The park

Sass, Spyder, and I walked to the park this afternoon. They've been revamping the park for a while, since the new library is being built right beside it. We haven't been over there for a while, and when we went today -- WOW! -- so much had changed!

It was nice before, but they've made it just beautiful!

The library is scheduled to open in mid-December, with the grand opening at the beginning of January.



The city has put six different exercise machines around the perimeter of the lake! How cool is that?!? The children and I had a blast with those. There is also a little walking trail around the pond and a guide to tell you how far you've gone. Twenty laps is 5.5 miles.



They've redone the waterfall that feeds the pond.



The geese are multiplying like mad! Spyder was telling Sass all about the geese.



It was an excellent day.

Just because I like it

Spyder took this photo of Sass today at the library, twirling in the entry.

Pantry Challenge, anyone?

I'm working on a Pantry Challenge at the moment. My refrigerator and freezer are absolutely packed full, so it's time.

And, because I am ME, I ended up going to the grocery store first thing after deciding it was time for a Challenge. We were out of dog food, milk, half and half, and a few other necessaries. Nearly $33 worth of necessaries. Except the Flat Earth garlic and herb chips. They were quite blatantly not necessary.

I'm cleaning out the kitchen too, in preparation for the possible move. Brenda came over today, and she left with four knives, a Pampered Chef Cut-N-Seal, and a strainer. Come and visit, and you'll probably go home with some kitchen utensil or gadget too.

So, back to the Challenge.

On Monday, Skeeter went out to some steakhouse with people with work. I made a yummy corn and potato chowder. Sass and I love it, but Spyder and Skeeter refuse to eat it. Since Skeeter was out, I decided it was the best time to make it.

On Tuesday, we went to Fazoli's, same as always. We did see friends there though, so I'm glad we went.

Last night, I made pizza pops (dough with pizza sauce and cheese inside -- very good!) and a yummy spinach salad. Oh, and bruchetta. Because the pizza pops didn't have enough carbs.

Tonight I had intended to make a bacon and cheddar quiche, but the children were having trouble getting along, and I spent an hour helping them work out the disagreement. (Much wailing over the placement of the furniture on the back deck.)

All of that drama threw the real cooking idea out the window, so we had a cookout instead. Hot dogs and roasted veggies on the grill, and I threw some french fries in the oven. I also made mashed potatoes, just because I wanted them.

Tomorrow should be pizza and movie night, but the children are going to a sleepover.

Woohoooooooooooo!!!

Sorry, just had to get that out.

Anyway, since the children won't be here, I don't know what the dinner plans will be. I'm thinking that pizza won't be involved though.

Purpose

At the moment I'm reading Joe Mackall's Plain Secrets: An Outsider Among the Irish. I'm not quite finished, but I came across a passage this afternoon that was too good to wait.

The author had gone to his Amish friend Samuel to share the death of the author's Uncle Bob. Uncle Bob had been brain damaged due to radiation treatments back in the 1930s.

Because of this, he couldn't read, do simple math, drive a car, marry, or support himself. But he could be everybody's friend, and be the lucky owner of an endless spirit.

"Some doctor just screwed up," I said, feeling angry about a man's damaged life and fresh death.

"Maybe a doctor made a mistake, but God didn't," Samuel said. "God made Uncle Bob that way because everybody who knew him needed him to be exactly the way he was."

What a beautiful sentiment. I hope that we all are the people that our families and friends need us to be.

Spyder had a busy night

The pile of books on Spyder's bed when I went in to wake him this morning.

For equal representation

In honor of Maxim's latest "top 5" list -- the Top 5 Unsexiest Women Alive -- Candy at Candy's Corner has given us the chance to vote for the top 5 unsexiest men!

Scoot over and exercise your voting rights!

Olive Rolls

Several weeks ago, the children and I made a recipe related to our study on ancient Rome. Essentially, it's a crusty yeast bread stuffed intermittently with olives. Unlike many of those "ancient recipes," it was pretty good -- good enough for us to make as part of our regular meals. But being me, I had to tweak the recipe.

I made an olive salad with black olives, green olives, garlic, and a bit of olive oil, all chopped together in a food chopper. The olive salad is stuffed into unbaked bits of dough, about the size of the palm of the hand.

If I'm feeling ambitious, I make the dough using this recipe on Allrecipes. If not, I let Pillsbury do the major work for me and use refrigerated dough instead.

It works best to completely cover the olive salad, then place the roll seam-down on the baking sheet. This is a great recipe for little hands though, as it doesn't really matter if the olive salad spills out a bit.

The result:


Sass did three of the four. Can you guess which one I did? :)

A bit o' redneck fun

My parents have a huge Osage Orange tree in the front yard. And that bad boy puts out a lot of fruit -- massive green grapefruit-sized fruit.


One of the chores at my parents' house is to throw the fruit across the road. Since my dad can't, and my mom doesn't have time, it's been largely neglected. The children and I decided to do that chore while we were there on Saturday.

It's boring work really, just throwing and throwing and more throwing. We always make it into a game though, what we've termed Redneck Bowling. Hey, when you're getting rid of more than 200 of these things, you do what you can to make it less monotonous! And anything is more fun as a game.

We throw the fruit across the road, and usually one of them doesn't get quite all the way across. If one does stop in the road, we try to bowl the fruit across the road to hit the "stuck" one and get it across as well. Points are counted according to how many thrown, and double points for each hit on a "stuck" one. (I never said it was complex!)


Sass couldn't really throw them. They were way too big for her little hands, so she gathered them for Spyder and me.


I won, but only by a small margin, and only because I was able to bowl one out of the road. It sounds easy, but it's kind of tricky, since the fruit isn't perfectly round. The bumpy fruit rarely follows the path that the bowler hopes!

And just for kicks, here is a photo of "across the road."


I'll have to take a photo of it when it's filled with unripened wheat. I think it's most beautiful then.

Coming to you remotely

Due to the wonder that is the internet, today's post is coming to you from my parents house!

My dad is now out of the hospital! He completed the physical therapy and his home again, but at the moment there are many things that he can't do, so he needs to have someone available all the time. We're visiting today so that we're the ones available.

Skeeter also had to fix their computer. Well, truly, it was unfixable. Skeeter worked on it for three days, and it's still not working. So we replaced their computer with one of ours (but . . . shhhh . . . they don't know).

At the moment, Skeeter and Dad are watching Psycho and the children are (in an interesting change of pace) upstairs playing Paperboy on the GameCube.

Oops. I spoke (wrote?) too soon. In the time that it took me to write the previous sentence, Skeeter and the children decided to go out and ride the four-wheeler instead. That's generally the way it is when we're here though -- they spend most of their time outside. I'm glad they can.

Big news!

Oh, yes! Big news, on two fronts!

First, and biggest, I found the camera yesterday! Well, Spyder was the one who recovered it. His little arms are better suited for reaching under the car seats, so I asked him to look thoroughly, and -- tada! -- he found it! I'm so happy and relieved! So later, a few pictures from the Native American Heritage Days.

The other one, not so big, but a personal accomplishment. I finished Zuma! Finished, as in completed every single board on all 12 (plus two extra) levels!

And today, the rain is less motivating. I want to sleep. But that might have something to do with Sass waking me up at 5:30 this morning. I can't sleep though. I have to find the case for Chrysanthemum so that we can return it to the library. And I have bills to pay, since I'm rather fond of having electricity and running water.

Rainy days

I absolutely love rainy days. I'm sure there's some sort of disorder or syndrome associated with that, but I just love them!

I'm more motivated on rainy days, and I'm more satisfied.

This morning I cleaned out my tea cupboard -- completely cleaned it out. I only put back the ones I really love and use, and I still had two shelves of teas! Small shelves, but still . . . two shelves! Now I've sworn to use these before buying more.

All of the ones that I culled were taken to the library to share with my librarian friends. They're always so wonderful to us, so I like to take them little happy surprises anyway. As soon as I find my cookie cutter for the Bat Brownies, I'll take some of those too.

Tomorrow is supposed to be rainy as well, and I intend to stay home all day. I feel the need to make corn and potato chowder and continue cleaning out the kitchen cabinets.

Mmmm. Chowder! And cheesy garlic biscuits!

So, the moving

It's inevitable. We will be moving, most likely sometime within the next two years. The earliest could be summer 2008, and the latest would be summer 2009.

But at any rate, that's only time. It is still inevitable. So all of those "someday" projects have come due.

The first overhaul will be in the master bedroom and bath. The vanity is old and ugly as homemade sin. It has to be torn out and replaced. And the bathroom is so small that I betcha it will have to be custom made. The current vanity is 36 inches long and 15 inches deep. I think I'd prefer to have it a little bit shorter than 36 inches. There's no possible way to increase the depth though, since that's the space available between the door and the wall, and opening the door is kind of important.

My uncle is a carpenter though, so I'll see if he will make it. My sister's boyfriend has already agreed to install it and patch the hole that my lovely, lovely children chipped in the drywall. Lovely children.

I spent today choosing colors. I had to find colors that would complement the bedroom and the hall, so I went with natural greens and browns, not too dark. Next up, choosing the style for the vanity. And convincing my Uncle Kurt that it needs to be done in this century.

Maybe I'll do before and after pictures of this whole experience. This is my first major house undertaking, since I don't think installing the pantry counts.

Yikes!

It's how they play best

Sass and Spyder are up to something. They've been whispering together all afternoon.

The living room floor is covered with bits of cut paper, crayons, and toilet paper. And I've been told that I am forbidden access to Sass's room. Spyder is creating something, and Sass is standing guard outside the door. Spyder has made entrance passes, and I'm not to have one.

I'm not worried though. It's been a cold and rainy day, and I prefer when they're playing together like that.

I am, however, going to clean up all of the abandoned mess in the living room.

The weekend

I've only just slowed down from this weekend. Tonight, I'm looking forward to two things: eating out and sleeping.

Saturday we spent the first part of the day at a company-wide Family Day sponsored by Skeeter's employer. It was held at a local kitschy farm with a pumpkin patch, pony rides, and a huge play area. They also had a little train and gave rides. The children loved that! Skeeter even won a door prize this time, a camp chair. Sass was particularly pleased with that, since she had been aching for one ever since the last Family Day that was for his department. The Family Day was a lot of fun, but I (once again) forgot sunblock for myself, so I was sporting a nice little sunburn by the end of the day.

After the Family Day, we gathered our things and headed to Mom and Dad's house. One of the local state parks nearby sponsored a Halloween carnival, so we took the children. They loved it, of course. Candy was involved! There were lots of games too, and a "haunted trail" which wasn't terribly scary.

After that busy day, we stayed overnight at Mom and Dad's because . . . Sunday was my dad's 65th birthday! He is still in the hospital, in a physical therapy program, but they allowed him a one day "therapeutic pass." He got home at about 8:45 on Sunday morning. The dog was so excited to have him home! Her back feet were scooting back and forth on the floor because her tail was wagging so vigorously!

It was a relatively uneventful day full of visits and food. Dad was supposed to be back at the hospital around 5 pm, in time for his nightly medicines. He ended up going back a bit early though because the power went out. His oxygen machine runs on electricity, and his portable tank was low, so he decided not to take chances and head back to the hospital. He was really tired from the exertion of the day, but he had a great time.

Skeeter and I left after the power went out, but before Dad left for the hospital. Skeeter had to work last night, supposedly from 5 pm Sunday to 5 am Monday, replacing a section on a bridge. Things went wrong all night though, and the crews (and Skeeter) are still out there, at almost 5 pm Monday. Poor Skeeter. I feel so bad for him. He doesn't do well with no sleep, and he's been up for over 24 hours. He still doesn't know what time he'll be done.

The children and I have had a relatively low-key day, although I was up at 4:20 am today. I don't sleep well when Skeeter isn't here. It was an early day, and I'm beginning to wear down. It's been a good day for cleaning out the bedroom though. More on the bedroom redecorating later . . . .

It's all about me.

Another meme, simply because I'm in quite a state over the (still missing) camera.

Shamelessly lifted from Golden Goodness

What was I doing 10 years ago…

I was about three months pregnant with Spyder, and I had just returned from visiting my parents to give them the news. At the time, we lived about 1000 miles away. I have a scar on my arm from that visit. I was leaving my mom's store, carrying a big box, and my arm scraped against a piece of hard plastic. It made a long, deep scratch, which has since turned into a scar. I'd show a photo, but alas, I'd need the camera for that.

What was I doing 5 years ago…

We had just bought our house. In fact, we closed on the house five years ago yesterday! Sass was about 9 months old -- and cute as anything. She was a pumpkin for her first Halloween. Not as striking as Spyder's first costume -- Elvis!

What was I doing 1 year ago…

We had just visited Elmwood Cemetery. I love old cemeteries, and this one was just fabulous. We're hoping to go next week, since the weather isn't beastly hot.

What did I do yesterday…

Hmm. Yesterday was a "stay at home" day. I cleaned out Sass's closet, took some pictures to help with the redecorating, and took our donations to the thrift store. I went to the library in the afternoon, and we went to the YMCA to swim. Oh, and we ate out since we went swimming.

5 snacks I enjoy…

cashews, popcorn, ice cream, M&Ms, clementines

5 things I would do if I had $1,000,000…

Pay taxes. Pay off everything. Travel. Visit the financial planner. Buy a new vehicle for Skeeter.

5 places I would run away to…

Mom & Dad's. Julie's. Lisa's. Seattle. Alaska.

5 bad habits I have…

Procrastination. Impatience. Forgetfulness. Lack of forethought. Staying up far too late.

5 things I like doing…

Reading. Singing. Soapmaking. Attending fairs and festivals.

5 tv shows I like…

Numbers. Heroes. Digging for the Truth. (Josh isn't on it any more though, and I've refused to watch since. I'm sure the new guy is just as good, but, well, you know.) Mr Bean. Arthur.

5 biggest joys...

Family. Friends. Satisfaction. Understanding. Answered prayers.

I'm having a crisis

The children and I had such a great day today! We spent half of the day at Chucalissa Indian Village enjoying the Native American Heritage Days.

The museum staff had set up fantastic, hands-on stations where the children made headbands and necklaces, made pottery, and playing traditional games. We also watched dancers and listened to traditional flute music.

It was a beautiful day, slightly cool in the morning, but warm in the sunshine. I even had the forethought to pack a picnic lunch, so the children and I had our picnic while watching the dancers.

The crisis? I think I've lost my camera!

Ooooh, this is not good. It's going to cost big bucks to replace it, and I normally make cash for stuff like that by eBay sales. Can't exactly make great sales without a camera!

I have a call in to the museum. Maybe, just maybe, someone turned it in.

You might be a redneck if

A few things on my mind

None of them are particularly worthy of a single post, so they're all getting lumped into one.

• Spyder woke up this morning at FIVE THIRTY to throw up, which of course, roused Sass. Skeeter's alarm was going off anyway. So the whole family was up at FIVE THIRTY. I can't stress enough how early FIVE THIRTY is to me anyway. It's even earlier when it comes with the sounds that I heard this morning.
  

• Fortunately, the aforementioned regurgitation was a result of something he ate, so he was fine afterward.
  

• Sass played outside from dawn until we left for the grocery store at, oh, about 9:30. She was not happy that I made her wait until daylight to go out. I had to give her a bath beforehand because she was muddy from head to toe. And after the trip to the grocery, she was out and muddy once again and had to have another bath before art class.
  

• Since we were all up at FIVE THIRTY -- all of us -- my schedule was completely awry. The interviewees should get questions tomorrow morning, assuming that my urchins don't completely disrupt the schedule again. I really should stay up and do them, but, you know, that whole FIVE THIRTY business has really taken it out of me today.

• We're moving, for sure. Not until the end of next year, at the earliest, but we're definitely moving. We won't find out where we're going until then, but the whole idea is beginning to sink in. I went through the closets over the last few days. Looking good! I've gotten rid of absolutely everything that we haven't worn recently. Skeeter still has far too many shirts though. I'll have to sneak a few of those out too. Just working through . . . . I talked with a friend at art class about selling the house, and she gave me some great pointers for painting and colors. One good thing is that everything is cosmetic; no major repairs to be done.

• I'm loving my Zen. Loving it, even more than usual. I've been listening to books (why did it take me so long to realize that I could put audio books on there?), and doing the dishes and cleaning the stove aren't quite as bothersome as they once were.

• I need to make more soap (Christmas is on the way, and I give some away then), and I'm out of my scents. Must make time to go to Maggie's Pharm. I may end up buying a microwave because of the soap. I've never attempted it on the stove. I have heard of "blender soap," but the recipe I was given requires lye, and I'm not sure I'm confident enough to try that.
  

And now that the basics are here, I must go and deal with the mound of clean laundry on the bed. I did three loads this morning! I suppose that FIVE THIRTY is good for something.

Things about me

I was tagged by the Multitasking Mama for this meme. Here are the rules:

1. Link to your tagger and post rules.
   
2. Share 7 facts about yourself, some random and some weird.
3. Tag 7 people at the end of post and list their names.
4. Let them know they were tagged by a comment on their blog.

Seven Definitely Random, Possibly Odd, Things About Me (That I Think I Haven't Shared Before)

1. I am partially deaf in my left ear. Only a small percentage, and I can't even remember what percentage. Most of the time it doesn't bother me. It's the result of a combination of things: a really bad ear infection when I was in college, being an idiot and not going to the doctor as soon as I should have, and just after that, starting a job that required me to wear a earpiece phone. It's also made that ear very sensitive to high range pitches. The "beep, beep" of the register scanner at the Wal-Mart -- so far only at the Wal-Mart -- sometimes hurts so badly that I have to walk away while my things are being scanned. That's one of the (many) reasons that I avoid going there.
   
2. My first job was as a typesetter at a printer's shop. I made $3.35 an hour. And I thought I was living large.
   
3. When I was 17, I knocked the passenger side mirror off of my dad's truck while pulling into one of the parking spaces at the Sonic. The Sonic was one of the places to hang out, and of course, there were loads of people there. I was so embarrassed that I got out, picked up the mirror, threw it in the back of the truck, and drove off. In my defense, it was a 1977 Ford Ranger (that he loved immensely) with a column shift. I didn't drive it often, and it was bigger the car than I was accustomed to driving.
4. I prefer driving a car with a manual transmission. I bought a manual transmission car (a 1982 Toyota Tercel) before I knew how to drive one. My dad found it, declared it a good buy, and I bought it. He drove us off the lot to a low traffic road, and I learned how to drive it. Lawzy, I just Googled it, and this looks exactly like my old car. Same color and all. It was a good little car.
5. I took my first (and so far, only) trip to Disneyworld when I was 27 and pregnant with Spyder. It was loads of fun, and I was constantly surprised at how much I enjoyed it, being 27 with no children, at least none outside the womb.
6. My two favorite words are persnickety and indefatigable.
   
7. I almost went to graduate school in Canada, at the University of Saskatchewan. I had been accepted and had my scholarship and loan things all done, and Skeeter talked me out of it.
   

So there you are, seven more things that you didn't know (and possibly didn't want to know). And to keep this moving, I duly tag:

1. Southern Girl
2. Ramblings from Another Southern Gay Guy
3. The Musings of Another Working Mom
4. Bliss in Bloom
5. Saints and Spinners
6. Froggy Girl Designs
7. You!

End of the interview

I hope you enjoyed the interview!

If you'd like to be interviewed, just leave a comment in this post, and I'll try to come up with a few clever questions for you!

Interview, Part V

Do you know why God decided to place whiskers on womens chins after they give birth?

Oh, we all know the real reason . . . hormones, hormones, hormones. But really, that's a wee bit unfair of Him, don't you think? As if we need something more to be hormonal about?

Baby? Check.
Lack of sleep? Check.
Extra laundry? Check.
Other child who feels as if he doesn't get enough attention any more? Check.
Weird hairs on chin? Check.

Thanks. Thanks loads.

I think it's much kinder to think of those extra bits as reminders. I know that I'm terrible about taking little or no time to focus on me as a person, not as Mom-only. It's been all-child, all the time for me lately, and it's taking a toll on me.

I think I'll take the time to check for unsightly chin hairs tonight, lest I end up looking like a grandmother before I should.

Oh, how I've missed you

My dear Internetians, I've missed you all!

Last week's posts were a bit -- ahem -- sparse. Let's just chalk it up to fall and school being in full force. October is always a busy month, but this one seems more busy than usual.

Quite honestly, I don't remember Monday or Tuesday at all. On one of those days, we spent a few hours at the hospital, but I can't remember which day. Oh, yes. It was Monday. I had intended to get cash at the bank, and I was thwarted because of Columbus Day.

We began our conversational German class last week, which made our already-full Wednesday even more so. German in the morning; lunch on the run; art in the afternoon. Oh, and German and art are both about 30 minutes from my house -- in opposite directions -- which added a total of over an hour (with traffic) to the day. I hate being in the car so much.

Thursday was catch-up-on-errands day. My car was 1500 miles overdue for an oil change, so the children and I took the car to the dealership to have it done. Waiting. Afterward, we took it to the car wash and detail place to have it cleaned properly. More waiting. Lots of waiting on this one -- nearly two hours. After the car wash, the grocery store, with the children who were tired of the waiting thing and decided to chase each other around the store. I had spent very nearly the whole day attempting to corral the children, and I was not a happy mama by the evening.

On Friday, we went to see the Blue Dog exhibit at the Dixon Gallery, and, oh, it was wonderful! There wasn't a docent available for us, but I think I'm glad. I prefer just wandering around to whatever appeals to me. I was most drawn to the hurricane pieces, which surprised me a bit, since I do adore those whimsical Blue Dogs.

Saturday was a go-go-go day. I did storytime at the bookstore in the morning (Guess How Much I Love You -- one of my favorites). The craft was a messy one, with glue and sequins and feathers, so clean up took a bit longer than usual. After work, I ran home to get Skeeter and Spyder (who had both had Scouts that morning), then we went to Big Lots and back to the bookstore. One of Skeeter's former co-workers is in the hospital, so I was finishing a little basket of goodies for him (and his wife, of course). Skeeter went into the hospital so he could visit a bit and take the basket while the children and I waited in the parking lot. Sass had fallen asleep on the ride, and they've had enough of hospitals anyway.

It was a nice day, so we found a shady spot to park. We all had a snack, and I read a bit from Whittington. (Only about six chapters, but Spyder has since finished it and declared that I should read it aloud anyway. Must be good.)

After the hospital visit, we had dinner and a movie with The Michael and a couple of his friends. They and Skeeter saw Stardust, and I took the children to see Ratatouille. And even though we were completely full of Chinese food, we still had popcorn and drinks. And sneaked candy. It's tradition with The Michael, to sneak the candy. I stopped at Walgreen's on the way to the Chinese place, just so that we would have candy to sneak with The Michael. It totally cracks me up, this tradition. We buy popcorn, drinks, occasionally nachos or a hot dog, but if we're with The Michael, we must bring candy. What can I say? He's a bad influence. :o)

Saturday was a very long day for me. Sass and I left for the bookstore at ten minutes to 9 that morning, and we weren't home again -- except for the brief pit stop to pick up the boys -- until almost 10:45 that night. Fun, but long and tiring. I didn't realize how tired I was until I walked in the door. Even Spyder, who usually reads before going to sleep, was snoring by the time I had finished getting ready for bed.

Today we had church, then we went to see my dad at the hospital afterward. He's finally been moved to the smaller hospital closer to home! Excellent for them, but a bit less convenient for me. He was in such good spirits to be back home though, near the people he knows. We were there almost all day, but not all at the hospital. We went to their house, played with the dog and cat a bit, and let the children wander around the yard and the field. They love doing that.

Dad is supposed to start physical therapy tomorrow, but he has had a lot of fluid build up, so I think they're going to work on getting that off first. They had given him something to help with that as we were leaving tonight. Mom called when we were almost home and said that it was making him feel better already.

And now I believe I've gotten caught up with everything. I think. Tune in tomorrow when I answer Piper's last interview question and moan about what to make for dinner while wondering how to manage reading the 187 posts that have piled up in my Google Reader! :o)

It's completely altruistic

Right now, I can tell that my children don't watch television very much. They're enjoying a rare hour with the television, specifically on a (new to me) channel called qubo.

Sass just came running to me and said, "Oh, Mama! These commercials are so good! They really help me know what to put on my Christmas list!"

sigh

Interview, Part IV

Did you always want to be a homeschooler? Were you scared of that responsibility when you decided to go for it?

I never really gave it serious thought until Spyder was ready to enter kindergarten. Skeeter and I were in debate over what to do -- homeschool? public school? private school? -- so I decided to call the schools we were considering to learn about the structure and what they'd be teaching.

I called four schools. The answers from all of them were pretty much the same -- learning letters, numbers, colors. Everything that the teachers mentioned was something that Spyder could do already. He would have been bored out of his mind. And anyone who knows him already knows that Spyder + bored = trouble.

So we decided to homeschool for kindergarten. After some initial bumps, the kindergarten year worked out well. By the time first grade rolled around, I gave Spyder the option, going to school or continue homeschooling. He chose homeschooling, and we've been going strong ever since.

We have a long "review" discussion over several days at the end of every year, just to make sure that he's still getting what he wants and needs from his education. This year, he strongly considered going to school, so we went to check out what was offered. Ultimately, he decided that the school wasn't what he wanted and decided to continue with homeschooling, with us implementing a few changes that he requested.

Some days it does overwhelm me, both the responsibility and the day-to-day tasks. What parent hasn't felt that way at one time or another? And yes, some days I long for time alone, for time to complete projects or tasks uninterrupted. But for now, homeschooling is the best thing for my children, so I give the time to them gladly. As with most things, it's a work in progress.

Interview, Part III

Pull out all the stops here, and make us less than extraordinary Moms feel more normal. What was your most embarrassing "Mom moment"?

First of all, lets clear up a little misconception: there's nothing extraordinary about me! (All of my real life friends are hooting with laughter and nodding their heads at that.) I appreciate the confidence in my parenting abilities though. :)

There are so many of these that it's hard to pick one.

I asked Skeeter, and he said, "The Coke thing. Definitely." Bless my soul. There have been so many since then that I didn't even think of that one. It was a doozy though.

When Spyder was little, we wandered -- thrift stores, malls, Target. It didn't really matter where; we just liked wandering. One of our places to wander was Goldsmith's, a now-defunct department store that was bought out by Macy's. On this particular trip, Spyder was riding in his stroller, and I had the diaper bag and a can of soda in the little basket underneath.

Spyder wanted to go through two of the columns in the stroller ("like a tunnel, Mama!"), and the stroller got stuck, of course. In my efforts to get the stroller wheels unstuck, I forgot about the open can of soda in the basket. The wiggling overturned it, and it spilled into the basket and onto the floor. When I finally got the stroller out, there was a nice little brown pool on the beige carpet. Spyder immediately started saying (much more loudly than warranted), "MAMA! YOU SPILLED THE COKE ALL OVER! MAMA!! YOU SPILLED!"

Any effort to quiet him only made it that much worse. I had been trying to make my way (discreetly) to the counter to ask for paper towels. That was ruined, of course, because Spyder thought I was trying to make a getaway without cleaning the spill. "MAMA!! YOU SPILLED! YOU HAVE TO CLEAN IT UP! YOU SPILLED THE COKE, MAMA!"

You never notice department store acoustics until there's a two year old testing them out. A very vocal and emphatic two year old.

Other shoppers were looking at me as if I was a rodent who got caught nipping into the Gouda.

I couldn't leave to get the paper towels because my little angel wouldn't stand for it, but I had to clean it up. What else was there to do? I stood there for a moment, frozen with embarrassment. I thought I would buy a little time by fussing with the soda that had spilled into the basket. The diaper bag was fabric and had absorbed most of it. It was as I was pawing through the diaper bag that I realized I had towels, of a sort.

We used cloth diapers most of the time, and I had several of those in the diaper bag. Towels. Sort of. I grabbed a couple of those to clean the mess, and said, "It's okay, honey. I'm cleaning the Coke right now."

You'd think that would have made it all okay, right? No. Spyder turned around to look, and he was completely, utterly freaked out that I was using his diaper to clean the spill.

"Cleaning the Coke, Mama? THAT'S MY DIAPER, MAMA! YOU CAN'T USE MY DIAPER TO CLEAN THE COKE!"

As if those diapers hadn't seen much worse.

And all of the other shoppers were still staring. I can't remember if any of them were close enough to actually see that I was using a clean cloth diaper rather than a previously used one. Or one that I had taken off of his little behind at that moment.

Cleaning the carpet of the department store with Spyder bellowing, "MAMA! THAT'S MY DIAPER!" under scrutiny of the other shoppers is not my idea of a good time. And, oh yes, there was much staring.

I cleaned up most of it, threw the wet diapers into the diaper bag, scooted over to the cashier to tell her about the spill (as if she didn't already know) and let her know that it probably needed some spot cleaner. After that, I booked it out of there as fast as I could.

Was that the end? Noooooo. Spyder had to tell everyone that "Mama spilled the Coke." Everyone. The people at Target; the next door neighbor; the person in the elevator . . . . He told everyone he met that I had spilled the Coke. And of course, he didn't leave it there. He also had to mention that I used his diaper to clean the Coke, as if it was the most humiliating thing he'd ever endured. I found myself having to explain what happened to everyone, nicely reliving my embarrassment each time, thankyouverymuch.

We attempted to go back to Goldsmith's only once, several months afterward. I'm sure you know why it was only once. I had thought that -- perhaps, just perhaps -- Spyder wouldn't think about my spill. Oh, how wrong was I. I found myself hearing, "MAMA! THIS IS WHERE YOU SPILLED THE COKE!"

I only needed to hear that once before I turned around and left. At least that time I didn't have to worry about cleaning up first.

Interview, Part II

If you had one week just for Noodle, with no obligations or sense of urgency, no responsibilities, no kids, no husband, and plenty of spending money, what would you do to feel most alive and sublime?

This was actually Piper's question #5, but it's an easy-peasy one for me, so I moved it up in the rankings. :)

No little urchins, unlimited funds? I'd grab Skeeter and hop a plane to England. I know that Skeeter wasn't really part of the equation, but he's my best friend, and I wouldn't want to go without him. And I'd really want more than a week, but I'll take what I can get.

Skeeter and I spent about two and a half weeks in England on our honeymoon (ACK! almost 12 years ago!), and we had an incredible time.

We spent time wandering at outdoor markets, on lonely little roads, through ancient ruins and in old castles and cathedrals.

We laughed at the hotel that turned off the heat during the day when they believed everyone should be out.

We met interesting and fun people in the pubs who were enamored with my Southern accent and kept coming to our table and saying, "Talk to me, girl!"

We hung out with the Royal Shakespeare Company after a performance one night, and we got invited back for another time.

In all of my travels, that particular trip stands out as the one where I really did feel most alive and at peace with myself. And I'd love to go back and make more memories.

The Pile Shirt

As promised, a picture of Skeeter's black-dotted Pile Shirt, complete with nerdly pocket items. Unfortunately, you can't see the interior pocket with its pencils and notebook.


There's just nothing that says "nerd" like a button down striped shirt with an overflowing pocket.

Interview, Part I

How long have you been blogging, and what was your inspiration to start your blog?

I've been blogging here for almost two years, since December of 2005. I started blogging about seven months before that though, on a blog that I deleted when I started this one.

A friend unintentionally introduced me to the idea when she started a blog chronicling the planning for her son's bar mitzvah. I started one a few months after I first read hers. That particular blog was very hidden, as much as I could make it, and I didn't tell anyone. It was on Blogspot as well, and I found that many times I would draft something without ever posting it. Not that it mattered anyway, since no one knew.

In November 2005, I was part of a group discussion on blogs and blogging in general. I mentioned (offhand, very late, in a foggy state) that I had been blogging. Because I know Julie all too well, I knew she'd search for it. And may or may not find it. Not that it mattered really, but it was much more introspective and personal. I ended up deleting that blog. There was no audience, and I had no real plan for it, so it wasn't all that fantastic anyway.

But at any rate, I deleted that one and started anew, this time with the idea that I would tell a few people about it, and there would be other people reading. Theoretically, anyway.

I use my blog as a journal of sorts, to remind myself where I was at that point. Sometimes I use it to chronicle our homeschooling activities or to share something with others. But mostly it's just for me to ramble on about our days.

Diane never knew that her blog about Max's bar mitzvah would inspire my own rambling blog. I'm not even sure that she knows now, but I'm glad that she started hers. It's opened my eyes -- to my own seriously diminished writing skills, to excellent ideas from others, and to meeting people whom I would have never met otherwise.

Every day is an adventure

Oh my gosh, y'all. My Skeeter is so unintentionally funny.

I just got a call from him. He started the conversation with, "You'll never guess what's going on."

Of course, my mind immediately went to any number of disasters that could occur on site. "Is it bad?" I said.

"Oh, no. No. Well, I guess it depends. There's a film crew here today," he said. "They're following me around, making some sort of training video."

I laughed. "They're what?"

"They're following me around, filming everything. I'm just trying to get my work done, and they keep saying things like, "That was good. Can you do it again, and move your chair back about four inches?" and they're keeping the camera about two feet from my face all the time. You know how I feel about my personal space. I just ditched them for a few minutes, and I thought I'd call you. I'm on the high line."

I won't even pretend I wasn't laughing about this. I pulled myself together and asked what any wife will ask when she finds out that her husband is the subject of some work video. "So what did you wear today? Do you at least look decent?"

"Well, I'm wearing The Pile Shirt. And I've got all the usual stuff in my pocket."

At that point, I didn't even pretend that I wasn't laughing.

Now this requires some explanation.

The Pile Shirt is a very nerdly type shirt that is one of Skeeter's favorites. The Pile Shirt name came from when he was inspecting piles out on a site, and oil or something splattered across him. The Pile Shirt is a blue striped shirt, similar to blue ticking, but after the pile incident, it's blue striped with black spots. I don't fuss about what he wears mostly, simply because of the type of work he does, so I let him keep it in his closet.

The pocket requires a paragraph all to itself. Skeeter keeps pens, pencils, a field log, and glasses (or sunglasses, depending on which he's wearing) in his pocket. Those are all in the shirt pocket. He has the benefit of two pockets -- one on the shirt and one on his neon vest. The vest pocket also contains a few pens and pencils and a different field log. It has a loop for his work cell phone. The left half of his clothing is so weighed down with stuff that it's pulled lower than the rest of his shirt.

When he gets home today, I'll take a photo. I don't think the explanation does it justice.

So my Skeeter is out there today, in The Pile Shirt, with cameras two feet from his face, having to do all of his tasks twice. I'm sure he's having a grand old day.

But it made for a good laugh.

Dustbunnies and tumbleweeds

I've been so focused on my dad and keeping some sort of normal life that my mind is completely blank. Completely.

When I sit down to do some sort of post, I feel intimidated by the blank screen. And my mind keeps going to all of the undone things hanging over me. But darling Piper had kindly offered me a bit of fodder for the ol' blog! She sent me a few interview questions today! I'm stealing an idea from Kaleigh, and I'll be answering those questions over the next few days.

Today I spent half of the day on the phone and in front of the computer getting field trips scheduled for the homeschool group. Even that was in vain, since I could only get a firm date for one of them, and I'm waiting on callbacks for four more. Oh, and I remembered two hours too late that today was park day, and we could have been playing at the park with the homeschool group! These are my days lately, remembering the important stuff way too late, if at all.

On a happy note, my dad came out of his pacemaker surgery quite well. I can't ever get to the hospital until 8 pm or so because Skeeter's been working late -- crazy deadlines and contractors! -- and I have to make and serve dinner and such. Mom said she wanted Dad to get to sleep early, so I decided to wait on going out until tomorrow. The Michael did go though, after work, and he reports that Dad is slightly uncomfortable, and quite grumpy. Grumpy for him is a good sign, since that means he's feeling well enough to care where he is. He misses his couch. And his dog Molly.

And so recovery begins, and I hope that our days begin recovery as well.

Tomorrow

My dad is scheduled to have his pacemaker surgery tomorrow, the surgery that was supposed to be done three weeks ago and caused all of the recent troubles.

The doctor determined that it was far too dangerous to give Dad the anesthesia, so he'll be doing the surgery under local anesthesia only. That astounds me. They'll be working on his heart! Under local anesthesia!

At any rate, please take a moment in the morning and send up a prayer for my dad if you can. And thanks to everyone for the many prayers on his behalf. We all appreciate it.

Sass the opera star

Sass loves music and singing more than just about anything. If she's content, she's singing.

Like most children, she loves playing in the bath. Give her few little bath toys, and between the toys and the bathroom acoustics, she's happy for hours. She is one of those children who will take a bath at 2 pm just because she can. (Hey, if two inches of water will make her happy, who am I to stand in her way?) And in the bath -- at whatever time -- she sings, really belting it out and giving the performance of her life.

Tonight we were treated with her rendition of Queen's Somebody to Love during her bath. Over and over. And over.

And let me tell you, my girl can do some amazing vocals.

Persuasion

Whatalotofstuff commented on my recent television post that her favorite Jane Austen film is Sense and Sensibility. As I mentioned before, I watch Pride and Prejudice while folding laundry, but it hasn't always been that way.

While I do love the all of the Austen works I've read, my personal favorite is Persuasion. That was the one I watched until I broke the DVD. I haven't replaced it yet, although I think I'll need to get it soon. I miss it.

Persuasion is not as well known as some of the books, but it's hands-down my favorite. The themes of the book are very similar to her more widely read works, but the characters are more physically and emotionally mature.

Persuasion feels more like a true love story rather than the first blush of romance. These more mature characters have made mistakes, and they have come to terms with the result of those mistakes. It feels so much more realistic than Austen's other novels. I often think that Anne is a deeper, more complete study of Elizabeth Bennet's friend Charlotte, although I don't know that I could defend that position from a literary view.

At any rate, check out this lesser known little gem. The book can be read in its entirety online at this site. If you find the language of the book a little too stuffy, the film is still well worth watching.

Dress up, girl power style

SASS: (wearing a jester hat on her head) Guess what I am?

ME: Mmmm. I don't know. A clown?

SASS: Close! I'm a boy.

The Old Bridge

Busy weekend

The weekend was absolutely full.

On Friday, my sister came into town to give my mom a break at the hospital. Mom had to go home to do end of the month paperwork at her store, and Lisa came to stay at the hospital with dad. She deserves huge kudos for that. I'm pretty sure she was going stir-crazy within the first 24 hours.

That Company of Skeeter's had a Family Day on Saturday at one of the local state parks. Along with the usual cookout fare, there was moon bounce, a dunk tank, and a bungee-type bounce. Loads of fun! The organizer also got water guns and kites for everyone, and that was a tremendous success! The weather was perfect -- sunny, but not too hot -- and my children had a blast running around. Heck, Skeeter and I had a great time with those water guns.

Afterward, we stopped by the hospital to see Dad. Sass and Spyder brought their treat bags from the Family Day, and Dad decided to wear the little hat. It was so nice to see him in such good spirits, especially after everything he's been through.

After seeing Dad, we went directly to the church to take food for a party on Sunday night. We were there for almost an hour and a half, arranging food in the refrigerators and cleaning the little spills we had made. (Large aluminum pans + baked beans = lots of little spills.)

By the time we got home at almost 7, everyone was exhausted. I'd love to say that we all stayed in and had a relaxing evening, but no.

Sass and I still had to go out to buy tennis shoes for Awana, so she and I headed out to Target, where she tried on every pair of shoes in the store. Yes, that's an exaggeration, but not by much. After we taking far too long on that shopping expedition, I had to go to the grocery store since we were out of important things like coffee and milk. And chicken. The chicken wasn't an issue for me, but Skeeter is determined to be a lifelong carnivore.

I finally was in for the evening at about 10:30, and Skeeter and I sat down to watch Bionic Woman. The premiere episode felt like it was all setup for the series, so I was unimpressed. It seems to have potential though. We'll see.

Now I need to pass Bionic Woman to Michael so he can see it. Poor Michael is going to be cable free since he's getting rid of Comcast (a division of hell), and I suppose it's up to me to keep him current on the television shows.

I was supposed to go to Michael's new apartment and help him unpack today, but his air conditioner has issues -- non-working issues. We decided it might be better to give it a try when we wouldn't be roasting inside the new apartment. Eau de sweat is not a good aroma for the new place.

So instead of working at Michael's, Skeeter and I took the urchins to swim at the Y. We haven't been since Dad was admitted to the hospital, so it was a good escape to be able to go again. I sat in the spa pool for a bit, and it was wonderfully relaxing. Probably a little too relaxing, since afterward I only wanted to lie down and nap.

A nap was out of the question though, since it was time for Awana. We ran home to change into real clothes, and the we were on the way to Awana. The party was afterward, so we didn't leave the church until just after 8:30, an hour later than usual.

The children went to bed almost as soon as we got home. I should have. Instead, I decided to do the dishes and listen to the last bit of my audio book while Skeeter did something for work that had to be done before tomorrow morning. I didn't even try to figure out what it was. His work confuses me most of the time.

Despite the busyness, it really was a good weekend, and an excellent way to move out of September and into October.

Skeeter and me and the TV

Most people don't believe me when I say I don't watch television. But I don't. It's just not something I do. We watch television series on DVD and occasionally I'll turn on the television while I'm folding laundry. I'll usually put in a movie or a book on CD instead of random television though. Pride and Prejudice is usually my laundry-folding choice. Because I'm all cool like that.

Skeeter is just the opposite. He loves to sit down and "flip channels" just because he can. Nothing but fluff and crap, and he'll still flip for more than an hour. I don't get it.

This week, for the first time in more than 8 years, I sat down to watch prime time television. Really!

Skeeter and I watched the premiere episode of Chuck. My reaction -- "eh." It wasn't good enough for an action show, and it wasn't funny enough for a sitcom. Maybe it will get better once the people making it figure which they want it to be. I don't know that I'll be tuning in to find out though.

We also watched the season premiere of Heroes. We just finished watching Season 1 on DVD a few weeks ago. It seems to be starting like the first season did -- lots of set up before you get to the main story line -- so I don't know how I feel about it yet.

We attempted to watch Journeyman, but children interrupted, and we only were able to watch the first 15 minutes or so. Skeeter had set it to record though, so we'll attempt that again. I'm intrigued by the whole premise.

Skeeter has this nifty TIVO-like contraption in his computer so he can record what's on television. I had him record the premiere of Bionic Woman last night since I wanted to go visit Dad at the hospital. The Michael and I discussed that at the hospital, and he told me that he is dumping cable, so he's requested that Skeeter record Dr Who.

I'm somewhat concerned about this whole recording-then-watching thing for us though. It's only been a week, and already I'm behind by two episodes.

Quote

The tragedy of man is not that he cannot find happiness, but that he looks for it in the wrong places. Because the desires of man are boundless, no particular good, whether outside himself or in himself, can perfectly satisfy him.

- from Thomas Aquinas' "My Way of Life"

Rockin'!

Susan at Pyles of Clutter has given me the Rockin' Girl Blogger award! I haven't been rockin' in years, so I feel especially flattered!

Before I name my list of rockin' ladies, I'll encourage you to check out Susan's site. Make especially sure to check out the photos of Chile, taken when she went to pick up her son from his mission trip. Very cool!

And so, the list (in no particular order):

1. Piper at Bliss in Bloom, a single working mom (with two super-cute boys) who has a wonderful enthusiasm for living life to its fullest!

2. Julie at Multitasking Mama, one of my dearest friends, who always has more plates in the air than I could manage!

3. Alkelda at Saints and Spinners, a clever lady who makes up some of the wittiest songs and stories I've read! Waiting (somewhat impatiently) for her to produce a CD!

4. Kaleigh at Musings of Another Working Mom, truly a cool and rockin' mom who has two awesome children.

5. Mika at Froggy Girl Designs, crafty, thrifty mom of four boys! I don't know how she has time to be crafty, but I bought one of her CD holders, and it's super cute!

Play along as you wish, but make sure you credit the originator, Roberta Ferguson. The code for the button is in the comments in Roberta's post, but I couldn't get it to work. Perhaps someone can have sympathy on a less technologically savvy girl.

Happy birthday, Julie!

An enthusiastic happy birthday to my dear friend Julie! We've been friends for (gasp!) 11 years now, since we worked in a bookstore together. We don't live in the same town any more, or even in the same region of the country -- utterly my fault, since Skeeter and I were the ones who moved away.

Our schedules don't coincide at all, not even for phone calls, so we don't talk very often. We seem to have moved into that type of long-time friendship that doesn't require daily contact. When we do talk, it feels like we just pick up where we left off. It's wonderful!

Happy birthday, Julie!

Happy birthday, Michael!

A huge birthday shout to The Michael! His birthday wasn't celebrated in high style as it normally is. I was at the hospital with dad. He's moving apartments next week, so he spent the day packing. I saw him very briefly, when I picked up a load of stuff to take to the thrift store for him.

I am told that he intended to spend the evening with friends at his favorite restaurant, a local place with great margaritas. I hope it was excellent!

Happy birthday, Michael!

Learning a foreign language

Sass, Spyder, and I are all learning German this year. We start a homeschool co-op for conversational German in just a couple of weeks. I took three years of it in college, but I haven't used it since, well, college, so I don't remember very much.

I've been coveting the Rosetta Stone German program. Spyder and I used the free download, and it was really, really good. We both loved it, but it's very expensive, so I have to save up for it. I've been looking for other alternatives, but I hadn't had much success until today.

Today I heard about a new site, Mango, via Dumb Little Man. I only signed up today, but it looks promising. And the best part? It's free!

It doesn't look as comprehensive as what I want or need, but it does look like a good supplement to a language study.

Happy learning!

A Year Without "Made in China"

I've gotten away from posting reviews of my recent reads, partly because I've been reading more fluff than I want to admit, and partly because I've been retreating into old favorites.

I picked up A Year Without "Made in China" last month while Skeeter was out of town, but I didn't finish it until early last week.

Most people will probably find it surprising, but it was a very easy read. Not exactly what I was hoping for, but good all the same.

A Year Without "Made in China" chronicles a year in the life of the Bongiorni family, one in which they vow not to purchase items made in China. Any parent will sympathize with the author in her troubles with finding toys and shoes for her children without breaking the "no China" rule. And any parent will laugh in reading her sneaky ways of allowing China products into the house to keep the peace. After all, they can accept gifts made in China . . . .

The book is written very much as a chronicle of the family's life, without much digression into global economics. I was actually hoping for a bit more statistical and economic information, but I know that I'm a bit odd in that respect. Spyder is reading it at the moment, and the writing style is easy for him to follow and enjoy. In my bookstore, it was cataloged in the business section, but truly, it's more of a biography.

When I was reading it, Spyder was a bit concerned that I might want to join in this whole "no China" thing. I reassured him that I wasn't planning on it, but the book did make me more aware of what I'm buying and how it got there.

It's not all gloom and doom

Quick update on my dad:

Monday was bad. Badbadbad. He declined rapidly, all day, and the doctors had us gather the family members. I sobbed so much and so hard that my face hurt -- my jaws were sore from clenching them so much; my teeth hurt; my head felt like it was going to explode. My aunt (his only surviving sibling) had a panic attack that night in the waiting room, chills and throwing up so much that we had to take her to the ER.

Tuesday, his decline halted. *poof* Just like that. He was stable and able to communicate all day, as much as possible with charades and eye movements, anyway. It was a lot of guesswork on our part. Toward the afternoon, he had something important to tell us. No one could figure out what it was and it took ages. What was so all important? He couldn't see the television. Oh yeah, that's my daddy!

Wednesday he was stable. Same as Tuesday, but a bit of pain and definitely tired. Whenever I went in, I only stayed a moment, just long enough for him to know I was there, then I left to let him get as much rest as possible.

I haven't been this morning yet. I'll go a bit later, once I do a bit of neglected housework and the children do their schoolwork. Dad is definitely feeling more himself though. He asked for a Coke first thing, then he asked for Skeeter's coffee. :)

They're taking him off the ventilator today, and they're taking the internal blood pressure monitor out. It's still touch-and-go, but it's not as precarious as it was earlier this week.

Prayers work wonders! Again, thank you all so much for the prayers said on his behalf.

More and more

First, my dad is doing about the same. He is still critical, still on a ventilator. The nurses are encouraged and are encouraging us, but no one is sure of what is going to happen.

To add to the already high stress level, my Memaw had a wreck this morning on the way to church. She's Lutheran, and being Lutheran in the rural South isn't convenient. She drives an hour each way to attend services on Sunday morning. She's also 83, with bad hearing and bad eyesight. We've been telling her for the last few years that she doesn't need to drive any more, but she's stubborn, and she drives anyway. To her credit, she is as safe as possible when she drives -- she never drives at night and she only drives around her very small town, with the exception of church on Sunday morning.

So this morning, she totaled her car, and she was the at-fault driver. Thankfully, the driver of the other car wasn't hurt at all. The ambulance took her to the ER, and she had no broken bones. As far as we know, she's okay, but my aunt is staying with her tonight to make sure that she doesn't have any internal injuries that they didn't detect.

In an interesting bit of irony, my mom, aunt, and uncles had already decided that they were going to take Memaw's car away at the end of October. Maybe this is a blessing and she'll realize that it's for the best because I know she would have argued against it before this.

Thanks so much for all of your thoughts and prayers.

Dad update

Dad is doing a bit better than yesterday, although he hasn't improved much. He is in the intensive care unit, and he's still on a respirator. On Friday, his heart rate was extremely high, and his blood pressure was extremely low. Today both his heart rate and blood pressure are more normal and holding pretty steady.

He is still unconscious, but they're no longer sedating him. He was aware of us when we went in to see him, and he was trying to wake up. They have him tied down though, so he won't pull the tubes and wires out. They are slowly weaning him off of some of the medicines (specifically, the one that was helping keep his blood pressure up), and after he can hold his own with the blood pressure, they'll see whether he can breathe on his own.

The doctors were telling us Friday that it would take a miracle for him to pull through. Today they said it's still grim, but they were pleased with the progress he was making. They're not even talking about doing the surgery he initially went in for, although it will have to be done before he can leave.

Thanks so much for your your prayers.

Quick update on my dad

They weren't able to do the surgery this morning. They gave him the anesthesia and his blood pressure plummeted. They did . . . something . . . that's supposed to help bring it up, and they're going to attempt the surgery again tomorrow. They moved dad to ICU, then to a transitional room. I know nothing beyond that.

I'm going to go sit with him a little bit later. My mom has to go home (2 hours away) to do payroll this evening, so I will go to be with him while she's gone.

Skeeter had to write a nasty letter to one of his contractors yesterday, and he's dealing with the fallout today. He's happy to come home and keep the children while I go.

Thanks to everyone for your prayers.

Update on the microwave (or lack thereof)

I love the huge amount of space that is now open since the microwave is missing. My kitchen is quite small, and the huge microwave took up one of my two food prep areas. I've since moved the coffee pot and teapot to that area, so the corner where I do most of my prep is now clear except for the crock of serving spoons and spatulas. I actually had to room to use the crock pot today -- without moving the coffee pot out of the way!

I had a brief moment of uncertainty this morning when I realized that I couldn't reheat the pancakes I'd made and frozen a couple of days ago. Ultimately I put them in the skillet again to reheat, and it worked just fine.

Skeeter has decided that he'll go along with my "crazy idea" for the moment, but only because he thinks I'll give in soon enough.

And the people who know me in real life are laughing like mad. They all remember my stubborn streak and know I'll never cede.

My dear old dad

My dad is having his pacemaker replaced tomorrow. He's had it for just over 10 years, and it's been giving him problem after problem since March.

He and my mom had to miss this big family vacation in July because he was in the hospital with pacemaker issues. In fact, he's spent about six weeks in the hospital so far this year (not counting today's admittance), and every moment can be traced back to pacemaker troubles.

Tomorrow's surgery isn't supposed to be a big deal at all, but I would appreciate any prayers on his behalf.

Death of an appliance

My microwave has waved its last. I'm somewhat sad about it, but only in the sentimental aspect. Skeeter seems to be grieving much more than I.

I got the microwave, a huge Tappan, in the fall of 1992. My roommates and I were seniors that year, so we all moved into the campus apartments. My mom bought the microwave for us as a "happy senior year" gift, and believe me -- we used it.

I'm quite astonished that it lasted this long. Between rowdy college students and rowdy children, it hasn't exactly been treated gently.

Skeeter is grieving because I'm not rushing out to buy another one. I've thought (more than once) about getting rid of it before now, but I haven't been brave enough for that. But now that I don't have a choice, I'm just going to see what happens.

It actually stopped working on Sunday, and I've been thinking about the appliance itself and how we use it. With the single exception of popcorn, everything we use the microwave for is just to save time. I can't see it as a necessity. I even made "Easy Mac" on the stove today! (Hey, it was in the pantry, and I didn't want to (a) throw it out, or (b) buy a new microwave just to make it. And it tasted just fine.)

Now I need to practice making popcorn on the stove. It's been a long time, and I know there will be errors at the beginning.

Happy Birthday, Skeeter!

It was a good day for a birthday.

Yes, yes, it's my dear Skeeter's birthday today. Sundays are always such a difficult day for birthdays. It's just such a busy day for us, and it always seems as if Sunday belongs to the church rather than us.

It was that way today. Skeeter worked in children's church; I worked in the nursery (although I did sneak and listen to about half of the sermon).

Skeeter decided to have lunch at a little Mexican place that we haven't tried in a while. It was good, and they gave him a free margarita since Sass announced that it was his birthday. They took a picture of him for the birthday wall too. In a big ol' sombrero. Funny!

The afternoon consisted of Skeeter playing around on his computer and me folding clothes and baking. We did go get new safety glasses for Skeeter though. He had a visit to the eye doctor on Friday afternoon, and he has a new prescription.

Tonight was the first official night of Awana, and it looks like Skeeter is going to be working with the 3rd and 4th grade boys. He hadn't planned to work Awana this year, but the older boys leader was a little bit overwhelmed.

I baked brownie birthday cookies instead of a cake. Skeeter loves brownies, so I opted for those instead of the messy cake. Tonight after Awana, Sass and Spyder set up a little birthday party for him. It was really cute. They set up the little tables and put all sorts of snacks and drinks out, complete with stuffed animal decorations. They made a birthday banner, and they insisted that the three of us hide and jump out when he came in the room.


One of Skeeter's gifts was an all-in-one game set, and Spyder and Skeeter played a few games of checkers (their favorite) and a game of chess.


Sass spent the evening coloring pictures for Skeeter to hang on his walls at work. In her pink bow and "Indian princess" bead headband and princess nightgown.


I had intended to take a photo of the brownie cookies, but alas, they're gone. Not an unexpected development, but I wasn't anticipating it quite this soon.

It's pear time again!

My next door neighbor has a fantastic pear tree, absolutely loaded with fruit. She's just wonderful about letting us harvest from her tree.


I generally don't let them pick the fruit until I start seeing some on the ground around the tree, and we picked for the first time this week.

The top of the tree is still loaded with fruit, so next we'll have to drag out the ladder. I refuse to climb it, but Spyder is part monkey, so he's thrilled to have the opportunity to climb around a tree legitimately.


We had a big storm a few weeks ago that knocked down part of one of our trees, and obviously it got the pear tree too. The fruit is still plentiful and yummy though.

I found a few excellent recipes last year, so I think I'll try to dig them out again.

Skeeter and That Company

Skeeter started a new job at the beginning of July. He had been a consultant at That Company for about 8 months, and they eventually decided to hire him instead of using a middle man.

Neither one of us realized it at the time, but apparently That Company is a Big Deal. Quite truthfully, I had never heard of it before Skeeter started his consulting gig. But considering how some of the people in his profession act when they find out his employer, it must be a Big Deal. And hey, it's now a Big Deal to me too, since it pays the bills and it got him a nice little discount on my new car.

On Monday when we went to the fair, Skeeter was wearing a baseball cap with the logo for That Company. A young woman noticed the hat and stopped him just after we walked in the entrance, asking, "Hey, do you work for That Company?"

Skeeter said yes, and the woman asked question after question about how to get a job with That Company. That Company is quite a stickler for paper trails and hierarchy, and Skeeter told her that the best way was simply to talk to Human Resources and put in an application. He gave her the website address, and how to go about starting the application process.

I was busy corralling the children, so I didn't pay much attention, but the woman followed Skeeter around the entire time we were in Spyder's brochure area, all the while talking about how much she liked That Company. After he was rather tired of her following him, Skeeter took Spyder and went to the livestock area, leaving Sass and me behind to look around the arts and crafts a bit longer.

I found out later that the woman had followed him all the way through the livestock pens. She eventually gave up her idea of subtlety and asked straight out if he had another hat that she could have. He said no (and he really didn't have an extra), and a few minutes later she finally gave up and moved along.

I'm a little disconcerted by the woman's perseverance. I had no idea that That Company had groupies.

The Fair

The Tri-County Fair is the fair of my childhood. This weekend my children were able to experience it. We've taken them to many different outdoor festival-type gatherings, but they had never been to a small country fair like this, and it gave me a strange pleasure to be able to give them the same "first" that I had.

My parents were never big fair-goers. It has always opened on Labor Day -- at least in my memory -- and we never went then. Labor Day has always been a day for a family gathering for us, partly because it's right around my mom's birthday.

When my mom and dad took me, it was always one night during the week after they'd gotten home from work. Because we generally went at night, the lights stand out most in my memory -- lights brightening the otherwise dingy rides; lights making the cheap game and toy stands seem a bit more welcoming; lights seeming overly bright at the food vendor carts, blinding compared to the surrounding dimness. Skeeter and I took the children at midday, so they weren't able to see those lights that burn so vividly in my memory.

The children did get to experience that quintessential dining experience that IS the fair. A middle America fair just isn't complete without cotton candy, a funnel cake, and lemonade. My parents seldom got any of those, but to me they are just as much a part of the fair as the rides or the smell of the livestock. Or perhaps I see it that way because they usually didn't get those treats.

At any rate, the Tri-County Fair was exactly as I remember it. The entrance is lined with booths from various organizations -- the police department, the fire department, churches, a local state park . . . . Spyder was in brochure heaven. I'm not sure why he is so fascinated with brochures, but he is, and he collects them at every possible opportunity. He had a field day in that section.

The booth exit leads to the entrance to the arts and crafts building, where all of the various contest entries are displayed. As a child, I always found this section was always the most boring, but as an adult, I found it fascinating. My favorite display was the flowers, but not for the flowers themselves. They weren't displayed in vases, but in glass and plastic bottles. Many were in plastic water bottles, but for some reason I was enamored with the ones displayed in the soda bottles. Even now, I'm wondering if I could get away with displaying flowers that way on the mantel -- in my most assuredly "non-country" home.

After the arts and crafts was the obligatory livestock visit. Personally, seeing and smelling chickens, cows, goats and bunnies isn't a big part of my "must-dos" on a normal day, but the fair isn't any normal day. We spent more time than necessary wandering around the smelly chickens, turkeys, ducks and geese. I could have handled a little bit more of the bunnies, and the cows were glad to be rid of us. Two boys about Spyder's age who were there just before us spent their time teasing one of the cows (with a calf!) and that cow hated Spyder on sight, probably because he looked a little like the other boys. They were all wearing baseball caps and denim shorts, and I'm pretty sure that the cow wasn't interested in the little details like faces. She wasn't at all concerned when Sass and I were nearby, but she was annoyed and angry any time Spyder was in her line of vision.

The only place to go after the booths and prize winners is the midway -- food and rides. Spyder and Sass said they were dying of thirst, so we headed to one of the food vendors and bought -- you guessed it -- a lemonade, a funnel cake, and a cotton candy. Wandering around came next, of course, and Sass decided that she absolutely must ride a little carousel with dragons. We went on "armband day" where one can buy an armband for $12 and ride the rides all day. We weren't staying long, so I bought $10 worth of tickets for the two children to share rather than the armbands. Sass never did make it to the dragon carousel, but both of the children had a blast in the "Jungle of Fun" and at the big slide exactly like they have at The Bounce. Spyder and Sass used all but one ticket before we left, and I gave the extra ticket to a little boy without an armband on our way out.

The whole adventure took all of two hours and $20. I think we're going to make my small-town fair an annual tradition.

Blatant catch-all post

• On Friday night, Spyder was climbing the tree (as usual) and poked a branch into his eye. I took him to the doctor on Saturday, and he had scratched his cornea right over the pupil. (Ouch!) The doctor prescribed antibiotic drops for him, and he spent most of the weekend on the couch, listening to audio books or listening to Skeeter or me read to him. He's pretty much back to normal now, although he's still taking the drops for another few days.
  

• Saturday was a completely at-home day, besides the trip to the doctor. Sass and Skeeter were feeling kind of puny, and Spyder was definitely not feeling so great. It was a quiet day for us, and I got some organizational things completed that had been bothering me.
  

• Sunday was another quiet day. Sass and Skeeter were still feeling sickly, and Spyder was embarrassed by the eye-patch, so we skipped church in the morning. Thankfully, Skeeter and I weren't scheduled to work in any ministry that day, so I didn't have to find replacements.

• Monday was Labor Day, so Skeeter didn't have to work (YAY!). We went to see my parents that day. My sister and her boyfriend came for a surprise visit. Mom's birthday is tomorrow, so they took advantage of the long weekend to get to see her.
  

• Skeeter and I took the children to the little Tri-County Fair near my hometown. It was everything I remember, just smaller. That's a post in itself.

• Sass was sick again today. Today's came with a fever though, so she spent the morning on the couch, alternately watching Strawberry Shortcake and snoozing. She started feeling better around noon, and by dinnertime she was back to normal. Tonight she realized that she hadn't done her schoolwork today, and I had to remind her that she was in no condition to do it this morning during our usual schooltime. It was bothering her though, so she did her work tonight after dinner.