Help Me Santa!

Christmas Kapers have begun at my preschool.

It is with about 50 or so children, who attend on different days, some on Monday and Wednesday and others on Tuesday and Thursday.

They rotate through and make Christmas stuff.

It is a tad nutty. But, apparently so much fun that even the Jewish and Hindu students take the class. . . . . . . . .

In Other Fish Business

I should update my profile.
As I have previously reported, Miss B's fish died a tragic death,
but has now been replaced with Violet.
We welcomed Violet into the family.

I also falled to report that Blonde Girl won a goldfish at a birthday party.
Actually, she one two.
One, obviously traumatized by the party and subsequent move to our house,
died.
But, the other one, Goldie is doing great.

So the pet total is three dogs, two beta fish, one molly fish, one snail and one goldfish.

Stick a Fork in Me

I am done.

Back to the Black

Okay, we did do Black Friday....

The girls really wanted to go.
I went through the ads,

made my list and we headed out
around 9:00.

We missed the early insanity, but I didn't want any of that stuff.


We got everything we wanted.
The girls sometimes had to go to another part of the store,

while I purchased stuff.


Joining us was Aunt Lawrel.

I think we may have worn her out.

In all, we
went to 11 stores.

She had to take a nap.

Later we went to the movies.

Miss B,
Aunt Lawrel and I saw "Morning Glory".

It was great.

About the nap part,
she takes a 30 minute nap everyday and thinks everyone should.

Love Man, Uncle Chris and Blonde Girl saw "Megaminds".

Blonde Girl loved it and she was the only one.

I think Uncle Chris fell asleep as he missed his nap.
He is a weekend napper.

I woke up so early today,

because I realized I forgot to buy my stuff for this family NCL is buying for.

Miss B and I will have to head back to the Old Navy.
They have great deals on kid's clothing.

And speaking of naps,

I will have to take a nap today.

I am exhausted and have what I believe to be "dishpan hands."

I have barely stopped cooking and cleaning up the kitchen.

No rest for the wicked. . . . . . . . . . .

One for the Money

As many of you know,

I am an ardent fan and avid reader of the Stephanie Plum series.

The 16th book has come and gone, and the first book is being made into a movie.
"One for the Money" is out next year.

I always felt that Sandra Bullock was made to play Stephanie.

I am just not too sure about Katherine Heigl.

Thanksgiving Update

It is cold here.

The second coldest Thanksgiving on record.

High of 59, the record low is 56.

That was set in 1933.

I am wearing my bathrobe as I write this.

Brrrrr!!!!

I do wonder how I would have lived in Idaho had all of that worked out.

I guess I will never know.

Of course, we have not turned on the heat.

So, there you have it.

The food was great.
I started cooking on Saturday,

We did dine al fresco,

which is always nice.

Dying to Get In

I just returned from the elementary school's Fall Festival.
I worked in the hair dying booth.
I sprayed children's hair orange, green and blue.
Some of them my former students,
who waited in line JUST for moi.
Blonde Girl ran around like a maniac.
Miss Brunette won a cake in the Cake Walk and refuses to share it.
Blonde Girl came home with cotton candy and refused to share it.
Miss B one upped her.
I guess that means no cake for me.

Bailey

Miss Brunette's fish died.
I think, he may have swam into a shell and gotten stuck.
Poor little guy,
it must have been horrible.
We put shells,
from Mexico,
into their bowls for deco and a place for them to hide.
Love Man went to clean the bowl and the fish was gone.
I had just checked and fed him a day or two prior.
We had to do a little CSI investigating to find out what the problem was.
Miss Brunette is traumatized.
Maybe we need to have a warning label on shells from the ocean.

Welcome to My Dream, What's Your Dream?

I had a dream last night and I was wearing this coat throughout the enitre dream.

LOL.

In the Pink

This little gem was 50% off a few weeks ago.

Lucky for me, it did not fit.

Large was too tight and Extra Large was way too big.

I do wonder if Large Tall would fit????

The color is now sold out.

It was cute.

I told Love Man what I was doing.

He said, "maybe you want to move back to Iowa."

I am thinking, no.

Another Coat

I tried on a few more coats, while I was out. Lucky for me, coats are the hardest thing for me to find. They almost never fit. Too short in the arms, too tight in the shoulders and too big in the body. I believe I am a Large Tall, but sometimes that is not even true. Who knows???

True Confession

I want this Old Navy coat.

I want it very badly.

Here is the deal,

we don't need coats like this in Phoenix.

A down vest, a leather jacket, a trench coat or a

a sweater coat will do.

I have all of these.

I also have a parka,

which I never wear.

I keep coats for years and years.

I, finally, no longer have any coats from when I lived in Iowa nearly 23 years ago.

Wait, I do have a trench coat, that is very long by today's styles.

I saved it.

It was purchased when I was in college.

It still fits.

I do not know what is wrong with me.

Everywhere we go, I try on coats.

While I am waiting for my girls to try on shorts,

I am trying on a stack of coats.

Ever hear about those deranged never-to-be brides

that go to bridal stores and try on dresses?

That is me.

It is all about the coat.

A Bit of a Break

We have today and tomorrow off.
OMG.
Thank you!!
Tomorrow I am off to Tucson for a conference about preschool stuff.
Yadda, yadda, yadda.
It is about the impact of technology on children.
You know, being exposed to stuff that they can't handle yet.
There is a lot of that going around.
TTYL.

That is About It

I guess the damage to our roof and property was around $15,000.
Shocking.
Seriously, I am no Bob Vila, but the roof looks okay to me.

TTYL.

Weekend Update

Overall, it was a good weekend.
Love Man stayed in Payson on Friday night.
Blonde Girl had a soccer game early on Saturday.
We went over to Neighbor Meggan's for dinner on Saturday night.
Miss Brunette got her "good grades" pedicure.
Blonde Girl, who also had good grades opted for an aluminum water bottle with her name.
Seriously, we found one with her name on it.
I told her, "you can have this or get a manicure or a pedicure."
"Mom, I can stay home and drink from my water bottle and paint my own fingers or toes."
There you go.

I'm On It

Okay, after telling you all everything,
I've got nothing.
The car has been repaired.
The tire replaced.
The insurance agent has been alerted about the towing fee.
I went to work,
begged a ride home and then found out the car was ready to be picked up.
I begged another ride to the auto.
Then, drove over and had the "real" tire put on.
I would have made the first child's pick up time at school,
but had arranged for the long-suffering Neighbor Meggan to collect Blonde Girl.
That is really it.
My new best friend, Stephen, our catastrophic claims adjuster came by to take more pictures.
I gave him some sweet tea.
The girls are finishing the "Mommy Multiplication Test" that I give them.
They hate me for it.
All I can say is, get in line.

What is Next?

Things have been really wild at our house.
It started last week with my car.
It has escalated to girls coming in and out of our house.
You heard about the dog's escape?
We have also had a guest get cactus needles in her finger while tick or treating.
And, Miss Brunette completed a science project worth most of her grade.
To her credit, she did the entire thing herself.
But, I had to drive her around for the supplies.
Science project invaluable,
cost of supplies $23.




We did have a great Halloween and the girls attended a birthday party.
We found out that our roof is nearly totalled from the hail storm on October 5.
That was shocking.
We have more than 100 broken or cracked clay tiles.
There was also damage to our heat pumps, cool decking by the pool and the two shingled areas that hold the heat pumps.
The list goes on and on.
Actually, the shingled areas were totalled.
There was more, something about the house trim.
Who knows.
The list goes on and on.
I am glad I had the insurance adjustor inspect all of this.





Did I mention that Neighbor John is really not being very nice?
He is threatening to call the police IF he hears our dogs bark.
So, when the dogs go out - they have a chaperon.
Seriously, if they do bark, it is for less than 5 minutes during the day.
Love Man did go over there and speak to Un-Neighbor John and his wife.
It was a bit heated.
Love Man mentioned something about this all being a "conditioned response" because John used to cluck like a duck or growl at our dogs.
We have asked them to stop spraying the dogs with water, repeatedly.
John threw a bucket of water on the dogs on Monday.
That is how this whole thing got started.
It is a bit of a mess,
but if he takes us to court on a noise infraction. . . . . . . .



The next morning,
Sadie threw up the next day all over Blonde Girl's down comforter.
I phoned Love Man who was on his way to work.
"Can you come home?"
Pause.
"Why?"
"You know the potato soup that I told you NOT to let that dog have?"
"Yes."
"She has vomited it all over the purple comforter."
I had no sooner dealt with all of that,
when Miss B started yelling for me to come out to the patio.
One of the hummingbirds that has lived in our yard forever was attacking another one.
The poor other one was on the ground with a hurt wing.
It took a bowl, a broom and a scooper to save the bird.
It later died in our garage.
Nature is violent.



Yesterday, Love Man called me on my mobile phone.
I was at soccer regaling my friend Marla with the week's events.
"My tire is shredded."
"I put the spare on and now the wheel won't turn."
He called the tow truck and got to ride with.
Guess how much the tow bill was?
$425.
Yes, we have towing insurance.
I think it is covered to the nearest dealership,
so most of it will be largely paid by State Farm.
When Love Man shredded the tire,
it broke some spring.
So, I am without a car.
He needs mine.
It is a funny thing,
when you pretty much know everyone,
it is easy to get a ride to and from work.




If you don't hear from me again.
Assume our roof has collapsed or that I have moved to the country.

In the Dog House

We also had a busy weekend.
Girls in and out of the house.
We had one spend the night, another visit and another trick or treat with us.
One of these girls allegedly left our front door open and our dogs escaped.
They ran up the sidewalk sniffing and poking around.
Miss Brunette discovered them.
Love Man alerted me.
I told Blonde Girl.
All of us headed up the street.
I yelled for Love Man to get the leashes.
He drove up the street.
The girls ran and I walked.
Abby immediately ran to Miss B.
Sam and Sadie ignored her.
Sam was captured next.
A nice lady riding a bicycle helped Miss B get Sadie.
I arrived just as Sadie had been picked up.
By the time Love Man,
all of the dogs were caught.
Blonde Girl carried Abby home.
I carried Sam home and helped Miss B walk.
Her legs were like noodles,
but she would not let Sadie go.
She was so upset and is still traumatized by this.
The dogs were put in the bedroom,
but I don't think they are the least bit sorry.
I am pretty sure Sadie went out first and Sam followed.
Abby went to keep the other two out of trouble.
They did remain on the sidewalk.
And, went the opposite way that we walk to school.

The Rest of the Saga

Car Story III

So, the car goes off to the shop.
My friend comes to pick me up for work.
We schelped Miss Brunette to school and hit Circle K for a nice sodie and went to our school.
Love Man called me after class had dismissed.
I was up on a chair hanging spiders and bats.
"Your car is done."
"Really?"
"It was some hose."
"How much?"
"What difference does it make."
So, I got another ride to the shop and collected my car.
End of story.

The Sequel

Car Story #2
Naturally, I got on the phone and arranged a ride to work and bunco.
It was the buncoween and you do not miss that event.
Love Man was actually super nice about the said vehicle.
He said he'd call our mechanics and arrange the appointment for the next day.
He also said he would phone AAA on his way to work in the morning.
He did all of that.
The next morning,
I send Miss Brunette to walk Blonde Girl to school.
She said, "I can't handle three dogs."
I told her, "take two."
Abby, who is the worst of the three, stayed home.
I am sorry to say that, but it is true.
She hates other dogs, men, and men who wear hats.
Off they went and they caught up with Neighbor Meggan,
who phoned me from the walk for the "True Phoenix Story."
The Triple A guy came early,
which is why I didn't walk to school.
He wanted to her the TPS (get it, true Phoenix story) and I told him.
He opened up the hood and saw the broken hose.
I had already heard this from LM,
so I was unfazed by this revolution.
Then, he started pulling out all of this confetti that used to be other hoses.
He told me,
"this is really going to cost you" and told me I should have pulled over when the battery light went on.
He started the car and it started right up.
He said, "I'm driving it onto the truck because it won't over heat in that amount of time."
Fine.
And, away they went