The calm before the Camping ...

In case you're really wondering how the bridal shower went ... it went really well. Except for attendence.

I had sent out 25 invitations. Some of them were for mother-daughter pairs.

About five people told me they couldn't come. So, still .... We were expecting between 6 and 23 people.

We got the six: Mer, her mom, Roxy, me, the other bridesmaid, and her mom.

We did have fun. Didn't play any games ... but we had plenty of food, Mer got to open her gifts ... we cleaned up, and Mer, Rox and I headed to the casino to give her a little girls' night out.

First time I've ever been in a bar. I had water. Drank those two under the table, I tell you! I had TWO glasses of my drink as opposed to THEM only drinking one bottle of theirs! (One had a hard limeade, the other a green-apple vodka. In case you were DYING to know.)

Then I went home, leaving them to watch the doo-wop cabaret show. And I took a shower, since I reeked of smoke (since there's smoking happening EVERYWHERE). But it was a really nice time. We three haven't had time together for about a year or so!

The next morning (July 4th), we played at my mom's until around 10, drive down to Michael's folks, and the kids played there. We ate, talked with family (all siblings except C&A were there ... so Bucket was sad that her cousins weren't there to play with her. She got over it REALLY FAST. She loves her Grandma something fierce.) and watched big fireworks ... and the kids were zonked!!

Can't blame them. This was out schedule:
July 3

• left the house at just before 7 A.M.
• drove south to my dad's and stepmom's
• drove a bit north to Nana's
• drove south to my mom's and stepdad's
• The kids and Michael stayed there while I left to set up and throw the shower. Then I went to the casino and came home ... and the kids were in bed. And Bruise was peacefully sleeping ... while Bucket STOLE ALL THE PILLOWS!! She was curled up ON my pillow with the others all around her like a little castle or something. I stole most of them (but not mine!!) back so we'd have pillows to sleep with.
• Woke up around 6-ish.
• Ate breakfast and the kids played some more ... squirt guns. Bruise shot me in the eye and kept shooting Mutti (my mom) ... and then he asked her to fill up the gun for him again. And she shot him. RIGHT IN THE EYES!! Ha! ... Between giggles (and Mom was laughing so hard she couldn't talk), I sputtered, "You don't mess with Mutti! She plays dirty!!" ... It's true. Ask her!
• And, like I said, we drove down to Michael's folks and the kids IMMEDIATELY went to play in their pool in the backyard. And ate popsicles. ^_^

And, when we left this morning, YES, I did cry a bit. (Okay, maybe more than a "bit.") But I am going to/do miss MAH BAYBEES!!

As much as I gripe about having to get up early, I do like it when Bruise will climb into bed with me to give me morning kisses and cuddles. Bucket will join in, too. And that's AWESOME.

And I know that every so often, I wish that someone would watch the kids for a couple hours or so so I could, you know, GET THINGS DONE/run to the store ALONE/take a NAP ... but that's totally different from spending the better part of a week away from them!

They'll be with Grandma and Grandpa today until Wednesday. Then my mom's going to pick them up and take them to her house ... where we'll drive down to see them Friday.

I'm leaving camp Thursday afternoon ... going home, taking a shower ... unpacking/repacking, giving myself a manicure/pedicure for the wedding, and then (once he gets home) having a little staycation with Michael. It'll be good.

But I have to be on the road earlier than I'd like tomorrow. Oh well. And once I get to camp, they'll keep me busy. And, if they don't, I have my books. It'll be fine. And I'll be a little sad to leave ... but I'll be VERY GLAD to see Michael ... and VERY glad to see MAH BAYBEES ... and also quite glad to see Mer get married ... and then I can figure out how to alter the skirt and etc ... so maybe I can wear it again somehow. (I'm thinking I might sweet-talk Roxy into changing the skirt into some kind of A-line dress ... and raid the strapless top and the jacket for material for the sleeves or something. Maybe.)

*sigh* I'm feeling ... okay. Not resigned. Not totally excited ... but okay. It's going to be busy. It's going to be a little CRAZY ... but it's upon us and I'm going to get through it. I'll have fun at camp. I'll get home and get to spend a little solo time with Michael (always a good thing). And then we'll get to see the kiddos, who will maybe have missed us a little. ^_^ Then there'll be the wedding and the reception ... and things will be good. And much quieter. For a little. I hope. ^_^

Entering that strange ennui ...

So, I'm (mostly) over my OCD-induced freak-out.

At this point, I'm just ready to get it all over with. I'm trying to wrap up loose ends ... ends which really keep on unraveling once I've gotten most everything else taken care of. *sigh*

Example: I was finishing the dishes. I noticed that (1) the garbage disposal sounds different. Not wrong/different. Just different.... and (2) suddenly I have a puddle of water dripping out of the sink's cabinet. CRAP! ... Turns out that the garbage disposal and the sink's drain have split up. I don't know exactly what is in order for their reconciliation to take place. Michael will be doing that.

(I still had to finish the dishes. Good thing the other side of the sink is unaffected.)

But, hey. I'm mostly, totally packed. The dishes are 99.6% done.

... I still haven't folded all the laundry. (Honey, you love me, right? Look! I'm giving you something to do to stop from missing me so badly! *ducks and runs*)

I've turned in all the library books that would be coming due. Regardless of whether I've read them or not. I'm just tired of not finishing books. (And, Jenny, no, I did NOT finish "Tea Time for the Traditionally-Built. *sad face* I'll put it on hold again and read it .... sometime.) But this way, Michael will have one less thing to bother about while I'm gone. ^_^

I have most everything together for the shower and for the wedding. ... It's been postulated that I might ALSO be doing the bride's hair. ... Bri, I went into the wrong field. I may join you as a cosmonaut cosmotologist. (Hey, my mom was VERY thrilled with the foot massage and pedicure I gave her the last time she was up. ... Yes, indeed, sometimes being my friend has its benefits. -- Jenny, wouldn't you agree? You never had so many Wii jokes until I [and my twelve-year-old-boy sense of humor] came along. :P)

But, yeah ... things are ... how they are.

But this experience has taught me how important actually RSVP-ing is. We could have six people (all in the wedding party, really) or we could have around 20. Hard to tell. But I'm not making that pasta salad. I'm done.

Well, got to run and do some things!!!

Hello, My name is HOLY FREAKING-OUT PILE OF INSANITY!!!!! ONOZ!!! RUN FOR YOUR LIVES!!! ZOMGosh!!!!!

*dryly* As you can probably infer from the title of this post, my calm facade is starting to crack.

If by "starting to crack," you mean to say that OMGosh! I have coming up in a matter of DAYS about the most STRESSFUL TIME OF MY EXISTENCE (with, perhaps, the exception of my sole-responisbility when I was student teaching ... you know, that period that I threw up every morning due to stress, nibbled lunch, and ate a sensible dinner ... and dropped a good five pounds ... probably all in tooth enamel).

Here's my itenerary (unless you're a stalker or a thief. If you are, I'm lying. This whole time, I'm going to be bunkered at home, cleaning my arsenal and polishing my VAST knife collection. They're already all sharpened. I just like that glossy sheen to them.):

• This weekend, we're throwing the bridal shower. And visiting family, family, family, and more family. Then ditching the kids with grandparents for the next week ...
• Since on MONDAY, I'll be deserting Michael to go to Young Women's Camp. Unless I'm running a fever, then they'll send me home so that I don't spread the bird flu the swine flu (What's next? Cerval Cat flu? Platypus flu? I can never keep the old ones straight, anyways. Just be glad that I didn't refer to it as the Spanish flu. Since, you know, I wasn't actually ALIVE to live through that one.)
• Then I'll be ditching camp to run back home and make sure that I have EVERYTHING ready (including myself!!!!) for Mer's rehersal dinner (and getting reunited with the kids) and the wedding.

Yes, I've been in denial for a few weeks. I DON'T want to deal with all of this. No flippin' way. Especially since I'm STILL mucus-laden and hoarse. This is crazy. And I'm nearly hyperventilating about it all.

I'm SO, SO, SO glad that I have Roxy as one of the other bridesmaids. She's keeping me sane. She and I went in together on the present for Mer. (CUTE!! ... I'll tell you after the wedding, probably, since I don't know when I'll next have TIME or the PRESENCE OF MIND(!!!) to blog next) And she's taking on the veggie tray for the shower. Phew!!

So, I'm just working at getting the rest of the food-stuff and games-stuff together ... And then I have to pack, pack, pack, PACK, PACK!!!!!!1!!!1one!!!!1!

Pack the kids' things, pack for our stuff, pack for camp, pack for the wedding ... Pack the stuff to do Bucket's and my hair ... *sigh*

And I folded most of the kids' laundry in our room. I think I should get a National Medal of Honor for that. Only, what, about seven more loads to finish folding ... since Ginger-cat decided to PEE in our bathroom (well, those clothes were already dirty, but still!!!) and on a pile of blankets (yes, those DID need washing, BUT they were on CARPET! EWWwwww!!!!). It's amazing that she's still alive.

Oh, and probably TMI or something -- but the toilet seat in our bathroom (not the hall bathroom) has a crack in it. And it keeps pinching my butt/thigh (my buthigh??). So we're going to replace that.

AAAAAAND, I need to cut Bruise's and Michael's hair!!! And I should try to give myself a facial before camp ... and upon arriving home from camp .... and remember to use MONDO amounts of sunscreen .... and, and, and ...

Oh, and do the dishes.

And restart the computer so that my stupid printer will spit out all the things that I need printed. Ugh!!!!!!!!!

And I need to finish "Tea Time for the Traditionally Built" before it's due (in two days!!!!!! Ack!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)

*sigh*

SO ... who wants to pet my hair and tell me that I'm pretty and NOT-at-all fat, regardless of how my bridesmaid dress makes me feel (well, okay, I just look like mah BOOBAGE is nearly twice the amount as is usual ... which is, I must say, quite the feat!)

(On overhearing myself: At Jo-Ann's fabric yesterday, as Roxy was buying some fabric. We were talking about how the bodices of our "dresses" -- they're seperates -- showcase our ... endowments, per se. I told her, "Hey, I'll do your hair if you pin my boobs! ... Just not literally pinning my boobs, because that would HURT." And the gal measuring fabric was all snickering into her shoulder. Poor girl.)

(Also, Rox and I were at B&N, picking out little booklets for Mer's gift ... with three three-year-olds. As we're perusing a certain ... area ... of the self-help section ... I guess it does count as relationships ... we have various passers-by giving us some glances. Rox mutters, in sotto voice, "Yes, we're looking at sex books. We just don't have ENOUGH kids, can'cha tell??" ... Oh, how I cackled. It only got better when Bruise observantly exclaims, "Wook!! Dere's a wowwipop on dat book!!" ["Look! There's a lolipop on that book!"] ... No, I didn't allow him to glance at the innerds of ANY of those books. Not a glimpse!)

Ah, yes ... the remarkable life and times.

Now, really ... I just HAVE to get through the next, what, 12 days?? Once July 12th is here ... I'm going to be SO DAMN HAPPY.

(Sorry for swearing. But it NEEDED an explitive. It's for descriptive value. Pinkie swears!)

Reunited! And it DOES feel so good!!

Do you KNOW who just called me??????

I bet you don't!

BUT, my freshman year of high school, I got to be friends with Stephanie. And I spent the night at her house, like, ALL the time! (When I wasn't over at Roxy's or Terra's or Meryl's or my own house, anyways.)

And, after about a year, she and her family moved away. And she'd give me a call every so often. Then life happened ... and I graduated and went to college and graduated college ... and I'd find myself thinking about her, wondering how she's doing and all ...

AND SHE CALLED ME!!!!!! WOOT!!!!! YAY!!!

And she's on Facebook, so I have immediately added her! Squee!!!!

Okay, so my list of "people that I adore and have lost touch with" has gone down by one! YAY!
(Because, seriously, I HATE HATE HATE losing touch with my friends. It really peeves me off!!)

I'm so excited! Can you TELL??? (No. Of course not. I'm just THAT stoic. /sarcasm)

Okay, now to get back in touch with:

1. Shaneeka from Thordyke Elementary.
2. Katrina from Thorndyke Elementary.
3. Emi, who attended my high school (South Umpqua) as a foreign exchange student.
4. Amy from WOU's ed program.

Those four are my long-lost priorities. IF, for whatever reason, you're reading this and know who I am and have fallen out of touch with me ... well, get back in touch! (And my omission of you from this list is a near-unforgivable failing upon my part. And I'm VERY lucky that you are such a dear, kind, MERCIFUL soul and put up with me so much. *puppy dog eyes*)

But I'm SO glad that Stephanie went to my house and talked with my mom and that my mom had her call me!! Squee!!!

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Addendum to yesterday's post: Hero (who I know from college ... and who is lucky enough [rightly so] and has the excellent taste to be married to Prissy) wrote a MOST EXCELLENT post regarding Michael Jackon's death: A Missing Piece of Culture.

Go! Enjoy it! I did!

Smooth Criminal

I think that these two links best honor Michael Jackson ... by remembering him as he was, full of promise and bursting with talent.

mental_floss: R.I.P. Michael Jackson

Miss Cellania - Remembering Michael Jackson

I very rarely think of MJ as "Wacko Jacko" or as his late, pale, altered face.

I almost always think of him as he was when I was growing up.

I am saddened that he's gone. He was such a huge impact on music, on dancing.

If you were cool, you could do the moonwalk. (I, sadly, have never managed to be cool.)

One of the records (YES, I listened to records. And cassettes!! Before CDs came out, when I was in Jr. High ... and I didn't really start listening to CDs, we only got a CD player when I was entering high school. Not exactly cutting edge, huh?) I remember listening to over and over and over was "Thriller."

How I loved that album (I even have it on cassette!!) ... the fact that Vincent Price does the epilogue to the title song is just gilding the lily.

I grooved to "P.Y.T. (Pretty Young Thing)" ... I remember seeing Captain EO at Disneyland (I don't remember MUCH about it ... except that it was in 3-D. I watched "Moonwalker" when it was on Showtime ...

I have always been sad that he chose to get plastic surgery ... it totally changed him, I think. (Totally off-topic: And Rupert Everett?? What WERE you thinking?? Had SUCH a crush on that man ... then he had to get some work done ... He's not nearly as hot anymore. SO tragic!!)

He made some very unwise choices in his life -- the choices leading up to his trial were not good, at any rate. I also know that he didn't have the easiest childhood. Still, he could have made some better choices. And I'm sorry that he wasn't able to do that.

I'm sorry that he is gone.

Because I still picture him as he was when I was a young girl.
When he was the epitome of fame and talent and charisma.

When he was known as this innovator and genius of music.

When most girls had a bit of a crush on this soft-voiced, mild-mannered superstar.

Sometimes nostalgia is such a sharp knife in your heart. (To me, anyways.)

Sometimes life is just not very fair. (To him, anyways.)

I choose to still remember him as I best knew him. When he was shining with potential, on his rising star, fresh-faced, snazzily-dressed, innovating dance and music videos.

It still sucks. But that's the way it is.

Funny conversations ...

One thing I love SO dearly is my collection of friends. They totally make me laugh. And they just GET me, you know?

I mentioned in my previous post that Roxy came to see me (YAY!) ...

Well, while we were chatting on the couch, Michael had left the TV on. I had put it on mute, since it was an episode of House that I'd already seen (the one with the dying dad played by the guy who was in The Ring and Bride and Prejudice? You know the one? ... And where Hugh Laurie's water pipe breaks? That episode.)

AS I WAS SAYING, Roxy and I werre chatting. ... and I started looking past her for a sec. Didn't mean to! Pinkie swears! She looks away from spoiling my cats, over her shoulder at the TV, and starts cracking up.

"Only you, Allanna, would be distracted by a half-naked Dr. House!"
"He's not half-naked!" I weakly protest. "They just aren't showing everything."

Yeah, yeah. The lady doth protest too much. Celeb-crush, much?

(That and earlier in the day, one of my friends tried to correct me on who was and wasn't in Sense and Sensibility - the one with Emma Thompson. I had mentioned that it had Hugh Laurie and Alan Rickman ... she thought I was talking about them as the two male leads. And she'd be right, the two male leads are Hugh GRANT and Alan Rickman. BUT!! Hugh Laurie is in it!! He's the deliciously-accented and delightfully dry-humored Mr. Palmer. ... It's the sarcasm of Dr. House! But with the lusciously plummy accent!! Squee!!)

And there's the exchange between my mom and me the other morning:
Mom: How are you doing?
Me: *rasping* I'm still sick. I'm doing okay. But my voice is kinda gone.

Mom: Oh, I guess I could have just read your Facebook status, huh?

Hee hee. My mom's cute. I love having her on Facebook. It makes me happy.

Even if I have to type her first name, instead of just "Mom," to send her gifts/hugs/flowers. ^_^

My daughter is cute/funny/hilarious/morbid.

Here's the latest example.

"Mom! Mom! I am gonna tell you a story."
Me: Was it a dream?

Bucket: No, Mom. It's a story. ... Once upon a time, all of us -- me, you, Daddy, Mutti, Grandma, Grandpa, Poppi (my stepdad, in case you didn't know)...

Me: And [Bruise]?
Bucket: Yes. We went to a castle. A big castle. And there was a bad witch. A mean witch. And she kick us out of the castle.

Me: Did she throw us out?
Bucket: NO. She KICK us out.

Me: How did she do that? With her magic?
Bucket: No. With her FOOT.

Me: Oh. ... So she literally kicked us out. She must have a very large foot. Did it hurt?

Bucket: What?
Me: Where she kicked us. Did she kick your butt?
Bucket: Yes.
Me: Did it hurt? Did your butt hurt where she kicked you?
Bucket: No. So I took a sword and cut her into tiny pieces.

Me: Wasn't that a little drastic?

Bucket: No.

Me: I mean, couldn't you have ASKED her to be nice? Or gotten a lawyer to sue her so she'd let us in the castle? Or called the police since she was that mean?
Bucket: No. I cut her up. THE END!

Me: Oooooookay. .... Okay. Just don't cut up more people, okay? Can we manage that?

I also had emailed with my brother-in-law, J, about a video I had seen on youtube. He emailed me back and totally made me laugh.

I had suggested that HE play a certain song for someone's birthday. And if he didn't like the idea, forget that I ever mentioned it. Or, if he REALLY LIKES the idea, he could still forget that I mentioned it ... and take all the credit!
As he responded, he wrote "all the credit!! jk"

Seriously, I need to start a fan club for J. He cracks me up SO much! Unfortunately, when he gets married, I'll have to give up my position as president of the fan club. Oh, horrors!! :P

... Also, last night, I realized that in order to share all the hilariosity that is Michael and me watching SYTYCD, I'd have to tape-record us.

I just never remember everything that we (usually HE) say during the night.

I do remember him saying that Nigel and Mary Murphy and Cat seem to be trying to shut up Toni Basil. And him being pretty sure that she's done some drugs in the past.

I remember wondering aloud what Mary Murphy's drink was? Maybe a LONG ISLAND Iced Tea?? Toward the end of the night, she was pretty ... um ... happy. Yeah. Happy.

And, for some reason, I just really don't care for Phillip. Michael agrees that he's kinda goofy looking (I know, I know! I'm shallow! I'm fully aware of this!) ... and I know that he IS a very hard worker... I just don't like him much.

Michael tried to figure out why ... finally I just said, "I don't KNOW. I guess beacuse he's just not Hok." [I REALLY, REALLY liked Hok. I'm glad that Benji Schwimmer won. But I really adore Hok.]

But, really, if you listened to the two of us watch these shows, you'd really agree that we have a future as real-life Waldorf and Statler. Except that I'm a girl. But still.

Also, I'm still VERY, VERY BITTER that Fox is not every planning on releasing DVDs of the seasons ... or even just some of the best dances of the seasons.

They're all like, "Blah, blah, blah ... there's not enough of a market ... the music rights are too expensive ... blah, blah, blah."
Then WHY ON EARTH are there DVDs of some of American Idol??

I had griped a little to Michael as he was recalling a few dances from a couple of seasons ago (which means that they were a couple of YEARS ago) ... and I couldn't remember these dances well at all. And I grumped, "Well, if SYTYCD WANTS me to remember past performances, it'd be nice if they RELEASED them on DVD. *grumpy sigh*"
"Not that you're bitter or anything," Michael smugly observed.

"Me?? Nooooo!"

Yeah, this has been a rather long blog full of nothing in particular. Oh well. It's keeping my mind off the fact that my sinuses are still sore, I've got that wisdom tooth coming in (with a CANKER SORE on my cheek against it! Ai-yi-yi!!), and that I really have little-to-no-voice left. I can either croak or whisper. And, if I feel it's REALLY warrented, I can give a quick shout.

But I mostly don't want to talk at all.

Or look in the mirror. With my plague, I've not been sleeping so well, so I look ... TIRED. OLD. NOT GOING TO BE AMERICA'S NEXT TOP MODEL. (Not that I've seen that show for about a year or so. Is it still on??)

Also, I'm still ticked off that Max was eliminated last week. I still think that Jason should have gone. We've got contemporary dancers up the wazoo (wahzoo? How does one spell that??) and Max was a Ballroom (Latin Ballroom, to be precise) dancer!! There's not tons on the show!
If HE had been in it, that Paso Doble wouldn't have been half as awful. (And seriously, I may just be being a little catty/bitter, but WHO chose those costumes?? EEK! They were vair, vair distracting. And I LIKE the Paso Doble, so this was a huge disappointment to me.)

(You want a GREAT Paso Doble?? Go watch John O'Hurley in Dancing with the Stars. He was AWESOME. LOVE him!! And he's not a PROFESSIONAL-type dancer!!!!)

Unfortunately I cannot find a video of him dancing the Paso Doble ... but if you ever get a chance, you should totally, TOTALLY watch it!!!!

He's a wonderfully hilarious man. I like him very much.
(Whenever I spend Tanksgiving with my Mom -- she, Julie and I watch the dog show. We always root against the poodles [They win WAY too often!] and I ADORE O'Hurley's commentary. It makes me happy. And I'm not even a dog person!!)

Okay, I'm shutting up now. Soon it'll be time to feed the kidlets and put them down for a nap. And follow suit myself. ^_^ Yay!

Sorry for not blogging sooner. I'm trying to remember what all has gone on since I last blogged.

So, last Wednesday, we had storytime ... and I'm sure that we did something else.
Thursday was storytime in the next town over, complete with doughnuts and snacks for my kidlets (SPOILED!!) and chatting with my dear library ladies and gents.

Bucket, as one of the library guys walked in, asked me, "Mommy! Who 'dat??"
"Oh, that's J[library guy]."
"I love him."
"...Well, don't get your hopes up, girl. He's already married. And his wife is really nice. She works here, too."

When I told him about it, he joked to Bucket that he'd probably be single in a couple decades, when she's old enough. Ha!! (And he better not be. Not that I wouldn't have fun with him as a son-in-law [He's frakkin' HILARIOUS!] ... but his wife is very, very nice and darling. And I'd have to kick him in the shins if he screwed that up. ^_^)

Friday, Michael went into work for a couple hours. I washed the cats and powdered them (FLEAS! HATE FLEAS!!!) and we went to the aquarium while the flea bombs went off.

Bucket and Bruise were very excited to touch sea stars (YES, I HAVE taught them that they are REALLY called sea stars. It was drummed into my head. Ergo, it's drummed into theirs.) and the baby sharks and rays.

They're still skittish about touching the abalone, anenomes, chitons, sea lemon, sea cucumbers, and the urchins. But they love seeing the little crabs in the touch/tidepool display. They'll come around.

Then we went to dinner while we aired the house out. Mexican food = DELICIOUS. I had the chicken mole (it has CHOCOLATE IN THE SAUCE!! And, though it sounds strange at first, it's really, really good. Bucket kept asking for more. ^_^ My little gormand.)

Saturday was spent at home -- C and A and the cousins came over. C climbed under the house to help rid us of the NASTY plastic underneath that some animal in the neighborhood decided to use as a giant toilet. (GROSS!!) While he was down there, a cinderblock got knocked/moved ... some dumb bunny who set up this place (it's a manufactured home ... almost as old as I am) set all the venilation ducts on top of water pipes. And DIDN'T secure the pipes to take the weight. So a pipe broke ... and we were without water for a little.

With four kids needing to use the toilet. Eeps! Thankfully, we were able to get that taken care of in about an hour. Phew!

Oh, and Saturday, I started getting sick. Just a nasty allergy-feeling-thing. Which has turned into a full-blown cold. AND one of my wisdom teeth is really making its presence known. (And guess who doesn't have dental insurance?? [Me.]) So, the last few days, I've been trying to sleep in, drug myself up, blow my nose constantly, hack into my elbow-pit, and NOT sound like death warmed over. Fun!!

We missed the first day of the community's free wading pool (this is the last year for it!!!!) because (1) it was a little cold, (2) the kiddos were not making life easy for me -- so I wasn't in any mood to take them anywhere fun, and (3) I had the plague.

It was mostly a sore throat and a stuffed-up head. Now it's moving out of the head and into my lungs. And I think that I've lost my voice. Just tried to sing a note ... I had nothing. No arias today, my dear self. Nope! Okay, I was able to get one note out.

And my speaking voice is quite breathy -- like I'm imitating Marilyn Monroe. With a wisdom tooth poking itself through. (It's not the pain, my dears. It's the pressure.)

(But ibuprofen takes care of that. Once (1) I take it and (2) it kicks in.)

Yesterday was storytime at the Carnigie building here in town.

The one that Bruise pronounces as "Carney." ("Circus folk. Small hands. Smell like cabbage." <-- Anyone going to name the quote??)

In other news, I am THISCLOSE to catching up on the dishes. The ones that I mostly hadn't done since family went back home after T2's wedding. (I know!! LAZY!!) ... and I have a matric crapload of laundry to wash. (And fold. And put away. Sigh.)

My friend, Roxy, came to visit the other day. And give me fun prezzies!! She gave me two CDs of these fun Japanese singers, Kokusyoku Sumire, and a DVD of anime. ^_^ Of course, I've not been awesome enough to listen to/watch it all yet. AND I forgot to lend her my copy of the complete Princess Ai manga. Crap! Oh well. She and I will be seeing each other next month for SURE, since we're both in M's wedding. I'll just have to make sure that I'm made of awesome and remember to pack it to give to her!

Okay. Now to move a load from the wash into the dryer and get more clothes washed. It'll be nice of I have more than one pair of pants that I can wear. Ugh. And let's get the kiddos to clean their room. And I'm NOT doing it this time!!

Oh -- and Progressive is accepting responsibility for 60% of damages. Yay for some reimbursement! Phew! That's WAY better than paying for everything. Phew!