Sunday, October 31, 2010

Happy Candy Night!!

The Royal Family hath proclaimed it!!
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Today's blessings: Brunch with Sam, Lynnette, Lindley, Jolynna, Ileanna, and Molly; seeing the above in costume; Target-ing with Sam and Molly; phone chat with Maribeth; Bubba Burgers via Steve for dinner

Saturday, October 30, 2010

Hallo-Weenie

Tomorrow is Halloween. I have no candy for the little trick-r-treaters, which is probably a good thing, since I would have already inhaled it. Halloween is not one of my favorite holidays. Here's why:

1. The candy issue. For one thing, my thighs don't need it. For another, I always buy good stuff, in case I have some leftover, which is a mixed blessing because of my inhalation issues. Also, I have issues with how much to give the little beggars. One piece? It's especially hard when the little creatures can count - they eyeball each piece that goes in. The guilt kicks in and I pitch in a few extra pieces - and then guilt eat a few myself!!

2. The costume issue. I get the princesses and witches, but some I have no idea who they're supposed to be. So all I can say is "Well, aren't you cute?!" Lame, I know. So I have to eat a piece of candy to try and jog my brain cells a little.

3. The time issue. When does it start? Dark? When does it end? When the candy is gone? When 15 minutes goes by with no ringing of the doorbell? When the trick-r-treaters drive their own cars into my driveway? In other words, when can I start eating the leftover candy?

4. The scary issue. I don't like scary. I don't like the idea of getting tricked. I don't like ghosts and goblins and witches. In other words, I don't like the whole concept. Why don't we just call it what it is - Candy Night? And if it's Candy Night, then I guess I'll have to eat some candy to commemorate it.

So there you have it. Halloween is just one big fat conspiracy to keep me from my goal weight. Guess I'd better get to the store to aid and abet the enemy!!
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Today's blessings: Sleeping late (anything past 5:30am); moving stuff and Las Palmas with Molly

Friday, October 29, 2010

It's Almost Saturday!

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Today's blessings: Friday butt camp fun; Toyota dealership fun; afternoon walk with Karen and Gloria; picking up Sam at the airport; Target-ing with Molly

Thursday, October 28, 2010

My Thanksgiving Movie


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Today's blessings: picking up Lindley at day care and chatting with Ms. Gail; picking up Jolynna and Ileana from airport; Krogering with Molly; taking Sam to airport

Wednesday, October 27, 2010

More of the Same, Which is A Lot of Nothing

Maybe tomorrow the thoughts will come ..
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Today's blessings: butt camp buds; carport dude; microwave and dishwasher installer dudes; carpenter dude; getting stuff accomplished at Molly's house; Ms Gail at Lindley's day care; picking up Lindley; dinner via Molly; phone chatting with Maribeth

Tuesday, October 26, 2010

No-Thought Tuesday

No ideas for a stellar blog post tonight. Shocking, I know. But after a couple of really busy weeks and a sickly week, the brain is taking a break.

It's been a good day. Got the checkbook balanced, and realized I had added an extra zero to a check, so I have more money than I thought I had. Got the t-valve (or something like that) installed on the pipe under the house, so we might actually have decent water pressure soon. Molly's dryer vent got installed, so I'm out of the laundry biz. Things are good.

Now if the brain would just start popping out good ideas, I'll be back at it!
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Today's blessings: plumber dude; butt camp; Ms Gail at Lindley's day care; picking up Lindley at day care and taking her home; Sonic at Molly's with Steve and Molly

Monday, October 25, 2010

Back to Butt Camp

I made it back to butt camp today, the second week of this session of camp. In other words, I haven't had the usual week off - I've had TWO weeks off, one of which I was up-chucking my guts out (yes, that's an excuse, but I'll take it, thank you).

So, one can imagine that it wasn't a pretty sight. Yes, I took the easy way out in some maneuvers. Yes, I was pretty much slower than usual, if that's even humanly possible. Yes, I took the number of repetitions that every one else was doing and divided it by half (or more). But at least I was there.

It was sort of like starting over. But I guess that starting over (again) is better than not starting at all. At least that's what I'm telling my thighs ...
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Today's blessings: Boot camp buds and post-camp nap; picking up Linders at day care and dropping her off at home; Demos with Steve

Sunday, October 24, 2010

Happy Sunday!

That's it. Nothing else. Happy Sunday!
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Today's blessings: breakfast at Molly's with most of the family; moving boxes from storage to Molly's; evening rain

Saturday, October 23, 2010

More of the Same At Molly's

Cleaning. Putting away. Getting doo-dads at Home Depot. Assembling. Throwing away. Passing stuff along and sharing the excess. Taking a break. Refueling with Starbucks.

It's all good, and it's coming together. Maybe in just a few more weeks, Molly's house will be all done.

Wonder what I'll do then? Oh yeah - clean out my own house!!





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Today's blessings: Barry and Steve pressure washing various things; work at Molly's; lunch with Steve, Lynnette, Lindley, Molly, and Amber

Friday, October 22, 2010

TGIF!!

Okay, so I was up until 3am this morning (not on purpose - my brain just would not turn off) thinking about all the things I needed to accomplish today. But while Butt Camp was on the list, I didn't make it. I decided that crunches would not be a good idea on two hours sleep.

So instead, I got another hour of sleep, then went to Molly's for a marathon day. By 6pm, Molly had her new stove (which was without power until the electrical dudes came and fixed the problem) and her new washer/dryer (which still needs the dryer vent cut into the wall). Her shoe molding had been caulked and painted (with several coats) by the painter dude. She had shelving and rods in her closet and the paint cans and dog poop had been removed from her bathroom and then cleaned for her use. Her kitchen and trash cans were fairly clean and her recycle bin was back in action. It was a full day and I am tired. But it's a good tired because of all that got done today.

Tomorrow I'll sleep in a bit (anything past 5am is sleeping in) and then get busy again. Yay for the weekend!
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Today's blessings: chatting with the electricians, Jason, and painter dude; Home Depot fixing my forgotten purchase; making headway at Molly's house; Steve returning home after a week-long trip; leftover pizza

Thursday, October 21, 2010

Boot Camp and Fridges and Shelving, Oh My!!

Today I made it back to butt camp. Then I ate breakfast, had a 15-minute nap, went to Molly's to wait on her fridge delivery, started on her new closet shelving, made repeated (four) trips to Home Depot, moved three pieces of furniture from my house to Molly's house (thanks to Bier's help), chatted with Matt about pipes and showed him Molly's house, arranged for wine to be delivered, talked to the painters about painting the utility boxes, talked to Jason about the driveway and odds and ends, visited with Lindley before taking her home and feeding her sweet potatoes, went to Petsmart to get products to keep Rambo and Blackie from wee-weeing in inappropriate places, chatted with Marilyn on the phone, and ate a hot dog from Home Depot and two pieces of pizza from somewhere.

All I need now is a shower and a good night's sleep. Tomorrow it's a little more of the same. I don't think I stayed this busy when I got paid for working!
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Today's blessings: the opportunity and ability to do all of the above

Wednesday, October 20, 2010

My Wedneday


Today started with a no-show at butt camp (my body said to cool it for another day), and ended with the purchase of a hacksaw at Home Depot. So how was your Wednesday?
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Today's blessings: A/C tuneup dude; Molly's house going from pink to red; spending time with Lindley; telephone chat with Marilyn; buying closet shelving with Molly and shelving dude

Tuesday, October 19, 2010

Getting Back To Normal ... Whatever That Is

After a day of gut-wrenching (and retching) illness, I needed a day to recover and hopefully find some semblance of normal. I was plenty happy not to be trotting off to the bathroom every 90 minutes. But there were other things to do - like clean house, eat real food, consider returning to butt camp, and other such things.

Unfortunately, Molly contracted the crappy crud last night. Since she has Rambo The Hyper Dog and the floor dudes were coming to her house to install shoe molding and seal the tile, it meant that I was also going to have to resume my position as Molly's House Assistant.

Everything went pretty much as well as I could have hoped. The big tv got fixed, I replanted some flowers into the flower bed, we got some rain so I didn't have to worry about the new sod, I disinfected Lindley's toys, I got laundry done, I talked with the floor dudes and rehung a few of Molly's new doors, and I actually ate some solid food. It seems to have been a pretty good day.

The real test will be tomorrow at 5 am when I have to decide about butt camp. Will I be ready to get with that program?
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Today's blessings: Stomach bug over; getting stuff clean and put away; Molly's floors getting finished; rain; TV repair dude

Monday, October 18, 2010

Don't Be Fooled By A Poopy Diaper


For a few days last week, Lindley had some poopy diapers (since she can't read, I'm hoping she won't be embarrassed) of apparently epic proportions (as told by her parents and day care ladies). Of course, I wrote it off to teething, crawling, being a baby, eating new foods - anything but the two words that strike terror into my soul - stomach virus.

I have had too many experiences with babies and you-know-what. When my kids were preschoolers, they had the aforementioned poopiness. But they were happy and playing and quite content to go through as many diapers as needed. I thought it would be okay - until it hit me and Steve. Let's just say that we thought we would be leaving three orphans - and it didn't seem to bother us, since it would relieve us of our misery. As you can see, no matter what other memories of my children's past I have managed to forget, I shall never forget this one!!

A few years ago while Steve and I were working in the church nursery, apparently the ADSV (adult deadly stomach virus) made its way through the nursery. Of course, we didn't know that - until Steve, Sam, and my brother-in-law Eddie came down with it. Luckily, the women of the family managed to skirt (skirt- get it?) the horror, while Sam went to the emergency room, and Eddie threw up in the middle of teaching his high-school Spanish class.

So, you can see how I was hoping against hope that Lindley's current state of diaper-ness was something else. Didn't work. Sam succumbed first, around lunchtime on Sunday. Again, because I am the Queen of De Nial, I chalked it up to brunch food poisoning. I held firm to this diagnosis until last night around 8:30 pm when Lynnette emailed to say she had it too. I still faintly held onto hope - until 2 am this morning, when my guts (yep - everything that is in the middle of my body) decided to revolt - about every hour and a half until around 8am.

The worst thing for me about being sick is the noise. You know how monsters in movies try to scare people with their loud voices? Well, turn up the decibels about 1000% and add some bass, and you get the idea of what I sound like. I tried to throw up daintily and quietly, but it just ain't a-gonna happen. Today, while I have recovered, I am hoarse, sounding like I have a sore throat.

But the good news is that we've recovered, and hopefully have built up enough immunities against this particular ADSV. I've had a diet of dry cheerios and rice today, and although it won't be enough to get me back to butt camp tomorrow, I have hopes for Wednesday. Maybe those hopes will prove to be more reliable that my others were!
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Today's blessings: ADSV finally ending; visiting with Lindley for a bit; Molly getting off work to take Lindley home and bring me a drink; get well wishes for FB friends

Sunday, October 17, 2010

Out and About on a Sunday

Basically, Molly and I have spent the last 11 hours together. We started with brunch, managing to avoid the possible food poisoning that Sam contracted. We baby-sat Lindley. We bargain-shopped at Target. We looked for shorter blades for the ceiling fan, but found none. We loaded a bed frame into the car to deliver it to a friend who apparently lives about a zillion miles away. We got on the interstate, only to find it backed up, so we decided to deliver the bed later. We dropped off Lindley's new socks and old bottles, and learned of Sam's malady. We went to Sonic to get drinks before Happy Hour was over and procured drinks for everyone (including Powerade for Sam). We realized that we did not have the necessary screws to assemble the bed frame, so we returned to Molly's storage place in an attempt to find the missing screws. Didn't find them, so we went to Home Depot to purchase replacements. It only took us three tries to find an appropriate screw (which wasn't the one that the old dude tried to convince Molly was the correct one). We got the screws and headed out for the bed destination, only to realize that we still had a few hours before the new bed owners would be home. So we went to Home Goods and another Target and finally arrived at the bed's new home - in the dark. We unloaded the bed and headed back for home, stopping at Arby's for dinner - around 7:30pm. We finally arrived back in Nashville, I deposited Molly at her house, and finally came home and jumped into my pjs.

The only question remains is this: will I be butt-camping in the morning?
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Today's blessings: brunch with Sam, Lynnette, Lindley, and Molly; ressies for the Princess; shopping (ugh) with Molly; final delivery of the bed; Arby's super roast beef

Saturday, October 16, 2010

Thanks, Maxine!!

The perfect Saturday, the perfect bra, the perfect drink. What could be better?
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Today's blessings: sideboard not-shopping with Molly; Molly's pink house; burritos dinner via Sam with Sam, Lynnette, and Lindley; MSU Bulldog win

Friday, October 15, 2010

Fencing Rambo In

This morning I took my car for an oil change at 7am. When I was finished, I stopped at Home Depot for some chicken wire fencing in order to Rambo-proof Molly's backyard (with the intention of keeping him from cruising the neighborhood). Basically, we went all around the existing fence, wiring chicken wire around the bottom - where Rambo's been digging out. According to my phone, I started at 9:53am. I think we finally stopped at dusk - around 7pm.

My back says it's going to pay me back tomorrow. The things we do for our grands - kids, dogs, and whatever!
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Today's blessings: fencing with Molly; Rambo's frenzied joy at being off the tether; taco salad lunch via Molly

Thursday, October 14, 2010

Whaddaya Mean - It's Thursday?!

I admit it - it's been a busy couple of weeks. But it was all over by Monday. This week was going to be the week I was going to start getting it all together. And you're telling me it's Thursday already? But I haven't gotten ANYTHING together!!

Granted Lindley started crawling, and I have a clean car, and the last of the wedding stuff got returned. Sure, I had breakfast with my buds, and I got stuff mailed out to people, and I got caught up on the laundry. But I still haven't unpacked from Disney World, and I still haven't found my purse, and my personal bathroom stuff that Maribeth tossed in my closet (so potential wedding visitors wouldn't see it) is still on the floor of my closet. Oh, and that interim workout and daily jog and swim that I was going to do? Well, it's still waiting to happen.

The good news is that tomorrow is Friday. I have all day to get stuff done. In fact, I'll start at 7am when I will take my car in for an oil change. Maybe I'll get a jog in before that. Then, while I'm sitting in the customer lobby, I'll make some lists. On my way home, maybe I'll go by the grocery store and buy all that healthy food so I can start my intelligent eating plan. After I put the groceries away, I can pull out the boot camp maintenance workout and get it done before I prepare my healthy lunch. Once that's digested, I can go swim some laps, come home and clean up, and search for my AWOL purse. I'll unpack my suitcase and clean out all those nook and crannies that are holding all the pre-wedding stuff I hid away. Then I can go to bed and get a good night's sleep, thus preparing me for an even longer jog on Saturday.

Speaking of a good night's sleep, there's nothing like a fairy tale before bedtime, is there?!
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Today's blessings: Picking up the Jeep and Cracker Barrel breakfast with Steve; playing with Lindley after her doctor visit; catching up on bills; beautiful fall day

Wednesday, October 13, 2010

Adventures in Babysitting - AKA Granny Lu Fail!

Today started off with promise. I met some of my boot-ies from butt camp for pancakes (we have to carbo-load before the next session begins on Monday). The rest of the day was running errands, picking and taking clothes to the cleaners, shopping at Wal-Mart, picking up pictures, mailing packages, and getting my filthy car cleaned (which after three pass-bys at my usual car cleaning establishment and finding it closed, I decided to run it through a self-cleaner).

Anyhoo, I had gotten quite a few things done, when it was time to pick up Lindley from day care. The plan was to pick her up, take her to my house for a snack, then prepare a meal for the whole family. So much for my plans. Here's what actually happened:

I punched in my code for the day care, allowing the lady behind me to also come in (of course, I'm hoping she's not some crazy whack job who has been trying to sneak into the day care all day to abduct innocent children and of course succeeds on my watch). I guess she was okay, because she went into another room and I signed Lindley out. I then went into Infant Room Whatever-The-Number-Lindley-Is-In to retrieve Lindley. Of course, I had to chat with Miss Gail about how wonderful Lindley is, and did she crawl for them today, and how smart and spectacular Lindley is. I remembered to get the leftover bottle from the refrigerator and Lindley's report card for the day. I stuffed all of this into the diaper bag, hoisted Lindley on hip, made some parting remarks about how great Lindley is, went through the security door (no code needed to get outside), and headed to the car.

The minute I looked at the car, I realized it - I had no car seat in my car. In my zeal to clean my car, I had removed said car seat. So, now I had a baby but no baby safety seat. I was in a pickle. There were several preliminary thoughts - could I strap Lindley into several seatbelts for the brief ride home (rejected because I felt sure I would be stopped by the police). Could I McGuyver a car seat out of the Wal-Mart purchases in my trunk (rejected because all I had was a Rubbermaid container and some soap). Could I go back into day care to see if they had a spare car seat (rejected because my name would not only be taken off the "pickup list" but probably be put on another "bad" list).

The thing I was going to have to do was obvious - call the parents, both of whom worked in the same city where the day care was located. However, both have jobs that involve meeting with people, and I didn't know which people they were meeting with and when, so I was pretty sure I was going to catch them either in a conference call or meeting with Al Gore or Charles Manson.

So first I texted Lynnette. She has 10 minutes to spare, so I call and give her the story. She could drive to meet me if needed. I decided to call Sam, who was meeting with some teenagers and couldn't leave them. However, he suggested that I check Lindley back into day care and go and get the car seat, which I figured would put me off the pickup list, on the bad list, and possibly warrant a Vandy psych unit pickup. Steve was on the golf course 30 minutes away and Molly was at work which was about 20 minutes away. I considered calling a cab, but figured they wouldn't have a car seat, either.

So, I made the decision to walk to Lynnette's work, get her car (which has a car seat in it) and drive home. Lynnette's and my car's fate would have to be decided later. So, I called Lynnette and told her of my decision. Now we had to decide how I was going to get Lynnette's car keys and where I would find her car. Lynnette said she would move the car and leave the car in a place to be texted to me later. Oh, and her work is .8 miles from where Lindley and I are.

So, Lindley and I set off for Lynnette's office and car. By the way, Lindley weighs at least 21 pounds, we think - we will officially know tomorrow at her 9-month doctor visit. We are a lovely sight - fat, old granny and healthy baby. We are tooling down the sidewalk and I am shifting Lindley from one side to the next. Of course, I also think I should sing - although I'm not sure if it's for my benefit or Lindley's. We pass the Vanderbilt employee smoking section, which is next to the traffic lane, so I guess if your lungs have to be toxic, you can just have your choice.

Anyhow, of course, it starts to sprinkle rain. I'm thinking, "Great - baby pneumonia." I'm not that worried, because we're about to pass a CVS drug store. I'll just pop in and buy an umbrella. Oh wait - I don't have my wallet. It's in the car with the diaper bag, the extra bottle, an umbrella, first-aid kit, snow tires, emergency hazard lights, a Rubbermaid container, and soap - BUT NO FREAKIN' CAR SEAT!!! So, we just trudge along, singing.

Lynnette had said that when I got to the Mellow Mushroom, I could probably see the car because it was facing 21st Avenue. When we got to Mellow Mushroom, I looked, but I didn't see the car. I began to wonder what car she had - had they gotten a new car? So we went up the street toward her office, and then I decided to turn left into the parking lot that was directly in front of Mellow Mushroom. Alas, there was no car there, but lots of signs signifying that this was a VERY RESTRICTED parking lot. What if her car had gotten towed?

We turned back around at Mellow Mushroom (which by this point, I would have appreciated smoking some mellow mushrooms), and went back up the street, where, of course, we saw the car - right where I turned left to go into the other parking lot.

Anyhow, we got in the car and went home. Just in time to pick up Steve so I could take him to my car so he could drive it home while we followed him. We got back to the house and since Lindley was asleep in her CAR SEAT, I decided I would head back to Vanderbilt to pick up Lynnette, who texted me that she was ready when I was half-way there. I then spent the next year in traffic, and finally got home two hours after picking Lindley up from day care.

We did have dinner - hamburgers and salad - although it wasn't quite the dinner I had in mind. And I guess all's well that ends well. As I told Lynnette - at least I had my blog post for tonight!!
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Today's blessings: Pancake Pantry with my boot-ies; getting lots of errands run and tasks completed; packages mailed; car cleaned; Lindley adventure

Tuesday, October 12, 2010

Tuesday Perspective

It seemed like I got a lot of important stuff done today. And then I saw a video that this happened:

Lindley can crawl from Sam Davidson on Vimeo.


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Today's blessings: David as our house guest and his help in returning the chairs; Molly's fence dude; Caleb the light dude; dinner with Steve and Molly at Molly's new counter and lights; Maribeth's honeymoon moose pictures; Lindley crawling

Monday, October 11, 2010

Post-Wedding Plan

Yeah - catch me tomorrow.
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Today's blessings: naps and more naps; Applebees via Steve for lunch; Molly's light fixtures installed; Baja Burrito dinner with Molly; bike return via Sam and David

Sunday, October 10, 2010

And Then They Were Married

Well, it happened. The weekend reached its signature event - the wedding. The morning was beautiful and warm, and friends and family joined us for the emotional moment. We had music and a reading and a flower girl and two ring bears. Words were said and vows were exchanged and rings were placed on waiting fingers. In a quick moment, the union was sealed with a kiss and all was said and done.

We celebrated with brunch and cupcakes and toasts, and soon it was time for the newly married couple to ride off to their future - on a tandem bicycle. All that was left was to clean up and re-live all the happy moments of the past few days.

I'm too tired to process it all now - all know is that it was a great weekend and my daughter had the wedding she wanted. She's happy, and that's the most important thing to me.

Best wishes Maribeth and Mathieu - I love you!
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Today's blessings: the wedding; friends and family who shared today with us; the Ms riding off on the bike; extra time with family

Saturday, October 9, 2010

Whoosh!! And Saturday Flew By!!

I started the day with a 5K (my third in three weeks). After that and doughnuts at Sam's house, it was time for manis and pedis. We finished there in time to run a few important errands and grab lunch. Then it was time to change clothes for pottery painting. Once we were done there, it was time for our early-bird dinner, finishing in time to shop for a dress for the wedding and make cupcakes. It has been a full, great day, and I'm tired.

On to tomorrow!
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Today's blessings: all the wedding activities and time with the family; Molly's baking; last minute shopping

Friday, October 8, 2010

Friday Chronologically

Stirred the chili at 1am.
Got up for butt camp at 5am.
Got Starbucks with Marilyn at 8am.
Got a killer cold at 10am.
Tried to take a nap at 11am.
Ate soup brought by Molly at 12pm.
Took cold meds at 1pm.
Tried to nap at 2pm.
Procured Dippin Dots and potato salad at 3pm.
Tried to look presentable at 4pm.
Spilled baked beans in my car at 5pm.
Enjoyed picnic at 6pm.
Cleaned up picnic area at 7pm.
Deposited GDiz and Rachel at Courtyard at 8pm.
Took more cold meds at 9pm.
Hoping for a better tomorrow at 10pm!
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Today's blessings: Meeting Morgan; meeting Mathieu's family; picnic and dippin dots; last day of butt camp

Thursday, October 7, 2010

What Day Of Fun Is This?

It's late at night (for me, anyway) and my bones are weary. The dishwasher is emitting all kinds of strange noises - and it's supposed to be a "quiet" dishwasher. I'd go to bed, except for two things: (1) I'm a little fearful that the dishwasher will self-destruct and burn down my house, thus putting a small crimp in Maribeth's weddings plans, and (b) I have to stay up another 45 minutes so I can stir the chili.

Yes, that's what I said - I have to stir the chili. Molly is entering a recipe in Steve's office chili cook-off. She tried a new recipe a few weeks ago, but decided it inferior. So, in a typical fashion of her mother, Molly put the whole thing off until today - because the chili cook-off is tomorrow. I located an "award winning crock pot" chili recipe online, which required only a about 210 ingredients. I had four of them. The only reason I had that many was because Molly has her spices stored upstairs during her kitchen remodel.

Anyhow, the chili ingredients are layered in the crock pot, and after an hour I'm supposed to stir it. Tomorrow morning I have to locate and remove the bay leaf. I think I also have to add some vinegar. Along with a ton of ingredients, there are a ton of instructions. These are just a few of the reasons I don't cook.

We have no idea of how this chili will taste. We watched as we put ingredients into the chili that we do not like. One might wonder why we would choose to use a totally new recipe without testing it. But then one would also have to wonder why we decided to enter a chili cook-off two days before a home wedding, or why our family decided to have a wedding the week after a family vacation at Disney World, or why we decided to remodel a house and have a wedding and a family vacation at the same time. One would wonder a lot about our family. One needs to get a life.

Anyhow, it's about time to stir the chili and wait for the dishwasher to calm down. Now, if I can just remember to find that bay leaf in the morning ...
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Today's blessings: butt camp with my boot-ies; cleaning crew who cleaned my house; putting stuff away in every nook and cranny; picking up Lindley from day care; CPK with Maribeth, Mathieu, Chelline, Dominic and Steve, making chili with Molly and Steve

Wednesday, October 6, 2010

Umm -- Excuse Me!!


"This is what happens when wedding planning and baby sitting collide!!
Aunt Mari better watch out on Sunday!!"
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Today's blessings: Laser tag dilemma solved; tree dudes at Molly's; stump grinder dude at my house; picking up Lindley at day care; Arby's with Steve for dinner; landscaping complete

Tuesday, October 5, 2010

Wholly Dawg Dookie

Yeah, that's my way of saying the obvious in a nice way. The wedding is in five days, and time is getting short.

The good news is that Lindley's outfit has been decided. The bad news is that my bargain basement dresses came in, and unless I want to look one of the dancing hippos in Fantasia, I need to find another dress.

Matt the Landscaper is busy in the backyard, making it beautiful (by the way, it is dark outside - he is so dedicated). The stump grinding man is coming by tomorrow to grind the remainder of the pine tree we had taken down in the front yard (now we have a bare patch). So, in other words, the yard seems to have possibilities.

However, the inside of the house is a different matter. Maribeth and I spent some time today trying to (a) hide, (b) disguise, or (c) make magically disappear, all of the clutter and disarray in the house. By this time, we thought Molly's house would be almost done and all of her stuff in my house would be gone. That's what we got for thinking. Molly's house is FAR from done, so I have lots of extra furniture and stuff. For instance, we put her guest mattress and box spring on top of another mattress and box spring - it sort of looks like the Princess and the Pea mattress. Oh well - it was better than just sitting up against the wall!

Anyhow, there is more house to clean, more lists to make, and lots of stuff to organize. People will start arriving tomorrow. The cleaning people will come on Thursday. Molly has a bad cold (and she's supposed to cook the cupcakes and cake). The Jeep died again (and it was supposed to be an extra vehicle for the weekend). Rambo got out and decided to try to attend the neighborhood elementary school (and my helper for the day, Maribeth, had to go across town to pick him up from the mommy who picked him up at school and took him to her house).

I started the day with boot camp, which was bad because of residual soreness from doing a half-marathon, but good so I could justify the therapy Milky Way bar that I ate a few hours later.

Tomorrow is crunch day. I have to finish picking up the inside of the house and complete the other million tasks that we know of - and hope the tasks we don't know about enter our brains so we will know about them.

Now what day of fun is this?
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Today's blessings: Sweet words from my boot-ies; Sonic bfast with sickly Molly; nice AAA tow truck driver; nice tile dude and son; scheduled stump grinding (for me) and tree trimming (for Molly); getting the house a little together; staining the garage sale chair; race photos

Monday, October 4, 2010

Transition

Yes, we're still in the Ten Days of October Fun. I bet you thought they were all going to be at Disney World. Oh no - that would be too boring. We want to make it interesting

So, after doing a couple of races, eating a bunch of places, and taking pictures of happy faces, we boarded a plane and got back home this morning - just in time for Phase Two of Ten Days of October Fun. And what does that mean?

IT'S WEDDING PREP TIME!!

Yes, we are having a wedding next Sunday. Here are the current state of affairs:

*Back yard (the wedding venue): wires for the sprinkler system are out here and there. The tree with no leaves and bare branches is waiting for a family of vultures to move in. The new grass is taking root and half of the shrubs have been trimmed. We had a brief consult with Matt the landscaper and basically said we have no idea what we want - we just want it to look purty.

*My dress: Marilyn gave me a $100 gift card to Coldwater Creek. Found two dresses online and ordered both -plus two cutesy wallets - and managed to get it all for the value of the gift card. Can't wait to see what the dresses look like in person, and if they will even fit - provided they get here in the next few days.

*House - still a mess. Tried to put Molly's extra mattress on top of another bed, but decided the 5-foot-high bed might look stupid. However, when we try to move the mattress/box spring upstairs tomorrow, it might not look so stupid after all. The hope is that we get the messiness straightened up before the maid people come on Thursday, so they can figure out what to clean.

Party details - Laser tag - check. 5k - check. Pottery painting - check. Mani/pedi - check. Brunch - check. There are lists of people who are doing which things - if we could just find those lists ...

Lindley's flower costume - Number Three came in the mail. Maribeth and I had a brief fashion show with Lindley and costumes numbers one and three. We sent out pictures to the family and it appears that costume number one may win out. So, if I had just stuck with number one, I could have avoided the whole ebay debacle with number two and sending back costume number three. Whatevs ....

There are still people to call, lists to make, and things to procure and purchase. Today was the day to come home, shake off Disney, and get ready for the wedding. Let the wedding fun begin!!
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Today's blessings: safe, smooth flight home; Lindley sleeping on the flight home; afternoon with Lindley and Maribeth; Molly's new tile floor; chat with Christian about house changes

Sunday, October 3, 2010

Dumb, Dumber, Dumberer, and Dumbest of All


Dumb - that would be me, for not doing any kind of training (unless you count ambling along for 5 miles a few weeks ago) for the Wine and Dine Half Marathon, which I voluntarily signed up for and paid good money for.

Dumber - that would also be me, for signing up and doing a 5K on the same day of the aforementioned half-marathon. I don't think doing 3 miles on the day of a half-marathon constitutes a training run.

Dumberer - that would continue to be me, for signing up for a half-marathon that begins at 10 pm (which is at night, when most people my age should be asleep).

Dumbest of All - that would be me and the last straw, since in spite of no training, doing a 5K that morning, walking around World Showcase after doing a 5K, and a half-marathon start at 10 stupid pm, doing the blankety-blank thing anyway.

The good news is that I did finish, albeit technically it took two days. By Mile 10, my pace, pathetic as it already was, dropped off to a crawl. My feet lost all feeling, unless you count the knives that were stabbing into them, and were only relieved when the knives were stabbing into my back. My ankles were throbbing like a sub-woofer on steroids, and my wonky left hip spread the love by wonkinizing my left knee.

By the time I crossed the finish line, I was pretty much finished. Luckily, Ann, Molly, and Maribeth (who had an interesting half-marathon experience herself) were there to provide a Diet Coke and Maribeth provided me with an escort back to the room. After a Tylenol dose and attempting to find a comfortable sleeping position for all my aching body parts, I eventually fell asleep for a bit (did I mention by this time it was after 2 AM?).

So, the question remains, did I learn anything? And sadly, the answer is, probably not!
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Today's blessings: Finishing that dadburn half marathon; pre-race bus ride with Ann and Molly; pre-race chillaxin with Ann; Ann and Molly's texting; TNT lady who smoked me at the end; seeing Steve at Mile 12 water stop; Diet Coke and Ann, Molly, and Maribeth at finish; recovery

Saturday, October 2, 2010

Saturday - Quickly



Did a 5K with the family this morning. Ate breakfast with Steve. Showered. Went around the World a bit. Shopped a bit. Napped a bit. Ate an early dinner with Steve. Watched Lindley work on liking the swimming pool.

And now? Preparing for another race. Don't wish to discuss it now - but I'll call you when it's done - about 1:30 am!!

Until then - good thoughts!
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Today's blessings: 5K through the Magic Kingdom with 4/5 of the family; breakfast and dinner with Steve; Lindley in the pool

Friday, October 1, 2010

The Main Event

So here we are at Disney World for a variety of races. However, all those other races pale in comparison to THE RACE that was held today - the Diaper Dash, starring Lindley Davidson. She's wore a red tutu, which apparently was very appealing to the little boy babies on each side of her on the starting line. Oh, and she decided that today was not going to be the day she would start crawling. As Maribeth said, "She's a Davidson woman, and we don't believe in training before a race."


Anyhow, Lindley received her first race bib, her first race t-shirt, and her first finisher medal. What better way to spend a Friday afternoon?
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Today's blessings: Toy Story Mania, Prince Caspian, and trivia with Molly and Ann; Safari, Jungle Trek, and Tusker House with the entire Disney weekend family; kids races; race expo; dinner with Molly and Ann at ESPN Wide World of Sports