Listed just to get them out of my brain

• Last night on Big Brother one of the chicks was talking about Owen Wilson bringing them some reward they earned. And it totally amused/startled me that they are in a total media block out and they don't know that he is having problems.
• Casey has been a vacuuming pro this week, seriously we have emptied about two pounds worth of stuff from our Dyson, which goes to show how often I vacuum.
• I finally got the results of my blood work. We ate the cost and shuttled me off to the doctor due to some things that have come up. Luckily my blood sugar and thyroid are great, but my Cholesterol is horrible (both the good and the bad) and I am borderline Hyper tension. So I am working on eating better, exercising, and being aware of what I consume. We have upped the whole grains in our household, which surprisingly hasn't been bad taste wise, but Lord have mercy, all this good food and veggies is working over my innards.
• Alex's first week of school has been great, we sat in his class this morning and observed. His teacher is good, a bit scatter brained, but I have noticed that she is Very aware of all the kids and their needs. I had to fill out one of those "everything about my kid" papers, and I made sure to put on their that Alex loves to talk, but in a good way, he loves to help out int he class, and he needs some serious help with his handwriting. Over this past week i can tell that she has taken that all to heart with what he tells me about his day and what we saw this morning. She also signs all of her instructions and commands to the class. Which I really liked, we don't even have anyone in class who is deaf. BUT, the kids totally respond to her sign language, and even if they can't hear her they understand what she wants. LOVE that!
• I got bite with a small scrapbooking bug last night when I was helping Alex with his picture collage. It made me want to start on some layouts again, but first I have to clean my workspace up, it has become the summer dumping ground. Maybe I will do that today.
• it finally got hot enough that we had to stop using our down comforters and switch to a flannel sheet and light quilt. I love that blanket transition, because it usually only lasts about two months and by then I am ready to switch back to my goose down cloud.
• I discovered a great lingerie site, Agent Provocateur . If you don't mind the occasional pasty and non airbrushed panty shots, this site is sure to give you some great lingerie ideas. They are mighty pricey, but oh so sexy!
• I am reading Water for Elephants right now, a pseudo memoir of a vet's time at a circus. this book is just amazing, the images are floating through my head all day and especially at night where they have infiltrated my dreams with Elephants named Rosie, white canvas Big top tents, Orangutans that wants oranges, and box cars crammed full of workers. This book is most definitely on my top ten for the year.
• We have Mr. Bean's vacation and Chinese food on the schedule for this weekend, gosh I love play dates!

Time to have a breakfast date with Casey and maybe squeeze in the new Halloween.

So Soon...

How did 2nd grade come up so soon? Alex started 2nd grade today, this year he looks more like a boy then a little boy. The day started with first day excitement, a bowl of fruity pebbles, a new Tony Hawk shirt, and Daddy making Math jokes. His poor frazzled teacher got stuck in traffic and ended up showing up about 10 minutes after the bell. But she jumped right into the swing of it all, the kids were mellow and all ready working on an All About Me packet and parents slowly trickled out.

There is something about the start of the school year that makes me get all domestic. I have been doing laundry all morning, I started reorganizing Alex's closet and picked up all the crazy toys in his bedroom, usually a chore that I leave for him. I am contemplating a batch of muffins and Casey is off to finish up his root canals.

With Fall right around the corner I am starting to plan out some heavy fiber projects. Summertime is not the time to be knitting a felted gifty. Or working on a Ripple with a lap full of yarn. I have been trying to quickly finish up my summertime projects, a lightweight Granny Afghan, a french knot pillow, and a linen silk scarf. I had a Christmas panic attack yesterday when I realized that it is only 4 months away! But for today I am only going to focus on the first day of school. When pick up time comes this afternoon I want to have a special after school treat, pictures ready for Alex's family poster, and a home ready for my family.

So he has these things called teeth

Casey has successfully finished one dentist appointment with a dentist that we both feel happy with. He left with two appointments scheduled in the next two weeks, two prescriptions that will make him feel really good, and a bill with a number at the bottom that is equivalent to three mortgage payments. It is shocking what health care costs, especially without insurance. It was even more shocking to discover how much more his prescriptions would have been if we went with the name brands. Holy heck I swear it is a scam. I must admit that it does feel good, I am sure for both of us, to finally have these issues taken care of. Looking into the next couple months though, makes me a bit queasy since this is only the first of about 4 mega expensive visits he will have. Egads.

One week Count Down

Alex's 2nd grade year starts a week from tomorrow. This coming week we have open house, final closet makeover, school supply re-check, lunch box menu testing, Hurricane Dean prepping, Hurricane Dean effects, three days of teaching for me, Casey at home with bugman for mega Daddy time, the Rain gutter Regatta, shoelace tying testing, sprained ankle nursing, muffin shots and grooming, office cleaning, multiple doctor's appointments, and massive laundry. We will be busy, but we are all together this week and despite my eternal hormonal grumpiness I am happy to have my family.

Fri- 9am

I am off to go find a way to get Alex, my mom thinks that they are no longer flooded in because she had a newspaper this morning. Yesterday, her entire neighborhood was flooded in due to the two roads that lead into her area being completely flooded. In fact if you saw the footage on CNN of the guy stuck in the tree, that road is one of them I take to get to her house. So weird and scary. Last night the creek behind our house was the highest I have ever seen it, it sounded like white water rapids. Luckily today it is down about 15 feet, but expected to go up since we are suppose to get another 2- 5 inches. Please keep us in your prayers as we keep an eye on Dean and our rising floods waters.

FYI- thursday 5pm

Right now we are okay, but the situation is really bad here in San Antonio with all the flooding from TS Erin. It took me an hour and a half to get home today and I have never been so scared driving in my entire life.

Hello Erin

Apparently I have nothing better to do tomorrow then endure 11 hours of 100% severe rain and WIND SQUALLS. Squalls, 250 miles inland are something to pay attention to. On top of that, there is the possibility that Dean might be visiting us some time next week. It is totally Hurricane season. So either I will be braving the rain to teach tomorrow morning, or I will be calling in Tropical Storm. Luckily my mom has Alex tonight and I asked her to keep him tomorrow night too. Just in case...

Retail wish

If I was given one retail wish right now, it would be to have a Whole Foods included in the MEGA shopping center being build near our house. *sigh* I just returned from the one WF in town, way on the other side of town, and it wasn't even a big one. BUT I did fall back in love with their cafe, and their bakery and the fish mongers who tell Alex which fish are actually bigger then him. With the tiny double decker baskets they supply, the small amount of things we picked up and our bellies full of a shared smoothie, I left there wishing I had one close to me. *sigh*

Please oh Please retail gods, get rid of the Ulta and Shrimp House and put in a Whole Foods and maybe a Starbucks if that isn't asking to much...

The slow twist of it all

My life is back in the twist of it all. I have bread baking in my french loaf pans, the laundry is tumbling, the kiddo is jamming in as many minutes of playtime as possible, the dogs are absorbing the AC as much as they can, the carpets are Dyson'd, the new light fixture is up in the kitchen, as well as the holder in the bathroom, and I felt everything click today. I am finally back to me, my habits, my makings of a life. It feels good, smells good, looks good, and nothing is better then the sounds a happy boy makes.

Yesterday put an end to the back to school shopping with a very boy pair of Chucks complete with skulls and black-a-tude. We snuck in a showing of StarDust, and my heart sighed over all the fantasy that is finally coming back to theaters. Our movie going pleasure just about doubled with all the previews we saw, most noteably the Chronicles of Spiderwick.

With school only two weeks away, I can firmly say that I am looking forward to Autumn and for summer to drift away. I am ready for warm comforts and fireplaces, I am ready for casseroles and hot chocolates, I am ready for pumpkins and heirlom turkeys to give thanks. I am just so very ready.

I love the smile..

This commercial gets me everytime, especially that small smile on his face at the end. This commerical is every teenaged daydream of love wrapped up in 30 seconds.

Sigh

Figured it out...

Lately I have been feeling tired and crabby and just not up to snuff. Last night I finally figured out why, and to combat the ickies I decided to do a spa night once Alex was in bed.
So I assembled my army, a fleet of Green tubs and tubes, shaving implements, some lavender salt scrubs, an oatmeal bath soak, towels, and the biggest dang tube of Shea butter I could find. All of these products combined with a long hot soak, a bottle of Excedrin, and an hour later I was feeling a bit more like me. Hallelujah for epiphanies!!

Paper Thin

Their Shaking Hands, their shaking in their shoes, Oh Lord Don't shake me down...

I have been around, just really busy. Here is a list of some current favorite things right now:

• Modest Mouse, Plain White Tees, Frou Frou
• Gaiam, exercise ball DVD, I better have iron abs for how much they ache right now.
• Purlsoho.com
• Dirty Potato Chips
• The Golden Compass on DVD to listen to at night with Alex instead of the random country station.
• Big Love
• " A Well Kept Home", a giftie from my buddy LeeAnn.
• Hot Hot baths with mindless reading.
• My new black slides from Target, like wearing slippers to work.
• Having a new project on my sticks!
• Pedicures, time for another one with my mom.
• Meerkat Manor, where I have been?! Love this show.

So LeeAnn and I have challenged each other with a "finish it up" month of projects. Here it is, for the month of August, instead of watching TV or blog trolling or whatever, finish up all those half completed projects. It has been tough, but I have broken my time into one hour of TV time a night, I usually use it for the stinkin' addictive Virtual villager game Alex and I are into. So here is my project list:

• Touch up master bathroom painting and hang cabinet doors.
• Repair the kitchen light
• Finish up the endless Afghan, only three rows left!
• Organize all of Casey's billing with detailed job sheets for each week.
• Streamline our budget.
• Line my dresser drawers with something pretty.
• Pull the small amount of stubborn weeds from the pool, so the liner can go in next week!
• Organize hallway closets. BIG job!

So far, I haven't done too bad, been working on the closets and budget and billing paperwork.

Have you ever stopped and looked at the sheer amount of STUFF in your house, oh my god, it is everywhere... HELP!!!