Advent wreath link up

Here is my DIY advent wreath. Simply some baby food jars with tissue paper decoupaged on it and tea lights. The wreath is a remnant of artificial greenery shaped into a wreath. We just started a ritual of Sunday night diners with the recently-move-out 18YO and his Girlfriend. As a direct result of the 18 YO moving out, we moved the home office from the dining room to the newly spare-bedroom. So we have a formal dining room and can dust off my Mother-In-Law's China. So we not have the advent wreath as our center piece and light the appropriate candles during dinner this year.

 Linking up with Sarah's Advent wreath link up.

7 Quick takes Snowy Feast of St. Nicholas edition

--- 1 ---

St. Nicholas filled our stocking with about 3 pieces of candy and left a full candy dish sitting on the hearth. I told the 14YO that his new USB Power Pack should have come in his stocking.

--- 2 ---

So we are in the path of the big ice storm. My workplace is about 20 miles north and issued a 2- hour delay. Fortunately, as a contractor, I can work from home. So I am set up in the bedroom as Hubby, too is working from home and drew the office.

--- 3 ---

The freezing rain came, but still waiting for the snow. 4-7 inches is being predicted for my area.

--- 4 ---

Looking for the roads to be clear by tomorrow morning. We are headed to the state championship football game. It will be a 3 hour drive North. If you can see the header of my blog, we are involved with the high school band. Our older boy graduated last year. The younger will enroll next year but he marched with the band at the football games (Band director is no fool, he did not want to lose 2 of his most reliable parent boosters.)

--- 5 ---

So in preparing for the frigid weather and the (outdoor!) football game, I picked up some snow pant on Monday.

--- 6 ---

But the 14 YO still turns down offers of long underwear/runner's tights. He prides himself on wearing shorts in all but the coldest/snowiest weather. (He walks home from school)Last night he did say that if he had to go to school today it might be worth wearing long pants

--- 7 ---

Next year, at the Catholic High School, he will have a dress code. Can't wait.

For more Quick Takes, visit Conversion Diary!

Small Success Thursday

Another Thursday and my small successes. 

-1-

Keeping a good attitude with the job uncertainty. My Contract expired a week form tomorrow. There were some signs of a possible extension again, buy this week it has been crickets. So I am trying to finish up any loose ends I have and keeping a smile on my face. (And I do keep getting emails about open opportunities)

-2-

Over the weekend I completed a simple quilt top for a Christmas gift. The backing is also ready to go. It is all waiting to be pin basted. It is looking like I will have plenty to time to complete 2 more.(See #1) 

-3-

Seasonal Affective disorder is an issue in our house this time of the year. An affected person is resisting sitting in from of the "Happy" light. I gently and calmly got the 15 minutes in this morning. 

And one Failure: 

Hubby gave me a card and gift this morning for a our 21st Anniversary. My success will be getting something small for him before I arrive home from work. 

Join Catholic Mom for more. 

Look, another post. And another MEME from a Catholic Mom.

--- 1 ---

My 14Yo Son had his first Bass guitar lesson last night. He's been taking percussion lessons for several years. Even though he's an 8th grader, he's marched with the High School band this year. Mostly because Hubby did not want to give up being the lead Truck Crew Dad in the year after the Older son graduated and the younger one started. But now playing the bass guitar, he can be a part of the Jazz band next year and not have to fight for a spot among the percussionist. After his lesson we could hear him picking out the leading bass guitar note to a popular song played by the marching band.

--- 2 ---

I will be setting up my dining room this weekend and we will eat a pre-Thanksgiving dinner in it Sunday night. When we moved into this house with the formal dining room, we did not have proper furniture and used the room more as a home office. Since then we acquired a buffet and the 18YO moved out. So that freed up a bedroom for the home office and with three of us, I have a small table we can put in the breakfast nook and the big table can go into the living room. I mentioned getting out the china. Neither son remembered we even have china.

--- 3 ---

And speaking of my china, which had been my MILs, to go with it I have a set of goldplated silverware. It is a hysterical story of how Hubby's grandmother won them playing BINGO. She was so excited that she could give the set to us. Gold is not my style, and it clashed with the silver rim on the china, but the memory of that gift makes me smile, so i will use it.

--- 4 ---

Refer to number 1 and the 14yo marching with the high school band. They don't do many competitions, they are there to support the football team. And the football team is deep into post-season play. Last year the team won the state tournament. So we could be playing in December. I volunteered to help with the truck crew that gets the equipment to the game and on and off the field. It's supposed to be cold tomorrow.

--- 5 ---

Is it a bad thing to complain that your winter jacket is too warm? I will be thankful for it at the football game, but it is too warm for this spoiled suburbanite who goes from garage to car to parking lot to building. I got it towards the end of last year. The zipper on my old one was separating too often for my liking. I ordered this one from LLBean. I am thinking that I'd love to have a short wool coat for when the air is merely cold as opposed to arctic. But what about those people who don't even have warm coats... Oh the guilt.

--- 6 ---

Every Thanksgiving we get together with my Aunts, Uncles and Cousins on my Dad's side every Thanksgiving. Many years ago, my reluctant-leftover-eating husband said the only problem is not having Thanksgiving leftovers. Well, I could certainly fix that. So I fix a big dinner the Sunday before with Turkey and traditional sides. Hubby gets his leftovers, I get to take advantage of cheap turkey prices.

--- 7 ---

I need a sign "Caution: Busy weekend ahead" and not try to do too much. DS14 is taking his Catholic High School entrance exam, football game, cooking a big meal, moving furniture and dished around... I do too much. My feet and my back will hate me if I am not careful.

For more Quick Takes, visit Conversion Diary!

Small Successes Link up - Nov 21, 2013

My poor, neglected blog. It has been awhile. But as my kids grow older, they are a bit more particular about what Mom shares. But today I want to participate in the Small Successes at Catholic Mom

1. Monday when the 14 YO failed once again to bring the trash can and the recycle bin up from the curb when he came home, he knew. He heard me pull into the garage and he flew out the door to get them. I just quietly made meatloaf for dinner (It's not his favorite and I postponed our trip to the music store for a Bass Guitar. All done very quietly and without lecture. (I usually rant or lecture - or both).

2. Silently agreed to Hubby's plan to finish cleaning up the tarps and equipment form painting the dining room on Friday - rather than last night or tonight and found another project to complete, even though I am tired of the crammed furniture in the living room.

3. I am doing well at improving my health by sticking to the eating plan recommended by my doctor, my blood sugar testing is showing the results as is the scale. It was really hard with lots of candy and donuts sitting around at the office.

I tried it and did not like it

Well, I tried it and I hated it. It is working from home. What's not to like? I was home for my teen and almost-teen aged sons to check in with me. I could make dinner most nights. We saved on lunches and gas (especially since Hubby drove my Prius and left the gas-guzzling mini van in the driveway.) What went wrong?

I felt like a prisoner in my own home. I regularly worked a 9-10 hour day. But most of all, I missed co-workers. I miss chit-chat around the water cooler. I missed getting to know my co-workers, I missed eating lunches with others.

I was working with my boss to be able to go to the local office a day or two a week, but my husband convinced me to take a contract position. it is with the same company I worked at last Fall until this current job came along at the first of the year. It might have worked if I had an office to go to once or twice a week,but I also seem to prefer project work as opposed to operations.

My kids cheered last night when I told them I was taking a new job.

Summertime challenges

Today is my youngest son's first day of Summer break. I am worried. How will I manage working from home when he dislikes watching TV in the basement? When he was coming home from school, the first thing he liked to do is turn on the Family room TV. This was a problem when I am working in the dining room. The Dining room is off the kitchen, which is open to the living room.

Last night he was already moaning that he was bored. I am on the lookout for rules that will help. I also fashioned a door from Foam core art board. (I now feel close in in the office.)Wish me luck.  

Confession

In case anyone is still following my blog, quick update, my job was eliminated June 2011. Spend July and Aug at home hanging out with my 11 YO. We did a hometown touristy thing a week. Then the week after he went back to school, I got a call to work a temp job. Then Jan 3 I started a new job, working from home.

I saw a line in a blog this morning. The Author loved being a WAHM, but she did not always like it. Hey, that's me. I am doing work that I mostly enjoy. I get paid well. I love being home when my boys leaved for school. I love being home when they get home (even if they are a bit loud at times). I love being able to take 4 steps into the kitchen to make dinner before practice rather than leaving a boy to his own devices. I love knowing where they are (usually..). I love leaving my car at home (rather Hubby's, he drives my Prius to work and his Mini van stays here.) I love being able to make my own lunch in my own kitchen.

What I don't like: I miss the people. the co-workers. I miss knowing what my co-workers are working on, is someone following up on this issue? It gets lonely at home. Then I made my home's dining room my office. However, there is a door way to the kitchen and the kitchen is open to the family room. the now-12 YO tends to come in form school and flip on the TV and watch DVRd episodes of MythBusters and Good Eats. Not bad programs, but it is distracting to me. Hubby said "tell him he's not allowed to turn on the TV until 4:30." Well, D-oh. Great idea. Worked well yesterday. I am worried about this summer. So I am working on some sort of homemade barn-style door for the office. Wish me luck.

update

Hey, I think I will post more often and this poor neglected blog. I created a gmail account back in January when I traded in my Blackberry phone for an Android phone. This resulted in me being logged into my browser whit my gmail account but I would have to log off and log back in whit the email account I created this blog with. It was a pain.

So anyways, here is my update... When I was first notified that my job was being eliminated, I had a lot of co-worker express dismay and a lot of people calling their favorite recruiters on my behalf. I even had an interview two weeks out as well as a possible contract job. So I felt like I'd be "doing" something soon. But the Contract job fell through. The interview was for a sales position, but we expect some technical sl;aes support positions to open up in the third quarter that you'd be perfect for. " (yeah, I know, there is still 5-6 weeks left in the quarter.)

Three weeks ago I attended a job search networking group. The once a week meetings have interesting topics but I have to be careful because there are a lot of people who have been there for a long time and you can almost see the Eeyore-type rainy cloud hanging above their heads. I have been fortunate enough to meet with some expert networking and have friends contact me with job openings. So it is a hurry up and wait situation. Guess what, I am not very good at waiting.

I am blessed to have a paycheck through November and my husband is still working so we can maintain shelter, food, clothing and transportation.

Upside down

Almost 4 weeks ago I was led into a conference room and informed that my position was being abolished due to budget cuts and the University where I was working. While I was blind-sided by the announcement, logically it made sense. The system that my team worked on did not really need three of us to maintain it. A year ago I was campaigning to get another system as part of my responsibilities. Obviously I was unsuccessful. I did leave with people telling me they were sorry - and I believed them, and 5 months of my continues paycheck and benefits.

So initially there was a lot of momentum moving forward to find a new job. I reached out to my network and got a lot of positive feedback. I had an interview 2 weeks later. I even had a friend reach out to me on Facebook about a temporary consulting opportunity. Now, almost 4 weeks out and things are quiet. A conference call about the consulting opportunity was postponed from last night until a time TBD next week.

I am not a homebody, I am not used to being home. But when I do venture out, I want to spend money. I don't have money to spend. Our household depends on my income for paying off Hubby's school debt (he went back to school and got his degree in 2005) as well as parochial school tuition for the 16 YO. Fortunately Hubby's income covers most of everything else.

Anyways, as a Catholic Christian I am so trying to be patient and let the Lord's plan for me unfold in His time. I am terrible at this. I am restless. But I am getting items off my to do checklist accomplished, albeit slowly.

I have reorganized my home office (architectural Dining room). I did buy a new printer and a Sauder TV stand to hold the printer. I have cleaned and organized. (am still working on it. This thing is an elephant. )

Update on my pre-teen son

It has been over year since I picked up my younger son from the after school program and told him he was not coming back. In a nutshell, A was engaging in inappropriate social behavior (smart-kid obnoxiousness), and his classmates responded with typical social behavior to pressure him to behave more the norm which then caused A to respond inappropriately that the school administration interpreted as potential violence. Fancy way of saying A liked to brag how smart he was, other kids subtly harassed him (Why do I keep avoiding calling it bullying?) and A responded so vigorously that he was the one viewed as the bully.

So we pulled him from the parochial school and put him in the local public school. I am happy to say he is thriving. His grades are A's with the occasional B thrown in. He did get into an altercation on the playground about 2 weeks before Christmas (there is a pattern here) that was quickly resolved by the principal and the school counselor. He also was involved in an incident with a neighbor boy but thanks to a persistent Mom, It did come out that A's story was the accurate one.

But overall, A had a lot of friends. They do seem to shift. He'll play with one kid for a few weeks and then find another. But there are plenty in the neighborhood. He is learning to distance himself from the neighbor who seems to cause him a lot of problems.

I am very happy with my decision.

It’s not enough to keep records, you must review them

My Dad is a closet car enthusiast. He built his first go cart at the age of 8 from a lawn mower engine. He admires a nice car but ultimately, he’s cheap and has always driven a car that meets his needs at a reasonable cost. As such Dad started keeping a book in each car he owned, and recorded each fuel-up, service and the associated mileage. This is great for evaluating your gas mileage and determining how log it has been since your last brake job. When I bought my first car, my Dad bought an empty receipt journal for my book.

I own a 2002 Ford Escape and I have my book. When I took a new job in 2006 that has my driving 50 miles one way, I used data from the book to analyze if it would be worth my while to buy a different car 9I determined that a payoff would be 4 years, not worth it.) My husband was starting to complain that we seemed to be dumping a lot of money into my beloved SUV. I kept brushing it off, thinking that the repair were less than car payments on a new car.

Now it is 2011. My oldest son will be 16 in April and we are looking forward to him being able to get himself to school and home on his own. That means a car for a teenage boy. After contemplating different scenarios, I decided to purchase a 2010 Prius for me and hand the escape to the teen. But it has been in the shop 3 times in 2011, and it still is not running right. New problems keep cropping up. So we have the car at home and are ready to take it somewhere else to diagnose the current problem (the last shop wanted to just start replace the three catalytic converters).

But here’s the rub. Last weekend I sat down with my book and gathered all of the receipts I found in the glove compartment and my car file. The results were downright sobering. In 2008 we had transmission replaced for about $2200. In 2009 there were various and sundry issue – new spark plugs and coil, new shocks, tires to the tune of at least $2200. (I was missing a few receipts but my book told me what kind of service we had done.) In 2010 a new fuel pump and rack and pinion was $1400. And in less than 3 months in 2011, we have spent $1400. If I had included reviewing my book in my financial housekeeping, I would have known that my beloved Escape was becoming a money pit and I would have traded it in when I purchased my Prius. Now we need to figure out what to do with this barely-running vehicle.

Giving myself more credit

Gas prices are rising fast with new unrest in the Mideast. Now “they” are saying gas prices as high as $5 a gallon by summer. I sit here and think “Woo-hoo, aren’t I lucky? I bought a hybrid just at the right time.”
But was it really luck? I have been fascinated by hybrids probably since I bought my last vehicle in 2001. The last couple of years, knowing that I would be due to replace my car in 2011 or 2012, I have been thinking/saying “I will see where the alternate fuel cars are when it comes time for my turn to buy a car.”

• On line searches for a car for the teen that met my criteria showed I could get an 8-10 year old car with 100,000 miles on it for the money I wanted to pay.
• Financing such a used car would be at 7.5%

Hum, maybe time to rethink that plan.

Then the end of the year car ads started coming. Last year’s model year Prius being sold for 0.9% financing. So I started researching hybrids. At the same time news reports were coming every day warning of rising gas prices this year. Further more, my research said that the Prius is rarely on sale, it usually sells at sticker plus a premium. These were selling at invoice + 3%.

It wasn’t luck. I had done my homework. I knew this was a bargain, a rare occurrence that I was in the position to take advantage of.

I’ve gone tree-hugging crunchy.

I bought a Prius last week. I was not going to buy a new car right away. Hubby and I have successfully implemented a 5 year schedule of replace our oldest car. Hubby’s mini-van was purchased in Feb 2006. So I have one last payment to make on it. My small SUV was purchased Sept 2001. (2 weeks after 9-11). So I really have 8 month to go until it hits the 10 year mark. So why did I cave?

1. I drive a lot. It’s 20 miles one way to work. In stop and go city traffic. On the interstate.
2. DS15 will be DS16 in April. Hubby believed that DS should drive to 10 YO SUV and that I should get a new car. I still don’t like the idea of a teen boy and an SUV., so I resisted saying I’d drive the SUV for awhile and get DS15 a small, older stick shift to drive.
3. I drive a lot. The boys always seem to be going to a practice, game, performance….
4. I’ve been perusing online lists for used cars. I wanted to spend about $5000. For that money, the cars were all between 8 & 10 years old.
5. I drive a lot. (80 miles yesterday to work, then running the boys around after work to the Dr, to practice and to the library.)
6. The SUV get 17 miles per gallon on a good day.
7. Toyota is running a great deal in December and January on a 2010 Prius.
8. I drive a lot. My City’s bus system is rather limited and not flexible for me at this point in my life.
9. Gas prices are going up.
10. I remembered I drove a full-size van for the first year or so I had my license.

So our car payment went down almost $50 a month. However, we are now insuring 3 cars. I dropped collusion on the SUV and put on the new car and the insurance went up about $50 per month. (until the teen gets his license.)
My fears of feeling like I was sitting on the road after almost 10 years of SUV driving have not come true. It is comfortable enough, and handles well in the snow.
My ultra-conservative (Politically) husband wants to put Republican stickers all over the back on my car lest someone sees him driving it and concludes he’s the least but liberal. But that’s his problem.

Driving Miss Maggie

The local Morning new show asks a “stumper” question and invited viewers to call or email their answers. Last week they asked “What is it that most people said men are most qualified for?” The answer was teaching their kids to drive.
Not at my house right now. My husband gets nervous at the thought of riding in the car with our son. I am hoping it’s because he’s under a lot of stress right now. He doesn’t do stress well. He’s studying for a certification exam, he’s been traveling for business extensively and mostly he’s taken on a new project management role at work and knows his client is a difficult one.
Not to say that Hubby/Dad hasn’t tried. The day our son got his temps, Dad came home and made the boy jump in the minivan and drive around the neighborhood. He’d only had about 30 minutes on the road and those were in my smaller car. Ok, so he got distracted when he recognized our neighbor as he was making a turn and forgot to turn. That’s why Dad was there, to correct him. But then again, he is very detail-oriented and tried to correct everything at once.
So I have been having the teenager drive whenever I can. Home after we drop the last boy off from carpool after band practice. Then on a Saturday I was able to map out a route on 2 lane roads to the school where his cousins were playing football. He gets better each time.
Then a few Sunday’s Dad tells the teen,” ok in a bit I am going to have you drive me to the store so I can make a return. “ When the teen is out of earshot he tells me “I am nervous as hell about him driving. All I can think of is if he gets into a wreck, how much will this cost us?”
Me: “This is why we have insurance”.
This feels foreign to me, my hubby not wanting to teach our son a coming-of-age skill. It does not seem typical. But then again He also told me he could not believe how our teen just read the book twice and passed his test. He confided that when it was coming up to time for him to be able to learn to drive, he studied his Mom/s actions in the car. He observed how she took turns, when she accelerated in the turn, how she handled this situation and that situation. He mentally practiced. Ah yes, he did complete his engineering degree about 5 years ago. He has the right mind. His Mom says he was such a perfectionist that he mastered riding a bike by going off on his own and practicing without anybody watching until he had it mastered. He did not want anyone watching him try and fail. The older teen is not like this. He is happy go lucky. (The younger boy is more like his dad).

Small successes Driving..

I have been neglecting my poor blog. I think because I spend more time with Facebook. However, yesterday was a milestone day. I took my firstborn to get his driver's learner's permit or his temps. But as I am scanning blogs, I decided that this was a good time to join in Small successes:

1. I was smart enough to take my son to a local park/forest preserve for his first time behind the wheel. It has roads with speed bumps, stop sins and road lines. We came across the occasional car going the other way. He was able to get a feel for how hard to press on the gas and the brake and how far to turn the steering wheel. He has driven the lawn tractor and his Grandpa's large boats, so being in command of a vehicle with a steering wheel was not new to him.

2. I think I did a really good job of not saying much, biting my tongue and given short, easy to follow instructions. I tried to praise him. Mostly I tried to let him get a feel for how the car operates.

3. I actually feel good about taking him out again. He's not ready for a populated road yet. He still needs to work on figuring out where to stop when coming up to a stop sign. He needs to get a feel as to how close he needs to hug the curb without driving off (did that once or twice).

Update on my teen

Ok, his friend does not have her driver's license yet. She's not eligible to get her permit until November. Her parents brought the 15 Yo home from the Mixer at the All Girls school.

Oh Boy

It seems my 15 YO has a Girlfriend. For the last few months I have noticed lots of texting. "Who are you Texting". Answer: "K---". "who?" "K---- M-----" Oh.

Yes we've met her, and her parents. She was a member of the Marching Band last year (nope, not this year).

Aside: DS15 is a Sophomore at an All Boys Catholic High school. Girls from 2 local All girls Catholic High Schools are invited to be members of the Boy's School Band. She's a nice Lutheran Girl attending the all Girls Catholic High school. Yep. Oh, she's a Sophomore, with a driver's license.

A few weeks ago they went to a Church festival together. Hubby says he thinks K was driving and picked up my son.

This morning, on Facebook, I saw a note that my son had indicated that he was attending a Facebook event of a Dance at the all girls school tonight.

Hubby and I sat down with him this weekend and told him, Hey, it's great your are going out and hanging around, but remember school is the priority. I told him that I would prefer he wait for serious stuff for after High School. Hubby told him that girl's mature much more emotionally than boys and that he needs to remember that.

Gosh, I sure hope I've raise a Gentleman. I need to start looking out for that and looking for "teachable" moments. Wish me luck.

August musings

Wow, August. My High schooler starts back to school a week form tomorrow. He accessed his schedule online today. I think he's happy. Did I tell you they decided he did nto need to take the Study skills class that the kids with IEPs take? He;s able to take a language this year. He decided on LAtin. That was one of the recommendations of the special ed teachers because they don;t have to speak it, unlike Spanish class where it is total immersion. Frech was also a recommendation due to the small class size.

Tomorrow on my lunch hour I will go up to the school and get his laptop. Then his brother can have sole possession of the Netbook I picked up for them.

Summertime

We are already into the second half of July. It has been a nice easy summer. The 10yo is still upset that he was unable to play baseball this year. He wanted to play Fall baseball but we overrules him and signed him up for football. Since this is the community league, there is at least one teammate in our neighborhood. I already talked to his Mom and she agreed that carpooling to practices would be a good thing.

His coach asked that everyone attend a football camp. We signed him up for a camp that was to be run by his great-uncle (and Godfather) who is a high school football coach, because it would have alleviated daytime transportation concerns, Bit it was cancelled due to low enrollment. A local high school had an evening camp but it was the week we were on vacation. So we found the last camp in town. It is one of those with the name of a pro her in town, twice the cost of any other camp. Sigh. But Grandma is graciously providing transportation.

Maggie