Good morning! It's The Queen's favorite day! Have you filed your taxes? The girls really need to get their gear put away but I don't expect that to happen today. Dd15 has an ortho appointment this morning, dd17 has a chemistry test, and then they have music lessons this afternoon and their tutorial formal dinner/dance tonight. Coffee!

The girls had a great backpacking trip. At the trailhead yesterday a dog with a collar and tags came over to play with them and ended up hanging out with them the whole day. His name was Ollie and he was very protective. When they jumped in the river to swim a little he would jump right in after them and try to drag them out of the water. He also retrieved dd's waterbottle which had fallen out of her pack and started floating down the river. He also liked to hunt (and eat) flies and bees. He more or less stayed with them the entire 5 miles to their campsite but took off somewhere in the night and they didn't see him again. Hopefully he found his family - they said he seemed very comfortable out on the trails so possibly he knew his way around. There wasn't any cell service so they couldn't call the number on his tag. They were smoking it on the trail today. 9 miles in less than 4 hours. I would never have been able to keep up with them. #cautiousturtlehiking

I puffy heart love my upright freezer, may she live forever.

Good afternoon! You all need to stop distracting me with awesome tales and music so I can get something done before the girls get back and I have to go pick them up. Ds19 and I played for services this morning. I had to get up extra early to walk and potty the puppies since the girls are gone and ds28 is busy with a world gamedev event thing. But we made it there on time and then I realized I forgot to tell the music assistant that we had switched Sundays with the girls. But they were OK with that. Between services I was in the nursery and all 12 babies/toddlers were miraculously content. I had some leftover potato soup for lunch but I think Imma need more Coffee!

A squillion points!

10 seconds seems reasonable to me. 😊 By that time you know they haven't noticed.

Re: horn beeping. Is it a thing in your area to beep your car horn the split second the light turns green? I am experiencing this more and more often these days and it is so annoying. If a horn is beeped at me I will just sit there a good long while. Take a sip of water. Adjust my seatbelt. My kids have all been taught at driving school to wait two full seconds before entering the intersection. Oh yay! A Bad Driver Booyah! ITT Fight Song We are ITT a happy lucky posting family We are ITT Get up everybody and sing! Jean, 10/2020

Good morning! My brother developed an allergy to egg yolks a few years ago. I brought the girls to their crew backpacking meet-up at dark-o-clock and then stopped by Kroger and then the library and then Aldi and now I am finally home with Coffee!

I have 8-1/2 days to get through Jackie: Public, Private, Secret for book club. It is soooooooo tedious. I am just going to say it. The author is a terrible writer. I have read lots of long biographies that were well written and engaging but this one...ugh. He has written a ton of these biographies but I think he must be on the bestseller's list because people want sensational gossip, not engaging prose or well thought out writing. His editors should be given 100 lashes with a wet noodle.

Also Gandolf. And probably Rumplestiltskin.

I vote no on both.

Good morning! I went to a bi-annual women's consignment sale this morning mostly to see if they had anything for the girls and found a few things including a tumi laptop bag and a cute pair of Vans. So when I was about done I stopped to pick up a purse that had blown off its rack and as I was bent over a big metal trellis blew down and hit me directly on my head. Another lady was there and ran to get it off me and then to get the sale people who were Very Concerned over the incident even though I told them I was really fine. They got me a bottle of water and made some phone calls. And insisted that I would not pay for any of the items I was planning to buy. I'm home now with an ice pack on my neck. I'm not feeling any sharp pain or anything but I can tell my neck and shoulders are getting a little stiff so imma keep moving gently and hopefully avoid any major stiffness. Nothing else going on today. The girls are working on science tests and getting ready to go backpacking tomorrow. Ds19 has a cello lesson. Coffee!

There were no traffic jams on the way to orchestra rehearsal and it freaked me out just a little. Turned on the radio news to make sure the apocalypse hadn't gotten underway. I actually got to rehearsal on time! Also my stand partner's music was music I had used years ago. I recognized my writing. I don't know why I get such a kick out of that. It's like seeing an old friend 😁 We are playing some really fun music - Jurassic Park, Duke Ellington, OO7, and a few others.

What happened to all those babies!?! So grown up!

I've been listening to Green Onions by Booker T and the MG's. I imagine it's the kind of tune Junie's dad would have enjoyed playing. 😊

I made so many freaking phone calls. 🏆 Now my brain is tired.

Hula meets the Newsies?

Good morning! Our wi-fi isn’t working this morning and all of my Tech Support have left for the day. 😫 I drove the girls to tutorial this morning. Paid a couple bills. I only have one stamp left so I’ll either have to remember to buy stamps in the next couple days or pay online. Ds19 just left for work. Imma take Chester on his morning walk and then take a deep breath and start making phone calls. Coffee!

Good morning! Dd15 and I got up extra early for a 7am dentist appointment. Now we are back home doing schoolwork, walking pups, etc. I have string quartet this afternoon. Coffee!

Good afternoon! We are on our way home. Clap clap clap sob. 😂 Stopped at a genuine Texas Buc-ee’s which is at least twice the size of the one in Georgia. Marvelous bathrooms and good coffee. We recently took an unintentional detour when ds28 started driving and took the frontage road instead of the exit ramp and we spent several miles praying we’d make it out of Deliverence-esque Arkansas in one piece but we eventually made it back to I40. We are planning to stop by dd25’s house in The City That Must Not Be Named to swap howdies before our last leg of the drive home. Coffee!

Good morning! It's The Queen's favorite day! Happy Eclipse Day - clap clap clap clap! The traffic signs here are reading Arrive early Stay put Leave late Also they are apparently closing the bridges from Memphis into Arkansas at 10am and they will remain closed until tomorrow. Here's hoping things settle down and we can get home tomorrow. Coffee!

I was aWaco-ing. We had a fun afternoon visiting a bookstore and then walked to a nearby park for a concert and a really cool drone show. I'd never seen one before - it was super awesome.

Things are pretty quiet at the Soggy Dollar Bar.

Good morning! Yesterday we made paper lanterns at the local art center and then toodled around Magnolia a little, ran into Joanna's mom who was on her prayer walk, had some coffee while the girls did some swing dancing on the patio, then failed to find an open pickleball court and went back to Sister's house for dinner and a game of Code Names. I got a little bit more sleep last night once I kicked the whiney Sir Pups-a-lot out of my room and offered him a sleeping spot in the living room that he found acceptable. Cried for just a little while over having to deal with ds19's issues yet again and then finally slept. I'm using the keurig this morning because I discovered that the pot of coffee I made yesterday was made with coffee that expired in 2019. We'll probably be fine, right? Dd15 cut her foot on some cement this morning while chasing around with the dogs outside. We found a couple bandaids in the bathroom. We have a busy day planned with a concert, lantern walk, and drone show. Hopefully we can find an open pickleball court at some point. Coffee!