One of those....

Ever had a day where there is just too much tough stuff rattling around in your brain that you shut down? You hide in your den and, when you go to the mailbox, you pray no one talks to you because you have no words? Uh, yeah me neither.

Time for bed.




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Egg hunts and balls and cups

Today was a beautiful and glorious day. The beautiful pink streaked sky greeted us all this morning:



It was a welcome sight since we were having an Easter Egg hunt at church today for the little guys and gals at church. We had people stake out the park across the street and caution tape off sections for them to hunt. Hundreds of eggs were put out by helpful brothers and sisters. I even found an egg I didn't know, but shouldn't have been surprised, existed:



Nothing like NASCAR eggs...go Jimmie Johnson. Most everyone found lots of eggs and it was a lovely day. I'm relieved for it to be over, but it was a lovely day.

The rest of the afternoon was a bit of a blur. The hub took G to her magic lesson. That kid tickles me to death. She learned how to do the cup and ball magic trick today. Mr. Ed helped her put it to music and choreograph it that way. She did it for us this evening...so proud of herself. A rough youtube clip can be found. She is not in her official magician's outfit and she's doing the trick on top of a shoe organizer box, but she does a great job.

I am so grateful for beautiful days to help us worship and remember. I am so grateful for teachers and mentors who love my children and work to teach them and build their confidence.

Now I am grateful for Select Comfort and the 85 setting that will help me go to sleep soon. Night all.
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Thug soccer

Today we traveled to the exciting county of Claiborne to play some thug soccer. I know it takes all kinds to make the world go round, but honestly. S's team got up there to end up playing on a field too small for their abilities. When our coaches told the people, they called our head coach a name that my children really should not have heard. But then, the girls we played have had a tendency to use colorful language that makes me do a double take. They scream at people and have been known to punch other girls from other teams in the stomach. Their team parents have picked fights in the parking lot. So anything less than that is really kind of a pleasant surprise. The girls won the game which wasn't surprising to us, but the opposing team was so taken aback and shocked that they lost, their coaches wouldn't even shake our coaches' hands. The hub shook it off, considering the source, and began readying himself for the next game to play. G huddled under a blanket since the temperature was a good 15 degrees cooler there and blustery. The boy sat in the mud and sculpted things out of mud. Riveting stuff.

After a day of activity, the hub's back could take no more excitement, so any plans were kind of on hold. He and the boy stayed home and I tok the girls to church to hear a visiting youth bell choir from Michigan. So very polished and professional. We were impressed.

Currently, I have my feet up while the hub is watching the basketball game. My eyes are growing heavy and my face is burning from the sun and windburn during thug soccer. I'm glad no one was severely injured and you always hate to see someone so overcome in defeat. But I was not sorry to win. Those girls earned it...and managed to not dip their toes into thug soccer. Proud of them.


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Bizarro pet store evening

As I have shared with my three readers recently, our new dog is crazy. Loveable, but crazy. Our trainer has been great and we are planning to continue with her when we save up for another set of classes. What she can't train out completely is the stubborn crazy that comes with her. So, as much as we hate it, we are looking into training collars. Yes, for those of you who are asking, many of these collars deliver a shock. Some have the option to deliver a static correction, a vibrating correction or a beepy correction. I hate the thought of a shock collar, but there need to be consequences to jumping over the fence and getting a neighbor out of bed. Consequences besides your human carrying you up the hill, cursing bitterly under their breath until they deposit your carcass inside the house. Soooo, we looked online and in the pet store close to our house. Nothing impressive. So then we took a trip to PetSmart, the mecca for dog supplies and apparently the hub for dog meet ups on a Friday night. I was surprised as to how busy it was in there. A puppy class in the back corner, little birds cheeping in the front, two dogs having an unfriendly introduction near the cash registers. I was looking at the signs trying to find the aisle for training collars and saw this:



Really? Poison's "Talk DIrty to Me" Bret Michaels has dipped his bandanna'ed head into the dog toy game? Oh yes he has. Forget collars, friends, he had stuffed electric guitars and rockin' sock monkeys and this:



The rock n roll hand pull toy. Never mind the girl's glasses. That is what 200 tickets from a consolation trip to Mr. Gattis gets you. More on that story later. Regardless, she can pull the look off. Between looking at the kittens, watching a bloodhound with some sort of badge on pee in every aisle and tapping on the hamster's cage glass, the boy had a full evening of fun. What a boring family we are. We had no success finding the right collar there or in the hunting section at Gander Mountain, so we will be ordering a Garmin one online. Until that arrives, Copper will have to be on the leash to go out in the yard and wait to run a little longer. She will still find her way to be disobedient and look cute doing it...darn cute thing.



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Holy thunderstorm, Batman

I had a little wake up call this morning around 4am...the hammer of Thor apparently smacking down upon the land with powerful fury. The hub was already awake, having a disrupted sleep from the happy juice they gave him for his injection. I was awaiting the sound of a pocket door slamming open and a 9 year old storm hater leaping to our bed in a single bound. Nothing. So while I tried to slow my heart back down to sleeping level again, the storm raged on until a scared girl arrived about 10 minutes later. I was actually impressed she had slept through as much as she had. The thunder and lightening were relentless and we laid in the bed wondering, as we do with every major monsoony-like storm, whether the basement was flooding or if the puppy was afraid. You know, normal homeowner parent kind of thoughts. G moved her oven-like self over to be right up on top of me, snoozing peacefully having found refuge from the storm.

I can remember those days myself, running down the hall to my parents' room when the sound of rain on the skylights went from a soothing and hypnotic pitter patter to a machine gun-esque hammering. The thunder that seemed to crack right in the middle of your chest and nothing but hugs from your parents would make it go away. I can still feel my body calming down as I think about the smell of their pillows, the light breathing of my mother and funny snore of my father, the parental barrier that protected me from all harms...and thunder. It is a special honor, although exhausting, to be that comfort like my parents were for me. While the lack of sleep found me dragging this afternoon, I would do it all again tonight. But I really hope it will stay dry. We all need a rest.


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Now we wait...

The hub received injection number 5 today. He went in and named me his responsible adult, which is really funny, and walked through the door for his date with the big old needle. Throughout the process, the round beeper that could also be found at your local Outback Steakhouse gives you the play by play:



That was when he gave me a kiss and limped his way to the door. I sat and read my new book, answered texts inquiring about the procedure and watched the different people milling about the absolutely FRIGID waiting area. The dueling tvs played Kelly and Michael, Hoda and Kathie Lee and Bethenny. They were up against Fox News and CNN. A cacophony of programming to keep us all entertained. Then this:



While that is his first name, he does not go by it. He couldn't get the nurses to call him by the name he uses. Sometimes he has one who has a sense of humor and will put "Go Hokies" or something else on there so I'll know he is okay. After another chunk of time and book reading and watching an old man scaring a sweet little puffy haired 2 year old, I was instructed to go to recovery(I couldn't get a picture of that direction). The nurse informed me he was in the restroom, made me sign papers, again, that I was his responsible adult and wouldn't allow him to drive for 24 hours. He is a brave man to let me sign. I pulled the car around, picked him up, got him a bagel and coffee at Panera and then took him home to get comfy. The doc did tell him that this will probably be his life for the forseeable future...an injection every 4-6 months until his back blows out. Not really what he wanted to hear. Pretty upsetting stuff.

I know that he will persevere. He has been so very strong for so long. It was a sweet picture to walk in and see him sitting on the couch with the kids snuggled up with him. All is right with the world...bad back and all.
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Here we go again...again

Tomorrow is yet another step in the journey of the hub's back problems. We make our way for his fifth steroid injection in his back. After he had his surgery in November 2012, we really hoped that it would be the beginning of the end of all this horrible pain and mess. Unfortunately, we were incorrect. He has been a rock through this whole ordeal, quietly going throughout all of the normal activities, wincing and limping and crookedly walking. But still, he coaches soccer, continues to build things for our house as I ask, throws the football with G and F, runs soccer drills with S in the front yard. I know someday he will be able to do all those things pain free or almost pain free. I just wish he could get that permanent relief soon.

Say a little prayer for him tonight or tomorrow. We just want a clear path for how to get him better. He's a trooper, but he needs a break.


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