End of Spring Break, Random thoughts...

Today is my last day of SB and I did not get as much done as I had hoped--at least not for myself, anyway. Monday, I did have lunch with my Festus freinds. I had running around to do before I picked up James from DC. Tuesday, I did some needed girl scout shopping with my co-leader. Rain, rain go away. Kevin skipped out on the last half of his work day to take his driver's tests. We (I) sat in the waiting room doing sudokus for about 2 hours. After driving to the place where they actually GIVE you the lisence, we had a late lunch together. Wednesday, I finished my Easter shopping and took Emma to a pediatric OB. No worries--she is fine. I was supposed to work a WW meeting in Festus, but we ran too late. Had dinner at mom's. Today I am working my WW meeting from yesterday. I will also clean house (no time for regular weekend cleaning this weekend), and file a bunch of papers from like last year at this time.

Tomorrow both kids will be with me as each of them is off school now. Taking them first to my dentist and hopefully, then home for some R&R (yeah, right). Saturday is my cousin, Anne's, wedding and Sunday is Easter. Fun. fun . fun. Whys is SB always busier than a normal week?

Speaking of Easter, why is it the only holiday that does not have a set day on the calendar? The first Sunday after the first full moon following the vernal equinox, are you kidding me? Why not just have that baby on the second Sunday in April? And why is the vernal equinox not on the same day evey year--March 20 or March 21--your guess is as good as mine. humph.

Emma has it stuck in her little mind that we hunted for eggs at our house last year. Gee, speaking as the Easter Bunny herself, I would think that I would remember hidding those suckers. Now she has James convinced that they will be searcing for eggs inside the house this Sunday morning. How come the Easter Bunny never hid eggs at my house when I was a kid? He always hid ours at our Grandparents' houses.

In the last two years, I have tried to avoid giving a ton of candy in the baskets. Toys, movies, etc,...I guess that is how Easter ends up to be almost as expensive as Christmas, huh? Emma told me not too long ago that she wants the Easter Bunny to bring her an alarm clock. "I want to be a big girl and get up by myself in the morning." So, when do I get to kiss on her to wake her up?

She does not want to stay with us after school--gotta go to the friend's house. She does not want me to wake her up with kisses anymore. When does the mommy torture end? Who said it was ok for her to grow up? Speaking of which, I am not sure that I ok'd them to teach my kid to read. Easter and Christmas lists MUST be hidden now. How dare them!

I might have a hard time 8 inches from now, when Emma does not need to have a booster seat. Which will be harder--fighting with James, because he still is not tall enough to go without, or knowing Emma is growing up so fast?

James got his first taste of soap Tuesday. I made him lick the bar of soap so he knew what it would taste like if I ever had to clean is dirty mouth. Orbit does not clean the mouths of dirty words like it says in the commercials. When I asked him last night at dinner, "what happens when you use mean words?" he sure did remember the nasty taste. About cried right there. Inside my head, that was pretty funny.

Parenthood has it's moments, but it is also pretty funny.

Happy Easter.

More time off work

I cannot remember the last time I had SO much time off of work. Maybe because I don't remember actually loving my job as I do now. Yesterday was day 7 off for inclement weather. Today, I am off half of a day, because Emma began the day with a fever high enough to keep her home from school. Of course, she couldn't have done this yesterday or the day before when we were home anyway. lol Her last dose of meds was 6am. Seven hours later, she is fever free. Glad for that, now 'go to school little girl.' JK.

We are now into June for our last day of school for the 07-08 year. THis has not happened since I worked at Bayless. Unfortunately, NW does not schedule snow days into the calendar. One day off equals one day more at the end of the year.

None of this would be bad except that means that summer school is pushed further into July. They are talking about ending summer school on July 11. Again, normally NBD. I was hoping to make our trip to Chicago an annual trip (surprise, Joe). THe kids had a great time. And like I was telling my brother on the phone the other day, between summer school ending late and me volunteering for a girl scout camp the last week of July, it only gives me 2 weeks off this summer. I will have to get back right after GS week to interview my new students and parents for the new year.

Tomorrow is a teacher grading day. Next week we work with students for 3.5 days and have Parent/teacher conferences for 2 of those nights. THen Spring Break. Emma (and consequently, James) will have school for 4 days of my 5 SB days. This will be a nice reprieve. Spider Solitaire, bring it on. I like those days. It gives me a chance to meet up with my old Festus freinds and bring them lunch or just stop by for a chat.

Let's hope it warms up, stays that way for a while.

Everyone is growing up around here

Everyone around here is getting older. Emma celebrated 6 years of life. James will be 4 in May. Don't tell him that though, he REALLY wants to be 5. Something to be said about ridding the school bus. Kevin will be taking his drivers test in a couple of weeks. They all make me so proud. lol....

Life is going to be so different around here with two legal drivers. Kevin will be able to transport the children around. THis has been a real obstacle for all of us. He can also drive when we go out on dates. Sorta sucks that he doesn't drink, but I do occassionally. He can't be the DD when we go out, b/c the law does not allow him to do so.

Be even better when his DWI debt is paid off. Don't get me wrong, I am not on a pitty pot right now. EVerything is just happening all at once and it is like WOW a fun reality is about to hit.

We will have the car we bought from my brother paid off soon. THat is soooo exciting. It will be totally amazing what we can do when we don't have to save so much for daycare. WHew. THe 08-09 school year will be the last of the major DC expenses. Then the kids will just be $25 a week per kid for morning pick up for the bus. They will both take the bus home from school.

I do have a long term plan for what to do with all of that freed up DC money. This year we pay for a car for Kevin. Next year we get a deck. The following year, I have plastic surgery (ask for details if you want--I won't post it online), and then Disney. The deck and the surgery may be switched, we will see. It will happen before I am 40 though. (the surgery, that is.)

My job is GREAT. I got renewed for another year with Northwest R1 school district in House Springs Mo. I LOVE it. I could not have asked for a better job.

Not much else going on around here. I will have more free time in the future. I am giving up the girl scout leader thing. I want to be there when BOTH of the kids are involved in activities. And I do enjoy picking up shifts at Weight Watchers.

Lots going on around here

A lot has been happening since my last post. I have not had time to hit it. James was laid up for about 4 days with a fever, cough, runny nose thing. Apparently, it is going around. Although, I have to say that we did not have things as bad as some. My brother, Ed and his family have been hit with something aweful. Get well guys.

Emma had her bi-annual heart doctor visit. Everything turned out fine, as it has since the operation in 2002. We also visited with the teacher for conferences. Things are going well, if only she would keep her mouth closed while the teacher is talking.

I am giving up the Girl Scout leader thing for next year. Something is not right, when I put more effort into that than I do my full time job. And the parents...are worse than...why would you criticize someone who is doing something for FREE to better your child? I don't understand. Much better to be an active mom than to be the leader. Besides, Kevin's retail job won't let him take off for every event that the leader is supposed to attend.

I spent last night with my Dad, Joe and Lois playing games and eating dinner for my Dad's 60th birthday. Halfway through the game, we found out that we were scoring the game wrong. Too bad for me this would have been THE FIRST TIME EVER for me to beat Joe at some kind of board game--you can't win at scrabble, othello is doable...Once we figured the correct score, I ended up in third (not that that is important). Fun was had by all.

We got to talking about the ages of people. I am having a hard time saying out loud that my daughter is turning 6. Not a problem with telling anyone that I will be 37 this year, but BOY does that make Joe old. Hee Hee Hee. Of course he tells me, "that means that you will be in your upper 30's this year." We have fun like that.

My sister had her baby. (Before the last post.) Morgan Mary. I hope that all is well with everyone. I wish so much that I could go out there, but the cost is just not something that I could handle right now. We do thank her for sending us pictures. This kids like seeing them and learning who their cousins are from CA.

I have been working hard a wedding gift that I will be giving in March. I am pretty pumped up about it. I am thinking about doing the same for me. A binder with all of the recipes that I use IN ONE PLACE. Who would have thought of such a thing? Why not? Beats having recipes in 7 or 8 different cookbooks. Not sure why I though you should know, other than this project took up some time and kept me busy for a while. Funny, it did not bother me. I had fun doing it.

Kevin is doing well. He tells me that he celebrated 9 months of sobriety earlier this month. This is the longest that he has been sober. I am proud of him. If you are one who prays, pray for his continued success in the AA program and with his sobriety. We have enjoyed the "new" daddy/husband a lot lately.

God Bless.

All is Right with the (my) World

I have been relfecting lately on all of the things that I am grateful for, and there are so many things on the list. I won't bore you with details. I was doing some reading and some online work, when it dawned on me. (Don't tell my mom--she may not be well after this, if she doesn't already know.) Ok, I was not hit on the head with a two-by-four, it was more like a gradual "dawning".

At first, I just thought that my contacts needed to be replaced. That did not help. For a while, I thought maybe I should not do so much reading and computer work after doing a lot of the same all day at work. But I was having the same problems on the weekends. I NEED READING GLASSES.

SHhhh. Mom will think she is really old. I am not having as hard of a time with this as I did when I found my first gray hair. I know. Many of you think that gray hair is no big deal. But I was in a small state of depression over this. The eye thing is wierd. I have had glasses for the better part of my adult life, but to need them to read, is just not right.

Emma thinks the glasses are soooo cool. What does she know? Her biggest problem right now is that some kid in the morning daycare makes fun of her big ears, which, by the way CAN be covered with her beautiful curly hair. Wait until she reaches the age of pimples and boobs when her classmates don't even know what those things are. (Being a parent is a great place to get comedy routine material.) Sorry, when she told me this, I had no choice but to laugh a bit.

James is doing well. This week he had a superb week at school so I treated the family to McDonald's playplace. Guess what happened? James albeit got kicked out of the place for using violence on the slide. That's my bubba. Ruin a good time by doing the exact thing we have been working so hard to prevent at the reward lunch. How Stupid? Well, he is only 3 and still learning. He cried about how sorry he was the whole way home. Do you think that he will remember this for the next time that we are doing something cool?

Kevin is doing a fine job. His work keeps him away from home--retail hours SUCK by the way. He is still working his program to the best of his ability. Clean and sober for almost 9 months. We are still in the honeymoon stage of our "second" marriage. Outside of the aweful Home Depot hours, I am loving it.

Looks like I will be picking up a WW meeting for people working at a local retirement home. The lady who recruited me wants me so bad that she is willing to set up a play area for the kids to be while I am working with the people. This is so exciting. The money is better than the other positiions that I hold with the company. If I can pick up a meeting like this in my school building, I won't have to work anymore Saturdays. This will make up for all of that time. My day job is going well. Administration took my TA and moved her to another building to fill a vacancy. We hired a new girl. She starts Tuesday. I am excited and anxious all at the same time. My boss gave me sole responsibility in choosing the replacement. Gee, I hope it works out. So much pressure. It will be nice to have regularity back.

I am so grateful to have the job that I do. I was telling some former students what and where and to whom I teach today while at McD's. They laugh and make fun, because all of my students have been in some major trouble. But I truely do have the best job. I am having the best time of my life right now, and no one can take that away.

Thank you, God.

The D in DMV

Last month, I bought my brother's car from him. We recently had the thing inspected. Being that the car is only 3-4 years old, we were not surprised that it did pass the safety inspection. However, I was a bit floored that the emissions did not pass. Did you know that only certain counties of some states have to pass emissions tests? In Festus, where we live, we require the emissions test. (Fast forward through a lot if I sound ignorant of a lot of this.) Illinois, in the young life of the car, did not require emissons testing. We are 25 miles from STL. Mom has her car registered in Farmington, in a county that can't be another 15-20 miles south from where we live. They don't have to get an emissions test. But I digress.



The Midas man was a bit confused as well, for a couple of reasons. One, the car is NOT that old. TWO, the car did not fail on his little hand held device. He hooked the car up to the State's machine and once again did not pass enough to give me my sticker. How stupid. Then as Murphy's Law would have it, the State's machines were shut down for a bit. Whatever that means, I was there for just about two hours.



He scheduled me to come back in the morning to find out if the car would pass on the State's machine this time--in hopes that their machine was up and running. It was. And the car did not pass. So, we are given these instructions that are most absurd. For one sensor to be reset, we are to drive the car 40mph for 2 minutes. OK. For a different sensor to be reset, we are to drive it for 20-25 minutes between 40 and 45 mph. Where can you do that safely, without any starts or stops? Again, how stupid.



Well, we did it. And I'll be darned if it really did reset the sensors. When I took the car back to Midas, of course, I thought that I would be there for a while, so I took the kids at dinner time with McD's in hand. As soon as I had the kids' meals unpacked on the little coffee table in the waiting area, the man comes out and says, "it passed." Well, I'll be GD. That is a lot of drama for one little Corolla.



Remember when I used to name my cars? There was Betty the B---- and Elliot the Escort. That must make this one Corolla the #@! I can't say that. Carrie the Corolla.



So does the D stand for dammed or discontented? maybe dumb or

Our New Year--2008

This would have to be my first blog ever. I am kind of excited about having something that the kids can read later in life, besides my handwritten notes. The year 2007 proved to be a very trying one for all of us. Kevin and I nearly split up permanently. Emma broke her collar bone, and James was potty training for a good portion of the year. (Well, he got the pee down well, the poop took a while.)

Now that Kevin is sober, life is wonderful. This is just how I always thought that life should be. We are falling in love all over again. He is gone alot to either work or meetings, but the times when he is here are more family oriented. He is the Dad that the kids have been 'missing' all these years.

Emma is in kindergarten and LOVING it. We only have two days left of Christmas break and she is counting down the days until she "gets" to go back to school. I love that. She is reading and writing and nothing is a secret anymore.

James cannot wait to be 5 so that he can also go to kindergarten. He wants to be just like his sister. He is becoming more and more like a big boy. In November, he gave his blanket to Santa in hopes that Santa would change the embroidered name and give it to another little baby boy who might need it. He doesn't need it anymore, because he is a big boy now.

We are all looking forward to a new year in Christ. Our family resolutions is to take a day or two of each week and read the bible together as a family. This will allow us to instill our spiritual beliefs in the kids. We are no longer practicing Catholics. We attend an non-denominational church in Pevely, MO. Kevin and I were saved and water baptized this year. For me, it was the most emotional, spiritual experience that I have had with God in my life. I cannot wait to share this with my kids.

We will also continue to make our 12 step programs a high priority.