppose the stupid one here is whoever believes that dumbass ad. Let's do the math: Car dealership either has to lower the price on a car by a few hundred (maybe thousand) dollars, or they give away a $15,000 car. Yeahhhhhhhh, that's gonna happen.

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I start school next Tuesday. I can't believe the time is here already.

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That's it for now. I'll try to get the Austin pics developed tomorrow so that I can make a uber-cool blog entry next time.

Ta ta!

De-lurk!

This is National De-Lurking week. Please post a hello in my comments section. And yes, you're allowed to say more than just "hello." But play nice, okay? ;)

The word is "definitely"

That's d-e-f-i-n-I-t-e-l-y. Not definately. Not defiantly. The first one is not a word; the second is how I act when people try to tell me it's spelled "definately."

While I'm at it...

• MOOT point.
• A Lot. Not Alot. NOT Alot.
• Voila. Not waa-lah. Not viola - which is an instrument, not an exclamation. At least not the last time I checked.
• Sincerely has a second "e." Sincerly is not a word, unless I've missed out on the sincer-ing trend. I didn't get the memo...
• Supposedly. Supposably is, as it turns out, a real word (gag). But it's almost never used correctly, so stop using it until you can use it in its correct context.
• Pregnant. Pregnate is not a word. It's stupid.
• Y'all. Y-apostrophe-all. Not ya'll. Unless you can tell me what "ya" is short for.
• Your - of or relating to you. NOT short for "you are."
• You're - "You." "Are." For cripe's sake, stop saying "Your welcome." My welcome...what? Mat?
• Too - Also. Or to an excessive degree. "I'm too tired." "I like that, too." If you say "I like that to," you're missing a word. You like it to what?
• It's means "it is." "It's the moose's hairpin."
• Its means "of or relating to it." Clarified: "The moose loves its hairpins."
• You could NOT care less. Saying you could care less is meaningless.

Most of all, though, definitely remember "definitely." My new quest in life is to rid the world of all definatelys and defiantlys. Mercy. It hurt just to type those out.

So I Google'd myself...

...and several different things came up. Most intriguing of all was this: Link to weird thing.

Anyone know what the heck that is? "Pl3ytime" (that would be me) has charts and graphs and "shares" and "B" money, oh my. But as it turns out, KatieFleck's site is worth oodles more dinero than mine. (No shocker there; I need a larger readership...how do I upload me some porn?)

Anyway. Oh, then there's Miss Doxie, who is off the charts with this B-money stuff. She's got like $72,000 B-dollars. That might be enough to buy some new elf-tights. (Inside joke; see her December posts.) Me, I've got about three grand B-bucks. Barely enough to buy a vowel.

So what does this all mean? There's a cyber donut in it for the first one to give me a decent answer. Don't laugh - cyber donuts have no calories, sugar, or fat, but they are ten times better than Krispy Kreme.

Hey, does Krispy Kreme know about B-dollars?

Three Words

Hook

'Em

Horns!

The University of Texas pulled off a fantastic comeback in the National Championship game last night against USC. UT quarterback Vince Young was un freakin' believable, although in a believable kind of way, if you're familiar with the way he works. He makes the unlikely likely.

Hmm, I'm having a hard time putting this into words. I'm still on cloud nine, so I guess my mental processes are goobered at the moment.

It was a great game. My heart was pounding the entire time, no lie. Then when Vince scored the touchdown to put UT ahead in the final seconds, I cried. Good grief, I cried over a football game. What a girl I am.

Guess I do bleed burnt orange after all.

Freaking me out to see myself staring back at me

So I'm going to post a quick howdy-do in order to get yesterday's post off the top of my screen.

Howdy-do!

How was everyone's holiday? Mine was great. We got to see several family members, and everyone got very nice gifts. P received a new sewing machine (she's 8...what was Santa thinking?), and the boys received the Lego Millenium Falcon as a joint gift from mom-in-law. It had over a thousand pieces, but somehow the boys were able to get it put together in record time. And without killing each other, if you can believe that.

Han Solo would be proud.

I received several wonderful gifts from my hubby. He took my Christmas list to heart! I received two Kelly Clarkson CDs (Yes, I am in fact 17. Shut up.). I also got some Anais Anais perfume (hubs calls it Anus Anus; ain't that funny?), some scrapbook supplies, a subscription to Rachael Ray Everyday magazine, and some essential oils to make the house smell scrumptious. Today's scent: Oh Christmas Tree. I like the pine smell around this time of year. As soon as the tree comes down, I think I'll switch over to the Christmas Memories oil. Get it? Since Christmas will be a memory? Ha, me funny.

Speaking of haha, did you guys know that Dollar Tree has Christmas stuff at half-price? Everything in the store is already just a dollar, so it seems funny to me that they'd drop it all down to fifty cents. I don't know why, but that just makes me laugh. Tuesday I laughed all the way to the bank, because the kids and I stocked up on little Christmas trees and silk poinsettia bunches and miniature light sets for fifty cents a pop. Man, I love deals.

That's about it from this little 'burb of Houston. We have no plans for New Year's Eve, darn it, so I don't foresee a cool "here's how drunk I got" post next week. But if things change and I do imbibe a bit, at least I won't freak myself out when I come here to post and find myself staring back at me. Yikes.

Little ol' me

Hey, it's me!


Yep, that's really me - in all my wavy-haired, smiley-faced glory. I'd just bought the teeniest little digital camera (five bucks on Target clearance rack - SCORE!) and was playing with it by taking pictures of, well, myself. I took about three thousand shots before I got one that I was willing to share on the Internet. Meaning: The picture looks like a version of me that *I* think I look like most of the time, and not one of the eleventy kajillion pictures that absolutely do NOT look like me. (Why oh why does smiling give you wrinkly eyes and double chins? Unfair, I say.)

So, there ya go. Howdy, world.

Hubby's Christmas gift

Well, the big one anyway. (Sorry for the crummy pics):





He's been wanting a grandfather clock for a l-o-n-g time, and I came across a great deal on one back in November. It's really nice looking, and the chimes are great, too. Best of all, it's powered by winding - no batteries. (Apparently battery-operated grandfather clocks are the root of all evil.) heh

Where's my stuff?

Like most Americans, many of my Christmas gifts were ordered through Amazon.com. I was so proud of myself - got all the stuff I wanted, got it all on sale, and got it ordered early. I've been preening around here like I'm all that with butter, because I'm ahead of the game this year!

Not so fast, kemosabe.

Day before yesterday, I got an email from Amazon which basically stated that some of my stuff had been returned to them as "undeliverable." I was like, this has GOT to be spam, because I'm all that with butter. But nope. Turns out, I'm not all that, and apparently I have no butter, as Amazon shipped all my stuff (probably my butter, too) to my OLD address.

I *know* I changed that address back in November, because my daughter's Barbie karaoke machine was shipped, via Amazon, right here to our current residence. I have since learned that what I actually changed was the shipping address, not the default address. Dude, that hurts.

So now I sit here in a panic with the rest of the free world, wondering how the heck I'm going to get all those items back in time for Christmas. I'm fairly sure that ordering online is out, because shipping prices and times are insane this week. And now the kids are out of school for Christmas, so they'll have to be with me when I go shopping. And worst of all is the fact that I will no longer be able to score such great deals - I've not seen the gift I bought for my father-in-law ANYWHERE for less than fifty bucks. (I'd ordered it for a fraction of that through Amazon.)

Everyone, hear me. Learn from my mistakes. Always check your shipping address when you order something online. And while you're at it, pass the butter, would you?

No!

Here is a list of things I do not want to do. I am, at this moment, crabby as hell; therefore it is likely I will name some things which I do actually want to do eventually.

But for now, I don't want to do these things. Not in this lifetime; not ever. I will never change my mind. Unless I do, in which case everyone is entitled to say...eh, please don't say anything. I hate "I told you so."

Onwards.

1. I do not want to go back to school in the spring.
2. I do not want my eyes examined, unless it it guaranteed I can have Lasik. Because I know I will need it. My eyesight is getting worse.
3. I do not want to cry, yet here I go.
4. I do not want to see "The Passion of the Christ." I consider myself a Christian, I know that Jesus died for my sins, and overall I am aware of his plight. No, I may not fully appreciate the intense manner in which he was killed, but it's MY decision not to see a movie about it if I choose not to. It's a movie, darnit. Come on.
5. I do not want to see another animated movie. (Unless, perhaps, it's done by Pixar, whose work I generally love.) If not wanting to pay for and sit through two-hour cartoons makes me a bad parent, well, OH MY GOSH, who died and made YOU judge?!
6. I do not want to buy a Bible for my daughter that has cartoony bugs on the cover.
7. I do not want to ... crap, I can't say that one out loud.
8. I do not want to watch the Lord of the Rings trilogy unless I decide to on my own. (What's with all the forced movie-watching? Enough already.)
9. I do not want to drive a minivan all my life. (I don't know where that came from....)
10. I do not want to use four ellipses at the end of a sentence. Three is enough. Who taught me that crappy rule?
11. I do not want to wrap presents that I did not purchase.
12. I do not want to miss Evil Amy's email, but it's not in any of my inboxes.
13. I do not want to whine about my life, as it's really pretty good. But whee! Here I go. Again.
14. I do not want to sit at home with my kids all next week.
15. I do not want to make plans every day while my kids are home all next week.
16. I do not want to go to the post office next week.
17. I do not want to buy more Christmas presents.
18. I do not want to miss Saturday Night Live. So that about wraps it up.

Have a good weekend.

Chronicles of Narnia

Good movie. The battle scenes may be a tad over the top for, say, five year olds and younger, but overall I do recommend it.

It's a little long, though - about 2:20. Something to keep in mind when you're choosing a movie to see with your little ones.

Awesome cinematography. Pretty actors. Cool wardrobe! Go see it if you get a chance.

See, hubby? I did not think it sucked at all.

Too hung over to take the kids to church

We-ellll, as you have probably gleaned from the title, last weekend was a doozy. (Doozie? Doozy? Doozy.) A former co-worker of hubby's held her annual Christmas gathering, to which we were invited. There were bushels of food, and pecks of liquor. It was like, deck the halls with boughs of wine. Thank goodness, too, since I knew exactly 3.5 people at this gathering, and my shy side was coming out. I just had to drown her with four large glasses of red wine, y'all. There is no shyness allowed at holiday parties, you know. Not at the fun ones, anyway.

So at the start, there I was, being all bored and stuff. I was chatting with a very nice lady (one of the 3.5 - she's the .5). But then she got up to greet a new arrival, and I was left alone in my uncomfortable straight-backed chair. Hubby was talking to Someformercoworker, which was fine, but I was bored. Then I was offered a glass of wine, and it was like manna from heaven. Okay, not really, but at the time it sure sounded good.

Partway through my first glass of wine, a couple comes in. The wife used to work with hubby; her husband is a self-made, fairly wealthy businessman. Oh, and also an ass. When I first met him, we were standing near the hors d'oeuvres table, and I was telling him that figleaf-wrapped rice bites were not as good as they sounded (gag). Two sentences later, he's telling me, "My wife doesn't draw a paycheck anymore." After I got over my initial reaction of "Figleaf...paycheck...wha??", I started thinking, "Hey, ass, you've got two beautiful daughters that your wife takes care of (thank God they both took after HER). Let's see a little respect, 'k?"

I left at that point, but a few minutes later, I'm somehow drawn into a conversation with my hubby, the ass, his wife, and some other people outside that familiar 3.5. Ass turns to me and this exchange follows:

Ass: "Do you work?"
Ass's wife: "She has three kids; of course she works."
Pley: "Yes, I'm a stay-at-home-parent."
Ass: "Do you draw a paycheck?"
Pley (thinking he's deaf; he can't be that stupid): "I, um, share with hubby."
Ass: "But how do you earn your spending money?"
Pley (gawd, I can't stand it anymore): "In the bedroom, of course."

Then I walked away, picking up dropped jaws all around. It was freakin' awesome.

The rest of the evening was not so much fun, although the wine did help me have several conversations with fascinating people who shall remain nameless because I cannot remember their names. Or faces. Or whether they were real people or actually lampshades.

I got violently ill later that night, and vowed once again (say it with me): NO DRINKING ON AN EMPTY STOMACH! This happens to me once every five years whether I like it or not (Not). You'd think I'd have learned by now.

And thus the title of this essay. I was still ill the next morning, and we all missed church. Which is a shame, actually, because I'm sure the pastor would have loved to hear about how I earn my spending money.

Christmas list

Believe it or not, I've completed most of my Christmas shopping. Yay! I'd love to list it all here, because I got some AWESOME deals, but I can't because my entire freaking family reads this blog. Gah!

Kimmer, I'll email you what I got for hubby, cuz you're special. ;)

So today I went to Tnk's house to help her unpack some stuff. We got a LOT of kitchen stuff put away, then we put the empty boxes out for the garbageman (funny how that made the kitchen seem ten times bigger). Then we went to IHOP for lunch, and we were good girls. Sis had the fruit and yogurt plate, and I had the low-carb chicken/broccoli/salad plate. It was hard to pass up the yummy-looking burgers and stuffed French toast, especially since we were starving, so I'm especially proud of us. Yay, Tnk-n-Pl3y!

By the way, Tnk is looking all hot now. She doesn't see it, but she's definitely lost weight since she started doing police work. Beeyotch.

Kidding on the beeyotch part. I don't want a ticket. Love you, sis!

So, in honor of eating well lately, my sis-in-law and bro-in-law are bringing over chili and chocolate cake tomorrow. (Have I mentioned they're coming over to watch the UT vs. Colorado championship game? Well, they are.) I'm thinking salad is on the menu for dinner tonight. Phooey. Eating healthy stinks sometimes. Okay, it stinks ALL the time.

Back to that first paragraph - turns out I'm not as done as I'd thought. I still have to get stocking stuffers. That can be either fun or torture, depending on the recipient. I mean, I'm sure my mother-in-law loves Carmex and Altoids, but how much is Santa allowed to bring to her before she starts asking WTHeck? (She doesn't curse. Much.) She'll be all, "Where's my jewelry?", and I'll be all, "Dang, woman, I already spent $9.37 on you; WTHeck?" (I don't curse much, either. Hey, stop judging me.)

Okay, I've actually spent more than nine bucks and change on her. Just so ya know. I'm not THAT cheap. ;)

By the way, if anyone has inexpensive stocking stuffer ideas (note my careful non-usage of the word "cheap"), please post them in the comments section.

Oh, and thanks to all who said my house was purdy. I just have to admit that I completely agree with you. I feel very fortunate to live here; I just adore this place. [contented sigh]

Pondering/Wondering: What's the diff, really?

Today I am specifically wondering if I'll ever get used to one of my kids not getting off the bus as they usually do. K is staying after school this afternoon in order to participate in Karma Chamel...er, Culture Club. The school bus just came and went, and even though I *knew* K wouldn't be getting off, my heart did a little flip-flop when the bus went by without stopping.

Weird stuff, parenting.

In other news: I'm also wondering why I cannot sleep when I am hot. I mean, I canNOT sleep unless there is a chill of some sort in the air. Last night was one of those times, which is odd because it was 40 degrees outside and the heater was off. I tossed and turned until 2:00 a.m., and as a result, I have been yawning all day. In fact, here comes one now....

[YAWN!]

Better get myself another hit of hot tea. Unfortunately, it's decaf, which won't help with the yawny situation, but at least the activity of it will keep me awake.

Oh, today I scrapbooked four lousy pages. It's not that I didn't have the supplies, or that S and I gossiped too much. Nothing interesting like that. Apparently, this is what happens when you have not scrapped in eleven months - you get out of the groove. (Has anyone seen Stella? Perhaps she can help me get it back.)

Tonight P has a Girl Scout meeting, but before that, we have to drive up to the school to get K. I can't wait to hear how the Boy George meeting went. (Okay, yes, I've got to stop that. But not just yet. heehee)

One more pondering: I got another free newspaper tossed onto my lawn today. Thank you, Houston Chronicle, for giving me another free crossword puzzle to do. Now my coffee shant be lonely.

Oops, thought I was done, but this just hit me: I also wonder why the neighbors are still paying a lawn service to mow when the grass ain't growing anymore. (I hear the buzz of the mowers and blowers as I type this. Hello, it's December.) I do realize why the lawn guys are doing it (cha-ching!), but *I* sure as heck wouldn't be paying someone to pretend to cut my grass. Must be nice to have disposable income. Maybe they could dispose some my way.

And with that, I must leave you. It's time to pick up K!

Hello, strangers

Okay, okay, I'm back. I haven't actually been "gone" - just lazy about updating my blog, I suppose. Sorry.

Since this post will definitely ramble on, I have made the executive decision to post in "list" form. There may be lots of parenthetical notations and quotation marks. Bear with me.

1 - No new car; at least, not yet. The old clunker is still running, and we're still trying to decide whether we should let it putter along for another year or so, or buy a new (or used; whatever) car now. I just don't know. In any event, nothing that monumental will happen before Christmas, as I am busy spending all our money on cool stuff to stick in pretty boxes under the tree.

2 - Okay, not really spending all our money. I'm actually doing VERY well this year on gifts. I am the great deal-finder. In fact, I bought the coolest thing for hubby today! It's a - HA, hubby, like I'd let you find out that easily. Keep on dreamin'.

3 - K has decided to join Spanish Club at school. Actually, there is no "Spanish" club, per se. All the foreign languages make up one big group called Culture Club. Yes, Karma Chameleon goes through my head every time I hear that - and now it's going through YOURS, too! Bwahahaaaa! Ahem. Well, K wants to make friends (or at least one friend; how sad is that?), and he (okay, "we") figured he'd do well to get involved in something.

4 - My body image sucks. Y'all, this is serious. I am 38 years old, and for some reason, I'm not getting any younger! What the hell? I knew it was serious when I went into a dressing room today and freaking cried when I saw my reflection. That is some serious shit. So here I go - low carbing (because it's been effective before), and exercise (because I have to; certainly not because I want to). To this end, I've been riding my bike every day, and I think I've progressed out of wussy-biker stage: I no longer want to throw up after a mile.

5 - My husband rocks. He is the most amazing person I've ever met, and I do not know what I'd do without him. And to him, I apologize for using the word "shit" in this post. Twice now. Sorry sorry, hubby hubby.

6 - Here's a picture of our new house. Okay, it's only "new" to us, and we moved in five months ago. Anyway, I think it's nice and I want to share it. Well, heck, I do not know what is going on with this picture - I've been trying to post it here for an hour - you'll have to click the ugly picture below to see it; sorry.

Click me:

7 - In this house, I finally have the banisters and stair railings that I've always wanted. Last night I wrapped pine garland around them, and they look so good, if I do say so myself. Maybe one day the fact that I have banisters and stair railings will not be so very exciting. But I doubt it.

8 - Tomorrow I will be spending the morning scrapbooking with a friend of mine. I'm so happy about that. She's going to come over after she drops her little boy off at preschool, and we'll be able to chat about whatever we want because there will be no kids NOR husbands around! Woohoo! Oh, and we'll probably get some scrapbooking done, too. Maybe. Heh.

9 - It has occurred to me that this post rambles on and is not all that exciting. Tough nookies.

10 - I'm just so respectful to all my blogger fans. HA!

11 - Hubby and I have another chance to take a trip next month, but are undecided about where to go. We'd like to go to Santa Fe, New Mexico, but that probably won't work out. West coast would be ideal (because hubby's dad is giving us some frequent flier miles, and the west coast apparently uses up the fewest), but neither of us are sure if we want to visit San Francisco right now. Thoughts, dear readers?

12 - It's cold in Houston right now. (Kimmer, stop laughing at me! I'm from Texas - anything below 60 is chilly to me! LOL!) I love love love cold weather. Well, "Texas cold." I'm not sure how I'd do in Michigan right now - my heaviest coat is probably considered a windbreaker to those in colder climes. Anyway.... I mention this right now as a filler for my post because my train of thought has jumped the tracks, and as my mind wandered, the first thing it thought was "hey, my feet are cold." Thus my comment. See how nicely this paragraph came full circle? I should totally be doing NaNoWriMo.

13 - Tnk got all moved into the house. There's still a bunch of work to be done on it, but she's living there now. She's even got running water! Woohoo, welcome to the 21st century, Tnk! (I kid; I'm a kidder.) She also got a cool job as a real live police officer. Props to you AGAIN, girl! I'm so proud of you!

14 - Other sis (hereinafter known as EMT) is doing well with her new leg-therapy dude. I am so glad she found a physical therapist who was not trained at Nazi boot camp. Sis is walking very well now, and at last 100% healing is on her horizon. I know she can't wait to get back to work - and the ambulances can't wait to have her!

15 - I'm enrolled in college for the spring (at last). I'm taking an accounting class, a business class, and a physical fitness class. I am excited about getting started, and my husband is excited that I'm getting back into the swing of learnin'. Yup. I need that degree - only about 30 more classes to go! [sigh]

16 - My kids are begging me for hot chocolate, so I'd better stop here. Hey, they haven't had dinner yet, either! Chop Chop, mom!

17 - You guys have a great week, and I'll try to update more frequently in the future. At least, I definitely promise to when and if we get that new car. :)

Time time time...see what's become of me

A better question might be, "Time time time, where the heck have you gone?"

The past few weeks have been so busy that I've met myself coming and going. I absolutely cannot believe that Thanksgiving is in five days. Seriously, my brain just will not wrap around that concept. And Christmas? Fuggedaboudit. "Black Friday" sounds more like death than fun right now.

Tnk's house is coming along, although it doesn't seem quite as close to done when you consider that her moving day is next freaking Wednesday. I don't want to freak out, but I'm starting to anyway. And it's not even my house! I guess I'm just so closely involved in the process that it feels like my problem. Or perhaps these are sympathy pains I'm suffering. I mean, Tnk's got enough to worry about, so maybe if we share the worries, I'll lighten her load.

Yeah, let's go with that.

Speaking of lightening loads, you may have noticed that the NaNoWriMo icon is gone from this page. I finally realized that a snowball in Hades had a better chance of survival than I did of finishing fifty thousand words in 30 days. Thanks anyway, Katie, for hosting the pic for me. I'll shoot for next year instead. I *think* Tnk's house will be done by then. ;)

This weekend we're babysitting EMT's dog. She is the sweetest little thing, and the kids adore her. You all know what this means, don't you? Santa's bag had better have enough room for puppy chow, is all I'm saying.

Today hubby and the boys are going to the Renaissance Festival. Thankfully, P has a Girl Scout thingie that she's committed to, so I didn't have to go to RenFest. I hate RenFest; sue me. It's too far away, costs too much, walking around in mud all day sucks (apparently the fairgrounds are perpetual mud), and EVERY single time I've ever gone, it has rained. Today's forecast says "cloudy," but I'm thinking, yeah, right. That's what they always say just to lure you in. When you get there, the skies open up and the only umbrellas for sale are made of PAPER (what the hell?). Oh, and turkey legs? Overrated.

In other news, the principal of K's school called me the other day and apologized profusely for the Cody incident. He took complete blame for the whole thing. No excuses were made, and man do I respect that.

Well, gotta run take P to Scouts. Then I have to go buy a new car for hubby. Oh, did I forget to mention that? Our Saturn (his current commuter car) is eleven years old and has over 157,000 miles on it. And now the "check engine" light will not go off. Couple that with the fact that the headliner is so shot that you think you have dandruff whenever you ride in the car, and I think it's time for a new vehicle. I just hate the thought of getting back into car payments again. It's been a blissful five months. But the last thing we need is for hubby's car to break down on some crazy ass Houston freeway.

And with that, I'm out of time. Have a good weekend, all.

Here we go again

Remember last week when K saw Cody (a.k.a. "little turd") erasing other students' PowerPoint presentations? Well, now we have a whole new can of worms, smashed open and crawling all over the friggin' place.

Below is an email I sent to K's teacher this afternoon. (I grow weary of having to babysit teachers and administration....)

Mr. Jones,

When I spoke with you last week regarding the fact that K witnessed Cody erasing PowerPoint presentations, you told me that when/if K was called down to the office to tell the principal what he saw, Cody would not be there. K's coming forward would be confidential; in fact, I specifically asked you about this and you assured me that he would be protected.

Yesterday K was called down to the assistant principal's office. Then D (another witness) was called in. Then Cody. All three boys were in the office at the same time. This is completely unacceptable.

Today Cody began bullying K and calling him names such as "fag" and "tattletale." Again, this is unacceptable.

I would like know what you and/or Mr. F plan to do alleviate Cody's bullying tactics. Please contact me at your earliest convenience.

Thank you.

I can't wait to hear what they have to say.

Memoriam (sigh)

Farewell to my grandfather, who passed away yesterday. Your memory will live on through your five children, seventeen grandchildren, and countless great-grandchildren.

May you rest in peace.

Recovering

This weekend we held P's 8th birthday party here at the house. In addition to the three little girls she invited, we also had lots of family members and friends in attendance. It was crowded around here, but also very warm and cozy. I enjoyed visiting with everyone (especially playing poker with T & J & siblings - heh).

The only problem was that I didn't order enough pizza to go around. Not nearly enough. Next time I'll do better.

Two of P's friends stayed for the slumber party. I don't know why they call it a "slumber" party, because there sure wasn't much slumbering going on! The girls were up until midnight, then up again by 7:00 a.m. They had a great time - the mess in P's room is certainly proof of that. The way I see it, though, a slumber party is not a success unless it takes you at least two days to clean up afterwards.

Hmm, wonder why I don't host more slumber parties.

Today I'm heading back to Tnk's house to work on getting it shipshape so she can move into it. Our biggest project today will be installing the new kitchen cabinets. I spent Friday priming and painting the kitchen, and can't wait to see the finished product.

So - this entry is a short one because I've got to run. Y'all have a good day now, ya hear?

It's Wednesday

Today I accomplished a major feat: I went to the grocery store. I had not been in well over a week, and our list was getting rather long. So I clipped some coupons and headed to Kroger this morning. I spent $114, after saving $24.14 with coupons. That's 21.17% off my grocery bill. Can't beat that with a stick. Go, me.

After grocery shopping, I drove K to school. (Yep, I got moving early.) During the drive, K told me about a kid in his Social Studies class who has been up to no good. Apparently, each class has been working on PowerPoint presentations. This little turd has taken it upon himself to open other classes' presentations, delete the information within, and re-save the file. That really ticked me off. I asked K if he'd told the teacher, but he said he had not because he didn't want to be obvious. I told him I'd contact the teacher for him, but in the meantime he was not to hang around Turdboy. He told me not to worry, that he'd already realized that "Cody is a jerk."

I'm so proud of my kid.

I spent the rest of the day working on sis's house. Today's adventures included painting the laundry room and shopping for crown molding for the living room. Tnk's cabinets were delivered today, and they look awesome. I am getting excited about seeing the finished product. After all this work, though, Tnk and I both wish we could snap our fingers and make that happen! Don't we, Tnk?

Tonight we celebrated P's 8th birthday. Dear Lord, how did eight years go by so quickly!?! Her little "party" was a study in simplicity - she wanted Burger King for dinner because they have the new Star Wars toys. {sigh} Then she wanted dump cake for dessert, which is incredibly easy to make. Then she opened two presents - one of which was the Barbie Karaoke Cam. Man, you'd have thought she won the lottery! She was so happy. I took pictures, but I was wishing I had a video camera to capture that moment.

Maybe I'll ask for a video camera for Christmas. Then *I* can do a happy dance.

Hap'Bur-day 2 Me

Today has been so good. I started it off by letting R & P miss their bus. Okay, that was unintentional - the driver was early again. Luckily hubby was here to drive the kids around to another stop so they could get on. Thank you so much, hubby.

K made his bus no problem. I think his driver was even a couple of minutes late, which was very considerate of him.

After the kids got off to school, I drove down to the DPS office to renew my driver's license. Yes, folks, that's always an enjoyable way to spend the anniversary of your birth - spend half the morning with surly people who don't like their jobs and are going to take it out on you. Oh, and don't forget the other surly people who are there for the same reason you are, and who are also going to take it out on you.

Heh, not today. There was no line at my DPS office this morning, and the workers I dealt with were very pleasant. For a moment, I thought hell had indeed frozen over. But then two morons got in line ahead of me. They were so unprepared that both of them actually left the window to go get money/registration/social security card from their cars! Even worse, the workers held their place in line. This was really only annoying because there were only two workers doing driver's licenses in the first place. So the nonexistent line turned into one about ten people long before I left.

Still, though. Only ten people + DPS office = happy fun day!

I, of course, was prepared, so my whole process took about a minute. That was a great birthday present, DPS. Thank you from the heart of my bottom.

I was back home by 9:20, and my sister Tnk came over about an hour later. She brought me a small but suspiciously heavy present. It was a picture frame stuffed in among packing peanuts. Well, a new-and-improved version of packing peanuts. Packing "peanut butter candies" - my favorite halloween candy of all time. Sweet of her to remember that.

Sis then drove me out to have lunch with her and my other sister (EMT) and my stepdad (T) and J. We went to Chuy's (Mexican food; GOOD stuff).

EMT had bought me some balloons, which were tied to the back of my chair. I felt very obvious, lol. She always gets people balloons on their birthday, which makes us feel special. Several people told me Happy Birthday just because of the balloons - that's always nice. Oh, and EMT gave me the BEST present of all - she's telling everyone I'm 32. She so rocks! :)

T and J brought me a gift of some Mary Kay products. I'd mentioned to J about a month ago that I liked a certain type of MK lotion (a sample had come in the catalog I'd received in the mail from her). She somehow remembered that one comment. She gave me a large bottle of the lotion, plus a large bottle of the same-scent body wash. I'm gonna smell very very good.

After presents, we ate lunch. I got the Lite Plate, which consisted of a taco, a small dish of queso, and a dollop of guacamole. We then had sopapillas for dessert. Good food, but not so much that I'm full. In fact, I'm not full at all, which is great because I think tonight's dinner will be a big one. My dear MIL is cooking steaks, plus she asked what kind of wine I like. I foresee a fun, sparkly-eyed evening.

After lunch, T and J brought me home because they needed to go to a store near my house. Tnk had a business appointment up near where we had lunch (about 10 miles away). She was going to bring me home anyway, then go back. I thought it was very nice of her, but there was no reason for her to burn all that gas when T and J were coming this way anyway. It was so sweet of her to offer anyway.

It's now 1:38 CST, which means I've got a lot of birthday-ing left to do. Perhaps I'll indulge myself with peanut butter candies and some lame TV. Sounds good to me.

Boo and Hiss!

To the weather, that is.

We had beautiful weather all day yesterday. I mean, picture-perfect: low humidity, cool breezes, and sunshine. Utopian, I tell you. This morning we're having the exact same weather.

But last night at 5:00, the skies opened up. But it was not just rain; oh no, the halloween deities decided to play the cruelest trick ever. Thunder, lightning, and a torrential downpour pelted us until nearly 9:00 p.m. By then, of course, it was much too late to take the kids trick-or-treating.

So K did not get to be Harry Potter (and he would have been the BEST one, seriously). R did not get to be a Jedi. And P - poor miss P - did not get to be a rock star. Y'all, she had leather boots and everything. Her little heart was just broken.

But all is not lost! Next week is P's birthday, and we've decided she can have a rock star party. Her friends will all dress up as rock stars, and they'll make rock videos all afternoon. (P doesn't know it yet, but she's getting a Barbie Karaoke Cam for her birthday. Her cousin has one, and the girls spend hours upon hours rocking out.)

So now I'm off to do some shopping. My list looks like this:

Barbie Karaoke Cam
Toilet Paper

So, which store sells both? I'm all about minimizing my errands, you know. Although if I can't, I won't run out of energy - I've got six tons of chocolate in my living room. We weren't the only ones who didn't trick-or-treat last night.

Boo!

We are three hours away from even leaving the house to trick-or-treat, and I am sick of candy already. I knew I should have bought big bags of Almond Joys or Smarties, neither of which I like. But noooooo, instead I picked up large packages of Skittles, M&Ms, Snickers, and Whoppers. Darn it, I am in love with all of them. Well, I was. Now I loathe them. I loathe them all.

[gag] I swear, if I could just puke right now, I'd feel so much better. Stupid candy. The good news is that I will mostly likely be leaving the kids' trick or treat bags alone tonight. See, children, the sacrifices I make for you?

Hubby, just so you know, tomorrow you may be taking a bunch of chocolate bars and other assorted candies to work. Nay, not a bunch. A friggin' boatload. All I know is, it's not staying alone in the house with me anymore.

Tomorrow I start working out. Yeah, y'all check up on me, wouldja?

Speaking of working out, I've decided not to join Curves. As much as I enjoyed getting out there every morning, I wondered why I was never sore. No matter how hard I pushed myself, I never felt like I was doing anything that would help me tone up (which, at my age, is pretty much A-Number-One on the get-fit list). Don't get me wrong - Curves can be a really good thing. But I just don't think it's for me. So on I go with the fitness search.

First step: rid house of all chocolate.

Tomorrow.

Happy trickin' and treatin', y'all!

Writing and Scouting and Schmoober, Oh My!

I signed up for NaNoWriMo. Check out the cool new icon at left (props to Katie for making that happen). I am filled with excitement and dread, although the latter is rather a stupid feeling, since it's not like I'm being graded on what I write. It's all good, though, because I am counting on myself to be successful in this endeavor. Go Trace; go Trace!

As if spending countless hours at my computer next month weren't enough, I have taken on a whole new endeavor as well. At her request, I took P to sign up for Girl Scouts last night. There were lots of girls there, but unfortunately not many from P's school. It takes five children to make a troop, but as P was the only 2nd grader from her school at the rally, she was put together with all the 1st graders. To say that she is less than thrilled would be a heavy understatement. I told her that if she was unhappy, she didn't have to join, but she said she still wanted to try it out.

So I and four other moms are sitting at this munchkin-sized table in the cafeteria at one of the neighborhood elementary schools. Two were breastfeeding; one was dressed like she either has a high-paying job, or married a man with one (either way, the process seemed to bore her), and the other one had apparently signed in at the start of the meeting and then vanished. Weird.

Then there was me, whose breasts have not nursed an infant in seven years, and who has not held a decent-paying job in five. Apparently, this means that I am automatically troop leader. I don't actually recall saying that I was the man for the job, but when not one but TWO harried-looking mothers with babes at their chests look at you pathetically, what are you going to do?

The "rich or married so but either way so very bored" woman said that there was no way she could be troop leader because the only camping she is willing to do is at Camp Hyatt. Well. Who wouldn't rather rough it with room service? I have a feeling she's going to annoy me for years to come. Or weeks, depending on how long P wants to stick it out. (Hey, I can dream, can't I?)

The next step in this process is that I have to go to a four-hour seminar next weekend on how to be a troop leader. I hate to give up a Sunday afternoon, but I suppose P's happiness is worth it. She'd darn better appreciate this, for I shall be reminding her for the next forty years or so of all the sacrifices I've made throughout her life. Am I evil? Nay. I am a mother. And not the "f'er" kind, either, lest you are thinking so.

Speaking of bad language, which of course I never, ever, use, we heard "Boulevard of Broken Dreams" on the radio tonight. The kids love that song, but I won't buy them the CD because one line says, "What's f'ed up and everything's alright." Why can't they just say "What's goobed up and everything's alright"? Or maybe use "dorked." Or "schmoobered." Just not the almighty F.

Man, I've had to erase u-c-k every time I've typed F. I don't want to spell out the whole word, but my fingers type much faster than my brain thinks sometimes. Thank goodness for delete and backspace keys.

Also speaking of bad language, a few choice words were heard around here this week. The Astros didn't win a single game in the World Series. "Shucky-darn" and "balderdash" were about the only bad-type words that went unsaid. But as bad as it feels to lose in four straight games, I am still very proud of my boys. It's an amazing feat to even get TO the Series, and most other teams didn't make it that far. Some didn't even come close. So hats off to you, 'stros - you're still hometown heroes to me.