Is it Friday yet?

It has been one hectic week; I’m ready for the weekend. Brian is going to Six Flags with the 2 older kids on Saturday, while I’ll be looking for something fun to occupy the younger ones. They’re asking to see Open Season again; for lack of anything else, we might just do that.

Had a nice dinner at Benihana tonight. It was a little disappointing, coming just 2 months after a great meal at Kobe Japanese Steakhouse when we were in Omaha. The food wasn’t quite as flavorful. Joel was looking for the “fire”… the chef told him they aren’t allowed to do that at this restaurant; they have to remodel before they can make flames on the grill.

For your weekend enjoyment:

YouTube is still a source of humor and amazement. What do you want to be when you grow up? And how about Pachelbel’s Canon in D…. on the electric guitar, no less.

While we’re on the subject of music, check out this “Young Person’s Guide to the Chorus.” Hat tip to Clarissa for this one.

From the food files: Philip posts that “anything’s good when you deep fry it.” Does that really apply to Coca-Cola? And at the Dark M&M website, a fun game that involves using pictorial clues to identify 50 “dark” movies. I found 48 on my own and had to Google for the last 2.

I’m still scratching my head at this “outreach” idea. Thanks to Mike the EyeGuy.

Seen at A Room of My Own, a nifty art education and appreciation game. I’ve been looking for one of these; thanks for mentioning it.

VeryMom is just organizing her stuff with JOYS (Just Organize Your Stuff). Looks very interesting. Now who will come and do it for me?

And last, but not least: With the new regulations on liquids and gels, what’s the final word on what you can take in your carryon luggage when you’re flying the friendly skies?

Happy Hump Day

Sorry I haven't posted since the weekend. We've been going 90-to-nothing here.... running Em to school, coming home and doing school here, going to playzones and parks, heading off to gymnastics classes...

So tomorrow is Halle's birthday. We are having a small family celebration tomorrow night, going to Concord to the Benihana there. Then next weekend, Halle is having a party at the gymnastics gym. Hopefully she'll have a good turnout for that. I know it will be more fun for her than if only a very few are able to come. I still haven't wrapped the gifts for tomorrow night; I guess I will get started on that before I go to bed tonight.

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Every now and then, I think to look at my blog stats to see where people are visiting from and what kind of search strings have led unsuspecting searchers to my site. I think this string I found the other day (from Sunday, Oct. 8) has to be the best one yet: "how to unstick mating dogs." Whoever the poor soul in Cleveland, Ohio, was.... I sure hope they solved that problem. Sorry I wasn't much help. I'm still trying to figure out just why that search landed you here to begin with!

Weekend recap

It's been a nice weekend. I got most of the shopping for Halle done yesterday; there may be one more thing left to get before Thursday. While I was out (or in the house working on other stuff) Brian and the 3 younger kids worked out in the backyard. Incredibly, they were able to get the entire yard covered with the mulch. They even left a small space for a flower garden. They may work on it tomorrow.

Today we welcomed 2 new shepherds and 5 deacons to our church. I believe each of these men will serve wholeheartedly and welcome the chance to learn from them.

We changed things up a bit tonight and I got to take Emily to youth group while Brian stayed home with the others. I used the time alone to go to Barnes & Noble and read a bit. I read almost all of Velvet Elvis, but stopped just a few chapters from the end. I'm supposed to be borrowing this book from a friend and want to take notes as I read it the next time. Then I picked out a couple of books for Halle (Judy Moody, M.D.) and Noah (Harry Houdini, Master of Magic) before heading out to pick up Emily.

Tomorrow the kids and I are meeting up with our old backyard neighbors at a "jump house" (place with a bunch of inflatable bounce houses) and to lunch. We'll pick Em up from school on our way home from all that. Then we'll have gymnastics in the evening. Mondays are always a little hectic.

Friday night lights

Emily is at her first high school football game tonight. I'll be picking her up in a little while. She's bringing a friend from school home to spend the night, and then tomorrow I'll be taking them to the mall. I'll probably do some shopping for Halle's birthday while I'm out. We've only managed to find one thing for her so far.

We had 12 yards of bark/mulch delivered to the driveway today. That will be the other big weekend chore. Thankfully it is a long weekend for Brian. He has Monday off, so he can work on the yard then if he still needs to. I have no idea how long it will take to move that much bark from the driveway to the back yard.

I've discovered that we aren't getting all the emails from Emily's school. I don't know why, but they aren't making it to us and we're missing out on a lot of information. Case in point: the Annual Fund dinner that is being held in a month. We knew it was coming up, but didn't know when tickets went on sale. Apparently, they have been on sale for a while already and today was the last day for the $10/couple discount. This was in a weekly bulletin email sent out last Thursday... one we didn't get, but that Emily's friend's mom forwarded to me this evening. I know the emails aren't going to our spam folders. I'm not sure what's up, but I will be checking into it next week.

Time to go pick up Emily.

It takes a little rain

Yesterday marked the first rainfall since May. It was nice... it wasn't a downpour, but a very light rain. Just enough to get things a little wet. I sure am glad we're getting some bark to cover the back yard this weekend, though. We need to get it done before the big rains hit and we wind up with a gigantic mud-wrestling pit in the back. Brian's bonus pay came through this week and we'll be using some of it to cover that expense. The rest is earmarked for debt reduction.

Tomorrow an a/c repair company is coming to look at our a/c units. Apparently there is a drain that comes out one side of the house that was/is leaking rusty-colored water. It has stained the outside wall of the house and the concrete walk directly underneath that drainspout. Thankfully, we don't have to pay for this visit/repair. I am interested in finding out the cause, though.

Hoping to find time for something fun this weekend. Brian has Monday off because of Columbus Day. It will be nice to have him around.

Spare me

The kids and I went bowling this afternoon after school. We met another homeschooling mom and her 3 kids at the base bowling alley. This was our first time meeting and the kids seemed to hit it off well. I only bowled 1 game, while the kids bowled 2. I am definitely out of practice! I did manage to get a couple of strikes and a spare, but also threw several gutter balls. If there's one thing I am, it's consistently inconsistent. Anyhow, hopefully we'll be able to get together once a week or so with them for the kids to hang out together, even if it's just to play at the park.

I did get the dog from this morning returned to his owner. It turns out he isn't new after all. The only reason we didn't know he existed before the last few days is that he is usually in some kind of cage outside. His owner thinks he has figured out a way out of it. We'll be fortifying our side of the fence in case this continues.

Mending fences

Well, I guess it's not really a fence that needs to be mended... more like the ground beneath it. When I went out in the backyard with Campbell this morning, we had a "guest" waiting for us. Apparently some neighbors behind us got a new pet recently and yesterday he and Campbell were trying to get to know each other under the fence. We filled in an area with rock/boulders where the dogs had been digging to get to each other. I'm guessing these folks must have left their guy out last night, which gave him lots of uninterrupted time to create a new way over here. He's a tiny fellow.... looks to be a Miniature Pinscher. It wasn't light out enough for me to see where he could have gotten in at and lights aren't on in that house, so I don't feel like I can go over to their house yet. He won't let me pick him up (well, he did once, but then starting yelping and biting at my hands). So Campbell has to stay out of the backyard until I can find a way to return this guy to his family.

It's always something.

Busy, birthdays, boring....

It's been a busy few days. Sundays are always full because of church and youth group; Mondays are busy due to Brian's lay counselor class and Halle & Joel's gymnastics classes. Today was less busy as far as "things" go, but still plenty of stuff to do once we finished with school for the day. I got a load of laundry folded and put away, plus made lunch for everyone, cleaned the kitchen, and vacuumed the downstairs carpet. Got all that done before 2:30, when we left to pick Emily up from school.

Halle's birthday is coming up in a little over a week. We still need to shop for her. Thoughtful child that she is, she has provided us with a list. Most prominent on the list are assorted Pixel Chix items. Hopefully we'll be able to attend to this matter by this weekend.

You can wake up and go back to what you were doing now.

Movies

Yesterday was Ashton Kutcher movie day. The young ones got to see Open Season in the afternoon after we finished school. They liked it alright. I though it was OK. I would have rather taken a nap. My favorite part was getting to listen to Billy Connolly as the voice of McSquizzy the Squirrel.

After Brian got home from work, we all headed out to see The Guardian. Good story, a little long. Glad there was popcorn to keep Joel entertained. I think Ashton Kutcher showed he can handle a serious role here. Kevin Costner was... well, Kevin Costner. Never disappointing.

I was so wiped out by the time we got home, that I went to bed almost immediately. I was asleep by 10.

Today will be full of household stuff, plus a hair appointment for me in the afternoon.

Last I heard...

Seen at Zoot's... thought it looked like fun!

You go to Google and type in your name along with the phrase "last I heard he/she was" and see what you get. Find out what you're up to these days...

Last I heard, she was taking massage therapy classes at night. Ooh, that sounds like fun, but I'd rather be getting than giving.

Last I heard, she was living in Iowa. Let's make that one state west.

Last I heard, she was no longer teaching. Obviously, that is so not true.

Last I heard, she was still hangin' on, but barely... Ssssshhhh! It's a secret!

Last I heard she was quite far ahead in the polls. I'm not sure what polls that would be. That one scares me.

The last I heard she was pregnant again. Bite your tongue!

Last I heard she was going to go be a cop. Cop, mom... what's the difference?