Band Parents

Band Parents

Wednesday, December 27, 2006

Post-Christmas report

The 7 YO recovered from his fever Friday. My Parents came to town Friday. The graciously stayed with the boys Saturday night while I went to dinner at a Friends and Hubby went and visited his sister in the hospital.

On Sunday our Christmas started about 1:30 with the hour drive to my Brother's (B2) house. We had appetizer's courtsey of SIL 1. Then the kids opened their presents. the 7yo got a football that seems to have been his favorite gift. But He still need to take a closer look at the things he got. Then we all went to 5:00 Mass. We came home and had a great dinner and then the grown-ups opened presents. We got home about 10:00. The 11YO made a big deal about putting out a plate with cookies and grapes for Santa.

We told the boys they had to wait until 7 AM to open gifts. The 11YO did not want to get up when 7:00 came around. They got football jerseys, sleeping bags, video games for the Gameboy and XBOX. The 7 YO got a Game Boy Micro. The 11 YO had gotten his the weekend before because he was required to pay for half of it since he lost his Game Boy advanced and his Game Boy Sp over the past year.

My Parents brought me my heart's desire from their trip to Germany: The Hummel Nativity. Just the Holy family, but I have wanted it for years.

Christmas Day was quiet after the opening of the gifts. Then at 6PM we went to a party with my Mom's family. There are over 80 family members. We were missing only 13. Santa came as usual. I did notice that my & yo was uncomfortable when Santa came in. I was hoping to preserve the innocence another year or so.

Hubby's Sister did come home from the Hospital Christmas eve. She's have some hard times over the past 2 years starting with her husband asking for a divorce Christmas Day 04. Over that time depression and loneliness seemed to have driven her to making Vodka her best friend. It caught up with her and now she is recovering. I am praying that she continue to recover and that my MIL provides enough support to help but that she is strong enough to allow SIL without breaking herself mentally, emotionally and financially.

But all-in-all, we are very blessed and lucky.

Friday, December 22, 2006

The Virus invades the house

So Wednesday was interesting. Hubby called me at work about 1:40 to tell me his 33 Yo Sister was intensive care and Mom was very upset. So we decided that I would come home early since I drove all the way in. My carpool parner had overslept, so we both drove. (The Lord does work in mysterious ways) But anyways, i would come hom in time to get the boys, get some dinner in them and take them to wrestling practice. He would go get his Mom and go to the hospital with her at visiting hours.

After I hag up with him, the phone rings. It's the school. The 7 Yo has a 101 degree fever. So I called Hubby who picks up the boy and I head home so I can send Hubby to spend time with his Mom.

Anyways, a day and a half later, my SIL is out of intensive care and apparently dealing with some demons like a divorce and unemployment. She might come home Sunday. I hope she knows she has a Mom, a Dad, tw0 brothers, SILs, 5 nephews and at least 1 cousin worried and concerned for her.

The 7 Yo still has a fever. Maybe the classic Influenza, but he only has a small amount of congestions. But he gets up, watched TV, maybe plays Xbox, naps, eats, watches more TV. He all but refuses to take Tylenol. I have Bubble gum flavor, grape flavor, cheables, meltaways,, etc...

But staying home yesterday gave me time to get caught up on a lot of stuff. Presents are wrapped. Most gifts are purchased, and important rooms of the house got cleaned.

My parents arrive today. So here's hoping that their flu shots protect them from the virus lurking in our house.

Wednesday, December 20, 2006

Works for Me Wednesday


Here's a works for me Wednesday post, first in a long time. I have stretched myself too thin this year. Having a long commute to work justs adds to everything. I love to decorate for Christmas. I have a lovely collection of Nativities I like to put out. I have decided that only a few will got out this year. My parents are staying with us for a week, but I am not hosting any parties at my house. It is kind of hard, because I do enjoy decorating. There is a possibility I night get to it this weekend. It will not diminish the joy of Christmas and the celebration of the birth of Christ.

Giving myself permission not to have my house decorated to the nines. That works for me.

For more ideas, check out Shannon's blog

Monday, December 18, 2006

Blog Tag

Hey I was tagged by John over at Adult ADD and Money For 5 Things you do not know about me.

1. My Parents names me Margaret after my Grandmother
2. But they gave me the nickname of Missy
3. I changed the name I wanted people to call me when I went to high School (Boy were the 40 people who went with me from Grade school to The same High school confused, but most adapted)
4. I actually taught myself to like coffee a few years ago. I decided that it might be a healthier way to get my caffine that drinking cold and fizzy stuff.
5. I really dislike vacuuming. My floor has to be really bad before I'll pull out the beast. But usually I can get my boys to do it.

I want to tag Shane.

Menu Plan Monday



I need to get back on track now that the wrestling meet I plaaned and ran is over. (Yipee!)

Mon- Tacos - provided I did put the frozen ground been in the fridge. I remember pulling it out of the freezer this morning...

Tues - Mom's Shopping night

Wed - (Wrestling Practice) - Soup and Sandwiches

Thurs - Tuna Noodle Casserole

Fri - No Sure...

For more great menu plans, go visit Laura

Friday, December 15, 2006

New Orleans trip

My Girl's trip to New Orleans was fantastic. I had been there in 1998. Becasue we sepnt most of our timein the French quarter, which is high ground and was spared from flooding, we did not observe any of the hurricane-induced damage.

Highlights:
  • Saturday evening dinner at The Commander's Palace
  • Cemetery tour
  • Beignets - Although it took me until Sunday to get K & S there, but once there, we went twice on Sunday and twice on Monday.
  • Mass at the St. Louis Cathedral
  • Voodoo Brew Cocktails to go
  • We did have hurricanes at Pat O's
  • Bourbon street where we were told "This is Bourbon Street Ladies, not Sesame Street!"
  • Walking tour of the Garden district.

Here's a pciture of me eating a Beignet

Christmas Tour of Homes -


Hi Everyone, I wanted to participate in BooMama's Christmas tour of homes, but since my life has been Madcap lately, I have not found the time to finish decorating. But a Couple of years ago I took some pictures of some of my Nativity collection.




Finally I have a picture of my tree when the boys got tired of putting the ornaments on it.

Thanks for visiting. Between my 4 day trip to New Orleans with the Girls, a wrestling meet that I have to run this weekend and Christmas shopping that is not done, I hope to get my Nativities out for display. I do enjoy them.

Checkout Boo Mama's site for more homes

Friday, December 08, 2006

Attending Church today

So today is the Feast of the Immaculate Conception ,a Catholic Holy day of Obligation. So I fulfilled my obligation by attending a Mass on the main College Campus.

I enjoy attending such a service because to attend one of these is a conscious act. It is not "Let's go to Sunday Mass because that's what we do on Sundays". While that's not bad, Holy Day Masses seem to me to have more energy. I feel like those who make the effort really want to be there.

It made my heart soar to celebrate a simple Mass with about 40-45 people. I esitmate 2/3 of them were students. I was surprised to observe that there were more young men than young women .

I offered a silent intention that these young people continue their Faith journey and make good parents or maybe even one or more of these young men will decided to enter the Priesthood. May these youg people help steer the Catholic Church away fromt he danger zones that are always lurking so close.

Spread too thin

Ok, I'm not really panicked about this, but strangely detached like I am a ghost watching myself scramble. I have too much going on this year.

There is of course the Christmas shopping. I am having trouble thinking of cool gifts for the 11 YO. And he's no help. He's too much like his Dad.

Then there is the Wrestling club. I am the director. That is like the chief cook and bottle washer. I collected the paperwork and money. I created the roster. I wnet on line, entered names and purchased the USA Wrestling club memebership cards. I purchased the local association Weigh-in cards. I got each wrestler's name, USA card, birthday and age printed on a card (40 of them). I assessed tehir wieghts and determined what size singlet they need, handed out singlets, and ordered additional singlets. I determined the number of t-shirts needed. I gathered the timers, score displays, and ankle bands for the meet. I made sure Hubby was all ready for this weekends meet.

I started to think about our home meet on the 17th. I have to communicated with the teams that are coming to let them know when they should be there, round up parent help, contract with referees, contact the pizza suppliers, buy the food for the concession stand...

And tomorrow, I am flying to New Orleans for a 4-day girls get away. When we scheduled it I had no idea our first meet would be this early. I hoped not to schedule our home meet for Dec 17th.

The fact that this year I am commuting and hour each ay to and from work is not helping. Hubby's got a big project going on at work and has been putting in overtime. However, last year at this time we did have the home meet the same weekend, however, hubby was finishing up his bachelor's degree and he graduated the day before the meet and we had out of town company in....

Why do I do this to myself? I stilla want to finish decorating the house.

Thursday, December 07, 2006

Not Successful!






So I signed up for the 30-day Organizational Challenge. I failed. I managed to get the white table cleared off, but that was so I could wrap some Christmas gifts.

I really need to purge. I am having difficulty with that. I love to do all sorts of crafts. It's also nice when the 11 YO tells you, "I need to make a virus", I can gather pipe cleaners, raffia, a toilet paper tube, a clear glass ornament, glue and other odds and ends and viola, a model of a virus.

I did put my scrapbooking supplies away. I have a rolling tote to take to crops. I decided that would make a good place to store my 12x12 paper.
And yes, there are 2 sewing machines. My Mom was going to get rid of here, but it has the removable arm. Mine (that had been my Grandmother's) - does not. The free arm feature is most helpful for tight spaces like sew patch on boys pants to cover holes in the knee. Also, one is set up for quilting.

So why was I unable to get too it all? Busy-ness, I am the directory of the kid's wrestling team. I do have the paper work organized and ready to go for our meet Dec 17th ?!. I have also been trying to keep off of my sore foot, so I spent a lot of time sitting with my foot elevated and an ice pack on it.

So I am going out of town this weekend. - Girl's trip to New Orleans to celebrate our mutual 40th birthday's this year. We decided to grace the struggling city with our tourist dollars. Then I need to buy stuff for the concession stand at the meet and finish my Christmas shopping. Some day I want to finsih decorating my house for Christmas. We have 2 trees up and lights outside. My NAtivity collection needs to come out. Maybe I'll have it done by Friday for Boo Mama's bloggy holiday tour of homes.

So I will revisit my craft area after the first of the year. B ehind the camera is another set of shelves and a cubby unser the stairs. right now the bins of Christmas decorations have been pulled out. There is a path to get to the washer and dryer. I'll put away the decorations and tackle my supplies again.

But visit Laura's site for successful stories and her contest.

Stocking surprises

Mom: So what did St. Nick bring you?
7YO: Oh, the movie Cars, Bubble Gum, and orange and the usual stuff

The "usual stuff" was Hershey's miniatures, Reese's cups and a candy cane.

I got "Bearnaked for the Holiday's" - Holiday songs form the Bearnaked Ladies..

Tuesday, December 05, 2006

Feast of St. Nicholas - Dec. 6

St. Nicholas was born in 271 AD and died around 342 on Dec 6th. near Asia Minor. He was a bishop in the town of Myra, in modern day Turkey. He was a good friend to the poor and helpless.

Children put out their shoes the night of Dec 5 and he filles them with candy, nuts and Oranges.
The image of St. Nichloas ahs become merged with Santa Claus. I found some great information at wikipedia

When I was a child, St. Nick would leave a small toy or comic book or magazine. These days, St. Nick leaves a Christmas-themed musical CD or Movie (DVD) at our house.

Christmas Meme

1. Egg nog or hot chocolate? Hot Chocolate. But Maybe I need to try Egg Nog.
2. Does Santa wrap presents or just set them under the tree? Wrap, with special paper that is not in the general collection
3. Colored lights or white? I prefer colored, Hubby likes white. The tree we got last year has white lights. We’ll put colored on the live tree in the basement
4. Do you hang mistletoe? Sometimes
5. When do you decorate for Christmas? I tend to do it close to the Feast of St. Nicholas since we need the stocking up for him to fill the night of the 5th. Hubby put up the tree last weekend.
6. What is your favorite holiday dish, excluding dessert? Ham, but Hubby is not a big fan. Mom used to make Au Gratin potatoes for Chirstmas dinner
7. Favorite holiday memory as a child? Going to the annual Christmas party of a club my Grandfather belonged to.
8. When and how, did you learn the truth about Santa? Not really sure… Grandpa and several UNcles have been Santa Clause Helpers...
9. Do you open a gift on Christmas Eve? We celebrated Christmas with Grandparents, Aunts, Uncles and cousins on my Dad’s side on Christmas eve, so there were plenty of presents. Now we get together with my family in the same fashion. We go to Mass, have a big dinner and open presents.
10. How do you decorate your Christmas tree? Last year we got a smaller tree for the living room. I edited to ornaments so that we have the White house ornaments, 10-20 glass ornaments, some other special ornaments and photo ornaments. I did one of each boy every year. Last night I sat next to it looking at a picture of the 11 yo in a “Baby’s First Christmas” ornament with of a picture of him from last year. We put a live tree in the basement family room. It gets homemade ornaments on it.
11. Snow. Love it or hate it? I love in Ohio – I like it
12. Can you ice skate? Yes -
13. Do you remember your favorite gift? Not really. I remember a handmade Raggedy Ann Doll when I was a teen. I remember an Andy Gibb album as an Exchange form my cousin.
14. What is the most important thing about the holidays to you? Enjoying the season: the music, the lights, the decorations. Getting together with Friends and family.
15. What is your favorite holiday dessert? Fudge
16. What is your favorite holiday tradition? My Mom’s family getting together Christmas night for a party. Santa pays us a visit on his way back to the North Pole. There are 70 of us in 4 generations.
17. What tops your tree? An Angel I made out of Mom’s wedding dress that I also wore. _ Actually the pieces left over after I made a Baptismal gown.
18. Which do you prefer, giving or receiving? Both
19. What is your favorite Christmas song? O Holy Night, Carol of the Bells, Mary Did You Know…
20. Candy canes. Yuck or yum? Yum.

Monday, December 04, 2006

Menu Plan Monday



I need to get back on the band wagon:

Sunday - Roasted Chicekn

Monday - Cheeseburger Sloppy joes

Tuesday - Rice a Roni and Chicken - Last week, out of some desparation, hubby cooked up a package of Rice A Roni to go witht he Burgers he made Monday night. Well, The brugers were done and the rice was not. So We ate and put the Rice a Roni in the fridge. Tueday I actually got home first (Hubby's been putting in OT) and I cut up leftover chicken and warmed it with the rice, warmed a veggie and called it dinner. The boys loved it wand wanted it again.

Wednesday - Tacos - Boys request

Thursday - Spaghetti and Meatballs

Friday - unsure

Well, I was going to send you to Laura's Org Junkie site for more Menus but she's off until tomorrow

Sunday, December 03, 2006

When kids decorate the tree



Notice the bare top and the bare bottom and all the ornaments bunched up... The 7 yo was trying hard to put ornaments on the back side of the tree.

Then they got tired and went down to play with half of the ornaments to be put on the tree

Thursday, November 30, 2006

Recipe - Drop Sugar cookies

Edited to add: I see Danielle is having an Advent Baking Carnival, I submitted this recipe. I freeze the backed cookies all the time. Mostly because it uses Buttermilk and I get a whole quart of it and I can make 4 double batches. And who knows when I will find the time to bake.


Since all I want to post are ramblings about how my foot hurts and I'm going to New Orleans in 10 days and how grumpy Hubby has been and...

Here's the buttermilk sugar cookie recipe from my Great Grandmother:

1/2 c Butter
1 Cup sugar
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 c buttermilk
2 cups flour

So cream the butter and sugar. add in the vanilla, eggs and soda.

Alternate the buttermilk and flour.
Drop by teaspoon onto an ungreased cookie sheet. Sprinkle with sugar.
Bake at 350 for 10 minutes.

Monday, November 27, 2006

Thanksgiving preparations


My contribution to the Thanksgiving dinner was a vegetable tray and a double batch of drop sugar cookies. I had help making them. But after one pan, he became bored. He does not really like the cookies. Oh the horror! My grandmother used to make them. My brother and I are the only ones who still make them.

Monday, November 20, 2006

Menu Plan Monday

Oh My, It looks like Blogger does not want to upload the banner.

Monday - Turkey sandwiches - open face w/ Gravy -

Tuesday - Turkey and Noodles or Turkey Vegetable soup

Wed - Not Turkey - Meatloaf maybe

Thurs - Thanksgiving - I am taking cookies and a veggie tray

Fri - Um, I am going to leave it open. Odd are with my parents in town, the family will most likely get together.

For more Menu's check out Laura's site

Football weekend

So I live in Ohio. So it was the weekend of the BIG game. And this year it was bigger than ever with the teams ranked #1 and #2.  Hubby and the boys were excited about the game. Then we hear that my High school, the one the boys will most likely go to, won in their march to the state playoffs.

Then the big Ohio-Michigan game… Hubby and the boys had to go to Church Sat evening because of a wrestling meeting Sunday morning. I had to turn off the TV and push them out the door. We then got home we ate our pizza dinner in the living room picnic style to watch the game.  

Then to top it of, University of Cincinnati, close to my heart as my alma mater as well as where I make my living, pulled off a huge upset.

DS7 talks about playing football when he gets older. I just might let him.

Saturday, November 18, 2006

Whoops!

Dad came home early than expected Friday afternoon. The 11 YO was doing some questionable web surfing. Ms. Home-computer-adminstrator did not get details, but we ponied up our $49.95 for Safe Eyes to block certain sites. I chose Safe Eyes as it was one of the top 3 rated but it can be installed on up to three machines. We have 2 plus Dad's laptop. It also gives me the ability to set hours that the kids can be on the net. Right now I have them blocked out from 9 PM until 5 AM. I thought about blocking out 3:45 - 5:00 but he does use the 'net for homework. So maybe now we have a clue as to why he has not been completing his homework before we get home.

I did have another package installed on the basement machine at one time, but I reloaded that machine last year and did not reload the protection software.

Now I need to figure out why my older machine won't connect to the internet at all. Sigh, I may be the supervisor at work, but at home I am still the network expert.

Thursday, November 16, 2006

More Homework Wars

So Monday afternoon was hang out day after school. The youth ministry has a room when the 6th, 7th & 8th grades can go after school, hang out, snack, play, watch TV and maybe get some homework help. Hubby attended a dinner meeting. So I made plans to stop by and drop off my twin nephew’s birthday gifts. The boys all love to play together. So I pick up the 6th grader. He has homework. Oh no. He probably won’t complete it if I left him home – as if he would miss an occasion to play with the cousins. So he rushed (with my encouragement) through his definitions for History.

 

Mrs. C sends me an email I thought you'd like to know that B is redoing his History homework from yesterday.  Although hieroglyphs is a vocabulary word, he did not need to make his handwriting look like hieroglyphics.  :)

 

Tuesday he has band practice, he does not work on his homework until Dad get’s home and “motivates” him. He rushed through to get it done in time for band practice. He brings home a Missing Assignment slip saying that his science and History homework needs to be redone.

 

Wednesday is wrestling practice. He does not work on his homework until Dad gets home. Again. He starts his homework. He goes to practice and is supposed to be working on his homework. There are way too many distractions. He asks me to wake him up early. I woke him at 5:00. I let the house at 5:30 and he was working on his Math. I talked to Hubby. The boy did not complete his Math. He never got to Vocabulary or Science.

 

So here’s a plan: He really likes logging on to his email account. I am going to set up reminders at about 3:45 to start his homework. On Wednesdays he’ll get pop ups reminding him that it is Wrestling Practice night and he needs to have him homework done.

 

He has the time. He is not utilizing it efficiently.  I sure could use some thoughts and suggestions.

 

Wednesday, November 15, 2006

My Accent?

I saw this over at Barb's SFO Mom blog.

What American accent do you have?
Your Result: The Midland

"You have a Midland accent" is just another way of saying "you don't have an accent." You probably are from the Midland (Pennsylvania, southern Ohio, southern Indiana, southern Illinois, and Missouri) but then for all we know you could be from Florida or Charleston or one of those big southern cities like Atlanta or Dallas. You have a good voice for TV and radio.

The Inland North
The West
The Northeast
Philadelphia
The South
Boston
North Central
What American accent do you have?
Take More Quizzes


Yup, Southern Ohio. They got it right. But they did not ask how I pronounced wash. Both of my grandmother's spoke that word like it was spelled with an R "WARSH"

Works for me Wednesday - Holiday edition



In my Holiday Traditions post, I talked about my extended family on my Mom's side. Last year I was crazy enough to tell my Aunt I'd help her with the Christmas party and she handed it over to me. With a current head count of about 70, there are quite a few different opinions as to how to structure the gift exchange. There are some people who have very firm ideas about how it should go.

When I was little, there was an adult exchange and a kids exchange. My Uncle Bob is 2 years older than me. Of course an some point he moved into the adult exchange. The tradition was that the original 11 siblings and their spouses were the only ones in that group. As the second generation grew older, there was a huge range in ages. Some of the mothers of Toddlers struggled with buying appropriate gifts for those of us in our early 20's. So there was the Adult siblings group, generation 2 group and the kids. Then some of the younger siblings wanted to be able to expand their pool of gift exchange candidates to neices and nephews who are close to them in age, but there are also 2 of the siblings who insist on keeping an exchange pool to be the traditional siblings and their spouses. If it is done this way, this Aunt and Uncle won't participate, if it is done that way, that Uncle and Aunt will not participate. Sheesh.

How do you make 70 people happy? You don't. My Mom - the oldest surviving sibling, has a goal to keep as many people coming as we can. So last Christmas I set out names of everyone on strips of paper and set out 4 large cans. 1. People who decided to sit out the exchange; 2. Only open to the original 11 siblings and their spouses. 3. Adults over 16 4. Kids 18 and under. It was a do-it-yourself, put your name in the appropriate can. The Siblings and their spouses had their choice and kids between 16 and 18 had their choice. I planned to draw names that night, but I do have one traditional-minded Aunt who was not pleased with my set up. But I look at it as only one of the 70 people had issues with it. Pretty good percentage. In July I pulled the names out of each can and entered them in a spradsheet. I engineered the Exchange. I then sent post cards to everyone with their names on it. Of course I did have a cousin who whated to know how I expected her to remember who she had for the next 6 months... LOL! I'm going to set it up this way again unless my traditional-minded aount wants to take it over.

Monday, November 13, 2006

Call Me Freaky -

Hi, My Name is Maggie and I adore Christmas Music.

Today I copied all 11 of my favorite Chirstmas CD's onto my work computer for my listening enjoyment. And yes, I have it playing right now. I probably would have been listening to some Holiday music this weekend, but I left my MP3 playing in my laptop bag at the office. I did find my SD card that has the Chirtmas music on it.

I saw an ad in our paper that the local soft rock station is going to start their non-stop Christmas music this Friday. My Mother in Law will not be happy. They play this station at her office. I think if I did not have the option of turning it off when it got to be too much.

Menu Plan Monday



Monday: Hubby has a dinner meeting and I forgot to pull Ground beef out of the freezer. So Ground Beef night will be Tuesday this week. Leftovers and Chicken Nuggets.

Tuesday - Cheeseburger sloppy joes

Wednesday - Wrestling practice night - Beef tip roast in the crockpot, slices and served on crusty rolls.

Thursday - Pork Chops

Friday - Homemade pizza

Sunday will be our traditional Sunday-before-Thanksgiving feast. I cook a Turkey and our favorite sides. This started the year Hubby said he really likes Thanksgiving leftovers. My Mother In Law and Sister in law will come too. We will have:

  • Turkey and gravy
  • Dressing - My favorite part, but only I eat it. Well my Sister iin law had some last year.
  • Jelled cranberry sauce in a can
  • Sweet potatoes with brown sugar, butter and pecans
  • Broccoli Casserole

For more great menu plans visit Laura at Org Junkie.

The Great Bed switch

Over the weekend we had the boys trade beds. The 11 Yo had a double in his room and this double bed served as our guest bed. We host my parents every other time my parents come to town (the alternate visits thaey stay at my brother's) and on occasion my Father in law. The 7 YO had a twin with a trundle.

The 11 YO is organizationally and neatness challenged. His room has been rated as disaster area eligible by 3 out of 4 Governors. Some of that standard advice for such situation is to close the door. Well, when the propspect of company looms, Mom and/or Dad have to go in with a trash bag and make it presentable. We try to threaten him with that, but he always allows it to happen. So my new standard will be to do a food check and let him live in his pig stye as he likes. Another advantage of having the trundle in his room is that he cannot shove stuff under his bed. So let's see how this works.

Thursday, November 09, 2006

30 Day Organizational Challenge



So I said I was going to try Irg Junkie's 30 day Challenge. I took pictures, but have not yet transfered them off the camera. I will work on that tonight. But I picked my craft area in my basement. There is a set of old kitchen cabinets hung in my basement. A few years ago Hubby installed a 6 ft piece of countertop we got a Lowe's for $36. I got some Iris carts.

I have done a lot of crafts in the past. I have some general supplies, raffia, ribbon, clothes pins, popcicle stickes, eyes, hair... I have a lot fo paints for Tole painting. General sewing supplies, scrapbooking and card making supplies - including runnber stamps. I tried to purge, but a few weeks ago, the 11 YO had to build a model virus. He used a clear glass ornament, pipe cleaners. yarn... All from my stash. So I really don't want to get rid of a whole lot. I could probably go through my paints and throw out the dried up bottles.

So I started to tackle it last weekend. I did pretty well putting my stuff away. Until I got to the 12x12 scrapbook papers. I am looking for some ideas. Laura posted my question on her site and there have been some interesting responses. I will probably hit JoAnns, Hobby Lobby and Michaels tomorrow when I am off work. I'd like to minimize the money spent.

Monday, November 06, 2006

Weekend Memories

 

So with half the family out of town, the 11 YO and I were on our own. We hung out at home Friday night. I made some stir fried shrimp for my dinner. B decided to make Bosco Breadsticks for his. I did manage to get Laundry sorted. Saturday we got up bright and early and hung out at wrestling practice. We got McDonald’s for lunch on the way home. We each got a sandwich and a shake. We shared a package of fries on the way home. Saturday afternoon we went up to the small Mall to have dinner at BW3s they were packed with Football game watchers. So we went to Friendly’s.  It was here he told me “Dad and A. are having their time together and you and I are having our time together.” Awwww. He even shared his ice cream sundae with me.

 

Sunday we went to Church and then out for a Breakfast Bagel. He came home and worked for several hours on his homework. I was pleased. I ended up cleaning his room. I was NOT pleased. We try to give him helpful hints about where to start. I’m sure cleaning his room is overwhelming for him. So we tell him:

 

  1. Put your clothes in the clothes hamper (he did that)
  2. Put trash in the trash can (lots of wrappers on the floor)
  3. Put your books in your bookcase. – His lack of ability or maybe desire to do this really bothers me. Neither of my boys is willing to stand their books on end in the bookcase. Why not? I’ve already removed him books once. He’s such an avid reader that he has been searching them out and brining them back up to his room. But why in Heaven’s Name will he not put them in his bookcase?

 

I guess he knows he collects useless stuff. And It’s Ok for Mom and day to come into his room and throw it all away. They get off his back about cleaning his room. They won’t throw away the good stuff. I’ve read a lot of advice to just close the door. I have 2 issues with that.

  1. I found an empty pop can, empty Gatorade bottle, empty Doritos package… FOOD! I am afraid of bugs in my house.
  2. We have a small house. We have 3 bedrooms. My Parents live out of town and stay with us frequently. When they come in, the boys double up and the Grandparents sleep in B’s Double bed. Hubby and I decided yesterday that we are going to switch the boy’s beds. We’ll put the twin and the trundle in B's room and the Double in A’s room.  That would mean less cleaning for us when the Grandparents come to visit.

 

 

Holiday Traditions

Sandra over at Diary of a SAHM is hosting meme about Holiday traditions, So I thought I'd play along. I have not been doing well with Crock Pot Thursdays.

My Mom is one of 11 kids. I counter 69 of us before my cousin's engagement, in 4 generations. Even though my Grandparents are gone, the family is still close. The oldest sibling has passed away, but his wife, Sons and Daughters are still very much a part of the family. Most of us are within a 25 mile radius. So we have a big family get-together Christmas night about 6 PM. There is a gift exchange that is optional, we all bring goodies to much on. The highlight is a visit from Santa. He tells us he is on his way back to the North Pole and stopped by to see us. This has been going on for more than 30 years. My Grandpa was a Santa's helper is a department store for years. Several of my uncles have followed suit. It is always great to see the kids. Last year there were 2 6 YO boys who were raptured by Santa. My youngest son and my cousin's son. Sata give each child a small toy and a candy cane. Pictures are taken.

I told my DH shortly after we got married that this party was negotiable for me. I'd like to attend, but if we needed to visit his family at that time.... He decided that this party was one he enjoyed so much that he made his Mom work around it. My brother and his family is not always able to make it every year and my cousin, the firefighter is not always able to get to town. But the rest are there. I love the fact that my children know their Great Aunts and Uncles and cousins how know how many times removed... We do get together other times of the year also.

Menu Plan Monday



Mon - Cheeseburgers and baked beans

Tues & Wed - Mom is out of town. Dad will probably grab stuffed chicken breasts out of the freezer

Thursday - Pizza

Friday - The boys and I are off: I'll figure something out.

So I am not really organized this week. But the freeer is full. Have a good week For more Menus, go to Org Junkie's blog.

Friday, November 03, 2006

Nice dinner, foot problems, weekend plans

Last night Hubby’s sister came over and cooked us dinner. It was a lovely Chicken Parmesan. She is a chef by trade and walked out of the restaurant when she was the salute cook Saturday night when the Executive Chef threw a pan at her. What a volatile profession for her. She came over to the house and she and the 11 YO searched the pantry for stuff she needed and then took the Kroger gift card and went shopping. She had a good time with her nephew. I think it is important that my kids have a good relationship with their relatives.  But the dinner was delicious. I did not mind cleaning up afterwards.

 

I’m guessing this will be a quiet weekend for me. Hubby and the 7 YO are going to Chicago to visit the Sears tower and hangout with Hubby’s Dad. I think Hubby is going to work on a door at his house. I finally went to a podiatrist. I have bad feet – very flat, plantar fasciitis and bone spurs. For several years, arch supports in my shoes or orthopedic shoes worked. But now I have an acute case of tendonitis. So I got a shot and a tight, padded bandage.  While the doctor did not give me restrictions, he did say to take it easy, so I guess I will.

 

I have some projects to work on and I can commandeer the TV in the basement. I have 2 sewing projects I want to work on. My 11 YO can watch the TV upstairs. I expect him to bring home a Missing Assignment slip today since he did not have all of his books to complete his homework, so no Xbox for the weekend.  I should bring home my laptop and figure out why I cannot hook into my wireless router. I ratcheted down the security. Maybe I made it too tight. LOL!

 

Thursday, November 02, 2006

He is an Alter Boy

So the 11 YO was a server at the All School All Saits Day Mass. His class was in charge of the Mass. Or at least the parts that the lay people take. He volunteered to be a server. I have to admit the I forgot to watch him. But that is a good thig. He was in the background doing his job. He did not do anything to attract attention to himself. Although, I was sitting in the Church when he passed me on the way to the working sacristy to don his robes. He was clanking. I confiscated a plastic container with Halloween candy (shaped like a coffin no less).

Actually it was the 7yo that really had me in a tail spin. He walked into Church wear shorts and a t-Shirt. I know when I dropped him off an hour before that he was wearing sweatpants and a sweatshirt. He had to walk across the parking lot to get to Church. I know it was gym day and they want the first graders to come to school in gym clothing instead of uniforms. I did let him know that evening that I though it was inappropriate for him to take off his sweats at this time of the year.

I am so thankful my boss allowed me to come into work late so I could be there. I feel so lucky that have the flexibilty.

Wednesday, November 01, 2006

Patch (Daytrana) Update

I got an email from a reader How is the patch working? We are having an awful time getting it to separate from the backing. I'm at the point where I'm going to give up! Amy

Oh, Those things are sticky. Hubby usually applies the patch. Because I am usually on my way to work. But the time I do put it on, I pull on the corner of the backing that is in the middle of the patch. Actually, I get both sides started, pulling form the center. I slap the center ont he skin and then proceed to pull each side of the backing off.

We are very happy with the effects. It is easy to remember and it works very well with my son. The doctor gave us a 3 month prescription to send to the mail order prescription company.

Good Luck Amy. For us the convenience is well worth any struggle to apply the patch.

Works for Me Wednesday


So What's been working for me is taking time during my drive home from work for prayer. I drive about 20 miles through city traffic. I am finding that - after I hear the initial traffic report, that turning off my radio and turning to prayer is a nice stress release. When I was not doing this, my mind was jumping all around and dwelling on negative thoughts. Now since I am Catholic, I have been praying the Rosary. I know most of the prayer so well that another part of my brain takes over and I can concentrate on driving at the same time.

For more great Works for me ideas, visit Shannon

Monday, October 30, 2006

Menu Plan Monday



Mon - Tacos

Tues - (Beggar's night) Chicken and Rice Casserole. - I will prepare tonight and have the 11 YO put it in the oven for a 5:30 dinner time

Wed - (Wrestling Practice night) - Freezer night - We have these frozen Italian-stuffed chicken breasts from Market Day. While I try to avoid this type of food because of the unpronounceable ingredients, the family loves them. So I get them for just this sort of night. They can pop them in the Microwave and eat before I get home.

Thurs - Pork Chops and Baked beans.

Fri - Hubby and the 7 YO are off to Chicago. Hubby's Dad took Hubby and his siblings to Downtown Chicago on the L for their 7th Birthday. Since we don't live there, Hubby took the older and will take the younger for the weekend and ride on the L , go to the Sears Tower and eat downtown. I think Grandpa is going to join them. So the 11 Yo and I will come up with something.

For more Menu ideas, visit Laura at Org Junkie

Thursday, October 26, 2006

100TH Post

So I've made it to 100. I started the tradition 100 things about me list, but I was not happy with it. I only made it to 57. There are things I write about and things I don't. I don't feel too compelled to mark this as a special occasion...

So anyways, Yesterday I sent an email to Hubby and the 11 YO about what I planned for supper. It is amazing how many question I get about what's for supper. Maybe I should send them to my blog so they can read my menu plan monday posts. But then again, I really have not talked much to them about my blog.

Anyways, back to the email. The 11 your replied quite nicely that leftovers worked for him and he's see me when I got home. I just struck me as very mature. He tend to mumble at home and he's always in motion. One of the reasons I consented to setting him up an account is that it would be one more way to learn to compose his thoughts and communicate with Grandparents and such. So I guess it's working.

Monday, October 23, 2006

Menu Plan Monday

Ok, Here goes:

Monday- Cheeseburger Sloppy joes

Tuesday – Chicken and rice – made ahead so DS11 can put it in the oven

Wednesday – Pizza made with purchased crusts, spaghetti sauce, and what ever is in the fridge

Thursday – Crockpot – Pork loin roast

Friday – leftovers

For more ideas, go to Org Junkie’s site:

Friday, October 20, 2006

Confession

Wednesday evening, about 9 PM the 11 YO informed me he volunteered to bring is cookies for a milk and cookies event in school on Friday. Ok, I can do it tomorrow. I always have ingredients for Chocolate Chip cookies on hand. So last night, I get home and shortly afterwards we go to the local pizza polar for his soccer party. It’s about 7:15 when I remember the cookies. I have time. But I have a tendency to eat a lot of cookie dough. On top of pizza. No wonder I am overweight.

 

I drove to the store and bought a package of Oreos.

 

 

Thursday, October 19, 2006

Drama king strikes again..

Last night at bed time, the 7 yo comes out to Dad in tears saying he does not know what bus to ride. He is quite distraught. I'm so confused and ask the 11 yo for the bus number so i could write it down. It turns out that is not an easy question to answer.

Since they attend a private school, the school district bus system picks them up and takes them to the Middle school where they transfer to another bus to go to their school. Apparently there are two buses at the shuttle site the transport the kids to St. C's. They divided the kids up by age. This meant the 11 YO and the 7 yo were assigned different buses. But at the beginning of the year, Hubby called the bus department and asked that both boys ride the same bus. So they were assigned the bus for the younger kids. Turns out our stubborn 7 YO does not like riding the bus with the younger children and had been getting on the other bus. The 11 Yo has been on safety patrol this week and Dad has been dropping him off at achool. The 7 YO has been riding the bus so he does not arrive at school 45 minutes early. Yesterday the bus driver looked at his roster, saw the A. was not assigned to his bus and made him get on the other bus. A. got lippy and belligerent and was reprimanded for being disagreeable. So he made a big scene last night.

Hubby was able to piece the story together this morning after he called the transportation office and go the entire story. He asked the department to feel free to let us know when they have problems with our boys.

Tuesday, October 17, 2006

Rainy Tuesday Morning

  • I was crossing the street this AM, at the crosswalk, with the walk sign. It's dark and rainy. Some lady still has to make her left turn. Right in front of me. If I had not stopped, she'd have hit me. Yuck.
  • DS11 is doing a project for All Saint's Day - He has to create a Movie poster on the theoretical movie of the Saint's life. He still needs a picture. He's procrastinating on it.
  • Hubby's birthday is comming up soon. I gave my best idea to my Mother In Law. Now I have to come up with something else. He likes the bold colors of a button down chirt he saw by Tommy Hilfiger. The problem is he needs a Large-Tall because his arms are so long. They don't make all that many cool clothes in Tall. It frustrates him (and therefore me too!)
  • In Email from Hubby: A. (7 YO) decided he was going to go to the bathroom by sonar this morning and forgot what water on water sounded like. I made him clean it up...it might be good for him to wash the floor around the toilet as further punishment. Because when I asked him why he pee'd on the floor he said ... "It's too hard" in the morning to make it go in. Ok, I'll make it a point to help him determine what's harder, making the toilet or cleaning the bathroom later.
  • The 11 YO recently asked if he could have his own email account. I decided to create him one under our High Speed internet provider (Beep,Beep). But since I created it, I also created the password. So I can keep an eye on it. But maybe if Grandparents write to him it will be experience writing back...

Have a great day!

Monday, October 16, 2006

Menu Plan Monday



Happy Monday everyone: Here's my list

Monday - (Ground Beef night) - Meatloaf

Tuesday - Chicken breasts - Have not decided on a prep method

Wednesday - Pork - Crockpot

Thursday - Pizza at DS11's end og the season soccer party at a local Pizza Joint

Friday - Tuna Noodle Casserole befoe the football game.

Check over at Laura's site for more menus.

Friday, October 13, 2006

Weekend is here!

So the 7 yo has a soccer game tonight and tomorrow morning.
Hubby is going into work tomorrow before he coaches the noon game.

My coworker told me not to bother to come in during the wee hours of Sunday morning for the data center outage. As the manager I would be more trouble than help. Ok. The 11 YO has his last golf match and banquet early Sunday. So maybe I will go and be a Eucharistic minister at 9:00 Mass. The 7 yo can handle sitting in his pew during this time.

I am worried about how things are at home. the 11 yo has been home all day. But Hubby will arrive before me so I will not have to deal with the trash pit the child can create.

Thursday, October 12, 2006

Typical ADHD behavior

My 11 YO ADHDer

He tells his teacher Tuesday that he did not complete his homework because we would not let him. He was home all afternoon and evening. But we were not.

So Tuesday night, deprived of TV, Computer and Video games, he completes all his homework and a model he has to build due Thursday.

I just called home to have him pull meat out of the freezer. He forgot the model, he did not complete his current event assignment and he got an MA because he did not bring back his signed MA from Tuesday!

Forgetting the model and not turning in the signed MA (Missing Assignment form) is typical. The Current event assignment bothers me.

Wednesday, October 11, 2006

Works For me Wednesday



I'm a computer geek according to my brother. I do work in the IT field. Thus I have a lot of passwords that have to be changed often. These passwrods also have to meet certain security requirments like being more than 8 characters with at least one capital andone lowercase letter, one number and one special character (@#$%&*). Oh, and to be secure, you are not supposed to write them down.

My trick is to come up with a 2 word phrase that seems to fit the current situation. Like Snow Day. I replace the o with a zero, the a with @ and capitalize the S and the D: Sn0wD@y After I had my Lasik procedure, I set my password to N3wSi&ht (New Sight). This helps me remember it the first couple of day.

Don't tell anyone, but I do try to keep a list of past passwords. It stays burined on my purse in my portable address book. I don't label or title it. I also keep a speradsheet with the usernames and current passwords of the various webistes I have created an account. I keep that on my little USA thumb drive. Works for Me.

Check out Shannon's blog for more great ideas.

Tuesday, October 10, 2006

Resource: Women in Technology

I am a member of an email discussion group, Women In Technology or World WIT . They have a bunch of different groups based on Geographical area, however one person can join different email lists. The groups are moderated to keep out the snarky and the spammers. But people post everything from "Hey, I'm looking for a vehicle and what do you think of this one...?" Or "I need advice on xxx".

Anyways, my point, in addition to publicizing this cool organization is to describe a post I answered a couple of weeks ago. An wuthor posted that she was looking for Mom's or cooking blogs that would be willing to read her book and write a review. So I responded that I was a Mom and I had a blog. My book arrived in the mail today. So I will read it tonight. The title is: _The Frantic Woman's Guide to Feeding Family and Friends_ by Mary Jo Rulnick.

So I'm off to start reading, after I work with the 6th grader on finishing his homework.

Busted!

The 6th grader's teacher just sent me an email. The Child told his teacher that he did not complete his homework because we would not let him. He came home from school and was supposed to be working on his homework. Then we had a wrestling meeting and he stayed home to complete his homework. So once again he is not utilizing his time well.

If someone is not sitting with him, he is not doing what he needs to do. We are trying to figure out an appropriate punishment.

Monday, October 09, 2006

Menu Plan Monday



I got taken out twice for my birthday. We went to Tunbleweed Friday and Red Lobster Saturday. The boys got Cheese sticks and french fries.

Mon- Cheeseburger sloppy joes

Tues - Chicken and rice casserole

Wed - Pork loin in the crockpot. Maybe I'll do a Coca Cola version

Thurs - Kielbasa

Fri - Homemade pizza

- Wow, very few activities this week. DS11's soccer team won their tournament yesterday. DS7 plays Friday nights and Saturday mornings and Practice Thursday nights.

For more great ideas - Go to Org Junkie's site

Friday, October 06, 2006

Lordy, Lord, Maggie's 40

Yes, today is my birthday. My fortieth. Wow, that has connotations of being middle aged, like I should slow down. I certainly don't feel that way. I guess it helps that my kids are young. I feel like I am max, 32. A lot has to do with where I am in my life at this point.

I am very satisfied. I has 2 good kids. They are not perfect, but they are both smart, funny and independent. They are capable ofdoing great things with their lives. It does take an effort to keep the ADHD 11 YO doing his homework everynight, but so far so good for 6th grade.

I have a husband who adores me and supports me no matter what. He takes on child care duty and lot of household task with gusto (bathroom cleaning not withstanding). This is critical in a dual-career marriage. It is because of him that I can be a decent Mom as well as a good employee\supervisior.

Lastly, I have a job I'm very happy with. I could not say that last year. Well, at this time I had left that consulting engagement and was looking forward to a new project with my company. But I had been with the same client for 6 years. I was facing classic burnout. I had responsibility without authority. I thank the Lord that He got me out of there and into my "dream job". I'm now at the level I want to be and doing the kind of work I love. I get to bridge the gap between techies and management. While the politics can be ridiculous, I am able to deal with it. Since I am working at the same place I went to college, I can relive some of those years which I look back on quite fondly. I can go for a walk on my lunch hour and remember back 20 years ago and that certainly contributes to my feeling young.

Thank You Lord for the wonder life I am enjoying. May it give me the fortitude to face the next challege that comes along with grace, dignity and patience.

Thursday, October 05, 2006

Still in work mode

I manage Systems administrators. Our email system had a hardware failure. While the hardware was replaced within 24 hours, we had email backing up. Our system could not deliver them fast enough. It took until 4 PM to receive emails sent at 8 AM. It looked better and we all went home. Then I get an email from one of the technicians that things are out of control again. So it was a night of speaking to my bosses on the phone and sleeping with my blackberry. This morning I am creating a timeline document of the series of events.

Tuesday, October 03, 2006

Hiring manager Rant

Yes, I know I tend to blog more about home issues and this is a work issue. But I will be hiring a new team member. I have gotten 2 resumes so far. Neither addresses the technical skill sets the job posting says are requirements. I have a new college grad talking about his leadership skills in his cover letter. What do you know about Microsoft Windows operating systems, what do you know about managing an email server? There is no effort to even pretend they have the skills we stated as required. No wonder they are still searching for a job.

Taking walking for granted

I woke up this morning and climbed out of bed to go do my morning workout. I went into the bathroom and all of a sudden I had this pain in my leg, just below my knee that my leg buckled. I hate the idea of not being able to walk far. I enjoy walking, I enjoy moving about. I’m not very good about sitting still. I have had major problems with my feet where walking was painful. Plantar Fasciitis, bone spurs, etc.  It makes me miserable. It scares me.

 

But nope, about 3 hours later, It is feeling better. Maybe I won’t have to go to Urgent care. You’d think that working on a campus with a hospital with a medical school and a few hospitals that there would be some sort of Urgent care or walk-in clinic nearby, but nope. Hopefully it was just some sort of fluke and it will keep going away.  

Monday, October 02, 2006

Menu Plan Monday

Go to Organizing Junkie’s site to play along.

 

Mon – Meatloaf and Mac and Cheese, Mac and cheese is n the fridge and oven ready. The ground beef is thawed.

Tues – Spaghetti and Meatballs

Wed – Chicken breasts

Thurs- Pork Chops

Fri – My Birthday – hopefully Hubby will take me out before we go to watch DS11 play in the feeder school band at the HS football game.

Saturday, September 30, 2006

Growing up

I let my 11 YO go to a HS football game last night. I handed him my old cell phone and told him to call me. I was going to my monthly Girls night out. Dad and the 7 yo had a soccer game. My cousins was going to be there since her hubby is a coach. I knew coaches from the wrestling team would be there also. So I was not worried about any trouble. We had been up there for a cookout with the wrestling club kids team.

I seems my 11 YO made friends with a set of triplets who are the sisters of a set of twins on the team. Oh boy! He took a pictue with the cell phone of one of the girls and his buddy and made it the wall paper of the cell phone. He thinks that cell phone is his. I keep telling him it's still mine. When I feel it would be a good diea for him to have one., I will let him take it. But he has personalized it. With a picture of a girl... Oh boy!

Friday, September 29, 2006

My Friend's Birthday

Happy Birthday to my friend Lily! I met Lily when we both went to work for the same larger Oil company in the big Windy City fresh out of college. We were in new hire class together. It was Lily that introduced Hubby and I. Her boyfriend (now Hubby) went to High school with my Hubby. Now they have tow beautiful little girls who are have Chinese and half Polish and all American.

 

Lily would love to be a SAHM. She’s one of those who volunteers for everything. I love her to death even when she’s a bit flighty. She has the biggest heart. But she works outside the home. She has a corporate job. Her Hubby has been a free-lancer since he sold his business about 10 years ago. When her oldest was born, she traveled a lot for business. I know it killed her to be away from her babies. As a result she is rather indulgent to them. Her hubby is a good father and present.  

 

One time, I let a less than positive comment slip about something she was doing with her baby. I felt so bad. It was none of my business. She was doing what she felt she needed to do to maintain a strong connection to her baby. She needs to hear that she is a good Mom. Now I try really hard to tell her that all the time. I comment on how beautiful her girls are and to keep up the good work.

 

Life, circumstances and spouses often pull us away from doing what we are told is “best” for our kids. What’s best for our kids is not what’s always best for the entire family.  As Mom’s we try hard to do everything right.  It is very gratifying to hear someone telling us we are doing a good job. We fight the doubts and the insecurities.  Everyone needs to hear that they are being a good Mom.

Thursday, September 28, 2006

Slow Cooker Thursday

Hi, I have the cranberry pork roast in my crockpot today.

But I want to post what I did a few weeks ago. Dh was out of town. He does not like Ham much, but I made ham and green beans.

Take a Ham Butt - Acutaly I just had about 1/4 ham from the grocery store.
Green beans - Fresh work well, But i used frozen.
Potatoes chopped in chucks (We are not big potato fams so I left it out)

Put it on low and let it cook 6 hours.

Yum

Check out Sandra's site for more recipes

25 ways to save Money

Dawn over at Frugal for life asked people to list 25 ways they save money. While I have habits that garner that money - like not carpooling - I feel I fund them by saving money in other places.

  1. Pack my lunch most days
  2. Eat dinner at home most nights
  3. Utilize the local Library
  4. I can sew so I repair clothing, mostly by putting patches on the knees of my son's school pants - inside becasue they are uniforms. Then, if they still fit, I will cut off the legs and hem them thus creaitng uniform shorts
  5. Avoid dry cleanable clothing. In my IT career I can look professional in washable dress pants form Talbots
  6. We remove our shoes inside the house
  7. I use only my banks ATM
  8. I use the ATM once a week
  9. I have money automatically transferred into our Money MArket fund
  10. do my grocery shopping with the sales
  11. I have a shelf where I stockpile certain groceries when they are on sale: Ketchup, syrup, breakfast cereal. There are usually things my family is brand-loyal on.
  12. Utilize Generics and store brands as long as the quality is good
  13. Plan my weekly menu
  14. Hand down clothing between my boys
  15. Buy bread at the Bakery outlet - we are not huge sandwich people, so we keep our bread in thef reezer anyways
  16. Pay as many bills online as possibly
  17. Pack snacks as often as possible
  18. we keep our cars for 10 years - we do buy new
  19. We keep our cars in good repair
  20. Pay more than the minimum on the mortgage
  21. Pay more than the minimum on my credit cards when I am carrying a balance
  22. Try not to have a balance on my credit cards
  23. Make my own cards - So the supplies are expensive, but I use them over and over and it's recreational for me.
  24. I use 1/3 of a dryer sheet per load. Got hubby to use 1/2
  25. Make my own decorated cakes for my kids

Wednesday, September 27, 2006

Works for Me Wednesday - Classic Edition



Aug 31 I posted about a book, The Organized Student, that I read and how I was going to work with my son on implementing these techniques for this school year.

So Here's my follow-up. He brought home his interm reports card last Friday. He has one B and the rest A's. And his B in English is only 1.5 points away form A status. He has not had any missing assignments. Wait, I signed one. but the work was done, he just left the notebook at home. But that's only once. So I am satisfied. He seems to be doing a better job at moving his paper from school to home and back. Now it is the beginning of hte year. But he like his teacher's planner. It gives him plenty of room to write in it. His binder is keeping his loose papers handy and easy to find.

For more classic ideas visit Shannon.

Tuesday, September 26, 2006

Photographs

Hubby’s brother live in CA. His sons are 5 and 1. I put together a baby-safe photo album of pictures of his Grandparents, Uncle (Hubby), Aunt (my sister-in-law) and his cousins (my sons). Hubby got a phone call from his brother asking why I did not include a picture of me. Hubby says “I know you don’t like pictures of yourself, but you should have included one.”

Hello! Who’s always taking the pictures? When was the last time he took a picture of me that was not from 100 feet away and very unflattering? His family does not think to take many pictures. And when they do it’s of things like cats. LOL! Not to say anything about my Mother-in-law’s beloved cats.

I broke into tears a few days after my son’s First Communion. I had taken pictures of son with Dad, Son with Grandpas, son with Godfather, son with my parents… We were going to take more pictures later, but forgot, even my Mom who’s pretty good about that kind of thing. There were no pictures of my with my son on that important day. Yes, we dressed up in our clothes and I made Hubby take a picture, but it was not the same.

At Hubby’s graduation is December I took pictures of Hubby with his Dad, Mom ,sister, the boys, his friend who came in from Chicago… If there is one of he and I, my parents would have taken it.

Hubby bought a new camera. He wanted to be able to get sports shots of the boys. He took it last night to a family birthday party. He did take a picture of me and the 7YO together. I hope it came out OK.  

 

 

Monday, September 25, 2006

Menu Plan Monday


Hi All. Here's my tentative menu




Sun - Roasted Chicken, Green beans, noodles
Mon - Out for Pizza
Tues- Chicken pot pie
Wed - Pot roast in the crockpot
Thursday - Cranberry Pot roast - from Crock pot Thursday
Fri - Pre football game cookout for the Wrestling club (got that?) - Hot Dogs and potluck.
Sat- Octoberfest party and Buckeye's football game at my cousin's.

Check Out Org Junkie's site for more great menus

Sunday, September 24, 2006

New addition!

I just added a site feed to my blog in case you want to subscribe.

Friday, September 22, 2006

What Color Green am I

You Are Mint Green

Balanced and calm, you have mastered the philosophy of living well.
Your friends seek you out for support, and you are able to bring stability to chaotic situations.
You're very open and cheerful - and you feel like you have a lot of freedom in life.
Your future may hold any number of exciting things, and you're ready for all of them!
Hum, I hope that describes me. I try. I am a Libra, afterall, scales and things. I'm not always calm.

Thursday, September 21, 2006

ADHD Awareness day - A Day late - My ADHD Story

Yes, just like some of my recent Menu Plan Monday posts. But I came across a blog Healed Waters about Adult ADHD stories. I have mentioned aspect for My ADHD as well as posted stories of my 11 Yo 6th grade son.

 

My story begins when I was three, according to my Mom. Since I am about to turn 40, we are talking circa 1970.  I was unable to sleep. I would not exhibit emotions. I would not pretend my dolls were real babies. The, one night I was found sitting on top of the refrigerator with no visible means of how I got there. My Mom is a registered nurse. I also have a brother a year younger than I. Mom worked part time, second or third shift. She took me to a few psychologists as well as the family doctor. They put me on Ritalin. At first the does was high. Mom said it made me like a zombie. She said she slept in and then called the doctor. Finally she took me to a Pediatric Neurologist. She wrote in my baby books “The greatest man in the world.”  I took Ritalin until I was in third grade. Most people will say I outgrew it. I believe I just learned how to deal with it. I was lucky that I always did well in school. I was/am an avid reader.

 

I knew I had had issues, but then in the early 90’s when magazine articles started appearing in the mainstream rags about adult ADD, I had someone I knew say ‘I think I have that.” Well, I knew I did. I just learned how to work around it.

 

I can organize things, but I’m not good about keeping it that way. I tend to have many project going at one time. I leave unfinished tasks around. I compensate at work by keeping lists. After important meetings, I write up notes and send them to the participants to make sure I did not miss anything. My house is usually a state of Chaos. We believe Hubby might be undiagnosed ADD. The 7 YO show signs of hyperactivity, but I think it’s learned. Otherwise he is capable of following multi-step directions, is deliberate in all his actions and can work intricate puzzles without getting bored. Not ADD there.  

 

My younger brother was officially diagnosed when he was in second grade. My Mom knew what his issues were. She had been through it before. (My middle brother never needed meds or help, but Mom did encounter a second grade teacher who told her Middle Brother would never amount to anything. Mom to this day would love to fin said teacher and show her Middle Brother’s MBA and Business card as a Manager with a well known consulting firm). But with younger brother, in the late 70’s, she tried the Feingold diet and it just was not effective for him. When he was in second grade and she found him crying because he said none of the other kids liked him and he did not even like him, she knew it was time for extra help. Younger brother stopped taking medication when he went away to college because he did not want the responsibility of safeguarding his medication. It took until he was about 25 to really start getting his act together. He is working to finish college next Spring at the age of 33.

 

Dad forgets to give Boy his medication - An ADHD post

I really want to take the time to create catagories for my blog. One of the reasons I write it is to share my experiences with my ADHD son.

So this morning I get an email from the 6th grader's teacher: On another note, B. did not get his medicine today, and we are certainly noticing a difference. I misunderstood, and did not realize he put a new patch on every day. I thought that they lasted longer than that. There were a few days last week, where his attention had not been as great as it had been. Now that I'm putting it all together, I'm wondering if he had forgotten on those days as well.

I call Hubby. He is driving to a job site. He forgot "And the bugger did not remind me." Hubby's not a morning person, but to his credit, they all usually get out of the house with most of the things they need. It is chaotic becasue usually the 6th grader's meds have not taken effect and he is mouthy. So I look at my calendar, it is open. It's a 50 mile drive home. How important is it? Well, he has a soccer game tonight. He is supposed to come home by himself, start homework and eat some dinner. He'll have trouble winding down to fall asleep becasue as the day gets longer, he'll become more and more hyper and wound up. Decision made, I tell my staff where I am going. I have a magic Blackberry so I will be reachable. I peck out "I will be there in about an hour" as a reply to the email. So I go careening up I-75.

So I arrive at school about 50 minutes later, patch and 10 mg pill of Focalin in hand. They call him down and Mrs. C comes too. We talk, She said she understood when I said he just gets worse as the day goes one. She could see the progression. She said she had just witnessed him trying to tie his shoes. He bent over and then forgot why he was down there. She said when she got my email she wondered what I knew might happen and if she would need a sub for the afternoon to recover from the experience. LOL. She was amazed at the difference between today and yesterday as to his behavior. I said the only demerits he ever got was the day he did not take his meds last year. He can get argumentative.

The school nurse was very interested in the patch. I told them it takes about 2 hours to kick in so I gave him a Focalin which should kick in in about 20 minutes to help until the patch worked it's magic. I left the package for the Daytrana patch with the nurse.

B. claimed he told Dad he did not have his patch. He probably did, but mornings are hectic and Dad 's been feeling a little out of sorts. So they both probably forgot again.

A Recent in-box arrival


Saint Theresa is known as the Saint of the Little Ways. She believed in doing the little things in life well and with great love. She is also the patron Saint of flower growers and florists. She is represented by roses. I pray that you all be blessed today in some form or another. Remember to take time out of your busy day to stop….just for a minute or two…and think about the little things in life that people have done for you that have made all the difference in the world. And when you are done thinking about that, pass this blessing on to them, as I have done to you. You have made a difference in my life because you are you and because of the little things that you do that seem so big! J St. Theresa's Prayer:May today there be peace within. May you trust God that you are exactly where you are meant to be. May you not forget the infinite possibilities that are born of faith. May you use those gifts that you have received, and pass on the love that has been given to you.. May you be content knowing you are a child of God.... Let this presence settle into your bones, and allow your soul the freedom to sing, dance, praise and love. It is there for each and every one of us. Now pass it on and spread the blessings!

This is a wonderful tidbit about St. Theresa, also known as the little Flower. That’s quite lovely. But someone placed it with a picture of Blessed Mother Theresa. Blessed Mother Theresa has not been canonized as a Saint, yet. She’s on her way.

That’s the Catholic Theology lesson for today. The picture and the text do not go together. You’ve got to love the internet.

Slow Cooking Thursday



Since I have been usning my crockpot a couple of times a week, I thought I'd participate in Slow Cooking Thursday hosted by Sandra.

But here's the thing. I am away from home 11-12 hours a day thanks to an hour long commute each way. So a lot of casserole-type recipes get burned. Yes, I have one of those Rival timers for my crockpot. I usually set it to cook for 10 hours and then it changes to warm.

This idea is from my brother. In college (we were housemates for 2 years) we used to say we needed to get a cow for our roomate C who drank milk all the time. But then we decided that was not a good ideas becasue my Brother R would slaughter it for the meat.

So take a tip roast - the kind you buy with the netting, and pace it in the crock pot. Pour 2 cans of beef consume over it (half the time IN throw in water and a few bullion cubes). Then cover with a small jar of horseradish. Let it cook for hours (8 on low, 4 on high). Pull it out and slice it. Serve on hard, crusty rolls. This is often our Christmas eve dinner.

Wednesday, September 20, 2006

Works for me Wednesday



My Baby boy is 7 years old today. I guess I am fortunate that I have always lived near extended family. As I child, I had big birthday parties, but all of the guests were Aunts, Uncles, Cousins and Grandparents. (My mom is second of 11 kids). I never think of throwing a birthday party for my kid's friends. Tonight - because our weekends are booked, we have invited family over for cake and ice cream. I know Grammy will be there. I know A's Godmother Julie and her kids will be there. I have not heard form his Godfather's family. If she's not workiing, Aunt L will be there. Uncle B has to work and cousin D has soccer practice so R's family will not make it.

He went easy on me this year for his cake. (I decorate their cakes). Last year it was this elaborate Cheeseburger-looking cake with 7 layers. He wanted a Star shaped, Marble cake, please, with Chocolate icing and sprinkles.

Simple Birthday parties work for me.

Check out Shannon's site for more great ideas

Tuesday, September 19, 2006

Homework blues

With having sons who are active in sports and other extra curricular activities, they need to learn to complete their homework in what time slots they have available. I think the First Grader has figured that out already. He gets a few papers every Monday to complete by Friday. This week they were done by the time he came home from after school care. The 6th grader, on the other hand, seems to hit his stride homework-wise, after dinner. I finally decided that that is Ok on nights he does not have activities. I did tell him I want him to be done by 8:30. Tonight he had soccer practice from 5-6. I’m sure he will not start anything until after dinner.

 

I was telling this to my Mom and she said it was always hard for her to come home and get started on her homework right away. Huh? I seem to remember this being the woman who insisted we do our homework after school and a short break. Must have been more me trying to get it done and out of the way.