Friday Quick Takes

Joining Jen at Conversion Diary for Quick Takes Friday!

~ 1 ~
Our beloved JAMIE is moving back to Wisconsin next fall! We're so excited. I'm just saying.

~ 2 ~
I finally had my first mammogram. Age 43--kinda late, I know, but you can't have one when you're pregnant or nursing, which I've been, as you know, for the last decade. Anyway, I don't see what the big deal is about it being uncomfortable or painful or something. I was so nervous, but it was nuthin'. Probably after a decade of nursin' babes, a little ole mammogram feels like nuthin'. So if you haven't had one yet, don't worry that it's a big deal--that's all hype.

~ 3 ~
Speaking of my health...something cool happened this week. In the past I've fought against high blood pressure during my pregnancies, and now it's rearing its ugly head again without a pregnancy to blame it on. It's been feeling like I'm a ticking time bomb, about to have a stroke at any moment (because, as some of you may not know, my mom had one out of the blue at age 54). So I've been freaking out, especially because I've been having this killer headache nonstop lately, which for me often means my blood pressure is shooting up.

Well, yesterday Bill made me go to the doctor, and it turns out that the killer headaches and my sort-of-sprained-or-something forearm are both just from a very bad muscular situation going on from holding wiggly 30-lb MPD. What a relief! And what a good excuse for a massage, don't you think?!

~ 4 ~

A picture thought I'm sharing:
Look! It's Maryanne and Ginger, right in my own family! Ha ha!
Actually, my whole family could be right out of Gilligan's Island. We've got the girls, MPD for Gilligan, JPD the professor, WWD is Skipper, and Bill and I? Mr. and Mrs. Howell, of course. Too bad the kids have no idea who I'm talking about, because Bill and I think this is quite hilarious. :)

~ 5 ~
I've been thinking...shhhh...what if we don't do soccer next year. At all, for any of the kids. Would the world come crashing down around us, do you think? Would we be burdened with nothing to do on Saturdays? Would the kids have no friends? Would they become obese couch potato blobs? Would we be a hopelessly uncool, out-of-it family? Nah...didn't think so. Would it not be fair to the soccer players, after that doozy of a basketball season for WWD and football right around the corner? Well, that's another story. I'm just thinking.

~ 6 ~
This week I bought a new van! No kidding! :) I wasn't planning to get a new one for another couple of years, but...well, you see...my drive to and from school takes me by a number of car dealerships, and the kids are obsessed with playing that @#$%^& Volkswagon game, so I spotted a great deal on a 2007 Odyssey with very low miles at the Volkswagen dealership. And I traded in the 2004 Odyssey for it. Just like that. Now we have one more seat in our van, which is a big deal since we were maxed out. And now I've put off buying either a giant SUV or a giant Catholic family van, at least for a few years, and maybe forever. So it's all good! I can't believe I did that, but the new van is so awesome!

~ 7 ~
MPD is growing up so fast these days! Now that the weather is nice (and we're going to lots of soccer practice at parks all around town) we are hitting the playground almost every day. He is so proud of himself for being able to climb and slide and do such big-kid stuff at the playground! And he is amazing us with his sweet talking, which is at that fun stage of more and more words every day. "Daddy Jeep bye bye," is an example of his amazing communication skills right now. What a sweetie! We love you MPD!

P.S. Friday Quick Takes friends...I would love to invite you to read my Pro-Life Story, coming soon as a major motion picture (NOT!)!