Chirper gained almost another half of a pound!  He is sitting at, or slightly above, 6.5lbs!!!

The veterinarian said his runny nose and eyes looked like allergies, probably ragweed, and after this weekend's cold snap, the ragweed should be gone.

He ALSO said, Chirper's weight is perfect for his bone structure.  NOW (can you believe this?) he is worried about him becoming "pudgy" and overweight!!!!  THANK YOU LORD!!!!!

We discussed his diet and gas & potty problems.  He thought Chirper might be getting too much iron (special food and baby vitamin drops with iron) and suggested, for the next 7-10 days, we NOT give him the vitamin supplement and see if the litter box looks better.  He said Chirper was doing incredibly well.  Remember, this was a doctor who first saw him and thought he had 2 weeks of life left, IF that much.  We've had him a little over 4 months and done all that was humanly possible, and PRAYED like crazy for him.

And, while we are on the subject of cats . . . here is my next work of art.

Thank you to each one of you who prayed for Chirper when it looked like he was a sick kitten that would never pull through.  I didn't have much to stand on scripturally except that God cares for the sparrows . . .  But, I asked, anyway.

I also acknowledged if Chirper made it through, it would be because of God.  Feline Leukemia is fatal and with his little deformities, the worms, the respiratory infection, the intestinal infection, and his small stature when I got him , he really didn't have a one in a million chance of doing anything but dying.
 
Praise God that our feelings mean enough to Him that He saw fit to extend Chirper's life.  I pray, frequently, that God either cures the Leukemia or suppresses it so he can live many years.

Okay. 

I'm elated. 

AND, obnoxious with my happiness. 

I know! 

BUT, I'M JUST SO HAPPY!!!!!

Praise God, who cares about His little creatures, as well as us humans!

We had fried pork chops for dinner last night.  They were good, but not as great as I had hoped.  We haven't eaten pork in such a long time and Jesse even said, it didn't have the "wow!" factor we had hoped.

We crammed home school in AFTER the dental appointment and, then, I started on dinner.  Made the evening go by really quickly.

I'm attempting to convey Oklahoma's fall to those of you who don't have the pleasure of knowing our area.  I think you have to go to the "mountains" (said with tongue in cheek - after growing up near the Sierra Mountains) in SE Oklahoma.  They SAY the foliage is pretty when it turns.

My front yard tree still doesn't look like much.  PLUS, our large tree is odd-shaped due to us cutting a bunch of branches off last winter after the ice storm broke them.

And, finally, my stubborn coral roses continue to hold on to their stems!!!

Here she is fluffed up and chattering for me.

"Thank you very much!                                                      Thank you very much!
   

But, when she's done, she's done.  She turns her back and that's the end of the show!

I wish I could spend more time training her.  It requires all of the ceiling fans being turned off and the dog and 2 cats being locked in another room.  All of those things are hazards for flying birds!

And, this is a sprig of berries and flowers that hangs on the side of a cabinet wall when you enter the kitchen from the dining room.  I made it four years ago and still enjoy it.  It's always been a favorite of mine.  Don't know why.  I think I find the combination of colors appealing.

Annamarie:   Her mouth is sore from having the appliance removed and she's happy, happy that she can have Ramen noodles for the next few days and eventually chew gum again!

My To Do List:
*  Take Chirper to the vet this morning to have him weighed and nails clipped
*  School (we're so close to finishing our Science and History books)
*  Pay some bills online and mail the truck payment
*  I'm sure SOMEONE has laundry for me, even though it hasn't appeared in the laundry room yet!
*  Maybe relax this afternoon - I'm feeling so much better, but don't want to relapse
*  Go to the freezer, pick a meat for dinner, and then pray for creativity!!!!

We're supposed to have bone chilling weather this week-end, especially Sunday, and I'm kind of excited.  Being cold is easier for me to deal with than being hot all the time!

Be Blessed  ~

This is the "Week of Appointments" for me.  I never go anywhere, but when it rains it pours.

I have to take Annamarie to the dental appointment I canceled last week, the girls will have a physical on the same day (at the same place) they have their therapy session on Friday, and on Saturday our insurance company will arrive to check out roof damage from a recent hail storm.  We had trouble a few years ago with some leaking, and they said our roof was fine.  It wasn't.  We had a roof man patch the shingles but now we have wet spots on the ceilings through out the house.  They should have replaced the roof a couple of years ago.  I hope there isn't damage to our attic "treasures."

I worked hard this week end to get our summer clothes and winter clothes switched around. 

Rissy's closet is taking on the fall and winter colors as her yellows and pinks are being bagged up and sent to the garage, to be (eventually) sent to the sacred attic!.

I did laundry all day Saturday and Sunday.  I still have a few body aches, but aspirin takes care of that just fine.  So, I stayed home from church, yesterday, and read while changing out the washing machine and dryer.  Jesse took the girls to church and went by the pharmacy and then his mother's house to give her some new prescriptions.  She was released from the hospital Friday, but didn't call Jesse until Saturday night to tell him she had no food.  I bagged up a bunch of things to last her a week and he took it over on Friday night.  Yesterday, he just needed to give her her pills.

Luci and Annamarie look more awake than they really feel!

This is a more realistic picture of them this morning!!!

No!  No!  Get down, Chirper!

AND . . . arguing, arguing, arguing (with bossy voices) was all I heard.  I gave one warning, "Stop talking to each other like that or there will be no muffins and no cooking."

There are no muffins. 

They are eating toast. 

I told Rissy to quit cooking and clean up her mess.

I always hate arguing, whining and bossy voices; but, before 10 in the morning . . .   There's absolutely no tolerance within me!

To Do List
*  We are back on schedule with home school and I think we'll finish one more book this week
*  Need to put my pot roast in the Crockpot later for dinner
*  Luci's laundry (and maybe our sheets)
*  Check bills and see what needs to be paid this week (that's always soooo much fun!)
*  Go over some new house rules for the girls (and parents) to follow.  There's too much bickering and short tempers (mine included).  The girls argue constantly when there isn't a need to argue.  Sometimes the arguing is about "who" is "right" when a preference for a color or flavor of gum is all they are discussing.  (rolling my eyes!)  The volume of our voices needs to be cranked down a WHOLE lot!

A dismal drizzly day filled with school and chores and maybe a termite man. 

Ahhhh, yes, the life of the privileged and elite!

P.S.  Thank you Lord for my power saving and retrieving system.  Chirper just stepped on the power cord, while I was proof reading this entry, and turned off my computer.  Fortunately, I had the option to "restore session" and Voila! there was all my Xanga moaning - right where I had left off!

We hit it off well.  In fact, she read the letter of information about us (so the children can read it before they arrive) and it made her cry.  She said she does counseling work and sometimes needs to be redirected as to WHY she works with such difficult cases.  She has chosen to do home studies, on the side,  so all of her work wasn't depressing work with families who are failing.  I didn't think our letter was all *that* special, just the truth about us; how we are; and how our house runs.  But, you never know how what you say my affect someone else. 

I think she stayed longer than she expected.  She was surprised, too, that we are JUST NOW getting a home study done.  Also, our caseworker didn't send her all of the paperwork he should have.  She only had references from 2 people.  We gave him a list of 7 people and we *know* he called almost all of them.  Anyway, she said she has until Jan. 1st to complete her report and that shouldn't be a problem. 

IF we have no children by December 10th, I told Jesse I don't want to accept any until Jan 1st.  We don't put up a Christmas tree, do Santa Claus, or any of the other things most people think of when they think of Christmas.  I can't imagine landing in a foster home a week before Christmas, spending that time with people you don't know (who dress like Pilgrims!!!) , and *US* having no clue what to buy these new children for gifts (our gift exchange is paltry compared to usual homes, but still????).  Foster children and our OWN girls would make things feel very uncomfortable and that isn't our goal.

She interrupted me a couple of times to say (and said once, while I was showing her around the house) that our house reeked (in a good way!) of peace and lots of love.  I'm not sure how you "feel" that, but maybe if you are in enough problem homes, you begin to get a sense of homes that are without problems.  We were finishing up home schooling when she arrived, and the girls continually asked me questions while I was talking with her and I quickly helped them and continued our conversation.  Luci had to be sent to her room once and, of course, a mini-fit ensued.  I told her calmly, "That's my screamer."  Within minutes, Luci came out, apologized, and said she'd like to try again and our life moved onward.  She said (ROFLOL!!!!) I was incredibly patient and our girls (ROFLOL) had excellent manners and were so kind to each other.  Again, she said, "So much peace is in this house!"

Yeah, I'm sure she was in the wrong house!!!!

She left, I grabbed a PBJ sandwich and we drove to the post office to mail invoices for Jesse.  Then, onto Wally-World.  The girls had money burning holes in their pockets and most of our time at Wal-Mart was spent prowling the the toy section for something that $4 and some change could purchase.  This was actually part of home schooling . . .  I called it, "Economics 101" or "Money can't buy everything!"  We spent some serious tracing and retracing our steps up and down the toy aisles.   Finally I said we HAD to move on.  I pretty much kept to my list of 10 or so items.

We got home and had time to relax before starting dinner which was another simple meal:  Tyson's breaded chicken breast strips (with barbecue, ketchup, or Ranch dip), FAMILY SIZE (we ARE growing!)I Velveeta Shells and Cheese, and fresh steamed broccoli.  I added chunks of pineapple for those tho felt it wasn't a balanced enough meal without something else!

Moving on . . .

I must have been snoring loudly again last night.  From the look of Jeses's pilllow on the guest bed . . .

And, our neighbor's red tree has lost all of its leaves.  That happened very quickly!

At this point, I have more rose hips than roses.

I heard chatter and found munchkins spread about the house.

Annamarie.  Where in the world is she going?

JanaLyn and Rissy were caught in the bedroom hallway.

Stormy found her for me!!!!  Still in bed snuggled under her fluffy comforter!

The tyrannical dictator's school lasted about 5 minutes.  I got up and made blueberry muffins and the attitudes of the multitudes changed quickly!

Plans for Today:

*  Saturday school.  Greek & Latin, Veteran's Day debriefing with picture to color, and  Bible. 
*  I have a social studies books for Luci & JanaLyn - may let them work a few pages in that.  Very simple stuff, K5.
*  Laundry - I'll try to wash the winter clothes that we will soon need.  I'll wash those first.
*  Ground beef is out thawing for dinner, my mind needs to create yet another master piece
*  Shower and wash my hair

Not too bad of a list, is it?  I'll try to read some more.  Notice no book name is up on my site yet?  I'm still reading my Pathway Publisher's magazines and enjoying them immensely.   I think my taking it easy for another day or so might not be a bad idea at all. 
 

Last night, I made a large stock pot of chicken noodle soup for dinner and, as people were ready, everyone dipped the ladle in the pot and served themselves.  Stephanie came by while I was finishing my bowl and I was barely able to hold a conversation.  She fed the girls and stayed until Jesse arrived home from work.  I felt VERY fuzzy headed and the laryngitis was sounding more and more husky.

I went to my Child Raising Class.  The couple who live at the house, me, and one of the leaders - Glenn - were the only ones there.  We Watched the 1st DVD in the series of 16.  I MADE myself attend (instead of bow out) because it's almost impossible to get the full benefit from the program if you miss a class.

I came home, the girls were in bed and Jesse was in the den.  I had another bowl of soup and then cleaned up the pot and put the leftovers away.  I was beginning to feel chilled and didn't feel very talkative.  I felt "slow",  You know? when the world seems to be moving much faster than your brain can process???!!!  By the time I went to bed, I had the full shakes with teeth chattering, and all.  I slept with the electric blanket on 5 or 6 all night long.  Normally, it's set on 3.  This morning, I woke up with my sinuses congested and all the other lovely things that go along with that.

Today my blog's "episode" will be called the Ups and Downs in my life.  Although, I shouldn't really call any of these things "downs" since things could be so much worse!

Remember the drapes Chirper pulled DOWN?  Well, they are still stuck UP over the rod until I can fix them.

Yesterday, by the grace of God, we caught up in school except for Rissy has one math page and one language page to do today.  And, we will finish up a few pages of science today.  We're back on target except for Bible, but I moved the lesson to week after next.

And, finally, although I feel "DOWN", my children are quite "UP" and active this morning. 

I found them in the hallway singing a song from the play "Mack & Mabel" called "Look What Happened to Mabel."

For those unfamiliar with the play, it's about "poor little Nellie, a kid from the deli" who was made over into a motion picture star.  Glamorous and all!

So here you go:

"Every gesture and position that she takes . . .  is smart and meticulous!"

"Talk about the difference that a camera makes . . . but, this is ridiculous!"

"Is that plain little Nellie"

"Kid from the deli"

"Rattle me beads!"

belllllllllllll!"

If she doesn't cancel, the gal is supposed to come at 1pm to meet with me about our home study.  AND, I should run up the street to Wal-Mart to buy a few things (milk and non-edible things like batteries, etc.!).  I canceled the girls' therapy appointment for this afternoon.  Boy am I ever glad I did.  I don't want to go ANYWHERE today!

Be blessed  ~

It's probably from cleaning my dusty house and getting those boxes (Jesse handed them to me) down from the attic, yesterday.  That'll teach me to clean!   I should vow to never clean again, right?  Yeah, I didn't think so!

Speaking of cleaning, Jesse left before I woke up, but he must have threatened the girls with keeping the house clean.  I turned on the computer and was glued here to my chair and Luci was almost in tears begging Annamarie to get up (immediately) and help her make their bed (king size).  I heard her say, "But Daddy said we had to keep the house clean. Puh-leeeeze help me."  I intervened and told them I was sure he didn't mean clean right this moment!  Although, he and I are on the same page today!

Today we have 3 days of home school to do: Tuesday's, Wednesday's, and today's work.  We are finishing some books, so it's not really all that much stuff.  I will start new books after Thanksgiving. 

Annamarie has her dental appointment this afternoon so they can listen to her talk.  The therapist said she agrees with me that she is still lisping and most of her speech is garbled or mush-mouth and unclear.  She suggested I have the dentist check out her appliance in her mouth that was supposed to make her stop lisping, which it hasn't, before we find a speech therapist.

I took pictures this morning of a few things changed in our house.  These are the draperies Chirper pulled down.  Remember those slippery scarf valances that took me half a day to hang JUST ONE?  Yep, Chirper had the rod AND the valance on the floor yesterday.  I threw the scarf valance over the rod to keep him from sharpening his claws on the fabric.  Isn't it lovely?

Here are my wide awake children this morning:

I should be moving on and getting around here.  Stephanie will come tonight when she gets off of work to watch the girls when I leave to go to Reba's & Glenn's class ("Growing Kids God's Way").  I'm thinking of making chicken noodle soup.  Something that can cook itself and will be good to eat as people filter in and out of the house this evening.

He's filling out nicely (so am I, though!!!).

I told her I had an old home study I had edited with new info that was virtually copy work for her.

She wanted to come by Saturday and just have me hand her our paperwork for her to look at while she stood on the porch.  Uh uh - no way!  I had a feeling if I couldn't rope her inside, I'd be a senior citizen before this all went through.  She definitely perked up when I told her I had copied every document she had asked for AND my girls had an appointment next week to deem them healthy and I would have that paperwork next Friday for her.

So, she agreed to come at 1pm this Friday and I told her she should also plan to spend time talking to me after going through the previous home study and me filling in the blanks for the new one.  AND . . . I wanted (persistently insisted, was more like it)  her to do a walk through of our house.  (See how smart you become after you have already been hooked - or rooked - by the state?)

She said I sounded really efficient (I think that means easy job for her!!!) and she would plan on chatting with me Friday and doing a walk through.  I told her I had an "X" through the paragraphs she'd have to rewrite - like the info about our new home and backyard and discussing with our "new" girls how they felt about fostering.  I also told her they had been in counseling for 2 months already about what to expect when the foster children came to their home and what it would be like when it was time for those same children to move.

She began to sense this would be easy money and decided to work with me - after I "worked" her over!!!

I can't say I'm disappointed.  Not sleeping well last night and doing so much housework this morning has left me with not much of a personality!

On top of that, Chriper pulled down one of my slippery, silky valance thingies that is wrapped around a wooden pole in the formal living room.  I didn't care about that.  Things happen in every day life.  But, the worst thing, is my vacuum burned up while vacuuming our den.  Not a belt gone bad - a motor on fire.  The smell was lovely (not) and Jesse even suggested I pull out some candles!  It's sitting in my garage (dumb, Jesse keeps cans of gasoline out there - but I'm really not the brightest bulb on the tree today!!!!)  and now I am only using my Kirby.  The one whose replacement bags cost an arm and a leg.  We had talked about buying a Dyson, but I don't think this was the week we had in mind spending the money on one!

Whew-eeee.  I'm one tired puppy.  Glad I only have to pull together a quick meal.  I'm trying the same skillet casserole I made the other night with the tainted ground beef.  This time I'll use ground turkey because it's cheaper and I bet we won't taste the difference.

There you have my sad story. All typical when dealing with the foster care people.  I DO remember this was one of the real reasons we soured on fostering last time around. 

Oh yeah.  Rolling loud thunder storms are moving in with tornadoes.  I decided to put on a dress instead of my bathrobe over my underwear.  A sure guaranty that if there WAS a tornado I'd be caught on the nightly news being interviewed as that lady in Oklahoma with the bathrobe and underwear on and barefoot talking about her casserole was just a cookin' when a big ol' wind blew in.  Sounded like a freight train comin', it did!

I'm goofy - I KNOW I'm tired!

*  Tuesday, after getting dressed, I found I had no desire (energy) to go anywhere.  Jesse offered to take us all to lunch, since the girls and I have eaten lunch at home virtually every day for the past month or two.
*  Went to Golden Corral's buffet, but can't say I enjoyed it.  I wanted to be "waited on" and not having to stand and walk through food lines to gather my lunch.
*  We loaded up in the truck, after eating, and Jesse said, "Ready for the doctor?" and my reply was something like, "All I really want to do is go back home."  But we didn't.
*  This is a walk in clinic, a converted 800 sq.ft. home and is usually packed.  First come, first served.  There was NO ONE in the waiting room!  Yay!
*  I called Jesse and told him they were taking me back to the second exam room, rather than me going back to sit with everyone in the vehicle.
*  I was in there forever.  NOT because of being ill or the foster care form and problems; but, because I witnessed to the doctor for almost a half hour!!!!!  He is Asian, went to a Christian college, and was curious about my type of dressing and my head covering.  He said many girls at his college looked like me.  Another patient came into the other exam room, he ignored the patient and continued the conversation with me!  Said he didn't go to church because his children didn't want to.  Said (and I agreed) there is religion and then there is spiritualism.  The latter being what you really are inside and the former what a formed church assembly tells you to be.  We crammed a bunch of talk into the 30 minutes!   Wow!  Talk about totally unexpected.  But, Jesus told us to be ready - if anyone should ask . . .
*  He said I didn't sound well, I explained the past few days to him and he said, "I can give you a shot."  I said, "But, I don't want a shot."  He said, "It could help you feel better."  I said, "Then what kind of shot - not something weird, right?"  He asked, "What to do you consider weird?"  I told him B-12 and other herbal weird things.  He said while laughing, "I was thinking of a steroid injection to help your joints from aching and your swollen throat."  Oh!  Okay then!  However, my sleeve wouldn't pull up over my fatty upper arm and I ended up unbuttoning my top 3 dress buttons and sliding the neckline down to my upper arm and cricking my neck to the opposite side.  I laughed and told him to hurry as my neck was getting a spasm.  He said the steroid shot would help that too!
*  We left there, came home and the girls (still full from lunch) ate popcorn for dinner and Jesse and I ate nothing.  I went to bed to read, ended up watching 3 episodes of "House" instead.
*  Jesse came to bed and we talked and laughed until 11pm,  I reminded him that was our "old" midnight and we couldn't believe we were so chatty.
*  We fell asleep immediately, but I awoke around 4am this morning.  I never could go back to sleep.  My head, neck, and back ached.  I took 2 aspirins around 4:30am and then my tranquilizer (for high blood pressure spikes) around 5am and thought maybe I was just tense about the worker coming to day to interview us.  I gave up at 6am and got up, took a shower and washed my hair and started some laundry.

*  Actually, I was a little ticked, too.  Waiting in our mail box yesterday was a large envelope with a list of everything we needed to do over the next couple of weeks.  Most of that stuff has been done and is contained in our 4-5" thick DHS folder given to her.  But . . . that's "the system" and if you want it done (or done right) you have to do it yourself.  Sometimes four times.  I did it all last night.  Made a gazillion copies on my S-L-O-W printer of stuff I KNEW she had in our folder.  No wonder I had no appetite and was wired!  All we lack is a medical statement that each of our girls has no communicable diseases.
*  I've swept the kitchen, Sampson's hall, and foyer floors and walls.  Jesse said he'd Pine-Sol and rinse them for me.
*  I've tried something new today.  I've made lists for each child, Jesse, and me.  Well, for *me* isn't new.  We'll see how it goes.  I feel like "Honey Do" lists are nagging and I'm definitely not a nagger.  I get mad and do it myself or eventually hire it done after 6 months with no action from my husband!!!
*  Jesse has a 1pm doctor appointment with a "FREE* clinic!  Yay!  He should be back before the home study guru arrives.
*  The gal should be here around 4pm for our "inspection."  I forgot to mention, last night, I also copied our previous home study and changed the easily changed changes (like our brothers and sisters current ages, our new address) and crossed out things that were no longer current - like Nikki not living with us, etc.  This should be a piece of cake for her.  AND, my girls go in November 14th for a "free" physical (offered buy their insurance) to say they don't have lice or the measles.  I hope that's all they need.  I've made it as easy as possible for a home study to be rewritten.

I think that's it.  I needed to sit down and cool off a bit.  I set up a card table in the garage for our summer clothes in Wal-Mart sacks and Jesse handed the Rubbermaid tubs down to me with the winter clothes.  I will get to those at my leisure.  Like I HAVE a lot of that (leisure).  At least the clothes are no longer piled in the kitchen under the bar and the attic clothes are accessible to me.
 
Well, my last load of laundry just buzzed.  Into the dryer with the whites, out of the dryer comes the lights to be folded and then I'll be done with Jesse's laundry..

The obvious reason I'm rushing around this morning is so I will, hopefully, be able to sit until 4pm.  I DO need to teach the girls, we didn't have school yesterday.  Fortunately, not that much needs to be covered in school.

At least my throat doesn't feel as swollen today.  AND, the pain went away on Sunday night.

P.S.  I need a minimum of 6 hours of sleep to function.  I had 5 hours. 

Pray for me!

I didn't sleep particularly well last night.  That seems to be when my throat and sinuses swell the most.  Poor Jesse moved to another room because I snored so loud!  I woke up, at 5:05am, sure I wouldn't be able to go back to sleep.  I took 2 Sudafed and 2 aspirin and "tried" to go back to sleep.  Chirper was all over me, falling sideways onto my face, nuzzling me, and purring REALLY loud.  Despite the distraction from Chirper, I *did* go back to sleep until 7-something.

Now that I'm up, I feel better, but don't sound so great.  Maybe a type of laryngitis???  And, even though I can breath, my voice sounds like my nose is stuffy, probably from my swollen throat.  It no longer hurts, but is still swollen when you look inside my mouth.

BUT . . . enough of that talk.  Here's the good and (sometimes) funny news:

1)  There was a phone call at 8:30am and a VERY nice voice said she was
calling from the dentist's office to remind me of Annamarie's
appointment tomorrow from 6 to 1pm.  "SIX TO ONE P.M.?!!!" I asked?  "What do you plan on doing with her??????"  "No"
she said calmly, "November 6 at 1pm."  At least I made her laugh this
morning!

2)  A few minutes later, Jesse called from the bedroom, "Babe.  Can you
hear me?"  I answered, "Yes."  Then he started talking.  I told him to
hang on as I made my way back to the bedroom.  I said, "Sorry, I couldn't hear
you.  Start over."  He said, "I thought you said you COULD hear me." 
My reply?  (hang on for this one!!!)  "Well, I could . . . until you
started talking."  I know, I'm dumber than a box of rocks!!!!

Somehow, I was awake enough to make the cats their  breakfast this morning, but not awake enough for my own children.  (And, I'm going to foster someone else's children???!!!  That's down right spooky!)

Fortunately, they took care of themselves!

LOL

Speaking of food, I had a bad experience with dinner last night.  Jesse
had taken ground beef out the night before to thaw, and put it in the
refrigerator in the early morning.  That's marginally longer than I normally
leave things out to thaw.  It didn't "look right" and, when I was
frying it, my opinion was that it didn't smell right.  But, I toiled
onward with my skillet casserole.  We sat down, I took one bite and
made everyone stop.  It didn't TASTE right either.  We decided it must
have been one of those packs that thawed when the freezer quit working
several months ago.  I scrambled to the refrigerator to find
leftovers.  I had no idea we had as many as we did, and that's what we
ended up eating.  I'm experimenting with stretching my recipes a little
bigger for when the foster children arrive.  I was kind of looking
forward to what I had planned to fix and eat: but, not if it was poisonous!!!  Oh well, maybe tomorrow.  It
would be a good dinner for a busy night.

My list of going places (other than from room to room within my own house!) this week is:

*  I go to the doctor this afternoon to get a clean bill of health for fostering.  I'll probably give the receptionist my cell phone number, wait in my car, and have her call me when the doctor's ready to see me.  I don't want to sit in their cramped waiting room with sick people.  I think that's where my current malady came from - last week's therapy waiting room.

*  Tomorrow afternoon, the home study lady comes here to check us and
our house (and our girls, I guess) out to deem us suitable foster
parents.

*  Tomorrow evening is my class with Glenn & Reba (from church) for
parenting classes.  Maybe the lady doing our foster care home study
will see that as an added bonus (????).  Stephanie will come here after work
to watch the girls until Jesse gets home.

*  Friday is my typical day for errands and the girls' therapy
appointment.  I don't think there are more than a few items on my
grocery list.  Shouldn't be an overwhelming day.

I've no idea what to fix for dinner tonight.  Guess I should go rattle through the freezer to look for possibilities!