I have had the most productive morning and it feels good! Got up at 4:45 a.m. to walk for an hour. It was a lovely morning, a little breezy and just the slightest bit cooler. All welcome changes. I was still a sweaty mess, but it was good.
Got the boys up for school, fed, dressed, packed and out the door.
House is tidy, beds made, laundry put away, dishwasher is running, washing machine is running, cookies baked, dinner planned. Water softener repair guy coming today between 11 - 1! Can't wait to drink salt-free coffee! I could go to bed right now and feel like I had an outstandingly productive day!
I obviously won't be going to bed at 10:00 a.m. because I still have to work at my paying job! Hope I can be just as productive in that arena!
More to come on the kids first days of school!
Wednesday, August 25, 2010
Tuesday, August 24, 2010
New Furniture
I have been working on my little reading nook in the master bedroom and thought I would show it to you and see what you think.
It is growing on me, although I would love for the chairs to be just a shade lighter.
It is growing on me, although I would love for the chairs to be just a shade lighter.
This picture was taken standing in the middle of my bed.
I love the picture frames. Kind of modern, which is not quite the vibe of my bedroom or house for that matter. But when I put pictures in them of my favorite traditional subject they worked for me. They certainly do the trick of breaking up the monotony of all that beige!
My boys.
Here it is with the lamp on. Seems even cozier to me with the lamp on. I have actually found a little time every day since they arrived to park my rear end for just a few minutes. Currently reading "I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings" - loving it so far.
I am still looking for a small table lamp, but I think I am going to go ahead and take the tags off the furniture. It is going to stay.
First Day of School 2010
Today is the day that life gets a little structure back to it! Routines are the best!
Chip wanted to wake up at 6:30 a.m. He needed to finish watching the Monday night wrestling show he missed last night. No trouble getting out of bed on the first day of school!
He snuggled up on the couch and watched some grown men in tights and speedos throw each other all over a 10 X 10 ring. Choreographing their body slams and punches and jumps like a well trained synchronized swimming team. That will get your engine running early in the morning. He ate some breakfast, spiked his hair and we were ready for 3rd grade.
Look at that smile.
Ready to take off.
Really excited about having a man for a teacher! I hope Mr. Bradley delivers!
Walked into school still grinning like a cat.
Sitting in the hallway waiting for the bell to ring. Still smiling!!!
Harold didn't have to get up until 7:30. Still looks like a little fella eating his Yucky Charms.
First year of high school - AAACCCKKKK!! He is a little nervous as am I.
A couple of trips to the bathroom and it is time to head to the bus stop.
Muster up a smile and head off to start the adventure that is High School! I CANNOT BELIEVE IT!!!
Chip wanted to wake up at 6:30 a.m. He needed to finish watching the Monday night wrestling show he missed last night. No trouble getting out of bed on the first day of school!
He snuggled up on the couch and watched some grown men in tights and speedos throw each other all over a 10 X 10 ring. Choreographing their body slams and punches and jumps like a well trained synchronized swimming team. That will get your engine running early in the morning. He ate some breakfast, spiked his hair and we were ready for 3rd grade.
Look at that smile.
Ready to take off.
Really excited about having a man for a teacher! I hope Mr. Bradley delivers!
Walked into school still grinning like a cat.
Sitting in the hallway waiting for the bell to ring. Still smiling!!! 
Harold didn't have to get up until 7:30. Still looks like a little fella eating his Yucky Charms.
First year of high school - AAACCCKKKK!! He is a little nervous as am I.
A couple of trips to the bathroom and it is time to head to the bus stop. 
Muster up a smile and head off to start the adventure that is High School! I CANNOT BELIEVE IT!!! Good luck my sweet boys! I hope you have the best day ever!
Saturday, August 21, 2010
Walk Down Memory Lane
The first day of school is just around the corner! I went through some of our digital pictures and found some classic first day of school pictures. Come with me on a walk down memory lane.
Harold - 2nd Grade
Harold 3rd Grade with little Chip
Harold 4th Grade
Harold 5th Grade
Harold 6th Grade - Chip Kindergarten. Chip is happy in a big way.
Harold 7th grade - Chip 1st Grade
For some reason we missed the front door picture last year. Here is Chip on the first day of 2nd Grade.
Harold - 8th Grade
Harold - 2nd Grade
Harold 3rd Grade with little Chip
Harold 4th Grade
Harold 5th Grade
Harold 6th Grade - Chip Kindergarten. Chip is happy in a big way.
Harold 7th grade - Chip 1st Grade
For some reason we missed the front door picture last year. Here is Chip on the first day of 2nd Grade.
Harold - 8th GradeI will for sure get a picture of my freshman and 3rd grader this year. Right by the front door like it should be!
Friday, August 20, 2010
Weird Week
This has been a weird week and I could not be happier to wake up to a Friday morning. Hello weekend.
My internet was down for about 48 hours this week. I got lots done around the house while I paced back and forth to my office to see if the little cable light on my modem was working. My house was tidy, laundry was done, set up a little homework area in the dining room, even filed a little bit, but like every other household in America there is always more to be done. In fact, I had a list of household chores that I could be working on like getting the water softener repaired, checking on new car insurance, sending out thank you notes, but guess what - I needed the internet. So dependent am I on the ability to get information quickly with a few key strokes. You can search for a company, check out their reviews, find phone numbers, schedule appointments all within just a few short minutes. The idea of looking through some yellow pages doesn't do it for me. Anyway, I became fast friends with my Time Warner technician, Donnie, who worked hard to get me back up and running. Ended up being a face plate outside that was causing the problems. Once they figured that out and replaced it, we were good as new. He will never read this I am sure - but Thank You Donnie.
School activities also cranked up this week. Harold had FISH camp and Chip had Back To School Night last night. I am working with Peggy this year as co-chairs for school supplies. Basically, parents can order a complete set of school supplies over the internet and just pick them up at Back To School Night - no shopping involved. It is all handled on-line. No paper forms. They deliver them right to the front door of the school. Seems easy enough, right? Well, it wasn't that easy. We had to unload a semi-truck with 490 packs of school supplies, 400 reams of copy paper and various and other items like baby wipes and kindergarten mats. It was hot, we had to roll hand trucks full of boxes across a big grassy sloped lot to get them to the gym. Fiasco of major proportions. Still have bruises on my arms and legs from that stupid morning. Then it was the sorting, unpacking and organizing of those same supplies to be ready to hand them out last night. That part went really well.
I love Back To School Night. You get to see all the families you don't see over the summer, the kids are all excited about who their teacher is, everything seems new and fresh. And don't even get me started on how much I like school supplies. Who doesn't love a fresh unopened box of crayons? It was good and school supply distribution went smoothly.
We met Chip's teacher. His name is Mr. Bradley. It's a man teacher. Chip is thrilled. Harold never had a male teacher in elementary school, so I am not sure what to expect. Here is something funny though...if you don't have kids you may not appreciate this, but if you do and have been through elementary school hopefully you will understand. You know how all the teachers have their rooms all cute and usually have a theme like monkeys, frogs, zebra print, camo, something that is their signature theme. "Welcome to the Frog Bog" "Let's Go Bananas" "Jump into Learning". On back to school night the desk are usually already marked with the kids names. Usually written in nice teacher writing, with a little frog, monkey or something taped onto the desk. Not Mr. Bradley. He literally took a sharpie marker and wrote the kids names directly on the desk. I cracked up. It is like Bachelor Pad elementary room. No decorations, no cute theme. There was a line of older kids lined up outside his door to say hello, so that is always a good sign. I have seen him go through the cafeteria at lunch time and grades of all ages are screaming "Mr. Bradley, Mr. Bradley, Mr. Bradley." He high fives them. I think the kids think he is totally cool - I just hope he can rock multiplication tables too! We shall see.
This is such a random post, but let's keep going...
I ordered two new chairs for my master bedroom. I was so excited to get them delivered yesterday. I want a cozy place to sit and read like they have in magazines. My vision is a lovely little retreat away from all the chaos. Then BAM - the fabric color is all wrong. Vision is all wrong....Boo Hiss! Does anything suck worse than looking forward to new furniture and then it not working? I love the color, it is a simple taupe - but it is almost exactly the same color as my bedroom walls. Makes it all look washed out. Hate them in my bedroom. I don't have any art work on the wall behind the chairs or tables or lamps so I am going to try to break up the monotony of the color with some pictures, throws, pillows, rugs etc. Otherwise I am going to have to repaint the walls. So SUCKY.
One last thing and you can get back to your life before you ever started reading this blog.
I finished Gone With the Wind and was able to mark #19 off of my 50 Things to do Before I am 50 List. Apple Pie and Reading. Definitely took the two easy ones first. I am trying to grow my fingernails so I can get a manicure, but it is hard. Do you have to have all ten nails in good shape or is 6/10 okay? Can they work miracles if you only have two nails of any length? This may be my hardest challenge of all.
That's all.
Thanks for letting me purge.
Have a great weekend!
My internet was down for about 48 hours this week. I got lots done around the house while I paced back and forth to my office to see if the little cable light on my modem was working. My house was tidy, laundry was done, set up a little homework area in the dining room, even filed a little bit, but like every other household in America there is always more to be done. In fact, I had a list of household chores that I could be working on like getting the water softener repaired, checking on new car insurance, sending out thank you notes, but guess what - I needed the internet. So dependent am I on the ability to get information quickly with a few key strokes. You can search for a company, check out their reviews, find phone numbers, schedule appointments all within just a few short minutes. The idea of looking through some yellow pages doesn't do it for me. Anyway, I became fast friends with my Time Warner technician, Donnie, who worked hard to get me back up and running. Ended up being a face plate outside that was causing the problems. Once they figured that out and replaced it, we were good as new. He will never read this I am sure - but Thank You Donnie.
School activities also cranked up this week. Harold had FISH camp and Chip had Back To School Night last night. I am working with Peggy this year as co-chairs for school supplies. Basically, parents can order a complete set of school supplies over the internet and just pick them up at Back To School Night - no shopping involved. It is all handled on-line. No paper forms. They deliver them right to the front door of the school. Seems easy enough, right? Well, it wasn't that easy. We had to unload a semi-truck with 490 packs of school supplies, 400 reams of copy paper and various and other items like baby wipes and kindergarten mats. It was hot, we had to roll hand trucks full of boxes across a big grassy sloped lot to get them to the gym. Fiasco of major proportions. Still have bruises on my arms and legs from that stupid morning. Then it was the sorting, unpacking and organizing of those same supplies to be ready to hand them out last night. That part went really well.
I love Back To School Night. You get to see all the families you don't see over the summer, the kids are all excited about who their teacher is, everything seems new and fresh. And don't even get me started on how much I like school supplies. Who doesn't love a fresh unopened box of crayons? It was good and school supply distribution went smoothly.
We met Chip's teacher. His name is Mr. Bradley. It's a man teacher. Chip is thrilled. Harold never had a male teacher in elementary school, so I am not sure what to expect. Here is something funny though...if you don't have kids you may not appreciate this, but if you do and have been through elementary school hopefully you will understand. You know how all the teachers have their rooms all cute and usually have a theme like monkeys, frogs, zebra print, camo, something that is their signature theme. "Welcome to the Frog Bog" "Let's Go Bananas" "Jump into Learning". On back to school night the desk are usually already marked with the kids names. Usually written in nice teacher writing, with a little frog, monkey or something taped onto the desk. Not Mr. Bradley. He literally took a sharpie marker and wrote the kids names directly on the desk. I cracked up. It is like Bachelor Pad elementary room. No decorations, no cute theme. There was a line of older kids lined up outside his door to say hello, so that is always a good sign. I have seen him go through the cafeteria at lunch time and grades of all ages are screaming "Mr. Bradley, Mr. Bradley, Mr. Bradley." He high fives them. I think the kids think he is totally cool - I just hope he can rock multiplication tables too! We shall see.
This is such a random post, but let's keep going...
I ordered two new chairs for my master bedroom. I was so excited to get them delivered yesterday. I want a cozy place to sit and read like they have in magazines. My vision is a lovely little retreat away from all the chaos. Then BAM - the fabric color is all wrong. Vision is all wrong....Boo Hiss! Does anything suck worse than looking forward to new furniture and then it not working? I love the color, it is a simple taupe - but it is almost exactly the same color as my bedroom walls. Makes it all look washed out. Hate them in my bedroom. I don't have any art work on the wall behind the chairs or tables or lamps so I am going to try to break up the monotony of the color with some pictures, throws, pillows, rugs etc. Otherwise I am going to have to repaint the walls. So SUCKY.
One last thing and you can get back to your life before you ever started reading this blog.
I finished Gone With the Wind and was able to mark #19 off of my 50 Things to do Before I am 50 List. Apple Pie and Reading. Definitely took the two easy ones first. I am trying to grow my fingernails so I can get a manicure, but it is hard. Do you have to have all ten nails in good shape or is 6/10 okay? Can they work miracles if you only have two nails of any length? This may be my hardest challenge of all.
That's all.
Thanks for letting me purge.
Have a great weekend!
Wednesday, August 18, 2010
Responsibility
Today, my sweet Harold went to his High School Orientation. "FISH Camp" they call it around these parts.
***Let's have a moment of silence for my youth. I know it has already been long gone, but having a high school son just makes it seem like my youth is now gone FOR REAL!!! ***
As I shuttled him off to the high school I gave him a receipt for a missing Science Book that had been on his official record leaving 8th grade. It wasn't really missing, but we had to clear up that mess at the middle school during the early part of the summer. Nevertheless, the bookkeeper at the middle school told us to be sure and hold on to it, because it was the only thing standing between him and not getting issued books for high school. For weeks it has sat on our kitchen counter because I was so afraid of misplacing it and going through a huge ordeal to get his schedule and books for high school.
Today, I handed it to him on his way out the door and gave him the "this is an importance piece of paper" speech. He nodded his understanding of the importance of the paper and then shrugged me off and ran off to meet his buddies in the high school.
After the orientation there was time for a short break before the kids could pick up their books. He came home, told me about orientation and as we were headed out to lunch I said "Do you still have that receipt or did you turn it in already." He reaches into his shorts. Pulls them inside out like in a cartoon and with a fearful face says "Where is it? I had it! Where could it be?" He is turning in circles like a dog chasing its tail.
Fairly certain it is not right here in a one foot area around your body Harold. I cussed a little. I shook my head. I looked at him hard. Seriously, day one and already we are losing important papers.
He is baffled, embarrassed and ashamed of losing the receipt. It requires a trip back to the middle school to ask for another copy of the important paper we were told not to lose. As we are walking out of the middle school he says "Mom, really I would think you would know me well enough to know that I am not responsible." True, but you have to introduce responsibility at some point, right? I didn't just willy nilly give him the receipt. I delivered it with the "this is an important piece of paper" speech.
A short while later, he is in line for books at the high school he is prepared to show them the receipt that clears his name of any late or delinquent books. He tells the lady he might show up as having a missing science book and has this important piece of paper that absolves him of all late charges.
She waves her hand at him. "I don't need to see that." she says.
Really, well look at it anyway lady because it caused me some major grief today.
It was a chaotic and hectic bit of a day and we haven't even started school. Can't imagine what is in store for us next week!
***Let's have a moment of silence for my youth. I know it has already been long gone, but having a high school son just makes it seem like my youth is now gone FOR REAL!!! ***
As I shuttled him off to the high school I gave him a receipt for a missing Science Book that had been on his official record leaving 8th grade. It wasn't really missing, but we had to clear up that mess at the middle school during the early part of the summer. Nevertheless, the bookkeeper at the middle school told us to be sure and hold on to it, because it was the only thing standing between him and not getting issued books for high school. For weeks it has sat on our kitchen counter because I was so afraid of misplacing it and going through a huge ordeal to get his schedule and books for high school.
Today, I handed it to him on his way out the door and gave him the "this is an importance piece of paper" speech. He nodded his understanding of the importance of the paper and then shrugged me off and ran off to meet his buddies in the high school.
After the orientation there was time for a short break before the kids could pick up their books. He came home, told me about orientation and as we were headed out to lunch I said "Do you still have that receipt or did you turn it in already." He reaches into his shorts. Pulls them inside out like in a cartoon and with a fearful face says "Where is it? I had it! Where could it be?" He is turning in circles like a dog chasing its tail.
Fairly certain it is not right here in a one foot area around your body Harold. I cussed a little. I shook my head. I looked at him hard. Seriously, day one and already we are losing important papers.
He is baffled, embarrassed and ashamed of losing the receipt. It requires a trip back to the middle school to ask for another copy of the important paper we were told not to lose. As we are walking out of the middle school he says "Mom, really I would think you would know me well enough to know that I am not responsible." True, but you have to introduce responsibility at some point, right? I didn't just willy nilly give him the receipt. I delivered it with the "this is an important piece of paper" speech.
A short while later, he is in line for books at the high school he is prepared to show them the receipt that clears his name of any late or delinquent books. He tells the lady he might show up as having a missing science book and has this important piece of paper that absolves him of all late charges.
She waves her hand at him. "I don't need to see that." she says.
Really, well look at it anyway lady because it caused me some major grief today.
It was a chaotic and hectic bit of a day and we haven't even started school. Can't imagine what is in store for us next week!
Monday, August 16, 2010
Weekend Recap
We spent the weekend in Arlington for Hubby's birthday. The Red Sox were playing the Rangers for a three game series and it was his wish to see a couple of games.
We loaded up the car with presents and other items.
Harold packed his special, sacred dirt that he stole from Fenway Park. I think he is going to use it as a secret potion to jinx the home team.
We made the short drive to the Arlington and checked into our hotel. Our hotels was within walking distance of The Ballpark at Arlington and the Cowboys new stadium.
After a quick swim, Harold and his Dad headed over to Cowboy Stadium to see a preseason game between the Cowboys and the Raiders.
They got there early and enjoyed the first glimpse of football this season. Me and Chip were chillaxin at the hotel, watching the finale of So You Think You Can Dance, some story about a man with no face and reading more GWTW.
We loaded up the car with presents and other items.
Harold packed his special, sacred dirt that he stole from Fenway Park. I think he is going to use it as a secret potion to jinx the home team.
We made the short drive to the Arlington and checked into our hotel. Our hotels was within walking distance of The Ballpark at Arlington and the Cowboys new stadium.
After a quick swim, Harold and his Dad headed over to Cowboy Stadium to see a preseason game between the Cowboys and the Raiders.
They got there early and enjoyed the first glimpse of football this season. Me and Chip were chillaxin at the hotel, watching the finale of So You Think You Can Dance, some story about a man with no face and reading more GWTW.SPECIAL NOTE: I am on page 1170 of 1448! I can see the light at the end of the tunnel! That Scarlett was a piece of work and don't even get me started on Rhett Butler. Such a scoundrel, but yummy!
The next day, Friday the 13th was Hubby's birthday. We started the day with a long walk around Cowboy Stadium and the Rangers Ballpark. It was so hot. Thankfully it was early, but you could tell it was going to be a scorcher.
After our walk and a nice long family swim, we opened presents and headed to lunch.
We found a Fox Sports Grill which is really a family favorite. The food is good, but the Skillet Chocolate Chip cookie is what keeps bringing us back. I swear we are a school of piranhas when the skillet hits the table. You better be ready, with spoon in hand to get your fair share of this yummy dessert. Don't even think about going to the restroom or taking a drink if you don't want to be left with an empty spoon and sad taste buds.
After our late lunch, we went back to the hotel so I could work for a couple of hours. At about 6:00 p.m. we headed over to the game. It was 105 degrees. Seriously.
The walk was short, but this is where the sweating began. I am not going to recount again how sweaty I was, but if you didn't catch it in my last post you can go there to read it.
This is a really nice ballpark and we had great seats.
There were smiles all around (lots of Red Sox fans in attendance) when the Red Sox had a seven run inning. There were back to back to back homeruns. Those Rangers didn't give up though and ended up winning the game in the 11th or 12th inning. Chip and I headed back to the hotel in the eighth inning and we heard angels singing when we finally made it back to air conditioning.
The next morning, Harold woke up in a terrible mood. I think it was either the heat or the Red Sox losing that set him off. Just kidding....he was in a fine mood. This is just a face he uses when he is looking for his PSP and thinks his brother might have it.
Look at this little cherub. Would he ever take something that didn't belong to him? I think not.
We spent the early part of Saturday morning on a wild road trip trying to visit AC, Thrasher, LT and Red Bull. Goodness sakes, we took the long, long way. Were were about 45 minutes late for lunch.
But they were still happy to see us!
They fed us a delicious lunch and then we headed over to Mike and Robin's house to swim and play a little water volleyball.
Everyone in!
The kids got along well again.
Red Bull was attached to Harold and it was all fun and games.
Until the volleyball started. It was serious. There was yelling and shouting. Alot of it was directed at me, because it became apparent that I was the weakest link. They were aiming for me. One of Chip's practice serves hit me right in the face. OWWW!!! It was a lot of fun, but I will be practicing my volleyball (and defense of fast approaching volleyballs) before we visit again.
We headed back to Arlington in the afternoon and Harold and his Dad were going to back to see the Red Sox and Rangers again. We got back to the hotel and our room key wouldn't work. We slid that damn thing in the card reader 653 times before giving up. It took God, a desk manager, two maintenance guys and a little handheld computer thing to get us back in our room. Just in time for the boys to grab their tickets and head to the game. Chip and I stayed at the hotel and enjoyed the evening with air conditioning and the maintenance guy changing out the card reader on our door.
The super special Fenway Park dirt did the trick on Saturday night and the Red Sox pulled out a win. Go Sox.
It was a great weekend with the exception of the broken door, voluminous amounts of sweating and getting hit in the face with a volleyball. Other than that, I could do this every weekend.
The next day, Friday the 13th was Hubby's birthday. We started the day with a long walk around Cowboy Stadium and the Rangers Ballpark. It was so hot. Thankfully it was early, but you could tell it was going to be a scorcher.
After our walk and a nice long family swim, we opened presents and headed to lunch.
We found a Fox Sports Grill which is really a family favorite. The food is good, but the Skillet Chocolate Chip cookie is what keeps bringing us back. I swear we are a school of piranhas when the skillet hits the table. You better be ready, with spoon in hand to get your fair share of this yummy dessert. Don't even think about going to the restroom or taking a drink if you don't want to be left with an empty spoon and sad taste buds.
After our late lunch, we went back to the hotel so I could work for a couple of hours. At about 6:00 p.m. we headed over to the game. It was 105 degrees. Seriously.
The walk was short, but this is where the sweating began. I am not going to recount again how sweaty I was, but if you didn't catch it in my last post you can go there to read it.
This is a really nice ballpark and we had great seats.
There were smiles all around (lots of Red Sox fans in attendance) when the Red Sox had a seven run inning. There were back to back to back homeruns. Those Rangers didn't give up though and ended up winning the game in the 11th or 12th inning. Chip and I headed back to the hotel in the eighth inning and we heard angels singing when we finally made it back to air conditioning.
The next morning, Harold woke up in a terrible mood. I think it was either the heat or the Red Sox losing that set him off. Just kidding....he was in a fine mood. This is just a face he uses when he is looking for his PSP and thinks his brother might have it.
Look at this little cherub. Would he ever take something that didn't belong to him? I think not.
We spent the early part of Saturday morning on a wild road trip trying to visit AC, Thrasher, LT and Red Bull. Goodness sakes, we took the long, long way. Were were about 45 minutes late for lunch.
But they were still happy to see us!
They fed us a delicious lunch and then we headed over to Mike and Robin's house to swim and play a little water volleyball.
Everyone in!
The kids got along well again.
Red Bull was attached to Harold and it was all fun and games. 
Until the volleyball started. It was serious. There was yelling and shouting. Alot of it was directed at me, because it became apparent that I was the weakest link. They were aiming for me. One of Chip's practice serves hit me right in the face. OWWW!!! It was a lot of fun, but I will be practicing my volleyball (and defense of fast approaching volleyballs) before we visit again. 
We headed back to Arlington in the afternoon and Harold and his Dad were going to back to see the Red Sox and Rangers again. We got back to the hotel and our room key wouldn't work. We slid that damn thing in the card reader 653 times before giving up. It took God, a desk manager, two maintenance guys and a little handheld computer thing to get us back in our room. Just in time for the boys to grab their tickets and head to the game. Chip and I stayed at the hotel and enjoyed the evening with air conditioning and the maintenance guy changing out the card reader on our door.
The super special Fenway Park dirt did the trick on Saturday night and the Red Sox pulled out a win. Go Sox.It was a great weekend with the exception of the broken door, voluminous amounts of sweating and getting hit in the face with a volleyball. Other than that, I could do this every weekend.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)