It's Wednesday

I really have nothing to write about. Not that I don't have a ton of things going on in my life, but it seems like all I do is whine about how busy I am and everything I have to do. Well I will leave that for a journal. Below is an update on my life without the whining.
My kids are taking EOGs this week. Hannah is done with volleyball and ready for swimming. Scott is testing for his green belt tomorrow. Forrest is still loving work but in need of a boat for fishing...(don't ask). I am still working and I love my job but things are slow right now. One of our pastors (we have two, a husband and wife) is leaving our church and tonight my hand bell choir and the church choir took them out to eat. Yes I am in hand bells at church. I still have two dogs and two cats. And I think that is it, for now. I am going to bed. Goodnight!

Humphrey

Once upon a time there was a man named Humphrey from O’Fallon. He was a grand fellow with lots of tales to tell. One day he was chatting with his good friend Higgins about such an adventure.
Humphrey was on his way to bed one evening. Unfortunately, he had taken his spoon full of sugar before he put on his nite-nite clothes. He fell asleep straight away on the floor with his nite-nite clothes only half on. When he woke he was on a big ship. His teddy was there with a yellow life jacket on and he was eating Humphrey’s milk and cookies. Humphrey asked his teddy, “What are we doing on this ship”? Teddy replied, “We are searching for the coveted Kanawawa. This drink will allow you to speak any language you want”. Before Humphrey could ask anymore questions about the Kanawawa drink, he licked some residual sugar from his lips and fell fast asleep again.
The next day Humphrey and Higgins meet a nice young lady named, Helga. Helga did not speak English, but both Higgins and Humphrey desperately wanted to have a pleasant conversation with her. Humphrey remembered that there was only one way to communicate with someone who did not speak your language, they would have to find a Kanawawa and drink it. They all ran back to Humphrey’s house to find Teddy and ask him where they can get a Kanawawa. But Teddy was no where to be found. They searched under the bed, and in the closet, and even behind the book case but Teddy was simply not there.
Later on that night, Humphrey and Higgins but on their nite-nite clothes with the little footies and the little flaps in the back, they took their spoons full of sugar and fell fast asleep. When they woke up they found teddy with lots of Kanawawa for them. They invited Helga over and they all drank Kanawawa and had the most pleasant of pleasant conversations that was ever to be had. The End.

George & Natalia

April 23, 2010 I went to Fairview Heights, IL to attend a wedding with my extended family. While the drive was long the trip was great. We (when I say we I mean me, Bernie, Debbie, Amanda, Matt, Stephanie, Grandma Da-Da, Jodie, Frank, Bailee, and Samantha) stayed at my aunt Becky and Bonnie's house.
Before the rehearsal dinner we got our toes done...

We were also a little punch drunk from lack of sleep at that point.
The rehearsal dinner was on Thursday evening at Dave & Buster's. We had a catered dinner, bar, and loaded cards for all the games. We had a blast!
The wedding was on Friday at Bonnie's church. The church was beautiful. Also, since Nati's parents are from Argentina, they do not speak English. So the ceremony was done in English and repeated in Spanish. Then we all went to the reception at Scott Air Force Base. It was very nice. There were hors d'oeuvres and an open bar. Then we had a sit down dinner. But they do things a little different. The moment that George and Nati got there, they were on the dance floor.


They stopped only once to eat a little bit and then it was back on the dance floor. We also enjoyed an Argentinian tradition called Carnival. Everyone puts on hats and wigs and dances around all crazy. It was so much fun that it was midnight before we knew it and we had to leave. I think we could have danced all night long.

Susan G. Komen 2010

This is my first year walking in the Race for the Cure. It was great. I walked on Flossie's team with my friends Beth and Wendy. I meet some great people!
Wendy and I decided to walk the 1 mile instead of the 5K. It wasn't bad at all and we probably could have walked the 5K. So for next year we are going to train and race in the 5K. We will see how well that goes. Also, I had an idea to start a team of our own. Since I have never lost anyone to breast cancer, but everybody knows someone who has had it, we will be the Preventative Team (I will work on that name). Hopefully, life will not take over and we will actually be able to put this in motion. If anyone has any ideas feel free to let me know.
The ceremony after the race was great. They had all the survivors line up according to their years of survival. It was very emotional. Lets all do everything we can to take care of ourselves and beat this disease. We are the cure.

Hannah's Day Off

One day for spring break, Hannah decided she wanted to stay at home instead of going to her grandmother’s house. So I let her stay at home by herself, because Scott went to his grandmother’s. I called later in the day to check on her and to get her to water the ferns and she was outside tanning in the warm sun. She said the bees kept attacking her but other than that it had been an OK day. She said, “I ordered a pizza with my own money, aren’t you proud of me”? Well, I was proud but I had to giggle at the same time. She said she ordered it on the internet and everything. Too funny. At least she can feed herself if we are not around…
I wonder if she tipped the delivery person?

Anniversary Vaca

My husband and I decided to get away this year for our anniversary. It has been 7 years! I can not believe it! I have always wanted to stay at one of those cabins in the mountains that have just one bedroom, a Jacuzzi, and a beautiful view. So we chose a mountain and then a cabin. We stayed between Linville and New Land in a little cabin named, Tree Frog.


It was very cozy and cute. There was so much snow! It was beautiful!




We didn’t do much; we ate, shopped, and laid around. I have found that my husband and I are very quiet people. If there is nothing to talk about we are just quiet. There is no small talk (except from me who can ramble on about nothing for hours). But we still had a good time, it was very relaxing! Maybe for our 10 year anniversary we will do something wild and crazy!

BTW: When I was taking these pictures my husband refused to smile correctly. So that is why he looks funny...

Hannah's Baby Emma

My daughter, Hannah, is in eighth grade and in health they have to bring home a mechanical baby for a weekend, or they can write a 10 page essay. Hannah chose the “easier” route and brought home the baby. She was very nervous about it though. One of her friends made a lower grade because she did not wake up in the middle of the night to take care of the baby, so Hannah was afraid it would not wake her up and she was determined to get an A.
The first night she had the baby she stayed the night with a friend who also brought a baby home. Her friend’s baby cried all night long but Hannah’s baby was very good. The next day when we picked her up the baby was still very quiet. I told her that was not a good sign because then she would be up all night. Also, Hannah was very unsure as to how to do things with a baby. Like take a shower…she asked me to watch her, but I said, “no no, in the real world you would be solely responsible for this child 24/7”. Hannah did not like this answer, saying it is unrealistic because in the real world I could hold the baby while she did things. However, if she were a single parent she would not have me all the time to help and would have to improvise. So she would have to take the baby into the bathroom and get out if she cried. And that is what she did…twice. Is it wrong that I found it amusing?
Saturday night we went to my neighbor’s house for dinner and sure enough the baby cried and was fussy most of the evening. But Emma really did good that night, only waking her up twice.
Sunday morning we were all exhausted and decided to skip church. We just lounged around all day and Hannah took care of her baby. Emma woke Hannah up twice again on Sunday night. So she was a little tired for school the next day.
The good news is Hannah made a 100. She will be a great parent one day, if she changes her mind about having kids. And hopefully that will not happen for many years.

Life

I realize that I have not posted anything since February but my life is crazy. If I get a moment to sit down I don't really have a desire to get on the computer. I want to invent something that takes my thoughts and just prints it on paper because I do most of my great thinking in the car...where I can not type. So it would be great if it would just print right out of my brain. But I digress.

My calendar right now has more of my kids stuff on there than mine. Hannah is in a production of Annie, playing volleyball, and getting ready for state band competition. She also has orthodontist and doctors appointments. Not to mention getting ready for High School next year (OMG!) and swimming competition this summer. I am about to get her a car and a driver license so she can just go, go, go (she is only 13)! Scott doesn't have too much. Just Tae Know Do two days a week and tutoring on Mondays. I am hoping he will get on the swim team this summer also. I think he would really have fun if he gave it a chance! This does not include the things I have to do week to week.
I guess I am frustrated because I have trouble juggling everything! This does not sound like too much but I had certain goals that I wanted to obtain. I wanted to obtain them before I was 30, but I just turned 29 and there is no possible way that I am going to get all of them completed in one year.

30 year goals:
1. Get out of debt. I have planned this out and it will take 3 years to remove useless debt (I mean I will still have a mortgage and student loans but no credit cards).
2. Get in shape. I have body issues (what woman doesn't..right.) but it seems like I can never get it together. It is as simple as saying, "eat right and exercise". But the actions do not come as easy.
3. Go back to school and get my Bachelors degree. I want a career. I want to make more money. I want to know what I want to be when I grow up.

Now I realize that this will take more than a year but I did not just make these goals. They have been around for a while! I just get distracted (you show my current schedule). I also realize that I have to let go on occasion. So I am trying to relax but it is very hard for me. I think I have hard wired myself to be on go all the time and constantly be on top of every situation or I will lose it. I have a long road ahead of me! Pray for me.

Senior Yellow

My son, Scott, takes Taekwondo and this past Thursday he tested for his senior yellow belt. He did a great job and past the test! He has a break a board with his elbow on Tuesday and then he will get his new belt and a certificate.
Unfortunately, he doesn't really care about it. After his test I asked him how he felt about it and he said, "OK...it isn't that big a deal, its just a belt". So I hope that soon he will learn that it is so much more than that. It is also about a great accomplishment, self-discipline, self-esteem, and a sense of responsibility for yourself and others. Maybe he is not quite old enough to get it, I'm not really sure. But whatever the reason I think that he has improved so much in everything he does since he has started Taekwondo. I am very proud of him!

Girlfriend Day

Today was such a great day.
First thing I do every Saturday morning (provided no one is sick or the ground is not covered in snow/ice) is go for a walk with my sister-in-law at 7:30am. I know, sounds bad to have to get up so early on the weekend but it is really a great start to my weekend. We walk for 30-45 minutes and then get coffee and talk about everything that is on our mind. Good (free) therapy.
Next...sometimes...I go to the gym. This Saturday I did, for an hour (I needed it since I had such a great dinner the night before :))
After taking a shower and getting ready I went on to have lunch with my friend Tasha. She has created "Girlfriend Day". I had the pleasure of meeting more of Tasha's friends and as mentioned at lunch, Tasha does not have friends that are losers. I now have 4 new friends.
Then I had some errands to run with my husband. We were not rushed (for once) and it was a lovely afternoon.
For dinner my husband and I had a meat and cheese tray. I know this sounds weird but occasionally we will have just crackers, meats, cheeses, grapes, olives, and wine for dinner. It is actually really good to pick out all different kinds at the store and then just eat until you are stuffed. We definitely don't do it often since it is like a heart attack on a plate. Plus, our kids really don't like to eat that stuff but they are not here this weekend... :)

Snow Days

Finally! After years of having lame winters we finally get some decent snow. It was beautiful and I love seeing it! We were able to do some sledding! So fun! And we had a fire and roasted hot dogs. It was a great weekend! I am just going to post some pictures and a video to show you how fun it was. The video is of Sammy bouncing through the snow and trying to eat it as it blows in the air. He is a character.

Watch for falling TVs

My husband has been bugging me to get a new TV. He is dieing for a bigger flat screen. Even trying to tell me that it is about to go out and we should just go ahead and buy a new one before it does. A couple weeks ago he went out of town on business. While he was away I tried to turn on the television and I got no picture just a high pitched noise. I called my neighbor and asked what he knew about TVs (He is very handy). He said he knew a little bit and he would come and take a look. I called Forrest and told him that I thought the TV was dead and that he would probably get his way but Tracey was coming to look at it and make sure that it wasn't just a fulk. Tracey also diagnosed that it was dead. Since our TV is in a hole in the wall above the fire place, I asked Tracey if he could help me get it to the floor. Keep in mind that this is an old TV and very heavy (not to mention I think I can do it all and Tracey has a back surgery). As Tracey was turning the television it sort of slipped out of the alcove and into my arms and then onto the floor. If the TV was not dead before it was now. The screen broke from the back part of the television. Luckily the screen did not shatter. I had a few bumps and bruises but I was lucky it did not fall on my foot. The sunny side to all of this is we now have a 47 inch flat screen LCD TV. My husband is elated!

Winter Sports

I am currently sitting in my living room watching the Winter Olympic Games. The skiing, snowboarding, and figure skating. They are all so exciting. On that note...I recently took my kids ice skating. I have been before but it has been many years so I was afraid that I would not be able to do it. It took some time but I did pretty well. Hannah just puts her skates on and takes off like she has done this everyday since birth. She gets bored waiting on Scott and I and just says, "see you later..."
I was very proud of Scott. If you know Scott, you know that he is a quitter. He will try something once (if you are lucky) and if he does not get it perfect the first time he is done. He tried very hard and did not quit even though he did fall a few times. It was a lot of fun and I really felt it the next day. Makes you realize how out of shape you really are when you can't walk the next day.

We also recently went skiing for the first time ever! My sister-in-law, her son, Scott, Hannah, and my self went to Ski Beech.

My Mother-in-law offered to pay for part of it if we all wanted to go. So since I have always wanted to try it and figured I would not get another chance at such a discounted rate...I went for it. We signed up for the training class. Our instructor was a young girl with short sleeves and a vest. Yes...I said short sleeves. Did I mention that it was cloudy and snowing! Anyway, she also had a very interesting personality, and not in a good way. But we all came away from the class ready to ski. So we went down the training/bunny slope a couple of times until we felt comfortable. We then decided to try the green slope. We all got on the ski lift and got to the top of the hill OK.

But it was on the way down that the problems came. Hannah once again just goes down the mountain like it is second nature. Scott did pretty well with a couple of mishaps. But I, on the other hand, did not even make it a quarter of the way down before I just gave up and walked down. And did not try that again! Hannah went down the green slope two more times and then decided she was good enough to go down the yellow slope (she was). That's your Yankee roots Hannah!
As I waited that the bottom of the slope, I saw Scott on his way down. He was having a very hard time. But he did not give up. When he finally made it to the bottom, I told him he could stop, but he really didn't want to. This is such a change in him. I was shocked.

I really have a new found respect for people that ski and ice skate. They make it look so easy but it is really not. And I will not be making that mistake again.
GO USA!

Holidays

OK...so I have not posted a blog in a couple of months. Around Thanksgiving some family drama started and I was afraid to post anything because I may regret some things I posted. And once it is posted and someone reads it, it can not be taken back.
Just to give you an update...we had a great Christmas! Everybody got great stuff and we had breakfast with our friends. Then we just hung out until we went to dinner at my mother-in-laws house. It was a wonderful Christmas dinner of steak.
New Years was good too. We always go eat sushi for New Years. We usually go to Fire and Sticks in Greensboro but we decided to go some place closer this year, Miyako off of 150. The sushi was great but their Japanese food was not as good. The company was good, we had Amy, Tracey, Hunter, Aaron, Wendy, Dravon, and Jaimson (Hannah's boyfriend). But after we left we all just went home and went to bed. I didn't even watch the ball drop...so it kinda didn't even feel like the new year had come. But it came anyway, even though I slept through it.
These are my hopes for the new year...I don't do resolutions (or revelations as Hannah calls them).
1. I can have a peaceful relationship with my Mom and Step-dad.
2. Forrest and I build a stronger relationship.
3. We continue to get ourselves out of debt.
4. We find a church that we can all go to and feel at home.
5. My children continue to grow and thrive in their "teenage state".
6. NO MORE TICKETS! (Even though I already got one this year) :(

Have A Happy New Year!!! :)