Hannahbanana

This in my inbox made me smile this morning:

Thought so.

In which case, let me say that my son is adorable. He is also the only eleven year old boy I know who would use the words "authentic," "temporarily," and "numerous" in an e-mail. I received the following today:

HI Mom. How are you doing. (the keyboard is a little wierd to excuse the mistakes).  today we toured lima.  we got to see some pre inca temples, visited a museum, visited a catacumb, ate at a delicious buffet restaurant with authentic food, and we were temporarily lost in lima.  we have numerous pictures. 

LOVE HIM!!!

Guess what?

Last weekend we went to Six Flags. I didn't have exams to study for, foreign vocabulary words to memorize, papers to write, presentations to create and then, er, present. I didn't have group projects to stress over and I didn't need to do any reading that I didn't want to do. I didn't need to make flash cards. I didn't have to memorize a sonnet and then perform it in front of a disinterested audience. I didn't have to cry over my computer keyboard wailing, "I've got nothing left to ggggiiiiive."  

I was able to read an entire book for pleasure. Thank you, John Irving! I owe you my sanity, such as it is. I lounged around in our hotel suite, took wicked hot baths, watched true crime shows on TV, and made memories with my family as we hurtled down the rollercoaster tracks screaming until we were hoarse. It was, frankly, awesome.

Welcome, Summer. Have I mentioned that I love you?

Is it too late to mention that I was in an earthquake?

Because I totally was! I know everyone in the Midwest has already blogged about this, and it occurred about a month ago, but it was still something I've never experienced before and therefore significant and memorable. All things considered, I'd be happy to never experience another earthquake; next time we might not have the luxury of lying in bed discussing what it is you're supposed to do. (Get under a table, I said, and I'm sticking with that.)

There goes my GPA

For now I'm going to celebrate getting all A's this semester, but when Purdue switches to +/- next semester I am, for want of a better word, screwed. Who can get over 95% in every class to earn an A+? Not me.

I'm not saying that friends that buy gifts are the best kind, but it certainly doesn't hurt

I have a great friend that called me the week before finals and told me to swing by her office on campus because she had a "finals surprise" for me. It was the best thing I could have asked for -- 24 boxes of Lemonheads!

Lemonheads are the best thing since sliced bread

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"That's 2 boxes a day for 12 days, or 3 boxes a day for 8 days," she told me. More like 24 boxes in one day, but who's counting?

Best. Bag. Ever.

I have engaged in more than a little retail therapy over the past few weeks and Todd has helped me considerably. He instigated the purchase of a fold-out sofa bed for the office, two desks, hutches, and matching filing cabinet (also for the office), an armchair, and various other pieces of furniture like two gorgeous trunks. One evening he even said, -- (I'm not making this up) -- "Come to Hobby Lobby to pick out nick-nacks with me."

For mega reals.

He said that.

Such was the wild dispersement of funds that when my debit card number got stolen, and I called the bank to find out why there was a hold on my card, I had to think about the question "Did you charge $1,300 of airline tickets?" Wait...did I?

Anyway, among my mad spending at The Buckle and Target I found this bag which, although I don't even carry a bag, had to be bought and loved.

Bacon and Egg Bag

Movie Recommendation?

Go and see Forgetting Sarah Marshall. You will laugh I guarantee it (or I will give you your money back.)

This is not our parents' generation

I was taking a nap when the phone rang. "Oh, sorry. Did I wake you?" asked Todd. I replied in the affirmative. "Well, go back to sleep," he said "but I just called to tell you that I made us both a Botox appointment for the 30th."

I knew when I got Botox Todd would want it too, I just didn't know he'd start scheduling my appointments for me.

I probably shouldn't even mention that I'm also getting a chemical peel and microdermabrasion.

Medical Confessions

I've talked about the vein surgery thing a couple of times so let me just clear it up for those that have expressed a desire to know. I had a varicose vein in my leg and I've had it since I was nineteen years old.  When Jesse was a baby I noticed what I thought was an insect bite on my calf, but when I examined it, I realized with horror that it was a little varicose vein and did I mention that I was NINETEEN YEARS OLD?! I lived with it for ten years but recently I started getting a lot of pain in my thigh. An ultrasound revealed that I had "diseased valves" which, thanks but no thanks, let's take care of that, shall we? The first surgery entailed closing a big vein in my thigh with a laser which requires just a tiny incision. Follow-up to that involves getting chemical injections (many of them) which kill the little feeder veins they don't put pressure on the big vein and re-open it. Lastly, I had the trauma of having sections of vein physically removed so that, while there was no pain whatsoever, I could feel my veins tug, tug, tugging out of my body and that, my friends, is what made me call to the nurse, "Get me a sick bucket!"

Parting is such sweet sorrow

Jesse and Todd took off for Peru this morning and, I have to say, I miss them bunches already. Libby and I already had three days alone last week when Jesse was at 5th grade camp and Todd was on business. I think we are going to get a little sick of each other. (But speaking of sick, we have plans that involve calling Libby in sick at school for two days. Shhhh!)

Bon Voyage, Jesse

Todd travels loads but we still speak to each other dozens of times a day. Not having any contact with my boys is unusual and lonely. When Libby sleeps at her friend's house tomorrow night I seriously don't know what I'll do with myself. I know that Todd will look after Jesse and I am thrilled that they are taking this trip together. (How's that for unintentional alliteration?) When I told Todd to look after my boy he said, "I'm going to have him sleep in the jungle covered in Yellow Fever-infected mosquitoes." Such a parasitologist thing to say.

Speaking of Yellow Fever...

Guess who's going to the Summer Olympics in Beijing???

ME, that's who!

Because my husband is awesome and makes things happen, that's why.

Finally, look who got fixed

You can't say no to me

Show us your guitar.
Submitted by Sean J. O'Rourke.

Not my guitar, but my photo of my brother-in-law, and my favourite guitar picture.

Damian, in shadow

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Outtake #3

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I had one final yesterday and two today. I had vein surgery on Monday that was the single most horrible medical procedure I have ever experienced, way worse than the first one. (And I have given birth and had kidney stones. Not at the same time though. That would suck.) I am drained emotionally and physically. I am about to pop a sleeping pill and hit the sack.

In the meantime, this is funny.

This is Good

Ah, freedom! Quasi-freedom anyway. Yesterday concluded "dead week," the supposed calm before the storm of finals, which is, in reality, far more grueling in its own way. Papers, projects, and presentations are usually due this week which meant that I was stretched fairly thin. But now its over, and I just need to get through finals before I can enjoy every last drop of summer.

Yesterday evening Libby was sleeping at a friend's house and Todd was traveling home from business in...some state, somewhere. (I can absolutely never keep track of where he is from one day to the next, so why try?) That left Jesse and me to enjoy the evening together.

The first thing I did was to mow the lawn and weed the flowerbeds. That may sound like a chore but having the time to be able to do it with nothing else on my mind was a huge luxury. And my grass looks fantastic, unlike the neighbour's lawn with their carpet of dandelions.

Jesse elected to eat dinner at Outback, a great pick; I can't remember the last time I ate there because we've pretty much switched over to Mountain Jack's for all our steak needs. It was fantastic to be able to sit with my boy and have frank conversation led by him. He is such a great kid, and so intelligent, and I needed that reconnection with him. After we were sufficiently disgusted with ourselves for eating too much, we ran to the mall and Target to pick up some items that Jesse needs for his 5th grade camp next week.

Jesse decided that a trip to the bookstore was overdue. Our policy is that we will buy our kids as many of whatever kind of books they want, they just have to read them. Jesse probably has some still-unread books on his shelves, but there are always exceptions to be made for every rule. Jesse made a bee-line for the humour section and picked out collections of "The Far Side," "Calvin and Hobbes," "Foxtrot," and "Dilbert." We swung by Blockbuster to rent a couple of Indiana Jones movies, which Jesse watched while putting together his new Lego set while I fell asleep on the couch beside him.

Todd woke me up when he got home past midnight and we watched Junebug together. Again, being able to sit down and watch a movie without thinking of everything else I should be doing is lovely!

This morning I slept until 11:15. Bliss! After I picked Libby up from her friend's house, we enjoyed a family lunch at Nine Irish Brothers, did some yard work, enjoyed the sunshine, went and got a pedicure, made an appointment for a facial, took a nap (unbelievable, but true) and contemplated catching up on the laundry and doing something with that torn-up kitchen floor.

Now I prepare for finals. I feel like I have three A's in the bag, and two that I will have to work for but are possible. As soon as I walk out of my last final on Saturday morning, Todd and the kids will pick me up and we are going to Six Flags, baby!

Jesse: You know, we do a lot of things on a whim.

Todd: I think he's figured us out.

DIY Boy

Disarray

(I was at my desk when Jesse came to me and said, "I think I'm going to have to stop for the day. I have two flesh wounds.")

Today I am having a 90 minute vein surgery while I lie there awake. AWAKE, people! The doctor recommended taking Xanax, and while I've never tried it, and am not a huge fan of taking any kinds of drugs, I think I will acquiesce to his superior medical knowledge and down this bad boy 30 minutes before the surgery.

Me and my Magic Pill

*This is my debut for the "Me and Monday" group. And, yes, I'm a day late.

As I said on Saturday, BugBowl was cold and I was grumpy. Consequently, only a few shots were taken. Which is lucky for you really, because I'm going to post them.

Honey Tasting at the BugBowl

Libby was all about the honey tasting...

Honey Tasting at the BugBowl

That one? Not so much.

...until she found one that she thought was vile.

Bees

I was going to take a bee-keeping class next semester. But then I decided that I'd just like to hurry up and graduate some time in the next five years.

Baby Turkey

How much did Libby want to steal this turkey?

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Libby did not want to give this baby turkey back. At least we know what to get her when her guinea pig dies.

I didn't win first place?

This was my second entry into the cake contest, under a different division. The first cake (see previous post) was required for my English cake. This cake was entered to get 10 extra credit points in my Entomology class.

This was the competition

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Check out what I was up against. That is pretty amazing.

Jesse was with us too, complaining all the way, but somehow he didn't end up in any pictures.