July 31, 2008

I made an appointment for my van today. It has several things that need to be looked at. It has an oil leak. The horn is dying. The DVD player is not getting power from the van. And, we need to get safety and emissions inspections for it. The appointment is for next Tuesday morning. I have to call back and see if we will be able to get a loaner while they have my van, otherwise, Michael and I will have to take it out there Monday night.

I've gotten several emails from my principal. He's got quite a few things planned for before contractual starting date. Usually I'd be there, except for things that happen on Saturdays, but I'm just really needing to feel I have control over my own time for the little bit of time I have left. Plus, one of the days is the day I have to take my van in. I don't even know if I'll have transportation that day. However, I do need to get out to work at some point to get started on my classroom. This summer has just been too short.

I finally finished working on the pictures I took on vacation. I started uploading them to Snapfish tonight. I didn't get very far, though. It got late and I got tired. But, soon they will all be there and I can order some. I need to get a CD made for Kelly and Jeremy, too. I ended up with a lot of good pictures. Now, I need to take a look at Michael's. His probably won't need any work done to them, but they will need to be organized before I upload any of them.

July 30, 2008

I was kind of bummed when I got up this morning. I had planned on taking the kids to the pool. Today would have been the last day they could have swam with their friends from Guppy because it was the last time Camp Guppy would have been at the pool. But, it was raining and cool. There was rain in the forecast all day and looking at the radar I knew that for a change the weather people got the forecast right. Of all the times to be right, it had to be when I would rather them be wrong.

The kids and I watched two movies today. They were Netlflix movies that we got before we left for vacation so we needed to watch them and get them sent back. The first one was the newer version of Freaky Friday with Lindsey Lohan in it. It was pretty good. I need to get Michaela to watch the older version that has Jodi Foster in it. I don't think Caleb will sit still for it, but Michaela would like it.

Then, we watched Underdog. Caleb LOVED this movie. Michaela liked it a lot, too, but Caleb giggled and laughed so hard through most of it. I liked it too. It was a cute movie with some good family values stuff in it.

We were able to get Freaky Friday in the mailbox before the mailman came. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire was already out there. We watched that yesterday. It was one of the better Harry Potter movies, but of course the movies do not do the books justice. They left out the house elves completely from the movie. Michaela was not happy. I told her this is why we don't watch the movie until we've read the book, because the book is much better.

Late this afternoon we took Abby to the vet. We had an appointment for the vet to look at her ears again. She's no longer shaking her head and we see no signs of infection, but she seems to be loosing her hearing. We wanted to make sure there was nothing going on that needed treatment. The vet confirmed what we were suspecting. Abby is just getting old and in her old age she's losing her hearing. She's perfectly healthy otherwise, just getting old, slowing down and losing her hearing.

One one hand this just breaks my heart because I know she doesn't understand what's happening and it's got to be frustrating for her. On the other hand, I'm happy she's still healthy. She is 11 years old and still healthy, that's pretty good for a dog. I've never had a dog be healthy that long before.

My Scottie I had growing up had a rough time of it, though. He'd been hit by a car which made him have seizures. He also had never been neutered so he got cancer in his little boy parts because he'd also never been able to breed. Then, the Sheltie/American Eskimo mutt we had we got from the pound so we were not sure how old he was to begin with, but they estimated him as being about 3 when we got him. So, he was older than 11, but was not healthy the last couple years.

Anyway, we can deal with the hearing loss and make accommodations for her. I hope she's around for a while longer, though. She is a big part of our family. We are "those" people who see our pet as part of the family, which means we love her completely. And, after all, she was/is my "first baby."

July 29, 2008

Tonight I got to spend some time out with a friend. It wasn't anything big, but it was nice to get out and spend time with someone with whom I've never shared a last name. Stacey and I went out and basically just enjoyed some time away from kids and husbands together.

We drove down to Main Street. We parked in the big parking lot that is actually on Riverside Drive and then walked up to Main Street. It was a nice evening. It was warm but not too hot. We walked south as far as the sidewalk would let us and then walked back. I need to walk more.

We stopped at an ice cream shop. This place we'd been reminiscing about during our walk. It used to be called "The Fudge Shop" and not only had fudge and candy, but miniatures and dollhouse stuff in it. Now, it's just ice cream, fudge and candy. The back part of the store that used to have the dollhouse stuff is closed off now.

We got two scoops of ice cream each. It is REAL ice cream, not the frozen milk or custard stuff that so many places sell anymore. I got black raspberry truffle. It was so good. Stacey got strawberry cheesecake.

I really enjoyed the couple hours we spent together. It's nice to have friends to spend time with every once in a while. Stacey is a great person, too.

July 28, 2008

Well, my vacation is over. At 8:20 tonight I will have been home for 48 hours. It was a wonderful vacation. I blogged about the whole vacation on my vacation blog. It's located here: Destin 2008

It's been hard to be back and be away from the beach. But, it's also been good to be home where it's all familiar and I can be with my doggy. We all missed her very much. She missed us too. She was so happy when we came in the door on Saturday night.

I took over 500 pictures. At least that's what is on my camera. I deleted a whole bunch as I went, too in order to try and make it a little easier on myself as I go through them and fix flaws and get them filed. I'm anxious to share them with friends and family.

Yesterday we stayed around home mostly just doing house things. Today, the kids and I have been home all day. I've made some necessary phone calls. Got a vet appointment and dentist appointment made for the kids. Abby is going to the vet because she's losing her hearing. We don't know if it's old age or something else going on. Other than that she still seems healthy.

I've also been doing some more laundry today. Not as much as I'd planned, but that's ok. I needed a day where I didn't have to do much. I've only got two weeks left of my summer break. I've already gotten and email from my principal wanting us to do something before school starts. And, this morning I got a phone call from someone at the district office wanting me to create a pacing chart for first grade social studies.

I declined. I'm not sure why they called me. But, it was kind of nice to be asked. I just really need to take advantage of as much down time from work as possible. I'll probably go in sometime close to the end of this week and a couple times next week of my own accord, though.

In any case it's time to start thinking about school/work. I'm going to do some teacher shopping this week and weekend. I'm not going to do as much as I usually do, though. I still have some things left from last year that I can use.

Tonight, Michaela has gymnastics and I need to pay for August and see if I can figure out if she's going to do two nights a week this fall or what. I also need to try and figure out if I'm going to start school myself or wait until January. I need to get to started soon, though.

July 14, 2008

Today was spent cleaning, cleaning and cleaning. How can a mom and two kids clean all day and still not have a house completely clean? I mean I know we worked hard. We took about an hour and half break to run an errand and eat, other than that we worked like crazy. I just don't get it. Oh well, most of it's done and what is done is done REALLY WELL.

Michaela took Lauren with her to gymnastics tonight. Stacey text messaged me around 4 pm to tell me that Lauren was so excited she already had her leotard on. That was two hours before I was to pick her up. She's so cute.

When we were in the car I had the CD with the VBS songs on it playing and both girls were just singing their hearts out to it. I could barely hear the radio they were so loud, but it was fun to listen to them.

After gymnastics, Lauren came home with us for a while. Yesterday was Stacey and Steve's anniversary and they were able to make plans to go out with another couple and have a kid-less meal. They have three kids of their own and Stacey babysits, so this does not happen often. Lauren was with us until about 9:45. I just love that little girl, she is so adorable and just the sweetest thing.

Tomorrow night we leave for our vacation. I will not blog here for vacation as I have a separate vacation blog. It can be found here: http://destinvacation2008.blogspot.com/ . So, I probably won't have any entries to this blog until after my vacation.

July 13, 2008

They showed my slide show at church this morning. It was about 20 minutes long or so. I got a lot of compliments on it. That felt good. My MIL first said it might be a little long. But, then the preacher said he was going to save his sermon for next week since it was getting close to 11:45 already. After that my MIL said, maybe it was just the right length! Hehehehehe. She's so silly sometimes.

We went out to eat at Loco's with a group from church after church was over. I love it when we do that. It's so much fun. The people that we hang out with from there are just really cool people. I enjoy their company a lot. The food was good, too. The waitresses were a lot of fun this time around, too. It was just a really good time.

This afternoon, I've worked on finishing up laundry (although I know I'll have to do a couple more loads before we leave Tuesday) and got all the bank accounts in order. Bills are all paid through the end of the month. Actually, everything is scheduled for payment up until August 1 when both mortgages have to be paid. Money wise we are all set to leave.

That means the next two days will be spent cleaning and packing. I will have a couple errands to run, but I'm not going to do any grocery shopping. We'll take what we have with us and anything else we may need we'll buy down there. I'm really starting to get excited.

I got a letter in the mail yesterday from the doctor that did my mammography and ultra sound. It was confirming that I am o.k. I know they told me there was nothing there to worry about before I left last week, but seeing the official letter stating that helped, too. Between that and VBS ending, I've been able to get more excited about vacation time.

I did one other thing to prepare for vacation today. Since most of our ride down there is going to be in the dark, which would make it hard to read, I used up the iTunes gift cards I had (plus a little more) I bought a few audio books and added them to my iPod. I had one on there that I'd not listened to yet and one that I'm about half way through, too. So, for the duration of our trip, between my iPod, magazines and books I should have plenty to read.

Michael and I watched a movie that one of his employees let him borrow tonight. It was really weird. I would not recommend it, especially if you do not like gratuitous cursing and sex. It was called Black Snake Moan. It had Samuel Jackson, Christina Ricci and Justin Timberlake in it.

July 12, 2008

It's been nice not having to rush around to do stuff for VBS today. Michaela and I had pedicures. Michael and Caleb got hair cuts. It's been a quiet day at home, mostly.

Michael has been working on stuff for work. I've been doing laundry and finished making my lists for packing. I've also done a little research online. I'm looking for more kids' Christian music CD's. I think I found some on Amazon.com. I also was looking for new wireless headphones for our DVD player in the van.

We had supper at Cracker Barrel. The kids got their travel pillows there for the trip. I've also up dated my vacation blog. It's found here: http://destinvacation2008.blogspot.com/

The kids and I watched a new show tonight. It was called The Greatest American Dog. We enjoyed it. Michaela was not thrilled she has to wait another week to see more of it. Actually, we'll probably have to wait longer than that. The next two Saturdays we'll not be home. I guess I should set the DVD recorder to record it before we leave on Tuesday.

July 11, 2008

Well, another year of VBS is over. I take a big sigh of relief. I do enjoy participating in it each year but I am especially glad it's over this year. Knowing that I need to prepare for vacation by Tuesday evening has me a little stressed over not being able to be home any night this week. But, I'm sure we'll be ready in time and at least we were somewhere enjoyable.

I was up until almost 1:00 am this morning. My computer froze up on me around 12:30 at which time I gave up, took a shower and went to bed. I got up at 6:15 this morning when Michael left for work to get back at it. I was thinking I'd be finished by lunch time at least. HA!

I worked until around 10:00 am and then stopped so we could run errands. We needed to go to both banks, a Redbox, and the gas station. We grabbed some lunch on the way home and then I ended up working all afternoon because for some reason I could not get it to burn to a CD properly. It was driving me crazy. So, I ended up taking my jump drive to church with a copy of the file on it.

After all that they still did not show it. They didn't show it because there was a storm that started up and it made the electricity flicker. This caused a surge through the projector and burned out the lamp in the projector, right at the time they were going to show my slide show. I pouted. They are going to try to show it at church on Sunday morning, though.

When I was working on my slide show, I opened up the folder that I keep all my Power Point presentations in and realized that we've been doing this for VBS for 5 years already. That just blows my mind that we've been through that many VBS's with our own kids. I can really see where my skills with Power Point have improved!

We got a copy of the CD with the songs from this year's VBS on it. One of the ministers burned a bunch of copies of it. The kids really enjoyed the music this year. I did too. The songs were great. We'll take that CD with us on vacation. I found videos of the songs on YouTube. They are all on this channel:

http://www.youtube.com/user/kidsrealm

They are the songs that are from Group's Power Lab. The videos are pretty cool. The kids and I have enjoyed watching them.

July 10, 2008

Tomorrow is the closing program for VBS. I have to have the slide show done by the time we leave to go to church tomorrow evening. My plan is to stay up until it's finished no matter how late it gets. My slide show usually turns out to be about 80 slides long each year. I'm up to slide #38. I need to get to work. I hope it doesn't take ALL NIGHT to finish.

July 9, 2008

Only two more nights of VBS to go, now. I'll be glad when it's over. I'm just really tired this week. The kids have been really tired too. They've not gotten up before 8:30 any morning yet this week, which is very unusual for them, especially Caleb.

I got started on working on pictures and the slide show for Friday's closing program tonight. I didn't get very far, though because I just cannot keep my eyes open. So, it's time to go to bed.

July 8, 2008

I am so glad today is over with. The kids and I basically just hung out at home most of the day. Durin lunch, Caleb lost another tooth. So now both his top front teeth are missing. He says it's hard to talk.

My MIL and FIL came and got them at about 12:45 to watch them while I went to my appointment. I had a mammography and ultra sound scheduled for today. It's the first time I've had to do that and I was really nervous. Not only because the whole squishing of my breasts sounded really painful, but because this was scheduled due to the fact that I found lumps in my breasts. I've had several weeks of worrying about this.

It was not quite as bad as I thought, but still not a pleasant experience. It turns out my breasts are just full of cysts. While not exactly the best thing in the world, they are harmless and cysts do not turn into cancer. After having my mom fight breast cancer and my dad dying from cancer, I was terrified of this. Thankfully, it's not anything like that. They did say they could try to drain them, but it would alter the size and shape of them and there is a chance of them coming back. Plus, once I go through menopause (which hopefully is at least another 10 years away) they will dry up on their own anyway.

Afterwards, I felt like I'd been holding my breath all this time and could finally breath. I just kept taking really deep breaths. I also feel just kind of limp and really tired. I'm so glad it's all over with. Another thing I noticed was that all of a sudden I was able to really think about vacation and am looking forward to it even more now. It was like having that hang over my head was occupying space in my brain that kept me from getting excited. Now I can concentrate more on vacation.

It was not easy to get through VBS tonight, though. I'm just really tired and really wanted to quiet alone time. There really is no where in the church to get this during VBS. It still was a good evening though. I really think the theme this year is a great one. It's had so much more actual activity and hands on stuff than I've ever seen before.f

July 7, 2008

I did not sleep well at all last night. My stomach has been so messed up most of the day. I've just not felt good at all. I'm so tired. I think I'm starting to feel better, but earlier today I just felt like crap.

We were supposed to meet with Kellie and her family today, but I just couldn't. Just thinking about driving all the way down to the zoo made my stomach lurch. Plus, I've been so tired, I doubt driving that distance would be a good idea. I felt so bad about it. I really wanted to meet them and spend some time with them.

We did manage to get our trip to Wal-mart in. It HAD to be done. There were a couple things we needed today. I also had to move some money from the savings account to the checking account. This means trips to two different banks. I should have gotten my Rx, too. But that's going to have to wait until tomorrow.

Tonight was night 2 of VBS. Again it was really active and full of fun stuff. In the story telling room, the kids were blindfolded and had to pretend to be blind. Then, the youth minister rubbed oatmeal on their faces to symbolize mud and they took their blindfolds off and were "healed." The kids were so grossed out by the oatmeal. It was funny. Michaela could not wait to get home and take a shower.

July 6, 2008

It's the beginning of a very busy week for us. We went to church as usual. Then, we went out to eat with Michael's parents at a new restaurant that just opened three days ago. It was really good and they have a very diverse menu. I enjoyed it a lot.

This evening was the beginning of VBS. This year's theme is Power Lab. It's got all kinds of science stuff in it and the kids are really enjoying it so far. It's definitely an active theme. I always enjoy working VBS, but I also am relieved when it's over.

I'll be even more relieved this year because on top of it all we have to get ready for vacation this week, too. We leave in 9 days. That is just one week from this coming Tuesday. I also have an appointment for a mammography and ultra-sound on Tuesday. And, the kids and I are supposed to meet up with Kellie and her family tomorrow at the zoo.

July 5, 2008

Tonight we went to my mom's for supper. We had grilled hot dogs and hamburgers and summer cook out type food. It was really good. We just hung out and talked. My family actually all got along well together, again. They are starting to scare me.

When it got dark, Michael got out some of our left over fireworks from last year. He and the kids had fun lighting them off. At one point he "lost" the lighter. He was frustrated and was blaming the kids for losing it. As he was bent over going through a bag of fireworks and we're all looking around Caleb yells out, "Oh wait, it's in your pocket." Michael had put it in his back pocket and forgotten it was there. I love that Caleb is the one who got to point out to him that he had it the whole time.

Independance Day 2008

Happy 4th of July!!!!! It was a really nice 4th of July here. Actually, I think it's one of the best we've had. I felt very little stress yesterday. We spent no time with extended family which helped.

We had to meet with the church group at 8:00 am to get ready for the parade. Our church had a float in our city's parade yesterday and we helped make it so we also were part of it. It was fun. It's been so long since I've actually been in a parade. When I was in Rainbow Girls we always had a float in the big Shriner's Parade downtown St. Louis. So, it's been a good 24 years since I was actually in one.

We passed out test tubes with Pixi Sticks in them and a sticker with our VBS information stuck to it. The kids sat on the float and threw just individually wrapped candy, too. I saw so many people I know along the parade route, it was a lot of fun to say hi to them. Plus, I just like the people that we hang out with from church, so that made it even more fun. The weather was nice, too. It was sunny and warm, but not real hot.

After that Michael, the kids and I all came home and just relaxed for a while. Michael took a nap. I tried to but couldn't fall asleep. Late afternoon we went to the fair on our River Front and let the kids ride some of the rides. We also ate some of the fair food for our supper. Then, it was time to meet up with church friends again. We went to the boat launch area on our river front and sat to watch the city's fireworks. We went there because it's not as crowded as going to the park that they hold the fair at on the Riverfront and because from there you can see three other fireworks displays besides just our city's. One of them is kind of far away, but you can still see them.

I really enjoyed the day very much.

July 3, 2008

The kids and I went to Target today. They both had money to spend so I let them take that with them. We went to Target because part of Michaela's money was a gift card to Target. I had to get some other things while we were there, too.

Michaela got a couple new Littlest Petshop toys. She was trying to buy the Polly Pocket Stackable Studios that she doesn't have yet. I had to tell her no, because I have them for her already. They are hidden away for Christmas time. She also got a new "Magic Tree House" book. She loves those books.

Caleb bought a new Leapster game. I tried to get him to buy the Creature Create game, but he wanted Sonic. He also bought two new Monster Trucks. He was very happy they were on sale.

I got them both book sets that have magnetic play sets with them to put in their activity boxes for when we go on our vacation. Then, we picked out two $5.00 Scooby Doo DVDs for them to take in the van on vacation. I also let them each get a water noodle. They have been wanting them for a while. They can use those in our pool, at the park pool and when we go on vacation. They are pretty cheap, too.

I also had to buy some necessities like milk and bread, etc. And, I bought a toaster oven for church. They need it to shrink the shrinky dinks for VBS. I know I'll never use it so it's just being donated to church. I'm sure they can find other uses for it in the kitchen as time goes on. It's really cool, too. It's got handles on the rack/tray that are on the outside of the oven so they stay cool and you can take the rack out without using pot holders.

It was a really productive shopping trip.

July 2, 2008

It finally started to feel a little like actual summer here today. Still no humidity, which I guess I shouldn't complain about, but I want HOT so the swimming pools don't feel cold. The kids and I did go to the swimming pool at the park up the street. My kids call it a water park because of the slides and stuff. I guess we should spend some more time at actual water parks so they can tell the difference. But, we all had fun. I went down the big slide once. I would do more if it would warm up more. The kids that are attending Camp Guppy were there so Michaela and Caleb got to see some of their friends which they were thrilled about. I didn't get sunscreen on my shoulders well enough and am a little red. But, not too bad. It doesn't hurt.

Tonight the kids and I went to church to help more with VBS stuff. I helped stuff candy bags with candy and little fliers for VBS and helped unwrap shrinky dink sheets. The bags are for the parade on Friday. The shrinky dink sheets are for a craft during VBS. I am going to try and find them a toaster oven, too so that they won't have to use the big oven in the kitchen at church for that craft.

There is a funny about the shrinky dink sheets. They came in a box and all of them were individually wrapped in plastic bags. The plastic bags were taped shut with a label that said, "Shrinky Shts." Hehehehehehehe

July 1, 2008

Happy Birthday to three people who are very special to me. First, Happy 45th to my aunts, Kay and Kathy. I love you guys! I hope you had a great day today. Gosh, you're getting old! *LOL* I wish I could have been with at least one of you to help celebrate.

And, Happy Birthday to my friend Sandy. I hope you were able to enjoy the day some. I've been thinking about you a lot today. I know it's been rough since last year at this time. Hang in there, it does get a little easier at least some of the time.

Big hugs to all three of you!