The Spotsylvania Adventure...the final days

Sunday came after a long night of listening to Lorie make noise, grind her teeth and take up most of the bed (sorry, babe, but I gotta report it like it happened). I got up a little earlier than I’d planned because it seemed a little stupid to stay in bed trying to hang on to what little “property” I had instead of getting ready and spreading out on the couch.

Once Lorie and I were ready we realized that we were a bit too matchy-matchy. I had on a black with white polka-dot dress and a red cardigan and she had on a black with white dots dress and a yellow cardigan. Neither of us had an alternate outfit so off we went. I don’t think anyone else noticed. Wish we’d taken a picture of it though.

Lorie attends Capital Life Church in Arlington. Super-duper friendly, fabulous worship, easy to feel “at home” are the take aways for me. They had a guest speaker (Dave Buehlring) whose sermon was right on target. Lorie navigated us from the church to Chipotle’s and I followed the directions without maiming any walker, bikers or banging into cars that were parked (PARKED) in the middle of the lane.

I’d never had Chipotle’s before but yummo! Lorie and I had a lovely mommy-daughter heart-to-heart and then it was time to get on the road since Annie and I were driving to Charlotte. Lorie got us to American University (again, no pedestrians, bikers or cars were harmed) and I had to say goodbye.

That was hard. I knew I was going to see her again in just a couple days but if living teaches you anything, it’s to not take people (especially people you love) for granted. We aren’t promised tomorrow.

I got back to the Haneys’ with just one small blip in following OnStar’s directions (which turned out to actually be a better route), changed out of my church clothes, got our stuff packed and hugs all the way around for the Haneys and then Annie and I were off.

We managed to get back to Charlotte with no tickets, although we both probably never want to hear the words, “What’s the speed limit around here” again. We stopped by KFC and got dinner before pulling into the driveway. The fur-babies (and Greg) were glad to see Annie. We sat and enjoyed dinner and some TV before heading to bed.

Monday, I got on the road around 8:45 and drove. I had the radio on full blast because it was just too dang quiet and lonely in my car. I wish I lived closer to my sisters. We’d probably kill each other if we did, old habit die hard, but still. No one knows you the way your siblings do. They were your first friends and your first enemies. They taught you how to love someone fiercely that also drives you insane. I’m so proud of my sisters. I think they are both funny, fascinating, amazing women. I am truly blessed to be able to call them my sisters.

The Spotsylvania Adventure...Day Three

Yesterday we’d gotten to Spotsylvania, spent time with cousin John W and his wife Patty and met up with Lori/Lorie. After we got to the hotel (and need to take a commercial break here, if you are ever in the Spotsylvania/Fredricksburg area, I recommend the Hampton Inn and Suites on Hospitality Drive in Fredricksburg. Super friendly at the desk, decent price, clean (CLEAN…they even had a post-it on the beds telling us about their clean sheets and bedding!), lots of towels in room and a fabulous breakfast buffet in the morning), we jammied up and got into bed. (Disclaimer: I got nothing from Hampton Inn and Suites or their owners for this blurb.) Lorie showed me a new app called 2048 which then garnered my attention for too long. Seriously, if you don’t know about 2048, don’t check it out! It’s a trap!

Before Lori got back from John W and Patty’s (remember, she stayed back when we left so she could spend a little more time with them), the rest of the Haneys got to the hotel. Unfortunately I was in a 2048 zone and rudely kept playing. Although I did take a break to bounce up and down on the bed to show off the weird sounds the bed made. Don’t ask.

We made plans to meet the next morning to drive to the high school to meet up with Daddy and Susan.

Wow…it really was an incredible breakfast buffet. Nice job, Hampton Inn. We got on the road vaguely on time and got to the high school with no issues. Daddy was already there talking to the schoolbus drivers who would serve, with their schoolbuses, as shuttles for the day. We parked, jumped on a bus and made our way to the Opening Ceremonies at the Bloody Angle.

It was a beautiful day, although the sun kept popping out which made it a wee bit hot at times. The park area is absolutely gorgeous. I wish we’d been able to take one of the walking tours. There were little monuments dotting the park commemorating different regiments and situations during the battle.

The opening ceremonies were very touching. They did a great job with that. They had readings taken from newspapers, diaries, and letters from that time. It really added the personal part back into the history. They also had Dr. James I. Robertson, Jr. give the main speech. My word, I think I had some good history teachers over the years, but Dr. Robertson took the cake! If you ever have a chance to go to a lecture by him, jump on it. You will never look at history the same way again! I did, though, feel a bit sorry for the Union soldier reenactors. They marched up on the other side of the Confederate hill thingys (gotta remember what those are called…especially since I almost sat on one before finding out that they are a “really big deal” by a Park Ranger) and then stood there for the 15 minutes before the ceremonies began and then the entire hour+ of the ceremonies. I was twitchy sitting down. I can’t imagine being in a wool uniform and standing. Oh, and I forgot about the bagpipes. I don’t know if they picked a solo bagpiper (bagpipist?) because the bagpipe gives such a mournful, thoughtful sound or if there was something particularly important about the Scots and the battle. Anyhow the bagpipes started and ended the ceremonies.

It’s really hard to explain how I felt sitting there. I, of course, was distracted by the sun coming and going behind the clouds and by an inchworm that crawled around on the shoulders of a lady in front of me (yes, I gasped a little when it was trying to wiggle into her hair…shudder), but even for someone as distractible as I am, the green fields spreading out all around us, the trees, the breeze, oh, it was so beautiful. But then the words from the Park Rangers and Dr. Robinson painted such a vivid picture. It was…heartrending.

Anyhow, after the ceremonies we went back to the shuttle pickup point and moved to where the vendors and the battle reenactment were setup. I’m blanking on what they called it…Merchants Square? Anyhow, it wasn’t part of the National Park Service’s events.

So I got my beloved t-shirt and we wandered around the vendors area…there are a LOT of vendors for reenactor clothing and paraphernalia. I was amazed. Daddy signed us up as Descendants of the Wilderness and Spotsylvania Courthouse Battles. We got a ribbon to wear. Pretty cool. I tried to take a picture of my ribbon, but it was a bit too boobalicious to post.

We all made our way at different times to where the battle would take place and managed to meet up even with all the people that were there. My goodness, the amount of people that were standing around as spectators was mindboggling but the amount of reenactors on the field? Astonishing! Unfortunately, where we were standing meant we didn’t hear much of what they would announce over the loudspeakers so we pretty much had no idea what was going on. I mean, we knew that they were shooting and cannoning and whatnot and we’d see someone go down and get “hurt” or get “dead.” There were advances and retreats but, we also saw a whole bunch of standing around, so it was a bit hard to figure out what was going on. Then, after about an hour, there was a bugle call and that’s when the loudspeaker came through loud and clear announcing that the sound we just heard was the ceasefire.

The “people interesting” thing I found was that the spectators that were reenactors tended to believe that they had more right to a good view of the reenactment than the people who had bought tickets to be there. (Of course, maybe the reenactors had to buy tickets, too, I have no idea). We “set up shop” in an area that gave us a pretty good view and the next thing you know a couple ladies with their big ole skirts and big ole bonnets walked right in front of us and blocked our views! One of them actually gave snotty looks to someone who tried to get around her to be able to take a photo. The cutest moment was a family of reenactors that stood to the right and front of us. They had two small toddler/preschool-age children. The little girl was beyond hot on her bonnet and long-sleeved dress. She was drinking water from a water bottle and having a good ole time. Her older brother got a bit whiney towards the end and as he was escorted back to their tent (I’m guessing), he announced that, “gunfire makes me FIRSTY!!!” I totally understand.

Following the reenactment we realized that the shuttles were going to stop running soon and that there were a whole bunch of people that were going to try to get on them, so we hightailed it to the shuttle stop and waited (and waited, and waited) for the shuttle. We all managed to get on the same shuttle and got back to the high school. The Haneys had one car at the high school and one car still back at the hotel. Since the Haneys and I were headed to American University to gather Lorie’s stuff, we decided that Lorie and I would go straight to AU and start packing up my car. The Haneys would take Annie and go back to the hotel to get the other car. One Haney car would come to the university to get the stuff we were dumping on them to store over the summer and one Haney car would go home and get some dinner rustled up. So hugs all around as Daddy and Susan headed back to John W and Patty’s and the rest of us split into our assigned seating.

I still don’t know how we managed to get all Lorie’s stuff in those cars. Space management is best left up to Kenny. But we did. I am pretty proud of myself. We got back to the Haneys, unloaded the Haney car and then plopped! Pizza, Top Chef (or was it Chopped?), and 2048…then bed.

Tomorrow…twinning it at church

The Spotsylvania Adventure...part 1

What a weekend. Still processing it all and still trying to recover so I’m going to write about it in stages.

Some time ago (maybe last year at Beach Week??), Daddy brought up the idea that we all meet up for the 150^th anniversary of the Battle of the Wilderness. Daddy has been doing some family tree-type stuff and found out that his great-grandfather (I think…I get lost in the “greats”) had been a captain in a regiment in the Union Army during the Civil War and had been killed in the line of duty during the Battle of the Wilderness. (Here's some information about him. Especially love the last two paragraphs!)

Fast forward to a couple months ago and I’m talking to my sisters about getting down the nitty-gritty about making plans. Next thing you know, I’m in my car driving to my sister, Annie’s house in Charlotte! This past weekend's travels took me from Loganville to Charlotte on Thursday evening, from Charlotte to Fredrickburg, VA (and visiting a new cousin’s home in Spotsylvania) on Friday, Fredricksburg to Washington, DC and then finally to my sister, Lori’s house in Fairfax on Saturday, Arlington then DC then Fairfax and then to Charlotte on Sunday and, finally, back home to Loganville on Monday. Yep, I’m exhausted and as much as those doofy blind spots in the Equinox drive me nuts, two thumbs up for the nice ride!

That’s the overview…now to take it slow. I wish I had pictures. I meant to take some selfies along the way because I thought it would spruce things up around the ole blog to add more pictures. Oh well, best made plans and all that…

Anyhow, the Plan was that I would leave Thursday after work to drive the 4.5-5 hours to Annie’s house and spend the night there. I worked 45 minutes late on Tuesday and was going to leave 45 minutes early on Thursday. My trusty Equinox needed an oil change. In fact, it told me I needed to change the oil every time I started her up. I was getting tired of hitting the CLR button and also didn’t think I should go on the type of trip that I was planning without changing the oil and getting the car a good once-over. Unfortunately, life happened and I wasn't able to take care of that so I drove to work on Thursday with the car still screaming at me that it needed an oil change. But, hey, I was getting off 45 minutes earlier than I’d planned to when I came up with this whole Plan, so everything was going to be fiiiiiiiiine. Sure…

Thursday at 2:30 p.m. I get a call from my supervisor who asked me what time I was getting off work that day. I had seen him earlier in the day when he had to come out and help with an issue and we’d talked about the 45 min early thing, but it must have escaped his mind. When I told him that I was clocking out in 15 minutes and heard him sucking in his breath, I knew I was not getting out of there in 15 minutes. Surprise! My evaluation was due by Friday and since I wasn’t going to be at work Friday, he needed to get it done now. But we did it superfast so I was still able to clock out 15 minutes early.

I prayed all the way to the mechanic and when I got there heard the words I wanted to hear, “Sure we can fit you in now. It won’t take long.” And it didn’t. However, while I waited I came to the realization that I’d managed to leave my phone’s charging cord at work! That’s a pisser! Back to work I go meaning that by the time I get home, I’m now 20 minutes later than in the original Plan. Shazbot!

I hurriedly take the dogs on a walk, change my clothes, and jump in the car to start this adventure. Traffic bit the big one getting out of metro Atlanta and I had to drive the last part in the dark (thank you, OnStar) but my sister, her husband, her adorable fur-babies and a guest bed with the softest sheets known to man were waiting for me. So that was super.

Next up…the drive to Spotsylvania (love saying that name). SOMEone gets pulled over in the next installment! J

The start of something new...almost

This is actually the freakout BEFORE the start of something new. I’m a nervous wreck. In full disclosure, I’m munching on a fun-size Twix from a Valentine baggie I found on my desk this morning. What am I so nervous about? Well, the Daniel Plan. We’re going to do it. Me, in all my “wisdom” bought the book and read it and then opened my big mouth to my family. Kenny is wavering but Meagan is all for it. I’m making Jo do it. She’s not happy but not as stinky about it as I thought. Course, we haven’t even started yet. Then, to make matters worse, I invited a couple friends along for the ride. AND THEY SAID YES! We will start the eating part on March 1^st and end on April 9^th (40 days). We are going to do the Bible Study together and meet on Sundays to watch the DVD and go over the study part together. Oh. My. Word. What have I done?

Now, I can see what I look like in the mirror and I know what the scale and what the tape measure says, so it’s not like this is NOT needed. I also know how badly I feel and am 99.99999999% sure it has a lot to do with the junk that I put in my body.

In the meantime, I’m not doing myself any favors with how I’m eating (I finished off the fun-size Twixs and am mowing my way through the SweetTarts). I’m too cheap not to try to eat up the junk that I’ve already purchased that’s in my house. We’re going to start working this week on the kitchen. We’ll pull everything that is not Daniel Plan friendly and put in a box and then stuff that is not Daniel Plan Detox-worthy (10 days of no sugar, no processed food, no dairy, no gluten and no…I’m missing something)

In the meantime, I’m getting back on my water. For awhile there I was drinking half my weight in ounces every day but with all the snow/ice days, I got myself off track. Plus, now that I’m back at work, I’m planning on doing a school loop once an hour. I already screwed that up for today as I didn’t do a loop at 8 or 10, but I did get in one at 9 and just did my one for the 11 o’clock hour. Not sure how I’ll do that with the other school…I’ll have to figure that one out. But one of the things that the trainer from the Daniel Plan Rally video Meg and I watched said was for people with sedentary jobs to get up once an hour and do something. I’m thinking at the other school since I have an office with no way of people seeing in (unlike my office where I am now…totally open to anyone and also a cut-through the teachers get from the back hall to the media center), maybe I can do push-ups/sit-ups/that sort of thing. That’s a thought.

Anyhow back to what I started on. I’m a nervous wreck. It’s a whole new way of eating. Plus, I really don’t want to screw it up. I guess it’s actually a good thing that I do have the girls and my friends along for the ride. They’ll give me the additional impetus to actually see this through.

I hope.

Bittersweet memories...

Time with my older kids is always so bittersweet. This past week was Thanksgiving. I had all the kids but D. home. Of course, if D had deigned to bless us with her presence, this past week would have been all about her so as much as it pains me to say it, it was probably best that she wasn’t here. I’m still praying that she’ll get all her issues sorted out and contact the kids and work through the conflicts.

ANYHOW, Big Kenny flew Lorie home as my Christmas present. We decided to surprise the kids with her visit. It was so funny when she walked into the house. Meg was sitting in the family room on her laptop and looked up and said, “Lorie! What are you doing here?” Apparently, that was very similar to what Lorie said to Meg when Mom flew her up to D.C. to make the drive south. Jo was in her room so I called to her to come to the living room. Lorie stood at the gate with her head popped around the corner so when Jo opened her bedroom door, the first thing she saw was Lorie’s smiling face. K3 was so cute. Big Kenny asked him if he wanted to go with him as he went “by work” and, surprisingly, K3 said yes. I guess he was that bored and wanted to get out of the house. That’s when BK told K3 that he was actually going to the airport to pick up Lorie. That child’s face lit up and he popped out of the couch.

I love that my kids love each other so much.

But all good things must come to an end. Lorie had to go back to D.C. and K3 had to head back to Point U. I know in my head that they’ll be back in a couple weeks for the Christmas/Semester Break and they be home for almost a month each. But…they’ll still have to go back. I guess that’s just this season of parenthood…watching my babies create their own lives separate from me. And that’s good. But when I hold my friend’s tiny baby it reminds me of own little ones (who aren’t so little anymore). I guess that’s why I’m going back to school. I want to be like my mom who, while she loves her family very much and does so so much for us (including driving up to Atlanta to be at her grandson’s performance), she has her own life. She’s busy with things that interest her. I want to be like that. I know too many people whose whole lives are wrapped up in their kids and I wonder, do they only see themselves as a mom? I love being a mom but I don’t want it to be my whole life or define me as a person.

And that’s bittersweet, too, knowing that things will never be the way they were.

Summer days...

Geez...where did July go? This blogging thing is harder than it looks. I'm back at work, the girls are at Band Camp, Kenny3 & Lorie have less than 3 weeks left at home and they'll both be at college and we've still not heard from Day. I'm concerned about Kenny, Lorie and Jo. They are having such a hard time dealing with not only the total abandonment but also the accusations that we are bad people because we loved her and welcomed her into our family.

I'm having a hard time organizing myself with working with school, working at church, the dogs, and the house. It's hard not to slip into a poor me attitude. Hopefully once school starts and we can get into a routine, I can get into a routine, too.

The weight's still creeping up and I'm not finding time to exercise.

Oh, and I'm still a whiney-butt.

Today I didn't schedule myself to work because I have a dental apt this afternoon. My plan was to help out at Band Camp, do some housework, do some organization with CM and start working on my lesson for tomorrow. Somehow, I've lost a couple registration forms, I can't focus on the lesson, I can't figure out how to organize myself so I can get some housework done. Wish I liked housework even an eensy bit.

And I'm not really psyched about this dental appointment. Boo.

Vacation, all I ever wanted...

Ah, vacation. It was way too short. Anne and Greg, again, rented FancyPants (which is not called FancyPants anymore) and all 15 of us hightailed it to the beach. I don't know what was different about this year. The week seemed to go by really, REALLY quickly. Maybe because we all "knew" the house and weren't quite as impressed by it all? I can't put my finger on it.

I impressed the kids and the hubster by actually getting in the ocean, not once, but twice! And I got in the pool every day but one.

The storms were pretty impressive. Once really and truly did look like the mothership in the clouds. But, luckily, the lights stayed on. Or maybe unluckily. Last year when the lights went out is when everyone kind of bonded.

I'm kind of ready for the Las Vegas trip...kinda. I'm a little worried about taking another week off. I hope what I'm doing with the church makes up for the vacations. But it IS the summer. I'm pretty much homebound for the school year because of my job. Ah well, I can only do what I can do. They either love me or they don't.

OH, and I'm .2 lb lighter than I was before I left for the beach. I really think it's the birth control pills. But I ache so badly when I don't take them. What to do, what to do.

feeling off...

I’m feeling “off.” Which in and of itself is not a surprise. I tend to live life in the land of “not quite normal” anyhow. But I feel off-er than I usually do. I think I’m catching a cold. I’m not hungry (which never happens) and I’m fatigued and feel achy.

But then my heart (the emotional one, not the physical one) hurts so maybe my body is reacting to stress?

It’s hard to try to do what’s right. It’s hard enough when you have a bunch of cheerleaders cheering you on. But it’s especially hard when you have someone standing in your way screaming how awful you are and twisting your motives, your actions and your words. And it’s really, REALLY hard when your kids are hurting because in order to take a jab at the parents, they go after the jugular…the kids.

My kids are hurting because someone wants to take something that our family did out of love, out of wanting to help, and out of wanting to make a difference and twist it into something malicious, evil and ugly. They want to take four years of our lives and make them a lie.

It’s enough to make one sick. And maybe that’s why I feel so bad.

I get by with a little help from my friends...

Today is a day. Not a good day. Just a day. My sinuses are announcing the impending arrival of rain and no amount of sinus medication, Advil, Tylenol or caffeine seems to slow the pound. We are dealing with a lot of emotion in our house as the older three make plans for next year. And we are dealing with a lot of stress brought on by some changes at the church which add to Kenny's and my workload.

But it's not a bad day! I had to proctor in a 4th grade classroom for the last day of standardized testing which is boring, at best, but not taxing. Then shortly after I returned to my office, I logged out for a luncheon put on by the Rotary Club honoring the recipients of the Outstanding Student awards for the county. Lunch made by people who enjoy (and know how to) cooking and cleaned up by someone other than me? Yes, please! Lorie was honored as the Outstanding Student for Music (Ha!) We had to sit through 35 mostly unprepared 1-2 min biographies by each of the recipients...but that's okay. I got back to school before they locked up for dismissal. Then I got a surprise. Flowers, chocolates, and a card. One of my buddies knew our family was stressed out and stopped by with them to cheer me up. Can you believe that? My friend, Bonnie, really is one of the most giving people I know. I'm so honored to call her, 'friend.' (Plus, she knows how to force my hair into submission...she's my hairstyist. We like to call her the Hair Whisperer).

Fuzzy, but still appreciated!

So the good, the bad, and the ugly all get wrapped up together and become a "day."

Well, joy, I just got an email from Meg. She stayed home yesterday because had the yucky cough, was exhausted and, frankly, needed a day to sleep. She had to miss a retake on her test and rescheduled it for today...but she needs a pass to go take the test and the teacher won't email her back an email pass.

I just got super tired.

Breathing room…

This time next year my family will be wondering where to put people…again! When Dayannah came to be part of our family we had four children in three bedrooms. It only made sense to have the girl double-up with the girl, so Lorie got a roommate. That lasted for about a year and then differing ways of sleeping and cleanliness got to be too much. We talked to the in-laws and they agreed to let Kenny3 move to one of their bedrooms upstairs so Dayannah could have her own room. After all, he was heading to Point University soon. Fast forward two years and we are going into the summer before Lorie starts college. Kenny had to complete his sophomore year at Luther Rice after not keeping his 3.0 required to keep the Hope and Founder’s scholarships. He has to take two classes this summer to earn the 60 hrs he needs to earn Hope back. K & S are going to help out by funding whatever monies Kenny3 needs to go to Point next semester. Dayannah spent the last three months reestablishing her relationship with her biological father and when she comes back home, will get an apartment. And, of course, Lorie is heading out for college next semester herself so come mid-August…I’ll only have two kids in the house AND they will both go to the same school AND they will both be involved in the same afterschool activity for the Fall. After that, one of them will be driving. I’m a little overwhelmed with the fact that my stress levels for keeping up with the day-to-day are about to be massively changed.

But then we’ll come to this time next year when Kenny and Lorie will come home for the summer…and where will we put them?

Yes, I had blonde hair

Found this in my Draft folder. Wonder why I didn't publish it...Hmm....

Yesterday I scanned in and uploaded to Facebook several old photos of myself. Some of my kids were taken aback that I had blonde hair. I know we'd had conversations before where I'd said that I'd had blonde hair as a child, but I guess seeing is believing or they didn't think when I said "blonde" that I meant "blonde". There were times when Lori and I were almost white-blonde! Daughter Lorie kept saying that, "you were really, really blonde, Mom." Um, yeah! I told you!

Luckily my sister Lori has an excellent sense of humor since most of those pictures included her. Paybacks can be interesting, and Lori has one of those brains that go "where no man has gone before" so I'm not ruling out getting on Facebook in the future to be confronted with something.

2013...here we come!

Looks like I didn't do so well blogging in 2012. On the bright side, if I blog twice in 2013, I'm already 100% better then I was in 2012!

We're still in the Basement. Hubby is still at Luther Rice and with Bethel. I changed schools and duties and now take care of the registrar duties and the computer tech responsibilities for an elementary school across the street from Meg and Lorie. I'm much more happy!

Dayannah is 3 semesters away from her degree; Kenny3 is now at LRSU for the time being; Lorie is finishing her senior year and dreaming of college life; Meg is in 10th and Jo in her last year of middle school (8th). The girls are now all within an inch of each other in height and growing more beautiful (and one of them, more prissy) every day.

Hubby is finishing up his Master's degree and is kicking around going for a Master's in Counseling. I still have no idea what I want to be when I grow up. Right now I'd settle for a settled stomach!

My goals for this year are to read the Bible through, add exercise to my diet, try to think more positively, and possibly blog more.

We'll just have to see, won't we?!

Update

In reading over my hodge-podge of posts, I realized that I didn't have an update between the last big break in blogs. This December finds me at a new school. I took a job as a one-on-one paraprofessional working with a visually-impaired, partially-paralylzed and learning-disabled 6th grader. Yes, I'm now working in a middle school. What. Was. I. Thinking? The hormones!!

Big Kenny went to part-time at the church and took a fulltime CIO job at the college he's getting his Master's at. Dayannah is still there working on her Bachelor's degree. Little Kenny is at my alma mater, Point University (formerly Atlanta Christian College) working on a music/youth ministry degree. Lorie is co-drum major and Meg is working through her first year in in band and high school. Jo is all by her lonesome at her middle school. I did think of bringing her with me but as it became apparent all too quickly that I could not handle this job for long (I am so bored...I didn't like 6th grade when I went through it the first time. Now that I'm doing it for the 2nd time and s-l-o-w-l-y, it's like a slow death every day), I'm glad I left her where she is because I've already informed them that I won't be back next school year. I don't know WHAT I will be doing, but it won't be this!

So, that catches you up with me! :)

New year, running in place

Last post was in June, now it's 8 months later and part of me can't think of anything that's changed but then...doesn't everything change? We're on the cusp of some major changes: Lorie is finishing up her driving school time and takes her test at the beginning of March. Dayannah (we have a "new child." Dayannah came to live with us on July 5. She was just going to be here until she figured out what to do as her former living arrangement blew up in her face. But she is now part of the family and we are looking into adopting her!)  is carrying a full load at Luther Rice and got a job on-campus in the library. "Little" Kenny is finishing up his senior year in high school with an unclear path of what's in front of him. Meg is about to finish her time in middle school and heads to the "big league" of high school in August. Jo is still trying to figure out her place among her friends and even in the family. Being the baby is not much fun, apparently, and most of her friends have started blossoming, leaving her wondering why everyone's changed so much.

I had to get used to a new ITS at work (she's lovely, by the way) and increased non-job duties. Two hours of my day are spent supervising students (30 morning bus duty and 1.5 hr lunch monitoring). It's a humbling thought to know that your job is so unimportant that you are pulled to monitor chaos. Self-preservation has me wearing ear plugs and I've had to take the approach that as long as they are throwing food or hurting each other, everything else is okay. I used to drive myself nuts over the noise and disrespect and the unclear expectations over what is and isn't acceptable (and how we are supposed to manage behavior), but I can't handle that kind of stress in my world.

So, I guess there have been changes. But being on the edge of HUGE changes in the few months kind of colors my view, I guess.

Fa la!

According to my sister, Fa la! is the new cool "whatever" at my niece's school. I'm totally up on all the cool jargon and am psyched to introduce this to Hightower Trail and Bethel...Fa la! But the truth is, I'm having a Fa la! kind of a day. I know there's things to do, but I can neither come up with them on the spur of the moment, or can't get them done at this exact moment.

For example, I was greeted with the heartstopping email from my MedFlex spending company stating that the orthodontic bill for Meg's braces wasn't approved and we'd have to send a check for $2662 to cover that expenditure within 20 days. Luckily, my fingers and brain still functioned while my heart didn't because I thought to open the receipt that I'd scanned and emailed to them to find out that I'd scanned and emailed a dental bill from 2009!! But, Fa la!, I don't have the orthodontist's bill here at school, so I'll have to wait until I get home to take care that.

Or there the call I need to make to the girlie doctor to make my yearly appointment, but my calendar is at home. I'm not about to make an appointment without my calendar opened in front of me...been there, done that, by the time I'd figured out I'd doublebooked myself and tried to reschedule things...let's just say, Fa la! definitely covers it!!

Work-wise, the only thing on the helpdesk is something that I can't take care of while students are in the classroom otherwise Math Time becomes Tracy Time! Plus the fact that I'm waiting on a Dell tech to show up so I can't wander too far from the office...well, Fa la!

Add to all of this that I stayed up past my "time that let's me fall asleep easily" watching American Idol and then the Olympics, so I'm very sleepy. Managed to get ready on time even though I took an extra 15 minutes to get out of the bed only to find out that Jo had slept through her alarm! Nothing like having to run across the school parking lot with the eyes of the loooong line of car riders watching you to make your morning start off just peachy!

AND, it seems that choosing to eat the school's sloppy joe for lunch may not have been the best choice for my stomach...wish I'd worn a pedometer. I'd've probably logged a mile walking back and forth to the teacher restroom.

Well, all that adds up to a definitive Fa la! Day!

Spring Break 2009

How can it be that there is only one day left of Spring Break? It's kind of sad, really. We had such a good time at Disney. We don't usually do anything for school breaks. We don't go anywhere because of money and I'm too lazy to plan anything in the Atlanta area. I need to do better at that because I only have a few years left with all the kids still at home. As it is I'm feeling guilty about tomorrow. We didn't have a chance to go shopping for Easter outfits before the trip and no one felt like shopping this morning. Lorie's wearing an old outfit of mine, Meg's wearing an old outfit of Lorie's, Jo got a dress from someone at church and I ran to Dress Barn between big Kenny's softball games this afternoon after I tried on some of mom's spring dresses and didn't find any that fit right (darn it all). Plus, I haven't done a single thing for Easter baskets. Feeling kind of like the worst mom in the world right now, but then I have to realize that the kids are still on a Disney high right now. That should come to a screeching halt pretty quickly once they realize that there's no food in the house. But for right now, all is well in the world.

Not much to see here, folks

I've been feeling guilty that I haven't posted more blogs, but there really hasn't been that much to report! That'll all come to a change soon since today officially starts the Spring softball season for the adult league and next week is opening weekend for the youth league. Then I just hang on for dear life and try to keep my head above water. This season we're back to 4 kids on 3 divisions (Lorie and Meg are back in the same division). Add in the adult co-ed league and the men's team big Kenny plays on and its "All Softball, All the Time"

On a better note, I have a Jewelry Show next Sunday afternoon and the Hostess is super psyched about it, Monday is Kenny's and my anniversary and then the next Saturday we head down to Florida for our Disney vacation and Spring Break!

Training the new secretary is going okay, I guess. I really enjoy working with this lady. She's super sweet, super nice, funny as anything and thinks I know a lot. It's still a little tender to me that I'm not going to be the one making the decisions and being the go-to girl next year. But that's pride talking, and we all know I've got no shortage of pride!

Being a grown-up bites sometimes.

Snow in Loganville

So yesterday the news was all over this 70% chance of snow, which means that the stores were beyond crowded....bad time to be out of bread and toilet paper!!

This morning it was just raining but the temp was in the low 40s and dropping so I thought I better let the car warm up before I headed out to church. In the 15 minutes my car was warming it went from a light drizzly type rain, to freezing rain/sleet! I don't like driving in that kind of stuff! Anyhow 2 hours later we left church to snow covering everything and coming down in big ole snowflakes. The winds were blowing pretty hard so it was sheets of snow blowing straight at you. The girls were so excited during the drive home...I was petrified. Both of my driving skills on icy roads but also because Kenny is driving a group of 30, including kids and sponsors, home from the youth convention on Hilton Head Island. I wanted to call and see where he was but didn't want him talking while he was driving. I did call one of the sponsors and she said that they were about an hour outside of Macon so they'll hopefully be home in 2-3 hours.

In the meantime I'm sopping up water from snow that blew in through the cracks around the doors and the girls are out making a snowman (I had to stop them from coming inside to blowdry their shoes and mittens because of the stink, however. Not going to win Mom of the Year!).

Kenny just called to let me know that they made it to the church parking lot safe and sound. He said that the last two hours of driving have been "interesting". I'm sure! As I've flipped channels on teh Tube, any time I've been on a local station, there's been a scrolling thing listing all the traffic accidents. I'm glad they've made it this far, but I'll feel better when they walk in the front door!

I love my minions!

Here I sit playing with my FaceBook page and blog while my minions WILLINGLY make dinner! I love it! They all came home talking about how much homework they had so I got things going for dinner. The next thing you know I've got kids telling me that they didn't have as much homework as they thought and they'll take over dinner prep! Boy am I glad I was making spaghetti, which is one of the things Lorie can cook from beginning to end without any coaching. She even answered a question Jo had about her math homework while taking care of dinner! How absolutely freakin' cool is that?

I'm beyond thrilled!

Disney planning

Phew! The worst part of the Disney planning nightmare is now over! Lodging and dining plans have been paid for and now we're on the hunt for good prices on tickets. It's been a long haul from me saying to Kenny, "I was thinking, wouldn't it be great if we could go to Disney over Spring Break to watch Kenny march there?" to "That's all I need. Have a magical night." from Mario of Disney's Magical Gatherings last night. (The high school marching band was invited to march at Disney over Spring Break.)

Kenny spent many an email conversation with someone named Pam of Kingdom Konsultants and my wonderful sister, Lori, sent lots of emails with info and questions to try to get this show on the road. Kenny finally realized he didn't really have any oomph left after school, church and softball to devote to getting things decided for our Disney trip and put the whole kettle of fish in my lap.

First thing I did was get in touch with Lori with an "oh crud...we need to start from square one because I wasn't paying attention...help!!" email. After a couple days of gentle reminders from the long-suffering Lori, I finally got my procrastinating keister going and Lori called and we started going over all the good/bad/ugly aspects of this. We got pretty far in my quest for Disney Planning knowledge when she had to sign off and do some actual work (bless her heart). In the meantime I played around with several scenarios online trying to figure out pricing and all. She called me back that afternoon and already the "cheap" rooms at the value hotel we'd been looking at were gone! She volunteered to call the Magical Gathering phone number to see what was up and to find out how to keep our group together (ain't she the best?). What we found out was that, yes indeedy, there were only two rooms left during the time we wanted to go at the value hotel! My awesome sissy put on her Director's hat and quickly booked rooms for herself and froze those two rooms for Mom (who will take 2 of the girls in her room) and me AND was able to use her passholder's whatever-it's-called to get a decent price and dining plans. We'll buy the tickets later.

But hark! That couldn't be the end of the story could it? Of course not! The rooms were only froze until 10 p.m. and I couldn't get in touch with mom OR Kenny. By the time Kenny came home at 8 p.m. I was a babbling idiot and I think he told me to just book the rooms to get me to shut up about it! I called mom with my fingers crossed and when she answered (hurray!), she got front row seats to Act 2 of the Babbling Idiot Show.

All's well that ends well. I called Disney and suffered through their automated answering system (okay, confession time, I hung up on them twice out of frustration, but 3rd time's a charm!) and finally spoke to Mario who took my credit card numbers and confirmed we had lodging and food and all was well.

Just typing this is making me breathe heavy again!