Freezins Greetings!

Okay, okay, too much red. I get it. We'll do better next year. But I'm excited to share the first annual Freeze Family picture. Yeah, we should have taken them sooner, but we never had the technology or the people around to do it for us. Now, thanks to the digital Nikon's wireless remote control, we can all get in on the picture. Ugly mugs, but each and every one of them are wishing you the best for the holidays.

And let me get one thing straight. I'm not saying "holidays" to be politically correct. I'm simply using the plural form of the word because we want to wish you a warm, safe, and laughter-filled Christmas AND New Year.

Merry Chris-mas!

Chris and his marching band participated in the Germantown Christmas Parade over two weeks ago, but I couldn't resist sharing this bit of holiday cheer. He looks so serious! Must be the uniform...

Happy Birthday, Goose!

Leave Me Alone!!!

There are SOOOO many reasons I'm glad we shoot digital pictures now, and the photo above is one of them. While learning to use the Nikon digital camera, Chris tortured his favorite car, Meg, to death. He followed her EVERYWHERE! Just when she thought she had escaped to the dark corners of his closet, Chris finds her and shoots a whole series of pictures including this one. She was really yawning, but it looks like she's yelling at him to leave her alone. I think the flash really hurts her eyes, too, as nearly every picture we take of her has closed eyes and a scrunched up face.

Thanksgiving Feast

Wow, it's been way too long since I posted something new here! I guess Christmas has been more distracting than I thought.

Okay, the picture above is one Chris took of our Thanksgiving Feast. Please excuse the pots and pans. Things came together so quickly, there really wasn't time to put things in serving bowls and still have warm food to eat. We did the usual menu--turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, etc.--and stuck with an old favorite for dessert. Well, TWO old favorites really. Pumpkin bars and funfetti cake. Sam made the bars, and Chris made the cake. Seriously good eats that day. And the next day. And the next day...(laughs).

Since I posted last, we also had Sam's Christmas concert, Chris's Christmas parade, and full-contact Christmas shopping. I think we're actually done already! Now our attention turns to family photos. We haven't done an official family photo with all four of us in ages. Knowing that family and friends would probably appreciate them since no one's seen us in like forever, we decided to order a remote shutter control for our Nikon digital camera and take them ourselves. We toyed with going the studio route, but the expense and scheduling would have been a nightmare. Besides, this allows us to take gobs of poses so that surely we'd have something usable in the end. Let's just hope all the animals leave us alone!

Anyway, I'll sign off here. Be prepared for lots more pictures this week. Maybe even multiple posts a day. I've been doing a lot of photo editing lately...

Our Pickwick Adventure

While visiting the Pickwick Lake area, Chris (who is fascinated by anything with gasoline) insisted we stop by a boat store. I was game because I wanted the kids to see a pontoon like my dad had when I was little. Wow, was I ever in for a big surprise! Now they have fancy seating, built-in stereos and sinks, hidden toilets...pretty cool stuff. But the biggest shock was the price tag. Many were over a hundred thousand!!! But hey, at least now they can pull water skis or tubers.

Anyway, as soon as we walked in the door, I made it crystal clear that we had no intention of buying, and that even if we wanted to, we had nowhere to put a boat. Business was slow though given the time of year, so one of the staff people gave us the cook's tour of several watercraft including the one pictured above. What a blast!!! The guy tried to get Wayne to drive, and even offered him a high-speed run if he dropped the kids and I off back at the dock. I think we could ALL get used to having a boat.

That School Picture We've Promising...

A few months back Sammy received a school picture that was, well, a little shall we say old for her age. Above is the picture we've grown to refer as the "Boobalicious Picture". The poor kid also inherited my big upper arms. Ugh.

We finally got a second scanner up and running, so get ready for some oldies but goodies. I also have more Pickwick Lake pictures as well as some from Thanksgiving to share.

Here's hoping you and yours have a happy and safe holiday season!

Pickwick Lake: Where Memphians Go to Escape

Okay, so we don't consider ourselves true Memphians, but a couple weekends ago we decided to wander down to Mississippi in search of pretty countryside. We've been told a lot of people like the Pickwick Lake area, a large lake that covers parts of Tennessee, Mississippi, and Alabama. Above is a photo of Sam and Chris near Pickwick Dam. We had a gorgeous day to explore. The leaves were turning, and there were adventures around every corner, the biggest of which I'll tell you about--and show you--in my next post.

After some wandering and a pizza at a rustic place called "The Broken Spoke", we toured an open house on some hills near the lake. Beautiful spot. ALMOST nice enough to make me dream of investing there instead of in Gatlinburg, but not quite. I've decided Gatlinburg is an activity vacation spot, whereas Pickwick is the perfect place to relax and enjoy nature. There isn't really a whole lot to do there unless you boat, fish, or water ski.

It was a fun day though. The scenery and family time out of the hustle and bustle of Memphis were both a welcomed experience.

Yahoo! Chris Made Drumline!!!!!!!!!!!

Just popping in to let you all know that Chris had a successful drumline audition which means springtime trips to Dayton, Ohio; Indianapolis; Alabama, and Mississippi in addition to his Orlando, Florida trip with the band. Lucky kid will be better traveled than I am (laughs).

Right now it looks like he'll be playing one of the big racks with multiple instruments attached, and shadow on cymbals where he'll fill in for someone at their big competition in Dayton. He's the only freshman to make the cut over to drumline from hornline, so we're very proud and excited for him.

Practicing for Christmas

Sam's always wanted to make a gingerbread house, but she's always been afraid that she'd mess it up. Well you can imagine our surprise when this edible spook house showed up in the WalMart clearance cart after Halloween! We had to have it!

As you can see here, I left the construction and decorating to Sam. The chocolate graham cracker-like house was decorated in orange and black frosting (some of which you see on Sam's mouth), pumpkin gumballs, candy corn, jelly beans, and sugar ghosts. I think she enjoyed the process, but only the bite you see her taking here got eaten. Oh well, at least she's ready to try another one for Christmas.

My Rippy

I was digging through some digital pictures and found this one of Ripken watching a bubble to the lower left of the picture. They were catnip bubbles of all things. Too bad the bubbles entertained him more than the catnip (laughs)!

Ignore the background mess; this was was taken in Parker in the "litter bathroom" so the bubble stuff wouldn't hit the carpet or furniture. Also looks like my little man needed his goobers removed from his eyes before the big shoot. But hey, picture opportunities like this don't come around every day, so...

Something Better to Look At

After looking at my ugly mug online, I decided I'd better get something better posted. Fast. So here are Sam's before and after pics. Her hair had grown really long, but she couldn't decide on a style. A fall dance prompted her to make a change and these are what came out.

We're still trying to work with doctors to figure out why the shape of her face changes so radically with her cycle. You can tell by the rounder look here that she's in the middle of it all. Poor kid. She never knows what she's going to look like from one day to the next.

Anyway, she LOVES the cut and how bouncy it makes her hair feel.

Belated Halloween Present

Okay, I made the images small so as not to scare small children or rodents. These are before and after shots of my first professional cut and color. I used to do it myself, but decided I deserved a treat after all the health craziness we've been through. The top is the "before" shot with all its split ends, etc. I had a back shot, too, but it scared even ME too much, so I decided not to post it.

The last two are the "afters". It's a bit short for me, and the color may be just a tad too dark, but it works for fall and winter. The girl even colored my eyebrows to make my eyes "pop". I was thinking, "With goofy eyes like mine, do I REALLY want to draw any more attention to them?" But in the end she won and I gave it a try. I really like the back. The front, well... Like I said, it's kinda short for my liking, and covering up my bald spot inspired her to try off to the side swoopy bangs. Uh no.

Anyway, it was a challenge getting pics that didn't show off my swollen thyroid. Oh what fun (laughs). Sammy also got a new 'do. I'll be posting hers next.

Happy belated Halloween (laughs)!!!

What a Collection!

Whew, the marching band season is finally over! I shouldn't say it that way because we all really enjoyed it. It's just that the hours, the work, and the traveling really got frantic for a while there. The band enjoyed a trophy-filled season as evidenced by the photo above. Yes, all those trophies really did come from the 2007 marching season (laughs).

Now Chris is not only gearing up for concert band, symphonic band, and wind ensemble auditions, but he's also got a drumline interview on Tuesday. The drumline travels extensively in the spring, but I think the discipline would be awesome for him. His chances of getting in to the select group may not be great because he's a freshman, but we're hoping that being the most improved marcher of the season will sway the directors in his favor. I think he's a little intimidated about having a one-on-one with the band director, asisstant director, and drumline director, but that too will be good for him. Wish him luck!!!

Baby It's Cold Outside

And inside according to Pixel. I felt so sorry for the 17+ year-old cat that I bought her this cute little chenille sweater. See how happy she is (laughs)? I vowed I'd never dress a cat in clothes, but she looked so pathetic burrowing under the covers by herself.

It literally went from highs of 94 to highs of 49 in less than a week. Gee, sounds like South Dakota. The land of infinite variety.

Vanderbilt Marching Invitational

Watch Houston High's Chancellor Cup-winning perfomance as recorded by the group that's producing DVD's of the competition.

Equal Time

Since Chris has been in the spotlight so much lately, I finally decided to get one of Sam's flag videos online. Please excuse any narrative (laughs). One of the girls took Sam's flag, forcing her to improvise a bit. The poor kid was a wreck. She really enjoyed doing guard, but her arthritis and fibromyalgia forced her to give it up this year. Hopefully she can return to it in high school since marching with a bari sax isn't usually an option for girls because of the instrument's weight.

Anyway, enjoy the very Sam-focused video. In cases like that, the camcorder serves as my second set of eyes, so that's the only way I can see her perform.

Scorin' at Senatobia

What a weekend for Chris and the Houston Marching Band! CJ has been working overtime to make up for the fact that he didn't march in middle school like some of the other kids did. His hard work paid off big-time. He was chosen as the band's most improved freshman, and as a result was asked to join the group accepting trophies at the Senatobia Mississippi contest. The top picture shows Chris and the group with the first of their trophies. The bottom one shows them mugging it for the camera with their FOURTH grand champion trophy of the year! Go Mustangs!

I did take video of this performance and will be uploading it once I edit and compress the file.

We are the Champions!

Just in...the Houston High School Marching Band took home the Chancellor's Cup at the Vanderbilt Marching Invitational in Nashville yesterday. We enjoyed being on site for the boisterous cheering and wild celebrating. More to come...

Oh What a Night!

After leaving at 8 a.m., the band returned at 2 a.m. with a whopping FOURTEEN trophies. Granted they attended two competitions, but that's still a lot. You should have heard the partying on the bus when Chris called to tell us the news. They're an amazing group.

This weekend it's off to Vanderbilt in Nashville. We've decided to take the parent bus to get the full experience. The group has preordered a block of seats, and we get to hold professionally made signs. I can't wait! Watching them really makes me miss my old marching band days in high school and college...

Oh, and don't you love the wind catcher on the front of the band's semi? Haulin' brass! Ya gotta love it.

Show Us Your Stuff

Today the Houston High School Marching Band had its last extra practice before the first competitions (two in the same day). CJ (top center in khaki shorts) rans through the routine one last time before calling it quits for the day.

Now I'm not saying this band is big, but they have their own freakin' semi! Look at the second picture above if you don't believe me (laughs). It's not a rental, either. This rig bearing the band's logo has a permanent parking pad right outside the bandroom door.

I can't wait to see what tomorrow brings for the kids. They've sure worked their tails off. Unfortunately we won't be able to attend these contests because of Sam's recovery, but we hope to make it to Vanderbilt in Nashville next weekend.

We're Home!!!

Late this afternoon Sam was released from the hospital. It was so nice to get home. She still has pain, but the insurance company and her soon-to-be ex pediatrician seemed to feel she was ready to go home anyway. Despite being dog-tired after so many nights in the hospital with Sam, I still had to read a while before falling asleep. Adrenaline will do strange things...

Wheel of Fortune!

The local Wal-Mart and Sam's Club stores donated a mini TV studio of sorts to the LeBonheur hildren's Hospital. On it, Child Life staff present daily game shows like Wheel of Fortune and Bingo. The winning children see a prizewall on the TV, and after the show their chosen prize is delivered by the "TV stars".

After winning a round of Wheel of Fortune (she solved the puzzle before any letters were even on the board!), Sam chose the adorable plush brown lop-eared bunny pictured here. She named him "LeBonheur" after the hospital. Samantha even passed up her time at the teen play room to greet and thank the stars in person.

Later that afternoon, she met two young men (both also patients around 15) in the teen room. They took her under their wing and taught her the finer points of playing the Nintendo Wii. The boys were stunned when she knocked them out in boxing (laughs)!

Just when we thought Sam was getting well enough to go home, the severe pain would strike again. Her primary doctor is a total @$$. The woman refused to heed the advice/thoughts of specialists I had to insist she call in. Fine. She's now Sam's EX pediatrician. In any case, we're getting close to a release. At least we better be, because we've forgotten what home looks like!

Oh Brother

Chris wasn't about to show any emotion over his sister's ordeal, but it was clear by watching him when he visited on Sunday that he was rattled big-time. The place made him visibly uncomfortable. In fact, he spent most of his time huddled under a desk by a window playing with a Latex glove. He was trying to blow it up to make a turkey.

When Sam woke from her nap with a high fever and major pain that required Morphine, he curled up in the far end of the bench seat and sat silently. I think CJ hates hospitals almost as much as his daddy does!

All Settled

Eleven hours later, Samantha was taken to her room on the 6th floor of the hospital. The nurses seemed pretty nice, but all of us were grumpy between the stress and not eating since dinner the night before. After scrounging up food from the cafeteria for everyone, Wayne went home to be with Chris, who had spent the whole day home wondering and worrying. Thank goodness for the cell phones, because we were able to update him, but still it was weird for him to be alone so much.

As per hospital rules (not that I'd have it any other way anyway), I spent Saturday night in the hospital with Sam. And Sunday night. Monday night. Tuesday night, until finally she was sprung from the place on Wednesday. I wasn't fond of our pediatrician before, but now I pretty much loathe her. She seemed very unconcerned and unsympathetic about Sam's condition, and was unwilling to consult specialists until I DEMANDED she order them. A lot of good it did. The woman ignored them anyway. Ugh.

Anyway, it wasn't all bad. We met some wonderful people there and had some fun experiences too, which I'll share in a later post.

ER

I'm backdating these posts to help people get a better sequence of events. On Saturday morning, Sam woke up with severe pain in her lower right abdomen and a fever of 102.7. Thinking it was appendicitis, we took her to her primary doctor for evaluation. By the time we got there her temp was up to 103.6. Agreeing with our assessment, the doctor sent us to the hospital for a CT scan. Since Sam has hypothyroidism and juvenile arthritis, they wanted us to go to LeBonheur Children's Hospital on the opposite side of Memphis instead of our local hospital. We got there around 10:30 a.m., and each bump in the road was excruciating to her.

As was expected, the wait was long. But once they did her initial assessment, she was taken right back ahead of other children the nurses deemed less needy. Once doctors seemed convinced she'd need surgery, an IV was started to relieve dehydration. Sam HATES needles. I realize no one likes them, but seeing one is enough to make her hyperventilate and toss her cookies. She was brave though. The poor kid also had to be catheterized to obtain a "cleaner" sample.

Instead of confirming appendicitis, the CT scan found something different: pyelonephritis, or a kidney infection. One that was severe enough to warrant IV antibiotics and admission to the hospital.

Everyone Loves a Man in Uniform

Finally, a picture of CJ in his marching band uniform. He looks so handsome, even if he DOES look like he's ready to collapse after running the halftime show in hundred degree weather.

The First Video

Well here it is...the first of I hope many YouTube videos we plan to share. This one's of Samantha's jazz band back in May. On bari sax, you'll hear her low "honks" that keep the beat. She LOVED playing that song and was happy to find some old fart music she actually liked!

Smile for the Camera

Wow, I just noticed how long it's been since I updated this! Time flies this time of year...

Finally, after much screaming and yelling, we got Sammy's MRI scheduled for September 21. Her blood tests for tumors, muscle damage, etc. came back normal, so everyone's more stumped than ever. Her school and teachers have been wonderful through it all though. Her bus driver picks her up in front of the house now, and the teachers aren't pressuring her to race between classes. Sam's still pretty stressed by it all though. She's having trouble sleeping and is nervous about being stuck in the tube. But I think most of all she just wants some answers as do Wayne and I.

Chris seems to spend every waking moment marching these days. The band is gearing up for a month and a half of competitions every weekend. He finds the crowds at football games a little scary, but he's doing well considering he didn't march in middle school like most of the other kids did.

The whole family has been bitten by the photography bug again. CJ was even resorting to taking pictures of hamburgers frying and boiling water! It sounds hysterical, but I have to admit it looked pretty cool. The animals are well-documented now, too. Chris says Kokomo (above) looks better on film (figuratively of course, since we're digital photographers) than in person. Well THAT was sure mean!!!

HAPPY 70th BIRTHDAY, BUCKY!!!!!!!

Wish you were here so we could treat you to another awesome rack of ribs or a night at Hooters...

"Boner Bulletin"

The Houston High School Marching Band performed at their first game just over a week ago. The 270-member unit snaked into the stadium single file. While the leading end was making its way to their reserved section of seats at the far end of the stadium, the tail end was still spilling out of the band room at the opposite end!

They sounded terrific in the stands and impressed hundreds on the field. I couldn't video tape it because it was so hot, I thought the tape would literally melt! As it was they skipped their heavy wool uniforms for show shirts and shorts. I did call grandma and grandpa during halftime so they could listen over the cell phone. It didn't sound the best that way, but it was better than nothing I guess.

CJ's on the left in the picture above.

Samantha and the Knee

Since I last posted, Sam has been through a few more specialists, including a pediatric rheumatologist. Nothing stood out at the physical exam, but it was clear that Sam's pain was severe enough to affect her mobility. They ran a couple more obscure blood tests that reveal tissue and muscle damage (we have yet to get the results) and are in the process of scheduling an MRI.

Since something needed to be done for her pain, the doctor tried Indomethacin, a medicine my dad has used with great success. Let me tell you, I don't know what's in that stuff, but it sure is good! In fact, I'm calling MY rheumatologist to beg for some tomorrow! Sam went from crutches to an almost perfect gait in 36 hours. I kid you not! There's still lots of swelling after time on her feet so we still need to find the cause of the problem, but the relieved pain will make the wait a WHOLE lot easier!

Anyway, I posted a belated picture of Sam's SpongeBob birthday cake. Not your typical girl's 13th birthday cake, but hey, she's anything but typical!

Jumbled Thoughts

Oh what a crazy time we've had the past couple of weeks! School has started for both kids, and Chris is looking forward to his first performance with the Houston High School Marching Band at a football game on Friday. He's also having an interesting time with his Spanish class, though he has trouble rolling his r's.

Samantha's really excited about some new mini classes her school is offering. As an 8th grader, she got her pick of most classes. She chose journalism, debate, and improv. Ah, those nights of watching "Who's Line is It?" will finally pay off! On the medical front, Sam still has some issues. The ortho doc was certain she had chondromalacia (roughness under the kneecaps), but despite the appropriate treatment, she's gotten worse. The knee is puffed up to the point where it sticks out from her knee sleeve and she can barely put weight on it. And that's with Celebrex and ibuprofen! The ortho doc called us back in this morning saying he's concerned about the change in her condition and wants her to see a rheumatologist. Thank goodness I had already made the appointment with the University of Tennessee months ago when talk of her having fibro began.

I feel so bad as a parent to see her hurting so much. The poor kid seems to have everything I've got, only about 30 years sooner. Hopefully the doctor will have a better course of action, but in the meantime, it looks like Sam may have to give up marching this year. Hopefully concentrating on trying to audition for All-West Band will distract her from what she's missing.

My osteoarthritic knees have been killing me with the hurricane whirling around. I think it's definitely time for shots, and that's saying a lot coming from me (laughs). I thought hotter weather would make them feel better, not worse. Oh well...

He Survived!!!

For six days in a row, CJ marched his butt off in 99+ degree weather for eight hours each day. Why? As a member of the Houston High School Marching Band of more than 270 kids, well, it's just what they do to get ready for the school year.

Their first football game is August 24, and beginning in the end of September he travels to competitions every weekend until November. Louisville, Kentucky; Vanderbilt in Nashville; Murfreesboro, Tennessee; and Tiger's Stadium here in Memphis are among the destinations. But all the work leads up to a major competition and trip to Orlando in April.

We're so proud of him. Joining the band--THIS band in particular--was a huge commitment, and he followed through without so much as a single complaint. He's looking mighty tan, too (laughs)!

Today we got to watch the kids do a runthrough of the first two-thirds of the show. Let me tell you, they sounded like many college bands would HOPE to sound. It's amazing what they accomplished in a week and a few random summer rehearsals. The HHS band kids are truly a dedicated bunch. But they work hard and play hard. Next Friday they have a rock-a-thon fundraiser. They'll rock in chairs all night while eating pizza, watching movies, and playing games with their buddies to raise money for the band.

And Samantha got some good news from her ortho doctor. She's been cleared to do colorguard or marching band. After further evaluation, he feels the activity will not cause permanent damage to her knees. She's wearing a funky sleeve on the worst knee now that really seems to help with the pain.

So that's all the band/colorguard news from Memphis! Thanks to dad sending me his camcorder, I can digitize tapes of the performances and put them on YouTube for you to see. I'll try to get previous colorguard, jazz band, and concert band movies up there soon. That way you can watch if you want, or ignore if you wish (grins).

Living in Luxury

On our last day at the "fancy hotel", we let the kids order room service for breakfast just to say they had done it. Wayne and I were down at the conference's continental breakfast when they had their big adventure.

CJ ordered pancakes and Sam ordered a croissant with butter. They were thrilled to get the domed plates and flowers in a vase on their tray. And Sam LOVED how the cute room service guy kept calling her "Miss Freeze". Of course she was later mortified to learn she was wearing the "What a Hottie" t-shirt grandpa had bought for her in Las Vegas!!!

Since I had the camera on me, they couldn't take pictures when it arrived so I snapped this one later. Sam kept the fancy little jars of jam as souvenirs and tried some funky juice they put on the tray as a freebie. She couldn't identify the thick substance so she ended up leaving it alone (laughs).

Nerds Rule!

At the romance writer's literacy signing/fundraiser, Vickie Lewis Thompson, author of the nerd series of books, agreed to pose with MY nerd. That night, romance readers raised over $57,000 for literacy efforts, and Samantha even got to meet some of her favorite young adult romance authors.

Nora Roberts was there, too, but people were lined up to meet her hours before the door opened. Worked for us. We literally met dozens of authors we enjoy reading, and even managed to snag a few autographed books that were made available before their release date.

The place was swamped, but it was definitely a reader's paradise.

Awww...

I realize this is out of order since I still have some Dallas stuff to post, but I just had to brag about my birthday. I thought Wayne had forgotten about the day, but not so! He came home from work with two dozen red roses and a birthday cake, then whisked me away for a birthday dinner at Outback. Yum! I even splurged and shared a Bloomin' Onion with the gang. Thank goodness I've already had my annual physical!!!

Do I Feel Old!

While in Dallas, we had the opportunity to catch up with an old friend of ours. Wayne has known Joan for decades but hasn't seen her in 14 years. While her husband and youngest two daughters weren't able to join us for fun and games at Gameworks, Joan and her oldest--Julia--did.

Julia is right between Sam and Chris age-wise and they seemed to hit it off pretty well. I mean after all, if Chris TOUCHED her (evidenced by the picture above), he must've liked her at least a little (laughs).

On a subsequent day, we returned to Gameworks for a Freeze Pinball Championship. Sam and Jill BOTH beat the boys. Samantha even won a free game. We love playing pinball as a family, but sadly the machines have become hard to find lately. Luckily one of our favorite Germantown, Tennessee pizza joints still has a few tucked away in a back room for after-buffet play (grins).

Sam + Tweety

As we entered Six Flags Over Texas, Sam got a chance to catch up with Tweety Bird. She says Taz is checking her out (laughs)!

I feel sorry for the people who have to wear those costumes in such scorching heat. We had a blast there though. I rode a neat raging rapids ride with the kids which I could have stayed on all day if the line weren't so long, and the kids enjoyed roller coasters and a funnel cake. Oh, and Sam say SpongeBob Squarepants 4-D attraction was waaaaay cool. Especially the part where they were splattered with pickle juice.

Room with a View

While hanging out in the hotel room in Dallas, CJ became enthralled with taking pictures from the window. The one shown here is one of the better ones as far as clarity, etc. goes. He tried night shots, train shots, limo-watching shots...thank goodness we've gone digital, or the film and developing costs would have been a fortune (laughs)! I'll share more later as I post more trip notes.

Back from Dallas!

After nearly a week away from home, we finally made it back. The shiny buildings above with the dome to the left was the hotel we stayed in for the conference portion of our trip. Since all of the activities were in the hotel, we decided to pay extra to stay onsite so the kids would be close by. The Hyatt Regency was a nice place, and the view from the dome was spectacular. I'll post more pics later.

The day we got there, there was a literacy fundraising booksigning. Many of the biggies were there including Nora Roberts, Carly Phillips, Stephanie Bond, Vicki Lewis Thompson (the nerd series), etc. The crowds were overwhelming, but Samantha was thrilled to find some of her favorite young adult authors signing books as well. And Vickie Lewis Thompson even agreed to pose for a picture with MY nerd which I'll post soon (smiles).

After several days of intense networking (one of the editors we've spoken to in the past even made it a point to visit with us, and I nearly shrieked with joy when she instantly knew our names) and workshops, we headed over to a much more low-key hotel in Arlington for some fun. We hit Six Flags Over Texas, played cutting edge video games at Dave and Busters, and caught up with an old friend and her oldest daughter at GameWorks. We even did some outlet shopping. Luckily the car was overstuffed with books so we couldn't spend TOO much money (grins).

On Saturday, a fellow romance book blogger's husband invited us on a top secret tour of Lockheed, where we saw F22s and new F35s get built. Cool stuff!

There's lots more, but I just wanted everyone to know we arrived home safe and sound and that the animals aren't TOO mad at us. They are awfully clingy though.

"Flipped"

Despite heading for the National Romance Writer's Conference in Dallas in two days, I've accepted a writing challenge conceived by author Alison Kent. You'll find a link to the challenge and a link to my book blog on the right. I need to get a move on if I'm ever going to get published, and this write-a-book-in-70-days challenge came at the perfect time for me. I had an awesome story idea I'd been kicking around for the past couple of months. Now it's time to make it happen!

The story is called "Flipped". It's a romantic tale about house flipper Beth Markham. Click the "Flipped" Blog link to the right to learn more.

Happy Father's Day!

What better way to spend Father's Day than to go see an exotic Italian car show? So what if it was pushing a hundred both in temperature AND humidity, it was for a good cause (Habitat for Humanity).

The show took place at the Memphis Botanical Garden. Mercifully the car show was in its own area so we didn't feel like we needed to tour the whole place in one afternoon (laughs)! For roughly two hours, we gawked at Ferrari 328's, Testarossa's, Lamborghini Diablo's, Dino's, and, since it was an exotic car show, even saw a few Porsches and modified Corvettes. Every once in a while, the car owners would start their engines and show off. It was hotter than Hades, but boy were there some nice cars!

Chris ran into a buddy from school whose dad owns a black Ferrari 328. They're trying to convince Wayne to exhibit the Porsche and even the M5 (which surprisingly got raised eyebrows even from the Ferrari owners) next year, so we'll see.

Wayne met the owner of the Memphis Porsche Club. Nice guy. I suspect Wayne and CJ may get involved in that at some point. And we found out which area garages are reputable for Porsches and BMWs. A VERY successful mission to say the least.Now we're all so pooped, we're not even sure we want dinner. That may not be such a bad things {laughs).

All Clear!

Sam's sleep study results are in, and we're pleased to report there are no abnormalities! The daytime sleepiness is still there though, so the doctor has her on a strict sleep schedule. He wants her to use her room for sleep only and to have more than 90% of her time spent in bed asleep. Any wake time is to be spent elsewhere in the house. Ugh. It's been a tough haul, but we're slowly adjusting.

Summer is here in full force in Memphis. Temps run in the low to mid 90s pretty consistently, and the humidity loves to creep up on us. Can't wait 'til the kids get to college so we can move (laughs)!

Sam's spending her summer working on scrapbooking stuff and CJ keeps trying to get Wayne to buy a project car they can work on. That's not in the near future, so we've been keeping up his enthusiasm (and encouraging his reading) by getting him various car magazines.

Chris starts high school marching band practice on Tuesday already. I can't wait to see how he likes it!

Found the picture above while getting files transferred for printing. Wish it were snowing now!!!!!

The Six Million Dollar Sam

Well not quite thanks to good insurance, but Sammy's doctors finally decided to dig into the cause of Sammy's tiredness and fibro-like pain. Many doctors fail to see fibro as something a child can have. Luckily we finally found a doctor who believes it could be possible since I have it.

In fibromyalgia, there are often sleep issues that intensify one's nerve receptors to pain, and that's what they wanted to evaluate--whether that marker was in Sam's sleep pattern. After hearing all this, I think MY doctors should do a sleep study on me (laughs)!

Anyway, Sam had to stay overnight at a clinic. Since she's a child, a parent had to be with her so they gave me my own room down the hall. Sam was nervous at first, but I brought the digital camera along for laughs and scrapbook spread material. It really helped. I'll report in again after I hear from her doctor.

Woohoo! A High Schooler in the House!

It's official: CJ just received his diploma for graduating Houston Middle School from Principal Mike Morrison! I don't think it's sunk in yet, but it will June 12 when he starts practicing with the Houston High School Marching Band.

Tonight it's off to Outback for a celebratory dinner, and for dessert, shhh..., it's a surprise graduation cake.