So.

I sure am a blog slacker. Where to start?
Me. I am back to work and feeling about 60%. For some reason, my hips are KILLING me. The surgeon doesn't seem to want to acknowledge or associate this with my back issues. Whatever. I made him write me a scrip for physical therapy. It's helping. A little. Then I got my other doc to write a scrip for a TENS unit. THAT is amazing. Except for when Jeffe gets his hands on it, puts it on his wrist, cranks it up and watches his muscles twitch. He is so goofy. Anyway - my dream is that SOMEDAY I will be able to sit down on the floor with my child without yelping in pain, and get up without first shifting to a four point position. LOL. Work is pretty good, our new unit is beautiful. The patients fluctuate in levels of crazy. Lately - we have had a ton of pseudo seizures on the floor. Newsflash people - I've had seizures. I know what they look/feel like. When you have a "seizure" every time a family member enters the room, or can answer questions during your "seizure".....it's NOT a seizure. The most annoying part about this is the family members that go all hysterical yelling at us to "do something", when there is nothing to be done. How do you tell them that Susie is faking a seizure for attention?!

Jeff. He is one busy boy. This school thing is all consuming, and he is getting very annoyed with it. After going back to shift work, he had grand plans for a back patio. So far, all he has had time to do is reroute the sprinkler system so that the plants and grass will die where he wants to lay stone. Poor guy. He is so great with Anika. On the days that I work, he entertains Anika like no one else can. He has taught her to swim, and do a somersault. They go to the gym, the park, and the zoo. She absolutely adores her Daddy - and on days like today, when he is working - she just wants to go to the fire station and see him. Which we will. Now the not so happy stuff - well - it's not bad....just daunting. Gustav. Silly hurricane. Jeff leaves at 0630 tomorrow morning for a Texas Task Force deployment. Katrina kept him away for 10 days. Stupid Cat 1 Dolly kept him for 7. If Gustav fires up as is expected - we probably won't see him for at least a week. Sigh. But he signed up for this - and loves it - and gets paid pretty well. Thank god the Pea starts school next week though. When he was away for Dolly - we nearly drove each other to the brink of insanity. LOL.

Ah. My favorite part. The Peanut. She is absolutely hilarious these days. Her personality just doesn't stop - and she says the most random things. The other day - "Mommy - it's bloody hot in here.". Her imagination has taken off - we spend the days going on trips around the house, via airplane, train and car. It's pretty damn funny. But exhausting. She started dance classes last week; tap, ballet and tumbling, and so far, she loves it. She pays very close attention to her teacher, and tries really hard. It's great. Tuesday, she heads back to Noah's Ark preschool - this year she is going two days a week - and will be in the Bunny class. Sadly - only three of her former classmates are in her class. I have no worries about her making new friends though. The kid doesn't meet a stranger.

Random. So I bought a new phone the other day. Thought I was ultra super cool and got an AT&T Tilt phone, What an awkward, heavy, retarded piece of crap. Seriously. I could barely figure out how to make a phone call on it. Needless to say - I took it back. Decided on an iPhone. Jeffe loves his, and I figured he can tweak it for me. So I go to the Apple store in Southlake. Way cool store. Anyway - I pick my phone - I had a choice of black or black. Guess which one I got? ;) Friendly Apple guy begins the process of activation. "I need the last 4 of the Tax ID or SSN on your account...". Should be a piece of cake - right? Not so much. 10 years ago, the FWFD union had a deal with SWB, or Cingular, or whatever the hell it was. Keep in mind - this was when not every human had a cell phone. They opened the account for us under the name Fort Worth Firefighters Association, Jeffrey S. Novak. That was when I got my 1900 number. Since then - the agreement has become defunct. I have had to dance like a maniac to make any changes to my plan, or phone - because it is a "business" account. Without a Tax ID. One was never put on. Soooooooo. Apple can't activate my phone. AT&T is insisting on a TAX ID to even CLOSE the account. The union is not particularly crazy about handing out their tax ID. I was so frustrated yesterday that I just said "screw it" - and added a line to Jeff's phone. Thus the new phone number. THAT shouldn't cause problems. So my question is this. AT&T won't let me close the account. There is no TAX ID or SSN - sooooo - if I just quit paying on the 1900 number, what recourse do they have?

Well - that's all I have. Some recent photos for your viewing pleasure.