One of Those Days

Today is one of those days where my iPhone alarm is set to go off a whole bunch of times telling me to do stuff. It used to be that I had a list. Well, the list doesn't beep. Twice.

Wake up. Send an important email. Call the eye dr, call the pediatrician. Fill out dr office paperwork. Go to Bed Bath & Beyond for Indie's window curtains, go to the UPS place to mail them to her, and pick up Mariah early from school for an appointment to hopefully start allergy shots - finally! (don't forget that paperwork)That sort of stuff. Forget about mundane reminders like do the laundry or vacuum.

But the dreaded alarm? Ehhh, that one is at 11:00 for the dentist to get a crown replaced. Apparently I'm a jaw clencher (yes, I actually do bite back some words) and after many years an old crown which is stronger than the tooth under it has cracked the tooth. First, I cracked one getting out my kids-are-going-to-college-anxiety issues, while filling a chocolate fix, with See's Chocolate Suckers, and now this!!! I was so irritated by both the need and the expense, that I just flat out did NOT go back to do it over SIX MONTHS ago. I got a phone call about 3 months later and told them I was going to wait on that. Against all their advice. Hey, when you don't have the funds, you don't have the funds. Still don't, but I decided against the redneck missing tooth look or seeing if insurance covered more for a root canal than they do for a crown. When I returned for another bi-annual cleaning, they were practically toe-tapping at me. Well, today they have me right where they want me. It's payback time with the nasty numbing juice and the big needles. But what I absolutely hate the most is the face numbing afterwards. If I could just be put under until it was all over I would do it in a heartbeat to avoid that.

Well, my alarm is about to beep for the 2nd time. I should have put an alarm on for blogging and allowed time for that too. What was I thinking?!

P.S. It would be great if Mariah got allergy tested today, but not sure she will because I think you have to make another appointment for that. But the poor girl is in the middle of another major allergy attack and has already been on steroids twice since February to deal with it. She's miserable enough not to complain too much about the needles today and won't overthink it like she will if we go back specifically to be pricked a bunch of times. Really, who wants that?!

It will do to her what the crown appointment is doing to me. And it will be one of those days....for both of us.

I Wonder

I wonder where this will go? I debate between trying for an all-in-one summer update which would probably go on for way too long, even by my standards, or just a jump in where we are now and maybe mention something about summer each time? Well, that debate stalled me for a long time, so I guess I will go with the latter idea and get back to watching Hurricane Irene batter NJ and NYC. I get a kick out of watching the weather newscasters in their slickers making it into a big event and while I know it is important, it sure doesn't look like much on TV. And then when you least expect it, wham! Geraldo is tossed into the surf or something. So prime time! That I live for these moments I'm sure says something about me.

We tried for one of those fun moments with Felicie in Gatlinburg but were disappointed. We got a good rest though. Every afternoon a thunderstorm approached and cut off the fun. The second day we were at the water park. Most people left but when we heard there was a 50% chance of hail we got under one of the covered patios by the wave pool at the very edge and hunkered down covered by our towels. It got really chilly being rained on after awhile. Felicie said she hadn't seen hail before, which I can't imagine. Sometimes things got lost in the translation. But since she wasn't really loving this crazy American thing to do, we gave up on it when the storm front moved past us. We headed back to our hotel and warmed up and played Phase 10 forever instead.

Back to present day, I have to admit I keep thinking I need to Google the names of the 2011 Hurricanes. I know there was a Harvey, and now Irene. That means J will be a boy name and K is back to a girl. How awesome would it be if it was Kay? (Mike's sister and her husband for those of you who don't know!). I tell you I would be laughing every time I waited for a weatherman in a rain coat to get swept off his feet just thinking about that.

So, classes have started for Taryn and Indy. They both finished their first week. Taryn and Tim celebrated their one year anniversary as a couple this weekend. Congratulations to T&T! I'm not sure, but from the photo on facebook, I am wondering if he gave her a TV for her dorm room? There was just enough room for it under the desk. Inquiring minds want to know if it was an anniversary gift or what? Not that there's anything wrong with that! I can see Taryn really enjoying it. But, Tim, please make sure she studies before she plays XBox.

Indy has found that Aussie is a Brutus after all and we did not need to change his name that the shelter had bestowed upon him. He has been tearing up her apartment and following her around literally. He sits behind her on her chair when she is working at her desk. He chews her textbooks when she isn't looking (saw that one coming) and has taken up a horrible habit of chewing door frames. I have never seen a cat with a chewing fetish before. It's odd. I will have to look it up and see what to do about it. I brought her a plant decoration to keep him occupied but of course he went about finding his own things to destroy. What a demon.

Gib is driving himself around town now. I have almost gotten used to it. He has a full load of honors and AP classes and is working on his Eagle proposal. There is alot on his plate. He needs to think about some kind of income for his fun, but until we see his academic workload and how that goes for him and get the Eagle thing off the ground, I am not putting any more on his shoulders. He has a good group of friends and they usually have something going on after school on Friday's but it is often at the park or at someone's house to play XBox and not necessarily more than a meal at Sonic as far as expenses go. In just two weeks, Gib has about used up all my Sonic coupons! He is also going to do Youth Legislature again this year. I am glad he will participate in that again. As he keeps reminding me, he's a great guy... I hear good things about our Gib, and often see little hints of my dad in him which makes me smile inside.

Mariah (age 13) recently had a mini makeover and suddenly became all grown up. One of her teachers from last year called her "hair and contacts" for the first week of school. The year in glasses changed our perception of Mariah so much! When our vision coverage renewed we used the insurance on the scratched lenses to replace them in the old frames and put Mariah back in contacts. We went with Daily's. If Mariah spreads out wearing them, i.e. wears her glasses part of the time, we can work the insurance system and pay less for both contacts and glasses but it has to be every 18 months not every 12 months. Or we have to buy a box of contacts to last 6 months until insurance kicks in again. Mariah auditioned for and got in 8th grade Performance Choir. She has it for her 1st period class which means no more early morning school twice a week! yay! I am looking forward to hearing them sing. She requested to learn Harmony and is singing Alto. Mariah has good teachers and is happy with her class mix (the students with her) this year. She is in Spanish for the first time and also has Geometry for high school credit. No surprise but she scored great on the end of course exam for Algebra - one of two students with a 100%. Very proud of our girl!

Actually, that reminds me I need to make an appointment for Gib to try contacts again on Monday. We had one but he got a migraine and cancelled it. This is about his 3rd or 4th try. Let's all pray that this is The Year!!!! I'd really like for Gib to see the whole world all the time. I can't do much about him not hearing it 24/7, but seeing it would be nice.

New Post

Taryn gently reminded me that I am quite negligent on the blog. I must admit, while I had plenty to write about, I seem to have lost my muse. So I turned to my favorite photography subjects to see if I can get it back. The cats. haha. Not exactly how it happened.

Chino - Ignoring me. Like there's any point in that.

He's so not amused by me calling his name and telling him how much I adore him.

Well, he has to admit it... he likes it.

But he can only take so much.

Diego is not a cooperative photo cat

This morning when I opened the door to get the cat's dishes from the patio, a fawn was scampering in the sprinklers. I think they had just come on and she was trying to figure out what in the world was going on. It was funny. I went for the camera and thought she was gone when I got back. But as I was standing there looking for her, out popped a head from behind the big tree trunk.

Never did see her momma.

Kay - I took this one for you. The Chaste Tree we planted is quite happy in its spot. I sure hope that means my mom won't ask us to transplant it. Ever.

If you follow my facebook, which if probably how I lost my muse in the first place because why would I want to put everything in both places?, we were "graced" with a giant Zipper spider this year in our lovely new garden area amongst the Cannas. I've been morbidly fascinated with it.

I will get around to the humans in the blog later tonight or tomorrow. And for those who don't want to see the Zipper Spider, you are safe until the bottom of the blog.

This spider, which I named Chiquita, could care less if her zipper is perfect, as long as it gets the job done. What that job is, exactly, I have no idea. But I like that about her. Every day there is a new zipper in the web. If you go out early enough, you can see her finishing the web. I'd rather not see her move really. But once she starts, I can't stop staring, however I'm so tense that if anyone came up and said BOO! I'd scream. I always back away from Chiquita. And if the cats walk near her web I hold my breathe and worry. They seem to know to go around it.

So, the son of my preschool coworker has a project this weekend to put together a powerpoint using photos of insects. I figured I would help and send a few of Chiquita as she is a beauty. Apparently I was there during feeding hour. Ehhh. The first time she raced down the web I about lost it, but I just backed up, put on the telefoto lens and got tons of pics. There is one of her snagging the hapless gnat that flew into her web. And another of her egg sac. I wish I had been there when she was making it. It hardens and all the baby spiders incubate inside it all winter. There are over a thousand zipper spider in it. That's not a happy thought for me. But I've never seen that many in one spot so I'm assuming they don't all make it or it's like Charlotte's web and they all just fly away. And since the Zipper takes care of insects I don't want, and stays where I can keep my eye on it, we have a truce. Chiquita's days are numbered now. I expect to go out one morning and she won't be there. After that I will be a little freaked... where is the giant spider?!!? Even though I know she is probably dead. When we cut down the Canna, we will have to take the branch up the hill or something.


And now the moment you have been waiting for... Chiquita and her babies. See the egg sac at the bottom left. Clever spot, huh?

Breakfast.

Hope you had yours.

Mercer Service Scholars

Indy with the children of the family that they
were helping to build a house for in Armenia.

Here are a couple of links that will provide pictures and personal reflections on the work that Indy is doing in Armenia with her Mercer Service Scholars team.

Pictures:

Fuller Center Photo Album

Pictures and Reflections:

Mercer Service Scholar Blog