School is in Session

Yesterday was the first day of school. I took the morning off. I tried to walk L to the bus stop, but I could see his silent protest, so I only walked him to the edge of the driveway.  He's a big middle-schooler now. I threatened to ride the bus with him too, just to be mean. I did walk the other to school and stayed with them until class started. Saw where they were sitting and who they were next to.

I have a great feelling about A's teacher this year; no more being ignored about my child this year, hopefully. This one seems like she is experienced and has a clue, which is helpful. S's teacher seems great too, but then again I didnt have the year with her last year that I did with A and his "teacher".

L's first day of middle school went well and he said it "wasnt as bad" as he thought it would be. He was very chatty and happy when he came in. S and A were happy when they came home too. A informed me that he "didnt even get a yellow or orange card, just a green". I was happy to find out that green meant he was good. Apparently there is a red card and a brown card and those mean a call home and a trip to the principal's office. I dont need any of THOSE, thank you very much.

Domestic Dingbat?

On Saturday night I made homemade veggie./beef stew. The same kind, mind you, that I HATED as a kid. Well, I like it now. As a friend pointed out to me: Im grown up now. My kids didnt hate it though, and thats cool, because it really was good and pretty friggin' easy too. I also made apple crisp...with help from S. Apples were from our backyard, which always makes it better, IMO.

While I was channeling Betty Crocker, I had removed the garbage can lid so the boys could take the garbage out..and in the process, I misplaced it. The garbage can lid. Yeah, I did. It took us TWO days to find it. We were joking that one of the dogs took it outside and buried it. I was really freakin' out about where the lid went and while I was at the office doing some extra work, my husband found it. Where? Where does one lose a garbage can lid inside of a house?

In the pantry. Yep. We have a huge drawer thing that slides out from the pantry and somehow the garbage can lid was put in there, and the drawer pushed closed. Yeah, its a big drawer. Yeah, its gross and yes..I had to scrub the drawer and contents down. Ick. But hey...with THIS around, is it any wonder I get destracted:

 

The Fair

We had a relaxing weekend, our last weekend before the start of the school year. Went through closets removed clothes that no longer fit the kids. On Friday we went to the fair in the next county over, and on Saturday the kids played hard with friends.

The kids had a blast in these "hamster balls"..best money spent at the fair, in my opinion....

......and in theirs. 

A thought this ride would be a good idea...they had to stop it to let him off...he was not liking it.at.all

My Kids Crack Me Up

Overheard the other day while A (7) and S (10) were arguing about the way something had taken place:

A:  S, you dont know what you are talking about, you have short term memory loss. 

Lyrics to a song S wrote the other day:

So just tell me what is the matter? Why are you acting so strange?
So if your not going to tell me
then I will ask everyone in the school
See if they have any answers

I will ask your coach
See if he answers

If I find out you told them not to give me an answer
Your DEAD MEAT...DEAD MEAT.

How I will punish you is when you talk to me I will ignore you
If its something important, I might listen to you.

Hmm...Angry White Chick music in the making?  I think so. Look out Pink......

Im so exited.....

...and I just can't hide it. Im about to lose control and I think I like it.

Ha. What song is that? Anyone? Anyone? Bueller? Bueller?

I like days like this. When Im in an really good mood, and I dont even know why. Maybe its because Monster Puppy let me sleep in a little bit today. I'll bet thats it....

Why am I excited? Well...lets see. A new season is almost here (I love the anticipation of a new seasson..and fall is my favorite), school is starting Monday for the squids, and I like all things school for some reason. I love to see them learning and getting involved in things. Football season for A is almost here (and probably L too, but more on that later), and he is so stinking cute when he plays football...and he's good! At the end of September I will be DONE with school...for now. I will be getting my Bachelor's which I NEVER thought I would do (I HATED school growing up).

I just realized that the end of school for me coincides with spending time on the coast (ADULT ONLY TIME) with my husband and two of our best friends. It also the weekend of J's birthday (who is one of the friends we will be with), so between that and my end of school...there will be much celebrating. Perfect. I love a celebration.

Im also putting together a little "canning" class at my house. One of my co workers cans and me and another co worker have always wanted to know how, so she is going to give us a class at my house...we will make it a fun silly day too. Perhaps involving a little vino. Good thing they are both dog lovers, or I wouldnt be able to host it....due to my plethora of canines; 3/4 of which are pretty ill behaved (read spoiled).

Lets see,  what else....Oh the 4th season of Dexter is out on DVD and I snagged it the other day...and I am on Disc three now...and LOVING it. One of the best.shows.ever. So, hopefully this weekend the hub and I can finish watching it.

Oh and GICOEs not here AGAIN today. That always makes for a good mood. However, he is having pretty serious health issues. Im not really happy about that because he IS someones husband, and father.....and I dont wish those kinds of problems on anyone. So, Im conflicted......

I have asked my  hubby for an IPOD for a graduation present. What kind should I get? I need suggestions....Its bad enough that I dont have one yet....its overdue, I know...but there are different types...and I need some advice from you people.

So, I have a lot to be happy about I guess. What kinds of things are you looking forward to this fall season?

Should I be admitting this?

Know what one of new found fun things to do is? Watch some silly stuff on the Disney channel. Yeah...I have spent a lot of time avoiding those kinds of programs without really giving them a chance. My kids watched a lot of Discovery type stuff...ie Shark Week, or stuff like American Idol, Survivor, Amazing Race, Dog Whisperer, Underdog to Wonderdog..stuff like that. Well, because its stuff I kinda like too and safe for the kids. '

The other day a fellow mom was talking up the cartoon Phineas and Ferb...and it got me interested....I watched it and I LAUGHED...I really did. So we watched the next show....The Suite Life on Deck..and I LAUGHED (I still cant believe it, but I did)...then came Good Luck Charlie...and I REALLY LAUGHED. My kids laughed with me. I even think our animals were laughing...well except maybe the cat (she was too busy plotting evil). Please tell me Im not alone in this. Please tell me more moms out there like these shows as much as I did. Please? Even if you have to lie a little bit......

A simple sentence and an update

While the kids were swimming yesterday and I was reading..I actually came across a sentence in my book that made me put the book down and I havent picked it up yet again...and Im almost done! Im sure I will finish the book, its a really good book, its just that I  have to let the little visual clear my head first.

It was describing hurricane Hugo in Pat Conroy's "South of Broad" and it was describing what the characters were seeing as they stared out the window. It said:

"A dachshund went flying by the window screaming".

Yeah, so if it had simply said a dachshund went flying by...it might have been somewhat funny as I can picture my wieners flying by with their floppy ears flared out like Dumbo. The "screaming" part indicates terror or pain and well.....I just cant handle the thought of my little wiener dogs experiencing either. Never in my life has one sentence had that affect on me. But then again Im pretty sure I have issues anyway....

 The start of the school year happens in one week. L will be going to middle school...and Im not sure I am ready for this. I have heard that they will be combining the grades in some classes too. Math for instance, will contain students based on level and not on grade...so L, who is an A+ student in that area, may be in classes with 7th or 8th graders. Socially, I dont believe that is a good idea. But who am I? Just his mom.....not a thing I can do about it either, I guess. On the bright side the school is having a bbq tomorrow for new sixth graders and their parents which I think is a good idea for all the questions there are about the big world of middle school.  He is really nervous too poor kid. I was terrified on my first day of high school.

GICOE is out sick today....and Im thrilled. Its like a day off when that happens. No bellowing sea lion noises barreling down the hallway today. No stupid questions, no micro managing, no printing out things for him that he has access to himself, not to mention that he HAS a printer in his office. I guess he cant figure out where to hit "print". Seriously. The other day he said to an employee in his gruff, assholish way..."seems like you have a problem with something". Forgetting that a week and half ago the poor man lost his son to suicide....yeah. And when he was reminded of this he said: "Well, I'll apologize to him, but there comes a time when you just have to get back to normal". Yeah, as if a week in a half is sufficient enough time to resume "normal" after something like that. Im pretty sure the poor man's "normal" is altered forever....what an insensitive, soulless POS.

Hopefully REAL soon, Ill be leaving this position and moving to a different position, which would be awesome..but I'll miss blogging about him. He provides so much material. He's known agency wide, so Im sure Ill still have some stories though.

Im trying to lose some weight. I hate food...because I love it so much. Why cant I be genetically blessed with a body that has a super high metabolism? Is that really too much to ask? Thats all I have to say about that...Im not going to blog about weight loss though...I'll just let you all know when and IF Im successful when its all said and done.

I would love to blog daily....however, Im not sure I can accomplish that. Tomorrow I start my last class before I get my Bachelors...and sometimes I get sick of being around the computer when Im eyebrow deep in schoolwork, but I'll do my best. I hope you all are well...

summertime blues and shark week....

Im here....kind of. Im sorry I have been soooo absent on everyone's blogs. I guess I needed another break from blogs...I have been on FB a lot more though. Going through stages, I guess. I guess I am just lucky in that my kids have adjusted so well, so there isnt a whole lot to talk about right now. There are relatively few issues; something that will probably change once school starts (it always seems to).

This summer has not been a great one. Because of work schedules and GICOE's bright (NOT) ideas, there is a lot we did not have time for. We went on our annual family camping trip, so that was nice. We have been having a good time watching Shark Week on the tube. However, Im finding myself having to convince A that it really is ok to swim in the ocean in most places and that these attacks on tv are very rare (which means I had to define "rare").  Maybe shark week wasnt the brightest of parental moves?

Im on a small hiatus from school, which feels really nice. Im scheduled to start again in a couple of weeks. It will be my last class before I get my degree. Then Im taking another break...a looong one before I trudge on. It would be really nice if I could figure out what I wanted to be when I grow up; I still kind of dont know. Instead of going home and doing homework, I get to come home and play video games with the kids for a bit. I am addicted to "Animal Crossing". I only wish that making $100,000.00 only took a week like it does on that game. How nice would that be?

Anyway, I guess Ive felt kind of comfortable lately. Which doesnt give me much blog material since Im tired of bitching about work. I did make some homemade lemonade and cherry limeade the other day I guess I could have blogged about that.......Im off to check on you followers with blogs!