Music to my ears

I took an early childhood continuing ed. class tonight and interesting things were brought to light. So my wheels starting turning on the way home. The professor questioned our own upbringing/childhoods. With the combination of this weeks past events and tonight's reflection I started diving back into my memory. What has formed me into the person I am today? Thus the need to change my songs. No, John Lennon & the Beatles didn't raise me, but I was raised on their music. In fact they are my dad's favorite band, this is probably why they are one of mine too. Something about these songs takes me back to an innocent time in my life. Music in general was a huge part of my family. My father was and is a talented drummer. He for many years participated in several local bands and played both country & rock. There was always a drum set in the house. I never took any interest in playing myself, but I do enjoy listening to music. He got all of his musical talent from my grandpa ( this is why I added the one and only country song to my play list. I loved my grandpa! And when I get where I'm going I too will hug his neck and tell him how much I've missed him. I dearly miss all of my grandparents!)

Anyways, in tonight's class we discussed storytelling and the art of passing down stories from our families. So I thought about what type of stories I want my children to be able to pass down when I'm gone. I have so many, but the first one is about how my grandparents ran a country music ranch and how when their grandfather (my dad) was little he met George Jones, Johnny Cash and many others. In fact he took up drumming when Johnny Cash's drummer left behind his drum sticks. Or that their other grandfather was a Naval sailor whom served 20+ years on and off several naval ships. As will Tom keep passing on too his family stories. I can also remember family get together's at Easter's, Christmas's & other holidays. Some memories are very vivid while others seem to be slipping away. I do remember my mom wearing sundresses (black & brown) and planting marigold plants up and down both sides of the sidewalk when I was a kid. Or the time my dad had his hair cut off! Or better yet the time my Uncle Roger permed his hair than decided to let someone try and iron it (with a real iron) back straight. Shrinky-dinks in the oven, New Year's Eve parties with jam sessions and sweet gherkin pickles. I could go on and on! A trip down memory lane is always a trip worth taking.

What's that?

When it rains it pours! My 3 year old washing machine broke. :-( I was terribly disappointed. The rubber seal around the door some how developed a rather large hole and was spilling water out and into the catch pan below the machine. No good! Especially since our laundry room is on the second floor. However there is a drain that is suppose to catch any liquid before it spills out beyond the pan... but I don't wanna depend on that small drain saving my carpet. So my handy dandy hubby leaped to my rescue and ordered the replacement part ASAP. YEAH!!!! Only problem was that I had all of my laundry still to do. I have found over the years that it really is just easier for me to do the majority of my wash on a specific weekend day. I do wash the odd load during the week if needed, but the majority waits till my scheduled wash day. This posed a dilemma. So I decided to hit the local laundry mat. When I made my announcement to the family and requested their dirty laundry I was asked a peculiar question. Josh replied, " Mom, what's a laundry mat?". Much to my surprise he had never seen nor heard of such a thing. I quickly explained the center and he was impressed that I would be able to wash and dry all the clothes at one time. So I was off!

On the cruise over I realized that it has been years since I too had stepped inside a laundry mat. I bet the better part of ten years had gone by since I needed to wash outside of the home. The last time I thought about going was when Kyle vomited on a camping trip in and on his sleeping bag. YUCK!! I thought for a brief period about salvaging the bag then just decided to pitch it. Really, what were my chances of washing out red kool-aid stains out of a light blue bag. Anyways, the facility wasn't too bad, and I quickly befriended a lady whom used the facility alot. She quickly gave me a quick tour and told me which machines to stay away from (coin issues, washer breakdowns, etc...). I settled in and caught a gripping show from Dr. Phil. I was in and out of there in less than 2 hours with five large loads of laundry. Mission accomplished!

Lobster-fied!!!

Yes I know that's not a real word, but it's how I feel. After hours of sun exposure at the ball field on Saturday I felt like the closest thing to a cooked lobster. I had lathered up the boys real well on numerous occasions and had lotioned my own arms. However the back of my neck received the most sun and that was the part I had not sun blocked. Now I am officially a redneck.

Poor Tom was unable to attend the opening day festivities as he was on 12 hour shifts all weekend. Therefore me & the little guys were up and out the door by 7:15. We needed to purchase Joshua a new baseball shirt since they swore I had ordered him a small. He's a definite medium, and the way these were cut almost a kids large. Then it was off to our parade staging areas. After the kiddos were in their correct spots I then ran back to the end of the parade route near the ball fields. From there we sat for about an hour enduring an opening ceremony that was way too long. After the ceremony Joshua's team needed to rush over for pictures as his team was the first game for the Pee-Wee division. Andrew had no game but did have pictures later in the day. Meanwhile Kyle was off paintball shooting with the youth church group. So after a day long excursion at the ball field we needed to run and pick him up. Needless to say we were all whipped Saturday night.

With high aspirations of attending church we received some bad news yesterday morning. Tom's grandma had passed away earlier that morning. She had been living in a nursing home for the past several years and was in really good health up until a few weeks ago. Tom was able to see her on a quick trip at the end of March. So it has been somber here. My Joshua is sensitive like his dad and is still shaken by it. However our faith in God and the joys of heaven are uplifting thoughts for us. As this poor woman had to endure 35 years as a widow and had lost a son over 20 years ago as well. To know that their souls are reunited is the peace that passes all understanding. She lived a great 89 years here on this Earth and is finally at peace.

Gimme a Break!!!!!!

Excuse me while I vent. Ever had one of those days when all of your would-be plans seemed flushed down the toilet. I just received mine today. Lucky me!! Here's my dilemma: I have been going to school part-time for Nursing for the past two years. During this time I have jumped through hoops to align my upcoming clinicals with our youngest sons kindergarten venture. Everything was set up to include the before & after care. Now I've been thrown a curve ball and was told today that my chances of full day kindergarten are just about gone. In fact I had better plan on half-day. NOOOOOO!!! So here I go looking for solutions to what seems like an atomic bombing. I am looking into all options. First and foremost I will pray that God works this all out to his plan (but I'm sure hoping that his plan includes full-time Kindergarten & nursing clinicals).

Thia is not easy for me! I am a planner. I like to have everything figured out and planned down to the last detail. In fact I can't sleep well at night when I have thoughts racing through my brain such as these. This news flash has certainly thrown me into a tail spin. So wish me good luck and pray for my sanity and a fix to my woes! If for some reason this doesn't pan out. Well...... I guess I could just continue my career as a stay at home Mom. Now that's a thought. :-)

Whirl Wind Weekends

When I took a look at my calender last week I couldn't believe all the things to-do this weekend. I'm starting to come down from my adrenaline high and wind down with my final obligation for this crazy weekend. Friday started off with baseball practice, cleaning the house and attending a Pampered Chef show. Now I know I could have scratched that one from the things to-do list, but it was a chocolate bliss party.....mention anything chocolate and I'm there. While I was gone for the evening Tom & Josh were to build a novelty cake for this Sunday's Blue & Gold banquet for Cub scouts. This can be a fierce competition and only boy's & male partners (politically correct :-) are allowed to bake & design their cakes.

So I come home from my party with no cakes in the process of construction. Tom informs me that after baseball the boys played outside with the neighborhood kids and he lost track of time chatting with the neighbors. By the time he came in they were beat and ready for a bath & bed. So he & Josh were up at the crack of dawn Saturday morning constructing their cake. Now Saturday was another full day. Kyle signed us up to host the cast party for "Les Mis" in OUR home with the potential of 40+ people to attend. YIKES!!! So like a whirlwind I raced through and cleaned the entire house. The party went off without a hitch. However it did rain, but thanks to the Sunsetter canopy we purchased last year the deck was still usable. Tom's parents took the little guys out & about which was helpful. We skipped their school's Spring carnival due to the rain. So, after Kyle's party ended at about 5:30 the real fun began. Seven teenage boys crashed at our house last night. They giggled more than girls I believe. I left Tom home with the boys from 6-9 while I helped decorate the hall for today's Blue & Gold dinner. I was exhausted last night when I came home. Then off to church this morning as Joshua was the acolyte today for the traditional service. I think after today's party I'm gonna need a weekends rest from this weekend.

When a girl's gotta go...a girl's gotta go!

I went for my renal/pelvic ultrasound today. It was the worst. No it didn't hurt, but the 32 ounces of water I had to drink about made me burst. I felt like my eyeballs were floating. I have never been in such agony as that. There I sat waiting for my name to be called. The first waiting room was the worst. Of all places they have the sign-in/registration area right next to a bathroom. Every time I heard the "ba-whoosh" of the toilet my bladder seemed to spasm. Then my name was called. The girl took off like a race horse. I called her back and explained that walking & trying to hold my thighs together was not working....she would just have to slow down to my turtle speed. The bad part was that she took my to another waiting area. There I was sitting with the same people from the 1st waiting area. After about 5-10 minutes of wringing my hands together I finally leaned over and asked the gal next to me how things were moving. She indicated that it was slow due to some emergency cases. Great!!!!! I then went in search for a restroom. I just needed to let some out. By the time I made my way back to the room they were calling my name. BUSTED!!!! Luckily the tech was understanding. We finished the first part of the exam and then hallelujah I was allowed to finish emptying my bladder. I've never had such relief. I'm glad I don't need these exams often.

On the upside the rest of my day has gone well. Tom came home in the nick of time to take Andrew to baseball and I have been able to do a little catch-up here on the home front. It's only fair, as I did baseball last night, right? I'm certainly looking forward to Wed & Thurs. night when we have no baseball practice at all. YEAH!!! I think I'll go make something sweet to celebrate the next two free nights.

Bye Bye Blues

I'm feeling much better today! Even though the skies were gray and the air was chilly my grumpiness fog has lifted and the blues have blown away. Monday's always add a bit of chaos to my life. With the work & school week beginning enough to-do's are on my plate. Added to that is baseball practice and both Kyle & Joshua having scouts. Although a stroke of luck came my way. Josh's scout meetings ended tonight and will only meet on Saturday's (2 a month) till school ends. YEAH! That's one thing off my to-do list.

I have updated some of the pictures of the kids here on the blog. I need to be better about that. Kyle & Erin were playing with the camera yesterday while she was over for a visit. This is a picture I took of them. She's such a cute gal.... and sweet. They received an invitation in the mail today for a Sweet 16 party. It's a themed couples party and everyone is asked to dress up as a famous couple. This party sounds really cool. The invitation alone was like a wedding invite. Including a pre-stamped response card. WoW! They have set the bar high.... how will I ever top that with Kyle's Sweet 16. I am suppose to have a party for him right.? This is no longer just a girl thing? So I'll keep you posted as to what famous couple they will become ( Michael Jackson & Diana Ross, Sonny & Cher, Bonnie & Clyde, etc....)

Rainy Day Blues

Yes I have them.... the rainy day blues. I'm not really much of an outdoors kinda gal, but I do like the option of being able to tinker around outside if I want to. Plus I miss the sun. I need the sun. To add to it I'm bored. Now I hate to hear my kids say that, but I really am bored. The house is cleaned (check), laundry done & put away (check), dinner & dessert prepared (check), beds made (check). There is not much else to do. I attempted to organize the basement but that was just too overwhelming for me. So here I am blogging about my blues for the day. This makes me wanna shop!

It was suppose to have rained yesterday. I was hoping for the rain and looking forward to baseball practice being cancelled. No dice! There I sat at the field once again for a hour & half practice. We received both boys game schedules this week. I might as well pitch a tent at the field. I will average 4 nights a week at the field. Good thing Kyle didn't join too! I would be permanently posted there. The things parents do for our children's happiness!

Inside Jokes

With Tom on a business trip this week I am loaded to the max with baseball practices, homework and scouts this week. While being a single parent for a week isn't all that bad, it is much nicer when both parents can participate in taking care of the children. This brings me to my first inside joke. I hate giving the kids a bath. I'm not quite sure why, but I do! Always have and probably at this point always will. So when Tom is away our running inside joke is him asking if I have bathed the kids......or let them stink all week. Now of course I bathe the kids. (Under protest, but I do bathe them.) However his comments always make me chuckle and I like to get his goat by telling him that the kids will be ready for a long bath when he returns. Our second joke while he is gone is our poor eating habits. Heaven help us if he ever did leave for any real amount of time. When Tom is gone we eat things like chicken nuggets, french fries, hot dogs, microwave meals, spaghetti-o's and such. Not exactly what Tom considers a dinner by any sorts. I try to cover the five food groups at some point during the day :-) So our conversations on the phone in the evening usually consist of bantering back and forth as to whether the kids were clean and had we eaten ice cream sandwiches for dinner. In fact that sounds yummy. Maybe we'll have those tomorrow night!