Katie starts school on Monday so today we had a Girls' Day Out. What a great day it was!
First were Sunflower Spa Pedicures which were divine. We sat in massage chairs with heated pillows around our necks. Our feet received a sunflower scrub followed by a green tea mask and then wrapped in hot towels. While all that was going on we were each given a bowl of vanilla bean ice cream sprinkled with chocolate candy covered sunflower seeds. Is there any better way to start a day (after coffee, of course) than with dessert? I think not.
When the polish was dry (or mostly dry, anyway) we drove across the parking lot (because the polish wasn't completely dry) to a delicious restaurant and sat outside on the patio. We shared the most amazing tomato basil bruschetta - something we had decided on a couple of days ago. I had the French Onion Soup with about a half an inch of Gruyere on top and Katie had some sort of wrap -- not exactly sure because I was too busy enjoying my soup.
Once the check was paid we headed for the movies, but we just missed the 2:10 showing so we walked around Target for a while. Big mistake. Huge. We only needed two things. Two. We walked out with twenty or so. Hair products, toothpaste, and necessities like books, clothes, candy. Funny how you remember all the things you need when they're right in front of you. We finally realized we had to go or we were going to miss the 3:50 showing because these things we couldn't live without kept popping up.
Todd and Taylor had a Boys' Day Out very similar to ours, except no pedicure. At least that's what they said. Hold on a second...
...I was going to look at Todd's toes to make sure they hadn't been "handled" and I'm still not sure because Todd has tennis shoes on. Kind of odd if you ask me. He usually always wears flip flops in the summer. I'll have to get back to you on this one.
But I digress. The boys went to lunch (not nearly as delicious as ours, I'm sure) and then they went to the same theater to see Inglorious Basterds (which I can say without being accused of cussing because "basterds" is spelled wrong). So Katie and I parked in the same row and left a note on Todd's truck (which reminds me of another post I'm going to have to write). Then we went in and got our scrumptuals, but we had to sit on a bench outside the theater because they were still cleaning it. The benches were right next to the theater that Todd and Taylor were in. Can you guess what I did?
Nope. I wanted to. Really bad I wanted to go in, stand at the bottom and look for the boys and then wave at them. But seeing as how I AM an adult, and a responsible one at that, I refrained. Finally we were allowed in our theater and we found the perfect seats. Not too far up; not too far down; right in the middle. Perfect.
We saw Julie and Julia. Have you seen it? It was delightful. I can't think of a better word to describe it. Just delightful. If you love to eat you should see it. If you love to cook you should see it. If you love to write or if you blog, you should see it. If you're a woman or a female of some type, you should see it. If you're a guy you should see it (it's not a chick flick, just so you know). If you've ever been to Paris you should see it. If you want to go to Paris you should see it. Heck, if you have a pulse you should see it! It's just a good movie. It's just... just... delightful.
Of course part of my fanaticism could be that Todd, Taylor and I watched Defiance last night and today's movie was a complete change. Defiance is a very good movie, too, but very difficult in some spots to watch. Today's movie? Well you already know. Delightful. It was the perfect ending to a perfect day.
If you answered my cozy couch you would be wrong. However, if you answered the big, comfy green chair which used to be Todd's but has somehow become MY big, comfy green chair you would be correct!
GUESS WHAT I'M DOING
If you answered fretting about missing work you would be wrong. If you answered writing a blog post whilst watching The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King with the kids you would be correct!
GUESS WHAT THE KIDS HAVE DONE SO FAR TODAY
If you answered shoveled the driveway and the sidewalk you would be wrong. If you answered nothing much more than make microwave popcorn to eat whilst watching the movie you would be correct.
Hold on. It's the part with Sam and the giant spider...
Okay. I'm back.
As I said in my last post -- er, second to last post -- it started snowing around 10:00 last night. At 5:40 this morning we still hadn't gotten the automated call from the school about a delay or closing and I heard Taylor rustling around as he stumbled to the bathroom to start his day. I got up and looked out the window and knew there was no way school was starting on time. So I ventured out of my room and told him to go back to bed; if it was only a delay I'd wake him up in enough time for him to get ready. I poked my head in Katie's room and told her to turn off her alarm.
Before I settled back into my own bed the phone rang. NO SCHOOL TODAY! Yea!! We didn't have any snow days last year so it was about time we had one. As for me and not working, I actually brought some stuff home from work. You know, the kind of stuff you keep thinking about but never get around to doing.
I was going to have the kids do the shoveling before we watched the movie, but the weatherman reported warming temperatures by noon and rain shortly after. Sure enough, it's about 36 now with a steady drizzle. I didn't think it would be very nice to make them go shovel something that's probably going to melt on it's own. Besides - I'm nearly a whole entire month into this Mother of the Year thing!
Oh! Another favorite part of mine! Maybe my most favorite of all! Hold on...
Okay. Eowyn just killed the "unkillable" Witchking. It's all good.
So anyway, we all got our wish and are thoroughly enjoying our day. The only thing that would make it better is if Dad was here. Maybe next snow day.
Here we are again, wishing. and hoping. and thinking. and praying. Get it? Anyone? No? Any minute a winter storm of epic proportions will make its way through our neighborhood, crushing any chance of getting to school or work tomorrow!
We need one snow day this year. Not just a two hour delay, but a whole day where the most strenuous thing we have to do is boil the water for the hot chocolate. Except that the kids will have to go out and shovel the sidewalk and driveway. But I'll show them the love by making an endless pot of hot chocolate with lots of mini-marshmallows. They'll come in and change into comfy sweats or jammies or something and then we'll all curl up with our mugs of smooth, chocolaty goodness and watch The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King in surround sound which freaks Sookie out so she'll go take a nap on the landing until the movie is over.
Yeah. That's what we need.
UPDATE: At 10:00 it's lightly snowing and the weather people are still sticking to their story of bad weather overnight. Hopefully I'll be posting an update from the comfort of my cozy couch tomorrow morning...
Katie and I have had a bookend girly day. What I mean by that is we had a girly morning and now we're having a girly night.
This morning we went to the very quaint village of Skippack for manicures and paraffin treatments. We were treated royally and had so much fun! And our hands are now silky smooth. After our hour at the spa we enjoyed a late breakfast at the cutest little cafe. It was a great morning.
Sadly we came home to the drudgery of laundry and packing. Blech.
But now we're watching Mamma Mia. Taylor's at a Christmas party and Todd would rather sit alone in the basement than watch the movie. I find Mamma Mia an entertaining and fun movie, but I have two problems with it.
1 - Pierce Brosnan's singing (I use the term "singing" loosely.)
2 - The song Slipping Through My Fingers.
Schoolbag in hand She leaves home in the early morning Waving goodbye With an absent-minded smile I watch her go With a surge of that well-known sadness And I have to sit down for a while The feeling that I'm loosing her forever And without really entering her world I'm glad whenever I can share her laughter That funny little girl
Slipping through my fingers all the time I try to capture every minute The feeling in it Slipping through my fingers all the time Do I really see what's in her mind Each time I think I'm close to knowing She keeps on growing Slipping through my fingers all the time
Sleep in our eyes Her and me at the breakfast table Barely awake I let precious time go by Then when she's gone There's that odd melancholy feeling And a sense of guilt I can't deny What happened to the wonderful adventures The places I had planned for us to go Well some of that we did But most we didn't And why I just don't know
Slipping through my fingers all the time I try to capture every minute The feeling in it Slipping through my fingers all the time Do I really see what's in her mind Each time I think I'm close to knowing She keeps on growing Slipping through my fingers all the time
Sometimes I wish that I could freeze the picture And save it from the funny tricks of time Slipping through my fingers -
Schoolbag in hand She leaves home in the early morning Waving goodbye with an absent-minded smile
I suppose the lyrics go with the theme, but was it really necessary to include the song? The movie is supposed to be fun and lighthearted. I shut my eyes and plugged my ears, vehemently requesting Katie fast forward through that part. She finally found the mute button, but it was too late. My eyes were all leaky. Thankfully I managed to suppress the outburst that threatened. It would have been ugly, folks. Seriously horrific. Especially considering how much we enjoyed hanging out today.
Why must they grow up? Then again, we wouldn't have had such a great day if she wasn't growing up. Maybe I can get her to stay this age. Minus the moments of teenage angst and girl drama.
For the last couple of days I've been thinking about various posts to write, however, when I actually try to type something I come up empty. Sometimes that happens when I think too much. Which is why I prefer to think as little as possible. So I'm going to try a "stream of consciousness" post - just typing up whatever comes to mind.
I had Home Team at my house Friday. Todd calls them my Big Homies since I call the teen girls my Little Homies. I don't particularly like to be called "Big" anything, thank you very much. Unfortunately my mistake was showing my indignation instead of just ignoring him because now he will forever call us Big Homies. Sorry Ladies.
Speaking of my Homies (NOT Big Homies), I'm not much of a cream in my coffee kinda gal, but some of the women like it so I bought some at the store. I picked up regular Coffee Mate and decided to give Italian Sweet Cream a try. What a discovery! Doesn't it look good? That's Beth Coffee right there! It's very much like putting sweetened condensed milk in your coffee only better. When you open up a can of the sweetened condensed milk you end up eating what's left with a spoon so I think the creamer is probably a healthier choice.
Speaking of coffee, my Mr. Coffee broke a couple of weeks ago. It was a bad morning at the Jenster household. Bad. Thankfully Mr. Jenster has a keen sense of survival because he ran to Wawa to get me a large cuppa joe and then he told me no more cheap coffee pots because I go through them like water through a seive. So we went to Kohl's and bought the coolest coffee maker. It's a Cuisinart with a reservoir instead of a carafe so you place your cup on the X and gently push the lever, causing a stream of liquid gold to dispense until you let go. Fun stuff. If you're using a dark cup, however, it's hard to see the coffee and it's easy to overfill. Still, it's worth it just for the fun of it.
Speaking of fun, my mom and dad are flying in from Little Rock on Wednesday and we're all quite excited around here. It will be great to spend Thanksgiving with them and have two more mouths to help eat the enormous amounts of food I'll end up making. Not only that, but mom will make the pumpkin pie so that's a bonus. Then there's the ironing which always seems to get caught up when she's been visiting. Amazing, that. I'm anxious to see how Sookie will feel about her Oma and Papa.
Speaking of Sookie, she's such a puppy. Which is really cute except when it's not. Like when she comes running in the house with muddy paws and won't stop to let us clean them off. Or when she steals socks and gloves and pieces of paper and then runs outside with them. Or when we're trying to watch a movie and she decides it's time to play.
Speaking of movies, when the new Indiana Jones movie was released on DVD the cost at Target was $14.99 for about three days so I snatched it up. I had been looking forward to the movie ever since I heard they were making it, but we didn't get to see it in the theater. We were like in Hawaii or something.
It used to be so easy to plan a family night, but it has taken us until this afternoon when all four of us were here for the length of time it would take to watch it. So we made a day of it. Lunch at Applebee's and then we came home to watch the movie. Todd took Balto for a walk in the frozen tundra (it was cold and veeeery windy today) to wear her out while I got my comfy sweats on. We all converged in the family room and settled in to watch the movie.
Harrison Ford is old now and Sean Connery's presence was definitely missing. It wasn't as good as the first or third Indy movies - I don't even consider the second -but it was a ton of fun. And it was just nice to be a family again even if it was just for a little while! Before long it was time to take the kids to Youth Group.
Speaking of Youth Group -- I got nuthin'. I guess it's time to end this post so Adios Muchachos!!
Today I watched Living Proof and Why I Wore Lipstick to my Mastectomy - both movies about breast cancer. Both GREAT movies about breast cancer. A little hard to watch, but very hopeful and inspiring for different reasons. I'll get into that in another post because they are worth telling you about. I don't have it in me this evening, but I have written today.
When I was diagnosed with breast cancer I had no idea what I was in store for. I knew the generals about surgery because I'd had plenty before. I thought I knew about chemotherapy and I also thought this was all just a detour in the road. I found out it wasn't just a detour, but a whole new direction.
I wrote Who Knew? - a post about what I learned - for the Clear blog.
I still have beautiful pictures from the Big Island to share. Incredible vistas, valleys, waterfalls, HOT LAVA STREAMING INTO THE OCEAN - very Hawaiian scenery. But I'm going to take a quick break.
***
I have hundreds of new posts in Google Reader. I've been trying to get to them, but it's so overwhelming. I'm very sorry, my bloggy friends, but I'm going to wipe out all the posts and start from scratch. Otherwise I'll make myself crazy. I hate to do it, too, because I worry I'll miss out on the most important or provocative post in the history of blogdom. I guess I'll just have to get over it.
***
My friend, Kris, and I took our daughters and one of their friends to see Mamma Mia yesterday. Kris is an ABBA freak, man. Not freak as in she dresses like them or has a shrine dedicated to them. Just that she has all their CDs and knows all the words. She's seen the Broadway play and this was her third time to see the movie. She cracked me up because she sang every word to every song.
The movie itself was a lot of fun. Very cute movie! It is rated PG-13 for good reason so I wouldn't take young kids to see it. But that's just me. I kind of pushed the envelope for Katie who, I hate to say it, is much closer to 14 than 13 (but that's several other posts for several other days). But I was okay with everything.
***
Katie goes to church camp for a week today. Once again I'm glad she has this opportunity. My emotions are all over the board with it, though. Part of me is looking forward to having a Katie break (you all know how much she talks). Part of me knows by Wednesday I'm going to want her back home. Part of me is looking forward to having just Taylor for a week. Part of me is hoping he and his friend pick this week to go camping for a couple days. I can't seem to light on just one "feeling" about this whole thing.
It's sort of like school. I love when school gets out and then I always look forward to school starting. I think I would totally dig year around schools. But nobody with the power ever consults me about this.
***
Poor Taylor is the only one of his friends who can't drive yet. Even Kristen has her license now. He could have gotten his permit three months ago, but he hasn't "studied" for it enough, according to him. Maybe this next week...
***
So far I've thoroughly enjoyed Todd working from home. Sookie likes it, too. She spends half her day in the office with him or right outside the door, laying in the sun streaming through the big window above the stairs.
***
I'm so excited I get to go to church today. I've missed three weeks and it's totally thrown me off kilter. There's a lot of exciting stuff for women going on right now that I will definitely be writing about later.
***
Geesh. I really have nothing to say. Actually, I have a lot of things to say, but this isn't the time to get into any of them. Yup. I've been pondering life's meaning again. Or something like that.
I'll try to get the rest of my Hawaii pictures up tomorrow.
So what's up? Nothin' much going on here. Just the usual. You know. Todd's at work - he's got major short timer's disease, but he's making a valiant effort; Katie's babysitting; Taylor's at CIY in Tennessee - kind of like church camp only much more intense. Katie's Little Homies are going camping this afternoon through Saturday morning so Todd and I get some just us time. I think I'm going to make reservations at that new Italian restaurant we were going to eat at for our anniversary, but they were booked. Yeah. That's a great idea.
***
We watched "Fools' Gold" last night and LOVED IT! The chemistry between Kate Hudson and Matthew McConnohotty is nearly palpable. It had everything I love in a movie. Adventure, romance, humor, an exotic location and even a bit of history. Well, made up history, but still.
The prude that I am was a little disappointed at a flash of anonymous boobies. It's PG-13, for cryin' out loud. It was a quick flash, but so very unnecessary. It reminded me of when I was in 8th grade and my AT group went into Hollywood to see Romeo and Juliet at Grauman's Chinese Theater. Really cool experience, but the boys in the group were thrilled when Olivia Hussey jumped out of bed, baring her chest. (But really, what do you expect with a name like Hussey?) The girls were just embarrassed. And a little envious. Or maybe that was just me.
***
OH! Have I told you we actually have a Sonic AND a real Starbucks with a drive through now? Maybe two miles from the house, if that. The only problem with the Sonic is it's such a novelty up here that they have to have traffic managers with walkie talkies directing cars who are waiting for the next available slot. It's totally insane. I mean, I love Sonic and all - you know I do - but it's not THAT great.
Last Sunday after Youth Group a bunch of the older kids went to Sonic. They parked in the lot and walked over to order and eat at the picnic tables out front. You order in the same kind of speaker box as if you'd pulled up to a slot, but you give them your name so when they come out they know where the order goes. So here's the conversation with the Sonic chick and my son:
SC: What's your name?
T: Taylor.
SC: What is it?
T: Taylor.
SC: Tyler?
T: Taylor.
SC: What was that?
T: Billy.
SC: Billy?
T: Yup.
***
This is the top of the swimsuit I bought for Hawaii the other day. I consider it was a good day because I didn't cry in the dressing room. Didn't even feel the urge. I certainly don't like the way I look in a swimsuit. Heck, I didn't like it when I was 40 pounds lighter. But it is what it is so there's no sense getting depressed about it. But what thrilled me was the fact it's just a normal top and it just happens to hide both my mastectomy scar (my left mastectomy scar is pretty high up) and my port scar. I also got two different bottoms - red regular bottoms and a coral SwimMini.
***
This morning I found a great deal on plane reservations for my parents to come up for Thanksgiving. So I called Mom and we booked those babies before they went away. Mom and Dad actually get in on my 43rd birthday. I think we'll celebrate with a chocolate cake and 29 candles. It's just been the four of us for the last two Thanksgivings so we're really looking forward to having some family to help us celebrate.
***
All this goodness leads me to today's verse.
If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!
Our family, or at least our marriage, is about to take on a new dimension. Todd begins work with a new company next week. It will require a bit of travel - maybe a little more than he travels now only more spread out instead of two or three weeks every quarter. The real difference will be that he'll be working from home when he's not traveling. Did you get that? He will be working from HOME.
For the most part I'm looking forward to it. We'll be saving a bundle on petrol (doesn't that make me sound so very European?) and I think I've talked him into swimming with me. I'm hoping he'll drag me along on those days I don't want to go (which is probably just about every day). He will only require clean and pressed "nice" clothes when he travels - which really won't change much of anything for me because it's not like I iron like I should anyway. I'll also have a daily lunch buddy. I think it's going to be nice.
Realistically, however, I imagine there will be an adjustment period. Every time he's at home he throws me off my mojo and I'm not sure why. My routine just seems to go right out the window. That will not be acceptable if he's home every day. How in the world will I spend hours on the computer or reading with a messy kitchen and piles of laundry?
I am seriously proud of him. It's funny because when we were dating I knew he was smart, but I didn't know he was THIS smart. For the last several years he's been working in the electricity sector - not for an electric company, but for a Regional Transmission Office (RTO). I liken an RTO to an electricity broker. They "trade" electricity between electric companies in their region and watch the transmission lines, making sure they don't overload here or run out there. That's the Jenster's Mega-Simplified Version, but I think you can get an idea of what his company does.
Have you seen Live Free or Die Hard? If you haven't you should. It's one of the most realistic action movies I've ever seen. (That statement, my friends, is dripping with sarcasm.) If you can suspend belief it's awfully fun. Definitely one of my favorite car-chase-explosion-shoot-'em-up movies to date. The reason I bring it up is because a terrorist targets the electric grid, among other utilities. Imagine, if you will, what would happen if the entire US electric grid was shut down. It's not a pretty thought at all. Which is why it's high on Homeland Security's list of possible terrorist targets.
Which brings me to Todd's job. In a nutshell he's responsible for making sure the various departments are following procedures and compliant with the government regulations. All electricity entities, including the RTOs, are periodically audited and it can prove bad for them if they are found to be non-compliant.
He works with others across the U.S. and Canada in similar positions and the FBI and Homeland Security to come up with these regulated procedures to insure protection against a terrorist attack on the electric grid.
His new job is for NERC - North American Electric Reliability Corporation - the pseudo-government organization that does the auditing. Yup. He will no longer be the stressed out auditEE, if you will, but the in charge auditOR.
I know, I know. "Auditor" has such a negative connotation to it. But I like the idea of someone out there making sure these companies are doing what they need to be doing so we can continue to enjoy our a/c and TV and lights and refrigerated food and so on, not to mention health care machinery like life support, etc.
If you'll indulge my bragging just a smidgen longer. According to his new boss he is considered a national expert in the electricity sector. I admit it. I'm fairly preening with pride right now. That's my man. All mine!
He starts this new position in July, though he'll be at the home office in Princeton, New Jersey for a bit of it before we go to Hawaii. You know, orientation and all that. Then we'll be settling into our new arrangement. Should be interesting...
I hope you're all wearing green. Otherwise you might get pinched. Unless you're into that kind of thing...
Second of all -
It's the first official day of Spring Break!! I didn't have to get up early! Poor Todd, though. He still has to go to work. I did wake up long enough to tell him goodbye.
Third of all -
Katie was up before the rest of us and made both plain and chocolate chip pancakes. She's an awesome pancake maker, a skill she must have gotten from my mom because she sure didn't get it from me.
***
Because I'm still fighting this crud I didn't go to church yesterday morning. So I had church with Beth Moore. It was great.
Katie ditched youth group last night to stay home with me and we watched North and South. *sigh* Her squeal of delight when they both finally came to their senses was worth it.
I'm going to be very busy this weekend doing nothing. Seriously. I have the pleasure of a ton of alone time and I'm going to fill that time with flicks of the chick variety, books and computer. Coffee will be flowing freely and I may even throw in some Vermonty Python ice cream for good measure. I'm not going to go totally crazy with the eating, though.
I'm picking the kids up from school and taking them directly to church where they will get on a big bus and head to Harrisburg for PCTC - Pennsylvania Christian Teen Convention. They went last year and it was an awesome experience for all the teens.
My only glitch in the whole Weekend-To-Myself plan is another stinkin' cold. It's not a terrible cold. Mostly a full head - scratchy throat, plugged up ears, postnasal congestion. That sort of thing. But it made me miss Home Team this morning and I'm not happy about that! I drove the kids to the bus stop because it was about 12 degrees outside with a decent windchill and when I went upstairs around 7:20 to start getting ready I decided to lay down for a few minutes since I had plenty of time. The next thing I knew it was 9:10. Home Team starts at 9:00. Then I rolled over with the intention of getting up and making it for at least half of bible study and the next thing I knew it was 10:00. So I gave up. But I feel the loss of connecting with my Homies.
Oh wait. There may be another glitch. We're supposed to get some snow and possibly ice tonight which means I'll have to shovel the drive way tomorrow since my snow blowers will be in other parts of the country. That will cut into my indulgent plans and I'm not thrilled about that. But oh well.
But I am looking forward to having the remote control all to myself. I'm looking forward to catching up with all my blog buddies without hearing someone say "You spend more time with people you don't even know than you do with us." (I've never actually heard anyone say that, but there's always the risk.) I don't have to prepare any meals, do any laundry, be nice to anyone... I'm excited.
Both the kids asked me if I was really happy they were going away. Geesh. They make it sound so horrible when they put it that way. I told them I was thoroughly looking forward to some time alone, but that by Sunday I would be so happy to have them back. Hopefully I didn't damage them any more than I already have. Driving Taylor to the bus stop in my pink robe and then cuffing him upside the head for messing with the buttons in the car in front of some of the neighborhood girls did enough of that.
And trying to pretend our life is a musical after watching Dream Girls and singing our conversation with a little dance move thrown in here and there seems to really bother him. Not Katie, though. She just plays along. OH! That reminds me of when she was very young - probably around four or five, maybe a little older. I would tell her to go clean her room and then spy on her from around the corner. She would walk around the room very dramatically, singing, "My mother told me to clean my room, but I don't want to-o-o-o-o-o-o. Why must I do these things she asks of me-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e?" It was hysterical! I so wish I would have gotten that on tape. She was starring in her own little version of Katierella or something. So funny!
Back to all of my family being gone. I suppose I could have lied to them and tell them how sad I was going to be, how miserable my lonely weekend would be, how I would probably spend most of the time crying, blah, blah, blah. But they would have caught on pretty quickly and lying is just wrong.
Lucky Todd gets to see his new niece and nephew - The Pretty Princess and Tank. Or Olivia and Nicholas. I'm very jealous. VERY JEALOUS! They are so cute! We're going to California for Christmas (in Palm Springs) and I'll get to see them then. But this very weekend -- nay, this very day he'll get to hold them and squeeze them and munch on them... Jealous I am. (I talk like that because I'm part hobbit. Remember?) My mother-in-law cracks me up because she's so worried my children will think she doesn't love them any more now that she has two new grandchildren. How wrong she is, but I can't figure out how to convince her of that.
Ooo! Look at the time!! It's almost time to pick up the kids!!
Wednesday night Todd and I went with Ben and his fiance, Katie (not to be confused with our Katie) to a Shane and Shane concert. For those of you who aren't familiar with contemporary Christian bands you probably have no idea who they are. They're a pretty awesome accoustic (mostly) band and a lot of fun to see. David Nasser was there as well. This guy is a great speaker and what a story he has to tell! He was born in Iran, saw his father dragged from his house and had a gun held to his own head when he was 9. Somehow his family managed to escape to America after that. He went to church with a high school buddy when this friend told him the five hottest girls at school went to the same church. He eventually became a Christian and is a very funny, gifted speaker with quite a powerful message. There's a ton more I could say about him, but I won't. Just suffice it to say that our "Valentine's date" was great!
Friday night we watched the fourth disk of season one of the Gilmore Girls. I had to keep asking myself, "Gilmore Girls or Prison Break"? You know, my two favorite television shows are LOST and Desparate Housewives. Those are the two shows I don't like to miss. Every other show on TV I can do without. I'm pretty sure I could draw comparisons there, too, and maybe narrow down my favorites to just one night a week. Nah...
Saturday morning was the quarterly ladies' brunch at church. What a bunch of fun that is! I'm a little sad I have to wait three more months for the next one. After that Todd and I went walking at the park. I thoroughly enjoyed it except for the fact it was around 30 degrees and a bit windy. It was my first taste of being ready for Spring.
Everybody is off tomorrow and I have no idea what we're going to do. All the stuff I'd like to do is outdoor stuff and it's too cold for that. Movies are expensive and the Camden Aquarium (like I'd been thinking about) is going to be mega-crowded. The kids are harder to please now that they're getting older. Gone are the days of driving to the really cool looking gas station with the Espresso Bar inside and giving them a thrill. Heck, it's even lost some of its appeal to me.
OH! Katie and I bought about 50 pounds of candy on Friday for our DVDathon and I found a green bag of nothing but green M&Ms. If you don't know the significance of green M&Ms - and it's not because St. Patrick's Day is around the corner - you can read about it here. There's a hoochie-mama green M&M on the front and it says, "The New Color of Love". But that's not the funniest part. In smaller letters under said hoochie-mama it says, "Sweetie... it's all true."
When we got home I told Todd I had a surprise for him. After pulling the Milk Duds and Twizzlers and Sour Gummy Lifesavers and Goobers out of the bag (and I can't figure out why I'm not losing weight) I pulled out the M&Ms and threw him the bag. His first words were, "I don't need these!" Silly boy. I bought them for me.
Lately I've been waking up in the middle of the night with my nose as cold as a lonely Eskimo's. Nothing else is cold. Just my nose. So I bury my face beneath the covers to warm it up.
I hate doing that for two reasons:
1. If my nose is stuffy I've been breathing through my mouth. If I've been breathing through my mouth it's very likely I have poop breath. You'd think it wouldn't matter since my nose is stuffy, but the stench somehow manages to seep through the stuffiness and into my olfactory glands.
2. People end up in the hospital or dead because of carbon monoxide poisoning all the time. So I start worrying about carbon dioxide poisoning. Can I get sick by breathing my own breath? Isn't that how cats steal a baby's breath? You can see how this is very disturbing.
***
I went to lunch and a movie with my friend, Kris, today. We had decided against seeing P.S. I Love You because we didn't want to cry. Unfortunately it was the only movie worth seeing so we braved it. We stopped on the way and bought our own little kleenex packages. She called me all manner of bad names - or maybe it was only one bad name several times - because I forced her to watch this movie. I told her I proudly wear the title and refused to apologize.
It was one of the best "chick flicks" I've seen in a long time. Yes, it's sad and good for a cry. But there's so much more to laugh about. And how can watching a movie with an extremely charming Gerard Butler be a bad thing??
***
On the recommendation of my cousin and very good friend, Stacy, I bought Apples to Apples for a family Christmas present. We played it last night and laughed so hard it's a wonder we didn't pee our pants. Oh wait. I think Katie did. But anyway, it was hysterical! We had so much fun we played it two-plus times. Good stuff.
***
Between some Christmas money and a surprise bonus at work I bought a photo scanner yesterday. I'm so excited to get all my old pictures onto the computer. I also received the latest Photoshop from Todd. Does anyone know if that means I can airbrush photos of myself?? Just curious.
***
I'm reading my 41st book of 2007 (The Boleyn Inheritance). I really hope I finish it before midnight on the 31st so I can add it to this year's reading list. Even so, 41 is pathetic. But I'm okay with it. I suppose 41 is better than 21.
***
That's enough random for one post. The Funniest Commercials of 2007 is coming on in a half an hour so I gotta go!
Movies are so expensive that we never just go on a whim anymore. But we plan entire days around some movies. Like this one...
Saturday we're going out to lunch and then to see the new National Treasure movie. I've been waiting for this to be released ever since I heard about it. And because we hardly ever go to the cinema we will enjoy the complete movie experience which includes a soda and candy. Seeing a movie in a theater isn't a perfect experience unless Goobers are involved.
My fans are clamoring for me to write another post. They both think it's been too long since my last one. I'm sorry to tell you, Mom and Aunt Thea, that my posting is going to be mighty sporadic until after the first of the year. No doubt most of you can relate. Christmas is closing in on us and there's always so much to do, so little time. I do believe my shopping is finished which is a huge relief. But I haven't even done my Christmas cards and it's looking like it's not happening this year. Maybe I'll do a "Happy 2008" card in January instead.
I have so much nothing to say. Having trouble getting to sleep at night? Just keep reading.
School was dismissed two hours early on Thursday due to bad weather. Thankfully Todd was already home because he was sick. Not thankfully he was sick. But thankfully he was already home. Though I don't believe the streets ever did get slick, it was still fun to have a family evening at home on a cold night, watching Transformers. Except for somewhere along the line we lost both the kids - Katie to bed and Taylor to a phone call with his girlfriend - and Todd and I finished out the movie alone.
The kids went carolling at a nursing home with some of the young adults from church last night. They had a blast. While I sometimes pine for my babies or toddlers or preschoolers or elementary age kids, I also thoroughly enjoy having two teenagers. No, I haven't caught Todd's fever. I really mean it. The only thing I truly get tired of is playing chauffeur. Sometimes I can't wait for Taylor to get his license just so I'm not constantly driving all over the place for him and Katie. And when I need a gallon of milk. Rationally, however, I'm not excited about that prospect at all. I know how I am and I'll be a nervous wreck when he's not home exactly when he said he was going to be. It will be time to step up the hair coloring regimen, I'm sure.
Anyway, they were gone so Todd and I got a Hawaiian pizza and watched Mr. Brooks last night. I'm pretty prudish when it comes to bad language in movies and there were a lot of F-bombs in this particular flick. But we watched it anyway and it was okay. Not the best movie I ever saw. Not the worst.
I have thrush again and this time I have absolutely no idea why. I haven't been on any antibiotics and I don't think my white count is low because I'm pretty sure I'd be sick if it was. My tongue has been more swollen than normal for the last week or so, but last night I had a lovely yeasty coating. So I'm downing yogurt and drinking Swizzle (Thanks, DebC) by the teaspoonfuls. It actually seems to be helping, but my tongue still hurts from pushing so hard on my teeth. I would really like to know why I'm still dealing with this two years after chemotherapy, but my doctors don't appear to be interested in finding a reason.
Katie and I did a little bit of shopping today. We went to the Outlet stores and froze our patooties off. While I love the new outlet mall, I do have a gripe. It's an outdoor mall which means today it was freezing between stores. To keep warm while you're walking around you need a good coat. But the stores are kept so warm that I'm surprised people weren't passing out from heat stroke. So Katie and I decided to leave our jackets in the car. Which meant we were like icicles running around outside. We did warm up in Starbuck's after we finished our few errands and then, fortified with liquid heat, made a bee-line for the car. Except we couldn't find the car and it was windy making the 32 degree temperatures feel more like about 22 degrees and we were in long sleeved t-shirts and sweatshirts. I think our reason centers were frozen or something because we were laughing like idiots while Katie held my keys up over her head and continually hit the alarm button to no avail. Finally we realized we had come out the wrong way and were in the wrong parking lot altogether.
I am having to endure hockey on TV. I love hockey and, in fact, am going to a hockey game tomorrow. But I hate sports on TV. My unreasonable husband won't even look for something we both might enjoy because I'm typing on my computer. He didn't even care when I said I was almost finished. I think his recent illness caused a spike in testosterone or something. I could take advantage of his weakened state and make a grab for the remote...
I suppose this is enough mundane for one night. Until the next time.
I really wanted to crawl back in my bed after the kids left for school. It was cold and the funk was still upon me. But I couldn't give in to it because it was my turn to host Home Team. God is so smart that way. If it had been at someone else's house I'm pretty sure I would have succumbed to the warmth of my comforter. As it was I had to "attend" and I knew it was exactly what I needed. My "homies" (as one of the ladies calls us) were the perfect prescription for what was ailing me. By the time they left my soul felt as light as a feather. I love my homies.
After all they did for me I was rude and kicked them out so I could make it to the preschool Christmas lunch. It's the only place I can think of where ladies will sit around a table laden with delicious holiday food and laugh about snot.
That evening was our neighborhood ladies' ornament exchange and I had planned on going, but by Friday afternoon I was in a lot of discomfort from the procedure so I stayed home. Todd's Christmas present came early - a 46" Sharp Aquas - so we watched one of the best movies EVER - Live Free or Die Hard. Except I fell asleep on the love seat.
SATURDAY
I removed the last of the dressings Saturday morning. There was no whiskey involved because: a) we don't have any in the house; and b) I was going to a brunch at church and I didn't think smelling of liquid courage at 9:00 in the morning would endear me to anyone. Neither did I bite on any leather as I didn't want to leave teeth marks in one of Todd's belts. So I did the next best thing. I sang while I pulled the tape off. And not well, either.
No balloons or streamers were necessary. It was a non-event. Like taking a band aid off a paper cut. No biggy.
As I said, there was a ladies' brunch at church that morning and once again God knew exactly what I needed. I thoroughly enjoyed everything about it - scrumptuals, coffee, gabbing with friends, making new friends, an Anita Renfroe clip, a devotional and a bible study. It was another soul-lifting experience.
SUNDAY
I'm afraid I may have mislead you all into thinking I did something really embarrassing at church, but it wasn't SO bad. Seven short clips from Christmas movies were shown and we each wrote down what we thought they were. After the last clip our Director of Adult Ministries had us call out the titles. The first six were easy --
Home Alone Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer Fred Clause Christmas Vacation The Santa Clause 3 It's a Wonderful Life
Most of the congregation knew the movies so I just sat quietly and let everyone else yell their answers. The last clip, however, stumped the crowd. Someone yelled out Miracle on 34th Street, but that wasn't right. When it became obvious no one else was going to confess to knowing what the last movie was I blurted out Bad Santa.
Both the kids were working in the children's classes and Todd was home sick with an upper respiratory infection, leaving me sitting by myself. All of a sudden there were somewhere around 300 pairs of eyes on me while I was trying to convince them it was an educated guess. Which it was. But I don't think anyone believed me.
Anyway, I won the annual fruit cake for my mad Christmas movie skillz. And here's the funny thing. The reason I thought of Bad Santa was because it looked like Sarah Silverman in the scene. My thought process went something like this:
It's Sarah Silverman
I don't like Sarah Silverman
Sarah Silverman is bad
Bad Santa is bad
Must be Bad Santa
Turns out it wasn't even Sarah Silverman. By using my stellar powers of deductive reasoning I have come to the conclusion that Jesus wanted me to have the fruit cake.
FOLLOW UP
Remember the drawing by one of the preschoolers I told you about? I took a picture of it with my phone this morning. How funny is this??
And St. Antioch raised the hand grenade up on high saying, “Oh Lord. Bless this, thy hand grenade that with it thou mayest blow thy enemy to tiny bits in thy mercy. And the Lord did grin and the people did feast on the lambs and sloths and carp and anchovies and orangutans and breakfast cereal and fruit baskets and…
And the Lord spake saying, first shalt thou take out the holy pin and then shalt thou count to three – no more no less. Three shall be the number thou shall count and the number of the counting shall be three. Four shall thou not count, neither count thou two excepting that thou then proceed to three. Five is right out. Once the number three, being the third number, be reached, then lobbest thou the holy hand grenade of Antioch towards they foe, who being not in my sight, shall snuffit.
Katie and I watched Fried Green Tomatoes last night. It’s times like that when I love having a daughter. Oh, I suppose there are other times I love having a daughter, too. But chillin’ together with a chick flick is just fun.
It’s been quite a while since I’ve seen this movie, but watching it brings up such pleasant memories and emotions. Some things in life are pure Southern – things I’d never even heard of growing up in California. Things like chiggers, crawdads, fried okra, sweet tea that can pass for pancake syrup, kudzu, fried green tomatoes…
There’s a little town just east of Little Rock called Scott that reminds me of the little town in the movie. In Scott you can find a shack of a famous restaurant, the back of which is on stilts over a creek, called Cotham’s Mercantile. It was built in 1917, has been a general store, a jail and a military commissary. Regardless of how primitive, the joint is always jumping. I’ve seen it packed from wall to wall with distinguished business people from Little Rock and farmers alike.
Every time I see Fried Green Tomatoes I think of Cotham’s. They even serve – you guessed it – fried green tomatoes.
Another thing about the movie is the mythical warrior Towanda they call on for courage. When I was going through chemotherapy I was part of a wonderful on-line community of women who all started treatment in June of 2005. Towanda was a part of our kicking cancer's butt attitude.
The day after my last treatment, November 23, 2005, my family took me to a Build-A-Bear where I was told to pick out whichever animal I wanted. I chose a white teddy bear and when we had it stuffed Todd pulled out four sound chips - one for each paw. He and the kids had recorded messages about my courage and how much they loved me.
I named the bear Towanda because she's a symbol of how I had gone all Bruce Lee, Jet Lee and Tommy Lee on my cancer. She sits next to my glider in the sitting room and I see her every morning - assuming I get out of my pajamas. And now Katie gets why I named the bear Towanda.
***
Todd was out of town on business and Taylor was at a Student Leadership meeting at church last night. I had told Taylor to come tell me goodnight when he got home because I was pretty sure I'd be watching TV in bed by then. I heard him come in, heard the lock click and the porch light switch clack, heard him go into the kitchen and I relaxed. I promptly fell asleep, only to be jarred awake by this big kid jumping onto the bed to tell his mama goodnight.
As shocking as that was I must admit I loved it. Here's my baby boy who is taller than I am; has a girlfriend; is starting to think about college and what he may want to be when he grows up; and I saw a glimpse of the little boy he used to be. We chatted for a little bit -- or he chatted and I mumbled -- and then he kissed me, said, "I love you", went off to bed and I fell back to sleep with a big grin on my face.
***
Hangin' and giggling with the girl and getting some mama love from the boy. Yeah. It's good to be me.
It's 3:30 as I'm typing. 3:30 a.m.. A.M. as in morning. I've been awake since about 1:00 and the two things that keep rolling through my mind are:
1. I can't wait for the dead of winter. If it was freezing in here I'd be blissfully bundled up, sleeping like a baby instead of flipping and flopping and trying to get each side cooled off by the ceiling fan. It's not even that hot, but I can't seem to get cool or comfortable.
2. All that's left is a band of gold... I can't get that stupid song out of my head.
I tried reading, but that didn't do any good. So then I picked up a financial budgeting book thinking that would bore me into somnolence, but obviously that didn't work, either. It just made me want to check my bank balances.
So I'll tell you about my Thursday and hope this post will make sense by the light of day. Then again this is me we're talking about. My well-rested, caffeinated self doesn't always make sense. What makes me think my blurry-eyed, muddled-headed self will?
I had to see the nurse at the plastic surgeon's office in Philadelphia this morning. At one point it took me 8 minutes to go 1 mile. Then when I pulled in to the parking deck I got behind a lady in a walker. Seriously. The woman was walking up the middle of the lane in a walker, up hill, and I couldn't get around her. The whole stinkin' length of the parking garage.
Surprisingly I didn't feel aggravated. It made me laugh because it was so incredibly ridiculous. That and I wasn't in a rush so who cared.
Oh. Also because I had a yummy mint mocha iced coffee from Wawa. Except I don't recommend drinking it while you're eating a Reece's Peanut Butter granola bar. Then it just tastes like mouthwash.
Anyway, I had to see the nurse because the right side of my recent little procedure became infected over the weekend. She said that there was some breakdown, but that's very normal. She also told me I was doing an excellent job taking care of "them" and the doctor would be pleased when I saw him for my regular follow up next Wednesday. Then she prescribed me an antibiotic.
After that I had a routine checkup with the White Russian. I had a little over two hours to kill so I hung out at Borders. Stupid, stupid girl. I ran in to buy one book. Lord John Grey and the Brotherhood of the Blade by Diana Gabaldon. Found it with no problem. And four other books I had to have as well. Dangerous Book for Boys by Conn and Hal Iggulden; Thirteen Moons by Charles Frazier; and two historical fiction books set during the English Restoration (King Charles II). The books are downstairs and, while I may be awake, I'm not in the mood to run downstairs just for the titles. But ever since I read Forever Amber I've been fascinated with that time period.
I seriously need to stop this madness. If I was still reading three or four books a week that would be one thing. But I only read one book the entire month of August. That's horrible! I think part of my problem is that I need a change in genres. I do this every once in a while. I've been on a romance kick for a while and I love romance novels, but it's time for a change. Thus the straight historical fiction.
And since the nurse told me I was such a good girl (or something like that) I treated myself to an iced white chocolate mocha and a chocolate cherry scone. Well, I was hungry and that was all Border's cafe had to offer.
When I left the store I noticed a used book store across the street. Apparently it's been there for a while, but this is the first time in over a year that I noticed it. So I filed that bit of information away for later.
Saw the White Russian and got a great report. My blood work is all within good limits. My blood pressure was excellent. The nurse and I crossed off several medications and narrowed it down to two. Well, three if you count the antibiotic I'm on. Though I'm thinking I could surely use some Lunesta tonight. Maybe we were a little too quick with that!
I promised the kids I'd stop at Hope's Cookies after the oncologist's visit. That's not exactly true. What I said was, "Let's just say I was to stop in at Hope's Cookies after I see the White Russian, what kind of cookies would you want?" But that was close enough to a pledge for me so I bought chocolate chip for Katie, Peanut Butter Chip for Taylor and White Russian cookies for me. (It's a theme with me, okay?)
That used book store I'd spied earlier is right behind Hope's. So I meandered over there for a quick looksie. Guess what happened? I bought a book. I bought a beautiful leather bound copy of Milton's Paradise Lost. I swear it jumped off the shelf and I had to catch it so as not to let it's beautiful cover be marred from bouncing off the cement floor. Then we bonded and I had to take it home. Or something like that.
Once I got back in the car I endeavored to look straight ahead on my way home lest I be tempted by yet another book store. All this book buying is probably why I felt the need to peruse the budgeting book this morning.
Todd is out of town and Taylor was busy with school and social functions, so Katie and I went to dinner, picked up my prescription and came home to watch Steel Magnolias. Remember my comment a couple posts back about needing to schedule time for a breakdown? Not so anymore. I am cleansed! All it takes is a little Sally Field having her own meltdown after her daughter's funeral. Why didn't I think of that earlier?
It was rather funny. Katie was laying on the love seat and I was sitting in Todd's green chair (Yes - it's back to being his chair) and we were both sniffling and hooty-puckering and laughing at each other all at the same time. And then when Clairee offers Ouiser (I checked the spelling on IMDB) as a punching bag we became nearly hysterical.
Good times.
Now it's 4:05 and I have got to get some sleep. I'm interviewing for a part-time position with our church's new preschool tomorrow. The position is 9:00 to 12:00 and I had originally thought I might like to work two days a week - Tuesday and Thursday. But when the director called me about setting up an interview she said she would love to have someone (hopefully me) all five days. But I don't want to give up my ladies' bible study on Friday mornings so it may turn into four days a week. We'll just see.
If I don't get to it tomorrow, I'll get to the wedding and the rest of Rhode Island on Saturday. My alarm is going off in a little over two hours so I'm going to try to fill that time with dreams. Good dreams. Dreams that involve a snug sleeping bag and a cot in the frozen tundra and no bands of gold.
I'm finally getting around to the long awaited New York City post. I'm a little concerned the anticipation has continued to build and you will be left sorely disappointed. And I'm going to do the visit in two parts. Day One and Day Two for your reading convenience.
We left the house about 9:00 Thursday morning. We had originally thought to leave about 7:00, but decided that traffic was as good an excuse as any to sleep a little later.
Our first destination was the Trenton, New Jersey train station and we made it within an hour. Trying to figure out where to park and all that added on to our time, but we just didn't care. We were spending the night in New York City!!
We've decided the ferry is really the way to go, though I did enjoy all the reading time I had on the train. An hour and a half after departing Trenton we arrived at Penn Station and walked the 8 blocks or so to the hotel. It was too early to check in, but we dropped off our bags, ate some lunch and took off through Times Square, walking to Rockefeller Plaza. The ice skating rink doubles for an outside cafe in the summer.
From there we hit the Disney Store because Katie needed a pirate costume for VBS next week. Not that she wanted to go to the Disney Store. It's just that it was a necessity. We passed this on our way:
Walked a few more blocks to FAO Schwarz, but didn't stay very long. After that we were tired and needed a good sit. So we took a carriage ride around the lower half of Central Park. This would be our view:
We may have seen more than just that, but I didn't do so great with the camera this trip.
Enough time had passed that we could check into the room so we caught the subway at Columbus Circle and got off at 42nd and 8th - a half a block from the hotel. We checked in, ooo'd and ahhh'd over the luxurious beds and view of the Empire State Building, or its spire at least:
After cooling off and resting we decided we'd better head out for dinner before the coming storm hit. We walked up to Hard Rock Cafe and, once again, I stunned and amazed my daughter by knowing just about every band they showed videos for - from the early 80's to this year. Okay. "Stunned and amazed" is probably overstated. Alright. Truth be told I only managed to stun and amaze myself. She didn't seem to care.
It hadn't started raining yet so we went further up Times Square until we got to Maxies. There we ordered a fudge marble cheesecake to go.
Two things New York City has more than its share of are Duane Reade pharmacies and Starbucks. So we stopped in one of the many Starbucks we passed for a yummy beverage as an accompaniment to our delicious cheesecake. Then we ran into a Duane Reade (this is probably the first time I've ever actually meant "ran" as we were still trying to beat the storm) for bottled water and plastic forks.
We made it back to the hotel just as it started to sprinkle. Up to the room, change into our comfy jammies and share the cheesecake.
You can tell how excited we were because I completely forgot to take a picture until after we'd started.
After the filling repast we ordered a movie "Are We Done Yet", got snug in our beds and laughed our heads off. Then it was a good night's sleep and our adventure started back up Friday morning.
The mundane ramblings of a busy homemaker trying to get out of housework
About Me
Name::Jenster From::Pennsylvania, United States
wife of a great man who loves me despite my lack of domestic skills ** mother of two pretty wonderful teenagers (and I really mean it) ** reader ** writer ** active member of a terrific bible church, serving women ** breast cancer survivor View my complete profile
We saw Julie and Julia. Have you seen it? It was delightful. I can't think of a better word to describe it. Just delightful. If you love to eat you should see it. If you love to cook you should see it. If you love to write or if you blog, you should see it. If you're a woman or a female of some type, you should see it. If you're a guy you should see it (it's not a chick flick, just so you know). If you've ever been to Paris you should see it. If you want to go to Paris you should see it. Heck, if you have a pulse you should see it! It's just a good movie. It's just... just... delightful.
Here we are again, wishing. and hoping. and thinking. and praying. Get it? Anyone? No? Any minute a winter storm of epic proportions will make its way through our neighborhood, crushing any chance of getting to school or work tomorrow!
Speaking of my Homies (NOT Big Homies), I'm not much of a cream in my coffee kinda gal, but some of the women like it so I bought some at the store. I picked up regular Coffee Mate and decided to give Italian Sweet Cream a try. What a discovery! Doesn't it look good? 
That's Beth Coffee right there! It's very much like putting sweetened condensed milk in your coffee only better. When you open up a can of the sweetened condensed milk you end up eating what's left with a spoon so I think the creamer is probably a healthier choice.
Thankfully Mr. Jenster has a keen sense of survival because he ran to Wawa to get me a large cuppa joe and then he told me no more cheap coffee pots because I go through them like water through a seive. So we went to Kohl's and bought the coolest coffee maker. It's a Cuisinart with a reservoir instead of a carafe so you place your cup on the X and gently push the lever, causing a stream of liquid gold to dispense until you let go. Fun stuff. If you're using a dark cup, however, it's hard to see the coffee and it's easy to overfill. Still, it's worth it just for the fun of it.
The prude that I am was a little disappointed at a flash of anonymous boobies. It's PG-13, for cryin' out loud. It was a quick flash, but so very unnecessary. It reminded me of when I was in 8th grade and my AT group went into Hollywood to see Romeo and Juliet at Grauman's Chinese Theater. Really cool experience, but the boys in the group were thrilled when Olivia Hussey jumped out of bed, baring her chest. (But really, what do you expect with a name like Hussey?) The girls were just embarrassed. And a little envious. Or maybe that was just me.
Last Sunday after Youth Group a bunch of the older kids went to Sonic. They parked in the lot and walked over to order and eat at the picnic tables out front. You order in the same kind of speaker box as if you'd pulled up to a slot, but you give them your name so when they come out they know where the order goes. So here's the conversation with the Sonic chick and my son:
This is the top of the swimsuit I bought for Hawaii the other day. I consider it was a good day because I didn't cry in the dressing room. Didn't even feel the urge. I certainly don't like the way I look in a swimsuit. Heck, I didn't like it when I was 40 pounds lighter. But it is what it is so there's no sense getting depressed about it. But what thrilled me was the fact it's just a normal top and it just happens to hide both my mastectomy scar (my left mastectomy scar is pretty high up) and my port scar. I also got two different bottoms - red regular bottoms and a coral SwimMini.
There’s a little town just east of Little Rock called Scott that reminds me of the little town in the movie. In Scott you can find a shack of a famous restaurant, the back of which is on stilts over a creek, called Cotham’s Mercantile. It was built in 1917, has been a general store, a jail and a military commissary. Regardless of how primitive, the joint is always jumping. I’ve seen it packed from wall to wall with distinguished business people from Little Rock and farmers alike.
It's 3:30 as I'm typing. 3:30 a.m.. A.M. as in morning. I've been awake since about 1:00 and the two things that keep rolling through my mind are:
