+ 0 - 1 | § ¶on to cuter things...
Ok, so here is the latest link to sweet, darling pictures of Annika!!! She is so cute, I can really hardly stand it!
+ 0 - 1 | § ¶The first smush of 2007
I've been wondering when it would happen. I've been seeing things out of the corner of my eye more often lately. Two days ago I saw a spider in my bathroom. A sign of life. Last night, at about 11:30pm, I walked into my kitchen and flipped on the light. Thankfully. What I saw was a relatively large centipede scurrying across my floor. It stopped, changed direction, changed direction again, ran straight at me- I squealed and jumped over it to reach my pile of shoes and pick one. That took a few seconds, because I needed to make sure that if I was going to use the shoe method, it would actually die on the first attempt. I sadly chose one of my new shoes, knowing that it was my best chance, but also knowing that I'd be really grossed out at the idea of the guts that would undoubtedly remain. It was almost out of the kitchen and onto the shag carpet as I swung around with the shoe. I had to act quickly or it would be much more difficult to kill. So I slammed the shoe on the centipede. It didn't run out from underneath, so I left the room and took a few deep breaths before going back to assess the situation. This is what I saw. Gross. Notice the few stray legs off to the side? I remember reading somewhere that centipedes can easily shed their legs to escape difficult situations. Well, it appears that this centipede shed practically all of it's legs in an effort to escape. Wierd and creepy! When I lifted the shoe, that was still in the same spot I had left it, this is what I found. Sick, sick, sick!!! Now I have to decide the best way to get the gross legs and guts off of my shoe- the legs are really the scariest part of the whole centipede to me! So, here it still sits. I left the shoe on top of the centipede remains last night so that I wouldn't accidentally step on it if I forgot about it by this morning. Which, of course, is quite impossible! Anyway, it's sort of a relief to not have to keep waiting for the first centipede to appear this spring. But, it makes me edgy knowing that there will be plenty more and I'll have to continue to refine my methods of destroying them until winter hits. Centipede season in my house is really long. And, it makes me slightly nervous that this first one was so large. Usually it's a baby one here and there to sort of work me up to the larger ones. I hope they get smaller from here on out. I can hope, can't I?
+ 1 - 0 | § ¶a night at the theatre!
Last night I went to see the musical, Beauty and the Beast, at GHS. One of my d-group girls, Jannalee, was a dancing plate! The pic above is us, but after the show and she isn't the enchanted plate any more, but a maid! We couldn't take pictures during the show, so I can't show you how cute she was on stage, but it was great!
I went with one of my co-leaders, Amanda, and we had to buy our tickets at the door. We thought for sure that we'd have to sit up in the balcony, but we got front row seats! It was so cool! Except at one point during a song and dance number when the guy who plays Le Feu had to slide across the stage and seriously almost landed in my lap! I didn't even scream as he got closer and closer to the edge of the stage in front of me at an alarming speed! Just jumped a little and flung out my hands to catch him/shield myself as he landed just an inch or two from the edge of the stage! I wonder if he saw the terror on my face?
We also saw a number of our other d-group girls at the show- there was a dinner ahead of time that we knew they were going to with one of the girls' parents so we convinced the people at the door to let us in there and we hung out with them a little.
I love my girls! It's so sad the end of the year is approaching and they will be graduating. I can't decide what to do next year. Should I start over with freshman? Should I do something completely different? I just don't know yet.
Anyway, last night was fun!
+ 0 - 1 | § ¶Jodi!
Jodi came to visit this weekend! I've known her from my days at the mansion, but it's probably been close to 4 years since I've seen her. We talked and talked and talked and caught up and remembered stuff and laughed a lot! Last night, we ended up at Diana's and made these yummy little lava bundt cakes and we ate and talked and laughed some more, except that then I fell asleep and missed a whole bunch of the conversations. Oh, and I took a picture of each Diana and Karla to document that they were there and the one of Karla came out surprisingly great. The one of Diana was suprisingly not so great, so I won't post it! Anyway, it was fun to hang out and I hope to see Jodi more often in the future!
+ 0 - 1 | § ¶One year...
Just a note to say Happy Birthday to wee Beth! This year has flown by in many ways, but I remember how each day could be excruciating as I waited for the call to hear how she was. The uncertainty went on for months, really. Anyway, she's a beautiful little miracle and I'm so thankful that I had the chance to meet her in February. Happy, happy, little one!
+ 0 - 1 | § ¶bonding...
This weekend, I bonded with my new niece! On Thursday, my mom called and said, "we're on our way home". They had been slowly making their way north from Florida and my whole family was slated to meet up in the Smokies for Easter. Without me. Because of the insanely cold, winterish weather, my family all decided that it was too cold in the Smokies and that they should just go to Detroit for Easter. Which made me ecstatic! I loaded up my car and headed over on Saturday morning. While we waited, rather unpatiently, for Rob and Elizabeth and Annika to show up, Erin and Emily and I made easter cupcakes! They each had a special one that they had to protect. Here's Erin's method. Here's Emily's. They are hilarious! Rob and Elizabeth finally showed up and we all swarmed Annika! She is really quite precious. She's so content and alert and loves to cuddle. We all went out for Chinese food at our favorite place and imagined that it was Christmas Eve, since that is what we usually do and it was freezing cold and snowing! We sat around and talked and laughed and watched a dvd of old pictures of the family. After Ron and Linda and the kids tore themselves away from the little one, and went home for the night, I held Annika for a few hours and we bonded. Oh, and we all (Rob, Elizabeth, Dad and even mom for a while) got hooked on the Nat'l. Geographic channel. This seems to be a pattern for us. We watched this hilarious guy search for snakes and other creatures- he was a bit of a wimp! On Easter morning, we hung out and I held the sweet girl and caught up with Elizabeth for another hour or so before everyone else showed up for lunch. By the way, Annika didn't seem to really go for her little hat! Mom made a feast and we just enjoyed being together. Then a bunch of the crew all fell asleep throughout the house and those who were awake fought over who got to hold the baby! Emily usually won! She is just head over heels for Annika! Then, I had to leave. Sad. But, I'm so glad I was able to hang out with my family this weekend! They are the best! It was an unexpected blessing!