C - 2

C had his tonsils removed Monday morning. He is doing quite well. (Of course, after being rewarded with a new Star Wars toy and Star Wars movie to watch during recovery, who wouldn't hang in there?)

We knew that both tonsils were large but apparently they were larger than anyone thought! This kid is going to be so much better off! (After he gets through this week!)

N woke early Monday morning to tell me she had a sore throat and cough but recovered after a little breakfast and has made it to school both mornings so far. She is enjoying the extra ice cream in the house afterwards, too--it's good to live with a patient with a sore throat! And when we get him to take those nice drugs they sent home with him, he does alright! If they could just send home some nice drugs for mommies, we'd be all set! ;)

20-17 = a Good day!

...and there is joy and peace in our home! (We weren't so sure there for a while...)

My BIL and niece attended the game so there are many more happy relatives out there, too!

Whew!

I wanted to post a thank-you note to our Guardian Angels! (And I apologize for wondering the other day if my angel was this guy!)

Maybe it was my son's angel. Maybe the hard-working cherubim belonged to my son's friend who was also in the backseat. Maybe it was a team effort.

I could already see the front end of my car slamming into the driver's side of his car. I slammed the brakes as hard as I could but I knew we could not avoid hitting that car.

I'm still not sure how we missed it but one of those angels must be very thin!

The polls are closed--thank you for your votes!

There is no place like home. The definition of "home" can change, however! This upcoming move has been a new challenge in that we expect to really make this new town our home. We've moved a few times with the Army and enjoyed each place we've been; however, it is easy to find the positives when you know your time is limited. We knew we'd be moving again.

At each new assignment, we reasoned that we were learning more about what areas of the country we liked most. Having rented and owned a couple of houses now, we thought we were learning what would be most important to us when looking to settle somewhere.

Yet we are moving somewhere we have not lived before. While we agree on a few features, we're finding that the some important aspects of our new "home" are different for both of us.

It will be a new adventure--in Lafayette, Indiana!

I was talking to a friend in the grocery store the other day and telling her we were heading to Lafayette. A woman was standing patiently nearby so I thought I was blocking the items she was looking for. I stepped aside, and she moved, too. She was waiting for me to finish my conversation. As soon as I did, she put a hand on my arm and said "when are you moving to Indiana?" I told her we'd be moving to Lafayette in the summer and her face lit up. Both she and her husband attended Purdue many moons ago and still have dear friends in the area. She was very excited to tell me about how much we will love it. I'll take that as a good sign!

I am not a good rememberer!

Both of my children know that if there is anything important that I need to remember, I need to have it written down. My son's kindergarten teacher seemingly made this easy--sent out a snack calendar. It is on the refrigerator. I still forgot. I suck. He was supposed to bring snacks on Tuesday. I remembered on Thursday.

I have all sorts of excuses to reassure myself that I am not already in the midst of Alzheimer's. The hubbie had the day off on Monday--which throws my week off. We were finalizing decisions on which job he would accept. We had guests coming Tuesday night and I was thinking about when they'd arrive. In the back of my mind, I knew there was something else happening on the 10th but couldn't put my finger on it. Until the 12th.

I felt horrible and apologized to my son. He looked sad for a moment and mentioned, "Yeah...my teacher said I was supposed to bring snack that day. You are not a good rememberer, Mommy."
However, that was it! While I still feel terribly guilty, he's fine. His teacher did not scold me or even shake her head. She patted me on the back and sympathized--"you've got a lot going on right now! Just as long as you decide to stay here and not move, we'll be fine!" (More guilt but along different lines...)

I can add this to my growing list of qualifications for Worst Parent of the Year award. At least this latest disappointment was towards my son and not my daughter (who has both an excellent memory and is quite skilled at making me feel guilty, often with high drama). My son is only five, he's pretty laid back and going by the papers and library book that traveled to school and back in his backpack for three days straight without being turned in--I've got a running chance that he'll forget this event, too.

Winter, Spring, Summer or Fall?

We were accused of bringing "Texas weather" back to Kansas with us when we returned from College Station. It was 95 degrees here the day after we returned!

Though the leaves have been changing lately, I've wondered if was a sign of Fall approaching or if they were just over-cooked. However, the winds changed in the last two days---blowing in cooler weather from the north and relatives from the south!

It was wonderful to see my aunt and uncle last night--even if they had to do a little shopping on the way to our house so they could bundle up a bit! I am so glad they could stop by for a visit but between packing for warmer temps and finding that the heater in their truck was not functioning, they may refer to this visit as The Big Chill! (Soon, my aunt will be back in sunny Florida and will likely be grateful that she is not in Kansas anymore!)

So it looks like Fall has finally arrived in Manhattan, Kansas. Or perhaps a small dose of winter? We have a "freeze warning" in effect this week, too!

I never could diagram a sentence.

Your English Skills:

Punctuation: 100%Spelling: 100%Vocabulary: 100%Grammar: 80%

Does Your English Cut the Mustard?

Karma Chameleon

While my dogma has good strong legs, it can't outrun my karma! While I worried about my karma well before Earl made his list, perhaps I should follow his lead!

OK--so Friday's events weren't bad but I started to wonder...

We all headed to school Friday morning. After dropping the kids off, the hubbie noticed that one of the tires on the car was noticeably lower than the other three. I shrugged it off, saying I'd fill it later and talked him into going to the all-school Mass with me. (The plan included saying a few prayers before taking him to breakfast to make our final decision on the big move). After Mass however, we came out to find the tire almost entirely flat. We filled it at the closest gas station before heading home to get his car. I drove his car and met him at Sears where he was already talking to a guy about my tire.

We learned that there had been a large nail in my tire. As we got ready to leave, he noticed that one of his tires was low. They found a screw in his tire.

I'm not real good with odds but I let him do all the driving today.

Mea Culpa V (I've got to stop numbering these)!

While a little caffeine gets the inspiration going...too much causes me to post too often, with complete disregard for accuracy. While I did get a few pages completed on the WIP, I also posted recklessly...with complete disregard for spelling.

I'm sure the poor people over at FOX simply had a typo and did not catch it. Kinda like when I tried to give Marrit credit for her witty comment but misspelled her name and did not notice.
If I can change an "a" to an "e," I'm sure busy tv producers can miss a "D" that should have been an "R." There are certainly a few larger issues to ponder today!

(Marrit ~ I apologize! I enjoy your comments and am sure you don't have to rely on Breakfast Blend or French Roast to get your mind percolating!)

No spin zone

I'm sure the hard working fact checkers just wanted to make it immediately clear the Foley had resigned. They wanted to let us know that he is a de-republican now.


(It's bouncing around the blogosphere. Kudos to Merrit for coming up with the "O Really? Factor!")

What are you reading?

My sister enjoyed a book I'd mentioned and asked for another recommendation! (Thanks, H!) That made my day. (When we were younger, it seemed this sister did not like to read much. Now she's reading and asking for my opinions!)

I have not yet posted a book review for The Red Tent. Hopefully I'll manage that soon! (While it's great to leave home for a few days, it seems it takes me twice as long to catch up on things when we return!) So in case I don't get to that in the near future, I'll just say it was excellent and I highly recommend it.

When we traveled to Toronto recently, the hubbie and I were on different flights. It was exquisite to have a little time by myself (amid a hundred or so other passengers) to get into another book! (Of course, I love spending time with my husband without the kids but there was plenty of time for that after the plane landed!) I did not have time to finish the book but I'm nearing the end of Beloved. I can already highly recommend it as well and will say more when I finally reach the end!

While I still have a few books in my TBR pile and many more on my list, I'm always looking for great titles to check out (and pass along)! So what are you reading? My sister and I want to know!

Return from Aggieland

We are back. We went to visit College Station to help make our decision whether to move to Lafayette, Indiana or College Station, Texas. We were fairly sure we wanted to move to Indiana but felt we owed College Station a visit. When we drove through in July, I thought there was nothing other than Texas A&M in this town in the middle of nowhere.

This trip, it felt comfortable--same weather and many of the same stores as they have "back home." (Even though I've lived elsewhere for almost as many years as I lived there, it's still "home," right?)

What fun! OK, looking for "signs" as to whether or not we belonged there, I found my first negative leaving the airport. It was, in fact, a street sign--but a sign, nonetheless! George Bush Drive. I can't drive that every day.

However, playing in the outdoor pool and getting a little sun during the last week of September was a very positive sign!

The real estate agent helping us was very cool. (A t.v. star, too!)
Natalie seemed a little jealous that he and C hit it off right away, until she and Clay talked closets in one of the houses we saw. "He loves shoes too, Mommy!" She found a new friend instantly! ;)

We liked the houses we saw in Texas more than the ones we were shown in Indiana. I really like the doctors and their wives.

However, the rest of my family enjoys four seasons and Lafayette seems to a better fit for the family. Not to mention the fact that the hubbie fell in love with Chicago while acquiring his EMBA and Lafayette is only 90 miles away.
Of course, College Station is within driving distance of much of the hubbie's family (scattered throughout Texas and Louisiana) and I have good friends in Houston (90 miles away).

Not 100% sure either way ...we're still taking votes!

We're off...again

I'm always a bit off, anyway...but we are headed out of town once more! We leave for College Station in the morning and will return Saturday.

Have a great week!

Take your time!

My aunt emailed me the "world's easiest quiz." Now you know with a title like that, you ought to take your time, right?

Go ahead. See how you do. I'll wait.

http://home.tiac.net/~cri/1998/easyquiz.html

We're back!

We returned Wednesday; the kids and I drove my parents to Kansas City today so they could return to Florida.

We saw old friends, ate great food, drank too much wine and had a great time in Toronto. We came home, ate great food, drank more wine and caught up with my parents! ;)

Additional photos and details will be forthcoming!

Packing, washing, stressing...but almost ready!

My parents are coming in this weekend as we head out! The hubbie and I are flying to Toronto on Saturday for a conference (his) and will return on Wednesday.

My oldest has started to test us again lately. (When she was younger, I called it "testing her limits. " I think now she is trying to test ours!) It'll be interesting to see if she settles down for a few days with my parents or if she tries to see what she can get away with while they're here.
(They've raised 5 kids and often help out with their 11 grandkids so she may be dismayed to learn that her new antics aren't all that new to them!)

I sense no disturbance in the Force

It isn't quite Christmas time but you would have wondered this morning. My son got up with a wide grin and admitted, "I will listen to whatever you tell me today without whining, Mom!"

No...I did not slip any potions into his toothpaste last night. He has been very eagerly awaiting the arrival of Lego Star Wars II in stores. He and his Dad went and put a $5 deposit down on one at GameStop on Sunday to be sure that there would still be one to buy after he got out of kindergarten today! He wasn't going to do anything to risk his chances of me driving him there to pick it up!

He has been giving anyone who will listen a daily countdown until TODAY! SEPTEMBER 12! It is FINALLY here!

And now it is quiet here at home. Not silent--I hear buttons clicking and cantina music wafting through the house--but young C is content.

In memoriam

From Aggieville to Aggieland?

We have one final visit to make before deciding where we want to move next summer. We've narrowed it down to Lafayette, Indiana; Kansas City, Missouri or College Station, Texas. We are visiting College Station once more at the end of the month.

Any advice on why we should choose one over the other (or why we should avoid one) would be much appreciated!

Recommended reading

I fell behind in folding the laundry, getting the dishes washed in a timely manner and blogging this week. Not just because I'm lazy but because I had to keep getting back to reading my book!

Though I try to read when I can, the hubbie took notice of this one. (Rather than remaining on my nightstand, this one has been traveling around the house--and in the car--with me.) The title had him intrigued--and intimidated.
"Is it about sex, or...?"
I just smiled. "Yes."

As he headed up to bed tonight, I was still in the kitchen with a glass of wine in one hand and my book in the other; he asked if I'd like Monk's Travels.
(Running joke/bet--I owe him. I thought he would enjoy The DaVinci Code and while I was reading it, told him he should. All he knew of it was what he'd heard on tv but said he'd read it if I agreed to read Monk's Travels. I agreed; he did read DVC but I have not yet read his book. I did pick it up one night, ready to fulfill my end of the bargain but after reading the back cover and first page, couldn't do it. (I had something better I was dying to get to.) He has given me grief for it and rightly so. However, he picked it up recently (he hasn't read it yet, either) and after reading the first page or two, he put it down himself! Still...a deal is a deal so I'll get to that one, too!)

It was also his way of asking if I thought he should read The Red Tent. I explained that I won't push this one on him but not because of a lack of quality. The main character of the novel, Dinah, makes a claim that "men knew nothing of the red tent or its ceremonies and sacrifices." Reading it now, thousands of years later and married to a man who was present for his childrens' births, I know it still contains things he'd rather not read. And he's a physician! So I won't add this to his TBR pile.

I do highly recommend it, though! I thank Mary P for recommending this! In her comments on another book review, she mentioned this book. I had not heard of it but looked it up online that day. I thought it sounded intriguing and added it to my wishlist. When I happened to pass by it at Target the very next day, I took it as a sign and grabbed it. (The kids were getting all sorts of school supplies that day so I decided I deserved something new, too!)

Of course, once I finish a good book, you know I can't stop with only one post about it. I just finished The Red Tent tonight so I'll likely have more to say about it tomorrow!

Living the high life

Living in a two-story house is great!
That is, until you have to paint.

PSA #2

For my readers with little ones, toy recall info:
Leapfrog toy recalled for entrapment dangers

In which she explains her new seating assignment

I was quizzing my daughter on her spelling and vocabulary words. She was writing them down so fast, I could not read half of her words.

"Slow down! You won't get credit for spelling them right if your teacher can't read them."

This is a constant battle. She is very smart but not patient. She understands concepts easily and CAN spell but misses things on papers and tests because she won't take her time or go back and check her work.

Apparently she has at least heard our admonitions.

"I hurry. That's my thing," she tells me.

"That's your thing?"

"And I'm a talker."

and I was like...ummmm...I don't think so!

A knack for dialogue? Hmmm....not so much.
I don't find this particularly accurate but maybe you will. What type of writer should you be?

You Should Be a Film Writer

You don't just create compelling stories, you see them as clearly as a movie in your mind.You have a knack for details and dialogue. You can really make a character come to life.Chances are, you enjoy creating all types of stories. The joy is in the storytelling.And nothing would please you more than millions of people seeing your story on the big screen!

What Type of Writer Should You Be?

I knew it was there, somewhere

Is a cluttered house a sign of a cluttered mind? My house looks fine.
(My hubbie is very neat.) I tend to help keep common areas clear--or he cleans up after me and then I can't find my stuff! The house is presentable. It is clear however, which nightstand, office and side of the closet belong to me!

Lately, I feel like I'm searching through my internal memory banks like I shuffle through my stacks of papers. (I know I put it here somewhere...)

However, I'm good at remembering the lives of characters I've read. (As well as dates from the Revolutionary war and phone numbers of childhood friends; I can remember all sorts of things that I no longer need!) So it's been bothering me that I could not recall a single detail of what appears to be a memorable book. Every once in a while, I read through book reviews or read a reference to Beloved. Oh yes, that's the one with....wait, that was when...ummm....that's not right.

It's been frustrating to try to figure out why I couldn't recall a single moment from Toni Morrison's award winning book. I can remember what happened to her characters in some of her other novels. I also know exactly where those books are on the bookshelf downstairs. I vividly remember seeing this book--with a bookmark in it--in my room!

However, I haven't been able to find it on any of my bookshelves. It happened to be on sale on a paperback rack in the front of Waldenbooks the other day so I brought it home with me. It's been sitting on my nightstand for the last week, waiting for me to finish another book. I've been glancing at it, thinking it's familiar but not quite right...maybe it's a different cover.

Maybe my last copy was blue. I know it didn't have this sticker saying it was "The single best work of American Fiction published in the last 25 years."

What? That can't be right. I talked about this book with my old roommate and that was right after Ms. Morrison won the Pulitzer prize so that was just...oh, wow. 1988. (Well, at least that wasn't 25 years ago. ) In 1988 L was my roommate, had recently changed her major to english and was...reading Beloved.

I'd forgotten I had promised to borrow it and read it later. I'd say 18 years qualifies as "later!"

Whew! I still haven't forgotten a story! ;)

'tis the season

Last week, as we neared the anniversary of Katrina's visit to New Orleans, I was worried that Ernesto was on his way to the recovering city.

Soon we learned that he was taking a different turn, heading for my family in Florida! Thank goodness he's remained fairly calm, refusing to batter the state as badly as some of his predecessors. While a tropical storm is nothing to ignore, I know everyone is glad he isn't stronger.

After viewing the emptiness and exasperation in some New Orleans neighborhoods last month, I'm thankful they won't be tested again yet. While residents there do not need the anniversary specials on CNN to tell them how much work still needs to be done, I pray that this hurricane season will continue to be a calm one in the Gulf.

We've had a few surprising thunderstorms this week but life in Kansas has otherwise been fairly tame. For my family and friends in Florida--stay safe. We'll be watching and praying that Ernesto leaves quickly.

Perspective

I've spent at least the last week lamenting the fact that my children do not understand how lucky they are. I've been talking about service projects or some way to show my children how good their life is. They say "thank you for all I have" each night during prayers but it's become something they say from memory rather than something more heartfelt. N believes not having a play date any time she'd like is a hardship and C is pretty sure that a "hard life" would be life with no video games.

I still haven't found a project to commit to yet but sometimes it takes just a moment to realize how lucky you are.

Another military wife who has a son in Taekwondo class with my son is often my reminder of how good my life really is.

While I wonder if my husband will leave work early enough to catch C's Taekwondo class, her husband is serving his second tour in Iraq.

After struggling to get my two kids in the car in time to get C to class in his uniform, I sometimes get a little frazzled. Until I get there and overhear her telling someone, "We have a really good life. I'm just a little tired today." (She has 5 boys and lives much further from the school.)

On Tuesday, she asked how I was doing and I grinned. "Both my kids are in school now, I'm great!"
"Oh."
"Have your boys started school yet?" I asked her.
"We homeschool."
Oh.

She looked more tired than usual so I asked if everything else was going OK. She responded that it had been tough lately. I tried to remember when her husband was due back and thinking it should be September, I mentioned that at least it shouldn't be too much longer until she had the hubby back, right?

That's when I learned he'd been in a recent Blackhawk crash. He survived but lost many friends. He has recommendations to be sent home but others are trying to keep him there--they need pilots.

When I asked what I could do to give her a hand, she couldn't think of anything so I offered to at least have one or all of her boys over to my house to play (and give her a break). With that offer, her eyes lit up. Only one of her boys, M, is in C's class and the others don't really know my son. However, she said that M was having the hardest time dealing with everything and would probably love the diversion!

So we had him over yesterday. He is her adopted son. The only reason I mention that is because of a conversation he had with my son on the drive to our house. M asked about the gear shift on the floor of my car (I guess mom's Suburban has it on the steering wheel). He mentioned that his dad used to have a car like that.

My son (also 5 yrs old) turned to look at him.
"What did he do with the car?"
"He gave it to my old mom."
My son's eyes doubled in size. "Old mom?"
"Yeah. I live with my new mom now. One time, when we were waiting in the car, I said I just want my real mom but my brothers said that their mom is my mom."
"You have a new mom?" My son is still trying to comprehend this when he gets the next answer.
"Yep. Not wicked mom. She spanks us with a belt."

When the playdate ended yesterday, M told C that he is lucky. Why? Because C has video games.

I'm sorry (or Mea Culpa IV)

(I know some of you will be SHOCKED to find me apologizing!!)

I am sorry that I've missed some comments on some of my posts until today. I've tried to catch up but of course, this post will bump some posts off of the page. Rather than expect anyone to scroll through archives to see if I've found your comments, I've included a few below.

In particular, a few responses to this one:

Joey: I appreciate that you also can look back fondly on music from the 80s. However, the fact that you can put Guns n' Roses and 5th grade in the same sentence does not make me feel any younger! ;(

John: I'm senile but something seemed familiar about that car. Why I found that relevant while "Boys of Summer" was playing or while my daughter was blushing over some boy, I'm not quite sure but I'll think of it and get back to you.

Everyone: I subjected you to that "music" (I'm still not sure if I should be proud or horrified that I recognized each 80s reference in the video) so I will attempt to make up for it with this.

I feel better now.

BIAM?

Well, I did not complete the Book In A Week. It did inspire me to start a new writing routine and I did get work accomplished. Maybe I can complete the book in a month!;)

I have to get out of the house to get real writing done. There are simply too many distractions here. Yesterday there were errands to run and laundry to start so I did come home after dropping the kids off at school. By the time I'd completed errands, I only had 30 minutes before I had to pick up my son. I took the laptop to a coffee shop anyway, with no idea as to what I'd write when I got there. I bought a coffee, sat down and decided to work on the short story idea I had last week. From there, the fingers started flying and in 25 minutes, I had almost 700 words! (I am sure that most of them will be cut but it still amazes me how much work I can accomplish if I just get out.of.the.house.)

The reading comes later

C is holding up a copy of the Ten Commandments:

"Mom! This has all the stuff that I have to do."

"Well, yes. I guess that's true!"

"AND MOM! This tells me everything I'm supposed to NOT do!"

I'm nodding and grinning. He gets it!

"BUT MOM!"

"What's wrong?"

"I CAN'T READ!"

Dear old Golden Rule Days

The kids both started school this morning! It's only a half-day today but that's still a morning of freedom! ;)

It's time for some serious writing!

Just write!

Rene and Melissa are hosting a "Book in a Week" (BIAW) here.
The event began yesterday and I said I'd try but my total number of words yesterday was ZERO. (We were in Topeka for much of the day but the kids' behavior on the way home sucked any and all creativity out of me. Maybe I'll post about that sometime for your entertainment!)

I visited Villa in Tuscany today and Melissa has posted some inspiring quotes from writers.

So...if you're inspired, join me and see how much you can write in a week! Even if you don't think you can finish a draft of a book, these quotes will inspire you to write something! The week actually began yesterday but you can start today along with me!

Public Service Announcement--Inflammatory Breast Cancer

Inflammatory Breast Cancer. Have you heard of it? I had not until my sister emailed me the video contained on this site.

Here is another news clip from another city I lived in for quite a while.

Please watch one. Then tell someone! (Ask them to tell someone, too!)

BTW--this link continues to be available over to the left side of my site. Click often!

What type of dressing would you like on my lawn?

The rain did cool things down yesterday and the high today is only supposed to reach 95.

However, when you hear the a/c kick on and your windows are fogged up at 7am-- you know it's going to be a hot one!

The hubbie turned the sprinklers on as he left again this morning. He's trying to help bring the lawn back to life (after we forgot to set the sprinklers before leaving for 10 days). Rather than watering the lawn however, I'm pretty sure at this point we're just steaming the grass. Improving the salad for the grasshoppers, if you will.
***********************************
(revision 8/12: It seemed just as hot when I was looking through the steamed windows of my air conditioned home but upon going outside, it was very pleasant. Everyone I spoke with said the same thing; though we agreed it seemed odd to keep talking about how much cooler it felt and how nice it was outside when the temperature was 95 degrees!)

Could it BE?

After yet another week of temps in the triple digits, it finally looks like rain! Today was the only day that there was no chance of rain in the forecast a day or two ago but I don't need advance notice!

I see clouds! I hear thunder! I know it's just the wind but the trees look like they're cheering! (As much as their yellowing, wilted leaves can cheer!)

There'll be days like this, my mama said

If we go to the pool when it opens, the lifeguards are playing what I assume are"hip," current hits. Most of them give me a headache.

When we go in the late afternoons, they play music I know. In fact, if I start nodding in time with the music or--heaven forbid--sing along, my kids nod to each other, knowingly. "It's an old song from the 80's," they say.

Around dinnertime--they play music I love--music that is just a bit older than I am. It's hard for my kids to fathom that great music was produced before electricity was invented but it's got a beat and they can swim to it. They find it amusing that I know all the words to those songs but I can't remember to bring their favorite beach towel to the pool.

When my daughter gets together with her best friends at the pool and they giggle over a boy, I smile--girls just wanna have fun.

I'm not old. The fact that I can't remember the right towels just means my brain is too full of classic song lyrics. As long as the kids are acting like 10,000 maniacs, if they could compose a little diddy about bringing Hello Kitty and Buzz Lightyear towels to the pool, I would learn the tune and maybe even remember the towels, too!

I'm still fairly young. The fact that my ears bleed when certain lifeguards play mind-numbing noise at 1:00 just means that I have different tastes -- not that I'm ready to sit on my front porch beginning sentences with phrases like, "back in my day..."

I'm not that young. When I spend much of the summer denying this, the universe finds a way to remind me. I found a great parking spot at the pool--which happened to be next to an avocado green Dodge Dart. We entered the pool area and I observed my daughter blush when a boy (same one referenced above) said "hey" to her. The background music the lifeguards had chosen at the particular moment was Don Henley's Boys of Summer.

Sadly, my background song for this summer might be more along these lines.

Unruly Monday

Mondays are mondays but yesterday? Wow.

I should have known better than to give up drinking the week before school begins. At the very least, I should have managed to not run out of coffee, too!

I finished the walk

I finished Walking the Bible on during the first leg of our trip. As I mentioned earlier, this book was a treat. Each time I opened his book, I was invited back into his quest.

I read the end of Feiler's journey as I began a smaller physical journey of my own. Vicariously traveling with him through biblical cities was intriguing enough; by the time I finished the book, those places were the focus of international news headlines as well.

Feiler and his traveling companion, Avner Goren, stop and read the stories of the Pentateuch in the spots where they are believed to have occured. In some instances, they find that the accounts in the Bible cannot be literally true; in each case, they find that the spirit, wisdom and universal truth of the texts are alive in the people and places they visit.

I started putting post-it-notes on the pages that I wanted to quote for you; I found, however, that I was collecting colorful tabs on every other page! Whether it is for the scholarly questions that Feiler asks the experts, his own spiritual journey or just for a deeper understanding of a region that is constantly in the news, you will learn something from this book. An added bonus is that it is genuinely entertaining!

What color is your aura?

I found this over on Catherine's blog and thought I'd give it a try! What color is your aura?

Your Aura is Violet

Idealistic and thoughtful, you have the mind and ideas to change the world.And you have the charisma of a great leader, even if you don't always use it! The purpose of your life: saying truths that other people dare not say Famous purples include: Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther King, Jr., Susan B. Anthony Careers for you to try: Political Activist, Inventor, Life Coach

What Color Is Your Aura?

Aaaahhhh

The big storm came on Wednesday evening and cooled things off. It was a mild day of only 90 degrees yesterday! We even had a breeze so we were a bit cool after getting out of the pool down the street! (The rains had even cooled the sauna-temperature pool water back down so it was a refreshing--yet not cold--dip!)

I hope you all are enjoying (and surviving!) the summer! These heat waves keep making their way across the continent but that gives you an excuse for a frozen treat, right?

Enjoy the rest of your summer!

Pretty in pink

He plays well with his older sister but occasionally, stuff like this happens!

Please pray...again

I asked last year and Katrina's force did not destroy the city. We all breathed a sigh of relief.
Then the levees broke. I was so thankful that my kids got visit with Miss I, the hubbie's grandmother and to see New Orleans, in all of its glory, a month prior.

We just returned from New Orleans on Monday. Some areas are thriving and some are all but forsaken. My hubby was asking about rebuilding on his grandmother's street. My guess was that people would ride out this hurricane season to see what would happen.

I had no idea a storm was lurking as I uttered those words. The levees are fortified but I know the people are worried. If you have an extra moment when you pray tonight, please keep New Orleans...the Gulf Coast...in your prayers.

Thank you.

14 days

During my bloghopping this morning, I found a brilliant idea over at Rene's and promptly "borrowed" her idea--putting a countdown to the first day of school over on the sidebar! (It's over there to the left--under "Just for Fun!")

While I am looking forward to that day with a certain amount of giddy anticipation, the countdown is also a reminder that I don't have much more time to justify slacking off. My claim is that it is hard to focus and really write when the kids are home. So I am dedicated to using the child-free hours during the school year to actually write. My youngest will be in kindergarten but it is only half-day. So the plan is to use the mornings to complete the novel.

14 days until I get the kids out of the house and kick myself into gear!

8 states, 5 pools, 3 visits and a funeral

Whew!

Our second visit to Lafayette, Indiana went well. In fact, the hubbie did not have an offical "second interview." Our entire family was treated to dinner twice but much of the rest of the visit was aimed at impressing the kids and myself---knowing that the hubbie won't take a job in a place that does not interest the family. The kids enjoyed the city and loved the hotel pool. (The big selling point of this city for the kids is the new pool--with BIG, colorful water slides--at a city park!)

When we returned to KC, we rented a minivan so the kids were thrilled. We made it to Norman, OK that night and received the sad news about the hubbie's grandmother while we were there. While the hubbie mapquested the next leg of our journey, the kids and I visited the hotel pool.

The following evening found us in College Station, TX which is another possible future home for us. We did not get the grand tour but visited the city ourselves before going back to the hotel for another swim.

The next day's drive brought us to New Orleans. (Interrupted by the rental van breaking down in Lafayette, LA but with the help of two animated southern ladies at National Car Rental, we made it to our destination.) Before heading to the hubbie's sister's home for the night, we toured the lakefront area where his grandmother had lived. They have cleaned up quite a bit from what I hear but the area is almost a ghost-town. The store where Miss I shopped is still closed; houses bear a brown-orange line where the water line was and bright orange "x's" marking dates when the home was inspected. (One house had the added info: "10/4-cats removed.")

Saturday morning featured a sad drive back through this neighborhood on the way to the church but quite a reunion once we got there. Not only did we get to see many relatives but also quite a few of Miss I's neighbors. Where those neighbors were scattered and where they are all living now is another saga.

Sunday morning we made a L O N G drive to Springfield, MO and had a long, refreshing swim.

That long drive enabled us to have a short and sweet drive back to KC on Monday to pick up our car and then a quick 2-hour drive home.

The kids, while understandably tired, were hellions at the grocery store today so they've lost their pool priveleges.

On our way...

Our flight to Indiana leaves tomorrow morning; we're heading to KC tonight to alleviate the morning rush. I don't know if we'll be heading to Texas or Louisiana after that; either way, we won't be back until next Saturday.

I took some great photos to share with my son's sweetie one day...Natalie had him dressed in a pink dress, shoes and wig! Maybe I'll post the pics when I get back; though I usually don't post pictures of my kids, you'd never recognize him on the street after looking at these photos! ;)

Have a great week!

Chalk art

A prayer request

For those of you who will say a few prayers tonight before you go to sleep: if you have a second, please include my husband's grandmother.

She has taken care of everyone else--including me--during her life. Now she is facing assisted living/nursing home care; while family is mystified as to why her condition is deteriorating, the beginning of this sentence was enough explanation for me. As kindred independent spirits, I understand her condition as her way of proving that there is another way. If I were her, I'd wave the white flag at this point, too.

We are scheduled to leave this weekend to visit Indiana for a second time to see if that is where the hubbie would like to practice next year. We are planning to head down to Texas immediately afterwards to visit his grandmother. I'd kept most of my suspicions to myself until tonight when the hubbie admitted that if she can't hold out until we get there, we will have plenty of time to see what and where other arrangments will be if she should pass.

I just wrote two very long posts about this amazing woman; I immediately deleted them. I meant each as a tribute; I did not mean either as an obituary, but that is what they began to sound like. While Miss I is 85, I had the privilege of meeting her uncle years ago---when he was 109. I am not counting this strong lady out yet but a few extra prayers never hurt anyone.

Thank you!

Empty nest

When the eggs hatched, I wondered if there were only three this year. (Two years ago, there were five babies.) A day or two later, I counted four little heads and from time to time this summer, I could count five open mouths. From my limited vantage point, it seemed that the last bird was crowded, smaller and being sat upon. (I'd be smaller too if my mom kept flying by and feeding a sibling who was sitting on me!)

This week, the birds appeared big, healthy, strong and ready to fly. (Though they'd perch on the very edge of that nest for a while before they'd go. It reminded me of my son learning to jump in the pool: "OK...one...two...three.....and...one...two...three...and...I'm ready now...one...two..."

As the birds left, one by one, my husband stood by the window watching them.
"Whoa! That bird almost took a dive but both parents came at him from different sides!"
Good parents.

Soon, only the smallest bird was left in the nest. Rather than a big, fluffy chest full of feathers, his was notably sunken in; while I'm no veterinarian, the little guy did not look too healthy. This was the guy who'd been left in the back of the nest, obviously. My husband kept noting the lonely, scrawny bird. "Can't I go give him a cracker? That little guy can't fly."

While I understood his sentiment, I could not see any way to deliver meals to the bird without touching him. We kept waiting for his parents (who still brought a few things to the siblings sitting on the porch) to tend to this guy.

Yesterday morning--as I was bloghopping, actually--I heard a great deal of chirping, squawking and general bird commotion out on the porch. I nodded, thinking that the last hold out had finally left the nest and the family was bound for the trees.

I did not discover the actual reason for all that commotion later, when I remembered to go out to water the flowers. The little bird was still lying directly below the nest.

I still had a few hours before the hubbie would return home and I knew the kids would check the porch before then. Besides, after his vigil the night before, I couldn't ask him to handle it.

I did tell him later and got his standard response: "it's the circle of life." Indeed. However, if a bird I'd barely seen inspires such a long post, we might do well to hold off on getting a real pet just a bit longer!

What if God was one of us?

Or rather, what if Mary was one of us?

Of course, she was one of us. She was wiser and more patient than I’ll ever be but completely human, nonetheless. Two Women of Galilee imagines part of her life as she interacts with characters who make brief appearances in the Bible.

The main character, Joanna, suffers from consumption and has tried every treatment that Roman doctors or supernatural healers can provide. Her illness and curiosity lead her to followers of Jesus. When Joanna encounters Mary, she is surprised to learn that the Healer's mother is her cousin.

The story of their estrangement and reunion is based in the context of the Roman occupation. When the Romans took control, Mary’s father took his family out of the city and raised his daughter according to the ancient traditions. His brother, Joanna’s father, recognized an opportunity and kept his family in the city; they gave up their religious beliefs and pledged allegiance to Caesar. Assimilating with the Roman occupants, Joanna’s family became wealthy. She married Herod’s chief steward and her friend among the elite women of the court is Claudia Procula, Pilate’s wife.

It is a clever take on the events that led up to Christ’s crucifixion. Rourke gives her readers credit for being familiar with the Passion and does not re-tell that story but describes events that unfolded behind the scenes. For example, the Bible tells us that Joseph, a good and righteous man from Arimathea went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus; this novel imagines how—and why—Joseph took care of the burial arrangements.

Rourke has applied a backstory to the gospels and seeks to remind us that everyone is here for a reason.
“Look to the whole story, not the small part that each person plays.” ~ from Two Women of Galilee

This is a good beach read or-- if you also happen to live in Kansas--a good backyard/poolside read! There are a few distracting typos but they might be caught by the time the book comes out in paperback.

Between Indiana and Texas lie Arkansas and Kansas

While we will be living in Kansas for another year, the hubbie is interviewing now to determine where he’d like to go when that time is up. Remaining here is an option but not a strong one; Kansas City is a contender but it is Kansas City, Missouri that holds the attraction.

I have been asked for my preferences, which include living near water and/or living in the South. My husband has tried to take these into consideration but he is not interested in living on a coast and is certainly not interested in returning to the “deep south.” Apparently our geographical proclivities are about as alike as our politics.

While second trips to Indiana and Texas are planned, we all made our first trip to Fort Smith, Arkansas this past weekend. The hubbie was willing to check it out as it is in northwest Arkansas (close to Oklahoma and Missouri) so he can claim it is not in The South. I was willing to check it out mostly because I was sure his claim was mistaken. I spoke with hospital recruiters and realtors on the phone before we left and could just tell that we would find sweet tea and grits available on restaurant menus.

In fact, at lunch on Saturday, a waitress asked for our drink orders and I ordered iced tea. She returned with everyone else’s beverage and then apologetically asked what I’d like again. She could not remember if I’d asked for sweet or "unsweet" tea. I asked sweetly for unsweetened tea. She returned once more to make sure she’d heard me correctly but never did return with any sort of tea.

Offers are similar in the cities on the short list so a large part of the decision is deciding what we want in a community. Indiana has four seasons but may get a bit cold for me; Texas has a few seasons: HOT, a little hot and warm—which may be more heat than the hubbie can handle.

We may end up settling on Kansas City simply because it is between the other two.

This is my B4B entry.

On the road and in the air again

We leave in the morning for a quick trip to Arkansas. After we return, along with the promised "Between" post will be a review of Mary Rourke's Two Women of Galilee. The concept of the book is clever but the review is not. Yet. I'll revise, rewrite and post it on Sunday!

Have a wonderful weekend!

Between bloghopping and books...B4B is LIVE!

Blogging for Books is on! It's a week later this month so for those of us who were a little distracted with the holiday weekend, we did not miss a thing!

This month's topic is BETWEEN. You can think of something! ;)
Go. Write.
Details are here.


(I promise to enter this month as well. We're are heading out-of-town again this weekend so it may just be a midnight post on Sunday but I will make it this month. Stay tuned!)

The family is growing

Not our family, though we share part of the same house. This photo was taken a few days ago and you can only see a couple of babies here.

They've grown in just the last few days and I counted five open mouths this morning! I'm not sure if they're yelling "I'm still hungry," or "I want my own room!"

An adventure at home

You can have adventures in your own backyard--or at the top of your stairs!

While some people travel to a summer home, my kids have constructed their own.

What's up, doc?

I have mentioned in previous posts how I occasionally let my yard go a little wild. While it is not quite a jungle, I wait until weeding will take hours before I actually get out there to do it.

This week I tackled what I kept referring to as "weeds" but it was actually a patch of bright, new, healthy grass--growing where I don't want any grass. (Much of my yard has brown (fried) patches or even holes right now but grass thrives in the spots I don't want it! (Along the edge of this rock wall, for example. Of course, I did not think to snap the photo until after I'd dug up the grass/weeds!)

Another resident of our yard has enjoyed the new grass. Yet while Bugs eats other areas of my grass down to the roots, he comes to this new patch for just a nibble. Maybe the new grass is sweeter and makes a nice dessert.

Bugs watched me from under the deck for a while, then inched ever closer, keeping a close eye on me as I dug up his salad bar. Maybe my attempt to clean up the yard was a little misguided. That rascally rabbit will have no choice but to eat more of the lawn now!

Happy Independence Day!

You can read the text here.

Celebrate! Enjoy the day and be grateful for your freedom.

I'm blowing out candles today as well as lighting sparklers so I'm going to keep this short. Have a safe and happy Fourth of July!

It was the nightingale, and not the lark

I tried to use this line with my son the other morning. He can't read much beyond his own name yet, so quoting Shakespeare--even at 6:30am--did not impress him.

I tried to tell him to climb into bed with me to sleep for just a few more minutes but he protested.

"Hear that bird singing, Mommy? That's the bird that sings when it's time to get up!"

My knight in shining scrubs

I was mowing the grass when the hubbie came home last week but he had the difficult job. I asked him if he was interested in rescuing a damsel in distress. When he looked slightly befuddled, I explained that we had a dragon in our garage.

He responded simply, "another one?"

OK--so they don't breathe fire and they are not technically dragons but they take up a whole glue trap!

I will admit that this creature was in much more need of rescuing than I was but I know there is no way to actually remove him (or her) from the glue trap. After debating whether to leave him to squirm in the garage until he'd made it to greener pastures--flowing with ants and grasshoppers--or just put him out of his misery, I was happy to just let the hubbie take care of it. Always on the lookout for maidens needing assistance, he sweetly took care of the problem without sharing the details.

This time we did not put a new glue trap down. (While they are ostensibly rodent traps, we use them to catch bugs wandering under the garage door. I don't have nearly as much guilt about the pill bugs that get stuck. )

Construction fun!

The city came out Thursday to tear up our street and pour some new concrete.


The kids were thrilled and even took a few photos themselves:

Summer days driftin' away

I should put a disclaimer on my blog that during the summer, I will offer more weekly posts than daily posts!

It was great to have my sister, brother-in-law and their kids here last week! While we always enjoy our visits "home" to Florida and love seeing everyone there, we do see everyone there! It was nice to have a little one-on-one time with one of my sisters and her family. My kids had a blast!

Upon completion of kindergarten, my niece learned a song with words put to the tune of "Summer Nights" from Grease. It was extremely cute but the song has been running through my head for a week now!

Father's Day was relaxing. After Mass, we drove the hubbie out-of-town to a community theater production of CATS. While it was a bit too long for C, everyone seemed to enjoy it and we found a new Italian restaurant afterwards so it was quite a success!

The hubbie has another interview this weekend and this time we will go, too! It is in Kansas City, so it is not too far but we enjoy playing in the "big city" once in a while!

N and C had their first official swimming lesson yesterday. (We have been swimming but I thought some "formal" instruction could not hurt--especially as C just put his face entirely under water this summer.) However, the thunder is roaring this morning and the rain is falling so we may be staying in this morning.

I hope you are enjoying your summer, whether or not it includes any type of vacation!

Monday morning update

Birthday parties (both N's and friends') were fun and we've been spending time at the local pool.

Hubbie returned from another interview on Friday evening. He really likes both practices that he's interviewed with so far (still a few more to go) but it looks like these are at the top of the list. Both have their advantages so it may come down to a preference in climate---one is in Indiana and the other in Texas. We will accompany him on the next two trips--Kansas City (not far) and Arkansas--so I'll keep you updated!

Our houseguests completed their nest. We can't see but are sure that eggs are inside now--one bird remains close by at all times and they're much more protective of our front porch! I'll post the pic of the nest soon and will let you know when the little ones arrive! (C is already having trouble waiting. He was checking on the nest each morning when he got up but this morning asked if I could check the nest and just tell him if I could see baby birds.)

We have human guests arriving soon, too! My sister and her family are due to arrive this evening so my posts may remain infrequent for a few more days!

I hope you are enjoying your summer!

This is for the birds

There was a construction delay!

While I suspect I might have given up -- or at least stopped for lunch-- the bird who was standing on the nest when it collapsed flew off and returned a moment later with a new branch. In the meantime, the partner flew up, looked around for a second but added another branch and they kept working. I did not hear a chirp or squawk that could have been interpreted as "what did you do?", "I just put that piece there!" or even "I told you that mud was too soft!"

They just kept taking turns, quietly rebuilding the nest.

Nesting

No -- not me -- our fine feathered friends!

We had a bird family in the corner of our porch two years ago. Once the babies learned to fly and the entire family took off, a man-made storm (hubbie with the hose on jet-stream) took out their home. Though I suspect they flew by last year, they did not take up residence.

This past weekend, they began building a new nest. These photos were taken yesterday.

Summer vacation

As you may have suspected--noting the infrequent posts--the kids are home.

We celebrated the last day of Vacation Bible School and N's birthday with a sleepover party last night. As I have mentioned in earlier posts, while I am not the sharpest tool in the shed, I am capable of learning. After surviving last year's party -- the one I called "the more the merrier/what's one more girl?" debaucle -- N was allowed to invite only four girls. Of those invited, only two could attend. This was the first of her sleepovers that the hubbie was home for and was the easiest one so far. While he takes full credit--suggesting that we all behaved better knowing the master was home--it did alleviate the stress level considerably knowing that there was another adult around.

Tomorrow is N's actual birthday so I may do something ridiculous like make the 45-minute drive to Chuck E. Cheese's or something along those lines and then we'll settle in for our summer! Poor C loved his graduation but now is so ready for kindergarten, he just can't believe that he has more "vacation" to get through! I'm sure he'll manage ~ we have cousins coming to visit, swim lessons to attend and even a trip or two with hubbie while he's interviewing.

For my relatives looking for dates here when we will be visiting--you won't find them. We will visit but I have not managed to plan that far ahead yet. It will not be June. I will keep you posted!

Thank You

Do you act your age?

You Are 35 Years Old

Under 12: You are a kid at heart. You still have an optimistic life view - and you look at the world with awe. 13-19: You are a teenager at heart. You question authority and are still trying to find your place in this world. 20-29: You are a twentysomething at heart. You feel excited about what's to come... love, work, and new experiences. 30-39: You are a thirtysomething at heart. You've had a taste of success and true love, but you want more! 40+: You are a mature adult. You've been through most of the ups and downs of life already. Now you get to sit back and relax.

What Age Do You Act?

Catholic guilt?

I was exhausted after traveling with the kids all afternoon yesterday and yet still stayed up for an hour or two after they went to bed. I watched Jay Leno interview Julia Stiles who was promoting her new movie. She talked about her character who feels guilty that she has no love for her son: the Devil.

This interview came to mind this afternoon when my daughter, who was tired, hot and cranky, hit her brother on the arm because his new toothbrush was on the conveyor belt ahead of hers at the supermarket. When he wailed (it was quite dramatic as he, too, was tired, hot and cranky) she smiled with pure pleasure.

As siblings will, she alternated between torturing him and playing with him once we got home. Once everyone was settled in bed, she called me back up to give me a hug. She said she was "sorry for today" and is now praying her rosary!

I don't know whether to be proud that she has remorse or worry that she is just lulling me into a false sense of security before launching a new plan of attack tomorrow.

Then I left and now I'm back!

Without a coherent post but I wanted to say hello before everyone quits visiting altogether!

C was sick with a fever for several days last week and recovered just in time for us to head out-of-town on Friday! We visited one city that my hubbie is interviewing in before heading on to South Bend for his graduation on Sunday. It was chilly for the outdoor graduation but worth it to see the hubbie graduate (with honors!) from Notre Dame! He can now add M.B.A. to all the other letters that follow his name! He is still in Indiana but the kids and I returned last night.

Both kids had separate "field days" today so we are all light pink and very tired but we have lotion and at least they are already in bed!

I am very, very behind in my bloghopping but hope to catch up this week. (It is the last week of school for the kids and I'm certain that they have more activities in the last two weeks of school than the rest of the year!) So it may take me a few days to catch up but I will!

I'm still here...

Physically, anyway! I don't know where the past week has gone!

Mother's Day was relaxing. C got sick and is just now really recovering. A fever from Sunday through Tuesday night with no other symptoms! (Of course, we broke the fever with Motrin every six hours. If nothing else, that kid is consistent! (Or Motrin is!) The bottle says dosages should last 6-8 hours but with C, you can tell when six hours is up without a clock!

Otherwise, I did get some time alone to read upstairs (wrote a little and snuck a nap in too!) and I got a small digital camera! I've borrowed hubbie's from time to time but it's a few years old now and much larger than the cute little cameras I see moms bringing to school functions. It's almost like lugging the video camera and I have no idea what most of the functions on that thing are. Now I have one! All I asked for was for everyone to leave or duct tape for children's mouths! I did not get those but they behaved most of the day and now I can easily take photos of the little angels to share!

I've just got to figure out how to share now! Another little book to read...

Did you save room for dessert?

When you've finished reading that book on your nightstand and are wondering what to open next, you'll want to try a few pages of this.

Honestly, I haven't finished it yet. I'm three-quarters of the way through but savoring every page. This book is like a whole cheesecake. I could not possibly eat the whole thing at once; it is very rich; I enjoy a little at a time but it is so good!

When I finally finish the entire book, I'll give you a more complete report. In the meantime, as you look through the menu of books available, I highly recommend this one! And you won't just find it on the dessert page; it can be a light snack or a hearty entree, too!

As an appetizer: Feiler's humor is a great place to start! Even when you start to feel tired and dusty with him in the dessert, he'll say something to make you laugh!

Nutritious salads: Along with gaining a great appreciation for the locales of the Middle East, Feiler introduces you to some fascinating people.

Entrees:
*all entrees are served with a nutritious salad, a soup of ancient history and a reminder of manna.
Comfort foods: Adam and Eve, Noah and Moses are all here. They haven't changed but you might look at them in a new way.
Nouvelle cuisine: Feiler gets into some heavy topics and personal growth but finishes them off with a light sauce of common sense and a garnish of humor.
Milk and Honey: Walking through ancient cities in modern times, Feiler offers a new perspective on some of the messages and history of the Pentateuch.

Dessert: Rich language and vivid descriptions of life in exotic locales. (If that isn't enough, the photo on the back cover is a treat, too!) ;)

I did not make it

I kept putting the B4B entry off this month. To write honestly about cheating would be awfully revealing and to come up with a clever way to cheat on this one was beyond me!

Then, in the shower today, only three hours after the official deadline had passed, I remembered something I could use.

I took a look and it looks like the comments are not actually closed but I can't enter it now. That would be cheating. I lied but I'm not cheating.

Hooray!

The last day of classes was yesterday;
The hubbie has earned his MBA!
His graduation is later in May!
Yay!

I'd invite you over but then I'd have to clean my house

So I blog. This way, I can sit down and "chat" without having to wash the kitchen floor.
(OK--those of you who actually do visit know I rarely do that anyway--but you get the idea).

I keep saying that I can write from home. I say I can have a load of laundry washing, pay a bill and write all at the same time. I usually do wash laundry, have a snack, pay a bill, have a snack and read blogs. Though I keep saying that I need to physically leave the house and go to a coffee shop to write, I rarely do it. So I'm usually pleased with myself when I write 300 words in a day.

Wednesday I decided to take action. I grabbed the hubbie's laptop and went to a coffee shop attached to a discount bookstore. In a little over an hour, I'd written 1,535 new words for the WIP!

This was a good idea! I had coffee, I had no internet access and I was surrounded by my favorite authors!
This was a bad idea! I had too much coffee and after a successful hour, I decided to go shop for my favorite authors.

I'm a slow learner but I can be taught. I will go back today but I'm only bringing $5.
(That might not be enough for two cups but it certainly will keep me from adding another book to the TBR pile! It should cut down on unnecessary posts, too!)

Pass it on! B4B is Live!

It's time again for Blogging for Books! I WILL get my entry in this month and I hope you all will join me!

...blog about cheating. Any old kind of cheating will do. Games, Lovers, Tests, it's all fair game until you admit in writing that you've cheated on the ever-faithful IRS....
GO!

How to play: You blog on a chosen topic. You post a link to your blog entry in the comments below this entry on Joshilyn Jackson's blog.

B4B closes next Monday when the comments close on this entry, EXACTLY seven days from the very second this posted. <----note the slight rule change. If you have no blog, you write the essay and cut and paste it (no attachments please) into an email to Ann Fitten (the Bloggess behind Edgy Mama) and ask her sweetly to host it for you.

Purple Haze II

These were my first photos, with the flash still on...
but these are what inspired the title of this and the last post.

Purple haze

There was a pretty pink sunset to go along with these but I did not capture it.
(Though I FINALLY stopped trying to take photos with the flash on and at least got something!)
I thought the hedge was lilac but after looking up the word online, it turns out lilacs look like this. That photo helped me identify what is growing in my backyard but I still don't know what my hedge is made up of! The blossoms are very fragrant, they're lavender-colored and the more we trim the hedge each summer, the more blooms we have each spring! I'll try to get a close-up of whatever these are when the sun comes back out but it's a blustery, dreary afternoon!

If only there were a magic pill

I've been overwhelmed with the idea of putting the whole book together. I know I have holes but I have so many scattered files that need to be edited and merged together. So I thought I would do a better job if I printed everything out, sorted it into piles/chapters and then started going through it.

I have killed at least one adult tree.

That may not be the only casualty.

My plan is literally spiraling out of control. The idea of neat stacks was a dream. I have parts to insert so right now, I have what looks like a white and black pinwheel on my office floor. So much for a linear progression!

While I complain, whine and stress about daily parenting issues, parenting is a different type of stress than I used to experience in college and the working world. The kind that would put my back in knots. The knots are back today! I just have not determined if the stress is over the thousands of words strewn about my floor, crying to be organized or if the pain is a result of the HALF-HOUR I had to fight with my printer to get it to start spitting out pages. That fight brought back many memories of fighting with printers, copiers and computers back when I earned a paycheck. So maybe I could finish this book with less stress if I went back to an old manual typewriter.

(As you can see, the whole project is affecting my judgement!)

It will all be fine. I will keep printing and tonight I'll have a glass of wine as I sit down with the papers and the red pen.

Or maybe I can find one of these!

Oh, I have issues!

(But you already knew that!)

I just love meeting new people and making new friends in the blogosphere!

Meet Margie! She commented on my post about mowing the lawn alongside a 7-year-old and invited me to email her. A couple of emails later, I have lots of pretty compliments, ideas on how to make my site a little more colorful, and a very pretty, colorful award button over there! (Look to the left!)

Margie is giving awards to moms who blog in honor of Mother's Day. If you're a mom or know one who blogs, get in touch with Margie! (Click on that cute button over there or here).

Margie---Thank You! I am honored to be included in your list

And then there was the buzz about the bee*

It's a good thing that neither child actually saw the deceased hare. We had enough trauma with a wasp. Maybe it was a hornet. It could have been a bee. It was certainly enough to strike terror in the hearts of C and N.

Good Friday was a whirl of activity. N had invited a friend over, which I thought would give me time to clean the house. It turned out to be a very nice day so the girls played outside, came in for drinks, then needed towels for a "picnic" outside, then came back in to ask if they could don swimsuits and play in the sprinker. So they changed and they played in the water. Came back in, changed and had lunch, changed again and went back out. They came back in, dried off, changed, played in N's room, changed again, went back out...and so it went.

By the time the friend left, I had a little over an hour to run an errand, shower and clean the house. (As we attempted them in that order, you can tell which one did not get done). Especially as the "little over an hour" changed to "less than an hour" the moment we let the wasp in the house with us. He stayed up in the large window that no one can reach but the concern over what he could do was all-consuming. I explained that if they just left the insect alone, he'd leave them alone.

When we returned from the store to find it still in the window, the questions just increased.
"How does a bee sting?"
"Is it a bee or a wasp?"
"What does it feel like if it stings you?"
"If it's a bee it'll die when it stings us. Is it a bee? If it dies, does it go to heaven? Can you see when you are in heaven? Can you see bees in heaven? How can you see in Heaven?"

By the time the babysitter arrived, they were distracted showing her their new sticker books and forgot about the bee/wasp issue.

The next day, the wasp was still in the window, desperately searching for a way out but not leaving that particular window. As the day wore on, you could tell the little guy was getting weaker.

By the end of Saturday, after I mowed the grass and finally got a shower, I came out to find the wasp crawling outside my bedroom, at the top of the stairs. I asked my daughter to keep an eye on the wasp while I looked for a big shoe or book to put it out of its misery. She backed into her room (partly to stay away from the bee and partly to make sure I did not use her shoe). My son started to come upstairs, volunteering to "keep an eye on the bee," when it occured to me that after dead bunnies, wavering faith in the Tooth Fairy and my constant assurances that the bee would leave them alone if they left it alone--maybe I could still get this little guy out of the house alive. I could save the day for someone--even if the someone was a bug. I told my son to go ask his dad for a shoebox while I kept an eye on the wasp. My thinking was maybe I could put the box on the step below and slowly scoot the wasp into the box with the lid. My son came back with my hubbie, who came with one of N's new shoes, and smacked the wasp.

Though they were stunned for a moment, they recovered as they were at least released from the fear of that ever-present stinger. However, for the week afterwards, every time my son went up the stairs, I'd hear him muttering "poor little bee."

He still asks me at least once a day how you can see in Heaven.
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* After initially posting this, I looked for our "bee" online and found that it was a European paper wasp.