You know what they say about the best laid plans...

Brandon was supposed to be in Chicago, running new analyst training for the month of February. He wasn’t scheduled to be home on the weekends, so the kids and I took full advantage and planned a trip to see him. I will come up with any excuse to go to “the city,” as I’ve affectionately refer to Chicago.

I love Chicago! I love it’s food, I love looking in the stores, I love the energy. I do not however like crowds, paying through the nose for parking (if you can find a spot), and no, I don’t want to buy a Streetwise. So, while I could never live there, I would spend every weekend there if given the opportunity. Luckily, we can be there in 2 hours and 52 minutes.

When we received word about Linda’s passing…via e-mail…we assumed the trip was off and while disappointed, the kids knew it wasn’t an appropriate time to come unglued. Brandon decided he would end his project and head home. I told him to sleep on it and get some rest before driving home. Saturday morning, the kids and I piddled around the house and started to straighten our nest for Dad’s homecoming.

Around 9:30 a.m. Brandon called and said he was still coming home, but we might as well come up for the weekend as planned. There was little we could do at home and it would be a nice break. The kids were thrilled and I packed at lightening speed. We planned to spend the day at The Museum of Science and Industry, stay all night downtown, and leave our schedule open for Sunday. Meredith had a suggestion for Sunday…

As we started north, a snow storm came out of nowhere. I was driving defensively and felt confident or I wouldn’t have made the trip. Ten miles into our journey up I-65, I noticed a car backwards in the trees with the driver looking totally confused. I slowed down. Another 15 miles up the road,traffic slowed even further. There was an accident. There was a twisted car and white sheets. I knew what that meant. I said a prayer for those involved and called Brandon to let him know we’d be later than expected.

Alex and I looked at the long line of cars backed up in the southbound lanes and thanked our lucky stars we weren’t in either the accident or the mess. His miniature engineer brain said, “Hey, why don’t they just back everybody up to one of those turn around places and bring them to our side of the highway? Then, they could make one of our lanes go one way and the other lane go the other way.” I downloaded an application for INDOT the moment I had internet access.

Our plans changed several times along the way, and we decided to meet in Merriville at one of my favorite restaurants in the world. The events of the weeks were easier to handle as a family while enjoying hotdog perfection. I could tell Brandon needed to see us as much as we needed to see him.

We didn’t want to rush through the museum, which would close three hours after we got there, so we planned to visit Sunday instead. That lifted the pressure of adhering to a schedule of any sort. It freed us to do something I’d seen signs for along the side of the highway. A billboard that says, “World’s Best Gummy Bears,” will almost always cause me to veer off the road. I held it together and spelled out “c-a-n-d-y f-a-c-a-t-o-r-y” to Brandon and he agreed it might be a fun distraction. It was and I’m so glad we went.

Meeting in Merriville also allowed us to drive into the city together. While I don’t mind driving in the city, I wasn’t all that anxious to do so in a very wide vehicle with two chattering kids. We checked into our hotel, which had a great view of the lake and the John Hancock building. We were also right next door to the mall that houses the Lego store, which worked out great for our budding engineer.

We walked around for awhile and wound up at Giordano’s for pizza. Meredith wanted pizza, and if I can’t have Lou’s, I’ll take Giordano’s. We made our way back to the hotel and turned in pretty early. I woke up in the middle of the night to our very loud, and apparently Japanese neighbors. I can’t be sure, but I think it was a spirited discussion of the merits of Hello Kitty versus the power of Pokemon.

Sunday, we had breakfast and caved to Meredith’s suggested plan to visit the new American Girl Store. We had two hours to kill before the museum opened. I braced myself for the crowds, but evidently 9:20 a.m. on a Sunday is the time to go. We were virtually the only people there. We could have had brunch in the café had I known. I hope everyone was at church and it isn’t a sign of the terrible economy. We walked out with a new dress for Kit, but not her best friend Ruthie. I’m tough as nails, huh?

We got to the museum well before it opened, but it gave us a chance to get early tickets for the U-505 exhibit. If you live anywhere near Chicago, you need to see this exhibit. It’s incredible! I choke up over nearly anything involving WWII, and this was no different. It’s just awe inspiring. I was particularly proud as a friend of mine from Bradley spent five years raising the funds to make the exhibit a reality.

We weren’t on a time crunch, so we spent the rest of the day exploring every part of the museum. They have a new-to-me area where kids can watch a personalized toy be manufactured. You stick $5 in a machine, pick your color, type in your name and watch your toy go from bits and pieces to a packaged product. Considering how much manufacturing is now done overseas, and that Brandon’s degree is in Manufacturing Engineering, it was a neat opportunity for our kids.

After a long day we headed home and back to reality. I wanted to stay there and hide for the next few weeks, but I was overruled. I think the kids were just as enamored with the city as I am. They’re lobbying for a move. Just wait until they have to pay for parking.

Lessons learned from my greatest teacher.

For most of you, it isn’t news that my mother-in-law, Linda passed away late last Thursday night. It was definitely bittersweet. On one hand, we would have kept her with us forever if we could have, and on the other it was pretty obvious it was her time.

Linda battled, and I mean battled cancer for the last five years. She was diagnosed with colon cancer the day Alex turned two. The same day we found out Alex would be a big brother. We knew it was bad from the beginning. I prayed she would make it long enough to meet our new baby. Not only did Linda meet Meredith she watched her grow from a sweet baby, to a curious toddler, to a tiny ballerina on a huge stage.

When we heard the word, cancer, I hoped Linda would still be able to enjoy Alex as much as she did the first two years of his life. By now, you know just how serious he is, and no matter what, Grandma could make him laugh. He’s was annoyed after the fact, but she could make him smile wider than almost anybody. She also not only accepted Alex’s strong dislike for having his picture taken, she embraced his protest expression and deemed it his “fish face.” He was allowed to look sour in pictures and she loved it!

Linda enjoyed Alex and his amazing brain until the end. Grandma still made spelling test prep more fun than I ever knew possible even while hooked up to a chemo pump. Linda would drag herself out of her chair the minute Meredith burst in their back door yelling, “Grwama! I’m here!” Our children were so blessed to have Linda even if it was for only a few short years.

You know something interesting? We went through a lot of genetic counseling prior to starting our family. Most of you know Brandon’s sister and first cousin both have Down syndrome. While it isn’t thought to be genetic, our odds seemed higher than most. When Brandon and I met with the geneticist, he suggested we start having children soon and to close up shop by the time we reached 30. Wow! We were 25. It was a little scary. But, we took a leap of faith and now I wonder if God didn’t nudge us so Linda would have more time with her grandchildren.

Losing his mom has been particularly hard for Brandon. He travels so much for work, that her illness wasn’t as much a part of his daily life as it was for me. I saw Linda three or four days a week and knew what the future likely held. I was prepared. Brandon wasn’t. I think Linda’s death came as somewhat of a shock to him. Linda never complained. Sometimes she was “tired,” but that was it. Brandon’s dad, made it seem as though everything would be okay, she just needed one more treatment. Men have a different way of dealing with death. Families have different ways of dealing with illnesses. I was prepared and I did my grieving slowly and gradually, so when the time came I mostly felt a sense of peace for Linda.

Of course I’m sad and I’ll miss her deeply, but I know she’s no longer in pain and she’s finally free to rest. I loved her enough to let go.

I wasn’t always easy to get along with. I had to learn how to accept guidance and helpful suggestions. I had to learn that an e-mail with 50 additional activities to do while visiting a particular city wasn’t an attempt to control my trip, but was a loving message to soak up all I could. Saying my lasagna was so great and would be really beautiful with fresh parsley chopped coarsely on top, was Linda’s way of guiding me and sharing what she knew.

Brandon gently told me about three years into our marriage that I was the first fully capable “daughter” Linda had to raise. It wasn’t that Linda didn’t love her own daughter with all her might, it was that she knew Kylene would likely never teach a little one to read or set a table for a baby shower. Linda accepted me as a daughter. I had to learn to what that meant to her. I came from the house of “You’re almost 12! What do you mean you don’t know how to make a meatloaf for crying out loud?!” Not that I don’t now appreciate my own mother’s insistence on raising me with a strong sense of self-sufficiency, but it was a new school of thought to which I had to adjust. I wish I had been a better student and had more time to learn.

I started to panic yesterday when I realized I would never have Linda’s chili again. I wished I’d watched her make salsa. I laughed when I thought about her easy approach to baking and how she once artfully squirted whipped cream around the edges of a pumpkin pie that pulled away from its sides. I cried when I realized no one will be there to make a green bean casserole at holidays and let Kylene take all the credit.

It will be little day to day things that will make me both miss Linda and remember her. Case in point, Alex came up with a way for me to stitch his beloved blanket, Green back together. He explained how I could cut out the bad sections and simply sew the sides together. The words, “We’ll just take it to Grandma…” tumbled out of my mouth without even thinking.

The kids are doing fine. Thanks for asking. Alex is very stoic and told me tonight, he tries to cry, but just can’t. He firmly believes Grandma is in Heaven and is whole again. Meredith told me she’s not going to be sad because Grandma said not to be sad. She picked today to follow directions.

Linda didn’t want anyone to be sad. She didn’t want a service of any kind. She was cremated and didn’t want “any fuss.” Brandon’s dad has planned a memorial service for her on Friday. I’m a little concerned over the list of power ballads I see on the list to accompany the slide show, but it’ll make me laugh secretly and be a little less sad when I hear them and that’s exactly what Linda would want.

If these wall could talk, they would say I'm boring.

Exciting things are happening at the Webbers. Distractions abound!

We’ve lived in this house for two years. In those two years, I’ve hung three pictures. I have no good reason.

When we bought our first house, we were young and I was filled with enthusiasm to decorate. I had no children, lots of energy, and a pea-sized budget. I decorated with whatever I had on hand, found at IKEA, and purchased at Tuesday Morning.

I’ve lost ambition to nest all together. I suppose that’s what happens when all the energy you once invested in making your house a home is expended on keeping your home from swallowing you. Either that or I’m just really lazy.

A few weeks ago, Annie was over and I showed her a picture from the latest Pottery Barn Catalog, which I used to read like the Bible. Now, I just recycle them, because I’m probably never going to spend $1,800 on a mirror. I found a wall that I really liked the layout of and thought of Annie. Her walls all look Pottery Barn Catalog walls; only better, with more history and interest.

Annie immediately went to work sketching out what my blank wall would look like and we even dug out prints from my dining room buffet that have been there for seven years. They’re from IKEA. Annie diagnosed me with a case of “lack of confidence in hanging pictures,” and arranged the pictures on my dining room table. Just. Like. That.

Back to my giant, boring, blank wall. Well, it isn’t always blank. Sometimes it has a disproportionately small sketch of the Eiffel Tower, which is funny considering what Brandon and I think about the French. ANYWAY…Annie helped me flip through my photography portfolio and size a few prints for display.

If you can believe this, only one of them is of my children. Only one print is of humans! “I’m not a scenery girl,” I always say, but in clicking through my files, I found I do have somewhat of an eye for fun elements. The great part is, they’re all from trips Brandon and I have taken and loved, so they’re even more special to our family.

I placed a big order with my printing lab last week and the prints came in Monday. I couldn’t be more pleased and I hate to admit how proud I am of my “work.” I’m in the process of framing everything and hope to hang them soon. If I don’t get scared and wind up hiding them in my buffet for seven years.

Once it’s all on the wall, I’ll post a picture. I need public accountability, which is why Weight Watchers works for me. When I go.

Another part of my print order was a 20X40 canvas for Dawn’s new baby boy Geoffrey. This was a fun project and a collaborative effort with Jenny at Shutterbug designs. I sent her a CD with Geoffrey’s pictures, gave her a few guidelines, and let her run with it.

The end result was stunning! These pictures don’t really do the canvas justice, but you get the idea.

A closer look at the actual design.

I cannot recommend Jenny’s work enough. Take a look at her site. The girl is very talented, and has a work ethic like you wouldn’t believe. She’s a peach and I bet she could do great things with all those pictures floating around your hard drive.

Dawn was thrilled with her canvas and I was so excited to deliver it to her this afternoon. Geoffrey was less impressed and just yawned when I showed him.

I'm not newsworthy!

I don’t have much to share at all, but I know many of you wonder how my mother in law is doing, but are reluctant to ask. Ask away, I’m an open book. Unfortunately, I don’t always have much information to share.

The way things are in my family, we discuss almost everything in detail. I thought I was partially Irish until we went to Ireland and I found out I am actually more Scottish. (That would explain my odd attachment to So I Married An Axe Murderer, which Sara and I watched at least once a week for years.) For years, I blamed our “discussions” about nearly everything on being Irish and loving to tell a tale. Now I have no excuse. The Scottish are a pretty tight lipped bunch, from what I hear, so I guess we’re just windy.

My point is, if it were my mom who was succumbing to the cancer, we’d be in constant contact and I would know exactly what was going on. This isn’t the case with Brandon’s family and I keep reminding myself everyone handles situations differently. Then I bottle up my annoyance until I have a full blown Scottish temper tantrum.

I will say I am overwhelmed by sweet, generous offers of help and prayer. Again, I’m reminded of the importance of friendship. It’s such a comfort to know people are praying and to feel the love that so many of you have extended. It’s very much appreciated!

While we wait in limbo, I’ve been making every effort to have our house company ready at a moment’s notice. I wish I could tell you my house is always ready for viewing, but it isn’t at all the case. I don’t know what’s wrong with me, but I can’t keep up. Yesterday, our plan was to clean in the morning, and see a 3-D movie in the afternoon. I worked on the downstairs, while the kids were tasked with cleaning up the bonus room, which includes their playroom. They had three hours for a job that took 15 minutes of focus.

Now, I realize kids need a great deal of direction to clean an area on their own, but you should see the focus they have while dragging out all the toys. For heaven’s sake you should see Alex organize his classroom at school. I know they can do it. I am trying to encourage more responsibility. I have a really bad habit of just cleaning their rooms and the bonus room myself so everything is done the way I want it done. And I wonder why I can’t keep up! I had enough to do yesterday and decided Alex and Meredith were old enough to handle it on their own. I even put on cleaning music for them.

They came down to eat lunch in the middle of their cleaning and assured me it was going well and they were nearly done. So, imagine my surprise when I went up to mop up tears shed over a broken pearl bracelet when nothing, and I mean nothing, had been accomplished. I blew my top and told them the movie was off the table and they had thirty minutes before the garbage bag made a dreaded appearance. Evidently, that wasn’t motivating enough. I yelled out five minute warnings from downstairs over the whir of the vacuum. Three times. Guess what I found when I went upstairs?! Three Legos and two dolls had been shelved. The rest still looked like Bourbon Street.

Remember the Scottish temper tantrum I mentioned earlier? It’s hard to say who had a bigger one. Alex or his mother. Meredith was wise enough to keep her head down and pick up at lightening speed. Which is ironic, considering she will avoid work at any cost. I bagged up enough junk to fill three garbage bags and it’s all hiding under the cover of a blanket in the garage. I told them they could earn their toys back with good behavior and helping with additional chores. So far, it looks as though several Playmobil knights are going to spend a long chilly month under the tool bench.

Happy Valentine's Day!

This isn’t the first time in 13 years Brandon and I have spent Valentine’s Day apart. It really isn’t a big deal since I’m not much of a romantic; which by the way is a good thing, when you aren’t married to a romantic. Not only is Brandon away this year, but he’s about to loose his mom, so a celebration doesn’t really seem in order.

Meredith on the other hand, can’t stop celebrating Valentine’s Day. Yesterday afternoon, our sweet neighbors took Meredith to a Valentine's party at Conner Prairie. They had so much fun and it allowed me to run the Valentine's party in Alex's classroom.

As we've discussed before, Alex's principal has a strict, "no fun allowed," policy when it comes to parties. I broke all the rules and 1.) Stuck candy to Alex's valentines, and 2.) Took cookies and juice into the classroom. My reputation proceeded me. The room moms all met in the cafeteria to pick up the supplies for the PTO mandated games. When I introduced myself someone said, "OH!! YOU'RE Leslie Webber!"

The PTO president, handed me the "snack" we were supposed to offer the kids and said, "Not like your class will be eating this anyway, but here you go." This is the same woman who asked me why I can't be part of the solution instead of part of the problem. If you know me, you know I'm a total conformist, unless I'm in a room of liberals. I like rules. For once in my life, I'm proud to rebel. I think I know what Norma Ray felt like.

My rebellion paid off. As soon as I walked in the door a little girl from Alex's class, who happens to be named Rowan btw, handed me a drawing with a note that said, "You are fum!" I think she means fun, but I'll also accept fum. The kids all squeal when I walk in with my contraband, and that's what it's all about. Put your right foot in...

Friday night, Meredith's dance studio had a Valentine’s Party/Parent’s Night Out. The teachers entertain the children for a couple of hours while parents go out to a dinner and only cut their own food. Meredith’s friend Annie went too. Annie has a new baby brother, Geoffrey and her parents are in the process of selling their old house. They are busy. I am not. So Annie’s brother Joe, and Alex and I went out on the town. By out on the town, I mean we went out for cheeseburgers and made a trip to Target.

When we picked up the girls I asked Meredith if she had a good time. “Yes! It was great! I’m going every Friday!” I asked if she knew anyone aside from Annie, “No, but I met a TON of people! They liked my pajamas and someone said they like my curls. I said, ‘thank you.’” Sorority rush will not be a problem for Meredith.

Our night out wore both kids to a frazzle and they slept until 8:00 a.m. I crawled out of bed around midnight because I forgot to set out their Valentines. I thought they’d be up early. I could have saved myself a trip in the dark. We had heart shaped pancakes for breakfast. At least they were supposed to be hearts. They were more like drunken circles, but they bought it.

A few weeks ago, Meredith went to a birthday party at her friend Ava’s house At the party, Meredith made a new friend, Luci. By the time the party was over, Meredith had snagged an invitation to Luci’s Valentine’s Day tea. So, we had that this afternoon. Alex was reluctant to stay at first, but wound up helping serve the girls and running the craft. God love him! The girls had so much fun!!! I don't have any pictures to show for it, yet...Luci's dad is a professional photographer, and I may have mentioned I'm easily intimidated. It was also fun to watch how he shot and what lighting he used on a dreary day. I'm hoping some pictures will hit my inbox soon.

After a trip to Costco, and a 2:00 p.m. hotdog, the executive decision has been made that we will have popcorn, cheese, and fruit for dinner and call it a night. This may be one of the best Valentine’s Days I’ve ever had.

I could work at Sears if I had to.

In our continuing attempt to keep things as normal as possible, Meredith and I kept a play date for Tuesday. My friend Toni, who I met through Alex’s soccer team last fall, also has an interest in photography. That’s actually how we started talking, come to think of it! Toni borrowed a studio lighting set from a friend and invited us over to play around with it.

Toni has four a-d-o-r-a-b-l-e children. Meredith was so excited to play with Lauren, Toni’s oldest daughter. Lauren is 5 and that makes her neat as can be in Meredith’s book. “Being 5 is magical!” After several lack-of-a-nap induced tantrums from Meredith, we managed to take a few pictures.

We had to bribe the kids with a trip to the Dairy Queen to get them to stop playing long enough so that we could shoot them. We had to remove Barbie’s corvette and a rubber snake out of the frame more times than I can count. It was fun chaos and great to learn with a friend. I’m afraid of off camera lighting, so it was such an awesome opportunity to learn without feeling intimidated.

Here are a few results from our playdate:

Lesson learned...Meredith is very easily "blown out" with any sort of direct lighting. Despite the anemic look, I still like the outlines of her curls. I'm so afraid she'll loose her curls, that I border on obsessive about documenting them. Is that a sign that I should get a job?!

The world keeps spinning.

Admittedly, this week is a bit on the surreal side, but with two children in the house and a husband who is back to traveling, life must go on.

We visited my mother-in-law on Saturday. It wasn’t easy for any of us, except Meredith who happily chattered away about riding her bike and how great she is at writing her name. Meredith is often exactly what Brandon, Alex, and I need. She’s blissfully unaware that anything bad could ever happen because she lives inside a fairly tale. Sunday, Brandon wanted to do something to get us all out of the house and our minds off saying good-bye. In the middle of winter in Indianapolis, that pretty much means a movie or a trip to the Children’s Museum.

We used to visit the museum at least twice a month. The kids both loved it and it was a no brainer for a day when we didn’t have much going on. Those days are over. Oh, the kids still love it, but we have something practically every day. Alex’s first grade schedule really gets in our way. I feel guilty taking Meredith without Alex. I feel like he gets left out of our day enough as it is, which explains why he came home to a hot fudge sundae with Spanish peanuts that was 90% melted yesterday. Anyway, we hadn’t been to the museum in months.

We were shocked to see the huge addition that will supposedly be open in May. It was nice to actually see construction work underway, considering most of the large building projects around town are at a stand still. We probably could have just stood outside and looked at the steel beams and Alex would have gone home happy.

The museum has a new (and temporary, which lit a fire under me) Lego exhibit. Alex loves Legos and the only thing he loves more than Legos are castles and knights. So, this was right up his alley. As you can see, he is beaming with excitement.

For the record, this is Alex's "excited" face.

Meredith wanted to dig in the dinosaur area, so we did that and we stopped by a big comic book exhibit, that may or may not be temporary. I didn’t read the sign, but there’s a “real” Batmobile in there that was used in The Dark Knight, and I assume someone will eventually realize it’s in Indiana and want it back. So, my best guess is that it’s temporary.

Those three exhibits were all it took to wear us out completely. We’re getting old.

Monday, Meredith and I went to ballet while Brandon visited his mom for awhile. None of this is fun for anyone and some decisions had to be made about her care. They made the decision that Linda needed hospice care. Honestly, it was a relief. To know Linda would be without pain and on her way to a more peaceful place lifted a huge weight off my heart.

It seems a little strange that all of this was going on, while I was chatting with the other ballet moms about our fears over our husband’s jobs in this economy, and Meredith was getting sprinkled with fairy dust. I guess the world keeps turning and we have to keep a sense of normalcy for the kids and truthfully, for our sanity. Linda loves her grandchildren more than anything and she wants them to be happy, busy, and learning…always learning, she’s a teacher at heart.

Thanks so much to all who have offered prayers, meals, babysitting, and their time. Someone even offered to come over and help me put away laundry, God bless her! We appreciate it and feel really blessed to have such incredible friends.

A Prayer Request

Not to sound like Chandler Bing, but could I be anymore sporadic with my postings?!

I tend to stay away from sharing much about others here unless it’s joyful news they’re anxious to share. After all, I am an open book and my family doesn’t have a choice but to have their exploits made semi-public, but I try to be very respectful of those not under of roof. So, I haven’t shared much about my mother-in-law’s five year hard fought battle with metastatic colon cancer that is drawing to a close.

I will write more when I have time to properly pay tribute to this sweet, exuberant soul. For now, I just wanted to let you know where I am, and ask for you to pray for a peaceful journey for Linda.



Wake me when it’s 2010!

Barbie tastes like cake

O.K., so I didn’t exactly keep my promise, which is somewhat unlike me. Unless of course we have some sort of social plans, which I’m often prone to cancelling at the last minute if the thought of cleaning my house, fixing dinner for the kids and Brandon, and bathing the kids before leaving, overwhelms me. I’m really bad about that, which might explain why I haven’t had many social invitations recently…But to make up for my lack of posts, this is a ridiculously looooooong post!

As I mentioned, we’ve had connection issues all week. Then Brandon made some upgrades to the computer. My photo files are ginormous and even with my external drives, just take up a huge amount of space on our hard drive. If there was any sense of financial security in the world, I’d be at the Mac store when they opened, but an updated graphics card and more memory will have to do for now. The good news is, the upgrades should significantly decrease the time it currently takes me to edit. Yahoo! My floors may be vacuumed before spring.

Aside from that, the week was just as crazy as it normally is. I don’t even know what I did the first part of the week, but it flew by, so I must have been busy.

Tuesday was supposed to be a half day for Alex and we planned to go to Children’s Museum for the Lego exhibit. After I put The Gator on the bus, it started snowing. I drove Meredith to preschool, thanking God for 4-wheel drive the entire way there.

I realized when we stepped into two additional inches of snow; Meredith was going to have to have new snow boots. During last week’s snowfall, I squished her feet into an old pair of Alex’s boots. She complained they were too tight and I accused her of not liking them because they were black. I was wrong. They were a size and a half too small…at least.

So, while Meredith was at school painting with tissue paper and vinegar, I went to Kohl’s to find boots. I don’t do well in Kohl’s or any department store for that matter. I’m very easily overwhelmed. Nevertheless, I found a pair. I bought them and then realized they were probably going to be a little snug and might not even last this season let alone next year. I had to run another errand in an area close to a different Kohl’s. (They are like Walgreens around here. One on every corner.) I found a better option there and made the exchange. The lady opened the box to double check sizes and there were two left boots in the box. Of course there were. After 20 minutes of searching, I was in business and Meredith was thrilled to wear her new pink snow boots home. I asked her if they felt better than the old boots and she said, “Oh definitely. But, I’m really excited because they LOOK so much better!”

We rushed home to meet Alex’s bus, only to find out they cancelled early dismissal. It was snowing so hard when they were scheduled to release they decided to hold the kids. Don’t you know the teachers were thrilled to hear that announcement.

Wednesday was a blur. I have no idea what we did.

Thursday was hectic. We started school on time unexpectedly. I dropped Meredith off at preschool and went to Alex’s school to volunteer. You haven’t seen focus, until you’ve attempted to coerce a group of first grade boys to “read” for an hour.

Then, I went back to the part of Indianapolis I didn’t even know existed until two weeks ago to visit my friend Neal in the hospital again. I met our friend Jeremy there and we listened to Neal tell inappropriate stories for an hour and a half. Those are the only kind of stories Neal tells and frankly it’s so good to hear him tell them! Neal is battling Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma. I’ve known Neal since Jr. High and I’m very surprised cancer picked him. He’s a corker to say the least. He’s also strong and brave and alone in a hospital room for four weeks while he recovers from a stem-cell transplant. So, Jeremy and I were so happy to be able to don a mask and gloves and laugh with Neal while he whittles away the days towards recovery.

I raced back up the highway listening to the route guidance lady admonish me to make a U-turn at my earliest convenience. Route Guidance Lady, is completely unfamiliar with 465 traffic patterns in the late afternoon. I scooped up Meredith at preschool while Brandon picked up her creepy birthday cake. More on that in a second…

Meredith’s birthday party with her friends was Thursday afternoon. After much debate, we finally settled on Bounce Planet. Alex had his birthday party there. The kids loved it and I loved the complete convenience. All I have to do is show up with a cake. I can do that! I am normally on top of party planning, but with the month we’ve had, Meredith’s party took a back seat. I didn’t even put the invitations in the mail until TUESDAY!!! It turned into a word-of-mouth party. Sort of like a preschool rave. I have practically no pictures from the party because the lighting is terrible. Between the high ceilings, fluorescent lighting, and bright colors, the light makes everyone look ill.

Here are two of Meredith playing a game.

Happily unaware of my camera:

OVER my camera:

Despite the dirty look, Meredith and her posse had a blast in all the bounce houses, playing the annoying games that require tokens and spit out tickets, and riding low-rent virtual roller coasters. Of course we had cake and ice cream…right before dinner. Considerate of me.

A word about the cake. I get really excited about the kids’ cakes. I don’t like icing, so I’m not really much of a cake eater. However, I’m completely fascinated by what people can do with icing. I watch Ace of Cakes with as much excitement as I watch The Real Housewives. I used to get just as excited about Meet The Press, but I cannot stomach David Gregory. Anyway, I always order a fairly elaborate cake for the kids. What did Meredith want this year? What was her only request?

This frightful confection:

A Barbie cake she spotted in of all places, the Meijer bakery. Blech. I was reminded it was her birthday not mine, and her wish was granted. I worried the kids would be traumatized by cutting into and then eating Barbie’s skirt, but no one flinched. They just shoveled it in. Right. Before. Dinner.

Be Back Soon!

Ugh! We switched our phone and Internet service from AT&T to comcast Monday and you would think we decided to re-engineer the grid. I don't know what happened, but we finally have service again and I promise to get a new post on line later this evening. If anyone is still out there! :)