Highlight Reel

1.   Hello Dollys in the oven right now.  (That one had to come first because the smell of melting chocolate is distracting me.)

2.   Houston Museum of Fine Arts yesterday with my mom to see the Impressionist and Post-Impressionist paintings on loan from the National Gallery.  (Followed up with a Chicago Dog.)  Lovely!

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3.   Lunching with my new niece.  Baby cuddles and baby smiles.

4.   Shopping at Walmart at 11:00 p.m...for fedoras for the Phineas and Ferb dance number.  It's a whole different place late at night...

5.   Spending the afternoons at the high school pool while my boys took a water polo clinic put on by the varsity team.  With teeny tiny Speedos there is occasionally a wardrobe malfunction.  Just sayin.

6.   Brainstorming a new book (or two...)

7.   Website redesign is coming along...hoping to launch in the next week or two!  (Still no cover though.)

8.   An afternoon of non-healthy snacks and giggly games with the girls.

9.   Re-reading Nine Coaches Waiting by Mary Stewart as part of Jenny Crusie's Gothic Book Club.

10. Dance practice.  I've almost got it down now!

My Crazy Life

Check out this Harry Potter sky I snapped a shot of at 5th grade Field Day yesterday.  I probably should have been looking for the Death Eater symbol to appear to send the kids screaming.  Honestly I think they'd probably scream for any reason, judging by the uproar that ensued when one of them saw a wasp.

In other news, I finished reading Hotel No Tell, sequel to Super in the City (which I loved).  I really enjoyed this one too, although I suspect I was a little too distracted to really give this one the attention it deserved.  I'll have to read it again in a few months (which is all it takes for me to almost completely forget the plot of a book).  Last night I started reading Charles and Emma, The Darwins' Leap of Faith, and despite only being on the second chapter, I have to admit I'm already fascinated.

In other news, I'm waiting for rain, and have even committed to participate in a little dance number the PTA is doing as part of this year's teacher talent show.  Here's the song...picture it if you will...me as a Ferbette.

Weekend Update

Friday afternoon, we headed down to Galveston and visited our favorite pizza spot for the first time since before the celiac diagnosis. It was soooo good. We have tried quite a few varieties of gluten free pizza, but the crusts just aren't the same: chewy and crispy at the same time. We savored.

GFB didn't have pizza. We stopped at Five Guys Burgers and Fries, his favorite restaurant and picked him up a burger + cheese slice to eat on a gluten free bun with all the greasy fries he could handle. Then he played Angry Birds while we ate...all in perfect harmony.

Then we hit the beach, which was breezy, a little chilly, and littered with sea weed.  I didn't even dip my feet in the water but PFB went all in and then shivered himself dry.  Then we buried him in the sand (naturally at his request), redipped him, and he shivered all over again.

Saturday was full to bursting with laundry, vacuuming, and baking with GFB.  And then we watched The Incredible Mr. Limpet, which we all found to be preposterously funny.

Mother's Day kicked off with a muffin-in-bed and a nearly toppled glass of orange juice (not my fault).  Then I opened my gifts from my boys.  A school made, framed poem and photo from PFB (9) and a card, which thanked me for giving birth to him in the first sentence and thanked me for feeding him pizza in the second, and a storebought bird feeder and seed from GFB (11...they are apparently too 'busy' to make anything for Mom in the 5th grade).  Evidently, a main selling point of this feeder was its resistance to squirrels.  There was actually a tiny artist's rendering of a squirrel falling to the ground in embarrassing defeat on the tag.  So when the first squirrel approached the feeder, all three boys (husband included) rushed to the window and hung on to see if it would meet a similar fate.  Rather disappointingly to all involved, it conceded the battle.  Live updates on The Squirrels vs. The Feeder here on this blog.

We went to my mom's house for lunch/early dinner and I opened a couple more gifts there, including a breadmaker, which my MIL told me she bought to 'make my life easier.'  I'm hoping I can easily adapt some of the bread machine recipes to gluten-free versions and hit on a winning sandwich/toast bread.  So far we've been unlucky.  Also received the BabyCakes cookbook from my Mom, which is full of interesting gluten-free recipes (many of which feature the questionable garbanzo bean/fava bean flour).  Things just might start to get interesting around here...

A very nice Mother's Day, all in all, and I didn't have to make any of the meals!  Hurray!
I hope all you moms had a great day!

Quoteable

Boys have been taking state standardized tests this week, and PFB finished yesterday.  This was his first time using Scantron cards, and he was clearly intrigued.  This was a conversation between the boys this morning on the way to school...

PFB:  You know how there's that grey number on your Scantron card?  When you get your Scantron, look and see what your number is so you can tell me.

GFB (belligerently):  Why?  So you can steal my identity???

I laughed out loud and reassured GFB that I doubted very much that that was PFB's intention.  Then again, who knows?  That kid's got all kinds of things up his sleeve...

In other news, I have a cold, with a bad sore throat.  I solicited advice on Facebook on how to get rid of it, and someone suggested cayenne tea.  A follow-up question confirmed she was suggesting I drink cayenne pepper mixed with hot water.  Yesterday I balked.  Today I just might try it...  I'm going to try Hot Tamales first though.

Awww, man!

Yesterday was the first time in my life (that I know of) that I missed out on an Easter dinner.  I had a sloppy joe and chips for lunch and takeout Chinese food for dinner.

We had big plans.  We were going up to my in-laws lakehouse for the long Easter weekend, Butters' sister was coming into town, my brother and his wife and new baby were thinking of driving in from Austin, and my parents were going to drive up.  Family get-together on the holiday, as usual.  But then my brother decided he wasn't going to come, and then my parents (for understandable reasons), so it was just going to be my in-laws and us.

My MIL likes to cook--no, LOVES to cook and actually prefers to handle most meals by herself.  (I do clean-up).  So, I asked her what I should bring, and she told me she thought I'd have my hands full bringing foods suitable for GFB, so nothing else was necessary.  Okay...

Well, the weekend went along merrily, and Sunday my family (minus the in-laws) went to church.  When we got back at about 10:30, no food preparation was going on, which, if you knew my MIL, you'd know was downright weird.  At 11:00 she said, "We need to decide what we're going to do about lunch."  My head snapped around in dismay.  Leftovers were mentioned.  LEFTOVERS??  This was Easter Sunday!  Where was the ham?  the potato salad?  the deviled eggs? the homemade rolls?  Where was ANYTHING but a leftover sloppy joe??

There wasn't anything.  And I have to wonder why nothing was mentioned.  I would have planned an Easter dinner.  At the very least I would have planned an Easter dessert...  I just assumed.  And assuming doesn't get you a deviled egg, apparently.  I've learned my lesson.

I don't plan on missing out on an Easter dinner again anytime soon...  So there.

Ten Things...

ten things that made me happy today...

* listening to the Anchor cd by Mindy Gledhill on my walk today
* reading Vixen while eating my two egg breakfast
* churning out both new pages and some promising edits
* getting all my ducks in a row before the robotics club showed up
* having them respond with 'Ma'am, yes ma'am!'  and occasionally 'Sir, yes sir!'  (their decision)
* adding one more thing to my Amazon cart (it's a sickness)
* spending a breezy evening at the park
* giggling at Happy Endings...a new comedy!
* debating whether I should go to a Surpr!se Party, for the research opportunities alone
* my can of Dr. Pepper

what about you?

Ahhh...the weekend...

The beach would be nice, but I'm not sure if we'll make it down to Galveston this weekend.
If not, we'll settle for bike rides and walks in the park.  If I'm lucky, there'll also be Mexican food.  If I'm industrious, there'll be gluten-free roll-out sugar cookies decorated by the boys.  We'll see...

Enjoy your weekend!

Still Sheltered

Well, I've still yet to see the inside of a courtroom, and that's just fine by me.  I spent about two hours waiting to see if I'd be called as a character witness (as did several other women), but I never was.  The mystery of the courtroom will continue...  And the lemon meringue pie didn't materialize.  I was forced to settle for chocolate, and while good, it was a bit of a letdown.  Huge sigh of relief that that's over.  Of course I could still be asked to appear for the final hearing, but maybe not...

In other news, I think I may have a mini Bermuda triangle or jinx spot at the entrance to my little section of the subdivision.  I walk through it virtually everyday to walk my dog and have never had an issue.  However...the bird mentioned a few post ago was found right in the middle of it, and today as I walked through, the man walking his dog on the other side of the street stepped on a tennis ball, his legs flew out from under him, and he hung, suspended, arms out, legs out, completely horizontal for one freaky second.  Then he went down hard and rolled. 

His dog was standing there with no one holding the leash, so I tried to get my dog under control so she wouldn't spook his dog, while still trying to keep an eye on the man to see how he was doing.  When he sat up, I asked if he was okay, and he confirmed that he was, and he got up to keep walking (now with a limp and a clearly hurt arm), but I was totally freaked.  It was like a cartoon: seemingly physically impossible, and yet I saw it happen.  Crazy. 

I'm going to have to watch my step in the Triangle

Maybe I'm Too Sheltered...

Today I have something on my agenda besides writing, volunteering, and the general minutiae of life.  And I wish I didn't.  I long for the calm, quiet days of working diligently, peacefully, with little human contact.  (Sounds great, doesn't it??)  But today, I must interact.  Today I have to go to court.

I have never been inside a courtroom.  All my expectations are being culled from Perry Mason, Legally Blonde, and other Hollywood creations.  I'm anxious to see how the real thing measures up.

I didn't imagine picking an outfit for this project would be so difficult, but when I went into my closet last night, thinking to quickly pull something together, I realized I have no spring/summer dress pants.  Really.  I have jeans, courduroys, track pants, yoga pants, but no pants appropriate for court.  I have capris, but they don't seem serious somehow.  I really didn't want to wear a skirt or a dress, but I ended up in one anyway.  I'm wearing a long black skirt with a subtle pattern, a black blouse and a black blazer.  I feel very grim.

Luckily, they're looking for a character witness and not a fashionista.

I've already had the pre-game with the lawyer this morning, and that was relatively painless.  He even indicated that maybe, just maybe, he wouldn't have time for me.  That possibility thrilled me to pieces.  I want to be helpful--I totally do--but I can see myself breaking under thes stress:   The lawyer for the opposition asking me a question, and me saying, "No, but--"  and him bellowing, "NO FURTHER QUESTIONS!"  Maybe I'm working myself up for nothing.  But this is a big deal.  It's not my big deal, but it's a big deal for a friend of mine.  So I'm tense with nerves and anxiety...and maybe a little nausea.  And my heartbeat is crazy erratic.  I need to calm down.

Good or bad, I will be treating myself to a theraputic slice of lemon meringue pie when it's all over.

Do You Know What Happened To This Bird?

Found: Dead Bluebird. 

Looks like he could be playing dead, but I suspect not.  I do suspect foul play...just not sure what type.  Stacy suggests a basilisk may be slithering through my neighborhood in the hours after dark.  A squirrel, sprawled on his stomach, found last week only three houses down from this bluebird seems to suggest a pattern...  I am on the case!



From the Trenches...

We're in the thick of Spring Break now, and things are going pretty well.  My biggest pet peeve is all the jinxing.  It started several weeks ago (I lay the blame squarely at the feet of PFB's fellow third graders...GFB is just along for the fun).  Any semi-simultaneous uttering of the same word--they were certainly not sticklers--would result in the chant, "Pinch, poke, you owe me a Coke."  Then, just when that was getting particularly irritating, they shook things up a bit, switching out the poke for any old thing to rhyme with something they wanted:  "Pinch, thwickers, you owe me a Snickers."  This went on for DAYS!  Maybe I should have been applauding their creativity--I wasn't.

I had to pull the plug, and I did.  So we were without jinxing for a week or so.  Now it's back, without the chant.  Now it's just 'JINX!'  But if they both say jinx at the same time, they have to keep going until one of them calls Uncle.  Last night I heard them upstairs and nearly spit out the orange slice I was eating.  Two happy-go-lucky voices chirping, "Jinx!  Jinx!  Jinx!..."  It must have been fifteen times.  I could picture them skipping down the road, holding hands, continuing the chant far, far away from me....  No such luck.

So far, today is a virgin day.  No jinxes yet.  And I desperately hope we keep it that way.

Tunneling

Today was an adventure day.

Today I explored the tunnels beneath Downtown Houston, and I must say, it was fun!  (Last time I'd been in the tunnels was about fifteen years ago...I was working downtown as a summer intern.)

Armed with only a map and a friend, I dipped below the surface at approximately 11:00 a.m. and didn't resurface until almost 2:00 p.m.  In the interim we zigzagged through the green, looped around the red, got a little lost in the yellow, and jazz-handed through the purple (the Theater District).  Okay that last part isn't true. 

And not once did we ask directions.  Well okay, we did once, to be polite.  A women literally pinned us down, wanting to know where we were going.  Despite her desire to help, she didn't, so we made our way on our own.  In the beginning we were uncertain how we'd find an entrance to the tunnels, and while I didn't want to ask, my companion hinted that such a objection might be me getting in touch with my masculine side.    But we did it--we found the way in on our own...and we found the way out.  We ate lunch down there too.  Great day.  Although it would've been nice if there'd been a bathroom that didn't require a keycard or a coded entry.  Just sayin'.

And a little more...

Love this too!

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Smidge of Wisdom

Love this...

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Recharging...Resetting...Something

This week has seemed so long, which is a little weird, because it was a short week. Or it should have been. I got launched from my little excursion to Canton right into a hostess gig at my inlaws lakehouse. With them out of town for the weekend, my husband invited a couple of friends from work and their families out to spend a couple days. I think it went very well, but honestly, I found it exhausting. I like my weekends to be take-it-easy days with lots of reading packed in around the edges. That didn't happen.

And because I didn't get that time to recharge my energy, I have had the roughest time all week getting up in the morning...at 7:15!! That's not even early, but every day this week, I was staggering bleary-eyed out of bed, trying to hustle my kids to school on time. Then everyday around four o'clock, I was dragging. Possibly I should have stopped staying up late to read my book, but I couldn't help it! It's good. And I've got books lining up behind it, on hold from the library, calling my name.

Today was the same...but rather than write in the afternoon (shame on me!), I took the boys to see The Sorcerer's Apprentice. I admit to a certain fondness for Nicolas Cage...and now I have a fondness for Jay Baruchel too--he was the apprentice. Seriously, this was a clever movie, both sweet and funny, and I found myself smiling almost the whole way through. Hopefully I have been reset and can rest easy, ready for next week (and the weekend, which will be heavy on the books).

Have a great weekend!