Day 6

July 25, 2008 – Friday – Day 6

0645 Wake up. Check my email and surf the net while I wait for the kids to wake up.

0730 Get everyone dressed and go to the house for breakfast.

After breakfast the kids are playing outside again with the cowboy guns and the rocks. All this fresh air is good for them. Mostly bug-free and humidity-free. Love it!

We decided to feed the animals this morning since we’ll be gone later this evening. When we go out to the field across the street, we find a hand stuck in a bush. There are many theories as to how it got there… we think maybe some guy was feeding the goats early this morning with his pajamas on. When he ran out of food, the sheep got mad and tore his hand off and took his pajama sleeve with it. Betty Lou called the ranch office to report it found but so far no one has called to claim it.

After all the hand and animal feeding excitement, it’s piñata time!

Lunch

1:30 p.m. Grandpa Ford, Ryan and I are all changed into our jeans and ready to head for the stables for our trail ride. This was Ryan’s first ride. He said it was really fun and pretty easy except watching out for branches. He caught one on his neck and got a little scratch. I, on the other hand, wasn’t paying attention and caught a pretty big branch on the top of my head. If I hadn’t had my sunhat on, I’m sure there would’ve been blood. Even now it still hurts. And then by the end of the ride my knees were sore. Aging ain’t for sissies as they say!

After our ride I get showered and have a little quiet time before we head into town for dinner with Grandpa H and Evelyn.

4:52 p.m. Leave ranch

6:21 p.m. Leave Grandpa’s house after drinks and hors-d'oeuvres.

6:27 p.m. Arrive at Mamacita’s Mexican restaurant. It’s like a newer, brighter Casa Bonita but most definitely not nearly as cool. Food was good but dinner was long. Lana, Betty Lou and I ordered cheesecake to bring home for dessert.

8:53 p.m. Back at the ranch

9:41 p.m. Get kids into pajamas and turn on Backyardigans. Go back to the house to eat my cheesecake.

And now I’m tired and ready for sleep!

Day 5

July 24, 2008 – Thursday – Day 5

0650 Wake up. Bella is already awake and playing with the mouse and cheese tic tac toe game. I check my email and the weather forecast. Looks like rain all day so we probably won’t be visiting the Alamo after all.

0723 Go inside (we sleep in the barn/guest house) for coffee and breakfast.

1000 Back to the barn to shower (me) and get dressed (all of us).

When I get back inside, James and Lana are watching the news. Looks like a tornado touched down in San Antonio.

Lunch time

12:57 p.m. Lana and the kids and I leave the ranch, headed for the San Antonio Airport to pick up Grandpa Ford.

Once we get out on the highway, Betty Lou calls with an updated forecast. A tornado warning has been issued and the storm is heading up the highway between us and the airport. We find the news radio station to listen for updates and keep driving with our fingers crossed. When we get to Boehrne, the clouds are dark and hanging so low it seems like you could just reach out and touch them. We are looking for a tornado but fortunately do not see any. I am very relieved to put those dark ominous clouds behind me. The weather is a little clearer (we must be between bands again!) until we get into the city and are exiting to the airport.

2:24 p.m. Arrive at cell phone waiting area. Lana and I read the USA Today paper that we got from the hotel yesterday while we wait for Dad to call.

3:11 p.m. Dad finally calls. His flight was delayed in Houston. It has started to rain again as we try to find our way back to the terminal. The signs are minimal at best and I end up in a taxis only lane. I eventually find a way out and back over to the passenger car side of the road. We open the door and Dad jumps in. Then we can’t find our way back onto the highway we came in on. Too much construction and too few signs. Spend a lot of time going around in circles. Stop for gas ($3.93/gallon) since we’re almost out. Get directions and finally get on the highway headed back towards the ranch. No dark ominous clouds this time, just rain off and on.

5:17 p.m. Arrive back at the ranch after a much longer trip than I had anticipated. Grandpa Hunley and Evelyn have arrived just in front of us. Must be dinner time soon!

The kids played with the toy cowboy guns and water guns outside while the grownups had drinks and appetizers. Dad got a tour of the barn. Then dinner and cake for dessert. After dessert, the girls returned to their wooden hammer toys while the grownups talked some more. Grandpa and Evelyn left at 9 and I brought the kids to the barn for pajamas, movie, and bed.

9:59 p.m. The kids are watching Madagascar and laughing hysterically.

10:45 p.m. My blog is up to date and I’m hoping the movie will be over very soon because I am TIRED!

*Update on my license plate game:
Today we saw only one new one – Mexico. We think. I told Lana it counts as – 2 points since it almost caused an accident by stopping right in front of me on the highway.

Day 4

July 23, 2008 – Wednesday – Day 4

0615 Wake up. Check my email and chat with Ron. The kids woke up in time to see him and talk to him via webcam. I got an email that Darby seems to be feeling better this morning so that’s good.

0715 Breakfast at the hotel. Ryan had a Texas-shaped waffle. They even had peanut butter. Just last night I was thinking that next year we need to travel with a jar of peanut butter for those occasions that Bella won’t eat anything but bread.

0817 One load has already gone to the car. We gather up everything else and head for the front desk to check out.

0824 Leaving the parking lot after refilling water, changing batteries in the cd player, and emptying trash bags. Almost left my notebook in the back seat. That would’ve been awful. I can’t drive on a road trip without my notebook to catch my thoughts.

0834 – Miss our turn onto Hwy 31. Maybe if they would actually put a sign up it would be easier to find! We only saw it because Lana happened to turn and see the sign that was pointing the other direction.

0849 Cows!!! I’m sure we’ll be seeing a lot more cows and other interesting scenery today since we’re off the interstate.

0907 UFWB (Unidentified Flying White Birds)

0927 Lana says she saw a deer behind a fence.

0937 Pecans! I always regret not stopping for pecans on these trips so today was the day. We stopped at a pecan shop along the highway. We also saw a dog which is what Lana was searching for. (I’m still waiting for my armadillo!)

0952 Gas at the station next door to the pecan shop. $3.79/gallon

1004 Stop at the McD’s drive thru for an iced coffee to tide me over until we stop for lunch at Jack in the Box, probably when we get to Waco.

1018 Donkey and a cow in the field

1103 Waco, TX - Getting on I-35 South. Felisa is asleep so we decide to go a little farther and stop at the next Jack in the Box.

1120 Find out Lana has eaten turtle, frog, rabbit, and squirrel at some point in her life. This is an example of one of those interesting tidbits that you can find out about someone while driving endlessly together in a car!

12:10 p.m. See a blue exit sign with Jack in the Box. Lana says that it would probably be closed. I’m pretty sure she’s joking until… we pull up and the parking lot is blocked by cones because the JITB is closed for renovation. What?!?! But I’m hungry! And I have to pee!

12:12 p.m. A few raindrops. Are they from Hurricane Dolly?

12:23 p.m. See another blue exit sign with Jack in the Box. We park the car and get out. Everything is going fine until… the door is locked. Closed. Two JITB’s in a row are closed. A worker comes around the corner to tell us that it is closed for renovation. He assures us that the next JITB is only 2 miles and it is indeed open. Do we take his word for it? I’m hungry and about ready to give up. Lana is getting pretty hungry too.

12:29 p.m. As the man promised, there is another Jack in the Box a few miles down the road. And it is amazingly enough, actually open and serving food. Unfortunately the air conditioning in the dining room is not working so I get my JITB fix but sweat to death in the process.

1:12 p.m. Leave JITB

2:22 p.m. Stop at the LBJ Historical Park in Johnson City, TX. We always drive by but never stop. We had some extra time this afternoon so I decide to check it out. Turns out we are at the LBJ boyhood home. We miss the tour of the house so just peek through the windows. We skipped the hike through the settlement area because it was pretty hot. We walked through the museum display of his political career and presidential accomplishments. It was quite interesting. I had no idea that he had been a teacher. Then (the kids’ favorite part!) … the gift shop. Bella bought a jackrabbit stuffed animal and Felisa chose a bird that sings. Ryan ended up with a book about presidents. I really wanted to buy the armadillo stuffed animal – it was really cute! – but I resisted and bought an armadillo postcard instead. We opted to skip the tour of the Ranch because it would’ve taken way too long.

3:14 p.m. Leaving LBJ park. Favorite parts:
Bella – listening to excerpts of LBJ speeches in the museum
Ryan – seeing the boyhood home
Felisa – buying her bird
Lana – the museum
Sheila – the museum in general and the stepping stones that LBJ had all special visitors sign when coming to see him at the ranch.

3:58 p.m. More hay bales in the field… which brings up a question. How many horses/cows does each bale feed? How long does a big bale like that last?

4:14 p.m. After meandering through Fredericksburg, we made a wrong turn on the ranch roads. Called Betty Lou and got back on track.

4:18 p.m. Pass a construction crew taking their afternoon Coke break in the shade.

4:19 p.m. Get a strange look (and a wave!) from a rancher that we pass along the road. I guess my minivan with the luggage rack and Virginia plates looks out of place on the back roads of Texas Hill Country.

4:39 p.m. Arrive at the ranch.

We spend the evening playing with the dogs, feeding the deer and sheep, eating dinner, showing off my scrapbooks from last year’s trip, and unloading the car. The kids watch a DVD until 10:30 p.m. and I stay up much too late updating my blog through day 3.

Day 3

July 22, 2008 – Tuesday – Day 3

0605 Wake up. I must miss my little cub scouts – I was dreaming about them. And I wasn’t even yelling at them to sit still and be quiet in my dream!

0735 The car is repacked. Many pictures have been taken. We load up into our separate cars and off we go… we’re headed for Texas and Kim is headed for daycare drop off then work.

0746 Stop at McD’s for breakfast and coffee. Kim called and advised us on a better route out of town to avoid the rush hour traffic.

0815 Leaving McD’s with full tummies. The kids also got some playground playtime.

0920 Leaving the Tuscaloosa Travel Center. Bella and Felisa each bought an alligator tooth necklace with some of their money from Grandma D. Gas was $3.89/gallon. We have driven approximately 1000 miles so far.

0925 Gummy snacks – bears and worms – that Lana had packed for the kids. Someone asks “If you could be any color gummy bear, what color would you be?” I choose orange since I like orange flavor the best, Lana chooses red, and Felisa chooses Purple.

0926 – 0947 (and then some) Felisa is playing a sound game. She makes a crazy sound then Lana and I try to guess it.

0947 Pass a car towing a car towing a car. With no sign about “vehicle in tow”. Looks illegal to me…

1026 Mississippi!

1028 There’s a house driving down the road. And it’s hogging up both lanes!!!

1045 National Air Station Meridian/National Guard helos flying over. Which reminds me (again) that I did NOT get the helo ride on the ship that mini boss promised me. (I was in the Navy, serving on a ship with a helicopter attached during times underway. A few times people on the ship got to have a little ride in the helicopter. The air dept assistant promised me a turn. I never got to go. I’m still carrying a grudge, obviously!)

1047 Cow statue (but still not a single live cow has been sighted since we left home)

1109 Cows!!! Finally! And one of the cows has even escaped out the fence and is eating grass alongside the interstate. I have no idea why I enjoy seeing cows along the road when we go on trips. But I do. And I have been missing them…

1123 Stop at Wendy’s in Forest, MS for a potty break. Get chicken nuggets as a snack for all of us. The kids had all eaten cinna-melts at McD’s for breakfast so hadn’t had any protein yet today.

12:12 p.m. Pearl River. Spot our first train of the trip.

12:26 p.m. Horses, goats, corn AND a farmer!

12:50 p.m. Crossing the Mississippi River into Louisiana!

12:53 p.m. Louisiana (at least initially) has no trees lining the highway. All the way across Mississippi, all we could see was a solid line of trees along the middle and both sides of the interstate. No scenery to break the monotony of driving. No cows, no nothing!

1:08 p.m. Dead armadillo.

1:23 p.m. Stop for lunch at Sonic. While we were eating, the fan was blowing, the radio was on, the DVD charger was plugged in and it was really hot (like almost 100 degrees!). When we were ready to go, the car wouldn’t start. Dead battery. D-E-D dead. (Does anyone know what movie that D-E-D dead line is from?) Fortunately one of the girls who work there had jumper cables (do I have any? I should. But I don’t know if I do. And IF I do have them, they are certainly buried under a big pile of luggage!) and another girl who works there had good car-jumping knowledge and we were up and running fairly quickly. Phew! That was close!

2:04 p.m. Leaving Sonic in Delhi, LA

After the dead battery incident, we decide against stopping immediately for gas and instead drive for an hour with nothing on in the car except for the air conditioning. No radio, no DVDs, no nothing.

3:10 p.m. Stop in Ruston, LA for gas. $3.97/gallon. When we arrive, the pumps are all flashing the message “Pump has been Shut Down” I go inside to check and the clerk tells me the pumps will be back on in about 5 minutes. They had to turn them off for shift change. So I decide to use the bathroom while I wait then go back out to pump gas. After I get my gas, I call the hotel to verify our reservation and late check-in. At the rate we’re going we may never get out of Louisiana!!!

3:16 p.m. Squeal my tires as I exit the gas station which garners a “Whoa! Dude!” from Ryan in the back. I was turning left across traffic, looking for a good opening to turn out. Lana said “hit it and git it” so I did! In my defense it was a steep drive. I’m sure on a flat drive I wouldn’t have squealed the tires…

3:17 p.m. Pass a Ryan’s Restaurant. (seems to be a chain in the south)

3:18 p.m. Felisa says that there isn’t a Felisa anything in Virginia so we ask her what sort of place she would have if she had one. Lana says Felisa’s Puppy Place which makes her smile. Then she decides on Felisa’s Puppy Shop. So be looking for it in another 20 years or so…

3:21 p.m. Car thermometer says 102 degrees!

3:23 p.m. See another dead armadillo on the road. I think we’re up to about 7 for today. For once I would really like to see a LIVE armadillo.

4:08 p.m. Barksdale AFB jets are flying overhead. Kids think it is pretty cool. As do I.

4:26 p.m. See a billboard with an armadillo picture. Maybe that’s a sign that a live armadillo sighting will come soon. Kind of like the cow statue then the cows earlier today …

4:28 p.m. Texas!!! The exits start at #635. I think we may have some driving still to do…

Mom calls to report Darby not feeling well. Won’t eat. Actually covered his food dish with the towel it is sitting on. Not sure how that is even possible. Tell her to call the vet to see if the Dr. might still be in the office. She calls back later and says she was able to make him eat a bit of an ice cube so she would give him until tomorrow to perk up before she makes an appt. for him.

5:58 p.m. Arrive at hotel after a long drive down to and around Tyler, TX. The hotel is just as it was pictured on the internet. What we can now see, and what wasn’t pictured, is the fine location – between the pawn shop and Chinese buffet on one side and Goodwill on the other. The good news is that we can walk to dinner.

There is no water in the hotel room because they are fixing a pipe in one of the rooms. The kids have way too much energy after today’s crazy long drive but I don’t want to take them to the pool until I know there is a shower available for them to get clean afterwards. So after I quickly check my email (yea! Internet! I have missed you!!!) we walk next door to the Chinese buffet (where by the way, there is not a single chicken entrée that isn’t fried!). While we’re there, Allie calls to check on us because of Hurricane Dolly who is headed for Texas. Told her we were fine – all sunny where we are! – and I would email her later with more details. By the time we get back, the water is on so we take the kids to the pool for an hour to get the wiggles out. Leave the pool at 9:15. Go back to the room to shower and change. Still can’t get them settled. Finally we are all in bed. Lana and I have just drifted off to sleep when the phone rings. It seems the desk clerk has found Bella’s backpack in the lobby. I guess she must have put it down there when we arrived to check in and forgot to bring it to the room. It pays to have your belongings labeled – we got it back because it had our name in it!

So finally, after a long, long day we sleep…

(An update on my license plates for today: KY (full points this time because it was on a car!), AZ, MI, AR, CO

Day 2

July 21, 2008 – Monday – Day 2

0615 Wake up – first time using my cell phone alarm.

0650 Mike made bacon and eggs for breakfast. Mmm…

0746 All packed and ready… leaving Lana’s house.

0751 See two chickens alongside the road, outside the auction barn. How random is that?!

0757 Segment on the radio about travel mooching… where you call a friend and crash at their place on your way through town on vacation. Hey – that’s me! I’m a travel moocher!

0954 Georgia! Cross the Savannah River.

1020 Gas $3.91/gallon
1111 Leaving McD’s after a breakfast/lunch/playground stop.

12:40 p.m. Atlanta has bad air – yuck! L

2:00 – time change – 1:00 p.m. Stop at Alabama Welcome Center. Text from Ron to check on our progress.

1:26 p.m. Pass the snack box – snacks for all of us!

1:37 p.m. Alabama radio seems to have a pattern – every other station is Christian Rock alternating with Country

2:40 p.m. Leaving Talladega Raceway. Had extra time to kill (we called Kim from Atlanta and she seemed a bit surprised that we were coming so soon) so we visited the International Motor Sports Hall of Fame. I would’ve loved to take a track tour also but we didn’t have that much extra time. Maybe next time we pass by…

2:43 – 2:43.5 p.m. Rain. Like 10 whole drops.

2:50 p.m. Crossing Coosa River – it’s a crazy mixed up river that goes back and forth. Felisa says “It’s following us!”

2:57 p.m. Passing Chula Vista … Wait, isn’t that a city in CA?! Wow- we made good time. Blew right past all our stops in AL and TX!!!

2:58 p.m. Possible armadillo sighting… or was it a rhinoceros? Lana says it’s a rhino. It’s her game and that’s the way it’s going to be. She’s been giving me a hard time about my license plate game and how I supposedly keep changing the rules. Sadly, it was roadkill. Just once I would like to see a LIVE armadillo. Oh and speaking of the license plate game… here’s what I saw today: Ontario, MS, WA, KY (though this one only counts as half a point since it was a commercial van – not a semi but not a car either), KS, MD, CA, LA. And double points for Rhode Island!!!

3:10 p.m. Stuck in a traffic jam. See a billboard for Birmingham Race Track. The animal on the billboard looks like a camel. So they have camel racing in Birmingham?!? Okay, maybe it was a really a dog… Oh and the billboard across the road says it’s 105 degrees outside. Yikes!

3:23 p.m. Make it to the construction zone that was causing all the traffic.

4:00 p.m. Arrive at Kim’s house. She’s still at work but her parents came over to let us in. We visit with them and get some good stories about Kim. Leave it to the parents to tell embarrassing stories about us…

5:15 p.m. Kim’s home from work.

5:30 p.m. Off we go to Chili’s for dinner – yum!

7:00 p.m. Thunder and lightning and pouring down rain outside. We all get completely soaked on the way to the car. And I do mean COMPLETELY soaked! On the way back to the house, there are trees down and we have to go around the back way. Once we get home, there is a very close, very loud crack of lightning. Yikes! Do a quick unload of the suitcases and sleeping bags during a brief let-up in the rain.

The kids play until 8:30 then we clean the playroom, and get the beds ready. All are asleep by 9:30.

Day 1

July 20, 2008 – Sunday – Day 1

0515 Wake up. When I decided that leaving at 7 was a decent hour, not too early but not too late I forgot that meant I had to wake up much earlier than that 0500 is not such a decent hour!

0708 Leave home. Wow – I’m impressed that we actually made it so close to 7. I was aiming for 7 and hoping for 7:30.

0712 Post office to mail the bill that snuck past and is due now!

0715 Stop at McD’s for coffee and breakfast. As we’re driving around town I’m struck by how quiet everything is – not many people out and about at 7 on a Sunday morning. They messed up our order so we had to park and go inside to fix it. When we got out Ryan said “It feels weird to walking around outside so early!”

0728 Finally leaving McD’s. After we fixed our order and went back to the car it occurred to me to ask if anyone needed to go potty. As I suspected, Ryan and Felisa hadn’t gone when they got up and got dressed. So we all went back inside McD’s AGAIN!

0742 Hear on the radio that it’s National Ice Cream Day. Apparently Ronald Reagan declared it 24 years ago. At first I think that’s impossible. He wasn’t president 24 years ago. Then I do a little math and wow, do I feel old!

0748 Hit a license plate bouncing around in the middle of the road.

0911 Call Allie with an ETA

0930 Stop for gas. $3.87/gallon

0940 Arrive at Allie’s house.

1113 Leaving Allie’s. This was a quick visit but nice. It let the kids get their wiggles out before we spend the rest of the day on the road.

1124 Stop at Sonic for a breakfast burrito and coffee then call Lana with an ETA for her.

12:22 p.m. Decide to play the license plate game with myself. So far today I have seen NH, NJ, GA, FL, VA, NC, IN

12:30 p.m. Fantasize about getting a maid when I get back. My house is miraculously clean today (I NEVER actually get it clean before we leave on a trip even though I always intend to get it clean) so wouldn’t it be nice to keep it clean when I get back. I when I say clean, I mean picked up. Other than vacuuming the living room and entryway, I didn’t actually CLEAN anything. But if someone was coming to clean my house, there would be my incentive to keep it picked up more often.

12:49 p.m. North Carolina – finally! It seemed very far away today.

12:54 p.m. Realize that we haven’t seen any cows yet today.

1:15 – 1:29 p.m. McD’s stop – potty, coffee, playground, and happy meals in just 14 minutes. They’ll eat in the car while I drive.

1:56 p.m. Get a text message from Ron. Weird because I was JUST thinking about him! And how cool is that – he can text me from his email. Isn’t it amazing how technology has advanced so much and improved deployment communication?!

1:57 p.m. Falls Lake (outside of Durham) – smells like stinky fish. Yuck!

2:28 p.m. It has been sunny all day. No sign of Tropical Storm Cristobal. Guess we’re too far inland to be affected.

3:45 p.m. Stop at a church parking lot. I’m sleepy and need to walk around a bit. I ask the kids if they want to watch a movie. Maybe that will help keep my mind occupied and awake as well. We’re getting close to Charlotte so almost there.

3:52 p.m. Oh sure – now there’s a rest stop. Where was it when I needed it?!?

4:20 p.m. Uh oh. I think we’re lost. Get the map back from Ryan and figure out that I should’ve turned onto I-77 instead of staying on I-85. Oops!

4:35 p.m. South Carolina

4:49 p.m. Stop for gas. $3.79/gallon

5:05 p.m. Arrive at Lana’s.

Mike made “chicken” (otherwise known as roast pork loin) for dinner and Bella ate it all up. Mashed potatoes and –yummy!- homemade noodles. And peas.

And now Bella and Ryan are on the couch playing footsie – just like my brother and I always did growing up. (the version where you lie end to end on the couch, put your feet together and push against each other). What’s the proper term for that? Mercy? Foot wrestling?

An update on my license plate game: AL, NY, SC, TN, OH, IL, TX, PA, and US Govt.

And so ends the first day of Big Trip 3!!!

Sturgis, We Have a Problem

So instead of sleeping, I thought I'd surf the net a little and look for attractions/hotels near Mount Rushmore. Sturgis, home of the big annual motorcycle event happens to be near Mt Rushmore. And you'll never guess when this year's motorcycle rally is scheduled... Aug 4-10. Which is exactly when we are planning to be in the area. Preliminary searching is not showing any available rooms anywhere within 100 miles. Looks like I'll have to break out the atlas and do some further investigation on this one.

Darn it.

4 Days and Counting

Or is that 3? We leave on Sunday morning for Big Trip 3 and I'm not ready. I washed the last big load of laundry tonight so now I have to let everything finish drying on the line (the humidity is coming back so it'll take longer). I have to fold all the laundry that is dry. I have to gather and pack and prepare. And I still have 2 days of bible school left. I finished tomorrow's preps so just one day of prep left but two days of energy required. It has been hot so add that to being tired after teaching the preschool all morning and I just don't feel like doing anything in the afternoons.

It'll get done. It always does. Just for once I'd like it to not be done at the last minute!

Oh and I must admit that the suitcase full of laundry is still sitting in the middle of the living room floor. Apparently the "ignore it and it will go away" method isn't going to work this time. Tomorrow I might just have to bring it upstairs and sort it all into the baskets. I figure none of Ron's clothes will be coming with us on this trip so there's no rush to get it out of the suitcase. I've got 6 months to get this particular load of laundry done!

WARNING: Laundry By Mail

This is a public service announcement to all you moms and wives out there... Beware of suitcases delivered by mail.

We got home from bible school today to discover a suitcase on the porch. At first I was surprised but then I remembered Ron telling me he had sent his extra suitcase home from Tampa before he left the country. The kids had lots of guesses as to why it was there - including that someone was here visiting. Once we were inside they wanted to open it and see what was inside. I was hoping to find Ron inside but the size and weight of the bag made that very unlikely.

So we opened the bag and what to our wondering eyes should appear but a suitcase full of... are you ready for this?

Dirty laundry.

That's right, folks. For the right price you too can send your laundry home by mail.


(**Disclaimer: I don't really care. But you know I couldn't pass up such a great blog entry... Love you, honey!)

Redecorating

Well, it's about that time of year again when I decide to redecorate my blog...

What I should really be doing is sleeping since it's almost midnight and we have to be up early tomorrow for the first day of Vacation Bible School. Oh and in a week I'll be in South Carolina - our first stop on Big Trip 3. Can you say Not Ready!?!

Okay, time for bed...

Phone Is Fixed

The phone has been down since Thursday morning. Thankfully the internet was untouched or else I may have gone completely crazy waiting for the repair man. Even more good news - the repairmen work on weekends now. My original appointment was for tomorrow (Sunday) but this morning I got bumped up to today. Woo hoo!

So the diagnosis...

The invisible phantom phone line hiding behind the movie screen in the basement (which is just a long white cord hooked up from the wall jack and into NOTHING in the media closet) apparently decided to quit working. And since I had long ago forgotten that phone jack even existed, I failed to unplug it when the computer voice told me to unplug and check all phone lines.

So the very nice Verizon guy came and went on a phone line treasure hunt through the house with me. When I raised the screen to access the crawl space, the phantom line appeared.

And nothing makes you more conscious of a completely trashed out messy house than a strange repairman traipsing throughout, looking into every crummy little nook and cranny… Bleh! Or more “blonde” than a phantom invisible phone line in (sort of) plain sight!

Oh well… maybe I’ll be a water-cooler story back at the garage…

Oh and I almost forgot this part... while the repairman is collecting his tools in the garage, the phone rings. I figured it was just him, making a test call. It wasn't. It was a political survey call. My phone has been working for less than 5 minutes and the repairman is still in my garage. And I get a political survey call. After I laughed at the surveyor, I told him no thanks and hung up. I'm not wasting my precious phone on a stranger!

Update on Project Happy

I gathered a little more intel on Project Happy yesterday and today...


It was, as I suspected, the brainchild of Ryan.


Project Happy was designed as a defense against the Rotten Stinkin' Day Man. Ryan told me he had a feeling he might be in our area so he was protecting the house.


Happy Powder can also be used as a defense against the Rotten Stinkin' Day Man. Just hold it close to your heart and think a happy thought.


And now here is a sampling of a few Project Happy Pictures...

This one is in my room.

This one is outside the TV Room in the basement.

And this one is my favorite...

It's inside the TV Room in the basement.

Project Happy

I'm not sure who the ringleader is on this one... probably Ryan. He said that they are working on Project Happy. Putting happy pictures in every room of the house. Except the kitchen. Because there's so much stuff around - no room for a happy picture. I lobbied him though and convinced him I could have one over this sink so that way I could be happy when I'm doing the dishes.

Movie Madness

I went to the movies yesterday. Twice.

I still can hardly believe it - twice in one day. Me. At the movie theater.

First I went with Grandpa R and Melissa and the kids to see Wall-E. Good Disney-Pixar flick. I noticed the Disney Castle logo scene before the movie has been redone with fancy computer graphics. And the Magician short before the movie - Hilarious! We were all cracking up. Feels good to laugh like that.

I enjoyed the earth conservation and anti-consumerism messages of Wall-E. And by the end of the movie I could totally relate to the Gene Shallit review of "for a movie with only two words spoken throughout, it was surprisingly good." After about the first 20 minutes of the movie (in which there are only two robots and only two words!) Felisa asked, "Is this it? Just a movie with two robots?!?" The lady sitting in front of us was laughing at that one.

Next on the list - a "date" with Shani. She ended up with free movie tickets from the grocery store about a month ago. It was my last night with in-house babysitting so we decided to go for it. Off to the 8 p.m. showing of Sex and the City. As we were sitting in the theater waiting for the movie to start, I remarked that this is the second rated R movie I have been to in the last month. Whoa! I'm really getting crazy now! The movie was good. Then we hit the bar for drinks and dessert at 11. P.M.! On a Monday night! And the really crazy thing was that there were other people there too and children as well (well the kids weren't at the bar but were outside in the mall area). Crazy, crazy world!

And now I am off to take Darby to the vet for a checkup and shots. We'll see if he still likes car rides after this!

*Edited to add... Ron went to the movies last night too, down in Tampa. He saw Wanted. His review: Decent action flick.

Gone

So he's gone. For real this time. No more bonus weekend visits or holidays. All day today the Montgomery Gentry song "Gone" was running through my head while I was doing the laundry and helping pack. And by helping I mean staying out of the way. :) Here's the chorus to the song:

This is gone (gone) gone (gone) gone (gone) gone

Gone like a freight-train, gone like yesterday

Gone like a soldier in the civil war, bang bang

Gone like a '59 Cadillac

Like all the good things that ain't never coming back

Not completely appropriate since he is coming back. It may seem like forever but it's only 6 months. This other song "What Kind of Gone" (Chris Cagle) is better since it's about the different kinds of gone.

well theres gone for the day and gone for the night and gone for the rest of your dogone life

Gone for the rest of the dogone year.

Gone.

After many tearful goodbyes (I've been crying off and on all day starting in mass) we dropped him off at the airport. As we kissed goodbye the rain started to fall gently - just like tears.

Grandpa R is here now. He surprised us at the beach this weekend and today he took the train down to stay with us here for a couple days. (Maybe the kids will be able to convince him to stay later than Tuesday). We would've given him a ride back with us but we had carpooled and every seat in the van was full, plus Darby on the floor. I think it's kind of funny how different guys end up coming in to deal with the aftermath of Ron's departures. In college, it was Travis. Just a friend (though I'm pretty sure he wanted it to be more than that) who came to Chicago for a week to visit and hang out. Too bad he was stuck with depressed ol' me who couldn't even eat because I might never see Ron again... This time Grandpa R has the duty. Maybe someone should have warned him!

And so today I will cry and tomorrow I will turn my attention to the business of living. January will be here before we know it.

The Coffee Thief

We are leaving today for our annual 4th of July Beach Trip. As usual, I'm not ready to go yet. So, I woke up early (before 6 - I did hit the snooze a couple times) and came down to the kitchen. I started with the dirty dishes left over from last night and prepping the fruit I picked up at the farmer's market yesterday while the coffee was brewing. After a while, I looked over at the coffee pot and noticed that it was only at the 4-cup line. Hmmm... I thought I made more than that. I know I didn't make a full pot this morning but really, I was sure I had made more than 4 cups. Did Ron come down and get coffee while I was out of the kitchen for a few minutes? No, surely I would have heard him. Oh well. So I added a cup of water to brew it up to 6 cups then got back to work. A few minutes later, I glanced down at my own coffee cup as I was passing by. Oh look! There's the missing coffee!!! I had poured myself a cup but hadn't added the cream and sugar.

Yeah. Um. I just don' t even know what to say.

yikes!

Survived

Well, I think we survived our first week "Home Alone". We made it to camp by 0800 everyday, a miracle in and of itself. The kids had a great time at camp although I have to say for a camp billed as "All Sports Camp" there was really not a lot of different sports. They played soccer the most plus a bit of basketball and what Ryan called a "sort of baseball" game once. Oh well. At least they had fun!

I managed a date night for myself - dinner out with Mom and Shani while Uncle Jon watched all the kiddos.

I successfully avoided cooking all week. Unless you count the scrambled eggs I made for Ryan the other day but that really doesn't count if you ask me. I invited Mom over for dinner tonight though. I have no other outside activities planned for today so surely I can manage to make spaghetti for dinner... right?!?

What I learned this week...
*I can get up and get the kids ready and out before 0800. But I'd really rather not if I don't have to...
*Six months is a loooooooooonnnnngg time. In all our years of military separations, we have never done six consecutive months. I think two and half months may have been the previous record. The separations were frequent over the first five years but not long. Something tells me this may be a bit harder. Could it be the three little monkeys left in my charge? Being constantly responsible for someone other than myself? Multiple little someones? Ack!

I think the denial that I have been living in is fading away and left in it's place is a wee bit of panic. Reality is a tough one to face sometimes. I know we can do it. It'll just take a couple of weeks to settle into our "Home Alone" routine. January will be here before you know it.

Right?

And now the really great news... Ron will be home tonight. So we get one more week of last minute preparations, now that we've figured out some of the things we need and/or forgot in all the rush of finishing school and packing. A bonus visit... weaning me away slowly. I'll take it! I've already got his list started... fix toilet, fix computer, fix...

Wrinkly, Stinkly Feet

Ryan, Bella, and Kana had the first day of All-Sports Camp today. Basketball and Soccer. When they came home and shed their shoes and socks, 6 wrinkly (but not too stinkly!) feet were revealed. I guess that's the souvenir of 5 hours of running and playing in wet grass and puddles! They had a great time which is good since they still have 3 days left...

In other news...

*The laundry is generating itself. Like bunnies. I distinctly remember doing ALL of the laundry before we left and yet there is a basket full of dirty clothes waiting for me in the bathroom. Clothes that were not with us on vacation. Hmmm...

*Our Big Trip 3 has changed its entire itinerary! I talked to Betty Lou today and her vacation dates were different than I thought so we'll be going to Texas first rather than last. Maybe that's why I hadn't made any firm plans yet - I knew that I was going to have to change them. See, sometimes procrastination does pay off.

*I am slowly coming back to reality and digging out from the end-of-school-year-plus-road-trip-preparation-cramming disaster area that is my house. Today I cleaned out the refrigerator and did the dishes. Another sinkful of dishes has filled in since noon so you can't even see the progress. I also went to Safeway so the kids don't have to eat moldy sandwiches for lunch at camp tomorrow. I cleared off the pile of papers in the kitchen and tackled half of the pile on the living room table. I put away a few more things that had been unloaded into the middle of the living room floor from the car yesterday. Of course, Melissa is here so the kids are making another big mess in its place. Oh well.

*Now it is time to feed Darby and get the kids to Shani's so we can go to dinner. Yea Birthday Dinner!

*More trip blog updates from last week coming up tomorrow I think.

Backfilling

Home and online... for now anyway. I'm going to backfill my posts from last week so if interested, page down a bit.

Technical Difficulties

We are experiencing technical difficulties here at She-Ra's place...

Somewhere along the line between the hotel at the beach and arriving at my aunt's house in South Carolina, my computer decided to boycott the internet. Which means I have no email. And all my blog posts that I was typing in the meantime are stuck. I may find a way to release them in the meantime but still have no email. Bummer!

And this means that I am definitely dreading Ron's extended abscence. He's only been gone a week and already my technical woes have started. The good news is that he is here with us in Richmond for the weekend so hopefully he can figure it out before he goes back down on Sunday.

Keep your fingers crossed everyone!

Back to the Interstate

Up again at 0730. Mike made waffles for breakfast then I worked on getting everything packed up and the car loaded. I lost track of my clean laundry and almost forgot the swimsuits. Lana said she needs to come live with us while Ron is gone to make sure I don’t lose any of the kids!

While the kids were watching tv there was a commercial for the SC Museum. Ryan said, “Hey – we don’t have a VA Musuem. We should call the governor!”

1051 – leave Lana’s house

1109 – stop at Starbucks Drive-thru. I wanted to go to Sonic but I was still full from breakfast.
1119 – North Carolina!!!

1136 – Big rock to the windshield. Yikes!

12:15 p.m. Decide to stop for a potty break before the kids fall asleep. Too much coffee this morning!

12:37 p.m. Bella finished reading her book that we bought Tuesday night – Kylie the Carnival Fairy. It was a special edition book so probably had about 100 pages. She has become quite the super reader this year. It’s not such a chore anymore to read so now she enjoys it.

1:22 p.m. Stop at Arby’s for lunch. I had hoped for a Sonic or a Jack in the Box but no such luck.

2:45 p.m. Somebody just got a speeding ticket. The cop was following him with his lights on for awhile. Maybe the driver was trying to outrun the cop to the state line? Looks like he ended up about 2 miles short.

2:46 p.m. Virginia!!!

3:43 p.m. Trying to think of ways to prevent myself from turning into a giant couch potato while Ron is gone. Maybe I should see if Mark wants to run a couple 5K’s together? If I have a deadline, it might keep me on track to train alone.

4:17 p.m. Arrive at Allie’s. Ryan and John are so excited to see each other.

The kids play happily for the rest of the evening, stopping only to devour Chinese food for dinner.

10:00 p.m. Finally getting every one headed to bed.

11:00 p.m. Tell Ryan and John to turn off the lights and GO TO SLEEP!!!

On the Lake

Up at about 0715 again. Went for a short run, only 20 minutes. After breakfast we got things ready to go out on the boat.

We arrived at Lake Wylie and got underway at 12:05 p.m. We cruised around the lake for awhile then we stopped at a small island so the kids could swim. After our swim we cruised around a bit more. Both Felisa and Bella fell asleep while we were “driving”. After a bit we stopped at the island again for another swim before calling it a day. We arrived back at the boat dock at about 5 p.m. Mike had a meeting so the rest of us went to dinner at Outback. On the way home we stopped for gas- $3.79/gallon. Before bed sunburn check showed Felisa and Bella fine. Ryan was a bit red on his cheeks and his shoulders I was red on my chest, shoulders, back and face – not too bad but 5 hours outside is really too much sun for me, no matter how much sunscreen I put on!

Lake Favorites-
Ryan – Laying in the sun on the boat
Bella – finding her secret forest place on the island
Felisa – Swimming
Sheila – riding around on the boat and seeing all the big houses
Lana – being with us on the boat
Mike – backing the boat trailer into the lake on the first try

Fun Day

0730 Wake up. Trying to decide whether or not to get up or go back to sleep. Decide I should probably just get up since usually all that happens when I go back to sleep in the morning is more crazy dreams.

0735 Hear Ryan and Bella talking so that settles it. Time to get up.

Uncle Mike made breakfast – scrambled eggs, bacon, and toast. After breakfast Ryan and Bella got ready to go to Brattonsville with Mike. Felisa went with Lana and I to run errands – the insurance office, lunch at Sonic, Sears for a tire alignment/oil change, and Walmart for sunscreen and garlic bread pretzel pieces.

*******
Ryan’s report of Brattonsville:

When we first got there we went inside the admissions office and got a map. Then we went into the gift shop. There we got chalkboard for Bella and Revolutionary soldiers for me. Then we started walking on the trail. We soon came to a backwoods cabin where a reenactment was going on. We stood at the doorframe looking in to the cabin but we didn’t go inside. We headed down the trail for a little bit then we got to a house. We went inside. It was like a cabin for people to live in then we went outside and saw a few pigs and goats. Then we went over to look at the smokehouse. We went inside the Bratton house. When we went inside we saw some wax food set up on a dining table. When we turned right we got to a school place.

(((This is Bella’s report about the school:


The brothers everyday had short days. Because they had to help their dads in the fields. The girls stayed at school. It was like a girl day. The boys were happy because they like helping the dads. The girls were happy because they like learning just like me. That’s why I always behave and get good reports. )))


After we went to the school I think we went to a copy of one of the Bratton’s… it was a copy of a grave marker of one of their servants who died in the battle of Huck’s Defeat. His name was Watt.

We crossed a road to get to the homestead. The homestead was a newer version of the Bratton House (the one with the school). We saw lots of interesting artifacts. My favorite room was the doctor’s office. It had lots and lots of cool medicine and lots of other stuff like a melted candle. When we went back outside we went inside a slave’s cabin made out of bricks. It looked like it was a hard life living in that cabin.

We saw horses. We also went to see a place where they did something with the cotton they got out of the field. Then we went to an original slave’s cabin that was 106 years old.

The tour guide made corn husk dolls for us. She told us that the kids had to make their own toys because they didn’t have any money. Toss toys and corn husk dolls.

*************

Favorite part:
R- the tool shed and smokehouse
B- seeing the horses
M- tour by Miss Nettie and the hairy pigs

After a break, we went to the pool. Ryan and Bella and I ended up with a few pink spots so we’ll need extra sunscreen when we go out on the boat tomorrow.

After swimming, it was time for a quick change then dinner at Jack-in-the-Box. Mmm… Then we went back to the cool playground that we went to last winter. It was much warmer there today! And after the playground… because it is Fun Day as Bella declared… we went to Books-a-Million and each kid (and Lana) bought a new book. Now it’s time to go to bed. I don’t know about anyone else but I’m tired!!!

Go West To Go South?!?

Title note... Ryan played "Christopher C" in the Columbus play at school. One of the lines in the play was "Go west to go east?!?" So we were changed it to "Go west to go south?!?" since we were driving due west from NC to get to Lana's house in SC.

Wake up around 7. Get dressed and go to breakfast. No one can finish so we save the waffles and pancakes to eat after our beach time.

We spent one last morning at the beach. The waves seemed stronger to me but maybe that’s just my sea paranoia kicking in. I REALLY don’t want to lose anyone in the surf. I have 3 kids but only 2 hands so we stick close to the beach and don’t go in past the first drop-off. Collected a few shells and built a shell castle.

1030 - Time to get changed and packed.

1155 – Leave the hotel headed to Aunt Lana’s in South Carolina.

12:05 p.m. Felisa is asleep already and we haven’t even left the island yet.

12:11 p.m. Reflection time… I’m really not a big beach fan but it was definitely nice being at the hotel with the beach right outside the door. We were able to avoid the usual schlepping of stuff that is associated with going to the beach and we were close so we didn’t have to feel guilty about not staying long enough. Coming back later was easy – no minimum stay requirement!

12:19 p.m. More reflection… this time about all the hush puppies we were served at each and every restaurant. The southern influence has seemed much stronger this time. Last night we even had two giant bowls of butter packs to dip our deep-friend bread into. Yum! Not surprising, Bella was loving it!

12:27 p.m. Pass a VBS sign for Outrigger Island. Sounds like a fun theme. Which reminds me – I need to start thinking about planning our VBS class.

12:38 p.m. Passing Camp Lejeune. The Garth Brooks song “Thunder Rolls” is on the radio. The lyrics of the song are about a husband caught cheating on his wife. Which is really too bad since I love this song and always think of Ron and our early courtship days when I hear it. What I like about the song are the thunder in the background and the memories of an all-nighter spent at the NROTC computer lab working on term papers together. We all wave to Daddy as we drive by.

12:42 p.m. Almost every car driving by has heavy bass and there are many, many barbershops – must be near a military base! J

2:00 p.m. Okay the meandering and zig-zagging of the two-lane highway is getting very annoying. The interstate may be boring but at least it’s fast!

2:03 p.m. Score! A Sonic!
2:03 ½ p.m. Bummer. Closed. (Out of business but the sign and the flags all still looked new)

2:11 p.m. Oops – forgot to charge my phone at the hotel this weekend. Can’t find a phone charger for my phone in the car.

2:55 p.m. Stop in Roseboro, NC for gas and potty. $2.99/gallon. Got my house phone charger out. Let’s see if it will plug into the transformer car charger thing-a-ma-jag.

3:18 p.m. Stop at Sonic. They even have a playground! Yea!

4:05 p.m. Leaving Sonic. Not sure we’ll make it to Rock Hill by 6:00 since we’re still stuck in NC. Got the computer started with a movie before we pull out. Now showing: Peter Pan

4:37 p.m. Passing a coke truck. Felisa says, “Hey! Daddy likes that drink!”

4:42 p.m. South Carolina!!!

6:20 p.m. Lancaster, SC

7:00 p.m. Arrive at Lana’s. Finally! I think the trip from NC to SC is longer than the trip from VA to SC!!!

The kids played, ate a late dinner, then helped Uncle Mike set up the tent in the living room. Everyone had a job – the pillow person, the sleeping bag person, and the blanket person. Amazingly enough they were asleep before 9:30 even after being in the car almost all day.

Headlines

There's a paper machine outside the front door of the hotel... when we arrived on Saturday, the headline on the front page said "Deaths in Afghanistan Top Iraq in May". Gee, good to know.

The next day's headline was about the fires on Camp Lejeune. Gosh, thanks for letting me know.

So Camp Lejeune is burning and people are dying in Afghanistan. I feel so much better now about Ron's deployment. Not!

You know you're near a Marine Corps base when...

You go to the barber shop at 9 p.m. on a Sunday evening for a haircut. The hours posted on the door for Sunday are 9 - Late and the shop is busy.

Ron has arrived at Camp Lejeune and checked in with the duty officer. And now I'm sure he has a very short haircut based on his report from the barber!

Father's Day at the Beach

After a less than restful night (Felisa was squirmy and the hotel had the beach lit up forever) we are ready for a fun day on the beach and at the pool. The water here is much warmer than NJ so I anticipate much time spent in the ocean today.

more details coming... I left my notebook of the drive in the car.

****************

Updated to add...
We went out and found a diner for breakfast. Then we came back and spent 3 hours at the beack and pool. We ate lunch at the pool bar then it started to rain. Now we are relaxing indoors while the thunder and lighting are outside.

Let the Summer Begin

Summer vacation has begun... I saw the first lightning bug of the summer last night so I guess that makes it official.

Today is the first day of our Daddy Farewell Tour and Mini Road Trip. Ron and I were up at 0530 to continue the packing and other trip preparations. We were aiming for a 0700 departure (changed from the original time of O'Dark Thirty last night when we were both too tired to function).

0935 - Car is filled with gas and McD's breakfast is on board. $4.09/gallon at Safeway. Ron is driving in the van with the kids (a little last minute bonding time) while I'm following behind in the black car. All. by. myself. Woo hoo!

0959 - Traffic jam on 95 south. Which is what we were hoping to avoid by leaving at O'Dark Thirty. Oh well.

1001 - Okay, that wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. I'm sure there will be more though!

1020 - Fredericksburg traffic and we still have 15 miles before we even get to Fredericksburg.

1048 - I think I need to find a rum ball recipe. Someone at lunch the other day mentioned that they ship well and are received with much appreciation by the soldiers on deployment.

1111 - Stopped. On the highway. Because??? I just love driving on 95 south. Not!

1145 - Made it past Richmond. The landscape and traffic patterns have really changed. More rural/small town now and less crowds.

12:32 p.m. North Carolina!!!

2:34 p.m. Leaving our lunch stop. We ate at the "retro" 95/64 Diner in Rocky Mount which was right next to the Harley showroom. Harley was having some sort of event so we went inside and looked around. Found a cool tshirt for Ryan but didn't want to pay $15. Bella thought the stuffed Harley Hog was ugly. I found a nice pink/white jacket but again didn't want to pay $100 especially since I really didn't need it.

3:11 p.m. Lots of bikes (tied to cars of course) headed to the beach today. I guess bikes must be required equipment.

3:56 p.m. Fire in a field. Fire truck approaches the intersection so we stop. Then the fire truck stops and turns off his light. He's not going to the fire?!? I don't get it!

4:30 p.m. Stop for a Felisa potty break. Ron buys a coke but what I really want is a McD's ice coffee so I guess I'll stick with water.

4:41 p.m. Ron stops at McD's so I can get a coffee. How sweet! Too bad this backwards McD's DOESN'T have any!!! Grrrr!!!

4:50 p.m. First Sonic sighting! Mmmm... Sonic...

5:09 p.m. Another Felisa potty break. This time conveniently located at a McD's that DOES have ice coffee. Yea!

5:11 p.m. Second Sonic sighting. This one had cheesecake bites advertised on the marquis. Mmmm...

5:32 p.m. Arrive at the hotel. Ryan is impressed with the view from the hallway/parking lot - you can see the river. Then we go inside and see the view outside the room window. The Ocean! The Beach! And a Pool! Daddy's hotel choice rocks!

We went to the beach to check the water - much warmer than NJ! - and then went to the pool for about an hour before dinner. Dinner at the hotel then we gave Ron his first Father's Day gift - the Planet Earth DVD set. We watched seasonal forests then went to sleep with the sound of the ocean and other hotel night owls still swimming outside. Oh and don't forget the giant light illuminating the whole beach.

Friday the 13th

Not so much in the traditional bad luck way... more in an "I'm so exhausted I can hardly stand it" kind of way. Today was the last day of school for Ryan and Bella (Felisa ended on Wednesday). The entire past month has been filled with end-of-year activities. The last two weeks in particular have been jam-packed. Even today we had the kindergarten picnic. On the last day of school.

Teacher gifts (because I always finish at the last minute!), class picnics, soccer parties, crazy storms (I was in lockdown at school with the kids for an hour last Wednesday!), and getting Ron (and the rest of us, me in particular) ready for deployment.

We're headed south to NC tomorrow morning. Father's Day weekend at the beach then farewell. A mini road trip on the way back to take my mind off of it.

As I mentioned in my crazy dream post a couple weeks ago, I think I am subconsciously more stressed out than I realize or that I will admit. The last two weeks have been so busy and physically exhausting. The mental stuff on top of it and well, I'm toast. If I can make it that far, I'm ready for my vacation to start. Just a 6 1/2 hour drive away...

Happy Friday the 13th everyone!

Darby vs. Cody

alternate titles:
Seperate but Equal
Choosing Sides
She's MINE!!!

So I kind of forgot to let Cody out last night. Oops! Clearly I cannot be trusted with a dog that I can't see at all times and who isn't jumping up and down under my nose begging to be let out. So... I decided to bring Cody down to the house this morning and test the waters with Darby again.

They're doing great. God (thankfully) gave me two hands and two sides so that I can pet and praise both of them at the same time. That seems to keep them happy. They each stay on one side of me and keep a very close watch at all times to make sure I am safe and also to make sure the other dog is not getting more attention than he is. The love and protection is positively overwhelming I tell you!

Two water dishes. Two plush chew toys. Two sides of the room. A match made in heaven...

Not sure if I'll leave them both home alone together when we go out to run errands. How lucky do I really feel after all?! But we have made a great step forward in the Cody/Darby relationship today. Yea!

Analyze this

A variation on a 911 dream this morning...

Ron and I were having some alone time when the kids came home from Grandma's house. Then he grabbed me and wouldn't let go for some reason. I finally pushed him away but bumped his leg which he said really hurt him. Then he asked me if I was ready for that night. Apparently his sister was in town for a wine-tasting event for one night only and we were supposed to go. He had told me about it before and asked me to get a babysitter but I had forgotten all about it. I then got upset because I was tired - we had been doing different activities all weekend long - and because just maybe I was a little more stressed out then I was admitting about the upcoming deployment. So then he went downstairs and I got myself together and was trying to figure out what I was going to do about a babysitter. Melissa was at prom so she couldn't do it. And the winetasting was a late night affair - it started at 10. I have no idea what I'm going to do. I go downstairs and there's a strange dog in the house. Ron said he volunteered to take care of him for a few days and take him to the vet. I was worried about Darby since he doesn't like other dogs, particulary big dogs, but then Darby came around the corner and didn't care. Next thing I know we are at the vet trying to get the dog checked in for his appointment. About 20 other dogs are also there trying to get checked in. While Ron is doing that I decide I should call Shani on my cell and see if the kids can spend the night while we're out at the winetasting. I keep trying to call but there is no dial tone. And then other people are on the line laughing about me trying to make a phone call but can't do it. I keep trying but never works so then I go to a pay phone and call. I get through but it is really noisy around me and I can barely hear. Then Ryan comes over in his footed pajamas and I tell him to go back and sit in the car or wait with his dad. I ask Shani but she doesn't want to babysit. We go round and round about all the possibilities - door open/unlocked, pick up the kids at night, leave kids until morning, call when we're done with the tasting to see what's best. I really don't think we ever resolved it. Next thing I know Ryan and I are walking around in pajamas while people are all around partying and laughing at us. Finally Ron is done with the dog so we leave. As we drive away we realize that we didn't pay for the scone that we got from the coffee shop.

And that's about all I can remember. Analysis anyone? What's that? I'm crazy? Yep, I'd say that's an accurate analysis!

The 911 part for those that don't know the theme (I did mention it in my neuroses post) is that I couldn't get the call to go through and then when I finally did, Shani wouldn't help me.

(Though the not helping me part would never happen in real life!)

A Sad State of Affairs

It's sad really. My entire life as a housewife can be summed up in the following statement...

I cannot find my 16 quart stockpot.

Sad isn't it? I mean, it's big and silver. And it's in my house somewhere. And yet I cannot for the life of me find it. I looked in all the obvious places. I looked in several less obvious places. My pressure canner is in the laundry room. But no stockpot. I even called Lourna to see if she perchance remembered seeing it somewhere when she was here visiting. But alas, no.

So... I made my strawberry jam in 8 oz. jars instead of pint sized jars because those were the only jars short enough to put in my regular 8 quart-ish stock pot. But really that's probably better anyway because then it is easier to share my bounty without feeling like I don't have any left for me. On my kitchen counter I have 11 jars of strawberry jam.

I also have sore feet and I'm really, really tired. Of course that could also be because I worked out today for the first time in 5 days.

And now here is a question for you... was the relaxation of my annual pedicure that I had this morning cancelled out by the afternoon and evening spent in the kitchen? Perhaps. But I will still have my sparkly flower jewels - one on each big toe. And that makes everything better.

My Neuroses

Mama Llama tagged me for a meme... challenged me to open myself to scrutiny and come clean... admit once and for all that I am, in fact, not normal.

Really? She must not know me for I am as crazy as they come! :)

I have been pondering this challenge in the back of my mind for close to a week now. As unbelievable as it seems, at first I could think of nothing. Maybe she's wrong. Maybe we're both wrong. I have nothing weird to tell about myself. But as time passed and I continued to think about it, more and more of my neuroses came back to me. Things I usually try to ignore. Things that I will now share with you...

1. I don't like to be late to the movies. I want to be in my seat with my popcorn or nachos and soda at least 5 minutes before the previews start. I can't help it. That's just the way I am. Ron and I went to see Forgetting Sarah Marshall this weekend - our first movie at the theater in quite awhile - and we were going to be late (in my opinion) and I was fussing about it. Turns out we made it before the previews started. Phew!

2. I don't like loud noises. We went to a local outdoor concert last Friday - Mama Llama and other friends love it but this was my first time actually making it to a concert. My very first thought as I opened the car door, at least a block away from the concert, was Wow! That is really loud! It didn't get any quieter. I'm pretty sure I won't be going to another concert here. The only reason I am going is to hang out with my friends but I ended up not enjoying myself. I'd rather spend time with my friends somewhere quieter. I resisted sitting at the bar at the local favorite restaurant for quite awhile because it was so loud and hard to talk. I have since become a convert but the noise at the bar is nothing compared to the noise from the concert.

3. Not a fan of crowds... Nope. Hate 'em in fact.

4. Fireworks make me nervous. There have been a few minor incidents in my past. Plus... fireworks are loud. Those really loud bright white boomers - hate them! They give me a tummy ache. Interestingly enough, those are Ron's favorite type. I love the lights of the fireworks though. Just hate the sound. Oh and I believe in professional fireworks only - no home shows and definitely no kids touching them in any way shape or form.

5. Like Mama Llama - I love to stare into the flames. I was once caught red-handed by my mom lighting fires with my brother in the backyard. As I child I thought I was being oh so careful - after all, I was using a cement paving stone as a base to prevent the fire from spreading. As an adult I can see why Mom was upset... I was playing with matches (big no no!) and I was lighting fires less than 5 feet from the house in the middle of our very dead, very dry grass (did I mention we lived in the desert?!) Oops!

6. I don't like it when people are near me while I'm working. Any task - cleaning the house, working online, whatever. I think that they are watching me and judging me and deciding that I have absolutely no idea what I'm doing and I'm doing it all wrong and I'm such a failure. Can you say self-esteem issues?!?

7. I have recurring dreams that I call "911 Dreams". The location and the situation vary from time to time but in all of them I am trying to call 9-1-1 and for whatever reason can't get through. Dream analysis anyone?

8. I don't like wind. Or other repetitive, out of my control noises. Like our new dog. Who licks and licks and licks and licks incessantly. Or like Felisa who at this very minute is sitting next to me whispering "scooby scooby scooby" over and over and over again. AAAAHHHHHH!!!! Kill me now!

9. My aunt used to call me Bony Butt when I was younger. Alas, those days are long past.

10. I don't like to be told what to do. Or what I cannot do. Stubborn I believe it is called. And yet I am a firm believer in rules. As in Every One MUST Follow ALL Rules At ALL Times NO Exceptions!!!

And now I have drawn a blank. The neuroses are endless really... too bad I can't remember any more right now. Lucky for you though so you don't have to read any more. And I suppose technically I have met my 10 item list requirement though I am not going to tag anyone since I think my only readers (other than Ron, my quality control) is Mama Llama and Scattered Mom.

Where did my week go?

Has anyone seen it? I had it right here earlier... An entire week, full of time and possibility and a list 5 miles long of things to be done with all that time? I seem to have misplaced it somewhere because OMG it's, like, Wednesday night which means that tomorrow is Thursday and then it's Friday. Which means that the day after that is Saturday! I'm not ready for Saturday! And I'm pretty sure the next two days will not be nearly enough time to do everything on that list and prepare for Saturday. Seriously... where did my week go?!? I want it back! Now!

In other news...
I ventured out to Walmart today. Ick. But I did find two new t-shirts that I will hopefully still like after wearing them a few times. And I bought a large bag of the new Indiana Jones mint crisp M&Ms. I'm thinking I should've bought a case rather than merely a single bag. They taste like mini thin mint cookies. yummmmmmmmm! I also found some ric-rac for my class on Saturday. Not the size I wanted but better than nothing. And they didn't really have anything else I needed to so I went to Michaels (withOUT a coupon -gasp!) and bought more brads and gluedots. And a keychain hook so that I can help Felisa make a dinosaur for Adam to hang from his lunchbox (since Felisa has a princess charm hanging from her lunchbox). Every Monday when I pick up Felisa from lunch bunch he asks me again. Maybe next week we'll get it done. I had considered it for this afternoon but obviously promplty forgot again.

Ron's housekey is still missing. I called his dad to see if he had taken it to the beach and he said no. Which brings us back to square one. Key - lost.

Bella didn't like her dinner and put on a big show of tears for Grandma D. so she could get sympathy. I told her that I appreciated the fact that she tasted it but that she is old enough to go without dinner if she decides not to eat it. It's not like she's going to starve to death. She ate bacon at Melissa's house earlier this evening and she's now had a bedtime snack as well.

Felisa was having a major meltdown over not getting to see Melissa today. Her date is scheduled for next Wednesday. Poor Melissa is spread pretty thin these days now that she has access to her birth family and my kids wanting to spend time with her and all of that end-of-senior-year social life stuff to do. I bet she's wondering where her week went as well. Hmmm... maybe they ran off together!

I'm behind on laundry. Lana was here two weeks ago and washed/dried/folded every last bit of laundry. Then Lourna was here last week and did some laundry too. Yet here I sit in pretty much the same place I was two weeks ago - dreadfully behind. I did finally get the bathroom rugs washed and hung out to dry though. Had to wait for the rain to stop first...

I planted a bit in my garden this afternoon. I need to get my seeds out and plant green beans and a few other things. I also need to put the rest of my plants in that I bought. Maybe I should do some planting in my spare time.

We're almost out of milk. I was going to go to the grocery store and the dry cleaners today. Obviously that didn't happen either! Maybe tomorrow in my other spare time.

I'm not sure my paper order is going to arrive in time for my crop class this weekend. I really hope it does. I also think I need to go back to Michaels (or maybe AC Moore but that is farther away) and buy some black and white paper. Maybe I should check how much I have. In my spare time. Then in my other spare time I can go shopping for more.

Our neighbor Clint had to go to the hospital this afternoon with chest pains so Zoe had some extra time here. She even almost got to have a sleepover but Nesli came to pick her up just after I put them all in bed. Maybe she'll get another chance for a sleepover later this month or next. She and Ryan had been discussing the idea the other day. I of course am glad to help but suspect a few minutes of my spare time may have disappeared into this situation.

Friday morning I will be working for Ms Barnes. She already warned me she has a lot for me to do. How fast can operate that copy machine?!

Alright... time to go eat my fish tacos that Ron brought me from Baja Fresh and then collapse. Should I check my email first? Visit a few blogs? Not sure. But I will finish my bowl of mint crisp M&Ms!

Oh and if you see my week will you please send it back to me? Thanks!

squish squish squish

Just got back from dumping the compost... The grass/ground squish, squish, squished as I walked across it. We have set a local record with 7.75" of rain in 5 days. Just yesterday Mom and Lourna were talking about how the rain is different here. In the west, it rains for about 20-30 minutes then blows over. Here it rains and rains - for days on end sometimes. As if someone turned on the rain faucet then forgot to turn it off again. Forrest Gump was on last night. I had to laugh at the Vietnam scene where Forrest is telling about how it started to rain one day and just kept raining continuously for four months until all of a sudden one day, someone turned off the rain.

I sure hope someone turns off the rain soon!

Faster than the speed of sound

Well, not really. But I did run a mile in 8:17 this morning. I think it's a personal best.

Go me!

First Communion

Ryan celebrated his first communion today. At rehearsal Thursday he drew the wine assignment. No pressure, right? He said that it was heavy but delivered it to Fr. Pat without any trouble.

All went well. He said that the wine didn't taste very good. :)

Afterwards a nice BBQ with family and just a few friends - quiet and relaxing.

GOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAALLLLLL!!!!!!!!!

Two soccer players. Two soccer games. Two goals scored!!!

That's right - both Ryan and Bella scored great goals today! And Grandpa F was here to see it.

Proud soccer mama here. :)

Our Bird Sanctuary

I knew we had one nest with babies... turns out we have two more!

Uncle Mike was out exploring with Felisa today and found a turtle dove nest (conveniently located right next to my gardening tools!) with two eggs and a robin's nest in the pine tree out front. I'm so excited!

********

In other news...

Bella ate beef tonight! (Shhhhh... don't tell her!) Uncle Mike took us out for dinner at the chinese place. Miss Picky was still hungry after eating only rice and broccoli and reluctantly agreed to try Ron's chicken. He assured her that it was "inside chicken" and she ended up liking it. When he ran out of chicken, he slipped her a piece of brown chicken (a.k.a. beef!) and quickly looked away. She snarfed it right down and asked for more brown chicken!

She did eat some of Grandma D's roast beef a few weeks ago which was completely shocking to all of us. She tried some of mine this past Sunday and deemed that delicious as well.

Baby steps...

Back online...

Our modem died sometime during the night on Saturday. Without warning I was without internet and email for 3 days! OMG! How am I supposed to survive without it?!

I lived through the ordeal and apparently I have a lot more to say on the blog when I can't log on than when I can. I have back posted 3 other new entries so keep reading to see it all.

Dilemma of the Day

So I was at Safeway today picking up the ingredients for tonight’s dinner. I was hungry (apparently I wasn’t following the “never shop hungry” advice!) so I was wondering through the meat department trying to decide if I wanted to buy something even though it wasn’t on the list and wasn’t part of the menu plan for the week.

They have started a clearance section in the meat department… they put all the “sell or freeze by today” meat together now with a percent off sticker on each. They used to just have those meats in with the others rather than in a special section. Anyway, I was looking at the meat and debating whether or not to buy some.

Here’s the dilemma…

This meat is obviously not the freshest meat available.
It’s on sale.
I’m guessing if no one buys it, it will be thrown in the garbage.
What a waste!
I should buy it (and cook it of course!) so it doesn’t get thrown away but am I risking food poisoning by doing that?

Now don’t get me wrong – I’ve bought the clearance meat before without any problem. But occasionally I do wonder about the whole food poisoning, spoiled food, e coli, etc issue. And then the other problem I have with that meat is that it’s feed-lot beef and who-knows-how-they-do-pigs pork and caged-sad-chickens chicken. I don’t mind spending a bit more and getting our meat from the farmer at the farmer’s market but the market isn’t open yet.

And today isn’t the first day I’ve considered the wastefulness of having so much meat always available to buy that some of it ends up in the trash. Why are we as Americans so spoiled that we expect a full case of meat each and every time we shop? Limited supply would make the prices a bit higher but it would have positive influence on our diets and on the environment. Raising the meat so that we can eat as much meat as we want as many meals a day as we want has a definite negative impact on the environment and even on our dietary health.

We should raise as many cows/chickens/pigs as the farmland can support in a healthy eco-system alongside the fruits and vegetables (i.e. Joel Salatin of Polyface Farms). However much that is, then that’s it. Make up the rest of our diet with the fruits and vegetables we aren’t getting enough of.

Americans are spoiled and wasteful. And fat. And lazy. I’m just as bad as everyone else but today I’m wondering why and what could be done to change it.

In case you are wondering… I didn’t buy any of the meat. We don’t need it and it isn’t part of the meal plan for this week. So this time I didn’t buy any. And in the interest of true confessions… I drove my car to the community center for my exercise class this morning even though it’s only a mile away and I could totally ride my bike. I hardly ever do though – I ride maybe 10 times/year and drive the rest of the time. I ate at McDonalds this morning after I went to Safeway (I was hungry, remember?!) And even though I brought my own cup for the iced coffee (a McD’s cup that I got at the drive thru last week) in an attempt to reduce the waste, I may have made it worse. The lady couldn’t find the right size lid (no, I didn’t bring a lid but maybe next time I will) so she tried at least 5 times before she got it right. I don’t know if she’ll use them again or if she’ll throw them away. She used individual creamers and a long plastic spoon to mix the coffee. Those of course were thrown away. I did walk to school to pick up the kids but again, I usually drive even though I really don’t need to most days.

So… I am guilty. Guilty of going to McDonald’s even though I could make my own healthier breakfast and iced coffee at home. Guilty of driving places that I could walk to. Guilty of eating meat at almost every meal.

I am a spoiled, lazy American.

Basketball Superstar!

At the end of my exercise class this morning we played a game of basketball instead of going out to run a mile. We have done this once or twice before and it is generally pretty fun because for the most part, we are all equally terrible at basketball. Today two of the guys were there – decent basketball-playing guys – so we put one on each team and went for it.

I think the basketball angels must have been sitting on my shoulder because I actually made almost all of my shots. Me, the world’s worst basketball player. Shocking! The other team even went so far as to say – don’t let Sheila get it. She’s too good.

Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha

That’s me, rolling on the floor, laughing till my sides split (ROFLMAO). Don’t they know? I suck at basketball!

Funny, huh?!

Going Under the Nail

I went along as moral support for a friend who wanted to get her naval pierced. Sounds crazy and painful and crazy painful to me but hey – I’m all about enabling and riding along on others’ journeys. To me some piercings are cute and some are just weird. Shani’s will be cute once she is healed and can switch her jewelry.

So I thought I was doing an excellent job of not grimacing or gasping in horror during the actual piercing. Apparently not. As we left, she asked “was it really that bad? I heard you suck all the air out of the room”. Oh. Um. Yeah. Sorry! So much for being supportive, eh? I think that it was mainly that I was unprepared for the size of the piercing tool involved. I was expecting a needle. What I saw was a nail. Like the ones I use to hang pictures on my wall. Ouch!

To celebrate the occasion we went to Target, bought Ryan a suit for 1st Communion, and shopped around the clearance racks for any other things we “needed”. Then we hit the bar at Artie’s for margaritas, salad, and tuna. Yum!

Good food, good times, and I can say that I have reconfirmed my desire to not ever pierce anything but my ears! I’ll just live vicariously through others, as usual.

Mr. Shoe Kicker

I saw Ryan's teacher in the lobby yesterday on my way in to pick him up. She laughed and said, "You'll never believe what happened today. At recess he was playing a game. A kicking game. When he kicked, his shoe was loose and landed on the roof of the school."

Really? He kicked his shoe onto the roof of the school? Wow!

I'm not surprised though since his shoes are always always always untied. That would drive me crazy but he doesn't even seem to notice. Of course this is the same kid that walks around with only one sock on because the other one fell off somewhere (usually the near the couch) so I guess it's just par for the course.

Miss B said that Ryan was laughing about the shoe incident. Which is good. Knowing how to laugh at yourself is an essential life skill to have so I am glad to see it alive in him.

Because if we weren't laughing, we would be crying. (And maybe even barefoot...)

****************

Here's a Mother Goose rhyme that I always think of whenever I see him sock-less...

Diddle Diddle Dumpling
Diddle diddle dumpling my son John.
He went to bed with his socks on.
One shoe off and one shoe on.
Diddle diddle dumpling my son John!

The Curse of the Sheets

So once again, the Curse of the Sheets has struck.

Everytime I change the sheets (which really isn't all that often and as you will soon see, there's good reasons to be afraid to do it any more often than I do) something happens. Usually it's a middle-of-the-night accident. Occasionally it's something spilled. And when I'm really lucky, it's vomit. All over the clean sheets. Which means I have to change them and wash them all over again. Most of the time it happens within 24 hours. Sometimes it takes as long as 48 hours. And it happens every. single. time. I wish I were kidding but alas I am not.

So I changed the sheets on Monday morning while the kids were at school (on another note, as usual, I vastly underestimated the amount of time it would take to put the house back in order after a few weeks of neglect). I also cleaned out the linen closet which has been on my to do list for at least a year. Good thing I got that done because that's the only thing I will have gotten done this entire week I'm sure. Plus it makes finding replacement sheets in a hurry that much easier!

Tuesday morning Felisa woke up with a fever. She wanted pizza for lunch Wed. and managed to get bits of pizza sauce on my clean white sheets (I know - she shouldn't have been eating on the bed so that one is my fault). I have met the Curse of the Sheets and I have emerged barely scathed.

But no... The Curse wasn't about to let me off that easily. The school nurse called at about 2:20 on Wednesday afternoon - Bella was in the clinic with a headache and a 102 fever. I went to pick her up (and pulled Ryan early because there was no way in heck I was going back 3o minutes later to pick him up) and brought her home. She climbed into bed. I brought her motrin and water. I went to make sure Felisa (who is still sick too) was settled. By the time I got back, Bella had managed to throw up all over herself and the bed. The bed with the Clean Sheets. Darn you, Curse!!!

And so I am sure you understand why I don't like to change the sheets too often... That Curse is a tough one!

*****

In other news...

I have been working on my digital scrapbook for 2007. I have decided that not only am I disorganized in real life but I am also disorganized digitally. Oy. How many hours have I spent going from computer to computer trying to track down all the pictures that I took from Jan- March 2007?! This scrapbook is going to be awesome though when I'm done!

I hope.

An Exhibit In the Zoo

I was an exhibit in the zoo today... Scrapbookerus Femalus.

At a 3-day crop at a local hotel... our original reservation in the ballroom was preempted for some reason and the vendors are once again located in the "Promenade" which is a fancy way of saying large hallway with lots of noisy people walking through. Most of them (a men's prayer group and a teen leadership conference) have never seen a scrapbook event and so proceeded to stare at us. I already have issues with people looking at me so hundreds of them in an afternoon was a little nerve-fraying.

I'm hoping tomorrow will be a little quieter on the "Promenade".

Test Flight

Ryan and I flew to California today. We flew on Southwest Airlines which I haven't done in many years. Since before having kids I think. As you probably know, seats are selected on a first-come, first-serve basis. For the first leg of the trip, we were in the 5th of 6 boarding groups and were not able to sit together. He was across the aisle from me so I felt okay about that.

Looking ahead to the next flight, we were in the 3rd of what I thought was 6 boarding groups so I figured we should be able to find two seats together. Unfortunately the second plane was a different type than the first one with fewer seats so we were actually in the 3rd of 4 boarding groups. I thought we might get seats together in the rear of the plane and so passed up many closer together (but not actually next to each other) seat choices on the way to the rear. It was just not my day because by the time we got back there, there was only one seat left. I gave it to Ryan and went to find a seat a few rows up. Of course by this time everyone else behind us in line had boarded and sat down so I ended up all the way in the front of the plane in the second row. This leg of the journey was a 4 1/2 hour flight. The flight crew was in the process of getting the plane ready for departure so I figured I would have to wait until the seatbelt sign was turned off before I could go check on him and see about possibly moving him to a row closer to me. Once we took off and the flight attendants were passing out drinks, I asked the flight attendant to look for Ryan and make sure he was okay. She came back to report that he was sitting next to an off-duty flight attendant and had already fallen fast asleep. I waited until about halfway through the flight to go back to check on him. He was doing fine so I left him sitting there for the rest of the flight.

At the end, as we were deplaning, Ryan told me about the giant bag of pretzels the flight attendants had given him to share with his cousins. I told him that must have been because he was behaving so well.

I was watching a reality show last year sometime and in it, the kids of the family had to take turns being in charge of the plans and navigation of the day. I decided I should try to have the kids lead the way when we are in the airport so that when they are older and travelling alone I can be confident that they know what to do. As it turns out, Ryan's semi-solo flight today was a good test run for flying alone. He passed with flying colors. I'm so proud.

Brain Dump

I've got so many random things running through my mind and so little space to store it all so I'm just going to spill it all out right here, lighten the load a little, and get back on the road.

SNOW
If only... I was working on the 2007 family scrapbook this weekend because I finally finished the Big Trip 2 albums and Bailey's album and because I had nothing better to do. No, that's not right. Because I was feeling really lazy and it was pretty much the only semi-productive thing I could do while staying in bed all day (I love my laptop!!!). So, you're wondering now where the snow part comes in, right? Well, in February of last year we got snow. Lots of snow! I know this because those are some of the pictures I was working with this weekend. While I was working, I could hear the sound of yet more rain falling outside. Buckets and buckets of rain. If it had been colder, we would've gotten an awesome blizzard. But no. All we got was more mud. I shouldn't complain because we need the precipitation regardless of the delivery format but mud is one of my least favorite parts of spring. Or in this case, a snowless winter. We were cheated out of our one good snowstorm that we are supposed to get every February. Just not fair.

FAMILY MOVIE NIGHT
We had to schedule it in but we finally had one. Ryan had been asking for at least a week. And we even managed to pick a movie that Felisa was willing to watch. Family Movie Night isn't much fun for me when I have a four-year old sitting on my lap complaining THE ENTIRE TIME that she doesn't like the movie and she wants to go to sleep but she can't sleep without me. I don't want to go upstairs to put the "baby" to sleep. I want to watch the movie! So, this weekend it was Toy Story 2. And she liked it. Didn't complain a single time. I fell asleep in the middle though. It's not like I haven't seen it before... Toy Story and Toy Story 2 were the only movies Ryan would watch and that's the only way I could get him to sleep without nursing him or having to walk him to sleep. So we watched those two movies over and over and over and over and over again. I could quote them line for line in my sleep. He did gradually branch out a bit. First we added Bugs Life (he likes Pixar!) and soon we moved into the "foo foo" stage (translation... Dogs) and it was any and all shows with a dog... Scooby Doo, Balto, Blue's Clues, etc, etc, etc. But I am digressing here aren't I? Okay. Family Movie Night. Good. Everyone enjoyed it.

HOMEWORK NIGHTMARES
I have been having completely crazy dreams every single night. I'm exhausted! And the line between dream and reality is starting to blur a bit. On of the dreams that I remember was the one where I got into trouble from Bella's teacher because we weren't doing our homework. Which is true. She hasn't been doing it and I haven't been asking her to do it. A combination of forgetfulness and laziness. Apparently I was feeling guilty for not doing my homework because I am now having nightmares about it. Bella did her homework yesterday. And she'll do it again today. I promise.

YEASTIE BEASTIES
The crazy dreams are related to the yeastie beasties I think. I have been drinking coffee but not in a way that would correlate to exhausting sleep with ridiculous dreams night after night after night. Of course I haven't done anything to combat them really so I have no one to blame but myself. I am a sugar addict. This revelation came to me one day as I was walking down the street. Probably dreaming about what sugary treat I was going to have next. Then I was reflecting on my inability to quit the sugar and stay away from it. I always come back. I say to myself that I could quit if I want to but I'm not so sure that's true. After all, I've quit at least 5 times in the last 4 years and I just keep going back. Maybe I need to find my self a Sugars Anonymous group and start going to meetings!


(Editor's note... What you are about to read is crazy and disjointed and not very well written. But if I don't get it out of my head, I will continue to obsess. Which means nothing else on my long list of daily and lifetime to-do's will get done. And I just might explode. So, read at your own risk or just skip it and come back another day for some lighter reading.)

THE SKY IS FALLING
or
STUPID HUMANS
or
I GIVE UP
How's that for positive thinking? A lot of things have been rolling around amongst the rocks in my head lately. I vascillate between believing and staying strong and leading by example and then the opposite as stated above.
People are greedy.
People don't think or don't care.
How hard is it to think about what you're doing, see the excess in it, and try to change it? Make one small tiny change at a time. It takes time. It doesn't happen overnight but if we don't even try, then we're hurting ourselves and everyone around us.
News stories about the traces of prescription drugs and other yucky things in the water. Which will make people drink bottled water. Which is a big time waste of plastic. And really the problem is our water source and how we treat it. The over use and abuse of things that can hurt us and the wildlife too. I can't even imagine the level of pesticides they would find. Google it and you can find studies that show pesticides and other awful things in the human bloodstream. We're poisoning ourselves. Too much of a good thing is not a good thing. I don't feel like plastic is bad in and of itself. Medicine is not bad. But the excessive use (esp. of plastic and pesticides) is awful. Oh and the marketing and the mass media of this capitalist society. Makes me want to go hide under a rock and cry.
Food that isn't even food anymore. I'm guilty of eating crap like McD's just like everyone else. I'm not claiming to be a saint. I struggle too and feel tremendous guilt. I go through phases of better and worse. But I'm aware. And I care. Does anyone else care?
I feel like I'm journeying alone. Because it is a journey. And one person can't do it alone. So where is everyone else? Peer pressure motivates me. It would be much easier for me to continue down the path of responsible plastic use, resource conservation, real and healthy food, etc. if everyone else was doing it too.
So what should I do? Keep going or give up? Ultimately I know I will keep going because I really believe it's true and important. But sometimes I just get so frustrated and discouraged.

I think we have lost touch with the real world, the natural world and we are slowly but surely killing ourselves off.

Note to Self... USE the Calendar!

As I have discussed here many times before... my mind is a sieve. I can't remember much of anything anymore. Couple that with the parallel tracks my memory often runs on (planning for two conflicting events simultaneously without realizing they are supposed to happen at the exact same time!) and my tendencies to be less than productive many days each month and you have a recipe for potential disaster.

Well, perhaps disaster is a bit strong. Problem would be an appropriate, less exaggerated, prediction I think.

First the background... One of my self-improvement, "this time it will be different" goals for this year has been to stay faithful to my calendar and list-making. I do really well for a couple weeks, then I get lazy or distracted or whatever and I get away from using the calendar and/or following my to-do lists. In general I would say that I am doing better this year. Unfortunately I still have a long way to go!

More background... We tend to hibernate in the winter. We don't shut down entirely, but the kids are signed up for fewer activities. This winter was less of a hibernation than last summer but overall there is still less going on than in the spring and fall.

I signed the kids up for swimming lessons about a month ago. In my mind, I had signed them up to start in April. In actuality, I had signed them up to start Monday (as in 3 days ago). I bet you can see where this is heading, can't you?! So anyway, the calendar is starting to fill up. Activity levels are increasing. I've been off the calendar wagon again so today was the day that I climbed back on once more. Today was the day that I decided to go ahead and mark the swimming lessons on the calendar (along with a host of other activities we have received notices for lately). Too bad Monday was the day classes actually started. (Insert Homer Simpson "Doh!" here). Oh well... at least they only missed one class! It could've been much, much worse...

If only I could stop falling off the calendar/to-do list bandwagon. It's really starting to hurt!