Check out my new ride....

It's time to be in the market for a new van and I think this one should be in my driveway, more likely the garage, by Monday lunch time.

Fred went tonight to talk numbers and put some money down. We'll go back Monday to sign papers, get the tour of our new ride and be home in time for a nap! I get to keep my old van for another month or so until it is time to turn it over to the authorities AKA the bank. It is a lease so we just turn it in, wait for their inspection details and hope we didn't trash it too bad. The big unknown is the charge for the three headrests that we lost as a result of the fire. They did not perish but were lost in the clean-up process. Anxious to hear what Huntington Bank wants us to do about that. We can buy them and get reimbursed by insurance if needed. I'll need to talk to them next week to find out what they want.

So my new ride has everything my last one did with a reverse back-up camera. Cool! and a sunroof! I really need that here in TX. Haven't had one of those since the Ford Explorer in 1999. It'll be a nice plus.

Nic is suffering through the weekend with croup. You would think at 9 he would be past that but this kid also had fifths disease, chicken pox and probably some other ailment this year. For being so healthy he sure gets sick a lot. We are hoping he runs his course by Monday so that we might be able to take in a movie. Will and I went to the mall without him today and he was pretty bummed. Will was with me so we could order new eyeglasses. When I bought his first pair in June I wasn't thinking about school at all. he is struggling with remembering to bring his home and take them back everyday so we decided to get him another pair. In reality he gets two pairs since it was cheaper at Sears to get 2 for $99 than one pair of el-basic ones. We were really easy customers let me tell you. They will call me next week or so when they come in and we'll get them picked up and put into the rotation. All good.

Fred also picked up a new desktop computer for the boys today. We have been negotiating time on my laptop all summer so now we have mine and theirs and Fred's. We are whole once again!

OK, gonna go let my dog out one more time and head to bed. It was a long day but a good one too. There were many thing accomplished today. I should sleep well.

Wrapping up the week

Well the week finished off pretty well. Wednesday I ran a bit then went car shopping on my own. Never done that before. Not that I was going to sign on the dotted line or anything, although I think they wanted me to, but it was kinda nice to be the only "customer" in the equation for the moment. After the hour at the dealership, I cut it short, I was tired of being the only customer.

I ran to Michael's before I went to get the boys. I made it a few minutes later than Mon and Tues so I was a little further back in the pick-up line. It should be getting easier each day, you know people getting into the groove and all, but I think the learning curve for some of these Kindergarten parents is steep. It will all work out and it won't matter once the boys are able to walk to school.

After school we came home, did homework stuff and then ran to Target to buy Will and second pair of glasses. Well, Target has a deal going on right now, not the best deal in the paper, but Will couldn't find frames he liked. He decided that he wanted me to just get him another pair exactly like the first pair. Such a guy for ya. I will need to call Wal-Mart and see how much that second pair will be. I may be able to get them more inexpensively from one of those offers in the paper. We'll see.

So we picked up a couple of cubes to use for organizing the laundry/rear entry point and headed home. The cubes will work in keeping the shoes off the floor, if and only if, people actually put their shoes in the cubes. We are working our way back to being in a routine and having spots to put stuff. Yeah!

Yesterday Nic hit a wall late in the day and I wasn't able to go to the Ladies of St. Francis meeting at church. I was a little bummed, but only a little. I ended up getting some stuff done at home and was able to have great conversations with my BFF, my hubby and my mom all in one night. No wonder I had a smile on my face. I also got to talk to my MIL and sister in the last 24 hours so life is pretty good, even in a state where I know very few people.

So today I had to take care of some business at the bank and the U-Haul place. I got through that more quickly than I thought I would so....

JEN PLEASE DO NOT READ THIS NEXT PARAGRAPH.

I ran into Ikea and picked up two Expedit bookcases and was out the door in less than 10 minutes. It took me another 5 to load them into my car by myself but I was on the road to Target for my eye exam in under 20 minutes for sure!

NOW JEN YOU CAN READ AGAIN!

I had my first eye exam in more than 10 years and found that I do have a slight astigmatism and could benefit from glasses. It was hard to shop for glasses on my own and since there is not a web-cam at Target Optical I had to take the word of the sales lady. I REALLY liked this one pair but of course they were not on sale and would have been almost $300 with the good lenses. I was able to find another frame that is quite livable and walked out the door with $199 less in my Flex Spending Account. Oh and $55 for the eye exam. My glasses should be in next week. I seriously hope they don't put me into a fit of migraines or anything. Maybe they will cure my Migraines!?!?! Just kidding, I know better.

So tonight we ran through Sonic after school then to Game Stop to spend money that was burning huge holes in the boys' wallets. They each picked up a couple of used games and have been playing on and off this afternoon. I put together one of the items from the afore mentioned paragraph and hope to get the other one assembled before Fred gets home TOMORROW! Yeah, we get about 50 hours with him this weekend so I don't want him to take his precious time putting things together that I can do myself. Assembly was way easy, especially with my helpful 9 year old at my side, so I should be able to knock that out before he gets home tomorrow around lunch.

Let me leave you with a couple of pictures of some fun things I bought myself last week. They were totally frivolous but fun and they are pretty too. What do you think?

I am cautiously OPTIMISTIC!

Remember that OPTIMISM is my word of the year. I got reminded of that today and I really should consider getting a tattoo on my arm or something. Nic and Will seemed happy enough after school today. I shared my excitement about finding a much BIGGER binder for Nic to carry his stuff in and the transition to the new one worked well. It is a BIG binder but that is what he needs. We did manage to get a nicely padded shoulder strap off of another carry-on piece of luggage so he should be set for now,



Some may consider my efforts too intrusive, maybe to the point of babying him. I struggle with that myself. He is my first born and will always be my baby but I think I have given him enough cushion to feel like it is safe to keep on trying because if he fails and struggles I will help him but I will not let him just lay on the cushion/me and quit. (Should that have be "lie on the cushion" Dad? Anyone? Grammar was not always my strong suit.)



We had a great few hours after school. I made Lime Bars while the boys were at school so that was a nice treat for Nic, they are one of his favorite desserts. For Will's satisfaction I broke out the Ikea Meatballs and made the accompanying cream sauce to his delight! I had to call my mom to see what kind of cream to buy and I am happy to report that half and half worked out splendidly. THANKS MOM!



I am heading to Ikea tomorrow to do some shopping. I won't mention this to Will, it would be too hard for him. He LOVES that place. I am also going to test-drive a car at the Honda dealership. My van lease is up next month so it is time to get serious. I think I will probably get another van but Fred wants me to consider the Honda Pilot. I think we are not quite ready for an SUV, maybe next time. Anyway, since I am the primary driver I get to do the homework while Fred works hard in Mexico so we have enough money to get said car. THANK YOU HONEY!



OK, I just scared off a migraine with the right combination of pharmaceuticals and caffeine. Now I won't sleep too well but at least I'll be headache free. You take the good with the bad right?



Anyway, I leave you with a peek at OPTIMISM. This is a scene that I drive by on my way to and from school with the boys. (Yes, I got out and took this picture! Don't laugh!) If we lived in the crispy house I would not get to drive by this scene everyday. Yes, they are weeds but I can't drive by and not smile. They are such cheery happy weeds. Ponder that and I will too. G-night!

I may have posted too soon.

So at bedtime last night Nic totally lost it and shared that his first day of school was REALLY bad and he didn't want to go back today. He said that 5th grade is way harder than 4th. When we went in for meet the teacher night last week I noticed that all of the desks were turned around. What I mean by that is that the open sides of the desk were facing into each other so no one can access the inside of their desk. I thought that she just hadn't turned them around yet, well I was wrong. The students are expected to keep EVERYTHING with them throughout the day. The textbooks are kept in the classroom of the teacher so they don't have to carry those but all notebooks, folders, pens, crayons, pencils, glue, eraser, ruler etc stays with them through the day. This is a valient attempt to get them ready for middle school. No bags or backpacks are allowed so it's a zippered binder or a leather strap or some other contraption one could come up with.

YIKES!

We had purchased a 1 1/2" Trapper Keeper for Nic last week but found out really quickly that it is not big enough. Of course this all came up at 9:00PM last night so there was little we could do to remedy the situation. I did run to the 24hr. Wal-Mart to see if I could find a bigger binder but it looked like it had been hit by a bomb in the Back-to-School section and I could find nothing in the form of a solution. Fred did his best engineering to try to streamline his pencil bag and binder; crayons came out of the box, the number of pencils were reduce, extra glue sticks were removed and such. I think it is a great improvement but it is tough for a 9 year old boy to remember the best way to pack a trapper so it can be zipped.

After I took the boys to school today I went straight to Staples and found a 4" zippered 3 ring binder with a carry strap. I never even knew they made such a beast but in my on-line investigations at 12:30 last night I found out that Mead actually makes one that is 5". WOW! I found the binder and also some twistable crayons. These may last longer than traditional paper wrapped crayons because the twistable tube should keep them from breaking. They may be too bulky though, have to check that out.

Well, Nic knew he had no choice about going to school today but he was pretty reluctant all the same. My heart was just breaking last night and I couldn't hold back the tear. Mom's want their children to have happiness, joy and success daily and yesterday did not fulfill those hopes of mine. I am praying for the boy and trying to make coming home good for him. I am making Lime Bars, his favorite, for dessert tonight and I am making Ikea Meatballs for supper so Will should be satisfied too.

Well, I think I am going to take a short nap. The last two nights I have been up WAY late/early working on stuff with Fred and dealing with this school angst. I am beat and this may be my only chance.

Day 1 was so good they are going back tomorrow!

Overall I think it went pretty well. Nic's first observation was the there are some "hot chicks" in his class. I immediately suggested he not call them that and we were on a search of what to call a pretty girl in 5th grade. Will made some friends at his table. One girl looks like his old love Grace L. and the other girl at his table looks like Grace P. The other boy at his table lives 5 houses down from the crispy house so that will be nice when we get moved back.

Nic had a little homework tonight but I had the MOST! All of the registration forms that I filled out earlier in the month had to be filled out again. UGH! I knew it was going to happen but not until I turned the first set in. I should have made copies of those to save myself some time. It took about an hour to fill out two sets of permanent file packets and two applications for the GT (Gifted/Talented) program. Will is not sure that he even wants to try for it but we are trying to encourage the attempt. He may not make it but we hope it is worth the try. Nic should be an automatic based on his Iowa scores and Explore test scores. I will be frustrated if they make him re-test but we'll just have to wait and see.

Fred and I spent too long at the crispy house today. Meeting the site foreman and walking through some changes made to the original quote. After we got done there we went to lunch together at Dicky's. Fred loves this place and the boys don't so we haven't been there since we moved. He used to go there all the time when he was here without us. Well, we had our fill and then moved along. We had planned to go look at cars without the boys but the afternoon flew by. We went to Kohl's and a fairly simple transaction took WAY too long. I don't think they had the brightest chick at the service desk today. I'm just sayin'. After Kohl's we went to Sam's Club and spent a little cash before heading home to drop off the truck and the groceries before having to go get the boys.

I was "in line" by about 20 till 3 and will never get there much later. The line was long, slow moving and necessary. It seemed well run but of course teachers are not familiar with cars and parents just yet so it is a learning curve. I'm sure it will go more quickly in a matter of days.

Fred was so sweet to me while I was waiting in line and mowed the grass. Love that guy! He is all packed and did a bunch of computer work for me tonight so now I have the fun task of labeling receipts so we can get reimbursed differential on a bunch of stuff that we have purchased. It is EXTREMELY tedious and I can only do it for about an hour before the numbers start to blur. Maybe that's just my eyes failing. I have "Get eyes checked" on my to do list but I haven't gotten there just yet. It will come. Now that I don't have to "mow the grass" I should call about that tomorrow. I haven't had my eyes checked since we lived in Lafayette, IN. Gosh that was a while ago huh?

OK, Fred is bonding with the boys over Mario Kart and I need to go make Will's lunch for tomorrow. The cafeteria thing is a tough gig. I think Will made a bad choice, and when I say bad I mean outside of the realm of gov't approved and subsidized lunch choices, today. I can not get to the on-line purchase check to see how he was charged but I am fairly certain that Doritos don't count as a vegetable. There are possibly too many choices and I may need to join him at some point soon to figure it all out for myself. Maybe I'll see what looks good on the menu the rest of the week. Stay tuned for the first hand cafeteria report coming soon. I won't call it an expose' but you never know.

And they're off...

Well today, this morning at least, went pretty well. Will REALLY did not want to get up but once he did he was good to go. Nic was in my room at 1:30 AM with a loose tooth issue so morning came way too early for the two of us. All in all I think they look good, have necessary supplies and just enough excitement and nervousness to have a good day. Let's hope!

Tomorrow is the BIG day~!

We have been waiting for this day all summer. Some of us have been more excited about it than others, Will could pee his pants he's so excited, Nic not so much. Me, I am happy but a bit melancholy at the same time. My boys off in the big world without me. Not that I will be far away but I won't be there like i have been. All new here.

Well Fred is home and we need to do some big time work on receipts that need to go to the insurance people so we can get some differentials from depreciated value to actual money spent. It all adds up people. More tomorrow, hopefully good first day of school pics. None from the classroom though. I have been told I am not really welcome beyond the front door. Don't want to cramp their style you know.

I think I'll go cry now so I won't do it tomorrow.

A GOOD Friday!

Well, we didn't get out the door quite as early as I'd hope but we got everything done on the list so I guess it doesn't matter right? We started out checking to this music school nearby. Nic has been interested in an instrument for a while now and Will is willing at best. We were going to let them pick an instrument but I think we are going to start with piano group lessons and see how that goes. Nothing has been made official just yet, need to look at the numbers. Lessons are significantly more expensive than those I took from Sr. Margaret back in '77. I think I paid $3/week. I considered signing myself up too but I don't want to break the bank. In addition to lessons we would need to rent an instrument and I have no idea what that might be. Homework for me I guess.

After the music place we went to the library and sent some packages and got a book off hold. I wasn't quite ready to read it but I guess I'll put down another book and pick up this one. I still am only 1/2 way through the Shack and I want to finish it! Not enough hours in the day to read.

We ran through A&W/Long John Silvers for lunch then picked up our pottery from last week (I'll post pics this weekend) and stopped at Kohl's for school shoes, a vacuum cleaner and a couple of new t-shirts. We would have bought more but we had to finish up to get to school to meet Will's teacher. She had invited us in to visit before the crazy back to school night. We were thrilled for a few minutes of one-on-one time and she seemed very kind and genuinely interested in my boy. Good stuff. While we were there we ran over to Nic's room and met his teacher too. So we had a good idea about where to go when we came back with our supplies.

We came home for a bit to see DADDYIO! he was here but still working the phone so the boys went to play and I jumped on the computer for a few until I had to take Nic to get a haircut and buy a few last minute additions to the school supply list. When we got back I tried to lay down but no luck in resting so I got up, packed up backpacks and got us ready to head to school.

We saw some friendly faces at school and I even remembered some names. Go me! We dropped off the school supplies, picked up lots of forms, signed up for volunteer opportunities, and had a bag of chips courtesy of the PTA. We got the scoop on PTA and class parties and such then headed out to find FOOD! Fred was famished and I could stand to eat. We tried a couple of sit down places with LONG waits so we ended up at Panera. Now this Panera was a bit unique, at least to me. I will be going back! First off they deliver your food to your table. Second they have Lemonade available right by the soda and you can refill as much as you want! I could go there with my laptop, spend hours and drink myself into a sugar and lemon induced coma. Yeah!

So after dinner we walked across the parking lot to Game Stop for the boys and 1/2 priced books for me. The book store was too cold so I didn't stay long. I headed back to get the boys and told them I'd bring the car around. A few minute later they walked out with HUGE grins on their faces. They had found the Holy Grail. They had purchased Mario Kart for the Wii and an extra Wii wheel. This has been the game at the top of the wish list since before we even had a Wii. It was a good night and I am sure that tomorrow the game will see a bit of action. For tonight we stopped at PetsMart to get a new dog bed and some food and then came home to get ready for bed. The boys are already upstairs so I need to go kiss and tuck. Fred is here till Tuesday AM so I may not get to write much. Our "To Do" list in lengthy.

More items that will never make it back into my house, the crispy one or the vacation home!

Why do I procrastinate so?

This may be because I am like my mother too. Just kidding mom, we get our stuff done, in our own time. So one of the tasks I have been dreading for more than two weeks in inventorying some boxes of rejected items from the recovery people. As we unpacked here at the vacation house we just dropped stuff into boxes and promised to inventory it later. Well, later has come and gone so I decided I would do one box today. (It has been on my "to do" list everyday for the last three weeks) Well, I took care of one box and decided to move on to box two. Well, before I knew it I had done all four boxes. I thought there were 8 boxes but the other boxes in the garage are full of cardboard, tissue paper and bubble wrap and some cushion the we aren't sure if we are keeping. So four boxes and I am done. I took photos of each item as I moved it from one box to the other and have now handwritten out the list. The final part of the task will be putting it into an excel spreadsheet for dear Holly at Liberty Mutual. (She loves me, as far as fire victims go, by the way. I am good under pressure that's why.)

So my question to myself was, Was that task really that hard? Why didn't you do it three weeks ago? Oh well, it is done now and when Fred comes home this weekend he can take it all to the dumpster and we never have to look at it again! There are also a dozen totes and about 5 boxes to go to the storage unit. That I just did my homework on too. We have two small units and want to move to one big one, save us some $ and need fewer keys and stuff. They have a unit available so add that to the "to do" list for the weekend. Sounds fun huh? Don't you want to come and help us? I know deep down you really do but the 12 hours of driving is a bit of a deterrent. I understand.

Well, the rain has stopped for now, I think I'll go check the mail.

I am turning into my mother!

And that is not all bad.

I was doing laundry last week and found a pair of size 7 shorts in Nic's basket. Confused I asked him when he wore said shorts. They were WAY too small for his size 10 butt. He said he couldn't remember. I asked him to come slip the shorts on and he could barely get them past his knees. "Oh yeah, I tried them on and they didn't fit so I put them in the dirty clothes." HUH? Why not give them to your little brother or bring them to me with that information. Why do I have to wash shorts that didn't even touch your butt?

In other mom like moves, I have a secret stash. My mom always had a secret stash. Sometimes we would find the stash and she would move it but she could hide Mounds Bars or stale Peeps there and we could care less. I stumbled across 10 for 10 mini-candy bar packs at Kroger last week and they are in my secret stash. Thankfully my boys aren't tall enough to look on the high shelves so that works for now. I'll have to get more inventive soon I'm sure. I also stuck some Pepridge Farm Pretzel Crisps up there. They are too expensive to not be savored. The boys would think they are just regular pretzels. They are not. They don't taste the same nor do they cost the same as Kroger house-Brand pretzels.

On to other BIG news. There is none. It rained here a bunch today so we have hung out. I did return my Red Box movies and run to Target. The Bucket List was very good. I LOVE Morgan Freeman and am not a big Jack Nicholson fan. In this movie I actually liked him. I wrote earlier this year about the premise of a life list and I started one. I think that at 37 and 1 day old I should revisit that list and also my word for the year. I chose OPTIMISM as my word and I think that it has served me well thus far. I am losing optimism when it comes to getting into my house by Christmas but who knows for sure. Not much work done that I can see. Hoping for progress soon!

37 started off pretty good!

We made it to church but were late enough that we had to sit in the nosebleed seats. Need to work on that. After church we ran to Wal-Mart to pick up some pictures to scrapbook. Next we went to lunch at Steak-n-Shake and then headed home for some quality scrap time! I was able to scrap 8 pages. It felt really good. I was lacking in true creativity but had fun with some new paper and got 8 pages done! Yahoo!

Around 7 I asked the boys if they were ready to go to Cold Stone for Ice Cream? I told them we'd just call that dinner. Their reply, "Who are you and what have you done with our mother?" It was perfect and the ice cream made a really good dinner! When we got home I decided to mow the grass. I had talked to Fred about treating myself and borrowing a neighbor's mower rather than work so hard with our eco-friendly model. Well, I was a glutton today and did it the old fashioned way. It is a good work out. Running sprints up the short hills must look funny to neighbors but hey, who am I trying to impress?

Once that was done I took sometime to talk to gal pals Denise and Kirste. I caught my breath and then took a quick shower. I am not ready to put the boys to bed and curl up and watch a movie. I rented The Bucket List from Red Box today. I hope it is as good as I've heard. Guess I'll let you know tomorrow.

Happy Birthday to ME!

Today is the day! I am the big 37! Is that old? I sure hope not.

The boys are up and moving a bit. I have already received my first birthday call, kind of. Little bro Andy called. He didn't say Happy Birthday but the fact that he called is gift enough.

We are going to go to church this morning then out to lunch. I ordered a bunch of Spring/Summer pics on-line at Wal-mart last night so we are going to pick those up while we are out and about. My BIG plan for the afternoon is to come home and scrapbook. Actually putting pictures to paper with adhesive. It will be fun!

Oh, and I need to mow the grass but I was thinking about asking the neighbor if I can borrow her "real" mower so I can get it done so much more quickly and with so much less effort. I may not get the chance to mow because it is supposed to rain today. It is also supposed to be 82 degrees today. YAHOO! My favorite number and a level of heat that I find bearable. It's gonna be a good day!

It started out so wonderful.

I slept till almost 10 today. That is what happens when you stay up till 2 because you took a nap from 3-5. Gotta make some adjustments, and SOON!

Once I got up and going I putzed a bit and cleaned up here and there without too much focus. I then rewarded myself by diving into a new book. Even though I already have two books in process. I don't usually read more than one book at a time but I am trying to get through library reads in good time to my personal book is getting moved to the back burner. Well the good news is that I read 1/2 a library book today and finished another. Progress for certain. But, at what expense? That would be my blood sugar. I finally pulled myself off the couch to shower and got out really shakey, oh yeah, no lunch and breakfast 5 hours ago. Better go eat a little sumpin. I had a couple of slices of left-over pizza, YUM! I hopped on the computer and was thrilled with a mid-day call from Fred. What a treat. Sadly it was cut short by a call to my cell. It was the Realtor scheduling office setting up a house showing between 4:30 and 6:00 today. Yep, a whole 30 minutes notice. YIKES!!

The boys responded like pros. Threw on clothes, straightened their rooms and grabbed stuff to keep them occupied in the car for a bit. I ran around wiping counters and straightening beds and trying to make it look decent. Pete jumped in the car and we were off. We got back a little before 6 and I think they had been here. Didn't leave a card though so no way to be sure.

I made some Double Chocolate Chip cookies to get me through the next 24 hours. Too bad the boys saw them and ate their fair share after having ice cream for dessert. Hollow legs those boys have.

So tonight Will and I watched Big Fat Liar on the Disney Channel and Nic moped because I wouldn't sign him up for another on-line community. He is already signed up for Neopets and Webkinz and we all fight over computer time so I said no. Sometimes it's tough to be the bad guy. But God made me the parent for a reason. Can I get an AMEN?

OK, Fred's on the phone so I should head to focus and try to get to bed before midnight. Tomorrow's a BIG day!

Trying to redeem our day...

Well, after lunch we headed out to run some errands. The boys have been pretty opposed to going out with me lately, they would just rather be home being bums. So I didn't give them a choice today. They went with me without too much resistance and we got some stuff done. First to the crispy house for the mail, then to post office and finally to The Container Store. I wanted to get another CD drawer and a wrapping paper tote. We also picked up Quarter Containers for the boys, basically a small change holder that you can hook on your belt loop. We had a couple of these from Chuck E Cheese a few years back and sometime we lost one. The boys like to use these when they don't have pockets. Who knew they even produced such an item in bulk to sell at a Container Store? We also picked up a couple of folding crates for the garage and a glass jar to hold buttons. Our last stop was at my favorite gas station to get gas for....... $3.45 a gallon! My light was on so I FILLED UP! then we headed home.

Upon our arrival home I headed straight for my BED! I had a migraine so I think I slept for about 2 hours. Thank God that my kids can take care of themselves when this takes me down. When I finally got up we headed back out and about. I had a crazy thought earlier in the day that the boys and I could go paint pottery this weekend. There is a Color Me Mine store near out big mall so we had run in there earlier today to get some ideas about prices and pieces and such. Well, we picked up an events calender to find that Friday night studio fees for kids are $3 instead of $6. you know me, always looking for a bargain or coupon. We went back tonight and had lots of fun. I'll share the pieces when we get them fired. The boys both did their best and had fun in the process.

Using a coupon that we had received for being new to the area, we stopped and picked up a FREE Hungry Howie's Pizza tonight on our way home. It was as good as I remembered in Michigan, lots of reminiscing this week huh?

Just got off the phone with Fred and he will not be coming home this weekend. He is bummed but we both knew this would be coming soon. It is the 11 hour on this project and he needs to be present for stuff. No fair asking everyone else to work through the weekend if he's not willing to do the same. He is a team player, something I admire about him, he'll stay and do his part and we will survive without him and be proud of our hard working hubby/daddy.

Well, my migraine is finally gone, it lingered a bit past dinner. It seemed to dull while we were painting but got a little nasty when I was driving west and looking into the sun. I think it it GONE now and so I will probably stay up too late since I took a nap today and be a bum tomorrow. No reason not to be a bum though, we have enough milk and cereal to last a week, We have no where to be but here for each other:)

Friday already?!?

The week has just meandered by; nothing too dramatic, nothing too exciting, just a week. Last night was probably the most excitement. our neighbor across the alley invited us over to swim! They have a really nice pool and it was a very pleasant evening to just hang out, sip wine (ME not the boys!) and chat. The boys fell into bed at 10 and I got to talk to my hubby for a bit so that was good. Sadly he is not coming home today and may not be home all weekend. It's crunch time, it has been crunch time all month, but it's getting to the end and he needs to stay and manage the project. Not sure how I might celebrate my b-day, just me and the boys, but we'll have fun I'm sure.

So, that is how boring my life is right now. There are things I could be doing and should be doing but I keep thinking I need some projects for when school's back in session so I am keeping a list of little projects and big projects that I will look forward to completing while I am sitting at home all alone in 10 days! Can't wait!

This is so not my house.

Got a rude reminder today that this is not my house. Besides the fact that it is a mess because our stuff doesn't fit here, and most of the stuff here is not ours, we had a showing today. Thank GOD that it was a Realtor previewing the property for a client. According to the guy that called to give me 30 minutes notice, I didn't need to clean up or even leave. THANK YOU GOD! The house is getting there but it is in stages of good. My bedroom, good, my bathroom good, the dining room/ my office, not so good. There are a million little things out of place and I am not sure what there place is? It's a tough spot to be in and I did my best to make it a little better in the short 30 minutes I had to prepare. Not sure if we made the cut for her to bring her clients back. Time will tell.

I started my Organizing 101 class today. I had to assess some roadblocks to organizing that I am facing currently and look at some suggested detours. It was enlightening and I have far to go. I'll get there, just about the time we need to move back to the other house and start all over again. In actuality I am hoping to come up with plans that transfer and that people can use and remember no matter where we live.

This afternoon the boys and I went to the library. I renewed a few books, got some more books, and went to see the building permit people. I thought that the lack of work on my home was due to some sort of permit issue. WRONG! There is no permit reason why they are not working. They need to use the demolition permit now and when they are ready to start the rebuild the inspector has to check the demo and then will permit the reconstruction. Boy I wish there were some work going on up there. It looks so sad and smells so bad. I want to see progress on my HOME!

When we got home Nic took some time to mow the back yard. He was going to do the whole yard for me last week but the slight hills in the front yard add a bit of challenge to the task and I think he is a bit short to get the right angle on the old style mower. He tips up then cuts nothing. The back yard is quirky in terms of angles but is VERY flat so I thought I'd let him handle that task. The weather was very mild with a breeze even so he got to work. Did he do it like I would have? NO Did he do it perfectly? NO Did he do his best? YES, until he scared a grasshopper then he was distracted by this guy and was more interested in researching the pest than mowing. I finished the threshold between the yard and the driveway and put the mower away for him. He did well enough to earn the $2.50 I promised.

I just had a lovely conversation with my pal Vicki from IA. We talked for 90 minutes about back to school stuff, trying to catch up on all the scuttlebutt from WM. I miss it... just a little. I should send a greeting to school for all of the students that I will miss. They start back next week. I wish them all luck. Considering the classroom situation they are going to need it. I'm praying folks, really really praying!

Best news of the day! I drove by the QT Gas station, my favorite in the new town, and they had regular unleaded gas for $3.51! I know that my brother says to not think too much about the price of gas, it's all relative, but I was pretty excited and I hope you are too.

Moments of a mildly manic mommy!

So the fun started Friday night. I was headed up to the crispy house to get mail and take more boxes of wrinkled books. As I was loading the boxes in my car I notice something move out of the corner of my eye. A mouse! EEK! I can handle a good spider but a MOUSE! I tried to remain calm as he decided to hide under a large clear trash bag. I saw his shadow and thought about just trying to scare him back outside. My fear, maybe he wouldn't be scared of me... It could happen. So I did the first thing that came to mind... i dropped a box of books on him. Then I loaded the other few boxes in my van, after checking for any chew marks or openings that this mouse or his pals might have made in the other boxes, and headed north. I left the mouse and the heavy box of books for Fred to deal with. That's what I married him for right? At least I did the hard work, tossing a box of books at a target ain't easy people!

Fred got home later on Friday than I thought so no real meal for anyone. I did feed my kids and I think I had cereal. Fancy I know. When Fred arrived I immediately threw all of his clothes in the laundry and got them going. The boys stayed up a bit later than they needed to but daddy was home so it was accepted. Saturday was going to be a BIG day, celebrating Will's 8th Birthday. We all needed our beauty sleep. Fred and I stayed up way too late on Friday so Saturday came too soon but was unavoidable all the same.

Saturday started with gifts for Will. He received a Wii game, a Wii Zapper (yes, that is the official, technical name printed on the box.) He also got the 39th book in the Magic Tree House series and a Star Wars Clone Wars Sticker Book. We had a BIG day planned so we ate Eggo Waffles, Will's request, and tried to get to gettin. Our first stop was the mall. We headed to the Build-A-Bear workshop and each boy made a new friend. Nic chose the WWF (that's World Wildlife Federation, not World Wrestling Federation) Cheetah and Will chose a Black Puppy. They had fun stuffing, cleaning and dressing the pets. The challenge came in names for both. I think Will ended up with Will Jr. since he shares Will's birth date and Nic named his Wicked. Don't ask, I have no clue.

After BAB we stopped at the food court and ate a small lunch. Then we headed to the AMC 24 to see Wall-E. It was a very good movies, lots of underlying themes and messages, and the boys both enjoyed it. I was thrilled to be back at the old AMC. Hadn't used my reward card since we left MI. It was like going back to Glendale or something. It felt right.

After the movie we did more to stimulate the economy by going to Dave and Busters. The boys had a blast playing game after game and earning the great tickets to be used for CRAP! No better word to describe everything available to win at CEC, D&B, Gatti Town etc. We went upstairs at some point to eat dinner and then I disappeared into the mall on my own and the boys went back to the basement to play games. I hit Sephora for the first time in my life and got a free birthday treat. I also went to Franklin Covey and exchanged my purchases from Thursday and got much better items that I had researched on-line. My Thursday purchases were not educated, just whims, so after looking on-line I found items that will serve me better and replace the items I lost in the fire. I had some fun filling in dates in my new calendar last night. Silly things that bring me joy!

We all met up and ran to Kohl's to look for luggage. Fred's every week to Mexico bag has a split wheel and we were hoping to replace it but didn't find exactly what Fred wanted. We had $20 in Kohl's cash so we bought Will a watch and me some socks. The excitement was deafening!

Today Fred was up and out by 8:30 AM for his 11:00 flight back to Mexico. The boys and I had a slower morning and headed out to 11:30 mass then ran some errands. I am taking an on-line course in organizing and needed/wanted some supplies. I bought myself a cute binder, some tabs and sheet protectors. We also got clip lamps for the boys, a desk lamp for me and a NEW WHITE BOARD. My white board was command central last year when it came to our comings and goings. I will not hang it here, not wanting to put wholes in the wall, but will find a place to keep track of each other somewhere.

After errands we came home, iced the cake I baked this morning, and got ready for phase two of the great birthday weekend. We picked pal Drew up and headed straight to Gatti Town for food and fun! The boys had$20 worth of fun apiece and ate a little food. Will's favorite delicacy there is corn and Nic likes the plain noodles. The pizza was a little better this time around, fresher than when we went on a Tuesday afternoon, so I was a bit more satisfied. Still , not my thing but that's what Will wanted to that's what he got.

We returned home to play on the Wii and have cake. We bought a new air matress for sleepovers so I think we are set for the night. I will probably not sleep well, concerned that someone, either mine or not, will not sleep well. Will has been in my bed a few times in the last week. The air mattress will be slip under my bed tomorrow to accommodate him if he should feel compelled to join me this week. He is a kicker and makes it REALLY hard to sleep so I think the floor is a great place for him. Unfortunately, the floor in this house is hardwood so the air mattress seemed the reasonable thing to do. I hope it fits under my bed.

OK, sorry to ramble on so, just trying to keep people in the loop. The good, the bad and the ugly deserve to be shared!

End of the week already?

Wow, once we got over the bump on Wednesday it all went zippin by pretty fast. Wednesday we received 2 more bookcases that aided in my emptying about a dozen more cardboard boxes. The delivery was a fiasco but they are here now and that is what REALLY matters.

After the bookcases were delivered I left the boys with the girl from across the alley and headed out to get some b-day presents for the Will-man. Fred had a great idea for an item that was a bit more than my budget and strangely enough, totally out of stock at Toys R Us. I suggested we keep an eye out for said item times 2 for Christmas. These boys aren't getting any easier to buy for.

I picked up a little of this and a little of that and I should be wrapping those items but I want Fred to see them when he gets home later and then I'll wrap. I reminded the boys of the great tradition started by my own mom that b-day presents are at the end of your bed when you awaken. What a great way to start your day. Saturday is going to be a full fun day with daddy flying in just for the big event. He actually gets home tonight and has to go back to Mexico early Sunday morning. We are celebrating with pal Drew on Sunday. A trip to Gattitown, against my other suggestions, and then a sleepover! Yikes! Are we really ready for that? No way to know unless we try.

Yesterday was a bit of a crazy on a whim and a prayer kind of day. We headed to the mall of all places to pick-up the free books the boys earned by taking part in the summer reading program. We also went to California Pizza Kitchen for lunch. The boys had received a bookmark for a free kids meal so I thought it would be a cheap date. I ordered a BBQ chicken pizza the likes of which I have not enjoyed for over two years. The last trip to CPK I made was in MI with gal pal Jules. Those were the days... anyway, they made the pizza wrong, using tomato instead of BBQ sauce as the base. I was starving though and it didn't taste bad so I jumped right in. When the waiter finally returned I questioned the ingredient choice and he assured me that they had made it wrong and would make me another one. I told him that was not necessary, we didn't need another whole pizza. He suggested we could take it home for later, not a bad idea so I accepted. Well, ten minutes later he returns with the new pizza made with BBQ sauce and much to my chagrin, red onions! I HATE onions. Nothing personal, just never really made the connection with them. I left the pizza with the server and hoped that my day would get better.

After lunch we ran into the Disney store looking to replace a stuffed animal or two and a talking Woody doll. No luck there. Next we headed downstairs to hit the Franklin Covey Store up for a new planner and carry bag for me. The very nice set that Fred bought for me 12 years ago got pretty wet and stinky so I needed to start over. I was successful then it was time to move along to a boy store, lucky for us Game Stop was nearby. Will bought himself a Piplup Pokemon Stylus and we headed out the door after intense browsing. I kept having to remind Will that his B-day was in two days. No need to waste his $ on a game, he had no idea what he might get on the Big day... He obliged. While at the mall we picked up a couple of Webkinz to replace some missing stuffed animals and are actually planning another trip to the mall tomorrow. The boys both wanted to make a Build A Bear and I thought it was a great idea but really wished that I had my camera to record the joy. I promised that we could come back with Daddy, make a bear or dog or whatever, see a movie and eat dinner somewhere. I will take my camera and all will be good.

Today I have been doing laundry, washing dishes by hand because my dishwasher is making glasses smell fishy, and generally straightening. I am going to pull some chicken out for dinner and plan a real meal when Fred gets home. I need to check his flights and see how timely he might be tonight.

OK, off to get busy during the NO ELECTRONIC HOUR I have instituted. The boys are building with Legos and I can non-electronically pay bills and sort the piles on mine and Fred's desk. Oh the joy!

I babbled to others today!

You are off the hook! I babbled with my two bestest friends from MI today, Kirste and Julie. What a total treat! I so often want to call them but I know they are busy ladies and both have little ones to put to bed and it's an hour later there and stuff. Today the stars aligned and we got to connect so that was SUPER!

Now I just need to talk to my IA peeps before school starts back for them next week. I know that if I don't talk to them this week it may be months, right girls?

The boys were kicked off the Wii today. They both had a rough day yesterday, some whininess, some poor choices and some crankiness. So instead of sitting around the house we headed out to accomplish some of those "action items." I am pretty thrilled to announce that I think we got about 98% of the list. The little bit I didn't do was a phone call to the electric company to ask about our bill. When I was chatting with my aunt today I realized that we had not even been in this house a month yet so it wasn't that big a deal that we hadn't received a bill. I just need to chillax about it and wait. They know where to find me right?

So we headed to the bank and deposited, cashed coins in for bills, turned in new TX account paperwork, and took out a bunch of $ to pay cash for Fred's license plates. They won't take a check the first time. I feel strange walking in with cash, like it is some under the counter transaction, but it is the only thing that works so I'll play the game. Before I got the plates we headed to school to get the boys officially registered. There were copies flying and paper clips all around and I think they are set. We don't know teacher assignments yet but should before the first day. I want to give the new teachers a little heads up about the boys' summer so they don't think that my kids are weaving a tall tale. It's all true and it really happened to US!

Once we were done at school we headed to the library. The great thing about the library beside the fact that it is a really great library, is that it is inside Frisco City Hall. I was able to set the boys up on the kid floor selecting books and playing on Webkinz and I went and sent some things at the USPS vendor, got plates for Fred's truck and could have checked on my building permit but chose to leave that to the pros. It was a very productive 30 minutes. When I went back to find the boys Will had about 30 mins left of his 60 mins so I decided to go pick out a book and READ at the library. Crazy I know. I picked up a memoir type book by Amy Grant and got through about 1/3 of it before we headed on to our next task. The boys made some selections, I picked up some real live CD's and then we went to Michael's. One of the scrap items that I lost was the bag that I use to carry and store my Cricut. I had a 40% coupon so I thought I'd save my insurance Co. some money and bought it for $60 instead of $100. I picked up a couple of other things that I got 20% off of and headed to the last stop on the list.

Kroger is such a great place to shop. I really didn't realize how much I missed it until I got it back. They have decent sales, nearly every product we need, and they have their own line of ice cream novelties that are really tasty and economical. I bought some stuff on the list, some stuff not on the list and some Kroger brand Toffee Bars and Ice Cream Sandwiches. Fred will be pleased when he gets home Friday. I also picked up cake mix for the Willster's b-day this weekend and frozen dinners for tonight. It is too hot to cook and we already had PB & J two nights in a row so I thought I'd mix it up.

OK, so dinner is wrapped up. I emptied 6 more boxes tonight, even though most of it just got moved into plastic totes. It is now ready to put put into cold storage. I don't need or have use for many of my big Longaberger baskets so they can go away for a bit. I need to head upstairs about 10 times and put some stuff into the 4th bedroom/storage locker. I have a motivator... The boys are getting their first official TX babysitter tomorrow. Will's b-day is Saturday and unless I hire a sitter he will have no presents. I think the sitter is in order and I can go do some damage for the betterment of the Will-man. Stay tuned. Maybe I'll share my haul since he doesn't read the blog, or maybe I won't so I have something to share on Saturday!?

Be prepared, I'm babbling...

Today was a good day. I got up and going a little later than i hoped but no harm no foul. I jumped in the shower and then jumped in Fred's truck. I had been promising to get his state inspection taken care of for weeks. Today I was driven to really do it. I also got him an oil change and a car wash complete with RAINBOW FOAM! Yeah me!

After that I ran home and he had already left in my van to move his office at work and make another Target run. We were just there last night but of course we forgot stuff and they were out of some stuff on the kids' school list. My hero found the 12X18 construction paper at Staples and was able to come up with travel tooth paste, insoles, and paper clips at Target! The small stuff gets me every time.

This afternoon was a flurry once he got home from his haircut and getting gas for the weed whacker. The boys and I took care of the "mowing" this week but I can't start that whacker to save my life, not to mention it had no two cycle gas. All better now, Fred filled it, started it, and took care of the tall spots. He could have whacked the whole lawn but it was TOO HOT! I heard it got to 104 today. I broke a sweat just thinking about it.

OK, so the yard work was done, Fred reshowered and I started pushing papers at him and asking for stuff. I plan to register the kids this week and I needed shot records, birth certificate, SS cards, and there is probably something that I need that I don't have. Oh yeah, their last report cards. Between the move and the fire I got nothin. They'll have to get that from West Marshall. I'm counting on it not being a problem.

I am also opening local bank accounts and need to register his truck and get plates so I needed signatures, documents and blessings. My guy provided them all and I now have a VERY full "Action Items" folder. Stole that fancy talk from my hard working husband. Can you tell I think he rocks? Love that guy!

In between all the fun today I found the top of my desk a bit. I have big piles of receipts that need to go into our excel spreadsheet and I inventoried 10 boxes of books late yesterday afternoon. We are pitching about 8 boxes. YIKES! That's a bunch of warped books. Sadly we were getting to a point that the books that we had were books that were special and I wanted to keep FOREVER. They were the books that I hoped to share with my grand kids, or at least nieces and nephews. The list is REALLY long but I really hope to replace the bulk of them. Amazon and Scholastic.com had better be ready. The good news is that the most special books to the boys were somehow unharmed in their rooms and the scrapbooks were in the Living Room so we are way blessed in that regard.

Fred was able to play with the hard drive that was dropped of form BMS this past week. He even retrieved my links and favorites. I have been cruising blog postings that I haven't checked since June 25th or so. I need to purge a few blogs that don't, move, inspire or make me laugh. I am nosey by nature so I read some just to keep up. In reality I don't know these people and should really spend my time on better things. Not to say that I am deleting my blog role. No way! There are way too many nuggets of wisdom and inspiration out there for that.

As a matter of fact, I read on one blog about the passing of Randy Pausch. I had seen his Final Lecture on You Tube and had read his book. He was a really cool guy who just seemed to have it all and a great knack for story telling. I am hoping that Fred will read his book, once I find it, it did survive the blaze. Anywho, I knew that he had died but took a moment to be re-inspired by him and watched a 10 minute segment he did for Oprah, a condensed soup version of his lecture. I was reminded of so much and am again inspired. "The dreams will come to you." he said and he also encouraged people to decide if you are a TIGGER or an EYORE. I am so a Tigger and as much as I love Eyore, I don't want to be him. Ever.

So, I tucked in my itching kids. Seems they each have a touch of a rash. Fred thinks it's heat rash but I think it is a reaction to laundry soap that my mom used to wash their clothes on our recent trip to IN. No matter, Nic took some Benedryl and we'll get him straightened out before long. In case you are still reading mom, we found Will's medicine today. It was in the Chilen Zeum bag that I had never looked in. We also found Will's missing book and markers and some other fun stuff. Christmas every day I tell you.

So the plan for the week. Get through my Action Items Folder by Wednesday. Update receipts for the last two weeks on the spreadsheet for Liberty Mutual, buy Will a couple of Birthday presents as soon as I figure out what he wants. I know he wants a Star Wars Storm Trooper Voice Changing Mask and a laser gun from the same display. Not sure if i have the heart to buy that. I'll have to think about that.

IMPORTANT! There is a reward available to anyone who might find the Wii version of Mario Kart with Wii wheel included. We have been looking at every opportunity since we got the Wii on July 4th and have come up totally empty. That would be the ULTIMATE b-day present for the kid who has everything. And his dad and brother would like it too!

Back to my week's goals. Finish The Shack and start one of my library books. This is the second time I have checked them out and I REALLY do want to read them! I also hope to take the boys to the cheap movies to see Prince Caspian and I should also make Dr and Dentist appointments for the lot of us. Never a dull moment I tell you!

OK, I need to get to bed. I just made a batch of pumpkin muffins, my first batch in TX, and I kinda burned them just a bit. Not that I won't eat them all the same. They are such a comfort food. Guess I was compelled to make them as I continue to settle into our vacation home. It's coming along a little each day. Getting through that pile of book boxes was HUGE! So glad that is behind me. OK, goodnight!

Gratitudes:
1. FRED FRED FRED
2. Nic and Will being fairly helpful this weekend when asked to help. They actually earned allowance 2 weeks in a row.
3. Pumpkin muffins. Easy, tasty and remind me of my Iowa gal pals.
4. Air Conditioning! AMEN AMEN AMEN
5. Technology and marrying someone who can teach me how to use it or just fix it when I screw it up!

Dizzy yet?!?!?! I am!

TGIF

So glad that today is Friday. Most of my weekdays are pretty undifferentiated but Friday is a good day because it means Daddy's coming home. YEAH! He just texted me to say he was on the ground and needed to get through customs and then he'd be headed this way!

Bad news for him is that while he was away and I was supposed to be continuing on our quest for a cleaner less box ridden house I got more boxes and we are now looking box filled again. These boxes are mostly filled with large Longaberger Baskets so if I just put them into service here and there then they will be out of the boxes. Am I brilliant or what?

Fred has a full weekend of studying and cross-referencing inventories, checking out the external hard drive to see what BMS was able to pull from our wet computer and various and sundry other topics and items related to the house. I hope that he'll be able to sleep late on Sunday. I know that tomorrow he is meeting the builder back up at the house at 8:30 AM so Sunday is his only hope. I am hopeful for him. The guy deserves a late morning.

I had a very productive morning with Gunns Restoration and Liberty Mutual as we sorted through more "soft goods." We have a healthy non-restorables list and all the stuff that we have been holding onto can now be pitched. Gotta love having your own personal dumpster in your driveway. Actually I feel badly because it looks so bad but what's a girl to do?

After the meeting today I was able to sort socks across family members and put away a few more clothing items. There are just a few missing items that may have gone to the black abyss but we will keep looking just in case and if they are not recovered then we'll just need to get paid for them.

Alright, time to clear a path to the couch for the king of the household so he can veg eventually. I'm guessing he'll be office sorting and computering most of the night but I can hope that he'll take a break. He has a REALLY horrific and long week in Mexico and the guy needs to come home and be taken care of. Let's hope the boys will contribute a bit and show their dad some love!