I need a little silly in my life right now:

Sookie made this JibJab and posted it on Facebook this week. It made me giggle:

Starring some of the Friend’s Vacation crew: C as Dr. Frankenstein, my daughter Starr as Frankenstein’s monster and Skye as Dracula.

We are less than a week from Starr and Skye’s 2nd big fundraising 5k event. There are tons of last minute details to attend to and they are both starting classes this week! I anticipate that I will be busy in my supporting role. I am excited for them and keep hoping that we aren’t forgetting anything!!

I’ve pulled a few pictures from the big Friends Vacation 2009 photo albums to share today–it was so hard to pick just a few!!:

Sookie, C, Skye and Starr

Starr at the Vietnam Memorial
She is taking a rubbing of Martha’s (The Daily Grind) brother, Robin B. Miller’s name.

Starr at the Air and Space Museum with my dad’s uniform

Skye, Starr, Sookie and C on the train to PA

Their Pennsylvania hosts lived on a beautiful property that includes this lovely stream. They had so much fun walking in it!

So many of their pictures made me laugh out loud!!

Like this one…which was part of a series. They could make just about anything fun!

Oh yeah!

Oops!

After taking a wrong turn, Sookie took some ribbing. C enjoyed his moment of gloating.

I am suffering from a summer cold! My voice is shot. I should be sleeping. Ugh! I am medicated and irritated!!

The good news is that Starr, Skye and Sookie have all posted their pictures from their trip. I have been enjoying looking through them…all 418 of them!

While I take it easy for a day or so, I thought I would pass along this video that my cousin posted earlier tonight on Facebook:

Ukraine’s Got Talent

A random Saturday post:

1. I’m working on doing a little catch up. Catching up reading my favorite blogs, catching up with the laundry, catching up with Facebook, catching up with the dishes and general house cleaning. I have yet to go grocery shopping. I am tired.

We have been very busy moving Starr to her new apartment over the past few days. This is one of those times I wish that my little family was bigger, that there were more than two of us and that some of these new family members were men…with big trucks!

I’m sore and punchy, but I managed all those trips up all of those stairs better than I thought I could…I’m still here!! We are 85/90% done and it feels good!

2. Sookie invited us over to a “parents brunch” this morning for the families of the kids who went to DC and Pennsylvania. She was the planner for the group and also put together a really fun video of the trip for us to watch. I have requested a copy, she did a wonderful job! It was nice to take a break to relax, smile and laugh for an hour or so.

For the record, the DC/Pennsylvania trip was a success. They followed their itinerary with ease, seeing all of the things they wanted too with little to no stress. I will have to hire Sookie to plan my next trip! I don’t have any pictures to share yet, as the kids were keeping them from us until the brunch and the video reveal!

3. Starr babysat for a friend of mine last Thursday night. Rosemary has two boys ages 5 and 3. Starr really enjoyed them, she’s been telling me very cute stories for the past two days. I am really not sure how the three of them fit all of that stuff into one evening, but I have been enjoying hearing about all of it! If I can gather my thoughts in a day or so, I might try to share a story or two.

4. In the meantime I will share this song which has been stuck in my head for the past few days, fortunately not in an annoying way…yet:

mp3: “Dominos” – The Big Pink
A Brief History of Love
The Big Pink-MySpace

The other day I mentioned the White Trash party the girls recently attended. The pictures that keep coming up on Facebook are hilarious! I am borrowing this one to share:

Starr, Skye and “Sookie”

Not mine, unfortunately, but Starr’s.

Starr, Skye and their friend Sookie (along with Sookie’s boyfriend, C) are planning a summer trip.

Sookie has taken charge of planning. Starr and I absolutely loved it when we received a spread sheet detailing the trip last night. Since I copied and pasted from a spread sheet, the columns are a little messed up, but you can get the idea of all of the hard work and research Sookie has put in to planning this trip. Her efforts are appreciated by all.  She has planned every detail, including movies that they will watch…movies that are tied to the locations that they are visiting!

Sookie, I love you. You made my week! Please help Starr keep track of her camera and cell phone during the trip. Thanks!!

I edited the schedule to remove travel dates and personal information, emphasis is mine:

Vacation Day	Activities	Time	Cost $	Daily Cost	Total Cost

Day one:	Depart from Home to Houston	6:10-9:33	$118.70
	Layover in Houston and Lunch for Plane	9:33-10:55	$6.00
	Arrive in Washington D.C.	2:59
	Metro to Hotel
(Money is for the whole trip)	3:30	$10.00
	Check into Hotel
Hotel location removed	3:40	$150.77
(For all 3 Nights)
	Arlington National Cemetery	4:00-5:30	$0.00
	Lincoln, Vietnam, and Korean Memorial	5:30-7:00	$0.00
	Pizza at Hotel	7:30	$5.00
	Movie Night (National Treasure)	Night	$0.00
				$290.47

Day two:	Start the Day	8:30
	World War II Memorial	8:45-9:15	$0.00
	Washington Monument	9:20-10:15	$1.50
	Breakfast at Holocaust Museum	 10:30-11:00	$1.50 - $3.00
	Holocaust Museum	11:00-1:30	$1.75
	Lunch	1:30-2:00	$7.00
	Smithsonian: American History	2:00-5:00	$0.00
	Smithsonian: Natural History 	5:00-7:00	$0.00
	Dinner	7:00-8:30	$10.00-15.00
	Hotel	Night
				$21.75 - $28.25

Day three:	Start the Day	8:30
	The White House	8:45-9:15	$0.00
	Walk and National Christmas Tree	9:15-9:45	$0.00
	The National Archives	10:00-11:30	$0.00
	Smithsonian Air and Space Museum	11:30-12:15	$0.00
	Lunch at the Old Post Office	1:00-2:00	$8.00
	Ford's Theatre Tour and Performance	2:30-3:45	$3.25
	Spy Museum or Shopping	3:45-6:00	$18.00
	Dinner in Georgetown	6:30-8:30	$10.00-$15.00
	Hotel	8:15
				$39.25 - $44.25
					$351.47 - $362.97
(for Washington D.C.)

Day four:	Start the Day	5:00
	Metro to Union Station	6:00
	Train Ride to Pennsylvania	7:25-11:03	$56.00
	Head to House	12:00
	Grocery Store	12:00-1:00	$40.00
	Relax at our hosts Home	Rest of the Day
				$96.00

Day five:	Start the day	8:00
	Central Market	9:00-10:45	$10.00
	Tour Lancaster	11:00-1:30
	Lunch	1:30-2:30	$10.00
	Tour Willowstreet/Pick peaches at orchard	1:30-3:00	$5.00
	Afternoon Icecream at Mack's	3:00-3:30	$4.00
	Relax at our hosts Home	4:00-?
	Movie Night (Remember the Titans)	8:00
				$29.00

Day six:	Start Day	7:30
	Gettysburg	9:00-11:00
	Lunch (fast food during drive)	11:30-12:00	$5.00-$10.00
	Hershey Tour	12:45-2:45	$0.00
	Walk around downtown Hershey	3:00-4:30
	Dinner	4:30-5:30	$10.00-$15.00
	Optional Sunset Admission into Hershey Park	5:30-8:00	$26.95
	Get Gas	~	$10.00
				$51.95 - $61.95

Day seven:	Start Day	8:30
	C, Sookie, Host go golfing	8:30-12:30
	Skye, Starr, Host go shopping	9:00-12:30
	Meet up for lunch	12:30-1:30	$10.00-$15.00
	Relax	1:30-Night
	Barbeque at house	6:30-7:30
	Catch Fireflies	Night
				$10.00-$15.00

Day eight:	Start Day	5:00
	Thank you gift for hosts	~	$15.00
	Head for Airport	5:30
	Flight out of Philadelphia	8:29 - 10:45	$106.60
	Arrive Home	10:45
	Home Sweet Home!	12:30
				$121.60
					$308.55 - $323.55
(for Pennsylvania)

Total cost for entire trip = $660.02 - $686.52

Things we still need to reserve and pay for:

Washington Monument: $1.50
Metro Pass: $10.00
Holocaust Museum: $1.75
Ford’s Theatre and Tour: $3.25
Spy Museum: $18.00
Train to Pennsylvania: $56.00