Now that I am eating food again, I thought I should post my before and after pictures before I look like the Before picture again!!!!

Little Erin made it safely to Alabama. She did have a problem with her transfer ticket. Luckily she noticed that the ticket the lady gave her was for someone named Sarah who was not going to Alabama. So much for Dad's trick!! Luckily Erin is a pretty confidant kid and was able to take care of it. I haven't heard from her much which I guess is a good sign. She called last night and talked to me for a minute and two seconds. I think I got 32 seconds of her time this morning. I feel like a teenage girl sitting by the phone all day waiting for that special boy to call. I keep looking at my phone just to make sure it is working properly. Maybe Erin doesn't need her mother as much as her mother needs her. I still give her trouble about when she went in for surgery this May, Dave and I both said, "I love you Erin." She was already doped up and she mumbled, "I love you dad." WHAT???? Aren't I the one who went through hours of labor and sat up with you at night when you were sick??? WHATEVER!!! She's lucky I still like her dad, if we were divorced I might be a little jealous, OK, maybe a little MORE jealous.

Ryan seems to be singing a happy tune since little Sybil left the state. I noticed this morning he had a little more pep in his step. I'm sure one of his other sisters will step up to the plate and continue the torture and abuse now that the head bully has left the building. Shannon's friends are all starting to get their drivers licenses, Shannon turns 16 in November. She has only driven twice and the last time she drove(which was 9 months ago) she quit in the middle of a parking lot. She said that dad doesn't give her enough time to process direction before he yells at her. I'm not sure how much time was actually needed to process the word STOP but apparently she was a little slow on following his command. They both say they are never riding in a car with each other ever again and Shannon says that she and I quote "hates dad." I am thinking of putting an ad in the paper for a driving instructor position. Wanted: Driver instructor who possesses the ability to give direction with ample time for a stubborn red head to process the information before she can either, turn accelerate, use turn signals or stop. Would prefer someone who can change the radio station 53 times per minute and not yell at her when she drives erratic. I would be willing to pay top dollar for this position. When Erin leaves for college she loses her ride to school. She is looking at a 27 mile bike ride on the highway, her book bag may get a tad heavy.

Homecoming Friday night turned out fine. When I got home from work, Erin and Shannon were screaming at each other and the house was still a mess. I said "Shannon, what have you been doing all day?" She looked at me like I was incredibly stupid and said, "my hair." Oh I'm sorry, I thought you invited half the class to our house for pictures, I must have been mistaken. She decided now would be a good time to start vacuuming. Around this time the rest of the kids were coming home from school, Kelsey had to leave right away to meet her coach to go out of town on her soccer trip and Ryan decided to not clean his room and stand directly on my last nerve the whole time I was working on Erin's hair and make up. We were able to throw the house together pretty quickly and get everyone ready. I swear I have this whole hair and makeup thing down to a science. By the time Maggie is in high school, I can do it in my sleep.

We had the Powder Puff football game the next day. I think it is fairly safe to say that Erin/Sybil is the worst Powder Puff football player in the history of the school. Two Juniors blazed right past her and scored touchdowns. She did look awfully cute in her pink tights though. That evening it is a tradition for the Juniors to tee pee the Seniors and vise versa. We don't have trees in our front yard so I figured that we were OK. Well maybe not...... Unfortunately for us it rained. We have six daughters, toilet paper is like gold in our house. Had it not rained, I considered re-rolling it and stocking up!!

Erin left today to go visit Spring Hill College in Alabama. She has never been on a plane before so this is quite the adventure for her. Dave took her to the airport. She doesn't have her ticket yet, I bought it through Priceline and they just gave me her itinerary, she has to get the electronic ticket when she gets there. It was kind of like the blind leading the blind, sending her with Dave. He called me to tell me that she made it to her gate and they didn't have any problems. He said that she will have to do it on her own on the return flight. He said "Don't worry, I gave her my trick." I said, "Oh God, what is that." He said, "I went up to the counter, acted really stupid and let the lady do it for me."

Lauren called me yesterday, she is on like her fourth week of medically induced menopause. She said that her hot flashes were so bad last night that she took off all of her clothes and laid against the brick wall in her dorm room to try to cool down. I am so thankful that she doesn't have a room mate.

I turn 40 tomorrow, why, why, why. So much for losing 40 lbs by 40. I came close, I lost 38 lbs. I could either go buy a box of EX lax and reach my goal, or spare myself the time in the bathroom and say 38 lbs is close enough. With the kids back in school, soccer season is in full swing. I haven't had time to breathe, much less cheat on my diet. Tonight is the homecoming dance for Erin and Shannon. They had spirit week all week. One of the days was raid your mothers closet day. What a fun idea. I don't hold on to things so my closet doesn't have too many out of style items. Erin and Shannon both wore Rick Springfield concert T shirts to school. It almost brought a tear to my eye. Last weekend Rick Springfield was in town. Of course I had front row seats. I spent the week prior, tanning and shopping for that perfect outfit and new push up bra. Some kids never grow up. I have added a picture above of my favorrite 60 year old. Dave asked me before the concert if his outfit looked OK. I laughed and said, "do you really think I will be looking at you? I could care less what you wear."

Kelsey is leaving to go out of town today at 3:30, she is in a midwest regional league for soccer and they travel all over. She is an orphan on most of her soccer trips, we aren't going. I think I will stay home and relax. If not, I might rush home from work at 3:00, clean the house real quick. Pick all the poop off the deck because the dog is too lazy to walk down steps. Do Erin and Shannon's hair and make up for the dance, and put on a happy face when the 30 kids and their parents get to my house for homecoming pictures. I then may drive a group of kids to the restaurant and then rush to Ryan's soccer game. Then I will pick up the kids from the dance at 11:00 because my kid that can drive can't possibly drive a group of sophmores home, she is a senior after all.Tomorrow starts with 4 soccer games before 10, a powder puff football game and a barbeque for a friend. It looks to me I don't have time to turn 40, I guess I will just stay 39.