Smooshing

Taking another day off (yes, already!~~~)....why not? Still have many days carried over that I need to use up -

I woke up at 4:30AM and went back to sleep. Woke up at 6:30AM and thought about getting up. Tried to go back to sleep. Couldn't. Rolled over and the next thing I knew, it was 9:10AM!! I did it! I actually slept in!!

So a hair appointment at 2PM seemed reason enough to just make a day of it - and then I was able to get in on a cancellation for my annual mammogram - so that's at 3!

I plan to treat myself to a Light Caramel Frappucino after the annual smooshing of the boobs is over.

In two weeks, the annual colonoscopy will be done - and we're adding a 'throat scope' to that as well for reflux damage diagnosis. That will be a fun day! (not).....

It will be good to have the annual stuff all done - and the every five year stuff done, too!!

Looking forward to a productive weekend around the homestead! Plenty to do - and I'm going to venture into the world of posting something on eBay for sale. Wish me luck! I'm a little nervous about it - it's hard letting go of stuff (even stuff you haven't used in decades) - but my french horn needs to be played. And I'm not playing it. And in retirement, I think the chances of me playing it are slim to none. So I'm going to try to sell it...and see what happens. Even if it's only a few hundred dollars, it's putting it in the hands of someone who might use it more than I - and it's out of our garage...

It's just hard to post it for sale - it makes me a little sad to let it go.....

I'm going to set a starting price and if it doesn't sell for that (or more), then I'm going to donate it to our district's music program.

Holey

H. will be arriving home any minute with a pierced lip. Actually just under his lip.

He's 18. He could have done it without my permission....but he knew I wasn't really keen on it. So he's been bringing the subject up periodically and through his exceedingly patient approach, I finally said 'ok'. What's another piercing?

He's promised to keep it 'studs only' - nothing garish....no rings or horns or anything more strange than having a stud through your lip.

He says the chicks really dig it.

I have no response for that.....the frequent hickeys on his neck are troubling enough.

Loving Harry

It is so sad to have the adventures be 'over'.....but oh, the end is just glorious. Stupendous! Brilliant! Stunning! It was so great - and I plan to see it again this weekend. I teared up a bit but held it together 'cuz the boys were with me. So I want to see it again and just let the waterworks go. Say goodbye to the adventure and to my kids' childhood. Say goodbye to watching Harry, Ron and Hermione grow up before our eyes. I need a good cry. I feel all 'stopped up' about it and I have to get that all 'out'.

It was magical and wondrous....and someday, I'm going to take two or three days and watch the DVD's all in a row from start to finish. With popcorn.

And I'm going to read all the books again - including #7 which I sort of just skimmed. It's time to enjoy the adventure from the written word, which I'm positive will be all the more amazing than the movies could ever be. I'm loving reading again and that's a really neat thing -

Shameless

This is Chloe. She's doing what she does best.....begging to have her belly rubbed. She will stay like this - seemingly mesmerized - for as long as it takes for one of us to take pity on her and rub her tummy.

I am Three

apparently. I have yet another ear infection....which I actually sought medical help for last week and just spared all of you the details. The dance performance we attended last Tuesday evening was loads of fun - but by the time we were at the theater, I was feeling pretty awful. A trip to the doctor the next day confirmed an ear infection. Which I knew 'cuz the earache kept me up most of last Tuesday (and several nights since).

This morning, I went back to the doctor for an injection of antibiotics and he threw in a B12 shot for good measure. I could barely walk up the stairs this morning to shower....

And any thought I had of taking off the remainder of the week were dashed when I received an email invite from my boss for a 10AM meeting on Wednesday. So there goes that idea. Oh well...I do love my job and my boss and (most of) my co-workers so getting back to the daily grind isn't too painful. Grateful to be employed and thankful it's something I enjoy doing. Working is such drudgery if you dislike what you're slaving away at - and thankfully, I've never had a job I didn't truly love.

Tomorrow, the boys and I are going to see HP7....I will bring Kleenex. It is sad to have this journey be over - the Harry Potter series is something my kids grew up with and sharing this journey with them has been such a joyful experience. It will be sad to see it come to an end....but I am looking forward to the availability of the series on e-books in October and think that might be my only Christmas wish - the entire series on my iPhone!

J. posted more pics of the beach vacation on his Facebook page - some of the underwater pics are amazing. While the color isn't great (never is with the cheap disposable underwater cameras), the pics of the boys 'in action' are terrific. H. is down 40 feet with just a snorkel! The kid's amazing!

Time to get dinner going - Asian chicken salad using up the leftover roasted chicken from last night. Off to cook for mi familia.

And since I'm (apparently) three, I'm also going to see the new Winnie the Pooh movie tomorrow - I will invite the boys though I doubt they will come. We can have lunch and then get back into the theater for the WP movie and make (practically) a day of it. We'll see...they might just humor their old mom and see a movie that will have me smiling from the inside out. I have saved every single VHS Winnie the Pooh tape we have (and pray they will still have VCRs) for my grand kids!! I refuse to part with them....they are a treasure!

One more fun-filled day with my boys and then back to work! I can do it!! (It must be the B12.....).

Two to Go

Attempting to wrap my head around having only two more days off. Rationalizing trying to be off the entire week. It might be 'do-able', if I bag a couple meetings in the later part of the week. But I should just bite the bullet and head back on Wednesday as scheduled, grateful it will be a short week of only three days. Our two new administrators start this week and it will be nice to have the 'team' together for a few days before the madness of 'it's time for the school's to open again' begins in earnest mid-August. It's also time to close the books and I have massive amounts of stuff to accomplish - heading into another phase of working weekends. All the more reason to go in three days this week....head start possible?

I'm gutting the study today - so at the moment, it looks torn to shreds. But we're cleaning out and culling like crazy. Two Palm III devices 'gutted' so whatever info was in them is irretrievable. Found 5 disposable cameras - 3 that need to be developed and two that have a few shots left. J. just took the underwater disposables to Costco - watch for the amazing underwater pics on his Facebook page. Pretty great shots of the kids....some will soon be framed and on the walls here and at work. I've filled the recycle bin twice and the shred bin is refilling - H. shredded massive amounts of stuff for me a couple days ago and now he gets to do it all again! He's so lucky!

I've got my swim suit on and am heading outside to do some 'chores' out in the backyard. One last attempt to get some color from the sun.....

Will skip a nap today (hard to do - I'll miss naps the most!) and get a nice Sunday dinner going - roasted chicken with roasted potatoes, steamed broccoli and from scratch Caesar salad! Including anchovies!

B. will be home from work soon - he's getting quite a few hours which is good. He made a big down payment on his car insurance to keep his monthly payments as low as possible. Even then, he has very little discretionary income - between car insurance and gas, gym membership and cell phone, he's pretty 'tapped out'. He's learning.....

Events

Awoke to an email from AmEx alerting us to fraudulent activity on J.'s card - appears his iTunes account was hacked and someone in Japan attempted to charge a bunch of stuff at a Japanese website....I do love AmEx SO MUCH - they are overnighting new cards to us and alerted us to the possible hacking by asking 'is this card used for iTunes'? A quick Google search confirmed a huge hacking incident resulting in credit card and address info being stolen - yikes!

The second shocking financial incident occurred when I retrieved several days of mail from our mailbox - the annual car insurance renewal arrived - and B.'s new insurance is FOUR THOUSAND DOLLARS PER YEAR - just for him. Holy Crap! He's paying for it in full - $333 a month - which will put a dent in his discretionary income. Oh well. A couple years of no accidents will help....so here's hoping. It could have been worse - I fully expected him to be booted off our policy but thankfully, CSAA let him stay put. In a high risk pool, he'd probably pay close to that for six months of insurance - so it's good they kept him on our policy.

J. and I are heading into San Francisco for a ballet performance - dinner with (new) friends and then the show. Should be fun. We don't get out much so just getting ourselves gussied up and into the city is a big deal.

We've had B.'s friend R. here for a few days - and it's been a pleasure getting to know him. He is a good 'fit' here - blends right in and takes care of himself. He has a standing open invitation to return as often as he wants, whenever he wants - and I encouraged him to consider staying here long(er) term if he needs to. I don't think someone should make relationship decisions based on needing housing - he's a good kick in the ass for both boys and holds them accountable for a lot of things -

OK - got to go get gussied up. Tomorrow is my first 'no commitment' day of my 'staycation' and I can't wait!