Red Pencil Diaries

We just returned from a 5 day trip to Gatlinburg, TN—home of the Smoky Mountains. We stayed in a nice cabin appropriately named Rocky Top. We were up fairly high, but unfortunately there were too many trees and overgrown areas to really enjoy much of a view. We went with my mom and dad; my sister, bro-in-law, niece, nephew; and my brother. Overall, it was a fun trip. We hiked up to Clingman’s Dome—the highest point in the Smokies. We rode the tram up to Ober Gatlinburg—ahhh what a view. I wished we’d had time to do that again in the dark so we could have enjoyed the lights of the city. We went to WonderWorks—the kids had a blast. Dave and I got an evening out and we had a yummy steak dinner at the Alamo followed by go-cart racing and ski-ball playing. Fun! Now I just need a vacation from my vacation…

Zack calls Kool-Aid “Tool-Aid.” It’s kinda cute.

Today, he decided he needed some tool-aid. I was changing Lola. I should have realized something was up. He was quiet again. I came in the living room, laid Lola on her play mat, and turned to see him come into the living room with two cups—one is his Zack cup, one is a purple plastic tumbler of mine. He hands me the purple one and says “tool-aid, momma. Tool-aid!” And I think, “How sweet, he poured me some Kool-Aid.” It had no ice in it, and I never stopped to think “wait, we didn’t have any Kool-Aid made.” Instead, I took a big gulp—and nearly spat it on the floor. Ick. It was super strong Kool-Aid in water with no sugar or Splenda in it. Ugh. I did spit it into the glass, then grabbed his mug and ventured to the kitchen. There was a small spill on the floor, but he had a pitcher on the counter with Kool-Aid in it and it was half full of water, too—it should have had the other half full to make the full 2 quarts. I added more water and Splenda and then re-poured our cups. We drank it down. It was much much better.

I still can’t believe he’s not even 3 years old yet and he does the most amazing things. Well, I guess that’s not “Amazing” really. But wow… to have your kid make you something to drink and bring you a cup! How proud I was! Even if it was kinda yucky. I was proud to take a drink. He’s such a big boy! And very independent, just like his Momma!

Ok, this is the new me:

It was time for a new look. My long multi-colored hair was driving me nuts. Plus, Lola is at the age where she grabs handfuls of long hair and pulls hard. So off it went. And then I put on a nice medium/dark brown color. There are a few bits of black left in it, but if I keep it kinda short for awhile, I will eventually get them trimmed out. I really like it for now. I love myself with long hair, but this is practical and fairly flattering.

And now on to another topic… what is up with the Blogger thing? I used to go and post comments to people’s blogs all the time, but now, it asks me for a Google ID, and I don’t have one. So it won’t let me post comments. I’ve given up. Just too big of a hassle. So to all my Blogger friends, sorry. I still read your blogs, I just don’t post comments anymore.

We are in the process of selecting colors, tiles, and other materials for our new master bathroom. They will be ripping our bathroom apart in a few weeks. I’m so excited. We will be living in the guest room for awhile as they will also be ripping out a small section of our walk-in closet to add space to the bathroom. We’re going to repaint the bathroom, closet, and bedroom while we’re at it. So exciting! I’m hoping it will come out looking luxurious and spa-like. At least, that’s how it looks in my head. I’ll post pics once it’s finished. I just can’t wait!