What?

The significance of what I'm about to post about may seem lost to most readers, so see the post entitled, "Dog Gone" from March for enlightenment.

My in-laws called to confirm that it was okay for them to bring "the dog" over later in May to stay at our house while they are out of town. "What?" Excuse me, did I just here you correctly? Seriously, after a long pause on the phone the first words out of my mouth were, "What?"

I can't believe they would even consider asking us that question. We tried to politely explain the badness of what had happened during her not-so-long-ago two week stay, but were they listening? Clearly they were not listening or they never, ever would have asked us/me to watch "the dog" ever again.

I can best relate this to a babysitter we had at our house on only one occasion. She was young, hyper and even before we left the house, had the boys running around like little monsters. I knew when we returned later that night when the boys were still up, and still running around like monsters, that "things" had not gone well. From what the babysitter said to us and the look of terror on her face prior to leaving, I knew I would never be able to ask her to babysit again. And, I have never asked or will consider asking her.

It's like that folks! But, instead of our experience lasting only one evening, like it did for the babysitter, our experience lasted for two frickin weeks. And they asked us again. What?

The worst part was his dad, who needs to start using his hearing aides again, clearly misunderstood something Chris said. I was told on the phone that Chris had said it was okay for her to stay here. Smartly, dad-in-law decided to check with me first. That was when he got the "What?" on the phone and "Chris never mentioned it to me."

Clearly, "the dog" is not staying here! I feel really bad saying no. Especially considering how many times they help us out with the boys....but really, shit on my carpet, pee on my carpet, vomit on my carpet, nearly biting my friends daughter in the face and just not liking her are all really substantial enough reasons to say no dog. And, I feel bad for Chris because he has to tell them no. I know he wishes that we had never agreed to watch her in the first place but the reason we did is that we thought two weeks in a kennel was a bit much, even for "the dog". So now our origional attempt at a good deed has gone to the dogs and it biting us in the ass.

Weekend

Our weekend was busy. The boys went with Chris to Monroeville for a car show on Saturday. While they were gone I helped Tami paint her garage. I'm not a fan of painting, but I took pity on her because they are trying so hard to get their house on the market by the end of the week. The garage looked good after a coat of white paint and I had fun helping her! The boys got a big kick out of the car show and Chris seemed to enjoy taking pictures of "Whiskey Tango" and people trapped in the 80's. He is going to get himself in trouble with his new camera! I'll just laugh when he does!

While the boys were in M-town with the grandparents, they decided to spend the night. That meant Chris and I went out to our favorite Mexican hang out for dinner. It also meant the I broke most all of my recent food rules and consumed a large amount of margaritas with chips and salsa. What could I do? We had a pitcher! It was a fun evening! Plus, I worked out both days this weekend, so I earned it.

Sunday was spent in our own garage cleaning out the mess that winter brings. We got stuff hauled outside, things stored in the attic and a good sweeping of the floor. It is nice to actually be able to see the second half of the garage floor.

So, it was just an average weekend. I felt like all I did all weekend was work, but oh well.

I'm stoked about having the second half of our landscaping done this week. I talked to our landscaper this morning and it sounds like he will be here at the end of the week to do the job! I'll have pictures of that, for sure!

"E-I-E-I- Oops!"

Congratulations Wes and the kindergarten classes at Covington Elementary for a great musical show. Our family and many others, were treated to the kindergarten musical last night. G & G came along to watch Wes' on stage singing and one-liner debut.

They obviously had a barnyard theme and all the children made hats/masks to help them represent their appropriate animal. Wes' class were pigs, with girl pigs being in pink and boy pigs in tan. Wes also got to go up to the mic and recite a line he learned. His line was "My name is Old McDonald. I'm a farmer, can't you tell?" Well, no, actually! A lot of the lines were pointless because the children did not wear costumes. Oh well!

Wes was nervous all day about the show, but you wouldn't have known it while watching him on stage. He waved to us many times and was next to his best friend, Ayana, the whole time. I got a couple of tears at one point when I was watching the two of them next to each other on stage. I'm so sad for him that his friend will be moving away. I need to tell him today or this weekend. The for sale sign should be going up at their house and I want him to hear it from me and try and explain it all to him.



Wes did a great job, as did all the children. I was impressed by the fact that the teachers were able to pull this off considering the morning classes never practiced with the afternoon classes, and vice versa. If it had been just singing, it would have been easy, but many of the children had lines to come up to the microphone and recite! Thus, making it very challenging for the children and teachers.

A huge thank you to Wes' teacher, Mrs. Eckman, the remaining kindergarten teachers, the music teachers, art teachers, other staff and volunteers that made last night possible. It was apparent that they all put a lot of time into this show. Also apparent was the amount of effort the students put into learning their music and lines.


(Wes and Mrs. Eckman)

Great job everyone!

I'm sad

Life has been going good lately. For the most part, the boys have been behaving themselves. Now that the weather has turned and they can get outside every day to play. A week ago they decided to get "artistic" with a pair of scissors and cut holes in their pants....that was definitely bad. But, since then, all has been well.

I have been working out nearly every day. I made up my mind that I have about ten to twelve pounds to loose and some major toning up to do. The trip to Orlando is a great kick in the butt for me. It is motivation to tone up for a new swim suit.

I need a new swim suit that is appropriate to wear in public with the boys. I've got a great, tiny bikini that I like to wear when I'm alone. For Orlando that suit would not be appropriate, nor would it be appropriate with the condition my body is currently in. SO, I've started SLOWLY loosing weight but mostly I've been reshaping my body. It is cool to start to see a difference and is all the motivation I need to keep working out every day! Chris scored huge brownie points for pointing out that he could tell a differnce.

But, why am I sad (see title of post)? One of my best friends, who happens to be my neighbor, just broke the news to me this morning that they are moving to Indy. Damn! We do everything together. Our children are weeks apart in ages and play together all the time. We babysit for each other, we bowl together, we carpool together, we signed up for pre-school together....get the idea. This is so sad for me.

Having Tami as a friend has gotten me out of my shell. Before we became friends I didn't really know anyone in our subdivision. I have other friends around town, but none that I see every day and do everything with. None that I could drop my boys off in the event of an emergency. Well, I shouldn't say that. All my friends would take my boys in an emergency, it's just they all live a half hour away!

Knowing that she is moving away is devastating. I can't imagine how upset the boys are going to be when they find out both of their best friends are moving away. I'm not even going to tell them for a while. I know it will be a while before it happens, they haven't even put their house on the market yet...but knowing it is coming is heartbreaking.

I feel like my life has been put on hold. Will I have someone or find someone to bowl with me next fall? Will I be able to get Connor to pre-school on time with out having carpool help while Wes waits for the bus? Will I be able to volunteer at school next year? (We took turns watching each others kids so that we could volunteer at school) Will the boys make new friends that they and I are comfortable enough for them to go over and play?

I'm sad.

Did you feel that?

I woke up at 5:30 this morning to the bed shaking. I thought maybe Chris was having a bad dream and I woke him up. We couldn't figure out what was happening! Our bed was shaking along with everything in the bedroom. The tv set was rattling in the large cabinet and I felt the room shaking. I got out of bed to investigate and was had no idea what was going on. I actually opened the cabinet door and tried to hold the tv still, to no luck. It probably lasted about 20 - 30 seconds!

That my friends, was my first earthquake. I never really got back to sleep and then heard on the radio when the alarm went off that we had an earthquake. We had an earthquake in Northeast Indiana?

It made me feel better once I realized what that was. I thought I was going crazy. I kept saying to Chris, "Did you feel that?" At least I'm not crazy.

Arrgh!

The weather is beautiful, life is hectic and the boys have been naughty. It seems they have managed to come up with nothing but head shaking trouble the last few days. And by head shaking I mean..."Why on earth did they do that?" Wes has been mouthy. Which, isn't completely uncommon! But, they have been doing naughty things.

Take today as an example. While I was working on laundry and picking up around the house they took their own pair of children's scissors and cut a quarter size hole in each of their respective pair of pants. While they were at it they also cut a small hole in the armchair cover for our lazy boy chair! What? I was even paying attention, not that I don't usually pay attention, but it seems like they usually do bad stuff when I get a call on the phone or I'm working on the computer. And by bad stuff I mean getting ice cream or cool whip out of the freezer and sneaking it into the family room.

I was furious. I tried the old approach of telling them that they could explain what they did to their daddy and why they did it, when he comes home from work. And, they could think about what their punishment should be. I was hoping they would fret all afternoon about it, but they clearly do not care. No fretting is happening.

I was getting ready to leave for the Y to work out when I discovered the cut clothes. I was so upset that I wore the wrong tennis shoes to work out, so I couldn't jog. More anger toward them...

They wanted to play at the big park by the Y but I refused. I felt torn by that because I had planned on letting them play there and it is a beautiful day outside, but I told them no as part of their punishment for what they did at home.

Why does parenting have to be so difficult?

A Disney Surprise

I'm shocked tonight at what has turned out to be a surprise family vacation. Last weekend Chris mentioned that he was going to have to go to Orlando in early June for a 3 day conference. He would be leaving on a Sunday and returning on a Thursday. I thought, "okay, good to have on the calendar"! I always appreciate him letting me know stuff in advance.

I realized he was actually hinting at my joining him to take advantage of the free hotel. Normally I would be all over that, however I did not wish to leave the boys behind. I suggested that if we were that close to Disney maybe we could find a way to make it a family vacation. I knew he would have to be in meetings during the day, but I figured I could entertain the boys. They love staying at hotels! Plus, this might be the cheapest way we could afford to do Disney! And, Chris gets to save his vacation time for later on in the summer.

As it turns out (this has taken all week to unfold) we are all going as a family. Yeah! We have the cost of our airfare, meals for the boys and I and Disney tickets. We are going down on Saturday and then we will have Sunday to ourselves to do Disney. While I'm aware that one day at Disney isn't much....it's better than nothing and will give our boys a taste of Disney. They have never gone.

Here is the best part. Our hotel stay was confirmed today. The Marriott in Orlando, where we will be staying, is the largest Marriott in the world. What? How did we manage to fall into that? The Orlando World Center Marriott Resort & Convention Center is beyond gorgeous. Plus, it's only 2 miles from Disney. I'm thinking that the boys and I can find a way to entertain ourselves with the 6 pools, water slides, sandboxes and other amenities that will be available to us while Chris is working his conference. I'm now feeling a little sad for Chris.

I can't wait to surprise the boys with this trip. I've tried to keep it quiet and we are going to wait a while and tell them. But, I'm so excited to see the look on their faces when we tell them they get to go to Disney. I'm so appreciative that Chris was able to work this out for all of us. It means so much to me to get to take the boys to Disney, plus have some fun in Orlando.