Yesterday was my grandma’s 89th birthday. The girls and I went to Clearfield to have supper with my mom, grandma, and great-aunt.  We had some good times. She even used her birthday wish to ask that the girls and I would have a safe trip home. Considering that there were a few times when visibility was zero, the snow-covered “Hey, are there lines on this road?” roads, and the fact that TGD and the boys did a 540 (360 plus!) on the way to church that night, I am glad to have her wish granted. Happy birthday to her!

Monday, Sue J and Ransom emailed me:  “There are Jax at Wegmans!”  I scurried over, and I now have Jax again. They are just as yummy as I remember. Life is very good. Happy to me!

The washer repair guy is coming to visit today. Never buy a Kenmore front-loading washer. Nothing but trouble! The warranty expired in January, so this visit I will have to pay for. However, this fellow is our good appliance repair man who is coming not only to repair but to teach me how to fix the washer (take off the panel to unclog the drain), so that I don’t have to call him and pay the fee once every three to six months. Happy to me again!   

This afternoon, Little Miss and I plan to start work on a life-size Egyptian sarcophagus (out of cardboard).  But first, we have to get all our school and chores done. Happy to us both!

What’s making you happy lately?

Like most of the rest of the USA, our TV is tuned into the Super Bowl. We live in Steeler Country, you know, so it would be most unsporting of us not to root on the team. Besides, my grandma is a big Steelers’ fan, and it wouldn’t do to fail to root for Gram’s team.

I’m not watching the game, but I did get to see that fellow run 100 yards and flip onto his head for that touchdown. I love games where people run back from the other end zone or run back for a touchdown on a kick off. That’s why I like lower-level football better.  Snincr asked me in line for our church fellowship meal today about my football affiliation. “The closer it is to my actual house, the more a fan I am. I’m a HUGE Centre Bulldogs fan, a big State High fan, a fan of Penn State, and after that, it dwindles,” I said.  (By the way, do you know the three words in the dictionary which start with “dw”?)

Wit’s surgery on Friday went well. The doctor said that his shoulder bones had already overlapped by 1.5 inches and it was pretty difficult to pull them back into place. I am very glad we did this surgery. Wit looks like himself again–not all hunchy. 

We paid the deposit for Hunter at Penn State. I don’t suppose that means he’s officially enrolled, but it feels pretty official to us. Whee!  It will be a different game in two years when Wit comes around, but for now, this college thing was pretty painless. It helps when your child only applies one place and that place doesn’t require an essay or letters of recommendation or anything.

Now, I’m going to pick up LibbyK from a Super Bowl party and dream of Jax. What did you do this evening?

Today, I called the doctor because a cold should be getting better, not worse, at this point. He called in some antibiotics for me.  I also had a long nap this afternoon which was punctuated by loud, auditory dreams–people yelling in my room, TGD talking, and more. Today, I am also thankful for crock pots and a nice venison roast.

Tonight is the first play practice for As You Like It. I even got the scripts printed in time, but it turns out the guy at Office Depot should have checked more carefully when the copier jammed. None of the bound copies have a page 3! (Yes, I should have checked more carefully when I took them!) Oh, well. Praise God that the scripts are only copied on one side of the page and that we have tape and glue.

Tonight, Hunter will come home and open the big package he got in the mail from Penn State. Big package = You Are Accepted, I am thinking. YEAH!     EDIT–HE WAS ACCEPTED!  He plans to major in elementary education and possibly double major in vocal performance.

Tonight, maybe TGD and I will watch the final three episodes of Chuck on DVD. Boy, I like that show.

Tomorrow, Wit goes in to have surgery to reset his broken collarbone.  If you could remember him in your prayers around 2:00 EST, I would be grateful. He has to have full anesthesia, which is always a little concerning.

Tomorrow night is Youth Group, and I’ve been so encouraged by kids inviting out their friends to events.  Some of these new kids have a church background; some have none at all. May the truth and light of Christ shine into their hearts!

(And Saturday, I get to eat breakfast at The Waffle Shop with LogCabinLady–mmmmm–Blueberry Belgian Waffle.)

What are you up to these days?

I found this on Wherever_We_Go‘s site

You are a Katharine Hepburn — “I am happy and open to new things”

 Katharines are energetic, lively, and optimistic. They want to contribute to the world.

 How to Get Along with Me   

•  Give me companionship, affection, and freedom.   
•  Engage with me in stimulating conversation and laughter.   
•  Appreciate my grand visions and listen to my stories.   
•  Don’t try to change my style. Accept me the way I am.   
• Be responsible for youself. I dislike clingy or needy people.   
•  Don’t tell me what to do.
  

What I Like About Being a Katharine   

•  being optimistic and not letting life’s troubles get me down   
•  being spontaneous and free-spirited   
•  being outspoken and outrageous. It’s part of the fun.   
•  being generous and trying to make the world a better place   
•  having the guts to take risks and to try exciting adventures   
•  having such varied interests and abilities
  

What’s Hard About Being a Katharine   

•  not having enough time to do all the things I want   
•  not completing things I start   
•  not being able to profit from the benefits that come from specializing; not making a commitment to a career   
•  having a tendency to be ungrounded; getting lost in plans or fantasies   
•  feeling confined when I’m in a one-to-one relationship

 Katharines as Children Often

•  are action oriented and adventuresome  
•  drum up excitement   
•  prefer being with other children to being alone   
•  finesse their way around adults   
•  dream of the freedom they’ll have when they grow up
  

Katharines as Parents   

•  are often enthusiastic and generous   
•  want their children to be exposed to many adventures in life   
•  may be too busy with their own activities to be attentive

http://www.helloquizzy.com/tests/are-you-a-jackie-or-a-marilyn-or-someone-else-mad-menera-female-icon-quiz

A break? To what might my title refer?

A. That I have been off Xanga for a while?
B. That LibbyK and I got to go to a Mother/Daughter retreat this past weekend?
C. That Hunter got his big break in theater by being cast as Gaston in State College High School’s production of Beauty and the Beast?
D. That Wit broke his left collarbone while snowboarding on Friday?
E. All of the above.

Oh, you clever, clever readers. Yes, the correct answer is E!  And I’ll tell you all about it.

A. Yeah, I’ve been off Xanga. Boring. Move on to B.

B. Our church had a retreat at Camp Kanesatake for mothers and daughters (grade 7 and up). I was in charge of door prizes (Bath and Body Works stuff, chocolate, stationery, punching balls…), the craft, and Friday night’s supper.  Although Friday night got a bit complicated (see D), the retreat overall turned out to be a mix of wonderful. 

We decided not to have a speaker, but instead we had questions prepared for just mothers and daughters to answer together. (The ladies who did not have daughters present met in their own group with similar questions.) It was interesting to me to have the time to sit with LibbyK and go through some of the excellent questions. They were split, some for mothers to answer and some for daughters. Here are a few.

Mother: Share two special memories of your daughter’s physical birth.
Daughter: Tell about a special birthday present you received.
Mother: What do you hope your daughter will wait on God for in the future?
Daughter: How have you seen your mom seek the Lord?

I was challenged and convicted, yet I really appreciated the time I got to spend chatting and discussing more than just school or why she didn’t do her chores.

C. We were on pins and needles with this one. Would he be a good enough singer and actor? Would his dancing skills keep him out of the role? Would there be any other six-foot-fourish muscled fellows with a deep voice who would try out for the part? It turns out that our fretting was unnecessary (as fretting always turns out to be).  As Hunter’s Facebook status read, “I’m especially good at expectorating. 10 points! I’m Gaston!” 

The performances will be the first weekend in April, which means Hunter has to take a leave of absence from his after-school day care job until then (due to practice conflicting).

D. Wit and the Snowboard… Friday was the first day we had done the homeschool ski program. Last week, the temperature was 8 degrees for a high, not counting wind chill. This week, it was 52 degrees for a high! Kids were skiing in t-shirts. 

Wit had only been snowboarding once before, and his friends were much more experienced. However, being 16 and fairly coordinated, he was able to keep up, even going off some jumps with them.  I was riding the ski lift up for my third time down the hill when I saw the ski patrol leaning over someone. “Uh-oh. That looks just like the sleeve of Wit’s jacket.” Indeed it was.  I skied down to him as they were preparing to load him onto the emergency sled thing.  “Dislocated shoulder, more than likely. Very painful,” I was told.

After distributing the other children to several kind and generous moms, I took Wit to the hospital where the x-ray showed a clear break in his collarbone. Actually, the bones were overlapping, like if you put one finger on top of another. They put him in a sling and gave us a prescription for heavy-duty pain killers (which we did not fill). 

While we were at the hospital waiting for the results, I got a phone call. “LibbyK hurt her leg and can hardly walk on it.”  Sigh.  “I think she’ll be okay. Just take her to the retreat for me. If we need to go back to the hospital, at least she’ll have had her supper first.”  (And she was. She was limpy for a day or two, but she’s okay in general.)

And what of other news, like the fact that TGD was named as a Full Professor at Penn State? (WHOOOOO!)  That I’m starting rehearsals for Shakespeare’s As You Like It on Thursday? (Although I made so many changes to the script that someone said I should call the play As I Like It!)  That I’ve got another nasty cold?   Ah, I should tell you more, but then this entry would be even more ponderous.

The cat is just fine
In his “neutral” state.
And is spending the night
At the vet, which is great.

We’re hoping for an extra
Two hours of rest.
School delays really
Are one of the best!

(PS–It’s not lockjaw like the stuff for which you get a tetanus shot. It’s that his jaw keeps locking and popping. I have a similar problem which manifests itself when I am tired and have talked a lot. It’s not really too painful, but it is annoying–especially if one is at a three-day intensive choir festival.)

Tomorrow the cat
Becomes an it.
And we’ve got snow,
Quite a bit.

I’ve got a book
And a bath with bubbles.
The best of all
For any troubles.

I have not been using my Wii Fit lately. Instead, I’ve been playing a new game which is available for a limited time and only in the north. It’s Wii Shovel and is incredibly realistic. Instead of the controller, you grab an actual shovel and tackle a 125 foot-long driveway with six inches of snow topped with freezing rain that has been driven over several times. It’s so realistic that you even feel the cold. Sometimes, others play with me. TGD is pretty good at it, too.

This Wednesday, Hunter leaves the house for PMEA (Pennsylvania Music Educators Association (?)) music festival. He’ll stay with a host family (a math teacher from Philipsburg, it turns out) for three nights and have a concert at Mo Valley High School on Saturday. If he auditions well, he’ll move to the next level, which I think is regionals or maybe states.  I bought his house hostess a box of chocolates as a thank you gift, which seems very Forrest Gump.  I never know what to give. Any better suggestions?

Ah, finally. The snow is to arrive–ten inches or so. And, it’s just in time, for tomorrow, I take to the slopes to spend 12 hours or so chaperoning a Youth Group snow tubing day.  One of the leaders thought perhaps we ought to consider canceling the outing because of the snow (we do have to drive to get to the ski slopes!), but that was too ironic.

That request reminded me of my senior year of high school when the ski club was set to go on a trip to Killington, VT. (Quite a drive from central PA)  The trip had to be postponed due to wild storms. But, a few days later, we finally got there. Wow. I had never skied in 15 inches of powder before. (Actually, not so easy for a blue square girl like me)  What an amazing trip it turned out to be.

Not my picture, but this is part of Kilington

I am not anticipating that Tussey Mountain will provide the same level of thrills as a several day overnight trip to Vermont was for my high school self. Even though there will be free pizza.

What are you up to this weekend?

Not that I will ever go to see a movie like the one in the title, but the lure of free credits and a nifty topic to write about made me click. 

The dream that actually gives me chills wasn’t even dreamed by me. My friend Linda told me once of sleeping over at a friend’s house. She dreamed of a field of wheat, blowing in the wind. The absolute terror she felt at the sight was certainly out of proportion to the innocent scene in her mind. She wondered at the potential “Ouija-board-ness” of this family afterward and speculated that it might have been the cause of her nightmare. Anyhow, that tale gives me shivers.  

I just blogged about my scariest nightmare to enter The Uninvited Scariest Nightmare Contest for 1,000 credits. You can earn free credits too! Brought to you by The Uninvited – In Theaters January 30th.