7 Quick Takes (Vol. 13), Slowly-Emerging-from-Hiding Edition

Yes, I'm still alive! I've actually gotten some e-mails asking this, so I'm happy to send out the official report. :-)

1. Well, after I mentioned that I would be calling down the wrath of the Scorpion gods by saying that their number was diminishing, I found three more live ones in the house over the next few weeks-- including one just two days later in the laundry room under the laundry basket! Another one ran under one of C's dress-up costumes. I had to run and grab something to smack it with, but it was gone when I got back. I picked up the costume (tulle skirt), shook it hard, and... nothing. My husband surmised that the beast had escaped elsewhere. Can you tell he knows NOTHING about the craftiness of scorpions? I shook the skirt even harder, and out tumbled the DA&% SCORPION. I knew it! I smashed him 1,000 times... because they. just. don't. die. easily.

2. To keep with this topic, I heard a crash on the back porch while I was cooking the other day and the kids were playing outside. C ran in to tattle tell me sweetly that H had knocked over our little basketball goal. As she headed back outside, she casually mentioned, "Oh, and there's a scorpion underneath it." After screaming that she'd BETTER NOT BE KIDDING ABOUT THIS, I ran outside, grabbed a flip-flop as a weapon, and flipped the goal over again. It was a big ol' mama scorpion... and that big ol' mama scorpion was COVERED in babies. See THIS if you want a (terrifying) idea of what it looked like.

She's now a dead mama scorpion with a whole bunch of dead babies.

And I don't feel the slightest bit guilty.

3. C and I are making a Confetti Cake today. How fun is THAT? It was supposed to be a while ago in honor of her namesake-saint's feast day, but life was hectic at that time. Click the photo below for the recipe we're using.

4. When I reminded C that we were going to have a (belated) party for Saint C's feast day, C asked if "she" was going to come to the party. I wasn't sure who she meant, and asked her. "St. C, " my little C said, "Is she going to come to our feast?" After I stopped laughing, I took the chance to tell her again how we're so lucky to have the saints in Heaven to pray for us, and how she's especially lucky to have Saint C looking out for her, and that I'm sure she'd be present with us at the "feast," just like how Jesus is always there with us in our celebrations and our sorrows and all the times in-between.

5. Thanks to Lauren, I started looking into Ron Paul for 2012. I'm loving almost all of what I've been reading! Currently I'm hooked on his easily-digestible latest book, Liberty Defined: 50 Essential Issues that Affect Our Freedom. You can read the first part (Abortion) on Kindle as a free sample if you want to get an idea of how the book is set-up, which happens to be alphabetically by essential issue. The English teacher in me loves this.

6. #5 leads me to this one, which I've stolen from another blogger. It's a video about how the media, including Fox News (though honestly, I'm not a huge fan of Fox News... despite my political leanings), has almost completely ignored Ron Paul, to the point of ridiculousness. Jon Stewart and I are rarely on the same page, but I do find him amusing sometimes.

7. We took the kids to the circus on Wednesday. I'm so spoiled now-- we were in a SUITE with its own private bathroom, fruit tray, chips and salsa and queso, popcorn, and drinks of all kinds. There was a little balcony to sit in and watch the circus, plus couches and chairs and bar stools. When you're taking two little ones to the circus, having a space to move around, plus eat, plus use a non-public potty, plus have access to water/soda/adult beverages, is just about my definition of Heaven (ok, a little bit off, but possibly not too far). And did I mention that this only cost us $30 TOTAL for the 4 of us-- AND we had free parking in a reserved lot RIGHT NEXT to the Frank Erwin Center?? See... quite close to Heavenly.

Bonus: I'm still annoyed with the fact that my blog updates so late/not-at-all in blog feeds. If you missed my post about Austin Fertility and Miscarriage Support, please read it and spread the word about this awesome ministry.