Blog of a CPA Mommy

2011-05-08T09:30:00.000-07:00

Growing Up

It seems like so far, we've been trying hard to keep our children alive and healthy. So far we've succeeded. Yay! Now come the harder lessons... Ones that I'll admit I'm not very good at. How to live. Showering without needing reminders would be nice. Okay I'm good at that one. But there are bigger ones. Ones that will help them when they are out on their own. Cooking, helping make repairs around the house, maybe even go and get the oil changed on the car, learn to pump gas. 5 more years and my oldest will be a driver. Fair warning to all of you that live near by. ;) Manners and man, do they need help on this one. I wish my neighbor growing up were still around for that one.

This year they both are helping Phil with the vegetable garden. They help do chores around the house like putting away and loading the dishwasher. Sweep the floors, since they are the ones who are messiest. And when company's coming, they rock at helping clean the downstairs. We still need to work on Lady Jane's bedroom which got out of control and needs organizational help.

But today since it is Lady Jane's 8th birthday, we are going to head out to the store to buy her a new bike. Her brother wants to use his allowance to buy her something, which is cool. (something we've been working with Little Man on is respecting other people's feelings and trying to empathise. Some people come by it naturally, others need to learn it) They are growing up fast. Ten years and they'll both be in college. Hopefully they'll be prepared and able to maintain a house on their own and not have to rely on Mom to come once a month to save them from the pit of papers they've let accumulate.

PS. Thanks Mom for saving me from the pit of papers I let accumulate. I'm getting better. I swear :)

2011-04-11T08:22:00.000-07:00

Saying Goodbye to a Friend

In 1995, Sarabi and I set out from Illinois to St. Louis. For a while it was just me and her. This little kitten who always pounced my feet just as I was falling asleep. She used to surf the walls as a kitten in our first apartment. We went through a lot together. 3 apartments, 2 houses, boyfriends that didn't last and the heartache that went with that, marriage, children, 3 more cats, the death of one of those cats, a year of separation when I went to England and had to leave her here. Hours of writing time together. Where my other cat that passed away was my love. Sarabi's been my friend. Renal failure has ravaged her body making her weak and feeble. She's lost 2/3s of her body weight in the past year.

She's always been there with me, every step of the way. I'll miss her.

2010-12-19T13:27:00.000-08:00

Caramel Shortbread Squares aka Millionaire Cakes

It was a lot easier to get these in England than to make them but they are definitely worth the effort. I'm still tweaking the recipe that I got from allrecipes.com submitted by Julia. However, I'm getting there. She says ready in 35 minutes and I laugh my butt off.

Making the shortbread layer takes 5-10 minutes of prep followed by 15-20 minutes of cooking time. Then while that cools in the freezer you work on the caramel sauce over the stove which takes around 15-20 minutes and you pour over shortbread. Ideally you would put this in the refridgerator for a while before doing the next step (a while being 15-20 minutes). Then melt the chocolate chips. I don't recommend doing this in the microwave because the first time I did, I killed chocolate. Which is a sin and should not be done. So doublebroiler if you have it, otherwise metal bowl over boiling water in saucepan. This will take between 5-10 minutes. Then you pour that over the cooled caramel. You have to work fast and have enough chocolate to spread the top over and not accidentally mix it with the caramel layer. After some time (I have yet to get this step down properly), score the chocolate and then refridgerate until completely cool and cut into bars. All in all you are talking about at least an hour of prep time including some waiting time between steps. I'm sure you could make the shortbread at one point and then wait to make the next step and wait to coat with chocolate. So here it is.

Like I said I still have a little tweeking to do...a little more shortbread for the jelly roll pan. The chocolate is the amount for the bigger pan, but who doesn't love more chocolate. :)

Caramel Shortbread Squares Recipe

Ingredients:

1-1/3 cup butter, softened

½ cup white sugar

2-1/2 cups all purpose flour

1 cup butter

1 cup packed light brown sugar

¼ cup light corn syrup

14 oz can of sweetened condensed milk

23 oz bag of milk chocolate chips

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 C).

2. In a medium bowl, mix together 1-1/3 cup butter, white sugar, and four until evenly crumbly. Press into a 13X9 baking pan lined with parchment paper. Bake for 20 minutes. Alternatively for thinner treats, press into jelly roll pan lined with parchment paper and bake for 15 minutes. After cooked, cool in freezer while preparing the caramel sauce.

3. In a 2 quart saucepan, combine 1 cup of butter, brown sugar, corn syrup, and sweetened condense milk over low heat until blended. Increase to a boil and boil for 5 minutes. Remove from heat and beat vigorously with a wooden spoon for about 3 minutes. Pour over baked crust. Cool until begins to firm. Put in refridgerator while preparing chocolate

4. Melt chocolate in a double broiler. Once chocolate is completely melted pour over the caramel layer and spread evenly to cover. After a few minutes, score the top of the chocolate in about 1-2 inch squares. Let chocolate completely cool in fridge. Take out of pan using parchment paper and cut using a sharp knife on lines formed in chocolate.

5. Serve.

2010-08-26T15:38:00.000-07:00

Why the Heck Not?

I'm currently at the first gymnastics lesson of the school year and so don't want to write on the book which is almost finished. Instead I'm going to blog. I've been all over the place lately. June was rough after the surgery and only being able to use crutches. I graduated to the cane and now I'm weaning off the cane. Though I'm still having pain and still taking pain meds daily on a set schedule or else. Regardless the surgery has seemed to help, only time will tell.

July is RWA Nationals month. I went. I signed. I had a good time all around.

Before I recovered from Nationals, we made a 3 day trek to Breckenridge, Colorado. It's beautiful up there even if you can't breathe. We had a huge house for my husband's parents and his sister and her family. Everyone had a really great time. It was a good vacation.

Last week was back to school. I made some crazy goals for writing and for the most part am keeping them. The children are settling back into a routine. We put dry erase boards on their doors with a list of everything they need to do before they come downstairs in the morning. I've been really impressed with the effectiveness. Part of Little Man's problem is he can't keep a list of things in his mind, especially when that list gets too long. Therefore an actual list until it becomes habit.

In other news, well, nothing much... Basically just plugging away at the status quo.

2010-06-14T20:49:00.000-07:00

Old news--Blankey recovered. The unfortunate Blankey was found hiding behind pillows in mommy and daddy's room and recovered by Grandma several weeks ago. The reunion was joyful and Lady Jane is being very careful not to misplace Blankey again.

2010-06-03T21:16:00.000-07:00

Boldly Fighting Dragons

It's quiet in the house. I'm up late and everyone else is asleep. In seven hours, I'll be in prep for exploratory surgery on my hip. I've had trouble with it for the past ten years and since no one can seem to fix it, this seems the logical next step. I'm a little anxious. I just finished revisions on a story and need to complete another which is 3/4 of the way done and start on a third. I worry that the pain meds are going to knock me out for days and cause me to be non-productive (I don't care if it's a word or not, that's not the point.)

I'm not worried about the outcome. I'm not worried that they won't find anything. I'm not worried they'll find something. I can't worry about that stuff. It's out of my hands now. Either they will or they won't and either way I'll be in pain for days. Do I hope they'll find something they can fix? Hell, yeah. Am I going to go all-in on this surgery being the cure for pain that has plagued me for ten years? Meh. I'll be happy if it does and not shocked if it doesn't.

So instead of worrying about the results, I'm worried about my writing. Did I mention my debut book just hit the shelves? That RWA National conference is at the end of July? That I want to continue to write and finish these books that are driving me nuts? So I'm awake and wondering if I should spend the night writing. It will probably be more coherent than what I'll be able to put together over the next couple of days. But I have to wake up in 5-1/2 hours. Granted I'll be asleep most of the morning. :)

Outpatient surgery, crutches for a while after, physical therapy starts Tuesday. Maybe this time I'll ride the dragon. See you all on the other side.

2010-04-28T07:33:00.001-07:00

BTW Blankey is still missing.... the investigation into the disappearance seems to have come to a stand still.

2010-04-28T07:32:00.000-07:00

Going to England

For a visit this time around, but should be extra special because my mom finally gets to go with me. Yay! The timing just wasn't right when we were living over in England for my mom to come over and visit while we lived there. My grandparents' health was failing and she wanted to be on hand if they needed her, which I completely understand and love her for. Every place I went I knew my mother would love to see and I took pictures and wrote about them on this blog, but it's not the same as experiencing these places.

At first it was just going to be me and hubby going over. Then we added on the kids after much scrambling. And finally my mom. We are staying at the apartment building we lived in when we first arrived. Self-catering serviced apartments. We are renting an automatic so that I can drive. The kids are going to their old school for a day which should be awesome for them. I need to get a couple of notebooks for the kids because both their teachers would like them to give a little presentation.

The most exciting thing will be taking my mom to all the nearby castles and ruins that the kids and I haunted while we were there. Originally I was thinking of going to a couple, but with mom, everything will be new and so cool to see with her. We'll spend a day at Chatsworth alone, bring a picnic lunch (picnics are huge over there), do an easy walk through the peak district, walk down the street in Hathersage, play at Millhouses Park and get a cake from the cafe. Personally I want to go to city centre and find a fabulous dress for the Harlequin party at Nationals. I didn't buy clothes when we lived over there, but I love their fashion. Oh, we'll be above the bridal shop again. Peeking in the windows was so much fun while we lived there and Lady Jane adored it. That's the other one, Lady Jane will reestablish her memories of living over there, making them clearer in her 7 year old mind. I can't wait.

2010-03-31T14:03:00.000-07:00

Blankey is MIA

Yes, you heard me right. Lady Jane has lost her blankey somewhere in the house. He/she's been missing for days now. She has grabbed her back up blankey out of desperation. (Yes, she's almost 7) I'm sure Blankey will turn up somewhere, but not if Lady Jane doesn't put more effort into finding her.

Umm...yeah, life is pretty boring here otherwise, but I'll try to keep you updated on Blankey Gate. :)

2010-02-28T12:46:00.000-08:00

Slaying Dragons

Takes a lot of work. I'm seeing my physical therapist again. At first she thought it might be a lower back thing, but right on time, my hip really started acting up. While it hasn't shown up on the MRI, there is a possibility of what's called a labral tear in the hip joint. Which means more physical therapy, but I've been tentatively scheduled for exploratory surgery where they will check for the tear with a scope and if there is one, they can fix it.

It was hard talking to the surgeon. Okay, it was intimidating. I thought I was prepared, but darned if I didn't feel like a little girl when the appointment happened. Fortunately, it was a joint appointment and my orthopedic doctor stayed behind to talk with me. Unforunately, the pain the physical therapy and increased activity has stirred up isn't going away anytime soon. But I've dealt with flares before and can almost see a clearing ahead, where all the dragons are gone and while my hip may never be the same, perhaps the pain will be gone or reduced.

I like to think that there are things I can do again after this is fixed. Things that I can do in limited amounts now or pay the consequences. Like dance, walk, run, aerobics. We'll wait and see though. After all, the last dragon could be the one to swallow me whole.

2009-12-22T09:42:00.000-08:00

Completely Insane

I've been trotting down the same primrose path I trotted down years ago. Here there be dragons. The signs are there, but I won't be heeding them. Babble you say? Nonsense, it all has a point.

Several years ago (namely when I was pregnant with Little Man), I started having difficulty with my left hip. I went to too many doctors to try to determine what was wrong. They x-rayed, MRIed and injected my hip. They gave me drugs ranging from Vioxx to narcotics. They sent me to physical therapy. I walked with a cane for a few years straight. When my hip became irritated, I'd get a cortizone injection and walk with a cane for a few days while things healed. I compensate for the pain, but after the last cortizone injection ate away at the surrounding fat and muscle (typical for these types of injections) leaving a slight dimple, I stopped.

I made an appointment with the orthopedist I hadn't seen in three or four years. I went in and told her I was still having pain. Now I knew when the pain was worse and what made it better. When she looked back at her records, she realized I'd originally came to her with this problem in 2002. Yes, it took 2 years before I saw a specialist for the joint. There were other things we were worried about that had sent us on a wild goose chase.

She seems determined to get to the bottom of my hip issue. She did an xray and found a slight bump on the femaral head below the hip bone which might be causing pressure when sitting. Then a week ago she did an xray guided injection into the joint space to determine where the pain was coming from and whether to order contrast with the MRI. So today in about an hour, I get to crawl onto a cold table, close my eyes as they shove my body into a tube that closely resembles a coffin. And yes, they'll be injecting my hip with contrast.

The primrose path? Hope. Do I dare to feel hope that they'll finally find out what is wrong? Or do I get the standard...'Huh, everything looks fine. Oh well, here's some drugs.' It's hard to be hopeful when you've been cynical for the past few years. I think it's the fear of hoping only to be let down again and having to go back to the acceptance that this isn't going to change. Some days will be bad, others will be tolerable and some will be a blessing. Dragons, fear, same thing. You hope for something fixable, you pray for nothing bad, you end up in the same position you were before. No closer to the truth. It's scary. It's terrifying. It's life.

I know that the injection of the contrast is going to put more pressure on the joint than the injection last week did. I could barely walk a few days after the last injection. I accept the fact that this might not change anything, but I'll survive the pain in the hope that something good will come from it. Here there be dragons.

2009-11-11T11:14:00.000-08:00

Deja Entendre

So if I didn't mention before that our apartment in England had downstairs neighbors who played dance music during the day, I'm bringing it up now. Why you might ask? I live in a house in a neighborhood where the houses aren't pressed close together. So why is it that in the silence of today I'm hearing dance music?

Okay, so in our home, Phil and I play music loudly sometimes and with the windows open from time to time. But this was just plain weird, because it was so similiar to other times when I'd be sitting down to write and dance music would pound through the floor. Of course, in England it was so loud that occasionally Phil or I would go pound on the door to ask them to turn it down.

Here? Unless I wanted to walk around outside and try to figure out where the music was coming from and then knock on someone's door to ask them to turn it down... Well, let's just say I'm going to let this one go. It was weird though. Just thought I'd share. Especially since Dad checks this daily. Hey, Dad, don't forget Mom's birthday!

Happy Birthday, Mom!

2009-10-19T19:37:00.000-07:00

Of Teeth and Books

Okay, so most of my originality is being used for writing stories lately. Lady Jane has officially lost her 1st 2 teeth. Bottom front teeth. After a lot of "Pull them" "No, don't pull them" "Pull them" No, don't pull them", eventually they fell out on their own. The tooth fairy forgot last night, but won't tonight.

Umm... hmmm.... life is interesting. I've gotten through my first set of revisions and mailed off the manuscript back to my editor to see if my changes were good enough. I'm also working on getting information to the cover art department. I have until tomorrow to complete it. The new title is L.A. Cinderella. Not the best I came up with, but definitely not the worst. It's very much a Special Edition type title.

Phil just got back from England where he picked up 48 imperial pint glasses. They were a gift from someone there, because they are cheap as chips there. (yes, I use repetitive words in my first drafts too. They get really bad.) We're getting ready for Phil's favorite holiday, Halloween. He's working on an intricate costume and I'm reusing my prom dress.

That's all I've got. Seriously my brain is mush. I'll figure out more to post soon. I swear. BTW Happy Birthday, Dad!

When I was a little girl and things were completely unfair in my world(which was often), I used to go sit on the stairs and (add your favorite...pout...cry...get angry). Dad would always come and talk to me on the stairs and make me feel better.

2009-09-17T08:05:00.000-07:00

Kids

A friend posted about an article on childhood obesity and I started to comment and it got rather long, so I decided to use it here. This is in response to her discussion on disappointing school lunches and keeping our children active.

I was disappointed with school lunches when I found out my kid was getting a peanut butter and jelly sandwich every day. This was when I was working and things were hectic in the morning getting everyone ready to go, on the bus, and off to work. Now I pack the PB&J everyday. I have super picky eaters and I try not cater to their pickiness. (Unfortunately I'm pretty picky too and most of the time our pickiness meshes) I do make sure there is at least a vegetable or side that they will eat if I know they won't eat what is being served.

My children are both on the light side. Little Man is starting to fall off the charts in weight, but he's only 5% on height. This was my baby that was 50% height and 75% weight. He was a little chubby, but adorable. Snacks are always eaten in the kitchen and yes, there is a TV there which they don't always get to watch, but it hopefully instills some eating responsibility. A friend of mine had a diet book that I read the first chapter on. One thing they suggested was making yourself set the table and sit and eat instead of grabbing something to munch on in front of the TV. That stuck with me, even if I don't always follow it :)

The kids are both involved in dancing, gymnastics, and soon swimming. IMO, finding what really excites them and letting them do that activity really makes the difference. Which finding out what excites a kid isn't always easy. Little Man is loving his hip hop class and Lady Jane is all about the ballet. Of course, they've only had one lesson. We'll see how the year progresses. They are both signed up for the entire year. Both aren't as enthusiastic about gymnastics, but they've done it for a year and this will be their second year. If they don't show growth in the sport and don't want to take it next year, we'll cross that bridge then.

Lady Jane was adamant about swimming and when I signed her up, Little Man decided he wanted to do it to. I think I might have bumped him up a level inadvertently, but it was the only class that fit our schedule. Right now they are both active and eating (this week mostly crap, it's been a weird week).

Do I worry about them have obesity issues as they grow older? High school or Junior High, they may get pudgy. I did for a little while and so did my brother, but Phil was always a rail. Will I continue my ban on sodas? It's not so much a ban as I don't drink it ergo I don't buy it. Will there still be way too much junk food in the house? Only directly after going to the grocery store. I admit the junk food is mostly for me.

I think my kids will be okay. The biggest thing is watching them and teaching them good eating habits. When I gained weight my freshman year (same weight I was 9 months pregnant, may not be fat for some, but it's the most I've ever weighed), both my mom and my grandpa commented on it. It made me conscious of how big I'd gotten and I worked to get my weight back down to a tolerable range. I think we will always strive to eat healthier and exercise more. And hopefully our children will pick up on that and keep those life lessons for their future.

2009-08-30T12:25:00.000-07:00

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2009-08-29T10:46:00.000-07:00

Dad's Weekly Update

Okay, so, what happened this week. Phil took his final qualifying exam for his doctorate program on Monday and found out Friday that he passed. He was really nervous, but he did it. He's having a party tonight to celebrate.

The kids went to school and their gymnastics. Lady Jane went to the eye doctor to make sure she wasn't having headaches because she needed glasses. Not quite yet for glasses. She's having a sleepover with a couple of friends tonight. Her first.

Me? I finished revisions and sent it off to an agent who requested the whole thing. She won't get back to me anytime soon, so exhale (I already have). Oh and you might have noticed the whole both Lady Jane and Phil have company tonight. So this morning I printed out a list of everything that needed to be cleaned and the kids, Phil and I got busy.

The downstairs is now presentable to company and Phil and Lady Jane are off getting supplies for tonight. I've started research for the next idea I'm going to work on. I spent yesterday on Wikipedia and going through 7 of the books I brought back from Ireland and Scotland. I found out that Groundhogs day was also a Celtic holiday February 2nd, Imbolc. It ties into the groundhog story as well, but supposed if it's sunny, the old woman (I forget her name) is gathering wood for a longer winter, but if its gloomy, she doesn't need to gather more wood so winter will be shorter. I thought that was cool. I also found a cauldron that brings back warriors from death, but they can't speak. If it looks like a zombie and moans like a zombie..... That's from the 11th century. Will I use any of this knowledge? Not likely, but the other stuff I found, I'm mulling around in my head.

2009-08-21T07:39:00.000-07:00

Hey Dad!

So my dad chastised me for not posting more frequently. I tend to have lengthy phone conversations with my mom, but not so much with dad. So here I am (ETA: why does I am work in this sentence, but not I'm, hmph) to say I'll try to post more frequently.

Life in general runs on a fairly straightforward schedule which is why I don't write on the blog more often. The kids are back in school during the day, so I get to write and revise to my heart's content without someone coming up to ask if they can play on the computer, watch TV, do handstands in the living room, or a snack. I made one of those up. But still it's constant.

When I realized the kids were occupied for a while, I'd quickly open my work in progress and not two minutes later, they'd appear wanting something. School is a very good thing. Both children are adjusting to the schedule. We're slowly getting back into after school activities. This week started gymnastics. Next week starts Cub Scouts. And in September, the kids both are taking a dance class. Ballet for Lady Jane and Hip Hop for Little Man. And Lady Jane will resume swim lessons. Little Man doesn't want to take swim classes so it will be up to Daddy to convince him otherwise.

Lady Jane learned to ride a bike after she got home from Grandma's. Which made Daddy super proud. Phil is working on his qualifying exams for his doctoral program.

I'm frantically (*cough, cough*) trying to avoid procrastination while revising to send out my full manuscript to an agent who has requested it. I have two publishers who would like to see it as well, but I'm waiting until the agents have a look see on the advise of another agent. So my writing career is picking up steam. Unfortunately when I don't allow myself to write (ie. need revisions done first), my brain starts spewing forth ideas and scenes for other books. So right now I have 4 books waiting to be written and about 90 other ideas waiting.

It should be a busy school year for all of us. Everyone has classes (except me :-) ). I do have another conference I'm going to this fall in Georgia. This one will be spent in workshops and more networking. So I guess I kind of have classes. I'll try to write more often on here. :)

2009-08-04T07:55:00.001-07:00

July Was Busy

I went to RWA National Conference in Washington, DC. It was a wonderful experience that I hope to repeat. Phil rode with me and took the car to Shanandoa National Park to go backpacking with 2 friends while I was at conference. The children.

Little Man started with Boy Scout camp and then joined Lady Jane at their grandparents' vacation home community camp. Swimming, horseback riding, crafts. Very fun. Then Phil and I saw the kids for less than 24 hours before my mom took them up to her house while we were out east.

When we finally all returned home, we were worn out. Now we are patiently (ha!) awaiting the start of school. We've bought all but one thing for their school supplies. Who knew it would take a scavenger hunt to find 35mm rolls of film. I have to try Walgreens, I guess.

Phil is busy studying for his qualifying exams. I'm busy working on revisions for requests (woot). And the kids are milking the last of their summer vacation. So that's where we are.

2009-07-06T13:30:00.000-07:00

Rain, raccoon, and minivans

How’d your 4th go? Ours, oh, same ole, same ole. We spent the majority of the day packing our children for their respective camps and then doing last minute shopping for their respective camps. Little Man is off to boy scout camp and Lady Jane is at her grandparents’ vacation home at the camp there.

But we’re talking the 4th so let’s not get ahead of ourselves. The weather was fussy all day. It’d start to rain and then the sun would come out. Then torrential downpour and then sunshine. But the weather had calmed down by the time we headed out to the country to Phil’s parents’ vacation home. It was overcast but the rain had stopped. We had a pleasant dinner with Phil’s sister’s family and his parents.

Most everyone headed down to the lake to listen to the music since it was too early for fireworks. Phil, brother in law, 1 yr old nephew and me stayed behind. Before too long, Little Man came back. He was bored.

Then Lady Jane came back. She was done and changed into her pajamas and headed upstairs to the loft for bed. Time for fireworks was drawing near so Little Man and Phil headed down to the lake. About 15 minutes later, the sky opened and the torrential downpour hit.

Five minutes later, soaked people carrying soaked lawnchairs burst into the relative silence of the cabin. The rain didn’t let up immediately. Figuring the fireworks were canceled, we dried off the boy and kissed the girl goodbye and when the rain slowed, we headed to the car to drive the hour back home.

We got about 200 feet before we stopped. Traffic jam in the little community as the enormous amount of people who had come for the fireworks decided whether to stay or not. We continued to creep forward until we came to a dead stop right next to where the family had originally set up for the fireworks.

Still in our car at a standstill, we saw Phil’s parents taking advantage of the break in the rain to grab the left behind tarp and blanket. As they left, fireworks filled the sky.

Everyone threw their cars into park and either got out to watch or watched from the car. They actually put on a really nice display and it was gorgeous and fireworks are great, but I was ready to go home. I had an hour to drive once I got to the gate, if I ever got to the gate.

But instead we sat through the whole thing because everyone ahead of us sat through the whole thing. As soon as we began to move, the people who had stayed on the lawns to wait out the rain got in their cars and tried to join our little procession.

The majority of the cars were trucks and minivans parked on saturated ground. This gave Phil and I something amusing to watch as people pushed and spun in the mud while we waited for the line of cars ahead of us to creep forward another foot.

We made it out and ignored the sign pointing another direction that said “Really, 70 is this way too.” Well, we knew for a fact that 70 was definitely the other way and so as not to get lost, we chose the path we knew. There weren’t a lot of cars going the same direction so we made good time on the country roads.

Now, I suppose I ought to tell you about the front of my Honda Fit. See it’s a lot lower than most cars and part of the undercover in the front had come loose and wasn’t as tight to the body as it should have been. Phil had been on me to fix it and had even said that the weekend before he was going to fix it, but it was too hot.

So I’m driving a low riding little Honda Fit on a dark country road behind this great big SUV. Someone ahead of me had struck and killed a raccoon. A rather large raccoon that now resided in the middle of my lane. Note he wasn’t squished or anything until I came upon him.

Given the amount of time I had to react to the lump in the road and the maneuverability of my car, I straddled the raccoon with the wheels. Normally this wouldn’t have caused to much issue, except as noted above, I had the front bit of my underlayment hanging down a bit.

As I hit the thing, we could hear it roll under the car. And when we left it behind, we could hear the scrapping sound of my underlayment on the pavement below. Fortunately we were right outside the little town that surrounds the interstate. So we stopped at the little five and dime.

Fearing a gruesome scene under the car, Phil tentatively looked under to see what he could do to fix it. Apparently the raccoon did more damage to me than I did to it. Phil went in to the store and got some fishing line and scissors and went to work tying up my underlayment so we wouldn’t drag it on the interstate. The gentleman working the convenience store even turned on his minivan’s headlights to help Phil see what he was doing.

We made it almost home before the string failed and just didn’t care about the dragging piece as we turned into the subdivision. Phil fixed it yesterday and we got Little Man off to boy scout camp. Now is the week that both Phil and I get ready for our joint separate vacation.

While I go to the Romance Writers’ Association National Conference in DC, he’s going backpacking with friends somewhere in a National park nearby. While I’m getting my hair done and buying shoes, he’s making homemade granola and buying rations. While I’m buying a HP Mini 110 Netbook, he’s buying a 4 person backpacking tent. But we will be spending 3 fabulous days in the car together and 1 night at a hotel en route.

2009-05-25T11:59:00.000-07:00

Birthday Fiasco

Lady Jane celebrated her birthday 2 weeks ago and just managed to have her birthday party on Saturday. 2 weeks ago was mother's day so we planned it for last Sunday. At 4 am Sunday morning, Lady Jane woke and proceeded to clear out her insides by any means possible. In the morning we called everyone who RSVP'd that we'd schedule for the following weekend. The gym had an opening on Saturday so we printed out some invites and sent them to school. What I didn't figure into the equation was that this weekend was Memorial day weekend.

At a little before 2, I remembered gift bags for the kids (party to start at 3:30). Little Man complained that he was hot and grabbed a thermometer. He had a temperature and complained that his head hurt. Back track to Friday when I get a phone call from the school nurse saying Little Man fell from the monkey bars and landed on his head and shoulder but was doing fine. Fast forward back to Saturday, when I go into slight panic mode due to some report years ago where a little girl hit her head and died a few days later. So I call the nurse hotline and go over the symptoms. I realize that it's probably viral and not related to the head injury but better safe than sorry. The nurse was nice and we ran through all the scenerios and what to watch for and I gave him some Tylenol. Next problem.

Phil left for Switzerland Saturday morning, so I'm home alone with the kids with a birthday party for one and the other sick. Call Brother in Law who is nice enough to come over and watch Little Man for the next 2-1/2 hours while I do birthday party. Problem solved.

We did get a few friends to come and a few that said they couldn't make it because they were busy this weekend. Lady Jane had fun regardless and the number of children was just about right with a brother and sister thrown in.

So crazy as my life is at least her birthday is finally done and I can move on to the next big thing which is school's out in 6 more school days. Ahhhh!

2009-05-13T09:43:00.001-07:00

Deja Vu

So I went shopping with my sister in law this weekend and wondered through the clothing at Target today and got the weirdest sense of deja vu. I was a kid in the 80s so I didn't get a lot of the fasionable 80s clothing then, but that doesn't mean that I want it now in my 30s. I have now bought 2 maybe 3 shirts that are reminiscent of the 80s complete with oversized necks and big sleeves. I don't mind the fashion trend but it makes me want to pull my hair into a side ponytail and tease the crap out of my bangs.

What's next? Bib overalls? Body suits? Crimping? Maybe a movie about a town that has banned dancing with a boy who really needs to dance? Aren't there some things that are better left buried as a comma in the fashion world and not dredged back up when they run out of new ideas?

2009-04-27T17:35:00.000-07:00

Schedule Change

My dad's episode will air tonight instead of next week. 8 cst on Discovery!

2009-04-18T18:05:00.000-07:00

Belly of the Beast

My dad is going to be on Discovery Channel's new Belly of the Beast. The new series starts April 20th at 8 pm. Dad will be on the Giant Trucks episode on May 4th, 2009.

Oh, and I won a writing contest and got a request from the editor that judged the contest. :)

2009-03-30T13:28:00.000-07:00

Styling

Lady Jane decided she wanted short hair, so I took her to my hair dresser. Yes, it is twice as much as Great Clips, but I knew it'd be a good cut. So we went and we discussed because she had middle of her back length hair, but she was adamant and hair grows back. Sometimes slowly, but hair does grow back. So five inches or so later, Lady Jane has a chin length hair with some bangs. She looks very cute, but there's a lot less we can do with her hair now. It's not quite long enough for a single pony tail and forget about braids. But she's happy and everyone has told her how cute her hair is to the point that she's sick of hearing it.

The boys went to Phil's parents' lake house for the weekend while Lady Jane and I stayed here and did the party circuit. Yup apparently it's bday time in her Kindergarten class. 2 this weekend and 1 next weekend and 1 more coming up and then there's hers which she waffles back and forth over where she wants it and what she wants to do. Craziness I tell you. Anyway, we're doing good. We had a good time and so did the boys.

2009-03-23T16:03:00.000-07:00

Yes, There are Gaps

Sorry, my mind has not been on blogging. For those concerned, I have not heard from the editor yet and probably won't for a few weeks. Way of the world and all that. Let's see I had a birthday, we bought an office chair and Rock Band 2 for me. I just spent the week up in Kewanee with my mom and dad and my kids. Mom and I kicked an old bathroom's *ss by ripping it's inurds out to make way for the pantry it used to be. Soreness and bruises are a small price to pay for the happiness that is a job at least started. :-) Found a really cool idea to solve our pantry issue.

Bought a fridge to replace our 9 year old first fridge. It has an ice maker which has been dropping ice and sucking water every 3 hours. No it's not one of those in the door type things. Got an excellent price on the model I've been eyeballing because it was on clearance. I have a part time job as an accountant. It's been interesting and nice to use that portion of my brain.

Yep, life is just chugging along at this point.

2009-03-05T10:37:00.000-08:00

I just submitted my full novel to an editor. My panic button is set to high and I'm having difficulty concentrating, but it feels really good to get my novel out there. Now for the waiting game. It can take days, weeks, months to hear back. I'm still psyched.

2009-01-28T12:27:00.000-08:00

Life Behind the Snow Plow

Two days of no school for the kids and one stressed out mom because Phil is in Pennsylvania somewhere is not a good combination. I start a part time temp job tomorrow. Was supposed to start it yesterday, but it was a snow day. We've been doing okay and even played outside in the snow for a while. I had plans today too, to transfer over the books of another organization I'm treasurer of for the year. I also need to go to the bank, but that will have to wait until tomorrow. It's also hard to be motivated to do anything when every 15 minutes someone comes to ask you a question. Oh, well.

Hmmmm. I can't think of anything else to write. I guess my brain is all tapped out at the moment. Maybe later.

2009-01-12T11:26:00.000-08:00

Where Did I Go?

It's not that I don't have anything to say. Well, maybe that's not true. I haven't been inspired much to write on the blog. I've been busy with life. So what's happened?

Christmas we spent here. Kids got a Wii and way too much other stuff. Went to Grandma & Grandpa's for dinner. Had a lovely time, ended with Rock Band at Phil's sister's.

Next day we drove up to my parents' in the fog. Fortunately I hate train crossings and we stopped at the one going to my parents' drive right as a train blasted out of the fog and across the tracks in front of us. They had about a foot of snow in some areas more or less. So we thought sledding, yay! Until the next morning when it started to rain and the snow began to melt. By the following day, it was all gone. So no sledding. :(

We stayed there until New Year's day and then headed home without my keys (we took Phil's car). Last week was insane. Monday was the first day back to school. I went and registered at Accountemps (we spent way too much on xmas) so I was gone most of the day. Tuesday school was closed due to ice, but Little Man had an appointment anyway, so we spent the morning there. By Wednesday I was so ready to be alone that I didn't get much done. Lady Jane came home and was more mopey than usual. Turned out to have a fever. Low grade, not like Little Man's. So she stayed home Thurs and Fri.

Saturday morning, Lady Jane was much better and Phil took the kids rock climbing. I went over and played Rock Band. :) His parents came to dinner Saturday night. Sunday he left for England and the kids and I went to play with friends for the afternoon.

So today is my first day to do something by myself. Except I needed to go back to sleep this morning in order to function properly. I woke up multiple times last night and got to bed late, yuck. So now I'm working until the kids get home and then I'm cleaning. Yeah, my life is so exciting, huh.

2008-12-20T08:43:00.000-08:00

10 Years of Wedded Bliss (List style)

2 apartments in America
2 houses
2 apartments in England

2 pregnancies
2 kids
2 startings of school

3 ER visits with Little Man
2 ER visits with Lady Jane
1 ER visit with Phil (really that's it, surprisingly, remember the drill bit)

1 Master's degree
1 Bachelor's degree

3 jobs for Amanda
1 job for Phil (yup he's still there)

33 Birthdays
10 Christmases

3 countries visited besides US together (Phil has been to more)

3 nephews
1 niece

>10 good friends
>10 friends' marriages
>10 friends' kids

100% still in love

2008-12-17T12:33:00.000-08:00

Pneumonia

Starting Friday with a temperature of 102 F, Little Man stayed home from school with no other obvious symptoms. The fever continued through the weekend with bouts of joy when the Motrin kicked in and slumpy times when the Motrin wore off. Monday the kids had a snow day, so Lady Jane got to ride along to the doctor with Little Man. Strep test negative and no other symptoms besides a cough had the doctor sending us home.

Tuesday, still feverish. Gave Tylenol cold and cough and Little Man had fun playing on the computer. He started feeling sluggish in the afternoon again, so I popped in the thermometer. 40.6 C, oh did I mention the only thermometer I could find was our English one? Google converts that to 105 F!!! Bath, bath, get to the bath. Lady Jane, keep your hand in the tub and make sure it doesn't get too hot or too cold. Get phone. Dial exchange, doctor's office closed. I run downstairs for a popcicle and hand it to Little Man in the bath. Temperature is not going down fast enough. Pediatric nurse calls back. Lady Jane run down stairs and grab the bag that has the two boxes in it, while I talk on the phone and try to get Little Man out of the tub. Give Motrin. After talking she says we should head to the ER. Call Phil's mobile. No answer. Call Phil's pager with the 911 following. Get warm clothes out of drawers and socks for Little Man. Phil calls back (just finished his final). Inform him of where we are going and he'll meet us there. Bundle everyone up with Lady Jane's help. Grab blanket, Little Man's robe, and DSs and run out door. Roads slick. Someone had ran into our stop sign. I go slowly. Got in left turn lane. Crap that's not the best way to go. (Traffic) Turn right, carefully. Should I go to 270? Is 270 & 40 even open? Turn down road to Page. Last exit before 270, crap 270 backed up onto Page. Get off on exit and take New Ballas. Moving smoothly until everyone decides Ballas is good way to go. A block from hospital when Phil calls to see where we are. Pull into ER. Patient drop off area, do not leave vehicle unattended. F*** that! I have Lady Jane and Little Man bundled up in the back seat. I'm not about to have them walk across a parking lot and I'm not leaving them alone in the ER while I park. Phil is kind enough to park my car while I single mindedly work on getting Little Man checked in.

Life eases for a moment and the rush rush feel goes away. I've done as much as I can. I've gotten him to where he needs to be. The doctors examine him and detect a rattle in a lung. Order a chest Xray. Phil takes Lady Jane to the cafeteria and then to home. Little Man and I watch a Charlie Brown Special (Not It's Christmas Charlie Brown, but another one) then we watch Nova for a bit. The doctors come in and confirm it is Pneumonia. Yay! Oh, wait, that came out wrong. It's treatable, yay! They gave him a dose of antibotics and a prescription. We left the hospital around 9 and drove home by way of the interstate which wasn't so bad. Of course, when I got home, I had to call the friends with children who had been with Little Man this weekend. And then my mom. And finally went to bed.

He's feeling much better today and not at all excited by the stacks of homework he has. But he is doing better. So maybe tomorrow or Friday he can go back to school and then he's off of school for almost 2 weeks.

2008-11-25T10:20:00.000-08:00

Birthday Party

Phil's birthday was Saturday. He hadn't really said what he wanted to do on that day and initially I had nothing planned. I bought his German Chocolate cake mix and frosting and realized how much cake would be made and how few of us (1) would be eating it. In the past we've gotten together with friends for dinner on birthdays, but that takes a lot of work and even if everyone brings something it still costs a chunk of change. So Friday morning, I thought what the heck and sent out an e-mail (not an evite) to some friends to join us for cake on Saturday night. I also stated that Phil didn't know people would be coming over. I double checked the next morning that his sister and his parents would be joining us and everyone else would be a surprise to me and him.

The trickiest part was dinner. I didn't want to make it so early that we would want cake right away. So we ordered from Off the Grill and Phil decided to go get the food. I thought it wise (in retrospect a bad idea) to inform the kids to not be anxious to cut the cake right after dinner because Aunt & Uncle, Grandma & Grandpa, and some friends were going to come join us, but don't tell Daddy. Daddy came home with the food and set about getting it out. Little Man wandered in carrying a chair. We already have 7 chairs around the table and don't need anymore. He said something along the lines of we'll need it for guests.

At this point, I love the fact that Phil concentrates and blocks out people around him sometimes as I grabbed Little Man by the back of his neck and pushed him into the hallway. "Daddy doesn't know we're having guests." "Oh." We're on the same page again. We sit down, eat and talk like we normally do.

Lady Jane piped in with "We need to wait for our guests." The look of death just isn't enough for that child. I inform Phil that I invited his sister and BIL over for cake. He wasn't suspicious at all. He went upstairs for a few minutes and a set of friends showed up so when he came down, he was really surprised. He sat down and the next people to show up were his sister and BIL and then another couple and another and another. We had a fairly full house with kids running everywhere.

It was very casual. He blew out the candles and we ended up with only one piece of cake left and some cupcakes which are all gone now. We were both surprised by the turn out. And everyone who hadn't made it did send their regrets and wish Phil a happy birthday. He loved his Xbox 360 that I got for him. Another reason to have a pile of friends over, he couldn't yell at me for spending money on him. So everyone had a happy weekend. Yay!

2008-11-16T08:27:00.000-08:00

The Goings On

Little Man is in Cub Scouts and gymnastics. Lady Jane is in Daisy's and gynastics. Phil is taking class and has decided to skip the triathelon. I'm writing, PTO treasurer, and MORWA treasurer. We're keeping busy. We finally figured out Thanksgiving. I've been rather ambivalent toward it since last year Thanksgiving wasn't a big deal. Also this will be the first year of holidays without my grandparents. I really don't have a lot to add. My brain is scattered today. I've got a lot to do and a lot to look over. I am doing NaNoWriMo again this year. I'm on track to win again this year with a completely different book. Winning is just making the 50,000 word deadline for the month. So we're just plugging along here. Hope things are going well for everyone else.

2008-11-06T08:41:00.000-08:00

And Now for Something Entirely Different

I've debated posting this. My friends have posted about issues they feel strongly about, but for the most part my blog has been about my life. Well, this issue affects my life. So before you go any further, I'll warn you this post is about breast health.

I tried to think of ways to start this post. The standard "I need to get something off my chest" or "I have some small things to talk about" just weren't working. So I'll just start at the beginning. This post will not be graphic, just so you know. After Little Man was born, I developed Mastitis in my left breast. Note: most pain or problems start on my left side, I don't think I'll ever know why. Regardless, this infection was easily treated by antibiotics and a stop in the weaning off process. It is very important to treat Mastitis as if left untreated, the tissue can become abscessed, which is not good. (Note: I developed it by taking out the middle of the night feeding. Unfortunately, engorgement is not good on the breasts)

So we complete the weaning off and go forward to December 2001. Probably the month before, I noticed a lump again on the left. I was ultrasounded and sent to the Breast doctor. She scheduled me for my first lump removal on Dec 24, 2001. The lump turned out to be a fatty fibroadenoma, a benign lump. I got to be nicely drugged up for Christmas and things healed fine.

Fast forward to 2003, Lady Jane is born. Again I have a bought of mastitis on the left. But am capable of recognizing the signs and it wasn't as bad. I'm treated and everything is fine.

Summer of 2005, I develop breast pain. Though this is typical in some woman, it is not in mine and it wasn't cyclical, it was constant. Doctor sent me back to Breast doctor. She finds small lump and in August 2005 I had another lump removed. This time a papilloma. Again benign. The pain resolves itself and I'm fine again.

Earlier this year, still in England, I started having pain issues again. I worried and fretted, but did nothing since I was in England and really didn't have a doctor. The pain went away. Two months ago, I again felt lumps this time in both breasts along with pain and tenderness. Quick visit to doctor and again a month later to see if any changes. Some reduction in size had her fairly certain it was fibrocystic changes. She sent me back to Breast doctor for pain management and further diagnostic. Breast doctor agrees with diagnosis, but runs an ultrasound and decided to run base line mammograms. Generally mammograms are started at 35, but because I'm special . . . Yeah. I understand the point of mammograms, I really do. I just wish there was another way to do them. Since most of my friends probably haven't had one yet. Generally they squish you flat as a pancake and take a picture. Mind you, I've been having pain and tenderness and while it was definitely uncomfortable it wasn't horrendous. But I got squished three different ways since I have special needs breasts. Meaning there's been problems before.

What does all this mean? For me, I will continue to have lumps which may come and go until menopause. This will make it harder for me to distinguish cancerous lumps and I'll go to the Breast doctor at least once more to make sure everything is still okay. As to the increase in cancer risk, there might be a small increase but basically no different from anyone else. I'll also take Oil of the Evening Primrose to help with the pain (over the counter for any of you who have breast pain). For you, female friends, don't ignore your breast health. I've been lucky and had benign changes, but I've always had them checked out. This also helped establish a pattern for the doctor's to take into consideration.

By the way, guys, you have breasts too. I know, I know, a manly chest. My neighbor, from across the street growing up, he developed breast cancer. Though it is rare, it can happen. Lumps are scary things. Going into those offices always ties me into knots, but it's better to know. Next time I promise to post something not so .... medical?

2008-10-20T06:09:00.000-07:00

Weekend Woos

Phil is currently training for ... The doorbell just rang. I caught a glimpse of a small blonde child running away as I opened the door. Apparently I've been Boo'd, a bag of goodies were left behind from my little "ghostie" friend. .... back to blog ....

Well, Phil's been training for an indoor mini triathelon. On Sunday midday he went to the Y to train. Unfortunately, he didn't leave with everything he went in with. His wallet was missing. On a normal day this would have been bad enough, but given that Phil had to catch a flight at 4:15 yesterday, it was really bad. We quickly called and cancelled all credit cards. He had his passport to fly with and we located one of the credit cards he doesn't carry but we haven't cancelled for his expenses. Fortunately, I have credit cards he doesn't, so we're not left without food and necessities while waiting for our debit card to be replaced.

In other Woo tales, Little Man has a book report due on Tuesday. So Sunday afternoon, he spent procrastinating, crying, throwing a fit, staring blankly out into space, I'm sure the list could go on forever. Finally he made progress and now just has to fill out the cards with the info. He could have finished the report at least 10 times with the amount of time he wasted.

My Woo tale isn't particularly wooful, just plain strange. Kristi and I were on our way back from our meeting when I noticed a red car pacing me. I turned to look and the person waved enthusiastically at me and as she pulled away I noticed she was driving a red Honda Fit. I've apparently joined a cult. Honda should put that in the brochure.

Lady Jane's woos are always plentiful. She's not crazy about playing soccer. We won't let her watch movies 24-7. Getting her hair brushed is awful. Life just plain sucks if you're Lady Jane. Fortunately, she has a friend coming over after school to play, so she's super excited, but I'm sure she'll find something that sucks about it. That's Daddy's girl.

2008-10-09T06:59:00.001-07:00

The Plague

So far I'm the only one who has it and it really isn't the plague just a head cold, but it does suck. I'm plugging away though. I've had meetings every night this week, which is hard on the hip. But this past weekend we drove up to my hometown for my cousin's wedding which was a blast. I got to lead the bunny hop and dance with my niece and Lady Jane. Also not helpful to the hip. I've been doing research all this week since my head is filled with snot. I'm just hoping this will be gone soon. Tonight is drive Little Man all around creation night, gymnastics and soccer practice. And tomorrow night is nothing. Little yeah! However if someone calls us for dinner we will likely do that, but otherwise we have no plans. No plastic chairs to sit in. :) Sorry my head is still all sorts of foggy and this post kinda rambled, but it's better than nothing.

2008-10-01T09:09:00.000-07:00

BTW

The Little Man's coach at soccer practice Thursday asked. "How do you like your Fit?" I had to chuckle a little.

2008-09-29T08:23:00.000-07:00

For the Girl

Going into Saturday I knew it was going to be tough. I prepared by setting an alarm and going to bed early. At 6:45 Saturday morning, I rolled out of bed, finished drying the kids' soccer uniforms and began my day. Here's our schedule for the day: (Note Phil took Little Man to his soccer game and then backpacking)

8:45 Pack Lady Jane, dressed in long black athletic pants, her soccer jersey and school tennis schools, along with a kit, which included her soccer shots, shin guards, soccer tennis shoes, three bags of snacks, and her soccer ball, into the car. Oh and a bottle of water. Then we headed to the church parking lot I was supposed to drop her off with.

9:00 Arrive at Trinity Church. No one's there. Need gas. Go to gas station. Find where cross streets are they mentioned on the flier. Oh, not that Trinity Church, one of the other five on the same road.

9:10 Sit in car line to get into proper parking lot.

9:20 Get out of car and take Lady Jane to the High School cheerleaders. She changed shirts to the cheerleading one. She's reluctant to stay, but I promise if she doesn't like it, she doesn't have to do it next year.

9:30 Head to High School where parade ends to wait for Lady Jane, set up chair next to other really early people.

9:50 SIL and nephews show up and join me to watch parade.

10:00 Parade begins somewhere far from us.

10:20 First sighting of marching band coming down the hill.

10:35 Lady Jane walks by with Cheerleaders doing a few cheers.

10:40 Pack up chair, say goodbye to SIL, go collect Lady Jane from cheerleaders.

10:45 Get back in car, hand Lady Jane a snack, and drive to soccer field.

11:00 Arrive early at soccer field was told to be there at 11:15 for picture day. Lady Jane changes in the back seat from her cheerleading outfit to her soccer jersey and shorts, then scoots to the front seat to get on her shin guards, socks and shoes. We wait a while in the car.

11:15 No one else is there yet. We abandon the car with soccer ball in hand.

11:20 Coach arrives with daughter. Lady Jane and daughter play at kicking around the soccer ball until they decide they are super heroes instead. Super Kirby(Kirby isn't the other girl's name, but it's what she was calling herself) and Super Lady (Honestly that's what Lady Jane picked, I didn't change it). I sit on the bench behind a fence which does a little to block the full heat of the sun.

11:45 Most of the other kids, except one, has arrived. They take the individual pictures and then decide to take the group picture too.

12:00 The kids take to the field for their half hour of practice before their half hour game. I set up in the shade which grows smaller and smaller as the game progresses.

12:55 Crap! Game has not ended and we are supposed to be at friends for tie dye party at 1:00. Call friend, reassure we will be there probably in 20 minutes.

1:05 For God's sake, end the bleeding game already.

1:08 It's herd ball, just call it.

1:12 I feel bad for the Coach who has to go home and change for a wedding at 2. I quickly pack Lady Jane up and we are off to our next adventure. Lady Jane eats more snack.

1:20 Arrive home, where Lady Jane changes quickly. I find a white t-shirt. She grabs her peanut butter crackers she got at the game and we walk up the hill to the party.

1:30 Arrive at friend's house. Lady Jane takes to rubber banding her white t-shirt. While I take a moment to gorge on the wonderful spread. We see friends we haven't seen in a while. Lady Jane plays while I get to talk and glance at my watch every now and then.

3:00 I check with Lady Jane to see if she wants to stay at our friends for a while longer or go home and have some quiet time. She'd like to stay.

3:35 We head home and pick up our gift card, socks, and directions.

3:40 In car again heading to birthday party for classmate. See cars lined up at junction of interstate, but they are moving, so we continue.

4:00 Arrive at birthday party in one whole piece. Sit down while Lady Jane runs wild with her classmates. Occassionally tears at overly aggressive children, but otherwise I was fine. :) As always there are parents who drop off and disappear and then there are parents who stay. Two of the parents I had met before and one I introduced myself to.

6:00 After gorging herself on chips, Kit Kats and chocolate cake. I pried Lady Jane from the party with our parting gift of a CD of the birthday girl's favorite songs. We returned to the car and I popped in the CD for the ride home. I asked Lady Jane if she wanted to eat out or at home and she said at home. (Silly girl)

6:20 Home again. Finally. I make us some mini corn dogs and we watch the end of the movie she started on Friday night.

7:50 Lady Jane goes upstairs for bed. She has the nerve to say she had an awful day. I blow up at her. (Not literally. I just told her how that made me feel after carting her around the whole day and doing absolutely nothing for me) Then I went downstairs.

8:00 I think I hear Lady Jane crying. I yell up the stairs that she didn't even say she's sorry.

The next morning.

8ish Lady Jane comes into the room with Max and climbs into bed. Max procedes to pounce on our feet. I tell Lady Jane to boot him out. She does and then she starts pouncing feet--Wait, no, she tosses and turns. So I boot her out. She goes to her room and plays with her Littlest Pet Shop.

10ish I finally convince myself to leave bed. But I'm not leaving without my book. Lady Jane apologises for saying she had a bad time yesterday. We hug and make up. We lounge around in the morning. I turn on some cartoons and make her breakfast.

11ish I figure we need showers, but then I get involved with my book and she's watching SpongeBob.

11:30 Okay we really need to move. Get phone call. Oops forgot someone from the PTO was going to drop by. Put off shower.

11:45 Okay PTO been and gone. Now it's time for showers. Lady Jane swears she can do it on her own, so I let her while I take my shower.

12:30 Dressed and ready to go to next party at 1:00. Then I remembered lunch. Party is 6 minutes away from home. Fix Lady Jane lunch.

12:50 Head to party.

1:00 Party. Same two mothers stayed from yesterday and another mother who hadn't made it to the party yesterday. Sat and talked to them all afternoon under a tent in the backyard. Lady Jane had a blast.

4:00 Head home hoping to not have to endure another party for a while. These two were at least better then Chuck e Cheese. Phil and Little Man are back from their journey (which Phil actually blogged about).

So that's it in a nutshell. Lady Jane and I filled the weekend to the brim and managed to come out the other side in tact. Lady Jane mentioned Saturday night at dinner that she missed Flo. I'm sure she'll connect with someone, but I know that it's very hard when you've had a really good friendship to find something to replace it.

2008-09-25T05:51:00.001-07:00

If You've Noticed the Lack...

Phil isn't good about posting and couple that with a lack of time, well, let's say it may not happen for a while. He's busy with homework from him class. Trying to make time to be with the kids. Helping Little Man with his afterschool activities. Yard work and anything else that catches his eye. Oh, planning a backpacking trip. Did I mention, working full time and over sometimes. The poor man is pulled in a hundred directions. He was up late last night trying to work on his homework and then up early this morning since he has to leave work early to get to class. So when Phil's head explodes from the pressure, we'll all know why.

As for me, there's not much new going on. I'm able to balance my life a lot better. Though occassionally I'll get stuck in la-la land when I'm writing a book or trying to research the next one. But for the most part I'm here for the kids, including their teachers. I've got a couple of things to bring up to the school. One is a program developed by the AICPA (American Institute of Certified Public Accountants) for children 4th-6th grade. It's on financial literacy. The other is for all kids. Nanowrimo has a youth program. National Novel Writing Month. Which I would like to show to the teachers as writing and reading is a huge part of the curriculum. Since it's a little late this year, they may be able to schedule it in next year, but who knows. I've also been thinking about seeing if there would be any interest in an afterschool writing club. Somewhere in grades K-8, there's at least a few aspiring authors. I would have loved to have something like that growing up. I'm thinking writing sprints, brainstorming sessions, and local authors speaking.

I'm currently editing my novel and trying to figure out which idea to write about next.

Max, the cat, is getting used to things around here. He's still sleeping upstairs with the kids. Mostly on the top bunk with Little Man. Max climbs the ladder. From time to time, I have to call him off of attacking one of the older cats. Especially when they are on top of the entertainment center. Right now he's sleeping, probably dreaming of more mischief. Anyway, I have things to do. I'll try to keep you posted.

2008-09-14T09:33:00.000-07:00

Chuck E. Cheese

Where a kid can be a kid and an adult can go insane. I detest crowds. I mean really really detest crowds and Chuck E. Cheese was at its peak last night. Little Man finally got his birthday party with 8 guests. Phil really didn't want to be part of it, not that I blame him. So I enlisted my mother in law to help. After an hour and a half of loud noises, too many lights, and children running around like maniacs. I managed to feed all the children and make sure a parent picked them up. Not exactly how I want to spend any hour of my life again. But I'm sure I will at some point. I've never felt more exhausted at 6 o'clock in the evening on a day I hadn't been ill.

2008-09-12T12:20:00.001-07:00

Another Lousy Morning

We've just been off our game this week. We started with oversleeping on Monday and having to drive to school. Then Lady Jane's mood has been less than stellar the past few mornings. We'll all be happy when Daddy gets home or if Grandma comes down. I've gotten to the end of my novel and now have to go back through and edit. I'm not 100% satisfied with the ending. I think I may have added a scene I don't need on the end.

We're going to go to Blockbuster tonight and find a movie to veg to. Tomorrow is soccer and birthday party. Then Sunday is ours. We'll see what we figure out for Sunday.

2008-09-11T11:24:00.000-07:00

The Day Has Come

So if you'll recall from--Okay so I've never mentioned it before. I got sucked into reading old blog posts from England, right, back to this story--Like I was saying, there were plenty of mornings in Sheffield where I would drag Lady Jane out of bed, forcibly dress her and get her downstairs for breakfast. Then force shoes on her feet and drag her down the hill to Reception. I had almost let those memories fade when this morning happened. First she didn't want to get out of bed. I get her clothes and lay them on the bed and tell her to get dressed. I come back and she's still trying to sleep. A quick touch of the forehead told me she didn't have a fever.

So, I push on her leggings and help her out of her nightgown and into her shirt. She comes downstairs, but doesn't want breakfast. She said she'd get fruit at school. Fine. I get to working on the morning stuff I have to do. 2 minutes before we head out to the bus stop, she says she's hungry. I put some cereal in front of her and tell her to eat fast.

We go out to a drizzly morning to wait for the bus. Unlike most mornings, she's clingy and doesn't go out even when the bus comes. So I walk her to the bus, which she won't get into. So I lift her on the first step and tell her to go sit down. (Note, I'm not yelling at all during this, really, I find in the morning that if I yell at the kids it's just counterproductive) She stands there. The bus driver tries to cajol her into the bus. I try to. Eventually she gets on, but only if she can sit alone.

I walk in the house and immediately call the school to warn her teacher of the impending doom that is my child. We'll see how Lady Jane did today at school. I'm tempted to call at 3 to ask her teacher how she did before she gets home. Please let this be a one time thing.

2008-09-07T16:07:00.000-07:00

Momma, Did a Bad, Bad Thing

Lady Jane enjoyed her cheer camp. She was reluctant to go out and show everyone what she'd learned even though she would have been out there with over 30 other girls. We went to Target to try to find Spore. Not there yet, so we picked up another game. When we returned home, we opened it (noticing that the sticker seal was already broken). Inside was a totally different game. We headed back to Target and got the right one.

So what'd I do that was so bad? Well, I stayed up until after midnight on the computer. When I finally made it up to bed, I didn't go to sleep. No that would have been smart. I picked up a book I'd already read. And read the majority of it until 5:40 this morning. Why you ask? Or maybe you don't, but I'm going to tell you anyway. I wasn't tired. Don't know why, but I just wasn't. Now waking at 8 this morning, I opened the door and heard the kids playing nicely with each other and went back to bed. I still have a bit of that sleep depravation headache that comes on, but I should be fine tomorrow. Fingers crossed.

2008-09-06T07:32:00.001-07:00

Cheer, Baby, Cheer

Last weekend was Labor Day Weekend also known as Hog Days in my home town. They hold a carnival uptown, but it's a great excuse for our family to get together and have hog roasts and barbeques. I couldn't help feeling a little off everytime I drove out to my mother's farm. I pass the road to my grandpa's farm on the way. It felt odd that I wouldn't be going down and seeing my grandparents while I was in town as I always tried to do.

We spent the nights at my brother's house since chez Mom was filled to the brim and overflowing out to the lawn in tents. The company helped to distract us from what we were missing and we all had a really good time. We got to go up to the carnival and have corn dogs, cotton candy and funnel cakes. We played a few games and rode a few rides. Okay I didn't ride any rides but the kids did. This year we got my niece and nephew for almost all the weekend so the kids were thrilled.

I just dropped Phil off at the airport for his overseas adventure. He's flying to Zurich today/tomorrow and then going to Sheffield. I'm not jealous at all. Really, I'm not. Okay maybe a little. Well, more like a lot. But I doubt Phil's work would spring to send his wife over with him so I'll get over it. Eventually.

Lady Jane went to a cheer camp put on by the high school today. I won't know how it goes until later today, but she was excited to be going. We'll see how she feels after. She got her shyness on when I dropped her off, wanting me to stay, but I had to take daddy to the airport. Like all things her shyness will wear off after a few minutes and she'll have a great time.

Besides school there's not much to report, except I did get finageled into another treasurer position. So I'll be doing 2 treasurer positions this year. Woohoo. Actually I enjoy working with records and probably would genuinely miss accounting if I didn't do a little here and there. Don't get me wrong I won't be jumping into a real accounting job for a while. I love writing and hope to give it my best effort. To that score, I'm almost finished with my second book. (The first one was really practice, trust me) After a set of revisions, I should be able to start sending it out for an agent. Ahhh, scary. Oh, and I'm sending it in to a few contests as well.

So life is good, but I won't be saying 'What could possibly go wrong?' because everyone knows what happens when you say that!

2008-08-25T08:46:00.001-07:00

The Produce Aisle

Last week was rough. Exactly 4 months from losing my Grandma, my Grandpa passed away. Thankfully, I was able to head up as soon as I found out and be with my family and help out. We all knew it was coming, but the man had beaten the odds for so long that it was still unexpected. He was a great man and a wonderful grandpa. I can say this because I'm the girl grandchild. Not as much was expected of me. I made sure this past week that I didn't have time to dwell on it and to keep pressing forward with whatever I could do to help. See I don't like to cry in front of people. It's a weird thing to some people, but it's who I am. So we'd be sitting in the kitchen of my Grandparents' farm talking about things and those unwanted tears would brim to the surface only to be blinked in oblivion. I do give myself permission to cry when it works for me. Two of the qualities or flaws (depending on who you ask) that my Grandpa passed to me was stubbornness and being a control freak.

Okay enough about my emotional constipation. You're probably wondering what the heck the title of this post means. Ahh, you thought I didn't have a plan . . . Today was the first day that I've been alone since Grandpa died (not including the 3-1/2 hours spent in a car to get there). I went to the bank and then to the grocery store. When you first walk into the grocery store, the produce is there. I'm doing fine, grab my cart, grab some bananas and then head to the veggie aisle. As I'm picking up green beans, tears rush forward as the image of my Grandma's kitchen and her showing me how to snap off the ends floods my mind. People really shouldn't get weepy buying veggies, but I'm blinking away tears as my gaze falls on the husks of corn. Can you guess who showed my how to shuck corn. My memories of my Grandparents rest in that farm. It's who they were to me. From painting a chair for Grandpa in the barn while he worked in his shop with the traditional country music station blaring in my ear to the cookies in Grandma's cookie jar to milking goats while Grandpa milked the cows. Afternoon naps with Grandpa on Sunday in the recliners. Setting the table for Grandma. To later always making sure before I left to give them a kiss and hug and tell them I love them just in case next time they wouldn't be there.

I will always be grateful for getting to see them one last time before they left this world and getting that chance to remind them that I love them. If you see me getting choked up in the produce aisle, just give me a moment and it too will pass.

2008-08-18T11:22:00.000-07:00

A Girl and Her Car

I have a Honda Fit. I'm a girl who has never been particularly interested in cars. Note I haven't gotten that interested over the years either. So if you own a Honda Fit and see me getting into mine please don't ask me how I like it. It's starting to creep me out. First a man hollers across the grocery store parking lot "How do you like your Fit?" I smile thinly and say it's fine. Then today I come out of Target and a man sitting in a white Fit right next to mine. I load in my stuff and then take the cart to the corral. As I'm walking back across, he's started his car and pulls out. I wait and he rolls down his passenger window to yell, "How do you like the Fit?"

Now come on, people. You're making me really quite freaked out. What is it with older men and their Honda Fits wanting to see if I like my car. I'm driving it and it's not broken, so yeah, I like it. Am I going to gush ecstatically over it? Probably not. Is it going to make me want to talk to you? Really, no! Is it going to make me want to run to the nearest police officer? Umm . . . yeah. It's a car, you've got one too, good for you. Now leave me alone.

{This does not apply to people I know and talk to. Or someone interested in buying a Fit. Just creepy Fit owners who want their own purchase approved by someone else :) }

2008-08-15T19:15:00.000-07:00

School Daze

Yeah, I know I've used that before, get used to it. I'm getting old and set in my ways. Lady Jane and Little Man are back in school and loving it. Wait until the real work starts next week. Lady Jane is making friends and Little Man is planning his birthday party. The cats and I are adjusting to the less frantic pace of life without the kids home. Next week we start gymnastics again and need to sign up for another round of swimming. We've decided to forgo ballet this year and maybe pick it up next year when we won't have swimming lessons. Both kids decided they wanted to do Soccer as well and since league play is free with our membership, why not. We'll settle into a routine fairly shortly here. Yay, school!

2008-08-12T20:00:00.000-07:00

The Box

So Little Man had a rough Kindergarten year with some methods of punishment we were not all together happy with. "The Box" being one of these. Well, Little Man has been "scaring" Lady Jane with "the box". I wish I could go back to those stressful times and stand up to the administration and the teacher and say hell no to the box. Little Man is an odd case but to have permanently marked in his brain that not "getting" the rules means you end up in a box* really sucks.

*The box was a desk surrounded by walls to keep him from distracting other students. Not unlike a cubicle.

Still if I were a stay at home mom at the time, I feel we could have dealt with the situation better. Who knew that three years later we would be easing the fears of his younger sibling with regards to "the box". She's also worried that she won't make any friends and especially a friend like F (England).

2008-08-11T14:08:00.000-07:00

This and That and the Other

The kids and I spent two weeks up at my parents' farm. We had a good time. Little Man and Lady Jane got to play with their cousins. My niece is 8 and my nephew is 6, so the kids are all close in age. One snag was Little Man had a DS and so did my niece and nephew. You've never seen a more miserable 5 year old than Lady Jane when everyone was playing except her. Guilt and a promise from Little Man to front some of the cost made me buy Lady Jane a used DS. Makes for a much happier Lady Jane. When Phil and I decided to get Little Man a DS for Xmas in 2006 and Lady Jane a Leapster, it was for our trip to England and Lady Jane was only 3. She loved her Leapster and didn't feel jipped. But she's older now, so...

On the money issue, anyone else go school clothes shopping yet? Oh, my God! That's an easy way to drop a few hundred dollars. The mall was scary. I kept having flash backs to junior high. Vests, tunics and leggings, and even ties. I had to nix some clothes as I couldn't dress my child in things I would have worn 20 some years ago. She'll be cute though and well dressed. She's my little skinny mini and so is Little Man. Little Man is a 5 percenter in both height and weight. I'm pushing him to eat more since the doctor was a little concerned about his weight increase over the past year. Or rather lack thereof. He gained just not in correspondance with how he'd been gaining.

Blah, blah, blah. Kids go back to school soon and I'm sure I'll have lots to talk about then.

2008-07-22T07:37:00.000-07:00

My Parents are Still Teaching Me New Stuff

The kids, Max and I are up at my parents' house for a while to visit. We finished up swim lessons and didn't sign up for the following session so there'd be nothing stopping us for a two week vacation. Monday morning we woke up to the sound of thunder and the flash of lightening practically simultaneous. Of course, Mom woke up to a huge crack followed by the brush of something on the side of the house. A few minutes later the air conditioners and fans died. We looked out the windows and saw half a tree leaning on the power lines. A few minutes later another crack resounded. Out in front a ancient maple tree split down the middle and fell to the ground. The storm quieted down. We called the power company to let them know what happened.

Apparently, 80 mph winds ripped through upper Illinois along with the rain and lightening. Besides the halved trees down, branches, both dead and alive, littered the acres surrounding my parents' farm. The Nintendo DS was fully charged, so the kids took turns playing on that when they were inside. Otherwise, it was clean up time. We got out the tractors and the wagon and got to work. I've never driven a lawn tractor so my parents taught me. See, never too old to learn. Oh, and I got to work on my farmer's tan, always a bonus. We managed to get the tree, that knocked pulled the power line and caused the power pole to lean precariously, picked up and onto the overwhelmingly high burn pile. The kids helped with their tractor and gator for a little while before returning inside.

Normally, power outages in town only affect your electricity. Well, on a farm where the pump to the well is controlled by electricity. . . Yeah, no running water for showers after working outside in 80 degree heat carry large and small pieces of wood. My brother lives in town so after working up a sweat we all headed in to take showers and eat dinner and watch the season premier of the Closer. Oh, and take in the food from the freezer. We returned out to the farm with no power still. We went to bed and around three o'clock, the fan started whirling in my and the kids' room. Yeah, power.

2008-06-30T10:21:00.000-07:00

Meet Max

Remind you of anyone. As soon as the bistate area could hear his purr, I was hooked. He loves to be petted, has boundless kitten energy, and is really sweet. No cat will ever replace my guy. But this kitten makes me happy. I would encourage anyone with a big heart and space at home to check out your local humane society. This is the month they get tons of spring kittens in. I only had eyes for one little fellow though. The funny thing is he's been there since 6/6 and this is the first time I've noticed him. I'm a frequent visitor of the humane society, but tend toward the puppies and away from the kitties. I'll keep you posted on how the other cats take to him. I'm taking him to the vet for a checkup before introducing them. I wonder if they'll see the same thing I see. Hmmm. Or if they'll just attack him.

2008-06-26T12:57:00.001-07:00

Whose Marbles Have I Lost Now?

Seriously, you would think I would learn by now and honestly I thought I never really had a problem before yesterday. See when I get a little down, I like to go to our local humane society and look at the dogs and the cats. I've seen older cats that remind me of my favorite who died last year, but none that tempted me. Nope, I was stone cold with regards to cats. It was the puppies and dogs that would catch my eye, but I knew I couldn't do that to my poor 13 year old cat. She barely tolerated the dog we had for a year. So what's the story and why the blog post about things I'm not getting?

See, yesterday I went there as my little pick me up completely on a whim. They've got tons of kittens and I walked past everyone in the Kitten room even the two orange tabbies. They are so full of kittens that there are some in the Puppy Parlor. No puppies just tons of kittens. Siamese, black and white, calico, brindle, creamy white and yellow. All super cute, but I wasn't buying it. Then I saw him. Alone in a cage, his engine started as soon as I drew near. He meowed, not croaked and he didn't give in to temptation and roll on his belly, but mine never did right away either. He could have been my boy's son or little brother or nephew. And he grabbed my heartstrings and hasn't let go. So here's why I'm going insane. I know, and I mean it, I know we don't need another cat. I know that when the cats are gone Phil wants a break from animals for a little while before getting the dog he's been longing for. I know all this, but my heart is breaking again. I know I don't need him and that it's an irrational thing, but I want that kitten. To me he's a salve on the open wound left by my favorite. No, I'm not being melodramatic, you get a cat, fall in love with him, think he's going to be around for a few more years and then have to put him to sleep and then tell me your heart's not ripped open and bleeding.

I know this kitten is not him. I know this kitten has its own personality. I know this kitten may choose to love one of the kids more than me. I know this kitten won't replace my favorite. But I still want him.

2008-06-17T06:20:00.000-07:00

VBS a Hit

So far at least. Both kids enjoyed their first day of vacation bible school. Little Man was especially excited to come home and tell me what they did. Note to self need to find a good Sunday school for the kids. Religion is a tough topic in our house and I don't normally bring it up. Both of us agree that the kids should have exposure to religion and we agree on open discussions regarding religion. In fact we don't really argue about it or the way our kids should be exposed to it. I feel religion is a personal choice and don't want to interfere in my childrens' decision process. I want to give them all the facts though. My parents were pretty silent on the subject. I went to church with friends or relatives, but never with my parents. I was able to attend multiple churches from Mormon to Baptist to Methodist. I guess the one thing I want my children to be is open. Open to all beliefs and tolerant of all faiths or other people's decisions whether they match theirs or not. The church does teach morality, but sometimes I wish it wasn't morality based on fear. Better do the right thing or you're going to hell. I don't know what ideas my children will come home with, but I'll enjoy the discussions that follow.

2008-06-15T09:24:00.001-07:00

Where Are the Kids?

My in-laws decided to take my kids for a week last week. From Monday evening until Saturday morning we were kidless. Tuesday nothing much happened because I had an appointment. Wednesday hmmm. Oh, yeah, gaming in the evening so cleaning in the afternoon. Thursday I happily wrote all day long and the same for Friday. I made some real great progress on the book I'm writing totalling about 8000 words in two days, finished it should be about 85,000 words.

The kids are back. Suntanned and lounging around the house this morning, happily connected to their electronic gadgets. Last night we went to our friends who visited us in Sheffield for dinner. All had fun. At the end of the evening, we were walking down the steps in the dark and being distracted by the pregnant lady jumping up and down to get the security light I missed the last step. I'm fairly certain I probably fell off my shoe too. Anyway, I fell down, very slowly. I kept thinking oh, I'm stopping now and then I didn't. I didn't stop falling until I was looking up at a bumper. Yup, that's me, graceful. So when we got home I had to do what I do on a weekly basis for the kids to me. Wash the wounds and then bandage. One big one and two Scooby Doo ones. Mostly I just scraped the skin, but my ankle scrapped up the worst. However it's my arm that hurts to move. I was holding the game box which didn't help stop my fall. Oh, well, now I can really tell the kids to stop crying it doesn't hurt that bad. Mommy didn't cry when she fell (even though there was that brief moment where I thought about it).

Next week is VBS (vacation bible school). Yeah, more me time.

2008-06-09T05:47:00.001-07:00

I've Been Burnt By You Before

Last night was the end to a very long weekend. The kids and I spent about an hour Saturday and Sunday at the pool and regardless of sunscreen application, I ended up with a sunburn on my shoulders and back. Bah. We picked up our flooring for our closet and Phil installed it Sunday morning. By Sunday afternoon we were installing the closet shelving and rods. The amount of stuff in our closet filled up the floor space in our bedroom which is no easy feat. Tonight we should be able to complete it. Phil and I got a date night on Saturday night. We used a local organization that does a kid's night out. We went to a Japanese steak house where they cook in front of you. Yummy. Then still having an hour or so, we came home and started a movie on demand. We didn't pick up the kids until 9:30 by which time both were still awake but dragging. Overall a good weekend for everyone.

2008-06-05T09:15:00.000-07:00

Too Much Time on His Hands

Yesterday I got pulled over by a cop in south county, because, get this, I don't have the front license plate displayed. My car didn't come with a front plate, so I was really at a loss with what to do with the front one, so it's in my file cabinet. I was absolutely livid that this man decided to stop me for this. Apparently it is a law in Missouri, just one I would assume the dealership would have fixed for me when they sold me the car. Note they are getting an irate call today along with the demand that they pay the money to get the front bumper add on to make it right. There's a petition on line to abolish the law, but as of yet, it still seems to be in effect. When I pointed out the other cars that passed by without the front plate, he said he always pulls over and 'checks' cars with only the back license and gives them a warning. He did not give me a written warning and I was not nice to him. With all the reckless driving and speeding going on on the streets, he's pulling me over about my plate. Seriously, find something else to do.

2008-05-26T16:49:00.000-07:00

Home Time

With the help of my mom, I've been tackling our house since our renter moved out. We painted and cleaned the extra bedroom to turn it into a toy room. We invited a couple of friends over to lend their kids' hands to the rainbow mural created with finger paints. It turned out really nice. New sheer curtains finished off the room after adding a table and chairs we've had for a long time. Total cost included $10 curtains, $5 finger paints, and $20 wall paint. However, there is a closet project to make cubbies in half with mdf which hasn't been bought.

Next came the living room/study. We've never used it as a living room. It's always been a computer/piano room. So it got a coat of paint. We moved the desk and had to buy extension cables. I also bought folders and binders to help organize the tons of mail I don't want to throw away. We found the desk lamp that matched the floor lamp we got years ago. So total cost included $40 lamp, $20 paint, $50 cables, and $30 folders/binders.

Finally the family room. We used paint that I bought for the computer room years ago when we painted the entry room. We also had to use primer to cover the yellow venetian plaster that never turned out the way we imagined and haven't really liked. It was supposed to be a dark golden and turned out to be more mustardy. I also mentioned to Phil that I wanted to replace the curtains which we bought the fabric when we first moved. It was cheap and I was able to sew some really nice curtains. They were dark green with golden fleur-de-lis (small). After painting, they no longer went with the room and so today we were off to Bed, Bath & Beyond to pick out drapes. While there I found curtains that would work well with our dining room and picked up three different ones to try with the living room. After settling on some that we thought looked nice but wanted in a lighter color. I called around to find five panels since I knew the one we had been at only had two left. So we returned the curtains and picked up those two from one store and then drove across town to another BB&B and picked up the other three (also their last ones in stock). Total cost $15 primer and $130 curtains (on clearance). Still needed is a new sofa and new throw pillows.

Dining room needs painting and stenciling finished, but the new curtains and the new chandelier look good (old one was moved to our bedroom, the only room big enough to carry it off). I still need to pick up new chairs for the dining room table and currently the dining room is the storage place for our new closet for our bedroom while we wait for the flooring to come in. We also need a new office chair.

Man, I need to go on Design on a Dime. I'm revamping my house on the cheap. I'm loving how it's all coming together and it feels good to have a house that looks good. As soon as we clear out the closet stuff, we're definitely going to have a party to see all our friends. We've been putting it off since our renter was still living here and all his furniture was packed in with ours. But as soon as we put on the finishing touches look in your inbox for an invite.

2008-05-13T18:06:00.001-07:00

What Could Be Worse?

So I went to my doctor with my tummy ache which is really freaking annoying and causing all sorts of problems. He finally gave me an anti-nausea medication. Now last night I said that I was willing to try anything even if it made all my hair fall out. Seriously this sucks, I can't eat, I can't not eat, I feel ill all the time, I can't sleep well. So I get the prescription and the list of side effects are interesting. Here it goes:

Possible are drowsiness, dizziness, nasal congestion, blurred vision, dry mouth, or constipation.
Hmmm. I could live with that. Take it at night, have a box of Kleenex and a glass of water nearby and eat more fruit. Oh, but that's just the stuff you don't have to ask your doctor about. Here comes the fun. Changes in vision, changes in breasts, changes in menstrual period, prolonged or painful erection, sore throat (oh, God, what kind of weird searches am I going to get with this stuff), inability to move eyes, muscle spasms of face, neck or back, difficulty swallowing, mask-like face, tremors of hands, restlessness, tension in legs, shuffling walk or stiff arms or legs, puffing of cheeks, lip smacking or puckering, twitching or twisting movements, or weakness of arms or legs. Yeah. Well, at least it doesn't cause nausea.

I did a little research on line and found out it can also be used for schizophrenia. But I like the voices in my head. :) Regardless, here's hoping that will calm down the symptoms and keep me okay until I can get in to see the specialist in 3 weeks. First opening they had between 2 doctors. If I still feel like this is three weeks, I might be begging for something with worse side effects than listed above.

(Really how many weird hits am I going to get by listing strange side effects. For those of you that know how to see what searches pull you up, e-mail me.)

2008-05-05T20:57:00.000-07:00

Who Feels Guilty?

So what's the first thing you ask the woman who left you high and dry a year and a half ago at the beginning of a two year term as treasurer of the PTO? So you want to be treasurer. That's right I've already been nominated to be next term's treasurer. Elections are tomorrow but it looks like I have it in the bag. So go figure. Now all I need is for Phil to come home and say, Hey, you want to go to [insert foreign destination here] for [insert length of time here], so I can go in and say, Umm, yeah, so you know how you thought I'd be here for 2 years...

Though I really can't see us going anywhere soon. We need to get reestablished or I think the only member of my PTO would be me, because bouncing in and out of schools is not very conducive to learning. But seriously we aren't going anywhere. Nothing is in the works. We're here for the rest of our lives as far as we know at this moment in time.

Oh, and Little Man lost a tooth tonight at the Y. So now he's missing both bottom front teeth.

2008-05-03T12:15:00.000-07:00

Falling Into Place

The kids are currently playing in the entry way. The only place not cluttered with furniture right now. They were playing outside, but it got a bit cold. Phil is up taking a nap. He doesn't feel well. So that leaves me on the computer writing to you because I realized I hadn't written in a while. I'm hung up on what to write about. Nothing major is happening in our lives. We're not visiting some foreign country or exploring old ruins. Life is easing back into life. I had a discussion while taking a friend home about changes. I know that life moved on while we were away for a year, but sometimes it doesn't feel like it. We stepped right back into our lives without missing a beat. England seems surreal now. I miss it. I miss the consistency of the weather. We didn't get these strange periods where it's cold one day and hot the next. You were almost guaranteed rain at some point or at least cloudy days. I enjoy having a backyard again for the kids to play in and appreciate the sunny days here. We're dealing with the conversion back as it comes. Sometimes it's little like where to flush the toilets (we had buttons on top that you depressed) or big like remembering to wear sunscreen.

2008-04-28T06:39:00.000-07:00

A Note on Hair

Obviously I have no issues cutting my hair or letting it grow or coloring it. I've gone from red to dark brown and back again. I've had the pixie cut and hair down to the middle of my back. The hairstylist that cut the pixie cut was afraid I'd cry because I cut my hair. This struck me as odd. After all, it grows back. It's not like I'm cutting off a finger. I want my daughter to have the same attitude about hair that I do. Meaning I don't want her to cry if she makes a decision about it that doesn't work out. After all it's hair. It grows back and sometimes it's the only thing in your life that's controllable or changeable. Phil appreciates it when I take out my need for change on my hair. It usually costs him a lot less and is definitely less stressful for him. So hair today, gone today, grows tomorrow.

2008-04-25T07:10:00.000-07:00

Hair Today, Gone Tomorrow

2008-04-24T12:23:00.000-07:00

Love Tested

On April 15th, my grandparents celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary. My grandma was only 17 years old when they married. My mom was born two years later, the first of five children. Their love brought five children, 14 grandchildren, and great grandchildren into the world. The tests that happened during my lifetime include at least 4 heartattacks from my grandpa, the death of a son due to cancer, a heartattack from my grandma, and later my grandma had a stroke. The greatest test and the thing that showed grandpa's devotion. She was left paralyzed on one side and unable to speak. My grandpa cared for her and kept her at the house they'd lived in for years.

April 17th marked the 17th anniversary of the death of my uncle, their son. On April 19th, my grandma passed away. The woman, who grew up in poverty during the depression and spent her adult life with someone who loved her enough to stand by her in her time of need, died quietly in the bed she'd shared with the man she loved. I don't know who I cried more for, her or the husband left behind with the grief of losing the woman he'd stood beside for over 60 years. I can only hope that as my love is tested, it raises to the level theirs did.

2008-04-20T13:16:00.001-07:00

Tuned in and Tuned out

Little Man saw a giant leap in his allowance due to the exchange rate when we returned since we'd put a no spending lock on the kids. So, he had a nice chunk of change left over. We were at Target yesterday and Little Man was deciding which toy to get and then he saw the iDog. This, of course, led to the iPods. Now he had a decision to make. He could get a Lego set or an iPod shuffle and an iDog. He decided on the iPod. So now he wanders around with headphones in his ears or his dog. He'll still get the Lego set but since he wanted both, I told him to wait until the toy room was ready for the Legos. Our house is covered in toys right now. It's odd because it wouldn't normally be something I would expect my son to buy. When he first got his allowance, all he wanted to do was find whatever he could buy with his $4, which wasn't much and helped us accumulate the gigantic pile of toys I sorted before leaving for England. Now, he takes his time and really looks at his choices and then decides between toys and saving for bigger toys.

Now, Lady Jane, on the other hand, has bought two pairs of shoes with her allowance so far. I swear if I went somewhere shoe shopping that had prettier shoes she'd always spend her allowance on shoes. Or princess stuff. She does want an Easy Bake Oven (Grandma you listening). She got a make over head from her aunt for Xmas. New toys are great.

I have a problem buying stuff. I look at the price tag and freak out a little. I think I'm so used to doubling the price in my head that everything looks way too expensive. We're not talking really expensive stuff, but things like $18 for a kid's outfit. Maybe that is outrageous. Enough about money for now.

2008-04-18T12:27:00.001-07:00

Didn't You Know Today was the 25th?

I did, but apparently the rest of the world is a week behind. Oops. I'm blaming it on the earthquake even though I thought that before this morning. I'm still blaming the earthquake. Oh, well, free time. Woohoo.

2008-04-18T06:07:00.000-07:00

Ever Get the Feeling You're Being Followed

We just filled out the usgs survey for the 5.2 earthquake centered in Illinois. Seriously, we just filled out one of these a few months ago for England. Little Man bit his tongue and Lady Jane thought she was having a nightmare. But at least this time they felt it too. So anyone want an earthquake where they live, we can probably schedule a visit in a few months time. :)

Did you feel it?

2008-04-17T18:14:00.000-07:00

You Win Some, You Lose Some

Namely losing teeth. Little Man lost his first tooth which we almost forgot to put under a pillow. It fell out when he went to wiggle it again. Another milestone reached, but somehow not as significant as when he got his first tooth or the first step or the first laugh.

Lady Jane has been having nightmares for the past two nights. The night before last she came in and got into bed with us. (I missed my King size bed.) Then last night we sat and argued with her to go back to her own bed which eventually she did.

I guess I don't have much to report here. We're still settling in and trying to start a routine. Lady Jane liked her first tumbling class. So both kids are signed up for gymnastics and swimming which should give them some great exercise and make them eat at night. Right?

2008-04-15T06:52:00.000-07:00

Life in General

Lady Jane is home. We had a good and not so good weekend up with the family. Little Man and I decided against driving my little car in the gusting winds Friday night, so we headed up Saturday morning. We had an interesting discussion about the civil war and rights over lunch at Steak n Shake. The weekend was a little hectic with Mom having to help with Grandma and me being left with 4 kids to try to get to sleep. Fortunately they did before my brother left around 10:30 and Dad got home a little after midnight. We were able to get everything ready for my nephew's birthday BBQ at 2:00. Kids were everywhere at that point and some interesting discussions were had by the adults. Lady Jane, Little Man, and I hopped in my little car and headed home after the gifts had been opened and the cake cut. We made it about 3 miles before the kids crashed in the backseat.

Monday, Lady Jane had her first swim lesson. A vast improvement from the prior year when she wouldn't go into the water with the teacher. Grandma came and picked up Lady Jane and her cousin from the Y and took them to her house for the afternoon. Last night was my first ever Yoga class. One of the discussions at the party was about Yoga class and how you don't think it's doing anything until you wake up the next morning. Maybe for someone who doesn't have muscle problems and stubborn joint issues. I could feel it as I was doing it. Things I was supposed to feel in my thighs never got past the knee because the calf hurt so bad. I think in the long run it will be good for me, but right now everything is protesting. Especially my hips. So I'm sitting in a comfy chair for a bit and then will get Lady Jane and I dressed and maybe play in the sunshine for a while. Then it's off to the dentist with the kids and then swim lessons for Little Man, then back home for dinner, then Phil is going climbing, so after all that I should be able to get some writing done. Yeah.

2008-04-11T08:10:00.001-07:00

Escape Plan

So Little Man and I have had a lovely time to ourselves the last few weeks, but it's time to go get the hostage. There will be no negotiation at this time. Grandma had her reasons, which were valid and only somewhat suspicious. Little Man and I are driving up for my nephew's birthday and then we'll come back home as a threesome. Lady Jane has had a fantastic time being with Grandma for two weeks and it's been nice to have some peace and quiet around the house. I've been able to write during the day again. But it's time for her to come home. I get to put my new car to the gas mileage and comfort test with the 3-4 hour drive.

Nothing new really happened this week while Phil was away. Little Man had a concert with his class which was a major culture shock after his school in England. They probably just had more time to prepare in England. The parents' behavior was definitely shocking. People were talking so you couldn't hear the children on stage. At Little Man's other school, the kids didn't even have to use a microphone to be heard. The children sat still and paid attention to what was going on on stage. Oh, well. We'll readjust. My son is a ham though. He likes attention and has gotten tons of attention since he was born and I'm not talking from me and Phil, but the daycare workers, random people walking past us, etc. Which leads me to his first gymnastics class last night taught by a probably high school girl. It was him and 3 other boys and he loved it. He was able to get individualized attention and also talk to the other boys and lots of exercise. I think it will be a good fit for him. His body is light enough for a lot of the tricks and he'll develop the arm strength as he goes. He enjoyed the class too. Lady Jane's first class is set up for next week along with swimming for both of them and my Yoga. Gotta go.

2008-04-06T17:16:00.000-07:00

Moving In

Though technically our renter hasn't moved out, (it's tax season and I'm not that cruel, he's a tax accountant) we've been busy moving things around. We went to Weekend's Only and bought the kids bunk beds and a new computer desk. Both of which we assembled this weekend. We also bought a closet organizer for the kids' closet and got that installed as well. Slowly but surely we're making our way through the umpteen million (read 32) boxes that came back with us and two suitcases that held little stuff. It's only 7:20 pm and I'm ready for bed. My body doesn't deal well with manual labor. I start to ache and my muscles protest most movements. I plan to do very little tomorrow. Phil is heading to destinations unknown for a few days and Lady Jane might finally be returning home. Come on, Grandma, I know we took her away for a year but aren't you sick of her yet. :) And don't you want to see me and Little Man and the disaster area we call home. Maybe that's it. You're afraid our chaos will swallow you whole. Don't worry it is getting arranged maybe a little slower than usual, but it's getting there. You barely have to step over things anymore.

One of the tough things about coming home is remembering where we put all our stuff. A lot of it went in the basement. Some of it went in the guest closet. More of it is in the nifty bookcase Phil built in our room. That and we need to purge our house. 13 years of living on our own has allowed us to amass quite a lot of junk. But first we need to put the stuff we want to keep away then we can start pulling stuff out to get rid of. Fun. Fun.

2008-04-05T09:24:00.000-07:00

My New Car

That's right. Screw you, bad dealership. I got me a 2007 Honda Fit. It may not have all the bells and whistles, but it gets 28 city and 34 highway miles per gallon. If you want a really nice salesman to deal with check out Mike at the Dean Team of Brentwood. Yeah, I'm plugging my sales guy what of it. We're going to spend a little money to make it keyless entry for me and though I prefer the Blaze Orange Metallic I'll get used to the Tidewater Blue Metallic. Had I been building it that would have been the absolutely last color I would have picked. To be honest I thought I wouldn't want an orange car but after seeing one, I did. Go figure. Anyway life is good. It's so small I lose it in parking lots behind SUV's all the time. It allows for plenty of garage clutter around it, so the Murano gets the bigger side and Phil can get in and out of it without dinging doors.

Lady Jane's ransomer (aka Grandma) says she might bring her back Monday or Tuesday. Today she gets to go to her cousin's birthday party. Little Man was kidnapped last night by his other Grandparents who are putting him through all sorts of misery by going to a movie and maybe the Magic House and letting him watch movies and who knows what kinds of sweets they'll give him. I know my kids have it rough.

If you didn't notice, last night Phil and I were kidless for the first time in over a year. So what did we do? Well, we drove the Fit because it's new (to us) and cool. We went to Weekend's Only and looked at bunk beds for the kids and a new computer desk, then we returned the primer that was not what I needed to Home Depot and picked up the right primer, then we went to Lowes and looked at lighting and closet organizers. Finally we went to dinner at Houlihan's. I had yummy steak (mmmm, beef) and Phil had some mexican dish (they don't really understand how to cook mexican in England). We stuffed ourselves and then headed home and watched some TV before going to bed.

This morning we went to Bread Co. Where I couldn't decide between bagels, so I got three. No I haven't eaten them all. Now Phil's at climbing and I'm taking a break from working on my manuscript. We're going to head back to Weekend's Only and buy said bunkbed and desk and probably the kids' closet organizer. It's good to be back.

2008-04-03T07:41:00.001-07:00

Yesterday Elation, Today Pissed

So yesterday I found out the contest I entered at the end of January, I finaled in. The top three entries now get read by an agent. Yeah!! I was so psyched, but didn't get to tell anyone in person until I picked up Little Man from school and he was only somewhat enthusiastic. So now I'm putting my nose to the grindstone to get the manuscript in order just in case. The results won't be given until April 26th. So, YAY!!!!!

Then this morning I finally got ahold of my salesperson at the dealership that sold me a car Tuesday only to find out they couldn't get said car. So I'm pissed. I missed out on other deals at other dealerships because of their screwing me. It's a load of crock. So I'm in the market again for a used car and will find one that won't be as expensive. Nah! Oh, and the dealership in question can expect a scathing review sent to their owner especially since we've used them before.

2008-04-01T20:25:00.000-07:00

Lonely Days, Lonely Nights

Little Man and I have been having to fend for ourselves this week. Daddy had a trip for work and Lady Jane got grandma napped. We went up to my parents' house this weekend. My mom had forewarned me to pack Lady Jane some extra clothes. We aren't quite sure when she intends to bring back Lady Jane, but mom said something about August...but potentially next week. I've signed up Lady Jane and Little Man for swimming lessons at the Y and have trial dates for both of them at a Gymnastics training center (for lack of using the facility's actual name). So in a few weeks we'll start our routine.

Yesterday I haggled the heck out of a new car, but still haven't received said car. If it doesn't go through I won't be heartbroken, though I'll be bummed about having to car shop again. It takes way too much time, but at least I could save some money on a used POS. Today our ship came in. Or at least, our shipment from England. So I have lots of stuff and no where to put it all yet. I'd like to get a new computer desk. Nothing fancy. We just don't need the closed doors of the computer hutch anymore and we'd like some space on the desktop. Both kids are fairly good about using the computer and don't just randomly press buttons anymore. Though we will have to beware when wandering toddlers come over.

Which brings me to my next issue? No not toddlers. French doors. I've been wanting to close off the computer room/music room with French doors. I want to redo the pantry. Our bedroom needs to be finished. Our closet needs to be reorganized. The guest bedroom closet needs to be reorganized. The kids' closets need to be reorganized. The patio needs to be paved. The dining room paint needs to be finished. The built in wall between the family room and the office needs to be torn out and replaced and the base board replaced in both rooms. I need to reduce the clutter in my house by 50%. I'd like book shelves to go with the new desk. We need a new couch (something smaller). Our dining room needs a new light fixture and the current fixture needs to go up in our bedroom which needs trim, a faux fireplace box and mantel, painting and new curtains. We need more space and less stuff. We need, we want, same diff.

It's good to be home.

2008-03-26T06:21:00.001-07:00

School Days

Little Man felt tons better and fever free this morning, so he's off to school. He's in a class with a lot of the students he was in Kindergarten and 1st grade with. He feels slightly bad that he doesn't remember names, but that's never been one of his strengths and he's confident enough to get around it. So Lady Jane and I have the day to ourselves. Furniture stores and car lots await.

2008-03-25T05:46:00.000-07:00

The Day the Kids Almost Declared Mutiny

Yesterday was the first day stores were open since we returned on Saturday evening. Saturday, Grandma & Grandma, Uncle S, Aunt P and our nephew greeted us at the airport and helped us load the eleven suitcases and six carry ons into two vehicles and out of two vehicles when we returned home. Jet lag, ugh.

Sunday was spent resting and going to Grandma & Grandpa's for Easter dinner and egg hunt. It snowed! What's up with that? Nothing stuck but still snow on Easter? The kids and I were up at 2:30 am Sunday morning. We went down and had some cereal (the kids barely ate on Saturday, plane food isn't kid friendly). We watched a little TV then headed back upstairs to try to sleep more. That really wasn't happening so at 4 am we gave up and Phil woke up too. By 5 am we were happily seated at IHOP where someone else cooked for us. Bacon, overeasy eggs and hash browns never tasted better. Asleep by 8:30 for the whole family. Jet lag sucks.

Then came Monday. Lady Jane slept a bit later than the rest of us who woke at 5 am. We started with the school at 7:50 to register Little Man and make sure Lady Jane had a spot for Kindergarten in the fall. Phil decided to take off the morning since the only shoes he had were his running shoes which with orange stripes don't go very well with khakis. We left the school and headed to Target. We bought school supplies for Little Man, pants for Little Man, wallet for Phil, summer clothes for Lady Jane, and other essentials. From there we went across the street to Kohl's where I replaced the six towels we threw out because they didn't fit in the suitcases and Phil got shoes. Next stop lunch at Kreiger's. Mmmm, buffalo chicken. Phil and Little Man got their hair cut. We swung by the house and dropped off the packages, picked up Phil's laptop and took Phil to work. After saying bye to daddy we headed to the Sprint PCS store with a quick stop by the kids' old daycare. This is where Little Man began to fail. He was warm and not feeling well. But he persevered. Next stop YMCA for new membership and to sign up for classes. Then the bank to request new debit cards and deposit pounds. Last but not least was the grocery store where Little Man begged me to be quick. The novelty of watching someone else pack my groceries kept me amused in the checkout line. So we rushed through the grocery store and headed home at 3:50 pm. I had to pick Phil up at 5 and we both needed to go back to the Sprint store for our new cell phones. As I realized the kids were at the end of their ropes, I did something I haven't been able to do for a year. I called Grandma & Grandpa and asked if they'd watch the kids for an hour or so. The pleasure of being home. Sure it was a long day and Little Man turned out to have a fever and is staying home today from his first day of school, but we managed through it. We stayed awake until regular bed time and with the exception of Little Man waking up to be sick in the middle of the night, we slept through the night and woke at normal times. Bye bye jet lag.

2008-03-23T01:55:00.000-07:00

America for the Squimish

I know this is my first post in America and that it should probably be more than what it is, but the kids and I have been up since 3 am and it's now 4 am and we're going back to bed for at least an hour. Little Man didn't do so well on the flight. He messed up two planes by not getting to the barf bag fast enough. Sorry American. He's better now and got some breakfast. We need to go back to bed, so I'm going to cut this short. We made it! We're home! And it smells like cat, go figure.

2008-03-20T10:44:00.000-07:00

Saying Goodbye Is Never Easy

It's especially hard when you know that meeting again isn't in the foreseeable future. Everyone was really great and the kids really made good impressions on the school. The six year students got Lady Jane a going away present. Little Man got lots of hugs from his teacher. It's been an amazing transformation for Little Man. Exactly what we were hoping for. He's really matured and though he's still a goofball sometimes, his behavior has vastly improved. Lady Jane has grown a lot as well from an almost 4 year old to an almost 5 year old, prepared for kindergarten in the fall. We've been places that would have been pushed off for years because of expense.

I'll miss the little life we've created for us over here in England, but I'm glad we're coming home. See you on the flip side. Next blog will be from America.

2008-03-18T03:25:00.000-07:00

Movers Are Here

Currently on a smoke break but here none the less. They are packing up all the little odds and ends we brought with us which actually amount to a lot of stuff. Last night the kids and I went over to our friends in Hathersage. We all had a lot of fun. We will miss them a lot. Lady Jane's best friend and her played the whole time. It really is amazing how things changed over one year. The friendships offered at the beginning of our time here didn't all last. The friends that developed because of common bonds (new to the school, kids are friends) are the ones that I'll miss. There are certain people, I've found, that I click with as friends. Others may be acquantances or even friends, but they don't quite reach that "this is someone I want to talk to for the rest of my life." Some people make friends with everyone they meet and try to maintain some kind of contact. I'm not that type of person. I don't know if it's genetically hardwired that way or it's from being ostrasized on playgrounds at a young age. Point to all this? I've made some friends that I will definitely miss and some that will just be a fond memory.

The friends we were with last night are the kind that I will try to stay in touch with, the best that I can which isn't always the greatest. With e-mail things are a little more easy. I need to get a few more e-mail addresses. This really is an insane week for us, but we're making it work. Phil's a bit of a worry wart (understatement of the year, folks). We just need to make it to Saturday, then everyone will be happy again.

2008-03-15T01:21:00.000-07:00

At a Loss for Words

At least vocally. Laryngitis is no fun especially when everyone wants to talk to you. Fortunately my children understand my snap and points. The doctor instead of prescribing antibotics (because I have allergies to three and maybe he couldn't think of a fourth) gave me some topical throat spray and said to ride it out. So Thursday night I stayed up with my 103 F temperature and decided screw that. So I'm taking Sudafed and Aleve and hoping the lymphnodes in my neck keep going down with the throat spray. This all should be hopefully over by next Saturday for the flight.

Movers come on Tuesday. Kids finish school Thursday. We have all day Good Friday to finish cleaning up the apartment and drive over to Manchester to spend the night. Saturday morning we get to the airport and come home. This is the week that is hard to shop for since people have been asking us out to dinner and we don't want to over buy on groceries.

Today we have the Easter egg hunt at the kids' school and we're going to pack up the suitcases leaving out only enough clothes for the next week. Then over to a friends' house tonight. Tomorrow more getting ready for the movers since Mommy's been out of commission this week. Monday after school the kids and I are going over to our friend in Hathersage for a last play and tea. Phil's going out with the guys from work that night probably. Phil's boss wants to take us out to dinner sometime next week. It seems very unreal that in one week we'll be home in America and even more unreal that the people the kids and I have seen almost everyday for the past year, we won't see anymore if ever again.

2008-03-12T10:18:00.000-07:00

She Gave Me Fever

It doesn't quite have the same ring to it, but it's true. So I'm hoarse and my low grade fever has changed to an actual fever. Woohoo. I called the doctor's office and they may be able to get me in tomorrow, but definitely on Friday. My eyes are so hot my tears are boiling over. Really they're just running and burning, but it's so much more of a visual when stated like that. And don't get me started on the ripping and tearing sensation every time I cough. I have to go pick up Little Man from a friend's soon. Blech!

Sorry for the whiny weepy post. I promise to have better news at some point.

2008-03-08T13:50:00.000-08:00

And The Germs Play On

Lady Jane's temp hit 104 last night. She still has a fever, but is doing better. She passed on the lovely virus that caused all these problems to me. What can I say...she's a giver. It's unbelievable that in two weeks we'll be home. Our way of life will be in upheaval for a while. We have to readjust to living again. Hopefully we'll be able to kick the bugs before our 7 hour flight. Not much else to talk about. So I won't.

2008-03-07T04:57:00.000-08:00

Not Exactly How I Like Being Woken Up

5:45am To a Little Man bringing Lady Jane into our room because he can't sleep because she won't stop crying. Take temperature. 103F Not good. Lay her down in our bed, send Little Man back to his. Get Ibuprofen. Dole out dosage. Worry. Draw bath. Sit girl in bath. Get her out and back in bed. Falls asleep in my bed. No worries, I'm not going back to sleep anyway because the bathroom is calling me. Little Man still can't sleep. I go downstairs to use bathroom. Vow never to eat pizza again. Little Man is up and dressed for school by the time I get out. Phil gets up around 6:30. Lady Jane comes down about 7:00. Boy goes to school with Daddy. Lady Jane and mommy stay miserable on our respective chairs.

10:50am Go to doctor's. Oh, goody. Ear infection. Go to chemist, get amoxicilian. Back home in enough time to see Big Cook Little Cook. Temperature back up to 103. Give more ibuprofen. Wait for Lady Jane to fall asleep so I can see the end of Buffy. Good episode just way too scary.

She did fall asleep right before 4 yesterday and instead of waking her up, sent Little Man to Merlin's and Phil picked him up on the way home.

2008-03-06T07:13:00.000-08:00

You Give Me Fever

Arguing with a four-year-old teenager is like banging your head on the wall. Wait. I take that back at least with the wall you have a chance of breaking it. Lady Jane woke up hoarse this morning and complaining about her leg hurting. After dressing her for school and going downstairs, I decided to take her temperature. 101 F. So she's lying on the sofa and doing nothing or at least she's supposed to. She has difficulty staying on the sofa and refused to nap. We know how this goes. I have to pick up Little Man at 4:35, she'll fall asleep about 4:00 and I'll have to wake her up. So here's hoping she doesn't take my advice for the first time today and fall asleep until after we get back with Little Man.

2008-03-04T07:50:00.000-08:00

Lost Theories

No this isn't going to be a post about the series Lost just an aspect. So there's this character, Ben, who is all about getting under people's skin with their insecurities. Ben would have so much toying with Phil. If you've read his post on Earphones, you saw part of the story. When Phil buys something, he has to research it fully. I realized this the first time I went shopping with him for a wallet. Now I'm the type of gal who likes to shop around, wait no...sorry. I'm actually not that type of girl. If I need something I go to a store walk in find what I need and buy it. Phil on the other hand is that type of gal...uh...guy. We went to the Galleria to shop for his wallet and spent an hour or so going from shop to shop looking for the perfect wallet and then making sure it wasn't cheaper somewhere else. I think he went back and bought the second one we looked at. Needless to say (but I will anyway) I refuse to wallet shop with him.

Okay, so he researches everything. His speakers, his TV (for months and years), and his headphones. Even after he makes his decision and buys it, he'll second guess himself for a few months afterwards. So what does all this have to do with Lost? Go back to Ben who manipulates people based on their weaknesses. Here's how Ben would get to Phil on the island after the plane wreck:

Phil: Hey, sweet only $10 for this shirt. Thanks, Sawyer.
Ben: I got mine free.
Phil: What?
Ben: I got mine for free.

Later that day.

Phil: Ben, I got a free shirt too.
Ben: Really, you bought that shirt? Sawyer paid me $10 to take this shirt.
Phil: What?!
Ben: Look, maybe you just aren't good at spotting a deal.
Phil: Noooooo!

Love ya, babe.

2008-03-02T01:21:00.000-08:00

Happy Mother's Day!

That's right it's Mother's Day here in England which means I get two this year. Woohoo! Of course we missed it last year so this is make-up. The kids are busy making gifts with daddy in the kitchen. Yesterday we went to Meadowhall, which was almost as packed as it was at Christmas time. We had a nice late lunch at Pizza Express, something Phil and I are really going to miss. Then we walked around the mall. You can just guess what Lady Jane spent her allowance on. Shoes. We window shopped jewelry and clothes. We went through toy shops but the kids weren't allowed to spend their pocket money on anything they could get in America. We did end up buying me some books (on the area) and a new coat. I've been admiring the English style coats all winter and I finally got one. Yeah! I looked on the website of the store we got it from and realized I love their casual clothes too. I'm just not willing to spend 38 pounds ($76) on a top. Sigh. But the coat was reasonably priced and I should be able to wear it for years to come.

3 more weeks and I'll be typing this from home. :)

2008-02-27T06:16:00.000-08:00

Shaky Start

So we had way too much fun at 1 am and no not that kind. England had an earthquake. The epicenter wasn't that far away. Phil and I woke to our bedroom shaking. Not fun to be on the fifth floor of the building during an earthquake. Fortunately it was only tremors and only a few seconds. So when we realized the room wasn't going to fall on our heads, we checked on the children, who slept through the whole thing. Then, went downstairs to figure out what happened. Sky News was talking to people who phoned in. These were mostly people who were up at the time. Who is up at 1 am in the morning in the middle of the week? Sorry I've been a mom too long. There was one report on the Internet around 1:20 about it. By this morning there were several reports. It was all very odd, but there's no damage. Nothing fell off shelves. No one got hurt. Very anti-climatic and anti-climactic in Sheffield.

2008-02-26T05:50:00.000-08:00

Want to Sponsor a Donkey?

http://www.thebrooke.tv/ Yes, you too can sponsor a donkey. I think that has to be one of the strangest things about living here in England. The commercials you see during the day are sometimes the weirdest. However, this one http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZfaLex01d7I is on all the time. This one disturbs us everytime we see which is frequently. Don't talk and drive. I mean it's seriously disturbing. For Christmas there were ads to give Loos to the world campaigns. Maybe it's just daytime tv ads. I can't wait to have DVR again. Hopefully I won't get sucked into the repeat of series back home. Though I've found some new shows to watch such as Bones and Ghost Whisperer. Yes, the only thing we really watch are American show reruns and Dr. Who, which the new season hasn't started yet.

Wait don't forget the new "your brain on drugs" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NX5rc5e4hng .

2008-02-24T09:44:00.000-08:00

Happy Birthday to Me!

Last night we had friends over for dinner and a game of Settlers. Today has been a lazy day. I finally converted all my files to my new laptop and am writing on it right now. It took a few hours which was expected. I found some cool gadgets for Vista to put on the sidebar. Otherwise, I hate Vista. It's not very intuitive and I can't back track to a Windows XP look just so I can find stuff. (When XP came out you could change the look back to 98). The networking options are horrendous. They are impossible to figure out how to do the most simple things. Okay enough about the computer. It was after all my gift for the next several holidays including last Xmas and today.

So the kids are being crazy because I put daddy in charge and just don't feel like yelling on my b-day. Phil let the kids get out the glitter and other stuff to make cards for me. Unfortunately, he didn't pay attention to Lady Jane and she dumped most of the glitter on the table and drew off the card with markers onto the nice tablecloth we had out for dinner last night.

Phil made me blueberry pancakes from scratch this morning. They were awesome. He also made lunch for everyone and has done a wonderful job fielding the kids' endless questions, which I've been diverting to him all day. I can have at least one day. Overall it's been a nice day and after dinner we'll have some cake. Oh, Phil's making dinner too.

I've had a wonderful year. England has been amazing and an unforgettable experience. In less than four weeks we'll be in our own house. For a while it will feel very surreal as we get back into old habits. And at some point England will feel surreal. I'm very excited to see what the next year will bring into our lives as Little Man returns to school and Lady Jane starts in the fall.

2008-02-18T02:51:00.000-08:00

Peanut Butter Cookies and Trex

Something that doesn't exist here in England is the Peanut Butter Cookie. I know sacriledge. Also you won't find shortening by that name, the brand is Trex. Last week after dinner Phil, the kids and I made Peanut Butter Cookies with Trex and ended up with a really dry dough. The cookies still tasted good, but it was definitely not the cookie I remembered.

So I remade them today. Now the first time I did dump in the peanut butter, Trex, brown sugar and sugar into the bowl and mixed them. Today I used I Can't Believe It's Not Butter and peanut butter and creamed them together before adding the sugars. My batter is soft and moist. Not something most people would say, but I'm going to run with it. The cookies are in the oven I'll give you the verdict after the kids get home from school.

Cookies good! Though they would like chocolate chips in them next time. :)

2008-02-13T06:08:00.000-08:00

Something to Care About

Inspiration

Barack Obama ads were here.

I've never been very political, but we as a nation are ready for change and I believe this man is capable of making that happen. Let's hope that he continues to lead the primary (as of 2/13/08 at 8:21 am).

2008-02-10T23:35:00.000-08:00

The Age of Why

Children are naturally curious and ask questions all their life. However, there is a point in every child's life where questions seem to be the only form of communication they have. Lady Jane has reached the age of why. Everything I ask her to do is followed with a why.

Mommy: Don't wander into the parking lot.
Lady Jane: Why?

Mommy: Pick up your toys.
Lady Jane: Why?

Mommy: Go to bed.
Lady Jane: Why?

Mommy: Put on some clothes.
Lady Jane: Why?

You can see my dilemna. Though sometimes I may tell her the reason. The next time she asks why for the same command, I get a little ticked. Especially if she hasn't done what I asked her to do. The standard reply is because I said so. Now, I'm reasonable and will try to tell her the whys of things but sometimes it just adds more whys. Such as:

Mommy: Put on some clothes.
Lady Jane: Why?
Mommy: Because we're going to the store.
Lady Jane: Why?
Mommy: Because we need food.
Lady Jane: Why?
Mommy: Because otherwise we'll die.
Lady Jane: Why?
Mommy: Because we'll starve to death, if we don't have food.
Lady Jane: Why?
Mommy: Because I said so, just go get dressed.

Yeah, it's that much fun. Fortunately this phase will only last for a year or two. :)

New one from lunch:

Lady Jane: I'm all done, mommy.
Mommy: Good.
Lady Jane: Why?

I refuse to answer silly why questions.

2008-02-10T12:56:00.000-08:00

Playing in the Park

We've actually had sunny days this weekend. Something that is rare in England. We generally go from black skies to light gray to black and so and so and so on. We went to Millhouses Park today. We spent a while tossing the frisbee and playing on the playground set. Yesterday Lady Jane had a birthday party again. The kids have grown like weeds since we arrived ten months ago. We have the next week off of school. Don't know what the kids and I will get up to. Probably just some R&R.

Not a lot of places are open until March, so I don't think we'll do any site seeing. If we do anything interesting I'll let you know.

2008-02-02T05:47:00.000-08:00

Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow

So yesterday the moving company came to estimate our move. Seven more weeks and we'll be flying over the ocean on the way home to you all. We also watched "The Painted Veil" which after watching Phil's pick for me from the library last weekend was utterly depressing.

Basic synopsis of the film Phil picked out as sent to Phil "I can't believe I wasted 2 hours to watch that. I love my brother. Mr. Wakem is a bad man who my daddy mocked one day and vows to destroy my daddy's mill. I like Mr. Wakem's son even though he has a club foot. My cousin is trying to get me together with the son, but her fiance and I are truly in love. We try to take off together but I decide against it. I'm ruined and my brother hates me. The cottage floods and I row to save my brother, but he ends up drowning so I drown too. Yeah!"

The Painted Veil on the other hand was a very good story. I don't like some of the plot devices at the end and probably would have written it differently. Which is why I write romances and not literary novels. I like my happily ever after thank you very much. If I want to be depressed, I'll balance the checking account. Seriously.

Today Lady Jane woke up stuffed up. So now not only does she talk with an english accent but she's snotty and nasaly too. Regardless I doped her up with the decongestant that I brought with my from the states and she was able to play at a birthday party without getting snot everywhere. We just got back and found an empty apartment. Phil's being a sweety and bringing me food. Then we'll probably go grocery shopping and then back home.

Tomorrow, I have no idea what we'll do, probably start packing clothes we barely wear. I figure if I pack some of the clothes there will be less laundry? Wishful thinking on my part. I know rationally that time passes at a constant rate, but it seems our time here is widdling away rather quickly. I won't know what to do in our big house with a yard and friends within walking distance. I think it will be surreal for a while, but then England will start to feel surreal as time passes. I hope to remain friends with some of the mothers I've met and enjoyed their company. Lady Jane's friends' mothers who have children Little Man's age.

2008-01-27T10:54:00.000-08:00

Whatever Post

We've been jonesing for IHOP this morning. There really isn't a "breakfast" place like Denny's or IHOP here and we miss it. We didn't go every weekend just every now and then. So Phil made pancakes this morning. It's not the same but it will do. We had lunch out at McDonald's and Phil is making us a lamb roast tonight. I took Lady Jane to a birthday party this afternoon. I'm starting to stress about leaving now. It's less than eight weeks away. How insane is that?

We've spent the last 10 months in England. We haven't really been home, the kids definitely haven't been home. Our house is waiting for us. Our cats minus one are waiting for us. One of our cars is waiting for us. It's hard to imagine that it's almost over. Alright mindless babble over.

2008-01-25T12:57:00.000-08:00

For My Lovely Parents

We are all well and waiting patiently and impatiently to come home. Our flights are scheduled. Our landlord has been notified. Phil will be arranging our shipment soon. Oh, the offer is still up if you want to come to England and take some of our crap back home with you. Our friends were nice enough to do that for us. The kids had their pictures taken at school and both are hideous for their own reasons. Lady Jane gave the weirdest "god why are you making me smile" smile and Little Man needs a haircut badly.

This weekend will be haircuts all around. We don't have any other plans besides a birthday party for Lady Jane's friend on Sunday. I've been thinking about a weekend trip up to Edinburgh. We've eliminated a trip to Spain as we'd like to come home with some money. I did miss a Pampered Chef party this evening. I had originally wanted to go, but I haven't been feeling well this week.

Lady Jane no longer talks of marrying her friend at school. Little Man likes a lot of girls in his class, but can't wait to get home and see if one of his girl friends from his old school is still available. :) 8 more weeks.

2008-01-18T05:50:00.000-08:00

How to Freak Your Mother Out

So we've decided to stay another year...psyche. Travel accounting is purchasing our tickets home. March 22nd sometime in the evening. I don't have the itinerary yet. It seems so soon but it's still 9 weeks away. It's hard to explain how I feel right now. Torn is the best descripter I've come up with. I want to stay but I want to go. I feel bad for Lady Jane and her best friend. They're really close because they're very alike. A bit rough around the edges and not in with the princess crowd. Lady Jane loves princesses, but she doesn't hang with the princess crowd at school. I'm sure both girls will find another friend or more, but they really are close right now. I vaguely remember my first best friend, I think her name was DeeDee, but memories are just not reliable. We lived in Wyoming and moved back to Illinois when I was 4 years old. My best friend lived in Wyoming. I don't have specific memories of her anymore, just slight feelings.

Fortunately with today's world the girls hopefully will be able to remain friends through snail and e-mail. We'll definitely miss the friends we've made. Here's hoping we can remain friends.

2008-01-17T07:16:00.001-08:00

You Belong in 1993

With you anything goes! You're grunge one day, ghetto fabulous the next. It's all good!

What Year Do You Belong In?

Apparently I'm stuck in high school. Oh, well. It was an interesting year for me.

2008-01-14T11:58:00.000-08:00

And Much Fun Was Had By All

A little while ago our friends left for their train to the hotel near the airport they'll be flying out of. They spent the majority of four days with us. Friday was a day of rest as their flight was delayed and they arrived at midday instead of morning. We vegged in the evening and they went to bed early. Their little boy had a rough time adjusting to the new schedule but eventually he caught on. Saturday Phil, Little Man and our friends went out to view the Peak District while I took Lady Jane to a birthday party.

Lady Jane was uncharacteristically clingy during the party so I didn't get much of a chance to talk to the other mothers. The guys left for a soccer game and us girls plus toddler boy stayed home. He managed to take a nap while my friend and I got in a nice chat and talked about what we wanted to do the next day. That night we had dinner and then played Puerto Rico. Very fun game with 4 players.

Sunday, we went to Blue John's Cavern. I've decided that I'll not be taking up spelunking anytime soon. It was an interesting cavern though it may not have been the best cave ever. We then drove over to the Durwent Valley Park and everyone but me and the napping toddler got out to see the dam. Lady Jane was told to pet a duck and spent at least fifteen minutes trying to get close enough to pet a duck. She was upset when she was told it was time to go because she still hadn't petted a duck. The evening was spent again with dinner and Puerto Rico. Excellent game.

Today, the kids went to school and we went down to city centre to look at city hall, the millennium galleries, and the cathedral. Phil went to our letting agent to straighten out our lease. Then we went the Horse and Waggon (their spelling not mine) for a not so pubbish lunch from a pub. We played Puerto Rico one last time before dinner and then they had to head to the train station. Yeah, the game is that good.

10 more weeks until we come home. We'll be ready to come home.

2008-01-06T03:09:00.000-08:00

11 More Weeks

It seems like such a short amount of time, but I'm sure it won't all fly by. That's how long we have until we return to America. We've been away from home for nine months today. It's been an amazing roller coaster ride. UP It's exciting to be in a foreign country and so close to ancient history. DOWN We've been missing our family and friends.

Speaking of friends, we're getting visitors at the end of this week. Our friends are using their air miles to travel to see us and Sheffield. We're excited and looking forward to having them here. It will be nice to see familiar faces.

We had hoped that more people would have a chance to come over. The kids especially have missed their grandparents. I miss my family and got lucky enough to be able to see them for an evening when I went home to take care of my cat. We had an awesome visit with Phil's parents over the summer. I think everyone is ready to go home, but we'll never forget our experience here in England. The friends we've made. The life we've led. The places we've seen. Simply an amazing year.

2007-12-30T02:18:00.000-08:00

Things I Learned From Our Trip to Skye

1. Always bring a bucket. Reasons to follow.

2. Don't give Little Man blueberry bars and let him play his DS on windy mountain roads.

3. It's hard to clean sick off of a DS. See #1.

4. Eilean Donan Castle is as beautiful as it looks and we got to drive by it several times.

5. (Knew this going in) Most castles and tourist stuff in the Highlands of Scotland are closed between October and March. However, that's just the inside of stuff.

6. Skye Boathouse is just as lovely as they state on the website. It's semi-secluded. During the time we were there the Boat Centre next to it was closed which meant we were the only ones out there. The bed we slept in was rubbish, but the whole experience would be something I wouldn't mind repeating. Log fires cool, but wrapping paper doesn't always burn all the way.

7. Four channels really are enough. Since it was the holidays, they played a lot of movies. The kids didn't have all day cartoons, but they found other ways to occupy their time. We brought board games and the kids got two more board games and puzzles for Xmas. Phil and I were able to knock out a 1000 piece puzzle in an afternoon.

8. I would prefer a clothes dryer to a dishwasher in a heart beat. I think this is the first vacation that I loved doing laundry and tried to come back with as many clean clothes as possible. Doing dishes wasn't horrible though with the way this family goes through dishes, we could have done dishes all day long. We ended up doing dishes at least once a day. To have completely dry clothes that don't smell like Sheffield water, I'd be willing to do dishes everyday all day. Mmmm, dry clothes.

9. Bring a camera and lots of pocket money. If you go to Skye, you will find the most amazing scenery surrounding arts and crafts stores, which sell handmade stuff. We went to an art gallery in Broadford and bought some amazing photographs (all small size). Lady Jane picked up a make-your-own-necklace wooden bead set for Little Man for Christmas and Little Man picked out a photo with pink and purple in it for Lady Jane for Christmas.

10. Skye Bridge is as awesome as it is scary. There are signs posted to let you know what the wind is like and whether the bridge is closed. We had decent weather. It rained a lot but the temperature wasn't freezing. The way the bridge is constructed in an arched style made me fearful of ice on the road. We probably wouldn't end up in the water, but I could see not being able to make it to the middle of the bridge and sliding back down again.

11. Bring binoculars. There were several nights where the clouds parted and showed us amazing blankets of stars. Also about 12 miles down the road in Kylerhea, the park system has an Otter Haven. The drive to the Otter Haven is worth the trip alone according to Phil. Then you walk for another kilometer and you arrive at the Otter Hide. Unfortunately we chose our last day to go up there and we didn't get a chance to see any otters. To see any it would have helped to have binoculars, otherwise we couldn't tell the difference between rocks with the exception that the rocks didn't move.

12. We need more lens for our camera. For our old OM-10 camera, we'd bought a telephoto lens and a wide angle lens in addition to the standard 50mm. Our digital SLR that we bought since we were coming to England has been great, but to compose some shots it would be nice to have the different lens. There have been times where I would have liked to zoom in or a better lens for landscape photography. Regardless, such toys are expensive and will have to wait.

13. For Xmas, always get your kids what they keep saying they want regardless if you think it's stupid.

14. Thank my mother profusely for sending enough money to get the kids the Xmas presents they didn't get Xmas morning that they really, really wanted. Super Mario Bros. DS game for him and Cinderella AquaDraw for her. Personally I think he already has enough games he hasn't finished. The AquaDraw seems like something she'll grow out of quickly or has already grown out of. But when Lady Jane is sad on Christmas morning because Santa forgot her AquaDraw...

15. We need Argos in the states. We went to Inverness to shop and found a mall with Argos in it. They were out of stock of Lady Jane's present pick, but they had Little Man's present. We actually got their other presents through Argos. You can order on line and reserve it in the store. Then you show up at the store go to a kiosk and pay. A few moments later they call your number and give you your stuff. It's a catalogue order store and a warehouse with all their stuff in one.

16. Castle Urquhart is open year round and well worth the effort. I've been there once before in 1996 (makes me feel old). I could have sworn the Visitor Centre hadn't been there before. I'll need to go through my pictures when I get back to the states to see. I learned the MacDonalds were dicks. They kept taking the castle even though it wasn't theirs. It's ruins of a castle because the last owners (not MacDonalds) blew up their own front gate to keep the Jacobites from using the castle.

17. Don't forget rain gear. It is Scotland after all you'd think we'd have thought that one through, but nooooo. It rained a lot. I suppose I was hoping for snow and didn't consider rain.

18. Forget shopping at historic points after Xmas and before New Year. We went down to Armadale Castle. The Castle caught fire in 1855 and is a shell of it's former glory surrounding by the a beautiful garden and trails through the land. Even in December the land is beautiful and the views are stunning. The castle had a Gothic feel to it and looking in the empty windows, small trees have found their roots within the castle. It was a fun excursion but the shop.

19. Christmas with just our family wasn't that bad. We missed seeing our families on Christmas this year. It's the first year that we haven't been with one of our families. We opened presents, watched movies on the telly, built presents (Lady Jane got a doll play set and Little Man started on his Imperial Star Destroyer (Star Wars Lego)), had a fire going in the background, talked on the phone with Phil's parents and my parents, made a turkey dinner and Christmas pudding and Yule log for dessert, and watched the Christmas special of Doctor Who (something we definitely couldn't do in the US).

20. Spending time away from the hustle and bustle of real life in a great cottage near water and mountains makes for a great holiday season if you have to be away from your family at Xmas.

I hope everyone else had a Merry Christmas!

2007-12-20T06:55:00.000-08:00

Everyone's Fine

Lady Jane is dandy. No worries. Phil and I went out for our anniversary last night. 9 years. We've been together for 11 years, a third of our lives. The kids are out of school. Yesterday was Phil's last day of work. We are getting geared up to head up to the Isle of Skye for Christmas. We found a nice rental for the week. Everyone's home for the holidays and we should have a good time. It will be weird to not be surrounded by family and friends for that day, but we'll deal. Instead we'll be surrounded by mountains and water. Merry Christmas to everyone.