Leave It To Indie

Pitiful, isn't it? This is my first post in weeks even though there have been massive amounts of things I should be writing about. But, I guess maybe it's because things have been so gargantuan that I haven't had a chance to write.

We're all moved in. We're not all unpacked but we're all in. We're not completely furnished with the things we'd like to have and were without a couch or any seating places in the "great room" for about a week, but we survived and will continue to survive. Committment to cash-only purchases definitely requires us to practice the idea of delayed-gratification.

Anyway, as the title says, leave it to Indie to bring me back to blogging. She said the most hilarious thing at Wal-mart tonight and I just had to make note of it.

We were walking by the pajama/loungewear section and there was this terrible little t-shirt that had a picture of Pebbles from "The Flintstones" on it. She was crawling in her diaper and looking back over her shoulder so that her diaper was the most prominent thing in the picture. The caption read, "Baby Got Back." I saw it and kinda moaned over the ickiness to myself. Indie went right up to it and said, "Does this mean the baby went away and now the baby got back?"

ROFL!!!!

I just said, "You're so funny, Indie, " and let it go with that.

Okey dokey....it's late and I'm still pooped from MannaFest (Fort Worth with thousands of other Mannatechers including He-Man!!). I'm so glad to be home with Henry and the big kids. I missed them so much. I hope that one day we can ALL travel together ALL the time. I don't like being without them.

TTFN.

Ivan the Terrible

My kids are really interested in this hurricane stuff. They must be talking about it at school, too because Ray asked me if I wanted her to go outside and bring in the lawn chairs. She said the wind could blow them into our house! Good point....might have to do a little outside-prep-stuff.

I've GOT to share with y'all her creative writing paper she's working on. I'll try to get that typed on here tomorrow. It's entirely too late to worry with it now.

So - - back to the topic of the Hurricane....
I guess it's possible that we're gonna get some pretty serious effects of this sucker. I don't know if it will be severe but it's very possible we'll be without power and could possibly sustain some damage. I wonder how much we should prepare. I need to talk with my parents and in-laws to get their opinions...I think my sister is wanting to evacuate....I haven't heard that from her but it doesn't surprise me. I think her little town is going to be right in the middle of it all but I don't know if it will still be super-strong by the time it gets to her. She'll be heading North to her in-laws if they go anywhere.

We'll be staying here.

Part of me is looking forward to the excitement of watching what this storm does. Is that a morbid fascination or a pretty normal thought? I'm not EVER interested in being anywhere near a tornado, by the way, but this hurricane stuff is different for some reason. I definitely don't want any really strong stuff here but there is a sense of child-like anxiousness waiting for Ivan to get here. Maybe the kids' school will be cancelled for a day or two and we can all kinda hang out together watching the rain and news. Maybe the storm will keep everyone else so occupied that my phone won't ring for a few days. Maybe we can snuggle on the couch and watch some movies together as a family.

Maybe we will never lose our power. Maybe we can watch the trees blowing wildly in the yard. Maybe all branches will remain attached to their trunk. Maybe the thunder will rumble in the far-off distance but never too close to us. Maybe we will not have any tornado warnings.

Hang on tight : changing train of thought...

I have some HUGE potentials in Mannatech on the horizon. I feel confident I will be Presidential Director by the end of the year. That's BIG deal. And if even 1 of the 3 HUGE potentials pans out, amazing things will happen to my business. We are booked for the November cruise! So exciting....hope all of the places we're supposed to be visiting will still be around after this Hurricane Season is over!

Last change of subject --

I miss Granny. Everyone else does, too. It's been an interesting bond we all have now. A different kind of bond than we've ever had before. A regular prayer of the kids is, "please don't let Momma, PaPaul, or GJo be too sad about Granny."

Speaking of kids (and oops -- one more subject-change ) Indie wanted her hair cut short so....I did it. I need a digital camera so I can show you. It's really cute! It needs a little snip around her left ear. I'm not a professional for sure, but it looks pretty good, if I do say so myself :)

The Hallway Dash

The kids are running from the girls' bedroom one at a time while Henry times them to see who is the fastest sprinting to the kitchen floor and back. You see, we encourage running in the house. Sigh...

Next event, The Mattress High Jump.

Found out last week that too many people won the cruise so Mannatech had to work out a second cruise date. The second cruise is a day shorter and pays $250 spending cash (in exchange for the shorter trip) and leaves on the same day the first Manna Cruise comes in. They're looking for volunteers for the 2nd one and we have volunteered. All things are good for the 2nd trip other than the AL/AU game being during the trip. HOPEFULLY it will be on ESPN and HOPEFULLY ESPN will be available in the sports lounge or something! Otherwise we'll be getting the extra cash and will get the opportunity to rub elbows a little closer with the Corporate folks and doctors. And I'll enjoy the shorter trip. Henry will have to take less days off of work and I won't have to be away from the big kids as many days (He-Man will be with us since he's still nursing. Leaving him here would be absolute torture for everyone involved.)

He-Man is really doing well with potty-training. He's peed and poohed a couple of times (actually has poohed every time since the first time -- even though it's not a 'perfect' potty request. It's him telling me he's about to poop and me running him to the potty just in time.) He's still wetting his diaper because he only pees in the pot when he's considering poohing. And he's said he was going to pooh a lot more often than he actually did. Some of it is novelty and requires entirely too much time in the bathroom. Hopefully that will wear off soon. I'm also totally expecting him to lose interest soon, too. Maybe not but I won't be surprised if he does.

We had the big kids' year-older pictures today. They did really well. The change in Rocky from last year is HUGE! Not his looks but his willingness to have his picture made :) I'll try to send a picture from last year to the blog in just a minute....

Today is my sister's birthday. I had to do the math to figure out how old she is. That makes ME old, doesn't it? She was born in 78 so she's 26, right??? YIKES! That's old -- too old to be my baby sister, anyway. We partied at her house this past weekend and we gave her a tshirt that says "I Love Zack Morris" -- isn't that hilarious? She seems to really like it so that makes me happy. She's hard to shop for.

Allrighty, I have 4 kids surrounding me and making all sorts or racket so I guess I should close for now. He-Man is telling Ray (who is in my lap) "No, no, no, no." He's trying to push her out of my lap. Sigh.

Ray would like to say a few words:
He is making a lot of noise! I am not kidding! (TRUE) He is pushing me around now! Ummmmmm...Stop yelling in my ear He-Man!!! (I am just talking to He-Man!) Now my mom can start talking now! Here she is...........

Later gators :)