Things That Make You Go...Ick!

Nasty, huh?
A spider uncovered while hauling out firewood while we were at camp. Yes, I enlarged him, but he was still pretty big. Big enough that I felt compelled to take his picture.
No, we didn't kill him. After all, he has a job to do and just because he grosses most people out, doesn't mean he deserves to die.
I was going to post a picture of the emerald green flying ant we found in the camper, but it's too fuzzy. He didn't appear interested in harming us, so we gently urged him out the door and hoped he wouldn't come back.
Speaking of gross bugs...it took me a while to figure this one out and I'm still pretty disturbed. Every year at this time, these little fuzzy, creepy looking worm-like (larvae) critters fall out of our tree onto us while we're trying to relax on the patio. They bite. Hard. Usually a big old welt is involved. I recently found out that they're lady bug larva. How rude is that? Lady bugs don't bite, so why do their babies? (If I can manage, I'll post a picture.)
Hey, what do you want? It's Tuesday and I really have nothing logical to say right now.
2 1/2 days...
Behave!

Birthday Shindigs and Other Stuff...

K1's birthday party turned out very well. If you would have asked for my prediction a half hour before the party started, I probably would have broken down in tears, or cuss words.

Let's put it this way: Thanks to an incredibly full schedule, lots of obligations, taxi driving and 4 different schedules...running late doesn't even begin to describe the day.

At 4pm on Saturday, two hours before party start time, I was still at the store buying supplies and gifts. An hour before the party, I was running around here like a mad woman, trying to sweep the half-ton of stone dust off the floors from B running the tamper-thingy on the stone layer under the bricks. I had no food prepared, grocery bags covered the kitchen, the yard was still a mess (Thanks to the patio/sidewalk repair issues, B didn't get to mow the grass until a half hour before guests were due to arrive). It was crazy!

But, thanks to friends, K1's and ours, we somehow managed to get everything done, cleaned up and situated before the guests arrived.

The party went well. Lots of food, music and laughing. In the picture, K1 is holding one of his gifts - a cookbook. That was a very funny thing. He's having a blast being an "adult".

I'm the one with the pangs of nostalgia and sadness. Where is the little boy who used to grab my face with his chubby hands and give me sloppy, sticky kisses? What happened to hot wheel races through the dining room? Where is the boy who had that same cookbook when he was little? When did my baby turn into a man? How did that happen? Our family is changing, but that's not a bad thing. We'll adjust and adapt and look at the future as an adventure, just like we always have.

3 1/2 days of school left.

The past two weekends have given me hope that's this is going to be a great summer!

Behave!

Friday Ramblings...

What a week!
Despite Monday's holiday, this week has been a long one. Too much going on and not enough time. Anyone figure out how to get a few extra hours in the day? I guess if I gave up sleeping...Ha!
My first baby turned 18 yesterday. That's kind of weird. I don't feel any older than when I gave birth to him, so how did he get so old? Big birthday bash this weekend, I'm expecting nearly 50 people here. We're rushing to finish fixing the sidewalk and patio and I've done nothing except that to get ready. Ack! I won't even give you my to do list - it's not pretty.
Misty's book came out yesterday "Something Old, Something Dead". It's the third in the Ivy Morris mysteries, but you don't need to read the first two to understand what's going on . It's a riot. Go. Buy it. It'll crack your stuff up.
After today, the kids will have 4 1/2 days of school left. I'm not ready. Summer snuck in here while I wasn't looking. It's going to be a busy one, but I hope a great one.
Behave!

Now That's a Fish!

Approximate length: 32-34"

I have no idea on the weight, I didn't ask.

This Carp was caught in the creek that runs in front of where we camp. (and yes, much swimming is done in that creek) Sunday night, my brother-in-law managed to hook the whopper. Getting it to the bank was a chore. Not to mention he had a huge audience. This isn't the first fish of this size to be caught there, but it'd been a while. (Last time we had this much excitement he caught a huge snapping turtle in the same creek.)

We had a great weekend. Very busy, but the perfect kick off to the camping season. I would have loved one more day, but we're back to the grind already. Getting everyone up for school was difficult and I can't say I blame them. I hit the snooze button until the last possible minute.

Eight more days of school. Which means I have ten days to finish my book. We'll see. I do have a slightly higher word count now, but I'm hoping by tomorrow there's a significant change in that word meter.

Summer's coming.

Are you ready?

Pirates!

Okay, so you got lucky!
I am completely fried this morning - grumpy with a capital G - but the movie was totally worth it!

Warning: Possible spoilers ahead.
I've seen the first and second movies repeatedly. I won't go into the first movie because, let's face it, everything about it was fantastic. The second movie, however, gave me a different opinion every time I saw it. I loved it, then hated it, then just hated Elizabeth, then Jack. (yes, I know - wash my mouth out with soap.) I hoped this movie would bring the series back around and make me love everyone again.
It did.
Keith Richards was perfect as Jack's father. Once again, Bill Nighy knocked my socks off as Davy Jones. Love the accent and his tortured soul. The characters we already know were fantastic. The new ones equally as great. Plot twists, unexpected developments and lots of very funny moments. And...Holy. Cow. Will Turner. Holy. Cow. (My actual reactions are a little more extensive than this, but this blog has a PG rating) Still love Jack, but Will definitely had it all going on.
If you go, stay until after the credits. There's an extra scene there that'll make you glad you did. (In other words, watch your liquid consumption - you'd hate to have to run out of the theater to empty your bladder and miss it.)
Yes, the movie was long. (not quite as long as I previously stated though) There wasn't a single time I checked my watch, nodded off, or took my eyes from the screen. I didn't want it to be over! There will definitely be another theater viewing before the DVD arrives.
In the meantime...

I need more sleep!
Behave!

Thursday Ramblings

Happy Thursday!
A new cliche will arrive soon. Once Misty and I agree on one. I just know you're missing that terribly.

So, I went down to switch laundry and found the dryer door open. Since our cat disaster, I don't leave the dryer door open. Someone did. I leaned in to pull the clean laundry out, and guess who was taking a nap inside? Yes. Our male cat, Kramer. Total heart attack/bad memory for me. He had the nerve to give me one of those indignant looks - like I'd just taken his food away or something. If you know my cat story, you'll appreciate my total terror.

I ought to be in premium shape tomorrow. Late night last night, a very long day and evening today, and then I'm meeting a bunch of friends to catch the 11:30 viewing of Pirates. 186 minutes - which means I'm not getting home until around 3am - if I'm lucky and depending on how much post movie chatting there is. Tomorrow is another really busy day, and at this point, it doesn't look like decent sleep is on my horizon until tomorrow night. There's no way I won't go though! I'm so excited! If you're lucky, I'll give you my opinions tomorrow.

If you're not lucky, it'll be Monday.
Enjoy the holiday weekend! Do lots of chores, but make sure to relax!
And most of all...
Behave!

The Bird

Well, there he is.

You don't get a good idea of his size, but look at that beak! (No wonder I got a boo-boo!)

I'm searching for a full-sized pic of him and will post one when I find it. He's really beautiful and full of personality. And loud. Very loud. Did I mention loud? Ear-splitting shrieks and cries that happen as soon as he believes you're no longer enamoured of him.

He talks too. His vocabulary is constantly growing. My sister has to watch that he doesn't pick up certain words and has cautioned everyone to watch their mouths. Usually he has to hear a word repeatedly to mimic, but sometimes not. We've been trying to teach him how to say "precious" for ages. No dice. He's kind of like a 2 year old though, and will repeat the most inappropriate things.

K1 cannot stand Captain. Captain cannot stand K1. It's a vicious cycle. K1 walks in the room and the bird goes into some kind of freakish attack mode where he bobs his head and snaps his beak threateningly. That didn't make for a very pleasant weekend when I bird-sat last summer.

So there you have it. And you all thought I was making him up!

That's all for now.

Tuesday...

Today is one of those days where a cloning machine would come in handy.
But that has nothing to do with anything.

My uncle got on his plane very early this morning. We gathered at Mom and Dad's last night for a farewell dinner of Super Secret Family Recipe Spaghetti. (Well, the sauce is super secret, the noodles aren't. But you get the picture.) Everyone was there except for my brother-in-law, who had to work and couldn't leave. We talked, laughed, took pictures and tried not to think about the fact that this was our last night with him here. His visit was wonderful and he will be sorely missed.

Hopefully tomorrow, I'll post a picture of my sister's macaw - the one that bit me on Mother's Day. Guess who forgot to grab the camera last night?

Behave!

Retreat!!

I could put a whole page of exclamation points - that's how great the retreat was. See the slippers? Not mine, but that should give you a general idea how relaxed the atmosphere was.
Day One:
I arrived a little before 10am, after getting the kids off to school and stopping by my mom's for a quick visit and birthday wishes. I spent a few minutes getting settled in my room and saying howdy to the rest of the group, then I was off and running on my new story "Deadwood". Spent the day writing, with breaks for meals, chatting and much laughter. Then a much longer break while we waited for Natalie's exciting news, dinner, Supernatural watching and a trip into town for celebratory drinks and embarrassing tales. We were back at the retreat center by 11 and by midnight, I had 35 brand new pages. I'd just finished a spooky scene when I decided to call it a night and ended up totally freaking myself out.
Day two: Lots more writing. A walk to the nearby cemetery where Natalie conjured up a strong wind by saying "Bloody Mary" and standing in a dead circle of grass. Lots of talking and then back to the pages. We broke for our annual game - a riot and fantastic break after so much mental work. More Supernatural watching and then back to work. By this time, it was around midnight and I'd just polished off a large energy drink. Which meant I didn't go to bed until 2:30 am. But also gave me one of my highest page count days, if not the highest count ever, of 50 pages.
Day three:
Needless to say, getting up in time for breakfast was difficult. I'd just gotten out of the shower when Vicky B. knocked on my door. (The acoustics are kind of strange there and my reply of "I'm naked" was heard throughout the entire 2nd floor.) Breakfast, and then the prize drawings - which were awesomely cool. We didn't have to check out until 11am, but since my brain had started misfiring I packed up and headed home.
I can't wait until next year. Somehow, I am now the retreat chairperson for 2008. I'm excited and a little nervous. But the retreat runs itself, so my job will most likely be an easy one.
That's all for now...

Clean Dishes?

My sisters dishwashers.

Nezzie and Bella.

Okay, so the picture's a joke. (It took a few tries and a lot of spaghetti to get the photo and still this is the best one.)

Anyway.

Tomorrow morning I'll be on my way to the retreat! I'm so excited! Since this will likely be my last post until Monday, I need to take care of sending a birthday shoutout to my most awesome and fantastic mom.

Happy Birthday, Mom.

Words cannot describe how much you mean to me.

Your support and friendship always lift me up.

Thank you for everything. You're the bestest.

Behave!

Oh My Achin'...

1. Foot - from the huge splinter I got on my brother's deck. B only managed to dig half of it out so far.
2. Pointer finger - my sister's macaw, Captain, decided our former friendship was over and totally nailed me with his huge, sharp black beak. Twice. I don't know how I offended him, but obviously I did. So not only does my finger hurt, but my feelings do too.
3. Thumb - don't know what I did, but it's been a constant source of ache lately.
4. Jaw - popped it out of the socket eating shrimp on Sunday and while it's back in place, the muscles are tender and it's still making my head hurt. This is common for me. And no, I don't want to talk about my options in getting it fixed.

No pictures today.
Chalk that up to me constantly forgetting my camera this weekend. And I haven't had time to download anyone elses pictures.

That's all...
Behave!

A Very Good Surprise

First off, Happy Mother's Day to all you Moms!
Now I can finally tell you what's been going on around here. For weeks, my siblings and I have been keeping a really great secret from our parents. Our uncle, our Mom's baby brother, came to visit. We wanted to surprise her and I'm happy to say that somehow we managed it. Somehow - with pretty much everyone else knowing what was going on, including the kids - she had no idea. Saturday night we picked him up at the airport and arrived back at my sisters. It was a great scene. Perfect.
And we're having a great time getting to know him again. We haven't seen him in nearly 14 years. Mom's seen him somewhere in between those years a few times, but it had been quite a while. Yesterday we hung out at my brother's, eating great food and talking up a storm. It's really fun to hear their stories and learn more about our grandparents. All I can say is, it's very clear where all of us kids get the obnoxious sense of humor. Our mom has always blamed my dad's side of the family. Well, after hearing some of the stuff they did, there's no doubt in my mind.
Posts may be a little sporadic this week. There's a lot of socializing to do before I leave for the retreat, but I'll try to get some pictures up before then.
Behave!

Where did the day go?

Been running around like a chicken with my head cut off today. I'm dreadfully tired, but have to wait until K1 gets in. Soon, I hope.
If you check out Misty's blog, you'll see I got myself in a little hot water for saying she grunted. I guess all I can really say is that she wasn't singing. (She'll get me for that one too.)
One week until my writing retreat. I am so excited. I do feel bad for those that are going Thursday. They'll miss the season finale of Supernatural. I'm sure I'll be on the phone - reassuring that Sam did not die.
What an episode. I'm not commenting since I haven't had time to process everything. But what's sticking out in my head the most, besides how Eva turned out and that creepy as heck girl demon, is how did Sam's mom know the yellow-eyed demon? Hmm...
K2 had auditions for "Rag Time" tonight. She'll definitely be in the production, but we won't know if she's a principle or not until call backs - sometime this weekend. Looks like we're in for another crazy summer around here.
Well, that's all I have for now - disjointed and confusing as it may be.
Behave!

Finished Product...

Sweet, huh?

Misty's Tattoo Day

<--- Pre-Tattoo...Does she look a little nervous?
<--Finding the right spot

(transfer)

Let the needles begin


<--Work in progress.






As you can see, it's been an exciting day. Misty got her tattoo. The cover from her next release featuring Ivy, "Something Old, Something Dead". (I don't know exactly when it comes out. Check Misty's blog for that info.) I was lucky and got to go along. Well, for at least part of it. I had to leave to pick up her daughter and my kiddos, so I haven't seen the finished product yet. When I left, the black was nearly done and the whole thing was coming along nicely. I'm not sure what Misty's frame of mind was, except that when I told her the shading part looked painful, she only grunted. (Yes. I k now she'll pay me back for that one.) I can't wait to see the finished product. And yes, I will post a picture of it - hopefully tonight.
I'm next. If I can just figure out what I want.
The guys at "Visual Addictions" are awesome! Misty was referred there by my brother-in-law and I'll be returning for mine (if/when I ever figure out what I want).
Behave!

Useless as...

Yep, it's another cliche day.

Today's started with:
Useless as a screen door on a submarine.
Which totally cracks me up.
But we also have:
Useless as a pay toilet in a diarrhea ward
Useless as wet toilet paper
Useless as a pocket in a pair of underpants (it's the underpants that makes me giggle)
Useless as a piss hole in the snow - (totally makes me wonder. Why would anyone even come up with this? It really doesn't make any sense, where the others mostly do.)

I love the 'useless as a screen door on a submarine' one. To me, it's like a bad comedy, where the actors are all stereotypes and the plot is as cliche as the saying. They prepare to submerge and fill with water, because the stupid guy only shut the screen door. Of course, everything comes out ridiculously okay in the end. Still...the phrase makes me giggle.

Don't forget to head over and check out Misty's take on the cliche!

That's all for Monday.
Behave!

Tagged...

Natalie tagged me.
So here goes...

Here are the rules:
1. Each player starts with eight random facts/habits about themselves.
2. People who are tagged need to write their own blog about their eight things and post these rules.
3. At the end of your blog, you need to choose eight people to get tagged and list their names.
4. Don't forget to leave them a comment telling them they're tagged, and to read your blog.

8 random facts/habits about me ...

1. I love diet soda and will never drink regular soda.

2. I cannot sleep in socks, or with my feet covered.

3. I hate to wear shoes.

4. I will not use a bath towel more than once. (Yes, I know this creates extra laundry, but too bad. If I had my own bathroom and could be guaranteed no one else used it, I might feel differently. But...ick!)

5. When I was pregnant, all four times, the sight, thought and smell of eggs made me very, very sick.

6. If I forget to hang shirts up from the dryer, I will rewash them so I don't have to iron.

7. I am really a very shy person.

8. I have never flown. Well, besides once when I was 9 months old. And I was in an UltraLight not too long ago, but I've never been in a "big" airplane that I can remember.

I'm supposed to tag 8 people. But the 8 people I know have already been tagged.

Enjoy the weekend!

Next...

See that?
That's the next project around here. I think I mentioned it before. Bricks will be there. Soon. I hope. B started digging this hole late last summer and through the glory of Murphy's Law, it's still just a hole. With some sticks, balls and now a few volunteer Maple trees.
The plan is to work on it this weekend, in preparation for the stone and sand that has to go down before the bricks. It extends farther to the lower right, making a path beside the back porch and all of that needs dug out.
As long as I can find the batteries for the camera (I just bought some and they're gone), I'll try to post photographic updates. I'm excited to finish this because then I can work on my gnome garden. (And for the obvious reasons - no more dirt hole) My parents gave me lots of cute little gnomes for my birthday and right now they're in a box in my dining room. And flowers. Red flowers in pots around the perimeter of the patio (out of the way of the basketball hoop).
Maybe only exciting to me, but since this is my blog I can be that way. :)
Behave!

Finished! and Random Thoughts

I finished the *shiny* new book without a title last night. It's shorter than I expected, and needs mucho editing, but it's finally done. I say finally like it took me months to write this when in truth, it took me 33 days. Out of that 33 days, there were 18 days I didn't write at all. Since 8 would have been my normal "days off", that means I wrote the book (technically) in 23 days. Which means nothing to anyone but me. It'll probably take the same amount of time to edit it, but that's on my summer list.
What's next?
Well, the next two weeks are packed with outside obligations and I have a ton of critique work to catch up on. And a stack of books to read. My writing retreat is looming (15 days) and I want to plot something new to begin on that weekend. So while I won't be adding up page counts, I will be insanely busy.
The book I start on the retreat will be finished by the time school is out. Then, the summer will be spent taxi'ing kids to various activities, editing and trying to have at least some semblance of a summer vacation. If this summer is anything like last year, that'll be a miracle.
That's all for now...

And so it begins...

Since arriving unscathed from blogging the alphabet, Misty and I decided blogging cliches might be a fun thing.
So here goes. It'll be a weekly thing. (I think.)

Today's cliche: To Hell in a Handbasket

What does this mean? Okay. Stop. I know what it means. I guess my real question is why would anyone say this to begin with? Who said it first? And was it a joke?
Actually, it kind of reminds me of the wicked witch from the "Wizard of Oz". I don't know why.
And it sounds kind of odd too. "Well, that just went to hell in a handbasket." The imagery makes me shake my head.


Maybe it's me, but I just don't get it. I mean, I do, but...
That's it.

Supernatural Friday

(Warning: Fan girl post)
Oh, Winchester boys.
Isn't it funny how Dean just fits into any situation? i.e. "I heard it in the yard." I loved Tiny and "Donuts aren't love". Why on earth Dean picked the biggest, baddest looking dude to pick a fight with is beyond me, but I loved it - especially when they were in the infirmary. (before the scary ghost came)

I'm still not sure about Hendricks. Not sure exactly what he's up to or what he thinks. I have a theory...Nope. Am saving that one for now.

Their attorney was great. Hendricks kind of sealed her fate in helping Dean when he told her the grown ups were working. I loved that she told him the wrong cemetery. Because, you know, I was worried. I wasn't sure who Deacon was either. When he pulled them in that room, I really thought they were about to get the snot beat out of them.

B kind of scoffed at the Impala being conveniently left outside. My take is that Deacon parked it there for them. But, that's a small thing to worry over when the whole episode was awesome. The show just gets better and better.

Okay. I'm done now.
Hey! The weekend is here!
Fun blog stuff starts Monday.
Behave!

Zee End

Did you know there's actually a place called Zeeland? I didn't, but it's in the Netherlands.

What about a zeitgeber?
It's a biological event, such as light or dark, that keeps biological clocks regulated.
Interesting. And there's no way I could say it without hearing the word spoken.

So...
This brings us to the end of our synchronized alphabetical blogging. Misty and I have something exciting planned next. Wait for it.

New Supernatural tonight.
And I have much to do before it comes on.
Behave...

Yawn!

That's the word of the day.
Yawn!
It describes so much. Don't you think?

Things are busy and I'm tired. Tired of being busy, tired of this week...

That's all...

X?

My X word: xyster

Any ideas?

From Dictionary.com: A surgical instrument for scraping bones.
Eww!
But it was enough to catch my attention.

Busy week around here.
That's all for today.
Behave...

Behind Again

Catching up...
This little dude brought a sense of urgency to my son's weekend. He's a twin, but K1 and his "wife" split them up during the night, except for the first night. He had them both while his "wife" worked, and she had them when he worked.
Let's just say the plastic baby verified his lack of desire to become a parent in the very near future. Especially since we thought the baby died.
For most of Sunday, the child remained silent. Then, it started crying. K1 had already gone to see friends and these newer models cannot be soothed by just anyone. He had an electronic bracelet on that matched the baby and only he, or his "wife", could calm them.
I called him, informed him his baby needed him and waited. When the thing started wailing, I called him again and left a message of the baby's cries on his phone. He showed up within minutes, and had the nerve to laugh at me.
Why?
Because despite already knowing there was nothing I could do to help, I was still holding the baby. When I told him it made me feel better, he actually laughed at me.
That's about it...

Supernatural T Words

The boys are back. And it was darn good to see them.
Last nights episode was Terrific!
I'm not going to go deep because I haven't seen it a second time yet, but Dean really cracked me up with the food, the "PA" stuff and his knowledge of horror movies in general. I did have it figured out way before the end, but that's okay by me.
Previews for next week were awesome.

On a different note...
Remember when K2 brought "the baby" home? The plastic gender confused fake grandchild for the weekend?
Now K1 is doing the project. I think it's for Sociology class. He has a "wife" and they have to "run a household", including caring for their "child" - or in this case, "children". Yep. They're getting twins.
He's bringing them home from school (I'll try to put up pictures later. When I told him I was going to, he just rolled his eyes) and then his "wife" will take them for the night because he has to work early tomorrow. Saturday night, they're all his.
Should be an interesting weekend around here.
That's all...

Catching up...

So, in order for Misty and I to finish on the same day, I'm catching up with her now. 3 words all in one post. Wow.

1. Quiver - New Supernatural on tonight. 'nuff said.

2. Really - How excited I am to see Sam and Dean.

3. Supernatural - Of course. Would you expect anything else?

Yeah, I know I'm being pretty lame about this whole alphabet blogging. I can't seem to help myself. But just wait until you see what Misty and I have planned for our next simultaneous blogging adventure. Ha!

That's all...

Paradise

White shores. Blue water. Umbrella drinks. Warm breezes.
Sound good?
Does to me.
That's all...

Negative Ostriches

Obviously, posting my N word was a negative last night. Not my fault. My Internet went down and didn't come back until this afternoon. Stupid wind.
We're not really going to talk about negative ostriches - that's just my way of getting two letters into one post.
So...here we go...Oh No.
Nasty Oaks never own nasally owls.
Ornery nomads need odorous nuts.
Nonsensical olives nix oily nimrods.
That's enough. Don't you think?

That is all...

Missed

That's what happened yesterday.
I missed posting my M word and the big snow storm missed us. (The wind did not.)
Oh, and it's Monday. Another M word.
M-words from my weekend...
Music: Lots of that.
Maniacs: Quite a few of those.
Mouth: Lots of talking and eating.
Miracle: That the whole thing was totally kept from me.
Mortified: By the sign my friend put on my house that called attention to my new age.
There's probably more, but as I mentioned above it's Monday...
I might catch up and post my N word later, depending.
That is all.

Lugubrious

There you have it. The "L" word.
Gloomy, sad, mournful...excessively mournful - to a ridiculous level.
So, I could feel lugubrious that I've already heard three times today..."So, do you feel old now?"
I could feel lugubrious about the whole birthday age thing altogether, but I refuse. I don't feel any different than when I turned 20.
I am, however, lugubriously thinking about missing vacation.
This is a funny word. It doesn't make me think gloomy. Not necessarily. I picture a bunch of wealthy men, standing in a circle discussing their stock market losses while sipping over-priced scotch. "I would never want Buffy to know the lugubrious hit our portfolio took." "I know, Skip, I swore father to secrecy. If Dee-dee ever found out I had to finance her new car for two weeks, she'd divorce me. Terrible, lugubrious misfortune."
Over-exaggerated? Yep. (and my apologies to any Buffy's, Skip's and Dee-dee's)
That's all for today.
Behave!

K is for...

Kids.
They're everywhere in my house today.
K2 (Yes, all their names start with K) has a dance tonight. So far, two of her friends are here to get ready and I'm not sure how many more are expected. They're all very excited. And the younger K's are doing their best to prank them. There's a lot of noise in my house right now. And, I have to drive them to the dance once they're done primping.

Today has been a very weird day. Made even weirder by the forecasted snow. Anyone else in my area notice they're not really putting accumulation amounts in the equation? They say it has the potential to be a big one, but a slight shift east or west could significantly change the amounts. (I seriously heard 2-3 FEET, depending on how the storm tracks. I still want to believe the weather guy read his prompter wrong because it just doesn't make sense!) It's freaking mid-April, Mother Nature. Why couldn't we have this snow when I wanted it?

That's all for now.
Behave!

Always a Joke

Was having trouble with my J word this morning - couldn't come up with one I liked...until I heard this from the living room..."I was only joking."
That's like some kind of theme for this house. Someone is always joking. Always. Practical jokes are normal. Whoopie cushions, rubber snakes, spiders and critters and common, and not just for the kids.
It's not just the practical jokes though. Basically, not one person in this house knows how to be serious. Even big things...big scary things...are dealt with through humor. That's our coping mechanism and one we've obviously passed down to our children.
That's it. Excuse me while I try to figure out how to boobie trap the refrigerator door...

Irritated

Irritated - annoyed, impatient.

So what's irritating me?
The letter from the police department about the unpaid parking ticket K1 got last week. (Remember the car is in my name) He has no memory of this event. I called, got the scoop and now have even more questions. Yes. Irritated.

The fact that K1 was supposed to see the doc Monday to check his knees and we both totally forgot.

How tired I am. Yes. I am irritated by this. I feel like a slug.

The constant stream of telemarketers that have been calling lately. All for someone who doesn't even live here. Wrong number telemarketers? Very irritating. And we're getting a lot of simple wrong numbers as well.

That's pretty much it.
Behave.

Next Letter...H

Just making it in under the wire today.

The word of the day is: Happy.
And here's why:
I'm happy that I actually have made some decent progress on my new book.
I'm happy that K4 is back to her old self.
I'm happy that our schedule is back, but equally happy that school will be out shortly. (Yes. It's weird. I know.)
I'm happy that the flood the washing machine created in my basement the other day was due to something that was easily fixed and not another appliance malfunction.
And there's more, but this has probably been enough to bore you to tears.
That's all for now.
Behave!

Goofy...

Goofy is a good word.

I don't know. It makes me smile - even without another word to go along with it. The word goofy makes me think of things that make me smile.

Lots of things, but stuff that you either had to be there to think is funny or things that don't mean anything to anyone else. So I won't even try to explain...

That's my word for today.
And that's all I have.

F-Words

(Come on, you didn't expect any less from me, did you?)

And the words are: Fun, Family, Friends and Food.

Which is what's in store for today. Same bunch of people from New Year's Eve (and we haven't seen everyone since then) at the same place. It'll be a fun day and great to just hang out, relax and catch up with each other.

And complain that it's so freaking cold here. (See that? Another f-word) Oh. Wait. And another. The weather is downright...frigid. There will be no outdoor Easter egg hunt for the kids this year.

Enjoy the day, even if you have to put longjohns on.
Behave!

E is for...

End.

(Bet you thought I was going to say Easter or Egg.)

There's nothing like reaching the End of a project. Writing "The End" is a special thrill, an achievement like no other. It means you've accomplished something and it doesn't matter if it's your first book or your fiftieth - reaching the end is still a special thrill.

Short and sweet today.
Enjoy the weekend!
Behave!

The D Words

Notice I said "words". There's two again. Mainly because I don't want to get busted like Misty did.

D-word number one: Dean. As in Dean Winchester.
We miss you Dean. Waiting another 2 weeks for a new Supernatural episode is making us all a little crazy. The episode last night was another re-run, and even though I watched with rapt attention...I miss the boys.

D-word number two: Decaffeinate.
As in taking the caffeine out of something.
All I can say to that as I drink my second cup of coffee is...How Rude! Sure, I understand caffeine creates issues for some people and that their doctors have requested they cut back or avoid the stuff completely. I know one day I'll probably be one of those people, but for now, drinking something with the caffeine removed is like having mashed potatoes without gravy...What's the point?

I'm going to try to post over the weekend so Misty doesn't get too far ahead of me, but that might not happen.
So, just in case...
Have a great weekend!
Behave!

Two Word Thursday

I have two words today. They both fit around here and since I couldn't decide between them...

Word 1: Cacophony - a loud, jarring, unpleasant noise.
This is the sound of K4's hacking cough. Or what my house sounds like when the gang can't seem to get along. Or the obnoxious noises that are funny at first, but slowly work under your skin when repeated constantly. There's a lot of the latter around here. A lot.

Word 2: Cachinate - to laugh loudly & convulsively. (the spell check on blogger is not recognizing this as word. Isn't that interesting?)
I'm happy to say that more of this happens in this house. It's a fun thing and something I'd never change even though it often turns into word 1.

*K4 was on the mend, but her fever is back. She's home again and miserable. The high school kids are home too, which left K3 the only one going to school. Our day, and evening, is packed full and I can only hope I keep my sanity.

*Word meter is down. Last night's progress put me at 22500 words out of 100000, or 22.5% completed.

Behave!

Word of the Day: Balance

So maybe I'm not doing this exactly the way I'm supposed to. My actual dictionary is upstairs in the horrid stanky mess where my boys sleep. I'm not going after it - I'm skeered. I'm using the dictionary look up feature on my word program, and scanning the entries instead of flipping the book open and dropping my finger.
As I scanned by "balance", I knew that was my word of the day.
We all know what balance is. We also all know that it shifts constantly - like a foundation build on sand. What keeps us in check one day, throws us over a cliff the next. Balance is tenuous and most of the time we're not really sure we have it. We only know we did when we don't. At least this is true for me.
Simple things tip the balance.
For example: K4 is home with me today. Her fever is gone, but a rough night combined with many trips to the bathroom has left her (and me) very tired. It's one extra person, a very small one at that, sharing my normally quiet and productive time. While her being here doesn't change everything, it still shifts my focus from writing to her needs. She comes first today and what keeps me feeling as if I'm achieving comes second. That's okay because my most important job is being a mom.
And I think that might be at least my key. To have good balance you also have to be flexible - able to adapt to your environment and the changing needs of life around you.
Hmmm...maybe I should have stuck with my original choice. "Babble" Which would properly sum up this post.
That's all for now.
Behave.

Time Flies...

I should have never complained about last week being long! The weekend was just insane - beyond insane, which is why it's taken me until Tuesday to put up a new post.

I'm borrowing this from Misty, who suggested I follow along with the blogging of each letter of the alphabet. The deal is, I open the dictionary and pick a random word for each letter.

Today's letter is A.

Word for the day: Alabaster

When I saw this word, it made me think of how, in romance novels of yesteryear, they described the heroine's skin.
After reading the definition - several definitions. I think if someone ever used this to describe my complexion, I'd have to do some serious butt kicking.

Translucent white? Very light white?

So she looks very sick? Or like a ghost? You can see through her skin? ewwww...

And then there's: pale yellow/pink or yellow/gray.

Can you say liver failure? Liver failure with a sunburn? Dead from liver failure? Not very attractive if you ask me.

Yeah, I know alabaster is smooth and white and that's what the description is supposed to mean. I do understand it was an attractive feature way back when. Women weren't supposed to be out in the sun. I still get a picture of someone who's ill, and never leaves the confines of her "chamber".

There you have it.
Behave.

Finally Friday

And can I just say this was one long, long week?
Too bad. I'm saying it anyway!

Thank goodness the week is over. Of course, the weekend looks just as long, and busy, and chaotic, with no hopes of sleeping in or relaxing. That bites.

I find I really have nothing interesting to say today. I am making progress on the *shiny new*, but it's been kind of slow. I'm still sticking to my goal though. We'll see how stressed out I am at the end of the month.

That's all I have!
Behave!

Ahead of Schedule

Well, there it is. All bright and shiny and new.
I didn't expect to start actual writing until tonight, so I'm already 15 pages ahead of the game.
Which is good, because according to the way the calendar is filling up, I'm going to need all the extra time I can get.
So far so good.

It's Wednesday. One of our only evenings without some sort of commitment or obligation. A writing evening for me.

That's all I have!
Behave!

Thoughts for Tuesday

So what I'm thinking about:
1. K1 lost his wallet.
I helped him look for a little while, including in his car. Can you say absolute pig sty? (Same as the bedroom - no wonder he's missing stuff) Oy! Anyway, to make a boring story short. He left for work. About an hour later, I get a text from him. Asking if I'd found his wallet, or his IPod, or his jump drive yet? Ummm....HELLO? Not my job buddy. Your stuff, your responsibility.

2. Gnomes.
I've decided this year I'm actually going to do some flowers, ect. on our patio. I kind of dropped the ball last year and never got around to putting any in. Of course, our patio was under construction (still is), so there didn't seem to be any point. But that job is first on the list now, so hopefully within a few weeks it's finished. Anyway. I want to do a gnome garden. I have three potential areas and can't decide which one (translation: where the dog will be less inclined to dig) is better suited for what I have in mind. I'll post pictures once I'm done.

3. My *shiny* new story.
I didn't think I had a plot, but I do. This one is more of a paranormal mystery. I already know my heroine and my hero and a few of the supporting cast, including the ghost. Things are clicking into place in my brain. Let's just hope they translate onto the page the way I see them in my head. I'm excited to start at page one in a little while (once I patch 2 pairs of jeans, take care of dinner, the laundry, getting the boys out the door for cub scouts and making sure the dishwasher is working *don't ask). Still no title, but I can feel it rolling around just waiting for me to stumble onto it.

That's all I have for now.
Behave.

On Track

House cleaned: Check
Dog better: Check
(I worried about the dog food recall, but it's not for the dry, so we're okay)
Injuries: K2's eye wasn't as bad as I imagined.
No injuries since. Just dealing with allergies now, which is the norm.
Ready to start new story (which has no title yet): Check
Excited about new story: Check

Busy week around here. I might be a bit scarce here and there. Plus I want to make some real progress on this story.
Behave!

Housework

Ugh!
That's what's on my agenda for the day.
And yes, I'm procrastinating. But I'm also eager to get it finished. Go figure.
There's just a lot to do. And the dog is shedding incredibly right now. And there's mud outside. A lot of mud. Which translates to big muddy paw prints. My desk is piled high with everything I've ignored for the past week while I endeavored to finish my work in progress. But, hopefully by this evening, I'll be sitting in a clean and shiny house. That's an incredible help to my brain.

Thought I was going to get to sleep in this morning - technically, I did - for about a half an hour. B left to pick up K2 and her pals from a youth group overnighter and then run some errands. Before he left, he woke me to tell me the dog had major diarrhea and I needed to go downstairs so I could stay close and prevent another accident in the house. Ugh. I have to admit, I did snooze on the couch for another hour, but that's not the same as staying in my nice warm bed. But, better than having a sick dog poop on the floor. My concern is more what's wrong with her than my lack of sleep.

Oh. More injuries - this one makes three for the week: B threw his back out, K1 and his lovely stitches and now K2. She called me last night to tell me she got hit in the eye with a hockey puck and now has a black eye. I haven't seen it yet. I'm not sure I want to.
I think I'll wrap everyone in bubble wrap.

Behave!

Supernatural! Oh My! (and other stuff)

And can I just say...Oh My!
What a fantastic episode.
Sexy, sad and a little bit scary.
Holy freaking Sam! I was not disappointed. And I wasn't disappointed the second time I watched it either. In fact, this has to be one of my favorite episodes so far, which is hard to really say because I love them all.
Waiting until April 19th for another new episode is going to be brutal!

Anyway.
I finished "Under the Bridge". I'm so relieved. Now it'll sit for a while until I can think about it without needing to vomit. This book kicked my butt. Hopefully it's better than I think.
So I'm right on track with my previously posted goal. Actually a little ahead because I really didn't believe I'd finish until tomorrow evening. Might not seem like much of a time difference, but trust me, it is.

The kid is healing nicely. Yesterday was probably his worse day as far as pain goes, but he's back on his feet today and hopefully not thinking about other ways to hurt himself. Hopefully.

That's all I have for now.
Behave!

Making Plans

Our annual writing retreat is on the horizon.
I'm so excited.
We've extended it one more day - sadly, I'm not able to make the extra day this time - but I still can't wait.
2 1/2 whole days to do nothing but write.
No dishes, no laundry, no errands and no cooking!
Yeah, I know it's still almost 2 months away, but I've got a plan. And that plan is to finish my current work in progress by this weekend. Take a few days off to really clean the house and find my organization and then mid-next-week start my new work in progress (still haven't decided what it'll be). If life stays calm (ha) I should be able to finish the new one by the end of April - leaving me ready to start the next one at the retreat.
I'll have a lot of editing to do then, but we'll be into summer and the kids being home changes a lot of things. Writing new pages is harder when you can't write more than two sentences without someone needing you. Editing is hard too, but different. I can print off what I'm working on and take it with me wherever we happen to go.
I can't believe I'm already thinking about summer vacation! It's coming up fast though. I just signed up for the last parent-teacher conferences of the year. They're out of school in less than 3 months. And I just realized how big of a goal I made for myself. 2 books in less than 3 months?
Well, we'll see if I can do it.
Stay tuned.

Teenager Tuesday Update

Eight abrasions - four bad ones, including the one on his scalp.
Six stitches.
One xray.
One mild concussion.
Two and a half hours at the ER.
One frazzled mother.
One proud teenager.

Yes. I got him to the ER.
Once I saw what was under all the blood he had no choice.
Boys.

Tuesday

I have no idea what to blog about today.
The weather? Well, it's sunny here and most of the snow is already melted. Temps aren't too bad. But that's really boring.
My day? Another boring thing. Unless you want to here about all the stupid things I did. Nah. You don't.
My kid? Well, now that's something we can talk about. K1 called me a little bit ago. Phone calls freak me out from him because he prefers to text message me. It's no wonder his calls freak me out though - the call was to inform me that he'd fallen off the back of his friends car and not to worry, it looks worse than it really is. Okay? What looks worse? I told him he needed to come home so I could assess the damage.
Oh boy.
He walked in the back door, blood running down the back of his neck, around his eye and on his cheek. His first words, "It looks worse than it is." He is brush burned on his side, elbows, knees and back. That hurts bad enough, but it's his head that has me a little worried. I can't tell if his scalp needs stitches. I sent him up to shower because the blood matting his hair has made it impossible to tell what's going on there. Hopefully, I'll be able to figure it out when he comes back down. If he does need stitches, getting him to the doctor is going to be an issue. He's already told me he's not getting them.
Sigh.
I'll be back with an update.

Flip-Flopping

I wish this post was about summer footwear.
Sadly, it's not.
It's about the bedraggled state of my brain right now.
I'm in the final stages of my work in progress. Time to wrap things up, give each character their happy ending and put the threats to rest. Yes. I'll need every page, and then some, to end it. (Which is good, because pretty much everything I wrote yesterday is garbage.) I'm anxious to type "The End" and even more anxious to start fresh with something new and let this one sit (to rot) for a few weeks before going back and deciding what stays and what gets tossed in the garbage (or burned with a match).
Keeping what I what to work on next on the back burner of my brain is a challenge. There are at least 3 different books vying for my attention. (Those are just the ones with a sense of immediacy - if I think to hard I'll end up in trouble with too many to choose from, and that would not be pretty.)
And I already feel like I'm burning the candle at both ends. (how many cliches can I fit into one post?) Getting anything done, much less done on time, is almost impossible.
But, hey! This is life, right? And tomorrow is the first day of spring. Though I'm not sure what that has to do with anything.
That is all.

Books To Be Read

I think I mentioned before how B found this huge dead space above the closet in our room. The closet in our room attaches to a closet in K4's room, so the space runs the length of one whole wall. And it's deep. We finally agreed I could use it as my bookcase. So Thursday evening (before Supernatural) I hauled all my books over and arranged them in the space. Not librarian standard by any means but they are organized. I realized there's quite a few I haven't read. Many I got at the RWA conference, some were given to me, and some I bought.
And never read.
Which is kind of weird for me. I love to read and am a voracious reader. Depending on the size of the book, I can finish one in a day. So why haven't I read any of those?
There's no answer to that. I just didn't. Will I? I don't know. We'll see.
And I do have a more current "to be read' pile. The top one on the stack: Misty Simon's "Reignited", then Nicholas Spark's "Dear John" - which I think might be a tear-jerker from what my sister didn't say - so maybe I should change the order because I know Misty will make me "laugh until I snort".
*From K2's snow measuring project: 9.25" - looks like it's melting fast, but still much shoveling to be done.

All About Supernatural

Finally!
A new episode of Supernatural!
*Total fangirl post - so if you're not interested in my thoughts on Sam and Dean stop reading now*
Where to start?
After what seemed like forever without new Sam and Dean, I can honestly say I was not disappointed. The ending was a surprise. I never figured it out and I love that. And the way they repeated the clues when Molly saw her husband. Definitely didn't see that coming.
I loved Dean's attitude through the entire thing. And Sam's angsty behavior, even though he let Molly stand in front of the window when they knew the bad guy was coming.
There's so much more, and I should probably stop gushing.
And the promos for next week? Wonderful. Werewolves.
Oh yeah, I said I was going to stop gushing, didn't I?
*Snowing it's tail off here. I've heard so many conflicting predictions: 4", 8", 10". Who knows for sure? Even though I absolutely love the snow, I have to say I'm disappointed after our recent high temperatures. I'm ready for spring!
*We're all moved into our new room. Just have K4 to move in and some other tweaking and this project is finally finished.
Behave! (Unless you are exempt!)

Random Things

I started my morning by draining our waterbed.
Through some weird cosmic interference and the use of a really stupid adaptor, I nearly flooded the whole house. Water was dripping into my living room - from the third floor. K2 had rivers of water flowing down her newly painted walls. Not pretty. But (i think) all is well now. The bed is finally empty. Dismantling and refilling will commence as soon as B gets home from work.
Then, I need to clean my house. No, really clean. Ugh. After over a month of hole patching and sanding, floor stripping and sanding...well, you can imagine. There is dust...everywhere. Not looking forward to that. At all.
As you can see, I'm nearly done with my work in progress. This book has been like pulling teeth - maybe because my work time has been fragmented and my house upside down - maybe it's just a hard book to write. I don't know. It's going to sit for a while before I tackle the revisions though. Probably long enough for me to write a whole new book. We'll see.
And I think that's all I have right now.
Behave! (Except those of you who are exempt)

Almost There!

Well, there it is. Not a good picture and I really wish I had a "before" to show you. It looks like we painted outside the lines, but I think that's some weird anomaly with this picture because though there are tons of flaws, we were neater than this looks.
But imagine this...light pink walls with dark pink sponge painting on the lower half, a pink floral trellis border halfway and red shag carpet. Very girly, and it was beautiful for the female K's. (except for the red shag carpet - but you didn't really notice that with all their stuff strewn everywhere)
The floors turned out okay and we ended up with 3 coats. Not perfect by any means - especially if you find the cat paw prints and the fabric marks from our jeans from putting another coat on a little too soon.
We're at move in stage! Yay! Except tonight is a busy night around here with kid obligations. So, I don't know what we'll manage, if anything, to get done.
But we're so close. Soon I will have my bed back.
Ahhhh....

My Space

Well, it's finally done.
My Space, that is.
Fellow writer, critique partner and all around good friend Vicky B and I decided to share a My Space page since neither of us have much time to maintain one of our own.
Check us out.
Friend us. We'd like that. (I did fix the link to the left too)

The bedroom rearrange is coming to an end. Yay! Finally! The first coat of polyurethane is down - two hours to go until we can get the second coat on. I'm hoping two is enough, especially since the can says "two coats". B thinks differently. We won't know until the second coat dries though. We spent all evening on our knees, sanding, sanding and more sanding. Moving in should happen this week - as soon as the stuff cures enough. The kids are all off spending the night elsewhere so they're not in the fumes. It's nasty in here and although I miss them, I'm glad they're not breathing this stuff in.

That's all I have for now.
Behave!

Random Friday

Probably just a collection of weird stuff. I think you're used to that by now.

For the past week or so, we've been getting this telephone call - a number from another state - constantly. Like twelve times a day constantly. I love Caller I.D. Last night, finally sick of looking at this number, I answered, expecting to be at the receiving end of a sales call. It was a wrong number. All of those calls - not for us.

We're at the sanding the floor stage with the bedroom. Floor looks really nice, but the grim reality of waiting for polyurethane to dry is going to take us into mid-next week for move in. I'm resigned to the fact - the last thing I want to do is mess up the new floor by rushing the drying process. It'll be worth it in the end.

The kids are off school today, so we're off to shop for mini-blinds and curtains, maybe even a rug or two - we'll see. They're ready and pestering me to finish so we can leave.

Behave!

Cake!

Snow Day!

Kids are off school.
The excitement level in here is...deafening.

So, yesterday I had a really good writing day.
I'd been really worried about this story and my lack of progress. Getting started seemed to be the main problem - and the time it took to get back into the characters heads. I hate to make excuses - like the total wreck that my house is, and has been for the past month, and the constant work that's been happening with that. But the truth is, that has affected me. My whole world has been off-kilter, my schedule totally different. The situation is very temporary so that means I just have to get through it.
If you'll notice the progress meter, I think I did a pretty good job of ignoring outside forces and just doing what I needed to do yesterday. 35 pages. And I'm at a really good place with the story. It's kind of shifted a bit - taken on some qualities I hadn't expected - and I really like what happened.
Hopefully today I'll add to the count.

Even though it's taken me nearly an hour to write this - in between finding boots, gloves, hats for the kids to go outside, and a dozen other things. I think it's time to say good-bye for now and get busy.
Behave!

Painting

Yes. We're finally at the painting stage!
About time.
And Oh Goodness.
We're being incredibly cheap about this whole bedroom rearrange thing. So far, the only thing we've purchased is hole patch stuff. And we already had all these half gallons of paint, in a variety of colors. K2 picked out some weird ones for her room - one wall is a completely different color and we're all okay with that.
Since we couldn't agree on a color for our room, we decided to take this very dark chocolate brown color and half lighten it for the trim and then double lighten it for the walls. Sounds perfect, right?
HA!
The trim looks nice - though thanks to a whim addition of a dark green the color is more of an antique green. I'm happy with it.
The walls however are hideous. The double lightened chocolate brown that should be tan is more of a crappy gray color. It totally clashes with the trim and makes me want to poke my eyes out with a stick. Thankfully, B only painted on very small section just to make sure we were doing the right thing.
Obviously, we weren't.
B called me this morning to ask if the color had grown on me. Most definitely not. In fact, every time I look at it I want to scream because it is so awful. Obviously, we'll be painting over it and for now, our room will be white with antique green trim.
See? How does that work? I was violently opposed to white walls. And I'm the one who told B the walls should stay white now. What the heck happened there? I think I've been brainwashed.
Anyway. Hopefully we'll be ready to move in by the weekend. Can't. Wait. To. Get. My. Bed. Back.

Dreams

I have a very good friend who is seriously considering giving up her dream of writing. And that makes me really sad. She's a gifted writer, who has a knack for funny, heart-warming stories that leave you feeling good and loving the world she's created.
We've critiqued together for years - so when she gets good news, it's good news to me as well (and the other member of our little group). So, right now, when she's really considering walking away from her dream - a dream we share and that we've discussed often and done our best to keep alive when things are tough - I'm trying to think of ways to make her see that would be a mistake.
The thing is, I completely understand her motivations behind this decision. I just don't agree. Her emotions are raw with continuous rejections, often more than one, even two, a day and near-misses where she's believed she's finally crossed that line, and those things will take the spit and fire right out of you. The flip side, even though it's not much of a consolation, is that she is still trying.
I'll never agree that she needs to quit. Take a break, definitely. Write something else, eventually. Alter her plans, probably.
But not quit.
Not when I've seen the beauty inside her stories and the heart she puts into crafting characters and plots that leave you feeling good about things. I wish her some of that kind of magic to help her through the desolation she feels right now.
You might think that's weird. Because if she quits writing, then that's one less person to compete with, but that's not how it is at all. I can't name any writer who would cheer at hearing that another writer has quit trying. I think it does the same to all of us - makes us sad, makes a little hitch form in our chests wondering how long, how many rejections, how much frustration we can withstand before arriving at the same place.
Writing isn't something you do because you want to. Writing is something you do because you have to.

First Friday

(That's my only acknowledgement to the new month.)
March = Mud.
I have a really big dog and four kids...'nuff said.

Today is the release date for Misty Simon's new book "Reignited".
Check it out. "You'll Laugh Until You Snort".

The rest of this post is probably going to be mostly rambling. You should be used to that by now, so I don't want to hear it.

Tips for Friday:
1. Always make sure your kids take their backpacks with them before you pull away from the school. Otherwise you'll be hauling your butt back to school with said backpack and facing a tearful, grateful, sweet child who was worried way more than necessary.
2. Go and hang out with your friends once in a while. At least once a month -more frequently if you can manage. It's important to your mental health and the fun part of yourself. Maybe not so much for your diet, but I think any calories consumed when with friends, especially when laughing with friends, don't count. Or maybe you just laugh so much you zero the calories out.
3. If your house smells weird when returning from your fun lunch, realize that it probably always smells like that, but you can't smell it because you haven't left the house except to take the kids to school and that's not long enough for your nose to forget the smell. (At least it wasn't a bad smell)
4. When you've had evening plans for a while and your oldest tells you he can't make it at the last minute, it probably has something to do with a girl.
5. Read the warning labels on microwave popcorn. They're there for a reason.

That's about all I have for now.
Busy weekend.
Behave!

Weird Dreams

My dreams were full of downright strange images last night.
And it wasn't just one random odd dream - it was a series of strange events. James Taylor was in one - he rearranged the furniture. In another, I was driving a really old, huge pick up truck. I could barely reach the pedals and the truck was hard to shift.
I'm going to go out on a limb and say it had something to do with the extreme amount of coffee I drank last night. Oh, and the spicy nachos and chocolate chip cookies I ate at a time I don't normally snack.
Well, don't you think that's why?