Mid-week chatter

It's National Vanilla Milkshake Day  . . . . so this is the version I'm having when I get home.  I'll probably double up on the liquor though.

Deb W.

Halve the ice cream and milk, then double the Kahlua and the chocolate for me please.

Oh, and skip the cherry. I'll take a fresh ripe strawberry.

FrisbyPI

How's Riley doing? 

Thanks for asking!  She's doing well.  Preschool ended last week so she's a little bummed she doesn't get to ride the bus everyday.  We decided to keep her in the preschool program again next year (she intellectually could move up, but socially still struggles do to her cognitive delay) so she'll get to do a double stint in preschool but from what everyone says, its the best thing.  She won't turn 6 until the end of the school year so it won't be that big of a deal.

She speech is doing much better, but her cognitive skills still aren't where they should be - but have gotten significantly better.  There are a lot of times she doesn't understand more complicated question so we are still using very simple sentences ("bring book to Momma";) - last year she didn't even understand that.  We are definitely happy with her progress this past school year and hope for more next year.  He summer speech therapy started today.  It's with the same woman that diagnosed her last year (the wonderful woman that saved us).  She told Todd she will be sending us a write up tonight so I will be interested in what she has to say, especially since she hasn't seen her since September!

She's having her surgery on her knee this Friday at U of M.  Its more like a surgical procedure and we may not even have to spend the night - depends on her reaction to the general anesthesia.  I am happy about that since I wasn't looking forward to sleeping on a cot LOL plus all the other reasons that go with it.  I am just hoping they are able to get enough of the fluid out and enough of the steroids in so the leg will stop growing so fast.  Otherwise I am going to have to put a brick on her head to keep her down LOL 

We had her legs officially measured and the right is 1 1/8 inches longer than the left - all since January!!!  Success rate for this procedure is 50% so we have a good shot.  If it doesn't work she will have to take steroids weekly (injections) and that has a 95% success rate.  I just hoping for her little system's sake it doesn't come down to that.  Being Catholic and all I am sure there is a patron saint of arthritis I can pray to!

 Probably a longer answer than you were looking for LOL

 Here is a picture of her this past memorial day at my MIL/FIL's place up north.  You can kind of see the difference between the two knees (the one on the left of the picture is larger) but it is subtle enough that you probably couldn't notice if you weren't trying to find it.

iluvjamison

It's National Vanilla Milkshake Day  .

MMM Yummy, thanks for the reminder......I think Sonic is having 1/2 price shakes today in celebration of the 1st official day of summer. It wont be near as good as the one your having but allowable at work and Sonic is right next door :)

I cant believe how big Riley is getting.  She is so very pretty and I love that smile.

Paige I think I would like that class, sounds like lots of big dogs to hug and smooch on. 

Deb, I saw something about it being vanilla milkshake day, and I wondered if you'd have a specialty drink lined up for us!  Those photos look scrumptious, but I'd like a bit more chocolate in mine, too, please!

Jackie, I hope your husband's colleague is going to be okay.  What a shock for everyone.

Lisa, that photo is adorable -- love Riley's big grin, and your in-laws' place looks spectacular!  I think it sounds great that she'll have another year in pre-school.  It'll give her even more time to continue building a strong foundation for her future learning, plus it'll be another year with a routine/location that she's comfortable with.  And to be a tiny bit older when she goes to Kindergarten has to be good (I'm not a parent or a teacher, but it seems like it would be best if a child has that advantage of additional maturity - even a few months of age makes a difference I'd think).

Well, this is a rare day when I'm enjoying nicer weather than many of you seem to be having.  We've got sun, but no humidity, and temps will reach 80 or so later this afternoon.  I'm meeting a friend at our favorite frozen yogurt place after work today, so we'll be sitting at their outdoor tables, for sure!

 Riley is just precious, Lisa!  Allie has a similar problem with her legs, but it is due to her clubbed foot, and the tendons not growing at the same rate.  One foot is a bit bigger than the other, and they have to buys 2 pairs of shoes in different sizes for her.  Gosh, I hope they even out a bit, or she doesn't become a gal with a shoe fetish! 

Riley says thanks for the all the compliments  

Marty - poor Allie.  At least I don't have to buy two pairs of shoes for her every time.  Bad news though, since she's a girl she will probably have a shoe fetish regardless LOL

cakana

Well, prices have finally started dropping here too but they're still that much or higher.

Finally!  For quite awhile we've been over $4 while it dropped in the rest of the country and the reason (so they said) was that a couple of our refineries weren't up and running.  This morning I paid $3.89 which is a big improvement over a couple of weeks ago.

It's supposed to get up around 100 today and then slowly drop to 79 by Saturday. This has really been a strange month for weather fluctuations.  Last Saturday it hit 105.  I have to drive out to Travis AFB tomorrow because my military dependents ID card is about to expire and I'm not looking forward to that trip.  It's about 45/50 miles west and the traffic is usually a nightmare. At least this time I made an appointment so hopefully I won't be hanging around there for a couple of hours.

Joyce

Lisa, I hope the surgical procedure goes smoothly for Riley and that it works.  She's got the best smile, ever, and that picture is adorable. :) 

I really feel for those of you with the unusually hot weather.  We expect it and though it's not much fun, it's not like we aren't used to sweating for the next three months. 

Tracy, I'm glad you're finally getting a nice weather day.  Enjoy your frozen yogurt outing. :)

The hornworms have arrived on our tomatoes.  The plants are just about played out anyway but still have lots of green tomatoes that we hope to harvest. If you've never seen how fast they can strip a tomato plant of leaves, it's really amazing. :(  DH is good at finding the hornworms and was squishing them on the patio.  The dogs were eating them.  Yuck!  I told him to not squish them where the dogs could get them as I have no idea if they might be harmful. The dogs acted like they tasted delicious. lol  I'm going to save a few to give to some kids I know to raise into hawkmoths. 

Gas prices here are around $3.29 lately.  I saw one station with $3.19 but had just filled up the day before. :(

They just said on our local news last night that average gas prices in Oregon are dropping -- but they're still a lot higher here than most other regions of the country.  I think we're around $3.75 or so.  I honestly don't keep track of it because I can't control the prices and I'm not willing to give up driving, so I just pay the going rate.  I have a short commute to work and few activities that take me out of town, so it could be worse on my budget than it already is.

Jackie, those hornworms sound disgusting!  It's funny to hear you say your tomatoes are about done.  I don't have any this year, but from my experience, we'd have nothing but blossoms and maybe some green fruit now.

I meant to say in my earlier post that I hope Riley's surgical procedure goes well Friday.  Keep us posted, Lisa!

That milkshake looks absolutely delicious!! I'll take one or two please.

My car is sold *happy dance*. It only took 8 months from the time we bought the SUV but we hadn't put much effort into it either.

DH saw a hawk swoop down and grab a baby bird earlier and what seemed to be the mom and dad trying to fend it off :'(.