It's A Pity

Well, once again, I have things to show you. but I can't. I tried to upload a photo a minute ago and just can't seem to get it done. Since I blog in the daytime and my husband is at work, I really do have to wait till he comes home to help me. He's a great guy and I can call him for help now and then, but I can tell diagnosing and solving my problems over the phone might not be what he lives to do.

Seth has been begging me to bring him food at lunch time. I finally gave in to his request and was hoping he would want Taco Bell or Wendy's. No, he wanted Subway. He eats turkey sandwiches every day for lunch and then he says he is tired of them and wants me to bring him in some food. So what does he want? A turkey sandwich! I gave in and got the kid what he wanted and shared half the sandwich with him. He likes to eat a footlong all by himself, but today I made him share. I have been trying to save money and cutting back on lunches out is part of that, but my budget isn't any happier yet.

I did go to Kohl's and scored five shirts for $25.00. You gotta love it when everything you want is 80% off. One shirt cost a whopping $9.60, so that means I got four more shirts for under $15.00. At least my husband knows I try to be frugal. I am so pleased with my score, too! What I really need is a hot pink shirt to match a skirt I have. I should have bought a white shirt and dyed it pink with my tie dye dyes. Now that is thinking! If only I had thought about it when I was at the store!

My Favorite Day

Yes, it is that time of the year again! The landscaping company across the street from us had their Annual Customer Appreciation lunch. Not only are we so frugal, that we go have free lunch every year, but they serve brats. I love brats! Scott doesn't like them because of the high fat content, so I never buy them. I could, I suppose, but I just don't. The only kind of side they had out when we arrived was cheetos. Mmmm. I love a nice crunchy pack of cheetos too! I thought it was an all around great day.

Today is the 50th anniversary of Scott's parents' wedding. All Scott's mom wanted from us was to have all her family with her in church. I thought it was an oddball request since 99 percent of the family attends somewhere every weekend, whether they be Catholic or Protestant. But we all put on our smiley faces and showed up. Afterwards we had a big dinner with family and friends.

A note about their church...it was strange. As Scott put it, it was all production and little worship. They started off okay, they are one of those modern churches that big screens up front and white people filling the pews. On the screen they showed some videotaped announcements for the week and then there was singing up front by a few ladies and the church band. I think the ladies were supposed to sing the main parts of the song and the people were supposed to sing the chorus, but it wasn't explained anywhere. The songs did not seem contemporary and were hard to sing along with. Then the minister took the podium. He had a sermon in four parts encompassing the seasons of the year. Between seasons the lights would g out and people who appeared to be production assistants moved furnishings around to make a little scene to showcase each season. A beach chair and towel for summer, a chair with a sweater on it and a fake snowman for winter. you get the idea.

I had to wonder if anyone didn't know what items symbolized the seasons. it was really pretty pointless and a big time waster, but i guess the people who attend this church like the elements of the show. I just didn't get it and it wasn't interactive at all, as I think worship should be. Of course, at the end, you can't forget to send around the offering plates! We had been there before about 10 years ago and their church was as boring as I remembered, but I think we made Scott's mom very happy and in the end that is all that matters today.

Not a Floral Bouquet

I got this image from someone kind enough to send it to me. You know, one of the online friends who lives in my computer. They are some of my favorite people. Possible because they don't drink my Diet Rite and lie about it or keep me up with their snoring at night. The image is from a company called Gina K. I made the card for a sketch challenge on Splitcoast this morning and sent it out right away to a friend who is in the hospital with cancer. It should be easy cancer (leukemia, caught early) to beat, but he has a cyst on his lung and he doesn't feel well, and he is having delusional conversations with people who aren't there. His ife says he likes my crazy cards with comments like " by the time you get this the hair on my legs will be longer than the hair on your head."

The kids are dying to go to the State Fair this year. Anyone want to take them? I should put on my happy face and think about all the great childhood memeories we are making with them, but all I think about is the money we don't have being spent on worthless crap like rides and games and not on steak sandwiches, elephant ears and lemon shake ups for me. They eat their share of junk food,but it isn't the junk food I want to eat and I don't always have the temperment for standing in any more lines to get what I really want. I did not make anything to enter into the State Fair either. I thought it would get easier to compete when the kids got a little older, but instead of staying home with me in the summer and relaxing they are constantly demanding cooked food and excursions in the van. Little boogers.

For What It's Worth

Well, I am sorry it takes me so long to update sometimes. Scott took my camera and loaded a bunch of pictures on the computer for me last week and now I have taken new photos but can't figure out how to load them myself. Things just aren't working out and Scott isn't by my side when I need him for things like this.

Noah's hard first day of school seems to have evened out and we are back into a routine of sorts.

I had a problem at our neighborhood pool last week and ended up calling the police because I am very tired of seeing the same mischief makers again and again in the neighborhood and knowing that no one wants to rock the boat. I have spoken to their parents in the past, but is clear the parents have little control, and left alone, the kids continually make bad choices. The unfortunate side effect is that now I am nervous about being out in the neighborhood as I don't want the parents to see me and confront me on the street. Thankfully they don't live close to me, or even on my street, but still, I think twice about walking to a neighbor's house or taking my kids back to the pool. I am sure I will feel better about it soon.

Seth is pleased with his teacher and I am trying to do the usual things, laundry, dishes, dinner. There isn't much to report as I generally have a nice quiet life with few surprises.

School Days Again

Ah, the lovely return to school. What you don't see in this photo is the box of Dunkin Donuts that Seth carried in for his teacher. We know what it takes to get ahead! Seth went off to school in a good mood since he got the teacher he had been hoping for and knew that he would have some friends in his classroom.

Noah's school starts so early that if he rode the bus he would be out in the near dark of the morning waiting for it to arrive, since it comes before 7 AM. I had that happen to me, too. Lucky for him it would be a 20 minute ride on the bus. For me, it was an hour each way. And no, I am not telling stories about how hard life was when I was a kid, we lived far away from the school, and made lots of stops, that's the truth! Noah will pose for one picture on the first day of school, any more than that and I am pushing my luck. We car pool Noah to and from school so he gets some extra time in the morning.

Noah had a hard first day. One of his main teachers sent him home with 200 math problems for homework and she went through his pencil pouch and edited out what she did not want him to have. She also won't let him sit with his foot tucked up under him, the way he finds comfortable. All his previous teachers have been fine with the way he sits. I called around to a few people who know this lady and was told she was a total control freak. Uh, maybe someone could have mentioned that at his IEP in the spring? When you hear stories from other kids that she threw a stapler at one of them and slammed another into the wall, and none of her colleagues know if the stories are true or not and say "well, they might be, I hear a lot of stuff about her." That's a sign. I called her this morning and asked if we could come meet her, but she hasn't called back. I struggle not to be a helicopter parent and not being too involved with my kids' business. I would like to hear her view of things, because Noah's isn't pretty.

I made paper dividers for these little metal cases I had on hand. They previously help Build A Brad sets from Stampin Up! I put Sweedish fish and gummy worms into my little tackle boxes and printed out "Hooked on Learning." Seth is taking these in today for his teacher and the music teacher. They'll enjoy them. I love to send in gifts for the kids to take to school, but now that Noah is in Middle School that kind of frivolity stops. It makes me sad, but that's the way it is.

Do These Pleats make My Card Look Wide?

Today's challenge was to add pleats to your card. I added some ribbon and tried to add pleats to it. Big Mistake. One should pleat the ribbon, then add it to the card. The quote says "Better Living through Denial" and is from Too Much Fun Rubber Stamps. The people are from Amuse and the background is from Starving Artistamps.

Sorry for the absence from blogging, I never meant to be gone so long, but so many of you have abandoned me for facebook, I don't know why I am worrying. We had a fun weekend in Chicago and have been trying to squeeze in a last bit of fun before school starts next week. The kids have also taken over the computer, which leaves me less time to blog. Man, I hate when I can't get to the computer, all my friends are in here!

Chicago was so pricey! Museum admissions kill me and then to add parking ($19.oo) and special museum shows on top of that..Wowza. The Museum of Science and Industry had a special Harry Potter exhibit and the Field Museum had a special exhibit on the slave/pirate ship Whydah. It was a slave ship that was taken over by pirates after the ship off loaded the human cargo. It eventually crashed in a storm. I found it fascinating to learn about how pirate ships worked in the 1700's. I recommend both museums and special exhibits, but bring lots of money with you. We were very lucky to keep the gift shop costs low. I don't know how it happened, but it was a miracle we are thankful for.

The kids have friends visiting today and we made a trek to one of the larger parks in our area, Forest Park. Now everybody is chillin' with chocolate chip cookies and apple juice. Life is good.