The Brownie meeting went well yesterday. We now have 15 girls, between the ages of 6 and 7. They made friendship bracelets during the meeting, 1 to keep and 1 to exchange. One of the girls in the troop is Moira's buddy. She's known her for a couple years now and they get along great. Her mom asked if Moira could spend the night - of course I said YES! Olivia and I had a somewhat quiet night. I was exhausted after the meeting. We had leftovers for dinner and watched Monsters Inc again. PAul was at my Mom's place, helping her out with things that needed to be completed. He also worked on her computer as she was having problems with her browser. He got home last night in time to watch 48 Hours. I wish they spent more time on the food allergy issues but I am not disappointed with the way it was presented. I am so proud of Adrienne (the Mom of Drew, the 3 yr old). Only people who are in this type of situation really understand just how much work it can be for 1 person. I know food allergies have completely changed the way we (family) do anything. I cannot assume that we can just catch a bite to eat anywhere. It takes me 20-30 minutes to prepare what I might need when we go to the mall. I bought a large cooler and we eat a LOT of sandwiches. Car Picnics. The kids love it. It makes my life so much easier! Anyway - I digress... After Olivia went to bed, Paul and I watched the out takes and special features for Monsters. I love the short film "For the Birds" and "Mike's New Car". The outtakes weren't that great. I liked the ones from Toy Story 2 MUCH better. We woke up early today, got cleaned up, ran some laundry and then hit the road. We had to buy some winterizer stuff for the pool. We also stopped at Target and picked up a Fisher Price trike for Olivia. She has one already but she since she is so petite, she can't really reach the pedals. The new trike seems to be a better fit for her. We managed to pick up Moira by 1230 and then it was back home to eat lunch, get her cleaned up and BACK out to a birthday party by 2pm. I am exhausted! Paul is passed out on the couch. Well -Olivia is looking for a snack - will catch up later!

Allergy Show on 48 Hours tonight at 8pm. I will blog later.. what a day..

FINALLY! It's a ........boy?????. He was supposed to be a she! So much for ultrasound! Congratulations Janna!

We met up with the architect at 530. Let me go on the record and say that this man was odd looking (sorry Goddess) He looked like he didn't get out much - very pale. He was quite tall and thin. An image of a praying mantis came right to mind. Very thin, delicate hands. He was certainly a man of few words. While sitting in his office, I felt like I was going to be sent to detention. Very surreal. He is good though - I have seen his work. It's excellent. Paul also felt awkward even though he did most of the talking. My father in law stayed for dinner and the girls had such a good time. I think he did too. He stayed until 9pm. He helped tuck the girls in bed and got smothered in hugs and kisses. It was sweet. ::smile:: Well - I am off to finish sewing patches and badges on Moira's Brownie vest. First meeting tomorrow!

I am so excited about the meeting with the architect! I have taken pictures of the house and I am burning them on a cd to bring with us. Last night, Paul and I measured some of the rooms. He also sketched out some of the ideas we have. He is great at doing stuff like that.

Did all my food shopping and was home by 10am. ACK! Kill me! LOL! My father in law is coming down to watch the girls for an hour while Paul and I meet with an architect. We want to build an addition on our house while the interest rates are low. This way, we can at least sit with the guy and see what we can afford to do and what we WANT to do - which could be pretty different! Well - off to clean and get dinner set up! Ta!

Finally a moment to sit down! WHEW! Hmm - let me recap my day.. After dropping Moira at school, Olivia and I made it to the mall. I managed to hit Macys, Old Navy, Kaybee Toys, Boscovs AND the Disney store within 2 hours. Woohoo! Nothing like a good morning of marathon shopping. BARGAIN marathon shopping, I might add. I got several nice deals today ::happy dance:: When we got back home, Olivia and I watched Monsters Inc. Oh My God. It is so cute. Boo is adorable - Olivia really does resemble her when her hair is up in ponytails! We met Moira at the bus, hustled home, hustled her into her soccer uniform, amidst much moaning, whining and crying, "I haaaaaaaaate soccer! I don't waaaaaaant to go." She went. I took her after dinner. They also had team photos. Her team was scheduled for 730pm pictures. Outside. ::eyeroll:: Needless to say, it was almost nightfall by the time they had them taken. Great. Can't wait to see these! LOL! Mom called earlier this afternoon. Remember I mentioned that she would lose her hair? Well - a LOT of it fell out last night, while she slept. So, she visited her hair dresser and had the rest of her hair shaved off. Completely. She is totally bald. ::sigh:: On the upswing, the hair dresser told Mom that she had a GREAT head. Very smooth. Mom doesn't want any wigs so she is wearing hats and do-rags. I suggested getting some temporary tattos. She loved that idea! Gonna cut it short tonight - I am pooped. I am gonna read a few blogs then head off to bed! G'night!

Driving the beast child to school this morning.. I have to bring books back to the library. Olivia and I will be going to the mall to pick up Monsters Inc. Yay!

From Anna - "So far Janna has not had the baby. I talked to her husband at 3:00 p.m. and she was 4 cent. dilated, had her epidural in and was sleeping. They didn't start pitocin until 5:30 this morning. She didn't sleep at all last night, so she's been catching up today. The nurses estimate that the baby will be born around 6:30 or so tonight. I'm so excited! R (her husband) will call me when she gets here."

I want to thank everyone who has emailed or commented regarding my Mom. I am so very touched by all the kind thoughts and hugs for us. : - )

I'm back from Brownie training ::yawn:: very uneventful.. I spoke with Mom around 4pm. She has gotten back from chemo around 330. She was feeling ok when we talked but I think tomorrow will kick her ass. I feel so damn helpless. She will have lost all her hair by this time next week ::sigh:: I don't know if I am ready for this..

Ugh - I am so jumpy today. I am just trying to stay busy and think positive thoughts about my Mom.

Happy belated birthday to my favorite candlemaker! ::SMOOCH::

Mom is undergoing her new chemotherapy this morning. She will be there for 6-8 hours today.

Janna's having her baby! Woohoo! I got an email from her friend Anna letting me know what was going on. Here's an excerpt: "FYI- Janna is having the baby tonight or tomorrow. They decided to induce labor b/c her blood pressure was really high. No C-Sec b/c the baby turned and is now head down. I talked with her around 5:30 p.m. Central and they were going to start pitocin later this evening." Sending Janna easy labor vibes!

I made a roast in the crockpot today. I started it around 9am this morning, with an onion and 2 cups of brown gravy. By 130pm, I added 3 cut up potatoes and 1 couple big handfuls of baby carrots. Yummy! Olivia scarfed all the meat we served her! We did a quick WalMart run to pick up Moira's costume. It's practically identical to Olivia's costume. Some kind of "Malibu Kitty".. it's cute. Hey - what can I expect for $16? A neighbor up the street has 3 girls and she bought all their costumes from the Disney Store! 1 Alice in Wonderland and 2 Minnie Mouse costumes - talk about BIG bucks! That's easily $120.00 - for a COUPLE hours ::eyeroll:: Whatever. I have a lot of work to do in order to prepare for the meeting on Friday. My babysitter isn't available...until November! : - O Curse you field hockey for stealing my only baby-sitter! So, I have to bring Olivia with me ::sigh:: I hope she's not too out of hand. I have a training course to attend tomorrow evening for Girl Scouts - for 3 hours. Oy.

Our first Brownie troop meeting is this Friday! I am so excited!

I updated and added some links on my sidebar.. check 'em out!

Beware of food This family will also be portrayed Friday night on 48 Hours (CBS) 8pm. I am familiar with this family as I correspond with Adrianne (the Mom) through an online food allergy group (which has 1000+ members!) I hughly suggest everyone watch the show - I know that my daily routine is very similar to what this family goes through each day.

It's raining.. it's raining!