Final Post

This will be the final post on this blog. It is too painful since Sabrina died on 12/25/2008. She led a good life and no dog was ever more loved. Some of my favorite memories of her include:
Her penchant for drinking my coffee out of my cup

Kristen dressing her up in a princess hat at a birthday party

Her absolute hatred of camping

Her crawling around on the floor as a seal

Her sweet dispostion when Kristen loved/tortured her

Her love of sauerkraut and her hatred of dill pickles.

She tried to catch ducks flying overhead by jumping. She missed them a lot.


Sabrina, we will miss you.

The new blog is at www.ninjaandbandgeek.blogspot.com

Matt and Kristen dressed up

Matt refused to smile as a protest for having to get dressed up. Also including a pic of Sabrina who tried to stop me from going to work by laying on my laptop cord.

Vent-Names have been changed to protect the innocent

Tonight was the combination band/orchestra concert. It was the symphony band's 1st concert on stage. Apparently once marching band season ends, the band automatically morphs into symphony band. The marching band still has one more marching activity(the Holiday parade on Sat). I digress. The evening was already going to be rushed since Kristen (from this point on known as Diva in training or DIT.)stated she had to be up there at 6:15 and Matt had to be up there at 6:30 and Randy had a 7pm conference call(For once Randy would be the least of my problems). When I arrived home, DIT announced she had to be there at 6pm. Thanks for telling me. 15 minutes on this kind of evening makes a huge difference. Ok, work on making dinner after of course washing a few pans. DIT and her brother apparently can not do anything without being told 7,578 times. Finally get dinner going and Bassman decides it might be nice if he took a shower. Keep in mind at this point he has been home two hours. Can't think of that any sooner? DIT goes to get dressed. Ask if she ate anything for dinner? Chips. Way to go. Making shrimp, she can eat that. Comes down dressed and has to explain the latest teenage style of wearing two shirts and the 1st one longer than the one on top. Get the kids up to school and then find out the reason she had to be up there that early was so she and all her DIT friends can take pictures of themselves. GRRR. Get up to the concert and sit with someone from church. Concert starts and goes fine. Matt plays well even though most of the orchestra pieces were not familiar. The stage is then shifted by 5 members of the b and including suck -up- who -giggles -too -much -girl. She is daughter of lady-who-talks-too-much. (This person and I used to be friends but ever since I stated I do not have the time to be Uber band parent, our friendship has waned and is now extinguished).
After the concert, the jazz band was playing with cookies as refreshments. Very nice idea since the orchestra will be selling them in Feb. Yes, I am in fund raiser hell between the band-lollipops, Christmas plants and the orchestra-candy and stage tech-play tickets.
They made announcement that all band parents need to pick up the plants. I see Matt and corral him to help me. DIT was no where to be found. Lady-who-talks-too much made a point of telling me we have to take all of the plants we sold with us. No shit, sherlock. The girl shows up with cookie crumbs hanging from her DIT lips. Just great, we are taking care of her stuff while she socializes. Did I mention that these plants were lined up on the stage and due to the stage lights were half dead by the end of the show? One of them was so damaged that it is basically a stick with 3 pink leaves. I guess that is my $12.50 worth. Too bad that I wanted it for a gift. Most of the plants were sold to people at church. I ask her where are we supposed to keep these until Sunday considering we have a dog who tries to eat the carpet on a nightly basis? Her room. No, then the dog has no place to escape to. I now have to drive her to school tomorrow to get rid of at least three of them. They really are in terrible shape. They used some place in Westminster instead of a local nursery. I hope they never use this place again. Mike's hard lemonade is kicking in. Time to go. If you made it this far, you deserve a medal.

Thanksgiving

Sabrina

She seems to be doing ok. She is wearing the cone of shame. Needs warm facial soaks 3 times a day. Vet tech said she loves it. Not seeing it. she is on antibiotic which is light sensitive, anti inflammatory and tagamet. She is wearing the cone of shame which doubles as a snow shovel apparently. Is on soft food for a while. Loves the ID canned food. Have to go get more. Acting more like herself-annoying which is great. Getting stuck places because she does not take the cone into her calculations when deciding where to go. She gets the drainage tube out Monday and then goes back on 11/25 for the stitches removal. Should have the path report from CSU back by then.

Halloween- Kristen

Bless you my child

Chicago, Chicago...

I was in a suburb of Chicago for a conference. I took an extra day to see some of the sights. Unfortunately the weather was not cooperative. I will post the best of the pictures to my Flickr acct. Click on Flickr to see what is there. I did the north side and south side tour. The north side included some fantastic architectural sites included the most guarded place in Chicago-Mayhor Daly's residence. More firepower and security agencies that Barack's house(will get to that later.) Also included a driveby at Harpo studios. Did not see any celebrities. Saw Wrigley field and all the rooftop stadiums. Saw Ganster sites including Al Capone's business,residence, Bugsy Moran's residence. Site of Valentine day Massacre. Had a 20 minute stop at the Elk National Monument. Saw some of the few buildings that survived the Chicago fire and learned that you can not drive more than 4 miles on any street without getting to a hospital. This was done on purpose after the fire. Drove on Lake Shore Drive, saw the lake, etc. South side tour included Hyde Park- home to Barack, Jesse Jackson(whose son owns the Chicago branch of Budweiser), Farquan, relatives of lots of prizefighters, and of course Barack. It was evident it was his house because the street access was blocked off and you had to show evidence you lived on that street to gain access. Chicago police there in addition to Secret Service in full riot gear. This neighborhood of mansions in second only to Newport, RI. Saw two Frank Lloyd Wright houses. Did not go to Navy Pier and my train left from the new part of Union station, so no shopping. Only food there. Will have to attempt souveniers at the airport. Did not do Navy pier, sears tower or hancock tower. Weather too awful at that point. The Donald is building the Spire-will be twice the size of Sears Tower. Overall, beautiful city.

The great beach trip

My senior boy

Matt turns 18

He started his day by opening the gift from Nana and Poppop. Breakfast of tastykakes and ramen ensued. He liked the gift certificate, pictures and food. He then opened Randy's gift to him which was a Darth Tator tshirt from the Boise airport. Kristen gave him a Ask the Ninja handbook(humorous book based on the videos on youtube)We gave him a card that plays the theme from Star wars, an ipod that only works with version 8 of itunes. Need to get IT people to upgrade my laptop tomorrow and an itunes gift card. We then proceeded to watch the two skits of Tina Fey doing Sarah Palin on SNL. Barely made it to church on time. Lunch was BBQ potato chips for him. Kristen made his cake and iced it. Randy and I dealt with van issues. It now has two new rear tires due to the screw I picked up somewhere. He says I am too hard on the brakes and gas. My new nickname for him is the brakemaster. Went out for dinner to Outback. Matt and Kristen consumed their weight in cheese fries as an appetizer. Matt had Teriyaki steak and now is so full, that the cake is waiting until tomorrow night. Matt claims not to feel any different. Randy just gave him the you are now an adult and are responsible for your actions as an adult lecture.

My cute little boy

Thanks for sending the picture to me Nana and Pop Pop

Kids conferences a week late

Because you asked...
Kristen
Band A
Health A
French B
English C
Algebra B
Biology A
World Geography B

Matt
Recreational Games A
Weight Training A
Stage Tech D
Mystery and Suspense C
Food Science B
Living on your own B
Orchestra B
Music Theory B

Now back to Matt...

He was such a cute toddler and preschooler. He loved Thomas the Tank Engine, Sesame street, Power rangers, Teenage Mutant Ninja turtles. One Halloween he dressed up as one of the 7 dorfs(dwarfs. It is hard to believe my tall grown up son used to like to sit in a laundry basket. Who could forget that vanilla scented pacifier that came home from the hospital with him? Also who could forget that train that Nana and Pop Pop gave him for his 1st birthday? Learning to ride a trike and then a bike, now learning to drive a car(get a job so you can finally get your license, kiddo!).Lots of enjoyable time spent on Nana's patio, watering and washing toys and cars. Talking on the phone to telemarketers telling them about an upcoming trip to Arby's. The arrival of his sister brought more challenges and changes to his life....

We interrupt the reminscing about Matt for updates...

Matt and I came to an agreement(truce) about what happens when he turns 18.
Kristen's paper is done
Doggie's diet of Cheerios has helped. She slept through the night. We shall see what the vet says today.

Matt year 1

As Matt's 18th birthday approaches, I have decided to blog about his life. He feels this is beyond embarrassing. Too bad. We looked at the scrapbook baby book I made a few years back and it will be too hard to take those photos out so I will just describe and reflect.
Picture1-Matt is 4 weeks through his 8 week hospital stay. He is wrapped in a blue hospital baby blanket with a feeding tube coming out of his nose.
I remember so many things about the hospital stay-the wonderful nurses, the 3 NICU doctors including the one who wore cowboy boots.I think he was my favorite. I remember lots of hours feeding, holding and rocking in that room. I remember the IV in his head and the feelings of joy, frustration, anxiety and fear as we went about the 1st weeks of his life. I may have reacted to events differently if this were not my first child. Nothing prepared me for what our lives turned into having a child in the hospital for 8 weeks. I remember the Burger King on the way home. Did not help the weight problem. I still have stirrings of negative feelings when driving past the exit for the hospital. Fortunately, I am not in a position to do it often.

Musical Trivialities

For something different, Matt, Kris and I went to Musical Trivialites at Borders. A friend told me it is a blast and they go every week. My friend was not there tonight, but we were. The theme tonight was Johnny Cash. A DJ plays songs based on the themes and sprinkles in trivia questions. You just walk up to him if you think you know the answer and if correct, you get to pick a prize from a bunch of CDs and posters that were not top sellers at Borders. Matt knew the answer to the 1st question and was just about run down by this large person. Matt backed off. It was entertaining for 2/3 of us. Kristen was ready to leave by the end of the 1st song. Things I learned tonight:
Ray Charles' nickname was the genius
#1 country song at weddings is High Friends in Low Places
Bruce Springsteen did a song that Johnny wrote
Johnny's singing at Folsom prison inspired Merle Haggard(an inmate) to become a singer
Matt and I are going next Friday when the theme will be smoke and water in honor of the release of Brisingr by Christopher Paolini.

Bandgeek needs to stretch

Who would have thought marching with a 5lb clarinet could be hazardous to your health? Bandgeek did not stretch on Tuesday night and now has a pulled/torn muscle. She is on strong anti-inflammatory medication that will probably make her sleepy and dizzy. Told her if that is the case, she will stay home from school tomorrow. She can't miss school, she cries, she has biology tomorrow. Translation=I can't miss class with my drop-dead gorgeous, makes my heart go pitter patter biology teacher. Plan was to cut the grass, Matt offered to do her portion(love it when this stuff happens. Mower made a screeching, squeaking sound. He turned if off and tried to restart it and NADA. It needs its owner, who happens to be camping.(do not love it when this stuff happens).

Photos added to Flickr

Bandgeek

Busy, busy week

Sorry I have been so silent, but life has been busy here in the land of teendom.

Monday- Mom had a benefits fair after work, sheentered to win a Wii but failed. Raced home to make dinner.

Rundown interrupted for Mattism-Bad presidents are not bad because of their own fault, they happen to be president during a war they did not start, so it is not their fault.
Tuesday-Mom raced home to make dinner. Kristen had band practice from 6-9 and Matt had music lesson from 7-7:30. Kristen announced that she now has to be there at 5:45. Huh? When did that change happen? Mom needs notice for changes. Mom made mac and cheese for her but she could not eat it. Kristen has been taking me for short walk every night after dinner. I was not going to miss out on this just because Kristen had marching band practice. No leash? Ok, I can deal. Kris opened the door to leave and outI went. This was followed by lots of yelling and screaming. I did not need this. I got dragged back in the house. Mom then left with Kristen and came back grumbling that Kristen was not being nasty. I totally agree. Where is my walk.

Wednesday night-Back to school night at school,mom dragged both of them with her. Matt did not want to go. Kristen made sure I got my walk though. Thank you Kristen!
They came back several hours later with mom and Matt arguing something about a paper due the next day and Matt saying she never assigned one. Matt tends to lose these battles. It did not get as loud as usual though. Kristen did not seem too happy that she could not go on the computer though.

Thursday-Mom came home with subs.She only bought 4. Where was mine? Oh yeah, since my digestive problems I have not had one single scrap of table food-not even one grape, slice of cheese, frozen vegetable or crunchy noodle. I have been relegated to trying to trip mom as she makes dinner so she spills something. She does not seem to appreciate these efforts. Anyway, I digress. As soon as they were done eating, Mom, the Evil one and Kristen left to go to the high school-something about marching, football and cameras. Matt stayed home with me. Big Whoop. All he does is text and play video games. He did clean up the kitchen as Mom instructed. Apparently Kristen had her first marching band performance. Mom said she did great even if they have confusing uniforms. Football team lost 48-6. They were gone like 5 hours. No walk again.

Friday-Mom had to meet library friends after work, so the Evil One took Matt and Kristen to chilis. They forgot to feed me. I did not eat until like 6:30pm. I thought I was going to have to eat a chair or something. Dinner time is not as exciting as breakfast. I get my scoop of pumpkin with my food at breakfast. Seriously, have you all tried this-raw pumpkin with your kibble? IT is the best and keeps a body regular if you catch my drift?

Here Mousie, mousie, mousie

Based on the empirical evidence, The mouse or meeces are alive and well. Cleaned out cabinets under sink, bottom shelf of pantry and bottom of coat closet. This all needed to be done, but not happy about the way. Have to clean out under the vanity in the laundry room, but too tired tonight. Randy will be going to get rat poison or some such thing tomorrow. Kids have been threatened/warned about leaving food out.

It is the most wonderful time of the year

No, not Christmas, but the pitter patter(or loud stomping at the stampede decibel)of little feet down the hallways on the way to their new round of classes. Yes, school has begun once again in the SVVSD.

The Freshman:
Night before-tears and fears.
Morning of-excitement and anxiety to the point of throwing up.
After school-smiles
She has the following classes:
Day one(red day)
Band-loves it
Algebra-loves it
Biology-loves it-just wait till you dissect a pig, you won't be feeling the love then
Honors English-teacher is a spaz(replacement for original teacher who took a year off to sell insurance-go figure)

Day 2(gold day)
Band
Health-longest class ever
French-thinks this will be hard, but payoff is a trip to France in year II
World Geography-teacher is outstanding, but she will have a student teacher who is like 40 years old.

The Senior:
Day one
Recreational Games-yes this really is a class
Suspense and Mystery-thinks he may like this
Food science-yes he is taking a cooking class
Living on your own-does not think he will like this-same teacher as food science. She is talking community service projects

Day two:
symphony orchestra-hates the music, he wanted string orchestra. tough.
Weight training-no real comment
Music theory-thinks it will be boring, but will help him pursue an education in music
Stage tech-thinks he will like this, but lots of after school requirements

He still resents me beefing up his schedule. too bad, last chance for learning something for free, unless you count the taxes I pay and all the fees for these various classes.

Vacation now a staycation

Ok, we get no rain all summer. I take a day off and we have currently 52 degrees and a downpour that is supposed to last all day. We need the rain, but please just a little break so I can take the kiddos up to Estes to spend all my money at the fun park. I had no takers to go with me to Rapid City or Casper. DSon't know the plans for the day yet.

Highlights from yesterday:
steak fondue
Matt's impression of a Mexican/Canadian
Watching war games with Matt
Not working
Getting emails from my friends in NH, CA, GA, FL

I am seriously considering turning the heat on. The forcast for some areas is SNOW! yES, I said snow,snow, snow, snow.

Next FoodNetwork Star and Dental Hygiene

Conversation with Matt this evening:
Matt: It would not take too much for me to be a Food Network star.
Me: Oh?
Matt: yeah, you just need to do something simple but creative.
Me: What would be your signature dish?
Matt: Ramen with chili powder
Me THAT IS IT??
Matt: I would have to make something else like teriyaki steak with pineapple.
Me: But you do not like pineapple
Matt: I am trying to train myself to like it again.

Kristen has decided to improve the dog's dental hygiene. She bought a doggie toothbrush and poultry flavored tootbpaste. Pictures will have to be uploaded later.

Differences between my children

Today is high school orientation for Kristen. Looking back there are a few differences between Matt and Kristen

Clothes-Matt wore something probably off of the floor.
Kristen carefully selected her outfit and conferred with at least two friends and tried it on late at night.

School Supplies-Matt resisted getting any. Kristen and same friends described them on the phone to each other in great detail.

Morning of orientation-Matt was hesitant to go, had to be dragged from bed. Kristen was up at 5:20 and immediately texted friends to see if they were up. This starts at 7:30.

First day of school will seem like two star systems colliding. Can hardly wait for the explosion.

So the high school experience begins for Kristen

Today is the 1st day of bandcamp. We went shopping yesterday for water bottle(huge battle over this), sunglasses, notebook and plastic page protectors. Today, she got up at 5:30 so she could shower, dry her hair, straighten her hair and pack her lunch. She was ready by 7am so all of us are hoping we get to sleep a little later tomorrow.

Matt is scheduled for no hours at the bowling alley, so he will be calling his boss(who we all agree is an idiot) to find out what's what. He will also be applying for a part time cashier job at Budget Home Center. He and I will be seeing the batman movie this afternoon.

I am going out for lunch with a friend today. Can't wait.

Sabrina apparently has forgotten where her water bowl and food bowl are. Doggie Alzheimer's?

15,000 books later...

All the books for the new libraries have been shelved! Yes 15,000 is the correct number. It has been the single most stressful event I have been through in my library career. Being responsible for 3 new schools' libraries has been tough. I have yelled so much at freight carriers I am sick of yelling.(good news M and K). The warehouse guys have been phenomenal. They deserved every one of the 3 dozen cookies I made them. I have been so exhausted that tonight I am washing the baking sheets for these cookies that I made on 7/14.Nice thing about dealing with vendors is that they buy you stuff especially if they think you will throw business at them for the next school opening.(next summer)The complete tally is:
1 bloody mary
1 venti starbucks
1 lunch at Popeye's chicken
1 b bq lunch at Famous Dave's.

Adding to this stress is the mousie problem. Silver lining is that Randy cleaned out the floor of the pantry and vacuumed the basement. He also repaired the springs on the loveseat and rocking chair. Note to kiddies: Unless you want to buy us new furniture, the throwing yourselves into the furniture needs to cease and desist.

I am typing this on my new dell latitude laptop. It has a DVD player/burner but apparently I am more PC challenged than I realized. I can not open the DVD thing to even watch a movie. Waitng for Randy to get home from fishing.

Mamma Mia! Oh my!

Girls night out! Anita(Norm's wife) and I had dinner at Ragazzi's(stuffed canneloni) and then went to see Mamma Mia! Both of us love the songs of ABBA. Meryl Streep and Pierce Brosnan singing is not to be missed. The beautiful Greek scenery as a backdrop makes me want to go there this second. Randy, save those miles on United. Make sure you stay for the credits. Everyone in the theater clapped when it was over. Anyone clapping for Batman? I doubt it. I want the DVD now! I may go see it again. I will be buying the CD as soon as my furniture is delivered tomorrow! Off to download all of ABBA's songs into my playlist.

She has been "digging the ride"

Kristen has been in jazz camp all week with her favorite teacher, Mr. Carmichael. She has learned all kinds of new music but acts like she is not enjoying it. She freaks if she thinks she will be late and Doug Carmichael has told the owner of the music studio that she has been "digging the ride". He wants her to do a solo, but so far has refused. People will look at her, she says. In a good way, Kristen,in a good way. Hopefully pictures from the concert, Sat.

new furniture

Locks of love

Over the weekend Kristen donated over 10 inches of her beautiful long hair to Locks of Love.(http://www.locksoflove.org/) She was quite nervous and stressed about the whole procedure and managed to put the whammy on my camera so I did not get pictures of the actual procedure. It seemed to work just fine after it was all over. I think she looks more grown up. What do the two of you who read this blog think?

Happy Independence Day-Hour 1 of my captivity

My school district is not celebrating the 4th of July as a national holiday. They have chosen to celebrate the day after Christmas instead. Thanks Mike and Mike in Human Resources. Rather than using a vacation day, I am at work. R had yesterday and today off.

I am copying training manuals. About to start the other Boleyn Girl. Watch for a review later today.

Our weekend

First of all, I should have not been here. A. I should have been in Anaheim, but ALA showed their typical disorganization and I did not know I should have been in Anaheim. B.I should have been in Washington DC watching my cousin get married, but my son's refusal to do homework made that impossible. Thanks, Matt.

What we did was a whole lot of nothing. Except for Sabrina. She may have caught Ghiardia. She has diarrhea and the vet needs a sample. In order to get that. I had to mix uncooked pumpkin with her dog food. Gross, but apparently it is quite delectable to her.

How I will be celebrating the 4th of July

I will be working. My school district chose to celebrate it the day after Christmas so I will be here in the office working. I plan to review fiction to see if it is appropriate for the new high school. High up on my list is Catherine Coulter's new book as well as Janet Evanovich's new book and Brad Thor's new book. I also feel the need to preview the Other Bolyn Girl for its appropriateness as well as a few other DVDs. I found out this the day before I found out I was scheduled to present at Anaheim. This is where I would be staying had they only notified me:

http://tinyurl.com/amfyn

My office

Momma asked to see pictures of my office since they did not get to come over and see it while they were visiting. My plan was to wait until it was clean but that was never going to happen. So here it is in all its loveliness:

Get Smart needs to get funny

Ok, this is the second attempt at a movie based on one of my favorite TV shows growing up. The first movie bombed;this one was a little better. There were some funny moments that kids of the digital native generation would not pick up on and the cameo by one of the original stars was a highlight for me, but overall not worth the money to see in the theater. Definitely worth a rental. Steve Carrell is as close to Don Adams as you are likely to see, but proves the point that there really is only one Maxwell Smart.

Matt's Goth/Punk look

Making their own pizza seemed like a good idea

But alas, no. The ready made pizza crust in the tube was tougher than Kristen and Courtney...

It is all about the food

Kristen's favorite part of a Rockies game. She had a hot dog, fries, drink, snowcone and ended the game with cotton candy.

Summer is flying by....

Hard to believe it is the middle of June! Summer school is in full swing for Matt. Halfway through the first week. He is not liking it as much as last year-this teacher gives homework and has 23 rules that must be followed which include nothing on students heads except hair. Matt is only working one day a week(or one evening), so he fills his time with the texting of friends and video games and being sullen.

Kristen is a hormonal diva one day and my sweet child the next. She is practicing her multitasking skills by texting, IMing and emailing her friends at the same time. They have played the scene it game several times when I mandate them playing a nonvideo game. I must specify a non-electronic game next time. Band camp for her will start for her on 7/28. They are both hoping for a couple weeks in Pennsylvania away from the 'rents. Grand 'rents, please respond to the dates I gave you ASAP, so flights can be booked.

Sabrina is still neurotic, but has given up the deck as a suitable butt scratching venue.

Randy is still fishing in the evenings. In fact he is going to be eating a crappie fish for his dinner tonight.

Now if you prefer to look at life through Rose colored glasses and want to have a pollyanna attitude that everything is right in the world, read no further. You have been warned.



Today was extremely frustrating for me. I got an email late last night from one of the library clerks that her principal is assigning her to be a secretary/attendance clerk from 9-12:30 and can only work in the library from 12:30-3pm. From 10-12:30 the library will be staffed by a slew of parent volunteers. Who knows what happens from 7:30-10am. This is so far away from best practice, it is almost as though someone made it up.

Later today, I got a call from someone who obviously follows his SFB method of administrating stating he wanted to take his library in a new direction with his new library clerk.(Danger, Danger we are Defcon 1 go the alarms in my head. He has hired a retired AP from another state who "understands schedules and flowcharts". No library experience-he taught PE. Lot in common there. Not sure what I am supposed to teach him or what mentor to assign him or even how to interact with him. My biggest fear is that the students at this school will not even by taught basic library skills.

While I was on the phone with this principal, our superintendent showed up to hand deliver a greeting card to someone who I guess is a friend of his who is substituting for someone on medical leave. OF COURSE, he shows up when everyone is gone to a once a month birthday lunch. After I got off the phone, I handled that for him. Apparently, he was wandering around the building trying to find someone who knew where this person was.

I ended the day by finding out that all except one curriculm coordinator have bailed on the new director. So we have a new director as well as math coordinator, literacy coordinator and Title 1 coordinator.

Very frustrating day. I am frustrated that any of these events could happen. The libraries are obviously not a priority for administration no matter what they say. Can I do anything to change this attitude? I don't know. At some point, should I just say UNCLE and get a job somewhere where I can make a difference? I don't know. I have the job responsibilites of a coordinator, am not recognized for it nor am I reimbursed for it. I could have a similar job in a different part of the state for a starting pay of $20,000.00 more than I am making now. Unfortunately, my husband can not move. I am not sure I would want to. I am not sure about a lot right now.

The good, the bad and the ugly

I don't even like this movie, but love the title for blog posts!

The Good

Kris got a 3.44 average which earned her a free trip to her favorite restaurant-Texas Roadhouse. Unfortunately, we would have to park in a mud pit and wait 2.43 hours to be seated so she opted for Applebees instead. She enjoyed a bacon cheesburger, fries and chocolate mousse(she pronounces it moose A) for dessert.

The bad
Matt passed(I love saying that word) with a 1.44 average, but he passed.


The ugly

THERE IS NO UGLY BECAUSE MATT PASSED! Now onto typical parent of a senior activity. Scheduling senior pictures(several poses and changes of clothing including a coat and tie-for those of you who know Matt, just imagine the joy that this shall bring), planning a blow out of a party-Matt does not like parties, but so what? The teachers and Randy and I will be celebrating that he is finally graduating. Internet readers, is it going too far by inviting his elementary teachers? Instead of baby pictures, I will have a slide show of his civil war ppt and other amusing assignment memories. Have I mentioned how much I love the phrase Matt passed?!

Randomness

Things are progressing with car repair. Parts are ordered and hopefully payment will arrive from idiot teenager's insurance company soon. The totalled Audi is gone from in front of the house.

Matt has become addicted to every version of Star Trek as well as the Twilight zone. Apparently the Sci Fi channel is the only one on during the day. Kristen does not need the TV when she is on the computer the entire day. She has been walking to Centennial Pool every other day or so. The lists will be starting tomorrow-just so they do something low tech as well. Sabrina has rediscovered the joy of chasing a tennis ball around the house. Alas, it is shortlived because she knocks it behind the love seat. Not moving it for a tennis ball.

Booked my conference travel to Chicago in Oct.(yea!) boss told me my former boss(who was promoted because she was so bad at what she did, IMO) should go to and to ensure that she does, my current boss will pay for all her expenses(Boo!)

The teens summer begins while mine ends

Tomorrow I have to face reality and go back to work. I have enjoyed pretending I was off for the summer. Everyone enjoyed Nana and Poppop's visit. We saw the Rocks lose to the Mets, ate lots of food, watched Kristen continue on to high school-everytime I think about it I start to cry. The kids and the grands went bowling and out to lunch. We celebrated Kristen's 14th birthday-another teary moment with the grands BFFs. Kristen used the soap today. The chocolate covered pretzels are mine, all mine. We saw some movies. We dealt with the Durango getting hit by a stupid teenager. This incident did nothing to motivate me to push Matt to get his license.(The durango will be repaired while Randy stays here

http://www.shangri-la.com/en/property/singapore/traders/rooms/deluxepoolviewroom


Yes, another trip to Singapore. He leaves on Friday and returns 6/10.

Dad tried his hardest to make Sabrina make her trademark exhale of breath noise. No luck. He could not have been off the street before the dog made that highly anticipated sound!

Today the kids played donkey konga(Nintendo's annoying answer to Guitar hero) and worked on their rooms. Kristen's is cleaned up. Matt is making progress. So far today I have done 6 loads of laundry. Kids want to go to walmart tonight-Matt to buy a birthday present for girlfriend Staci, Kristen to spend, spend, spend. I still need to make cookies for a dept picnic tomorrow. I think keylime with white chocolate. Also need to run dishwasher once the laundry room closes for the evening.

Random pictures from my camera

Trying day with the spawn

When I got up today, my daughter was replaced with a drama queen. These dramatics lasted a good three hours. Then she took a shower and was better. She cleaned the stove and was somewhat helpful.

Matt got up and felt he needed to practice his debate skills on me. Not.a.good.idea.

Then there was the grass cutting. As much as I love the smell of a freshly mowed lawn, the drama, excuses and general attitude problems are so not worth it. Matt did not feel he needed to cut the grass since he has a job. Hello? He does not work today. He is cutting half. He did eventually cut his part with only a few minor arguments. Kristen, oh the pain. She has serious listening issues today. She did not take direction well. Then there was the bee problem. It took 3 separate attempts before the bees were sufficiently at bay. Then it was like she was eating a meal. First, we would cut a little over here, then a little over there, etc, etc, etc.

Randy just got home from volunteering overnight in Rocky Mountain National Park. He will be home exactly 12 hours before leaving again for Pennsyvania.

News Flash

Matt has a new girlfriend! Her name is Stacy! Maybe some of you may even get to meet her. She is cute and goes to Longmont High. I think Matt will now have a little more incentive to not piss me off and get out driving more so he can get his license. He told me I need to schedule time with him for this! I need to schedule time?

Happy Mother's Day!

Tomorrow is Mother's Day and thanks to this lovely bout of cellulitis I do not know what if anything I will do to celebrate. I thought I would share some of my thoughts on being a mother for 17 years.

Mothers praise their kids creations no matter what. I recently have consumed biscuit/cookies and a strawberry chocolate smoothie from Kristen. Matt does not cook often which is a good thing since his creations scare me.

I still have most hand made cards, gifts, etc that they made for me. The card no longer works, but I remember the card that has Matt's voice saying Happy Mother's Day Mom, I love you.

No matter Irritating the teens are, I still love them, just not their actions. Like right now, when K put a piece of a biscuit on the dog's head. Dog is stupid.

I used to think the toddler state was the hardest to get through. Then came the 4-5 year old stage. During this stage Kristen came into Matt's life. Matt celebrated by covering a table at Kinder care with Thomas the tank engine stamps. Another time he rebelled against a professional photograph with his sister by decorating his face with war paint(markers) during nap time.

Who could forget his allergy to peas and mashed potatoes or his signups for camp for boys and the field trip he intended to run to the WKS railroad? Also digging for treasure in a snowbank and finding a garnet tennis bracelet?

Then came elementary school. Oh boy, did it come. Matt medicationless was like a Tasmanian devil. I wish we would have put him on it sooner. His elementary years were not the best even though his creativity was. I will never forget the letter he was supposed to write welcoming a new student to Paxtonia. Matt wrote this place is a white slave factory, escape while you can.

Kristen's elementary school years were less dramatic but were punctuated by her refusal to read because she could not do it better than Matt.

Onto middle school. Matt and Kristen both discovered a love of instrumental music. Matt was a challenge to do any work that did not interest him. Kristen was a rule follower.

Enough reflections for now. Happy Mother's Day!

Randy fought the guidepost and the guidepost won.

Yes, Mr. Perfect backed into a guidepost in Rocky Mountain National park today and did some minor damage to the bumper of the Durango but did enough that we need to replace the rear hatch door. Kaching! Did I yell or scream? No. It just proves, everyone can do something stupid.

Silver lining

While it has been no fun being laid up with cellulitis(in fact it sucks), some very special friends have done some very special things. Even though I have said we are doing fine(Randy made his second grocery store run today), Midge and Candi from Erie elementary had King Soopers deliver a care package of a chicken dinner and a bouquet of flowers. Then tonight, my BFF Norm and his wife brought an entire roast beef dinner including brownies and a bouquet of pink roses. It is great to have friends who care so much! I love you all!

Our weekend with a computerized baby

It is very tiring-for everyone. Matt even feels sorry for Kristen. Last night the baby and car seat were on the loveseat until she went to bed( not sleep) to keep it away from pets. No fear about that in this house. Sabrina shakes when it cries and avoids it. What is not helping is for the first 24 hours, every time it cried Kristen would scream. Her comments vary from Shut the freak up, What is wrong with you, You are mental, I hate you, I wish you would die to lots of variations. Kris is not handling sleep deprivation well. It sleeps at the most two hours. I took video and photos but will have to post them later since I forgot AA batteries at the store. Making Mom's taco salad for dinner then going out for coffee with my friend Anita. Matt will be done working around 11:30! Yeah! I think it has served its purpose. She does not want anything to do with babies.

Sigh

I have a no win situation tomorrow at work. I stayed an extra 1.5 hours trying to prepare for it and figuring out who to call to make myself feel better. I am meeting with a principal to discuss her decision to replace the media specialist with a clerk who only has worked 2 hours a day in the library. My job supports both the media specialists and the clerks. If I support the media specialist over the clerk(which is the right thing to do), the clerk may lose her job. If I advocate for the clerk too heavily, the media specialist may never get back in the library. Right now, I am not liking my job very much!

I've been sprung!

Sabrina here, talkin' to you from my pillow. Consider this a doggie podcast. They came to pick me up. Big whoop. I've been hanging out with my homeys for a week and Mom and Kristen show up acting like I should have missed them terribly. Not exactly. They picked me up in the deathtrap. I tried to pretend I did not remember how to get in it, but Kristen lifted my butt in it. I screamed, yowled, howled save me,save me, save me. Did anyone listen? Nada. They opened the window thinking I wanted air, I screamed and screamed to all the other people in their various forms of deathtraps and still no one listened. We stopped at the house of the cute girl with the red braids and she answered the doorbell by asking can I help you? She sure can-finally, I am saved! Mom talked to her about burgers and drinks and she asked small, medium or large? Say what? When is she coming out to let me out of here. Then we leave, I scream some more, and I think I passed out. Mom calls it hyperventillating. Next thing you know we are home. Matt is no where to be found. It had something to do with Mom failing to read calendars correctly and Matt having to work 7-3pm today. Loser with a capital L. Dad was fishing-no great loss for me there. I can barely keep my eyes open by now and they want me to go squirrel chasing. Yeah right. Not happening. I don't even have the energy to eat. Later,

Sabrina.

Totally random

Twitter is great, but I certainly post a lot less. I am feeling very stressed and overwhelmed and am very tired of feeling this way. Matt is having his bass lesson and then a hard life lesson. Kris is going to the doctor tomorrow for her cough. She may have asthma, hopefully not pneumonia. Matt once had pneumonia with no fever, so hopefully she has not contracted that strain also. I have several imposing deadlines at work the rest of this month. I have to go shopping for the kids for Easter, buy Zack birthday presents, get the dog a license while it is still 2008. She needs to exercise as do I, but I do not want to take her for walks until she is legal. Kristen is sleeping with me as bug season has started. This week is CSAPS for her. Tomorrow night is a band booster club meeting that I should attend. Here is my day tomorrow:
7:30-9am breakfast meeting for collection dev for new schools
9-10 race back to the office to make my office look like more than a storage room.
10 am meet with vendor
11:15 go to trailridge to pick up Kris for doctor appt
12:00 take Kris back to trms
get back to office for 1pm budget meeting
2:00 try to fit in everything else in(like rewriting copyright policy, generating purchase orders for new schools, review more books) and maybe try to eat something for lunch.
Such is my life.

Time for the bass lesson and the bassist is quite impatient.

Randy's birthday present and Sabrina's visit to the doctor

I tried uploading pictures of his latest acquisition into the blog, but blogger is not cooperating. It is on the Flickr feed. It is an inflatable floating fishing chair. Your legs hang below the chair in the water and it holds lots of fishing supplies. Kristen loves it also. I love not having to go shopping and inevitably getting a gift that he does not really want.

Now Sabrina.

I had to take her to the vet to get the bordatella vaccine. Go out to the truck and she apparently forgot how to get jump. She acted like she was scaling Mt. Everest Then she did her award winning imitation of chewbacca all the way to the vet. We had to wait outside until the Weimaraner dog was safely ensconced in an exam room. Finally her turn. She had her temp taking rectally(which she just loves), her bordatella in the nose and the doctor noticed a lump which she did an aspiration biopsy on(just a fatty tumor). Doctor says she needs to lose weight and it should disappear. So, when the time changes, so will her (and mine) exercise regime. There will actually be one. Sabrina then had a pedi and then back to scaling Mt Everest. She has no problem jumping on beds so it is not her hips or other joints, just Sabrina being her normal stupid self.

Kristen makes a chocolate cake

This is really the reason she wanted to make the cake.

Cousin It

Kristen growing out her bangs is painful for the rest of us.

News Bulletin

I am a failure.

This has been pointed out to me this afternoon.
I can not purchase acceptable popcorn. Wheat bread is the work of the devil. Kristen is remembering the good ole days when we did not have pudding much but at least it had sugar. I should be ashamed for taking sugar away from her. These are comments from my offspring as they put away groceries.

I have been super sick this week and want a break from Mommy duty. It seems all I do is do stuff for the kids and go to work and have not been succeeding at either this week. Randy does what he needs to do by getting away for the day and fishing. It helps him relax and recharge. Me? I get to stay here and make a feeble attempt at housework and deal with the offspring. Neither offered to go along because they needed some time to relax. Yes, I am a slave and today I resent it. It was a beautiful day in Colorado, I just did not take the time to appreciate it. Sorry for the whine, but writing it down helps me to deal with it so I can move on to other tasks such as making chicken and dumplings and chocolate cake for dinner.

And now for Sabrina. She is in a panic because Kristen is eating crunchy Cheetos with out her. Apparently this is her latest obsession. She is barking at Kristen. This dog really is like a third child. Lately, I have been missing having a toddler age child. The way they want to snuggle and are happier with the simpler things in life and did not make plans that involve you without consulting you.
Matt has a new love interest. Her name is Talia.

Musings

I have the cold that Matt, Kris and I have been passing around. I find that when I do not feel well my tolerance is low for:

• the dog thinking it is dinnertime anytime I walk through the front door
• Kids waking me up to ask what i am doing or do I know what time it is(the answers to both of these questions should be quite clear)
• the noise for video games and video game talk. I heard star wars on sale blah blah blah star fox graphics blah blah blah not optimum.

Kristen has a new pet-Rickee the spider. She is sleeping with me.

After 17 years I have tried and found I like salmon. Now I want it everyday to make up for lost time. I tried King Soopers salmon and pasta on thursday and liked it so much I bought it again today.

Our Valentine's Day Feast

Appetizers:
Crab Spinach Artichoke dip
Crab and Green Chili dip
Shrimp cocktail

Main Course:
Snow Crab
King Crab
Mussels on the half shell
Buttered Noodles

Dessert:
Assorted slices of cheesecake

No one left the table disappointed....except Sabrina.

Kristen's conference and other things

Kris's conference was yesterday. She had A's in Language Arts, Reading, Home Ec, Band. B's in Science and math lab. C's in Social studies and regular math. This morning is the breakfast for the honor roll kids. She and I are going . Then I have to high tail it to Highlands ranch for a 3 hour meeting then come back and solve a library automation system problem before 3pm when I meet with a vendor and then be home in time to take Kris to a icecream party for the b-ball team and be home by 6 to make dinner before my command performance in front of the school board at 7pm.

Matt's bass lessons are going well. His teacher said he was genetically engineered to play the bass due to his long fingers.

Running away

I would love to run away right now from:

• the exhaustion that follows the tech fair (which was hugely successful by all accounts)
• Whiny elementary librarians-it is like I have 23 additional children
  
• a job and an employer that is asking more than I have to give right now.
• my house that is screaming to be be cleaned-but I have no energy
• a husband who has gout in the elbow currently
• Matt's parent teacher conferences tomorrow
• the mountain of parent permission slips that have materialized in the last 15 minutes
• an 8th grader with an attitude-we get up late and THE most important thing is for her to spend 15-20 minutes straightening her hair.
  
• an 11th grader with an attitude-I was not sympathetic when his head felt floaty after doing experiments with strobe lights in physics.
  

Same old Matt

His grades finally came:
Photography F
Guitar A
English D
Intermediate Algebra D
Physics C
Us Govt F
CDC C

This on top of finding an actual sword and chinese throwing weapons in his bed make for a frustrating week. He is going to be paying for these choices for years.He was going to take his drivers test this week, but not now. Grounding him is useless. He lies about everything, you can not trust a word he says. He has some very hard life lessons headed his way.

driving with Matt

If you had been in the car, these are things you may have heard(See if you can figure out who said what):
You don't come to a stop on a highway.
I think I am getting whiplash.
I like going fast.
How do I get home from here?
Isn't this the exit?
Do you really need to be in the car at all times?
Parking spaces should not be made this way?
I am never driving here again until they fix the parking spaces.
Stop before you hit the garage door.
Try it again.
Do you realize the difference between the D and the R
Should we practice our colors a little more?

update

The really sad state of affairs:
1. Take down Christmas tree and non-snowman decorations-DONE
2. Clean out truck
3. dust and vacuum
4. buy new shoes-BOUGHT ONE PAIR- STILL NEED A COMFY PAIR
5. do all laundry and put away (at least stuff that goes in my room)
6. Clean green paint off laundry room wall and kitchen floor(Kristen is barred from painting until she moves out)
7. go through all the mail to make sure not throwing anything out important
8. watch fracture-have had it checked out since 1/7.- RETURNED UNWATCHED
9. go to borders and buy book
10. buy myself Christmas present
11. clean my bathroom
12. change sheets-DONE

Busy, stressful week. Kids alternate days to act like ungrateful brats. Typical teenagers-the world exists for their enjoyment. Have to take Kris shopping for nice white shirt for honor band concert this week. What is my schedule you ask:
Today-
Church from 11-12
Work in the office from 12:30-2:30.
Take Kristen shopping from 2:30 -4:30
Take her to game night at church from 5-8pm, Matt to work from 5-10pm

Monday:
Work and school
Kristen b-ball until 5pm
High School orientation from 5:45-8pm
Randy conference call 6-8pm

Tuesday
Matt jamming with friends after school
Matt Bass lesson at 7pm

Wednesday
Kristen bball game until 5:30
Honor Band concert 6:30

Thursday
No kid events but probably working late on tech fair -48 hours

Friday
3-8pm tech fair setup
Matt works 5-1:30am

Saturday
6am-pick up food and be at Trailridge by 7am for tech fair-clean up finished by 3pm, go to Fridays to celebrate if nothing else that it is over.

Sunday
Church
Take Kristen up to Ft Collins to see Hannah Montana movie.
Come home and Thank God that the week has finally ended.


T

My to-do list

This is what I want to accomplish this weekend( and yes I know there is only one more day left)

1. Take down Christmas tree and non-snowman decorations
2. Clean out truck
3. dust and vacuum
4. buy new shoes
5. do all laundry and put away (at least stuff that goes in my room)
6. Clean green paint off laundry room wall and kitchen floor(Kristen is barred from painting until she moves out)
7. go through all the mail to make sure not throwing anything out important
8. watch fracture-have had it checked out since 1/7.
9. go to borders and buy book
10. buy myself Christmas present
11. clean my bathroom
12. change sheets

Any bets on which ones happen?

Sabrina is left-handed

I was outsiding chasing down some squirrels.(Dad sarcastically calls them "my friends"). It was like 10 degrees and I wanted to come in. Mom opened the door a little bit. She wants me to learn to help myself from time to time. I hate these teaching moments. I try to push it open with my left paw. My left paw goes across my body and hits the wooden door frame. Ok, try again-same result. The third time will be the charm-nope. Neither is the 6th. Ok, now my paw hurts in addition to being cold. I look up at them. Will someone please open the stupid door more or tell me what the secret is. (Stupid dog)

Blogging will be sporadic at best until 2/3

It is now two weeks and counting down to the District Technology Fair which I am in charge of.
Yesterday was an 11 hour day and then I have to come home and be a wife and mother. I will blog when I can, but no guarantees. A library crisis at one of the schools is also going on. Everything is fine. Both kids are fine. Matt will get to play his electric bass in a concert. Cars are being repaired by dealer Saturday. Looking forward to Monday off. Matt works to 1:30 this morning and then works 5-10 Sunday.

Basketball game

Trail Ridge lost by a lot. Westview was just too good. The girl did play in a uniform that fit. She still seems intimidated when she should be aggressive. Does not matter in the whole scheme of things. We went from there to Honor band practice where she met up with other 8th graders from different schools some of whom she knows. She will be done in 45 minutes and then homework for her.

Teenage girls

Day 2 of crazybusy week. Kristen comes home stating she is playing in the second b-ball game tomorrow. Brings uniforms and warm ups. Tries uniform on for photo op and it is too small. the river of tears starts: She does not want to play in any games, she will back out. No she won't I say. More tears. We will go to school early and talk to her coach and get a new uniform. She does not want anyone looking at her. the evil shyness monster creeps back into her world. Very self conscious 8th grader. I remember hating 8th grade. Stay tuned. Kristen has to be at Honor Band practice by 6:30 pm. So now it looks like I will be late to work and leave early. Leaving for bass lesson momentarily and then back home and then out again to get a white tshirt to wear under the sleeveless bball jersey.

A new way to drain my bank account

Kristen had her orthodontic consultation. In 12-14 months, she will have near perfect teeth and I will be 4500.00 poorer. She is happy, I am depressed.

Weekend update and my spoils from Singapore

Matt-worked until 2:30am Friday night/Saturday morning. He went bowling and then over to Grant's house to play video games. We all went to Wendy's for dinner and he managed to eat a single and fries. I think we are finally on the downside of this whole ordeal.

Kristen-fell asleep at 8:30 Friday night and then woke up at 1am to go pick up Matt. Saturday she went sledding with the youth group in Rocky Mt National Park.

Me-Did nothing but drive people places Sat. This morning I cleaned up somewhat, went to the grocery store and picked up Randy who is currently sleeping. He will probably go to bed as soon as he gets to see Matt who is currently working .

Spoils from Singapore

Kristen got another Hardrock tshirt and a Hardrock bear wearing a Kimono and playing an electric guitar.

Matt got a new baseball cap from Japan, a hardrock tshirt and a just released anime 1o dvd set.

I got these:
An orchid paperweight, an orchid necklace and this really cool sparkling dragon that has a pearl in its mouth. Its back opens up and you can hide very tiny treasures in it. Very cool.

Yawn

Just got back from picking Matt up.Yawn. Kris had to go along since R. out of town. Seriously beginning to wonder if this job is that great of an idea. He works 4 days next week. Between his schedule and Kristen's, I really am nothing more than a taxi.

I am being punished-you better not laugh Mom!

These are the sewing supplies I need to purchase for Kristen. I am so afraid of this class. I was not concerned with an A. She is.

• Dressmaker pin and cushion (do you need to buy each pin separately? Someone please help me with this?)
  
• Dressmaker shears
• Seam ripper
• Ruler
  
• Small box to store equipment
• 8.00 class fee
• project fee

I need my mommy to come out for the next 9 weeks. Please let me know when your flight is arriving. You can have my bedroom. I will be catching the 1st flight to anywhere where there are no teenagers as soon as you arrive.

Update on Matt

We are back from the dr. Matt apparently is clenching his jaw and needs to stretch it or the doctor will stretch it for him next Thursday(this sounds painful). He also has a pointy syringe that he needs to squirt in a mixture of salt water and hydrogen peroxide twice a day for a month. Still no food that he needs his molars to chew. Calgon take me away!

Bad day in the neighborhood

1. Refused to accomodate daughters social plan-my reign as the evil mom continues
   
2. Matt did not go to work-called in sick-not feeling well. He is fine-just pushing things too much
3. took the heat for a committee decision at work(I was elected to send out the email)
4. daughter upset that plans to go to Mcdonalds cancelled due to #2

I took a nap and ate some sara lee cheesecake and all is better. No longer wish to be be a greater at walmart.

A boy and his dog

No words are necessary. See Flickr for additional doggie photos.

The great clarinet crisis or I am responsible-I just can't remember that I am

After finishing her homework, Kris went to practice her clarinet. It was not here, oh no! She left it in the bathroom after b-ball practice. Tears and worry. Try to figure out who to call. There is no one. We drive over to the school, finally find an unlocked door. It is not in the bathroom or the gym. Where is it? She checked her locker and there it was waiting for her. GRRRRRR.

T is for Trespass by Sue Grafton

As most of you know, Sue Grafton is one of my favorite authors. I was looking forward to this book. Unfortunately, I do not consider it the pageturner that most of her other books have been. It was still good, but I was mostly through it before I got to the point where I could not be put it down. My vote for this: wait for the paperback.

Ahhh memories

Kristen got her schedule for the second semester and has (insert drumroll) Home EC for an elective. She is bummed that she does not have cooking until the second 9 weeks, That means she has (insert 2nd drumroll), SEWING NOW! Does anyone remember that hideous 17 piece purse with a satin lining and zippers and snaps that mom/I made? Kristen said they get to pick their own projects. Goody. Everyone says Kristen is so like me. Please, oh please let it not be so(at least in the sewing sense).

Happy Birthday Mommy

Today is my mom's birthday. Happy, Happy Birthday to you!

Things I am wonderering...

Why I am the only person who can see the dog needs more water?
Why the trash and recycling are only visible to me?
Is Sabrina as stupid as she appears?
Will Matt and I be able to get enough sleep to function tonight?
Will Kristen dance with my hairbrush as a microphone again? (last night Randy caught her doing this and really startled her.)
At what point I will totally morph into my mother(not that this is bad, but I really felt like her last night)
Will the writers strike ever end?
Will I actually remember to return rented videos on the first pass?

Matt

According to the doctor, Day 3 is going to be the worst. Matt is lying on the sofa with his pillow,blanket, ice pack and Doggie. Yes, that same doggie who has resided with Matt since he came into that world. The other doggie is snoring upstairs.

Our no good, horrible, very bad day

It started with having to wake Matt up every 3 hours to have a snack and pain meds. That meant I had to be awake then too. He slept on the sofa, I slept on the love seat. Around 8:30 pm the Internet connection was slow, by 10:30 it was dead. It took two calls to Comcast to get it back up and then it was hit or miss as far as the speed. You can imagine how this went over in this house.

Next, Randy went to do some errands. Can't. Durango has a dead battery. It only has 34,000 miles and is a year and a half old. In the process of charging the battery, the CD player jammed. While this was going on, the smoke detector in the house was going off. Called dealer and both are covered under warranty. Took the durango back down to Boulder. It had been there two days ago for recall work.

Randy and I decide to do errands in the Dakota. At the very last stop, we go through a bank drive thru. The drivers side window makes a grinding noise and stops. We get it home, Randy takes the door apart and we find a plastic wheel/gear type thing that was broken. We get the window up so Randy can tape it in place while I hold it.

I just want everyone to sit still and not move so nothing else can break.

Matt is better. Arguing about taking meds. He is making due with advil, but I will have him take the strong stuff before bed so I can get some sleep at least.

Matt's surgery

I know the two readers of this blog know Matt is Ok after his wisdom teeth removal, but I thought you might enjoy some comments he made throughout this day that shall live in infamy,

When do I get my damn pudding?
How do you expect me to eat this damn pudding? (I had to feed him)
I want a steak.
Go buy some kill the doctor juice
Are you some kind of stupid?(When Randy questioned Matt's statement that the EKG leads contained microscopic needles)
I want a steak
I don't need any pain meds
I will do what POP-POP does-only take them if I think I need them(Sorry, he was overruled)
I want a steak.
I will be so weak after this weekend because my muscles will have started to atrophy from not being used.

Feeling Random

I could talk about so many topics such as Sabrina and her freak-out after her manicure(the chocolate lab was not intimidated by her much to her dismay). So it is not normal for dogs to sound like Chewbacca when they finish an appointment? Then tbere is the daily battle between Sabrina and the squirrels. Squirrels are winning handily. I made homemade pancakes today and will probably make them a lot more in the coming days. I spent the afternoon with Kristen and Laney and Matt and Grant at the bowling alley. Matt is working now. Matt is feeling terrified about his surgery. I think what scares him the most is a fear that the iv sedation will not put him out-that and a needle is involved. There literally is nothing I can do or say to alleviate this fear and that is frustrating. Must do laundry and attempt to clean up the kitchen, As fast as I clean, someone makes a mess. Food I had bought for meals has been consumed as snacks. Matt is convinced he will never eat "real" food again. We are not talking about your ordinary pessimist here-no the glass is half empty-no sir-we are talking about the glass being completely empty if the glass exists at all. Kristen is pursuing her evening hobby of Doggie torment during commericials on the Disney channel.

New years resolution and the answer to everything is Chicago

Matt:
To form a band and get rich

Kristen
To pass Honors English

Mom
To post something to the blog everyday
to be a better cleaner
to not let Randy's temper tantrums get to me

Now for some reason Kristen is obscessed with Chicago. As in the city and the pizza. you ask her a question and the answer is Chicago. She is now cut off from sugar.

Flickr is working

Flic kr is working now. Click on it to see the photos in a bigger size.

Merry Christmas

Ok, so it is New Year's day, but I finally downloaded the pictures from the camera. Here are very few of the highlights. Having problems uploading photos to Blogger or Flickr.