Well, when I said last night that I'd go to bed and keep coughing, apparently I was being psychic. I laid down in bed, and proceeded to hack in bed for an hour straight. Around 1 something in the morning, I had a coughing fit so bad I ended up throwing up. The good news is, I'd eaten too much for supper anyway, because at 1 a.m. there was still plenty of food available. Okay, hey, have to keep a sense of humor, right?! I ended up sleeping on the couch half propped up and finally passed out after several hours and a few more "rounds" of coughing fun. And yes, of course I tried the most powerful cough syrup I had the highest dose I could. So this morning I talked to a doctor who called in some antibiotics for me, and I started those today. I'm really hoping that kicks it--last night was Not Fun and I don't care for a repeat.

Therefore, my update for the day is pretty weak. This morning I got up and drove Kaylee to school-still in my pajamas-and came home, set my alarm, and went back to sleep immediately. Three hours later I woke up on my own. My alarm had been going off for the last hour, I hadn't heard a thing (which is NOT like me), and I was supposed to be at Kaylee's school exactly four minutes ago. So I throw off the covers, and still in my pajamas I throw on my jacket, house slippers, and drive to pick up Kaylee at school. Hair uncombed, no makeup, pajamas, I'm sure that was *quite* attractive. I brought her home, fixed her lunch, and crashed again for awhile. Finally I knew I needed to go pick up my prescription, and I HAD to get a check in the mail for SMA Support for something, so I minimally got ready, took Kaylee with me to pick up the meds, stopped at the bank to get a money order, stopped at the post office to ship it, came home and (you guessed it) crashed again. I don't feel sick by the way, it's just a night like that takes it out of you. Your whole body hurts. But by this evening I felt much better having rested most of the day!

Our weather took a dive, and it was cold and raining all day, and the next couple of days are going to be even nastier. Whee!

I saw the photos Mark Watt took at the BBQ Bash this year, and I'm enjoying them! There are so many, it's almost hard to appreciate each one. But he got some great ones, and as soon as I get some more dvds, I'm going to copy these off. I know a few people who will enjoy some of them.

Dulce and Roadie seem to be friendly these days. They play together, wrestle together, and rarely do that "fight" thing where it looks like they are going to chew each other's heads off. I think they are settling in nicely, finally.

By the way--whole wheat/whole grain spaghetti? Lots of carbs but most of it is fiber, almost none sugar type. Very healthy for you. The taste and texture IS slightly different--it's heavier--but you know, that's probably a trade-off worth making for the health factor...

Kaylee's doing great! She's a sweetie. I can't think of a specific Kaylee story today, but she is definitely a cutie.

Wednesdays are always busy days away from the house! I couldn't find my purse or keys this morning, so I just grabbed the spare set of keys and ran out the door to get Kaylee to school on time. After I dropped her off, I headed to the office. Steve took the Warrior down to Sheridan Airport to get it off the grass strip prior to this winter weather coming our way hitting us. Unfortunately for him, the ceiling and visibility wasn't as good as they were saying it was, and he had a rather 'scuddy' trip. So Chuck and I drove down to Sheridan to pick him up there. By the time we got back to Glenndale, the visibility was supposed to be up to 8 miles, ceilings 1000', which should be good enough. So I took the C-172 out of Glenndale and took it to Kokomo Airport for the same reason--get it off the field before the sloppy weather took us out of flying commission on the runway for awhile. Well, the ceilings weren't 1000', they were about 650'. And the visibility was 8 miles if you were on the ground, but once you actually got up in the air, it was about 3. Maybe. If we're being generous. So...I took the small tower route instead of the tall tower route to Kokomo, and had a scuddy trip myself. Steve and Chuck came and picked me up, and we all headed to Applebees for lunch, joined by several of the Glenndale Guys.

After lunch, I was at the office until about 2:40 pm, then headed out to pick up Kaylee from school. Found my purse right where I'd left it last time, and worked with Kaylee on her Awanas verses. When I took her to Awanas, Steve and I met up at Ruby Tuesdays for dinner. After I picked her up, we stopped for ice cream for a treat. She said four sections tonight, and her team won, so she was quite pleased! :) Next week she has to recite all the books of the New Testament.

Our internet is having problems. Insight Communications had a big router go down, so sometimes our email and websites work, and sometimes we can't do anything. It's VERY annoying and it's lasted for 2-3 days. I'm getting ready to go hunt somebody down...

I got a new toy today! It's a Brookstone PictureBook Keychain. It'll hold up to 56 digital photos and play them, and it's a keychain, but it's small. I like it! I'm playing with it tonight to get all my photos up. :) The photo quality could be slightly grainy if you inspected it closely, but I'm not trying to print them from there or anything, just carry around photos of Devon and Kaylee and okay, an airplane or two too. I like it!

I have another lingering cough, like I did back in June. A friend let me know that Pertussis has been going around, and that in adults in can just show up as a lingering cough, and that if the cough lasts for more than a week, a doc should check out the possibilty of Pertussis (Whooping Cough). I've had it for what, 2-3 weeks now? Yikes! So far nobody else in our house has caught it, and I DO have some sinus stuff these last few days too which wouldn't fit with it, but the possibility is still there, so I may have to get that looked at. Or take antibiotics for a week if I can get my hands on some. It feels like allergies of some kind, but I don't know!

I was sitting at Kokomo Airport waiting for Steve and Chuck to get there in the Jeep, and I picked up a local paper and saw a news story that just made me concentrate on it so much I didn't even see the boys pull up. A 12-year-old local girl was arrested after she set her mother's bed on fire and took her two younger siblings and ran off in the car. Her reason? Supposedly...no, here, I just have to copy this right from the paper.

"Peru, Indiana— A 12-year-old Miami County girl allegedly set fire to her mother’s bed Monday morning because she had been given too many chores.“ Apparently the mom had given her a lot of duties,” Miami County Sheriff Ken Roland said. “It was too much for a 12-year-old and she snapped.”

You know, all the things I could say to that leave me actually speechless. Her chores were too much for her so she lit her mother's bed on fire?? Nope, I'm still not over this yet...

Today Chuck got a cellphone holder for me, so I can no longer have the excuse that I left my phone in the car, in my purse, at home, etc. I wore it all day, and more than once found myself reaching for my purse or the seat of my car to call AWOS or whatever. So this afternoon I was sitting at the computer, and my phone rang. I started scrambling, looking for my phone on the desk, where I usually keep it when I'm working on the computer. Couldn't find it. Until the second or third ring brought my attention to my own pants. Yep. It's just like the numerous times I listened to my iPod in my car, and would come to a stop sign or a errand place and reach up and try to turn off my radio, only to realize, DUH, it's already off. I'm listening to my iPod. Now, does it frighten you that I fly airplanes too? He he.

Well, we're going to go from 64 degrees to 38 degrees in one day, and here comes the snow/sleet/rain, so wish us luck!

I'm going to go play with my new keychain before I hit the bed and cough some more!

Whoops, I forgot to post yesterday, and almost forgot to post today!

Let's see. Man, that's why you post daily, because otherwise you forget stuff. Oh yeah! Monday, Nate called in the morning, and we headed to Huntington in the Bellanca for a bit of bidness (for him) and lunch (for all of us). We got back in time for me to pick up Kaylee at school. She and I did some talking, and then she got ready for her ballet class! She did great again, and she looked just beautiful, and graceful. It makes me sniffle almost. We got home in time to fix supper, relax and talk for a bit, and then she went to bed and I spent the rest of the night on the computer!

Today I got Kyalee to school, came home and worked on some emails for awhile, and when I picked her up at 11:30 we ran the usual errands of post office, bank, and hit Wendy's for lunch. Kaylee and I kind of hung out, and in the afternoon we did a collage for her school of things that started with the letter "M". She's known this stuff for a very long time, but she does enjoy picking out "M" things and cutting and coloring and gluing them on, even if it's not an academic challenge for her. We had a decent time, although I still stink at creativity. She wrote in different colors under each object what they were, and we had fun.

That's all I've got for today, I'm kind of pooped, and still coughing. Go Away already!! (The coughing, not you people.)

Last night I couldn't get to sleep, I was awake until 2 a.m. at least, and finally passed out sometime after that. When I woke up, my head and throat hurt, probably from all the coughing last night. I stayed in my pj's for hours, and finally felt better and ate for the first time at almost 2 pm!

The cheerleading photos from Gracie's birthday party are up at http://www.kayleestants.com/photosnov06b.htm. And our hiking photos too! Check 'em out!

This afternoon Steve trimmed all the trees and bushes in the yard, which took him hours, and maybe wiped out a muscle or two too. :) Then Kaylee and I picked up all the branches from the yards and piled them out front where hopefully the city will come remove them. It was a pretty day at least! I had my iPod in while I picked up branches, to pass the time.

Kaylee sat me down today and told me that she would really like to take ballet, gymnastics, and cheer. I asked her if she knew how busy she would be doing all those things PLUS school and Awanas. She said yes, but that she really was serious about doing them. Apparently she'd had a talk with "Daddy" that morning before I got up, and explained to him how much she would like to do them all, and he suggested she talk to me, so she did. That is a lot of activity for a six year old (to be). She is SO opposite of me in so many ways. Cheerleading? Ballet? Whoa. But she *loves* ballet, and her one taste of cheerleading last night just lit her fire. She's been doing it at home ever since, showing moves, and she's not bad! I have a visceral reaction to high school cheerleaders and I'm already starting to worry about Kaylee in the future, but I will not discourage or stop her from trying things and doing what SHE enjoys. For now I enjoy it too because it is pretty cute! :)

This afternoon, Kaylee came up to me and said "See how big my tummy is Mommy?" I looked at her and she was sticking it way out. So I laughed and said "I like your tummy just fine Kaylee". Then she got serious and said "I don't want a big tummy, Mommy." So *I* got serious and said "Your tummy is a perfect tummy, Kaylee. You are healthy and strong and your tummy is just fine." She replied with "But some people have big tummies." I said "Yes, everybody comes in different shapes and sizes, right?" "Yes, but I don't WANT a big tummy Mommy and mine is bigger than (so and so)." "Kaylee, your tummy is not big, your tummy is just perfect just the way it is, God made you just the way you are, and I think you and your tummy are just beautiful." "Okay, Mommy" and she walks off satisfied. And I shudder...

On a funny note, we were eating dinner tonight (the whole grain/wheat spaghetti isn't bad by the way), and Kaylee suddenly tooted. She was next to me, and when the odor arrived, I commented on its unpleasantness, and she laughed, and sounding like a 30-year-old, she said in a matter of fact and amused tone of voice, "I just never get tired of that..."

I spent a lot of time on the computer today, did a bit of laundry, but really, today was mostly a quiet day at home. Tomorrow life starts in full swing again with school, ballet, etc., so for today it was good to spend it at home, quietly!

More gorgeous weather today! I slept in this morning, got up to a bit of a guestbook mess, but didn't have time to do much because we got ready and then packed up the whole family and went for a hike! We went up to Mississiniwa Reservoir (about an hour away) and hiked up a little creek there, through the woods, up and down some good-sized hills. Kaylee LOVED it, she had a blast, and it was a perfect day for it. She bounced around on flexible vines, she collected walking sticks and made us take them all home (but only after SHE carried all of them, by herself, the entire way back to the Jeep!) She walked in water, kicked up leaves, talked non-stop and then wondered why she didn't see any wildlife, and just had a fun day with us. At one point, she decided she had to go to the bathroom. I discouraged this since it would mean undoing double-knotted hiking boots and getting naked in the woods to prevent getting anything wet (you women campers know EXACTLY what I mean!) So the girl waited until we got done hiking and got back to the Jeep and found a little store that only had one dirty bathroom not for the general public. But the lady behind the counter took pity on her. Kaylee walked in, and I walked in behind her, and it smelled like pee. It was dirty. She looked at me and said "Mommy, this bathroom is yucky." I said "I know, but it's your only choice if you don't want to hold it all the way back to Kokomo. Just please try not to touch anything!" They didn't even have soap in there to wash your hands with afterwards. Yuck! Anyway, she did it! She did a terrific job today! No complaining, no getting too tired, no "yuck" at the water, trees, woods, nothing. She thought it was beautiful, and it was. She thought it was fun, and it was. We were out there for a few hours, and a good time (plus exercise) was had by all!


We got home, had time to change some clothes (mostly hers!) and head to Grace's birthday party! The girls had so much fun doing a cheerleader party. The teacher taught them a cute little quick cheer, and they all picked it up and did just fine. Kaylee in fact came home and did it for Steve. They had cake, and got pom-poms to take home, and gift bags, and I think everybody had fun! Happy Birthday to SIX year old (almost!) Grace! :O

So I think 7:30 pm or so was the first time I got to spend any time at home today, but it was a fun, busy day! Steve fixed steaks for supper, and we ate dinner together before putting Kaylee to bed after 8 pm. Then it was time to start looking through and dealing with some emails I had.

Unfortunately I've been coughing my fool head off this afternoon and my voice is almost totally gone at this point, but I think after I get some sleep I'll perk up!

I will be getting the pictures of us hiking today and of Kaylee at Grace's party up on Kaylee's site after I post this message! Unless I crash here and do it tomorrow...

Today was still school vacation, but it's throwing us all off because it feels like Sunday night right now instead of Friday night! Weird! But I'll take it!! :o)

We went out to the office today, and had about 20 people come out, which is a pretty good turn-out for the Friday after Thanksgiving! Chuck made hamburgers and hot dogs and we had lots of desserts, deviled eggs, veggie platter, corn stuff, good food! And MAN it was gorgeous again. I love "Indian Summer" or whatever you call it when it is sixty degrees and blue skies the end of November. We stayed at the office until late in the afternoon, then I ran some errands. Dropping off dvds, post office, bank.

We got home late in the afternoon and I was just seriously drooping, so I laid down in bed for an hour and a half and took a nap! Which I am currently regretting as it is 1 a.m. and I'm wide awake, but man, I did need it at the time. I couldn't hardly keep my eyes open!

We just had a pizza for supper, and we all played a game of "Hold Maid" (Old Maid) as Kaylee calls it with 'Little Mermaid' cards. (I lost). Steve and Kaylee played "Looney Tunes" on Xbox, and it was a quiet evening after a (mostly) relaxing day. Tomorrow I think we're going to go hiking, and Kaylee has a birthday party to go to tomorrow afternoon, so it should be a fun, busy, family day! :)

Happy Thanksgiving!

Wow, it is warmer here this Thanksgiving weekend than it has been most of the Thanksgivings we have spent in Florida or N. Carolina! It's beautiful! I love it. This was the first Thanksgiving Steve and I have spent in Kokomo since we were married. Generally we've had our own tradition, of going away alone. It started off in a friends' condo in Port St. Lucie, Florida. We took Devon there when he came along. By the time Kaylee came along, we had started going to N. Carolina for Thanksgiving, spending it with Steve's cousin, Jeffrey, and his wife Cindy. So this year will be the first time in 11 years we've spent Thanksgiving at home.

We had a terrific Thanksgiving Day. We got up, relaxed, took our time, slowly got ready, took some stuff out to the airport to store for the winter, then headed to Nathan & Tre's house around 12:30. Kaylee immediately disappeared with the kid crew, and the grown-ups commenced Project Relaxation. Well, except for poor Tre and Holly, who as hostesses would have the non-stop job of hostesses country-wide. The food was delicious, of course! We had the turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing/dressing, cranberry, green bean casserole, vegetable tray, fruit salad, rolls and butter, pickles, and of course dessert! Pumpkin pie, raspberry almond cheesecake, pecan pie. Yum. All that, and can you believe I behaved myself and did not gorge?? Me neither, but tis true. :)

It was a nice, relaxing way to spend a Thanksgiving Day, with friends, football and food.

We stayed later than most, Kaylee was playing with Jamie and Gwennie, and as long as everyone was doing okay, we let them be. When it got a bit later, and the kids were getting tired, we called it an evening and headed home. Kaylee had a fun day too, and I'm glad!

What am I thankful for? Usually I would have a diatribe on the topic. But today, I can sum it up in one word.

Everything!

I can't believe tomorrow is Thanksgiving. It just does not FEEL like Thanksgiving! It feels like...Thursday. Any Thursday. Weird.

I spent today at the office, until it was time to pick up Kaylee. When I got her, we got her bike out because it was such a pretty, sunshiny day, and we went for a bike ride. Well, SHE rode, I walked. :) She started off in a short-sleeved dress, even though I kept saying "You're going to be cold." We get halfway down the block, and she says "Mommy, I'm cold." Yep. Serves ya right! Yes, of course we went home, and she got her coat. And I have to say, she's worn that butterfly dress for 3 years now. It was bought to match the other little girls going to the First ever SMA Support Gathering in Greenville, South Carolina. All the girls bought and wore the butterfly dress, and part of the proceeds from the dress (CW Kids online) went to FightSMA. So it was doubly meaningful. She was three years old when we got the dress, and she is still wearing it today, as she's about to turn six. That tells you that 1) She's not a ton bigger than she was back then and 2) That is ONE TOUGH DRESS. That girl has worn this dress more than any other dress, it is her favorite and she wears it any time you let her. It has survived a preschooler for all this time in any situation, not just to sedate things like school or church. I'm quite impressed with that thing, let me tell you! So for Durable clothing, visit CW Kids! :) Anyway, we rode bikes for awhile, then hit a deserted road that ended in a chainlink fence with barbed wire on top. She could have crawled under, and wanted to, and I wanted to too, but being forced to be a grown-up these days, I told her no. I did let her try to climb the fence a bit though. She got two handholds up, slid, and fell on her rump. She laid there and was pretty mad for a second, and I tried not to laugh, because I knew she wasn't hurt, and she had a helmet on, wrist guards, knee pads, and a pretty thick coat, but the one place she landed--her rear end--wasn't padded, and she wasn't happy about it. After being appropriately "Aw, I'm sorry you fell", I told her to get up and shake it off, and she huffed about my lack of compassion until she got back on the bike and found something else interesting to look at. It was a pretty day to go riding, and we had a fun time.

When we got back, we watched the Polly Pocket movie, and this time I watched it with Kaylee all the way through, and I have to revise my former opinion. It DID bring up the questions Kaylee asked me, but Polly handled everything in a much more mature and graceful and even spiritual way than any Real kid her age would have. In the appropriate way, actually. So, Polly gets a break. ;)

I added a few new photos to Kaylee's site, just three, but you're welcome to go see them!

Man, I'm tired. If I can put my day down quickly enough, I am going to bed!

After taking Kaylee to school, I went and ran my errands, the usual suspects. Came home, worked on computer stuff a LOT today. When I got Kaylee at 11:30, we went back to the post office so I could drop off a check for a Cough Assist, went to Walgreens to pick up the mixed nuts for Kaylee's school party tomorrow for Thanksgiving, stopped off at the video store to pick up the new "Polly's World" video for Kaylee--which I didn't end up being too pleased with for her age. I ended up in a conversation about divorce and mean ladies who were trying to get rid of kids and marry the dad and have him to herself, etc. Not what I expected out of "Polly Pockets". Then we picked up lunch at Burger King, and came home for the day! She watched her video, I worked on the computer, got some banking stuff done. Nothing very exciting today I'm afraid. Or maybe I'm just too tired to remember it at the moment. :)

Kaylee made Mac & Cheese for dinner, and that pleased her. She didn't even mind the fresh peas I made her eat with it. We sat and read books for a LONG time this evening, until my voice went hoarse on me! When she's in the mood, she LOVES to be read to, and I of course certainly love having her cuddled up on my lap, head back under my chin where I can smell her shampoo, laughing at the Christmas Cows story or asking me if I'm okay when I started sniffling reading the "The Angel with the Golden Glow" book (which she picked out for me to read, and it's the first time I'd read it to her). She looked up at me and said "Mommy, are you sad?" and I said "A little". She just looked at me, then leaned in and gave me a hug, patted my arm, and said "It's okay, Mommy. Don't be sad, because it makes me want to cry." So the next book I read was a silly one about a girl who wakes up with antlers on her head!

Kaylee is such a sweetheart...and I am off to bed!

I need to post this fast, before I succomb to a sugar and carb-induced coma. We just got back from Cracker Barrel, and the big 'breakfast' I just ate along with the sweet tea is already making me sleepy.

Yesterday Steve and Kaylee were playing "Shrek" on the XBox for hours, and they got to this one place where a dragon follows a carriage and flies among obstacles. The further in you get, the faster the dragon flies and the closer together the obstacles get. You have to climb over wood piles, go around trees, dive under bridges, and do it all on top of each other at the end there. It would be pretty tricky anyway, but it has one added level of problem area for Steve and I. The controls for going up and down are backwards from flight controls. So you'd "pull back" to go up and the dragon would go down, and vice versa. When you're first starting off in the slow and easy part, you can kind of overcome it with practice, and think in your head to do that part backwards but the left-right part the normal way, but it's hard. But when it gets to the super fast part, you don't have TIME to think, you just have to DO, and as soon as you go by instincts, you immediately revert back to standard pilot controls, and the dragon crashes. Steve made me try it, and I wasn't doing any better than he was. I tried for about an hour and a half, just crashing over and over and over. After Kaylee went to bed, we were watching regular tv for a couple of hours, and during commercials I would switch over and crash some more. FINALLY after a few hours, I made it through in one piece, and made him save the game there so none of us would have to go through that phase again! It's like trying to do a tight, fast mouse maze on the computer when your mouse controls are backwards. Harder than you think!

This morning didn't start off that well. I made an SMA Support bank deposit, and the banker was impressed that I had a large cash deposit all counted out to the penny, accurately, in order, etc. But it still took a Long Time to finish up the transaction. I go from there to the grocery store and pick up a couple of necessities, then head to the post office. My key doesn't work in my box. Okay, usually that means you owe them money. I hadn't gotten any notices on the bill coming due, but I thought, okay, no problem. I go inside and wait in line behind four people loaded down with Christmas packages, and get up there to a new cashier who just opened up, told her my box wasn't open. She told me the payment was due Nov. 1st. I said "I didn't get a notice that payments were coming due." She leaned in and said quietly "You may not have--several people didn't get their notices." Okay, fine, no big deal. I pay my $20, and she says "go ahead to your box, I'll go unlock you." So I walk back there, and...nothing. Box still won't open. She comes around the corner and said "Oh, your box had one of these in it, we need to get you new keys." NEW KEYS?! I said "Why on earth do I need new keys, I've never had that happen before?" She shrugged and said "Just go back to my counter." So I get back to her counter, where she informs me that I will have to REAPPLY for a PO Box. I start getting mad here, and say "What?! We've had that PO Box for over 15 years! I didn't get any notice of anything and I've NEVER had this happen!" The lady next to her said "we put notices in all the boxes." I snapped back "Well, not in mine!" She replies with "I was a little surprised you didn't pay to keep the box after all these years." to which I replied with "that's because I didn't get a notice on it!" Duh. So sure enough, I had to go to the counter and fill out a whole new application. Finally it is done, and she gives me two brand new shiny keys, and promises I'll get to keep my same PO Box. Which by the way would have been a total disaster if I had to switch PO Boxes. Our address for our bills, for Glenndale, for Sheridan, for Cscape, for SMA Support, and for us personally would have had to be changed...credit cards, DMV...EVERYTHING. I said "This is not the way to start off a Monday morning." She smiled and said "you are my first customer, so it's not the best way for me to start off Monday either." Then she asked the second lady "I have to charge her for these two new keys, don't I?" The other lady says "It's up to your discretion if you charge or not. I didn't charge yesterday." My lady and I look at each other like "Ooookay." and she says "Well, I'm going to try to make this lady's day a bit better, and not charge her." After all this, I go and try out my new key, which works just fine, and there's not one thing in the box. Of course not, because it wasn't "my" box any more for awhile there. So where did all my mail that should have been in there go?? It better be in there tomorrow, is all I know. And thus I leave the post office 40 minutes after I got there for a 30 second errand. Talk about annoying. Frustrating. No wonder people go "postal".

Then I come home and lose an eBay auction I needed-for only the second time ever since I've started doing eBay auctions. NOT my morning.

Then I headed out to the office, until lunch time, where I met up with Steve, Chuck, Jim I. and Nathan at Applebees, where my day took a much brighter turn.. We had a nice long lunch, then Nathan and I went up in the Cheyenne and flew for quite awhile. It was a nice day for it! We did about 6 approaches, two go-arounds, and four landings. Came by Glenndale and said 'hi', and tried to keep up with Dale Etherington in the new Cub, but couldn't slow down that far. :) It was a lot of fun! Didn't get down until about 4:30--I headed back to Glenndale to pick up Kaylee, and she and I and Steve, Chuck and Judy went to Cracker Barrel for dinner. And that is where I began this...going into a sugar and carb-induced sleep. And now, other than the smile and adreline lift from the Cheyenne memories, I am fading! :)

Steve left to go to work this morning, and Kaylee let me sleep in an extra hour after he left! She sneaked into my room once; I heard her softly tip-toe in, and then she leaned down, kissed me on the cheek Ever so lightly, then tip-toed back out. It was really sweet and it made me smile.

I read "Wild Fire" by Nelson DeMille today, and it is rather scary in a "huh, this could actually happen" kind of way. Anybody remember MAD or Mutually Assured Destruction? The reason Russia and the US were at a stand-still during the Cold War? Each knew that if they went nuclear, the other would retaliate, and basically everybody would be wiped out. So that MAD kept either side from hitting "the button". Well, this book was about a program instituted by the US Government that was similar, called "Wild Fire", and they let the Islamic countries know about it--that if a nuclear attack happened on US soil by any of them, there would be a hard-wired and automatic response-a devastating and huge nuclear attack on the entire Islamic region. Capitals, Religious sites, entire countries wiped out. Well, the government and a few other people got tired of waiting to see when and where the terrorists would hit, so they planed suitcase nuclear bombs in two US cities. The plan is to detonate nuclear bombs on US soil, which would immediately and irrevocably initiate the annhialation of most of the Middle East. It was again fascinating, how they would justify murdering millions of Americans to "save" America from the terrorists, how they picked which cities to blow off the map, how their plan was to wipe out our terrorist threat and put us back to a permanent "Level Green" on the terror watch alert area and put every other country on "watch" that we went nuclear once and we'd do it again. It's a conspiracy theorists nightmare-or dream. The author said that most of what he wrote about, while fictionalized, is true. And he says as for "Wild Fire" and its program, there are some who claim it is bunk, some who claim it is real, and the rest of the people say "who knows", but most people bet something like it wouldn't be illogical. Sometimes ignorance probably IS bliss!

Tonight we had leftovers of my fish and wild rice, and Steve cooked steaks and I made rolls, and we ate too much. It was good! Then Kaylee and Steve played the Xbox games for hours and hours while I read my book. A good day was had by all. ;) Well, until Kaylee smashed her knee into the bookshelf by her door, she didn't much enjoy that. But other than that!...

Tomorrow is a Colt's game, and they'd better win in a better way than they did last week! Oh, Steak & Shake made an "oops" around here--they switched promotional ads with Steak & Shake in Denver, and they ended up with promotions all over about how they supported their "Dallas Cowboys". And in Dallas, they are supporting the "Indianapolis Colts". Whoops. So to appease customers, they are giving out free shakes to all Colts fans who come in tomorrow (for a 6 hour time frame!) in Colts gear. They'll still make a killing on all the food the Colts fans buy to go along with their free shake, I'm thinking!

Fabulous Friday

I keep forgetting to post something Kaylee said the other day. We were on our way home from school, and from the back seat she said "Mommy, Darrian and Jordan want 'Baby Alive' for Christmas." I said "really?" Kaylee: "It's a baby that poops for real!" Me: "Oh, really!" Kaylee: "But it's $50.00 for the Baby Alive doll Mommy. FIFTY dollars JUST for a doll that poops!" Her tone was scathing, she sounded like a little grown-up. I cracked up, and then said "Do YOU want the Baby Alive doll Kaylee?" Kaylee: "Yes. But Darrian said if she gets it she will bring it to school and let me play with it, and she said I'd have to help her change the diaper and I said 'NO WAY! I'M not touching THAT! I don't touch pooey!'"

I'm thinking I just saved $50 on a potential "but mom, everyone has one!" present decision. Ah, there ARE up-sides to girly-girls! ;)

However, I do have a question. HOW do they make Baby Alive go #2? What exactly is it that comes out, and do I want to know, and can they make it SMELL like an alive baby's poo? Yeah, I didn't think so. Besides, won't that get all over the place when kids are playing with their fake alive baby's realistic but fake poo? Or is it like little plastic pellets or something? And...why?? Whose idea was that??

Today I spent most of the morning on the computer, I'm afraid, as I did yesterday evening. Then finally around 11 a.m. I hit the airport. Left work around 2:30 p.m., grabbed Kaylee, ran an errand at Pizza Hut, came home, went over her work and fixed her a good snack, and then we got ready and headed down to Indianapolis with Steve to visit some friends. The friend who had the medical procedure is doing very well, and the other hit dinner at "Loon Lodge" with us for awhile. Man, I had some delicious "Japanese Encrusted Tilapia with a mango glaze" and some kind of spices, and wild rice, and a pound of crab legs with drawn butter to go with it. Y-U-M. Also, the fresh warm Italian bread and REAL whipped butter were quite tasty! Kaylee had beef tips done medium and creamed corn, but ended up eating the bread, the corn, three bites of beef, and the rest of Steve's crab legs. Bugger. But it was nice! Made it home around 10 pm, carried a sleeping Kaylee into her bed and let her go to bed in her dress, and then here I am!

Me? I'm fine. Coughing is still there but down, and otherwise I feel great. Steve is healthy, busy, and doing well, and Kaylee is, well, Kaylee is Kaylee. She's doing great. :)

This morning after I dropped Kaylee off at school, I came home and was just overwhelmed by fatigue. I laid down on the couch, and I hesitate to admit, I fell back asleep. And I STAYED asleep for 3 hours!! I woke up just in time to get Kaylee home from school! I have N E V E R done that, not even when I felt sicker than I did today. Never! Apparently I needed the rest, because I had all these grand plans, and instead I couldn't keep my eyes open. It was kind of weird. I was just wiped.

Got Kaylee, fixed her a good lunch of chicken noodle soup, and then started in on my house. I finished all the laundry loads, and even got all of mine put away. Kaylee got all of her jammies, undies, socks, and ballet outfits put away, and all her stuffed animals and toys. I swept the kitchen floor, vacuumed the living room, did two loads of dishes, went through my paperwork, cleaned off the hot spots that collect things, got Kaylee's Christmas school thing signed and done, checks written, the whole ball of wax. It was a very productive day! If I could skip the whole coughing thing (which is getting on Kaylee and Steve's nerves as much as it is mine), I'd feel much better!

Got Kaylee some cheese pizza, fresh and raw snap peas, and a small bowl of grapes for supper, along with milk. I had some of the pizza, a Diet Coke and later a bowl of egg nog ice cream. What can I say, she didn't see me. ;)

We studied her Awanas verses for awhile, and then I started playing Crazy 8's with her. She's pretty good! She won one of the games we played, I won the rest (I tried to lose after I'd won a few in a row but I had lucky cards I guess!) Then Steve came home and he played two rounds with us and won both times. She was a little put out that she didn't win, but I basically told her "such is life, you won't always win." Which is of course quite true!

She handed me the card for the game and said "Here Mommy, here are the destructions." Of course it was the INstructions, but I let her say 'destructions' several times just because I thought it was so cute. There were a couple others like that. Oh, I know. When she put down a card once, she started dancing in her seat and sing-songing "I'm so bad! Oh yeah, you know it!" I cracked up, I have no idea where she got that either, but it was pretty funny! She's such a good girl about going to bed these days, too. She's growing up too fast!

Tomorrow's Friday, and I'm going to be venturing out for the first time since I think Monday, to go to the airport for lunch. I shall try to medicate so that I'm not hacking too much in public and scaring people. The temp I had two days ago has been gone for 24 hours, the coughing is down, the stamina seems to be up considering what I got done today, so I'll give it a whirl.

Thoughts go out to a friend who is having a medical procedure done tomorrow. Anybody who'd like to say a prayer for a speedy recovery and an as easy as possible procedure (and good results) for this lovely lady would be much appreciated!

The Long Wednesday

Today I got up a bit earlier to try to get Kaylee ready a little earlier, because she had to write out 11 things she was thankful for, and I wasn't well enough Tuesday to mess with it. So this morning she wrote out 11 things that she was thankful for before she ate her breakfast. A cute note, and I'll probably scan it in when I get it back from school tomorrow. Not her best penmanship, but I am not one to complain about another's penmanship, considering my own is pretty horible. ;)

After dropping her off, I still feel like I had legs under me, so I went to the post office, then to the grocery store. One hour and 15 bags and a case later, I'd definitely lost my legs. Got it home, unpacked it, crashed for about 30 minutes. Started in on all my laundry, and at least got it all washed and dried, if not put away yet. (My least favorite part anyway). Did the dishes, you know, "stuff". When I went to go pick up Kaylee at 3, it was raining and cold. Did I ever mention I hate being cold? Particularly cold and wet. Anyway. We got home, and went over her Awanas verses. I mostly took it easy so I could keep up my stamina. Steve got home early tonight, around 6, and he went with me to take Kaylee to Awanas. After I dropped her off (holding my breath so as to not infect anyone else there), Steve and I went to dinner at the Windmill Grill. I had these stuffed blue crabs, and they're actually pretty good for being seafood in the middle of the continent. About 3/4 of the way through the meal, I started fading. We drove around until it was time to pick up Kaylee, grabbed her, headed home. She called Morgan and wished her a Happy Birthday--Morgan is 14 today I think! Yikes! They are growing up too fast! Kaylee had a pretty good day, and me, I'm hanging in there too. :) At least I got a lot more accomplished and wasn't miserable.

Speaking of miserable, tomorrow is Thursday, a short school day for Kaylee, and a day I normally would take her to McDonald's Playland, about once every two weeks or so, and we're due. But man, I'm not sure I can handle that...so I won't bring it up, and we'll see.

Tonight at Awanas, Kaylee said her sections, and got Red Jewel Number Two. She was extra excited though because her team (yellow) also WON for the night. Her team has only won one other night--the very first night--so she was pretty pumped to both win the competition for the night AND get another jewel for her crown for her uniform. I'll have to take a picture of her in her uniform with her jewels next week, and hopefully she'll have another green one next week too. She's so cute. :)

And a CONGRATULATIONS to my friend Anita, who just gave birth to a healthy little girl, Rachel, her 4th child. Well, and her husband Matt gets some congrats too, I guess. ;) Congratulations you guys, I'm thrilled for you!

Until later!

Okay, I give. I woke up this morning and knew I wasn't going to make it up. My throat was on fire. I admit it. I'm sick. My throat finally started working again by late afternoon, and the coughing isn't as bad as it was. I still think the Airborne has kept this not as bad as it would have been. Steve had to take Kaylee to school for me this morning, and I was barely able to go pick her up at 11:30. I went to Wendy's for lunch and hit the video store to give her something to do while I was feeling incapacitated. Came home and wiped out. Things got better in the afternoon and I started perking back up a little, though I now have a low-grade fever just above 100. Made mac & cheese with Kaylee for supper, which made her happy. I'm goin to try to take tomorrow easy too--go get more medicine maybe, but otherwise try to keep from overexerting, get plenty of rest, drink plenty of fluids, and get over this fast. Luckily for me, I haven't been hungry in th least, either. I ate some Mac & Cheese at supper, and it was the first thing I'd eaten all day. Then my appetite picked up a bit and I had some melted cheese on tortillas. Not bad. :)

Okay, so this was a super boring entry. What can I say, it makes for a super boring day when you feel lke crud and don't do anything for much of it. ;)

Warning: This discusses some material I read in a book about a horrific character from history, so don't read if you're not inclined to too much information on stuff like that.

I just finished reading a fascinating book called "The Historian" by Elizabeth Kostova. I'm not much of a history buff, I admit, but the novel was well-written enough and personalized enough to keep ME reading for 700 pages, so that's pretty good. The funny thing was, I had no idea how much of the book was based in actual history until I started Googling names, dates, places in the book. Other than the main protagonists in the novel, it was purely historically accurate. How someone can take a book about Vlad Tepes (Vlad the Impaler) and make it not sound like a silly horror movie but a fascinating look at the real man back in those times, well, it took a very fresh look and a lot of creativity. I actually learned a few things. It was not a graphic novel at all, it was just a journey through several decades of history and the life of Vlad III. Something I found fascinating was this man's moral code. Okay, we are talking about the man named Vlad the Impaler because his favorite form of punishment was impaling people on very large, well, never mind. Some of the things I found on Google about what he did were MUCH worse than the descriptions in the book, and I don't think I need to share the details. But it was pretty horrific, and he would do it to 20,000 people at a time, set up his table in the midst of the forest of people, and eat his meals there. But he had the weirdest moral code. He detested thieves, liars, and people who weren't productive in his society. So he fixed that by inviting all the poor and crippled people in his kingdom, who were not "productive", to a huge meal in a grand hall. After they all ate, he asked if they were happy, when they agreed, he boarded up the doors/windows, and set the place on fire. Instant getting rid of all the "unproductive" members of his kingdom. This mentality obviously didn't begin with Hitler. He had a woman impaled when he went past a farm and decided the man working it was wearing a shirt that was too short, so his wife must be lazy. He detested laziness, so he killed the 'lazy' wife and set up the man with a woman who he claimed wouldn't be so lazy. A golden cup was strung up in the center of his kingdom, used for drinking in public...and thieves were so terrified of him that it was never touched nor disturbed. The one that just says it all about honesty though--he had a visitor who had heard of his kingdom's reputation for honesty and his policy on thieves, so he left his cart unattended over night. When he returned, he was missing 160 pieces of gold. He told Vlad, who sent out a hunt for the thief, and who replaced the man's gold plus one extra piece. The man went back out, discovered his gold had been returned, and said "it has been returned plus one piece." Vlad's men found the thief and impaled him, and then turned to the visitor and said "Had you not told me about the extra piece, you would have been impaled next to him." Yeow. I can't even begin to imagine the moral code SO offended by lying, stealing, sloth, etc. and yet so casual about mass murder (in horrible ways) on a whim. He was quite the fascinating read, but mostly it left me in renewed horrified amazement at how people can take a moral code and use it for an excuse for the worst of human depravity. Like the Crusades, as well. I know it's all around the world, even today, on mass levels like that in places like Africa for example. It just seems very far away from Kokomo, Indiana. I know it's not on the smaller scale, that "evil" resides everywhere, but I am grateful that "things" like Vlad are not part of the small world in which my family and I live.

For anyone insterested in history, the book really isn't gruesome. I got those details after I continued the search on the internet. The book was pretty interesting!

Okay, last night wasn't good. I was awake until well past two a.m., lying in bed, coughing up a lung and a rib and whatever I ate for supper. I drank half a bottle of cough syrup, which managed to make my teeth ache, but didn't stop my cough. I'd have gotten out the codeine stuff, but by that late at night I'd have woken up loopy. Of course I practically woke up loopy anyway. I do NOT feel well on that low of sleep. Anyway. Got up this morning and took Kaylee to school, then headed to ship off some SMA stuff at Fed Ex, then headed to KMart to pick up ballet shoes for Kaylee. Of course KMart didn't HAVE ballet shoes. So I had to drive all the way across town to Target, where they had some hard-soled ballet shoes, which I got. Came home and crashed for a bit, then got up and headed to Applebees with "the guys". Left there and ran a few more errands (post office, etc.). When I picked up Kaylee, we studied her Awanas verses for Friday, and messed around until 4 pm, when she had the WORST time picking out which ballet outfit to wear. Finally she chose a lovely ensemble of the palest ice blue with a delicate butterfly on the front and a delightful ribbon on her upper back. White tights and her brand new pale pink ballet shoes with little diamonds on them completed the look, along with hair pulled back into a ponytail. She looked lovely. And she had a blast! She did her tap, her ballet, etc. for an hour, and she did VERY well. And okay, she was cute.

I actually cooked tonight. That's noteworthy. Garlic shrimp on linguini pasta. It was actually pretty good.

Going to clean up a few things, get some work done, try to relax...

Did ya miss me?

I started chugging Airborne yesterday, and you know what, I think that stuff actually does help. Whatever I tried to come down with, it has left me with a very bad cough, but it's a mostly dry cough at this point, and it never moved into my head, sinuses, nothing. I was quickly going downhill yesterday, I started taking the Airborne, and within 24 hours I was doing a lot better. That one day though was rough. I coughed so hard and for so long that I've bruised my stomach muscles, my abs, even my neck and back hurt. It hurts to sit up, and coughing now is an exercise in ouch. And I napped a lot today too. But I have no fever, no stuffy/runny nose, no "zoned out" sick feeling, nothing contagious looking, just a cough. I wonder if that would have been the case w/o the Airborne. I'll never know, but I'm thinking I'll try that again next time I start to feel something trying to attack me. If I'd have started it the very first day, I might not have had the bad coughing day.

The weekend was spent at home, relaxing, hanging out, mostly off-line, reading a book, etc. Nothing too exciting!

You know, the pork burgers at the airport lunch today were good, and I didn't expect that. I'm not a pork fan, though I can eat it, but these were pretty tasty, especially with large, grilled portabello mushrooms on top. Nicely done for Ty.

This morning I got a bit of a flying fix in. Flew around in the Citabria, did some maneuvers, goofed off, headed over to Sheridan and did a couple of nice tols there, started getting worn out and came back to Glenndale. My stamina is kind of low today as this lung bug is fighting me, but I'm still fine! I'm still a little twitchy though, I didn't get the full fix in. Maybe soon...

Great

I'm fighting off something. I can feel it in my chest. That does not please me. I am chugging down the Vitamin C and washing my hands a LOT. So far so good.

Today was a pretty day, the sun was shining and the temps were in the low 60's. Tomorrow it's supposed to get up to 68! If it's a pretty day, I may go fly something. I'm getting twitchy. I sure wish the Seneca or the Baron was around, I'd like to go out and shoot some approaches, do something constructive. I'll probably take the Citabria and maybe go run that around for a bit, if it works out for the weather.

Kaylee had a quiet day today, she did well in school, and we just mostly hung out at home today because I was trying to rest a bit and keep myself healthy. I did run the usual suspect of errands. Post office, DLT, CVS to pick up my 207 photos that just came in, lunch at Long John Silvers, and Kaylee even got some ice cream at DQ and I didn't! The day I don't feel in the mood for a Blizzard....huh.

Well, that was a depressing post yesterday. Let's see. Today I got quite a few things done, got the airport bills taken care of, lots of mail out, bank deposit, phone calls made, business cards and certificates for the flight school printed up and some cleaning up done. Then I went to the school and picked up our cookie dough from the school fundraiser. (Mini break here to say they made me come back at 11:30 to pick it up, so I had to go to the school three times today instead of twice, and that's kind of annoying.) Dropped it off at home, and then headed out to Glenndale to drop off the business cards (three of which need redone) and certificates, and hit lunch with Ty and Chuck and Nathan at Culvers. Very tasty by the way! Stopped back by Glenndale for awhile and chatted about the depraved state of politics and the world with Greg, then ran and picked up Kaylee from school. Prepared for her Awana lesson, got her some food, and then took her to Awanas. Ran a few more errands around. I needed to get gas but I'm not in the mood, so I'll wait for one more day when I can be good and nervous about how low my tank is getting. Tonight I'm going to do some more billing things for SMA Support, and probably watch "Criminal Minds", and then work on the computer as I can.

Time to go pick up the Kaylee-girl!

At least I'm not still tasting strawberries...

Don't ask.

I dropped Kaylee off to school, hit the post office, hit the grocery store, then went and "rocked the vote". Okay, I didn't rock anything, but I did go vote. I even had a voter's guide to look at the night before so I could vote intelligently. I ended up voting for some independents, some democrats, and some republicans. I doubt it makes much of a difference, Florida in 2004 be darned, but I do feel like it's something I should do anyway.

After getting Kaylee from school, we came home and worked on her "JOY" paper for school. It's a note sent home telling us to "be creative" in decorating this paper, that we can use buttons or ribbons or Cheerios or whatever we want. Kaylee told me it would be graded. Why does SHE have to suffer because I'M not creative? Ugh. We used glue and different-colored glitter in the letters, and she helped me glue gold stars across the top. I'm quite sure other kids will have fancier papers, and I'm quite sure that for now, it's okay, because she had a blast doing it with me, and spent the next two hours doing pretty crafts for me and friends, and she's a lot better at this art stuff than I am. For that, I'm thankful! She ended up the day in the bath tub, covered in glitter sprinkles and smiling. I'm thankful for that, too. I almost made a Bad Mommy Move. Well, I DID make a Bad Mommy Move. She called me from the other room and asked me to help her get the glitter off. I walked in, and instead of doing the colors one at a time, she'd put all the colors on at once. I said "I can't get them off now without mixing them up, Kaylee. We're not going to have separate colors any more. Why didn't you do the colors one at a time like we have been so we can save the colors?" Then I really looked at the paper, and it was really pretty and shiny, and she'd spent SO much time on it, putting so many colors on it and things I couldn't see under the glitter pile, and I just felt really bad for sounding so negative right off the bat. She started to cry, and I picked her up and told her I was very sorry, that it looked beautiful and that I'd help her get what colors off we could, and that if they all mixed up it would be okay, that we would get new glitter, and that I could tell she had a lot of work in it. That she hadn't done anything wrong, and I was sorry for sounding grumpy. I asked her what was under the glitter. She told me to look; so after I got what I could off separately, and mixed the rest into a new "rainbow bottle" of glitter, I saw that what she'd spent so much time working on was a note for me all in glitter: "Kaylee Loves Mommy!" with a heart and a rainbow, and around the edges she'd drawn a frame, and put different colors on each frame. It was pretty sweet, and she worked hard on it. Of course I have to keep it! And how close it was to me really hurting her over something stupid like mixed up glitter. I'm so glad that I saw...

The next craft she made? An airplane flying through a rainbow, using the new rainbow glitter we have. She put me in the front seat, and Steve in the back seat. *snicker* She said "Well, I put you in front Mommy because I couldn't put you BOTH up front because I don't know how to draw that." I told her that was fine, I'm sure Daddy won't mind. ;)

Well, thanks to Oprah for getting all serious on me again. I stopped working long enough to watch the show, and the first story of the day is about a mother in Africa who was assaulted by rebel soldiers, who had to watch her 5 year old daughter be raped by these two men, and then chop off her hand. When she begged them to leave her daughter alone, tried to stop them, they responded by chopping off the mom's hand. They left the two alive, and this mother then carried her wounded five year old baby for THREE DAYS straight, with an open wound and only one arm herself, searching for medical help for her daughter. For the next three years they traveled to various refugee camps, until the girl was 8 years old, and rescue workers told the Mom they could take her daughter to America, but not her. She let her daughter go, to give her a chance. Now THAT is a story about love. Oprah reunited this mother with her daughter, and it's been six years since they saw each other. This is a picture of the mom and daughter getting medical help for their hands/arms. They are both smiling, and how incredible is that? There is an email that floats around about how becoming a mother will change you. I have seen mothers who were too shy to say 'boo' to people turn into tigers when their children were threatened. And stories like this one, it doesn't just impact you because the story itself is so hard, it impacts me because I have a five year old daughter, and I can put my face and Kaylee's face in that photo, and I can not begin to imagine what that mother went through, and I don't want to. Any time someone thinks their life is hard, that things are bad, that their situation stinks, take a look around, and be grateful.

That story reminded me of "Badger Moms". The phrase I heard for the first time at the funeral for little Morgan Saville, a sweet little girl with SMA Type 2 who passed away last year. At the funeral, the pastor (who knew the family well) talked about how he had been driving somewhere in the countryside when suddenly he came upon a badger in the middle of the road. He slowed down and waited for the badger to move, but it wouldn't. So he tried to go around the badger. At this point, the badger jumped onto the hood of his car, and snarled into his windshield. He said he turned the car around and went the other way. The badger didn't care that the car was 50 times its size. The pastor then relayed how he saw a quiet, polite, sweet, shy Southern lady, in a hospital with her gravely ill daughter, turn around with a spine of steel and tell doctors in no uncertain terms what she would and would not allow. She did things on her terms and she did what she felt was best for her daughter, and she didn't let anybody or anything stop her from doing it, no matter what their size or position. He said he flashed to that badger, and ever since, many of us call some of the SMA moms "Badger Moms". You might be able to think of a bigger animal who is protective, but these moms aren't big. You might be able to think of a meaner animal, but these moms aren't mean. What they are is quiet, unassuming, afraid, and yet brave. Until something or someone threatens their child. And then they show their teeth and claws, and people and professionals who don't know them are usually fairly stunned by the ferocity with which they will push and fight. Just like the little badger. And you'd best watch out when they start banding together. :)

Well, I guess that's enough. I need to do some bills, and a few other things, and chaos has returned to the house. There is glitter and glue and paper and clothes and shoes and messes everywhere, mostly just from today. Let the house go for one day without actively picking up, and it's amazing what can happen...

Ballet/Tap

Well, before I get to the ballet. This morning after dropping Kaylee off, I made a bank deposit, hit the post office (the lines are getting longer now that Christmas is coming), and shipped off some SMA Support stuff to two different countries. Then I headed out to Glenndale, and had a flight in the Warrior with someone, came down and we had lunch at Applebees with Nate, Chuck, Steve, me and Greg Messer. Nate drove me to Kokomo, where I picked up the Seneca and took it to Sheridan to have some smoke issues looked at. (The plane, not me.) Chuck picked me up at Sheridan in the Citabria, we headed to Glenndale where I had a whole 15 minutes before I left to pick up Kaylee at school. Got Kaylee, stopped back by Fed Ex to pay a bill and ship off a laptop, then it was time to get home, eat, and prepare for ballet.

Now, ballet. Before I start, let me say that I'll be uploading some photos I took at ballet class to Kaylee's site coming up soon here, under the November '06 page, so you can check them out. :) And, Kaylee had a lot of fun, she concentrated hard and tried to follow exactly what her teacher was saying, even when about 3 of the other kids there were just running around doing their own thing and not listening at all, which is pretty distracting to other little kids who also might want to go play then. So she will be staying in ballet/tap now, and her first recital will be in June.

When I walked in and finally sat down, I liked the facility. It's a very small area, but it is burgundy and gold and black, has a full wall mirror on one side, and a nice dance floor area, and a few rows of chairs for parents (or whomever) to observe. Kaylee hopped up on the stage and did her thing in front of this pretty large crowd, without even hesitating. I'd have been terrified to be the only one brand new at this and doing it in front of people, but she just ran up there like a champ. There are 14 girls in her class, and she is the third "Kaylee" in her class. The teacher has to call the Kaylee's and the Bailey's by their last names, because there are so many of them. And to think I'd never heard of the name when we first decided to name her that! Anyway. One thing I hadn't realized was that the girls wear tights every single lesson, so I didn't have tights on her tonight, but we will next week. The teacher would also tell the girls to get into "First Position" and "Diamond" and "House" and "Second Position", and they all knew what that was and Kaylee didn't--and yet she managed to do the moves just about as well as anybody in there. She really fits in to that atmosphere and arena, and I have a feeling she will really come to enjoy the dancing, it seems to fit her personality to a "t".

Speaking of atmosphere, it is a whole other world in there. I mean no disrespect to the people I'm about to describe, I truly don't, because people I love fit this description too. :) But after I sat down and looked around, I was amazed not just by the other girls, but by their parents. I was truly in their world, not mine. I was the only brunette there for one thing. Well, let's just say I was the only one whose hair color was currently brunette. :) Every mother in there was in her 30's to 40's, with blond or fake blond hair, usually longish hair tied up in a fancy French Twist, thin, fashionably attired, little boots and hair and jewelry accessories and manicured nails and all. They could have all been related, they looked so much alike. And the majority of their daughters were mini-me's of them. Kaylee fit right in there-thinish, blond ponytail, tall.

Looking around, I just kind of had to smile, because I felt like an alien. Now I didn't look like an alien, even though I was just dressed in jeans, tennies and a sweatshirt, had brown hair and weighed about twice as much as anybody in the room. lol I can usually pull off looking fairly normal in most situations, and frankly at this point in my life, I don't give a hoot if I fit into a certain category or not. Face it, I haven't fit into many categories at all my entire life, so I'm kind of used to it! But I definitely was the only one like me in the room. This is such a foreign thing to me, dance classes. I like big rumbly radial engines and the smell of jet fuel and things that go very fast. Of course I enjoy classical music and watching my daughter be a princess too. But it was clearly obvious to me that this was her, this was her personality, her desire, so I am happy if she is happy. She looked beautiful up there, and she is very graceful. I look at her sometimes and wonder how she's mine! I was SO shy, and clumsy, and liked bugs, and a big book worm, and the nerd in the class; and she is so outgoing and graceful and girly and doesn't have time for books most of the time. And she looks great in a dance outfit. I can't wait to see her very first recital!

One funny note; after they did ballet for about 45 minutes, they put on their tap shoes for the "tap" portion of the lesson. Now let me tell you what, give a group of fourteen 4-5 year old girls tap shoes and a hard floor and cut them loose in a small room, and...wow. I, without thinking, blurted to the lady sitting next to me, "Man, if I'm going to stay for the tap part of this, I'm going to have to come equipped with some Excedrin or a flask next time." She looked over at me and started laughing, luckily. She wasn't a mom, she was the grandma of one of the girls there. So she was a little different--a 50 something year old thin blond woman, well-dressed, but who at least laughed at my comment. I wasn't much kidding. I. can. not. handle. that. kind. of. chaos. I about jumped out of my skin to flee the room, and was trying to just breathe for a bit there until they got things in order and started "tap dancing" to music you couldn't hear over the kids' shoes. Whose idea was it to put little kids in metal shoes?? MAN...of course Kaylee loved it.

There was one young girl there, I don't know how old she is, but she is certainly much older than the other girls. She was a very large young lady, and I have a feeling she was in the 4-5 year old class because of skill level. I knew this was the right place for Kaylee when I saw how the teacher handled this little girl and the others. She didn't show favorites, she helped the girl who is there because she loves to dance even though she won't go on to be a world-famous ballerina just as much as she helped the tiniest little blond girl who had all the moves down to perfection. She was respectful to all the girls, and she was patient with them all. And I was actually pretty proud of this bigger young lady, who may have been the oldest one in the room, but didn't let it stop her from having fun, dancing, feeling 'pretty', and going for it. I applaud her for doing it, her mom for not discouraging her from it, and her teacher for making it a positive experience for her.

All in all, it was an interesting and fun experience for both Kaylee and myself. Of course that was $15 later for a sign-up fee, $35 for the month of lessons, $18 for the tap shoes I had to buy on the spot since I just had her in ballet shoes for what I thought was just a ballet lesson (silly me!), $20 for a registration fee for the recital, and $45 for the costume for the upcoming recital. Yep, I kid you not. The good news is, I'm paid up on things for quite awhile! And did I mention she had fun? :o) She did a Fantastic job, and I'm very proud of her! Pictures up on her site under Nov. '06! www.kayleestants.com!

GO COLTS! I don't know how this game will end yet, but they're doing great as of half-time, and I didn't expect that against the Patriots. So I'm quite enjoying this game, actually!

Man, we got a lot done today as far as decluttering and organizing. Not my favorite thing to do, but I sure like it when it's done. I also still have a LOT to do, particularly in Kaylee's closet. We went through baby toys and took out baby clothes to garage storage. Our closets are a little bit better now, but like I said, I still have a lot to go. I hate a cluttery house, but I also hate taking the time to actually get it done. Ah well. Progress, at least.

I got some letters actually written tonight to my grandmothers and to my former college roommate, got the airport bills colated and ready to fold/stuff, got the deck cleaned off too with Steve, and Roadie is now officially inside at night instead of on the deck. Her paws are healed up, her litterbox on the deck is gone, and she officially has free reign of the house too.

Not much going on today! Tomorrow I have a flight in the morning, have some stuff to ship out for SMA Support, and after Kaylee's school, she has her ballet class. Should be a busy one!

Ah, Saturday! Well, I did do quite a few things, but I admit I didn't get out of my pajamas today. You know, once in awhile it's kind of nice to do that.

Richard & Ann headed south today, and Kaylee was pretty upset about it. She came running into my bedroom, crying that she didn't WANT them to go. Grandma had let her pick out one of her dolls to keep with Kaylee while they were in Florida, and Kaylee has been hanging onto that doll all day. In fact, she's right now sleeping with the doll, too. Kaylee is a girl who likes physical reminders of people, and she likes to give people physical reminders of HER. A lot of times I will write a little note to put in her lunch at school, a note that she can read herself now usually. Something simple like "Mommy Loves Kaylee" or "I love you Kaylee" or something like that.

This afternoon, Kaylee and I carved up this gigantic pumpkin she picked out awhile ago. I've put it off, not sure I could actually manage to get it carved, but by george we did it! It is oblong, and weird, and I've just put up all the photos from it on Kaylee's site, a new "November '06" page. So go check them out- http://www.kayleestants.com/photosnov06.htm. It was actually kind of fun. Except that she said she wanted a scary face, then she said she wanted a sweet face, so I drew on a sweet face. She freaked, flipped out, whined the whole time I was on the phone with Stephanie, that she really wanted a SCARY face and she wanted a NEW pumpkin. I finally get off the phone and manage not to throttle her, and she bursts into tears then says very quietly and with this wobbly voice "I'm sorry I was upset mommy, I like it like this, it's okay if it just has a smiley face. It's cute. Next year can we maybe do a scary face?" I told her we had just drawn it on so far, that we can change it when I cut it, and she insists she now wants it smiley and kind of creepy, not just creepy. Her version of compromise and being sorry for being so pouty. So I gave it a big grin with a tooth, and drew in angry eyebrows, and she was pleased and all was right with the world again. She has a flash temper, but when she's over that flash, her heart kicks in and she is very sensitive to other people's feelings on things. Now if I could help her not have that flash, it would be nice, but I think that's probably just her personality. Since it's not mine at all, I am really not quite sure how to help her with that, but I'll do my best!

Tonight at dinner, after Steve prayed, Kaylee said she wanted to pray too. We said 'okay', and while she prayed for the food, she also added something like this. "Dear Jesus, I miss Great-Grandma Stants too, please be with her and let her be happy and dancing, dancing with her husband in heaven." She actually said it in a sweeter way than that, but the exact words are escaping me right now. It was enough to make both Steve and I glance up at each other with raised eyebrows, shutting our eyes quickly so she wouldn't catch us. It was sincere, it was sweet, and I swear, if there is a heiarchy of prayers to be heard, the innocent, sweet prayers of children have got to be at the top of the list.

I also added a few photos to the fun flying pages here: http://www.laurastants.com/funflying15.htm. Mark Watt, a friend of Nathan's who flies the

Mustang in airshows and such for him when needed, was at our BBQ Bash this year, and took several photos. So I added some new ones of the Mustang, and several of the Seneca, and one of me in the T-6. And hopefully he'll send more later! Here's one of me and someone in the Seneca...missed approach I'm afraid, had to go around and try that landing again.

Finished the new Stephen King novel today too. The man knows how to turn a phrase, and he's a lot 'brighter' than people who don't read him think. SOWISA-Strap On Whenever It Seems Appropriate, indeed. I always enjoy his novels, especially these later year ones. Yes, I have too much to do to be reading a book, but you know what, sometimes you need to do just that. It rejuvinates me.

By the way, hi Georgia. :)

Fridays are always busy. After I dropped Kaylee off at school, I headed out to Glenndale, and Chuck flew me in the Citabria to Sheridan so I could pick up the Seneca. We stayed and heard a fascinating story about a funeral. lol It took us two hours to go from Glenndale to Sheridan to Kokomo and back to Glenndale. It was a chilly day, but pretty blue skies. Had some trouble with a tug for the Seneca and had to push it back in the hangar by hand. Had some trouble with the left engine producing smoke again when it shouldn't have been, but it ran fine.

Lunch was after that, and we had delicious Italian Surprise by Marilyn Hopper. Around 2:30 I left to go pick up Kaylee at school, and we came home and did our thing for awhile, until 5:30 when it was time to go back to her school for a "Family Chili Dinner Night". They had chicken noodle soup, chili, peanut butter sandwiches, carrots (my contribution) and desserts (some of which I contributed too). Then they had an area for games for the kids, and face-painting. Kaylee did all the games, won some cookies and a ring, and got a rainbow painted on her face. One of the other teachers there came up to me and said that she really enjoyed being around Kaylee, that she had a sweet heart and was very independent. That's always nice to hear.

That reminds me, while we were eating, Kaylee saw one of her classmates there, and it started a conversation about talking too much. She let me know that if you talk too much, Mrs. R. (her teacher) has you go out into the hall for awhile as punishment. I immediately said "So have YOU ever had to go into the hall?" She said "Nope!" (Side note, that shocks me! lol) Then she said "But Christopher (a boy from a different class) had to go into the hall and Mrs. B (a different teacher there) was yelling at him. She made him cry. She was yelling at him SO LOUD that MY CHAIR was VIBRATING!" I kind of blinked and said "Has anyone ever yelled at you?" She said "no". I said "Why was Mrs. B yelling at him?" Kaylee said "He wouldn't stop talking or messing around or yelling and he wouldn't do any of his work and he wouldn't do ANYTHING." I said "We don't think that yelling is the right way to handle stuff, do we." She said "No, and when he started crying, Thomas started crying. And when Thomas started crying, *I* started crying. And when I started crying, EVERYONE started crying. And we were all crying!" I am glad Mrs. B is not Kaylee's teacher. Now I don't know how truthful the yelling thing is, Kaylee has accused me of yelling when I haven't had my voice raised at all, I was just being stern with her and she'd say "Stop yelling at me!" So that may not be accurate. But whatever happened, if an entire class--a different class none-the-less--was crying, it had to be not very pleasant! Kaylee's been SUPER lucky in that she has had two of the best teachers. Patient but strict, gentle but great at getting the kids to listen and learn. I'm thankful that her school experience thus far has been so positive, especially since I know it isn't always that way for kids.

Anyway, above is the rainbow she got painted on her face. :) When we got home, she was Wiped Out. She was whining and mad that she couldn't show her face to Grandma & Grandpa, and I put her to bed a little early even! Tonight I need to collate the airport's statements with the invoices and get them ready to hit the mail, and that's what I'll try to accomplish tonight...

Today was a busy one! I dropped Kaylee off at school and got to work at home. By 11 a.m. I'd done more than most days get done all day. That sentence is terrible but my head is killing me so I'm going to let it go.

Called and ordered some stuff for SMA Support. Called and got a replacement air purifier for Kaylee's room because hers rattles. Called the dance place and signed up Kaylee for dance lessons, and she starts ballet and tap on Monday! (Today was my "I guess I have to use the phone now day") Shipped off some stuff at Fed Ex. Hit the post office. Twice. Did four loads of laundry, swept the floors, got the trash ready, decluttered and cleaned a couple of areas. Got a deposit ready for SMA Support that includes a LOT of checks to enter and log. Steve got some taxes finished up for me. Busy day, can't think of what else but it was a non-stop day until supper! When I picked up Kaylee from school, I took her to the video store as promised, and when we came home, she spent most of the afternoon over at Grandma & Grandpa's house since they will be leaving soon. I worked online for awhile, did some more cleaning, and that took most of the day. Stopped and watched Oprah (got grossed out by Dr. Oz and his healthy vs overweight "Omentum" that he was showing us all from actual people), had dinner at Hacienda with Steve and Kaylee (and skipped dessert thanks to seeing that Omentum), came home and grew a headache. :O Headed to bed! Busy day tomorrow too, more work stuff. Picking up the Seneca, more shipping to another country for SMA stuff, Kaylee's school dinner at 6 pm, lots to do!

Oh, the BBQ Bash fundraiser keeps growing, we've got in to date $7874.39! Second highest amount ever! Thanks to everyone who helped, who donated, who cheered. Small groups can do a lot with that kind of money you know!

Wow it got cold today. I can smell snow in the air tonight, and I'm not ready for that. Several of the Glenndale Guys have or are headed to Florida this week, as are Richard & Ann. It will get quiet up here in "chilly" Indiana! The way I've been eating these last few days, I think I'm trying to get into hibernation mode...

Today Kaylee and I played her new game from Grandma & Grandpa Stants, "Topple". I expected it to topple, but I'll tell you what, I didn't even have to tell her about center of gravity and weight and balance. She chose where to put her pieces on the thing, knowing where she needed to put it to keep it from tipping. Maybe that's normal, but I didn't expect her to think it through that well. We played two games and never got it to "topple"! I even tried to make it one side heavy, and she'd counteract me. lol

Tonight I took her to Awanas, and she said her verses and did her craft, and she got her crown and three jewels; a Red jewel for finishing up the section of verses, a Green jewel for doing a craft and memorizing some "flag care" rules, and a Blue jewel for never having missed any Awana nights so far. She was Really proud of the jewels!

I'm going to try to get some thank yous and receipts out, and tally up some additional funds that came in for the BBQ Bash tomorrow. And if I can motivate myself, carve our GIANT pumpkin with Kaylee. She chose this massive pumpkin to do, and I've avoided it so far, but it's time to suck it up and do it. Of course that'll mean more photos. ;)

Roadie's feet seem to be healing well--better than Dulce's did. Somebody brought up that Dulce might have been so hostile to Roadie when she came back because she smelled like that vet clinic--and that is very likely true. I hadn't even thought of that. Dulce HATES that place, and Roadie was there for 24 hours, so she probably did smell like it and not herself.

Guess that's about it for today. Did some billing for Steve out at Glenndale, ran to the store for Kaylee's school for some food they needed for an upcoming dinner, hit the post office, the bank, kept the living room from over-cluttering, worked with Kaylee on her verses and played games with her. Put up a quick Halloween photo page for the SMA kiddos (I included one of Devon and one of Kaylee) at http://www.smasupport.com/halloween06.htm. Talked to a police officer in Illinois about a scam artist who has been lurking on our SMA sites and keeps trying to sign back up on chat under different names. She is SO busted...

Okay, so tomorrow I need to pumpkin carve, do laundry, hit the video store (because I promised), and work on BBQ Bash and Auction stuff. We'll see what else gets done I guess.

Night!
p.s. Hey Chuck, don't forget to put your Citabria time from today down in your logbook. ;)