Halloween

L dressed up this year as a skeleton bride, but told her classmates she was "Dead Princess Kate." Seriously. She came home for lunch and I helped her dressed. Her classmates were a little freaked out when they saw her creepy costume (notice the blood-spattered roses I created). I wanted to paint her face white with black around the eyes, but we tried it and she nixed it. It was in the low 50s today, but the school went ahead with the parade around the building. I was surprised L didn't wear a jacket. The little picture is L with her teacher's prize for "Most Creative Girl's Costume."

After school, she went to her neighbor friends E and B's house for a party that ended with trick-or-treating. She was goofing around before they got home from school and said one of the decorations hanging in their parkway tree was her "groom." They go all out on the decorations every year. Last year I took a few pictures. The decorations are similar this year, though they seem to keep adding to it. Here are the "newlyweds" dancing:

I love this pic I took while she waited on their porch. Pretty artistic, eh?:

Here's the whole party. I can't imagine trick-or-treating even half a block with a group this large:

L also went out trick-or-treating on her own after the party and with me for a little after dark. She got a staggering amount of candy. Not to be outdone, E and B went out trick-or-treating with their friends IB and IR and his sister M, who is in E's grade. They must walk fast because they ended up with even more candy than L.

Back in the "saddle"

I drove today for the first time since my surgery Sept. 13. When my hand was in the splint, the doctor said I probably could drive, but if I got into any kind of fender-bender and the other driver saw my splint, it would be my fault. But now, with my splint off, I drove to my physical therapy appointment. I did have Andy pull the car out of the garage for me. I can drive, but I haven't gone in reverse yet. Can't imagine that should be too much of a concern though. I'm so glad I have my wheels back!

Reaching my pinky

I was first able to stretch my thumb to my pinky last week, but today is the first time I've been able to do it consistently. Boy, does that hurt! I'd say that's progress from a week ago. Maybe my physical therapist will go easy on me tomorrow ... nah.

Haunted House

E had a busy weekend planning for the church's Halloween party and open house this evening. Friday she went with our youth pastor and her daughter to shop for decorations. Saturday, she spent all afternoon at the church putting the haunted house together and Sunday afternoon she was back there at 4 p.m. to set up before the party began at 6 p.m. I have to say the hard work paid off. The youth group isn't very big and the kids put on a great show. The haunted house was in the chapel and downstairs they had craft stations, refreshments and Bingo.

L's friend, L, (and one of E's babysitting clients) played haunted music on her violin.

Here's L playing Bingo for a chance to win some candy:

Special doughnuts

Today was the last day of the Oak Park Farmers' Market and Andy whipped up his end-of-season special chocolate glaze for the doughnuts the church sells. They also make one bag of chocolate batter to make the doughnuts, when normally all they sell is a regular cake doughnut. This year, Andy out-did himself and also made an apple cinnamon glaze. Both tasted good to me. Best news is that all the doughnuts sold this morning. It was a perfect chilly fall morning.

This afternoon we picked up August and Muffles from the animal shelter. They came through their operations with flying colors, but boy did they smell! Those shelter conditions aren't the best. We rode home with the windows open (and it was pretty chilly for that!). Andy and L gave them baths when we got home, but they still have a little odor to them. On the good side, they can't get enough of us petting them. I think they must have been pretty scared when they were away from us overnight.

Snip, snip

When Andy got home from work today we drove the kittens to the Animal Welfare League in Chicago Ridge to get them neutered. They'll be staying there overnight and we'll pick them up tomorrow afternoon. They looked so scared and meowed the whole trip. My curious scientist, E, looked up neutering and spaying videos on YouTube - not pretty. Amazing what people will post on there.

On on positive note, the doctor told me I no longer have to wear the splint. I have to continue with physical therapy and do stretches at home and I'm supposed to start using my thumb though I can't put any weight on it. At least I can type with both hands!

Varsity letters!

E's golf team had its end-of-the-season party tonight and E earned her varsity letters and was given the Most Improved Player award! The coach was telling us during dinner that she easily won it and shaved over 10 strokes off her score from last year. He's expecting big things from her in the coming year.

Her coach always gets emotional when he talks about the team at the party (one dad tossed him a box of tissues before he even began his speech) and this year was no different has he had to say farewell to six seniors. Here is the coach (with help from the JV coach, who said E is a "hoot") giving his speech:

Just a side note, we were at one of the girl's houses in River Forest for the party. It's on the market for a cool $1.4 million. Here's all the girls posing for a group picture:

She cracks me up

L brought home her school pictures yesterday and couldn't resist putting her face in her composite picture. Silly girl!

High school homework

Not sure what's going on in the OPRF science department besides, perhaps, a shortage of tissues, but E has had to make a project for her science class last year, and again this year, using a tissue box (full of tissues, of course).

For her chemistry class, she had to decorate all four sides of the box. For one side she was given an element (she had gold) and had to draw it as it appears on the periodic table, another side had to be a mole of some sort (her teacher has a huge mole collection) and the other sides were a science lab rule and what happens if you don't follow the rule. She had the most fun sewing the mole out of felt and attaching beads for its eyes and nose.

Quite an achievement

Today is the first time I've been able to touch my thumb to my ring finger. That should make my physical therapist happy. Less than a week ago I could only reach to my index finger.

Children's service

Today our church had a Children's Service. The kids did everything from ushering to singing to the scripture reading and leading responsive readings. E delivered the words of assurance and led us into the passing of the peace. L participated in the scripture reading. They both did a great job, as did all of the kids. They get a lot of public speaking opportunities in their schools. B sat by me, playing his DS but said he might participate if the do it again.

We were cruising along and I thought for sure we'd be done within an hour, but then the director if Christian Ed got up and started talking during the sermon to supplement the kids' five-minute sermon. After church we went to Goldyburgers for lunch - love their cheddar cheese balls!

PSAT and a crochet hook

E took the PSAT test this morning at the high school. Andy was at church doing donuts so her friend V's mom drove her. She had to be at the school by 7:45 a.m. with her ID, calculator and two sharpened No. 2 pencils. She has to wait until December to get the results. For the most part, she said the test was what she expected.

Tonight she let her creative side show by sneaking into Andy's workroom and chiseling a crochet hook out of wood. She's thinking about what project to tackle for her Girl Scout Gold Award and is considering doing demonstrations on "plarn," plastic yarn made by crocheting shopping bags together, and its uses.

No bandage

I think my wound has finally stopped leaking so I've started massaging my scar several times a day to loosen the skin. It doesn't look too bad, does it? A big improvement from this a week ago. I'm still peeling away dead skin, too. You can see bits of it on my index finger.

We rented and watched "Rock of Ages" tonight. It was pretty funny and we had a good time singing along with all the '80s songs ... and trying to guess which band performed each song. Alec Baldwin, Russell Brand and Tom Cruise in a single movie can't be all bad. Cindy would love this!

Cat as a Hat

It's not a cat in the hat, it's a cat as a cat. L loves playing with the cats and her latest trick is using Muffles as a hat. I think he actually enjoys it.

Success

The thumb and wrist exercises I'm doing are brutal. Here's my bit of success today - touching my thumb to my index finger. I'm trying to touch my thumb to each of my fingers, but so far, am only able to reach the index finger.

Here's how my thumb looks with the dead skin mostly gone. I'll start massaging the scar tissue probably after my next physical therapy appointment. We tried to start that yesterday, but it still bled a little. That's what the bandage is covering up.

Exercises

Today my physical therapist made me a new splint and gave me two pages of exercises to do six times a day to stretch my thumb and wrist. And I have to do each stretch 20 times. That's in addition to the finger exercises I need to do four times a day. I have to take off the splint to do the exercises so I guess that will occupy most of my day. Best part of today's appointment was when she wrapped my hand on a hot cloth for eight minutes. I'd like my whole body to be wrapped like that. She also straightened my splint so my wrist is no longer bent - much more comfortable.

E took her eye and permit test after school today. She missed two questions and passed. The teacher will send the tests to the Secretay of State's Office at the end of the week and her permit should arrive at the school soon.

Wow

I finished up a Bejeweled game after my church council meeting and got a new high score, just one day after my last high score. Course I have to give a little credit to B who was playing the game for awhile this afternoon and got five "swirly" balls to help me out.

Grossness

The doctor told me Friday that my skin would start peeling off and even though it felt dry I wasn't sure I was ready for that. Some started peeling away in church yesterday and I took off my splint today and tugged away at the rest. It did start to bleed a little so I probably shouldn't have pulled all of it off. I put a little bandage on it and it should be OK by tomorrow. If you blow up the picture (it's gross so I didn't want to post it bigger) you can see part of the stitches the doctor didn't take out, but that came off with the dead skin. Hopefully I'll be able to move my thumb a little easier now.

Another new high?

I was watching the Cardinals post-season game and got a new high score. I'm guessing it will be awhile before I top this one.

So relaxed

Anti-Homecoming Party

Tonight is the Homecoming Dance at OPRF, but E is attending a friend's Anti-Homecoming Party where they're sharing snacks and soda, watching movies and playing board games. L spent all day at the block party with her friends and took over some garlic bread for the potluck. We had to send B out at 9 p.m. to tell her to come home. B played video games (as usual) then took a break in the middle of the day to attend a middle school youth group meeting at church. Good thing he brought his friend IR with him - they were the only two boys there.

Progress

I went back to the hand surgeon today for a check-up. He told me I didn't need to wear the compression bandage anymore (yeah), or a wrapping on my hand. I will continue to wear a splint for at least two more weeks, but will get a new one made at physical therapy on Tuesday. I don't have to use the rubberband and hook anymore for my thumb exercises, but need to exercise it every hour on my own. He said the purphlish skin will fall off (or I can pick it off - ewww!) because it's dead and there should be brand new skin underneath.

Sick or tired?

E lasted the whole day at school, but came home complaining that her stomach hurt. She drank some orange juice and 7-Up, ate a graham cracker, then fell asleep for two hours on the couch. Her history teacher is giving his students another attempt tomorrow to take a test most of them bombed earlier in the week. However, to get in to take the retest you have to complete a written sudy guide. So after dinner E stayed awake and finished the study guide. She'll stay after school tomorrow to take the test.

Financial aid

Andy, E and I went to the high school tonight to listen to a presentation on financial aid. I have to say, I was surprised at how many parents of seniors were there. The speaker was a man who works in the financial aid office at Loyola University. We didn't think his talk was very informative except for a web address he gave out that calculates what aid we can expect. Let's just say it's a good thing we're good savers.

More ceramics

L brought home the rest of her creations from the after-school ceramics class that recently ended. She made a jack-o-lantern, a heart-based bowl and a fish.

Golf season ends

Today was the varsity golf team's last meet. They played in the Class AA sectional tournament at Coyote Run Golf Course. The top three teams - Hinsdale Central (scoring 316); Lincoln-Way East, 342; and Lyons Township, 344 - go onto state this weekend. The other teams were Naperville North 350; Providence 365; Mother McAuley 382; Oak Park-River Forest 382; Sandburg 383; Fenwick 400; St. Ignatius 408; Marian Catholic 414; and Oak Forest 424. It was a cold day, starting out at 35 degrees this morning. E said they stopped at McDonald's on the way to the course because there was a frost delay. E scored 111 and was happy with that. The top scorer on her team had 99.

Overall, E had a great season. Here she is before she left for the tournament. We celebrated by going out for dinner at Salerno's.

tp-ing

We got home from Tower Hill early this afternoon and E had an email from a girl on her golf team to come to her house before 9:30 p.m. so they could tp the homes of the two senior girls playing in tomorrow's sectional tournament. E was told to "bring toilet paper and wear black." It'll be interesting to hear what the seniors thought when they see the "art" tomorrow morning, along with good-luck messages written on the sidewalk with chalk.

A roaring fire

Andy and B perfected their fire-building skills this weekend. Last year we had beautiful weather but today I'm not sure if the temperature climbed over 50. It was cold so we kept a fire going in our cabin most of the time. Andy and B walked to the beach, but said it was too cold to stay long. The waves on the lake, they said, looked to be 5 to 6 feet high. E and L walked to the beach later with the other kids but they didn't last long either. I didn't want to trip and hurt my arm so I stayed inside and read "When in Doubt, Add Butter" by Beth Harbison. (Predictable so far, but readable.)

E made herself a bow and arrow and helped the littler kids make their own, too. Maybe she thinks she's Katniss from "Hunger Games"?

To Tower Hill

This is our annual church retreat weekend in Michigan. We had to wait for E to get home from golf practice, but made good time and got to Michigan before Redamak's closed so we had dinner there. One of the partners at Andy's law firm was there too, stopping for a bite to eat with his family on the way to their Michigan cabin.

We were surprised to see that our usual blue cabin had been painted green since we'd last visited. It was dark when we arrived so I had to wait till Saturday morning to get this picture.

Ceramics

For the last few weeks L has been staying after school twice a week tp participate in a PTO-run ceramic class, taught by the school's art teacher. L's last class was today and she brought home the first of her creations.

Regional champs

Regional champs? That would be the OPRF varsity golf girls!! Whoo-whoo!

Pete's

Andy left for Dallas yesterday afternoon and won't be back til about midnight today. Since I can't cook and E doesn't get home early because of golf practice, we heated up some frozen pizzas for dinner last night. Today I borrowed $20 from L so she and E could walk down the street and get us all hotdogs from Pete's. The restaurant is so close to our house, but I probably haven't eaten there in the last year. B stops by the most and it's always a destination when his friend, L, is in town.

A new high

Between thumb exercises and bad TV, I like to play Bejeweled on my iPod. Today I got a new high score (after 87.5 minutes of playing). It's been almost two months since my last high score.