May She Rest in Peace (Ya know - Without Being Dug Up by Neighborhood Dogs and All)

We interrupt this nagging headache to bring you a much belated blog post:

Well folks, I am so far behind that I can't even remember where I'm heading. I had so many fun bloggy plans, but I've been sideswiped by GrammaJ's yard sale (she decided "we" were having one), a big boatload of ugly hormones, bad hair, and a weird neck/shoulder injury that arose from nowhere and is taking an ever-lovin' long time to heal up.

Nonetheless, I would be remiss if I didn't take a wee bit of time to pay tribute to our dear departed family member, Rebekah the hamster.

Sadly, Rebekah has passed on to that giant hamster ball in the sky...

If you'll recall, Rebekah and her twin sister Ruby just wrote a guest blog post a month or so ago...

Here they are at work on the keyboard; That's Rebekah on the right. I think. Actually, I never could tell them apart. However, Girly-Girl swears she can (could...*sniff*) identify them because one of them has (had...*sniff*) a little boo-boo on one of her toes.

Can you imagine being a human twin? A friend comes up, "I can't tell if you're Amanda or Miranda - Take off your shoes!"

Maybe not.



At any rate, a few weeks ago, one of the little furry gals started acting a wee bit weird. She was suddenly awake during much of the day while her sister slept. She ran and ran and RAN in the wheel and she climbed and leaped and startled and was just plain ole agitated and skittish. She also turned mean and bit anyone who touched her, so we stopped messing with her.

I did ask Funsocksgirl if she had ideas what might be wrong with the munchkin. FSG has owned many more hamsters, gerbils, mice, rats, and other furry beasts than you may want to hear about and is pretty much - at least in my book - an expert in rodent behavior.

Unfortunately, her only thought was that maybe we'd brought the scent of a cat into the house or something... She certainly did not expect death as the outcome of Rebekah's (assuming that's who it was!) manic behavior.

Sad to say, on September 18th I was upstairs reviewing a piano lesson with Silly-Head when Girly-Girl came running up the stairs and burst dramatically into the music room.

"Mom, one of the hamsters is DEAD!"

That pretty much pushed Bach to the back, if ya know what I mean.

Apparently, little Rebekah had been "gone" a while - she was just a stiff wad of fur and bones. So at least she wasn't limp and gross (been there, handled that!). After a few tears and hugs, we placed her in a toilet paper tube coffin and had a funeral in the back yard as we buried her at the edge of the leech field. The girls made this touching sign and gently placed some wild flowers to mark her grave.



Then we caught some cool insects to euthenize and mount for science and went up to console Ruby (assuming that's who she is). Ruby was peacefully asleep and wasn't terribly thrilled at being comforted, but she was calm and sweet and didn't act at all like a manic hamser on the verge of death. In fact, she's adjusted quite well to living alone. The girls have also recovered quite nicely and are already planning what new pets to get when Ruby dies (assuming that's who she is).

So, Good-bye Rebekah. We loved you while you were here and we're sad that you're gone now, but our lives go on...until Ruby starts going berserk!

Hamster Troubles?

Good Gracious. What's this?





Apparently a Hamster Rebellion has occured...

In Which Groovy Definitively Denies That She Has A.D.D.

Hiho! Groovy Here!

I have another rash. An ITCHY rash. I have no idea where/how I got it. Apparently while out shopping in Augusta with GrammaJ I touched something noxious and POWIE! It started on my chin (my chin?) and spread into 2 large spots on my right leg (How did it get from my chin to my leg?) and there's a smaller spot on my left wrist and various itty-bitty pinpoint bumples scattered about.

So, I'm back to living on Benedryl. Well, actually, I never buy Benedryl. We have "Equate Allergy Medication" which is, essentially, diphenhydramine HCL.

I knew you wanted to know that!

******************************************
We've had very, VERY few hot, summerish days in Maine to date. The cool weather doesn't bother me at all. I'd be thrilled if it was between 65ºF and 75ºF all season. Heat does not make me revel in the joys of summer. Heat just makes me cranky.

Totally off topic, let me point out that the AC in our van is shot... (No wonder no one wants to ride with me to run errands!)

What we have had is bucket loads of humidity from all the RAIN. The rain in Maine has mostly been a pain! In June, most of the state had record breaking amounts of precipitation. I'm betting July will be the same. Right now it is not raining, but the huidity level is, oh, about 320%.

So sitting here at the computer is pretty much like typing underwater. Literally!

*******************************************
On Saturday evening, I always take the time to lay out whatever we'll need for church in the morning. If we're on the worship team, we will be at church from 7am to 11:15am or so. Thus packing includes Bibles, breakfast for the girlies, a snack for after first service, my regular glasses (Can't see the music stand well with bifocals), Mulletman's earbuds for drumming, and my claves.

I also lay out my clothes and jewelry and shoes and make the girlies do the same. This preparation saves us much time and energy and stress on Sunday mornings. I imagine if I worked outside the home, I would do this every day.

Yet Mulletman mocks me for my efficiency.

This Sunday, we weren't doing the music at our church. In fact, we decided to visit another local church and their one service wasn't until mid morning. Nonetheless, old habits die hard and I laid out my clothes the night before. I went downstairs to exercise since we had so much time. When I came up, this it what I saw on the bed:



At least he makes me smile while he makes fun of me!

******************************************

One thing I can say about humidity, it really enhances the smell of a rodent cage! Consequently, I've been having the girlies clean the cage more often. Our usual routine is that one child cleans and then "decorates" the cage while her sister entertains the displaced hamsters.

Silly-Head worked very hard this last time and made it through the entire cleaning process without any assistance from me. (Yippee!) Next on her training list? Bathroom cleaning!!!!! :-D

Workin' Hard!


The scrubbing is almost done...


The finished project. Didn't she arrange it nicely?


Meanwhile, back at the ranch, Girly-Girl is "entertaining" the hammies. The wooden interpretation of entertaining is "Keeps them from escaping". However, Girly-Girl always tries to exceed our expectations.

Here she is entertaining Ruby and Rebekah:


Oops, let's see if I can get her face in the pic...


OK, Can you see what Girly-Girl is doing? Here, this pic makes it a bit clearer:


Yes, she was READING to them! :-D

And here are both of the hammie caretakers with their babies:


******************************************
My BFF in South Carolina, Notcon4med, arrived here late, late on Wednesday evening with her daughter, Kerry-On. We are the early-to-bed-early-to-rise sort, so dear friends Magnolia and Peanut also came to spend the night. Magnolia is a night owl. She stayed up to let our guests in and show them to their rooms. Peanut just came because she is BFF with the girlies and hey, who wants to miss a slumber party!

I can't believe I just used "BFF" twice in the same ¶. Eeeew!

I love NC4. She loves the Lord with all her heart and is always up for Biblical discussions of epic proportions. Of course, she is WAY smarter than me, so I end up smiling and nodding alot...

She is also such a techno geek. She has an ipod, a cell phone, a laptop, a GPS, etc. I, on the other hand, as a certified techno PHOBE, have one corded telephone and one desk computer that's only on a couple of hours a day. We make a nice pair!

Some people carry their cell phones everywhere. NC4 does that, but she also carries her laptop everywhere. When I laughed at her for taking her laptop with her on a short visit to some local friends she retorted that she "might need to show them pictures or something"!

Of course, as I joke about her dependence on electronics, I realize that I am probably the oddball in this scenario. There is something decidedly anti-American about my lack of technology. Even after the tidal wave and all, I still find myself avoiding the thought of getting a cell phone...

Mostly, NC4 and I just "hung out". We ate scones from Jorgenson's and donuts from Hillman's and pizza from Korner Store and dessert from Freedom Café. And, since NC4's birthday had just passed, I made her a yellow cake with fudge frosting. We invited a few gals over and had ourselves a party! My husband, driven to the far reaches of the house by all the estrogen afloat in the air, had this to say afterwards:

Mulletman: looking a little wild-eyed and edgy How can you women stand that?

Groovy: Stand what?

MM: All the interruptions!

Groovy: What interruptions?

MM: Ever time one of you started to talk, another woman would interrupt and start talking a mile-a-minute on a totally different topic. She'd only get 2-3 sentences out and someone would do the same to her. In fact, half the time, nobody even finished a...

Groovy: ...Sentence? I never noticed...

The fact is that 2 of our group most definitely have A.D.D., 2 clearly don't, and one especially groovy one is in denial. This made for a lot of chit-chat and crossfire and, in my opinion, tremendous fun!

******************************************


NC4 and I also went to a pre-wedding Pounding for sweeties Nate and Betty down in the southern part of Maine. The idea was to give them pantry staples by the pound to start their kitchen off right. They got rice and beans and tuna and sugar and spices and penny nails and a mallet and duck tape - all kinds of fun stuff. Many of the gifts were packed into reusable grocery bags, too. Very groovy! It was a family party with hubbies and children in tow, but I didn't know that ahead of time (we kind of crashed the party) so Mulletman and the girlies missed out. There were party games - I won the eggwhite whipping contest. Whoo-Hoo!

After the shower, NC4 and I went our separate ways. She and Kerry-On and Magnolia were off to meet a youth missions team that had come up from South Carolina to help out some ministries in Lewiston and Portland. I'll get to see tham again tomorrow at a nearby BBQ, providing it doesn't rain. Again. Which it's not supposed to...

Riiii-iiiight.
******************************************

Believe it or not, I can think of plenty more to say, but I think I'll leave off here. I wouldn't want anyone to die from a heart attack. You know, from the bloggy excitement and all. Besides, I have some Squidoo lenses to work on and school curriculum to research and order and phone calls to make and laundry to do.

So, until next time may God keep you in the palm of His hand!

Fasten your seatbelts, folks. It's Ramble time!

WARNING: Readers of this post should be at least 48" tall and be in good health. If you are pregnant or have heart conditions, please check with your doctor before buckling into this ride. This ramble is subject to quick pacing and sudden twists and turns in subject matter. As always, please keep your hands and feet inside the vehicle until the ride comes to a complete stop.



Let me start out by assuring you that "Free Food Makes You Fat". That's a chapter title in Blue Shoes and Happiness by Alexander McCall Smith. Another intriguing chapter title is "How to Deal With an Angry Ostrich", but I'm not going to ramble about that one. This is because I haven't really had any dealings with ostriches for a number of years, so I have no current stories to tell.

Anyhoo, Mr. Smith apparently knows what he is talking about, because folks, this has been a week just chock-FULL of free food. Have you ever tried to diet in the midst of free food? LOTS of free food? Impossible. Especially if the food is good!

First came Thursday. The girlies and I drove down to Old Orchard Beach (in a rip-roaring thunderstorm) to hang out and swim with our friends Rick and Tamara and fam who were visiting from Indiana.

Indiana? That's one of those of those states that makes me say, "You mean people actually live there? ON PURPOSE?"

You remember Rick and Tamara. They're the ones I rescued from the evil snakes of doom. Yeah, for some weird reason they left the beauty of Maine and moved to Indiana, but now they were back for a quick howdy-do. They were staying in a large, ritzy campground resort! a modest, rustic campground near the coast. Freedom began as soon as we got there and Rick insisted on paying our exhorbitant small "visitor's" fee so we could enter the premises and cavort with their family in the 497 4 swimming pools and 2 hot tubs.

But before we swam, FREE lunch! That's right, our generous friends fed us quite well from their larder. I had a lovely wrap and fresh strawberries and two chocolate chip cookies.

It was hazy outside, but the rain was holding off, so we drove the kids 18 miles the short distance to the pool so they could swim and play and Tam and I could talk 'til our lips got numb chat. Finally we decided to round everyone up and go out to an early supper. Rick and Tam were even kind enough to treat us! We loaded up the vans (6 children and 4 adults; Rick's Dad joined us) and drove (in a rip-roaring thunderstorm) to Ninety-Nine's for a sumptuous feast.

I ordered an oriental stir-fry with lots of veggies and some fabulous beef tips. This would have fit beautifully into my diet except that the platter of food they brought out for me would have fed, oh, either 3 skinny people OR 2 slightly pudgy folk OR 1 fat pig. Groovy was busy talking and reminiscing and otherwise having a good time, but she remained mindful of her waistline she devoured the fat pig portion. AND scarfed down a mini sundae AND a pack of M&Ms on the 2 hour drive home in a rip-roaring thunderstorm.

Friday? GrammaJ had missed us SO MUCH while we were away camping and visiting etc, etc. that she insisted on taking the girlies and I out to Ruby Tuesdays. There I had yummy chicken with portabella mushrooms and mashed potatoes and broccoli. and 1/2 of Girly-Girl's awesome dessert cookie.

Saturday? We were going to stay home and behave ourselves because this groovy homemaker was WAY behind on her, you know, homemaking, but then we got a sudden invitation to a garden gazebo tea party. My friend's granddaughter was here for the week and needed some friends to play with. That's right folks, it was a tea party emergency! They needed us!

We immediately freshened up and changed for some tea party fun:




Naturally a tea party means...FREE FOOD! There were cucumber sandwiches, chicken salad, strawberries dipped in chocolate, grapes, macaroons, chocolate chip cookies, orange scones, and itty-bitty cupcakes. Good stuff, that!

Sunday? Free donuts at church..although they ALWAYS have free donuts and those don't really tempt me, so I stuck to my apples and peanut butter.

Monday? Grampy decided that he and I needed to go out to lunch. And we MUST go somewhere where he could buy me (because he wuvs me) a BIG chocolate dessert. So we trekked over to Ruby Tuesdays. Yes, again! This time I only ate a small salad and 1/2 my serving of quiche, so I'd have room for the double chocolate cake and a scoop of vanilla ice cream that was the size of my head.

Today? Honey, I've still got quiche AND a tomato/mozerella salad AND baby green beans leftover from yesterday. My double chin and I are looking forward to it!

*********************************
I didn't feel well yesterday. Nothing I can put a finger on, just extremely sleepy. I slept well the night before, but I took an hour and a half nap in the afternoon. That's a big warning sign that I'm either sick or pregnant. (Stop it. I'm NOT pregnant. Not unless God has decided to perform an extra miracle in Maine this year.) I went to bed at 8pm and had a reall tough time getting up this morning. Now it's only 8am and I'm already contemplating another nap!

********************************
The weather today is absolutely perfect. We've had days months on end of extremely high humidity and sporadic rain and clouds and then more humidity. You know, the sort of humidity where you swim from room A to room B. The sort of humidity where you have to wring the water out of your clean clothes before you put them on. The sort of humidity where you have to rinse your hair with vinegar so it won't mildew. The sort of humidity where your salt and spices go back to their natural states as ROCKS.

Yes, it was THAT humid!

But today is sunny and dryer and cool and...well, just lovely. It would be a wonderful day to work in the yard or go for a loooooong bike ride.

Maybe after a coupla naps...

**********************************
While we were in Old Orchard hanging by the pools, I found myself people watching. The main thought going through my mind: "That bathing suit? Eeeeeewwwww! WHAT WERE THEY THINKING????" I'm telling you, most folks would look better in these, than in what they were wearing! (And NOT just because of moral issues...)

***********************************
Aaaaack!!! The sun just went behind a cloud! NO! NO! NO!

COME BACK MR. SOL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
***********************************
We've been busy planning a big shindig for the folks. They'll be celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary on August 21st. We're going to have a BBQ. What they don't know is that I covertly "borrowed" their address book and have sent invitations far and wide to the get-together.

Heh-heh-heh!

We seriously don't expect all the friends and family to make the trek to Maine, but hopefully there'll be a flood of cards and calls to bless their socks off. At the very least, Funsocksgirl and the J-man are coming (Whoo-hoo!) and perhaps some of the local gang. It should be a good time!

Then, in October they're planning a romantic trip to Niagra Falls...

All together now, "Aaaaaaaaaawwwwwwww."

**************************************
I think the hamsters are feeling a bit chilly (It's 61ºF). They just rearranged their cage so that all the shavings are in one giant mound right in the middle of the cage and they're curled up together underneath.

*************************************
They're still working on the property next door and the sound of heavy equipment ALL SUMMER LONG is getting rather wearisome.

*************************************
I still love my hair.

*************************************
Surprisingly, I haven't missed my microwave at all.

*************************************
I'm starting to feel hungry now...Time to dig out that free food!

(And time to get back to this losing weight thing...tomorrow!)

Oh My Ever Lovin' Word

Hi. It's me. At least I think it is; I haven't been feeling quite like myself lately.

Hamster update: Wee little Bekah and Ruby have already beened loved within an inch of their collective lives. I knew they needed a break when Girly-Girl came out of her room all excited. "Look Mom, isn't it cute? Ruby fell asleep in my hand!"

Ruby was flat on her back, legs poking straight up, eyes squeezed tightly shut - the classic "playing dead" pose. This is the ultimate "I am stressed beyond belief" reaction.

This is not Ruby, but I wanted to illustrate the pose for you:


Poor little rodent!
**************

The new fridge came and I LOVE IT!!!!!!!





The young men who delivered it were so sweet and polite. I wanted to tweak their cheeks and bake them cookies because they reminded me of Scout...

Now I'll miss Scout every time I look at my giganticly huge, sparkling clean, not falling apart refrigerator of joy.

Sigh.
****************************************
Well, my Mom got the call today. As of this Friday she has a unit in a duplex in a senior housing neighborhood. This is totally awesome! Most people have to wait 2 years or more to get in; She's only been waiting 5 months. Praise the Lord!

Of course this DOES mean that I'm going to be awfully busy the next couple of weeks.

***************************************
Knowing my mom would be moving soon, I agreed to put together a file cabinet she bought for her.

Who knew a file cabinet had so many pieces and so many weird little doo-hooeys!!



I think I bit off more than I can chew!!
**********************

Well as some of you know, I have asthma - and I'm not alone! According to the American Lung Association:

...in 2005, it was estimated that 22.2 million Americans had asthma. Of these, 12.2 million Americans (3.8 million children under 18) had an asthma attack.

The annual direct health care cost of asthma in the USA is approximately $14.7 billion; indirect costs (e.g. lost productivity) add another $5 billion, for a total of $19.7 billion dollars. Prescription drugs represented the largest single direct cost, at $6.2 billion.

Asthma breathing problems usually happen in "episodes" or “attacks,” but the inflammation underlying asthma is continuous. An asthma episode is a series of events that result in narrowed airways. These include: swelling of the lining, tightening of the muscle, and increased secretion of mucus in the airway. The narrowed airway is responsible for the difficulty in breathing with the familiar "wheeze."

Lung function declines faster than average in people with asthma, particularly in people who smoke and in those with excessive mucus production...

On Father's Day weekend in June of this year, Mulletman and I are going to hop on our bikes and join 2,000 other totally and completely insane people to ride 180 miles across the VERY HILLY state of Maine in 3 days time.

Why are we doing this? To prove we are as crazy as you think we are.

Not!

We are participating in the Trek Across Maine in order to raise money for the American Lung Association of Maine. Mulletman and I are each hoping to raise $1,000 for ALAME before June 11, 2008. You can help us out by making a donation to either or both of our fundraising pages. The links are in my sidebar.

Every penny will go to ALAME to help fight pollution, stop people from smoking, and find treatments for lung disease - including asthma! So dig deep and donate so lunatics like moi can actually, you know BREATHE!

HAMSTERS!!!!

Yes, my friends, after a two month wait we finally have hamsters!

Meet Bekah and Ruby, our two new family members. Girly-Girl and Silly-Head named them after their older sister and her car.

Yes, they're strange.


Girly-Girl with Ruby



Silly-Head with furry Bekah



Bekah and Ruby are Chinese dwarf hamsters. Most dwarfs (at least in the hamster world) can be a bit persnickety and nippy. We didn't want the little girls getting their fingers bitten, so we decided against the other dwarf breeds. And the ladies insisted they wanted TWO hamsters in ONE cage. If you're familiar at all with hamsters, then you know this is not usually a good set-up.

This is because your basic hamster does not share well and typically eats the competition.

However, Chinese dwarfs are quite happy sharing a cage with a same-sex sibling AND they are calm when you hold them AND they aren't curmudgeonly, so they were the perfect choice.

The girls already adore them and have had them out of the cage several times to love on them and play with them.

Might I also add that Chinese dwarf hamsters are very hardy! They also look exactly alike, so in truth, we never know who is who or which is which. But it matters not for they are both sweet and adorable and furry.




And....the girls picked their own outfits for church yesterday. I think they have a fine fashion sense, don't you?