Ha.

First, V has developed a rash all over his body, that looks suspiciously like Chicken Pox, but which couldn’t be because the only children he’s been in contact with in the past month are all vaccinated children.  Well, except for his cousins, and we know they don’t have chicken pox.  So.  Mystery there.  I’m going to give him a bath in the upstairs tub tonight (instead of the downstairs one, which I had just recently cleaned and prepared for his exclusive use) and see if perhaps this is all caused by whatever cleaning product residue might be in the tub.  Which is just a bizarre answer, but who knows.  Any answer beats me giving in tomorrow and going to the Doctor to be told, “Oh, he has a rash.”

Second, yes, Joseph is home.  Thank goodness all his family was here—people to fetch, carry, find, drive, watch, grill, wash, clean, and take one’s mind off all the emotional upheaval.  It was a great visit, and the homecoming itself was awesome.  I have pictures, someplace…under all the gear.

Third, as Joe mentioned, we’ll be going to a National Homeschooling Conference next week.  Planning on piling even more books to our already-plentiful stash.  I’m the first to admit.  We have lots of books.  We probably have too many books.  There might not be a dumber thing for a military family to stock up on and haul from country to country.  But.  We have no motorcycle, no flat screen TV, no game system, no weight bench, no treadmill, no turkey fryer.  The books stay.

Requiescat.

7 Quick Takes

OK, I missed a week because I was out of town.  And I think I missed a week before that.  Oh well.

TAKE ONE

I’m still very angry and frustrated that I can’t figure out how to change the default spacing in LiveWriter.  I look like a bozo who can’t justify or properly use the hard right return button.  But returning to Blogger to compose all my posts just seems like a terrible concession to make in the face of dumb programming.  Ugh.  I’m trapped.  Help!

TAKE TWO

Last Friday I was in Philadelphia.  Flying a delayed schedule with a toddler—not fun.

TAKE THREE

My piano tuner just called.  He’s coming two hours earlier than he said he would.  The problem with this is that I’ll be in town at an unmovable appointment until an hour after he wants to arrive.  Not sure how to solve this problem.

TAKE FOUR

Had a friend’s little girl over to watch “Oklahoma!” last night…so much fun!  Now she has me wanting to watch the 1999 version with Hugh Jackman, which is evidently a frame-for-frame remake, since she kept telling me what was about to happen next in each scene.  And she was right.

TAKE FIVE

Bible Study at my house is every last Wednesday of the month, for the young adult group on base.  We’re talking about 19-35 year olds, not highschoolers, and most are married and about half have kids.  Unless we tell them that there’ll be food (or booze), they’re not really good at showing up to stuff.  Thus, Bible study is often just me and the woman who runs the group.  This week, it was me, Theresa, and Father Jose.  He made it!  Yay!  But since there was no one else, we just talked about random stuff stuff.  Like, questions we had for him, or whatever.  Good times.  California Pizza Kitchen “Barbeque Chicken” pizza is the bomb.

TAKE SIX

I found new homes for my cats a couple weeks ago.  Don’t think that has been on the blog before…it’s a little sad, but also a big relief.  The problem?  Now my house is FULL of BUGS.  I knew that the pest population would increase without the cats around, but good-ness.  This is ridiculous.  I hate bugs.  If housing did something preventative about the issue, it might help.  But no.  They send you wasp spray if you see a wasp, ant traps if you see ants, and roach motels if you see a roach.  How about CLOSING the BORDER and checking these bugs’ PAPERS, eh?  Paco?  Whatcha say?

TAKE SEVEN

My buddy Sarah got a new car, so now I’m thinking about cars again.  Not good.  I’m not getting a new car.  Tell me I’m not getting a new car.  Please, someone.  Stage an intervention here.  Stop my brain from going down the new-car-smell rabbit hole.

Q Quickie`

Key Lime Pie Cheesecake

12oz package of Cool Whip

8oz package of cream cheese

1 can of sweetened condensed milk

1/4 cup of lime juice

Mix all ingredients.  Pour into prepared crust (graham cracker or regular pie).  Chill until firm.

Our Final Trip

So, Daddy comes home in less than two weeks, so the sojourn in the north was the last hurrah for V and I.  It’s been a long seven months!  And lots of trips have been taken!   We’ve put over 10,000 miles on the car, for sure, and that isn’t counting the flying and the trips in my mom’s car.  Whew.  But anyway.  This week was good fun.  We went to Valley Forge and stole wildflowers from the Federal Government:

And viewed some of the officers’ quarters at Washington’s home in the part (somehow this is too clean, neat, and orderly to feel realistic):

And played the practice organ at the seminary:

And hung with uncle Mike as he received his B.A. in Philosophy (on to the Navy now):

And, of course, spent lots of quality time with Gramma, who is the little man’s very favorite person:

Many Things

It’s been three years (today) since my one and only broadway appearance as a bridesmaid.  Ok, well…not really Broadway, but it was Christendom and that’s like the broadway of Catholic weddings.  Happy Anniversary, Cass!

In other news, I got really busy this week!  I worked, I taught, I cleaned, I got both V and myself to our regular checkups (plus vaccinations!  I’m amazing!), and we managed to have it all together in time for a visit from a friend!

Then yesterday we went out shopping, and to dinner, and to a movie, and then we came home and she altered a dress for me so that I’ll have some to wear to Confirmation tomorrow night.  Which is (surprise) where I’ll be the next two days!

Then I come home, teach for a day, then fly to Philadelphia to attend my brother’s graduation from college.  I will post pictures from that one.  So you see why the blog does *pfffffft* these days?  Whew.  Almost  done.

Down with America?

…where competent professionals are allowed to publish on mainstream media outlets, yet not required to be able to properly use the English Language.  For example (from a FOX story today):

People tell me things they don’t tell other people. This happens in my psychiatry office, but it happens in gym locker rooms and social gatherings and business settings, too. Something about my wearing the mantel of “psychiatrist” gives people the idea that I’ll listen to most anything, without judging them, and they’re right.

Mantel?

Mantel?

MANTEL?

Quite Funny (as opposed to “almost”)

 

Lol, peeps.

Thanks to Mark Shea, who is full of these gems.  Where does he find them?

Immaculee Illibagiza

I got to hear this remarkable woman speak in State College, PA, on Wednesday.  Quite powerful, quite moving, and quite meditative (toddler notwithstanding).  I knew her story, because I’d read her book before, but her live talk focused on the spiritual side of the story, specifically forgiveness.

Still trying to wrap my head exactly around how it all works.  To forgive, while you still feel that the other person is in the wrong, is a difficult thing.  Awfully difficult.

7 Quick Vacation Takes

Take One

I’m too lazy to use bold, and usually also too lazy to use italics.  Props to you people who do, thereby making posts more interesting and readable.

 

Take Two

Is anyone else out there utterly infuriated by the default double-spacing that all Windows word-processing software now employs?  Especially the software that’s too beta to allow you the option of changing said default?

 

Take Three

Enjoyed our time on the beach immensely, and then the visit to family in PA as well.  Did not enjoy the drive so much, mainly because it dragged on, but overall I was blessed with really great weather and fairly cooperative traffic.  So I can’t complain.

 

Take Four

There are some real nutballs out there in the wide world, and unfortunately it seems like the vast majority of them (or perhaps merely the loudest among them?) are Catholic, or purport to be so.  Howzat?

 

Take Five

My house is clean, but smells like only cats have lived here, in the stale air, for about a week.  I’m sure this is because, well, only cats have lived here for about a week.  As soon as the sun comes up I’m opening all the windows.  Sometimes I think long and hard about not having a pet.

 

Take Six

There’s a case-lot sale at the Commissary today.  I’m going over in a while, but the signs made me think of this post from a friend, from a while back.  Too funny.  My never-ending purchase of last year was blueberry muffin mix, but that’s hardly as onerous to “finish off” as a case of bologna.

 

Take Seven

Bah.  Now I can’t think of a seventh thing.  I’ll leave a picture instead.

Goodbye, Michael Scott

Someone I love will probably be embarrassed to see that this even made it to the blog, but oh well.  He was a dear and introduced me to The Office back in the good old days before I started teaching piano.  I had a sick self, a sick 2-month-old, and a husband who could fix himself food—so he handed me the remote and very patiently listened to my synopsis of each season as he came home from work in the evenings.  That was a week well spent.  On the couch.  Doing nothing but clicking “play next episode” and eating pop tarts.

Anyway. the final episode with Steven Carell aired on Thursday night, and it was sweet!  I just finished watching it, since we don’t have TV I get on the internet and watch trailing episodes once every couple of weeks.

One felt for him!  So sad, so bittersweet, so touching.  :)  It won’t be the same without him.  I’ll miss you, Michael!  But seriously, thank God there’s only like 3 episodes left and then the show is (rumored to be) done.  I’ve got to quit watching…

Kinda Funny (to me, anyway)