Shocked and Sad

I intended to post some pictures/video from Christmas this weekend, but that will wait until another time. Yesterday I received some very shocking and saddening news. My mom's sister Joyce, her husband Robert and his mother were all killed in a car accident late Friday night/early Saturday morning. I am very shocked and sad right now and can't yet explain the rest of my feelings with words.

Here is a link for a newspaper article explaining the accident:

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/metropolitan/5410297.html

Please pray for their children, grandchildren and everyone who will feel the void left by their absence.

Concerts, Choirs & Quartets

Again, it's been a while since I've updated my blog but I'll try to keep my update brief!!

The boys have had many performances lately. They performed with the All-Region Wind Ensemble and sounded great. They had another wonderful conductor and we really enjoyed the concert. They've also had quite a few performances with the Bailey Band. The boys and the two girls who made All-Region band did a flute quartet of Dance of the Sugarplum Fairies from The Nutcracker which sounded amazing. They performed at the Symphonic Band concert, the Beginning Band concert, at 4 elementary schools and then at the school assembly on Friday.

They also had a couple of performances with the Flute Choir at the church of their private instructor. It is made up of primarily high school students and some college flute players as well. It's held at The Woodlands United Methodist Church which is just beautiful and the songs they played were amazing.

As for me, although my tree looks great, not much more decorating really got accomplished. Tonight I will put some garland on the mantle and hang the stockings and put everything else back in the boxes in the garage!! I must get an earlier start next year! My Christmas cards are sent (except for a couple because I ran out) I have most of my shopping complete. I'm not sure if I will be brave enough to go out tomorrow or just forget the rest until after Christmas! I worked this weekend and have been completely booked with school activities on my days off, so I didn't get as much accomplished as I would have liked.

I also made 130 pasta angels for the staff at the school on the behalf of the Bailey Band. The initial idea was to have the students do it with assistance from a couple of the moms, but many things prevented this and I was on my own. Anyway, I think they turned out beautifully but I'll never do that again!

As soon as I figure out how to get video out of my camera and into my computer I hope to post a couple of the performances, especially the quartet.

Merry Christmas!!

From Orchestra to Karaoke

Since my last post we've all been very busy and had some nice time together over Thanksgiving week.

The boys performed in their All Region Orchestra Concert and it sounded so professional! They had a string section complete with cellos, basses and even a harp! When the video comes in, I'll post one of the songs. Justin had 3 small solos in one of the pieces and sounded very good. Both boys had a great time and really liked their conductor, a musician from California who also wrote 2 of the pieces they performed. It was a different world from what goes on in the average middle school band hall! I can't wait for the December concert - they are in the Wind Ensemble and are practicing their pieces in anticipation.

I made some progress in my bathroom over the Thanksgiving holiday - pictures to follow soon. I finished painting the toilet area including the baseboard trim, installed the new towel racks, toilet paper holder and cabinet hardware on all of the cabinets. I also sewed a pretty valance for above the little window. I'm almost finished sewing a new shower curtain and I'm repainting the frames on the mirrors to match the new decor. I was going to buy new mirrors because the old ones have 80's flowers painted on them but I decided to use a glass scraper to scrape off the paint and I think the finished product will be worth the extra work.

We spent Thanksgiving at Mary & Les's in Conroe and had a nice time. Mary was feeling pretty good and all 7 kids had a great time playing together. Debi's daughter Hannah had a High School Musical karaoke type game and they sang the songs, danced and acted generally like crazy kids. It was a good day. Oh, and so was the food!

Many pictures to follow in a couple of days ...

Dizzy, Bruised and Blind

I haven't blogged in quite a while - mainly because I've been sick and a little busy as usual. My "cold" lasted almost 2 full weeks and then, of course, I developed an ear/sinus infection. At work this past Sunday my ear infection made me dizzy (vertigo) and I fell in the street in front of the hospital. I was stepping off of the curb and next thing I know, a very pregnant nurse is helping me off of the pavement! I bruised my left knee pretty badly and scraped a good bit of skin from my right knee. I made it through the shift despite limping around with a hole in my pants trying not to walk into walls or fall on top of my patients. My knee is still swollen, but I only have one more day of antibiotics and should be somewhat back to normal! I am thankful that I work with doctors who will examine me on my lunch break and hand me a prescription to begin the healing process.

We made it through the last concession stand of the year and the band played at that last game. They sounded great and it was fun to watch/listen to them. The boys have started rehearsals for the Christmas Flute Choir and also have their All Region Orchestra concert on Saturday. They had a rehearsal on Tuesday night, have another one tomorrow night and then all day Saturday prior to the concert. Justin has a couple of solos since he is first chair. I spent several hours on my day off last week fitting the All Region band kids for their uniforms. They have to wear them for the upcoming concerts this week and then again next month. The boys were easy to fit, but the girls want their pants to fit like some brand of fashion low-rise jeans which just isn't happening! No designer labels on black polyester faux tuxedos!

I've finally decided to admit that I need glasses. I've been nearsighted for years but haven't seen an eye doctor since before the boys were born. I am really blind in the dark and have no depth perception while driving. The real epiphany occurred on Tuesday night when while driving the boys and one of their friends to the Orchestra practice, I drove into the drive marked, "Exit Only" and panicked when I saw a pair of headlights coming directly at me. I drove into what I thought was a parking lot only to hear 3 teenagers yell, "You're driving on the grass!!" Oh - THAT'S why there's a big tree in my path! I had to back up and go out the way I came in without hitting the bicycle rack or trash bin behind me. I had many people looking at me (one woman glaring) as I figured out we weren't even at the right school!! When we finally found our way to the correct place, the band director asked if we had any problems getting there(he had e-mailed me very long, detailed instructions). I said that it wasn't too bad but the boys started to tell the story of Mom driving on the grass and almost hitting a tree - in the middle of their tale, the flute instructor says, "Oh, that was you!!" Great ...

Ghosts, Ghouls and Styrofoam Spiders!

Not much to report today - I think I'm almost well and am going back to work tomorrow. I've been coughing too much for the last couple of days to take care of sick people, but tomorrow is another class and I think I'm almost germ free!

Today I did a little Halloween decorating outside while I was home sick and here are a few pictures. I think I bought WAY too much candy this year (seems like we ran out early last year) so I think I'll we'll all be eating it up for a while.

You can see the pumpkins I've carved over the last few days - my favorite is the Bailey Middle School one. We displayed it at the football game concession stand last night. Justin tried to sell it to some kid for $20 but I caught him in time! My fingers are tired from all that carving and we've received quite a few comments on it tonight - my Martha moment! The smiley face one is leaning backward because the back completely rotted out while sitting on my kitchen counter for the past 2 weeks! When I get sick not much gets done. Hopefully since I've had my flu shot, this cold is it for the season!

Last year I painted a bunch of wooden Halloween figures with the intention of wiring them together as a garland of sorts. Since that never happened, this year I just taped them around my front door - a little too symetrical maybe, but I think they look cute! Underneath the picture of my Halloween porch is a picture of my "descending arachnids" from the Martha Stewart website. They are my handmade Styrofoam spiders that actually lower when the door is opened. One little girl almost had a heart attack when 2 of the spiders fell from their string! I also have some scary music playing from the computer speakers that are sitting in the window which didn't help that situation. The boys love the theme from Halloween, so we've played it more than a few times!

Progress reports came home yesterday and the boys have all A's. Their geometry grades are up significantly and I think that the semester average should be an A for each of them. The problem now seems to be Language Arts - we will all be glad when the class is finished with "Great Expectations."

Until November ...

I hope Cheez-Its are a cure for the common cold ...

I don’t usually complain in my blog, but now I will just a little. Today is my day off this week and I woke up with a cold. My throat is sore, my head hurts and I’m stuffy!! I guess I need to list a few thank-you’s to make me feel better.

1. Although my house is a BIG mess right now, I’m happy to have a house and all of the junk piled all around it.
2. I’m blessed to have beautiful flute accompaniment to my mundane household chores on an almost daily basis.
3. I’m glad my dog, Angel, likes Cheez-Its as much as I do so that I always have someone to share with (the boys don’t like the cheddar-jack flavor). We are full now.

I got up with the boys today and took them to school early so they could help set up for the Bailey pep rally that the band is playing in today. I had planned to go to the pep rally, but since I dropped them off wearing my red pajamas and pink jacket I decided to come back home and lay down for a while. Right now I should be at the store buying groceries and I’m also supposed to be baking something for the All Region auditions being hosted at their school tomorrow (brass and percussion). At this point my big goal is to get into the shower soon! I think the baked goods will come from the store (Wal-Mart has a fine selection).

I have to pick the boys up in the band hall after school, drop off my Crock Pots there for tomorrow’s event, bring them home for a wardrobe change (into their costumes – minus hair and make-up), and take them to Rachel’s house for her “Saw Movie Marathon” party. In the past I have not let them watch horror movies because of the obvious mom reasons, but they declare that they are old now and can handle it. I bet they don’t go into the bathroom alone for at least a week! After I drop them off I need to head back to the school and set up some tables and Crock Pots for tomorrow. I have to work at my paying job tomorrow so am trying to help as much as possible on my off time. I accompanied the Booster Club Treasurer twice this week to haul loads of food from Sam’s Club. I don’t ever want to see another can of Nacho Cheese as long as I live! The boys will work at the school all day tomorrow along with most of their friends.

The boys have started practicing their duet that will be used in a couple of competitions later in the year. It sounds so pretty and to me they sound so good!

Okay, I think I’ve taken all the Zicam and Vitamin C my stomach can handle (the Cheeze-Its helped) so it’s time for my shower and re-entry into the real world. I’ll worry about cleaning some other time!

Thing 1 & Thing 2 make Chair 1 & Chair 2!!

The Bailey Middle School Band attended the All Region Band tryouts today. The boys competed against about 150 other flute players. They go through the first round of auditions just to see if they made any band, then if they make that cut they audition again to be placed in bands and in chairs. There are 3 levels of bands: the top band is the Wind Ensemble, next is the Symphonic Band (actually broken into 2 bands itself) and then there is the Concert Band.

Last year Justin made Symphonic Band (I think 5th chair) and Ryan made Concert Band (I can't remember which chair). That was very good since they were 7th graders and it was their first time to audition. This year they both made WIND ENSEMBLE - JUSTIN MADE 1ST CHAIR AND RYAN MADE 2ND CHAIR!!!! They were absolutely overjoyed and I am so proud! I've attached a picture of most of the kids who also made it from their school, some flute players and some clarinet. There is one saxophone player who had left earlier. The top 4 flute chairs of the Wind Ensemble are also in the Symphony Orchestra (I have to learn more about this). They will all perform in a concert later in the year usually held in The Woodlands.

When we returned from that it was time for costumes, hair and makeup in preparation for the costume party they were invited to by one of their band friends. You can see from the picture that they have a lot of hair!! I put lots of mousse, teased it up and sprayed it with blue hair spray. They don't like the makeup very much, but I think they look cute! Hopefully they have fun at the party.

Time to catch up on cleaning and laundry before I pick them up in a couple of hours!

Some of my Halloween Crafts

Which one is which?

Here is a picture from the Cross Country meet yesterday. The boys were running side by side, which has never happened before. All the parents were screaming, "here come the Comers - which one is which?" I could tell just fine with them together, but later when Justin was ahead I had no idea until Ryan passed by! They look so similar when they run & I often yell the wrong name. Next year they are getting different shoes!

I have another weekend off (3 in a row this month!) and plan to use part of it to get myself better organized. I figured out that I really do have to learn to say "no" more often when asked to volunteer! The science teacher called yesterday to ask about coaching a team for the Science Olympiad (which I love) and you can all guess what I said! I coached the team last year for the Disease Detectives category and they won 3rd place at the regional competition - the only medal for their school. So I'll do that and maybe the Anatomy category. All I really have to do is print up some stuff for them to read and study along with sample questions for them to try. The boys are also entering some categories that requires them to build something. More on this as it develops!

I'm watching VH1's top 20 videos as I type this - does Jon Bon Jovi ever age? I have a crush on him that has been going on since I was in middle school! His backup guys look a little washed up, but never Jon.

Today I will really get the Halloween stuff up and then tonight we go on the band field trip to the Lonestar Preview marching band contest in Conroe. I'm excited - I love watching and listening to the bands and they take this stuff very seriously around here.

Report cards came out yesterday and the boys each got all A's and 1 B in Geometry. This has become a major controversy because the teacher gave them 1 test and counted it as 80% of their grade. Some of the kids had C's and even a couple of D's which has made the parents furious. Almost all of the kids in this class have made straight A's for many years and also this is a high school credit which will average in with their high school grades. I've talked with the teacher and will continue to follow up next week, but some of the parents have conferences set up with the counselor, principal and teacher. I just plan on e-mailing the principal - they've agreed that for the next six weeks to use quiz grades as part of the test grade but I want them to re average their grades they have using that system. We'll see what happens. I'm ready to just let it be one of those life lessons that proves that life isn't always fair and sometimes we just have to deal with it. Also, it's okay not to be perfect - B's are good, especially for an advanced class. If the boys ever saw any of my report cards from middle school, they'd have to ground me for a year!

The boys are going to a costume only Halloween party next week and have decided to be Thing 1 & Thing 2 from The Cat in The Hat. Not my favorite idea, but they insist (there is prize money involved) so I'm working on costumes. We'll see how they turn out. Tomorrow I'll post pictures of some of my crafty Halloween decor.

Nachos, Chili Dogs & Gatorade

First, let me share my Thank You list for today:

1. There were yummy blueberry muffins at the Nursing Practice Congress meeting this morning.
2. The meeting was finished early.
3. My Nurse Manager took everyone from our unit who attended the meeting to lunch at The Commons (an area in the medical center with a water wall and different restaurants).
4. The boys had free hot dogs and soda for dinner while working in the concession stand (not exactly nutritious, but free and they liked it!).

So, needless to say I've been recruited to do concession stand duty after all. I've also taken over the coordination of volunteers for the Band Boosters (concession stand duty, chaperones, events held at the school, etc.). The boys and I did it today (they did several hours, I just did one) and it wasn't actually that bad. The other moms are really great and the boys did well with the money - no problem figuring change in their heads!! They have a field trip on Saturday evening with only 2 chaperones so far (including myself) so I have some phone work to do later in the week. Now that the boys have made a dent in their community service hours (actually just 12 for the whole year), I feel a little relieved.

My intention this past weekend was to decorate for Halloween with all of the stuff I've made over the past few years, but maybe tomorrow. I did finish some of my painting projects (shelf unit for bathroom, lamp, chair) and made a little bit of progress in my bathroom. Maybe I'll be done before the new year? Tomorrow I have an all day conference at work (I actually have to wear real dress-up clothes) and shouldn't be tired so maybe we can get some spider webs and pumpkins out when I get home! I'll post pictures when we're finished!

Adios.

Thank You Power

Today I read on the Internet about Deborah Norville's new book, Thank You Power, in which she discusses the positive power of being thankful for little things in life. I plan on reading the book, but in the meantime have decided to blog daily on the little things I am happy about on a daily basis. She keeps a little diary that she records a few things each day that she is happy about and thankful for.

Here's my list for today:

1. There was fresh coffee made when I arrived at work and it tasted good!
2. My friend Amy was in town from New York and came up to work to visit and hang out for a while (she's newly engaged and excitedly planning a wedding) - we went for Starbucks coffee and caught up on stuff
3. My wonderful coworker Mickey happily agreed to bring the cake tomorrow for a surprise party - I won't have to drive and pay for parking! She also decorated our locker room very festively for Halloween - complete with a coat stand sheet ghost!
4. I only had to wait for the Metro rail for a few moments and the Park & Ride bus for a couple of minutes & my seat on the bus reclined so I caught a nice nap all the way home.

The boys are at a Cross Country meet and Roland is off today will be bringing them home - something else to be thankful for. I usually have to rush from work, drive forever and then sweat like a pig in the heat while they wait to run. Today was the first time since school started that I haven't had to rush home or to some activity and it's so nice not to worry about dinner for a change. They plan on eating out after the meet and then home to finish Justin's atomic model of Iron. Since I probably won't get another break until next year, I am thoroughly relishing every moment!

Until tomorrow ...

Cross Country, Atomic Models & Community Service

We've all been up to the usual stuff this past week - school for the boys, work for me, homework, flute lessons, Cross Country practice, a Cross Country meet and a lock-in at Spring High for middle school band students. I worked this past weekend while the boys caught up on their reading of Great Expectations and some other homework that is due today. I worked about 12 extra hours last week and slept most of today! I don't regularly work extra, but we are very short on nurses lately due to retirement, illness, etc. I got my annual flu shot this week also and think it has made me a little tired.

Both boys worked hard on their Science project (with minimal help from me) and Ryan's is complete since it is due today. Justin's isn't due until Thursday so we have a couple of extra days to work on it. Here's what I learned from Ryan's project: his element is Manganese - chemical symbol Mn on the periodic table. From the picture you can see that the nucleus is composed of 25 protons (red) and 30 neutrons (blue). They boys hand painted the wooden beads with metallic craft paint. Surrounding the nucleus are 3 energy levels (you can have 4, but the teacher wants 3) with 2 electrons in the first level, 8 in the second and 15 in the third. Those beads were already that color - less work! We used craft wire used in jewelry making and lots of hot glue!

For their community service I think they will be able to work in the concession stand for the Bailey Band Boosters and also possibly do something for the Paper Houses Across the Border charity. The Bailey Band sponsored a collection at school last year and collected over $1,500.00 during their lunch periods. It takes about $1,200.00 to feed a table of kids in Mexico for an entire year. If your interested their website is: http://www.paperhouses.org/ I have some other ideas to follow-up on as well.

That's all for now - I should catch up on laundry and some housework before it's time to pick the boys up from practice!

My Week in Review

This past week wasn't as busy as last week, but full of fun stuff.

The boys started their National Junior Honor Society meetings (I found out the morning of the meeting that it would be after school) and have to complete 12 hours of community service each semester. I was under the impression from the teacher sponsor last year (she moved) that the sponsor would organize some group stuff, but no, it's up to me to figure out. Twelve hours doesn't sound like much, but with everything else we have going on, it might be hard to squeeze in. Some of the other moms had some ideas for a couple of group things and I'm still brainstorming. I'll call the church tomorrow for some ideas - if any of you can think of something that is age appropriate, please let me know.

Progress reports came out last week and the boys did very well - many 100's for each of them, all A's for Ryan and one B for Justin (Geometry). Of course I e-mailed the teacher to see if he needed to go to her tutorial sessions or if he was still talking too much and she called me the next day. After re-averaging the grades he actually has an A and both boys are doing better than during the first couple of weeks. I'm not sure that I agree with the new group-work grading system, but we will see as the year progresses. As long as they are paying attention and learning something!

Ryan did a poster project for his Spanish class - pictured above. They started it at school, didn't finish it so he brought it home and we basically started over (many of the pictures had been pulled off and the poster was bent up). You can probably see my influence, but I just can't help myself!! The boys also turned in a PowerPoint presentation for Language Arts that they did completely on their own (I just proof read for spelling and punctuation) and they think they got an A - they'll get their grade tomorrow. Lots of animation and pictures - very good job. They now have a project for Science that we spent some time today shopping for supplies. They have to make a 3 dimensional model of the Bohr Atomic Model of different elements of the Periodic Table. Ryan was assigned Manganese and Justin has Iron. It involves bunches of protons & neutrons surrounded by rings of electrons. I was thinking about Styrofoam balls and skewers, but they want to make it with actual rings - hard to explain. Anyway, we ended up getting wooden beads (that we will paint) and heavy gauge wire for the rings. Again - anybody knows more about this and has a better idea, please clue me in!! I think we have another week to finish.

I took the boys and Lindy to dinner at Pei Wei yesterday and a movie afterward. We saw The Invasion - a kind of remake of Invasion of the Body Snatchers. It wasn't my first choice but all 3 teenagers thought it was great! All you need to know is that it involved lots of vomit - some from one character's mouth to the other!!! I'm getting queasy just remembering... Lindy insisted on paying for half of the evening as she had cleaned her entire house last weekend to earn money for the outing! Very sweet, responsible girl. She had played in Bailey's volleyball tournament that morning where the 8th grade girls came in 2nd place among 8 different schools. Go Bailey!! She had some medals and was very excited! We didn't fair as well in Friday's Cross Country race, but they all ran very hard and have improved a great deal from last year.

That's it for now ... need to get the boys off to bed and everything in place for tomorrow.

Pictures from Saturday

Just posting a couple of pictures from Saturday's trip to Texas City to visit my Grandpa Hughes and the boys at the surprise birthday party for one of their friends. I'm off today and am finally going to spend some time in my bathroom painting! I'll post about all of this later in the week.

Justin, Me, Mom, Grandpa Hughes & Ryan

Lindy, Ryan & Justin at Kyle's Fear Factor Party

Why I'm always so tired ...

I've had a crazy-busy week and want to share it:

Monday - home sick from work, laundry, Incredible Pizza Band/Choir party

Tuesday - work (including Nursing Practice Congress, a 4 hour meeting with rules that say when you can talk that I still can't figure out), library to return overdue books, home for 15 minutes to start dinner, to the school to pick up the boys from Cross Country practice, dinner, homework, some TV (love The Biggest Loser!), dishes, prep for tomorrow

Wednesday - work, to library to pick up holds, home again to start dinner, to the school to pick up boys, realize I forget to call the private flute teacher and find out if they had a lesson after practice, worry that the house will burn down because I left potatoes boiling on the stove while I went to the school and got trapped between a school bus and truck and had to back over the grass to escape, dinner, forms to fill out for the boys, laundry, dishes, some e-mail

Thursday - work, stop to pick up something for the boys to eat, make it with 1 minute to spare before the Bailey Band Booster Board meeting (as the new Secretary), finish the meeting late, drive around the school with the boys to attend the Rachel's Promise assembly (read Justin's blog for more on this), talk another band mom into taking over the concession stand duty to replace the mom that quit before I get talked into doing it, home, more forms, help boys pack their gym duffels for the Cross Country meet on Friday, phone calls, prep stuff for Friday

Friday - drive to work instead of taking the bus since I need to get to the boys meet on time, work, drive 1 hour and 45 minutes to Conroe for their meet, make it barely in time to see them run the last lap, cheer them as if I've been there the whole time, run all around the school campus trying to find them and their stuff before my car gets towed from where I illegally parked it next to some buses in the street, home at last, dinner, start wondering how long I have to type up the summary of the Band meeting and e-mail it around, start planning for tomorrow: family get-together in Texas City around 12:00, surprise birthday party for one of the boys' friends - they need to be there @ 5:30 - don't have a gift or a card yet and can't find the phone number of that mom ...

Rachel's Challenge - Justin's blog explains who Rachel Scott was and what she hoped to accomplish in her lifetime. The presentation given at their school brought me (and everyone else) to tears. The school principal asked for parent volunteers to help with upcoming activities related to the Challenge and (surprise) I was the first to sign up! I urge everyone to go to the website, read and watch the videos and accept the challenge yourself. http://www.rachelschallenge.com/ You never know how far a little kindness will spread ...

Bad Headache, Band Party & Baby Shower

Not too much to say today. I had a horrible headache yesterday and after taking Tylenol before Church and Motrin in the afternoon I finally broke down and took some Excedrin in the evening. This is usually my last resort because the caffiene makes me jittery and the aspirin makes me bruise more easily than usual. Anyway, as a result I could not sleep at all (finally around 2:00 a.m.), my head still hurt a little and I'm home "sick" today to recover. I've found that it's hard to deliver safe and cheerful patient care on a couple hours of sleep and a caffeine hangover!

The boys have their band party at Incredible Pizza this evening and I'm chaperoning, which is another reason to recover today. Anyone who has experienced a school bus full of very loud middle school students understands the need to be headache free when first boarding the bus!! I love Incredible Pizza's buffet. Along with all kinds of pizza, they also have salad, many pastas, sauces and very yummy grilled veggies. Brownies, apple pie pizza, ice cream ..

The baby shower at work went very well. Everyone worked very hard and it was a huge success. They won't have to buy diapers or wipes for at least 1 year! Here are a couple of pictures.

Bailey Middle School Open House

Last night the boys' school had Open House and I was able to meet their new teachers. They have 3 teachers that they had last year which is great because I really like them! The nice thing too is that they can mostly tell the boys apart which is really good for them. Their new teachers seem just as good - all young but with experience and plenty of energy. I especially like their Geometry teacher. Young, no-nonsense, but with a good sense of humor and really wants the kids to do well. This is a 10th grade level class and will be hard work but she is available for tutoring, phone calls and e-mail so I think they should make it through just fine. I think I got more pointed looks than the other parents when she said that this class was the most talkative, but I'm really not surprised!! The boys have all of the same classes with the exception of Ryan in Spanish and Justin in Health. This will probably be the reverse next semester. The Spanish teacher said that Ryan was doing very well and could easily teach Justin what he is learning. I'm sooooo happy that everything is going so well this year! Go 8th graders!

The boys started Cross Country practice this week and are both limping this morning with muscle pain, bone pain and just general aches and pain! I tried to get them to run some this summer and they have both said they should have listened to me. I haven't heard this in what seems like years! Glad to hear that I know at least one thing. There is hope.

Today is school picture day and I'm nervous about the boys' longer hair but have decided to pick my battles. I'm getting used to it, but am trying to convince them that it's time for at least a trim. Hopefully this weekend since their American History teacher has challenged them to not watch T.V., play video games or computer games. Can't wait to see how this works out! They do have a Power Point project to work on for Language Arts and say they will do the research for that, read, play outside and play some board games. They're also reading Great Expectations starting next week so should be able to get a head start on that. I'm reading it too since I don't think I did while in school. Their Language Arts class is also taught on a 10th grade level. They actually will get high school credit for the 9th grade classes they took last year and the 10th grade ones from this year. This makes them eligible to get college credit in high school if they do well. Did they do this stuff when we were in school? I'm adding up how much money I will save on their first year of college!

Tomorrow is the baby shower at work so I'm off to get the diapers for the diaper cake and a few other supplies. I'll get them the Diaper Genie (never used one myself, so I hope I can recognize it when I see it!) and a couple of pink outfits. I love girl stuff! I'll post pictures in a few days of everyones' hard work. Many people have worked hard to make this a great shower and I'm very excited to see the fruits of our labor (get it - baby shower, labor, ha ha!).

Happy Labor Day!

Hope everyone had a great labor day - I "labored" at work, but it wasn't that busy. Sometimes over the holidays our patient census goes down and things run at a slower pace. I was able to care for my patients, fill out a few time-off requests, read all of my work e-mail and continue to plan the baby shower for next Saturday. There was a small drama involving a broken bathroom door lock, but since I'm not sure who reads this, I'll leave out the details. Overall, I found the whole situation quite hysterical and hope the injured party can eventually somehow see the humor! I wonder who invented automatically opening doors (a feature for the handicapped) that not even the World Heavyweight Champion could pull closed once it starts to open? I love my job.

The boys had a good first week at school and are currently at a swim party at the home of one of their friends. They've been fed lunch and are now having dinner and I'm having some time with my feet up and the T.V. on. I just love their friends and especially the mothers of their friends!!

Yesterday the boys and I went to visit Mary & Les (my foster parents) and their daughter Debi, her husband Chris and their 5 kids who were here for the holiday weekend. Their oldest daughter Rebeckah is in the 7th grade and had a poster project for Texas History due on Tuesday and needed some help. We were able to cut the poster into the shape of Texas, cut out the 6 flags that flew over Texas and some other symbols related to our great state. Does anyone know what the state snack is? Chips and Salsa, my favorite! We also have an official butterfly, dinosaur, gem, musical instrument and many other interesting items. If you are curious, here is the link: http://www.texasalmanac.com/flags/

Here's a picture of all of the kids with their names from left to right:

Rebeckah, Sean, Ryan, Austin, Matthew, Justin & Hannah in front

A small update on my never ending bathroom project: Roland put in the counter top, grouted it, put in the sinks last week and finished the faucets today. At long last I can stop brushing my teeth in the tub - it's the little things that make me happy! Now I have to finish taking down the wallpaper, prime & paint the walls (at least I've picked out a color that I like), pick out new mirrors, finish sewing the shower curtain and window curtain, sand and paint the shelving unit that goes between the mirrors and paint the cabinets. I hope to finish before my taste changes again! Stay tuned for pictures (maybe by Christmas?).

I just realized that I may be addicted to projects. I have a half-done bathroom, a partially painted chair on a sheet in my living room, a lamp out on the patio table that still needs another coat of paint (for the craft table in my bedroom) and a "craft table" in my living room that has at least 5 unfinished sewing projects covering the sewing machine. This doesn't mention the amount of various sewing and craft supplies I have crammed in several closets and many drawers around the house. Do they have interventions for this kind of thing? I hope not!

Until we meet again ...

Helen's Retirement

Here are a few pictures from my friend/coworker Helen's retirement party. She retired after 26 years of nursing at M.D. Anderson.

Second day of school, First day of quiet!

Today is the second day of school for the boys and the first day in a long while that the house has been empty and quiet. I just woke up from a nap (my favorite afternoon activity) and am gearing up to accomplish something before it's time to pick the boys up from school. After I dropped them off this morning I went to Home Depot to pick up paint for the bathroom, returned some school clothes that didn't fit and made it through Wal-Mart for groceries and such. My plan to start painting as soon as I got home was revised into TV, lunch and a nap!

The boys' first day went so much better than I had hoped. This is the first year that I didn't have everything laid out and ready the night before (even though I've taken them on the first day every single year). So bright and early in the morning we were choosing outfits (favorite shorts still in the dryer, oops!), ironing, going through school supplies, putting labels on some things, eating breakfast and blow drying hair. Boys at this age worry about their hair more than girls I think!

I was open to completely messed up schedules and much frustration, but that was not the case at all. Of course dropping them off in the morning was a challenge - the first day of school is always crazy (Debi, I should have warned you), but they made it in plenty of time. I went back home and scrubbed down the kitchen with bleach, vacuumed and mopped the floor and did laundry. After my shower I went to a couple of stores in search of more shorts for the boys. They had a growth spurt over the summer and are in need of a few more things.

I picked the boys up after school, dropped off some equipment in the band hall that the band director had loaned us over the summer and the boys and I headed to the shoe store in the rain. They had a good day, everything went smoothly and they are in all of the correct classes. They have the same Language Arts teacher from last year (they knew that they would) and she was their 1st period class. Because they are in Tier 4 classes and in band, they have basically been grouped with the same kids since elementary school. This year they get 3 electives and they were placed in different ones for 2 of them (the 3rd is band). Ryan has Spanish and something else that I've already forgotten! Something to do with engineering and building things (?) - I'll ask him again for a more detailed explanation. Justin has Health (a requirement) and a computer class (forgot the name of that one too). The electives are not what they had signed up for last year, but they each think that they will be happy with what they are given. I told them to figure out for certain by today so that if I need to call we can get it done quickly. I've learned after last year not to be shy when it comes to not being in right class - too many reasons to post.

After driving in the rain to several stores and not finding the shoes Justin wants, we returned home, ate leftovers for dinner, ordered the shoes on the Internet and I filled out their usual packet of forms. The homeroom with the most turned in by Friday gets a pizza party for lunch one day. Their homeroom is, as usual, the more organized, intellectual students (they don't like me to say "geeky") so they have a good chance of winning. I think they did last year. We fixed up their band binders from last year, filled out the permission slip for the band party at Incredible Pizza and a miracle occurred when I discovered just the right amount of cash in my wallet to cover the pizza and game card!

We then picked out outfits for today - this requires my assistance because they own similar outfits, don't want to "match" or wear the same color on the same day. They do have many identical shirts (band camp, flute camp, school sports, etc.) and if Ryan wore his red Flute Fire shirt today and Justin wore his tomorrow many students and teachers may become confused and think that Justin is Ryan. So, you can see in the picture from yesterday that Justin wore a polo style shirt with blue shorts and Ryan wore a layered look with khaki shorts and they have different colored shoes. They do share clothes (Ryan wore an outfit today that Justin had picked out at the store) but Ryan is opposed to striped polo style shirts unless they meet certain criteria (one background color, one color stripes and they must be skinny stripes). Gone are the days I just bring home a bag of clothes and they simply wear them! You'll hear more about this as the year progresses.

More later, dirty dishes and clothes are calling me ...

Beauty Pageants, Band Registration & Baby Showers

Right now the boys and I are watching the Miss Teen USA pageant. We were glad to see that the reigning Miss Teen wasn't stuck in rehab or whatnot and was able to make her final walk down the runway! Just kidding - she's cute and I'm sure she will continue to be a positive role model for all young women in America and have a very successful and productive life (I just live by the words of this year's host - Mario Lopez). Unless one of the girls actually stumbles headfirst down the stairs during the evening gown competition I will consider this 2 hours of my life I can never get back. Just joking yet again. They are all absolutely adorable with their fake tans and shiny hair. There's a reason God gave me 2 boys - I'll spare you my opinions on girls and modeling.

Work has been busy as usual this week both in regards to patient care and the personal dynamics that occur with any group of people that work closely together. We have another nurse retiring this month - after 25 years with MD Anderson. Myself and 2 other nurses make up the "party commitee," but the party for the nurse next week is being planned by another group of nurses and not without a few problems, disagreements and even a few tears. Anyway I have 2 baby showers to plan and am excited - they are my favorite. Have you ever seen a diaper cake? They are fun to make and are so cute as a centerpiece. I will post pictures when they are done.

On Monday I took the boys for band registration - fancy term for filling out about 5 forms per child and paying an assortment of fees. Somehow by the time I had turned in all the forms, chatted with some other moms, the band director and the new assistant director (who is the identical twin brother of the boys assistant director from the 6th grade) I had somehow been nominated, elected and sworn in as the Band Booster's Secretary! Actually, it shouldn't be too bad and might actually get me out of working the concession stand at the football games this year - my real goal. I don't mind chaperoning (even the 18 hour trip to Sea World last year was fun) and volunteering at the school, but I just can't get excited about serving gooey nachos and hot dogs for hours to screaming middle school kids after running around work all day. Must be getting old!

School clothes are all taken care of and school supplies purchased so I suppose we are all ready for school on Monday. This is the second year their school has been open and although the campus is beautiful and everything is fresh and new, we had a FEW problems last year. I love their principal and over the course of last year got to know her quite well (with as many e-mails as I sent her and trips to the school that I made, it was inevitable). I guarantee that at the other 2 schools that the boys have attended I was only known as "the twin's mom," and am fairly sure that none of the principals could put a name to my face! Anyway, I have such hopes for this year and am sure to have much to report in the near future. Stay tuned!

My South Texas Saturday Adventure

Yesterday was the busiest "day off" I've had in a while. I drove down to Texas City to have lunch with my Mom, her husband Larry, Grandpa Hughes, my brother Jay, his wife Brenda and their son Clint. Some other people couldn't make it, but I won't even try to explain the details. The boys were at a birthday party in Galveston with a group of their friends so I was on my own for a change. Hopefully they will blog today about their rainy beach adventure - stay tuned!

Anyway, lunch was somewhat comical but very tasty - Gringo's has great chips & salsa. My family is very dynamic with many different personalities - if I had time to write a screenplay I could make a fortune! It's also nice that after 30 minutes with them I realize that I don't really have any problems and that I should really pray for them more than I do. Just kidding - I love them all and wouldn't be who I am today without the influence of everyone. Try to figure that out. (Hang in there Brenda - there is light at the end of the tunnel - squint and you will see it!)

After visiting at Grandpa's house for a while I started the next leg of my journey. I was off to Fresno, TX to help my friend Josie from work get school supplies for her son Michael who will start 4th grade on Monday. Josie has a new baby (Kadiana, my Goddaughter), works full time and goes to school part time so can always use a little help. For someone who can juggle so many things so well you would think she could give somewhat accurate directions. Had I followed the instructions she gave me over the phone I would have ended up somewhere in Canada I think. Luckily I have some experience with this so the 1st thing I did was stop at CVS and buy a nice Texas road atlas which I really needed anyway, some Motrin and a some fruity water to wash it down (not the whole bottle, but close).

We had decided along the way that since it was raining that I would just stop at Wal-Mart and she could read me the list over the phone and I could simply drop them off at her house on my way home. Not!!! Reality was that I would end up at the Missouri City Wal-Mart that had a broken air conditioner, she and her son would alternate in attempting to read me the list while the baby screamed in the background and I wouldn't be able to find one item without asking at least three people (2 of whom usually didn't speak English). Anyway, when I finally made it to her house we had a nice visit (I'll put pictures here) and I was glad to be heading home. The boys actually made it home an hour before I did and Justin made them both some dinner - thank you so much, Justin.

Here are some pictures of Kadiana's Christening & my visit with her yesterday:


















That was my Saturday adventure - any questions?

Babysitting, Bisexuals & Band practice

Wow - I had forgotten how tired I am after a busy day at work! I was recently elected to the Nursing Practice Congress (I'm a congresswoman!) and spent part of yesterday at the monthly meeting and the rest of the day doing other administrative stuff which wasn't too bad. Today was hectic - I was in charge and had 3 patients to take care of. Basically "charge nurse" is a euphemism for "baby sitter" with a higher pay scale! So I not only had a hyper-anxious patient literally following me around most of the day wanting to go home, but also had to trouble shoot everything from the broken supply scanning system to the workmen who couldn't figure out the code to the lock on the bathroom (3 times!). Also, the hospital rolled out a new version of our main computer program that I have no idea to use. My last decision of the day was to decide which pretty nurse I could ask to be my date to tomorrow's luncheon hosted by the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual & Transgender Network (GLBTN)! I'm not kidding and hope I don't offend anyone. This group really does exist on the hospital campus and anyone is welcome to attend their meetings. I was supposed to post their flyer for all to see and struggled with posting something that I'm not exactly comfortable with. Anyway I think I'll take a male PharmD and a female Nurse Practitioner and let the rumors begin!!

After work the boys and I went up to the Woodlands to pick up their flutes that were supposed to have been tuned and cleaned. The store was packed so we told one of the girls there that we would eat and come back. We ate at Pei Wei, which was quite excellent and then made our way back through the parking lot to Music & Arts Center. I had the boys inspect their flutes and discovered that they hadn't been cleaned. Oops!! So... they will call me tomorrow to let me know when I can pick them up again. The boys start Symphonic Band practice on Friday, so they will probably be using their beginner flutes which they say is okay with them. Glad they are so very flexible - I could learn much from them!

Until next time!!

Planning my trip back to reality!

Since I return to work tomorrow after my 2 week "vacation," I've spent the last couple of days prepping up for the work week ahead. Yesterday after church Roland took the boys to Splashtown (they haven't got to use their season passes much this rainy summer) and I was able to weed through a couple more piles of stuff. The boys spent the night with their friend Josh with the intent of staying up very late to watch the meteor shower. I tried watching (like Debi) from my trampoline with my little dog Angel, but didn't see anything and was eaten alive by mosquito's! I stayed up priming an old chair for repainting, vacuuming and doing dishes. The bathroom is at a standstill while some of the drywall compound finishes drying. I ran out of the little bit of paint I was using on the walls and think I want a different color - that decision will take a while too!

Today the boys and I went to the library for a while, went to Wal-Mart to get the boys' some milk and lunch stuff for the week for them to eat while I'm at work. Our church is doing backpacks full of school supplies for local underprivileged kids so we took our list, Justin picked out a backpack suitable for a boy or girl (grades K-5), and we filled it up! Ryan spent the whole time "guarding" the basket while reading his Harry Potter book. I finished it last week and the boys are trying to keep up with each other - constantly comparing which page each is on. A nice friendly competition. We also stopped by TCBY for a cold treat on a very hot day. I had a berry smoothie that was quite cool and refreshing!

I'm now trying to figure out how to get to sleep early tonight after staying up very late with the boys for the last couple of weeks. Back to reality - I love my job but hate having to get up so early to catch the bus. The good thing is I get in a little nap on the ride downtown and usually read a book or crochet on the Metrorail into the medical center. Trying to look on the bright side!

Time to get things set out for tomorrow. Wish me luck!!