After the bird

Looks like I'm a weekly blogger now. I thought about updating during the week, but I don't think the MOM gets as much computer time as everyone else. Mark and the girls wore out the Oregon Trail (a computer game where you travel out west, making choice about supplies, conditions etc) all weekend. They traveled the trails many times in many conditions. Mark of course tries to score as many points as possible in the quickest time. Hannah just tries to get to Oregon alive. Abby ususally dies of starvation or drowns. She likes to hunt and uses a lot of bullets while her people starve. Kat does pretty well, but she doesn't trade or hunt, but moves on the trail. So funny. Jess of course spends a lot of computer time on Facebook, a social database with links to her friends from HU, Truman High School, Jeff City High School, etc. They can look at each other picture albums and leave messages. She can spends hours dinking around on it. It was really fun to see her new friends.

Jess was totally ready to get back to her college life yesterday. I was not ready for her to go. Just as it should be. I wouldn't want her to be sad about going back. She wouldn't want me to be HAPPY that she was leaving either. She worked 5 shifts, serving supper at the retirement center--good job. That will help her checkbook ALOT. Hopefully she can pick up some at Xmas time too. She is anticipating a visit from a new friend over the holiday. Mark is NOT taking this well at all. LOL. We always laughed that "the boys will come soon enough", but he's not laughing now. :)

We put up the tree this weekend. My husband is the most persistent, patient man I know. He sat for about 5 hours on Sat trying out bulbs, trying to get the lights working. We must have a "Lights Leprechaun" this year as 1/2 of each string was out. ARGH!!! Jess put on her ornaments before she left. The girls did theirs last night. I finished after they went to bed. It helps a Mom's energy level to do the lights one day and the rest of the tree the next. It also helps to send the kids to bed so I don't have to walk around 4 pair of legs and keep them from "helping" too much. Now to put each of the main rooms together. They all look like bombs went off after having everyone home for 5 days. Everytime I cleared off a space, someone would come along with a card game (Dora Uno--anyone), or a board game (Guess Who?) or a million Polly Pocket people, their outfits and friends. Hooray for back to school so I can reclaim the living room!! :)

Time to move on to laundry and stuff. Cold and gray here today. Tornadoes around KC last night. I heard they were in AR too last night. I'm assuming that my college girl got back in one piece, b/c the Highway Patrol didn't call. Argh! She'll call again, I'm sure of it. :) TTFN!

Early bird me?

What a concept!! Who knew that getting up so early would allow one to get a bunch of stuff done before 8 am??? Now that I'm' 1/2 way to 90, I'm amazed at my new learning curve. This am at 5:45 I had to take Jess to meet Debbie from Hickman Mills Church to do her job shadowing assignment. We had it worked out to do it yesterday between church services but I messed up and didn't get it okayed by the supervisor---like it was MY assignment????? Anyway, Jess hasn't ever driven all the way across the Metro alone, much less in the dark and the rush hour traffic, so I took her and Em and I will go back and get her later. Gas is cheaper now, it's all good.

We have enjoyed having Jess around this weekend. She has lots of stories to tell, so much more fun to hear her tell them in person rather than on the phone. Mark needs a visual directory to keep up with all the names. He has almost mastered the 5 main girls--the suitemates, roommate and best pals. But he is NOT interested in figuring out which guy names are important---lol. There is one name that comes up more than others, but they (Jess and Kyle) are "just talking". It takes a glossary just to keep up with all the "relationship terms." LOL. We are super pleased with Jess' level thinking and attitudes about the "guy thing". She has had many opportunities to "hook up" with one guy and she has been learning and thinking about who she is, where she's going and how a guy could mess up her plans, or complement them. I know it's only Thanksgiving of her freshmen year, she has plenty of time to regress and drive us nuts, but we're pleased so far.

I took Jess and Hannah with me on Sat to Jeff City so show Ami's Glass Pendants. Our dear friend, Judy, had a lovely spread of sandwiches and snacks. There were many of my old faithful Dix Rd ladies. So we collected a ton of hugs and sold a good number of pendants. We got to see baby Cole, who was lucky enough to be born to our sweet neighbor kids. So fun to see him, his brothers and wonderful parents, Matt and Gina. Of course we wanted to go down the hill and be "home" again in our old homestead. I was plenty tired driving home in the dark, had to resort to peanut M & M's and diet Coke.

Note to self: Make sure the family laundry is caught up BEFORE the college kid arrives!! ARGH!! Good thing my master's degree in laundry (ML) provides me the ability to get the situation under control. This will be discussed in my parenting book under the chapter, "Parenting and the College Student". It's different than the chapter on "Preschoolers" and "Grade schoolers", "Middle Schoolers" etc....When I go on the circuit with my book, let me know if you want tickets to Oprah. Surely they let the guest bring as many with her as necessary. Wish it was today, as it's Oprah's Favorite Things.....all the good stuff that no one else can afford given to the screaming audience. TV at it's best!!

Time to move on catching those worms, being an early bird. We'll be home all week, so I may update in a timely fashion. That may please the Blog Police, who shall go unnamed, Amie and Tawn. LOLOL. My other faithful reader, dkd, is having hand surgery this am, so my prayers and best wishes go out to him and his nursing staff on a speedy recovery!

November rants and raves

Here I am--back again in Blogworld. Don't know if I have any faithful readers left out there, but here's the news for the inquiring minds. Today it finally looks like November!! It's gray and rainy and I'm lovin it! Last week we had both the heater and the ac on, on the same day!! Crazy!!

My sister, Pat, was here all last week. We accomplished a lot or retail therapy. We went the the nursing home first. They were wanting to move Mom to a more skilled care unit, so we got to clean out her closet and drawers. There is always weird stuff around, left by the wandering Alzheimer's patients. Usually she had tons of silverware left by Alice, who leaves it in drawers of those she likes. Then we got rid of all of Mom's old clothes that she has outgrown. Then we had to buy all new ones--hooray for Kohl's. It would have been so depressing to do all that alone, so thanks, Pat, for helping out!!

We shopped the other days for Pat. Emily was a trooper, but she is not interested in shopping again with anyone for anything! It was fun to have someone around to talk to and make laugh. BTW the new Choxie truffles at Target are YUMMY X a million!!!

So I'm back to a quiet house with Miss Em. We are all ready for Jess to get home on Friday!! Jess and I plan to go to Jeff City on Sat to show the pendants. That should be a FUN time!! Then it will be time to get together some turkey and stuff. It's fun to get to cook this year!

I am loving my new bifocal contacts. I can see without my little 1/2 glasses--amazing! There was practically 0 adjustment time!! This modern technology is good stuff for us "old timers."

Time to read to Em and the laundry beckons. All for now. KK