Am I ignoring you all? Yup.

I think the two-plus weeks of really really hot weather is ending. I think. I hope. I commented to Martin that I hadn't remembered that one could suffer cabin fever in the summer. But that's certainly a good excuse for my mood as of late. If it cools down and I don't get a little nicer, I'll be looking into some happy pills. I wonder if a prescription for prozac is as easy to come by in Kansas as is is in Cali. . .

The dining room stayed clean for 90 minutes today.

We'll be heading to my parents' farm for the first day & a half of this weekend then back here for some friend stuff and a visit to Martin's mom. We are so enjoying being closer to family. It doesn't make up for how much I miss our L.A. friends though. I guess that's a void that can't be filled. Don't get me wrong, we've got some great friends here. I just wish I could have all of my friends all of the time.

I got new sunglasses. I feel much better.

A week between blogs? What has become of me?

School is well enough. The teacher immediately brought up Emily's attention span. I know they've singled her out as a former homeschooler, but really, it's two days into the school year. . .and it's 110 friggin' degrees outside. I'm sure she was the only one not paying complete attention. Yeah. But by the end of the week, all the papers that came back were perfect and the teacher wasn't talking much. Em seems really happy so we'll keep muddling along.

Yes, the weather here has been relentless. Pretty much 100+ for, like, ten days. No joke. The crazy weather folk are saying maybe somewhere in the 80s by next weekend. Whatever. I'll believe it when I see it. At least the a/c works.

My sunglasses broke today.

I found a See's candies! At the entrance of the newest Nebraska Furniture Mart (oddly enough 2 of the 3 stores are not in Nebraska) there is a "self service" store. (no custom boxes, no custom samples) but I take much comfort in knowing that a half-pound box of truffles is only a 15 minute drive away. And no, I won't settle for Russell Stover's. Never.

I bought some junk at the garage sale. But I also got to know Virgie and her granddaughter who lives up the street who is 14 and can babysit. Hooray! Might just have to bring her in on "Back to School Night."

What? Did she say Back to School? Doesn't she homeschool? What is she talking about?

Last Sunday, after more than a month of adamantly stating she "wanted to homeschool forever," Emily told us she wanted to go to the public school that backs up to our house. Yup. It started out because she wanted a new lunchbox, then evolved into thinking her friend Jennifer would be there (wrong school district -- her parents live in different parts of the city), then just decided that she really wanted to go. We had said that it would be her decision when we moved here because of the juxtaposition of the elementary school to our house. So this last week has been frantic with enrolling and shopping for clothes and supplies and making dr. appointments and finding a preschool for Isaac and . . . man, I'm tired.

In case you were wondering, no I don't think that public school is the best thing for Emily. But it will be alright Seems like a fine place. I'll be close. And if the experience sucks, she can always come back home. You can rest assured that I will not rest well tonight. Tomorrow school starts.

I think a spider bit my leg. This morning there were a series of bites resembling chigger bites (does everyone have chiggers or is that just a boondocks kinda bug?) on my thigh. I didn't think much of it because, well, I don't have any modeling shoots coming up in the near future. As the day went on they puffed up and became blisters. Cool.

Martin has been working this week. He's production on a commercial for KU Med Center. His mom spent a lot of time there as a nursing student. That has nothing to do with any of this. Just thought I'd entertain you with a bit of obscure information. Anyway, the kids and I are keeping rather busy, yet they continue to wonder why Martin isn't around. (me):"Dad's working so we have money." (Emily's reply): "So we can have new toys!" (my response): "No! So we can have a house and food!" I guess seven-year-olds don't quite understand the whole money thing yet.

Gotta get my rest . . . the neighbors across the street are having a garage sale starting tomorrow. Must buy junk. . . must buy junk.

Oh dear. . .I've gotten myself into something I never thought could happen. I'm on the Atkins Diet. I've always said that I couldn't be on it because I wasn't willing to cut so many things from my daily menus. Then Martin comes home from L.A. having lost several pounds after less than a couple of weeks on the silly plan. I was not sold. But I was really happy to have oodles of good meat in the fridge, plus cheese and fat. All of that plus my everyday starch and chocolate intake took a toll after only a few days. So instead of just watching what I was eating, I resigned to work with Martin so we can both drop a few. (we dieted together very successfuly a few years ago -- perhaps history will repeat itself)

So today is day three. And I'm crabby. I just had a hissy fit and abandoned the family to have dinner alone. I'm pretty sure my mood is nothing some See's and a glass of wine couldn't fix. Oh, how I miss See's.

Eleven years. One third of my life. Wow. I've been wearing my wedding ring for a long, long time. We "celebrated" yesterday. That means we went to a thrift store, visited Martin's mom then left the kids with her while we ran to Wal-Mart. Really, we were out of diapers. When we got home and all kids were in bed, I put on my jammies and kissed Martin good night. He followed me into the bedroom . . . and presented me with a beautiful anniversary ring. I'm not much of a jewelry gal, but this sure was a nice surprise. I've been contemplating getting him a barbecue light. Do you think he'll be thrilled?

The trip across Kansas was a delight. Six hours late at night over boring terrain. I managed to make no stops. Got there with fumes in my tank and a full bladder. I expected nothing less. The week was lovely. The weather co-operated (a bonus mid-day rainstorm for puddle jumping was a plus) and we relaxed while Martin dealt with the madness of the film industry on the west coast. We got home Saturday morning. Martin arrived on Sunday. It hardly seems like he was gone now that a few days have passed.

I think I'll look at my ring for awhile.