More gratuitous food pics and holiday shots

That's Amy and Jacob in the middle photo there. Amy's one of my mom buddies and Jake's Livi's main squeeze, kindergarten-wise. Ain't he a doll?

Christmas week

It's been a nice Christmas week. Christmas eve we went out for Chinese. Today we opened presents and went to a movie. I'm keeping in touch with my Jewish side, clearly. Anyway, we popped by Queeny Park after the movie to let Liv play in her favorite playground, then scooted by my old high school. Haven't been there since my ex-bf from that time dragged me there during a break during college. It appears not to have changed one iota. Kind of nice.

Anyway, the shots above are from Christmas Eve as well as Christmas. And there's one gratuitous food porn shot. The turnovers turned out really well and I thought they needed to be memorialized publicly.

I'm free!

Well, I'm out. Wednesday 6:30 a.m. I showed up and demanded a mani-pedi and a facial. I got a hysterectomy instead, but at least the nurses thought it was funny. I certainly could've used the mani-pedi, though... they should multi-purpose the surgery unit, methinks. Thursday, I was out by noon.

So, the operation itself took longer than they'd planned. Apparently I'm not the correct size. Don't ask.

I also learned that when doing a hysterectomy on a patient, they turn her UPSIDE DOWN. Thus, after four hours in surgery, my face and hands were swollen. Gee. Wonder why?

Also, it turns out I'm allergic to dillaudid. It's a shame because, as a nurse friend of mine tells me, "it's good stuff." However, when given same, I do my imitation of a rash-y Stay Puft Marshmallow Man. Not so good.

My surgeon was talented AND had lots and lots of company in the surgery suite. I counted three surgeons, a med student, a resident, a fellow, two anesthesiologists and several nurses. (No, I wasn't awake; these are the folks that introduced themselves to me.) I'm told being in good shape helped with my miraculously quick recovery. See? There's a reason I make my classes do a gazillion sit-ups!

So now I'm home.

I can't wear pants or, really, anything with a waistband. So unless I'm willing to wear a dress and go "commando," I am stuck at home. My belly is swelled out to here and is hard as a rock. You'd think I was pregnant, which is kind of ironic under the circumstances.

Ordinarily I loathe pain meds, but I make an exception in the case of abdominal surgery. Having one's gut twisted up is really better resolved while asleep. Moving around does nobody any good.

And that thing about filling your body cavity with CO2 is no joke. Initially the gas settled around my hips. I literally could not feel the bones of my hips-- it was like I had a big, fleshy balloon around them. Now some of the gas has migrated to the traditional spot post-laproscopy: my shoulders. Ow.

El F and I have settled in to watch a lot of DVDs and hang out. He took several days off to watch over me. And a lot of the moms of Liv's friends have invited her over for afternoons or sleepovers to give us a break. May those people reap lavish rewards for their good deeds; I could not have survived without them.

El F's task will become much harder when I start to feel better. I'm on full "pelvic rest" for most purposes for four weeks. Some tasks go six weeks. Anyway, as you probably know, I'm not a sedentary soul and pelvic rest involves doing almost nothing I like to do. The least invasive of these restrictions is that I can't lift anything over ten pounds. Folks, my DOG weighs more than 10 pounds. I am so hosed.

Anyway, I've promised to be good. And I will try. But it is not going to be easy once I start to feel better. So if you see me lifting something, kindly knock it out of my hands. (Unless it's a living creature. Then you have permission to speak sharply to me.)

Right now, my primary complaint is that, as inflated as my belly is, it's hard to get a lung full of air. And I'm bored by sitting around. Still, it's much better than it might've been, no? Once again, I'm incredibly lucky.

Whoops

Slight miscalculation: when insurance okay'd the hysterectomy in addition to an oophorectomy, what nobody told me is that even a laproscopic hysterectomy is still an inpatient procedure.

Oh bother.

In fact they were talking at my pre-op today that I might be "in" for 2 or 3 nights, which puts me inside awfully close to my birthday. In fact I may only get home in time for the natal day.

Crap.

In other news, Liv and I just decorated the Xmas tree. Miss Thing actually hung most of the ornaments. (She's tucking her very cold feet under my shirt as I'm here on the couch, trying to blog. Did I mention they were very very cold feet?) Anyway, she's getting to be such a big girl!

Operation: Laproscopic Shop Vacc is a go

December 17th is the day, kids. Insurance has kindly agreed to pay to gut me, so I shall be taking them up on it.

The surgery should be quick and might result in an overnight stay, max. If I end up staying inpatient multiple nights, heads will roll. They'd be wise to keep me sedated for several months.

I've taken in a bunch of new cases, necessitating the purchase of letterhead and the stocking up on ink cartridges. Good lord, I'm actually back in business. How 'bout that?

I'll be teaching class until the end of the session on the 14th and resuming when the Y resumes classes on January 5. Further, I'm planning Livi's kindergarten holiday party on the 19th and, while I don't plan to be real perky, by gawd I'm going to be there, taking pictures!

So. They tell me the scars won't be significantly worse, when healed, than my healed-up pierced navel. Makes me no nevermind. Scar me up, but take that cancer-susceptible stuff the heck out of me, you hear?

Life is good

It looks like surgery is a go: I shall have my girlie bits out before year's end. The way I understand it is they'll make some small abdominal incisions and shop vacc all the parts out.

Okay, maybe that's an over-simplification.

Anyhow, I am disappointed to hear that I might have to spend the night in the hospital. You all know how I relished my last stay.

But I assure you I am quite happy with this decision. I am going to do everything I can to keep this cancer beastie at bay. If it gets me, it gets me. At least I won't wonder about things I failed to do and whether they'd have changed the outcome.

I find this thought rather cheery. I think you should, too.

A tragic bean pie-related injury

Yes, the rumors are true: navy bean pie can be hazardous to your health.

This morning, having awoken before the family, I made a pot of coffee and settled down with a book to read in blessed silence. Hmmm....what's missing? Ah, yes. That last piece of navy bean pie from Thanksgiving at the Kaegis. I thought I'd just put that on a plate and my morning would be perfect.

That was not to be.

The pretty ceramic pie plate had a hairline crack which, when I applied pressure to get the last piece of pie out, burst into pieces, one of which ate part of my left thumb.

I put my coffee in a travel mug, the pie on a plate and my thumb in a towel and headed for the hospital. It was only 2 hours, but I barely got any reading done since there's not much business in the ER on a Sunday morning early.

In other news, my own El F has come to the grudging conclusion that my advanced water class is, in point of fact, hard. I subbed on Saturday and he took the class. He is walking with some difficulty today. I try to seem sympathetic, but he insists I don't look sorry!

Hegemom de Sade

Is it twisted that I love overhearing stuff my classes say about me?

Today I heard one of the guys say, "wow, [she's] strong" and the other agree, "very strong."

Last week, one of the longtime students told another that I was "the meanest teacher." The response was that I was the meanest right after Cindy (Cindy being the one who induced major leg cramps in me when I took her class a year ago.)

Never mind that I have to ice my knees when I get home from class-- it's so worth it!

What's new

Let's see...

Thanksgiving was fabulous. We joined the family of an old, dear friend of mine and had an absolute blast. Brother Brad plunked himself down on a stool in front of me and played guitar until I got a bit misty. Probably the bourbon aided in that endeavor, but it was a wonderful evening. His wife, Ave, is adorable.

Seeing the Kaegi family was wonderful. I used to love going to their house when I was a kid. It was always such a cheerful place to be. Except, of course, when Marlene threatened to rip the boys' lips off! hah! I didn't doubt for one second that tiny thing could beat down her enormous boys if she put her mind to it, either.

I got my home diva on: made a bean pie (it's a Southern thing), pumpkin soup and green salad with pecans and cranberries. This is what happens when I'm left with a day to myself to cook and no directives-- I'll just cook until I feel like stopping.

In other news: Liv's kindergarten class won the canned food drive competition thanks, in part, to my totally inappropriately competitive nature. I sent around an email to the other parents urging them to kick the 5th graders' butts, in essence.

Anyway, my image has now been broadcast on Fox news; I may never live down the shame! The good news is that the local food bank has a lot to feed the people in their care, and that's what is important. That, and winning the right to hit the principal with a pie.

Should be having surgery within a few weeks to remove my ovaries. Big fun. I'm not planning on missing many of my classes so this recovery thing better go quick. My classes will be delighted if I can't make them do my usual abdominal routine, though.

Friday slideshow

Usually I don't go in for the gimmicky slide shows, but this was so perfect for the little divas, I had to:

Friday - meh.

I had the daughter of an old friend over for a playdate today. C is a year younger than Liv and they're fast friends. It's so odd that someone who knew me in the wilder days of my 20's now lives practically across the street and we're raising our kids together. Same bus stop even.

I baked cupcakes for the kids and gave them tons of stuff to decorate. Then they put on makeup and costumes and had a fashion show. Turned out to be a blast. I'll post photos.

I got kudos from the boss about my abdominals class: apparently she's hearing a lot of good things from my class. It's kinda great.

Otherwise, not much to report. My old friend (see tiff) is still pissed with me (I'm quite disillusioned-- remind me never to put anyone on a pedestal ever again) and my knee is still wicked sore. I have yet to track down an orthopod. I also have yet to determine whether surgery is in my immediate future and I'm still trying to unravel my insurance paperwork.

Also, Liv's really petitioning hard for a sister. Given the reason that we can't adopt, it's really tough on El Freddo and me. And Liv just doesn't understand.

So, I say again: Meh.

Stupid, annoying day

This has been a craptacular day. I spent a significant portion of it talking to doctors about possibly going under the knife again. Maybe. I'm still having nightmares from having gone to the breast cancer symposium and now I'm talking about further surgery. Bleh.

My knees hurt, my house is a disaster, I had yet another tiff with the only friend I ever have tiffs with, I was horrified at the state of Liv's room (which we just cleaned-- why, why do they hoard stuff under their beds?), my freaking insurance companied denied my claim for a pap smear (hello?), and I got a nasty letter from a medical provider about $7 I neglected to pay them.

Craptastic.

Breast Cancer Symposium

My survivors' group, YWBCP, had its annual symposium yesterday-- truly a mixed blessing. Powerful tool for learning, wonderful to commune with my warrior sisters, absolutely terrifying to hear the tales of recurrence and metastasis and to realize the many things that I should be doing to increase my own chance of survival.

The fact that I am becoming extremely fit is a great advantage, true. But limiting alcohol consumption is hugely important. And, frighteningly, NO level of consumption of polyunsaturated fats is safe for a survivor. None.

There are issues as to soy and as to processed products-- white sugar and white flour should be no-nos. Insulin spikes (after, say, Halloween candy) are now thought to be extremely dangerous for survivors. And yet, have you ever tried to purchase a diet of whole wheat products with no white sugar and organic fruits and vegetables? There's a reason "Whole Foods" is often called "Whole Paycheck." So the chances of my survival hinge, at least partially, on my income. Sickening.

Nonetheless, it is a powerful thing to be with my sisters. And I am grateful to only be wearing the pink scarf of a one-year survivor, as opposed to the white scarf of a woman with metastasis.

Above are a few photos I took of Beth and Marsha, two of my favorites. Beth is the one in single photo with me. She's got the same amount of hair I had the last time I saw her: she had "hair envy" back then. We're hoping to get picked for the trout fishing retreat together.

Beth and I are really bonded in many ways, not least of which is our shared mania about the gym. Survivors sometimes fixate of some aspect of post-treatment life. We have both grasped fitness as something we can control about our bodies. There are, as I'm sure you understand, so many things which we cannot control about our bodies and their propensity to become cancer-ridden again. But fitness? that we can control. So we are warriors in the gym, hoping to stave off the weakness of our bodies with respect to cancer.

The trout fishing retreat is just another of the "goodies" we survivors often get. Recently we got a fistful of concert tickets. (Sadly it was Neil Diamond, but I guess I could've heard "Sweet Caroline" live, so that's something.) But they're always doing something nice for us, particularly last month, which was BC month.

Anyway, everyone's amused by my abruptly blonde head. I told them: "I've been bald; what do I have to be afraid of?" Perhaps unnecessary to say, but they all "got" that.

So now I plan to eat a little better and go back to forgetting, as much as possible, that my life expectancy is different from last year. In my future? More genetic testing, more check-ups and possibly the removal of all my internal girlie bits. With a family history like mine, I would probably take them out, myself, if I could. But stay tuned. The good news? I understand my stuff can be taken out laproscopically, so less time out off from teaching and the gym. Yippee.

Oh and I must mention that Christy is on the 3-Day Komen walk next week. Think the good thought for her, would you?

Election, cartouche, and school pix

Worked as "security" for Liv's grade school which was on lock down since it was a polling place. Yep, orange vests and walkie talkies. I kid you not.















Darling Miss Jane sent me a cartouche necklace from her trip to Egypt. Very cool.














And here is the adorable Miss Liv's school picture.

Halloween, the actual evening

Well, it had an ominous beginning: Liv fell on the way to the first house and was off her feed for the next hour, which included all the house-to-house. But THEN we got to the party. The party was where Liv had a most righteous evening and fine time was had by all.

In the photos you'll see the cake I made for the party and covered with fondant. (El F says it tastes like...um...some bodily location the flavor with which one would not ordinarily be familiar.) However, it was very popular with the kiddos because it was a jack'o'lantern. Yep, that's me-- a crowd-pleaser.

Anyway, despite my exhaustion and being completely SICK of Halloween by the time the actual holiday came around (see my FB page), it was terrific.

Kickin' it K'wood style

And following the kindergarten bash, there was trick or treating in downtown Kirkwood. All the shop owners sat outside their stores while trick or treaters came by for treats.

Afterward, a local band for children, the Babaloos, played in the plaza. Big fun!

Kickin' it kindergarten-style

Yesterday was the kindergarten Halloween bash:

Pumps of my dreams

When L-Mac and I went shopping (instead of to see Clinton), we spotted this GORGEOUS pair of pumps at Nordstrom. These with a little black dress for the weddings? (Okay, okay, maybe I have to buy them in black....maybe.)
Aren't they beautiful?















Although I have to say, El F spotted an even sexier pair in the shoe department today when I was showing him these-- the boy apparently knows what he likes on me. The back was closed and the heel higher. The website just didn't have a photo. In any event, I'm viewing the upcoming nuptials with joy for many reasons, several of them sartorial.

Oh and hosted a lovely impromptu dinner tonight-- Mel and her little girl came over for dinner: pizza and lots of wine. (Lemonaid for the girls)

Big fun.

K'wood Saturday

A walk on Grant's Trail and a trip to the Farmers' Market. (Note: I am taking my turn carrying the scooter Liv swore she wanted to ride on the trail. *sigh*)

Inventory

So. I took inventory this morning. Most women do this once in a while: I tried on a bunch of my old formalwear.

One out of two New Year's Eve little back dresses fit. The one that doesn't, I am probably not allowed to wear. It's short, short, short black velvet, low back, with a halter top. Very elegant, believe it or not. But probably not allowed on anyone in their 40s, no matter what.

The other one is another really classic little black dress-- sleeveless, form-fitting (but not too form-fitting) with a little tiny black ribbon under the bust. Not too short, but definitely short. Think I could get away with this one, although another few pounds gone would be better first.

One out of two (for lack of a better term) ball gowns fits. Strangely, both are silver. One is strapless-- that doesn't fit. (But why would I buy a strapless? Crazy.) And the other -- sleeveless with a scoop neck-- does. Funny thing? I bought the second one for a formal wedding less than 10 years ago and now I think it's too dowdy to wear. Strange.

Anyway, the moral of the story is, despite the low pay, teaching at the Y has some really GREAT benefits. The bad thing? I need to store or get rid of a LOT of clothes.

What a long strange week it's been (with apologies to the Grateful Dead)

It's been a long, strange week. My daughter is growing in understanding every day while I watch, stunned. It's cliche, I know. But I had no idea it would happen this fast.

And she's a Daisy scout now. And she has a best friend. And a little guy with a crush on her, and she on him.

Also, I'm physically exhausted. My dear Liv has taken to waking me at 2 am to crawl into bed. I enjoy holding her very much. It's a great feeling right up until the alarm rings at 0600 and it's time to start another day running.

I've taught a ton of classes, did a ton of training (for work) and actually hurt my own abdominals while teaching abs class today. That almost never happens. I guess my students will not be thinking fondly of me tomorrow when they wake up.

There's a movement afoot to make me move from water to land classes (sounds like evolution, yes?)-- just weight routines, not aerobics. Probably too late for this session, but the idea is appealing. With my teaching schedule and other comitments, I don't get much time in the weight room anymore. This might fix that.

In other news, I heard from someone I used to know well a long time ago-- just popped up out of the blue, thanks to electronic networking. There's nothing like it to make you remember who you were so long ago. I was young and so much hadn't happened to me yet. It's lovely to think back to those happy, halcyon times.

There was a whole group of us-- completely inseparable. We roamed like a pack. I'll never forget my roommate's look of terror the first time he got a tattoo (Trader Bob's in the City). Poor SOB. We all laughed so hard and he got so mad. Beer can towers in my apartment. Playing three man. Seeing our favorite bands. Pale Divine's farewell concert. We never got to a bar before 11 pm at the earliest. Nothing good happened before then, anyway. We played cards and talked trash (and I changed clothes about a million times) until it was time to head out. The boys placed over/under bets on my wardrobe changes for the evening, I believe.

And then there were a thousand misdeeds that we somehow got away with. It seemed all so daring and romantic back then. We were young, good-looking (well they sure and the hell were spectacularly so; maybe I was) and absolutely fearless.

Okay, if I burst into any song from "The Way We Were," somebody slap me. But they were very good times and, now that I've heard from the one most dear to me, I think I can be forgiven a little nostalgia and a little regret for letting that all float away somehow.

Good memories. A little sad.

Hair today....you know the rest

Well, it's showing no signs of becoming less curly, so we're staying with the Mary Martin in Peter Pan pixie do. Got yet another haircut today. Dang, this curly stuff grows fast.

In other news, I plan to spend the day cowering under my bed until Darth Cheney leaves the greater STL area tomorrow.

Trixie Triumphant

Finally, finally, finally-- at looong last I put together a routine that kicked the butt of my advanced aerobics class. Even the veterans came up to me after class and told me how good it was.

I'm telling you, I feel tremendously accomplished. Overjoyed. Ecstatic.

I hope I can walk tomorrow.

Why don't people talk about DILFs?

Okay, y'all know about MILFs, right? Rude term, yadda yadda.

Well, El F was teasing me a little this morning while running errands about becoming a MILF thanks to all the working out. (I told him I'd best have been a MILF to him prior to the workouts...)

But anyway. It occurred to me that there's all this talk about MILFs and no one talks about the delectable suburban dads that surface, every so often, around town. El F says that's because only GUYS really think like that.

Oh, really?

Well, if I could just draft the appropriate release forms, I might just have to start a website. Probably cause some idle speculation around the PTO, though...

Sucktacular Saturday

Well, as grand as Friday was, Saturday was pretty sucktastic.

We had two parties to go to-- one at the Magic House for one of Liv's kindergarten classmates, and one with some friends of mine who work, like me, part-time at the Y. She teaches on the side-- one of her classes is at the same time as one I teach. We play off each other very well. They are both hysterically amusing and their kid is both awesome and our babysitter. Anyway, suffice it to say I was really looking forward to Joe and Julie's party, particularly since we are somewhat starved for adult-friendly outings.

Then, Liv proved incontrovertibly that she is, in fact, a five year old.

She completely melted down at the birthday party. Wouldn't play, wouldn't talk, wouldn't eat. Couldn't be convinced to behave in any way close to civilized. She pouted. She stuck her hands in the cupcakes. She glared. AND, of course, I could not take her home early because I'd promised to drop a neighbor kid off on the way home.

So, yes. When we got home, Little Miss Meltdown went right to sleep and we missed the party. Sometimes being a grown-up just sucks.

A lazy Kirkwood Friday morning

This morning, in keeping with the tradition of hitting a coffee house on the mornings El Freddo is off work, we headed out WITHOUT our usual glut of newspapers. (Unlike Governor Palin, I can tell you we usually bring the NYT and the Post-D.) I'm on another news embargo. Can't stand to hear another syllable about either the election or the economy.

But I digress.

So some coffee and breakfast later (muffins for El F, bagel with sun dried schmear for me), we wandered out into the most beautiful autumnal morning. Crisp, clear weather-- not a cloud in the sky.

We meandered down to the Farmers' Market which just happens to be across the street from the church in which we were married. We sampled cider. Checked out prospective pumpkins. Looked in a bunch of oddball stores we like.

In short, we spent the morning doing not very much. Together.

It was nice.

Lineament is a good thing

Taught third class in three days today and am supposed to be taking another tomorrow morning, if not asked to sub instead. At present I'm bathed in lineament.

Question: why are all the women who have been taking this class for 20+ years not thin? I'm losing inches like it's going out of style and I've only been teaching for a few months. These are the same women, mind you, who complain that my class isn't aerobically strenuous enough. (They don't complain about the weight-bearing toning exercises and abdominal workout, mind you...all I hear during that portion is groans-- bwaa haa haaaaa!) Of course some women complain it's too hard, but that's beside the point.

Why aren't these women thin??

News roundup, part 2

So. I was supposed to sub for water aerobics at 9, when my buddy Melissa asked me to sub for her at 10:30. Result? Teaching two aerobics classes in three hours. I'm pooped and my pecs hurt. Going to bed.

********

New Liv vocabulary: Shaw's Arboretum where one can find lovely Mechanical Gardens.

News roundup

Well, crap.

I've not blogged in a while and I don't even know what to tell you. Lots of stuff going on.

Went out with Tony and Tracy to the Cards game last week-- got to see My Boys win for a change. (and happily, the Cubbies got wiped out of the playoffs this weekend-- hooray!) The game was great and the seats were behind 3rd. Fortunately the fly outs were mostly low, although one scared me pretty good-- of course that was the moment I hadn't been paying attention.



This weekend we were supposed to hang out at Shaw's Arboretum with Lisa, James and kids but it turns out there was Best of St. Louis going on-- $10 pp at the door. We decided in favor of a less expensive, but no less amusing for the kids, park nearby.

Still teaching water aerobics and abdominals. Still volunteering for every blessed thing at Liv's school, including herding voters on election day. (Yep, the school is a polling place.) Keeps me out of the pool halls.

Chemo perm for Jeffe, the beloved

Dearest El Jeffe, I have neglected you lo this many weeks; I forgot to mention that I have CURLY HAIR now.

Now, I think it might be my natural color/s. Gawd knows what THAT color used to be! But anyway, it's all curly and, after a period of shock, I'm begininng to sort of maybe like it. But it IS an adjustment!

I mean really! What product to use? Do I need to change brushes? hairspray? hello?? Hair is urgent business. Well, now that I have some, anyway! But, thanks to my new hairdresser (my oncologist) it is thicker and softer. A whole different texture. Tough way to go for a new hairdo, though.

Oh, yeah, and...

Oh, right. Forgot to mention. That was the summer that, after all the clubs the night before, I'd get up bright and early (verrrry early), get on the Metro, and queue up to get into House Ways and Means or Senate Finance Committee hearings. (I took notes.)

I understand I've been seen on CSPAN nodding off.

Personal archeology

While cleaning out boxes in the garage, I found a datebook from when I was in college. It covered the second summer while I was interning in D.C. also. Big fun!

Browsing through, I found that I spent a lot of time at a bar called Cagney's in Dupont Circle. I googled it. It came up under "Clubs of the 80s:"

Cagney's Washington Dc
Early 80's. Right off Dupont Circle, this club's line would stretch blocks. The music was 80's amazing (The The, The Cure, New Order, etc.) Great scene too. Lots of cool people. One big party night after night.

Here's another club I went to. I think it was by Ford's theater:

9:30 Club Washington DC
80s. OMG! Hands down the best club I ever went to. It was at 930 F St. It was an apartment transformed into a club. You sat on wooden boxes covered with carpet. Some of them were built up like bleachers, but you couldn't move them. When you walked through the club you could visualize where a living room was, a bedroom etc. It was small in there. They had TVs mounted all over the place and showed "videos" which could be old movies to actual videos set to music. The basement was where the restrooms were and the club store. I bought a "Reagan Hates Me" shirt there. The cover was about $3. I saw The March Violets there. I also saw Nick Cave And The Bad Seeds there. A friend who lives in DC says that there is a 9:30 Club which is big and recently Good Charlotte has played there. But I am talking about the club where if you sat at the side window, you could see bums sleeping in the alley and drunks peeing in the alley.

I LOVED this club. It was in the WORST neighborhood and there were the strangest-looking, awe-inspiring club kids there. But the description is accurate: there were boxes piled up everywhere and you just sat on them with your cocktail and watched the video and listened to the FAB-U-LOUS music. I recall sitting on top of a really tall pile of boxes a good 2 feet above the heads of the passers-by, sipping a vodka collins. That was "my" drink that summer. Did you know it glows it black light? Part of its allure.

Apparently I lived on happy hour food. We seem to have eaten a lot of $.10 oysters.

Ah. The good old days.

Awesome day, week, possibly month

So...today I made a new friend. That in itself should make it a banner day, and it is. But our kids get along great, too-- they're in the same class at kindergarten. We spent the afternoon in the park-- it was a blast. We're talking about taking a Zumba class together!

Then, to top it all off, some friends got their 171 from Homeland Security this afternoon-- one step closer to adoption! I swear I'm almost as excited as they are. Then one of my breast cancer buddies got a CLEAN bill of health!! Wheeee!

Tuesday I did "roadrunners" (laps) at Liv's school and taught power aquacize, tomorrow morning I teach abs class. Saturday? The last home Cardinals game with Tony and Tracy!

Again, my cup runneth over. Wish I'd taken some pictures. I hope to get some last shots of My Boys on Saturday. *sigh*

My daughter is the next Kurt Cobain?

This is an excerpt from one of El Freddo's emails to a buddy.
Liv has been DYING to play. So we set her up on the mic, Stacey on drums, and me on guitar to play "In Bloom", by Nirvana. I figured I'd save my 'star power' (or whatever it's called in RB) to rescue her when she failed out. Well, it turns out she DIDN'T fail out at all. In fact, when we finished, I had 93%, Stacey had 96%, and Liv, who has probably heard the song less than a dozen times in her life, got 79% with an 8 phrase streak. Stacey dropped out to work on dinner, I did drums and Liv sang it again, and got 83% with a TEN phrase streak. I'm not sure if this says more about my daughter's AWESOME ability, or something about Kurt's vocal talent... fbr

Another class and fav tunes

Gawd help me, I agreed to teach another class.

This next one is one half-hour of pure, uninterrupted abdominal workout. It's called "Abmazing." Right up my alley. But that means I take a class Monday and Wednesday and teach a class Tuesday night and Thursday morning.

And, yes, Cap'n Canuck, I do have favorite songs on Rock Band. Thanks for asking!! Gimme Shelter (the Stones) and Green Grass and High Tides (Outlaws) are awesome on the Wii. Also Say It Ain't So (Weezer) is, I think, the song on which I broke the drum stick. BIG fun. You'll have to come over and try it out. You'll LOVE it!

I am a rock'n'roll goddess

Yeah. We bought Rock Band for the Wii. Here's the set list.

I'm the drummer. In fact I may never let anyone else be the drummer. Ever. This is the most fun game in the history of games.

I broke a drum stick on the first song.

(Image courtesy of wikipedia.org)

Hair

I actually need a haircut. Can you believe it? And, indeed, my hair is getting curly-- thus the haircut. I will need to keep it way short until the curl grows out. Trust me when I tell you I don't look great in curly hair. I have photos from the 80's to prove it. And NO I'm NOT posting them.

More Greentree photos

I bought a Backstoppers hat which immediately became my absolute favorite. Got an Obama sign and button, and we all stuffed ourselves with carny food. I had a brat and half Liv's burger. El Freddo had a couple hot dogs and we all had roasted corn. Yum!