Lift Every Voice and Sing

Don't try to call me tomorrow night, as I won't be home. To belatedly celebrate my birthday, Rachel and I are going back out to the karaoke tavern I liked so much back in August. We've invited a ton of people, and told those people to bring a friend if they like, so there should be a whole bunch of people there (some of whom I won't know, but hey, who cares?). The goal of the evening is for there to be a grand time had by all. I mean, c'mon, with karaoke, a small dance floor, pool tables, food and spirits, there's gotta be something for everyone there, right?

Rachel's babysitter's 16 year old son, Alex, is going to stay the night and babysit the kids for us. He's a good kid. Jamie loves him to death. He told me once he wished Alex was his big brother. Jamie loves school holidays when he gets to go with Destiny to the babysitter's house, that way he can hang out with Alex and play video games, ride bikes, etc. So Jamie's really excited about tomorrow night, too. He can't wait to show Alex his Avatar: The Last Airbender plug-n-play video game, watch the new ATLA episode (which, he better remember to record for Mama!) and just hang out with Alex.

And in pursuit of our fun tomorrow night, yesterday Rachel called me at work and said, "You know the money you were going to use to pay your share for Alex to babysit? Well, tomorrow night's on me. You use that money and go get yourself a haircut. Consider it another birthday present." I've been complaining for a month now that I needed to go get a haircut, but just didn't have the money. Wasn't that nice of her? So, now I've got a sassy new haircut, and I was even able to find a cute new top on sale that was within my budget, so I have a new blouse to wear tomorrow night, too. Tomorrow night's going to be a LOT of fun!

Gratuitous Eye Candy

Just thought I'd post a pic of Jamie's Halloween costume I made this year. Well, not so much made as assembled, with some crafty bits thrown in. Anyone venture to guess who he is, and from what television show?

And here's an interesting shot from just before an early-morning soccer game:

Colbert "Realer than Brownback"

I think that would make a great campaign slogan for Colbert. "Colbert '08. Realer than Brownback". Read more about Colbert's presidential campaign here.

Just Call Me "Nerd Queen"

So, Tooz sent me this quiz to determine my nerdiousity. I knew I was a nerd... but I didn't quite realize I was SUCH a nerd! Wow. Who knew the chick who baredly passed basic chemistry would grow up to be a science geek (I blame it on my current job. I have to do all kinds of things I never thought I'd have to do/remember).

See? Here's how much of a nerd I am:




And, on another note, Happy Birthday to me today! I'm going to copy off Everett and declare that I am 29 for the third year in a row. Rachel took Jamie out shopping this weekend so he could buy me a present without me accidentally seeing what it was. That was very nice of her. Tonight, we're going to have a sit down family meal, and my birthday cake will be cheese cake with strawberries on top. Yummmmmmm! I'll be thinking of you all while I'm scarfing that creamy cheese cake down...NOT!

Big hugs and kisses to you all!

One Foot, Two Foot, Red Foot, Boo-boo foot

So, I went to the doctor yesterday. Basically, they don't know any more what's wrong with it than I do. It could be a sprain, it could be some other soft tissue injury, it could be a stress fracture. Stress fractures generally are so small they don't show up on x-rays until they've started healing. So, they told me to take pain meds, and follow the R.I.C.E. prescription - Rest, Ice, Compression, Elevation. I should have saved my money, as I was already doing all that. But I'm going to be a good girl and do what I'm told. I do NOT want to be limping around NYC and Kentucky in a little more than 4 weeks.

OUCH!

I have not been a happy camper the past several days. To start with, I've had a headache that has slipped back and forth over into migraine territory for about a week now. I've also been having some inexplicable pain in my left foot - basically ever since I started walking around the soccer fields while Jamie has soccer practice. There are four U6 (small) soccer fields and three U10 (medium sized) soccer fields in this area, plus a whole bunch of open space. I know by walking the perimeter I've got to be walking at least a mile, if not actually two miles. I'm trying to get in shape for walking all over New York City here in about 4.5 weeks.

Well, the pain really started escalating over the weekend, and yesterday, my whole foot swelled up so bad I had to take my shoe off, prop my foot up on the trashcan under my desk, and put an ice-pack on it while I was at work. My boss was talking to me about it, and said that it's probably either a sprain (at least) or a stress fracture (at worse). He runs a lot, used to do marathons, so he's well acquainted with all the different symptoms of foot problems. He told me to see a doctor about it soon, so it doesn't get worse. He also said that you don't have to be a super athlete to get stress fractures. He said any sort of activity one is particularly accustomed to yet, combined with the fact that a lot of females tend to have bone density problems (which I do), can equal a stress fracture. Lovely.

I was trying to see if it would go away, but when I got up today, my foot hurt even worse (it was throbbing) and it was swollen so bad I couldn't even get my durn tennis shoes on. I had to put on my cheap-plastic men's soccer sandals with the velcro strap across the width of the foot. So, it looks like sometime this week I'll be going to see a doctor about my foot. Whatever is wrong with it, it better be healed before I go to NYC! I do not intend to spend the four days I'll have with Joel and Leah sitting on my butt in an apartment with my foot elevated, that's for sure!

Tied Game, Baskin Robbins Best Friends, Cream of Soccer Team and Jack O'Lanterns

On Saturday, Jamie's soccer team tied 4-4 with their opponents. It was a thrilling, close game all the way up to the final whistle. Jamie did several body-blocks of shots, which made him the center of attention and earned him much praise from both his coach and his trainer. Of course, this had Jamie soaring on cloud nine. He likes it when Mom praises him, but it means so much more to him to have a male figure pay attention to him and praise him. And of course this wrenches my heart when I see it happening. I'll never be able to do or say anything to make it up to him that he doesn't have a dad. I can try to be both Mom and Dad until I'm run ragged and exhausted, but I will never be as good as him actually having a father. It breaks my heart each time I see it, and realize that there are some things I just can't do for him.

Anyway, back to the game Saturday. I didn"t get any really good shots as I was too busy screaming my lungs out. Sorry!

Saturday night, Jamie spent the night with his friend Remo to give me a chance to catch up on a paper that's due soon. They went to Baskin Robbins, played in the super-cool treehouse, and stayed up much of the night talking and playing video games (despite the fact that I told Jamie to be in bed by 10 p.m. Oh well, what can you do?)

I picked Jamie up this morning at 10 a.m., took him home, got him breakfast and changed into his soccer uniform, then we headed up the Interstate for his game today. Unfortunately, they got creamed. Beaten badly 1-7. All the kids just seemed pooped out today. Maybe they weren't used to Sunday games. Maybe they were still tired from the day before. Or maybe, like Jamie, many of them spent the night at friends' houses and stayed up way too late and ate too much sugar. Who knows. At least it was a learning experience for them. I've included a few pictures from the game, but nothing spectacular. I was too busy screaming again. I did want to show you guys how beautiful it was today, though. That super blue sky and all the clouds!

This is Jamie and a team-mate sitting on the sidelines with the coach. Jamie's holding his stomach; could it be he ate too much Baskin Robbins the night before?

See the gorgeous sky? Do you notice all the umbrellas? Texas is the only place I've ever been that they use umbrellas when the sun is shining but run out bareheaded into the rain.

Tonight, Rachel's new boyfriend Will surprised the kids by buying them pumpkins then helping them carve them. This was the first time Jamie had ever carved a pumpkin. Always in the past we just painted faces on them. So getting to make an honest-to-goodness Jack O'Lantern was a blast for him! Here's some pics...

Here's Will "helping" Destiny carve her pumpkin. She was a bit cranky tonight and did NOT want her picture taken.

Here's Jamie happily scooping the guts out of his pumpkin!

Here they both are with their finished product. In typical 3 year-old fashion, Destiny decided it was perfectly grand to have her picture taken this time. They both are excited because they have been promised by Will a chance to carve even bigger pumpkins they get to pick out of a pumpkin patch themselves.

Now that I'm done bragging about my kid, I guess I'll go to bed. Good night, all!

Sweeney Todd Movie Trailer!!!

Want to see the Sweeney Todd movie trailer?!?

Well....Duh!

An AP headline I spotted today reads "Lindsay Lohan Says Rehab Was `Sobering'." Duh!

I'll say it again... "DUH!" I should hope so! I would hope it sure wouldn't be 'intoxicating'. I couldn't help but snort with laughter when I read the headline. Hello? Do you people read what you write? Lindsay, honey, do you not think about things before you say them? Sheesh.

They Won Again!

Yay! Jamie's soccer team won again on Saturday, 5-4. It would have been 6-4, but one of the goals was scored just a couple of seconds after the ref blew his whistle, so it didn't count. Jamie played goalkeeper half the game and striker (forward/attacker) for part of it. After it was over, he was tuckered out and took a nap on the way home. He got a pretty good nap, too, as the game was in Spring Branch, TX, and it took us an hour to get there!

I don't have any good pictures, as momma was an idiot and forgot to check the batteries in the camera before we left. Four pictures later, the camera died, and the pictures I got weren't stellar. However, I do have a fantastic picture of Jamie making a save from the September 29th game that one of the moms gave me. When I get a chance, I'll scan it in at work and post it so you guys can see Jamie in action!

Oh, and Happy Birthday today, Everett!

Two-Year Anniversary and a Raise!

Yesterday was my two year anniversary with the company I work for. Doesn't seem like two years could have passed already, but they have. Anyway, we couldn't do my year-end review yesterday as we had too many projects up in the air (including one which has entailed me fighting with the FDA over certification of medical instruments, but I won't go into that giant headache). So, my review was today.

Out of that meeting, I got:

• a raise (yay)
• a pat on the back for the job I've been doing (double-yay)
• a promise to start reviewing me for raises more often than just 1x a year (triple-yay)
• recognition of my talents and smarts (quadruple-yay); and
• an admonishment that my desk is starting to look cluttered and messy and I need to do a better job of keeping it looking nice for when clients walk in.

Okay, so the last one wasn't so good; but hey, if that's the worst thing somebody can say about me, that I'm messy, I'll take it and run!

Out of that meeting also came a setting of a deadline for me to complete the webpage (before the end of 2007) and a promise that there will be set days allocated for my boss' wife to come in and do my normal duties for me while I work on nothing but the webpage. We also set a project deadline for me to complete gathering information and prepare a comparison report between communication companies (we aren't very happy with our current phone/ISP company). This too is contingent upon me having help in the office, as I pointed out (politely, of course) that I am only one person. Last but not least, I was given permission to order a better, more comfortable office chair, as the one I currently use kills my back.

All in all, today was a pretty good day!