This and That

While not "all better" my foot is noticeably improving! I hope and plan to be back at work on Tuesday. If not, I will be very, very sad. Thanks to the holiday, I won't get the results of the MRI I had Wednesday until Monday late afternoon so still have no idea what's actually wrong. Hopefully NOTHING!


I have spent my time off going through So. Many. Things. The entire pool table is stacked with stuff ready to be donated to Goodwill. We will be getting rid of TONS of toys, books, movies and clothes. And yet, my house is still cluttered! It honestly doesn't look any better than it did before I started. How is this possible? It seems that our stuff reproduces like rabbits and accumulates overnight. Where does it come from? Why can't ANY flat surface remain uncluttered for 24 hours? There are books, papers, toys and clothes everywhere! How do I make it stop? Aaahhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!


My plan for my (hopefully) final three days off is to spend a day apiece in the living room, kitchen and bedroom and attempt to find a place for everything. There must be 10 coats and 4 backpacks on the kids' hooks by the front door. There should be 4 coats and 2 backpacks. I will fix that. WHY are there golf clubs in the living room when nobody in this house has EVER played golf? Surely we can find a better place for all of the papers and chapstick and books and JUNK all over every table or flat surface. It must be possible!? I'm making an attempt...


So far we've had an awesome holiday weekend. The neighbor kids have been gone so haven't been bugging me. The kids have been getting along fairly well and mostly sharing video games. Mostly. Yesterday morning Gene and I were still lying in bed when the kids started fighting about who "owned" the Mario game they were playing. Kaylin claimed that Santa gave it to HER. Ugh. Well, I can say one thing, Santa (and WHY do you kids still believe in Santa???) will NOT be bringing individual gifts this year! Santa's bringing a family present and a note about SHARING. Otherwise, the kids have been more than happy about hanging around home with hobbled Mom. It's been fun watching them relax and play. Kaylin put up the Christmas tree yesterday and Tiger the cat has so far left it alone.

I've decided to stop freaking out over Logan's reading ability. After a week of making him read out loud from a comprehension workbook I found at Barnes and Noble, his reading and comprehension have both improved noticeably. I think what was needed was for Logan himself to be told there was a problem. I think he has been uninterested in reading and had no desire or drive to improve. Now that it's suddenly a "big deal" he's like "Oh, I CAN sound out words and read whatever's in front of me. I CAN pay attention to what I'm reading and answer questions about what I just read." I mean, he still needs plenty of work, but I think that will include practice and enforced reading time daily rather than testing and tutors and $$$$. If we work with him for the next couple of months and he's still way behind his class, I will certainly take major steps with tutoring. Meanwhile, his Ear, Nose and Throat doctor appointment is on Tuesday, so hopefully that will be the start of taking care of his hearing problems.

One of my favorite restaurants near our house started selling I think 50 different flavors of soft serve ice cream. This could have been a year or two ago, but I'm not a big fan of soft serve, so have never bothered trying any. The kids occasionally get some, but I think black raspberry has been the strangest flavor they've tried. I've been bored to death with my time at home and was in a weird mood yesterday, so when Gene went to pick up our order and the kids asked for ice cream, I told him to get me a black licorice one. Both kids groaned in disgust and I figured it was worth a dollar to eat a bite or two and watch their reaction. I dramatically spooned the first bite of black licorice ice cream to my lips, happily listened to their fake gagging and quickly shoved the bite into my mouth. Pure bliss! It was the best soft serve ever! I loved it! Perhaps my occasional side order of hummus will be replaced with black licorice ice cream. Or maybe I'll try rum raisin or peanut butter. Oh Pita's, you just keep giving me more reasons to love you!