crash

friday evening, i left work to come home. the temperature was hovering around freezing and it was raining. i checked maps and the tollroad was a solid red line. i decided to take a parallel side street to avoid the mess.  i turned left at the first light to go south. i stopped at the next light and realized that i should have turned at the second street. darn. i sat at the light considering what i should do next to get home as quick as possible. the light changed and i started to drive. half way through the intersection i saw a flash in my periphery. i remember saying no, thinking this can't be happening. then there were airbags in my face and smoke and dust and pain. someone ran the red light, at full speed, no brakes.






the police & fire department came to take care of things. the husband drove up to get me. we went straight to the emergency clinic.  i broke my left wrist. boo.


i spent the weekend with my arm in a splint. in pain. lots of pain. i didn't get a doctor appointment until late this afternoon. the first thing the nurse said was 'what the $%^^%^ were they thinking, they splinted the wrong side of your arm.' i broke the radial side, they splinted the ulnar side. no wonder i had so much pain, the break in my wrist was not stabilized. because of that, my arm was quite swollen. the doctor described it as a classic dinner fork break. from the side, my wrist is curved like the side of a fork. dh said looking at my wrist made him queasy, so for the faint of stomach, i made a link to the pictures. click if you choose.

link to wrist 1
link to wrist 2
i was given two choices. fix it or don't fix it. the fix it options is surgery putting a plate and pins in my wrist. i asked what the don't fix it option meant. he would cast it and let it heal all crooked. i asked who chose that option, he said sometimes the elderly. i choose fix it. surgery is scheduled for monday afternoon. fun. in the mean time, they put a cast on to stabilize the break. i chose orange.



now i have to face insurance claims and car shopping. and take more pain killers.

p.s. now you understand why i quit using the shift key. please forgive me.

football & flight

i'm so slow on blogging these days. blme that silly full time job. i know when i'm behind when the husband sends me pictures from his phone. here's some from last week. b had a soccer tournament. i spent friday & saturday driving out to bfe at ungodly hours to watch 7 year olds kick the ball around.


saturday, while i was enjoying soccer, j& dh went to enjoy a day at smu. friends had great parking spots, tailgating on the boulevard and catered suite for the game. 




they had fun, so much fun, that the husbands, who i thought were going to take the boys to the 8pm game on saturday night, decided it would be better if the wives drove the little boys instead. fun, more soccer! (Actually, it was good game and i like watching b play. it's just fun to give dh a hard time.)

wednesday this week, dh took b on a cub scout outing to the frontiers of flight museum.


i think they had fun except b spent too much time playing in the ejector seat and missing the tour inside the big plane. tears ensued.

i need to work on my vocabulary, i overused fun.

Teenager

A is definitely showing some symptoms of being a stereotypical teenager. She, who used to keep her room in pretty good order, has become a total slob. She left to go on the 8th grade retreat this week. I took advantage of her absence by cleaning. I spent close to two hours going through everything on the floor, desk, chest & nightstand. I was good and didn't throw out anything unless it was an obvious piece of trash. I made stacks of papers, schoolwork and books on her desk. I organized all the stuff in her bathroom drawers. When I was done, I could actually see the carpet in her room again. Amazing that I consider these picture a state of cleanliness! It was a huge improvement.




Just 24 hours after she arrived home, the mess is already growing.

I Like Big Bundts 2013

Yesterday was National Bundt Cake Day. This year, Mary the Food Librarian had 15 days of Bundts leading up to the big day. I was inspired by day 9 since I still have frozen zucchini from my late summer harvest.

I used a recipe from Barbara Bakes blog. I was a bit worried about the cake since my defrosted zucchini was very watery, but it turned out fine.






B & his friend had a slice of cake for dessert. I didn't bother to tell them that it was chocolate ZUCCHINI Bundt cake. They both ate it and declared that I should win the contest for the Jubilee Bundt pan. I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

In case you forgot, my Bundt cakes from 2010, 2011, and 2012.

Bathroom Renovations - done

The contractor finished the bathrooms a couple of weeks ago. I'm just now getting around to taking photos, so they looked lived in. So far we're very happy with the results.

A's bath






Boys' bath





There are still a few little changes I want to make. We could use some new towels. I never found light fixtures I liked. I will have them replaced eventually. The walls could use something. They are big and blank. But overall, they are clean and pretty and functional. I'm happy.

Saturday dance

A danced on Saturday. It was the same venue she danced at last year. She did three dances, including one she learned two hours before the performance. Not bad.

December



White Christmas



All I Want For Christmas Is You

Edited: That last video was blocked for copyright issues. It was Mariah Carey's 'All I Want For Christmas Is You'. That's the dance she learned Saturday afternoon so you can't see how great she did. Just trust me. She did great!

Bearcat 5k

While B & DH were camping, A, J, & I had a quiet weekend. We didn't have big plans except for the Bearcat 5k on Saturday morning.






The race was organized by a few of the 8th graders as a service project and they raised $2000 for Care Van. Impressive.

Y Guides Campout Fall 2013

DH & B spent the weekend at Possum Kingdom lake. It was busy. They went on long hikes, a boat ride, played football, shot bb guns, rode horses, went to the archery range, and ate s'mores. B even went in the lake. It was November 2nd and he went swimming. Crazy 7 year old.

Halloween 2013

I don't like working when days like Halloween roll around. I missed out on pumpkin carving,which I actually hate but somehow become quite nostalgic about when I'm not there to participate. I missed out on the kids getting ready. I got home just after 5pm and all three were gone. A went with her cousin to a friend's house. We were heading to a neighborhood street where they close off the block for a no car trick or treating zone. The boys couldn't wait any longer and ran over to hang out with their friends.

At least DH was there to document it for me.

Pumpkins









A's pumpkin


J's pumpkin


B's pumpkin

I decided to skip handing out candy this year and stayed at the block party, so after all that effort, we didn't even put the pumpkins out.

Costumes

Minion


Generic Bad Guy


Skeleton

Trick or treating.




The car-free trick or treating was nice. I left the block party to pick up A. (And take B trick or treating again. He either ate all of his candy or ran around with his friends & never trick or treated because he ended a very small pile of candy. He was lucky that I had to get A and he got a second chance at candy.) That street was just as busy as our block but with the added chaos of cars driving 1 mile an hour following the trick or treaters. So glad our friend are already planning for next year.