Total Mommy Cleanse

For the last 36 hours I have been holed up in a local hotel room all by myself.  I'll pause a moment to let the full magnitude of those last three words fully dawn upon you.  It has been blessedly silent.  The clack of my keys is the only noise I hear as I try to document this wonderful retreat in the minutes I have before check-out.

I asked for this weekend several months ago, knowing I would need a concentrated block of time to plan next year's school curriculum for A's kindergarten year.  So I ordered my books and lugged them along and have spent my time familiarizing myself with the schedule and books, filling in extras, planning field trips, and surfing forums for great ideas.  I feel like I'm in a good place to start this fall, considering I will have minimal capacity for further planning between now and then.

But I have also relished the independence of this weekend...eating my meals whenever and wherever I wanted, not sharing the food on my plate, and being able to read a book in silence while I ate.  Waking when my body was ready, bathing at my leisure, watching tv without consideration of its audience, popping in and out of my car for multiple errands within an hour.  All these things help to detox my mind, my attitude, my motivation and fortify me to return to the hardest job I'll ever love.  It's a total mommy cleanse and I didn't have to drink anything nasty.

Many, many thanks to J for making this time possible.  Thank you for investing in our children while I was away, for caring about their education and supporting me in homeschooling, and for loving me enough to know when I need a good cleanse.  I promise to only do it once a year.

Snow Day 2011

The great arctic blast of 2011 didn't live up to all the hype (as usual).  Our predicted 3" of snow was barely a dusting.  Still, we had a great time this morning.  J stayed home from work to help us have fun.  After last year's snow day went sour, I knew I would need his help to make this one memorable.  There wasn't nearly the accumulation as last year, so we started by just making lots of footprints.

Then, A made a beautiful snow angel.  I think the key is to do it on the driveway, not the grass. And you need to have daddy home to lift you up so you don't mess it up when you're trying to stand.

Next, the snow fight commenced.  It was really hard to pack a snowball with gloves that are a little too big, so daddy found some dustpans and it turned into a shovelful-of-snow fight.

J said it was the most polite snow fight he had ever been in.  The rules of engagement require that you turn your back, stand still and wait to be hit with snow. 

After all the available snow was shoveled, it was time to come in for hot chocolate and toasted marshmallows.

Then we cracked open a package sent from Nana.  Thanks for the box, Nana!  As always, the box was way more entertaining than the contents.

And the packing peanuts were quickly turned into an indoor snow storm, which I think they both preferred to the outdoor kind that is wet and cold.

All in all, a pretty wonderful day.  I'm grateful that we don't live a little further north where they've been snowed in for days.  It's nice to get a taste of it, but it's okay with me that it's all melting away in the sunshine this afternoon.

It's That Time Again

Beware!  Or be joyful.  The wonderful little thin mint fairies knocked on my door this past weekend, selling their deliciously addictive wafers.  And I for one am joyful!  Nothing quite like a refrigerated box of thin mints to keep a pregnant mommy's sanity from inching too close to the point of no return.  Thank you, cookie fairies.  Come again soon!

What's That Smell?

This week has been a wild ride so far.  Sunday I came home from church feeling really weak and tired.  I went to bed and realized later that I was running a low fever.  I was laid out the rest of the day, couldn't eat much or stay mobile for long.  Monday I was feeling a little stronger, but still very tired.  My wonderful neighbor came over to play with the girls for a couple of hours while I took a morning nap.  I napped for almost four hours that day!!  Which explains why I laid in bed that night staring at the ceiling until 2 am.

Sunday when I was feeling so puny, I told J that we had to call somebody about the smell in our bathroom.  It was going on two months and we couldn't figure out what it was.  We thought maybe something had crawled into the wall and died.  You can understand our hesitation to investigate.  J spent a Saturday about two weeks ago taking apart the exhaust fan, hoping that whatever it was could be easily cleaned up from that pipe.  No such luck.  The smell was getting so bad that I was avoiding that room for the sake of my stomach.

Monday I called the pest control guy.  I explained the dilemma and told him I didn't know if he could help or not, but he was the first person on our list of professionals who might could help.  He showed up around 5:30 pm on Monday and said it wasn't anything dead.  He couldn't say for sure, but it might be natural gas. Hello?!!  Let me just say it did not smell like the usual sulfur, rotten egg smell you get from a gas leak, so that was not even on our radar.  Never mind that there is no gas source in that room.  It smelled more musty, earthy....I had cleaned the toilet with a toothbrush about three times hoping I could find whatever speck of bacteria was causing the odor.

J very wisely called the gas company to come check and sure enough, we've been living with a low-level gas leak for the last two months!!  We were both mortified.  God has definitely been watching over us.  It's a good thing we don't make a habit of lighting matches in that bathroom.

They shut the gas off immediately and Tuesday morning began the detect and repair process with the plumbers.  They were here all afternoon yesterday and all day today.  They finished up this afternoon, and the gas company will probably make it out to do the inspection and turn the gas back on tomorrow morning.  (Hurray for cold showers and microwave dinners!)  Turns out there were three slow leaks in the attic where the pipe sealant had started to decay, along with a couple of underground leaks between the meter and house.  So yes, they had to dig up part of the back yard.  Fun times, I tell you.

The wonderful part (no sarcasm this time)?  I felt amazing yesterday and today!!  Turns out the main side effects of exposure to natural gas are nausea and headaches.  It basically keeps you from getting the best oxygen supply you would otherwise get.  So you might also feel a little sluggish.  Who knew you could mimic the first trimester of pregnancy just by inhaling a little natural gas?!  Fortunately, the side effects are very short-lived.  I had my first prenatal appointment this morning and the doctor was not concerned about any harm to the baby and was glad that my symptoms were leveling back to normal range.  I told her time would tell if it really was the natural gas causing such intense nausea or not, but I like feeling so much better for sure!  Here's hoping the rest of the week has a little less drama.

Lazy Day

Mark it - I think today has been the closest our little family will come to a lazy summer day this year. Nowhere to go, nothing huge to do. We played trains, read books, the girls even played while I got some things tended to. We ate popsicles on the patio for snack, then I filled up the pool. The girls are swimming while I blog. Wish there were more days like this one in the foreseeable future. How did our summer fly by so fast and furious?!

Free Books!

I'm all about the free, especially when books are involved. So yesterday, we went around town collecting reading logs for our summer reading. Of course, our local library has a summer reading program. For A's age, the expectations are pretty low--just color in a train car on the log for every day that you read. There's a prize if you turn in a completely colored train by August 31. The prize was not disclosed, but it's still motivating for a preschooler.

Half Price Books has got the best deal going by far. To receive their reading reward, you read at least 15 minutes a day for 5 days and return your completed log each week until July 31. You can get a $3 Half Price shopping card for each log you turn in. (You have to turn the logs in on a weekly basis.) And, they let me take a log for C, too! So, 2 kids x 8 weeks x $3... I think that comes to $48 in free books from Half Price!! Awesome!

Barnes & Noble also has a reading program. The reading log says it is for grades 1-6, but I asked at the information desk if my preschooler could participate and they said, "Sure!" You have to read 8 books by September 7 to choose a free book from their designated list. The books are geared toward elementary-age readers, but we're reading easy chapter books to A, so she should be able to find one that looks interesting.

Happy (free) summer reading!

Two-a-Day

I don't know what is involved in a football practice two-a-day, but at my house, it refers to a really long, hot day of outdoor activities that necessitates two showers in one day.

My Saturday started with a shower so I could be presentable for a visit with a sweet friend here in town who gave birth to twins last week. Little miracle babies, they are, and so precious.

I left that visit and got home in time to swoop up the rest of the family to go sledding. Yes, we went sledding in Texas in June.

Okay, so the video isn't that good; but I think the dramatic Elton John music more than makes up for it. (The music was playing on a loudspeaker, I didn't add that lovely touch.)

It's a local phenomenon, brought to you by the university ski team. Yes, Texas apparently produces ski teams. Who knew?! I sure didn't. What's even more fascinating is that they practice on white astro turf. I kid you not. Man-made mountain, white astro turf, high-pressure water hose to get it all wet, and you can sled in Texas in June. It took a couple of rides with daddy for A to get brave enough to go by herself, but she eventually did it and had a blast! I, too, scaled the heights of artificial wonder, but that video shall remain on my hard drive.

We were all quite sweaty from our sledding adventure, so we came home to cool off and have lunch. Then we all napped quite well before getting ready for a backyard birthday party. Can I just say that these friends are going to be the coolest teenagers in high school? You know you got major mommy mojo when you fill a wading pool with red jell-o for your 3-year-old twins' birthday party.

Notice C picked the cleanest spot to get in? Notice she doesn't really want to put her toes down? Notice the lack of other children? You would think something like this would be a blast for little kids, but I think I saw more grown-ups squishing it between their toes than kids. Now, the wading pool full of chocolate pudding was another story. Neither of my girls would get near it, but a few kids did full body pudding wallowing. There were also pools full of plain water, also lots of fun.

And a slip-and-slide that would not stay plugged, no matter how hard A tried to cover all the holes.

A very gracious party guest painted lots of faces, and the superhero mask to seemed to be the most popular choice. Of course, A wanted her mask to be pink.

Top off all that fun with an ice cream sundae bar, beautiful cupcakes, and a candy buffet for filling treat bags and we were done! Back home, the girls went straight into the bath while I pulled supper together. Needless to say, I caught my second shower after the girls were in bed. Day like today only confirmed my choice to eliminate the natural deodorant. And now it's time for squeaky clean me to go to lay in my crazy comfy bed, with my climate controlled air and count my blessings. 'Night, ya'll.

Still Here

Never fear, we're still here. I've been absent from blogging for a few weeks, through no particular effort of my own. I guess that's the problem...no effort = no blog posts. I knew it had been awhile since I wrote a post when my neighbor called to check and make sure we were okay. Have I mentioned we have great neighbors? She said her granddaughter follows the blog and hadn't seen a post in a couple of weeks and now that we can park the car in the garage, it's hard to tell when we're coming or going. So she called to make sure all was well. (Thanks for looking out for us, O family.)

I remember when we first moved here and J was traveling so much, I was so lonely. I told him once that every time I came in the door I hoped someone had left a message or sent an email, someone to notice that I was here or not here, to see that I existed and mattered. I'm so very grateful to be growing relationships with my neighbors and friends, and to know that they are looking out for us and thinking about us.

Last weekend, my incredible hubby watched the girls for two nights (!!!!) while I stole away with my mom, sister, and sister-in-law for a girls' weekend away. We had a great time; saw a movie, did some window shopping, ate yummy food, did lots of talking. Pictures were taken, but they won't be posted here.

While I was gone, J was Super-Fun Daddy. He took the girls to the splashpad, over to friends' for supper, even threw a birthday party for A's teddy bear including homemade cupcakes, homemade pizza and at least two dozen balloons. And he had most of it cleaned up by the time I got home. Did I mention he's amazing?!

The weekend before last, we were out of town for my niece's birthday party. Lots of fun with family. I'm so grateful that my girls have little cousins their age to grow up with.

Somewhere in there, J started playing softball with a team from our church. He's also trying to wrap up a few final client projects at work so that he can move forward with the idea that has been funded.

See? We're still here, doing our usual thing. Not much new, just hotter. I'll try to pick up the pace a bit on posts, though, so as not to cause any further alarm. Perhaps I'll work on another right now.

Weekend Recap

We had a pretty laid back weekend this week. Saturday morning was family time, played outside together. J took the girls to run a few errands mid-morning and I got a much needed hour to finalize my curriculum order for our first year of homeschooling. Had a lunch of leftovers, then tried to take a nap. C wasn't cooperating for whatever reason. She fussed for a good half hour before finally falling asleep. Same thing happened on Friday; very frustrating because then A woke her up after she had only slept thirty minutes. Made for a long night at home group on Friday night. She did better on Saturday and we all made it out the door on time for some birthday party hopping. First to a party for one-year-old twins, then a second party for a little friend turning four. Loads of fun and sugar!

Sunday was church as usual. We were informed when we picked C up from nursery that she had snuck in a twenty minute snooze. We figured that meant we were good for another hour if we wanted to eat out, so we did. Of course, it took her a good thirty minutes of fussing again to take an afternoon nap, but she slept hard once she fell asleep. Finally had to open her door at 4:30pm so she'd wake up and be ready to go back to bed at bedtime! J worked with the girls in the garage painting something or other for my mother's day present. I spent the quiet time in the house catching up on emails, clearing my paper stacks from the kitchen counters and gearing up for a new week.

And here it is, Monday! C went to sleep without complaint today. Woo hoo! Don't want to make a habit of fussing to sleep. I think they were both pretty tired from the weekend as evidenced by a nap time long enough for me to get my work done and still have time to blog. I'll second that woo hoo! Registered A for swimming lessons this morning and ran a few errands. Laundry. Potted some mystery beans brought home from Sunday School a few weeks ago from their plastic cup into a real pot with dirt. Chatted with the neighbor about her new grandson. More laundry. Blew some bubbles. Made grilled cheese. Fought the great eat-your-fruit battle for the day. Tuned in to Little Einsteins. Put girls to bed. Updated the budget. Sent overdue emails. Wrote a blog post!! Time for more laundry. Thank you, Lord, for the calm and normal.

Weekend Update

We had a very full weekend, not the least bit related to Easter festivities. We did make it to church yesterday morning and I really enjoyed the worship time, praising God for the resurrection of Christ and thanking Jesus for His sacrifice on my behalf. I was thinking over the weekend, though, that I wonder why we don't have more Easter traditions? We spend weeks getting ready for Christmas and have so many opportunities to explore and embrace the joy and substance of Christ's birth, but Easter seems to come and go at our house without much notice. I hope I can make time before next year to dedicate more thought to the significance of the resurrection and how we can mark it.

So our weekend was pretty ordinary, but very productive. The girls and I did grocery shopping on Thursday, making it to two stores to maximize bargains. We also had A's follow-up thumb appointment to squeeze in there. The doctor said that her thumbs look great and he was pleased with their mobility. He cleared us from his care with the final instruction to rub some mederma scar cream on the incision site every day once the scabs are gone. A is still a little timid about using her thumbs, but I think it's because the little band-aids limit movement. Hopefully, when the scabs are gone and we stop putting on new band-aids, then she will work them a little more and get good strength in them.

Friday morning we went to an Easter party for playgroup. A brave mom from our church invited everyone over to her backyard for messy fun, including egg dying and painting. We had a good time, except for the busted lip that A got when she walked behind a swinging friend. She complained that her teeth hurt for the rest of the day, but was fine the next day. She also scraped her foot on the sidewalk while riding tricycles with a little friend. Could have been avoided if she had been wearing shoes. Which was part of Thursday's shopping marathon that I forgot to mention...

Her feet are being difficult. Her size 8 crocs from last year are wearing blisters on the top of her feet, but the new size 9 sandals I got to go with her Easter dress fell right off. I certainly don't want to spend money on shoes that won't last the summer, so I was conflicted on buying more size 8's. I had looked at several stores for a good summer solution, but to no avail. So we also worked in a trip to Payless on Thursday and found a pair of 8.5 sandals that have velcro over the toe and over the ankle, so we can grow this summer. What a hassle!

Back to Friday. Playgroup, lunch, nap, then J came home around 3pm and told me to take off. I only hesitated long enough to find my purse, then I disappeared until it was time to pick them up for home group. I made it to a natural foods store that I've been wanting to explore and picked up some pure cocoa butter that I've been wanting to try instead of my usual lotion. Also got to hunt the local Goodwill stores for a cassette player. Yes, I'm looking to buy a cassette player. I'd like to get some books on tape from the library for A to listen to and we no longer own a cassette player. I thought I'd be able to pick one up pretty easily, but I guess cassette players are even too old for Goodwill. But I had fun window shopping with only my own thoughts to keep me company. Then I picked up the family and we headed to home group. That was a good time of catching up and praying for each other. Our leader showed the crucifixion scene from The Passion of Jesus Christ. We still hadn't seen that movie. I'm so sensitive to gore, that I know I can't watch it. But I feel like I ought to, that I need to understand the brutality of Christ's sacrifice for me. I did manage to listen to it, but my eyes were closed for big chunks of the scene. I saw enough to have a few images burned into the gallery of my mind for a good while.

Pause for intermission. This has turned into a marathon post, so feel free to take a break, go get your caffeine of choice, and return as time allows. Back to the show...

Saturday morning, J got up at the crack of dawn. That sentence is no small feat and those that know him would venture to guess it had something to do with electronics. They would be right. He was in line by 7am at our local Best Buy for the new Apple iPad. They didn't open until 9am. We live in a college town. It was Easter weekend. I called at 7:30 am to learn that he made some new friends with the other 6 (count 'em, s-i-x) geeks who had anticipated the mad rush. One of the other men's wives even brought coffee from Starbucks for the weary, thirsty sidewalk campers. What a boy won't do for a new toy!! I'm supposed to mention some sort of disclaimer that Phodder really neee-eeeded the iPad for new app development. True, they do already have customers asking for iPad apps. And he redeemed himself by knocking out honey-do's for the rest of the day.

Our main project on Saturday was cleaning out the garage. It's only been, you know, almost two years since we moved into this house. I think it was high time to unpack the last boxes and make room for at least one vehicle. We're quite proud of our progress:

J made me take a picture of the labeled baskets and said I had to put it on the blog so everyone could see how neurotic I am. Honestly, though, I did it because I know we--ahem, he--is more likely to put things back where they go if their homes are unmistakably identified. Anyhoo...

We finished up with that in time to give the girls baths, because they were filthy from playing outside all day. After supper I did something I never thought I would do. I ironed my preschooler's clothes. Her Easter dress was quite scrunched from the washing, so I dutifully ironed two layers of pouffy skirt and three little ribbon bows. I remembered why I don't do that when I buckled her into her car seat the next morning and had to wad it all up between her legs to buckle her. Fortunately, I had the wherewithal to take the pictures before we left. Isn't she lovely?

C even managed to be photogenic. Ignore the dirty sock on the floor.

Sunday afternoon was very relaxed. J worked in another fix-it, this time on the tire swing in the back yard. I trimmed up a vine in the back yard that was hit hard by all the cold weather. Then we sat and stared at each other and hoped against hope that the humidity this weekend is not indicative of the summer forecast. Cause it's too early to be so sticky already.

Today has been another full day. I cycled toys for the girls, put away C's winter clothes and got out spring clothes, did half a dozen loads of laundry, and made a run to the bread store. Oh, and I typed up this crazy long post which only my mother and mother-in-law have actually persevered to finish. Now I must stop typing and actually publish the post before another day comes and I have more to report. Sleep well on this bedtime story. Unless you really did ingest caffeine earlier. Then you're sort of out of luck. Read the post again; that should do it.

Snow Day

It's snowed three times since we've lived here...what kind of craziness is that?!  This time there was actually some accumulation so I made sure we all went out to play in it.  

Mommy lesson that I didn't know I needed, but now I know -- if you take half an hour to put two pairs of pants and two pairs of socks, shoes, jackets, hats and mittens on your children, you will reap an emergency trip to the bathroom for one and a stinky diaper from the other within minutes of walking out the door, no matter how emphatically you beg for a bathroom trip before bundling up.   Once we were all comfortable again, I'm afraid this is all we could muster:

To give you a little perspective, I had A strike a pose with her first snowman.  So pathetic it's almost cute.  

We threw a few snowballs, but eventually she declared that she didn't like that. I convinced her to make a snow angel:

After viewing the results, she said "Hmm, that's not what I thought it would be." I think we've been watching too much Caillou (he lives in Canada and does lots of cool things in the snow).  C wasn't really thrilled with the snow either.

We lasted about thirty minutes and then came in for hot chocolate.  Snow is beautiful, peaceful, wondrous.  I think it's great to watch from my kitchen window with a mug of hot chocolate in my hands.  But I'm really glad I live in Texas and that it will be in the 60's tomorrow.  Please remind me of this when I'm whining about the oppressive heat this summer.  (Offer good for one reminder per reader per summer.)

Been There, Done That

The Men's Retreat for our church was this past weekend, so the moms from our class got together at Chuck E. Cheese on Friday night with all the kids. Chuck E. Cheese. Friday night. Preschoolers. Single moms. Sounds like a whole lot of crazy, doesn't it?

This was our first trip to the Circus for the Senses. And despite the expectation of frayed nerves and germ warfare, it was reasonably fun. Mediocre pizza + overpriced games = preschooler heaven. I have two theories about this type of entertainment, theories that I'm sure are not original. First, the tickets that the games spit out are reward enough at this age; didn't need to divulge the secret of redeeming them for prizes. Second, the glass case that the reward trinkets are displayed in definitely magnifies their size.

The BIG Event

As newcomers to town last year, we learned that once a year the local student body does a massive service project to thank the residents of our community for their support.  Free manual labor for four hours; not a bad gig.  Last year, we were told about this incredible not-to-miss opportunity on the day of the big event.  While we ourselves were painting two little girls' bedrooms.  This would be the opposite of what everyone else in town was doing (i.e., watching young, able-bodied students perform their manual labor for them. for free).

So it is with great pomp and circumstance that I am pleased to announce that the job request forms for this year's Big Event are now available to download from the website.  This year's event is March 27 and the request deadline is February 19.  My thoughtful neighbor clued me in today that only the first 1300 requests are able to be filled.  Race ya!

Farewell, Arctic Blast of 2010

For all the hubbub and hoopla generated by The Great Arctic Blast of 2010, I have but one thing to say...

DIE, MOSQUITOES, DIE!

This time last year

Seems to be a reflective time of year.  Watching a baby's first birthday come hurtling towards you makes you think about the past year, too.  This time last year:

• I was great with child, emotionally and physically exhausted
  
• My husband was traveling for work one week a month, finishing his first semester of grad school, and putting the finishing touches on a backyard office building that he constructed "in his spare time"
• My sweet 2-year-old was still sleeping in her crib, in diapers
• We were new in town, desperate for connection, aching for the family and friends-that-had-become-family we had left behind

This time last year I was in the pit of despair.  I have never been so lonely, felt so isolated or alone.  It was my first move since we'd had kids and that made it an entirely different sort of beast.  Never mind the pregnancy hormones that took me captive and beat my brain to a pulp.  Add to that a small town that is fiercely prideful of its own traditions and cliques of adults who have walked the gauntlet of college life together.  I felt every bit of Psalm 69:2, "I sink in the miry depths, where there is no foothold.  I have come into the deep waters; the floods engulf me."  I cried out to God for mercy, knowing I had reached the end of my endurance.

This time last year, we called three different couples to invite them to our house for New Year's Eve.  We were turned down by the first two; but God had saved the best for last.  It was this time last year that He sent a sweet family to our house that we could not possibly have had more in common with.  We were encouraged, affirmed, and reassured.  It was also about this time that another mom in town called me out of the blue "just to see how you're doing."  I wept when I hung up because someone had thought of me.  This time last year I began to see the surface of the pit.

I praise God that this year I can say "He lifted me out of the slimy pit, out of the mud and mire; he set my feet on a rock and gave me a firm place to stand." (Psalm 40:2)  In the depths of my heart, I knew that He would.  I knew He would deliver me and that the pit would grow my heart closer to His.  But that is so hard to see when you're in the pit.  Note to self - when you're on the surface, enjoying the prosperity of life as usual, scan the perimeter every now and then.  New face in the crowd?  Say hello, invite them to lunch, call them to see how they're doing.  Especially if they're pregnant.

Thank you, God, for the pit.  Thank you for pulling me out of it.  Please keep my heart sensitive to the needs of those on the perimeter.  Help me to see others who might be experiencing the pit and use me as you will to love them.

Really late

These pics are long overdue, sorry. We went to a carnival back in early November and A had a blast! It was one of those local, mall parking lot kind of carnivals, so I was leery at first, but I'm so glad we were brave together and went. We scoped out all of the rides first to determine which ones she really wanted to do (and how much we were going to have to pay). Can I just say that the price of a carnival ride has outpaced normal inflation?! It was $5 to ride the ferris wheel! Per person!! We saved that for our big finale. We started with the little boat ride...














That's the face of pure joy, my friends. She was thrilled just sitting in the boat and moving the steering wheel, but then it started up and went around in circles...in the water. Need I say more?

She also wanted to ride the dragon roller coaster, which I thought was a little ambitious, but I didn't want to squelch her enthusiasm. I was right. But we look like we're having fun.














C felt the same way about that ride that I did; she just didn't have to fake being brave because nobody was sitting next to her.














J got in on the action with the spinning elephants. He assured me that she was giddy about being thrown against the wall of the elephant by the centrifugal force.














We moved on to the little flying airplanes. Because what mother doesn't dream of soaring above the crowds on a glorified merry-go-round with her knees digging into the dash and a frayed rope to hold her in?














And finally, the ferris wheel, which we both agreed was the landslide favorite. You'll have to take our word for it that we're up there.

Shelter in Place

It's that season again. Nope, no hurricanes here, although we could use the rain. No, it's time for the students to come back. We live in a college town and classes resume on Monday. So here they come...only about 40,000 of them, plus their parents, siblings and grandparents to help them get settled. Imagine the carpool line on the first day of school at your local elementary and you have a general understanding of the traffic problems this weekend. Only, every driver is about 18 years old, and has a fun, new car that daddy bought them for graduation. Oh, help.

Remember the crowds at WalMart to buy school supplies? Ditto this weekend in every hotel, retail store, restaurant, and fast food establishment. They are everywhere! So, we will be sheltering in place. We're stocked up on groceries, have plenty of gas, and movies to watch on TiVo. Not leaving the house again unless absolutely necessary, and only then to go somewhere that repels students (i.e., the inflatable playground near the mall). The good news is that we can come up for air about mid-week to re-stock, check the levels of civility and then hunker back down for the first home football game next Saturday. Yeeeaaahhh, go team!