Random Post

The people who used to live here receive an insane amount of catalogs. Most of them are dumb and they go right into the trash. But, every now and then, a good one comes and I take the time to look through it. This was the case yesterday.

It was some sort of organic gardening catalog. It had a lot of cool things in it...even though most of it was stuff I would never have (not saying I wouldn't love to have it)...containers to grow tomatoes upside down, raised beds (would love to have these) and that sort of thing. But, they had a 4-5 page spread on composting. I had a friend or two in VA that had these and I always wanted one. I think the boys would love to watch stuff turn into soil. Does anyone out there compost? If so, how do you start?

Poor Hannah has a mild cold. At first, I thought that it might be her asthma acting up but after talking to her, she has a tickle in her throat and her nose is running. She was hacking away around midnight last night and I went in to check on her. I hadn't been there for too long when she began throwing up. Everywhere. After settling her down, I ran the bath. At midnight. I have to say that I think this is the first time I've ever had to give a child a bath like this in the middle of the night, but I just couldn't let her go back to sleep with it in her hair. I changed her bedding and put her back to bed. She must have just been exhausted because she didn't get out of bed this morning until after 10. She's in good spirits, so I'm hoping that this blows over soon.

I've enrolled the kids in various activities through the park district. The boys wanted to take a break from baseball and will be starting Tae Kwon Do at the beginning of April. Two days a week. The nice thing is that they are in the same class, so I don't have to ferry them to several different classes a week. That's nice. I hope that they learn something from it. Daniel's excited to learn "ninja." LOL! Mike thinks they will get bored and will hate it...I think they'll like it. We'll see.

Hannah starts gymnastics and ice skating (yes, I said ice skating) at the end of the month. Both are once a week. She's really excited about ice skating and told the boys that she'd teach them too. We'll see how she feels after the first few classes. Ordinarily, I only let them do one activity per season, but since the boys were doing theirs twice a week, I figured it would be okay for Hannah to do two.

Southern Illinois plays KU (Kansas) tonight in their Sweet 16 game. I really want SIU to kick KU's ass, mostly because I'm tired of hearing our NBC affiliate sports guy talk about how KU is going to be really up against a wall with UCLA (neither has won their game yet). And, this guy is an SIU alum!!! He keeps going on about how SIU is a mid-major and don't have a chance against Kansas (umm...hello...remember Bradley in the FIRST round last year?!? We knocked KU off easily!) I'm actually looking forward to watching the game since they are televising it locally. 6:10, baby. I really hope Southern kicks some Jayhawk ass!!!! GO SALUKIES!!!!!! (that's for you, honey!!!)

After going back and forth for the past week, ABC decided to run a new episode of Grey's tonight. My Favorite Mistake is on at 8pm Central. I'm curious to see what happens in the aftermath of George/Izzy.

Stupid Weather

The wind is seriously thwarting my lawn watering efforts today. It rained yesterday so I didn't need to water, but since there is no rain in the forecast today, (you wouldn't know it by looking outside) the sprinkler came out.

I put it in the same place I did on Monday - the same place that let the sprinkler cover the entire front lawn. Today, it was watering the left side of the yard and the neighbor's driveway. Thank you 21 mph winds and 31 mph wind gusts! Grrr! So, I ended up putting the sprinkler in our driveway. Amazingly, the driveway is barely wet and the whole yard is being watered. LOL!

Obviously, it's too early to tell if my re-seeding efforts are working, but at least the areas that already had grass are becoming a lovely shade of emerald green. I hope the bare spots fill in!

The Seed Is In!!!

Yay! I got all of the grass seed in and it is currently watering. I wanted to get it down today because it's supposed to rain off and on this week. So, I thought it would be perfect. This yard is seriously a mess. I'm a little concerned because Mike told me last night that the previous owners reseeded last fall and it didn't take. Hopefully, this'll work. I also did a light overseeding on the areas that currently have grass. Why is it that when you want grass to grow, it won't and when you don't (in flower beds and such) it grows like wildfire? LOL! If half of it takes, I think we'll be in good shape.

I don't know why the lawn bothers me so much. Maybe it's because we had the nicest lawn in the neighborhood (minus the ivy patch) in Virginia...ours was green when everyone else's was icky and brown. I just want a beautiful lawn!

Zoo Day

We took the kids up to the zoo this morning. It was a lot of fun. The weather was a little cool but after we'd been walking around for a while, it warmed up.

We got really close to the tigers...although they were too busy sleeping to be concerned.

Daniel wanted to feed the deer but he was pretty scared.

I don't know why I love this picture of the meerkat looking out of the window so much.

I hope you can see the lemur with his arms stretched out sunning himself.

There was a huge play tree outside the Discovery Barn that had a slide. Hannah had fun.

The kangaroos were running unenclosed around the zoo. We could have walked up to them if we'd wanted to. It was really crazy!

Jacob feeds the deer.

Photo Post 2

Yesterday, Jacob was complaining that he was bored and wanted to do something. I decided that it might be fun to go and paint pottery. We went up to Walls of Clay to do just that. When we got there, there was just one other family so, we pretty much had the place to ourselves. Jacob picked an octopus, Daniel picked an alien and Hannah picked a ladybug. They had such a good time. Daniel was trying to be so careful painting his. I don't know that I've ever seen him concentrate so hard. After they were done, the girl who works there started handing them other pieces to paint (and didn't charge us for them). I decided to make a handprint plate and, once again, the girl helped me out. When it came time to paint the background, she offered to watch the kids for me so that I could paint in peace. Nice. What was funny, though, is she actually closed the store (locked the doors too!) and took the kids for a walk around the complex. The plate turned out really cute and we pick everything up next week.

Today, the kids thought it would be fun to dig in the backyard for dinosaur bones. Too funny. They've been out there for hours. Every now and then, they come in and tell us about a discovery they've made (Jacob came in a few minutes ago to tell us about the dinosaur poop he'd found...actually bunny poop...go wash your hands). We're going to try to go to the zoo tomorrow.

Hmmm...

For some reason, I don't think that this is yard waste!

Cleaning Day

I know it sounds weird but with the kids home, I can actually get a lot of cleaning done. Normally, I'll get started and then I have to stop and pick someone up. When I get back, I'm usually not in the mood to clean or pick up where I've left off. It's annoying. With them home, I only have to stop to make meals, which doesn't take long and I can get right back into it.

100% of the time, I start in the kitchen. I just get so inspired when the kitchen is clean. The floor in there hasn't been mopped since before Mom and Dad came (I know it's only been a week, but I try to mop a few times a week) so it was in desperate need. It doesn't help that Oriana has been digging through the garbage a couple of times this week, either. I had been using the Swiffer mop but was never happy with the way the floor looked after. It always has a dull sheen (and yes, I use the Swiffer for wood). I don't know if there was a sheen on the floors in VA (the wood was darker) or if I just ignored it but here, it's annoying. So yesterday, I found this stuff at Target.

I've loved the Method brand of bathroom cleaner for years. Not only does it work really well, but it smells like peppermint (I actually think it's eucalyptus, but whatever). It also doesn't ruin my hands. (that's the point of the Method stuff, good for skin and lungs) Anyway, they now have a mop for wood floors. It's called the OMop. It looks like a Swiffer, but the mop head is bigger and you rinse and reuse the pad. Love that! It also came with some samples of their dust cloths. Haven't used those yet, but I will be soon.

So, I start to mop. You squirt the stuff on the floor and mop. I get half of the floor mopped and Hannah walks in to ask what that smell is. I said that I didn't know...was it a good smell? She says yes. I stop and smell. Holy cow! My kitchen smells like almond! I finish the floor and step back to see if there's a film in the areas where it's drying. No film. Looks pretty shiny to me. At this point, Jacob says, "what smells so good?" I told him that it's the floor. So, not only is my floor nice and shiny, but my first floor smells like almonds. Awesome!

I just had to share!

Is It Really Wednesday?!?

Today is the boys' last day of school before Spring Break. They get tomorrow, Friday and all of next week off. The kids have been nightmares in the morning (I literally had to drag Daniel out of bed yesterday) so I'm looking forward to letting them sleep in for the next week and a half. With my luck, they'll be up at 7:30 every morning (the time they're supposed to get up in the morning). Oh well.

The kids and I have been heading over to the park after school for the past couple of days. They love it. We walked about a mile on one of the trails on Monday and my legs are still sore! It's just been so nice outside the past few days (they're calling for 80's today) and I'm trying to get the kids as much outside time as possible before it goes back to seasonal temps tomorrow. Okay, so our seasonal temps are in the 50's but you know what I mean. I'm looking forward to it getting nicer so that I can get out and work on the yard. Mike was talking to neighbors behind us and they said that the previous owners over-fertilized and killed a good chunk of the grass. So, I plan to go out, turn up the bare spots a little and re-seed. Hopefully it'll work. I've got big plans for this yard and it's going to take some time (I can already see the fear coming from Mike's computer). I promise I'll make a plan before beginning any projects!

You Know You Want Some...But You Can't Have Some

Here it is...yummy, crispy...a heart attack waiting to happen. I have been dreaming about Lumpia for months. Don't ask me why. So, Mom and Dad brought me three packages of Lumpia wrappers when they visited and I couldn't wait to fry some up. I could have been nice and made these while they were here but that would have meant less for me! And I'm not kidding! Okay, I am kidding...but not really! :) Of course, I made the call to Mom tonight...thanks for saving me from putting the egg in with the filling. That would not have been tasty.

Mike jokingly asked the question, "these are low fat, right?" Ummm...do you SEE the grease on the paper towels?!? LOL!

Photos From The Visit

Mom and Dad got here Friday for a weekend visit. We decided to go into the city to check some stuff out. We had a nice time. We went to an Irish Pub for lunch...Hannah ate a lot of my shepherd's pie. LOL! Anyway, here are some photos...

Me, Mom and Hannah waiting for lunch to arrive.

Dad and Mike at the table.

There were some penguins outside on the sidewalk and Jacob and Daniel decided to pose like them.
Hannah just wanted to hug one.

I thought this was just interesting.

Here is the location where Dad was born! It was a lot easier to find than we thought it would be. Unfortunately, it's a Residence Inn now.

Dude This Sucks

I was reading a local parent magazine when I came across an ad for our local JCC (Jewish Community Center) Child Development Center. We've been wanting to get Hannah into a Jewish preschool if we can and I thought that this might be perfect. They're NAEYC accredited and close. I figured that I'd probably forget to call today, so I decided to leave a message last night. I get a call today and talk for a while with the lady.

She describes the program to me...5 days a week (I really wanted 3) and you cannot do less. The program runs from 9am to 1pm, unless I need full time care (which I don't) and then they run from 7am to 6pm. They do all of the requisite reading, writing, etc as well as Shabbat services on Friday and I think she said a Havdalah (is that right?) service on Monday. And they still have spots open for Hannah's age.

Okay, so what I really want to know is how much does it cost? Are you ready? $490 PER MONTH!!!! Oh, and you have to be a member of the JCC at a cost of $95 PER MONTH. SERIOUSLY?!? Seriously. $585 a month to send Hannah to preschool. That's $5265 for the nine month school year. Umm...I think I need to check out some other schools.

Going To The Dentist

I'm getting the kids ready for school this morning when the phone rings. 7:30am and the phone is ringing. The only person who calls that early in the morning is Mike to tell me he's left his cell phone at home, can I bring it after I drop the boys off at school? I answer the phone and a female voice greets me...
Her: Barbara?
Me: Yes?
Her: This is so and so from Dr. F's office. Sorry to call so early.
Me: That's okay (I'm thinking it's really early for them to be making a confirmation call - Jacob has a dentist appointment tomorrow)
Her: I have a couple of cancellations this afternoon and was wondering if you'd like to bring Daniel and Hannah in for their checkups today instead of next month.
Me: Absolutely!

So, those two had their first check ups at their new dentist. This place is A LOT like their old dentist. Fish everywhere...lots of great toys...friendly staff. Poor Daniel was freaked out. He didn't want to let the hygenist even count his teeth. How they got x-rays out of him, I'll never know. Hannah did awesome. She was loving every minute of it and even came home and I was her patient. "Open mouth...what kind of paste you want? I got bubble gum or strawberry." LOL!

Anyhoo...Hannah's teeth look good. No problems. Daniel, on the other hand, has five cavities. They're small, but there. They're going to fill them up and seal up the teeth. Since Jacob's had his sealants, his teeth have been good, so hopefully we'll have the same luck with Daniel.

They also did this thing called Toothprints. They had them bite on a warmed piece of clay and placed it in a special bag for me. It left an upper and lower toothprint for me to take home. Basically, it's a way for us to have dental records and DNA if ever needed. Apparently, it also leaves a smell that tracking dogs can trace. Hopefully, we never need it but it's kind of cool to have.

New Enhanced Fujita Scale

I don't know if everyone knows but they've redone the Fujita scale that's used to rate tornadoes. You can click here to check out the new Enhanced Fujita ratings that went into effect on February 1st. On the left side of the chart, is the old scale and on the right is the new. Tornadoes will now be rated on an "EF" scale instead of simply "F". You can read more at the NWS Storm Prediction Center Website. There's also some good tornado safety information here.

A county to the south of us had the first EF4 tornado in the country (previous tornadoes under this scale were EF3 or less) on February 28th. The same storm that gave us the golfball sized hail. To put the new scale into perspective, this EF4 tornado would probably have been the same as an F3 on the old Fujita Scale...still a very impressive and destructive tornado to say the least. They're saying it's going to be a pretty wicked season.

Oops!

I just made the realization that it's been several days since I last posted! What's wrong with me? LOL!

I started knitting again. I don't know why. I'm not very good at it but I really want to do something productive. Today, I made a blanket for Hannah's "baby George." (her favorite stuffed monkey. She was so cute. She'd come up to check my progress and squeal, "good job Mommy!" Too cute.

I guess it was a sort of craft day because the pipe cleaners and beads came out. I'm always amazed at how entertaining a bag of pipe cleaners is. Add the beads and they start making you stuff. Daniel made me a spider, a heart shaped bracelet and a tiara. He told me that I was a princess. I told him that he must be my prince if he's giving me a tiara. He then said that he can't be a prince because he's just a boy and I told him that was silly. He's definately my prince. He must have come up to me three other times later to ask if he was really a prince! LOL!

And now...I must figure out how to knit Daniel a monster alien.

Answers

Okay...here are the answers to Are You Smarter Than a Second Grader...

1. China is the (c)third largest country in the world.

2. Most of the people in China live (a)on the eastern coast.

3. The capital of China is (b)Beijing.

4. China has (b) 1.2 billion people living there.

5. There are (b) five stars on the Chinese flag.

Are You Smarter Than A Second Grader?

We've all seen the new show out there...it's time to play my version!

Today, Jacob brought home a test he took on China. I don't know that I would have passed. I was curious to see how many of you would. I'm going to post 5 multiple choice questions that came from Jacob's test. Answer the questions (no cheating!) and I'll post the answers tomorrow.

LET'S PLAY!

1. China is the _____ largest country in the world.
a. second
b. fourth
c. third

2. Most of the people in China live ______.
a. on the eastern coast
b. in the mountains
c. in the desert

3. The capital of China is _____.
a. Shanghai
b. Beijing
c. Hong Kong

4. China has _____ people living there.
a. 1.5 million
b. 1.2 billion
c. 2 thousand

5. There are _____ stars on the Chinese flag.
a. two
b. five
c. fifty

I Was On The News!!!

Okay, I wasn't, but my hand and name was! And they even pronounced it right!! LOL! I sent in a couple of hail pictures to one of our news channels and they used the one of me holding the big pieces of hail 4 times this morning between 5 and 7 am! The weatherman said that they looked just smaller than golf ball sized. I just had to share!

OMG!!!

Here are photos from hail round 4...

Hail piling up by a downspout

This was one of the first pieces I found...I thought it was big (it was wide but flat)...

But then these began falling from the sky. Perfectly round. (WTF is up with the wrinkles on my wrist? LOL!)

It's Been A While Since We've Had To Deal With This...

HAIL!!! THUNDERSTORMS!!! TORNADO WARNINGS!!! (Okay, we haven't had the tornado warning...yet)

Here's pictures of the first round of pea sized hail we had on our deck around 6:15pm Central time.

Round 2...again, pea sized hail around 8:25pm Central time. This time on the front walk.

Jacob holding one of the pieces of hail.

And we're not quite done yet. We've had Round 3 of hail but I didn't get pictures. It's been a while since I've seen hail that completely covers the street. Crazy! Boy, I hope Sue stopped ahead of this!

Can't Think of a Title

But I haven't posted in a while and need to post something.

Ugh. I've got a nasty cold. I get it every year when the seasons change. Hopefully, it won't turn into a sinus infection like it did in the fall. That sucked.

Jacob and I are hooked on the computer game, Fish Tycoon. We've built our business up to two tanks and are working on building an inventory. We've discovered that the more unusual fish don't seem to thrive and we can't figure out why. I love the fact that you can walk away from it for a while and have baby fish and when you come back, they're all grown up. It's so addictive.

Mommy Wars

I was reading an article in a magazine the other day about the Mommy Wars. For those of you who don't know what I'm talking about, it's the battle between Stay At Home Moms and Working Moms. I'm so tired of the guilt trips on both sides. Why do we need to put each other down for our choices?

I've been on both sides and can say that each CHOICE is challenging. I emphasized the word, choice, because ultimately, that's what it is.

I know that there are some situations where staying at home is not an option. Some Moms have to work for their families to survive. I am choosing not to focus on this group because they don't have the choice. They have to work. So, let's just assume that everyone has a choice to make.

Working Moms

There are a lot of women out there who like having the challenges that a work environment provides. They like that they are showing their daughters that they can "have it all." You know what? Good for them! They've made the choice to work and that's great for them!

I've been there. After Jacob was born, I made the choice to go back to work. I never really thought about staying home. Jacob could come to work with me and I could look in on him anytime that I wanted. I felt that it was the perfect situation.

There were more than a few people who tried to convince me that I was, in essence, destroying my family. Why would I want someone else to raise my kid when I didn't have to work. They had made the choice to stay home and felt that I was making the wrong choice to continue to work. Not only that, but I was being selfish. It was selfish of me to want to challenge myself by working.

I was filled with tremendous guilt in these situations. Why? Because I had made a choice that I felt was best for me and my family and I hadn't made the same choice they had? I enjoyed being able to talk to adults on a daily basis. I enjoyed the friendships that came from working. I enjoyed my job. Period.

After Daniel was born, everything seemed to change. Going to work was hard. The kids were always on my mind. I couldn't see Jacob as much as I used to because he was older and he'd cry when I left the room. I was exhausted and it became too difficult to "do it all," and the kids weren't getting the best of me anymore, and neither was my class. So, at the end of the school year, I quit.

Stay At Home Moms

Against popular belief, staying at home to raise your kids is a full time job. 24/7. No days off. You are always on call and it doesn't matter how tired or sick you are, you have to deal. Many women make considerable financial sacrifices for what they feel is the best choice for their families.

Again, I've gotten the guilt trips from well meaning working moms who tell me that I've lost myself in my kids. Don't I want to better myself and be a role model for my kids? I can be strong and successful by working!

For me, knowing that I'm not going to have to scurry around, call in, leave in the middle of the day, whatever, if there's a snow day, if they are sick, or if one of the kids need to come home early from school is comforting. I like being available if one of the kids needs me. I like picking up the kids at the end of the school day and being able to get the exciting news of their day. I like being able to console them if they've had a bad day.

Don't get me wrong, making friends is a lot harder now. I definitely have to make a bigger effort to find activities for myself and the kids. It can definitely be isolating, but for me, right now, it's more than worth it.

Back to Work?
Mike and I have discussed the option of my going back to work when Hannah's in school. I'm faced with the question of whether I really want to. I really like being at home. Call me old fashioned, but I like being able to make home made meals for my family every night. I like being around, and I know Mike likes me being around.

Does that make me lazy? I don't know. What I do know is taking care of my family is the most important job of all. Right now, I need to stay home to do that. I don't think that I can do it and work at the same time. At least not right now.

Bottom Line

Working or staying at home is a CHOICE. You have to do what's best for you and your family. Do you work? Do you stay home? Either way, good for you! But I'm not going to let anyone tell me that I'm blowing my choice. If I ultimately choose to continue to stay at home or if I choose to go back to work, it'll be whatever is in the best interests of me and my family.

Why can't we all support the decisions and choices we make for our families without all of the guilt trips? Why does it have to be all or nothing?

This Always Cracks Me Up

I love weather! We're supposed to get some storms this weekend, but the clouds are already rolling in. Here is the view out my front door...

And the view out my back door...

It's just so funny when there's such a difference! Maybe it's just me! LOL!

Sometimes A Miracle

You knew it was coming so, in the words of Jacob, quit complaining! (posts in bold are favorites)

First, a recap of the episode...Meredith's still dead. Her body temp's rising but she's still technically dead.
*Addison's paged to her Jane Doe. She walks out and gives an update to Derek and then to the interns. Cristina can't deal with it, so she leaves. Addison continues on to her patient and Alex follows.
*Denny and Dylan are fighting about whether Meredith's freaking out or not. She tells them that if she's dead, they are not the people she'd like to see...up pops Doc the dog. (yay Doc!)
*Cristina is seen shopping mindlessly in the Dollar Store.
*Bailey hands George and Izzy off to Callie to put them to work instead of waiting around. Izzy gets mad.
*Derek sits in the family waiting room. Talks to a man with a wife who was hit by a car on the ferry.
*Meredith is confronted by several patients who were influential to her...Bonnie (the girl who was stuck on the pole in Into You Like a Train) and Nurse Fallon (her mother's scrub nurse who died of liver cancer in season 1.)
*Izzy and Callie get into a fight about George. I agreed with Callie until she basically told Izzy that she needs to hold onto all of the friends she has because they are dropping like flies.
*Derek visits Ellis. She wakes up and tells Derek she wants water. He gets it for her and begins stroking her hair. He then proceeds to freak out on her..."you broke her! You told her she was ordinary! Every good thing she's ever done has been in spite of you!" Addison breaks it up...reminding Derek that Ellis is a sick woman who has no clue what's going on (click below to see clip)


*Derek falls apart in the hallway...telling Addison that should have seen the signs and that it's his fault. Addison asks Derek if he thinks she did it on purpose. He said that Merideth can swim...that she's a good swimmer.

*Cristina's getting drunk at Joe's and is showing him her stuff that she got at the Dollar Store. (Favorite line..."it's tiny, it's got cat like creatures on it, but it's a chair! You can get furniture for 99 cents! That's America, baby!" Joe says, "That's Taiwan." I also loved, "I'm dealing so shutup and look at my crap!")
*Meredith and Denny have a heart to heart about how this will break everyone if she stays dead. Reveals an important fact about Cristina that we didn't know before - she watched her father die after a car accident when she was 9. Meredith admits to Denny that she didn't fight to stay above water...that she gave up because it was easier.
*Ellis codes. Derek and staff rush in to try to bring her back...she shows up in the afterlife with Mer.
*Burke finds Cristina in the bar and tells her that she'll regret it if she doesn't say goodbye to Mer. He's paged to do a bypass on Mer.
*George and Izzy fight about Callie (George is finally getting a backbone!)
*Everyone in the trauma room with Mer is basically giving up when Cristina walks in and tells everyone to try again. They agree to one more round of drugs
*Denny pushes Mer to confront her mother. Ellis hugs Mer and tells her that she is anything but ordinary. Mer runs back to "the light"
*Everyone in the trauma room waits to see if there's heart activity when there's a bloop on the screen. And then another...her heart's beating again.

*Addison comes in and asks if Mer's alive. Bailey says yes. Addison asks about brain damage. Bailey says she doesn't know yet. Addi then asks if Derek's been paged. Bailey says no...she's giving "her" (Cristina) some time. Cristina hasn't moved from the end of the bed. (personally, I think Addison was jealous and mad that Mer lived)
*Mer makes a noise which makes Cristina freak out a little. She's begging Mer to make a word...Mer simply says "ouch." Cristina then goes on to tell her that she and Burke are getting married because "you are the only person I wanted to tell." See the interns and Bailey watching Cristina talk to Mer, relieved that she is alive.
*Derek leaning in Mer's doorway. She wakes up and sees him. He goes to tell her that her mother is dead when she beats him to it. He looks shocked.
*Jealous Addison watching the interaction between Mer and Der when Mark walks up. Addison tells Mark that she and Derek never had that. Mark tells her that he felt that way about Addison. They decide that if Mark can give up women (MANWHORE! LOL!) for 60 days, she'll give their relationship another shot.
*Izzy walking out of the hospital when she suddenly stops. Camera turns to see Denny touching her shoulder. (she can't see him but she can feel him) She continues to walk, as does Denny


I skipped a few story lines but I'm not a huge fan of Alex, so I really don't care about the Jane Doe.

I will agree that the episode was a stretch, but if I wanted reality, I'd watch Discover Health (I love that channel, btw). So, yay! Meredith's alive! And Dad, her mother did not kick her out of Heaven!!! LOL!

Some Days Are Just Better Than Others

I tried. Really I did. I was being all good about Lent beginning. I even made Tuna Casserole for dinner. I got the good tuna that's packed in olive oil (way tasty...Mike said it was "meatier") and was trying to make it really tasty (not that tuna casserole's not tasty, but it's not the meat fest I had been planning LOL!). So, I put it all together, put it in the oven and then made a horrible realization. I used cream of chicken soup instead of cream of mushroom soup. Ugh. Here I was, trying to do good and go meatless and I ended up ruining the whole thing with one can of soup. Mike called to tell me he was on his way home and I told him the story. He didn't get it. He says, "cream of chicken soup in the tuna casserole? Umm okay." I told him that it's what I usually use in the casserole. He says, "really?" LOL! I figured God would see the effort and would be understanding, so I ate the casserole. This got me and Mike into a discussion about funny things that have happened before...the best story was this one...

We decide to take a weekend trip to Indiana. It was a horrible trip and we were tired, exhausted and hungry. In the evening, Mike tried to support me by going out of his way to get me tea since I had given up soda for Lent. He figured that I must be hungry, too, so he gets me a cheeseburger as well. He brings it back and I don't think I've eaten something so quickly. To hear Mike tell the story, I was actually licking the paper it was wrapped in because it was so good. LOL! Just for the record, I wasn't, but it was a very tasty cheeseburger. After eating and sitting back to enjoy the tea, I made the realization that it was Friday. Nice. So, Mike, in his effort to help me stick to Lent, had also helped me break it! We laugh regularly about this story.

After dinner, I told Mike a story about what happened when I took the kids to school. His immediate response was, "you have to blog that!" So, here it is...

I went to take the kids to school yesterday morning. We left a little earlier than normal since it tends to get really busy on the first day back after a break. Anyway, I pull up into the line and I see that there are people going around a couple of cars. Making the realization that the cars are parked and are not in the carpool line, I go around as well. I pull into the lot and wait in line. And wait. And wait. I look at Jacob and say, "boy, this line is not moving today!" Just then, there's a knock on the window. I roll it down and see the crossing guard who informs me I'm sitting behind another row of parked cars. Nice. I felt so stupid. Jacob looks at me and says, "are we going to be late now?" I tell him no and try desperately to get out of there as quickly as possible.

This morning, I was getting the pot roast ready to put into the crock pot. Hannah comes in and asks what I'm doing. I tell her that I'm making a roast for dinner. She says, "I hate pot roast!"
Me: But Hannah, it's a lot like snake. (she calls steak, snake)
Hannah: I love snake! You're making snake?
Me: No, I'm making pot roast, but it's similar to snake.
Hannah: (again) I hate pot roast! I want snake!
Me: How do you know you don't like it until you try it? Do you remember eating pot roast before? (we actually eat it quite often)
Hannah: No! (this was more like NOoooooooooOOO...very sing-song)
Jacob: Hannah, you eat pot roast all of the time! You love it now quit complaining.

I don't know why I thought that was so funny!

Hmmm...

Okay, so I've heard through the grapevine that Kate Walsh (she plays Dr. Addison Montgomery...Derek's ex-wife) is getting a Grey's spin-off show. I don't exactly know how I feel about that. I think they're looking to thin the cast out a bit (it has gotten rather huge...Meredith, Cristina, Izzy, George, Alex, Derek, Burke, Bailey, Webber, Addison, Mark, Callie...and you can't forget recurring characters Olivia, Ellis, Addelle, Thatcher & family, Tyler, Sydney, Dr. Hahn). I wonder if she'd take Eric Dane (Dr. Mark Sloane) with her. Hmmm...

Anyway, only one more day until the big trilogy conclusion. Here's a sneak peek at tomorrow's episode! (It wouldn't let me embed)

Ash Wednesday

Today, Lent begins. I guess I should have put more thought into it, because I haven't given anything up and I haven't really even thought about what to give up this year. I also wasted two meatless meals (okay, so not really wasted, but you know what I mean) on Monday and Tuesday. I don't have a lot in my repertoire...so we may be having tuna casserole instead of the bacon and sausage with the breakfast dinner I was planning. Mike has a lot more dedication than I do...when Judaism says fast...they really mean it...no food, no drink, no shower. I can eat (and drink) a little and still be considered fasting. I need to get my act together.

On a completely unrelated note...is it possible to get shingles from kids who've just had a chicken pox booster? Yesterday morning, I thought it was a contact rash, but as it's spreading, I'm realizing it's shingles. (It looks just like the picture shown here except mine is under my arm, not on my neck) Now, most of you know that I struggled with shingles in college. I'd get them twice a year...always around finals. You've got to love stress-induced illnesses. But I haven't had them in almost 9 years. (can you believe I've been out of college for 9 years this May!?!) What's really interesting is that everything says it's unusual to get shingles more than once. According to everthing I've read, only 4% get it multiple times. Nice.The first thing Mike asked is what kind of extra stress do I have going on. Nothing more than normal. I would have thought that if I were going to get them, I would have last fall, but here I am with a case, and it's spreading. :( The only thing I can think of is the kids had their chicken pox booster (I know...I know. Please no vaccine lectures! LOL!) and now I'm a mess. Ugh!!!

Okay, everyone...it's getting to be that season again. In fact, they were talking about this on the news last night and saying it could be possible for Saturday (for us). Is everyone ready for tornado season? Weather radios, flashlights and all that good stuff all ready to go? We need to get a new weather radio (something happened to mine in the move from Iowa to Virginia). I remember, as a kid, I would get all kinds of canned goods in a bag and put it in the basement whenever there was even just a tornado watch. I never thought about a can opener (that's the funniest part). LOL!!!

Here's To...

...the ones who use Grey's to escape their own lives
...the ones who think it would be a sin for Derek & Meredith not to be together
...the ones who cried during the last few intense Izzie & Denny scenes
...the ones who need Cristina's sarcastic, smart-ass comments
...the ones who use Meredith's narration as mental therapy
...the ones who think surgeons can hear you when you scream at the TV
...the ones who wish someone would look at them like McDreamy looks at Meredith
...the ones who get a warm, fuzzy feeling when they hear "Cosy in the Rocket."
...the ones who McName their McLives
...the ones who begin to consider a career in medicine despite their lacking science skills
...the ones who put Grey's above their other obligations
...the ones who quote episodes in their daily lives at random moments
...the ones who refuse to settle for an average joe because they are waiting for their own McMan
...the ones who think the exhausted, overworked look is dead sexy
...the ones who love lavender
...the ones who get really excited and can't stop smiling everytime they see an elevator
...the ones whose blood pressure rises at intense plot moments
...the ones who now think that people "with plans" are scary
...the ones who discribe their mood as "bright and shiny" or "dark and twisty"
...the ones who have actively changed the phrase to "knight-in-shining whatever"

(Taken from the GA message boards - I thought it was funny)

It's Monday

And the kids don't have school. They've actually been really good considering they are usually ready to kill each other by the end of the weekend.

One of the best things about living in VA was the fact that I could go anywhere and get sweet tea. I miss that terribly. Thank goodness Sara taught me how to make it ("if you just add sugar to tea after it's already cold, it's just tea with sugar!" LOL!) because it's one of Jacob's favorite drinks. In the past two weeks, we've gone through gallons of the stuff. And it's just Jacob and me drinking it!

Speaking of attachments to Virginia...Jacob has completely broken my heart! LOL! We were watching the Bracket Busters on ESPN this weekend and had watched Southern Illinois beat Butler and were watching Bradley (GO BRAVES!) beat Virginia Commonwealth. Jacob comes in and starts rooting for Virginia! Booo! I told him that he was grounded and he told me that he'd root for any Virginia team. :( His words were like knives to my heart!

Daniel's Party

We had Daniel's birthday party this morning. Turns out, we had 100% RSVP rate (first time that's ever happened) and out of all of the kids in Daniel's class, only 2 didn't come. One was sick and one was out of town. We ended up with 16 kids total. Everyone had a great time and I discovered a lot of other moms who've been moved around as well. One of the moms there is from Frederick, MD. Her brother lived in Hagerstown. Small world, huh? Anyway, here are a couple of pictures.

The party table...if you took out Jacob and Hannah, it's almost all of Daniel's kindergarten class!

Daniel and Kaylee...

More Happy Birthdays!!!

Happy birthday to my b-i-l, Jeff, and my niece, Mary Rose!!! We hope you both have a great day! We love you!

Happy Birthday Daniel!

Today is my little man's birthday. I cannot believe that he is 6. Where has the time gone?

We're having a party for him at Chuck E Cheese's tomorrow. We invited his classmates and we've actually had very few no's. So, we're planning on 15 kids (including our 3) tomorrow for the party. Should be fun!

Hey, Ev and Rachel!!! (and everyone else who hasn't seen it)

They're showing the Grey's episode It's The End Of The World tonight on ABC at 8/7c...the episode with Dylan (Kyle Chandler) and the bomb I was telling you about last night. That should help you understand who the other guy with Denny was. It's a two-parter and I don't know when they are showing the second part, but Dylan is in this one, too.

Thanks for calling last night and talking me down! LOL!

Shonda's got a new blog up about last night's episode...Click here to see it.

An Epiphany!!!

I just realized this was a cleansing episode!!! Bear with me here. So last week, Izzy said that she doesn't know what she believes in anymore. Here is the big scene in tonight's episode outside Mer's trauma room (yes, I copied it down). Oh, and the title of the next episode is Some Kind of Miracle.

Alex, George and Izzy are outside the double doors watching Derek. Cristina comes running up...

Cristina: Is it Meredith?
Alex: Yeah.
Cristina: Are you sure? Did you see her? Because it could be anyone
Alex grabs Cristina's arm
Alex: It's Meredith.
Cristina sees George crying
Cristina: oh.
She sees Derek sitting on the floor outside the door to the trauma room crying...Mark is sitting next to him.
Cristina: oh...oh
Izzy: She will come through this
George: You don't know that.
Izzy: She will come through this.
George: People die everyday.
Izzy: I know people die. People die in front of us every day. But I believe Mer will survive this. I believe...I believe...I believe in the good. I believe it's been a hell of a year and, despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary, we will all be okay. I believe a lot of things.
I believe Denny is always with me.
I believe that if I eat a tub of butter and no one sees me that calories don't count.
And I believe that surgeons who prefer staples over stitches are just lazy.
Looks at George
And I believe that you are a man that made a terrible mistake marrying Callie. And I believe that because I'm your best friend, I can tell you this and we can be okay. I believe that even though you made this mistake, you will be okay.
*Sigh*
I believe we survive, George. I believe that believing we survive is what makes us survive.
Hugs Cristina
She's going to be okay.


Get the tissues ready, 'cause here's the last 7 minutes (I hope they don't screw up the Dylan and Denny thing...I about wet myself when Mer asked if she was dead and Denny said "you're damn right you are")...


Here is the promo for next week. Personally, I think it's a little ridiculous, but, whatever.

In Loving Memory of Meredith Grey

NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO!!!!!

Meredith could NOT have actually died!!!! She cannot be dead!!! They have yet to declare her, so I'm holding out hope.

I feel like I've been punched in the stomach. :( I'll post more thoughts when I'm more rational.

Snow Patrol

This song rocks! I love Snow Patrol!



Make This Go On Forever by Snow Patrol

Please don't let this turn into something it's not
I can only give you everything I've got
I can't be as sorry as you think I should
But I still love you more than anyone else could
All that I keep thinking throughout this whole flight
Is it could take my whole damn life to make this right
The splintered mast I'm holdin' on won't save me long
Because I know fine well that what I did was wrong

The last girl and the last reason
To make this last for as long as I could
The first kiss and the first time
That I felt connected to anything
The weight of water the way you taught me
To look past everthing I have ever learned
The final word in the final sentence
You ever uttered to me was love

We have got through so much worse than this before
What's so different this time that you can't ignore
You say it is much more than just my last mistake
And we should spend some time apart
For both our sakes

The last girl and the last reason
To make this last for as long as I could
The first kiss and the first time that
I felt connected to anything
The weight of water the way you taught me
To look past everything I have ever learned
The final word in the final sentence
You ever uttered to me was love

The last girl and the last reason
To make this last for as long as I could
The first kiss and the first time that
I felt connected to anything
The weight of water the way you taught me
To look past everything I have ever learned
The final word in the final sentence
You ever uttered to me was love

And I don't know where to look
My words just break and melt
Please just save me from this darkness
Please just save me from this darkness

And I don't know where to look
My words just break and melt
Please just save me from this darkness
Please just save me from this darkness

Let's See If This Works!

The CTV (Canadian Television) Promo for Thursday's episode!! I've got huge goosebumps!!! (Double-Click the play arrow)



And the second ABC promo for Drowning on Dry Land

Waiting For Spring...

According to the news, we got about 6 inches last night, which is a lot more than the 2-4 they were calling for. It's all blowing around so it's really hard to tell just how much is out there. To top it off, there's a lovely layer of sleet under it all, so I'm thinking that I really don't want to go out there. Boy, am I happy that I went grocery shopping yesterday.

As soon as the alarm went off this morning, I turned the TV on to check for school closings. The first channel I came to was Fox and they had a thing at the bottom of the TV, so I waited. There it was...no school...so, after a groggy conversation with Mike, I went back to sleep.

Jacob came in at 8:10 asking why I hadn't woken him up yet. I told him there was no school today and he could either go back to bed or watch cartoons for a few minutes. He mumbled something and closed the door. 8:15 am, Jacob comes back in and asks if I'm sure he doesn't have school. I say yes, I'm sure. He leaves. 8:20 am, Jacob's back again asking how I know. I tell him that I saw the closing on TV. At 8:25, Jacob comes in and asks if the TV could be wrong.

At this point, I figure it's easier to go on the computer and show him from the websites. The first one I come to is our ABC affiliate, since I'm on their e-mail lists for school closings. No e-mail. Hmmm. I go to their website and look at the closings...our school district isn't on there. Now, I'm freaking out on the inside. I look up our Fox affiliate...there's our school district. Interesting. Maybe I'll get answers if I go to the district's website. There in big, bold letters it says NO SCHOOL TODAY. Phew. Jacob's really angry that he doesn't have school today. LOL!

What's sad is they also cancelled MOPS for today. Hannah was sad for a few minutes and then she got over it. She loves MOPS and I feel bad when she can't go.

How's everyone else's snow today?

The First Step Is Admitting You Have A Problem

And I need massive help here. All it took was Meredith to be pushed off the pier for my GA addiction to come right back out. Seriously. You thought I was bad before...it's worse than it's ever been before! This is freaking killing me. I feel like a goob cause I can't stop thinking about what's going to happen!

AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!! Make it stop!!!! Or better yet, we need to fast forward to Thursday and put me out of my misery...oh, that's right...IT'S A THREE PARTER!!! So, I'll have ANOTHER week of freaking out! Ugh!

Happy Saturday!

I love Saturdays because Mike usually lets me sleep in. I woke up this morning to the phone ringing...another RSVP to Daniel's birthday party. Yay! So far, we've gotten 4 RSVP's (3 yes and 1 no) with 4 days left to go. We're going to do the Chuck E Cheese's thing again, since I really hate having parties at the house. Too much work. It's so nice to be able to walk away from the mess.

It's hard to believe Daniel's going to be 6 this Friday. Where has the time gone? Jacob and Hannah's birthdays don't bother me, but for some reason, Daniel's do. He's my peanut boy and he's not supposed to grow up. It's killing me.

I overheard a conversation yesterday between Daniel and Hannah at lunch. They were talking about how Daniel was older than Hannah...

D: I'm older than you and that means I'm bigger.
H: Yeah, but that's okay.
D: But don't worry. That means you are going to be the last to die
H: What?
D: After Mom and Dad and Jacob and Me die, you will still be alive.
H: Oh
D: But don't worry. That's not going to be for 125 thousand years!
H: Yeah!

Daniel's class had a music program yesterday afternoon. It screwed up my schedule because Daniel had afternoon kindergarten instead of morning kindergarten. It was funny to see a lot of us confused about how to drop our kids off. We're all standing around asking each other over and over if we just let them go in or what. Daniel didn't really sing but he was awfully cute standing up there. I just wish they hadn't scheduled this thing to end right when school got out...total chaos. Oh well.

Since the move, Guillermo's packed on a few pounds. He's just not going outside as much here as he did in VA. I think it's just been too cold for him. I wonder if he'll be going out more once it warms up.

Speaking of the cold...I took the dog out this afternoon and was almost hot in my coat. I seriously thought that it had to be in the 50's...turns out, it's 25 degrees! LOL! How cold has it been that wearing a coat outside in 25 degree weather has me sweating?!? I wonder if they are still calling for snow this weekend. They said the other night that the snow would be off and on this weekend and then start up again Sunday night and end on Tuesday. I guess we'll have to see what happens.

This Has Me More Than Worried...

I was all good with last night's episode...well, as good as I can be with poor Mer treading water for the next week...until I read the Writer's Blog on the GA website. The queen goddess, Shonda Rhimes...creator of the show and master writer wrote last night's episode, as well as the next two. Shonda never gives anything away - she is the queen of secrecy, but I have to say what she wrote in her blog has me more than concerned (especially the parts I have bolded - when she says 'Shoots With Script,' she's referring to the director, Rob Corn, who she usually refers to as 'Bossy McBossy')...

Ferry boats are a metaphor for Meredith, you know.

What I was interested in was Meredith and how she was doing after being hurt by her mother. And the devastation of the ferry boat was the best way to physicalize Meredith’s pain.

The little girl? She’s also a metaphor for Mer. A motherless lost girl who can’t speak for herself and disappears? Okay, that’s too obvious. But you all know Meredith’s been doing a dance with death for some time. Y’all know that if you’ve been watching. She’s dark, our girl. She’s dark and twisty. And I worry about her.

Now, I’m really worried about her because she’s in the water and I want to be clear with you: I don’t put people in the water for no reason. Meredith’s got issues, she’s got serious Mommy issues and she’s broken and she’s in the water.

I killed Denny. I blew up Dylan.

I’m not entirely playing by the rules of TV here.

There’s a point. And it’s coming. Shoots With A Script and I have our fingers and toes crossed that it works.

Because what happens next…well, just wait and see…

Here is the link to the rest of Shonda's blog.

Holy Mother Of...

It was a ferry boat accident!!!! But let's rewind, shall we...

Mer in the tub. I doubt she was really trying to drown herself, however, given what her mother said to her in the last episode and the fact that her father was a complete idiot in the episodes prior, I could see her being in such a depressed state. It may have been another version of, "if I get out of bed, I'm going to die." The foreshadowing thing that she has when her life is in danger. I don't know.

The Chief coloring his hair...poor guy. He's so lost right now. I loved the elevator scene...
Addison: "Have any of you ever been alone? You (looking at Burke) living with Cristina. You (looking at Derek) dating the perfect 12 year old. (looks at Mark) Manwhore!" LOL!

Oh, and have I mentioned that I hate Sydney? Apparently, so does everyone else!

Back to the ferry boat...OMG!!! How crazy is this? I do have to say that my very favorite lines tonight came when Mer sees Derek on the pier and walks up to him...

Mer: Derek!
Derek: Are you okay?
Mer: Yeah, it's just a lot.
Derek: Do you want to get married? You want to get married, you never told me, I never asked and now we have a problem?
Mer: No I don't want to get married! Do you want to get married?

I'm quite sure that Derek thinks that Mer knows Burke and Cristina are engaged and is upset that they aren't. That's kind of funny.

I seriously didn't see the whole Mer being pushed into the water thing coming. Here's what's interesting...this is a three parter, but she can't stay in the water for the whole next episode. Mer's going to have to be saved pretty quickly since you can't stay underwater for that long and live. That little girl doesn't have much time to find Derek and get to Mer. Mike's theory is interesting...Mer in a coma for the next episode. They can't kill her off. Yang's Anatomy just doesn't make sense. What I don't think will happen, that Mike does, is that she's going to wake up with amnesia. That's just too corny. LOL! It's driving me nuts wondering what's going to happen in parts two and three!

I've really only got one more quote and it's not even from tonight's episode and then I have to stop thinking about it because my head's going to explode...

Think back to early in Season 2...Mer and Derek are talking outside of the trailer. Addison has come back and Mer is giving Derek a chance to explain...

Mer: What was I to you? Just some girl to screw to get over being screwed?
Derek: You were like a breath of fresh air. It was like I was drowning and you saved me.

Now, it's Derek's turn...literally.

Oh...here's the promo for next week. (around 12 seconds, is that Derek in the water?)

Hannah's Physical

Hannah had her physical this morning. My kids are strange because they love to go to the doctor. They think it's a blast. In fact, Daniel was mad when he found out that Hannah went without him this morning. Personally, I've always hated going to the doctor, but whatever.

Hannah thought it was funny that they asked her to pee in a cup too. She says, "I pee like Daniel did!" LOL!

Anyway, the doctor and I talked about Hannah's asthma (the main reason I wanted to get established as a patient there) and he asked how she was doing. I told him that she's definately been using the nebulizer a lot less than before the move and she seems to be doing a lot better than before. He told me that more than likely, because her asthma is triggered by allergies, the relief she's seeing is because of the different allergens here. He told me that there will be a "honeymoon period" of up to a year before she starts exhibiting symptoms again. I asked him if it's possible that it's done and over. He told me that, while it can't be completely ruled out, it's probably just a matter of time. He said that allergy testing at this point really wouldn't work since her body hasn't really worked up the allergies yet (does that make sense?) and would show false negatives.

So, it looks like we take a "wait and see" approach to this. He did say continue doing what we are doing (Singulair, Albuterol as needed) because we don't want to mess with what's working. He did tell me not to worry...that whatever pops up, we'll handle it. That made me feel good.

Fire Update

Okay, so I've gotten a few e-mails, so I thought I would just post. Yes, there is a big chemical plant fire about 25 miles away from us. We are far enough away from the chemical plant fire that it's not effecting us. This evening, a portion of the sky looked thunderstormy, but I can't be sure that it is because of the smoke. The news did say that it was blowing in our direction and that it could be seen in the southern portion of our county so it probably was smoke from the fire. They've evacuated people for a one mile radius around the fire but I think they've reopened the Interstates around it. They also said that no one was hurt, so that's good.

All I know is I can't keep my eyes off of this thing. They keep breaking into commercials to give updates and it's just amazing. The NBC weatherman had a time lapse from this afternoon and the plume of smoke looked like a tornado. It was way cool.

So, we're all good. Thanks for all of the e-mails of concern!

New Pediatrician

One of the things I hate the most about moving is finding the kids a new doctor, especially when we've found one that we really like where we were. Luckily, we've only had one really bad doctor...the other three have been good. So, I head to the the new pediatrician's office yesterday with the boys to become established patients (Hannah goes on Thursday because they only allow two exams at once).

We walk in and I'm not really impressed with the office building...it's kind of old and looks a little run down. The kids were thrilled, however, with the plethora of toys and thought that was awesome. I began filling out the mountain of paperwork for the boys and we were called back to the exam room. The nurse begins asking standard questions and hands me some more forms that need to be filled out. She then takes the boys out to get their height and weight. They were excited when she then told them she needed a urine sample. For whatever reason, they love that.

One of the sheets the nurse gave me was a test of cognitive skills for Daniel. She tells me to start with question 1 and keep going until I get three "no" answers. I was confused at first, but caught on quickly.

First question (and no, I'm not going to go through them all) asked Daniel to copy a circle. Only I wasn't allowed to tell him what it was. I had to point to the circle and tell him to draw the same thing. He gets a "yes." Draw a plus sign. "Yes." Draw a person...does is have at least 6 parts? "Yes." It gives me some colors and asks me to ask what colors they are. Daniel gets a "yes."

Then, it asks for definitions. What is a ceiling for? "So people upstairs won't fall on you." What's a banana? "Fruit you eat." What's a chair? "To sit on." All "yes" responses.

Daniel was having a blast. The nurse was standing outside filling out her own paperwork and listening to what we were doing. Then we come to the question, "what's a cup for?" Daniel's response? "To pee in!" I about fell out of my chair laughing. The nurse pokes her head in the door and says, "you have no idea how common that answer is!" Apparently, it was an acceptable answer. LOL!

The doctor comes in and asks if I have any concerns...tells me the boys look good...asks what brought us out here. He then asks me if the boys had their chicken pox booster (I know how much Sue and Deb love this one!). I tell him no. He tells me that Kansas now requires a booster and the boys are due. I look at the boys and tell them that I'm sorry I was wrong about not getting any shots. Jacob just rolls with it. He really didn't care. Daniel starts freaking out. Screaming, crying and trying to leave. The doctor gives the boys a clean bill of health and says the nurse will be back in. Daniel, again tries to leave but runs into the nurse. Jacob volunteers to go first (what a good big brother) and doesn't make a peep. At this point, Daniel has fled the room and I had to go get him. I bring him back and put him on the table. He's flailing around and freaking out. I tell the nurse that I'll hold him on my lap. You don't realize how strong your kids are until they are trying to flee from a shot. Daniel's a strong kid. After the shot, he looked at me and said, "that wasn't bad!" See...I told you! I was completely exhausted at this point.

So, now we have a pediatrician. The nurse gave me a few cards for some dentists, so I'll be making some phone calls today.

It's A Heat Wave!!!!!

You know it's been cold when 40 degrees feels like a heat wave! LOL! Coats?!? Who needs one when it's so nice outside? It was so warm, I even had the window open in the van, and it felt nice. It's funny that it warmed up because I was talking with my friend, Sara, about temperatures this morning...how she was warned when she moved to VA that it snows there! LOL! I got so spoiled with winters in VA...so much warmer than what I was always used to. Especially coming out of Iowa where the temps this time of year is typically in the single digits. I don't know if it's just because I was formerly used to such cold weather, but I've managed to re acclimate pretty quickly.

I was finally able to get all of the salt off of the van today...it's just been way to cold to do it before now. The line at the car wash was long, but a clean van was worth the wait. We're supposed to get back into the 20's starting tomorrow, so it really had to be done today.

The boys have a physical with their new pediatrician this afternoon...Hannah has hers on Thursday. Luckily, the boys have early release today so I don't have to pull anyone out of school. Tomorrow should be fun...Daniel doesn't have school because of kindergarten round-up. Jacob's not happy about that because he has to go to school! He will get over it.

It Was A Good Thought...

Today, I decided I needed to clean the oven. I thought that I'd just use the self-clean feature, since I'd never done that before and I didn't have any Easy-Off. I did succeed in setting off every alarm in the house. Nice. I think I'll just settle for having a dirty oven for another day and get some Easy-Off to clean the oven. LOL!!!

Super Bowl Day

My house is a big sports house, thanks to Mike. If it's a sport, he'll watch it. Baseball, basketball, football, the X Games...lately, I've caught him watching bull riding (not that it's a bad thing, unfortunately, I don't know any of the riders anymore! LOL!). Needless to say, Super Bowl day has always been big here. This year, it's even bigger since the Bears are in it. What makes it even bigger is that the Bears are playing the Indianapolis Colts...the favorite team of my sister-in-law's family (fitting since they live in Indy). There's a lot riding on this game...bragging rights for a year is a huge thing!

Personally, I'm not a huge football fan. I'll take baseball or basketball over football anyday of the week, so I'll be watching the game for the commercials. Love Super Bowl commercials!

Speaking of basketball, what has happened to Bradley this year? They started out so strong and now they're tanking. At least they won last night. That's a good thing, but they're in the middle of the MVC standings and imagine my life right now with Southern Illinois being in first place (for those of you that don't know...Mike's a Southern alum). Mike is quick to remind me that I was in his face about Bradley being 5-0 in the beginning of the season...yeah, I guess I'm a poor winner. Bradley's next game is against Southern...Heaven help me if Bradley loses! LOL! What's nice is we actually get MVC coverage here since there are a couple of schools nearby (Drake, Creighton, Missouri State, Wichita State). I just want my team to kick some ass!!!!!! LOL!

It's My Blog-o-versary!!!!

I started this blog one year ago today, so it's my Blog-o-versary! LOL! Here's to another year of blogging my heart out!

Anyhoo...

Grey's last night. What can I say? A lot. First, though, I was listening to the Rocket and Teresa Show this morning on the radio on the way to take the boys to school and they were talking about Grey's. I missed the first part of what they were talking about, but they clearly liked the episode and were saying good things about it. They play the clip of Meredith begging Ellis to have the surgery for her and Ellis looks at her and says, "you look just like my daughter." They all sigh and talk about how depressing that was. Before they go to commercial, Ponch, another personality on the show, yells:

"That's it! I can't watch Grey's Anatomy anymore! It's like a bad relationship! I'm done giving my emotions to this show!"

I was laughing so hard I almost ran the van off of the road!

Mike proclaimed this episode the best since the bomb episode last season. He says that this episode will keep the series from being cancelled. LOL! I know his favorite part was when Izzy, Meredith and Cristina were tag teaming with the toxic patient. That was really cool.

I love the fact that I wasn't all stressed out about catching Grey's before the kids went to bed. The only thing that made me mad (and I can't believe this happened...I'm still laughing about it)...I had decided that I wouldn't even try to watch until the kids were in bed. (love that I can watch the episode from the beginning even while it is still recording!) Jacob and I were upstairs reading when we decided it was bathtime. I look downstairs and Mike's watching Grey's! Out of courtesy, he changes the channel and we start to get the kids washed. Daniel was showering downstairs (don't ask) and I come upstairs for a minute and Mike had flipped the channel quickly. I didn't believe that he was seriously watching and I'll admit that I was wrong. I was mostly in shock that he was so into it. LOL! I know I'm not properly describing it and I'm quite sure that Mike will set the record straight in the comments section.

My favorite line came from Cristina...when both Burke and Derek collapsed in the OR, she simply says, "that's not good." LOL!

Last week, Mike had said that he would be disappointed if Callie accepted George's proposal because it was done out of grief, and I agreed. So, WTF (and we didn't talk about this last night)? They got married?!? I loved Izzy's line, "small diamonds are good because no one will steal it." Poor Izzy just hasn't been herself this season!

I felt bad for Ellis until she told Mer that she was ordinary. And then, to rip into Derek for making her ordinary...Derek's such an ass for taking that out on Mer. That's the one thing I hate about his character - he's so susceptible to what others tell him. It drives me nuts!

Burke and Cristina...big shocker (sarcasm) that she said yes. Of course she did. I can't believe she handed that beautiful ring back, though. Wear the freaking ring, Cristina!!!!!

Alex and Addison...you know those cartoons where there's a bear and he's crazy hungry...LOL! Seriously, though, I really had high hopes for them. And then Addison had to go back to Mark. That really pisses me off!

I loved the scene with Mer and Ellis where Mer is telling her why Ellis needs to have the surgery. I haven't seen Mer that pissed off and upset since Derek called her a whore! (Flashback in the stairwell - Derek: "who's next? Karev? 'Cause I hear he likes to sleep around." Mer: "You don't get to call me a whore! ... I make no apologies for how I choose to repair what you broke. You don't get to call me a whore.") I wanted to burst out into tears. As Mike says, Ellen Pompeo is much better in scenes where she's upset rather than those where she has to laugh.

Okay, so I'm confused about one thing...Webber told Mer that he would not tell Ellis that he wished he'd left Adelle and run off with her because it wasn't true. Then, he goes and tells Ellis that they could have had a great family (more siblings for Mer) and even describes the house they would have lived in. They laugh about who would have become chief of surgery and they share a touching moment. Did he tell Mer that just to spare her feelings? Did he say that to Ellis because he knew that her lucidity was fleeting and she would soon forget? Did he say that to Ellis because that's how he really felt and if he'd known Adelle would leave him in the end, he would have chosen Ellis in the first place?

Upcoming episode looks to be a three-parter...and it looks awesome!!!

400th Post!!!!!

Wow! 400 posts. That's a lot!

I made that cheesecake this afternoon. It came out perfect...it was creamy and didn't have any cracks. Everyone was raving about it. :)

After everyone had their fill, I put the collar back on the pan, covered it with saran wrap and went to put it in the fridge. I was talking with Jacob about homework, picked up the pan, opened the fridge...and then it happened...



(scroll down)

SPLAT!!! Right on the floor. Apparently, the collar (which was still in my hand...but I was now wearing it like a bracelet) wasn't on tight enough...and the bottom pushed right through.

Jacob and I looked at each other and he began trying to comfort me...telling me that it was really good and thank goodness I had given him a big piece earlier. I just stood there, stunned. I seriously think I couldn't move for about 5 minutes. When I finally came to, I went to get more paper towels and when I came back, Jacob had tried to help me by picking up the bottom of the pan

After I had cleaned up most of the mess, I called in my canine mop and she took care of the rest.



Thankfully, it happened after everyone had some! LOL!!! (I'm glad I can laugh about it now!)

Grey's Tonight

I'm pretty excited about tonight's Grey's, even though Mike laughed at the preview (several surgeons passed out on the floor). I'm loving the fact that I really have no clue as to what's going to happen...it looks like Ellis gets her memory back, which may be good for Richard since Adelle has moved on. Here's the epi description from abc.com:

Episode 314 Wishin' and Hopin'

The race for the Chief's postition is on, as the doctors compete for Richard's affections, a surgical patient endangers the lives of those around her, and Meredith's Alzheimer's-stricken mother, Ellis, experiences a change in her condition.

Happy watching!

GGGGRRRRR!!!!!

I'm getting really angry with Blogger right now...it won't let me see my blog (or anyone else's for that matter) but for some strange reason, I can post.

Anyway, we ended up with about 2 inches of snow yesterday. The side streets are still snow covered but the main streets are fine.

The kids are loving the TiVo. Hannah's really excited about the fact that I've been recording her favorite show, The Upside Down Show, for her. It is so funny to listen to her watching that show. She laughs hystarically, which is really funny. The boys love Super Robot Monkey Team Hyper Force Go! but it only comes on at 5:30am. Now they can watch it. I've been able to see more episodes of Dr. Phil this week than I have in the past year because of the TiVo. What's cool about it is that the TiVo will record programs that it thinks that I might like based on what I have recorded in the past. I'm having such a good time playing with it!

I think I'm going to make a cheesecake today. Our newspaper printed a recipe from a guy who imitates restaurant recipes and they printed the Cheesecake Factory's White Chocolate Raspberry Cheesecake recipe...or at least the imitation recipe for it. It looks really tasty, so I think I'll try it.