Survived 9 tweens, only to be felled by the common cold

Shannon's b-day party was a blast. We transformed the house into a tiki hut! It looked pretty cool, if I do say so myself. It even impressed the Barbie moms!

We also got some great pics of everyone posing as surfer dudes:

Even the cake turned out pretty well.

Now, I have a horrible cold, and I'm going to bed.

Valentine's Swap!

My swap partner was Angie, who I really didn't know before this. I have never done this before, so I was a little nervous. I am so glad I had her! Now I'm getting to know a really nice person and received some really wonderful gifts.

She sent me a photo album (which I desperately need), beautiful windchimes (which I love), coffee (yum!), two wonderful scented candles, and best of all, a candy making kit to do with my kids! How thoughtful is Angie to remember my kids?

The whole thing was topped off with a Texas scarf (and ironically, I was born in Texas and have nothing from there).

This truly is the best Valentine's Day I've had in a long time. Thanks Angie! Thanks Becca!

Bang head against wall, repeat as needed

Ahh, it’s that time once again. Time to put together the pages for the yearbook. I’m doing the 4th grade pictures this year. Why, you might ask, would I put myself through this again this year? Because apparently, I’M AN IDIOT!!!

I got two weeks warning that the pages are due, and so far, only two class moms have responded to me. So, I’m thinking it’s going to be just as aggravating as last year and post luau this weekend I’m going to have to hunt them all down. The kicker is that two of the moms I haven’t heard from are/were Brownie Leaders for my kids. They know me – wouldn’t you think they would contact me?

But at least I get to keep the cool collage software…

Pre party panic

Or PPP as I like to call it, has set in. I have so much to do and 90% of it can't be done until the last minute. I am baking at least part of the cake tonight, cleaning the bathroom, etc and then tomorrow night doing the floors and finishing the baking portion. I've decided to take 1/2 of the day off from work on Friday to finish the cake, go to the store and start taking down pictures, etc.

Then Saturday I can put up the "walls" for the tiki hut, do touch up dusting and vacuuming and decorate (Have I mentioned Auntie Di Rocks? She gave me a TON of Hawaiian decorations) before the screaming tweens show up.

Then Sunday I get to take it all back down. Seem a little anticlimactic. Maybe we'll just have to live in a tiki hut for awhile...... fruity drinks with umbrellas anyone?

I scream, you scream, we all scream for.........

Shannon is having trouble sleeping. She has, in fact, had trouble for quite some time. She can't breathe. We went to the doctor who said she thought it might be allergies that were causing the trouble and put her on medication. It didn't really get any better, in fact got worse, so much so that Shannon was having to sleep propped up. And she snored so loudly I could literally hear her at the other end of the house on the other floor. Then one night when I couldn't sleep, I happened to be walking past her room when she just stopped breathing. Then she coughed and choked and woke up (sort of) and went back to sleep.

Needless to say I was on the phone with the doctor the next day. She suggested I record her snoring and then bring her in. So I did. And when the doctor looked into her throat she said, "Wow, you have the biggest tonsils I have ever seen!"

We were promptly referred to an ENT who she says is conservative with treatment, someone she would take her own kids to.

Today we went to see him, asks me a couple of questions, looks into her throat and says "Yeah those are pretty big. I think this a pretty straight forward case. She really needs to have them removed. Her adnoids are probably also really enlarged which is why she can't breathe and has trouble talking (she sounds like she has a cold all the time) so we should remove those as well." Then he looks at Shannon and says, "You'll be able to talk alot easier".

Shannon looks at me and says,"I wish I cold have the surgery today."

But first we need to see an audiologist to check her hearing, because she also has fluid behind her eardrum and he wants to make sure it's not an issue, which I don't think it is, because the only time she doesn't hear me is when she doesn't want to.

But mostly I think she's excited about the prospect of ice cream.

At least it makes no difference to them

Walking by the room where the girls were playing and dividing up the Littlest pet shop animals:

Emma: This one should be a boy.

Shannon: No, it's a girl!

Emma: But we have don't have enough boys!

Shannon: It doesn't matter.

Emma: Yeah, they can just be gay.

I love that it was no big deal to them!

Miscellaneous grumblings

Well, I began working on the “Hawaiian” cake. Actually, I just started working on the palm trees. First attempt was less than successful. I used pretzel rods for the trunks and royal icing to make the palm fronds. Looked OK but shattered when I looked at them. Alright, I touched them, but just barely. So I have moved on to making them with fondant. If that doesn’t work, I’m screwed. Thanks to Auntie Di, I have everything I need for the party, from blow up palm trees to coconut bras and everything in between! So, thanks Auntie Di – you rock!

Then there’s work – so bad I’m not even going to talk about it. Except to say I hate my boss. No, I don’t really hate him. He quit and left us all (well all 7 of us) to deal with the owner who is a total a**. He’s 74 years old and he lives with his mother, who’s 102 and sweet as can be. He’s too cheap to hire help, so he leaves her unattended (and she really can’t be) saying she has one of those alert bracelets so she’ll be fine. He’s rude and demeaning, mostly to our boss. He was our buffer. I imagine why he stayed as long as he did, but he’s only been gone two days and already we’re all ready to quit. BUT, oddly, he does let me leave whenever I need to, let’s me bring in my kids when I have to. When it comes to family, he never complains. So we all stay, because we either have kids or health issues or family with health issues. I guess I shouldn’t complain, because few places would be that understanding. But then he’s just so mean! He’s condescending and demeaning, and just mean. He actually stuck his tongue out at an employee that complained to him about something. His standard response is always “oh well” when you try to talk to him about anything.

So really, deep down I really am happy for my boss. After everything he’s put up with, he really deserves it. I guess I’m just jealous because he has options I don’t have right now. I need the flexibility here. So I guess I should stop complaining. Sucky tho it may be, at least I still have a job.