"But I did sleep at a Holiday Inn last night. . ."

Yesterday I ventured to the mall to make some returns. My first stop was Gymboree and it was all going well, returning my items and then I saw a very cute black furry coat. There were two ladies helping me (one was in training) and I asked the trainer to check the back room for a size 5. While she was in the back the trainee started acting strangely. She bent over the counter, swayed back and forth and then suddenly began trembling violently. Within seconds the poor girl fell backwards, just missing hitting her head on the counter.

I rushed to her side, afraid she may be having a seizure. Fortunately the shaking had stopped once she landed on the floor and it seemed she had only fainted. I was the only customer in the store and yelled toward the back room for help. Then I stepped into the "But I slept at a Holiday Inn last night" mode (as Mike called it) and began trying to take care of the girl, asking questions, getting information, comforting and reassuring her. The poor thing was so embarassed to faint on her first day, as we all would be.

Not that I'm ready to go work in an ER, but I was amazed at how calm and in control I was.
I never did find out if there was a size 5 in the coat.

Caught in a Web

Katherine is OBSESSED with Halloween and all things spooky, creepy or scary. When we were shopping at Albertson's she saw a bag of "spiderwebs" and plastic spiders, just like the ones hanging all over the store's displays. I caved and bought her the items. As soon as we got home she insisted we hang the webs and then she ran to get her butterfly costume on. Here she is pretending to be caught in the web:

Unbalanced. . . And Dealing With It

A photo essay about my life right now:

There's a lot going on right now; stuff of my own choosing and stuff I would never choose. (Why am I the only one looking at the camera?)

No matter how hard I try, there are things beyond my control. (Kat jumping off my knee and the slope of the ground.)

I just have to roll with it . . . and laugh a little, too. Sometimes its best to rest a while before trying to get up and fight again.

Two Naughty Monkeys

This is the monkey business happening in the kitchen while I was visiting with a friend in the next room:

Of course Katherine was the brains behind this naughty body inking episode. This isn't the first time (see previous posts) she has colored herself, but it is the first time she has enlisted a recruit to assist. Poor Haylie is such a good girl and nearly burst into tears when they were "caught" red, purple, brown and blue-handed. When I asked Kat why she colored her body she said, "I'm a China monkey!" I don't know what that means. I don't think I'll ever know what that means.

What I do know: Washable Crayola markers are just that. Washable.

Golfing Buddies

I suggested Greg take Katherine to the driving range on a Saturday. Greg was obviously enthusiastic to have a future golf partner and couldn't resist these little cuties . . .

Because of this little cutie . . .

Michelle Wie in the making?

Possibly Potential Picasso

My latest drama is the great "Pull Katherine out of Northview Christian School Pre-school." I was not impressed with her sick teacher's permanent replacement; she had no experience and little education. Because we had such a wonderful experience and a caring, capable teacher last year, I felt loyal to Northview. But I flipped out when it was I who finally had to introduce myself to the new teacher who stood timidly in the corner and for 3 days neither greeted us or said goodbye. I immediately marched into the director's office, expressed my concerns that I didn't want a formative year of my daughter's life be an experimental one for the school or Mrs. Shelly. Long story short: this pitbull mom got the cash refund and the crayons (supplies) back.

So, now Katherine was a "free agent" and could go to Jolinda's pre-school, where I would have liked her to attend in the first place (my friend was possibly moving again and couldn't commit until September). My friend from college, Jolinda, served a mission in Ireland when I was in Germany. We wrote and kept in touch until after she was married. How surprised was I to discover she was in the ward I moved into when we built the "too big" house. We both sold our big houses at the same time and now live in the same neighborhood a couple of streets away from each other. Jolinda is one of those rare people who is ultra-creative AND goes the extra mile on everything she endeavors.

So, Katherine is in her element with Jolinda and it's going to be a great year. After her first day, Leslie asked her what she thought of her school and Katherine responded, "Fabulous!" Jolinda is so great and wants Katherine's school notebook to be complete and to bring her up to speed. This means we have a lot of homework to do and it's been fun things like recording her hand and footprints. This is the picture she drew of herself and it is not just funny, it explains a lot about Katherine's personality: The purple egg is her as a mommy, pink baby in the tummy and the pink baby sister at the side. Interesting items of note are the lungs, heart and snot coming out of the mommy nose--appropriate since Kat has had a cold.

Today I Started a 5 Week Weightloss Plan . . .

RADIATION!!! Yep, folks, it's come to this. No, but really, I finally persuaded my oncologist to let me have radiation . Once and for all the spot on my sacrum and the other above my liver (the one mistaken for being in my spleen--aargh! how I wish I still had my spleen) will be obliterated and I'll be cancer-free again. We've been watching these small spots for a couple years in varying degrees of activity, and I'm tired of the drama two spots have caused (again, I lost my perfectly healthy spleen because of one). Dr. Nichols was concerned, however, that radiation to the spot in my abdomen would result in weight loss. I responded: And the problem is? I have some skinny jeans I'd love to break in. Always have to look on the bright side, right?

Watch Out For That. . .

Wish I could include a picture with this story, but, alas, probably not appropriate. On Saturday afternoon, after lounging, watching conference and cleaning the house top to bottom, I jumped in the shower to clean up so I could take Kat and two cousins to "Beverly Hills Chihuahua." Kat ended up in the shower with me and was hyper about getting to go to the movie. I didn't understand what she was doing at first (my eyes were closed, rinsing my hair) and then I just busted up laughing. She was yelling, "Watch out for that tree!", smashing her body and face against the glass shower wall and then sliding down, face plastered and tongue hanging out. We love "George of the Jungle" at our house.