The Gall of it all!

Back in early June, we spent the last night of our beach vacation at my parents' house. My mom made a yummy chicken fried steak. Later that night, I was sure she was trying to kill me with the horrendous bout of indigestion. Seriously, I can't remember being more miserable.

But, oh, that was nothing baby. Absolutely nothing.

A few weeks later, several people at work were battling a tummy bug. Okay, one manager was loosing to a bizarre strain of virus that can explain a famous early episode of South Park, but still others were having a few mild issues. One Sunday, I got up, was feeling fine, then BAM! I ended up yaking at work, but afterwards I felt much better.

Fast forward to Harry Potter night. I had gotten a big bucket of popcorn that turned out to be greasy without "butter" added and chock full of kernels. In the wee hours of the next morning: BINGO! Major indigestion that required me to wake up DH and send him to CVS for Pepto Max. Yeah. BAD! I even had to have my mom take Hoot to school and spent the morning in bed.

But, it all paled in comparison to the last Sunday in July. Paled.

I was having a great day, when out of the blue I was smacked down. In under 10 minutes, I went from fine and dandy to moaning and writhing. After a puke, I thought it would all be well, but it didn't help. I FLED work a little after 2.

After much Pepto, GasX, and everything else I could think of, I was beginning to get really worried. I resolved to call the doctor in the morning and tried to just go to sleep. At eleven that night, I called the nurseline service provided by my insurance company. After ten minutes of going through my symptoms and day, she suggested I get myself to the emergency room as soon as possible.

I left the boys in bed and took myself. Life was much better with some nausea medication mixed into a morphine drip. Yep. I hurt that bad. At two a.m., the sonogram tech came and got me. I didn't want to go. I just wanted the morphine/anti-nausea cocktail in the iv bag. But, I took a little ride.

Four days later, a rather talented surgeon ripped my gall bladder out of my belly button.

The surgery wasn't bad at all. In by 10, home by 2. A few staples, a big batch of pills, and yippee! By Monday, I was thinking I'd be back at work on Friday. I was on the mend. Except, it was really hot, and I was a tad irritated around my incisions. I had been warned about developing a sensitivity to the adhesive in bandages. I figured that was it combined with the super heat.

By Thursday morning, if I hadn't had an appointment with the surgeon for my follow up and staple removal, I would've called and begged for one.

Turns out I am totally incompatable with surgical stainless steel. *Good thing I've never had anything, um, delicate pierced!*

I finally made it back to work last week, but haven't had a chance to catch my breath since then. But, life is so much better. Who needs a gall bladder anyway?

Current slavish devotion to a genre:
Scandinavian Crime Fiction. How have I lived without you? Seriously, I can't imagine how sad it would've been if I had never read Stieg Larsson. I've just finished The Girl Who Played with Fire by Stieg Larsson. It is the second in the trilogy, but can be read alone. When I was out sick, I dreamed of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo several times. It was what I was shelving during my surgery. I was able to put my hands on Fire first. I am saving Dragon Tattoo for vacation in September. Maybe. I don't know that I will be able to wait. I just started a Henning Mankell mystery today. Which reminds me, I should get to book, um, I mean bed.

Beat by the heat

I am feeling just beat down by this merciless heat. Not quite as bad as my yard, but still. It makes me want to do nothing. Nothing, I tell ya! Oh, that exclamation mark really took it out of me.

I'm doing No Buy July, but only to moderate success right now. We went off to my parent's house for the Fourth, so I had several days of exemptions there.

Oh, and I got pulled over for going 66 in a 55. Story to follow soon. I just need to get a hold of a few pics before I can tell it properly.

Ugh! Maybe I can find the pics tonight and post about the weekend in the morning. No promises. It's hot and that makes me pretty lazy.

At the bookstore:
Do you have that Miley Cyrus book?
Miles To Go?
Yeah, I finally have enough money and momma said I could buy it, but I've been everywhere and can't get it. I've been to Target and Walmart. I finally asked momma if we could go to a bookstore.
Here it is.
I just love real bookstores
*Me too, baby. Me too.*

Victory is mine!

I love my car. Her name is Sally, but really it's Penelope. Originally named Penelope after Penelope Pitstop, Hoot calls her Sally because she is the same color as Sally from the movie Cars. So, Sally it is.

Unfortunately, Sally recently burned out her low beam headlight on the driver's side of the car. Sad. The dealer here, which I refuse to patronize, charges $80 or more to replace the bulb. Our wonderful local mechanic charges only $25. However, I just spent almost a grand replacing the master timing belt, water pump, and thermostat. Not because it broke, but because I hit the 100K marker on the odometer. I will need tires and an alignment soon, so I really didn't want to have to take it in for a headlight.

Years ago, one of the No Buy gals on the Disboards sent me a link with instructions on changing the bulb myself. I tried it and fought with it for several hours. Then, I gave up and took it to my mechanic.

Today, I decided to give it another go! For $6 and some bruised fingertips, I changed that dang bulb myself! Hooray! I can't tell you how happy I am! It took quite a bit of work, but I managed to get the assembly out, bulb changed and the assembly snuggly back into its tracks. However, I don't have the brutal man strength to get the knob back in place, but no worries. It is snug enough for now... yes, really. Trust me that bad boy is not going anywhere. I will have big man slide the latch back in place tonight.

Wow, if I had learned this skill 7 years ago, I could have saved a bundle. I had them changed at least four times at a dealership (at least $80 a pop) and once at our family mechanic for $25. That's $345 I could've saved over the years! Never again! LOL!

And now, I can take the main roads home tonight!

At the Jellyfish Ranch: Hoot is doing so well. He's not the picture perfect student, but he is so much better. He loves them; they love him. Life is good for the Hooter Bear! And, sleeping at night is so much better. We may be able to transition back out of the night time pull ups again soon!

At the bookstore: I keep forgetting to pick up the new book by Carlos Ruiz Zafón. I loved The Shadow of the Wind so much, it became one of my top five books of all time. Now, I finally have another one of his books within my grasp and I can't remember to bring it home! Bad Susie. Bad, bad Susie. Tonight, I will start The Angel's Game. I promise!

Jellyfish at the Beach

Do we really have to wrinkle our nose every time someone stops us to take a picture?

Yes, I guess we do!

This past weekend, we went on our annual trip to Corpus Christi so that we could frolic in the surf at Mustang Island. And, wow, what surf it was! I can't remember the last time the waves were that big! We watched a few surfers go way out and actually surf for a very long time. We do love the beach!

Our usual budget for this trip is $500. That includes everything and we take my parents. This is a trade off of Mother's Day and Father's Day for myself, my mom, DH, and my dad. So, $500 for four presents isn't bad. This usually includes two hotel rooms for two nights, most meals, gas money, annual beach pass, and any miscellaneous flotsam and jetsam picked up at the beach stores. My mom would usually bring a cooler full of drinks and sandwich stuff for picnicking on the beach.

This year, due to the not thinking before speaking habit of DH and a whole lot of family politics, we ended up only spending one night in Corpus. Yeah, I'm not really going to go there, it'll just make me angry again. So, we had a new plan. A cheaper plan. Ah, hindsight, baby, hindsight....

We drove to my parents' house on Thursday night, as they live just under 2 hours from Corpus. We spent the night and headed out late the next morning. Along the drive, my mom kept Hoot busy in the back seat cutting paper and making tiny crabs with her paper punch kit. They must have made close to 100 of those little crabs as we found them all weekend long!

Upon arrival, we had lunch at Joe's Crab Shack over the water along Shoreline Drive. It was a blast and Hoot jumped up to join the floor show when the waiters danced. It was wonderful. I spent $93 including tip for the five of us. Not bad, as this was supposed to be our big expensive meal out for the trip.

After lunch, we headed out onto the island, but didn't want to change into our swimsuits in a gas station bathroom. So, we spent $16 to get us into the State Park. We changed, but since the park was busy, decided to head back out to our usual spot off of Beach Access Road Number 2. We love being able to back right up to the water with all our gear to set up camp. Thankfully, my mom's new Trailblazer had four wheel drive. The sand was so loose this year because they've had no rain. (I made her drive. I haven't driven on the beach since I had to get a beach hunk in a big truck pull the bug out in 2006!... but, oh, what a hunk....) Then, we popped off another $12 for our annual beach parking permit.

The water was fantastic and we stayed for hours. Hoot is still so fearless in the water. The waves knock him down, he pops back up. Lather, rinse, repeat. I know people always stare at him in his life vest, but he's too quick and fearless to go without it. We'll have to upgrade a size before next year.

We checked in to the Holiday Inn Convention Center out by the airport. This is a very nice hotel, and I Pricelined two rooms for one night and it came out to $114 with taxes. We cleaned up and headed out to dinner, stopping to put $48 in gas in the Trailblazer along the way. Wow, what a big improvement over the money in gas we put in their old truck last year!

No one could quite decide what they wanted for dinner, but we were super hungry! I don't know who spoke first, but when the word OUTBACK came up, everyone got excited. Um, not quite the budget meal I had hoped for, but okay. I mean it's vacation, right? Yeah, $123 later, I announced that I hoped everyone enjoyed it because tomorrow meant bologna on the beach. And you know what? They didn't believe me! Will they ever learn?

After dinner, we headed out to the cheesy beach shops on North Padre Island. We were looking for shells to take to Hoot's Jellyfish class. I spent $28 on 20 shells, two t-shirts, a metal Space shuttle toy, and a light up shark. Not too bad, really!

Back at the hotel, DH took Hoot for a swim, slapped him in jammie's, and we dropped him off with the old people. We then headed off to the bar. Wow, out for a drink. Just like grown ups! We spent $20 on four drinks and enjoyed the last period of the Stanley Cup finals. In a bar. Just like grown ups. Oh, had I mentioned that? Sorry. (just like grown ups.)

After checking out, we headed back out to the beach. I stopped at CVS and spent $15 on drinks, chips, and bread. Unfortunately, they didn't have any sandwich meat or cheese, so we had to stop again at another small store for those, which came out to $12. They laughed at me, but for lunch, I fed them bologna sandwiches on the beach!

We had a great afternoon, but then everyone got really tired. At the last minute, as I was breaking camp, the wind snapped one of our beach umbrellas into an early retirement. Well, I say early, but the thing was at least ten years old. I shall search for a replacement at the end of the season, or maybe upgrade to a small canopy if the price is right. My dad kept coveting the neighbors canopy, even though I know they can be a pain to anchor in the sea breeze.

Everyone was snacky hungry as we left, and we wanted to wait until we got back to my parents' house before we ate, so we pulled in to Whataburger for a round of shakes that set me back $14.

I also need to add in the gas for my car ($28), two convenience store stops on the road (totaling $16), dinner when we got back late Sunday night ($13), and the kennel costs for Miss Luna since we took our dog sitters with us on this trip ($78.)

So, let's see how we did. I figure we were way over in our quest to save money.

Yep. WAY OVER! The grand total comes out to $630. See, sometimes to save money- like staying only one night in a hotel, makes you seem like you have more money to burn. That sure seemed to be our attitude this time. Its almost easier to stay two nights, take two cars, and bring more picnic stuff from home. That makes us a little more careful. Lesson learned.

We're gonna love being a Jellyfish!

Wow, my last post was April 8th! I'm shocked but not. Life has been so very tough for Team Stone. Like, Super Tough. Hoot had started preschool around March 15th. Last week, we removed him from his old school. Poor Hoot. He could be a poster child for what Preschools should not do. As a parent, I am ashamed that I allowed it to continue for as long as it did. Honestly, I just didn't know better. Looking back, I should have seen the signs.

On his first day, I had to go get him. Sure. Happens to a lot of preschoolers. But, here's what really went down. Daddy walked in with Hoot and it took several minutes before the "teacher" acknowledged them and showed Daddy where to put Hoot's nap mat, blankie, and pillow. Daddy gave Hoot a hug and left. "Teacher" never bothered to introduce herself or talk to Hoot about the rules. He immediately began to move a play stove so that it was next to the sink. "Teacher" tried to put him in time out. Meltdown.

We went half days the rest of the week. Then all day the next. Then, he got a new "Teacher" and we learned that this was the real teacher (yes, she was the one we met when we toured the school). From there, we had so many meltdowns. And I began to really watch. He was in the office every single day. They would knee jerk timeout for every tiny infraction, and not just with my kid. And they would pounce you on Fridays with every tiny detail.

Then, we had another new "Teacher" at the beginning of May and that's when the nightmares began. And we had the hair incident....

I received a call that I had to come and get Hoot. He had cut a "hunk" of hair off of a little girls head. Now, cutting hair is a bad thing to do. I will never deny that. But, I had to totally rearrange other manager's schedules to get my shift covered. Then, when I got there, I was shown the "hunk" of hair. Well, as I'm posting, I'm listening to my Ipod. The cord on my ear buds are about twice as thick as the "hunk" of hair. Really? And seriously, isn't this the teacher's fault? Where was she? Again, not denying guilt, just questioning the environment.

When I went to pick up Hoot for the hair incident. I asked the owner/administrator if she thought this was going to work out. She said she honestly didn't know. Not the right answer. You really just said you don't have faith in my child. I began shopping for schools again the next day.

Then, I found the Jellyfish. Really, they had been my first choice all along, but they NEVER have openings. They are a hippy momma chain based out of Austin. They are so wonderful and optimistic that I cried when I signed him up. But, I had to wait until the beginning of June. Surely we could make it one more month.

Right?

But, time out wasn't working at home anymore. TV banning and rewards/punishments with video games were DESTROYING my family. I didn't even want to go get my child from preschool because I was tired of being beaten down.

The next week, Hoot was sent home for peeing on the playground. Um, yeah, again not right, but boys do that. Really, on some level they don't really grow out of that. And, it all went downhill from there. Yeah, I didn't know we could go any lower. We did.

Every single night, we had nightmares or night terrors. The night terrors were the worst with the thrashing and screaming and hitting. As they occur outside of the REM cycle that nightmares occur in, he didn't remember them and you had to wake him up to break the cycle. Not an easy task. Like waking a sleepwalker.

Every meal was a battle. Every morning a fight. Every night sleepless. Our household was riddled with landmines and pitfalls.

Then, I had six days of vacation. I kept Hoot at home and you know what? After four nights, no more nightmares or night terrors. And, after a few days, he was a delight to be around. Really, he was a great kid.

But, he had three more days of the old school left between my days off and the new school.

We could make it three more days, right? Just three days.

No. On Wednesday, he had a really rough day with another kid that had been one of his big problems in the fighting category. (This kid's name came up in our screaming nightmares most of the time.)

On Thursday, I received a call to talk to Hoot on the phone as he had been in trouble again. The ***** in the office was super nasty to me and we had a few words on the phone. I had absolutely no one to take Hoot for me. When Daddy arrived to pick him up that evening, he was on the bottom of a dogpile being hit and punched by other kids. He came home with a giant goose egg on his forehead, a gouge out of his neck, his brand new shirt from Tee had its neck stretched out beyond wearing, and bruises up and down his legs. It is such a good thing I didn't go get him. They would've had to take me out of there in cuffs.

Thankfully, Daddy's boss allowed him to work a half day on Friday and Hoot never went back.

On Monday, we became Jellyfish together. Hoot and I went around 10 am and stayed with the class for an hour and a half. It was awesome. We explored the room together and set down some boundaries. We learned where his cubby was and met everyone. It was awesome. There is even a kid that matches Hoot's height! Yeah! He's not the only "giant" in class. Before we left, Hoot told me, "Momma, you go home! I'm gonna stay!" But, we had a lunch date so he came home with me.

Tuesday was his first day. He was excited and nervous, heck, so was I! But, he showed no anxiety at me leaving. When Daddy picked him up from school, the teacher said it was a great day. Now, I'm sure it wasn't crime free. Heck, sharing and rules are what preschool is about! And the other kids tried to rat him out to Daddy, but Daddy knows to listen to the teacher.

Same story today! Again, I'm sure he did something naughty. But, this school gets that. It gets kids. It knows that kids are what you think they are. If you think they are monsters, they will be monsters. If you keep a positive winning attitude, you will get positive winners.

I had a lovely dinner tonight with a positive winner. He was polite, talkative, and, when dinner was over, he put all our plates in the sink without having to be asked. At bedtime, Team Stone gathered for story time on the big bed and had a great time. No fights. No sass. No stress.

I'm gonna love this Jellyfish thing.

Bee's Business

Now that I am getting back to my blog, (oh, how I've missed it!) there is so much I want to write about: money triumphs, troubles, family issues, upcoming trips, finishing an old trip report, the list goes on and on. However, this post won't be about any of that.

This post is about a book that I read last week. Yes, my favorite thing. A book that won't let you go. And this book will probably never let me go. Ah, my favorite kind.

Little Bee by Chris Cleave is an amazing flower that is so steeped in the real world that it will not matter that it is a work of fiction. When I first read the back cover of the advanced reader, I was skeptical. The blurb suggested that if I read it, I would want to tell everyone about it. Then it asks you to not tell too much about the book. But, these book jacket promises don't always deliver. This one delivered and oh, I want to tell you absolutely everything. I'm just bursting!

Originally published in the UK as The Other Hand, this advanced reader was handed to me by another manager who was also just bursting. As I read it, we had a few conversations where she was very guarded. In fact, every conversation began with, "So, how much do you know?" Its a very adept way to talk about this book when someone hasn't finished it. But, you still have to be very careful. Last night, I recommended it to one of my booksellers. I can't wait to see her again so that I can ask the same question.

I know, you're thinking, but what about the book! Get back to the book. But, really I can't tell you much. But, I will tell you a little. And, I'll give you a link to the author's website posting of the first chapter.

Little Bee is a Nigerian refugee. But it is not just her story. It also belongs to a highly successful London magazine editor and the people who populate her world. The relationships between these characters are intense, special, and real. We get gripping narration from both sides of the story.

The story begins in the middle, and the past is woven into the future so that each petal of steel is revealed slowly. But, as the beautiful flower is opened, handle it carefully, the truthful ugliness is not just in the thorns.

And that's it. That's all I'm going to say about the book. But, know this, when I am at work, I will be saying it over and over and over. Chris Cleave deserves to have this book on every bestseller list out there. You can bet I'm going to do my part.

Oh, and one last thing. If you seek out more reviews of Little Bee, please be careful. You really, really, really don't want spoilers and there are many out there.

Dare I say... Routine?

Do I dare say it? We may be establishing a routine? This whole preschool thing has turned us upside down and inside out. But, we're on our fourth week, and we had a good day.

Okay, so I haven't spoken with his morning teacher, but I am declaring it a good day. Why? Because he didn't go to the office today! Hooray! No horrible, Hitler's mommy feeling when I went to pick him up!

Seriously, I have felt so down and depressed with this whole preschool thing. And it wasn't all about missing my Hooter Bear. Sure, I missed him horribly, especially while I was on vacation last week and home all day. But, what was getting to me was that dread pit in my stomach when I went to get him every day.

I would get so horribly rattled by the things that they would tell me:
Hoot hit his teacher.
Hoot told his teacher he was "gonna get her fired!"
Hoot ran with scissors. (Yes, really.)
Hoot poked a kid in the eye.
Hoot slapped at the pregnant teacher.
Hoot wouldn't stop barking. (I never got up the guts to ask if it was a Chihuahua bark or Bolt's Super Bark.)
Hoot had to take his shoes off because he wouldn't stop kicking the door while in the office.
Really, this list could go on and on.

Then, I got in trouble for not signing him in one morning. That really got to me. I mean, I'm not stupid. I run a five million dollar business. I am an intelligent adult. I successfully got him to school, helped him put away his things, told the teacher good morning, got a progress report, then kissed and hugged my love goodbye and left. *sigh*

I know it is all still new, but I felt a little hope this afternoon. There were papers in his box, and they showed very promising work. He hadn't gone to the office. He was polite and in a good mood. Yeah, it felt really good.

Oh, then I followed through with my desperation promise: I returned the power cord to the Game Cube. Yeah, I know. Desperate times, desperate measures. I hated it the whole time they played because Hoot becomes so dang obsessed. But, sometimes you have to take a horrible thing, throw it in the forge, then pound it against an anvil until it becomes something good. It is hot sweaty work, but I guess I can live with it.

Now maybe I can start getting control back into the other areas of my life.

Preschool Blues

I'm back! Wow, talk about forever since I last posted. But... I have a serious case of the preschool blues.

With all the talk about my bookstore changing its hours, and DH's plant talking about some new contracts, we began to seriously talk about Hoot going to preschool/daycare. We found a place we loved and Hoot REALLY wanted to go there and be with other kids during the day.

I thought he'd be a model citizen.


Turns out he needs Mr Bubbles to make him a model citizen.

Seriously, I thought it might have a few challenges and would be rough for a few weeks. I did not know he would turn feral. On the first day, he moved furniture around in a fit of rage. On the second day, he tried to hit a teacher and told her he was going to get her fired. On the third day, we didn't have to go to the office until almost noon.

This week, we are just shooting for noon. Every day. Get him through the morning routine with a few successes under his belt, since I really felt like, in the end, we had set him up for some big time failure with this one.

Next week, we're going to try and make it through the entire day. God only knows what nap time will bring.

This morning, I'll be sitting here by the phone until noon. With a huge pit in my stomach. Jumping out of my skin every time the phone rings.

Where in the world is Siouxstone?

Home. Off of her computer. Sad. But, there is hope! After some tough decisions, we are sending Hoot to preschool/daycare full time starting on March 16th. I can't really write about it yet because I am totally devastated, even if I do feel like it is the right thing to do.

So, with all this change coming at me, I feel like I have a third full time job getting it all planned out and well, just dealing with it. I've been planning to post for a while that I will be taking a hiatus until Hoot starts school. I will be taking the first day off so that I can cry all morning. But, then I will be back posting and kicking on Tuesday March 17th. I promise. I even have a goal to get back to a minimum of three posts a week. (Lord knows my sanity needs it. I kind of fall apart if I don't write regularly.)

In the mean time, I will be spending gobs of time with Hoot and making him a custom cover, blanket, and pillowcase for his nap mat. Nap mat. I have to get a nap mat for my baby. Somebody hold me...

nowalle

Which means No Wall-e!

There are several new dirty words in my household. All seem to be causing massive chaos, and even a little destruction.

Dirty word #1- Opossum. Yep. You would've thought he would move on once Luna came on site, but it didn't happen. Here recently he's taken to taunting her merciless every single night. It is already a big enough pain in the butt to have to walk your dog on a leash when you have a fenced yard. Did we have to add the extra grievance of marsupials hanging out in low lying limbs as well? Seriously folks, it needs to move on and find a new home. The squirrels did.

Dirty word #2- Video game. (Yeah, I know its technically two words.) Back in January, when I was trying desperately to stay off my leg, I drug out the newly rediscovered Nintendo Gamecube. I was looking for Hoot entertainment without subjecting myself to hours of Snow Buddies on the DVD player. I take full responsibility for the initial introduction. My bad. I never should have done it.

Dirty word #3- Sandstorm race. During the same time period, I also downloaded a playable "preview" of the Wall-e video game for the PC. I claim Momma Madness, it strikes us all.

Dirty word #4- Butt. As in "I'm gonna kick some bad guys' butts!" I totally forgot that DH plays video games like Beavis and Butthead. Now, Hoot sounds like Beavis and Butthead playing video games.

All these dirty words have descended us into a pit of chaos like we haven't seen in a while. The game we had for the Nintendo was a Spyro game rated E for Everyone. Yeah. Not for little kids who can't distinguish fantasy from reality. Especially not for the ones who have parents that take them to large theme parks to meet these fantasy characters for real, and then back it up with photos of them giving out birthday cakes. Super bad idea.

Then, when we cut off the games cold turkey (or so Mom thought) we have to listen to whining, crying, and ridiculously polite asking every hour on the hour. That mouth goes off like Old Faithful. "Momma, can I play Spyro?" "Momma, can I play Spyro? Pretty please?" "Momma...." You get the idea.

Then, the PC comes under attack. Turn your back for a minute and he's launched the Wall-e demo to play the sandstorm race portion of the game. *sigh* Eventually, I learn how to lock my keyboard. Oh, the frustration and the agony. So, Hoot starts hard booting the computer to get it to come up. It takes two days and many trips to the naughty mat to get that under control.

So, this week it has officially been two weeks since we pulled the cord. I put the Nintendo's power cord back into the closet with the game unit. I figure we have about another week before Hoot moves on to his next obsession. Yeah. Right.

Monday night, I come home and Nathan announces, without any prompting from Hoot, "I let him play the game." Just like that. Now how do you do, fine how are you. Nothing. So, once again I am the bad guy. I have to remove the power cord from the house. Then, I begin to wonder has he played the Wall-e game on my PC? Yep. Found out today when I checked just before I removed it permanently from my hard drive.

And all of that leads to:
Dirty word #5- nowalle. This is the new password to my keyboard. However, it makes doing anything, even paying bills online, virtually impossible unless Hoot is gone or asleep. That means all my late night online time has been filled with bill pay and such. Not fun. Maybe that'll be my next password: notfun

Phone call to the bookstore:
I see on my receipt that you only give store credit for text books when you return them within 14 days, but I got the wrong book and need to get another one.
You did say you have a receipt, right?
Yeah, I have my receipt, but I got the wrong book and I want to exchange it not get a store credit and its a textbook.
What's the book?
Well, I got an LSAT book, but like, I'm not supposed to take the LSAT. I supposed to take the GRE and if you give me store credit I won't be able to get the right book. So, I just want to exchange it.
Just bring your receipt and we'll get you all taken care of.
And I can get my GRE book?!

Hope she does well on that test....

Gumbo, Groundhogs, and Diggers, oh my!

This last weekend, the old people (my parents) came down to watch the Super Bowl with us and take a day trip on Monday. We had a lot of fun, but it was a little bit of a budget buster.

For Sunday, we chose to make gumbo for our Super Bowl Sunday meal. Now, my family loves homemade gumbo, and I don't mind a day in the kitchen, but if you've ever stirred a roux until it turns brick red, you know it turns your arm to jelly. But, thanks to Alton Brown, there is a kinder, gentler way to make roux... in the oven. Yep. This recipe will give you all the instructions for oven roux. I didn't make this exact recipe, as I didn't want to peel shrimp so I bought wild gulf shrimp that was deveined, shelled, and cleaned before being frozen. I supplemented the homemade shrimp stock with store bought chicken stock. It came out fabulous and I am now a huge fan of oven made roux! I didn't fret over the substitutions, because using what you have is what gumbo is all about! I did receive rave reviews from the family.

The next morning, to celebrate Groundhog Day, we took a day trip to the zoo. Luna was due for her big check up at the vet, so we dropped her off at "daycare" so we didn't have to worry about her being alone all day. But, we did have to be back before 5:30pm. Sadly, we departed a full hour and a half after our goal of 7:30am. And it would effect our day later on, that's for sure.

The Houston Zoo and Hermann Park are undergoing a huge, and sorely needed facelift. The train in the park is new, but the new station will not open until March. But, most importantly to Hoot, you have to walk through a full fledged construction zone before you get to the Zoo entrance! Holy cow! Frontend loaders, back hoes, cranes, and lifters! It was a little boy's delight! He was beside himself before we even paid for our tickets.

We only did about half of the zoo, but it took two hours. My parents just don't move as quickly as they used to, so we took it slow and easy. A little after 1:30 pm, we headed off to buy our train tickets. By the time we rode the train and hit the road, it was just after 3pm! Holy cow, Scoob, we've got to get out of the perimeter like NOW!

Our late escape put a decent meal in peril. Normally, when we go to Houston, or Austin, or anywhere else for that matter, we try to eat someplace that we don't have at home. We needed someplace fast or we would have to drive-thru and eat in the car. Well, it was a far better Luby's than the one at home. Though, poor Hoot, he never did get to eat groundhog....

We made it to the vet's with about 15 minutes to spare...

Total cost for the day:
$8 convenience store junk
$38 Zoo entrance- 2 adults, 2 seniors, 1 child
$6 ride for 3 on carousel
$12.50 for five train tickets
$1 for train whistle
$63 for super late lunch at Luby's
$206! for Luna's vet bill

$335 for a groundhog? Unbelievable!

I love all the trappings....

Tonight, I was reading an article on MSN about tourist traps. You can read it here. It got me thinking about my love for travel, love for tourist traps, and well, I guess you could say my love for cheese. So, I thought I'd go over my favorite (so far) tourist traps.

Gatorland- Located just miles from Mickey's house, Gatorland is a throwback attraction that is tops in my book. I have several photos of DH at Gatorland during our 10th anniversary trip to Orlando in 2003 on my fridge even today. Oh, how I wish I had those photos scanned onto disk. The Gator Jumparoo is really a site to behold. Raw chicken (yeah, this isn't for Peta lovers) is rolled out over the water and gators jump astonishingly high to get them. The only thing I love more than the Jumparoo is the gift shop. Great souvenirs that go beyond the fantastic line of t-shirts and such. Really, take your dog sitter some gator jerky or maybe your mother-in-law needs a real taxidermy alligator head. I haven't been to Gatorland since before the fire in November of 2006. Mostly because I have declared that Hoot be at least 6 before I will take him to Gatorland. He's just too fearless and forge ahead to get him keen on the idea of feeding wieners to alligators. Well, that and he needs to be big enough to fight off emus, as this is also one of the more notorious sites of Susie gets attacked by birds. (Oh, I don't blame Gatorland, I blame the birds.)

Stone Mountain Park- Yeah, I could wax nostalgic on this one for a while. I could even do a SMP employee retrospective. Of course my favorite things pre-date the evil privatization of the park: the carving, the skylift, the railroad, the riverboats (both the Scarlett O'Hara and the Henry Grady), the plantation, and the carillon. But, mostly I still go gaga over the lasershow. (Yes kids, if I am alone in the car and Ray Charles starts in on Georgia, I may have to pull over.) There is also a ton of new stuff in the parks that have been embellished or added since my last visit in early 2004.

Graceland- My only visit to Graceland occurred during what we like to call the Post-Olympic Viva Los Delta tour. We hit Tupelo for the Elvis birthplace on the drive to Tunica Mississippi. Then, we stayed and gambled a few days, driving up to Memphis to visit Beale Street and Graceland. I had a minor fit at the Walkman guided tour when I was given a nasty pair of earphones, but an employee hooked me up with a fresh pair. I really wasn't prepared for how well the recorded tour and history came together, which resulted in tears as I listened to Elvis sing "How Great Thou Art" when I stood in front of his grave. Someday, I'll have to take DH to stay at the Heartbreak Hotel. They have 24 hour Elvis movies on the television!

Well, I wasn't quite prepared for how nostalgic I would get when I started this post. I originally meant to plan out February's budget tonight, but my love of tourist traps just kind of kept me going. I do have plenty more to post on the subject, but maybe on another night.

Consider it a Public Service Announcement

Tonight, we were channel surfing with Hoot, when we hit the beginning of the PBS series Nature as it debuted: Is That Skunk? Halfway through the show, as Hoot showed no sign of boring with skunks, they gave out the secret mystical formula that will erase the odor of the spray. As my four year old son was so excited, I glanced over to my one year old dog on the couch. Needless to say, I paused the show, grabbed a pen and paper and wrote it down. I'll call it:

Skunk Juice
(never to be made inside a house or building)
1 quart 3% hydrogen peroxide
1/4 cup baking soda
1 teaspoon detergent (dish or laundry)

mix in a very large, very open bucket as it will pressurize. Keeping away from the eyes, coat the victim liberally. Let sit for five minutes and rinse. This will totally break down the molecular structure.

PS: If I die and you inherit or find my recipe book, do not make Skunk Juice for your Halloween or Super Bowl parties. I simply needed a very safe place for this recipe. However, it does fall right after Alton's Cocoa Mix.

Ack! Just when you think you're in the clear....

Or maybe Achoo! would be more appropriate. You know the old adage if momma ain't happy, no body's happy? Well, apparently if momma ain't well, no body's happy. I've had a nasty cold for the last week and while I'm in the final throws of snotdom, I realize just how much it effects everything. Laundry piles up. Dishes pile up. Groceries become sparse. Husbands become useless. Menus get tossed to the wayside. Yep. It is true.

However, there is a very silver lining. Even though he repeated drinks after me, and honestly, no unattended bottle of water is safe, Hoot hasn't done more than sneeze a couple of times. Go figure. I guess my body is still more shot dealing with my leg than I thought. I've upped the vitamins and plowed through an entire tube of Airborne but alas, I still became the grouchy snot monster.

And, speaking of monsters... I hear that Cookie Monster will not be so Cookie Monster anymore. If I look on the Sesame Street website, I see he is still Cookie Monster there. Hoot is not a big fan of SS, so I haven't seen this for myself, but oh, I lament if this is true. See, Cookie Monster is my favorite. He's very special to me. He's blue. He loves cookies. And he is a Scorpio, with his birthday nestled the one day that is between my birthday (November 1st) and my mom's birthday (November 3rd.) If he truly has become the Veggie Monster, I will be so very sad. I hate political correctness.

My Vision Board

I've just finished a lovely run of three days off. Merry Christmas to me, it's my holiday time. I was planning to work on my 2009 plans and finalize our big yearly goals, but I have decided to try a different route this year. Instead of a spreadsheet (oh, don't fear, I'm not leaving excel, what would I do?) I am creating a vision board.

Don't know what a vision board is? Think of it as a giant collage of everything you want in your life. Travel, money, love, new furniture, a working dishwasher... you name it, get a photo of it, and paste it down. Yes, I know. Its a very law of attraction kind of thing, Hippy guru nonsense, right? Well, I don't think so.


I believe that focusing on any thing, good or bad, will only magnify that thing. Don't like the idea of the law of attraction thing? Think of it more scientifically. Most Psychology 101 classes get introduced to self fulfilling prophecy. Cling to that if you need to. Or, heck, jump on that placebo effect thing. The power of absolute belief can be an enormous thing.


So, I put down my Napoleon Hill and picked up a piece of white foam board. I felt a little like I was about to make my charts and explanations for the science fair, but who cares, right? I've spent a little time with my magazines and some scissors. I've cut out all kinds of things. Furniture, a Wii, an entire kitchen, appliances and such. Most of what I considered my foundation was travel related and that is as far as I've gotten.


Right now, standing up against the fridge is the foam board covered with travel pictures. The drawings from my Disney Vacation Club packet for Animal Kingdom Villas make up a large part of the base. There is also photos from Australia, Paris, Tuscany, Las Vegas, Hawaii, and Scotland. Pretty good basis, I think. There is only one non-travel related item on the entire board so far: a picture of a brand new kitchen that is the basis for how I want to redo mine.

So, while I have quite a few things to add yet, I am enjoying the board just as it is right now. Hoot loves it, too. Oddly, on some level, I think he gets it. He keeps asking me to put the new vacuum picture on it. What a strange boy. He's been asking me to buy him a Dyson for over a year now.

January Goals

I finally have nailed down my January Goals, if not the budget. Officially, January will be Recoup, Reconnect, and Re-Introduce Month. All three items have multiple meanings towards my quest for an ever improving life.

Recoup-
I totally need to take the time to focus on healing my ankle. I also need to recoup some of the energies that have otherwise been zapped by my late health problems. I've got to get rest, TAKE MY IRON (I really began to wonder if the anemia wouldn't be the end of me), and keep my leg elevated as much as possible. Sometimes this is a little unorthodox. This morning, I spent an hour and a half playing inside Hoot's Mickey Mouse tent with my leg propped up. We also do quite a show with cars on my bed.

Reconnect-
The holidays may be all about family, but I always feel a bit estranged when they are over. Then, there's the weird sensation when I haven't seen a co-worker lately, but I spent so much time with them in December that is odd. Kind of a roll reversal, if you will. So, reconnecting with Hoot & DH is a biggie for me this month. I also have to reconnect with family that I usually talk to on the phone several times a week. That just didn't happen as much.

Re-Introduce-
Ah, the big three parter.
Re-Introducing the almost vegetarian/vegan diet we'd been eating until mid-December. It's about eating better for us, not the politics. Getting rid of the crap like refined sugars and white bread- oh, sorry, same thing- really made a difference on us as a family, and we are almost full tilt back on board.
Re-Introducing the budget. It's not that I didn't have one for December, it's that it got so crazy around here, it went out of control. The crappy take out food didn't help the pocketbook either.
Re-Introducing a goal based lifestyle. We went nuts. We drifted. We drove thru. I think you get the picture. Our only goal was to "get through it" and we did. We just got through it.

Overheard in the bookstore:
I really need to get a book on statics since I'm taking it this next semester.
What's statics?
You know, when you use numbers and charts and graphs and stuff to figure things out.
Oh, statistics?
Yeah, statics.

Happy New Year!

Yes, I know it is already the 7th day of 2009, but today seems like one of the first normal days of the year. I've spent so much of the last week and a half laying down with my right leg elevated. I was warned back in November when I hurt myself that without rest and elevation, my wound would take many months to heal. Well, it was impossible to get off my feet back then, so I resolved to take to my bed anytime I possibly could. It has made an amazing difference. Already, the wound has made more healing progress than in the last two months combined. However... yeah, bed rest is boring. Any TV watched has to also appeal to the four year old of the house. And, I've been really, really wishing for a laptop.

Yesterday, I did manage to take the Christmas tree down and pack it away. The living room looks a little naked, but naked in a good way. I also worked a little on my budget before I headed back to the couch. I've gotten some of January worked out, but the spreadsheet is pretty sparse after this month. I wish that the rest of the bills from the ER trip would go ahead and get here. Some of them haven't even been presented to the insurance company yet. What a pain.

I've also plotted out my vacation time for the rest of the year. Starting August 1st, I get four weeks a year! Combine that with my holidays and personal days, I get a little over five weeks off a year. Yep. I get a month. Smokin', huh? All that for a job I love. Life is good.

So, I guess I've started my 2009 planning, but just haven't gotten that far into it yet. I should to be back to at least two posts a week, but am aiming for an average of three as part of my New Year's resolution. That makes me very excited. I'm always happier when I'm writing something. Writing or planning. Or planning to write. I think it may be a sickness.