CAUTION: Woman In Progress

We finally had a really good rain today and I moved my car from beneath the carport so the rain could wash off all the dust.  Redneck car wash. Ha

This girl. We don't have fun at all. ;-) She thinks I'm crazy when I talk to her like she's human and tell her about my day.   She has play dates with her "friends"...   And those play dates are kind of bitey. Bumble seems to enjoy it, judging by the look on his face.     She snacks on pink burgers. She also steals my bed when I'm not looking. Thank God for my Libby.

So...love her, hate her and her new song, Taylor Swift's latest, Shake It Off, gives good advice. So, of course I had to turn it into some quote art. Because it's my blog and love me or hate me I do what I want. Deal.

She not happy with me at alllllllll!

So we celebrated Alyssa's seventh birthday last Saturday. Planning the party nearly killed me. Definitely killed my credit card.     I was up late Friday night making truffles. Baking and decorating cookies. Drinking Fuzzy Navels. You know. Like most aunts do the night before their niece's birthday party.   Sis1 and Emmy came over Friday night and Sis1 spent the night at my house which was great because...Help! haha   So the party... I got up super early and went to Sis2's to help decorate. I'd planned on leaving work early to go help Friday afternoon but her MIL came over so I was told to just wait. (Her MIL is vile.) So up early Saturday morning. Lyssa, bless her heart pitched in. How amazing is it that she's old enough to run the vacuume? And sweep? Kinda a little Cinderella moment there. Which is funny because she's wearing an Ariel nightgown while cleaning for her Frozen birthday party.   Witness the transformation. It'...

...but hanging on by a thread. This has been the week from hell. I had fully intended on getting the party post up Monday. And Monday got shot to Hell. Spent Tuesday catching up and then the rest of the week went back to Hell. I've been training new student workers. Five of them. All in one week but never all at once. So I've been giving training to five new students over and over and over again all week long. I've talked so much that I'm almost hoarse. My throat actually DOES hurt. I've walked the building till can't hardly walk anymore and I'm, like, REALLY SICK of the library. lol Today is the last day of training, though. I tackle my last student this afternoon and then I come to work for three hours tomorrow. Maybe tomorrow I'll get to blog about the party. ;-) Not much else going on this week. I've gone home every night just about dead on my feet. Last night I went home, cooked supper and crashed on the couch. Slept for two hours. I...

The party is over and we all escaped with our lives. ;-) More details and photos tomorrow. 

1.) Oikos Toasted Coconut Greek Yogurt . It really does taste more like toasted coconut than yogurt. I like to sprinkle some mini-chocolate chips in there and call it breakfast dessert. 2.) This French Onion Pasta . I've made it twice since Joy posted the recipe. The first time I added  some smoked sausages to the pasta when it was done. Last night's version was a quarter of the recipe and served as a side with chicken. I think you'd like it even if you don't normally like onions. The onions kinda melt into it and get all sweet and caramel-y. 3.) Kasey Musgraves' Same Trailor Different Park CD . I liked a couple of her songs when they first came out a while back but I didn't really fall in  love with her music until I saw the CMT Crossroads that she did with Katy Perry a couple months ago. So yeah, I had to buy her CD then. That Crossroads episode also cemented me as a Katy Perry fan but I haven't gotten any of her CD's yet. Waiting on my money sit...

So my faucet started leaking several months ago. I had to put a towel behind it just to wash dishes or run water at all or face mopping up my counter for days. My handy uncle moved away almost a year ago so I was at a loss as to what to do to get it fixed. I didn't want to hire a plumber after my last gouging experience with one a couple years ago. My dad knows how to do that stuff but physically isn't in a good place to be crawling around under a sink.  Thankfully, my uncle decided to come up to visit my grandparents and offered to help me out. While I had him, though, I also got him to switch out some light fixtures. Yay for Uncle R!! Sort of in love with the new faucet. I actually raced it the sink to do dishes last night, I was so excited. haha   I love that it's a goose neck which means easy rinsing and easy pot filling. Also love the levers because I don't have to grasp any knobs to turn the water on. Handy for when my hands are gunked up.  ...

Lyssa started Second Grade yesterday. SECOND. GRADE. *sobs*  Seriously? How is she not still a tiny baby? Remember that?   Now she's all grownified with her adorable uniform and Frozen backpack. *sniffle Such a darling girl.   And then there's THIS GIRL (with her BFF) who started EIGHTH stinkin' GRADE today. Eighth. As in last year of junior high...'scuse me, middle school. *whimper*  But how gorgeous are they? I kinda want to be 14 with them? And hang out and go to school with them? Except I'd probably not be cool enough?   I am getting so. old. Ethan, bless his heart, has one more year to go before he starts kindergarten. He's informed his mama, though, that he will not be attending school next year or ever. He's going to stay home and his mama is going to teach him. His words, for real.

Most miles walked in one walk. Booya!  Completed in 85 degree heat that feels like 100.  Wanted to get in as much this morning as possible, tho since this afternoon is slated to be brutal.  WHERE IS FALL??????

They all look like some variation of this. TV remote? Check. Book for during commercials? Check. Fluffy pup? Check. As much bare skin as possible without actually being naked or just in  my underwear? Check. All that's missing is the giant mug of coffee I normally indulge in around 7:30pm. :-D

So they are all home from their respective hospitals now. Granny is still weak and not up to par but feeling somewhat better. Daddy is still helping her out as best he can. Checking in on her periodically and taking the dog out for her. Basically keeping up with all the little things you don't think about until you're too sick to do them. His Dad is doing as well as he ever will be, I suppose. He's given his wife a couple of scares but so far he's hanging in there. Ma-Maw (Mama's step-mother) is home and having a hard time. The meds they have her own are messing with bodily functions of the unmentionable kind and she's moving really slowly. They have her on oxygen off an on. My aunts are taking turns staying with her this week and she goes back to the doctor Friday, I think, for a post op check-up. But the doctor said she's "living on borrowed time." Of course, the doctors told my dad's bio dad that DECADES ago. So...*shrug* who knows wha...

So ya'll know about Granny, right? She's been in the hospital with double pneumonia since Monday. She's doing a lot better and could possibly go home today. Haven't heard for sure, though. Thanks for all the prayers and thoughts. So then yesterday my bio grandfather (Daddy's bio dad) had a very risky surgery. He's got a multitude of health issues from the top of his head to the tips of his toes. Not even joking. Because another  heart surgery is out of the question (due to his age and health) he's been taking a heavy dose of Plavix (a strong blood thinner) for the past couple of years which makes ANY sort of surgery a huge risk. But he was having prostate issues that required surgery and he opted to go for it, risks be damned. I'm pretty sure he's certain he will never die. I'm not sure he's wrong. Were he not a mean stubborn old cuss he'd have kicked the bucket eons ago. Thankfully, he did make it through the surgery okay and since it ...

When I was a senior in  high school I ran for homecoming queen. (Note: That's not the confession.) I ran on a complete whim and knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that I didn't have a chance in hell of actually winning. I'm not even sure why I threw my name in other than the fact that by senior year I was tired of bowing out of everything just because I was fat and unpopular. (Note: I also participated in the talent contest that year and got honorable mention--just like everyone else did who didn't win.) One of my close friends ran, too, and she also knew she didn't have a chance of winning. Not because she wasn't beautiful. She was. She was even popular, whereas I wasn't. (Note: I went to a school where being friends with popular people didn't automatically make you popular.) But the other girl running was a bit of a bully and people were afraid to NOT vote for her. Plus, she was, like, ultra popular. (Note: I loathed this girl and she loathed me. She was/...

So I finally found out late yesterday evening what's up with Granny. She has double pneumonia. As in, pneumonia in both lungs. Gah! How in the heck did that happen? She's still in the hospital resting and recuperating.  Thankfully both of her children are retired and can take turns sitting with her during the day. Her sister is taking care of the dog and house so Granny is able to just relax and concentrate on getting better. I'm sure she's chomping at the bit to get home and get active. Granny's never been a sit still kinda gal. The whole not being able to breathe thing is probably the only thing keeping her from revolting and going home. Daddy was in pretty bad shape last night when he got home. He didn't go prepared to end up at a hospital all day which means he didn't have his pain meds and muscle relaxers for his back.  They thought they'd go to the doctor, get some meds and come home. Needless to say, when  he finally got home (in time to tak...

Granny went to the doctor this morning with a breathing problem and he almost immediately admitted her to the hospital for testing and observation. We're not sure what's going on but I pray it isn't anything serious. If ya'll could/would pray for her with me, I'd really appreciate it. It goes without saying that my granny is seriously important to me and all her kids/grandkids. Also, please pray for my dad. He's been having issues of his own (painful muscle spasms in his back) and he's up at the hospital with her. Thank you!

So my friends and I had a sort of "girls night out" last night and in between getting off work and meeting up with them, I stopped by Lowe's. I'm in desperate need of a new kitchen faucet as mine  has a broken ring valve thing (whatever it was my uncle said) and leaks. I also want to switch out the chandelier in the dining room to a semi-flush mount because a) it's not centered over the table and b) I keep banging my head into it. I mean, I'd love to have a fancy chandelier but my house just isn't really designed for it. So anyway, I found the stuff I liked/needed and was about to load it up when I remembered that I'd gotten some coupons in the mail this week. I could have SWORN that I'd put the coupons in my purse but alas, a quick dig through it yielded nothing but the notion that I seriously needed to clean out my purse. It was so full of receipts and junk that I couldn't find anything!   So I didn't get the stuff--I'll go back ...

Today's 1.25 mile walk. 

So twice this week alone I've heard  two different people pronounce the word "queue" as kewy (rhymes with chewy) and I thought, "Crap. I've been pronouncing it wrong all these years." I pronounce it "kew" or the same as "cue".  I hate when I think I'm dumber than I realize so I looked it up on dictionary.com for the pronunciation. They have it described as "kyoo" which I'm interpreting to be more like my "kew/cue" pronunciation. Anybody want to weigh in on this? Am I saying it right? Or are they "kewy" people right? Halp! Update: Everything you want to know can be found on Youtube, apparently. haha