It's that Time of the Year...

Take a look at when Santa's coming to Okinawa...

Holy Cow, October 1st. You've got to be kidding.

We have 31 Days til Halloween,

55 Days til Thanksgiving

and 85 days til Christmas!

And Santa comes TOMORROW!

Joe the Caterpillar

I'm certain you can see where this is going. The kids had a half day of school on Friday. My darling daughter and her friends "rescued" this caterpillar. You can hear the excitement in my voice can't you. You'll never guess who was nominated to babysit the said caterpillar over the weekend. Yep, K80... she had a hard time deciding on a name so she called me. And she wanted to know how to tell the sex of a caterpillar. I was out with my friend, Amy when she called. We could hardly contain ourselves, laughing so hard trying to describe how to check the sex of a caterpillar. I can't tell the head from the butt most of the time let a lone what sex it was. K80 had to give it a name, we still don't' know what sex it is ...so he is forever named... Joe the Caterpillar. (Josephine in case it was a girl!) Amy and I swung by the house to pick up the kids to go out for lunch. K80 didn't want Joe to go hungry so she gave him some lettuce and fresh leaves. Isn't she a good mommy?

I think I failed to mention that she left his door open, the lid to his shoebox aka... his mobile home. "I wanted Joe to have some fresh air!" When we arrived home much to our our surprise (not really more like hysterical panic) Joe had run away. He was gone. She looked over each blade of grass crying that Joe had run away. I was fuming that a fuzzy creature is roaming free in my home. His mobile home was parked on the kitchen counter and we looked and looked and looked. For what seemed like hours.

A short time later after all hope was gone K80 moved the laundry basket and low and behold there was Joe the Caterpillar! He had crawled out of his mobile home, down the kitchen cabinets, across the kitchen floor, through the dining room and on his way to the laundry room. Not sure what he had hoped to find there but he was rescued AGAIN! (which I am forever happy for I would have hated to pour a bowl of Lucky Charms and find a worm in my milk!)

K80 secured him for the evening (on the front porch!), and off to dream land we went.

In the morning he was fine, that evening he was fine. Sunday morning he was fine, Sunday night he was fine. Guess What .... on Monday morning he had a heart attack with the mere thought of returning to Middle School. Monday morning he was dead. K80 boooo-hoooed. Dad laughed and I did my best to console my lil' Doodle Bug who had witness the untimely death of her beloved Joe. I told her I would take care of him. She begged for a proper burial. Off to school she went on her bike having to face her friends and inform them of the death of poor fuzzy Joe.

I'm certain your wondering what I did with Joe. I didn't do what any good mom would do; have a short ceremony for poor Joe before flushing him! I did what any GREAT mom would do... I flung his dead arss in the yard, tossed the container in the recycling bin and came inside for a nice cup of hot cocoa!

P.S. I asked K80 when she got home from school how her friends handled the tragic death... she replied. They forgot all about poor Joe!

Seriously... you're going to test me TODAY!

Thursday in our house is RECYCLING day! Yes. I know that is beyond the most thrilling information you've been told since you got up this morning, but there is a story that goes with this. So quit your complainin' and keep reading!


I woke the kids up, as usual at the 0'dark early hour of 6AM. It's more than plenty of time to get up, get yourself together, eat breakfast and head out the door by 6:45am. The first school bell doesn't ring until 7:20, but it takes 'them their lazy rear ends' 30 minutes to walk to school and chat with their friends. (Don't get me wrong I really like their friends!) BUTTTT...We have PLENTO Time in the morning for an added chore... like taking out the recycling. So today, I reminded them that they each needed to help.

Please not this is not forced hard labor, okay it's forced labor but it's not hard!

1. Take plastic bag out of small recycling bin and tie a knot in it.



2. Carry recycling bag to HUGE recycling can 30 feet away, and put inside.



3. Push HUGE recycling can 100 feet to the curb.

At 6:45 I find the boys in the living room playing on the ITouch (not ready to walk out the door). Just chillaxin'! K80 is leaving her mess on the counter in the bathroom for the fourth day this week!

I came unglued like a drill instructor seeing an irish pendant on a PFC's uniform. I admit I may have gone a bit overboard. HOWEVER! Don't tell me NOT to embarass you by going outside in the morning in my pppappa-jammas to say good-bye if YOU can't get your mess together on time! (By the way, my hair was looking a bit on the crazy wacked side today... it was perfect!)

So out the door I go bickering and barking. Hearing "We don't have time for recycling..." Oh yes you do! I just made time. It's amazing how much faster kids will move when their mom is outside in a bathrobe, actin' a fool!


Moments later Seth and K80 are off on their bikes racing to school. Caleb is running down the street. AND the recycling was taken out!


How did your morning start off?

It has been brought to my attention that TOMORROW is Recycling Day! CRAPTASTIC!... Do you think if I make brownies it will make up for my raging hormones of this morning?

What Month Is It?

As I was reading through this month's "Better Homes and Gardens" magazine I discovered something new about this month, September, that I had never known before. September is Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month.

In 2011 an estimated 21,000 women will be diagnosed with Ovarian Cancer. Tragically 15,000 women will die as a result of a OC. In my little world, I know 3 woman personally who are in the fight right now. OC is often overlooked, misdiagnosed and known as the silent killer. I certainly do not want to preach to you, you can find the facts on OC by clicking HERE! However, I would like to share a part of my story that has recently come into light.

For the past several years I've suffered horribly from severe abdominal cramping and frequent trips to the bathroom. Sometimes I couldn't even leave my house. It was crippling. I thought it was due to my chlorine allergy and tried to watch everything I ate and drank. Nothing seemed to help. Then today, it dawned on me that I've not had this issue since I had my surgery. Was this a whisper or screaming symptom that myself and my primary care doctor overlooked? Most certainly. One of the most frequent symptoms of OC is abdominal pain and bloating. Exactly what plagued my life for years.

Moral of the blog for today: If something isn't right, it probably isn't!

You know your body better than any doctor. If you think something is wrong, get it checked out. I'm glad I pushed my doctor for this surgery, it literally could have saved my life.