It felt like a Monday today.

I woke up tired but ready. Well, pretty ready, guess I forgot to switch off my alarm, I just hit the snooze, so Fred had to respond to mine as well as his. Guess that is his fault for still being in bed. Well, the boys actually got up pretty easily this morning. The motivating factor was that the cool temperatures, only 54 degree today, allowed them to wear some new jeans and new long sleeve shirts that they have been waiting to wear since we bought them in July! Love that!

We went to the big city yesterday. The boys all got haircuts in Ames then we headed down to Ankeney to Super Target and Michael's and had lunch at Panera. YUM! We also got cheap gas at $2.69/gal. The local stations wants $2.94 so it was quite a bargain. The late lunch made for nibbles for dinner. Easy enough. I also made some Pumpkin Muffins that we all love. They are SOOOOO easy, want the recipe? Got a pen? You don't even need one!

Take a box of yellow cake mix, mix it with a small can of pumpkin and 1tsp of all spice. It will be VERY thick! Use cupcake liners in a regular sized cupcake pan. It makes 12 muffins. Bake for 20 mins in 375 oven. They should be just golden. Not hard at all. Even I can get them right most of the time.Even when I forget the spice they turn out just fine. They remind me of fall. Great for breakfast, snack or dessert. I have heard that you can substitute a chocolate cake mix but I haven't tried that, yet...

OK, off to make dinner and get ready for a CCW meeting. It is the Council of Catholic Women meeting at church. They only meet once a month on Mondays and that is Cub Scout night so I don't get to go too often. It is a nice group that does lots for our parish so I like to attend when I can. Good evening to you!

What's that you say? Today is Saturday...

I so knew that and counted on that and LOVE that today is Saturday. I went to bed at 9:00PM last night with joy in my heart that today would be Saturday. I was WIPED OUT for some reason and since Fred was home to put the boys to bed I snuck away to our room, read for a few and snoozed. The boys came in to give me kisses, usually it is me giving kisses in their room. It was quite sweet. I don't think I slept all that well, I remember seeing the clock at 12:29 and 3: something. But when I awoke at 8:15 ish I felt ready to get up. Guess I was wrong because by 11:45 I was asleep again, this time on the couch in the living room, in a sun spot. Nic covered me with my favorite cat blanket and I slept until about 1:30. I can not recall the last time I slept so much in a 24 hour period. I guess my body needs more sleep than it has been getting, or the stress of this week was just finally catching up with me. I do think I am at the tail end of a cold so that could certainly be part of it.

Once I showered and started my day again close to 2:00. I enjoyed a PB and Bacon sandwich and Nic had one too. His first time, he liked the bacon better than the combination. Oh well, his loss. Then I got busy and headed outside to weed. I am so not an outdoor person and could probably survive well in a house with very little landscaping. This house came with landscaping and I must do a better job of maintaining it. I thought it needed some TLC and I was right. I have a bunch of easy to care for Hostas here but some other random things are oddly placed. The rock covering keeps weeds manageable but they still need tended to. I did my best and filled one compost bag with clippings and weeds. I had a big wresting match with a hearty vine that was trying to climb up my house and I am afraid that there was a casualty. I bend a set of clippers as I used them to pry out the roots of this vine. The clippers are in the trash and the roots are still in the earth. UGH! I'll try again tomorrow with stronger implements!

After the big match-up I needed another shower. When I got out Will had received a call from a friend wanting him to come over. I threw on some clothes and ran Will over to his friend N's house. I visited with his mom for a few then headed home to make a selection for dinner. With little input from the other men of the house I opted for hamburgers on the grill and french fries. Pretty exciting I know. Well, I burnt the burgers but the fries were perfect. Fred managed to salvage the burgers and we all ate our fill.

This evening has been mellow. I got through a REAL SIMPLE magazine the size of a small encyclopedia. Not real simple for me! The boys watched a new show in Nick and Fred played games on the computer. Let's hope we can all be more productive tomorrow.

P.S. Those are not my toes in the picture above. As with many of my pictures I pulled this off flicker. Seems that you can find pictures of almost anything on that site. Sure saves me the trouble.

Another day...

Well, the saga may be over with the license. I have it, I have my medical OK, and I am driving S with the School Bus tripod on top. We went to work for the 3rd time today and he did so well. This MIW place is great for him. He has not too many distractions, he likes the repetition and is "frilled" that he is getting paid real money for the work he does. I am "frilled" for him! It is all good no matter the saga to get there.

I also took K to work today. She did a great job on the towels and we saw some old friends at the nursing home. No pun intended.

The boys had a mixed day at school. Nic got injured and lost some tickets so he doesn't get free Friday tomorrow, bummer. Will was one of only 6 kids in his class that didn't get a clip today. FYI clips are bad. He was pleased with himself. Yeah Will!

My day was overall good but hot. I am struggling to breathe through a small cold. I hope it will clear up by this weekend, I really do enjoy breathing through my nose.

In creative news... I got my CTMH order today! I love this scrap club that Lori put together. I can't wait to play with my new stamps and clean them with my new cleanser. I also got a mini album to alter and play with. I may choose some fun summer swimming pics for this one. The creative wheels are turning. My priority right now is ordering some pics to scrap with. I have some random ones but need many more. Watch out Winkflash! Stay tuned...

The saga continues...

Well, the chauffeur license saga continues. I passed my test last week and was told that as soon as it becomes available I will be required to take 15 hours of classroom training on being a bus driver even though I am not a "bus" driver. Then they told me I needed a DOT physical. I had a physical last October, not due for another one until this October, insurance won't pay for one until then either. Not good enough. Need this physical before I can drive. Oops, I drove today. Don't tell. The next appointment is tomorrow AM for my physical. Just what I needed a weigh in and a blood pressure check when life is just so lovely! NOT! School will only reimburse $95 dollars so I will attempt to cut a deal and move through quickly enough.

I had asked about getting a raise while I am with S at the workshop. I have gone through all these hoops to drive him and get this license. I am practically a bus driver, I have a "route"! But, no I am not entitled to more pay. That would set precedence. I would be glad to set that precedence. It is not about the extra $2 an hour. It is about getting paid for the job I do, not the job I was hired to do. That is long gone out the window, shoot, it was never even close to the window, it broke the window. I am so mad at myself that I cried while I was talking to the superintendent. I hate to be the emotional person that I am. It bought me no points, just Kleenex and a splotchy face. It was a joke. He said he was more worried about my health, I mentioned my migraine increase in the last year, and he got a little stuck on that. The fact is they are really very well under control thanks to medication. I am thankful for that. What would I do if I didn't work. Probably find another job. It is way to boring around here to not work.

I like my job, it is just not the job I signed up for. Who knew... No one, we do now though. S needs this assignment at the workshop. It is going to be the right thing for his future. His IEP says he needs this job. If I quit he quits. Not good, not good at all. Super. says we are stretched thin on bodies and vehicles, this adds to that stress, maybe it shouldn't have been done. What is the point of an IEP if it is not being utilized. Is having S study science going to help him in the future -NO- but doing his job at the workshop will. I will stick it out for him. He makes me smile enough to want to stay. Raise or not. I just need to come to some peace about this and be happier. I will pray on this for sure.

My laborious Labor Day...

I spent a bit of time making thank you cards for our swap this month and some miscellaneous cards too. Now I just need to send some to people. Check your mail!

The pics I promised!

There should be a picture here.

But, alas there is not. As soon as Fred can reinstall my card reader drivers I will download a photo of a HOT crew at the Inaugural Marian College football game. GO KNIGHTS!

Dad came over this weekend and Andy came down from SD. We had a fun time in Oskaloosa, IA watching the William Penn Statesmen beat the Maran Knights 30-15. No, that was not a typo in the last sentence. In a budget cutting effort the Athletic Director at Maran has decided to shorten the name to 5 letters to save on printing costs. He did this big shout out cheer in the 4th quarter and missed a letter. It was a nice distraction from the fact that we were losing and getting negative help from the local officials. The Knights actually looked pretty good for a new team. Not that I am the best one to comment on this but I must. Jerry doesn't have a blog... yet!

After the game we drove home and all the men type disappeared. I made a yummy dinner and they all suddenly showed up again to eat it. Andy did make and clean up breakfast so I can not complain. Dad brought a very tasty birthday cake for all of us since we are near no family on these most important days. It was a sweet treat. The evening closed with a late showing of Night at the Museum on the big screen. I love that movie!

Dad also brought a bunch of surprises from Denise for the boys. They are ready to camp thanks to her. I can just imagine the fun we will have in our brand new pop up tents for two. Two tents for two, I think we are covered. Now we just need to get enough sleeping bags! Maybe Santa will get those for us.

Dad and I went to church this AM in Neveda then came home and loaded up his car with lots of fun stuff for the cousins in Indy. Three boxes of wooden block, a box of cardboard brick blocks, boy toys, and books! And two bags of clothes. All that and my basement is still not empty. Figure that!

Well we just had a fun time at the neighbors' ice cream social. I was a louse and didn't take a dish to share but there was still plenty of food. The boys had a great time and HAD to come home and head directly to the shower. Both at clean now and will head to bed soon. I want to make some cards so I will probably try to stay up a bit later. We'll see how long I last. Check back for picture tomorrow!