You know how to tell Biker Witch is my sister????

So on Saturday, I asked Biker Witch to drive me to a MRI because the plan was to clamp down my head and shove me into a tube for an hour for a brain scan. Yeah, like that’s going to happen while I’m completely sober or, you know, conscious. I can barely handle boarding a plane, walking down those tight aisles with people crowding in front of, and behind me, makes me break out in a clammy sweat. Being shoved into a tube?

Hell. No.

I pulled out my old friend Xanax. I had some left from the last time some doctor decided on this brand of torture. I’d put it in the back of my cupboard and forgotten about it. Saturday, Xanax and I got acquainted. Biker Witch loaded me up in her car and off we went. The MRI went fine. The nice people there strapped my head down, pulled a white plastic looking-cage over it, and pushed me into the machine that was louder than a jet plane for roughly half an hour.

The good news is that while I was in there, I couldn’t hear the tinnitus. Or a bomb going off in the same room. A fire alarm could have sounded and I wouldn’t have known (or cared, thanks to Xanax).

Then I was pulled me out, some glow-in-the-dark juice injected into my veins, and rolled me back into the noise tunnel. I stayed calm, still, and kept my eyes closed, mostly because I only planned to do this ONE TIME. And then it was over. I got a copy of the MRI on a CD and then Biker Witch and I had lunch and came home. I won’t get the results until mid next week, but using my medical degree from UGI (University of Google Images), I scanned the files and didn’t see anything particularly scary like a big tumor. I was also able to determine that yes, I do have a brain in my head

Now we’ll wait and see if the radiologist and specialist agree with my medical assessment.  NOTE: This was just a necessary precaution. I don’t want to make the MRI sound dramatic. There’s only an extremely slim chance there’s anything worrisome going on, we just had to do it to rule things out because of the way my symptom presented.

So back to my question at the top. Do you know how to tell Biker Witch is my sister? In payment for doing this for me, she demanded I gave her my freshly baked chocolate chunk cookies. Only my sister would take payment in chocolate chunk cookies!

Fortunately, I had backup cookies frozen! Shhhh, don’t tell Biker Witch :-).

Seriously, guys, Biker Witch and her Biker Hubby rock! Biker Witch was more than willing to drive all over, navigating through some ugly traffic, to do this for me. She and her Biker Hubby also brought Wizard his very favorite boysenberry pie. That pie helped him feel much better. I’ve always been able to rely on Biker Witch and Biker Hubby for anything, anytime. That’s not something I ever want to abuse, but it’s sure a relief knowing they are there when I need them.

Wizard is recovering well, by the way.

How was your weekend?

TGIF!! I hope everyone had a great week! It’s time to share five random things about our week. Here are mine:

1) So far, Wizard is recovering well from his surgery. It turned out to be a lot longer and more involved than originally expected, but that’s how these things can go. Fingers crossed that this time it works. Medicine is sometimes as much art and luck as it is science and skill.

2) Maggie is home! I missed her so much when she was at boarding, but it was nice not having to worry about her being alone. They are so sweet to her there.

3) Chocolate chunk cookies happened yesterday. **Hangs head in shame** I have no excuse except that baking is stress relief for me, even when I’m not feeling my best. I did freeze some of the cookies so I guess I could claim I was preparing for the future???

4) I just spent forty minutes on the phone with CPA Boy discussing diapers, sleep schedules and spitting up, and how Baby Slayer had the hiccups, then spit up and arced the flow so that it went over the collar of CPA Boy’s shirt and down his stomach. Um what happened to his college days when I heard stories of parties and crazy antics?

5) Oh and last night I made spaghetti with the big plan to freeze half the spaghetti sauce to use later. Last time I made spaghetti, I had this same plan and forgot when I was cleaning up. This time, Wizard reminded me, and I had the container set out next to the pan of cooling sauce…then while talking to CPA Boy on the phone (see #4) I was cleaning the kitchen and threw out the sauce. Sigh…Wizard is STILL laughing as I’m writing this blog.

That’s my week, now it’s your turn to share 5 things about your week. Hope everyone has a great weekend!

Yesterday afternoon I took Maggie to Doggy Daycare where she’ll stay for two nights. She gave me such a sad look when I left. Never mind that when she heard Emily, the owner’s voice, she’d started right for her until she remembered me and that she should act sad…

My dog is a such a girl! I happen to know she has a good time once I’m gone, but her little performance still made me feel guilty. However Wizard and I have a really long day with his surgery and I know I’m doing the best thing for Maggie.

Now for all of you, I’m sharing one of my favorite Hunks from my files:

So what do you think? Is he worthy? Feel free to share one of YOUR favorite hunk picture in the comments if you feel like it.

Once again we got home late last night and I’m writing this fast Why does it always seem like there should be more time to get everything done?

Anyway, CPA Boy’s white birthday cake turned out pretty good. I wish I’d taken a picture but I never took my phone out the entire time I was there. CPA Boy said he wanted a fun cake so I made him a confetti cake with circus animals He was amused.

I also made manicotti and Middle’s fiance brought delicious bruchetta, salad, fruit and wine. It turned out to be a nice birthday for CPA Boy plus we all got to play with Baby Slayer.

We also took Maggie, who got to meet the new baby for the first time. Maggie turned into Nanny Maggie. At one point when dinner was ready, Baby slayer woke up and I held him so his mom and dad could eat. Maggie watched. Then when Baby Slayer fell asleep I put him in his bassinet and Maggie wasn’t happy. She whined wanting me to pick him up. When I assured her he was fine, she plopped down by his bassinet and kept watch.

I still wouldn’t trust her alone with him, but overall, it was a good first meet.

In between all that, my plot-partner and I worked on our books, and I finally figured out the end! It’s very close to my original ending in my synopsis but tweaked to work with the changes I’ve made in the story, so I can now write this last third.

This week is going to be busy. Wizard has another eye procedure on Wednesday which will be an all day thing. We had hoped he wouldn’t need a second one, but he’s one of the rare people that needs a revision. He should be fine.

How was your weekend?

Hey here we are again at another weekend–can  you believe it? It’s time to list five random things about our weekend. Here’s mine:

1. Yesterday was CPA Boy’s birthday. It’s so weird that my first-born son has his own son now.
2. Even weirder–CPA Boy wants a confetti cake for his birthday celebration this Sunday. People, that’s a WHITE CAKE! As in…not chocolate. I am confused. My oven is confused. I’ve been spending days mentally preparing to face this strange and confusing task of baking a white cake. Hopefully, by Sunday, I’ll have attained the mental fitness and discipline to bake a white cake. I can make a pretty good lemon cake…but white????? Well he’s my first-born son and he said he wants to try something different, so I’ll do it even if this request is emotionally disturbing to my chocolate-loving heart
3. I spent yesterday with Baby Slayer! He was awake almost all the time I was there. and so much fun! But by the time I got home yesterday afternoon (TRAFFIC SUCKS!), I said hello to Wizard, Maggie and a glass of wine in that order. Whew, taking care of a baby is a lot of work! Special K makes it look easy
4. Wizard and I were super stressed one day this week trying to schedule and coordinate various medical stuff on our calendars, so we took an afternoon off and went to see the movie “Blockers.” It’s a dumb comedy, and I was skeptical, but it turned out to be the perfect way to laugh off some stress.  I imagine that fact that I had no expectations helped, but still, good choice Wizard!
5. I know I talk about writing and wishing I could do more than I am, but I also miss reading. This is the only time in my life I can recall where I’m not reading at least one book a week, and usually much more than that. I am listening to audiobooks, though, and that helps fill the voice a little. But I miss voracious reading! It’s so weird because I can concentrate on a physical chore like cooking a complex dish from a new recipe. But straight reading for more than a few minutes is tougher to concentrate on past the ringing in my ears. Some days I swear to Wizard the ringing is a secret code I’m hearing that I just need to crack!! He tells me to let him know if those mysterious voices give me the winning numbers to lotto FYI, I’m getting all the tests I need to make sure this isn’t something more serious than we originally thought.

So that’s some of my week. Now I’d life to hear five random things about your week!

It’s time for our Wednesday Worthy Candidate:

So what do you think, is he worthy?

A good weekend! Yesterday, Wizard and I went to see Baby Slayer. He’s four weeks old now. Time’s flying by! While we were there, more and more family showed up and I was forced to share my grandson, LOL! It was nice to see everyone.

Okay some proud mom/grandma family rambling here–feel free to skip it and jump to the bottom to tell me how your weekend went if you like.

While there, CPA Boy and Special K gave me an early Mother’s Day gift. It’s a stunningly pretty silver bracelet. It was all I could do not to cry. They told me that now that they have their own child now, they understand more of the work, love and sacrifice, and wanted to thank me for being a mom, and for my help with Baby Slayer. Here’s the thing–they always showed their appreciation, so I enjoyed being able to help. I will always cherish this bracelet for the love that motivated the gesture. I’ll probably go out once this week so Special K can get some homework done, and it gives me one on one time with Baby Slayer.

We also discussed plans for Middle Son’s wedding, or more specifically a wedding shower for his beautiful bride. Here’s one of their engagement photos:

I’m proud of all my sons, and just want to take a moment to talk about Middle Son. He’s my wild child, hugely successful and driven, with a big heart, if I were typecasting him as a hero, I’d say: He’s the tough hero with heart of gold type. This is the boy who would sit and watch any chick flick with me even as a teenager and young adult. Middle Child ALWAYS answers his phone when I call (unless he can’t, like when he’s flying), even if it’s to say, “Mom, I’m in a meeting, is this important or can I call you back?” Middle Son put himself through college, while working full-time, and now he runs the sales department in a tech-related field and has traveled most of the U.S for work. Last year when Wizard was in the hospital, he tracked down his two brother before I could find them because he’s a an intensely focused problem solver, and he takes care of his mom when he knows I’m stress/worried/scared. Middle is also the one who brought Bailey Dog into all our lives, and Bailey changed us forever. And this woman he chose is smart, compassionate and expanded our world, igniting Wizard and my interest in wine tasting and other things. She has quickly learned my kitchen and helps me cook, or takes over cooking when I’m doing something else. She’s family focused, loves dog, and volunteers for a rescue org. proving she is willingly to put her time and energy in causes she cares about. In the last years of Bailey’s life, she became the one and only “mom” Bailey ever had, coming into his life exactly when he needed her. Watching the way she loved Bailey, and took care of him even when he was older and not easy, made Wizard and I love her all the more. We are proud and thrilled our son chose her for his wife and our daughter-in-law.

After sharing all that, I want to say one more thing. After enjoying Baby Slayer and talking to Middle’s fiance about her shower, I then turned to Youngest Son’s (BLB) fiance and said, “Next year is all about you and your wedding.” She was so happy. They had to put off their wedding while her mom went through some really scary medical stuff this year (she’s doing well), but we are so going to make sure they get their moment in the sun when their time comes! They really deserve it!

Enough of all my family joy

This week, I’m going to write scenes I’ve been planning with my go-to plot partner guru, Marianne Plotting is a LOT easier than translating the ideas into actual scenes. Now it’s time to buckle down and just do it!

So how was your weekend? Even if you don’t read all my rambling, I really want to know about YOU. Each and every one of you are important to me, and I love hearing how your lives are going.