Spring Fling

Oh my goodness...it has been a while again. I have actually considered taking this blog down once or twice. I still might. It's so much easier to update my facebook status or send a tweet about what is going on with us than to take the time to sit at the computer and type. Part of the problem is that I rarely use our PC anymore. My phone does most things the computer does, and some things it doesn't, so most of the time I just get online on that, and I'm not inclined to write a blog post on my phone keyboard. But, sometimes it is nice to give a more detailed update on what's happening around here.

We are almost to the end of this school year. It was originally supposed to be over on June 1, but thanks to our snowy winter, and then an unusually wet spring, we missed lots of days and now the kids don't get out until the NINTH! I am still shaking my head over the schools being shut down because of rain, but the extent of flooding in this state and other areas around this part of the country has been epic. And then, once the flooding stopped, the tornadoes began. We have been very fortunate in central Arkansas that we haven't been hit too hard. Slightly north of us the town of Vilonia was nearly wiped out, not to mention the destruction in Tuscaloosa, Alabama and Joplin, Missouri recently. Horrifying. I have been almost completely avoiding the news coverage of the Joplin storm; it makes me sick to my stomach and worried that the same thing could happen here in only a few short moments. Fortunately, the weather folks are saying we should be at the end of that weather pattern for the foreseeable future, so maybe we can breathe easy for a little while, and those whose homes were destroyed can have some time to salvage what little they may have left and find a new start.

I am also in denial that in just over a week I am going to have a second grader on my hands! Nate has really grown and progressed so much over the past school year. He can read almost anything, he can spell many things without assistance, and if he doesn't get it exactly right, you can certainly get the gist of what he is writing. He has been a whiz at spelling, has struggled somewhat with math, and really has enjoyed most of the lessons he has had in school. Last quarter he got straight A's on his report card, and his teacher tells us he is a joy to have in class. Recently he has gotten busy with baseball again. After not being sure he wanted to play this spring, he changed his mind and has jumped into it with both feet. He is one of the best players on his team, and as a result he has been selected to play on the Sylvan Hills Diamond Hawgs all-star tournament team this summer. Our park will have three tournament teams this summer, comprised of the best kids from all the league teams. This year he has been playing on the Cardinals, and last we checked our team was in second place in the league. He has been playing third base, and has come a long way with all of his skills, especially catching. We are so excited that we will get the chance to watch him play on an "elite" team this summer. We think he will learn a lot more about the game and improve his skills even more. He is really excited too! We have our first team meeting and practice in the morning with our first tournament starting June 3. I am so glad he decided to go ahead and play ball again, because he has truly been enjoying himself, and is realizing that he is pretty good at this! It helps that our team has a winning record (as opposed to last year when we lost almost every game), but he is also figuring out that being part of a team and competing can be fun. While I hope he enjoys it and sticks with it (because I LOVE watching him play), if he decides he doesn't want to continue any further with baseball, that will be okay with me. But I want him to find something he likes to do and wants to be involved with.

Amy, a.k.a. Pootie, continues to be a mess, a handful, a turkey...well, a Pootie. It really is a shame that she will be too young to start Kindergarten this fall, because I feel that in most areas, she would be fine. In fact, I feel that she is in need of more structure than daycare provides, the kind of structure she would get in school. She is a smart kid, and the drawback to her daycare is that her class age range is anywhere from just-turned-3 to about to start school. Therefore, all classroom activities have to be geared toward the skill level and understanding of the younger kids. While the older kids aren't being harmed by any of this, they aren't really being challenged either. I'm sure that when Amy does finally get to start school, she won't be behind the other kids, and if she happens to be lacking in any areas, she will be up to speed in no time. Also, Phil and I are really looking forward to not having to pay the cost of daycare anymore. We are ready for the $400 per month raise we will be getting! We are also going to have to find her another extracurricular activity to participate in. She quit dance (rather abruptly) back in October, and she Needs Something To Do. She really can't stand us paying so much attention to Nate when he plays ball; in fact her behavior is at it's worst at the ball park. I have mentioned going back to dance, and also have suggested she might like gymnastics, or even softball. Her answer to which activity she would like changes almost every time we discuss it, so we will make an announcement at a later date...actually one of the local gyms offers a Tap n' Tumble class that I think would be right up her alley: 30 minutes of dance, 30 minutes of gymnastics. Perfect.

Speaking of Amy and her desire for attention...we have been chatting with Nate about what he would like to do for his birthday next month (his SEVENTH OMG), and it never fails. Only moments after starting the conversation, Amy interrupts and insists we need to talk about HER birthday party, which would be over five months from now. Sigh. Nate and I have taken to talking about it in the car after I pick him up from school, before we get Amy from daycare. Poor kid gets almost completely overshadowed by his sister sometimes. They have such different personalities.

To follow up my last post, about my sweet kitteh Otis...We have had Sophie back to the vet twice for follow-up visits for her thyroid. At the first visit, her thyroid level was still way too high, so the vet doubled her dosage, and suggested again that we probably need to do a surgery on her to correct the problem. At the second visit, I was prepared to talk to them about payment options for the surgery, since we didn't have $500 or $600 just lying around. Fortunately, we avoided that whole situation, because her thyroid level was way down, in fact down a little too far. So we adjusted dosages again, and now we don't have to go back for a year. We still have her living outside in the garage. It was going to be temporary, but on one of her trials back in the house, she peed on Amy's bed, so back out she went. We may have to make concessions this summer when it's 110 degrees in the shade, but I am loving not having the litter box in the house. I didn't really think she would live this long after Otis died, but she is hanging in there. We do know for certain that once she is gone, we will be a one-species-pet household for a very long time.

Ok, so that brings us to me and Phil, and we are pretty much the same. Working, ball games, school activities, and trying to find some time alone here and there. My job has been extremely busy, and we have been critically understaffed, so that's a good time. The positive side is lots of overtime, but on the flip side we have all been working like dogs every shift. Phil's job is steady, Thank God. He has also been enjoying baseball season. He isn't an official coach, but he is a Dugout Dad and helps out with every game.

I would like to say that we are looking forward to a nice, quiet, lazy summer...but it's not really shaping up that way! Oh well, we would just be bored. We are counting down the days until our beach vacation at the end of July. We enjoyed ourselves so much last summer in Destin that we decided almost immediately that we would be going back this year. We found a cute condo, and cannot wait to lie on the beach, baking in the sun while the kids play in the surf. Is it July yet???

1999-2011

This evening, I said goodbye to a member of my family who I have had around longer than anyone else who lives in this house but one. I got Otis in the summer of 1999, when he was only about 5 weeks old. He was so cute and fluffy, he had bright blue eyes, and could almost fit in the palm of my hand. When I picked him out at the shelter, they had him listed as a female, but when they did his pre-adoption check, they found they had made a mistake. He and Sophie bonded quickly; she mothered him like crazy. He has followed me from my cheap first apartment, back to Mom and Dad's house once or twice, to a couple more apartments, to New Hampshire and back, and finally here. He was always a quiet kitty, had always been healthy, liked to be picked up and cuddled, and didn't shed much. We have recently had a lot of trouble with finding cat pee accidents on different things around the house, and the other day I got fed up and kicked them both out of the house into the garage. It wasn't until the cats were confined to one area that we began to see that Otis was pretty lethargic and wasn't eating much. Several people suggested that the pee accidents may be a result of a bladder infection in one of the cats, so we made a vet appointment. By the time we left the house this afternoon, I was confident that Otis was ill, but I just thought he was the one with the bladder infection, and it had gotten out of hand and was making him feel really bad. As it turned out, Sophie was the one with the infection, but Otis was dehydrated and had calcium crystals in his urine. We opted to do further bloodwork on both of them, and unfortunately Otis's was really bad. His blood calcium level was extremely high, which the vet said is most often an indicator of some sort of cancer. She told me that they would go as far as we wanted with diagnosing and treating, but I knew in my heart that that was not the right decision for him. I knew that the testing would likely be uncomfortable or even painful for him, and there may not even be anything that we could do in the end. After a short prayer, I decided to tell him goodbye. The kids, Phil and I all gave him a hug and told him we loved him, and I stayed with him until he was gone. I am going to miss my sweet boy so much, but I couldn't possibly put him through anything else. He was a good, sweet kitty, and he was loved.

December to Remember (and November too)

We have once again been super busy with life in general over the past couple of months, but not anything really "noteworthy" has gone on, just your typical holiday festivities. Here is a quick update of how we have been spending our time lately.

First, let me say that I fell off the running wagon shortly after I wrote the last post. I hit the 25 minute run like hitting a wall. I was not able to complete it, and I got intimidated. I am hereby vowing to rededicate myself, especially since I inspired my Dad to get started, and I can't have him doing better than me! I will start back at around week 4, and go from there. Wish me luck and persistance!

The remainder of November was taken up with preparation for Thanksgiving, the holiday itself, and then beginning to get ready for Christmas. The day before Thanksgiving, we drove down to El Dorado so we could spend part of the holiday with Phil's family there. Peggy fixed up a monstrous feast, everything tasted fantastic, and we all ate entirely too much. Thank goodness for stretchy pants. Shortly after the meal, we had to load up and come home, because I (unfortunately) had to work that night. Of course, I would so much rather be working at a hospital than be sick myself or have a loved one sick in the hospital on a holiday. I tried to focus on that blessing, rather than the disappointment of having to be away from my family. Also, my having to work prevented us from seeing my parents and sister on Thanksgiving, so we got to have another dinner on Friday with them! Another fantastic meal and fun time with loved ones.

The next day, we officially began our Christmas season by decorating the house and putting up the tree. The kids were so excited, and they did a great job of helping me hang the ornaments. Amazingly, no ornaments got broken. We also got to watch our beloved Hogs whoop up on the LSU Tigers, securing themselves a spot in the Sugar Bowl! Whoooooooo Pig Sooooie!!!

December was (as always) busy, busy, busy with Christmas prep, parties, shopping, and general anticipation. We found ourselves tied up with a different activity every weekend for the whole month. The first weekend, Phil and I were in Shreveport for his company Christmas party. His company has really done it up the last couple of years, hosting all the employees at a hotel and casino, having a great dinner, passing out awards, and giving away door prizes, as well as giving everyone a little gambling money. Phil was once again in charge of organizing the whole thing, and he once again did a fantastic job. Everything went smoothly, and everyone had a great time. While we were there, we managed to finish up the remainder of our Christmas shopping. We did the majority of our shopping online this year, taking advantage of daily deals and free shipping whenever we could, but still needed to pick up a few things. We had originally planned on Peggy watching the kids the next weekend while we went out and finished up, but instead took advantage of our time in Louisiana, since she was watching the kids anyway!

That left the next Saturday free, so we decided to make some holiday memories with the kids. The River Market downtown had an ice skating rink set up, so we took them down there and went skating, then went to dinner, and then to see "Tangled" in 3D. The kids (and their parents) had a really good time. I'm glad we were able to spend that time together, rather than Phil and I having to go off by ourselves to shop. Nate really liked skating, even though he fell a LOT. Amy wasn't as big a fan of it...she only lasted about 20 minutes, and then Phil and I took turns sitting with her and skating with Nate. Also, 3D movies are totally wasted on Amy. She barely wore her glasses (I don't blame her), and instead squinted at the out-of-focus images on screen. She seemed to like the movie, but might have loved it had she been able to see it properly!

The next weekend, Phil and I had a date on Saturday to go see the Trans-Siberian Orchestra show. We had kind of heard what to expect, and we both really enjoyed the show, but we did laugh a little at the cheesiness of some of it. There was a LOT of hair-flinging, quite a bit of band members pointing at each other and grinning, and some more hair-flinging. I guess it is pretty hard to be serious, hard-core rockers while you're playing Christmas carols, but they did a good job of trying. After the show, we had a yummy meal at Outback. It was nice to spend some more couple time together, and the kids had a fun time with Gramma and Grampa while we were out. On Sunday, we made our annual trip to Hot Springs to go see the lights at Garvan Gardens. Last year we went with my family Thanksgiving weekend, but this year we went again with Kevin, Ashley, and Blake, and we went to our favorite crab leg feast beforehand. The crab was good, the lights were beautiful, and the kids were...well, kind of whiny, to be honest. The boys were okay, but Amy had pretty much reached her limit about halfway through the gardens. I fully expected her to sack out on the way home, but she managed to stay awake for the whole drive.

That week was busy with cookie baking, gift wrapping, work (bleh), doctor visits, house cleaning...wait, doctor visits? It wouldn't be Christmas in the Anders house if someone didn't have to make a trip to the pediatrician, now would it? The last two years it was Amy, but this year Nate was the lucky one. He started complaining of a sore throat on the Wednesday before Christmas, but wasn't running a fever or really feeling bad, so I chalked it up to drainage from his runny nose and went on. But then, Thursday night, he did get a fever and was feeling puny, so I left work early Friday morning and took him to the doctor to get him checked out. Sure enough, Strep throat! We got him some antibiotics, figured he would be A-OK by the next day, and went on with our lives. Saturday morning he woke up with a rash. The nurse in me immediately thought "allergic reaction" and stopped his antibiotics until we could get him something else. Of course, we had to wait until Monday, and the doctor wanted to see the rash, and after a day and a half of no medicine, he had started feeling bad again. Turns out the rash was part of the Strep infection, not a reaction to the antibiotics. We resumed his medication, and he felt way better the next day. So, nobody was actually sick on Christmas, but the week before is close enough for me. I wonder if maybe next year we can avoid the pediatrician (or any doctors office) altogther?

That brings us up to Christmas Eve. We had our first celebration here at our house, with my family. We went to church at 4, then came back here for food and presents. Everyone got some stuff they wanted, we ate too much (again), and were thoroughly entertained by Grant's attempts at performing magic tricks. Everyone cleared out at around 9:30, and our kids were in bed anxiously awaiting Santa by a little after 10. Nate had talked pretty big about getting up early, and even wanted a clock put in his room so he would know if it was time to get up (no one wakes up Mom and Dad before 7:00). I set the coffee pot to brew at 6:45 thinking the kids were going to be up with the roosters, but we ended up having to wake them up at 8! Santa had been very good to them, and so had Mom and Dad! I think Nate was a little disappointed that he got a lot of clothes and not as many toys, but he straightened up eventually. After we got the gifts opened and examined, got ourselves cleaned up and dressed, we hit the road to El Dorado for Christmas #3 at Mimi and Papaw's. It was chaos, as usual, but also a great time. The kids got MORE gifts, the grown-ups ate MORE food, and Blake provided a good deal of the entertainment. We stayed around there for most of the day Sunday, playing with toys. Ashley and I shopped the Hallmark clearance for a few deals, and we headed back home at around 3. Both kids (and Mom) slept for most of the drive back to Little Rock. That makes for a peaceful drive, but bedtime last night was not much fun at all. I am pretty sure Amy was awake until at least 11:30!

Today, we are trying to get back in order. We got the dog back from the vet, we are putting toys away, breaking shoes in, and I am psyching myself up for the next three nights at work. We hope you had a fantastic Christmas, and that you will have a safe, fun ringing in of the New Year. Happy Holidays!!

Runner?

Me? Really? I don't know that the description applies to me YET, but I am working on it. I never thought I would be someone who looked forward to excercising, or scheduled my day so I could exercise, or would go outside and exercise IN THE RAIN...but it has happened. I am now three weeks and one day into the Couch to 5K beginner's running program, and I am really enjoying it. I am not sure what it is. It may still be the challenge of it--can I do it? Can I increase my running time? Can I get past the shin pain that bothered me during week two, or the knee pain that almost brought me to tears at the beginning of week three? Can I run for a minute, and then for a minute and a half, and then three minutes, and now five minutes without throwing up? Can I keep up the progress even though the weather is getting cooler, and is sometimes wet and blustery? The answer to all of these things is YES!!! I can do all of the above!!! I have now gone out two different times in the sprinkling rain. I have been able to keep up with the program's progression. The shin pain is gone, and the knee pain is so much better that I didn't need to put ice packs on them after my run today. My ibuprofen use has dropped off dramatically. Today I was able to run for three minutes, then five minutes, then three minutes, and then five minutes again. (Now, in the interest of total honesty, I did have to stop running during my first five minute interval, but just for a few seconds and then I started up again.) People, that is sixteen total minutes of running!! I am pretty impressed with myself. But more than being impressed with my ability to do it, I am impressed with my desire to do it. My next run will be on Sunday, and I am totally looking forward to it! I don't care whether I go alone up and down the street, or if Phil and I take the kids to a track like we did last week. I love for the kids to see us doing something healthy for ourselves. Anyway, when I mentioned doing this in my earlier post, I had my doubts whether or not I would see it through. So far, so good is the report I have today. I am looking forward to seeing this through now. And if I can do it, anyone can do it!

Time Flies

Then...October 30, 2006, Born at 2:25 PM.

Now...October 30, 2010, Age 4.

Thirty-five

Happy Birthday to me. Last Thursday I turned 35 years old. I had kind of a tough time with the idea of turning 35. Thirty didn't bother me, and neither have any of the birthdays since then, but thirty-five hit me harder. I'm not sure what it was. I don't really feel old, but I sure don't feel young either. Maybe it is that I work with lots of people who are at least ten years younger than I am, at least the folks on the night shift are. The day shifters fall more within my immediate age range, and in fact, several of the nurses who have a few years on me actually rolled their eyes when I mentioned my dismay at turning thirty-five. Maybe it's that I can feel my bones creak when I get out of bed, or that it takes a few steps before my feet don't hurt when I walk across the floor. Maybe it's ALL THOSE GRAY HAIRS I keep having to have hidden when I get my hair done. I don't see many wrinkles or lines yet, and I thank my mother for that. She has always looked younger than her age.

I am not one to make New Year's resolutions, because to me, a birthday is a more appropriate marker for making changes in your life. Fortunately, I don't have too many bad habits that I need to take on, but I feel I need to take some different directions in my life. It is starting to sink in that I don't get another chance at this, so I better do it right the first time. There are many areas in my life where I feel truly blessed beyond what any person has the right to expect. First, I have an amazing husband, who puts up with way more crap from me than I put up with from him. I am still stunned he hasn't thrown up his hands and run away screaming! (I guess I can thank his ex-wife for being worse than me!) I have two beautiful, wonderful, smart, funny, imaginative, healthy, strong-willed children, who try my patience daily, but whom I never get tired of hugging and kissing and guiding through the trials of everyday life. The three people I share my home and life with absolutely make my life worth living. I can't imagine making it without any one of them. I also have wonderful parents, and a great sister, as well as great parents-in-law and brothers-and-sisters-in-law. We have a nice home, a big backyard, a dopey dog, cars that run, food on the table, and warm beds to sleep in. We are living the good life, for sure. And yet, I can see room for improvement, mostly in the way I treat myself, but also in how I treat the ones I love. The first thing I have to do it stop treating my body like I can trade it in on a different one if this one wears out. I have to eat better and exercise more. In my thirty-sixth year, I resolve to make a strong effort to eat more healthy foods, lose a few pounds, and exercise three times a week. I started today, with the Couch to 5K running program, which hopefully will have me able to run 3 miles without stopping by the end of two months. I also started back on a healthier eating plan (NOT a diet), and hopefully the combination of the two will help me lose some pounds and inches.

Since those two things, exercising and eating healthier, are going to be a big challenge for me, especially now that we are hitting the holidays, I'm going to hold off on making any more big changes right now. I think that the increased exercise will help me feel better in all aspects of my life. This should lead to a happier outlook which will lead to more smiles for my husband and kiddos, which will lead to happier husband and kiddos as well! I don't imagine I will be able to adopt these changes without a hiccup or two along the way, and I am sure there will be lapses in my willpower and energy level. I am just praying that when I fall down, I can pick my self back up and start again. Here's to being 35! And here's to 35 more blessed years (and then some)!

Ketchup

Ha ha. Really it's "Catch Up" but I thought I'd be all cute and stuff. So, how's it going? We have been busy around here. School started, (you know, like weeks and weeks ago), Fall activities started back up, and then there is work, and maintaining a home, etc. Not much blogging time in there. I do apologize.

First, I have to mention that this post may not be completely coherent. Our air conditioning went out last night, on this possibly the last hotter-than-95-degree day we may have this year. We are "patiently" awaiting the arrival of the repairman, but brains are melting at this very moment.

So, let's see...since the last post...back in July...(breaking out the calendar)...oh yes. We had a GREAT visit with Uncle Kirby and Aunt Nora back in August for Dad's 60th birthday. They may have picked the absolute hottest weekend of the summer to come, but we had a good time just the same. We had a yummy fish fry, spent a whole lot of time in the pool, and did a lot of catching up. It is always good to see them, they are a lot of fun to be with. We missed the rest of their clan, but have been assured that when babies are a bit older, they will be making the trek here to visit as well. The same weekend they were here, we got to take the kids to the lake with our friends Tony and Dottie Lou, who sweetly invited us out on their pontoon boat. I hadn't been to the lake in YEARS, and the kids had never been. We all had a wonderful time; the kids got along beautifully, the adults got to relax. It was a great day.

August 19th was the first day of school. Nathan and Reagan are in first grade, and they are in the same class this year. I was mildly apprehensive about how that was going to work out, but it has not been a problem at all. They don't sit near each other, and they have a wonderful teacher who was warned in advance. I'm sure it helps that Alison is right across the hall, but the kids have done very well. I almost feel like first grade it the first real test of what kid of parents Phil and I have been to Nate. Not only does he have to behave himself in class, but this is the first time he will be getting letter grades to show us his progress. I never really had trouble in school, and neither did Phil, but that doesn't mean our kids will have it easy. I have discovered that I may not be the ideal parent to help Nate with his homework, because I get overly frustrated if he doesn't understand the material, and I don't know how to explain it to him. I want to be consistent with how he is hearing it in class so he doesn't get confused if I tell him something different than his teacher. Alison has told me to chill out more than once. I appreciate her reassurances that the mistakes he makes are mistakes that every other kid in first grade is making. I am going to have to learn how to take her advice, because if I can't chill out in first grade, I will be a basket case by fourth or fifth. And High School??? Forget it. So far he seems to be doing okay. He has a math test today that I have my doubts about whether he understands the material. We shall see...

With the start of school came the start of activities. Nathan is playing tee ball again, and Amy is in Dance classes again. We are fortunate this year that both of their activities fall on the same night of the week. I am able to be off every Monday so I can take Amy to dance, while Phil goes with Nate to ball practice. Nate is one of the older kids on the team, and this is his third experience with playing ball, so he is one of the more successful players on the team. He is still a good hitter, and a fast runner, but still need to work on catching especially and throwing some. Throwing isn't as big of a deal, because none of the other kids are good catchers either, so we do a lot of running the ball to the base to try and get someone out. But you have to catch the ball first! Phil really enjoys working with him and the other boys at practice and during games. I love watching him play, but once again, I get stressed when he doesn't pay attention, or he is doing something other than what the coach has told him to do. Even so, I am careful not to be That Mom, who is constantly yelling at her kid during the game and telling him how to play. I leave that to the coach. I don't need any reminders that it is just a game and they are only 5 and 6 years old.

Amy is also one of the older girls in her dance class this year. The class is for three- and four-year olds, but I don't believe any of the other girls are four yet, and she will be four next month. She is one of the taller girls, that is for sure! Tall and thin...where did that come from? Certainly not her Momma. She really enjoys her lessons, especially the part of class where they work on ballet and pretend they are princesses. She is a very girly-girl. She loves to have her finger and toe nails painted, she still plays baby and momma all the time, likes wearing dresses, but still manages to be one of the dirtiest kids I know. She also definitely knows what she does and doesn't want to do, and unfortunately, she rarely wants to do what Phil or I want her to do. Bedtime has been especially trying. We made several mistakes throughout her baby- and toddlerhood in the bedtime department, and we are really paying for those mistakes now. If we could rewind back to her baby days, there would be no rocking her to sleep, as much as we enjoyed that sweet snuggle time. And then when she moved from her crib to her bed, we made the mistake of laying down with her to "help" her go to bed. In essence, the girl has never gone to sleep alone, and now she doesn't know how. She claims to be scared of her room, and she cries herself into hysterics every night. Eventually she calms down, but last night in particular, she was awake until after eleven, and only went to sleep after she came into our room and got in bed with us. Something has to be done, but Phil and I are still working on getting into agreement on what the process should be. It also doesn't help that when she is at daycare, she takes a two hour nap, and then isn't really tired at bedtime. We have much less trouble on the days she stays home with me or on the weekends. Mom said I was like that, and eventually she had to talk to the teachers at daycare and ask if they would let me stay awake at naptime and read books. I'm not sure that would work with Amy...she would likely disrupt everyone else who was trying to sleep. We may need to check into that, though.

And that is the last two months in a nutshell. School, ball, dance, work...I have been trying to get some overtime in at my job to try to get some bills paid off, but I miss being home with my family. I took a little break the last couple of weeks and took a night off last week, and no overtime this week. It has been so nice being home. Phil has been absorbed in the return of Football Season. He spends most of Saturday and Sunday watching various college and pro games, and is currently winning his Fantasy Football League. Some wives around here are Deer Widows, but not me. I am a Football Widow. This is possibly a little worse, because my husband is physically here, but not mentally. Fortunately, I enjoy football as well. I just can't watch games from morning to night Saturday and Sunday, since there is only one team I truly care about. I LOOOOVE me some HOGS!!! We probably won't make it to any games this year, but my couch is a lot more comfortable that stadium bleachers anyway. And my bathroom is nicer.

Coming up, we have a few birthdays to celebrate (or in my case, ignore), and then we will be getting into the holidays! I will try to post more often in the next few months, but I think I have said that before. Until next time...