TC said...
Well, I'm scared! I guess I'll stay home. (Have fun!)
Lynn said...
Hope you camping trip was as fun as ours:~) Can't wait to hear about it.
Joan said...
Oh boy...camping! I can't wait to hear all about your adventure. Hope you have a wonderful time.
Maura said...
Love the attack rabbits, too cute! Have a great time camping...
Kailani said...
The one on the right looks a little scary!
Jen said...
They're FIERCE!
He he! You all are funny. Actually Kailani, you picked the one rabbit that would give you a hard time. She’s our “grumpy bunny” although the other one is also grumpy, but she’ll just run away. Trudy the one on the right, will try to scare you off.
Well camping went very well. Thanks to my checklist I didn’t forget anything (well except to check my salt supply, but I didn’t need it.)
I took a break in my packing on Wednesday to eat lunch and blog a bit (such a time killer!) and we didn’t get to the campground until about 1:30pm…good thing it’s close!
Heather was already there, but she had only beat me by about 30 minutes. She was still getting her tent up when I got there, which gave me plenty of time to get everything unloaded from my car, cuz Heather had to borrow my car to run and get the rest of her stuff…her car wasn’t big enough for 5 kids and all the gear she needed. I watched the kiddos and got my campsite set up while she was gone.
Then K & R showed up. They had a bit of fun finding me because they were looking for my car and Heather had it. Oops! But they did find me and get settled too. Soon enough Heather was back with her gear and all set too.
Wednesday was HOT! and dusty. By the end of the day we were all sweaty and covered in dust. Blech! :p We were all very tired and ended up having dinner a bit late. Many of us (ME!) didn’t put on our sunscreen soon enough and got sunburned…oh and seeing as the kids thought a game of pass Renée’s hat was in order, I didn’t have my hat on to protect me.
We were going to make fire starters using lint, toilet paper tubes and wax…but I found that just using the lint worked great! I’m now making a bag in my laundry room for collecting my firestarters! My dead tree fire wood worked just great! I had a blazing fire going really quickly.
Dinner was great! Smores were greater ;o)… but come bed time it was so hot! I have NEVER been camping in Colorado and had it be that hot in my tent come bedtime. I spent most of my night trying to get my tent vented just right so that I could sleep…sigh!
Thursday was much cooler. We woke to a nice warm morning…so warm that I didn’t bother to heat my pre-made coffee (I make a pot at home, fix it up the way I like it and then cool it quickly…it’s then good hot or cold.) I did use my camp stove to heat some water for Darly’s oatmeal…and since I was at it, I made some grits for me. No, not those durn 20 minute grits they use in the south! I made instant grits from a packet…just like Darly’s oatmeal! I tossed in some cheddar cheese and you would never know they weren’t slow cooked. Okay maybe if you normally have slow cooked grits all the time you might notice, but they were good anyway!
We had activites that we brought for the kids to play, but they came up with their own games all by themselves. The girls played “Girl Scout Camp” where they pretended to be at Girl Scout camp…Darly & Iona were able to tell the other girls just how it goes. They kept trying to get one of us adults to be the camp director, but we didn’t play. The kids made crafts and used magnifying glasses to burn leaves (but only in the dirt…we didn’t want to burn down the campground!)
Sleeping on Thursday night went much better. A cold front had moved in and made it much nicer in the tents. I was cold this morning and put on my sweats until after breakfast.
We broke camp this morning after breakfast and were all out of there by about 10 I guess cuz by the time I got my shower (which was after the dog’s bath and unloading of the car) it was just noon.
Darly & I watched “Alvin & the Chimpmunks” this afternoon while I did camp laundry…I had to wash the sleeping bags too cuz they were dirty from all that lovely dirt. :P I should go check my camp dishes.
Friday, July 18, 2008
Wednesday, July 16, 2008
gone campin
Darly, Lilly & I have gone campin
I'll report when we get back on Friday.
The only house protection I have are the two attack rabbits!
I'll report when we get back on Friday.
The only house protection I have are the two attack rabbits!
Monday, July 14, 2008
Home again!
We made it back! But I bet you're wondering how the trip went. Are you ready for the play by play? If not...skip this post and come back later. and if you are...READ ON!
I woke up early (as usual for any time that I need to be somewhere) and started work on my list of things yet to do. I packed all of our clothes including some items that Darly had forgotten (turns out she didn't need them anyway...oh wait, she did use the sweater...okay, mom isn't that dumb after all!)
By the time Darly woke up, I had everything ready and all she had to do was get into the car. I had even packed a breakfast because I know two important things about my kid... 1) she likes to sleep until the very last possible minute. 2) like me, she can't eat the minute she gets up. She usually isn't hungry for at least an hour or so after waking. So breakfast on the go it is...thank goodness for cereal bars!
We were in the car by 10am. Just like I wanted. But there was still one more item on my "to do" list...that was pick up cookies for the dinner on Saturday night. I pondered, should I stop at my grocery store and get them...or should I stop at a store on the way and get the cookies? I decided on the store on the way because that would give me a chance to use the restroom. That worked out perfect!!! (the only item I forgot to pack was the bottle of water I had put in the frig to cool.)
We made it to Silverthorn at noon-ish (a bit early actually) and had lunch by the outlet mall. I think that everyone and their brother had the same idea!!! that place was PACKED!!! oh and they had only one restroom for everyone (male & female) so there was a line of folks waiting to get in there. While we had our lunch I noticed that the gas prices were only $3.99 per gallon. And even though I was only 1/4 of a tank down, I decided to top off the tank there because I knew that gas would be more expensive the farther I got away from Denver. (this prooved to be an extremely good idea!)
Back on the road again... we went through 5 tunnels! This trip was my farthest west through Colorado. (I've been driven to the west coast before, but that trip was farther north threw WY, UT, OR & WA.) I had no idea that I-70 had that many tunnels on it before. For the most part, once you get past Vail the road gets very boring. It wasn't until we reached Glennwood Canyon that the trip got interesting again...view wise that is.
On the way we passed a bike race called "The Triple ByPass" that takes the riders over 3 mountain passes. I didn't find out which race we passed until I saw it on the news. that was cool.
We passed two cars that weren't up for the trip. One had steam coming out of the radiator and the other was spitting out very black smoke from the muffler. There were times that I wondered if my car was going to make the trip. My car doesn't care for some of the very steep grades we had to traverse. I was a good girl and stayed to the right so that folks could pass me though.
We also passed someone who had rolled their SUV with a travel trailer behind it. I hope they're all okay...I could only see two little girls about Darly's age standing outside the vehicle and a fireman near the front windshield of the vehicle.
For the last 45 minutes or so of our drive Darly decided to start asking "How much longer?" every time we hit a stoplight. Towards the end I had no idea how much longer it would be...especially since it seemed that we were hitting every stop light they had. LOL!
We pulled into Snowmass Village at about 3pm...right on schedule! And I found our hotel very easily. Parking on the otherhand was not so easy to find. I knew that we had to park in the lots to the right of the hotel that are for the skiiers...but I didn't know that there was a Mountain Biking competetion going on so the lots were very full. But we found our parking and headed to the hotel to check in.
I had forgotten that I had read on the web that my hotel's lobby was closed and I needed to check in at the hotel next door. But that wasn't too far, so we hiked there. And now for the fun...
There is NO RECORD OF MY RESERVATION!!! They look it up by my last name. NOPE! They look it up by my first name. NOPE! They look it up by my confirmation number. STILL NOPE! They get a manager in on the deal. I ask if I may use the restroom while they try to figure it out, they have my copy of my confirmation info.
When I return from the bathroom, they have decided that they will give me an upgrade to the Silvertree hotel. I made my reservation with the Wildwood hotel, but they are both owned by the same company. The Wildwood is their "budget"/older hotel. And I have my key to the room as soon as I returned from the bathroom. YAY!
So Darly & I head up to our room to check out our "digs" before I go to get our luggage...I wasn't gonna lug our bags around while we were checking in. We had an awesome room! I didn't realize until just now that we had a delux room!!! WOW! I need to have my reservation lost more often. ;) They guy at the desk asked if we wanted a pool view and I said it didn't matter to me...he had given us the pool view. next time I'll ask to not have a pool view...some folks had decided to have a pool side party that night even after the pool was closed. boo
I left Darly in the room to check it out and play with all the gadgets while I went to get our bags. While getting our bags I realized that our floor had a ground level exit (we were on the 4th floor) but since the hotel is on a hill most all the levels had a ground level exit. This was cool as it eliminated our need to wait for the elevator! YAY! My walk back from the car with our bag was a lot shorter this way.
After I got the bags, I grabbed my cell phone to call my brother. I was very suprised to find out that not only did I have full coverage...there wasn't any roaming! YAY! Snowmass village must have a cell tower right there! Woo Hoo! (sorry if that sounds silly to you, but normally my cheap cell phone has lousy coverage at best and I pay roaming fees everywhere!!!) So I call brother and tell him that we are there. Then within minutes brother calls back and we agree to meet at a playground right outside my hotel for the kids to play.
Darly & I got to the playground very quickly and waited outside of the Pizza place for my brother & nephews. The smell was so good that we were both about to go and have pizza for dinner if brother didn't get there soon! LOL! Lucky for us a bunch of mountain bikers had arrived and the line to get into the pizza place was about 20 or more deep so we decided that we didn't want to get caught up in that.
Brother showed up with nephews. Baby nephew was sleeping. Nephew #1 played for a bit and then came to join us on the bench. Darly had determined that she was too big for that playground and was just sitting on the bench enjoying some Dog watching. There were a lot of dogs up there to watch!
Brother asked if we wanted popcorn, so we went in search of that...it wasn't open, but by the time we determined that we noticed that it was about time to head up the hill for dinner. So we ran up to our room (brother wanted to see it so he could recommend it to his friends who ski) to pick up the cookies for the dinner.
We then get to the condo clubhouse for the dinner party...and we are the first to arrive!!! So I took the kids to put their feet in the pool while Brother fed baby nephew. Even though the party was supposed to begin at 5:30, folks didn't start to show up until almost 6pm. LOL! It would figure that the only folks on time were with me.
Here's the guest list...
Brother, SIL & their two boys.
SIL's sister, BIL, neice & nephew.
SIL's mom & stepdad
SIL's aunt, uncle & 4 boy cousins
SIL's uncle & aunt.
Darly & me
Dinner went very well, but I ended up taking the younger kids to the pool. (that would be Darly, nephew #1 & SIL's neice) Nephew #1 & SIL's neice are both 4 (5 weeks appart in age.) The pool had two hot tubs (cuz it's a ski town!) and Nephew had to check both of them out numerous times! Neice kept wanting to visit the upper deck area to spin around. I felt that she needed an eye kept on her and since there was no water up there I had Darly be her "guardian" while I kept an eye on Nephew (I have lifeguard training, Darly doesn't swim yet.) Darly was getting tired of all the up and down, but I reminded her that she wouldn't be able to save Nephew if he fell in.
Darly decided that she was done with all of this and asked if we could return to our room. I was getting cold so I agreed and rounded up the kiddos to return them to their parents. We walked back to our hotel...it was all downhill and took less than 10 minutes. We hit the showers and found a good movie to watch "The Princess Bride." I kept trying to get Darly to see that Westly was played by the same guy who played Sir Edgar in "Ella Enchanted" but seeing as he had different color hair and the movies are about 10 or more years appart she couldn't see that it was the same guy. Oh well!
I had a fitful sleep that night, the room was too warm, the late night pool party, puffy pillows that put a krik in my neck and the refrigerator in our room had a very noisy cycle. So I got up way before the alarm went off.
I accidently work Darly up pretty early too but she wasn't too upset seeing as she got to watch Beakman's World twice...who knew that it came on every Sunday? But seeing as we are hardly ever up at 7am on Sundays how could we know that?
While Darly watched TV, I packed us all up and took our bags back to the car. We checked out of the hotel at about 8:45...their system wouldn't allow me to check out in my room (they have where you can check out threw your TV) because my account showed that I owed 6 cents. weird! the guy at the counter just credited my account for me. LOL!
The drive from the hotel to the Church was supposed to take us 30 minutes, it didn't seem nearly that long to me...must have been the fabulous view! We got to the Church with plenty of time. However, my brother didn't allow enough time for the trip because he was very late. SIL's uncle who is a Pastor officiated the service...so we didn't start until Brother arrived.
The service was very nice and the sermon was great and very meaningful...although a bit too long! I had to try very hard to not check my watch!
After the service there was a reception in the next room...with loads of food that Darly wouldn't eat. I think she had cookies and apples! :eyeroll!:
We decided to go home after that. Darly kind of wanted to stay longer but I reminded her that if we stayed it would be with SIL's family and she was quick to agree that we should head home then! hee hee! At SIL's suggestion we decided to head home via Independence Pass. It was a very beautiful drive! However, I missed one part of the directions and we ended up back tracking and adding 2 hours to our journey (partly due to the extra miles and mostly due to heavy traffic!) If you click on the first link you'll see that at Leadville I was supposed to turn on 91 and head toward Breckenridge. I must have missed that part of the directions and since all I knew was to stay on 24 we ended up taking longer. Oh well.
I was pretty miffed to find out that the reason traffic was held up from Silverthorn to the Georgetown tunnel was because of the tunnel!!! Once I got threw the tunnel traffic was fine the rest of the way. hummm folks don't know how to drive through the tunnel??? what gives?
We made it home right around 6pm, which is when DH was expecting us. However, I had given him that estimate based on us leaving Aspen at 2pm...we should have been home at 4:30!!! Oh well, we made it.
I woke up early (as usual for any time that I need to be somewhere) and started work on my list of things yet to do. I packed all of our clothes including some items that Darly had forgotten (turns out she didn't need them anyway...oh wait, she did use the sweater...okay, mom isn't that dumb after all!)
By the time Darly woke up, I had everything ready and all she had to do was get into the car. I had even packed a breakfast because I know two important things about my kid... 1) she likes to sleep until the very last possible minute. 2) like me, she can't eat the minute she gets up. She usually isn't hungry for at least an hour or so after waking. So breakfast on the go it is...thank goodness for cereal bars!
We were in the car by 10am. Just like I wanted. But there was still one more item on my "to do" list...that was pick up cookies for the dinner on Saturday night. I pondered, should I stop at my grocery store and get them...or should I stop at a store on the way and get the cookies? I decided on the store on the way because that would give me a chance to use the restroom. That worked out perfect!!! (the only item I forgot to pack was the bottle of water I had put in the frig to cool.)
We made it to Silverthorn at noon-ish (a bit early actually) and had lunch by the outlet mall. I think that everyone and their brother had the same idea!!! that place was PACKED!!! oh and they had only one restroom for everyone (male & female) so there was a line of folks waiting to get in there. While we had our lunch I noticed that the gas prices were only $3.99 per gallon. And even though I was only 1/4 of a tank down, I decided to top off the tank there because I knew that gas would be more expensive the farther I got away from Denver. (this prooved to be an extremely good idea!)
Back on the road again... we went through 5 tunnels! This trip was my farthest west through Colorado. (I've been driven to the west coast before, but that trip was farther north threw WY, UT, OR & WA.) I had no idea that I-70 had that many tunnels on it before. For the most part, once you get past Vail the road gets very boring. It wasn't until we reached Glennwood Canyon that the trip got interesting again...view wise that is.
On the way we passed a bike race called "The Triple ByPass" that takes the riders over 3 mountain passes. I didn't find out which race we passed until I saw it on the news. that was cool.
We passed two cars that weren't up for the trip. One had steam coming out of the radiator and the other was spitting out very black smoke from the muffler. There were times that I wondered if my car was going to make the trip. My car doesn't care for some of the very steep grades we had to traverse. I was a good girl and stayed to the right so that folks could pass me though.
We also passed someone who had rolled their SUV with a travel trailer behind it. I hope they're all okay...I could only see two little girls about Darly's age standing outside the vehicle and a fireman near the front windshield of the vehicle.
For the last 45 minutes or so of our drive Darly decided to start asking "How much longer?" every time we hit a stoplight. Towards the end I had no idea how much longer it would be...especially since it seemed that we were hitting every stop light they had. LOL!
We pulled into Snowmass Village at about 3pm...right on schedule! And I found our hotel very easily. Parking on the otherhand was not so easy to find. I knew that we had to park in the lots to the right of the hotel that are for the skiiers...but I didn't know that there was a Mountain Biking competetion going on so the lots were very full. But we found our parking and headed to the hotel to check in.
I had forgotten that I had read on the web that my hotel's lobby was closed and I needed to check in at the hotel next door. But that wasn't too far, so we hiked there. And now for the fun...
There is NO RECORD OF MY RESERVATION!!! They look it up by my last name. NOPE! They look it up by my first name. NOPE! They look it up by my confirmation number. STILL NOPE! They get a manager in on the deal. I ask if I may use the restroom while they try to figure it out, they have my copy of my confirmation info.
When I return from the bathroom, they have decided that they will give me an upgrade to the Silvertree hotel. I made my reservation with the Wildwood hotel, but they are both owned by the same company. The Wildwood is their "budget"/older hotel. And I have my key to the room as soon as I returned from the bathroom. YAY!
So Darly & I head up to our room to check out our "digs" before I go to get our luggage...I wasn't gonna lug our bags around while we were checking in. We had an awesome room! I didn't realize until just now that we had a delux room!!! WOW! I need to have my reservation lost more often. ;) They guy at the desk asked if we wanted a pool view and I said it didn't matter to me...he had given us the pool view. next time I'll ask to not have a pool view...some folks had decided to have a pool side party that night even after the pool was closed. boo
I left Darly in the room to check it out and play with all the gadgets while I went to get our bags. While getting our bags I realized that our floor had a ground level exit (we were on the 4th floor) but since the hotel is on a hill most all the levels had a ground level exit. This was cool as it eliminated our need to wait for the elevator! YAY! My walk back from the car with our bag was a lot shorter this way.
After I got the bags, I grabbed my cell phone to call my brother. I was very suprised to find out that not only did I have full coverage...there wasn't any roaming! YAY! Snowmass village must have a cell tower right there! Woo Hoo! (sorry if that sounds silly to you, but normally my cheap cell phone has lousy coverage at best and I pay roaming fees everywhere!!!) So I call brother and tell him that we are there. Then within minutes brother calls back and we agree to meet at a playground right outside my hotel for the kids to play.
Darly & I got to the playground very quickly and waited outside of the Pizza place for my brother & nephews. The smell was so good that we were both about to go and have pizza for dinner if brother didn't get there soon! LOL! Lucky for us a bunch of mountain bikers had arrived and the line to get into the pizza place was about 20 or more deep so we decided that we didn't want to get caught up in that.
Brother showed up with nephews. Baby nephew was sleeping. Nephew #1 played for a bit and then came to join us on the bench. Darly had determined that she was too big for that playground and was just sitting on the bench enjoying some Dog watching. There were a lot of dogs up there to watch!
Brother asked if we wanted popcorn, so we went in search of that...it wasn't open, but by the time we determined that we noticed that it was about time to head up the hill for dinner. So we ran up to our room (brother wanted to see it so he could recommend it to his friends who ski) to pick up the cookies for the dinner.
We then get to the condo clubhouse for the dinner party...and we are the first to arrive!!! So I took the kids to put their feet in the pool while Brother fed baby nephew. Even though the party was supposed to begin at 5:30, folks didn't start to show up until almost 6pm. LOL! It would figure that the only folks on time were with me.
Here's the guest list...
Brother, SIL & their two boys.
SIL's sister, BIL, neice & nephew.
SIL's mom & stepdad
SIL's aunt, uncle & 4 boy cousins
SIL's uncle & aunt.
Darly & me
Dinner went very well, but I ended up taking the younger kids to the pool. (that would be Darly, nephew #1 & SIL's neice) Nephew #1 & SIL's neice are both 4 (5 weeks appart in age.) The pool had two hot tubs (cuz it's a ski town!) and Nephew had to check both of them out numerous times! Neice kept wanting to visit the upper deck area to spin around. I felt that she needed an eye kept on her and since there was no water up there I had Darly be her "guardian" while I kept an eye on Nephew (I have lifeguard training, Darly doesn't swim yet.) Darly was getting tired of all the up and down, but I reminded her that she wouldn't be able to save Nephew if he fell in.
Darly decided that she was done with all of this and asked if we could return to our room. I was getting cold so I agreed and rounded up the kiddos to return them to their parents. We walked back to our hotel...it was all downhill and took less than 10 minutes. We hit the showers and found a good movie to watch "The Princess Bride." I kept trying to get Darly to see that Westly was played by the same guy who played Sir Edgar in "Ella Enchanted" but seeing as he had different color hair and the movies are about 10 or more years appart she couldn't see that it was the same guy. Oh well!
I had a fitful sleep that night, the room was too warm, the late night pool party, puffy pillows that put a krik in my neck and the refrigerator in our room had a very noisy cycle. So I got up way before the alarm went off.
I accidently work Darly up pretty early too but she wasn't too upset seeing as she got to watch Beakman's World twice...who knew that it came on every Sunday? But seeing as we are hardly ever up at 7am on Sundays how could we know that?
While Darly watched TV, I packed us all up and took our bags back to the car. We checked out of the hotel at about 8:45...their system wouldn't allow me to check out in my room (they have where you can check out threw your TV) because my account showed that I owed 6 cents. weird! the guy at the counter just credited my account for me. LOL!
The drive from the hotel to the Church was supposed to take us 30 minutes, it didn't seem nearly that long to me...must have been the fabulous view! We got to the Church with plenty of time. However, my brother didn't allow enough time for the trip because he was very late. SIL's uncle who is a Pastor officiated the service...so we didn't start until Brother arrived.
The service was very nice and the sermon was great and very meaningful...although a bit too long! I had to try very hard to not check my watch!
After the service there was a reception in the next room...with loads of food that Darly wouldn't eat. I think she had cookies and apples! :eyeroll!:
We decided to go home after that. Darly kind of wanted to stay longer but I reminded her that if we stayed it would be with SIL's family and she was quick to agree that we should head home then! hee hee! At SIL's suggestion we decided to head home via Independence Pass. It was a very beautiful drive! However, I missed one part of the directions and we ended up back tracking and adding 2 hours to our journey (partly due to the extra miles and mostly due to heavy traffic!) If you click on the first link you'll see that at Leadville I was supposed to turn on 91 and head toward Breckenridge. I must have missed that part of the directions and since all I knew was to stay on 24 we ended up taking longer. Oh well.
I was pretty miffed to find out that the reason traffic was held up from Silverthorn to the Georgetown tunnel was because of the tunnel!!! Once I got threw the tunnel traffic was fine the rest of the way. hummm folks don't know how to drive through the tunnel??? what gives?
We made it home right around 6pm, which is when DH was expecting us. However, I had given him that estimate based on us leaving Aspen at 2pm...we should have been home at 4:30!!! Oh well, we made it.
Friday, July 11, 2008
Off to the hills!
Darly & I are heading up to Snowmass Village to see my newest nephew get baptised on Sunday. The trip route is planned out. I've even checked out which towns along the way have food that miss picky will eat...where did I put my list???
Things left to do here...
make sure that DH & DD sign the gift cards
pack clothes!
take care of the rabbits and give them enough goodies for two days.
pack snacks & water for the drive
tomorrow
Don't forget the camera & batteries!
stop by the store and pick up the cookies
drive forever!
DH has to work, but not to worry...our ferrocious attack dog Lilly will be on high alert
(probably sleeping!) 
I'll post again hopefully Sunday night...but more likely on Monday. See ya!
Things left to do here...
make sure that DH & DD sign the gift cards
pack clothes!
take care of the rabbits and give them enough goodies for two days.
pack snacks & water for the drive
tomorrow
Don't forget the camera & batteries!
stop by the store and pick up the cookies
drive forever!
DH has to work, but not to worry...our ferrocious attack dog Lilly will be on high alert
(probably sleeping!) 
I'll post again hopefully Sunday night...but more likely on Monday. See ya!
I paid the ransom!
I got my car back Wednesday at almost 6pm...the mechanic supposedly closes at 5pm, but they stayed late and finished my car cuz they promised me it would be done that day.
They never noticed the smell (I think it's antifreeze) and now since it's really hot out the smell is worse than ever! I need to take it back to the folks who replaced the radiator last year cuz they should have fixed that then.
And now my oven says it wants some money spent on it too. But since it is too HOT to use the oven...I'm gonna make it wait! LOL! Dumb oven doesn't know that I once lived in an apartment for 2 years with no oven at all and lived just fine!!! Bwahahahah!
They never noticed the smell (I think it's antifreeze) and now since it's really hot out the smell is worse than ever! I need to take it back to the folks who replaced the radiator last year cuz they should have fixed that then.
And now my oven says it wants some money spent on it too. But since it is too HOT to use the oven...I'm gonna make it wait! LOL! Dumb oven doesn't know that I once lived in an apartment for 2 years with no oven at all and lived just fine!!! Bwahahahah!
Wednesday, July 09, 2008
My car is being held HOSTAGE!!!
my car has been whining at me for a while now to check my engine. It had recently gotten so bad that every time I stepped on the gas the check engine light had come on.
that signaled to me that it was probably time to replace the air filter...as it turns out, it was WAAAYYYY past time to replace the air filter. LOL!
So after replacing the air filter the light is still coming on. Bummer! But at least now the light only comes on when we are trying to talk the car into going up a steep hill (like the ones that are just about everywhere in Colorado!)
Seeing as I'm planning to drive up to Mountains this weekend, DH & I figured it would be a good idea to get the check engine light checked out. I thought it wouldn't be a good idea for me to get stuck up there with a problem...can you say "hand over your entire wallet to the nice mechanic"?
So I called the shop Tuesday and the guy tells me I can bring it in Wed, Thurs or Friday. I'm looking at my calendar going... "Wed = Park Day; Thurs = Coop & Friday = help at church!" YIKES! At first I told him Friday, seeing as I could walk to Church if necessary.
But then I reconsidered because what if whatever is making the light go on takes longer than just one day to fix??? Then I'm stuck with no car for the weekend. not good.
So I called him back and switched the appointment (I don't really think they gave me a REAL appointment) to Wednesday.
We dropped off the car Tuesday night and hopefully they'll start the diagnostic test on it first thing in the morning. If so I should know by 8am what is wrong with my car. Seeing as that is normally way before I get out of bed, that should be good...right?
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! I'm so Silly!
I called the garage at 9am to see if they had looked at it. AH..NO!
WTH? When I called yesterday they said if I dropped it off they would look at it first thing in the morning.
Now when I called they said that they had a bunch of "Quick Oil Changes" ahead of my car and that they would finish those up in about an hour and then get to my car.
GRRRR!
This is the MAIN thing that I HATE about mechanics. Lying about how long they are gonna keep your car hostage!!!! I've had where I took my car in for brakes and it took then entire day because they put it up on the lift and took off the tires & brakes and then worked on a bunch of other cars!(Sears Automotive in TX) I've also had where they kept my car for 3 days and when I finally called them they NEVER located the noise I was complaining about!!! In other words they never bothered to look at my car or call me either!!! (Firestone)
There's one mechanic in town I've found that doesn't do that. But DH said I shouldn't take the car to them for this... it's Brakes Plus. When I call them, they tell me when they can get my car in AND how long they need it to make the repair. I never feel as if my car is being held hostage.
~~~~~~~~
Well they finally called @ 12:30. He doesn't expect the parts to get here until 2pm, but says that they SHOULD have my car done by 5pm.
Damage done so far...
Mass Airforce Enter - I think this means that there is a leak in the air intake system (what I suspected too!) and this is $255
Transfer Case fluid is dirty $62
about due for an oil change...yeah, right! I just had the oil changed about 2 or 3 months ago and we don't change it every 3 months...more like every 10 months. ha ha!
a brake light out and a license plate light out. I am thinking that I probably should have just let them change those since he was only charging $2.50 each...but DH said no cuz he can change them AND we don't really need them.
So instead of sitting at the park with my friends...I'm stuck at home. :(
Maybe I can finish my book that is due at the library tomorrow.
that signaled to me that it was probably time to replace the air filter...as it turns out, it was WAAAYYYY past time to replace the air filter. LOL!
So after replacing the air filter the light is still coming on. Bummer! But at least now the light only comes on when we are trying to talk the car into going up a steep hill (like the ones that are just about everywhere in Colorado!)
Seeing as I'm planning to drive up to Mountains this weekend, DH & I figured it would be a good idea to get the check engine light checked out. I thought it wouldn't be a good idea for me to get stuck up there with a problem...can you say "hand over your entire wallet to the nice mechanic"?
So I called the shop Tuesday and the guy tells me I can bring it in Wed, Thurs or Friday. I'm looking at my calendar going... "Wed = Park Day; Thurs = Coop & Friday = help at church!" YIKES! At first I told him Friday, seeing as I could walk to Church if necessary.
But then I reconsidered because what if whatever is making the light go on takes longer than just one day to fix??? Then I'm stuck with no car for the weekend. not good.
So I called him back and switched the appointment (I don't really think they gave me a REAL appointment) to Wednesday.
We dropped off the car Tuesday night and hopefully they'll start the diagnostic test on it first thing in the morning. If so I should know by 8am what is wrong with my car. Seeing as that is normally way before I get out of bed, that should be good...right?
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! I'm so Silly!
I called the garage at 9am to see if they had looked at it. AH..NO!
WTH? When I called yesterday they said if I dropped it off they would look at it first thing in the morning.
Now when I called they said that they had a bunch of "Quick Oil Changes" ahead of my car and that they would finish those up in about an hour and then get to my car.
GRRRR!
This is the MAIN thing that I HATE about mechanics. Lying about how long they are gonna keep your car hostage!!!! I've had where I took my car in for brakes and it took then entire day because they put it up on the lift and took off the tires & brakes and then worked on a bunch of other cars!(Sears Automotive in TX) I've also had where they kept my car for 3 days and when I finally called them they NEVER located the noise I was complaining about!!! In other words they never bothered to look at my car or call me either!!! (Firestone)
There's one mechanic in town I've found that doesn't do that. But DH said I shouldn't take the car to them for this... it's Brakes Plus. When I call them, they tell me when they can get my car in AND how long they need it to make the repair. I never feel as if my car is being held hostage.
~~~~~~~~
Well they finally called @ 12:30. He doesn't expect the parts to get here until 2pm, but says that they SHOULD have my car done by 5pm.
Damage done so far...
Mass Airforce Enter - I think this means that there is a leak in the air intake system (what I suspected too!) and this is $255
Transfer Case fluid is dirty $62
about due for an oil change...yeah, right! I just had the oil changed about 2 or 3 months ago and we don't change it every 3 months...more like every 10 months. ha ha!
a brake light out and a license plate light out. I am thinking that I probably should have just let them change those since he was only charging $2.50 each...but DH said no cuz he can change them AND we don't really need them.
So instead of sitting at the park with my friends...I'm stuck at home. :(
Maybe I can finish my book that is due at the library tomorrow.
Monday, July 07, 2008
Speaking of Summer Vacations...
Our family is just a tiny bit odd. We don't take our vacation in the Summer (UNLESS a certain SIL schedules a reunion or wedding for the July 4th weekend...when she KNOWS her town has a HUGE race and all the hotels will be booked! oops! sorry for that rant!)
anyway we like to take our vacation in Late September or in October. Why? you might ask? Well duh! Everyone else is busy at work and all the kids are in school. So wherever we go the crowds are not there!!! It's a very cool deal...and speaking of deals, we usually get some good ones too! Nuttin like "off-season" vacations.
I was pondering where we should go for our Vacation this year. And I know that my mother will be disappointed that we are not considering a trip to FL, especially since we went to MI last year. She gets all bent out of shape when it isn't fair. She feels that we should spend one vacation with DH's family and then the next with mine. Ummmm NO! Vacations should be fun. They should not an obligated visit with the relatives.
Oh and we just had a month and a half long visit with mother dear right here in my own house!!! YIKES!
When I brought this up at dinner this evening, Darly said that she did NOT want to go to FL...and who can blame her. Seeing her Nana is about as much fun as watching paint dry. Even I don't want to go. LOL!
So instead I need some options on where we should go.
Darly wants to go to American Girl Place. I'm just seeing dollar signs there. LOL! But we could manage one if we went to CA.
DH would like to take advantage of the Hero Salute program. We could do this if we go to Sea World in San Diego.
And that means a trip to Disneyland...right? hee hee
I think we could make that work with our budget. I just need to see what deals they are offering.
I'm also willing to hear your suggestions for a good place to go for our vacation. Remember though that we will be traveling in the Fall, so no place that we are likely to get snowed in please...I'm allergic to snow.
anyway we like to take our vacation in Late September or in October. Why? you might ask? Well duh! Everyone else is busy at work and all the kids are in school. So wherever we go the crowds are not there!!! It's a very cool deal...and speaking of deals, we usually get some good ones too! Nuttin like "off-season" vacations.
I was pondering where we should go for our Vacation this year. And I know that my mother will be disappointed that we are not considering a trip to FL, especially since we went to MI last year. She gets all bent out of shape when it isn't fair. She feels that we should spend one vacation with DH's family and then the next with mine. Ummmm NO! Vacations should be fun. They should not an obligated visit with the relatives.
Oh and we just had a month and a half long visit with mother dear right here in my own house!!! YIKES!
When I brought this up at dinner this evening, Darly said that she did NOT want to go to FL...and who can blame her. Seeing her Nana is about as much fun as watching paint dry. Even I don't want to go. LOL!
So instead I need some options on where we should go.
Darly wants to go to American Girl Place. I'm just seeing dollar signs there. LOL! But we could manage one if we went to CA.
DH would like to take advantage of the Hero Salute program. We could do this if we go to Sea World in San Diego.
And that means a trip to Disneyland...right? hee hee
I think we could make that work with our budget. I just need to see what deals they are offering.
I'm also willing to hear your suggestions for a good place to go for our vacation. Remember though that we will be traveling in the Fall, so no place that we are likely to get snowed in please...I'm allergic to snow.
Saturday, July 05, 2008
What I did for my summer vaca.... wait a minute!
this wasn't my summer vacation! This was just a Holiday. Okay, now that we have that figured out...here's what we did.
We were invited to go along with a friend to a museum... BUT instead we stayed home and cleaned the house. We started off by attacking the bathrooms with poisonous chemicals that claim to remove hard water stains...yeah right! I'm gonna go back to Comet and Bleach...they work. Oh yeah and some vinegar too. Seeing as I have to use elbow grease anyway, I might as well use the cheap stuff instead of paying so much for stuff that doesn't do any better. sigh
Then it was time for the vacuume. I got the downstairs. I was also injured by the vacuume...it jumped up and cut my leg. Okay, okay...what really happened is that I was trying to step over the canister (that always manages to get in the way!) and my leg was scrapped on the back side of it. They should really just design those suckers in a pillow or something. Then it wouldn't hurt me or my walls & furniture. Oh well. Now someone will come out with one that is all padded, but I won't get any credit, cash or even a padded vacuume cuz the one I have right now is still working!
After we cleaned the house we headed over to Home Depot cuz they had a 10% discount for DH. We looked at trees and played in their sprinkler. We didn't buy a tree. DH looked at fertilizer. We bought fertilizer. We looked at kitchen countertops & sinks. We didn't buy either of those...even though they're on sale this weekend. We looked at kitchen faucets. I picked out one that I like. We didn't buy a faucet. Then we looked at sprinkler parts. We bought sprinkler parts. And finally we looked for lightbulbs and bought those too.
I made my most favorite potato salad. (I actually did that before we went to Home Depot, but it's here with my dinner spread!)
Potato Salad
2 lbs of Red potatoes cubed
8 oz of fresh mushrooms sliced
1/2 cup chopped red onion
1/2 cup chopped dill pickles
8 oz sour cream
8 oz mayonaise
1 tbsp Dill Weed
cook the potatoes in salted water until fork tender, adding the mushrooms about 3 minutes before the potatoes will be done so they can cook too. Drain and cool completely (if you add the rest while the potatoes are still warm, the potatoes will "suck up" all your mayo/stuff and it won't taste good!)
while the potatoes are cooking mix the remaining ingredients and let it chill in the frig.
once everything is good and cold, mix together well and let chill some more. The longer it sits the better the salad will taste. Stir well before serving. YUM!
I also grilled up cheeseburgers, with some garlic & butter covered veggie flavored noodles...(ya know those noodles that are red, orange & green)...and to keep the troops happy we also had potato chips (cuz they weren't eating my salad...they don't know what they are missing!)
After dinner and some playing around we watched some great fireworks put off by our town. They were shot off right down the road from us and our family room couch was the perfect place to watch the show.
The only way it could have been better was if the show was set to music (like they do in Tampa) where you tune in your radio to a certain station and it's all set. They would play songs like "They're Commin To America" and such and the fireworks are going off to that. Way cool! Oh well, maybe one day.
I found out this morning that some of my friends went to see fireworks and their shows were truncated due to fire. Seems the folks setting of the shows set some grass fires. Luckily the fires were small and put out quickly...but the shows were cancled.
There were plenty of other fireworks to view though cuz even though it is illegal in most towns to shoot off your own fireworks, that doesn't seem to stop anyone from doing it. I suppose that if you do shoot off your own fireworks and something catches fire you're in BIG TROUBLE!!!
Today we didn't do much of anything important. Oh wait...we did laundry. are your eyes rolling? mine are. I think I still have laundry to put away too. oh joy!
We were invited to go along with a friend to a museum... BUT instead we stayed home and cleaned the house. We started off by attacking the bathrooms with poisonous chemicals that claim to remove hard water stains...yeah right! I'm gonna go back to Comet and Bleach...they work. Oh yeah and some vinegar too. Seeing as I have to use elbow grease anyway, I might as well use the cheap stuff instead of paying so much for stuff that doesn't do any better. sigh
Then it was time for the vacuume. I got the downstairs. I was also injured by the vacuume...it jumped up and cut my leg. Okay, okay...what really happened is that I was trying to step over the canister (that always manages to get in the way!) and my leg was scrapped on the back side of it. They should really just design those suckers in a pillow or something. Then it wouldn't hurt me or my walls & furniture. Oh well. Now someone will come out with one that is all padded, but I won't get any credit, cash or even a padded vacuume cuz the one I have right now is still working!
After we cleaned the house we headed over to Home Depot cuz they had a 10% discount for DH. We looked at trees and played in their sprinkler. We didn't buy a tree. DH looked at fertilizer. We bought fertilizer. We looked at kitchen countertops & sinks. We didn't buy either of those...even though they're on sale this weekend. We looked at kitchen faucets. I picked out one that I like. We didn't buy a faucet. Then we looked at sprinkler parts. We bought sprinkler parts. And finally we looked for lightbulbs and bought those too.
I made my most favorite potato salad. (I actually did that before we went to Home Depot, but it's here with my dinner spread!)
Potato Salad
2 lbs of Red potatoes cubed
8 oz of fresh mushrooms sliced
1/2 cup chopped red onion
1/2 cup chopped dill pickles
8 oz sour cream
8 oz mayonaise
1 tbsp Dill Weed
cook the potatoes in salted water until fork tender, adding the mushrooms about 3 minutes before the potatoes will be done so they can cook too. Drain and cool completely (if you add the rest while the potatoes are still warm, the potatoes will "suck up" all your mayo/stuff and it won't taste good!)
while the potatoes are cooking mix the remaining ingredients and let it chill in the frig.
once everything is good and cold, mix together well and let chill some more. The longer it sits the better the salad will taste. Stir well before serving. YUM!
I also grilled up cheeseburgers, with some garlic & butter covered veggie flavored noodles...(ya know those noodles that are red, orange & green)...and to keep the troops happy we also had potato chips (cuz they weren't eating my salad...they don't know what they are missing!)
After dinner and some playing around we watched some great fireworks put off by our town. They were shot off right down the road from us and our family room couch was the perfect place to watch the show.
The only way it could have been better was if the show was set to music (like they do in Tampa) where you tune in your radio to a certain station and it's all set. They would play songs like "They're Commin To America" and such and the fireworks are going off to that. Way cool! Oh well, maybe one day.
I found out this morning that some of my friends went to see fireworks and their shows were truncated due to fire. Seems the folks setting of the shows set some grass fires. Luckily the fires were small and put out quickly...but the shows were cancled.
There were plenty of other fireworks to view though cuz even though it is illegal in most towns to shoot off your own fireworks, that doesn't seem to stop anyone from doing it. I suppose that if you do shoot off your own fireworks and something catches fire you're in BIG TROUBLE!!!
Today we didn't do much of anything important. Oh wait...we did laundry. are your eyes rolling? mine are. I think I still have laundry to put away too. oh joy!
Thursday, July 03, 2008
Wednesday, July 02, 2008
What am I gonna do with this kid?
I'm getting frustrated with my child again.
Recently she gave up her Gymnastics lessons...I'm not entirely sure why, but after her recent meltdowns I have a strong suspicion.
Monday morning I dragged Darly up out of bed so we could go hit the Ice Skating rink so she would be "warmed up" for her lesson later that day.
To fill you in a bit. Darly's Ice Skating lessons are only 30 minutes long and she needs a bit of warm up time in order for her to skate very well...If we don't hit the ice earlier in the day she doesn't do very well in her lesson as it takes about 1/2 of it to warm up. Her coach doesn't have enough time for her to warm up too. So I try to take her to go skating that same day before her lesson, so she'll get the most out of her lesson.
Well since it is summer the place that we go skating is having a summer camp (a place for parents to leave their kids while they go to work) and the "campers" get to go ice skating in the afternoons at the 1pm session. So that means that if we want the ice to not be over crowded, we need to get up and go skating at the 10am skate time.
For normal people a 10am skate time isn't a problem...however, Darly is a night owl. So she is whiney about having to get up so "early" LOL! once the kids go back to school we can switch back to the 1pm skate time.
However when we went skating on Monday, Darly went into another of her over exaggerated perfectionist fits. She sets these totally unrealistic goals for herself and then when she doesn't meet them she gets all mad at herself and wants to totally quit whatever activity it is because she can't do ANYTHING right. She whined that the coach expects her to get everything perfect and she just cannot do it.
I tried to reason with her that the coach does NOT expect for her to get everything perfect...if they did there would be no need for her to take lessons. I also mentioned to her that it is a very good thing that she got over herself when she was learning to walk and read because she threw the same fits then! I also pointed out to her after the lesson that none of the other kids in her class were any better at what they were learning than she was.
I think a lot of our problem here is that we still keep getting bad skates at the skate rental. No matter how much I've complained they STILL have not bothered to sharpen their skates!!! And I've been noticing more and more of the skates have weakened boots (the ankles are bent from other kids not lacing them propperly!) I really think that Darly would do much better if we bought her a pair of skates. However, Monday she proclaimed that she wanted to QUIT skating! So why fork out the money for Ice Skates if she's gonna quit.
I think what I might do is take her to go look at Ice Skates (used of course!) and see if perhaps once she gets a pair that aren't a mess on her feet if she changes her mind.
Oh and about her giving up Gymnastics? She has once again started practicing at home!
Recently she gave up her Gymnastics lessons...I'm not entirely sure why, but after her recent meltdowns I have a strong suspicion.
Monday morning I dragged Darly up out of bed so we could go hit the Ice Skating rink so she would be "warmed up" for her lesson later that day.
To fill you in a bit. Darly's Ice Skating lessons are only 30 minutes long and she needs a bit of warm up time in order for her to skate very well...If we don't hit the ice earlier in the day she doesn't do very well in her lesson as it takes about 1/2 of it to warm up. Her coach doesn't have enough time for her to warm up too. So I try to take her to go skating that same day before her lesson, so she'll get the most out of her lesson.
Well since it is summer the place that we go skating is having a summer camp (a place for parents to leave their kids while they go to work) and the "campers" get to go ice skating in the afternoons at the 1pm session. So that means that if we want the ice to not be over crowded, we need to get up and go skating at the 10am skate time.
For normal people a 10am skate time isn't a problem...however, Darly is a night owl. So she is whiney about having to get up so "early" LOL! once the kids go back to school we can switch back to the 1pm skate time.
However when we went skating on Monday, Darly went into another of her over exaggerated perfectionist fits. She sets these totally unrealistic goals for herself and then when she doesn't meet them she gets all mad at herself and wants to totally quit whatever activity it is because she can't do ANYTHING right. She whined that the coach expects her to get everything perfect and she just cannot do it.
I tried to reason with her that the coach does NOT expect for her to get everything perfect...if they did there would be no need for her to take lessons. I also mentioned to her that it is a very good thing that she got over herself when she was learning to walk and read because she threw the same fits then! I also pointed out to her after the lesson that none of the other kids in her class were any better at what they were learning than she was.
I think a lot of our problem here is that we still keep getting bad skates at the skate rental. No matter how much I've complained they STILL have not bothered to sharpen their skates!!! And I've been noticing more and more of the skates have weakened boots (the ankles are bent from other kids not lacing them propperly!) I really think that Darly would do much better if we bought her a pair of skates. However, Monday she proclaimed that she wanted to QUIT skating! So why fork out the money for Ice Skates if she's gonna quit.
I think what I might do is take her to go look at Ice Skates (used of course!) and see if perhaps once she gets a pair that aren't a mess on her feet if she changes her mind.
Oh and about her giving up Gymnastics? She has once again started practicing at home!
Monday, June 30, 2008
Awww Shucks!
I've gone and won another award! My good buddy Kailani over at An Island Life has awarded me with this...
Isn't it cute!
and all I had to do to get it was go comment over at her place... a lot. Hummm does that make me some kind of stalker? well if it does she seems to like me anyway. hee hee
Kailani has some really good posts over there. I just LOVE hearing all her crazy passenger stories (she's a flight attendant) and has the best job for people watching.
For any of you who are visiting me cuz Kailani told you to...thanks for stopping by. Stay and chat a bit, I'll whip up some virtual coffee and brownies.
Isn't it cute!
and all I had to do to get it was go comment over at her place... a lot. Hummm does that make me some kind of stalker? well if it does she seems to like me anyway. hee hee
Kailani has some really good posts over there. I just LOVE hearing all her crazy passenger stories (she's a flight attendant) and has the best job for people watching.
For any of you who are visiting me cuz Kailani told you to...thanks for stopping by. Stay and chat a bit, I'll whip up some virtual coffee and brownies.
Friday, June 27, 2008
Answering my fan mail.
TC said...
Blondie #2 either had to go potty or his favorite toy was in his pants. I'll let you decide that one!
ROFL
OMG... seriously Renee, you can't do that to me while I'm at work. I'm glad this is a little boy you're talking about and not a big one or I might have peed my pants laughing! :-D
I’m glad you enjoyed that. I know you got the entire picture of the event. I believe that the kids I had were all first graders (at least the Blondies were).
Lynn said...
No wonder you are exhausted! Nothing 'vacationey' about VBS...at least not for the volunteers.
I loved how you described some of the kids...I've know a few "La La's" lol
I believe that the term Vacation in VBS means that the kids are on “vacation” from public school.
Heather said...
You are such a good SERVER! Go Renee... you rock! Now take a load off and rest!
I slept in to 8:30am this morning, and I felt like crud when I woke up. But I think the cruddy feeling had something to do with Blondie #3’s illness being passed on. I feel better now, but then I’ve had two cups of coffee too.
Carmen said...
you're such a good person, all that volunteering to help.
I always thought helping with music or crafts for VBS would be fun, but all the churches around me have it during the day, and I work, so no-go. We used to have it in the evenings, what happened to that? :)
Get some rest.
keep checking with your local Churches. In my area there are just as many that do VBS in the evenings as there are during the daytime. I think that you would be awesome as a station leader! I’m sure you’ll find one that can use your skills!
Joan said...
Geez...it seems to me that the term "vacation" is oxymoronic (or is that ironic) when it comes to all you did. What a good person you are to volunteer as you do.
Well, like I was saying to Lynn, I believe that it’s the Kids vacation from public school…not my vacation. ;)
Bone said...
You should write children's books.
I hate when I'm around kids then a day or two later the parent lets me know they've been really sick. Urgh.
Ha Ha about the children’s books. I'm not as bad as Rava! And I’m just totally mad at that mother for even bringing her kid back to VBS when she knew she was sick. What I can’t stand even more is the mothers that assume their kid isn’t contagious. I can’t tell you how many illnesses I’ve gotten from kids who were not contagious!
In other news: When we bought this house there were two trees in the back yard that were pretty nice but had thorns. Well soon after we moved in we noticed that these two trees kept making baby trees. There was one baby tree that we allowed to grow to about 4 foot before we realized that it was becoming more of an annoyance than anything helpful so we cut it down. Well now the smaller of the original trees has bit the dust…however, it’s legacy still lives on in abundance. It seems that the tree sent out tons of baby trees all over our backyard! Especially under our paver square patio! Little trees are coming up through all the cracks in the patio.
So last night DH & I spent a good part of our evening ripping up the paver brick patio and pulling up the roots of the old dead tree. I told DH that pulling up the roots reminded me of the sand worms in BEETLEJUICE…but I’m sure that there was another movie that had something like sand worms in it that I was really thinking of. The roots would go along close to the surface and then suddenly plunge deep into the earth! We would try to keep pulling them out, but many times we would give up and just cut them out. DH kept trying to slice through the roots with the shovel, and I had to roll my eyes at him cuz I had the bypass loppers right there. Anyway this evening DH is going to a friend’s house to watch the Rockie’s game so the roots will have to wait. But tomorrow…those roots are going bye-bye!!!
Blondie #2 either had to go potty or his favorite toy was in his pants. I'll let you decide that one!
ROFL
OMG... seriously Renee, you can't do that to me while I'm at work. I'm glad this is a little boy you're talking about and not a big one or I might have peed my pants laughing! :-D
I’m glad you enjoyed that. I know you got the entire picture of the event. I believe that the kids I had were all first graders (at least the Blondies were).
Lynn said...
No wonder you are exhausted! Nothing 'vacationey' about VBS...at least not for the volunteers.
I loved how you described some of the kids...I've know a few "La La's" lol
I believe that the term Vacation in VBS means that the kids are on “vacation” from public school.
Heather said...
You are such a good SERVER! Go Renee... you rock! Now take a load off and rest!
I slept in to 8:30am this morning, and I felt like crud when I woke up. But I think the cruddy feeling had something to do with Blondie #3’s illness being passed on. I feel better now, but then I’ve had two cups of coffee too.
Carmen said...
you're such a good person, all that volunteering to help.
I always thought helping with music or crafts for VBS would be fun, but all the churches around me have it during the day, and I work, so no-go. We used to have it in the evenings, what happened to that? :)
Get some rest.
keep checking with your local Churches. In my area there are just as many that do VBS in the evenings as there are during the daytime. I think that you would be awesome as a station leader! I’m sure you’ll find one that can use your skills!
Joan said...
Geez...it seems to me that the term "vacation" is oxymoronic (or is that ironic) when it comes to all you did. What a good person you are to volunteer as you do.
Well, like I was saying to Lynn, I believe that it’s the Kids vacation from public school…not my vacation. ;)
Bone said...
You should write children's books.
I hate when I'm around kids then a day or two later the parent lets me know they've been really sick. Urgh.
Ha Ha about the children’s books. I'm not as bad as Rava! And I’m just totally mad at that mother for even bringing her kid back to VBS when she knew she was sick. What I can’t stand even more is the mothers that assume their kid isn’t contagious. I can’t tell you how many illnesses I’ve gotten from kids who were not contagious!
In other news: When we bought this house there were two trees in the back yard that were pretty nice but had thorns. Well soon after we moved in we noticed that these two trees kept making baby trees. There was one baby tree that we allowed to grow to about 4 foot before we realized that it was becoming more of an annoyance than anything helpful so we cut it down. Well now the smaller of the original trees has bit the dust…however, it’s legacy still lives on in abundance. It seems that the tree sent out tons of baby trees all over our backyard! Especially under our paver square patio! Little trees are coming up through all the cracks in the patio.
So last night DH & I spent a good part of our evening ripping up the paver brick patio and pulling up the roots of the old dead tree. I told DH that pulling up the roots reminded me of the sand worms in BEETLEJUICE…but I’m sure that there was another movie that had something like sand worms in it that I was really thinking of. The roots would go along close to the surface and then suddenly plunge deep into the earth! We would try to keep pulling them out, but many times we would give up and just cut them out. DH kept trying to slice through the roots with the shovel, and I had to roll my eyes at him cuz I had the bypass loppers right there. Anyway this evening DH is going to a friend’s house to watch the Rockie’s game so the roots will have to wait. But tomorrow…those roots are going bye-bye!!!
Thursday, June 26, 2008
Oh I'm so tired!!!
I feel like a zombie right now. I've been trying to type this with my eyes closed cuz the bright lights of the screen hurt. Oh crap, I sure hope that doesn't mean a migrane is coming on! Maybe I'm just really really tired. I would really like to take a nap right now, but I'm still a bit wired.
See this week was VBS at my Church. And of course I volunteered to help out as a crew leader. I've tried other jobs and crew leader is my favorite cuz you get to play all day (well 9 to 12) and other than keeping your ducks in a row it's fine.
This year was Darly's first year as a crew leader helper. She's not quite old enough for a crew of her own yet, unless she wanted to take on a crew of pre-schoolers. She didn't, so no Pre-K yet. Since I had extra help this year, I was given a "tough crew." And it wasn't too bad, except for one girl who I'm not sure if she's high functioning autistic or what. Sometimes K is just off in her own little world. Then there were what Darly & I labled "the blondies." Three blonde kids who have known each other since Pre-K and think VBS is just a 3 hour playdate. I suppose that's better than kids who don't get along.
Every morning I got up with DH so I could shower and have some me time before it was time to face the crowd. So that meant getting up at six each morning...torture to a homeschooler...most of us don't get up until 9am if we can help it!
Then once we got there we wait for the kids to arrive. One child's mother thinks that she can just drop him off and take his sister to the Pre-K class and then come and sign him in...at least I think that was her plan...I didn't let her get away with it. The rules state that in order for the kid to be with me, I need a signature! So I made him go get her. HA HA HA! I'm a mean crew leader!
La La's mom(cuz she's in La La land) was upset cuz her child got the same job two days in a row...well she was always last and got the last job. It wasn't a bad job and her kid liked it. So since her mom brought it up, I made sure today that she got to pick a different job...she wanted to do the same job again! LOL!
One of the blondies has a really hard time letting others have their turn to speak...especially if that someone isn't within arm's reach. I had to keep telling her that it was "the Pastor's turn to talk" or "Miss Julie's turn to talk."
Blondie #2 either had to go potty or his favorite toy was in his pants. I'll let you decide that one!
and Blondie #3 tells me yesterday that she's leaving early (this is at snack time that she's finally telling me) cuz she's going to the doctor for a possible ear infection!!! She wasn't at VBS today and I have a sore throat! GRRRR!!!
But other than that it was a lot of fun! I think I might have lost a few pounds...but probably not. LOL!
After VBS was over today I wanted to stick around and help clean up. The only person I could fine who looked like he needed help was the janitor. Turns out he needed a LOT of help!!!
First I vacuumed the sancutary!
Then we moved the furniture off the floor and vacuumed some more... all so that the carpets could be cleaned. Darly wouldn't let me stay any more for that...but seeing as he had only 2 carpet cleaners, I think we did our part.
I also vacuumed the Adult Ed class, much to Darly's chagrin! hee hee
See this week was VBS at my Church. And of course I volunteered to help out as a crew leader. I've tried other jobs and crew leader is my favorite cuz you get to play all day (well 9 to 12) and other than keeping your ducks in a row it's fine.
This year was Darly's first year as a crew leader helper. She's not quite old enough for a crew of her own yet, unless she wanted to take on a crew of pre-schoolers. She didn't, so no Pre-K yet. Since I had extra help this year, I was given a "tough crew." And it wasn't too bad, except for one girl who I'm not sure if she's high functioning autistic or what. Sometimes K is just off in her own little world. Then there were what Darly & I labled "the blondies." Three blonde kids who have known each other since Pre-K and think VBS is just a 3 hour playdate. I suppose that's better than kids who don't get along.
Every morning I got up with DH so I could shower and have some me time before it was time to face the crowd. So that meant getting up at six each morning...torture to a homeschooler...most of us don't get up until 9am if we can help it!
Then once we got there we wait for the kids to arrive. One child's mother thinks that she can just drop him off and take his sister to the Pre-K class and then come and sign him in...at least I think that was her plan...I didn't let her get away with it. The rules state that in order for the kid to be with me, I need a signature! So I made him go get her. HA HA HA! I'm a mean crew leader!
La La's mom(cuz she's in La La land) was upset cuz her child got the same job two days in a row...well she was always last and got the last job. It wasn't a bad job and her kid liked it. So since her mom brought it up, I made sure today that she got to pick a different job...she wanted to do the same job again! LOL!
One of the blondies has a really hard time letting others have their turn to speak...especially if that someone isn't within arm's reach. I had to keep telling her that it was "the Pastor's turn to talk" or "Miss Julie's turn to talk."
Blondie #2 either had to go potty or his favorite toy was in his pants. I'll let you decide that one!
and Blondie #3 tells me yesterday that she's leaving early (this is at snack time that she's finally telling me) cuz she's going to the doctor for a possible ear infection!!! She wasn't at VBS today and I have a sore throat! GRRRR!!!
But other than that it was a lot of fun! I think I might have lost a few pounds...but probably not. LOL!
After VBS was over today I wanted to stick around and help clean up. The only person I could fine who looked like he needed help was the janitor. Turns out he needed a LOT of help!!!
First I vacuumed the sancutary!
Then we moved the furniture off the floor and vacuumed some more... all so that the carpets could be cleaned. Darly wouldn't let me stay any more for that...but seeing as he had only 2 carpet cleaners, I think we did our part.
I also vacuumed the Adult Ed class, much to Darly's chagrin! hee hee
Wednesday, June 25, 2008
All of that for nothing???
Tonight a city near us was having a free outdoor movie. This is where you bring your own chair and popcorn and go sit near a blow up movie screen and watch the movie. Kinda like the new version of a drive in movie. We've gone to these before an even in the rain had loads of fun.
So tonight's movie was "The Neverending Story." And frankly Darly & I had never heard of it. Well I vaguely remember there being some movie about this in the
80's. At first Darly wasn't interested in going (a friend of hers said she had seen it and gave her a completely WRONG description of the movie.) But I looked it up on line and found that yes it was going to be the same movie from the 80's and gave Darly a quick summary.
Now Darly was interested in going! Oh shoot! She tells me this at 7:20pm! So I rush to pop some popcorn and get my sweater ready. And after a quick trip back to the house to pick up Darly's glasses, we zoom over there.
We get there and get parked...and I call a friend who was supposed to be there. Her hubby tells me that she's not feeling well and won't be there. No worries! Darly & I pick a spot to set up and I get out one chair...
The head guy (I guess he might be someone important in that city, but I have no clue who he is!) master of ceremonies and such had just finished telling folks that the movie would be starting soon and then right as I set my one chair on the ground he says..."I'm sorry folks, but we've been asked to evacuate the parking lot. You can leave your chairs here, but you're going to have to go wait in your cars or in a store until this storm passes."
At first Darly didn't hear him or understand him. Then he repeated his message and by then I had the chair packed. Darly was pretty bummed out. What were we gonna do?
As we are heading to the car we tell another family that we have to wait.
We get to our car and I decide to just load everything in the back...Including Darly & me! I decide to just sit there with the back hatch up and wait out the storm.
And so we sat and watched the storm. It was very cool. We talked about the storm and hurricanes and tornadoes and lightening. We talked about a bunch of other stuff...like "living maniquins" since there was a lady in the shop window moving stuff around who looked like a moving maniquin.
We were also treated to an "Idiot Show!" Some guy was walking though the parking lot with a queen sized inflatable mattress on his head. The wind caught the mattress and blew it out of his hands. He got it back and headed under the awning of the store...he waited for a bit and tried to go out again...again he was blown around like a feather. Darly & I were both wishing we had a video camera.
Then the storm subsided. By then Darly was ready to head home...but I wanted to just see if the movie would take place. We drove by and it seemed that not many had stuck around to see if the show would go on. It sure didn't look as if it would as the vendors were all gone. So we headed home.
I missed a season finale for this...but it was worth it!
So tonight's movie was "The Neverending Story." And frankly Darly & I had never heard of it. Well I vaguely remember there being some movie about this in the
80's. At first Darly wasn't interested in going (a friend of hers said she had seen it and gave her a completely WRONG description of the movie.) But I looked it up on line and found that yes it was going to be the same movie from the 80's and gave Darly a quick summary.
Now Darly was interested in going! Oh shoot! She tells me this at 7:20pm! So I rush to pop some popcorn and get my sweater ready. And after a quick trip back to the house to pick up Darly's glasses, we zoom over there.
We get there and get parked...and I call a friend who was supposed to be there. Her hubby tells me that she's not feeling well and won't be there. No worries! Darly & I pick a spot to set up and I get out one chair...
The head guy (I guess he might be someone important in that city, but I have no clue who he is!) master of ceremonies and such had just finished telling folks that the movie would be starting soon and then right as I set my one chair on the ground he says..."I'm sorry folks, but we've been asked to evacuate the parking lot. You can leave your chairs here, but you're going to have to go wait in your cars or in a store until this storm passes."
At first Darly didn't hear him or understand him. Then he repeated his message and by then I had the chair packed. Darly was pretty bummed out. What were we gonna do?
As we are heading to the car we tell another family that we have to wait.
We get to our car and I decide to just load everything in the back...Including Darly & me! I decide to just sit there with the back hatch up and wait out the storm.
And so we sat and watched the storm. It was very cool. We talked about the storm and hurricanes and tornadoes and lightening. We talked about a bunch of other stuff...like "living maniquins" since there was a lady in the shop window moving stuff around who looked like a moving maniquin.
We were also treated to an "Idiot Show!" Some guy was walking though the parking lot with a queen sized inflatable mattress on his head. The wind caught the mattress and blew it out of his hands. He got it back and headed under the awning of the store...he waited for a bit and tried to go out again...again he was blown around like a feather. Darly & I were both wishing we had a video camera.
Then the storm subsided. By then Darly was ready to head home...but I wanted to just see if the movie would take place. We drove by and it seemed that not many had stuck around to see if the show would go on. It sure didn't look as if it would as the vendors were all gone. So we headed home.
I missed a season finale for this...but it was worth it!
Thursday, June 19, 2008
Last Day
Darly didn't want to go to gymnastics class today. She was ready to be done.
When Darly & I got to the gym one of the moms came up to me and asked if today was Darly's last day (right in front of her coach). I said that it wasn't that we still had some time left...and I thought that we did.
But I was wrong!
I went into the office after Darly went into her class and talked to the office manager about our account because today was the end of this session. See the gym offers a discount for paying early, so I paid for 6 months worth of lessons. Then the gym "promoted" Darly up to a more expensive class after 2 months at the old rate. So the middle two months should have been at the higher price...however the manager didn't change Darly's price and she got the last two months at the lower rate! YAY! So she told me that for the next two months I only owed about $50.
And I told her that Darly was ready to quit and didn't want to pay through the end of August...and since they don't do refunds that we would just continue until her money ran out if that was okay. Well it turns out that the gym DOES do refunds, they just won't refund a partial session. (a session is 2 months...well ACTUALLY it's 8 weeks.)
Say your child just started and then decided that they didn't want to do it anymore...well then you're outta luck for the rest of that session.
But since Darly hadn't started the new session, we can have the money back. YAY!
I wanted to tell Darly right away that this was her last day so she could tell her friends and say good bye and all...but I missed where she changes rooms.
Later in her class Darly was feeling really down on herself for not getting a skill right (she's such a perfectionist!) Her coach was trying to talk to her, but it wasn't working. So I asked if I could talk to her...and I told her it was her last class.
At that point the news wasn't what she wanted to hear. She really wanted more time to work on that skill (her back handspring). So I assured her that it wasn't for good, as soon as she was ready to try again we could try again (probably with a different gym!) And that made her feel much better.
She went back to class and was a happy camper.
Her coach came out after class and talked to me. Gave me some tips for how she can help get better at the back handspring. And we said "see ya later!"
Darly started to question me and I said "little white lie." she giggled and smiled.
She's having ice cream now and is glad to be done.
I'm happy to have my Tuesday & Thursday nights back! YAY!
When Darly & I got to the gym one of the moms came up to me and asked if today was Darly's last day (right in front of her coach). I said that it wasn't that we still had some time left...and I thought that we did.
But I was wrong!
I went into the office after Darly went into her class and talked to the office manager about our account because today was the end of this session. See the gym offers a discount for paying early, so I paid for 6 months worth of lessons. Then the gym "promoted" Darly up to a more expensive class after 2 months at the old rate. So the middle two months should have been at the higher price...however the manager didn't change Darly's price and she got the last two months at the lower rate! YAY! So she told me that for the next two months I only owed about $50.
And I told her that Darly was ready to quit and didn't want to pay through the end of August...and since they don't do refunds that we would just continue until her money ran out if that was okay. Well it turns out that the gym DOES do refunds, they just won't refund a partial session. (a session is 2 months...well ACTUALLY it's 8 weeks.)
Say your child just started and then decided that they didn't want to do it anymore...well then you're outta luck for the rest of that session.
But since Darly hadn't started the new session, we can have the money back. YAY!
I wanted to tell Darly right away that this was her last day so she could tell her friends and say good bye and all...but I missed where she changes rooms.
Later in her class Darly was feeling really down on herself for not getting a skill right (she's such a perfectionist!) Her coach was trying to talk to her, but it wasn't working. So I asked if I could talk to her...and I told her it was her last class.
At that point the news wasn't what she wanted to hear. She really wanted more time to work on that skill (her back handspring). So I assured her that it wasn't for good, as soon as she was ready to try again we could try again (probably with a different gym!) And that made her feel much better.
She went back to class and was a happy camper.
Her coach came out after class and talked to me. Gave me some tips for how she can help get better at the back handspring. And we said "see ya later!"
Darly started to question me and I said "little white lie." she giggled and smiled.
She's having ice cream now and is glad to be done.
I'm happy to have my Tuesday & Thursday nights back! YAY!
Tuesday, June 17, 2008
The Camping Report
Today I will be interviewing Darly to let you know about her camping experience.
Mom: It’s very nice to have you here today Darly. I’m so glad you agreed to speak to us. My readers have been very excited to hear about your time at camp.
Darly: Hi ya
Mom: So did you like camp?
Darly: You bet!
Mom: What was your favorite part?
Darly : Learning French because of the girl from France (one of the campers in her unit was from France. Darly has been wanting to learn French.)
Mom: Did you do anything different this year from last year?
Darly: Um we slept in cabins with bunk beds? (last year she slept in a platform tent on cots.)
Mom: Did you learn anything new?
Darly: French
Mom: Did you make any new friends?
Darly: yes…LOADS!
Mom: Who were your counselors?
Darly: Starlight, T-bone, and Hyla ( pronounced EEla)
Mom: Who were some of the other people you met?
Darly: Chipp from archery, Disco another counselor, Smoggey ANOTHER counselor, Rat Rod a PA,
And Zillons more!
Mom: Any favorites? Why?
Darly: Chipp. She liked me for some reason. (I met Chipp on my way to the dining hall to pick up Darly. When she found out that I was Darly's mom, she was chatting my ear off and I was like trying to get to my kid!!!)
Mom: What was your favorite game?
Darly: Sausages (this is a very silly game where everyone in the group takes turns asking the person who is "IT" silly questions to get them to smile. The "IT" person has to answer each question "Sausages" without smiling or laughing.)
Mom: Here’s a good question…did you try any new foods that you think Mom should start making?
Darly: Um I tried loads, but you don’t need to make them (NUTS! I was hoping for something else I could make for dinner!)
Mom: Any other things you would like to share about camp?
Darly: not really
Mom: How did you feel about your Mom being late to come and get you from camp?
Darly: sad…I missed you!
Mom: Do you want to go back to camp next year?
Darly: yup but not with Iona ‘cuz she wants to request that we hike like mad!!! (my kid isn't a fan of hiking...especially the kind of hiking you do in the woods. LOL!)
Mom: Do you want to go back to camp next week? ;)
Darly: NO!
Mom: Can I go to camp?
Darly: Maybe as a counselor?
Mom: It’s very nice to have you here today Darly. I’m so glad you agreed to speak to us. My readers have been very excited to hear about your time at camp.
Darly: Hi ya
Mom: So did you like camp?
Darly: You bet!
Mom: What was your favorite part?
Darly : Learning French because of the girl from France (one of the campers in her unit was from France. Darly has been wanting to learn French.)
Mom: Did you do anything different this year from last year?
Darly: Um we slept in cabins with bunk beds? (last year she slept in a platform tent on cots.)
Mom: Did you learn anything new?
Darly: French
Mom: Did you make any new friends?
Darly: yes…LOADS!
Mom: Who were your counselors?
Darly: Starlight, T-bone, and Hyla ( pronounced EEla)
Mom: Who were some of the other people you met?
Darly: Chipp from archery, Disco another counselor, Smoggey ANOTHER counselor, Rat Rod a PA,
And Zillons more!
Mom: Any favorites? Why?
Darly: Chipp. She liked me for some reason. (I met Chipp on my way to the dining hall to pick up Darly. When she found out that I was Darly's mom, she was chatting my ear off and I was like trying to get to my kid!!!)
Mom: What was your favorite game?
Darly: Sausages (this is a very silly game where everyone in the group takes turns asking the person who is "IT" silly questions to get them to smile. The "IT" person has to answer each question "Sausages" without smiling or laughing.)
Mom: Here’s a good question…did you try any new foods that you think Mom should start making?
Darly: Um I tried loads, but you don’t need to make them (NUTS! I was hoping for something else I could make for dinner!)
Mom: Any other things you would like to share about camp?
Darly: not really
Mom: How did you feel about your Mom being late to come and get you from camp?
Darly: sad…I missed you!
Mom: Do you want to go back to camp next year?
Darly: yup but not with Iona ‘cuz she wants to request that we hike like mad!!! (my kid isn't a fan of hiking...especially the kind of hiking you do in the woods. LOL!)
Mom: Do you want to go back to camp next week? ;)
Darly: NO!
Mom: Can I go to camp?
Darly: Maybe as a counselor?
Monday, June 16, 2008
WHAT THE HEY?!?!?!?!
I never EVER hear from SIL#1. She doesn't do Christmas cards, we don't get pictures of her kids...she barely kept in touch with us while my brother was over in Afghanistan for a year (note: she only wrote to ask us to do something!!!) I asked SIL#2 and apparently she doesn't have anything against me, she treats us all the same. The only family that counts is HERS!
And then today she sends me a stupid chain email?!?!?!
What's up with that?!?!?! GRRR!!!!
btw: the score card
Brother #1 is married to SIL#1 who never keeps in touch. They have 1 girl-14 & 1boy-10.
Brother #2 is married to SIL#2 who I asked about SIL#1. They have two boys, 4 & 2 months old.
Brother #3 is single but living with a gal.
Don't forget to click on my new button...over there on the right, the top one! ;)
And then today she sends me a stupid chain email?!?!?!
What's up with that?!?!?! GRRR!!!!
btw: the score card
Brother #1 is married to SIL#1 who never keeps in touch. They have 1 girl-14 & 1boy-10.
Brother #2 is married to SIL#2 who I asked about SIL#1. They have two boys, 4 & 2 months old.
Brother #3 is single but living with a gal.
Don't forget to click on my new button...over there on the right, the top one! ;)
Sunday, June 15, 2008
see my new button?
My good buddy Jen is workin her tail feathers off to raise some money for MS, 'cuz her mom has MS.
If you could be so kind as to go check out her page and donate some money if you can, that would be awesome and so appreciated by me and Jen and all of those who suffer from MS too.
And if you would like to help spread the word, I would be happy to share the code for that way awesome button our friend Heather made. Just let me know and I'll send the code your way!
Saturday, June 14, 2008
STRESS! As if I needed any more.
Yesterday I sat around waiting for the appliance repair guy. He was supposed to show up between noon & 3pm because I needed to leave to go pick up Darly by 4:45 at the latest!
At a few minutes to 3pm he calls me and says he's stuck on the call ahead of me. He won't be here by 3. He asks me then if I still want him to come or just wait until next week. Well I miss my microwave, so I tell him to try. I'm expecting that he's about done with the earlier appointment and about on his way.
I was wrong!
I call up DH to see if he can come home early to be with the repair guy so I can go pick up Darly. DH is swamped at work and doesn't think he can make it. He was waiting for a signature on some paperwork that had to be rushed through after the paperwork was signed...but no ETA on the signature. He would try.
At about 3:30 still no word or sign of repair guy, but DH calls and says that he got the signature and can be home early. I tell him to not bother cuz I'm gonna tell repair guy to wait until Monday. Dh is relieved.
At about 3:55 repair guy shows up! WHAT?!?!? I told repair guy that if he had called me first I would have told him to wait until Monday. He thinks he can get the job done in 45 min and wants to try. I decide to let him try.
So repair guy is working and gets the parts switched out fairly quickly. But when he tries them...no working! He's befuddled cuz it should have worked. He decides to try a different part...perhaps this one part is bad. And YES that's the problem! Puts in the new, new part and everything is running fine! It's about 4:30 at this point.
Now he has to put my microwave back together. He didn't sort out the screws that he removed so he's having fun trying to figure out which screws go where. (NOTE TO REPAIR GUY: When you know you're in a hurry, put the screws in different piles and in order so you know where they go! ie. bottom left; left side, top, right side, bottom right. see how much sense that makes?)
Finally he gets all the screws in place and then starts to re-hang the microwave. Did you know the over the counter microwaves are HUNG? It's loads of fun! That's why I decided to pay for a new magnatron instead of a new microwave!!! While repair guy is hanging the microwave his cell phone starts ringing. He ignores it cuz his hands are full of a microwave! These things are not light! The caller gives up and tries again! Ignored again! Finally repair guy gets the microwave on the hook and the electric cord up through the cabinet hole. phone rings again! He answers "Couldn't this have waited another 10 minutes??? I'm trying to install a microwave here!" Turns out the call was from his son who had rearended someone in a company truck!!! oops! Repair guy says there isn't anything that he can do about it...especially from here. Tells his son to wait for the police and get the accident report. He is working while taking the call.
Finally the microwave is repaired and installed! It's 4:47! Now I have to pay. We finally get everything wrapped up at about 4:53. I jump in my car and head out BEFORE the repair guy (he is outside in his truck).
I decide to take the toll road because no one likes to pay the toll so it's never busy. That works great until I get to the end of the toll road. Then I'm stuck in a moving parking lot!!! It took me 20 minutes to get from the end of the toll road to the first exit off the road. I called up Heather. She hasn't left yet, but she's closer to the camp than I am. She offers to pick up Darly for me, but I'm stubborn and ask if she'll just wait with her. She says no problem.
After another 20 minutes I finally get to where the problem is. You won't believe why we were stuck so long. :eyeroll: The DOT had decided to "repair" something in the median. There were two vehicles and about 10 guys sitting on the railing doing as close to nothing as you can imagine! "HELLO??? It's Friday, Rush HOUR Traffic here and you're sitting there shooting the breeze???" GAH!!!
The rest of my trip was fine and uneventful, but I didn't arrive to camp until about 6:20...I had wanted to be there before 6. And OH YES! I was speeding when I could!!!
Darly was fine. I wasn't the last person to show up. While I was putting Darly's luggage in my car, I overheard a father asking if the councelors knew which unit his daughter was in. His daughter has a not so common name. So I holler out that there was a girl by that name in Darly's unit (remember the letter home that listed the girls in her cabin?) and as it turns out, this is the girl. I get loads of thanks!
On my way to actually get to my kid one of the councelors wants to be chatty. She tells me that Darly is quite the marksman when it comes to archery. I giggle and say she takes after me.
I get to my kid and all is well... except that I can't breathe cuz at that elevation there's less air and I was hiking very quickly. Heather asks "Ready to leave?" and I ask for a minute to catch my breath. LOL!
On the drive home I stop for gas near the camp...with my grocery store card it's $3.92. I put in only two gallons cuz I plan to stop at my grocery store's station where I should get 10 cents off... In town I pay $3.91 per gallon! DOH!!!
Camp report to come later... Darly is busy playing with DH now.
At a few minutes to 3pm he calls me and says he's stuck on the call ahead of me. He won't be here by 3. He asks me then if I still want him to come or just wait until next week. Well I miss my microwave, so I tell him to try. I'm expecting that he's about done with the earlier appointment and about on his way.
I was wrong!
I call up DH to see if he can come home early to be with the repair guy so I can go pick up Darly. DH is swamped at work and doesn't think he can make it. He was waiting for a signature on some paperwork that had to be rushed through after the paperwork was signed...but no ETA on the signature. He would try.
At about 3:30 still no word or sign of repair guy, but DH calls and says that he got the signature and can be home early. I tell him to not bother cuz I'm gonna tell repair guy to wait until Monday. Dh is relieved.
At about 3:55 repair guy shows up! WHAT?!?!? I told repair guy that if he had called me first I would have told him to wait until Monday. He thinks he can get the job done in 45 min and wants to try. I decide to let him try.
So repair guy is working and gets the parts switched out fairly quickly. But when he tries them...no working! He's befuddled cuz it should have worked. He decides to try a different part...perhaps this one part is bad. And YES that's the problem! Puts in the new, new part and everything is running fine! It's about 4:30 at this point.
Now he has to put my microwave back together. He didn't sort out the screws that he removed so he's having fun trying to figure out which screws go where. (NOTE TO REPAIR GUY: When you know you're in a hurry, put the screws in different piles and in order so you know where they go! ie. bottom left; left side, top, right side, bottom right. see how much sense that makes?)
Finally he gets all the screws in place and then starts to re-hang the microwave. Did you know the over the counter microwaves are HUNG? It's loads of fun! That's why I decided to pay for a new magnatron instead of a new microwave!!! While repair guy is hanging the microwave his cell phone starts ringing. He ignores it cuz his hands are full of a microwave! These things are not light! The caller gives up and tries again! Ignored again! Finally repair guy gets the microwave on the hook and the electric cord up through the cabinet hole. phone rings again! He answers "Couldn't this have waited another 10 minutes??? I'm trying to install a microwave here!" Turns out the call was from his son who had rearended someone in a company truck!!! oops! Repair guy says there isn't anything that he can do about it...especially from here. Tells his son to wait for the police and get the accident report. He is working while taking the call.
Finally the microwave is repaired and installed! It's 4:47! Now I have to pay. We finally get everything wrapped up at about 4:53. I jump in my car and head out BEFORE the repair guy (he is outside in his truck).
I decide to take the toll road because no one likes to pay the toll so it's never busy. That works great until I get to the end of the toll road. Then I'm stuck in a moving parking lot!!! It took me 20 minutes to get from the end of the toll road to the first exit off the road. I called up Heather. She hasn't left yet, but she's closer to the camp than I am. She offers to pick up Darly for me, but I'm stubborn and ask if she'll just wait with her. She says no problem.
After another 20 minutes I finally get to where the problem is. You won't believe why we were stuck so long. :eyeroll: The DOT had decided to "repair" something in the median. There were two vehicles and about 10 guys sitting on the railing doing as close to nothing as you can imagine! "HELLO??? It's Friday, Rush HOUR Traffic here and you're sitting there shooting the breeze???" GAH!!!
The rest of my trip was fine and uneventful, but I didn't arrive to camp until about 6:20...I had wanted to be there before 6. And OH YES! I was speeding when I could!!!
Darly was fine. I wasn't the last person to show up. While I was putting Darly's luggage in my car, I overheard a father asking if the councelors knew which unit his daughter was in. His daughter has a not so common name. So I holler out that there was a girl by that name in Darly's unit (remember the letter home that listed the girls in her cabin?) and as it turns out, this is the girl. I get loads of thanks!
On my way to actually get to my kid one of the councelors wants to be chatty. She tells me that Darly is quite the marksman when it comes to archery. I giggle and say she takes after me.
I get to my kid and all is well... except that I can't breathe cuz at that elevation there's less air and I was hiking very quickly. Heather asks "Ready to leave?" and I ask for a minute to catch my breath. LOL!
On the drive home I stop for gas near the camp...with my grocery store card it's $3.92. I put in only two gallons cuz I plan to stop at my grocery store's station where I should get 10 cents off... In town I pay $3.91 per gallon! DOH!!!
Camp report to come later... Darly is busy playing with DH now.
Friday, June 13, 2008
Excitement!
well for me. LOL!
Today Darly comes home from camp! This is the longest we've been separated...ever! So it should be interesting to see how she did. I'm sure she was fine as Girl Scout camp usually keeps you so busy you don't have time to think about home. I tried to stay just as busy. Maybe she should guest blog to tell you all about her adventures. We'll see.
Today is also the day that my microwave is supposed to be getting fixed. I've so missed it! The guy is scheduled to come here between noon & 3, which means I should get off this computer and go get to the grocery store!!! LOL!
ttfn!
UPDATE: It is now 3:42. Appliance guy called me about an hour ago to say he was running late. I called DH to see if he could be here when I need to leave to pick up Darly and he can't. So now I've gotta tell appliance guy to come back Monday instead, cuz DH said I shouldn't have Heather pick up Darly instead. Oh well there goes my weekend.
Today Darly comes home from camp! This is the longest we've been separated...ever! So it should be interesting to see how she did. I'm sure she was fine as Girl Scout camp usually keeps you so busy you don't have time to think about home. I tried to stay just as busy. Maybe she should guest blog to tell you all about her adventures. We'll see.
Today is also the day that my microwave is supposed to be getting fixed. I've so missed it! The guy is scheduled to come here between noon & 3, which means I should get off this computer and go get to the grocery store!!! LOL!
ttfn!
UPDATE: It is now 3:42. Appliance guy called me about an hour ago to say he was running late. I called DH to see if he could be here when I need to leave to pick up Darly and he can't. So now I've gotta tell appliance guy to come back Monday instead, cuz DH said I shouldn't have Heather pick up Darly instead. Oh well there goes my weekend.
Wednesday, June 11, 2008
Letter from camp
I got a letter from Darly (who is at camp this week) today.
Here it is...
Dear Mother,
Today was not all that fun, this is day one.
Day two so far is AWESOME! I Love you veary much and I miss you. :( But no homesicknes in me! Just Iona 'cuz her mom and dad tuk her in. Poor Iona.
How is everything thear? Well I think I will live. ;) (wink) How are my Webbiekinz? If aney of them are sick bye the meds! Spend my money becuz you are in charge!
I am now on the verge of tears missing you. Will you send paper hugs? PLEASE?
Oh and the girls are... she lists the names of the other girls in her cabin... Love, Darly
Well the Homeschooler in me is pretty proud that her letter doesn't have too many mis-spellings and that I can read it.
The mom in me is proud of her for only missing me a bit. (Yes, I sent her a letter with paper hugs!)
I'm also proud of her for showing empathy for her friend. I'm not so sure why her friend was missing her parents at bedtime on the first night since she spends the night over here all the time and doesn't seem to miss her folks. I don't tuck her in. But don't worry Heather, I'm sure that she is fine.
I'm just suprised at how quickly this week has gone by. I sure hope she gets my second letter. She should have gotten the first one by now. I won't send another letter because she comes home Friday and I don't know that she'll get it.
The appliance guy showed up around 2:30 or so. I didn't realize it, but DH had managed to get our ice maker fixed last night, so YAY! I didn't have to get that checked out. But when the guy checked out the microwave it seems that I need a new magnatron and that part costs as much as a new microwave (the over the stove kind...not a counter model!) But I told him to go ahead and get the part because while it seems as if it would be better to get a new microwave, I'm figuring it was a pain to put the last one in and who knows how long that magnatron will last!!! I'm gonna write to the company about this one cuz it's only 2 months out of it's warantee. Maybe they'll send me something.
So since it was only 3:15, I zipped over to the tire place to get my tires for the car cuz DH didn't want me driving up to Girl Scout camp with the tires that I have. The price was what we were expecting, but I wasn't expecting that it would take 2 Hours to get the tires put on! I think the guy spent the first 30 min checking my car for other things they could charge me for!!! All he found was that one of my license plate lights are out and that my air filter was "REALLY BAD" although the folks at Walmart said 3 weeks ago that it was fine. I declined the extras. And at about when the guy said my car would be done the mechanic had brought it up...but then realized that he hadn't done the alignment...that took another 30 minutes and then he forgot to clean the blue off of my tires...another 5 minutes!
by then I knew that DH would have already left for the ballgame tonight. So I went to the library on my way home.
Here it is...
Dear Mother,
Today was not all that fun, this is day one.
Day two so far is AWESOME! I Love you veary much and I miss you. :( But no homesicknes in me! Just Iona 'cuz her mom and dad tuk her in. Poor Iona.
How is everything thear? Well I think I will live. ;) (wink) How are my Webbiekinz? If aney of them are sick bye the meds! Spend my money becuz you are in charge!
I am now on the verge of tears missing you. Will you send paper hugs? PLEASE?
Oh and the girls are... she lists the names of the other girls in her cabin... Love, Darly
Well the Homeschooler in me is pretty proud that her letter doesn't have too many mis-spellings and that I can read it.
The mom in me is proud of her for only missing me a bit. (Yes, I sent her a letter with paper hugs!)
I'm also proud of her for showing empathy for her friend. I'm not so sure why her friend was missing her parents at bedtime on the first night since she spends the night over here all the time and doesn't seem to miss her folks. I don't tuck her in. But don't worry Heather, I'm sure that she is fine.
I'm just suprised at how quickly this week has gone by. I sure hope she gets my second letter. She should have gotten the first one by now. I won't send another letter because she comes home Friday and I don't know that she'll get it.
The appliance guy showed up around 2:30 or so. I didn't realize it, but DH had managed to get our ice maker fixed last night, so YAY! I didn't have to get that checked out. But when the guy checked out the microwave it seems that I need a new magnatron and that part costs as much as a new microwave (the over the stove kind...not a counter model!) But I told him to go ahead and get the part because while it seems as if it would be better to get a new microwave, I'm figuring it was a pain to put the last one in and who knows how long that magnatron will last!!! I'm gonna write to the company about this one cuz it's only 2 months out of it's warantee. Maybe they'll send me something.
So since it was only 3:15, I zipped over to the tire place to get my tires for the car cuz DH didn't want me driving up to Girl Scout camp with the tires that I have. The price was what we were expecting, but I wasn't expecting that it would take 2 Hours to get the tires put on! I think the guy spent the first 30 min checking my car for other things they could charge me for!!! All he found was that one of my license plate lights are out and that my air filter was "REALLY BAD" although the folks at Walmart said 3 weeks ago that it was fine. I declined the extras. And at about when the guy said my car would be done the mechanic had brought it up...but then realized that he hadn't done the alignment...that took another 30 minutes and then he forgot to clean the blue off of my tires...another 5 minutes!
by then I knew that DH would have already left for the ballgame tonight. So I went to the library on my way home.
Waiting & bored!!!
I'm sitting here at home waiting around for the appliance repair guy to call. They're supposed to show up between 1 & 4pm today. It's only 1:41pm... I sure hope he shows up soon. I need to GET OUT OF HERE!
and before I forget, I need to print out my coupon. I'll save $15 on this repair.
and before I forget, I need to print out my coupon. I'll save $15 on this repair.
Tuesday, June 10, 2008
Kid is at camp!
Darly went off to camp on Sunday with her buddy, Heather's kid. We were hoping that she would get a cabin AND SHE DID! which means SHE GETS TO SLEEP IN A BUNK BED! Which thrilled her to no end. LOL! Course she gets to sleep in a bunk bed at Heather's house all the time. The weather reports said we were supposed to have rain on Sunday, Wednesday & Thursday. I don't know if it rained up there Sunday...but it was nice and dry when I left there. And this year they didn't have to "throw me out". LOL! But since Darly had rain every night at camp last year, she's ready for it. I also bought her THIS to help keep her warm & dry.
But unlike Heather, I'm sleeping without my child just fine. I suppose it's because this is her second year and I know what a great time she had last year and will have this year too. I'm enjoying my "time off". LOL
Yesterday I went to get an estimate for getting my car fixed and then went grocery shopping. To get just the damage that I did back in December was around $200. To fix the entire car and paint it was going to be about $1400. Seeing as the car is only worth about $2000 (yeah I drive a 1994 Ford Explorer) we figured that it wasn't worth it to do the entire repair. And since the Microwave decided to be broke too, we went with the cheap fix on the car.
So today I took it in and they had the repair done in less than 30 minutes! It looks great and the biggest thing is that the door doesn't squeek anymore!!! YAY! The squeeking was annoying.
After the repair I went to the mall to return a purse that I ordered online. I'm still searching for my perfect purse. While there I got a manicure cuz my cuticles were a mess! They feel all nice and smooth now!
The appliance guy will be out tomorrow to fix my microwave & ice maker! Ooh I need to clean out the microwave and behind the frig before he gets here tomorrow.
I also need to get my donation of old stuff ready too, cuz they're coming tomorrow. Don't worry Jen, I'm just giving them my old clothes. I figured that you didn't want clothes for your sale...right. Which reminds me... My buddy Jen is going to do the MS Challenge Walk and could use your help. Please check out her page.
But unlike Heather, I'm sleeping without my child just fine. I suppose it's because this is her second year and I know what a great time she had last year and will have this year too. I'm enjoying my "time off". LOL
Yesterday I went to get an estimate for getting my car fixed and then went grocery shopping. To get just the damage that I did back in December was around $200. To fix the entire car and paint it was going to be about $1400. Seeing as the car is only worth about $2000 (yeah I drive a 1994 Ford Explorer) we figured that it wasn't worth it to do the entire repair. And since the Microwave decided to be broke too, we went with the cheap fix on the car.
So today I took it in and they had the repair done in less than 30 minutes! It looks great and the biggest thing is that the door doesn't squeek anymore!!! YAY! The squeeking was annoying.
After the repair I went to the mall to return a purse that I ordered online. I'm still searching for my perfect purse. While there I got a manicure cuz my cuticles were a mess! They feel all nice and smooth now!
The appliance guy will be out tomorrow to fix my microwave & ice maker! Ooh I need to clean out the microwave and behind the frig before he gets here tomorrow.
I also need to get my donation of old stuff ready too, cuz they're coming tomorrow. Don't worry Jen, I'm just giving them my old clothes. I figured that you didn't want clothes for your sale...right. Which reminds me... My buddy Jen is going to do the MS Challenge Walk and could use your help. Please check out her page.
Monday, June 09, 2008
very long meme
but first, if you haven't already done so...I've been nominated for the 2008 Bloggy Hoss Elections.
I just don't know what to say...
oh wait! I do know what to say...
Please go vote for me in the Head Cheerleader section!
and now the meme
In your ENTIRE life, have you ever...
gone on a blind date? Yes, met DH that way.
skipped school? Don’t let Mom read this…but YES! Many times!
watched someone die? Yes. :(
been to Canada? no
been to Mexico? no
been to Florida? yes.
been on a plane? It's the only way to travel!
been lost? ummm... maybe?
been on the opposite side of the country? yes
gone to Washington, DC? no
swam in the ocean? No it was too cold, I only put my feet in…Oh wait! DUH! I’ve been to Hawaii…that’s an ocean too. And I’ve swam in the Gulf of Mexico many times.
had your booze taken away by the cops? no. but that was cuz my friend poured it out as we saw the cops coming!
lettered in a high school sport? no. Mom wouldn’t let me play because 1. We couldn’t afford it and 2. She was hoping to keep me focused on my school work so I could get a scholarship to college.
cried yourself to sleep? who hasn't?
played cops and robbers? no
played dolls? yes
recently colored with crayons? yes
sang Karaoke? Yes, But it was at the kids’ museum.
paid for a meal with coins only? yes
done something you told yourself you wouldn't? sure.
cheated on an exam? Yes. But only in K-12th grades.
made prank phone calls? Ya huh!
laughed until some kind of beverage came out of your nose? yes
caught a snowflake on your tongue? of course!
danced in the rain? yes
written a letter to Santa Claus? well, yeah!!
been kissed under the mistletoe? yup
watched the sunrise with someone you care about? no
been arrested? no - I've never been caught!
blown bubbles? yes
gone ice-skating. yes
been skinny dipping outdoors? Yes. We were house sitting for folks who had a pool and took advantage of it. I was in my teens and my parents didn’t know, of course!
had a nickname? yes.
been to Africa? no.
eaten cookies for dinner? yes
been on TV? Not officially. I might have been in the background a few times.
stolen any traffic signs? no. the thought never occurred to me.
been in a car accident? yes. I need to go see about fixing the damage today.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
What is your.... mother's name? Sharon
favorite drink? coffee
favorite alcohol? Wine coolers – do they still make them?
birthplace? Bossier city
favorite vacation spot? disney
favorite salad dressing? ranch
favorite pie? Cherry
favorite number? I dunno... whichever one wins me a million dollars.
favorite movie? Babe
favorite holiday? Christmas.
favorite food? Steak
favorite day of the week? I don’t think I have one. Everyday can be a good day.
favorite brand of body wash? I get the Oil of Olay knock off.
favorite toothpaste? Crest tartar control
favorite smell? vanilla
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Do you have any... tattoos? no
body piercings? ears count?
Do you drive a 2-door or 4-door vehicle? SUV - 5 doors.
What do you do to relax? blog
How do you see yourself in 10 years? Cheering my child through college and maybe going back myself.
I just don't know what to say...
oh wait! I do know what to say...
Please go vote for me in the Head Cheerleader section!
and now the meme
In your ENTIRE life, have you ever...
gone on a blind date? Yes, met DH that way.
skipped school? Don’t let Mom read this…but YES! Many times!
watched someone die? Yes. :(
been to Canada? no
been to Mexico? no
been to Florida? yes.
been on a plane? It's the only way to travel!
been lost? ummm... maybe?
been on the opposite side of the country? yes
gone to Washington, DC? no
swam in the ocean? No it was too cold, I only put my feet in…Oh wait! DUH! I’ve been to Hawaii…that’s an ocean too. And I’ve swam in the Gulf of Mexico many times.
had your booze taken away by the cops? no. but that was cuz my friend poured it out as we saw the cops coming!
lettered in a high school sport? no. Mom wouldn’t let me play because 1. We couldn’t afford it and 2. She was hoping to keep me focused on my school work so I could get a scholarship to college.
cried yourself to sleep? who hasn't?
played cops and robbers? no
played dolls? yes
recently colored with crayons? yes
sang Karaoke? Yes, But it was at the kids’ museum.
paid for a meal with coins only? yes
done something you told yourself you wouldn't? sure.
cheated on an exam? Yes. But only in K-12th grades.
made prank phone calls? Ya huh!
laughed until some kind of beverage came out of your nose? yes
caught a snowflake on your tongue? of course!
danced in the rain? yes
written a letter to Santa Claus? well, yeah!!
been kissed under the mistletoe? yup
watched the sunrise with someone you care about? no
been arrested? no - I've never been caught!
blown bubbles? yes
gone ice-skating. yes
been skinny dipping outdoors? Yes. We were house sitting for folks who had a pool and took advantage of it. I was in my teens and my parents didn’t know, of course!
had a nickname? yes.
been to Africa? no.
eaten cookies for dinner? yes
been on TV? Not officially. I might have been in the background a few times.
stolen any traffic signs? no. the thought never occurred to me.
been in a car accident? yes. I need to go see about fixing the damage today.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
What is your.... mother's name? Sharon
favorite drink? coffee
favorite alcohol? Wine coolers – do they still make them?
birthplace? Bossier city
favorite vacation spot? disney
favorite salad dressing? ranch
favorite pie? Cherry
favorite number? I dunno... whichever one wins me a million dollars.
favorite movie? Babe
favorite holiday? Christmas.
favorite food? Steak
favorite day of the week? I don’t think I have one. Everyday can be a good day.
favorite brand of body wash? I get the Oil of Olay knock off.
favorite toothpaste? Crest tartar control
favorite smell? vanilla
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Do you have any... tattoos? no
body piercings? ears count?
Do you drive a 2-door or 4-door vehicle? SUV - 5 doors.
What do you do to relax? blog
How do you see yourself in 10 years? Cheering my child through college and maybe going back myself.
Sunday, June 08, 2008
I've been NOMINATED!
oh my goodness! I've been nominated for the 2008 Bloggy Hoss Elections.
I just don't know what to say...
oh wait! I do know what to say...
Please go vote for me in the Head Cheerleader section!
I just don't know what to say...
oh wait! I do know what to say...
Please go vote for me in the Head Cheerleader section!
Friday, June 06, 2008
All was not LOST
couldn't help it. LOL
well the compasses & maps Girl Scout meeting went kinda poorly. I tried to show the kids how to use their compasses. But they had a very hard time keeping the compass pointed in the right direction...of course it didn't help that every time we took a step it seemed that north moved!
In the end even I got the coordinates wrong...and supposedly I knew what I was doing.
One girl's compass had a whistle on it and I declaired that it was the best compass since if we used a compass we would all be lost...so instead we should just blow our whistle until someone comes to find us.
But they all had fun playing at the park while the moms helped plan our summer meetings.
well the compasses & maps Girl Scout meeting went kinda poorly. I tried to show the kids how to use their compasses. But they had a very hard time keeping the compass pointed in the right direction...of course it didn't help that every time we took a step it seemed that north moved!
In the end even I got the coordinates wrong...and supposedly I knew what I was doing.
One girl's compass had a whistle on it and I declaired that it was the best compass since if we used a compass we would all be lost...so instead we should just blow our whistle until someone comes to find us.
But they all had fun playing at the park while the moms helped plan our summer meetings.
LOST!
nope! Not the TV show...I've never seen it actually.
Today is our Girl Scout meeting and previously we had tried to take the Maps, Compasses & Orienteering class at our REI store. But we didn't find out until we got there that the class was geared toward adults and not at all appropriate for the kiddos...we also learned that the class was to be held outside and it was COLD that day. Turns out there was too much metal in the store for us to use compasses inside.
So we decided that we should try to do this ourselves on another day. Luckily there is a kit that we can check out from our Girl Scout council office.
Wednesday I picked up the kit. Yesterday I looked at the kit to see how to plan the meeting and someone forgot to put the compasses back in it! oops! Last night I was running around trying to find compasses and wouldn't you know it both Wally World & Targée were completely out of compasses! I still wonder what was up with that!
This morning I called up the Girl Scout office and she was able to find the compasses. I can pick them up on the way to the meeting...WHEW!
I'll just have to scramble to be there on time. There is a game in the kit for the girls to use to learn how to use the compass. I have to set up some pegs in a pattern. Then the girls choose a tag with coordinates on it. From the starting point they walk X degrees and find the lettered peg. Then from that peg go X degrees. If they've done it right the letters will match the answer sheet.
Darly has supposed to have been getting ready for camp this week. She will go up to the camp on Sunday and be there until Friday. I told her Wednesday to start packing...instead she sat in her room and played! I told her yesterday to start packing...again with the playing! I needed for her to be packed...or mostly packed so I could pick up anything else that she needed last night. I got the eyeroll when I tried to explain this to her. I was able to pick up a few things last night...one wasn't a necessity, but it will make her very happy...glitter fabric pens for her to get her camping buddies to sign her camp T-Shirt with...I'll have to remind her to share with her buddies. I still have to go out and get one more thing that I know of.
And since I won't have Darly next week, I'm gonna try to get my car fixed. As you might remember I had a bit of an accident back in December. here are the details... Part one & Part two. We've been driving around since then with the doors all wonky. They still work but the back door is gapped so it wouldn't be a good idea to take the car through the carwash. lol!
I've called the body shop and they say to bring it in anytime for the estimate. YAY! now we just have to hope that they can do the repair this week. fingers crossed!
DH called up his brother to see if we could borrow his car (that is sitting at MIL's house) while my car is in the shop. I guess he said that would be fine cuz Dh said to call up the body shop. I didn't think that BIL would have a problem with it...and MIL said I should just take it when we were there last Sunday. LOL! I think she had alterior motives though...seeing as it's at her house.
oh I guess my title doesn't go with the post much...huh?
Today is our Girl Scout meeting and previously we had tried to take the Maps, Compasses & Orienteering class at our REI store. But we didn't find out until we got there that the class was geared toward adults and not at all appropriate for the kiddos...we also learned that the class was to be held outside and it was COLD that day. Turns out there was too much metal in the store for us to use compasses inside.
So we decided that we should try to do this ourselves on another day. Luckily there is a kit that we can check out from our Girl Scout council office.
Wednesday I picked up the kit. Yesterday I looked at the kit to see how to plan the meeting and someone forgot to put the compasses back in it! oops! Last night I was running around trying to find compasses and wouldn't you know it both Wally World & Targée were completely out of compasses! I still wonder what was up with that!
This morning I called up the Girl Scout office and she was able to find the compasses. I can pick them up on the way to the meeting...WHEW!
I'll just have to scramble to be there on time. There is a game in the kit for the girls to use to learn how to use the compass. I have to set up some pegs in a pattern. Then the girls choose a tag with coordinates on it. From the starting point they walk X degrees and find the lettered peg. Then from that peg go X degrees. If they've done it right the letters will match the answer sheet.
Darly has supposed to have been getting ready for camp this week. She will go up to the camp on Sunday and be there until Friday. I told her Wednesday to start packing...instead she sat in her room and played! I told her yesterday to start packing...again with the playing! I needed for her to be packed...or mostly packed so I could pick up anything else that she needed last night. I got the eyeroll when I tried to explain this to her. I was able to pick up a few things last night...one wasn't a necessity, but it will make her very happy...glitter fabric pens for her to get her camping buddies to sign her camp T-Shirt with...I'll have to remind her to share with her buddies. I still have to go out and get one more thing that I know of.
And since I won't have Darly next week, I'm gonna try to get my car fixed. As you might remember I had a bit of an accident back in December. here are the details... Part one & Part two. We've been driving around since then with the doors all wonky. They still work but the back door is gapped so it wouldn't be a good idea to take the car through the carwash. lol!
I've called the body shop and they say to bring it in anytime for the estimate. YAY! now we just have to hope that they can do the repair this week. fingers crossed!
DH called up his brother to see if we could borrow his car (that is sitting at MIL's house) while my car is in the shop. I guess he said that would be fine cuz Dh said to call up the body shop. I didn't think that BIL would have a problem with it...and MIL said I should just take it when we were there last Sunday. LOL! I think she had alterior motives though...seeing as it's at her house.
oh I guess my title doesn't go with the post much...huh?
Tuesday, June 03, 2008
hummm No ideas here
well that's not entirely true. I have ideas, I just don't know that you want to hear them.
my new microwave died. :( just outside of the 1 year warrantee too. :-/ DH normally fixes these kinds of things around the house and is very good at it too, but everything I have read about microwave repair says that it's very dangerous and best left to the professionals. I think I would rather have my DH around than a fixed microwave. So back to cooking the old fashion way. Good thing I have experience in this. lol
Darly had her physical to go to Girl Scout camp a few weeks ago and the urine test that they did showed that she had a high level of protein in her urine. That typically means that your body is buring muscle when you have this high level...or that you're not eating enough. The week that we had the test done we had been especially physically active...gone hiking and ice skating on Monday, Gymnastics on Tuesday, played at the park all day Wednesday and had the test on Thursday. The PA that saw us suggested that we retest on a less busy week. I laughed.
So we retested yesterday morning...hopefully with a restful weekend this test should be fine. But I haven't heard back yet...so either they haven't tested yet, lost the sample or she's fine. We'll see if we hear back.
Yesterday was really busy for us too. After dropping off the urine sample we stopped by Walgreens to pick up our Webkinz Cares stuffie on our way to a Yoga for kids class. Darly already knew all the poses but enjoyed doing them anyway. and then we went to a class on Protozoa...the kids got to look at "pond scum" under the microscope to see if it had anything living in it. that was cool, but my microscope isn't worth anything. lol Then Darly had ice skating. We got really dull skates again which makes me want to buy her her own pair even more. I zipped off an email to the rink about us always getting dull skates.
The excuse we got from the skate rental was that some kids had pulled the fire alarm while they were in the middle of sharpening the skates and they had lost track of which ones got sharpened. Um that was about 4 weeks ago... and all you have to do is look at them to know which are sharp. They should know how to tell. anyway
my new microwave died. :( just outside of the 1 year warrantee too. :-/ DH normally fixes these kinds of things around the house and is very good at it too, but everything I have read about microwave repair says that it's very dangerous and best left to the professionals. I think I would rather have my DH around than a fixed microwave. So back to cooking the old fashion way. Good thing I have experience in this. lol
Darly had her physical to go to Girl Scout camp a few weeks ago and the urine test that they did showed that she had a high level of protein in her urine. That typically means that your body is buring muscle when you have this high level...or that you're not eating enough. The week that we had the test done we had been especially physically active...gone hiking and ice skating on Monday, Gymnastics on Tuesday, played at the park all day Wednesday and had the test on Thursday. The PA that saw us suggested that we retest on a less busy week. I laughed.
So we retested yesterday morning...hopefully with a restful weekend this test should be fine. But I haven't heard back yet...so either they haven't tested yet, lost the sample or she's fine. We'll see if we hear back.
Yesterday was really busy for us too. After dropping off the urine sample we stopped by Walgreens to pick up our Webkinz Cares stuffie on our way to a Yoga for kids class. Darly already knew all the poses but enjoyed doing them anyway. and then we went to a class on Protozoa...the kids got to look at "pond scum" under the microscope to see if it had anything living in it. that was cool, but my microscope isn't worth anything. lol Then Darly had ice skating. We got really dull skates again which makes me want to buy her her own pair even more. I zipped off an email to the rink about us always getting dull skates.
The excuse we got from the skate rental was that some kids had pulled the fire alarm while they were in the middle of sharpening the skates and they had lost track of which ones got sharpened. Um that was about 4 weeks ago... and all you have to do is look at them to know which are sharp. They should know how to tell. anyway
Thursday, May 29, 2008
How does my garden grow?
There are 3 flower beds in my front yard. The first few shots in the slide show, starting at ground cover until you get to Garden starting to come in are in the very front bed by the street. Then the show switches to the garden out my office window and then to the garden by the front door. Then you go to the backyard with the lilac & the veggie garden shots.
Of course it is still very early and things aren't quite all in yet. But we're expecting a nice turn out soon!
Of course it is still very early and things aren't quite all in yet. But we're expecting a nice turn out soon!
Tuesday, May 27, 2008
Too polite for today's society?
My child seems more and more frustrated with society at large.
I don't think that I've ever really taught Darly that she should raise her hand and wait to be called on for an answer. And I know that I didn't have to teach her to share her toys. Yet she seems to insist on doing just that and wants the rest of the world to follow those same rules.
When she was very little and a child would want to play with something that she was playing with, she would just let them take it. She didn't get upset. She just sat there for a moment (in shock one could suppose) and would then turn her attention to something else. I wanted for her to yell, shreek or whop the kid (btw: I hated this other child.) but she never did.
As she grew older when we would be with other kids and there would be situations where the kids were asked questions. If Darly knew the answer she would raise her hand and wait to be called upon to answer. But she would become very frustrated because other kids would just shout out the answers, "her answers." At one place Darly was in tears because the lady asking the questions had told everyone that she wanted the kids to do just what Darly was doing...wait to be called upon. Yet the lady never corrected the shouters. Darly said "she's never going to call on me because everyone else keeps shouting out the answers!"
So it seems that Darly's solution for this is to just not bother to answer anything. Then I get frustrated with her because I know that she knows the answers, but she stays quiet.
And in other news: It seems that I'm getting more spam in my yahoo inbox since signing up for yahoo messenger. Did yahoo sell my addy?
I don't think that I've ever really taught Darly that she should raise her hand and wait to be called on for an answer. And I know that I didn't have to teach her to share her toys. Yet she seems to insist on doing just that and wants the rest of the world to follow those same rules.
When she was very little and a child would want to play with something that she was playing with, she would just let them take it. She didn't get upset. She just sat there for a moment (in shock one could suppose) and would then turn her attention to something else. I wanted for her to yell, shreek or whop the kid (btw: I hated this other child.) but she never did.
As she grew older when we would be with other kids and there would be situations where the kids were asked questions. If Darly knew the answer she would raise her hand and wait to be called upon to answer. But she would become very frustrated because other kids would just shout out the answers, "her answers." At one place Darly was in tears because the lady asking the questions had told everyone that she wanted the kids to do just what Darly was doing...wait to be called upon. Yet the lady never corrected the shouters. Darly said "she's never going to call on me because everyone else keeps shouting out the answers!"
So it seems that Darly's solution for this is to just not bother to answer anything. Then I get frustrated with her because I know that she knows the answers, but she stays quiet.
And in other news: It seems that I'm getting more spam in my yahoo inbox since signing up for yahoo messenger. Did yahoo sell my addy?
Friday, May 23, 2008
Subway contest Not for Homeschoolers!!!
This post came up on my homeschooling board today...
No Homeschoolers allowed in Subway Contest????
NO PURCHASE NECESSARY TO ENTER OR WIN. Contest is open only to legal residents of the Untied States who are currently over the age of 18 and have children who attend elementary, private or parochial schools that serve grades PreK-6. No home schools will be accepted.
Wow! I could not believe it when I read it! I wonder why?
Here is the Url:
http://www.subwayfreshbuzz.com/kids/contest.aspx
I checked the link and they didn't just say it once. They said it twice that no homeschoolers would be accepted!
Now we get that the grand prize would be a bit difficult for them to offer to a homeschooler...but they could have come up with a better grand prize. I know that my homeschool group could come up with some ideas on how to use that much money...or we could have our favorite park upgraded.
No Homeschoolers allowed in Subway Contest????
NO PURCHASE NECESSARY TO ENTER OR WIN. Contest is open only to legal residents of the Untied States who are currently over the age of 18 and have children who attend elementary, private or parochial schools that serve grades PreK-6. No home schools will be accepted.
Wow! I could not believe it when I read it! I wonder why?
Here is the Url:
http://www.subwayfreshbuzz.com/kids/contest.aspx
I checked the link and they didn't just say it once. They said it twice that no homeschoolers would be accepted!
Now we get that the grand prize would be a bit difficult for them to offer to a homeschooler...but they could have come up with a better grand prize. I know that my homeschool group could come up with some ideas on how to use that much money...or we could have our favorite park upgraded.
no ideas here
I had an idea about what to post, but then I forgot it. LOL! Isn't that the way life goes?
Yesterday Darly had stayed the night at a friend's house so I had a free morning to myself. How did I use it? I went shopping! Nothing really exciting there, though.
Darly likes to go shopping so shopping without her was no big deal. Although shopping with her can be so much more fun. We have tons of fun in the dressing room complaining about how the clothes fit us.
case in point: sometimes when I am trying on pants the waistband gaps in the back. I have called this gapping "a cup of soup" because it seems as if you could carry a cup of soup back there! I must have got the idea from this Seinfeld episode. If the gap in the pants is big enough to carry anything I will proclaim "No Soup For YOU!" and toss those pants aside. Unfortunately I run across a bunch of pants that are "cuppa soup" pants and I will come home with no new pants.
Darly has even had trouble finding pants with no "cuppa soup" for herself. It is so crazy. Why would little girl's pants have problems with the waistbands? Usually the pants that fit her best are the ones that have the elastic "belts" inside the waistband that you can adjust.
So yesterday while I was shopping I was looking for glass replacements for all of my plastic microwavable dishes. See I read that cooking your food in plastic can be harmful for you. I had heard that before, and ignored it. But now DH is having some medical issues (not life threatening...just annoying really) so I'm hoping that by simply replacing my dishes that they might get resolved. I figured it wouldn't harm anything to try it...right?
Now I'm off to search the internet for the one dish that alluded me yesterday... a divided "casserole" dish. See with my picky eaters I always cook two different vegetables for dinner. One for me and one for the picky eaters. Using a divided dish saves me time since I can cook both our veggies at the same time. Wish me luck!
Update: I found one at www.pfaltzgraff.com that was on sale for $10 and since the one I sorta found at BedBath&Beyond yesterday was gonna be $20, I bought two! BB&B was gonna have to order me the dish. Then I searched online and found a coupon code to get me 10% off my order so I saved another $2! woo hoo!
Now I can go clean out all of my plastic dishes!
Yesterday Darly had stayed the night at a friend's house so I had a free morning to myself. How did I use it? I went shopping! Nothing really exciting there, though.
Darly likes to go shopping so shopping without her was no big deal. Although shopping with her can be so much more fun. We have tons of fun in the dressing room complaining about how the clothes fit us.
case in point: sometimes when I am trying on pants the waistband gaps in the back. I have called this gapping "a cup of soup" because it seems as if you could carry a cup of soup back there! I must have got the idea from this Seinfeld episode. If the gap in the pants is big enough to carry anything I will proclaim "No Soup For YOU!" and toss those pants aside. Unfortunately I run across a bunch of pants that are "cuppa soup" pants and I will come home with no new pants.
Darly has even had trouble finding pants with no "cuppa soup" for herself. It is so crazy. Why would little girl's pants have problems with the waistbands? Usually the pants that fit her best are the ones that have the elastic "belts" inside the waistband that you can adjust.
So yesterday while I was shopping I was looking for glass replacements for all of my plastic microwavable dishes. See I read that cooking your food in plastic can be harmful for you. I had heard that before, and ignored it. But now DH is having some medical issues (not life threatening...just annoying really) so I'm hoping that by simply replacing my dishes that they might get resolved. I figured it wouldn't harm anything to try it...right?
Now I'm off to search the internet for the one dish that alluded me yesterday... a divided "casserole" dish. See with my picky eaters I always cook two different vegetables for dinner. One for me and one for the picky eaters. Using a divided dish saves me time since I can cook both our veggies at the same time. Wish me luck!
Update: I found one at www.pfaltzgraff.com that was on sale for $10 and since the one I sorta found at BedBath&Beyond yesterday was gonna be $20, I bought two! BB&B was gonna have to order me the dish. Then I searched online and found a coupon code to get me 10% off my order so I saved another $2! woo hoo!
Now I can go clean out all of my plastic dishes!
Sunday, May 18, 2008
had to share this again
And in other news...
I came downstairs the other morning to find this waiting for me!
I was okay with it. But apparently it bothered someone...
I was in making my coffee and heard growling and then barking! I went to find Lilly staring at the doll. So since she was so bothered by it, I picked her up so she could sniff it. Once she found that it was just a doll she was fine. but it was sure funny that she was bothered by it. LOL!
I came downstairs the other morning to find this waiting for me!
I was okay with it. But apparently it bothered someone...
I was in making my coffee and heard growling and then barking! I went to find Lilly staring at the doll. So since she was so bothered by it, I picked her up so she could sniff it. Once she found that it was just a doll she was fine. but it was sure funny that she was bothered by it. LOL!
Saturday, May 17, 2008
OUCH!
This morning I got up on the wrong side of the bed (literally!) and hurt my back.
See this morning DH got up early to go do yard work at our Church. So I snagged his side of the bed...it was nice and warm there. I fell back to sleep and woke up some time later to barking dogs. grrr
So I decided to get up and when I went to pull the sheets taught, I pulled something in my back. It hurt so bad that I made a yelping sound, that bothered our dog.
I don't know what I did to it, but my back is still sore.
Which is a real bummer cuz today is a perfect day for planting my garden. I think that I might go ahead and try to plant it anyway. I asked Darly if she would help and she just looked at me. bummer! Usually that kid loves working the garden.
Oh well. I've got nothing better to do.
See this morning DH got up early to go do yard work at our Church. So I snagged his side of the bed...it was nice and warm there. I fell back to sleep and woke up some time later to barking dogs. grrr
So I decided to get up and when I went to pull the sheets taught, I pulled something in my back. It hurt so bad that I made a yelping sound, that bothered our dog.
I don't know what I did to it, but my back is still sore.
Which is a real bummer cuz today is a perfect day for planting my garden. I think that I might go ahead and try to plant it anyway. I asked Darly if she would help and she just looked at me. bummer! Usually that kid loves working the garden.
Oh well. I've got nothing better to do.
Thursday, May 15, 2008
I slay me!!!
Tonight I was out with my good friend Jen. Jen was talking about a field trip that she's been trying to set up and it just isn't working out. The folks who run the place that we are trying to see just don't have a clue about how to have a group of people come to see their historical building.
Another friend was saying that it was probably going to be just another old house with a washboard, a wood burning stove and a waggon wheel out front.
Then Jen joked that she should have tours of her house and charge people money to come through. She said that you could dig for treasure in her couch...and the person who found the most Cherios in the couch would win a prize.
And I figured out the perfect prize...
A free breakfast!
Another friend was saying that it was probably going to be just another old house with a washboard, a wood burning stove and a waggon wheel out front.
Then Jen joked that she should have tours of her house and charge people money to come through. She said that you could dig for treasure in her couch...and the person who found the most Cherios in the couch would win a prize.
And I figured out the perfect prize...
A free breakfast!
I'm Fine
A farmer named Clyde had a car accident. In court, the trucking
company's fancy hot shot lawyer was questioning him.
The lawyer asked, "didn't you say, at the scene of the accident, I'm
fine?"
Clyde responded, "Well, I'll tell you what happened. I had just loaded
my favorite cow, Bessie, into the..."
"I didn't ask for any details", the lawyer interrupted. "Just answer
the
question.
Did you not say, at the scene of the accident, "I'm fine!?"
Clyde said, "Well, I had just put Bessie into the trailer and as I was
driving down the road...."
The lawyer interrupted again and said, "Your Honor, I am trying to
establish the fact that, at the scene of the accident, this man told
the
Highway Patrolman on the scene that he was just fine. Now several weeks
after the accident he is trying to sue my client. I believe he is a
fraud.
Please tell him to simply answer the question."
By this time, the Judge was fairly interested in Clyde's answer and
said
to the lawyer, "I'd like to hear what he has to say about his favorite
cow, Bessie."
Clyde thanked the Judge and proceeded. "Well as I was saying, I had
just
loaded Bessie, my favorite cow, into the trailer and was driving her
down the highway when this huge semi-truck and trailer ran the stop
sign
and smacked my truck right in the side. I was thrown into one ditch and
Bessie was thrown into the other. I was hurting, real bad and didn't
want to move.
However, I could hear old Bessie moaning and groaning. I knew she was
in
terrible shape just by her groans. Shortly after the accident a Highway
Patrolman came on the scene. He could hear Bessie moaning and groaning
so he went over to her. After he looked at her, and saw her fatal
condition, he took out his gun and shot her between the eyes.
Then the Patrolman came across the road, gun still in hand, looked at
me, and said, "How are you feeling?"
"Now tell me, what would you have said?"
company's fancy hot shot lawyer was questioning him.
The lawyer asked, "didn't you say, at the scene of the accident, I'm
fine?"
Clyde responded, "Well, I'll tell you what happened. I had just loaded
my favorite cow, Bessie, into the..."
"I didn't ask for any details", the lawyer interrupted. "Just answer
the
question.
Did you not say, at the scene of the accident, "I'm fine!?"
Clyde said, "Well, I had just put Bessie into the trailer and as I was
driving down the road...."
The lawyer interrupted again and said, "Your Honor, I am trying to
establish the fact that, at the scene of the accident, this man told
the
Highway Patrolman on the scene that he was just fine. Now several weeks
after the accident he is trying to sue my client. I believe he is a
fraud.
Please tell him to simply answer the question."
By this time, the Judge was fairly interested in Clyde's answer and
said
to the lawyer, "I'd like to hear what he has to say about his favorite
cow, Bessie."
Clyde thanked the Judge and proceeded. "Well as I was saying, I had
just
loaded Bessie, my favorite cow, into the trailer and was driving her
down the highway when this huge semi-truck and trailer ran the stop
sign
and smacked my truck right in the side. I was thrown into one ditch and
Bessie was thrown into the other. I was hurting, real bad and didn't
want to move.
However, I could hear old Bessie moaning and groaning. I knew she was
in
terrible shape just by her groans. Shortly after the accident a Highway
Patrolman came on the scene. He could hear Bessie moaning and groaning
so he went over to her. After he looked at her, and saw her fatal
condition, he took out his gun and shot her between the eyes.
Then the Patrolman came across the road, gun still in hand, looked at
me, and said, "How are you feeling?"
"Now tell me, what would you have said?"
Other news...
finally a break! We've been on the go since Sunday...
Monday we learned how to make friendship bracelets and Darly went to her first Level 2 Ice Skating lesson. She wasn't too happy. It seems that the place we go to decided to combine two classes into one and then charge us $10 less for the session. But that means that we have 24 kids instead of just 12...however they did have two coaches and divide the class into girls & boys...but that still meant that there were a lot of girls in Darly's class. But I checked the other classes at this level offered and Darly didn't want to wake up early on Saturdays to switch. So oh well, we'll live with this one.
Tuesday Darly had a book club and gymnastics and I had a meeting to go to. DH had to go to pick her up. Apparently I owe him for this.
Wednesday we went to the park to go see a Police Dog demonstration. Only someone at the police department lost the info that said they would be there. And so we were waiting around the park on the police to show up. One of the other moms suggested we call up and say there's a suspicious package here they need to send dogs to check out. Instead the cops woke up a night shift officer and asked him to come. Poor guy had just gotten to bed at 4am but came to talk to us with his dog. There wasn't really any demo though cuz they didn't bring the bad guy training suit. But we were still thankful that he had come. Darly & her friends played at the park all day and had great fun.
Today we were supposed to go to the federal center, but since I was the only one who could still go...we canceled it and will reschedule. But Darly has gymnastics this evening and I have another meeting to go to...so now I will owe DH even more. I mentioned to him that he hasn't said what kind of payment he wants. He says "wadda got for payment?" I think I'm in trouble!
Meanwhile our attempt to rename our homeschooling group is going terrible. I sure hope we can come to some sort of resolution though cuz well it might have been a bad idea to let the group help with it. sigh
And in other news...
I came downstairs the other morning to find this waiting for me!
I was okay with it. But apparently it bothered someone...
I was in making my coffee and heard growling and then barking! I went to find Lilly staring at the doll. So since she was so bothered by it, I picked her up so she could sniff it. Once she found that it was just a doll she was fine. but it was sure funny that she was bothered by it. LOL!
Monday we learned how to make friendship bracelets and Darly went to her first Level 2 Ice Skating lesson. She wasn't too happy. It seems that the place we go to decided to combine two classes into one and then charge us $10 less for the session. But that means that we have 24 kids instead of just 12...however they did have two coaches and divide the class into girls & boys...but that still meant that there were a lot of girls in Darly's class. But I checked the other classes at this level offered and Darly didn't want to wake up early on Saturdays to switch. So oh well, we'll live with this one.
Tuesday Darly had a book club and gymnastics and I had a meeting to go to. DH had to go to pick her up. Apparently I owe him for this.
Wednesday we went to the park to go see a Police Dog demonstration. Only someone at the police department lost the info that said they would be there. And so we were waiting around the park on the police to show up. One of the other moms suggested we call up and say there's a suspicious package here they need to send dogs to check out. Instead the cops woke up a night shift officer and asked him to come. Poor guy had just gotten to bed at 4am but came to talk to us with his dog. There wasn't really any demo though cuz they didn't bring the bad guy training suit. But we were still thankful that he had come. Darly & her friends played at the park all day and had great fun.
Today we were supposed to go to the federal center, but since I was the only one who could still go...we canceled it and will reschedule. But Darly has gymnastics this evening and I have another meeting to go to...so now I will owe DH even more. I mentioned to him that he hasn't said what kind of payment he wants. He says "wadda got for payment?" I think I'm in trouble!
Meanwhile our attempt to rename our homeschooling group is going terrible. I sure hope we can come to some sort of resolution though cuz well it might have been a bad idea to let the group help with it. sigh
And in other news...
I came downstairs the other morning to find this waiting for me!
I was okay with it. But apparently it bothered someone...
I was in making my coffee and heard growling and then barking! I went to find Lilly staring at the doll. So since she was so bothered by it, I picked her up so she could sniff it. Once she found that it was just a doll she was fine. but it was sure funny that she was bothered by it. LOL!
Monday, May 12, 2008
My Mother's Day
okay, well first I have to confess that I STILL have not mailed my Mother's day gift to my Mom. Sorry Mom! I've just flaked out on it. I'm a bad girl. I didn't even get her a card. I hope I can still find one.
My Mother's day started off by going to Church and giving my Sunday School kids their final test. I think most of them did well on it...it will just be the boys who didn't want to be there in the first place that will do porely. Oh well, we just found out that it doesn't even matter. The Church has now decided to not even start the kids on the Confirmation program until the 6th grade and to no longer require Sunday School attendance for it.
After Church Dh too me out to lunch at Black Eye Pea. They gave us wayyyy too much food! I ordered 1/2 a sandwich with a cup of soup...who knew that it came with two veggies too??? actually I think our server goofed on that. But it was all good.
When we got home and changed out of our Church clothes I got my loot! Darly had bought me a Pixar Shorts DVD. It's awesome! I just love the shorts...they're so funny.
Darly had warned me the day before that DH had gotten me something on the Don't buy list. So I was wondering what in the world he could have possibly gotten me. He knows better than to get me anything with a cord attached, and that took care of two of the categories. I knew he didn't have the Man Cold...so all that was left was the lotion and the ugly nighty. So when I opened it I was expecting the lotion...I even had my "I hate this gift" speach all ready. But I didn't need it.
DH got me a storage box for our pictures that were almost damaged in the basement flood. After the flood I had layed out all the pictures so they could dry, and when they were dry I had just left them where they were. So DH was wanting them put away, so his gift was kinda like "I got you this box you wanted, so put the pictures away now." But I was still happy with it. I filled it up and need another one, which DH said I could have. I think I'll grab the newer pictures and put them in a new box too...I wonder if I should vent the box...hummm
After this DH mowed our yard and then we went to MIL's house for DH to mow her yard too. Darly made us dinner and did an excellent job. Everything turned out yummy! Course, all she had to do was put the pre-cooked chicken in a pan and then in the oven, put the onions on top of the green bean casserole and put it in the oven too. Boil water for the rice, dump the rice & seasonings (that I had already measured) in the pot and let it sit and finally nuke the peas.
I'm gonna start letting Darly do more cooking this year, so this was an easy way of getting her started I think. I was cooking way more at her age. Hopefully by the time we get camping this summer she's playing with fire nicely.
My Mother's day started off by going to Church and giving my Sunday School kids their final test. I think most of them did well on it...it will just be the boys who didn't want to be there in the first place that will do porely. Oh well, we just found out that it doesn't even matter. The Church has now decided to not even start the kids on the Confirmation program until the 6th grade and to no longer require Sunday School attendance for it.
After Church Dh too me out to lunch at Black Eye Pea. They gave us wayyyy too much food! I ordered 1/2 a sandwich with a cup of soup...who knew that it came with two veggies too??? actually I think our server goofed on that. But it was all good.
When we got home and changed out of our Church clothes I got my loot! Darly had bought me a Pixar Shorts DVD. It's awesome! I just love the shorts...they're so funny.
Darly had warned me the day before that DH had gotten me something on the Don't buy list. So I was wondering what in the world he could have possibly gotten me. He knows better than to get me anything with a cord attached, and that took care of two of the categories. I knew he didn't have the Man Cold...so all that was left was the lotion and the ugly nighty. So when I opened it I was expecting the lotion...I even had my "I hate this gift" speach all ready. But I didn't need it.
DH got me a storage box for our pictures that were almost damaged in the basement flood. After the flood I had layed out all the pictures so they could dry, and when they were dry I had just left them where they were. So DH was wanting them put away, so his gift was kinda like "I got you this box you wanted, so put the pictures away now." But I was still happy with it. I filled it up and need another one, which DH said I could have. I think I'll grab the newer pictures and put them in a new box too...I wonder if I should vent the box...hummm
After this DH mowed our yard and then we went to MIL's house for DH to mow her yard too. Darly made us dinner and did an excellent job. Everything turned out yummy! Course, all she had to do was put the pre-cooked chicken in a pan and then in the oven, put the onions on top of the green bean casserole and put it in the oven too. Boil water for the rice, dump the rice & seasonings (that I had already measured) in the pot and let it sit and finally nuke the peas.
I'm gonna start letting Darly do more cooking this year, so this was an easy way of getting her started I think. I was cooking way more at her age. Hopefully by the time we get camping this summer she's playing with fire nicely.
Sunday, May 11, 2008
I gyped my MIL out of $230! & other stuff too
You're in shock right?
See our grocery store was doing this promotion where if you bought a gift card for certain amounts of money they would give you 10% more money. Well we read all the fine print and one of the stipulations was that you could only get one offer. DH wanted to get his mom a gift card for Mother's day and for us to get a larger amount for us to use to get our groceries. The offer said one card, so we decided that we would just get MIL a smaller card with no extra 10%.
So DH goes to get the gift cards and as it turns out the larger amount we wanted to get was actually 4 cards at the lowest amount. We were under the assumption that it would all be on one gift card. Had we had known that we would have just got the larger amount and given MIL one of the 4 cards. Oh well it did seem a bit much to give for Mother's Day and we're sure she'll be very happy with the smaller card.
So this morning I get woken from a nice sleep by my credit card company's fraud dept. Seems they wanted to verify our purchases for yesterday since it seemed awefully unusual to spend that much money at the grocery store. I had to giggle about that. The credit card might be a bit more upset when our credit purchases for groceries go way down for the next few months as I'll be using our gift cards.
Then this evening we went to Champberlin Observatory for their Quarter moon Saturday evening Open House. Oh this was a lot of fun. We have been many times for their Public Nights where it is just a presentation and if the weather is clear we get to look through the telescope. But for Open House all the members of the Astrological Society bring out their telescopes and focus on something up in the sky and allow everyone to look through them.
Early on we got to see the moon a lot, because the sun was still up and that's all we could see. But as soon as the first "star" was visible they all turned their scopes toward it...because it was really Saturn!
It is so unusual to look at Saturn...or even up at the Moon because through the scopes it looks just like they do in pictures. But unlike the pictures you get to have the person who focused the scope tell you what else it is you're seeing. We got to see two of Saturn's moons too.
Later on we also got to view the two star middle star of the handle of the Big Dipper. With the naked eye it appears to be just one star, but through a scope you see it's really two stars close together.
There was also a man there who had 3-D pictures of the Aurora Borealis, and a guy had a map of the world showing all the light pollution around the world. The US is really the worst for using too many lights.
Tomorrow we'll be heading over to MIL's house for DH to finish working on her yard and for Darly to make dinner! She really wanted to do it...so I bought a pre-cooked rotisserie chicken for her to heat up. She'll also be making some Minute Rice, cook a green bean casserole that I've mixed up and also make some peas. Hummm when I cooked my first dinner I had to make meatloaf. LOL! I guess it's a good thing that no one here likes meatloaf.
See our grocery store was doing this promotion where if you bought a gift card for certain amounts of money they would give you 10% more money. Well we read all the fine print and one of the stipulations was that you could only get one offer. DH wanted to get his mom a gift card for Mother's day and for us to get a larger amount for us to use to get our groceries. The offer said one card, so we decided that we would just get MIL a smaller card with no extra 10%.
So DH goes to get the gift cards and as it turns out the larger amount we wanted to get was actually 4 cards at the lowest amount. We were under the assumption that it would all be on one gift card. Had we had known that we would have just got the larger amount and given MIL one of the 4 cards. Oh well it did seem a bit much to give for Mother's Day and we're sure she'll be very happy with the smaller card.
So this morning I get woken from a nice sleep by my credit card company's fraud dept. Seems they wanted to verify our purchases for yesterday since it seemed awefully unusual to spend that much money at the grocery store. I had to giggle about that. The credit card might be a bit more upset when our credit purchases for groceries go way down for the next few months as I'll be using our gift cards.
Then this evening we went to Champberlin Observatory for their Quarter moon Saturday evening Open House. Oh this was a lot of fun. We have been many times for their Public Nights where it is just a presentation and if the weather is clear we get to look through the telescope. But for Open House all the members of the Astrological Society bring out their telescopes and focus on something up in the sky and allow everyone to look through them.
Early on we got to see the moon a lot, because the sun was still up and that's all we could see. But as soon as the first "star" was visible they all turned their scopes toward it...because it was really Saturn!
It is so unusual to look at Saturn...or even up at the Moon because through the scopes it looks just like they do in pictures. But unlike the pictures you get to have the person who focused the scope tell you what else it is you're seeing. We got to see two of Saturn's moons too.
Later on we also got to view the two star middle star of the handle of the Big Dipper. With the naked eye it appears to be just one star, but through a scope you see it's really two stars close together.
There was also a man there who had 3-D pictures of the Aurora Borealis, and a guy had a map of the world showing all the light pollution around the world. The US is really the worst for using too many lights.
Tomorrow we'll be heading over to MIL's house for DH to finish working on her yard and for Darly to make dinner! She really wanted to do it...so I bought a pre-cooked rotisserie chicken for her to heat up. She'll also be making some Minute Rice, cook a green bean casserole that I've mixed up and also make some peas. Hummm when I cooked my first dinner I had to make meatloaf. LOL! I guess it's a good thing that no one here likes meatloaf.
Thursday, May 08, 2008
Adventures in Webcamming!
well when I purchased our new monitor for the computer, I also picked up a very cheap webcam. It's a very nice GE model that only set me back about 17 bucks. I got it cuz, well I have a friend who has one and it's been fun to talk to her over the internet...and the kids have fun with it too.
so we got our cam and I installed it when Heather's kid was here for a sleepover weekend. Our first use of the cam was for kid to have a webcam chat with her dad & brothers. The conversation was going really well until both her brothers decided that they would try to be as crazy as they could, climbing all over their dad to try to be goofy and famous...i guess. I think it was nice for Heather's kid to be able to check in with her family while she was here...although I don't think that she was at all homesick.
our next webcam adventure happened yesterday when Darly should have been cleaning her room. Instead of cleaning her room she spent the better part of yesterday on the webcam with Heather's kid having a Webkinz American Idol show!!! They spent the afternoon with their Webkinz singing to each other. :eyeroll!:
While I was very disappointed that Darly's room did not get cleaned, I suppose that the girls having a virtual playdate was not a bad thing. In fact I plan to contact Darly's friends who have moved away to see if they have webcams too for long distance virtual playdates. Yeah, I'm crazy.
I did contact my Mom to see if she might get a cam to keep in touch, but alas money is so tight right now for her (she's been approved for disability, but the government has not yet started sending her payments. :more eyerolling!:) that they had to disconnect their internet service and they also had their long distance phone service cut off too.
So have webcam? Let's chat. LOL!
so we got our cam and I installed it when Heather's kid was here for a sleepover weekend. Our first use of the cam was for kid to have a webcam chat with her dad & brothers. The conversation was going really well until both her brothers decided that they would try to be as crazy as they could, climbing all over their dad to try to be goofy and famous...i guess. I think it was nice for Heather's kid to be able to check in with her family while she was here...although I don't think that she was at all homesick.
our next webcam adventure happened yesterday when Darly should have been cleaning her room. Instead of cleaning her room she spent the better part of yesterday on the webcam with Heather's kid having a Webkinz American Idol show!!! They spent the afternoon with their Webkinz singing to each other. :eyeroll!:
While I was very disappointed that Darly's room did not get cleaned, I suppose that the girls having a virtual playdate was not a bad thing. In fact I plan to contact Darly's friends who have moved away to see if they have webcams too for long distance virtual playdates. Yeah, I'm crazy.
I did contact my Mom to see if she might get a cam to keep in touch, but alas money is so tight right now for her (she's been approved for disability, but the government has not yet started sending her payments. :more eyerolling!:) that they had to disconnect their internet service and they also had their long distance phone service cut off too.
So have webcam? Let's chat. LOL!
Wednesday, May 07, 2008
a 33% chance of being right...for once!!!
We had plans for today. They're canceled. :(
Here's why...
Monday the weatherman predicted thunderstorms all day. It was dry and sunny.
Tuesday the weatherman predicted intermittent rain all day. We got rain for about 15 minutes with a few thunder strikes.
So since we had already rescheduled the Ice Cream social twice due to weather (can't eat ice cream outside when it's snowing). We weren't trusting the weatherman and just said we're going for it.
And today I wake up to pouring rain!!! But of course! The one day when we wanted the weather guy to be WRONG and it's not.
We decided to not put all the cardboard out in the rain...being nice to the trashmen so they don't pick up a box and have the bottom of it fall out. Now I get to wait for the 21st and hope for sun.
Maybe we'll get Darly's room cleaned today. Sigh.
Here's why...
Monday the weatherman predicted thunderstorms all day. It was dry and sunny.
Tuesday the weatherman predicted intermittent rain all day. We got rain for about 15 minutes with a few thunder strikes.
So since we had already rescheduled the Ice Cream social twice due to weather (can't eat ice cream outside when it's snowing). We weren't trusting the weatherman and just said we're going for it.
And today I wake up to pouring rain!!! But of course! The one day when we wanted the weather guy to be WRONG and it's not.
We decided to not put all the cardboard out in the rain...being nice to the trashmen so they don't pick up a box and have the bottom of it fall out. Now I get to wait for the 21st and hope for sun.
Maybe we'll get Darly's room cleaned today. Sigh.
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