Day#42

This is Gary's rental car while getting the Nissan fixed after he was backed into on the day before Christmas Eve. Instead of Chevy Sonic, I liked to call it the Red Tatertot.

Day#41

Day#40

A boy and his dream truck. He's already got his dream coat and vest.

Day#39

No big deal, Grant's eating his cereal.

Day#38

Bob has been loving this box since Christmas Eve.

Day#37

Christmas Eve, a beautiful and warm family

Day#36

I was going to post our Christmas Eve MEGAbreakfast family picture but just got the news that Jack got a 32 on his ACT and I am so overcome with relief and happiness and excitement I just had to share! Here's our happy and smart boy!!

Day#35

Debra brought the game Suspend and Sam likes to play it pirate-style which cracks us all up because he leaves his unpatched eye closed, too.

Day#34

This chicken leg-looking part of my hand is extra chicken leg-looking now thanks to wild, unbridled enthusiasm while playing foosball last night. I swear it is the only "sport" I display any competitive drive (well, you might also include badminton because I love to do downward drives in a slightly vicious manner but really, it doesn't compare).

The weird thing is that my competitive drive while playing foosball is like at a totally loco level. You can ask Gary. You would be shocked at the aggression this gal can dish out and the awesome scoring I can do, especially once I am warmed up. I started playing it in college and not even that often, but, not to sound immodest, I did feel I had found I had a gift. Today the heel of my hand is so swelled up and sore and discolored, and I can't wait to get to play again.

Day#33

At the Galleria

Day#32

"Geez, Sam, you need to hold off on the corn dogs." --Caroline G

Day#32

Day#31

Celebrating Ross' 29th birthday today, one day late. We did Imo's, Best Buy, Toy Store, and Orange Leaf. Boba forever.

Day#30

This year's lights are much improved. Good job, G! Next year let's also do the arched entry.

And by let's, I mean you's. ; )

Day#29

Who needs a scarf when you have a furry (and very cooperative) animal?

Day#28

MusicMonday finally revisited. This morning I watched this video and had the song in my head all day. This is an awesome performance from the 2004 Rock n Roll hall of fame inductee ceremony tribute to George Harrison. This was the first time Prince had ever performed a Beatles song, although he has done several others since, and this was the only time he has publicly performed this song. It's so good, what a shame.

Tom Petty, Marc Mann, Jeff Lynne, Dhani Harrison are doing their thing and it's really good and then Princey Prince solos and unbelievably kills it. And makes it look so easy. Maybe if we all wore a 4-inch collar, we'd have some guitar super powers, too?

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=6SFNW5F8K9Y






Diane Gill

Day#27

A lousy picture but this is one of the burned down businesses in Ferguson. Just driving through and it gave me a queasy tummy.

Day#26

Jack took the ACT on Saturday.

Day#25

Grant is fine, don't be alarmed. It's been a jam-packed week and I missed posting yesterday. This pic was actually taken at the start of the week, Monday, and I will say Grant is tons better now.

He was sick all last weekend with a sore throat and very high fever, over 104. I took him to the pediatrician Monday morning and he couldn't even walk in on his own. He had not eaten anything but three spoons of pudding in three days and was drinking almost nothing because he could barely swallow. The strep and flu rapid tests in her office came back negative so she was puzzled what was making him so sick. He had a minor ear infection, but not even a red or swollen throat. She was concerned since he was so visibly sick, she sent us straight to Children's Hospital-STL.

Once we got to Children's ER and was seen, Grant had his first ever blood draw and IV. This is the kid that totally freaked with a screaming crying cowering fit at getting a shot in the arm at age 10. [Ah, memories! See July 29, 2010 post titled Tetris.]

I was not sure how it would go but let's say Grant has definitely matured considerably in four years and he did great even if he did hate it. Gary was there by that time so that helped us both. Gary was telling Grant his past IV stories. I was trying to put emphasis on the humor of those and less on the horror, but they did involve both as most hospital experiences do. Side note: A Swamp People marathon was on the tv the whole time we were there. That lightened the mood considerably.

The blood tests ruled out any other significant things going on and the test for mono was negative, but he did test positive for Influenza A with the hospital's test. So after two bags of IV fluids, a diagnosis, and a script for the ear infection and Tamiflu (to hopefully shorten the duration even though he was he four days into it), we were sent home for the night, yay. We also got a Tamiflu script for Jack as a preventative. Grant stayed home two more days from school, but by Thursday he was back to eating like Grant and crabbing at Caroline so I knew he was then doing ok.

Day#24

Tonight I hosted our Bunco group's Christmas party. We've been playing Bunco once a month since 2005--soon ten years. Some great girls here! It was a comfy clothes theme so that would explain the pjs and Hammer pants.

Day#23

Finally!

Bobcat

Day#22

Hey, today the tree got lights. And of course Girlfriend had to turn the ladder into a piece of gymnastics equipment.

Day#21

The tree is feeling a little more free today without its netting. I will say one good idea is to put your tree on the hardwood floor on something like this flannel backed plastic tablecloth. I wanted something that would block any water from getting to the wood floor and by having the flannel side down, I found I could easily slide and twist the tree any way I needed to.

Day#20

We got our tree tonight! Trust me, it'll be looking good in a few days.

Day#19

Common sight around our house.

Day#18

Bad enough that your daughter takes over your scarf, but it's really crossing the line when you find she's given it to the cat.

Day#17

Presenting... the finished laundry room. I took down the old wide border that was at the ceiling and painted the walls a, in my opinion, much better yellow. Well, it is the same as the new hallway color which maybe I have not even yet mentioned. That was a story in itself so maybe tomorrow?

I loved the bright colors in this floral canvas from Target so that was my inspiration to go with red and yellow, plus I emptied out lots of junk that landed in here when we moved in. I also came across this plug-in air freshener scent called Library, not even joking. It's labelled a blend of leather and oak and it's my favorite smell these days.

If this laundry room is somewhere I'm going to be living my life, I figure I might as well like being in there and now really I do.

Day#16

Grandma and Grandpa came to Jack and Grant's holiday concert tonight. Everyone agreed it was an impressive performance of the high school band, orchestra, and choir.

Day#15

I was cleaning out the basket o' papers today and decided to keep a pic of these as a nice reminder.

Day#14 redo

Without the Sentosa effect this time around:

Day#14

Oops, yesterday's New York Center should have been #13. Oy!

Our family at Thanksgiving this year, thanks to photographer Ross. A fun day for sure.

Day#12

I didn't realize until today that I only have to go as far as Vandalia to get to the New York Center. Who knew?

Day#12

The only picture I took for our family Thanksgiving get together today was of these cuties. I'm waiting for Ross to send me the official group photograph. He's waiting for his $99.

Day#11

Day#10

Thanksgiving

Day#9

I was in Goodwill yesterday looking for things to decorate the laundry room when I found this.  Instant flashback to when I would check this double album out from the library Summer 1977 and listen to Daybreak and Mandy to my heart's content.  I think I had forgotten Easy Listening was ever one of my accepted genres.  

If you need to relive the Barry / Mandy experience like I did, here you go:  

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qv9rd_EwHF4&sns=em

Day#8

Sam making pancakes
Well, one pancake