Whew--what a week!

Here it is late Sunday night. I didn't get the family room cleaned up but there's always tomorrow. Need to move the project table downstairs so we can drag out the Xmas stuff. Lots to do....

We had a great weekend. We got to visit with our TX friends in Cape--the Gillilands. They are expecting #5 in Jan and we just had to TEASE them. :) We ate with about 45 of M's family in Jackson. The dinner was at the church bldg b/c there were so many of us. Nice to have all the room and facilities to eat and play for the kids and grownups---tons to eat and good to see everyone. We were DELIGHTED to meet the fiance of our dear Aunt Sally. They are getting married next month. Sally hasn't ever been married, we've never even SEEN her with a guy, so it's pretty crazy that they have found each other. They seem like they have been together forever and we are all THRILLED!!

Of course what would a holiday be without any virus activity. Emily started throwing up before we left the folks'. She only threw up once in the car, then ate lunch, then sick again last night and today. Kat's bad cough is back and she is throwing up---could be from the cough or from Em's bug--yikes!! What's a mom to do?

I think I'll take a road trip---my mom's little brother died on Wednesday. I told my brother that "grief is like a backpack---sometimes heavier than other times. You think you put it down/emptied it and all of a sudden--BAM, it's heavy again," We haven't gotten used to Mom being gone and now Unkie. We are all planning on going to the services in Denver later this week. We meaning my siblings, not my kids....what a deal.

So I'll try to finish up my Arbonne sales for the month, get some Xmas stuff out, tend to the sick kids, just regular stuff.... :)

and Many More!!!

Hello! I didn't realize that I've neglected all of November--my favorite month!! It always goes so FAST, especially since I've been a grown-up, waiting for your birthday gets much easier with time...

I'm home this Sun am with Miss Katherine. She had bronchitis a month ago, which she shared with me--boo! Then she got it again, has only gone to school 3 days in the last 2 weeks, has had 2 rounds of chest xrays, breathing tests, 10 days of Zithromax, 10 days of steroids and now is throwing up. Yikes, when will she feel better? Basketball is waiting for her, plus our regular life. Hope she recovers so we can go see the grands and more this week!

It's been a melancholy football weekend. I got to go see my JC Jays get whooped on Fri nite over in Blue Springs. They played Blue Springs South in the state semifinals. One of my loyal readers, CT, came and took me---such a nice evening to be a game, beautiful new stadium, lots of rowdy Jay fans (I LOVED being a JAY again), but not so good for the old red and black....sure hope the BSS boys win next week, they have some awesome athletes. Yesterday we watched the Ohio St v Michigan game. Very fun to not be emotionally involved except when the MU score kept scrolling by....pitiful Tigers---Iowa St beat them, now that is LOW!!! Congrats to the Buckeye fans!! Good game!!

I had a busy week working my Arbonne business. My bossmama, Deborah was here all week. We got a lot done. We learned to shrinkwrap a beautiful basket and sold some products---all good!! We are trying to get the word out that we can do the shopping for the men out there who have "mall-a-phobia". Great products, ready to put under the tree, all priceranges!! Guess my own blog is totally "game" for a salespitch. :)

Time to peel some taters. Mark and the girls will be home soon. I put a roast on in honor of Miss College Princess, Jess, being home. We love a Sunday roast anyway, so it's all GOOD!! We still have some chocolate birthday cake that H made yesterday in my honor. :) I also have some new bright red silicone cookware, some new Xmas towels, a cozy earwarmer for my daily walks, a Harding Xmas ornament and some Harding coffee--yes, I did well!! Pizza and choc cake and Elf to watch--a nice day!! I always miss Mom on my bday---hers was the 17th--her 80th. Pat and Davy both called, nice...All for now! Will finish the dinner stuff so we can turn on the Chiefs!! Will Trent Green play or not--all of KC has been waiting with baited breath--not really. :) Big game on Thanksgiving vs the BRONCOS--yikes~!!!

Woo Hoo Red Birds!!

Life has been too wild around here to keep up with a blog, but here's a little bit of news, just in case you're checking. Of course what could be better than our REDBIRDS winning the World Series on Friday nite???? So cool and so great that David Eckstein was the MVP!! Still love Albert, but hooray for the little guy who never failed to produce for his team at bat!!! Am going to have to invest in some commemorative tshirts for Xmas around here!!!

I am way behind on everything--worse than usual. Trying to backpedal and make a dent. Between the funeral, life with these people, Halloween and Arbonne--my house is trashed and no hope of recovery. Good thing that Halloween will be over tomorrow. Hope they quit changing their minds on their costumes before dark tomorrow--arghh! Em has always been a princess, don't know how she could handle being a 50's girl. Abby goes back and forth between a hula girl and a cheerleader. All the choices will come with warm clothes as it's supposed to be cold, no rain, thankfully tho....Kat is going to be a pirate. Jess did her "Jack Sparrow" like makeup a couple years ago when she was a pirate, now no Jess to recreate the look. Hopefully my skill will be adequate. :)

I stepped out of my comfort zone and drove by myself to Edmond, OK this weekend for an Arbonne Retreat. I was not in the mood to go, and had 5 activities with the kids to manage, but Mark and Deborah thought I should go, would be good for me, good for my business etc.....so I went, and they were right!! I met some amazing women who have totally inspired me to get to work and work hard at my business. So much fun!! The roads in KS and OK are far better than any in MO, must have something to do with a toll road system. I took M's car and didn't meet any troopers in an unfriendly fashion either---yay! It was good of him to loan it to me, I may let him drive my white Mercedes sometime too. :)

Supper time calls, yes, I'm back in the real world. Happy Haunting to all!!!

Ladedadee--life goes on!!

I'm chillin with the Cardinals game! Go Big Red!! Speaking of chillin--Pat and I went to the pumpkin patch with Em's class today. It was sunny and gorgeous, but there was a cold wind that blew thru my head and denim jacket. We were glad to get a hot cup of drink and feel the warmth of TJ Maxx. :) Yes, retail therapy for the bereaved. :)

We had the funeral last weekend in Jeff City. Pat got here on Thurs and we had a cake and punch event at the nursing home. So many workers came by to chat and hug, plus an OLD cousin of Mom's and Mrs. Knowles. We were glad to be able to get and give closure to those who cared for and cared about Mom and Dad for 5 years. I didn't plan on getting sick, but after having Kat home all week, I took myself to the dr and had a sinus infection and bronchitis--yuck! I told our dr that I was the "designated family hugger" so I needed good drugs fast and he complied. I felt better by the w/e, but sounded awful.

Pat went to the airport to pick up my Aunt Phyllis and Karen, Mom's best pal, since 1950---we've only known Karen since 1963. Those two brought more sunshine than a million weathermen. Such dear souls. We went to JC on Friday and enjoyed a lovely dinner downtown big JC with our family. It was a good meal and good to see everyone. Mom's little brother in Denver is not in good health and so I was not expecting to see his boys---aka my "little cousins" b/c they are way younger than us. So fun!! We retrieved Jessica from Joy and Wayne and saw some friends downtown too.

On Saturday, we had visitation at the church---so many old friends, from grade school, high school, church, neighbors, co-workers, family members. Such an encouragement to collect hugs and good wishes from so many!! My sister, Pat gave a wonderful eulogy as we said good bye to Mom. The ladies of Our Saviour's fed a wonderful lunch and we sat and visited and took a few pictures. It was pretty cool to have all our first cousins in the same room at the same time---prob won't ever happen again. :( It started to rain as we left for the cemetery. My brothers had dug the hole for the ashes container on Friday. After the pastor said a few words, they got to put her in, and we took turns covering the box with the dirt. Really can't believe that she's gone.

We were pretty tired when we got back to KC. Aunt Phyllis bought us pizza--yay! We met again at Bob Evans for lunch on Sun in honor of Miss Em's 6 bday. Then Pat took them to meet their relative and the girls watched Em's "Little Mermaid" movie while I made a choc cake. We celebrated after church--and Em had a good day.

We can't believe that our "nursing home years" are over. We can't believe how sad we are, but totally thought we were "ready" for this. I did connect with some friends and cousins that I had been missing, so am determined to do better to stay in touch even tho I get "busy" or "overwhelmed". Also reminded how much a card, a hug, a pat on the arm or a box of cookies mean at times like these. We especially were glad to have all our cousins there--so many made long trips, with old guys or little kids or not....just took the time and it meant a bunch to us and won't be ever forgotten.

Pat and I hope to work on thank you notes and finish up some other "stuff". We have to work at the elem school tomorrow too. The teachers will be tickled to have 2 listeners instead of one. :) I have also been practicing my Arbonne on Pat. We are getting ready to do a Pampermint foot scrub/cream now. Fun stuff. Have to curb the "bereavement eating" too---yikes!! :) Could share a ton of details gleaned from the weekend, but will close now as the Cards are WINNING!! Hang on boys, hang on!!

What a difference a day makes.

Yesterday at this time (6:50 pm) I was sitting at my mom's bed at the nursing home. I had spent part of the day bumming around the square here in Indep with my pal, Ann, looking at the fall decorations. I did my duty counting and graphing gummy bears with Em's class. ( I KNOW I did NOT make graphs in kindergarten in 1966-67), then read with some kids in Abby's room. So I missed a couple calls. When my sister finally found me about 4:30 pm, it was "crunch time". The nursing home had called her with "the call". They thought Mom had a heart attack. I dropped what I was doing and raced down thru the rush hour traffic, not knowing whether Mom would be still there or not. Luckily she was still alive. I got to sit my her, hold her hand and talk to her all evening. The nurses were outstanding, keeping her comfortable and so kind to me. I chatted with my family a couple times. Mark and the girls were bringing me a chicken sandwich after church. Just as they came in, Mom was breathing her last. She just slipped away, without pain or drama. So that was good for me to have Mark there. The girls weren't too freaked out, and had a nice "memory time" on the way home with Mark.

So today was full of phone calls back and forth, even tho we made the funeral plans 5 years ago when they moved into Foxwood. Still several loose ends to figure out, but we'll have her service in Jeff City on Sat Oct 21 at Our Saviour's Lutheran--her church home for 37 years. My sister and I will host a meet and greet at the nursing home for the staff and any locals, prob on Thurs or Friday. Mark stayed home from work today and helped with the girls, took me on an errand, H to the chiro and tonight to the skating party for the elem school. (He's usually not the "chosen one" to that activity. :)

After 10+ years of dementia and 5 years in the nursing home, we were still surprised how much this hurts. I told my sister that "we would be really warped" if this was easy. :) We are looking forward to seeing our family and friends again. Over all we're doing ok--just bummed, but ok.

I bet Alice could play volleyball!

It's early for me to be on the computer. I took H to early band and it's raining, so I can't go on my "power walk". Wah! :) So I'll try to update before the morning rush....

Last night was Kat's last set of volleyball matches. She served really well in the first match--got 5 aces. They won both games. Then in the second match they won the first game and started the second match. The little girl (2nd smallest on our team--who had never gotten a serve over until last night) who started serving finally got her groove on and served, and served and served. The other team called a time out at 11-0 and the parents were thrilled to bits. Kaitlyn kept serving and SERVED OUT THE MATCH! We won 21-0! The poor other team had attempted to return the serve, but never got it over the net in bounds. In the 4th and 5th grade level, it's unusual for one player to make more than 5 or 6 serves in a row and usually someone gets it back over the net eventually--but not last night. Not one parent cared that their kid didn't get to serve again. It was a magical moment to be sure. We were played in a league in a little town nearby, so we won't see these girls or their families until next year, so we will miss them. A lot of nice people, but am very happy to have a little break before basketball begins....

The rest of our life has been wild too. We went to SE MO for a marriage retreat 2 weekends ago. We caught up with some of our favorite couples from JCMO. Such fun to see how people grow and change for good while you've been gone. We visited a bit with our family in Jackson, altho the folks had to go to AR to a funeral. The girls did really well without us for a day or so at Grandma's. H stayed in here with our friends b/c of band.....

This last weekend was devoted to the launch of my Arbonne empire. Well, it's not an empire yet, but it will be. My friend and direct manager, Deborah came from AR to help me get squared away. She is full of enthusiasm and together we could be totally dangerous. The opportunities that this business can send our way have given us light in a very dark tunnel. May have to start another blog to gush about it---an ARBBLOG. :)

Fall is coming to KC this week for real. It's supposed to be cold and rainy, may finally get those shorts and t-shirts out of the drawers. Changing out the drawers is huge ordeal and I wonder where "Alice" has gone. I bet Carol Brady never sorted thru all the closets and drawers alone for the Brady Bunch!! Where is my Alice?? She's way behind in her chores around here!! :)

Time to rock and roll.

Hub-bub-a-dee-dub

Lots of wildness this last week. Lots of fun around here at the same time. Mark's folks called on their way home from their RV trip to the headwaters of the Mississippi River. We were delighted to be on their way home. I went over the campground and visited with them in the camper on Thurs am. We met Mark at Rib Crib for lunch. When we got back to our house, we had a stranger at the door--my brother, Dave, from TX. So it was a houseful!!

We enjoyed hearing all the RV tales of the senior set. They greatly enjoyed the Iowa countryside. They hit several cool museums near Davenport and Decorah. (Dad showed us his pictures on a slideshow.) They were surprised that I knew about Luther College and the pretty Eastern Iowa scenery. I would love to visit the Laura Ingalls Wilder museum at Burr Oak. Sometimes the tales of the eldery border on scary, but they make it fine. It must have been a sight to see the 8 of them rambling around the Mall of America. (Only John and Faye are super mobile--at least one of the other 3 couples has a cane.) Their MOA highlight came afterwards--they took the lightrail downtown Minneapolis to a huge farmer's market. They were so delighted to wander around on a beautiful MN fall day and get fresh veggies. They all said that they found the best corn of their life. (Another fact that I already was aware of---eating Uncle Les's corn every summer from Northern Iowa totally spoiled me for life.) The were pleased to find the locals very friendly, one lady gave Faye her seat on the lightrail. Dad got to wade across the Mississippi River at Lake Itasca. It was alarming to see the picture of 300+ lb Uncle Gene crossing on a rock footbridge. If he would have fallen in, he'd still be there--no crane could get him out, he'd be a permanent fixture there. :)

The Stinnetts left the next day forging across MO in spite of tornados in between our house and theirs. That left us with Uncle Davy, a mini tornado himself. The girls LOVE to play wild with him inside and out. We call him the Troll from the basement, b/c he sleeps down there with MUCH snoring and pillaging. He is always foraging for something to eat or looking for something--similar to my dad in years gone by. :) We took him to a Truman football game. Unfortuately we were playing the #2 team in the state and lost 63-15, BUT more importantly the band was AWESOME and Hannah enjoyed our cheering. lol

Saturday was a gorgeous MO fall day. We went to see Cars at the $2 theater. We do the best we can to see these current flicks---it only came out in June. But we all liked it. When we got home we had the news that my uncle in Denver was having a health crisis and not expected to make it thru the weekend. This caused a flurry of family phone calls sharing info and plan making. Then Sun am Mark's little sister calls that Dad took Mom to the hospital at 5:30 am with chest pains. YIKES!! So we were glad to get 2 rounds of good news when we got home from church. Uncle Arden had rallied for the time being. Mom had an angiogram and was fine. Crazy times! Dave was delighted to help Kat finished a HUGE map project that she had forgotten about until 7 pm on Sunday. argh! Good thing he was here to help, this SuperMom was not in a mapfriendly mood.

The highlight of the weekend had to be the revival of my mom's oatmeal cake. I started looking for the recipe when my brother, Michael turned 50 last March. Mom always made it for his b-day. We hadn't had in over 10 years, prob longer. Thankfully, Pat copied Mom's recipe years ago and had sent it to me. She had made it since M's b-day. So I made one and sent it to Michael since Dave was headed that way. It was so good!! I usually don't chose anything over chocolate, but this cake is TOPNOTCH!! So glad I only save 2 pieces for later, or I'd have been standing at the pan with a fork. After all the drama of the weekend,a cake of comfort food would NOT make my jeans comfortable at all.

Yesterday Dave went to Michael's. I ran errands and tried to catch up around here. Kat had 2 volleyball matches last night. She served 4 straight points in the first game and 2 in the second. Pretty fun. I'm off to get my hair reblonded and my fingerprints taken so I can sub at the school. They finally called me to come to orientation in Oct. I was hoping my application was lost for about 2 more months. lol. But I'm excited to get started. Some Xmas $$ will be handy.... Beautiful day here in KCMO!!

An honest mechanic?

Dateline should hire me as an investigator.....I took the van to Midas yesterday am to get the brakes checked. Mark thought they were squeaking and last time we waited too long and it ended up costing us major $. So I was waiting in the lobby of Midas and the guy comes out smiling. (One has to wonder if this is a good smile, bad smile and for whom). He said my brakes were fine. He went on to explain that if I had money to burn, he'd be glad to put ceramic brake pads on it. He gave me a crash course in Brakes 101---then vs. now and why this squeak was not the "bad squeak". I was so delighted because: 1. We didn't have to invest in new brakes 2. The guy didn't tell me I needed them when I didn't. 3. He didn't make me feel like "dumb woman in the mechanics shop." (even tho I am--lol) As he was rotating the tires--for free, the other guy gave me the lowdown on when to have them checked again etc.... It was so refreshing to find some honest mechanics, I gushed over them a bit because they didn't charge me anything. I must have spent 30 min. there---they did say they take banana bread as payment. I had offered to make some knowing that I had dead bananas on the counter at home....So I whipped up a batch--had some warm for the girls when they came home and took them a warm loaf too. The guys told me that they try to treat people honestly so they will return as customers. I told them that I would never have known if I needed new brakes or not (they had me over a barrel), but because they were honest this time, then I would return.....Kind of a "feel good story" of the week.

Too bad the administrators of Indep Pub Schools don't have a similar philosophy---treat your workers right and you'll get better/more work from them. Better work policies help those who need it such as---principals, secretaries and STUDENTS---argh. As you might gather, M is still "in the trenches" trying to get his work done in spite of the uppers who can't see "the big picture" of how technology helps at every level...We can only wonder how long the Lord is going to leave us here in the desert. :)

All for now. It's Wednesday and always a rush to get everything done before supper and church.

When did I get old?

Sometimes a wild life catches up with ya. The girls and I were lured to Branson by the prospect of good weather and free tickets to Silver Dollar City AND Celebrations City. We got ready quickly after school on Fri and got down there without incident. Joy had warm choc chip cookies waiting for us! The Wheeler B & B really is Branson's finest accommodations! We got up early and were at SDC when it opened. We headed for the new part and started riding. It was a new experience to have everyone in the group riding together--no one having to wait with a little one, since the little one was riding EVERYTHING she was tall enough to ride. Even Katherine the non-fast rider had a great time riding. Em did get slung around a bit on Powder Keg and got a couple bruises. Kat rode that one for the first time--neither are getting on again soon, but the tried it. I still owe Kat $10 for trying it. lol. We hit Celebration City about 4 pm. Only Kat and H had been there, so we were tickled to try all the rides there. After a trip on the wooden roller coaster and an hour wait for the go carts, I was feeling a bit "stove up". We rode and rode until the awesome laser light and fireworks show. It was such a nice day. My neck was still stiff yesterday, but better today. We got home yesterday pm and M was glad to see us. (He stayed home due to a prior commitment.)

So we are back to the races. Kat has a volleyball clinic tonight. H has a skating party with some church kids. The laundry is in control.

I haven't blogged any info about my new business venture into Arbonne. It's so cool, will have to give details later!

Back to the normal again

Here we are the end of the holiday weekend. We started with 2 sick and end with all of us well. YAY! Kat and Ab were down all day Friday and Saturday. I managed to sneak off to the HUGE craft show here on our historic square on Friday. I must have lost 5 lbs if you count all the good things there were to eat and I walked on by. I did share an order of homemade potato chips, but I had a DIET Coke. :) It's always fun to see the craft vendors. I rarely buy anything, but feel sad if I don't get up there to see it all.

On Saturday night we went out to some friend's and had a "cream can" supper. It really was a 5 gallon milk can that they filled with brats, corn, carrots and potatoes and then put on a campfire. It was so tasty and such a nice time. The hostess is originally from Iowa and she made me a rhubarb pie. So good!! Most of the friends didn't know how wonderful rhubarb pie can be, so I had to take 1/2 a pie home. I've never had 1/2 a pie to myself in my life! Goodness knows, I don't NEED one piece, much less a 1/2, but I have enjoyed it!!! We played some dominoes--fun!!

Mark, the girls and I had a marathon Yahtzee tournament this weekend. I was the one who wanted to play---we looked all summer for our game, so I picked up score cards and dice last week. It was really fun to watch Abby improve at adding up the dice even multiplying without knowing it. :) Of course they all beat the soup out of me. Mark was the big winner---3 Yahtzees in one game--yikes the Albert Puljos of Yahtzee. :)

We got some yard work done (we meaning Mark). The kids had a lovely day to play outside. We did some minor cleaning (we meaning me, altho Ab and Em did Ab's room including some vacuuming.) The laundry is about done. We did a bit of shopping the sales for Mark---he really needed some stuff. Now we're back to regular life. Tuesday is my day to drive the early band run to Truman. We're gone by 6 am!!! but only one am a week! Nice!

Perfect attendance for 7 days

Well, the streak is over. Emily's quest for 13 years of perfect attendance lasted 7 days. She had a virus and couldn't go to school yesterday with a fever. She was so bummed, even tho she didn't have anything brown to wear. (They are wearing the "color of the day" to learn the color sight words.) I didn't tell her that all the kindergarteners were wearing pirate hats and eye patches when I went to pick up Katherine. She did get to wear her black Harding Bison t-shirt today and was happy to know that pink was coming on Friday. So as you can tell she is TOTALLY immersed in her school experience. She can open her milk, falls asleep during naptime and is so tired by bedtime. (BTW she never knew about perfect attendance--there is a girl in Kat's class who hasn't missed a day yet--altho I did grumble about this kid at a field trip in 3rd grade when she had pneumonia and a fever of 102--argh)

All the girls are settled into their new schedules. Everyone seems to like their teachers. I have been to 2 Open Houses and really like what I saw too. Tonight I go to Kindergarten and then the high school. I like being able to put a face with Hannah's teachers. Several we knew from Jess's days at THS.

Katherine started volleyball last week. She hasn't played on a real team before. It took her 3 trys to get the ball served overhand and over the net. She looked like she had been playing for years. It will be fun to watch her. I took her to the dr yesterday to get her "flesh eating virus" checked. He said that it was healing properly and she will be fine. We still have to put the antibacterial cream in our noses, twice a day until our 6 weeks are over. Fun. He did call our house the Al-Qaida of germ warfare. Such a funny guy!

Jess is doing well in her HU world. At last report she was really excited about her classes. She thinks this will be a good semester. She has to take notes in French in her French Civilization class. Wow! She says she mixes in some English too. She has been to the lake a couple times, that's important, too. :) I'm sure she is still finding long lost old friends (from last semester) to greet and hug. She has befriended the daughter of my dear college friends, Karen and Gilbert. Miss Rachel is a freshman and surprised us with her choice of HU. It is so fun to have these 2nd generation connections. Jess and Rachel haven't seen each other in 10 years, but connected right away and could end up pals--so fun!!

Time to move on with life. I'm totally LOVING these days by myself. The school buses return way too soon! I go back and forth between getting a ton done around and here and not much. I am used to working under pressure and interruptions. Never knew the time could slip by so easily.... Actually, I'm going to finish my substitute teaching application and turn that in. Hopefully it will take a few weeks to get the background check done and I'll have a little more time to get some stuff done. :) In the meantime, there's always my real passion in life---LAUNDRY!! and a scrapbook date tomorrow. :) I had lunch out twice last week with girlfriends. Nice! Too bad I can't afford to just lunch and scrap. :)

Just like Willie

I've been just like Willie Nelson, "On the Road Again." There was also some Waylon, but more like "Wailin". Not really, just a few tears from the mom. After 800 miles, a 1/2 dozen diet Cokes, a small bag of trail mix w/M & M's, a giant cinnamon roll and a couple oldies CD's, I got Jess back to college. We left KC Sunday afternoon and headed to Branson. Luckily there was a vacancy at the Wheeler B & B. They had two other guests, their grandgirls, Ella and Madison. We were so happy to see them in person. (They were not excited to see us, but the old Wheelers were.)The girls are as precious as their we hear about them.) Jess made friends with the girls quickly and I got a smile from Ella the Quiet.

We left Branson on Mon am and got to Searcy about 1 pm. We saw my pal Tammy at the Academy where Jess got her old job back, babysitting at the Early Learning Center. We had special permission to check in the dorm on Monday b/c this ole mom has to send the other younguns to school tomorrow. Luckily football practice has started and one lucky pal of Jess's was available to help unload the van. Since no one was there, we got to back up the sidewalk and back up to the side door. Amazingly our packed van was unloaded to her 2nd floor room (I/2 way down the hall--not near a door) in less and 30 min. The football guy left and we got to work. I totally "Gloria-ized" (my mom, Gloria was a cleaner extra-ordinaire) the room, by wiping off all the shelves and the drawers. I sanitized the bathroom (how did we manage to make it thru college w/o Lysol wipes?) then we put all the clothes away. We got a bite to eat. I wouldn't let Jess on campus to start her "Oh, how I missed you hugs" and we got most of her stuff put away. I had to head back to Branson altho I wasn't ready to leave her. We had such a nice time being the only ones on the floor and in the room. She wasn't scared about staying alone and her roomie, Rachel, from Peoria, was due in a short time. I was sad to let her go, but so happy that she was excited about being back and know she will enjoy the next few days seeing all her "peeps". Jess and Rachel are group leaders for the freshmen orientation, plus will get to stand around and help the freshmen move in tomorrow---lololol.

So I drove over the Hoot and Hollar Highway twice yesterday. It wasn't so bad in the daylight, will have to remember that. I stayed up too late talking to Joy and Wayne, then left this am. It's good to be back. The girls all had back to school stuff that Mark had to wrangle. Hannah had "freshman day" at the high school. The student council met her at the door (all the kids, not just H) and were clapping and yelling. She said the whole hallway was full of upperclassmen, cheerleaders, band kids, teachers etc. clapping and cheering for the kids as they came in. It was a fun way to begin a scary new adventure.

Emily had kindergarten orientation and was ready to let go of M's hand, run in the class and find her spot. She told me today that she "can't imagine going to school for real". I reminded her of her place in the classroom and she remembered. :) Abby and Kat both met their teachers and dumped their school supplies. So we are all ready except for some bathing and some nose cream. (We will be creaming at least 1 more month.) The big girls have a 1/2 day tomorrow and Em goes on Thurs all day. I will begin job hunting after I clean the upstairs carpet. :(

Today we are celebrating M's 48th b-day. He is due home anytime to grill us a steak. Good times.

Still on the run

Just have time for a quick post. We've been busy finishing up all the summer fun that one mom can handle. We've been swimming at the bodacious water park and at our friend's in Raymore. H babysat this week, so we added a 6 year old boy to our lively brood. Jess is getting all her stuff ready to go back to HU. That required upteen trips to Target, Costco and more, plus M had to fix up a computer for her to take. We have all shuffled computers and are very glad to find our mail and bookmarks again. She worked her last shift today. The old people that she served meals will miss her friendly smile and hugs for a few days. (then they won't remember her until she returns at Thanksgiving)

We had a bit of excitement. Mark's new car needed a new battery. So Jess and I were taking it to the shop and it died in the middle of a busy street. So I backed the van down the middle of the street then Jess hooked up the jumper cables on her own and we made it to the shop by the skin of our teeth and with many prayers of thankfulness. Good job to the problemsolver Jess.

The night before, we had watched a very brave mouse come out from under the stove and get his head snapped in the trap Mark had just set. Mark was standing 2 feet away, Jess and I were giggling and wigging out over in the other part of the kitchen. It gives me the willies to type about it. The gross thing was still struggling when Mark picked up the trap while Jess held the bag. It was scratching against the bag then.......YIKES!!! Nasty. Luckily there was only one and we got a really clean kitchen for a day or two.

The girls will be back to school this week. The big girls on Wed and Em on Thurs. She is so excited! Hope she isn't disappointed, learning how to walk in a line and open one's milk may not be what she is expecting. Kat came home bummed out the first day of Kindergarten because she didn't learn how to read yet. lol. She is the least ready to go back. Abby is ready. Jess is READY!!!! Hannah has a practice day for only Freshman, so that will get her ready. Mom will make it thru it all. Still would like one more week, just one more week.....I'll be glad to have this week behind us later, but I wish we had one more week......Will post the details later.

Back in the Saddle again

I'm back online. I wouldn't bore my few faithful readers with all the details, but a few short summaries will be coming along. My computer kept locking up and my email died. So after my favorite local techie, JMS, set me up with a new computer (new meaning a new model that he got out of the trash at work), we discovered that the old computer had a bad keyboard. Bummer, but the email must have a bug, as it hasn't recovered. So I have missed having email for about a month. I thought about getting a hotmail or yahoo account, but didn't. We are still shuffling computers as Jess will take my old white eMac back to HU. Crazy.

Mark and I went down to HU to get Jess. It's a long trip but we managed to squeek in some fun in Branson on the way home. Jess was lucky enough to get her old job back at the retirement home serving meals. She works a full shift about 5 days a week and has made some good money in her month at home. The rest of her time is full of checking up on her buds on Facebook, reading and talking on the phone. She took the train to Peoria by herself to see her bf (best friend) Rachel. It was a practice trip for both of us for her summer in Florence next summer. She got hit on by an old (30 something) black guy on the way home. She told him he was too old for her, but he felt it necessary to give her his number anyway. She was GLAD to get off the train. :) She gets to go back to school in 2 weeks. That's soon.

Hannah has been to church camp one week, then band camp, then another week of band camp and now church camp again. When she's not at camp, she's trying to go out there and see all her friends who were camping. Then a strange thing happened this last week at band camp, some sophomore boy noticed her. We didn't really see this coming, but she was not bummed by the attention and is thinking that high school might be ok after all. Yikes!! We knew we had 20 years of teenagers but each time it will be the same but different.

Katherine was supposed to be at camp with H this week. She was so excited that she was getting to go, BUT last week I took her to the dr for an infected mosquito bite. (Our good dr says "bloody pus is a good reason to bring the kids in to see him.:) Bless her heart she has a staph infection and would not tolerate the 100+ temps on her meds that require LOTS of water, plus who would want a germy kid in their cabin---not this mom. So she is home, playing cards and watching tv, eating her snacks. We'll get it checked out again tomorrow as Miss Abby has bloody pus coming from her "boo boo." Germ warfare has a new meaning around here.

Emily is totally excited about kindergarten. She got to choose her backpack and we got the school supplies. She opens up her backpack everyday and checks out her stuff. She was spelling words in the car tonight. She counts by 2s and 5s and may not be too far behind the other kids who got to go to preschool instead of being stuck at home with mom. lol.

Of course the kids start the same day Jess is due back. Jess is working as a group leader for the freshmen orientation or she would be due back after the kids started. We'll have to figure that one out. This Super Mom needs to be here for the first day of school AND take Jess back. Yikes!!

Mark has had more drama at work than one could ever blog. The long and short of it would be if anyone needs a database guru, resumes are available. A job at MO school district, preferably in KC would be sweet as he has 6 years until he can retire. But with all the crazy stuff happening, he is OPEN to any corporate, public school, private school database (or lawnmowing) job. He has been through a lot and we'll be happy when we've learned why we had to learn all these lessons on patience, faith and trust. He has gotten to preach twice this month at Hickman and teach class--both big time fun for him. He performed a wedding this last Sat for our friends' daughter. It was so nice and so fun and we are so NOT ready to go thru the "wedding years" around here. :)

My jogging days got stalled. It's the story of my life, once I start seeing results, something happens that sabotages myself. After I ran my all time high of 12 laps--3 1/2 miles, I got a weird pain in my hip. It hurt for a couple days and then quit. Then it started again the next time I ran. So after consulting my local grapevine, one grape told me it was a serious injury (b/c her sister had the same thing) and only professional athletes get it and no impact activities were allowed. My other grape (aka my sister) suggested tendonitis, as she has had it several times. So I started walking in my neighborhood as we have some nice hills. My hip doesn't bother me, so I'm not sure if I'll try some jogging again. It's been so HOT that I haven't missed it. Jess went with me tonight on my walk. I couldn't keep up with her. Just like her Gramma, we used to try to keep up with the other and go faster and faster. My shorts are reminding me that I'm not running as I was. May have to give up some ice cream, bummer.

Time for bed now. I blogged more than I meant to. I'll have to share my big laugh of last week later. Prob have some more things to share too. Always another blog. I even sent myself the password so I can get on here again. Clever.

Locked up computer

I'll try to get this out. My computer is locking up and I don't get much done. I tried to blog on M's computer and I didn't know my password, so no luck then. Anyway.....the little girls are in VBS this week. I thought I'd get so much done in the mornings all alone, but NOT....then in the pm I take them swimming. Kat is taking care of our neighbor's dogs and we get to swim in the pool. NICE!!! Hannah is at church camp. The weather has been LOVELY, so that's a comfort to the mom. I needed to realize how much H does for me around here. I really miss her help with the girls. And I thought she mostly was the "aggravator". Silly me. Softball is over--yay! Kat's team had the best record in the division and lost the first game of the tournament---sad! She had a good season, playing first base, had a grand slam homerun one night--way cool!! Abby quit kicking the dirt and got a hit most nights. She says she is not going on to "kid pitch next year", fine with me!!

We go to Searcy to retrieve Jess this weekend. Yay! We will have a van load of stuff, plan to stop in Branson and see our good cousins, Wayne and Joy. The girls will get to stay here with a friend and family who love to keep them---they are the best!!! That's most of the news, besides Mark's sister, Cindy donated her kidney to her husband, Joe, today. The surgery went well and we hope that it "takes" and Joe recovers completely.

We enjoyed a wonderful vacation/camping trip/family reunion 2 weeks ago in AR. We counted 88 family members there. We were missing about 30 folks--some of our favs too, bummer. The weather couldn't have been nicer for the "tent people." We had an air conditioner on a card table zipped into our tent, took the humidity out of the tent. The girls LOVE camp, so many little cousins to play with, all day and past dark. Hannah enjoyed all the little ones and then the big cousins played cards with her at night. She had a great time. M played a bunch of cards, some kickball, some volleyball, did some fishing and relaxed a ton. We always eat so well, including the BEST bread puddin on the planet. LOVE IT!! Wayne and Joy crashed the party and had a local hotel room, so we got to see them, they got to experience camp, the girls got to swim in a pool and I got my only hot shower of the week there. Yay! Joy also helped me on my cook day---peeled the 80 lbs of potatoes herself, what a woman!!! Camp is so much fun for the kids, so good to see all the relatives. So good to realize there are many friends in the mix, not just folks we see at camp. We soak up all the laughs and hugs and try to remember all the fun when we are unpacking, doing a million loads of laundry and putting it all away until it rolls around again, next year! ARGH!!!

No big plans for the 4th yet. We never have done all the hoopla here in Indep--our local city band and fireworks, maybe fun. We'll see. The jogging report is good. I did 12 laps today---3 1/2 miles in 40 minutes, a new record for me. I never have gone that far and I didn't die. We'll see how far and how fast I can go before I keel over on the trail. lol

We WON!!!

Breaking news from THS!! We won the contest!!!! Truman High School won the Dream Team Field Contest. Out of more than 45,000 votes, THS had over 21,000!!! Thanks to all that voted!!! The paper said that we will receive the "finest baseball stadium in the country." It will have artificial turf and be able to be used for soccer and someday football!!! Just think, the Truman Patriots playing on a "home field", never has happened in the 40+ years of THS!!! So exciting!!!! Thanks again to all that took the time to vote. The second place school had a dj from the radio station promoting their school and THS beat them by 10,000 votes!! AWESOME!!!

PS A campblog is still forming in my brain!! Stay tuned!

Vote for Truman High School

I have meant to put this info out there for a week or two. Our high school is in a contest with 5 other KC schools for a new field. Please check it out at kansascity.com. The link to the contest is under Prizes--called the State St Dream Field--vote here. They only allow one vote per email addy, so please spread the word if possible. THS has to share a field with some other facility for all outdoor sporting events, so a new field on our campus would be so exciting. I think the final voting date is June 15. Thanks and GO PATRIOTS!!!

T-Bones and more

We had a lovely weekend with our visiting pal, CT. We fed him pork steaks and more pork steaks. We made him watch M's folks' anniversary video we made. He got to chase the girls around in the yard and also help M set up the tent for the "camp practice". We ventured out, way out to KCK and took in a KC T-Bones game. I hadn't been out there to the Speedway, Cabelas, Nebraska Furniture Mart, Legends Shopping Mall (brand new) and more. So I didn't know that the T-Bones Stadium was next to all of that, or we could have made an afternoon out of it. Anyway, we had a picnic table on the first base line. It was a super fun time. They had activities on the field between each inning. We all went and MOST of us had fun, fun, fun.( Em will not be invited back.) The evening concluded with fireworks. We watched some, then headed to the car. They were firing them off in a parking lot by our van, so we got to see the conclusion up close, super close, prob too close to be safe, but AWESOME!!!! So memorable.

I took Jess back to the airport Sun am w/o meeting any law enforcement types. :) She got home safe and sound, didn't meet up with any weirdos. She started her Anatomy and Physiology class and is pleased to discover that she learned more in high school Anatomy than she thought. She disected a pig today and even knew what to do. Amazing!! We miss her.

CT came back Sun pm with 2 of our favorite kids, Tawn and Darron. We got to worship then head to Rib Crib and a little visit over KK's Famous Apple Dumplins. All 3 kids are almost young enough to be our kids, and we enjoy them so much. It gives us hope that these girls here MAY turn out to be tolerable people and find wonderful young men to tolerate them too. Darron gave M a big "pep talk" about M's data expertise and how marketable he could be in the "real world'. It's been a rough, rough spring at Indep Pub Schls, so a "pep talk" was just what the old guy needed. We'll see what happens next.

Yesterday was Hannah's 14th birthday. We went to the water park here in Indep with some church friends. We all had a great time. Kat and Ab had ball games so H had frozen pizza for supper and then cake and presents at 8:30. (Kids in large families know that it's not "all about them" even on their b-days.) She was thrilled to get iTunes $, Bath and Body stuff, a Teddy Geiger ??? cd and of course, the High School Musical DVD---popular by all--all over the US.

We have tons to do to get ready for the camping marathon. I have been mentally shopping, packing and cooking. I think I have my menu for 80+ about set. I was greatly comforted to talk to Aunt Areva tonight and she says she gets "paralyzed just thinking about cooking for this group" too. I only do it every other year and then with help, she is in charge--so that's big. The forecast is good, altho on our "practice run", it rained on our tent in our yard, with the flaps down. We refuse to admit it could be an "omen". (especially on 06/06/06) lol

Time to race up a hill with M. I hope the weather will allow a run in the am. I ran 3 miles last week, my Memorial Day goal met on June 2. Onward and upward.

Perry's right again

Last week I quoted my dad a couple different times. Dad always said "the poorest use of your money is on a speeding ticket. You get NOTHING for your money." Well, well, well. I carefully abide by that logic and agree, but sometimes unfortunate events happen......

Jess' flight from Little Rock was canceled on Sat pm. So she had to wait and fly out early Sun am. (She has a super nice landlord/friend John who got up at 5 am and took her to LR). I left in plenty of time to go get her, then she calls and says her plane hasn't left Memphis left, technical difficulties. I SHOULD have kept driving to the airport, but I didn't. I took a new way home. It seemed shorter and less traffic so I took it when she called and said they were on their way. The Blackburn moms told me last year about a speed trap there. Hmmm, I should have remembered that. I passed one car and thought M's Intrepid was a nice drive. I wasn't sure where to get on the interstate and wasn't paying attention AND you guessed it.....WHOOP WHOOP. I saw the cop too late. Unfortunately he was at the marker for 45 MPH, so he got me for 20 over the speed limit. So Jess's free plane ticket ended up costing $105--yikes!! On the good side, I talked the lady at the Northwest counter into giving Jess a later flight next Sun since her early flight was hard to find a ride home. Always an adventure when Jess is involved. :)

It has been fun having her big ole laugh around here. She thinks it's weird to be here, home, yet not home and college isn't home, just all weird.

We just hung out over the long weekend. We got to cook out. We went to a BBQ at some friends on Sat nite--all fun times. We worked out at the park a couple times, Mark, the little girls and me--yay us!

H went to freshman camp today for band. She will be learning how to march this week and tryout for her percussion instrument tomorrow. Can't believe I'm not freaking out about her being in high school. Plenty of time for that.

I'm beginning the mental packing that is involved in taking this group on a week long camping trip. YIKES!! Have to have H's birthday first and 6 ballgames, plus weekend company--our buddy guy, CT from JC is coming this weekend. We are so excited! We have tickets to the T-Bones (our minor league BB team). We haven't been, can't wait!! Always something going on here!!

School's out for SUMMER!!

I was so down and dumpy about the end of school this year. Usually I am ready and excited, but not this time. Well, low and behold, the kids had barely set down their backpacks and they are out the door. All 4 went swimming down at Ben's. I have been ALONE in the house, very dangerous. I plan to scoop off the kitchen table and eliminate as many "treasures" as I can from the backpacks.

I was telling Em this am as we watched the bus leave that it was my last day alone with her. She informed me that I had lots of days left because she won't go "back to school" until the girls go back in many days. I have enjoyed having her to myself so much. I remember how much I enjoyed Hannah when she was the only one home and Jess was in school. Then I enjoyed Kat for a few months alone before Abby came in Dec. Hope Abby never figures out that she was the only one that I never had all to myself. It may make some of her puzzle pieces come together, but not dwelling on that now.

Kat and Ab both found out who their teachers for next year will be. Kat is excited to have a new to our school teacher. Abby didn't get the one she wanted, but has some of her favorite girl friends in there and the cutest boy in 2nd grade according to her (she is right, but I don't tell her that). It is such a relief to have that drama over instead of wondering all summer, like Emily is wondering......

The girls played ball last night at the same time. H went and cheered for the team that I wasn't watching. I missed Kat lay down her first bunt ever, She got an RBI and a run. She also got called out on a 2 out, bases loaded, tied score. She looked safe, but ran outside the baseline, b/c the first baseman was in the lane. The umps told our coaches that Kat was supposed to "run her over". Kind of a bummer to end up with a tie on a bad call/bad rule. Abby got a couple hits, did some nice designs in the dirt---argh!!

Two new facts I am swirling around in my busy brain. Am I the last one in the world to just find out that Anderson Cooper, of CNN, is the son of Gloria Vanderbuilt?? I was amazed to learn that last week and still can't get over it. I also can't get over that one of the ladies at church who has grandchildren the age of Em and Ab is only 18 months older than ME!!!!! I thought she was nearer to Marks' age. It is blowing my mind to think about having a 30 year old daughter. It doesn't matter, I still like this lady very much, but WOW!! I have only accepted those at least 20 years younger as potential kids (my favorite son--DMitchell). Not fascinating to most, but what can I say.

The last new item around here replaces my 18 year old Electrolux. We broke down and bought a new vacuum. It is amazing what a vacuum with suction can do!! On that pleasant note, I'm off to check the laundry.