I Done Did it Again!

Well, I did it again....I've let my blog lapse for nearly 6 months.  Wow!  If that's not a testament to how boring my life is, I don't know what is!!

OR, maybe it's a testament to just how busy my life is and I just don't have time to sit down and type my thoughts out.......

that must be what it is......

cuz I feel like my life is just one crazy carnival ride after another!!

And right now, I only have one child in activities....albeit, several activities, but only one child in activities.

What's gonna happen when my other child decides he needs to be in activities?

Holy moly!

You may never see a blog from me again!!  (hey now, don't you be cheering!!)

Nah!  I wouldn't let that happen. (ha ha, fooled ya!)

I gotta get my thoughts out on here once in awhile.....if not, I may explode!

:o)

100th Blog!!!! WooHoo!

IT'S MY 100th BLOG!!!

I didn't think I'd ever make it to this point!

As you all know, I don't blog very often, so it took me quite awhile to finally reach the 100 mark, but I finally did it!!!

Now..........what do I talk about?.....LOL

Here's a couple recent pictures I took:

Having a father-daughter moment....watching the fish in the pond  :o)

 After I took the first picture (with flash), they couldn't figure out where the light came from....I couldn't help but laugh, then they figured it out!

That's all I have for now.  Thanks for stopping by!  :o)



My Laundry Method

Let me start by saying....I HATE DOING LAUNDRY!!!

All of our bedrooms are upstairs.....and the laundry room is on the main floor.  I will never understand this concept when 95% of the laundry comes from upstairs!  So, my husband and I have been talking about moving our washer and dryer upstairs.

Until then, this is my method....

Each of us has a basket in our bedrooms that we put our dirty laundry in to....then when it's time to do laundry, I go upstairs and gather these baskets and come to this railing at the top of our stairs:

I then proceed to dump each basket over the railing onto the floor below....

Then I get my baskets from the laundry room and start sorting....whites, pastels and darks...there are usually so many darks that it takes two baskets...hence, 4 baskets for three seperate loads!

 I am sooooo looking forward to having the laundry room upstairs...I just hope it's possible.  We have yet to have a plumber come look at the situation and let us know if it's even possible. 

So, until then, I'll just keep dumping and sorting!  :o)

Our Crazy Koi

Monday night, our son's baseball game got cancelled due to lightning in the area, so we decided to make a trip into town to buy some Koi for our backyard pond.  We knew there were storms on the way, but we made the trip anyway.

We got to town at about 7:10 p.m....located the fish store and went inside.  We were shown where the tanks that housed the Koi were and began deciding which ones we liked.

About 7:30, the storm rolled in....and boy was it a doozy!  I wish I had had my camera to take some pictures!  The wind blew, the rain came down hard and the thunder and lightning was everywhere!

We decided on the medium Koi....they were priced at 3 for $26.99.  A reasonable price considering the next size up were priced at 3 for $94.99!!

My husband wanted several fish to stock the pond, so we decided to get 9 Koi.  He and our son picked out 5 and my daughter and I picked out the other four.  The 5 they picked out were the bigger and "prettier" of the bunch, so my daughter and I picked what we thought were the best of what was left.

The guy at the fish shop bagged them up....the 5 hubby and son picked out in one bag, daughter's and my 4 in another...then placed the bags in a box so we could transport them home.

Hubby had recently put algaecide in the pond to reduce the amount of algae that had accumulated in the pond and along the streambed.  He was worried that this might harm the Koi, so we completely drained the pond, cleaned and refilled it.  Of course, this took time.  We almost had it ready on Tuesday night, so we decided to wait to put the fish in till Wednesday.

I got home at about 9:00 a.m. on Wednesday morning from taking my daughter to summer school.  I checked on the Koi.....

The 5 Koi that my hubby and son picked out were all DEAD!

ALL FIVE OF THEM!

I was sick!      I was shocked!    I was upset!

I felt so bad that those poor fish suffered.  We definitely did not expect this.  We thought they would make it at least 36 hours!  We had read that Koi can be shipped by mail and have made it more than 48 hours....so no big deal....NOT!

The four that my daughter and I had picked out were still alive, but I didn't know for how much longer, so I called my husband to let him know what had happened and find out what I should do.

I finished filling the pond.....ran to the local Earl May Garden Center....got some pond treatment to remove chlorine from the tap water.....dumped it in the pond....set the container of fish in the water to acclimate them....waited an hour....then dumped them in the pond. 

We've already named them....the light orange and black fish is Daredevil...he got this name after he jumped up into the streambed and swam about 10 feet in 2 inches of water!  And then had to be coaxed back into the pond!

The white/black one is Ghost.....the Grey/Black one is Shadow.  The darker orange/black one (not in this picture) is Orangeman (our school mascot).

I think they like their new home!

This is Daredevil and Orangeman trying to swim up on a rock...apparently they like the current coming down from the streambed.

 All four of them like hanging out in the strong current.

 This is a view from the pond side looking at the streambed....we had to build a "wall" with larger stones to keep them from swimming up into the streambed!

This is Ghost trying to get up on the rock to try to get into the streambed....but we were a step ahead and blocked his way!

 He's trying VERY hard to move those big rocks and get through to the streambed!

Look at that tail splash!

Still trying....but getting tired.

Orangeman, Daredevil and Ghost just hangin' out in the pond...getting familiar with their new surroundings.

We'll eventually be adding more, but we thought we'd better get use to taking care of these four before spending more money on fish.  The kids are loving it....they're constantly going out to watch them swim around.

I gotta admit....I love them too!

HIGHWAY ROBBERY!!

Took our kids and one of the granddaughters to the Piccadilly Circus last night.

We had tickets for the kids.....admit one child 12 years or younger FREE ($7.99 value)

Hubby had gotten a mailing at work that included a ticket for a FREE adult admission!

So we're thinking...this should be pretty cheap!

WRONG!!!

We get in the door and hand the lady our tickets and she points out that on the adult ticket there is a $3.25 "Administration Fee" (whatever the heck that is!)
"With one adult admission, your total is $33.25"!!!!

WHAT!?

$30 for ONE ADULT!?

So basically, they charged us nearly $7 per person to get in.....not as cheap as we thought!

And the circus wasn't that great.  We were expecting elephants, lions, tigers, monkeys, etc.

They had a kangaroo.....a boxing kangaroo to be exact.

The only other animals were a dog (dressed up like a lion...woohoo!) a snake and some kind of raccoon looking thing (not sure what it was called).....the snake and raccoon looking thing were only out for people to have their pictures taken with...they weren't even "in an act".  Very disappointing.

Cotton candy was $5, popcorn was $5, snow cones were $5, light-up toy swords were $10....needless to say, we didn't indulge in ANY of these.  We told the kids before we even got there that we wouldn't be buying anything, but of course, it's soooo tempting to kids, they had to ask.  With the inevitable "No".....and then some begging....and a more stern "NO".

Funny thing was, we had just spent nearly $45 on supper for the five of us....the kids said they were all full, and yet somehow at the circus they were mysteriously hungry!  Go figure!

I went ahead and just did it!

A couple weeks ago, someone told me that the Cricut Expression was on "sale" at Wal-Mart.....regularly $220, marked down to $198.

My reply "I can't justify buying one when I hardly use the Cricut I already have".

But, yesterday, my husband informs me that he is selling his "work" truck (the one he uses to do the dirty work...not his good truck) and getting a different one!

WHAT!?

I didn't know ANYTHING about this.  To say the least, I was a little upset.
First, because he didn't say a word to me about it beforehand....
Second, because he's buying a truck worth three times what his current truck is worth!

Soooo, what's a ticked-off wife to do?

She goes out and buys herself an unjustified Cricut Expression!

Isn't it purrrrty?!

What a day!!!

Yesterday sure felt like Monday (even though it was Tuesday)!

It started out o.k., but as the day progressed, it went downhill.

I went to pick up my kids from school......a daily routine.....my daughter ended up going to a friends house to play.....my son had a doctor's appointment at 4:10 p.m.  We had a little time to waste before his appointment, so we went and had some ice cream.  That was just the calm before the storm!

Took my son to the doctor.....he's had a cough for nearly 2 weeks!  I've been giving him medicine at home, but it doesn't seem to be getting any better, so I figured we better go see if it's something more than just a cough.

The doctor checked his ears....fine......checked his throat....red/irritated from coughing, but otherwise fine......listened to his breathing....he wheezes.....he thinks he has Asthma.  Key word here..."THINKS".  He has to go back in two weeks for a breathing test (can't remember what it was called) to see if he does have asthma.  He's had problems in the past with allergies and coughing, so it's highly likely.

So we get done there and go get his prescription....a steroid medicine and an inhaler....and finally get home about 5:15 p.m.

I'm suppose to pick my daughter up between 5:30 and 6:00, so we were only home for about 20 minutes before we had to leave again.

So at about 5:35, I load up my son and my dog to go pick up my daughter.  Her friend lives about 10 minutes away, so we got there right about 5:45.  I leave the van running with my son and dog in there and go to the door to let them know I was there.  Haleigh's mom says "come on in".  So I step inside.

First, my daughter can't find her sunglasses.....so everyone's looking for her sunglasses.  We figured it wasn't a big deal....they could look for them later and bring them to school to give to her.  A couple minutes later, she found them.

But then she couldn't find her flip-flops!  So everyone starts looking for her flip-flops!

Ten minutes into the search, I finally tell them "not a big deal...it's nice out, she can just go home without shoes and you can send them to school with Haleigh if you find them".

In the meantime, one of the girls (Haleigh has two sisters) had went out to the van to see our dog.  My son decides he wants to come in to see Haleigh's dog, so he gets out of the van and leaves our dog in there by himself.

FINALLY, the found my daughters flip-flops, so we were ready to go.  I round up my kids and tell everyone good-bye......pull on my door handle......

THE DOORS ARE ALL LOCKED!!!!!

My dog apparently stood up on the arm-rest of the door and stepped on the "lock" button!

My first thought was "CRAP, now what do I do?!"

We tried to get my dog to step up on the door again so he would maybe step on the "unlock" button....but to no avail.

My husband has the only other remote to our van and he's 30 minutes away in another town!!!

I tried calling his cell.....he didn't answer.  So I tried calling our daughter-in-law.

Luckily, she was home and just down the street from where my husband was.  So she walked up to tell him what had happened.  He couldn't leave for at least two hours!

So my dear daughter-in-law loads up her kids and, remote in hand, drives 30 minutes to come rescue me!

I couldn't tell her "thank you" enough....I was so appreciative that she was willing and able to help me out.

We finally got home about 7:20....after stopping to get something to eat...I wasn't gonna cook supper after that whole ordeal!!  LOL

Never Underestimate the Stupidity of a Customer!

First of all, my husband owns a fast food establishment and I work there (unfortunately).

Anyways, I was working last night and overheard a customer on Drive-thru.  This is how the conversation went:

Customer:  "I just wanted to let you know that a blue car with 33 county plates just cut in front of me and I don't appreciate it!"

Employee:  "I'm sorry about that"

Customer:  (she's placing her order) "ummmm, give me one of those chili-cheese fries"....."by the way, what are chili-cheese fries?"  (are you kidding me?!...duh!)

Employee:  "They're french fries with chili and cheese on them"  (LOL)

Customer:  "oh, I wanted a chili-cheese hot dog"  (then why didn't you say that!)

Employee:  "ok, i changed that on your order"

She continued to order a couple other things and pulled forward.  She gets to the window and again tells the employee that she didn't appreciate that blue car cutting in front of her.  At this point the employee is just flabbergasted at this ladies stupidity, because the vehicle in front of her had been a white van.....and HER car was blue.  I told the employee to look at her plates when she left to see if she had 33 county plates.....
SURE ENOUGH....she had 33 county plates!!!

Was she dilusional?  Or just plain stupid?!    OMG!    LOL!   :o)

What a difference already!

Well, I finally did it.

I had procrastinated for so long....thinking "maybe it'll get better on it's own", "maybe it's all in my head", "I don't want him to be labeled".

But I finally made an appointment for my son and took him in to see the doctor....with the questionnaire his teacher had filled out in hand. His teacher told me she can't diagnose him, but many of the red flags are there.

The doctor said there is no clinical "test" for ADHD. It's basically a trial and error/success type of thing. And we agreed that my son needed to try medication.

We're trying the lowest dose first. 18 mg.

We'll "tweak" it later if needed.

He took his first dose this morning. Not willingly....he had to be "forced". He doesn't take to new things very well and he had never taken a pill before. He wanted NOTHING to do with it. I had to practically stuff it down his throat. But once it was in his mouth, he took a drink of chocolate milk and washed it right down!

"There...that wasn't so bad now, was it?"
No answer....just a look. If looks could kill, I'd be dead!

15 to 20 minutes later I could already tell a difference in his mood. He didn't argue with me to go upstairs to pick out clothes. He didn't whine when I asked him to brush his teeth. He didn't fight with his sister when she offered to comb his hair. He got ready without complaining.....it was Heaven!

I'm not a huge advocate for kids taking medication, but WHY did I wait so long?! I could've saved myself a TON of stress! This was SO worth it!

Now if he'll just start taking the pill willingly....life will be good!

Japan

I am feeling so bad for the people in Japan.

I can't even begin to imagine what it would be like to be in a situation like they're experiencing.

My heart aches for the people that don't know if their family member(s)/friends are alive or dead.

I have a friend who is in the Marines who was stationed in Japan and had recently been relocated to Korea. I worry about him and how he's dealing with this catastrophe. His expertise is communications, so he may be helping re-build Japan's communications systems. I anxiously wait to hear something....anything...from him, to know that he's o.k.

Then, I also worry about how this will affect us here in the U.S. Will this put the economic recovery in trouble? How could it not?

What are your thoughts on this subject?

Random Thinking!

My blog friend, Missy at "Is It Just Me?" gave me the idea for this blog. :o)

* I need a vacation...

with or without the rest of my family...either way would work for me.

* My dog stinks....he needs a bath, but he's afraid to go up the stairs, which is where our only bathtub is. If I try to take him up the stairs, he pees on the carpet....so I refuse to take him up there....he gets groomed on the 23rd...guess we'll just have to deal with the stench till then.

* My son stayed home from school today....he's sick....this was his FIRST missed school day....he was bummed! Bye-bye Perfect Attendance.

* My daughter refuses to pick up her room.....it's been a disaster area for over a month now. I won't allow her to have friends over till it's picked up....she doesn't care...she just goes over to their houses!

* I'm having anxiety over "The Bachelor"...he's down to the final two and I soooo want him to pick Emily. She's MY pick for him. Hope he feels the same way.

* I hate coming up with ideas of what to make for supper. I'm tired of having the same old thing all the time, but I have no desire to do anything about it.

* I watch too much t.v.! Monday night is "The Bachelor", Tuesday night is "V", Wednesday night is "Survivor", Thursday night is "Grey's Anatomy", Friday night is "Super Nanny" and Sunday night is "The Amazing Race".....I couldn't find anything I liked on Saturday night!

* I wish I could be a Stay-at-home Mom....although I would probably spend waaaay too much time on the computer....so it's probably a good thing I work.

* My daughter is going to send me to the Nut House sooner rather than later....she's an over-dramatic Drama Queen!

* My son may cause me to have a heart attack before my next birthday....he's too much of a dare-devil and has a quick, HOT temper!

What are your random thoughts today?

Our First Gymnastics Competition

*Leotard & Warm-ups: $115
*YMCA membership, Gymnastics lessons & Competition fees: $675/year
*Finally getting to watch my daughter
compete in her first Gymnastics Meet: Priceless

I can't even express how proud I am of my girl! Despite being extremely nervous before we even got to the Meet location, she got out there and performed like a champion!

The girls getting ready for their first event.

My daughter, doing her floor routine

A perfect score is 10....she got a 9.4 on her Vault!!

Getting ready to do her back-hip circle....bars aren't her strongest event, but she still scored an 8.0!



Beam is her favorite event.....she scored an 8.4 Not sure what they deducted for, cuz I thought she did a perfect routine...but then I may be biased...LOL.

Overall, she placed 6th in her age group.

She was so excited afterwards. She said to me "I wish there was another meet tomorrow!" LOL I said "well, it's close enough....we have another meet this coming Sunday!"

Busy, busy, busy! But it's sooo much fun. I admit it...I'm living vicariously through my daughter. I never got to do this kind of stuff when I was a kid, so this is a whole new experience for both of us! And we're both having a blast! :o)

I'm BAAAAACK & She's only 9!!!

Holy cow! It's been over 5 months since I blogged. And, sadly, there hasn't been a whole lot going on.

Nothing blog worthy anyway.....

Until now.....I'm having an issue with my 9 year old daughter. She seems to want to grow up WAAAAY to fast!

She insists on wearing eyeshadow and lipgloss almost everywhere she goes. She got some "kid" make-up from her grandma for Christmas and she LOVES to wear it, but it's soooo dark. She thinks she looks gorgeous, but I think she looks like a clown!

THEN, today, while my step-granddaughter was babysitting, she got into my mascara and put some on! I put my foot down and told her that my make-up is OFF-LIMITS!! No if's, and's or but's!!

She won't give me a kiss or let me kiss her in front of anyone anymore....she says it embarasses her! SHE'S ONLY 9 YEARS OLD!!! This shouldn't embarass her till she's at least 13, right?!! LOL

I feel like I'm losing my little girl. I mean, I know it's gotta happen, she's gonna grow up....I can't stop it....but does it have to happen now?!!! UGH!!