FiRE and iCE

On the road again.. we are headed east on Interstate 40 towards Little Rock.  There is another big ice & snowstorm coming to NW Arkansas early tomorrow morning.  We have had a bad ice storm for the past two years, and this will be the third.  We have lost power for about a week each time, so we try to head south to warmer temps (and electrically-powered hotels!).  I’m not so good with no power.  (no computers-after we run their batteries down, no internet, no refrigerator, no ice, no electric blanket, no heat, no lights, no garage door opener, no staying up past 7pm because of no lights, no Office or Jimmy Kimmel, need I go on?)  ..and I don’t have a real attachment to my house.  I *heart* my family, but I could totally live without my house and all that stuff we’ve accumulated.  Even my beloved sewing machines.  If we are together, we are fine.

We decided to leave town this morning (before I’d even unpacked my suitcase from Branson!).  Ches made a reservation for us in Lewisville, Texas where we’ve stopped for the past couple years (sometimes we go on to Houston).  But about 3:15, he called and said he’d canceled the reservation, and made a new one in Little Rock (boo!).  I am not crazy about Little Rock, but it’ll do.  Apparently the national weather service has also issued a warning for Dallas for sleet and ice beginning at 4am.  We aren’t sure we could get out of there in time.  Our plan was to drive on down to San Antonio (78 degrees today!) to go down to the Riverwalk, kids museum, etc.  So I have to say I’m super disappointed.

Our consolation prize is big ol’ Little Rock tonight.  We may go on to Memphis tomorrow, but we’ve already been there, played at the children’s museum, explored downtown, enjoyed nightlife (on St. Patrick’s Day no less!), seen Graceland, so I’m not sure what we’ll do besides… enjoy Pottery Barn! : )

This morning, I went into Ethan’s school and read to his class.  This week (and maybe next!) is Catholic Schools Week, and they have lots of special things planned.  I was a surprise reader, and I brought cookies for them for snack.  When I was making them, I totally made FiRE!  I was making the break-n-bake chocolate chip cookies, and as I was putting the cookie sheet with the frozen chunks into the preheated oven (and was in a hurry…), three of them hopped right off the sheet and into the heating element!  I only had a few seconds, since they were thawing super fast.  I grabbed a spatula, then a wooden spoon-I was having trouble getting down under the bottom rack!  One started to smoke/steam and one fell off the spatula onto the glass of the door, so I just swatted the one away from the element, and grabbed a paper towel to get them.  When I scooped up the one near the element, my paper towel caught fire!  Instinctively, I blew on it, and ashes flew around, it grew orange, but then went out (thank goodness!), and I threw it into the sink.  It was on fire just long enough to make a smell, so I worried that my cookies would take on that smell.

I had been too lazy to even get my suitcase out of the van, and I was seriously regretting it!  Ches took the kids to school, and I hurried to get ready to go to the school-when I realized I had no makeup and no favorite hair tools--crisis!  I made due with summer squeezy makeup, old powder, and I found a new blush and old eye shadow.  I used hot rollers, and prayed for Ches to hurry back!  I finished up, and made it not too late. : )  What a day!

After that fun, I took all those adorable clothes I got for a friend over to her house-precious little things.  I meant to take pictures of all the Big Sister shirts-they were so sweet!  You have to love it when cute stuff coincides with great bargains. : )

We are now in Little Rock, and Ethan is cracking me up!  He is telling me that our van smells like “stinky barkers”!  (his daddy’s words for stinky feet)  He says it’s Clay’s feet, and he needs to take a bath.  He’s hilarious!  He also says he loves to take trips, and he loves hotels (this we know-he asks all the time to go to a hotel!) and he sees a donut place (Krispy Kreme)! (this is my child, obviously) : )

Peace be with you (and with your electricity tonight)!

Journey to the Center of the Earth (or Arkansas!) in 3D!

Road Trip!

Update: We are now on boring old Highway 69/75 headed south to Dallas (to avoid the nasty weather headed home). We checked the kids out of school, and have been running from ice ever since. We are finally in the clear, but it was much like last year! We kept an eye on the weather, with Mom’s help (see below), as our teensy iPhones are too tiny to read. Yes, Ches is already requesting an iPad! ‘I could be working!’ ‘I could be checking the weather!’ ‘I could …’ He thinks he needs every new iToy. And he can’t wait for the second, much better version with the bugs worked out. Nope, have to have the First. When we get it, I’ll let you know all about it. If I ever get to touch it.

Well. I have been given the okay to talk about my mom now. There is a whole world of possibilities open to me! I’ll try to keep it mostly positive, and somewhat wholesome. Heh heh.

She is constantly censoring my pictorial (more this) and editorial (little less this) content. But now you can know her kinda like I know her.

We’ve been talking on the phone for four hours on and off. She slept in (because Dad didn’t wake her!), and yes, I explained she could purchase (and set) an alarm for herself if she got good and ready. Or she could use the one on her fancy little phone. She sure knows how to set her calendar alarms (even better than me!). So, I cannot let her blame Dad for her sleeping in. Anyway, she hadn’t had breakfast, and we were eating chips in the car, so she had some chips (are chips at three breakfast or lunch?). She’s been guiding us through the weather-as the iPhone isn’t helping so much. We have GPS in the van (but without weather), and we have weather on the iPhone, but without the map. If you are creative, have computer experience, I want you to merge the two and invent a GPS with weather!! Brother? That’s you!

We just crossed into Texas, so we’ve made some progress. Both physically and mentally. The kids have finally settled in (three hours in at least?), and are calmer. Ethan is asleep, Mary Claire is listening to music I just put on an SD card for her DSi (I found a new SD card reader/writer on Ebay for $3.99!! I feel like I just got the best buy of the century! I was prepared for $50!), Clay finished watching a movie and is playing DSi now. The first two hours were full of ravenous children (they ate their lunch box lunches in the car, then had McDonald’s, then were still hungry, ahhhhh!), and noise, and movie complaints. I’d forgotten all about road trips (or my Mom-mind blocked out the pain!)

I remember taking road trips when I was young. We would go to Rod Runs (yeah, maybe you can google them? They were like car shows for pre-1949 cars where we played games, ate together, had dances or bands at night, etc.), and all the way there we listened to what Dad liked: Eagles, Hall & Oates, and lots of country. I think we all learned the words to every song, and sang them at the top of our lungs (as we didn’t have a/c, so the windows were down-kinda like my first blow-out). I don’t remember taking stuff to do. We just knew it’d be hours (well, the longest trip ever was only like 4 or 5 hours) of nothing. We didn’t complain (that I remember…), and didn’t even have movies, games, or anything to entertain us besides the number of phone poles! : ) Still good memories. Wonder if they compare to all the iPhones, DSi’s, DVD players, ha!

Update to the Update: Here (Lewisville, Texas), in hotel, had dinner, and kids are swimming happily, we’ve already been locked out of our room, and lost a phone (but found it). Ah, just like home.

Diagnosis: Imperfection is Perfect

I love reading a good book-it broadens my horizons, makes me think about things in a new way, entertains me, and changes my writing. : )  Fun!  What more can you ask for?

A couple of things are going on here at my house.  One is laundry (did it ever not go on?), and the other is trip preparations.  How exactly do you prepare to be gone from your home during a horrible winter storm?  Last year, we had a bad ice storm (understatement), and the house had some damage-a branch came through our roof!  I also didn't realize what can happen when we aren't here to take care of it.  The ice in the freezer leaked out the front of the ice dispenser, down the front, and snaked across the floor, leaving dried ick behind.  We lost everything in our refrigerators/freezers, even though it was under 32 the whole time!  I guess the house stayed just warm enough to spoil the food?  Now I realize if I'd been here, I would have set the food outside!


So today I shopped for groceries.  Ches asked me to buy stuff for the road (although I don't want to eat in the new van!), and I bought some crackers and lots of fruit.  Don't you think you don't eat enough fruit when you are traveling?  I still can't believe it's coming, so I'm only halfway preparing.  Ches reserved a room in Lewisville, Texas for Thursday through Sunday, so he's a little more earnest.  I washed the car (so we could travel in a Shiny Car), and filled it with gas, so we make it.  I'm making an effort.  I'm also checking out the food in the cold storage and trying to decide what to eat first.  Does that count?


We had Clay's conference yesterday morning.  It went well, and I was happy to get some answers.  I'm hoping it'll help us move forward and help us have reasonable expectations for him.  He was diagnosed with ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder), combined with mathematics disorder.  I'm not disappointed, nor do I think it's a personal defect.  Nothing is wrong with him, he just needs to learn in a different way.  What I found most amazing (or not..as he's my child), is his IQ!  It was so high in reading, language, comprehension, and the highest in perceptual/spatial understanding (which should help in math, no?).  I was glad to see the high scores, and know we didn't "mess up".  He just needs to focus to continue to learn.  I was so excited to know how to help him, I feel like campaigning for ALL kids to get such extensive testing!  They are all individuals, and we should cater education to them.  Imagine if our kids learned in their best way-we could maximize potential, minimize bad self-worth when they think they aren't measuring up.  Ahh, it's eye-opening, and I am glad.  We set off on a new road, and we are our children's best advocates.


I had my progesterone tested today, so I'm waiting to hear how it is.  I got my test results back from a couple weeks ago (the Panel of Tests), and they were normal.  (Is that Good or Bad?)  My doctor's office is so patient, or at least his nurse.  She's very sweet, and still has the patience of Job, even when confronted with Me.  I try to keep the paranoia and nervousness to myself, but I'm sure she can hear it in my voice as I apologize for being the high-maintenance patient.  I've never been on this side, the needy side. It's always been so easy for me.  I'm learning how to see from other people's shoes, and it's not bad.  I will never sit in a waiting room, calling all my friends to tell them what I'm having (as I Just Found Out!), knowing that someone in the huge waiting area may Not be pregnant, but was last week.  I won't complain about the pain/early contractions/exhaustion (ok, so don't mark my words), or the heartburn, knowing someone else might like to enjoy those things for once.  We all pray for wisdom, but say no thanks to the lessons.  I'll take lessons and find something redeeming in them.


** Update:  Doctor's office called at 3:30: My progesterone is 13.3, so it's fine this month.  We just wait a week, and see what happens. : )  **



So, I find myself even more thankful for my imperfect kids, just because they are here.  They are healthy, smiling, full of energy, eat my cooking, stay up late at night to read by flashlight, and have an almost limitless number of hugs to give out.  They are great because they are mine!

Chocolate Cheerio Crack

Ok, just cleaned away a post that never needed seeing.  I was ranting about people's stupidity, and no one really wants to read about that.  We could all read that any old day.

Ok, wanna know what my new crack is?  MMmmmm.. It's Chocolate Cheerios!  It's like Cocoa Krispies for adults!  There are no pictures of little cartoon characters, so that proves it's for adults.  And it says, "With Real Cocoa", so that means it has cocoa's natural antioxidants, so I'm eating healthy.  mmmmm... it even turns my milk brown.  Wait till my kids see it in the cabinets.  It'll be a hit!  I sure hope they keep it on the shelf.  Every time I find a new favorite (well, usually my picks are healthier, but you know...), they take it off the shelves (like the Honey Nut Frosted Mini Wheats)!

Do you renew your magazine subscriptions when they tell you that "Your Subscription is About to Expire!" (in May, 2011).  I have had enough of them!  I watch them, read the small print, and try to keep tabs on all of them.  But, get this.  For all my loyalty (long, long subscriptions-years), I get the bargain basement price of $36 for a year!  But, imagine my surprise when a postcard fell out of the magazine offering me a new subscription for only $13 a year (or two for $26!), 60% off the retail price!  Ha. Ha.  I'm so valued.
So.  I planned a lapse!  Ha, the jokes on you, Southern Living!  I am mailing in the new card tomorrow.  I had to hold it until I got my February issue (so I didn't miss one..).  Let's see if it works!  I'll keep you posted.


We are getting ready to have the first anniversary of our absolutely horrible ice storm.  I think Mother Nature is throwing a party in its honor.  We are expecting low temps, ice, snow, and freezing rain: a Winter Storm.  Ches is already checking out the forecast in other, more southern, cities.  (We saw a great article on San Antonio, and one on a great indoor waterpark-hotel in Grapevine, Texas in Southern Living.  See why I need it?)  We are looking for warmer, electricity-bearing cities.  Any Ideas?

Oh no!  We have a birthday party this Saturday!  And we already got her a present.  Boo.  Ok, Ice.  This is not a good weekend, come again another day?