Sittin' on the dock of the bay...

My Aunt and Uncle that had the pig roast had a Birthday Party for their son (my cousin, of course) last night. It gave me the opportunity to get a picutre of their new dock. They decided to put a big pond behing their house with a dock. It looks REALLY good. I guess it will eventually fill up, but for now it is a big mud hole. But it still looks good!

The Pig Roast

My Aunt and Uncle's 16th annual Pig Roast was held on 8/13/05. We arrived late, around 6pm, and hung out at my sister's new camper. We also took our dog, Teddy, with us, because we did not want to leave him home alone for what we thought would be several hours. The Pig Roast usually begins around 4PM, at least that is what the invitations say. We usually go earlier - around 1 or 2 PM, but this day was particuarly hot and humid, and I did not really feel like chasing after Conor the entire day. After we arrived, the rain came. It was a welcome relief! Jeff, Ceara, Conor, and I took Teddy for a walk back to the barns behind the house. It was half-way there that the rain came. I certainly didn't mind it! Although, I had spent a little time straigtening my hair out, and the rain was undoing that!

I know, I know, who fixes their hair for a pig roast?? Not usually me, but you see, I had gotten another hair cut the day before. And I got several layers cut, as well as BANGS. I have not had bangs for well over 10 years, I believe, and when Glenda suggested them, my response was "sure, why not? I need a change." I had no idea that my hair would spring up in curls like I had just gotten a perm. I know my hair has a natural wave to it, but I didn't think it could be THIS curly! And my bangs? If they were straight, I could deal with them. But the curly, unmanagable mess that they are? Not used to them yet. So I straightened all my hair before the pig roast. And the rain just made it curl right back up!

Oh, well, it was kinda worth the cooling off. We stayed back in the barn for a little bit, allowing Conor to sit on a big tractor. Then when it appeared to lighten a bit, we walked back to the camper. Needless to say, we were soaked. I certainly didn't mind, but Ceara and Conor were cold. So Ceara got her pajama's out and put them on, and Conor had to wear some too, as you can see by the picture above. After it quit raining and everyone was dried off a bit, we went wandering about. The band was playing, so we went over to the big tent next to the stage. Conor LOVES to dance. So off he went to the dance floor to cut a rug... (second picure).

We didn't end up staying very long. Conor hadn't been feeling well, allergies or something like them, and he didn't want to stay late. So around 9:45pm, we headed home - Jeff, Ceara, Conor, Teddy, and me. You may be asking, where's Allie? Well she is just way too cool to hang out with her mom at such an event, and we rarely saw her the entire night. She stayed to spend the night and since she didn't lower herself to acutally spend any time near us, I didn't get the opportunity to get any pictures of her. The teenage years have almost begun.... God help me. :)

Pretty Flowers

Conor and I went shopping the other night while Allie was at soccer practice and we saw this pretty bouque of flowers and had to get them. They are, of course, dyed, but they were so colorful and pretty that we had to get them. I wanted to preserve the image, so I took a few pictures. They are still looking very good on my dining room table. :)

Teddy

Here is a recent picture of Teddy, in a playfull "pounce" pose. He is now 9 months old and is getting big. He is a pretty good dog, other than the chewing of everything in site! He has a fondness for shoes, so if you happen to leave them out, he will chew on them. I try to keep all the doors to bed rooms closed, so that we can keep our shoes unharmed, but that doesn't always work because we usually take our shoes off at the door. He hasn't done any major damage, thus far. I buy him all kinds of bones, ropes, chew toys, everything I can think of, but it does not distract him from shoes, or the kids toys if they are laying around. I guess he will eventually grow out of it. I hope so anyway! :)

Stress Relief

Wow, today is only Tuesday and already it has been a long week! Starting with Monday, I was looking for some paperwork needed that I could not find. I came home for lunch and went through every file in our filing cabinet, every "bucket" in the garage (plastic storage bins), closets, drawers with no luck. It could not be found. But in doing so, I noticed that there were several duplicate files in the filing cabinet. Files that I had made and Jeff had made, also, but they were in different drawers. And all kinds of junk mail or various forms of paperwork in "Junk Drawers" where it had been put to "quick clean" the kitchen counters. Wow that all needs organized! Back to work, sweaty after being in the garage moving bins around, with no paperwork, to the normal busy work Monday. After work, I needed to get Allie and take her to get some soccer cleats and shin guards because soccer practice starts on Tuesday. So off to Mom's to pick her up and drop Conor off, so that I don't have to deal with a 2 year old in the mall. We get everything needed and go back to get Conor, but he doesn't want to go. He wants to stay and play with Mimi and ride on the 4 wheeler. Mom just recently got the 4 wheeler and Conor loves to ride on it! We do finally get home somewhere around 8pm, not much time left in the night, but I am worn out anyway, so that is fine. Allie, Conor, and I play blocks in the living room. Allie and I build them up and Conor knocks them down. Time for bed, tomorrow is a new day!

Well, tomorrow isn't a better day! I get up this morning and go to take a shower - no hot water. Ugghhhh! OK, so I get ready and have to go and wake Conor up to get him ready. My normal morning guy does not want to get up today. He gives a bit of a hard time, but eventually gets up and ready. I get to work and I am feeling a little grimy, but not too bad, I did shower yesterday after all! But I am a little sluggish and have a lot on my mind that I need to get done. We have a "warranty guy" coming to the house today @ 1PM to see what all needs fixed for our 1 year warranty on our house. I need to do a little work at the house - some straightening up - so I plan to leave work around noon or a little after, but then if the warranty guy takes a while, that would mean a LONG lunch. So with all the filing issues, I ask if I can just take 1/2 day vacation. My boss approves, so I hurry to get as much done as I can and head home.

As I am pulling up to my house, there is a truck parked in front of it. It is only 12:20 - it can't be the warranty guy! But it is. Then he tells me that a visitor across the street at my neighbor's house just backed into his truck, so he has to wait on the police and would be in shortly. I am sorry for his bad luck, but glad that I had a little time to straighten up. I go into the house and Allie is finishing up the pots and pans that were in the sink. Thank God for Allie. She has been such a big help to me lately. She had done a lot of the straightening, with only a little left to do. So she directs me when I walk in that I should straighten the couch covers while she finishes something else. :) It made me smile that she was telling me what to do - a little role reversal. We get it done and the warranty guy is only here for about 20 minutes. He checks the hot water heater and finds the pilot light is out, so he tells me that he will send someone over today to get that re-lit so I can take a shower. JOY!

He leaves and I set about gathering all the various papers throughout the house. I get my shredder and the trash can set up and I go to work. I check in on my work email throughout the afternoon, just in case of an emergency. Then at 4:35 I tell Allie to get ready, that we would be leaving soon to go and get Conor then go to her practice that starts @ 5:30. At 4:45 I found the papers that I had been looking for! Filed with Jeff's taxes and school stuff - but not in the filing cabinet, setting out on the entertainment center. Great! But I need to send them to the person needing them and it would take forever to scan them! So I tell Allie, let's go - right now! I can run to work and fax them, then pick Conor up, then go to the park for practice. We shouldn't be too late, and a few minutes wouldn't hurt anyway.

So out the door we go. When we are going down the road Allie says "Mom, I have to use the bathroom." Well - you can either hold it until we get to work (about 10 minutes) or I can drop you off at Molly's (my sister) and then pick you up after I get Conor. She chose Molly's. So I tried to call on my way there to make sure it was OK with them, but by the time the phone was given to my brother-in-law, we were pulling in the drive. I quickly explained to him and left to go do what I needed to do. I get to work at 5:04 and there is no one there! Guess they all ran out of the door at 5. :) I go in, fax the paperwork, reset the alarm, lock the door, and go to get Conor. When I pull up to the sitter's house, it is 5:26 - only 4 minutes til practice. I run to the door, get Conor, get his shoes, tell the sitter why I am in a hurry, and out the door we go. 5:28. We go back to my sister's to get Allie, and as we were leaving, there is a blind spot in her road - kinda a hill - and as I went over the hill, an SUV was headed right for us. They were driving in the middle of the road, about to hit us head on! As soon as I saw it, I made a fearful noise (sucking in my breath) that made Allie look and do the same. I swerved a little to the right, but there wasn't anywhere to go, but they also swerved quickly enough and missed us. Barely. My heart was pounding! I had not been speeding, I already knew we were going to be late but was not in a rush at that point. But they certainly were speeding, as well as being in the middle of the road. We were certainly being watched over at that moment, and I am very thankful for that.

So Allie gets to soccer, I go with my mom to look at a couch for sale, and then pick Allie back up. We finally make it home around 7:30 and we are all starving. I make a quick dinner of grilled cheese and tater-tots, then we all relax in the living room for a bit. Conor wants to play blocks, so I tell him to bring them to the living room. Instead he comes out with a big ball.

Here is where the "Stress Relief" comes in. :) Bet you were wondering about that, huh?

He and Allie start playing, and we were all "passing it" back and forth. Then I come to my senses and say we shouldn't be doing that in the house... So Allie and Conor start a pillow fight with the couch pillows (they are small square pillows, for those of you who don't know). Allie throws one at Conor, he runs into his room so she misses, and he comes out and says "Missed Me!" hee hee. Then he throws it back at her. It comes nowhere close to getting her because he is too far away when he throws it, but he thinks it is funny anyway. She moves quickly and gets it, he runs to his room again, so when she throws it, it hits the door frame - not Conor - and he does it all again. It escalates to Allie moving to right outside his door and throwing them into his room. Although she hits him with the pillows (not hard), he still giggles and says "Missed Me!" So she laughs and says "I did NOT!". While this is all fun, and everyone is having fun, the best is yet to come.

We all go outside, Jeff and Allie sitting on the chairs on the front porch, me sitting on the step, and Conor running around. Allie brought her soccer ball out, so she and Conor are passing it back and forth down the sidewalk, Allie trying to get Conor to catch it. And he does - quite a few times. And he keeps moving further away from her. So when he throws it back, it doesn't quite reach her. So I start teasing her and saying "Sissy can't catch the ball!" and "She missed again!" hee hee. So Conor thought that was funny and he started saying it, too whenever she missed. Allie was a good sport, and acted indignant, but was laughing, too. Then Conor was standing about 3 feet from Allie and he threw the ball towards Jeff and said "Oh, Sissy missed AGAIN!" This sent me and Allie into rolling laughter, tears were forming in my eyes!

I suggested to Allie that she go out in the yard and pass the ball with him with their feet, or run around, something to wear Conor's energy out. Allie then suggested to Conor that they "race" across the yard. So they began running back and forth, and in circles, around the yard. Conor beat Allie (he would stop and turn around, or change the path, in the middle of the yard). She, of course was letting him win, but was still getting wore out. So she laid down in the grass, to catch her breath. Conor went over and bent his face down to hers and said "Wanna race, sissy?" She said she needed to rest, so he found another distraction. The water hose was laying nearby and he wanted to play with the water. I told him to go and turn it on. When he came back, he immediately sprayed Allie (she was still on the ground) - who squealed with laughter. He ran up to her on the ground and was spraying her head from 2 inches away. I told him not to get so close, but Allie was a very good sport, and did not get upset, she said she didn't mind.

Jeff and I were still sitting on the porch, laughing, when he turned on us! He started spraying us and Jeff immediately jumped up and ran into the house. I followed, but had to first grab the phone so it didn't get ruined, so I got a little more wet than he did. Then I was the one who had to go back out and get sprayed while walking up to Conor (trying unsuccessfully to shield the water with my hand) and getting the hose from him and turning the water off! Boy was he not happy about that. He got over it when we all went inside, because he followed. We dried off, got dry clothes on, then settled down to watch Ice Age. Conor fell asleep shortly after, and I came in here to write my blog. I feel more relaxed now, after having laughed so hard for so long.

So my kids were my comic relief tonight. I haven't laughed that hard in a long time. Time for bed now, I am yawning a lot! Good Night!

I finally got a new camera! It is a digital one, my 35mm broke and I have been wanting another camera for a while. I found one on an auction site - the one I have been eyeing for a long time, so I got it! While it was on an auction site, it is still brand new, and I got it for $100 less than what it is priced at the store. :) So now I can take more pictures for my posts!

The above pictures were taken at Jeff's family reunion. The first one is all of the people who were still there, and of course the second one is Conor. He had been swimming in a baby pool with some of the other kids.

Just thought I would share a couple! Have a good evening!

Does Age Really Matter?

Well, I am going to be 32 in a couple of days. It is strange thinking of myself as being in my 30's. In a lot of ways, I feel so old. When I think of everything I have done in my lifetime, it makes me feel old. In other ways, I don't feel any older than I did when I was 20. Allie is going to be 12 in less than a week. It seems strange that I have a daughter who is almost a teenager. Then I think of my mom, and I remember her when I was Allie's age. Did she feel the same way I feel now? That she wasn't really old enough to have children that old? And I still think of my parents and my aunts and uncles as being in their 30's or 40's. When they mention how old they are, even though I know how old they are, it is just hard for me to think of any of our ages in quantity of years.

My blogs are getting less funny.... I am going to stop this one now, and try again another time. :) Hope everyone has a good 4th of July!

How was your morning?

Well, today started off rather differently. Just before my alarm was to go off, Conor comes and climbs up the side of my bed and throws his "night night" (blanket) on me and said, "It's wet Mommy, I peed!" So I immediately sit up and throw it to the floor. Conor is there, on my bed, with no diaper on, all wet. So I get out of bed and then go to start the washer to get his blanket clean. It is a security blanket for him and I don't want him to have to go to the babysitter's without it. He followed me and pointed to the kitchen floor and said, "Mommy, I peed!" And there, right next to the trash can is a HUGE puddle of pee. Aaaarrrgh! OK. I put Conor in the shower and wash him off. Then I go to clean up the kitchen. I look into the living room and there is a dark, wet puddle on the carpet and a dark spot on the couch cover. How in the world does a 2 year old pee THAT much?? I see his diaper in the trash and feel it - completely dry. So I get a towel and clean up the carpet. I pull the couch cover off and put it in the laundry room. I clean it all up the best I can, then figure the rest can wait until later. I have to get ready for work and am already behind because of all this extra work.

I go into my bathroom and it occurs to me that I should let the dog out so that he has plenty of time to "go" before I leave. I go to get the dog and his collar is not on him. I look all around, nothing. So I woke Allie up and asked her if she took it off of him. She said yes. So I told her to get up and find it and put the dog out, I had to get ready for work.

I put Conor on my bed and turn on Cartoons and go to get into the shower. All of a sudden he is banging on my door asking for his "ba ba". I am trying to keep him from wanting it. So I fix him some juice in his cup and hand it to him. NO MOMMY, I WANT A BA! "Here is your juice, you don't need that ba," I say and go into the bathroom to take a shower. I lock the door so he can't come in and scream at me. So he lays down outside the door, yelling for his ba and kicking the door. I keep saying "Mommy's in the shower, go watch your cartoons." That doesn't work. So when I get out of the shower, I go and get him something to eat. He is satisfied with that and he eats it and drinks his juice.

So I rush and get dressed. It is 8:10 and we are getting ready to walk out the door. I get the blanket out of the washer and take it along, wet. The phone rings. I go over and look at the caller ID thinking it may be my boss or my babysitter - it's Naomi. And I think, "Sorry Naomi, I will have to call you later, I really can't talk right now." Hoping she gets my telepathic message, we head out the door. Then my cell phone starts ringing. I look and it is Naomi again, so I send the telepathic message again and get Conor situated in his car seat. OK, we are off. It is Tuesday and I am hoping Conor doesn't give me a hard time dropping him off. He did on Monday - his first day back to Cindy's after she took a week off. We get to Cindy's house and I explain what happened and give her the blanket to set aside until it dries. She takes it and puts it in the dryer, so we're good there. Conor doesn't fuss, he gives me a big hug and a kiss, and Cindy takes him off to see the new bunny they had just gotten on their vacation week. I arrive at work at approximately 8:35, explain the events of my morning, and everyone has a good laugh about it.

Time to get to work. I address my email problems, start auditing the completed calls for billing. I am on the phone when Naomi called again, I see her number flash across my ID screen, but I am unable to answer it - because I am talking to a customer and because I literally cannot answer the second line, just see who is calling. So I call her back when I get off the phone. I felt bad for not answering all her calls, or calling her back sooner, but she understood.

I didn't get to take lunch until 2PM, and I came home so that I could do a little more clean-up on the morning's accidents. I put the couch cover in the washer, fold the clothes in the dryer, and clean the carpet and couch again. Then it is time to go back. Finishing out a long day, I pick Conor up and call home to see if the girls still wanted to go to the grocery with me (they had told me at lunch that they did). Nope. So I tell them I will be home in a bit.

I have to go to the grocery because I haven't been in a while and we are out of everything - the staples especially - bread, milk, butter. I decide to go to Middletown Meijers because I also need to get some Potasium Pellets for our water "conditioning system". I passed Jeff on the highway, so I called him on his phone. He didn't answer, but called me once he got home. I told him my plan and asked if he wanted anything specific. He said "no".

Conor loves to ride in those "car" carts that they have, so when we got there, we went off to find one. Usually they are hard to find, but today there were THREE right there outside the door. Of course he wants the one that is blocked by all the other ones. They all look alike! But I go ahead and move the 2 and get the one he wants. So he is happy.

It takes us 1 1/2 hours to go through all of the isles, and the card is over-flowing with stuff. Partly because we have a lot, and partly because Conor wanted to put everything in the cart, so it was not neatly arranged. We finally get out of there and get home around 7:20pm. The reason I went to Middletown? The pellets, I forgot them. Oh, well, I am not about to go back now! We unload the car, I put all the groceries away, change Conor and get him some food. I had just sat down to check my email, and was responding to one, and Jeff woke up. He asked if I needed help with the groceries. No - I have them all put away and everything.

So he gets up and goes into the kitchen, then comes back and said "did you get any chips?" No - I didn't. I had considered it, but none of them sounded good to me, so I skipped it and thought I would come back. He goes back to the kitchen and comes back to ask if I got lunch meat. No - there were like 10 people in line at the deli and one person working. I didn't want to stand in line that long. So he says "well, what did you get?" I tell him to look in the fridge and pantry. He said "I did and I don't see anything. What did you get for lunch for the girls?" So I get up and go in the kitchen and show him everything I bought. I am really irritated because I had a long day and I gave him the opportunity to tell me if he wanted anything special. He didn't want to go to the grocery, but he wanted to complain about what I bought??? Then he proceeds to tell me how he approaches going to the grocery. Blah, blah, blah. I just stand there and throw daggers at him with my eyes. He finishes telling me how it is supposed to be done and I go an put shorts on and go outside to cool off before I go off on him.

I water the grass and walk around, not having the energy to really do anything else. Conor comes out and plays in the water a little bit. We go back in the house and get him changed, then sit on the couch doing goofy stuff and laughing.

The rest of the things that happened are just normal, every night things. Except Jeff decides to go to the movie store to rent some movies. He is gone for almost 2 hours and comes home with groceries. Yeah - chips and pre-packaged lunch meat. And he got some Pizza Rolls for the girls. I had bought a bag of those, too, but apparently when I was showing him what I got he didn't hear me say that. He interrupted my writing this blog to show me what he got. Good for him. Now he can have his lunch meat and chips, and eat them too.

I need some Calgon. Conor is asleep and I am going to go and relax a little bit before I go to bed. It is really late (11:45) and I have had a long day. I should really just go to bed, but I need to wind down a bit first. I sure hope tomorrow is a little better. :)

Poppers and New Things

Conor was sick a few weeks ago and when Jeff took him to the Doctor, she said to let him have lots of popsicles and some "suckers" that were actually medicine for kids. Well, Conor loves popsicles. He calls them poppers. It is so very cute! Popper, Mommy, Pease? Pitty Pease? How can someone resist that? He is getting more and more vocal. Saying things you just don't expect.

I say, Conor - come here please. And his response? Just a minute. If I go to the bathroom, I have to lock the door to have a little privacy, and he always knocks on the door. When I say "who is it?" he says "It's me mommy, Conor". It is so cute.

He also does this thing where he does something and then says "ta-da". Or when he wants to "present" something - anything. Jeff was on the computer and Conor came into the room telling Jeff something about the dog and come here, daddy. When he took Jeff to the kitchen, there was trash all over the floor where Teddy had gotten into it, and Conor said "ta-da" and spread his arms out. And when we come home from somewhere and he will come in and say "I'm home - it's me, Conor".

Another new thing - he just started going to a new babysitter last week, and he makes crafts there. He is so proud of all of his crafts, he says "I did that, Mommy" with a huge smile on his face and his eyes light up. It is soooo cute.

They are also learning "The Itsy, Bitsy Spider" at his baby-sitters. And he will just start singing it, without any prompting. He tries so hard to get it right. He says spider, sun, rain, and a bunch of jibber jabber, but it is so sweet. He is getting so big, and so smart! I love watching his face when he is telling me something. It is so expressive. Even when he is mad at me for not giving him "prizes" before dinner, or something else. He will look at me and say "you made me cry, mommy". Or to Jeff "you made me cry, Daddy".

He is doing pretty well at the new sitter's house. Her name is Cindy. She says he is the sweetest little boy she has ever had. He is very loving, a little shy, but very patient. Another child there took something out of his hands and he just looked at him, and turned to play with something else.

He did great on Monday. On Tuesday, he wanted to go back - when we pulled into the driveway at home, he said "I wanna go back, Mommy!" On Wednesday, he was good, too. Each day, showing me his craft and being so proud of what he made.

Then on Thursday, at nap time, he wanted his mommy. Cindy said he cried a little, but not too much, and just wanted his Mommy. When I asked him what was wrong, he said "I wanted my mommy - I cried and wanted mommy". I asked about the other kids who go there - 5 others, some part time - and he said they kept pulling on his shirt. There are 2 little, tiny girls there - they are a little over 1 and still a little shaky when they walk - and Cindy said they love Conor. They follow him around, and because they do not walk as well, they will pull on his shirt to help themselves up, or to keep themselves from falling. He doesn't like that, apparently. :)

On Friday, he didn't want to get out of the car when I took him to drop him off. I think it is just the newness of going somewhere everyday again, after being able to stay home with either Jeff or me all this time. I got him out of the car and went inside with him. I sat on the couch with him and held him. Then Zach came. He is 2 years old, too, and after he arrived, Conor got down from the couch and started playing with him. Then he was OK with my leaving. It only took 30-45 minutes. It's a good thing I have an understanding boss!

Of course when I got to work, he had to give me a hard time - something about bankers hours and how he wasn't sure I was coming in at all (I had called). Then I told him why, and he said he was sorry, that he knew how heart-wrenching it could be to see your child crying and he was totally fine with my being late. He said "I won't say anything else". I have a wonderful boss. :)

Anyway, Jeff picked Conor up a little early on Friday, and reported that Cindy said everything went well on Friday. So hopefully it will get easier. Today - Monday - he was ready to go back again. He went in and Zach was already there, and Cindy had a balloon that he and Conor started playing with, so he was fine with my leaving. Cindy said he did well today, no problems. So hopefully as the week goes on, it will only get better. :)

Allie had 2 friends spend the night with her on Friday night, and boy what a night! When we sat down to eat, they were both talking a mile a minute, very loudly, about everything. Conor sat there and just looked at them, I think wondering what language they were speaking, or how they talked THAT fast. And how much could one person giggle, anyway? It was very funny watching him watch them.

So then we had a bit of peace when they went out to the park to play. When they came back, they were bored - wanted to make something. So they made a cake. I gave them some icing, they made different colors and put the icing in bags, and decorated a cake. It was a very interesting cake. We of course took pictures, so if I ever get them developed, I will try to remember to put a picture on here. Then they decided they were going to "shove it in their mouths" kinda like they do at weddings. Giggling girls... They did it. But to give them credit - they cleaned up their messes also.

Then it was hair and make-up time. They did a pretty good job on each other's hair. But we were out of film, so no pictures of that. I think they all had fun while they were here. One thing is for sure - young girls are VERY giggly, and VERY loud! :)

My New Do

You know that hair cut I was telling you about? WELL! I went to work on Monday - the day after I got my cut - and I thought everyone would comment on it. First of all, after I washed it my self, I noticed how curly it had become, now that all the weight of the length had been taken off. So I put stuff in it, and made it all curly, and went into work. NO ONE NOTICED. Not one person. The first person to see me as I walked in - Robert. Just "hey Katie" and that is it. Then Jean. You would think the other female in the office would notice. But ... nothing. Ok, whatever. So I went to get some coffee, and when I was walking back, Dave said something so I went into his office. Well, he started bursting out LAUGHING!! And said - it looks like you just rolled out of bed! WELL! JERK! So I explained to him that I had just gotten my hair cut and it looked like that because it was CURLY now. "OH" was his only response. So then he went on about whatever work issue he had called on me about. Well, I went back to my desk just stewing! It was one thing to not notice, but quite another to burst out laughing!! It wasn't that bad!

So I vented to a co-worker of mine - I will not mention any names, to protect the innocent. He said he could understand a little about no one noticing, because he wasn't very observant and he didn't notice his wifes hair cuts, either, but he agreed that the laughing was uncalled for. He suggested some nice ex-lax brownies a-la Katie for Dave. :) Good idea! I liked it. He of course quickly said he was joking - but the thought was already planted. Hmmmm. Revenge! Laugh at my hair, will you??

But of course I didn't do it. Although I think he deserved it, I will forgive him. He is a pretty good boss, just not very observant, or smooth. And of course, no one really ever noticed. Of my entire family (aunts, uncles, cousins, sister, mother) the only other person who noticed and commented was my BROTHER-IN-LAW. Maybe other people noticed, but didn't want to say anything because they didn't like it. Oh, well. I like it, so that is all that matters. Maybe next time I will get a funky color. See if they notice that! :)

A Quiet Sunday

Well, recently, Aunt Naomi decided that she would like to get all 3 of our kids on the 3rd Sunday of each month, to take them to Church and spend some time with them. So, the first Sunday it happened was April 17th. Now, understand, our kids rarely all go someplace together at the same time so it was very quiet around here. I made an appointment to get my hair cut that afternoon, since I would have the time, and went to my Grandma's for Sunday dinner at noon. Of course everyone there asked me the same question - where are all your kids. So I told them - with their Aunt Naomi - she decided to take them to church with her every 3rd Sunday. Several responses were "Is this the first time? Well, better make the most of it, because it might not happen again", "All 3 of them?", and "Does she want some more?". Of course they were all joking, our kids are good kids, they can just be a handfull when you have all of them.

So I went to get my hair cut, and didn't have to worry about how long it took! I didn't have to be back quickly for any reason! So I got to catch up with Glenda - and she didn't have a lot of customers, so she styled my hair and took her time.

I think that is the first hair cut that I have gotten in YEARS that Jeff has actually noticed immediately. He said "Dang, I didn't know you were getting so much cut off!" Not that my hair is short now, but I got some layers put in it and when she styled it, she used a straightener, so that it was all different.

So then we were on our way to Naomi's to eat Jeff's belated Turkey dinner that she promised him. She and the kids had been working on it for the better part of the afternoon, after church. They all pitched it and helped - Ceara did the stuffing and the juice, Allie did the green bean casserole and helped with the peanut butter pie. Everyone notice my hair when I came in and commented on it - all positive comments. Jeff said something about the length, and Ceara had the perfect response - she said "Well, Dad, you always complain that you can't tell that she cut her hair because she doesn't get enough cut off to tell a difference. But now that she does, you complain about that, too. Make up your mind." Right on! :)

So we all ate dinner, then sat outside and watched the kids play basket ball, and talked. Naomi said the kids were all really good and they all pitched in and helped out without complaint. I don't understand why they are so nice and helpful, and try new things, when they are at other people's houses, but when they are here, they complain if we ask them to do anything. And try something new?? Yeah, right! OK, maybe I am exagerating a bit, but they are so much more willing to do things for other people!

Then Jeff joined in with the girls and they played "monkey in the middle" where they tried to keep the person in the middle from getting the ball. Conor was just running around, entertaining us - running funny, hiding, finding flowers, all kinds of stuff! It was fun, we all had a good time.

So I asked Naomi if she still wanted to get the kids on the 3rd Sunday - and she said YES! :) JOY! :)

Chef Jeff

Since Jeff has been laid off, he has been doing a lot of the cooking around here. He is pretty good at it, most days. One day, I brought a co-worker home for lunch to meet our new dog (Lisa is a dog lover) and see our new house, and Jeff had given us a menu to choose from. We chose taco salads. He even made the edible bowls that they go in. It was very good.

But yesterday was a little bit of a different story. Jeff decided to make some Chicken and Rice. 2 different kinds, actually. On my way home, he called me on my cell phone to let me know that he messed up on dinner. He had burnt it. He says he read the directions and they said to cook the mixture on high for 25 minutes. He didn't ever remember doing that before (he has made it several times) but he read it and re-read it. He told me that he checked and re-checked it. So he did it. He covered the pans, and left them to cook on high heat. He came back after about 5 or so minutes to stir them, to find it all burnt. So I came home and looked at the box, and for MICROWAVE directions, it said to cook on HIGH for 25 minutes. But for STOVE TOP directions, it said to cover and cook on MEDIUM TO LOW for 25 minutes. I couldn't help laughing at him. We ended up going out to eat, so he asked the girls if they wanted him to burn dinner the following night, also. Funny. ha ha

He also commented "You're gonna put this on your blog, aren't you?" I was laughing so hard and said it hadn't entered my mind to, yet, but now that he reminded me, I definitely would. Poor Jeff. The subject of all my funny stories. Thanks for giving me something to write about, honey.

Strange Coincidences

Allie was on the computer tonight, and I don't know how she found the site, but somehow she was looking up famous birthdays. She checked all the dates of our birthdays to see who else had the same birthdays. Well, Allie has the same birthday as President George W. Bush. And Conor has the same birthday as Senator John Kerry. For some reason I find that strange. So I thought I would share. :)

He did it, again

Well, for those of you who know me, you know that last year Jeff tried to cut Conor's hair and ended up messing it up so bad that we had to buzz it. Well, he did it again this year. On Tuesday, I called home on my way home from work and Allie said Jeff cut Conor's hair and he messed it up. Great. We had talked about getting his hair cut and I told him to make an appointment with Natasha (the one who gave him his first hair cut, and his one-year old cut. But, no, he had to try again. Can't spend the $15 or $20 to just get it done right. No, not Jeff. He wants to make Conor look like he put a bowl on his head and trimmed around it. Mushroom type cut. Can you imagine? So once again I had to buzz his hair. But this time, it is not as close. He is, of course, still cute.

Anyway, I did Jeff and Conor's hair last night outside our back door. Getting Conor to sit still for me to do it was a little less difficult this time than last, but he kept moving his head and I couldnt' get it all even. But it is pretty close. Then he and Jeff were off to the showers, while I was left to clean up the hair. Have you ever had to clean up hair from grass? I did something that I never imagined myself doing. I got a broom and dust pan and I swept the grass. Felt strange, sweeping grass, but it worked. I didn't want big clumps of hair blowing all over the neighborhood, so I had to get it all up.

Now it is all done and both of them have short, short hair. I took pictures of Conor, but I don't have them developed yet, but when I do, I will post a picture of his new cut on here.

Allie and Ceara with Santa at the Nutcracker Ballet

We decided to take the girls and my Mom to see the Nutcracker Ballet at Christmas time this year. So we all got dressed up and went. Everyone had a great time.

Go fly a kite

Ever been told to go fly a kite? Welllll, I wasn't told to, but I went tonight. Today was a pretty day, and it was a little windy, so Jeff decided to put a kite together that he has had for years. It is an Airplane kite, pretty big, it took up my entire back seat in my car. So we all went to the park and flew a kite. The girls got bored pretty quickly with it and went to play on the playground equipment. But Conor, Jeff and I had a lot of fun flying the kite. The plane has streamers and a twirly thingy on the back of it and it soared! It would climb very high, then swirl down, catch the wind right and climb back up again. The streamer and twirler contributed to making the kite sound a lot like a powered plane. It took several nose-dives and crashed to the ground. Conor would run to the plane and help to pick it up and get it back off the ground. He loved it. It was a very good experience to make my stress level from work decrease greatly. As the sky grew darker, it began getting cold. And Conor decided he wanted to go home. So we all packed up and came home. So the next time someone tells you to go fly a kite, respond to them "I just might do that". :) Have a great evening!

Embarassing Moment turned Inside Joke

Ever have one of those moments when you call someone by the wrong name? Well, we have a UPS guy who has been picking up our packages every day for at least the past 5 years that I have been employed there. After about a year (all the time talking to him almost every day), I left a note for him on the packages up front because I didn't want to miss him and I had a question or something, I don't remember why. Well, on the note, I wrote "Steve, please see me before you take these packages" or something to that effect. Well, he brought the note back to me and asked - "Is this note for me? Because my name is not Steve, it's Dave." Talk about wanting to crawl under a rock!! But being the great guy that he is, he took it all in stride, laughed about it, and to this day we still call him Stevie. Stevie Brown to be exact, because of the brown UPS uniform he wears. We have never called him "Dave" since the incident. Whenever he is on vacation or is out sick, we ask his replacement "Where's Stevie?" Not even thinking about the fact that it is not his real name, because to us it is his name. And they are always confused... Who is Stevie? Is always the response. We use UPS as much as possible because "Stevie Brown" is wonderful!

One of those days

Well, I guess I am not a very good blogger. I posted one day, with the "encouragement" of my boyfriend (he basically forced me to do it), and haven't done anything on here since. He blogs every day. He also offers to do mine for me. So what good would it be for me to have a blog if he was the one doing it? Where is the logic? You gotta wonder. hee hee

Today I am a bit bored, so I thought I would give it a shot. I got busted. Almost as soon as I started to write, he came over and was soooo excited that I was finally blogging, that he immediately offered all sorts of help. Because he knows how to put videos on his blog, change font (ok I went for that one because I like Comic Sans), change font colors, play music, all sorts of cool things. His blog is pretty cool, I do have to admit. But I don't want to mess with all that right now. So I told him if he was going to bug me about it, I wasn't going to do it. So he went back to his own computer and is leaving me be to type. Better for him to read it on my blog than over my shoulder. I don't like people reading over my shoulder, I prefer to let them see the finished product! :)

Aaannny way... I was wanting to write more than this, but one of my favorite shows (Alias) is coming on, so I have to go!! I will try to write more later tonight or possibly tomorrow. :)

Cheesy Grin

Cheesy Grin


This is my baby, smiling for the camera. Cute, isn't he? You can barely make out our new puppy in the back of him on the couch. His name is Teddy. Or, er, Pocoloco - as some other person likes to call him. But he looks like a teddy bear, so I think Teddy fits him. Could you imagine if he got distracted by another animal or a person or a butterfly or something and went off down the road? I don't want to go around the neighborhood yelling out "Pocoloco". It just doesn't sound good. So I continue to call him Teddy, the name given to him by the rescue shelter where we found him. Conor (the cheesy smile guy) just calls him "Pups". I kinda like that, too.