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| Wednesday, October 20th, 2010 | | 11:26 am |
Kids are mostly manageable. Parents? Not so much. Ha!
I've (mostly) gotten the hang of the having the one kid in preschool, another in kindergarten thing. I know when show & tell days are, know when homework's due, know when gym day is... We've settled into a nice routine, not a lot of stress, no panic. Yesterday seemed like a really long day. By 8pm the kids were in bed and I was actually THRILLED that Glee was a repeat and was ready to turn off the computer and go to bed. Mom comes up to me all stressed out. She has a Red Hat Lady lunch meeting tomorrow (today) and she doesn't know where the restaurant is, doesn't know what to wear, and can't figure out how to attach the purple feathers (that I bought her) onto her new red hat. She's known about this luncheon for weeks. I was SO tempted to give her a lecture about not putting things off to last minute, being prepared, blah, blah, blah. She's 69, a bit old for lectures. I let out a big (quite audible) sigh and found her restaurant, printed her a map, showed her the menu, and stuck the feathers on her hat before finally going to bed. I guess she figured out what to wear, since she was wearing clothes this morning. Ha! Dad is stopping by today (to pick up some mail, file some paperwork, see the kids). He should be here kinda late because he's playing softball first. Mom's trainer is coming to work out with her in the basement. He's coming early because she took off work early for her meeting. Dad doesn't know Mom is paying the trainer to hang out in our basement (while also still paying for the gym). Mom and Dad spending time together is always interesting. This should be even funner. Hee! ETA: Yup, it has an e. Looks funny (to me) though. Also, invited the in-laws down for Halloween. They agreed that it might be better (for them) if they stayed at a hotel. Yay! Ha! Dad's here early, may avoid the fun. Oh well. *g* Got called to pick up the Girlie. She had a fever at school. Heading to the doctor tomorrow if she's not better. | | Wednesday, August 18th, 2010 | | 3:02 pm |
Because posting here helps me get my head on straight (sometimes)
Right now I'm having trouble seeing past September. Our Knoebels Weekend is over and I've spent a LONG time looking forward to (and getting ready for) that. It was so wonderful. In September BOTH kids are starting new (to them) schools. It's all very exciting. And although I *think* I have it figured out, it'll be nice to see how/if the drop-off and pick-up schedule works out. *Fingers crossed* for that. Also in September we have the Church Carnival and a few family birthdays. Honestly I just can't be bothered, but yeah, ignoring your Mother-in-Law's birthday isn't good. Perhaps I should put some thought into that... later. *g* End of of September is our anniversary. We used to do special stuff for our anniversaries, but I guess we really haven't since we had the kids. Since NEXT year is our 10th wedding anniversary I plan to plan a weekend thingie for that. We shall see. Eddie's birthday and the Fall Festival are in early October (of this year). Of course there's Halloween. *shrug* And then there's Lucie's Scary Sixteen party. We've been planning this for a VERY LONG time. I can't wait. http://fasted106.home.comcast.net/~fasted106/Scary16.htmlSam (Petrona's daughter) is celebrating her 16th birthday in October too. It's been decided that Sam and Lucie will be sharing the party. I need to update the website. Anyway, should be fun! End of November is the kids' birthdays and Thanksgiving. Gotta put some thought into how that's going to work out... or just see what happens. In mid-December we're headed down for our annual visit (and Disney on Ice) with my brother and his family. Christmas, of course. I've been going back and forth about having the Barretts here for New Years again. Cracks me up that one of my most recent posts was posted as a reminder to myself that I DID want to host the Barretts again, I've been talking myself out of it. We shall see. And that leads to the reason for this whole post ...I think(?). I was talking to Lisa/Skittery about the Hartford (CT) weekend that I've been wanting to put together. Because of this other stuff we've got going on in Sept/Oct/Nov/Dec I really don't feel comfortable trying to squeeze it in there. Jan/Feb/March isn't the best time to plan anything in Hartford, the weather's too iffy. In mid-April I'm hoping to pull together a family weekend for my Mom's 70th birthday. And so, I was looking for a good time to do Hartford. There's a Friday the 13th weekend in May. Yay! Mostly to avoid the looming uncertainty of September (and the rest of this year actually) I'm planning the heck out of our Hartford Weekend in May 2011. *nod* I'll put the website up shortly. Also, it has been definitely decided there won't be another SJBW (at least not in SJ) anytime in the near (or un-near) future. In August 2011 we're planning another Niagara trip ("Bronzers take Niagara II"). I can't wait for that! Hmmm, well... Mostly this post has reminded me that there's a lot of stuff (life) that I have no control over and I'll just have to wait to see how it shakes out. *grumble* I think I'll just stick my head back in the sand and thoroughly enjoy planning Hartford in May, and Niagara in August. Hopefully I'll see you there! *g* | | Friday, January 22nd, 2010 | | 7:47 am |
| | Thursday, January 21st, 2010 | | 4:54 pm |
A raccoon in my backyard and Grandma Sturm on my couch
Yeah, we saw a raccoon in the backyard last night. Thank goodness we saw it before Maggie (the dog) did. In my almost 40 year history of living in this house I don't think a raccoon has ever been spotted in our backyard. We've had tons of rabbits, squirrels, voles, opossums, a few groundhogs... and even a big white wolf looking dog that used to hop the four foot fence once in awhile. But raccoons are new. Eddie talked to Dad on the phone today. We forgot to tell him about it, I'll have to remember to tell him. Anyway, interesting (to me). *g* This morning I woke from a really weird dream. All kinds of (seemingly unrelated) things happened (police cars, ambulances, airplanes). And then I ended up sitting in our livingroom with my Mom and my Grandma Sturm (my Dad's Step-Mother). Grandma said that she was back and was looking for a place to stay. Neither Mom nor I jumped to offer our space. I told her the truth: that Mom stored a lot of her stuff in the guestroom and LIKED being able to have it in there. Also, we really liked having the guestroom for actual guests. I told her we'd have to think about it, we'd have to talk about it. We'd get back to her. And then I woke up. My Grandma died back on Sept. 13th. I woke up confused... and feeling slightly guilty. *g* | | Tuesday, January 19th, 2010 | | 8:01 pm |
| | 11:31 am |
My Daddy is buying us George tickets!!
Yeah, I feel like I'm about TWO... but I asked my Dad if he'd buy us tickets so I could take a bunch of friends to see Curious George Live for my birthday. He didn't even ask how much they'd be, he just said it wouldn't be a problem. Yay! Ha! I know what's behind this. My Mom spent a small FORTUNE on their joint credit card for Christmas gifts for my brother and his family. I have no problem with that, in fact I helped Mom pick out most of the stuff and/or procure it. But Dad thinks we (me, Eddie, and the kids) got shafted somehow. I kept trying to tell him that Mom is always helping us out and buying stuff for the kids, we DO NOT feel slighted AT ALL. But I could tell it still bugged him. He didn't even wait for my excuse/reasoning that he usually paid for our Disney World admissions for my birthday and that this would be less than that. He just said it was okay. I'm thinkin' I should have asked for a Pony!! *snerk* I'm planning to buy tickets for: Me Eddie Katie Joseph Jerry Genny Lucie Len Xander John I'm setting a page up for the weekend now. I've already booked a few hotel rooms because there's a really great rate only available through Jan. 22nd. I'd like to buy tickets soon. So if you want to go to the show please let me know. Jodi and Dave plan to hang out at the hotel (or nearby) while the others go to the show. Eddie and Len may try to get out of it too. *g* The Curious George Live show is at Stabler Arena in Allentown, PA. It's Sunday, March 21st at 1:00. http://curiousgeorgelive.com/Wanna go? My Daddy is paying for the tickets! *g* | | Monday, January 18th, 2010 | | 8:12 pm |
Meme
Reply to this post, and I'll tell you one reason why I like you. Then put this in your own journal, if you're up for the challenge. | | Saturday, January 16th, 2010 | | 4:08 pm |
AAA's magazine needs to get out of my head... seriously! Ha!
So, I've had gatherings on my mind a lot lately. January and February are just so darn boring... and COLD. I feel the need to have something to look forward to. I don't have any books to read lately. Unless seniorslayer has a book coming out I won't pay full price for books. I hate used books. BJs has a nice discount on paperbacks, I usually get my reading material there. But I haven't brought home anything interesting lately. And so... I've been reading "AAA World" in the potty lately. *snerk* They have an article on planning a trip to Atlantic City, info about Disney trips, even an article about visiting the VA caves. This all seems rather strange to me since I JUST mentioned all of this in my last LJ post. It went beyond that. There was a very small blurb about a Curious George exhibit in Baltimore. I've been looking for an excuse/reason to do another Inner Harbor trip! Perfect! AND after reading Skittery's last post I was thinking (again) about doing a Connecticut weekend. I was thinking about the Beardsley Zoo, the Norwalk Aquarium, and even Ikea. Ha! But then I saw an article about the Mark Twain House in Hartford. I know John (PoL) loves Mark Twain and Jodi (Genevieve's Lucie) likes "smart stuff" like that, so it caught my interest. AND I became a fan of the house on facebook only to find(remember?) that the Ghost Hunter crew did a show at the house. Eddie and Jodi LOVE Ghost Hunters!!! So, mere coincidence? Or maybe I just want to go any and everywhere I read about? I think not. They're in my head! *snerk* Okay, maybe not. Anybody (else) wanna go to Hartford? Baltimore? *g* | | Thursday, January 7th, 2010 | | 12:25 pm |
Because I want to remember that I WANT to do this stuff again
We had the whole Barrett Clan here for New Year's Eve. That's Ray, Linda, JiJi, Angelina, Frank, Rose, Frankie, Anakin, Alyssa, and Chris. Mom was away and we had 14 people sleeping in this house 2 nights in a row. It actually went really well. I wish I got to take more pictures. I spent a lot of time washing dishes. Rosie was in a good mood for most of the visit. I think that made all the difference in the world. Linda told me that she dresses the girls for school the next day the night before. They sleep in their school clothes because it saves time in the morning! Boggles my mind! Anyway, just as Ray and Linda were leaving John and Xander showed up. And then Jodi, Dave, Genny and Lucie. And then Len. It was great to be able to relax and hang out with them. Oh, I need to spend some of my birthday money on clothes/shoes. It won't kill me to spend some money on me. It really sucks to be uncomfortable in what you're wearing. So, yeah, New Year's Eve was good. Hanging out with a small group after that was good. The weekend after Christmas with the in-laws was okay. *shrug* Christmas was nice. When I think about the SJBW in general I feel regret and dread. And I'm really not sure why. I had a good time this last time. I know I did. I know that right afterwards I was looking forward to the next one (possibly in 2011). But for some reason I REALLY don't want to go through it again. Oh well. We'll see. Plus, we're looking for a good time to do a Niagara trip again and July, or probably August 2011 could be it. This August Mercy is flying in for Knoebels! I'm so excited she'll finally be able to go there with us. I'll be putting up more info about it (here and on facebook) but it's the Friday the 13th weekend of August. I just LOVE planning things for those weekends. They just seem to "work" for us! Ha! I'll be turning 40 in March. Every other year for awhile we were going to Florida (Orlando) for my birthday. I had grandiose dreams of doing it again this year and dragging some friends along. I think I even almost got Jodi to agree to go along (she hates Disney). But I had to face reality. We just can't afford it. I looked frantically for some other way to celebrate, only to be thwarted over and over (stupid Harlem Globetrotters!). But I think we're planning a weekend in Allentown, PA. There's a Curious George Live show that looks like it could be a lot of fun (for me, and for the kids). I already got Jodi (the Genevieve's Lucie clan) onboard. And John (PoL) and Xander are in (if their soccer/basketball schedules work out). Things are coming together and I'm really excited. Yup, I WANT to do a Curious George Live show for my 40th birthday. I'm weird that way. *g* I'd rather go to a Disney on Ice show... but you can't have everything. Ha! Anyway, that's the weekend after my birthday weekend. The show itself is Sunday, March 21st. So, my point? I want to remind myself to go ahead and take on LOTS of plans whenever I can.... just maybe not another SJBW necessarily. We have Allentown in March. Knoebels in August. Maybe Niagara in August 2011. I'm sure I'll be filling in a lot of dates between there. Rosie wants me to plan a VA cave trip for the Barrett Clan. We'll see how that goes. I might have to plan a "starter cave" trip for them first. Ha! Jodi mentioned that they want to go to Charleston, SC. I'm not sure if that was a hint I'm supposed to run with. It still cracks me up that I planned a Gettysburg trip that we had to back out of and Jodi, Dave and the Girls went on the trip without us. Ha! Lucie wants to do a Rainforest Cafe again. We aren't planning to do the Canadian side of Niagara again. Jodi HATES the very idea of Atlantic City. I enjoy a challenge. I might just have to plan a weekend down there just to prove there are plenty on non-casino/gambling things to do. Also, I think Mercy needs to visit Lucy the Elephant again! Hee! ETA: Oh! I forgot Lucie's "Scary Sixteen" party! I'm really excited about that! Saturday, November 6th, 2010. | | Saturday, October 10th, 2009 | | 4:49 pm |
| | Tuesday, August 18th, 2009 | | 2:16 pm |
It's been a month... since the SJBW.
Wow! It seems like a very long time ago... and yet, it seems like just yesterday. *g* Time is weird. *shrug* I haven't been able to bring myself to post about it (the SJBW+10). I'm not sure why. Busy? Lazy? In denial and in avoidance of its overness? Probably all of the above. I'm loving facebook right now. Most of it is just so surface and frivolous and totally temporary. Perfectly suiting my mood lately, not looking back, blindly charging forward. Knoebels this past weekend was truly awesome! The place itself was over hot and pretty crowded. But everything just went so smoothly. AND... Jerry (JSG) came out for it and stayed over! His FIRST "away" gathering! I'm busy trying to pull together something for mid-November. Mid-November sounds like a long way away... but lemmie 'splain (and remind myself) why I CAN'T plan something for mid-September and/or mid-October. *g* Our Church carnival is coming up. Eddie's Mom and Step-Dad are coming down for that. Should be good, and will finally get them off our backs about getting to see the kids. I can't stand when Old People whine. *g* For Grandparent's Day weekend we're going up to the beachhouse. It'll be the first (and possibly the last) time the kids get to go there (since Dad is trying to sell it). We're hoping for some quality Pop-Pop time. We've hardly seen Dad since he moved in with his new girlfriend. At least if I'm not seeing him I'm not having to hear all about how wonderful his new life (with her) is. I'm happy for him, I AM. One of the things he liked so much about her in the beginning (a few months ago) was that she liked him as he was and didn't make fun of him or try to change him. Funny how EVERYTHING about him is changing lately. That's great that she never nagged him or complained about the way he dressed. Funny now how she's "helping" him buy all new clothes. His way of life has changed, politics, attitudes about EVERYTHING. She IS NOT coming to the beachhouse with us. Nope. No way. So, anyway, there goes mid-September. Our anniversary is end of September. Mercy is coming back!! First weekend in October! Our town/street is having its annual Fall Festival. We're doing that that Saturday. Then, Sunday we're headed to the American Girl Store in NYC. Should be MUCH fun! Anyone that wants to be here and/or come along is certainly welcome! That's October 3-4. October 6th is Eddie's birthday. Not sure what we're going to do about that. *g* End of October we'll hopefully be doing something with Ray/Linda. Hopefully they'll be living somewhere other than his brother's basement by then. Here's hoping. Halloween should be cool. I'm working on the kids' costumes. And, then there's mid-November. I LOVE planning gatherings on Friday the 13th weekends! It just seems to "work" for us. Ha! Anyway, I'm waiting for word from Jodi (Genevieve's Lucie) to see if we can go ahead with it. Maybe I should go nag Lucie again. *g* Also, I'm trying to convince Jodi that going to Orlando with us in March is a good idea. AND I'm planning a Halloween party for NEXT year, and a SJBW+12 for July 2011. Busy, busy. Ha! HUGS! | | Tuesday, July 14th, 2009 | | 8:14 am |
Stuff
bec found out the Hapmton Inn is now all booked up. I sent her to the Comfort Inn http://www.choicehotels.com/hotel/NJ153Nice that we have that whole clump of hotels right there. Looks like OzLady may not be able to make it afterall. *sigh* I head from the Daks yesterday. They'll be here Saturday. Did I mention Leather Jacket will also be here Saturday? Yay! | | Sunday, July 12th, 2009 | | 2:19 pm |
SJBW+10 Update
I can't believe it's finally happening! Everything SEEMS to be coming together. *knocking on wood with fingers crossed* I heard from Genevieve's Lucie (via Lucie) on the phone this morning... I also got an e-mail from bec... Anne is still trying to convince DELiver that coming is a good idea. She already booked their hotel room. *snerk* Speaking of hotel rooms, the Hyatt Place is booked up. FEAR NOT! If you still want to be here the Hampton Inn is right across the street from Hyatt Place, it's RIGHT behind the Chili's where we're having dinner. http://hamptoninn.hilton.com/en/hp/hotels/index.jhtml?ctyhocn=PMLNJHXAnne (possibly with DELiver and fussmonkey) will be there, bec will be there. The rates they're offering right now are good. You won't be left out, we'll be right there. Happy/Gretchen: If you're reading this, you should come! I'm still printing nametags, printing door signs, printing candy bag labels... Real Life keeps getting in the way. I've been doing things in fits and spurts. I'm sure you'll be pleased to know I got all the beverages arranged in tubs and all the labels for those printed. ONLY 30 1/2 tubs of drinks. *snerk* Perhaps I went a tad overboard. Oh, and anyone that asks for Cherry Coke, or even Cherry Pepsi for that matter, will be beat to death with a shovel. *g* Sorry. Everyone (that's not flying) will be sent home with left-over drinks and snacks. I've been rounding up bags for just that purpose. I'm trying to get a feel for who is arriving when. Anyone showing up early on Friday is welcome to come over to the house. We'll be hanging out and setting up. Park at Wiley (the church across the street). I don't feel like putting our home address up here but you can google map Wiley Church (in Marlton) to get directions. Anyone that doesn't have our home phone and Eddie's cell numbers should e me. I totally lost track of where this was going... and now I gotta go! Can't wait to see everybody!! HUGS! | | Sunday, June 7th, 2009 | | 4:17 pm |
Attitude adjustment - Funk fixed!
Okay, so, I got in a ridiculous fight with Gretchen (Happy/happygirl) and she tried to hurt me and end things by saying she's not coming to "my party". It didn't really hurt me and it didn't really end things. I keep talking to (towards?) her even if she's de-friended me and shut me out. I actually thought her response was pretty childish... and not at all surprising. She got mad and de-friended me before and she decided not to come to a Baby Shower she had offered to co-host with Mercy for me. *shrug* Whatever. After awhile I got mad though. I was mad that anyone might think they could HURT me by not coming to "my party", like everyone is doing me a favor by attending and I would be devastated if a single person decided not to come. ...I'm really not that fragile. Poor Dianne (a.k.a. brat) apologized to me for not being able to come on facebook and I almost snapped at her! Ha! ugh ANYway... that's where the "I'm MORE than happy with the current guestlist" attitude came from. It was just a defensive response. And it sucked. And I'm sorry! *sigh* This morning something "clicked" and I "woke up". I reread bec's (e-mail) reply to me and was THRILLED she was hoping to come. I LOVE throwing parties! We haven't had a BIG one in a few years and we're going to do this one up RIGHT. THE MORE, THE freakin' MERRIER!! *nod* Sorry for any confusion my previous post may have caused. *grin* I AM sorry if people can't make it and/or decide not to come. I sincerely think they're going to miss out on a really good time with some really great people. I'm hoping to gather up some stragglers. Uh, I mean, remind some more people about the party tomorrow. If anyone has any more suggestions and/or e-mail addresses please let me know! HUGS!! | | 1:31 pm |
Pressure washing the pits
Eddie has pressure washed the railroad ties around the flowerbeds and driveway. ...He is now blasting the horseshoe pits! *headshake* Be sure to warm up your shoe-throwing arms for the SJBW!! *snerk* I'm not supposed to mention it on facebook (due to possible conflict of interest) but deadguy and fam WILL be here! Yay! We'll have the volleyball net set up (for him, even if no one else wants to play!). *snerk* bec put in for that weekend off work! Keep your fingers crossed! *g* *fingers crossed* for halfrek being able to be here too!! | | Tuesday, June 2nd, 2009 | | 9:31 am |
Update-ish
Okay, as a SJBW+10 update that was really lame. Weeds! *g* Everyday I check on the facebook event page for the +10. It's fun to see all the "maybes", a bit frustrating to see all the "not yet respondeds". I'm so torn about this. I like SMALL parties, but really this kind is one of those "the bigger the better" ones. We've got people coming in from all over and I feel like I owe it to them to drag in more attendees to make it more worth their while. Ha! I am MORE than happy with the guest list as is... but I guess I need to follow up and get in touch with more people. If for no other reason so we have people to DRINK all of these tubs and TUBS of beverages I've amassed. *g* I have to get in touch with the following people: (I DO want them there/here, but I keep putting it off) Icelord, wanttoknow, valMichael(?), Mrs.Beasley, the Daks, halfrek, bec(?)... Other things I've been putting off have been dealt with. The rental tables and the church parking lot are almost a done deal (Mom just found a rental coupon, so I need to recheck prices). I have to go to Chili's and talk to someone in person. The last few dinner reservations I've made for our group have gotten screwed up somehow (even though I did it by telephone AND in writing!) I think this one needs a little face-to-face (along with the phone and e-mail arrangements). I'm working on a bunch of related projects, the kids are helping. It's fun. Well, Joseph pooped in his Pull-up (again). *g* Gotta go. | | 9:14 am |
There WILL be weeds...
Eddie hasn't been working much lately. This is supposed to be his "busy season" when the kids get out of school and lots of families pack it up and move. NO ONE is moving. We're still hoping it will "pick up". Here's hoping. In the meantime he has had CRAZY energy (from being stressed, helpless and restless about the work sitch). He's been burning it off by doing stuff around the house. He's been mowing, weed-whacking, pressure washing, painting, trimming hedges, dismantling whole bushes limb by limb... ha! This place may actually be in shape by July. But, I have come to the conclusion that THERE WILL BE WEEDS. I'm not giving up... yet. But I just can't seem to get ahead of them. More just keep popping up. Eddie likes whacking... and that's well and good, I think it's a man thing. *g* But once you whack they will grow back. The only real solution is to get down on the ground and pull each one out, trying to get as much of the root as possible. I'm working on it, I'm working on it! *g* | | 8:57 am |
Another birthday... and also a "day of note"
HAPPY BIRTHDAY to MERCEDES!!! Tell the Giant Rat I said Hello! *g* 2 years ago today I dragged Jerry and the kids out to a breeder to pick up Maggie Mae Hyacinth Gurewicz. Eddie was away for the weekend. He was helping Ray and Linda move out of the hotel where they were staying into a house they were renting. Now, I wouldn't recommend bringing home a dog behind your husband's back... but certain things are necessary. *g* Two years later Eddie still tries to act like he hates the dog (just to hurt me and get back at me for forcing the creature on him). But she's a good doggie (aside from the widdle issues) and we love her. Eddie is going away next weekend. He's helping Ray and Linda pack up everything in their rental house and put most of it into storage. They're staying with Ray's brother's family for the summer, because they can't afford to stay in Connecticut. While Eddie's away this time I'm thinking of getting another cat. *g* ...Or maybe a hamster? ...Hermit crabs? Hee! | | Saturday, May 23rd, 2009 | | 11:04 am |
It's a birthday!
Happy birthday to Mar!! HUGS! Um, Ever consider facebook? It's fun. *g* | | Saturday, May 9th, 2009 | | 10:25 am |
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