Thursday Ten: Waiting Is Tough Stuff Edition

1. My grandfather is having a procedure at a hospital today. It’s typically an outpatient procedure – but when they were doing the prep work, they discovered a kidney problem that might cause some complications so they admitted him last night so they could prep him for his dealy-bob. They were set to start at 9 a.m. I arrived at the hospital, and by the time I left at 12:30, they STILL hadn’t taken him back to get started. They finally took him shortly after 2 p.m. Yes, five hours late.

2. I just received a text from my mom: “I couldn’t wait for dad to go in. Now I can’t wait for him to get out!” She is sitting in the waiting area with my grandmother (I don’t envy my mom this task at all – my grandmother is VERY freaked out, and when she found out a different doctor would be performing the procedure, she said to my grandfather, “Let’s just go home. Can’t we go home now?” She is likely not doing any better at the moment than she was hours ago – so, this will be a long afternoon for them).

3. I was at the hospital waiting with them this morning til I had to leave for guitar lesson. In guitar, we refocused on “Fast Car” again. The song has two distinct patterns – one of finger picking the strings, the second is strumming chords (for the chorus) – my teacher wants to teach me a hybrid way to use the pick for the song, and she was trying to think of an example that she could teach. “Do you know Creed?” she asked. I begged her not to teach me Creed. I’m not sure what she’ll think of next.

4. Pumpkin was up three times last night. I’m not sure what her deal is/was, but OHMYGOSH she better sleep tonight. I’m wiped out.

5. As some of you who follow me on Twitter now know – I attempted to make lasagna in the crock pot the other night. First of all, let me be clear: I wasn’t just winging it. I was following a recipe. Let me make a second point clear: there is no good reason EVER for pasta to cook for six hours. It was a blob of noodle mush, and not only do I NOT recommend crockpot lasagna, I strongly advise AGAINST it.

6.  I had parent -teacher conferences with The Princess’s teacher the other night. I feel so lucky that my daughter has a teacher who is intent on challenging my daughter’s mind and nurturing her creative side. She’s really working to ensure that The Princess doesn’t grow bored with the curriculum (overall, she’s pretty far ahead grade level on pretty much everything except math, where she’s on target with where she “should be”). I have struggled with finding books for The Princess to read – her reading level is higher than 2nd grade, but the more challenging books are not necessarily “age-appropriate” concept-wise. Her teacher is aware of that and is working to keep her challenged bookwise in school, and has recommended letting her read the “fun stuff” at home. Works for me.

7. New music – Jack Johnson has a live concert album that just released this week. I’ve also been listening to a live concert version of Pink’s Funhouse tour that I’m enjoying (including her cover of “Bohemian Rhapsody” – which is pretty decent).

8. It’s almost Halloween. Are your kids excited? Mine sure are. Not me, though. I don’t like Halloween. It’s funny, when I first started blogging, Pumpkin was a baby. The girls’ bloggy names came from their Halloween costumes that year – The Princess was…duh… a princess. And Pumpkin wore a shirt that said “Mommy’s Little Pumpkin”. This year, Pumpkin is actually going to be wearing that same princess costume her big sister wore four years ago. And The Princess will have the “best of both worlds” as Hannah Montana. Whatever. They better share their candy with me.

9. Soooooo, Google Wave. I have it. Do you? If so, what on earth are you using it for? Really. Because I don’t really know what the heck to do with Google Wave.

10. I wonder how much longer til Gingerbread lattes are available at Starbucks for the winter season. That sounds so good. As much as I hate winter and snow, I admit, I’ve been getting antsy to start my Christmas shopping!