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!!

Bowling, Dancing & Cleaning

Yesterday the boys and I went bowling AGAIN and then ran some errands to collect some salvage supplies for my bathroom disaster. It was nice to get out of the house and take a break from the construction chaos and I actually had a couple of strikes at the bowling alley! The music they were playing was straight from the Senior Prom of 1986 - Tears for Fears, Prince, Howard Jones, The Bangles, Van Halen, Wham and stuff like that. If I even nodded my head in time to the music the boys would accuse me of "dancing" and say that it was embarrassing - imagine!

Today I did a pretty good job of getting some stuff cleaned up. My bedroom no longer looks like the aftermath of a dumpster explosion and things are starting to shape up a little. The problem is always that once I start cleaning one thing then I want to clean something else (drawers, closets, boxes full of junk) and if I don't force myself to stay on task everything will be an even bigger mess! Anyway, I can now see almost every surface in my room and the floor is virtually clear. Tonight I plan to finish some small sewing projects that make a big pile on my "crafts" table in my living room (actually an old dining table covered with a table cloth, my sewing machine and piles of fabric/projects).

I'm happy that each of the boys has started a blog and we've had a good time together setting up their individual pages. I also have to limit the time I'm spending personalizing these pages - it's addictive!

Tomorrow I will resume work in the bathroom with a fresh perspective. Roland worked on the counter top today and it actually fits well, the sinks will be in the right place and it will look very nice. Hopefully tomorrow I can glue it in place, connect the sinks and continue working on the walls.

Until later!!

My First Blog!

After spending much time reading everyone else's blogs, I've decided to start one of my own as sort of a daily diary of my life with teenage twins!

So far this summer the boys have gone to a Career Camp at one of the local high schools for a week of 4 hour days, Flute Camp at the University of Houston for a week of 8-9 hour days and overnight Band Camp at the University of Houston for a week. Justin made 1st chair in the Honors Band and Ryan made 1st chair in the top Symphonic Band. Although I was traumatized at first that they were in separate bands, it worked out well that they each made first chair as they each got to do solos in a couple of songs during the final concert performance. We had many compliments from audience members on how talented they are and of course that made all the overtime I had to work to pay for it all well worth it!!

I'm in my second week of "vacation" from work and we are just hanging out at home, going bowling and to the movies and I'm working on renovating my master bathroom (currently a big mess). I go back to work next Tuesday but have really gotten the hang of staying up WAY late and of course, sleeping in a laying around.

The boys will be starting the eighth grade in a couple of weeks so we need to get haircuts scheduled, do a little clothes shopping and start going to bed much earlier! The flutes are in the shop getting cleaned and tuned up, school supplies are purchased and we finally cleaned out their backpacks from last year just the other day. This will be their second year at the new middle school and though last year had many challenges associated with opening a new school, I am sure this year will run much smoother and I'm starting to look forward to it! I'll let you know how it really goes.

Well, back to painting and sanding in the bathroom and I guess I should start dinner soon too, so that's all for now!