Semi-Wordless Wednesday: No, this is NOT an April Fool's joke

See this?




Do you know what this is? It's our microwave, back upstairs out of the basement and on the counter where it belongs.

Know why it's back upstairs out of House Showing Purgatory? (And yes, having to run down a flight of stairs into the basement to nuke something has been such a joy over the past three weeks, especially when the crazy cat tries to time her bowel movements to the nuking, so while you're frantically waiting for the timer to ding and your food to be warm, she's funking up the airspace from her litterbox a mere yard or two away.........)



'Cause..... WE SOLD OUR HOUSE this morning!



AND that's not all................



WE BOUGHT A HOUSE THIS AFTERNOON!



*faint*



Seriously, this has been the craziest 12 hours for us. You have NO idea.



More to come soon, including a tour of all the wallpapered walls we just bought......................

Well, I did say "24 hours" now, didn't I....

And those 24 hours of hell have apparently decided to go down fighting.

"Why Heather!" I hear you exclaim. "Didn't you go to bed hours ago, as soon as The Amazing Race ended, as per usual?"

Well, yes, I did plan to go to bed after watching one of my two favorite teams get Philiminated. I was in my jammies, in the bathroom, brushing my teeth and I heard Kiddo's door open.

Oh heck, thought I, PLEASE tell me she hasn't thrown up again.

Nope. Not barf.

"Mommy, my feet and ankles are SO itchy that I can't sleep and I can't stop scratching them!" says my poor, beleaguered child.

Indeed. I turned on the light in the hallway and I could instantly see the problem quite clearly.

Hives.

LOTS of hives.

EVERYWHERE from the top of her head to the soles of her feet.

Angry, red, worsening-by-the-second hives.

I immediately dove into the very-well-organized-now,-thanks-to-the-house-showing-thing medicine chest and pulled out a bottle of Benadryl. Uh-oh, not much left in this one. Poured her a teaspoon from the dregs of the bottle and gave it to her and then settled her back into bed and went downstairs to check the package insert info for the antibiotic Kiddo's been taking since Friday night. You know, the antibiotic for the sinus infection that was gooing up her eyes (so they'd crust shut - like the worst pinkeye you've ever seen, but not pinkeye) and her nose and face that were generally a disgusting mess... An antibiotic she's taken once before with no bad reactions. So, I pulled out the info sheet and whaddya know, hives could constitute a "severe allergic reaction" to this med.

Fanfreakingtastic.

I called up the after-hours answering service at 9:51. Well, *most* adults are still awake at this point, right? I mean, this isn't like I'm calling at 2 in the morning... Yes, I am rationalizing the decision to call the doctor to myself, don't ask me why. That's what they're there for, right? I explained the situation to the lady and she said "Oh YES, that is something the doctor will call you back for IMMEDIATELY!" Hmmm. I tried not to panic as I waited for the doctor to call back.

In doctor terms, as it turns out, "IMMEDIATELY!" equates to roughly 13 minutes. Not that I was counting. I used the meantime to go back upstairs and check on the hives situation. Still NOT good - even Kiddo's eyelids are hived over. I asked her questions to see if this is getting anaphylactic but she didn't report any itching in her mouth or throat and her tongue and lips weren't swelling. Finally, finally, the phone rings back.

It's Doctor Crotchety McGrump, he of the infamous Splinter Removal incident. Excellent. From the sounds of it, he went to bed as soon as Andy Rooney signed off, though maybe it's just that he always sounds that grouchy or maybe he remembers Kiddo, her volume level and her fierce kicking skillz. I didn't know and I didn't care. I gave him the rundown and he confirmed that yes, in fact, this does sound like a "severe allergic reaction" to the amoxicillin, even though Kiddo's been taking it for 2 days now. He tells me the hives could very well continue for another 3 to 4 days (!!) and she might also experience some swelling in her ankles, knees and any other joints (!!!) and I am to discontinue the antibiotic immediately (duh) and call the office in the morning for a new scrip. Oh, and I might have to add a second antihistamine to the Benadryl, too. I mused aloud about her returning to school tomorrow after hearing about all this and got an earful from Doc McGrump about how "Well, if she's itchy and uncomfortable, is she really going to LEARN anything?" Yeah, thanks for your two cents there, Doctor Spock. He does go on to suggest keeping her cool and lightly dressed and to use cool compresses as needed to help minimize the discomfort.

I hung up the phone and changed Kiddo out of her fleece jammies into a pair from last summer that were wedged at the way back of her pajama drawer. They're a little on the small side but not too tight, so we went with them. I got Kiddo re-settled into bed again (and by now the hives were abating a bit - at least her face was looking less red) and did a more thorough check of the medicine cabinet. Nope, those three drops are all we have left. I preceded to wake Hubby up to explain the situation, some of which he'd gathered from hearing the phone ring and my end of the conversation, and though he was dubious about an allergic reaction setting in two days later, he agreed to keep an ear out for Kiddo as I headed over to Walmart for another bottle of Benadryl.

Let me just pause in my tale of woe here for a brief moment to point out that even in my not-really-suited-for-going-out-in-public attire (stretched out, raggedy old yoga pants, a holey, oversized t-shirt that comes down almost to my knees, with a paint-spattered sweatshirt thrown over for decency's sake, blue crew socks I grabbed off the floor, beat up brown leather clogs and a sage green barn jacket to complete the ensemble), I was not the strangest dressed person at our local Walmart at 10:20 this evening. I didn't even rate a second look. Wow.

Anyhow, I grabbed a bottle of Benadryl and the other antihistamine too, since I was there. Of course I'll be back at a pharmacy tomorrow for Kiddo's new antibiotic, but whatever.

And here I am, home again, home again, jiggety jig. I'm totally wired now, and want to wait until it is time to give Kiddo her next breathing treatment with the inhaler (Doc McGrump said to continue that every 4 hours and that it might help with the hives, too) so I turned my computer back on and plunked myself down to whinge away on my blog.

In summary, OY!! Can this 24 hours PLEASE end SOON? I can't believe I'm looking forward to it being MONDAY. Bleargh! I just really, really hope that this reaction isn't indicative of a penicillin allergy, and instead was just because she's on a really strong dose (which was prescribed so she'd only need to take it twice a day, instead of a lesser dose 3 or 4 times a day). Penicillin allergies are a pain in the neck - I was allergic to penicillin as a kid but outgrew it, myself. So, fingers crossed this was an isolated incident and Kiddo is feeling much less itchy in the morning!!

/whinge

Not the best 24 hours of my life...

12:36am - wake up to Kiddo calling "Mommy! I was just coughing so hard I threw up on the floor!" Even less exciting than the call about middle of the night barfing was the knowledge that (a) we'd had pasta with red sauce for dinner and (b) we had two showings scheduled for today.

Got her and the floor all cleaned up, couldn't fall back asleep for the longest time. Woke up this morning (Hubby let me sleep in) still groggy and grouchy, spent the morning getting everything all tidied up for our two showings and vacated the premises. Hubby went to run some errands and Kiddo and I went over to visit some friends who had been kind enough to invite us over for lunch. After spending a delightful afternoon catching up with our friends, Kiddo decided to throw a class A temper tantrum when I gave her the two minute warning about it being time to leave. This devolved into a 35 minute long temper tantrum in the car for the entire ride home. Walked in the door and sent Kiddo immediately up to her room for a time out until it is time to head out for the next showing at 5:00.

At least Hubby and I had been heartened to know that Hubby had driven by our house about 20 minutes after the designated showing time and saw the agent and the prospective buyers standing in the driveway talking. They were there, talking in the driveway, for another 15 minutes before they left. That sure seemed like a good sign, right?

Nope. Our agent's assistant just called to tell us that the showing agent couldn't get into the house because the front storm door was locked. As in, the door that is outside the front door with the lockbox on it. So, they never saw the house (but apparently didn't call our agent or Hubby certainly could've been home within 5 minutes to let them in!) and now, our agent isn't sure that they want to reschedule and come back.

Now, that door was locked by one of two people - either me, because if the inside door is open, I tend to flip the bolt on the storm door, or Kiddo, because she likes to play with the lock on the storm door. So, Hubby can very clearly claim self righteous anger over this latest development. I certainly am blaming myself entirely anyhow for not thinking to check the damn storm door before we headed out this morning. So, I'm pissed at myself, Hubby is pissed at me, I'm pissed at Kiddo who is persisting with the obnoxious, argumentative behavior. Outside, it is pissing down rain on top of everything else. Just need the cat to piss on the bed for the cherry on the sundae of my day! Yeesh!!!

Oh, and by the way, I hate the word "piss" and never use it, ever, but right now, it just fits my mood. I'm in a pissy, pissy mood. Grrrr.

I was so hopeful about the two showings today, and now I blew it for one of them. Damn. Well, I'm off to build myself a doghouse in the back yard and go crawl into it until our next showing.

Happy Blogiversary to me!

Well, I'm sooooo close to my 300th blog post (!), which I'd thought I'd easily manage to time to fall on this, the one year anniversary of my blog. Then, Kiddo came down with what appears to be one nasty case of viral pneumonia (we've been to the doctor and had a chest x-ray, but beyond an albuterol inhaler - Kiddo's first - there isn't a heckuva lot that can be done for her since it is just the World's Most Persistent and Annoying Virus and therefore cannot be treated with a nice, strong antibiotic to knock it out of her system quickly), and my week just got away from me. Dagnabit.

So, post number 299 is going to have to suffice as the official Blogiversary post, but I'm going to postpone any serious partying until after all members of my household are healthy again. Stay tuned for that, and also for the upcoming debut of Carma's personal video. I've got the lyrics done, and just need to get my singing voice back enough to record the video. It's gonna be good, I think! *eyebrow wiggle* In the meantime, do me a favor and pop by Carma's blog and give her some comment loving, to help make up for the fact that this video is taking forever to get done. (And hint, hint - my Belated, Big Blogiversary Bash will very likely include another video giveaway...)

Now, as my blogiversary proper is today, I feel like I should do something to mark the day. I've decided that to celebrate the occasion, I will feature my first-ever guest blogger! Since she's home with me, that guest blogger is none other than my very own Kiddo. (Hey, the choices were either her, Crazy Cat or the Evil, Fat, Carny Fish. Trust me, you want neither fish pee water splashed upon you with a flourish, which is the best Swimmy could manage, nor a hairball gacked upon you, which is Crazy Cat's forte. I'd gladly have had George Clooney or Eddie Izzard or Hugh Jackman or perhaps Alan Rickman reciting an ode in my honor, but sadly, none of them returned my phone calls or emails or tweets. Humph.)

Here, therefore, is an interview about me (I mean, after all, this is my blog) as answered by Kiddo. I got the questions from an interview that's been floating around the blogosphere and Facebook as well. (On a side note, has anyone noticed the sudden explosion of memes and the like over on Facebook? It seems to be happening a lot more over there now, and I don't think it's just that I'm noticing it more with the really irritating new layout they've got going on...) Okay, here goes, ladies and gentlemen, please welcome Kiddo!

1. What is something your mom always says to you?

“You are my Bug of Love.”

2. What makes your mom happy?

When I scratch her back. When Daddy comes home for family dinner. When I listen to Mommy and Daddy and to my teachers at school and have good days.

3. What makes your mom sad?

When I whine and when I have temper tantrums and I kick her.

4. How does your mom make you laugh?

Playing jokes on me, like hiding and surprising me. Also, when she tickles me. When we are having Opera Day and she sings in a silly voice.

5. What was your mom like as a child?

Mommy was the same as me. She was a funny kid, and a silly kid and a smart kid.

6. How old is your mom?

37. (Ed note: At least she got my age right and didn't say 73, like she did at church on my birthday.... And yes, I am a little bit afraid to do that "What's Your Real Age?" quiz over on Facebook, as I'm a little nervous it will tell me I am, in fact, 73 and not 37.)

7. How tall is your mom?

12 inches tall. No, wait, she is 130 inches tall, and Daddy is 131 inches tall because he is taller than Mommy.

8. What is her favorite thing to do?

Help me and play with me.

9. What does your mom do when you're not around?

Mommy feeds the cat and the fish, cleans my room and gets treats for me.

10. What is your Mom very good at?

Mommy is very good at Mario Kart Wii and catching me.

12. What is your mom not very good at?

Making omelets, Mommy burns them.

13. What does your mom do for her job?

Taking care of me. And Daddy. And the cat and the fish.

14. What is your mom's favorite food?
Raspberries, ice cream and Cheez Doodles but NOT pepperoni!

15. What makes you proud of your mom?

When Mommy wins at Mario Kart Wii.

16. If your mom were a cartoon character, who would she be?

Belle, because Mommy looks like her and because Belle likes to read books all the time and so does Mommy. Also, Alicia from Diego because Mommy loves animals and would rescue them.

17. What do you and your mom do together?

Play together and sing songs and have Opera Day.

18. How are you and your mom the same?

We have the same eyes and we wear glasses and have brown hair. We are both silly. Our whole family is silly! And we both like to sing.

19. How are you and your mom different?

Mommy has black glasses and I have pink glasses. Mommy is a grown up so she is the boss, and I’m just the kid. When I’m a grown up, I’ll be the boss but I’ll be nice to everybody.

20. How do you know your mom loves you?

Mommy gives me hugs and kisses and takes care of me and calls me Bugaboo.

21. Where is your mom's favorite place to go?

Disney World or New Jersey!

Well, what can I say? Kiddo has been sheltered from my love of all things George Clooney, also Las Vegas and Hawaii. So, I couldn't really expect her to say "George Clooney's Italian villa" or "Vegas, baby!" or "Hawaii - or alternatively, some lovely Caribbean isle..." And it is sadly quite true that I have zero skill at making a decent omelet. I cannot flip/fold an omelet without making a horrific mess and it does usually wind up burning. I am hopeless at omelet cooking. I can fry a mean egg though - sunny side up or down - and I make killer scrambled eggs.... well, nobody's perfect, right?

So, there you have it. My first ever guest blogger for my first ever Blogiversary. It is hard to believe that it has been a whole year since I first dipped my toe into the blogosphere, with nary a follower or a comment or blogging community. Now, I can't imagine my life without my blog and the blogosphere as a whole! I am so glad that my little blogging thing has led me to discover so many wonderful folks out there around the world, and I plan to celebrate that as part of my Belated, Big Blogiversary Bash. (Like I said, stay tuned!!) In the meantime, germ-free, great, big, giant, squeezy (((hugs))) to you all!

This, that and the other...

A few miscellaneous updates to share, for those of you who might be interested.....

I hab had a bad code dis week. I can't breed thru by doze at all. If it weren't for the mighty power of Afrin Nasal Spray and the sleep assistance of that magical elixir Nyquil, I'd probably be dead by now. Well, okay, not dead, but a heckuva lot more miserable. As it is, I just have that lovely, peeling-skinned, red nostril look I always seem to sport when an infection sets up camp in my sinuses. As if having dry skin everywhere else wasn't bad enough, now my nose is looking like my heels. Ew. I wonder if I could use a Ped-Egg on my face......? (Kidding! Heck, I'm too skeeved out to get a Ped-Egg for my feet, and they *need* one, too.)

In house related news, we're having an Open House on Sunday afternoon. Well, not us, but our real estate agent. We'll be clearing out with the cat in tow. I bought a bottle of Comfort Zone with Feliway spray with which to liberally spritz her carrier before cramming her in there. Crazy Cat is not overly fond of either her carrier or car rides, so it should be a fun Sunday afternoon drive for us. Hence the spray - we have a Feliway diffuser in our bedroom (aka the site of Crazy Cat Peeing on our Bed to Express Her Displeasure at Any Number of Things) and it seems to have an effect on her, so I figured why not try the spray for the carrier - can't hurt...

We also have a showing scheduled for this afternoon, so I'll be doing my usual mad cleaning on my already ridonkulously clean house today, then collecting Kiddo from the bus and taking her across town to the only mall with a Stride Rite in our area because it seems that she has outgrown her sneakers yet again. Though I shouldn't complain, as she's been in this pair a lot longer than usual. (Um, it may well be she shouldn't have been in this pair as long, I will freely admit to being a Bad Mommy if it turns out she needs like a 13 and I've been obliviously stuffing her toes into her 11.5s.........) This will be our third showing and the house has been listed for 10 days now - guess that is pretty good. Of course, the first two showings didn't result in any offers, so it doesn't count unless the showing turns into something. This is why I'm baking cookies to set out for the Open House - someone had done that for a house we looked at earlier in the week. We didn't like the house but the cookies were definitely a nice touch (and tasty!) (What, I had to take a cookie - don't you think it would've been rude not to have one?) So, hopefully something comes out of the showing and/or Open House and we have an offer soon. It'd be especially nice as we've made an offer on a house and had to make it contingent upon us selling our place. Being able to remove that contingency would be quite nice. We should be hearing back annnnnny minute now on our offer, so I'm having a mini-heart attack every time the phone rings in between my frantic blogging - erm, I mean cleaning.

And speaking of Kiddo and her ginormous feet, I had a conversation with her physical therapist this morning. She called to give me the results of Kiddo's annual (re-)evaluation. The wonderful, terrific, spectacular news is.......... *drumroll please* ............. Kiddo has caught up on ALL her gross motor delays! *wild cheering* She'd had moderate to severe delays in balance, locomotion and other skills ever since, well, ever, and now, after three years of year-round, twice weekly PT, she is average - the same as every other kid! WOO-HOO!!!!!! The therapist is not recommending a complete discharge, as she wants to keep a quarterly consult in place to monitor Kiddo's range of motion in her legs. See, Kiddo has a tendency to toe-walk thanks to her SPD, and consistent toe-walking leads to shortened heelcords, which leads to limited range of motion.... so, even though Kiddo has shown improvement in her gait (she walks "heels down" a lot more than on her toes these days, only needing cuing to put her heels down now if she's really ramped up about something) and her heelcords flex to neutral and beyond (yay!), the therapist wants to keep an eye on things over the next year, hence the quarterly consult. No more actual PT though, which will be quite a change for Kiddo! Of course, she will still be needing OT for the indefinite future, since it is integral to her success with everything (school, life....) with her SPD, but still, to test out of PT is huge. Yay, Kiddo!!!

In other earth-shatteringly important news, what are you guys thinking of this season's American Idol? How about America's Next Top Model? Any favorites? I have to admit, I'm a solid Adam fan for Idol (even picked him, along with Danny, to be the final two in my annual Idol pool), and I really enjoyed his take on Ring of Fire. I do like Danny, too (I also like Lil and Megan), but when he did Jesus, Take the Wheel this week, I kept flashing back to a different performance of the song that I liked a whole lot better. See, one of my friends from high school was on that show Clash of the Choirs a while back, and one night during that show, she was the soloist on the same song as part of Patti LaBelle's choir. I had goosebumps from watching Liimu's performance back then, and still enjoy it now. Take a look for yourself and tell me what you think...............



See? Liimu was awesome! I'm not saying Danny was terrible or anything - I am a Danny (or is it Robert Downey, Jr?) fan - but I couldn't get Lii's version out of my head the whole time Danny was singing. And anyhow, I want Adam to win it all. (Not saying I'm positive he actually will win, but I'm rooting for him.)

As for ANTM, my early favorites are Fo, London and Celia. Also? I really do not think Allison is pretty at all. Not even Tyra's beloved "pretty-ugly" pretty, either. Her big eyes in that teeny-tiny head just freak me out. Seriously, she reminds me of the guy sitting to the right of Beetlejuice:



except, of course, with blonde hair. *shudder*

I'd be remiss if I talked about reality TV without mentioning The Amazing Race, which is just like the Best Reality Show EVER. (And not just because of Phil Keoghan, either...) This season, I'm completely rooting for Mel/Mike and Luke/Margie and cannot wait for Victor to be eliminated, because he drives me craaaaaaazy! Even his voice makes me cringe - I don't mind his sister, really, but since she's his teammate, then she has to go, too. Everything about Victor is just so ewwwww. I also drive Hubby nuts with all my endless comments about how dang SHORT the stuntmen/brothers are. It just cracks me up and I can't stop mentioning it when they're on screen - especially when they're on the mat and Phil is looking waaaay down at them. And isn't Phil just so awesome with his signing for Luke at the mat? Phil rocks!!

On another celebrity-related note, I was very sad to read the news about Natasha Richardson's untimely death after a skiing accident this week. It hits close to home for Hubby and me, you see, because twelve years ago, a good friend of ours also suffered a traumatic brain injury while skiing. In his case, he went off the trail and headfirst into a tree, and when he was brought in to the level one trauma center, the neurosurgeons said that his was the worst injury they'd ever seen where the patient wasn't DOA. The good news in this story is that he survived (it was a long road to recovery for him, including several weeks in a comatose/vegetative state) and he is still with us today (as well as his wife and two adorable daughters). However, his livelihood as he knew it (he worked in radio) is gone forever, and he has had to adapt to life in a wheelchair with pretty significant limitations due to the paralysis caused by his injury. Whenever I hear a story similar to our friend's, or Natasha Richardson or Sonny Bono or any other person who hits their head while skiing, I always ask the same thing - why the heck aren't helmets mandatory for skiing? I know they don't help in high-speed injuries, but still, they could help in lower-speed injuries, and any protection has to be better than none at all. I just don't get it. (And yes, I would wear a helmet if I went skiing again, which I actually haven't since our friend's accident. I'd make sure Kiddo and Hubby did, too.)

What else? I feel like there was something else I wanted to blog about, but now I'm drawing a blank. Huh. Oh well, I can always blog about it later once I remember what the hey it was. And Carma, I promise I'll do your video as soon as I can breathe well enough to sing again (also, from a vanity standpoint, as soon as my nose no longer looks like Rudolph with peeling skin)! I'm coming up on the big 300th post....... will it be the one in which I announce news of houses being sold and bought? Stay tuned!!! In the meantime, if you have any suggestions for a song I ought to download for my iPod, throw 'em at me! I need some new tunes on there, and I've still got the iTunes gift card Hubby gave me for a Christmas stocking stuffer burning a hole in my pocket! And by "new" I don't necessarily mean a new song, just something I don't have on my iPod already. I mean, if you've got a favorite that you rock out to from way back, tell me - I love older songs (most of my iPod is full of songs from well before the 90s!).......

For example, Kiddo and I frequently jam to this one while driving 'round town:



So, new tune, old tune, showtune, any tune you enjoy, you name it and I'll give it a listen! Thanks!

Phriday Photo Phun - Happy first day of SPRING!?!

The flowers that bloom in the spring, tra la!
Breathe promise of merry sunshine —
As we merrily dance and we sing, tra la!
We welcome the hope that they bring, tra la,
Of a summer of roses and wine,
Of a summer of roses and wine.....





And that's what we mean when we say that a thing
Is welcome as flowers that bloom in the spring.
Tra la la la la,
Tra la la la la,
The flowers that bloom in the spring!





Happy First Day of Spring! Don't you love the shots above, of all my gorgeous bulbs and flowers, thriving in the gentle, sunshiny spring air? And look at my beautiful back yard this morning, on this, the day after the last day of winter.........





For comparison's sake, here is a shot I took of the back yard exactly one week ago:





*sigh*


Spring is sprung, the grass is riz, I wonder where the birdies iz?




I'm pretty sure Mr. Robin was thinking "WTH?!?!?!?!" as he promptly flew away. (Headed, no doubt, for the more tropical environs of the mid-Atlantic or southeastern states...) See ya in a couple more months, Rob!


I shouldn't be surprised, though, that spring has brought us more cold and snow, even after warming up well into the 40s and 50s for the past several days and making us hopeful for an end to the freezing and the bundling and the huddling under fleece blankets (though, alas, not a Snuggie) with the windows shut tightly against the chill, I mean, this is upstate New York, after all. Just two years ago, this was Kiddo hunting for Easter Eggs one fine, April Sunday morning:





And yet, waaaaaaaaah!!!! I'm ready for spring for real, man! For windows open and fresh air and flowers blooming and trees and bushes and lawns greening up and short-sleeved shirts with spring jackets and sneakers instead of sweaters under winter coats and boots...........................

in Just-

spring when the world is mud-

luscious the little

lame balloonman

whistles far and wee

and eddieandbill come

running from marbles and

piracies and it's

spring

when the world is puddle-wonderful

the queer

old balloonman whistles

far and wee

and bettyandisbel come dancing

from hop-scotch and jump-rope and

it's

spring

and

the

goat-footed

balloonMan whistles

far

and

wee

PS - want to play along with the Phriday Photo Phun?
Pop over to Candid Carrie's for the Phiesta!

Oh Danny boy, oh boy, oh boy

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

.....and the winner is.....

Okay, all you all who have been on the edgiest of edges of your seats, the wait is finally over! I did a highly scientific tallying system (using pen and paper) to make sure every commenter that had a second entry got their fair number of entries. (This was necessary as some folks especially messed me up with the nonsequential comments. You'll recall, I have nary a wit nor marble, as any previously in my possession are chillaxing with my autographed dreamboat pictures off in the storage unit...) Then I went over to Random.org as Kiddo is already long since asleep (thanks to an afternoon of fresh air and "scootering" as she calls it, along with helping Hubby do some early-season yard work - anything to improve curb appeal, eh?) and typed in my numbers. And the winner is..............




Number 11, who by my careful, highly mathematical and scientific method, is

Carma!

Carma, I'll be dropping by your blog a lot in the next few days to come up with ideas for your song/video that will undoubtedly include the ever-dreamy Alec Baldwin and possibly the Garden State. I will beg for your patience in this video-making process, with a twofold excuse: (1) the house showing stuff means I have to abandon my computer for unknown stretches at a time (NB - is it wrong to lurk in the neighbor's bushes and spy on the folks checking out our house? Shoot, I thought so...) and (2) having a whole day of fresh air inside and out (yay for almost-Spring and open windows) has rendered me incapable of breathing, much less singing. I'm Rudolph the Red-Nosed Allergy Chick right now. So, I will get my blood levels of Claritin up to a tolerable percentage and then belt out your very own, customized, full of pizazz and possibly jazz hands song and create a video just for you very, very soon!

Thanks to all who entered. If you're terribly, horribly distraught and devastated that you weren't the lucky winner, take heart! My blogaversary and 300th post are both coming up in the next few weeks, maybe I'll do another video giveaway for one of those Very Special Occasions!

In the meantime, please think good thoughts on the house hunting thing for us; we have an offer in that they're supposed to respond to by tomorrow at 10 (Hubby thinks they may just not respond - isn't that rude? Or is that how it goes if you don't like an offer, you just ignore it 'til it expires?) and we had two showings this weekend, so maybe, hopefully one of those showings turns into an offer for us.....

Off to make some nachos and watch the Race that always Amazes - woo-hoo!

Oh yeah, right, the Spring Fling giveaway results.....

Oooookay, the video giveaway winner was supposed to be announced this morning, which I totally would've done if we hadn't had our first showing set for today, which meant that instead of hanging out on the computer, figuring out who had how many entries and then determining a winner, I spent the morning racing around like a crazy chick and making sure everything was all spiffy and sparkly and shiny and spotless.

Then, this afternoon I had to chauffeur Kiddo to a birthday party and then we had to hightail it out of here for the showing, and then after the showing was over, we had just enough time to get home and get Kiddo bathed and fed when her grandparents came over and Hubby and I went out. As in to socialize with other adults, no kids, for an evening. Seriously, I cannot remember the last time this happened, so I was pretty much running around like a crazy chick to get ready and go out and not giving my blog a second thought.

And now? Now I'm back and it is past my bedtime (I came home first - yes, I am *that* socially pathetic that I took a separate car because I knew I wouldn't be able to stay up/out as late as Hubby) and I can barely type straight.

So, that's my great, big pile of Clofu - erm, I mean excuses - for why I didn't pick a winner yet.

I promise I'll get to it by tomorrow night. If I'd made it easier, I could've done it tonight but folks actually followed me so that gets an extra entry and after playing poker all night, my brain cannot do any more complex math (what? I'm the big blind? and the blinds just went up? How many red chips does that mean I need to throw in? Is an ace high or low? ) (Okay, seriously I'm not that bad, I do actually know my way around a poker table, I'm just trying to gain sympathy for my lameness at breaking the rules I set for announcing the winner.) (Maybe it would be better if I just threw myself on the mercy of all the other parents out there - we had the chance for a NIGHT OUT, with OTHER ADULTS, with FREE BABYSITTING, even. I mean, come on, that's enough to make anyone's head spin, right?)

So, by tomorrow night, the winner will be figured out with the lovely assistance of either Kiddo or Random.org - whichever one will cooperate better at the time. I can't promise an announcement any earlier tomorrow because we've got another showing at 11:30 so we're going to have to make ourselves scarce again.

And there you have it. Hope everyone's having a great weekend and stay tuned for the big announcement (I mean, you're all on the very edgiest edges of your seats, holding your breath right now, right?) tomorrow night!

Um, I love George and all, but I think *this* is even too much for me...

Check this out. I don't even think I would want to eat that. Well, maybe if it meant we'd get a buyer for our house..........

Speaking of house news, Kiddo and I are off to meet Hubby and look at our #1 house choice again (saw it this morning) and then discuss offers with our agent, AND we have the first showing of our house set for this Saturday afternoon. Things are moving along, hopefully quickly, smoothly and positively!!!!