I had a sick child all weekend. Well, I still have a sick child - not that you could tell it by the way she’s acting. She’s still her regular ornery self, but she’s got fever, runny nose, cough, and a rash that only occurs with the fever (which is apparently pretty normal). Three days with a fever (off and on but still…) is where I drew the line and decided to take her to the doctor’s office this morning (which, by the way, is the first time she’s ever visited the dr’s office because she was sick). He pronounced it a cold and told me that spring and summer illnesses tend to produce higher fevers than winter illnesses, which was quite surprising to me, although if you think about it, it does actually make sense.

So, we’ll keep checking the temp and give her Tylenol as needed and hopefully it will go away soon! Nasty virus. Stop hanging around my kid!

It was kind of a bummer, though, that I finally felt pretty much back to normal and was looking forward to singing at mass and I had to stay home with a sick kiddo. But that’s the way it goes sometimes!

I have two more doctor’s appointments for myself this week. Just what I wanted to do. Spend three of five days sitting in doctor’s offices. Yay.

Other than that, I’m rereading all the Harry Potter books from the beginning - one after the other and watching the movies after I finish each book. I wonder what it will be like (even though I know the ending) to read them all together without two year breaks in between waiting for the next book?

I have to say that even though I’m not really someone who reads books over and over again, I’m really enjoying rereading Harry! I think these books will definitely stand the test of time and be considered classics one day.

And did you hear about the Harry Potter theme park within a theme park that will be opening up at Universal’s Islands of Adventure in Orlando in 2009? That might actually be enough to get me to make my first trip to Florida someday…lol!

Sorry this is so late! Little Girl was sick last night and it distracted me so much I forgot to post this!

66 uses for vinegar

This hasn’t happened to me yet *knock on wood*, but my husband has dropped his phones in various and assorted liquidy solutions. Here are some great tips on how to save your cell phone or other electronic device if it goes in the drink. (Or the paint bucket) via Parent Dish

Don’t have a lot of extra money to go on a date with your honey? Well, here’s a list of 20 fun dates for under $20 each. The great thing about most of these is that you don’t have to do a lot of planning and most of them are kid-friendly if you want to take the kiddos with you!

Usually I have nothing to put on my Christmas list. But this year? Tons! Like this cute little rolling herb mincer! Want! One!

Four rules of composition for landscape photography

I’m all about simple and fast when it comes to cooking: 101 Simple Meals Ready in 10 Minutes or Less. via Parent Dish

101 Safety and Childproofing Tips for Parents via Parent Dish

Posture is the key to health? via lifehack.org

Two ways to make chores just a little more fun.

50 Frugal Blogs via lifehack.org

I think this might be the cutest french fry holder ever!

Snacks under 100 calories

10 ways to burn extra calories

If cupcakes are the perfect food (and they totally are), then this is the perfect cupcake.

A novel concept: allergen-free peanuts!

Pretty recipe of the week

Tip of the week: Rashes are common in small children who have fevers, so don’t necessarily freak out. (This was a new one for me!)

It wasn’t Friday the 13th, but it may as well have been…

Not only did the news helicopters crash into one another, but late last night a Phoenix police officer was fatally shot trying to apprehend a forgery suspect.

It was a very sad day in our city for law enforcement and the media and, well really for everyone, because these are things that affect us all in one way or another.

I think the thing that stood out the most to me yesterday was that during monsoon season in the Valley, news coverage tends to be all monsoon all the time and very little else, but yesterday even the monsoon got pushed aside as all the local television and radio stations covered a tragedy that involved four of their own. We are lucky here that, even though we live in a big city, there are a lot of slow news days. Unfortunately, yesterday was most definitely not one of them.

The day started out on a promising note: I made an appointment with a new PCP for next week so I don’t have to go through that whole “you have to get a referral - how do I get a referral without a PCP” issue again. I made a follow-up appointment with my cardiologist. Then LG and I went to the library to get her prizes for the summer reading program and check out some new books. And even though I drank only about a quarter of a half liter bottle of water, I think I got rid of about 2 liters this morning. The water weight is coming off quickly. In fact, I’m back down to my starting weight. However, if it wanted to keep coming off, I could definitely live with that.

But then…then I got a breaking news email in my inbox. And it said that two local news helicopters had crashed over the central part of the valley while covering a high speed police chase. Two news photographers and two pilots perished in the crash. So very tragic and so very sad. News reporters have to report tragedies all the time, but it must be incredibly painful and difficult to report the loss of their own colleagues in such a horrible way. My thoughts are with all of them.

Oh, hi! Yes, I’m still here. I have actually been able to participate in vacation bible school this week and it has worneth me outeth a bit. But, the good news is that my energy levels are slowly starting to go back up. And also, I’m losing like a ton of weight. Now this would be a realllly great thing if it was “real” weight and not just the water weight that I gained when on the medication (that is a diuretic and therefore “theoretically” makes it impossible for it to make me retain water and YET, every time I go off the medication, I lose weight, so whatever) and from the lovely saline IV they had me on all day when I was at the hospital. Fourteen pounds of water weight I gained people. FOURTEEN. I’m down past where I started when I went to the hospital (which in one day ALONE gained me 5 pounds) and headed back towards where I was when I went on the medication.

I’m also trying this new thing called NOT OVEREATING all the time. It’s a novel idea isn’t it? I’m not really going on a “diet” about what I’m eating at the moment - just how much I’m eating. I mean, I figure since I barely ate anything the day I was in the hospital (even though I gained FIVE pounds of fluids - did I mention that?), I should take advantage of the shrunken stomach and not overfill it. I’m doing really well with that, actually, and I think that in itself is a positive step forward.

Oh, and there’s also that whole “can’t eat chocolate” thing. *sigh* Oh well, I’ll live. I have my caffeine free cocoa and I’ll just make myself frosting or brownies or whatever when I need to and all will be well. (Or that’s what I’m telling myself anyway.)

So, yeah, that’s what’s been going on this week. Bible School in the morning and come home and collapse in the afternoon.

Oh, and I’m rereading the first Harry Potter book. And taking notes to see if I can catch all the clues. Because I’m totally geeky like that.

I do not want to inadvertently spoil this book for anyone and I can’t get the comments to work on the Pages for who knows what reason, so I’m going to put the post up right below this one, but I’m going to password protect it so it won’t show up in the RSS feeds. If you want to join in, the password is: dumbledore

I can’t believe I’ve been doing Surfer Sunday for half a year now! Thanks for all your supportive comments…on with this week’s links - although it’s kind of a short version because of Harry Potter! More next week, I promise.

How to photograph your pets.

I am always on a quest for a way to make perfect hard boiled eggs.

Pretty recipe of the week

Tip of the week: If your garbage disposal is smelly, put in some lemon peels and ice. Run cold water and switch on the disposal. The lemon helps to remove the odors and the ice sharpens the blades.

I finished the book in less than 24 hours. Yes, that’s pretty much ALL I did today.

No spoilers, but there was a part where I was crying and LG came up to me and said “It’s okay, Mama, it’s okay” and gave me a big hug and patted me on the back and said “All better now!”

When I got close the end, I had to put her to bed because I knew I’d probably be crying a lot and there was no need for her to witness that!

Anyway, very tired and I need to process (there is so very much to process I might have to read it again more slowly), so I’ll try and put up a page tomorrow if anyone wants to discuss!

Look! Just look at that counter over there —>

It’s finally on zero. Amazing. When I put it up, it was in the hundreds. HUNDREDS. Now it’s on zero.

It seems around the internet, the thing to do today to talk about how you got started reading Harry Potter, so I guess it’s my turn. I was teaching back when the first book came out and even though I saw it in the Scholastic book order forms, I pretty much ignored it for the first few years. But it didn’t go away, and I finally decided to see what the fuss was all about, so I bought the first book and took it with me on my first trip to England in 2000. I devoured the book on the airplane and in the hotel room when I had time to read and by the time the trip was over, I had to have the next two, and so I bought them in a bookstore in the airport when we were getting ready to come home, so I have the British versions where a sweater is called a jumper. (Took me awhile to figure out why on earth everyone was wearing jumpers since a jumper here is nothing like a sweater…lol!)

By the time I finished the next two books, Goblet of Fire had come out and I bought it in hardback. I was well and truly hooked. Order of the Phoenix came out when I was on vacation in Northern Ireland and I bought that one at the airport in Belfast, so I actually have the British versions of 3 out of the 7 books.

I am looking forward to this last book with great anticipation and with great sadness. I always hate endings and when you have to say goodbye to characters like these, it’s exceptionally hard. But, I will be able to introduce my little girl to them someday and hopefully she will love them as much as I do.

Other than Star Wars and Harry Potter, I can’t really think of any pop culture phenomenon that has taken such great hold of the world. I’m sure something else will come along someday, but not for awhile I don’t think.

In the meantime, after I get the book tonight and until I finish it, I’ll be going on a media blackout to try and prevent the nasty people in the world from ruining the surprises the book has to offer. I’ll probably still be checking email now and then, but mostly I’ll be reading the book and saying my goodbyes to Harry, Hermione, Ron and the rest of the gang. (Surfer Sunday should be posted as usual, though!)

And to J.K. Rowling I want to say, thank you thank you for not only getting kids to read, but for writing books that parents could share with their kids and enjoy as much, if not more, as their kids do. Thank you for sharing your gift. I look forward to seeing what you do next!

HeartSongs out. For now.

Note to self: Do not buy tickets in the upper deck to concerts and/or any other events when you are taking a squirmy 2 1/2 year old with you.

The squirming…oh the squirming…

This was our view…

Mike and I took LG to the American Idol concert tonight, but we ended up leaving at the intermission. Why? For one thing, LG was making me a nervous wreck because she would not sit still and the upper deck is very very steep at Jobing.com Arena (stupidest name ever isn’t it?) and I was terrified she was going to go tumbling. Mike wasn’t all that comfortable with her acrobatics either, and he’s not nearly as paranoid as I am. But honestly, if that was all we were dealing with, it would have been one thing. The other reason was that the mix was so horribly horribly bad (at least where we were sitting), that I couldn’t understand a word they said when they talked and I could barely figure out what songs they were singing. I couldn’t hear the harmonies or the nuances of the voices and it was very very disappointing. And I will be writing to the venue and the sponsor tomorrow to voice my displeasure. To me there is absolutely no excuse for crappy sound. I’ve been to several concerts in my life, and sat in many different parts of the many arenas my town has to offer and I have never EVER experienced sound as bad as the sound was tonight. Yes, I’ve heard bad mixes before, but at least I could understand what the artist was saying or singing. It was really very disappointing. Marlene and her daughter were sitting in the lower part of the arena, and I really hope the sound was better there. When the sound is so bad it destroys your enjoyment of an event, well, that’s bad. Loud is one thing, unintelligible is another.

Blake ended the first half with a three song set of his own including “Time of the Season” and his own wonderful rendition of “You Give Love a Bad Name”. LG stopped squirming when Blake was on stage and wanted Blake to “picka up!” (pick her up). But the best part was when he was talking between songs and she was saying “Hi Blake!” over and over again. All the people around us were cracking up. It was totally cute. She was ready to go flying down there and onstage with him, I’m telling you.

I will say, though, that when Blake was doing “You Give Love a Bad Name”, I really loved it. He is an amazing entertainer, and he actually made me forget that the sound was making me irritated for a few minutes. It was awesome.

I’m sad that it was disappointing - I was really looking forward to the show and hearing them showcase their talents. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying that it was their fault in any way, shape or form, because it wasn’t. The fault here lies totally with whoever did the sound (probably a local company). And that’s a shame. At least we didn’t have to pay for parking (which, considering how far we had to walk to get to the arena from the parking lot, is a darn good thing).

At least she enjoyed the fountains outside the arena when we were leaving…

Wow, I’ve been pretty long-winded today haven’t I? Anyway, that was our night. How was yours?

To those of you who are planning to read Harry Potter this weekend, please oh please don’t post spoilers in your blog entry titles, and if you put them in your posts, please oh please warn people so they don’t read them accidentally.

Please be kind. I will set up a separate page that does not show up on the RSS feeds when I’m done and comments will be open there for those of you who want to discuss.

But until I’m done reading, don’t even drop hints. I DO NOT WANT TO KNOW!!!!

And trust me, I’m not the only one!

Be kind. Don’t spoil it for other people!

I was 21 when I met Mike, which is almost 20 years ago now. Not long before we met, he met Joe, who played guitar and sang at a local bar and ran an open mic night. Mike was a 22 year old keyboard player and hung out with Joe watching his hands for the chords and following along.

One night, the bar owner said he was going to bring in bands on the weekend, so Joe asked Mike if he knew a drummer. He, of course, did, so he called Bill and lined him up for the band, and Joe brought in Jordan, another guitar player who often came to the open mic nights. Then the bar owner (as bar owners tend to do) changed his mind and decided he only wanted duos and trios, so their little thrown together band basically said eff you and went to find another gig. Which they did. At another bar not too far down the road. And that bar was the first bar I ever stepped a foot into in my life.

It was around this time as well that one of Joe’s friends brought back a friend of his from California, a 6′4″ Irish Mexican with 3 1/2 teeth named Rodrigo, who played flute and sax, and who joined the band as well. Rodrigo was a great big teddy bear with a toothless grin, a ready laugh, and a lot of talent. He was also a heavy drinker and other things that I won’t mention here. But man, when he sang…it was like velvet.

Mike still gigs with Joe and a couple of other guys now and then at the bar Joe owns, but he rarely sees the other guys, even though we’re still in email contact with Bill. We haven’t seen Rodrigo in years. Not since the band did a reunion gig at Joe’s bar.

Mike got a call from Joe today. Rodrigo is in a local hospital in a coma due to complications from cirrhosis of the liver. And he’s most likely not going to make it. Mike is off to the hospital to say goodbye. I kind of wish I could go, too, but I’ve got to rest for our outing tonight and stay with a little girl who desperately needs a nap before said outing. So I told Mike to say my goodbyes as well.

Mike is melancholy and sad, and who can blame him. So am I. If you want, say a prayer, light a candle, whatever you do, that his end comes peacefully.

Adios Rodrigo. Vaya con Dios.

Mama, take this badge off of me
I can’t use it anymore.
It’s gettin’ dark, too dark for me to see
I feel like I’m knockin’ on heaven’s door.

Knock, knock, knockin’ on heaven’s door
Knock, knock, knockin’ on heaven’s door
Knock, knock, knockin’ on heaven’s door
Knock, knock, knockin’ on heaven’s door

Mama, put my guns in the ground
I can’t shoot them anymore.
That long black cloud is comin’ down
I feel like I’m knockin’ on heaven’s door.

Knock, knock, knockin’ on heaven’s door
Knock, knock, knockin’ on heaven’s door
Knock, knock, knockin’ on heaven’s door
Knock, knock, knockin’ on heaven’s door

Update: The doctor called me back and said as long as it wasn’t too much of an issue, to try not to worry about it, but that if it caused me worry or anxiety, to go ahead and go to the ER. I’d rather avoid that to be honest, but we’ll see. He also said he was rather worried about me with the ASD issue and the mitral valve issue. Don’t know if that’s good or bad. *sigh*

Vacation Bible School started today, but without me. I’m still not feeling all that great, and this morning I woke up short of breath. I have a call into the dr’s office, but of course, they haven’t called me back yet. *sigh*

I don’t expect to feel perfect, but I’d like to at least be able to breathe on a regular basis. That would be nice. So we’ll see.

LG and her Papa went to VBS and when Mike brought her to tell me goodbye she said “I need Mama!” She’s not used to going to church without me. She was pretty clingy Friday night and Saturday as well. And she’s been exceptionally cuddly since her daylong stay at Grandma’s on Friday without either mama or papa. Poor kid. She’s not used to being away from both of us for that long, especially me. At least I feel loved. ;)

Of course, after she got back from VBS she wanted pretty much nothing to do with me. Typical. Oh well, I know the truth. ;)

So, not much to update other than that. Hopefully I will start feeling better soon, because 1) I’m sick of feeling like crap and 2) this week is full of fun activities that I’d really like to participate in. So, let’s get over this already.

A picture is worth a thousand words. Okay, maybe a hundred in this case, but still…

This is a really wonderful article about ways to help kids who worry that I wish I would have had when I was a teacher to give to some of the parents. (Hint, hint, Rochelle, save this one for your file!) via sk*rt

I freely admit that I’m a gadget lover, and that I probably have way too many gadgets, but with as much garlic as we dice around here, this is something I could really use!

Here are some great ideas for summer birthday cakes.

Did you know there are foods that make you smarter?

23 ways to save on groceries

Here are a bunch of fun ideas to celebrate Harry Potter or ideas for planning a Harry Potter party. And to top it all off, some Harry Potter recipes.

We’ve never taken our pets on vacation, but if you do, this is the site for you! via Lifehacker

Pretty recipe of the week

Tip of the week: I always wet the thread when I’m trying to thread the needle, but sewing blog BeSewStylish suggests that you wet the eye of the needle instead. Something to do with the capillary action of the moisture. Who knew sewing could be scientific? via Lifehacker