February Goals

Time to re-visit the monthly resolutions again.  I am feeling pretty good about January.  I accomplished most things on my list.

First up:  Going to the Y three times per week.  Check!  I have been doing very well, sometimes going four times per week.  Last week I missed two of the times because we went to West Virginia, but am making up this week by going five times.  I probably could stand to lose a few pounds, but that isn't really my endgame.  My goal is to be more fit, and to have more energy.  The energy thing is happening.  I am feeling much better.  I don't know if I've lost weight or inches, but dang, I am feeling much better and I look forward to the sweat time.  This goal is a keeper for next month.

Second:  Find an upholsterer for the couch.  Check!  Many thanks to a couple of friends who pointed me in the direction of an upholsterer whose shop is just a few blocks from my house!  His work looked great from what I could tell in the shop, so we're going ahead with it.  I have an appointment for him to come and get my couch in mid-February.  Hurray!  The price is a bit more than I was expecting, but I have made peace with that and am really, really excited to see how it's going to look.  I was actually quite freaked out by the price all the rest of the day that the estimate took place.   I can say this:  I am soooo glad my Mom helped me with choosing the fabric while I was in Mobile.  Thank you, thank you, THANK YOU Mom!!!  The guy complimented the quality of my fabric and told me he would have charged over $35 per yard if I had gotten said fabric from him!!!  I saved myself a huge, enormous chunk of change by getting my own fabric!  And while I know I could buy a pretty decent couch for what we are paying to have ours recovered, the couch I have is still structurally sound and very well made.  They just don't make stuff like they used to.  He says that when we get it back it will be just like it came off the showroom floor.  I can hardly wait!

Third:  Get my laptop looked at.  Nope.  Not this month.  Ah, well.  Nobody is perfect.  It's been quite an expensive first quarter for us with Miss Lydia's mishap, the couch thing, and probably the orthodontist.

Fourth:  The Orthodontist.  Check.  Yikes.  We had a first consult, which ended up costing an extra $130 that I hadn't anticipated to do the mouth impressions and molds and such.  I get the mouth plan and money talk from them next week.  Some work needs to be done and I'm sure it will be costly.

Fifth:  Blogging.  Mostly check.  I think I have been averaging one entry a week.  I'm keeping this one on for February.

MY PERSONAL GOALS FOR FEBRUARY

--Get a good morning routine going.  I am too embarrassed to say out loud what time I've been getting out of bed for the past month, so I won't.  Suffice it to say that Lawrence gets up by 8am and the rest of us have been getting up considerably later.  Well, except for Phillip who has to be at work by 8!  To be fair, I have been going to sleep at obscene hours of the night, but it has to stop.  My days have been largely unorganized and we have trouble getting to morning events on time and I end up feeling either frazzled or that nothing was accomplished.  My goal is to be out of bed, bathroom wiped down, bed made and dressed for the day by 8am.  7:30 would be ideal, but I am trying to make this an actual achievable goal for me!  Maybe I'll try for 7:30 next month.   We'll see how well I do with this one.  It almost breaks my heart to have to do this one, but it needs to be done!

--Organize my dresser, clearing clutter off, dusting and going through my clothing and keeping it nice for the whole month.  This will be tough.  This is the general dumping ground for all items in my pockets from every day, bathroom items, paperwork which needs my attention, hair products, hair ties, and even mail somehow makes it's way up here.  I am very ashamed to say that this is what I have to deal with:

No more!  Just because it is a flat surface, doesn't mean it needs to be filled up with a bunch of junk! 

--Our elderly neighbour across the street, Miss Dottie, died in December.  She was a widow of 20 years, 89 years old, lived alone, didn't drive and couldn't walk well.  I can honestly say that if I were in those same circumstances, I might feel somewhat resentful or bitter.  She is one of the more inspiring, positive, and magnanimous people I've ever met.  Even though her knees gave her trouble, she walked with a spring in her step.  She always had a song in her heart and sang it out loud.  She always sang Oh, Susannah! when we were around because we came from Alabama (yeah, with a banjo on our knee!).  She never seemed to age more or less in the brief five years I knew her.  Miss Dottie was a very inspirational person.  She had a great attitude with a very distinctive laugh that we heard often.  She had a ton of friends who were very protective of her. All of us neighbours around her house were quick to pitch in as far as she was concerned and shoveled her steps and walkway, spread salt, made sure she got to Walgreens or other places she wanted to go and tried to keep our eye out for her.  Her death was sudden and quick and I never got to tell her how much she inspired me.  I think she would have liked to know.  So my goal for this month is to choose four people who have inspired me recently and let them know.  People need to know when they make a difference in others' lives for the better.

--Frame and hang items for the play room.  We changed rooms in the fall to keep the toys and such down to a dull roar and I still haven't found the time to hang most of the wall decor, nor even get some of it framed.  Shameful!

--Continue my three times per week at the YMCA

--Continue my attempt to keep the blog up to date at least once per week.

So there you have it.  Goals for February are stated and will be attempted.  This is so much easier than doing something for a whole year.

Archie Has Magic Talent!

I love our rec centers here in Cincinnati.  We are once-a-week regulars at the one at Sayler Park and, more often, (three or four days a week) the one just down the street at Westwood Town Hall.  They have great programs and fabulous instructors who are energetic and seem to genuinely enjoy the kids who attend.  

Archie and Lawrence attend a gym class at Sayler Park every week.  Not together, but separately.  Both are fantastic and very affordable, which works well for us.  Before Christmas, Archie got wind of a talent show to be held at Sayler Park.  The auditions took place before Christmas and the show was to take place in January. The folks who work at both the rec centers at which we are regulars are no strangers to Archie's penchant for magic.  He brings in a card trick or a magic trick to try out on folks just about every time he goes to a class or event.  His gym instructor seemed excited that he was putting together a show and encouraged him to do it.

He was to audition in front of all the staff at the center.  When we arrived at the center for the audition, there were several kids in the after school program there who wanted to see his audition as well!  He wasn't really prepared for a full audience but did his show anyway in front of the unplanned audience.  He was fantastic!  He was funny and had great patter.  Even the trick that didn't work out the way he intended, he made a little joke out of it, so no one but me knew it didn't work out.  So after a successful audition, he was in the semi-finals!  

Fast forward to January.  Archie received a few new tricks for Christmas and after a trip to the magic store for some help (Haines House of Cards is awesome!) he was ready.  I was so nervous for him, I couldn't sleep most of the week before the show.  I don't know why...Archie certainly wasn't very nervous!  In fact, it wasn't until he arrived at the show itself that he finally showed any sign at all of nerves!   

When we arrived, we walked into a very crowded center and didn't know anyone, except for the center staff that we see every week.  We don't participate in Sayler Park's after school programs, only the preschool and homeschool gym programs.  None of our classmates were in the show, so he was performing for a crowd full of people we didn't know...no friendly, familiar faces.  The first sign of nerves finally reared it's ugly head!  

I went backstage to check on him, and I saw him looking rather panicked and he exclaimed, "I forgot my first trick!!!"  I thought he forgot the patter--all the chit-chat that sets everything up for the trick, so I started talking him through what I remembered, but he said, "NO!  I forgot my first trick!  At home!"  He had forgotten the secret part of the trick that makes it work.  Arrrrgg!  I suggested he begin with the second one, which is what he did.  

Archie was the final act of the evening, since his act would run a little long.  Once he got out there, you'd never know that he had a momentary case of nerves!  He was funny and you could tell the audience was really tracking with him!  I could tell that there were people around me not expecting much from a kid magician who were quite surprised (and amazed--by some of the comments I heard them saying!) at his performance.  

The final part of his act, he wanted to pass some candy out to the kids in the crowd.  So he said something like, "I'm not trying to bribe anyone here to vote for me or anything, but I just happen to have some candy here, just in case!"  Then he'd pull candy out of the ears of some of the kids there.  

The funny thing was, he was having such a great time performing, that he wouldn't stop doing the candy thing!  I kept tapping the watch area on my wrist as a signal that it was time to get done, but he didn't even look my direction!  I could tell he was having such a great time that he wasn't even aware of how long he was running!  Phillip finally called him over and said "You need to wrap it up!"  And Archie said, "Wrap what up?"  He was so into the performance and having so much fun he didn't have a clue as to what it was that Phillip was talking about!  

After he took his bows and sat down with me, all of a sudden, the adrenaline left his body and he was absolutely depleted.  He was soooo tired!  I have never seen him that tired that suddenly.  

As it turned out, he didn't make it into the finals.  I think it was only a numbers thing...the audience was to vote via a slip of paper inside the program.  Everyone voted for their own kid (and there was a dance team who had fifteen members in it) so he didn't make it.  They tried to make it fair by having you pick a first, second and third choice so as to not have the person who brought the most family members win, but it works out that way when you have one act which consists of fifteen members, who all bring a voting mother, father, and numerous siblings.  On the upside, he was only three votes shy of making it into the finals, which was pretty good, since the only people he knew there was the three staff members, Phillip, me, Morgan and Zack.  The problem with living twelve hours away from family is that you can't saturate the talent show audience with your extended family members.  

Several of the kids came up to him after the show and told him how neat it was and how much they really liked it.  Incidentally, this was an all-ages talent show, so he was competing against adults as well as kids.  One of the adults was a singing magician (he was a bit of a creeper, if you ask me).  But Archie had him beat hands down.  

Morgan recorded Archie's part of the show, and I am trying to figure out how to get the Hi-8 translated to digital so I can post it for interested persons.  Here are a couple of stills:

Many thanks to Regular E who got him the super-cool magic hat which goes from flat to popped out with just a firm shake!  It added just the right pizzazz to his performance!

I can't remember which trick this one was.

Here he had a volunteer from the audience selecting a card.

Below was his sponge-ball sleight of hand trick.  It was really funny listening to the audience members try to keep track of which of the balls were in which hand and which were in his pocket.  He totally blew them away when on the third time...he asked them how many were in his hand, and how many were in his pocket and the audience was yelling various numbers:  "Three!"  "One!" 

When he 'blew' open his hand and there were none, no one expected that!  There were audible gasps in the audience!  He totally got them!

I could not have been more proud of Archie!  He did say that he was a bit disappointed that he didn't get in the finals, but he really had a good time performing for an audience that was more than just me and Phillip.   The staff at our 'regular' rec center (Westwood Town Hall) got wind of his performance and are now asking if he'd like to put on a performance for the kids there.  

Telemarketing Calls: In Which I Have a Meltdown

Ever since we moved to Cincinnati and received our telephone number, we have been plagued with collection calls for two or three of the same people.  While I realize I could just not answer the phone for “unknown” or 800 number calls, I thought that it would be more prudent to answer them, tell them we don’t know whoever it is that they are calling for, and for them to remove our number, so they might stop calling in the first place.  What has made this task more troublesome is that not only is it our ‘real’ telephone number that they call, (0017) but the suffix 0051 apparently rings to our line.  I don’t know why.  So it’s kind of like we have two lines that ring to our house.  Unfortunately, the person who had 0051 before it started ringing to our 0017 number also has credit and collection issues, so I have been dealing with these calls times two.  For each call and creditor, I have to say, “no, we don’t know who that is.  Remove our telephone number from your list, please.  My telephone number?  Didn't you just call me?  Don’t you know what number you called?”  Then I have to explain this bazaar happenstance that we have two lines and I have no idea why.  It has been a gargantuan task, but finally I have whittled it down to getting a call about every few months now for persons unknown to us.

So imagine my sheer annoyance at being harassed by telemarketers for US Bank, where Phillip is actually a customer.  Now I would understand them contacting us every day if we were late on payments or something.  But they call every day to try to sell Phillip whatever latest product they think we are missing out on.  Perhaps every day is an exaggeration.  I will say, however, when we were out of town for 7 days during Christmas week, I saw one of their phone numbers show up on caller ID three times.  During Christmas.

They always call at the same time of day…around 2 or 2:30.  Which is naptime around here.  So I can’t just let the phone ring and let the machine get it because it’s loud.  Not that we tip-toe around the house during naptime, I just want to be sure that the folks napping have no reason to wake up.  I loooove naptime!!!

Historically, I have always tried to be courteous to telemarketers.  I am sure it is a miserable job.  However, life is full of choices.  If the job stinks, then find something else to do.  There are very creative ways to make money!  In the past couple of weeks, I have tried being nice to the US Bank telemarketers:

Me:  No, Phillip isn’t here.  He isn’t interested in making any changes with regard to his account at this time.  Thanks anyway.  Would you please take our phone number out of the telemarketing list?  


Them:  Uh, yeah, sure.  We’ll try back at a more convenient time to speak to Phillip. 

This was how it went for a few phone calls.  Then, the calls began to get a bit more nasty as they began to occur more often.

Me:  No, Phillip isn’t here.  He is NEVER here at this hour.  No matter how many more times you call during this hour, he will still not be here.  How’s about you go ahead and taking us off of your calling list?  He doesn’t want to change anything about his accounts.


Them:  That’s not really anything I can discuss with you.  I am only authorized to speak with Phillip.  


Me:  Then stop calling MY phone number!  And please, please take me off your telemarketing list.

Then the calls progressed to the same as above, along with this:

Me:  No, Phillip isn’t here.  You ALWAYS call during my kids’ naptimes.  What is wrong with your listening skills?  Do not call here.  Take me off your list.  


Them:  Only Phillip can tell us to remove his number from the telemarketing list.  I am sorry for the inconvenience.


Me:  You know nothing about inconvenience.  It is so much more than inconvenient when you wake up my little kids from their naptime.  It is more than inconvenient when they are crabby the rest of the day because of you.  US Bank makes my day miserable.  Do you think we are going to sign up for ANY of your products now?  Calling here is a waste of your time and mine.  I do not want you to call my phone number again.  Do you understand?  DO NOT CALL HERE AGAIN!  

So it went last week, just like above.  Except this time I lost it.  I mean I absolutely, totally lost any amount of dignity and decorum and totally went off.  It was rather ugly.  Granted, some type of rage or something had been brewing in me all day.  I even excused Archie from school work because I could feel the meltdown coming and didn’t want to have a reason to direct it toward him.

I gave it to the telemarketer that called me, then I called US Bank and gave it to them.  I melted down so much that I was yelling and crying by the time I got fed up and hung up.  To their credit, they never hung up on me.  Even after the not-very-nice words I might have used right there at the end.

I felt horrible for losing my cool in hearing distance of Archie and perhaps our neighbours next door and maybe the ones across the street as well.  I was upset for the rest of the day that I let them push me to the brink of crazy.  I would like nothing better than to be able to call the girls back that got the worst of my wrath and apologize for being so undignified, but I know I will never be able to get the same call center, or perhaps even the same country.  So this is my public apology to US Bank and to the two girls to whom I wasn’t very nice.  I apologize for being such a crazy person to you.  I wasn’t being a good example of a dignified lady or a human being.  I need to problem-solve in more creative ways and remember that someone else is learning how to behave from me.  But don’t call me.  Not my house.  Not ever.

I told Phillip to be sure to let them know not to ring our line again.  I don’t know if he ever passed the message along, but I haven’t heard from them again, and it’s been a week now.

And to those family or friends who have an account at US Bank:  Next time you go in or have any personal dealings with them, give ‘em a middle finger salute and tell them it’s from me.  Um…drats…there I go again…sorry.

An Angel with a Broken Wing

Lawrence enjoys getting Baby up from her nap.  Sunday afternoon, around 3:30, Phillip told him he could go wake up Baby if he'd like.  He jumped at the chance. Literally.  He climbed up the side of her bed and fell on her.  Or so we think.  We didn't even see the incident happen, so we only have the story he told, since Baby can't tell hers.  When I went upstairs to check on why Lydia was crying, they were both sitting in her bed and she was holding her arm, crying and saying, "Bo-Bo!  Bo-Bo!" 

As the afternoon progressed, she wasn't doing much better.  Although there wasn't any swelling, she wasn't using that hand at all and would cry every time she changed positions.  We decided to take her to Urgent Care, who then sent us to the Children's Hospital.  Actually, Phillip took her and I stayed home with the boys.  They did the x-ray at Children's and it was determined she had a buckle fracture in her wrist--which is something more than a sprain but less than a break.

She told the medical personnel that she was "done" more than once while they were doing the poking and prodding that is entailed with having a fracture.  "Done.  Done."  Also, once the splint went on, she decided that not only was she "done" but she needed that stuff off.  "Off."  she was telling them.  Until the snoopy sling showed up.  That was alright.    

When Phillip finally got home with her around 11 or so, he brought her in all wrapped up and asleep.  When he unwrapped her quilt to take off the sling so she could go to bed, my heart just melted.   Who else could make a broken arm look so darn adorable and make my heart so sad at the same time?  

As it turns out, they had a pretty good time at the hospital.  She snuggled with Phillip lots (something he rarely gets to do because she's quite a busy bee) and they played together some.  Phillip described it as a good bonding experience.  I guess you take 'em where and when you can get 'em!  

My Mom will be happy to know that she was well-wrapped in a cozy quilt to and from the hospital because we didn't want to have to manipulate her arm into and out of a coat.  As they were walking in the parking garage to the car to come home, Lydia lifted her head from Phillip's shoulder to ask, "Kilp?  Doctor?"  She wanted to be sure that Phillip did not forget her 'kilp'. 

She got lots of attention from the elderly ladies' table at church during donut time and she is doing very well eating and functioning left-handed.  Lawrence just can't do enough for his Baby, helping at every possible moment, whether convenient or not.  He poured about three teaspoons of medicine at once for her, which had to be cut to one without his being aware.  We've had a talk about being more gentle in the future and all that, so I hope it's not a topic we will have to revisit in this fashion again.  

PS...To Dr. Joe and the rest of the family curious about Archie's talent show...he was fabulous and I am trying to figure out how to convert from Hi-8 video to digital and will probably upload his portion of the show to YouTube.  I will send a link as soon as I figure it out.  I did take a few stills and will post a run-down.  Did I say he was great?  I could not have been more proud!!!!

Happy Birthday to Phillip

I have always liked my birthdays.  I don't really think of it as getting older.  I don't feel any different now at 37 (and a half!)  than I did when I was thirty.  I feel much smarter than I was when I was twenty, but that's about the only difference.  I suppose I view birthdays as getting smarter, which I think is a good thing.  Getting smarter is a good reason to celebrate, as is the anniversary of one's existence in this world!

Phillip views his birthdays as getting older.  It seems to me that he views his birthdays as a reminder of what hasn't been done and how precious little time is left that you have to achieve goals not yet realized.  So each year, I never know if we're supposed to acknowledge The Day or what we're supposed to do.  Some years he has seemed okay about it, and some not so much.  At least he has come to a point of acceptance of that which is inevitable when you have kids...If there is the slightest reason to have cake and blow out candles, then WE WILL HAVE CAKE AND BOW OUT CANDLES like it or not!!!!

Having just come off of a very expensive Christmas this year (traveling Southward with all that it entails is not cheap), I don't think he was up for a big to-do at a restaurant or anything, so we had a spaghetti dinner (his favourite) at home and a nice Mama Woolbright Fudge Topper cake.  Lawrence helped make it.  I think after several years of making this cake, I am finally getting it right as it oozed in all the right places on the cake and tasted absolutely divine!  

After the fudge had already hardened, Lawrence got upset with me because I forgot to put sprinkles on it.  So we sprinkled rainbow coloured sprinkles on it.  They all rolled around and mostly fell off.  We had "twinkle, twinkle little star" candles as well.  So with the sprinkles and candles, Lawrence stamped his seal of approval and we could enjoy.  

Lawrence has not taken up beer drinking...the bottle happened to be in his vicinity when I took this picture. He was showing me how he didn't care much for that 'bread' and really only liked the fudge on the cake.  

Here we are singing Happy Birthday.  

These are just a few shots I took this week.  This was not posed--everyone was watching tv and had crawled up to Daddy's lap.   I don't know what Archie was doing here.  Perhaps yawning?  

Before Christmas as I was cleaning up the play room one day, I realized Lydia didn't have many girly toys.  Not that I think lots of girly toys are necessary.  I feel overwhelmed in the pink aisle of the toy store, having never been much of a 'pink stuff' kind of girl myself.  She has shown an interest in dollies in the store and carries bags on her arm like a purse.  Which mystifies me because I don't even carry a purse.  I guess some gender stuff is instinctive.  

Anyway...I couldn't find any affordable dollies that I liked.  Or very many dollies that didn't look creepy or plastic-y or something.  I was lamenting this on Facebook and a friend suggested I look into Waldorf Dolls.  I found another friend who makes the dolls.  Getting them made is kind of pricey, so she suggested that I make one and she would instruct me.  While I had my doubts, I gathered up all my materials and worked with her a couple of times at her house, and even did some on my own at home.  All said and done, I think I have about 12 total construction hours in her.  If someone was better at stitching, then it would probably have taken a lot less time.  This is what I ended up with:

Golly!  That's her name...Golly.  Lydia named her.  

The stitching on her is not great (I have very poor sewing skills) but I am rather proud of her.  She is stuffed with wool, so she feels nice and warm and snug in your arms.  I enjoyed crocheting her hair so much that I have begun a few little crochet projects with the help of some internet tutorials.  I find crochet to be a very relaxing activity.  

I was able to snag a couple of cutie dresses from etsy that fit her quite well and voila!  A nice dollie.  I mean Golly.  

  

I cleaned the car out before our trip and found this hat.  Lydia found it this week and seems to enjoy wearing it.  She never enjoyed wearing it when I would need her to put on a hat to protect her little bald head from the sun!

This is just a video I took recently.  Lydia likes playing the 'Big Belly Game' with Phillip.  She lifts her shirt, sticks out her belly and bounces it against Phillip's belly.  Then the hiney dance that follows...I dunno where she picked that up.  

A New Year with New Goals

So apparently I have neglected my blog for so long that a new format has been implemented by blogger.  Geez.   Disconcerting.

I have never been good at the New Year's Resolution.  The only one I can remember that I kept the longest was to quit biting my nails.  It lasted about two and a half years, which was quite an accomplishment for me.  However, during one of the long drives from Alabama this past year (as I was approaching Nashville), I was really tired and was without my driving nibbling food (Gobstoppers).  I gnawed my nails back down to nubs for lack of something else to do and to keep myself awake and alert.  That was it for me.  As I type this, two of the fingernails are well below where they should be and are quite painful.  As for the rest...let's just say I will never be hired as a hand model.

I was helping with Archie's Sunday School class on January 1 where one topic that came up was New Year's Resolutions.  The teacher brought in a huge poster where the kids and teachers were to write in their Resolutions.  I had already decided that the Resolution was a waste of time and wouldn't be making any for this the year of 2012.  The kids wrote their Resolutions and the poster was sealed in a giant sized envelope to be read next January.  Archie's resolution was to not get into as much trouble this year.  It startled me just a bit because I don't really think of him as a trouble-maker, nor do I think he gets into much trouble at all.  After pondering for a few days, I guess I can see where he'd get the impression that he gets into a lot of trouble.

The past several months he has been repeatedly been chastised for not staying focused and on task.  I feel like a broken record...

     Me:  "It's time to get dressed.  It's time to get dressed! It's time to get dressed!  IT'S TIME TO GET DRESSED!!!!!!!  STAY FOCUSED!!  PUT ON YOUR PANTS AND SHIRT NOWWWWW!!!!!"

The above applies to school work, getting ready to go somewhere (even places and events that he finds pleasurable) and household chores.   He has spent several hours on a math page that should have taken a maximum of 20 minutes due to his lack of focus.

Archie's recognition of his need for improvement inspired my recognition of my need for improvement.  However, I can't seem to make and achieve a tangible goal for a whole year.  So I am doing bite-sized goals once a month, and am posting them here for accountability.  Because won't I feel silly having posted this for my yearbook and have nothing to show for it???  I have calendared time at the beginning of each month for evaluation for that month.

My goals for the month of January:

**Go to the YMCA at least three times per week.
--With the exception of the two weeks surrounding Christmas, I have been doing very well at this since the beginning of December.  I am trying to keep up the momentum, as the me-time sweating is quite fulfilling and enjoyable.  They have child care, so I really have no excuse NOT to.

**Find an upholsterer for the couch.
--While in Mobile over Christmas, Mom helped me pick out some fabric for recovering our couch.  Yes, I realize that I can pick up a whole new couch for $300, but our couch is the same one we had in our house my whole life and you just can't beat the quality of something that has taken quite a beating for the past 38 years (at least) and is still structurally sound.  Mom had it re-covered several years ago and the time has come again after the abuse of little kids, dogs of years past, and a husband who wallows in automotive grease.  I have no idea how I am going to find someone in Cincinnati who I can trust to do a great job that will last another 25 years.

**Get my laptop computer case adjusted so I can watch DVDs and use the media card function.
--The guy who repaired my computer before didn't put the case back together properly, so now the DVD and media card slots aren't properly lined up.  I didn't complain because he was going to charge me $400 for a new motherboard after the Great Water Spill of 2010, but it started working again just after he called with the $400 estimate.  He was honest about it and only charged me the $60 fee for checking it.  I didn't want to push my luck so I smiled and said "thanks" and paid the fee he asked for.  I bought an external DVDRW and called myself lucky.  The guy is no longer in business (probably because he is too honest) so I need to find someone to work on this.

**Get Archie to the orthodontist for evaluation.
--Archie has adult teeth still in hiding because they can't come down due to spacing issues.  I am dreading, dreading this costly little endeavor.

**Blog at least one time per week.
--This is my creative outlet, but is also the thing that is first on the chopping block when I run out of time and/or energy.  This will be the most difficult thing to keep consistent.  I would like to say I will update two or three times per week, but I need to keep this particular goal more attainable.  I was reminded by our friend Dr. Joe during our visit in Mobile that the blog needed my attention, so here it goes on my list.

So there they are.  My goals for January.  And only January.  To heck with the rest of the year.  Until February.  I'll deal with that then.