HELP!!!

I'm supposed to start school a week from Monday.

My childcare fell through. Now we're looking at spending hundreds of $$ a month so I can go to school.

I'm having issues with my financial aid. First I couldn't do the application online. Then my first name and last name got mixed up, so the Social Security Administration can't verify that I exist which is throwing a major delay into the works. Now I have to verify that I do in fact exist, and only THEN they will process my application and MAYBE I will get some money. But will it be in time? And if they don't give me money, I will already have started, wasting time and more money spent on childcare that wouldn't have been necessary if everything went smoothly and I knew today that I was not going to be getting any money.

Are these things signs from God that I should not be going back to school now, or are they just life's obstacles that come up that I need to overcome?

I've been praying for God's direction in this. One day I feel sure that I am to go ahead with my plans. The next day a roadblock pops up, convincing me that I need to wait.

Help!!

The Thrill Is Over

OK, so it was fun to be an invalid for awhile. Lying in bed all day, catching up on blogs, enjoying the buzz from the pain meds.

I'm ready for things to be back to normal. I tried going off the paid meds for a day, but apparently the older you are when your wisdom teeth are removed, the longer it takes to recover. Without the meds, the pain is wretched. WITH the meds, however, I remain slightly buzzed all day long, rendering myself thinking unclearly and also a little nauseous.

I only have one week left to stay home with Kiddo before I begin my internship and take on the work of a full-time elementary school teacher. He will be left with a babysitter twice a week, the other 3 days he will be at a local day care center. I'm not worried about him- he'll be fine-- but it's starting to hit me that my time with him is drawing to a close. Other people will be spending the greater part of waking hours with him. Other people will get to hear him learn new words and discover things in the world around him. Someone else will pick him up and kiss him when he falls down and bumps his head. He will sweetly say "please" when he wants a drink-- but someone else will get to hear it.

I'm starting to get a little sad.

And annoyed, that this medication is making me unable to fully enjoy and embrace these last few days of being a full-time stay-at-home mommy.

Extreme Blog Makeover

Blissfully Domestic is offering a blog makeover!! I have decided to enter. While this template I have is very nice, it is freely available to anyone who wants it, rendering my space here un-unique.

While this particular incarnation of my blog is brand-new, I have been blogging for three years now. My blog has taken many forms. At one point it was a photo blog. For awhile it was a pregnancy journal. My old blog is still up if you'd like to take a gander. I currently blog under a pen name, but there was a time I didn't attempt to hide my identity. I have enjoyed blogging, and I think it is now time to branch out and have a space that is all my own.

I would like to see bigger and better things for this blog in the near future. I've seen lots of you out there make money just with your blogging. Since I'm already blogging, I may as well make some money while I'm at it-- but to do that, I'd really like to have a super-fantastic spectacular one-of-a-kind home on the web that expresses my personality.

So please, please, select me to be the winner of Extreme Blog Makeover!

Thank you very much.

(More) Fun With Language Acquisition

I posted awhile back about some fun we have had in our household as regards language acquisition.

Well, the fun continues.

After a rain, we will often find small frogs in our backyard pool. They will be clinging desperately to the concrete, in a well-intentioned attempt to keep themselves alive. The poor things.

Anyhoo. Kiddo was in the pool with us after one such rainy froggy afternoon and he was just fascinated with the tiny beings clinging so desperately for life. We took him over to the side of the pool and he would just peer at them, with the look of one who has just discovered the meaning of life.

We told him what these tiny desperate beings were.

"Look at the frog, sweetie! See the frog? What a tiny little frog!"

Then he grinned, looked at the frog, pointed at it, and said with emphasis:

"FUK!!"

You see, he hasn't quite the hang of the guttural "g" consonant. He also has trouble with his "r". The word "dog" usually sounds like "duck," but that's not quite so offensive-sounding as its amphibian counterpart.

He is displaying the properties of one learning a language. He is consistently producing the "-og" sound as "-uck."

Hubby and I have the hardest time not laughing when he does this. He gets so excited to see the frogs, and when he gets excited, he says whatever word over and over again. So we earnestly hope that our neighbors are not outside in their yards when our little boy sees the frogs.

"FUK! FUK! FUK!"

I recently learned that one of our local museums has a traveling frog exhibit. We very nearly took Kiddo to see it, but we changed our minds. There is just too much potential for embarrassment there. Imagine us trying to explain to some poor innocent bystanders that our son really truly is trying to say "frog."

Kids say the darndest things, don't they?

Lousy Day

I am miserable. I'm still in lots of pain from the surgery, and I just got a traffic ticket for doing something stupid that I KNOW I shouldn't have done, but I only did because I was in agonizing pain. I had to cancel the party I was going to have tonight because I'm still in pain. Can I just curl into a ball and cry my eyes out, please? That is, if I don't drench the keyboard with my tears first.

Wah.

Yay. Now I have just been vomited upon- projectile-like- by Kiddo.

Joyful.

GAH- 2 hours after the being vomited upon, my landlord shows up with his family "just to drop by." (Which any other day would be fine, because our landlord is also our friend, and we've been wanting them to come over for awhile!) I haven't cleaned the house in days because of the surgery, and the kitchen still smells of toddler vomit. Oh, the unfairness of it all.

Magnetic Monday: Righteous Harmony

I'm sorry, I'm sorry, it's been a number of weeks since I have participated in Magnetic Monday.

Now I have returned!

"resurrect a piece of righteous harmony."

Right on!!

And Things Have Returned to Normal

Hubby's back at work. I'm in charge again, as concerns matters of child-rearing and housecleaning.

It's bittersweet. Sure, it was fun getting to lie around in bed all day and enjoy the wonder that is narcotic pain killers. I was rather surprised when I looked at the clock and 6 hours have passed since I last "juiced up." Guess I'm finally weaning myself away from them, which really is a good thing. It's impossible to do anything productive when one is under the influence of such medication.

Not everything is back to normal. I still have to be careful what I eat. I'm on a "soft diet" consisting mostly of jello, pudding, creamy soups, applesauce, and protein shakes. I'll go back for a post-op checkup and hopefully I will be cleared to resume normal eating habits again! But who knows, maybe I'll lose a few pounds in the process! :)

In Which I Smugly Gloat

Heh heh heh...

I've had the same conversation that I'm sure many of you have had with your mom-pals- bemoaning the unfairness in which our husbands get to take "sick days" from work when they stay in bed all day and are able to get better, but when we, the moms, get sick, there is no such thing as taking a sick day. Unless it happens to occur on Hubby's day off, our sick days aren't much different from normal days.

So I'm a little smug about the fact that my husband is on his 3rd day of playing Mr. Mom and getting a small taste of what my life is like every single day. My surgery was on Friday. He took Friday off, which means that his whole weekend has been spent as my normal weekdays are. Ha!

I shouldn't be so smug about this. I had to smile to myself when Hubby begged me to come get out of bed and "sit with Kiddo" so he could wash the dishes. I didn't say anything to him, but I derived a great deal of pleasure in the knowledge that I manage to wash the dishes every single day while Kiddo is awake with no one else to "sit" with him. Kiddo's schedule has gotten way, way off, but he seems to be adjusting just fine to the difference in his primary caregiver.

It's been a little humbling for me too, though, to see Kiddo being taken care of in such a different manner than I do. I think it's good for him and me, too.

I am really very grateful to my husband for stepping up like this, taking such good care of us. Tomorrow he goes back to work, and things will return to normal. Hopefully I won't be so swollen and dependent on strong pain meds!!

I'm Over the Moon!!!

My small son just said "I love you!" for the first time!!!

Well, it came out more like, "Luh Oooo!" but it was still sweet, and I couldn't be happier!!!

In Which I Describe My Appearance

I thought I was one of the lucky ones.

Someone else who had the same doctor remove THEIR wisdom teeth didn't swell up at all.

But I am. Like a chipmunk. It didn't start until this afternoon. I thought I had escaped it, but no.

Sigh. Better snuggle up to a bag of frozen peas again!

Enjoying Some Quiet Time

Because I'm rather laid up, thanks to having all four of my wisdom teeth removed yesterday, I have been spending lots of time on my laptop- blogging, twittering, facebooking, and various and sundry other creative stuff.

For some reason, my wireless signal doesn't want to reach all the way back to my bedroom today. It worked fine yesterday, but not today. So I am going to spend this afternoon doing some REAL scrapbooking and card making! I have a number of card kits that I've received as gifts from friends (Thanks, Haley and Damselfly!) so I plan to finally put them to use. If I become terribly ambitious, I may even photograph them to show you later!

Have a nice day!

To My Friendly Starbucks Barista

While I was in my hometown this week to be with my family while my mother was in the hospital, there was a bright spot. A bright, shiny spot which made each day of my visit a little more pleasant.

Starbucks. There is a relatively new Starbucks not far my parent's home, and I was a frequent visitor during the 3 days of my stay. On my way out to return home, I went through the drive-thru to get myself juiced up for the 4-hour drive. As I pulled up to order, a very friendly voice greeted me.

"Hi, and welcome to Starbucks on this beautiful evening! My name is Josh. How can I help you?"

Josh sounded like nothing would make him happier than to take my coffee order. I could tell by the sound of his voice that he was smiling.

"Hi Josh! I think I'll try one of those raspberry brownies that the lady ahead of me ordered, and I'll also have a Grande Raspberry Mocha Frappucino."

"That sounds DELICIOUS! A themed dinner?"

"That's right, Josh!"

"It'll be $6.23."

"Thanks!"

I pulled up to the window where I met Josh in person. He was delightful! I could really tell he was having a nice time at his job. Most drive-thru people barely look at me, they just want to grab my money, throw my food at me, and send me on my way. Not Josh! He took some time to make pleasant small-talk.

What Josh didn't know was that I really needed something like that. I was on my way to the hospital one last time to see Mom before I drove home. I was very worried about her, as I'm sure you remember from the updates I posted. I was afraid I was going to be too late and they wouldn't let me in, and I was afraid that if I didn't get my coffee, I would fall asleep on the drive with Lance since we only left at 9 pm, ensuring a peaceful, quiet drive.

But Josh's friendliness and his smile, his thoughtfulness, really helped to brighten that evening.

I told him that he was the friendliest drive-thru person I had ever met. He seemed surprised and pleased by this. Then I told him I would write about him on my blog. I told him the URL, and I hope he manages to look me up!

So if you're here Josh, please know that your kindness made a huge difference to this mommy during a difficult time in her life. You didn't just give me coffee and a brownie, you gave me a reason to smile when there was none.

Thank you.

A New Home

Hey everyone, it's me Guinevere from Guinevere's Thoughts on Nothing in Particular. I wanted to try out some new blog stuff, so I have set up a new blog. I haven't decided yet if I'll close down the other blog or not, we'll see what happens!

I plan to be doing the bulk of my blogging over here, so please add me to your blogrolls and readers. Thanks!

Oh, and thanks to Lena for designing this template and offering it for free! You do FABULOUS work, honey!!

I type this from a laptop while lounging in bed. My mouth is filled with gauze, I'm snuggled up to a bag of frozen peas, and the remains of a few jello cups are littering my bedside table.

I think I'm gonna enjoy a few days of being an invalid! My husband is taking such good care of me, too! He went out and bought yogurt, jello cups, and pudding to feed an army. He also bought me some Starbucks Frappucinos, since I'm not supposed to have anything hot for a few days.

He's taken Lance out for the evening, so I'm enjoying some nice quiet time. He won't be out for long, but it'll be good for Lance to run around and play at the park while Daddy has his softball game. (Our city has several softball 'leagues' of which our church members make up 3 of the 4 teams! lol! They play every Friday night.) Fortunately some of the other players on Hubby's team have teenage daughters who just adore Lance, so they're going to help out with him. The best part? I didn't even have to arrange it!! Hubby called the parents of the teenagers to ask if they would please bring them along tonight.

I was knocked out for the surgery. I remember a few times I would wake up a little bit and could hear what was going on, but not often enough to remember the details. Although at one point I heard the doctor say "oops." That wasn't good! I was under for an hour, but I only have a few minutes' worth of memories of the procedure! The IV stick was the worst part. I'm such a baby when it comes to needles!

Whoa...the phone just rang. Apparantly talking is something I'll have to refrain from as well! I seem to be fine when I keep my head as still as possible!

Cheers re-runs, here I come!

In Which I Say Goodbye to Wisdom

My wisdom teeth will be coming out in a little less than two hours.

Goodbye, Wisdom. How I shall miss you.

In the meantime, I'm finding it rather difficult to refrain from eating and drinking, especially when Lance doesn't finish his breakfast.

Plain toast never looked so good, until you're not allowed it.

I expect I'll be spending a lot of time this weekend on my computer! I'm gonna milk it, baby.

Today's Updates

Hello, Blogfriends.

Here are the updates on mom. I hope you don't mind that I just copied the e-mail I sent out to our friends and family.



Hi everyone.

I saw my mom yesterday evening. It was good to see her. They have figured out that her stomach is not emptying AT ALL-- it is full of fluid, although she hasn't eaten anything for several DAYS. I had previously misunderstood and thought they were witholding food from her, but the truth is she can't keep anything down. One of the days she *did* have to fast because of a procedure they needed to do. They had her on clear liquids the other night, and she only took a few sips of juice, and it made her throw up a lot.

They are going to do more tests today to figure out the cause of this. Something similar had happened before, and they discovered a bacterial overgrowth in her small intestine. Hopefully the tests today will reveal what it is THIS time. There is talk of transporting her up to Mayo clinic.

My dad will be going to the hospital this morning so he can talk with the doctors and find out more information. At this point, we're all wondering why they haven't given her any nutrition intravenously, since they know she hasn't eaten anything in the three days she's been there. They have her on a saline solution and electrolytes so she won't dehydrate, but she isn't getting anything else.

While I'm relieved that they have figured out SOMETHING, it's scary to think that my mom has not been getting any nutrition for several days and is basically slowly starving. I don't like that thought AT ALL. Hopefully Dad will be able to get them to give her something in the IV. They won't release her from the hospital if she can't eat. Mom would prefer to have Dad drive her up to Mayo rather than have the hospital transport her, because that would just be a ridiculously huge (and unncessary) expense.

Please continue praying- now, that the doctors will be able to fix the problem they have found, and that my mother will have some measure of comfort. I will be returning home to Coral Springs tonight. I wish I could stay longer, but I'm having my wisdom teeth removed Friday morning.

Thanks and God bless



Hi again,

Mom has now received an IV with nutrition. They are also draining the fluid from her stomach. Already she looks a little better- not so pale, and she looks like she got some rest. They have decided to transport her via ambulance to the Mayo clinic in Jacksonville, but we're not sure yet when they will do this.

Thank you all for your prayers- we are beginning to see them answered! In addition to praying for mom's healing and wisdom for the doctors, please pray also that this will not become a financial burden for my family. My parents have a fairly good insurance plan, but it doeesn't cover everything. An ambulance trip to Jacksonville is going to be a significant cost, as will several days of hospital stay.

I will be going to visit Mom once more, on my way home tonight. I hope to have more information then. I know the are going to do more x-rays later this afternoon to see if her small intestine is working properly.

I can't begin to tell you how much your support means. You are all family to us. Without your prayers and moral support, I'm sure things would be much different right now.

God bless

In Which I Depart From My Most Recent Subject

This post has nothing whatsoever to do with my mom in the hospital. It's time for something fun and lighthearted.

I give you...


Lance! In the kiddie pool! Completely dressed! With a popsicle stain on his face!

This afternoon I was filling the kiddie pool that my parents have at their house just for Lance's visit. He was standing there eating a popsicle while I filled it. My grand plan was to take him inside and change him into his swim trunks when he was done with the popsicle.

Toddlers don't worry too much about their parent's plans. He just clambered right over the side of the pool, went down on his hands and knees, dripping with popsicle juice.

And I stood there and laughed like I haven't laughed for several days.

It was good.

Update

Hey everyone. I'm up in my hometown to be with my family. I packed up Lance and we left our house at 9 pm. He slept ALL THE WAY HERE, a 4-hour drive. When we arrived around 1 am, he of course woke up when he saw and heard his Aunt and Grampa, so I let him stay up and play for awhile. Hopefully he'll sleep a little longer in the morning for me!

The gastroenterologist came to see my mom this evening, but we don't have any answers yet. Tomorrow, Mom is having a stress test and a bunch of other tests including an endoscopy.

I'll be sticking around the house, holding the fort down here and taking care of some stuff that my parents haven't been able to take care of, like following up with the TV repairman, doing some housework, preparing meals, etc. I'll go to the hospital when I can, but that might be tough with Lance. Not even sure yet if he will be allowed in the cardiac unit; will check on that tomorrow.

And again, thank you for all your prayers. Keep 'em coming.

Update

edited to add:

The cardiologist came, and there is no indication of any heart problems, praise God! They are waiting on results from a thyroid test, and are waiting for the gastroenterologist to come. Whatever happens, she will be in the hospital at least one more night.



Hey guys.

Thank you all for your prayers and kind thoughts as my family goes through this scary time.

Mom was kept in the hospital overnight and is waiting to be seen by a cardiologist and a gastroenterologist. The worst of her pain has subsided, but they still don't know what caused it. They ran tons of tests on her, but everything came back normal. I suppose that's a good thing, it rules out all the "biggies" but doesn't help us to figure out what to do to make her better.

I'll keep you all updated as I get more information.

*Edited to add: As of 10:45pm, my mom is still in the hospital. She is on morphine to relieve the agonizing pain, but all her tests came back normal, so they still don't know what has caused the pain. They are going to keep her overnight for observation. My parents don't have much of a support system, so please keep my dad and sister in your prayers, as well, as I cannot go to be with them and help them through this difficult time.*


I just received a phone call from my dad. My mom is in the ER for severe chest and abdominal pain.

Please pray NOW.

In Which I Reveal How Pitiful I Am

I told you yesterday about my crazy injury when I got involved in a fist fight with a tough latina chick.

This Friday, I am having my wisdom teeth out.

You know it's time to have your wisdom teeth out when chewing a soft chocolate chip cookie causes agony.

And since the wrist is still sore, typing is causing another kind of agony. Going to the doc tomorrow for the wrist.

Crazy week, huh?

In Which I Explain My Injury

I could tell you that Lance hit me with a hammer.

I could tell you that I slipped and fell on a wet pool deck.

I could tell you that I dropped a bowling ball mid swing.

I could tell you that I was performing some complicated gymnastics excercise.

But all of those would be dirty, nasty lies.

I was practicing piano. I was trying to play octaves, and my hand just isn't quite large enough. So I strained my wrist. It's been hurting for a week. Some of you may remember when I tweeted about it last week.

That wrist brace makes lots of things difficult like typing, and even lifting Lance.

So like a fool, I took the brace off so I could write this post.

Already I am regretting that decision.

Bye!

In Which I Contemplate the Imagination of Children

Overheard on the playground:

"If you BOYS want to play with us, you have to be my minions 'cuz I'm Evil Girl."

"Last one there is a rotten picklehead!"

"What's a rotten picklehead??!!"

"He's gonna DIE!"


Playground antics sure have changed since I was a kid.

Or HAVE they?

Fun With Language Acquisition

Lance is 19 months old. Every day, he learns or attempts to learn new words. Lately, he has been fascinated with the magnetic letters we have on the fridge for him. His favorite letter is "E." He calls all of them "E."

While I am lying on the couch watching TV, I can hear the sounds of the magnetic letters clicking agianst the side of the refrigerator. Then the sound changes to the padding of his bare feet across the tile floor, through the kitchen, to me in the living room.

He looks at me with a very serious face.

"Eee..babble babble...Mama...babble babble...Eee....elp...oom...mama...babble..Eeee!"

He looked so concerned, and he was plainly trying to tell me something which needed my immediate attention.

"Show me, sweetheart!"

He took my hand, and led me to my bedroom, where the letter "E" was hidden in the darkness. He was trying to tell me that the letter E was in Mama's room, and he needed help getting it because it was dark.

How about that!

In Which I Expand My Blogging Universe

Hi everyone!

I have begun blogging over at MomsMiami.com. (Oh, and I don't attempt to hide my true identity. My user name over there is "JenKSwan" if you want to find me!) It's a great new site for moms in the south Florida area to connect with each other. There are blogs, forums, galleries, and local resource information galore. If you're a south Florida mom, please come join us! Blogger Holly of Tropic of Mom also blogs over there, and last night she and I had the pleasure of attending a meet-up of some of the MomsMiami bloggers.

We met up at the Mr. Foods No-Fuss Meals. It was a TON of fun! If you're not familiar with it, it is a place where you go and assemble meals which you then bring home to cook the next day, or freeze and keep it for later. I had been wondering what all the fuss was with Mr. Food. I thought, surely it couldn't be much different from just going to the grocery store and making your stuff at home! Boy, was I wrong!!



Here I am with my completed Brocolli Ham and Cheese Quiche while I will be cooking tonight. My dear friend snapped this photo, and in her caption, she called me a "Rachael Ray Wanna Be." LOL! I just need some EVOO and to throw some salt over my shoulder!

You could select from an entire menu of what meal(s) you'd like to prepare. For this event, we were all allowed to make one meal for free, other bloggers chose to spend a little more money and do more. The ingredients are all laid out for you, and instructions are posted. I chose to make the "crustless brocolli ham and cheese quiche." It couldn't have been simpler! The instructions went something like this:

1. Put gallon-size ziploc bag inside tub
2. Add 1 level scoop of cheddar cheese
3. Add 1 level scoop of swiss cheese
4. Add 1 cup of pre-beaten eggs (which were stored in something like a salad dressing bottle, I simply poured into the measuring cup provided!)
5. Add 1 tsp onion powder (the onion powder already had the measuring spoon inside it)

and so on and so forth.

Once I assembled all my ingredients, I placed my sealed ziploc bag with my quiche innards into a refrigerator, and then I got to enjoy free wine and snacks.


Here I am with blogger Sherry North, who is the author of Because You Are My Baby.

I would highly recommend Mr. Food's No-Fuss Meals for people who like to cook but don't enjoy the planning and preparation. For me, the hardest part of preparing dinners for my family is NOT the actual cooking part, but trying to decide what meals to cook, and on which days to cook them so I don't waste ingredients. For example, there is a chicken dish I like to prepare that calls for chopped green onion. If I'm going to prepare that meal, I need to make sure that a couple other meals during the week also called for chopped green onion, because at my grocery store I can't buy them individually. Only in a large bag full, and most of the time I end up throwing them out because green onions aren't something I use a whole lot.

That problem is eliminated with Mr. Food.

It's also a fun thing for a girl's night out, or as an alternative for a baby shower. A couple weeks to a month before a woman's due date, get all her friends to chip in for a few week's worth of meals. All of you head on down to Mr. Food, enjoy each other's company while you prepare meals for the mom-to-be to take home and freeze. Then she'll have plenty of food available to her.

Anyhoo. It was a lot of fun, and I'm sure I'll be going back!

I'm Teething! And, Friendship is Awesome! And, Blogger Meetup Tonight!

Hello, Blogfriends! What a nutty week it's been. I trust things have been going well with all of you?

I'M TEETHING!!!

A week from Friday, I am having my wisdom teeth taken out. And none too soon, either! For the past twenty-something years, these teeth have just been hanging out inside my gums, minding their own business, not bothering anyone. Every dental check-up, the doc would take a look and would say, "It's not time yet! Let's just leave them alone and see what happens." Well, at my most recent visit, he said, "It's time. You better get this taken care of as soon as possible."

Boy, he wasn't kidding. My wisdom teeth are starting to poke through, and golly gee whiz does it hurt!! All four are coming in simultaneously. My jaws will just throb in a pain and pressure which radiates through my entire head, behind my eyes, down my neck and into my spine, leaving my whole body feeling like there's someone scratching a chalkboard all day long. Know what I mean?

Our poor kiddos, they go through this for the greater part of their first few years of existence. What a rotten welcome to the world.

FRIENDSHIP IS AWESOME!!

Last night we had some friends over to spend the evening with us. Two of the four friends moved away about two months ago, but came into town because Mr. Friend had a business trip in the area, so he brought Mrs. Friend along with him. The six of us Friends used to hang out together a lot, and we were beginning to miss it! So although it's only been 6 weeks or so since we all hung out last (we all went out for a good-bye dinner when Friends #5 and 6 moved,) it felt like we had been reunited after years and years of separation. What's funny though, is that we Mrs. Friends might often go a couple months without all getting together because we were all so busy. One of the Mrs. Friends said that it took one of us moving away in order for all three of us to drop everything to spend some time together! To my surprise, it was true! So we enjoyed each other's company and had a great time. The three of us Mrs. Friends had also gotten together a couple days before to have lunch at the other Mrs. Friend's house, which was also a very sweet time for us to celebrate our friendship.

BLOGGER MEETUP TONIGHT!!

I am very excited to be attending a blogger meetup this evening. Our local newspaper is sponsoring an event for mommy bloggers in our area, and I have been invited by another blogger to attend! We will be meeting up at Mr. Food's No-Fuss Meals. There will be free wine and snacks, plus we get to put together a meal for our family at no cost. It's gonna be fun!! I'll let you guys know how it goes.

What a Day!

We're back from our trip to grandma's! We had a very nice time, we did a lot of fun things, but I have to say it's nice to be home again, too.

At least, it was. Until this morning, when I tried to leave the house to go to the home of my tutoring students. My car didn't want to start. After a few tries, it started up just fine. Then I started driving and realized that my brakes are in pretty bad condition. I hadn't realized it before, but after a week of driving around a rental car, a 2009 Hyundai Sonata, I can now tell that my brakes are pretty much non-responsive. Not wanting to drive across town in a car that might not start up again and in which the brakes might decide to fail, I called the mother of the child I tutor.

"Can you bring your kids over here today for their tutoring session?"

"OK, but I can't do it now. I'll call you later. Will you be free this afternoon?"

"Sure."

"Great. I'll call you when I get back from my errands and we'll schedule a time."

Shortly after this conversation, Lance decides to go down for a nap. I decide to take a snooze, too, since I'm exhausted after all the travel. My phone rings while I'm sleeping. I don't answer it because I know Lance won't sleep very much longer and I will call the person back then. I close my eyes and drift back to sleep.

15 minutes later, a knock at my door. Bleary-eyed and fuzzy-tongued, I answer the door. It's my students and their mother.

"I called you and left you a message to tell you we were coming!"

"I was sleeping. I haven't checked my messages yet."

"I'm so sorry! Should we skip it?"

"No, come on in."


Her 4-year old bounds into the house screaming and yelling, and wakes up Lance. Grr.

While I am busy with her 8-year old, I have Lance eating his lunch in his high chair. Because he's all confused and doesn't know what's going on and I am in the other room, he starts fussing and squirming in his seat. The mother of my students thinks he must not be hungry, so she takes Lance out of his high chair, and...

She lets her 4-year old eat Lance's lunch!!!!!!

Can you believe it?

She could have asked me if her son could have a snack; after all, she saw me get out the huge container of goldfish crackers. We would have been happy to share. But no, she just gives her child Lance's lunch. Additionally, when we go to their house for the tutoring session, she doesn't so much as offer me or Lance a drink of water, so why should it be acceptable for her child to eat my son's lunch when she's at my house??!!

I managed to get through the tutoring session without anyone getting hurt. The 8-year old wouldn't keep her focus and only got through two worksheets when I had planned for her to do 3 math pages and 2 handwriting pages, in addition to going through her multiplication tables, which we are usually able to do in our hour-long session. So she got homework. Chuckle Chuckle Snicker.

Lance is sleeping again. I still have to unpack, make a grocery shopping list for this evening, make arrangements to get my car fixed, apply for a student loan for next semester, and find an oral surgeon to remove my wisdom teeth.

That's a lot to do in a short naptime.

Have a great day!

Hey everyone.

Those of you who are of the praying sort- please send up a prayer for me! The last couple days I have been suffering from heat exhaustion, which is very unusual for me. It happened yesterday when my mom and I took Lance to see the aquarium and he was running around in the outdoor water playground. I became very faint and weak and we had to leave early. It happened again today when my sister and I were in the pool with Lance. Fortunately I recognized the symptoms, so I got myself inside into the air conditioning and drank some water immediately.

This is weird. No, I'm not pregnant-- just finished my cycle yesterday. Will schedule a checkup with my doctor when I get back home. In the meantime, I'm going to drink lots of water and try to stay out of the sun for prolonged periods.

Thanks!

When Hubby's Away, the Wife Will Play

Hubby has gone off with my dad and a bunch of other friends to the 145th anniversary of the Battle at Gettysburg. We're civil war reenactors, you see. I would have gone along, but it's a long trip for Lance, and Gettysburg is *such* a big event. 40,000 reenactors plus their families, in many cases, all in identical white canvas tents. If Lance were to get lost out there, we wouldn't find him for days.

So I elected to come spend the week with my mom and my sister. So far, we have:

1. Made homemade play-dough and spent hours squishing it and rolling it into balls and snakes
2. Played with bubbles
3. Ran through the sprinkler in the front yard
4. Visited the swans and geese at the lake in the center of town
5. Had a "Sister's Night Out" in which grandma stayed here and put Lance to bed for me

Later this afternoon, Lance and I will accompany my sister to a 4th of July party held at the home of the pastor of her church. This particular gathering is the "young adult" group, so there will be people of my age there and a few who have children of their own. There will be pool volleyball, possibly jet skiing, and fireworks!

To come later in the week- a trip to the box office of our performing arts center to buy tickets for Craig Ferguson and Pink Floyd, a shopping excursion to the Downtown Disney Marketplace, and hopefully a visit with an old friend I haven't seen for nearly a year.

Oh and of course, lots of trips to Starbucks. Normally, Starbucks is a once-in-awhile treat. I figure, though, if Hubby can spend hundreds of dollars on train tickets to go do something fun without me, I can blow some cash on expensive coffee every day for a week.

So there.

Visiting my parents for the week while Hubby goes to shoot Yankees.

Not the baseball players.

He's a civil war reenactor and it is the 145th anniversary of the battle at Gettysburg.

Lance and I are staying with my mom and sister, and we have big plans.

Aquarium, museum, parks, old friends...

It's going to be fun.

I may be absent from Blogland for awhile. Then again, maybe I won't.

See ya!