DH is doing pretty well. He has one chipmunk cheek, and is eating his ice cream as we speak. (He was told not to chew, but that ice cream or scrambled eggs were okay. Guess which one he chose?)

Ellis-Just strange to BE here!!!

Morning Chickies Hubby found a job!! he starts this morning. Since we are both working days we will be having a friend watch the Bug. This is the first time that it has been someone else watching our kids and not us that is a little unsettling. but no matter how unsettling it is it can't override the joy . I was happier then him when they called last night, lol

Den, i am glad you enjoyed your Anniversary.
Mette, yep even with kids ( and luckily mine are for the most part sweet kids) when i am around someone's kids who are bratty it really grates my nerves.

ellis – how is ‘getting back on track’ going for you, this week? I’m doing OK, but as my days are getting busier I have to start planning my food better.
You’ll probably get rid of those 5lbs right away, and at least you had a great weekend, right?

dentrassi – glad to hear your husband’s tooth-pulling went OK! Those things are never nice! Yikes! But at least he got to eat ice cream after! And the middle-class-thing sounds like fun, let us all know what it’s like up there!!! (heh! )
Heather – congratulations on your husband’s job!

I’ve started with classes this week: I’m doing neurobiology (from a psychological perspective – which means lots and lots of tests. On everything from attention, memory, mental abilities, etc) and community/health psychology this semester. In addition to clinical work at the university clinic.
I’m also doing a class in literature – completely unrelated to the psychology: I just couldn’t resist. It’s a class based on a feminist approach on “tragic heroines” in drama – with everything from Sophocles’s “Antigone”, Shakespeare’s “Macbeth” to Ibsen’s “Hedda Gabler” and Stindberg’s “Miss Julie”. I don’t know whether I will have the time to complete the class – but I’m going to try. It sounds great, I have been taking some feminist/gender classes earlier, and they’re usually very good and interesting.

So that’s me. Hope you guys are having a nice Wednesday!

Good morning, girls!

Den, I'm glad DH is doing well! I had my wisdom teeth removed in hospital, too. All five of them. shudder. Very unpleasant having someone fishing around in your mouth while you're lying on an operating table in your underwear.

Heather, I'm so happy for you and DH!! That's wonderful news!! Don't worry about your kids... they'll be just fine.

Mette, this is my (knock on wood) third day back on track. So far I've only lost a pound of that five I put on last weekend.
Like you, I need to plan my meals better. I'm glad you're doing okay!
Oh... the neurobiology class sounds absolutely FASCINATING!! I envy you! And the lit class... ditto!

Yesterday was a little nasty. Mom and my DS and I had a meeting with a doctor regarding possible treatment for Dad. Only to slow down the cancer... nothing miraculous. We all conceded that he's far too weak to go through any procedures, so we're leaving things as they are. It was the first time a doctor had taken us step-by-step through the location and type of each tumour. It was devastating, but at the same time, very interesting.

On a lighter note, I'm going over to Mom and Dad's today to screen in their back porch! Did I say this before? A week alone in my own home would be divine.

Is anyone watching the Olympics? That swimmer of yours (can't remember his name) is amazing!

ellis – so sorry to hear about your father’s cancer! Hope he’s without pain and lives comfortable, and that the rest of you – you, your mother, and your family are doing well.

Also good to hear you’re back on track. As for planning meals better - I’m starting to think I have to divide my total numbers of calories a day (1500) on the number of meals I’m supposed to eat (5) and just start making meals that are 300 calories? I eat breakfast at home (always oatmeal w/ milk & banana), but have to make & bring 2 meals to school most days. I so wish I could find an easy way to do this – but damn - this losing weight business is hard work!

So you’re staying at your parents’ house while screening in their back porch? I’m very impressed by your handiwork talents – I can barely paint, much less screen something! You go girl!

Ellis, also sorry about your dad.

Alterna-gals, I will be an empty nester as of tomorrow! Of course this is always a bittersweet thing, but I am looking forward to many aspects of it---getting my house in order, getting my SELF in order--work on getting these pounds off, and getting back to the many stitching projects I've put down and left sitting over the years due to hockey and football practices, school meetings, and rooms that constantly seemd full of pop cans and pizza boxes no matter how many times i cleaned them up.

Tomorrow we take youngest son (and his bro) to college and (gasp!) leave him there. dh and I won't know how to act!

dh has some ideas how to act and I do too, but some of mine are different......

Check with me in a few weeks,-- --- but I feel excited and ready for this next phase of my life.

Thank you, Mette. Life is actually very good. We've really been blessed.
My parents moved into the city about three weeks ago, and they're only six blocks away from us. It's great... I can just walk over to see them and help out.
My sister is just a few blocks away, too.
A few days ago, Dad answered the phone. It was a telemarketer selling cell phones. He said to the guy, "Look! I'm dying of cancer. Unless your phones connect from earth to heaven, I have no need of one!"
Oh! I like your idea of dividing your calories into five meals! I wonder if I could get organized enough to do that this fall...

Thank you, Cheryl.
Hey! You and DH will be ALONE! A whole new life for you! You enjoy it, girl! Of course you'll miss the boys, but you'll have time to rediscover yourself. I'm so glad for you.

Ellis-I know the doctor visit must have been hard sweetie. Sounds like your Dad is dealing with things pretty well. It must be a big comfort knowing that your parents are closer...SOME of the time anyway!!! You, your Dad, and the rest of your family are in my thoughts sweetie.

Mette-Good for you!! I'm still OFF track!! Cooking mushy food for DH to eat, and often joining him!! (Refried beans for dinner last night, and of course I had tortilla chips with mine!!)

Cheryl-COOL! We are just starting the process of finding a school for our eldest who wil be a senior this year...and I'm ALREADY freaking!!!

Well, so far middle class means Clark could get his tooth pulled!! We were without coverage for years, and couldn't afford the extraction. NOW maybe we can replace the crumbling concrete steps out front!!!

I love your dad's answer Ellis!!! I am glad they live so close now. Email coming to you soon. Congrats on staying OP!!!

Den - If you had the choice between eggs or ice cream, which would you pick? Glad DH is doing good. And I am still glad you are back with us too! I know it's been a little while now, but I am still glad.

Congrats to Heather (and her DH)!

Mette - report back on the lit class. It sounds pretty cool!

WB Cheryl! Enjoy the quiet.

Jessica - I was staying in Santa Ana, going to a PeopleSoft class in Costa Mesa. But the only place I would drive to, besides class or the mall up the street, was the Spectrum. (I think that is what it is called - a big outdoor mall in Irvine) Otherwise the boy drove! I am chicken. I want to go back in October to see The Tragically Hip play in Hollywood, but I don't think I can swing another trip.


Today in my nephew's second birthday. I am taking him to an amusement park tonight. I can't believe he is so big already. I love when I walk into the house, before he even sees me, I hear "Hi Sarah".

I got a kiss from a British boy today. Ok so it was just on my cheek and he is just a co-worker for the UK. But I am always happy when I get a kiss lately. It just doesn't happen often enough!!

Squeak, a kiss is a kiss. lol well some kisses are a little nicer.
lol but still.

ellis, your dad sounds like quite the character. I hope he is free of pain. and hey i have some porch screens that need work. <hint, hint, lol>

Cheryl, it may be because my kids are whiny today but i sure did think to myself when reading your post. "gee ain't she lucky"

and i must be the weirdo around here. because i woulda picked the eggs over the ice cream.

Heather- I like eggs a lot myself, but ice cream with tons of chocolate chunks in it STILL wins!! And I agree about the kids. Love 'em, but can't wait for school to start!!

Squeak-Thanks sweetie!! I know you have had some bad news. I hope you still managed to have fun celebrating your nephew's birthday though. I know what you mean about them speaking. My little sweetie nephew is starting too. He is younger, so it isn't as sophisticated, but when he visited last May he was showing me things.....BGG (bug), FLER (flower, accompanied by a big sniff, and then practically sticking it up MY nose so I can smell too!!), 'CORE (encore, accompanied by giggles since this means he wants to fly some more, or be bounced some more!!) (My sis is a French Professor, so she is starting him early.) His latest word...BACK HOE (he LOVES trucks!!!)

Hey, girls!

Den, thanks for the good thoughts for Dad. You're such a good friend.

Squeak, did you have fun with your little love yesterday? He is such a sweetie... I wish I had a nephew or niece.
Thinking about you, hon.

Heather, I can't WAIT until the kids go back to school! I know that sounds b*tchy, but I've GOT to get my house back in order! And my LIFE!!
How's it working out with the babysitter?

Not to complain or anything, but I've got another bladder infection. This is my fifth this year. I'm so ticked. I should be at the drop-in-clinic right now, but it's cold in there, and I'd have to sit for an hour before seeing a doctor. I'm drinking lots of liquids and taking lots of cranberry capsules (can you OD on those things?), but I know I've got to get a prescription.

Hey, I hope Mauvais gets back soon! I miss her!

Cheryl – good luck on being an empty nester! It sounds like you’ve got a lot of projects to do, and as long as you’re excited – nothing’s better than that!

ellis – I knew your parents were moving closer to where you live, I just hadn’t heard the reason why. It must be good that you all are living so close – your parents, your sister and you. I lost my brother a few years back and my family is sort of spread out around the country – so we didn’t get to see each other much. And I think it would have been easier if we had.

Squeaker – we had the first lecture in my lit class yesterday on “Antigone” by Sophocles. Now, I don’t know about you guys, but I’m completely blank on Greek drama. Antigone was one of King Oedipus’ daughters, and she had this great stand against the tyrant (her uncle) of the city she lived in to get her brother a proper burial so that he would have access to the underworld. Her brothers (she had two) killed each other because they where on opposite sides in the war. Very tragic (well, it’s sort of given, since it’s a tragedy!) The family is – of course – completely insane. Since it’s the family where Oedipus married his mother and had 4 children with her. So Antigone’s father is both her father and her brother. Her mother is both mother and grandmother. It all gets very complicated. It’s a complete soap opera 400 b.c.

And good for you that you got kissed! I don’t miss having a boyfriend much, but sometimes I do miss the kissing!

ellis – sorry to hear about your infection! Yikes! Keep drinking the water and eating cranberries, I haven’t heard about anybody OD on those!

And happy Friday everybody!

Mette, I'm so sorry about your brother. He must have been very young. I think there are benefits and downsides to being close in proximity to your family. And to being far away. Certainly when someone is ill, it must be difficult to be at any great distance.

Ooooh, you're doing Greek drama! We studied it (obviously to a much lesser degree of difficulty) in Grade 9 or 10. I loved it!

ellis: thank you, and yes my brother was very young, and it all happened very suddenly. By now, 4 years later, the shock of it has passed while the grieving is still ongoing – but things are much better than they were. I suppose we find a way to live with it eventually.
I just wanted to say that it was difficult to live far away from my family when it happened. I’m usually happy not living next to or near them – but when something like this happens, it’s good to spend time with people who are going through the same.
These days I’m very happy living where I’m living!

The lit class is called “tragic heroines in drama” – so it’s basically about difficult, stubborn, and obstinate women who did great deeds and ended up dead, I think. To be continued next week – when we’re doing Macbeth!

And you know, I’m sure we all hope Mauvais is having a great vacation and all, but ellis is right: it’ll be good to have her back!

My plan for the weekend is to get all my notes and print-outs from last semester (!) organized and put away in neat folders. Which means spreading them out on the floor and the bed, and see if I can get them organized by date and class! And also clean this place up. So that when I get up Monday morning everything will be clean and organized! That’s my plan!
And also go hiking, and maybe see a movie.
What are you guys doing?