Organized Organization

2011-07-24T21:43:00.000-04:00

it's amazing to me that we went a whole weekend with only one meltdown...and that was first thing saturday morning.

amazing

i like my job

2011-07-02T10:15:00.001-04:00

especially early morning email conversations like this:

Does anyone know if we are able to import the new vendor for ????

I have an invoice I would like to PAY J

Have a GREAT Thursday…any info would be helpful.

Thanks

Tammy

Yeah they are there…I just imported them. Have you done it before?

You have a GREAT day!

Karen

Okay I have a fried BRAIN….Thanks

Tammy

If I was a zombie that would be delicious

Karen

I just LOVE Zombies!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Tammy

And also capital letters

Karen

I really need a laugh this morning and you did it for me You are the BEST!!!!!!

Tammy

i think this is why they keep me around...

2011-06-05T21:52:00.000-04:00

http://www.bpkids.org

so, first an eating disorder and now this is what we're looking at...
and i find it interesting that the scripture for today's sermon was mark 5: 1-20

meanwhile, she tried to run away last night and was pretty serious about it. like to the point where i was thinking about sleeping outside, under her window.

it's hard to team up with her dad, but we did to keep her safe. she will probably be going to stay with him for a bit. i need relief from the intensity that never ceases.

we see the psychiatrist in july and hopefully will finally start to see some progress.

2011-04-28T20:26:00.000-04:00

right now i am sitting in my backyard, enjoying the breezes and chirpy birds...and the brief break from the girls. elise was in the mini musical at the elementary school this evening. she was one of the few fourth graders chosen to sing in the chorus. she was so proud of herself and did an excellent job. don joined us (slightly awkward) and offered to take the girls to dinner after the show.

in the past 4 months or so i have seen a steady decline in kaely's behavior, which has inevitably caused a decline in elise and lilli. not good times. we progressed from sullen, albeit typical pre-teen shenanigans to outbursts of temper and anger. lilli's behavior at school was poor enough that her teacher and i had to work out a plan. in january, i thought i knew the source of the hostility and anger. the girls told me how their dad told them that i was at fault for the divorce, that i pushed him away, and that i deserved it (to struggle). there were other things, too, but i've worked hard to forget them. it all was very painful and tore at the healing wounds on my soul. but i was happy because i thought we were going to get somewhere from that.

in february don moved back to charlotte with no conversation or warning. he just showed up and expected to fully participate in our daily lives as though he hadn't abandoned us 3 ish years ago. the occasional angry outburst from kaely turned into an almost daily occurrence. she would fly into a screaming rage with no warning. she threw things. she broke things. she caused the cats to slink around on their bellies with all of her screeching and wailing. she slammed her door to the extent that i removed it from its hinges. she challenged my every statement and criticized my every move and flat out disobeyed me regularly. she tried to run away. her grades slipped. i couldn't really take them anywhere or do anything with them because i never knew when it would start. most days were fine, but any time the girls (and kaely especially) felt that my attention might not be available when they wanted it, the fits and fighting would start. my counselor said it may get bad enough that i would have to call the police. that there needed to be some basic ground rules: 1) put your hands on me and i call the police 2) break stuff and i call the police 3) scream for more than 20 minutes and i call the paramedics. a lifetime of protecting my kids and now i need protection from them.

kaely started seeing a counselor about 6 weeks ago. and then she threw a granola bar at my face while i was driving her to school. she was mad at me because i didn't praise her when she felt i should have. i'm thankful i didn't wreck the car. i don't remember getting the rest of the way to the school. we talked to the school resource officer that day. she apologized, but she always does...until the next time.

i began to dread the weekends or any time alone with the girls...even though that was my time to be with the sweetest man in the world. it's hard to enjoy much of anything when your precious blessings treat you like garbage. i took don up on any offer to take the girls, knowing that in the end, it will only make things worse. he took it as a sign of weakness and pushed for more control of my life again. he started signing kaely out of school during the middle of the day to take her to lunch and shopping. he ate lunch in the cafeteria of the elementary school and had the girls use their lunch money to buy his lunch. he frequently asked to pick the girls up from school, and i just as frequently denied that request. he doesn't do well with the answer "no". one afternoon he texted that he was going to pick them up and i just needed to tell my driver not to get them. i made sure that everyone responsible for the girls had a copy of the custody order. kaely continued to see her counselor and he very bluntly told me that i had two choices: lay down and take it (from kaely and her father) or stand up to them.

the day of lilli's tonsillectomy, as i am talking to the surgeon in pre-op, the school calls...and calls...and calls. and don texts and wants to know why he can't sign elise out of school. as soon as the surgeon was done, i called the school back and had to speak to him (and explain that the children need to be in school during school time) and the acting principal (and apologize and, again, explain why i want my kids in school). i also had to call my mother because they called her when they couldn't get me. during that whole thing, he never asked about his daughter who was about to have surgery.

kaely's counselor feels that he knows what is wrong with kaely and causing all of her issues. he has referred us to another place and they also agree. to respect kaely's privacy, i will leave the diagnosis out. more appointments are in our future. this therapy involves me, so i now have to find someone to regularly watch the younger two.

add that to all the ridiculous drama that comes from working with women and all i want to do is give up...lay down and quit. i know it will get better, but right now i lack the motivation to see it through...

snow days

2011-01-11T15:26:00.000-05:00

so the first day was fun...the girls loved playing in the snow and making snow cream. they snuggled by the fire and watched tv. played the wii and with each other. watched movies and made cookies. hooray!

today...not so much.

these are the times that i miss the sticky suffocating heat of south florida...

2011-01-03T14:18:00.002-05:00

wow

just...wow

2010-12-05T22:01:00.000-05:00

2010-12-05T21:47:00.000-05:00

mother's log: stardate saturday, october 30...

2010-10-31T20:44:00.000-04:00

we went to a corn maze today! it was something that we had not done before. i didn't tell the girls where we were going, i just told them to get in the car (this totally eliminated the usual leaving the house arguments). so off we went to regal farm.
the maze looked like this:

we chose the harry potter themed hints, grabbed a flag (elise carried it, bless her heart), and went in.

the girls had fun following the maze and looking for the passport markers that helped give us directions.

shortly after this guy (who watches for trouble) there was a motion sensor talking mask in the corn and a guy who was crouched down and hollered "run into me!!". three little girls were frozen and screaming as loud as only little girls can scream. i was bent over double, laughing as only a mother can laugh at her children. elise was jumpy the rest of the maze...

who needs a jack-o-lantern when you've got a lilli :)

woohoo!! we made it :)

that was fun mom! can we do it again?! nope...time for the corn cannon!!

elise took the first shot...well, and the last, actually...

the cow train was as big a hit as the maze...a bit bumpy, though :)

smores on a stick and pumpkins and before we knew it, it was time to go. thankful for the "find starbucks" app on the phone! pumpkin spice lattes on the way home :)

Fall Festival

2010-10-23T20:24:00.000-04:00

we stopped at the petting zoo first...

one of the guys was wearing a shirt that say "if i don't remember, it didn't happen"

dunno what this is, exactly, but lilli thought it was pretty cool.

kaely was knocking out some volunteer hours

she cracked up at the cow

2010-10-14T20:33:00.000-04:00

elise was watching an ad for a new show on disney channel called "avalon high" or something equally silly and she said "i want to watch that show because it is hysterical". she continued by talking about how the show is about king arthur and other "hysterical" stuff.

do you mean historical?

oh...yeah

2010-09-10T20:37:00.001-04:00

i'm no computer expert, but i think this may indicate a problem...

2010-09-07T21:32:00.000-04:00

elise was telling me what she did in school today:
"we got to play with rocks and sand and water and gravel"
and i'm thinking "concrete?"
then she said
"tomorrow mrs.d is going to add some concrete and make a cinnamontary rock"

yum...my favorite rock flavor

2010-09-06T17:34:00.000-04:00

carowinds was a lot more fun than i thought it would be. when we left the house, kaely was not interested and was merely humoring me by gracing us with her presence...that attitude usually does not indicate that a good time will, indeed, be had by all

lilli chose the first ride, since this was her make-up birthday trip...snoopy's balloon race. kaely's eyes rolled so loudly the people in line in front of us looked around to see what they had dropped ;)

suddenly, kaely decided it wasn't so awful after all...

not being a huge fan of rides, i thought this would be ok. so we climbed in and i closed my eyes

took pictures with my eyes closed while spinning in a circle above the ground. my inner ear informed me that i was not to do that ever again.

after the balloon race, kaely took over...waited in line with sisters and had a really fun time :) which was good because i had some sitting still to do

this crazy ride had two loops and went right over my head

cheese

2010-09-06T16:03:00.001-04:00

this has been an interesting summer...

finally made it to the georgia aquarium! and it was every bit as awesome as i had been led to believe.

Georgia Aquarium

after a three month wait, the girls were able to see their dad. they took a 2 week trip to florida and had a great time :)
got everyone back to school. i don't know what i was thinking when i enrolled kaely in a magnet middle school (yay) that is downtown (excuse me...uptown...boo). let the nanny search begin!

oh aaaaaaand i got a new job :) good stuff...

happy birthday elise!

2010-08-07T09:25:00.000-04:00

2010-07-20T21:17:00.001-04:00

this evening kaely told elise to "manage your mustangs"

she also asked why i had to have a c-section and i told her it was because she wouldn't come out. she paused and then said "that was me?! i guess i've been uncooperative from the start..." elise said "no, she was just sleeping and didn't want to wake up."

2010-06-19T22:21:00.001-04:00

took the girls to riverbanks zoo in columbia.

art show!

2010-05-06T23:18:00.000-04:00

2010-05-04T19:59:00.000-04:00

elise told me tonight on our way home that she wants to try little caesars pizza and asked me what it tastes like. i said it's not my favorite...maybe like ketchup on cardboard. she said she really wants to try it because the caveman is so cute...

wait...caveman?

2010-05-01T21:53:00.000-04:00

lilli was reading "oh the thinks you can think" by dr. seuss and she got to the part about "how much water could 55 elephants drink" and she looked at me and said "all of it" and turned the page.

isn't the laundromat an exciting place?!

2010-04-25T22:22:00.002-04:00

2010-04-19T21:33:00.001-04:00

evil

ikea directions make me feel lonely

2010-04-18T18:38:00.000-04:00

kaely is 11!

2010-03-26T22:26:00.000-04:00

2010-03-08T20:09:00.000-05:00

i was sitting down with elise to read to her from her chapter book. i couldn't find where she had marked her place with the bookmark, so i asked her where it was. she said "oh...it's probably in between the pages."

yay snow!

2010-01-30T11:08:00.002-05:00

we play with our food

2010-01-09T20:10:00.000-05:00

got these plates from perpetualkid.com...also where the pointin' puppet came from, too.

sisters!

2009-12-30T18:49:00.000-05:00

awww...how cute

this here is mah pointin' puppet

2009-12-27T21:45:00.002-05:00

facebook is amusing

2009-12-21T21:12:00.000-05:00

2009-12-15T21:31:00.000-05:00

the last thing elise put on her christmas list was "a very special christmas".

awwww...

2009-12-13T15:37:00.000-05:00

ok girls...let's take a picture to put in the christmas card...

waiting for kaely to join us..

still waiting...

so close! thanks elise

still not sure

maybe

can we do a silly one now?

Meanie-pants

2009-12-09T19:05:00.000-05:00

This car is calling me names...

an elise original

2009-12-07T19:26:00.000-05:00

2009-12-06T21:48:00.000-05:00

here's the tree and assorted children in pajamas

we looked at almost every tree with a yellow tag. we couldn't all agree. but then they just happened to look over at the blue tag section and all instantly fell in love with this 7-8 ft beauty.

it needs more ornaments...

2009-12-04T22:03:00.001-05:00

here are some fantastic pictures of liz's shower weekend, courtesy of jill!

i'm pretty sure (and hopeful) that this is the only photo of me in that super hat in existence.

here i am talking...

my task was games. they gave me a job where i get to tell people what to do?!

funny story about the cake...

look! no hat on me

still no hat!

not bad for 2 weeks after pneumonia...

2009-11-26T15:38:00.000-05:00

elise got into the van last friday and announced that she had written a song about thanksgiving...did i want to hear it? oh heck yes! it was super cute, but when i asked her if i could record her singing it, she got shy.

today, she she was apparently feeling more outgoing!

2009-11-23T21:54:00.000-05:00

it's much too early for christmas-y type activities, but lilli absolutely had to see him. i said "we haven't been in a while because you were afraid of him" and she said "i'm not 3 or 4 or 5 anymore...i'm not afraid" and you know her hand was on her hip.

so we went

i bribed kaely with bath and body works and promised her that this would be the last year she would have to do this...

2009-11-21T22:55:00.000-05:00

sigh

i just ate my last publix cookie. i guess it's time to go back to florida...or at least georgia. some state that has publix...

i flew to ft. lauderdale last weekend for liz's wedding shower/bachelorette festivities. i was in charge of games...a daunting task for one who has not ever been to a wedding shower before, let alone helped plan one. the week leading up to the shower was a bit on the crazy side (watch out for the sarcasm there), so i texted anne in a panic for help. here is her awesome help:

Who Am I? (Or, The Existentialist)

You've probably come across this before, but its a pretty good game which can be adapted to suit most wedding shower themes.

You pin or tape the name of a different famous person to the back of each guest.

Each guest has to guess the name of their character by asking the others questions to which the answer must be 'Yes' or 'No'. For instance 'Am I female?'

Wedding Dress Game

The guests are divided in to teams of three to five. One of the guests from each team will act as a model. Each team is given three rolls of toilet paper and five paper clips.

They then have five minutes to design and create a wedding dress and veil.

It is preferable if each team can be out of sight of the other, perhaps in seperate rooms.

After a set amount of time the teams come back into the main room, to be inspected by the real bride who will judge which is the best wedding dress.

How Well Do You Know the Bride?

To play this game you will need to make a list of 10 or so questions relating to things you know about the bride.

Lucky Coin

This is another easy to organize bridal shower game.

First take a coin and tape it securely blah blah blah...

we played them all except the coin game. and everyone said they had fun and didn't seem to be snickering...

i rented a car and lucked out with a cute one, so i was more than happy to be the d.d. during the festivities part of the evening.

driving in south florida is like riding a bike...you don't really forget how. we went to some crazy country bar, tequila ranch at hard rock (where liz rode the mechanical bull...i have video, but would like to continue being her maid of honor, so i am going to refrain from posting it), a dueling piano bar with the most perverted pianists ever, and finally, a casino.

i really got into the whole idea of valet parking (thanks westin!) and looked for it all night. i had to park the car myself all night, though...sigh ;)

sunday morning we enjoyed the peace of the beach before heading home.

2009-11-17T22:21:00.001-05:00

here's another reason why mom is so awesome, other than the fact that she took care of me for weeks while i had a pneumonia and gives my dog haircuts while i travel:

today she suggested that i turn a blind ear to gossip.

ok mom...i'll try...

Happy sunday indeed

2009-11-15T12:03:00.000-05:00

Random discovery

2009-11-14T22:06:00.000-05:00

Only in south florida will you find people line dancing to the backstreet boys.

Backstreet's back!

Alright!

TP wedding dress

2009-11-14T15:37:00.000-05:00

Cake?!

2009-11-07T21:21:00.000-05:00

IMG00027.jpg

2009-11-02T12:58:00.000-05:00

He's so stressed it's hard to rest and relax ;)

2009-11-01T19:21:00.002-05:00

what happened to october?

2009-10-14T21:30:00.000-04:00

we have a new critter. i rescued him from the side of the road. the plan is to build a habitat for him in the backyard, but there has been something happening every weekend, so he is still hanging out in that box. did you know that you can get canned turtle food at petsmart? and he loves it...

so since i rescued this guy (and he doesn't even really have a proper name...now that "tinkerbell" won't work):

we have started working on christmas music. this picture makes me giggle...it looks like i am describing the size of the choir.

work likes to crowd in every now and then
got the treadmill fixed...sort of
so on thursday, lilli came home from school with a fever, headache, tummy ache and her "froat" hurt. oh yay...strep. friday she had a doctor appointment, but before we went to that, i had to get some work done on the van. don't judge me...work has been crazy and there just hasn't been time to get it to the shop (but i think that tires and brakes are kinda important). while i'm paying, the school calls to tell me that kaely has the same symptoms. i called the doctor to see if they could see kaely at the same time...they agreed if i could get there by 12. we made it with minutes to spare. during all of this, i was starting to feel a little blah...which i figured was to be expected...i hadn't stopped rushing all day. kaely and lilli had strep. the doctor told me that the lab techs were really excited about lilli's strep test because they had never seen one turn positive so fast. well, we try to be thorough...
saturday morning, i woke up with the flu.

but this weekend is looking good for turtle habitat building in the backyard!

2009-09-18T21:44:00.000-04:00

starting sunday, the girls are going to be taking care of the neighbor's cat. i wonder how long they will be doing the caring...

i went to the mall of fancy dresses or whatever that place was called today to order my dress for liz's wedding. it was like walking into a dress up closet! i had to supress the urge to squeal.

hallelujah!

2009-09-17T21:46:00.000-04:00

lilli finally lost her first tooth! it's about time...the big ones are already coming in! hurry up tooth fairy...

;)

2009-09-08T23:36:00.000-04:00

so tonight i discovered that livescribe makes even the most boring meeting fun!

2009-09-07T21:29:00.000-04:00

i got a treadmill!! i haven't been able to get to the gym as often lately, so i found a treadmill on craigslist that sounded like a winner. i went to check it out and it wasn't hot pink with purple polka dots and it worked. the seller was nice and tried to find someone to help with the lifting. i also tried to find help....but no luck. it's always nice to remind myself that i am quite capable of doing things on my own. he helped me lift it into my van, but after that, it was all me. what. a. rush. and then i walked a mile...just to make sure it worked :)

between that and the golden girls marathon, it has been a great day!

2009-08-28T21:09:00.001-04:00

i'm not sure how exactly i did it...but i survived the week!

got the girls back in school:

what do kaely and a freshman in college have in common? reading level, of course :) she is also ahead in math...just not quite college level. so far, she is loving 5th grade...
elise walked into third grade totally confident. sure, she had to sit on the floor in front of the board to write down her homework...but that didn't seem to slow her down. and we picked up her glasses today :)
lillian is big stuff in first grade! haven't heard much other than what color she is on at the end of the day (green!), but i know she is happy :)

i am so proud of all three of them!

work keeps me busy. it was brought to my attention that i am working too hard and need to take some time for myself. i suppose... of course, it was also mentioned that i am bitter and too abrupt. i disagree...but then again, maybe that was how i was able to out-argue an attorney ;)

the girls and i are going shoe shopping and then to get pedicures tomorrow...

2009-08-21T19:41:00.002-04:00

in one conversation i was threatened with the person's lawyer, the person's "friend who works for the state", and God.

God...how do you top that one?

2009-07-11T22:19:00.001-04:00

dammit janet

went out with bettie, my sunday school teacher. played pool with her husband and

wait, you may want to sit down

danced...in public.
whoa

also ended up driving home some friends of bettie's. brand new honda civic sporty thing. it was quite zippy and i really enjoyed shifting.

i've decided that my next car will be manual...

i love my sister

2009-07-08T20:54:00.002-04:00

here is a text message conversation we had today...but i should preface it by saying that dad is visiting and they are completing various projects on the new house.

anne: our father is adorable

me: our father, who art adorable...sounds like the beginning of a prayer

anne: haha! walter be thy name

then she really got creative...

anne: thy will be done in california as it is in georgia

anne: give us this day a home depot visit

anne: as we forgive those who do not have kool aid in their homes

anne: lead us not into debt but deliver us from wasteful squandering. amen

our dad rocks...

2009-06-29T10:48:00.000-04:00

So I'm at walmart with my boss and we are looking for sprinklers for water play. We found the regular garden sprinklers but can't find the fun kid ones. So she asks a friendly associate. Maria waves her hands very expressively and says "what is a sprinkler?" Her accent reminded me of agador spartacus from the birdcage. So my boss told her what a sprinkler looks like and she nodded and said she had seen one in the flyer. Off she went to ask someone else where they were...
"Garden department!"
We asked in the garden department...
"Toys!"
Thanks for playing walmart roulette.
We're going to target.

2009-06-24T06:39:00.001-04:00

Happy Birthday Lillian!

Horton -by elise

2009-06-16T16:43:00.000-04:00

2009-06-13T22:08:00.003-04:00

it should also be mentioned that anne is now exploring hip hop. usually i come back from an anne visit with a list of songs to download, but not so much this trip. i did come home with a couple stuck in my head though. i've caught myself dancing to the tune in my head at random times...

sigh...it's hopelessly stuck

yeah

thanks anne...thanne

2009-06-13T20:21:00.001-04:00

drum roll...photos have been uploaded! yay!

for me, being "spontaneous" means deciding at the beginning of the month to go on a trip at the end of the month, so to purchase plane tickets on monday night for a friday flight sounds like utter lunacy. but i did it anyway :)

had great flights out there. landed in atlanta in time to walk...nay, saunter...to my next gate and walk onto the plane. yes! sat right in the very center of the plane and watched comedy central and kept my elbows to myself (which is better than either of my neighbors). apparently, i'm still getting to know my luggage because it went round the carousel two or three times before i recognized it...sigh. anne asked what it looked like and i told her it looked like everyone else's, but mine has a green tag. oh like that one? no...oh yes. hahahahahahaha

so here's a quick rundown. i'll save the ridiculous jokes and funnies and just stick to the basics...

friday:

target to get a camera...because i left mine at home *gasp*
lunch at a japanese restaurant...luckily they took pity on me and brought me a fork
steinhart aquarium
stopped at ikea for snacks and coffee and oh look there's cool stuff too
i wish i could remember dinner...but by then the dramamine/jet lag combo was really kicking me hard...burgers? this place i think...
bittersweet for dessert...latte and cinnamon chocolate coffee cake? hit me

saturday:

dailey method...we did childcare and then walked to get drinks and then took the class...wow! i wish it was offered here
lunch at home
manicure and pedicure
coffee at fellini
luis picked us up and we went back to ikea to measure things (i bought a blanket for the plane), shopping at h&m (he talked me into the obnoxious blue dress), and dinner at pf changs (the waiter had a crush on anne and bought her dessert)
don't know why though because then we went to the whole foods bakery and stocked up

sunday:

anne made breakfast :)
touristy stuff at the pier
haight street
san jose to pick up the fluidity bar that anne bought through craigslist
fremont to see her new house...yippee! the copa copa cabana house is super great
back to berkeley for dinner...stopped by games of berkeley and poked around. found the greatest ever magic eight ball...ever. jupiter pizza for dinner and why not throw in some bluegrass? yes, please.

monday morning i had a 5:40 flight so we didn't do much but stumble out to the car. sigh...what a great break! when i got home, i was tired to be sure, but still refreshed. kids are the same (kaely had to get one of those moonwalk boots for her ankle, but nothing is broken), work still stinks like yesterday's diapers, my life is still the same...but i sure do feel better :)

2009-06-09T22:58:00.001-04:00

i had a super fabulous time in san francisco!

of course more pictures are coming...

2009-06-05T07:47:00.000-04:00

Yippee! John was right and I did have a seat on the actual airplane :)
In atlanta waiting to board...

what do you do with a 10 year old on crutches?

2009-06-02T21:35:00.003-04:00

we're gonna find out...
pulled up to the school this afternoon to pick up the girls and i couldn't help but notice that kaely was in a wheelchair...what?! i was still like 5 cars back and almost ran over three of them to get close enough to where i wouldn't look like a total loon jumping out of the van to go get my baby. her teacher grimly informed me that kaely took a tumble down the stairs while trying to get away from a boy who was harassing her :( and grrr all at the same time. i did some basic first aid until i could get her to urgent care. she told me that she jumped the last two steps trying to get away from the other kid, landed on her ankle, and he and his friends laughed at her and kept walking. o. m. g.
at urgent care, the doctor did an xray of her ankle. the swelling is over the growth plate and his concern is that it may be fractured and that doesn't always show up in an xray. he put her in a splint and gave her crutches. motrin and rest. follow up with her pediatrician next week.

2009-06-01T20:53:00.002-04:00

so i've done something new...i bought plane tickets tonight for a trip that begins on friday...gasp! but the fare was too great to pass up. I had some concerns, though, because it appeared that there were not any available seats. i may be sitting in the aisle...literally...i'll ring a bell and announce the beverage cart. just as i was about to call the 800 number, i noticed that delta has a handy live chat feature. i was immediately (after about 2 minutes) connected with john, who probably does not look like the smiling woman in the picture, but whatever. i explained to him the situation and he assured me that i would be able to choose a seat during step three. right..i am currently experiencing step three and i am not seeing seats available for sitting. then he explained that they hold seats until right before the flight...makes sense...then he went on to assure me that i can go ahead and confirm the flight and there will be a seat at the airport. yes i know, but i want a seat on the actual airplane. here's hoping...

2009-05-27T22:21:00.003-04:00

so miss smarty mcpants kaely has scored 4 out 4 in math and reading end of grade tests :) kaely wants to do something special to celebrate.
she would also like to cut her hair like amelia earhart.
the best part is how excited and supportive elise and lillian are...or maybe they are just excited about the thought of a celebration...

rawr

2009-05-24T20:42:00.002-04:00

posted the photos of our trip to dinosaur world (end of april...what?) over there ------> somewhere.
interesting place. i suggest you go with a good amount of humor and people with whom you like to laugh...

according to lilli

2009-03-28T13:18:00.000-04:00

Water is cold and wet.

Just the way I like it.

funny

2009-02-28T17:44:00.000-05:00

We turned into the apartment complex called villa la paz and nic says, from the backseat, "my dog has paws."

Here I am :)

2009-02-27T17:24:00.000-05:00

If you look closely, you can see me waving...

So busy at tax time...

2009-01-28T14:23:00.000-05:00

Yippee!

2009-01-20T08:19:00.000-05:00

Bowling

2009-01-10T14:35:00.000-05:00

Lilli says "these shoes are awesome!!!"

2009-01-08T22:13:00.001-05:00

marilyn mantis had babies.

2009-01-06T19:41:00.002-05:00

after repeated phone calls and a 40 minute wait on hold, i was finally able to speak with a *gasp* human. my new best friend pam told me that my bag had arrived this morning and the courier had already picked it up from the airport. she apologized that the website had not been updated. 30 seconds later, the site was magically updated. i love the window they gave themselves...
the good news is that, not only was there a suitcase on my front step, but it was my suitcase and it had all of my stuff inside :) i have never been so excited to do laundry!

delta has left me disgruntled

2009-01-05T21:35:00.002-05:00

i got home from nashville yesterday morning, but my brand new suitcase is still on vacation. except that no one can yet tell me where it is...
i was told at the airport that the bag was still in nashville and would come in on the next flight, but the website and handy dandy 800 number give me less information than that.
it's super frustrating because this was the first trip that i had to pay to check my bag.
grrr!

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2009-01-04T09:51:00.000-05:00

The official weather in atlanta is gray...

here's something new

2009-01-04T08:07:00.001-05:00

How many times do you board the plane, get all buckled and safety educated while trundling down the runway, to stop at the end and cut the engine. So apparently, there is some weather happening in atlanta or whatever so we have to wait here. The pilot says we will be "wheels up" at 26 after the hour (whatever hour that is...I still don't know what year it is). As long as I don't get lost at the atlanta airport and have to go through security again, I should still make my flight...provided our wheels are up soon.
And people wonder why I travel alone...

here is proof ...

thanks hun :)

Hooray for noisy boy games!

2009-01-03T18:40:00.000-05:00

Guess where I am...

2008-12-31T15:09:00.000-05:00

2008-12-21T09:27:00.003-05:00

i hope i don't have to dress up like this every time i go to nashville...
but it was fun :)

Children's Musical

2008-12-13T21:16:00.003-05:00

The girls were in the musical at church :)

This is rehearsal on Saturday morning.

Lillian was an angel...

well, she's an angel when she sleeps...

;)

2008-11-24T18:54:00.002-05:00

clearly, we are quite excited about thanksgiving :)

in other news, kaely won the school spelling bee and will compete against other elementary and middle school children in our area next month. the winning word was "tundra" :)

kaely will be singing a solo in the church christmas musical. i'm sure i will cry again, but hopefully will get better video. she also has an important speaking part now. elise has a speaking part in the school christmas musical. lilli is lilli, and quite happy to be so :)

i don't have a problem

2008-11-18T22:27:00.000-05:00

i can quit whenever i want!

2008-10-13T21:09:00.001-04:00

hey guys...tomorrow's a full moon.

fall festival

2008-10-13T21:08:00.002-04:00

wooooo! i am a bit behind...
so here are pictures from the fall festival at the church :)

intense cotton candy negotiations:

games and prizes:

a bouncy version of twister?

this is sass right here...

picture it

2008-10-08T19:00:00.001-04:00

rainy day+worn out kids+a bag of candy corn=a very long ride home.

love ya jules

mr blisters is not my friend

2008-10-05T15:11:00.005-04:00

this year, our church held it's own crop walk, rather than everyone heading downtown. we met at the ball fields and had some lunch. i was totally pumped that mr blisters was there. i had wanted to get my picture at church this morning, but that pesky choir thing got in the way.

we signed in and turned in our donations and then lilli froze. she saw mr blisters and freaked. she had to sit with ms elinor while kaely, elise, and i did the photo op game.

so then we had a spot of lunch and lined up for the group photo. lilli was doing really well, until mr. blisters joined in. i held her for the photo and, i thought, long enough for us to walk away from the friendly mascot. he joined the walk. so, for the first half mile, lilli piggy-backed and updated me, loudly, on the location of "the shoe". poor little girl...

and who am i to fuss, really...there are plenty of women who have to walk long distances and carry their children every day. i only did it for a short time and then got to go home to my comfortable house.
elise "caught" a snail. she was quite proud of herself and disgruntled with me that i wouldn't let her keep it. kaely took a picture for her and then she puti t back in the "forest".
it was about 3 miles of walking and we raised about $3000. not bad i think...

yippee!

2008-09-24T21:43:00.000-04:00

who doesn't like flowers? :)

i kinda like this whole being spoiled and honored thing.

not cool

2008-09-18T20:53:00.003-04:00

it's just not as funny when it's your door...

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2008-09-16T13:53:00.001-04:00

Nature in my van! Gah...the things I do to make my teachers happy :)

today julie and i went "grocery shopping" for her frogs. we stopped at the bait shop that has the juiciest crickets in town. i refused to stand near the open cricket corral. the lady behind the counter gave me a look and said "you don't like crickets?" and i said "no" and did the wiggly heebee jeebee dance (because i could not help myself). she gave me such a disgusted look. sorry...i can't help being a city girl! we also got some minnows (because the snails or pond scum or whatever is lonely). the cricket queen called them crappies. i resisted the urge to thank her for the "crappie" little fish.

i really don't like the scratching noise of crickets in a paper bag...aaahhhh. heebee jeebees

sniff

2008-08-27T23:15:00.002-04:00

today was lillian's first day of kindergarten.

she was so excited!

but she told me as we were driving to school that she was "a little nervous". i walked her in and dropped her off. almost cried as i was leaving the school, but i kept it together :)

she had a great day!

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2008-08-26T14:17:00.000-04:00

Lost a tooth!

first day of school!

2008-08-25T20:06:00.002-04:00

the second grader

the fourth grader

whoa! it's like they like each other or something!

here's a conversation bewteen them:
kaely: "do you know what a feeding frenzy is?"
elise: "who is frinzy?"
it reads like the jokes from the joke books that anne used to love to read...out loud ;) thanne!

2008-08-14T21:50:00.004-04:00

pictures from the san franne trip are up and the link is over there ---> somewhere. great fun! can't wait to see anne again.

i left charlotte at 6 am, praying that that screaming baby i had seen/heard near my gate wasn't on my actual plane. sigh...she was, and she was sitting right behind me. are you kidding me? thankfully, she was precious for real :)

got on a bigger plane in atlanta

this plane was huuuge and came with the neat little screens at each seat. flight of the conchords was the only thing i was interested in watching (and i knew i would look ridiculous watching that by myself) so i opted to play games...for like 5 hours with no interruptions. it was cool.

when i got to the san francisco airport, i followed the signs and the "purpladora" trail to the "escaladora" to the train only to discover that anne and i were going in circles trying to find each other :) but i had fun making up spanish words. i think the dramamine does odd things to my brain.

berkeley is a neat place. we went to a pharmacy that was "earth friendly". if i remember correctly, the "testers" were called "experienced" or something like that. we also went to trader joe's...there is one at home too and i was curious to see what they were like. i'm a little fuzzy on the details though... we also went to a mexican restaurant...amigos or compadres...something like that. we had talked about going to see pinepple express as well, but i was tired.

on saturday, we went to monterey to "sea" the aquarium and uh stuff. we saw a lot of stuff during the mile and something walk from the parking garage to the aquarium! shops and the ocean and seals. it was weird heading south with the ocean on my right. the aquarium was a bit crowded but had a great selection of critters. anne was disappointed that the really big sunfish had died, but the little one was cute. it was feeding time for the giant octopus...it's fascinating to watch them move. stopped for coffee and then hiked back to the car. we left monterey in time to get to oakland to see anne's friend max in an improv show. "the emergency is in my pants..."

on sunday it was lazy morning, brunch, and pedicures. then we went to the mall and wandered until it was time to see pinepple express. i don't smoke pot, so i probably missed some of the humor, but i still thought it was funny. a bit violent, but funny (in that silly way). zachary's pizza for dinner.

on monday, watched idiocracy and did some baking (chocolate bread from boston and chocolate chip cookies with dried cherries). snuggled with penny :) then we drove in to the city to walk the golden gate bridge. it was very windy and chilly, but it was a gorgeous day. we parked at the north end and then walked across (found a gift shop...heck yes) and then walked back. about 3 miles i think? drove to sausalito and walked around...found a neat little jewelry store that i know anne will go back to visit. dinner at alex's house! he grilled steak and we sat on the patio and ate and talked. it was nice to meet him. dessert was the cookies and bread, which was served with pears and brie (yum). watched a bit of the movie brazil, but then it was time to go. early flight home...

the trip home was pretty uneventful...just long. i was so excited to see the girls! it's always good to have a break from being mom, but it's just as good to be home again :) thanks anne...thanne!

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2008-08-11T18:00:00.000-04:00

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2008-08-11T17:19:00.000-04:00

Whatever happened to predictability...

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2008-08-09T18:24:00.000-04:00

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2008-08-09T15:49:00.000-04:00

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2008-08-08T14:17:00.000-04:00

Organized Organization

i like my job

snow days

mother's log: stardate saturday, october 30...

Fall Festival

happy birthday elise!

art show!

isn't the laundromat an exciting place?!

ikea directions make me feel lonely

kaely is 11!

yay snow!

we play with our food

sisters!

this here is mah pointin' puppet

facebook is amusing

Meanie-pants

an elise original

Happy sunday indeed

Random discovery

TP wedding dress

Cake?!

IMG00027.jpg

hallelujah!

i love my sister

Horton -by elise

what do you do with a 10 year old on crutches?

rawr

according to lilli

funny

Here I am :)

So busy at tax time...

Yippee!

Bowling

delta has left me disgruntled

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here's something new

Hooray for noisy boy games!

Guess where I am...

Children's Musical

i don't have a problem

fall festival

picture it

mr blisters is not my friend

yippee!

not cool

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*sniff*

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first day of school!

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sniff