I have a few drafts of blog posts started, but I haven’t really felt like writing lately – too much effort when my mind is so preoccupied.  Then I got this fun forward in my email and thought it would make a good blog post.  Little effort on my part, which is great because I’m so tired from not being able to sleep.  And it is actually a pretty fun forward; I looked it up for each of my kids and put them at the bottom of the list – enjoy:

THIS IS REALLY FUN!

Last night (after C and taylhis‘ recommendation), I watched The Orphanage, a brilliant, suspense filled movie that just held your attention the entire time. So much so that to go into detail would almost certainly ruin it. Totally much more suspenseful than gory which is always a plus (but I think my favorite scene was probably the most twisted scene of the entire film). I also thought the use of the burlap mask was well conceived; harkening back to the Scarecrow’s face in Batman Begins which was also creepy. I think the idea to use a burlap face for our haunted attraction is a great idea. The Orphanage was in Spanish with English subtitles but (although necessary unless you are fluent in Spanish) was not a huge distraction.

Guillermo del Toro, producer of The Orphanage, is in the process of writing the two film prequel to The Lord of the Rings trilogy. He will also direct The Hobbit films (the first of which is set to be released in 2011). Peter Jackson, who was largely responsible for bringing the original trilogy to the big screen will share writing duties with del Toro. My experience with the adventures of Bilbo Baggins is limited to the Tolkien novel and the Book and Record (remember those?) set that was released with the 1977 animated feature. I never saw the animated versions of the novels. But, I will definitely see these two films.

So, I HIGHLY recommend checking out The Orphanage; oddly enough it is not available through Blockbuster.com

Well, I got the results from the Ultrasound today and there is good news.  They do not show anything.  So, there is nothing visibly wrong with my Pancreas, Liver, Kidneys, or Gall Bladder.  YEAH!

However, this also brings some bad news.  Lisa & I have to wait to find out what the heck is wrong with me until possibly next Wednesday!

I will be getting a gastroendoscopy and colonoscopy on Thursday and then we will have to wait 3 – 4 business days for the result.  🙁

Wish me luck!  I am trying to keep positive but also must admit I am very scared.  I just am so thankful to have such a wondeful wife to support me!  SHE IS PERFECT!

Yes, a fun day indeed, if you read Jamiahsh’s blog, then you know what I’m talking about.  To get our minds off of certain medical dramas (not like House or Grey’s Anatomy or anything like that – our real-life medical dramas taking place right now are much worse than some crappy tv), we decided to have a day of fun.  It began with go-carting, which is always fun but even more so if you can fill up the track and drive with people you know – which we were able to do.  I like the place we went to because they don’t charge any extra if you take a kid along with you, and seeing as how we had a few nice adults who didn’t mind chauffering some little kids, all 3 of our daughters got to go around the track a bunch of times.  But I’m the dummy who forgot my camera, so I didn’t get a picture of my little almost 2-year-old in a go-cart like I wanted.  It’s funny because I had the camera with me, just forgot to use it, which should signal how scatter-brained I’ve been lately because of the worry and lack of sleep resulting from my husband’s as-yet-unidentified medical condition.  And while we’re on that subject, we won’t know anything until next week now, because they’ve ordered further tests for Thursday, and they won’t get the results back until next week.  But they’ve eliminated gallstones, so at least we know that much.  He blogged a little update here.

But anyway, enough tangents, back to the fun day.  After go-carting, we decided to practice in the batting cages for our upcoming annual theater softball game.  The batting cages reminded me how hilarious last year’s game was – I mean, theater people playing softball?  It was a riot!

After that, we went to a nice little restaurant we like on the river.  If you sit outside, you get to enjoy the beautiful weather, the view, and a game of cornhole while you wait for your food.  I like cornhole; if anyone has a set, we should bring it to the theater family fun day and play that along with softball…  Why is it called cornhole?  Is that a NW Ohio term for it?  They have that where I come from in Illinois too, but I don’t think they call it cornhole.  In case you aren’t from NW Ohio and you don’t know what I’m talking about, I’m referring to the game with the wooden ramps with holes in them…  you have 2 of these and station them about 15-20 feet apart with half of the team at each end; then you throw bean bags into the holes – hopefully.

After dinner, the kids fell apart (what else is new?  They’ve been acting HORRIBLY lately!), so we had to leave, but I hear the rest of the group went mini-golfing.  I was actually tempted to mini-golf earlier in the day but I knew the kids would drive me nuts because they get bored of it after about 6 holes.  So we left, thinking maybe the kids would fall asleep in the car, giving me and hubby a much-deserved and needed night alone together to watch a movie.  Didn’t happen.  And starting with the kids spazzing out at the restaurant about bees (and there weren’t that many – our almost 9-year-old is a wimp about certain things and her craziness got her sisters going – don’t you love how they chain-react to one another?  Hence the name of my blog), things went from bad to worse.

I’m going to blame Carol and Megan for this one, since they brought it up earlier in the day, but what a coincidence – we got pulled over on the way home.  So thanks Carol and Megan for jinxing us!!  Just kidding, of course it’s not your fault…  I guess poor Chris really got used to putting the pedal to the metal on those darn go-carts.  The state highway patrol officer who pulled us over had the personality of a housefly, and she wasn’t going to act like a human being and be thankful we weren’t drunk driving or even think about giving us a break on labor day, so our fun day ended up being pretty expensive when you include the $100 speeding ticket.  Our luck SUCKS lately, but if we can get the all-clear on my husband’s health, then I will stop complaining.

Oh yeah, so anyway, when we got home, our almost-2-year-old was the last one awake, and since she had only napped for about 10 minutes during the day, we thought we were almost home-free for a nice evening together – WRONG!  About 30 minutes into the movie, our oldest came down, asking for a snack.  No biggie, but “Did you wake your sister?” we asked her, panicked beyond belief because our 4-year-old has been a little hellian again lately.  She said she didn’t think she woke her up, but 5 minutes later, guess what happens?  Sammie comes down the stairs, and now we’re in the middle of an R rated movie with all 3 kids awake and downstairs.  So much for our peaceful early night, sigh.  We sent the oldest 2 upstairs, and that’s actually the last we heard from Sammie, believe it or not.  Disney, the youngest besides the baby (and he’s not old enough to cause any trouble yet, thank goodness!), got so OVER-tired that she started crying for about 45 minutes straight until she finally fell asleep.  But then Taylor, the oldest, must have come down the stairs at least 3 more times because she was worried about various bugs that were in her room and in the house, according to her anyway.  If this were still the age of the VCR, our movie would have been eaten by the VCR by now because of all the pausing and unpausing we were doing…  but ultimately, we just gave up anyway because I was falling asleep during the first part of the movie, and we could tell Taylor was going to be “bugging” us all night…  So we missed the end of No Escape – some crappy Ray Liotta action film from the 90’s.  I think it was crappy anyway, I really didn’t see much of it – let me know if it’s any good and maybe we’ll go back to it.

But for what it was worth, the day provided a nice destraction from the worries that have been plaguing us lately, so thanks to all who participated.  Now we just have to wait another week to find out more medical test results…  ugh, I hate the waiting!

Since my pal jamiahsh mentioned my $8.00 putter, I guess now is a good time to tell how I happen to own said putter. I am not a golfer by any means. I’ve played maybe 2 games of golf in my lifetime. In both games, I did lousy. My drives were short, but straight, my short game was all over the place, and putting on a real green, forget about it. The one thing I do reasonably well with a golf ball is miniature golf, especially the par 2 Putt Putt courses. I’ve played on a few, and while I’m nowhere near to being a Putt Putt pro, I usually can break or make par on these courses after a round or two to get used to it. As with any sport, somedays you just don’t have it, so I don’t always make par.

Anyway, on to the story of my $8.00 putter. A few of years ago (was it really so long??, yes, it was during our magic show) a group of us were invited to have a day at the nearest Putt Putt / Go-Cart place. I got to the town a little early and we stopped at a local sporting goods store. I’m not sure now if I stopped with the thought of picking up a putter, or just saw it when I got there, and had the idea, but anyway C is a slightly competitive person, and his friends know this about him. Me, I’m never beyond trying to set someone up for a joke, so knowing about his nature, I wanted something to play games with his mind.

So I picked up the cheapest putter available at the sporting goods store. For 8 American dollars, I picked up a putter that was much better than the clubs at the local Putt Putt. And it gave me a wonderful joke to play on the rest of the gang. I arrive at the Putt Putt with putter in hand. Now everybody thought that I was a serious putter. I saw fear in their eyes. (not really but it sounds good doesn’t it?) I did have a really good game that day, having quite a few holes-in-one and ended up in first. I was lucky my putter worked. I may have looked a fool if I didn’t have a good game. After that I don’t think too many believed that I just picked the putter up that day. They can comment if they remember. But I think my youngest convinced them.

So now, I always have that putter with me during the summer months. My youngest and I frequent the putting places often, and I’ve grown used to my stick. Sometimes, like today, it brings out the fear in my opponents…. Ha ha ha (how do you write an evil laugh???))

Very often, the best way to help ease the tension of a rough few days is to do something fun with people whom you consider dear friends. This past week has been a doozy. I learned through a rather ill-timed phone call that my mentor, (one of) my greatest influences, and staunchest supporters (to put it mildly) is in her final days of her nearly year-and-a-half battle with leukemia. Then, I learned that one of my best friends, influences, and staunchest supporters is having medical problems of his own. I am constantly praying and hoping for both of them, but that was not at all what today was about.

Following my shortened shift at work today, friends gathered at the area miniature golf/go-cart racing park. It was a blast. I loved the thrill of traveling at breakneck speeds along the hairpin turns and steep banking of the quarter-mile track (more or less). Most times, I was accompanied by one of three darling girls (even when they are highly animated when faced by spiders/bees) who enjoyed it at least as much as their adult(?) counterparts. I am quite pleased to say that I do not believe that I finished anything less than 3rd place and came in 1st at least once that I recall. If only I had not kept tapping the brake at inappropriate times…

The group then decided to visit the batting cages at a nearby park in order to practice up for our 2nd annual funday/softball game coming up in a few weeks. Some of us did better than others but it was just another excellent diversion.

Following our early dinner (must have been early as some of the items on the menu were not available before 5), four of us returned to the Putt-Putt location and accepted the round offered by our resident miniature golf regular… who claims that he has made a hole-in-one on every hole but one on the course). Although I came in third, it was still fun and I thought I did well… a 58? Justj just happens to carry his $8.00 putter (that was the clearance price) wherever he goes.

Before we departed our other group of friends, I could tell that C was beginning to feel fatigued. I just hope that all goes well tomorrow and am certain that his tests come back with good results. And I know that Ma 2 is soon going to be in a much better, peaceful place and remembered by everyone whose lives she touched and will continue to touch. To paraphrase a quote from a classic curmudgeonly (guess that is a word) science-fiction physician: She really will not be gone as long as we remember her. (I refuse to use the “d” word).

So thanks, Chris, Lisa, Taylor, Sammie, Disney, Christopher, John, Megan, and Carol. You all are so important to me and I cherish every moment we spend together. I love each and everyone of you.

HELLO EVERY PEOPLE!!!  I a come a to you live from Hamilition, In diana in America country, yes?  On day of Sun, Obamalasa come to vist small town near home of strange person.  A person who a shop at market where strange person work say he a go see Obamalam and got photo with him.  He a eat food, take photography, shake a his hand, and kiss a baby.  Is a dis how people become new owner America country?  Man at markey he  say he could not get to water hole in Hamilition, In diana very easy, but they a get there somehow.  It’s a too bad for Morat… he a not get to Hamiliton, In diana fast enough to see Obamalad.  But he a keep going until he a see him again.  A Happy Day of Labor to a you all.  I a no understand… why you a celebrate work?  A very strange  custome

I was offline all of yesterday due to a cable problem.  I have located the problem- it seems the outside cable is worn through in a spot.  I have jury-rigged it to test it for now, and as you can see since I am writing a post that it is indeed the problem.  Unfortunately I can’t keep it up.  Obviously they have a record that I am accessing the internet now, but I can always tell the tech I was just testing the problem myself, and I was.  I will have to remove what I did though.  Unfortunately it means no internet for me for two more days since my appointment isn’t until Wednesday afternoon. 🙁

Hopefully I can get sub jobs for the next couple of days using the phone instead.  Of course that means no blogs until then either…

My husband and I are worried sick.  It started about a week ago, when he began experiencing a terrible stomach ache.  In the past week, we’ve been to the ER and several doctors, and they’ve run various tests, but we haven’t gotten any results back yet, in part because it’s a darn holiday weekend.  So meanwhile, we are both worried SICK, which is an understatement.  The internet is acting as both a blessing and a curse, with us obsessing over his symptoms and making ourselves crazy with thoughts of one horrible diagnosis (mainly involving colon cancer) after another.  So I’m writing this quick post as a way of hopefully using the internet as a blessing rather than a curse and putting out this call for prayer.  Please, please pray for our family that my husband’s illness is nothing serious, and that we will be able to find the cause and the cure in a timely fashion.  We have 4 little children, and it’s been really difficult to function as a family with one of us sick and both of us so worried and terrified.  It’s probably nothing, but I thank you so much for your thoughts and prayers. 

Ah, yes, the weekend clean-up prior to the opening of a show at our community theatre. Those gathered were kept busy by doing various duties around the small space. Hanging vinyl LPs from the ceiling in the lobby (I realize that this may age me a bit; but I even remember 8-track tapes and Betamax), finishing up the molding for the doors on stage, and totally 80’s-afying the interior of the building. Carol and I spent the majority of our time drizzling paint in a pizza box that was in turn used to create a tiled effect on the stage floor. THIS TYPE OF PAINTING I CAN HANDLE… thank you very much.

Normally, the lobby of the theatre is used to showcase the artistic talents of a local artist. For our production of The Nerd, our director decided to use the space for a variety of pop culture items of extravagance. Record sleeves for Madonna’s True Blue album, authentic movie posters for Star Wars and E.T., and a Strawberry Shortcake tv tray were just a few of the items I saw waiting to be displayed. Totally tubular, Dude. So… for a blast from the past and a hilarious play… check us out September 5-7 and 11-14.