Dan and I are working and the kids are just living it up!

 Hellooooooo everyone!  Just checking in with you guys to let you know that I'm still alive

I recently started working 4 days a week and 2 Saturdays a month (as opposed to my previous schedule of 3 days a week and 1 Saturday a month)and while I appreciate the extra money, I really do miss having extra time to get things done.  The house is a mess, the laundry is always behind, and it seems I'm always running to the grocery store on my way home from work to pick up a couple of things instead of doing a real grocery trip.

Anyway, it's all working out fine because Dan is in Charleston - again.  He was home for a week so that was nice but now he's back.  I think it will be like that all summer - gone more than he's home. Heck, it's been like that for the last year. I should be used to it by now!  But I guess the upside is that if the house is a mess, there are no clean cloths, and no food to eat, no one will notice or care but me! 

I am currently in high stress mode for our trip to Italy.  We leave in exactly 19 days.  There's so much to think about, plan, do, etc.  I am very grateful we are going on this trip but a travel agent would have probably been the way to go.  We met with someone at AAA and he was odd and not very helpful...well, unless you consider it helpful that he found us tiny hotel rooms that cost double of what the AirBnBs we booked ourselves would have been. After that we just decided to go it on our own...and now I'm wondering if that was a mistake or not.  But I'm sure everything will work out and be just fine!

Sarah is officially a member of Delta Zeta now and could not be any happier with her decision to join!  

This is Sarah and her Big Sister at the Big Sister Reveal.  They bonded over The Bachelor hence The Bachelor themed sign and tee shirts. Her big sister's name is Natalie.  Sarah was hoping and hoping that her big sister was going to be Natalie so she was thrilled at the reveal!

Natalie and Sarah at the formal.

Sarah and Joe at the formal.  He was sweet enough to drive to Charlotte from Raleigh to take her.

Some of her new sisters.  

This week is Greek Week at UNC Charlotte.  They have events every day this week and the final big event is the Air Band Competition on Friday night.  All the fraternities and sororities participate in the competition.  Each group submits a team that competes.  Sarah will be performing for her sorority.  They have been working so hard on their routine.  Sarah's not a natural dancer but she decided to push herself and be part of the group that competes instead of the group that works on the sets and scenery. 

She said that this week is Polish Week, formerly called Hell Week. They will be having long practices every night this week to make sure all the routines are polished and ready for the competition.  

Peter has been in Hilton Head with his fraternity for their formal weekend.  He texted me on Saturday while I was at work that he got" bitten by a crab or something".  He said he was in a lot of pain and was coming off the beach. I was thinking that must have been some sort of crab pinch to elicit him coming off the beach. But it turns out he was bitten by a stingray!

He had a hole on the top of his foot that bleed initially and then started to bruise a little and swell and hurt a lot.  He said it hurt as bad as having his wisdom teeth out. After we realized it was stingray bite - (the hole is where the barb went it), and not just a crab, I googled what to do and  I instructed him to soak it in hot water.  Apparently the hot water pulls out the venom.  He sat with his foot in a bucket of hot water for about two hours.  His foot was still very sore but he managed to get ready and go to dinner with all the fraternity brothers and their dates.  Here is the only picture I got (other than a gross picture of his foot that I will not share with you.)

 

He said it was still swollen and sore Sunday morning but according to Google that is to be expected.  Now he just needs to watch to make sure there is no infection.  Also sometimes stingray bites can lead to necrosis if any part of the barb is left in the wound. I think he had a fun time any way though and said he didn't know anyone else who has been bitten by a stingray.  I've encouraged him to go to urgent care on Monday if his foot is still in a  lot of pain or swollen or red so we will see what happens and of course, I'll keep y'all posted.