Okay, I'm back.

Are you ready? Settled in for a nice read now? Is your beverage ready? Do you have tissues handy? Oh wait, it's not that bad. I'm all squeaky clean now. I love those girly products for the shower. You know, the glimmer, fruity smelling stuff. Shine this, buff that, exfoliate this, cleanse that. I really dig those.

Here's how I'm going to do this. I'm going to have subjects. And I'm going to mix the bad with the good and catch you up that way. It sounds like it will be the most fun.

DISHWASHER SAGA
It continues. The part came in on Wednesday at 4:45. I immediately got on the phone and called Sears to try to schedule an earlier appointment to have the repair done. They said they'd be here between 8:00 and 5:00 the next day. Woo hoo! No more washing dishes by hand. And this day worked out well because I had to be here to meet another repair type guy. I'll hit you with that story later. One subject at a time. About 9:30 on the scheduled repair day, the phone rang. It was the home office. They couldn't get a tech here to fix the dishwasher. They needed to re-schedule for Monday. The original repair date. Dang-it. I'm still washing dishes by hand. And not happy about it. So now, I get to wait, all day, for the repair man to grace me with his presence. They should at least tell me a.m. or p.m. Don't you think?

MY GET-AWAY
A friend of mine invited me on a mini-retreat with her and two other gal pals. Just a one-nighter and the cost was beyond minimal. Beyond. I couldn't say no. I had my childcare in place. The timing was perfect. It all worked out wonderfully. Husband was even pretty agreeable about it. I think he could see that Mommy was about to snap and it was best for all parties involved to get her out of the house ASAP. So Sunday, around 3:00, I left and got home on Monday at 5:30. It was WONDERFUL! A funny detail will follow!!

TERMITES!
Yes, you read it right. That was the other appointment that day. Terminex was scheduled to be here sometime between 10:00 and 12:00. They showed up. (And they'll be back Saturday morning for our treatment. Ugh.) The tiny creatures are camped out within the walls of my bathroom. It skeeves me out. It could be worse.

LIFE'S CHECKLIST
I checked a "to-do" off of my life's checklist while I was on my retreat. And it felt awesome to do it. It was 2:00 a.m. and I was exhausted. I was ready to call it quits. The girlies would hear none of it. They had suggested doing this earlier and I was somewhat hesitant, yet intrigued at the possibility of letting go of my inhibitions and going for it. I needed to wake up and press on. There were pictures that needed scrapping and they weren't going to get done if I was asleep. But better yet, there existed the possiblity of me daring to do something *way* out of my comfort zone. They were like little girls, running out of the back door, stripping their clothes off and jumping into the lake. Me? I stripped my clothes off and just stood there on the dock. Scared to death to jump in. Terrifed. Then I realized that I was standing there, in all of my glory, for them to gaze upon. I decided that the fear was better than them seeing my extra layers of insulation. I plugged my nose, screamed and jumped. It was such a thrill. I still can't believe I did it. Now, if I could just get Husband on an airplane.

MIGRAINE
Thursday afternoon. I think a lot of things caught up with me. Some stress of daily life, my schedule, just stuff. I woke up with a twinge of a headache. Took meds. Nothing. Took more meds after lunch. Nothing. Tried to lay down and sleep it off. It didn't work. I finally broke down and called Husband and we worked the specifics out. His parents were in town and were a lot of help. The doctor was great. He asked the usual questions. I gave him the usual answers. His nurse gave me the usual shot. And I fell asleep. Thank goodness. I just have to sleep 'em off. That medicine stays in my system for a good 24 hours though. And it causes some serious dragging. I have felt like crap all day. I will probably feel more back to normal in the morning after sleeping tonight. Which I better do soon.

TERRIBLE TWO'S
Why, oh why does this have to happen? Will someone please explain this phenomenon to me? It hadn't sunk in to me that this might be what we were facing unitl I heard Husband say it out loud to someone a few weeks ago. I was like, HUH? Dang it. Not my sweet baby. But he's right. Thing Two is a Terrible Two. And that little booger is testing me on every level. He hits, he spits, he screams, he falls down and throws tantrums. He shouts "no" to me. He is every bit a terrible two. He got mad at me tonight because it was late and I told him and Thing One that they could have a little water to drink but no more juice or milk. Thing Two went off on me. He threw his cup at me and shouted "MILK." Needless to say, Thing Two went to bed without either.

MY DREAM
This is where I fantasized a little. As my kids were hanging on my legs asking for more to drink or wanting more of this or that, I went far away in my mind. I dreamed of Husband and I sneaking off to the lake and having our own little skinny dipping session. I know right where we'd go. I think he knows too. I wonder if I can ever talk him into that. Good times.