Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious Week!

The last couple days have been pretty interesting. Here is a recap filled with thrill! chills! pills!

(Last) Thursday BoyKid tried out for Divine Comedy! We got to watch. Try outs were SO funny to watch.  There were a few people that were not very good at all, but most were VERY funny.  It was stiff competition.  He didn't even make it, and can say with all honesty, BoyKid's song was excellent.  If I can ever convince him to YouTube it, I will post it here.  Better luck next time!

Friday, I had an appointment with Dr. Bones, the specialist at the U of U.  My headaches are still super bad, so he is trying me on a new med, which is so far making me dizzy, nauseous... and feel slightly as if I am having an out of body experience.  This disjointed, out of it experience is very disturbing. Hoping it is one of those side effects that starts bad, but then dwindles after awhile. Because UGH.

Then I did a Critters party. A cute group. The adults were as interested in my presentation as the adults. They asked a million questions. They owned a chinchilla themselves and wanted me to check him out after the party, asked for tips on taming him (they could barely pet him and certainly couldn't hold him like I do Baby Fable), wanted to make sure they had the right set up for him (

they did), and asked about getting him fixed and getting him a friend. 

Saturday I did some quilling for church ladies.  Pretty good ones, I think.

(by the way, Ehu, that one with the quote about being "beautifully made?" The quote is Ola, MyNigerian. Is it any wonder I am still in love with him?)

Sunday was 9/11.That was hard. I think of Brady a lot, but it is hard to have everything rehashed all day on TV and on the internet.  Anyway, I posted about that a bit already.

Monday I sold some roaches to a boy, probably around 13, and his dad. They were really excited. I was pretty excited too because I recently finished The Cockroach Club part of my site!  But the most exciting thing about the day was THE ARRIVAL OF THE MANTIS NYMPHS!!!! 11 teensy tiny mantis babies! They are so so cute!!!

So, all week, Padre has been talking about this "Super Secret Surprise" at 5:00. 1st though, I had story time at the museum.  We read Zack’s Alligator Goes to School by Shirley Mozelle and made clothespin alligators. 

THEN I had a dentist appointment. Bleh.

So, then 5 rolled around and we are headed to Salt Lake!  Then Padre starts singing "Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious" and we pretty much figured out we were going to Mary Poppins the Broadway musical.  It was really fun.  Before we went to the show we went to dinner at Olive Garden. The Gnocchi soup was very good.  When we were done we had left overs, but Rinny had brought a cooler.  So we were walking back to the car with our food and there was a homeless guy.  I knew my dad would NEVER let us give him money because he might buy drugs or alcohol with it, but I asked if we could give him our left overs. At first he said no, then I said "just a bag of bread sticks?"  He said okay and proceeded to take OUT 2  breadsticks of the bag leaving 3. *rolls eyes* REAL generous, Dad. But whatever, better than nothing. BoyKid and I ran back and gave it to the man.  When I asked if he wanted some bread, he smiled so big and said "Sure!"  Really motivated me to get working on those "Blessing Bags" like I've seen on Pinterest.


My dad is not really selfish.  It's just that he feels strongly about HOW he should be generous.  Like when he is donating to the poor, he feels like he should ONLY do so through the Church. I think that is a good thing, MOST of the time, but sometimes you should go elsewhere, too.  He also believes in taking care of your family first. I agree with that, too, but I think he still acts like we have money... going to expensive plays and out to dinner... when we don't. We are in debt.


ANYWAY, before the show there was this art instillation next to the theater with these weird wobbly things that apparently represented grass.  But to me it felt like we were fleas on a dog.  I LOVED IT!  I took a million pictures.

Finally we actually went in.  The play was much better than I thought!  They did a lot of very tricky things... very magical.  Though that new song about being nice to your toys? SUPER CREEPY!!!  One bad thing is that my new pill from Bones is STILL making me really sick and basically feel out of my body, so I had to leave for a bit and miss a song.  But over all it was still fun!  Very different than the movie though. (Also different from the Simpson's "Sherry Bobbins" which is what BoyKid and I kept remembering instead! Ha!)

 So then today for Tales for Tots we had the author and illustrator of "Invasion of the Grumpies" to come read their book.  It was fun.  The book is cute, though a bit wordy for the age group we cater to (though obviously a self-published deal) but clever writing.  And they were both really interesting guys.  I plan on having them come back again and we bought a copy of their book for the education department.  They took a LOT of pictures (you can see them here) They also had the kids draw their own Grumpies to put on the Facebook page.  Again, our group was a little young for that, so it was mostly MOMS drawing and then kids scribbling, but we teachers decided to participate. Mine is the one reading the red book. Rinny's is red (It's angry)


Several mantises have not made it, I think we are down to 4 or 5. :(  They are so cute, though.  I hope SOME of them thrive!


Anyway, that's the news!

You is Kind, You is Smart, You is Important!

Whoa. Ummm... I am not sure about this new Blogger format.  It is so... arctic and sparse.  I don't know what to think about it.  Guess I will see what happens as I write this, add pictures, etc.  See how it all works.

So, this whole deciding what to do thing, has me with a serious case of deja vu. I mean seriously, look at this.

Same quandary FOUR YEARS LATER.  THAT is screwed up.  What is WRONG with me that I am still in this spiral?!
NO BUENO!

So, on Saturday, I participated in a fun SCNAVTA activity (my last?). The Dog Wash.  I wrote about it in my column.  You guys ARE reading my column, aren't you?  Because I get PAID for that... this one is just for kicks and giggles... and self-therapy.  I didn't actually wash dogs.  My arm wasn't cooperating like that.  But I did get them all signed up, so I got to meet them all which was very fun.  We made almost 600 bucks for Jim Dix's reptile rescue!  Awesome.

Also, today was one of the best story times ever.  It was Six Crows and it was a great story but the turn out was good and I got so many compliments about the story, but also just the PROGRAM in general.  It was just really good.  Everyone is just loving the way the program is running, and that means a lot since I am in charge of it.

THEN my sister/boss surprised us all with an "end of summer staff party"... seeing The Help in the theater, complete with large drinks and humungous popcorns (that I am paying for now. UGH.).  It was so good.  I was not surprised.  The book was excellent, but you never know, Hollywood often butchers good books.  But this one was great.  I highly recommend it. 

CHANGE IN PLANS MUST

Things are going to be CHANGE. But more about that later.  Right now, I am writing my Tales for Tots curriculum for work.  On the schedule for September are... 

Tuesday September 6^th

How Do Dinosaurs Clean Their Rooms? by Jane Yolen and Mark Teague

Wednesday September 7^th

Is Your Mama a Llama? by Deborah Guarino

Tuesday September 13^th

Zack’s Alligator Goes to School by Shirley Mozelle

Wednesday September 14^th

Invasion of the Grumpies by Thal Dixon

Tuesday September 20^th

The Three Little Dinosaurs by Jim Harris

Wednesday September 21^st

Aunt Flossie’s Hats (and Land Crab Cakes Later) by Elizabeth Fitzgerald Howard

Tuesday September 27^th

How Do Dinosaurs Say Good Night? by Jane Yolen and Mark Teague

Wednesday September 28^th

What Makes a Rainbow? by Betty Ann Schwartz

I am most excited for Zack's Alligator because we will make cute alligator magnets out of clothespins and What Makes a Rainbow? because we are doing MAGIC MILK!  I love magic milk!

Have you ever done it?

Magic Milk

Materials needed:

Whole Milk
Plastic Take-Out containers or Deep Plastic dinner plates
Food coloring
Dawn Dish Soap
Q-Tips

With just a touch of your little Q-Tip Wand, you can make EXPLOSIONS of color!

1. Pour enough milk in the dinner plate to completely cover the bottom and allow it to settle.

2. Add one drop of each of the four colors of food coloring - red, yellow, blue, and green - to the milk. Keep the drops close together in the center of the plate of milk.

3. Find a clean cotton swab for the next part of the experiment. Predict what will happen when you touch the tip of the cotton swab to the center of the milk. It's important not to stir the mix just touch it with the tip of the cotton swab.

4. Place a drop of liquid dish soap (the Dawn brand works well) on the tip of the cotton swab. Place the soapy end of the cotton swab back in the middle of the milk and hold it there for 10 to 15 seconds. Look at that burst of color! It's like the 4th of July in a bowl of milk: mini-explosions of color.

5. Add another drop of soap to the tip to the cotton swab and try it again. Experiment with placing the cotton swab at different places in the milk. Notice that the colors in the milk continue to move even when the cotton swab is removed. What makes the food coloring in the milk move?

How does it work?

Milk is mostly water but it also contains vitamins, minerals, proteins, and tiny droplets of fat suspended in solution. Fats and proteins are sensitive to changes in the surrounding solution (the milk).

When you add soap, the weak chemical bonds that hold the proteins in solution are altered. It's a free for all! The molecules of protein and fat bend, roll, twist, and contort in all directions. The food color molecules are bumped and shoved everywhere, providing an easy way to observe all the invisible activity. At the same time, soap molecules combine to form a micelle, or cluster of soap molecules. These micelles distribute the fat in the milk.

This rapidly mixing fat and soap causes swirling and churning where a micelle meets a fat droplet. When there are micelles and fat droplets everywhere the motion stops, but not until after you've enjoyed the show!

There's another reason the colors explode the way they do. Since milk is mostly water, it has surface tension like water. The drops of food coloring floating on the surface tend to stay put. Liquid soap wrecks the surface tension by breaking the cohesive bonds between water molecules and allowing the colors to zing throughout the milk. What a party!

Repeat the experiment using water in place of milk. Will you get the same eruption of color? Why or why not? What kind of milk produces the best swirling of color: skim, 1%, 2%, or whole milk? Why?

Additional Info

Detergent, because of its bipolar characteristics (hydrophilic on one end and hydrophobic on the other), weakens the milk's bonds by attaching to its fat molecules. The detergent's hydrophilic end dissolves in water and its water-fearing end attaches to a fat globule in the milk.

So, ANYWAYS, things, they are a-changin'. Not just at work. Today I had 2 appointments.  One with Larry the Cucumber at Vocational Rehabilitation and the other with my therapist, Jan Levenson-Gould. My first was Larry the Cucumber.  Very nice, but blunt and informed, man. 

We talked about the job market, how much I could expect to make vs. how much I had taken out in student loans.  I was hoping VR could help PAY for school... apparently they can't help much at expensive private schools like Broadview.  If I was going to a state school they might be able to, like, cover the books that the Pell grant didn't.  And so we talked about that...

Not just because of the money, though.  Because my arm/spine thing, is hurting still and not healing yet.  And vet tech is a really physical major. A really physical CAREER.  And I am the kind of klutzy person who GETS HURT.


So, I might love animals, but maybe it is a bad move for me to be a vet tech.  


And the money is an issue.  Not just the school cost, but the fact that Vet Techs make around 25,000 a year... where as ASL Interpreters are, on average $38,850... but can be much much more.  As in, like $40 an hour. (I currently am at the top of my game at Thanksgiving Point at 8).  If I were to go back to ASL and Deaf Studies (which is what I was majoring in at UVU (then UVSC) back before the headaches began), become a 'terp, well, maybe I would have money to pay for a home of my own, have the pets I want, maybe do some rescuing.

Not to mention even if the economy gets even worse, there is a chance vet tech jobs will be even harder to come by... whereas social programs that need interpreters will still be needed.

The other thing is the education itself.  With the Vet Tech program I get a Vet Tech degree.  Which is good ONLY if I really become a vet tech. It's not a bachelor's degree.  But I CAN get a bachelor's degree in ASL and Deaf Studies.  A bachelor's I can do something else with, if I choose not to be an interpreter... a bachelor's I can continue with to get my Master's of Library Sciences so that IF a Children's Librarian job (ie: dream job) ever opened up, I could actually get it.  If it never did, I'd still have ASL.

So, in the next 2 weeks (because that's the date for UVU) I need to decide for sure, but I think I am going to change.  Change Majors... majorly.  Change majors, change schools, change plans, change identities... okay, so not that last one. ;)

BIIIIG Changes.  Kind of freaking terrified?

Moving home from home

This gum commercial just said "the average person has 28 first kisses." For serious? Is that accurate?  My dad was in the room and I said to myself, "dude. I've only had TWO." Dad said "WHAT?! You've have 2?"
"Yes! [PoetryBoy] and [Fresno]!"
"That's twice as many as I will ever have!" 
"For serious?  You only ever kissed Mom?"
"And all I'll ever kiss."
"Well, obviously. But still, 28?!"
So there you have it. For all my parents' talk about making out all over the place in college, Padre is more of a dork than ME.  And that's saying something.

After about a year of living at my parents' house, when school starts I am going to MOVING there.  It is so hard.  I know that sounds stupid.  What is the difference? 

The difference is that all this time I have had this thing in my mind "I don't really live here.  I'm just visiting. I'm going to go home when I get better.  Things will get back to normal."  But now... it's just too expensive.  I haven't been able to work, so my parents have been just letting me keep the apartment.  But school is going to cost us so much, my family needs the money for my place.  And any money I CAN make needs to go towards school, not an apartment.  So I am going to pack up all my stuff...

No, that's not even true.  I am going to pack up a fraction of my stuff and give a lot of it to DI.  Because there's nowhere to keep it.  I am not excited to go through my things.  I mean, I bought them all for a reason.  Why would I get something I DIDN'T want?!  UGH. I hate getting rid of things.

I just finished Marrying Malcom Murgatroyd, and am going to start a new book on tape to sleep to.  Not sure what yet. Oh okay, The Invention of Hugo Cabret It sounds interesting and yes I am totally judging book by it's cover,. Or, mostly, it's title. But whatever, at least I have an audiobook to keep me half-entertained during my insomnia.  In the bath, I am still reading (paper copy) Percy Jackson: The Last Olympian.

I admit when I go to the library for audiobooks I just pick out interesting sounding titles.  I have to have SOME noise to fall asleep to. If I fall asleep at all. Lately it's been after 5 am. :(




'

Julia Childs vs. Percy Jackson

My teeth are feeling better today, though I couldn't go to church yesterday.  I think I can get by on OTC pills instead of Loritab now.  So that is good.  I am watching Julie & Julia with my mom.  It is good.  I relate a lot to it. Not the cooking. I DON'T cook. But the blogging, certainly.

AAACK!  Okay, you know how I say I don't cook?  Well, I am still not feeling too good and my teeth can't manage much chewing so I decided I could manage to make myself some Ramen.  But I turned on the wrong stove circle melted a plastic bottle and started a small kitchen fire!  The stench was HORRENDOUS! We were coughing and gagging.  We are just now able to come back in the house.  I am no Julia Childs!

I feel crappy. I am sick and now I have a major headache from all of the smoke and plastic fumes.  Maybe I will lay down with one of my new textbooks and try and get a jump start on school. Oooooor maybe I'll just read Percy Jackson: The Last Olympian.

Or play with my new hermit crabs. Their names are Mahana and Fossil.  They join Archie MacPhee the only survivor of my old crabby crew, but he is doing awesome.

Speak Up

Cried a lot today.  It was a very bad headache day plus my teeth are killing me after my last dentist appointment.  I think I need something fixed... it shouldn't hurt this long.

I got my acceptance letter into the Vet Tech program.  That's not really a surprise, I am pretty sure I was "accepted" as soon as I paid to apply.  But the letter saying so is needed for a couple of the scholarships I am trying for, so it was good to get.  I think I have applied for 30 scholarships so far.  I have been tearing up Fastweb, College Board, Cappex, Fresch, Petersons, Scholarship Page, FinAid, LDS Jobs, Scholarships.com, and Wired Scholar.  Plus Google and others.

I just finished my first book of the year, Speak.  I have a goal to read at least 100 books (but that counts audio books) in 2011. It was hard to read.  There were parts I related to too much.  The character's high school reminded me of my junior high and that was a really really bad time of my life. Just like her, I had my best friends tell me, "No offense, we just don't want to be friends with you anymore."  However, unlike her, I was not raped.  Obviously, that would have made my life 4 bazillion times worse.  My friends who have had that happen to them (yes FRIENDS. Multiple. How awful is that?!) are the strongest women I know for SURVIVING that and they better dang well know that!  I love you.  God loves you.

I almost couldn't finish that book.  But it ended with Melinda being STRONG. It ended right.

Even my parents anniversary makes me think of pets

Today was good except for a few painful things... my head, as always, hurt and my stupid tooth in front is crumbling like it's made of clay.  And I hurt my shoulder on Christmas in a ROCKING CHAIR. How lame is that?

BUT Mom drove m,e around to do errands and it was good to get things DONE. I really appreciate her, even though sometimes I am not sure who is a scarier driver, her with her stroke or me with my head. But anyway we got lights and timers for all the reptiles, some chewy treats for Fable, and mailed off the things I sold on eBay. One of those things was the too fancy Prada bag Fresno bought me when we were dating. Good to have money instead of a purse I am not using.  I am using it to buy vitamins for the gliders.  And a new foraging toy.

I might have enough left over to get a book or something (I only got 66 for it), but yes, pretty much all my spare money goes to my pets.  And I am okay with that.  It makes me happy to see them happy and healthy.  I love my babies, including the scaley ones.

Today is my parents 32nd wedding anniversary.  Padre got mom orchids, like growing in a pot. They made ME want an Orchid Mantis.  Someday I will have one. They are gorgeous!  Anyway, bug aside, the flower is really pretty.  And I think it is cool that they have been married that long and still love each other.  That's pretty awesome and rare in 2010.

As for what I am reading right now, I just finished the kids' book Room with a Zoo and am going to review it for the Examiner.  Now I am on Sorcerers and Seers and just starting The Last Olympian.  Better start on that review now.

 Ta ta!

Confusicopia

My blog is more journal than, I don't know, BLOG.  I write for myself mostly, and someday I may even print it all out into a book. Who knows.  But I am still curious if anyone reads me anymore. It's not important. I don't get paid like I do for the Examiner and writing for nobody but myself does not bother me.  But I am still curious.

Anyway, I have been on a little bit shaky ground with MyNigerian.  Nothing has HAPPENED, it is just so hard to not be in the same dang country that sometimes I get a little weird.  And I don't like his little expiration date of December.  I mean if he wants to date other people, just do it. Don't make it be December when he already knows I can't come. I dunno. It's frustrating.  I guess I just feel like I need to start falling out of love so it doesn't hurt so much. Mom reminds me if it is meant to be it will work out, and if it isn't it won't. But my health and other circumstances are such that it's just probably not going to work.

But the thing is, and I am not being negative here, I am being realistic, how many chances do you think I am going to have?  TexasBoy... Fresno... MyNigerian. Each felt like a miracle.

And then there is the BrazilianVampire.  He swooped right in yesterday, reminding me "I like you how you are" and telling me he'd kiss me and he would move to Utah and pay for a trip to Brazil.  He told me so many things, right when I was feeling my saddest about Ola, that it was tempting.

But that is so literally what he is: Temptation.

He is not an active member of the church and has no desires to go back.  He drinks. He gambles.  He would screw up my life.  It would be worse than PoetryBoy.

How many chances?

I want Ola. I want him and his spiritual powerhouse ways and his sweet words and everything.  And I think I am not going to get him.  I just feel like swearing. DAMNIT.

I hurt.


My HEART hurts.

And it goes with out saying my HEAD HURTS.

OY.  Other than that, I just finished The Castle Corona. Reading is my escape.  I kept getting stories mixed up though (I blame the headache) They were asking what the corno (like a cornucopia) could mean and all I could think was DUH, the thing in the middle of the Game where all the weapons are!  Only that was not IN sweet little Castle Corona. THAT was in Catching Fire of the Hunger Games trilogy. HA!

I just started Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell and it seems interesting.  Maybe I'll go read now.  My brain is tired.

Happy Chinchilli Day?

Today was my cousin's kid, Chad's, mission homecoming talk at church.  He did a good job... he also did a good job serving the Lord for 2 years.  I am proud of him. It's weird how OLD everyone is.  His big sister has a new baby... the same sister I remember as a cute 2 year old living in my grandma's basement in Sandy.  Makes me feel downright elderly.

It is hard with all the cousins (and 1st cousins once removed!) having kids, living "grown up" lives.  And I am still so dependent on my padres.  With not being able to work right now, my head still being what it is, I'd be utterly screwed with out parental support in a big way. :(

I love my padres.  I appreciate how they support me. But I wish they didn't have to.

The OTHER excitement of the day is Fable, that BRAT of a chinchilla, escaped. DANG is he FAST! It took me half an hour to catch him and he was in plain sight!  Crazy rodent.

I just finished The Loud Silence of Francine Green and it wasn't awesome but it was pretty good.  And it made me think.  Yes, it's a kid's book but it still made me think.  About the parallels between the McCarthy Communism trials  and the black listing of pro-Prop 8 in the entertainment industry. Now I am watching M*A*S*H* until bedtime.  Unfortunately I have no audiobook for tonight.  Time for a library run.  Until then I will just listen to one I one, like one of the Tennis Shoes series or Ella Enchanted.

Broken, and Broke to Boot

Today's headache remedy?  Botox (yes, I have a *pretty* headache again.) and a huge Coke.  The Coke helped a little today, hoping the poison helps within a week or 2.  REALLY hope so. If it does then I am going to have surgery.  Get some muscles in my forehead removed, and the nerves in my temples removed too.  Scary but worth it because a 2 + month long headache is NOT ACCEPTABLE.

I just watched Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince.  Getting ready for November and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part I!  Woot!  I am such a nerd.  Now I am watching Chuck.  Like I said, NERD. So what?

They still haven't sent my papers to get started on my Exhibitor's License for Critters.  I am getting worried. I hope I am allowed to do shows and classes again SOON.  I have had to turn one down already, and have one as a "Maybe" depending on how long this takes.  SIGH.  I also hope it is not expensive.  I don't have  much at all, plus I am attempting to earn enough to go to Spain to visit MyNigerian.

I haven't been able to work for real, like at Thanksgiving Point.  I spend all my days mostly in bed, my head stabbing and trying to kill me.  It is not cool AT ALL.  So I am not earning any money, either.  This while I am still trying to save as much as I can for that Ola trip.  And I have felt sick besides. 

So NOTHING is really going great in the luuuurve department.  MyNigerian and I hardly talk. We love each other, I think, I mean I KNOW I love him and think he loves me but with his life being all screwy right now with not having any money for school and losing his home and MY life being all screwy with no work and pain in a non-relenting series, ugh.  It is just a struggle catching each other.  Plus I am scared he is going to give up... on me.  I would. :(

Okay, I'm going to take a bath and probably be a baby and cry.  I need to get an appointment with my therapist, I have been too Bleh to go and I just got a letter from her asking if I was doing too well to come. HA! Awesome. That would be so funny. "Sorry, I am a little too happy to come to Therapy, thanks anyway, Ivy." HEE HEE HEE!  Instead I am too, well, BUMMED for THERAPY. hee hee! Yeah, I am a nerd.  A depressed, screwed up, hurting, in-love-with-a-boy-in-Spain, NERD.

Goody 5 Shoes

1. General Conference is good. I loved the counsel of the church leaders. I loved what they said. I loved how I felt - for at least a few hours, and then I was back to normal (depressed).  But such is (my) life.

2. I am reading the last of the 3 "His Dark Materials," The Amber Spyglass.  I am sure there are some of you that think it is a bad book. I'll tell you why I *don't*: Okay so in the book God is the villain. But the thing is in the books he IS a villain.  He's a liar and he's cruel..  IN THE BOOK. It's not reality. It's fiction. This is a story of if God was this way and the world were this way than such and such.
He's NOT and it's not, so yeah.  I am not stressed by it. It's a fantasy and a good one.  And the fact that the author is an athiest doesn't mean anything/  I'm not. 

3. Saw the aftermath of an accident. A bad one. A man was layiung on the road, so was his motorcycle. And his shoes. Why does it always knock their shoes off.  When my aunt was killed on the freeway, her shoes were knocked off too.  Seeing those shoes today made me sick. 

4. I am going to get my USDA license.  Critters 2 Go will NOT be taken down by a tattle-tale. I am not sure how much this is going to cost me. Or how long it will take me. But I want to do this right.

5 I am watching Iron Man 2/  It's good. ;)

Strict Bookrest Says the doctor! Hee hee!

*SIGH* So a good book can REALLY help you survive the boredom of bedrest.  But I JUST finished Mockingjay and I am still sort of soaking it in and it feels weird starting something silly like Bree Tanner's Half Life or whatever it's called.  MAYBE Love is a Many Trousered Thing. I have those and a few others awaiting me in a little pile in my room.

But I am not supposed to walk around yet, so instead I am watching some inane Disney Channel movie Princess Protection Program. Holy lame. And I am BOOOOOORED.  I also have no results yet on when and if I am leaking out   So until I have answers or this powerful headache STOPS... I am stuck being bored in a bed with the freaking Disney Channel.


I need something to eat AND a book before I go nuts.

TOO LATE! I HAVE gone nuts! I seriously just spent 15 minutes laughing at those emergency shoes "Fast Flats!"  WHO keeps spare shoes in their purse?! HA HA HA HA!

Oh and speaking of being prepared, I just finished another article on Emergency preparedness for exotic pets.  I really am enjoying writing in more of a journalism sense rather than just blogging.  It's fun, and EVENTUALLY I will get a little money from it (as long as they are BEING READ, HINT HINT.  Subscribe to me!!!)

ZzzzzZZzZZzzzzzzZZZZzzZZZ

Finishing up my bedrest. Holy boring.  Not that I haven't had things to do.  I've written 3 articles for the Examiner and 2 for Suite 101 while in bed.  I've read a little of Percy Jackson Sea of Monsters. I have watched a LOT of Burn Notice.  Now I am watching Sleepy Hollow on TV. What the GORY?!  I might NOT watch this. Yeah.

Boys and Books I love them both.

Talked (and fought) for a few hours last night, got things SORT of okay.  Somethings were misunderstood... by both MyNigerian and I.  I was confused by his Spanish citizenship requirements.  He thought I was saying I wasn't going to be allowed to come.  We were both wrong, doesn't matter who was MORE wrong.  It was all messed up.  These things happen. We are getting through it.  It was a fight that probably needed to happen.  Yes, I still love Ola.


I have been reading a lot, since I haven't been sleeping.  Currently it's The People of the Book, and Pride and Predjudice and Zombies and Percy Jackson and the Sea of Monsters.  3 at once because PPZ is in my bathroom so I read that whenever I go in there.  PJSM is in my purse for on the go reading.  And then PotB is in my bedroom at night.  Maybe this BookSwim rental thing is a good idea. It works like Netflix but with books.

On the bright side...

I'm now the Girlfriend of a Sex God. No. Wait, that's Georgia Nicholson.

I am not the girlfriend of anything. BUT I AM at my OWN house this week!  YAY! Yep, back at the Ark for a change.  The Roomie is in Florida with her BoyfriendQuestionMark  (at a trade show thing) and *I* am babysitting the puppy dogs and the birds and my own turtle.  The Padres are sorta tending my tortoise, lizards, and frogs back at their house for now.  The gliders are with me. :) I like being at my apartment.  Feeling a small percentage of normalcy. SMALL.

Other than that "bright side" I am not well. I have felt like crap, especially today.

But the good things I did (Remember, *MY* Things-a-Day are considered successful if I do something Creative OR Productive!):
Worked out at the pool a little.
Did the dishes and a load of laundry.
Went grocery shopping.
Read awhile 1. Book of Mormon, 2. Secret Speakers (P.S. Karey, I am LOVING it so far!) 3. 20.000 Leagues Under the Sea. Yeah, I am a Leeeetle ADD.

Saying Goodbye

My very last weekend with Josie. It was decided awhile ago, but that doesn't make it easier. And it almost came much sooner because the WeatheredLeatheredFarmLady asked me to leave her there. "Let her be a goat." I asked if I could wait till Monday as planned. Reluctantly, WLFL agreed, rolling her eyes. But she agreed. So on Monday Josie WON'T be coming back to sleep at the house. She'll be sleeping (or yelling a lot and keeping the other animals awake) at the farm now.

Today is the last day I will have my baby girl.

But YESTERDAY was the Family Reunion for my Mom's Side! Woohoo! Well, Woohoo and simultaneously UGH. But I will explain. And it's not just the normal "Ugh this is a long boring family event" type ugh. Because, well, I had both Breaking Dawn and Josie the Amazing to entertain me if my cousins and their kids didn't (or rather, if my stupid anxiety made me anti-social around my own dang family... it's not THEIR fault I get weird.). *sigh* But anyway...

We went to the same park we went to last year. We had picnic lunches and listened to some remarkably good music (I don't know for SURE which cousin did the CDs (I think Camille (Aunt K and Uncle Ken's daughter... Brady's sister) but I think we should share playlists!) OH! Then my favorite best friend/cousin, Meggy came! Megs and Jakey are all into the Olympics especially (not surprisingly) the horse stuff. Megan told us about this cool horse, Poggio, who was a PACK horse and now is an Olympian! WAY awesome stuff! Megan knows lots of cool stuff!

The cousins' kiddlets (and some of the cousins) got crazy on a Slip 'n' Slide and someone accidentally broke the park's DRINKING FOUNTAIN. Yeah, that was wild.

Josie played with the kids and kept me psychologically anchored. Kids played in the stream and caught water skeeters. Parents talked. The Zoobies remind me more of the Weasleys everyday. JD and Waunita's kid brought a Beardie, though and wanted info on how to raise Mealies... the Beardie was a TINY baby. I gave them much more info than they wanted I am sure. I want a Bearded Lizard someday. I will name it Stanley Yelnats. Rinny threw football with Padre and then took a nap. And she really liked Josie. Also Shandy's Mini-Shandy LOVED her. BTW, Mini-Shandy's dad (I think... I am not ACTUALLY sure all the kids are his?) was there too and seems to be a VERY nice guy and a stable influence on Shandy. Yay for good guys!

It was all pretty fun until most of the family left and we were about to leave when the stupid car decided it was being stolen. It does that OFTEN, the alarm going off and not letting us turn it off. But this time it would NOT relent. It wouldn't turn off OR let the car start.

Calling the DEALER didn't work. Popping the hood and having the cousin-in-law with a questionable background try to disable it did not work. We had to get it to TOWED! It was an ordeal. But Uncle John and fam were awesome enough to drive us home... but Josie was TRAPPED IN THE TOWED CAR! I was so stressed the whole time. I cried when we got home till Padre got her back. This is not how I wanted to spend my last days with her... AWAY from her?! I am going to miss my baby so much.