I’m not Chevy Chase, but I wanted to get you all caught up on what happened around here this weekend.

Friday Juliette didn’t have school so Noah and I took her to the Office of Motor Vehicles to get her driver’s license. So, yes, ladies and gentlemen, my daughter is a legal driver!!!

Then that evening we went to the local mall so she could attend a listening event at the local Hot Topic store about the newest My Chemical Romance album. It’s her favorite band and in fact, her favorite store, even if her little brother calls it “the scary store.” I don’t blame him. I actually found a t-shirt there I liked. It had the X-men from the cartoon on it, but I refused to buy it for two reasons: the price and it kinda creeps me out to think of owning a shirt from that store!

On Saturday there was a HeartLA meeting and Juliette DROVE HERSELF to a slumber party! Her father was a wreck about it and was very upset about his little girl growing up. He’s a little worried about her sense of responsibility because she doesn’t do her chores around the house very consistently. He told her tonight that if she didn’t do at least six of her chores this week, there will be consequences. I did the dishes, though, because she had a lot of studying to do.

On Sunday, we went out to McDonald’s for lunch, and I was okay with it even though this week I was making a commitment to track all of my food and Weight Watcher’s points. I had a lot of the flex allowance points left so I splurged.

Today I ran out to Penney’s to get Noah long pants and a sweater for school as it was in the 40s this morning. It may be Louisiana, but a little boy doesn’t need to go to school in shorts when the temp is in the 40s. Then this afternoon I went to Weight Watchers.

I WAS DOWN 3 POUNDS!!! Yea, me! The program works, when you do it. I will admit that today I splurged a little to celebrate but tomorrow it’s back on track!

I also went to the Missus Smarty Pants site and signed up for a year of help in finding out my style and getting some dressing advice. I want to get out of the t-shirts and jeans thing and start wearing cute clothes! I may head to Target tomorrow and see about getting myself a cute top to wear instead of t-shirts!

My friend Camy Tang is having a contest on her website to celebrate the release of her first book in September 2007, and a couple of lucky people are going to win an iPod. Okay, this is going to sound a bit strange, but I want one.

My daughter got an iPod for her birthday and she gave me her own, non-iPod mp3 player.

I used to be as into music as she is now. I remember thinking that as long as I had my album (yes, they were vinyl in those days) collection and my books, I could live happily alone.

Well, then I grew up and my radio listening time fell to the wayside so I had no real clue who was popular nor did I care. I had been in the Army and now was in college, then life, you know, got busier.

However, I’ve discovered a couple of really cool things lately that make an mp3 player or better yet a real iPod pretty cool.

I’ve discovered Podcasts and believe it or not, fan music for my favorite movie, Serenity. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, I am quite geeky. I loaded a whole bunch, all I could find, of Serenity music that fans geekier than I am have written and recorded. There isn’t a lot, but I put them on the mp3 player and listen while working out.

Then there are the Podcasts. I’m obsessed with LOST and found a podcast that discusses the latest episode along with theories and all that. I have downloaded episodes of that to my mp3 player, too.

The best Podcast I’ve found is The Sonic Society, radio dramas written for today. It’s fabulous and a great way to hear a story while doing something else.

Now, if my mp3 player works fine for all this, why do I want an iPod? Well, it’s a little harder for me to get these things on my player because it isn’t compatible with Itunes so I have to hunt around a little and find the mp3 version and download it to my computer then copy it over. With an iPod I can just sync it with Itunes and get these podcasts and the four or five other ones I try to keep up with more easily.

So, do me a favor and go over to Camy’s site, enter her contest and tell her that I sent you. I’ll get three extra entries for everyone who I refer, so tell your friends!! My email is nancy at nancysbrandt dot com. I’m sure you can figure out what to do with the spaces and extra words.

Oh, while you’re over there, check out this cool, funny lady. I’m looking forward to her book and I’m sure you will, too.

  I joined Weight Watchers in May, right before Memorial Day. This was after doing three weight loss sessions at our local YMCA and trying to do it on my own. I decided I needed the support and the weekly weigh-ins. I love Weight Watchers, but I have some kind of mental block on all this.

For about the last four weeks, I haven’t tracked anything. And not surprisingly I’ve gained weight all four weeks. I’m back to tracking this week and feeling better about things.

But I do have a question about this whole, “it’s not a diet, it’s a lifestyle” thing that WW keeps saying. My sister-in-law has been on WW for a few years and when she started my brother told me that she said it wasn’t a diet; it was a lifestyle. I’m trying to get into that mindset, but as my daughter pointed out, homosexuality is a lifestyle, this is just Weight Watchers.

Yes, I want to make it to my goal weight and yes, I want to be a lifetime member and I even want to be a leader, but I struggle with the thought that I’ll have to write down what I eat every day of my life, for the rest of my life!! I mean, when I’m eighty and have survived all that time since my transplant, you bet I don’t want to be writing it all down every day! Heck, if I make it to 55, meaning that I lived longer than my dad who had the same kidney condition, I want to have the biggest blowout party this family’s ever seen and I don’t want to write it all down!!

So, what’s the deal? What do they mean by a lifestyle???

I just don’t get it.

Yesterday was pretty busy, at least in the morning.

Juliette came into my room before school and said she had an upset stomach, but was going to school anyway because she had a couple of tests, and could I come to school between 8-11 to get her. I told her no because I had plans, and wouldn’t be home. I did tell her that she could call my cell if she really felt sick.

I took Noah to school then came back home to take my pills and just about the time I was leaving to go to help a friend fit a dress pattern, Juliette called and wanted to come home. I called my friend and told her I was coming but would be late.

I went to Juliette’s school, brought her home and then headed to my friend’s house. We spent about an hour pinning a pattern to her and explaining what I would do to make sure the dress fit. Granted, I never do any of the things I suggested (and maybe the dress I’m making would fit better!), but she seemed to understand what I said.

Then I picked Noah up at school and came home. I really felt like I wanted to do some sewing but Noah saw a friend of his outside playing when he came home from school so we changed his clothes and went outside so he could ride his bike (with training wheels) with his friend. Then his friend’s grandmother made toasted cheese for the boys. After they ate, Noah took a nap and I did a little sewing, but not – never – as much as I want.

Steve and Noah are going on a campout this weekend – all weekend! – so I’ll have time to sew then.

Tonight is the beginning of our church’s RENEW session, at least our group, so it’s a good thing Steve got us a DVR because LOST is on tonight, too!

Tomorrow I’m going to a Hostess Club thing with a local Stampin’ Up demonstrator and I’m looking forward to that.

I’m also trying to work on Sword & Illusion and getting ready to write another book this November at NaNoWriMo.

For the past couple of weeks, I’ve felt like I was hovering on the verge of a cold, and I was begging God to just let me get sick and get it over with! However, yesterday I finally felt a little better. I mean, not like I wanted to spend the day sitting in a chair groaning and hoping someone would feel sorry for me. Have you ever noticed that Mommy isn’t supposed to get sick. Mommy is the one who is supposed to get juice for the Boy and have dinner ready when Daddy gets home and be available when the Girl needs to be picked up from school or needs something from the story. Mommies don’t get a day off even when they really just want to go back to bed.

Anyway, last night when I went to bed I was so full of energy I couldn’t sleep. I shouldn’t have been feeling this way. I went to Weight Watchers and I was up again for the fourth week in a row. I really need to get back on program. I want to get down to my goal weight or below and I want to be a WW leader. I told that at the meeting last night – we were talking about our top ten reasons for losing weight. I only came up with nine, but I think it was enough to help me get back on track.

Today I woke up around 5:30. That’s when I take my temperature and my daughter came into the bedroom to say she felt terrible but was going to school because she really doesn’t want to miss any more school and she has a algebra test this morning. She wanted me to come between 8-11 to pick her up, but I have other plans. I’m going over to a friend’s house to help her start sewing a dress she wants to make. We’ve been planning this for a couple of months, but with one thing and another, I thought she’d given up on the project, or at least on me being part of it. She called yesterday and we made today’s plans.

The bottom line is I didn’t go back to sleep because my mind kept working on things like rearranging the kitchen and plotting/outlining my 2006 NaNoWriMo book. Finally, around 6 am, I just decided to get out of bed.

I think it’s going to be a good day!

I got back to Baton Rouge at around 11 pm last Wednesday nigh and my internet connection was down the whole next day. Then I had a bad cold or something, no energy and my brain felt fried, I think from all the stress involved with the funeral and all so I haven’t been able to get back to you all about my trip.

As you can guess, it wasn’t a lot of fun, although I got to talk a lot to my cousin Becky who is only three weeks older than I am. She told me about a funny memory she has of the two of us playing in Gramma’s bathroom with lipstick telling stories in fake accents. I have no memory of this, but it sounds like something I could do!

The viewing had been scheduled from 3-6 pm on Sunday. Mom, Rob and I left a bit early because Mom needed to take care of her puppy who had been in the house since church time that morning. We went home, changed and hung around until about 6:30, then headed up to Uncle Don’s house where the family was gathering to eat and fellowship. My aunt’s immediate family did not get there until 8:30!!! That’s how long the line of people was! They were exhausted and starving when they got home!

The funeral was at 1 pm the next day and the church was packed. I cried a lot and really missed having Steve beside me. At the cemetary, I didn’t want to get out of the car because it seemed like we’d just been there. Gramma was buried in May, so yeah, we were just there! In fact, Aunt Laurita was buried beside her mother, so almost literally right there! I took some of the roses from the arrangements and laid one at my father’s grave and one at my sister’s. I figured I was crying anyway; why not stop and see them since I was in the neighborhood.

We went back to the church for a meal provided by the ladies, but didn’t go up to Uncle Don’s afterward. I was so tired when we got back to Mom’s I couldn’t imagine how my uncle and his family were managing.

It was a tough trip although the flights were uneventful. I even had seats to myself on all four planes. I guess the time of the flights meant they weren’t popular. I did think about Lost, though, on the first flight!