The hills are alive with the sound of camping....

That is one of the lines from a skit we did at girls' camp one year. It was a clever parody of the Sound of Music. We were the Bra-strap family. I know, I know it just gets worse from there so I'll spare you the details.

We took the kids camping this weekend with another family, and excepting Ellie they have children the same ages as we do (although they have some older children and one 10 year old). We had a great time! I got to see some wicked dutch oven cooking and learned a sneaky way to get my kids to eat more veggies.

My ear/jaw/head thing was okay our first night up there, but it had me crying "Uncle!" the next day. I feel that things are slowly changing, and that maybe one day I will actually be free from ear pain. (oh please, oh please). This is the new bite thing I get to wear that makes me speak through clenched teeth and turns me into a slobbermouth. Oh yeah, who's the cool mom now?

It's strange, because even though my hearing hasn't been physically affected, it's much harder to understand people and follow what they're saying. I feel like I really have to concentrate to hear them over the pain. Not that the pain makes a sound, it is just there - always there, and it wants my attention all the time. So I distract myself:

I color or I suck on chocolate. I am now accepting muumuu donations of every kind. See also: Hershey aerated chocolate kisses, Pretzel m&ms, and Dr. Pepper.

Meanwhile, I will be sitting here perfecting my coloring skills and occasionally folding the laundry.