Friday Fifteen Great Things This Week

This week arthritis-wise has been especially trying. Which means it's time to focus on the great things that happened this week.

1. I dropped my camera yesterday (blasted arthritic hands!) and I heard an awful shattering noise. (This is not the good thing) After my heart got down to only double its normal speed, I realized it was only the UV lens, and not the real lens or camera body that broke into a gazillion pieces. Whew! That could have been tragic. It made me thankful all over again for my camera, though.
2. C-man is having a good friend stay over night tonight, and he's sooo excited, it's contagious.
3. While I love, Love, LOVE the ballet, nobody in my house will ever go with me. So I have now successfully adopted 2 girls (daughters of our good friends) for girlie events. And we now have excellent seats for us to go see the Moscow Ballet's rendition of the Nutcracker on December 1st. (I'm TOTALLY taking them for tea and sunshine cake next!)
4. C-man picked the first of this season's apples from our tree yesterday and took it to school for snack. He then declared it the sweetest apple he'd ever tasted.
5. Our friends keep telling us how great the party was last weekend. I know I shouldn't need to hear it, but it was so much darned work, it really is gratifying that it went so well.
6. C-man got to happily wear his Brewers shirt to school today. Which meant he HAD to wear his Hart jersey. I love that he loves the guy nobody else likes much.
7. Brewers fever has totally hit this city. I love when any Wisconsin sports do well, but get kind of annoyed when the news and papers cover nothing but the Packers starting in August, which should be the heat of the baseball season. This year, they are delaying the news coverage to cover the Brewers. I love it.
8. Watching the Red Sox implode was kind of beautiful.
9. Somehow, corn got planted in our garden. I can only assume it's from the birds or squirrels. But we have 6 ears of, what is most likely, field corn growing. It just makes me laugh to watch each day.
10. Harry has invited himself to sleep in bed next to me this week. Sort of like, hey, that guy's gone, so don't mind me, I'll just be right over here. Total aside - that dog never stops running in his sleep.
11. I got a haircut. I really love getting my hair cut.
12. China canceled its annual Dog Meat Festival this week. Something that I feel was a pretty solid decision.
13. It's stopped raining.
14. Beerman will be home soon.
15. I made it to Friday.

5 Best Decisions

A question was asked yesterday, "What are your 5 best decisions"? This question takes some serious thought. But I think these are mine:

1. Marrying Beerman
2. Having C-man
3. Getting a Masters Degree
4. Stopping fertility treatments
5. Living alone after college

Boarding my ark

The rain will not stop. Which means that the giant low pressure system from hell has been swirling above us for almost a week. Which means my hands look like five read kielbasa poking out from a puffy palm. So adorable.

It's times like these that this whole arthritis thing makes me angry. With all the money pharmaceuticals throw into making sure men's penises enlarge for up to 4 hours, helping women's eyelashes grow thicker, and paralyzing faces with the exact right amount of botulism so they don't wrinkle in the wrong spot, they will not or cannot fix some major chronic problems in the world.

And so, I think I'm just going to finish construction on an ark, board it, and sail off. At least the thought of that makes me happy.

Bulletly Tuesday

• The rain is showing no signs of slowing. And it's negatively affecting my mood.
• The wind brought down some trees, which cut our power yesterday morning, and was out most of the day.
• WE Energies said it came back on at 4:30, but the fruit leather cooking in the dehydrator was pretty dry and the fish were fine. So we're guessing it must have been on and off throughout the day.
• Regardless, it was off when I was getting ready for work, and I was a little scary looking all day long.
• I just celebrated 5 years with my company.
• I got a $25 gift card as my thank you.
• Beerman's comment was, "Don't spend it all in one place."
• I can't believe all the amazingly generous comments and emails I got from yesterday's photo. Maybe this self-portrait thing will be fun!
• New TV is back. I don't think Two and a Half Men is funny at all. And the appeal of  Dancing With the Stars is something I'll never get.
• But I missed The Amazing Race this week. And that bums me out, because it's a house favorite.
• I've been reading Harry Potter to C-man before bed. We just started the 4th book, which is where Cedric dies. He's seen the movies, but the books are so much more intense and descriptive. We'll see how it goes...
• When I asked C-man what his favorite subject at school is, his response was, "Mass." Seriously? Why does he fight going on the weekends then? So when I questioned him further, he said, "It's nice to take a break from school and just be quiet." Huh. We've got a mini Buddha on our hands.
• Oktoberfest is going on right now. Dang, that was a great time.
• It also means it's Beer Festival season here at home. Beerman is captain judge again this week, of course. Which means he'll get more beer judge logo apparel. At least he leaves the beer glasses behind now. One house can only have so many beer glasses.
• Which means this is the week people stop him to take their photos with him like he's a celebrity. Oh, the ego boost.
• At least all my laundry is done. It was way overdue, unfortunately. Every load I brought up, Beerman would say, "More?!" Yes, honey, that's what happens when you ignore it for almost 2 weeks.
• C-man is all into football now. He has to practice throwing and catching the ball every night. When it was raining, and we told him no because it was raining, he said, "But I'll have to play football in this, so I need to get used to it!" Seriously.

In front of the glass: Take 1

A few blogs I read are doing a self-portrait challenge. 50 of them, to be exact. Because the theory is when you take the photos, you're rarely in them. Plus, it's hard to think of how to photograph yourself 50 times and resist the wrinkle remove option on PhotoShop. (I'm still looking for the double-chin remover.) To be honest, I set the camera up and snapped this one in my kitchen with almost zero thought. It was kind of a bite the bullet, take a deep breath and just do it moment. Neck wrinkles, tired eyes, and all. So while I know it's not a fantastic shot, it's a start. Hopefully I can get more creative and inspired as I go along. After all, only 49 more to go.

I think I'm sweating meat

Last night was our 2nd Annual Fall Fest. It was so much work, but it's so worth it to have so many happy people at the end of the night. We are so incredibly blessed to have such an amazing group of friends. And the rain graciously held off until the moment we called everyone into the tent for dinner.

So here's the official tally...

34 fantastic people

19 of them children

1 brand new outdoor tent I own

2 propane heaters

4 pounds of bacon-wrapped tri-tip

4 pounds of ribeye
Bacon-wrapped chicken thighs

2 chickens

24 giant hotdogs

1.5 pounds of bacon

1 crock pot of rice

1 crock pot of black beans

1 giant tub of cookies made at the neighbors house while they entertained our kid so we could set up the stuff

2 bags of chips

1 pineapple

1 watermelon

6 mangoes

44 pao de queijo breads

50 brigadeiro

1 enormous veggie platter

8 bags of ice

4 coolers

20 bags of movie popcorn

2 pitchers of caipirinha

20 cups of hot chocolate

3 bottles of wine

Soda, juice boxes, and water

A whole lot of beer

1 homemade Angry Birds catapult

24 playground balls

3 Angry Birds pigs to knock down

1 outdoor Rio movie

Welcome, Fall

Fall is here; on the calendar, in the air, and starting on the leaves. I don't embrace this season as so many do. I enjoy heat and tree frogs and fireflies. I love the carefree feeling summer provides, whereas Fall feels more like an ending. But like the air, Fall is also a new beginning of sorts. And since I love all things new, I am trying to focus on enjoying the new and different that happens this time of year. I am going to think about the new crisp air, the new season of food, going to football games instead of baseball games, the Cub Scout meetings, watching C-man learn to read better, and anything else that comes my way. (Like watching the Brewers in the playoffs, perhaps?)

So, welcome, Fall. Let's have some fun.

Thursday Thirteen things I have to do

1. Clean the house before this weekend's festivities
2. Pray the rain holds off on Saturday so we can have our party
3. Laundry. Dear God, how long have I been avoiding that?
4. Groceries. For us and our 35 guests. Oh, who am I kidding? I need to make a list so Beerman can go grocery shopping.
5. Sleep. I don't know why, but sleep has been escaping me lately, and it has not been fun
6. Finish The Night Circus. Unbelievably, I have finally found a book I'm actually enjoying!
7. Buy lots of limes to make the caipirinhas
8. Hang the canvas of the O Torii photo I took that should be arriving today.
9. Rip out about 1/3 of the sweater I've knitted so far. It's such a dumb pattern, but I think I've got it figured out now. Well, until the next slip up.
10. Pick up the CSA veggies. Thursdays are always good because we get our box of goodies. Today we even get apples. Yum!
11. Take some photos. I really have not been very inspired lately, and that's sad. So maybe I need to force it a bit to get out of my rut.
12. Put the shoes away by the door. You'd think I had 5 kids with the amount of shoes we have tossed about.
13. Put together a party playlist
    

Wordless Wednesday: 1st grade science homework

Busy

A moment of respite in the middle of the crazy.

Giddyup

It's extra hard to go back to work after a good weekend. But, here I am, working through it until the weekend again. So instead of droning on about nothing, I'll leave you with a sunrise over the Indian Ocean.

Family

Today we celebrated Grandma's 80th birthday with a beautiful surprise party. She got a Donald Driver jersey to wear, because he's #80, even though today was the Aaron Rodgers jersey day. (She rotates them in a very specific order to help the Packers win.) Despite that, they still won, as did the Brewers. Not too shabby of a day.

Lowering the magic number

We've been working hard getting the house ready for next weekend's festivities. My back is sore from weeding and mulching. But as Beerman reminds me, it doesn't hurt as bad as a thumb that's been nailed straight through. Cman and I saw Seussical today, which was cute. And so, the weekend moves on, hopefully with the magic number decreasing.

TBIF*

*Thank Buddha it's Friday

Friday, the love of my life, How very happy I am to see you!

My head has been screaming in pain for a few days now, and working from home while resting when I can today, is sort of beyond beautiful. I don't know if it's the weather, the medicine, or that damn donut (okay, fine, two donuts) I was weak and broke down and ate the other day. (It was a really, really bad day.)

In other exciting news, C-man asked Beerman to make him a picture frame last night. While doing so, Beerman successfully shot a nail through his thumb. He pulled the nail out before coming inside, and thankfully didn't hit any bones or anything important. He was all hyped up like I remember being after getting my belly button pierced all those years ago. So we cleaned it out, bandaged it up, and he went back outside to do some more work. Probably not the best choice, but there really was no stopping him until he could calm down a bit.

And with that, I hope you all enjoy your weekend!

Homeward stretch

It's been kind of one of those trying kinds of weeks. I think I'm adjusting better to the new medicine in that I don't feel completely crazy, but it is still making me pretty sick to my stomach, making food really not very desirable. C-man has still been struggling a bit with school, although he did come home with the "Good Apple Award" yesterday after an especially bad day on Tuesday. He said he tried really hard for it, which is excellent. Secretly, I think the teacher is a little bit afraid of me now. Not the worst thing in the world, I suppose. Regardless, he was much happier about school again. I hope it continues today.

It all makes me really glad it's Thursday, and we can look forward to the weekend. We have Seussical play tickets on Saturday, Beerman has been assembling our new 20 x 20 tent in the backyard in preparation for Fall Fest, today is veggie pickup day, and tomorrow is early release from school day (which I didn't realize until C-man told me last night - zoinks!). It's gotten ridiculously cold, so I don't know what we can do. But I feel like there is some more geocaching or some other fun to be had out there. (Because Friday can't be a homework day, too, can it?)

So here's to the almost end of the week. It can't come soon enough.

Wordless Wednesday: Purification

Beauty

Everything has beauty, but not everyone sees it. ~ Confucius

Another week

It was such a lovely weekend, we had a lot of outside time. C-man and I even found some time in between an ice cream run to find a couple of geocaches. (One tricky little one we found amongst a thousand other rocks is pictured above) We played a lot of backyard HORSE and practiced knocking down stuff with our new catapult. It is always hard to see good weekends end, especially when the forecast is for our house heat to be turned on by the weekend!

Regatta, Cub Scout Style

 

Last night was our first Cub Scout meeting. They did dinner, followed by the rain gutter regatta, followed by trophies and then cookies. What 6 year old boy isn't going to put his hand up to join after THAT?

This moment

At this very moment, life continues to move forward on the other side of the world. As I eat my breakfast, I don't know if I find that comforting or overwhelming, that people are moving about their lives, winding down the work week, and thinking about what's for dinner or where they will go out tonight. But regardless as to how I feel, it is definitely amazing that 6 billion of us continue to move forward at this very moment.

Thursday Thirteen random bullets again

1. I've been watching Mad Men on Netflix. I am into Season 2 and still can't decide if I like or hate the show. It's good for late night watching when I can't sleep, at least, since that's been the case a lot lately.
2. James Moore said, "If Perry and Bush had been born in the same family, W would have become known as "the smart one". That's some scary shit right there.
3. Eating almost gluten-free is getting a lot easier. I'm starting to crave fewer sweets, too, which is nice. Now if the pounds would melt away, life would be almost perfect.
4. Everyone has responded with a "Yes" to this year's Fall Fest, which is fabulous. We're going to have a big crowd. Let's pray for good weather!
5. I need to find some patience. C-man has been acting a little crazy, and not in a good way. A friend sent me this article. It gave me some really good perspective. Let's hope this is truly a September thing, and it'll settle back down soon, because I really miss my sweet kid.
6. Although he hasn't really been getting in trouble at school. Except for that day when he got a warning for blurting out the math answers. When I asked why, he said, "Because it was so easy!" This cannot be my kid.
7. I haven't gotten a massage in ages, and they just accrue if I don't use them up monthly, so it's dumb not to go. I figured since my pinkies have been going numb lately, I should probably get one. So I am getting one today. I can't wait.
8. I've been seeing a lot of green or red or purple pants with elastic or tight ankles being worn. People, I lived 1992 once. I don't think I can bear to go back.
9. Although the way my skin looks right now, I could be 16 again. I think I've been drooling a lot in my sleep because of Fall allergies. Gross.
10. The rain gutter regatta is this weekend. I think I am going to have a Cub Scout. That means we'll go to Indian Mound Scout Camp. I used to be the director there for a few years. That'd be something.
11. Next weekend we have First Stage tickets to see Seussical. We love going so much, and I'm really thrilled with this year's line-up.
12. If I went back to Japan, I would definitely go see a baseball game. We tried to go while we were in Tokyo, but neither team was in town. A true regret I'll have to rectify someday.
13. I've really been striking out with books this year. They've been predictable or so boring I can't finish them. I need to find a good read.

Wordless Wednesday: Because I can't read it anyway

Fluttering on

If there were a Best Mother Award, I would not be getting it lately. Poor C-man. Hell, poor everyone near me. On a normal day, I might not be the easiest person to deal with. But on these drugs, I'm feeling sort of crazy. Lethargic, stiff, annoyed, and unable to come up with words as basic as "fork". Thankfully, everything around me continues to press on after a long weekend of house stuff and friend dinners. We're back at work, leaving while Harry was settling into his favorite pillow, and C-man was positively hopping on to the bus because it's math book day!

The "Yes" responses to Fall Fest continue to come in, Rio the movie is purchased, and Beerman's Angry Birds catapult is now officially built. I ordered the balls for the smashing action, but have to figure out what the pigs are going to be yet. We spray painted foam eggs gold for those. I have to figure out how to give prizes for the golden eggs yet. The craft is going to be creating the Rio monkeys on foam visors. We sure do put a lot of work into this party. But if it's anything like last year's, it'll totally be worth it.

Well, here's to being back to work, waking up before the sun, and not getting a day off until Thanksgiving!

Laboring

I love days off. I finally painted my living room wall behind the couch. It's only been since March, so it's not like there was any rush. (sarcasm) The storms finally passed through, so I'm feeling a bit better. Still weird from the new drugs though. Which might be why I blew up at C-man when his sassy behavior would have typically gotten a calm punishment instead of the screaming, "Get into your room now!" Then again, it could have been building from when he accidentally dialed 911 earlier in the day. Let's just hope he doesn't use these examples in therapy 20 years from now. I'm going to use the rest of the day to find some angry bird balls to go in the catapult Beerman built for the fall fest party, and hopefully have some fun, too.

Sneezapalooza and other stuff

It's been a lazy day. We were out late at a friends' house, so all slept in and went out for brunch. I can't stop with the sneezapalooza, so Fall is here, regardless as to what the calendar says. I'm still feeling crummy arthritis-wise, but at least better than yesterday. I'm still mostly eating gluten free, and made some gluten free brownies. I know you're jealous.

And that is the excitement that is my life.

Stone

This storm system, plus some new kick my ass drugs that I've been put on, have turned my body to stone. Well, that is, if stone could scream in pain. I try not to dwell on the whole arthritis thing too much. It is, and there is only so much I can do with that. But there are days, days like these, that hurt so bad that I get so depressed, so angry, I can't think of anything else. And so it goes. From a great day yesterday to miserable today. Here is hoping tomorrow can be great again.

Long weekend

I had a terrific day off work. You know, to start the long weekend off right. Let's get this party started!

Thursday Random Thirteen

1. C-man is a first grader now. Which means he is very concerned with being cool. For example, his backpack can only be carried on one shoulder, regardless as to how heavy it is.
2. Beerman sent me the most gorgeous flowers on Monday. They're really pretty, and everyone is jealous. I do enjoy both of those things.
3. It seems like everyone at work is pregnant or just had a baby. While I appreciate their enthusiasm, it can get kind of hard to be genuinely thrilled every day with each new development. Especially when someone unknowingly asks the idiot question, "Why aren't you pregnant?"
4. My arthritis has really flared up this week. I'm so not into that.
5. We went to the Brewers game last night. Oh.boy.
6. Cardinals fans are, for the most part, pretty respectful. It was way better than against the Twins or Cubs. Well, except for the outcome, of course.
7. C-man totally dominated my camera while at the game. Since the Brewers were so bad, I thought I'd share his photo today.
8. Note to self: Get new memory card for the old camera so he can have that one so I can get my own camera back.
9. I am really excited about the 3-day weekend ahead. We have plans with friends at night, but the day is ours to enjoy. It's one of the few weekends at home all summer. We can actually get some stuff done. Pretty sad, considering Labor Day marks the end of summer.
10. I had some labs at the rheumatologist the other day and have been playing phone tag with my doctor since. I hate that.
11. We're working on planning our Fall Fest 2011. I think this year's movie is going to be Rio and a Brazil/Angry Birds theme. Mmmm... meat...
12. Cargo Bridge is my new game. I love it.
13. Some days, 13 things to think of are just too hard.