I'm Here! Here I Am!
2005-04-04, 2:25 a.m.

::::::::waving wildly::::::::::
Here! Over here! Here I am! See? See?

I dropped off the face of the earth for a couple of weeks while the kids had spring break. Daughter had one week. Son had three. Son has been home for three weeks. In case you didn�t get that, allow me to reiterate.
Three. Week. Spring. Break.

Son goes back to school tomorrow (well, today now). I love my child dearly, but it is time for him to be pawned off on someone else for awhile.

We did the Grandma Circuit (the big ol� SC/NC loop), and then settled back home for housework, yard work, and feeding lots and lots of people. The Together Family�s #2 son left for the Air Force a week ago, so we had a sendoff cookout. I had my ladies� church circle over for a brunch. I made my first foray here to S@m�s Club beforehand and have enough food left over to feed a few hundred more people. Anybody wanna come over for some bite-size quiche?

Daylight savings time screws us up every single year. No one in our family is able to adjust to one freaking hour difference on the clock. Last night Hubby, Son, and I stayed up until 4am. Daughter crashed at an earlier but still unholy hour. Tonight we�re all going to need Nyqu*l downers to force us into a decent bedtime.

Pulling a near all-nighter had dire consequences on my wallet, courtesy of P@yP@l and iTunes*. I downloaded music. Mega downloads. Whole albums. I think I spent $50 on music last night. Consider it a late birthday present. On the plus side, I have really REALLY enjoyed it today. Oooh oooh oooh, guess what? I made my first iMixes* and already have a FIVE STAR vote! Go to iTunes* and look up My Very Happy Happy Joy Joy Mix. And if you haven�t yet listened to I Monster, Daughter Darling, and James D. Stark, you should. Soon.

Tonight�s SCORE: The song from the @did@s commercial where the guy�s sleepwalking in his very intelligent tennies. It�s �Hello *Tomorrow� by *Sque@k E *Cle@n and K@ren O. of the Ye@h *Yeah Ye@h�s. I have you, my precious, I do.

Tonight my hands are sore from de-vinca-ing the flowerbeds. Vinca is an evil, evil plant and a very unwelcome word in our house tonight. Vinca tried to eat everything in our yard, and can be stopped only by blood, sweat, tears, and hundreds of gallons of EPA-shattering herbicide. But the flowerbeds must be readied, because Hubby and I have already bought a herd of shrubbery for in front of the house. We have spireas, some sort of variegated thingy, and a bunch of daylilies to plant once the vinca stranglehold is loosened. That nuisance has made my sh*t list, just below Bermuda grass and one step above kudzu. I pulled so much that my fingernails got pulled back too far and hurt and dirt is jammed in crevices I didn�t know existed in human hands and it refuses to leave under any condition. I scrubbed my hands with the dish-scrubbing brush�still there. I soaked in the Jacuzzi tub�still there. I used enough soap to peel off the first few layers of skin�dirt�s still there. I used that as an excuse to not cook and get takeout tonight. Hey, who wants a cook with filthy hands? Far be it from me to serve my family unsanitary fare.

Daughter is still on Cloud Nine from this past Monday. She had been on the prowl for the perfect electric scooter, continuing to save her money and dreaming of whipping around the neighborhood at dizzying 15mph speeds. On my trip to S@m�s Club Monday morning, I found it. A nice nice nice scooter, far from chintzy, $50 cheaper than the lesser quality one at MaulMart. As soon as Hubby arrived from work Monday evening, we all piled in the truck and headed back there. Daughter had saved $120, and because of yet another good report card, Hubby and I offered to chip in the remaining $30. Hubby and I hefted THE VERY LAST ONE onto the dolly and, followed by a giddy and tittering daughter, began to wheel it away. At that moment a lady rounded the corner with two employees she had apparently sought out to help her lift the box. Oh well, too bad, so sad, WE GOT IT FAIR AND SQUARE SO THERE. No I didn�t say it, but I would have in all juvenile glory. I just pushed the cart away a little faster. Then, at the checkout, the scooter rang up at $318. Nononononononono, the sign on the aisle said $141. The cashier scanned it again. $318. Nonononononononono. A floor manager arrived to do an override and explained that earlier there were lesser-quality scooters that were $141, but were sold out. They now had these much nicer ones in stock instead, and they were supposed to be $318. However, they neglected to change the price. Since it was their mistake, they were going to honor the posted price of $141 !!! Our entire family left the store giddy and tittering, not just Daughter, who by this time was levitating. Hubby assembled and charged it, and Daughter is now an easy rider. Peter Fonda, eat her dust.

Watched: Thunderbirds. Kinda cute, but they could have done soooooo much more with the premise. Attempted to watch Van Helsing, AGAIN, to no avail. First time I rented it, I returned it unwatched due to lack of spare time in which to watch it. Now, the dvd won�t play and is scratched to bits. Megabuster will get a mighty whine for that one. Last, but certainly not least, Hubby and I finally saw Shaun Of The Dead. Oh, that one�s a keeper. In a word, heeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee! Oh Shaun, how do we love thee? Enough to buy thy dvd.

Hubby had a fun time last night. He looked up Blue C@ts/Fiction�s website and lo and behold, his favorite was in concert last night. Straight from the UK, it was DJ Rap! So, with my blessing, he headed out the door at nearly midnight to hear her play. He called me at 2:15am just before heading for home to tell me he got her autograph! Today he has been absolutely over the moon. We learned a good lesson: Check the club schedule just a wee bit more often!

Happy Hubby, happy Daughter, miserable Son doing his best Willi@m Sh@tner impressions (Schooool! NNNOOOOOOOOOOO!), and sleepy Mom are going to bed. Good night all, I�ll catch up with ya later.

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