Updating Before the Dry Spell

(I will update with our new bookclub book next week!)
I'm thinking about not updating here for a couple of weeks, but before the fountain totally dries up, I'll throw out a bone or two.

• The boys have their swim team awards ceremony this weekend. Looking forward to that.
• Football games will kick off soon (no pun intended), so that is how we'll spend our Saturday mornings/afternoons for a couple of months. There are no words to describe how much Sam is loving football.
• I'm looking forward to our upcoming Book Club meeting next week and finding out what our new book is.
• We're planning to take a trip the end of September to see the Rangers play. Would like to go watch the Cowboys this fall, but since they're paying for that new stadium, who can afford it? $80 nachos? Hahha.
• Have I mentioned here that we booked our cruise for next summer? Taking the kids with us, and possibly some other stoways!
• We're taking Sam shopping for new boots and jeans this weekend, and I promised the kids that we would order Halloween costumes next week. Darn that Halloween catalog that came to our house a few weeks ago!
• In the coming weeks, we'll be getting orthodontic appointments finalized before the Big Day in October gets here. DaddyP will be getting his new television this weekend or next, and that will surely make the universe shift or something.
• I'm gonna skip outta here for the next few weeks or so, but I'll pop in again soon.

Angry Teeth

We're in the full swing of school and only on Day 3 today. The kids have made a good start of it, and all 3 love their teachers and classes. Sophy had to write a paper about what she did on her summer vacation, and she wrote about "This weird endangered animal that came out of nowhere and took her underground to show her it's house. It was an Electric Mouse......" I think the story digressed from there, but needless to say, I don't think her story was based on factual events. Her teacher told me that Sophy found mushrooms on the playground and secretly brought them into the classroom and stashed them here and there to "attract fairies and make the class fairy friendly." Poor Miss F.
Sam is doing good and is still loving football. I guess we're just stuck with football for the duration of his school years. He wanders around the house telling me about lines of scrimmage and yards and downs. Last week was their first practice in full pads, and he was about to pop--he was so proud of himself! He has a weigh-in this weekend. Pop-Warner takes the rules and regs super seriously, but the rules are all very appreciated from a parent standpoint. No complaints here. Sam also has a super homeroom teacher, I think. Of course, the year is young, but the fact that she has grown sons will help her understanding of Sam, I believe. I hope.
Jack had a rough week, but it wasn't due to school. He had his oral appt. to have 2 teeth removed, and boy...did they remove them. He came home with 2 very angry looking teeth (roots and all) in a jar. Poor, poor boy. We had Open House that night, so we left him home alone for the first time. He didn't feel well enough to go with us, and we were only going to be gone for a short time. He's back to swimming at the LC, and I took him after school today. 50 laps later...yes, FIFTY. He's a machine. Haha.
Ok, off to the tub. It's getting late, and I still have things to do.

Breakin' It Down

(I apologize for this HORRIBLE photo. I took it with the dumpy camera in my iPhone, but when you're leaving the house at 6:45 a.m., you can't be picky.)

First Day of School '09

Day One of school was a success all the way around. All 3 kids LOVE their teachers and classmates, and the day seemed to be smooth for all involved. Jack's first day of middle school was "full of everything." He has a lot to learn, but he handled it all like a pro. Tomorrow is the first time he has to dress out for PE. Eek! I am enjoying having him on my campus. He's close enough that I can spy, but far enough removed that it doesn't appear that I'm spying! Sam loves his homeroom teacher, and his entire friend club is in his class...all except his BFF, J. We're planning a sleepover soon, so they can spend some time together. Sam is very sad he isn't in his class. We're still very thankful that he is in such an awesome group of classmates for the year! Sophy is with a pretty fresh, new group. Not many kiddos in her group from years past, but she hooked up with a "real cutey," Sophy's words, named Lilly. She totally loves her teacher, and we're feeling good things about 2nd grade! Her teacher is young and beautiful and VERY creative, so Soph is in HOG heaven.
We left Sam with Meem and Pop after leaving my class after school, so they could take him to football practice. Pop and Sam are really enjoying getting into football, so Sam was determined to not miss practice tonight--because trust me, I seriously tried to get him to skip just this once. He wouldn't hear it. After leaving him with Meem and Pop, I rushed home with Jack and Soph in order to get Soph to gym on time. PDad was shooting school pics all evening, and after he finished, he drove over and picked Sam up from practice. This was the first practice with full pads and helmets, so PDad and Sam both were excited to get it going. He had a blast, and we all made it home for the first time all evening about 8 o'clock. WHAT A DAY! Sheesh. My dogs are barking after being on my feet from 6:45 a.m. to 9pm. The only time I sat down all day was on the drive to and from school. That felt so nice.
Tomorrow, Jack has a dentist appt. in Longview after school for Phase I of tooth pulling. Then later in the evening, we have Open House at school for Sam and Sophy. Another busy day. It'll all settle down soon, so we're just hanging on in the meantime and enjoying the good start of Day One! Excited to get Day Two rolling!

Wit

I wish I had something pithy and witty to share, but these days it seems that my life is zipping past me like the chicken I ran over and sent cartwheeling down the highway. (Have I mentioned I have a VERY lengthy avian exterminating past?) Until life settles into some type of routine, you'll just have to be happy (or stop reading) with calendar cataloging.

• Today: Boys got school haircuts, and Jack came to Meet the Teacher Day at the middle school and received his schedule. It was a rather surreal moment to be showing him around the campus and introducing him to his teachers. While showing him around the campus, I was also being tailed by a gaggle of parents who were introducing me to their children. Yeah, that was fun. Or not. My class is looking VERY cute, if I do say so myself! High point of the day: I only fell off of the ladder once!
• Tonight: DaddyP took Sam to football practice while I separated and labeled all of our newly purchased supplies. Still have a few straggling things to buy, but I have most of it purchased. The next challenge will be delivering 3 kids and their supplies on the first morning while attempting to get to my classroom on time. More fun!! After the sorting, I was in the kid's closets trying to get them cleaned and organized for back to school.
• Tomorrow: More classroom work, lunch with some old teaching buddies who aren't with me anymore, and two meetings. DaddyP is taking Jack to have a large mole removed from his leg tomorrow, and then he'll be taking both boys to pick up a few things they need. Sam is getting his football pants tomorrow, so he's fired up. I think they plan to do a Boy Lunch tomorrow.
• Tomorrow night: Dinner with friends.
• Saturday: Hair appointment! Hoorah! Taking the kids to finish up the very last of our supplies and picking up a few school clothes for myself.
• Saturday night: DaddyP is shooting a federal judge (hahha, his retirement party, not the actual person, hehe.) I'm sure I'll be home with the kids getting laundry finished up and put away for the week.
• Ok, I just started talking about laundry, and that's where it gets depressing. I'm out.

Adversity

This week (and it's only Wednesday,) I've met the following adversities:

• A hacksaw with a rusty blade vs. my index finger
• 88 tennis balls in need of slicing
• Time/Schedules of other people
• People who barely have time for you but expect you to have all the time for them
• 200 ornaments and a spool of fishing line
• People who need to enroll in On & On Anon
• Early alarm clocks
• My brain/mouth which have no filter
• Allen wrench shortage
• School supply shopping fiasco (aka The Red Grading Pen Debacle)
• School shoe shopping
• Oy

Random side note: Recent school shoe shopping revealed that Jack is now in a Men's Size 9 shoe, and Sam is in a Men's size 7. Very, very alarming.

Brilliance

After the Insanity of last week, I decided to call today Brilliance (or lack thereof.) We were told we'd have meetings all this morning, and then be able to work in our classroom after lunch. Well, around 11:15, the reading teachers were told that we had a meeting to be in from 12-3. Lunch? Uhm, no. Actually, there was no time. Ggrrr. Yeah, Brilliant! Not only no lunch, but I am now one day short of what I needed to have done in my room. Probably should've stayed late today, but today is gym and football practice (yes, we're trying to figure out how to divide ourselves multiple times.) Speaking of division, I better split.

Insanity

Sorry for the breakdown in updating, but we've had quite an unbelievable week/weekend. The good news is that PDad is home (THANK YOU LORD!), the car will get the help it needs soon, haha, Sophy is feeling better, my classroom is re-assembled, and I actually was able to sleep all night last night!
Our school year starts back tomorrow with my 'official' return to school, but luckily, the kids have another week off. We have 7 nights to get them back on a school-friendly sleeping schedule, but they'll be having to get up and out the door all this week. Should be fun! I'm actually thankful to have this week as a sort of dry run. Along with the dry-run, we'll be doing gymfit, football practice 2 nights this week, and getting Jack back in the pool in the mornings before school. Oh, have I mentioned that I haven't bought the FIRST item from either of our THREE school supply lists?? Oh yes, I have to tackle that one night this week when I'm not at gym or football. Jack and Sam's swimming awards ceremony is this week also, and some friends asked DaddyP and I out to dinner one night over the weekend. Not sure if we'll go. I'm seriously hoping to have a quiet weekend to get the kids geared up and ready for The Big Day next Monday! YIKES!

Pictures from Kelly

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The Ugly Truth About Hot Springs and Panties

There really isn't any connection between Hot Springs and panties, I just thought it was a neat title that covered all of my points today. Haha.
So, we're leaving after lunch today to head to Hot Springs. The kids are really looking forward to playing on the lake, and I'm looking forward to eating some good food. It'd be great if I had packed or even saw packing in my future. I'm just avoiding it like...like...well, like something bad. I guess I better get on it considering DaddyP will be home in an hour and thinks we're leaving then. Nothing like a cold splash of reality to wake ya up, I always say.
Went with a friend last night to see The Ugly Truth. Very funny movie, LOVED it! Very good date movie or chic flick! Gerard Butler. Go see him.
Oh, and speaking of panties, I wanted to edit my latest product endorsement about the Chiffon undies to include the latest pair that I gave a go. Jockey's Seamfree Comfies, purchase a pair and take them for a test drive. You'll like them, I think. Kohls has them offered at 3 pair for $27 which now that I think about it, isn't exactly economical. However, when one is purchasing comfy drahs, price should not matter.
Well, I'm gonna start packing now.
Maybe.

Happenings

• Yesterday I received not one, not two, not three, but four mammograms. Yep. Four. Long story. I don't think I can even make it into a funny story. I can; however, make it into graphic story, but I won't. Because I care about you. I will tell you this. I have Bionic Boobs that blew up the Mammogrammer machine. Bionic Boobs that caused the mammogrammer to have to be rebooted. REBOOTED.
• After The Perpetual Boob Smooshing, Doc smeared my pap and told me to gain some weight. Uhm, what? 121 is a problem?
• Sophy hit the gym last night. Yet again, the gym started a new group for the new school year. Luckily, we have the same coach, and I think things are gonna be good. She got a little lippy with her coach yesterday and had to do push-ups for the first time in a while. Made me laugh! We've added a couple of private sessions with her coach for some one on one work. She seemed to work really hard during the those sessions.
• I spent the morning on the phone with my curriculum director, my friend who planned to go with me to Nashville next week, and various other dignitaries. Totally will not be able to go to N'ville with DaddyP next week while he works. Seems my calendar (and that of several other folks I work with) was scheduled without our wishes in mind, although I was told today that "everyone" knew about the changes. Sadly, the "everyone" that is affected seemed to be in the dark. There are no words. So, DaddyP will head to N'ville for 6 days without me. Not that I'm bitter, mind you.
• I had scheduled our back to school visit with the pediatrician for today, so we ambled on over to Shreveport after lunch. Our appointment was scheduled for 3:00, and we left the ped's office at 6pm. Not really sure what kept me from committing bodily injury to someone during that time, but thankfully, I was able to restrain myself--even with the lady sitting next to me that was a serious, SERIOUS personal space violator. I think I will be rewarded for the patience that I showed today. I had to dig deep. The kids were very patient. God bless their bones. Sophy met a boy in the waiting room, and they conversed for an hour on topics such as rainfall amounts in Nevada, the size of their feet, the mole on Sophy's armpit, Ramses, Legos, an armpit farting contest and a small town in Illinois with a very interesting downtown area. The overly crowded waiting room occupants were enthralled, I tell you. Once we finally saw our sweet Doc, we found out that all 3 needed shots. YAY! Fun for all! Jack needed 4, and Sam and Sophy each got one shot. Jack has a mole on his leg that Doc insists must come off ASAP, so we'll see if we can't get in next week to the dermatologist that she recommended...you know, since I won't be in N'ville. Not that I'm bitter, mind you. Jack was in the 90th percentile for height and the 75th for weight. Sam was in the 90th for both height and weight (Jack is gonna be a tall guy, but Sam's looking like he'll be big and tall.) Sophy was in the 75th percentile for height and the 45 percentile for weight. Sophy has only grown 3 quarters of an inch in height since the beginning of kindergarten 2 years ago. Luckily, she had a pretty big growth spurt from age 3-5, so maybe she'll sprout again soon.
• I also got Jack's teeth extraction appointments (will take two separate appointments) scheduled with the oral surgeon that must happen in order for the braces to be accomplished this fall. Actually, the ortho wanted to get the braces on in October, but we weren't able to get his extraction appointments soon enough, so we'll probably be doing braces in late November now. Maybe I should celebrate forestalling the ca$h we'll be doling out for braces. By our calculations, Sam's braces will overlap Jack's, and Sophy's will probably be on simultaneously with Sam. We're hoping they have a group plan.
• After the doc appointment today, we dropped Sam off with a friend for a sleepover, and we took Jack and Sophy out for spaghetti and then to buy Jack school clothes. We ended up at the book store because Sophy wanted to read Yurtle the Turtle, and Jack was in dire need of a new train magazine. We're looking at getting a new television for our living room, but we're still doing a bit of shopping around. I'm thinking that I'm not going on the next fact finding mission because DaddyP is determined we need the largest, highest def, flat as paper, etc. gadget on the market. Me. Not so much. I should just leave him to it.
• We'll be birthday partying tomorrow afternoon at the bowling alley, and then a girlfriend invited me to the movies tomorrow night. DaddyP is gonna stay home and bond with his offspring.
• Thursday we're headed to Hot Springs to see DaddyP's Daddy, as the kids call him, Grandpa Arkansas. We'll fish, tube, and DaddyP says the kids are learning to ski this time. Hahaha. Oy.

School Shopping and Book Reading

Spent this weekend school shopping (2 days in a row) with my SILS. I think I have Sophy mostly finished and even managed to find her a pair of Twinkle Toes which are harder than hen's teeth to find! The boys do not need as much stuff as Sophy did this year, so I'll fill in what they're missing in the next week or so. I have a few things from this weekend to return tomorrow after my GYNO (gag) appointment and a few more things to pick up. Since I have some Kohl bucks to spend, I think it's okay. Now if I could just get myself motivated to buy school supplies. UG!
I finished the Apothecary's Daughter and really liked it. I have started reading a different book by that author, The Lady of Milkweed Manor. Maybe I should've started my book club book first to get it out of the way, but Milkweed shouldn't take me long.
Oh, an important bit of other news, I found out on Friday that I **may** not be able to go with PDaddy to Nashville! I got a letter from school saying that I have to be at school on the 12th and 13th, so I'm going to take that up with the person in charge tomorrow. We're having a faculty meeting tomorrow afternoon, so I'm going to attempt to plead my case to whichever person will listen. I'm gonna be so mad if I can't go!

Pictures Come Lately

A pic of my happy boy!

Cousins striking a pose!
My sweet honey. Ain't he purty?
Me and my Aunt No!

1,2,3

(I started reading The Apothecary's Daughter, by Julie Klassen. I am totally enjoying it! Recommend it!)

1. I spent yesterday in town getting spots frozen off of myself, meeting a friend at the tea room, getting a pedi, and doing a little shoe shopping. Bought myself a cUtE pair of heels to wear with jeans or slacks to school that are so comfy I could run down the road in them, although I promise I will not. I think they are 'Nurture' brand....or 'Nature'....Can't recall, but I got them at Dillards. So very stylish and cushy! Love them! Oh, here they are, only I got a solid black pair.

2. Sophy had a private session today at gym, and DaddyP took her while I stayed home and nursed a mild headache. The boys swam, and I floated on a floatie while I waited for my Relpax to kick in. Luckily, it did eventually kick in, and the fam went out for Mexican food which was perfect and hit the spot.

3. Tomorrow is Friday which means more during the school year than it does in summer, but I hate to neglect a proper documenting of days. If it doesn't rain, we're having friends over to swim. Tomorrow eve, I'm meeting my friend Lo for dinner. My Bro/SIL will be in this weekend, and we're having a surprise birthday party for my niece at our house for the cousins to swim/party.

4. There is no 4~

Birthdays in Heaven

Since I can't call my sweet Ninnie and Irene and wish us all a Happy Birthday today, and my Granny tomorrow, I'll just send them all a kiss to Heaven today. It's just not ever the same without them. And that's all I'm gonna say about that.

The 19th Wife

The Dust Jacket Society, our newly named book club gaggle, met last night at Olive Garden to discuss The 19th Wife. I think the general consensus by all of the group members was a favorable one. Honestly, I didn't expect that I would read this book when J assigned it to us at our previous meeting, and I also didn't expect that I would like it. I am happy to report; however, that it's a very compelling story, and once I got started reading it, I couldn't put it down!
The 19th Wife is the story of the 19th wife (although some say more like the 52nd wife) of Brigham Young who was expelled from the Mormon faith and started a crusade to end polygamy in this country. Running parallel to her story, is the story of a present day polygamist family in Utah where a murder has occurred. I did find myself enjoying Ann Eliza's story more so than that of the current polygamist murder tale, but they were woven together nicely. I think the author tried to make this a story about faith, but the polygamist aspect of the story was so intriguing that it's all I could focus on. All of the book club gals were on the same page (no pun intended) when it came to being totally absorbed in this foreign concept. (The Mormon's called it Celestial Marriage.) This book gave us so many different topics and angles to discuss. I'm sure we were quite a sight for the good folks dining at the O.G. We thought about letting word slip out that we were "Sister Wives" out on the hunt for new sisters to add to our family. Hahha. Where was I? Oh yes, we had much to discuss with this book. The dynamics amongst the sister wives, the corruption of faith, the inability to comprehend how this idea of Celestial Marriage ever sounded moral, and what kind of person buys into such a concept? What kind of player was Brigham Young? Very intriguing.
We also discussed the case going on in our area right now of Tony Alamo, a man accused of marrying (i.e. raping) young girls as young as 9 years old who were members of his religious sect. Who allows this to happen? Who are his followers and what are they thinking? I think the story of the modern day polygamist family that the author intertwines with Ann Eliza's story keeps this story pertinent to our times. This still happens. Was it last year that the sect in Texas was raided and all of the children taken away?
While reading the book, I also found myself researching plural marriages, Brigham Young, Ann Eliza Young, etc. You can't read this book without coming away with a curiosity to know more. One of the topics that I hit on while searching for topics online was this interesting event in US history that I had never heard of. The more you look into this era and the events surrounding it, the more it boggles the mind. By the way, if you've never heard of Ann Eliza
Young, You can read her memoirs here. I did.
Note: There are some aspects to the story itself that I didn't care for; however, overall, I would recommend this book on it's historical significance alone, but with the forewarning that there is foul language and a hom*sexual character. I could've lived without either of those traits in the book, but I wasn't the author (who by the way is a VERY nice looking gentleman, I'd just like to point that out.) I'd love to hear from anyone who has read the book. Email me!
And for those interested, our newest title: Hope in a Jar, by Beth Harbison. Not sure what I think of Chic Lit, but we're gonna find out!! Oh, and our optional read this month is The Noticer, by Andy Andrews.

Word Conservation

Swim meet great job headed to beach. Pit stop Baton Rouge Cheesecake Bisto thumbs down. Sun surf water surfboards sunscreen umbrellas lasagna cupcakes. More sun surf water surfboards umbrellas chicken enchiladas add Preparation H Tucks Monistat. Hemmrhoids ouch and wow. Blackberry cobbler flop needed oil. Sharks dolphins lounging reading spaghetti meatballs. Swimming pools cousins sunscreen umbrellas. Ear ache meds prescribed Uncle Dr yay! Leave drive Jackson, Miss. Vomit thunderstorms. Home hooray! Unpacked settled resting. Book club Olive Garden tonight. Yum.

Beach 2009

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I left my heart (and half my body fluids) in Lufkin.

It's quite a long story that I don't dare dream you want to hear about. But you've been around this blog long enough to know what's coming right? You may hear more than ya want. (Isn't it cute how I say you MAY hear more than you want? Hahha. Right.) Take heart. I'm omitting the part of the story where my stall ran out of toilet paper, and I was in no state to acquire more. Not to mention I was trying to decide whether or not I need to attempt tossing my cookies or finish #2. Oh wait, I said I was omitting that part. See? I'm all about being considerate to my readers.
Jack did SUPER at the meet today. He got 3rd for his age division in the 25m butterfly with a time of 19:22, and he got sixth in the division for the 25m freestyle with a time of 15:97. We are soo proud of him. That's the good news. The bad news is that I spent 2 hours in the restroom at the swim meet doing things to that toilet that are not only dastardly but also probably illegal in some countries. Apparently, I got ahold of the Ebola virus, and it spent the morning trying to turn my intestines inside out. Before ever getting to see my boy swim, I had alternated between the bathroom stall (where the walls were sweating and the floor was seeping) and the water meter outside where I hovered and contemplated my northern borders being breached in much the same manner as the southern border had been overtaken. At this point, I begged DaddyP to drive me home, and we left Jack with another swim mom/dad. Horrible. That poor kid had to swim without his mom/dad there, and he still did awesome. Not that he cared, mind you, but I did.
And what I love so much about the beach each year is checking lists, packing, finding all of our chargers, etc. Luckily, I had most of that taken care of prior to today, but still...I do not, even a little bit, appreciate my bowels running amuck in advance of vacation. Wait. That sounds like I'd rather them run amuck during vacation...which is a lie straight from the devil. No. I'd rather my bowels never run amuck. Thank you.
The end.

Shameless Product Endorsement '09.5

It's been a while since I shamelessly endorsed a product, and I promise that this one doesn't involve a FUD. You'll be happy to hear that I'm steering away from a bathroom related endorsement. Er, uhm...ok, it's ALMOST steering away from a bathroom endorsement. Today, kids, we'll be discussing chiffon. If you're looking for oo-la-la french panties that will excite and inspire delirium, maybe these aren't for you. Or maybe they will inspire delirium and make you say oo-la-la because they're so comfy. Personally, I'm not just overly inspired by crawling crotch lines, maybe you are. If so, go in peace and be racy. Myself...I prefer to not twitch and dig with every step. One word of warning, these babies are the size of a toddler when you remove them from the packge; however, there is a note to the buyer encouraging you to BELIEVE, yes, "BELIEVE that this panty will fit you. Yes, it's small but trust them, it will stretch to fit you." This little miracle has a 360 degree stretch along with being invisible. People, we're talking about the Super Hero of undies here. I intend to buy more of them very soon because their claim is true. It did fit. It doesn't ride. And it did stretch. Unlike the VS undies I recently bought with the sales girl's assurance that "Oh no!" they would not crawl or ride. Girls, those VS undies crawled like a 9 month old and rode like a pack of Banditos on a Harley. No gracias!
(*Downside: they have to be handwashed and no dryer! BOO. Hiss.--But they don't crawl and are comfy...so yay!!!)
(In other news, I'll be posting soon about the Book Club book, The 19th Wife. I'm 75% finished with it, and I've got some things to say about it...and the other books on my summer reading list.)

Updates All the Way Around

• Orthopedist says that Sam's leg is just badly bruised. Again, this is the 2nd time we've been told this, but we just have to be sure with the probs he continues to have. Swelling is still an issue, and he can't put his weight on it. Just going to take some time, I suppose.
• Got my rat killing accomplished today with the exception of a beach hat for Sam. I'll be on the lookout between now and then for one. Gotta keep my red monster's ears out of the sun.
• Cleaning house tomorrow and getting bits of laundry done. Bags are 50% packed. :-)
• Jack has his last night of swim practice tomorrow night. He'll be so very sad. I don't know what we'll do when we don't have to go sit for 3 nights a week for 2 hours. We won't know what to do with ourselves.
• Oh, and last but not least, I'm getting my wig did tomorrow and getting haircuts for the boys too.