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I went to Abbie's Kindergarten meeting on Tuesday. It wasn't as long as last year, due to the fact that they didn't have tables displaying what the kids would be learning for us to peruse. This is probably in the interest of not letting certain teachers parade the fact that they don't know what their own buzz words mean. I was a witness of that last year. I now have a huge stack of forms to fill out. Seriously, I signed fewer papers when I bought this house. I also have to send off for Abbie's shot records. I've already contacted Rolla. They have emailed me a form (Another form? Why, yes.) to submit. I'm going to have to print it out and mail it, though, as our document edit program isn't compatible.

I watched Avenue Montaigne last night. It was listed as a comedy, but was really a light hearted drama with a dash of romance. Not bad. Not so good that I wanted to own it. The Netflix blurb was not very accurate in any way. Who writes those things?

Yesterday, we A> Picked up Grant from school. B> Picked up Josh's new hideous uniforms from the taylor. C> Grabbed Culvers for dinner. D> Took Jake to his follow up vet appointment (and Callie, too, since we can't leave her alone). E> Got haircuts for both boys.

My back is not happy about Callie's leash behavior yesterday. It had better not go out. The nurse said Jake's ear looked better, but the vet said he needed 30 dollar medicine. I just put some in his ear a minute ago. The haircuts went well. Grant FINALLY got the haircut he's always wanted. And I forgot to take a picture. Yesterday cost over 100 dollars, not counting the gas.

Add to that that my brother called to say that he's coming to town this weekend, and that Josh yesterday got a phone call saying that he needs to work 4 hours of overtime on Mondays, Thursdays and Fridays indefinitely. Oh, and I have to look pretty (a near impossibility for me) tonight at taiko because there will be a camera crew for the news. I personally get no PR credit for that one, but it is pretty awesome.

Remember my tree? The one that my Mommy gave me, and it was my only birthday present, and it was bent funny. The one that my ex-neighbor's daughter's boyfriend decided to "fix", and invited himself into my yard, yanked on it and broke off the top. Well, perhaps you recall the abundant tears I shed over that silly tree. I have worried about it since it came to me. I noticed before the snows started that the bark near the ground had also been ripped when the tree was assaulted, and I knew that meant bad news. The tree has lost several branches per season, and is still loosing them. The tree is dying. I know it is dying. Here is my newest dilemma: I should replace the tree. But...I've never dug up a tree before that wasn't actually dead yet. It doesn't seem right to me. Should I look for somewhere to put it? Someone to give it to? It looks terrible, so it would have to be someplace out of the way. I just can't bring myself to do it, really. And however tempting it sounds to just, "replace it with a nice crab apple or something," I can't get around the fact of digging up a living tree.

And I'm not a big hippie who has a problem with trees being killed. I just don't want it to be a tree that I have worried over and poured useless love onto for years. I just wish someone wanted it. And maybe it wouldn't die. Maybe if it were in some decent soil and not a giant tub of clay, it would recover. Right? Okay. Not too realistic. I know.

I'm going to start on my resume soon. I am thinking of trying several different styles, and some slightly unusual, to see what best displays my abilities and experiences. Har, har. My very limited abilities and my moldy, inadequate experience. Oh, well. It's worth a try.

I finally cleaned out the shoes in the coat closet. I've been wanting to do that for about a month. And I got Josh to clean out the "junk drawer". It wouldn't close. It was getting a little out of hand. Much better now. But the other Spring Cleaning things I am not even pretending I have time for just yet.

Abbie is singing The Twelve Days of Christmas.

I'm getting a movie night planned for Brother. We specialize in movies that are so incredibly awful that they are "good". He wanted This Island Earth, Robot Monster and Forbidden Planet, but I didn't have any notice to change my Netflix request, so they aren't going to get here in time, probably. Instead, maybe I will search the local video stores.

Well...it is time to lunch the Abbie. I hope that today is being good to you. I think the weather is going to be seasonal, which is a little warmer than it's been. Don't forget, though, that is often snows in Missouri in April. Be prepared! I am glad to see the upper 50's again, though, aren't you?

Said One Bakugan To Another:

G: What about my check up??

A: Hmm. Okay. Say Ahhh.

G: AHHH!

A: Say EEEE!

G: EEEE!

A: Say MMM!

G: MMM!

A: Say tweet like me. Tweet, tweet!

G: Something's wrong with my beak. When I say tweet the sound just comes out my nose.

A: Interesteeen. You need to wrap up in a warm blanket.

Instant Wealth/Voluntary Simplicity

Josh bought me another lottery ticket. Somehow, I'm pretty convinced that my lotto luck has been ruined forever by the fact that I won 28 dollars last time. But that hasn't stopped me from planning to spend my 2.1 million dollars!

What would you do with your lottery winnings? I would probably pay off this house, so that the money we spend on it every month could go directly to the bank, and I'd probably look for a house closer in. But not TOO close. I'd also give to charities, and buy books, music and socks. You know...the same stuff I like when I'm broke. Wanna hear my favorite charities?

* National Geographic
* The Red Cross
* The Humane Society
* Some research funds for children's diseases
* Save the whales (Don't laugh! I love whales.)
* Education reform
* Research for alternate fuel systems
* School music programs
* The MO Botanical Gardens
* The St. Louis Zoo

Okay, so some of these aren't charities, per se.

I watched The Big Hit last night. I was watching it "with" Josh, but he was also doing homework at the same time. Trivia: The Bit Hit is the first DVD I ever watched. Probably many of you are not old enough to say that sort of thing. I was in college, and I watched it with friends on a new, fancy invention called DVD player. They're going to take the place of laser disk someday, they say. Hee hee.

You know that there are whole countries full of people who live their lives without televisions and movie players and microwaves and cars and computers and cell phones? It makes me sick to think how spoiled and dependent we are, sometimes. You know, I want to implement a No Electricity Day once a week. From 5-10pm one night a week you turn off all the phones and computers and TVs and such and you light candles and read to each other or play board games or sing/play music on real instruments (or overturned cups, it's your choice) or make up stories.... Don't you think that sounds like a valuable thing? And good for the utility bills, too. So far, we've not had the right schedule for that, but maybe someday when Josh has days....

Don't you think I deserve to win the lottery? So, C'mon. It's your turn. What would you do if you won the lottery? Powerball is at 125 million this week!

Remiss

So, either I have no readers to speak of (besides me) or you guys thrive on neglect! My vote is that I'm talking to myself.

I've had a cold. It was considerably less than fun, but it wasn't the usual Rosemary Cold of Doom. It started that way, but cleared up pretty reasonably. It was almost like those normal colds that everyone else gets, except for one thing: serious ear congestion. That's the part that didn't clear up. Today I declared myself healthy, but as usual there is a good chance that I'm delusional.

Josh worked today (his day off). We're going to try and have a movie date when he gets home. Last night we watched Miss Congeniality. I forgot how cute/funny that movie is. Great work all around.

Tomorrow is taiko, and Friday Josh has a work party that I will be dragged to, and then Miss Heather is having one of those parties where you buy stuff on Saturday, and I told her I would go to that. I just didn't know I would be recovering from a night out at the same time. Just coming from a head cold, it all sounds exhausting, but I plan to have fun.

Josh is going to officially ask for weekends off, and if he can't get them, he is going to ask to be switched to the day shift. That is the latest on the future plan. Also, as if contemplating this, plus my starting work when Abbie goes to school this fall weren't enough to raise my blood pressure, he has announced that he wants to sell the house next summer, and is already shopping for new homes.

You know, this house was built for us. I picked the paint. I picked the carpet. I picked that gorgeous kitchen counter that I adore so much. This house represents a project in aesthetics as well as nesting to me, and it always hurt my feelings that Josh never cared for it. The first thing he told me after we moved in was that no one would ever visit us this far away. He's been talking about moving pretty much since the paint stopped smelling new.

I have a purple hyacinth blooming! And it looks like there will be daffodils soon.

I'm not reading anything this week. I have a Borders gift card and don't know what to spend it on. Not that the library isn't great, but I don't know how long Borders cards are going to be usable.

Today I had a girl day. Me and Abbie met Molly at the park and we played! It was fun, but a little windy. I had looked and looked for our kite before going, but I think it would have been a little too gusty, after all. It was so windy that we went to Steak N Shake for milkshakes to get out of it. What a fun girl day!

Well, I am off to be a mommy. Sorry for not writing for so long, but you were so quiet I forgot you were there! Or you weren't there. Either one.

I hope you are having a happy spring day!

Can Hardly Keep My Eyes Open!

Why am I so tired? My eyes are trying to close without my permission.

And who ordered this snow? I am not interested in snow. If you ask me, it should have the decency to know it has overstayed its welcome and not come back until early December, at the very least.

We took Jake to the vet for his regular visit. He got his shots, and has an ear that is getting infected. And his teeth are really bad, as usual. We also got Jake and Callie's toenails trimmed. Callie did much better this time than last time.

We had brunch at IHOP, too, which was quite yummy. I love waffles with strawberries. Abbie loves bacon. Grant loves chocolate chip pancakes. Josh loves....whatever he had. It was gone before I had a chance to look!

The new car started acting funny on the ride home. Here's what we think: when the snow plow did the PetSmart parking lot, it threw snow into our hubcaps. I can actually verify this. This caused the wheels to act as if they were out of balance on the way home. With luck, there is no lasting damage and the car will function as expected when the snow melts. What do you think are the odds?

Did I tell you the special news of today? Tylar and Bethany have a beautiful new daughter named Lily, as of 4:30 this morning. I am super excited. Can't wait for one of us to visit the other. Happy Birthday, Lily!

I've folded a huge load of kid clothes and put them away, but that is really not enough to make me feel like going to bed at 1:30.

I watched Casablanca the other night.

I have to give the kids baths and do some packing for our trip out of town. And I have to not forget Grant's medicine and dance tonight. Not so easy when you're this tired!

I must overcome! Wish me luck as I go draw a bath for bather #1. (This is pretty bad. I just wrote "Wish me Lunch.")

*giggle*

Hi!

My computer had a virus. But now me and the computer are both feeling better.

Thank you to Miss Heather for coming to visit me at my house on Friday. Not that she reads this blog, but it was very wonderful to have someone who has known me from forever listen to my troubles and already understand why they upset me, without my having to dig up a ton of back story. We needed that visit. And I didn't realize how long it had really been until she handed me my birthday present. Yikes!

Then we also had visits from our friends down the street. My house was the place to be on Friday. You missed out. They have some news, and they were very nervous about telling me. You see, their daughter, Bree, will be starting school in August, just like Abbie. Abbie has been saying for a year that she is going to ride the school bus with Grant and Bree. But it seems that Bree's mommy and daddy are going to put her in a private school that is on the way home from their commute to the city. They really were reluctant to tell me! I just said that it wasn't a big deal; we would have done the same thing if we could. Well, I repeated that conversation to Josh, and he decided to look up the school. Depending on what kind of work I get, it could be a possibility. But now I am not sure if now is the right time. I wouldn't want to deprive Abbie of the bus ride she's been looking forward to for so long. Especially since Grant "got to". On the other hand, a more academic curriculum would be great for Grant at this point. So maybe Grant should go to the other school and Abbie go here for a year? Very inconvenient. And they wouldn't be together. Lots of little things to consider, not the least of which is that it would be smarter to NOT add expenses when we are trying to get our finances in order.

We had our PR meeting for taiko. With any luck, we are about to do many great things and increase our public visibility dramatically. We're also going to try to help raise money for Japan disaster relief, but we're still working on that.

Everything is busy as we prepare for next week, which is Grant's spring break. I've been doing lots of laundry, as we will be out of town on Tuesday and Wednesday nights. I have to take Jake in to the vet for his regular shots on Monday, and I can't forget Abbie's dance class.

And right now I should be getting some things downstairs. What about you? What did you do this weekend? Did you see any new movies? I hear that Hall Pass is funny, but I'm not sure if I trust the source.

Just in case you don't hear from me before...Happy St. Patrick's Day! Have a great weekend and a great week. Take care!

Testing...?

Venting via blog loses some of its cathartic release when technical difficulties prevent the "publish post" button from working.

Yesterday was an unhappy day for me. The time I spent at taiko and a few Abbie hugs were the only good parts. Well, and I guess the fact that nothing worse than what I was already getting decided to happen.

I think I experienced acid reflux today. Or indigestion. Something. It was painful. I was sitting there, clutching my upper chest. Josh asked if I was okay, and then walked away before I had time to answer, and Abbie kept on pretending that we were on a bus to Disneyland. Story of my life in one short scene.

I wrote all about Mardi Gras and our busy day of getting the car licensed, returning Josh's insanely overdue library things, Grant's doctor appointment, cooking jambalaya and cupcakes and watching The Princess and the Frog while stringing our own beads. It was quite charmingly written, but you'll have to take my word for it, as it no longer exists.

Most of my friends have located the bulk of their families, following the record breaking earthquake in Japan and resulting tsunami. We're still missing some parents in one case, a sister in another and a brother and sister in law in a third. Worrying and waiting.

Well. I hope this works. I hate wasted effort.

May your day be nice.

While Baking Chicken....

Today is Sunday. I've been very busy/perfectly slothful. Time for a reverse-chronology? SURE!

Grant and Abbie are cleaning their rooms today. You may laugh. Well, at least a few things are being put away properly. I spent the morning at taiko. We played Hiryuu a lot, and I played chuu or slappy/oodaiko. It was fun and tiring and noisy. We played in the new practice space. Very echo-y. If you happen to know the secret to inexpensive soundproofing, do shoot me an email. I didn't have any trouble getting to the new space, it's actually very few turns. I even had enough attention to spare to look around at the food options that are close.

Didn't sleep well last night. It occurs to me that I never kept that sleep journal. I should do that. I would put last night down as: Took long to get to sleep. Woke easily and often during the night. Unable to sleep any significant length of time between 2-5am. Slept soundly sometime after 5...but was awakened by the hungry dog just before 6. Tonight I will experiment with stretching before bed.

Yesterday I helped Molly move. Josh and I got the kids ready in the morning and threw the dogs out into the muddy back yard. We got to Molly's around 10:30-ish. It seemed like there was lots of standing around involved, but I did manage to fill up the back of the CR-V pretty quickly. Josh helped the men move the washer and dryer into trucks, along with a dresser and a SUPER heavy TV and mattresses, etc. The kids, who usually love helping people move, were too busy playing to do much. It kind of disappointed me.

Molly lives on the third floor. Well, you can imagine the traffic issues, I'm sure. After all was unloaded, and the washer and dryer and tv set up, Molly and Ryan ordered pizza, and Josh showered at the new place and got ready for work. He left after we ate, and then me and Molly decided to go back for another trip. We got her desk and some emergency stuff, like silverware, toilet paper, trash bags and clothes hangers. Oh, and pillows. We'd noticed the lack of them while making the bed. Her parents surprised us all by stopping by to inspect the arrangements, but they didn't stay long. It was just a peek. Then me and Molly hung clothes for a while, but the kids were starting to come loose at the edges - a sure sign of time to go! I managed to get them away before any true fits emerged, so that was good. I had meant to make chicken, but there wasn't time - we were already hungry. So we just had quick stuff. It had been a very dark, cold day. A shame, because we work even better on nice days. I think we're going back some other day to help Molly's parents move some furnishings around in their newly remodeled basement.

Friday, Abbie and I went to City Hall and finished signing up Grant and Abbie for summer soccer, and Grant for T-ball. It's during Abbie's dance class, so she won't be playing it until next year. Then, we went grocery shopping, ate a quick lunch at home, and then went to our hair appointments.

I don't know if I mentioned making the hair appointments. I was not very happy with the woman I talked to. She was very stony, and slightly annoyed by me. But I wasn't being annoying, I promise. What is it with this new trend at the appointment counter? I've made a fair few appointments in my time. Why am I suddenly horribly rude if I don't give the date and time of the appointment to her? Good grief! What is so horrible about, "What do you have available next week in the late mornings?" I always get "the stare". You know, the one that means, "I would seriously be rolling my eyes right now, if it wouldn't get me fired. Are you really going to make me look up to see what is open? I so don't get paid for that." And this woman was in her 40's, so I know she wasn't brought up with this mentality. So, I was pleasantly surprised when she was not, in fact, the stylist I was scheduled with. (Another note: Isn't it usual to tell me the name of who will be working with me? At least so I can ask for the right person at the counter??) Anyway, she was younger than me (not hard, these days) and could have been more, probably. She sounded very intelligent, but not "brought up too high". She wasn't as fast as Dawn, but did a respectable job, up until the styling part. But my hair takes some getting used to. Abbie sat with a woman named Meg. Her cut is ADORABLE! It's actually about an inch shorter than I had told her, but I don't care. It suits Abbie very well, especially at her current age. It's a saucy little bob. Or maybe it's just Abbie who is saucy. We got home in time to get Grant from the bus stop, but just in case, I had written him a note, now that he reads so wonderfully.

Thursday I wrote Andrew that I wasn't feeling great, but was going to come to taiko anyway, since it seemed like everyone was crapping out for practice. But I had to take it back. I got a weird fever and was too dizzy to do much. Is Motrin really a fever reducer? It didn't seem to work too well. That's okay. It's great for my sore muscles, anyway. I spent the evening reading. in bed.

I read all of The Big Over Easy, Thud! and I'm mostly through Mort.

Tuesday was our moving party/meeting at the new taiko space. All of us who got there early, just grabbed stuff and loaded right up. In fact, we did such a good job that when Andrew arrived right when we were supposed to start....we were just finishing up! So we drove to the new place and unloaded, and then had a meeting. I had hoped it was a short meeting. Josh had to work on Wednesday, and I was hoping I could get home in time to watch a movie with him. Didn't happen. In fact...it was a REALLY LONG meeting. And I am now on the PR committee. Whee! but I don't feel like I have much to contribute. I will certainly try.

Monday, Abbie had dance, but the girls didn't behave too wonderfully. We could hear the teachers fussing through the walls. They are going to tap dance to "Almost There" from The Princess and the Frog. I was charmed, until I caught a glimpse of the choreography. Where in that song is the occasion to shake one's bottom at the audience? Well, they made one.

Yay, T-ball.

Celebrate the World went pretty okay. I had fun, though I really needed a drink of water. My dad liked it. Molly liked it. Ryan and Jennie and Amelia liked it. JD and Cory liked it, too! In fact, she might sign up for a beginner class sometime. Even my cousins came! I could see them from the stage! Well, to be honest, I was guessing it was them, because without my glasses, it's hard to be exact. But I was thinking, "That looks like a Sky-shaped blob, right next to a Kelsey-shaped blob, right next to a tall, dark haired blob that could possibly be Kelsey's boy!" Sadly, I never got to meet him. I was still unloading the stage when they went to the lobby to look for me, and when I finally got out there, they'd left.

Well. There ends the retrospective.

So, if any of you are moving this week, I'm totally on a roll!

In other news: We are watching The Muppet Show. I have yellow crocuses blooming in my yard! (What happened to the purple ones???) My house is not clean. I need to make an appointment for Grant at the dentist. I also need to send something UPS. I might make a jambalaya on Tuesday, since it's Mardi Gras, and I'm stuck home with the kids. Callie is getting quite fat.

Enjoy the last remaining wisps of weekend!