Ding Dong the Witch is Dead

Which old Witch? The Mean Old Witch. . . uh, I mean the big ugly old acacia tree in my mom's back yard. Dead. At 4pm on January 4th, the ground underneath it gave way and it now leans rather percariously against the power pole. It took out power to 26 of our neighbors apparently. While I feel very bad that those people are without power right now, I am jumping for joy that the tree will no longer be in existance. And truth be told, my 87-year-old neighbor is pretty darn thrilled too.

J and I headed to my mom's this evening to get a little laundry done. See, at our apartment, we have a dinky stack washer/dryer set in the carport that's way too expensive. At mom's house, it's free and there's usually free food to go with it :) Anywoo, my mom wasn't home yet so we settled in to eat our dinner when there was a knock at the door. My dear neighbor was standing there in her robe, flashlight in hand. Power was out at her house and she insisted that I take a look in the backyard. It was 8pm, so I grabbed a flashlight and lo and behold: the damn tree was at a 45 degree angle to the ground. Neighbor and I, while a little concerned for the neighbors behind us and extremely thankful the tree fell away from our houses, were overjoyed that the ugly tree had finally fallen. She'd been after the previous owners of the house (all 3 of them since 1948) to get rid of the tree, but no one listened. Since we moved in 12 years ago, I have fostered a deep hatred of the tree because it drops that nasty orange pollen crap and leaves every year. Yuck. After closer inspection, J and I saw that part of the concrete patio had been lifted up with the tree roots lifted. Like 3 feet! And Neighbor reported that part of the fence would need to be repaired. I'm heading over in the morning to take some pictures. Crazy. What a storm!

So K was stinkin' adorable last night. She has this new noise. I call it an exclamation of excitement. So cute!!! AT 11 o'clock last night when she should have been asleep, she was exclaiming all over the place. Everything was exciting. Of course, J and I are totally in love with her little sound and are making fools of ourselves to get her to make this little sound. Oh, but did we pay for it! She was already so tired, so then the crying started. And it turned into screaming. Suddenly, she seemed to be in pain. Grrr. She ended up sleeping with us and waking every so often to nurse. Not usual for us, but hey. It's cozy when we're all together.

We had to take her in to after-hours care tonight. She got a strange rash all over her trunk. The doc to a good look at her and since there's no clear sign or reason why it's there, we're just supposed to watch it. And how is this for random: the nurse is one of my sorority sisters! She was a senior when I was a freshman. I really looked up to her back in the day. I still can. She's a pediatric oncology nurse and works part-time at the after hours clinic. It takes a special person to work that specialty.

I snuck a workout in today in spite of the storm. Yeah, it was a lame-ass cardio dvd, but I gave it my best and even got a little sweat action going. Hopefully, I'll be able to get a run in tomorrow before the rain starts again. I also did some strength training today for the first time in months. I actually don't want to think about how long it's been so I won't. And I ate pretty well too.

I think I'm in love with chai. I realize this may be dangerous. I am proceeding with caution. Thankfully, I got $70 in starbucks gifts cards this Christmas. I wasn't addicted before but I will be after I spend all my money!!!