Game 7: Millersport (Homecoming)

Jared was up for Homecoming King so the entire family went to the game to cheer him on. He didn't win but hey, it was an honor to be nominated.

The game was awesome - we won 67 to 0. That's right - 67 to 0 !! From the football website: Eight different players scored for the Bobcats, including five touchdowns tallied by freshmen to help Grandview post its first MSL Cardinal victory of the season.

The guys got to ring the victory bell! Yay! Jared played in every quarter too.

Two observations: the Grandview concession stand hamburgers are outstandingly delicious.

Also, Millersport's marching band rocked. They put on a great show - somewhat reminiscent of the OSU marching band with dancing, jumping, great moves - we gave them a standing ovation. And they were only about 18 strong too. Our band (100+), in contrast, merely stood in place and performed what I'd call "the best songs you never heard by bands you love". Seriously, I had never heard of any of the songs before.

Anyhow, great game Bobcats!

Game 6: West Jefferson

For some reason, West Jefferson is a huge rival for Grandview. And the stadium was packed - we had to park at the library! The line for tickets went down the block. It was also alumni night. Molly played at the half time show and was mildly distressed when the wind started to blow her sheet music away.

The Bobcats lost 28-0 but the Coach was impressed with the teams gameplay and told them they played well and with courage. He even let them skip practice the next morning.

Game 5 - Liberty Union

Liberty Union is a ranked team and was expected to win. And so they did: 37-0. We listened from home.

Game 4 - Harvest Prep

It was a muggy, wet night. We wore our rain coats but in reality, it was just too steamy to keep them on so we huddled under the umbrella instead.

Jared thought the game would be a win. Sadly, it was not the case as the final score was 21-7. Harvest Prep looked huge as usual. For a private Christian school they sure have some big scary guys on their team!

Ox Roast 2008

The festival

Last Friday morning PJ had a Dr's appointment. We drove by Pierce Field and he saw the tents and rides set up for the Ox Roast. "A Festival?" he exclaimed happily, "Let's go Mommy!" It was raining very hard Friday night and honestly, I thought he'd forget about it by Saturday. But Saturday afternoon he asked again (and again) when we were going... and to his delight we headed out.

FUN!

When we arrived a band was playing "Brown Eyed Girl", people were packed into the park eating ice cream cones and there were lines of small children waiting their turn on the rides. PJ wanted to see it all. He couldn't decide which ride to go on first - the giant bouncer? The giant slide? The Merry-go-round? Or maybe the big Superman funhouse! What a choice! He finally decided to buy 2 tickets using some of his birthday money. Most rides for kids his age were just 1 ticket so now he had to choose which one to do first.

Oh No!

At first he wanted to do the giant slide. But when it was time to give the teenager his ticket, he panicked. We took him to the giant bouncy castle and again, he refused to go near it. Same reaction to the merry-go-round and the Superman funhouse. The same rides that, 5 minutes ago, were so alluring now were terrifying! I didn't understand his reaction and kept asking what was wrong.

I want to go home!

After about the third time I asked him why he was scared he burst into tears and said he just wanted to go home. My husband just shrugged and said we should just go. I don't know if it was the noise or the crowds or what... I felt bad for him!

Game #3 - Granville

I would've gone...

The September 5th game was at Granville, about an hour east of home. I would've gone - but Jared said they had never beaten Granville, a division II team... and it was raining heavily. So we opted to listen to the web broadcast instead. Again, there was another weather delay!

Jared's name!

I was delighted to hear Jared's name announced late in the game after he made a very good tackle. Go Jared! Unfortunately, the Blue Aces won - 49-7. Even more unfortunately, the boys came back to light the fire at the traditional Ox Roast but it was raining so hard few people showed up and they couldn't get the fire going, even with gasoline. More on the Ox Roast later....

Game #2 - East Knox

Lightning!

As I was getting ready to head out to the game Friday night, my mom called to tell me to wait - thunder and lightning had caused the game to be delayed. And, sure enough, the game was rescheduled for Saturday afternoon (although the boys had to sit in their pads until 10:30).

Sunny Saturday afternoon

So, Saturday afternoon I took the little kids to the stadium. To my happy surprise no admission was charged so I had $6 extra to buy concessions for the kids. That bought about one quarter of quiet! We played East Knox and I found myself sitting in the midst of East Knox parents in the bandstands (taking advantage again of the shade).

Grandview wins!
At half-time the score was tied 14-14. But by the end of the third quarter Grandview was up 28-14. Jared got some playing action in the fourth quarter to our delight. I didn't see him much in the earlier quarters. The game ended with a score of 34-14. The Bobcats then very enthusiastically ran to the big iron bell to ring out their victory. For a moment I couldn't figure out what they were doing - it had been a long time since their last real win! But boy it felt good!

Away Game Varsity / Home Game JV (Utica)

Radio broadcasts rock!

We did not make the hour drive up to Utica last night to see the Bobcats play. However, I did not feel TOO guilty for a few reasons - eleven family members did make the trek so I knew Jared would be supported, Jared told me there was a less than "4 in 10 chance" that he'd play (his words) and ghfootball.com provides a web broadcast! Yay! So in our nice comfy airconditioned living room we were able to listen in. At half time the score was tied up, 14 to 14. Unfortunately we missed the half-time show - a tribute to AC/DC. But the broadcast rocked!

Unfortunately, they lost. Twice.

Jared never was put in last night's game, even for a minute. And they lost - final score 35-21. Today the little kids and I went to Bobcat Stadium for the home JV game. Jared played the whole time! Three guys were injured on the sidelines. The score was 22-0 at half-time but the Bobcats did score two touchdowns. Final score was 30-16. Next week... East Knox. Go Bobcats!

Scrimmage #2

Where is #62?

We arrived late (PJ lost his shoes - again) and spent the first minutes at the game eagerly scanning the field for jersey #62. No luck. I thought maybe Jared was wearing a plain blue jersey again but Molly insisted Jared was #30 based on his stance and the bandaged right arm. I wasn't convinced but #30 did have a few good plays towards the end. We took plenty of pictures of #30. Fortunately that was Jared after all!


Not much play time

Jared was disappointed that he didn't get as much play time as he would've liked. He is really hoping to start this year. However, he did play well and his coach said he'd give him a free burrito. And that is what really counts!

Winners

Again, the scoreboard didn't keep score (but did keep time). But I'm fairly certain the Bobcats won over Columbus Academy. It was another beautiful summer afternoon - and another game we spent on the bandstand to get out of the sun. Aunt Pam and Uncle Jim came this time to cheer on Jared. Next up - the first real game this Friday in Utica. GO BOBCATS! (I hope Jared starts!)

GO BOBCATS! Scrimmage #1

Today was the first scrimmage for the Bobcats. PJ and I arrived right at 10 AM. The sun was already terribly hot and bright (we'll sorely miss that by the cold wet October Saturdays!) so we followed the example of a few other parents and sat in the bandstand under two large shade trees. Ahhhhh... we were right at the goal post too so it was fun to be right at the scene of all the action.

Confusion

The first hour was terribly confusing. Our guys were wearing yellow practice jerseys for some reason. The other team was in white and yellow. Then randomly, the coaches brought the blue jerseys on the field and the guys changed right there. "Must've finished up in the dryer, " a parent commented. I never saw Jared's #62. For awhile I thought he was wearing #82 but then I heard people yelling "GO SEAN!!!!" and realized #82 - who played very well - was not my son. Apparently my child was wearing a plain bright blue jersey. I'm sure he played extremely well...even if I never quite figured out which player was him!


So much yelling

Having never sat so close before, I never realized how much yelling goes on during a game! Players yelling at other players, coaches yelling at players, coaches yelling at coaches, refs and coaches yelling at each other, refs yelling at players... And then we saw a player PUNCH one of our guys. The mom behind me said "maybe it was a friendly teasing hit?" The dad said no, and I turned around to agree. And the refs did nothing! What the heck sort of sport did I sign my kid up for??


I think we won?

They didn't keep score on the score board and the plays seemed very random but I think we won? Maybe? We definitely scored a couple of touchdowns... The other team was HUGE though... corn fed farm boys (with anger management issues!) And I think they outnumbered our guys 3 to 1... another guy behind me mused that our guys seem to get smaller every year ...

GO BOBCATS

Here's to a great season! WOOOOOOOOOO!!!

Getting PJ's birth certificate

So I finally quit procrastinating and picked up PJ's birth certificate today so I could enroll him in school. I should've ordered it online and saved the trip but that takes up to 6 weeks to process and I need to get him in school before that!

My plan was to go right when they opened to minimize the wait time. I did manage to get lost downtown during morning rush hour and all the one way streets only added to my fun - but on the second try I found the Vital Statistics office. Luckily there were free parking spaces open (which was fortunate in that I didn't have any change on hand for the meters).

I was the only person wanting a copy of a birth certificate. Silly me, I assumed that with no line there wouldn't be a wait - the posted waiting time was 20 minutes and they managed to take exactly 20 minutes to process my request. The office was quite grim - dirty, stained brown carpeting, fifteen stained red chairs, and one sad clock. No magazines, no water fountain, the only entertainment was listening to the guard chatter on his cellphone about how sick he was (with graphic descriptions!) and how he couldn't afford the $15 copay to see his dr. until payday. You know, for all the talk of how much money the government wastes, apparently none of it is filtered to Vital Statistics! I would've appreciated some 5 year old Readers Digests and some free weak coffee... sigh.

Anyhow, $16.50 later, I was in possession of my son's official birth certificate and now I can enroll him for kindergarten!

Feeling like a tattle tale :-(

Ugh, I had a stressful day at work today and now I'm feeling very guilty. What do you think about this situation? One person in my 5 person department is relatively new (7 months). What we do isn't really hard - it's basically data entry, we work in the admissions department of a large charter school. We do work with the guidance department too, we work to make sure students are placed in the correct grade, that they have their papers all in order, etc. There are lots of exceptions, pages of State rules, etc. that we have to follow to admit a student. For example - certain things usually must be sent with the application as proof of Ohio residency - but there are always exceptions - such as for homeless students or victims of natural disasters (like Katrina). I think the lack of black and white guidelines keeps the job interesting - you can't just sit at your desk and listen to music and type away for 8 straight hours, we are always talking to the families, to the counselors, the previous schools, even probation officers or social workers, etc. (we have a very large at risk population, many of whom have been out of school for awhile and are now getting their lives back on track).

Anyhow, the new hire is struggling. She keeps making the same mistakes repeatedly and it's affecting the rest of us - her new thing is just marking every single application that crosses her desk "pended" and handing it off to another person - (it only takes minutes to pend it, it takes longer to accept one. One of things they look for at our review is how many applications we process per day). This makes more work for the rest of us. Also, some of the mistakes she is making can affect the state funding we receive - we absolutely must make sure certain things are in perfect order in case of a state audit. After talking to her many times (she just smiles but doesn't change) I finally went to our supervisor today. Unhappily, he called in his boss too and made it a closed door meeting - NOT what I anticipated. I approached it as "I'm concerned ... I'm afraid she is unclear... maybe we can send some more reminder emails..." and I volunteered to sit with her, but the two supervisors said no, they knew there was an issue, then they wanted me to address everything she's messing up... my boss even wrote on his notebook "PENDS applications for NO reason" and underlined it. I felt so uncomfortable but they said I did the right thing and they appreciated it. I told Patrick (my husband, he works there too) afterwards and he said "Congrats. You got her fired. Happy now?" Ugh! What do you think? Was I a big tattle tale rat? I feel guilty. :-(

July 4th celebration at church

After Christmas, my church's July 4th celebration is my favorite service. My parents offered to take me this year (couldn't afford to refuel my car) so I happily accepted. I wore my America flag tee from Kohl's, Lorene wore her Old Navy flag tee, PJ didn't have one that still fit but wore a blue and white striped polo - close enough!

The service was excellent, as usual. A local color guard presented the flag. Both kids were mesmerized by the marching soldiers. We then said the pledge of allegiance and sang the national anthem. Scenic pictures of America flashed on the overhead screens - Lorene kept pointing and exclaiming over them. Then we were seated and sat back to listen to the choir, the orchestra ensemble and the handbell choir perform patriotic anthems - including My Country Tis of Thee, God Bless America, America the Beautiful and When Johnny Comes Marching Home (PJ especially enjoyed this one). As always, my favorite part was the salute to the armed forces. The orchestra and choir performed the official song for each branch of the armed services and every one who had served (or would serve - we have a few recruits in the congregation) would go forward and we would clap. I was surprised that the Navy had the largest number of women who had served.

A country song about letters from home was then sung while the overhead screens projected pictures of the sons (no daughters) of church members who were currently serving. Next was a audio clip of the words of our founding fathers. At this point Lorene was restless having lost interest in the overhead screens and having scribbled on all the available scrap paper. I took her to walk the halls (along with about a dozen toddlers and their parents) while the congregation sang "God Bless the USA". We returned in time to see the color guard remove the flag and to hear the ensemble play a very rousing "Stars and Stripes Forever".

Afterwards we had vanilla cake and chocolate ice cream and lemonade in the fellowship hall. PJ was happy because each piece of cake had a sparkly star stuck into it. Unfortunately he lost his in Papa's car on the way home.

28 miles

Worth of gas in the tank... no money until payday (Monday) so we are stuck this weekend! Of course suddenly there are all kinds of things we could do... my cousin is in town with her new baby, my church is having their big July 4th celebration Sunday, my mom wanted me to run an errand for her today (picking up pictures at the mall)... but no go. Stupid $4/gal gas! And I just read that they are forecasting gas going to $7/gal within 2 years. Wow I hope not. I like being able to afford groceries...

Small world at work

At my work it really pays to watch what you say about another employee until you know who they are and who they are related to! I work alongside my sister-in-law and my husband. We are not the only husband and wife team! I also work with a brother and a sister and a pair of sisters, many sets of long time friends and in the past we've had parent/child relationships and in-law relationships! The joke is whenever a new hire starts is to figure out who they are related to. When I started back to work, the other girl in orientation was someone's niece!

I have a new manager now - it seemed at first that he didn't know anyone ... but it turns out he was a substitute teacher at the very small school I graduated from years ago, and where my niece attends now. Also, his daughter was classmates with one of the men in my department! And my middle school principal is my sister-in-law's boss... and one of my best friend's from elemenary school's dad was also an employee. It really is a small world!

Gentle gentle

19 month old Lorene is having a *small* problem with hitting her older brother PJ. Her Dr. advised that the next time Lorene hit him, to take her hand and make her pet him, saying "Gentle gentle". The Dr. thought this would get the idea across better than reprimanding her. So we tried this Saturday. Lorene hit PJ. I said "Gentle gentle" and made her pet him. She looked at me like I was insane. Then, looking me square in the eye, she hit PJ again. Again, I picked up her hand and said "Gentle gentle" and made her pet him. This time she threw her head back with a hearty laugh, then looked at me and whacked him again! Poor PJ. So now we're back to "No hit" and removing her from PJ's vicinity.

Goodwill

We went to a few Goodwill stores last weekend because my husband was hoping to find a few old roleplaying game books. Somebody on one of his forums had found an amazing find at a Goodwill - for just a couple of books he bought a few books that were worth over a thousand dollars. My husband did not have that sort of luck unfortunately. It wasn't a waste though - I was able to find a blue striped Aeropostale dress shirt for my 16 year old for just $2.99 and a pair of Old Navy khakis for $3.49. We are going to a wedding next weekend and he needed dress clothes - I was THRILLED by the savings! And the clothes look like they had never been worn. The only inconvenient part was sorting through rack upon rack of khaki pants hung in no particular order looking for an elusive pair of 34x34s.

PROM!

Tonight my oldest son is at prom. (He's the one on the far right) It's been a crazy two weeks getting prepared. Everyone says the boys have it easy - but we had to come up with the money for the tickets and the after prom tickets, and make reservations (and come up with the money for the dinner as well) and he had to rent a tux... and get a haircut... and buy the corsage... and new swim trunks for the after prom... Now, to be fair, he didn't need to actually start getting ready today until 5 pm and his date's mother told me that she started getting ready at 10 AM! Of course she had to get her hair and nails done - but they all looked so nice and so grown up.

I never had a prom myself, my school didn't have them (no dancing allowed!) So I hope I'm not living TOO vicariously through my child! Anyhow, they were going out to dinner (where they would meet the third girl) at 7. Prom began at 9 PM at the country club, and after prom will begin at 12:30 AM. After the after prom they are going out for breakfast and then I expect he will sleep the rest of the day!

He did tell me he expected the music to be "lame" because the principal was selecting it and he is very "old". Um... I think the principal is MY age!

What a weekend

Very stressful weekend - my husband has pneumonia and has been so sick. He couldn't even watch tv this weekend or eat or anything. I should've taken him to Urgent Care on Saturday but my mother had a medical emergency. She was in the hospital for stomach surgery which went very well. I was so relieved because, for some reason, I was dreading her surgery and felt very anxious about it. Then Saturday Dad called - both of her lungs had collapsed, she was bleeding internally and had overdosed on the morphine from the pain pump and for a moment they thought they had lost her. I was just frantic! One of my brothers went to the hospital to be with my Dad - neither were allowed to see her of course. I just worried at home. On Sunday the situation had stabilized and we were allowed to visit with her in the ICU briefly.

Meanwhile, my poor husband was at home with a fever of 103.9. Monday I took him to the Dr and he walked out with FIVE prescriptions. Thank goodness for health insurance - we paid $86 but without the insurance we would've had to pay nearly $400!

Mom is now in the ICU step down unit and is able to take phone calls (I've talked to her every day) and might be able to come home this weekend.

My husband was actually back to work today although several co-workers chastised me for "letting" him come in.

Hopefully both mom and my husband will continue to improve.

YAY!

Today was the big weigh-in. After one week, the results are in. I have lost 6 pounds total! YAY! I was kind of freaking out the other day when it appeared I had only lost 2 (even though my husband assured me 2 pounds was healthy and something to be proud of). But 6? Now 6 is awesome!

My husband has lost 10 pounds which is fantastic! I'm so proud of him - he's really been very conscientious about sticking to the diet. Go us!

One week down...

on the new diet. We decided not to simply track calories but to also track our consumption of sugar, fiber, sodium and protein. With an average of 100 grams of protein a day, we haven't been feeling too hungry. The toughest thing - to my surprise - is to keep the sodium in check. Our target amount is 2000 mg and I have yet to not exceed that goal. The food highest in sodium so far? The A1 steak sauce I used as a condiment yesterday. It's been easier than I anticipated keeping to my calorie goal though. I've only gone over once and was easily able to reduce my calories the next day to balance it out.

Memory is full...

I think my memory is full. I can no longer remember the simplest things - the title of a movie to rent, the names of new co-workers or television shows, and I have to write increasingly long complicated lists just to get through the weekly groceries. Trying to recall the name of a movie can be downright painful - "Live hard or die trying?" "Independence Day 4?" "Freedom Rings 2?" "Live free and Independent or Else?" ("Live Free or Die Hard" was the movie) And last Friday I wanted to google search the name of a girl I knew in high school - except I couldn't remember her married name. Her first name is Amy, she married a Mike... his last name may have started with an A - or a P? Try googing "Mike and Amy A" or "Mike and Amy P" sometime. I'm sure you'll have as much as I did finding her!

But I know why my memory is full - it is stuffed with numbers. Like the phone numbers for my childhood home, my grandma's (who passed away in 1989) home, the boy I liked in 1988...and yet I can't remember my own home number or cell number! And birthdays - so many birthdays! The girl who sat beside me in 6th grade band (Aug. 15th), my former neighbor's children ( May 5th and Feb 28th), my best friend from elementary school (March 20th) and every relative / friend born up until oh, about 2005. Now - no more room. I wonder if there is a way to overwrite the phone number and birthday data??

Church Chat

PJ has been enjoying going to Sunday School. Yesterday he played "evil zombies" with his best friend Logan - the 5 year old class had just added a huge toy police station to the toy collection. He excitedly told us all about the zombies causing my mom to remark "I don't remember any zombies in the Bible" and my dad saying "What about the famous story Moses and the Zombies?" But PJ isn't sure that he wants to go to Vacation Bible School this summer because, per him, 5 days of church might be too much. He also said sometimes he doesn't like Sunday School because they have to draw a lot and he doesn't think he's a good artist - but he's certainly as good of an artist as any other five year old! He just tends to compare his skills with his parents or his older siblings. The teachers sure have their hands full with his class though - 28 5 year olds yesterday. I know when he was 4 they had two classes divided by last name and I wonder if they'll have to do the same with the 5 year olds. One thing I really like about his class is that the teachers are working hard to teach charity. They are sponsoring an orphanage and every month the children are asked to donate something different - one month it was toothbrushes and/or toothpaste, one month it was shampoo and soap. He wants to donate money next week.

Lorene isn't quite as happy with her toddler class. She cries when I drop her off. But when I pick her up an hour later she is always playing happily, usually with a ball popper. The one week, it seemed every one of the fifteen or so one year olds were pushing poppers - so loud! It is cute how at this age the babies just play side by side, more or less ignoring each other (until one baby has a toy the other wants!). Lorene is still one of the smallest babies - she was a very early walker so she joined the class at just 10 months and will stay until her 2nd birthday. She can certainly hold her own with the bigger, older toddlers though. That happens when you are the youngest of four!

Always sick...trying something new

We've been constantly sick since the New Year - I think my husband has been sick nearly every weekend. So starting tomorrow we are trying something new. We are going to the store and stocking up on healthy foods and drinks and we are going to rid our diet of sugars and junk food / fatty food / fast food. We did some online research today and will be buying salmon, flaxseed, green tea (LOTS of green tea), blueberries and yogurt. I am trying to talk the husband into spinach and broccoli too - his only experience with spinach seems to be the slimy canned kind so I think he might be pleasantly surprised by fresh spinach in a salad. Broccoli will be a harder sell though.

We're giving it 3 months and we'll see if we feel better - more energy, less illness. I'd like to add some exercise too - I can't WAIT until it is warm and dry enough to actually go on nice long walks again.

Well it was a nice day at work....

I was having a very nice day at work - talking to my co-workers, drinking cappuccino, I had just the right amount of work to do - enough to stay pleasantly busy but not enough to feel stressed - and my husband and I had just eaten a good lunch. Then I got the call - PJ was throwing up at the sitter's. Noooooooooooooooo!

So I cleared off my desk, sent my boss an email (he was in meetings all week), tried to talk my husband into leaving instead (but he did have a stressful level of work so it was a no go) and left. When I got to the sitters I learned that poor PJ had thrown up once during the 20 minutes it took from her call until my arrival. And then he threw up AGAIN while I was getting his jacket on! She gave us a plastic bag for the ride home - but fortunately we didn't need it.

Once we got home he threw up 3 more times - once all over his room ... once he did make it to the bathroom (yay!). I had to run a load of laundry because unfortunately when I was dealing with the first bout of vomit at home Lorene quietly got into PJ's Easter basket. She had the wonderful idea to unwrap the chocolates, rub them between her hands to get them melty, then wipe her hands on her face and hair. AAAaGGGGHHHSSS!!!

Oh how I wished I was still at work... sipping my cappuccino and talking about American Idol.

Blizzard!

We had record snowfall this weekend! It was a blizzard - usually the local weather over-exaggerates impending bad weather but this time they possibly underestimated it. Thursday night we heard that a snow storm was on its way - bringing with it up to a foot of snow. We guessed we'd REALLY only get 4-6". I did stock up at the grocery store though - I hate driving in snow at all - and got the last loaf of bread on the shelves. They had already sold out of Vault! Anyhow, with plenty of food and diapers and drinks, we felt confident we could get through the weekend.

Friday - it started snowing at 9:18 AM. And it didn't stop. My husband was sent home from work at 2 PM. I was anxious waiting for his return - but he pulled in safely at 2:30. He said the freeways weren't bad but the residential streets were already awful. By 4:30 all of the parking spots in the complex were filled and I relaxed knowing all the residents were in safely. And still it snowed. At 5 PM I measured - we were at 5". We had sloppy joes for dinner, lamenting the fact I did not stock up on potato chips.

It stopped snowing around 7 pm and it was still quiet by the time I went to bed at 11. The next morning it was snowing again - I measured at 9 AM and we were just over 11". Maintenance was shoveling the sidewalks but gave up. I kept checking the news - they told everyone to stay home! My mom called - her work was closed and I was glad that I didn't have to worry about her on the roads. Malls closed, banks closed, libraries closed, churches announced they would be closed Sunday. We watched the snowfall and drank hot cocoa.

At 6 pm I realized I could no longer open the back door! I went out a few hours later and measured again - 20". The news reported a total accumulation of 20.4" which set a new record.

Today the snow has ceased and it is cold and sunny. Some of our neighbors are emerging to begin shovelling. The neighbor's dog - who looked thrilled to bound through the snow yesterday morning - is slogging through it now, looking a bit tired. We took some pictures of the drifts - it's wild to have so much snow in March! And we are supposed to have temps back in the 60's within the week. We shall see!

Sick...again

It seems like we've been continuously sick since the start of the year! This time it's a new virus - sore throats and coughs and feeling so incredibly tired. Only the adults are sick this time so the children can run around like little chimpanzees getting into everything and wreaking havoc while we feebly protest from the couch "no...don't climb on that...put that down..."

Happy Valentine's Day!!

What a perfect time for a fun holiday - right in the middle of a dreary, slushy, gray winter week. I don't work today so I'm happily cleaning the house (okay, maybe not so happily...) and getting ready to make dinner. Tonight's menu - heart shaped cookies (yum!), roasted Cornish game hens, baked potatoes, salad, and dinner rolls. I'm even thinking about making it a candlelight dinner - that might amuse the kids.

Third worst commute...

Ever! And that includes three long winters with lake effect snow in NE Ohio.

So Tuesday morning we wake up to about 3 maybe 4 inches of snow and it is still snowing heavily. My husband agrees to drive since he is much calmer in treacherous road conditions and far, far less prone to panicking. The roads are horrible! Per the news, the city of Columbus, in its infinite wisdom, decided it was "too dangerous" to send out the snow plows and ice tracks. Therefore, NO roads - not even the highway - have been touched. The entire city looks like the parking lot behind our apartment. I mostly kept my eyes closed for the ride and he later told me he nearly spun out three times (I only felt one). But due to the horrid conditions, the other drivers actually are driving sensibly and slowly. We only arrive 7 minutes late to work which is amazing. More importantly, we arrive safely.

The conditions continued to worsen throughout the morning with the snow changing to freezing rain and sleet. And at 11:30 we get the shocking news - work is closing! Immediately! The managers walk through the departments telling us to finish what we are doing and GET OUT. And - even better - they are paying us for the entire 8 hours! Woo-hoo!

My husband drives us to pick up the little ones early - even better news because this only counts as a half day and we save $40!!!! I feel giddy - I don't think our work has ever sent us home early with pay. The roads are still very poor and becoming icy so my husband doesn't drive on the highways, instead we creep through downtown Columbus which is strangely quiet and abandoned for a weekday afternoon. We arrive home about an hour after our dismissal and I heat us up a frozen pizza for lunch. We spend the rest of our snow day just relaxing (and occasionally laughing that the big kids had school ALL DAY.)

Long weekend

Sadly, my husband's grandfather passed away on Feb. 2nd. We drove up to his hometown last Friday morning at 6 AM. We had planned to go up the night before but I lost my debit card and after spending about 45 frenzied minutes looking for it we decided to just leave the next day as it was 10 pm by then. (I cancelled the debit card - never did find it)

The funeral service was very touching and the little kids behaved quite well. Little PJ was introducing himself to far-flung relatives and family friends - not shy at all. At the grave site there were full military honors including a 21 gun salute and a bugle. The guns terrified poor Lorene, she didn't stop crying until she was safely back in the minivan.

On Saturday, Aunt Kathy and Aunt Anna took PJ shopping and stocked up on clearance winter clothes, underwear, socks, and Easter clothes for both little kids - including a hat and gloves for Lorene. Unfortunately on Saturday afternoon, nearly everyone became sick - my husband, his sisters, both aunts... and they were all bedridden through Monday. We couldn't leave when we planned so I spent the next two days in the big house with no internet and no books - with weather too cold and icy to kick the kids out to play. We all had a bit of cabin fever, that's for sure!

Monday afternoon my husband felt well enough to handle the nearly 3 hour ride home. Aunt Kathy loaded us down with food leftover from the luncheon after the funeral - including a half ham. She also gave us food that Grandpa had bought for himself that she knew she wouldn't eat - such as 4 12 packs of diet Coke and a dozen corn dogs.

We got home Monday afternoon - it was an uneventful ride home. The weather drama would happen Tuesday!

Feeling a little better...

After spending nearly 3 days curled up under a comforter on the couch, I feel a little better. I even managed to do 3 loads of laundry. I am seriously jonesing for some comfort food (after living on tea all weekend) and was thinking about baking a batch of brownies (mmmmm melty chocolatey goodness) but decided to go a healthier route and I am making a big batch of vegetarian bean & barley soup instead. Originally it was going to be beef and barley soup but over the course of my illness, the beef I had set aside to cook up in soup went bad! Nooooooooooooo! So I found a recipe I had bookmarked back in October and I'm trying it. It smells wonderful but I might be the only one to try it. My husband said he hates barley. I needed to use up the rest of the beef broth anyhow... I also have some chicken broth and could make a chicken noodle soup but the chicken is frozen and I just didn't feel like defrosting it. I know, that isn't a big, onerous deal, but the thought made me tired. I still have plenty to do - vaccuuming and packing up the kids' bag for tomorrow (first day at the new sitter's) and more dishes - there are ALWAYS dishes - and laundry to put away... wow, reading all that IS making me tired! Maybe I'll just make some tea. One nice thing about being sick though - I actually finished reading a novel over the weekend. "The Other Mother" - good book and a perfect read on a cold winter weekend.

sick ... so sick...

I felt fine on Thursday - at least until about 9:30 PM. And then - wham! It just hit me - and I felt awful. Achy, tired, runny nose, headache... the works. I managed to watch "Chuck" before stumbling to bed for a restless night. I don't remember much of Friday ... I was curled up on the couch in a couple layers of clothes (so cold... just so cold) and a comforter while the little ones happily threw toys around and watched too much Noggin on TV. As soon as my husband got home he sent me to bed and I slept for nearly 2 hours. I felt better when I woke up - well enough to eat a bowl of oatmeal (my first meal all day) and after the babies went to bed we watched "Superbad" which he had rented earlier in the week. I still felt crummy though. I managed to find a nearly empty bottle of Nyquil and finished it off - and actually slept soundly. Today I still feel weak and exhausted. My husband ordered my favorite pizza (cheese / green peppers / tomatoes) for dinner to inspire me to eat - I have mostly just been drinking berry tea. I did eat 2 slices - but probably should just have eaten one as I now feel bloated and icky. I read online that keeping warm helps fight a cold or flu so I found our old heating pad and have been resting it on my tummy which feels very nice (even if my husband IS rolling his eyes at me!). I hope I feel better soon...

Happpy Birthday to Me!

Yesterday was my birthday! And it was a perfect day too. It was cold and snowy but since I didn't need to go anywhere, I was able just to watch the snow from inside my warm apartment and think about how pretty it was without worrying about icy roads. I made my favorite dinner for the family - pot roast, potatoes, carrots and dinner rolls and also baked a chocolate cake for dessert. I was lazy all day - I even took a nap! In the evening we watched "American Idol" with the kids and after the little ones went to bed, watched "Biggest Loser" and "Law and Order SVU". Couldn't ask for a more relaxing, stress-free day.

The kids even surprised me with gifts. With a bit of subterfuge at Target they were able to use some of the money left of Jared's gift card to buy me lavender bedroom slippers (my favorite color) and two pairs of fluffy socks - and put it all in a nice birthday gift bag. I actually drove them to Target and didn't suspect a thing!

Also, on Sunday I met up with some old friends from high school at Panera Bread - it was fun to catch up and the soup & hot cocoa were awesome! My parents will have a birthday party for me on Super Bowl Sunday.

American Idol tonight

Wow - American Idol is back already! I know I'll at least tune in these next few weeks to watch the auditions. Last year I lost interest somewhere between the top 24 being chosen and the finals - I just wasn't really rooting for any one contestant like I had in years past (Daughtry!). But I'll give it a chance again this year - and really, with the ongoing writer's strike there isn't much competition. Unfortunately American Idol is up against my new favorite show "The Biggest Loser" but I'll probably just DVR that. At least then I can skip through all the boring crying parts!

Baby Shower

My cousin Jen's baby shower was Saturday. Her first child - a little girl - is due on March 19. Her sister Joy is due at the end of March and their sister-in-law Megan is due April 9th. Wow! Anyhow, Jen lives in San Francisco so I hadn't seen her since Tom & Megan's wedding in 2005. Jen looked great! I wish I had looked that good ANY of the times I was pregnant. We only played two games - we decorated newborn diapers with markers and we competed to see who could make the most words out of the Baby (Lastname). My mom won. Then Jen opened her gifts - lots of darling clothes, homemade blankets, towels and bibs, and plenty of toys. Next - snacks. Chocolate cake, peanut butter chocolate brownies, chips, veggies, chex mix and pop. Lorene had fun playing with her (second?) cousins and even felt comfortable enough to let Jen pick her up. Jen assured us she completely intends on using whatever pain relief is available for her delivery. I can't wait to hear what she names the baby - I think Sadie would be cute personally. My aunt thinks Jen and her husband are leaning towards Irish names so we might have a little Saoirse or Sinead or Niamh in our family.

Old Navy Sale

Old Navy is having another one of their famous 75% sales this weekend! I had some Christmas money leftover so I had to stop in. I bought a striped long sleeved tee for myself ($6.53), a long sleeved tee shirt for my 5 year old ($1.79) and a pink fleece sweatshirt for myself ($3.14). I debated about buying a tunic style fuschia top for work - I wasn't happy with the fit. It was not on clearance - if had been just $6 or less I would've bought it no problem. But it was $19.99. I guess I'm between sizes - the one size was a little too big and I know I'd be uncomfortable and constantly adjusting it, but the next size down was a bit too small. I'm not 100% happy with tunic style tops anyhow - they seem too "maternity" to me or something. I also tried on a puffer vest but it fit weird too - which was unfortunate since that was one thing I was definitely planning to buy. I also looked at jeans but I had already tried the baby's patience with the first trip to the fitting room and didn't want to push my luck. Oh well - I got 3 things for less than $12 so all in all it was a good trip!

The Buckeyes

So.... the Buckeyes lost. Again. sigh. My 5 year old has spent the rest of the week playing his big brother's NCAA football game on the GameCube and coming up with scenarios that have the Buckeyes winning by margins of 100 points (or more). Then he will excitedly exclaim "And NOW Jim Tressel will be happy!"

The Biggest Loser

My husband and I have just started watching "The Biggest Loser" this season. We had never watched it before and the couples premise sounded interesting. I had expected it to be made up of married or dating couples and in actuality, most sets are of non-romantic partners (parent/child, siblings, best friends, etc.) I think they should have used "partners" not "couples" personally. Anyhow, the contestants seem mostly likeable - no one stands out as getting a "villain edit" - yet. A few aspects of the show are somewhat concerning though - they seem to ignore the fact that EVERYTHING shows a sensible weight loss should be about 1 - 3 pounds a week. They act shocked and disappointed when contestants lose in that zone and act like weight losses of double digit numbers are normal and expected. Also this week a contestant ate 200 calories worth of M & M's in a challenge - she gained 1 pound at the weigh-in and the host seemed to blame the candy for the weight loss. NOOOOOOOOOOOOO! 200 calories does not equal 1 pound of weight!

But those quibbles aside I think it will be a good show to keep watching - and I am enjoying rooting for the contestants to get healthy. I wish the show would spend more time focusing on healthy eating though.

Happy 2008!

Happy New Year's! We had a very quiet evening at home - both the little ones were sick. I was going to let PJ stay up until midnight but by 10:30 pm he was begging to go to bed poor kid. We had plenty of snacks for the four of us: pumpkin pie, a huge veggie tray with dip, mozzarella sticks, pigs in a blanket, melon, and chips. We watched videos on MTV until we put the baby in bed. My husband amused us all by showing he could, indeed, "Vogue". Then we watched our new Prince Valiant dvd - three episodes in all. PJ loves Prince Valiant! We wanted to play wii games with him but he didn't feel up to it. After he went to bed, we played Guitar Hero and to my great pride I scored the 2nd highest score on "Barracuda"! Not too bad for someone who could barely complete a song on practice mode just last week. At 11:30 we turned to the NBC New Year's show and watched the countdown... then went to bed. Woo-hoo!! Next year we have the older kids with us again - although they will be 13 an 17 by then and might have exciting plans of their own... plans possibly NOT revolving around eating celery sticks and pie with mom and dad!