Oopsie

So, after I picked up the girls from school yesterday, we met Brian for lunch at one of our favorite "greasy-spoon" places. While we were there, the topic of Brian's upcoming snip-snip came up. Annelise (who is always listening to our conversation) said "What! Daddy is having surgery?? What is he having surgery for?!?" Well, I told her not to worry about it because it was just something minor and it was not serious. She would not give up. So I got frustrated and calmly said : "He is going to have surgery to keep him from being able to have any more babies." Annelise: "But , Mommy, Daddy can't have babies, so what are you talking about?" Open mouth and insert shoe store. I just stared at her and wished for time to go backwards a few minutes. It didn't. She just went on and on "I don't understand, Daddies don't have babies, so why would he need that surgery? That doesn't make sense, yadda yadda yadda." I told her I would explain it to her later. She was ok with that because the chicken fingers came and that was enough to distract her for the moment. So far, she has not asked about it again, thank goodness, because I still have not figured out what I am going to say! I can tell I have not had much sleep lately. Any suggestions would be great as to how to explain this to her! As if that was not bad enough, Emmaline has started with a million questions about Santa Claus. "Mommy, how can Santa deliver presents to everybody in the world? How can he watch all of the kids to see if they are bad or not? Etc., etc....." So I got the wide-eyed deer in the headlights stare at her until I came up with "Well, Santa actually has 2 nights to deliver presents, because when it is night here, it is daytime on the other side of the world. And he knows when you are bad because he is magic." Emmaline : "He is not magic, Mommy, I have seen him on TV and he doesn't look magic to me." Me: "Well, all the Mommies and Daddies have his phone number and we can call and tell him when you are bad or good." E.: " I want to call him. I want his phone number." Me: " It is against the law to have Santa's number when you are a kid. You don't get it until you grow up and have babies." So, that was enough for her. But I can still see the wheels turning in both of their heads and I know that both of them are going to revisit these topics soon. I hope I am gone out and Brian has to deal with them next time. At least Christmas is coming and all of the decorations and presents and activities will be enough to buy me some time for now!

Lesson Learned

Well, Thanksgiving was great, as always. We had a great time with family and the Beaufort Stew was awesome. (Although I ate so much of Brian's artichoke and cheese dip that I was almost too full for dinner!) I made cherry cheesecake puffs and Brian made a banana pudding for the desserts- they were both great, too. I was so full I felt sick after leaving. Anyway- the girls spent the night with my parents that night, so I got a wonderful idea (or so I thought) about how to spend the rest of the evening. Everybody had been taunting me with the fact that the outlet centers were all opening at midnight that night and said they couldn't believe I wasn't going-especially since I didn't have the girls the next morning. I never got into that "after Thanksgiving shopping" mayhem, because it is physically impossible for me to get up at such a ridiculous hour- and I hate the crowds, and I am usually done Christmas shopping by then. But- being the daring night owl that I am, I decided to live on the edge and go to the midnight opening that night at the outlets. My friends C and M called me that evening and they decided they would be wild and go to. (When you are our age with children, that is about as daring and exciting as it can get....) We decided that the crowds should not be that bad, because most people are bound to the "tradition" of getting up early and going in the morning. So, I loaded up on Frappuchinos and went to C's house and we got on the road. The outlet center is only about 30 mins away- usually. It took us about 1 hour and 15 minutes. Why- you may ask- did it take that long? Well, I believe with all my heart and soul that everyone in South Carolina (except for the people we know) was at the outlet center that night. We saw the tailights backed up for miles off the exit and decided that there must be a wreck. Well, there wasn't. Then, all these people were pulling up beside people in the front of the line and trying to get them to let them in. I swear I was about ready to pull Betty (my 38 special) out of my purse and shoot their tires out, and also shoot out the tires of anyone who let them in. We were irate when we finally got to the centers. Never have I seen so many cars in one outlet center in my life. The radio estimated that there were over 7500 people there when it opened- I think there were about 14,000. That is what it seemed like, anyway. We only got to go in a few stores, because most of them had check-out lines going out the door and across the sidewalk. Some stores were only letting so many people in at a time, because of fire code I guess. I did get a mirror I had been wanting from Bombay, and I got my mom some coffee from Harry and David's that she wanted. That was it. I will never, ever do that again. I went to sleep at 4 am, and Brian woke me up at 7:30 trying to find just the right shirt to wear to the shooting range. He is very lucky that Betty was downstairs at the time. Once I wake up, I am up. So- I am still not caught up on sleep and have nothing to show for it. We are going to C and M's tonight to watch the Clemson/ Carolina game- so I am looking forward to that. Hopefully, Clemson will absolutely romp over the Chickens. C and C are coming to pick us up in their van, which I am sure will have tacky Carolina flags all over it. Little do they know that I will have my tiger paw car magnet in my purse and I will stick it on the car door when I get in.... Hah. Anyway- our Christmas tree is up and the decorations are 95% done, so I am happy with that. Hope this week is a little slower than the others have been. Now if anyone reading this goes to the outlets next Thanksgiving, don't say I didn't warn you!

I've Had Better

Weekends, that is. Wow what a stinker this last one was. But you know, with all the stress I have had lately, the one thing I get comfort from the most is remembering to praise God for everything through the good and the bad. He never changes and He is always there. I just hand over everything to Him and He handles it. I don't have to do anything but follow His lead. This time of year it is so important to really look at and see the abundant gifts that have been given to us. God is good all the time. I was fortunate enough to be born in the USA. I have a wonderful family and the greatest friends anyone could ask for. I have been given so many opportunities to do something good for God and that is a blessing. I have a nice home with heat and air and nice decorations. My yard is full of beautiful trees and birds and a calming creek. I have 3 great kitties who always know when I need that extra love from them and they make me laugh. I have a husband and 2 little girls who all love me and are healthy. We never want for anything- food, warmth, clothing. I could list on and on for days and not count everything. We truly have it all. So, no matter what else happens, for these things and more I am thankful. On a lighter note, Emmaline had her Thanksgiving program today and it was really cute. She had on a turkey hat and an Indian vest and a big necklace made of dry pasta and beads. The class sang silly songs about Turkeys and Thanksgiving and it was adorable. Of course, getting her to eat at their Thanksgiving dinner for the class was a challenge as always. It takes her an hour to eat one bite of anything. Annelise's program is tommorrow, but I know I won't have a problem getting her to eat.... I just hope they have enough for the rest of the kids there! She has been the sweetest thing, lately. Telling me how she will love me forever and how she doesn't ever want to live without me. She has been really good for the past few days. (Just one more thing I have to be grateful for.) Many wishes to everybody for a happy Thanksgiving. I hope everyone else sees the gifts in their lives as well.

Ahh, New Week

It is not often that I say this, but thank goodness the week-end is over. It had it's good moments, like the Tigers whoopin' on Wake and the Chickens getting fried by the Gators. And, church was great. But the girls were sooo bad. They continued their behavior from last week and it was awful. Annelise's surgery went well. She was eating a happy meal within an hour afterwards and was rollerblading by the next day. I am glad that is over. Poor Emmaline had to go with us to the surgery and she was terrible. I think she was worried about Annelise, but boy was she acting out in the waiting room. She cried when they took Annelise back to surgery and she stomped around the waiting room and refused to play with anything I had brought for her. She said it was all "trap". (Her word for crap.) We are trying to make her stop saying that, but it is hard to look serious when we laugh everytime she says it. If she doesn't like what we give her for supper, she crosses her arms and wrinkles her eyebrows and says "That's trap!" Of course, anything that is not a chicken nugget is "trap" in her book. Anyway- this morning went much smoother and they were really good for me. Hopefully that will continue through this week. I got them both signed up to play basketball at a local church, so that is one thing marked off my to-do list. Brian is having a bit of a rough day, though. He had to leave the house by 6 a.m. today to make rounds and he got to work only to find that someone had stolen the airconditioning unit at the office. Then he went to 2 different stores during his lunch break to find security cameras and found that one of the stores doesn't carry them anymore and the other one is only selling them online, now. So- he has a headache and will probably be whiney. But, I can deal with that. I am getting ready to book Annelise's birthday party at a modeling school. They give each girl a manicure and they get their hair and make-up done and they get to walk down the runway and get their picture taken. That just has her name written all over it. For now, I need to get back to the Mommy calls for the office. All about cough and/or vomiting this week. But, at least the girls are behaving today! I'll take that!

Getting Worse!

To look at the bright side, my brother-in-law did come and get my neice yesterday afternoon (after I took her to the office and she was diagnosed with bilateral ear infections and wheezing...) She was sweet and I love her, but boy do I have a lot to get done! Tommorrow is Annelise's surgery, so I cleaned like a crazy woman today. I did get a lot done, so I feel better about that. While I was cleaning, my friend Erika called and told me that her daughter woke up with a fever and sore throat. You may be asking, "So what?" Well, she was supposed to take Emmaline to school and pick her up for me tommorrow during Annelise's surgery. (Her daughter and Emmaline are in the same class.) She is at the office right now getting seen and diagnosed. But, the surgery center called and said that the surgery was scheduled for 10:15, and we don't have to be there until 9:15, so we will be able to take Emmaline to school at least. How we are going to pick her up we have not figured out yet. Where there's a will there's a way, right? We will see. Needless to say, I am looking forward to spending a few mindless hours on the couch watching football on Saturday. Hopefully Clemson will easily beat Wake Forest, and I also hope to see the SC chickens get eaten by the gators. My mom got Annelise a movie for her "surgery prize", so I will let them watch it while the Clemson game is on. (They will go to bed when the Carolina game is starting.) To say the least, it has been a pretty stressful week. Oh, and let's not forget the Aqua Dot recall- of which my children have about 10,000. I better not have a problem getting my money back for them. Some of it I am just going to have to cut my losses. The small kits with the different templates are all over the playroom. So, I have probably lost about $30.00- but it could be worse!! Our neighbors came to get the contract for the pasture sale last night. They should be signing it and bringing it back today. I look forward to closing on that in January. I am just trying to get done with this week for now. Usually when we have a yucky week, a good one follows. I hope that is the case here!

Pretty Sure I'm Losin' It

It's been a while since a post... but I was in Charleston all week-end, which was great, and I have been going 100 miles an hour since I got back. Starting with Charleston- it was wonderful, as always. Friday we got there around 3:15, checked in to the hotel and went out to find something to do. None of us had ever taken a carriage ride and the guy selling the tickets explained that there was a discount after 5 pm ( note- should have been our first clue)- it was 5:15. We decided "Sure, why not?" and bought the tickets. We got on the carriage and there were only 3 other people (older people from up North) on the carriage with us. In fact, there was a whole row of seats empty (Note- second clue). But, we got on there, happy and oblivious and started on our way. The tour guide was nice and seemed cheerful. However, as we trotted along, I noticed that the animals pulling the carriage were not horses, but in fact, were donkeys. Didn't think much of it at the time. But early on in the tour, it became very obvious why they discount tours after 5 pm. Apparantly, donkeys don't like to be out late, so when the sun starts to go down, they are ready to high-tail it back to their barn. They allowed the tour guide to stop for about, oh, a millisecond at each place he tried to talk about and then they would shoot forward into a full-fledged sprint (in front of cars or people or whatever.) I was in fear for my life and my limbs as they hung out a few times when I am pretty sure we got onto 2 wheels in a turn. And some guy just about lost his side mirror on his car- I still don't know how we didn't take it right off. My favorite part is when we got onto a rather deserted street and the tour guide said- "I'm just going to let them run right now, since there is no-one on the street and they are wanting to go fast." Richard Petty didn't have nothin' on these donkeys. Our tour was over in about 15 minutes and we didn't learn a thing- except not to take a tour when they offer a discount, and not to allow donkeys to pull you. Anyway- after that harrowing experience, we went to A.W. Shucks (yum) and I had a filet with crabmeat and shrimp on it. It was very good. Then we went on our ghost tour- which was awesome. They took us into the cemetary of the Circular Church at night, which I expected to be creepy- but was really quite peaceful. I heard a lot of stories that I had not heard before and the tour guide was the best I have seen. So sad, though- to see all of the children that died back then from all of the diseases that are so easily prevented now. So many children buried there. Anyway- we went to bed and on Sat. we went to Starbucks for breakfast and roamed around the battery and Waterfront Park. We looked at the cool houses and the architecture. We also toured the Calhoun Mansion- a 24,000 square foot home built right after the Civil War. It was absolutely beautiful. Makes the house I want to build look like a trailor. We ate lunch at Bubba Gumps, went through the Market where C got a gorgeous picture for her house. I got Benny Wafers and some marionettes for the girls. We visited Market Street Sweets on more than one occassion (M was addicted to the pralines, as was I , and C loved their bear claw turtles.) Sat. night we went to T-Bonz to eat because we knew they would have the football games on- which were such good games that we stayed about 2 and a half hours watching them there. Ordered dessert from the neighboring restaurant, Kaminsky's. (Always divine.)Then we went to get last minute sweets to take home and went back to the hotel. Sun morning, we went to Sweetwater Cafe for breakfast- good, even though every one of our orders was wrong- we ate it anyway and it was yummy. We went to the bookstore to grab a few last minute items we had wanted and headed home. C's driving seemed much less scary on the way back- probably because of the donkey experience. Ever since then it has been crazy at my house. I have had my 12-month old neice for 2 days now. She won't let me put her down for anything. I even have to go potty with her on my lap. Brian let the girls make messes all over the house while I was in Charleston- still have to clean all that up. And Annelise is having outpatient surgery on Friday- so I am trying to get stuff done before then. I could scream. At least I had Charleston for a few days.......

Everybody's Workin' For the Weekend!

Oh, I am so ready to go to Charleston.... But I have sooo much to do before then. I have to lay out all the girls clothes for the week-end, so that Brian doesn't have them looking like hobos. I have to pack my things. I need to clean the bathrooms and clean up the house in general. I have to make a "reminder" list for Brian so he will remember to feed the cats, give them water and check on the lizard. I don't know what would happen if I died. He would be engaged by the funeral. Anyway- I am really excited to go to Charleston. I just want to relax and shop and see the sights. Back in the day I might be tempted to party a bit, but I just don't have the desire to do that stuff anymore. The pastor on the discipleship DVD study we are doing at church said something that hit home the other day when it comes to that. He said, "If people don't see God through us, where else are they going to see Him?" He also pointed out that it is easy to have an explanation about God and who He is , but what people need to see is a demonstration. Sometimes I forget that I have a responsibility there. It goes back to that "walk the walk if you're going to talk the talk" thing. When we get saved, it is not just to get us a free pass into Heaven, it is to tell others about how to get there, too. The most effective way to do that is to live like we are supposed to- showing Christ in our words and actions. Anyway- I am glad that I no longer feel the need to sow any "wild oats" or stuff like that. I know that God is giving me this trip to Charleston with my friends to relax and enjoy one of the most beautiful places He created. I can't wait! Last night we went trick-or-treating with friends and that was really fun. We got a late start because Brian had to sew up a kid's forehead at the last minute at work and didn't get home until almost 7. Emmaline was Belle from Beauty and the Beast and Annelise was a pink Power Ranger. They looked adorable. We have enough candy to last until next Halloween. I hope they eat most of it while I am gone this week-end! Still looking for land, too. We have had some good prospects- but none of them felt right. I am glad we aren't just jumping at the first property we see that would work. We are really being picky. Oh, well- off to pack for the trip! Hope everyone else has a good week-end, too!