will i get a shower today??

at 7:30 this morning i opened my eyes, looked at the clock and realized something.

i was supposed to take coffee to the girl scouts' yard and bake sale by 7:45.

crap! i jumped up, put the first pot of coffee on, got dressed, and got the borrowed carafes out of my van.

brewed the pot of decaf, piled everything in the car, and thanked my LUCKY STARS that the sale was taking place in my neighborhood. i got there by 8, not TOO late, but the earlybirds were circling and would probably have bought a cup or two by now. the girls were red-nosed and freezing, begging me to bring them a pot of hot cocoa.

when i got home, t and h were in a tizzy preparing for their very first cub scout camping trip. the ceremonies started at 11:30, so they had loads of work to get done in time to leave. i was helping them get organized and packed when the phone rang. in only a half an hour they were out of coffee at the sale!

back to the brew center went i, and since i was feeling solicitous toward the girls, i made them a pot of cocoa. then back to the yard sale. the cocoa sold out while i stood there, so i went home, made ANOTHER pot and went back. the girls drank that pot so i made ANOTHER pot and went back.

of course, in between, i was packing for the camping trip, feeding children, dosing children with appropriate cough & cold meds, etc.

finally, the boys left. they even took the DOG! it was just me & my sick girly who was sad to miss the girl scouts' sale. she has a nasty virus that's left her unable to talk. it's WEIRD. also, her throat hurts, she has a croupy cough, and is wheezing when she breathes. i guess it's going around the 1st grade.

i got one more call to bring coffee & cocoa. no problem. i had taken photos of the kids, but had no way to share them. that's when i got the brilliant idea of starting a private blog for our troop. i got to work on that & got it all set up. i think it'll end up being a valuable resource for the troop.

now i'm stuck cleaning coffee pots, carafes and pitchers! it's 1:33 pm... will i ever get to shower?!

we went a-haunting...

ok, a bland post content-wise, but heavy on photos.

a girly leopard...

a boyish doctor who...
a piratical husband...
a daunting duo...


a spooky family...
and a really fun night.

good thing the girly leopard waited until AFTER the best night of the year to burn with fever and start a raspy cough and wheezy breathing. she's home from school today.

t's new coif

my sweet and darling husband is infamous for his hair. he has massive hair, hair that almost has a life of its own. on top of his enigmatic personality, it takes on even more life. it's BIG. really big. here's a recent photo of his hair, looking rather tame, on the first day of school:



he finally decided it was time for a change. it hasn't been short-short in years! but when t goes short, he has to do it in true t style. nothing conservative, boring or bland. we both are hair adventurers and we have the irrepressible andrea (pronounced "ON-drea") to continually, over the course of many years, to make our dream tresses become reality.

here's the result:



and here's the leftover pile:

there's a stormtrooper on my driveway!

you always have to stay tuned at our house, 'cause you NEVER know what might happen next.

when we got home from dance class, there was a stormtrooper and some imperial officers in our driveway!
they came into our home and invaded our kitchen...

they proceeded to seize control of our children!


they blasted their way out to the studio...

where they presented tommy with the almost-unheard-of honorary membership into the 501st legion. he is now an official plaque-toting, card-carrying member, and will soon even have his own collector's trading card. why? for his contributions to star wars through his art.

ain't it cool? what a fun day for us all.

ride for kids

please check out tommy's post on his weekend charity motorcycle ride for kids with brain tumors. i can't say it any better than he can... other than to say how proud i am of him and how grateful to all the bikers for raising funds that help these kids' families afford to care for their sick children, and for the surviving kids to be able to attend college. how cool is that?

ride for kids

warning: a shameless request for a fundraiser follows!

on may 6th, my darling husband is participating in the triangle ride for kids , a motorcycle trip through our beautiful area to raise funds for the pediatric brain tumor foundation.

i'm trying to make a button to go in my left toolbar, but please be patient with me! if you'd like to make a secure, tax-deductible donation by credit card, or would like any more information about this ride, you can go to his personal fundraising page here.

thanks in advance to anyone generous enough to donate to this wonderful cause!

happy birthday to t

s's birthday portrait of her father (looking remarkably like jesus christ).

yesterday was t's birthday #34, and i may have posted about it yesterday, but we were too busy having fun. isn't that great? when you're too busy having a good time to sit at the computer and ponder having fun?

we went to the bookstore first where he got a book he needed for work. we got a nice lunch at the mall, then ran a few more errands before picking up cake & ice cream at the grocery store for later. it was nice to just be together & talk & hold hands... all that lovely romantic stuff. got home in time to get the kids off the bus.

we celebrated at night with t's favorite birthday cake-- carrot cake-- and ice cream. the kids wanted a small white cake as well, so we put 3 candles in one cake, and 4 in the other (as in 3-4, get it?). s said, "does that mean that daddy is 7 years old?!"

happy birthday to my love, and many many more.