Bad Morning

Charles got rear ended this morning -- GRRRRR! With Connor in the car
--- major GRRRRRRRRRRR! It gives me 3 of my 5 things to be thankful
for today: 1) No one was hurt. 2) It wasn't our fault. 3) The
car is still driveable, though the bumper is crunched in two LOVELY places.

As soon as my conference call ends I'm calling their insurance adjuster to
figure out what to do in order to get it fixed. Charles says his back
is a little sore, so we are sending him to the doctor today to be looked
at. I know this is minor, I know this is "small stuff", so why am I so
pissed?

Holiday Blog Tag

OK, I decided to be a leader today rather than a follower. I therefore
have made up my own "blog tag" for all of my blogging friends to answer to
get in the holiday spirit.

Do you celebrate Christmas?
What are your favorite "holiday" colors?
Favorite Christmas song?
Favorite Christmas movie?
Favorite Christmas cartoon?
Real tree or artificial?
Special family traditions?
Travel or stay home?
Does Santa wrap presents?
Do you do an advent calendar?
Do you send Christmas cards? Store bought or handmade? Christmas
letter? Pictures?
What do you put in stockings?
Typical holiday meal?
Are you done shopping yet? Have you started?

Here are my answers...

Do you celebrate Christmas? Yes.
What are your favorite "holiday" colors? Red & Green
Favorite Christmas song? "O Holy Night"
Favorite Christmas movie? "Scrooged"
Favorite Christmas cartoon? "The Grinch who stole Christmas"
Real tree or artificial? "Artificial"
Special family traditions? We try to go to a local park that has
amazing Christmas lights on Christmas eve. Our favorite holiday treat
is "trash mix" (otherwise known as Chex Party Mix)
Travel or stay home? I like to be home Christmas eve and morning
Does Santa wrap presents? Nope
Do you do an advent calendar? We try to -- my aunt normally sends them
to my kids each year.
Do you send Christmas cards? Store bought or handmade? Christmas
letter? Pictures? I try HARD to send them every year, and I'm
working on doing homemade, but don't always succeed. I'd love to do a
christmas letter & pictures, but I don't always succeed.
What do you put in stockings? Socks, small toys, gift cards, candy
Typical holiday meal? Turkey & fixins... at my parents house it used
to be wild turkey
Are you done shopping yet? Have you started? Bwahhahahahah... nope
I'm not done!

Group Therapy

That's kind of what blogs are to me... group therapy. Sometimes you don't
have anything to say, you just want to listen. Hearing others have your
same issues makes you feel OK, n-o-r-m-a-l. Sometimes seeing someone
have an epiphany about how to solve an issue sets off the light bulb in
YOUR head. And then there are days where you hog the floor and talk
talk talk. If you are lucky, what you says moves someone else in a
positive direction, and they actually let you know that.

My husband rants at me sometimes about how "you care about people you've
never met more than me". While that may technically be true, I've never
been face-to-face with most of you, I sure feel like I know you! And
he's wrong, I don't care less about him. But this piece of technology
allows me to be at home with my family, be in a city where my skills earn a
decent living, and not be deprived of people I connect with who live
elsewhere. I don't have to arrange my schedule to go to an inconvenient
therapy session -- I post when I have something to say, I read when I need
to listen. So there! :P

Carolyn Needs....

game time...
saw this fun little game on another blog and thought i'd play along too. just google your name plus "needs", (eg. "carolyn needs"), then record the first ten search results. too funny! here's my list:

1. To cut back on stress and find emotional satisfaction, Carolyn needs good food,good shelter ... Carolyn needs to take long hot baths and add some herbs. ...
2. Carolyn needs to take long hot baths and add some herbs. Carolyn needs a hug, her hubby took her bears away.
3. Carolyn needs good food Carolyn needs a rock boy Carolyn needs to take care of him a little more in the bedroom and maybe she ... (makes ya wonder doesn't it?)
4. Carolyn needs the names of all graduating seniors so they can be honored and ...
5. Carolyn needs a family who can provide a nurturing and safe environment for her and her two siblings.
6. Carolyn needs shingles.
7. Carolyn needs help with her anger.
8. Carolyn needs a dose of reality. (No, she isn't to young for that.)
9. Carolyn needs a break from cooking, and goodness knows when I get in the kitchen,anything can happen.
10. Carolyn needs this information to answer appropriate questions and give you theproper feedback.

OK, it's a little weird, but then aren't most of these games?

Turkey Blog

Forgive me in advance... there is a feature on Blogspot where you can
publish via email. So I thought I'd try this out so I could write entries
off-line.

Did everyone enjoy that annual eat-a-thon? We got to do it twice
(kinda). First an extended family gathering at the home of Charles' Aunt
Dianne. Then to his sister's home for Thanksgiving dinner. I
really enjoyed the gathering at Dianne & Larry's because our kids got to
play with all the other kids, and they had some Lebanese dishes. Connor
ate kibbeh, but wouldn't try any of the rest of them. Bobby (Charles'
cousin) made the tabbouleh, and there was baba ganouj, laban, and a
Lebanese cookie I can't remember the name of. YUM. I even liked Dot's
cabbage casserole, and that says ALOT as I don't really like cabbage. It
is amazing how quickly time passes in the lives of children. Charles & I
didn't go last year as it was on my birthday. I can't believe how much so
many of the kids have changed. Adam, who shares Duncan's birthday (and is
12) is now taller than me! Dianna, who is now 10, has gone from a girl
to a young lady. And the "little ones" -- we have a herd of school age
kids, no more toddlers!!! Charles' cousin Janet is as tiny as ever
except for baby #3 due in about 2 months! Can you tell we enjoyed
ourselves?

Thursday brought the 41st anniversary of my arrival on the planet, as well
as turkey day. My friend Lisa pointed out that at least this year
everyone was celebrating with me! The kids got up pretty early, but
once they had breakfast, I got to lay back down for a nap. There is
apparently a new Scooby Doo movie that premiered on the cartoon network
this week, "Scooby Doo: Where's My Mummy?" We had to pry the kids off
the TV to go to Susan's house! Dot had someone make the turkey and
dressing, and Susan & Irene (Susan's MIL) made the rest of the meal.
Again, YUM. Sweet Potatoes, asparagus, Mac & cheese, egg salad,
cranberry salad, green beans, carrots.... I know I'm missing some items.
Plus three desserts... banana pudding, a pie/souffle, and my birthday cake.
Susan ordered it from her favorite bakery, Tizzerts, and it was
S-C-R-U-M-P-T-I-O-U-S!!! I'll post a picture of it tonight. I had
to laugh at Irene, she gave me a gift card to Michael's and included the ad
from Thursday's paper in the card! Does she know a crafter well or what?
John & Charles took the kids out to walk in the woods behind their house
after lunch. After that we just kind of lazed around and visited -- Dot
left earlier than we did. Lunch was at 1pm and we didn't leave until
after 6:00!

Friday I got up early and headed out to Michael's to spend my gift
certificate. I got a new instant eyelet setter and some odds & ends.
I then practiced my southern manners and made thank you cards! I had
intended to work on my Christmas cards, but left my intended stamp at home!
Friday night we went to visit our friends Penny & Jim and their new baby
Jasmine. What a cutie! She's such a good baby. I enjoyed visiting
with all Penny's cats too -- again, when I'm home I'll post a picture of me
holding Lint & Jasmine. I miss having a cat -- they had two small
kittens as well that I could have taken home if Charles had let me. We
tried to visit the lights in McAdenville, but apparently they hadn't
started for the season yet.

Five things to be happy about today:

1. I don't have any after work plans so I can just go home today.
2. I have on really cool new wool socks my mother-in-law bought me over
the weekend -- they are WARM!
3. Both kids are wearing some new clothes courtesy of my MIL.
4. I have some new cub scout scrapping stuff to work with tonight thanks
to birthday cash.
5. I've still got time to get my Christmas cards done if I keep up the
pace!

Happy Turkey Day

I am safely at my mother-in-law's house, about to head out for the first of two holiday gatherings over the next couple of days. May this find you all warm, safe, and well fed!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Rainy Monday

Anyone else wish Thursday would get here? So our work week will be over?! I am just so overwhelmed at work, I'm starting to not want to go, and that's a REALLY bad sign for me.

Charles had to go pick Duncan up from school today -- he went to the health office crying about a headache and tummy ache. He says his forehead hurts. Sinus we think; he resisted getting any tylenol all day. He was very subdued... we are going to keep him home from school Tuesday and hope the rest will improve things. This is going to kink our holiday plans if he doesn't get well soon, as we were supposed to go to Charles' Aunt Dianne's house for dinner Wednesday night. Not sure what we'll do if Duncan is still sick Wednesday morning. At least Thursday is a much smaller group and mostly immediate family (we're eating at Susan & John's house).

Connor has his Thanksgiving party tomorrow. Preschool is so much fun; once he gets to "real" school they don't get to celebrate as often! Next week his class is going to a Moravian candle tea -- I've lived here 15 years and still haven't been to one. I hope they have a great time.

So what am I doing on the computer so late? I came home from work really tired, and once we had fed the kids I went to bed... at 6:30 p.m. When Charles came to bed about 11pm I woke up, and couldn't get back to sleep. So I'm up now and on the computer.

Five Things to Be Happy About Today:

1. Charles is in a better mood today, and did deep cleaning on BOTH bathrooms.
2. I got to see baby pictures of friend Penny's little girl.
3. I got a compliment on the latest picture of Duncan getting his bobcat badge on my photo blog.
4. Most of my favorite bloggers posted today and I enjoyed reading them.
5. It's a short work week!

Headache Sunday

I've had a headache all weekend actually, it won't go away. Other than that...

Saturday we did next to nothing. Charles got sick at lunchtime, claiming it was bad food and lazed around all afternoon. I made spaghetti for supper and the kids ate and ate. Sunday (today) I got up and Charles still didn't feel good. At 7:30 am I was positive Duncan would never settle down enough to be able to sing in choir. But we made eggs & toast and gave him his meds.

Lo and behold, 8:45 a.m., I notice Duncan sitting very calmly watching tv... so I start sorting thru closets to find church clothes (note to self... gotta get all the stuff that's knocked down/wadded up in the closets back in circulation). 9:45 am we leave for church. Too late for Sunday school, but kinda deliberate, I wasn't gonna push my luck. We show up right as the children's choir is "robing up" and getting ready for the 10:30 service. Connor and I hang in the kid's room until 10:15, then head to the sanctuary. Duncan is up in the choir loft (excellent sign), and we sit with the Tomihiro family. He did it! He stayed up there the whole time AND sang! Connor wandered off during children's church to go to the bathroom, but he did very well. I have a picture of Duncan in his choir robe I'll post tomorrow. Twenty minutes after we got home he was bouncing off the walls again, but that's ok.

So 1:30 rolls around, I'm thinking maybe a nap might improve my headache, and the phone rings... it's Judi, Comfort's mom (from Cub Scouts). Do we want to come over and work on pinewood derby cars? So we head out about 2:30, and over the next three hours two cars get cut out, sanded, and weighted. Woot! Duncan wasn't terribly interested in cutting his out, and he halfway sanded, but that's ok. Thanks sooo much to Jodi for helping us! Now for fine sanding, and PAINT. Pictures to follow!

Quickie

It's late and I'm tired, but I did want to thank you all for the encouraging words! I was positively EXHAUSTED Thursday, and am still tired today. Duncan got his Bobcat badge at cub scouts tonite -- I'll post on that tomorrow probably. I have a speech evaluation for Connor scheduled for December 13th. I knew he had some articulation issues, but when his preschool teacher mentioned it to us I went ahead and called rather than waiting for kindergarten screening. Charles missed almost two days of medications -- he's been really REALLY down lately. We did get some Christmas shopping done last night.

Courtney, this one's for you...

5 Things to be happy about today

1. Duncan got his first badge (bobcat), a progress bead towards his bear badge, and a swimming belt loop at cub scouts tonite.
2. I put an "ick" task behind me by getting Connor's speech evaluation scheduled.
3. My friend Penny had her baby on Connor's birthday, a girl, and is home with her now
4. I heard from my friend Sherri today
5. It's FRIDAY!!!

My Bad Day

Well I go from feeling "in control" to having the worst day in weeks. Tonite at fellowship the choir director in the absolute nicest possible way talks to Charles and I about Duncan's lack of focus and how it's making it hard for the other children in his choir who are really passionate about the music to enjoy their experience. She was trying so hard to be compassionate it made me cry. I cried out in the hallway all the way thru his practice. They are singing Sunday in the choir loft, and she's concerned about him being up there for the whole service. So we'll see. Momma to the rescue, to micromanage him for 24 hrs this weekend to align the stars, his diet, his rest, and his meds to see if I can get a perfect day. And I'll do all this and he'll get cold feet and not wanna do it. Of course I'll be disappointed if we need to take him out of choir, but that's MY problem. I worry about how he'll feel about it, it's like karate all over.

So just when I'm starting to calm down from that, I get THIS email from his den leader.

Carolyn,

Fun was had by all last night. I'm sure Duncan had a lot to tell you about his Lowes visit. I do want to talk to you about ways I can help Duncan focus on the subject at hand. Charles mentioned that his behavior and non focus last night was due to his medicine expiring for the day. I do need you and Charles' helping me during
meetings so all of the children can get the most out of the meetings and what is being taught. I just felt like many times last night that I was trying to keep Duncan focusing on the subject and he was not responding to me. Just help me learn how to help Duncan so everyone is comfortable with the situation at hand.

So here we go with the tears again. He would NOT understand about not being able to do Cub Scouts. You get so much shit from other people about how if you'd just "parent" your child properly they'd behave. It's not that easy with a child with all these issues. I *do* rely on medication to help us, and of course, again, it's not working the way it should. So I have to find time in my slammed schedule to call the psychiatrist and see if we can get in for an adjustment sooner, and it's hit-or-miss as to if that helps.

The only bright note was some useful information about encopresis (don't look up the word if you don't want TMI) -- finally, some practical ideas on what we can do. But administering enemas, mineral oil, and all the suggestions they have really need to be done by a primary caretaker, someone at home with the child. And that someone is depressed and not doing squat other than whining. And bitching. He's started whining that he takes too many pills. That is usually the sign of him starting NOT to take them. UGH.

So here I sit, wondering how I'm ever gonna keep up at work at the moment, and I'm overwhelmed by Christmas shopping, school, dealing with Duncan... and of course, everything is my fault. Ask the expert (the whiner). And for the record, yes Mother, I'm taking MY medication. Doesn't seem to help tonite. Oh, one other bright spot, Lisa got sent home on America's Next Top Model! Sorry to be such a downer, I just hate when my life slaps me in the face.

Nerdsense

Got this from an old friend's new blog...



I've had an absolutely HORRID day... I'll post more later.

Post-A-Rama

Courtney is doing a new thing on her blog that I like, so I thought I'd try it.

5 things to be Happy about today:

1. I started my Christmas shopping.
2. My friend Penny has some amazingly good news that I'm not allowed to share yet. =)
3. Connor has shoes that FIT.
4. Connor helped me put away his clean laundry today.
5. Duncan had a great day today at the science fair and at cub scouts.

Unobservant Mommy

OK, so I confess publicly, I'm a bad mom. We knew it had been a bit since Connor had been to the shoe store to check his feet, so Charles finally made time to take him today. He was wearing a size 11 extra wide, only now his feet are a size 12.5 extra wide. ACK! He's really proud of those new shoes though. He should be for $40!

Lots going on today -- Duncan had a den meeting tonite at a local grocery store, so they could complete achievement #9. He'll get his bobcat badge Friday night, at least one progress towards rank bead (two if we can complete #11), and his swimming belt loop.

I started my Christmas shopping today, but it was really my parent's Christmas shopping. They give us $$ to do their shopping for our kids. Connor got the Camelot castle from the Imaginext King Arthur line, and one of the items from a Top Toys for 2005 list -- a Matchbox buried treasure set. Toys that make these kind of lists disappear fast from the shelves. I have some ideas for Duncan, but we won't get to Walmart til tomorrow or Thursday at the earliest. The same list above should have items for Duncan's age tomorrow.

I got to go cropping (Scrapbooking) on Saturday by myself. I worked on Duncan's cub scout album and some other stuff. I really enjoyed that -- I need to make time to go again soon, or commandeer the dining room table for a weekend.

Fifth Birthdays

My baby is five years old now... WOW. I asked him Sunday morning what he wanted for supper on his birthday. He said "Something delicious!" LOL -- so I offered him meatballs and pasta since they about licked the bowl clean last time we had it.

I survived the official party at Chuck E Cheese on Thursday. I posted one picture from in on the photo blog -- when I get a chance I'll post more. They weren't nearly as attentive as the party we had for Duncan in August, plus 3/4 of Winston-Salem decided it was a good night to be there. The line to turn in tickets was 7 people deep so we still have to turn in his tickets for prizes. The best thing about the party was Connor had a marvelous time. He got a matchbox car track, "Fast Lane" from Ian & Connor. We set it up Friday afternoon and the kids played with it for a long time. I think Connor T. is about to BUST to come over and "help" him play with it.

Friday brought our opportunity to take snacks to school for his class. Only 6 of 11 showed up, so we had cupcakes and juice boxes all around. There are pictures from this too, but I haven't uploaded them from the camera. They did the cutest Johnny Appleseed blessing -- I wish I'd had the presence of mind to video it on the camera. Then we went to the Hot Dog Lunch the school had and ate lunch with Connor.

So back to Sunday... he opened presents mid afternoon. My parents got him some items from one of the new imaginext King Arthur line -- Mordred's castle and some of the figures. Dot got him a hotwheels pack that has this looping track. Duncan got him a Dora story book, and a Backyardigans CD. We got him a scooter that converts to a skateboard. He loved it all, it would be hard to point to a favorite.

A Quiz!

Lifted from Amy's Blog (again)

• 2 - names you go by: Carolyn, Sissy
  


• 2 - parts of your heritage: Italian, Swiss


• 2 - things that scare you: Snakes, high open places


• 2 - of your everyday essentials: Diet Coke, My computer


• 2 - of your favorite bands or musical artists: The Nylons, Rockapella


• 2 - favorite songs: "On the Last Night" by Rockapella, "Zombie Jamboree" by The Nylons


• 2 - things you want in a relationship (other than real love): Friendship, to be taken care of


• 2 - physical things that appeal to you (in the opposite sex): Strength, buns


• 2 - of your favorite hobbies: Scrapbooking, computers


• 2 - things you want really badly: Calm in my house/marriage, a clean house


• 2 - places you want to go on vacation: Cruise, Tahiti
  


• 2 - things you want to do before you die: Dance on a regular basis, see Alaska & Hawaii
  


• 2 - ways that you are stereotypically a chick: I hate snakes, and I'm very unmechanical
  


• 2 - things you are thinking about now: wishing Charles would hurry back with my diet coke, hoping Connor has a good birthday
  


• 2 - stores you shop at: Scrapbook Traditions, AC Moore
  


• 3 - people I would like to see take this quiz: Briana Fisher, Courtney Deters, Robin Somazze

Report Cards & Proud Mothers

So Thursday rolled around -- and I actually managed to get out of the office ON time. Wow. I headed up to Lewisville to volunteer at the pickup for the school fundraiser and go to Duncan's IEP meeting. Some background here... I was for the most part a straight A student. In the beginning days where an AP class could get you a 5.0 for an A, I graduated with a 3.987 and the valedictorian title. So I was pretty compulsive about grades.

Fast forward to 2005, and I get to see my oldest child's first report card with GRADES. Since he has an IEP, they don't have to grade him normally. I've always bugged them to do it, as I want to know where he stands against "normal" kids. I want to know where the bar is, know-what-I-mean?? In all my years, I never thought I'd cry tears of joy over seeing the worst grade on my child's report card be a "C". It has been such a struggle the last four years. (We did Kindergarten twice) He got an A in Science, a B- in math, a C+ in reading and a C in writing. There are some more Bs mixed in there in the sub categories. His marks for behavior & social development were good, and his work habit development marks were REALLY good except for an unacceptable in "avoids unnecessary talking/interuptions".

I was pleased with the goals they wanted for the next year. Duncan still tends to rush through problems -- he could do better if we can get him to try harder. So that's the next step, planning our strategy.

The Wiggles

No, not the group... I'm referring to the five preschool boys who attended choir practice tonite... at least three of them had "the wiggles", including mine. I've decided Connor's choir director is a saint... she has soo much patience with them. I don't remember singing in choir in church, so maybe I missed this, but I am amazed at the effort Lynn goes through to teach these kids about Jesus and the meaning of Christmas while learning songs. It really touches my heart. They are learning signs to do during the songs as well.

We talked to the education director tonite about the Christmas play. Given the timing of the rehearsals for speaking parts, I think my boys are going to be sheperds and angels if they participate. Most of the parts are meaty, and I don't think either one is ready to even be considered. We had ham, veggies, and potato salad for dinner at fellowship tonite. Charles thoroughly embarassed me by going up for seconds and getting an ENORMOUS second helping of potato salad.

Tomorrow will be a long day, but short at work. I'm working the morning, and then headed to Lewisville to volunteer at school and attend Duncan's IEP meeting. I have to do a fast food shop on the way there, and then pick up Charles & Connor to head to Charles' therapy appointment by 4:30 p.m. Then we head to Chuck E Cheese's for Connor's birthday party. Whew. See y'all tomorrow!

Tuesday

Day 2 of my short/long work week. At least it's flying by. The kids were actually pretty good in the car on the way home from work today. I was mean, I made Charles go w/Duncan to cub scouts tonite. Duncan is so funny... they have their "official uniforms", referred to as Class "A", and a pack tshirt, referred to as Class "B". They only have to wear class "A" if they have a visitor to a den meeting, go out somewhere as a group, or to pack meetings. We tried to get Duncan to wear his class "B" tonite (sooo much easier). "Nope Mom, if I wear my class "A" I get to lead the Pledge of Allegiance!" LOL -- who would have thought that was motivation???

He has gotten two good notes from school on behavior so far this week (quick, knock on wood!!) I am kind of dreading his IEP meeting Thursday -- I'm just expecting a blindside from the committee, and I have nothing to base that fear on except instinct (or paranoia). I also agreed to help out with fundraiser item pick-up while I'm up there -- I always feel guilty that I don't volunteer more but it's so hard to get up there. Duncan has Friday off for Veteran's Day.

We are celebrating Connor's 5th birthday on Sunday. Thursday we are going for the "official" party at Chuck E Cheese. Friday I am taking cupcakes to his preschool class, and then we are attending his "hot dog lunch" at school. I haven't bought him the first present yet. He's into the Backyardigans, Go Diego Go, cars, and anything Duncan is interested in.

Besides all I mentioned above, we have fellowship supper tomorrow, plus choir practice for the kids, and a secret shop that I got assigned last minute (but it pays well!), another shop at lunch on Thursday (fast food), a cellular shop on Friday, and possibly a computer shop this weekend as well. I'm working towards a big payment in December to supplement Christmas shopping. A cyber friend from Scrap Addict is coming to W-S on a college visit this week too. Saturday I'm supposed to go on a birthday crop at my LSS, but all of my friends have cancelled, so I'm not sure if I'm going alone or not. I am also doing an interview this week with a local newspaper report about female gamers -- I'll post online if it appears (he's talking about sending a photographer out -- ewww!!)

So there's my busy week. Ooops, forgot we have to pick up popcorn from the cub scout sale Friday, and I have to find time in the next 10 days to use a free bowling coupon.

I'm tired and I've hardly started, how about you?

Indulge

Lifted this from Amy's blog...

My top 5 Indulgences:

1. Chocolate.
2. Being alone, and quiet.
3. Reading blogs.
4. Scrapbooking
5. My camera.

I forgot...

The most embarassing part of our day. Charles took the kids to church this morning, leaving JUST in time to get to the 10:30 service. Imagine my surprise when he pulls back in the driveway at 10:50. Apparently neither kid would stop talking and he finally left. UGH. We have such a never ending cycle of drama and stress the past several months. I'm trying so hard to be the "strong" one and not contribute, hoping it will rub off on the "boys" (all 3 of them) but we don't seem to be getting anywhere.

Duct tape on their mouths in public is NOT an option -- any suggestions???

I am gardener, hear me ROAR!

Heh, well, not exactly. It's a lovely day, and our yard is in dire need of attention. I went out and blew all the leaves & nuts off the driveway, then got the weed eater out and edged the driveway and the front of the yard. It looks sooo much better. I also edged the sidewalk and trimmed back my house eating bushes. Charles needs to mow the yard desparately, and I am hoping that will save me from having to do leaves this week. This should be the last mow for the season. The kids picked up the trash the sanitation people let drop so they helped too.

Tonite for dinner I'm trying a new recipe... tater tot casserole. I got it from Carrie (I think) at Scrap Addict. I hope it's yummy. Tonite I have to catch up my calendar with all the new stuff that has popped up for the next few weeks, and figure out what money we have to put aside until payday to cover things like fellowship supper, Connor's Chuck E Cheese party on Thursday... he's gonna be FIVE on Sunday. Wow, where did the time go? My SIL is making me look like a sloth... she's almost 8 mths pregnant, has all her Christmas shopping done (well almost all)... and I haven't even gotten ready for Connor's party yet, much less Christmas.

I have one more secret shop to do today, then I can have my tater tot casserole and a peaceful evening. I'm in blog withdrawal... I caught up on them all on Friday/Saturday after being gone, and now only a couple have updated since then -- come on ladies!!!

MIA Apologies

I thought I had posted that we'd be gone visiting Dot this past week, but apparently I hadn't. Sorry to worry everyone! We had cancelled plans to go anywhere this week due to $$. Well Dot decided to use a timeshare week Susan couldn't use and treated us to a trip to Myrtle Beach. We weren't beach front, but it was a very nice place. We went to the timeshare presentation, and got paid $50 to say "NO", so we were able to take the kids to the Alligator Adventure during the week. Not only that, they let you come back within 7 days for free, so we got to go TWICE. Aunt Susan sent "mad money" for each kid, so I didn't have to say "NO" in the gift shop either. Duncan and Connor got to feed bears, pet alligators, snakes, turtles and lizards, and see lots of neat critters.

We alternated between the pool, the beach, and the resort amenities. We ate sandwiches, spaghetti & hot dogs in the condo for alot of meals, and pretty much just laid around. We used the time in the pool to complete Duncan's swimming beltloop for cub scouts. Monday night they had a big Halloween shin-dig -- the kids got to go to a Haunted House, go on a Halloween Treasure hunt, a costume contest, and a "mummy wrap" contest. Yours truly actually beat out four other contestants to win the "Name That Candy Bar" contest!!! I got 8 out of 11 right!

So now I'm home... gotta do some secret shopping this weekend, catch up laundry, and work on some Christmas gifts. Sorry to leave everyone hanging!