Tagged on a Meme

This is how it works:

Pass this on to 5 blogging friends. Open the closest book to you, not your favorite or most intellectual book, but the book closest to you at the moment, to page 56. Write the 5th sentence, as well as two to five sentences following that.

I'm in the middle of reading "The Shack". Here is the 5th, 6th and 7th sentence: "Mack felt like he was moving in slow motion inside the eye of a hurricane of activity happening all around him. Report filtered in from everywhere. Even Emil was busy networking with the people and professionals he knew". In this story, the lead character just found out tragic news and was still looking into the mystery of what happened.

If I had pulled a book right near me, it would have been a cookbook, because my laptop is on the kitchen counter. I didn't think you would want to hear from that. But if you want to get literal, page 56 from "Deceptively Delicious" was a picture of a pile of pancakes.

I haven't blogged in a while. I don't want to neglect my other duties that have gotten harder now that I have a job. It's nice to be tagged on a meme so I can have an excuse to say Hi. Even though most of my hits are from people who don't know what to do about their full brick wall fireplace, or they want to get ideas on how to finish their basement, or they like St. Faustina and want to read her quotes.

Today I have a Christmas Luncheon for work. So, I need to do the dishes, wrap a $5 gift and bring Mary to my sister's. I'll catch up later!!

Husband's away, the mice will play...or clean...

Ted left yesterday for his golf trip. He's not far, but he'll be gone until Sunday morning. It's funny, because, my house is cleaner when Ted is gone. It's not because he's a messy person. I think he is neater than me...it's because I clean like a maniac when he is gone. Why do I do this?It doesn't happen when he is gone for one night...it happens any time he's gone for a longer period..which doesn't happen often. I think I've figured it out why. I can feel overwhelmed with all the responsibilities when Ted is gone, so if I control the one thing I can (the house), I automatically feel that much better. So everything I pass, get's picked up, put away, folded, thrown away, etc. And I feel a little more in control.

Back to Work! and Curse to the Big Hangers!

My blogging days are fewer and farther between now. It's easier for me to update my "Twitter". Plus, I'm having computer problems that makes it hard to type. Windows Vista DOES NOT agree with me...or my computer. In about two weeks, Ted will blow it away and go back to Windows XP. Until then, my laptop occasionally acts possessed and starts backspacing at lightening speed.

Much has changed since the last time I wrote. I have a part time job! Because I am a lazy person, I copied an e-mail I sent to my Women's Group after getting the job. But before you read it, I have to say that I've been volunteering once a week at a Crisis Intervention Agency started by our parish about 25 years ago, called the Care Service. I wanted to get my foot in the door, so that, down the road, I might be able to get a paying job there:

"You know how I’ve been complaining about money lately? I guess God was preparing me. Sometimes I look back and wonder how many things he allowed to happen to me to just get me in the right frame of mind. Anyway, the concerns of paying for private high school in the future and how poor of a job we have done at saving, made me really consider working part time when Mary went to school full time (in 2 years). But just recently, I was entertaining the idea of being able to do something NOW. How great it would be to get a head start on saving that money. Funny how God works…the Administrative Director left her position just last Friday. My friend Jackie, who works at the Care Service told me she immediately thought of me and felt I should consider it, especially since they were talking about doing a job share. Wow! I told her I was interested, she wrote a nice e-mail to the Care Service Executive Director (Miriam), recommending me for the job. Miriam calls me 30 minutes after receiving the e-mail and asks me if I could send in my resume as soon as possible. I wrote one THAT NIGHT (Monday) and sent it to her. We played phone tag until she caught me yesterday at Abby’s volleyball practice. Sam was home watching the kids so it was perfect when she said, “When can we meet?”. I walked over there (our Care Service is on the school campus) and we met for an hour and a half! She told me that they had the 24 hour person and needed 16 more hours, that I could do much of it from home and the pay was more than I hoped for. At the end of her long explanation of the job, I asked if they were looking at anyone else and she said No. I accepted the job! I can’t believe all of this happened in less than a week. It doesn't usually work that way. I remember when I said I wanted to volunteer for the Care Service in hopes to have a paying job some day…and one month later I have that paying job. It’s definitely God.

Thank you for your prayers. This is a big change for me and my family, but I think one that fits us well."

Have you ever done something really quickly and then woken up the morning saying, "What did I DO?" Well, that never happened. I feel such a peace about this job and the sudden change in my life. I KNOW it was what I was supposed to do and not many things happen that clearly in my life. I'm often wondering if I'm doing the right thing or saying yes to too many things. It doesn't mean that this change has all happened with no difficulty at all. I'm adjusting to the needs of a job and the needs of home and trying to do them all well. 16 hours doesn't sound like much, but it's enough to take some time adjusting.

Since the job happened about the same time the kids went back to school, it hasn't felt too bad because my load at home has gotten lighter during the day anyway. It's just Mary at home with me now. This is how I worked out the care of Mary. Mary was already enrolled in a Mom's Day Out program 2 days a week. The days were Monday and Friday. My work days are Wed, Thur and Fri. My sister Becky watches kids in her home Monday-Wednesday. So this is what I did: I switched Mary's "Mom's Day Out" days to Thur and Fri, and Becky now watches Mary on Wednesdays! It's perfect! If I have a meeting to attend on Mon or Tuesday, I just switch out my Wednesday with the other day. The only problem is that my sister lives 30 minutes away in the opposite direction, but I'll do anything for free babysitting...and it's only one day a week. And I watch her daughter for a year and a half...so I don't feel guilty. I work with my fellow carpool lady, Jackie, the one that got me the job...so if either of us has a conflict we can easily communicate and have the other one drive home.

I love my job. I love being in a place that you feel like you are doing something meaningful and contributing to a worthy cause. I love the idea of being in an environment where you get to know a variety of people and you work together to make things better. A workplace really helps in the friendship category. I missed the social aspect and found my social life lacking during the day. However, for a long time I didn't mind because I felt I had enough to do at home raising my children. But recently, when I was working one day a week at the Care Service, I was longing to be a bigger part of it all...And now I am. Of course...not really...I don't know anything and I'm learning a lot as I go. I feel more like an encumbrance than an asset. But I'm soaking it all up like a sponge and it has reminded me how much I love to learn. It will take me a while to be an actual contributor...but that is my goal.

Moving on to other topics...10 years ago today I gave birth to my baby girl...Abby. We celebrated this weekend, so there wasn't much time to pause and let it soak in. But today I sit and think about my girl. I think about her energetic, positive nature, her ability to get to the point (sometimes too quickly), her smart mind that constantly amazes me, her strength at coordinating people and getting them all to do what she wants (some call that bossy...I like to think that she will be a good manager some day...or teacher), the glaze over her eyes when she "checks out" in front of the TV, the way she learned my digital scrapbook software in a matter of minutes, her skinny, tan body, her green eyes and blond hair, her awkward body that does amazing things on the soccer field. My baby. My girl. My tween...WHAT??

Today, when doing the wash, I took one of her shirts and thought, "Do I need a big hanger on this?" And that scared me. Big hangers scare me. I like little hangers. It means the clothes hung on them are small...that my child is still small. Big hangers mean they are growing and getting as big as me. Big hangers mean time is passing and gone are the days when their little clothes would get lost in the big clothes and barely add anything to a load of laundry. But grow they must...and everything that comes with it, must come. I see images flying across my mind: me fighting with my mom, crying in my pillow, mom smelling the smoke on my fingers as I awaited her response with dread, feeling misunderstood, lost in the middle. Does it have to be like that? Can I help her through these confusing years? Will she fly through much more easily than I did? When will she want a cell phone? When will she want a Facebook page? When will she meet her first boyfriend? For now...I don't want to worry about that. I'll just move those clothes over to bigger hangers and take one thing at a time.

A Snapshot

It's been 3 weeks since I have blogged. I keep an update via Twitter on my blog. It seems that it's all I have focus for these days. We're doing a snapshot since it's been a while and I don't know where to start:

What have I accomplished recently?

--Finished a slide show for the PTO (a favor I did for them)

--Purchased a 2006 trailer in time for a trip at the end of last month

--Washed the whole outside of the trailer after the trip

--Bought a new puppy for our family! (A Shih-tzu/Bichon Frise mix)

--Made it through the first night with said puppy

--Started training at our "Care Service" to become a Case Worker

--Agreed to help with an anti-bullying program at our school

--Purchased school supplies for 3 kids

What's on my to-do list?

--Start the process of a new year with Children's Liturgy

+Call rep about faulty listening device

+Follow up with possibly 2 new liturgists

+Create schedule for 11 liturgists for the whole school year

+Find out when I should receive the liturgy packets...copy and prepare for each liturgist

--Stay consistent on letting Charlie (new pup) out to establish good potty habits

--Catch up on my house! It's a mess!

What's been driving me crazy?

--Mary's emotional roller coasters...what will puberty be like??

--Buggy computers

--Weeds all over the back yard and in beds

--Swollen uvula that is better now...thank goodness!

--My messy house

What's been making me happy lately?

--Charlie! He's adorable and very easy so far! I didn't expect this!

--Our new camper...It was a great trip to Lake Michigan and the camper fit our needs perfectly

--I love volunteering at the Care Service. There is SO much to learn...which makes it challenging and rewarding at the same time. I feel very humble interviewing clients and listening to the run down of their financial situation.

--How good Ted is. How could I do this all without him??

--Knowing that I will have two free days a week; with Mary in Mom's Day Out and Ben starting full time Kindergarten! What will it be like to have one child home with me every day??

More Volunteering?

I remember, when I just had Mary, and Ben was only 18 months old...feeling a great desire to be a part of the world that was "out there"...the one that I saw other people participating in, but I felt like I was stuck in my home. It was a particularly hard time for me. I like to have time to do things I enjoy and at that time, I felt all I could do was take care of my children and my house and those two things were all encompassing. I knew I didn't want it any different, however. I knew I always wanted four children and this is what I would have to go through before things got easier. I remember talking to my mother-in-law and saying I would like to work for our Care Service some day. The Care Service is a Crisis Intervention Agency that is associated with my parish. Basically, it's a community outreach for the needy. I remember telling her that and feeling like it would be so far away before I could do something like that...but now the time is here!

Just yesterday, I met with the Case Manager Supervisor at the Care Service. Me and three others were given a tour, told about the organization and it's goals, and explained what a Case Manager does. I found myself so happy to be there! Like this was the place I wanted to be a part of for a long time! There was another woman there who sat off to the side. I wondered why she was there. I found out that the organization was working to get accredited and this woman, Nancy, was in charge of that process. When I heard what would be involved for her...documenting the procedures for every job, making sure everything was written up in step by step format....I got really excited! That it was I gravitate to! I do it naturally whether I'm told to or not! I remember when I was preparing for my maternity leave with Sam, I made a manual on my job! And when I was asked to take over scheduling for the call center, I had to take this man's gut feelings on numbers and get formulas out of him so someone else could do the job. And when I did PTO, it drove me crazy that there was little in writing on how to do the job. All year as President, I documented everything I did and wrote up procedures so the next person would find it easier. This is what I like to do! And this woman was doing it! I wanted to work for her!

My excitement came across the table when I am telling her that I could help, in any small way she needs it. Before I knew it, I was asked to help on the committee and I'm scheduled to train tomorrow at 1pm. She said a lot of it would probably be computer work at home. Not only this, but I still want to do the Case Manager job. They needed someone on Fridays and they happen to work a shorter shift on Friday. Case Managers work 10-1pm! No problem! Mary will be in Mom's Day Out on Mondays and Fridays 9:30-2:30...this would work perfectly! I walk in signing up for one job and walk out with two.

Just days ago, I was wondering if I was making the jump to the Care Service to quickly. I only have two five hour days free and I'm giving one of them up. Am I crazy? And didn't I offer to help the school? I was getting worried that I was starting this too soon with a child still needing care at home. The PTO was evening and weekend events with a lot of at home planning. Helping the school and the Care Service was out of the house...and I had less of that time. But for some reason, I was being pulled in that direction. And now, after meeting at the Care Service, I think it will fit perfectly. It will fit because it will feel rewarding for me to use my time this way. What else would I do? Digital Scrapbook? Maybe I can do that on Mondays :-)

Eminence Pics

Despite our travel blues (detailed in previous blog)...we had a great trip at Eminence. I thought I would show you how much:

Float trip down the Jack's Fork river with Kyle, Sam and Lisa

Sam and Kyle spend their days catching crawdads, minnows and turtles...

Me and Mary on the beach...

Enjoying a short float in the river with my Women's Group friends...

Dan and Ann enjoying some time together on the river

Singing campfire songs

Sam jumps of the rocks!

Ben used that net to catch many minnows!!

My brother Joel and his son Calvin.

Angels, Trailers and Automobiles

They say when you can't come up with a title, you should write first and then it will be easier. I'm trying to figure out how to bring a title to the mixture of awesome fun and fear and anxiety we experienced on our vacation at Eminence. Let's start with the ride down. I decided to go down early with my sister and her family and Ted will follow later to save on some vacation time. Ted hitched up for me the night before and we left in the morning to meet my sister's family at a meeting spot. Once we were on our way, things seemed to go well. I followed my brother-in-law so I would only have to worry about driving and not directions. Suddenly, I noticed some swaying. This did not start as a small sway, it seemed to be a severe sway right away. As much as I want to remember how this happened, I can't. Was I distracted and then did a strong correction to the wheel? I would think I would remember that! It seemed to come out of the blue. I've had little sway before and would hold onto my wheel tightly to not let it affect the direction of my car. I got out of it easily. It can be caused sometimes by a big tractor trailer zooming by, having too much weight in the rear of the trailer, and/or correcting the wheel. This time, however, I did NOT get out of it easily. I swerved back and forth to try to keep myself going straight. Abby was yelling from the back seat, "Mom!! What are you doing??" In an instant, I found myself driving off the road and down a grassy embankment.

We were all in a state of shock over what just happened. I DID say a prayer of protection over our vehicles before we left that morning. We always do that before every trip. My dad taught me that and set that example for me when I was a kid. I believe the fact that there were no cars for me to run into and that we safely drove off the road without flipping. God sent me many "angels" that day to help me out. I never felt abandoned. The first angel was a man who pulled over immediately to make sure we were all OK. None of us had anything wrong with us...no scratches, bruises...nothing! We didn't hit anything, so there was no reason to be hurt! He used his Onstar and got us the highway patrol almost immediately. They came, asked me questions, and then called my next angel, Butch. Really, his name was Butch. At this time, Paul and Lisa were just coming back since they were ahead of me on the highway. Paul (my third angel) corralled the kids and took them all to the nearest McDonald's while we took care of all the details. I called Ted, who was working at home, and he said he was on his way (he's always my angel).

Butch looked at my trailer and said it was a jackknife and that I was lucky I owned a Suburban. He has seen people towing loads that their car can't handle. Just three weeks ago, they pulled a young family with a 30 foot trailer out of an embankment across the highway from my accident. They flipped their trailer and totaled it. How did I keep mine upright? Duh. I don't know...I don't even know how it all started to begin with. Maybe it was my angels. They had dogs in their trailer (big NO NO) that had pooped all over the trailer during the accident. Those poor dogs! Back to Butch. Amazingly, the damage came from jackknifing and it was just a small corner of my trailer eaten up. When we opened the door to the trailer, it was like every holding area vomited. The refridgerator door was swinging open with all of it's contents strewn all over the floor...including my favorite marinade which opened up and baptized anything in it's path. It smelled like I was about to cook my trailer. Clothes had been thrown from the closet, plates and cups were all over, fire wood made a dent in the door, canned goods made dents on my counter. It was a mess. Butch and his brother were trying to close my slide out that unlocked and were trying to step between the mess. "Don't smash my bread!" I'm thinking..."I'll need it this week!"

Can you believe I never once thought I wasn't going on my trip? I spent so much time packing this trailer, and excitement with the kids dreaming about this trip...I was NOT turning around! Butch took his big rig and pulled us out of the ditch and onto the service road next to the highway. Paul took the kids, in shifts, to McDonald's. Lisa (my other angel) followed me back to the tow truck brothers' shop and helped me clean up the inside. Ted dealt with Butch and his brother over the details. Butch fixed our Suburban up with two new tires to replace the flattened ones. Lisa and I put everything back where it belonged and used Clorox wipes to clean up every surface. When we were done, you would not believe anything had ever happened to it! I gave my sister a big hug and thanked her for being there for me and sacrificing her vacation day to help me out.

During all of this, I was remarkably calm. It was probably shock. What was going to happen to our treasured annual trip to Eminence, MO? To you it may sound like a podunk town, but to me it is the place that holds a million memories from my youth until now. I couldn't disappoint the kids! We HAD to make this trip. Ted called the insurance company and he said we could take the trailer on the trip and have it looked at later, if we wanted. But when we talked to Butch and he honestly told us what he would do if it was his family... leave it here. Why take the risk? What if there was structural damage done to the hitch...a crack or something...that we can't see? We knew then and there we weren't taking our trailer. I started calling Eminence. Eminence holds a horse show this time of year every year. Everything was booked over the weekend, but this was Tuesday so I found a motel that would take us until Friday...then we would have to check out. This was better than nothing!

Ted now had obviously abandoned his day off. He was going to take us to Eminence. The three of us unloaded the trailer and filled the Suburban with it's contents. Ted left his golf clubs, and beer to keep the room in the truck...but we still couldn't fit all the kids. Paul called the Decker's (our other angels) who were on their way. They swung by McDonald's, picked up some of my sister's kids so Lisa would have room in her car for a few of our kids. They also brought us McDonald's. We loaded up our remaining kids and headed off to Eminence!

You might ask if it was all worth it. Yes! The trip was awesome. We slept in our hotel room but spent the full day at the campsite with our friends and family. Not once did I feel like we didn't have a home because we hung out with each family (11 families camped with us) and our truck always had what we needed in it. It all felt like home to me. How grateful I am for all of those people...and how they all showed their concern for us and made us feel happy to be there.

When the weekend came, Lisa reminded me that my brother, his fiance and son would be moving out of my parents trailer and that would make room for us. Why didn't I think of this? So the last two nights were spent full time at the campground and happily in my parent's trailer. My parents are my perpetual angels!

Occasionally, Ted was busy with phone calls to straighten out the camper situation, but overall, we enjoyed our vacation without a huge shadow of worry about what was to come. However, our adventures weren't over. Butch called Ted and told him we had a flat tire on our Sonata (the one Ted left in St. Clair with the trailer. Angel, Butch, filled it with air for us while we were on our trip. And that's not all...when it was time to head home, by parents followed us. On one big hill, Ted heard our transmission strain. After much stopping and starting to try different things to fix it, we decided our tranny was going out. My angel parents started and stopped each time with us...pulling off the road whenever we needed to check on something. The transmission would not shift into 4th gear and therefore would strain at 50 mph. We couldn't go over 50. We knew this would not be safe on the major highways and decided to pull into a Chevy dealership. How did we know where the Chevy dealership was? A friend of ours stalled near it on the way down in HIS Suburban and had his car fixed there. See what I mean? Angels everywhere. Anyway, after much deliberation, we piled ourselves into my dad's car and AGAIN unloaded all of our stuff and put it in their trailer. Me, Sam and Abby were not safely restrained in the back of my dad's Mountaineer. I was scared! It did not want to take any chances, but knew we just needed to get home and we were an hour away from Ted's car with the flat tire. Then we could split up and be safe.

I need to wrap up this overly long story. It ends with a $2500 transmission repair, a $750 deductible on the trailer and $10,000 worth of damage to the trailer that is not worth $10,000. We're sure the insurance company will decide to total it. Ted's car made it home with the air Butch gave us, but we got all the tires replaced after that. More decisions need to be made. Do we wait to buy our trailer? Do we buy one before our next trip at the end of this month? Do we stay with our parents when we go to Illinois beach? Lots of questions to answer...I hope our angels help us answer them...

A Snapshot

What's at the top of my to-do list?
--Make a final grocery list for our Eminence camping trip
--Visit friend in the hospital tomorrow
--Pick up canoe from sister's house this weekend to take down to Eminence

What have I accomplished?
--Put together a bunch of songs to sing around the campfire. Made chord sheet for guitarists and lyrics sheets for singers.
--Organized all of the volunteers for our swim team (about 33) to work the last two meets. Some of it has been crazy...but fun too.
--Finished up a week of Vacation Bible School

What's been driving me crazy?
--The multiple times I have to take Mary to the bathroom at the pool. I swear she is drinking all the pool water!

What has disappointed me?
--I have totally been thrown off my Jazzercize track. Have things gotten busier? Or have I lost the motivation to work on the usual busyness of my life? Either way, I'm disappointed in my lack of discipline to get myself there. Yes, I like Jazzercize, but for some reason I've lost my momentum.

What's my latest obsession?
--I'm excited about the puppy. I set out Charlie's new feeding bowls as a reminder of the change that is about to hit our house. Or should I say the tornado that is about to hit our house. I know having a puppy isn't easy. I've done it before. No more shoes can be left lying around unless I want them to be chewed up. No toys left on the floor that can be swallowed. I need to be ready for accidents. I need to be ready to be on constant duty during that critical house breaking period. I want to do it right. I'm also thinking about the fun things...the kids enjoying Charlie, walks with him, making him a part of our family. He just turned 4 weeks old today. We'll get him when he is 10 weeks old. We have 6 weeks to get ready for the big change in our house...
--Not really an obsession...but my latest thought: Ted just told me he'd be willing to change his stance on the type of flooring we put in our family room. He's always pushed for carpet and just today told me that he's willing to let me put wood in there like we want for the rest of the living areas (eventually). I'm thinking engineered hardwood would be perfect. That way we could install it ourselves (or pay someone to help us). We can't afford to do this now...and who knows when we will...but at least I won't worry anymore about those accidents Charlie will have.

What's been making me happy?
--All the outdoor fun with my family. I love being outside...trips to the pool, walks in the neighborhood, swim meets, softball games, etc.
--Spending more time with the kids. It's great having them home for the summer...and not having to do carpool!
--I just cut Mary's hair to a short bob. No more tangles. But what happened to my baby? She's my little girl now.
--Mary got to finally change her earrings for the first time since they've been pierced. She is now wearing her new cupcake earrings that her aunt bought her for pooping in the potty. She is so proud!
--I'm looking forward to our trip to Eminence. We are meeting about 11 families there! It has just grown and grown every year!
--My brother and his girlfriend got engaged! We will celebrate in Eminence because they are coming too! All the way from New Orleans!

And Puppy Makes Seven!

Yup. I consider my husband to be very predictable. Very. I need to talk about things about 6 months before I really want them to prepare him for change. Five years ago I know I could not share a home with a puppy and baby again. Since my babies are not babies anymore, I started opening my heart a little bit to the possibility of a dog in our home again. About a month ago we spontaneously led my family into the pet store (you should never go in there with kids unless you are actually ready for pet ownership...EVERYONE wants a dog after a visit to the petstore!). We brought two "Zuchons" into a room with our family to play (A Zuchon is a mix between Bichon Friese and Shih-tzu). The kids loved them. Of course. I've seen Ben and Mary go from crazed, dog fearing children to actually pet the neighbor dog across the street. After that experience, Ted said he might be ready for a dog again...maybe after my trip to Australia. I left it at that.

Then, we went to our babysitter's house for her graduation party two weeks ago. Our babysitter is also family... her dad is Ted's cousin. Anyway, they own two Shih-tzus. They told me her grandma breeds them! Her grandmother, Beverly, owns one male Shih-tzu, one female Shih-tzu and one female Bichon Friese! Which means she breeds full-breed Shih-tzus and Zuchons! To top it off, both females were pregnant! The Zuchons were born May 28th and the Shih-tzus were born June 6th. Lydia called me the next day to let me know about the new Shih-tzus. I told her our concern about Australia and she said she would watch the puppy if we needed! I laughed. I knew that was not Ted's only reason for not taking a dog on right now. I told Ted that we had a sitter...did he still want to wait? I told him he total freedom to say no and I would go along with whatever he decided. He told me we could go for it! What a surprise!

As we were planning our trip to Kansas City this week for Ted's 40th, Ted surprised me further by saying, "Let's go to Samantha's grandma's house on the way down to Kansas City!" I couldn't believe it. My predictable, safe husband can not be so easily put in a box. He was showing me some new colors. We visited the pups and decided to go with the male Zuchon (the female was taken). I didn't really like the coloring of the female Shih-tzu (mostly black), so I guess that's why I went with the Zuchon. Above is a picture of Ted holding the puppy to be named. I would like to call him "Charlie", but I'm getting ideas from the kids, too. We like "Jack", too...but I prefer two syllable names. Ted liked "Tiger" for Tiger Woods...but I think that sounds too feline.

Beverly gave us a great price. We put money down and agreed we would pick him up after our camping trip to Illinois Beach State Park (August 5th or 6th?) when the puppy will be 10 weeks old. We signed a simple agreement... and off we went to Kansas City!

While we were in Kansas City, Ted played a lot of golf, we ate out, slepted in, had free hot breakfasts, ate dessert every night and enjoyed each other's company! It was awesome! We even shopped for our future puppy. We got a dog dish, leash, collar, book on puppies, dog shampoo, detangler, and a couple of toys. I couldn't be happier.

Bad Blogger

I've not been good about TELLING you what I'm doing, so I decided to SHOW you.

A Snapshot

What's at the top of my to-do list?
--Pack up last minute items for camping trip tomorrow. We're leaving for Meramec State Park for the Memorial Weekend. I look forward to getting away with my family, my sister's family and my parents.
--Catch up laundry before leaving

What have I accomplished?
--I sent out a volunteer schedule to 47 families that contained 205 shifts! It was a big job and I'm so glad it's DONE. I also sent out a family directory with e-mails and phone numbers if anyone needs to trade with someone.
--I packed up the trailer for the trip and brought it down to the campground yesterday. I caravaned with my dad and brother in law who also brought down their campers. We brought down our campers early and left them there so we were guaranteed a spot. We didn't register in time. This worked out great because it's only an hour and 15 minutes away. Thank God my mom watched the kids!
--Did my last Children's Liturgy for the season! Yaayyy! Now I get a 3 month break.

What's been bothering me lately?
--My long hair! I got it chopped off to shoulder length this week. She called it a Sha-bob (a cross between an shag and a bob). I really like it! It will be much better for summer.
--Another buggy computer. ARrgghh. We need to have my brother, the computer guy, check it out.

What's my latest obsession?
--Finishing that Swim Team volunteer schedule has cleared the plate for new obsessions! I worked on that thing around the clock!
--Starting to think about a dog again. I have settled on the Shih-tzu breed...although "settled" is a poor word for it...I really like the breed! They don't yap like the terriers. They are good for the alergy prone because of their low dander and non-shedding hair. They are small and easier to care for (as long as you don't mind taking them to the groomers). And they are CALM. Now we just have to wait for the right time. Which leads me to my next obsession...
--I started the process of purchasing the plane ticket for Australia. I got $1000 in gift cards through our Shop for Our School program. My next step is to get my cash rewards from my Capital One card and then purchase the ticket! Because of my trip, Ted doesn't think we should get a dog before then. So I'm holding on to this grungy, disgusting carpeting in my family room because I will NOT get new carpeting with dog that is not house broken. But can I wait over a year? I guess I'll have to. Either that, or get a dog sooner. But Ted won't go for that.

What's been making me happy?
--Mary finally going poop on the toilet!! Yaaayy! She's getting so big. Where has the time gone?
--School is almost out! Ben is graduating from preschool tonight. I'm really looking forward to the casual, non-scheduled (almost) summer. Sam has his last golf lesson tonight and then it's just Abby's softball for another month and a half.
--Looking forward to camping this weekend.
--Ted has been working from home more. This has been really nice...and we're saving on gas money!!
--The beautiful weather!
--Keeping up to date with my friends using "Twitter". Check it out at "twitter.com"
--I'm SO GLAD that David Cook won the American Idol Finals!!!

Ben and Mary at the Doctor's Office

This morning I took Ben and Mary to the doctor's office for their well exam. Ben needed his shots for Kindergarten and Mary needed a shot, too. I realized I would need to tell them this because I had forgotten to. We talked about the shots...we prayed for courage...and boom! They got them and all was well! I was so proud of them. They each turns on the examining table and when the doctor said that he could see they were fully potty trained because they were wearing underpants...I said, "Well...Mary won't poop in the toilet". He turned to Mary and told her she's big enough now and needs to poop in the toilet. The pull ups are gone now. I look at Mary, watching her take it all in and nodding her head.

When we got home, after eating lunch, Mary announced that she needed a pull up. I took a deep breath and said, "Mary, remember what the Doctor said? He said you are big enough now. Let's poop on the toilet." At first she protested, but then she went a long with it. I sat her on the toilet and out comes the poop!! Just like that!! My daughter had pooped in the toilet!! I called the doctor's office and left a message with the nurse that again, he had poop trained another child with his serious talk in the office! Praise God! I told Mary we could now pierce her ears. She was so proud and amazed at how easy it was. The next couple of hours she would say sporadically, "Guess what, Mom! I pooped in the toilet!"

I can't believe it. Finally. Both kids potty trained. Now if I can keep her dry at night.

"I'll Get You Moving!"

The title of my blog cracks me up because it is actually a slogan of a Real Estate Agent in our area. She has this pasted on every billboard advertising her services. Whenever I see it, all I can think of is BM's. You know...bowel movements? Is this just me? Does everyone look at that slogan and think the same thing? Is she our enema in the world of real estate? Of course, our family has often been accused of turning every conversation into one about the bowels. I don't know how it happens, but it takes someone outside of the family to make us aware of it, because we are so used to it, we aren't even aware it's happening. So this may explain why I look at this billboard this way. And you have to admit, the topic of this blog somehow gravitates to poop more than I would expect. I really don't want it to. Can you think of a lower form of existence than poop?

The above paragraph I wrote a couple of days ago. I don't remember where I was going with it...I know that Mary was constipated and I had to give her a suppository and now everything is operating correctly. So I'm just going to post this and pretend it was a full blog.

Loving the Outdoors!!

I'm loving this weather! This weekend Abby played her last two soccer games. The season was delayed because of rain, but it was worth waiting for the good weather. We celebrated Ben's 5th birthday on Sunday by going to Pizza Street and opening his gifts. He got a "new" bike (hand me down from Sam...with added training wheels), and a new race car Wii game. Lately, we've been enjoying the outoors whenever we can. Ben really enjoys playing wiffleball and has me pitch to him. And he loves his new bike! We are a corner house on a court, so we have the perfect street to practice bike riding (on the court side). I can tell Mary wants one now, too. Those tricycles were never popular with them. As soon as Ben got his bike, she said she wanted one, too....a Hello Kitty one. I'm thinking Abby's old bike will do. We'll see how it looks.

The only shadow cast on the past couple of days was Mary's constipation! She wanted to be held a lot and complained constantly. At Abby's last soccer game, I consulted the mom's and one was a nurse and suggested a suppository or enema. I tried a suppository on Mary last night and finally, with much pain, it came out! She refused to poop until this suppository and then she just didn't have a choice. This morning I had to do it again and since she refused to wear a pull up, I caught the poop with my wipe lined hands! What we do for our children! I think when we've gone to heaven and God shows us our life, He'll say to her, "And this is what she did for you here, and then she put up with this and look-she caught your poop here!"

It was all worth her glee when that devil was out! Does this remind you of another time in my life? It's all about poop I tell you.

This n That

Laptop getting funky on me--This isn't my excuse for not posting in a while...but we're in the process of transferring everything from my old laptop to my NEW laptop. Whew! Crazy! It all started when my old laptop started getting funky on me. I decided to make use of that new fangled back up hard drive and plugged it in to save all my precious files. Of course, those were just files...what about all the info in Outlook? My e-mail address, contact information, street addresses, directions to people's houses, deleted e-mails, sent e-mails are all in there! I can't lose that! And of course all the work I put into my digital scrapbook pages...those can't be lost either! This is one very good reason to have everything backed up on an external hard drive. I love that thing! I put all of my pictures on it from 2003 to the present, because CD's are not considered to be the safest storage method. I found this from a Creative Memories consultant, who I consider to be the expert on this stuff. Anyway, because my laptop is over 3 years old and acting funny (overheating and the screen turns black with no notice), we decided to get a new laptop. We got a very cheap one because I don't need anything fancy...but they're all fancy now. Ted got a funny look from the sales guy when he asked if it was wireless, because it didn't state this anywhere. Well, let's just say now we are supposed to ASSUME that every laptop is wireless! Duh! They are on to way fancier features to brag about in their advertising.


So now I am typing on my new laptop and my figures are slipping across the keys. What? No sticky peanut butter? Where's the letter that was jammed? I can see the screen so clearly...where did all the fingerprints go? Never fear...I'm sure this one will start displaying the same characteristics as the old one did...but not if I can help it.


Good bye, PTO!--Today I wrapped up some of the last minute duties of my PTO position. I went up to school to take Sam to get his lower braces installed (well...what other word should I use??), and while I was there, I discussed the calendar dates for next year with the principal, returned the 5th grade teachers jump drive, received the essays from the essay contest for $500 worth of help on one lucky 7th grader's tuition for next year, sat through Sam's appointment, returned him to school fulled braced, and drove to Barnes and Noble to drop off the artwork that will be displayed at our Book Fair this weekend. Whew!!

Tomorrow night is my last Board meeting, where I hand everything over, and I feel myself slightly sentimental about it. I was packing up a bag to give to the new President and felt a little sad to let it go. I won't miss the stress...but will I miss that feeling of being totally connected? Will I feel out of the loop? I'm sure other things will take it's place and I won't, but they were still feelings that were there. I'm in a different place then when I first took it on. The past two years have given me an idea of where I want to go and how I want to help in the future. I wouldn't trade it for anything...but at the same time, I wouldn't want to do it all over again.


Father Daughter Dance--We just had the most awesome Father Daughter dance! It was our best of event of the year! We had no idea how popular it would be! We had 100 daughters and with their dads, brought us to the total of 180 people at this event. The girls had a BLAST singing along to their favorite songs, dancing slow and fast with dad, getting their professional picture taken and eating and drinking to their hearts contents. It was a complete success! I think I want to do set up and clean up next year just so I can be there again.


Jazzercise--With the onset of spring, and the busyness of Abby in soccer AND softball, Sam learning golf and doing regional band, there has been little time for Jazzercise. I'm ashamed to say I've only managed a once a week attendance the past 2 weeks. I already have a plan for summer though. The kids go to swim practice at 9:30am. That's enough time for me to do the one hour workout at 8:15am (if I leave a little early).


Volunteer Coordinator for Swim Team--I think I am a volunteeraholic now! I had no idea how much fun volunteering can be! I swear you get more out of it than you give! We had our swim team sign up and I've been busy e-mailing last years' team with info, making forms on the computer, plugging people into spreadsheets and tracking their availabilities so I can schedule them for the meets. I love this stuff! The meets are a little bit of a juggle because they are the same nights as our Men's and Women's Group meetings. ARgghh! So we have to get a babysitter for every one and I might miss a couple of Women's Groups until I hit a groove in this job and Ted can help out when I'm not there. So far, it's easy, fun and stress-free! Because I'm doing this, I won't have to work a job at the meet. My busy times will be before the meet and in between the first half and second half when the new volunteers take over. I'll be able to watch the kids swim! I tell you , it's the way to go!


Abby and Soccer--Abby has been quite the little soccer player lately. She's very good at sticking with people as a defender, but recently, the coach has let her run up to offense when she gets a chance and has been scoring goals now! I'm really enjoying watching her games.


Toontown--Now Mary is hooked on Toontown along with Ben! This is not fun! My computers on the main level are totally taken. However, now that I have a new laptop...Mary is on the quirky one, I'm on the new one and we are all happy. Don't we sound disfunctional?? Hahaha. Well, I'm not happy they are playing on the computer so much, but it's hard to take them off when it makes them so happy. And it's hard to get them out of the house for anything like the zoo, or a visit with friends, when our days are interrupted with taking Ben to school at 12:15pm. This summer, I hope to get them out of the house more. This should help our computer problem. Actually, they have also been really into legos lately...so that is a good break from the computers.


Camping Plans--We've set up three camping trips for the summer: Meramec State Park over Memorial Weekend, Eminence over the Fourth of July, and Illinois State Park on Lake Michigan towards the end of July. I remember when we used to do 6-7 trips from Spring through the Fall. Now as the kids get older, our calendar gets busier and it's just too much work to be gone for short trips. I like the longer ones better.




I guess that's enough for you to chew on for now. Have a good one!

The Transformations of Spring

Last night I went to my CRHP group meeting, and at the "Good News and Intentions" portion of the meeting I shared something I've been thinking about lately. My good news was tightly linked with my intentions. My good news is that my two younger children, Ben and Mary, ages 4 1/2 and 3 respectively, are maturing beyond my imagination. They are more independent, better able to entertain themselves without my constant attention, and bringing forth personalities that are irresistible to me! I enjoy being around them! I'm also ending my PTO term soon...I will have more responsibility-free time!!

The change in Ben has been happening for a while, but Mary's is more recent. This is where my intention comes in...with this new found happiness in our household, I am finding myself searching for things to do and sometimes wondering how to spend my time. Inevitably, my old habits are still there of staying in the house and getting as much done as I can because time is valuable. I want to make a mind shift. I want to do take the kids out more and enjoy their company. It won't be long before they are in school full time. Yesterday, we went to Walmart to get some things I could only get there (it's not as convenient as Target is to me so I don't go there much). As we were leaving, I decided to check out the Subway that was in the Walmart to see if they had food for kids. They did! They had pizza! I told the kids to sit down while I waited in line...they did! As I waited, I looked over at them and watched them do something so simple that brought me great joy. Just the fact that they sat there quietly, happily talking to each other...was a huge deal. I savored the moment. When I brought back the food, we ate and talked. We were enjoying some time out together! I want to do this more!

As my PTO term comes to an end (14 days left, but who's counting), my mind will be freer in addition to my time. My other intention was that the new space does not become a dumping ground for anything and everything that comes along. I already see things sneakily seeping into that space. When I see them, I think, how did THAT get there...oh yah....I forgot I opened the door to that a while ago. They are volunteering tasks that are building up:
--I help with music at the monthly nursing home masses.
--I'm going to help coordinate the volunteers for the swim team this summer
--I'm helping with this big marketing effort for our school
--I told the principal to call on me this summer if she needs some administrative help

Now, before you say, "What is she doing??" Do remember that I really enjoy these things. I'm home full time and these activities are the playground for my brain! I just want to remember balance and not let them get bigger than my family and my priorities at home. As long as I'm not "in charge" and I'm helping the big picture...I'm happy and the job is more enjoyable. You'll be happy to know that I turned down a nomination for the school board. I'm trying to do things that I will really enjoy and not add anything that feels like a major responsibility.

My goals for this spring...take Ben and Mary out more. Take them to the park, the zoo, the mall. Pretty soon it will be dreadfully hot and we'll only want to go the pool. I just love the spring! The cool air that doesn't suffocate you, but allows you to breath freely! The sun that brings warmth that is just enough that you don't sweat. It's perfect for walks, bike rides and site seeing. I guess my life is going through a "spring" of sorts. The freezing air of my PTO responsibilities are blowing away and in it's place is a warmer, more refreshing air. The safe, but dark cocoon of this house is opening up because a butterfly is ready to come out! Make that three butterflies!

The Blinking Cursor Stage

A couple of days ago, I talked about the blinking cursor I was staring at. In a way, I'm in a little bit of a "blinking cursor stage" in my life. This isn't a bad thing. It's really kinda good. I think of the "blinking cursor stage" as a time to think and process where to go next. Kind of like on the computer when there is a blinking cursor...you just said some things and now you are trying to figure out what you are going to say next. I'm finishing up a big chapter of PTO, taking care younger, needy kids, watching my niece once a week... and I'm moving on to a little more freedom. This is a time to pause and say, "How do I spend this extra time?" Yes...as you've noticed...my mind has already moved on to helping school and helping an outreach organization in our church. But still, those are seeds of thought that I can't really act on yet. They really won't start until the next school year. So I am at pause. Not a pregnant pause...whew...just a pause.

I guess I don't let my mind stay idle long. Sometimes this is not a good thing. I want to make sure that God has room to play in there. I want to make sure my mind is not so noisy that I can't hear God's whisper to me. If we overload our schedule, we don't have time to help anybody, much less ourselves. And we don't have time to act on God's promptings. I hope I stay still long enough to hear him. And I hope he tells me something really good!

Pictures! Finally!

I'm bad about posting pictures. Sorry. Here are some from Easter when I celebrated turning 39!! And some others from the Zoo.

This N That

My little cursor is blinking. A black line on a white page. It just keeps blinking as if it were saying, "Come on! Don't you have anything to say?" Maybe it's that I have so much to say and I don't know where to start? Or maybe I've been DOING so much that I haven't had thoughts to share? I guess this is when I do my "This n That" blogs. Let's just see what's on my mind right now. It's like the Russian Roulette of thoughts.

--McTeacher night is tonight. I need to work the 6pm-8pm shift. I actually like this. I just go up and socialize with J&A teachers and parents. Ted will watch the kids.
--I have 22 days left as the PTO President. I'm a little stressed that we don't have anyone interested in the VP position. I keep trying to give it to God, knowing that he has someone picked out. We've contacted everyone we can think of. Our Secretary said she would do it as a back up, but I'm not too sure she really wants to. Our election meeting is the 17th. Times a tickin'.
--The kids are playing together right now. Talking and laughing. I don't know that there is anything that sounds lovelier to me. Thank you, God.
--For the first time in a LONG time, I am all caught up in my albums. I went digital as soon as I got my paper albums caught up and it's been so much easier to keep up digitally. I'm lovin' it! I can't wait to have a book actually made. I'm a long way from that, though.
--I have my Women's Group retreat in a week and a half. I'm really looking forward to it.
--I'm also looking forward to getting away for Ted's birthday. I can't write details because he reads my blog. He's turning the big 40. I wish we could do more than we are doing, but we're trying to watch our money until we pay off the new family room furniture. Some day we'll take a nice trip.
--I had a dinner party last Friday night. It was great! We started with French Onion Soup and then we had chicken and vegetable kabobs with a salad. We finished with a brownie trifle. YUM!! My new thing is trifles! I bought a trifle dish through Pampered Chef. It hasn't come in yet, but I borrowed one from a friend. The one I made has layers of cut brownies, cheesecake and chocolate pudding and whip cream. Oh my gosh...it's absolute heaven! And the perfect spring/summer dessert! You can do fruit trifles with pound cake, brownie trifles and more. I can't wait to experiment with them all. People will get sick of my trifles by the time summer is over...."Damn! She's bringing over ANOTHER trifle dish!"
--This summer we plan on camping at Illinois Beach State Park on Lake Michigan. We'll also go to Eminence, MO for an extended fourth of July weekend. My friend, Jackie, has commissioned me to make a book of campfire sing a long songs like "Brown Eyed Girl", American Pie, you get the drift. I started on this last summer and then shelved it for a bit. I think it's time to get it out so I can have it all ready for the trip. I have to find chords and everything. It's a big job.
--Still lovin' Jazzercise. It's so busy, I'm only getting in two a week.
--I've managed to maintain an 11 pound weight loss. It's coming off slower now. I need to step it up a notch.
--I just watched a "Bringing Home Baby" on TLC while I was folding clothes. At first I was put off about how rosy they were bringing their baby home and saying "we don't care how much sleep we get, we are excited to have a new baby!"...and then they'd show shots of them all bonding in each other's arms on the couch. As time progresses, they start looking less smiley and more haggard. Then their statements were more like "This is hard work!"...and..."I can't get anything done because she wants me to hold her all the time!". I like real TV. I like real pictures. People need to be prepared! It's hard work...mixed with little joys a long the way, of course. I'm just amazed that I can look at babies now, love them, hold them, kiss them and treasure the moment....and then not want another one for myself. I feel complete! I've got my four and I'm happy. Sometimes I fear a surprise pregnancy. I picture my reaction and how I might feel. Would I fear that I would go back to that dark place after having Ben and Mary? I don't know. I just know I'm very happy where I'm going and where the kids are now.
--Just recently I started thinking about what next year will be like...with two days a week free. I think I might volunteer one day. I might split the day with the Care Service (helps people who are struggling to keep their house, pay the bills....it's a pantry too. It's connected with our parish). And then I might spend the other half of the day helping our office at school. I'm hoping that through spending this time in both places, I can find a part time paying job once Mary goes to full time school. This a new thought for me, but it feels so right. When I thought of this path, I immediately felt happy...like I had a purpose. At first I thought, "Why even work if it's for a small wage?". Recently I thought of how much I admire people who work for low wages for the sake of helping a good cause. Of course, I could continue volunteering and not get paid, but I would feel better if I brought in SOME money to help with high school. I'll just start on this journey and see where God takes me. I'm pretty open minded right now.
--Mary is telling me she wants to use the "waptop". Now she's telling me she has "a wot of hello kitties on my shirt". I asked her "how many" to keep her busy while I type.

Ok...it's hard to focus now. But I was able to regurgitate pretty many thoughts for you. Now you have a snapshot of where I am. Actually, it's a very good snapshot. Now it's time to get things done.

Busy, Busy, Busy

I can't even tell you all that I'm busy with. It's all little stuff. I guess I can start with what was (or still is) on my dry erase board this week:
--Sign up Sam for CYC Instructional Golf this Spring
--Turn in updated Medical Info for Sam for Boy Scouts
--Schedule Sam's physical for sometime this summer (turn in physical paperwork for 6th grade)
--Deliver Creative Memories order to Teresa (Today)
--Make sure Ted brings Uppercase Living order for Cheryl to Men's group (to deliver to Paul who is married to Kay who knows and lives near Cheryl)
--Return pants to Kohl's
--Help Sam get his First Aid Kit together for Boy Scouts due by end of month...work on merit badge
--Design and print up tickets for Father/Daughter dance
--Write up Love Letter for Larry who is teaming for an ACTS retreat this weekend
--Send out e-mails to moms that principal recommended as possible VPs for next year...ask them if they are interested
--Call Music store...see if they have that little nut that holds in a guitar string

This is just a busy time of year. Getting the physicals in for next school year for those who need them (Sam and Ben), dental visits over Spring Break (Sam and Abby), registering for school (Sam, Abby and Ben) and Mom's Day Out (Mary). I'm just trying to knock out on thing at a time and get my breathers when I can. More later. It's too busy!! :-)

A Snapshot

What's at the top of my to-do list?
--Set out clothes for Spring pictures tomorrow
--Get the house back in order after a busy weekend
--Take Ben and Mary to the zoo while Ben is on Spring break (Sam's and Abby's is next week)
--Wash sheets after Ted's day of puking...yes you heard me
--Catch up in Ben and Mary's albums (the only ones left that are behind), so I can start digital scrapbooking!!! I'm so obsessed with getting this done. I've been behind since Ben and Mary were born. I'm almost caught up!! I vow to keep my scrapbook supplies on my dining room table until I'm caught up. I better finish in April, because Ben's birthday is May 6th!! I was intrigued by this digital scrapbooking when I went on my crop weekend...but thought it was too expensive to print a book. It was my friend, Stacey, who got me looking into again because she found an affordable option...Winkflash!! A website that prints your photobook at a much cheaper price!!!

--We're getting a computer fixed and bringing it into my bedroom for the kids who do NOT want to go downstairs to be on the computer... they will be able to go onto the one in my bedroom and I can have my laptop available to ME!

What have I accomplished?
--Hung mirror in family room (ok...Ted did that)
--Staying caught up on laundry with the "load a day" method
--Went on a date night with Ted and did NOT order off the Weight Watcher menu and enjoyed every minute of it. Followed THAT with a big chocolate candy bar purchase from the gas station and ate it during the movie. Did not count a single calorie
--Got to mass even though Ted was horribly sick. Managed to take Mary with me and had Sam watch Ben (Abby was at a slumber party and Sam had gone to the 5pm mass with Ted on Saturday--thank goodness!)
--Have kept my 10 pound weight loss holding steady. It's even creaped to 11, but I'm not counting it yet.
--Bought Creative Memories software for digital scrapbooking--Storybook Creator PLUS!!! It was instant gratification because I downloaded it! However, I'm putting off totally playing with it until I catch up my paper albums.

What's been bugging me?
--Mary is all over my scrapbooking efforts. Of course. I wouldn't expect her to do anything else. She is paging through my pictures, getting them out of order, looking for the ones with her in them, then she'll want to wear what's in the picture, so I have to get her angel dress from halloween and put it on her, and then she talks with spit spewing from her mouth (her mouth is just above the table) so I have to wipe the spit droplets from my pictures...*gaspforbreath*. She just cracks me up and she just goes non-stop. Talk, talk, talk, question, question, need. *sigh*. However, she is getting used to it all and I've noticed her interest in the whole thing, waning. This is what I hoped would happen! I just give her a pink pen and paper and she's happy!
--I was supposed to scrapbook at Archiver's today but Ted was sick so I stayed home. Oh well. It was a worse loss for him than it was me. It stinks to be sick on the weekend when you work full-time. Poor guy. He's staying home tomorrow to recooperate.
--We don't have a Vice President for next year's PTO board yet. Yikes.
--I WANT TO DIG INTO MY SCRAPBOOK SOFTWARE!! Breath...it's ok.
--Not having access to my computer. The kids are always on it. I'm looking forward to getting a computer in my room.

What's been making me happy?
--Mary. Can you believe it? Ever since my rant about that horrible weekend, she has totally improved! She's so much better. I'm actually enjoying her now. Thank you, God. I never had to resort to locking doors...didn't need to. Which reminds me... I should just stick to my instincts and trust that most of the stuff like that just blows over.
--DUH. Just the thought of digital scrapbooking...
--Spring is almost here and I'm ready! Goodbye winter!!

The Big Reveal!

It all started when I felt stuck with my full brick wall fireplace, when I decided to change the rest of the room instead and make the best of the wall that I had.

The first two pictures are what my family room looked like before...the rest are after:

The next two pictures show the two peices that pull it all together:

And this artwork...

It's mostly done. I have a mirror that needs to be hung over the couch, the mantel needs to be updated as well as the fireplace front. And I need a couple more peices for the walls. Oh yah, and new carpet! But it will happen in due time. This room is now more "me"...and it feels so good!!!

This N That

Mary--Today was a much better day. Mary didn't reach any of those dizzying heights that she reached last week. I just think sometimes they are more tired than normal and that can turn a typical, functioning 3 year old (is there such a thing?) into a raving lunatic. It doesn't mean she was an angel...she was just more of the Mary I know. I still want to make my changes of expecting more from her, I just thank God she is back to 'normal Mary'.

Family Room--Tomorrow we will be getting the two chairs delivered! I can't wait to see them because I forgot what my swatch looked like and I couldn't find it when I went back to the store. There is some bad news...the carpet will be much more expensive than I thought. I forgot to calculate waste. Argghhh. I just don't want to spend that money right now. I have to buy a plane ticket to Australia! We are less than a year away now! That will come first. We'll have to wait to replace our horribly old and stained carpeting. I like it when it's winter because when I'm entertaining this time of year, the sun goes down quicker and you can't see how bad the carpet is. However, Ben's birthday is in May. It will definitely be sunny then. Oh well. I don't really think my family cares.

Once the chairs are delivered and the mirror is hung above the couch...I will take my promised 'after pictures'. You'll just have to see it with old carpeting.

Ted is Back--It's so nice having Ted back home. He says his retreat went great and he's really glad he got to go. On Sunday we had a nice time catching up while the kids played outside in the 70 DEGREE WEATHER. Do you believe it is going to snow tonight? Welcome to Missouri!!! Anyway, I gradually told him about the Mary horror story and he sympathized, but was glad I came out of it more determined to stand my ground with her.

A Load a Day--Man, I'm bad. Would you believe I've already messed this one up?? I was thrown off by a busy morning of registering Mary for Mom's Day Out for next year, delivering the cousin's guitar hero they left at our house and then running Ben to school. I'll try to get back on track.

CRHP Meeting--I had a great CRHP meeting last night (on top of everything else this weekend!). We talked about the importance of doing an 'Examen'. When our leader for the night mentioned this, I wasn't sure what she was talking about. It's basically a review of the day. I used to journal in a binder nightly and realized I should get back to this because it was basically an examen. I would write what I was thankful for, how I failed that day, my intentions for others, and my own personal petitions. I decided to add a section where I could put any words of knowledge I received in mass, from others, from my groups, etc. This would make it possible for me to look back on them for encouragement. I also want to get better about my intentions which I have not updated. I made this binder after I wrote out my Rule...and decided I could do it from memory without writing it down. Now I know it won't happen if I don't write it.

Jazzercise--I'm so sad. I missed too much Jazzercise while Ted was gone. This week is so crazy with a Boy Scout meeting, a required meeting for parents of third graders, regional band practice, and a PTO Board meeting that I have no idea how I will squeeze in my two times during the week. I know Saturday will be a sure one. I think the only possible other day I can fit in is Wednesday. Darn.

Snow--The kids are probably going to be home tomorrow because of SNOW, SNOW, SNOW! We are supposed to get 4-8 inches. We've had 3 snow days already. This is when I keep kicking myself for not buying sleds at the beginning of the season. It will be my mission next year to get them BEFORE the first snowfall. My neighbor is getting frustrated with all the snow days. I'm not sure if it's because we're going to go later in the year, or if it's having all the kids home (she has four, too). All I know is that I'm a kid at heart and I LOVE snow days...even as a mom.