Casii's not as funny Top Ten List

In no particular order:
10. Celebrating Danielle's birthday in a big way up in MA where we
9. Went to Brimfield; an antique mecca market held 3 times a year. I saw more Jadite and vintage yumminess than my eyes could hold, but alas, prices were high, so I came home with little. What I did come home with, I'll show photos of when I get my oldest to reconnect the photo hookup (hear that son?)
8. I also introduced Danielle into the fabulously dangerous world of M·A·C Cosmetics. Bwahahaha! All is lost. Resistance is futile. This is lovely & amazing toys for grown up girls and I'm always ready to bring someone else over to the MAC side. She's a perty chick everyday, but the face fun brought out those features to make her smokin' hot. Hubby is going to be chasing them off with a stick soon!
7. Missing my daughters while they're in Cleveland for their mission trip. The thing is I know they'll work their hearts out painting, drywalling or roofing a stranger's home, but ask me if they put their dirty socks in the clothes hamper, will you? Love 'em anyway.
6. Hubby and I found a load of Fire King milkglass dishes at the thrift shop along with several 'tags still no' Ralph Lauren dress shirts. Total for this half hour of bargain hunting? $27
Honey, does this mean I can get the bigger Zune since I saved you so much money on clothes?
5. We have scads upon scads of pumpkins and gourds which are staging a coup against the tomatoes and herbs in the garden. I came home after a couple of trips and it's like Welcome To The Jungle in my backyard. Don't let small children or toy designer dogs out there because I will not be held responsible for what may happen.
4. I'm up to 30 minutes or around 5K of running now. Really imagine it as sort of a shuffle jog. Music is a MUST and also chanting the mantra "Quitting is not an option". I'm signing up for a 5K on September 1st. Serious runners, I know this is the baby race of all races, but fer real, I (me, myself and chubby I) think it rocks that I can run that long and that far, so put your marathon medals away and stop laughing. Baby racer may pass you one day, but I'm happy to have done this much.
3. My older daughter is only home for 2 days before she leaves on another mission trip to Mexico. I admire her heart and desire to serve others less fortunate. The selfish part of me can admit to being shallow and 1)wishing it were a pleasure trip with margaritas involved or 2)worrying for her safety in a foreign land.
2. My youngest daughter competes in the Jr Olympics soon and I worry about that one too. Don't get me wrong; I'm madly proud of her. But, she's a high worry, high stress little chickie sometimes. When she placed 2nd in state, she was really upset. When she placed 3rd at Regionals, she almost declared she didn't want to go to the Jr Olympics at all. My hope is that she will feel a sense of pride and accomplishment simply for having made it this far without worry of placing. It's a big hope, so tag along and hope with me. I'd hate for her little self to feel crushed.
1. One of my favorite stores in the LA metro area has gone online! Paris to the Moon and Paris Underground are a visual feast for the eyes. If I can't get there, at least I can check their website every once in a while to live vicariously. We bought the coolest 'thing' that will debut around October in the house when we were there. (deep, scary laughter here)

Stream of Unconciousness

First off, Creation was rock my socks off awesome! Talk about 25 of the best teens on the planet along with 60 or so melt your face off bands and Foxy Lady snowcones. I just don't know how we can top it next year, but I'm game to try. We laughed. We cried. We took ice cold showers. Got up at the crack of dawn to fight out the tarp wars and never got to bed before 2a.m. We jumped, moshed and basically were happy to look like fools. Dump cake, S'Mores, leaders with painted fingernails (and that wasn't the ladies), thunderstorms and stronger bonds. I say it each year, but I'm already jumping to go next year.

I was home for one day, then it was off to OK to go visiting all the parents and grandparents, aunts and assorted cousins. If you've never been to OK, I don't know if you'll find a bluer sky on the planet. It's just gorgeous. And the stars are incredible. Here we have too much light polution, so on the rare night when the electricity is out, you'll find me on the porch looking to the sky. In Oklahoma, every night is a starry night.

(my dad and daughters getting into trouble on some paddleboats. Mischief must've skipped a generation. Snort! Guffaw!)

And, it's a good thing I've been on the C25K kick because they fed us so much mouth-watering food, I might've had to shop for bigger clothes today. Fortunately, the whole thing worked beautifully. I ate. Ate some more and then had a little smidge more for good measure. Then I ran along a lovely country road, sometimes sharing space with jackrabbits, snakes and once, a skunk. The traffic was just right too. One morning, I think I nearly shocked a truck off the road. When he saw me, he swerved so hard, I was afraid he was a goner. I guess people on the road aren't as common as box turtles. Another time, I ran to a local park with my son which is time I'm always up for. Came home, down 2 pounds. Hey, works for me.

To be honest, running does help me make better food choices. I had whatever I wanted, just in small portions and never felt deprived. When you've put in the sweat time, dessert may sound better though when it's strawberries and angel food cake rather than Death By Chocolate cake.

This morning, I did day 2 of 28 minute runs or almost 3 miles. Music is a must and to get into the rhythm, I've learned a lot of people listen to angry, goth or electronica or emo rock because the beat is right. Much to my everlasting shame, DH knows I can put on some dance electronica and twirl around the house until I'm dizzy. I picked up some power rock led by chicks (Flyleaf and Fireflight) at Creation and some crunk rock by Family Force Five which have good rhythm for running.

DH and I also met up with several high school classmates since this weekend is our 20th reunion and we wouldn't be in town for it. Okay, what started out as a hot looking group of 80s teens have grown into super atractive, warm and mature adults. I'm proud of how so many of them have turned out and how they are continuing to turn out. We aren't done yet!

Before I left for Creation and OK, I had worked on a paint can filled with art supplies, junk food and spoil her rotten fun for a friend who will also be at Creative Escape this September. I hope it suits her style while still showing the CE colors to their full glory.

And I know Diana thinks I've flaked on the Deck of Me big time, but what I actually started doing was working backwards, doing 2 a week. This one was influenced by thoughts of high school since our reunion was in the works. One person who influenced me and of course, I had some great teachers, but one person who stands out among many who I still love dearly was Mrs. Tinch. Let's just say, she encouraged happiness rather than status and fostered an atmosphere of creativity for many of us who were fortunate enough to pass through her classroom. You knew it was high praise in Drama class if you made her cry or if you made her laugh in creative writing. And who better to teach psychology than someone who had a heart for teens when we surely didn't deserve it. Mrs. T, this one's for you.

Tomorrow it's off to MA for a solo, creative weekend with my sister from another mister. If we call you in the middle of the night, it's because we need to be bailed out for having too much fun! We're headed to Brimfield too where hopefully we'll be able to source out a few good artsy, vintage fun and fabulous goodies. My honey told me I'm a little annoying to be around I'm so excited!