Dear God

So I am going to quit wondering and start praying. My first prayer is going to go something like this...

Dear God,

If you are reading this blog today I just need to ask you a favor. Could you please not have quite so much faith in me? I understand that many people say that God only gives us what we can handle. Well, I question if you really think that or if you are testing me? Sick kids, broken household items, a fire, injury, and so on and so forth. Can you scale it back a bit or maybe send a refrigerator angel to my house? Thanks for listening!

Peace,

Susan

Just wondering...

How much time have I lost in my life in the last year to waiting? Now I understand that at times waiting is necessary. Waiting for my new nephew to be born. (I didn't even have to wait that long, thanks Jen.) Waiting for Fred to get home. Waiting for my parents to arrive. (Another "no big" they have free 1 hr parking at the baggage claim level) Here is what I don't like waiting for...

Contractors, vendors, servicemen, delivery men, technicians, carpenters, carpet layers, movers... you get the idea. What I appreciate is being given a call about 30 minutes before a service provider is going to arrive. I am usually never more than 30 minutes away. I can wrap up whatever I am doing and get home in 30 minutes (well, except yesterday when I was in the middle of my massage, no way I would have left that early!) I think that some organizations do the whole window of possibility really well and others, not so much. I just don't want to specifically add up the time I've lost. I am sure it would be weeks at least.

I am hopeful that all of my waiting this past year has simply been a result of needing more contractors and service people visiting than usual, because of the fire, resulting move and continued wrap up of this VERY big project. I am hopeful that in the next year I will not need to wait quite so much.

So this whole waiting thing makes me think about being employed again. I am at a crossroads when it comes to work or no work. I LOVE being available to my kids and my husband and my friends. I miss the professionalism, the interaction and the paycheck. Do I miss it enough... probably not. I have only subbed at the kids' school once. I get that little blip in my checking account next month. I often think that I need to apply to be a check-out girl at Target or Kroger or the QT but then I think... how would I wait for all of the service calls? Who would pick-up the boys from school if they were sick? Could I really be so limiting in my employment to say I only want to work Mon thru Thursday between 8:30 and 2:30? Would anyone hire me for that? Should I stay home just to give someone else who really needs a job the opportunity to have the job? Or are these just excuses and unrealistic thoughts that shield me from any potential job interview?

I guess I need to give some serious thought to this topic and make a plan. I can only vacuum the carpet so often. If I am not going to go back to work then I need to search out ways that my contributions to this household can be more meaningful. I suppose I could start ironing t-shirts and underwear. But that is just a little silly, no... that's just CRAZY!

I guess I'll go wonder some more while I switch laundry and wait for my boys.

Ahhh Friday.

Well it was a good week overall. The grout got stained. Some landscaping got refreshed, some got replaced and it all got new mulch! I understand that I will be spending more time at home early next week as some trim in the foyer is scheduled to get replaced. The restoration company attempted to sand and paint it instead of replacing it and now it is warped and needs replaced. I think this is going to be a dusty, messy job. UGH! Still waiting on hot water in the guest bathroom. No timeline from the restoration people. Hopefully before our next bit of company in June.

Today was a teacher appreciation luncheon at the boys' school. They do these once each quarter. Today was all about down home comfort foods so I made homemade mac 'n cheese. Strange to make it at 8:00 AM but that's how it needed to happen. I took one dish to school close to 10 and put the other in my fridge. Why go through all that work and not reap the rewards?

After I dropped off my dish I headed to Kohl's. When mom was here a few weeks back we bought a new rug for the foyer. According to my mother it needed a friend so I went back and bought a smaller version to put right at the front door. I then totally forgot to get the pad to go under it but thankfully they sell those at Target which was also on my list.

After Kohl's I ran to Game Stop to pick-up a copy of Pokemon Platinum. It is a new DS game that all of the boys' friends seems to have bought the day it came out (which was last Sunday). I had been going back and forth about getting it for them, getting one copy or two, putting it in their Easter Baskets???? Well, they REALLY wanted it, wanted two copies and wanted to buy it with their own money. Fine with me. I took them to the bank after school so they could withdrawal the funds and pay me back. All settled and they have been playing long and hard since about 5:00 with a brief break for dinner.

After Game Stop I ran to the bank then to Target for a few things but mainly chocolate milk. So I checked out... $119 and realized as I slid my credit card. I forgot the MILK!

After I took the boys to the bank after school we ran in and got the milk and picked up dinner in the form of Kid Cuisine, since by this time I knew that daddy was not coming home tonight as planned. I have since learned that his replacement flight scheduled for tomorrow morning has also been cancelled. He is hoping to be home in time for dinner. It has been a really long week for him since he left Sunday and started his week in S.C. and is now coming home from Mexico a day later than planned. I feel for the guy.

So I watched a couple of DVR things, some Clean House on the Style network and since it was already on the channel I slipped right in to watching Dr. 90210. What a great thoughtless way to end the week. I need to go kiss and tuck and then I think I'll read a bit before I slumber off to dreamland.

I think we all get to sleep in a bit tomorrow. Fred too even though he is in another country! Then we probably need to spend some time getting the house in order a bit. I don't think it is in bad shape but I haven't seen the game room in a couple of days and the mail is a bit scattered about. Shouldn't take too much to pull it all together. Maybe we'll even make it to Ikea to pick-up a treat for daddy. Just because we love him SOOOOOO MUCH!

My newest accessory.

So I finally went to the Dr. yesterday to see what could be done about my aching thumb. I injured it almost a month ago when I fell on DI day. It had been swollen and painful but it kind came and went. Well, apparently I must have been complaining more that i thought because Fred insisted that I go to the Dr. Last week I had self medicated by buying a thumb brace at CVS. It seemed to help and it limits the usefulness of the thumb and hand so I figure not using my hand would help the thumb get better. The Dr. said I had the right idea but that I need to keep the brace on 23 hrs/day for the next 2-4 weeks and take an Aleve every morning and every night as well. Here's hoping that it will all work out in the end and that it doesn't get too hot in the meantime.

While at the Dr. I also talked to her about my migraines. I have seen an increase this year and had three in as many days just before my appt. She acknowledged that the barometric pressure could have a direct affect (or is it effect) on my migraines and the pollen count wasn't helping much either. She gave me some nose spray, upped my dosage of Imitrex and is hoping to get me off of my maintenance drug soon since it is not really doing much good. She may look to switch me to another drug but time will tell on that one.

So after school I ran and picked up my shiny fluffy dog from PetsMart and came home to sleep the latest migraine off. I woke in time to take the kids to Chick-Fil-A night and then came home with an extra kid. He entertained the boys and I got to visit with his mom a bit when she came to collect him.

We have found that living in TX does have its own set of challenges. The boys are digging the weather but think that everyday is a play day outside. I am still not completely comfortable with sending them outside and having them come home when the streetlights come on. The also are struggling with why they have to shower every night after this fun time outside. Well, they are turning in to stinky tweens and I refuse to be a parent to the "stinky kid." It's gonna be a LONG summer, heck a LONG period of adolescents I'd guess. In Iowa when we were home bound by the snow the dog didn't even want to go out of the house. Now even he likes to hang-out in his fenced in backyard.

OK, the grout stain guys are here and the landscapers aren't yet. I planned to stay home today so oversee these tradespeople while I work on insurance receipts. I figure if we are having fire related work done then I should do some fire related work too. We will be at our 1 year anniversary in just a few months and that is our cut-off for replacing things and getting reimbursed. I'll miss my Liberty Mutual Agent when this is all said and done... maybe not. No offense Holly!

Just because...

So I bought myself a little treat today at Wally-World. For no reason at all I was drawn down a gardening aisle when I saw this....

Isn't it so cute? It is supposed to hold a plant but I don't really have a green thumb. (In reality my thumb is currently injured and in a brace.) But I thought what the helk. I could always put a fake plant in it!

The family and I had a busy weekend. Nic went to a b-day party at the Great Wolf Lodge in Grapevine on Saturday. The b-day boy invited Will to join in the fun on Sat. so he and I let the party get a head start then headed that way, and got there thanks to Jack, and joined in the fun. We ended up at the lodge until 8 ish then headed home to collapse. The whole experience was great fun. Will and Nic had a blast in the water-park and arcade. Another place we'll have to add to our places to return list. I was also thinking that when the little cousins get a little bigger and the big cousins aren't too big this would be a GREAT place for a family reunion. There are lots of locations and it is all encompassing, no transportation required once you arrive. Kind of like Disney but without the rides.

Sunday came too soon and Will ha d another b-day party to go to. I had in my head that the party was from 2-4. I was signing the release required for Will to play laser tag at the party when I realized I was wrong, the party was 4-6. Oops. Crisis averted though, no one got dropped off at the arcade two hours early. Not sure that he would have minded it too much though.

At about the time I got home from taking Will, Nic arrived home. He was wiped out from the celebration so he was pretty mellow. When I picked up Will I got Nic some popcorn chicken at Sonic and dinner was done! Will ate at the party and Fred left for South Caroline before dinner so I had an easy night of it. Gotta love that!

So last night I was browsing through a Better Homes and Garden Special Edition on Organizing. I am always looking for ideas and improvements so a magazine like this excites me. I saw a bunch of great ideas and got really inspired. the good news is that inspiration led me to ACTION and today I cleaned up and organized my pantry. Not really glamorous but necessary. I pulled stuff out, re-sorted, recontainerized a few things, labeled and straightened. I even labeled the shelves by categories so help with the putting away and restocking. I did run out of label tape though so I need to pick that up tomorrow. Once I had it mostly back together I ran to Wal-Mart for a few items and came home with exactly what I needed plus the BIG tea cup! All good.

Tonight I was all set to take the kids to Relig. Ed when at the last minute my neighbor flagged me down to tell me we are off this week. The kids got to play outside an extra half hour and the moms visited. Will went to a friend's after school today and tried to take his bike up a ramp. That resulted in a BIG scrape to his knee. The little brother of Will's friend came down to get me and alerted me to Will's injury. He explained on the way back down the street to his house that Will had "like 10 blood vessel exposed." Thankfully a little first aide goes a long way and I patched him up pretty well. He is all in a tizzy that they have school pics tomorrow. he is insistent that he can not sit in the front row of the class picture for fear that his band-aid will forever be captured on Kodak. (Oh wait, that doesn't happen anymore does it?) I suggested he just wear pants to avoid the possibility. He is still considering it. I think that wearing pants means he can't share his battle wound with anyone. Have to see what he comes down wearing tomorrow morning.

Well, my migraine medicine has kicked in again tonight. I think we are getting a storm front, I feel it in my head. I am going to the Dr. tomorrow to talk about my injurred thumb and I plan to get my monies worth out of the visit and talk about the migraine increase in the last couple of months and the strange twitching that my right eyelid has been doing. I feel like an old lady with a laundry list of things that I have been saving up. In reality the thumb has been lingering for about a month and the migraine thing comes and goes. The eyelid twitch just started last week though... A reasonable window if you ask me.

I'll let you know how it all turns out tomorrow.

Thursday already?

Wow time flies....

Tuesday we could not stay home any longer. Nic was feeling better so I took us all to see Race to Witch Mountain and to take care of a couple of returns at the mall. The movie was fun, action packed and nostalgic all at the same time. We headed home after a quick detour to the library to make a return and I had a little Come TO Jesus Meeting with my kids.

I was really disappointed at their lack of gratitude and their selfishness on Tuesday and I was just tired of it all. I was not trying to be EVIL about it but I think my kids at 8 and 10 yrs are old enough to contribute to the house and realize that I made the choice to take them to the movies and I could have just as easily chosen something not as fun or not as expensive or whatever. I think they got the hint and Nic even made me a Power Point Presentation to say how sorry he was and to share his plan to change and improve. We'll see how long that plan lasts.

Yesterday we got together with a couple of neighbors and headed to the Ft. Worth Zoo. It was 1/2 price Wednesday and the weather was gorgeous. We headed out a little before 9 and got in a little before 11. The place was packed! We certainly did not get to see the whole zoo, but what we did see was well worth it and it gave us enough of a glimpse that we know we need to go back for more. The animals were VERY animated and fun and did I mention it was in the 70's and sunny but not too hot. The trifecta of good weather, spring break and 1/2 price Wednesday actually produced record crowds at the zoo. The news report yesterday quoted a zoo source who said the 23,000 patrons enjoyed the zoo yesterday. That total "eclipsed" the previous record from Good Friday 2008 when 17,000 people enjoyed their day there. So I guess we were a part of history yesterday and didn't even realize it.

When we got home from the zoo we were pretty beat but we couldn't just put our feet up and relax. Shortly after we got home the urgent care clinic that I took Nic to on Saturday called to say that his strep test had turned positive. The reality was that he felt better yesterday than any day since Saturday and he turns up "sick." What's up with that? I ran to Target to get his antibiotics and then to Wal-mart to return a Redbox movie. I was feeling beat down a bit and tired so I allowed Pizza Hut to nourish my family last night. They did a good job.

Today we are staying close to home so I can clean and do laundry and make a plan of some sort for dinner.

Just an interesting photo by Will. It's fun to give the kids the camera and see what you get at the end of the day.

Damn Virus! and BABY news... NOT MY BABY!

The week ended up well. Once I reread my posting from Thursday and seeing my typos I just decided to move on.

Friday was ANOTHER day of rain. I had some errands that I HAD to take care of so I was out and about when it was time to get the kids from school. We picked up a couple of extra kids and headed home. We got right to work on spring break right away. The boys had been video game free all week so they were in a rush to get back to the game. It was all good and they were happy so I let them be.

Saturday started off well enough, slow and quiet then around lunch Nic complained of feeling hot and having a sore throat. I took his temp around 1 and it was 100.1. Two hours later it was 103.1 so we headed to urgent care. He had the exact symptoms as Will at the onset of his flu. I planned for a week at home with a miserable child. The flu test was negative as was the rapid strep test. He fell asleep while we waited for these useless results and I listened to the four year old next door SCREAM through her ear irrigation. We came home with no more info than when we left and I gave him some Tylenol to help his fever and discomfort. He slept another couple of hours and seemed a bit improved but still run down by bedtime.

Well, Sunday we all stayed busy, mostly at home. Fred worked on our taxes, I planned meals for the week and made a monster grocery run. I had a list and coupons and a plan. I arrived home to find Will out riding bikes in the hood and Fred and Nic doing what they do best. I put my food away, started some laundry and then joined the neighbors on the driveway and visited while the kids played. I headed back in to make a late supper and the boys showered while Fred and I re-made their beds. I was nesting on Sunday and decided that a great way to start Spring Break was being clean and sleeping on clean sheets. Well, the bad thing is that the virus survived the Spring Cleaning.

I was hoping that Nic would wake up a new kid or that the Dr. office would call to say the culture developed and he has Strep. Ugh, neither happened. He still has a bit of a fever and the Dr office said no Strep. I guess we continue to muddle through the virus and put our Spring Break plans on hold.

The good news of being stuck at home today was that we were here to get the call. Jennifer and Shannen had their 3rd child today, Welcome to the World Kael Owen Priser!

I am wiped out!

I had a good day. It started way too early when the smoke alarm outside of my room decided to chirp it's low battery alert at 2:03AM. The ceilings here are quite high and I was not about to climb on a ladder with no one spotting me at 2AM. I closed my bedroom door, put a pillow over my heard and must have eventually fallen back to sleep. When I woke up at 6:15 the chirping had stopped but by the time I got out of the shower it was going again. I wrote myself a note to get batteries and started my day. First thing on my list was putting in more time at the book fair. We had a rush before school but it DEAD by 9:30 so I left and ran to Target to do some grocery shopping. I went there starving though, never a good idea, and came home with much more crap than I needed. I put the groceries away, read a bit and then headed to school to pick up Will for a Dr. appt. We grabbed lunch at Chick-Fil-A and headed to see the gastroenterologist. The appt. went quickly so we headed back to school. He went back to class and I went back to the book fair.

After school I checked out the boys' open house projects and we finally headed home around 3:30. We all had a little down-time, I spent much of mine chatting with my pal Vicki from Iowa. We ordered pizza quickly and ran to pick it up before I dropped the boys at their friends and picked up my date for the evening... Miss Holly Wood. We decided to get a bit silly tonight and dress in the theme of the book fair. I went classy with an all black outfit accented with pearls. Holly went a little trashy with a crispy black wig and more shiny bling than I have in my entire jewelry box. She was eye catching and kinda startled the assistant principal tonight. All fun and we, along with some other AMAZING volunteers, worked our fingers to the bone. We had lines the entire length of the library waiting to check out on my single computer that we could use to check out patrons using credit cards. We eventually broke out the dinosaur credit card sliding machine that takes an imprint of the card. It was CRAZY busy but the $ raised was great and will be used to get more library books and stuff for the school.

We got a big surprise after we dropped Holly off at home. As we were pulling out of the driveway my phone rang and it was Fred. He asked where we were, I assumed he had called the house to find us out and about. He was surprising us by coming home from MX a night early. It was a nice surprise for me and my aching feet. I asked him to take care of taking the garbage cans to the curb. I was exhausted and when I pulled into Holly's' driveway and saw her trashcans I practically melted at the thought of putting my own out tonight. My night in shining armor saved the day.

Well, I am BEAT. The good news is that I don't think I have anything on the calender tomorrow. Spring Break starts at 3:01, my kids are well aware of that. We are looking forward to a mellow, stress free week with a little sightseeing and a lot of sleeping. That's my plan at least.

All better

I took a couple of Imitrex went to sleep and despite waking up twice from a fairly deep slumber I woke up refreshed.

My day included assisting with some retail sales at the Spring Scholastic Book Fair. I left a little before my shift ended because it was just that slow. I came home, took charge of getting the boys' laundry cleaned, dried and folded before they got home. I was also inspired to vacuum and straighten a bit.

It was cold and rained a ton this morning. It was a great soaking for our VERY dry area. Pete the dog was not fond of taking care of business in the rain but he survived as did my carpet. One of the BEST things we ever did as pet owners was to teach Pete to give us his paws. When he comes in from the rain, muck or snow, you can say paws and he lays right down and let's you wipe him clean. Now, he always need to catch the towel that you just used, and play with it a bit but that is totally acceptable in this house! A small price for clean paws.

I went up to school to get the boys since it was so wet. They are currently working on homework and lamenting the reinstatement of the NO VIDEO GAMES DURING THE SCHOOL WEEK RULE. Things had gotten a little out of hand so I needed to pull in the reigns. Fred actually brought up the idea when Nic was having his melt-down on Monday. I did not hesitate to agree.

So, the afternoons are a little longer but I am hoping that the boys can help me a bit more with dinner and chores. Of course we'll get through this week and it will all go pieces next week since it is SPRING BREAK! Yes, I am excited. A week with very little responsibility. A week with freedom and perhaps the time and inclination to do some exploring. Fred wanted to run away for a long weekend but the boys have a birthday party and there is the business of the dog. We have yet to visit a vet and I just hate to board the old dog. He deserves better. I hope I find a willing/able pet sitter by the time we go to Florida in June.

Ok, off to defrost some meat for dinner. The boys just suffered through a melt-down of video games that they are not even allowed to play. Ugh!

Ouch!

Migraine... Is it the wet weather headed our way or the lack of caffine I drank today? Either way it hurts and I am going to bed.

So it seems like life got a little hectic here...

It has been a full and fun weekend. Of course we lost an hour in the middle of the night but we made out OK.

Today we went to Mass at 6:00pm then had dinner at La Hacienda Ranch in Frisco. They advertise on the bulletin, I had free kids meal coupons and we had never been there. I thought mom and dad would like it. I think they did. The boys ate too many chips with salsa and got a little full before their meals came. Thank goodness their meals were free. Dad had a good looking salad. Mom had noisy fajitas. Fred ordered a steak and I tried chicken enchiladas. I don't think anyone went away hungry.

This afternoon Fred and I went to Kohl's for a few items then ran to the mall to see Taken. It was a good movie with some real surprises. I have never been a real Liam Neeson fan but he impressed me. I kept getting a little bothered though by the 4 year old sitting behind me. This movie is about kidnapping girls and selling them into sex trade. Not something I think a 4 year old girl or her 7 year old brother probably needed to be exposed to. I sure hope their parents enjoyed the movie.

Yesterday we had a late and YUMMY breakfast with pancakes and the works. This made us less hungry for lunch. We just saved up and had a delicious dinner at Dickey's. We had taken Dad there on his last visit but mom needed some BBQ so we took her to our favorite spot. Fred lived on Dickey's when he traveled down here from IA. We don't go very often but when we do my kids get full and yesterday I think they ate for free. I love a free kids meal! Too bad I'm over 12.

Friday afternoon my dad and Fred went to get my new wardrobe. It fits beautifully in the livingroom, now I just need Fred to build some shelves inside. I want to move all of my scrapbooks inside but right now it has two doors with lots of hanging room behind them. Not sure that it will get done soon but I know that Fred has the tools to take care of it, he just needs a little time.

Friday we also had the last performance of the DI skit during the Friday Live assembly at school. The kids did wonderfully, again I was beaming! The set got disassembled and sent to live in different places. Some found its way to our house, some down the street and the parts that were falling apart we placed right into the school's dumpster. Nic was quite the character on stage. He played to the audience like he never had before. It was a little over the top but he seemed so relaxed and not at all up-tight about performing in front of his peers. I was glad to see that he was so comfortable. I think that the feedback from those peers was pretty positive too so that had to feel good for him.

OK, tomorrow includes breakfast at Ikea for my dad. He got this travel mug for free coffee when he helped us move in last June. He forgot to bring it after the fire so he absolutely needed to bring it and USE it on this trip. I think we'll get the boys off to school then ready ourselves for breakfast on the cheap and FREE COFFEE! I'll try to get some pictures. It will certainly be memorable.

Almost to the weekend!

This week seems like it has been a little long. Maybe because I have had four action packed days. Monday was supposed to be full of all of those appts. Tuesday included lunch to celebrate my pal Sabrina's birthday (only a week late) and Wednesday was taking care of a little more fire stuff with the cable company and picking up my parents from the airport. Thankfully their mattress showed up 24 hours before they did. Sadly, the guest bath shower had not been tested since our return to the house and somehow they have no HOT WATER! Easily resolved by a shower in the boys' bathroom but annoying and hard to fix. We are hoping we don't need to tear into the wall to find the resolution...

Mom and Dad and I did a little shopping today. I picked out a rug for the entry and we checked out a consignment furniture shop. I had seen a wardrobe there last month and it was still there. The price has dropped but it is still a little more than what we have coming to us in insurance money for an antique dresser we lost in the fire. I am going to try to see how far down I can negotiate. I hope it goes well then we can mark one more item off of our still need to buy list.

Tomorrow the DI team will perform their skit ONE MORE TIME at school. I have to get the set all moved over there, thankfully my folks can help with that. It should be fun to see the reaction of their peers. Hopefully all positive.

Ok, time for me to hit the hay. More excitement this weekend I'm sure!

A great day for math geeks

So I read this article on Yahoo about how today is a great day for math geeks. 3-3-09 is a Square Root Day and this only happens 9 times every century. So five years ago when it was 2-2-04 and 7 years from now when it is 4-4-16 the math geeks of the work will celebrate in the streets and hallways of learning institution around the world.

So I was wondering... Do you think they will have a parade on 3-14-15? Do you think that people will count backwards so that their offspring have a high probability of being born on this auspicious date?

Don't get me wrong, I appreciate math for the role it plays in my life. I even have a silly book devoted to Pi, (it was a gift). But seriously getting psyched about a Square Root Day? Now, if you want to celebrate National Scrapbooking Day in May, or World Cardmaking Day in October I will be the one to bring the required Peanut Butter M&M's! Just don't know what to bring for the office pot-luck on Square Root Day.

A new and exciting week!

It's Monday and I am alone in the house for now. Will had no temp yesterday and was "normal" again this morning so I was thrilled to send him to school. He was up and out early and quite excited to get back to his friends. He told me he had to go early to take care of some student council business. They are sponsoring a canned food drive this week and student council members are supposed to check the boxes each morning and move the items to another location. Not sure how much there would be for him to do since it is the first morning but he was committed to helping out so I let him go.

Nic spent all day yesterday in his pajamas. I let him be a bum to celebrate the end of Destination Imagination. 4 members of our team went to the award ceremony on Saturday night to see if we won anything. Sadly we did not place in the top 6 in our category. They only announced the top 6 so we could have been 7th. No way to know really. The feedback from our judges was good, especially for Nic. Unfortunately a post-it with a compliment just doesn't compare to a ribbon or medal.

Here is the team in the holding room.

The kids will perform one more time this Friday at school. Then we can trash the set and move on. The good news about the final performance is that my parents are going to be in town so they will get to join us and see it live and in person. I know that Nic is excited about that.

This is their performance. They did a music video of sorts for the literary classic, the Tortoise and and Hare. Nic was the tortoise. He did a great job of moving slowly and he had a funny emphysemic 106 year old turtle voice. We also had the hare, a frog, a fox, a chipmunk and a squirrel. I am trying to get my hands on the video and if we get it up on You Tube I will post a link.


So, today I have hosted the bug guy. He is working on an ant issue we have in our master bathroom. Later the guy is coming to fix a couple of the blinds that are being difficult. I have already had a cancellation from the termite inspector. Tomorrow afternoon I need to be home to get the futon mattress delivery. My parents are coming on Wednesday, nothing like cutting it close right? I need to go to Sam's and the dry cleaner and I need to pay bills. What a lucky girl I am.






Tomorrow the boys will be taking TAKS tests for the very first time. This test is different from any other standardized test I have every taken in that it is untimed. They have ALL day to take the test and can even stay after school to finish! The good part of TAKS is that they will have no homework tonight or tomorrow. The bad part is that the pressure put on students seems a bit excessive. I hope that my kids do well. They should, but the stress may mess things up. I'll be praying for them! Maybe you could too!