I can SEE!!!

We got a message several weeks ago from the school nurse that Mary did not do well on the school’s eye test (and she was tested TWICE) and that she might need glasses. I found this interesting since when Mary first started having headaches/migraines in 4th grade, the first thing we did was take her to the eye doctor to get her eyes checked, and they were fine. Well, anyway, Mary’s teacher had already moved her to the front of the class, but we noticed just at random times over the last several weeks that Mary was most definitely near-sighted and was having problems reading/seeing things at a distance (including the squinty-eyed school photo). We put off an appointment until after the holidays/her birthday because Mary, being too smart for her own good, and really a very good eaves-dropper, caught on to the fact that she probably needed glasses and was quite upset about it.



Two of Mary’s closest friends have glasses, and are just gosh-darn cute in them! But Mary, for whatever reason, had it stuck in her head that glasses would look HIDEOUS on her. In fact, she was telling us that she was trying on her friends’ glasses to see—and she definitely felt she looked horrible in them.

Many, many stalling-for-bed discussions were had over the last couple of weeks about glasses and how it was INEVITABLE with two near-sighted parents (plus grandparents and cousins and Aunts and Uncles) that she (AND her siblings) would need glasses. And how glasses were MUCH, much more fashionable now-a-days (ask your grandmother about the horrible horn-rimmed nasty things she had to wear when she was THREE!). And how CUTE Mary’s friends look in their glasses. And how ONE friend got a pair of COSMETIC glasses to wear just because she liked the way they looked! Exhausting….

Well, we got her in to the mall one-hour place yesterday (we thought that getting the glasses immediately instead of the impending two-week wait from our typical eye doctor would be best). She was a brave little soul and went through her eye exam just fine. (We forgot to remind her about the air-puff glaucoma test—she was pretty traumatized by that. Our eye doctor doesn’t do that torturous test, he uses these funky yellow eye drops instead. But oh! Eye drops are the work of the devil to Mary, so perhaps it was just as well!) Yes, she had a slight prescription. Yes, she could use some glasses. No (as we’d hoped) she did not have to wear them all the time—only when she needed to see at a distance, not when reading or doing her artwork.


Mary enjoyed finding a pair of glasses (although she would catch herself every now and then and complain, “I HATE glasses!”). She found a pair she liked (“Oh, but I don’t—REALLY”), and we spent our hour waiting eating dinner and getting some ice cream.

We told her, but I don’t think she believed us. The very second she put her new glasses on, she was just FASCINATED. “I can SEE! I can READ THAT SIGN! WOW!” All the way home, she was smiling so big, her dimples were showing! (Oh, how I love those dimples, and I wish we saw them more often!) A whole new world of sight opened up!


I’m sure we’ll have some stepped on/lost/dog-chewed glasses to contend with in the next few months, but I’m happy that my baby can see now. (And happy that Swistle has already told me about a place to get CHEAP replacement glasses!)


…Now we just have BRACES to look forward to—since we’ve already been told Mary will probably need them. SHHHHH!!!!!

Well, at least it wasn't the Barfing Flu

Oh! Christmas! That joyous time of year! When the brown-clad Santa "UPS" Claus brings boxes of goodies and presents for all the good girls and boy!
This year there seemed to be more boxes than normal. Probably because I trolled Amazon quite a bit for my own shopping, and found some deals that could not be beat. Knowing the amount of wrapping that lay ahead, I started trying to wrap all those Christmas packages (and don’t forget gifts for Mary’s birthday!), about a week before the Big Day. Well, with running errands most days and with exhaustion at night, I probably only got about a fifth of the gifts wrapped ahead of time. THEN Santa John went out Christmas Eve and bought MORE gifts (he loves shopping X-mas Eve). He says to me, “You’ve got a LOT of presents to wrap stashed in the car.” And he didn’t even REALIZE the mountain awaiting me down in the Santa hidey hole in the basement. Ugh.\

So, we got the kids to bed, got a beer (John) and Smirnoff (me) and John put on the “background noise” movies he had rented. I still couldn’t tell you much about the plots or anything of “Iron Man 2” or “Clash of the Titans.” Considering what I DID see, I know I didn’t miss much. Anyway, I started wrapping probably around 9:30. John “helped” by checking off presents on his master list. “Oh dear,” he would say while ticking off another present, “that was tough, I’d better grab another beer.” He would pile up the gifts around me while saying, “Well, just as soon as a space gets cleared up, I’ll wrap some presents. I mean, I CAN’T wrap with no space can I?” I wrapped and wrapped and smarted off to John as he wasn’t fooling me ONE bit. I know the drill. I wrap. He watches. And taunts. (Jerk! LOL)

Finally, at 2:45 AM, I finished all the wrapping, and started heading to bed. Merry BAH HUMBUG.
Christmas morning we all wake up to four fifths of us having slight colds (Typhoid Izzy had already gotten over the one she had brought home from school). All were happy and excited and thrilled about the unwrapping—except Mary. She was a sickly, whiny, UN-happy camper. After the carnage, while the other two are already assembling Lego guys and playing with Zhu-Zhu pets, Mary was just laying on the couch with a Woe-Is-Me look on her face. One cool touch of Mama’s lips confirmed, she had a slight fever. Poor thing!
We started to get ready to go out for our Christmas tradition of Japanese-food-and-a-movie, but the sick one didn’t want to stir. I begged and begged her to take some Tylenol to kill the slight fever, but she kept stalling and refusing to take it. We finally made it to the restaurant, but Mary was just sitting there pining and whining away. Please, for the love of God, PLEASE, take your medicine! Oh…she was “afraid” to take it. Her D.A.R.E. officer has told her that drugs are BAD and that if she takes drugs now, they will cause PROBLEMS later! GOOD GRIEF, CHARLIE BROWN!
Even after explaining the difference between the Horrible Drugs that Deputy D.A.R.E. has been warning her about and the Good Drugs that doctors give you to make you feel better, she was still hesitant. And miserable. And…well, it did not really make for a pleasant time. FINALLY she took her Tylenol and within minutes was perking up and had some normal color and was wide-eyed and started SMILING again and ENJOYING her Christmas dinner…. SEE, honey? Some drugs are not BAD but are meant for GOOD!!!!! SERIOUSLY? I’M YOU’RE MOTHER, WOULD I GIVE YOU SOMETHING THAT WOULD BE BAD FOR YOU?????? Gahhhhhhh…..
Mary still played up the whininess a bit, so we decided not to go to the movies. Since John, Keith, and I also had a slight cold, we didn’t care much about just going home and enjoying some quiet time with our new presents.
I think one of the reasons we had so many packages under the tree this year is that Santa did not bring so many “big” gifts as normal. Many more smaller presents were under the tree—more games and things for the whole family. More to unwrap and technically less spent by Santa.
Hits from under the tree:
John: a ticket to go to the LPGA tournament held here every year. And the dart board.

Carrie: a very nice cover (with a book light!) for her Kindle.

Mary: All! That! Art! Stuff! Especially the blank sketch books.

Keith: Star Wars Legos and Kirby’s Epic Yarn.

Izzy: Probably the Mosaics posters (Reconfirming that one should ALWAYS listen to Swistle when buying presents!). And…well, EVERYTHING.

Absolute Madness

I don't think I've come directly home from work at all in at least the last two and a half weeks.  I've been running errands, x-mas shopping, b-day shopping, grocery shopping, miscellaneous shopping...you name it.  The interesting bit is that I noticed that a previously perfectly-fitting pair of pants seems loose on me.  Apparently skipping lunch (aka starving oneself) and holiday stress are ways to lose weight.  I'm not worried.  All those zillions of cookies being baked and received as gifts will more than make up for it when I'm lolling around over the holiday weekend.

Let's see...what else has been going on?  Well, Mary had her birthday party last weekend.  It was simply FUN.  We really got a good group of girls to show up this time, and since it was NOT an overnight, I didn't lose my mind, and it went off really well.  Mary picked a flamingo/luau theme.  Try finding luau decorations in the middle of winter!  Ah well, I did my best, and Mary was happy.  She also gets to have two friends to stay the night on her actual birthday on Thursday, so she's really looking forward to that.

The amount of Amazon boxes showing up at my house is absolutely nuts.  We had 11 just today!  Last week it sort of dawned on me that of all the gifts being sent, NONE of them would be wrapped.  So...including us, that's FIVE families' worth of gifts I have to wrap.  You know, I don't mind, really, but...WOW!  I started last night.  NO WAY I want to be up all night X-mas Eve wrapping all those presents!

We finally got our shaggy dog groomed again, and they had to buzz off part of his moustache because it had knots in it.  Then they got his eyebrows uneven--not to mention just plain too long.  I trimmed up the eyebrows a little, but...yeah, he's kind of goofy looking this time!

I am really kind of sad about not being home all week while the kids are off school.  Nothing better than being home and doing NOTHING with your kids during X-mas week!  Heh.

Mary and Keith had their Winter Concert last week.  It was quite nice.  Don't tell anyone, but they both ended up having to wear a pair of my black socks as a) Mary didn't have any and b) we could only find ONE sock for Keith.

The laundry pile is SCARY and starting to take over the basement.

Of course it doesn't help I've discovered that Izzy has been changing her underwear both in the morning and right before bed.

Wait--it probably balances out since I've discovered that Keith keeps "forgetting" to change his underwear.

So!  Enough embarrassing things about my children for now.  I need to try to get some laundry folding done so that I can actually sit on my couch.

:-)

The X-mas List

OK, Family--HERE are the X-mas lists.  Yes, a few of you have already started buying, but you know, for those of you still confused, here ya go!

Mary:  Art supplies are ALWAYS accepted and appreciated!  I also put a few crafting kits on the list.  I started teaching Mary how to knit--she wants to learn more (I figure I could try to tackle crocheting and embroidery with her, too).  Mary needs a new Harry Potter set since she has totally DEMOLISHED mine (paperback is fine).  She really wants the Harry Potter lego game.  And some new horses.  AND she wants a Kung Zhu pet (ho boy).  Mary is now wearing size 10-12 shirts and size 10 slim jeans (make sure they are the "skinny" fit).

Keith:  He's still into Star Wars and Legos, so why not Lego Star Wars kits?  Keith is really into the Percy Jackson series (which he has borrowed from his sister), so I put the next two books on his set.  I think that with all other purchases, he's all gamed out, but he really would like the Super Mario Brothers game for the Wii.  Come to think of it, he'd probably like a Kung Zhu pet, too.  Keith is wearing size 8-10 shirts and size 8 slim jeans (although, size 10 slim might be a good idea since he seems to be growing like a week these last few weeks).  Keith could use a new pair of shoes (he likes Sketchers)--size 3.

Izzy:  Sure is hard to put up a list for her just weeks after her birthday list!  Anything How to Train Your Dragon.  She loves her new Zoobles and wouldn't mind more.  Now that she's got a Zhu-Zhu pet (thanks, party-goer friend!), she would like an accessory for it (I put the car on the list--we really don't need/want anything else).  Izzy would like some art supplies since her sister never shares.  I also put some sewing/crafting kits on the list.  Once again, size 6-6x shirts and 6 slim jeans.  Izzy has also worn down her sneakers already--size 12.

Things are pretty crazy, as I'm sure you ALL know.  The part-time temp job is just lovely.  There's been a slight issue of getting my training finished since they want me to drive to Buffalo, which, as Saly has pointed out, has been under like 100 feet of snow the last few days.  Hopefully soon?

AND John and I had a DATE this weekend.  We got a sitter then got all snazzed up and went to a holiday party given by one of his co-workers.  Even though the place was packed, and I didn't know a soul except my own husband, I actually had a nice time.  John figured we'd be fine in really nice shirts and jeans.  Well, we were greeted by the homeowner who was wearing a TUX.  At least we weren't the only ones who were more snazzy-casual--but there were quite a few little black dresses and tuxes about the place.  (At least I was comfortable!)

Sunday groggy morning I dropped off the sitter and then went to a meeting and then realized I couldn't find my cell phone.  I know I had it when we got in the car Saturday night, but that's the last I remember of it.  Living without a cell phone during one of the snowiest weeks EVAH has not been a party, 'K?

Mary and Keith are really cranking along in their violin and cello books.  Both of them are really picking up on reading music.  Keith is determined to pass his Book 1 this year (oh, it's soooo happening).  Mary wants to pass Book 2 (probably not this year, but she may just surprise us all with as quickly as she's getting through the songs).  Izzy is doing really well with her viola.  Poor third kid doesn't get reminded about practicing as much, but she's still keeping up, and is learning all her "Twinkle variations" just as quickly as the instructor teaches her.  I do hope the kids stick with this--it's just the neatest thing to watch them learning these instruments.

Mary just got done tackling long division and has gone on to fractions.  She is not amused.

Mary is also on the Year Book Club.  And...since I know no one local reads this blog (all the kids are sworn to secrecy about everything yearbook), let me just BRAG about the fact that HER drawing won the COVER!!!!!  Oh, we are very, very proud here in the Q Household.

And...this is probably the earliest we've ever had our tree up and decorated.  And we're turning on the Christmas music while we eat dinner and finish up homework in the evenings.  Even with all that snow and cold, I do love this time of year.  (On second thought, that snow could SLOW DOWN just a bit.)

Oh boy

What a busy few weeks this has been!

Mary's GS troop baked TWELVE pies for the homeless shelter's Thanksgiving dinner.  It was completely awesome.  We even taught them how to make their own crust.  And!  We had "real" pumpkin donated to us.  This is our second year baking pies, and those meetings definitely stand out as two of my favorites of the last two years.

Izzy turned 6.  SIX!  And had about the longest birthday EVER as we had a party (eep!  four crazy 5-6 year olds!  shrieking!  and popping balloons!), and went out to dinner (OK, actually, kinda TWICE), and then a cake on her actual birthday, and then presents from two other relatives to open while we were in Indiana....  Yeah, it was a LOT of love for that little six-year old!

So, yeah, I also turned 38 somewhere in there.  (eep!)  But I got a Kindle, and that kind of makes up for it!

And then yes, we drove to Indiana for the holidays--and to finally lay Dad to rest.  And for once we actually got to see almost everybody we wanted to see.  Maybe not for as LONG as we wanted, but hey, a half hour visit is better than NO visit, right?  Right?

And we got to eat TWO Thanksgiving dinners.  And I ate a LOT of pie.  And then came home and baked ANOTHER pie. 

Mmmmmm....pie.

Other than that, I started my new part-time temp job this week.  It's working out pretty well, so far.  (My co-workers cuss like sailors.  I heart them!)

I did everything wrong

I know I've been more silent in the blogging front, but honestly, it's hard to write when most of your life is obsessing about job searching, and you're all all panicked that your potential employers are probably spying on your blog....  So, the less said the better, right?  But I feel I have to describe my latest interview, cuz, well, it really had me laughing afterwards.

First off, I calculated exactly when I needed to get into the shower to get cleaned up, shaved, dressed, hair done, panty hose on and presentable in enough time to drive down to my interview AND find a parking spot.  Only...I didn't think to mention all this to my husband.  The moment I start to head to the bathroom, does he not get up and get in himself?  (WHY change your shower time on THIS day?  WHY???)  So I recalculated, and figured out that I would jump in the OTHER shower the very SECOND he turned off HIS shower.  And cut the shaving time down to just the knees where the only actual leg exposure occurs.  OK, good.  Accomplished.  But while I'm then running around and getting all that pre-stuff done, I notice:  a rogue sandwich sitting on the countertop that some child forgot to put in her lunchbox AND that ANOTHER child forgot to bring her instrument to school and it's orchestra day!  Gah!  So after the get-ready rush, I grab those things and rush them to school and then rush back to the car where I then go to grab the post it note to find the name/address of my interviewer (the whole pad being hurridly carefully stashed inside my bag), and...it's not there.  Good thing I conveniently had the address written down in the car (and kinda knew where the building was, anyway). 

So!  Rush downtown with considerably LESS finding-parking-spot time, but you know, I still make it sort of OK.  But...the garage is quite full, so I have to park all the way on the roof, and boy! are these elevators slow, so I'll just run down the stairs quickly in my high-heeled boots and thank goodness they have a walkway that goes over the street and...whew!  Made it with 2 minutes to spare (instead of the 15 I was going for).  So while I'm waiting out of breath for my interviewer, I notice the HOLE in my stocking, of COURSE right in the middle of my freaking knee and I've got NO WAY to turn this around, guess I'll have to cross my knees just so, and then I'm polishing off my cruddy, smudged glasses and eep!  there she is!  heh, heh--hi?! 

We have quite a ways to walk to the conference room, and the mirrored elevators we pass reveal to me that...my hair has apparently become disheveled in my four-flight run down the garage steps???  Oh...hey...that's...cool.....

She asks me for a copy of my resume, which hey, I've ALWAYS got one of those in my bag, except...apparently...TODAY??? (what the...?)  But it kinda passes off since she remembers that she already printed out my resume in preparation for the interview. 

NOW comes the part that I can't honestly believe.  While I was rooting around for my resume and amusing her with stories of my two girls and two GS troops, I come across some lip balm.  I don't even stop to think--I just grab it and PUT IT ON RIGHT AT THE START OF MY FREAKING INTERVIEW!!!  Who DOES that?  Not someone who seriously wants a job, right?  OMG, just stamp my forhead with LOSER and get it over with, OK????

At this point I figure that the cat is out of the bag, and I've got nothing to lose.  It's not even a permanant position--it's a temp job--so why get myself all in knots?  So I'm even more, I don't know "relaxed and carefree?" than I normally would be for an interview (which has BURNED ME previously).  And I even get to walk the interviewer out the door and all the way to the parking lot roof (where she was also parked) where we chat a little about our kids and shopping and...you know, STUFF.

The kicker--I got the job.  It's just a temp job.  It's just part-time.  It's only going to last through the first week of January.  But hey, at least for a few weeks, I'll be getting a paycheck.  And I haven't seen one of those in a year....

Happy Birthday to me!

What a Girl Wants

OK, family.  I will FINALLY put a post up here on what Izzy wants for her birthday.

Um....

Hmmm....

She...is not sure.

So!  I cobbled together a list as best I could of things that I think she would like!  Those Zoobles really catch her eye (they are girly Bakugans!).  She does still love Littlest Pets (not on the Amazon list, but they are still in ALL the stores).  [And well, a few of the Pets have recently met their untimely demise with the Q acquisition of a Big, White Ferocious Beast (a.k.a. Prince Zuko, the dog).]   Izzy loves the "How to Train Your Dragon" movie.  We already have the movie, but I know for a fact that she would like some of the toys--specifically a toy "Toothless."  Izzy has started playing with her older sister's Didj.  Oh!  But they are apparently phasing out the Didj, so games are REALLY cheap for that right now!

We are really into books right now.  I put several of the "How to Train Your Dragon" books on the list.  I'm trying to get her into Junie B. also (check with me first--I need to double check what ones we already have).  I also put a few board games on there for Family Nights.

As for clothes, Izzy is now wearing size 6 slim in jeans (which would be greatly appreciated right now since knee holes accumulate at the speed of sound around here).  Size 6 shirts.  And...maybe a dress?  Or two?  She seems to like them, and for some reason doesn't own very many???  (No, I'm sure it has NOTHING to do with mom's unwillingness to put her--or her sister--in them due to the ANNOYANCE of tights! and the fear of HOLES in tights!)  *cough*

Anyway, Amazon no longer lets me put a cute little button for you to click upon, so I posted the Wish List on FB.  Great.  Now my middle school teacher and old high school boyfriend ALSO knows what Izzy wants for her birthday....

Tis the Season: The Fairy, The Skeleton, and the Flamenco Dancer

Halloween was a blast, of course.  A blast of cold!  wind!  rain!  and HAIL!!!  But...ya know.  I still love it, and I think we still had a pretty good time.

It started out with Mary arranging to trick-or-treat with her best friend--who was also trick-or-treating with another friend.  (This circle of friends does NOT work well.  Mary does NOT like to share her friend.  I keep reminding her that she's been sharing friends with this other girl for YEARS only it wasn't quite so noticable previously as friend #3 was in a different class until THIS year.  Ugh.)  Well, I talked to the best friend's mother, and we agreed that at least two adults would go with the whole gang, and they would NOT go running off on their own.  I said, "I don't care if they run ahead of the younger kids--as long as they can see me and are in hearing distance."

Well, the minute best friend shows up at friend #3's house, she starts asking the other mother if the Three Not-So-Amigos can go out on their own, since HER mom said it was OK.  Yeah, this momma put the smack-down on THAT.  Sorry.  Did you not know about the secret alliance between your mother and me?  (I was blasted for using a "really mean voice" later.  Hmmm...perhaps so, but I don't appreciate someone trying to play me.  And...I will probably let them go on their own next year--but this year is just one year too soon for me.)

Anyway, we got out to the cold, cold evening and we weren't out five minutes when a huge dark cloud of DOOM covered the sky and the wind/rain/hail mix started.  Within minutes of that the whining about the two moms cutting off the Path of Most Candy turned into the whines of "I want to go home!" and "I'm sooooo cold!"  My kids were mostly OK.  They all had about three layers on, and they all had gloves.  But the other kids weren't quite so prepared, and....  Well, it was a short night.  We were probably only out about 45 minutes!

That being said, the kids DID have fun.  And I even had fun.  And we got just enough candy to satisfy all (it's quite a large neighborhood).  And we were all thrilled to get home and in bed in a timely manner.  And...no, I haven't downloaded the pictures yet.  Am pathetic when it comes to that, I know.

Related, I went to the kids' Halloween parade and play at the school on Friday.  THAT was fun.  And I feel bad because since the school asks for no really, really scary costumes, I told Keith not to wear the somewhat scary skeleton mask to his costume--and the parade was FULL of costumes much more creepy than his!  And Izzy the Fairy did not want to wear her whole costume.  I knew I should have tried to go to her classroom to help her get dressed--she ended up only putting on the bodysuit and the wings.  And she wore the tie to the bodysuit around her chest instead of her neck, so her costume ended up hanging halfway down her chest--good then she was wearing a shirt underneath, huh?  Mary--was just adorable.  And I got to eat lunch with her again, and she still loves me enough that even though she doesn't want to trick-or-treat with me anymore, at least she still wants me to eat lunch with her. 

Oh!  And MY costume!  Yes, I decided to be a surgeon.  Cuz I have scrubs.  Only...I lost the pants to them.  And the shirt is way, way too big (I always used it for a nightshirt).  So, I went to WallyWorld and bought a set from there (had to pay $4 extra for the pants since they didn't have any of the ones on SALE in my size, but it was still a somewhat cheap--and WELL-MADE--costume).  Here's the funny part.  I'm not in the school five minutes for that parade when one of the students tells me, "You're wearing the same costume as Miss S!"  Sure enough, my son's student teacher had the EXACT SET OF SCRUBS--right down to the UGLY shirt!  I mean, when does THAT ever happen?!  Too funny!

REALLY got to download those pics, huh?

Fluff and Mush

I'm forcing myself to write since I've noticed that my attendance has gone down lately.  Part of that is due to the fact that I went on an "internet strike."  I dunno WHY I suddenly get all "Ugh!  Computer!" all of a sudden, but it happened again, so I turned it off (well, except for that Never-Ending, Ultimate Part-Time Job Search) and hid behind some books for a bit.  Yep, I fell BACK into my self-wallowing pattern that I always notice at this time of year.  Less sun?  Well!  Book-cuddling is the cure!  ...And then I remember that it makes me even MORE mellow, so perhaps what I SHOULD be doing is running or the Wii fit or something active.  Naaaaah...I'll just turn the computer on again.

The kids are keeping me busy, of course.  I decided to start attending the violin (Mary), cello (Keith), and viola (Izzy) lessons.  I mean, it's required for Izzy, but it's NOT for the other two, but I've been going, anyway.  And...I like it.  I mean, it's kind of amusing that I'm now at the kids' school three times a week, but it's also good to know what's going on in their lessons.  Now I know EXACTLY what they are supposed to be practicing.  MOOHAAHAAHAAHAA.  I also know that both Mary and Keith have a really good ear for music (Izzy's ear is still to be determined...).  It would be thrilling if they kept this up.

Zuko is just past six months old now.  We scheduled to get him neutered last Monday.  When I showed up with him, the nurses asked, "Has he had anything to eat?"  Um...what?  I did NOT remember being told he wasn't supposed to have food at the surgical consult.  "You should have received a phone call to remind you on Saturday."  OK, that part I KNOW didn't happen.  Unless of course someone called while the kids and I were at their swimming lessons and John didn't tell me about it...?  (They didn't call.)  Anway, I told them I doubted if he'd eaten--I mean, he hardly ever eats before the kids leave the house, but yes, the food/water dish was out.  The doctor decided not to risk it, and they scheduled Zuko for Tuesday morning.  "Put away the dish at 8:00 tonight."

(And then 12 hours later, I thought I had a brief glimmer of a memory of the vet tech telling me something important and my thinking, "Oh!  I'd better write that down, or else I'll forget!  Where's a piece of paper?"  And I didn't have any.  And...I just BET you that was it--the fact that he wasn't supposed to eat.  ...I have started carrying post-its and my calendar in my purse now, BTW.)

We were good Monday night and remembered and everything was fine, and he was ready to go Tuesday morning.  Then Izzy, seeing his dish on the table asked me, "Hey!  Isn't Zuko hungry?  Shouldn't we give him his food?"  NOOOOOO!!!!!  He has surgery this morning!!!!  Don't!!!!  He'll get sick!  Then I hear an "Oh NO!"  Pan over to Mary--with a look of horror on her face.  YOU DIDN'T!!!!  WHAT did you do?  "I gave him a treat!"  And here come the tears.  Seeing how the doctor didn't want to risk Zuko even having a tongue-lap of water the day before, I just called the vet and canceled again.  *sigh*  We are now scheduled for next Monday.  (And a brief REMINDER was given to Mary that she is NOT supposed to give the dog treats without permission!)

And...the fifth grade class is ALL abuzz about this youtube video.  Careful!  It's an earworm!

Oh Goodness!

I'm behind again on my blogging, and really my only excuse is that it was SEPTEMBER, and school and the start of Girl Scouts and Cub Scouts and soccer and swim lessons has just completely kicked my butt.  That, of course, led to the annual arguement with my husband about the ridiculousness of it all, whereupon I reminded him that HE is the one who signed up the kids for soccer/swimming and that Girls Scouts and Cub Scouts is ALWAYS like this in September, and it WILL get better in just a few weeks.

Ugh.

So!  last week we had something going on every night.  I lived day by day and looked up several hopefully-enticing crockpot recipes--only to forget to set up the crockpot almost EVERY morning.  Am dunderhead.  Ah well.  We survived, and we shouldn't have another week like that for a while.  I hope.

Here are a few bullets of other fun/interesting things that have been going on:

• While walking out of Target the other day, Izzy wasn't paying attention and walked right into a sign pole.  And what a nasty goose egg you have on your head, dear...just days before picture day!  (I was soooooo good and did not laugh about it until much, much later.)
• I spent HOURS one day plotting ALL the violin/cello/viola lessons, GS and CS meetings, and my own personal GS committments for the whole school year into the online calendar that my husband whines that I NEVER use, so he NEVER knows what's going on (despite it all being written on TWO calendars in the freaking HOUSE).  Well, guess what?  I used google calendar, not realizing that he can't access google calendars at work, so I have to use the yahoo calendar instead.  @#$%.  Know what?  Do it your (bleeping!) self.  Ugh.
• Izzy won a silly bounce-the-ball-into-the-bucket contest the other night, beating out a whole group of girls all older than she is.  Mary = green with jealousy. 
• Keith keeps blowing through his lunch account money to buy breakfasts (which, um, he eats at home), and snacks--and without permission.  Meanwhile, his goody-two-shoes sisters have more than half of their money left.  So!  Keith is packing lunches every day for the next few weeks and will not get his account replenished until his sisters need it.  And I begged John to put the restrictions on the boy's account as he's just been talked to WAY too much about this.  Ugh.
• At Izzy's curriculum night, she had colored in a little picture of herself and supplied an end to the following statement, "I can..."  Her ending, "...snow ski!"  Um...Mrs. S?  That child has NEVER been snow skiing in her LIFE!  She is apparently quite the comedian in her class--she's always making everyone laugh. 
• Timmy Ho's apple cider donuts are the bomb! 
• My jeans are snug this fall.  Hmmmm....
• The first day of school, Mary got off the bus and told me, "My teacher is the oldest teacher in the world!  But she has a jelly bean machine in her classroom!"
• Her teacher is also the absolute SWEETEST teacher I've ever met!
• We finally got Zuko groomed!  And what an adorably hanesome puppy he is!  And...he finally looks like a Schnauzer!  And, the groomer was a bit of a crank and a bit snotty, and she wouldn't even let us take pictures through the window, and I'm thinking of calling one of the other groomers I was given.  (When first seeing him, she looked at him for quite a bit before finally saying, "I'm trying to figure out what else he is mixed with."  Zuko is white which isn't a common Schnauzer color.  He's a puppy who'd never been groomed previously, so no he didn't even LOOK like one.  Anytime I have this conversation with anyone else, I laugh.  It was her TONE as she said it.  How she made that statement come out snotty, I'll never know, but she did it.  Most of my other interactions with her made me just think, "Hmmm....are you here because you wanted to be a human beautician, but you couldn't find a job doing that?"  When I told her we wanted the typical Schnauzer cut, she's all, "Do you know what that all entails?"  Yes, yes, I DO!  Again, she was so, so snotty with a statement that should be inquisitive/double-checking instead of just...RUDE-sounding.  Annoying, she was.)
• I am looking for part-time work!  And I'm willing to temp to get it!
• I am tackling knitting with double pointed needles!  And doing surprisingly well!  And I keep thinking I should not have started this project yet since I have other pending projects I probably should start first.  But!  Double Pointed Needles!  I'M KNITTING WITH DPNS! 
• Izzy cried through half of her soccer session the other day because she didn't score a goal and apparenly another kid was making fun of her that she is easy to score goals off of?  Well, I don't know about the second thing as I didn't hear anything like that, but baby, you've GOT to realize that this is a LEARNING SESSION and NOT a real game and you are NOT a professional player, and...!  Ugh.  Looks as if we may have another perfectionist/defeatest in the family.
• My co-leader for Mary's troop put out her back 20 minutes before she had to get to our meeting to open the door.  So I rushed out the door to get there to let folks in.  I couldn't find my set of keys, so I grabbed John's spare set to the mini-van.  And...you know, don't you?  That I didn't realize until I got there that MY set of keys were the only ones with the key to the church door?  God, if only there were something I could do to force those lost connections to reconnect in my brain!  Die my hair, maybe?  (Good thing our other co-leader has a key, also, but I had to stand there waiting for her with a collection of a few of the early-arrivals in my shame.)
• Mary and I walked the Breast Cancer Awareness Walk and thoroughly enjoyed it again.  Thanks again to those folks who donated--I went past my goal this year!  It was a bit chilly, so I planned ahead and packed gloves.  When I got there, I could not find the set that I got out for Mary (WT...?  GRRRR!!!!).  I bought a sweatshirt for myself and let her wear it--the floppy arms kept her hands quite warm.

I'm sure there's more, but I have two Girl Scout meetings for which to plan--and pack bags to make sure I forget NOTHING (Actually, I did pretty well with Izzy's troop meeting).  Thank goodness September is OVER!

Old Pictures

So!  Yesterday I decided to tackle my scanner to put some old photos up on my Facebook.  And...wouldn't ya know it?  The vacation photos are already downloaded!  But!  Since they are up on the uber-slow computer, I really don't have the patience to try to download them to blogger today.  I WILL put up the photos I put on Facebook.  Why not subject folks to the SAME photos in two different spots!

This is a series of family photos from the years.  There are all out of order on FB, and I can't figure out how to rearrange them there.  *sigh*


Feb '00.  Mary is 9 wks old

May '02.  Keith, 3 mos; Mary 2 yrs



X-mas, 2003.  Keith, 1.  Mary, 3



November, 2004.  Mary, 4; Keith, 2; Izzy, 6 days

X-mas, 2005.  Mary, 5; Keith 3; Izzy, 1

April (?) 2007.  Mary, 7; Keith, 5; Izzy, 2

June 2008.  Mary, 9; Keith, 7; Izzy, 4

Hmmm...just realized that I forgot to scan one from the X-mas of 2002.  Meh...maybe next year!  (This rainy/cold weather is wreaking havoc on my productivity.  Hey!  I still got a LOT done today...but I think I'm DONE.  At least, for now.)

OCNJ and Earl

So!  We went on vacation!  A REAL one with sand and beaches and seashells and...it was just lovely.  We haven't been away for more than a few days as a family in several years, so it was well overdue. 

We rented a house in Ocean City, NJ (and got it kinda cheap since it was the last week of August and considered "out of season" and the original family that was supposed to rent it backed out, and we ended up not going through a realtor but getting it directly from the owner).


I should probably start this off by mentioning that the Saturday prior to leaving, John and I went on our very last concert from our Summer of Concerts/Fun/Actual Dates and saw My Morning Jacket.  I am not as familiar with the band as John (I sorta recognized two, maybe three songs), but I still enjoyed the show--and of course the opportunity to get out of the house and enjoy an evening with my husband.  You know, I really used to adore that guy before we had kids, and we got all tired and grouchy and business-like all the time.

So!  The very next day, we had to leave for Ocean City.  But first!  I had to finish packing!  Cuz, I was painting all week and after all that and trying to get some of the house back in order for the baby sitter and all the laundry caught up for the packing and distributing the pets to kennels and friends' houses, I kinda of did not have time for some of the actual packing.  I mean, all the foodstuffs and beach paraphernalia and kid-entertaining backpacks and toiletries were done--I just didn't have most of the clothes in the actual suitcases.

The sitter watched me in awe (she stayed the night to make it easier on all of us), and she helped keep the kids out of my hair by playing Mario Cart with them while I ran around matching shirts and shorts and then just throwing stuff in Izzy's bag (ending up with a bag full of mis-matched clothes for her, half of which we didn't need).

The house was a block from the beach path.  It provided everything--including beach towels and toys and tags and a washer/dryer and two bathrooms and five beds (and even a pull-out couch) and a whole nice note full of tips of places to go and places to eat and even movies and games (although a bit outdated), and I even saw a whole closet full of baby stuff--pack 'n' play, high chair, stroller.  Oh!  It was perfect!

Monday we went to the beach and the boardwalk.  We ate lunch at this Italian place that had the BEST wood-fired pizzas.  I cooked slightly overdone hamburgers and hotdogs for dinner.

Tuesday we went to the beach and packed a lunch and then got home and got a bit grumpy with each other (too little sleep and long drive catching up on us, I suppose), but then we played a game of outdated Pictionary.  I made spaghetti for dinner (I should write a post on that later...).  I took the kids back out to the beach that evening where the low tide provided all kinds of WHOLE shells to their glee.

Wednesday we went to the beach and the boardwalk.

Thursday we knew that Hurricane Earl was going to start wrecking havoc with the waves, so we decided to go down to Cape May instead of the beach.  We went to the Zoo (Free!  and puts Local Zoo to shame!) and the lighthouse where we discovered that Mary has some sort of phobia with those iron stairs with holes in them.  Huh--who knew?  We also discovered that John and I are waaaaaay out of shape (that we BOTH knew).  We went out to eat at a pricy seafood/steak restaurant where I had an awesome bowl of clam chowder--and couldn't finish my crab cake.  Keith discovered he likes scallops.  We bought some NEW games and played them.

Friday Earl got downgraded to a tropical storm, but we still felt its effects as it was overcast and rainy most of the day.  We still went to the beach.  We dipped in our toes and watched the HUGE waves (the beaches were closed for swimming, not that we would have gone in, anyway).  We realized we probably could have brought the skimmers we bought the kids.  We realized we should have gone ahead and put them in their bathing suits as Keith and Izzy got completely soaked just playing around.  We went back to the boardwalk to say our goodbyes.  We played another one of our new games.

Saturday I cleaned up the house, and we packed up the car, and then we walked around the corner to a donut shop where they had the most heavenly donuts!  I'm not a huge donut fan and I wanted MORE.  Silly John only bought 6 donuts.  WHAT was he thinking?

We then drove to Philadelphia and checked out the Liberty Bell, which was kinda cool.  Then we got back in the car and headed home.  We got in right around 7:00.

And now for some bullets!

• This is the first vacation where I've actually UNPACKED my bags and put all the clothes in dressers for everyone.  It was great! 
• With the washer/dryer, I did laundry every day.  We only used the one set of towels.  I had hardly any laundry to do when we got back.
• That means that I overpacked.  I could have gotten away with probably three outfits a person since that's about all we really wore all week.
• I kinda wish we'd gone to the beach on Thursday.  We were nervous about the Earl waves, but we probably could have at least let the kids dip their toes in like we did on Friday--and maybe actually use the skimmers we bought on Wednesday!  How cruel to buy your kids beach skimmers and then not USE them while actually on a beach!  I'm still glad we went to the zoo, but we were too tired to go out to the beach after we got back.
• We need to plan a Philadelphia trip.  You know...if we can ever afford to take another real vacation again.
• I ended up arranging for a friend to pick up Zuko from the kennel for us on Saturday.  The kennel normally has Sunday pick-up, but changed it to Monday due to the holiday.  Not only could I just not stand the thought of our poor little puppy stuck in the kennel that long, but we would have had to pay for two extra days when we were HOME!
• Poor Zuko ended up with a touch of diarrhea Thursday.  We all think he was just stressed out from being away from us for so long.  Poor little guy!
• Izzy will actually TAN when in the sun.  This amazes me since the other two and I just basically burn.
• SPF 85 was my friend that week.
• We acquired three more stuffed animals and a plastic brain with eyes that pop out. Seriously?
• Mary was silly enough to bring one stuffed animal to the beach on Friday (HOW did she sneak that out without John or me noticing?), and he just about got carried away, along with our shoes, when one of the BIG waves came in.
• John did not get into the water until Wednesday.  Izzy would not go into the actual ocean until Wednesday when Daddy finally brought her in.  She would only go in if she was held--but she still had a ball jumping the waves in our arms.
• I could stand living a little closer to the beach.
• I really, really want one of those donuts right now.

Pictures are scattered between two cameras--the majority being on the new one I don't really know how to use yet.  Maybe I'll take some time to figure it out next week....

Back to School! 2010

Ho boy.  This school year has just been creeping up on me all summer.  And now we're finally to the Big Day.  John and I really did attempt to get the kids to bed at a decent hour these last few nights, but it seems to be getting more and more difficult as the kids get older.  Why is that?

So, after dinner, setting out clothes, showers, packing now THREE lunches (gasp!), and the surprise "last night of summer ice cream treat," and the stalling, and the nervous tummies (Mary), and the slight allergy attack (Keith), we did finally get the kids to bed probably around 9:00 (although Keith's sniffles kept him up much later than that).

This morning I forced myself out of bed early (I so have been dreading the early wake-up call much more than my kids), showered, and actually COOKED BREAKFAST for my children (Seriously--this is a big deal for me!).  Due to our preparation the night before (something I SWEAR I will make a habit every year and never quite manage), we had a pretty non-chaotic morning.  The kids were all ready and waiting for the bus in good time (Bah!  Just remembered that I forgot to have them brush their teeth!).

I was able to handle all three of my kids' first days of kindergarten with mostly excitement and anticipation just tinged with a hint of anxiousness and sadness.  This year is the first year that I saw them all off with a bit of a lump in my throat.  Now ALL THREE are in school ALL DAY, and I'm just really sad about that.  No little Izzy to greet home for lunch.  :-(  All the babies out of the house.  Even the thought that I can now go to the grocery store just whenever and not have to plan around a mid-day school bus pick-up/drop-off is making me feel morose. 

Clearly, I need a job.  The babies do not need me anymore.  (And frankly, the pocketbook needs the stimulus, too).  :-(

Waiting for the bus!

Show us your grade!  Three!  Five!  One!

Bye!

Mom and Dog feeling a little lost....

 (Seriously!  I keep thinking I have to go get Izzy off the bus now.  This is just so....weird!)

I hate painting.

One more coat on two walls, and I'll be done (well, except for the "oops" touch-ups on the ceiling--heh).  And actually, I must admit I'm "enjoying" the painting this time much more than the painting of my children's bedrooms.  Frankly, John and I just didn't really know HOW to paint back then.  And the results showed it.  The paint is PEELING in Mary and Izzy's room.  And Keith's room is WAY too dark--and still not technically done as both John and me just sort of gave up after a while.  John is talking about re-painting the ceiling in Keith's room.  Well, he's more than welcome to it.  I don't want anything to do with that room for a LONG time!

Anyway, the creamy-tan-yellowy color is looking pretty nice in the living room/dining room.  Too bad we have to put up with horrible pink carpet and college kid-worthy/crappy furniture for a while.  Ah well.  Bits and pieces--we'll do what we can do when we can do it.

A school mom called today to chat for a minute and reminded me that I'm leaving for vacation soon...and here I am spending all this time painting instead of fretting over what I need to pack for this family of five--and do we even have enough luggage for that?  I don't think we've taken a full week's vacation somewhere since there were five of us--what all is this going to entail?  Are we going to have enough room in the back of the mini-van?  (John is seriously considering getting one of those luggage cap thingys). 

Oh!  Forgot to mention in my catch-up post yesterday:  Keith has had a pretty memorable summer.  He has FINALLY learned how to ride a two-wheeler, WITHOUT the training wheels.  I feel kinda guilty that he learned so late.  I mean, shouldn't he have mastered this years ago?  (Come to think of it, shouldn't this be something I should be teaching his little sister now???)  I don't know.  There are no sidewalks on our side of the road.  And when I was working, I never had the desire to take him out on the weekends.  And...just plain bad, lazy parenting, no?  Well, I was determined he would learn this summer.  But most of the days have been horribly hot or rainy, and...next thing I know, we've only got a few weeks until school starts!  So!  I finally pumped up his tires, took off the training wheels, and got out there with him.  I tried him on the grass first, in case he fell a lot, and held the back of the bike up for him.  Then we moved on to the driveway.  Then I think it started raining....  Then I took him out a few days later and drove him to a park down the road that has a really nice-sized, usually-empty parking lot.  It didn't take long at all.  Maybe 20 minutes to get it down?  Oh!  Such exuberance!  ...And then the chain kept falling off the bike.  No worries.  Mom carries a Swiss Army knife in the glove box--one of these gadgets should help  (I'm SO awesome)....  Still, that's kind of a pain.   Anyway, we've been out one more time--where he ended up having to share the big pink bike with Mary since the chain on his STILL kept popping off.  (I think it's time to just buy a new bike, no?)  Anyway, John is so excited, he's thinking of bringing the bikes on vacation.  Wait--a luggage cap thingy AND a bike rack?  I guess I should go out and buy those little family people sticker thingys, too.  LOL

Blog? What Blog?

Whoops!  I guess the summer is getting away from me.  I didn't mean to slack off here so much.  But, you know...summer, right?

We took a very tiny trip to Indiana to see my BFF from high school (whom I've not seen in about four years) and another BFF from high school and wow--my brother also happened to be in the 'hood!  And since my Grandmother has not felt well enough to see us, I went to see her.  Wish we could have spent more time there....

Out with my Dad.

 

BFFs!

Grandma and her great-grandbabies.

Gaggle of kids (Hey, where's Mary?)

Pathetic that I still don't have all the pics downloaded yet.  Although the camera was away from me for part of the trip, so I only got one pic of my brother and none of my mother.  :-(

The kids finally got their school lists and teacher assignments, and we spent a morning at Target digging out the last of the purple folders.  Since I had a stash of a few supplies I'd been picking up here and there, I actually managed to get it all done in just one trip!  *sigh*  I get a lurch in my tummy every time I think about how now my baby will be gone ALL DAY.  I miss her already!

We spent three days one hot week mooching off a friends' pool.  Izzy seems to have lost some of her confidence in the water.  I guess that's what happens when you don't go swimming very often--and then you go in an above ground pool which has a depth just over the top of her mouth and nose!  Once we settled her with a noodle, she was fine.  Just a few more months until she's six and can move up to the first level for swimming lessons.

John decided to put in a new back patio door--we're hoping it will cut down on the draft in our living room in the winter.  That caused a problem.  New pretty door in an old, atrociously-decorated living room/dining room.  Gah!  So we got our our rollers and brushes, and yes, after FOUR YEARS we are FINALLY painting our living room.  I took a few days and primed and painted the ceiling last week.  Then I started on the walls.  We had issue with the first color we tried (thank goodness we only bought a sample!), and we finally agreed on a tan/creamy color.  Half the room is done now (and boy, are my arms...and legs, and back tired!).  John told me I could take a break today (hence, finally blogging!), and I'll try to finish it tomorrow or the next day.  I HATE painting!  But wow, the living room already looks SO much better!

It's feeling like fall around here already (where did the hot weather go?) and John and I are nervous about our big trip still to come.  If the weather's icky....  Ah well.  It'll be good just to get away for a few days.

I'm getting ready to brush off the ol' resume again now that summer is coming to a close.  That ALSO leaves a funny lurch in my tummy.  Amazing what the inability to find a job will do to one's self-esteem.  Ugh....

I can see my torso!

The venue from the concert the other night posted some pics on FB.  I see ME!  Well, PART of me, anyway.  Oh, and John, too!

Summer Bullets

• I finally set up the tent a couple of weeks ago, and the kids and I tried to sleep in it.  Way.  Too.  Hot.  One by one the kids started bailing on me.  And then Izzy woke up in an apparent night terror and would not stop screaming/crying for over an hour.  Yeah--that was fun.  Never mind.
• We tried again a week later when it was much cooler, and once again, kids started bailing on me.  And Izzy was the only one who stuck it through and slept all night in the tent with me.  She's my Camping Girl!  I was awakened at six AM with a downpour hitting our tent.  I can safely say that there are no major leaks in our tent.  Yeesh!  I woke up Izzy and said, "Let's make a run for it!"  She was all for sleeping in more, but we had stuff planned early that morning, so I didn't want to sleep in (no clocks in the tent, so I didn't know it was THAT early).  We wrapped our sleeping bags around us and ran--now THAT was fun!
• We had visitors this weekend!  Our good friends Jeff and Paula came and brought little Josh.  Of course, their timing was a bit off.  John and I had ANOTHER concert to go to Friday night (next bullet).  If we'd known they were coming ahead of time, we would have bought them tickets, too.  As it was, Jeff and Paula got to drive all day just so that they could babysit our kids!  Sweet!  Saturday, we were all kinda slow getting up, but we did finally make it to the children's museum to show little Josh the sights.  It was fun to see it in a "new" 2-year old perspective again!  He had a ball running around and playing in the exhibits (as did our three, really).  We had to stop for lunch, and then the little guy was tired (Ah yes, the afternoon nap!  We forgot about planning around those!), so we came home.  Saturday evening we were hoping to go see the waterfall downtown, but it started pouring down rain.  So instead we bought some sushi and cooked steaks on the grill, and just enjoyed each other's company.  Sunday they left, and we all missed the fun of the little guy.  (Too bad Zuko was just a little too playful around him and scared the dickens out of him--the puppy spent a good chunk of their visit in his crate.)
• So!  Friday night!  John and I went to our Penultimate Summer Concert Experience!  This time we went to see the Black Keys and the Flaming Lips.  I knew as soon as I saw the confetti guns and the big bag of giant balloons that THIS was going to be a FUN show.  The Black Keys were outstanding.  The Flaming Lips were just FUN.  Great sound.  Most enjoyable concert.  We were only four rows back from the front. 
• Here's a video of Wayne surfing the crowd in his "Space Bubble Thing."  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DXMVD5yRu6o
• Did you notice my dash and five and six keys are working again?  Tech Support sent me a new keyboard, John installed it, and viola!  Working keys again!  Yay!
• I just now took down the tent that has now been up for two and a half weeks.  Well, a little rain did pool in it, and I was hoping it would dry out in the sun.  No such luck.  Good thing I have three kids I can send in there with some towels.  heh
• We have a lot of things planned here and there the next few weeks before school starts up again.  Basketball camp for Keith, soccer camp for Izzy, a mini-trip here, a bigger trip there.  I guess I shouldn't be worrying so much about these "down" days where we all just seem to be sitting around the (cool!) house all day....

More Amusements

Sunday night John and I had another installment of our "Summer of Concerts" and went to see Weezer.  Again, a great concert.  Great sound, great performance.  And hey, look!  There is already a pirated video out there!  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lgg3h4V--2I

(WHY IS MY DASH KEY NOT WORKING???)

Well, I had to call around to three girls before I found a babysitter, and it ended up being a friend of ours who lives over twenty five minutes away, so I arranged for her to stay the night (not sure why our usual sitter did not answer her phone?).  So!  I had to drive out of my way to get her (and then we ended up leaving Mary there to stay the night with her sister), then hurry back home to feed everyone McCrapFood (urp), and then we had to rush to the concert.  Only, we found out we didn't actually have to rush, since the concert didn't start until 8:00 instead of 7:00, as John thought.  *sigh*  We get in the gate, and then John realizes that he locked his ID in the car with his wallet (DUH), so we tried to go back to the car to get it.  Oh, can't get back in if you leave the gate.  Well!  Good thing John's gray hair tells his age...the guy at the ID table gave him a beer bracelet without it, so it all worked out.

(OMG now my FIVE and SIX keys are not working!  ...Hmmm...maybe it's from the coffee I spilled a couple of days ago?  I swear only a DROP hit my computer!  My legs got the brunt of it.  Youch!)

Anyway, Monday Mary had plans to go to the local amusement park with a friend, and I decided to just bring the whole gang to avoid any jealousies amongst the kids.  So!  I had to get everyone up early and dressed and fed and then out the door.  First stop:  the ATM to get the sitter's money.  And...I could not remember my pin!  I guess I hadn't used my card at the ATM in a while (I couldn't remember the night before at the concert, either), so I came back home and woke up John and grabbed his card and got his pin and tried again.  Then I had to drive back home because I forgot my just=in=case=I=get=lost GPS (and to return John's card).  THEN I had to drive across town to take the babysitter home and pick up Mary.  THEN we had to drive all the way back across town to get to the amusement park.  The friend's mother I swear said the place opened at 10:00, so I figured we'd get there a little late.  We got there around 10:40...and it was like out of Vacation:  EMPTY parking lot!  We ended up being the very first people there!  Wow, I guess to get my family ANYWHERE on time, folks should just tell us the wrong time to get there!

We had a great day.  I spent more than I should have on lunch (Nine dollars and fifty cents for a grilled chicken sandwich combo?  I expect that out at Cedar Point, but LOCAL PLACE?  That's a bit much!  Sheesh!), but the lines were pretty short, the weather was hot (but cooler than last week!), and the water park was great.  Fun.

This morning I could barely drag myself out of bed.  Too much amusement in too few days.  The kids and I did pretty much nothing all day, even though the house is a scary mess, and we have no food in the refrigerator....  Actually, we did TRY to go to the store, but I made the pet store stop first, and then we got a torrential downpour, and it was just too crazy to do anything but drive on home.  I made the kids promise they wouldn't complain when I made spaghetti (the only edible option left in the house) for dinner tonight.  And what's one more day without fresh fruit and vegetables?  Really?

Gosh it's hot

Our intended vacation for last week got rescheduled/rearranged a bit, but since John had the time off anyway, we decided to go ahead and take the kids to Cedar Point.  First, we had to figure out what to do with the puppy.  What. a. pain!  After a few phone calls and mild panic attacks, we finally found a pet-friendly hotel and brought him with us.

Cedar Point has a Pet Chek where for $15 a day you can take your dog.  John found this information online.  Great!  We can take him and then ride the rides and then....  Oh.  We found out why it was so cheap.  It's not a kennel in the traditional sense of the word.  It's an air conditioned room with crates for the animals.  They do not walk the animals or give them potty breaks--it's all up to the owners to take breaks from their fun to go let their pooches out of the crates.  Ahhhhh....  Well, good thing Zuko is basically crate-trained.  (And at least they give the animals water and food.)

It was HOT.  Brutally HOT.  (As an aside here, when I saw the forecast, I tried my hardest to convince John to go to the Kalahari--water park--instead, but he was determined, and two of the three kids were determined, so....UGH.)  Anyway, it was HOT.  I slathered on the sunscreen multiple times on myself and the kids.  I was wearing two layers of tank tops, and I eventually had to remove the top one because I was so hot.  This was unfortunate, since the bottom layer was black, and as John kindly pointed out, helped make me "of ALL the people here, the pastiest and whitest."  Yes, I'm a pale person.  I burn quickly and badly, so sunscreen is my FRIEND, hence, I STAY pasty.

Despite the heat (and yes, the slight sunburn that we all STILL managed to get even after multiple sunscreen applications), the kids were pretty well-behaved and really seemed to be having a good time.  John and I split our time between taking the older two to the roller coasters and at Camp Snoopy with Izzy--where there was never a line, and she just got to ride rides ALL DAY LONG. 

I guess the biggest pain on our trip was not getting to sit down at a nice restaurant since we had the dog.  John's sister and her family were in Sandusky (at the Kalahari!), and we couldn't even meet them for breakfast.  We saw them for about 10 minutes in a parking lot! 

So...as nice as it was to bring our new baby on our trip, it was kind of a pain in the butt.  It was a last-minute trip, so it was a bit difficult to make any other accommodations. Zuko is a good traveler.  Long car rides don't freak him out, and he's a pretty quiet dog, so he doesn't disturb other hotel guests.  I won't mind bringing him on future trips, but I'd prefer to try to locate a "real" kennel while we're at non-pet-friendly attractions--or at least a hotel that allows us to keep him in our room alone--in his crate, mind you--while we enjoy a nice meal in a restaurant for an hour or so.

And now, for some bullets:

1)  Mary, who does love a good roller coaster, still does not have the patience (despite finally having the HEIGHT) to wait in line for the Millenium Force OR Top Fuel Dragster.  This is our third year going to CP in three years, and John and I have STILL not been able to get on these rides!

2)  Izzy, the littlest, is probably the bravest when it comes to rides, and it'll probably be a good two or three years yet before she can get on most of the big ones.  :-(

3)  I lost count of how many times Izzy and I (let alone John and her) rode the Woodstock Express.  It's a pretty fast little ride for a kiddie coaster--and if we waited at all, it was only for about one ride's length of time.  Once we got to ride it twice in a row.  There was no one waiting in line to get on, so the operator ran it again for those of us on the ride!

4)  Mary still insisted on playing games at the end of the day, despite the fact that she always gets uber-upset when she does not win, and we have to deal with her attitude/grumbling about it the rest of the night.  Yes, we explained to her, repeatedly, that those games are MEANT to be lost!  Yes, we picked a game (the water-shooting one) where we thought ONE of the kids would have the best shot.  Unfortunately, Keith won--twice--and got a Pokemon stuffed animal--and that just threw her overboard.  Yes, we took her to the gift shop and bought her a freakin' $20 stuffed animal (Keith's cost $18 total to win, so really, what were we out?) to help appease her.  Yes, she still grumbled.  No, there is no way to win here unless we DON'T play those games at the end of the night when everyone is tired (but then if we win we have to cart crap around all day), OR just not play games....  And no, we probably shouldn't have bought the $20 animal, but....*sigh*

5)  Everyone slept surprisingly well both nights we were in the hotel (maybe because we brought an extra air mattress?). 

6)  Poor John drove us home Thursday and then had to leave immediately to go play a round of golf in his golf league.  In that intense heat.  Gosh, I'll bet THAT was fun!

7)  How we got out of the no-eating-in-restaurants problem:  Tuesday night we picked up food and ate it in a park by the Lake (Well, we ate in the car with the air on since it was so bloody hot, but then we got out and played on the play ground and skipped stones into the Lake and Izzy got to experience a really, really nasty latrine for the first time.  She did pretty well--especially considering she still goes into screams if she sees an automatic-flush potty.)  Wednesday night:  pizza in the hotel.

Meh

I got a gift card to Barnes and Noble from one of my GS troops, so of course, I used it all up (and then some), and I've been READING for the last two weeks.  Therefore, I have tuned out of everything else.  While I love reading, it does make me quite lazy and morose.  I think that once I finish this last book, I'll put the books away for a while again.  It's SUMMER, and the kids are home from school, and Mom doesn't need to be on the couch with her nose in her book all bummed out....

But I haven't been all bleh this whole time.  Oh no!  School is over and with it ended the base/softball season (yay!), but it also started a volleyball camp, and a weekend of three parties (WT...HOW did we get so busy?), and a couple of playdates.  And...I've been shopping.  I have been on a quest for some comfortable shorts that aren't frumpy-looking and nice enough to wear in public--I didn't really succeed until today.

AND I offered to babysit the sister of our puppy.  Yes, friends of ours adopted Zuko's litter-mate, and we got to reunite them this week when her family went on vacation.  Jasmine's a bit shy, but she really did take to us more quickly than I think the owner imagined she would.  I think our house-training may have taken a step back due to the flux of puppies around here, but it sure was fun to see them play ALL DAY.  ...Until it finally got annoying, and we had to put one or the other in their crate every now and then just so that we can maybe hear the TV--or have a conversation.  Yeesh!

(The "fluffy" one is Zuko.)

With the end of school we also have the end-of-year report cards with absolutely NO surprises.  Mary = awesome.  Izzy = awesome.  Keith = smart, but goofy, non-listening boy.  *sigh*  We bought Mary and Keith a DS game for their hard work (at least Keith did well academically despite his need to work on his listening skills).  I took a moment in the mall to bribe Izzy with ice cream if she would just get her ears pierced.


Yep...she fell for it!  She did pretty well with it.  She psyched herself all up for it (At one point practically hyperventilating while chanting something along the lines of "I can DO this!"  Made me think, "SHOWTIME!"  LOL).  The first ear was pierced with hardly a flinch from her.  I'm not even sure she would have known it was done if she wasn't told so.  But then the lady took FOREVER to load up the gun again to do the second ear.  Izzy's game face fell off--and she started tearing up.  The second ear finally got done.  I picked her up and held her.  She dried up her tears, and said, "I did it!"  Yes, my dear, brave girl!

Now I must go pick up Mary from yet another play date.  And then we'll perhaps have an Avatar marathon tonight (Um...the Cartoon Network one).  I feel like watching me some silly TV.

Ut Oh, Wan out of Buwetts....

• Sorry it's been so long, but along with the chaos of Spring sports and the new puppy, every time I logged in with my husband's computer, it wouldn't let me create a new post!  
• My husband has STILL not put the protective software on my mini-lap top, and he won't let ME touch it.
• I am FINALLY done with both GS troops!  But I do have another GS recruitment event to help run this week....
• Both girls went camping with me with 400 other Girl Scouts.  Izzy just for the one day, Mary and I were there the whole weekend.  Both did great (except for the 2:30 A.M. "cabin party" from Mary's troop, and the constant bickering all hot day between Izzy and her friend). 
• At camp, Mary's troop NAILED the closing flag ceremony.
• Keith got to pitch at his ball game the other day.  Not only was he consistently throwing strikes, he actually struck out TWO players!  Apparently getting grounded from his DS from not doing his classwork IN class helped free up some major practice time for him!
• Mary has basically lost interest in softball.  When pressed for why she doesn't want to play anymore, the only response we get is because the coach hasn't let her play third base or pitch yet.  Well, yes, Mary, but maybe your coach likes you at second base because she realizes you are pretty darn GOOD at second (although, yes, she's good at third, too), and well, it's hard to let you pitch when you haven't shown ANY desire to TRY or even to PRACTICE--and since they moved the pitcher's mound back a little this year, you can't quite get it across the plate YET (although you could with PRACTICE).  Sooooo frustrating.  We don't know whether to keep trying to encourage her to do (and practice at!) something she's pretty good at to help her boost her confidence a little, or just let her drop out so that we're not forcing her to do something she truly doesn't want to do.  Hard to read this kid, really.
• I inadvertently got my "selected" and "non-selected" confused with the camera--and managed to delete ALL the pictures except for the ones I WANTED to delete.  Good thing a good chunk of them had already been saved on the computer.  *sigh*
• Mary is finally passing Book 1 for her violin.  (She really should have passed it a year ago, but hey, we're still pretty excited!)  She has a concert next week where she (and the others who have passed) gets to play EVERY song from the book.  Then she (plus every other kid who has passed) gets to play a solo from the book.  And guess what?  Her instrument/book is not the only one performing.  It's going to be a loooooooooooooooooong concert (and the instructor was FIRM that no one is allowed to leave in the middle of it!).  
• For Part 2 of the "Q Summer of Fun," John and I went to see Les Claypool perform two weeks ago.  Freakin' AWESOME!  
• Entertaining a puppy while trying to type a post in the cramped computer/junk room is not an easy feat.  So! Many! Temptations! for puppy!
• Just over one more week left of school!
• Keith's best friend moved to Dayton yesterday.  Not only are we missing him, but his mother was my co-leader for Izzy's GS troop and just an awesome person and good friend.  Great family, and I'm just depressed about the whole thing.  :-(
• All is still quiet on the job front.  No interview since February.  The only phone calls I'm getting are from staffing agencies.  I don't mind going the staff agency route, but when I talk to them, I certainly get the feeling that they do not have that many jobs to place.  My unemployment is running out this week or next (unless an extension gets voted in).  I do have a lead on a possible summer temp job, but I know for a fact that the pay would not make it worth the day care expense.  :-(
• The puppy is doing a pretty good job with crate/house training--as long as I'm not packing two lunches while mopping the floor and brushing Izzy's hair and sorting through laundry for a pair of matching socks.  *sigh*  95% of his accidents are from when I've "just stepped out for a mo."  The good news:  he IS starting to go to the door when he needs to go...about 50% of the time.
• A friend of Mary's adopted Zuko's sister!  She's is ultra shy while Zuko is the adventurous one.  I may get to watch her when the family goes on vacation...!
• Zuko has already GROWN.  No fair.
• I am trying to reassure myself that my scale is wonky--surely is isn't possible for a person to gain five pounds in a day and then lose five pounds the next???  I have NO clue how much I weigh right now.  I'm keeping myself in check with the "my clothes still fit, so I can't weigh THAT much" rule.  (Probably should lay off the Shrek Twinkies for a while, though.)
• I FINALLY finished the quilt for my girlfriend whose baby is now officially six months old!  Well, you know, I got INTIMIDATED by the whole thing.  I was going to do this awesome "how I did it" post, but um, accidentally deleted all of the pictures.  I will say that despite the um, blatant flaws on the thing, she was completely, totally thrilled with it (or at least that's what she SAID!).

Zuko

All Crazy All The Time

I am looking at the dawn of this groggy Monday morning wondering just how on earth I made it through the previous week without having a heart attack. So! Much! Going! On! And all at once! It was unreal.

On Monday we finally got to celebrate John's birthday. At least, that's what *I'm* calling it. Two months ago, John made the executive decision to use a portion of our tax refund to buy tickets to see Pearl Jam!!!!!! (And since I couldn't think of any gift to top it, I'm calling that his gift!) We were both beyond excited since a) it's one of our favorite bands, b) John hadn't seen them in concert since 1991 when they gave a spectacularly BAD show in Indy [not exactly their fault, as the sound in the venue was horrible--and this was about three months before they hit it HUGE, so no one knew who this opening band for the Red Hot Chili Peppers was!], and c) John and I are averaging a date about once every 18 months, and we're totally DUE!

The logistics of finding folks to watch my kids and also cart them to their activities that night was um, NOT FUN, but hey, it got done, and I owe some people BIG TIME!

The concert was AMAZING. John's been to loads of concerts, but I've only been to a handful (Is there a correlation in the fact that he stopped going to concerts after he met me? hmmm....). This was easily the best concert I've ever seen. Pearl Jam is just amazing live. I'm so thrilled that we got to go!

John had a few too many beers, so I got to drive home (I got one beer at 7:00 and nursed it until 11:00--kinda guessing I may be the one driving home). An hour's drive is no big deal--unless you'd been up really, really late a few nights prior, and you're up way past your bedtime now. But I found some gum in my purse, and then it was all good! We got home around 1:30 in the morning.

Tuesday I was completely wiped. I put the kids on the bus, and I went back to bed. I didn't get up until Izzy got home, and I probably didn't wake up properly until around 3:00. I got Mary ready for her softball game, and then I had to help slacker Keith with his homework (TWO assignments he didn't finish in class! Plus he was behind on his reading journal!). John takes Mary to her game, and Keith and I get back on homework. Then, around 7:30, my GS co-leader calls, "Aren't you coming to the Service Unit meeting tonight?" Meeting? WHOOPS! It wouldn't have been a big deal, except that I was supposed to bring important stuff for the meeting. Izzy was already in her jammies, and Keith still had homework to do, but we all got our shoes on, went out to the garage, and...John had the mini-van. The mini-van in which I put the important stuff so that I wouldn't forget it for said meeting! And he and Mary were 20 minutes away at her game. Crap! Can you say LOSER? Yeah--my portion of the meeting just had to be skipped.

The next few days are kind of a blur. Along with baseball/softball going on every night, I was also putting together a Daisy event for my Service Unit for Saturday. I spent the rest of the week making sure I had enough crafts, games, songs, and supplies to entertain 50-55 kindergarten and first graders. I had a nightmare Tuesday night (after the important meeting faux pas) that we were all at the event, and I forgot most of my supplies, and I had to keep leaving the event to go make trips to Wally World. Yeah--stress much?

Well, I made my list and checked it twice, and thrice, and yipes! I couldn't help feel every time I bought more stuff that I didn't have enough stuff! (And I started buying for this WEEKS ago!). LOTS of shopping got done. Lots of emails/phone calls/visits to my co-leader for sanity checks. The last thing on the list: go get the keys to the church where we were having the event. No problem. I remembered! Got my keys! Everything looked good!

Saturday afternoon I made a last minute trip to Wally World to buy MORE crayons and MORE markers and MORE scissors in another panic attack of not-having-enough-STUFF! I got to the church 45 minutes before the event started...and the keys would NOT FIT IN THE DOORS!!!! It's like a bad joke, right? I'm all prepared, and I'm early to the event to get things set up in a timely manner, and....

Well, Mary and Izzy were with me (Izzy to attend--Mary to help until John came to get her for her softball game). I told them to stay in the mini-van while I went around the church trying more doors (these keys have got to open up SOMETHING, right?). Well, it's a pretty BIG church since it's also a school. I kept going around and around the perimeter and finding doors and trying keys and trying my darndest NOT to cry!

I finally got to the other side of the building where there is a playground, AND another one of my older girl helpers playing on the swings (wonder how long that poor dear was there waiting for me?). Another mother on the playground said she thought she saw someone go into the main office. REALLY? OhThankGoodness!

The main office was open (yes!). I found a live body (YES!). And she confirmed that yes, I indeed had the wrong keys (GAH!). She gave me the key right off her key ring, and then we walked through the building to open that door so that I could collect my children and start unloading my stuff. As we're trying to unlock the door, Mary runs by it holding Izzy's hand, and Izzy is in hysterics! OH! The poor dear started freaking out when Mommy didn't come back to the car right away! (Oh! Mom should have brought them with her, but Mom didn't realize it would take THAT LONG to get inside the church! BAD MOMMY!) At this time, my Daisy co-leader has shown up with HER supplies and HER kids. We get Izzy calmed down, and then we hurriedly start setting up for this thing--starting thirty minutes later than we intended. Within a few short minutes, the annoyingly PUNCTUAL people start showing up. Thank heavens many of them were GS leaders and mothers and others who are willing to lend a hand (and actually, I asked for all these folks to stay and help ahead of time). (And BTW: we couldn't figure out how to keep the door OPEN, so I had to finally set up an older girl at the door to open it as folks started filing in.) We finally had all the craft tables and supplies set up, and got things started.

It was chaos--but "organized" chaos. I know that you can't keep five- and six-year old still for too long, so my mantra for this thing was to KEEP. THEM. BUSY. And, yeah, it was noisy, and yeah, a bit confusing, but yeah, I still think they all had a lot of fun. Of course, I spent most of my time be-bopping between tables making sure everything was moving along, and moving ahead, and what-happened-to-the-volunteer-who-was-teaching-this-craft????! I'm still amazed everything ran as smoothly--and timely!--as it did. My rough schedule was pretty-much followed, and everything was done, and every kid picked up, in quite a timely manner! Um...wow?

After that ordeal, my co-leader and I had been asked by the church to set up tables and chairs for the next event scheduled. No problem! I mean, the church let us use their space for free, it's the least we could do, right? Well, I had no idea the tables and chairs were so HEAVY. And we had to set up an extra 12 of them (with eight heavy chairs at each table). And we had our little girls running around under our feet. And...well, if I'd known, I would have asked more adults to stay--or at least found a husband to help! It took us over an hour.

Calming down after all of that was not easy. My heart was still racing when we left. I took Izzy to get something to eat (STARVING!), and then we went to the pet store. And we looked at puppies and kittens and puppy products (oh! good grief!) and even puppy training classes. And we talked about our new little guy and what kind of toys he might like and how we'll have to keep the house extra-special clean for him, and...I just can't wait for him to get here!