Sunday, August 31, 2008

Welcome Fall




Fall is here! I love the colors of autumn. For the first time in a while, I plan to focus on what I have and not what's missing. This won't be easy, but necessary! I've started decorating and just love my mantle!
We also welcomed football season with Texas Longhorn cookies. The boys had a great time helping bake them.

Thursday, August 28, 2008

Tired to the 10th Degree

I have discovered a new realm of exhaustion! We've been in the back to school routine only a few days, but the early mornings, late nights and energy required to closely follow our school routine are all wearing me out! I am fighting like h-e-double hockey sticks to keep my eyelids open right now. If I doze, I'll miss picking up JB.
MC is constantly asking, "When is he coming home? Is it time to pick him up?" In terms of logistics, it's good that they don't start school at the same time, but it is hard for him to get used to spending the day without his bestfriend.
With September a couple of days away, I've weeded out the flower bed for fall. It desperately needs updating. I've started decorating for fall inside. Maybe, I'll finish this weekend. Next on the to do list...write the Thanksgiving & Christmas menus, Christmas list, brainstorm Jan. birthday ideas and work on a "honey do" list for holiday break.
Whew...I get tired just thinking about it!

Monday, August 25, 2008

What's Eating Gilbert Grape?

There was a very odd movie in the early '90's (maybe) with Johnny Depp and Leonardo DiCaprio called, "What's eating at Gilbert Grape". I guess it was a coming of age movie so to speak about a kid struggling to gain his independence amidst supporting a very wacky family. All the while, he was basically responsible for mothering his morbidly obese mother. He carried the weight of his family on his shoulders.

This movie came to mind this morning after a few minor "unfortuante events". At 32, I'm facing the fact that the world doesn't really care about my grievances. They are what they are. More importantly, they are what I make of them. Some things, no matter how unpleasant, just aren't worth the energy fretting about because no one cares!

Saturday, August 23, 2008

Saying Goodbye

"It's so hard to say goodbye
to what we had.
The good times that mad us laugh,
outweigh the bad.
And I'll take with me the memories
to be my sunshine
after the rain.
It's so hard to say goodbye to yesterday."

Boyz II Men

I know I have dated myself quoting a Boys II Men song, but it sums up my feelings as the summer break comes to an end. I am so NOT ready to start this next round of school! I knew it was coming and I shudder at the thought of getting back in the routine. Because we're coming off the Disney high, we haven't really had a long time to practice the BTS routine. I figure if I have breakfast/lunch planned for the week and set the alarm (and actually get up on time) we'll be okay. The first few days/weeks, I'm going to be up helping JB get ready. After that, I'll need him to do it solo.

Today I gave up my Saturday ritual of watching Food Network. JB and I spent some quality time together running errands followed by lunch at the restaurant of his choice. Afterwards we met up with MC and Dad to splash in the water fountains. It was so neat to be able to share that individual time with him. We had fun being silly and reconnecting in a way that we haven't done in a long time. Spending that alone time with him reminded me that he's still that little baby boy with no eyebrows that we brought home from the hospital 6 years ago. I'll have to cling on to that when he's trying my patience!

Tuesday, August 19, 2008

Summer Vacation 2008



We're back from our week long Walt Disney World Marathon. The boys had a blast and I'm exhausted! We saw just about everything there was to see. We missed The Incredibles, Lightning McQueen and some parts of Epcot (after Magic Kingdom, the kids are pretty finished!) I don't know if the boys even realized what they missed because they saw so much! So many shows, parades, character greetings...





I'm proud of how well they did getting up close to all of the characters. They loved the rides, especially Toy Story Mania! We ate lots of junk food and spent lots of time off of our schedule...just letting it all hang out (or trying to). One night we even stayed at Magic Kingdom until 1 am!!

We returned last night, just before Hurricane Fay hit. Talk about impeccable timing!!

Thursday, August 7, 2008

Selective Hearing

My children have started the annoying habit of ignoring what I say. If I'm three rooms away and whisper "We might go to the park and have cupcakes", they harass me about it for hours. If I'm in the same room with them and tell them to pick up a toy, stop running, etc. they don't hear it/respond until I've said it nicely five times and then shout. I don't know if this is a kid thing, a male thing, or if I'm just uber(made up word) irritated in these last few days before vacation.

Every time we embark on a holiday, birthday celebration, or vacation, the stress of all of it gets me all wound up. What little patience I have on a daily basis is gone! In these times, I completely understand why, as children, we always got a spanking just before a major "fun" event.

Funny for the day:
The boys were playing earlier and I overheard MC say "that's my hapuchino non fat", as he pretended to sip from a tower of Legos. Just the thought of hearing him try to pronounce those words totally cracks me up! At least he'll know what to order for me at Starbucks!

Wednesday, August 6, 2008

Bedtime Blues

No matter how hard I try to psyche myself up for it...I hate bed/bath time! It's usually accompanied with a ton of unnessecary questions and attempts to stall the inevitable. The boys think of a million things that I "promised" them we would do and want me to pay up. After a long day of running errands and trying to muster up a little energy to deposit into the reserves for this weeklong trip to Disney World, not to mention an hour long baseball practice tonight, I am wiped out!

I've almost packed everything. I need to finish and make sure all of the particulars are in order: necessities in carry on, liquids in quart container, all other checked liquids in gallon container to prevent spills, backpacks for each with entertainment, movies, camera, travel documents, blah, blah, blah...
I've also bought all school supplies except 3 items and they're packed into JB's backpack. I started to set aside the first week's outfits as well. I don't want to have to do anything extra when we come home!

Monday, August 4, 2008

Carpet Lines Never Looked So Sweet!

 


Normally I would call someone who carefully vacuums and leaves perfect carpet lines--obsessive compulsive. However, when someone else does it for you, it's perfectly acceptable!

This morning the housekeepers came to clean my home. I finally bit the bullet and just called someone. Two ladies came and cleaned their butts off for FOUR hours! We tried to stay our of their way, but every now and then I just walked around (in awe) to check it out. It nearly brought me to tears! The bunnies outside have nothing on the bunnies that were camping out in here!

They scrubbed everything. One of them even came back as they were leaving because she forgot to "scrub the soap dish". Are you kidding me? Scrubbing all of the soap scum out of the shower definitely counted in my book! They dusted baseboards, ceiling fans, changed bed linens....I'm getting misty eyed just thinking about it!

Wow, who needs friends when you've got housekeepers!!!
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Friday, August 1, 2008

Blah!

Well, I guess it's time for my annual visit to my primary care physician. Every year I notice a new list of complaints and ailments. I follow through with an annual physical and blood work up to dispel my self diagnosed conditions, and am given a clean bill of health (Praise God). I'm beginning to wonder if it's psychological.

Fall is a beautiful season, but it's the beginning of a long season of very difficult dates and events. I usually start planning the holidays in Sept./Oct. and have my shopping done well before Thanksgiving. That's literally right around the corner. Having a child in school just speeds it all up! Before I know it I'll be planning another birthday party. I usually have it all planned and reserved before Christmas as well.

Funny for the day: I took the boys bowling this morning. I guess I was on a lucky streak because I'm not usually a good bowler. Today, I made several strikes and picked up spares most of the other times. I have to use a lg. ball (12 lbs), because, I have long fingers and big knuckles-they get stuck in the holes of the smaller balls. Anyway, as we were checking out, a very sweet, older grandma type approached me and invited me to join her bowling league that meets during the school year. Childcare isn't available, so I won't be able to participate, Darn! I'm still trying to figure out whether that was a compliment or not. It was funny, nevertheless.

*A lot of bloggers have a weekly themed entry. I'm not that organized or dedicated, so I'll try to post a "Funny for the day" at the end of each entry. I usually have several of those!

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