I'm still here!

I've started to write a few blog entries but I type a few words and then POOF the writing mojo is gone. No idea why but that's why I haven't written in awhile.

I got a surprise Thursday evening. Mark, Katie, Robbie and I were eating supper when I heard the front door opening. In rapid fire succession these thoughts tumbled through my head "check, check, check, we're all sitting here..........then who the hell is just walking into our house?!?!.......why isn't the door locked.........why isn't Mark alarmed by this??........." That was all in a split second and I was up out of my chair heading towards the front door ready to kick some stranger out of my house. I came around the corner with Katie and Robbie behind me and see Samantha about the time Katie yells, "Sissy!!!" My first comment to her? "What the hell are you doing here?!?" Ah, nothing like motherly love to make you feel at home! LOL Mark knew she was driving from Wichita that day and they kept in contact through the cell phones. Katie knew she was coming but not on Thursday. Robbie, the dogs and I were left in the dark. She brought out a car load of her stuff before the move next month.

Which brings me to the next item: the post-college job hunt is not being kind to her in the Wichita area. Her lease is up in June so she's moving here to look for a job that will pay her bills without her working 24/7. She's never minded working a lot of hours so that's not the problem. It's just finding a job, or two, that will allow her to cover her expenses and actually have a few hours to sleep too! Indy was named the top city for job seeking college graduates this year so hopefully one of those jobs will belong to my brilliant, hard working newly graduated from college daughter! All employers having just read that please contact me and I'll get you in touch with her! ;-)

Alumni week-end a couple of weeks ago was great! I'll have to post on that sometime soon!

Rainbow at the end of the crapstorm

I know I'm tempting fate but you know what I'm going to live dangerously! I think we're actually having a respite from the crapstorm of the past year. Maybe it's just the eye of the crapstorm hurricane but it's wonderful to have some time to regroup and not feel like we're having to bail out the life boats 24/7!

Tuesday night was the parent info meeting for the REACH program at Robbie's school. I think this is going to be a wonderful fit for him! The teachers were going through a list of personality traits of "gifted" kids (I dislike that word because it seems pompous to me. ALL my kids are gifted just in different ways! But I digress....) and Mark and I kept looking at each other like "Check, he's got that!" The teachers warned that there is an adjustment period at the beginning of the school year because these kids have never really had to THINK before. Most of the material they see in class they automatically get and don't have to figure out how to figure things out basically. I related to that myself. I never studied in high school and was still second in my class (yes, it was only 15 that graduated but I was still second! lol) but once I got to college I felt like I was struggling to keep my head above water. I don't want that for any of my kids! But everything they were saying at this meeting just felt like a balm to my stressed out Mama's soul! I had tears in my eyes on the way home talking about it to Mark. Then the clouds parted (no, seriously they really did! lol) and the evening sun's rays were shining down and looking like a light from Heaven. I know you've all seen what that looks like! I said "I hope that's a sign!" I'm taking it for one anyway!

Funny part was when we were talking to the teacher for next year she said Robbie's current teacher had great things to say about him. Mark and I both asked "She did?!?!"

Yesterday was my birthday. Mark and the kids made me a chocolate cake which was uniquely and beautifully decorated! I'll have to keep the pictures uploaded soon. And the pictures are from my combo birthday/Mother's Day present that I went and got. Mark used my camera over the week-end and complained about the lag time between being able to take pictures. He told me to not worry about the costs and to go get myself a new one. So I sucked it up and I did! A Canon PowerShot SX 110 IS wish a 10x optical zoom! I played around with it yesterday and took pictures through our back door since it rained all day. I was able to zoom in on a house on the other side of the pond and pick out the details on their grill! LOL Niiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiice! Then last night I played around with it and took pictures of the beautiful tulips Sam sent me. I'll have to get it all uploaded soon!

And then this week-end I'm heading back to Rankin for my 25th high school reunion. A month or so ago I wasn't even sure I was going to go and now I can't wait for Saturday! The last I heard 11 out of 15 are going to be there and I'm surprised by how much I'm looking forward to seeing everyone and catching up again! I'm also surprised by how many memories have been crashing and tumbling over each other in my head! Things that would mean nothing to anybody else but would get an "Oh yeaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah" and a smile from us. I know that's true for everyone, there's just something when it's your own set of memories though. And then go further and go into the one-liners that my best friend, Sharon and I could spout off to each other and be able to have entire conversations in just a few words where no one else would know what we were talking about....... to quote Sam, "Good times, good times!"

My own little Rainbow Connection!

It's a new dawn, it's a new day...

..and I'm feeling good. Go ahead, sing along with me! I was just thinking how many of my posts refer to music. There are so many songs that take me to particular moments in time or the lyrics just seem to fit my mood at the time. Must be why my musical tastes are wide and varied!

But the reason for my feeling good? The day before yesterday Robbie brought home a letter from the school saying they wanted to put him in advanced math next year. He'll be in fourth grade but would be doing at least fifth grade math. I wasn't suprised since he can often grasp Katie's homework before Katie, and even me sometimes, can. I was a little surprised after this school year that THEY finally acknowledged his abilities though!

Then in the mail yesterday I got a letter from the school district saying that Robbie had tested well enough to be placed in the entire advanced program! Whoo-hoo!!! I had to pick him up early from school for a doctor's appointment so I took both letters in with me to ask why we got two different letters. The secretary gave me a somewhat twisty/turny explanation but said he did qualify for the advanced program. There's an info meeting next week we'll be going to to get more answers. I'm just so happy for him! And I have to admit the mama lion in me said "HA!" when I thought of certain school personnel! (I never claimed to be mature all the time!) Robbie said he wasn't sure he wanted to do it because he wouldn't be in the same class with one of his friends but when I told him his teacher had already told me she was recommending they not be in the same class next year because she thinks they "might visit too much" that seemed to help. I also hope that means he won't be in the same class with the little snot that's been tormented him all year....and "snot" is not the word I wanted to use!

I'm just going to enjoy being happy over this "win" for him in a school year that's been so topsy turvy!

It's a new dawn, it's a new day and I'm feeling goooooooooooooooooood!

Summery Sunday

We have by-passed spring and went from cold to hot it seems. Don't get me wrong, I'm still not a fan of the cold temps but I could use a little springtime action too! It's been hot and a tad muggy today. And right now I'm wondering which of my neighbors is outside using some sort of power tool in the dark! It wasn't THAT hot that they had to wait for the sun to go down to play with electricity in the dark!

We're having some computer issues here especially on Facebook. It will just lock up and you can't even ctrl/alt/del out of it without waiting an eternity. I tried deleting some stuff today and defragmenting it and tonight I deleted a bunch of Facebook apps off my account (I'll leave Mark's for him) to see if that helps but so far no luck. I'd love to get a new computer but that's just not in the budget right now. (siiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiigh) I was planning on getting a new camera (mine is slowly dying) for a birthday/Mother's Day present but thanks to dental bills and vet bills I don't see that happening either. Sometimes being a responsible adult is highly over-rated!!!

But in less than two weeks now I'll be headed to Rankin, IL for my 25th high school reunion. How the heck did that happen?!? I don't feel old enough to be out of school for 25 years.......well, ok, somedays I DO feel old enough but that's besides the point! Right now it sounds like we have 2/3 of our class coming back for it. We had such a large class too......15 graduating seniors in 1984! Boggles my kids' minds! LOL I went from a big elementary school in Louisville, KY to Rankin when I was in the sixth grade, biiiiiiiiiiiig change! I was talking to my BFF from high school (for the third time this week) today and we were talking about things and we agreed that there were times we were more like a group of squabbling siblings than just classmates. There are several people I don't think I've seen in 25 years and it's funny the closer to Alumni it gets the more memories start crowding back into my brain. I wasn't even sure I wanted to go to it this year for a variety of reasons but the closer it gets the more excited I get! It will be fun to see everyone who shows up and then everyone else at the banquet from the other classes too! '84 parties more! Didn't we have great poetic rhyming skills?! lol

Biggest Loser

First I'm going to talk about the show and then how it applies to me so if you've recorded this past week's episode and not watched it yet then you want to stop reading my blog now! Okay, then I guess that means the rest of you have either watched it or don't watch the show at all and don't care, if you don't watch it then this first part won't matter to you but here goes........... I was SHOCKED at Ron's whispered conversation with Mike! I feel for them and I like Mike but Ron has been rubbing me the wrong way for a few episodes now. I was starting to feel like he was shifty and he just confirmed that on this week's episode. And from her comments before leaving I think Kristin had his number! She was my favorite and I really wanted her to win but I bet she wins the "at home" prize. Mike WAS my second favorite but after his "Yeah, I think I'm going to win it" at the elimination table I don't know. He HAS broken records and he has worked hard but I'm wondering if I haven't misjudged his true character. And yes, I do realize I'm talking like I know this people personally but I think most of the fans of this show DO feel that way! Now I don't know who I want to win. Not Ron. Helen irritates me. I lost respect for Fillipe when he blamed Jillian for not working with him and not taking the blame for his over indulging during their "night of luxury". Tara has seemed cocky to me but maybe she's entitled to that after this season? Right now I think she's my favorite but I do think Mike will win.

I really related to a lot of the things Kristin has said in her interviews. I've related to a lot of the contestants but this week when Kristin said she's afraid to voice the things she wants for fear of them being yanked away I SO got that! That is me. It's a mentality of "if people know how I really feel or what I really want then something in the universe will prevent me from getting it" so you plod along in the same self destructive habits while getting angry about it but not feeling entitled to voice that anger or brave enough to do something about it. Don't draw attention to yourself, keep your head down and put up barriers so people won't look your way. I ask why I bawl during every episode but I know why. I could be one of those contestants, I get what they're saying.

And after a recommendation from my friend, Sarah, (I don't know how to turn her name into a link but she's here too) I read the book "The Amazing Adventures of Diet Girl". I wanted to cry during parts of that book too. Excellent book but if you're like me be ready to possibly see yourself in the proverbial mirror when you read it! She would eat out of frustration, boredom, anger, etc. I DO that! And you (generic 'you' there) tell yourself it's the one thing you can control, what's going in your mouth, but you really aren't in control. In a way it's like taking every crappy thing ever said or done to you and just putting it into your gut.

So how do people get beyond that and maintain? I wish I knew. I wish I could do that.

And now I have my 25th high school reunion in two weeks which is just bringing all these careening into the forefront of my mind for me. I weigh considerably more now that I did when I graduated. I've gained more than my son currently weighs. Imagine how having that visual smacks you in the face! Ugh, ugh and triple ugh!

And I wish you could hear my "tone" as I'm typing this. It's not boo-hoo, woe is me, but more of a quizzical "how do they do that and why can't I?"

Bring on the rain....

the thunderstorms forecasted for today that is. There's just something about a stormy Sunday afternoon. I don't feel as guilty for being a slug when it's storming outside! Strange philosophy but it works for me!

We will be trekking down to one of the Indy malls today though so Katie can use her "free animal" gift card that Build A Bear sent to her for her birthday. Slick marketing ploy if it works for them but I've already laid down the guidelines about how we will NOT be accessorizing this animal beyond a shirt! Katie and Robbie both have several animals from BABW that they got during the timeframe Sam worked at the one in Wichita. I don't think one "bare bear" in the bunch will be too catastrophic for anyone!

Katie has once again earned her Bronze Award in Girl Scouts. She did it with her troop in Kansas and now again with her troop in Indiana. All the girls did a good job Friday night during the event and clean up went pretty fast. There were a few moms (not from our troop) who were standing around talking and not showing any signs of leaving until one of our troop dad's called out "Oh, you all stayed to help clean? Great!" Feet started moving pretty quickly after that! LOL

Yesterday we went to part of Robbie's scout pack's camp out. Since they were forecasting rain and he missed a day of school last week due to the crud we didn't think camping out all night was a healthy idea for him but he did just about everything else. Katie and I left early but the guys stayed a couple of hours longer. We were there for the raingutter regatta, unfortunately Robbie didn't place but he had a cool looking ship! Once I get the pictures onto the computer I'll have to post one.

I THINK my schedule is relatively clear this week (I probably shouldn't say that too loudly! lol) other than Katie's b-day on Saturday. She wants her cake to be chocolate with chocolate frosting and with the green decorator icing. Any guesses as to what sort of "theme" she'd like it to have? She asked if we'd take her to Ireland when she graduates high school if that tells you anything! The child knows my lacking cake decorating skills so this should be interesting!

I want money, lots and lots of money.....

c'mon...sing with me...hopefully you're old enough to know the words to the song!

To say life has been stressful lately is an understatement. But I've been just bobbin' along, going with the flow, as much as possible, hence no dark and twisty posts! I'm not even going to go into it all because I just don't want to rehash it or think about it. But I will say to those that pray keep Mark in your prayers that his health issues clear up ok!

But today while cleaning and looking at the sunshine I thought "Tomorrow maybe I'll go out and maybe do some scrapping shopping." Because I just knew that $645.80 bill we got from the dentists' office had to be a mistake and they just hadn't filed something. And I just knew that someone in scouts had made a mistake and we didn't still owe $90 for Robbie's scout camp this summer. HA! My luck doesn't run that way, you'd think I'd quit attempting to be optomistic in that way! I spent quite a bit of time on the phone with the dentists' office today. I did manage to get $90 taken off the bill because they told me at Katie's appointment that our insurance company said Katie's panoramic x-ray would be covered but apparently they didn't cover it so the office charged us for it. And they found a $3 charge off they should have taken off so now we ONLY owe $532.80. I still say that we've never had a discrepancy of that much before, I think our old dentist may have written off more than this new one will.

And Robbie's pack dues are more than I realized so the check we wrote in February covered that and the DEPOSIT for camp so we DO owe that $90. Throw in the $175-some we'll owe on Katie's camp in July on top of every other bill and Katie's birthday coming up and I will NOT be going shopping anywhere tomorrow.

It is what it is and it's all part of being an adult but for this moment I'm going to stomp my foot and say "This stinks!" ;-) I need a PAYING job!

I DO get to spend my Friday night helping at Katie's scout troop's event to earn their Bronze Award even though Katie has already earned hers in Kansas. I SHOULD feel good about being a good person and helping out and that should be its own reward but when I wanted to do something for myself for a change that's not much comfort! lol

And my tentative plan for someone to watch Katie and Robbie while Mark and I drove to Illinois for my 25th high school reunion (ouch!) fell through because the neighbors are going out of town so now I don't know if I'll be able to go to that either. It's the night before Mother's Day so I don't want to ask any of their friends' moms if they could spend the night. Nobody wants to watch someone else's kid on Mother's Day.

So now I'll go back so singing about how I want money and go chop up meat for stir fry. A couple of good WHACKS on the cutting board out to help!