Still no sign of things slowing down around here. I spent last week dealing with preparation for the Cub Scout camping trip. I had to turn in registration for everyone, make sure that everyone had completed medical forms, plan the meals, shop for the food, and help load the trailer that was being taken to camp on Friday. Needless to say, I didn't get a whole lot of schoolwork done. Thank God I only worked one day last week, but my paycheck will reflect that. Ouch!

Thursday night, I went to the NKOTB concert with some friends. We had a blast, and they sang all of their old music, along with some new material. The guys seem to have gotten better-looking with age, and we had a great time, dressing up like we did in the 80s, and singing and dancing along with the music. Our seats could not have been farther from the stage, and even the screens looked tiny from our seats. It was a fun time, though, and I was so sore and tired on Friday!

Yesterday, we were up and out of the house before 8:00 to head to Conroe to the Cub Scout camp. The weather was perfect, and the boys got to do all sorts of fun things. We had activities all morning, and the boys played ping-pong, shot slingshots with paintball pellets, and shot BB guns. I was able to shoot a few BBs as well. Afterward, we went back to the campsite for lunch (Darren and I made 48 sandwiches on Friday), a nap for Zoe, then back to the pavilion for the Raingutter Regatta. Zach made it through three rounds, and placed 7th or 8th among his age group. He was disappointed, but he went a lot farther than he did last year. After the regatta, we hiked a bit to the pirate ship, but it was really hard to push a stroller along the trails. There was still a lot of debris from the hurricane out at camp, and you could see where there were a lot of trees missing. The boys thought it was really fun to walk and climb along the fallen pine trees. After our hike, we went back to camp and carved pumpkins, then had a dinner of hamburgers and hotdogs, with peach and apple cobbler for dessert. A camp-wide campfire concluded the day's events, complete with a flag retirement ceremony. Miss Zoe slept through that, but woke back up when everyone turned their flashlights and headlamps back on to walk back to the campsite. She and I said our goodbyes to everyone and headed home around 9:30. I am hoping to get a babysitter for the campout in April, and be able to spend the night. We'll have to buy a bigger tent first, though.

I stayed up too late watching TV once I got home, bathed Zoe, and talked on the phone with a couple of friends. One of my former co-workers received the news yesterday that she is going to be a mommy soon, and that was such wonderful news! She and her husband have waited many years for a baby, and after unsuccessful fertility treatments, they have been waiting to adopt for a couple of years. There was a baby girl born prematurely in Pennsylvania October 14th, and they are heading up there Thursday or Friday to meet her. I am so excited for them; they will make wonderful parents!

Today, Zoe woke up way too early, and I stumbled around the house until Darren and Zach made it home. Darren, Zoe and I took a nap from 11-2, then we tackled the house. We never did finish, because we were too hungry. After dinner, we watched the Amazing Race, and Zach fell asleep on the couch. I've been doing schoolwork for a couple of hours, but am calling it quits for the night.

Here's what's on tap for the week:
-work Monday and Wednesday
-class Tuesday and Thursday
-conference with Zach's teachers after school tomorrow (yikes!)
-quiz on cat and human blood vessels in class Tuesday
-work out Tuesday and Thursday for my kinesiology class
-cat dissection in class Thursday
-Cub Scouts Thursday evening
-study session Friday
-Mom and Dad coming in Friday for the weekend
-something fun Saturday
-test sometime between Friday and Monday on the heart and blood vessels

...Just a normal week around here. I can't wait until there is some free time to scrapbook. It's been over a year!

Random

I'm still here, just drowning in Cub Scout paperwork. I've signed up eleven boys in the past week, gotten everyone registered for the camping trip this weekend, gone through leader training, and am trying to make sure everyone has a medical form that is completed. We have a pack meeting this Thursday, and I won't be there, so I have lots of instructions for the people who will be there. This weekend is our camping trip, and I am in charge of shopping for the food for 50 people Friday. Zoe and I will go for a few hours Saturday, then will get to hang out at home Saturday night without the boys. We have rechartering next month, which is when everyone signs up again for next year, so there is lots more paperwork in my future. I also still don't have a Tiger Cub leader, but I am hoping that will work itself out.

Zoe made it through her ear tube procedure just fine yesterday. I think it took ten minutes, and another five after I talked to the doctor for her to wake up. We left the house at 6:00, stopped and got McDonald's breakfast for Darren, Zach, and me, and were home by 8:45. Zoe was not happy when she woke up from the anesthesia, but she calmed down eventually, and took two long naps yesterday. She went back to her babysitter today, and you'd never know she had that done yesterday. I hope this brings relief to her now.

School is going okay for me. I am trying really hard to keep up with my two online classes and my anatomy and physiology class that I take on campus. I never put this much work into school the first time! I have another online class that starts in a few weeks, and registration is getting ready to begin for the spring. I'll be taking microbiology and pharmacology; can't wait! I'm looking into nurse-midwifery programs, but can't figure out if there's one here in Houston. If that is something that I am going to pursue, I may as well start taking some of the prerequisites for those programs while I am at such an inexpensive school and have the time. I won't have any classes to take next fall, so maybe I can knock out a few hours.

I am looking forward to Halloween, but am wondering where the fall weather is? The temperature is in the 80s, and the mosquitoes are out in full force. We've decorated for Halloween, the kids have costumes and candy has been bought; now we just need some cooler weather! We need to go and visit a pumpkin patch; maybe Sunday.

I am going see NKOTB in concert this Thursday night; should be interesting. I saw them twice in the 80s; once, they opened for Tiffany, and I can't remember details about the second show except that it was in Baton Rouge and we had floor seats. I was in love with Donnie, and had t-shirts, key rings, and posters of him. My sister and I even had a video of the band that we would watch all the time. I'll have to pull out an old cassette tape and refresh my memory of their songs. I am not taking this seriously at all, and am looking forward to an evening out with friends. I have no idea how good our seats are, and don't care. It's my first concert in a few years.

Off to bed...

I have an anatomy lab test tomorrow

I also have to take Zoe to the doctor for her pre-op appointment (she's getting ear tubes Monday), then go to our Cub Scout recruitment night. I'm in charge of registration of new members and taking the refreshments.

I think I'm working Friday for the first time, then I have Cub Scout training all day Saturday. I have a paper due for my online psychology class Sunday. (haven't looked at it yet) Monday, Zoe is having her surgery, then I am going to a concert Thursday night. Friday, I have to go shopping for the food for the Cub Scout camping trip next weekend, then Saturday, Zoe and I are going to the camping trip for the day while the boys spend the night. I have a feeling there will be another anatomy test coming up soon, too.

So, if I don't post too often for the next few weeks, don't give up on me. I'm still here; just drowning in school/work/Scouts/ kid stuff. Don't even ask about my house; it's currently winning the war. I am hoping to decorate for Halloween before the actual day, but Zoe is showing signs of pulling up, and I don't know how much effort I want to put into to keeping her away from things right now.

If you actually follow this blog, would you please click the link on the right and let me know? I don't have a prize to offer you, except for my unending gratitude. That's worth a lot, right?

I'm still here, just overwhelmed right now with school, work , Cub Scout recruitment and fundraising, and what seems like zillions of doctor's appointments. Zoe is getting tubes put in her ears Monday, I'm having some dental work done soon, and Zach has to go to the eye doctor.

I'll be back as soon as I have time to form a thought, and my computer and camera end their refusal to work together so I can post pictures.