Hello again!

I know I am very irratic at this blogging thing. Work has kept me very busy. I have worked the past 3 Saturdays and I will be working the next one as well. Work is great!

My mom is coming back to IL in one week. I am so excited. She is getting in very late on MOnday night so we decided to get a motel room, stay in the cities and do our Christmas shopping the next day. Hubby isn't happy about me staying away from home for the night mut he agrees that it makes more sense that me taking her clear out to Grandma's that night and then go back and get her the next morning and take her back out after shopping. My kids have their lists ready.

Cassie found out last week that she is on the basketball cheerleading squad after all. Two of the girls quit the squad and she was an alternate. She is very excited. Practices start tomorrow and are every day for the next two weeks. They perform for the first time on the 24th.

Mason is doing better with his allergy shots. The first couple of time he went in he cried. He HATES needles. He admits they don't really hurt, it's just the thought of it. He gets himself all worked up thinking about it.

Well, November is a crazy month around here. We start off with Thanksgiving at the church next Sunday. We will have Thanksgiving with Mom's family on the 22nd (which is my husband's birthday). My Grandpa Whitley's birthday is the 23rd, my MIL and niece's birthdays are on the 24th and our anniversary is on the 27th (17 years). We have 2 babies due in our family this month so that is very exciting as well.

I have to share a sad point. My dog Coco is have seizures. She has had a coupdl of small ones over the summer but tonight she had one after another for almost an hour. I am very worried for her. She is about 10 so I know she won't be around much longer but she is such a loving and loyal dog it really hurts to see her like that. We have only had her just over a year and it feels like we have had her forever.

Well, I need to sign off this thing and get some supper for the family. Take care and stay well.

hello again

Well, I don't have a lot of time to blog tonight but I thought I would jot down a few lines so my next "week in review" wouldn't be so long.

If any of you read my sister's blog you know all about my nephew Bo and all his cute little things he says and does. I thought I would share what my nephews here in IL did not once but twice.

The boys are 2 & 3. Once when mom wasn't looking, they smashed a dozen eggs on the kitchen floor, took their clothes off and played slip & slide on the kitchen floor. They thought it was so fun they decided to do it again just a few weeks later. How would you love to clean up a dozen smashed eggs? YUCK!!

Well, I gotta go, the dinner buzzer went off and I have to get to the church board meeting. Talk soon!

Week in review

Last Sunday we put a new window in our kitchen. We all pitched in and helped. Cassie in her shorts, tank top, winter boots and hard hat. I need to try to get that picture up becauseit is way too funny. It took us several hours but it looks very nice and we all had a good time getting it done.

Monday - I ran into my cousin Darrin in town, I don't see him very often so we cahtted for a little while. That evening I went to Uncle Tex's visitation.

Tuesday - Uncle Tex's funeral service was very nice. His grandson Alan did the service. I saw Darrin for the 2nd time in two days - WEIRD!! Tuesday night we went to Helen's a ripped out carpeting and drywall in her basement. We had a lot of rain while she was on vacation and apparently her basement flooded. It was not discovered until a week after she got home and she went to do her laundry. There was mold half way up the walls. We tore out all the drywall and ceiling as well as the carpeting. Irene had to throw a lot of her stuff away because of mold. It was actually kind of fun to rip into something like that. Took a lot of frustration out that's for sure.

Wednesday not much happened. Trying to get things organized at work. Not an easy task.

Thursday - I saw Darrin again! He has hired one of our attorneys so I may see him more often until his case settles.

Friday - OMG what a day. The morning started out with me asking Mason to listen to a Steve Miller montage that a radio station had posted on their website. If you could name all five songs in order you won front row tickets to the concert. Mason gave me his guesses and I told him I would try but those contests are hard to win because you have trouble getting through and being the right caller and all. I told him I would be very impressed if he just got them right.

Well at 9 am the contest started - a girl I work with and I started dialing this is what I heard "Number 7 try again" This is what she heard "Number 9 try again". Then I got busy signals for several minutes so I quit trying. All the sudden she jumped up out of her seat and banged on the wall between us. She got through and was caller 13. They wanted her guesses in case the people in front of her didn't get it right.

She was listening to the other gueses and she said "he got the first two wrong". She said no, wait the caller got them wrong. The next one got them wrong also. The came on the line and asked her for her guesses so she read Mason's list again. seh heard "you are in the front row at the concert!" She won Mason front row tickets. We called him at school and told him. He was caught skipping down the hall and smiling and jumping up and down. He was very excited.

Saturday Cassie and I went to a wedding of a girl I used to work with. It was an outdoor wedding. It was very beautiful and very short. The photographer was all over the place taking pictures before, during and after teh ceremony. She got one of Cas and I together. I am going to have to ask if I can get a copy of it because it must have been good. The photographer turned, looked at us, brougth her camera up took the picture and turned back to the bride and starting shoot more of her.

Today we had a baby shower at church for the newest member of our church. She is so cute. All in all it was a good day.

Mason starts his allergy shots tomorrow. He hates shots but has decided it's the only way to go. Wish him luck.

Sorry for the long post, I really need to get on here more often and keep caught up.

two days in a row!!!

I was on here looking for a medieval baron for Mason and decided I better post while using the computer.

It was a typical dreary October day. You aren't missing much Windi and Laurie. It drizzeled all day and even rain pretty good for awhile. It did wonders for my hair.

I have been working out before gettign ready for work the last 2 days and I feel really good all day. I feel as though I am standing taller and walking with a spring in my step. Amazing how exercise can do that to a person.

We (Joe) bought the Wii for the family and he bought the WiiFit to go with it. Who would have thought that playing a video game could make you actually sweat. It's fun to compete with the kids and see who can knock the leader out of the #1 spot.

My MIL got back from her 3 week vacation with her brother and sisters. She was contemplating on not going because of her "health issues" of late. The doctor told her there was no physical reason not to go. Turns out she was the healthiest of the 3 girls (and she's the oldest)

She told Joe that she had so much energy on their trip and she ate way too much food. Surprising how eating food can give you energy. I have been trying to tell her that for months now. I am trying to convince her that she should get some of those Healthy Choice frozen dinners or the Lean Cuisine dinners. That way she can keep her sodium intake down and still have tasty meals. No one likes to cook for one so she lives on oatmeal, vegetables and fruit. I think she's starting to realize what I've been trying to tell her.

Joe has been off work for the last 2 days. He decided he needed a vacation. He will be home all week while I am at work and the kids are at school. That's ok with me, he fixed dinner tonight before I got home! He has also installed a new toilet in the bathroom. It's kinda funny because when we purchased it, he wanted a taller toilet so we got a taller toilet. Little did we realize how TALL. It is handicap height. If you have to pee too long, your feet fall asleep. I asked for a step stool to use the stool. He says we'll get used to it and we will, it's just kind of funny, I feel like we should put up handrails also.

Well, my time is up, I have a child that still is trying to finish homework because dad said he could play with his friend on the internet instead of doing his homeowrk. Why don't dads follow the rules? UGH!

Blessing to all!!

Long time no see......

I know it's been along time since I've blogged and I'm sorry if anyone has missed me.

I have been very busy with work and once I get home I just don't feel like getting on the computer. I am on it all day and work and I'm too tired to mess with all the poo my home computer puts us through. I really need to have it de-bugged or soemthing.

Anyway, not much has really happened around our house. Mason didn't play football, Cassie didn't play volleyball so I haven't had much to report.

The kids are doing ok in school. Cassie better than Mason. Cassie is getting all A's and B's with one C. Mason is struggling to keep his grades up but we haven't had the problems this year that we had last (so far)

Homecoming came and went. Cassie almost made freshoman attendant but lost by less than 5 votes. Maybe next year. The Bulldogs lost their homecoming game.

Cassie joined FFA this year. It's the only club she joined. She has an Ag class and almost everyone joins FFA. She is contemplating on getting a sheep, goat, or rabbit for FFA. I thought she should get a pig so we could butcher it but she refused once I explained why a pig would be better than a goat. She says butchering an animal you raise would be like eating one of your own children. I don't think so!!

The weather has been beautiful the last week. It's fall and I love the crisp air. Teh allergies are still in high gear for Mason but I think he starts his shots at the end of this month.

Since I last blogged we learned that Joe's nephew Todd and his girlfriend ERin are expecting a baby and Joe's other nephew Stevie is engaged. We were very surprised on both counts.

Todd is very excited to become a daddy and even went for the first ultrasound. I was very proud of him for that.

Stevie is bringing his fiance down for Thanksgiving so she can meet the whole family. I feel sorry for this poor girl, she has no idea what kind of family she's getting herself into. JK.

Well, I need to sign off for now, don't know when I will get back on but I will definetly put forth more of an effort now that it's getting cooler outside. Take care!!

Hello again

Well, a little "update" on my MIL. Nothing is wrong. She has a "lump" on her lung. NOTHING! She is breathing fine, she ahs energy again and she isn't acting all mopey (is that a word?). Doctor put her on an anti-depressant. She's only been taking it about 4 days so I'm sure that is not what has improved her mood. It hasn't had time to get in her system yet but whatever it is I am thrilled.

I registered the kids for school the other day. Found out Cas will be taking driver's ed seconod semester. NOT THRILLED. She will only be 14 and driving. She will have her permit for 17 months before getting her license. In IL they have to have them for 9 months. She will have them almost 2x that.

We go back to the allergist on Monday the 18th. Ragweed season is in full swing and they want to check Mason again. He seems to be doing ok on the Singulair but I really think we should try the shots just because he's allergic to so much.

They start school on Monday also and I have not gone school supply shopping yet. Cassie is dying to go. Mason don't care. I hate school supply shopping just because I love school supplies. I LOVE Staples! I always spend way more than I should. They said on the radio the other day that the average spent per child for back to school is about $550 between new clothes and supplies.

I need to get Mason new football cleats. I need to get one more gallon of paint to finish Cassie's bedroom. It is HORRID. She likes it though. It is geranium pink and pumpkin orange. YUCK! Mason's room is next.

Well, I skipped working out this morning to blog so now I need to get ready for work. I am going to try to get in early and get more done while no one is there. It's easier to get stuff done when no one is asking you to hunt down files and people aren't calling asking what the status is of their case.

Take care and I will be back soon - hopefully.

Playing catch up

Ok, so I've been scolded for not keeping my blog up. I have been busy.

Softball is over so I thought things would slow down. Well, I have started working out at lunchtime and once in awhile I go before work.

I have been sleeping in in the morning also (I know LAZY).

Mason was tested last week for his allergies. We have known that he has allergies and we have tried OTC medicine as well as prescribed meds. He still appears to be stuffy and has trouble breathing. The doctor suggested he get tested. Turns out my poor kid is allergic to almost everything: cats, dogs, dust mites, pollen, ragweed, walnut trees, oak trees, you name it and his allergic to it for the most part. We are trying to make some changes around the house to help but he refuses to give up the animals. We may need to seriously consider allergy shots. He is not wanting to because he HATES needles but we may not have much of a choice.

Now on top of that, my MIL has been having some health issues of her own. She feels like she can't get a deep enough breath and she feels weak. She has been staying with us for almost a week.

She woke me up Thursday morning to take her to the ER because she couldn't handle the feeling she was having of not being able to breathe. ( I had told her to call the doctor the day before and make an appointment but she didn't, instead I get to take her to the ER at 3 in the morning, got home at 5 and was at work by 8:30.

They found nothing wrong with her breathing, they didn't even put her on oxygen while we were there. Turns out she decided to stop her anxiety meds and that is why she can't breathe. She gets nervous about not being abl eto breathe and then it gets worse. Vicious cycle.

I have been making sure she takes stehm 2x a day liek she's supposed to and I am sure she will be able to breathe in just a few more days. She doesn't gasp for breath or pant like she can't breathe. She even carries on a conversation with no problem (other than the whole conversation is about how she thinks she ahs come to the end of her road)

She doesn't want to do anything because she doesn't feel up to it. I am making her get out of the house and I told her I would not enable her to become a recluse. I can't wait for this to pass. I am going nuts with all of her "complaints"

So, this is why I have not kept up on my blog. I have been dealing with too many health issues in the last 2 weeks.

I will TRY to do better in the coming weeks. The kids start school in 2 weeks and Mason will be a teenager in les than 2 weeks. Take care and I will drop in when I can. Until then, have a good time and smile at a stranger!

Busy, busy, busy

Well, I have been at my new job for almost a month now and I really enjoy it. I truly enjoy doing work comp and personal injury.

With this new job comes an awesome perk. A free gym membership! I am taking advantage of that!!!! I started working at on Tuesday July 15th. I worked out 4 days in a row and feel great. I am hoping to get to a smaller size before mom comes home in November. We'll see. I should be able to keep up with working out because I am able to do it on my lunch hour. I don't have to jeopardize family time to get a workout in. It's great. Several of the people that I work with go over on their lunch also so I am not alone. The people at the gym are very encouraging. (that always helps)

Cassie is done with softball. They finished the tournament in 4th place. They played very well. Cassie had a great season. She has really come into her own on the ball field. She is a powerful hitter. She is now playing outfield, catcher and 1st base. She enjoys first base the most.

Mason has decided he's going to give football a shot again this year. He is concerned about keeping his grades up and still playing. I think school will be easier for him this year now that he knows what is expected of him. I am very excited.

Cassie is going to see if she can do flags. She didn't make cheerleading and she decided not to do volleyball. She used to twirl baton in 1st through 4th grade and then the teacher got a job in Monmouth so that was the end of baton. Cassie was thinking flags might be fun (and kinda like baton) so she is trying to find out who she needs to talk to to get on the flag team. So much for my time off of sports. That's ok, I'm glad they have decided not to just sit on their butts for the 1st semster.

Well, I think that is all I have for now. I will try to stop in again soon and read more blogs. Laurie I will be spending several HOURS reading yours, I can't get enough of thoses nieces and cephews of mine. I miss you all so much.

Happy Thursday

The week is almost over. I cannot beleive how quickly this year is flying by. My niece will be 16 next week! I remember when they brought her back to IL after she was born. She had such a head full of BLACK hair and cute littel chubby cheeks. Now she has pretty brown hair and cute chubby little cheeks.

Cassie has her last softball game before tournaments tomorrow night. She has been playing first base lately. She doesn't do too bad of a job at it either. She did get yelled at teh other night because she got out of the way of the runner instead of going after the ball. Now she knows that the runner has to go around her and she can make the play.

Mason has decided he's going to try football. So much for my activity free fall. That's ok, I'm glad he is going out. He enjoys it when he's playing.

My mother-in-law got a dog over the weekend. We have been after her for months to get a dog. She finally did. It's a Japanese Shiba. They look like a red fox when they are shedding.

The woman she got her from had her for 8 years. She had to get rid of it because her hubby is going through chemo and she doesn't have the time to take care of it. The main problem with this dog is she was raised as a show dog. She's not used to being a pet.

Well, Monday night before Cassie's game, the dog got out of the house. This dog is a runner. Mason chased after her until he couldn't breathe. That's when Cassie & I joined the chase.

Cassie was in slip on sandals and her softball uniform running after this dog in Alpha. Her coach saw her and said to his wife "Cassie is running to warm up for the game" she replied "I think she's chasing that dog!"

So the coach and his wife joined the chase. She didn't run too far because she's pregnant and I didn't want her running so she went back and got the dogs leash.

Next thing I know the coaches daughter has joined in and here comes the other coach and another team member. We had 3 ball girls, one coach, Mason and me running after this 14 pound dog! We chased her for about 8 blocks before they trapped her on a porch and was able to grab her. She was caught several times but she wiggled her way out. We finally got her and headed back to the car. (8 or more blocks away)

As Cas and I were walking ehre comes my car. The coaches wife jumped in and came and picked us up. The only problem (not that it was a problem) she sent hubby on to the game so she rode with us. We were late (duhhh!) but the coach didn't make the 3 girls that chased the dog run before practice. He said they had run enough for warm up.

I found the whole scene very amusing, mom-in-law didn't, until later.

Well, I need to go let the dogs out before I take off for work. Have a great day.

Hi everyone

Not that many of you are still stopping by after I've been gone for what seems like months.

The kids are doing great. Cassie is having a great softball season this year. Mason is starting to become a young man and I'm getting older.

I started a new job and I'm loving it and everyone I work with. I am back doing workers comp and I love it!!

Well, I need to get busy and start blogging again. I should be able to find the time as soon as softball is over - another 2-3 weeks.

Have a great 4th of July!!

Hello again

Ok, so it's been a long while since I've been on here. I had at least 2 weeks worth of computer problems and I started a new job.

Not much has really been happening since I've been gone (other than the new job).

Cassie is almost done with softball and the summer is half over. My kids have spent more time at their grandma's this year than last year. By choice!

Once I get pictures loaded onto my computer (which has been part of the previously mentioned problems), I have a couple of really good pics of Cassie playing ball.

She started catching recently. It's too funny. She was visibly afraid of the ball if someone fouled it behind them. She flinched almost every time. She has gotten better and it doesn't bother her like it did the first few innings.

I need to stop writing this post and catch up on my sister and cousin........it's been way to long and I am going through withdrawls!

So, I have been able to upload another picture. This is the Seaman family. They used to go to church with us. They were transferred to the D.C. area last year. Nate is in the Army and works at Arlington. He met Cassie there for thier tour and then the rest of the family, Kellie, Ben, adn Taylor met up with them for lunch. Cassie was very glad that she was able to see them.

Ok, now on to Mason's hair. It's not "buzzed" It's 3/8" long. That is just a tad shorter than the barber cut the top. Mason was ready for a change I think. It will be long before school starts up again so Jessica won't be too mad at him.

Cassie comes home today. I think she missed us more than she was willing to admit. She called me last night on their way home and had me on the phone for 20 minutes not saying much of anything.

She rode the roller coaster at Busch Gardens called Griffon. It is 205 feet tall and has a 90 degree drop (yes, straight down). It was the first ride of the day. She rode it twice. She loved it! I am a bit upset though. I didn't get to take her to her first amusement park and ride her first big ride with her. I guess she made that step without me just fine. It sounded like she had a great time.

I will get a more detailed report when she gets home I'm sure.

Well, I need to get more laundry done before she gets home because she will have a week's worth for me to do.

Friday the 13th.......

It's good thing I'm not superstitious......My daughter is spending the afternoon at an amusement park riding roller coasters. I have to say.....I am very jealous of her today. I would love to be at an amusement park today.

We have both made it through teh week just fine. I have talked to her everyday. I was asking Joe last night if he thought Raelynn would have called home everyday if she'd had a cell phone on her trip to DC. He thinks she would have. We only heard from her once the whole week she was gone but they had phone cards to call home with and they had to wait for a phone to be able to call home. Cassie has called me several times in a day or at least sent a text message.

She says she hasn't really missed any of us, but I think that is because she has been in contact with us enough that she's not missing us.

Joe sent Mason for a haircut the other day. He gave him the money and told him to go to the barber. Mason asked to go to a barber to get his hair cut this time. Well, no adult went with him. He went in, told the barber "a little off the top please" and that is what the barber did. I didn't have enough forthought to get a picture of it before we "fixed" it.

Imagine what a person's hair looks like after wearing a ball cap for a couple of days. Their hair is kind of flat where the cap was. Mason's hair was CUT like that! And Mason didn't have the guts to tell the guy to fix it. He was afraid he'd charge him more and he didn't have enough money for another hair cut.

Mom to the rescue. I took the clippers and buzzed him down. It looks good now. It's not just stubble, it's about 3/8" long. It will grow quite a bit before school is back in session.

Well, I need to run, I have hair coloring on my hair (yes, I'm trying to cover the gray). Have a great day and I'll check in tomorrow. I will post a picture tomorrwo of Cassie and the Seaman family from her visit in DC.

All's well

I have heard from Cassie more than I thought I would. Yesterday they were very busy. They didn't get to check into the hotel until 9:00 and lights out was at 10:45. They had to get up at 5:45 this morning.

Cassie is going to meet up with a family today that used to go to church with us. The dad is in the military and got transferred to Arlington National Cemetery. He is going to meet her there this morning and the rest of the family is going to come and have lunch with her. They left this area about 1 year ago. Cassie is pretty excited to see them again. She is supposed to take pics with her phone and send them to me.

Mason is doing ok at Grandma Helen's. He got a little bored yesterday because it rained all day and he couldn't go outside to ride his bike and his friend down the road wasn't home either. Today should be better if it ever stops raining. He is going to get his hair cut today (not buzzed just trimmed).

Well, I need to unload the dishes and get myself ready for work. Have a great day & I will check in again soon.

And she's gone..........

Here she is, my little girl leaving on her first big girl trip. I didn't even cry.

They are going to be soooo busy while they are there. They should be eating breakfast by now. I sent her a text last night telling her good night and she replied! I sent a text this morning to say good morning and she CALLED! I didn't figure I would get a phone call until about Thursday.

They had a good time on the bus. She slept in the aisle and got stepped on but all in all she slept well. She did forget to put socks in her carry on for today but one of the girls had an extra pair she is borrowing. She also didn't put sunblock in her carry on.....another girl to the rescue!

Well, I'm getting ready for work and I need to finish that up. With no kids in the house, I have to take out the garbage and do the dishes. Having kids is GREAT!!

Almost there

Cassie leaves this Sunday for D.C. I have been worried sick all week. My stomach is in knots. She's so excited she's already packed. I of course will need to go through and make sure she has everything. I still need to get some disposalable cameras for her and then I think she is set.

I just heard on the news this morning that DC got hit by a storm that killed 1 and left 460,000 without power. That doesn't help matters!

Mason will be staying with grandma the week Cassie is gone. He will basically move in there and I will have to go visit him. It's going to be so wierd not having the kids in the house for a week. I will be soooooooo miserable. I will probably take something over to Helen's house to make for supper everynight so I can see Mason.

Well, I didn't take a walk this morning either. The humidity is 75%! UGHHH!!! You should have seen my hair by the time I went to bed last night, it was standing on end, it got so big.

Switch topics - the other day was my uncle Chet's birthday. He lives in southern IL so we only see him when he comes up for holidays. Anyways, I sent him a text message on my way to work to wish him a happy birthday. I expected a response like "who is this" instead I got "thank you" and that was it. I figured he must have my number in his phone.

After work I got the "who is this?" text, so I told him. He said he was baffled all day. I told him I figured he knew who it was since he didn't ask. He was driving and wasn't able to ask. Poor guy, his birthday and he gets a text from someone and it drives him crazy all day (it's not a far drive for my family members) It was kind of fun.

Well, time to get ready for work, I have no idea what I am going to do with my hair, I wish I could french braid it and not look stupid (I know, that's my natural look). Have a great day and we will check in later.

What a day!

It stormed all morning yesterday morning. I mean STORMED! At work the building owner built a burm to keep the flood waters out. Well, it also keeps the rain water in. We get a little lake in the back yard when it rains hard. Someone bought a BIG rubber ducky with a pink rain bonnet and puts it out their to float. It's so cute. There is also 2 flamingo's out their.

It finally quit raining and the sun came out. Can you say humidity? My hair got bigger and bigger by the minute.

I stopped a got groceries on the way home and came home and made dinner. The kids actually did their chores.

They are going to grandma's today to hang out with friends. That is the nice thing about small towns, the kids can all hang out in the summer and ride bikes and go for walks.

Well, no walk this morning, foggy and wet. I have to get hubby up. He is taking a work trip today. He thinks he's going to ride the motorcycle but I think he's going to get wet. We'll see. Have a great day!

I'm still here

ok, I know it's been awhile. I have been kinda busy. Cassie turned 14 last week, mom and Laurie went back to Arizona, and we've been going to softball games.

Cassie was promoted frm 8th grade to high school last week. It was a nice ceremony. I didn't even cry. She looked very nice in the blue dress she borrowed from Swood's daughter.

Cassie's games have been going well. She has played 2 and won 2. If it doesn't rain, she will get to play one more game before going to DC. She leaves this Sunday. I think that may be part of my problem as well.

We went shopping on Friday night for her DC wardrobe. She got an adorable swimsuit! She also got 3 pair of shorts that we were both happy with. They were not the short shorts of last year. Thank goodness someone decided butt cheeks should be hidden. They are a nice length without going to her knees. Plus they fit her very well.

I just took my first walk of my new excercise routine. Day 1 - 20 minute walk after Joe leaves for work and before I get ready for work. Not a lot but it's a start.

Well, now it's time for me to actually start getting ready for work. Have a good day. Hey, I got a picture up!!!

FRIDAY!!

My mom, sister and niece get here today. I am so excited.

It's raining. I hope it stops early this morning. Cassie's first softball game is tonight. She not real excited about playing this year. Her team consists of girls taht are just there for the social aspect. There are only 3 girls on her team that want to PLAY softball. I told her not to let them bring her down. There are plenty of oppertunities to play with the team up one level, she just needs to make it known that she is willing to play for them if they need her. The coach of that team is out neighbor and her daughter and Cassie have been friends forever. Hopefully they will pull her up a few times this year and she can play for a team that wants to win.

Today is the last full day of school for the kids. Mason is super excited. What he doesn't realize is that now the chore list starts and MUST be done if he wants to play once I get home.

Well, as you can tell, I didn't get pics posted the other day, not enough time and the computer is tooooooooo slow. I will get some up here, it's just gonna take me a WHOLE day to get them uploaded.

Well, I gotta get Cassie's uniform out of the dryer and get myself ready for wrok. Have a great weekend, I won't have time to pop in.....

Hump Day!

Well, it's finally Wednesday. Actually the week has gone by pretty fast. I guess it's because I'm excited about this weekend. I can't wait to see my sister and see how good she looks after losing weight. I'm so proud of her.

We had our ladies meeting at church last night. It's always a nice time when we all get together. I was lucky though. Last night was the night they nominated new officers. I wasn't nominated for anything. YEAH! I just don't have the time. I am already Trustee Secretary and Assistant Church Clerk as well as being on the Board of Christian Education. That's plenty for right now.

I need to get movie night going again. I was hoping to have one at the end of May but I haven't started planning it yet so I guess we will wait until June to have the first movie night this year.

Well, I am going to see if I can get some pictures up here. I'm not promising anything but we will see how it goes.

Tuesday Tidbits

Well, here it is Tuesday morning and I am dragging my feet. I know I haven't posted since Thursday but I have been a little busy and our computer is acting up.

Saturday I finally took my mother-in-law to look for a dog. She was hesitant about going but she went "just to look". She found one she fell in love with but there was already a hold on it for someone else. She is now thinking about taking a dog from her friends daughter. She raises and shows Jolianda Shibas. They kind of look like a small Akita. This woman is having to get rid of 2 of her dogs because her husband has cancer and they are getting out of showing dogs. She wants the dogs to go to good homes and thinks one of her dogs would be perfect for Helen. She is going to go look at them sometime this week. She has decided she is definetly getting a dog.

The kids are in the home stretch now, they only have this week left and then they go back on the 28th for 20 minutes to get report cards. They are looking forward to summer. Except now Cassie still has to get up early 3x a week for volleyball. We'll see how that goes.

I'm so excited! Mom and Laurie will be here in 3 days. We have such a busy weekend planned while they are here. With Grandma B celebrating her 80th birthday and Cassie having her birthday and graduation from 8th grade and memorial day, we are going to be celebrating all weekend.

Well, I need to get going and drag the kids out of bed. Cassie sure is going to hate it when she has to get up and Mason can sleep in. He is usually an early riser though so he may still be up before her. Have a great day and I will be popping in again soon (hopefully)

Thursday thoughts

Well, here it is Thursday morning and I've been doing some thinking. Summer is almost here, the kids only have a few days left of school, and we will be off and running with summer activities.

We got Cassie's softball schedule last night. She plays on Friday nights and Sunday afternoons. That should be easy enough to handle. He first game is the night mom comes back from AZ. That will be really cool because mom is never home to see Cassie play ball. Cassie says the team sucks because most of the girls are only there for the social interaction instead of for softball. I hope she doesn't let it bring her down.

I just want to say hi to all of you that stop in and read occassionally, I hope you find something interesting in my blogs to keep you coming back. Sometimes I feel like I might be boring some of you with all the talk about the kids but other than work, I don't really have much else that I do.

Well, it's getting time to get to work so I better sign off. Don't forget to leave a comment if you like. Have a great Thursday.

Monday's madness

I just cannot get through a Monday without wanting to strangle someone. I really don't know if it's me or the people I want to strangle.

They day was crazy at work, lots to do, lots of clients and never enough time.

Mason had his guitar lesson last night, he came home and played his four songs for me. I still cannot locate the lesson book Andy wants me to get for him. I am going to have to have it ordered.

Cassie informed me last night as I was driving home that she NEEDS a tie for tonights chorus concert. All the 8th grade girls are going to wear ties. I told her to wear one of Mason's. It's not cute enough. DUH!! I asked her what shirt she is going to wear because she doesn't own a button down. They are not wearing the kind of shirts you wear with a tie. UGHH!! And the chorus teacher doesn't care.

I will take lots of pictures tonight and see if I can get them posted on here. Wish me luck.

Mother's Day

We ended up having a pretty good mother's day. Helen, the kids and I went to church and then went back to Helen's for a cook-in. It was too cold to stay outside so the guys cooked out and brought the food in.

I got a new set of pots & pans. Boring I know but it is just what I needed. I had one pot and one skillet. I also got a pot of flowers that the kids did in church. Raelynn got me this little book "What Mom's say and What they REALLY Mean" It's an adorable little book and she personalized it with pics of all 3 of them growing up. It even has her baby picture in it and I'm not too sure but what that is the only one she had. I may be mistaken but I know she just got some pics from her grandma in CO and it had a baby picture in it. I laughed and cried all at the same time. I am carrying it around in my purse if anyone wants to take a look at it.

It's one of those things that will be cherished for many, many years. Cassie helped get the pictures together.

After lunch at Helen's we just went home and lounged around the house until time for bed. It was a nice day.

Happy Mother's Day!

Well, here it is, Sunday morning and I should be getting ready for church but I find myself on this dumb computer.

I went out to my Grandma's yesterday and met my cousin Jessi out there. She brought a big plastic tote full of pictures with her that her mom had kept over the years. So, Jessi, Grandma, Aunt Vicki, Aunt Lisa, Amanda and I sat around and dug through these pictures. Oh how styles have changed! I thought Amanda was going to fall off her chair at one point when she saw me with my 'fro. (it was huge)

There were pictures of family gatherings at Christmas and Thanksgiving. There was even one of the WHOLE family at Thanksgiving in Illinois City. What a group we were. Adam was the youngest in the picture and he's in his 20's now with 2 kids of his own.

Hopefully we can get another family photo at Grandma's birthday party. It will still be missing quite a few with Laurie only being able to bring one other family memeber with her and Windi being overseas. I think everyone esle is going to be there though. Better get the wide angle lense ready to take this picture.

We had a nice visit and then I went to Dad and JoAnne's house to see her for Mother's Day. (I was a day early but they have plans for today anyways. They were getting ready to go dancing. I sure hope it wasn't as crowded for them this time and that they had a good time.

I came home and attempted to build a fire in our little fireplace outside. I failed miserably. Joe had to get it going for me so I could have hot dogs for supper.

Mason went with Grandma Helen to town in the morning & never made it back home. I called them about 7 and they didn't know what they were going to do. I went to bed at 9 and decided he must be spending the night. I will have to take him his clothes for church. Which means I need to get off of this thing, get ready, get the girls up and get moving so we won't be late. I made apple cinnamon muffins for Sunday school today. Yeah me!

Dog Update

The dogs have been found! We got a call from the vet in Alpha, they have the dogs. I didn't think about calling them when the dogs went missing. It just so happened that the guy from Henry County Animal Control was there picking up papers and the girl told him they had two dogs and to take a look. He went back looked at them and said "Call Sherri Herring".

I have to go pick them up tonight. Joe wants me to get rid of the pup but I can't. I tried last time they took off. None of the pounds will take her because they are full up. I don't know what to do. Mason will be excited that they are back. I am going to have to figure out something. The pup is tooooo cute to give up. Maybe I can talk Todd & Erin into taking her. hahahahahahahaahahaha!!!

friday follies

Last night we went to Subway and got supper to bring home. When we pulled up, the Principal of the kids school was also pulling up. We exchanged pleasantries and proceeded to go in. He spoke to the girl behind the counter and left, we decided what we were having for dinner.

As we are standing there making our decisions, the principal walks back in, comes over and puts his hand on my shoulder and whispers to me "I have been hearing great comments about him and how he has turned things around this semester and stepped it up, just wanted to let you know" and left.

Mason looked at me and asked "am I in trouble?" "No" I replied, and I told him what Mr. Bizarri had said and that I was proud of him.

Cassie then informed me that Mason has to ask that because I have the same facial expressions for when I am proud of him or I'm mad at him. I say it's my poker face to keep them guessing. Joe says I'm just a grump.

Cassie survived her first softball practice. She gets a little upset because the coach "yells" at her for things and someone else does the same (or worse) thing and they don't get "yelled" at. I told her its because she's one of the oldest on the team and becasue she knows better and they are preparing her for high school softball as well. She accepts this but it still bugs her.

She has some really big shoes to fill coming into softball behind Raelynn but I told her that if they try to compare her to Raelynn, to simply tell them "I am not Raelynn and I will never be Raelynn" and move on. I told her as long as she does her best and shows good sportsmanship and leads them team by example that is all that matters. She's good if you push her and the coaches know that if they back off of her she will slack off. When she gets mad she plays harder. Until you get her really mad in which case she will not do anything.

Time to get back to work. Have a great day and I'll try to pop in this weekend. Have a HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY to all you moms.

Thursday update

My mother-in-laws angiogram went fine yesterday. They found nothing wrong. What a relief. Pasto Andy called and apologized that he was not able to go see her before her procedure. He was admitted to the hospital that morning. I told him we understand and not to worry, we would be praying for him. I just had to laugh that he felt bad for being in the hospiatl and could not make it to see Helen. He's a great guy!

As I was getting ready for work this morning and getting Mason up to go to Success, my cell phone rang. It was my loving hubby. Nothing unusual for him to call in the morning but this time I LOVED it. He called to tell me that he had locked his keys in the work van! Finally!! I am known for locking my keys in the vehicle. Now he cannot ask me "How can you lock you keys in the car?"

Anyways, after wanting to gloat and not doing it, I dropped Mason off at school, took Joe his spare key to Monmouth and then headed to work. I wasn't even late. Yeah me!!

Cassie starts softball practice tonight. In about 3 weeks she will begin weight training for volleyball and then its off to DC for a week. Summer will be in full swing by then.

I will check in again at lunch cuz I don't think I will be going anywhere today.

And now it's gone

Well, Mason discovered that VH1Classic was a fleeting thing. It was apparently a free weekend. He is so bummed. He wants to pay the difference monthly just to get it. Silly kid.

Well, I did it again. I have lost 2 of the dogs. The same two that went MIA in January. I let them out of the kennel and came inside to do a few things and they took off. I cannot understand for the life of me why they feel the need to get out of the fence. Coco always stays behind. I am putting fliers up today and calling all of the animal control centers in the surrounding counties.

Yesterday was just a crappy day all the way around. Joe had a rotten day at work, then he came home to play with his dog and she wasn't here.

Anyways I need to get my son up and get ready for work. YIPEEEEE! Have a good day.

Blast from the Past

Ok, last night Mason was flipping throught the satellite channels. We are pretty familiar with the channels we get. Every once in awhile they change the programming and we get channels we didn't get before.

Now for those of you that don't know, Mason is really into the bands from the 70's &80's. He likes Kansas, Poison, Steve Miller Band, AC/DC, and several others. Anyways, he went to VH1Classic last night because there was a Led Zepplin concert on. It came in! He was so excited. (I was excited that we got the channel)

He was searching through the guide and saw that Totally 80's videos came on at 5 am. He asked me to get him up so he could watch them. OH MY GOODNESS!! I laughed so hard at some of the "cool" videos from my day.

I had forgotten all about DeBarge and New Edition. We have seen Genesis, Heuy Lewis & the News is on right now. We saw Elton John in a powdered wig and Bon Jovi when they all had LONG hair. It has been so much fun watching these with my son.

Do you remember "You can call me Al" by Paul Simon and the video featuring Chevy Chase? What fun! It's amazing how ridiculous everyone looked back then. And we thought it was cool. I am so glad Mason found it. Tears for Fears, LoL

Mason also found the Boomerang channel. It is all the old cartoons. You remember don't you. Foghorn Leghorn, Roadrunner and Wylie E. Coyote, Speedracer and all those good cartoons. I feel like I'm back in my childhood.

You should check those channels out if you get a chance, oh the memories!!

It ain't happening today

Ok, I have just spent my ENTIRE lunch hour trying to figure out how to get pictures on my blog. I wanted to do a slideshow and couldn't get that to work either. I'm throwing my hands up! Laurie, you are going to have detailed instructions when you get here. Until then, no pictures slideshow. I think I can post a pic or two to this blog so here it goes...........





Well these should be of Cassie holding Colton and Mason holding Colton. I will try to blog more later, it's back to work time

One step closer

Well, we are one step closer to thinning out our "fleet" of vehicles. We got the jeep and truck down to the auction house last night. Now as long as they sell I will be happy. I have been trying to get hubby to get rid of these vehicles for over a year. He is having seperation anxiety.

Well, my MIL thought she was going to stay at her house last night and then she took her blood pressure and changed her mind. It was low for her so she freaked out and got scared. It wasn't LOW it was just low for her. Her heart doctor has her doubled up on her blood pressure meds because it has been VERY high the last 2x she was there and it needs to come down before she has her angiogram (sp) on Wednesday. Now she fears it is too low nad wanted to stop doubling up. I convinced her to call the doctor before she did that. They told her to keep doing what she was doing and that it was not low. I think she will be staying with us until Irene comes home on Tuesday.

The other day, Cas called me from school. She got a packet for fundraising for cheerleading. Mind you, she didn't make cheerleading. We called the coach and she didn't have her stuff with her and would have to check when she got home. Cas asked her friend who is good friends with the coach and the captian. The captain informed her that yes, she did in fact make the squad. Cas was ecstatic. THEN we get the call from the coach. Cas is an alternate, if someone gets kicked off the squad, Cas is on the squad. She was not supposed to get the packet. The captian had the "wrong" list. How can there be more than one list? Needless to say, Cas plummeted down again. Talk about pouring salt into a wound. I was so mad.

Cas is ok with it all now. She says unless they put her on the squad before summer is over, she won't be on the squad because she is going to commit to volleyball. The coach told her to try out again next year and if she has a full squad, she will move Cas up. (to varsity I guess)

Lunch time is over, check in with y'all later.

I'm baaaack!

Ok, so I haven't posted for awhile. Sorry, things have been a little crazy around here lately. I tried to post on Sunday morning to let you all know how date night went. I tried to upload some pictures but my computer is so slow (good old dial up) that I couldn't get them loaded.

I'm trying to get them onto disc so I can load them from work. I promise to have all kinds of pics by weeks end.

Date night went very well. The kids raised quite a bit of money and are donating 1/4 of it to the parking lot fund at church. That is usually what we do is donate part of the money to the church for different projects we are trying to raise money for.

Joe bought a 2007 Chevy Colorado on Monday. My car died on Monday while he was waiting to sign papers. Hope fully it won't cost a ton of money to fix my car. Well, at least that tax stimulus check will help things a little in that area. So much for new beds for the kids and new living room furniture for me.

Work was AWFUL yesterday. I thought I had done the paperwork for a real estate closing and the attorney got to the closing and there was no paperwork. I was at lunch so they had to wait 1/2 hour for me to get back (cell phone didn't ring) and then and hour to get the paperwork done. I felt absolutely awful! The worse part is that I knew the buyer and seller in this agreement. It was a completely rotten day!

I am trying to stay positive and think that this day is going to be much better. So far, so good but it's only 8:30 in the morning. Well, I better get busy and get on some work. I have files to look at before the staff meeting for today.

Sunday night rewind (publishing a draft that I didn't know existed)

Date night very well. We had about 20 people (that included the youth and the 2 leaders and myself. The kids did a wonderful job of serving the meal and cleaning up and getting desserts. They made sure everyones cups were full and kept the littler ones entertained while the adults visited. We played 3 games. All in all everyone had a great time. The kids made $100 to go towards their summer activities which may include a trip to Great America.

Church went well. Our bible study teacher was out ill today. He is just been pronounced cancer free and he doesn't have his strength back completely yet, not to mention his best friend died of a massive heart attack on Friday. We stumbled our way through Sunday school today. For some reason I get to act as the teacher for the day. I just got a new bible (thanks JoAnne for letting me know how good dad's bible is) and it gets us through the study. We are reading the bible beginning to end. We started in January of 2007 and we are currently in Numbers. We sometimes have trouble staying on track and it can take us days to get through a chapter. We all have a good time and we are all learning a lot.

Cassie and her friend colored their hair again this weekend. The top half is VERY blonde and the underneath is BLACK. It looks cute but Joe hates it. He just hates her coloring her hair. Oh well.

We helped Todd & Erin get moved into their new home. I'm going to miss having them right here in Ophiem. They are only 8 miles away but it's a long 8 miles.

Well, I'm going to sign off for the night. I need to make sure everyone has clean clothes for the week. Is a mom's work ever done?

Well, here it is date night morning and I still have no games picked out for tonight. I have the chicken cooked, I have the potatoes and toppings ready to take, I have the broth and the noodles to make the soup but I have no entertainment yet.

Well, that's not completely true, I have 3 games picked out but they are kind of lame. One I think will be fun is an auction. The person with the oldest coin gets the prize. I think that one will go over well.

Another one is, the leader asks a question like "What day is after Friday?" easy huh? Well they cannot answer with Saturday and they must answer within a short time frame. I think that will be a hit (and rather funny if you ask me).

The other one is Have you ever. You ask "Have you ever.........locked your keys in your car?" Everyone that has gets a point. The winner has the lowest number of points. It might be interesting if I can come up with some really good questions.

The problem with finding games for date night is that 70% of the congregation is over 65 so I have to find games that don't involve alot of activity. But I have to find games that will be just as fun for the younger people.

I'm sure everything will go just fine. I overthink these kind of things. I don't know why I stress about it. I'm the one that suggests date night, or movie night, or Valentine date night so I guess I must enjoy doing it or I would quit making the suggestions. I do enjoy it it's just that our church is so small that I don't have a lot of variation.

Tonight will kind of kick off our summer of a monthly activity. We will start hold movie nights in May. One Saturday night a month, we hold a outdoor movie night. We usually get a good family type of movie and show it on the side of the church. Anyone that wants to stop by and watch is welcome to. The movie is free and the youth sell popcorn and pop and water. We don't always have real good turn outs but thoses that come enjoy it.

Well, I beter get off of here, try to find a few more games just in case, and get teh chicken noodle soup to going. Have a great weekend.

Is it 5 o'clock yet?

Oh, this day has just drug on and I didn't even come in until after 10 this morning. Mason had his IL presentation at school this morning. It was very interesting and fun. I even learned a few things about IL, a state I have lived in all of my life. The kids all did a great job.

Then I get to work and nothing goes right. I tried to send a fax for the boss yesterday afternoon and it wouldn't go through. I tried 2 different numbers, no luck. He tried this morning and still nothing. Another woman in the office tried to fax something and it wouldn't go either. AH HA! It must be the fax machine. We call the tech guy. He gets here and has trouble finding the problem. He asks if there is anything different.

Well, I fax differently from everyone else. And because of that I have been asked by one woman in the office to stop it immeidately. The tech guy said we have dial tone and we recieve faxes it's just that the dial tone is not being picked up by the fax machine. These women here are so opposed to change it's pitiful.

I have not found a connection with any of these women. They are very territorial and I think they are afraid to let me help them for fear that they won't have enough work to.

Gotta go. Chat later!!

The panic has set in

We went to the D.C. meeting last night. The kids had to choose their roomates for the week. Cassie and Kourtney will be sharing a room with 1-2 other girls that they don't know. They have not met them yet.

After listening to the presentation, I am really nervous about letting her go. What if she acts up? What if she gets lost? What if she acts like a complete idiot? What if she gets sick? What if she gets seriously hurt? Too many what ifs. If I hadn't already sunk 3/4 of the money into I might change my mind. Cassie is looking forward to it.

Of course this means a BIG shopping spree. Cassie wants a new swimsuit (the teacher advised bringing at least 2). She wants a new outfit to wear to the medevil dinner they are going to go to.

They will be doing a lot of walking. They were told they will be walking 10-20 miles per day. OUCH!!

Well, enough of my blabbering, time for work (well, it was 1/2 hour ago). Have a good day and I will check in later.

Quickie

Wow do I feel good. I walked last night after supper with Cassie, Erin and the 2 of the 3 dogs. We walked about 1/2 mile (hey, it's a start). I forced myself out of bed this morning at 4:30 and grabbed the pup and away we went. Another 1/2 mile. I'm hoping that once Joe starts going to work at 7 instead of 6 I can get in a longer walk.

Mason had to make a topographical map of IL last night. He made the dough himself. He got his cardboard cutout covered in this dough to represent the hills and the plains of IL. Then he started kneading the leftover dough in his hands. Do you know what happens when that mixture heats up? It's gets really really sticky. He had a hard time getting it off of his hands. What a mess! Oh well, his map looks good. He just needs to paint it at school and its done.

Cassie and I have a meeting tonight for her D.C. trip. They decided tonight who they will room with for the entire week. Man it's finally starting to hit me that my little girl is going to be away from us for a whole week. I'm not sure if I'm going to be able to handle this. I'm sure that week you will find me weeping all over this blog. I apologize in advance.

Well, I gotta get going. I have a follow up appointment with the dentist this morning. My mother-in-law is taking the kids to school so Mason doesn't ruin his map on teh bus. Do I have the best MIL or what?!? Have a good day.

Monday night

Once I got home frm gettign groceries after work I fired up the grill. It is so nice to be able to grill out again. We love to grill out. We did burgers (Mason had left over pork chops)

Cassie made a jell-o cake for us for tonights dessert. I was supposed to have a ladies meeting at church tonight (Tuesday) but it got moved to next Tuesday. I was making jell-o cake for that but decided my family (other than Mason who doesn't like whipped cream) would enjoy the dessert just as much.

I found a different recipe to try for next week. It's a variation of a jell-o cake. You use white cake mix, lemon pie filling, lemon frosting, and cool whip. You drop the pie filling by spoonfuls into the cake batter after pouring it into the pan before you bake it. Then, after it cools, you blend the lemon frosting and the whipped creama dn spread that on top. The picture of it showed a sprig of mint on top to garnish it. It looks so springy!

Mason can now play hot crossed buns on his guitar. I really need to get the guitar book the pastor has suggested. I just haven't gotten to the music store yet.

Well, it's time to delve into work. Catch up with y'all at lunch. It's going to rain today so I'm not going anywhere. I straightened my hair the other day and I DO NOT want it to get damp until I go home.

Monday madness

The weekend was extremely busy. I didn't get ANY housework done this weekend. I'm just glad everyone had something clean to wear this morning.

Saturday night Cassie went to her first ballet. She went with a couple from church. THey saw Alice in Wonderland. Cassie said it was actually fun. She wasn't looking forward to it because she thought the ballet would be boring. They took her out for supper before and then to Whitey's for ice cream after. They have kinid of "adopted" her as their granddaughter. Mason is a little bent out of shape about it. He feels like he's not worht someone "adopting" him. I tried to make him see that at least this way he doesn't have to feel obligated to do things with someone if he doesn't want to.

Mason stayed home with grandma Saturday night while we went to a 50th birthday party. Mason and grandma watched "Blades of Glory" and ordered pizza. He played his guitar for her for a bit and they listened to CD's. My mother-in-law is amazing, she listened to his CD's (which aren't her type of music). They had a good time.

We went to Tuscola, IL and saw the newest member of the family. Mason held his 2nd cousin. It was the first time Mason had held a newborn. Colton was less than 48 hours old. Mason wasn't looking forward to going because babies aren't any fun. He asked to hold the baby so we let him. He thought it was pretty cool. Cassie held Colton a couple of times. Now she wants us to have another baby. NOT!!

Now I have to get on Raelynn and Todd to have babies. I don't think that is going to happen anytime soon. They are the closest I am going to get to little babies for quite sometime and neither of them are ready to have babies. I guess I will just wait a little longer. The feeling will pass in a few days.

Time to get busy at work. Have a great day. It's going to be 76 today, YIPEE!!

Quick look at summer

Well, you know Cassie didn't make cheerleading so she has decided to play volleyball this fall for the high school. She liked playing in 7th grade but she cheered for football in 8th grade so she didn't play volleyball.

She got camp info and summer practice schedule for volleyball. She has weights 3 times a week from 7am - 9am. This girl isn't out of bed until 7 on school days. This should be fun. She has skills camp in July and they are thinking about doing a team building camp also. That camp will actually be camping and doing team building excercises. That should be interesting. Pity the poor coach.

In August she starts actual practice 2 TIMES PER DAY. My daughter is actually going to get in shape. I am so excited for her.

On top of her weights schedule through out the summer she will be having softball practice and games.

Mason will go to football camp in July and then start practices in August as well. I can't wait. Mason isn't real fast on the football field but he has finally learned how to block and tackle. (he's kind of a bigger kid) They (the coaches) have learned that you have to get Mason a little mad before a game and he hits pretty hard. I guess I shouldn't say MAD, just pumped. Good ol' classic hard rock before a game works well.

Well, it's time for me to get hubby up and off to work then get the kids up and me ready so I will sign off for now. Catch up with y'all later!!

A whole lot of Shakin' Going On

Well, not a WHOLE lot but we did feel the earthquake up here in Ophiem. There was an earthquake in New Salem IL at 4:40am and it was felt in 5 states.

My alarm had already gone off so I was awake but not up. I heard some squeaking and felt the bed shake. I thought Miss Kitty was scratching. I was kind of annoyed with her for it. Then the news came on and was talking about this earthquake and what time it happened. Right about the time that I felt the bed shake and heard the squeaking. I figure the squeaking was my ceiling fan moving.

How wierd is that. The epicenter was 250 miles away and we felt it up here. We have a nephew and his wife that live in Matoon IL which is closer to New Salem and they are at the hospital today getting ready to have a baby. I can't wait to talk to them and see what they felt.

Anyways, just a quick update from little ole me!

Almost back to normal

Boy, who would've thunk getting a tooth pulled would wipe a person out for 2 days.

I think I am almost back to normal. I feel much better today and less in a fog.

Last night was a pretty quiet night. Mason got his homework done and then tucked me into bed about 8 last night. He laid down with me for awhile and then went downstairs so he wouldn't disturb me. He is just the sweetest.

I'm not sure what Cassie did last night, she was on the computer when I went up to bed. I'm sure Joe took care of everything else. What do I know, I was completely out of it. Yesterday is but a fog to me.

Today is much better. I'm getting quite a bit done here at work.

Catch up

I can't beleive I didn't post yesterday. Well, yes I can. We had 4 execution of documents yesterday and we had to go to the clients for 2 of them. I was out of the office more than I was in.

I was at a client's home and missed a call from the principal. Apparently, Mason missed the bus because there is a teacher that makes sure he has all of his homework written down and with him before he goes home. (it is a plan that was put in place when he was struggling with his grades). The teacher does it out of the goodness of her heart. I truly appreciate teachers and staff that truly care about the students and want to see them succeed.

Anyways, Mason was going to go home with a friend and the principal wanted to clear with me before he let him. They called Joe and he said it was ok. That's when Mason realized that his friend was walking home, Mason thought that the kids mom was coming to get them and would take him to grandma's for guitar lessons. He decided to call grandma to come and get him.

I got the message on my cell phone and called the principal to see if Mason was still there. He said Joe had given permission for Mason to go with them. I called my mother-in-law to see if Mason had made it to her house. She said no, I am here at the school waiting for Mason.

I told her that Derek's mom was taking him to her house, so she left to get home because her door was locked. She got home, no Mason. I called home, no Mason. It turns out that I didn't know that Mason had called grandma AFTER the principal thought he had gone with his friend. So, here's Mason, waitning at the school for grandmas who runs home to get him. Joe goes to the school, finds him and takes him to grandma's.

Everything would have been fine if I'd kept my big fat nose out of it. Poor grandma, I had her worried for nothing.

So, today I went to get my tooth pulled. They had to surgically remove it. I have stitches and everything. I had planned on going to work after it was removed but when I got done I decided there was no way. I came home, took my pain meds and have slept a better portion of the day.

I made me a BIG batch of fruited oatmeal because I think that is the only thing I am going to be able to eat for the next couple of days. I could eat mashed potatoes but I didn't think that that woudl be very good for the diet I am trying to stay on.

Well, I better get going, I'm sure I have bored you all to tears with my woes (if you're still reading that is). Have a good evening.

It's the weekend!

It's Saturday and we have no plans. It's the only Saturday this month that there isn't something going on. I am going to get my laundry caught up, get Mason's room in order, play with the dogs (Zoey is in dire need of playing fetch!), go get groceries (fun, fun, fun!) and try to keep the kids from driving me nuts.

I'm not sure what Mason's problem has been lately, but on teh weekends when Cassie's friend Kayla comes out he just gets angry. He feels like Cassie is being a show-off, and obnoxious. He feels that they do things to make him mad. They drank the rest of teh OJ last night and he believes they did it because he was saving it for breakfast this morning. They had no clue he wanted it for breakfast. He says they threw his book on the floor just so he would lose his place. They didn't even realize they had knocked it off the couch.

I think he is just tired of Kayla coming out on the weekends. Kayle lived around here until October when her family moved in to the Cities. They didn't move into a very good part of town. I let Kayla come out on Friday and she goes home on Sunday. It's the only time the girls get to see each other. If Kayla doesn't come out on the weekends she doesn't attend church. That is part of the reason I bring her out, I want her in church with us. I pray that it helps her fight the temptations that she faces in the Cities and within her own home. Which is why I do not allow my daughter to go there.

Well, hubby is hollering for breakfast. Yes, he decided to try coming home last night. I think it went pretty well. He seemed to be moving around a little better. He even went to the garage to play with the dogs for awhile. I think he is going to make it but I am still trying my darndest to keep him somewhat down so that he doesn't over-do it before he is better. MEN!! they think they can conquer the pain in a day or two instead of actually letting it heal.

Have a good weekend and we'll be seeing ya later!

Finally Friday

Another week has come and gone. (and not too quickly I might add)

Joe is still at his mom's on bedrest. She really enjoys having someone there to taek care of. We really need to get her a dog. He says he feels better today and is thinking about trying to come home tonight. I think he should stay there another night. He is getting very restless just laying around. Poor man!

The kids are both feeling much better. Thank goodness.

Mason got a letter home from the principal yesterday. He told me about getting this letter but he didn't open. I asked him to open it and read it to me. He was very nervous. The letter just said that he (the prinicpal) had heard that Mason's grades were up and that he was very proud of him and to keep up the good work and to finish the year strong.

A lot of people aren't real fond of our principal (due to his past teaching positions at other schools). I think he is a decent person. He taught my son to enjoy basketball and how to play and not be too competitive but to enjoy the game win or lose. He has taken an active interest in the students. I know that he personally writes the notes to the kids giving them praise for their hard work. I think he learned from his mistakes at his previous teaching position and is a better person for it. He is visible in the school and at the activities. He brings his wife and kids with him to sporting events (even though his kids attend a different school).

Needless to say, I was very proud of Mason for stepping it up. He has worked real hard and so has his teachers with helping him to become more organized (cuz he sure doesn't get that from me!).

Well, gotta get busy with work......Have a great weekend in case I'm unable to check in before Monday.

does it ever end?

Ok, Mason was sick Monday and Tuesday, Cassie on Wednesday, I just got a call from Joe. He threw his back out. He is driving back to his mom's house to lay down. She has better mattresses than we do and the beds are higher so it will be easier for him to get in and out of.

UHGGG!!! They better all get healthy before I get my tooth pulled on Tuesday. I expect to be their center of attention while I am in pain. They better all be well enough to wait on me hand and foot.

We were going to get work done around the house this weekend and now Joe won't be able to help. (ok, now I have to wonder.....hmm....is he just trying to get out of cleaning this weekend?) I think not, he isn't a complainer so if he's missing work, he's in bad shape. We went through this a few years back also. I wish he would just go have it looked at but he refuses. MEN!!!

Well, gotta run, lots to do here at work. I'm going to try to stop by a few blogs at lunch hour. I miss you guys sooooo much. Hugs to all of you!!

Mid-week misc.

Well, Cas stayed home from school today. She wasn't feeling well and I figured better to keep her home today then send her and someone having to go pick her up.

Mason was feeling much better this morning. I wrote a note to the PE teacher that if Mason starts coughing to let him sit out.

Cassiei adn I went to the church board meeting last night. She says she likes to go because then she knows what we are going to have the youth do and has a say in what they do. She says it makes her feel like more a part of the church.

We were discussing the updates we are going to make to the parsonage since the incident with the broken water pipe. We have decided to turn the 1/2 bath upstairs into a full bath so it may sell a little easier. As we were discussing putting a bathtub in the bathroom, Cassie leaned over to me and said "are you serious? They want to put a tub in the bathroom?" I told her yes we want to put a tub in the other bathroom. She asked why? I explained to her so it would increase the sale price. She had a totally dumbfounded look on her face. Then it dawned on me. She thought we were talking about putting a tub in the bathroom at the church. I laughed so hard I thought I was gonna wet myself. I shared with the rest of the board members and they laughed as well. Cassie is such a good-humored kid that she just laughed at herself with us.

She was afraid we were going to start doing baptisms in the bathroom.

Well, that was how my day went yesterday. Today so far has been pretty uneventful but I am at work. Tonight could be a whole other story. Have a good day!!

Tuesday tidbits

Well, I have a sick one at home. Mason came home sick yesterday. He wasn't feeling well on Sunday but he thought he could make it to school. He went and in P.E. teh flem got the better of him and he got sick. He was running a temp of 101 so I kept him home again today just to rest and get his strength back.

I'm afraid Cassie is coming down with it. She didn't sound too good when she left for school this morning. She says she's fine so we will see.

She has decided she is going to play volleyball this fall instead of not doing anything. I had suggested it to her because she liked it when she played in 7th grade but she's not real fond of the high school volleyball coach. She has decided she can't go that long without doing something. I am happy because I don't want her to sit around for 6 months out of the year.

I need to make appts for sports physicals for both of the kids. Cassie needs her physical for 9th grade anyway but Mason will need one to play football. It will be a busy fall after all. I am glad.

Well, not much going on here so I am going to sign off for now. Lunch is almost over and I have quite a lot to do this afternoon. Take care and I will check in later.

what a weekend

Well, the weekend was pretty good in our little neck of the woods.

Friday n ight we took the kids and my mother-in-law to see Heywood Banks. He is a comedian that keeps it clean. We had a good time. Mason felt bad because he had trouble understanding the words but when they weren't garbled for him he laughed pretty hard. He repeated everything for teh whole day on Saturday.

Even the teen princess enjoyed the show. She was a bit miffed that we were taking her away from her friend for one night and that she wouldn't be able to IM everyone Friday night but in the end she did admit to having a good time.

Saturday seemed to just be one hectic mess after another. We started the morning out by going to down to get a few groceries and Joe needed to pick up something for the lawn mower. We ran aroudn town for a few hours and got home. I was exhausted and I still had to make cakes for the jewelrey party at 5:30, do laundry so Joe had something to wear when we went out later that evening and the dogs needed some attention.

I made a Jell-O cake and a pudding cake for the party. They turned out pretty well. Went to the party at 4:30 to set things up, left the party at 7:30. Got home, changed clothes got Joe going so he would be ready and we left again at 8:30.

My mother-in-law brought over a movie and her and the kids had a nice evening together.

Sunday morning it was up and off to church. We actually got there early for a change. Usually Cassie adn Kayla (Cassie's friend that comes over on the weekends)aren't rolling out of bed until about 5 minutes before we leave. They were up and ready and we left early. It was great!


After church, Joe and I hopped ont eh motorcycle (it was a little bit colder than I thougth it was)and we went and had lunch. It was nice just the two of us.

We got Cassie signed up for softball for the summer, took Kayla home, got hotdogs for a weenie roast for dinner and came home. Started putting things away and realized NO HOT DOGS! We didn't grad that bag off of the carousel. Burgers on the grill!! I was so glad when it was finally bedtime. I think I crashed the minute I clibmbed into bed. I didn't even hear Joe get up in the middle o fth enight an go down stairs to sleep.(he claims I was snoring NOT!)

Now I am off to work. I have to stop at the store and get teh hot dogs I left there yesterday. Have a great week and I will check in again soon.

IHOP

Well, the dinner at IHOP went well. Other than the fact taht I was to meet them after I got off work. I called to see where they were and hubby wasn't even home yet. I drove home, let the dogs out and tehn we ALL came back in to the Cities.

We chatted over dinner about Cassie doing yoga in Advisor. She said they did the dog, cat and the candle. (I have no idea what they are). She loved it! She will do yoga for 3 more Wednesdays in Advisory. She is hoping no to be as sore at the end as she was today. She used muscles she forgot that she had.

Mason told us all about playing chess in Advisory. He played 3 games and lost 3 games. He was not upset in the least. He thinks it will be fun and thinks he may want to take up chess for a pasttime. He thinks by the end of this four week adventure he will be a little better and may even win a game or two before it is over.

They will each do a different activity for the last 4 weeks of school. Mason kind of wants to do yoga.

Everyone had pancakes except me. I had a fried dinner. I know, I know, I said I was going to try to lose 15 pounds before mom and Laurie got back but they didn't have any salads that looked any good. I'm having left over stir-fry chicken for lunch and I had fruit oatmeal for breakfast.

I went to the dentist this morning about the root canal. Good news!! I'm not getting a root canal, I am having the tooth removed. It is scheduled for April 15th aat 8:00 am. My jaw is already aching jusst thinking about it. (oh wait, it's been aching for the past two weeks)

Hubby and I have a date night tonight. We are going to see Larry the Cable Guy. Not really looking forward to it but Joe's nephew invited us so we are going. We wouldn't have accepted had we known it was on a Thursday night but they bought the tickets months ago.

Saturday night will be another date night. We are going to listen to a lawyer I used to work for play in his band. It should be fun.

We are kind of spoiling ourselves this month. We have 2 dates this week, another date on teh 19th and another on the 26th with the church. It will be fun.

Well, lunch time is up (Ispent most of shopping, LoL). I'll check in again later.

Stole this from my sister

HowManyOfMe.com

There are 16 people with my name in the U.S.A. http://howmanyofme.com">How many have your name?

I also stole this game from my sisster who stole it from someone else. What you do is go to a search engine and typ in your name and needs. Here is what I got:

Sherri needs to hurry
Sherri needs to think before speaking
Sherri needs some soap in her mouth
Sherri needs to quit her job
Sherri needs brush up on history
Sherri needs your support

Half way through

Well, it's Wednsday morning and I am half way through my work week.

We had a good night at home last night. We all sat down and ate together. That is such a rare event in our house. I made chicken stir-fry. Mason made fried chicken and Cassie made a pizza. Ok, so I said we ate together, I didn't say we ate the same food.

My children are very picky eaters. We have decided that if they don't like what I fix then they ahve to fix their own supper. Cassie does the dishes so it's not more work on me.

Things get kind of goofy when we all sit down together. It's like the kids forget how old they are and start acting all silly. It's a lot of fun. We will be sitting down tonight for supper again.

Cassie decided last night that seems how Joe and I have 2 date nights this week that we should take them out for dinner tonight. IHOP here we come. My family loves pancakes for dinner. Not me. I'm not big into breakfast foods so I will get a salad or something.

It turns out my sister is losing weight so I think she has motivated me to try to lose some weight before her and mom come back in May. I have about a month and a half to try to lose 15 pounds. Gotta dig out my walking shoes and get the dogs ready.

Well, the time has come for me to start actually working, so I will bid you all a fond farewell until next time.

A whole lot of nothin'

Well, I don't have a whole lot to talk about other than my son's guitar lessons are going well. Our Pastor is stopping by on Monday nights to give him lessons. Mason would like to play with the church band by the end of the year. We'll see.

Today is April Fool's day and I didn't get my son but I got Cassie a good one. She is terrible to get out of bed in the morning so I hollared up at her and told her that it was 10 minutes before the bus was to get there. (she really had about 1/2 hour) Boy, I could hear her fly outta bed and start grabbing clothes. She got most the way down the steps when her cell phone finally came on and she realized what time it actually was. She was NOT happy. Mason and I had a really good laugh.

I have a dentist appointment on Thursady morning. I have a cracked tooth and they need to see if that is the one bothering me or not. Either way, I will be having root canal surgery soon. YUCK!!

Well, it's time for me to start getting some work done so I gotta run.

a quick blog

Well, I imported 2 blogs from the google blog site. My sister joined there so I did and we are going to TRY to keep in touch that way.

Cassie didn't make either cheerleading squad for high school. She was crushed! She will just do softball for her freshman year. It will give her a chance to figure out high school before getting too involved in extra cirricular acitivies.

We had a great time at the American Baptist Women's Ministries Retreat over the weekend. There were about 35 women from Area 1. It got kinda cold in our room but we had a great time visiting a fellowshipping with the other women. We are hoping to take 9 women from our church next year instead of just 5 of us. (9 would pretty much be the entire female population of the church that is over the age of 30 LOL)

Mason is taking guitar lessons from our Pastor and seems to be doing well and enjoying it. Cassie will be starting softball soon. She leaves for Washington D.C. on June 8th. It is coming up way too fast. She will gone for a week and I will be a mess for a week.

Well, lunch time is just about up, so I need to stop by a few blogs and catch up with my friends. Have a great day.

First blog here

Hello everyone. This is my first blog here. I have a yahoo360 blog (which I haven't updated in awhile) and a multiply blog (which I also haven't updated lately). I have been pretty busy trying to get into the swing of things with a new job. I have a lot more responsibility here and I love it!!

I have 2 children. A daughter who will be 14 in May and a son who will be 13 in August. They are my world and mostly what I blog about.

My sister just started blogging here so we could keep up with the goings on of her family. I decided to join and keep in touch also.

I will blog more when I get a little more time but I just wanted to get a quick something out while on break.

Catch up with you all later.