FAFSA Update!

No procrastinating tonight! My form has been electronically filed as of 5 minutes ago. Woo Hoo! Fingers crossed I did it correctly.

Thanks to everyone for all of the good karma and well wishes. I may be short a class or two, but I won't know until my application is processed. You'll know when I know!

Enjoy your weekend! I sure will . . .

Just how much will it cost me?

This is a lovely view of Idaho State. I spent 5 years on this campus, 3 of them in one of the 2 matching buildings in the middle-right of the picture. They were called Garrison-Turner Hall, back in the day. Boys in one building, girls in the other. I am fairly certain that my friends Mary, Laura and I never, ever, ever snuck into the boys dorm. Never, ever!! Well, that is my story and I'm sticking to it. . .

Did I tell you that I applied to Idaho State? I finally hit the "send" button on that one last week! I was going to wait until next year but then I decided I was just dragging my feet. I am not getting any younger, tuition is not getting any cheaper and the speech-language pathology graduate program length (3 years) is not getting any shorter. It was now or never, really.

So, I am supposed to be filling out the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, or FAFSA as it is known by everybody but me. I say this because after I tell anyone at work that I finally applied to ISU, they always ask "Have you filled out the FAFSA? No?!!! Are you crazy? You'd better hurry!!!!!" I figured I could get it done tonight, with Eric working late and the kids going to bed by 8 o'clock. But you know, it makes for a more compelling evening to watch a local guy compete at (or is it "in") the Vancouver Olympics. Clearly, Katy & Emma needed to stay up until 9:30 to witness Jeret Peterson's awe inspiring aerial assault on the "jump" to the silver medal. Jeret, aka Speedy, graduated from a local high school and got his start at Bogus Basin. Kind of cool to cheer for the hometown boy!

Anyway, it is now time for the news. . . Looks like I managed to delay the mind-numbing task of filling out a form by doing what I like to call "taking a break from reality!" It is best done by sitting with your kids watching TV, looking over book order forms and practicing spelling words for the Friday tests. In other words, a night well spent . . .

A "Grudge with Fudge" . . .

Dressed in her costume for the party, Katy is feeling a little ill . . .

Most of you know that Katy was diagnosed with a peanut allergy when she was 4 years old. We were issued an Epi-Pen and adjusted accordingly. Around the time Katy was to enter Kindergarten, we returned to the allergist to have her tested again, just to be sure. All three tests(skin, blood and the peanut challenge) came back negative. Katy always claimed that she was still allergic and she just avoided peanuts altogether. She would say that peanuts still made her mouth feel funny. I thought she was just being dramatic. Well, I was wrong.

At school today, Katy's class was celebrating the conclusion of a long project. The event included a potluck. Lots and lots of food set out for a class of 32 and their parents! While enjoying our "feast," Katy took a small bite of fudge. She took another bite and then complained that her mouth was "tingling." That is how she has always described her close encounters with peanuts. I really thought she was exaggerating but I gave her a Benadryl to make her feel better. I told her to get a drink and a piece of bread. As she sat in front of me, her face was getting a bit flush. She then complained of a stomach ache. At this point, I had not seen anything "peanut" on the food table. I thought that the one of the meat dishes was the cause of her discomfort. With no nurse on duty today, I just walked her down to the office to rest. She was still complaining of stomach pain she so I gave her a few Tums. She also said she thought she was going to vomit. I talked to her teacher and mentioned that Katy thought she had eaten something with peanut butter in it. It was then that the teacher remembered that one of the boys did bring peanut butter fudge. At that point, I called Katy's pediatrician. After going over the symptoms of an allergic reaction, we concluded it was not life threatening. They scheduled us an appointment and we prepared to head to the clinic. While I was getting things together for us to leave the school, Katy threw up. Two good things about that: she did so in the nurse's office bathroom (Katy is notorious for never making it to the bathroom in these instances) and she instantly felt better.

Once at the clinic, the doctor looked her over and concluded that Katy is indeed allergic to peanuts. The doctor prescribed new Epi-Pens and gave of dosage information for Benadryl. (I have carried Benadryl around for awhile because I had a strange encounter with food several years back.) The allergy does not appear to be severe, as in she can be around peanuts but she should just not eat them. We'll be in contact with the pediatrician, allergist and school nurse to set up a plan for school. Katy has been a good self-regulator up until today. Kind of a strange occurrence, but we did all the right things when it happened so I am confident this will be easy to manage. I have the practice pen, so as we see each of you, we'll show you how to use it in the case of an emergency.

I was pretty impressed with how quickly Katy recovered from the incident. She was so sad to have missed the rest of the party. Her thoughts turned to the food and she said "I have a grudge with fudge!" It cracked me up. She is one clever, peanut-allergic girl!

All you need is love . . .

This is the Valentine that Katy gave out to her classmates. It took us a few nights to assemble 32 of them, but they were a big hit with the kids. It is a box of conversation hearts decorated to look like an iPod.

I got so excited about my bread that I forgot to mention Valentine's Day. Happy Valentine's Day to all of our loved ones! Hope you had a fabulous one.

I did it! I really did it!

Happy, Happy, Joy, Joy! It almost qualifies as a miracle . . .

Woo hoo! I finally made bread that was edible! Many, many, many thanks to my sister-in-law Starla for giving me the recipe and for enduring a few nearly frantic phone calls on a busy Sunday! She is the best! (It looks like I may have overused the exclamation mark tonight, but I really am that excited!!!!) Eric even called to thank her! After years of abuse at the hands of my cooking skills, I think he now has a little hope for the future . . .

A funny thing happened to me at the Hallmark store . . .

You know, my birthday is coming up soon. Might have to add this to my gift list . . .

Emma and I were purchasing a few Valentine cards tonight while Katy was at her drama class. As I was preparing to pay at the register, the clerk asked me "Are you eligible for today's discount?" as she pointed to a sign. The sign read "Senior Discount Day--55 and over." My response "Mmm, No?" and then "Only if it counts that the card recipients are over 55!" Sadly, it did not . . .

Checking in . . .

It seems as though we are having a quiet week. Nothing of great interest for me to post. Everyone is healthy. We still have our jobs. Katy received straight A's on her report card. Emma had a marvelous report card and made the most progress in math. (She likes it more than spelling!) The animals are all still alive, although the goldfish actually swims upside down now. I did ruin a batch of chocolate chip cookies and broke the ironing board. (If you know about the way I stretch my jeans, the breaking of the ironing board will make sense. Eric laughed so hard he started crying!)

Have a great weekend and I'll be sure to write soon . . .