107 Check In

No that is not my weight listed in the title (not even close).

Nor is it my credit number, or ATM number.

It isn't my address or how many m&m's I have eaten today.

That, my friends, is the temperature for today in this great southwest city.

I am so thankful for A/C.

So I have been a little behind in the blogging. 

Vacationing and blogging seem to be two things I cannot multi-task. 

We are having a good time though.

Last weekend we were invited to my nieces Murder Mystery party. Let me tell you, this was one of the most fun kid parties I have been to in a long time. 

The Boy was given the role as The Robot, and The Girl was Zee French Chef

At the last minute I  got called in to be the Butler. A role I enjoyed as I tried my hand at a British/Hispanic/North Carolinian accent.

If you are looking for a fun idea for birthday parties for the "tween-age set", head on over to Dramatic Fanatic. I was quite impressed with this mystery party. I'm sure that we will be doing one in the future!

I was also able to spend some time with my friend Tracy. We hadn't seen each other in way-to-long, and we felt like two school girls in a fancy restaurant when ordering our red wine. 

I kept thinking maybe we might get kicked out for dining in an establishment that was clearly for adults.  

Lets just say we didn't get carded. 

Tracy was my dearest friend during my senior year of high school (and the years after.) I really cannot remember one thing we did that year that we didn't do together (of course we laughed and laughed at all the things we had already forgotten!). 

In lieu of my senior trip, my parents took us on a family trip to Montana through Yellowstone and all places in between (my parents liked to keep us close and busy). Tracy got to come with us. She was really like a sister to me, except we didn't have all the fighting and stuff.

Its going to be fun keeping in touch.

Tonight I get to have some dinner with Mrs. Moofish and Joanna. We hung out a ton in my early college years, (and then, in a wonderful turn of events, I married Mrs. Moofish's brother).

All right, its time to go find another cold beverage and think winter thoughts!

Good Morning From The Desert

The good news is that I am here and we are well.

The bad news is that I cannot access my Google Reader for some crazy reason.

Which would have been helpful at 3:30 this morning when Sophie the puppy thought it was her 6 am wake up time. I was unable to fall to sleep, and unable to pass time by catching up on the blogs.

I decided to go to my side bar and use that to catch my fave blogs, but I realized that I haven't updated that side bar in over a year.

So do me a favor and leave a comment so I can get to your blog. And then I can update my sidebar too!

Oh, and I had so much fun reading your comments to yesterdays post...so fun!

All right, it's time for a third cup of coffee and then a nice walk outside in that dry heat!

Happy Thursday!

On the Shore of This Uncharted Desert Isle

I've had a packing miracle.

Mer of Life at 7000 Feet has given me the courage to pack lightly and walk with only two pairs of shoes.

What? you ask?

Well, of course, I'm gonna tell you....

As you read this post I am probably flying somewhere over Texas, on a trip for over three weeks, and I have only 4 pairs of pants, 7 shirts, a pair of heeled sandals and my running shoes. 

I did pack about 15 pairs of underwear, because my mama taught me never to get caught without clean underwear. 

Some habits die hard.

No, I'm just exaggerating. 

I only packed 6 shirts.

I also packed three sets of work-out clothes and running socks, because with the amount of mexican food and dad's avocado tacos I plan to eat, I am going to want to run.

I also packed a swim suit and my flat iron, which is #2 on the "What three things would you take with you on a deserted island?" question. 

What is #1? Glad you asked...10 pounds of ground coffee. It has to be ground, cuz I am not wasting #3 on a coffee grinder. 

The best thing about packing light?

Well, it makes that hunk I'm married to think I am uber cool. He always pack REALLY!, EXTREMELY!, AMAZINGLY! light. To which I have always respected, and insisted its easy for him to travel light since, well, you know, he's a man, and all. 

When I told him that I was taking Mer's advice, and showed him how I was going to live for 23 days with just two pairs of shoes, he beamed with pride. And then, in answer to my "I hope I don't get tired of wearing those clothes" statement, he said, "Well just pretend your living on the prairie. Laura Ingalls only had two dresses, right?"

Right. (unfortunately said with a sturdy portion of sarcasm)

I tell you the truth, The Mister didn't marry me for my high maintenance, as  a matter of fact, he married me because I am mostly low maintenance (with a small love for expensive coffee and shoes).

The truth is he married me for my money....

...and my sense of humor.

Which is a good thing since the whole money thing didn't really work out.

Oh! I am going to miss The Mister. I. love. him. so.

All right, its getting time for me to "bust-the-move", which is Kellieism for: get-off-this-computer-and-get-going. 

I hope you have a fine middle of the week, and just for kicks:

What three-things would you take with you on a deserted island...and for those of you who are like me, lets pretend those precious Gideon's have found their way to the island and left you a present...the Bible is already there. ;)

Feels Like Friday

Don't you hate it when it feels like a Friday, but its only Tuesday?

Since I am obviously a bit scattered today, I thought I would just give you Random Thoughts From Kellie's Brain.

Are you scared?

I am.

1. Have you seen this video? This guy had his Taylor guitar broken by the luggage handlers at United Airlines. The Airline wouldn't take responsibility so this talented guy wrote a song and posted it on YouTube. Guess what? United responded quickly and now they are all holding hands and singing in three part harmony, but I thought this was so clever.

All four of us have been singing the chorus to this song ad nauseum. Its a very catchy tune.

2. Yesterday was like an emotional roller-coaster day for me. I had the greatest phone conversation with an old friend. We laughed so hard, which I love to do. I am really excited to get to see her in a week or so!

3. On the flip side, my heart is heavy for friend who is really struggling. I hate that she is in a (figurative) desert right now, and yet I know God is working like crazy in her life...there is always hope.

4. I got to see LisaB of Simply His in the produce isle of our local grocery yesterday. I love knowing bloggers in real life! I talked her sweet ears off, but she was patient with me.

6. I am so excited to make the trek to Arizona tomorrow, and yet we are traveling with our pampered pooch, Sophie. I have never traveled with a dog. As a matter of fact, we can just put that on the list of things I thought I would never do....

7. Speaking of lists, I have a lot of things to do that I really need to write down but I keep telling myself I won't forget. 

8. I can't wait to drink an eegee when we get to AZ. Trying to explain what this is to someone who hasn't lived in Southern Arizona is hard. It isn't like an icee or a slushy, it's thicker and tastes way better. Here's a picture:

I am not crazy about the sandwiches anymore, but the drinks are the BEST!

9. I'm still not entirely packed, but I'm, obviously, not entirely worried either.

10. I get to have my hair done this afternoon. A little bit of heaven here on earth.

OK....that's more than enough randomness for this day. 

Happy Friday Tuesday!

Before and After Snake Issues

Originally, this was to be a post entitled Procrastinators Post. However, while standing outside in the garden to get pictures I nearly stepped on a black snake trapped in the fence.

I felt bad because I knew he was going to die if we didn't cut him loose, but I just knew I wouldn't be able to get close to it without acting like a girl. Thank goodness my sweet (and very brave!) neighbor, Helen, had just pulled up from a long weekend away! She managed to cut the snake out, even though the snake was opening his big mouth and hissing very mean-like.

Without further adieu, the tweeked Original Post......

~~~~~~~~~~

If there was one thing in the world that I wish I could stop doing, it'd probably be procrastinating crying like a girl in the face of adversity.).

Then again, I take it back.

Procrastinating Finding snakes in your yard makes life adventurous and fun.  

For instance, I should be packing for a trip I am about to take. But instead I was outside taking pictures of my garden.

This isn't an ordinary trip. Its a trip in which I have the privilege of leaving to take a side trip. Only to come back to my first trip, just in time to pack up and make the trip home.

Confused?

Well, try packing for it.

Especially since these trips couldn't be more polar opposite in the area of climate.

I heard a rumor that it was 113 in the southern AZ town I will be visiting a mere 72 hours from now. 

But its a dry heat. With poisonous snakes.

I am about to enter into The Land of Many Great Hair Days, and y'all know I like me some good hair. 

I despise snakes.

Let's see...what else can I tell you about, since I'm killing time here...

I am growing a tomato in my garden! 

Yes, you read that right. I am growing one lonely tomato in the garden, but I love him all the same. 

Unfortunately, by the time he's ripe he may be snake food  I'll be sipping poolside margaritas in the desert sun.

We have a cantaloupe and a few cucumbers as well.  

Thank the good Lord that I can just buy my veggies from the grocer down the street, cuz I can’t handle the reptiles  we would certainly starve.

All right. All right! I'm going...

....to go bake something delicious for my neighbor. If you only knew how many times she has bailed me out of crazy situations...

Happy Monday!

Weekend Haiku

Early Saturday.

Sipping Coffee. Half awake.

Long run in thirty minutes.

Week was good. Very good.

Friends. Work. Play. More friends. Laugh.

Engaged and alive.

(Coffee now in blood.

Took many minutes to write

The last two stanzas.)

Have I mentioned that

Coffee makes me feel normal.

Addiction? Not me.

Enjoy, appreciate

Savor. Drink it in each day.

Addict? Well, maybe.

This weekend we rest.

Preparing for big trip west,

To see family; friends.

Oh! the time has come.

Must lace up runners and go.

Hope to run like wind.

(Have a great weekend y'all!)

Thursday Thinkings

Our plans have changed for the day. We were supposed to go lunch with friends, but they are under the weather. As consolation, I am about to take the kids to the pool for a morning of swimming. 

Well, I won't be swimming. I plan to read poolside in the shade (I get to go out with some girlfriends tonight, and I have already washed my hair). 

Before I go, I wanted to share some random thoughts :

~I wanted to let you True Campaigner's know that they are Tweeting too. If you want to follow the True Campaign on Twitter you can find them here.

~I was finally able to get the Pillowcase Dress finished. 

~In this house no fabric is sacred. There isn't a scrap of curtain or chair cover that isn't fair game when I am doing sewing projects. This material was an old duvet cover I bought on clearance back when The Girl's room (in Arizona) was pink.

 

~Turns out The Girl never really wanted a pink room. Her mother did.  

~As a result her room here in NC is now a beautiful shade of blue, picked by The Girl herself.

So I ripped the seams out of the floral pink duvet and gave myself many yards of beautiful fabric to play with. 

~If I wasn't 36 years old I might make one for myself.

~The day before yesterday I spent the entire day helping the kids do a complete overhaul on their bedrooms. When we get back from vacation, we'll have about 4 days to unpack, clean up and rest. 

Then school starts. So i wanted all the deep cleaning to be finished before we leave.

~Below are the bags of clothes, toys and stuffed animals we are giving to Salvation Army. 

~I didn't photograph the three large garbage bags of trash that were hauled out. 

Um, we just did this deep, deep cleaning when we moved 10 months ago. How do two children manage to collect so much junk? 

Anyway, the funniest part of the day was when The Boy was insulted when he looked in the bag of trash and saw that I was throwing out a helmet he had made early last year in Sunday School.

He looked at me with mocked incredulousness and said with a teasing tone "I can't believe you were going to throw out my helmet of salvation!?"

Then he laughed like it was the funniest thing he had said all day.

I let him keep it.  

After this quick picture he threw it with a thunk in the nearly empty "toy" bin we had cleaned out. If I was a betting woman I would bet great green globs of cold, hard, cash that he will never lift that helmet out again, except maybe to find something that's lying underneath it...but he's not ready to give it up yet.

OK, the day is marching on without me.

Happy Thursday!

Garden of Friends

I have spent a large part of today processing last night.

During the months of June, July and August our church holds a once a month Salad Supper for the Women's Ministry.  This is a fun night to get together with other ladies, have a bite to eat, and listen to another woman share about the work that God has done in her life.

This was something I had participated in while attending our church in Fort Worth, Texas. 

When we moved and started attending the church here in North Carolina I knew I wanted to continue the tradition. This is the fourth summer of Salad Suppers at our little round church.

In January I began to pray about who God would have me invite to speak at the Salad Suppers this year. 

It wasn't long after I met TheCarPoolQueen that I began to get a feeling that I needed to ask her to come speak. 

I was nervous about asking her, We had only just met, and although I had read her blog and knew she had a story to share, I didn't know any of the details. But in March, I asked if she'd come tell us her story.

She graciously accepted.

I felt confidant that this was the right thing, but I didn't realize that I was about to witness an answer to prayer in a way that only God can orchestrate. 

Susan did speak last night. She talked about her faith in God in a lesson she entitled: Truth Taught Through Triplet Trials.

I can only say that I wish you had been there as she encouraged us to trust God when it seems that all is lost. To obey Him not only in our actions, but also in our heart. To remember that the desert places in life are not just about us, but about others who might walk the same road in the days to come.  She challenged us to cling to God while in the desert so our experience can someday be used as an encouragement, a deep glass of water to those walking thirsty in a desert of their own.

She didn't sugar coat the things God has used in her life that are hard, but she glorified God in the hard things.

It was just a very good night; in the right place, at the right time, with the right people, and I feel incredibly blessed to have been a part of it.

Yesterday I read  the 13 verse of chapter eight in the Song of Solomon, and as I thought of the ladies in attendance last night, and as I shared Susan's story with The Mister last night, and again with a friend today, the verse came back to my mind: 

Your companions are fortunate to hear your voice. 

Song of Solmon 8:13 (NLT)

Indeed, we truly are.

Learning Through Laughter and Leisure

I am not a big fan of bathroom humor. 

I mean, don't get me wrong, I'm not a stick-in-the mud, I enjoy a good joke. I just don't really see anything funny about bodily functions that are better left in the privacy of ones powder room.

However, having preteens in the house, the bathroom humor is often hard to ignore. Although I must say, they are very sensitive to my anti-bathroom-humor ways.

So it was yesterday when the kids asked me to read to them at lunch. We don't do this every day, or even very often, but they asked and I for once, decided to set aside the To-Do List of my day and sat to eat/read with them.

We've slowly been making our way through this bible. It was laying on the counter so I grabbed it. I opened it to where the bookmark was stuffed and read, Chapter 14, Sodom and Gomorrah, Genesis 18 & 19.

This is the story of Abraham who is pleading with God to spare the wicked cities for the good people who may live there.

I had finished my lunch and was anticipating what I needed to get done in the afternoon and in all honesty I wasn't really paying attention to what I was reading out loud. I sort of stumbled on the verbiage, but after about three minutes I began to read this paragraph:

The Lord answered Abraham, "If I find fifty good people in Sodom, then I will spare the whole city for thier sake." Abraham knew there were not fifty people who trusted God in wicked Sodom. He said, "Behold, now, I have taken it upon me to speak unto the Lord, I who am but dust and ashes. Perhaps there will be five less than fifty righteous....."

This is when The Girl quizzically, gingerly, interrupted, did you just say butt dust?

What??

Butt dust. Did Abraham just say he was butt dust and ashes?

I couldn't figure out what she was saying until I went back and re-read the paragraph. 

Sure enough. I looked up to see the kids trying their best to remain reverent, after all we were reading the Word of God. 

But y'all, it was more than I could handle and I started laughing that belly aching, tear staining uncontrollable laugh that continued on for quite awhile. I diligently tried to read some more, but it was over. I was done and wasn't sure I'd be able to stop laughing. 

The kids laughter didn't help at all. The more they laughed the more I laughed. By the time we stopped we were out of breath and ready to rest.

No. I'm not a fan of bathroom humor, but I am a fan of lighthearted moments shared with my family. I know that I often miss them because I am so intent on getting something done; focused on crossing another To-Do off the list. 

I'm glad that I took the time yesterday to laugh. To make a memory that will forever go down in the La Vida household history. 

And in the future, when we need a laugh in times of hardship, two word will be all it takes to lighten up the mood, and remind of us of our ties within the family:

Butt dust. 

And The Winner Is...

Last week was fun for me! 

I know you are just dying to know who won but I thought I might give you the links to the posts I had pulled my questions from. 

My favorite flavor m&m: Yellow

My favorite NASCAR car: Tampax

My favorite heating blanket: Cookie (having trouble finding this one myself, but that's the answer!)

The tradition I tried to do on my own: Tamale Making. And here was was the fruit of that endeavor. They were terrible, way too salty.

Last but not least the elusive "Action Hero" link. I think I may have led some of you astray! The Mister informed me that Mami, Dora the Explorers mother, is in fact, NOT an action hero. He said action figures are more like people who save others in the face of danger.

I agree. What is more dangerous than parenting a preschooler? Especially if said preschooler is a bilingual traveler who talks to monkeys and backpacks. I'm just sayin'. 

Anywho, the person who answered all the answers correctly was Lauren H.! 

Congrats Lauren! You have won an apron and a pound of my favorite coffee! Email me and let me know your address....I am pretty sure I know who you are, but email me anyway!  ;)

The consolation prize goes to Adrienne for guessing that I was Mrs. Incredible...cuz really that would be fun.

We sort of have the same haircut!

So Adrienne, send me your addy and I'll get some surprise sent to you speedy-quick!

Thanks y'all for playing! It was fun!

(Raising my new blue coffee mug with my initials on it)

Here's to the next four years!

They Say Its My (Blog) Birthday...

....(So around here) It's Your Blog Birthday Too!!

It's going to be a great weekend! 

I was unable to get on the computer yesterday for your fifth and final question. So today I am going to give you a hint, but the question is a two-parter.

Here's the question: Growing up we had a family tradition. Over the years this tradition has NEVER happened without a certain story being told: What is that tradition? Why did I decided to try that tradition on my own?

And the other questions this week were:

What is my favorite flavor m&m?

What is the name of my fave winter heating blanket?

What is my favorite NASCAR car?

Who is my look alike action figure?

Now, if you have had trouble finding the answers to these questions, that's OK! There will still be a consolation prize for those who can make up answers that will make us all laugh.

(But for those of you who found this blog under the R-rated Google search words, you are automatically disqualified. I will not post comments that are inappropriate. Just bein' clear.)

For those of you who know the answer to all six questions (and those who will try to guess), give me your answers in the comments below. I will keep the comments open until 3pm (EST) Monday, July 13. I will then randomly choose a winner for the prize.

Wanna know what you're going to win? Well, you are going to win a La Vida Dulce original apron of your choice, and a pound of the coffee that the H-E-B People say is "close" to the original coffee called La Vida Dulce, the coffee this blog was named after. 

Consolation Prize? Well, that will be a surprise....I'll have to see what I've got around here, but it would be worth commenting because I like to give nice gifts, I'm just sayin'.

Also, you may see that things around here are looking a little different. Jo-Lynne of Musings of a Housewife and DCRDesign, did the green and burgundy design a little over a year ago. She had just started her business and I was one of her first clients. I've loved the work Jo-Lynne did!

This year, Jackie from Our Moments Our Memories opened her blog design business, Memories by Design. I have read Jackie's blog for over a year now and I really wanted to support her new endeavor, as I had Jo-Lynne's when she was a new designer. 

So that's what I did. 

By the time this posts, my new "look" may be visible. I am so pleased with the new design, and Jackie is just great to work with! If you have the desire to get some bloggy style, go check out her design site. (If the new design isn't up yet, please come back soon to check it out!)

I have got to get to swimming Championships this morning, and i'll be there all day. can't wait to get home and see who's dropped by the party!

Disclaimer: Since the choice of apron will be of your choosing, it will not be ready until the first week of September (I am about to be on vacation for a month). You do not have to a blog to win. But you do have to have a valid email address. 

Party Like Its 1999

Y'all, really. Sometimes life is just neat.

This week has been one fun event after the other. 

On Tuesday my cousin Emily and her sweet family came to stay for one night, and it was just fun to have them over. 

It was surreal to see The Girl playing with the baby and realizing that when Emily was born, I was exactly The Girls age. 

Now, here we are... old enough to travel alone, and own homes, and have babies...and what's more, getting the opportunity to share our lives with each other.  Its precious.

Then, last night while I sat in the cool summer breeze with The CarpoolQueen and Whimzie, sipping latte's and receiving sweet Tweets from our Blogger Gals around the country, I just felt happy.

This meeting marked the third time I have had the opportunity to meet someone I have "known" through this blog.

At one moment I was listening to Whimzie's soft southern drawl, and I was overwhelmed with how sweet life can be. 

I am about to say something that may sound like a back-handed compliment: Whimzie is exactly how she sounds on the blog, only better. 

Meeting her in person was a privilege because it completed an already beautifully painted picture. She's wonderful on the blog, but it cannot hold a candle to meeting her "for real". 

I loved hearing about her life, some past and some present. But what was really fun was watching CPQ and Whimz interact with each other, tell stories on each other, and laugh at each other. They've lived some life together and its made them strong women, and abiding friends. 

I was sad that the evening went so quickly. I hope we get to hang out again soon.

However, the party goes on and on here at the La Vida house!  I didn't have the opportunity to post yesterday, so I will give you two question today. An easy question, and a more challenging question:

Easy: What is my favorite NASCAR car?

Hard: Who is my look-alike action figure? (you'll have to go way back in the archives for this one)

Remember, don't answer the question today! Wait until Saturday (July 12th) to give me all five answers to be entered into the Giveaway!

La Vida Dulce!

The Party Is Just Starting

My day is completely crazy today, what with the memorial service and all....

Just kidding. I refuse to play a part in that debacle.

I have enough craziness in life.

Anyway, I am going to be away from the computer today, but I know you are just DYING to know what the La Vida Dulce Birthday Giveaway question is for today. So here you go:

What is the name of my favorite winter (heating) blanket?

Have a great day!

Happy Monday!

Oh the loveliness of holiday weekends! I just hated to see it end.

But here I am on this Monday-ist of Monday mornings.

The good news is that this week is chock full of fun things to come! There will be out of town guests, and dinner with bloggy friends, and a production of the Wizard of Oz (we'll find out which part The Girl gets to play this afternoon). There will be doctors appointments and swim championships, and all the little things in between.

But the Best News of All?

I'm celebrating my Bloggy Birthday this week! 

Next Saturday I will be celebrating 4 years of bloggy success. 

Each day I will be asking a La Vida Dulce trivia question. 

On Saturday, July 12, I will give you a chance to give me the answers to those five questions. You can post the answers to my comments on Saturday and those with five correct answers will be put in a drawing for an original La Vida Dulce Giveaway!

Mondays Question: What is the CoffeeGals favorite flavor m&m? 

(Hint: If you are relatively new to La Vida Dulce you may need to do a search. The search box is up there at the left hand corner...the answer is in one of my Random Polls.)

Remember, don't answer the question today! Wait until Saturday to give me all five answers to be entered into the Giveaway!

However, I don't want you to walk away with having the opportunity to comment...I started this blog to keep up with friends I had moved away from. If you blog, why did you start?

Happy Monday!

Random Question: The Rebel In Me

This summer I have travelled by air quite a bit.

In three weeks I'll be flying west with the kids, and our little dog too.

Yes, yes. We are taking that silly dog with us. Long story, but we'll add this to the (very long) list of things I said I would never do as a mother, but ended up doing, and move along...

Anyway, one of the things that really irritates me about flying these days is the $30/round trip charge that we must pay for our first piece of checked in luggage.

That means that my small family of four will be required to fork out $120 dollars just in luggage fee's! I was able to get a pretty good deal on tickets for this trip, but it makes me crazy that our luggage fee's are more than half of what I paid for a round trip ticket. But I digress...

Here's the confession: I am seriously thinking of bucking the system.

My mom and I have concocted this great plan to ship, via UPS, a large box of our clothes to Arizona a week or so before we leave.

According to UPS, it will cost just about $1.00/pound to ship a box from NC to AZ. 

Since we are staying with my mom and dad, I don't have to pack any heavy toiletries (ie, shampoo, hair dryer, etc) so I am thinking I could probably keep the box at around 40 pound. It would save me a few dollars, but is it worth it?

Here is my dilemma....I have a shoe thing. I need choices. 

But shoes can add a decent amount of weight to a gals luggage.

Also, in the middle of this trip to AZ I am flying out-of-state to see some friends. Very cute friends, whom I would want my feet to look cute for...sounds ridiculous? Probably, but I enjoy selection when it comes to my footwear.

And since I'm confessing: I, unashamedly, sneak store bought candy into movie theaters. I think its unreasonable to pay big money for super-sized boxes of candy that I can get at the store for half the price (and in serving sizes that are a little more reasonable for my sweet sugar consumers.)

In many ways I'm not a rule breaker, but sometimes a girls gotta do what a girls gotta do.  

How about you? Are you a rebel? Or a rule follower? 

Inquiring minds want to know.

Mother of the Year

Yesterday was probably not the best day I have had in the history of my motherhood career.

First, The Girl, who is normally sweet, kind, and extraordinarily social, was clingy, grouchy, and generally a grump. She complained of being cold (even when sitting in the hot sun at the Krispie Kreme). She complained of wanting to sit down all the time. She was constantly wanting hugs. She was hanging on me. 

At one point when walking to our car (which was parked a good walking distance from the museum) she looked at the ground and said, "If I could lay down on this side walk right now, I would."

I told her that she was just tired from all the swimming practice and late night swim meets. She could go home to rest.

And that's what she did. She slept all the way home and then laid on the couch until dinner. 

When The Mister got home he said she felt warmer than usual. I had noticed that too, while at the museum, but had forgotten to check her temp.

When I did it was 102.

Nice.

Now, my intention yesterday was to pack a lunch for the kids and I, but I ran out of time and threw three PowerBar's (peanut butter flavor for me, chocolate for the kids) into my purse. We had donuts at 10am, so I figured high protein candy bars would be sufficient until we got home. 

Around 1pm the kids were ready for their "lunch," so we walked up to the snack bar area and whipped out the PowerBars under a giant sign that read: No Outside Food or Drink Allowed. 

I'm such a rebel.

We ate our lunch, and within minutes The Boy starts to complain about itching. I told him it was because of all the swimming we have been doing (do you see a pattern here?). I accused him of not using soap in the shower after being in the pool. 

The Boy has had a peanut allergy since he was a wee toddler. It was at this time that I learned that many products must be carefully checked due to cross contamination during production.

For instance, plain m&m's are processed on the same conveyor belts as Peanut m&m's. People who have extreme allergies must avoid cross contamination. Fortunately, The Boy has never been in the extreme category, although in the early years I was pretty careful.

As The Boy has grown older we have worried less and less about cross contamination. Quite frankly, that boy has eaten his weight in plain m&m's over the years and hasn't had a problem.

We have successfully avoided all major peanut products for nearly 11 years. 

Until yesterday. 

I had just gotten The Girl dosed with some ibuprofen when The Boy was still complaining about itching. I ask him to lift up his shirt. He was covered in a hive like rash.

I broke out with the Benadryl.

Of course, it wasn't until this morning when The Mister asked if there might be any peanut products in that chocolate PowerBar...

For the record, there is a plethora of peanut products in a chocolate PowerBar. As a matter of fact they might as well just call it Chocolate Covered Peanuts flavor. Not only is peanut flour listed as one of the main ingredients, but it clearly says that it contains peanut "products" right on the package.

Nice.

So I am not going to win any awards at the moment, but thankfully today is new day, with plenty of mistakes (and God's grace!) of its own.

Happy Wednesday!