Thursday, May 31, 2007

So it's been stupid hot outside the past 2 weeks, in the 90's with extremely high humidity. When John has gone out to do yard work I have gone out with him. I guess I figured that if he had to suffer it would look good for me to suffer along with him. The other day we were sitting on our stone wall out front watering the lawn and talking as we looked out over the neighborhood. And, oh my god, there under a tree in their front yard was Co-Cheese and Shim. There they were sitting at a small rattan table drinking iced tea, Co-Cheese in his bath robe and Shim dressed up like a woman. It totally reminded me of the scene from "Death in Venice" by Thomas Mann where he's sitting on the beach and all his make-up is sliding off because it is so hot.

Speaking of hot... last Saturday we had a family outing to the strawberry patch and boy was it hot. We had fun but the strawberries were really picked over and almost gone.
Note for next year: go early!

Snofie has spring allergies. This year they are really a problem so we have started her on Claritin. The pill is teeny tiny but when she was presented with it she threw a huge tantrum! She flat out refused to take it. I was about to loose my mind so I asked John for help. She wouldn't take it for him either. Finally John took Mr. B away and said he was heading for the garbage can with him. She took the pill. Last night was our second go round with taking the Calritin and it went well. She sat at the table for only about 15 minutes and when I looked over her face was all scrunched up and she was gulping a glass of water. Sometimes Snofie is such a pill!

Tuesday morning we were running slightly behind schedule but by no means were we late. When I dropped Snofie off at school there was huge long line of cars. Normally we are early enough that I can just pull right out. So, I sat there for a while waiting for either a break in the line or for some nice person to let me out. Finally someone did let me out and oh my god, it was the "worst driver mom". She is the one who beeps at people, drives way too fast through the parking lot and huff and puffs over the drop off and pick up procedures. She is icky and I had to be nice, smile and wave thank you to her for letting me out. I think I would rather have waited a little longer.

Last night Snofie says, all dramatic, "I can't believe I am going to say this and I am only going to say it once: I really want to go to school tomorrow." It was all I could do to not laugh.

So, here we are, up to this morning... Snofie's last day of second grade. I'm not quite sure whether I feel happy or sad. We picked up Tara on the way to school and the girls did not want their picture taken. Actually, Tara said it was ok but Snofie flat out refused. I snapped a quick one of the girls in the back seat when we got there.

Wednesday, May 30, 2007

I hate being sick. Actually, I hate throwing up the most... I threw up on Sunday night and was up all night with it. I would rather do practically anything instead of throwing up. But, moving on... It's Wednesday and I still feel yucky. I think it is allergies and sinus because it is one of those thing where my head hurts if I lie down and going outside causes this enormous pressure on my head. I sat outside last night while John mowed the lawn and watered everything... big mistake... I felt like my head would explode.

Snofie's last day of school is tomorrow! Her last day of second grade. I'm going to take a moment here to reflect on how awesome she is... She has the most beautiful blue eyes that I catch myself starring into all the time. She's funny how she loves her routines and freaks out when there's a change. And I love to watch her with her friends when she doesn't know I'm standing there. John and I can't imagine what our lives were like before we had her nor can we believe how grown up she is becoming!

Mom has a squirrel deterrent thing-a-ma-jig on their bird feeder. She said that it has been squirrel proof up until this spring when one smart little fellow has figured out a way around it. Now, mom won't let dad have a gun so he goes out to rid their property of pests with a BB gun. I hate that he tortures the little guys like that! Anyway, he told mom that he would get Mr. Smarty Pants. Mom convinced him to use the have a heart trap though. They had better take that squirrel to Siberia otherwise he'll find his way back... that is if they can catch him at all.

I brought peonies in for Ellen and me to have on our desks. I think this is the end of them though. The rain over the weekend beat down and broke all the stems. But the smell marvelous.

The new guy, Mark, is a little strange. He is quite difficult to talk to... he mumbles and sort of says these random thoughts that make no sense.

Tuesday, May 29, 2007

I didn't get much of a chance to write last week so here are a few miscellaneous bits and pieces...

Linda got a new dog. He's a small terrier that is absolutely adorable. His name is Max. And, he's very good too. When I was over there he sat by Linda or she held him the whole time. Ryan also got a dog. He got a Jack Russel and the little guy is cute but really wild.

I saw 2 great licence plates: FNY4GOD and LTL QTEE.

On one of John's days off last week we spent the evening lying in the hammock talking and rocking back and forth. It was wonderful. Plus, if I haven't mentioned before, I love our yard. The peonies are in bloom and there were 2 beautiful yellow birds playing in the Birch trees.

It was funny, John painted the fire pit. Before he painted it he cleaned it out and I caught him standing there with the pan of ashes, looking around the yard for a bush to dump them under. I said: "Do you want a bag for that?" and he said: "I don't but you obviously do."

One day last week something must have been going on because the police helicopter was circling our neighborhood. We all stood out on the deck and watched it. The funny thing was as it flew over our house the guy waved. I hope our nice little neighborhood isn't turning into the hood!

So, the dead spider mom sent me in the vase is alive! I had stuck the vase behind some stuff on our junk shelf in the kitchen. I was cleaning it up and saw something was moving! I took it out on the deck and laid the vase on it's side so it could crawl out. Well, I shouldn't have laid it in the sun... he's really dead now and mom is mad at me for killing it. (Oh my god, she's crazy!)

Thursday, May 24, 2007

It's like a bird sanctuary in our back yard. All the mom's bring their babies to learn to fly within the security of our fence. There has been a Robin family out back and I am terrified of the baby. (I'm afraid of birds in general but the babies really creep me out.) The little guy kept trying to fly and smacking into the fence. Snofie and I felt bad for him. Actually, we just wanted him out of our yard so we shooed him out the gate. Then later when I was walking from the backyard to the front he was in the neighbor's bushes and totally startled me. I screamed for Snofie. She brought me a blow up pirate sword but wouldn't help me past him. She thought the whole thing was funny. Then Sam, the neighbor boy came along and I made him walk me past the baby. So, that was one bird catastrophe avoided. The next baby bird was not so fortunate as to be escorted out of the back yard. He was run over by the lawn mower. I was inside when John called me out to help him. I asked him why he though I would be able to help... if he couldn't scoop it up and into the trash how did he think I would be able to do it. He asked if I would hold the bag and I said NO. Eventually he couldn't come up with anything so he shoveled it into the trash dumpster and then chased me around the yard with the bird gut encrusted shovel. All the while the bird parents were chirping madly at us. We told them that they should have kept a better eye on their baby.

We dug out all the grass to make the new area for the fire pit. It was really hard work and I wimped out. Snofie on the other hand did a great job. She worked really really hard.

The sign up at the church this week says: "Kind words make good echos." I like that one.

Snofie and I went to a play: "The Reluctant Dragon". I don't know if it was the play that was so funny or listening to Snofie laugh but it was one of the best ones we've been to. Afterward Snofie and I went to Cup-O-Joe for coffee. We always read the paper while we're there and one of this week's headlines talked about cage fighting being a big sport now. Yuck! I told Snofie how I thought that it wasn't a sport and how I thought it was just plain old stupid. Ans, she really surprised me. She didn't just take my opinion, she had one of her own. She said: if they want to do something stupid and other stupid people want to watch them then go ahead, I don't have to watch them though. My baby is growing up and having opinions of her own!
I brought vanilla yogurt, the really creamy kind, to work for lunch with some cut up strawberries to add to the yogurt. Getting the strawberries out of the baggie and into the yogurt was a bit problematic. Some went in the yogurt, some went in my lap and some went on the floor. I picked the ones on my lap up and put them in the yogurt and then I picked the ones off the floor, licked them and then put them in the yogurt. They were so so good. Remember, I am going to die from the poisoned dust that blew all over me the other day so a little floor dirt won't matter. It was yummy, the yogurt and berries not the floor dirt. And a word of advice, don't try and wipe strawberry juice off your black pants with a Kleenex... it leaves a nice white streak.

Thursday, May 17, 2007

On Monday when I was on my way to pick Snofie up from school I was behind a truck that blew these "dirt" particles all over me and the Element. I didn't think anything of it until I got to school and started itching. It was probably some sort of fertilizer laced with nerve gas and I'll go crazy and then die.

On Sunday Ryan brought my Avon order over for his mom. So when Linda came over the other day I asked her if Ryan had given her the money and she said no, he used it to put gas in his car and told her I hadn't paid her. That little stinker! If he was going to spend it he should have gotten Linda a mother's day present.

Hannah, Snofie's new playmate / neighbor came over the other evening. They sat up in Snofie's playhouse and talked. I love eavesdropping on them. They were talking about school. I don't think Snofie minds too much that Hannah is 3 years younger than her, I think she is just happy to have someone to play with.

We decided to pull up the brick edging that we have in the back yard and do just a trench type edge around the beds. The brick is nice but the grass grows up over it and between the bricks making it hard to maintain. So, Monday evening I pulled up all the bricks. We are going to use them to build a new area for our fire pit because where it is now is too close to one of our trees. The poor tree keeps catching on fire. So, I got the bricks pulled up and thought it would make trenching easier if I trimmed the grass down real low. John has a new gas powered weed eater and I thought to myself, "how hard can it be?" Oh my god! I am not strong enough to hold the thing in one hand and pull the starter pull cord thingy with the other so I had to rest it on something so I could put my foot up on the handle part to hold it steady while I held the choke thingy button in with one hand and pulled the cord thingy with the other hand. I pulled and yanked on that cord eventually knocking myself in the chest which will probably leave a bruise but the darn thing wouldn't do anything more than chug a little like it was thinking about starting but it never actually did. Snofie thought all this was hysterical and said, "you can't do it can you mommy!" Now a I am covered in oil and have knocked myself in the knee with it (also where another bruise will probably appear) and I am lecturing Snofie on how if Daddy can do it then I can do it too. That we are girls and girls can do anything they set their minds to so watch out baby, I will start this thing! As I am saying this Joy comes by walking her dog. She says she will help and I go on lecturing Snofie about how us girls don't need men to help us. We end up with Joy holding the weed eater and me pulling the cord thingy and it still won't start. About this time Snofie and Hannah run into the back yard and I say to Joy, "screw it, I'm going to find a man to start this for me but don't tell Snofie!" So, Mark across the street started it and I got all my weed eating needs met and thought Snofie would be none the wiser about girls being able to do anything. But, the next day I got busted, Snofie asked how I got it started and I just couldn't lie to her.

Current Garden List:
1. Weigelia's (dark leafed and variegated varieties)
2. Dwarf Lilac
3. Sand Cherries
4. Boxwoods
5. Forsythias
6. Day Lillies
7. Hens & Chicks
8. Daises
9. Tall Phlox
10. Carpet Rose
11. Lavender
12. Primroses
13. Lily of the Valley
14. Forget-Me-Knots
15. Holly
16. Green & White bushes that I forgot the name of
17. Hostas
18. Ferns
19. 2 Clematis'

Plants we added this year:
1. Iris
2. Divided the Hostas
3. Lilac (big one, not dwarf)
4. Divided the Day Lilies
5. More Boxwoods
6. Divided the Ferns
7. Blue Delphiniums
8. Another Weigelia
9. 2 More Lavenders
10. Another Sand Cherry
11. Another Clematis

Plants I want to add next year:
1. More Lavender
2. More Daisies
3. Another Dwarf Lilac
4. More Delphiniums
5. Bleeding Heart plants
6. More Primroses
7. Another Carpet Rose

Yesterday was Snofie's 2ND grade field trip to the Zoo. We were a little worried that it would rain. We woke up to a fairly good rain shower but it had all cleared by the time we got to the zoo. The kids rode the bus and the parent chaperons drove themselves. Kelly and I went together. We had a total of 5 girls to watch so it was easy. Plus, the nice thing about Snofie's and Tara's classes is that all the kids are well behaved for the most part. Hottie Dad was there so I had a nice animal to look at. We were able to sign our own kids out afterward and take them home with us. Kelly and I let the girls walk around the zoo a little more. Whenever we go to the zoo we always go to the left of the main entrance and never make it to the right half where the North American animals are and I always forget how nice it is back there. We saw a few bears, the otters and wolves as well as going for a lovely walk. It was a wonderful field trip.

The series finale of Gilmore Girls was on Tuesday night. I can't believe that was the last ever episode... the last ever time they will play the theme song, the last time Rory and Loralie will go to Luke's, the last Friday night dinner at the grandparents, the last of Lane, Babbette and Miss Patty and the last of Luke. Big sigh! The episode ended with the teaser that Loralie and Luke are back together. I'm going to go with that and imagine that they get married and live happily ever after.

Monday, May 14, 2007

There was a mother Robin and her baby on the fence in the backyard this morning while Snofie and I were having breakfast. We love watching the birds in the morning.

Speaking of birds, there is a mother duck in the bushes right in front of Tammy's house. You can walk right by her and she doesn't seem to mind. But, if you start messing with the bushes she quacks at her. We can't wait until the eggs hatch.

Mother's Day was lovely... Snofie gave me the cutest card. It has a drawing of a little girl on the from that reminds me of the "Charlie and Lola" show on Disney which reminds me of how I love to watch Snofie watch that show. She also gave me a writing journal and some chocolates. The day way clear but a little chilly so I stayed inside most of the day. john had the day off and he did stuff around the house. Late in the afternoon we went to Lowe's and got a lilac bush that we put on the side of the house near Snofie's window. While were were doing yard work Tammy came over. She commented on how I was planting, "don't you need to dig a deeper hole for that?" But what she said actually sort of turned into a compliment because she followed it up with,"well, you can plant anything any which way and it grows." I know it's mean but I find it amusing how she pays so much for all her plants and most of them die or have issues and I get all my stuff on clearance and it grows beautifully.

When Snofie, Mom and I were on the way to Uncle Joe's funeral we were going down one of the country roads that leads to the freeway and Mom brought up a really interesting memory that I had forgotten. When I was probably about 12 we had been driving down the same road when we came upon an animal dead on the side of the road. It was a monkey!

Sunday evening Snofie made peanut butter cookies all by herself. Yummy, they were so good. I told her she was a little Rachel Ray. She loves watching her show, "30 Minute Meals".

On Friday I was napping in the hammock, Snofie was playing in the yard and John was making dinner on the grill, steak and potatoes. All of a sudden I see something sail off the deck into the yard. Two pieces of the potatoes had had some icky stuff on them so John threw them in the yard! Oh my god, he threw potatoes in the yard. It reminded me of how he used to dump the ashes from the fire pit in my flower beds. He is such a boob.

On Saturday we went out for brunch and then to the State House where they had a Civil War Encampment. It was a beautiful day and the the Civil War Encampment was really interesting, geared toward kids.

After school on Friday Tara came over for a play date with Snofie. After dinner Kelly & Time came to pick her up and we all went to Dairy Queen for dessert. Ooooo, the Hottie Dad was there. John rolled his eyes, hey, if he looks at hottie moms then I can have Hottie Dad to look at.

Friday, May 11, 2007

As Snofie and I pulled out of our neighborhood this morning we saw a hot air balloon. It was right in line with our route to go pick up Tara for school and as we went right under it Snofie could see it perfectly looking out the sun roof. I love spring.

John asked when strawberrypicking starts. I had forgotten that it is almost that time!

Yesterday Kelly and I met the kids after school and went to the girls' art show and then to the book fair. They had a cake decorating contest and Tara won a gift certificate for the book fair. The theme was a cake based on a children's book. Tara's cake was a typewriter from the book Clack Clack Moo and it was fantastic!

After that we all had a quick dinner at McDonald's because the husbands were working and we did not feel like making dinner. Oh, I just remembered, Kelly had wanted to take the girls picture next to the big wiener. Hearing her say that cracks me up. There is a giant cheese cony blow up thing out in front of Skyline! I thought it was a baked potato but it's a wiener.

Snofie finished her reading challenge for Right to Read Week at school. I am so proud of her because she only had 2 days to complete it. I had told her it was okay if she didn't finish it but she said she really wanted to try. I explained that she only had 2 days and so she would need to budget her time wisely and she did. Last night when we got home from McDonald's she went in and finished her reading before she asked to go outside and play.

Snofie played in the front last night and I eventually went out to sit with her. When I went out the little girl down the street (family who recently moved into Dave & Gretchen's house) was across the street riding her bike. Every time she rode by Snofie she would stop and look across at her. Her mom and I noticed this was going on about the same time so we introduced the girls and they played.

While the girls played I talked to Jess (Hannah's mom). Wow, she's young, 26... makes me feel old! She seems nice and the girls seemed to get along well. After they played outside they asked if they could go in and play in Snofie's room. I was really surprised because Hanna's little brother went in with them and there were no issues. He seems a bit wild so I thought Snofie would not want him messing with her stuff. I asked her about him later and she said it was fine. That's cool. Hanna is 6 and Snofie is 8 so I don't know that they will be really close but I think it will be nice for Snofie to have someone right across the street to play with.

Jess said something funny: she mentioned that she was curious about Tammy. She said that Tammy had told them that they needed to stop mowing on her property, stop letting their dog out with out a leash or it was going to get hit by a car and that they needed to put up a fence and stop driving up over the curb when they pulled out of their driveway. Can you say CRAZY!

Wednesday, May 9, 2007

At the last minute, literally, Snofie and I decided to go to Uncle Joe's funeral. John couldn't go because he is training a new officer. We left at about 2:30pm on Monday and made it to my parent's house about 7:30pm that evening. We had a nice visit and I did some manual labor, loading two wheel barrows full of fire wood into my car. Dad has a ton of it and doesn't use it much anymore but we will in our fire pit in the back yard.

I am so very very glad we went. The funeral was Tuesday morning. We left about 3:00pm and had just enough time for a good visit. All went well at the service until my cousin Paul spoke about his dad. He told all sorts of stories and memories. And at the end he asked everyone to raise one of their hands and curl their fingers for one last "short wave". I loved Uncle Joe's short wave, he did that all the time and I can vividly picture him doing it. It was perfect.

There was a lunch afterward at their country club which was lovely. Emily, one of the grand children spoke about her grand father which was very moving. Then Paul played Uncle Joe's favorite song, Stevie Wonder's "I Just Called To Say I love You" and everyone sang along. Paul said that every time he heard that song on the radio, no matter where he was he would call his dad. I know the next time I hear that song I will absolutely loose it.

I am very glad I went. And, on the ride home Snofie told me: "Mom, I had a really nice day today."

At work today John called to say that he was on his way to the emergency room because his mother had fallen. She was volunteering at the school's Safety Town. That just crack me up that she fell at Safety Town. Snofie called her this evening and she is fine.

Wow, it was 87 degrees today and absolutely beautiful out. While Snofie did her homework I went outside to enjoy the back yard. The lily of the valley are in bloom and they smell so very good. I close my eyes and imagine myself bathing in them... And now as I type this I am looking out the window onto the back yard. I love our back yard, it is so green and full of beautiful trees and plants.

Rose gave me some iris' on Sunday. I took some to mom to plant at her house. It is great how all these beautiful flowers get passed around all over the country. I enjoy the stories of who's garden each flower came from. I have ferns and forget-me-nots from Mom in New York, daises from Judy in Groveport, hens and chickens from John's grandma in Indiana and iris' and lily of the valley from Rose. Oh, and I mustn't forget the primroses that Mom transplanted from Aunt May's garden on Arbor Lane over 30 years ago!

Monday, May 7, 2007

My Uncle Joe died on Saturday 5/5/07 at 10:00am. The funeral is on Tuesday morning and it has been a very difficult decision but we are not going to take Snofie out of school and make the drive. Mom is mad that we are not coming but Dad said he did not think Aunt Annette would be upset at all if I didn't come in for the funeral.

The weekend was lovely, very relaxing. We did absolutely nothing! (I did go to the grocery on Saturday but that doesn't really count because I enjoy it.) On Friday after work John and I went to check out a few garage sales which turned out to be nothing. We ended up at school to pick Snofie up really early but it was fun because it was Cops & Kids Day and we had fun watching all the activity. They had a huge Army Black hawk helicopter on the front lawn. We got to see it take off which was fantastic. And, we saw Joey & Henry's dad who is a police officer for Upper Arlington. We decided to surprise Snofie and get her out of school an hour early. A while back she told me how sometimes kids get to leave early for appointments and it's cool how they get out of class. She said she wished she could do that some day. She was really excited. John and I spent the afternoon sitting in the front yard lounging and watching Snofie ride her bike. For dinner we ordered pizza because none of us felt like making anything.

On Saturday we had tacos for dinner since it was Cinco de Mayo. I had planned on making enchiladas but realized that I didn't remember how with out a recipe so dinner turned into tacos instead.

On Sunday it was beautiful out but a little chilly so John and I lounged around all day and watched all of lasts weeks re-runs of "Gilmore Girls" that I had DVR'd. John doesn't care for "Gilmore Girls" but he said he was too lazy to get up and move or fight over the remote so he watched with me. It cracked me up because every so often he would ask a question like, "why is Rory mad at Loralai?" or "Why is Rory taking a break from Yale?". The answers always turned into these long explanations and he was sorry he asked each time.

I made the first iced tea of the season on Sunday and John made the first strawberry shortcake of the season. Both were amazingly good. Then late Sunday afternoon John and I were both sound asleep and there was poor Snofie trying to wake one of us up to see if Tara could come over to play. We are so pathetically lazy that neither one of us got up when Tara got dropped off. I'm sure Tara didn't care though, she went right into the play room. I did look in on them a little while later and found several doll house people with their heads shut in the toy trunk. When I pretended to make them talk, "ouch, our heads hurt, get us out of here." The girls said, "they can't talk, they are dead." Oh...

Friday, May 4, 2007

There is nothing better than a peanut butter and honey sandwich on really crunchy whole grain bread!

And, there is also nothing better than my adorable leopard print & pick flower patterned Birkenstocks!

Now that it's warm I roll the windows all the way down and enjoy the fresh air while I wait at school to pick Snofie up. So, there I am, sitting there doing a Sudoku puzzle when a bug flies in the window. I swat it away, you know the swatting where you wave your arms around your head and look like an idiot. I got it and it fell somewhere on me. It felt like it went down my shirt but I looked and couldn't find it. A little while later I found it! It was down the back of my pants!

Since Snofie is grounded from the playroom I locked the door. The other night she asked where she should put the hamster cage for the night. During the day the cage is in her bedroom on a shelf next to her bed but at night the little bugger is quite loud being nocturnal and all so we put her in the playroom. I told Snofie to just set her in the entryway near where we hang our coats. A while later she was driving me crazy running in her wheel and making other sorts of noises so I decided to unlock the playroom and put her in there. I walk down the hallway and turn on the light and holy shit! The hamster was on the floor next to the cage. She's out! I don't know who was more surprised, the hamster or me. She sort of flattened herself against the floor an looked up at me with eyes that looked like they were going to pop out of her head. I'm sure she was thinking: I'm out! She had climbed the bars of her cage, twisted a little cap open, popped it off and climbed out. In the morning Snofie asked why there was tape all over Hally's cage.

My mother has finally lost it. She called the other day to tell me about her finds while cleaning out rooms in the house. On find was a bud vase that had a spider, dead, stuck in the bottom. She said, "I shook the vase and it didn't come out so I am sending it to you." Yesterday I received a box with a bud vase with a spider in it. John & Snofie said I needed to throw it away immediately but no, this is too good to throw away.

I had a bad dream last night that my Uncle Joe died. I have a creepy history of these sorts of dreams actually happening so I called my dad on my way to work. He said he didn't have time for all this bullshit and then spent about 20 minutes discussing the gas prices and his new car. (A fully loaded Audi something or other with 280 horse power, Bose stereo, satellite radio and blue tooth. Never mind that the man does not have a cell phone.) Next I called mom who said she had plans to go see Uncle Joe on Sunday. She called back a while later and said that she had called Aunt Annette who said that last night Uncle Joe had taken a turn for the worse so mom is going to see him today. Let this be a warning to those who poo poo my dreams.

Thursday, May 3, 2007

It's a lovely day today. Sue and I took a little walk. We go out the parking lot, across the grass, through another parking lot, down the road and back in through our parking lot. It's a lot of parking lot but we are out side walking so it's all good. These walks are becoming a daily thing now that it is officially warm.

John has had forced overtime for the past three nights and he is dead, mentally and physically. Poor guy. I feel bad for him but while it is Thursday form most of us today is Friday for him.

Snofie had her library day at school yesterday and she came home with a book called: "Mystery in Death Cave" or something awfully similar to that. We plan on reading together outside in her playhouse this afternoon.

I love my hair today. Good hair days are just the best. So, I saw this woman on HGTV last night who had a great super short hair style just like mine only hers was black instead of blonde. I totally am sitting here trying to picture black hair on me and would it look good or not? I would have to do something with my eyebrows.... hhmmm...

Snofie did not spill her coffee on the way to pick up Tara for school this morning. This is the first time in quite a while. It was almost too bad because Kelly and I came up with the international hand signal for "I need paper towels" last night and I didn't even get to try it out.

Ferrari, the long haired wiener dog who is staying with Kelly, was the girls topic of conversation on the way to school. Tara laughed at how Ferrari doesn't like people very much. I said she probably misses her daddy, Uncle Willard, and the girls made up this whole scenario about how Uncle Willard is sitting at home looking at pictures of his baby Ferrari and crying over how much he misses her. They have great imaginations, a little twisted at times but great non the less.

I have found the perfect shade of lipstick. Actually it is 3 mixed together and I am thrilled that the quest is over.
John found a WebKinz Horse for Snofie! It turns out that the WebKinz are a lot like the Beanie Babies were in terms of popularity with adults. It's crazy! Several weeks ago Snofie said she wanted to spend her own money to buy a horse. I took her to Hallmark where we learned that the horse had recently been retired and everyone had been asking about one. We went to two other stores and were told that the chances of finding a horse were practically nil. Snofie was upset but she understood. She got a koala bear instead and he is just adorable. John got him for her while he was at work. I can just imagine him in his uniform walking around Hallmark with a koala. Anyway, John went on Ebay where the horses are going for about $300. Holly Cow! He found one though that he won the bid on for $15 including shipping. That's not bad since they are $10 in the stores. This horse is coming from Canada so it took over a week to get here. John did not mention the acquiring of the horse to Samantha in case it didn't materialize. Well, the horse arrived yesterday and John is off tomorrow so he plans on giving it to Snofie then. Now here is the funny part: last night Snofie had an awful melt down at Skyline. We left with Snofie screaming all red in the face and me completely embarrassed. When we got home I put Snofie in the shower and told her that she needed to come up with a punishment for her behavior. She came up with and I okayed: no play room and no computer for 3 days and she had to call Tara and apologize for throwing a fit and ruining dinner for everyone. I thought this was pretty good especially considering that John will give her the horse tomorrow and she will have to wait until Saturday to play with it! It's a genius punishment that carries much harsher consequences than she imagined.