Friday, April 23, 2010

When, when, when

Things are going along at a dizzying pace here. My mind starts reeling before my eyes open and it doesn't stop until I'm dead asleep. Sometimes not even then. The kids were off this week and it was nice to have them home. We didn't get tons done here but managed to get some unseen much needed things accomplished. Today the girls (and Sean) and I are heading out to the mall to shop for dresses.

We've had a major minor setback in the form of a letter. A denial letter from the credit union. They say they won't refinance our mortgage. WAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH! Tom's already drawn up a letter of appeal so we'll see how it goes. One thing that the letter showed me is how much I've been living in the future. Almost everything had been tied to this refinance. I was a broken record...when the house is refinanced we can.... When our budget gets redone we'll.... I can get/do that after the house refinance. I really had to fight to keep myself from falling into deep despair. I know we'll figure things out...with or without the refinance. Then my mom called (warning....very upsetting news ahead)

We talked about things (since she "lent" me money to close on the refi) and she tried to alleviate my concerns. She then told me why she was calling. Her cousin's (I also consider him my cousin) son took his own life. I lost it. He was between Pat and Michelle in age. He was set to graduate from Duke University in a few weeks. (his parents will receive his diploma) On the outside he seemed to have it all together. According to his note, he hadn't been doing well for a long time, although he was seeking help. They live out of state so I can't attend the wake or funeral. My mom is sending flowers from all of us and I'm hoping to send them a card. After I got myself back together I said....wow that makes my mortgage problem seem like peanuts.

And now it's evening. We went shopping to Kohl's, TJ Maxx and Target. Michelle fed the kids lunch in the van while I ran into Catherine's and used my $15 gift card. They had an additional 50% off some clearance racks. I bought 2 black shirts (a tank and a decorated 3/4 sleeve) for under $12. I then dropped Michelle, Carrie, my niece Michaela, Eileen, Olivia and Danielle off at the mall. Then Sean and I took a ride to my parents and waited for them to be done. My mom and I ordered flowers for the funeral and I helped my dad install a closet door.

I knew Michelle would do well with the girls, she's very frugal. She found Eileen and Olivia $7 shirts at Rue21. I'm not sure I'd have even looked at them on the rack. They're tshirt dresses and seemed a bit casual but they look very nice on. Finding something for Carrie is a bit harder. They found a dress for $25 but Michelle thought it was too prom'y. I saw pictures of it after we got home, I didn't think it was that bad. I think the price tag was what got Michelle the most though. Her, Carrie and Michaela ended up staying at the mall and going home with Val and Brittany who came later.

So now the kids are at activity club for another half an hour. Sean and Danielle are at the other computer and having a minor disagreement about something. Tom is outside banging together a nice looking set of stairs for the back door of the addition. He told me last night that if I give up on the house because of this setback, I'm in trouble. That we have to take this extra time and use it. I know he's right but it's very tempting to let up on it just a bit since there's so much else to do here.

I still have a ton to do tonight...

pick up the girls at 9,
work out a break schedule for the concession stand for tomorrow,
make sure everything is in the backpack for the stand,
weave in the tails of Allison's shawl then wash and block it,
wash the afghans I need for shower gifts
wrap gifts
wash and get out clothes for us girls for tomorrow
figure out a snack to bring to the evening shower and make it

I feel like I'm forgetting something else...

Oh well, now I have 5 minutes until the girls need to be picked up. I need to go find Sean's shirt. He managed to take it off and discard it somewhere. Then it's out the door, into the carseats and away we go.

Monday, April 19, 2010

Semi back to normal

Today's the first day I didn't feel like I was going to barf all day....just once in a while. It's also the first day I actually ate a meal and not a bite here or there. I didn't eat anything for the first 48hrs at all. I'm starting to wonder if this is the stomach bug that was going around earlier this year that we seemed to miss. I know those that had it said it lasted a long time and this is a ridiculous amount of time to have a stomach bug. Tom's been hit with it now for sure. He spent most of it in bed yesterday. I know he's still dragging today even though he went to work (which I again tried to discourage...bad me). I keep waiting for someone else to get hit with it but so far so good. I'm not relaxing though and I'm definitely not going to wash a bunch of bedding (new clean sheets beg for a stomach bug).

I was dumbfounded this week when mail came for Sean. It was from headstart. Seems they have open house and it's open to anyone turning 3 before Dec 1st 2010! WHAT!?! Send Sean to school!?! I'm debating about whether to send Danielle to Kindergarten in Sept (she turns 5 a week before school starts) and they're asking if I want to send Sean! Insane! WHY would anyone want to send a 3yo (or not even 3yo) off to school, even if it's "only for half a day". At least it's voluntary...for now.

We're starting to get things for the wedding. Yesterday I used a 50% off coupon at AC Moore and bought a chocolate fountain. I'd promised the little kids that we could try it out when I got home...so we did. I am SO glad that I did!! I didn't realize I'd needed 4lbs of chocolate in order for it to work. I'd only bought 1 lb of yellow chocolate wafers (Danielle's choice of color and then she wondered if it would taste like banana lol). So I had to use the pink wafers I'd bought for the wedding. I couldn't get the chocolate to ever flow right, no matter how much cooking oil I added (and I added a sickening amount). Finally it just stopped pumping the chocolate all together. Michelle's wondering if it's the vanilla chocolate that's the problem since it seems to be a lot thicker then regular chocolate when she's used it for strawberries and pretzels. So I think we're going to try it again using only real chocolate. I'm a little bummed since I thought it would be cool to have chocolate in her wedding colors, but oh well. At least this all didn't happen at the wedding itself!

Buying dresses for the wedding. I'm really starting to wonder if I should be having the girls try to keep within the color scheme of the wedding (pink dresses, yellow flowers). Is it too much? Will it look funny if there are too many different shades of pink? How much white is too much white for a dress? Is it too dressy? Not dressy enough? Carrie and I were out yesterday. We found a cute dress for her...


I found something that's a bit younger looking for Olivia but it has a cream/white colored skirt with tulle over the top of it that's embroidered with black flowers. I'm afraid it's a bit too formal looking and it'll seem like she's suppose to be in the wedding party itself. I guess we'll just have to wait and see. The plan for now is to go out shopping on Friday (Michelle's only day off). Hopefully we can all find something then. I'd like to be able to say...at least we'll all be dressed at this thing! lol

Michelle drew up a master list of all the things we should get done around here before the appraisal...by room. It is FIVE pages long. I mentioned it to Tom and his response was...What are you trying to do? Give me a heart attack? I told him don't even look at it. I told the kids if we get a lot of progress done this week, we can do something fun before the end of vacation. What have I done off the major list so far? Bathe and demat Oreo...alright it's not on the list. But he smells pretty and looks SO much better. Part of my weird thinking is...better smelling dog equals better smelling house. Well maintained dog equals less hair to pick up around the place. Besides there's just something so relaxing about brushing and playing with his fur. He's so good about it too, even when he doesn't want to be. Just the bath alone was torture for him...he hates the water. There are times when I'm working on a mat that you can tell he just wants to give me a good nip and say...enough already!

Well, I guess I should say enough already here.

(and I never hit post before taking care of a crying Sean and then falling asleep...so now I will...the next day)

Sunday, April 18, 2010

Try to do a fashion show

The kids had been bugging me to see what Sean's suit looked like on him. I finally caved in yesterday. And this is what happened...

I only got one shot at Danielle and Sean together and it was a lousy one. Sean wasn't happy because no one would believe him that the tie goes on the OUTSIDE of the vest! (ignore the yucky spackled walls in the background please...they are ready to be painted)

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Then Olivia got into the action
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And of course Jake had to get his mug into the show
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This is what happens when you tell a boy who LUBS his suit that he has to take it off now. (notice where the tie is now...outside the vest, just where it should be)

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Are we in for some fun or what!?!

From the eyes of

Eileen!

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She borrowed my camera the other day. This is what she saw...

Cherry blossoms
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Daffodils and the riding lawn mower
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Greenhouse Uncle Billy built, in need of repair
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Uncle Billy's jeep (and yes, we still call it that)
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Oreo, up close and personal
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Stormy skies
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And it's storms
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Rivulets
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And washouts
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We interrupt everyday life

to bring you a Grade A barfing fest. Yep, we're finally gotten hit big time with the throw-up bug. We've had lots and lots of stomachaches here but nothing with major barfing...until Wednesday.

It started all innocent enough with a fun day out with Della. We went shopping with Abigail and our little kids. I found Danielle a dress and shoes for Drew's and Allison's wedding and Sean a 4pc suit! woohoo! Big time score since there was only one suit, it was his size and cost less then $6! Della and I meandered through a woman's dress shop so I could try to find anything...which I didn't. Why is it so hard for me to buy myself clothes. Granted nothing in that place was right for the wedding but even if something had been...I would have agonized over whether to buy it or not. Anyways...we then went to two grocery stores, the second one was a quick run around the outside of the store without any kids type of trip...thanks to Abigail. Della let Sean and Danielle stay at her house and play while I ran to pick up Michelle. I also ran pick up some things while there and ran to AC Moore AGAIN! I decided to get a thinner yarn for Allison's wedding shawl while it was on sale.

We got home and the kids helped empty the car and start putting things away. It was then that I noticed that Jake wasn't around. He showed up shortly thereafter telling me he'd been sleeping and didn't feel good. I'd been hearing a lot of that lately so didn't think anything of it. Michelle declared that she was making pizza for dinner that night. So I then got to relax!! Poor Jake, he took two bites of pizza and lost it. After that he couldn't keep anything down all night long. He felt a bit better in the morning and started eating. But still missed school the rest of the week. Luckily for him Friday was a bogus day since half of it was taken up with the middle school talent show.

Tom started complaining that he didn't feel good Thursday night. He had a headache and was feverish. He never threw up so I'm still not sure if it was what Jake had. He seemed better in the morning even though I tried to convince him to call in sick. He's no fun and wouldn't do it! I kinda wish he had because when I got out of bed I realized...I felt lousy! I hadn't been that sick in a long time. I was exhausted and couldn't keep anything down. Luckily Jake held down the fort with the little kids so I could nap on and off. I still had to take and pick up Michelle from work. It was a scary ride, I actually dozed off at the red light. So to pick her back up, I left the little kids home although Carrie tagged along so she could try to persuade me to take her to get her ears pierced (per our agreement). It didn't work. I guess she didn't get that I was lucky I was sitting upright in the driver's seat to begin with. KIDS!! ARGH!

When we pulled into the driveway we were met with Val's friend Brittany yelling out the door...Seanie barfed! NOOOO! I can't deal with him and me! Brittany was a peach and had taken care of almost everything by the time I got in the door. Val was in the bathroom dealing with her sensitive stomach. Oh she's going to have fun once she has kids! lol I managed to keep control of my bodily functions while dealing with Sean. He was so good about it all. Just grabbed the bucket and let it happen. NO fighting it, no crying. I covered the couch with sheets and we spent the night there.

I had a problem. I was suppose to work at the dome on Saturday!!! I wasn't sure what to do and my dilemma became even harder to decide after I got a call Friday morning that someone else that was scheduled to work was also sick and in bed...so wouldn't make it. I decided to wait things out and see how I felt later. Add Sean to the mix and things got harder. Finally, around 9pm I decided things were letting up for me and I couldn't risk getting anyone else sick...so called another manager to tell them. We tried to get someone to cover but no luck. Luckily we had a few extra people scheduled so we could allow breaks, so they were working with the minimum but were covered.

Saturday morning I felt better so decided to try to go to work. By the end of my shower I realized...there was NO way I could do it. So I sent off my supplies with Luke and said...have fun! Then I plopped myself on the couch where I spent most of my day! I finally decided to try to eat something in the afternoon. My stomach tried to protest but survived.

I'm still not feeling 100%. But there are things to do! The wedding is less then 4 wks away. I have to buy outfits and shoes for everyone. I was hoping to get it done this week while the kids have it off from school. Hopefully the stomach bug doesn't hit everyone and we're stuck home instead. I have to finalize the food and figure out my shopping list for that. I'm not working at the dome on Saturday but have some behind the scene things to do for it. Saturday I'm attending two bridal showers. We're having a bridal shower for Allison on May 2nd at a state park. I have to get everything for that ready with no plans made yet whatsoever. My cousin's wife is having a baby shower the same day as Drew's wedding. I don't think I'll be attending the shower. It was nice to be able to dig into my box of finished projects and pull something out for her. I still have a baby shower to get something made for my nephew and his wife. Their shower is the day after Drew's wedding.

Oh and I'm still suppose to be cleaning and painting the house to get it appraisal ready which should happen in a week or two. We signed some good faith papers so just waiting to hear the final word on our approval which should come this week. Get this... me with no job or income...ever...has a better credit score then Tom. I told him it's because I always make sure MY bills get paid before his do! lol But really...that system is just messed up!

Oh good! My printer has finally decided it's going to read my memory card. Now I can share pictures... in another post.

Wednesday, April 14, 2010

Picture sharing time

Tom driving to the hotel for Olivia's birthday celebration....

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Olivia listening to us sing Happy Birthday to her...

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YOU CAN'T SEE ME!

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Here I am!

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Having fun on the trampoline...

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Random picture of Jake, not sure when it was taken

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Tuesday, April 13, 2010

I'm suppose to be working

But here I sit with my bowl of cereal and my cup of coffee. I've been working on an afghan for the other wedding shower I have on the 24th. I don't think I'll be getting something made for Allison and Drew. I'll probably go buy them something instead, just not sure what. I didn't manage to get anything done yesterday. Sean seemed extra clingy for some reason. He was extra cranky too. I couldn't move without him crying for me to pick him up. I almost wonder if it's because I wasn't here when he fell asleep last night. Yep! Tom and I ended up going to dinner Sunday night. We used our Red Lobster gift card that Michelle got us for Christmas. We had... steak, lobster tail, crab legs, scampi, salmon, and stuffed flounder. I say we because we ordered our meals with the idea of sharing everything. This allowed us both to have a variety of things. So while it sounds like we ordered everything, we only ordered 2 meals. I had a yummy sangria before dinner. Tom thought it was yummy too and ordered one after. We both agreed that it was much yummier before the meal.

It was SO nice to sit and talk without being interrupted. To not have to do anything but attend to my meal. Luckily I behaved and we didn't have any spills to deal with either! I miss my husband. Things can get so hectic here that we're lucky if we talk a full sentence to each other some nights. One of my biggest fears is that get stuck as parents and not know each other when it's just us. While I loved being alone with Tom, it also fed a desire for MORE! We talked about going away after all this craziness is done. Our 27th anniversary is at the end of June so maybe we'll work on doing something for that.

I think I finally got all the papers in for our refinance. At least they took the money out of our account for the credit check. I may be pushing it but I'm hoping that means we can sign the lock in rate papers by the end of the week and schedule the appraisal. I'm shooting for the end of vacation for that. Although it may make the kids' vacation not too fun which is bumming me out. But you have to do what you have to do and right now...this is IMPORTANT!

It's starting to hit me that in so many days LIZ will be home!!! Although Olivia who's having a bit of a down time right now says...that means I have to wait X many days. While I'm sure that her initial bout of depression was more then school. I think right now it is school. She's almost always on the verge of tears before she gets on the bus. I'm sure once she gets there she's fine. It's the getting up and going that's the problem. I'm usually chomping at the bit for a vacation...this time I'm dying for it!! Only 3 more days!

Well my breakfast and coffee are gone and so is most of the day now. It was another day I didn't get anything on my todo list done. I crocheted and I'm this > < close to being done. I'm hoping to finish it up tonight. Then I won't be distracted anymore (too much lol)

Everyone is home. Val's friend Joe is up here on leave from the Navy and is visiting. Him and Tom are outside talking Navy. Ham is in the oven and making this place smell good! I guess I should go get dinner finished.

Sunday, April 11, 2010

Wedding talk

I only have 25 minutes before I have to head out the door. Let's see how much rambling I can accomplish in that time.

My headaches are gone! I'm not even stuffed up anymore. That was one of the quickest colds I've ever had. (watch me jinx myself and I'll be sick as a dog tomorrow).

Tammy...I forgot to mention in the last post. I like the analogy of driving a car with the horn and raising kids by yelling.

While we picked up around here yesterday, not much else got done work wise. We spent most of the day with Allison and Drew talking about their wedding...only 34 days to go and not much is set in stone yet. Although I think we got most of the menu nailed down. Drew's problem is he wants something different. He doesn't want the classic...roast beef, ham and roasted chicken. So right now it looks like we're doing...spiral ham and chicken and steak kabobs. I'd rather cook a few top round roasts on the webers and have sliced roast beef instead of the steak kabobs. But like I said...he doesn't want the ordinary. I'm not sure I want to fight this fight or not. The roasts are definitely less work and might even be cheaper. I'm not even totally sure how we're cooking the kabobs yet. Allison's maid of honor is making her cake. Drew and Allison went to her house so they could taste and choose which type they wanted. We were lucky enough to be the recipients of the 2nd choice cake. OMGoodness!!!! It was delicious!!! White cake with a whipped cream cream cheese frosting. It had fresh red and yellow raspberries between the layers. Now I can't wait to taste the one they chose...lemon cake with blueberry mousse between the layers (three of them), topped with fresh blueberries and the whipped cream cream cheese frosting.

Tom and I never went out to dinner on Saturday. I never confirmed things with Michelle and she had made plans. So Tom took the kids to subway and they brought back foot long subs (customer appreciation day...buy one get one free). We're hoping that after I pick up Michelle we can go out. Actually Tom asked if I wanted to wait until all the busyness was done before going and I said N! O! I wanna go now. I was one second away from throwing myself onto the floor and pitching a fit. ;o)

This week seems to be empty appointment wise, although Michelle is working different hours. The goal this week is painting some walls and ceilings, finishing up on the laundry and cleaning up the laundryroom (again!) Then next week (which is spring break!!!) we'll try and get rooms cleaned and painted.

Tom just went to pick up Luke, Carrie and Eileen from a BBQ at church. So I guess even if Michelle has plans, we have sitters home. I had some pictures I wanted to share now that I found my battery charger...yay!!! Maybe I can get them up later tonight. No promises though. And now it's time to run out the door and get Michelle! Fastest post I've done in a long, long time.

Friday, April 09, 2010

Good Morning!

It's Friday! And before I could write one sentence we already had a major crisis averted. I gave Eileen all her documentation for her border crossing. She put it in a plastic sleeve and took it upstairs to put with her stuff to pack. For some reason she decided to act out how the border crossing would go. She opened up the folded birth certificate and said... JACOB ALLEN XXXX! I'd given her Jake's birth certificate instead of her's! THAT would not have been good! So now she's who she's suppose to be, at least I think she is. lol

This morning's main "too early for any sensible person" thought was...I have three bridal shower in less then 4 wks. I'm so lucky to have 2 of them on the same day. Allison's maid of honor is throwing the shower for her side of the family on the 24th. Esther who is getting married the weekend after Allison is having her shower 4 hours later. Luckily they're being held only a few miles apart, so getting from one to the other is no problem. But still...I have to get two shower gifts made NOW. I'm trying not to think about everything that needs to be done in the next 6wks because I'm afraid I'll just shut down. I keep telling myself...It's nothing more then I can handle. I've gone through worse...I think. lol

Reading back the other night I realized that I didn't paint my brother in the best light. It was never my intention. He's a very devoted dad, his kids are his world. One of the reasons why how he parents bothers me is that...I was once like that (and can slip back into that mode on occasion). It's my biggest regret...how harsh I was in my younger years. I yelled and barked. I wasn't necessarily angry when I did it, I just thought that was how it was suppose to be done. When you wanted your kids to listen to you...you barked. When they weren't listening...you yelled. I did it, my brother does it and I've seen my sister do it. Funny thing is, I don't think of us as children as being barked and yelled at. I'm just hoping the cycle doesn't continue on my end with Drew.

OK...I need to go spend some time with Olivia before the bus comes. Then switching laundry, maybe painting walls, and if I'm lucky getting a few afghan motifs done here or there.

Thursday, April 08, 2010

Feeling better

I woke up on Wednesday with a really bad headache. The kind where you try not to move your head because if you do...you'll barf. But there was still kids to get up and things needed to be done. The first trip got out the door and I was getting Olivia going when the phone rang...it was Carrie...could I pick her up, the stairs hurt her knee too much. She fell the night before and landed squarely on them. So I told her I'd be there as soon as I could but it would probably be 30-45mins as Olivia wasn't on the bus yet. Michelle heard the phone conversation and got out of bed so I could go. I downed some Ibuprofen and jumped in the shower which helped deaden the pain to a dull roar.

With Carrie home and Michelle up early, I decided to take advantage of things. I got the girls to take Danielle and Sean outside to enjoy the awesome weather. Then I got busy and painted the kitchen ceiling! The climbing on and off the counters, standing on a chair, working over my head. UGH!!! I hadn't done it in quite a few years and the job really accented that I'm not a spring chicken anymore. I made a mess! While standing on the counters and painting over the cupboards, my hair got stuck in the wet paint. I started to look like Cruella Deville. I never remember having so much paint run off my paint pad before. I'm blaming the paint, yeah it's the paint! I kept wanting to stop and take a break but then I'd decide to do...just one more section. I've done the worst part of the living area...it looks a lot brighter in there. I was tempted to try to get away with only doing that. Then I looked at the rest of the area a bit closer and noticed that I really shouldn't try that. So we'll press on, just not today.

Today I woke up with a headache again but not as bad. After being up and about, having coffee and few ibuprofen it was better, less of a roar as yesterday but not totally gone. I got to work as soon as my feet touched the floor. I cleaned off the addition stairs and both bathrooms. I sorted a hall full of laundry and was starting in the kitchen when my dad pulled into the driveway. He was due here at 11 but was half an hour early. I scrambled to throw on a pot of coffee as he came in the door. He was looking at our electricity. We haven't had any service to a few front walls in quite a long while.

First we had to figure out which breaker went to where. Then we tested the breakers and they were all good. The outlets were dead though so somewhere between the breaker and the first outlet in the circuit there was probably a broken wire. We thought to replace the wire but we were pretty sure BIL stapled the wires to the wall studs when he did the work. We talked about opening the wall to get to the wires....but decided to play around with it a bit more. After running a few tests we finally figured out that the outlets got power after you reset the breakers, it lost it as soon as you plugged something in....so back to the breakers we went...it was bad. Phew! An easy fix! I called the hardware store in the village and they told me they didn't have the exact part but had something that would work. I sent Michelle and Cory up there and when they got back....it didn't fit. So my dad and I returned that one and then went to the next village's hardware store and found something that would work. We got back with a few minutes to spare before Michelle had to go to work. As Michelle and I walked out the door, my dad was screwing everything back together. He didn't wait for me to get back like I'd hoped he would, but I understand why not. I'm sure he was as exhausted as I was from all the stair climbing and such. So no more extension cords running all over the place for us! Another thing crossed off the todo list...THANK YOU DAD!!!

Now we're working on getting Eileen and Carrie ready for their trip tomorrow. They're going to Ottawa for the weekend with a group of girls. It sounds like they have a lot of fun planned. I have to remember to have Tom sign a note for them to be able to cross the border before he goes to bed. Otherwise they'll have to stay home. I'm hoping once we have the house refinanced that Me, Tom, Luke, Carrie, Jake, Eileen and Olivia can get our passports. I figure Danielle and Sean won't be going abroad anytime soon and can wait. The other ones are more likely to go to Canada, Norway or the like in the next few years. It occurred to me in the middle of the night last night...What if Carrie or Eileen gets hurt in Canada and has to be admitted the hospital? While we're giving the girls that are taking them medical authorization...Neither Tom nor I could cross the border to relieve them of that responsibility if we needed to...not good!

I am SO looking forward to this weekend....maybe a little too much. It's the first and almost the last Saturday that I'll have free until June (I think May 1st is free but it's in between a late Friday night concession at the dome and us hosting Allison's bridal shower on Sunday...so not very relaxing). I keep thinking of all these things we can do or get done on Saturday. Michelle said she wants Tom and I to use our gift card and go to Red Lobster for dinner. Seeing as I just double checked the calendar and what I wrote above is true....I think we will! Otherwise we'll never get there.

OK it is 4.5hrs after I started this. My mind is mush after writing notes and filling out forms. I feel like I had to write a novel when writing Carrie's medical info. I hope they don't have any problems crossing the borders...we really need our passports!

Tuesday, April 06, 2010

My turn

It's my turn to be sick. It started last night with a stuffy nose, headache and the chills and it continues today..lucky me. My dad was suppose to come over see if he can find the problem with our electricity in the front of the house. I called him and asked to postpone until tomorrow or Thurs. So we are.

At least I slept a semi normal sleep cycle last night. I went to bed after the basketball game and went right out. Unfortunately I didn't stay that way. I woke up at 2:30ish and tossed and turned but luckily fell back to sleep after a while. I was up for good about 5am although I didn't get up until 6 with Tom. It was just too comfy warm in there to give it up.

Today has been spent finding documents and wrestling with my scanner and email program. I hope I didn't send the lady at the credit union 10 emails with the mortgage application and documentation in it. It was a HUGE file (due to not being able to make a PDF file from my scanner...but now I can) and the email kept timing out on me and I'd get failure notices.

Michelle is being a sweetheart and trying to get rid of the huge pile of stuff in the livingroom before she goes to work in an hour.

Michelle told me I sounded like an old person yesterday. We were at a very busy intersection where I needed to turn right. Two teenage girls were walking and talking on the sidewalk alongside of me. Let's just say it's a very good thing I'm a cautious driver because those girls didn't even pause at the road, much less look to see if the way was clear. Just kept on walking like it was the sidewalk. Michelle made me honk at them as I drove by them. Then made the old person comment after I said something to the effect of Kids these days.

I love my brother but MAN! He has bellowing down to an art! He's the type of person who thinks louder means powerful. At my aunt's I almost said to him...will you please just walk over to the girl and tell her not to do that! Our aunt's neighborhood already knows someone named S is visiting (since he bellowed her name enough times...it's his youngest who is 2yo). Do they need to know everything she's doing too? I think Drew is very similar to him. So I was also thinking...if that was Drew.... I think I might get myself into trouble as a Grandma.

Well now Michelle needs to leave in 15mins, so I need to get off here and get ready to leave.

Monday, April 05, 2010

Phew! She did it!

The second trip school bus just left and Olivia was on it. She was balking at going and was on the verge of tears at times. I'm pretty sure there wasn't a threat of tears when she ran out the door though. Now if I can go through the day without a phone call from the school, it'll be good. Her mood seemed to lift more as the week progressed with Thursday being the biggest improvement. It was also the last day of school before a 3 day weekend, so I have to wonder....Deep down, is it school that's causing the problems for her? She still continues to say it's not school though, that school is fine and nothing happened there. But I wonder.

Yesterday was weird. I mean everyone had fun but for myself...it was weird. I found myself being very impatient and harsh while getting ready to go to church and then again to my aunt's. While driving to my aunt's I was in an almost sulky funk. I couldn't help laughing at the situation. One of the most religious days of the year and here I was at my worst in a while. I almost wonder if it's my classic backlash due to having the family split up and not having Tom with us on an important day. Of having to miss out on things that I'd prefer not to. Usually I can sense the feelings stirring and come to grips with it. This time it just seemed to sneak up on me and take over for a while and was scary.

It was the perfect day to be sitting outside and visiting. I had a nice time sitting there, watching the kids play and catching up with everyone. The kids had another easter egg hunt and then an egg toss. Sean and I were a team...and then he was done....so Carrie and Jake took our egg over. My dad asked me about my aunts and uncles being invited to Drew's wedding. He was a bit disappointed when I said we didn't/couldn't invite any of them since not even all Drew's cousins were invited. I'm pretty sure I saw a look of relief in my uncle's eyes though....that's a lot of weddings he's off the hook for! He's still dealing with his own nieces and nephews, much less kids of nieces and nephews. (my dad is one of 13...there's almost 50 of us cousins...the youngest one is 10yo now)

My kitchen has been filled with a heavenly scent. While at BJ's I smelled it and just had to buy some. It was Easter Lilies. I found smaller ones at Walmart and figured I'd buy 2 of them for my mom and my aunt and take the big bunch back. Well, I never took it back. With all those plants on the kitchen table, it was all you could smell when you walked in the room. I gave my mom the big bunch, my aunt got a smaller one. I suggested to Tom that he either give the last small one to our next door neighbors who helps us out at times. Or take it up to him parents' graveside and perhaps plant it. He hasn't decided what he wants to do with it, so I'm enjoying it still.

One of the things I did in the middle of the night last was redo the inventory list for the concession stand. The dome's version is fine but I wanted one that anyone could pick up and use without explanation. I'd never worked with excel before so it took a bit of playing around to figure out what I was doing. It's done and I'm hoping it makes taking inventory as easy as I think it does. Another thing off my todo list.

Today's agenda is to work on the laundry a bit more. I've already warned the kids that they'll be working on it when they get home. I want to get Allison's shawl completed so I think I'll work on that too. There's a lot more I could add to the list, but for now that's good enough. Tomorrow I'm hoping to get into the girls room and clean...I want to start painting! Oh and Tom and I HAVE to sign the papers for the mortgage and email them back so the credit union can do what they need to do. Because you never know...a couple who's been doing business with you forever and has been paying faithfully on their house for 20yrs, just might have terrible credit. Or not be able to pay for the new mortgage, even if the monthly payments are less then the ones they're paying faithfully now.

OOPS! It's taken me almost 3hrs to get this post done. Lots of distractions today...fighting kids, kids into baskets that don't belong to them, post Easter clean up, breakfast, snacks and coffee making...of which I need to do...If I can shed this little boy from my lap. The good news is...no calls from school so far!!!!

How long is this going to go on?

I don't like to sleep. I consider it a waste of time. But even I think this is ridiculous! I took Sean into bed last night shortly after 9:30 and promptly fell asleep. No problem...until I'm wide awake and tossing and turning at 1am! I finally snuck out here at 1:30. I thought I'd take a crack at getting Allison's wedding shawl done but I'm not sure where my glasses are right now. I didn't want to get sucked up into the web (nothing personal) if I could help it...so stayed clear of it for a while. Realized that we ran out of clean towels yesterday so threw some in. Got a load of whites ready to go in next since finding socks yesterday was a chore and a half. Sean woke up so I jumped into bed with him again. I might've dozed but for only a few minutes. Then back out here again, switching laundry, towels in the dryer, whites in. Now there's whites in the dryer and washer.

I had been deciding whether to try to go back to sleep for an hour or so. I think I'd realized I'd made my decision when I started stirring a hot cup of coffee. Well, I had to have SOMETHING to go with the baggie of sugar cookies I demolished. Sean's back up again (I swear he's a lighter sleeper then I am) and snuggling on my shoulder. I probably should try to get him back to bed but I'm not sure I can do it with Tom's snooze alarm going off for the next half an hour or so.

Tammy....the dome I refer to lately is the Syracuse Dome. The sports stadium at Syracuse University. Our church as been fundraising there since September, we either pour beer or run a concession stand. Lots of fun!

Sunday, April 04, 2010

Third times a charm

This is the third attempt to get a post up. It'll have to be quick as I'm suppose to in the kitchen making something to bring to my aunt's for Easter dinner. The plan for the day is church for a transmission at 11. Following that is an egg hunt for the kids afterwards. Then it's home to pick up the nonchurch goers and onto my aunt's house for another egg hunt and Easter dinner.

I've been busy but you wouldn't know it. I got home from taking Michelle to work and Luke's eye doctor appt on Wednesday and found my computer with the blue screen of death. Error messages and no amount of rebooting would fix it. So I had to reformat the hard drive which required a recovery disc. Guess what wasn't in the file box like it's suppose to be. I found it on Thursday while straightening up my computer desk. I started fixing it immediately but Michelle got called into work early and I went to my mom and dad's for the day after that. Michelle got us for April's Fool Day. In the middle of the night she switched the livingroom and diningroom furniture around. The table fits in the livingroom very nicely! LOL The sectional in the diningroom....not so much. The kids enjoyed being able to eat at the table and watch tv for a few days. Yes, it stayed like that for a few days.

Friday was GORGEOUS weatherwise! Yet what did I do...spend most of it infront of my computer! I got it up to date, installed the imperative programs, did a bunch of banking and applied for the house refinance. We're finally going to get this over and done with! I was hoping it could be done by the end of the month so I could have a bit of cash for Drew's wedding but it looks like it'll take about 5-6 wks. So probably around the wedding day, but not soon enough for me to utilize it. Now we have to get going on this place and get it fixed up for the appraisal. I'm figuring we have about 2wks, 3 tops. The kids had a ball running in and out all day. It really emphasized that we need to fix securing Oreo better. He didn't get loose but it was a constant thought. He had to stay tied up more then he normally was. I don't like having to tie him up as much as he usually is, much less any more. I also have to do something about his fur. He didn't seem to enjoy the heat too much.

Saturday was another beautiful day. I didn't get out too much that day either. The morning was spent getting ready to leave. The rest of the day was spent working at the dome. At least the walk to and from the dome was totally enjoyable. The night was really windy which was cool. Although a few times it made the drive to pick up Michelle a bit more difficult. I almost forgot about Easter baskets! I was dozing on the couch and thinking about going into bed for good when I remembered. Carrie came in and asked to help when she saw me starting. So we did it together. Sean woke up near the end and offered his help too. He was so excited this morning since he had an idea of what was waiting for him on the kitchen table.

And now we're back to the beginning of the post. I've already made up the scalloped potatoes and they're in the oven. I've thrown in laundry and started on the dishes. Now it's showers for Sean and Danielle, packing up and getting me presentable before 10:45. Goooo ME!