Quick Takes Volume 4

1. I've been trying to remember to post a list of quick takes every week but it just isn't happening.  I suppose it is something that will just come along when it comes along.

2. The termites have come and hopefully are not on their way.  I have done my best to not freak out about them [like my poor stressed out husband].  I've decided to just accept the situation for what it is.  The exterminators came out on Wednesday, drilled a ton of holes in my porch (25 to be exact) and patched it up with cement that is about 5 shades darker than my porch. Sigh.  But the important thing is I'm not freaking out.

3. I'm doing my best to keep my girls happy during what I call School Limbo. Ellie is done for the year while Madeline has a week and a half to go.  As a result, Madeline has developed schoolitis which required me to pick her up from school early yesterday.  Schoolitis vanished once dinner time rolled around and she remembered that it was McDonald's night.  She wasn't too happy when she learned that McDonald's night doesn't happen when you have a bad stomachache that requires you to miss part of the school day [and a science test for which she never studied].

4. I'm preparing for a soccer filled weekend.  Madeline's team is playing in their first tournament this weekend.  The tournament will take place tomorrow and Sunday.  The game times are all inconveniently timed.  Our parish has seven Mass times for Sunday Mass (including the Saturday vigils) and the only Mass we have a chance of making is at 6PM on Sunday.  I pulled out my iPhone and checked the handy Mass Times app I have to see if we could visit another parish that is close to the soccer tournament and unfortunately their Mass times all would either begin during her games, or they start or end at a time that would make our attendance there and at her game impossible.  So the girls and I will be heading to the last possible Mass we can attend on Sunday.  I'm looking forward to the day when we can go to our normal 4PM Saturday Mass again.  The past several weeks have had us going at all different times.  As a creature of habit, these disruptions really upset me.

5. Thanks to Yankee Candle's semi-annual clearance sale I'm getting some of my summer birthday and Christmas shopping done.  Most people think I'm crazy for Christmas shopping in June, but I'd rather have it all done early than have to rush around when it cold out.

6. Other than the dog, I've never encountered a tick on a person.  Last night at Madeline's soccer practice Ellie and her little friends were playing near the woods.  One of her friends picked up a tick and the mother emailed Bryan and told him to check her for ticks.  She was checked twice and we found nothing.  Once I got in the pool with her this afternoon I noticed one on her neck.  I totally freaked out a bit and then called the pediatrician's office.  Bryan wound up removing it since it wasn't in too deep.  I now have to watch her over the next few weeks to see if a rash develops.  I'll be praying that the tick wasn't a carrier of Lyme Disease.

7. I'm counting the days until the end of Madeline's school year.  I'm ready to have the freedom to do fun things during the week.  I want to take the girls to the zoo and the beach before it gets too hot.  I'm contemplating letting Madeline play hooky one day this week.