Cleaning Poem

This was posted by my friend Orly. Thanks Orly!



Cleaning Poem


I asked the Lord to tell me
Why my house is such a mess.
He asked if I'd been 'computering',
And I had to answer "yes."

He told me to get off my fanny!
And tidy up the house.
And so I started cleaning up...
The smudges off my mouse.

I wiped and shined the topside.
That really did the trick...
I was just admiring my work...
I didn't mean to 'click.'

But click, I did, and oops I found
A real absorbing site
That I got SO way into...
I was into it all night. *sigh*

Nothing's changed except my mouse
It's very, very shiny.
I guess my house will stay a mess...
While I sit here on my hiney.

See ya next time! :o)

Rest in Peace (or pieces as the case may be)

You were there for us for 10 years. Before you there was just the cold hard plastic of a molded patio chair. Then you came along....soft and comfortable. You swiveled and rocked. You rolled and shifted to just the right height. You gave it your all and finally you were just too old and frail to go on. One last lean back that was just a little too far back and you snapped. Went right off your rocker, so to speak. Who could blame you? Did we think you'd be around forever? Maybe we did. But, alas, good things can't last forever, can they? So, to our good friend we bid adieu and give our thanks for all the comfortable sitting time in front of the computer. For all the times you were rolled into the dining room for big family gatherings around the table. For all your years of service, we thank you. We have a new friend to take your place but you will always have the distinction of being our very first office chair. Good luck to you, in that great big office in the sky!!! And welcome to our new office chair....may you be as dependable and supportive as your predecessor.
See ya next time! :o)

Christmas

This Christmas was different. It wasn't about a ton of gifts. My kids are older and it's no longer about quantity and a mountain of presents under the tree. This year my kids got just four gifts each under the tree and were thrilled with their loot.

This year it wasn't about over spending and trying to find the right gift for the adults. We all agreed to just celebrate the day with each other's company without the stress of buying gifts for each other.

This year wasn't about cooking all day on Christmas. It was about preparation of a great Italian meal before hand and simply popping it in the oven. It wasn't about the good china but served on paper plates so that the family could spend time together chatting and playing games instead of cooking and cleaning.

This year was about finding creative ways to help others, children who would have no Christmas without a little compassion and sharing of the Christmas spirit. It was about remembering our soldiers and their families whose Christmases would be spent apart from the ones they loved.

This year was about attending Christmas Eve mass as a family and singing carols and through song and prayer, praising our Lord, for whom this day is intended to honor.

I hope your Christmas was just as lovely as mine this year, my friends.

See ya next time. :o)

Exhausted...but DONE!

Well it's just a few days before Christmas and I'm FINALLY done!!!

Gift shopping - check!
Grocery shopping - check!
Cleaning - check!
Wrapping - check!
Decorating - check!
Christmas cards - check!

Okay, wait.....tomorrow is for sauce making, Monday is for making the baked ziti and the pies, and somewhere in there I need to do some laundry.....okay, so maybe I'm not actually done BUT I'm mostly done. I'm at least done for TODAY. LOL

Hope you're done too!!

See ya next time! :o)

The Lions Roar and Soar!!

Anthony's Lego Robotics team went to the State Tournament last weekend! It was his first over night trip away from home for the entire weekend other than with family. They stayed in a hotel and competed in the same types of events as the competition that was held here in his school. He did great being away all weekend!

This time there were 76 other teams there from all over the state. Each team brought something to share so they could trade with the other teams. Our Lions brought pins that they made with their team name on them. Anthony came home with pencils, rulers, candy and all kinds of goodies with other teams' names on them. Kinda like the Olympics when each country brings stuff to trade. :)

All of the participants got a State Tournament Medal. Anthony is wearing his in the above picture on a yellow ribbon, but it's behind the trophy. And speaking of the trophy.....our Lions won FIRST place out of 76 other teams in their best event, Teamwork!! They had five minutes to build a working, turning windmill....out of uncooked spaghetti and marshmallows! LOL They did it in three minutes with just a few whispers between them. The judge was amazed! She said, You guys hardly even talked it out. I was trying to hear what you were saying but couldn't! You just all knew how to work together SO efficiently!

Their teacher was so very proud!! When I went to pick Anthony up, Mr. C. brought out the trophy with a grin and a little song like a child would. He said, LOOK! It's made of Legos!! I'd seen pictures of them but never got to see one in person! I said, And you even get to KEEP this one!!! LOL

WTG, HCMS Lions!!! You did your school proud!!!!

See ya next time! :o)

Full Circle

Michael was 11 years old. A sixth grader in his second year of elementary school band, where they were learning how to play and the concerts consisted of songs like, Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star and Three Blind Mice. Kristi was a freshman and, after playing saxophone in elementary and middle school, was in her first year with the high school band. We sat in the balcony for the high school Winter Concert. The band played very well. Some songs we knew, some we didn't.

Then a featured soloist came out in front of the band. His name was Jamie. He was a trumpet player. Michael's eyes were glued. When he started to play, Georgia on My Mind with the rest of the band as his back up, Michael leaned forward in his seat, eyes wide, watching every finger movement, listening to every note. Jamie was good....really good. Michael was fascinated and amazed. When the song was over the crowd applauded. Michael was on his feet. This 11 year old little boy looked at me and said, Mom, that's how I want to play. That's what I want to do. I wanna be in front of the band some day playing like that.

That little boy is 17 now. He's a senior this year. Last night was the Winter Concert and there was my son, standing out in front of the band, his silver trumpet in hand, playing the exact same version of Georgia on My Mind with the rest of the band as his back up. They hadn't played that song since Jamie played it six years ago. He was amazing. His dad and I were near tears. He had come full circle.

Afterwards, it was hard to even get to him with all the people wanting to shake his hand. He was so pleased. We were so proud. Hugs all around. On the way home, I reminded him of that concert six years ago when he was in awe of Jamie. He remembered it. What he did not remember was the song Jamie played that night until I told him. He was floored.

Now I am hearing from another band parent who has a freshmen trumpet player in the band, that her son is in awe of Michael. He wants to play like that....he wants to be in front of the band some day. He wants a silver trumpet.

And the circle continues....

Georgia on My Mind....Enjoy, my friends!

See ya next time! :o)

The Twelve Days of Christmas

The original members of Straight No Chaser perform their comedic version of "The Twelve Days of Christmas" at the Musical Arts Center, Bloomington, Indiana. December 7th, 1998. There aren't many videos I would consider putting on my blog that aren't of my own family or friends but these guys are just too awesome not to share. "The Twelve Days of Christmas" like you've never heard it before. Thanks to Tink for turning me on to these guys. :) Enjoy!




See ya next time! :o)

No L

When Kristi and Michael were in elementary school, they were in chorus, as well as band. My favorite song that they sang was so cute that I'll never forget it. I thought I'd share it with you. Sing it to the tune of "Noel"

No L

To spell Santa's name is easy to do
You say S - A - N -T and another A too.
But no L, no L. Santa's name has no L
And he won't bring you gifts if you don't learn to spell.

Jack and Jill went up the hill to fetch water from the well
but when neither could find it Jill started to yell,
"NO WELL! NO WELL! CAN'T BELIEVE THERE'S NO WELL!
WE WALKED ALL THE WAY UP HERE AND I'M MAD CAN'T YOU TELL?"

Captain Ahab took his crew, his harpoon and set sail
and called out to his ships, "Have you seen a white whale?"
"No whale, no whale, no we ain't seen no whale!
Saw a couple of dolphins and a big yellow tail."

If you listened to this tune, then you probably can tell
that you've heard it before, it's a song you know well.
Know well, know well, it's a song you know well
and we've ruined it completely so we'll all say "Oh well."

Oh well, oh well, so we all say Oh well!
Merry Christmas to you and a Happy Noel!

Hope you're getting into the holiday spirit!!

See ya next time! :o)

Michael -- Live!

Thought you all might to see Michael twirl his trumpet in real time!! Twirl it, Mikey!!!

See ya next time! :o)

Flowers

My favorite flowers
carnations and baby's breath
delivered by my favorite guy
in the whole world.
:o)

See ya next time! :o)

TMI Warning...Surgery

I've been dealing with a plumbing problem for years now and it's been steadily getting worse. Each cough or sneeze would have me errr...springing a leak so to speak. I'm 44 years old and with all those commercials for things like "Depends", I thought it was just a normal sign of aging. Until I brought it up at my last check up and my doctor was SHOCKED and informed me in no uncertain terms that this was NOT at all normal for my age. This is the reason I'm even sharing this embarrassing predicament, in case anyone else out there is experiencing the same thing, that they would know there is something that can be done.

I was sent to a specialist, Dr. Joseph Carbone. That's his official title but he's an Italian from Brooklyn so the first thing I thought of when I met him was that his family in Brooklyn would be saying, (in a Brooklyn/Tony Soprano type accent), Yeah, that's our Joey. He done good. He's a docta now down dare in Vuginia. I liked him immediately. He explained everything in detail and answered all my questions and laughed at my Joey from Brooklyn joke. He also told me that that is EXACTLY what his father says when he goes home for a visit. His brother is also a doctor and when they go walking in the old neighborhood, his dad points his boys out to everyone they meet....My boys...both doctas. :)

He was funny in his explanation about what exactly was wrong with me. Here comes more TMI. The pelvic floor was weakened by having babies and of course getting older. So stress on the bladder from coughing or sneezing without the support it used to have allows for leaks. He compared it to a driveway. The urethra being a hose on the driveway. If you step on the hose on a driveway, the water will stop. My pelvic floor is now more like a trampoline. LOL Step on a hose as hard as you want to on a trampoline and that water isn't going to stop. He talked about kegel exercises but also said that he could go to the gym every day and he'd never be an Arnold Schwartzeneger. LOL Which told me what I needed to know. I was never gonna have a driveway again either.

He also explained that his success rate with this surgery is higher than the national average but that it was because he chose his patients carefully to make sure they were good candidates for the surgery. I went back for a series of excruciating tests and was SO happy when I passed...or failed, as the case may be. I felt like I passed the audition and got a call back. :) By this point I didn't want to deal with home remedies if there was a way to just fix it already. I told him, Great! Get out the nail gun or whatever and let's get this thing done!!! :)

On Monday I had the surgery. It's called TVT Sling. And I'm here to tell ya it works!! :) It's only 3 days post surgery and I'm still healing but it worked! After I heal all the way, I'm gonna go and get me some big girl panties!! ....Maybe with Barbie on them!!! LOL

Anyway, readers, I only told you about all of this, in case someone out there is having this problem and thinks it's normal. It's not normal...go talk to your doctor. You don't have to live with this and YOU can go get big girl panties too!! :)

See ya next time! :o)

Thanksgiving & My Birthday Day

I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving. :) Now you may be wondering about the title of this blog. My birthday day? What is that? In our home, when it's your birthday it is tradition that you are waited hand and foot and pampered all day. You do no work and whatever you need someone will get it or do it for you. You choose your birthday dinner and cake and you are pretty much the king or queen for the day.

That being said, sometimes the actual birthday falls on a day when it's impossible to do this for the birthday person, like during the work week when everyone is out working or at school. So on a weekend day when everyone is home, we celebrate the person's birthday and call it their birthday day when they will be pampered all day by the rest of the family.

This year, Steve decided to do my birthday day on Thanksgiving! Which meant I had NOTHING to do all day yesterday for the big Thanksgiving feast. Usually he and I cook together for the rest of the family and company. Yesterday, I got to sleep in til 10:00! When I got up the turkey was stuffed and in the oven and the table was set with our nice china and crystal. I had breakfast and tea served to me while I watched the Macy's Parade and read a book. When company got here, I sat and chatted with them. It was wonderful! The kids helped and brought me whatever I wanted. Someone ELSE fed the dog! Pure bliss!!

After dinner, while we had dessert Mom and Joe gave me a new robe and slippers for my birthday. Soft and pink and fluffy. So nice!! Now Taco, who loves my old robe and thinks it's his, can officially have it. LOL

I hope your Thanksgiving was wonderful. I know I have a LOT to be grateful for this year.

See ya next time! :0)

Lego Robotics

Never heard of it, right? Me neither! Until Anthony went to middle school and it was one of the classes offered as an elective. Huh? They're gonna grade you on playing with Legos?

What I found out is that Lego Robotics is kind of like a pre-engineering class. They make bots out of Legos that are powered by engines. The engines have to be programed to make the bots perform certain tasks without the help of its creator. Once you turn it on and press the button, it has to be completely autonomic and function completely on its own. Pretty cool stuff.

Anthony is a part of a team that competes with other schools in Lego Robotic Competitions. All of the kids on Anthony's team are first timers. There were different parts of the competition.


One part was on a table where their bot had to perform the different tasks against another team. Each task performed correctly earns points and if you do it faster than the other team, you earn bonus points. Highest number of points, obviously wins.

Other parts were tests in design of your bot, a speech including a power point presentation and a teamwork competition where each team was given the same task and they judged how well the team worked together.

Well, the table competition wasn't going so well. It looked more like a demolition derby than anything else. But they do get three rounds and did improve with each round so that was good. Their presentation went well but what they really excelled at was the teamwork competition. They communicated well and built their bridge quickly and efficiently. They only have 5 minutes to complete the task and it's not really how well the bridge is built but how well they participate together.

Awards time came around and my newbie team didn't really expect to win anything. Reminded me of the Olympics where the new skater comes in and all the judges are talking about how much potential she has for the NEXT Olympics.


We were happily surprised when we won the Teamwork Award. :) Great job, you guys!!!

See ya next time! :o)

The Torture is OVER!

Here it is!! THIS is the big surprise!! I couldn't believe it!! It's a Chrysler Town & Country. It's not brand new, but new TO ME! :) It has duel sliding back doors and a remote door opener thingamajig and it's just beautiful!!!

Our old van has been having problems and we've been "making do" for quite awhile now, adding fluids nearly every day along with other stuff that is going bad on it. NEVER in my wildest dreams did I think THIS would be my birthday gift! No wonder everyone was freaking out!

Steve, Anthony and I went to pick up Michael at work and then planned to go out for pizza. We went into the grocery store where Michael works supposedly to check out turkeys. What a coincidence, Mom and Joe were there! They had gone out for Chinese and popped in for soda on the way home. We all walked out together to our car and there was a beautiful white van parked next to our car with a big red bow on the door handle. On the HANDLE? While we stood there talking about other stuff. Someone pointed out the red bow on this van and I said, I know people decorate vehicles for Christmas but who puts the bow on the HANDLE? Usually it's on the grill. It's just in the way on the handle. Steve said, Or instead of a decorated van, maybe it's just a really great birthday gift. And with that, he clicked the remote and the lights lit up. I stood there, shell shocked. Literally, speechless for a few moments. Until I found one word...just one. What? What???? WHAT????? Then, I found two more.....NO WAYYYYYYYY!!!!

It was just so fabulous. I totally bought the whole thing. Mom and Joe hadn't gone for Chinese food. They didn't need soda. I was so not expecting anything because we'd agreed to celebrate my birthday on Thanksgiving, since everyone would be here anyway.



We all went for pizza afterwards, where Joe took this picture of me and the remote doohickey, and I just kept sitting there, smiling and trying to get my breathing back to normal. Two hours later, I still felt like I couldn't get a deep enough breath. After getting home, I kept looking out the window at it and it was just shocking each time.

I couldn't stop smiling or hugging Steve. I kept telling him that he was something else! He asked, How am I gonna top this? I told him, Baby, you NEVER have to top THIS!

Thanks to Mom for coming out for the surprise and bringing the big red bow. Thanks to Joe for coming out for the surprise and his help to Steve beforehand in checking out the van and getting it into town. Thanks to my kids for doing such a great job keeping the secret. Thanks to Bridget and Tink for being SOOOOO excited for me before I even knew what I was supposed to be excited about and then for sharing my excitement when the surprise was revealed. And thanks to my sweety, who wanted me to have this new van because he loves me and worried about me breaking down on the side of the road. You are truly the love of my life.

See ya next time! :o)

Taco, the Wonder Dog

Well, maybe he's not really a wonder dog. He didn't save a life or alert people about a building being on fire. He doesn't even KNOW who Timmy is or which well he fell down. But he IS cute as hell! LOL Michael took some video with his cell phone of these two newest tricks, beg and high five!




See ya next time! :o)

Birthday Torture

My birthday is next week. In our house we do the "birthday torture." It's not as bad as it sounds. The birthday torture is when you have a gift for someone that you are really excited about giving them and for weeks before their birthday you take every opportunity to let them know it. Usually it's in chant form. Think of a kid's playground chant. It goes like this, I know what you're gettin' for your biiiiiiiirrrthdaaaayyyyyyy. This birthday torture is also used in December as the Christmas torture.

Every year, my husband asks me for a list of things I'd like for my birthday. Most years I have no idea. I actually usually dread the question. So much pressure! LOL Last week, Steve came home and surprised me with the birthday torture chant. The surprise is not that he's torturing me, but that he never asked me what I wanted. Instead, he chanted with a gleam in his eye and said, And you are SOOOOO gonna love it!

He then proceeded to take my boys into the next room to tell them what the gift is, to which I heard gasps, shrieks and a very clear, NO WAAAYYYYY!!! They came out with huge grins and, of course, started the chant.

Next, he told my mom. He actually whispered to her in front of me so I got to SEE as well as HEAR her reaction. Jaw-dropping shock followed by, OMG!! Are you serious??? HOW did you DO that????

My daughter knows, my brother knows...everyone knows! And everyone is getting into the birthday torture act. They are getting SO creative with it too. Not just the chant this year. This year there are texts, messages popping up on my computer screen, phone calls and talks of a serious sounding nature starting with, I have to tell you something.....followed by a serious non-chanting version of Well, it's just that.....I know what you're getting for your birthday.

What on EARTH could this be that everyone is so excited about???

I'll let ya know when I know!

See ya next time! :o)

I Tawt I Taw a Putty Tat

I wanted one for a long, long time. But I wanted it on the curve of my breast and my sister-in-law told me, NOOOO, don't get one THERE!!! (She is a big tattoo fan and has a lot of them.) She said, You know....they have to make the skin tight, so they have to hold on to SOMETHING. Don't get it there!


Well, I decided if I couldn't have one where I really wanted it, I wouldn't bother getting one. I didn't even know what I wanted yet but since it was not going to go where I wanted it, then never mind.

BUT I finally did it!!! 15 years later I finally did it! I think I was 35 or 36 years old. Mine was not an act of rebellion or anything like that. I had thought about it for years and years and finally knew what I wanted and where I wanted it. After my last child was born and we were done having children, I got three tiny, red rose buds on a green and yellow vine for my three kids. It's about as long as my index finger AND I got in on the upper curve of my right breast, just above the bra-line. I researched and chose a reputable, sterile tattoo place and my husband, Steve, came with me. There was no grabbing.....there was barely any touching and I didn't even have to take my bra off.

I am also a big baby so I was holding Steve's hand and waiting for pain....I was prepared for child-birth pain....LOL I thought it was needles poking you again and again and again and agggaiiiinnnnnn. AHHHHH! But to me it felt more like a dry pen being dragged across your skin, so I was very relieved after I had psyched myself up for PAIIIINNNN! ROFL

Anyway, I am so glad I got it. It is something that will never ever change or go out of style. I will always be a mom to three so my tattoo is very special to me. It's only seen when I want it to be seen since I'd have to wear something pretty low-cut, but it's still a little sexy when I wanna show it off. ;)

Last year I decided on one more tattoo. A pair of butterflies, one blue and one pink for Steve and I. I went back to the same tattoo artist and was once again very pleased with his work. My butterflies are over my left breast....kinda balances out the art. :)

See ya next time! :o)

The Last Game

This past Friday was our last football game of the season. It was with our biggest rival school who have had a great season. We knew we were gonna get our butts kicked but we packed up our stadium seats, our big blanket and our umbrellas. We put on our heavy jackets and hats and gloves. And we drove to the rival school to sit in the stands in the rain as the temperature dropped into the 30's to watch our team get ....well, slaughtered. I mean REALLY slaughtered! LOL At halftime the score was 42 to 0. It was pathetic, really. At that point, we were just hoping that it wouldn't be a shut out. The final score was 63 to 20. At least they got the goose egg off the board.

The real reason we bundled up and went out there in the cold, nasty weather was, of course, to watch the band. It was Michael's last high school game...the last time he'd play on the field in his Comet uniform....the last time he'd rock out in the stands. It was bittersweet for him and for us. They had a great performance. HE had a great performance. He hit every note he went for. He marched hard and danced the breakdown part of the show with abandon. He had fun!

Even the rival band was dancing to their music and applauded them when they were done. The rival band was rockin' in THEIR stands to OUR playing from across the field. It was pretty damn awesome.

So here's to the half time show...the REAL show! Here's to rockin' out in the stands! Here's to the Marching Comets...our band home for past 7 years. We are going to miss being band parents. It's been a hell of a ride!

See ya next time! :o)

I've been published!!

Okay so it was only in our local newspaper, but I'm still happy! :D Around here, sports get all the glory at the school, in our town and in the paper. I get that sports supposedly make money for the school and I love sports, but band is not a seasonal activity like sports are. Band camp starts in July during summer break to get the half time show ready for football season and continues straight through to graduation when the band plays for the ceremony in May. It's a real commitment and these kids and their band director, Mr. Cooper, work so hard. Yet they never seem to get much public recognition. I hear all the time from individuals that they love the band and that halftime is the best part of the game but never anything public, like in the newspaper. So I wrote this letter to the editor and they published it. Here it is:

Dear Mr. Cooper and the Marching Comets,

Congratulations on your huge successes at your first three band competitions of the year!! We are all so proud of our kids and the terrific job they are doing out on the field. For those who haven't heard, your Pride of Halifax Marching Comets have had three competitions so far this year. The first week they took first place trophies in every category including marching, horns, dance, flags, percussion and drum major. They took the first place trophy in their class and then the Grand Champion trophy for best band over all, beating out all the other bands in the competition! The second week was much the same taking all first place and one second place, first place in their class and then Grand Champion. Last week they took all first places and one second place, first in their class and then took the second place Grand Champion trophy over 13 other bands. We couldn't be prouder to be wearing our band parent shirts and cheering you on these past weekends. Way to go, Comets!!! You rock!!!

From,
A proud band parent
Donna Chafatelli

A band parent saw me at the game last week and pulled me aside to thank me for my letter. She said that some of the parents have been talking about writing to the paper for a long time but that none felt qualified to do so, so it was a great surprise to come across my letter. :) Yay me!

See ya next time! :o)

Chris

My daughter was 15, about to be 16. She is my oldest child and she is very mature for her age. At her school they have a program where you take home a mechanical baby for the weekend. The baby has a special key that is attached to the "mom's" wrist and cannot be removed except for with a special tool at the school. This ensures that the "mom" takes care of this baby herself and doesn't pawn the baby off on "grandma" for the weekend. The baby cries whenever it wants to and needs to be held or fed or changed by the "mom". You don't know what it needs so you have to try all the ways and sometimes even those three things don't work and it just cries and cries. (Like a real baby.) The key must be held to the baby's back until it stops crying which can be for hours. There are different types of babies...some you just turn the key and go on, but hers was the kind that you had to touch the disc of the key to the back and hold it there. It can be in the middle of an activity or in the middle of the night...ya never know when the baby will start up. You have to hold this baby just right because his head will flop back, just like a real baby.

There is a computer chip in the baby that tells the school things like, how long it cried, how it was handled (you can tell by the head flopping thing), how many times it cried, etc. All of these things affect your grade, so you can't just say I don't care and leave the baby home crying all weekend. (besides that, the baby cries really loudly and its VERY annoying! LOL) It also has censors in the lips and in the bottle tip so that when it needs to be fed, you must sit there and hold the bottle to its lips so you hear the sucking sounds and know that its being fed. And censors in the diaper area that says its been changed and how many times.

Now my daughter couldn't WAIT to get her chance with this baby!!! She counted down the days til it was her turn...she named him Chris. She got off the bus on a Friday afternoon with the baby and its diaper bag and its baby carrier/carseat and its little blanket and bottle with this big smile...Mom, look at Chris, isn't he so cute!!! And he is such a good baby too, so far he has only cried one time.

Well, let me tell you that baby ruined her entire weekend. Friday night she had a football game (she was in the band) and had to bring the baby with her and take care of it every time it cried even when she was supposed to be playing....Saturday she was invited to a movie but didn't want to take this crying baby with her and ruin it for everyone else so she didn't go.....Saturday night she was up with this baby for 4 hours of constant crying..nothing she did worked to make this baby stop. By Sunday she was exhausted, but couldn't sleep in because the baby needed her again. By Sunday night, cute little "Chris" was being called "THAT THING!" I can't wait til tomorrow when I can get rid of "THAT THING! "That thing" finally gave her a break on Sunday night...until about 3 AM when it decided it was up for the day. Monday at school, Kristi was dragging butt all day and finally she came home on Monday afternoon and got to sleep. It took her a full two night's sleep to get caught up and back to normal.

Yes it was only 3 days, but those three days really had an effect on my daughter. I totally applaud the program...and as I said, I would hope that for many teens, it's as close as they come to having to deal with the "REAL thing."

See ya next time! :o)

It's TURKEY TIME!!!

A few years ago, our landlord decided to fumigate the house during Thanksgiving week. The place was torn apart, so rather than trying to do dinner at our place we went to my mom's. She was going to be away for the holiday so we packed up all of our Thanksgiving supplies and headed over to her place on Wednesday night so we could get an early start on the cooking in the morning like usual. Because of the fumigation, we had to take the hamster with us. Mom had five (Yes, FIVE) cats.

So we load up all the food, the kids, clothes to change into in the morning, and the hamster, named Furball and went over after Steve got off of work. After unloading, putting the turkey in a sink of cold water because it hadn't defrosted all the way, getting the kids settled, and putting the hamster cage on mom's desk, we finally sat and relaxed for a bit waiting for the kids to fall asleep. The cats finally noticed Furball and hopped up on the desk surrounding the cage. Poor little Furball was scrunched in the corner having a little hamster heart attack at these uninvited guests.

Before heading off to bed, I put Furball in the spare bathroom and closed the door. We finally hit the sack about midnight, totally exhausted.

Mom's cats apparently are nocturnal animals because as soon as we went to bed they went nuts!!

1:00 am - cats racing around the house, knocking over all mom's knick knacks, sounding like a herd of small elephants. I get up, collect all the knick knacks, shush the cats and head back to bed.

1:30 am - cats scratching at the door. I get up, shoo the cats, head back to bed.

1:45 am - I hear this noise...this weird noise...sounds like tapping or something. I get up to investigate....and find 5 cats hovering over the sink trying to tear the plastic wrapping on the turkey. GRRRRRRRR, I grab the turkey throw it into the fridge and head back to bed AGAIN!

I finally got to sleep about 2:00.....

6:00 am - I wake to my daughter screaming, OH NO FURBALL!!!!!! My feet hit the floor running to the extra bathroom. The door is wide open. One of the boys must have gone to the bathroom in the night and not closed the door. Furball's cage is in pieces on the floor, cedar shavings and hamster food everywhere and 5 cats all milling around the bathroom on the prowl. Poor little Furball is in the corner behind the commode making himself as small as possible, probably with a tiny broken bottle to use as protection. Kristi is crying, the cats are everywhere, the bathroom is a wreck! I scoop up the unharmed (THANK GOD) Furball and hand him to Kristi, yell at the cats and get them out of the bathroom, and then proceed to put the cage back together and get as much of the cedar shavings back into it as possible and then get out the vacuum to clean up the rest of the mess.

Mom calls later in the day, How was everything?? My reply: GRRRRRRRRR....well mom, at this point you're lucky we didn't have CAT for Thanksgiving dinner!!! LOL

What a riot!!!!! We can laugh now but when it was happening, those cats were certainly in my doghouse!!

Have a happy Thanksgiving, all!!

See ya next time! :o)

Advent Project

Here's a fun project you can do with your kids to start off a tradition of counting down the days to Christmas. I'm posting this now so you'll have time to make it before December 1st. :)

You'll need:

• A large piece of white felt for the base
• A large piece of green felt cut into a Christmas Tree.
• Other colors of felt (I used red, white, yellow and blue). These are cut into ornament shapes of your choice. I cut mine into mittens, Christmas balls, angels, Santa hats, candles, candy canes, snowmen, bells, bows, gifts and a star for the top of the tree.
• Fabric paints to decorate the ornaments with some detail and to make a grid of 24 days below the tree with numbers in them.
• Hot glue.
• Two dowels.

Hot glue the tree to your base felt. Hot glue the top of the base felt so that you have an open tube to insert a dowel for hanging. Do the same on the bottom for another dowel for weight. Paint on your grid and numbers and let dry overnight.

Meanwhile, cut out your ornaments so that each fits into a square of your grid and paint. Don't paint TOO much on the ornaments as the paint makes them heavy and they won't want to stay up. Let dry over night.

When all is dry put the dowel through the top and bottom tubes. Place the ornaments in the grid. (Felt sticks to felt so no other adhesive is needed) Start on December 1st and each day place one felt ornament on the tree counting down to Christmas Eve when the last ornament, the star, goes on the top of the tree. By the time Christmas gets here, you'll have a fully decorated tree!

It's a fun way to count down, especially for the children. I made mine in 1994 so it lasts forever and is reusable every year. Here's a picture of mine. It has some smudges on it from years of use and I haven't wanted to chance actually washing it. LOL My kids are teens now and still love this holiday tradition. :)

You've got a whole month to get ready, so GO!

See ya next time! :o)

Get on your own side.

Steve and I have the greatest bed. It's a king sized, soft sided water bed. It's SO comphy and has plenty of room for the two of us.

One night, though, I had gotten up to go to the bathroom and came back to find Steve on my side. I tried everything to scoot him over but he was out like a light. So I curled up on what was left of my side and tried to sleep but couldn't because there was just not enough room. Finally, I peered over him to this vast wasteland of bed space on HIS side and went over to his side to sleep. In the morning he woke up, rolled over and looked at me and said, What am I doing over here? You know I can't sleep on your side of the bed! Bwahahaha!!! Apparently, Honey, yeah, you can!! Hehe!

See ya next time! :o)

Ms. Independence

I mentioned in a previous blog that I'd been doing fund raisers since Kristi was in pre-school. I thought I'd tell you about sending Kristi to preschool for the first time. She was 3...she was going to go for just 3 days a week. It was for her to make some friends her own age and for me to spend some one on one time with my newborn son.

Now, I had been a preschool teacher. I knew many mothers who had clinging children and felt too guilty to leave their babies crying. I would say to them, Really just go, she will be just fine in about 10 minutes when we are involved in an activity.

Well now I was the mother....so I was prepared, just in case, to walk out even if she cried. I had the whole thing worked out...a little uplifting speech...a special kiss.

So we get there and I get on my knees at her eye level and I say, Okay honey, now, you are gonna have so much fun. Mommy is going to go while you stay here and have fun, but I'll be back really soon, so you don't have to worry about a thing. I take her hand and kiss her palm and then wrap her little fingers around it and say, This is a special mommy kiss that you can keep with you and if you miss me, you just hold it against your cheek and know I will be back really soon. I have her kiss my palm and tell her I will hold on to her kiss too. The whole time she is looking at me.....and finally I say, Okay, sweetie?

She looks at me and says....Okay mommy, can I GO NOW????? ROFL!!!! I nodded and she ran off to play with her new friends and never looked back! LOL

Then I went home and called every other hour to see how she was doing. LOL

That little independent girl is 20 now...boy how the time flies.

See ya next time! :o)

The Picture of Irony

Michael has all these T-shirts with funny sayings on them. It's one of the things he's known for around school.

He has one that says, i wuz dropd on mi hed az a kid.

Another says, Everybody loves an Italian boy! and has a picture of Mario on it.


Yet another says, Big people are harder to kidnap.

You get the idea. So when he was invited to a costume party this year for Halloween, we were trolling the store for a costume for him that wouldn't make me have to take out a loan at the bank. Instead of a costume we found this shirt. It's SO him and he loved it immediately. It was just perfect and it was only $4.95 so how could I go wrong? LOL

Tonight he went to the party where everyone was in costume and he was in his jeans and this shirt and a ball cap. Now here's the funny part.....he is holding a little plastic trophy that he won at the party. If it were possible to zoom in you would see that it is the prize for.....ya ready???.....Most Original Costume! I just thought this was hysterical! LOL If there were a picture in the dictionary next to the word IRONY, this would be it!!! LOL

Happy and safe Halloween, all! :)

See ya next time! :o)

Fund Raising!

Blech!!! Can I just tell you how much I hate when my kids bring home fund raisers? They've been in school for about 9 weeks and already this year I have been expected to sell:

• Pepsi products
  
• Nuts and candy
• Christmas wreathes
  
• Raffle tickets

Let me tell you why each is a PITA.

The Pepsi products are sold by the case. These cases are heavy and take up lots of room in your car. If you sell a lot, you have to make several trips. They are a pain to pick up, load, unload and deliver to the buyers.

Nuts and candy from a catalog are easier to deliver but this is one of those catalogs where everything is way overpriced. I know that this is how the school makes money but asking people to buy a can of nuts for 12.50 that they can get in the store for 3.00 is just embarrassing. The other stuff in the catalog is just as bad, mostly cheap crap that is way overpriced that people don't want or need but feel they have to buy just because your kid is asking....not to mention that next month their kid will be asking YOU to look at the same Cheap Crap Catalog and they will expect you to return the favor.

Christmas wreathes....a nice idea. They look nice on the flyer. Full and green and pretty. Problem? There are several. First, they are fresh wreathes, not silk. So, you have to get these delivered quickly before needles start to fall off and chances are even if you do, you'll end up with a car full of needles anyway. And next....they are $25.00! For $25.00 I would want something that could be saved and brought out each year, not something that is going to die and I have to throw away. No one is going to buy these.

Raffle tickets are the easiest of all to deliver....there's no ordering, no matching which item to which customer, no delivering. Just fill it out, rip it off and collect your money. What could be bad about this? Well, I'll tell ya. The raffle tickets we've been asked to sell this year are for a prize of a weekend getaway at our local bed and breakfast and includes an overnight stay, dinner, breakfast, 30 minute spa and chocolate dipped strawberries with beverages for two. Lovely, don't you think? The problem here is that the tickets are 10 bucks apiece. Now it's bad enough that I have to ask people to buy some piece of crap from the Cheap Crap Catalog, but at LEAST they DO get the piece of crap they ordered. NOW, I'm asking for 10 dollars for a CHANCE that they MIGHT win and give them a ticket stub for their hard earned 10 dollar bill. Let us remember that there are at least 100 kids who were all given 10 tickets to sell....that we KNOW of. God only knows how many other clubs, sports, schools are selling them too, so chances that they'll win are pretty minimal.

The worst part is they present these fund raisers to the kids with these huge fund raiser kick off events! They show them these wonderful prizes they can have and the more they sell the more they get. This last Cheap Crap Catalog fund raiser had the big prizes as Guitar Hero, a Wii game system, a $200 gift gift card or an Ipod. And you only had to sell 100 items to claim one of these prizes!!! First of all I don't know 100 people I could ask to buy from the Cheap Crap Catalog. I don't know 25 people even if I could get them to buy four things each. And yet they get these kids pumped to go out and sell, sell, sell! PULEASE! They know it's the parents who have to sell this junk.

I've gotten to the point where I don't even bother anymore. I know, it's sad, isn't it? But after 17 years of this, non-stop from the time Kristi was in pre-school, I've really had enough. Now, if I can afford it that week, I buy something just so my child can turn something in and that's that. Usually my mom will buy something too. I'm not hitting up my poor church friends or my work friends or my husband's work friends or my neighbors anymore. Sorry, schools, but I just can't do it anymore. But that's what you have the new crop of kids coming in for, right? LOL

See ya next time! :o)

What do you do?

Everyone gets asked this question. Do you work? What do you do? Usually the answer is uncomplicated. I'm a cashier. I'm a teacher. I'm a rocket scientist. Everyone knows what those jobs are. I wish you could see the looks on people's faces when I say, I'm a Community Coordinator and Moderator for a parenting website. Total blank stares and then usually something like: Um...okay. They don't have a clue.

So, I try to explain where I work. How we have forums (more blank stares) or message boards where people can post to one another. How we have different forums for different stages of parenting from trying to conceive to expecting to playgroups.. all the way up through the teen years. (confused looks and Oh, okays) I try to relate how a person can get support from other parents all over the world and how they get to be great friends without ever even meeting. (looks of unbelief).

They are interested, though, and then ask, Well, what exactly do you DO? So, then I try to explain my job. How we have over 100 volunteer hosts and I coordinate them to the forums they want and answer questions and help them help the members. And how I moderate any solicitors who want to post for free on the site or people who become abusive.

I seriously think that THEY think I'm a certified wacko. Finally, they just stop asking questions because I really think they think I'm making the whole thing up. I often write down the web address and tell them to come and check it out. Then I tell them I go by Chaffy so they can look for me there. That pretty much clinches the deal....yep, she's a wacko. Oh well, what are ya gonna do? LOL

See ya next time! :o)

Oscar's got nothing on me today.

So when I started this blog I told myself that this wouldn't be one of those complaining, whining, boo-hoo blogs unless I could make it funny. Ya know what? I don't feel funny today. I'm just crabby. Crabby and grumpy and frustrated and generally yucky. Not for any reason either. Today everything is a chore...stuff I do all the time is just ticking me off. The phone ringing, the dog wanting to go out, making dinner....everything.

Today if I were a muppet, I'd be Oscar the Grouch. If I were one of Snow White's dwarfs, I'd be Grumpy. If I were a Christmas character I'd be the Grinch. If I were a cartoon character I'd be Yosemite Sam....razzenfrazzen dadburnit!!!!

Ya just ever have one of those days where nothing is wrong but EVERYTHING stinks? Maybe I just need some sleep. Good night all.

See ya next time. >:o|

It's a THREE-PEAT!

The competition was HUGE this week! For sure the biggest one we've attended. Fourteen bands in all with four different size categories from A to AAAA. Our Comets took each first place trophy except one and the Best in Class Trophy in their AAA category and then took the second place Grand Champion Trophy over the entire competition! We've never been to a competition where they actually had a second place Grand Champion Trophy...perhaps because there were so many bands.

There were two bigger (AAAA) bands who probably assumed they were battling it out for first and second Grand Champion Trophies since usually the biggest bands have the loudest and best sound...makes sense, right? Not true THIS TIME!! The AAAA band that beat us for first place Grand Champion won by only 1.3 points...soooo very close. But no matter, we parents and the band director were all so happy and we took that second place Grand Champion Trophy home with smiles on our faces, cheers for our kids and pride in our hearts!!!

ETA: The band director called Michael into the office to show him something on the score sheet that was written up by the judges, specifically about him. It said, "Nice first trumpet work. Prepare him for college!!!" WOW! Then the band director told Michael that this is the first time it's been in writing but that at each of the other competitions at least one of the judges had commented on him. DOUBLE WOW! (or would that be triple wow???) I'm really in awe that he's being singled out of 110 other kids.... I mean you always think your kid is great but when others think so too, it's just ...Wow. :)

See ya next time! :o)

The Mighty Hunter

Hi all,

My name is Taco. I am a mighty hunter. Don't let this dorky sweater fool you. Or the fact that my human mom calls me all kinds of silly variations of my given name. Tacobell, Tick Tock around the clock, Ticker Tocker gonna play soccer, Tick Tock Chicken Pox....yeah I know, but what are ya gonna do?

I've been hunting all my life. I chase after squirrels, birds, rabbits, frogs, bugs, you name it. I even chased a deer out of my yard once. He had it coming.....it IS my yard! Now, TECHNICALLY I've never actually CAUGHT anything but no matter, I'm determined. The other day I almost had a bird....ChaffyMom doesn't think so but I really was so close. ChaffyMom said the bird was laughing at me as it flew away, but I think it was really shrieking in horror at almost being snatched up by my mighty snaggle tooth. ChaffyMom thinks my snaggle tooth is so cute, but really it's a weapon of mass destruction. I've killed and gutted many a stuff animal with this thing so I know what it can do.

I finally almost had something in the yard. I barked a fair warning but the foolish creature didn't move. He had his chance. I then moved to my barking and near-pouncing maneuver. Still nothing. Foolish, foolish creature. I was just about to swoop in for an attack when ChaffyMom came out and ruined my whole plan. Damn it!! That turtle wouldn't have stood a chance had it not been for her!! She picked it up and moved outside the yard. GRRRRRR!!! Next time, turtle...you just wait!!!

Good bye for now, everyone. Typing this out has me behind my daily schedule. I have some snuggling up on ChaffyMom's robe to catch up on.

See ya next time! :o)

SOL - it's not what you think. :o)

Here in Virginia, our kids take SOL's, otherwise known as Standard of Learning tests. You remember those, right? When I was growing up in Jersey they were called Iowa Tests ...I don't know why. LOL Those tests where you have to use a number 2 pencil and fill in the bubbles completely, remember?

My 13 year old, Anthony, came home with his scores and a huge grin today. He was so proud of his scores in math and reading, both in the advanced range but most of all he was thrilled with his history score...a perfect 600!!! He loves history, like his dad does and couldn't wait to get home and tell Steve about it. His friends who saw his scores called him a genius at school.

WTG, my smarty pants!! I'm so proud of you!!

See ya next time! :o)

Alert the media!!!

For quite some time now I've been trying to get Michael to get a haircut. He simply refused. He likes it on the longish side, so I just gave up nagging him. It IS his hair...and he IS 17 so really how much say do I have here? LOL Yesterday, he texted me from the bus, I'm ready for a haircut.

Well, Hallelujah!!!! He needed it SO bad and I guess it finally got to the annoying stage for him. So here ya go....the before and after pics that I made him take. Hehe!!



See ya next time! :o)

Twirl it, Mikey!!

A big thanks to one of Michael's band mates who got this great shot. Michael twirls his trumpet coming off the field and it looks really cool. It gets attention. I've had a few total strangers at different competitions and games point him out to me and then are shocked when I tell them with a big grin, Yeah, that's my son. :D

See ya next time. :o)

Trophy Number TWO!!!

Here it is, everyone!! Grand Champion trophy number two!!! That's right, yesterday we had our second competition of the year and brought home our second Grand Champion trophy!! Michael took this picture yesterday in the band room with his cell phone while these guys held it for him and these guys are over 6 feet tall.

We took all first place trophies except for one and then the Grand Champion, as well. It's soooo exciting. They added something to the show this week. Two band members ran out to the front of the band and ran towards each other, diving into a round-off, no handed back flip just as the music swelled and the beat got loud and then ran back to their positions, put their hats back on, picked up their instruments and got back into the music just in time to totally blast the fans out of their seats. One of those guys was my Mikey!! SO freakin' exciting!!!!!

I've gotta tell ya, this looks SOO great for our new band director...and sooo bad for the band director who left last year. He'd had our band for 5 years and couldn't seem to get the job done. In walks this new guy and BAM two Grand Champions in a row!

Next week, we're going for a three-peat!!!! WTG, Comets!! We're so proud!

See ya next time! :o)

Smokin'!!!!

That's right, smokin'! My Tivo, that is. The fall TV season has started and my poor Tivo is working overtime. All my regular shows from last season PLUS all the new shows I wanna try for this season. It seems like once prime time starts I'm recording two things at all times. And if there could be more recording at one time, I'm sure I'd be doing that. LOL

How did I ever live without this gadget? My hubby wanted one as soon as they came out, to which I replied with a rolling of the eyes and a dismissive grunt that we didn't need it. Then one year we went to my BIL's for a visit and saw it in action......I was hooked immediately! We ordered it the day we got home. LOL You heard it here first....my hubby was right and I was ever so completely and totally WRONG!

I have a suggestion for the Tivo people, though. What we need next is T-Mail. Ever record something that you LOVED and wish someone else had seen it? Someone too far to come and watch it at your house? That's where T-Mail comes in. You could forward your recorded program to your friend. Wouldn't that be awesome?? So what do ya say, Dish network and Directv?? It would be the next big thing, I promise! :)

See ya next time. :o)

This Lady Says It ALL!!!!

And she says it fast, so listen carefully and get a good laugh!!! This was just too awesome not to share! :)

See ya next time! :o)

Squeezing

Squeezing can be such a wonderful thing. It can be a nice big bear hug from your honey. It can be a reassuring hand squeeze from a concerned friend. It can be fresh orange juice. It can be just the right amount of ketchup on your burger. It can be a sexy caress from your partner.

But when it comes to certain female body parts....once a year, squeezing can be a cruel, painful experience. I know it's important. I know it has to be done. I know it's what is best. I get it. I still don't like it! LOL

The yearly mammogram. How I dread it. What kind of person came up with this medieval torture device? Things that normally look like this ( O ) ( O ) should never, ever have to look like this |o| |o|....ever! I know it's only for a few minutes....the longest minutes of your life, but OMG!!! It's a wonder that they bounce back! (no pun intended there) Kinda like those cartoons we watched as kids where the character would go through a clothes wringer and be completely flattened until his side kick came and shook him out...POP! Really, they are quite amazing...from melons to pancakes and back again all within a few minutes.

And God forbid you flinch or breathe......then you have to do it again!! NOOOOOOOO!!!!

The best part is when the technician says you'll feel some pressure or a little discomfort. No, ma'am. Pressure is when you shake up a can of soda or have heartburn. Discomfort is when you stub your toe or run into the coffee table with your shin. None of those will make your eyeballs pop out of your head and go rolling across the lab floor. Maybe that's a defense mechanism so you don't actually have to LOOK at the melon to pancake transformation. Then once you're done and the melons have returned you can gather up your eyeballs and go get dressed. Yeah, that must be it.

See ya next time! :o)

A Lovely Surprise :)

I got such a lovely surprise this weekend. A few weeks ago when my brother Joe and I painted Mom's house and we were aching and paining, I joked about us needing a professional massage once we were done.

Mom came over for her usual Sunday family day and TADAAAA, she brought out a gift certificate for a massage! LOL I was so surprised and pleased. :) I tried to tell her that I was only joking and she shouldn't have. She said she knew I was just joking but wanted to know how much she appreciated us and all our hard work. Joe got one too, of course. :)

What a great surprise! Thanks, Mom!

See ya next time. :o)

Grand Champions!!!

We had our first band competition of the year today. We actually hosted one last week but when you host, you play for exhibition only not for competition. So this was our first competing competition of the year. My daughter was in band for all 4 years of high school so we have been involved with the band program since 2001. We have never won the Grand Champion Trophy. Until TODAY!!!

For those of you who are not band geeks like my family, allow me to explain how it works. Bands are divided into divisions by size. Smaller bands compete with smaller bands, medium sized compete with medium and the larger bands compete with each other. Trophies are given in different categories like marching, music, band fronts, drum majors, percussion, etc. Each division has trophies given in each category....first place, second place and so on. Then the Grand Champion Trophy is given to the best band overall out of all the divisions. The best in the entire competition.

HCHS took first place in every category in their division and THEN took the Grand Champion trophy as the best band in the competition!! We are so excited! I don't know when we last won Grand Champion but I do know that it hasn't been since I've been a band parent, so at least 6 years and never while one of my kids was in the band. I'm so proud!!

This is our last year as band parents. It's Michael's senior year and Anthony isn't at all interested in band so this couldn't come at a better time!

Wooohooooo!!! Go Comets!!! The best band in all the land!!!!

See ya next time! :o)

A New 'Do For You Know Who!

So, my hair has been getting on my last nerve lately. It's outgrown its cut and just kinda hangs there doing nothing. It's gotten too long, the ends are unhealthy looking and scraggly and I just got to the point where it was TIME! Time to do something with it! I went into the salon with a lot of conditions.

• I want it much shorter....but not too short.
• I want something reeeeally different....but not drastic.
• I think I want bangs, but I'm not sure. Definitely not long bangs in my face.
  
• I don't like to put spray or goop in my hair so nothing that requires anything besides a good washing and conditioning.
  
• OHHH and I don't really wanna fuss with it too much. Blow dryer, okay, but no irons or curlers or anything like that.

The poor woman. She was great though! She totally got what I was saying and I love what she did. I've got bangs that can be "bangy" or swept to the side.

So here ya go. I took a before and an after. I took them myself in the mirror. It's SO hard to strike a pose when you're the one taking your own picture! LOL

See ya next time! :o)

Fall is here!

I love Fall! After the sweltering heat of summer it's so nice to be able to turn off the A/C and open the windows! I love getting out my cozy sweaters and jeans. I love heading out to football games and band competitions. I love cuddling up on the couch with my sweety without sticking to each other. LOL I love wearing my warmer jammies and my fluffy robe.

Meet Taco, the smallest dog we've ever had. He weighs less than 15 lbs. He's not so fond of the cooler weather. I never thought I'd be one of those people who dressed up their little dog but last year I saw how he shivered when he went outside in the Fall. So while I am not going to dress him up in costumes, I did go and get him a little sweater. He doesn't really like it. I don't know if it's the colors or the pattern or what but he'd rather not have it on, much like the child who whines that he doesn't NEED a hat in 10 degree weather. But just like with a child, I make him wear it when he goes outside in the morning. LOL Look at him...he looks mortified, doesn't he? It's not like I put him in a pair of butterfly wings and stuck antennas on top of this head! Sheesh!!

See ya next time! :o)

Ode to PHers

My Internet Family

cheers for good times
support for hard decisions
tears for sad situations
advice for unsure friends
silliness for fun
stories for examples
jokes for sharing
games for playing
kind thoughts
positive vibes
always there
sharing
laughing
crying
supporting
welcoming
befriending

cyber hugs for all

See ya next time. :o)

Happy Birthday, Joe!!

Happy, happy birthday!
I sing this song to you!
Happy, happy birthday!
You're almost 42!
Happy, happy birthday!
You're kinda getting ollllllldddddd!
But we still love you anyway
'Cause you're as good as gold!!! :)

Dinner and cake at my house this Sunday!!
Love ya, Bro!!

Sis

Wooohooo for Steve!!!

It's an exciting day in Chaffy's World. My wonderful husband has worked for Wal*Mart for 13 years. He's moved up the chain of command and he's just about had it. Actually, he's just about had it for some time now. The problem has always been that starting over at another company is so difficult. Losing seniority, being the new guy, losing retirement years that have built up, losing benefits and waiting for them to kick in again, not to mention a probable hefty pay cut. So he's stayed and stayed and stayed. The job market around here is bad...really bad. So we've felt lucky to have what we have and yet he needed a change, a new challenge, something different.

Today was the day that he got what he's been wanting! :) They are building a Sam's Club two blocks from his store. They were looking for a Human Resource and Membership Manager. HE APPLIED, INTERVIEWED AND GOT IT!! They actually hired him over the phone without even meeting him. There are many cool things about this news.

• Since Sam's Club is the same company as Wal*Mart, he carries his seniority, benefits, retirement plan, pay grade and vacation time all with him and loses none of that.
  
• He will have new things to do and new challenges.
• Sam's Club is closed for all the major holidays...no more working on the holidays!
• He'll be in on the ground floor of this brand new store and help to hire the employees.
• He'll be out of the madhouse that is Wal*Mart well before the crazy Christmas season!
• He'll never have to switch shifts or jobs within the store and possibly end up with 3rd shift as in the 24 hour WM store because Sam's closes at 9 PM and 7 PM on Sundays. They aren't open 24/7.
  

I'm excited for him. And so proud of him. He would never jeopardize the security our family has had with his position at Wal*Mart even though he hasn't been very happy there for quite a while and now he has found a way to move on to a new challenge and a new job without having to start all over. He's just so awesome. No wonder I married him. :)

See ya next time! :o)

Mission Accomplished!

Memo from J & D Painting:

The mission is complete. The entire house is glossy white. This weekend was the last room. The room we dreaded. The KITCHEN! We pushed hard. We started at 9 am and worked through, only stopping for much needed smoke breaks and lunch until 7 pm. We only had the bottom cabinets left. The walls, top cabinets and stove hood were done. Primed twice (or was it three times?), glossed twice. The furniture and fridge were back in place. We were getting tired....and sore but I didn't have to rush home so suggested that if we just finished those bottom cabinets then we could be FINISHED! DONE!! And we could relax for the rest of the weekend. Joe was game. It sounded like a great plan....at 7:00.

At 8:00 it sounded like a good plan.

At 8:30 it sounded like an okay plan.

By 9:00 it sounded like a death wish.

We'd pushed TOO hard! LOL

We couldn't stand it anymore. We were SO close but it felt like SOOO far. Finally, we decided we just had to stop. We hadn't eaten dinner and weren't hungry because we we'd been so focused on finishing the job. But NOW our stomachs were protesting along with the rest of our bodies.

Mom, lovingly heated up leftovers and made me some Chunky veggy soup. It was like she brought me liquid gold in a bowl. The longer we sat filling our bellies, the more the fatigue set in. Mom asked if I wanted to have a sleep over and I did consider it. LOL The 30 minute drive home sounded like a cross country trip. I did go home though. I was glad too, because I got a nice massage from my honey when I dragged myself to bed. :)

This morning Joe finished up on his own. Yesterday he'd brought me my very own paint gun to spray those cabinets but didn't think that there would be only one hose to the compressor so two paint guns wouldn't really do us much good. So he went to Mom's and sprayed the bottom cabinets himself.

Today is Grandparent's Day. Steve and I and the boys went over for a little bit to give her a gift and for me to show off the great work done by J and D Painting. :) I wish I'd taken before and after pics. It looks like a totally different house. After all that painting, Mom's got LOTS of paint and primer left over. I came home and looked at my oh-so-dull walls and thought, Hmmmmm...

So it looks like I'm not quite done with painting yet. Mom's giving me the leftovers and we'll be doing my house next. But first I need a vacation! LOL

See ya next time! :o)