Living Blossoms

+ I love Publix not just for the deals they give me, but for their commitment to correct grammar and punctuation. They are the only grocery store I've ever seen that has a "Ten items or fewer" lane instead of "Ten items or less". I also love them for their restaurant, Crispers, who has a salad with fruit in it year-round (hear that, Panera?) and the best chowdah (slightly spicy crab & corn) I've ever had. *hugs Publix*

+ Anybody else in denial that we're already more than a week into 2010? Seriously. I feel like it should maybe be September 2009 right now.

+ We went to see my grandma at the hospital today. She officially has two good knees now! Woo-hoo! I can't WAIT for her to be totally recuperated, because she will be SO happy. She had horrible knees for a very long time. I expect to see her literally leaping for joy in a month or two.  ;o)  Tomorrow she moves to a rehab center. Pray for a quick recovery. I'm sure this one will be better because she already has a strong knee now.

+ Ange and I were planning to meet at the hospital way on the eastside and I was waiting for her to call me, so I killed time at The Thrift Store. There was one thing I really needed - a brown jacket, preferably long - and I found one! Its really nice, dark brown, double-breasted, slightly longer than mid-thigh, it has pockets, and it was only $6! Yay!  I'm wearing it already, without washing it, which probably grosses some people out, but when I said I needed it, I meant it. Hehe.

+ Yesterday got better when Isaac got home. He has that effect on me. =o) Plus, then we went across town for the mystery shop, which was great, as expected. When we returned home, I deleted at least 10GB of pictures off my camera's memory card. Normally I don't let it pile up like that, but I had barely deleted anything since the El Salvador trip in July. *sheepish grin*

+ Nala hasn't thrown up since before I wrote that entry yesterday, so I think she's feeling better. *cheers* We've had her for 3 months now, can you believe that? She's such a sweetie. I entered her in a contest, too. Go vote for her!

+ Finding the little discrepancy that has halted my financial reports is very fulfilling... even though it is my fault the discrepancy was there in the first place.

+ My haircut looks SO GOOD. I keep thinking, "Why didn't I do this sooner?" and then I remember the whole long-enough-to-donate thing.

+ I adore so many of the songs we're singing in church this Sunday. I wish I had mp3s of all of them so I could make a playlist.

+ Speaking of singing in church this Sunday: I will be the loudest person singing the melody. This could be interesting.

+ Necesito para ir a la playa. Pronto. I have not been there nearly enough this summer.

+ Today was one of those days that just needed iced coffee. God rocks for putting us in a house a block from a McDonald's.

+ Rock Band party tonight! I plan to rock the mic, yo.

+ You know how some movies just need to be watched with certain friends? I can't tell you how strongly I'm considering driving all the way to Tampa to watch Julie & Julia with modmerseygirl. What do you think, Kim?

+ The Europe trip was just a dream. I know it. Who really gets to take three weeks off work to travel around Europe? Didn't I dream the cold, rainy, scarf weather in London and the history of kings and queens of England? the Parisian dinners of fresh baked baguette, cheese, and cider after seeing priceless history? gelato every day and sites of amazing ancient importance in Italy? seeing sites so ancient they were before the birth of Jesus after breakfasts on our balcony overlooking so many flowers and the ocean and mountains visible in the distance in Greece? sharing it all, 24/7, with my lover and best friend? Yes. It was all a dream. The best dream. I would like to dream it again, please.

+ Yep - we made it! We got home around 9:15 or so Wednesday night. Even though it was actually 4:15am Greece time, we managed to stay awake on the drive from the airport and tell Mom a little about our trip. It was SO GOOD to sleep in our own super-comfy bed that night! We had no trouble falling asleep (although I did stay up to watch an episode of Law & Order that I hadn't seen, which meant I had been up for over 24 hours by the time I fell asleep!), but we've been unable to sleep in since we got back, giving us less than 8 hours both nights so far. Considering we were up for so long the day we came home... yeah. Coffee has been our friend since we've been home.

+ So... life at home is great, especially since we're still on vacation. Yesterday we made a big breakfast of scrambled eggs, bacon and grilled bagels with cream cheese. That was the first "real" breakfast we'd had in a month, and it was SO good. Lunch was at Chick-Fil-A - YUM - and then we went to church because the girl who's filling in for me had some questions. We also had to say hi to Ken, of course, and tell him all about our trip.

Then we went to see Up, which, until I saw that several of you absolutely adored it, I didn't have much desire to see. Well, we loved it too! What a great story. We had intended to go to Steak 'n' Shake after, but ended up sitting in front of some friends from church at the movie, and they invited us to join them for dinner at Olive Garden. They asked us all about our trip and then even bought our dinner! Rock on! Though honestly the coolest part was seeing all the pics on the walls there, of Tuscany, of the Roman Pantheon, etc., and saying to each other, "WE'VE BEEN THERE!" =oD Italy has been at the top of my list of places I want to go for a VERY long time, and now I'VE BEEN THERE. And I'd love to go back someday.

After dinner we went back to the theater to watch Star Trek. I think that was the only time in my life I've been to see two movies in the theater in one day, but since it wasn't the weekend movies were half price, so we didn't feel too guilty about it. We both quite liked Star Trek, but only if we didn't actually think of it as Star Trek, since they basically annihilated everything that is already in the ST canon. As a stand-alone movie, it was good. The guy who played McCoy was fantastic. The guy who played Kirk was hard to take seriously because he reminded me so much of DiNozzo on NCIS. Zachary Quinto looked a lot like Spock, but I couldn't take him seriously because apparently he will always be Sylar to me.

+ Oh, one other thing that happened yesterday is that my car wouldn't start. Yeah. I'm honestly not surprised since it wasn't started for over 3 weeks and had been having some minor issues before we left, but it was still frustrating. Isaac replaced the spark plugs and the distributor cap and then it started working. Whew! You know, he really is an amazing man, that husband of mine.

+ I know there was more to tell you, but I've forgotten it all. Oh well. Next time. =o)

I'm writing this from our hostel in Athens. It's definitely hostel-y, especially after the other places we've stayed at in Greece. The first night we were here was the night in a very nice hotel, thanks to Isaac's boss. It was GORGEOUS - possibly the nicest hotel I've ever stayed in, and I've stayed in some good ones. Then we drove to Tolo, a little beach town on the Pelopponese peninsula, where we stayed in a cute little hotel with a big room w/ a kitchen. So to be back to a hostel? Well, it's getting us ready to be happy to go home. :-) Although i'm already almost to that point. I adore traveling, and this trip has been AWESOME, but I love my house and my town and my church and my clothes (I an going to reenact the scene from Gilmore Girls when They get home from Europe and Rory goes up to her rock drawer and says, "Hello, boys." LOL.) and my family and Mandy and eating food other than bread and fruit and many, many other things. We have a list of several restaurants we're going to go to too. Ah... Real food. :-)

Anyway. I want to tell you about our trip, but that will wait till I get home and can show you pics to in with. We're hoping to throw a Europe party a few weeks after we get home. We'll eat bread, cheese, fruit, cider, and the girls can year scarves like every woman in England and France. I'll have to get the pics organized and the video edited by them though. We'll see about that.

I found out that the only people going to El Salvador from my church this summer are me, my friend Codie, Ken, and another friend John. That's it! I have no idea why so few are going, but it makes me sad. (Isaac was going to go, but then one of his coworkers quit, so he really shouldn't.) Codie and I will have a blast though... And not just cause she's fluent in Spanish!

Today was amazing. We went to ancient Corinth and walked where the apostle Paul walked! We read Acts 18 while staring at the Bema seat he was brought before. SO COOL.

IDK if I'll write again before we get home or not. Bye!

+ Today I have done a lot of things I needed to do. I have more to do, though, but am thinking of shelving the rest and going out to enjoy the late afternoon sunshine with a book.

+ Florida's weather in the winter is crazy. Up and down, up and down. Saturday it was almost 80º, and then today it's 50º. We're expecting freezing temps tonight and tomorrow, but then back up to 80º on Saturday. Warm weekends and cool weekdays is better than the opposite, but I just find the yo-yo temperatures amusing.

+ This cold just will not let go of me. I don't have as much of the painful symptoms as I did when it started 2 weeks ago, but I can't get rid of my cough or runny nose. I did get paid to take some other cold medicine from Walgreen's the other day, so I might try it out to see if it helps.

+ Yesterday I wore makeup for the first time in 2 weeks. I got out of the habit when I was sick. Today I'm not wearing any. Wednesday I have to wear a lot because of the runway go-see, which, BTW, is definitely going to be made easier by those heels with straps that I bought last week. It's so nice to have heels that stay on my feet! Wow. What a difference. I can even take long strides! I wore them around as I did some dishes and made dinner, and felt very Stepford. LOL.

+ I've been eating so badly lately. Yesterday for lunch was Mexican food, and dinner was a whole bag of Crazy Bread and a few bites of cheesecake. Hehe. Saturday we had burgers, onion rings, and more cheesecake for lunch, and lasagna for dinner. And I had lasagna leftovers for lunch today too. I should probably just eat carrots for dinner. LOL.

+ Listening to music in Spanish is fun because I only know a few words, and the rest I just hear incorrectly, so then I spend a few minutes pondering the idea of writing a song about cheese, or whatever word I thought I heard them say.

+ This isn't the deepest entry ever, is it. Ha. Oh well.

+ Well, it's official. Obama is now my president. It's a sad, sad day, no matter what the reporters who pee themselves whenever they speak his name tell you. I have already been praying for Obama, but I have decided to pray that that he lives up to his promises of change, and changes his own mind on all his policies. It can happen - look at Mitt Romney, who, years ago, was a liberal, and is now a staunch Republican. Obama has already talked of changing his timeline for withdrawal from Iraq so it's basically identical to Bush's. That's good. One thing down (assuming he sticks with that idea), a zillion to go. But God can change anyone. If He doesn't, it's okay. Just gives me cause for lots of sarcasm in the future.

+ I signed up for a Spanish class at the local community college. It starts tonight. Nothing like waiting till the last minute, eh? I had been waiting because Mom had said she wanted to take it too, but just told me yesterday that she decided she'd better not add anything else to her already overloaded schedule. So it'll be just me, attending my first college class in 5 years. (Holy cow. Has it really been that long?!) It's actually a non-credit class, which makes it only $95. I can deal with that! And it has a great schedule - 5:00-7:00pm on just Tuesday nights until March 17th. I'll get home just half an hour after Isaac does. So yay! I hope it's good. I hope we progress through the basics pretty quickly since I already know those. And I really hope I make a friend or two!

+ So, those skinny jeans it took me years to buy? The ones I vowed never to wear? I got them Thursday, so it's been 5 days... and I've worn them 3 of those 5 days. They are without a doubt the comfiest pair of jeans I own. It has nothing to do with being the skinny style, of course, but dang, they are awesomely comfy! I love when I can be comfy and stylish without even trying. Hehe. Next time I go back to the outlet I plan to buy another pair or two for use in the future.

+ Here are two random product endorsements for ya:
1) Benefiber Drink Mix. I thought it was going to be nasty, but I got some for free from CVS. Turns out they taste awesome - like really good Kool-Aid, or Tropicana Twister, or something - and they only have 15 calories, and 3g of fiber! They have gone in my regular rotation of Things that Make Water Taste Good - right next to my old standby, Propel.
2) Smart Balance Fat-Free Milk. The commercials claim it tastes like 2%, but of course it doesn't. Right? Wrong. My MIL got some when they were here in December and didn't finish it before they left. Our "real" milk expired, so all we had was the Smart Balance. To my surprise, it actually tastes like 2%! And it's fat-free and has all these Omega-3s and tons of other good stuff for you in it. I was seriously shocked to find out that it was good. Isaac has even used it to make Ovaltine, which means he approves. Anyway, supposedly right now you can just get it in the southeast, but be on the lookout for it at your grocery store, because it rocks, and Smart Balance often puts out $1 off coupons for it.
These two things are really helping me to stop drinking so many calories. I only have pop and juice a few times a week now, and I'm no longer drinking fatty milk.

+ Chloe just called me to tell me she went poop in the potty. LOL! Angela said she told her she could call anyone she wanted to, because Ange wants her to get praised like crazy so that using the toilet will be a regular occurrence. (Chloe is 2½, but has not shown any desire to be toilet-trained. That's unusual for a girl, isn't it?) When Chloe was finished talking to me, AJ grabbed the phone. I asked him if he went poop in the potty too, and he cracked up. Hehehe. I love my niece and nephews.

+ So far in January I've done 4 CVS transactions. I've spent only $1.41 total, and have already saved $137.65! That's a savings of almost 99%. You can tell I'm a lot better at this now than when I started. Hehe. It also helps that I have 70 ECBs to play with. The other day I got 3 hair gels, 2 3 oz. hand lotions, 5 Revlon lip glosses, and a pack of gum for 77¢. I gotta say, Revlon's Super Lustrous Lip Gloss is my favorite of any I've ever tried - and I've tried a LOT of lip gloss!

+ The best thing about making lasagna is having leftovers the next day. Yum.

+ I am in North Carolina. We decided to leave today so we would have as much time here as we'll spend driving. I'm pretty sure this is the first time I've actually been to NC to be in NC, rather than driving through or having a layover in Charlotte. So far, so good. It's cold out though. No snow, which is a definite bummer. I hope it snows for the wedding on Saturday, because that would make for beautiful pictures. Plus, I want to hit Isaac with a few snowballs. Hehe.

The drive up was LONG. We left at 10:30 and got here at a little after 6, but we stopped for lunch and because my stomach is a jerk. All day I've just been feeling like trash, and the best way to make a long drive even worse is to feel like trash. Bleh. Now that we're in colder air, my sinuses are misbehaving too. I really hope I don't spend this whole trip miserable. I want to dance at the wedding reception!  =o)

+ Sickness aside, today started out well. We met up with Sarah & Andrew for a goodbye breakfast. I've really had a blast hanging out with them again. Stupid living all the way across the country. Now I have to miss them again.

+ We did nothing for New Year's Eve. We never really do. We went to Walmart to get some stuff for the trip, and grabbed some Mike's Hard Pomegranate Lemonade, then drank one of those as we did our usual nightly routine of computering and cuddling. We ended up somehow staying up till 2! I don't know how we did that, but we regretted it this morning. Hehe. lilia2000 always throws a big NYE party, apparently, and I think next year I may try to go up there. I guess it depends on if we have a kid by then or not.

+ Pics from Christmas and our anniversary are here. There are some cute Mandy pics in there. Just so you know.

+ I had completely forgotten about Cheerwine! We went to a grocery store tonight to get some pop and I saw it and was quite thrilled. I'm going to stock up before we go home.

*the next morning*

+ Wow, the view from our window is beautiful. (We got here last night in the dark.) The lake, then the mountains. Although these mountains seem small compared to the Adirondacks and the Rockys. Plus, since there's no snow but we're up north, everything is so BROWN. That's what I remember about winters up north sans snow - although even snow turns brown in populated areas after a while. Bleh. Yeah, I think I'll take FL over NC, at least in the winter.

+ I had also forgotten about how dry my skin gets when it's cold outside and not as humid. It's ridiculous. I would like to take a bath in a vat of lotion. Hehe. And I think my sinuses do better in FL too - that would make sense, since my mom's do, and she has chronic sinusitis - because I've been really dried out since we got up here. I guess there are some perks to humidity. We'll have to see how flat my hair is here. Hehe.

+ I think craneke  is going to be the only friend I can get together with while I'm here. I'm thrilled to finally see Kelly again, but it really stinks that I don't get to see anyone else. I was really hoping to meet daughterofziyon and see completeinhim  again. I knew this would happen when we decided to take our friend's car rather than ours. Now he has the right to drive it wherever he wants, and we're stuck. *sigh*

+ Oh yeah, and how funny is this - the hotel gave Isaac and me two single beds! Ha! So last night we did the whole Lucy & Ricky thing. Although Isaac came over and cuddled a few times through the night. That was nice. Tonight we'll have a different room with one bed. LOL.

+ Sorry if it sounds like I'm complaining a lot. I don't mean to. My stomach feels much better this morning, and it really is pretty here. I guess it's just reaffirming my love for Florida. Hehe.

+ Well, I'm gonna go. We have to pack up to move rooms. Happy weekend!

+ The copier is making a strange noise. I've never heard it make this particular noise before. Pleeease don't be a bad sign. *hopes*

+ I walked to work today. Well, actually, I walked to Chick-Fil-A, which is 1.5 miles from my house, and then to church, which is .4 miles from that. This morning we walked 1.5 miles to the mechanic to pick up Isaac's no-longer-a-death-trap car. Walking is not high impact, but it is cardio. The days have been so gorgeous lately, too - perfect walking weather. I like to think I'm saving on gas money too, but with gas at $1.79/gallon, I'm really not saving much. (But I am NOT complaining about gas being cheap again!) Still, it will hopefully help shrink my hips. (Chick-Fil-A, however, will not. LOL. Though I did barely manage to resist their new Peppermint Chocolate Milkshake...) I've walked about 7 miles in 3 days. Not bad.

+ How was your Thanksgiving? Mine was fantastic. Seriously - one of the best in many years. We woke up early (sad), and decided we wanted cinnamon rolls (happy). So, we walked to Winn-Dixie and got some Pillsbury ones. Seth's friend Justin is staying with us, and Seth spent the night that night, so we shared with them. *glares* Hehe. We went to AAAC's around noon for Thanksgiving dinner. This was the first time Ange has hosted it (and the first time they've had a house to do it in) and the girl seriously outdid herself. It was amazing. Absolutely fantastic. My whole family was there except NN&J (who live in Indiana), and so were Ange's half-sister, and her brother, his girlfriend, and their two kids. In all the years I've known Ange, I had not met her brother until yesterday.

After lunch we watched the Lions game till we couldn't take it anymore (for the non-football-inclined, the Lions are having the worst season ever. They have not won one game, and it looks like they will not be winning any at all. And who did they play yesterday? The team who's only lost one game! Oh, it was so sad. BUT - I thought they were only going to score 3 points, but instead they scored 10. The score was 47-10. That's not even as bad as a Gators game, so I didn't have to cry. LOL.), we went for a walk around a nearby reservoir, where we saw an alligator! I had never seen one in Jax before. There are lots of them in the lake at WOL FL, but I hadn't seen one since we moved from there. This was a little one - 4 feet at the most - but it was so cool!

After that we played a bit of Rock Band, and then Ange and I wanted to hit CVS for their amazing free stuff. Ashley and Tanya were curious how we get so much free stuff, so they came with us. CVSing with other people is so much fun! I had always done it alone. Though with 4 people, 2 of whom were n00bs, it took forever. They were so lost at first but quickly got it down. We had amazing cashiers, too, who were bored till we got there, and then they had 4 cute girls to entertain them. LOL. Ashley and Tanya were totally floored at how much they got for hardly more than their initial buy-in of $5.98 + tax. I got a ton of stuff, too. I had to pay $3.68 because I only had 27 ECBs, but I got 47 ECBs back, plus all my stuff, so it was worth it! What a great time!

When we finally finished cleaning up at CVS, we went back to AAAC's. We ate leftovers for dinner, played a few rounds of Pass the Pigs, and then Isaac and I went home to join Seth and Justin for a viewing of Hancock. I liked it, but I'm kinda glad now that we were never able to go see it in the theater. I tell ya though, there was a twist I totally did not see coming. Tonight we're going to watch Kung Fu Panda! It's nice having 3 Redboxes within a block away. Heh.

+ This morning we woke up early to go out for breakfast at a restaurant near our house (yep - we walked to that too) with most of Ange's family, and Mom and Grams. Then we hit the thrift store, where everyone found multiple things. Yes, we all did our Black Friday shopping at the thrift store. LOL. There was no one camped out there. Go figure. ;o)

+ Seth said he wants to see Twilight, so yay - maybe I won't have to see it alone after all! We may go tomorrow. I think it's hilarious that Seth - a teenage college guy - is willing to go see it with me, and Isaac - a long-married man - is not. Hehe.

+ Wow - apparently the days of Long Bethany Posts have returned. Oh, the memories. =o)

Yay for a normal post!

+ Our Halloween night was fun, but felt nothing like Halloween. We had fun though.

+ Saturday morning we woke up early to go with Isaac's coworkers to the Florida Baptist Children's Home. We cooked a meal on the grill and then served it. Sadly, we didn't get to interact with the kids (some orphans, some temporarily there till a parent gets their act together) much. This was my first visit to an American orphanage. I felt bad for the kids there, of course, but it just reaffirmed my desire to adopt kids from other countries. To the orphans in El Salvador, the FBCH would be like heaven. The kids don't go hungry, and they have house parents so they get attention and affection, and they're taught the Truth, not the cult of Mary.

Saturday afternoon I slept for 4 hours on the couch! That was not expected, but much-needed. We watched Ghostbusters, which I hadn't seen since I was a teenager. That night Isaac went to play football with some friends, and I watched Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, which I hadn't seen since it was in theaters last year. It is amazing that that movie is 2 hours long and there is SO MUCH left out of it.

+ Sunday was pretty much engulfed by our Olympian Fun Fall Festival. After lunch we set up for it, which took so long we only had about an hour and a half between it and the actual festival. We had 13 kids come, though, and 6 of them don't attend church anywhere; their only exposure to God is through our club. We had a ton of candy left over again, so that was great. Hehe. I did face painting, and tried a few new things this year that went over big.

+ Monday's activities have slipped my mind, save for watching SNL's Presidential Bash that evening. Very entertaining.

+ Tuesday I voted in the morning and did not have to wait in line at all. Bwaha. I then went out to lunch at Olive Garden with Grams, Ange, and the kids. It'd been ages since I'd been there. I do love their Five Cheese Ziti al Forno, breadsticks, and raspberry lemonade. *licks lips* As mentioned the other day, we went to AAAC's house that night for a small election party, which was a total blast and an excuse to use the chocolate fountain again. =oD I was up way too late that night though, and I've paid for it since.

+ Yesterday I spent the day cocooned in the house. I felt like crap for staying up so late without being able to sleep in, and I was still royally ticked about the election results, so I did not want to see any news or newspapers. I was able to take a bit of a nap in the late afternoon, and I convinced Isaac to join me. We skipped the gym in favor of something more fun, and then finally went to see Fireproof. (We've been saying we were going to see it ever since it came out.) We were both pleasantly surprised by it. I had no idea it was funny, and I was expecting nearly all the actors to be bad, like in Facing the Giants. Instead, only a few of them were really wooden, and the rest, while not likely to win an Academy Award, were quite good. It was well-made too - as good as any indie film I've seen. And of course I bawled my eyes out. Hehe. I also had fun spotting people who were in Facing the Giants. We went to the movie at 7, and still hadn't had dinner, but thankfully it was free small popcorn day for people in their Movie Watcher club, so we snacked on that and then went to Steak 'n Shake. We hadn't been there in months, and they have 4 meals under $4 now - and they're good ones - so that was awesome. It was a great little impromptu date night. =o)

Oh yeah, and when we were on the highway heading down to the theater, we kept seeing all these cops go by very quickly, some with lights on, some without. We got around the bend and saw the cops (now all with lights on) blocking the entire highway. We were right behind them. We still don't know what was going on, but we saw them arrest 3 girls in their late teens/20s who looked stoned. We're guessing they were driving recklessly and, to have so many policemen there, probably refusing to pull over at first. Isaac was pretty freaked out, because the cops had their guns drawn and we were so close to them, but I figured any bullets would've had to go through 3 cop cars to get to us. Anyway, it made us late for the movie, but it was pretty exciting.

+ Someone in Greece bought one of my Supernatural shirts! That is so cool. What will be even cooler is if when we're there in June, I see her wearing it. Yeah, yeah, Greece is a decent-sized country, blah, blah, blah. It would still be cool.

+ Off to watch Survivor and then Supernatural. Happy almost-Friday!

+ Hehe. LJ's "Undead Journal" header made me giggle.

+ Our heater is on for the first time since March or April. Last night's low was 40-something. I shiver to think how cold it would've been in here if I had forgotten - which I almost did - to turn it on. Tomorrow the high is 60º, and while I distinctly remember putting on shorts anytime the temperature hit 60º when I was a kid/teen in WI/IL, now I will put on a sweater and possibly also a jacket. 60º is a lot warmer in Wisconsin than it is in Florida. I wonder if I can get away with wearing a scarf? Me gusto scarves.

+ I've decided it's a lot more fun to clean with a husband than on my own. Saturday Isaac and I pretty much cleaned the house top to bottom, and it took less than two hours. And this was with stopping to goofy-dance several times to the music we were blasting. Actually, we had to agree to stop dancing and kissing anytime we walked by each other, because we knew we'd never finish the cleaning in time if we didn't. 'Tis a good life.

+ Fellowship group was fun! This is the first time we've hosted. Only two other couples came, since AAAC were out of town and some others were sick, but they are two of our favorite couples (despite political differences, LOL). We made taco salad or burritos, and I don't know why, but that was the best taco salad I have ever had. It was amazing. Isaac gave a cool little devo while I got the chocolate fountain ready. Then we gorged on chocolate-dipped pretzels and fruit while playing Pictaphone, which they seemed to quite enjoy.

+ Yesterday on the way home from lunch, we pulled up next to a car at a traffic light. We had the windows down, so we heard the little old lady driving it keep trying to start it, but it wouldn't turn over. Realizing that she was alone, we knew she'd never be able to get it out of the road by herself, so we turned around and parked at a nearby gas station, and then pushed her car to a nearby parking lot. (Pushing it the opposite way traffic was going in that lane was quite interesting.) We quickly realized we couldn't fix whatever it was, but thankfully she had AAA. Poor thing was stuck waiting at the gas station for over an hour though. Anyway, that was our Sunday afternoon adventure. Hehe.

+ Last night at Olympians all our "older" leaders were gone, so it was just Isaac, Angela, our friend Sarah, and me. The lesson was mostly a skit, but I did the opening and closing bits too. That was the first time I ever did an Olympian lesson! It went well though, I thought. Well, until one little boy who's only been there twice threw up in one of the Sunday School rooms. Oy. Next week is our famous Olympian Fun Fall Festival. I'm excited about that. Oh! Last week my mom put it (O.F.F.F.) up on the board as a reminder, then asked the kids what other words beginning with F we could add to it. We came up with fabulous, fantastic, etc. Well, last night I wrote just O.F.F.F. on there because I couldn't remember how many other Fs we had added last week. One little boy said, "What about the other f-words?" I succeeded at not cracking up, but I looked at Isaac and we smirked at each other.

+ I have been really wanting to go to The Thrift Store lately. Should I go? No. Do I want to go? YES. I haven't been there since Isaac's family was here, way back at the beginning of September. It seems I go there about every 2 or 3 months. I don't want to go alone though. Anyone want to join me? ;o)