Deliberate spontaneity or spontaneously deliberate....

I've decided I want to be more flexible and regain some of my muscle tone(this would be the deliberate part). I tried skating today for the first time in 9 years, it was NOT pretty(this would be one of the 3 spontaneous parts). Anyway, I've found 5 Element Qi Gong is an easy way to get back into exercising. Several years ago I did yoga all the time and LOVED it but one day it was too cold(I did my routine outside) and it was like hitting a steel wall. I have never done a yoga routine since then. This is fun and doesn't take long to learn or do(spontaneous thing #2). I follow along 3-4 times a day.



I've also started walking at a local park again(spontaneous thing #3). This is Julianna Park for the locals. My plan is to get fit enough to be able to skate. I took 2 semesters of roller skating in college and loved it. Hopefully it won't take too long to get back in the swing of things but I've GOT to have better muscles in my legs!











Along the walking trail is a small neighborhood park(Ward Park). We lived a few blocks from this park before Ryan was born and I'd walk there when I was pregnant. It used to have old, dangerous equipment but yesterday we were pleasently surprised to see this being installed! Now, if they'd only add more tables and a bathroom we'd be set! Luckily its just a 1/4 mile or so to another park(at the upper end of the trail) with facilities. This looks like one to add to our rotation.

Deliberate Living....

A new friend of mine said something that gave me pause. She said she needed to start living more deliberately. Hmmmm. As with all philosophies, some followers are rather militant, taking it to the very far extreme. Many, however, like my friends Cheryl, Kel, and Anet (and others of course) are just wading in and doing what their hearts tell them. Baby steps for me. I'm not sure I am ready to commit to any certain "thing" yet. It might be that I do as these women are doing and deliberately change the foods I serve to my family but it quite likely won't be exactly what they are doing. Maybe I'll work at reducing my plastics like Kel has done.

There are things we have that we cannot give up, like our swimming pool. Sure chlorine isn't the healthiest thing to be swimming in but does the exercise we're getting count against that at all? We can't afford to switch over to a salt water filter but I can research alternatives and possibly switch to a less toxic treatment or determine when the best times for swimming would be. There are other things out there that seem to be hype(or at the very least, overly dramatized) as well. I won't be giving up my microwave, sticking my feet in a detox machine, or exchanging our current bedding for organic, unbleached, undyed sheets. I have no room for a garden, nor do I have the inclination to dig in the dirt so that's out for me too. What I do know is that the phrase I heard at park day, "live more deliberately" struck a cord in me and I want to investigate further. How about you?

Here are more websites about living deliberately...

DeliberateLife.com

Deliberate Living: Slowing Down & Simplifying

Living Deliberately(a discussion group)

Living-Deliberately.com

Just Messin'

First, a fun personality test. Dead-on accurate as usual.

View Full MyPersonality.org Profile

0 50 100	%
Openness	84%
Conscientiousness	16%
Extraversion	5.5%
Agreeableness	64%
Neuroticism	21%

(click to read but don't go by their graph, the numbers aren't right on that one for some reason. they are right here on this one.)

And now collages of pictures scanned on my trip to mom and dad's, click to enlarge and see the lovely details!

These are my dad's parents. His mom is the one in the light colored overalls and on the right in front of the car downtown(bottom pic).



My great-grandfather(the young man) and his parents and siblings(bottom pic) with great-grandpa being the little boy front and center. I'm not sure who the babies are in the first pic.


I'm feeling a bit better today. Enough to make a trip to Hobby Lobby for yarn and crochet hooks! Now we just need to get Mark well and I think we'll be out of the woods. We're expecting nasty ice stormy stuff tonight, bluck.

The flu...

We has it.

Ryan was sick over the weekend of the 17th, I came down with it Tuesday, Sarah on Wednesday, Amy on Thursday, and finally Mark on Saturday. Everyone except Ryan still feels bad. Bluck.

Maybe I'll feel like a real post by mid-week, I've got tons of pictures to upload, transfer and edit. I've missed it! However, I am having fun on Facebook. If yall haven't tried it, do so!!!

We are trying to get back on track today by cleaning guinea pig cages and litterboxes, vacuuming the floors and doing laundry. So far the vacuum is clogged and we've been unable to locate the wad of stuff so the floor won't be happening for now. You wouldn't believe how ready I am to not have carpet in the living area! I'm looking at tile online as I type this but my tastes apparently run to the expensive side. What I want would cost about $4500. Maybe we'll just paint the concrete and get some area rugs...

Today's Adventure...

I know I've posted about this before but, our family enjoys drinking Raw Milk. It tastes sooooo much better than store bought and is very healthy for you(read some of the links on that website)! The first time Amy tried it she said it tasted "alive". Today Sarah and I set off about 9am for our hour-long trek with threat of sleet and snow, thankfully we had neither. Here's what we saw...



(we didn't think they'd stick around, some were a bit antsy but some came right on up)


(this babe licked our hands with her rough tongue)


(she really liked getting her nose petted)




(isn't she a doll?)

Comfort food for everyone...

Several days ago I got hungry for my favorite festive comfort food, Broccoli Rice Casserole. Between trips running hither and yon(we have been sofreakingbusyyouhavenoidea), I managed to get the ingredients for it and had planned to make it Wednesday night. Ok, Thursday night. How 'bout Friday then? Finally! So, about that time, I discovered the absence of rice in my pantry. Grrrr. But, all was not lost...

Quinoa to the rescue! This stuff is wonderfood! Please, if you've never tried it, do so! It is awesome!!!

Broccoli Quinoa Casserole(makes a 9x13 pan)

cooking spray
1 bag frozen chopped broccoli
1 can reduced fat cream of chicken soup
1 can reduced fat cream of mushroom soup
4 ribs celery, sliced
1 onion, sliced
8 oz reduced fat velveeta or cheese whiz

1-1.5 cups dry quinoa, rinsed well
about 3 cups water

Bring water and quinoa to boil, reduce heat and simmer til water is absorbed.

Cook onion and celery in non-stick skillet with cooking spray until transluscent. Add broccoli, soups and cheese product. Stir til well blended. Add quinoa and mix well. Pour into a buttered 9x13 pan and bake at 350 for about 45 minutes. Serve warm.

If anyone has knowledge of some good-for-you substitutes for the soups and cheese product, please let me know! This tasted a bit chemical-ish and I'm pretty sure its because I used the "diet" stuff. It was still comforting and gone by late this afternoon.



(what it looks like in our living room at 6:15pm)


(the west side of the driveway around the same time of day)

Speaking of the view from the driveway(and comfort foods)...


(berries are just starting to get that blue blush to them)


(we have several large bushes around the driveway)

These lovely plants are Ligustrums, don't know what variety, and are loaded with berries! In a week or so they'll all be a dark blue-purple, just like the Cedar Waxwings like them. Unfortunately, I've found out that they also cause asthma! Guess who has horrible, horrible asthma? Mark!! He is totally fine when he leaves the house in the mornings but within an hour of coming home at night he has trouble breathing. I thought I might take him to the ER several nights ago he was that bad. He's always blamed the pets for his attacks but I'm betting its the ligustrums! Much as I love the Cedar Waxwings, these plants will have to go.

Mark and I had stuff to do this morning that lasted about 3 hours longer than we'd planned. Then we found out Ryan's ride to his church's Fall Picnic had forgotten him. So, we had to run him and a friend waaaay out to Ore City. On our way back we stopped by to pick up this wonderful door from a homeschooling friend. Isn't it just gorgeous? I can't wait to get it finished and installed! Hopefully by Christmas.


(we'll have to sand this off, fix the trim, and repaint it but that's no biggie)


(the gold "leading" probably wouldn't have been my first choice but I do love the glass and it was FREE!)

Tomorrow I plan to spend most of the afternoon making cell phone carriers to sell. My friend with Herbal Grace wants me to let her sell them at some flea markets. Who knows, with the holidays coming up they just might sell! Its worth a try at least. The girls will go home with a friend after church so I'll have a nice window before having to pick them up. I'd better get my lazy butt out of this chair and hunt down my yarn then. Bye!

Breaking Fast....

We enjoyed a bowlful of steel cut oats with bananas, golden raisins, and brown sugar this morning. I have been eating steel cut oats for several years now but never thought to put a banana in them. If added during the last few minutes of cooking it will dissolve completely. Very yummy!

It was a good thing we had such a breakfast because we'll need strength to get through this...








But this is REALLY what its all about!

more decluttering going on....

Yesterday we tackled the garage. Again. But, this time we didn't just restack what was there. We tossed stuff. Three huge bags of trash were filled and many bags were filled for charity and the suburban is stuffed! Including a tall kitchen bag full of yarn that I'll never use.

Found items included a plastic shoebox full of sunflower seeds(birdseed style) inside another box, hidden from our view. This was on a shelf right outside the door and would explain why we startle rats when we go out there. It is tossed so maybe the rats will go away.

I also found two of my good pairs of sunglasses, missing fabric and quilt patterns, and ***dddrruuumrollll please*** the remote to the dvd player!!!! It had been missing for at least a year now, maybe more.

We have several pieces of furniture that need to go as well but they won't fit in the suburban so we'll probably just drag them out to the curb and hope someone claims them. Mark hates to do this because it looks junky and he's always afraid that nobody will get them and we'll have to drag them back inside. I tend to look on the positive side, that someone will snap them up within hours(which is usually what happens). Anyway, that's for another weekend.

In other news....

I made a heavenly chocolate pie for dessert last night. My grandmother used to make them but I didn't really care for the taste. My version used dark chocolate cocoa powder and followed this recipe, sans meringue, over at Homesick Texan's blog. Ooooh it was rich!!! There is just a small slice left too so I'll be forced to make another one today probably.

A friend of mine called later and asked me to meet her at Books-a-Million for Bluegrass night. Some local musicians meet up there once a month for a mini-concert. They were ok. Not great but certainly not bad either. I didn't go til 9:30 and they wrapped up shortly before 11. It was nice but a late night.

Today we'll be getting the girls' friend from a nearby town for the afternoon. They are out of school tomorrow for a teacher work day or something so she might spend the night. Soon I'm headed out to walk at my favorite walking trail before meeting Mark and the kids at the bookstore for coffee and magazines.

Later this afternoon I plan to get my craft corner thinned out. There are boxes and old suitcases full of junk that I just don't need to keep. Things like fabric from the mid-80s we've saved for quilt backing and such as that.

Yesterday I started some adorable needle-felted balls. I left the felting loose so I can wet felt them the rest of the way. The first attempts at this were very successful and didn't take but a few minutes. I'll share pics tomorrow.

Bracing....

(image from google, modified by me)

I have friends, family, and friends with family all along the northern half of the Texas Gulf Coast. Ike is gaining intensity and headed right for them. It will probably strike in the dead of night Friday. We have some air mattresses and an extra queen bed if anyone needs a place to crash. The hotels are all booked.

We'll be getting rain for the weekend and early next week. I'm going grocery shopping today for bread and non-perishables.

In other news...

We had a freaking BOMB SCARE yesterday!

Some maroon(aka James Earl Faye, I mean if you're gonna be making deadly weapons you need a good strong Texas name don't you?) in our neighborhood apparently had a PIPE BOMB in his apartment! The kids and I were on the driveway waiting for Mark to pick us up to go out for some dinner. Our neighbor across from our driveway came out and was yelling something. There were too many cars passing between us so finally I had to run across to see what she was saying. It had sounded like "bob cat" or something. She told me there was a bomb somewhere at the end of our street and the ATF was on their way to detonate it and we might not want to be standing on our driveway. Soooo, we went back inside and got Mark to pull up to the front of the house. The story was not on the news we watched last night but we did find it in the paper today.

I seriously doubt I'll get any crafting done before the hurricane. Too much to see to, but didn't we just do this? We have park day tomorrow for our homeschool group, that will be a nice distraction.

Oh, remember when I had my little heart attack scare that turned out to be Costochondritis? Well, I had it again last night and have figured out the trigger! My first episode happened while I was cleaning off the entertainment center and watching a show about a very sick baby in a NICU. After reading that Costochondritis can be triggered by emotional events as well as physical, I kinda had a hunch that was part of it. So last night, after the bomb scare, we were watching a show about a lesbian couple who had fertilized eggs implanted and both were pregnant with twins. One of the baby boys was having breathing problems and had to be intubated and ended up with a brain bleed, etc, etc. Anyway, about 10 minutes before the end of the show, I got shortness of breath, flush feeling, heart palpitations and weak feeling. I had to lay down and just could not get it to go away. It was a panic attack!!! Now I truly believe that these attacks are the direct result of me subconciously reliving the time when Ryan was born with lung issues and had to be flown on a helicopter to the NICU at Willis-Knighton in Shreveport. He was there for 5 days and has suffered no lasting effects from his difficulties but apparently I have. Definitely no more NICU shows for me, thanks! Maybe I should swing by the healthfood store for some Rescue Remedy too. hmmm.

Oh yeah, one more thing. We rescued a baby mouse from the pool yesterday. No pictures as it is TINY. This baby could sit on a nickel and wouldn't cover it. We have it in the snake habitat(no snake) and plan to release it after all the rains are gone. It is getting bird seed for meals and a wash cloth to hide under. The kitties are completely enchanted.

Rebound illness...

Apparently I'm not over whatever it is that I've got. This is day 38. My ears finally did start draining late last week but by Saturday I was having massive drainage and non-stop coughing fits. I was thinking it might be allergies but yesterday I developed a horrible sore throat and temp of 101.7 to go with the coughing. Today my ear is stopped up again, I'm dizzy and feel like crap but I don't have fever. Whatever this is, it is winning! Not sure how much I'll be around this week. We're supposed to have park day on Thursday and a trip to the lake on Friday. I am hoping like crazy that I'll be well for both events.

Some relief, Finally!!

I went to see the PA at my doctor's office today. Mostly to get my blood pressure meds re-upped but also to have my ear looked at, again. It seems that I have a blocked Eustasian tube. Yippeee! It is causing fluid to build up in my middle ear and put pressure on my ear drum(he said it was very swollen and red). So now I have a nasal steroid to help bring down the swelling which will allow it to drain. Yahoooo! Even better was the fact that I'd lost 6 pounds without even trying! Probably because I'm not eating as much because I've been feeling so bad.

In other news...

I didn't get my furniture moved yet, we were too busy with dinner and relaxing last night. That's ok though, I need to unload the china hutch before we move it anyway. Its raining here today and 68 degrees(yes 68!) so this will be a perfect activity for the rest of the afternoon.

Sarah woke us up at 1:30 this morning throwing up. We are hoping it was just from drainage or from something she ate(too much gum maybe) and not a stomach virus. She's been fine today so we might be in the clear. I hope.

Perks....

So Mark was talking about football with one of his new co-workers yesterday. Mark told him about how they used to bring a tv to work on the day after Thanksgiving and hook their cable(for internet) up to it so they could watch the college games. The guy looked at Mark like he had two heads and said, "we don't work the day after Thanksgiving". HAHAHAHA!! WOOOOHOOOO!!

Then, later in the day, he came and asked Mark how much more paperwork he had left. Mark showed him and asked why, thinking they were going to go on a delivery or something. The guy said, "we like to close up shop at 4 on Fridays". And again I say, WOOOOOHOOOO! I like those kinds of perks.

In other news...

Mark and Ryan tried to go fishing last night but suffered a blow-out on one of the trailer tires. Luckily nobody or boats got hurt and they were only 3 miles from home when it happened. So, they drove to Gladewater Lake so the worms wouldn't go to waste. They did not see the bear but the girls and I had to go jump them off because the battery went dead on the "white jeep". Sigh. And now we're all back and the girls want to go to Hobby Lobby so I imagine we'll have a trip there and to Goodwill in a while.

So far my antibiotic has not kicked in. I still feel the same, can't hear, tired, etc. I'm so ready for this to end!

And finally, kitty pics. Still no names that I know of.


(baby boy on the hunt)


(baby girl under the couch)


(Prissy on guard)


(Sissy lounging in the bedroom)

Can I get a rewind button?

The kind that lets you rewind anywhere from 1 to 10 minutes of your life but not the lesson you just learned. The kind that will keep you from knocking a bottle of lotion off the dresser onto your toe causing great(and I mean GREAT and longlasting) pain. Also the kind that will rewind to the part of your afghan you are about to mess up on so you can "not" make the mistake. Bigtime mess up, it has been frogged within an inch of its life. One that would also rewind to let you put the dogs in their kennel about an hour later than you did the first time so they can do their business and not bark all. night. long. because they have to "go". That's the kind of button I want.

I did finally drag myself to the neighborhood non-emergency walk-in clinic to spend 3 hours sitting. And redoing some rows on the aforementioned frogged afghan. It is good news because I might not/probably don't have an ear infection(it was too swollen to tell) but bad news because I have "significant" amounts of mucus in my sinuses that isn't draining very well. This is why it feels like there's a boiled egg shoved in my right ear. I also have "significant" chest congestion(that I haven't even noticed) and a raspy sound in my lungs. So, I'm on these horrible chewable suda-something tablets(holy cow they are NASTY, but the other option was a shot), and antibiotics because I might have a lung infection. That was $100 well spent. I do believe a nap is in my near future.

This means, of course, that I'm letting myself off the hook for any and all housework(can you say PARTAY!) except for cooking and folding some laundry. We're having pinto soup beans and "fried" cabbage(which is just cabbage cooked in a small amount of buttered water) and tuna salad sandwiches. The cabbage, believe it or not, was requested by Sarah. She's so smart!

And in other news:


(my mom with one of three new kitties-this is the male baby)

Several weeks ago my mom's sweet Nancy cat decided to escape and, sadly, hasn't been seen since. Her sister Sissy was missing her badly so mom adopted two sibling babies from their local no-kill shelter. They arrived a few days ago but are too busy having fun to let anyone take many pictures. Yesterday their longtime neighbor moved to go live closer to her family in another state. She left mom with her 5 or 6 year-old kitty Priscilla, a fat, fluffy, calico. I am awaiting pics of the female baby and Priscilla. The new babies don't have names yet, Flossie and Freddy were what my mom had wanted at first but they didn't fit. I suggested Bert and Earnie(for Albert and Earnestine) and that went over a bit better. If you have any suggestions for the two babies(they look very much alike, one of each sex) please leave a comment!!! Mom reads the blog and would love to have help getting the perfect names for these two. She says they are very loving, very used to people and extremely playful. We here at the Sonier house are a wee bit jealous(well 4 of the 5 of us are-guess who isn't, lol).

August + east Texas =

Pure misery! Heat advisories, watering bans, hot, hot, hot. Today will be 101, tomorrow, 103, no rain in the next 10 day forecast. Sigh. Any other weekend, we'd be relaxing by the pool but we all feel too bad to go outside. At least I can share these wonderfully cool photos.

(Yes I am still sick but mostly just something whack going on with my right ear, it feels like someone shoved a hard boiled egg in it and I can't hear at all on that side. Ryan is bad like I was last week but Mark has a milder case of it)

I am on day TEN of this crap...

And still can't hear at all, not to mention(ok I will) the bad cough, dizziness, headaches, general blahs, stopped up nose, crusty eyes, same old same old. I'm SO tired of this. Maybe my doctor will give me a shot of something to make it all go away. I, the one who hates needles, would gladly get a shot(or two) if it would make me better. This is the freaking pits.

***OOPS*** I meant to include this little gem of a game called Music Catch . Oh my is it addictive and relaxing at the same time. Who care how many points you get??

Still Sick!

This is not fun!! I still can't talk, still have my eye infection, sore throat and general malaise but now my ears are stopped up and I can't hear!!! I'm about ready to scream except I can't. Ugh.

The worst part is that Mark is coming down with it too. And possibly Ryan. Just what we needed.

I'm back to being on the girls' laptop. Will check in soon.

Good thing I see my doctor next week...

Because now I have pink eye and still no voice and I feel just as bad as I did yesterday. Which makes it hard to "discuss" the idiots Mark was formerly working with and for. All freakin' hell broke loose after he gave notice. Good gravy! I am SO, SO glad he is out of that toxic place. As much as he loved what he was doing, (some) of the people he had to work with are just nuts.

Anyway, since I'm once again posting from the girls' computer, Amy has given me permission to share her artwork(a small sampling). Be sure to click on each one for the full-size version, they are amazing!

Sick sick sick....

I haven't felt this bad in years!!! Last night, or should I say this morning, I finally was able to sleep sometime after 3:20 but woke before 6. I've totally lost my voice, my temp is around 100(even on advil), and it feels like someone is sticking a needle and/or a marshmallow(depending on how I move) in my ear drums and a screw driver in my adenoids. Ohmygosh.

Blug, blug, blug

We have a bug! I can't complain too much, this is the first time any of us have been sick in months and months! Mine started last Friday with a mild knotty throat thing, then a headache and on and on. The girls felt so bad yesterday that they took naps and we've elected to skip park day tomorrow! Other symptoms are chest congestion, body aches, exhaustion, and now I've got the oogies(feels like I just stepped off a roller coaster). When Mark's alarm clock went off this morning I was hoping he'd get out of bed without too much flopping around because every little movement made me barfy. How fun. So, I have some completely random pictures to share so this won't be a PWOP.

Mark has been working 14-hour days lately because his company acquired the assets of another business with an office about 2 hours or so from here. He's been back and forth a few times so far. This weekend he'll take call for the drivers because one is going on vacation and the other would have had call for 5 weekends in a row. I'm sure he'll get called out at least twice, maybe more, since they have 8 hospice accounts now. Hopefully they'll all be in town. Yes, he is sick too.

My computer is still on the floor in the dining area. I was planning on painting the desk to match the cute little shelf I found at Goodwill but the paint didn't look good to me. Also, I have to move the china hutch somewhere else and plan so that the left side of it is up against a wall. The glass got broken years ago and the cats now get in there and eat the birds' nests and squirrel tails(don't read Anet, lol). It needs to go in a common room but there aren't any walls that suit it for now. Since we moved the metal fabric shelf from our bedroom it could go in that space, and probably will, but that isn't were I really want it. Sigh.

The pool fixer people are here today!!! Woot! They are replacing all the nasty rotted wood that goes between the earth and the new liner. We shall see when that ever gets here. It was ordered way back when but they are behind on putting them together. With custom vinyl liners, they have to have the seams heat sealed and all the corners molded so they are put together as they are ordered. The pool guy cancelled our 1st order and reordered it as a "special" and it is supposed to go ahead of the regular orders, or some such as that. GRRRRR. I HOPE it is done by next weekend but I'm not holding my breath.

Today is also the 19th anniversary of the Blind Date. Mark's friend Jeff and my friend Tami are brother and sister, I met her when I was 15 or so, Mark has known them most of his life. So, how come it took so long for me to meet him? I don't know. What I do know is this. Tami and I were at another girl's place having beer and pizza and primping and doing girly stuff. Tami was trying to get one of Mark's co-workers to notice her so she called Mark up and made a deal. She'd set him up with me if he'd set her up with this guy. I went out with Mark on July 2nd, 2 days later the other guy went out with another girl from work(and got her pregnant!) so that didn't work out so well for Tami, she should consider herself lucky.

July 2nd is also my grandmother's birthday, her wedding anniversary, my mom's late friend's birthday and my bff's birthday. Popular day huh?

Here's the pics:


(Basil last Christmas)


(the girls and dogs this father's day)

More Busy-ness...

Where do I start???

We have turned into that busy family that I've not ever wanted to be! It all started Thursday with Park Day. We left the house at 10am and didn't come home til almost 6pm!! That was also the night when Mark and Ryan loaded the boat for their Friday night fishing trip. I think they were out there til almost midnight. So Friday comes along and they leave for the lake. The girls and I had to deliver Ryan's party invitations to his youth group so we headed out with Puppy-girl along for the ride. After we left the church, Amy suggested we go "somewhere else" because she wasn't ready to go home. This is SO unlike her! We decided a walk on our favorite trail would be best so I swung into Walmart to buy a leash. Haha. I was there 45 minutes, at least. Note to self, don't go to Walmart at 6:30 on a Friday evening. We did have a nice walk, the weather was just perfect! Mark and Ryan didn't get home from fishing til nearly midnight and to bed around 2am. Ugh! I stayed up and waited for them too. I think they caught 12 catfish, 2 were 19 inches long! They also had a beaver swim along side the boat for a while. Mark said it was huge.

Saturday we had big plans to "do something" in the yard and/or with the fence and/or deck. No specific plans, we just knew we needed to get some work done. So around 8:30, Mark suggested that we go boating as a family. Sarah has really been wanting to fish with the boys but they stay too long for her. We headed out with a picnic basket and two coolers(one for the worms) around 10am. Mark backed the boat into the water while the girls played at the playground(at a city park on the shoreline of Lone Star Lake). Once in the water we trolled over to a good fishing spot. Mark couldn't get the regular motor to turn over. Not. At. All. And the trolling motor wasn't working at this point. So we rowed. And rowed. Luckily the fish were biting in the shallows and not far from the boat launch. We fished til around 3:30 or so, then rowed back across the lake. Sarah managed to catch the first, and biggest, catfish of the day!! It snapped her line and flounced out of the boat before we got a picture though. Ryan and Amy both caught catfish and Mark and Sarah ended up with brim too. Not a great day fishing but pretty exciting for the girls!

It was a fun day, we bird and turtle watched and really enjoyed being together as a family. The only bad thing was that I got a weird sunburn on the back of my left calf, I guess that was the place I missed with the sunscreen. Oh, and I got bit by a fire ant on my pinky toe. That STILL hurts.

When we got home, we unloaded the ton of equipment that it takes to go on a boat outing and I started dinner while Mark fiddled with the motor. Turns out, the battery was dead, dead, dead. We had delicious spaghetti sauce over noodles but I baked a spaghetti squash for myself. I LOVE them!!! Ryan's friends, the Dufus Brothers, called to have him over for their little brother's birthday so he went there around 8 o'clock. Mark picked them all up to spend the night around 10:30. Wheeeeee! They did manage to get in bed at a decent hour because Ryan was tired. Tell the truth, I'm getting tired of writing all this out but will try my best to get through it. (I did have another "episode" during this time but it wasn't as intense as the first one. Mark and I have determined that it was probably a panic attack but I don't know what the trigger is, maybe nutritional or something)

Sunday morning, the boys decided not to go to church(really ticked me off since those are the people Ryan invited to his birthday party). So, we farted around the house most of the morning. Mark and I went up to get drinks, chips, ice and a cake, then we all went to the park where the party was going to be. It was a great birthday for Ryan(he turned 15 last Thursday). He had lots of guy friends show up to play frisbee and football and they wore themselves totally out. We finally packed up around 5ish I think. Ryan rode home with a friend and some of the guys from the party. They ended up going fishing down at a stock pond and caught about 20 good sized bass. While Ryan was gone, the girls played on the trampoline and Mark and I cleaned up in the garage. I managed to get another two garbage bags full of donations. YEAH!! Slowly but surely I'm paring down to a managable amount of fabric and yarn.

Today I have a list of 16 specific things that I have to get done. Mark is going to help me paint the bedroom finally! So, I'll be off the computer for a good while. I know this is necessary but I really hate being this busy! My camera batteries are dead so I'll post pictures tomorrow(probably update this post with them).

Hope everyone had a glorious weekend!