My Perfect Major

You scored as Art. You should be an Art major! How bohemian! Engineering 100% Psychology 100% Art 100% English 92% Sociology 92% Theater 83% Philosophy 83% Dance 75% Biology 67% Journalism 67% Anthropology 67% Linguistics 67% Mathematics 50% Chemistry 17%

What is your Perfect Major?
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Rolling... Action!

We watch the opposing team catch the football and let our displeasure be known. Our team, the Dillon Panthers, intercede and we cheer! Our home town boy, who we all know and love, goes down, and after the cheering dies a frightened silence. The silence turns into hushed whispers and we talk amongst ourselves. Is he okay? How bad is he hurt? His poor parents, crying on the field. His girlfriend, fighting to get to him in wild tears. The doctor checks him out, the ambulance comes and takes him away. Spattered applause as we're glad he's being taken care of, but have no idea how he is.

Cut

He gets off the stretcher and goes back to do it again, this time from on the ground with the doctor checking him out.

We're freezing in the stand. It's a hot summer August night in the middle of February on the set of Friday Night Lights, the in the works TV series, and we are doing our best to make it look like it. I never realized an actor's job could be so demanding and we were just extras! I couldn't imagine being on the field, HAVING to have your jacket off whether you like it or not except for in between takes. We had such a great time seeing how movie making works, using props, the boys wanting to know why the popcorn box was empty, B being offered a football player position but sweetly turning it down to make sure and stay with us. Next time he will take it as I told him I really, really, really wished he had. What fun for the boys to have seen their Daddy on the field as a football player in a film! It worked out. We took off after a few hours, it was just too cold and the boys were tired. Next time maybe it really will be a hot summer August night... and we'll have to wear jackets : ) .


The star of the show


The sign up above behind us. In the slim, slim chance we actually are onscreen we're sitting just below this sign to the right of it. You can't miss my bright yellow team color shirt.


The director & camera crew. The guy in the backwards hat directed us to our seats.


The cheerleaders. Not sure if the guy's girlfriend is in this shot.

At What Point Do We Grow Up?

Is it when we make our bed everyday, when we're brought iced chai latte's and Krispy Kreme doughnuts in the morning, dad goes off to play basketball with his son, and we're relieved that we'll be able to get all this overflowing stuff out of our house into storage? That's what it feels like. Part of growing up is realizing we'll never be completely grown up, we're always growing.

Favorite Memories

...seeing the Dallas Galleria layout, standing at the edge above the ice rink Louis Vitton was across the way, Abercombrie above, and PacSun above that. Expensive to cheap. It was hilarious.

...enjoying a night out on the town, talking about anything and everything with Allison.

...Uncle Julio's margarita's

...Allison's sweet warm personality

...the endless stream of conversation we have

...the fun giggly girl moments that are there when you get to just be free from whatever it is life has for you at the moment

...her cute little car with the butt warmers

...staying at the Westin in the Heavenly Bed.

...enjoying the full hilt of luxury with her and being appreciative knowing it's not the norm, at least not right now :)

...her interaction with my kiddos, even the brief moments they had the first night and the shared awe of Medieval Times, there's such an easy sweet connection there

...how blessed we are to know her wonderful face and heart and get to spend time with her on top of that

...my MIL not. buying. a. thing. except for intangible goods.

...the wonderful memories created and the pictures taken with her.

...being completely 100% spoiled rotten in whatever it is we did with her, from the luxury suites at the Westin to VIP seats at Medieval Times to a hundred dollar gift certificate at a local restaurant.

...the moments at home with her. Just being, sitting, drinking mixed Hennessey and Grand Mariner, watching movies, sleeping : ) while she played with the boys, late nights talking.

...her birthday party last night at NXNW.

...the wisdom of age and the lifetime of kindness she makes such an effort to share, so if it doesn't sink in now it will at some point and leaves me, my husband, my boys and anybody she shares it with only being the better for it.

...lunch and dinner with my hubby every day.

...Medieval Times

...the sweetness and romance of my hubby motioning to our knight at MT to pick me to be the queen, although I really wanted Allison or Mom to be picked, and when he did B putting his hand on my waist as I stood up, and then telling the knight afterwards as he signed the photograph of the moment, "Thank you for choosing my bride."

...the peaceful, relaxed feeling of having had company for a week and knowing there's not. a. single. thing. to do to get things back in order.

I'm Still Here

Just enjoying my MIL's visit thoroughly. I am going to try to do this post justice because I don't want to forget and I am just too tired to do much.

She came in Sunday night a few hours late due to the FREEZING weather we were having here. We spent Monday at our homeschool group which was at a house for the first time and was a blast. The girl had all of the different activities set up as 'stations' in different rooms of her house and the moms and kids went around to each one. Tuesday we hopped on the road and drove up to Dallas. We checked in to the Executive Level at the Westin Galleria, and the beautiful miss Allison walked up to our room with us where I tried to erase three hours of tiring road trip. My MIL offered to watch the kiddos, I didn't argue, and we were off. We went to Uncle Julio's, the place of Allison's first date with Marc and the first restaurant she went to when she got to Dallas, now mine as well, that was special. We had margaritas with Grand Mariner, a Sangria Margarita for her, and chatted the night away. We emptied the restaurant and then took off to play in the Club Room at the Westin. After much giggling and too much fun we finally said good-bye.



Wednesday my MIL and the boys and I went to check out Frontiers of Flight Museum which was beautifully done. The airplanes were gorgeous, and they had a replica of the Wright's brothers bicycle shop. Besides all the airplanes they had the Apollo 7 and a neat video of when we landed on the moon.



We decided to head back home that night as the place we wanted to go that evening wasn't open. So we drove home, picked up B, and came back the next night for Medieval Times. Allison met us AGAIN, I was so happy she made the effort to be with us - not that it was hard my MIL loves to do nothing but the best ;) , and we enjoyed a VIP front row night of jousting and lords and ladies. Our yellow and red knight threw flowers and handed out his handkerchief, Allison caught a flower and I held the kerchief. The boys were in speechless awe with eyes as big as saucers. The metal swords clinked and sent off showers of sparks, they were made of titanium. The black and white knight won then was backstabbed by the not good knight, and our knight defeated him and was declared champion. It was our cheers, I swear. Once again we said our goodbyes to Allison, only this time it seemed way too early to be saying goodbye.



My MIL leaves on Saturday morning. I am so sad to see her go. I have just sat back and watched her 'parent' the boys the whole time she's been here, and it's been so nice to see a different and fresh perspective to everything I routinely say and do. They enjoy her so much. She sits and watches movies with them and cheers on the characters, and explains the moral better than I ever could. The last two movies they've watched have been on the importance of dreams, and her words are so inspiring of how dreams are so important to life. I've enjoyed every moment of her visit and am so glad she stayed as long as she did.

Sweet Things

* Peanut Butter Hershey Kisses
* Burt's Bees Champagne Lip Shimmer
* Cherry Covered Chocolate Luna Bars

Hubby brushing my hair when I get out of the shower.

Girlie Night

The week has not gone anywhere in particular after V Day. I made out a plan for S's schoolwork and have been trying to stay on top of J's schoolwork. Sometimes I just think it would be easier to send them to school. But I know I'd be trading in one set of difficulties for a whole 'nother set.

Yesterday I needed a break, so B stayed at home with J and worked and S and I went shopping with my neighbor. She introduced me to Forever 21 (again, but this one was BIG), Charlotte Russe, Agaci, and my regular stop Aeropostale, and couldn't believe I didn't buy ANYthing. She is six months pregnant and found a bunch of cute, flowey tops to wear. Forever 21 has a lot of good ones for that. We came home and switched out a kiddo and S stayed with B and J came with us while we got our nails done, he has a cell phone that he discovered still works so he called Grandpa, Auntie, Grandma, and then asked for M's number and called her. We picked up dinner and ran to HEB to return a movie and came back to watch Dancing with the Stars. I can't believe I haven't discovered that show before. LOVE it. We went back out and ended up spending an hour and a half at HEB perusing the makeup and nail care aisle, and then every other aisle it seemed and getting a hodgepodge of needed and fun stuff. Then B took both the kids and put them to bed and we stayed up eating chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream and watching The Sweetest Thing until 1am. Fun girlie night.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Hubby took me out to a really fun, absolutely perfect restaurant. There was a fireplace, lights on the trees, the softest bread ever with goat cheese and roasted garlic spread on it, thick yummy beer batter rings, a beer sampler where we tasted every single one of the beers made in house, americanized orange chicken that was the sweetest, tenderest chicken I've had in a long time, and ahi with avocado salsa for B. Hope yours was fabulous!

The One Where I Change My Mind

California? So not. After lots of mulling, thinking, stressing, worrying, fretting, and all those other words, and finally praying which really should've been first, I realized yesterday that I had a peace when I thought about not going and when I did think about going I stressed out about every little thing. Last night was our small group and I broke down in tears over wondering whether I should go or not when we shared prayer requests, and the girl on my right who prayed for me, and another girl praying for someone else making a decision helped me realize that one, I can ask God for peace about a decision even if I don't know what He has in plans for the future, and two, if the only reasons I am doing something is for guilt, worry, and fear, then that is no reason to do it at all. And those three reasons are the only three reasons I would be going to California right now at the point we are in our lives. There was only supposed to be just the first three words of this paragraph, but I thought I owed you more than that : ) .

So. I am happy. I get to continue my art class, we get to continue carving the life we have out here, and next Sunday is girls night out, dinner, and spa night!

In other news, my MIL is still coming out and going to stay a little longer. I only hope we can take a short vacation instead of sit here and shop. She's already ordered complete bedding, including the bed, for her when she gets here, that she'll conveniently leave with us when she goes. Any ideas for a vacation : ) ?

Saturday Brandon stayed home from work and vacuumed the whole house. Vacuums have been a nightmare story for us since we got here. May I just recommend the good ol' $40 Walmart version that lasted us 3 years the first time we lived here? The higher up versions from Linens N Things don't work worth crap. Any way I cleaned the windows, the baseboards, and the verandah. Then we had people over for dinner. They were so interested in J's art work it was fabulous. He got up before we left the table and spread his art work all over the living room for an art show. They were even super interested in mine (which I've been meaning to take pictures of for you guys) and the girl suggested framing two of them to put together. She's so cute, she's copied out of Pottery Barn and hired an interior decorator for most of her house, now she's starting to get an eye for things herself which is so fun for her.

Sunday M and her boyfriend went to church with us. We decided to go to service instead of class. Boooooring. Hopefully they'll come with us again LOL!! Next time I promised we'd go to class. It would be so fun to carpool and have a girl to chat with on the way there. We barbequed here afterwards and her cute little dog ran around the whole time. Since her house is right next to ours, and the barbeque right next to hers, we stopped by HEB on the way home and had open community with whatever was in our fridges. Somehow we ended up visiting until 4pm, then it was nap time for poor B and his head that was hurting, and small group.

hello neighbor

So yesterday - most of it, and today I spent with my neighbor, M. The one with the cute dog. She's so much fun, I had no idea. She's the type you can just HANG with. Well any way she's been out of a job for awhile - her company merged with Capitol One and got rid of her department. They gave her a nice severance package and Cobra for six months so she's sitting pretty to find another job, but in the meantime she's home. And has been for the last two weeks. Yesterday the boys walked her dog and I threw myself together after being in pj's til 1pm to go over and say hi. I was relieved she was still in her pj's (vaccuming her house, but nonetheless!). We'd both been thinking the same thing that last day, wondering who was going to break the ice since we're both home all day now. The conversation moved from over the verandah wall, to the verandah, to the couch, and the boys watching cartoons on her TV. I invited her to a movie I was going to with another friend that night and one thing led to another and I was in her closet. Gasp! The clothes. The shoes. The purses. The jewelry! Needless to say, with her not being able to fit in her tiny clothes and me, well, being able to recite my entire wardrobe I was sitting pretty in her clothing last night. Too much fun. We ended up downloading Dancing with the Stars on the computer and M, her sister who came down from College Station for the evening, A (the other friend), and I hit the movies. Dinner theatre, actually. Potato skins, beer, and calzones. Yum. We crashed back at her house for Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants, more beer, Hennessey and Cognac, Bluebell Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough ice cream, Hohos, caramel filled Hershey's Kisses, a friend of her sister's over to visit, yet another movie, this time Elizabethtown and 2am in the morning.

Her sister had to take off early this morning so M and I went to check out a development around the corner called Jefferson Center. It looks like a mini Santana Row (links later!) but turned out to be an apartment complex with a Seattle's Best Coffee, a Subway, and a pizza place. We had lunch and headed downtown to find the Urban Outfitters and walk the strip.

Her boyfriend met up with us at 5pm to watch Curious George with the kids and I where J proceeded to eat almost the entire large bucket of popcorn and S's face lit up in smiles. We braved the cold home and are now tucking in for a long night. And B is off tomorrow!! Yay!

My Recipes

Over the years I have oft visited allrecipes.com and through it have fed my family many times over and ninety nine percent of the time deliciously. I finally figured out how to direct people just to my reviews, so here you go if you want to find out what I've made over the last five years that have tickled my fancy.

I love having the reviews there. If ever I recall something I've made before and want to have the recipe, I just go to my reviews. They even have all the little adjustments I made to find out how we liked it or if I made any substitutions. So far I have to say my favorites are the... okay never mind I can't pick one. They were all yummy. I wish they had a friends set up like Netflix does. Or maybe they do and I don't know about it. But if any of you have reviews please leave the link in the comments. To get the link find one of your reviews from a recipe you liked and click on More reviews by you. I'd love to see them and maybe find a new recipe or two!

Heh. That was funny. All three of my edited posts were up here. Now you get to see how ocd I am about editing stuff before I put it up. That can't be a good thing. Or maybe it is.

Bleh

I started today after totally going off this weekend. Funny how my HUSBAND noticed I was PMSing and I didn't. I really like to know when I'm PMSing and not just think I'm a total B*#@%. But sometimes I don't realize it. Any way after being completely sore and cramping really bad for about a half hour today I took my herbs and the cramps went away and I started. Like I have every.single.time. for the last three months. Silly me I leave the house without any, um, protection. Fortunently I was on my way to J's appointment and stopped by the grocery store to pick up some orzo for tonight's dinner and got myself necessities. I don't really freakin' care if the guy in front of me kept looking at my six year old pulling them out of the adorable tiny cart they have for the kids to push around and putting them on the conveyor belt. He wanted something to put in his basket, okay?! Do you really care what it is?! Perhaps you'd like to carry them for me?! I used to be embarrased about that kind of stuff, but I guess when it's very very necessary you REALLY don't care :) . Fortunently tonight I was put in a MUCH better mood by someone who cares, which brought about a much nicer night.

We had the neighbor's puppy with us today, as J borrowed him this afternoon and when we went to leave she wasn't home. Oops. She had said he was good in the car so we just took him with us and everytime we had to leave him in the car for a second he would glue himself to our laps when we got back in. That was just two times. My car wouldn't start when we got out of J's appt. and I was a little perturbed we had to have him then, but he wandered around on his leash outside the car while we waited for B and it all worked out. I guess the battery wires jiggle loose every once in a while.

Tonight we had dinner at a couple's house we met through our small group. They totally loved the kids and it was nice to be around people who are totally relaxed around kids. They're our age, so the guys still a big kid at heart and he sat there and played the Xbox because S wanted specifically him to play with him. Mommy couldn't because she didn't know how. J wants to invite them to his birthday party because he wants them to get him an XBox. Then he says no really he wants them to come to his birthday party. Their house/apartment was so cute, exactly what I would love my house to be. It's always fun to meet someone with my sense of style - someone I could go shopping with and love all the same things. I have to hit the flea markets with her. Her husband is artsy too which is awesome. I'm so enjoying my art class, and it was neat to see someone who had taken it so far in his life. He does all the Chili's graphics with the chili pepper. I almost mentioned Allison's sweet Chili's deal, but ran out of time. It was a great night.

Nine

From Emylibef, found via Amanda.

9 lasts

1. cigarette: not ever.
2. beverage: Water
3. kiss: This morning from hubby before he left for work.
4. hug: From my babies when they woke up this morning.
5. movie seen: Flightplan.
6. cd played: It's been too long... whatever's on the ipod.
7. song listened to: Bebo Norman, Shining Through
8. bubble bath: A month or so ago. It's time.
9. time you cried: Two nights ago.


8 have you ever

1. dated one of your best friends: As in before we dated? No.
2. skinny dipped: Yes.
3. kissed somebody and regretted it: Ew, yes.
4. fallen in love: Completely
5. lost someone you loved: Yes.
6. been depressed: Occasionally.
7. been drunk and threw up: Yup.
8. ran away: Yes, but I was found before too long.


7 states you've been to

1. Alaska
2. Washington
3. Oregon
4. Hawaii
5. Arizona
6. Georgia
7. California


6 things you've done today

1. Took a shower
2. Did school with my boys
3. Downloaded pictures from my camera from the weekend
4. Took J to an appointment
5. Sketched a picture
6. Ate a Turkey Bacon and Provolone Sandwhich with Jalapenos at Subway


5 favorite things in no order
1. Hubby
2. My own space
3. J & S
4. Getting lost in my drawing
5. Nature's beauty


4 people you can tell anything to in no order
1. Hubby.
2. God.
3. Hmmm.
4. Anything?


3 wishes
1. Life to be peaceful, relaxing, content and full of our true heart's desires - the pure ones.
2. My kids to grow up loving God with all their hearts.
3. B's and my marriage to be unbreakable.


2 things you want to be when you grow up
1. A wonderful person
2. Creative and talented in many areas, not just a few


1 thing you regret
1. Being so hard on myself about the things that I do.

Way Too Small

Last night I had on my gorgeous cami set B bought me for Valentine's way long ago. I hardly wear them so they're still perfect. They are thin white cotton. The top has spaghetti straps, a gathered bodice with a small tie, and embroidered red rosebuds along the edge. The shorts have a little pocket edged with the same embroidered rosebuds. They are gorgeous and breezy feeling. J (BG) comes up to me to me and says, "You look beautiful." in an awed whisper. Then he gives me a hug and lays his head on my tummy and says, "It feels like there's a baby in your tummy." I'm thinking because of the small elastic surrounding the waist and the super soft feel of the shirt. Then he backs up and says, "But your tummy's way too small."

Gah

B was supposed to take the day off today. It's 4pm and he's still working.

So I gave myself a pedicure. I've been desperately needing one.. On an off note tell me why in Texas pedicures and manicures are more expensive than in one of the most expensive places to live in the world? I could get one in Santa Cruz for $20 out the door.

Any way back to my personal pedicure. A friend gave me a pedicure set from Ms. Pedicure, the foot Diva, a while back and I adore the thing. So I hopped up on my bathroom counter, stuck my feet in the sink full of very hot water and soaked away my cares.

I soaked, scrubbed, pumiced, filed, and attempted a French manicure. Let me just say unless you have the proper tools, which I don't, a French manicure is not a very good idea to attempt. So I removed the evidence and painted them a soothing color of OPI's "Skinny Dip'N in Lake Michigan", perfect for the chilly day.

Now my hair is undone in tousled soft waves, my toes are pretty, and I'm set for my art class even though I'm totally wanting to skip it tonight.

Mock Surgery

The hospital here had a Mock Surgery on Saturday. They had surgeries set up in an orthopaedic room, a trauma room, an anesthesia room, a gallbladder removal room, an ear-nose-throat room, an endoscopy room, and an eye room set up.

We found out how they do surgery without slicing you open. They showed us how they make the hole and then the tube stays in you and they slide the camera in one tube, different tools in the other, and if they need another tool they make another hole. BG tried his hand several times at operating inside the tummy while watching what he was doing on a screen. The third time he had it down pat.

LG was finally convinced to remove something from a throat when he discovered that was the only way he would be able to eat the candy.

They were both given hair nets, masks, and gloves (of which they were only interested in the gloves) and a bag of goodies - medicine holder, bandaids, tongue depressor.

The whole thing was fascinating and I could've sat there all day trying out the different operations and asking as many questions and observing as much information as possible. The boys held out from 9am until 11:30am which was awesome.

LG recounted every single event to Daddy that night. Retold in his words right now: "There was one guy that didn't have candy in the tummy and he had the things right here (pointing to his ribs. The lungs) and a face and didn't have candy. There was one with his tummy and he had candy. All of the ones that didn't have candy we didn't get, all of the ones that did have candy we got. " In his description to Daddy there wasn't so much candy, but two days later what else would you remember :) ?

They had such a wonderful time and my hope is if they were truly interested that a seed was planted.. LG is completely fascinated by the human body, the muscles, the heart, the veins, the bones, everything about it so maybe this will help give him that edge to find out more about it if he so desires.

Sunshine Dreams

Well I was going to post asking advice. But things are going really fast, so it would have to be fast advice ;) .

We are going back to California for a visit. I have been off and on as to whether this would send me into a tizzy again, but I hope not.

I just found some pictures from 2002-2004 on my computer that I thought had been transferred to my hard drive and one of them was some beautiful pictures from BG's fifth birthday out there. We had some GOOD visits, and some good times. It makes me look forward to going out there. Allison, I know if any you would have advice. You know how hard it is to visit family. And even though we lived with them for a year and had some WONDERFUL times you ALL know how eager I was to get back. And how good of a position my life is in now, as far as my heart wise. Especially you Cecilia have noticed that these last few weeks. I just hope California doesn't throw it for a loop.

My MIL is going to come a few days before we go and fly back with me, thank God, because I cannot STAND flying American alone. Southwest is okay because the people are so friendly but they don't have non stop. Well any way as it is right now the kids and I will out there for about eight days before B comes and he'll be out there for a little less than four. I'm a little worried about being out there so long without him but I really want the kids to be able to send quality just hangin' time with the grandparents and not have it be all rush rush events.

I have to say I'm excited to see the beauty again. And my family. I think about my Dad a lot lately, and how much I would miss him if he wasn't there. And I'll get to see my sister's brand new baby! And SIG's grown up into a six month old lil' guy.

My only other obstacle is my art class. I'd be missing two. B says to talk to my teacher and see what he can give me to make it up and fill in, so I'm hoping that will work.

Any thoughts, unsolicited advice (heaven knows I give it enough.)? Now's the time : ) ! I'm thinking since I asked for it it's not unsolicited :) My Mom is getting the tickets as we speak. Crossing fingers that it's a wonderful, peaceful time and that the kids get to do all the wonderful peaceful relaxing and just hanging out that they did while we lived there.

Roller Skating

It's been so long since I've stepped foot into a roller rink the effect hit me like a wall as we walked in. The boys and I decided roller skating was a good idea this afternoon. Armed with BG's rollerblades and LG's rollerskates from Santa, we headed into the rink. The nostalgia from the '80's washed over me like a bad paint job, disco balls, and Barbie Girl. Okay I know that was the '90's, but still. You could see the glitter of the place, the glamour of it's first days in the shiny blue tile in the bathroom, now chipped in some places, a few missing around the toilet basins, the huge rink and the dj's booth set up next to it, the many well used roller skates sitting behind a once bustling counter. The place was empty when we arrived, but by the next half hour people started to come in waves - mostly with their own skates. A few families with little ones trying out skating for the first time. BG took off with his in-line skates and only came back to surprise me or to tell me that everybody was falling except for him.

LG bravely put on his roller skates but burst into "I don't WANNA do this!" with loud sobs interspersed when we stepped on to the rink, so we were content to go outside the edge of the skating rink. He did extremely well but made sure to insist he could only walk not skate. Another woman there with her two little girls had the same problem. The older one took off and the little one lasted two minutes on the rink and with a very sad face sat on her Mommy's lap as her Mommy took off her roller skates.

There was a girl across the way as LG and I sat down to watch BG, tuckered out after our walk. She was so determined with her small pink purse hanging off her shoulder. She looked like she was doing the Robot and falling every two seconds. Somehow she determined to make it halfway around the rink before a friend took her hand and helped her off the rink. A feeling of her spirit washed over me. To me that would've been humiliating and I would've ended up in a pile of tears or ripped off the darned skates and walked across the rink in socks. Somehow she kept going and didn't skip a beat, except the beat of her own drum, and it made me smile.

What made me smile even more was watching BG zoom across the rink, completely independent, proud of himself, and smiling from ear to ear. My heart smiled all the more as I walked up and down the side of the rink holding LG's hand loosely as he skated so he could find his balance while thinking of the metaphor that I can hold on loosely to their lives but they will take their own steps. Then as he took his own steps he asked me to hold on tighter, and I held more firm but not tight and thought of how sometimes it is like that as well. We can hold firmly but not too tight otherwise they will lose the precious gift of freedom.

Little Better

Today I was a tad bit better. At least I didn't feel like sitting around the house. The boys and I did school and discovered how sound waves bounce more off of harder surfaces than soft by singing in the closet and then in the bathroom. We also used a bouncy ball on carpet, then hardwood to demonstrate how it's easier for things to bounce off of a hard surface. We ended up playing a bouncy ball game in the bathroom and sending our sound waves to whoever we were sending the ball to. That got wild and crazy and fun.

This afternoon I brought a meal to a couple who just had a baby a few weeks ago. The boys and I brought her Artichoke and Olive Tapenada Chicken, salad with fresh cucumbers, and a homemade cheesecake. My heart went out to her, I could see her exhaustion in her face and in her words when she said, "It's been hard." She was sick with a stomach virus and is back down to her prepregancy weight within two weeks, mostly due to that. Our class has organized meals for her and her refrigerator looked pretty full so it's good she hasn't had to worry about that. We really don't know them that well, but I'd love to be able to do something to encourage her.

BG had soccer this afternoon and our way home we watched a teenage boy start to cross the street on his bike and a woman turning right who just kept going, she must've been looking to the left to see if the road was clear. I put the hazards on and jumped out to help and thank God he was okay. His front wheel was bent in half, but he just had a few cuts and scrapes. The hard part was how concerned he was over what he would tell his Dad. He didn't want him to know that he had to run into a car - to that the woman reassured him, "Oh honey, I hit you, you didn't hit me." and that she would get his bike fixed. She insisted on taking him home as he really wanted to walk, and I was glad she did. He seemed pretty shook up. The boys and I prayed for him and that his Dad would have compassion and that everybody involved would have a sense of peace. It was a heart stopping thing to see.

Ick

I just wrote that as Ikc and my brain read Ikea which made me think of the Ikea coming nearby next year. So excited about that.

Back to my ick. My throat has been bugging me the last few days, not bad, just enough to make it noticeable. Today I feel the attack and I just feel blah. Like not doing anything. In fact I haven't. We did school today, an appointment for BG and not much else. The kids keep begging to make the homemade ice cream that we made yesterday and I am just not up to it. Right now we are deoxidizing pennies and then we'll watch the copper oxide reattach itself to nails. That will be our science experiment for the day.

It might have to do with the fact that I am trying to get up at a certain time earlier than my normal wake up time each day. Maybe my body is wondering what the heck is going on. But no matter, I must plow through.

Completely

But not quite a tea party. I had a friend over for lunch today and made grilled chicken salad on my George Foreman grill (LOVE that thing!), with organic mint tea (if you want to make your mouth water check out their fearless flyer - I can't do it I'm too far away and will get a major onset of TJ's homesickness), and homemade red wine vinegar and herb dressing. I pulled out my pretty little teapot my Mother bought for me in Alaska while we were there visiting my sister, and teacups from the china my MIL gave me. We used the matching bowls and dressing pitcher from the set as well. So it FELT like a tea party.

When I was in California we would go over to SIG's (Sweet Ireland Girl's) for lunch and she would make the most fabulous lunches with her GF grill. One time it was turkey and fresh grilled bacon sandwhiches, another it was a fresh grilled chicken salad, hence today's menu. Everything was so delicious and so much care put into each detail without overdoing it, down to the fresh baked cookies from the Betty Crocker dry cookie mix, delicious, special, with a homemade feeling, and EASY. It always struck me every time we went over there. I always tried to recreate it for her when she came over to our place for lunch, but since it wasn't my place I didn't have the ease or capability that I desired to do something even close. One time it was Tony & Alba's in our bedroom downstairs with our feet propped up on the bed watching Guess Who, LOL. But it worked. It was wonderful to finally be able to do that for someone else today and have that wonderful, enjoyable conversation to boot and the companionship of knowing that you're with somebody who really cares. Hopefully I will be able to do it for SIG and her sweet little baby boy when they come out to visit. I say when, because I really, really hope they will!

It is a grey overcast day, so before she came I lit as many candles as I could to add ambiance and cheer. I think I had about nine lit, and it worked! As I walked her to her car we noticed it had started sprinkling during lunch, so I came back and the boys and I went walking in the rain. They got to use their Batman and Ninja Turtles umbrellas for the first time, well first time in actual rain, and I enjoyed the feel of the rain on my skin. It started to come down a little more as we walked back and LG went running in the rain ahead of us enjoying every drop as I used his umbrella. There is nothing more satisfying than the feel of a fresh steady rain after many days of beautiful gorgeous sunshine.