The jury is in. He...

He passed!!

Which is very excellent. Yeah, good job. But, it's the same darn score as last time.

Which means...

What in the heck does that shizzle mean?

5.4 and 5.4
Crappola, me thinks.

Fry bread is yummy.

My sister cancelled on lunch - too much work to do. Something about a report due and a deadline and everybody was gone for Thanksgiving... Boo! I guess I'm not so ridiculously fun after all for a 25 yr old to have lunch with. Ouch.

But guess who I ran in to while carrying my lunch tray filled with fry bread and wheat berry salad at the Museum of the American Indian? My husband, allowed out for lunch!! He had fry bread too.

What a nice surprise to see him.

He's testing right now, fingers drumming.

While my husband is doing his best today, I'm going to have lunch with my sister. She lives here in DC and works in Dupont Circle. I don't get to see her enough. She's young, single and fun. Unlike me. Ha! Joking. I am so, SO single. I mean young, um, I mean fun. I am ridiculously fun.

Speaking of fun, I am also meeting up with a fellow blogger today. Our husbands are in the same OA today, both second candidacies. We all met last night. Hopefully there will be good news for all of us later today.

I'm in DC!!

That's right. Big day is tomorrow. May the force be with us.

Two days...

We just got back from driving to Ohio late last night. Turkey day with the in-laws was very nice. We drove on Wednesday, ate on Thursday (There were 22 of us at dinner!), drove on Friday. whew.

We head to DC tomorrow. Drive on Sunday, OA on Monday, Drive home on Tuesday. whew.

My husband is currently done with his old job. They loved him and gave him many cakes upon his departure. How did cake become a sign of appreciation in our culture? Anyway... he starts his new job on Wednesday, yeah, the day after getting home from the OA. whew.

He is excited and nervous about the OA. Me too. I am ready for this journey to have a finish line. I am ready to start making a plan for me. Because after a year and a half, I'll take mine... to go, or take in. Either way. As long as it's mine.

J- to the -O- to the -B

Do you remember me saying that my husband was applying for another (better) job locally?

He was offered the job today. (Yee-haw!)

This is not my husband.
My husband is bald. And not so spring-chicken-y.

They want him to start on the same day he has his OA. Funny, he won't be able to make it that first day of work because he's got a "previous engagement."

So, given the choice between the new job and the FS, which would win?
FS, hands down.
Sorry new job.
The name plate on the door better be put on with sticky-tack.

My family LOVES the Sticky-tack.
It even holds my iPod touch on the dashboard of my car. (10 yr old's idea)
It looks like a gob of chewed gum. We're fancy like that. 

Fears about my kids.

Conversation (last week) between my husband and me (by cell phone) while I was on my way to the doctor's office to discuss my migraines:

Me: Hi, are you busy? Because NPR is on in the car and I'm freaking out a little bit.

Him: Ok, what's up?

Me: There are bombs. And... Yemen. And... Greece. And... planes with engines failing. We are safe here. Here. The kids are safe.

Him: It will be ok. I know, I worry about safety too. We will be ok.

Me: Are we crazy? Citizen of the world, what crap!! What are we doing? Well, I better go, I'm driving and talking illegally. That's not safe. Bye.

Him: Um, ok, bye.

Later, at the doctor's office, she asks me how everything (besides the headaches) is. And I laugh. Then I say, "There are bombs. And Yemen. And Greece. And planes with engines failing. And I don't know what it means to 'duck and cover.' And a lot of people in the world don't like Americans. And it's been over a year of being in limbo. And the kids like to climb trees and what if there are no trees..."

So, yeah, I'm sure I'm not the only one who's had these crazy fears, right? Can I wrap each child in bubble wrap?

Peace in the neighborhood.

My neighborhood was very neighborhoody this Halloween. It warmed my heart.

We have lots of kids around. Usually we trick-or-treat with our immediate neighbors on our street. But this year, one of S's friends asked us to come over to his street and trick-or-treat with them. It was great. We saw lots of people we knew. The kids had fun. The adults had fun. It ended in an invitation to have chili and soup to warm up at another house. The kids all played. There were drinks. There was a large, friendly teddy bear-ish dog called a Golden-doodle or some nonsense... good times.

S:Grim Reaper, B:Obi Wan Kenobi, C:Cleopatra

In other neighborhood news: A "truce" has been called between my two boys and the two girls who live next door. They are the same exact ages, yet opposite sexes. Which means "enemy" by definition. I think the kids got tired of all the effort involved in being snarky with each other. My older son, B, called for a "truce" so that they could all build a teepee together in the woods. This seems to have stuck. My three kids and the neighbor's two girls have been having fun together for two weeks. This same neighbor's husband is in Iraq for a year. So I'm sure she's happy to have the kids occupied playing outside while she gets some things done.

My husband and I were out raking and leaf-blowing this past weekend -LOTS of trees in our neighborhood-LOTS!!- we decided to clear our neighbor's yard too, since she doesn't have her husband's help this year. She came out of the house and was practically in tears, she was so grateful. It felt good to have helped. Of course my arm was falling off the next day, but it was worth it!

So lots of neighborhood love going around at the same time as preparations are underway to get the heck out of here if when my husband does awesome on the OA later this month.

Also, he applied for another job locally. Got an interview and they just called him back for a second round. It's good to have options.

I turn 39 pretty soon. I know, shocking! I don't look a day over 26, right?! Right now, if you add up all our ages in our family, we are 100 years old. That came up doing math homework. Useless info thanks to Everyday Math.

And here's a plug for good thoughts/and/or prayers. A week or two after my son B came home from Jamaica, he pointed out he had a lump (an enlarged lymph node) in front of his left ear. It's called the preauricular node. It has not decreased in size in over a month. (It's 2.5 cm) We have been to our primary doc a few times and have been referred to an ENT. B also had a CBC to check his white blood count. (Don't know the result yet.) I'm sure he's fine, as he's acting normally. But if you have a spare moment to think a good thought for one crazy little/big boy, I'd appreciate it. Thanks.

Why do doctors have to say sh#t like, "Do I think it's lymphoma? (long pause) No. Should we be sure? (long pause) Yes."
Then I think: Should I b#tch-slap the doctor? (long pause) ....  If you don't think it's lymphoma don't say it. geez. I've got enough worry in my brain.

My husband told me I look crazy. Ya' think?!

Follow-up edit: The blood test came back completely normal. But we still have to see the ENT on Tuesday.