Notes and happenings...

I am thrilled.

No - wait.

I'm beyond thrilled. I'm most likely just simply ecstatic.

I'm sitting here, on the couch, not at a desk.

ON. THE. COUCH.

With my computer (The best gift ever) in front of me. Logged in to the internet.

*Sigh*

I never thought this day would come. A Laptop computer AND a wireless router.

Pure, nerdy bliss.

I installed the wireless router today. It wasn't as hard as I thought it was going to be. My brother, Uncle Kicks-butt, even called to check to see if it was all working properly.

I told him that it was, indeed, so far. "It was almost too simple."

But we're now connected to the internet with three computers. The kids were absolutely overjoyed today. They hopped over to Buildabearville.com so they could actually "see" each other online. Then they popped over to Webkinz to wave at each other. Then -- last but not least - poptropica. Just because they could. Then Mini-me got bored and went back to playing Diner Dash.

What was I doing?? Sitting in my kitchen - typing and alternatingly connecting to the internet. Just because I could.

That's what I've been doing the last couple of days. Type type typity type.
It's fun getting all the thoughts out of your head and into print. So -- I've been having fun.

But I feel like I've been neglecting you. Of course, it's tough to blog when you have to share the internet with 3 other people. And a computer with a hubby who really likes gaming - and the best graphics card is on the computer that you use to blog. (I am not going to fix that syntax.)(I'm not sorry, either.)

But NO MORE!!

Now I can connect to the internet - and blog and check up on you. Though, I am really really behind in my blog reading. I'm still here, though.

It looks like Blogger has made some changes since I was busy. Or not paying attention. Or busy not paying attention.

I've lost a follower.
*Sniff*
I barely knew you.

And now I can make a friends list??

Is the day coming that would combine blogger with something like facebook??

If that happens, I may have to stage an intervention just for myself.

We've slipped into summer mode, I think.
Less school and more play. Though, that didn't work so well on Tuesday. It was kind of cranky around here. I had to warn the older kids that if this was the way things were going to happen, then they'd better get ready for school work.

Mini-Me and g-man will still have math over summer. G-man still needs to work on his phonics and reading proficiency. J-man wants to read, so that will be our summer project. That and getting him to hold a pencil. He simply doesn't seem to get it.

Mini-E saw my shirt that had our state's name on it -and said "O". So her horning in on J-man's classes is paying off. It made me laugh and actually look forward to a bit of summer school.

The professor is working long and hard hours right now. There is a push at his work. It will be around for the next month. Then, he exepcts, it will be quiet once again. His birthday will be at the end of June. He'll be 40. He doesn't look 40...he's always acted about 30, anyway. He wants games for his birthday.

Which will work so much better now that I have a lap top. Which is the best gift ever.

So what have you been doing while I've been head down typing?

Emoting, Quotable Quotes and a Birthday Surprise...

It has been an emotional ride around here --- in a laundry basket.

I try, I do, to stick with my laundry pile theme.
It's not always easy, though. Sometimes I have to stretch it out.
Sorry.

So the emotional roller coaster that has been life in the Laundry Pile hasn't really been noteworthy or overly blog worthy. It has been, however, very lifey.

I honestly thought we were going to have to send Shaggy to be with Jesus. I'm not sure we aren't - but we're working with what we've got. So that is one emotional item off the list.

Child-sized training has been emotional. For me and for them. It's taking a LOT of energy. They are ALL having mental growth spurts that is keeping me on my proverbial toes.

I will not complain about the weather (that will make an awesome blog post, too.) God has blessed us with much rain and we've had to stay inside a lot. The weather was nice for a couple of days -- awesome in fact. Then we noticed the mosquitoes.

I might complain about those. G-man is highly allergic to their nasty little bites and swells up nicely and itches for days and days and days.

The professor has been working long, stressful hours (Oh - which I don't mind, really, I know WHY he's working those long hours -- but the fact that his employer doesn't see the treasure that he is -- just makes me ... it makes me ......

snort.

Being an emotional, heart-felt person is never easy during emotional times - when emotions are high.

How many emotions can I stick in a sentence???

I was talking to a friend about it, via messages. I just poured out my emotional wreckage to her and she "listened" patiently. And then she spoke (typed) life into my heart. and she pointed out in her wonderful manner that --- Breakthrough is coming!!

Often times, the war gets the worst right before the breakthrough comes.
We often say, "Its darkest just before the dawn". So -- it's been pretty dark.

Yesterday, after talking to my awesome friend, I realized that all this was to try to shake my hope. I have to admit -- it's been shaken like a soda pop. I still feel shook up and uneasy...but breakthrough is coming, and that settles the hope within me.

So -- YAY!! breakthrough is coming ---- But oy!!! until breakthrough happens!

Then today -- I got a kiss from my God and my hubby.
This morning, the Professor was internet surfing. I tried not to pay attention because I thought he was birthday shopping. Then he stood up and said "look at this and tell me what you think."

It was a laptop computer.

I looked at it and we compared a few. We talked about it.
I was told him -- I just keep wanting to ask him "REALLY?!"

He said, "yeah"
We were going to order it from Best Buy and get an upgrade on the RAM. We couldn't figure out which RAM to buy - but then we noticed that the unit was in stock at the local store -- so he sent me there to get it. LONG STORY short (which is good because it could be a blog post on its own) I ended up needing to upgrade to a different laptop and.... well... it's my birthday gift early!!

AND I"M THRILLED!!!!

We don't have wireless internet here, though, the modem is giving off enough signal that I am able to do just about anything I want in the living room. Every good and perfect gift comes from above -- so I'm thanking my hubby profusely and thanking God for this kiss. I love it and never thought it would be possible so soon. I figured in a few years. Tee Hee...I'm giddy!!

Our quotable quote -- Mini-E & Mini-Me were my companions to the store.
Mini-E ran off and I made her sit in the basket.
I let her out while I was wrapping up the paperwork on the laptop -- she decided to make Mini-Me miserable. Mini-Me could not move away often enough because Mini-E was right there to stick a foot in her face. or whatever body part happened to be handy. I think she also used a balloon as a weapon more than once.

Mini-Me earned her battle trophy that day.

On the way home, Mini-E got really quiet. I asked Mini-Me if she had fallen asleep.

Mini-Me said, in no uncertain terms, "No. Apparently. She's quiet. when. she doesn't have any one. to. annoy."

Mwahahahahahahahaha
Well said....
it became our quoatable quote for the day. Mini-E does tend to be power mad.

And I have a lap top of my very own!!!!





I wanted to explain the

A Shaggy Saga

He's hiding between the piano and the piano bench.
Protected by the vacuum.

Wow. It's been a year since we adopted Shaggy from a rescue foundation in town.
Can you believe it??

I mean, you were here when we bought all his stuff. He moped around for the first two weeks - - I mean, after the initial excitement of getting here. He was judged to be the best Laundry Pile dog - EVER.

And he's gotten good and spoiled over the year. He even has his on egress.

Some months back, he started to have a limp on his back leg. At the same time, he started tumbling and tripping on his nose. The Professor took him to the vet one saturday. The Vet, Dr. D., said that they were two separate conditions. (Have I told you this before?)

The back leg was most likely an injury...the front legs were a different story.
Dr. D told us that it could be a brain issue.
Or a spinal issue.

We eventually went to another vet. A surgery specialist.
He x-rayed the front right leg to see if there were any breaks. Nope.
He told us that it's common in Shih-tzus for them to have a disc issue. Or it could be like a partial paralysis if he's had a stroke. The Doctor said he could do the surgery in a day or two - and then Shaggy would be fine.

Excuse me?? Surgery??

The option was $1200 for a myleogram. If he found anything, he would fix it and it would cost us a total of $2400. EXCUSE? ME?? I can see doing the surgery if they were positive that it was going to fix it. But they still didn't know what was wrong with Shaggy....

So. We waited.
We went back to Dr. D twice more. The first time was for ear and foot issues. He suspected that our dog was itching his feet because of allergies. Seriously.
He gave us a flush for the ears - and steroids for the foot. and told me to give him Benadryl. We even got a lecture on it, that the dog was manifesting (My word, not his) the allergic reaction through his skin -- specifically his paws.
Okay.
Dog with allergies.

??????

only 2 paws.
out of 4. All 4 touch the grass...shouldn't all 4 be affected??

The feet were getting worse. He was chewing on them constantly. We got him an e-collar. Oh, my gosh, he's so pitiful. But he wasn't getting better.

So we went back to Dr. D's office. Only this time we saw his co-doctor, Dr. F.
We like Dr. F. She knows hamsters. She's sweet. We talked.
She suspected it was a neck/spinal/disc degeneration (because it can be common in shih-tzus) and he probably wouldn't get better without surgery.
She theorized that Shaggy was probably having shooting pain down his legs, which was causing him to chew on his feet.
She gave him his rabies vaccine and then had us do 'laser therapy' on the foot and the spine. We're instructed to keep giving him the steroids and benadryl.

At that point I was in a "Whatever" attitude.

I have laid hands on Shaggy - knowing that God can heal WHATEVER He has created. If He can heal Land - He can heal a dog. If He has His eyes on the sparrows -- Then He knows Shaggy. He did not get better. So I just tossed out to God, "If you're not going to heal him give me the money for the surgery. I want it by this date."

The poor dog wasn't sleeping well. He alternates between keeping us awake. Last week he bit us all - not bad, no blood, he was just really cranky and trying to gnaw on his feet. We were each trying to distract him.

My brother pointed out that for $2400 we could get several new dogs. The Professor just couldn't quite get his mind around the whole surgery thing. "If my finger hurt and the doctor immediately suggested brain surgery or spinal surgery, I'd have issues with that."

So we went to find another opinion.

We found Dr. B.
We like her.

They also asked me if I knew Shaggy's history. I didn't.
She and her assistant looked him over. If the dog's feet and ears were itchy that indicates a food allergy.

WHAT?!?!? -- Why didn't that cross Dr. D's mind??
She found a sore on his foot that the others missed.

We talked briefly about his stumbling and lack of reflexes. She said, "His legs aren't shaped normally. and look how splayed out his toes are."

They think he was a puppy mill puppy.

We were to treat the sore for 2 weeks.
She gave him an antibiotic shot, just in case he had managed to infect his foot.
We went home and he was slightly peppier that day. Then he started gnawing on his feet again -- and stumbling around more and more.

Thinking our only option was surgery, we asked for Dr. B to look at him again. I wanted to talk honestly about our options. We love Shaggy - but if surgery isn't going to fix it - we wanted to know.

She looked him over really good. He was running a bit of a fever.
We talked about his legs. She took x-rays of them.
Both of the long bones in his front paws are bent. There are spots on the bone in the curve that indicate poor nutrition during growth. They think he had Rickets at one point.

At his little doggy ankles -- he doesn't have as much calcium on the bones as he should have. So it's probably grating a bit.

I was really sorry that we had stuck with the other vet for so long. We felt some loyalty because of the rescue group. I told her about the other doctor's telling us about surgery explaining that we were really afraid of what our options were at that point.

She practically stomped her foot. "No! No! NO! His legs are malformed!!"

It's perfectly visible in the x-rays. Even I can see it.

Dr. B said, "He's a perfectly happy dog. He probably is so used to this with his feet that he doesn't know better. So we're going to work with what we've got and what we know."

She gave him a steroid shot that lasts a month. We're to give him doggie vitamins (he actually likes them!) and we're to return to him in a month unless he worsens. We'll re-shoot the x-rays in 3 months to see how he's progressed.

I would have been very sad to have to leave Shaggy at the vet that day. I had prayed about his healing, fully expecting it, and never saw a change. Having to leave him that day would not have caused my faith to waiver at all. But as I was leaving with a gimpy dog and 4 Burger King bound children, I realized that the reason we didn't get the money for the surgery was because it wouldn't have helped. If it's His legs.

So I grin at my clumsy-looking shih-tzu. I am now proclaiming his health and decreeing his bones to straighten and for him to absorb his vitamins properly. All the while knowing full well that God really does see him, inside and out. Even if nothing should change -- I'm exercising my faith -- and

well .....

Doctor B Rocks!

A bit of a rant...

I like Facebook. I do.
It has it's bad points, I'm not going to lie. If you let it, it can suck time.
On the good side, It's allowed me to communicate with some very good friends in a new way.

One of the things that it also does is allow people to be creative and create quizzes. Which can also be a bad thing. More often than not these quizzes need a good spell checker or proof-reader. And grammar check. Some logic might be nice, too.

Occasionally you'll get a quiz that will come across your screen that is well thought out.
Then there are those quizzes that are totally graded on a curve. Where the happy answer is the opinion of the creator.

One such curve-graded quiz I took was the "How Crunchy of a parent Are you? Quiz". I know I'm not overly "crunchy" by "crunchy" standards.
I don't make all our food by scratch.
I buy things that don't say "natural" on them.
I don't buy herbs.
I go to the doctor if I need to.
Oh - and the worst of it is - I use disposable diapers and I let my kids get their shots. Often giving them sodas or suckers afterward.

Knowing the answer would be non-crunchy before I took it, I took the quiz anyway thinking the answer would give me a chuckle. I was so very wrong.

The answer was "Mainstream Mom" - which wasn't so bad, really, but the explanation of the answer told me that the creator of the quiz think "Mainstream moms" are mindless drones refusing to question the "establishment". The more I thought about this, the more I actually got mad. I didn't realize how MUCH of a curve this quiz was going to be graded on.

I'll give them the disposable diapers vs. Cloth diapers. That's fine.
It was a decision we made for convenience and ease-of-use. It's considered non-crunchy. (I certainly wasn't going to MAKE diapers in the season of life we were in at the time.)

However, The questions about birthing choices were limited in their scope and should have given me a clue to stop the quiz. My curiosity won out.

It was obvious that the creator of this quiz thinks that anyone who doesn't have their baby at home - or even without drugs in the hospital - is apparently brainless.

The more I thought about this, the more my nose got bent out of shape.
Then I started wondering about offering other moms hope.

I've been blessed to speak into the lives of several expectant moms. The first thing I tell them -- you DO NOT have to listen to anyone's horror birth stories.

When I was pregnant with Mini-Me, I heard a doozy that will top them all! It freaked me out!! Any expectant mom has a right to say, "I really don't want to hear this." And then don't.
But I digress...

I got to thinking how important it is to offer other moms hope.
The hope that it will be okay.
The hope that their 3 year old tyrant will be a leader for Jesus.
The hope that they will survive....Even if they have to take it one day at a time.
and often that's just me talking to myself.

I got thinking about hope because this quiz, offered no hope - just condemnation.
Obviously if I was not "crunchy mom" - then I have serious issues and am a lemming.
Knowing that I am far from Lemming-like, I reflected on my birth choices over a sink full of dish washing.

Mini-Me started coming slowly when she was finally ready to come. Labor started right after Church on Sunday. We had gone to a book store, and I was increasingly nauseous, achy and cranky. It was still very hot that late in October. Those feelings did not stop. It took me a while to realize I was actually in labor.

Now - I will give a mom the talking to I wish someone had given me - (It's okay to wiggle, I don't care how much the nurses scowl.) I also wish someone had told me that they put first time mom's through a proverbial "hell". I'd have handled it all much better because I can give as well as I can get - if I know what I'm up against.

We went to the hospital that night - and they sent me home. I could not sleep. The labor was strong enough. I tried sleeping in the chair. No good. Hindsight tells me that I should have scrubbed the floor or picked weeds...but that's hindsight for you. I was back at the hospital after The Price is Right was over. They admitted me, started IV's and pitocin. Back labor was, simply, hell. The epidural didn't take, nothing was working to progress labor - and Mini-Me was stuck.

C-section was offered because by then I was too tired to push. It was Middle of the night Monday now. I was so tired - I freaked out because my mind wasn't thinking clearly. I really just needed a good cry.

The doctor told me they had to really tug Mini-Me out of me, she was stuck so well. However it happened -- Baby #1 was born. Woo Hoo! Man, she had a lot of hair!!!

G-man came in 2000. I was happy.
Different hospital. Different Doctor. Good Epidural. Even waited until I was good and labor-y.
I even progressed and dilated nicely - compared to Mini-Me's birth.
I was hoping for a simple and easy V-bac. The baby had other plans.
G-man WOULD NOT descend.
He was still too high - and no amount of pushing was pushing him out.
C-section #2 happened.

After that section - My options for J-man was only surgery. I was actually fine with it.
The c-section was scheduled. He started coming EARLY!!! Labor started during prayer at church on a sunday night. The c-section was not going to happen for another week.

I called the doc. The on-call doc did her best to stop the labor so my OB could perform the c-section. Nothing stopped it, I couldn't sleep. It was almost like Mini-Me all over again. HOWEVER, once we got in the surgery room everything went really fast. I had a great anesthetist. I got to listen to my Ob and her assistant talk about malpractice insurance reform. It was a hoot. I was amused.

They discovered a knot in J-man's cord.

So -- while doing the dishes and thinking about this stupid quiz - I realized that if I had not had the previous 2 sections -- I would not have a J-man. His knot was loose -- but he was also 3 weeks early. If I had waited to have him "naturally"-- I might have lost him.

The "Crunchy mom" quiz offered me no hope because they CONDEMNED my choices. I am convinced to this very minute that God saved him - much like He saved Moses.

I am learning and have learned to be careful when talking to people.
I may have an opinion about things. However, there are very few things that are absolute for every family. I can name a few that are absolute - but that would be digressing again.

We can not offer hope, or even love, if we are convinced that our decisions are the only ones for everyone.
I don't even feel that way about homeschooling.
It's not for everyone and it's not always a forever choice.

I think it's good to offer options.
With those options - we need to offer hope. Not condemnation.
We need to offer hope.

In the meantime, I'll continue being non-crunchy.
Even if I am compared to jello. At least Jello can be molded.
And if I am mainstream- at least I can go with the flow...or against it...whatever the case may be.

It doesn't matter because I'm So happy to be me.

Pouring out my heart...

As you can tell by that last post, I was not in the most jolly of moods yesterday.

I cried a lot last night. It's amazing how just one thing can start the tears when you're in that kind of a melancholy. I talked to the Professor who was stuck at the airport in Chicago. He was encouraging and patient. He loves me and I'm glad.

The kids wanted to go to church. I would rather have stayed home.
But we went anyway. I sang the first song during the worship set. Then I just talked to God for the next two.

Then this song came up in the set. The first words had me in tears.
Here I am
Once again
I pour out my heart
For I know that you hear
Every cry
You are listening
No matter what state
My heart is in
You are faithful to answer

I think I made the lady next to me nervous because I just cried.
I was just so grateful to a God that will listen -- no matter what state my heart is in.

God wasn't done.
This morning, I logged on to Facebook and read the following from the JesusFreaks group...

RELATIONSHIPS(sovereign, promise-land and provisional)

I feel the body of Christ is groaning and mourning the loss of certain relationships. I keep running into people with stories of losing long time friendships and relationships, some are very obvious that God is removing some of these folks out of there lives and others not so obvious. The old relationships most of the time don’t produce much fruit but are comfortable. The new ones are uncomfortable but produce fruit.

Have we ever stopped to think about God’s perfect will for us, really? He has all the right people lined up to walk with us and in the right timing. Sometimes him removing us from relationships is him bringing us closer to himslef and further away from the world.

If you were to ask yourself about the relationships in your life right now, are they bringing you closer or further from or to the lord. I believe the lord is sifting our relationships to align us to those who will draw out the treasures within us.

• example- taking us further into sin. Speaking negatively about us. Someone in your life that has nothing good ever to say about you no fruit comes from that the lord is probably going to remove them from your life. This does not mean you wont run into them or even talk every now and again but the relationship will probably not be as it was.

I stopped reading right here.
Because this was exactly what was said in church on Sunday. Are those you are aligned with bringing you down ?? Or taking you higher?

Okay - you can continue reading if you want. or just skip to the end....

re•la•tion•ship
1: the state of being related or interrelated 2: the relation connecting or binding participants in a relationship: as a: KINSHIP b: a specific instance or type of kinship 3 a: a state of affairs existing between those having relations or dealings b: a romantic or passionate attachment
1pro•vi•sion
1 a: the act or process of providing b: the fact or state of being prepared beforehand c: a measure taken beforehand to deal with a need or contingency : PREPARATION 2: a stock of needed materials or supplies ; especially : a stock of food —usually used in plural
1sov•er•eign
1 a: one possessing or held to possess sovereignty b: one that exercises supreme authority within a limited sphere c: an acknowledged leader : ARBITER2: any of various gold coins of the United Kingdom

Promise Land- the inheritance to the Israelites and God’s people.
Numbers 10:29-34
29 Now Moses said to Hobab son of Reuel the Midianite, Moses' father-in-law, "We are setting out for the place about which the LORD said, 'I will give it to you.' Come with us and we will treat you well, for the LORD has promised good things to Israel."
30 He answered, "No, I will not go; I am going back to my own land and my own people."
31 But Moses said, "Please do not leave us. You know where we should camp in the desert, and you can be our eyes. 32 If you come with us, we will share with you whatever good things the LORD gives us." (he was befriending him with compliments)
33 So they set out from the mountain of the LORD and traveled for three days. The ark of the covenant of the LORD went before them during those three days to find them a place to rest. 34 The cloud of the LORD was over them by day when they set out from the camp.
Moses needed Hobabs skills in the desert so he befriended him. This was a sovereign relationship,promiseland and provisional.
Judges 3:5-7
5 The Israelites lived among the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites. 6 They took their daughters in marriage and gave their own daughters to their sons, and served their gods.
Othniel
7 The Israelites did evil in the eyes of the LORD; they forgot the LORD their God and served the Baals and the Asherahs.
Relationships affect our faith. When we befriend those that do not know God it might lead us into literally becoming idolaters as in the above Scripture.

Moses lead the Isrealites into the desert but Joshua lead them into the Promiseland.

Moses- provisional relationship
Joshua- promiseland relationship
Jesus- ultimately the real promiseland relationship
blessings,cune
------------------====================+================-----------------

So I have to pause (pun intended) in marking the passing of time and relationships - simply because they might not be the best for ME and my family. Those, that are good will prevail - or return if they have gone away.

That's just the way it has to be.

In the meantime, Shaggy wears a cone.
I'll love on my Nina extra.
And continue on the course God has for our family...desiring God's best.

You're the best!
Thanks for listening!!!

Passing of time...

I present to you a brief recap of life in the laundry pile. I have been pondering the passage of time. What does it look like? I mean really?

Some things are inevitable as time passes - other things I have to simply wonder about.

* Shaggy the shih-tzu is still limping around the house. He alternatingly limps and gnaws on his front feet. They don't know what's wrong with him. One vet wants to do surgery. Another wants to wait. We liked the over all attitude of the second vet, so we're waiting. It will be a year since we've adopted him this summer. The passing of time has been that he's loved by all the kids and tolerated by the Professor.

* The Professor is travelling A LOT. Today he's on a plane returning home from Alaska. The week before that he was elected (Army style) to go to Missouri. The week before that he was in South Dakota. The weekend before that he was taking a test in Chicago. He'll need a nap some time about June. He's had to watch his time pass via trips.

* Today was the funeral of my step-grandfather. I treasured him and his life. Even though I did not get to know him as well as my cousins did. I loved him most because he treasured my Nina. They were married in '97. In May. The Professor and I were Married in July of that same year. Mom had requested that we not have a double wedding.

* Knowing that this is her second husband to bury, my thoughts were constantly remembering My grandmother. She used to come to our house and I would play (pretty slowly) and she would sing. We would sing ballads from the 30's and 40's. It's a treasure I will always have. As my other cousins got older and had kids, her visits with us and our family were fewer and fewer. I know it's simply because they did more things that she could watch. So as time has passed, I have cherished that memory.

* While time passes, it's hard not to notice it's mark in life. Sometimes is just seems like we suddenly stop and noitice that a lot of time has passed by. Marked by Friendships - some growing stronger, others fading away. Knowing which ones to let go is the hard part of marking time.

* Time passes in families, too. When I was a kid, there was always the effort to hang out with cousins and family. We always had a family get together. Now. Now that we're older with families of our own - the relationships are not there. They have their families and those families hang out - as is only natural.

* Sometimes I feel like I pass all my time in the Laundry Pile and should reach out to those relationships that had once been there. Sometimes it's hard to think of how much time has passed while we've been here without getting a bit melancholy. How many things have I let go by because I've been so involved in things without looking up? It's not possible to go back in time.

It's only possible to mark it's passing.

Free To Be Me..

The first line in this song is "at 20 years of age - I'm still looking for a dream"

I'm 35. I have a dream...

but the rest of this song fits.

Perfection is my enemy, too.
I often feel like I've nothing to bring...



God lets me be me.
I don't have to be my Mentor -- I don't have to be what other people think/want me to be. I certainly don't have to be what religion dictates.

With God, I'm free to be me.

I'm so very grateful!!!

The reason is....

Um... let me explain...

I was going to start dinner early, but when I was folding a bit of laundry, J-man said, "Mom would you play 'iniana jones on the wii with me?"

And I know I don't play that game well and I did try to talk him out of it. "Mommy doesn't do so well at that game. Are you sure you don't want to just talk or maybe read a book?" And he turned those big blue eyes at me and said, "We can talk while we play 'iniana jones'."

So I started playing Indiana Jones on the Wii with J-man. Then Uncle Kicks-butt texted to let me know that he was ready for me to harvest the cabbages on his farm on Farm Town on Facebook -- and I needed the farm town cash - so I hopped on and harvested the cabbages...and made about 10k in coins.

Then we went back to playing the game - and we had to have Mini-Me come help us with a few spots but we finally managed to get to that level. Then we quit because I had told him I needed to go start dinner -- so I went to the kitchen and saw the counter all nice and clean and remembered that I wanted to wash Mini-e's hair and get rid of the sticky she seems to randomly get in her hair. That didn't take long, really. but then she wanted a bath.

So I ran the bath water and added bubbles -- but the bath mat was still wet from yesterday and was beginning to REALLY stink so I had to wash it. To do that though, I had to cycle the laundry through. In the mean time, the boys wanted koolaid - but to get the koolaid made I had to wash the skillet that I had put to soak in the sink. Then I had to get Mini-E dressed because she really only wanted a 5-minute bath which is really just a waste of water, I know - but it made her happy.

*Deep breath*

And that's why you're home and I haven't started dinner yet.

Had to buy it.

It's the right length.
It's the right size.

and it's YELLOW!!!
I never thought I'd own anything yellow. I have an olive complexion that has faired out a bit. Growing up, I never looked good in yellow.

But I am so enthralled with hope - and the color of it that I kept an eye out for yellow. Not a pale, pasty yellow, either.

When I saw this -- I had to have it.

And I'm very glad!
Just seeing the yellow reflect in the window of the van this morning made me smile.