Last minute, Jesse decided to take Rissy with him to Amarillo.  I felt bad that Annamarie couldn't go with him, too.  She had her play therapist coming later that same day and then an appointment for more testing the following day (Friday) at 4pm.  I decided we would make a point to do lots of stuff together that was fun, and I make up for the fact she didn't get to go with her dad this time.

The play therapist left around 2pm on Thursday and that's when our "girl time" started.  I let her pick anywhere she wanted to go for lunch.  She picked the new McDonald's up at the corner and wanted to have a 99 cent double cheeseburger, fries, soda pop and then play in the play area.  I grinned and told her, "That sounds REALLY yummy and fun!"  And off we went.  She took 10 minutes to down her burger and a few fries, then she spent about 45 minutes climbing and sliding while I tried to reconstruct the grocery list I had left at home stuck on the refrigerator!  I told Annamarie this was the best McDonald's we'd ever been to and her sisters would surely be sorry they'd missed all the fun.

From there, we went to Payless Shoes and got her and Rissy some white dress shoes for spring/summer.  Rissy should be able to wear "pretty shoes" if she's just going to church or out to eat.  Normally she wears black tie shoes (haven't found any other color that doesn't look completely like a boy's shoe) from the boys department to correct her walking problem.  Annamarie proudly carried the sack with two boxes to the car.

After the shoe expedition, we went to Wal-Mart and did our grocery shopping, as well as look at everything under the sun.  I can't even remember what we looked at, but look - we did!  We were in there for hours. 

Next, we went to PetSmart to get our cockatiel some things.  We had to look at every bird, reptile, rodent, and cat before Annamarie was satisfied she'd seen everything and was ready to leave!  We came home and unloaded our groceries and then rested for an hour until it was time to pick up Luci.  We had purchased a roasted chicken at Wal-Mart and dinner was a breeze with leftover rice and Insalada Caprese as the sides.

The next day promised us bad storms all day, but there was no way I was going to let her down just because of some thunder, lightening, torrential downpours, and the possibility of tornados!  No, not I.  Meanwhile, the psychologist that was administering her testing had to cancel due to illness.  That left the day wide open for us. 

Our first stop was Home Depot to buy some shelf pins that hold up adjustable shelves.  The shelves are in the girls' closet and having one shelf missing was causing a disastrous toy situation!!!  We found the pins immediately and that's when the heavens opened up and we had our first Noah's Ark storm!  I didn't think we'd ever be able to leave the store and get on with our "girl day" as we sat clutching our little package of shelf pins watching the buckets of rain pound the parking lot.  Eventually, it became a steady rain and we ran, high speed, for the Suburban.

When we got in the car, my friend, Tangi, called asking if we would like to go to lunch with her and her son.  We decided on Chili's and I had a delicious burger and Annamarie chose a pizza!  It was a nice lunch and it looked like the rest of the rain was going to miss us. 

We decided to go to Bed, Bath, & Beyond to look for over-the-door hooks for Marcus' closet.  They are the hardest little things to find; but, so handy.  I knew Bed, Bath, & Beyond carried them and I figured we could buy some Yankee candles while we were in there.  We circled the entire store, found a sale on sheets for our king bed, and (again) looked at I don't know WHAT for the longest time!  This time, my excuse was that ANOTHER huge storm blew in, so we stayed inside to be safe and dry.  We smelled every linen spray, candle, and lotion the store carried.

Opposite that corner is a wonderful bakery called Sweet Memories, a place we only go for special occasions or if we are in the area.  It's far enough out of our usual, weekly errand route, so we never really visit the bakery except a few times a year.  We bought 18 cookies and cookie bars and, already, Annamarie was wondering which ones she would eat for dessert after dinner!

Don't know why, but I decided to back track and go to the Target that's in the same parking lot as the Chili's where we had just eaten our lunch.  WE LOOKED AT EVERYTHING!  Found a gift for Jesse's youngest sister's new baby (he was in Amarillo to see the 3 day old baby, too) and found some things for the girls in the toy department - nothing particularly expensive, some plastic animals, two puzzles, two games, and two miniature dolls with changes of clothes.  Annamarie loved watching the "stash" build in the cart.  We found some backyard play dresses for Annamarie and Rissy to wear this summer when it's near 100° and muggy.

We left there and came home to unload the packages and left again to pick up Luci.  Keeping with the "Daddy's gone" tradition, we had chili cheese dogs for dinner.  Annamarie is in "food heaven" with all the junk food meals and junk food snacks and special cookies . . . 

Jesse is on his way back home, as I'm writing this, with Marcus and Rissy and their expected time of arrival is around 10pm.  So, CHILI DOGS again tonight!  Tomorrow I'll have to get back into the swing of things and cook like a real person, again! 

AND, stay home! 

I haven't sat down in three days!  My preparation of the guest room was more than I bargained for!  I've decided compressed junk is deceiving - it appears much smaller than reality!

I had stored Stephanie's winter laundry (she paid me to do) and JanaLyn's things she had given to Nikki's daughter and things she had donated to the church ALL in the guest room.  Crammed into garbage sacks, it didn't look like that much.  Wrong!  I have the last load in the washer now.  Everything was dirty and had to be washed (before donating to the church or sending on to Nikki) and I lost track of how many loads of laundry I had done sometime yesterday!

I moved the sewing things from the bedroom dresser to the chest in the walk-in closet.  I removed things from the clothing rod in there that I will never wear again, nor my girls.  Now, I have to go through bags of fabric to be sewn into dresses.  It's mainly fabric for the 3 girls and a few dresses for myself.  I can't face anymore "cloth" in that room today!  It's almost a clear path now for Jesse to be able to move the sewing machine to our bedroom.  Praise God for a large bedroom!

I've added a picture to my blog site that best depicts me.  Couldn't find one of an Amish woman or Old Order Mennonite (which would have come the closest!!!), so the pilgrim with the "headcovering" had to do!  I think my figure is a little more "dumpy" than the girl in the cute picture I've selected!

The weather!!! . . . I couldn't stand it any longer today and had to light a fire in the fireplace to warm things up.  The back of the house is chilly at 66° and the whole house is damp feeling - due to the 60° high and rain outside!  I'M NOT COMPLAINING!!!!!!  I remember complaining for the past two summers about how humid and hot my house was and how unbearable.  My age might have something to do with the feeling of excessive overheating all the time!  Today's cool drizzle is welcome, but the fire made things more cozy.  It also made Chip our cockatiel very happy since her cage is 5 feet from the fireplace!  She's in there chirping away.  Maybe she's roasting and I should go check??????

It feels good to get the projects done that I've put off for so long, like: taking apart and cleaning the vacuum cleaner; attacking the guest room junk; using the attachments to clean baseboards, under the birdcage (lots of seed), and tracked in dried pods and leaves; and several junked up areas. 

My poor desk.  I can deep clean it once a month and it never stays orderly for long.  I need to buy the file cabinets I've been saving money for since last year.  They match my desk and will make things look much nicer than the rusted metal one I'm using now.  When I change out file cabinets, I'll clean the file folders at the same time.  I don't think I need to keep utility bills for more than 2 years!!!!

The older girls are soooooo excited about their cousin Marcus coming to stay with us.  They ask every day if THIS is the day.  I hope they don't run him off after being here for 2 days!

I'm waiting until he arrives (for sure) before I stock up on extra food.  We have plenty, but I'll need to make double boxes of macaroni & cheese, etc.

Okay, enough drivel for today - back to the slave job!

We are excited. 

Jesse's nephew is coming to stay for at least "part" of the summer and help Jesse with his lawn business.  He's had problems at home and we hope he likes it here enough to want to stay.  He will be 16 this coming July.  His mom thinks his staying here to finish high school is a good idea, but we want it to be something HE wants to do.  We'll see. 

We definitely have the room in this house (which is why we bought a larger home) and I've always wanted a boy (well, two boys) sandwiched in between Nikki and Annamarie (ages 20 & 7).

We have always liked him and his older brother and felt, a long time ago, we should have offered the boys our home when their family started to fall apart (another yucky divorce situation).  We kick ourselves now for not being brave enough to make the offer.

That's the biggest change in our lives and he (Marcus) will be arriving this week.  We had plans for next weekend, but if it rains all day tomorrow, Jesse said he might go get him early.

That means the sewing machine and all of my sewing "stuff" has to be moved immediately so the dresser will be available to him.  I have a chest of drawers in that room's closet that can hold the sewing things.  Depending on IF he stays permanently, I will have to switch rooms eventually with Rissy & Annamarie and Marcus.  The guest room is periwinkle blue with accents in pinks and white lace curtains on the window.  NOT very guy-like at all!  The girls' room is dark hunter green with a flower border at the top.  The flowers could easily be replaced with another border that's more masculine. 

We just have to take things slowly and see how everything unfolds.  We DO hope to make a difference in Marcus' life, but so much depends on him and his willingness to make a fresh start.

Nonetheless, I'm excited about his arrival!

I haven't written much because I kept thinking, "SOMETHING will happen that's worth writing about," but nothing exciting has sprung from this past week!  Not in our home, anyway.  I've gotten a few cleaning projects done this week - the kind you do only twice a year!!!!  That's not really news worthy!

Earlier this week was the shooting rampage at Virginia Tech.  On the news this morning, I got to hear Alex Baldwin rant and rave at his young daughter in a recorded phone message, because she wouldn't answer his call.  Lots going on in the world, but not in my life.

Early in the week, I watched some of the college shooting coverage and then had to turn it off.  Coverage of the 12th anniversary of the Oklahoma City bombing was yesterday, I turned that off, too.  This morning Alex Baldwin - with several authoritative know-it-all's analyzing how this would affect  his child custody battle (going on 6 years now!) - was the surprise news coverage, and so I switched to "Little Bear" cartoons for Luci to watch.

It's not that I don't care, I do, but all of the discussions and pointing of fingers and trying to place blame is hard to watch.  It's all speculative, anyway.  I'm tired of watching "Imus coverage" and what should be done about him and his big mouth . . . A two-day show on Oprah?????  I'm still surprised to see coverage of Anna Nicole Smith's death and what will happen in her little girl's future.  This is news?  I suppose I should be grateful we aren't at war on our country's soil and there is no great famine here, either.  But, these headlines are all tragic in and of themselves, just on a smaller scale than a national famine.

More pleasant things:  Yesterday started some beautiful, warmer weather.  The girls got to play outside most of the day and then got in trouble for squirting each other with the mega squirt guns I bought them a few weeks ago.  I told them they could only squirt plants, the fence, or their jungle-gym.  It wasn't warm enough to be "wet" outside.  They came inside drenched AND muddy (we had steady rains for 2 days this week), surrendered their squirt gun weapons to me, and ended up being REALLY wet - in the bath tub!  We're in for another few days of upper 70's.  Everything smells so good in the air at this temperature after things have been soaked with a nice rain.  SOON, I will seriously consider buying some flowers and plants AND vegetables.  I just want to be sure there are no more frosts.

Tonight, I'm going to pick up JanaLyn at daycare and she will spend the night.  I'm babysitting tomorrow (Saturday) while Stephanie works.  This particular time (and I can't explain why), I think I'm more excited than JanaLyn!  She is always begging to come here and, once here, wants to stay with Granny and "the girls."  I think I've spent the past couple of days being excited inside because I get to pick her up and spend time with her.  I've seen her several times, but it's been for birthdays or just a quick "drop by" and there hasn't been much time for me to spend JUST with her.  She's ALMOST old enough to go shopping alone with Granny, or to lunch.  She'll be four this summer.

Speaking of grandchildren, I got pictures (via email) from Nikki this week of Jaiden.  Such a beautiful child!  I haven't even had a chance to tell Jesse, much less show him the pictures.  Sure wish Nikki lived closer.

I've been thinking, I'm really happy with my life right now.  I have a good marriage to someone I can share things with and who is such a wonderful friend.  My five children bring me lots of joy and I truly enjoy home schooling.  And, we are also blessed with lovely grandchildren.  Yeah, I'm happy!

Here I am, another year older and feeling no different than I felt a couple of days ago!  Still goofy, still forgetful, still can't hear . . .  just a different number - that's all!

I had a nice day yesterday.  I had an appointment here at the house for Annamarie at noon, but afterwards, Jesse, Rissy, Annamarie, and I went to lunch.  Had a great salad at Applebee's and then Jesse ordered two fatal chocolate desserts!  Honor bound, as I was, I did my best to eat them both with the help of the girls.  It was just too chocolaty for Jesse!  It was pretty sweet and I ordered a (bad) cup of coffee to chase the sugar.

We went to a health food store and shopped for quite a while after that.  What a dichotomy!  Rich dessert followed by the health food store!

We came home for a little bit, and then had to pick up Luci from daycare.  We went to Wal-Mart, mainly to walk around.  I couldn't even think about dinner, which is what Jesse had planned for all of us.  Walking around Wal-Mart didn't bring my appetite back; so, Jesse and the girls ordered pizza from a new place up the street from us (a disappointment) and Stephanie & JanaLyn came to the house, soon after.

Stephanie brought a variety chocolate cheesecake and a gift card with a lovely birthday card.  Jesse gave me another type of variety chocolate cheesecake and the girls gave me cards and gift cards.  Jesse's card (which brought tears to my eyes) had a note slipped in it for an I.O.U. one night on the town and my friend Tangi offered the babysitting chore for that special night.

I wasn't able to eat the cheesecake last night and had a piece for breakfast this morning as my breakfast food!

It's raining (AGAIN!!!) today and Jesse is off work, as he was last Friday.  We met Tangi and her darling little boy, Seth, at a Chinese food restaurant and I'm now waiting to pick up Luci for her 4pm psychologist appointment.  Since Jesse is here, he will watch the older girls during Luci's appointment.  That means I will be alone in the waiting room.  I plan to take a book.  Yay!!!

All in all, it's been a relaxing 2 days and I have just loved getting to spend those two days in a row with Jesse and the girls.

I feel very blessed and not one day older!

In our home school (Sophia Christian Academy), we usually study only two subjects a day.  Yesterday's two subjects were social studies (communities & people) and Bible (how God created things).

I read two Bible stories about creation and we discussed how Adam and Eve were created and WHY Eve was created.  I told the girls, "Eve was created to help Adam and also to keep him from being lonely.  That's why *I* help Daddy by cooking his meals, making sure he has clean clothes, making phone calls for him, or doing whatever he needs me to do.  I HELP him." 

After the stories and discussions, they were left to color a picture of something God had created.

As both girls were finishing up their pictures, Jesse walked in early from work.  He asked what they had learned in school and Rissy told him HER version of Adam & Eve - as follows:

"Welllllllll, there was nothing but lots of dark, dark, dark, stuff.  So God said (she marches over to the light switch) 'Let there be light!' (turns on the switch) and just like that, right away, there was light. 

Then God said let there be water and dirt (remember, this was HER version) and he made fish and birds, too.  Then He made the sun and lots and lots of fluffy clouds and the moon and stars and ohhhhh, Daddy, the sky was pretty during the day and at night it sparkled like this (used her fingers to mimic twinkling).

Then He made giraffes, cats, tigers (we had only named horses, dogs & cats, but obviously she had grasped the concept!!!) and then God made a man.  He took up some dirt and made it look like a man, then blew on him like this (sounded like a gale force wind coming from Rissy's mouth) and the man was alive - just like the light came on really fast when He said 'Let there be light!' 

But, the guy wasn't happy.  He was really lonely and didn't like to be by himself, just like Daddy.  So God decided to make him a helper.  He made the guy fall asleep and took a big ol' bone just above the guy's hip (I inserted the word "rib" for her) . . . oh yeah, the guy's *rib* and made a lady.  He blew her alive just like he did the guy like this (another gale force wind sound!!!) and she woke up so she could do the guy's dishes and wash his clothes.  Then the guy was happy."

I would like to believe I was created for more than doing Jesse's dishes and laundry, but if Rissy's God says so . . . (!!!!!)

Jesse LOVED Rissy's version!!!

We had a nice week end. 

Saturday, the girls and I pitched in together in the morning to clean house and get rooms straightened.  After lunch, we watched the third and last disk of "Anne of Green Gables."  Even Luci followed much of the story.

I made my new silk floral centerpiece for the dining room table and I'm so pleased with the finished look.  The pastels in the flowers don't look like anything I've picked in the past, but I think it's one of the prettiest floral arrangements I've ever put together.  I had some rose oil and added it to the flowers (like a dab of perfume behind my ears!) and there is a mild fragrance when you walk by the table.  Not an overwhelming, obnoxious blast of ROSE . . .  but refreshingly sweet.

We went to church Sunday morning.  A good sermon.  We stopped to pick up burgers for lunch and brought them home to eat, since we had leg of lamb planned for dinner.

Rissy has taken a big interest in cooking - more so lately than ever before.  She really helped Sunday with the dinner.  I taught her how to use a vegetable peeler and she peeled more than a dozen large carrots and cleaned up the peelings from the sink.  Then she washed two bags of a variety of sweet Dutch, red new, and purple creamer mini potatoes.  We started the vegetables early and took them off the heat until we were ready to put dinner on the table several hours later.  She also made the unleavened bread.  I started kneading it, but she put together the ingredients and the final pressing of it into a pie plate and then pricked holes in it with a meat carving fork.  Everything tasted very good and we had store bought butter cookies with blue or yellow frosting for dessert.

Funny story from Jesse this week end.  He has lost his good helper/friend, Camilo, and has been trying to catch up his lawn business alone.  He used my friend Tangi's son (after school) one day and then found two men to help during the day later in the week.  He drove by to check on the two men and see how they were doing and he found one of them asleep in his truck!  THEN, while mowing a lawn somewhere else later that same day, a man approached him and said (I quote), "Where's your help?  Are you all alone?  I sure need a job.  I've mowed lawns for years . . . Yeah, the last job I had the (bad word inserted) guy didn't ever want to pay me.  I worked  my (more bad words) and couldn't collect.  So I beat the (another bad word) out of him and was arrested . . . Yeah, I go to court for my hearing today.  But, I could go to work for you tomorrow.  Do you have a business card?"  Jesse told him, "No.  Don't have cards and don't need the help.  But, good luck finding a job!"

We're still here burning wood to keep warm.  This will be a mild week and maybe we've seen the last of frost and snow until the end of the year.  Jesse is almost caught up with lawns and now that this last bout of cold temps has come along, it will slow things down in the growing department for a while, again!  Feast or famine!

It's really snowing here!  April 6th and we have light snow!!!

It has snowed as late as April 30th, but that's extremely rare.  It's only 39° today with lots of wind to run the cold air right through your clothing!  More is expected through the weekend with VERY cold nights!  We're using up that wood in our fireplace.  Jesse shouldn't have to worry about carrying any of it back outside!

I guess after this cold snap will come the beginning of humid days and less of the beautiful warm temps with low humidity.  That's how it always seems to happen.

I kept Luci home from the daycare today.  They were having the Easter bunny visit, were hiding eggs, and each child was supposed to bring 10 plastic eggs stuffed with candy.  Since we don't celebrate Easter at all, we just kept her home and away from the whole bunny-thing.  

Luci has a 4pm appointment with her psychologist and that's the only reason I have to leave the house today.  That, and the bank and post office drops.

I'll have to drag out one of my coat-like dresses from winter.  I don't want to wear a coat and I think I'll be able to run from the car to the building and back again with just a warm dress.  The "practical me" will put a coat in the car - just in case!

Rissy and Annamarie were talking last night about "those ducks, or chickens, or bunnies that are squishy" and how they had seen some when we were at the grocery store this week.  I knew immediately they meant "Peeps" - those marshmallow yellow chicks that are made for Easter baskets.  I may run to the store that's close to the doctor's office while Luci is in her appointment and see if I can pick up some.  They only make them for Easter and I had no idea my girls liked that type of candy.

Time to turn the logs on the fire.  If I don't, my cockatiel "Chip" might freeze her little feathers off!

Lately, I've been thinking a lot about friendships and what makes a person a "good" friend.  I don't pretend to have answers or a recipe for friendship; but, as I pray and ask God for help in this area, I believe He is telling me to reach out and "show" my friendship through my actions.

What began my pondering about friends, today, is an an e-mail I sent to a long, lost friend.  She is a gal who has always been so very dear to me - someone I met in 1992!  We were pretty close and then I quit the job where we met.  She got married, had a baby, moved out of state, and then moved again.  I married again and moved twice.  Somewhere, sandwiched in between my marriage and my moves, came the arrival of three more children.  Laura and I tried hard to stay in touch but it seemed impossible.  Yet, I never forgot her.

When Jesse and I were selling our second house and moving to our current house, I got a call from a real estate agent who said her name was Laura.  She was inquiring about our home that was for sale by owner.  No way!  But, yes, I recognized her voice immediately:  my "friend" Laura.  We exchanged phone numbers and e-mail addresses, promised to stay in touch and, as before, our lives moved on.  But again, I never forgot her and thought of her many times over the years.

Today is her birthday and I still had her old e-mail address.  That's where I mailed her Hallmark e-card.  Since I couldn't forget her, I simply reached out today with a VERY small gesture.  I can't express what an enthusiastic response she had to my card and what a thrill it was to touch hearts again - even though it was via Internet.

Why?  Why?  Why do people give up on friends?  Why do people get so embarrassed because they haven't contacted someone in such a long time?  Rather than stick out their necks and make that contact, people shrink back and do nothing only because so much time has gone by.  I've even heard people refer to a good friend from their past as, "someone I used to know."  USED to know? 

We live in such a transitory world that manifests itself in the changing of jobs, houses, states of residence, and even marriage partners.  How in the world do we hope to anchor ourselves to anything permanent if we, ourselves, don't try?????

Maybe it's illogical to maintain the same job or same house for a great length of time, but friends aren't hard to maintain.  You just have to step up to the plate, take some initiative, and sometimes be extremely creative.

I've reflected a lot on my older friendships.  All of them come from different places.  A handful are from high school.  Many come from the different jobs I've worked.  I even have a friend from dance school whom I met when I was 8 and she was 5 years old.  One friend is a former neighbor who was my mother's friend when I was age 4 - 10 years old.  She and her family moved to another city, but she and mother stayed in touch.  After my mother's death, I continued the friendship with Joan.  Same thing with my mother's best friend from childhood.  After my mother's death, *I* maintained the friendship with Pat which also brought me back to my birth place of St. Louis, MO.

I'm cultivating new friendships, too. 

How do I maintain and cultivate friends?  I reach out.  I send a note, send a small gift, make a phone call, send an e-mail, send a snail mail card/note, etc.  Really . . . how busy are we that we can't take 15 - 30 minutes to make a contact?  It doesn't have to be done everyday.  Some friends require me contacting them a couple times a year, some I connect with more frequently - some less.

There is a greatness in my heart when I chat with a friend whose been my friend "forever."  I immensely enjoy picking up where we left off or bringing up a story we can share from our past.  It takes so little time and, I believe, cultivates continuity in our lives and the lost, but precious, bond of kindred spirits.

My friend Laura?  I think God brought our lives back together and gave us an opportunity to renew our friendship in 2003, when she contacted us about our home for sale.  But . . . I dropped the ball.  She dropped the ball.  THIS time, I am making a concerted effort to try harder in the maintenance of my friendship with Laura.  I learned something today: I had forgotten how much I value her friendship.

Value?  Maybe that's the key word.  When we value something we take good care of it and protect it.  The longer we care for something, the more precious it becomes because it holds memories.

My day began with five loads of laundry (almost typical of any morning!), intentions of home schooling, and the "have to get to it someday" chore of cleaning my desk.  I took Luci to daycare, went to the drug store to get our prescriptions that SHOULD have been ready last night, and headed back to the house with the best of intentions.

Jesse called and asked if I could take the title to his old truck down to the dealership where we bought the new truck AND asked if I'd purchase a used car warranty for him.  The dealership is not anywhere close to our home - ALL the way on the south side of OKC - and I alerted the girls to our change of plans.

We got to the dealership around noon, did the typical waiting (and waiting, and waiting), which I don't understand when you are standing there with cash.  Not a check representing cash . . . but the real life green paper stuff!  It was close to 1pm when we left there and headed to the north side of town.

We decided to try a restaurant for lunch that was someplace we'd never been.  We came up with Macaroni Grill or Panera Bread.  We chose Panera Bread because their commercials make their food look so appealing.  The girls split a chicken salad sandwich and I chose a beef & cheese with horseradish sauce.  I don't think I'll be back.  The sandwiches were good, but the bread (especially the type they used for my sandwich) was so hard I was afraid my new caps were going to fall out!  The customers were typical Type-A, rushed, working people (just like I used to be), pushy, and seemed "harried and harsh," which sums up the whole atmosphere of the restaurant.  Hurry, hurry, hurry!  Even the hard chairs and small tables seemed unforgiving and like you weren't meant to be there to enjoy anything except the food.  Everyone shoveled their food in and people stood around like hawks waiting for us to get up and leave.  I've been sequestered in my home for so long and out of the working world that I quickly bought the girls cookies on the way out and ran to the safety and peace of my Suburban.

After that, I stopped at my speciality shoe store (SAS) and bought two pair of "granny" shoes for spring/summer and then we headed to Wal-Mart.

Since we don't celebrate Easter, not even "Resurection Sunday" as some churches have started calling the day, I don't have to worry about baskets, etc.  We usually serve leg of lamb and unleavened bread and read from Exodus.  But that's it.  I DO use the day as a kick off for warmer weather and like to give the girls a surprise gift bag.  Somehow, I was able to sneak hoola hoops and other fairly large outdoor toys into my cart without them seeing anything but the hoola hoops. 

We got new fabric for dresses for the 3 girls and me.  I had to explain to the clerk and one observant customer, who couldn't stop staring at me, WHY I was buying 12 yards of purple and 12 yards of muted green and 10 yards of black fabric.  I told the confused customer I was making a dress for me and my 3 children, as well as a black apron for all four of us.  Looking at us in our plain attire and my headcovering made me ready for the next question:  "Are you Amish?" but this gal never asked.  She just mentioned how sweet and well-behaved the girls were acting.

We lollygagged forever in Wal-Mart and 35 minutes before Luci's daycare closed, I decided we had better quickly check out.  It wasn't particularly crowded and I noticed my favorite check out lane (#13), as usual, was even less crowded.  Thirteen is a good number to pick when standing in aisles  because no one EVER wants to pick number thirteen!  Check out lane #13 today, however, wasn't as fast as it appeared because we had the friendliest (I'm talking Dale Carnegie - "how to win friends" friendly!!!!) cashier!  She took extra care to HIDE the girls' things in double sacks (top and bottom covered) and talked more than me.  I know, I know . . . hard to believe, but today I met another yacker!

We raced to Luci's daycare.  I called as I was loading things into our vehicle and told someone there I had 10 minutes before they closed and there was NO WAY I'd make it.  I've only been late one other time since she started attending there last May, so they were kind and understanding.  I drove the speed limit (well, 73 instead of 70) down the turnpike and got to the daycare only 8 minutes late.

We came home emptied groceries and I sat a moment to regroup and regain my composure!  I had lots of spaghetti sauce from yesterday's cooking marathon for Steve (the friend that moved) and all I had to do was cook some spaghetti pasta and garlic Texas toast while nuking the sauce!

I think things are ready to be served and American Idol will be on at 8pm so we can see who goes home this week.  After that, I can exhale!