Curses!

When a new neighbor moves in across the street from you, how would you greet them?  How would you welcome them to the neighborhood--the place where you have lived for 7+ years and have no intention of leaving for another 8 years?

Bake cookies and bring them over, still warm from the oven?

Create a "Welcome Wagon" basket with goodies and resources for the area?

Catch them up on all the great neighborhood gossip (while putting nothing but a positive spin on yourself and your family, of course)?

How about this idea:
While the new neighbors are trying to move furniture into their new home, have your daughter's boyfriend back daughter's Jeep into the new neighbor's Honda Civic parked on the street?

Swell.

Welcome to Hillsboro!

Well, when this happened to us (Paige) last night, the neighbor lady apparently started yelling, "Call the fucking police!!!" to her husband (?) and mom/mil (?).  Oh great.
We're so not getting a Christmas card from our new neighbors this year.
Sigh.
Well, they did move into the cursed house in the 'hood.

deposition

My (adult) child was served with a summons about two weeks ago.
A law office representing the school district has been trying to reach her for months because she is a witness to an event they are being sued over, but she has been ignoring their calls.  I guess there's no ignoring a summons.

I took her in today, and she did her thing (I waited in a waiting area).  Half an hour later, the attorneys for the district (defendant) and the plaintiff  said their good-byes to us, and we were on our way.

The trial is scheduled for March 22, 2010, but Paige isn't yet sure if she'll have to actually testify.

http://www.splc.org/report_detail.asp?id=1446&edition=46

resolve

I didn't make any New year's resolutions this year.  I gave up that practice years ago when I realized that all I do is set myself up for diappointment when I make resolutions.  It sucks to be disappointed in yourself. 

That said, I want to try to get back to blogging about my mundane life and such a little bit more since I haven't even peeked at my blogger dashboard in months.  It can get tedious, y'all. 

Life recap in a quick minute:

• Paige is no longer going to comminuty college.  Well, not winter quarter, anyway.  Hopefully she'll be back in the spring.  She's currently working at a local ski area in the retail shop.  She's been working a lot of hours, but she should be back to her regular 4-day work-week now that the holidays are over. 
• Brittani is still trucking along in her senior year of high school.  Her portfolio is coming along well, and she is way more on top of it than Paige was last year.  YeA!  She submitted her application to WSU in December, so we're excited to hear back about that.  She has a new boyfriend, but she always seems to have a boyfriend.  This one actually seems nice and sane, which is a change.  She attracts the crazies, you know.  
• Maya is Maya.  Swim team. The Y.  Girl Scouts.  She's 9 and in 3rd grade....there isn't much more to say.  She seems to be rebounding academically from her crappy year last year.  It's amazing how a good teacher can lift a kid and how a bad teacher can really cause a kid to lose skills that were once present.  Luckily she has a very adept teacher this year, and she should have the same teacher next year, too. 
  
• Wayne and I are still making the most of our Y membership.  We go to spin classes 3-5 days a week at 5:30am, and we also try to go at least twice a week for strength training (both of us) and Zumba (me) in the evenings.  I'm not losing anymore weight, even though I want to.  I don't know what to do.  Eat more?  Eat less?  Move more?  Move differently?  I would love to do a few sessions with a trainer...maybe for my birthday.  Currently I am at 125, and I would like to get down another 8-10lbs; at this point, it feels impossible.  
•  I finalized my hiring with teh school district, so I am now--officially--employed for the first time since, oh, 1998?  Now I just need to work :-)  I'm a substitute paraeductaor, and I haven't got a call all week--until last night, and I ignored it.  Sigh.  I guess that was another resolution: quit ignoring the school district's work calls.  I need to work on that one, apparently.  
• We're gearing up for Disneyland in celebration of Brittani's graduation.  We are going in late April this time, so hopefully it won't rain on us the entire time like last year, when we went in February.  We will only be going to Disneyland, so we won't rent a car, which should save on costs in gas and car rental fees.  Last year we went to San Diego from Anaheim on two different days and we spent another day in LA at Universal Studios.  Great fun, all of it, but we need to simplify this year.  We're excited but slightly stressed about how we're going to pay for this vacation.
• In addition to Disneyland, we have our Big Trip to Mexico next January, which we are already trying to prepare for.  We hope to go to Cozumel.  Or is it Cancun?  Somewhere over there anyway.  We are looking into all-inclusives because it's easier that way.  I think we may have found one or two we like, so now it's just a matter of paying for it.  And that will probably be our last vacation for years and years. 

And that my friend(s), is life, as I know, it in a nutshell.  

5 days...

...until Paige is supposed to graduate.

We'll see.

This week is going to suck so bad; I'm going to be stressed. She's going to be stressed. We won't know until Friday whether she can graduate, and even if she does earn the credits she needs, we won't know if they will let her walk until Friday. I have to admit that I am really angry at Paige for letting this happen.

All that said:

Mom and dad, I'm sorry.

I have a few friends who want to come to Paige's graduation; I thought that was very thoughtful of them. Paige's first Girl Scout leader, who is now a very dear friend, wants to come, and Wayne's co-worker, who went down a very similar path during her son's senior year. Actually, both Shawn and Tamme have kids that had senior years very much like Paige's. The situation Paige is in is not all that unusual.

Paige's prom was this weekend, and I guess she had a great time.

Brian and Paige


Emerald Ridge, 98374
(Clockwise from left)): Harrison, Lauren, Brian, Paige, Amanda, Jade, Matt, Tony, Dallas & Brian.

I am so ready for Paige's senior year to be over. It's been hell. I was so looking forward to having a year that would go smoothly; a year to just enjoy and reminisce about her childhood. So not happening.

I do plan to spend Saturday night pretty well intoxicated whether she graduates or not. I think I'll bring out the Patron Silver and do some shots. Actually, I think we'll have to have a party for ourselves!

Snews

20 Year High School Reunion (Go, Wildcats!):
Paid for, which means I have to go. Damn. No, I'm excited to see the old Mount Si Alumni Classof '89 (ROCKS!). Should be fun...and there's bound to be booze. Can I just say now that I think Jen Mathwig, Sabrina Johnson, Andrew Hassard, Andy Archibald and Dave Cottrell should attend this time. Throw in a Jason Gregory for good measure... It'll be good to see others, too, but thems was my peeps--good and bad. Ups and downs. Renae will be there, though, so I'm good.

Weight Watchers:
I am now an official Suburban Mom. I joined WW a couple of weeks ago, and I'm progressing slowly and steadily. It's been easier to follow than the South Beach Diet we were on a few years ago. Thank gods.

Power 90:
My dear friend, Shawn, has been talking to me about Power 90 for a few months. She has lost inches upon inches. I'm giving it a go. We're also joining the Y. Time to try Zumba, maybe?

Sasquatch!:
Ahhh... we thought we weren't going to be able to go, but we pulled it off last minute. Maya is going to stay at my mom and dad's with my sister and her kids. Britt is going to her mom's, and Paige is here or there or wherever she may be.
Last year was amazing. This year,the weather should be perfect. No rain or clouds in the forecast, and it should be nice and toasty. I can't wait!

The kids:
20 days until school is out (20 school days, anyway), and I can't wait for this year to be over. It was the year of the blahs for Maya. The year of me pulling my hair out because of Paige. One down (Paige) and one to go (Brittani). Brittani, btw, is so on top of everything it gives me goosebumps. Portfolio: check. SAT: scheduled for June 6th. Community Service: in the works. As stressful as Paige's senior year has been, I think Brittani's will be a breeze.

We're planning another trip to see Mickey and his crew in late April or early May of next year to celebrate Brittani's graduation. We are very excited!!

less is more

Last week was another week from hell.
Busy at home, school and (for Wayne) work. I was a woman on the verge; I have weeks where I totally understand the alcoholic housewife stereotype from the 1950s. I so would have tossed back a few gin and tonics before noon, if I thought I could get away with it. I do have to drive carpool pick-up most of the week, you know.

Class.
Paige shopping & hair.
Prepare for the final 5 Girl Scout meetings.
Accompany Paige for senior portraits.
Maya field trip (I organized this one: 148 people attending the movie "Earth").
I finally cooked dinner on Thursday night.
Wayne attended a Big board meeting (huge stress).
Girl Scout meeting.
Girl Scout event (Brainiacs).

So we trudged through the week and suddenly it was Saturday afternoon, and I collapsed.

I came home from the Girl Scout event (fun!), and the house was clean. Wayne is a super-speedy cleaner of the house, and I am the easily distracted ADD cleaner of the house. He gets done in two hours what takes me all day.

We chilled all the day long, but for some reason, we couldn't ditch the kids. In fact, when one left, two more came and took her place. We went from 3 kids in the house to 4 kids! It's hard to fully unwind when the house runneth over with teenagers.

I think I'm going to take my mom's advice and be largely unscheduled this summer. No swim team (we quit and are officially done at the end of April). No YMCA. Just two weeks of Girl Scout day camp for Maya. That should leave us lots of time and some extra money for camping (and Brittani's senior year).

Paige graduates in a few weeks (June 13th). We're having her Graduation Party May 31st with our family and friends and her dad's family and friends. I think it will be a blast. I am still waffling between strangling the girl and embracing the girl. She's seriously making me feel nutso.

senior portraits

Pictures of the kid who is causing my hair to turn gray and my head to pound:
Here and here.

whooosh!

This past weekend I attended a Troop Camp Training for Girl Scout leaders who are taking their troops camping; I went with my friend and co-leader, Sus. I had a blast, and I also rediscovered that there is a certain type of GS mom that I do not want to be.

We camped at Camp St. Albans in Belfair; I love Camp St. Albans. It's the camp both Paige and Brittani attended for resident camp, and we troop camped there in previous years as well. It was so odd to be standing in the same areas that I stood with my older girls--places I haven't been to in years. I don't know that I have had that feeling since Maya has been born, even when we may have done the same things as i did with the older two.

It was the most bizarre sense: I was standing in Okashi, which is a lodge where crafts were done when the kids were at troop camping. I could totally envision the tables set up; the kids sitting around the tables making lanyard animals; the mom I had a conversation with about modesty in the US versus Europe... it just all came flooding back. Paige and Brittani--ponytailed and toothless, or their teeth big and oddly growing in (happens to us all!). The flag ceremony in front of the Lodge of Nations. All of it. Staying in the Pixie cabins with Brittani's troop, and trekking down the hill to the Pixie program shelter. Girls counting off during headchecks.

I nearly cried.
My girls are growing up, but their past was right in front of me. I felt like I could touch the little girls that that they were, but the images just fizzled away. I can honestly say that was the first time I ever had anything like that happen. It was overwhelming.

We go troop camping that first weekend in June. New memories waiting to be made!

It was a jolly hollyday

I love Christmas....
every other year.
Even numbered years are always weird for us at Christmastime because we only get the older two girls on odd numbered years.

This year, being an even numbered year, we were supposed to only have Maya on Christmas day. Paige ended up staying with us Christmas eve and Christmas day because her dad was in eastern WA with his parents, and the pass was a mess. She didn't feel comfortable driving over the pass in such poor conditions, and I don't blame her. Normally we would get Brittani the day after Christmas, but we actually got to pick her up at like 11am on Christmas day.

We stayed Christmas eve at my mom and dad's, like we always do. It was, as always, wonderful. We had the usual: prime rib, twice baked potatoes, veggies, salad, rolls... it's so yummy. We rocked hard at Rockband 2. Can I tell you, I think my brother, my sister and I missed our Partridge Family calling. We so rock hard. We could easily add Wayne to the mix, but there's only one guitar. He fills in, as does my mom. I guess they can take up the slack when we have to take potty breaks.

Maya, Sofia and Ben (my niece and nephew) were so excited, of course. My sister said Sofia and Maya woke her up at 2am to see if it was time to open gifts yet. Ha! They never went back to sleep. We all woke up at 6am; I can only imagine how long those 4 hours were for the girls. Torture.

Wayne and I really tried to keep Christmas low-key this year. We had less money to spend, and we cut out a few people we would normally buy gifts for. It sucked to have to do that, but I think a lot of people were having to tighten the purse strings this year. When we were shopping this year, I overheard more than a few people say that they had little or no money for the holidays this year. I am grateful that we were still able to provide our kids with a memorable holiday, even if it wasn't a holiday with endless gift-giving.

Maya's big gift this year was a Nintendo DS. She got several games to go with it. She also got a Barbie, and I told Wayne that I guess that may be the last Barbie we buy for her. She'll be 9 in October, and I think by next birthday and Christmas, she may be done with her Barbie phase. It makes me kind of sad, but also, I am ready to be RID of Barbies.

Maya left, Sofia right.

Paige's big gift was a pair of black paisley Uggs. They are too small, though, so I have to exchange them. I got them through www.zappos.com, so I need to send them back. Sending back is so much more difficult than just running it back to a store.

Brittani was the fun one to shop for this year. She has a goal of opening her own cookie shop one day, so we bought her a bunch of tools and accessories for baking. My favorite was the apron I bought for her on Etsy. Etsy is my new favorite place to window shop online.

You can find really cute aprons at the Boojiboo shop at Etsy. We put all of Brittani's cookie stuff in the footlocker-looking thing, and Wayne decorated it himself. he's very crafty, my husband. In fact, his dream right now is to own a Cricut. With a Cricut, oh the ways he could have decorated the footlocker...

One of my favorite gifts was a new camera strap that my mom and dad gave me:

Isn't it so cool?
They got it from www.myfunkycamera.com, which is where I got my last camera strap. The woman who makes the straps has improved them so much since I last bought one; she has:

• lengthened the strap
• lined the piece that is in direct contact with the neck with a microfiber fleece or something like that. It is so soft. I can wear the camera for hours now without my neck getting irritated or my neck hairs getting all knotted. Very nice.
  
• She has included a quick release option for an additional $5. Nice. Now I can get several different camera straps and change them quickly and easily.
  

I didn't actually get the quick release yet, but I will soon. Her store will open again on Dec. 29th, and I'm hoping she has some new and cute inventory.

Oh, but the day was not without drama. Paige has been very difficult lately; she is really difficult to live with. But I think that may be another post for another day. When I'm less angry. Though I have to admit that right now I'm just worried. She is working at Snoqualmie Summit this year, and while she was working tonight, chains became required on the pass. She wanted me to come get her, but I don't have chains either (and even if I had, I wouldn't have gone to get her, honestly). Who knows if we can even find chains now after this run of snow. Anyway, she headed to her grandparents' house, which is in Mattawa (E. Wa). That was easily two hours ago, and I haven't heard from her. I did call her dad and let him know to have her call me because she was really angry with me, and I have a feeling she won't call just to spite me. That's the way shes been lately. Hostile would be a very accurate description.

It really sucks.

lately

Facebook has sucked me in.

Obama's election has me thrilled beyond belief. We had an Election Night party, which went well. I have pictures, but my computer has no room for more pictures. I need to dump my pictures onto my external hard drive before I put more on my computer. Such a hassle.

I am blown away at the hatred that is spewed about Obama; I hope that it dies down now that he has been elected so overwhelmingly. Even Elisabeth Hasslebeck was gracious when speaking of his win.

So much has happened since I've been so infrequently posting.

Maya had her 8th birthday party. She is now the same age Brittani was when Maya was born. It's so odd.


She actually turned 8 a few weeks prior, but we are slacker parents and procrastinated planning her party. It all worked out, though. Here are some pictures of Maya on her actual birthday.


This is what 8 looks like.



I made ice cream cone cupcakes for her class. She has another classmate who has the same birthday, so his mom brought in ice cream cups. Next year, since we know who our teacher and classmates will be, we know that there will be three kids in Maya's class who share the same birthday, so we three moms think we will do a "make your own sundae" bar. It should be fun.



She got a new bike!! Finally!!

So, about 6 days after Maya's birthday party, we had some Paige Drama. Paige is always so the drama.

We're in a really weird place with her right now...not so weird because I am sure MANY 18 year olds go through it with their parents, but it just isn't the same. She's asserting her status as "adult," though that status is really only for leaglpurposes. Aside from chronological age, she is not very adult or independent right now. She is no more independent than she was when she was 14, as far as I'm concerned. No job. No money. No responsibilities. No chores. Nothing.

So it's annoying when a kid is disrespectful and acts as though she is put out, mistreated and unloved, when that is obviously so not true.

Without going into details, Paige decided to not go to Wayne's birthday dinner and the pumpkin patch beforehand, and it turned into a HUGE blowout, and she left to party for the weekend with no parents breathing down her neck. So apparently we are in this place where Paige wants to live "independently" while being completely supported by her parents. Ha. Isn't that funny?

You know how when you were a teenager, you thought to yourself, "I am never going to say that/do that when I have kids..." well, I am convinced that since all kids do the same stupid things, parents always end up saying the same stupid things. It doesn't change. What I am trying to say is that I now find myself saying things I swore I'd NEVER say. Like: "If you live under OUR roof, there will be certain expectations of you..."

She was back after the weekend was over. Of course.

I am fairly certain that to everyone she spoke to, she portrayed herself as the victim and not as the instigator. I don't understand how we can love someone so much and so unconditionally, and she can be so hateful towards us. It is exhausting and hurtful. I can't wait until she's beyond the "I hate my parents; they're f'ing idiots" phase of her life.

Yesterday Wayne and I celebrated our anniversary. 4 years ago we married in New Orleans. It was such a blast. We've been together for 12 years now, and it really just feels like a blip in time.

Wayne always goes all out for our anniversary; usually we stay in a cabin for the weekend and have a day at the spa, but this year money is tight, so no cabin and spa for us. Instead, Wayne created a spa in our bedroom. It was so cool! He cranked on the space heater to make it nice and warm in the room, heated some stones, had some nice massage oil and even spread rosepetals on the sheets, so I got a heated stone massage! It was lovely.

Last night we went to dinner:



I love The Melting Pot. And Wayne, too.
It was a great anniversary.

Saturday Maya has her first swim meet. I thought she would only swim the 25 yd freestyle, but nooooooo...they have her signed up for back AND breast, too!! Back is no problem, but BREAST???? I am so worried. And she has to dive off the platform. She has never done that before, so I don't know what's going to happen. It should be interesting.

the last dance (almost)

Last night was Paige's homecoming...Senior Edition.

It was a fairly frugal dance:
Dress: borrowed from a friend $0
Shoes: $100
Hair: $30
Makeup/lashes: $20
Cash for pictures: $60
Boutonniere: TBD

Total: $210

She hated her hair, but I thought it looked cute. She wanted it to look like this:


And it didn't.
But she still looked lovely:


Tyler & Paige



Paige & Maddi

Paige actually did really well this time. She didn't stress, and she wasn't mean to me; it was a nice change. The last dance I fronted money for was Homecoming 2006...Sophomore Edition; she was awful. Severe emphasis on AWFUL. She gets mean, condescending, snippy, disrespectful and at times cruel. It makes me really want to kick her hiney.

After that homecoming, I told her...never again. I'm not paying money for you to treat me like shit, but it is her senior year, and she tried to be very frugal. I think it also helped that her date was a guy that she is very familiar and comfortable with. He seems like a nice enough guy.

Next up is Senior Ball, and I hope she'll have a job by then to help pay for part of it because that can be a really pricey event.

I also had a candle party last night, and I felt like it was a success. My main goal was just to cook some nice Autumnal foods and be with women whose company I enjoy; the candles are nice to have lit through the rooms, and I really need some seasonal candles. I know other people do, too, which is why I even had the candle party in play.

I made some great food, and it was all from scratch, baby:

• Squash soup
• Bread (that was store-bought)
  
• Spinach, gorgonzola, apple, sugared pecan salad (I call it my Bradley salad because a Bradley grandma gave me the recipe)
• Pumpkin bread
• Carmel (caramel?) apple cheesecake
• Pomegranate martinis

The food was great. I think that next time I make that cheesecake, I will cut the cake into individual slices, and top each slice with the caramel and apples. The warm apples and caramel really made the cheesecake get super soft.

I wish I had taken a picture because it was my very first cheesecake, and I was very proud of how it turned out.

We plan to have an Election Night party (Go Obama!!), and I think I'll make a red, white and blue cheesecake for the evening.

The cheesecake was a very different flavor and texture, but it was good. And no crack in the top! Yea! It looks complicated, but it was super easy to make.

Here's the recipe, via Bobby Flay on Food Network:

Caramel Apple Cheescake
8 servings

8 whole graham crackers
1 cup lightly toasted walnuts, divided
2 tablespoons light brown sugar
5 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons granulated sugar, divided
1 tablespoon orange zest
3 (8-ounce) packages cream cheese, at room temperature (recommended: Philadelphia)
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons packed light muscovado sugar (I used brown sugar)
4 large eggs, at room temperature
1 large vanilla bean, seeds scraped
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup heavy cream

1 recipe Apple Mixture, recipe follows
1 recipe Apple Caramel Sauce, recipe follows

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Place the graham crackers, 1/2 cup of the walnuts and brown sugar in a food processor and process until finely ground. With the motor running, add the butter through the feed tube and process until the mixture just comes together. Spray the bottom and side of the pan with cooking spray. Pat the mixture evenly into the bottom of a 9-inch springform pan, place on a baking sheet and bake in the oven until lightly golden brown and just set, about 8 minutes. Remove to a baking rack and let cool completely.

Combine 1/4 cup of the sugar and the orange zest in a food processor and process until combined.

Place the cream cheese in the bowl of a stand fixer fitted with the paddle attachment and beat until light and fluffy, 3 to 4 minutes. Add the orange sugar, remaining granulated sugar, and light muscovado sugar and beat again until the sugar is incorporated and the mixture is light and fluffy. Add the eggs, 1 at a time and mix until just incorporated, scraping the sides and bottom of the bowl. Add the vanilla seeds and vanilla extract and beat until combined. Add the salt and heavy cream and mix until just combined.

Scrape the mixture into the prepared pan. Set the cheesecake pan on a large piece of heavy duty aluminum foil and fold up the sides around it. Place the cake pan in a large roasting pan. Pour hot tap water into the roasting pan until the water is about halfway up the sides of the cheesecake pan; the foil will keep the water from seeping into the cheesecake. Bake until the sides of the cake are slightly puffed and set and the center still jiggles, about 55 minutes.

Turn the heat off and prop the door open with a wooden spoon and allow the cake to cook in the water bath for 1 hour. Remove the cake to a baking rack and allow to cool to room temperature for 2 hours. Cover the cake and refrigerate for at least 4 hours and up to 24 hours until chilled through.

Top with the warm apple topping, drizzle liberally with the caramel sauce and sprinkle with the remaining toasted walnuts. Serve additional sauce on the side.

Apple Mixture:

2 cups apple juice
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 vanilla bean, reserved from the cheesecake mixture
1 tablespoon cold butter
3 Granny Smith apples, peeled, seeded and thinly sliced
3 Fuji apples, peeled, seeded and thinly sliced
1/4 cup apple brandy (recommended: Calvados) I used cheap Apple Jack brandy because Calvados was $50 for a bottle.

Bring apple juice, sugar and vanilla bean to a boil in a large saute pan over high heat and cook until slightly thickened and reduced to 1/2 cup. Stir in the butter until melted. Add the apples and cook, stirring occasionally, until lightly caramelized and soft. Add the apple brandy and cook until reduced by 1/2. Transfer the apples to a plate and let cool slightly.

Apple-Caramel Sauce:

1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
1/4 cup water
3/4 cup heavy cream
Pinch salt
3 tablespoons apple brandy (recommended: Calvados)
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Place sugar and water in a medium saucepan and bring to a boil over high heat (do not stir), swirling the pot occasionally to even out the color, until amber in color, 10 to 12 minutes.

While the caramel is cooking. Place the heavy cream in a small pan and bring to a simmer over medium heat. Remove from heat and keep warm.

When the caramel has reached the desired color, slowly whisk in the heavy cream and salt and whisk until smooth. Remove from the heat and stir in the apple brandy and vanilla extract. Keep warm.

ped egg mishap

Really, it's not the Ped-Egg; it's me.
It was all my fault.

I was using my Ped-Egg yesterday to slough off some more of my oh-so-horrid heels, and I was making great progress. In fact, as I was making great progress, I thought, I need to measure the progress in tablespoons, or I need to photograph the great progress.

Anyway, my progress was too great, apparently, and now both of my heels hurt like hell. They hurt to walk on; they hurt to touch; they hurt when I put on my shoes and rode my bike today. It pretty much sucks.

That said, I will still use my Ped-Egg, but I will use it a bit more conservatively...once I heal.

Oh.
Even bigger news:
Brittani turned 16 today; she finally got her permit. We've been putting off having two licensed teen drivers in our family; we simply can't afford the premiums that come along with it. Our insurance just went down after a year of insane premiums. Ugh.

She is also being a very responsible young woman and is already applying for jobs. GASP I may have an employed teenager in my home before too long!!! I am so excited, and I know she will be soooo thrilled to have her own money to do play with.

Paige, on the other hand, will be 18 in three weeks and has shown no inclination towards being employed. I don't quite know how I can describe my intense frustration at this situation with any brevity. Any person who has talked to me in the past year has heard allll about it, though.

Hm...
dinnertime!!

My girls dance; yes, they do!

Paige's Winter Formal...
February 2, 2008
~*~*~*~*~*~*

Brittani Goes to the Junior Prom
February 9, 2008

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