Visuals of my week thus far

A week in my life day #2

It has been an insightful task, looking at my own life day to day. I am only on day two of this challenge and so far so good. I heard a song on the radio today that made my smile and since I couldn't take a picture of that I decided to take a picture of the artist's name and title that you can see on my XM stations. I will try to post a couple of pictures tonight. I though we had a meeting after school then were coming home for a quiet evening but while I was at Target a few minutes ago they called for a showing between 3:30 and 5:30. UGH! So now instead of spending my afternoon reading and maybe even scrapping I am going to do a quick clean and spruce up. It's all I can do.

Check back for more later!

Party was a success! Life moves on and on and on.

The boys had a blast with their friends last night and I think a couple of them actually paid attention to the show. We had 11 boys in the house and I have to say that I had no idea what I had gotten myself in to. All in all a good time was had by all and I think that a few of the boys will be welcomed back for a play date now and then, but just one at a time.

Today is done but I have no idea what I accomplished beyond three loads of laundry and some ironing. I am prepping for a mediocre week in terms of responsibilities and I am taking on a bit of a challenge.

I visit this blog by Ali Edwards, a scrapper, I think she refers to herself as a Life Artist to be specific. Well, she had taught a class a few years back called "A week in the life..." Yep, just what the title infers, you document your day to day existence for one week, seven days, approx 168 hours. I am going to take lots of pictures and notes and try to put together a little album about my 7 days within my 37th year. The best thing is that this is my project and I can make it as hard or easy as I want. She has a list of suggestions and others who have taken part in the exercise have some ideas to share as well. I plan to carry my camera everywhere I go and take pictures as much as I feel comfortable. I don't want to freak anyone out but I do want evidence of my week.

Stay tuned I guess... Hope you have a good one!

Gratitudes, there are soooo many...

1. My wonderful husband

2. Nicholas my alpha child, who is bright beyond his years but is so real in his search for friendship and acceptance.

3. William my Omega child, who is so sweet and flippin hilarious that I think he could do improv and be really good.

4. My friends far and near, new and old and everyone in between. I have good friends.

5. My faith, God is good to me everyday. I am a believer from sun-up to sun-down. I am blessed.

Today is the day!

Well, tonight is the night! Brownies in the oven, floors swept, bathrooms wiped down, bedrooms straightened, goody bags filled, light saber batteries installed, couch cushions fluffed! Let the munchkins invade and the Star Wars the Clone Wars Cartoon Network preview commence. Only 4 hours until show time. Better go make some chocolate covered pretzels! Check back for pics tomorrow.

No news

I got nothin. Life is ordinary and boring and I am OK with that. We have some excitement coming up this weekend with the Star Wars Cartoon Network Party but not too much else.

I made this card the day before the fire. I still believe the sentiment to be true. Life is Good!

Election 2008!

Check here for the latest political news....

These are the latest contenders in the Ashley Elementary race for the Student Council. My boys, who don't win them all have decided to throw their hats in the ring for their class student council elections. They were aloud to make 1 81/2 X 11" campaign sign and may not offer any additional incentives or freebies to classmates. We started on these signs last week and finished them up tonight. They will have in the classrooms for 1 week with elections taking place on Thursday or Friday of this week. Losing could hurt but hopefully they will have fun trying. Go Baker Boys!

Instructions

Please take moment and enjoy the You Tube video in the post under this one. Just go to the play list down on the right first and hit pause so the music goes off then hit the arrow on the video. Perhaps my guiltiest (that's not a word is it?) indulgence is taking time to watch Ellen, Oprah and the girls on the View. I may get to them a few days after they have aired but thanks to my ever-so-useful DVR I get to indulge and take a little time to enjoy The View. Best part... I get to skip the senseless commercials!

Check back this weekend for breaking coverage of the fall elections. Politics starting at home, even the vacation home.

I laughed till I cried. Get past the talking and it gets REALLY funny!

Do you have to take your purse puppy EVERYWHERE?

So we were at Sam's a couple of weeks ago and this woman tried to walk in the exit door with her little purse puppy on a little leash. The greeter, or more appropriately send off person, did their best to stop her before she got in but she was putting up a fight. They make food in that place - NO PETS ALOUD! She said it was too hot to leave her baby in the car. In my head I am thinking, "Take the dog to one of the millions of doggy daycares in the area and come back to shop lady!"

Monday I ran errands that included a stop at Michael's. In case you live under a rock, Michael's is an arts and crafts store. They do not sell dog treats, cat posts or pooper scoopers. So this lady and her "home schooled" kids walk in with their puppy in tow and skate their way through the store on their Heelies practically dragging the puppy down every aisle.

Monday night the kids started Religious Education. I dropped them off at their classrooms, went to the "required" parent meeting then waited in the hall with all of the other parents to get the boys once they were released. Near the dismissal time in walks this obviously important lady in her suit and heels with a puppy in her arms? HUH? Dogs in church? Dogs in the education wing?

I am getting stiff in my old age or is this just not right? It was plenty cool enough to leave the puppy in the car while that woman grabbed her kids. Or better yet.... leave the dog at home in a, dare I write the word... CRATE? The woman at Michael's had three kids of her own and she needed to bring the dog too? Next thing you know someone will walk in with their cat and there will be pandemonium in the scrapbooking aisle and the store would have to evacuate.

Any thoughts?

We just got wet...

We battened down the hatches just in case but no need. We have had rain and dampness all day and yes, some wind, but nothing like we thought. The good news is that the mild conditions probably mean that the tar paper is still on our roof at the crispy house. God willing they will put shingles on Monday or Tuesday of this week. Once the shingles are on then the MAJOR work inside the house can start. That's the good stuff.

We have been home all day except for Fred who went up to the crispy house and out to get a haircut. The boys haven't even gotten dressed today. They were too busy have a BLAST with their new Nerf Guns and Lego sets. In anticipation of the weather and just a long weekend with nothing on the calender we went to Target yesterday with a mission. I bought $40 worth of groceries and $500 worth of toys and DVD's. Discover Card even called to make sure I really did spend that money. I owned up to it and went on with my day.

Most of what we bought was replacement stuff. The boys have been suffering without their Nerf guns and I am now of the opinion that Nerf guns are for outside and basements. This house is too open and noisy to support that kind of fun. We put it up with it for the better part of the day though because, at least they weren't playing video games! You take the bad with the good at my house.

Tomorrow my hope is that we make it to Church, get a plan together for the week ahead and spend a little more time with daddy-o. I have a grocery list written up and it would be nice to have that done but if I have to do it on Monday that would be OK too. I made dinner tonight, a real sit-down meal that did not include cereal and milk. Well, it almost included cereal. I have a big container of Hidden Valley Ranch dressing mix that I bought at Sam's last week. On the container is a tasty roasted potato recipe so I thought I'd see if they had anything that included Chicken. Well, there was a recipe but it called for Corn Flakes Cereal or plain bread crumbs. I had neither on hand but did consider for a moment how long it would take to make bread crumbs. I opted to go for a substitution. I mashed up some plain corn chips, added the ranch dressing mix and hoped for the best. Well, the outcome was not terrible. I did not receive rave reviews, I never really do, so that was no surprise. Each boy ate their allotted piece so it was certainly edible. I am now convinced that it is time to take another serious trip to the grocery to stock-pile some stuff, spices and other staples that I have passed over in the recent weeks.

OK, enough babble. I am going to take advantage of Fred being out of the living room to go watch a program that I DVR'd last week. Not sure what I have to choose from but it will be good I'm sure! Happy Saturday and keep southern Texas in your prayers. Rebuilding and recovery is hard.

Only a bit more action.

Life just seems to be sailing along. Yesterday started out very well, boys to school without incident, got home to make phone calls then out to run run run. I even got to chat with pal Julie while I was running. Since I was out around lunch I thought I'd treat myself. I felt like Chick-fil-A and there happened to be one close by. The only bad part was that it was 12:30 and the place was REALLY busy. I decided to run in rather than drive through. Well, do you remember how I mentioned how fond I am of Chick-fil-A's lemonade? Did you know that they have a diet version? I didn't know this, I usually drive through and didn't get to see the big diet dispenser right next to the full strength version. I am not a fan of diet anything but I thought I'd give it a shot. The nice cashier gave me a sample and I was hooked, "Give me a LARGE please!" It was awfully good going down with my classic chicken sandwich. Yummo! (Now before you think I take pictures of just about EVERYTHING...I got this and probably 90% of my other pictures off of Flickr. Notice the lack of rain in this photo and the fact that there are no cars in this parking lot. My experience was just not the same. Just sayin'.)

Well, the afternoon started to go down hill as the skies opened and the rain came down right at 2 so I knew I would need to leave soon to get in line to get the boys. I was right to get there early and we got through pick-up with no issues. Now, this whole time that I was waiting for the boys I was trying to read and putz in the car but I had a bit of a headache. I took down my hair thinking it was a ponytail headache, hairhurt you know?, and tried a little personal neck and head massage. It helped but not enough. In a matter of an hour after returning home I was on the couch in terrible pain. I struggled through homework and scrapped together something for dinner and then put on my PJ's and headed to my room. Thank God that my kids are old enough to manage themselves in a situation like this. As I rested I seriously considered who could take me to the hospital and who could watch my kids. It was BAD! It was a different kind of Migraine than I am used to. Usually I am not really light sensitive and this time my tolerance for light was really low. I also had this strange sensation of fatigued arms that I felt like I had just finished a major upper body workout and that I could not lift my arms. It was strange and honestly, a little scary. I had take 2 of my Imitrex then stumbled out to the living room to ask Nic to help me get two more. 6 pills later I was ready to call a friend for back-up. The boys more or less put themselves to bed and Nic even played tooth fairy to himself. How sad is that? It took another hour but finally the haze cleared and I could function again.

As quickly as it had come on it went away. I had a ton of energy and went to bed after 11 a little wired. Before I went to bed I did a little surfing about migraine triggers. I know what I thought were mine, over-processed lunch meat, weather and stress seem to be my big ones. Now as I mentioned before I don't usually "do" diet. Well, it seems that sugar substitutes can be a migraine trigger. Who knew? I don't dare go to Chick-Fil-A tomorrow to test the possibility, if it is a trigger for me I'd be in for an evening of pain. Strange though that it was so fast and so different from my "usual" migraine. Makes me wonder...

I woke slowly this morning and had slept like crud. I took it very slow this morning and didn't find my stride until after noon. Thankfully I had no errands to run or REALLY important tasks to complete. I did manage to start laundry and make a plan for dinner. I even cleaned a couple of toilets and made my kids' bed. Then the sky opened again and I was right in the middle of filing so I couldn't get out in time to be at the head of the pick-up line. The rain was coming down pretty hard by the time I got two boys in the car. We floated home and had a productive afternoon. I baked cookies while they worked away on their homework. It is getting more time consuming but they are both handling it well. Let's hope in continues.

Everyone enjoyed the gourmet meal of HH Lasagna for dinner and delicious cookies for dessert. The boys are showered and playing a bit of PS2. I know we usually do not game on school days but with a later bed-time and positive attitudes about homework they have earned an hour or so. It's all good. I got to pay bills and balance our money software so we all had some good electronic fun for the night. (Do you get the sarcasm there? Just checkin!)

Tomorrow is the beginning of a new adventure for me. I have joined the MOMS group at my church and our first meeting is tomorrow morning. It is a directed spiritual/bible study from what I can tell. It is 10 weeks and there is a text that we will receive tomorrow. There is a small social component as well. I am anxious about this new model and of course meeting new people. I am feeling like not such a great Catholic lately so I am hoping this will offer me a boost and a bit of inspiration. The boys start religious ed. next week so we should all be feeling a bit more involved in no time.

Well, I need to go devote a few minutes to kitchen put-away and maybe let a boy or two read to me. Nic read WAY too fast for my slow ears. Will doesn't like to read out loud, I think he prefers to skim on his own. We need to work on that. Until tomorrow or maybe Friday... See ya!

Are you sitting down?

I suggest you consider taking a seat, the update for today is way exciting. NOT!

I took the boys to school then headed to church to start my week off with 8:30 AM mass. That went just like it should have and after dropping off a check in the office I headed home. I decided that the task that I would tackle today would be checking our DVD collection for damaged DVD's. I did a visual inspection of the disks themselves then randomly chose to watch a few here and there if the disks looked iffy. Well, I have no idea how many discs I checked. I could count, but I only came up with 2 that are damaged and 6 that are missing. The missing ones may have been in such bad shape that they were tossed by the restoration people or lost in the process. No matter, I will add them to the list and we'll pick out a replacement or two or 8.

I need to go through the same process with the VHS tapes but we don't have a VCR that functions so I may only get to the do the visual inspection on those. The packaging was soaked so I am not sure how the tapes fared. They looked OK, the few I checked out yesterday, but who knows. I guess I should borrow a VCR and try them out.

After the first couple of rounds of DVD's I needed to get out and about. I fed myself leftover pizza for lunch then went to Sam's Club. Did you notice that smart move I made, eating then shopping? I still spent $150 but it was all stuff we needed or will need and I am sure I got out with far less than if I had taken the boys. After the shopping I came home and straightened my pantry that was a real mess. Now it is in pretty good shape and I need to label the shelves so people know what goes where. Not that they ever put things away, they tend to get stuff out and I replace it. GO figure. Maybe if I put in some labels they will feel empowered... maybe not.

I finished up the pantry and headed up to the crispy house to check mail and get the boys. No mail before school so we drove by again after school and found a nice big pile waiting. A check from the insurance company and only two bills.

We headed home, some of us in tears from a rough Monday at school, and had snacks and took some deep breaths before we dug into homework and the pile-o-mail. My personal treat was getting the SWAP album from my scrapbook group in Iowa. We had swaps throughout the year where we did multiple pages and swapped among members. We always made an extra for an album that would be raffled off in the end. I lost most of my swap pages in the fire so in another twist of fate and perhaps by the hand of God I WON THE ALBUM! Lori sent it to and I can not wait to throw pictures on the pages and call it done! What a great treat in so many ways.

OK, I finished another BIG pile of DVD's and it is now time to make dinner. I think we'll either have pizza leftovers or meatballs. I need to clean out the fridge a bit before trash day tomorrow. Oh the exciting life that I lead. Are you jealous?

Saturday already?

Yesterday was a bit of a blur. Nic had a friend over after school and Will went to a friend's house. I went to get the dog cleaned up for a VERY reasonable price at PetsMart and then went to a fun Pampered Chef party smack in the middle of the day. After the party I went to look at some of our repaired furniture then ran to get the dog and get the boys. I made it with time to spare, even it was only 5 minutes.

The good news for Friday was the Nic got accepted into the Quest program at school. This is the Frisco gifted and talented program. He was pretty excited. Will has opted to not pursue the program this year, just too much pressure for now, and may reconsider in the spring. Fine by me, he'll do it if and when he is ready. He is not the most confident student and may just need some encouragement to show off those brainiac genes! We'll get there, or not.

Today we got kicked out for a showing of the house right in the middle of the day. What a pain! Fred was going to mow but we had to leave so now I will probably have to mow tomorrow. UGH! Nic is at a friend's spending the night tonight. He had a tough evening, got injured and homesick in one fail swoop. I ran up to see him, give him some encouragement then left him to the party. He and his buddy will have a blast, they'll probably be hard to wake up in the morning for church but that's all part of the fun right! Will is reasonably bummed that he is stuck here at home with us but I did make his favorite dinner of walking tacos so that hopefully helped a bit.

Not really anything else too cool going on. Fred got home before bedtime last night and leaves again tomorrow in the evening. We have a mellow week ahead I think. I start my MOMS group at church on Thursday morning so I am looking forward to that. I need to go to the restoration place to check on some furniture and that is a 2 hour round trip. I should see if there are any scrapbooks stores over there in Arlington. Make good use of my time you know. I need to spend some time on the blue van this week getting it cleaned up. That may be a whole day? Won't really know till I start digging in. I need to vacuum first and see what is revealed once I get all the crumbs up. Aren't you jealous? Stay tuned!

Winner winner chicken dinner

Yes, I know I stole that line but it is a good one. I'm just borrowing it.

Despite my misfortune this past summer I have also been a BIG Winner this summer. I was the recipient of a HUGE box of Artsy.licious goodies from Melody Ross. Shortly after that goodness arrived I also won a totally cute mini-album from Teresa Collins and a fun Mini-Album magazine from Aby Garvey. Last week I won again on Teresa's blog and today I hit the JACKPOT!

I am going to be hosting a House Party. This is an event sponsored by House Party, and ultimately Cartoon Network, as they debut their new cartoon, are you ready for this?, Star Wars the Clone Wars! My kids have not a clue that I even registered for this gig and will be stoked when I tell them the news. Basically we get to invite as many friends as we want to preview the new cartoon a full week before you can see it on TV. I get a goodie box with favors and such and the reputation of being the coolest mom on the block! Good times, good times.

I think maybe I should start playing the lottery. Well, nah, I have nothing invested in these past wins, just a comment or two on a blog and such. The lottery requires cash so I guess I'll pass on that and keep surfin!

Maybe Will's reaction will be something like this. That kid is crazy when he gets his hands on my camera! Hope you are enjoying your day! I actually slept with a window open last night and have had a window open most of the day today. It is a beautiful day in Texas!

Hey jen...

I am NOT going to Ikea to take advantage of this special offer. Just wanted you to know. #1 I don't need a sofa and #2 Who wants a second cover in WHITE even if it is free? I suppose they have taken to giving them away since no one would buy white on purpose right?

Boys are in bed, I am watching jon and kate + 8 and loving life!

I got specs!

Remember that I went to Target and had an eye exam last week. Well, I placed the order for my glasses at about 1:30 PM and got a call late yesterday that my glasses were ready. I ran some errands this morning after I took the boys to school and ended up at Target before I was ready to head home. I think this is going to take a lot of getting used to. I have never been one to wear even sunglasses because my whole head is crooked and misaligned so glasses never set right on me. Well, same deal today, I am still out of whack, so I guess I just need to live and learn to love.

Enjoy this silly photo. I laughed out loud really loud and am still grinning about it! Amazing what you can manipulate on a web cam! Happy humpday!

Seriously?

So my mutt needs a bath and a nail trim BAD! I can take care of the bath part myself but would prefer to let someone else. We don't have a shower with a hose so it is a pain in the tookus to wash the guy. So, I stopped in at a local "puppy spa" to inquire about their prices and services. Are you sitting down?

The cheap deal was $55 and the higher end was $70! Now, I have been out of the dog grooming circuit for awhile, between amazing mom and generous Auntie I have gotten off pretty cheap but MY HEAVENS! I don't even spend $70 on my own beauty routine no way I am spending that on my mutters. Yes Joan, today he is my mutters. I went to PetsMart, bought a new set of clippers and a pair of trimming scissors and will do my best. I figure if I make a routine of it he won't get too shaggy between and I just need to figure out what to do about the shower. Wish me luck.

The boys had a decent day at school. Nic took some liberties at lunch that will cost me in the end but I think we just need to talk about limits and being reasonable. And if that doesn't work then I will put a cap on his daily spending. It can be done and it will if he doesn't get it taken care of on his own. The Willman forgot a worksheet at school but will have time in the AM to get it done. He was bummed at himself but we all forget stuff sometimes. Like me, I forgot I was supposed to call and get insurance on the new van. Better hop off the computer and get that call made!

A non-laborious Labor Day!

We slept a little too late and had to scramble to get to the Honda dealership in good time. We made it eventually and got right to work finalizing the lease deal. The dealership had a little theater room but the only movie they had was Antz and the had computers for surfing but couldn't support any of the kids' websites. UGH! They suffered through with Sunkist and popcorn for the hour and a half that it took us to complete the transaction. I drove off the lot in the new van with my faithful passengers and Fred followed in the Truck.

I need to call about insurance and such tomorrow, fun stuff and I need to start cleaning up the old van but I have time, not like we are turning it in next week. I at least want to get the tank of gas pretty used up.

After we got the van we celebrated with lunch at Applebees. Three of us ate out fill, Will ate too much popcorn to be hungry, and we parted ways. I ran to Target and everyone else came home. Not sure what else we did today. I know I took a nap and we worked on insurance receipts before Fred took off for Mexico. We are slowly but surely getting through the depreciation difference and should have a batch to turn in soon. No really big ticket items on the list, just a BUNCH of little things. I think it's nearly $3000 in differentials though, it all adds up.

Fred took off around 5:30 and I worked on the spreadsheet for another hour before it was time to hit the pool. We had been planning all weekend and this was the available time. The boys had fun, I chatted with Denise and tried to read but I think skipping dinner meant I was getting a bit of a migraine. I have since eaten, the boys have showered and will be hitting the hay very soon.

I'll leave you with a few shots of the crispy house. Sorry mom, the name fits for now. It will be HOME when I get to sleep there!

A view of the front garage peak. This is where the damage was the worst in terms of holes through the roof.

This is to the left of the first shot. The black papered roof has been replaced and the shingles part will be replaced once masonry is repaired.