A Dry Month? Hardly.

It has been 31 days since I posted.  Time flies like an arrow!  Fruit flies like my kitchen!  Well, a few of them do.  Just when I think they're gone, I see one.  Not millions...just one. Weird.

Lots of things happened this last month...

We had a sweet 16th birthday for Emma.  It was a mellow occasion marked with two friends, cake, and pizza.  They just wanted to watch anime and eat sugar and starch, and change into different costumes.  I tried to make an interesting cake, which was a double red velvet with chocolate frosting--yes, that's a full cake mix on the bottom square and a second cake mix for a two-layer circular cake.  With her are Miss E, her bestie from 4th grade, and another Miss E, her new bestie from high school.  New bestie decided not to wear her prosthetic in the evening...it gets heavy, she said.

I finally got my long arm back from the repair shop which needed something like $3,000 in repairs, all of which were covered by the extended warranty I purchased for $400.  Totally worth it!  I'd look it up, but it's dark in the room and I'm tired.  Maybe I'll look it up tomorrow if I think of it.

While I was waiting, I got a couple quilt tops finished and I need to start quilting them.  I'll have to find some backing fabric to finish these.


The school moved its annual Jog a Thon to the fall instead of the Spring, and it eliminated the fall magazine sale.  I like that.  I was getting so tired of foisting stuff on friends and family whose kids were also selling the same stuff.

I went to an SCA event that turned very rainy and muddy.  By the end of Saturday, the river had risen a couple feet and everyone was evicted from the site.  I hadn't planned on staying the night anyway--it's too late in the year to camp that close to the snow line.  My yurt is not Mongolian-winter-ready, which means I don't have it lined with a heavy wool blanket on the walls and roof.  Maybe someday, but for now, it's just canvas.  I have fleece that I can line on the interior walls, but I'd really need a roof liner to keep it really warm.

I got a picture of lovely Bekah by the river.  I don't know why so many of my photos are coming out blurry when it's set on 'auto'.  Ugh.  This is supposed to be a better 14 pixel camera and I'm getting lots of crap photos unless I'm standing absolutely still.  I've gotta find my red instant camera again.

They had an excellent food contest.  I love this pig!  SO cute!  And it looks delicious!  And edible!  Now this event's theme is "Banner War", and you can almost see the banner lying across the pig, but they have another event in the Spring called "Boar's Hunt", which this would be ideal for.  I don't think it'll keep 'til May...

Ben was enrolled in a medical study for a new CF medication.  This means several hospital visits, lots of EKG tests and blood draws.  He's such a trooper about it!  He will be well-compensated.  Since this is a short 2-week study, we'll be done in a few days.  There will be a long study probably starting in February, that he's likely to be enrolled in.  You can also see his feeding tube button, or as I called it, "Baby's First Piercing".  We have to pull it out and put in a new one every 3 months; he's actually due to swap out button now.

Bekah and I had a tea party last week, just for fun.  We made cucumber sandwiches, chicken salad on croissants, scones with jam and Devon cream, lox and cream cheese, turkey and swiss rolls, spinach salad, lobster bisque, and of course, tea.  It was a fabulous feast and I had leftovers for a few days.  Bekah folded the napkins all fancy, too!

Tonight we went out to celebrate Miss Cammie's birthday!  She chose the local Teppanyaki/Bennihana place as her restaurant of choice.  Because it was Thursday, Bekah joined us for dinner and a show!  Ben decided to fill in as chef...OK, this was at the end of the meal.  He really enjoyed the show, though it was sometimes loud and bright so he covered his ears.  He enjoys all the silly puns and juggling from the chefs, though.

I tried to get a sweet family photo, but Emma put up bunny ears on Cammie.  The camera, sadly, didn't click when I wanted it to.  This is the next frame, Cammie turning back and saying, "Heyyyy!" while Emma giggled.

Another attempt and Emma hid behind her book.  Ah well.  It's a charming photo of the birthday girl!

As for me, I've been coughing for at least a month since I had my cold.  I have inhalers and cold and cough remedies galore, but nothing seems to work.  Hopefully it'll clear up soon!!