Absolutely Fabulous!

 I've been doing this wrong.  Today is proof.  I worked all week to get the house together, Andy's school on track and all the stuff I usually do so I could "attend" THE wedding. I know it's stoopid, but I watched Diana way back when and I've been dying to see William and Kate get married.  Lucky me, my neighbor shares my brand of insanity.  She, too, lives in a house of men who do not appreciate the wonder of a royal wedding.

We discussed getting up (or in my case staying up) at 4 AM to watch everything in  real time.  And, the more we talked about it, the more appealing Tivo became.  A plan was hatched.  We met at her house, directly across the street, at 8 AM.  I shuffled across the street in my pj's and my "dress" bathrobe.  My kids were still sleeping (because we're vampires) and her kids had just been shipped to school.  Neither of us are morning people, so we grunted at each other and sipped on our morning beverages while we broke out the wedding supplies:  a paper doll book featuring Kate and William, courtesy of Dover Publications; champagne; Irish Breakfast Tea (I just like that better than the English kind); chocolate/butterscotch scones; cucumber sandwiches; strawberry/cream cheese sandwiches; orange juice; assorted tea cups, tea pots and champagne flutes.

And . . . we fired up the television.  Ahhhh . . . it was a perfect morning.  Once we were sufficiently awake, we'd reached the point where the "players" were reaching Westminster Abbey.  Time for mimosas.  Really?  The last time I had a drink that early in the morning I think I was still in college. Now I remember why I liked tailgating (could take or leave the football game itself).  We flopped on the couch, snacking, drinking, criticizing hats (it's a wonder no one lost an eye - sheesh), deciding whether Beckham (is he yummy or what?)'s wife needed a mayo sandwich or a mayo AND butter sandwich.  The highlight was Eugenie and Beatrix (ce?) - talk about the ugly step sisters!!!!

I wish I was a betting sort - I voted that the queen would wear yellow a week ago!  She looks great for 85.  What I find amazing is that she was wearing probably priceless jewelry and you hardly noticed it! Queen Mary's brooch?  THE Queen Mary?

We moved on to discussing books as we watched the events unfold.  The church brought to mind Pillars of the Earth and you really have to marvel at how, over 1000 years ago, people were able to build such a wonder.  We also talked about how weird it must be for the guests, most of who could not see anything except the people across from them.  Next, listening to the choir, we talked about Anne Rice's book Cry to Heaven which was about the castrati in Italy back in the 1700's (I think that's the time of the book). 

And, on and on it went.  The wedding was beautiful.  I don't get the royalty thing, really, but it's so nice to see something happy and hopeful for a change.  What a great couple they seem to be ... I hope it's real.  We ate and drank and enjoyed the boy-free atmosphere.  (Have Elton John's arms always been so short?) It was a beautiful, cool day here and from our couch posts, we were able to look out of the sliding doors and watch the wind blowing on the pool.  Life sucks sometimes, ya know?

When everything was wound up, we cleaned up and I did not trudge, I skipped, back home to find something that made a great day better.  The older boys had helped Andy with all of his schoolwork.  There was laundry going.  Their bathroom was freshly scrubbed.  The dishes were clean.  The dogs were happy.  Really??? I skipped through the house and hopped into bed for a nap.  Gah - days do NOT get better.

I've since informed my neighbor that I will need a key to her house as I plan on sitting by her pool, drinking and snacking, every morning from now on.  Who knew?

I'm back to painting for now, but my frame-of-mind has rarely been this good.  If anyone cares to join me, I'll be poolside with drinks and snacks tomorrow morning.  I think if I play my cards right the kids might finish painting.  ;)

So tired . . .

As a rule, I'm not a tired person.  In fact, to most people I know, I have an annoying amount of energy/stamina.  I try to put it to good use but sometimes, I fail.  I am in the middle of painting the living room and hallway and I pulled something in my leg.  Tim told me it's my hip flexor muscles and it's common in kickboxing, soccer and track.  Well, that leaves me at a big loss. Still it hurts! And the painting is not getting done.  All I know is that any random step might lead to an excruciating burst of pain that sends me to my knees.  Then all is well for a few hours.  Getting old really sucks.  For now, ice and ibuprofen are my friends.

Dan has put in tentative yeses to his top two schools - NC State and FL State.  We're finishing up redoing his whole Navy ROTC paperwork.  The officer handing Dan's stuff wants to have a face-to-face interview next week in Jacksonville.  We're already planning a trip to Raleigh (just me and Dan - how fun is that?  More fun for me than him, that's for sure.) to see NC State and visit my sister and we'll go right through Jacksonville.  Honestly, this whole process (the Naval Academy, the ROTC yes/no up/down thing) is exhausting.  It's got me on edge.  It's got Dan on edge.  It's so hard not knowing what is going to happen.  Still, it's exciting that Dan is getting a second chance.  Chins up and all of that.


I think I'm not so much tired as looking for escape.  For now.  Right?  The longer we go through this process, the more I wonder about the value of a college education.  I know there's value, but where's the limit?  The financial aid forms I've been looking at (and, according to most universities, we live in a cardboard box) I have to wonder how much debt is acceptable.  I also wonder how many parents just say "Sure,  we'll take out a few loans for you, kid."  I just don't know.  Again, my need to simply sleep and escape thinking about things that are difficult. 

Big plus for this week?  My mom is visiting her cousin and left us her car to use.  Whew!  A third car is as close as I'm going to get to having a maid.  It was so awesome this afternoon to run some errands without having to check anyone else's schedule.  In fact, it was so awesome I did not even bring my phone with me!!!  Talk about freedom.  Thanks, Bing.

Laundry Tutorial

Periodically, you might find yourself in need of a way to gently, kindly help your family understand the intricacies of the art of laundry.  Feel free to use these pictures as needed. 

Happy Easter! Happy Kitchen!

Finished painting the kitchen in time to host the neighborhood Easter Egg dying party.  Seven kids, about five dozen eggs.  I don't mind the mess - our house is pretty much stain, mess proof.  All one of my neighbors could say as she watched the kids dye their hands multiple colors along with the eggs was "Wow, this is messy, but it's not nearly as bad as the Christmas cookies."  I like Easter eggs because there is no way for the boys to make them bleed or lose limbs.  Overall, the results were great. 

Later, we had the older boys (who were on their way to a movie) hide eggs and we had a flashlight egg hunt.  While we waited for dark, we snacked and snacked and snacked.  I love snacky dinners!!  When we were done snacking, the kids banished to the back yard to await the egg hunt, the adults dragged out the basketball hoop and played H-O-R-S-E.  I am lame at anything like this, but I joined in - and got my butt kicked by the neighbor kids' 82-year-old grandma.  I was out of the game and she had yet to get a letter.  Come on!  The woman (who is lovely and I normally like her) is all of 3' tall and weighs about 20 pounds.  She made lay ups, backward shots, you name it.  I've never seen anything like it! The tween set was not too keen on an egg hunt this year, but the added challenge of dark and flashlights made it appealing, thus buying the moms another year of pretending their kids are not growing up.  Preston, our neighborhood 5-year-old, had a blast on his first egg hunt and even managed to snag the "blue ninja" which won him the giant ball of candy and quarters.  Fun stuff! (Just a note, the blue is NOT as intense as it appears in the photo!)

My camera is still missing, so I have no pictures of any of this.  I tried to use Tim's camera, but I could not figure it out and ultimately gave up.  So . . . you have to live with kitchen pictures instead of great neighborhood pictures.  I apologize.

We're headed to Bing's tomorrow for a delicious dinner - how I love scalloped potatoes!!!! I hope everyone has a wonderful, peaceful Easter Sunday. 

For now, I'm back to painting the living room.  Why is it I always moan and groan about how small our house is until I paint? We should be way happy living in a shack is how I'm feeling right now.  I'm grateful for our low ceilings (until Christmas and I want an 17 foot Christmas tree!).  It could well be July 4 before I finish in here at the rate I'm going. 

Back again . . .

This week has flown by.  We've spent much of the week reconstructing Dan's Navy ROTC scholarship stuff.  He had to track down his recommendation folks (no small feat) and work out the rest.  All of this up and down is exhausting for me.  Dan seems fine, but I'm too old for it.  And, once again we'll wait and see.

What else?  Last Friday, Bing, Andy, Ian and I went to the beach.  Ahhhh . . . Pollen-free air is such a beautiful thing.  Ian and Andy swam most of the day.  Bing and I huddled on the blanket not talking, just snacking and reading.  Really, it was a perfect day.  Even dumb old tunafish sandwiches taste amazing when you're at the beach for some reason.

The bigs are finishing up their semester.  I've been reading lots of papers and trying to edit, NOT rewrite (I went to college already, right?).  I'm so proud of all of them for how much their work and, more importantly, their ability to budget time has improved.  It's kind of bittersweet not to be involved on a day-to-day basis any longer, but I'm happy to see that they can all think for themselves and that they're willing to ask questions and to question the status quo when they don't get it.  Andy is actually ahead of this year's plan (not sure how that worked out) and I find myself looking to our yearly evaluation with my annual dread.  What if I didn't do enough? What if he's behind? What if blah, blah, blah . . .?  Really, though, what if?  What happens?  AND, what makes me extra-stupid is that I know what I have been doing works - the three older boys are proof.  But, nooooooo . . . Andy is going to be the exception.  (It's okay, you don't have to thwack me with your stoopid stick, I'm banging my head on the desk between letters as I type.)

Bing and I went to see the play Ian has been working on all semester, The Rimers of Eldritch.  Ian was the Assistant Stage Manager and he did everything from learning to set up a sound system, to learning to program lighting to holding a back-up pistol for the stage shotgun in case of failure.  He had a blast and learned a lot.  That said, the play was terrible.  The acting was surprisingly good, but the play itself?  Sucked.  Ian warned me but he has my tendency to (perhaps) exaggerate things.  He was NOT exaggerating.  Weird, weird, weird.  My neighbor's mom and her senior group were sitting in front of us and she kept turning around to ask if I knew what was going on.  We all took comfort in the fact that none of us knew what was going on.  I was proud of the lighting and the sound and of Ian.  It was a great afternoon.

I've been painting and repainting like crazy.  The kitchen is finally done.  It's bright and happy.  I hate that I cannot find my own camera - trying to get the kids to take pictures is like pulling teeth.  I'll figure it out, though.  My favorite kitchen quote?  "Leave the gun. Take the cannoli."  If you're not a Godfather fan, don't worry about it.

The garden is beautiful, but I want ripe tomatoes NOWWWW (in my best Violet Beauregarde voice)  . . . Again, the lack of camera is disappointing right now.

Hope all is well in your worlds.  Hope to have some more pictures over the weekend.  I'm off to start painting the living room.  Wall quotes still needed if you come across anything.

Not-dead neighbor

:::sigh::: We made it almost three weeks, but she's back.  The police have been here twice since yesterday.  All nonsense calls.  I need to keep a cookie stash for visiting cops.  Stoopid crazy neighbor.  No way will I relent and share some of the monster crops of tomatoes ripening in my garden.

Ian and I ended up skipping Atlas Shrugged last night (midnight show).  He's been working as the assistant stage manager at a play at the community college he and his brothers have been attending as dual-enrolled high school/college students.  The play ran late and there was not enough time to get to the movie theater (about 1 hour away) - we have plans for Monday, though.  I'm anxious to see it for myself.

In the meantime, we went to the beach for the day yesterday.  Me, Bing, Andy and Ian.  Ahhhh . . . it's still chilly to me ( kept my sweatshirt on most of the day) but Andy and Ian romped in the water for hours.  Bing and I fought over chips and queso while we read and ignored each other.  Really?  Does it get better?  Not really.  We topped off the day swimming at the neighbors', eating pizza and watching Harry Potter 7.  We are such a lucky family.

Still painting quotes on the walls in the kitchen.  I'm pleased with how it's looking.  Next up the living room/office area with all six floor-to-ceiling bookshelves.  Ugh.  Lots of clearing and cleaning and taping to do . . . it'll be worth it.  Right?  I found some nice, sturdy, sort-of-girly fabric for the floor pillows too.  I love when things fall into place.

Still looking for quotes.  (Deana, your "Your ad here" is going right over the front door.  We all love it!)

Unexpected . . .

Today we got a call from a naval officer.  Dan and I were both out and he spoke to Mike.  He told Mike he'd been reviewing files and felt that with Dan's academic record, test scores and other stuff he should have been in the first tier of candidates accepted.  He asked Dan to resubmit all of his stuff directly to him.  Go figure.  More ups and downs.  This is a tremendous second chance for Dan and opens up a lot of other schools for him.  If you're a prayer, please pray.  If not, send a good thought or dance naked under the beautiful full moon tonight.  I'm so stunned at this turn of events I don't even know what to think.

In other news, I picked three gorgeous grape tomatoes today along with the first jalapeno pepper.  Mike wanted to make a wee tiny thimble of salsa.  We just snacked on it instead.

Bullet dodged.

We got a nasty computer virus yesterday.  I spent hours trying to figure it out but Ian ultimately triumphed.  We lost nothing.  I still cannot believe it.

In the meantime, I've been messing with paint.  Usually, I'm pretty good with color, but this latest paint job has had me out of sorts.  Today I picked up my third choice of paint for most of the kitchen and the whole living room and main hall.  Whew!  It's working.  I think.  At least, for the first night in three, no one went to bed saying "Sorry, but I hate it."  Progress, right?  I'll have some pictures tomorrow. 

What else? My parents spent last week in NC visiting my sister and her family.  My sister sent Cally a GIANT bone.  While it is definitely the calmest Cally has been since we've known her, I feel like I should put a sign up in the yard saying "No mastadons were killed for this dog treat."  It's definitely giving me pause on my carnivorous ways - not much pause, as I don't have to butcher my own food, but still, pause.  (Pass the bacon while I think some more on this.)

Ian and I have a "date" (unless he finds someone better) to go see the midnight screening of Atlas Shrugged, Part I on Thursday night.  I love a chance to spend one-on-one time with any of the boys and, since Ian read the book last summer, we've had many animated discussions about it.  I hope it's good. 


Andy and I bought a pod of praying mantis for the garden.  It's hanging out there ready to hatch at any moment.  When it hatches, 300 praying mantis babies will be launched into the garden and yard ready to eat mosquitoes and other pests.  We've been checking the pod obsessively - nothing of note to report.  Thus far, the garden has been relatively pest-free, but I'm all for anything that will eat mosquitoes. 

We're heading into our third week of no police visits.  We're not doing anything different, though.  Makes me wonder what the neighbor is up to.  Oh well, it's a good thing for as long as it lasts, right? 

Hope you all are doing well.  Look for pictures tomorrow.

 

Why I *heart* Mike

I told Mike this morning, after his coaching football practice for Andy's team, about Dan not getting the Navy Scholarship.  The man knows me.  He and the boys were committed to chopping up a downed tree at my parents for the early afternoon, but when he came home, he suggested we go to Lowe's (NOT Home Depot).  We bought (squee) paint!!!!!  I'm testing it now in the kitchen and living room.  I think it's awesome that Mike knows that I flip out when I cannot control my life.  I've been carrying paint swatches around in my purse for nearly a year.  Timing is something.  So YAY Mike!  Cross your fingers that the colors work.  Paint, I can control and it calms me down.

You all know what this means, don't you?  I will be needing new quotes for my walls!  Funny, wise, Latin or anything else you can come up with will be appreciated!  Soap for the quotes I use (just be sure to leave a valid email so I can contact you).

Plan-wait-and-see

After talking with Dan today we have decided to wait for the official letter to see why he did not get the scholarship.  I will be very surprised if it is not the medical issue.  To that end, we will contact a GI and see if the hernia can be repaired surgically and get that done this summer.  In the meantime, we'll visit his top three schools and figure things out for next year.  Dan plans to pursue the scholarship (assuming the hernia can be fixed) for the 2012-2013 school year.  I have to say that he's an amazing kid.  His reaction to this has been much more thoughtful and much saner than mine.  Weird.  I'm not a clingy mom by any stretch (or AM I?  I don't think I am, maybe I should ask the kids) . . . but (and there's always a but) when I see such consistent hard work and dedication fail, I want to go "talk" to people and straighten them out.  Who knew?  I'm the Luca Brasi of moms!

Best part?  I only have to do this three more times!!!!  ;)

Sad

We just learned that Dan did not get the Navy ROTC scholarship.  We'll be getting a letter with details soon.  :::sigh::: I'm sure it's the hernia that kept him out of the Naval Academy - he'll be graduating from high school with an AA degree and a 4+ something GPA.  Now for Plan B.  Thing is, our Plan B sucks.  I don't know what we'll do next.  I'm so anxious for the boys to go to college without accruing a lot of debt.  Wah . . . I'm such a baby.  I want things to go our way.  Dan is hugely disappointed but being much more of a grown up about the whole thing than I am.  I guess I will go scrub something until I feel better.  Shoot.

Happy Friday

Long week here.  I will be glad to finish up the school year.  Fifth grade math for the fourth time might just be the death of me. 

Couple of quick pictures to share before we join the neighbors for Happy Hour at the pool.  Yep.  Life's rough here. 

Sure, Cally looks smart in this picture.  The jury is still out, though.  I returned early this morning from taking Dan to work to find her dancing in the front yard with several rolls of toilet paper, the plunger and a shredded toilet brush.  I left it all in the yard for our friendly neighbor to see on her way to work. 

Lookee!  Tomatoes!  They're growing really well despite the monster storm earlier this week.  Some of the other plants did not fare as well. 










Not too much else going on here.  I was out driving around today and noticed how many "awareness" bumper stickers there are.  What exactly does it mean?  How many things must I be aware of and how often and for how long?  Not being aware would put me on the same level as a puppy-hater, but sheesh . . .

While I'm complaining can I just say that if a school requires that you perform community service hours as part of a class and as a significant portion of your grade, it is no longer community service.  And, what exactly IS the connection between a sixth grade math class and "volunteering" for a teacher-approved organization? 

One more and I'll go have an adult beverage by the pool and calm down.  Please, please stop saying "I want to give back to ...." Have we all been taking things?  Just give.  Obviously if an organization helped you at some point in your life (say the Red Cross or something) you might want to give to them.  BUT . . . come on!!!!

Okay - cheers!

*&^%&^$#@#!#$%

What IS that smell?  That would be what I thought was going to be chili for dinner. Will I never learn to label the stuff in my freezer?  It sure looked like ground meat when I pulled it out, stuck it in the pan, added my carefully cooked beans and spices.  In the past thirty minutes, it's become abundantly clear that that was NOT just ground meat.  It was the filling I use for runzas.  Runzas (runzae?) are delicious.  Runza filling (ground meat and cabbage mostly) with beans and chili powder and cumin and assorted other spices not so delicious.  I am loathe to toss food, but I may actually get one of the boys to dig a hole out back and bury the whole pot.  I don't know if I'll ever get the smell out of the kitchen.  *&&^%&*$*#(#^@^(%&

This made me smile . . .

Men, men, men, men . . .

Wah . . . I truly accept that men and woman are different animals. Heck, that's a big reason for us homeschooling the kids . . . (but, there's always a but)  But, there are days that living with five of the "men" species that try my patience.   Today was one of those days. I spent much of today and this evening wishing for a secret tiny white/little bit o'pink apartment.  I wouldn't live there, but I could go and read and do clean things and watch Lifetime TV movies until I was ready to go back to Man World.

Gah . . .make a decision - really, just say yes or no and move on!  Gah . . . say what you're going to do and do it! If you don't follow through do not look to me for sympathy.  Gah. . . really? you walked through that pile of dust/dog hair/crud that I just swept up and didn't notice?  Gah . . . what part of "If it's it not in the laundry hamper, it will not get washed" did you miss on the short-bus ride to the west wing of the house?

It's better now, they're all asleep (in bed, not with the fishes, but in real beds and not talking to me or asking anything of me) . . . tomorrow is another day. 

Most days, I love my men . . . today . . . I still loved them, BUT . . .

I'm not a Seattle kind of girl

I love Seattle.  It's beautiful.  But it rains there - a lot.  I've lived in Florida too long for that. We've had two days of relentless rains and storms.  I'm like one of Pavlov's dogs.  The minute it clouds up and starts to rain, it's all I can do to not drop immediately on the floor and go to sleep.  Two days of fighting the urge to nap is more than our house can handle.  (These are pictures of my backyard - we do not have waterfront property!)

The afternoon the storms started, they started with a bang.  What had been a terrific spring day quickly went to 60 mph winds, no power and tornado warnings.  I had already started heating sauce for spaghetti when the power went out.  Our house is cave-like even with power.  I was crawling through the kitchen cabinets looking for my stash of candles when Ian walked in.  I was complaining about the sudden headache I had.  Ian just rolled his eyes and turned off the gas burners and opened some windows.  :::sigh::: I'm going to be a scary old person. 

Here are some pictures of the yard and the neighborhood during the storm.  Andy spent most of yesterday wading with Cally through the mud and puddles out back.  I cannot even face going out to see what the laundry pile looks like.

Today the sun is out and it's a beautiful, perfect day.  I think I might make it through without a six-hour nap.  Who knows, maybe I'll even get dressed?