Storm preparations

Here on the East Coast, everyone is preparing for the onslaught that will be Storm Sandy.  I'm one of those people.  I've been working on laundry, dishes, cleanup, filling water jugs, and all around checking off my mental list of preparations.  I really hope we get through the storm relatively unscathed.

Busy weekend ahead!

This weekend is going to be busy.  Grace has an all-day horse show today, followed by a rec-department-sponsored-dance tonight.  Dianna has two different activities at the karate school.  One at 10:45am, one at 5:30pm.

I've already dropped Grace off at the stables where she takes her lessons.  I will head over to the farm that is hosting the show later this morning.  First, I need to finish my coffee, eat some breakfast, and pack my lunch.  Hopefully the show will finish before 5pm.

Lucky for me, Gordon does not have any pressing jobs to work on in the shop today.  This means he'll be able to handle wrangling the Littles all day, as well as shuttling Dianna back and forth to karate.

Tomorrow, we have church.  I REALLY want to get our butts to church.  Haven't been since the first Sunday of the month!

After church, Grace will need to be dropped off at the stables for her regularly scheduled horseback riding lesson.  Then, I will head over to pick up Will's friend, Talon.  They have a playdate scheduled for the afternoon.

Somehow, I will need to find the time to get some cleaning and laundry done.  With Storm Sandy heading towards New England, I need to get all of the laundry caught up.  And the dishes too.  Lord knows how long we'll be without power.  I fully expect we'll lose power.

Another Stormy Halloween??

Remember the snowstorm we had on October 29, 2011?  I blogged about it here.  I hadn't expected more than a couple of inches.  I was wrong.  We got approximately 9"!

Just this morning, I was watching the weather forecast when I saw that there's a tropical storm in the Carribbean.  It's been named Sandy.  According to the forecasts, Sandy may head towards New England.

Ummm.....really??  Please, Mother Nature.  Please take pity on us New Englanders.

Volunteering

I went in to the school two days ago, to volunteer in Will's class.  I love getting to interact with all of the kids.  I love that even the "new friends" (first grade multiagers) know who I am.  Well, sort of.  A number of them said, "Hi, Will's Mom!"

Now that my foot is pretty well on the way to being healed, (I can now walk normally without too much discomfort) I plan to volunteer in Will's class regularly.  I also plan to volunteer in Nora's class regularly too.  While I'm at it, I think I just might like to volunteer in the library again too.  I'm sure that Mrs. S, the "new" librarian can use the help -- she's been the librarian at the Middle School for years, and now has to split her time between the Middle School and the Elementary School.

Confession

Hello.  My name is Phyllis.  I have a problem with Nutella.

Poor Dianna will have to be deprived of one of her favorite foods, at least for the time being.  I simply cannot handle having Nutella in my house.  I hear it calling my name.  I can't resist dipping a spoon into  the jar.  "Just one taste" quickly turns into me eating half a jar's worth.

Jury Duty

A couple of months ago, I received my first-ever jury summons.  I dutifully sent my response in, realizing that I have been rather lucky to not have received a response until this year.  Still, I was hopeful I might be excused without ever having to drive to the courthouse.

No luck.

The night before I was scheduled to appear, I called the courthouse as instructed.  I listened to the pre-recorded message, fingers crossed.  After hearing a litany of names read off, informing potential jurors that they are relieved of their duty, I cursed.  My name was not one of the names listed.  I still had to appear at the courthouse the next morning.

Still no luck for me.

After learning a few small details about the case, I sat in the jurors' room and waited for my turn to speak with the lawyers.  I didn't have to wait long -- I was the third or fourth in line.  The lawyers asked a few generic questions, I answered.  When they released me, I just KNEW that I was going to be selected.

Sure enough, I was right.

I didn't have to wait long in the waiting room -- the jury clerk came in just a few minutes after I'd sat down to inform me that I had been selected.  I later found out that I was "just an alternate".  I had to sit through all the proceedings, but got released when it was time for deliberations.

The case was scheduled to be in court a week and a half later.  The lawyers didn't expect it'd take more than 2 (maybe 3) days.  I needed to arrange for childcare for Eleanor.

As bummed as I was that I had to scramble, I was secretly happy to have been selected.  I had always wondered what jury duty would be like.  Plus, I knew that once I'd served, I would be excused from having to do so again for at least another 3 years.

Last Minute Plans!

Guess what I did this past weekend?

I took a quick trip to VT to see Mom!

After posting on Thursday about how much I missed VT, I couldn't get it out of my mind.  I finally decided that I had to do something about it.  I realized it'd be a quick trip, but knew it'd be better than nothing.

So I loaded up two out of my four kids, grabbed my sister, Rachel, and drove north.  We left Saturday morning and returned home yesterday evening.  Quick, yes.  Just what I needed, though.

Vermont

I need to get to Vermont sometime time soon.  

It has been entirely far too long.

Nothing says "HOME" to me like being up there.

School

School, glorious school!  The kids had both Monday and Tuesday off this week.  I thought they were going to successfully drive me insane.  They were running, shrieking, fighting, and crying, most of the time.  Or was that me?

Sweetest Words Ever

Yesterday morning, I heard the sweetest words EVER.

They were "no evidence of atypical melanocytic proliferation and no evidence of residual melanoma".

I swear, I wanted to plant a big old fat wet kiss on my surgeon.

Basically, the pathologist who studied the cells my surgeon removed almost two weeks ago said that I'm good!  No more melanoma.  No more "atypical" cells.  No more worries.

For now.

I will now begin a regular schedule of 6 month checks with my dermatologist.  I now have a higher likelihood of developing melanoma again.  So we're going to be extra cautious.

But I don't care.  Because, for now, the only lingering thing I've got is two nasty scars in the making.  And some sore thigh/calf muscles (from the way I've been gimping around while my foot heals).  And probably an extra couple of pounds, because Lord knows I haven't given a thought to exercise while I've been recuperating!

Best Friend

Two weeks ago, I was on a train headed to Philadelphia.  I was looking forward to a weekend away.  I was excited to get to see this woman:

Photo taken by Michelle J.  -- hope she doesn't mind that I'm sharing it!  
And perhaps I should have asked Larissa if she'd mind being featured on my blog too.....hopefully she won't.  ;)

I LOVE this picture of my best girlfriend, Larissa, and me.  (should that be "I"??  I can't remember the rule!)