What Should I Be When I Grow Up?

Which College Major Should You Be?
	Your major should be Engineering. Logic is your friend. With enough work, you can find a solution to anything... Unless it involves dating or parties.
Find Your Character @ BrainFall.com

Pointing Inward?

I've received many emails about this movie, The Golden Compass, and I have to admit - it's making more curious about the movie than anything else. Today Fox has a piece about the controversy surrounding it's release, and I did find it a little more enlightening than the emails, which amount to a desperate plea to not expose my children to atheism.

Among the things in the article today that disturb me is the implicit intention of the author of this trilogy to portray any and all religion as poison, which I'm really uncomfortable with. I might have been interested in a movie if there was not such an intentional purpose as that - if there were anything in the movie that might actually be meant for the purpose of enjoyment rather than to "unpoison" children who, frankly, I don't feel are poisoned to begin with. For someone to say that they loathe The Chronicles of Narnia because it teaches children Christian ethics is just completely wrong in my opinion! I don't think even the staunchest atheists would argue that teaching children not to lie, cheat or steal is a bad thing, am I wrong here??

Anyway, I'm kind of feeling like there's really no point now in even bothering to see these movies. If my children happen to see them at a friend's house someday, we'll talk about that. I'm not going to waste all my energy on convincing everyone I know that watching these movies would be the worst thing ever, I just have no desire to take part in a Christian hate fest. It's the same way I feel about Michael Moore movies - just created out of hatred, and I'm not interested!

This About Sums it Up!

Your Interpersonal Intelligence Score: 59%

Your Interpersonal Intelligence is Average You do well in most group settings, but you also need time to recharge. So while you can work with people during the day, you may crave your alone time at night. For you, it's all about balance!

How Does Your Interpersonal Intelligence Rate?

Condi for President

I have been so nauseated by the possible presidential candidates. Really, I just want one good candidate, and I don't even care which party! Just ONE! T asked me tonight if I'm opposed to Hillary because I don't think a woman should be president, and the truth is I just don't like Hillary - at all! I'd vote for Condaleeza Rice in a heartbeat, so I don't think I'm opposed to a woman being president. T directed me to this blog post - I'm going to have to add this guy, Bob Roberts, to my blogroll. I'm with Bob - Run, Condi, Run!!!

Catch Up

I'm just catching up again... on everything! I had a very interesting weekend - still processing, as always. We started our beach weekend driving all night in rush hour in the rain. Four women who mostly know each other but not really - an eclectic group. I was the only non-morning person so I didn't get nearly enough sleep. I drove and only one person offered to help pay for gas. When we finally stopped for dinner after the Bay Bridge (took us 2 hours to get over it! - normally a 30 minute trip), one person on our trip who I know fairly well admitted at dinner that she was opposed to her daughter dating a person of a different race because of cultural differences. Where did that leave me? Hmmm.... very interesting weekend.

Now I'm home, and yes, indeed, after three weeks of waiting to hear from our out-of-town visitor that my husband offered to put up via email, T FINALLY called the guy Saturday and he is indeed arriving tomorrow evening. His email hasn't been working (I'd suggested this a week ago, but T still wouldn't call!). I would love to say that I'm a very hospitable person, but the truth is that it's not my gift. I'm completely stressed. My house is a mess, as usual, and the three members who stayed here believe they cleaned it - despite the fact that a two week old game of monopoly is still spread out all over the living room floor, all the towels in the clean bathroom are filthy, there are still girl scout cookies strewn all over the hearth, undelievered, our family room alcove is in shambles, there isn't a cleared spot on the dining room table, the mud room might as well be under mud, the laundry that I left because someone said it would be done is not even touched..... the list is longer, but I'll stop right there before the tears start flowing.

I'd love to go to my group power class tomorrow, seeing as lately it's the only class I ever make it to, but I have to clean, grocery shop, get a room ready for someone I don't even know and figure out what to make this person I don't know dinner tomorrow - of course, we have no details at all. I'm not even sure he's coming for dinner! I've spent a chunk of time cleaning up Em's bedroom - AGAIN!!!!! It's perpetually in a state of complete and utter chaos - and her teacher doesn't believe me that she's ADHD. She should have to live with her - one day should do it!

On the bright side, T made steak for dinner and that was nice. The kitchen looks semi-clean, which is good because sometimes when I leave for a weekend that's not the case! I have avoided Kt's room so I have nothing to report or complain about!! My car was lots of fun to drive, even if no one could agree EVER where to stop to eat - we brought along our resident food snob. I'm feeling much better after getting sick from eating at that seafood restaurant after hearing about how wrong it is to marry outside of your race on our trip to the beach and having to stop at a gas station that had - in the pitch black dark in pouring down rain - only a port-a-john for me to use. I have a little less than 24 hours to get my whole house in tip top shape. Wish me luck!

Hahaha!

Your Superpower Should Be Mind Reading

You are brilliant, insightful, and intuitive. You understand people better than they would like to be understood. Highly sensitive, you are good at putting together seemingly irrelevant details. You figure out what's going on before anyone knows that anything is going on! Why you would be a good superhero: You don't care what people think, and you'd do whatever needed to be done Your biggest problem as a superhero: Feeling even more isolated than you do now

What Should Your Superpower Be?

Just Hangin' In There

So, it's been an interesting week, much to reflect on, and really just a huge conglomeration of extremely odd happenings if you ask me! Last week we received the news that our van needed a new transmission, so we bought a new used car. That was big, stressful, crazy... all rolled into one big thing! We took that new car and went to Connecticut, which was fun, but I'm still unpacking, laundry, trying to clean....

My husband has this habit of checking up on my credit card expenses. It's OK with me, but it just makes it difficult to surprise him!! Fortunately, that habit led him to the conclusion that in purchasing our one big family gift (a Nintendo Wii) online, our credit card had been "borrowed" for other purchases. After checking to make sure I hadn't tried to surprise him by signing up to play online Playstation games (like he even had to ask!), we had to cancel that card and are currently waiting for our new cards. This makes life, er, interesting. We are really quite dependent on electronic transactions, to the point where I do not have an ATM card, we write very few checks and I essentially carry little to no cash on me. Pretty much everything I do - get gas, go grocery shopping, eat out - I do on our credit card. I'm beat.

On top of that little inconvenience, I've been working, subbing, and trying to get ready for going to the beach with some friends this weekend - WOOHOO!!! - which is great, but without my credit card and no way to get cash... I'm sunk. I hope my friends understand that I might become a beggar this weekend!! EEK! I'm also in the position where my husband invited someone to stay with us for a couple nights, someone we barely know but met in Hungary this summer, and, as usual, we have no idea if he's even arriving this Monday. In fact, we haven't heard from him in a couple weeks and he lives in the midst of those California fires... who knows if we'll hear from him at all!! So, am I trying to clean up around here for an out of town guest to arrive the day after I get home from being away all weekend (aka, leaving the house to the mercy of the three bandits!), or will I be snoozing all day Monday recovering from my very chaotic couple of weeks? That remains to be seen.

Anyway, I'm off now to carve a pumpkin for T's work party tomorrow. Oh, yeah... next week is Halloween. And I'm a room mom. Party planner. Costume maker/collector. Busy, busy, busy... That's the life, I guess.

Weekend of New

So, we made it to CT in our new car... New to us, used but in really nice shape. I'll get a pic of that later. The trip up here took us 9 hours. Between the rain, clearing up a little paperwork and NY Friday rush hour.... I'm surprised we made it at all. Today we went to the pumpkin patch and came home with two 18 pound pumpkins! Typically, the girls have gone lighter, so that was a first! T and Uncle D took the girls to their first ever ice hockey game, I think they are enjoying it! My mom, sister-in-law and I had a girls night... shopping (don't tell T!), eating out and now just watching TV or maybe a movie. It's weekends like these that make it difficult to go home.

Ironic? or just plain God?

For those 2-3 of you avid readers of this blog, were you not surprised at all that Tuesday I entered a Bible study on contentment and the very next day we found out my car was DOA? I think there's no irony in that. It's just pure God and the way He works.... although it has been making that horrible noise for months now! LOL

flabberghasted!

I've seen all day this headline about birth control pills being made available in a Maine middle school, and tonight it appears to have passed BY A 5-2 MARGIN! What??? I'm just completely flabberghasted. The obvious reasons - this is not a decision that should be made by a 6th - 8th grader without their parent's knowledge, that it appears to be condoning sex for very young children, that it puts schools in a very powerful position in the family - something I'm growing to dislike immensely and finally - this coming from my own personal experience with birth control pills - they are very dangerous, I'd think especially for very young girls. I had a horrific experience with them under the care of medical professionals, I can't imagine young girls being given birth control and not being monitored by their regular physicians for possible side effects, among them high blood pressure, blood clots, stroke... This is really just a travesty. Very unwise, very disconcerting. Shame on you, Maine middle school!

More Funnies

It's been a long day here at the Sheng house! With the van in the shop, gymnastics, and odd meeting at the mall for T (corporate meetings at Dave and Busters??) and the prospect of having to purchase a new vehicle, I'm whooped! Now it looks like we might not go to Connecticut this weekend, which instantly puts me in a mopey mood.

I was putting Em to bed and we were talking about the van. She is quite sad that we getting rid of it and quite nervous we might leave some of her prized possessions (that she is constantly littering the van with!) in it! She is so unhappy about not having a van anymore - they aren't even on our radar for this car purchase - her pooped little brain is functioning like mush. She finally sighed, laid her little head on her pillow and said, "All I want is an IPOD vigidel!" I, of course, cracked up. Then she said to me, "What is an IPOD vigidel anyway?" I said, "It doesn't exist!" And we both cracked up.... what a long day!

List of things hanging on by a thread....

Sometimes, we can just get overwhelmed by our stuff, right? I have this huge list of things that are about to go. When I think about that list (starting with our car news) I get a bit overwhelmed. The list looks something like this:

1. My car (pretty much bit the dust today)
2. T's car (one strand of the thread)
3. Our refrigerator - it's as old as the house, the shelves in the freezer don't say on their tracks and the drawers in the cool side are cracked and don't pull in or out without a lot of elbow grease
4. Washer and Dryer - 13 years old and when I run them, I smell it (yuck)
5. Water Heater - every morning, when I'm waiting for that hot water, I wonder to myself, "Is the basement flooded?"
6. Wall oven - as old as the refrigerator, the door doesn't shut all the way, which is probably why it doesn't cook anything correctly...
7. Our driveway is sinking, and that's the least of my worries!
8. Yay - I can't think of anything else.... yet! Oh, right, our windows.... that we can actually see right to the outdoors through their cracks...

Now, let's compare that to everything we've done since we moved into this house:

1. Replaced the polybutelane piping
2. Put on some new back steps
3. New siding, paid for my our insurance - Yahoo!
4. New car - yup, got that van after we moved in. That didn't last very long!
5. New gas furnace and AC
6. New cooktop with downdraft...
7. New roof
8. New sewer line
9. New bathroom for the girlies
10. Fixed that landscaping out front

I wonder if this balances out?? Anyway, I am thankful we have a house, T has a job, we can still smile when all around us things aren't so wonderful. We have a lot to be thankful for, and right now I have to go get two of those things off the schoolbus!=)

Bummer!

So, do we spend $4600+ on a new transmission for our '99 Sienna with 125K miles on it.... or do we just get another car? Dang!

The "F" Word

It's laundry day, can you tell? =)

While folding laundry, I was reflecting on my friend, K's, blogpost about her 1 year old "diva" who throws a screaming fit at the most inopportune times if she feels she's been in her stroller too long, like at the checkout in the grocery store. It cracks me up, but it reminded me of my very opinionated first child, who I had mentioned on here earlier was an early talker (18 months) who pronounced nearly all of her words perfectly.... but then I just remembered this one.

Kt, when she sets her mind on something, just cannot give up until she gets what she wants. She still pounds around the house when she disagrees with our rules, and it really doesn't matter that we stay our ground. When she thinks she's entitled to something she will stop at nothing to communicate that. I can remember when she was around 15 months and I had just pulled out a bunch of summer hand-me-downs and put them in her drawer how excited she was. She wasn't yet able to verbalize what she wanted, but she would stand in her crib watching me pull out each outfit and scream if it was the wrong one, then jump up and down for joy at the correct one. Silly thing! (K - this is what you have to look forward to, perhaps!!)

Anyway, one of the words when she started trying to speak that she had some trouble with was the word "walk", which tended to sound like the "f" word - I think you know which one! We would laugh about it at play group, at home, with our family and it never posed any kind of embarrassment until that day... We decided to head out to the mall for dinner one night, which was a rare treat when Kt was that young. We didn't go often because we were on a very tight budget. We packed up everything and off we went.

When we got to the mall, we opened up that stroller, knowing we'd want it for our adventurous toddler, who was now walking, running and shoplifting everywhere!! It was all fine until we opened the door to the mall (still a favorite destination for this child!). We pushed that stroller through the door and Kt looked back at us and said, "F$%#!!!" I said, "No." She then repeated, "I want to F$^&!" Tony and I just looked at her and agreed, "No, you need to stay in the stroller!"

It's then it all began (or ended??), when she started screaming at the top of her lungs much to our horror and dismay, "I want to F$&#! I want to F$^#%! I want to F$^#&!!!!" Her face was red, our faces were a deeper red as we turned to each other, admitted defeat and promptly pulled her out of the stroller to she could F%^$&! That was one word we worked on daily until we got it just right!!;-)

So, good luck, K! I'm sure there will plenty more embarrassing moments. Just remember - we're all laughing with you, and as bad as it seems to you at the time, they are memories you will laugh about for years to come and the rest of the world? We know that kids are what make life fun!

It's Really Quite Simple

You have no clean underwear because all your dirty, filthy, gross, disgusting underwear is in a heap on your bedroom floor. This goes for almost everyone in our house. Period. Any questions?

Oh, and I'm not your maid. Now, are there any questions?

Facebook

Have I mentioned before how much I enjoy Facebook? If not, I'll tell you now! I think Facebook started as a college networking site. I came home from CT one weekend and T told me I had a Facebook.... that's the way it works when your husband, the geek, works with students! Many high school kids were joining, and now, much to every student's dismay, more "mature" folks are joining.

When I first joined FB, it was really a great way to find babysitters, housesitters, communicate about our summer trips with everyone. Slowly, my network has grown to include former first graders (who are now in college - EEK), some college friends and this past month I've met up with some friends I grew up with. I've also connected with other moms, people from church (which helps when you go to a ridiculously large church where even if you go to church at the same time, chances are you won't see your friends) and my little cousins. It's a fun site, clean for the most part and you can really limit what you put out there, who you connect with and who sees what on your page.

My hope is that more people from my high school join so we can organize everyone for an informal 20th gathering next summer. Yup, it's almost 20 years for me. Scary.

Bookworm

I think Em may have finally reached bookworm status. She has discovered that she can read and I'm constantly finding her with books scattered everywhere around her. She reads to her "class" all the time. Cracks me up! We still have a long way to go, but it's nice that it's finally clicking for her, so I can stop worrying that she is permanently challenged. And she now officially loves school, which is a blessing. I'm hoping she never again asks me to homeschool her, which in her mind involves riding the bus, going to lunch, recess, PE, art, music and coming home to relax during the hard stuff. Boy, was she mistaken!

Connections

Our church has a women's ministry that I have been dabbling in for years. Sometimes I go, sometimes I don't. I got a little excited one year when they did a Beth Moore study - one of my favorites - but since then, they've decided not to do them. So I'm picky. Two years ago I joined, then last year I didn't, except for the very bitter end. This year I figured I might try it, I just wasn't sure if I should go in the morning - before work on Tuesdays, or the evening, which would have me out three nights in a row on some weeks.

I found out a few weeks ago that they would be doing the study on Calm My Anxious Heart, by Linda Dillow. This made me chuckle because I have a friend in Connecticut who I've known since kindergarten. She is Catholic, but had a neighbor who she kept telling me reminded her of me - I had no idea what that meant. When I went to visit her, she told me that her friend was a worship leader at Walnut Hill Church in Danbury, CT and she had invited her to a "Moms Morning Out". Now, I had been telling her for years about the Mother's Day Out program I had my girls in, where I would drop them off, go have fun for a day, then pick them up at 1:30 ready for a nap!! She was so excited, she signed herself up for this program, only to find out it was not that at all - she'd been duped!! It was a study on this very same book - and she loved it! Funny how that friend (who I never did meet=() reminded her of me. (I don't usually dupe my friends...)

Anyway, this past Sunday, I figured out that while I was contemplating which Connections to go to, I completely missed the kick off! Duh! It was last week, while I was enjoying a Tuesday at home... hehe. Anyway, a friend of mine, whose children have gone on a lot of our Space trips, told me she requested to be in my group (I sure hope the pastor's wife didn't waste anytime trying to sort through all those registration forms looking for my absent one!). So now, I'm in her group. There are 18 women in that group! 19 women all discussing contentment. It's going to be a long year for me!!! as I struggle with contentment on almost a daily basis. Woe is me.

Oreos

I don't usually buy these things, but I decided to buy them on Monday. It was a total whim. I just thought it would be cheaper to buy a big pack of something than smaller packs for lunches - like my mom used to do. This morning, I remembered why I don't buy Oreos, or Chips Ahoy or anything like that for that matter. There are about 6 left!!! And out of the whole package, I only ate about 6-8 of them. Usually, I don't buy these things because I eat them all, but now.... who knows??? I guess we won't buy those again!!

Embarrassing

Every once in a while, I post about funny searches that come to my blog. I haven't done this in a while, even though I've had some really hysterical ones. This one in particular has found my blog on more than one occasion and each time I just laugh. For more than one reason, and if it wasn't so late I'd probably not even post this.... My husband's initials are "tts" and I sometimes refer to him that way on here. And this guy (I'm going to assume it's a guy) has searched "big tts moms" - more than once, from the other side of the world. 'Nuf said.

The Gall!

Well, it's official. I have gallstones. Not the most pleasant thing to announce on a blog, but I'm admitting to them as it explains an immense amount of what my life has been like over the past, say, oh, 13 years! I've always blamed it on marriage (hehe), but when I hear what the symptoms are and compare it to all I've believed over the years (lactose intolerant, can't eat any fried foods, stomach issues - IBS?, pregnancy issues due to that "foot" in my rib, that little tingly feeling in my rib that never went away.....), it appears I've had this for a long, long time!

Now that I know, I guess it will help in case I ever have a terrible attack and need to go to the ER - as my doctor put it. Of course, with my anxiety level any attack could be a terrible attack. Hmmm.... is it better to know, or not to know?? I'm thinking if I want to avoid these altogether I ought to become a vegetarian. That won't go over so well in my chicken loving, beef eating family. But my sister did it!

So, how did we reach this conclusion? Well, I had some abnormal tests earlier this summer, right before Hungary, and then I had more tests, an ultrasound and then I heard absolutely nothing, which I like to foolishly think means I'm cured! Instead, I found this out and I think it's probably better than something like cancer but worse than something like totally inaccurate testing. To be quite honest, I was totally relieved to know, as I'm sure you are now, too. Right? (will you ever come back to read here again??)

And I always thought I was just a hypochondriac!

Phone Snob

I don't know if it's the internet, caller ID or being a total and complete introvert. I think I'm now a phone snob. If I don't feel like it, I just don't even bother to see who's calling. I just don't answer it! How rude!

Growing Up in Ffld, CT

My husband is constantly teasing me about things I'll say or talk about that only someone from CT would know. After he did this again last night, I was thinking about a funny list - sort of like those "You know you're from.... if you..." When you're growing up, you have no idea how unique these things are or how regional. Now I know! and my husband never lets me forget it!

So here's my list of things from where I grew up! You know you grew up with me if....

1. You know what "total phone" is, and you thought SNET was the only phone company. Ever.
2. There was a 24 hour diner on every corner, and they were authentically Greek, oftentimes named after Greek gods or goddesses!
3. Between those diners on every corner will be at least 2-3 pizza places.
4. You know without a doubt these three things: 1. The right lane is for slow vehicles, 2. The middle lane is for traveling, and 3. The left lane is for passing.
5. NEVER, under any circumstances (except for teaching another driver a lesson;-)), do you pass on the right.
6. All stop signs with a white border are optional, and to come to a full and complete stop is just idiotic. When every follows the stop sign rules (person to the right goes next) a rolling stop is perfectly acceptable!
7. Whenever you hear a little "ding, ding" it reminds you of the gold days of Full Service at all gas stations. (I just heard one of these yesterday, and it freaked me out!)
8. You were told that all Ivy League colleges had heard of your high school. (what a joke!)
9. Your school had every kind of sports team imaginable, even in the 80s: football, basketball, baseball, softball, volleyball, lacrosse, tennis, swim, ski, golf..... did we have a rugby team?
10. You are extremely proud of the fact that Julia Roberts was in a film, Mystic Pizza, and so now she knows how awesome Connecticut is! You know, Pretty Woman was here!;-)
11. Even though it's only on the Long Island Sound, you love to go to the "beach" and at one time or another you sailed on a Sunfish!
12. You know what a Tag Sale is.
13. You shop at the food store.
14. You never knew there were really places that sell beer on Sundays and after 8pm.
15. You didn't know much about money growing up, but you knew you couldn't afford to live where you did.
16. You had at least one friend whose father worked for IBM or GE and traveled to Europe regularly and always brought home the coolest gifts!
17. You didn't know anyone who lived in an apartment, but thought those condos down the street were fascinating!
18. Most of the roads you traveled regularly were two lane, and if they were more than that you called it a Parkway.
19. Speed limit really meant speed minimum (although I'm learning that's what it means to everyone!)
20. You saw at least one movie star in your lifetime somewhere along Route 1, often in disguise.

That's my short list. I'm sure there are more, but those are the ones that come to mind. Now off to enjoy my weekend!

Word of the Week

My visit to Savannah allowed me to "embiggen" my vocabulary with a little help from my niece, who is three. She was recalling that the last time I visited we went to McDonalds. That was "lasterday". Apparently, anything that happened before yesterday was "lasterday". Don't kids think up the best words??

Innocence

Ah, to be in first grade again - NOT! Here was another funny conversation at the dinnertable.

Kt has come home from school sick Friday and yesterday. It's some really mild bug, and yesterday, when the nurse called at 2:30 it was optional for me to pick up Kt. In fact, once home she took a 15 minute nap and was completely cured!

Daddy: So, you made it through a whole day of school today! Mommy said yesterday you were hardly even sick!

Kt (with a smirk): What? I was sick.

Daddy: When mommy and I were kids, we'd stay home from school to watch the Price is Right!

Kt: Oh, no fair. Mommy made me take like an hour and a half nap when I got home!

Me: No, it was more like 15 minutes!!

Kt: No, (LOL) it was like half an hour!

Daddy: When mommy and I were kids we used to take our temperature with a thermometer and we'd stick it in a light to make it go up higher.... (looking at me shaking my head and rolling my eyes) well, I never really did that....

What was your temperature yesterday?

Kt: It was normal.

Me: Yup, I think someone just decided it was fun to come home early from school.

Em (finally chiming in on this crazy conversation, shaking her head, shrugging her shoulders, merging the eyebrows and rolling the eyes): I don't know why ANYONE would want to go home from school early!?! Once I'm at school, I never want to leave!

At least we know she likes school!;-)

Turtle Torture

Our neighbor found a turtle on her driveway today. That's not terribly surprising, as we do have a river surrounding our neighborhood and a stream that runs through it (when we're not having a drought!). This poor turtle was the talk of the cul-de-sac today, and apparently the object of wonder, amazement and torture!

At dinner, we heard allll about it!!

Em: A found a turtle in her driveway today!

Daddy: A real turtle?

Em & Kt: Yes, and we made him a fort with those rocks outside.

Daddy: Did you touch the turtle?

Em: Yes.

Daddy: Go wash your hands!

Me: Kt, did you wash your hands?

Kt: I used hand sanitizer.

(Despite the fact that they've heard this a thousand times - and every night at dinner - I reminded her that that wasn't enough when they had dirt all over them! and turtle germs!!)

Me: Go wash your hands.

Em: What? We washed the turtle today in hand sanitizer and a sponge!

(I'm wondering who supervised this???)

Daddy: Well, that turtle's not going to live very long!

Em: Sure he will. I dropped him and he lived. I'm sure he'll be fine!

Apparently, this poor, tortured turtle was "set free" in the woods by the park, nice and sparkling clean. Em said she almost cried when they left him. I'm sure he was crying out of relief!

Hungary Summer Missions

I posted an album from our trip on facebook. You can view them here - I have no idea if you would have to create a facebook account or not!? Enjoy!

Prayer

T has been asked not to tell ANYONE! about this, but no one has asked me! T's dad is having major surgery today for a very rare cancer. It's related to a bought of bladder cancer he had 13 years ago, where they reconstructed a new bladder out of small intestine. Today everything from his kidneys down (not to be more descriptive!) will be removed as treatment.

That's honestly all we know. His parents have never been a wealth of information when it comes to things they deem private, so we honestly have no idea what all this means. Coming off 8 rounds of chemo for colon cancer, however, cannot make this a good thing. We would covet your prayers for his parents, the doctors, T - as he works against the wishes of his parents to try to figure out what is going on, and also for the girls. Since we don't know very much, we have not really told them anything!

Thanks!

UPDATE: It's now 4:13 and T's dad still has not gone into surgery - the doctor hasn't bothered to show up yet for the scheduled 3pm surgery!! I have to say, I have not felt good about this situation since we figured out his father knows almost nothing about what they are doing. I think this entire thing has been handled very unprofessionally - Washington Hospital Center - and I wish he'd taken our advice and gotten a second opinion! Now, get off that golf course, doctor, and get to the hospital!

FINAL UPDATE (for now!): We're either dealing with a case of geriatric care or language barriers. T's dad had "just more biopsies" today! It was a bit more intensive and there is definitely something going on, but he's coming home tonight. I'm sure he's a bit surprised about that considering he thought this was a major surgery. The doctor has invited T along to the appointment to discuss the biopsy results next week - I'm sure his father is THRILLED about that!! I'm relieved, though, that the doctor realizes the communication gap that exists, even if he was 1.5 hours late for his surgery.

If I Were to Dress Up for Halloween...

which is pretty unlikely, because I'm such a spoil sport!

You should be Wonder Woman You love dressing up for Halloween because it lets you be creative and show people your retro taste in TV. The best part of Halloween for you is the candy, and you definitely look forward to it every year. Take this quiz at QuizGalaxy.com

So Long Savannah!

So, I'm finally home. I miss those little kids already, but I love being back in my own bed!! My neck took a beating from the sofa and hard as a rock futon. Yay, mattress!

First, flying US Air was quite an experience. My first flight, they moved my seat. Why allow passengers to select their own seats and then move them? It's beyond me. And when we got on, the pilot said that he only needed to shift the weight for take off, then we could sit wherever we wanted, leaving only more big questions in my mind. Needless to say, I actually listened to that little emergency landing show by the nice flight crew!

On the way home, my first flight was late, there was no crew to meet us when we pulled up to the gate (communication glitch?) and I ran from one end of the Charlotte Airport to the other. Could we just put all the same airlines in the same terminal at these airports? I boarded my next flight, taking off just fine with non balanced weight dispersment (???) and landed a few minutes early in Baltimore. Yay! Until we found out that the pilot brought the plane to the gate himself, without waiting for those little guys on the ground, who apparently got a little miffed and claimed we missed our walkway (gangplank?) by 3 feet. We then had to wait for the luggage guys to finish so the pulley guys could pull us 3 whole feet so we could disembark. Oh, the politics of the whole thing! Fortunately, I'm safely home!

Savannah was fun, but I didn't make it to the beach.=( It poured rain for three days, and after a 10 year drought the ground just wasn't about to soak up any of it. We had some flooding, and if you've ever driven out to Tybee Island, you're already basically driving on some little sand bar in the middle of the marsh. I decided against taking my sister's car out there, given that every puddle I went through caused the battery light to go on and the steering to go out. Just not doing it! Even for an hour at the ocean!

On Thursday, I picked up my niece, Skyler, and we had a fun afternoon together. We stopped at Kroger and I was doubting she'd ever been to the grocery store on her own two feet. She assured me that the bundt cake was a pie, that she LOVED everything except brownies and cucumbers. She named all the veggies she could see, then ran through the produce aisle pointing and saying, "I know what that is, and that is, and that is..." at things I'd never seen before! It was quite funny!

Once we got home, we played about 50 games of Hi Ho Cheerio! I kid you not. We danced to toddler tunes, "watched" Curious George and discussed how we should not take animals out of their natural habitats (did I mention her parents are marine biologists?), had Curious George fruit snacks and did the laundry. Her favorite things to do at school are housekeeping and centers. She informed me that stop signs are octagons, and they have 8 sides, just like an "octa"pus. Did I mention she's 3.5 years old? She then went on to tell me all the short vowel words she knew. That little genius!

Here was my favorite exchange. My brother-in-law had left us a pork loin for dinner, so we heated that up Thursday. They had never had pork before (the kids), so we asked her if she wanted to try it for dinner. She said no, but my sister heated a slice up for her anyway. While my sister went to pick up her son, she danced around the kitchen, her mouth full of pork. She got to the last bite and said:

S: Look, Aunt De, I ate all my dinner!

Me: Wow! That's awesome! I guess you like pork for dinner after all.

She shook her head no.

Me: Sure you do. You finished all your pork!

S: (giving me a funny look, holds up her eating utensil) What's this?

Me: (totally cracking up) That is a f-f-fork. You just ate p-p-pork. They rhyme!

The look of relief that washed over her face was almost as priceless as that funny look!

Brendan was also a lot of fun. Since I was there almost a year ago for his birth, he and I have always gotten along famously. My mom warned me that it took him quite a while to warm up to her, as he's entered the stranger anxiety phase. Thursday morning, I got up at 6 am with my sister to get him up and there wasn't a bit of anxiety there (I don't know, mom, maybe it's the four eyes you have? hehe). We played together, he let me feed him, he even cuddled with me. Such a total sweetheart! He's all about toys that make noise, dancing, screaming, singing or whatever you call it! I love this little guy and the fact that I see my dad in almost every expression of his makes me smile. In the picture of him, he's trying to get that cameraphone away from me, which makes him look so funny!

Aside from playing with kids and making sure sister didn't go into diabetic shock (two close calls), we visited Bonaventure Cemetary and litte Gracie, the Juliette Gordon Low birthplace to pick up friendship pins for Emily's troop, and a cute little general store down the street. Just hanging out with my sister was fun, even though we were both exhausted and tired of rain! Once Rick came home, we both literally collapsed!

*This is Gracie, whose parents owned a Savannah Hotel in the 1700's. She was their only child who died at the age of 6 from pneumonia. An artist arrived in town just after that and carved this life sized statue of her from a picture. It's frequently visited in the cemetary where Johnny Mercer is also buried, which is why they've added that security fence there.*

Traditional it is

I'm not ashamed to admit I was addicted to Barbies when I was a kid. My sister and I spent hours playing with them and I don't believe I'm any worse for the wear!! I always thought her clothes were flimsy and outrageous and I was grateful for her unrealistic curves, which I always believed were that way so the clothes were easier to get on. I was under no impression that I was to ever aspire to be or look like one of those things, so the confliction these days with the whole Barbie body type is completely bizarre to me. She's a DOLL, for heaven's sake!

That being said, if I were a Barbie doll which one would I be?

You are Original Barbie!
You are traditional and are fond of being treated like a lady. You are kindhearted and naive, but adored by all.
'Which Barbie are You?' at QuizGalaxy.com

Rain, Rain, Go Away!!

So, I'm here in Savannah, which I love. It's raining. Constantly. I've never seen the likes of it down here. I won't begrudge this needy, drought laden region their due relief, but I'm feeling a little claustrophobic! Here's the situation....

My sister and mom insisted that I did not need to rent a car because they could pick me up and we'd have two cars here. I'm stuck with my sister's Ford lemon, which we found out yesterday cannot really be driven safely in rain! My sister failed to mention that to us, so my mom and I went out for lunch, a quick shopping trip and then home in torrential rain and minor flooding - we are on an island now! As I'm pulling into her neighborhood, the battery light starts flashing, the power steering takes a hike and I'm trying to steer this thing with my brute strength (thank goodness for all that group power - LOL) into the garage. Concerned, due to the fact that I was supposed to drive my mom to the airport half an hour away, we called my sister. She informed us that that happens if you drive through a puddle. Suffice it to say, this entire island is now a puddle!

So, here I am.... just barely got my mom to the airport last night after waiting for my sister to get home with the car that can swim, heading into and out of Savannah again during rush hour, crawling out to I-95 and up to the airport. Thank goodness we're here - my mom checked in her bags, had new boarding passes printed up (my sister's printer doesn't work, either, and I can't go anywhere to get new ink!), and was through security and out to her gate in all of 10 minutes! What an experience!

Savannah in the rain with no reliable car. Well, now, that's no fun! But the kids are awesome! And there's plenty to do around this house, even if it's quiet. Tomorrow my sister is taking the day off, so we'll drop the kids off at daycare (what a luxury!) and have a little fun around town. In the rain, of course!;-)

Burma

One last post before I hit the hay!

Please keep the people of Burma in your prayers. It sounds as though a massacre has transpired there - numbering in the thousands - as reported by a military official who has defected to Thailand. As I am thinking about this horrible situation, I am reminded tonight in our small group study on Elijah that my God has the power to consume stone in one fair swoop of fire. Can we call on Him to bring hope in this dire situation?

Pray.

Savannah, Here I Come!

I leave tomorrow evening for Savannah, where I get to spend a few days as Aunt De. Yippee! I will miss my girlies and T, but they'll do fine without me. Hehe. Here are 10 things I love about Savannah:

1. The slower pace of life - it's just so relaxing.
2. Warmth - in the air, in the people, in the water!
3. Water - it's everywhere. It's a city of islands - just that word rolls off my tongue!
4. Memories - my sister has lived on and off in the south for almost 15 years. Charleston was awesome, but there's something a little more homey in Savannah.
5. City Squares - they are really neat. If you don't know what I'm talking about, do a little research. It's the way to build community in a city - I'm sure of it!
6. Riverwalk - I've only been there a couple times, but it's just so quaint!
7. Byrd Cookie Company - We like to make a stop there when we visit - such cute little cookies and other delectable treats!
8. The Beach - my favorite beaches are Hilton Head and Tybee - ah, I can feel them now!
9. Palms and Spanish Moss - such atmosphere!
10. Family!!! - I can't wait to see my little niece and nephew! Oh, and my sister and mom and brother-in-law!

You know, I can still think of about 10 more things I love about Savannah. If you've never been, I highly recommend it!

Confused-Brain

Yup, I can see this!

You Are 60% Left Brained, 40% Right Brained

The left side of your brain controls verbal ability, attention to detail, and reasoning. Left brained people are good at communication and persuading others. If you're left brained, you are likely good at math and logic. Your left brain prefers dogs, reading, and quiet. The right side of your brain is all about creativity and flexibility. Daring and intuitive, right brained people see the world in their unique way. If you're right brained, you likely have a talent for creative writing and art. Your right brain prefers day dreaming, philosophy, and sports.

Are You Right or Left Brained?

Why Do We Love Grammas?

Because when we're 7 boxes of Girl Scout cookies away from selling 100 boxes (and mommy and daddy already bought 11 boxes!), Gramma says, "I can buy 7 more for the nursing home!" That's only a very tiny minuscule reason why we love grammas so much!;-) Thanks, Mom!=)

Consistency

This is becoming a frequent pattern:

Monday, kids want to play outside after school, Kt has a piano lesson, Em has to do her homework, piano teacher arrives at 4:30, 4:45 neighborhood kids ring the doorbell, dogs go nuts, Em runs for cover, I book it out the garage to tell the kids not to ring the doorbell with a piano lesson in progress, kids act surprised that there's a piano lesson despite the fact that a short 45 minutes earlier, when they asked if they could come over or my kids could play outside I told them AND there's a strange vehicle in our driveway. Today there were 4 kids on our porch... and the number seems to increase each week!

'Nuf said.

(since we rebuilt this computer last night, there's no microsoft anything on here, including spell check.... eek!)