Happy Halloween

Another fun Halloween!!!
A top hit this year was a last-minute idea. Kristi found a website with free stencils. I let each kid pick out their favorite, printed it, cut it out, and traced it onto the pumpkins, all within an hour of Kevin being due home from work. Then, thanks to Kevin and his Dremel tool - this is how they turned out:


The kids were so adorable I just admired them the whole time we were out.
Thanks to my mom for sewing a perfect Dorothy costume, and providing a basket for Toto. Rafael, Dorothy, the Blue Butterfly, and our little penguin had SO MUCH fun!

The best story from the night - we gathered afterwards to inspect the candy haul and the kids got to answer the door all together at the neighbors'. Every time the doorbell rang, five kids went running. Once after the door was closed on another batch of trick-or-treaters, Bethanie broke out sobbing. We couldn't figure out what happened right away. At first I thought she was sad because she didn't get to hand out any candy. But then it was discovered that she had given her lollipop away to one of the trick-or-treaters. Her USED Tootsie Roll Pop that she'd been enjoying for about ten minutes. We were all laughing imagining the reaction when THAT kid gets home to find a sticky, sucked-on lollipop in his bag. Ick!

Day Before Candy

It is nearly three o'clock and what a day it has been. I sit here eating Trader Joe's yummy microwave popcorn while my two girls are jumping on the trampoline in the leaves. Yes, even in Las Vegas we have one tree that turns gorgeous shades of deep red and yellow and drops leaves on the trampoline. So my Western girls get to jump in leaves, just not in the traditional way.

I could really talk up the idyllic scene I've got going here, but the truth is I was a raving lunatic just hours ago in the throes of a crazy shopping trip trying to find ruby red slippers for Cayna's Dorothy costume. It was lunacy because the search has spanned about two weeks and ninety-five stores. I was ready to spray-paint her school shoes, but Payless finally produced and now we are all happily "back in Kansas," shall we say?

So... after hot-gluing various pieces of Bethanie's butterfly get-up, finding the red shoes, purchasing the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle, and borrowing the penguin for John - we're ready to go!!! Wait, not really - I still have to buy, gut, and carve some pumpkins and pick up some candy. Perhaps that will happen on the way home from the little get-together I'm going to tonight. Wanna know what it's for? My husband keeps making fun of it - it's a company that makes those vinyl letters to stick on your wall in various phrases as a decoration. Kevin's quote about this: "We could get Bethanie to do the same thing for free."

Anyway... tomorrow I will post pictures of my adorable Trick-or-Treaters and let you know how I'm doing resisting the candy.

Husband and Wife

You know those questionnaire e-mails that people send? You're supposed to fill them out and send them on and everyone grows a little closer and the world becomes more cozy? They annoy a lot of people, but I confess I love them. I guess I just like talking about myself (as if you didn't know that - you're reading my BLOG!)

I got one the other day from my friend, Kim, and filled it out and sent it back. I also forwarded it to Kevin. I'm not sure why, but I think it has to do with the power of suggestion and #36. To my surprise, he filled it out and sent it back! I was shocked, but it made my whole day. Partly because he took the time to indulge my frivolity and partly because his answers made me laugh out loud several times. So... I'm reprinting my answers and his. It's okay if you skip ahead to his answers, I'll understand.

My answers:
1. What time did you get up this morning? 7:15, it was dreamy - and rare

2. Diamonds or pearls? Diamonds

3. What was the last film you saw at the cinema? The cinema? Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium (free kids' movies this summer)

4. What is your favorite TV show? The Office

5. What do you usually have for breakfast? Cold Cereal

6. What is your middle name? Lynn

7. What food do you dislike? Beets

8. What is your favorite CD at the moment? I'm with you, Kim - I'm not a CD fan, but I love my iPod - Gwen Stefani is a favorite

9. What kind of car do you drive? A Honda Odyssey. It's pretty sexy.

10. Favorite sandwich? Turkey with sprouts that someone makes for me

11. What characteristic do you despise? Lack of normal social skills

12. Favorite item of clothing? I love my Old Navy jammy pants

13. If you could go anywhere in the world on vacation, where would you go? it's a tough call - I'm dying to hang out in New England but now Rome, too

14. Are you an organized person? yessiree

15. Where would you retire to? wherever my kids are - or at least wherever the one that likes me is

16. What was your most recent memorable birthday? they've kinda sucked lately - I did go to Cheesecake Factory this year, but we didn't even have cheesecake for dessert - how did that happen?

17. What are you going to do when you finish this? send Kim an adoption-related e-mail

18. Furthest place you are sending this? we'll see what kind of mood I'm in

19. Who will be the first to send this back? I don't know

20. What's the last thing that made you laugh? some election satire Kevin and I watched

21. Morning person or a night person? Night. Duh, why do you think I'm sitting here typing this?

22. Shoe size? 10

23. Pets? Nope.

24. Any new and exciting news you'd like to share with us? Yes. I am now a Phillies fan. I never knew!

25. What did you want to be when you were little? A lawyer.

26. How are you today? Well, it was a fairly nice day, weather- and kid-wise. Kevin cooked dinner and I got to run tonight. But I'm fighting some depression and the birth parent search possibility is too big on my mind.

27. What is your favorite flower? Lilac. Stargazer lily is a close second. There is a lilac candle burning in my room waiting for me as I speak!

28. What is a day on the calendar you are looking forward to? I have some fun stuff going on this next week, so I suppose I'm looking forward to all of that. Most of all, our book group is having an All-Saints Day pancake breakfast next Saturday. How's that for random Catholic?

29. What are you listening to right now? I just heard the toilet flush upstairs.

30. Are your toenails painted currently? Yes.

31. Do you wish on stars? No.

32. If you were a crayon, what color would you be? Pink. Or green. Or a unique shade of blue. Never orange.

33. How is the weather right now? Sooooooooooo gorgeous. If people visited Vegas now, they'd never leave.

34. Last person you spoke to on the phone? Christine. Well, but not really a person, it was her voicemail. So Kristi.

35. Favorite soft drink? Don't drink them much, but when I do, I love a root beer.

36. Favorite restaurant? If SOMEONE would ever take me, I'm pretty sure I would love Mon Ami Gabi at the Paris. Hello? Anyone?

37. Hair color? Blonde

38. What was your favorite toy as a child? Dolls. Loved dolls. Never had one of those busts, Kim - but I wanted one. Maybe I oughtta get my daughters one for Christmas. I'm guessing they don't make Cher anymore.

39. Summer or Winter. Both

40. Chocolate or Vanilla? Chocolate.

41. Coffee or tea? Tea. Or a Chocolate Chip Frolatte at Saxby's. But that's not so much coffee as dessert.

42. Do you want your friends to email you back? Yes.

43. When was the last time you cried? Don't remember, though I felt the need to several times this week and probably should have.

44. What is under your bed? Weights. Pieces of the porta-crib. Probably some stray toys and a dust bunny or two.

45. What did you do last night? I'll tell you what we didn't do. We didn't go to Baskin Robbins with our neighbors because the envelope system on our budget is my ENEMY.

46. What are you afraid of? You name it, sister: cancer; violence; my kids growing up too fast; going to jail; the list goes on and on

47. Salty or sweet? Sweet.

48. How many keys on your key ring? car, house, Dad's house - 3!

49. Favorite day of the week? Usually Saturday. Sunday's a close second.

50. Do you make friends easily? I think so.

51. How many people will you send this to? Not really sure.

52. How many will respond? Don't know.

53. Do you like finding out all this stuff about your friends? Absolutely.


His answers:
1. What time did you get up this morning? 5:35 AM, 5:42 AM, and then 5:49 AM.

2. Diamonds or pearls? no.

3. What was the last film you saw at the cinema? Wall-E.

4. What is your favorite TV show? The Office.

5. What do you usually have for breakfast? Nothing or oatmeal at work.

6. What is your middle name? William.

7. What food do you dislike? Most healthy things; fish (more generally, things that swim or swam or lived in the water at any point during its life).

8. What is your favorite CD at the moment? I have been hearing Erasure in my head lately.

9. What kind of car do you drive? Ford Explorer/Exploder.

10 Favorite sandwich? Turkey and provolone on Sourdough toasted in a toaster oven.

11. What characteristic do you despise? Ineptitude and lack of awareness of ineptitude.

12. Favorite item of clothing? Underwear...it protects my sensitive areas.

13. If you could go anywhere in the world on vacation, where would you go? Holy Land.

14. Are you an organized person? I like organization, but not organizing.

15. Where would you retire to? Where I lived my life...why move away from that?

16. What was your most recent memorable birthday? 30th with sumo wrestling.

17. What are you going to do when you finish this? work.

18. Furthest place you are sending this? home.

19. Who will be the first to send this back? there is not much chance anyone will send this back.

20. What's the last thing that made you laugh? Seeing someone at work who looked really awkward in a hard hat and vest. #30 also made me laugh.

21. Morning person or a night person? Morning.

22. Shoe size? 12.

23. Pets? No.

24. Any new and exciting news you'd like to share with us? My wife is now a Phillies fan.

25. What did you want to be when you were little? An elephant.

26. How are you today? Normal.

27. What is your favorite flower? Venus fly trap...a very manly flower.

28. What is a day on the calendar you are looking forward to? 12/24. That is when I find out my bonus.

29. What are you listening to right now? Women of Grace.

30. Are your toenails painted currently? Hell no; I do believe I'd get my ass kicked if my toenails were painted.

31. Do you wish on stars? No.

32. If you were a crayon, what color would you be? Burnt sienna.

33. How is the weather right now? Nice. I can't complain, but sometimes I still do.

34. Last person you spoke to on the phone? Rich.

35. Favorite soft drink? Coke.

36. Favorite restaurant? Jack in the Box.

37. Hair color? Short.

38. What was your favorite toy as a child? Legos.

39. Summer or Winter. "Summer" I hate being cold.

40. Chocolate or Vanilla? Vanilla.

41. Coffee or tea? Coffee.

42. Do you want your friends to email you back? Some of them.

43. When was the last time you cried? When I was a baby. Actually, I almost always choke up at the moment Troy unites people. Then I make fun of them because people usually act like dorks in situations like that. My answer to #29 almost made me cry.

44. What is under your bed? Weights. Pieces of the porta-crib. Probably some stray toys and a dust bunny or two.

45. What did you do last night? Sewed patches on my cub scout leader uniform.

46. What are you afraid of? Mirrors in the dark.

47. Salty or sweet? Sweet.

48. How many keys on your key ring? 6, one keyless pad thing, one magnetic access key to office.

49. Favorite day of the week? Thursday; refer to #4.

50. Do you make friends easily? No.

51. How many people will you send this to? One.

52. How many will respond? One.

53. Do you like finding out all this stuff about your friends? Eh.

One Sentence Today

Abortion is the complete opposite of social justice.

Doctor Day

Since my last visit to a family practice was in a small town in the hills, I noticed quite a few advancements in the world of doctor offices now three years later and in the big city. For example, I saw both doctors and at least one nurse toting their laptops from room to room. No paper charts at this office at all. She said she is the only one in town to be exclusively computerized.

As usual, I wrote "Unknown - Adopted" on the Medical History section. And then, lo and behold, the last question was "Would you like prayer today?" Well, who is going to say no to that?

Of course, you write this information just to keep their pens flowing, because both the nurse and the doctor asked me specific questions about my parents and siblings (neither of which have a genetic connection to me) later during my visit and I had to restate the "I don't know, I'm adopted" line.

ANYway... I was there for a check-up as well as to list a few bothersome issues and list I did. And I really like this doctor. She was very thorough and very UNrushed. We spent the most time discussing how I have been running and want to keep running, but I have back pain and breathing issues. Long story short, I have scoliosis. She was very surprised I didn't know that already because apparently it's fairly obvious. Come on, people, I read the Judy Blume book about the girl who had scoliosis - how could my own spine malformation escape my notice? Doc spent a good amount of time explaining what this means for my running career and for my disks and for my co-pay once she sends me to a specialist. She told me to keep running, which was music to my ears. "Keep your core strong," she said, "That's what will save you as you age." Alrighty then!

She is sending me to a holistic specialist - a guy who does sports medicine and chiropractic, and is perfectly comfortable in the traditional and alternative worlds of medicine. He has a staff of physical therapists and she guessed he would do at least one adjustment and then help me figure out how to keep my back from wigging out again in the future, especially as I try to increase my running distances. I'm pretty excited about seeing this guy.

My breathing issues remain a mystery. She asked me somewhat teasingly "You don't smoke pot?" and I grinned. It was humorous that she asked this soon after I told her I have four children. I took a breathing test with a little machine plugged into - you guessed it - the nurse's laptop. Then I had a breathing treatment and took the test again. No change. So I'm to continue my conditioning exercises during running and report back if it continues to be a problem. I liked that she suggested some other possibilities, but ruled out about four separate things and then admitted she just wasn't sure.

We ended our date with a cozy little discussion on antidepressants. No hormonal mother of young children living in America can escape this conversation. And I liked her response and explanation. I also LOVED that she said, "I'm not going to prescribe anything to you after just one visit." Bravo! Let me introduce you to a colleague of yours in Smalltown, California who wanted to drug me up quicker than you can say Prozac. I'm glad I found this new doctor, and I'm reasonably sure that I can continue to avoid medication as long as I keep exercising and stay off sugar. But I'll keep you posted, because the knowledge I gained today about my sketchy mental health is the best I've heard yet in YEARS of struggling.

I also need bloodwork later this week to determine any possible issues that we might not have touched on today. Issues like thyroid problems, blood sugar imbalances, cholesterol levels, and pregnancy. Woo-hoo! Read about it here first when I get the exciting results.

Check-up

I'm going to see a doctor tomorrow - for no particular reason - I just like to spend money wantonly. And when your addictions to food and shopping and gambling have failed you, hypochondria comes in handy and gives you a reason to start meeting all the doctors in your area.

That's not really what I'm doing. Is it? I have this painful lump on my index finger. Some occasional numbness in my left thigh. I had a rash, but the dermatologist took care of that with some steroid cream.

Honestly, I'm going because it seems like the thing to do every now and again. And I like a little adventure. Last time I visited a general doc, I was diagnosed with high cholesterol and depression. That dumbhead (he was) was trying to get me to leave with no fewer than two prescriptions - for long-term use - after ONE VISIT. I refused. And I changed my diet, started exercising and lost weight. MIRACULOUSLY my cholesterol dropped and the depression worked itself out. So we'll see what this one has to offer.

Every time I visit a doctor, especially as I'm getting older, I'm tempted to lie on the background sheet. Instead of putting "UNKNOWN - ADOPTED" across the whole family history section, I toy with the idea of writing every disease in the book - or at least the most common ones that scare me. Cancer, heart disease, liver failure, stroke. Yes, I might be lying, but I might not. Those could be true for all I know. And since I can't get the people who keep my adoption records sealed to pay for extra diagnostic testing, I'll just make myself look like a walking time bomb in order to rule out the doozy diseases.

I've heard this doctor is a Christian and prays with her patients. Well, at least she prayed with my mom. My neighbor goes to her, too - and she didn't get the prayer treatment. I'm curious whether she'll ask to pray with me. I'm in a rather snotty mood (can you tell?) so I might just retort, "If you think it'll help."

Well, wish me luck. What better way to start a week than with a visit to a doctor?

Saturday Night Update

Really? The World Series is on RIGHT NOW? Kevin says it really is live and those people really are watching this game at 1:30 a.m. in Philly. At first I was making fun of a Phillies guy who got out on second base so I thought I would root for the Tampa Bay team. But I can't get behind a team called the Devil Rays!!! What IS a Devil Ray? Will someone please tell me? I suppose I could Google it but I just don't care enough and since my brother went to school in Philly I might as well take their team's side. Kevin is normally a baseball fan, so I asked why we haven't been watching this. Apparently we've been busy.

Now that you're settled on who Teri hopes to win the Series, let's move on to some other important things.

Today is exactly two months til Christmas. Are you ready? I am. Yep. If by "ready" you mean "prepared to start making a list". Catholics do a bang-up job of celebrating significant Jesus stuff, so I kinda let them take care of that side of things. Other than that, I might buy a poinsettia this year. Put up the stockings. Buy some gifts. Shoot a goose and cook the sucker for Christmas Eve. I'm not sure what Santa will bring me this year. I think I might ask for a scooter. Why not?

Friends coming from out of the country tomorrow to stay with us. Doesn't that sound exotic? What it amounts to, really, is that I have to clean the bathrooms. On the Sabbath. But, if you know your Bible, you know Jesus healed on the Sabbath, and me cleaning my bathrooms is almost like that. I will be preventing disease. The downstairs "powder room" gets a Clorox swipe now and again but I can honestly say that the Master bathroom has not been cleaned in months. (And Beth Barker, if you are now reading my blog, I hope you will still be my friend. I imagine that if you went that long without cleaning your bathroom the universe might implode!)

I have so much more on my mind right now. I went for a run tonight and apparently the endorphins are making me overly chatty. Okay, I'm overly chatty no matter what, but I'm feeling extra loopy. But it is time to go continue watching my beloved Phillies.

Lots of Love, and Happy Saturday to you and yours,
Teri