Quick update

What a very strange week! Some highlights include:

- Dad made it through the hernia surgery, where they found three hernias in need of repair, instead of just one. He didn't soil himself or anything, so the family name can still stand proud. ;P

- Allegrea's beloved rat, Vincent Van Gogh, died. He had cancer. We are all mourning the loss of Vinnie, but Allegrea and Austin are really devasted by the loss. The illness was sudden and it progressed to death in the matter of days, so it's still pretty shocking.

- I was able to get all of the teacher certification audits done in time this week (at work). They went perfectly smoothly, so I was able to leave for the week on Weds., with no worries or concerns.

- Thursday was family swim day at Luciana's swim lessons. I rarely have pride/vanity issues, as I mostly don't care what others think, but sometimes I do. It kicked my ass this week, and my mom totally bailed me out. I graduated from high school with some other parents of kids in her class, and the thought of them seeing me chunky in a swimsuit was more than I could take. Mom swam, I watched, and my pudege remained covered.

- Thursday night I got to spend with my friend Mike, in Madison. We went to Olbrich Gardens and had a wonderful time. The weather was perfect, and the gardens looked great. I didn't think to bring my camera. We did get eaten alive by mosquitoes and will both be very itchy for days to come.

- I returned home from my fun relaxing outing to find my very sad daughter and her friend Jake, waiting at home to tell me another friend of theirs, a different Jake, died of an accidental overdose. We've known this boy all the way through school. We're all so shocked and saddened. Dej has lost two friends to accidental ODs and one through suicide in the last few months. She's in a very artsy crowd--they are talented, bright kids--artists, musicians, etc. They live hard and live intensely, and while I understand where they are coming from, it really scares me!

- Friday, the fourth, is my favorite holiday (not that I'm patriotic, but I love summer, and I love fireworks), but I woke up feeling just...off. Couldn't put my finger on the problem, and it plagued me throughout the day. I started the day out with some Twilight Zone marathon, of course. Dejanique, Luciana, Hunter, Mark, and I went to my parents' for a picnic in the afternoon. My aunt Bobbie and Todd were there also. Dej had to work from 3-8, so she had to eat and run.

- M, L, my mom, and I went to the fireworks, which were held in the alternate location due to the flooding. My mom was quite giddy. We ended up in a great spot--sort of. The view was great and we were very comfortable. Then drunken billy bob shows up with his giant slew of inbred redneck family. They were very special.

- It gets better. The large group of adult hispanics who were sitting behind us, felt inspired to burst into song. The song that didn't end until about 30 minutes later when the fireworks finished. I don't know what they were singing, as it was all in Spanish, but it was not pretty. It was as ugly as any song being sung a cappella by people who don't sing well. They did a little dance with it too.

- L decides, out of the blue, that the word, "bosoms", is the funniest word she's ever heard. So she starts saying it randomly, every minute or so, and then proceeds to giggle her ass off about it.

- So, while the people on the right are speaking redneck, and the people behind are singing Spanish, oh, and I have to pee, really badly, L. tells me that she has to pee immediately. Now, if we had left the fireworks at that moment, we were still a good 10-15 away from getting to a bathroom. I'm a camper, though, so I'm pretty crafty about that kind of thing. Using the blanket we had brought and one of the lawn chairs, L. was able to take care of her business with none being the wiser. I didn't think I could pull it off so smoothly for myself, so I continued to suffer.

- We came home to let L's fireworks off on the back yard. My mom joined us. Dej was partying with the friends she went to the fireworks with.

- More Twilight Zone.

- Today will be a major gardening day. H. has been here since this morning. He's spending the night, so he and L. will probably continue to play outside for the day. Dej is still sleeping (at 1:03 pm). I normally get her up by 11, but I'm curious to see how late she will sleep on this beautiful day if I don't wake her. Still feeling kind of 'off' myself.