Amazing Race birthday party

Yesterday Darly attended this birthday party (described below) I volunteered to be a driver. I'll add in my notes about how it turned out in slanty type. ;o)

Dear Driver volunteers,

First off, thank you so much for helping us make Friend's 16th birthday a fun a memorable one. We are so much in your debt for doing this for us. I wanted to give you all a rundown of the events we have scheduled and what you each will be responsible for. Before I do, I also wanted to mention that we are still short by one video camera I believe. If you happen to have an extra that would be great.



Now the rules of the game. Each team will be given an "official" rules sheet that will explain to them how to play the game and how to act. I won't go over those in this e-mail, but I do want to emphasize that you are not a "team" member on the team. Think of yourselves as the local host and referee for your contestants. You will be judging them on completion of challenges and will be holding all the clues. When you feel they have completed the task correctly give them the next clue. Some of the clues will be on smartphones via e-mail, some will be paper. All Route Info's and Detours will be electronic on the phones. All Road Blocks will be Paper. They will all be numbered so you know when to give them. You will also be responsible for maintaining the teams smartphone. That phone will be the only one the team can use to gather information about finding each challenge. Don't let them see clues ahead of time and collect the phone any time it's not being used for directions by the teams. Your final duty, I know a lot to do right, will be to video tape the challenges. We're not really expecting a complete filming of the entire challenge. Just video what you can and what looks fun. While the team is traveling between challenges you should allow the team to video themselves in the car. We want to get lots of fun footage of the teams as they compete in the challenge. The end result will be a video memory of the day made in the style of an actual TV show and each contestant will get a copy on DVD. But not until after Christmas... LOL! Actually figuring out when and where the correct clues to give was pretty confusing. There was one location clue that was on paper (given by "Phil") given after the correct task was performed and as it was the only location clue given this way it cause some great confusion...see later on!



Schedule of events:



The "game" will start at 2:00pm in the parking lot of High School. I think you all know where it is, but if you need directions let me know. We'd like the drivers to be there early to set up the cars in the right spot and add team colors. Speaking of team colors. It would be great if each driver could where a shirt that matches the teams color so they can spot you easily. Greg will be driving the Red team. Rob will be driving the Blue team. Rene will be driving the Yellow team. John will be driving the Green team. Joanna will be driving the Black team. The teams will be given the rules of the game and allowed some time to "get to know each other." Once we are ready, they will race across the parking lot to their drivers where you will give them the first route info clue (Route Info #1). Then it's game on! Not that it matters but NO ONE was wearing team colors and that didn't end up being how the drivers were set up as "Phil" had to drive a couple of legs of the game too.



First stop is Family Sports Center at the corner of Arapahoe and Peoria. Remember, you can't just drive to the spot. You must wait until the team gives you directions to get there. If they are WAY off and you know they are obviously headed the wrong way, you can intervene and give gentle guidance to get them back, but for the most part we want the teams to work at the directions. At family sports, one team member will be required to climb the rock wall inside. You will be given four tickets in your packet to cover the cost of the "ride" at FSC. When you arrive in the parking lot and park, you will give your team the "Detour" clue (Detour #1). That will inform them to choose one team member. Once they have chosen, you can give that team member the "Road Bock" clue (Road Block #1). That will explain the challenge and any penalties involved. In this task, if they attempt the task but cannot reach the top of the wall, they can come back down and will be assessed a 5 minute penalty. If any team cannot attempt or complete a task at all, they should be given a 15 minute time penalty. But we figure each team will at least try them and the tasks are not that difficult. All of the team members should stay together, so the other two members should go in with you and observe and cheer on. Once the contestant has completed the task you will show the team the next route info (Route Info #2). First Google maps lead everyone who used it out of the way. Yes we got there eventually, but there was a much shorter route. One team (the one with the birthday girl in it) knew how to get there without using Google maps and beat us all there by a huge margin. Sadly FSC had only one person running the game so the teams all had to wait in order of arrival to do the challenge. This part of the game would have been much better if FSC had more staff on the game. :( This challenge would have been PERFECT for Darly to do, but alas she didn't get chosen for it. If we had all the teams climbing at the same time and Darly was our climber we could have easily have jumped into the lead here. However, because we had to wait to climb the race pretty much stayed in the same order with hardly any changes.



After FSC, the team will be directed to go to Willow Creek Park. It's easily found on google maps. At the park, there will be a marked area. After you park, give the team the Road Block clue for this challenge (Road Block #2). The area will have a start line and a one rope circle for each team. The object will be to take a colored "rock" and throw the rock from the start line to circle. You will have your rock with you from the beginning and it will need to come with you when you finish. The distance will be far enough that it can't be done by one person. Each team member will get one throw and the next team member will start from the spot where the last throw stopped. Rolling counts. For example: John starts at the line and throws the rock, Jane goes to where the rock stopped and throws it from there, Judy goes to the spot where that toss stopped and throws it from there. The last throw will need to land inside the ring. We decided that at least half of the rock must be inside the ring that is marked with their color. If they don't make it inside the ring by the time all three team members have thrown, they will need to start over. When the team does finally get the rock in the ring, you will give them the next route info (Route Info #3). I never noticed any starting line, but this task was super easy...I was expecting the distance to be much longer, but the organizers were worried about time.



This clue will direct them to Rob and Amy's house. It's actually only about half a mile from the park, but don't give that away let them figure that out. Once you park, give them the Detour clue (Detour #2). They will need to choose one team member to do this challenge. Once they have chosen the team member give them the Road Block (Road Block #3). Also, we assume there will be more than one team arriving, but only one team can attempt the challenge at a time. So there will be a sign up sheet at the door. The team cannot go in or sign up until they have been given their road block clue so they will need to pick the person first. The first team to arrive will go right in. After that the teams will need to sign up on the list and will have to wait until their turn. Only one team will be allowed inside at a time. The task is simple. There will be 2 cups, one with sprite and one with plain club soda. Each cup will be guarded by a guard. The person doing the challenge will be allowed to ask one guard one question to determine which cup is sweet and which is the "poison". Team members not competing cannot help at all. The trick is that one guard always lies and one always tells the truth. This is a classic riddle which has a simple solution. Once they team member has asked the question, they must choose one of the cups and drink the contents completely. The cannot receive their next clue until the contents of the cup are completely finished. This might be tough for someone who has never tasted straight soda water. IF the team member chooses the "poison" cup they will be given a 5 minute penalty upon leaving the house. The entire team must leave so that the next team can start, but they will not be given the next route info until the 5 minutes is finished. Once the challenge is complete, give the team the next route info (Route Info #4). It was here that most teams figured out what the second Theme of the party was...have you figured it out yet? Oh I guess I should tell you that the clues that the kids got had titles that gave them a hit to the second theme.



The team will now be headed to Civic Green Park. This park is located just behind the library. It's also easy to find on google maps. Drive to the park and park where the team members tell you to. There is Flower statue in the Southeast corner of the park. They will need to figure out that they have to start there. the flower is pictured on the route info clue. You will have a video loaded on your phone. The team will need to watch the video in order to figure out the starting point. Once you have parked, give them the Road block clue (Road Block #4). While they are reading it, get the video ready to be watched. Let them watch the video and figure out where to start. Once they have made it to the flower you will give them the paper that has the pictures of the stones on it. They should be able to follow the path shown on the video and will see the stones in a specific order. You will have another sheet that shows the correct order of the stones. When they finish the route, they will need to return to you at the flower and tell you the order they saw the stones. IF they do not give you the correct order, you will tell them "no." Nothing else. They will have to start over and follow the video again until they get the order correct. Once they have the correct order, they will move to the pavillion area of the parke where they will need to chase and "capture" one of the little kids dressed as mice. Capturing simply means touching or grabbing. All three team members will be allowed to chase, but they only need to capture one mouse. The mouse will direct the team to take them to the climbing ball (also pictured on the route clue). At the ball one team member will be required to climb to the top of the ball and retrieve one orange flag. Once they give you the orange flag, you can give them the next route info (Route Info #5). The video wouldn't load because it was too big, so instead the teams had to wait in order of arrival and a mouse would run the route...it was up to the teams to figure out that they needed to mark the order of their stones. If they didn't get the route right or didn't mark the stones, they had to go back up to the waiting point to start over. Our team had to start over so they lost their slight lead in order here. I think they dropped from 3rd to 4th here.



Now the team will be headed to John and Christy's house. It's not too far away, but again, the team will need to direct you. Once you park at the house, give the team the detour clue (Detour #3). The team will be picking 2 members to compete. Once they have chosen, give them the road block clue (Road Block #5). Similar to the other house, there will be a sign up sheet. The first two teams can proceed, the rest will need to sign up and wait their turn, unless there is no team in front of them. The task here will be to make truffles. There will be a demonstration video in the kitchen to watch and follow. The team will need to make a total of 6 truffles. One for each team member, one for the driver :), one for a mouse, and one for the birthday girl! They can eat theirs right away, so can you. But the 2 extras will need to be brought with them in paper cups and in a box. That box MUST be with you when you get to the pitstop. Your job as the judge will be to approve the rolled truffles before they can be refrigerated and decorated. You will also need to approve the box to be sure it is packaged correctly, there will be an example at the house. The teams will need to make the chocolate ganache, but they don't have to wait for it to chill completely. After they finish the ganache step they will put the bowl in the refrigerator. There will be a pre made batch of ganache that they will be allowed to take out and use to scope the truffles. The two members will scope 6 truffle centers from the pre made mix. they will need to roll the 6 centers into a good ball like the video shows. You will judge if the balls are acceptable. They don't need to be perfect, but they need to be close. Not falling apart or smashed or melted, etc. This is tricky because their hands will be warm. (The trick is to cool your hands with cold water, but don't give that away unless they have been struggling for a very long time.) Once they have rolled the centers to your judgment, they will chill them in the refrigerator for 5 minutes. You should be able to use a time your teams smartphone. After the five minutes has passed, they can retrieve them from the refrigerator. Now all three team members will participate. They will be allowed to coat their truffles with which ever topping they choose and you can tell them which you prefer. The two for the box will need to match the example exactly. If they don't match the two in the box, they will not be accepted. Don't tell the teams that they need to match because we want them to figure that part out. If the team does not match the example exactly, you will tell them they did not complete the truffles correctly. They will need to make two more and match the box. Once they have finished all 6 truffles and the box matches correctly, you can give them the next route info (Route Info #6). this challenge was again first in first out. Due to time running out and it was getting cold outside waiting they started allowing more teams inside at a time which lead to the later teams knowing what needed to be done, but as there wasn't anyway to pass each other up, it wasn't a big deal. I got a toffee covered truffle! YUM!



Now the teams are headed to the mall. Park near the Food Court. The entire next challenge will take place in the food court area. Once you park, give them the next Detour (Detour #4). They will need to pick one team member. Once they have picked, give that team member the road block (Road Block #6). This task is complicated, but not impossible. Before you enter the mall you will need to explain something very important. The mall does not allow scavenger hunts. We have to be careful not to be disruptive in any way. So the team members will need to be calm and quiet at all times. You'll have to really stress this. When you enter the food court, chose a table and sit with your entire team. Tell them to stay with you until the challenge is complete. Only the one team member completing the task will be allowed to walk around the court. No one should run at all. Please be sure they are calm and quiet so we don't ruin it for the remaining team. You will need to give the selected member the sheet of paper with the letters on it. They will be directed to decode the clue by putting the letters in the correct order. To do this, they will start at one spot in the food court and walk counter clockwise. Each letter is a picture taken from the signs in the food court. As they walk the food court, they will see each letter in order. They will need to figure that out, so don't give that away. Once they return to where they started, they should have the entire code word. In this case, they will need to start at Ben and Jerry's, but they will not be told that, don't give that away. Once they have the code, the one team member will walk to the fountain in the center of the of the mall (just down the escalator) and will present the code to "Phil" or me. I will verify that the code is correct and if so, I will hand them the next Route info. If the code is not correct, I will tell them and also explain that they can get help from one team member to try the second time. If they receive the route info, they can continue to the next challenge. This was a challenge where teams could move ahead! But because time was running out, "Phil" wasn't there by the time we got to this point. So each team in order would just wait for the next team to arrive and the drivers took over for "Phil"... this is where we got the confusion about the location clues. There was also some confusion about where the location clue was leading folks.



This route info will send them to Greg and Terri's house. Once you park, show the team the detour (Detour #5). Once they choose the team member, give them the road block (Road Block #7). The team member will need to enter the house and search a pile of stuffed animals for a small tan bear with their team colors. Two teams can compete at the same time. Once they find the bear and present it to Terri, they will now have to defeat an enemy playing a Playstation game called gladiator. It's a simple game that should be easy to complete. After they have won the game, best 2 of three competitions, they can receive the final route info (Route Info #8). This route info will direct them to the pitstop. This task was first in first out. The only way to move ahead was to skip it...which one team did. Note: the previous step where there was confusion about this location clue. The team that skipped thought (because of similar addresses) that they were going to the pitstop already...and in the end they went straight there.



The pitstop is at Willow Creek #3 clubhouse. Remember, you are still not allowed to take them there, they must direct you. The Club house is back near the park where the rock toss was done. The clubhouse will be the pitstop. Please send me a text telling me when you are on your way to the pit stop so that we can prepare for their arrival. When you arrive, please video tape the arrival and me welcoming your team to the pitstop. That's all, now the party starts!!! because the one team skipped the previous location they incurred a 15 minute penalty...however, it took the other team (the one I was driving for) 20 minutes to get there...so our team was last to arrive. :( I think I was the only one who cared though as the kids were just having fun.



One last thing. Please keep me apprised of your progress throughout the race. We'll be monitoring the progress and time. We need to know if we are going to be too long and if we need to cut some events out. If that happens, I will inform all parents via text message which event to skip. It might get harry if that happens, but we'll try to make it smooth. I need to know when each team starts and completes a challenge. AS the team is preping (maybe just before you leave the car) please send me a text to let me know which challenge you are starting. Then when they have completed it and are looking for the next stop, let me know again by text that you have finished. That will allow us to gauge how long we are taking and if we are running long. Unfortunately I being technically challenged, I wasn't able to keep in touch with "Phil" to let him know our location. When we were on our way to the Mall he called to let me know that I would need to look for the previous team for our clue...I learned there that I had to wait for the next team to give them the clue.


We started the race just a bit after 2pm and arrived at the clubhouse a bit after 6pm. I was so very tired! At the clubhouse the second theme movie was playing, the kids had dinner, & cake. They also played a few games that the parents had never heard of. The parents chatted. It was very loud and crazy. Darly had a lot of fun but doesn't want ANYTHING like this for her birthday...she wants a nice quiet Tea Party. YAY! :D

Merry Christmas 2011

Merry Christmas from our house to yours!

Thankful for the buffer zone!

Yesterday I spent a lovely Thanksgiving with my Brother and my Sister in law's family...SANE people.  It was nice.  And I got to thinking that when you grow up in a situation you don't really realize how messed up things are until you're able to experience what normal really is.

I mean I always felt resentment as a teenager when my mom had to work on Thanksgiving and she would have me prepare the Thanksgiving dinner, she would come home and make the gravy and then take credit for making the entire meal when our other relatives came over.  Yes, I'm sure they all knew that my mom couldn't have possibly really have made the meal since they knew she was at work...It just really irked me that I did all the work and here she was taking the credit for it.

So when I went to Florida to visit mom, I went in knowing that she wanted to have a big dinner...and I knew that she can't really do all the heavy work anymore because of her COPD.  So really I would make the dinner, and I knew that she would try to take all the credit for the meal.  What I didn't know going in was that 1) mom doesn't have a dishwasher in this house (doesn't matter much as she would NEVER use it if she had it...it uses too much water that she can't afford to pay for!) 
2)my step-dad does most of the dishes because my mom can't, he hates using the scrubby...so most of the dishes that we needed for the meal needed to be washed BEFORE I could cook anything with them. :p
3)mom wanted to use her good china for the meal!  To that I put my foot down.  Here it was bad enough that I was having to wash all the cooking dishes, there was NO WAY I was washing all the china.  In fact I managed to have dinner on Christmas print foam plates. :D  Not the greatest, but I didn't have to wash them.  Honestly I think my sister in law was relieved because other than her boys trying to poke holes in their plates, she didn't have to worry about them ruining the dishes.

I do have to say that Mom did try to make as much of the dinner as she could.  She made the beans almost entirely by herself, I just cut the onion and bacon.  She bought a pre-cooked ham that I just had to lift into the pan and make the glaze for it.  And she helped put the onions (that I chopped), flour, cheese and seasonings into the Mac & Cheese while I did the stirring.

However, she got after me for turning the heat up on the cheese sauce (to get it done faster) because it might lump up.  I shot back at her that I've been making this very cheese sauce for 20 some odd years and I have NEVER had it turn out lumpy! 

She also got after me for rinsing off the dishes before I washed them, because I was wasting water.  At that I almost went into my purse and tossed money at her.

She made snide remarks at me for taking a few minutes to check my email and see how my family was doing.

She made comments about weight frequently (note the menu above!)  She said my dog was overweight, she said her dog was overweight, she implied that my sister in law was overweight (she totally isn't and looks great!)

Yesterday after dinner I chatted with my sister in law about it...her mother also mentioned a few things too.  Yes we know that my mom has a very low self image and her comments are her way of making herself feel better by putting everyone else down.  I just wish that she could find a way to do it that wasn't so hurtful.

I've always felt that her separation from her mother and sister were the best thing for her in that she didn't have to subject herself to their continued bashing of her.  However, now I wonder if perhaps her living in her self pity over the situation is just making things worse.  She doesn't seem to have ever gotten over things.  She won't let it go.

Before I went on this trip, I had considered trying to fly mom out here for Christmas.  But after spending just over one day with her, I don't want her here.  I can't be around her, she just brings me down.

Funny, while I was there she asked me to get her something for Christmas...a rather expensive knick-knack.  I think she feels that if I were to get this for her, it wouldn't be such a burden because when she dies I would get the present back...however, I don't want this knick knack.  And I had already planned to get her something she needs for Christmas instead.

I think I'm going to stick with my original plan and not worry that she's disappointed.

And I'm going to thank God for our rather large buffer zone! 

My "vacation"

18-Nov 6:30 AM wake up – shower, make coffee, check email, wake child 18-Nov 8:00 AM leave for airport 18-Nov 9:00 AM arrive at airport – head straight for security.  Small delay due to concealed creamer. 18-Nov 9:20 AM arrive at gate – check with gate agent about moving seats.  She didn't think she could, but turns out she was able to do it just fine. 18-Nov 10:00 AM board plane 18-Nov 10:30 AM plane leaves for Florida – bought lunch on the plane for the first time…so not worth $9! 18-Nov 3:45 PM arrive in Florida – Brother meets us at the gate.  SIL goes shopping with other SIL, we get car. 18-Nov 4:15 PM leave airport – head to Brother’s hotel.  I watch nephews while Brother does some work. 18-Nov 6:15 PM go to restaurant 18-Nov 7:30 PM Grandma arrives – she was totally surprised to see us all there.  Mission accomplished! 18-Nov 10:30 PM leave restaurant – I’m not really sure what time it was when we left, we were outside chatting. 19-Nov 12ish arrive at Mom's – had to drive SIL & nephews to hotel room first and Mom’s about an hour away. 19-Nov 1:30 AM go to bed – Mom had to catch up! 19-Nov 6:23 AM wake up – I was surprised as Mom warned me that her dog might wake me at 4am.  Thanks for letting me sleep in Casey!  Mom had me set up her Christmas Village (btw: I hate Christmas Villages!), pack vacuum cleaner for me to take back with me, and help cook dinner.  19-Nov 5:00 PM call from SIL that they are an hour away.  Okay because we didn’t really expect them at 5. 19-Nov 6:20 PM Brother & Family arrive, right when we expected them. 19-Nov 9:30 PM or so, Brother & Family head to Cousin's house..so glad that I didn’t go with them. 19-Nov 10:30 PM head to bed to try to make up some sleep. 20-Nov 1:00 AM wake up…so much for making up sleep! 20-Nov 3:00 AM wake up… REALLY??? 20-Nov 4:20 AM wake up… OYE!  Prepare for Zombie day! 20-Nov 5:15 AM should have left for airport…Mom not ready yet 20-Nov 5:20 AM actually left for airport…sigh! 20-Nov 6:25 AM arrive at airport… This trip should not have taken this long, but Mom was driving slow to save gas. 20-Nov 7:00 AM arrive at gate… luckily check in and security went very fast.  I don’t know how I zipped through check in so fast…lady let me cut in line! 20-Nov 7:15 AM board plane – in Economy Plus for this trip… nice!  20-Nov 7:45 AM plane leaves for Colorado - But they didn’t have the breakfast menu and were low on snacks too!  I just had coffee. 20-Nov 9:30 AM arrive in Colorado – 20 minutes early!  SIL’s dad is there to pick her up, I had to get the vacuum cleaner and lug it to passenger pick-up 20-Nov 10:00 AM arrive at passenger pick-up … note husband & daughter are about ½ way through Church service…so I read. 20-Nov 11:30 AM Husband & daughter arrive to pick me up – we head to “lunch” at Mimi’s Café.  YUM!

ACKness!

So we're finally to the week that I'll travel to Florida for my Grandmother's birthday celebration.  so much to do, so much to do!!!

I am doing laundry today so that I can plan out my trip wardrobe and see what bag I need to pack for my trip.  I'm pretty sure at this point that I won't be needing to use any of our rolling carry on bags...I won't have that much stuff to take.  Hopefully my mother doesn't plan for me to take a bunch of stuff home with me like she did for my last trip.  Oye!

I went grocery shopping yesterday to buy food for DH & Darly to eat while I'm gone.  That was kinda weird as the one night Darly has rehearsal so she'll be eating dinner there and DH will have to fend for himself for dinner.  I didn't buy him anything special, but there will be his choice of left-overs, 2 frozen meals, 1 pantry meal or just going out for dinner.  I'm betting he has toast with peanut butter and honey on it instead.  @@

I'll be staying at my Mom's house.  But we get there pretty late in the evening which means no time to shop for my morning coffee.  So I've bought some powdered creamer to pack and take with me because my mom thinks my use of creamer is wrong.  sigh!  I hope the TSA doesn't give me a hard time about taking it with me.  Perhaps taking liquid creamer would have been easier if I just packed it with my shampoo?  We'll see.  Worst case I have to toss it, but I hope they let me mail it back home instead if I can't take it with me.

Mom is planning a big family dinner for the full day that I'll be there.  She wants to serve all the family favorites.  She can't cook the family favorites anymore so guess who gets to do that?  Oh well, I guess it is a small price to pay for free room and board, eh?  I'm just hoping that there will be vegetables.

I advised DH of Darly's schedule for while I'm gone... they're not coming with me by the way because Darly had rehearsals for her show.  Then I find out today that one of the days the location has changed.  Luckily DH has been to both locations plenty of times.  I'll advise him of it again, it is written down on the calendar and Darly knows where the rehearsals are.  I HOPE that they get it right when I'm not here.  I've also wrote down the start times with a 15 min buffer window as DH doesn't share my sense of timeliness and prefers to plan to be there with just enough time to be 5 min late.  It has taken me years to get over this and as I have he seems to have let up on this and lean more toward being on time.



There won't be internet service at my Mom's house.  So I'll only have Mobil Web on my phone.  Luckily that gets me email and Facebook, but it means I won't be able to do any work. :(  Luckily again the weekends are pretty easy going and I have my co-workers to help me out too...I will probably come home with nothing much to do.  Hummm I should find out about getting my other counters to help with the computer bookkeeping at Church too.  ???  It couldn't hurt to ask.

Weather is going to be interesting for this trip.  When I leave it will be nice here and I won't need a coat.  When I get there it looks to be HOT!  I could pack and wear shorts, but I won't subject the poor citizens of FL to that much whiteness.  And then when I return it is supposed to be downright COLD out.  So I've asked Darly to make sure that my coat is in the car when they pick me up.  I plan to leave it in the car before I go, but knowing DH he'll put it away for me.  nice guy!

When I return I have the joys of getting ready for Thanksgiving and Jury Duty.  I won't find out until the day before if I actually have to report...and I won't find out until I report how long the trial is supposed to be.  I would HOPE that we don't have to sit over Thanksgiving for this...but who knows.  I also hope that if I'm chosen for the jury that the trial is interesting.

Ode of Funky Teenager!

Scrooge is now over and we need to clean the costumes.  Dry Cleaning on some of the items would seem like the logical choice, but we don't have the budget for that.  So I've tried other ways to get rid of the smell...

My first attempt was to spray the pits of the stronger smelling items with Frebreeze and then hang them outside in the sun.  That worked well for about 75% of what I had...however, some of these items really STINK!

So next I tried tossing them in the dryer with that Dryelle stuff.  Didn't phase it.  perhaps I put too many items in the bag at a time?  I don't know. 

Looking on line I've found some more tricks...like first turning the garments inside out and then hitting them harder with the Frebreeze than I did the first time.
Another idea was to try rubbing alcohol or vinegar.
and another idea is to try the Dryelle again but only one garment at a time.

oh and I'll try washing some of the items with water anyway, because they don't seem as if they're as delicate as some of the other moms first thought.

Wish me luck.

oh and Darly & I are seriously considering handing out trial sized sticks of deodorant for the next show.  I wonder if some of the kids don't bother...and should!

Grocery shopping rant

k you've been warned that this will be ranty.  twice now. ;o)

Darly found a shopping bag that I'm not using so that brought on this post.

I started collecting reusable grocery bags back when we were in Korea...WOW has it REALLY been that long???  anyway, I've managed to get quite the collection.  I have some that are small and pretty much just two rectangles of fabric sewn together with some handles, a few that are those square bottomed made out of some sort of plasticky recycled stuff, a few canvas bags and one really nice insulated bag.

When I first started on this adventure the grocery store used to pay me to bring my own bags.  They don't do that any longer.  They SAID they were gonna start charging folks for using plastic or paper...they haven't done that either.  So now the only real advantage to using my own bags is that I like them and they hold more stuff than those flimsy plastic bags.

Grocery store baggers are still idiots.  I KNOW that they are supposed to receive training on how to bag groceries...like don't put cans on top of the eggs and such.  But they don't seem to remember how to do that.  It has gotten so that I will shop for the right check out lane so I get a bagger with a brain and I don't get smushed bread.  If I can't do that, I usually spend a few minutes in the parking lot rebagging my groceries.

I had to take a marker to my insulated bag and write COLD on it so that my cold items go in that bag (btw: I organize my shopping cart so that similar items reach the bagger in groups.)  Yet I can't tell you how many times I get my cereal bagged in the cold items bag!  It doesn't help.

The two really small bags should be for light things like bread, chips or eggs...but no.  They like to load those up with canned food.  I now have to retire one of my bags as it is falling apart.

And then I put all my bags into the largest bag.  The idea is that they should use the bags inside that bag first and then if I go that far use the outer bag.  But the baggers like to empty the big bag and use it first...then when they finish my order figure out how to contain all my extra bags.  I bring my own produce bags too so this can be quite messy.  sigh!

oh and I frequently have to remind the baggers that I have to carry these bags once I get them home.  It seems they get some sort of sick pleasure in trying to load my entire order into one bag...that's probably why they go for my big carrying bag.  Of course this will backfire with them putting very little in the bags too.

snow and laziness

Despite what some national news reporters are saying, my area is enjoying it's second snow storm of the season...we got our first snow back on Oct 8th.  sigh

you all know of my snow allergy.  So far today I've been able to stay inside as the only place the snow is sticking to the pavement is where my driveway is hollow underneath it.  I should go out and shovel that part so that it will melt while the sun has a chance to get at it.  hummm that might provide exercise.

But alas there's the laziness I mentioned.  This kind of weather makes me lazy.  I want to just eat fattening foods and snuggle with a good book.

This snow is supposed to all be gone by the weekend...just in time for folks to come see Scrooge! 

Grandma's Birthday

My grandmother turns 90 this year in December.  She has two daughters, my mother and my aunt of course.  My mother stopped speaking to her mother and sister years ago over many years of wrongs on both sides and I don't see that ever getting cleared up.  Honestly it's my opinion that it is best for things to remain this way.

That said all the grand kids decided that we would like to take grandma out to a nice restaurant for her birthday.  There's a few problems with this...  two of us live in another state... one of us is about to be unavailable for a long time... and we're all very very busy.

Ideally it would be nice to take grandma out ON her birthday in December.  But the one who won't be available for a long time leaves at the end of November.  (sorry to be so cryptic here)  So it would seem that we need to do this in November... but then one of my cousins is going to another state for most of the month.

So what to do?  I suggest that we do this in two parts... those of us available in Nov can do it then and those of us available in Dec can do it then!

Now I have one weekend in November completely free of planned activities, that didn't work for the others.  I have one weekend that is all planned, but I can have hubby take over for me that weekend and make it work.  That seemed to work for at least 3 of the 6.

To make that work...
Darly has auditions and confirmation retreat on that weekend.  So hubby would have to take her to the audition scheduled before the confirmation retreat and deal with the possible call back.
However, I found out that the retreat might get moved...easier for hubby I guess.

Now I'm just waiting for the 3 to tell me if I should buy my flight... tick tick tick

Don't Ask updated

Hubby went back to the doctor on the 11th for a follow up appointment.  He was able to see his regular doctor who found that they had forgotten to send his x-ray from the 8th to the radiologist...which meant there was NO official diagnosis of pneumonia. :p  Doc was pretty sure that he had it though.  She felt that the anti-biotic prescribed was stronger than she would have given him...but I don't care.  I would much rather "nuke" the pneumonia than start low and work our way up to the big guns.

Hubby went back to work on the 11th to an ice cold office (they hadn't switched on the heat yet) so he came home feeling worse from trying to keep warm all day.  The doc said his lungs sounded much better though (even though she hadn't heard them on Saturday.)

On Friday hubby had to start working out side for a few days and that seemed to be a set back as he was cold and tired each day...but now he seems much better.  I forget when he goes back to see the doctor, but he does have another follow up.  And of course if I feel that he didn't kick this when he finishes up this round of antibiotics we'll go back for some more.

Just bothersome that I feel as if I have to be the real doctor here and we're just using the paid doctor to get the medication we need. :(

don't ask!

so after years of putting up with my co-leader for Girl Scouts' snide remarks she finally resigned yesterday, during our meeting...with a few more jabs at my expense.  She claims that her girls want more badges and activities and SHE can't be leading all the meetings with them.  I know this, I do a load of the meetings too...unfortunately they all tend to be the general upkeep of the troop type.  Registration, Ceremonies, Cookie Training.  Because my child isn't thrilled with being at the meetings any longer (her BFF quit) I've decided to resign also.  Being a leader is tiring and my only help without complaints was BFF's mom.

Then we had the costume parade today.  Unfortunately, I had planned to get a lot of things done this morning before the parade instead of finishing them last night...unfortunately because........

This morning hubby wakes up with symptoms of pneumonia.  He's been sick for a few days and doing fairly well (still going to work) but this morning after a rough night he felt dizzy and had some other signs that we needed to take him to see the doctor.

(note: we were both pretty skeptical about taking him to the doc because the last time he got pneumonia we took him to the ER, they ran tests and didn't find pneumonia.  Took him to the doc, confirmed diagnosis from ER and said he could fly.  Got to Michigan and was in the ER 2 days later near death with full blown double pneumonia!)

So I rearrange my schedule to fit hubby in.  Luckily, I had loaded the car Friday night with as many of the costumes as I could fit into it and I was able to drop them off when I took the girls (we had 2 extra with us this morning) to rehearsal.  My original plan was to take the second load when I returned for the parade.  But instead of finishing the labels on clothes and hangars, I was only able to reload the car...

Then I took hubby to the urgent care.  No appointment necessary... but that means waiting about 15 min in the waiting area, then about 20 min in an exam room, and then another 15 min for the x-ray and another 10 or so for the doc to say that it looks like it could be pneumonia, here's a scrip and come back in a few days.  The good news is that since hubby has a history of pneumonia the doc wasn't as lax as they were last time.  He went ahead and started treating him for pneumonia even though he doesn't have a confirmation of the diagnosis.

Well there went my chance at getting lunch!

Since the rehearsal location is right across the street from the doc office, I drove the second load of costumes off at the rehearsal and then took hubby home.  When I got back the costumes were pretty much ready for the parade.

The parade went FAIRLY well... I could have done without a few of the kids who didn't follow directions.  none of the boys seemed to be able to locate their ties or tuck in their shirts!  But otherwise not too bad.  We managed to do some alterations right there and get out by 2:15 or so.  YAY

Then I picked up hubby's scrip and finally got some food!  Hubby still  feels the same though, but I figure we're gonna need a bit more drugs before he feels any better.  sigh!  I just hope that we caught this early enough to avoid another trip to the ER.

Oh all the costumes are still in my car and will stay there until after Church tomorrow!  That is IF I make it to Church.  The doc said if Hubby started feeling worse to take him to the ER.

SUNDAY UPDATE:  Hubby says he feels 10 times better!  YAY!  Hopefully this works.  I'll take Darly to Church and see how he feels later.

WHAT??!?!?!???

So today I sent an email out with the following...

All children should have either Jazz shoes or Ballet Slippers.  Children’s sizes of these can be found at Payless Shoes and larger sizes can be found at the Dance supply stores here in the Our Area.  Because dancing shoes are not sized the same as street shoes I would advise trying these on in person before purchase.

All girls are asked to wear either a white or light colored camisole or tank top with form fitting (non-denim) shorts.  This is to be worn under all costumes to facilitate costume changes with modesty in the dressing rooms.  With the exception of a few girls (noted below for your child) girls will be able to wear whatever stockings or socks they are most comfortable with.

~~~~~~~~~~~~I hear back...
Rene,
I am a little confused you asked that all children should have either jazz shoes or ballet slippers.  Then in the last paragraph you said girls will be able to wear whatever stockings or socks.  Can the girls wear either ballet slippers or socks?  Can you please clarify?  Thank you.

~~~~~~~~~I write back...
or shoes they can wear either Jazz shoes or ballet slippers... for leg wear they can wear stockings, tights or socks.  They do NOT want to wear socks without shoes on the stage as it is just painted plywood and prone to ripping up clothing.
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I'm still curious to know what in the first email suggested that the girls could wear just socks???  I would like to hear your thoughts cuz I need to hear something different.

ARGH!!!!

I recently bought Scrubbing Bubbles Toilet Cleaning Gel http://www.walmart.com/ip/Scrubbing-Bubbles-Fresh-Clean-Gel-Discs-Toilet-Cleaning-Gel-6-ct/11045773 for our bathrooms.  I had tried them out before and was happy with the results.
I cleaned the master bathroom and put a "dose" of the gel in our toilet.  I left the applicator with the remaining uses on the shelf in the bathroom.
Last night I went to speak to my husband as he was getting ready for bed and he mentions that he can't get that "thing" on the shelf to stop smelling.  I rush in there to find the applicator sitting on the shelf with gel oozing out of it.
Much high pitched talking ensues as I try to clean up the mess DH has made and I try to comprehend why on earth he would squeeze out what appeared to be the entire contents of the applicator but was actually just one dose.  I kept asking why he didn't ask me.  I asked "Didn't your mother teach you to not mess with things if you don't know what you're doing?"
*sigh!*  See the problem is that DH is very sensitive to smells...so much so that if he doesn't like the way something smells...well he doesn't think too properly. 
He says he thought the applicator was a rather ugly air freshener that I had left open and he was trying to close it...he didn't realize that the smell he was smelling was coming from the toilet, not the applicator. 

I suppose that I shouldn't have left the applicator where he could see it, but it didn't occur to me that this would be a problem.  And the very sad part of all of this is that I had planned to use these in all 3 of our bathrooms which will make the entire house smell (note: I find the fragrance to be very NICE!).
I guess I better hurry and get the other two bathrooms cleaned and put the gel in them so he gets blasted with the smell.  LOL!