AND WE'RE BAAAAAAAACK! (Complete with a pictorial!)

We just spent a week at a gorgeous house on Lake Conroe in a home rented from a friend of the family. This place was amazing - it had a pool, a boathouse (complete with brand-new pontoon boat), a guesthouse, a jetski, and oh, did I mention the elevator?!?

To your left is a picture of the view from the kitchen. Or the living room. Or the sitting room. Or any bedroom. Seriously, amazing doesn't even begin to cover it.

(Ah, how lovely to be friends with rich people.)


Here's a picture looking over the balcony inside the house:















Here's us on the boat, docked at the boathouse:















Here's a picture of hubby, K, and me on the jetski:














Sadly, all good things come to an end, and as of last Tuesday, we're back to reality. Reality bites. The kids miss having a pool that they can just jump into at any time, and hubby and I miss the jetski. It was SO nice being able to tool around the lake on a whim. I also miss the boat because...well, it's a boat.

K turned 13 last Friday, and his birthday party was "the best EVER" because we got to have it at the lakehouse. We even took everyone on a dinner (pizza) cruise out to this little island that sits in the middle-ish of the lake. The kids and I and my friend Jen (who had brought her kids up for the party) played around in the water, while the in-laws and hubby made sure the boat didn't float away. That sounds funny, but it was a legitimate concern: "docking" on the island means "run the boat aground and hang on tight to the rope."

After we left the island, we were promptly pulled over by what I like to call the "boat police." Actually, he'd pulled over my sister-in-law, who had K on the back of her jetski, because she'd jumped the boat's wake. When we floated up to investigate, the officer became perturbed at what he saw as interference (we weren't doing anything - just hanging around to make sure K was okay). He yelled for us to stop right there because we were now being pulled over, too. He performed safety inspections on both watercraft, then told us a truly unexciting story about his radar, then finally let us all go.

A couple of days later, we decided to take a nighttime cruise just for fun. While tooling around the lake, who should come screaming down on us but the same boat police again - only this time, he used lights AND sirens. Wooooo, scary. After lighting us up to see if we had on life jackets, he then said he'd come to tell us to turn off our docking lights or else "we'd have every law enforcement officer in the area on our back." Basically, that means, um, him?

Overall, the week was great. We all took turns cooking, and my brother-in-law kept our drinks well filled. The biggest problem was that the temperatures were blazing hot all week - so much so that even the pool wasn't refreshing. Swimming was like taking a bath. Even the lake was warm. Bleh. I am very glad I took a heap of sunscreen, though, as we'd all be lobsters right now if it weren't for that.

I've got tons more pictures, but the film is not developed yet. (Yes, I'm archaic with my 35mm that I love.) I'll post more later.

Hope you have a great vacation this year, too.

AND SO IT GOES

Hubby and I spent the weekend in the greater Austin area with some friends of ours. We were childless, which rocked, but our friends weren't, even though they thought they would be (plans with grandma fell through). Their kids are really good, but sometimes when you're around fun old friends, you just wanna have some obnoxious, grown-up, drunk-enough-that-everything's-funny-okay-not-really (maybe just a little) free time. Alas, that kind of fun is not so easily had with a 9- and 3-year old around.

I know, I know; I sound like an obnoxious lush. I promise I'm not. I just wanted to play one on TV, as the saying goes. Anyway.

So the reason we went to Austin was for a wedding. K's old soccer trainer - a 26-year-old Scotsman - was getting married to the mom of one of P's former teammates. The bride is easily a dozen years older than the groom, and we'd known them both long enough to go "hmm...????" at the relationship, so whispers abounded about a potential green card in the nuptials. However, at the ceremony they seemed pretty happy, so we put our judgmental-ness away.

The ceremony was cool: the groom and the junior groomsman (the bride's 10-year-old son) wore kilts. A bagpiper played the music. UBER cool, that. But - and you knew there'd be a but - some people were better dressed to go to the beach than to a wedding. Some guests were in halter tops, complete with exposed bra straps, mini skirts, and flip flops. Even the woman who sang a solo during the wedding was sadly underdressed: she had on a floppy, oversized black button-up shirt, tan capri pants, and old flip flops. Eww, and eww. Come on, if you are scheduled to sing at a wedding, DRESS THE PART.

This was a formal evening wedding, y'all. I was ... well, I want to say appalled, but "surprised" would be more gracious, I guess.

Here's how hubby and I were dressed for the wedding:



After the wedding, we went back to our friends' house because they'd graciously offered up their guest room for us. We ended up having a few Chrismos (their version of Cosmopolitans - Cosmos - but friend's name is Chris; ergo, Chrismos...see how clever our friends are? And how fun they'd be to drink with?) and talking for awhile. It was really good to see them, as it's been nearly a year since our last visit. Hopefully the next visit won't be quite so far in the future.

CLOSING OUT FLORIDA

As promised, here are some pictures from the Alan Parsons concert, which was held in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, on April 15, 2006. Be warned - not all rock stars are glamorous when they're sweaty. Case in point: Mr. Parsons himself, who could use a good barber. What's up with the biblical facial hair, anyway? Also, it probably wouldn't hurt him to make nice with the Right Guard can...I'm just saying.

Anyway, here's hubby standing next to his childhood musical and lyrical hero. Hubby's the cute one on the left, as if that needed to be said...













Good thing Alan is a musical genius.


And here's a picture of me at the concert. Woohoo, exciting. At least I was having a good hair day.












Aside to Fishie: Sorry you've never seen the Sunshine State. Like most other states, it has some really beautiful parts. Maybe one day, a dozen years from now, (IOW, when the kids are grown), we can take a road trip to visit Her Evilness. Maybe even catch Steve Burns on his "Get A Clue" Reunion Concert.

MORE ON FT. LAUDERDALE

As promised, here is some non-sad stuff about our trip to Ft. Lauderdale. First off, here's the hotel we stayed at (Holiday Inn Ft. Lauderdale Beach, in case you're wondering):













And here are two beautiful views from our room (one looking slightly left; one looking slightly right). I swear these aren't postcards, although in my opinion they should be. How cool would it be to wake up to that view every day? [sigh]



















Here are a couple of pictures - one of hubby; one of me - with the Ft. Lauderdale beach and the Atlantic ocean as a backdrop:














While in Florida, we took in a lot of the local flavor - most meals were eaten in little dives, (although we did hit Bennigan's once...hey, I had a gift card!). And the food was great. Hubby finally got to gorge himself on the conch fritters he's been missing out on for 14 years. It wasn't pretty...;)

Overall, we had a wonderful trip, just the two of us. It was so nice to reconnect with each other. The only drawback was that we missed having Easter Sunday with the kids, but fortunately they have fantastic grandparents who took care of everything.

Now I just need to update about the Alan Parsons concert, and I think we can put Florida to rest.

FEELING BLUE

This is a picture of our house on Homestead Air Force Base, Florida, in 1991. (Hubby is in the foreground, planting what came to be known as "the mighty oak.")




This was taken five days after Hurricane Andrew hit in 1992. (That's me walking toward the house, in search of anything salvageable.)

As you may recall, hubby and I recently took a trip to Ft. Lauderdale. While there, we made the two-hour drive down to Homestead to see how things have changed. Have they ever. This picture was taken on the street facing our former home. The little patches of concrete (to the right in the foreground) are part of what used to be our driveway.













I know that razing the base housing was really all the government could do, considering their unlivable condition in the aftermath of Andrew. I just didn't realize how painful the sight would be. We had some wonderful memories in that little house, and Homestead will always hold a special place in my heart.

More on the Florida trip in a later post. Don't worry; it wasn't all sad. :)

THURSDAY THINGS

Hey, all. How's it going? Things are just peachy here.

Summer has officially arrived in the Vichyness household. The kids didn't make a peep this morning until 9:30, and even then they didn't come downstairs for awhile after that. P, who is having a couple of girls over for an "art party" (read: slumber party with crafts) vacuumed her own room this morning. I love how eight year olds think vacuuming is cool.

After cleaning, we lit a couple of candles in her bathroom so it would smell "girly." That was my idea, and apparently it made me the coolest mom ever.

So far this morning, I've accomplished the following:

- fed my husband
- drank my breakfast (I'm not a breakfast eater, so I have a Carnation Instant Breakfast nearly every day)
- cleaned the breakfast dishes
- dusted the downstairs
- vacuumed the house (sans Peyton's room)
- lit a bunch of candles
- bathed the dog

And it's only 10:39. Go me! ;)

Now I can't decide if I want to take a shower or wait and take the kids to the pool first. Pool sounds fun, but P's guests will start arriving shortly after lunch, so I don't know what to do.

Darn, I guess I'll just hit the shower.

Later, if I have time, I'll post about our mini-vacation, which included the trip to Oklahoma last weekend. It's been a great few days.

SLACKER, AND OTHER FOND DESCRIPTIVES OF MYSELF

Ever since I moved my blog, I’ve been the laziest blogger in town. What’s up with that? It’s not like it’s harder to blog now; I just got out of the habit. My new summer’s resolution is to write more.

That said, however, we’re heading out of town for the weekend so I won’t be back until Monday night. [sheepish grin]

So anyway, happenings of late include … um … gee, I don’t remember. Oh wait, yes I do. Last Saturday the five of us went to see the Houston Dynamo soccer team play the Chicago Fire. Despite the fact that Houston outplayed Chicago, we fell in a heartbreaking 1-0 game. Phooey.

That night I came down with a sore throat. I remember thinking, “that’s not good.” And it wasn’t. Sunday I was sick with a runny nose and sore throat; by Monday it was extremely hard to even get out of bed. I pretty much slept on the couch all day. Today I’m still congested and a little cough-y, but I’m definitely better. I’ll just say this: summer colds suck big ones.

The kidlets are out of school for the summer now. They actually got out yesterday, but today was so busy with errand-running (getting ready for our trip) that the day just flew by. Then this evening we all went to watch hubby play soccer. After a year of dreaming about it, he finally joined an indoor soccer team a few weeks ago. He seems to be enjoying the exercise. At least, I think he is. He looked pretty winded out there. But his soccer skills are still excellent and it was great to watch him play again. Time and exercise will build up his endurance, and I'm sure that eventually he’ll be just like Brian Ching.

Love you, hubby.

Not too much else to report, and I've got to get to bed. We're planning to leave at the crack of dawn.

Happy Memorial Day, everyone. Don't forget to fly your flags with pride. :)

IN MY INBOX

Got this email from my sister this morning. This is amazing because in order to write this email, she had to type. And to type, she most likely used her actual thumbs - neither of which are 100%, by the way. Or hell, 20%.

Anyway, for those who wonder how a 4'10", 100-lb-soaking-wet girl managed to survive such a horrific accident, maybe now you can see just how tough she is.

Background: One of Tnk's injuries was a crushed right thumb. The doctor had to basically rebuild the joint, then he put three pins in it - one horizontal and two vertical. The thumb has been stuck in a "thumbs up" position for two months. This past week, however, the remaining two pins were finally removed.

And now, her words:
Howdy All!!!

I hope you all are having a great week. I apologize for not writing sooner. I thought I'd send an update.

Tuesday, I got the last 2 pins out. YEAH! When they took the first one out a few weeks ago, it didn't hurt all that bad. So, I decided to skip the pain medications this time. In this decision, I forgot three very important factors. One, I took pain meds the first time. Two, there was only one pin to remove the first time. Three, the first pin was less than 1/2 the length of these two. This was not a shining moment in the making. It went something like this...

Doc: Well, the X-rays look good. Let's get those pins out.
T: Great!
Doc: Did you take a full dose of Vicodin?
T: Nah, I hate being high on those things for 6 hours when it's only going to take 10 minutes to remove the pins.
Doc: Umm...I think we should reschedule this for a time when you can take the meds. It's really going to hurt.
T: I'll be fine, go ahead.
Doc: I really don't want to hurt you.
T: Doc, I survived a direct hit by a Chevy. I'll make it through this.
Doc: OK, then.

Do you see what's coming? Pain, lots and lots and lots of it. The pins came out one at a time and the doc congratulated me on my ability to sit through it. The truth is that I'm pretty sure that he could tell that I was eating my words and asking the Vicodin gods to spare their wrath at my abandonment of them. After the doc's office, sis [not me, by the way; our other sis] took me to lunch where I humbly and gratefully took 1/2 of a tablet.

On the bright side, at hand therapy yesterday, my thumb did bend ever so slightly. YIPPEE!

Smiles from the road to recovery,
Tnk

You guys have no idea how good this email made me feel. Her thumb is still mostly stuck (thus the "ever so slightly" comment), and she still has a considerable amount of pain in both hands, but her attitude is amazing. I am convinced that she will eventually be able to return to work just because she's so motivated.

That's the big news from here. Hope you all had a good week!

DREAMLAND

The new mattress was delivered yesterday...[sigh]...it's heavenly. We ended up with a Eurotop, which is, I think, almost as cushy as a pillowtop. I can't imagine a softer bed; in fact, I really think that if we'd gotten anything cushier, we'd be sleeping on the Sta-Puf Man.

But underneath the soft, dreamy goodness lies a mattress with enough firmness for hubby, which is a nice compromise if you ask me. Neither of us wanted to get out of bed this morning, and we're looking forward to sleeping in tomorrow.

In other news...

Today Tnk, other sis, and I jumped back into the fray of getting her house put together. This time the work went much more quickly than usual because we had a deadline: my youngest brother, whom I'll call Tree, is going to be attending the police academy starting a week from Monday (different academy than Tnk, btw). As his house is easily 50 miles from the academy, and as Tnk's is only about 5, he asked if he could live at her house during the week for the next few months - starting next weekend. She agreed, but then suddenly realized that her house has no place for him to sleep.

So today we cleared out the room we'd been using as a workroom (formerly Moi's bedroom, y'all...oh, the memories!). We painted all the walls and ceiling, then dragged a bed frame, mattress set, and dresser, from the garage to what has become the new guest room. It looks fabulous in there; much MUCH nicer than when it was my room a hundred years ago. I wish I'd discovered paint as a teenager.

By the way, when I say "we," I mean "other sis and me." Tnk still cannot use her hands for anything significant - having opposable thumbs is, as it turns out, pretty important for most things. When we were putting the bedroom together at the end of the day, I found her in tears trying to do the simple task of putting a fitted sheet on the bed. My heart just bleeds for her. I can't imagine the frustration she must feel on a daily basis.

Today is the two-month anniversary of the accident. Overall, Tnk is doing okay, although admittedly my standards are very low - I'm ecstatic that she's even breathing, much less walking. She is still living with our other sister and has to have help to do most things - wash her hair, cut up her food, dig out her housekeys...you get the gist. She also found out yesterday that her left hand will most likely never bend more than about 80 degrees forward (most people can do much more than that).

Today she loosely tied her shoes for the first time, and she was absolutely beaming when she told me! Can you imagine being 36 years old and having to relearn how to use your hands? It kills me if I think about it too much. I still harbor a ton of anger toward the man who put her in this condition, which is probably normal but still upsetting. So I try to focus on the positive: she's alive, she's breathing, and...she's alive.

I am grateful. I am grateful. I am grateful.

Onward.

Just found out that some of my high school classmates are planning our 20-year reunion. Wait, did I just say 20-year?!? No way are we that old! Well, I don't *feel* that old. Anyway, I'm excited at the prospect of seeing old friends. Maybe I'm weird, but I think it will be fun.

That's about it from here. Bye for now.

PILLOW TALK

Last night hubby and I dragged the kids out mattress shopping again. (Let me reiterate the fact that kids love mattress shopping. Seriously, y'all.) This time we revisited a store that I'd pre-visited yesterday morning. The store sells only Serta mattress sets, and let me tell you, Serta has some nice products.

After about 45 minutes of rolling around on a dozen or so different mattresses, hubby and I finally found one that we both liked. (I swear I heard a heavenly choir singing "HALLELUJAH, THEY AGREE!") The only problem was the price, which was approximately $400 more than we'd planned to spend. But then the salesguy pointed out that the bed was already on sale for $500 off it's original price; he agreed to take 10% more off; then he reminded us that delivery charges are rebated in full. So with all those discounts, we figured what the heck.

Twenty minutes later, as we were driving home, the realization hit both of us that we'd just shot our mattress budget. Despite the fact that we'd rationalized all the discounts and the fact that this is one smokin' bed, the almighty dollar was laughing at us. "HAHA!" it said. "You think you're such a tightwad, but look at how many of me you just spent! Losers!" Okay, maybe this "dollar" was in my head, or maybe it was just my conscience, but in any event, I was no longer pleased with our purchase.

So today, after hours of stressing over the whole mattress fiasco, I decided to take advantage of Serta's 30-day no-questions-asked return policy and cancel our order. (We don't actually have the bed yet, so no mattressy stuff changed hands.) I marched down to the store and sheepishly asked the salesman - whom I'll hereafter call Joel, as that is his name - if I could look at something a little less expensive. He was the same guy I'd dealt with yesterday, so he was more than accommodating. Actually, I think he was happy I didn't just bail on his commission, but whatever.

I spent about 15 minutes re-deciding on a mattress that hubby and I would both like. I chose one, then went up to the register to tell Joel what I'd decided. He started to ring it up, then said that since he knew how much time hubby and I had anguished over our initial decision last night, would I be willing to consider another offer. I was like, hey, if it's going to save me money, let's hear it! Joel then said that he'd be willing to discount the original mattress set another $100 plus tax, which while not bringing us down to our original budget, sure brought us closer.

Therefore, our new mattress set, which will be delivered Thursday afternoon, has now been discounted thusly:

$500 off original price
10% off sale price
$60 delivery fee refunded
AND - $108.25 more off all that

Hubby was very happy that I'd gone to all that trouble - he said he'd have never had the guts to go back in there and negotiate. (Normally, I'm not that gutsy, either, but I knew how much it was stressing us out, so I think adrenaline played a role here.) We're both thrilled that we'll finally have a good mattress set that will help our back/neck pain.

Now I just can't wait until Thursday!

GENERAL SUCKITUDE

This past weekend, that is. Saturday I spent in bed and/or on the sofa because I was...what's the word for thirty-miles-beyond-tired? Anyway, I am hoping that it was residual Vicodin making me groggy, and not that I'm anemic or something.

After my latest surprise diagnosis at the doctor's office, I'm afraid of everything now. In particular, I'm afraid I have lupus. Never mind the fact that I have exactly two of the fifteen symptoms of it - I'm tired and had a joint ache! Gah! I'm dying!

At least, that's what my fuzzy and befuddled brain is telling me these days.

Sheesh.

Actually, the doctor did suggest I have bloodwork done to test for lupus. BUT - she only said that because I told her my mother once had it. If I'd not mentioned it, she'd not have even thought of it. In retrospect, I'm surprised she even heard me, as it appeared throughout my visit that she wasn't listening to a word I said. In any event, having bloodwork done is probably not a bad idea. Maybe I'll even go ahead and schedule that mammogram. After all, I'll be 40. Someday. ;)

Breaking news: Hubby and I have decided it's time to buy a new bed, so we spent yesterday afternoon reclining on about 50 different beds in the greater Houston area. (BTW, if you ever need an activity that your kids are guaranteed to enjoy, take them mattress shopping.) We can't exactly agree on what kind of bed we want - hubby wants firmness; I want squishiness; the kids want Tempurpedic, but (a)ew, hubby and I don't like Tempurpedic, and (2) the kids aren't getting new beds anyway, so they don't get a vote. We're torn between two different mattresses at the moment, but I think we're going to make a final decision tonight. One bed is a name-brand, but costs $400 more than the other one, which at the moment feels just as good.

Any input from the peanut gallery? We're about to drop nearly a grand, so suggestions would be most welcomed.

DIDN'T SEE THAT COMING

Yesterday I received a letter in the mail from the physician I recently saw for my back pain. In addition to a "this is what's wrong with you" letter that contained a bunch of mumbo jumbo in medical-professional speak, I also received a little form letter. This letter has a bunch of options that physicians can easily check off to let you know lab results - i.e. "Bloodwork normal," "See us for follow-up," etc. You get the drift.

The line they checked off for me originally said, "Your x-rays came back normal." Only they had used a pen to cross off the word "normal," and written in "lower back - mild arthritis; scoliosis" and "upper back - scoliosis."

Er, that was surprising. What was also surprising was the fact neither letter told me what I should do next. Do I need to see the doctor again? Do I need to start taking glucosamine? Do I need to get my affairs in order? (Kidding, but at 2:00 this morning, I'd worked myself up pretty well.) I showed the letters to my sisters, who both came back with the same answer: "What are you supposed to do about it?"

I know, right?

I was going to call the doctor today, but I forgot. I was awake half the night with a little backache and a mind full of "I'm too young to have arthritis." I was so tired today that I slept for over two solid hours this afternoon.

This morning I took Tnk to physical therapy for her hand. She has PT three times a week, for over two hours at a time. Let me tell you, it was hard to stay awake, but at least *I* wasn't being poked and prodded.

Anyway, I'm definitely going to call the doctor on Monday. Hopefully I'll remember.

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?