Triple Threats

The Triple Threats arrived on Monday. I drove to St. Louis to pick them up. Taryn, Tim and Tiffani. We stopped at Ted Drewes Frozen Custard before we hardly got in the car!

Somewhere along the way, I snagged a Rest Area photo!

I like to giggle for about 100 miles or so about them afterward. It helps pass the time.

Triple T's didn't plan on cooperating.

They saw me with my iPhone and yelled "SCATTER!"

I stopped to explain to a nice gentlemen why people were running screaming out of a rest stop. Taryn took advantage of having the keys and locking me out. At least this time she wasn't jumping up and down on the backseat of the vehicle. We are having a great Spring Break visit and unfortunately, have to take them back tomorrow. Tonight we are going to play Spoons. We had steak and baked potatoes for dinner. It was cold outside but we bbq'd. Mike and Tim had the honors. Taryn and I sent Mariah out to get a photo. She eventually did. My plan is to get everyone really full and maybe it will slow them down! It won't help me advance any farther than my usual next to last, but hey, it's a plan anyway.

Watch Out!

Drivers Training ends today. Yay! I sincerely hope Gib is getting more out of it than reports indicate. Simulation practice showed Gib to be better skilled at texting AND driving than driving with distraction. Grreeeeaaaaat. Don't worry, Gib says he knows better. And I'm worrying enough for all of us, trust me. So apparently, the simulation had boulders, of all things, coming at the driver while they were practicing their attention to the road and sudden objects appearing out of nowhere.

While texting Gib did just fine navigating falling rocks, boulders rolling down the street heading right at you - because you know that happens! - and cars swerving to avoid them. However, while driving with both hands on the wheel, when faced with attacking boulders he crashed into everything and everyone else crashed into him. He was so discombobulated from the whole simulation exercise at the end of the day he forgot to schedule his actual on the road driving dates.

We took care of that first thing this morning and Gib will be driving the first week in May. They drive to your home or to your school to get you for a 2 hr appt of one on one driving time. I was kinda giggling thinking about his reaction and asked him on the way there if he would want to schedule them to be picked up at the house or at school. I thought for sure he wouldn't want to be seen getting into one of THOSE vehicles. This is the kid who refuses to be seen in the SWAG VAN on campus. He was all over getting picked up at school, and I honestly couldn't tell if it was sarcastic or not. Wow. I am still humbled that I don't know. I mean, surely, it was sarcastic right?! Who WANTS to be picked up in front of your friends in a STUDENT DRIVER beater car?! But Gib did schedule one of those driving times for a school pick up, so apparently...not?! Because I'm pretty sure I would know sarcasm, even if the student has surpassed the master (just this once).

A couple gems from Driver's Training:

• They are watching Ferris Bueller's day off. The movie is so old I don't even remember how to spell it anymore. And how that relates to driver's training I have no idea. They enjoy it during the lunch break. What's wrong with Mad Max: Road Warrior or Days of Thunder, I ask you!?
• Gib started a frisbee and football throwing thing to do during their breaks and lunch. Sure enough, upon our arrival on Day 2, Gib was pleased to see several guys were already flipping frisbees to each other. This was accompanied with an additional activity of outlining bodies in chalk as if they didn't make their goal of Not Getting Shot. Nice. Gib thought it would be funny for the instructors to find the outlines of several bodies when they came out of the building that day. Several gathered around as Gib was outlined in chalk by Patrick... they had a good laugh when Patrick forgot a leg and foot from the knee down.
• Gib and I decided this Drivers Ed thing was best accompanied by Sonic breakfast and Coke. Since we don't seem to have any at the house right now and he gave up Dr. Pepper for Lent, it's the only way poor Gibbie gets his caffeine boost to make it through the class. Drivers Training coincides conveniently with .99 cent happy hour drinks at Sonic. We liked it so much I also stopped by on the way home yesterday :) Mariah wants in on some of that - she feels a Cherry Limeaid coming on. Well it IS spring break! How can I say no to some spring break Sonic excitement?! Betcha anything she tries to upgrade to a Reese's Blast (with EXTRA Reese's).

2 Days of Style

Today, Mariah and I went back to the boutique next to the hair salon. She saw a dress there that she wanted to buy with her birthday money. She tried it back on but decided against it. I saw this one and showed it to her. We have a winner! Isn't she adorable in it?! It's her first boutique dress. Actually, I don't think I've ever shopped in a boutique for clothes either. We also got a cool bracelet that looks great with the dress. I love bracelets.

Yesterday, Mariah finally got the haircut she's been waiting a long time on!

She put back in layers and bangs! We changed hair stylists and are going to the daughter of my good friend. The girls all grew up together. Kaylahn did a great job!

Grammy got her hair cut too. Gib was the first to let Kaylahn practice on him. She is cutting my hair now as well. Taryn will be in town next week and has an appointment lined up too! All we have to do now is talk Mike into doing something other than buzz from the cheap place on the corner... not that Kaylahn couldn't shear his head. Hmmmmm.

Drivers Training Perspective

So apparently, they have changed things since Indy and Taryn took the course. It's tons of class time and you schedule driving time separately outside of class. Yuck. I don't remember it being like that with them, or if it was, it was summer time and didn't affect us as much.

Gib is NOT enjoying this. He has two gems of wisdom from two days of classes:

• From his notes yesterday: The Goal is NOT to get shot. Oh yes!! That is why we sent him there, so he'd learn that elusive life lesson!!
• Today: If they have them, a person's aggressive driving style is directly proportional to the number of bumper stickers on the car. The more bumper stickers, the more road rage the driver is likely to exhibit. As Gib was telling me this, a VW Bug goes by completely COVERED in bumper stickers. "Like him! What a FREAK!!!" Not that there's anything wrong with that....

Grammy wanted to know what if the bumper stickers were religious. Well, I guess that just means the person will pray for you after he or she runs you off the road, or they will ask for forgiveness for flipping you the bird. Hey, that's good to know. No need to respond to the aggression, right?! I wonder if the contrition is as proportional to the number of bumper stickers....

And, as always, the goal is to NOT GET SHOT.

Spring Break '11

Friday was the official first day of Spring Break this year. Might've been nice but we were unable to fully appreciate it as the kids were already out of school with illnesses, and we didn't have a vacation destination to get to. Now both kids will have tests to make up for when they get back. Mariah missed half of Monday, and the rest of the week. One of her very good friends has mono. Her chances of coming down with it are higher than I like. Gib missed Wednesday and Thursday with something that looked like strep but I guess wasn't. Our big plans are gardening and......

DRIVER'S TRAINING!! Today is the first day. That means it's also the first installment of Driver's Training Blogging!! I hope Gib is forthcoming with some wonderful little gems worthy of sharing. He probably won't be, but I will endeavor to extract some good stories from the dude.


Day One:
Gib and I enjoyed getting there in time to scope out the special Nissans they get to drive with the words Student Driver written all over every side, the back, and quite possibly the roof. We picked out our favorites. Two had obviously seen better days, better drivers, and better instructors in my opinion. One had a scuffy bumper but that's not as bad as the two which had busted out rear lights and bumper dents. I told Gib not to mention he has virtually no parking experience or he'll end up in one of THOSE instead of the one we picked out as our fave. We had entirely different reasons for liking it though.

MY REASON:
It was a silver Nissan. The only silver one there. It had student driver written in a nice turquoise blue instead of the ugly glaring white like the other cars and it had a spoiler on it. Now, a couple others have spoilers, like Gib pointed out, but this one just looked slightly spiffier and newer than the other cars. I pointed out the most telling feature: it was parked front facing out, which to me, meant a cool driver instructor (probably a guy) was assigned to that car.

GIB'S REASON:
"I want that car - I don't have to back it out"

Geez. I can see we're gonna get our money's worth this week.

When I got home I read a text from Gib. He is sitting next to Patrick - the boy who lived on our street and was Gib's good friend for many years when they were young. They moved away and then moved back but we've lost touch with them. Haha - how crazy is that?!

Super Moon

Last night, on March 19, 2011 we had a Perigee Moon aka The SUPER MOON!

Mike, Mariah and I went to the park to watch the moon rise. It was pretty cool. We didn't take our camera because it was too dark for it to capture any good photos. We did use the cell phone and I think Mike got one usable photo on his. After a bit, we headed home to watch it at our house. Turned out though, it was still about an hour from clearing the tree line. I bundled up and watched until I was really cold and tired.

But this morning was another story. A good night's sleep and a kitty to make up to for missing sunrise yesterday, we headed out extra early.

Here is the last of the Super Moon in a photo taken at 6:00 a.m. this morning just as it was about to disappear from my view.The "Scoop" on the Super Moon:
LOS ANGELES (LALATE) – While tonight’s Perigee Moon for March 19, 2011 is called a “Supermoon”, NASA tells news that the “super” in the word Supermoon refers to the rare beauty and illusion that the Moon will create this evening. At first glance, tonight’s full Moon may not have a proportional difference than any other night. But as NASA explains to news, when tonight’s full Moon is observed behind foreground objects like trees and foliage, it will appear “supersized” and brighter.

How big will tonight’s Moon appear? NASA predicts that this evening the full Moon may appear as much as fourteen percent larger than on average. And while the Moon may appear substantial supersized tonight, NASA explains it’s all an illusion. Tonight’s illusion is the result of the Moon’s orbit passing loser to the Earth.

But here rests the irony.

As NASA explains to news, tonight’s full Moon may appear fourteen percent larger but it is not that much closer to the Earth than on average. As NASA adds, “the moon may seem bigger although the difference in its distance from Earth is only a few percent at such times.”

There is more to be excited about tonight’s Moon besides it enlarged appearance. It will appear also thirty percent brighter that a normal full Moon. The last time this happened was March 1993. And yet, tonight’s Moon tonight is only fifty thousand kilometers closer to the Earth to create this spectacle.

The very last seconds of the Super Moon...
The Deer were watching it too.


The first photos were taken from the front yard. When the moon got too low, I decided to go out back to the top of the hill. The patio wasn't quite high enough, so I stood just past the tree you see there in the middle... and sensed I was not alone. I had looked and didn't see a thing but it was still dark. Usually the deer will run, especially if you get that close! Geez. So I get a nice whiff of deer poop (that's a first). The Super Moon is slipping away, but I'm wondering if I'm about to get a deer in my back. I look over my shoulder s-l-o-w-l-y...
and there she is off to my left about 2 deer bounds away. Lovely. And she ain't twitching. She doesn't seem to be very concerned but lemme tell you, those deer have total poker faces. So I slipped BEHIND the tree, so I wouldn't be quite so close to her and then I took that last photo of the Super Moon as it went away.

Just then, Pixie realizes I'm in danger! She races up the walkway moving so fast she's just a little brown blur. She runs diagonally past me and the deer and up into the neighbor's play fort. I'm smiling at the silly cat. Here's the dialog from the wonderfully scary place inside my head:

Yes, Pixie, I do realize I am standing next to a deer. Thank you for alerting me to that fact, but we seem to have an agreement here. I take my photo of the moon and move away and the deer keeps eating. What's the problem? Oh, look at you? OK... ahaa.... there's an ENTIRE family of deer and I'm in the middle of them all?! I did kinda wonder where the rest of them were. Yes, I can see why that would be a problem that standing behind one small birch tree won't solve. Why thank you little kitty. Extra treats for you... if I make it out alive.

So I'm back to moving slowly and quietly. A couple of deer stomping hoofs. But they must have been hungrier than nervous because they never left. I made it to the patio below the birch trees and they were still just watching me. As soon as I hit the bottom stair Pixie races out of the tree fort and down the stairs just as fast as she went up them. She looked at me like I was a crazy person. I asked her if she'd like her kitty treats for saving me now and she agreed that now was good for her. Brave Pixie!!!

Almost Green

Today started bright and early. Well, maybe I should say it was fuzzy at first until I found my glasses. Chino was perturbed because he wanted to be outside when the sun came up and I made him wait until I found my glasses and we could go hang out on the patio together and greet the day. We would have made it at 6 am but it was about 6:25 before I finally found them. I fell asleep playing iPhone games with Mariah in my bed and I think they must have been on top of the covers and ended up getting flung across the room. Haha. Mike found it really humorous to help me look at 6 am on a Saturday. I tried not to wake him, but cell phone illumation and a pat down all around you tends to wake a guy.

Once we spent some time outside greeting the day and I dealt with the kitty scowling that the sun was already up, we got to work on today's landscaping projects. Grammy and I decided to put last years porch arbovitae in the creek bed since there aren't any evergreens over there and it would make for a really nice beautification of the area. I had a couple of logs I was considering using for the berm, but this morning I decided to switch it with some of the Osage orange logs. Those suckers were HEAVY!! About 3x heavier than the one I moved out. The Tree Guy told me the wood is strong and so dense that it will neither rot nor be affected by bugs or termites for decades. Considering there's not a sprinkler system out there, that means the berm may outlast our arbovitae!

While Mike was assembling his new BBQ, Grammy and I transplanted a bazillion daffodils before the patio project is finished. We will have to bring in alot of topsoil and do alot of replanting. I anticipate alot of digging in my future.
Since the photo was taken, Grammy and I shopped at 3 plant stores and bought tons more plants. I planted creeping vinca all around the arbovitae and a red flowering quince. We completely filled the back of her Honda with plants and had to use the back seats too. Good thing Mariah wasn't with us! The ride home from the last place had our front porch Mexican Petunia trees (below) invading my personal space. Haha. I am really excited about them! They have been forced into ornamental trees with braided trunks. It's too dark now to take a photo, but when we get them planted in our new front porch pots I will definitely take photos!

But the plant I think we are most excited about is one we've never heard of before (above). The common name is Bush Clover. The mushumkim name is Lespedeza thunbergii "Volcano". We found it at a neat Nursery that is a little bit of a drive, but they have great prices and cool finds like this. We may have to hit 3 or 4 places but at the end of the day, we have a carload of cool plants and another's day worth of gardening. In a couple months, we will have a beautiful yard too!

ISE Southeast Award

Just a little self promotion!

In nearly a decade of recognizing excellence in information security, the Information Security Executive (ISE®) of the Year Awards has become the industry’s most prestigious and anticipated awards for security executives and their project teams. Winners have included executives from such leading organizations such as Nike, The Walt Disney Company, The U.S. Department of Defense, Unum, Texas Instruments, JPMorgan Chase & Co., Equifax, Paypal, Northrop Grumman Corporation, and Department of Homeland Security.

The Information Security Project of the Year Award focuses on information security projects completed in the past 12-18 months. These projects and their teams are recognized for having a significant impact to an organization's risk management or information security posture. This award brings to light the team behind the work. The project submissions are evaluated on their scope, goals, execution, and results.

Check out the Project of the year Award - click here --> ISE Southeast

CHS is the Novell customer I work for and I have had a significant involvement in this project. Be sure to check out the "Watch Nominee's Video".

Today's Quote

I don't know if when you link in the quote to the right will be the same, and I've never seen it before... I think Mike is playing with me. It says, "teach her how and when to call 911". OK, I have to say I smiled. And I shouldn't. OK, I should. No, I shouldn't. Really.

I suppose philosophically the quote could merit alot of important discussion. But all I can think about is a couple weeks ago my poor neighbor almost getting caught in the shower by the firemen because I called 911 on her when her elderly mother came to my door saying the garage was on fire. I asked her twice and she swore up and down that there was smoke and flames. Now she is not the fastest walker in the world, and I'm thinking (you know how a million thoughts can cross your mind in a split second) like how long did it TAKE her to get here; and should I go check? yes!!! no - the whole thing will explode as soon as I look. yes - the dogs might be in there, no - I ought to just call 911 before the house catches on fire. I call 911 and they ask if anyone is in there. I say no because I think not. But then she says she can't find her daughter. OK, that panicked me.

So then, hearing my friend may be in trouble, I decided to bypass the garage and while giving info to the operator (who gives me a lecture not to put myself in danger) I sprint through pouring rain --- (wondering if lightening struck the house and that's why the garage is smoldering? but thinking I didn't hear any?) --- and it's right about then that I start to question the wisdom of not going with checking first so I mention to the 911 operator that maybe the mom isn't mentally all the way with us today and she should let me look first.. oh, no it's way too late for that! I reach the locked door and I'm pounding on it for all I'm worth, rang the doorbell a dozen times, and nobody answers, the little dogs are going beserk, but seeing no smoke, hearing no alarms, I HAVE to check the garage.

It's open. Huh. The other dog is looking at me like I'm crazy. Oh geez - damage control time! I tell 911 I see no sign of fire at all. But I can't find my friend. I run all through the downstairs yelling for her. I kick off my muddy and soaking wet slippers and dash upstairs. I pound on her door, frantically yelling her name at the top of my lungs. I finally open her bedroom door and hear a "WHAT?!?!?!" I can tell she is getting out of the shower so I'm all "Oh my gosh - get dressed!!! 911 is coming!"

(Note: Mike says I should include HER response of "*&#%@*!!!!! Nooooooo" followed by death threats and such....)

From there it was all a bit of a nightmare. 2 big firetrucks with firemen fully dressed for a rescue. A few police cars. I was sent to head them off. I went out and told the first responder it was a case of dementia. Our two mothers stood in my doorway watching the whole thing. The policeman shot me a look and spoke into his mike thingy and said, "there is no fire, I repeat no fire". My mom and I ran our errands with an elderly mother on time out for a few hours but I'm not sure I am totally forgiven yet. Oops my bad! I was only trying to save someone and their puppies too!

Never tell me there is an emergency - I am a highly trained first responder preschool teacher who lives on the edge of danger. I run for ice packs on a daily, if not an hourly basis, 3 times a week. Bloody noses, concussions, and split skulls don't faze me. I once splint a broken arm with frozen peas and blueberries from the freezer. I will admit choking kids scare me though. Whoa now that is SCARY!!

I have not, however, called 911 on a neighbor in the shower before. I'm pretty sure she's not ready to laugh about it yet. Not like my other friend who called 911 on her husband thinking he was the escaped convict in her house and he had to come out with his hands up! Now THAT was funny!!!

What a Pair!

Did y'all see the link to the news story on facebook of Taryn and Tim at the St. Louis St. Patrick's Day parade? Here is the photo of the two of them dancing with the Green Garter Brigade for the thousands of parade watchers that lined the streets wearing their green! People in Missouri take St. Patrick's day very seriously!! Aren't they cute? They have alot of fun together. I can't wait to see them during Spring Break!

Here's another well-matched pair.... turns out that Gib's hoodie is an exact match to Indy's new loveseat! If I can't find him, I'll know where to look.

Indy found the loveseat on Craigs list. Grammy and I went to check it out and liked it alot. The truck wasn't available that day, so Mike, Gib and I brought it home today. The cats will enjoy the extra sleeping space in my bedroom until Indy claims it in July.

There are 3 pretty pillows! Good find Indy!

Winging It

You will NEVER believe what I saw the other day!

I'm driving down past the island of bushes and trees in the middle of the street and a flash of RED catches my eye.... NO WAY!! It's been quite a while and surely not; after all, Pixie went in those laurel bushes after we, ahem, strongly encouraged the crazy bird to stop attacking our house. I tell myself it must be a coincidence.

A few days pass, and I'm starting to feel relieved. After all, there are alot of Cardinals and we only ever had that one crazy one.

But then, I see two of them in there and one can't fly very well. Oh geez.

Sure enough, that female I thought I had set straight on finding a better man appears to be FEEDING a gimpy male Cardinal!

I am envisioning the little guy singing the Rocky theme song, since Eye of the Tiger probably doesn't really appeal to birds, crazy or not. Between him and his offspring, I am suddenly not looking forward to spring.

Yahoo!

We have a real Spring Day! The sun is shining, the birds are singing, the sky is blue and it's almost warm :) I watched the news on Japan for awhile and then I couldn't take it anymore and went outside to soak up some fresh air and sunshine. It's sad to watch and think of all those people who probably didn't have time to get out of the Sendei area.

I sat outside on our new patio for awhile. Oh, what a wonderful feeling! Go ahead, sing it. I can't wait now for the patio to be finished. Mom and I saw some nice aluminum stackable chairs at Sam's Club at an affordable price so she went back one day and got a couple in lime green. We decided we liked it so got a few more. They can be pulled up to the fire pit, set out for entertaining, or stacked up when not in use. We also went outdoor fan shopping yesterday. We found one we liked and I sent the info to Skeeter.

Mike got some good news in the mail. A recall on a fix we had done on the truck may net us a reimbursement for the repair work! We hope we get some cash to put towards a new bbq to go on the patio! Yahoo!!!

Tonight we have a Bunko party so I bought a Gerbera Daisy in a brilliant red-orange with a matching container for a prize. Mom bought 4 pink phlox to go in her planter under her new window. That would be her escape window. There's just something about that part of the house, because some of the phlox took off too! Grammy had to chase them down and recover them. They had jumped out of their pots and tried to make it into the forest with the help of some friendly deer. She got them all back though!

Mariah and I have been thinking about a possibility of having a French Exchange Student spend 3 weeks this summer with us, but weren't having much luck finding a girl her age who didn't express a desire to be in a cat-free home. Not sure what that is all about, but I had given up on the idea when the gal contacted us with a few more options. One looks like a great fit. A 13 yr old looking to spend her time with another 13 yr old. We are meeting with the representative next week and will be thinking and praying about it. I think it could be a fun and interesting experience for everyone. Most of the time the student would be with us, Indy, Gib and possibly Taryn will not be home so Mariah and I will have lots of time and availability to do things and maybe go to a couple places nearby too.

Lasting Impression

I always wonder what sort of lasting impression I might leave with the precious little ones I work with 3 days a week. Is it my BE HAPPY approach? Could it be the eyebrow when they do cross the line that scares them back on the straight and narrow? The wonderful discussions we have to make the right choices that I try so hard to teach in a memorable way? Or perhaps it's the totally out of the box thinking and on the spot games that I create and play that they will remember about that silly Ms. Chrissie?!

Well, be careful of what you ask for. One of my favorite little munchkins had some shots and wasn't feeling good. She was talking in her sleep. Mom hears, "Ms. Chrissie! Ms. Chrissie! Ms. Chrissie!" like 5 times in a row she is calling out to me in her sleep. "Ms. Chrissie! I need toilet paper!!!!"

Dismal Day

It really is dismal outside. Sloshy and muddy. Wet cats. Rainy and cold. Weatherman says a thunderstorm or two this morning. Predicted rainfall last night was 1-3" and we'll fill the rain gauge today with a little more. But you know what I really dislike? The drowned worms. Ewwwww! I will make a valiant attempt to steer all preschoolers far away from any which were washed downhill towards our walkway on our treks to and from music today.

But despite the dismality of the day, there is always sunshine in my life:

Indie's visit was nice. We got to see her twice pretty close together! Sad to see her go, as always, but we love the chances for more frequent visits than the Freshmen Year Experience gave us. We are excited for some neat opportunities she has coming her way through a recommendation her academic advisor provided. Indie was chosen as the sole student to work with professors from all three campus' to organize and plan campus and community projects. She will work in this capacity until she graduates. Awesome, huh?! What a valuable opportunity to work with some brilliant mentors. She says the first meeting was a little overwhelming for a few minutes, but she dove right in once opinions were being sought. Who is surprised?

Taryn is thinking about staying for summer courses at her college, so I am going to have to soak up the love when she arrives in town in a couple weeks with some friends. I miss seeing her!!! She is thinking about applying to a summer science camp counselor job. She would be really good at that so I hope she can get in as that would pay for her rooming and she would earn a little money while taking a class or two. She found she really loved working with the kids at Adventure Science Center in their summer camp program. With her experience, and a great personal recommendation, I hope she nabs one of the few counselor jobs available. Even if it means I won't get to see her much this summer.

On his way out the door, Gib mentioned to Indy that she did not get him. I think is disappointed that all the Eye of the Tiger humming didn't pay off. I do believe he may have worked out his own strategy of fighting back without hurting a sister. That's kind of scary. Indy remarked to him that keeping him on his toes was good for him and maybe next time when his guard is dropped she will be dropping him. She is going to pick her moment. That is kind of scary. And that's why I just stand back and take pictures. Which people NEVER see!!!

Mariah has a chorus performance this week at the Talent Show. They have been in serious GLEE worthy practice forever. I'm worn out, so I'm sure she is too. I love that she enjoys singing in chorus though! They will have 3 talent show performances. I think that may be a little too much for all the performers but I guess it makes it easier to pack all the parents into the show of their choice. At any rate, it looks like it equals a day out of classes so I'm pretty sure none of the students will complain.

Mike is already knee-deep in Scout Troop waterworld planning for the summer. A changing of the guard is taking place this year which will include a change of lake and camp. Super Top Secret Stuff. All I know is that for my vote to embrace the change (as a quasi-member of the planning team), I got sweet accommodations at the new WaterWorld Leader's cabin! And hopefully, they will bring in porta-potties. That's all I ask. Choosing between the absolute worst outhouse of my many and varied outhouse experiences or a bucket with a lid is NOT a good memory for me. I will sell my vote for Change That Flushes anyday.

Behind Door #1

Tonight is pretty much Pick A Car, Any Car....

Car #1
Indy is off with her friend after going to the dentist for a cleaning and cavity fill day all in one. I guess they figured out that she is only here when she is here and won't be back anytime soon. Drats our teeth and how they react to stress!!!!!

Car #2

Mariah is at school now and I have literally about 3 minutes before I leave to get her. She is at Chorus practice for their big number in the Talent Show. Then Grammy, Mariah and I will head to Good Shepherd for the Fat Tuesday Pancake Supper!

Car #3
Mike has a dentist appt and is on his way now. Then he and Gib have Scouts. I still have to find out whether or not Gib is coming with me to Pancake supper or if he is going to grab something for dinner with his Dad.

You Just Never Know

Indie is here for part of her Spring Break. We are enjoying the livlieness she brings to the house. Gib is on high alert for the attack he has been warned will come when he least expects it. He announced at dinner last night that he runs the Eye of the Tiger song in his head so he'll be ready at all times.

While waiting for Gib to finish up some Venture Crew thing at Scouts we girls did some Bunco prize shopping at Target's Dollar Aisle and window shopping at The Factory. It was fun.

We also went shopping for jogging shoes for Indy and hiking boots for Gib. I lead the way in with Gib behind me and I knew Mariah, Indy and Grammy were back there but not in what order and Gib was totally blocking my view so when the guy asked how he could help us, I wanted him to help fit Indy with running shoes and I would take Gib over to find boots. It was too complicated to describe which person he needed to help, so as Gib and I passed him, I waved my hand over my shoulder, and said "one of those girls back there needs running shoes" So Indy identifies herself and they go off and begin an in depth conversation about where she runs, the kind of jogging she does, etc.

Gib and I, meanwhile are just a few feet away perusing some hiking boots. Mariah is close by and Grammy is observing the jogging shoe conversation. I went to pull a humungo box of boots from the bottom of the pile, and it was a little heavier than I expected and unwieldly. It kind of took out my thumb nail and fell to the ground with a very loud crash. Mariah uttered a "Nice Mom" comment before escaping. Indy thought I knocked over the entire pile. She stops her conversation mid-sentence, glances over out of the corner of her eye. Gib's still right next to me, devoted son that he is, and I'm going "Ow, that kind of hurt", and we're elbowing each other because he won't pick it up. Indy says, looking at me still out of the corner of her eye, "On behalf of those two, I would like to apologize to the entire store...."

My poor mother. Her daughter and her grandchildren, all in one fell swoop, misbehaving and making fun of each other in public. I have noticed however, a serious lack of motherly concern in that she didn't come over to make sure my thumb was OK or defend her daughter's honor or anything!!! C'mon mom! I have no intention of letting MY grandchildren treat my kids that way!!

The jogging shoe conversation continued while Gib and I returned to the serious business of getting a good hiking boot. In the end, Indy got a pair of Saucony's (my fave) and Gib got a pair of Keen hiking boots. He outgrew everything we had in the house and is up to a size 12 now. He gets to break in yet another pair of boots.

But, breaking in a parent? The kids are finding out it ain't as easy as it looks.

Brick by Brick

I only have a couple of minutes before I have to get ready for work, so this is going to lack my usual finesse. I'm just going to slap these photos up that I took this morning and take my second shower of the day and run to the mall and work one of my last days at Coldwater Creek, if not my last day. I don't know if I will be scheduled for next week, but the 11th is technically my last day. I felt the second job had served its purpose and there were demands elsewhere that need my attention.

The Fire Pit

Gettting some brick work done, the columns are started for the lanterns, the brick facade which will be whitewashed, etc.

Grammy opens her window to say HI
Chino says "well, that's different!"

The future bbq area which will be beautified

by Grammy's flower planter

"Hang on, hang on, you keep moving around and pointing that camera everywhere!"

Chino tries to beautify every picture but it's raining on his parade

so he heads for a new favorite spot

After that we all headed inside. Yes, I had all the cats with me, but only Chino wanted his picture taken enough to get wet!

Thirteen Candles

We didn't actually have candles, but we celebrated Mariah's 13th birthday party last weekend. Mariah had fun, but I think even she wishes it had been a little less, shall we say, exuberant?!

For her party, she went rock climbing with 12 excited girls and 1 very long suffering, awesome brother! Gib went with us to be an extra belayer since Mike was flying home from Utah and wouldn't be able to be there. Gib was smart and took pre-emptive ibuprofin. I took mine 15 minutes into the arrivals. Each girl walked through the door, met by glee and shrieks of her name! The gaggle, as my mom called them, moved as one entity, flowing from one place to another never letting up on the volume of their gaggling. When another arrived to their flock the whole crowd was aflutter and then they somewhat settled down until another came to join them, all the while talking, shrieking, talking, laughing, talking, shouting, shrieking. You'll notice I didn't put in "giggling". This group was not gigglers. I was surprised at this. Shriekers?! Yes, words cannot describe the decibel level. I would have paid good money to each and every one of them if they would only turn into non-stop gigglers. Their volume control problem went on for over 7 hours. I thought for sure it would die down eventually. It's not my first run-in with the species after all. But, even with a work-out for a party it didn't wear them out enough. Something about this group's dynamics... and possibly the gaggy amount of sugar in frosting of the cake, and the soda, and the s'mores. I tried to counteract it with carrots and celery, lots of water bottles, but it was a lost cause from the get-go.

Well, here's the Silent Still Pictures. My ears ring when I look at them. PTSD. Love Yah Mariah!! Happy Thirteen!!!

Gib doubled as photographer for this shot taken after rock climbing.

They don't look very worn out, do they!?!

All of these photos feature pretty much just our party guests and The Crag's belayers. There was a Dad and kid climbing in the midst of us... don't know what they were thinkin.

Mariah is in the polka dot pajamas. She originally had on a very cute outfit for her birthday party. However, we opened presents prior to leaving for The Crag, because everyone arrived an hour before we should have had them arrive (oops, my bad) and somebody gave her pajamas, and Mariah decided she should just wear those for the rest of the day.

Mariah reaching for the stars - or whatever that is! Ta-daaa! You made it!!

You can see Gib somewhere down there doing his belaying job. What a totally awesome guy Gib is. As a matter of fact, I think he may apply for a summer job at The Crag and based on his patience and ability with 12 screaming teen girls, he may have passed the first stage of the interview already. He asked at the front desk and they gave him an application.

The blisters didn't stop Gib. Ugh! I hate just looking at 'em!

Some guy there gave him some tape and he was good to go.

The girls got tired of climbing, and went for the cake since the pizza hadn't arrived yet. That gave Gib some climbing time of his own! He attacked walls too difficult for the girls.

This wall is deceptively difficult.

Gib says they change out the hand and foot holds every day so each climbing experience will be different. Also there are numbers & color coded dohickeys next to each handhold so you can try for a certain level of difficulty when you climb. Easy grabs get you less points or something. Eh, just get me off this thing is what I'd be thinking. Style points vs. Hey! I Didn't Fall Off Points... who cares?!

Mariah's friend got points in my book for never quitting! And for hanging in the air for really long periods of time!!

Me and another mom who was my emergency driver of half of the gaggle

Back at home the girls watched a movie. I prepared veggie tray, and chips for them to eat while watching it. While they were contained, Mom and I lit the fire that Gib prepared for us in Lara's fire pit. Sadly, our firepit wasn't ready for the party - too many snow days. It wasn't easy to get it started in the wind. Good thing we watch alot of Survivor because we had all sorts of wood sizes and graduated up from pine straw to twigs to sticks, to logs. Yeah, sure we totally cheated with instant starting briquet's, which did not start instantly I might add. And I used like a dozen of those extra long wood matches. I counted them as twigs. And then we had to resort to stuffing paper in there to get a better blaze started so we could start feeding it with all our stuff. But it finally got going.

By the time the movie ended, there was a good fire going, we had stuff for s'mores ready, hot dogs were ready to eat, I had set out bananas for anyone who wanted healthier choices... oh, and a bucket of water and a fire extinguisher. Not putting anything past this crowd. Mariah was a little insulted. She wanted to roast hot dogs over the open flame and do the s'mores in the dark, but I called it after watching the group, deciding that they were just too out of control for it, and I was a bit uneasy about the unfinished state the patio was in with all the debris and stuff sticking up in unexpected places that would be hard to see in the dark.

Plus, I needed to SEE them and they needed to not light each other on fire, go off on a night's walk in the woods (again)! I figured they would have fun no matter what, and could go upstairs to make their music video when it got cold and dark rather than roast s'mores in the dark. Mariah was less than pleased with my decision but at least now we have photos of the s'more portion of the party!

As dusk was approaching they started to make their video - it involved alot of complicated dance moves such as photographed here. Then they moved it indoors. Grammy was shaken up a bit and a few things were knocked off her walls (not really) and a stack of cups fell down inside a cupboard (yes, really). I wondered what the weight bearing load of an upstairs ceiling was and whether or not it was a good idea for 12 girls to be jumping in rhythm to a song or if they could fall through a ceiling in such an exercise?! Luckily, the song ended and the ceiling held. After that, smaller group numbers only were allowed to perform.

My favorite quotes of the party:

"Wow, I don't think I've ever been at a party this long where I've been awake the whole time"

"Hey, wait a minute. You shouldn't put our dance video up on Facebook. My dad says that stuff can haunt you for the rest of your life!!!!!!"