It hurts to stand still...

You know you're getting old when you go to your doctor for a "sports injury" from the awesome workout at the gym and they tell you it's because you have arthritis! Ouch - that hurts my knee and my ego! So after a second opinion it seems as though I have not torn a ligament or broken my kneecap, but instead just have good old fashioned arthritis in my knee. both knees actually - but I apparently "aggravated" one of them with my strenuous workouts at the gym :) Oh well, guess I'll have to go back to my weekly appointments with my chiropractor and doing the stretches my orthopedist gave me to see if in a few weeks I can feel like I'm 43 rather than 73 when I walk around!

So I survived the Halloween/Brithday extravaganze we had this weekend for Zenna! Despite a few melt-downs, one kid faling off the swing, and one kid smacking "dracula" (my sister) in the head with his sword in the haunted house...we survived. I think it's a birthday Zenna will always remember - she better cause i'm never doing one like it again!

Goody bags...another name for crap I have to take home...

I feel like things have just been crazy lately! September went by in a whirlwind of travel (both for work and to visit a friend whose husband had died), and then I was sick for a week, and then my mom's surgery and my sister and family visiting and now we're almost halfway into October! It's crazy!
This weekend is Zenna's birthday, and for some unknown reason we decided to have her party at home instead of one of those "all inclusive" parties like at Jellybeans or Chuckie Cheese. Actually - I do know why we decided to have it at home - it was because of the insane cost of the face painter we had (foolishly) promised we would have at her party after seeing her at a local festival. I tell you what, if I lose my job, I'd seriously consider doing that!
Anyway - like I do every year - I am lamenting with my husband and anyone else who listen about how kid's birthday parties have gotten so out of hand! I remember my parties being at my house with about 5 kids where we played two or three party games (pin the tail on the donkey, bingo, or something like that), had some cake, opened presents and that was it. Now...it's got to be a choreographed two hour event at some "location" - and said "location" only lets you stay for 1 1/2 or 2 hours, so with all the activities they cram in, it's now become standard for the birthday boy or girl to go home without even opening the presents where everyone else can enjoy their excitement over the gift! And don't get me started on the "goody bag" tradition...
Oh well - we'll do our small part and have our party at home, and make sure Zenna opens her gifts and thanks each of her guests...but I do have to admit, we're giving out goody bags...don't want the other kid's parents to "talk"...

All's Well...

Thankfully my mom is home resting and all went well with her surgery yesterday. It was a long day and we had a bit of a scare following her surgery when she had a terrible headache and they couldn't get her blood pressure up over 78/45...but all's well that ends well. Whew!

So, now it's back to focusing on work and spending time with my sister who is visiting with her family. It's so fun to see all the cousins together - they have a great time. And it's perfect that Zenna and Logan (my sister Jenny's oldest) are the same age, and Ryder (my sister jenny's youngest) and Tinashe (my sister Courtney's son) are the same age. It makes for a loud household but it's lots of fun! Here's a pic of the group (minus Logan who didn't go to the park with us this day).