Weekly Brewer Update

Quick update so my friends from "away" won't think that I'm ignoring them:

1) I lost 5.4 pounds last week which put me in second place in the Biggest Loser contest at work for that week. The first place winner, a dear friend of mine, is a skinny little witch who shouldn't even be allowed to play, what with her resemblance to a toothpick and all. Since I love her dearly, I'll allow it, but I really want to force-feed her a milkshake. And a side of curly fries.

2) I probably won't place in the top 3 this week because we had Spirit Night at Zaxby's Thursday for school and everything on their menu has, like, a thousand and one calories in it. Yum. I had a grilled Zensation Zalad which was yummy. Unfortunately their website only had the nutritional information posted for the fried chicken salad, so I counted it instead of the grilled chicken. Even with the overinflated calorie count, I still finished within my limit for the day, so maybe I didn't do too much damage Thursday night. I can't say the same for Friday because...

3) I had a Miche purse party Friday night, which was an absolute blast. I LOVED having people over to my new house. I bought/cooked mostly healthy stuff for us to eat since three of us are playing Loser: corn, black bean, and spicy Ro-tel (no cheese, just the ingredients listed) with Baked Tostitos Scoops tortilla chips, Fritos scoops for the non-Losers, chicken taquitos with light sour cream, veggie tray, watermelon, pineapple, Tahini hummus with All Bran crackers, reduced fat Triscuits, and pita chips. Mmm. Now I'm hungry again. It was healthy stuff, but I ate a ton of it.

Oh, and for the first time since we moved into the house on June 12th, there was alcohol here--two kinds of wine and "Phantom Parrots" (a drink my friend Kat invented that consists of Parrot Bay Coconut Rum and orange soda--she used Fanta which is where the name came from). Of course, I used diet orange soda, but that coconut rum has lots of calories. Yum. It tastes like you're drinking summer. I can't wait to get my new purses--as soon as I figure out which ones I want to order. I know I'm getting the closet organizer because...

4) I spent the day cleaning out my closet. It was already clean, but I was trying to box up all my summer stuff to make room to bring in my fall/winter stuff from storage. Did I mention that I am the only girl in the family and I have the smallest closet in the house? Not sure if I've mentioned that before. Anyway, I pulled in some of the Sterilite storage boxes (pink, naturally) from the garage, sorted all the clothes, and started the many, many loads of laundry it would require to insure that my clothes were free of spiders and the smell of gasoline from the mowers. I've come to the conclusion that I either need fewer clothes (not gonna happen) or a bigger closet (not possible). Since neither of those are options, I'm trying to streamline my organization system--thus the Miche closet organizer. I still haven't unpacked the sweaters, sweatshirts, blazers, jackets, and coats. Ugh. I think I may end up claiming part of the boys' closets by the time winter is here. Can you believe it's almost the end of September...?

5) Dan had a great September with AFLAC, and it's not even over yet. I'm so very, very proud of him. If he keeps that up, we'll be able to afford those granite countertops sooner than I thought! And maybe more purses! If you need supplemental insurance, Dan can hook you up because Mama needs some new counters. And a fence. And a downstairs bathroom. And a vacation because...

6) This week will end the first nine-week grading period and I've survived it so far. Actually, I have a really great class this year, but nine weeks is a long time. We'll have three days of school next week, then parent-teacher conferences, then I'll be off work for TEN DAYS!! Maybe I'll finally have time to take my dog to the vet because...

7) Lily is still allergic to something and we can't figure out what. She scratches all the time, chews on the base of her tail giving herself "hot spots," occasionally breaks out in hives, and rubs her face on the carpet. The mother of a student in my class who volunteers in my room said that her brother's dog's vet said that labs are notoriously allergic to goldenrod. (Did you follow that six degrees of separation, or do you need a minute to reread that sentence?) Or maybe she's allergic to cats, like the one who is now living on our patio...

8) Snowball is still here. Sometime soon Dan's going to have to take her to get her shots and have her spayed so she doesn't show up pregnant or rabid (or both) one day. But now I'm worried that Lily is allergic to Snowball and that this allergy thing won't go away. Lily and Snowball have become great friends. Well, for a few minutes, until Snowball gets tired of being sniffed and head-butted, and then she goes under my car where the dog won't fit. When she feels like slumming and allowing the dog to pay attention to her, she rubs her face up against Lily and curls herself around the dog's legs, rubbing up against her over and over again. It's so cute, but I really don't want to get attached to this cat if Lily is allergic to her. The boys are in love with her, so she's probably going to stay. And speaking of the boys...

9) Ryan had his first middle school chorus concert Monday night and he was great. We could pick his voice out of the crowd, mostly because there wasn't much of a crowd in the tenor and bass sections. There are a bazillion girls, but there aren't as many boys in the chorus here as there were in the magnet school. Still, he stood out because he's really, really talented, if I do say so myself. He was happy that they don't have to dress up for concerts at this school. The eighth-grade choir members designed a T-shirt for the group to wear. It's blue camouflage and says "Cougar Chorus," the colors and mascot of the school. It's so cute to hear the boys at this age because their voices are too low to sing with the girls, but not low enough to sing the "man notes." It won't be long, though. He's growing up so fast. And so is his brother...

10) Aaron continues to win the hearts of his teachers at school. He and I have quite a lot of time alone before school each morning after we drop Ryan off, and he's a pretty cool person to be around. He was helping me with some tasks the other day and it occured to me that after this year, I'll only have him there with me in elementary school for two more years. And at that time Ryan will be in high school. Then my brain imploded and I had to lie down.

So that's our week in review. Join us back here again next weekend at the castle when I finally have time to blog again.