Countdown To Christmas-Day 16

We interrupt your Christmas Prep Countdown for 1 Sorority Girl-sponsored Attack Of The Hives.

I took a couple of naps with her during the night in between listening to her breathe and counting hives the size of tennis balls. I started frantic googling at 3am when her eyes started to swell. She took some Benadryl, slept a little and we were off to the campus health service this morning. 

It's 99% likely that she had an allergic reaction caused by a 3 day Perfect Storm of Shrimp, Lobster Bisque, Strawberries, exercise, adrenaline rush and immune system overdrive. ZYRTEC to the rescue! She's much better tonight.

I squeezed that in between getting our car registrations renewed, getting her home to nap, fighting a HEINOUS traffic situation to get a Dunkin Donuts gift card, standing in line to buy stamps and mailing the Christmas cards, picking up ordered books at the BIG BOOKSTORE (and finding out one arrived damaged) and grocery shopping.

Needless to say, my afternoon plans of The Wrapping Of The Gifts didn't happen.

I hereby order that NO CRISIS is to occur for the next 8 days!

Wrapping Up The Thanksgiving Leftovers

We had our usual quiet 3 person Thanksgiving.
Mr Sunshine got up at the crack of night to play golf while Sorority Girl and I slept late. While I ate breakfast she read the Black Friday ads. I NEVER shop on BF,so I've never read the BF ads.

SG: WOW! Waffle Irons are $2.84 at WalMart!
SG: WOW! Candles are more expensive than Waffle irons, they're $4.96
SG: WOW! Boxer shorts are more expensive than Waffle irons. You have a waffle iron, how come you never make me homemade waffles?
LMSS: Hmmmm. How much are boxer shorts? Is there more than one in a package?
SG: Boxer shorts are $4.97
SG:(Wide-eyed exclamation) Oh My God!! SOCKS ARE MORE EXPENSIVE THAN WAFFLE IRONS!!!!!
That's when I snorted so hard that coffee sprayed out of my nose and mouth all over the crossword puzzle and the 6 inch pile of BF ads.

Sorority Girl wants you to know that the Belk ads had some hot guy models....except the one that was too good-looking to have a Henley shirt tucked into his high-waisted jeans. That was just wrong.

We ate Turkey, green bean casserole (so Mr S and SG wouldn't attack me with a carving knife and serving fork), Stove Top Stuffing, Cranberry sauce, butternut squash, Brown and Serve rolls, Almost Sugar-free Pumpkin Pie made by moi with Sugar-free Cool Whip. We drank Sugar-free A&W cream soda, Barefoot Pinot Grigio and Coffee with Kahlua and Sugar-free Peppermint Mocha Coffe-Mate. It was a Very Diabetic Thanksgiving.

We watched the Macy's Parade, the AKC Dog show, the Packers game, zzzzzz The inside of our eyelids in turkey-induced comas.....the Dallas/Miami game and....

ELF!! I had never seen it before but now it will be one of my favorites...Zooey Deschanel and Buddy the Elf.....love it!

I'm thankful for my family(who give me way more support than I deserve), friends, Muscle relaxers, pain killers and arthritis meds, not needing cervical spine surgery for the foreseeable future, the place I live and the public library.

The Lone Male In The House

Sorority Girl shares a house with 3 female friends and the boyfriend of one of the females. J is a really nice, funny guy.

I wonder how he manages all the girlishness. The girls were all Sorority Sisters, so they know all the same people. The sound of 4 cell phones beeping a Tweet or text message all at the same time must be deafening. Can you imagine living with 4 potential cases of PMS all at the same time?!! What if you're all watching a movie together and the aroma in the air is 4 different body sprays competing with the Axe?

One time I was outside with Sorority Girl and went in to use the bathroom. As I rounded the corner I heard J's voice coming from the living room, "Hey, come and dance with me!" He was doing a video dance game and thought I was someone else, but of course, now every time I'm at the house someone asks J if he wants to dance with me.

When three of the girls lived together there were roomie powwows that were costume-making sessions or fashion shows to choose outfits for Sorority events. It's different with a male in the house. We went over the other night to determine the cause of weird car noises. There was a mostly-male powwow going on in the cul-de-sac. Equipment was being set up and cell phones were ready to get it recorded.

Someone poured a large amount of liquid onto the pavement and set it on fire. Then a powder was sprinkled and the pretty blue flames turned into pretty red flames. Don't worry...there was a pyrotechnics expert among the crowd. J called out to me, "Hey Mom, wanna set something on fire?" You could smell the Testosterone in the air. (file this under Where The Hell Was My Camera)

J has a Master's degree and is an engineer for a large Aerospace/Tech company.  I'm waiting for him to introduce Sorority Girl to my future son-in-law...a nice, smart, funny engineer.

When The Kids Are Here

•  I still call them "the kids" even though they are 22 and 25
• The little treehouse apartment is very crowded
• There are blankets and pillows on every surface of the place

•  You ask random strangers to take a family photo at Downtown Disney
• There are dinner table conversations about how it is skanky to give a girl something from Victoria's Secret, but it is perfectly acceptable to give her a gift card from the same store!
• You watch Twas The Night Before Christmas and The Wiz
• You watch You Tube videos of an Asian toddler singing Hey Jude and Star Wars Episode IV According To a 3 year old
• You watch the Christmas episode of GLEE 3 times

•  You drag Cape Cod Kid on a road trip to see Manatees
• You drag Cape Cod Kid on a 2 mile walk
• You drag Cape Cod Kid on a daily trip to the grocery store
• There's too much food in the fridge
• There's too much laundry in the hamper

• There's TOO MUCH SUGAR!
• There are not enough HUGS
• When you wake up on Dec. 30, the house is too quiet!

I Was (Christmas) Gifted! UPDATED!

I must have been a good girl this year. The gifts I got for Christmas were so thoughtful that it made me a little teary.

Cape Cod Kid arrived with a new addition to my snowman collection. It's Frosty! He sings and dances! I have probably worn out his batteries watching him sing and dance since the 25th.

 My sister makes gorgeous scrapbooks. She taught me, but mine are so amateur looking compared to hers. She sent me a scrapbook she started that is supposed to be all about me. That concept will be a little difficult for me to pull off. Each page has a pocket and one of them held this photo of my sister and I that was taken in 1960. I'm on the left, she's on the right. I was 3 and she was 2. We thought that rock in our grandmother's backyard was HUGE!

Sorority Girl has worked at a clothing store for about 4 years. She puts together great outfits. Before this year I usually wore baggy clothes to cover my 2X sized body. Since I've lost weight, she has been telling me I need a shopping trip for cute clothes. She bought me this beautiful beaded blouse and a cute sweater that will show up in a future post.

 My best friend (of 30 years) sent this paperweight to let me know that even though we have only lived in the same state for about 7 years of our friendship, I am always in her heart.

This was a gift from Mr Sunshine. I spend WAY TOO MUCH time sitting under my laptop. This computer was passed on to me from my darling husband when my power port died for the 3rd time and he was able to get himself a new laptop. This one runs a little hotter than my old one and I was developing a chronic first-degree burn on my left leg. This little cooling pad is awesome and I can finally stop frying my thighs! UPDATED!!!!!
MR SUNSHINE LEFT A COMMENT BECAUSE I FORGOT THAT SANTA BROUGHT US WICKED GOOD TICKETS FOR WICKED GOOD SEATS TO SEE WICKED!!!

On top of all this, I got a Barnes and Noble giftcard from Cape Cod Kid, $$ from my MIL that i used to buy a Shiatsu Massage Pillow and a Target gift card from my Mom that she got me after a discussion about how badly I want to do a closet makeover in January.

I apparently have a "good girl"  reputation to uphold in 2011!!

No Naughty. Just Nice.

There are no naughty girls on today's list for Santa. Just my two favorite Sorority Girls.

My Sorority Girl grew up with only a brother and not even any girl cousins were born until she was a teenager. When she rushed for Sorority, she met Erin. They felt an immediate connection and because Erin was a RhoGamma, Alli didn't know which sorority she was from. (RhoGammas help out with Sorority Rush without revealing their affiliation.) Imagine her delight when she found out that Erin was in the sorority that she was joining!

Erin claimed Alli as her Little Sister. They called each other "Big" and "Little". Erin has lived up to that name in every way. She is really the Big Sister that Alli always wanted. She has been a sister, an advisor and a mentor. Erin has graduated, become a teacher and the girls are still close. I love that girl.

There are so many photos of the two of them together that I could fill a scrapbook.

This past summer Erin got married and had her "Little" standing at the altar with her.



My Sorority Girl is also going to be a teacher. She thought she was going to graduate with a degree in Communication Disorders, but found that the courses were too much science and too much regurgitation of facts on exams. This year she changed her major to Exceptional Education and I see the joy on her face when she talks about it.

She has been doing some volunteer hours at a UCP preschool. United Cerebral Palsy schools serve kids with a wide range of diagnoses. Last week she read "Goodnight Moon" 3 times in a row to one little girl and managed to have some chatty conversations with a little girl who is debilitatingly shy.

Sorority Girl spent the past semester going to school and working full-time without a word of complaint.

So, Dear Santa, please put my TWO  favorite Sorority Girls on the top of your NICE list. Thanks.

Christmas Wrap-Up

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas. Ours was quiet, as usual.

Sorority Girl and Cape Cod Kid were here. They make me smile and laugh. They got tattoos together. We watched movies and episodes of GLEE that were still on the DVR. They introduced me to Tough Love and True Blood (both are kind of yucky).

We got a Wii from Santa. Back in November, a local blogger invited me to a Wii Fit launch party and I received a free Wii Fit! I know!!! I haven't used it yet, because I have the plague.

I worked full-time for a week or two before Christmas. I'm WAY too old for that. I don't think handling thousands of dollars of filthy money is good for someone who tends to have a wonky immune system. I had the hand sanitizer close by, I washed my hands every time I could break away and my mantra was "keep hands away from face....ohmmmm".

The Sunday before Christmas, I started wheezing. That continued until yesterday morning, at 4AM, when I woke up and coughed up half a lung. Thank Baby Jesus In The Manger, I had a $144 rebate check from my car insurance company. I still live in the Land Of The Uninsured.
Diagnosis: Asthma AND Bronchitis. Double the pleasure, Double the fun.

Doctor's fee=$123
Advair Inhaler=free (Love you, Dr Cool)
Ventolin Inhaler=$10 (Thank you, WMART)
Antibiotic=$4 (ditto)
Steroids=$4 (ditto)
Apple juice (I'm on clear liquids) $2.99

You do the math.

Thank you for all your prayers for my aunt. She had a serious setback on the 22nd, but still went home on Christmas Eve. I talked to her the other night and they have made adjustments to her treatment. She sounds good, but I am fully aware that she is in the end stage of her illness.

I'm working on my "Best of 2009" post.

Fire In The Hole!!! (of my oven)

Does my kitchen look a little smoky to you?

How about my living room?

I was chatting with my daughter on IM tonight. I told her I needed to throw dinner in the oven. She had a long story to tell me so I hopped into the kitchen while she typed.

The oven in this new apartment is VERY old and we discovered the wonkiness of the thermostat when I burned a pan of brownies to a crisp in 20 minutes.

I knew I wanted to cook the pork chops at 425 degrees. So this is the number I had previously, randomly twirled up on the knob.

Suddenly the apartment was full of smoke!!!

I ran to the oven, pulled open the door and the floor of the oven was on fire!!!

4 inches of flames!!

I threw poor Tigger into the bedroom and shut the door.

I dove into the Cesspool Of Useless Information in the backyard of my brain and saw the post-it note that said "Electrical Fire=NO WATER!!"

So, picture me now, standing in front of the oven, BLOWING OUT the fire.

Whew! That worked. I guess I need to clean the oven tomorrow.

Back to Sorority Girl on IM...

Me: The oven caught on fire. FML.

SG: Well. That makes my news less exciting!

SG: Firefighter Required?

Me: No, I blew out the fire.

SG: ??What?? You blew out the fire lol

Me: I should have taken pictures for my blog!!

SG: You should be worried about the rest of the house burning down.

Me: It's just really smoky and my eyes are burning. I'm going to take pictures

Me: OK, I opened a window and turned on the ceiling fan. First I took pictures!

Me: Now I'm fanning the smoke with a towel.

SG: Go worry about the house and I'll see you tomorrow.

Fall! Spartans! RIP Huey!

It's FALL! In FLORIDA!

You know how I can tell?


It's not moving!

And my house smells Sooooooo good!

Last week, Sorority Girl and I made costumes for her Semi-formal dance, which was a costume event this year. A little white fabric, black t-shirts, a dozen yards of ribbon and VOILA!!

SPARTAN CHEERLEADERS!

Farewell Huey.

This was not my Huey. My Huey was sort of a brownish-tannish-goldish color.

He was a 1993 Volvo 850. We bought him used with about 120,000 miles on him. I drove him for a while, then passed him on to Sorority Girl for her last year of high school. She named him Huey. Because he was square. And Huey says It's Hip To Be Square.

Huey didn't move to Florida with us, because his air conditioning didn't work. So he stayed behind and lived with Cape Cod Kid for the last 3 years. The only thing that has kept him running is CCK's awesome Chi flowing into his body.

He leaked when it rained and you could hear him coming for a mile.

His exhaust system would no longer pass the MA emissions test, so Huey couldn't get an inspection sticker.

The humiliation was too much to bear, so yesterday, at 170,000 miles, Huey laid down and died in a lonely Cape Cod parking lot. He fought the good fight.

RIP Huey.

I'm In Love With My Kids

Jenn at JugglingLife has tagged me. She asked me to write 7 things I love about my kids or what I love doing with them.
I can approach this from the viewpoint of a Mom with grownup kids. Neither one has lived with me for three years.

I had a very hard time deciding to go to college. I didn't want to go. I wanted to get married and have kids, definately 2 or 3, by age 28. The dream was put on hold for a few years. By 32, I had two babies who had been very sick and we had spent way too much time in OR waiting rooms and sleeping under hospital cribs or fold-out chairs, so baby number 3 was a dream left unfulfilled.

I spent most of their childhood working per-diem jobs and almost always being home when they were home. Being a Mom was Job#1.
Now that I'm not mothering on a daily basis, I guess this is sort of a "job evaluation". And it feels so much like bragging.

THE SEVEN THINGS I LOVE ABOUT BEING THEIR MOM

• They each found one activity they became passionate about, to the point of having part-time jobs teaching younger kids. They have chosen professions that involve kids.
• Because they were so involved with teaching, I had the pleasure of being told by so many parents that my kids were great inspirations for the kids they taught.
• Our kids grew up without a lot of the "finer things" in life. They've always driven my hand-me-down cars and always known that birthdays and Christmas would not involve gifts that were large in value or number. Rather than whining about it, they have always been gracious and appreciative of whatever gift they have received.
• They have always loved going on vacations with us. When they were in high school we always did a summer vacation. One year it was the Great Summer Hall Of Fame Tour...baseball, football and Rock and Roll. One year we surprised them with a trip to Universal parks and a stay at the Hard Rock Hotel. Tomorrow we leave for a vacation in Atlanta. Sorority Girl is coming with us. Cape Cod Kid is sad because he can't come. He just spent his vacation competing in a KungFu tournament in DC, where he placed 4th or above in 6 black belt categories.
• I recently got on facebook. I didn't ask them to be my "friend" because I didn't want them to think I was invading their privacy. The first day they both asked me to be their friend.
• They call their grandmothers on every important day or holiday
• They survived a childhood with a mother who was not healthy from the time they were 6 and 9 years old. It didn't make them bitter or resentful. Sometimes I think it made them love me more.

Shopping With A Sorority Girl

When you spend a day shopping with a Sorority Girl

• You bring her cute new pajama bottoms, 2 Mom-made zucchini muffins and a book.
• She tolerates your journey through the Farmer's Market, while she silently wishes you would hurry up because she is so hungry.
• You both agree that it is obnoxious when the counter people at Panera call your name 4 times before you can even get out of your chair.
• She tells you her weird dream about having to save Jon and Kate's kids and a basket full of puppies.
• She teaches you to never settle for a purse you don't love.
• She shows you sandals you might like because they are "Hippie but a little bit dressy"
• She finds you a cute summer dress. She tries on the same dress and jokes that we should get them and wear them together to DisneyWorld. That reminds you of the middle-aged twins in the food court that had on matching outfits. We agree that it would be TOO DORKY!!
• She tells you the dress is cute on you and you discuss the fact that you will definately need a more supportive bra to pull it off.
• You discuss the fact that a 21 year old looks WAY better in fitting room lights and mirrors than a 51 year old.
• You buy her 2 new pairs of Old Navy Flip-Flops. When you go to University Of Tropical Paradise, you quickly wear out your flip-flops.
• You spot the MATERNITY WEAR sign at Ross and the one right above it that says "OVER 55 -EXTRA 10% DISCOUNT...and the camera is in the car.
• She writes on her facebook page that she had an "amazing shopping day" with her Mom.

My Mother by Sorority Girl

My mother, from a Sorority Girl's point of view

My mother is...
Beautiful
Strong
Loving
Funny
Passionate
Selfless
Courageous
Brave
A role model
an amazing wife
I hope that whenever I become a mother, I can be half the mother she is.
She has overcome so much and I wish I was as strong as she is.
I think sometimes she forgets how important she is to us, but I don't know what I would do without her in my life.
She is my shoulder to cry on, someone who laughs at all my jokes, a shopping buddy, and a best friend.
I love you Mom
Happy Mother's Day,
Sorority Girl

(I'm a lucky Mom~LMSS)

On Your 21st Birthday 3/18/09

My darling baby. I didn't dare hope that you would be a girl. Another boy would have been fine. Now you were here and 4 days old and I was so thrilled with you.

My funny bunny. You were dressed like this because you wanted to do everything your big brother did. We dressed you up and sent you out with Daddy and Tim for your first Halloween at 17 months old. You really liked your M&M's.


My sweet 2 year old girl. This is everyone's (especially Daddy's) favorite picture of you. All dressed up to take your Grandmommy to the airport. You had just finished sitting in her lap and trying to file her nails. Look at those perfect little shoes. You were into the girly stuff way back then.
You were so happy to go to kindergarten and you really loved school. You really liked wearing dresses and you let me put a bow in your hair every day. This is about the time you decided that you would grow up and teach little kids.

You had been pretending to be a dancer for a few years, so when you were 5 we sent you off to tap and ballet. It was the beginning of your 13 year love of dance, with all it's tears and pain and laughter and friends.

When you were 16 you decided to go for the Gold. You did it and I thought my heart would pound out of my chest. You were beautiful and strong and intense and athletic.

This had to be your yearbook photo. Taken by your best friend in the whole world. You were a beach girl from the first time I took you, when you were 4 months old. You spent your first 18 years and 3 months within 6 miles of the ocean. Just last week, you tried to surf for the first time. There's salt water running in your veins. Someday, Mom and Dad will live near the beach again and we'll watch our grandchildren be beach kids.

This is the probably the last picture of you that was taken on Cape Cod. We know how hard it was to get in the car 5 days later and move 1,355 miles away from the only home you had ever known. The first months were a little rocky, but you hung in there and found your way. You made a new home, new friends and a new life here in the Sunshine State.

Here you are. 21. We have been so proud of you, every step along the way. You are smart and funny. You work hard. You make thoughtful decisions. You have hopes and dreams. You are beautiful. We are thankful every day that you are our daughter.

We love you, endlessly and forever.

Love,

Mom and Dad

Mothers, Daughters and Chocolate

When you are clearly not a Sorority Girl but your daughter clearly is a Sorority Girl, you occasionally have to put on your matching Mother-Daughter T-shirts and be a Sorority Girl for the day.

This is what we did yesterday.

We had a class in chocolate making. They taught us the techniques for making filled chocolates, chocolate covered strawberries, cookies, pretzels and truffles. Then they let us play with chocolate for an hour!

Remember the classic Lucy episode when she and Ethel are working the conveyer belt in the chocolate factory? The machine at this shop is lovingly called Lucy. They promised us it wouldn't speed up as we were "enrobing" our creations.

Naked Nutter Butters go in.

They come out dressed in chocolate, then go into the dryer for 7 minutes.

We each got to make a pound of chocolate. Mine only weighed in at 3/4 of a pound so I was told to pick another 1/4 pound out of the display cases.

Her chocolate above. My chocolate below, except for the small square truffles I picked out of the case.


The shop has names for all the chocolate in their display cases.

L to R- meet John Lemmon, Rush Lime-baugh and Mint Eastwood.


Kappa Moms Love Their Daughters. Kappa Girls Love Their Moms.

The Kids Call Mom At Weird Hours

The Sunshine State offspring pick lovely times to call Mom.

Cape Cod Kid called at 12:45PM when I had to be at work at 1:00PM

• He is on track to get his second Black Sash in KungFu in Jan or Feb
• It's COLD up there. The gas fireplace is running a lot.
• He has SQUATTERS. He lives in an in-law apartment attached to the house where the mother of his boss lives. Her daughter's family has come from Minnesota. They are sleeping in his living room. They don't know for how long. They have 2 Pit Bulls.
• C and L are getting married. C is a Marine that served in Iraq. Everyone thinks they should wait because L is only 20. Hey, life is short, you know.

Sorority Girl called at 12:10AM on her way home from work.

• She got bitten (AGAIN) by Fire Ants! This is the third time! She is allergic to Fire Ant bites! Every time she gets bitten by Fire Ants, her foot swells up like a balloon and it gets infected! She's going to the campus Health Clinic! Which antibiotics are on the list of ones you can get for free at the Publix Pharmacy?! She can't get a flip-flop on that foot! OMG!

And then I crawled into bed and waited until my heartbeat came back down to normal and fell asleep at 2AM.

The Sunshine Kids Call Mom

I got phone calls from both of the Sunshine kids this week. The first one was from Cape Cod Kid.

TOPICS OF DISCUSSION: (the names have again been changed to protect the innocent)

• He and Not-Quite-A-Girlfriend went to King Richard's Faire. He did not enjoy the jousting. It was fixed.
• He saw a GIANT RACCOON in the road on the way home from work. At first he thought it was a dog.
• When he and Not-Quite-A-Girlfriend were at T and E's house, T put on a soft-core cable channel on the TV. Cape Cod Kid was quite uncomfortable.
• He was eating Chicken Cordon Bleu. He didn't actually COOK the Chicken Cordon Bleu. He tore off the plastic film and nuked it.

Sorority Girl called.

• She has been sick. She dragged herself to about half of her classes this week and spent the rest of the time SNOWED on NyQuil.
• When you SNOW yourself on NyQuil, you sleep so well, you miss 6 or 7 text messages!! OMG!!
  
• The Sorority Girls think it will be a hoot to have a "80's Prom" this Saturday.
• When the Anatomy and Physiology of Speech and Hearing teacher decides to roll the Fri. afternoon Lab into the regular class, you still have to pay the Lab fee, but you get an automatic A and get the credits for the Lab!
  
• She needs my recipe for Baked Ziti so she can cook it for Frat Boyfriend.
• ANOTHER flat tire.
  

NO MORE TEENAGERS

As of 2 minutes ago, I am no longer the Mother of A Teenager. My baby, my princess, my Sorority Girl is 20 today.
I thought she would be a St Patrick's Day baby. Her middle name is even Patricia, for her grandmother and aunt. She waited until the 18th. Which means next year she can't legally drink until after midnight.

She was a sweet, quiet baby and little girl. And girly from the get-go. One of her first sentences was I NEEEEEED a Barbie! I am a tree-hugging-crunchy-granola-hippie kind of Mom, she is a Vera Bradley-American Eagle-Pearl Earrings kind of girl.

She always was my Velcro Child (attached to my left leg) and I let her.
Because I once thought I would lose her. Let's just say kidney issues and surgery at 18 months.
We call each other "my conjoined twin" and "my better half".
God gave her to me to make me laugh. She knows I love her always and endlessly.

Today she spent the day with me, her grandmother and two of her aunties, lunching and shopping and giving them a tour of her campus. We took pictures of ourselves posing and laughing.

I have been blessed.

Sorority Mom on Spring Break

Yes, it's Spring Break and I'm having a HELLUVA time here.
Sorority Girl didn't go to Cabo San Drunkfest or Panama Sin City. She came home for some Momma Love. And Megamounts of Laundry Detergent.

It's usually pretty quiet here in The Sunshine State teeny-tiny apartment. Me and the Mr and the cat-who-sleeps 23 hours a day. For 5 days I have listened to every show on MTV and every ringtone on her phone. (The one that signals a VERY IMPORTANT TEXT MESSAGE from her Frat Boyfriend just rang again)

I have also heard my washer and dryer running for 5 days. She hadn't done laundry for almost 3 weeks. Why should you spend your quarters when you'll be home in a month??

Yesterday was SO MUCH FUN! We shopped for a Semi-formal dress, got an oil change for her car, and found Ooohhhhh, cute black patent leather sandals.
After watching her try on dresses and realizing she has lost 10 pounds since Christmas, I came home and baked Chocolate Cupcakes with Orange Buttercream Frosting. She is still a normal sized girl....She had lost her "Freshman 10"

So, she leaves tomorrow. I'll get back a living room, 2 bedrooms, a bathroom and a laundry room.

And I'll miss her.