My DVR...

Goodbye old friend, you have been a part of our lives for about 2 ½ years. But it is time for you to go. Its not you, it is us. We need to stand on our own feet.

You have been loyal, recording all the show we ask of you, very often two at a time. You have saved those shows for us to watch at other times. However, getting rid of you will save at least $25 per month and that’s not including the extra we pay for the digital tier.
Why do we need to free up the money? Well, the public story is that next year our oldest son wants to attend a parochial high school. The tuition is triple what we are currently paying for the Primary school tuition.

It took some effort on my part to convince the Mister. He loves to record shows. But he discovered that he can stream them online. He made the decision to cut it out about a week ago. He needed to watch all the shows that had already been recorded. But yesterday he spent time watching a new show on the CBS website. He declared “I don’t need the DVR.”

The 9 YO was taking it hard last night. He wanted to know how he could watch Star Wars Clone wars and total Drama Island. Apparently Nick and Cartoon network don’t have streaming episode. These shows are on after his bedtime.

So Long dear DVR, we will miss you.

Update: I just went to CartoonNetwork.com. They have 2 versions of full episodes online. Now do I show the 9 YO?

Contact lenses

I got the 13 YO Contact lenses. We picked them up on Thursday. He put them in after school on Friday, He wore them for 6 hours on Sat and is planning on 8-9 today.

We left him at the Church Spaghetti Dinner. He is volunteering. We ate our dinner befreo his shift started. Several of his classmates were there and commented. We came across a girl who we have seen at Football games. She always calls out to him. She came by and told him he looked cool.

Thinking about Christmas

I've bought some things: I've finished my brother. I've gotten a pair of gloves for one of the boys.

I am now thinking about my niece. Last night I was wondering around Hobby Lobby, thinking of giving her a frame with a picture of her and I and my Mom taken at the beach this summer. Then I came across some frames that looked like a scrapbook page. Even better, I can create a scrapbook page with the picture and then put the page in a frame. I like the idea of an 8x8 page.

Speaking of scrapbooking, I have only scrapped up until mid-2004. The rest of the pcitures are sitting on digital media somewhere. I must have 4 CDs saying they have pictures form 2003, 2004 & 2005. I guess I did not take many pcutures druing that time frame.
I also discovered that I did an 81/2x11 book on my older son. I need to check where it ends. I suspect it's about 2003.

I can't decide if I want to do some digital pages or not. I was able to get a copy of Photoshop Elements for a discounted price through work. I tried yesterday to create a new blog banner but was unable to complete it. I need to try again.

Monday Randomness

Last Monday was my birthday. I got a pretty purple iPod from Hubby.

Our Weather is still pretty summer-like. They are talking frost toward the end of the week though.

It looks like the busy-ness of the 13 YO is helping him do a good job of keeping on top of his homework. Like his Dad, he is a procrastinator. Football does not leave him much time to procrastinate. Hopefully Wrestling will do the same.

Speaking of the 13 YO, 7th and 8th graders were invited to play with the High School band Friday night. He got to ride the bus to the stadium. I did not stay up to see him when he got home. But the next morning he said he had a great time, he broke his drum sticks and got a stick shoved up his nose. (Boys!) He told Dad he thinks Marching Band might just be his Fall sport. Cool!

My 9 YO thinks he's invincable. He is getting tired of going to his brother's football practices and games. He keeps asking if he can stay home. Friday afternoon he wanted to stay at home while Dad picked up the 13 yo from his after school study session (Studying for the Catholic High School entrace exam). Dad had to drop the 13 yo off at the High School for the big game. The problem was I was riding the bus home from work. If something came up, the 9 Yo was on his own. A few weeks ago he stayed at home by himself while Dad went to pick up big brother practice. The run was that I was 10 minutes up the street at dinner with some friends.

Why?

Do smoke and carbon Monoxide detectors always give their low battery alerts in the dead of the night?

It took us 10-15 minutes to find the detector that was beeping last night. It would beep and then it emitted a voice message "low battery warning". At first I thought it was my pager. Nope, I followed it upstairs. I turned on a light in our bedroom. That made Hubby get up are help find it. He was able to follow their noice to DS9's room where he dounf the detector (I did not realize there was one there.)

Mr. Coach..

That's my Hubby in the glasses, deciding on a play for flag football. What's funny is that as a kid, he played one year of T-ball where he was picking dandilions in right field. In High school he was a memberof the tennis team. When He married me and I dragged him back to my hometown, he started playing softball. Our oldest son was signed up for YMCA Soccer and Baseball at about 4 years old. He watched and learning. He helped out the coaches as an assistant. I thin his first foray into head coaching was as a co-head coach for the oldest son's 4th grade intramural basketball team.

When our younger son, now 9 turned 4, he played soccer at the Y. Dad decided to sign up to coach. Then Dad signed up to coach t-ball. Then he started helping out with the Wrestling team. Parents frequently came up to me and expressed how much they like him as a coach. His Mom often sat beside me and beamed. Once he was asked by another coach what weight he wrestled in High school. That coach was amazed when he learned Hubby had only learned wrestling when our oldest so started the sport in the first grade. By Son's 6th year, guess who was the head coach. And he loves it!

Action picture of the 9 yo in his first Flag football game.

Be careful what you wish for..

I'd love to elaborate, but I am also not willing to spill my guts right now. There is a tropical storm brewing at work. My employment is not in danger, but my current position is being brought into question. My ego is taking a pounding. However, there could be a good side to this.

So is a hurricane going to develop out of this or will the storm break up. Like the weather, it's hard to tell. There can sometimes be some blustering, however, this same question has been brought up before.

There could be some advantages. A lot of what I do, I would still do. There is a public relations aspect to my job that needs work. Do I still have the competitive spirit and drive to attain the skills, knowlege and abilities? I don't know. Now that I am not the main breadwinner in the family anymore, do I want to fade in the background more?

Sometimes the Almighty Father answers prayers in a way you don't expect. But then again I did not think my occasional fantasies of a less intense career were prayers.

A Post about nothing

Oh how I wish I was full of witty posts that has people rolling in front of their monitors. I'd love to be another BooMama or a Mrs Dryer, But I just don't have it in me. Heck. Shalee is a Mom who works outside the home and she posts more regularly that I do.

I stead I give you pictures of my wind-ravaged home and my boys in their sports. But maybe because my life is pretty confined these days. I sleep, work and drive. I take time out to eat and use the bathroom. Take yesterday, I got up, showered and dresses, referred arguments between Whiney (the 9 YO) and Meanie (the ADHD 13 Yo who's meds had not kicked in yet). The 9 YO has been making things with Legos, He had a cars that was made out of DS13s Legos. the 13 YO demanded him Legos back. Yelling ensued until the bus pulled up. I did spedn 30 minutes on the home computer until it was time to pick up my carpool friend. I did have to stop and get gas. Then we came to work. Then we came home. Just as I am 3 minutes from Carpool friends house, Hubby calls me. he got out of work late. Was I closer to school to pick up the 9 Yo from after school care? Yes. So I go back and pick up the ( YO. In the meantime I call DS13 to tell him to eat before football practice and to be ready because i would probably have enough time to pull into the driveway, jettison DS9 to Dad's care and have DS13 climb in to take to football practice. (Lets do a time check: leave work at 3:45, pick up DS9 about 4:35, pull into the driveway about 5:08).

I drop off DS13, and go find the Kroger. I went to the second closest one because of traffic. I got a package of California rolls - Yum, Dinner) and juice boxes to send in for Ds9's class. I stop at Trader Joe's looking for Flax seed supplements. Then I decide to go to Whole Foods - it's another 2 exits up the expressway (yes a lot of my driving is my own fault..) I find Arnica Gel

I sit waiting for football practice to end for about 30 minutes. It's awful dark, but I guess the two little street lights are enough to do pushups and situps to. DS13 is hungry. Ok, it's 8:15, we've got a 15 minute ride home with a boy who procrastinates on his shower, getting something to eat at home would prolong my agony by 20 minutes at least. So it is a stop at McDonalds. Bu=oy are they busy. So I hand the boy some money. He goes in with $8 and comes back out with $5. Hey, not bad. We drive home. Ah, I can now kick off my shoes and change out of my work clothes.

So am I crazy to be starting a very expensive workout program? I am working with a personal trainer. Hubby is behind me. I have not been able to exercise for about 2 years. I have developed chronic tendonitis in my ankle due to my extremely flat feet. Working with the Podiatrist, I have a rigid brace that I am supposed to wear most of the time. Surgery is the next step. I don't like the idea of surgery so I want to work with a personal trainer to find workouts that won't aggravate my ankle. My goals for exercising are:

1. Stress relief
2. Stave off Diabetes for another 20 years
3. Of course it would be nice to drop some weight. (Goal is about 65 lbs)

So to find the time, I and going to work out at 5 AM Tues and Thurs and 7 AM Saturdays. Wish me luck...

Wind Damage to our roof

This is what the Ohio Hurricane did to our roof.

Third day of school closings

So since the big Ohio Hurricane school is closed for the third day in a row. The local media is billing this as the "Great Blackout".

Anyways, both my boys said yesterday that they were ready to go back to school. They are bored being home watching TV and playing video games. They miss their friends and the structure that the school day brings.

But they have another day to "build Character" and "strenghten their resourcefulness muscles".

A hurricane In Ohio?

So somewhere over Cincinnati, the remenants of hurricane Ike collided with a Cold Front. As a Result, N KY, Cincinnati, Dayton, and Columbus got sustained winds of 40 MPH (I heard this is Tropical storm definition) and gusts of up to 80 MPH. 90% of Duke Power customers were affected. Of course they had sent many crews down to Houston. They have recalled them.

I feel really lucky. I was outdoors for a good portion of this. Why? I was working the concession stand at the Football game before my Son's. Our power was out once we got home. We were lucky that it came back up about 8:20 PM. Down the street, the traffic lights and the Gas stations are still out of power.

So at this point, my boys are off school again tomorrow. The newspaper said that school officials for thebig public school are not only considering the power out, but even if they had power back, the food they have is spoiled. they need to restock. How can they feed intercity kids, a portion who eat breakfast and lunch at school, until they get new shipments.

Gas is also getting scarce. Some of the Gas depots int he area are without power so they cannot pump gas into the tankers. I admit being a bit cavalier abotu emergency preparations. Most emergencies around here affect small area, like tornados. You can drive 10 miles or so and finds an area with power and such. Floods are usually confined to the area close to the rivers. A Blizzard would be the biggest disaster would would get.

So I need to do a better job of keeping batteries around, maybe several days of canned food, etc...

The Politics test -

Link to the test: http://www.okcupid.com/politics

You are a Social Liberal (60% permissive) and an... Economic Conservative (63% permissive) You are best described as a: Centrist Link: The Politics Test on Ok Cupid Also : The OkCupid Dating Persona Test

Smells Like Pre-teen spirit?

So I wrote about my 13 Yo not being consistent about using deodorant. Yesterday I picked up the 8 YO from his afterschool program. He tells me "Mom, I need deodorant. The hair on my arms is getting long."

As I chocked back (1) laughter and (2) "You're too young". I decided I would take advantage of his enthusiasm. If he wants to use Deordorant, I should nto stop him. Then he will be in the habit by the time "big boy stink" strikes. And 'Oh boy, there/s a Walgrrens right there.

He picked out Old Spice "Mountain Rush".

Strawberry Jam anyone?

A couple of Weeks ago, the Man I pledged to stick to for better or Worse, called me. We are out of Strawberry Jam. I looked in the corner cupboard and there aren't anymore jars on the shelf.

Oh no! I did not get around to making a batch. I figured I still had plenty. So the local Mega -mart had an end of season sale on Strawberries. I stopped Friday night. They had been well-picked over, but my family deserves homemade strawberry jam. (I find it quite easy to make). I had to buy twice as much as I usually do because of all the unseable peices. I get home and start to pull out my empty jars. Hey, what's this? At the bottom of the cupboard are 7, yes Seven! jars of strawberry jam.

The Man is out on the lawn tractor, moving the weeds. I go out, Hold up the jar, then I tuck it under my arm and hold up 7 fingers. Then I turn around and walk back intot he house.

Yeah, he's right, it won't go to waste. But still, out of season strawberries. The Man cannot find things right in front of his face. I don't get it. After 15 years, I know he has a problem finding stuff.

Any my son wonders why last night, when he tells me he can't find his School Unifoprm Shirt, the I start diggind in his drawers. Yes, we found all 5.

I don't even eat strawberry jam.

Smells like Teen Spirit

Ah, yeah. So Thursday the 13 Yo had Golf practice from 2-4:30. Meet the teacher night 4:15 - 5:45 and Football at 5:30. Meet the teacher became a victim. Fortunately, there are no new Junior High teachers this year.

I took off half a day form work to make this happen. I pick him up after Golf and he raised his arms. Oh my, Big boy stink. I knew after football was going ot be bad. I toyed with picking him up a new shirt and a stick of deodarant, but did not follow through.

So I quizzed him (while the AC was blasting to keep the air moving).
M: Did you use deodorant?
B:You mean before golf? no.
M: Did you put some on when you got dressed this morning?
b: No
M: (quite exasperated) Did you at least put some pn after you took a shower last night?
B: No

So how do you convince a boy that deodarant needs to be a crucial part of him morning routine?

Football update

Last night I heard that the Defensive line got soame focused attention. A coach who has had conflicts lately was back. He organized the defense so that there was an orderly substitution of players and they all got equal time. Previously these 7th and 8th graders were left to their own initiative to sub in and out. This coach also got them fied up by offering Double cheeseburgers to anyone who sacked the QB. Hubby said these little guys were getting through and the offensive line took notice and stepped up their game. He said our 13 Yo got knocked down hard.

However, the 13 Yo came home pumped up. So that is good.

I am still miffed that he is doing 2 sports in one season. It stresses me out thinking about it. He'd better keep up with his homework. That will be a challenge.

Football

Today was the season "Preview". They played for 20 minutes, rested for 20 minutes an dplayed another 20 Minutes. My 13 YO got in for three plays. Hubby got it on Video and I took stills. It was the second play before I set the camera to sports mode and just held the shutter button down.

We've been playingwith his meds. My Dad said he thought the meds made the 13 YO sluggish. This was his observation when the 13 Yo spent a week with his Grandparents. My ADHD brother commented that he did not get into sports until HS when he stopped taking meds. Last Wednesday I had him remove his Daytrana patch at 4 PM. So by 6 Pm he was ready to be aggressive. He did not removed it Thursday and he decided he could tell a difference. Saturday morings practice he attended unmedicated. When I got here he was walking in circles and looking up in the sky. He also took a bathroom break shortly after I got there.

This moring I decided to cut a third of the patch off before applying it. My 13 YO was mouthy (more so than usual) but he was tolerable. We'll see if he has any difficulties getting to sleep tonight.

Helping a 13 YO ADHD-er find motivation

So Am I a bad Mom because I decided to use a modified format of a performance Improvement plan with my 13 YO?

Background: Football – Hubby observed him last night in warm up drills, getting out of line and working his way back to the end of the line to avoid hitting drills. Then, in the end of session sprints, He’s the first off the line, but the last one to finish and his body language is saying he is exhausted. (Hands on head, breathing deep) But we watched him spend the past 20 minutes standing watching the plays being run. No reason for the exhaustion. He’s not a whipped puppy when he gets into the car.

Last week we had a discussion about how his lack of effort is frustrating us and making us feel like we are wasting our time, coaches times, etc. Coaches are not going to spend the time with a kid who’s not willing to expend a lot of effort. I’m not willing to give up my free time driving him the 24 miles round trip to practice.

Part of what I sent him:

Here’s what we are asking for:
1. Give the drills your all. Stay in line, hit hard.
2. Dig deep for the energy to run. Start really conditioning yourself. Don’t just think about it.
3. Stop hanging around the end of the line in drills.

The other kids who are beating you in the sprints have been in on a lot more plays. You are more rested than they are.

If we don’t see this in the next week, we will no longer drive you to practice. If we are going to take the time to leave work early and utilize our free time, then you need to show us you appreciate it and really want to play football.

Your actions are telling me “I don’t really want to play football, I just want to be able to say I am part of the team.” That’s not good enough for me.

Think long and hard.
What are your goals?
What are you willing to do to achieve those goals?

We will put as much effort into helping you achieve your goals as you do. Right now with football, we are putting in more effort than you are.

Love, Mom.

Aaagh! I don't know if this will work. But he often says he does not know what the expectations are. So I put them in writing.

Update: We are going to have him tkae off his patch at 4:00 so his Meds wear off by the time Football practice begins. Let's see if that has any effect

teendom

-        Heavy sighs

-        Huffing and puffing

-        Smart alec comments

All good indicators that I have a teen ager in my house. 

He’s really enjoying football. Thursday they had a scrimmage. He was on Defense B. He lined up across form the center. (I was later informed that this is the nose guard. My cousin played center, so I know the real name and no longer call it “the guy who hikes the ball.”). But he’s one of the smallest guys in on the team. This Mom got a bit worried. He also got in on a few plays at Split end.  He stayed late at Saturday’s practice for extra receiver practice.

Then yesterday he and Dad went and played Golf. They got pair up with two other guys who told B he should stick with Golf, that he has a great drive.

Thursday he has a pool party with his classmates Noon until 4 PM. Then golf practice at the driving range 4-6 and Football practice 6-8.

 

Gratuitious Vacation Pictures

The Beach, Go Cart racing, Fishing, Relaxing, Driving Grandpa's boat.