Family Adventures Family Adventures When my children are grown and gone, I hope that they will look back on their childhood and remember the sound of their mother's laughter. Sometimes that is easier said than done. 
Articles
I got the job
2008-09-06 21:16:00 I had my interview this morning. Last night I HAD to go out and get a new outfit for the interview. I am already in the whole. But, I got the job. I start Tuesday. I am still going to be able to do volunteer work and most of my new job will be from home. I am not going to be taking photos of cars. I am going to be doing data entry from home and some secretary work at their home office a few hours per week. Works out perfect for me and I am glad I will be able to contribute to the family. We have always had an emergency stash of savings. This summer we seem to be having one emergency after another. The house needed to be painted and we had dry roted decaying boards, our car died,and then there was the hurricane evacuation. Our emergency money has all disappeared so this job seems to have landed at just the right time.It is weird because I decided to look for a job and this was the first job that popped up on my screen, my new boss needed someone like me (a jack of all trades willing ...
Job Interview
2008-09-06 03:49:00 I haven't had a job in about 7 years I think. I mean a paying gig. I work all the time, all day, all night, work, work, work. I am going crazy being home alone during the day. I have things to do. But, I have totally lost my mind. I think I am grieving the ending of Lily's baby years. She is after all my last baby. The walls are closing in on me and I am so depressed I am having to force myself to eat, shower, etc. I have been volunteering a lot. That is nice and all. But, it is not enough. I was talking to Jeff about it and I told him I really want to get a job. I think if I had a purpose, someone counting on me, during those long hours I might not feel the walls closing in on me. I am disappointed in myself for not being more productive. But, I hit the wall of funk and I went splat.Jeff tells me that financially we are hurting. This summer killed us. He said any money I earn would be tremendously helpful. So I looked online and I found the coolest job. It is a c... More About: Interview
We're Home
2008-09-03 02:30:00 We made it home safe and sound. Our home is fine no damage. More later.I follow comments. Leave a comment and I will come visit your blog. More About: Home
12 to 24 hours to go
2008-09-01 01:34:00 Lily is finally asleep. She is having a very hard time. She is at that age where change and uncertainty are very difficult. I am not really sure what to tell her. She fell asleep on the way to dinner, so we got some kfc drive thru and came back to the hotel.Our hotel is very nice. We had the pool to ourselves this afternoon. Lily and I had a blast. The entire pool is around three feet deep and Lily had plenty of room to swim without me as a spotter. She is nearly able to swim across a pool without help. I thought for sure that would tire her out. She only got about six hours of sleep last night and was really dragging today. Even after all that she didn't fall asleep until we were on our way to dinner.Jeff has boarded up our house and has evacuated to the base. He will ride the storm out there. All indications and predicitions are that our home will be fine. I am having a hard time. If I think about it I cry. So much stress. Soon it will be over, yet Hanna is on a p... More About: Hours
Huntsville, Alabama
2008-08-31 03:58:00 We have arrived in Huntsville. Instead of driving all the way to Virginia and back again we have decided to stay here. I couldn't extend my stay at this hotel so I will be moving down the road tomorrow. Jeff is home all alone, poor guy. Our day in the car was loud. Lily is out of sorts. I guess getting uprooted without notice is hard on a five year old. At least I am only one days drive from home. We are 400 miles north of the gulf of Mexico so I think we are good. My prayers for everyone still on the gulf. Don't know if I will have internet access tomorrow. Thanks for all the kind words.I follow comments. Leave a comment and I will come visit your blog. More About: Alabama
Evacuation
2008-08-30 18:23:00 I made the executive decision to evacuate now. We are leaving in about a half an hour. Jeff is staying for work. We found a kennel for the pets. The girls and I are going to stay with Jeff's family in Virginia. We are stopping tonight about half way. Hoping this means light traffic and smooth sailing. I decided I would rather leave and have the storm miss us and waste a bunch of time and money rather than get stuck here and freaking out. So we get to go see the family. I am praying for safety for all.I follow comments. Leave a comment and I will come visit your blog. More About: Evacuation
Gustav, Katrina Musings
2008-08-29 20:47:00 I have spent the last couple of days preparing for Gustav and having panic attacks. I really have no idea what I am doing.I really don't want to be here during a hurricane and I really don't want to sit in my car with my girls and my pets for hours on end in non moving traffic off to parts unknown. I checked the hotels for 600 miles and none are available. The closest hotels I could find were in Tennessee. Some of my friends are leaving tonight to miss the traffic and they already have hotel reservations. I could make a reservation and go hang out in Tennessee until the storm hits. I could stay here and wait to see where the storm is going to hit. They are now saying it will hit in Western Louisiana and we wont get wind over 50 MPH here. In that case it seems prudent to stay home. If I chose to stay home, to wait and see and only evacuate if we get the order to evacuate then I will have to evacuate with the masses. Another friend told me that during an evacuation it take... More About: Katrina , Musings
Gustav
2008-08-28 03:48:00 All the predictions I am hearing and reading are saying Gustav is going to hit pretty much right at my front door. Monday at noon is what they are saying. Anyone willing to take in me, my two kids, our dog and our cat?I follow comments. Leave a comment and I will come visit your blog.
A Call to All Women - Please Vote
2008-08-26 16:03:00 I am having such a hard time deciding who to vote for in the upcoming presidential election. Is anyone else having trouble deciding? Seems like most other people have made up their minds. Must be nice. Trying to keep up with it all is giving me a headache.We are having a local vote here next month. I am voting to increase my property tax by about $20 per month. It is for the schools. I believe it is important to put money in schools and I am being given the opportunity to do so. I am grateful to live in a community where others feel the same way. I hope it passes.I like that the local politics is something I can understand. I know exactly what I am voting for. A simple question: am I willing to pay out $20 per month more than I currently pay in order to build a new high school and revamp the other schools in our district.In national politics I have no idea how voting for McCain or Obama is going to impact me, my city, my state, or my country. I am spending as much time ... More About: Women , Feminism , Vote , Call
Funniest Blog Post I have ever read
2008-08-21 16:30:00 While I have nothing useful to contribute to the world of blogging today, I would like to direct you to the funniest post I have ever read. You are welcome.I am off to have lunch with a new friend. Hope your day is going to be fun too.I follow comments. Leave a comment and I will come visit your blog. More About: Post , Blog , Read
Do I tell the teacher that my child is brillant?
2008-08-20 18:00:00 I am just home between volunteering at Lily's school and driving Mandy to the orthodontist. My schedule seems to have gone from having nothing to do to having more to do than ever. I am having a great time.I am trying to not over volunteer at the school. I am trying to not volunteer to do anything that would put me in direct contact with Lily. I do have lunch with her sometimes. OK, more than sometimes. I find that I go there to the school for one reason or another nearly everyday.Yesterday I had to buy myself a new dress, a dress to wear to a wedding. I had such a great time. I was in no hurry. Later I had to go to the school for Kindergarten Curriculum night. The teacher explained in detail all that will happen in Kindergarten. Of course this is the same information we got the day before school started when we went to meet the teacher. It is also the same information which is sent home with Lily. It is a little frustration to get all this information so many times.At t... More About: Child , Teacher
Sick on the Bus
2008-08-18 15:32:00 This morning Lily threw up all over the bus on the way to school. I picked her up immediately. I was at the school before the tardy bell rang. Lily was in the nurses office. She was white as a sheet. Too sick to walk. I swear that 15 minutes earlier when I put her on the bus she was fine. She was dancing and playing at the bus stop.I got her home. Gave her a bath. Now she is totally fine again. I don' t think the nurse believed me that Lily was fine when she got on the bus this morning. I can't imagine what happened. But, Lily and I get to spend the day together watching cartoons.I follow comments. Leave a comment and I will come visit your blog. More About: Sick
Why I love my daughter's school
2008-08-16 14:53:00 I joined several of the PTO committees at Lily?s school. So far I have been working two days per week at the school. Jeff keeps asking if I am getting paid. No. On Wednesday I work with some other moms doing special projects for the teachers. We wrote letters at the top of each page of composition books, we sorted all the packs of construction paper by color. We collated and stapled papers. We picked up projects and dropped them off to the classrooms. This is supposed to save the teacher?s time; make their life easier so they don?t have to take so much work home with them.What I noticed was that all the teachers seem to be very happy. We worked in their lunch room, so we got a chance to visit with them too. And walking around the school dropping off completed projects I got to see the inner workings of the school. Having another daughter who is a senior means that I have spent a lot of time in elementary schools over the years. I have never seen a school like this before. ... More About: Love , School
What Ya Doin?
2008-08-12 17:31:00 Kim and everyone else I know has asked me what I am doing. Now that Lily is in school, what am I doing with my free time. I have a ton of plans. Things I should be doing.However, currently I am hybernating. And...Playing Texas Hold "Em at The Zone.comWatching Men's Beach VolleyballEating sugar free chocolate creme pieReading my Twitter friends TweetsReading blogsThinking of things to do.Tomorrow I am signed up to help at the school, not in Lily's room. Just the school in general. Friday too. Planning on going to the gym, the store, cleaning the house. Boring. So far I am on a break.I follow comments. Leave a comment and I will come visit your blog.
Behavior Modification VS Medicating Hyper Children
2008-08-12 14:55:00 Today is Lily' s fifth day of Kindergarten. She is doing great at school. The first few days she wasn't really able to settle down enough to communicate with me. Now she is back to her old self. I wonder if kids with ADD or ADHD are always like that? I mean for days Lily couldn't settle down enough to listen or talk, I knew she was in there but I couldn't get a connection. Some of the things I did which seem to have helped Lily settle down: I put us on a schedule. I used only a soft patient voice, even though she was driving me crazy and I wanted with every fiber of my being to scream, "knock it off". I gave her a physical outlet for her extra energy, like going for a walk or wrestling with me. I also get her up for school about an hour before we need to leave for the bus, that gives her enough time in the morning for a lea surly breakfast and time to goof off and not be in a rush. Finally she started to come out of that hyper place and was our Lily again. I hope the sam... More About: Parenting , Children , Behavior , Modification , Hyper
What Women Really Want
2008-08-11 16:43:00 I was listening to the XM radio station Oprah and Friends the other day and Rabbi Shmuley was on telling men what it is that women want. Rabbi Shmuley said that he has encountered many men who come to him because their marriage is falling apart. The men feel that they give and give but that their wives are never satisfied. Rabbi Shmuley says that he can speak both man and woman so he is here to tell the men what women want.Rabbi Shmuley's advice was that women want to be the sun, the center of their man's world. He goes on to say that we are all a bit insecure about our looks. That we grow up being cute and told we are so cute and as we age and lose our beauty we become insecure. We need our man to show us that we are the most important and only thing he needs. I say BULL SHIT. To read or listen to Rabbi Shmuley go here.Here is my list of five things men should know about what a woman wants. I would love it if you would make a list, on your blog or in the comments.I wan... More About: Women
First day of Kindergarten
2008-08-07 15:43:00 I am sitting here in my home all by myself, watching Matlock. Can't wait to find out who done it. Yesterday was Lily's first day of kindergarten. Jeff took the rest of the week off from work except that today he had a meeting he couldn't miss. This is the first time I have been alone. So far no one has cried, we are working our way through this period of adjustment the best we can.Lily decided to get a hair cut, long hair has a lot more tangles than short hair.Tuesday morning I spent with Mandy at the DMV renewing her permit. Tuesday afternoon Jeff, Lily and I got to go to the school and meet Lily's teacher. The classroom was amazing, and Lily loved it there. We got a packet of papers to read. We had already gotten the class supply list, brought the supplies to the meet the teacher day, but in the new packet we got on Tuesday the teacher informed us we needed to get Lily a mat to take a nap on. I did not know this ahead of time and did not know how my bus riding daughter was goi... More About: Parenting , Kindergarten
Christian the Lion
2008-08-05 13:44:00 Have you seen this video on YouTube? It makes me cry every time I see it. I follow comments. Leave a comment and I will come visit your blog. More About: Christian , Lion
What is your Mental Age?
2008-08-05 13:32:00 Do you ever feel like your brain is not quite as agile as it used to be? Check out this fun Japanese test to see what is your mental age.The directions are in Japanese:1. Hit start button2. Wait for the 3...2....13. Click on the circles in order from the smallest number to the largest.Tell me your mental age in the comments.Click Here to Play the Game.I follow comments. Leave a comment and I will come visit your blog. More About: Mental
I need a nap
2008-08-01 13:16:00 Lily got me up at 5:45 A.M. this morning. Which is good, we are on our way to getting up everyday at 6 A.M. for school. Except that, tonight I have to take Mandy to a bookstore for a release party at midnight. That store is 45 minutes from our house. Of course there aren't any bookstores in my little town, drives me crazy.I hope I can get a nap in. Mandy thinks we should do our back to school shopping this evening when Jeff gets home. Dinner, shopping, maybe a movie, and then the book party. At least I know I can stay up for 36 hours before my brain stops working. Like when we moved here from Japan, missed our connection from Atlanta to Mississippi. We drove through the night because we were scheduled to close on our house in the morning. And we thought this was a good idea because of our pets. We wanted them to be able to run around in the big back yard as soon as possible instead of living in a cage at a hotel. That was a fun day.I forgot to mention yesterday that I am... More About: Daily
Last Week of Summer Vacation
2008-07-31 15:16:00 I am not worried about how Lily will do at Kindergarten. She is very ready. The past six weeks of swim lessons has showed me that she is able to listen, follow directions, get along with others, speak up for herself, etc. I am also looking forward to having some time to myself. I have tons of plans. I think school is going to be a great thing for both of us. Except, I have been having nightmares. I dreamt that Lily got off the bus at school and no one was there. She began to cry. She was scared and alone. I wasn?t there for her and didn?t even know she needed me. Now I can?t seem to sleep anymore. I stay up too late. I don?t sleep when I go to bed. Being overly tired is also making me mean and short tempered. I am having a hard time dealing with everything, even though in my head I am certain there is nothing to worry about.I am supposed to be getting Lily up at 6 A.M. because she gets on the bus at 6:50 A.M. and I want to get her used to getting up at 6 now rather than la... More About: Daily , Summer , Vacation , Week
Mama Mia
2008-07-28 22:06:00 My night out with the girls started with me arriving at the theater about five minutes before the movie was due to begin. I didn't know any of the other women coming and had no idea what they looked like. As I walked up, in the rain, to the ticket counter I was thinking I should have made a plan of where I would meet up with someone. I bought my ticket and looked around. I didn't see anyone familiar, I didn't see any group of women waiting together. I thought perhaps they would be waiting outside the door to the specific room which was showing Mama Mia.I went in and no one was standing at the door. I entered the theater and I didn't see anyone that I knew and no one waved to me. I looked around for a bit and didn't really know what to do so I found a seat and sat down. A few minutes later a lady I recognized entered. I think she is the general's wife, but I am not sure. I haven't been very active in the spouses group and I don't go to many functions. I know that she... More About: Daily , Mama Mia
Girlfriend Etiquette
2008-07-26 17:41:00 I have accepted an invitation from someone I do not know in my spouses group to attend the Mama Mia movie tonight. It was an open invitation to the whole group, so I am not sure how many will be going. We will be seeing the movie and then going to dinner. This makes three weekends in a row that I have gone to the movie theater while Jeff stays home with Lily. I am on a roll. Usually I am the one staying home because Jeff and Mandy love movies so much.I am feeling very brave to be meeting up with people I don't know for an outing. I must have gotten a cup full of self esteem from somewhere. Do you have trouble getting up the nerve to go to social functions where you don't know anyone? I think this is one of the things that causes me to have a hard time making friends when we move.I have made a ton of chatting buddies at the pool during Lily's lessons. I wonder if it is dumb if I ask for and hand out my phone number. A couple of the ladies have girls who are starting kind... More About: Daily , Etiquette , Girlfriend
A little Ditty
2008-07-25 22:16:00 1. Where is your cell phone? In my purse2. Your significant other? Front porch reading a book with his fan!3. Your hair? I just cut my bangs again, I need to bleach it, the ends need a trim, but I love my hair cut, hope the next one turns out good too.4. Your daughter? Older one is napping, but should be getting ready for work. Younger one is watching cartoons.5. Your son? I always wanted a son, but we have decided to quit with two girls.6. Your favorite thing? My new car! And my computer. Not necessarily in that order.7. Your dream last night? I don't remember, I may have been beating people up.8. Your favorite drink? Coffee, with half n half and sugar!9. Your goal? To be kind.10. The room you?re in? Living Room11. Your church? is in my head12. Your fear? Harm happening to my husband or girls.13. Where do you want to be in 6 years? Here in Mississippi. I hope to be working.14. Where were you last night? Home. We ate a great dinner and watched some Netflix movies: Vantage Point a... More About: Meme
Fair Skin in Mississippi
2008-07-25 15:08:00 The girls and I all have very fair skin. I have had a lot of sunburns in my life and try very hard not to burn my kids skin. We love to be outdoors and especially we love to swim. Yesterday, we forgot one of the cardinal rules of swimming and Lily and I both got sun burns.This is Lily's first sunburn. I have been doing a good job of keeping her skin safe. Everyday before swim lessons I apply her waterproof sunscreen 30 minutes before she gets in the water. I use SPF 15. When Mandy was a baby the Pediatrician recommended that we always use SPF 15. He said that using a higher number doesn't really offer that much more protection from the sun but does put a lot more chemicals into her blood stream. I only use sunscreen when we are going to be in the direct sun for more than 15 minutes between the hours of 10 A.M. and 2 P.M. Yesterday, after swim lessons, Lily and I had a picnic lunch and then went back to the pool and swam together for a couple of hours. I forgot to reapply ... More About: Daily , Skin , Mississippi , Fair
Janet Evanovich's Stephanie Plum Series
2008-07-24 15:55:00 I have been re-reading Janet Evanovich's series about the character Stephanie Plum . There are fourteen books and I have been reading them one after the other starting at One for the Money. I am currently waiting for Hard Eight to arrive. I have convince Mandy to read them too. She loves them as much as I do and we are having a great time laughing our way through the books.Stephanie is a wonderful character. She is of course the main character of the books and she is torn between loving two men, Ranger and Joe Morelli. I love them both as well. Ranger is perfection. He has the body of a weight lifter and wears expensive all black clothes. He drives expensive cars and never makes mistakes. Everything about him is sexy and smoking hot. Joe is from Stephanie's neighborhood and has a hot Italian temper. They fight and make up, they have known one another their entire lives and seem inevitable. Yet, a part of Stephanie doesn't want to become her mother and marry Joe in a w... More About: Reading , Series
Southern Fried Musings
2008-07-22 14:34:00 It's not so hot here in the deep south, unless you go outside. Yesterday, we had a ton of errands and seemed to get only far away parking spaces. Living a sheltered life, from air conditioned house to air conditioned car, I had no idea it was hotter than an oven out there. We only have two weeks until school starts. The other day Jeff said something, I wasn't really listening, and it included bla, bla, bla eight years of marriage. I looked at him like he was crazy. Have I really been married eight years, seems like just yesterday. Actually he is exaggerating, it wont be eight years until November. Lily is five and starting kindergarten, Jeff and I have been married for nearly eight years, and our Mandy is just shy of 18. Didn't I just graduate from hight school last week? I really had this out of body moment of wondering where has all the time gone.Jeff asked me the other day if I still needed to have Saturday off. Seeing as I will be off all week while Lily is in scho... More About: Musings , Southern , Fried
A World in Which Bad People Do Not Exist
2008-07-18 20:36:00 For those of you keeping track today is Friday and slide day at swim lessons. Last week Lily was disappointed that they only use the slide on every other Friday and was able to coerse her instructors into taking her down the slide. I was wondering if she would be as excited this week about going down the slide now that she really knows what it is like, to fly through the air and go completely under the water. The answer is YES, she was excited, and she loved it even more this time. She was the only one in her level one class who went down the slide on her own, instead of on her instructors lap. She was smiling/ laughing so hard that she got water in her mouth everytime she went down. She didn't swallow or choke, I guess she is learning. I have never seen a kid love swim lessons as much as Lily does.Now for my dilema and request for advice or thoughts. I am worried about the private parts talk. Lily having been cared for only by family thus far, we have never really seen a... More About: Parenting , People , World , Exist
Shut It Already
2008-07-16 23:32:00 Many years ago in another life it seems I worked at a television station in order to support myself and my Mandy. I started as a secretary and advanced to Traffic Manager before getting married and moving to Italy to be with my dear not Italian husband (not that there is anything wrong with that). He is in the service.I was initially hired because the person who had this position prior to me had been promoted. She was able to spend a week training me. This was my first office job. Prior to this job I had been a dish washer at a pizza joint, a dish washer at Wendy's, a cashier at Payless, a cashier at Pay'N Save and an at home day care provider. I was so excited to be working as a secretary. I was being paid more than double minimum wage, I had health insurance and vacation. I felt like I had really arrived. During my training I discovered that my job was to sit around and gossip all day and answer the phone or type something up if the need arose. I was also to act very pu... More About: Shut
Congratulations Jeff
More articles from this author:2008-06-01 19:16:00 Jeff just found out that he passed his final comprehensive examination with distinction and now he has earned his Master's Degree in Military History of World War II. I follow comments. Leave a comment and I will come visit your blog. More About: Jeff , Congratulations 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 |
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