It's cold!

Ugh, it's getting cold. I was planning on mowing the rest of the leaves, but it was too cold! I was planning on going to the gym this morning, but it was too cold! I have to go out tomorrow to take Perry to take the driver's license test and it's going to be cold!

I'm dying to work on the 1500 piece jigsaw puzzle, but I have so many things to do! I went yesterday (Sunday) to Western to sit in on a music theater class to see if I could be one of the accompanists. I think I'll be able to! It pays $20 an hour and it's 2½ hours. So, I've been playing the church Christmas musical music to get used to trying to play and "fake it", as the music theater instructor put it. I played for about 15 minutes tonight and my hands got tired.

I may be getting a sinus infection. The left side (always the left side) has been hurting just a little. When I laid down w/Lacey a little while ago, it opened up and feels better. But, of course, in the middle of the night, I'll roll over to my left side and it'll close back up.

I'm getting a steroid shot in the top of my left foot Wednesday!!!!! I know it's gonna hurt! Hopefully, it'll take care of the "Morton's Neuroma" and I can go back to working out at full blast on Thursday.

Remember that I can't get the comments to work on here, so keep your comments to yourself!

No comment

Well, literally, there is no where to comment on here. I can't get it to work.

I finally started the 1500 piece puzzle! I've got about 100 pieces done and that's the edging. I also have these things to do:

1. Teach piano Mondays and Tuesdays.
2. Have my discipleship girls over Wed. afternoon.
3. Straighten the house for them (which includes a TON of things).
4. Replace the food disposal in the kitchen sink.
5. Get the leaves up in the backyard/mow.
6. Alter 2 pairs of Lacey's pants.
7. Fix the 2 things wrong with the water heater.
8. Fix the 2 things wrong with the ice maker and ice dispenser.

So, I guess I'd better get off here and get started, huh?

Here is the cute kitty we played with in Branson. I finally got the pix off of Perry's camera.

Catching up

We got back from Branson and it was hard to get back in the swing of things. We got home around 3 or 4 on Sunday and, of course, school was the next day! Molly had an orthodontist appointment that day, too. She's getting her braces right now, as I type, because I'm typing this at the orthodontist's office. Johnny and his mom left yesterday for Louisville. He has a guidance counselor's conference thingy until Friday. I have a make-up lesson this afternoon and I don't remember when she's coming. It's probably 3:30. Perry needs to be picked up at 4 from Drakes. He's been helping the boy's basketball coach with try-outs. He just got a whistle last night. Then we have church, of course.
The weather has been cool, but sunny, thank goodness. I've been wearing capris. I mowed the yard on Saturday. It may not need to be mowed again this year, but I will need to run over the leaves when they start falling. The Howles have a for sale sign in their yard! Perry found out from Spencer that the house is too big and they want to move to a smaller one. But it could be that they can't afford to live there. I'm thankful that we don't have that problem. It does seem that there are a lot of houses for sale in our neighborhood, though. I don't ever want to leave our subdivision! I went to eat lunch with Lacey on Monday and, when I was riding the bike back home, I saw kids on the playground. It reminded me of when Molly was there and playing on the playground. I wish she could go back. It will really be hard when Lacey leaves Natcher! I know that when I hear (from my house) kids on the playground I'll cry!
When we were in Branson, I said that I was going to get a puzzle out for us to work. I finally got it out and it's a 1500 piece puzzle! It's on the dining room table, but I haven't started on it yet. I realized that since the carpet is so colorful, it will be easy to lose pieces. There's really no other place to work it, though. It's a good place because it's in the front of the house and it gets a lot of natural light. I know that when I start on it I won't be able to stop.
I don't have a craft/activity for D-ship tonight. I wish I could go to Hobby Lobby and get a kit that would make something worthwhile. I've thought about a disco ball. I looked it up and found that you can cut up old CDs and glue them to a ball. I'm thinking a styrofoam ball, but it might not be strong enough. The smaller the ball, the shorter the time it would be to make it. I guess we'll have to do that on a Friday night or Saturday morning.
I didn't go to Moms in Touch or BSF today. I wasn't supposed to play the piano at BSF and I had to pick Molly up 30 minutes after it started, so...I didn't go! I meant to call Lisa M. to ask her to get me a lesson, but I didn't. But last week, Kathi asked if everyone had a buddy who would get your lesson if you missed. But I still thought I should call her. I'll get one from Barb's house if Lisa doesn't bring me one to church tonight. Oh, but wait, Katie made the basketball team and may not come.
I got another mp3 player a while back and I didn't think I would like it, but I do now. It is shaped like an iPod. It holds 2GB, but it has an internal battery, so I have to hook it up to the computer to charge it. And it can't accidentally get a button pushed because when the screen is black, you have to push a button twice to get it to work. I went ahead and put every song from the computer on it.

Cute kitty

Oh, there was a really cute kitten outside our unit this morning. She was so friendly, too! When we got back from shopping, she was on the porch of the building next to ours and meowing loudly. So we went over there and got her and played with her and gave her a piece of baloney, milk and water. We put her outside for about an hour, hoping she'd go to the bathroom. Then, we brought her back in and took pictures. SO CUTE!! She even drank from the toilet. Well, after about 15 minutes, she got on the couch and she looked like she was going to lay down, but she was really getting in position to use the bathroom!!!!! I jerked her up and "threw" her out. She had diahrea (sp?) outside the door. So, there were some "drips" (ew) on the couch!!! Ugh!!! It was awful! We called housekeeping and a guy came up and cleaned it. We washed off the spots on the couch cushions. She was so cute, but now I think she's awful. I thought it would be so neat to take her home! I guess all cats are cute in my book, but cats that are friendly are cuter.

Van window and jigsaw puzzle

We're in Branson, you know, and yesterday, Johnny pushed the button to roll the window down and it wouldn't press in all the way, so he forced it down, and then it wouldn't go back up. We took the inside door panel off and couldn't run the window up manually, so I took it to a Chevrolet dealer today and paid $135 to have the switch replaced. The switch only cost about $50, so the rest was labor charge!

Molly and I had been working on a jigsaw puzzle since we got here on Saturday in the Activities Room. It has been a great experience. We came at least once a day since Saturday. So, that makes about 8 hours on it. Yesterday afternoon after she had gone back to the room, I stayed and did some things on the computer, but I was sitting next to the table where the puzzle was. Well, a group of senior citizens came with and there was a younger couple with them, probably the "tour guides" or whatever, and the woman went over to the puzzle and stood up and started working on the puzzle. Every now and then, she'd go and get something for one of the older people, and then go back to the puzzle. Well, another lady who was working for the entertainment group started helping her and THEY FINISHED IT!!!! I heard other people saying things like, "Oh, you finished it!" And the 2 women didn't say, "Oh, that lady over there did most of the work with her daughter". Molly was heartbroken! So, she and I took it apart, piece by piece, reminiscing about different parts of the puzzle. I went ahead and got another puzzle out and started it. It's a 500 piece puzzle, though. The one we worked on was a 1000 piece. I have one at home that I can't wait to get out and start!!! It brought back memories of when I was little.

We have bought so many clothes here! For Johnny, mostly. Molly got some real cute black dress shoes to wear with a dress. They're so cute that I wish I could get a pair, but then she wouldn't like them anymore. She also got a brown puffy vest from Tommy Hilfiger, some leggings and socks. Lacey got 2 dresses for $6.25 each at Children's place, 3 halters for $1 each at Wal-mart, a pair of leggings to go with one of the dresses, a white Tommy Hilfiger t-shirt, a green Tommy Hilfiger t-shirt and a pink or brown, can't remember, vest for outdoors . I got a new bathrobe for $20 at the Izod store and a pink and white striped polo style shirt from Tommy Hilfiger. Johnny got several shirts, several sweaters, jeans, 2 coats and probably some other things I can't remember. Perry got a few shirts and sweaters and a pair of navy dress pants. I've been looking for a pair of reading glasses for real cheap. At Target, they have some for a $1, but the weakest strength they have is +1.00. I looked at their more expensive ones and they were $20! They went as low as +.50 and +.75. They were much better. I don't really need them THAT bad, but I think they would really be helpful. The +1.00 is worse when looking far away than with the +.50. At Wal-mart, they didn't have anything weaker than +1.00 and the cheapest was $8. Oh well, maybe I'll just wait until my vision is bad enough for them.

I really can't wait to get home and fix 2 things: the ice maker and the water heater. There are actually 2 things wrong with both! The ice maker doesn't pour enough water in the mold and, therefore, dumps out the ice before it's frozen solid and then, the dispenser part in the door needs to be fixed. I forced it in the open position while cleaning it and now it stays open. So, I have a dish towel stuffed in it to keep the cold air in. The water heater "heat sensor ignitor" needs to be replaced, but I'll probably just roughen up the end so it will work again for a few months. It also needs the dip tube replaced. I have it, but just can't get the inspiration to take it all apart. I have the tools, too! But, anyway, having an ice maker that makes SOOOOOOO much ice so quickly has me wanting to hurry and fix it.

We've used my dad's GPS to get around here this week. It is awesome! Maybe he'll get us one for Christmas.

Branson

We're in Branson for a week. Molly and I have been working a puzzle in the "clubhouse". We've gotten a lot of it done. It's been fun and I'm seeing where I got my attention to details from. I grew up doing puzzles. It's been hard doing it with someone because I used to always do it alone.

One of my youngest students "quit" last week. I can't say I'm disappointed because, since she didn't want to take, she wasn't easy to have during the lesson. I can't believe I took a student who really didn't want to take. I thought she'd be okay after she got used to it, but she never did her homework. It seemed like her mom wasn't taking the initiative to help her.

I quit going to the tanning bed about 2 months ago because the bulbs were almost 2 years old and I was having to stay in for 20 minutes. I'm noticing how bad I look. The sun spot below my right eye is showing up more because the skin around it is getting lighter. I had Johnny get me some lightener when he went to Dr. Newell last week. I was so glad he gave it to him. I haven't started using it yet because, well, I don't know why. I guess I'll go back to the tanning bed next week. I look so old around my eyes and my legs are so pale with the sun spots showing up more.

My 6th grade Discipleship group was much better last Wed. I had written an email to the moms about the behavior and we had all the girls sitting further apart in the room during the "lesson". The only thing is that Haley wasn't there and she's one who sometimes gets impatient with the other ones acting so silly and not paying attention.

Sick September

Well, sick as in ill. Minnie had a stomach virus a few weeks ago and spent the night in the hospital. Then Greg got a touch of it. This past Wed., Lacey woke up throwing up and then had a fever in the afternoon. Then, I woke up Friday with diarrhea and then a fever and went to Urgentcare in the evening. I slept all day yesterday but got up around 5 and stayed up until about 11. I slept fine, but still had a fever this morning and STILL HAVE ONE NOW! It's "low grade" as the dr. said, but to my body, 99.0 is a fever and enough to warrant me complaining of it. I've been watching a bunch of t.v. today. I Love Lucy, Fox News, HGTV, The Principal's Office and now Cops. Cops makes me thankful to not be as bad off as those people they go after. I had Johnny tell Teresa this morning that I wouldn't be there for choir tonight. I sent the stuff, too, but he didn't get it to her. I also had a Discipleship Leader's meeting that I wasn't going to be able to go to. Valerie had called me Friday to talk about what happened at Discipleship Wed. night since I couldn't be there, but I told her I'd have to call her back later that night. But, I got worse, and never did call her. I took a shower this afternoon and didn't dry my hair. I called Urgentcare to let them know I wasn't any better and they called back and said the dr. said to go to the ER to get IV fluids and further treatment. But I didn't and probably won't.

Well, on a lighter note, a week ago this past Wed., Naomi and I prayed for her dd to do well on her test and for her teacher to be more likeable (well, not in those words) and she emailed me that night and said that her dd said they didn't have the test instead and that the teacher was actually pleasant that day! We were both so thankful!! Then, this past Wed., I couldn't even go to Moms in Touch because Lacey was sick. I hated that. So, I can't wait until this Wed. to pray and see what God will do! I hope that I can be in the Christmas Parade again this year for Moms in Touch. Maybe Naomi and her 2 dd's will join me and Lacey and Molly.

A week from this Friday, Molly goes to the eye dr. to get contacts!! She's so excited! Then, we leave for Branson that afternoon! We'll be gone from Friday afternoon until a week from that next Sunday! I really don't want to be gone that long. The bad thing, is that the HS state golf tournament is that week and Perry could possibly go. If he's in the top 5 (out of like, 11). THEN, after we get back, on the 13th, Molly goes to the orthodontist to get braces!!! Well, she won't get them THAT day, but she will pretty soon after that. I can't wait. She'll look so cute! She had them for 6 months when she was in 3rd grade.

The house is a mess, but thankfully, all the laundry was done before I got sick. Johnny started the d/w today. I just don't understand why I still have a fever! It's 99.3 right now. Gas pains real bad, and tons of gurgling but no diarrhea in a while. My back is hurting, too. I wish that Johnny had taken me to the ER last night instead of UrgentCare. The ER would've proably done more than a blood and urine test. The blood test showed no infection, but this seems really strange to have a fever for so long. To make matters worse, I have 2 fever blisters starting. One on the inside and one on the outside. I'll put Zovirax on them when I go to bed.

I have SOOOOOOOOO many pictures on the computer that need to be edited and sent to Wal-Mart. I thought I might do it while being sick, but I haven't felt like it. I haven't even really used the laptop as much as I usually do.

Labor Day

Well, it was Labor Day, but I didn't labor. Cramps and children needing to be taken everywhere made laboring impossible. I would've gone to the gym, but Lacey got in our bed and sniffed (as in sinus-type sniffing) for 30 minutes and it took me a long time to go back to sleep. Johnny and Perry left at 6:45 to go to the "Run for Sight" 5K run and 2mile walk. Johnny was 4th in his age group and Perry was 1st in his age group. Chik-fil-A had free chicken strips today if you wore a football shirt in. So, Molly, her friend and Lacey and I all went with Titans shirts on. We went to Wal-Mart and they went to McDonald's to get free water and eat their chicken while I shopped. We then went home and Johnny took them swimming at Jan's. I picked up Perry from golf after I ate lunch, took a shower, then took him to First Baptist to play basketball only to find out it was closed. So, we brought 4 boys home with us and they went to Natcher, hoping to play inside, but they played outside.

We went to Chik-fil-A for supper, but I didn't eat. When I eat lunch late, I'm not hungry for supper at the normal time. We then went to Bruster's.

Saturday

The weather hasn't been too hot. The last 2 days and today I've worked outside and gotten sweaty! Yesterday, after working out at the gym, my left foot was hurting as usual and, after working in the yard, it was REALLY hurting. Even after I came in and sat down and massaged it, it was hurting SO bad. It was about a 7 on the pain scale. The good thing was that it would stop for about a minute. Kind of like labor contractions! Anyway, I called Dr. Richards office and got a appointment for SEPT. 11!! Luckily it only hurts like that after working out and/or wearing tennis shoes for a long time (like, 2 hours). I googled a bunch of stuff about foot pain and I've diagnosed it as "Morton's Neuroma". So, really, the dr. should pay me. haha

I've had so many things on my list and I've gotten half of them marked off. The bad thing is, though, I have 3 or 4 more things everyday that don't get put on the list but do get done. So, really, I'm sort of taking 2 steps forward and 1 step back.

I now have 11 students. I should have 12 and they should all be 45 minutes lessons, but some are 30 minute. And 1 of them is a kindergartener and said she didn't want to play! Normally, I wouldn't take a student who says right in front of me that she doesn't want to play the piano, but I need the money, and I need this experience of teaching a 5 year old.

First Day of School

Today went well until I found out a certain girl who is in Molly's homeroom and I think in several classes with her. That was the gray cloud over my head the whole day. Molly's better friends are all in other families.
Add to that the fact that several of Lacey's friends are good friends with another girl (who Lacey doesn't know) in the class and they talk to her more than her (Lacey).
It is so hot here. I hated having my hair fixed, wearing slightly nicer clothes than I usually wear, walking to Natcher 3 times, sitting at Sonic after school to "celebrate" the first day, sweating all the way. I went from having a good hair day to a bad hair day all because of the heat. I finally changed into workout clothes and put my hair in a ponytail.
I had to get up at 6 to get Molly up. She got up easily and later said, "I got up too early". She looked cute walking up the street with Perry to catch the bus.
I'm excited about this weekend (the discipleship retreat). I found out that there is a fridge, microwave and small stove in our "cabin". I will be able to have cold skim milk! Yay!

Wednesday

My broken toe is better now.
Molly got a camera she likes now that takes good pix.
We need rain.
We're going to see the Veggie Tales movie tomorrow.
Perry goes to Camp Courageous next week to be a "counselor".

Nikta's last day

We got up this morning and said bye to Nikta and her family. Everyone was crying. Molly & Rachel then went to bowl and then ate lunch at CiCi's.

Here are some pix of my toe!

I broke my left big toe!

Last night I tripped on something on the floor in the kitchen and broke my left big toe! I didn't know until I went to the dr. this morning. I couldn't believe it! I said, "ARE YOU SERIOUS?" to the dr. I have a short walking boot. I thought crutches would be better, but the boot works good and it protects my big toe. It looks worse every few hours.

Okay, I think I have it now

Alrighty. Maybe I'll like this blog better and feel more comfortable. Just a bunch of thoughts, goings on, etc.

Lacey & I trimmed the privet hedge today. She was a lot of help! I even put her in the garbage can to smash the limbs down. I trimmed just the right amount. It looks naked now, but it'll grow back soon enough. I always think that I trimmed too much, but it grows SO fast.

Speaking of the garbage can, I didn't put it out early enough this morning and they came early! Now it's stuffed full for a whole week now.

I also used the weed eater to trim alongside the brick. I blew out the garage and mower. I need to wash the cars, but I just don't want to. It will rain tomorrow if I do.

Speaking of tomorrow, I'm going to eat lunch at Buckhead with Mindy, Mondie and some other moms in the neighborhood. And, speaking of Mondie, they're leaving for Utah either Thursday or Friday. Nikta spent the night last night with us. Last night, Molly had me working so much! First she wanted to get in the jacuzzi, then it was dirty, we drained it, filled it again, with bubbles, turned it on, I had to take pictures, wet towels, had to get Nikta's stuff, then they wanted to make Oreo balls so we had to go to Kroger to get cream cheese (and milk and cheese), came home, I got the ziplock bags to crush the Oreos, bowl, mixer, pan, melted chocolate, and on and on!!! Then, today, I asked her to take Lacey to Natcher to eat the free lunch. She didn't want to at first, but I reminded her of what all I did last night to make her feel guilty and she did. BUT, she RAN home after she saw a woman in front of her paying for a lunch and thought it cost, and I had to persuade her into going back because she left Lacey there all by herself. She swore it wasn't free. When she got back, the lunch lady said she asked Lacey what was going on and she tried to holler at her to come back, but she didn't hear her. So, they both ate chicken rings and I think that's all.

Perry has a church softball game tonight at 8:15. The temperature is not too high today, it's 79.

Today is Tuesday, June 17.

Today is Sunday, June 8 and we are going to accomplish a bunch of things this week!!!

Today is Thursday, June 5, 2008.

Busy month of May

Field Day

Kidz Blitz