So far, so good.

Tonight - it is raining. I poked my head up into the attic because you know, I like to, and I did not see any water coming in. I also poked my head into my daughter's closet because you know, I like to do that too. Some of the mold is re-emerging. Gah. I cannot wait for that drywall to be replaced.

I am still skeptical and will continue to be on water-watch.

In better news, Dani went through the boxes of moldy (mostly) crap from her closet and found something we thought was lost forever.

The best baby picture ever! Well, WE think so!



She's leaving for school again on Sunday. When did she stop being so little and dependent on me? She's doing exactly what I raised her to do but boy it's tough sometimes.

Top 10 ways to tell my daughter is home from school..

10) There is a winter coat lying on the kitchen table.

9) There is an America’s Next Top Model marathon on the TV.

8) We have already run out of hot water once today.

7) There is folded laundry all over the living room, wet sweaters drying on chairs and bras hung in various places in the utility room.

6) I have been talked into giving an impromptu haircut in the kitchen.

5) There are books lying around that I would never, ever read.

4) There are wet clothes in the washer and dry ones in the dryer – and neither machine is running.

3) Somebody let a Furby out.

2) Someone has been sitting at my makeup mirror and using my makeup! (Goldilocks, perhaps?)

And the number one way to tell my daughter is home from school;

1) Every. Single. Light. is on in the house!!!!

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And now ...............the rest .......of the story.

Vishnu Springs was a small village and resort located in west central Illinois. There is a small spring located on the property that is thought to have healing powers. So the area was sought after and went through many owners from when it was first developed for use to the present day.

The property was first developed by Darius Hicks in the late 1800’s. Hicks started out with a hotel that had many attractions to it, one of those being indoor plumbing. There were also swings and hammocks, flower gardens, a deer park, horse-powered merry-go-round, a pond filled with goldfish, and many other attractions. The village would eventually surround the resort.

Eventually the town failed though. Hicks committed suicide after the death of his wife. There were many owners after him who tried to get the place up and running. Ownership traded back and forth. Some Western Illinois University students even rented the place in the seventies because of its beauty and tranquility. Today though, Western Illinois University owns the property and will be turning it into a wildlife refuge. What will be come of the hotel which still stands? Who knows what will happen. No one can deny the history that will stay locked away in the memories of ones who have visited.

No Trespassing signs are posted.

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Trespassing at Vishnu Springs

In what's been an ongoing occurrence, people continue to trespass at Vishnu Springs. McDonough County Sheriff Rick VanBrooker says seventeen people were charged last weekend with trespassing. Around 3:30 Saturday afternoon, two cars were found parked outside the gate and blocking the entrance and the road that leads to the former hotel and springs and police ticketed *seven people. Just after 10 o'clock Sunday night police again found two vehicles parked at the entrance. This time they ticketed 10 people. The ages ranged from 18 to 22. There are rumors that the former hotel on the site is haunted and the spring water was rumored to have healing power. People pry off the boards covering the hotel windows and doors to get inside, and the walls inside are spray-painted with graffiti.

* My 21 year old good as gold daughter and friends, on Halloween. How did I find out? Her court summons came in the mail today. Am I thrilled? Not so much. Am I angry with her?

Would you be?

**Added - They did not go inside, it is all boarded up, nor did they vandalise anything. They poked around and explored outside.

Comings and goings

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This morning my son left for Florida, to go to his father's wedding. His laptop bag was filled with much more than his backpack, so it's questionable whether or not he actually brought with him everything he needs. Like oh, I don't know, a toothbrush? I can only hope. But the boy has priorities.

I came home from work tonight ready for a bit of a nap. It was a long day at work broken up only by lunch with my BF at a nice Chinese buffet restaurant. That was a lovely interlude between boring and frantic at work, from one extreme to the other.

I was reading a magazine and getting very close to laying down on the couch when the phone rang, which doesn't happen that much around here. Anyone who knows me knows I hate the phone. Hate to hear it ring, hate to talk on it, hate to listen to messages from it. I'm not anti-social, I've just worked on the phone for a number of years so it is not my favorite mode of communication.

On the other end was my daughter, a bit freaked out because she and her boyfriend just saw a car coming the opposite direction roll and land in a ditch. Everyone turned out to be okay, but it was scary just the same, and Dani wanted to talk to her Mom. I love that. She still needs me.

And - she was less than an hour from home. Surprise! I had no idea she was coming home for the weekend. I didn't get my nap but I am going to bed now, which is earlier than usual. One child left - but one came home. I guess it all evens out in the end, right? Right.

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And they left a titanium clip inside my breast. Really!

I was right, the hardest part of the biopsy was getting to the hospital by 6:30 in the morning. I didn't make it, but close enough. They still tortured me.

In reality the worst part of the procedure was the couple mammograms they took before hand, to pinpoint the spot and mark it with ink. That was a little painful but really I think that was more because of the tenderness I was experiencing due to the point I'm at in my cycle right now.

Laying on my stomach with my breast in the mammotome vice, the doctor gave me a shot to numb me and apparently cut a small incision. I say apparently because not only did I barely feel the shot - I had no sensation that something was being done. I never felt the probe enter my breast or move in and out enough times to take 6 specimens of about an inch long, about the width of spaghetti. I find that to be really really strange.

There was a nurse standing by whose main job seemed to be to narrate the process for me, and rub my back from time to time for that 'human' connection. But honestly - if she hadn't been telling me what was going on, I wouldn't have guessed. I suppose that means it was done very well and I never heard a single "uh oh" or "oops!" so to me that says successful.

I got a nice bandage and a really cute little ice pack and got to go home. They did offer me a coupon to go downstairs to their in house Starbucks (since when?) to have some coffee and a bite to eat. I politely declined, even offered it to one of the nurses but I guess that would be against the rules.

Here at home I napped the rest of the morning away and did some housework - even vacuumed and dusted this afternoon. As long as I don't use my right arm too much I should be fine. I made an appointment to go to see the surgeon on Monday afternoon to get my results and he will check on my healing then.

I'm thinking about what Suebob said though. Since this started I have had 2 mammograms, and an ultrasound each separately read by radiologists. Today there was a tech, a nurse, a radiologist and a surgeon all doing this procedure. I will be getting bills from the separate specialties as well as the hospital and surgeon. Woo Daddy, am I looking forward to that!!

On a more exciting note - today I signed up for BlogRush - you might want to check it out! I don't know about you but I can always use something else to drive more traffic to my blog.

And the most exciting note - my daughter is home from school for the weekend and is in the kitchen right now doing the dishes! You can't beat that!

When was the last time

I went to the salon with my daughter over the weekend to get my haircut. You know, the type of salon where they usually don't shampoo your hair but if they do, they jack that price right up to $15.00!

My daughter and I are both spur of the moment hair cutters. Really bad about the up-keep of any one style, we tend to let our hair grow into the quintessential non-style, claiming of course, that we "like it this way" until we finally go back in and get a new one!

Walking into the 'salon' together I saw one gal who has cut my hair and my daughter's before, I knew she was pretty good. I had not seen the other girl before, she did not seem to have her bottom front teeth and her English wasn't great. Of course that could have been due to the missing teeth but with the accent it was hard to tell. I whispered to Dani "I'll let you have the good one", knowing she is a bit more sensitive to how her cut turns out. She protested of course "no Mom, it's fine. I'll take whoever." No argument though when the good one asked who was next and she popped up from her chair, "me!"

We both had our little pictures torn from magazines of people who didn't look like us and who we would never look like clutched in our hands. The good one looked at Dani's hair and at the picture and began to cut. Toothless Annie looked at the picture I had and looked bewildered. I tried to be very casual to make her feel good, you know, this really isn't a big deal, I'm sure whatever you do will be fine, kind of thing. But it was obvious she didn't have a clue. And when she did ask me a question I had to say "I'm sorry?" or "Pardon me?" It was a lose lose situation apparently.

Dani's hair turned out SO cute! This is the first time she has gotten a really short Winona Ryder elfin like hair style and it is adorable on her. Mine? Not so much. Basically I resigned myself to being the good mother who sacrificed her hair so her daughter could get a cute 'do', and let the gal just cut away until she had cut off so much that I could - gasp - see my real hair color!!!

Amazing, this isn't the color I remembered it to be.

When was the last time any of you have seen your real color? And I'm not talking about just the roots dear friends. The real deal, cut the hair, not color it, however it happened, has anyone else seen their hair as natural as can be lately?

I think.

I was talking to my daughter today about blogging. She is an English major and is a senior in college right now. She is a wonderful writer, and can consider herself a "writer" in the true sense of the word, unlike me. She is smart and witty and can be very opinionated. She always has something to say, certainly always has something going on in her head.

I mentioned to her that she should blog, if for no other reason than to use her skills somewhere other than school, or because it can be an incredible networking tool. She didn't seem too thrilled with the idea of creating her own blog but did say maybe she could do a guest post on mine. What a wonderful idea! But she wants me to give her a topic. That's where I draw a blank.

Dani is very mature and always has been. She is young and playful but she is very thoughtful and thinks things through with a logic which can be intimidating sometimes. She is incredibly sensitive and I would say more empathetic than your average 21 year old. I taught her not to grow up too fast, to enjoy her childhood and not hurry to adulthood like I did. For me everything was about when, when I move out of the house, when I get married, when I have kids. While Dani is planning for her future in the way of a career and forming the values she will live her life by, she enjoys now. She took one of my lessons to heart.

She is simply a good kid. Level headed and sweet and caring. So much ahead of the game than I was at her age, and I feel for the parents who have kids who give them trouble with driving, drinking, boyfriends/girlfriends and what-have-you. My children are not perfect but I can honestly say they have not given me trouble beyond not doing household chores when asked or being lackadaisical about grades from time to time. I'm happy to say the grades are very good now, grammar and sentence structure and all of the things I find so difficult with the English language come easily to both of my kids. Go figure.

I could suggest she write about ridiculous things Mom has said or done, which I am sure she has several examples of. Hmmmm. She's a vegetarian, a feminist and a lover of Harry Potter and Brussels sprouts. Not necessarily together. She likes roller blading and riding her bike, playing four square and camping. She has many, many interests and is always open to new ideas. In some ways she is so very like me, in a much improved kind of way, but in more ways - she is not.

She is Dani. She is my daughter. I know she must have ideas. She should write here at least once, don't you think?

I think.