SPECIAL ENTRY - EIGHT THINGS
Playing the game...Tag You're It. I was tagged by
http://lynne-is-on-a-mission.blogspot.com

Here's the rules: mention the person that tagged you. Complete the lists of 8's. Tag 8 of your wonderful blogger friends. Go tell them you tagged them! here we go!

8 Things I Am Looking Forward To:

1. Getting answers to Kendra's medical questions
2. Reaching my goal weight;

3. Completing my college degree in nursing
4. The end of the school year
5. Moving into the new house (looking like it'll be week of 5/11)

6. Attending the Georgia Renaissance Festival
7. Billy Joel/Elton John Concert on May 16
8. May 2011- graduation for Kendra, Mac and Me :)

8 Things I Did Yesterday:

1. Washed my car
2. Folded a load of laundry
3. Showered and dressed for play
4. Watched "What Not To Wear"
5. Drove 5 teenagers to Montgomery
6. Watched a different set of teenagers get prom pictures done in the park
7. Enjoyed The Three Musketeers play with my daughter
8. Drove through Wendy's for a frosty after getting rid of the other four teenagers.

8 Things I Wish I Could Do:1. count to ten before speaking in anger
2. speak German, Spanish and French fluently (instead of my pidgin version)
3. see into my children's futures and know that they will be all right
4. run for public office and make a difference
5. run a marathon
6. live in Europe again
7. live near all my family
8. find my best friend from high school

8 Shows I Watch:1. Greeks
2. Biggest Loser3. Bones
4. Grey's Anatomy5. The Dollhouse
6. Amazing Race
7. Castle
8. Ghost WhispererLook below to see who I tagged [in no particular order]:1. Ken of http://buckoclown.blogspot.com2. Beth of http://nutwoodjunction.blogspot.com
3. Madison of http://lifesalearningprocess.blogspot.com4. Dan of http://slapinions.blogspot.com
5. Heather of http://tighteningthecorsetagain.blogspot.com/6. Mary of http://rejectedtruth.blogspot.com
7. Teresa of http://shadowsofthemoon.blogspot.com
8. Robin of http://yellowbrickroadtwo.blogspot.com

The Play's the Thing

Last evening Kimberly and I met up with her French teacher and several of her fellow classmates to see The Three Musketeers in Montgomery. I was one of the designated drivers. Besides Kim and myself, we had four other students with us.

The drive was kind of long, but two of the gals in the car kept up an almost constant patter of conversation regarding colleges and tuitions and cars. Seems that everyone in my car (except Kim) is graduating this spring.

The play took place at the Alabama Shakespeare Theatre. It was amazing! The story had to be arranged for the stage and the playwrite took a very interesting direction. Alexandre Dumas originally wrote the Three Musketeers as a serial. The playwrite elected to allow Monsieur Dumas to tell the tale through the frantic pressure of a deadline,with Dumas interacting with his characters.

The end result was a very fast paced, engrossing and enchanting play. The actors were amazing. This is the first time I've had a chance to experience a play at the AST, but it won't be my last.

There... and back again

It's been a busy week. Paul, Kendra and I made the trek up to Birmingham to meet with a plastic surgeon and with her (Kendra's) urologist to discuss the next steps that need to be taken. Really liked the plastic surgeon, still on the fence about this new urologist. He seems a bit flip about Kendra's concerns. (eye roll) I think he doesn't care to have his "authority" challenged.

Kudos to Kendra for standing her ground and making sure he understood her desires. I have to say this week has been an interesting roller coaster of ups and downs. It's heart warming to realize that Kendra is getting more mature all the time. As she learns to handle more and more about her condition (with doctors), I feel better about letting go.

We didn't get all the answers we wanted and we have another trip up north in May for more tests. In the mean time, I am composing letters to our preferred surgeons (one is in Texas, two are in DC). These three doctors are the ones that have been giving her care through the military since she was a week old. Her local urologist lacks the experience in bladder exstrophy patients that I think we need for certain aspects of the next surgeries.

I am hoping that the e-mails I send out will answer a lot of our questions and either start the ball rolling to get Kendra back to these surgeons, OR help us find "local" surgeons with the experience necessary.

What I really don't want is for Kendra to have to have repetitive corrective surgeries if we choose the wrong surgeons.

Cookbook Chaos

Many moons ago Paul gave me a blank cookbook. (a gift I asked for) It's been sitting on my bookcase ignored and mostly empty. I love cookbooks and collecting recipes. My plan for this book was to make it a gathering place of all my favorites that we use again and again and again. My thought was that by gathering those family favorites in one spot, the chidren would have easy access to the recipes that they'd most likely want to take with them to their own homes.

My plan for today is to work on the cookbook. We're trying to get the house ready for this move and I have so many loose recipes flying all over the place that I thought this would be a good use of today. Organize the family favorites cookbook!


glitter-graphics.comOf course, I'm now sitting at my computer, the mass of loose recipes and the cookbook binder behind me spread out on the dining room table. What chaos!! This seemed like a really good idea when all this stuff was stuffed in the bookcase (I have one small bookcase dedicated to my cookbooks). Now that the slips are all over the table... WOW! do I ever collect a lot of recipes!

I think I need to call in the calvary (Paul) to help me get this organized.

The Weekend Blues

We are back from our trip to Disneyworld. We had fun. The weather was good for the first three days, if a bit humid. Tuesday we spent most of the day in our hotel, with tornado watches and warnings constantly being updated. I'll have pictures later in the week.

Kids head back to school on Monday and Paul heads back to work. That is my blues. I've enjoyed these last days with everyone together and I will miss that this next week. But I'll get over it. :)

It's been a productive day. Laundry is about done, piles to be packed have been made.

I did run by and get the medical information forms turned in, so that is now out of my hands.

Paul and I shifted seasonal clothing in and out of storage. We actually needed the air conditioning in the house today (probably because of all the work we did!).

It's good, it's good.. it's all good. :)

Stress Insomnia and 29 hours

I've been waking at odd hours of the night. Something will pop into my head that I have to deal with, or that I've forgotten to deal with (as was the case this morning) and then I'm awake for good. Today's stress has been brought on by my forgetting to get Kendra's signature on a medical records release form. We had dinner last night and I had the damn forms in my purse... and totally blanked on it. OY!

I was hoping to get the ball started on this before we leave on Spring break (which commences in 29 hours, give or take an hour). Kim, Mac, Paul and I are heading south to Florida for a few days.

So... I'm contemplating signing the forms for Kendra so I can get them turned in today as planned. I doubt anyone will notice and/or care. I need these records to her new surgeon by April 21 and there just isn't that much time left (sigh).

Florida will be nice. We plan on taking in Disney World and possibly Universal Studio. But even if we spend most of our time relaxing by a pool.. that will be good too.