Picture sharing time

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



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



YOU CAN'T SEE ME!



Here I am!



Having fun on the trampoline...



Random picture of Jake, not sure when it was taken

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.

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.

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.

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!

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.

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!

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!

I'm up again

My sleep is all messed up. I couldn't keep my eyes open while watching American Idol last night so I took Sean into bed shortly after 9:30. And we know what 6 hours added to 9:30 is...so here I am at 4am, wide awake. If it didn't mess up my days so much I really wouldn't mind it. I love having this totally quiet time all to myself. I very rarely get it. But what do to do....type here, crochet, play my game. Guess here wins first.

I ended yesterday's post before I intended to. I was on the phone and just hit publish, guess it's ok. One of the things that had been going through my mind was Liz. I realized laying in bed the other night that I said ALL the kids were here for my birthday and I felt guilty. Of course they ALL weren't here. Lizzy is sorely missed. BUT I know she's in a good place with good people having a life changing experience...and it's a bit easier. One of the best parts of my birthday was that we finalized things and bought Liz's plane ticket home! WOOOHOOOO! I won't say for exactly when as she wants it to be a surprise. Although I'm pretty sure it won't stay that way...sorry Liz.

Carrie got a surprise in the mail yesterday. A letter from Liz! It really made her day. The amazing thing is, Liz mailed it on Feb 22nd. It's postmarked Feb 23rd. It took FIVE weeks to be delivered. I'm not exactly sure on who's part the delay is, but WOW! I've had a box sitting here since February to mail to her. Now I'm not sure if it'll get there in time. I feel so guilty. All those...I'm mailing it out THIS Friday and now it's too late. And Liz's mail box remained empty. I figured it would take two weeks tops, not five...sorry again Liz.

Michelle has been a peach around here lately. She's spent at lease one of her days off deep cleaning an area of the house. Last week it was the woodwork and painting the back door. Yesterday it was the playroom/library/workout room/catch all the stuff you don't know what to do with room. When I was getting dinner out of the oven she was walking by me with black garbage bags chocked full of stuff. I said a bit too loudly...WHAT are you throwing away!?!?!?!?!? She said...It's all garbage. Why do you want to go through each one? It took all I had to say No and to let it go. I'm confident she can tell what should be kept and what shouldn't. Still before sitting here I stood in the middle of the room and wondered...WHAT is she throwing away? Should I go check the bags? Where is the big container of trucks and cars and such? Do I dare open the toy box and see how full or empty it is? I didn't, I just said...I have faith in her and I'm letting it go...and then walked out of the room. How many days left until trash day?

So school meetings yesterday, yes I ended up with more then one. I met with Carrie's teachers and felt totally deflated and sad for Carrie by the time we left. When I go to these things I'm used to hearing...they aren't applying themselves, they know the work but aren't doing the work, if they did their homework there wouldn't be a problem. Not this time. Yes, Carrie COULD be better about doing homework. Yes, she COULD stay after school more often for help. But whether she'd be where she needed to be right now if she did, it's not looking that way. *heavy sigh* The 8th grade team is doing WAY more then they have to to try and get her to passing...including allowing her to take her tests open book. And she still can't make the grades. The good thing is we've started the process to bring the educational specialists from 5C (peds oncology department) in to help. I called them when I got home from the meeting and talked for over 20mins. Hopefully by the end of this week, beginning of next we can start some things. I should've started this LAST year at the latest. I really thought it was more of a slight learning problem with a big lack of effort problem. She's going to get swallowed whole in high school. :o(

My other meeting was with the counselor at the elementary school. I talked with her for almost 20 minutes. I've requested that she meet with Olivia on a regular basis for a while. I've never seen Olivia like she was Monday night and it scared the daylights out of me. She did seem to be a bit more social yesterday and she says she's going to school today. Tom's really been trying to spend some extra time with her too which seems to help...both of them. Someone suggested to me that she's not depressed but doing this for attention. GRrrr! SO WHAT! If she's THAT desperate for attention, isn't that something that needs to be addressed? Actually I wish that was what the problem was. Taking care of attention needs is a lot easier then helping someone take control over depression. When I was talking yesterday the counselor suddenly got alert and quickly asked...Is she home alone right now!?! I assured her she wasn't and that I wouldn't allow that even under normal circumstances. That I had her same concerns and I'm her watching her more closely....Monday was that bad.

So making the phone call after my school meetings yesterday allowed me to check things off of my way overdue TODO list. It was a relief to be able to stop thinking about them and encouraged me to get more off my list/mind. So I made a few more calls and checked off a few more things. Funny how something that is really so simple (dialing a phone) can be so debilitating. Only problem is that now I'll be gone most of tonight due to the calls. I hate not being here after school and for dinner prep. It's always something.

She's still in bed

I tried to wake Olivia and she stirred for a bit then fell back to sleep. Tried again halfheartedly a second time and again she didn't say much and then fell asleep. I knew I wouldn't push her to go. Driving home from the stores last night I noticed she really did horrible. She's pale and has huge dark circles under her eyes. I don't think it'll hurt her to miss just one more day. I know she has to get back into the everyday stuff but just one more day....

We ended up calling it a night earlier then originally planned. The Netflix kept crapping out on us (stupid dsl!) so the movie was taking forever. While waiting for it to start up for the third time, Sean woke up. So at about 12:15 I said I was going into bed with Sean. Olivia was still awake. Grrrr I'm not sure what time it was exactly when I woke up for good this morning. I know I tossed and turned quite a bit before I finally got up. When I came out into the livingroom it was just after 4. I was about to jump on the computer when I remembered my new game! So I got a few hours of playing in. I'm still not through all the tutorials, but I'm getting there.

I'd thought to visit my parents today but then I remembered I have an appt for noon at the school for Carrie. And then the ped's office called to remind me of an appt for Carrie at 4. Figures, Michelle's schedule changed this week and she has today off, yet I still have to drive into the city. It always seems to happen like that.

One of the stores Olivia and I visited last night was the craft store. I wanted to pick up different yarn for Allison's wedding shawl (and use a 50% off coupon). Olivia was petting all the yarn and mentioned learning a bit more crocheting. She can do a mean chain stitch but hasn't wanted to move on from that. So she just makes chains a mile long then pulls them out and starts again. Maybe we'll work on it today. :o)

Well I got my wish

Thank you everyone for the birthday wishes and hugs...they mean a lot to me.

I got to sit next to Olivia all day and give her hugs and kisses. The school counselor called me. Actually Della called me to tell me the counselor was looking for me and I called the counselor back. What can I say...I had a quite a few phone calls this morning. When I saw the school's number pop up I ignored the beep because I figured it was the nurse calling to see why Carrie was home today. I knew when I ignored it that I'd probably get "in trouble" for doing it.

Anyways, the counselor was telling me that Olivia never made it into class. She got off the bus and her teacher found her crying at her locker and sent her down to the counselor. The counselor couldn't get her composed enough to send to class and she wanted to know what I wanted to do. Of course I said I'd come and get her immediately.

The poor girl has been crying all day, hasn't smiled or done too much and isn't even making eye contact with anyone. I brought her with me when I drove Michelle to work and ran to a few stores. We talked a lot but still....she's not right. Right now she keeps trying to sit in the hall and not go to bed. I finally had her climb into Sean's little bed at the foot of our bed. Hopefully she'll fall asleep quickly since being tired doesn't help anything. I feel bad because I got stern with her tonight and told her she can't continue like this. That Billy wouldn't want to see her like this. (she knows that) and that it's not doing anyone any good to continue. She knows she has to go to school tomorrow. I just hope she can really do it.

All the kids came over today. Not all at once, Michelle had to work until 9. Pat and Alex had to leave because Alex had to be at work by 11. We had make your own pizzas, a really nice salad and cantaloupe slices. Pat gave me a Rubik's cube (said I could beat Catherine's time ROFL!) and a Mancala game. Drew gave me a bottle of wine and beautiful white tulips. Michelle gave me an Xbox game...Final Fantasy XIII!!! Now if only I had time to spend hours and hours playing it. Maybe in June lol.

Ok....the kids have Julie and Julia up on Netflix and are bugging me to come sit with them and pay full attention to it.

I know sweetie....I know

I finished posting the last post and turned my attention to Olivia. She's the only one to get on the second trip bus and it can be hard for her. There's no one here to keep you moving and going when all you want to do is go back to bed. She was ready and sitting in the other computer chair with her back to me. I could see she was dragging and so was trying to encourage. I was saying attitude was everything. If you mope around, it'll be a blechy day. When you decide to be happy and make it a nice day, it usually ends up being a good day. Then she said...Mom....I and squeaked something out.

She has been asking for me to homeschool her so I thought maybe she just didn't want to go to school and was repeating her request to be homeschooled. I spun the chair around and found her slumped down with tears running down her cheeks (the bus is due to pull up at any second). It took a bit of prodding but I finally got it out of her.....I miss Uncle Billy! Oh sweetie...I know! So do I, so does dad and everyone else. It's hard but we just have to get through it and push on. She got herself together enough to be able to get on the bus when it pulled up....I hope. I'm hoping she didn't breakdown again. I just wanted to hug her up and keep her home. But she's missed way too much school. Besides, I know one of the best ways to get through those feelings is to keep busy and get on with everyday life. Still, I wish I could peek into her room and make sure she's ok. Even better, sit next to her and give her hugs and kisses all day. OK...now it's my turn to go and cry.

Feeling 100 years old

I am EXTREMELY achy and slow. I'd say today but it's actually a multiple day affair. Thursday I worked the concession stand at the dome for two games. I left the house at 1:30pm and I walked in the door at 2:30am. Not only did I work almost 12 straight hours, I'd been up since about 3:30 that morning. I've been sleeping lousy. I don't know if it was the concessions on my mind or getting old that caused it. I'm taking it as getting old as it's happened to me a lot in the last few months. I was ready to quit working even before I ate breakfast. We've been having problems making sure everyone gets a chance to take a break. I spent all Thurs morning working on a schedule that would rotate a group of 4 out every 20 mins. I think everyone got at least 3, if not 4 of the scheduled breaks. They all liked it so I'll count that a success! Working it out on Saturday morning was a bit easier although we had to switch a bunch around once we started working.

I walked in the door on Thurs night/Friday morning to Michelle holding Sean, who'd just woken up. He immediately jumped into my arms. I took off my coat, kicked off my sneaks and tried wrestling out of my pantyhose with one hand. Finally I got free and managed to get my butt off the couch and took Sean to bed. With him not feeling well still, he slept lighter then normal so I was essentially a human pacifier all night. My muscles kept trying to cramp up on me or were spazzing. I felt like my dad with his restless leg syndrome. yet I wasn't sleeping through it like he does. To say I was sore and my muscles were tight in the morning was an understatement. I remembered my high school gym teacher's advice (hey! I did learn something in gym! lol) that when you're like that the best thing to do is just get moving. Ya gotta get the blood flowing to those tired muscles! So up I got and cleaning I went but only waist high. If it involved bending over, I left it for someone else. Tom came home in the afternoon to find a few piles on the floor waiting for someone to finish sweeping them into the dustpan. He was a peach and did it for me. Michelle got into the act later in the day and scrubbed all the woodwork. She even painted the back kitchen door before heading to bed. It looks a lot better! Sean, Danielle and Michelle were the only ones here most of the night. So we went to bed about 10 or so. And again I slept lousy.

Tom had taken the day off. After the school kids left in the morning (except Olivia...she said she didn't feel good and I was too tired and achy to argue with her. Besides, she kept Danielle and Sean busy most of the day) he left. He picked up Pat and they went and put new tires on our car. They also got the alignment done. Originally it was pulling to the left so hard that my arm would be tired from trying to keep it going straight. If you let go of the wheel you immediately ended up into the oncoming traffic. I haven't driven it since then but Tom says it's like driving a brand new car! woohoo! Especially now that he's changed the oil on Saturday.

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We had concessions again on Saturday. I moved a bit slower and it was a bit harder to pick up the heavy stuff. I'm sure most people there were feeling the same. We plowed through though and did really well. I think we were home by 10 or 10:30 that night. Sean had been sleeping on the couch and woke up when he heard me come in. That's when I heard it...the cough...it wasn't quite croupy, kind of a semi bark. But it was close enough that I figured we'd be spending some time that night in the steamy bathroom or outside under the stars trying to clear him up. Luckily none of that happened and I slept, if that's what you can call it. I did my usual wide awake a few times through the night. It didn't help that I had the dog snuffling in the back of my head because he needed to go out. Or that the wind was smashing Tom's huge wooden shamrock cutout against the house. I finally got Sean into a sound enough sleep that I could sneak out of bed without rousing him at 7. With how I felt and knowing that Sean and Danielle were still feverish on and off with colds and coughs...I'd decided we weren't going to church that morning. Then Della called a bit after 10am....

She was telling me that she wasn't going to church either and would get my girls home sometime that day. When she mentioned trying to get a trip to the grocery store I said I was out of everything and needed to go. With that a grocery trip was planned. She was at my house in less then an hour and the two of us were on our way. It was SO nice! We're rarely out together without kids. Although they make it fun too, it's nice to be able to just talk freely and openly without interruptions. We were good girls and hit only the grocery stores. Well with a side trip through McD's drive-thru for coffee and a snack.

It was great! Tom and the kids brought most of the groceries in. Everyone put them away immediately (we usually have bags of non perishables sitting on the floor for days). And to top it off Tom had dinner done and ready to eat! Yay me!

One of the conditions of me going with Della was that I had to buy myself a birthday cake or cake mix for Tom to make. I opted for lemon cake mix with a can of whipped cream frosting (never had it so we'll see how it is) and a cream cheese one to be mixed together. Tom and the kids made up the cake before bed. Hopefully it doesn't get invaded by lady bugs before they can frost it. I hope it's as yummy as I'm thinking it will be.

I've had a good morning so far. All the kids have been wishing me happy birthdays and giving me tons of lovin'....what more can a woman ask for?

I NEED coffee!!!

Sean and I spent another night on the couch. Not a good place to sleep even under the best of conditions. Add a burning up 2yo and a mom who's on the alert to possible barfing and you have one fuzzy headed, sleepy eyed mommy. Sean on the other hand is a lot more animated today. I actually had the opportunity to make oatmeal and eat it solo.

One of the times I woke up was at 5. I debated on whether I wanted to try to get into bed for an hour or so. Figured it would be best to stay put then Sean made the decision for me. He was up, gabbing and totally animated. No way I could go into the bedroom with him now, he'd wake up Tom...so we stayed put and eventually fell back to sleep. Next thing I know it's 7:00!!!! The bus would be here in 25 minutes! The kids should've been up half an hour ago. To add to things Michelle also needed to use the bathroom since she had to be out the door at 8. I hate when the mornings start like that!

Luke and Jake eased things a bit by not feeling well and staying home. Carrie and Eileen made it out the door....Carrie with her medicine in hand (she's doing awesome with it btw!), Eileen with her permission slip and $5 to go on a bowling field trip. Olivia up and ready, opted to go with me and get dropped off at school instead of waiting for the bus at home with an awake Jake. Danielle was still sleeping when we left but awake with Jake when we got home. Luke and Val are still sleeping, yes, Val is here again.

I don't have the gumption to get anything done...including crocheting. I'm fuzzy headed with a slight ache. Whether I'm getting sick or just tired, I have no idea. My main goal is to sneak into the shower by myself and then maybe a nap before I pick up Michelle at 4. I guess getting this house appraisal ready by my birthday isn't going to happen. :o(

Well need to go get some ibuprofen in me and make another cup of coffee. It seems Sean decided my last cup of coffee needed to be cleaned, so he put a wipe in it while I was getting their clothes out. If anyone has some dynamite they can spare, I could use a few sticks under this chair! Where's the cleaning fairy when you need her?

A looong night and day

It's Sean's turn to be sick. He was up at 2:30 and burning up. I pulled him into bed which in hindsight was a mistake because as he calls it...he pluked. So I've basically been up since 3am. I've also been holding and nursing Sean continuously since then. I just got him to stay asleep on the couch so I could go potty and grab something more to eat...I was starving!

Jake and Eileen stayed home today too. Eileen missed the first trip bus and then threw up a little before the 2nd trip bus came. I'm not sure what exactly is/was wrong with Jake. I just know he slept a good part of the day and was pretty low key. Danielle is sick again too. Her nose is running non stop and she has a yucky cough.

Now I'm scared. I can NOT be sick!!! We're working our biggest concession at the dome for the sweet 16 tournament on Thursday and Saturday.

And Sean's up again

Playing house

That's what I felt like we were doing all weekend...just a young couple who borrowed someone's kids for the weekend and were playing house. It was fun minus the parts I wanted to scream or sit down and cry! lol Even though it was a relatively easy weekend I still found myself getting frustrated and starting on a pity party for myself. I'm the only one who has to make plans to do anything...even go to the bathroom or clean. I'm the only one who has to stop what I'm doing a zillion times to check on kids, stop fights, pick up a different mess. I wish I could just go in and lay down whenever I felt like it...and on and on and on. It took all I had not to let myself dive deep into that pool.

Mostly my problem was trying to accomplish way more then I usually do with no one to help occupy Danielle and Sean. Eventually Sean and Danielle got into playing house. They traveled from room to room, switching the scenario and leaving a mess each time. First it was the bathroom with Sean being the baby. It involved tons of blankets and flip flops (have nooo idea why). Then Danielle was Santa Claus and visiting little kids' houses and giving out tons of toys. Finally they were just a regular family who happened to NEED a fish tank. At least according to Danielle as she was walking down the hall with one of my empty square 3 gallon water bottles.

I cleaned out my lazy susan pantry, the spice cupboard, the coffee/tea cupboard, did 2 loads of dishes, washed a ton of pans, picked up the kitchen floor, cleaned off a few counters, did laundry non stop, tried to fix the little wooden bed and lost the open bottle of wood glue in the process. I put it down somewhere between my bedroom and the front door that I had heard open and close. I found it eventually the next day in a pile of laundry in the hall. Luckily the glue stayed in the bottle. So if you drove by my house and saw a little boy standing in the front yard with just a t-shirt and diaper on. Thank you for assuming he wasn't some neglected kid that needed CPS to protect him from his supposed parents. I really was right behind him...at least as quickly as this body would allow.

It was a beautiful day out so we couldn't spend it all inside. Finally after Sean trying to escape out the front door for the umpteenth time, I grabbed their boots and jackets and took them out. They rode on ride ons, jumped on the trampoline and went on swings while I sat at the picnic table and crocheted a few squares of Allison's shawl.

Tom and I both went to the store on Friday and bought things for a really nice dinner. I had fun shopping for only 5 people. I suddenly could afford to buy things that normally I wouldn't look at like brown and serve sausage...one box fed us all! lol Tom had picked up stuffed clams, crab and shrimp cakes, asparagus, and a surprise of 2 T-bone steaks. I bought the salad fixings, mushrooms and potatoes. Funny thing is, I bought the mushrooms without a plan. It's one of those things I could suddenly afford. (I normally have to buy a ton to satisfy all the mushroom lovers here). I hadn't had it in a while and wanted, so in the cart it went.

It was a nice dinner although it didn't work out entirely as we thought. Sean fell asleep at 6 no matter how hard I tried to keep him awake. Danielle asked me to put her to bed at 7 while I was making her dinner. Eventually she put a diaper on herself and climbed into my bed on her own. And then what I feared, happened....Sean woke up. We set his batman plate and booster seat at the end of the table between us. He really enjoyed eating with us and ate a ton (for him). It was fun to see him take a bite of something new then exclaim....MMMMMM! Dis is good! The one major glitch in the meal...Tom couldn't find the fresh asparagus he bought. We figured when he bagged the groceries, he left it on the counter. (bought it at Aldi's) I found it the next day in the cheese/lunchmeat drawer.

Sunday was nice since I didn't need to be at church until 3:30. I got up, made a pot of coffee and a pan of eggs with leftover mushrooms and steak from the night before. Did a lot of laundry and little things but not much of any one thing. Took Michelle to work at 1:45 and then busted my rear to get out the door again at 3:30 for church. We didn't have a regular meeting but instead sat around having fellowship over cups of coffee while the kids played. It was so nice! When I got home Pat was here with our car!!! Woohooo! Driving to pick up Michelle was a bit less of a hassle and definitely cheaper! (van gets 10 mpg, car gets about 30)

Now it's back to the same old, same old. Wrestling kids out of bed, trying to make it look like I actually accomplished something this weekend and get a hand up on this place. Maybe I'll just open all the cupboard doors and admire the orderly shelves for a bit.

So much for that plan

Danielle was out in the hall screaming for me at 6:15 this morning. Very unlike her. When I picked her up I understood why...she was burning up! Poor thing. Guess that clinches it...no school meeting for me today. Besides, Michelle isn't home yet (went with Val to a friend's house for the night) so not sure who'd have babysat anyways. At least I didn't forgot to call the school and cancel. Just wish I didn't feel like they're thinking I'm making excuses to avoid the meeting. I'm still stuffed up from cleaning my room and am fighting a headache. Hopefully I'm not getting a sinus infection. I have too much going on in the next week or so to feel sick.

I was so excited last night. Michelle got out of work at 4 and the kids didn't have anywhere they needed to be. I thought it would be the perfect time for Tom and I to go to dinner. Michelle had bought us a gift card for Red Lobster or Olive Garden for Christmas and we haven't used it yet. I called Tom to ask him if he wanted to go and then I remembered....he's on call! GRRRRRR! We talked about going next week but I'm not going to be home all day Thursday or Saturday. (concession stand at the dome for the NCAA tournament). It's frustrating, on the surface it looks like we won't have any free time until JUNE!

If Tom wasn't on call, this weekend was gearing up for potential fun. Luke, Jake and Carrie are going to be gone for the youth weekend. Eileen and Olivia are going to my sister's. Michelle will probably have plans but we don't need to worry about her anyways. That leaves Tom, Danielle, Sean and I at home! Thinking on it more, I guess we can work around the on call thing (unless he really gets called out). Maybe feed the little ones and get them to bed at a decent time. Then we can have our own dinner and a movie at home. Hmmmm a really nice salad, some crablegs or a steak with asparagus and baked potatoes on the side. Last time we had the opportunity to do it and tried it, Drew stopped by for a visit just as we were about to eat! lol

Pat and Alex bought a new car this week! They're planning on putting new tires on our car and detailing it. I guess we should see it this weekend. Oh yeah, it's Thursday! Pat's starting his new job today. He will now become a state employee. :oD He'll have health insurance again!

Poor Sean, he's lost. Danielle has gone back to bed and he's either trying to nurse or wandering around looking for something to do. Guess I'll go and read him his new book from Dolly Parton.

One last thought before I leave....Perimenopause SUCKS!

I don't want to be IRISH!

Getting Sean dressed today I threw a short sleeved green shirt at him and said...Here put this shirt on and then you'll be Irish. Sean was totally offended. I don't want to be Irish. I tried to convince him that it was ok and fun to be Irish. NO!!!! I DON'T WANT TO BE IRISH!!!! I reached into his tote and brought out a green striped long sleeve shirt and asked....do you want to wear this shirt instead? His answer...SURE! and off he went.

Tom's a little disappointed that there's no corned beef and cabbage today. Me, I'd like to have it because it's yummy. Unfortunately it's just too expensive for as many people as we have.

One good thing about running out of gas on Monday....I got my census forms filled out. Normally I'd just stick them into the pile on my computer desk and forget about them. But I'd gotten the mail just before getting in the van. So I took the down time and got them done. It went right into the mailbox when I got home.

Allison stopped by today...she got a peek at the baby again. This time they found out the gender. My grandbaby is a granddaughter!! woohooo! Not that I wanted one sex over the other. They have no clue on a name...haven't even discussed it. So I can now get rid of all the clothes that are too small for Sean....or can I? I tried to today and there were outfits I really really wanted to squirrel away for no reason then that they were cute and I liked them. And I wonder why I have so much clutter.

Danielle has a mind like a steel trap. It amazes me what she remembers. Today she was begging me to go to where Michelle used to work. Since Michelle is working at the only place she's ever worked, we were lost. So she tried again... Where we walked and they had a playground. Finally after a few more attempts to explain the place Michelle figured it out...she meant the college! She wanted to go on the nature/walking trail there. I assured her after the mud dried up a bit we'd try to go.

Yesterday I ended up buying the most expensive vacuum cleaner bags in the world! I stopped at the dollar store for them since they use to carry them...not anymore. I spent $19 anyways. Then it was onto the Dollar General to see if they had any....nope but again I spent $19. I got the most awesome deals and want to go back! Shoes I thought were 70% off, rang up 90% off. So Eileen and Olivia have corduroy clogs for $.70 each. Danielle and Sean have really decent size 12 sneaks for $1 each. Sean is now the proud owner of 18 prs of size 4 fruit of the loom white briefs. (6prs for $2.50). So then it was onto the village hardware store. They had them! And again, I spent $19 in there. The really funny thing is...as desperate as I was to buy the bags....I haven't used them yet!

Tomorrow I have to go to school for one of the kids. I'm so afraid that I'm going to get busy and forget about it.

Hmmmmm...I hit the publish post button and went promptly to bed. It never published.

The STUPID Dog!!!

I don't know why I'm still up. At first it was because I had a load of laundry that needed to get done for the morning. Now...I'm just up. I tried to go to bed, really I did. My hands started itching to crochet while I was laying there. So I decided I wouldn't fight it and got back up. But did I pick up my hook? Noooo! I decided I had to come here an talk instead. :o)

All I can say is....it's going to be a loooong summer! In my last post I mentioned Sean letting Oreo out the door. Well he did it again later in the afternoon! And again I was right there and got him leashed up quickly. That means I ended up going on two short runs today. It got us outside for a while...so everything was ok.

Until this evening. Carrie opened the back door to ask Tom for a ride over to church. While she was talking Oreo managed to get through her legs and outside. Carrie ran out after him and caught him quickly. He came in the back door and walked through the house to the front door. The steel door was open but the glass storm door was closed. No problem. Oreo pushed on it hard with his paw and it popped open and out he went. Carrie ran after him again. Then I heard it...a car was coming down the road. I yelled to Eileen to grab his leash and run out there to try to help Carrie. (I was nursing an almost asleep Sean) Eileen jumped up grabbed the leash and ran out the door. The car drove by and I watched to see if Oreo was chasing it....I didn't see him. I listened to hear if the car had to slow down or stop...it didn't. Carrie was at the top of the driveway and Eileen was now at the bottom of the front porch stairs. Suddenly Eileen changed directions and ran into the house yelling....Oreo got hit by the car!!! I jumped up, dumped Sean on the couch and ran up to the road. The SUV had pulled into the next door neighbors driveway and was turning around. I couldn't see Oreo. Carrie said he was down the road. He had rolled after the car hit him and then started running. He came running through the hedgerow and ran up to Luke who was standing on the front porch. No limping, whimpering, tender spots, or labored breathing...PHEW!

We talked to the driver for a bit who we happened to know. (Her son and Jake were once best friends). I told her I think the dog was ok. She responds with...yeah cause I was driving so slow. (BULL!) I ask if they were ok. She says yeah, as long as there's no damage to my car. I look at the front of her car....it has these HUGE grille guard bars over the front of it. I observed that I doubted he could do any damage through those bars. But you bet your bippy she pulled out of our driveway, drove down the street a few feet and got out and inspected it herself. Knowing her I'll probably get a bill for some damage she found.

So you'd think having a close encounter with a car would put a damper on his car chasing drive...not so! He was on his line and started to get excited as the woman pulled away. I yelled at Oreo and he calmed down but the next car to drive by was way too enticing to him. He tried to listen to me and not run but as the car got in front of the house he couldn't contain himself any longer and ran as far as his line would allow him. UGH!! I have to start working with him more.

Now that I've started reading on different dog training philosophies, I'm nodding off.... so off to bed I go.

A slow down

Yesterday was a sort of a take it easy day. I didn't get anything major accomplished...just got through the day (which can be a lot in and of itself). Danielle and Sean were pretty needy yesterday morning so we hung out for the day. I don't blame them, I tended to put them off a lot last weekend while working in my room. So we read books and played at Sean's favorite place...pbskids.org. Ask him to say his ABCs and he does... A, B, C, PBSkids dot org!

Michelle had to go into work at her usual 4pm which means we have to leave by 3:30 at the latest. I had us leaving a little earlier because Tom hadn't gotten gas the night before and the van was on E! What I didn't realize until I got in the van was that it was beyond E! As I pulled out of the driveway I said...I hope we can make it to the village (3 miles)...well we didn't. Luckily we had just turned off our road when the van started sputtering (less then a mile from home). I called Tom who left work immediately (first day of getting out at 3:30 lol). Michelle tried calling into work for almost 45mins and got a constant busy signal. She had to go to the bathroom so decided to walk home while we waited for Tom. The amazing thing....only ONE person stopped to ask if Eileen and I were ok...our next door neighbor. The REALLY amazing thing...one of the people who just kept on driving was someone I know well! He just smiled and waved as he passed by us sitting in the van on the side of the road. Who knows, maybe he was late for a very important date. So Tom went home, got the gas can, ran to the gas station and got us back on the road. Michelle was 80mins late to work and I was glad I'd decided NOT to bring the little ones with me.

Between my stuffy nose and the time change it was hard to keep my eyes open on the way home. Luckily I had Eileen with me to keep me going. I jumped onto my bed in my nice clean room shortly after dinner....for just a few minutes. Before I knew it, Danielle and Sean joined me and then Tom. Eileen had mentioned she had had problems with a math test and needed help correcting it....so in she entered. We all laid there working, talking, playing and relaxing. It brought a smile to my face since that's some of my fondest memories of growing up....relaxing with my parents on their bed.

Olivia asked to go with me to pick up Michelle. At first I was going to say wait until tomorrow but then I figured...why put her off. It'll be good to have some one on one time with her. On the way to the van I realized she wouldn't want to come tomorrow anyways since American Idol is on. lol We got into the van and her mouth went nonstop. :o) Her first thing was to ask if she could be homeschooled. It's been a greater topic of discussion with her lately. I asked her why she wanted to be homeschooled. She had 3 reasons....

1) She wouldn't have to wake up early every morning. She always feels sick when she wakes up early.

2) The bus smells and it makes her feel even sicker to ride on it.

3) The kids in her grade are gross. They are already starting to date and have all this drama going on.

Hmmm

I'm getting a slow start to the day. There are beautiful blue skies out there and I want to take advantage of it. I'd thought to do some laundry and see how the septic manages. So the plan is to throw in a load for the dryer, then a load of bedding to go on the line and then another for the dryer. If I stay on top of it and change it out as soon as it's done it should get almost 2 loads washed in the time the dryer dries a load. I need to get to the store and buy some vacuum cleaner bags. Seems the grocery bag full of them is missing. Probably thrown away by a kid in a mad cleaning spree.

Grrrr! While gathering sheets for the next load of laundry, Sean let Oreo out the door. Thankfully he's started coming quickly when he realizes you have his leash and will take him for a walk. Only this time we went for a run...down the street along our property and the neighbors a bit, then turn around and back past the house to the other property line taking breaks for pottying. Luckily the walk doesn't have to be long to be satisfying to him...as long as he gets to go along the road for a bit. Now I'm really ready for a nap and the laundry is still waiting.

It is done enough!

YAY! My room is the cleanest it's been in over 10 years. There are still some areas that need to be taken care of but they aren't in jeopardy of overtaking the room again, so it's ok. I spent most of yesterday weeding out the filing cabinet and going through boxes of papers. Each of the kids, Tom and I each have our own file in the cabinet for important and memorable papers. The kids really enjoyed getting their files out and looking over things. Especially their journals and books they wrote during Young Author's Week. (I wish our school still did that) I found the receipt for our very first computer I bought for Christmas of '97...a 233 with MMX capabilities, the new and upcoming thing you never heard about after that year. Price tag..$1523.00!!!! Thing is, I was so proud of how cheap I got it for! lol

Now I want to clean off the paper clutter on my computer desk. It was so hard to stay on track. I just wanted to sit on the floor and thumb through my years of cross stitch magazines. They looked like so much fun! But I didn't. I sorted them by year and filed them away...why, I'm not so sure. Maybe I'll start it back up again. It did remind me that there were some designs in there that could inspire afghans!

I have mostly Olivia to thank for pushing on at the end and taking care of the little things that are so hard to figure out what to do with. Drew and Allison had stopped by last night and wanted to talk about the wedding. Allison pointed out that she only has 64 days left and she didn't even have the guest list nailed down yet. She'd like to get the invitations printed out and mailed by the end of the week. So while I sat out here talking with them, Olivia worked away in my bedroom...clearing off my dresser, picking up all my little piles of stuff waiting to be dealt with, etc. Her and Eileen finished it up for good this afternoon.

We took the wooden toddler bed out of their room and moved it to the foot of my bed. The hope is that eventually Sean will acclimate to being in bed by himself and actually use the thing. He seems excited enough. Last night when we were talking about it he told me...Me get a big big boy bed mom...You sleep on top bunk!

So with Allison and Drew here, I didn't make it over to church for the sister's gathering. They've been to our house 2 Saturdays in a row to talk to us and we haven't been here...I just didn't feel right leaving them in the middle of everything. Spacewise they are going to be tight. The place holds 180 max so they're figuring 150 comfortably. With just immediate family and aunts and uncles (no cousins) they had 90+ people. They were torn about what to do about the cousins. After much discussing and gnashing of teeth I think we've finally settled on 21yo and up only. They also didn't include...and guest when inviting a lot of single people. I'm sure some feelings are going to be hurt, like my sister's girls. But we can only do so much with the room we have. Who knows, we may get a look at the place and figure we can fit more then we thought and change things with the cousins. We'll have to look at it first (it's closed for the winter until next month). It kills me to leave anyone out and with me doing the food, cost to add more won't be THAT much more.

Allison is having a friend of the family make her wedding dress. We'd talked about what style she was thinking of. She mentioned liking something strapless but it might be risky for her body type. I suggested maybe a shawl to wear over it. So that's what I've been doing with my online time....looking at crochet shawl patterns. I think I might try to get something started tomorrow.

My idea that my bedroom being taken care of would make me feel better and change my attitude about the whole house was correct! It's so nice to wake up and not have to try to figure out HOW I'll get in there and take care of the disaster area that day, only to fail. I actually like being in my room! I WANT my house to look the same. And I don't have to worry about my bedroom door being closed everytime someone walks in the front door!

And true to form, the rest of the house has fallen down around everyone in the meantime. My next goal is to finish taking care of the spackling and clean up the stairs really well. Then move onto the main hall. It's where residual piles of clothes from my room ended up. I really should go to the laundromat one of these days too. I have 2 - 5 gallon pails of paint in the basement. One is an Antique white Behr for the halls and the other is flat white for the ceilings from the last time we painted. I could get a good portion of the painting done without purchasing anything but paint pads.

Well I've nodded off here a few times midsentence so need to get my fanny into bed.

I can't breathe!

Thank goodness for Claritin otherwise I'd be wheezing something fierce too. WHY can't a breathe? Allergies...I've been cleaning my room! All this time saying I'm going to, I'm going to or I want to and I've finally done it. I'm not completely done but I'm hoping to finish it up today. No sense putting it off and making myself sick at another time. Plus I know if it's not completely done, what I did get done will be undone quickly.

I have a lot of clothes to wash and I'm dreading it. Most of it is stuff I wasn't sure what to do with to begin with. Should I save it for Danielle? Give away? Trash? Where I would've automatically gotten rid of stuff that's too small for Danielle and Sean, I'm saving for Drew and Allison's baby. They'll be having an u/s on the 19th and have decided to try to find out what the sex is (originally Allison didn't want to, but everyone else did so she's going with it). If everything goes according to plan I'll know which set of clothes to save and be able to ditch the other (minus a few special pieces of course lol). I'm thinking I may need to go to the laundromat to get this done. Our yard is pretty saturated with all the snow melt and the septic is running slow. But I'm not 100% committed on it yet.

The other projects in there are totes of craft supplies I need to decide what to do with. A filing cabinet that hasn't been used in quite a while and boxes of papers to weed through. I haven't decided if these projects need to be done to feel done in there. I'm thinking at least the paper aspect should be as it's easy to get away from me. Plus it'll allow me to declutter my computer desk a bit.

This morning I was laying in bed thinking...If I got out the ceiling paint, it would improve this room a lot! I'm pretty sure I even have the paint for the room down in the basement (bought new paint a few times but haven't used it...oldest stuff isn't usable). So maybe I'll paint before I move onto another room. I'm afraid that if I don't, it'll never get done. (it's the one room that's never been painted since the house was built...20+ yrs ago)

Not only are my sinuses suffering from this. Everything else is. While I'm cleaning, the little ones are out and about uncleaning everything else. I was deep in some clothes sorting when I heard the telltale noise of marker on the wall. I yelled and jumped up to see Danielle running down the hall. She managed to decorate quite a bit before I came to my senses and realized what the noise was. *heavy sigh* Earlier in the morning Sean had poured cereal for the neighborhood, luckily into bowls. We cleaned/ate them up after school. :o) It was so hard to stop working last night because I was worried I wouldn't start back up again. That meant that other then snacking, the kids didn't eat dinner before they left for activity club. Dinner was ready when they got home at 9pm though...I was starving!!! lol

Ah daylight savings time! I love it and hate it at the same time. I hate it because it messes up the kids for a while. It'll be hard to get them to bed. I love it because there's more daytime in the evening!!! Plus Tom gets out of work a half an hour early...giving him even more daylight at home. He also goes in half an hour earlier...giving us a less hectic morning routine. He's out the door before the kids need to use the bathroom instead of them waiting for him to be done so they can get in there.

Well, people are starting to stir. I need to go grab something to eat so I can get back in my room before my butt takes over my brain and convinces it to stay in this comfy chair instead. There's a sister's get together at church today and it would be nice if I could finish up, wash up and get over there sometimes today!

Can I just crawl back in my bed please?

Oh it's one of those days. Not one specific thing is getting to me, just a bunch of little itty bitty ones. Mind racing with a todo list a mile long before my eyes open, major messes in my face before I even get out of bed, everything and everyone calling for my attention at once, taking one step forward and 5 steps back. Then there's the emotional stuff...missing Billy and my inlaws, Tom's uncle passing, missing Liz, Val, us verus them situation that I'm seriously trying to avoid.

So I can sit here and wallow or I can look around again. There's Danielle sitting on my lap, arms wrapped around my neck, squeezing hard. She told me...I hugged you so you would be better. Wiping my tears. Then sniffing me she says....Mommy, you smell so good!...and she sniffs some more. lol Sean who's dancing around here singing a song without a care in the world other then to convince me I want to sit down for a few minutes so he can nurse and snuggle. The big hairy kid...all clean and fluffy, nuzzling me for some pets, head in my lap with a huge sigh, ready for the luvin' to start.

Then there's the stuff I can't see right now. A friend on the phone who's willing to listen and talk about things. :oD Little girls in school who'd love to be home instead. A fine looking husband hard at work for us, even if he'd rather be outside playing in the mud. A grandbaby on the way and two weddings to plan. An income coming into the house and our bills up to date. A nice, adequate in size, sturdy house around me...we just won't look down for now...what we can't see won't hurt us. Well, maybe we should look down, this stuff can hurt us if we step just right. But for the moment I have it on /ignore. A working vehicle (and maybe SOON TWO of them!!) to get us where we need or want to go. A full tank of propane...without me needing to call for a refill...woohhooo! Plenty of ingredients for good food. Longer days and more sunshine ahead.

PHEW!!! Feeling better all ready! Now I need to take the bull by the horns and just do what I need to do. Today is Michelle's day off so no driving for me. I think I'll ignore everything else and get my bedroom taken care of. If I can at least get rid of the chaos I wake up to in there every morning I think things will start off better each day. Plus it'll give Tom and I a place where we can connect more. Right now it's just a place where we sleep.

Ok...can't get to work while my butt is in this chair (as comfy as it is). Off I go!!!!

Break out the Birkenstocks!!!

This week the weather has been BEAUTIFUL! And to the utter joy of my feet I've started wearing my Birkenstocks again. Oh it feels great to not have itchy socks and stuffy sneaks on.

Yesterday we spent most of it outside. Sean and Danielle rode on the ride ons on the front walk while I did pooper scooper duty in the front yard. We HAVE to get Oreo a better place to be outside. Hopefully we'll have a new system worked out soon. I also swept off the front porch, walkway and yard...most of dog hair. You could practically pet the walkway and the grass along it, it was so bad. The hair battle inside is driving me crazy so it was nice to be able to see such an improvement outside. We also jumped on the trampoline for quite a while. With Luke's help I managed to get the last huge hunk of snow and ice off it. It's nice to have a dry and warm (being black...it absorbs the heat) spot to hang out on. Last night the kids were out there in the dark for a looong time.

The kids are already dressed and excited to be outside this morning. I'm putting them off for a bit as I have other plans. Top of the list is to give Oreo a bath, brush him out and douse him in flea powder. I've been brushing and dematting him for the last 4 or 5 days. The job has brought to my attention just how bad his flea problem is. The warmer weather isn't helping either. The poor guy is being driving crazy with the itching. So we'll do some immediate results things this week and go for the long term results next week (payday).

I also want to start concentrating on a room a day. The idea is to deep clean it so then I can start painting. I'd like to get the house appraised by my birthday at the end of the month. Who knows maybe my usual birthday wish may actually be fulfilled....to have my house and especially my bedroom cleaned!

Val popped in on Monday. She turned 20 on Tuesday and needed a few things for her day trip to NYC. She'd already picked up what I'd bought her for her birthday at Luke's party (12 pack of Arnold palmer, some breast petals from the dollar store and Aveeno lotion...plus after Christmas I had bought her some Gwen Stefani perfume that was marked down). It was amicable with a slight hint of chilliness. I emailed her about it later and she emailed me back. Apparently I'm not the mom I once was. Oh well, can't please everyone. She came by again last night to get some clothes for her trip to South Carolina today. It was a little bit better. She made a concerted effort and that's a lot from her. Usually once you've offended her, you're done and over.

And now it's the afternoon. The first trip kids are off the bus getting a snack. Michelle's in the bathroom, racing the clock as usual, taking a shower before she's due out the door in less then 20mins. I successfully gave Oreo a bath, took the little ones outside for quite a while, had cereal at the picnic table, jumped on the trampoline and worked on Oreo's matted hair quite a few times. I'm not exactly sure what's for dinner yet. I have a 1hr ride to the city and back to drop off Michelle. Need to get on the kids to do their homework when all they want to do is go outside and try to keep Sean from going outside without supervision. Not to mention a ton of other things. The room of the day was to be the kitchen. I haven't gotten in there for more then 5 mins yet. Maybe after dinner...but not counting on it. *huge sigh*

OK...we're down to 10 mins and counting until take off....need to get off here.

Oh what a weekend!

We had a great weekend! I was a bit worried on Friday evening though. I had gone out for the day with Della...nothing too stressful or strenuous...just meandering through the stores and chatting. BUT I ended up shutting down after dinner. I couldn't get myself to get up and do anything. Finally about 9:30 I grabbed Danielle and Sean and went to bed for the night.

I haven't been sleeping well for the last year or so. I have a period every night when I'm awake...usually sometime in the 3am hour. I toss and turn and doze off here and there for a few minutes but mostly I'm awake. Well a 9:30 bedtime doesn't help. I was up and raring to go by 5am Saturday morning. I threw in a few loads of laundry, did dishes, cleaned bathrooms and picked up the kitchen floor all before anyone else woke up. The plan was to leave by noon, 1:00 at the latest. I was doing good and was on track until I realized that if I'm going swimming...I had to SHAVE! lol So we were a little late leaving but it was only half an hour or so.

Our first stop was the chinese buffet for lunch. Danielle and Sean were SO good! It made for a very pleasant lunch. Tom had everyone cracking up when he learned that the kids call the flap of skin on their elbow a wenis. He looked at his and said....WOW! I have a BIG wenis!!! Look at it! (yes, we are all 8yo lol)

After a quick run into the dollar store we were on our way to the hotel. Tom ran in and checked us in. When he came out he was a bit unnerved. I'd reserved the room with the maximum people the site would allow....2 adults and 4 kids. It was a suite which had 2 double beds and a sofa bed so room wasn't an issue. What the issue was is that they gave us 6 wristbands that allowed the wearer to enter the pool area and 6 passes that got you into the evening manager's reception and huge breakfast buffet in the morning. I wasn't worried about the passes but the bands for the pool might be a problem. So in we went and explained our situation..... 7 kids, 2 adults. They said maximum occupancy according to the fire code is 6 and that was the most they could give out per room. They also said....the managers reception and breakfast is for ALL The hotel guests. And that we may not all be able to use the pool at once. Tom was a bit on edge because he thought we had to get another room (not an option) or we were going to get in trouble. We checked the pool area on our way to our room...no one was monitoring the door, there was no lifeguard to "worry" about and hardly anyone in there had their wristbands on...problem solved. It took a bit but Tom eventually relaxed.

Unbeknown to us the hotel had a luau planned for the evening. There were snacks, pizza and tons of fruity refreshments both for the kids and the adults. They had a dance party with a DJ, a mechanical surf board and some pay for fun things that we ignored. We had lots of fun. After the luau we went up to the room, sang Happy Birthday to Olivia and had her strawberry cupcakes she'd made. The kids tried to organize a game of Apples to Apples but they kept getting distracted. We had lots of snacks with microwaved corn dogs and pizza rolls for a late dinner. Eventually we all settled in to watch The Incredibles on tv and then to bed.

I slept lousy!!! It was hot and dry in the room (even though the thermostat was down as low as it could go and the window was open). I was worried that Danielle and Sean would fall off the bed or were uncovered...so woke to check on them. I saw Jake sit up about 6:15. I grabbed the chance and joined him in the living room. We watched the movie Honey I Shrunk the Kids until everyone was awake and ready for breakfast. As we came into the lobby for breakfast we saw that the pool was closed (I think someone was sick in it the night before) so our swimming before leaving plans were shot. Instead we just relaxed in our room, watching Happy Feet until it was noon and time to check out.

From our hotel we went to my parents' house which was only a few miles away. My mom had birthday cards for Luke and Olivia. We stayed until shortly after 2. Everyone was getting hungry so we headed to McD's near the roller skating rink to have lunch and let Danielle and Sean have some fun on the playground. We knew the roller skating rink was close but we didn't realize it was right behind the McD's were at! I walked Danielle and Sean over so we wouldn't have to buckle and unbuckle them if they rode in the van (had to drive on a busy road to get to the roller rink parking lot).

I hadn't realized it but Olivia had never been rollerskating before. The poor thing fell a bazillion times....and hard! She did improve greatly by the end of the night. Danielle and Sean did ok but they were more interested in the game room. I was a bit uneasy on my feet at first but like riding a bike...it never totally leaves. I was back to my old skating self in no time. Which is a good thing since I had to support Sean, Danielle and Olivia too. (As a kid I lived a few blocks from a roller rink and I wasted a lot of time there). The rink closed at 6:30....just in time to get Michelle from work.

We got to the store about 15mins before it was to close, so I ran in for a sec. When I came out Tom had everyone out of the van and running sprints in the parking lot. They were having a ball racing each other. Even Sean and Danielle got into the action. Me, I was a party pooper and stayed a spectator. Michelle got out and we headed back to McD's for dessert (and Michelle's dinner) to eat on the way home. The kids got to pick whether they wanted a cone, sundae, parfait or apple pies. I chose a sundae for Sean and Danielle for neatness sake. Sean took two bites of his sundae and started screaming for a SNOW CONE!!! Luke was a sweetheart and switched with him (but first he ate half the ice cream off the cone like I asked him to...what a trooper! lol).

We all dragged ourselves out of the van and into the house. It wasn't long before almost everyone was in bed sound asleep. Everyone woke up Monday morning quite sore. Poor Olivia was the worse. She missed school Monday and Tuesday because of it. She says it was worth it and wants to do it again. Jake asked if he could have a skating party too. So I say it was a success.

Now if only my camera's batteries hadn't died! I'd have a lot of cute pictures to share too.

For the last time

We did beer pouring for the last time this season on Tuesday. After pouring for the Villanova game this game (vs St. John's) was a piece of cake with attendance at just over 26000. We will be doing a few more food concessions before the end of the school year. I'm excited for the NCAA tournament game days at the end of the month. :oD Now we have to figure out new ways to do some fundraising for the summer. Opening an Etsy store is still being looked at.

Tom and the kids saved Luke's birthday brownie sundaes until I got home. YUM! I had ridden with Mikey B to beer pouring so he stopped in for some too. Val was here until just before I got home. I'd suggested to Tom that he call her and invite her over since I wouldn't be here. I guess she called to talk to me but I'd already left for beer pouring. They had a good visit with her which is important to me....she is still their sister whether things are good between her and I or not.

I've been talking to Pat a lot lately. He put in his 2 wk notice at his present position (it's a long term temp job). He's been accepted to a permanent position as a health aide at the hospital. If he goes to school for the medical field, work will pay for his schooling. He's thinking of going into radiology. He's trying to buy a new car and give us our's back (and I can't wait!!). I'm hoping it'll happen in the next week or two. Him and Alex are going like gangbusters on the wedding plans. They've booked a photographer and just got the place for the wedding reception. It's a lodge at a local park. They'll most likely have it catered, although I'd gladly do the food for them and they know it. He mentioned Danielle being a flowergirl but they haven't officially said it.

Through the grapevine (named Pat) I also learned that Allison and Drew booked a reception place. Also a lodge but at a different local park. Unfortunately with such short notice they couldn't get the original date they wanted (June 6th...their anniversary). It's now going to be May 15th. Amazingly (and unbeknown to them at the time)it's one of the few weekends I have open that month. We have the spring conference, open weekend (now their wedding), T and E's wedding, and then the soccer weekend. So I guess things for their wedding should be kicking into high gear soon. Pat and I both said we'd do the food. I'm not sure what they were thinking of doing. Oh yeah...Drew started a new job 2wks ago working with one of my nephews. It's nice to see him getting regular hours (unlike Dunkin Donuts where they were all over the place) and getting 40+ of them each week!

So that brings us to Liz. She's emailing her boss now to see if she can leave Norway in time to come home for Drew's wedding. I asked her if she would be going back, she said probably not. It's too hard on her. I'm sure they won't be happy but oh well. I looked at plane tickets. It'll be a bit under $500 (plus tax and fees) for a round trip ticket. For a one way one...over $1200!!! That's ridiculous! Sean and Danielle are really excited to hear that she could be home for good really soon. They were dancing around the living room over the thought this afternoon.

This Saturday is Olivia's 10th birthday. It's also the one year anniversary of Billy's suicide. We're going away for the night. As of right now we're thinking...chinese buffet for lunch, hotel for swimming and soaking in the hot tub, evening reception that the hotel does, more pool/hot tub time, snacks and dinner in the room with games and all night fun, not much sleeping being planned. Looks like we'll be taking Michelle to work on Sunday, killing a few hours (maybe lunch at McD's and the playplace?) and then going rollerskating from 4 - 6:30...finishing just in time to pick up Michelle from work at 7. The kids are really excited. It's helped keep everyone's mind occupied.

There's a heavy cloud hanging over this place. Everyone misses Billy so much. I still walk into the kitchen, look out the back door window and expect to see his trailer out there, only to be surprised to see it gone. I've also jumped up to start a conversation with Billy when I hear the back door, only to have it be the cat batting the handle or the wind. I can't even imagine what Tom's feeling or dealing with right now. I keep trying to not start crying but the last day or so I haven't been too successful. I found a wish list that Olivia had written. #1 was....go to Florida. #2...Have Uncle Billy come back to life. #3...get Carrie's tv and I can't exactly remember the next 2 things. Oh how I wish Olivia...how I wish.

Luke's another year older

Yesterday was Luke's 17th birthday...and I wasn't home for it. (had beer pouring) Feeling a little bit guilty over it I decided to make it a Luke and Mom night on Monday. We took Michelle to work at 4 and then went shopping for sneaks. He hadn't told me until last week but both his sneaks were ripped out in like 5 places. I shouldn't be surprised, I bought those for him at the start of school LAST year. Being that they're his only shoes, it was kind of important to replace them. He found a pair he liked at the second store we tried. As a bonus he also found a new hoodie. He wears those instead of coats all year long (I even bought him a winter coat but it stays on the hanger).

The next stop was the video game store where we drooled over a few games. I got all excited when I saw the poster for Final Fantasy XIII and that it was for the Xbox 360. I've been saying I'm going to buy a Playstation 2 just so we can play FF X and Kingdom Hearts again (and a decent game of DDR...we don't care for the Xbox version). When I mentioned to Luke we could get it for his birthday he was reluctant to say yes. He knew it was a bit more then I normally spend for birthdays. Then he had the idea that we could get it for both of us since my birthday is in a few weeks. lol Sounds like a plan to me. Now to wait for it to come out (release date is the 9th), and the funds to be available.

Oh this is shaping up to be a grand day. I climbed out of bed to Tom swearing his head off in the basement. Seems he smashed his foot into something down there and is pretty sure he broke some toes. The boys both say they aren't feeling so good. Carrie isn't feeling great either but she got up and got ready for school (picked her up from school yesterday because her stomach was bothering her). Then I tore the livingroom apart looking for Eileen's agenda planner (school issued and the kid HAVE to have them). We looked last night and couldn't find it and still no luck this morning. She was refusing to get on the bus without it since it had all her work she needed for today in it. While fighting her about missing a day because of a book, Carrie ran out the door because the bus was pulling up to the house. She slipped on the porch and landed squarely on her knee which bruised immediately. I waved the bus on with Carrie on the ground crying. Then to top things off while Eileen was filling a baggie with some ice for Carrie she happened to notice a phone laying in the trash can....it's TOM'S!!! So now he's at work without his work phone and probably scrambling to try to find it. There was some dampness in the battery compartment so I took it out and it's drying now. Hopefully he'll call me from his office phone soon. Now to get Olivia up for school and have Eileen keep tearing the house apart looking for her book.

PHEW!! Agenda planner found in Michelle's and Val's room. Eileen forgot she was in there last night to talk to Michelle. But wait! Where's the essay? So then it was a mad scramble to find THAT. After scouring the house AGAIN and Eileen checking her planner twice...I checked and found it in the planner. UGH! It's only 8:40 and I need a nap and have the start of a headache. Olivia and Eileen are outside waiting for the bus (Olivia almost fell down the porch stairs too) Carrie is back in bed. Jake is down here now cuddling on the couch with Sean. I guess they are planning on watching a movie. I just want to sit with my coffee and then my crochet, but I can't. This place is a mess from being searched and there's laundry to be done.

Oh wait! I was talking about my date with Luke on Monday night, wasn't I. The idea was that Luke and I would get this sneaks, maybe a few groceries, grab a bite to eat and then go home...taking a few hours. Tom would then pick up Michelle at 9. It didn't work out that way. Luke decided he wanted Chinese so that's where we went. We talked and we talked and we talked some more. I think the kid talked more to me that night then he's talked to me in the last 3 yrs combined. He's one of my kids that I worry about getting lost in the shuffle. He's pretty shy, easy going and very quiet. He can talk to you about almost any subject...he's a walking encyclopedia (reminds me of Billy in that sense) but to get him to start talking about it is another matter. We had so much fun hanging out and talking that we decided to just stick around the city for a few more hours until Michelle got out of work. After dinner we went to the grocery store, then visited the puppies and fish at the pet store. We perused AC Moore. I was hoping I could find him some ceramic things to work with. (we talked about buying a kiln for him lol) I had him petting the yarn and was encouraging him to take up crocheting (he's used a round loom before). Then it was onto Big Lots and a trip around Michelle's work before they closed up.

We were laughing as we walked in the house because we'd both at the same time said...That was fun! It made my day when he said...I enjoyed that, thank you Mommy.