Cleaning, Cooking and Computing

Well, I didn't get much accomplished on my last day off but am making up for it today! I've got a couple of loads of laundry done, lots of stuff put away that was covering every surface and lots of nooks and crannys are now free of piles of dust. My Kirby has had a good workout and has become my new BFF. Now on to my bedroom and bathroom - always a challenge as they are the last thing I ever clean. Wish me luck!

Not much else to report this week. The boys are having a nice weekend - no extra curricular activities for a change and probably too much computer time but it's nice to be home together regardless. Their friend Josh spent the night last night and although I know they were up late making noise but I was so tired I slept right through it.

If anyone has new ideas of simple dinner recipes please feel free to share. I'm in a cooking rut and need to spice up my life with some tasty recipes that I can manage with my limited culinary abilities.

Should I be completely petrified that the boys can take driving classes this summer? Are there therapy/support groups for this? I think I'm supposed to be happy that I won't have to chauffeur them around anymore but I'm not - I like to be where they are and KNOW that they are where they are supposed to be. Comments, suggestions, insight?

Belated blogging

This is from the other day - never finished it but here it is!

Three things I'm thankful for today:

1. Very happy that I work with people that I really like and that they make me laugh!

2. As always, thankful for my children - they fill my life with more than I can describe with simple words.

3. A belated Christmas present I received from a good friend - very thoughtful and very pretty. Thank you my friend!

Tomorrow I hope to report that I've accomplished a few things - I'm off of work and besides watching the Presidential Inauguration I plan to cross off at least a couple of things off my growing list!

The healing effect of melted cheese...

Today I've not been in the best mood so I thought it important to list the 3 things I'm most grateful for:

1. Happy that my friends still talk to me and try and make me feel better when I'm more than a little cranky.

2. Really glad that some chips and queso have a hugely elevating effect on my mood! Thank goodness for local Mexican cuisine.

3. Thrilled that after taking a poll at work that I'm not the only one having difficulty getting all of the Christmas stuff put away. Go fellow slackers!

How was everyone else's day?

Sleeping, Shopping and Sharing my thoughts...

Not too much going on right not but I'm trying to get in the habit of blogging regularly.

Here are a couple of pictures of my kids and most of Debi's kids from Thanksgiving. Sean didn't want to be in the picture! We spent the day with them at Mary & Les's house and had a good time. Good food (homemade pies - apparently Ryan's first!) and great company. We need to get together more often!

Justin, Rebeckah, Hannah holding Preston, Matthew, Austin & Ryan

Today is my day off this week and after I got up with the boys @ 5:00 this morning I went back to bed and somehow slept straight through until 11:00!!! I thought it was probably around 9 or so and as usual I have a million things I should do on my day off. I guess I was really tired - I worked 5 days in a row (I usually do 3 or 4) with a couple of 12 hour shifts in that mix. So all I've really accomplished today is a couple of loads of laundry, grocery shopping and putting away about 1/2 of the Christmas stuff. I cooked dinner too and now the kitchen waits to be cleaned. If the boys finish with their homework soon I'll let them do that chore!

Here are 3 things that I am thankful for today:

1. Glad that I have a High Efficiency washer & dryer that let me get lots of clothes into each load!

2. Grateful for having good kids that don't give me any trouble (not like I did at their age!)

3. Happy that I really love my job 99% of the time. It can be very exhausting and trying at times but mostly my heart is happy when I'm there.

So I guess on my next day off I can worry about getting my car inspected (VERY overdue), my oil changed (also overdue) and a new windshield for my van (has had a long crack for quite a while). I also need to get my eyes checked (can't see) and finally finish painting my bathroom. Maybe if I post my "to do" list here it will pressure me to actually get some of the things done!

Can anyone help me put music on my blog that will play while you read my exciting dialogue? I've read some of the help features on Blogger but haven't been able to make it work.

Any fans of The Biggest Loser? The new season starts tonight and I am excited. That show really inspires me to work hard to change my life for the better. Also to find a new gym that I actually enjoy going to. One of my New Years resolutions. I feel better and sleep better when I go a couple of times each week and the boys are interested in going with me after their final exams next week now that band has slowed down. In the meantime I'm still trying to climb the stairs at work instead of taking the elevator. This means I have to be a little early to work which doesn't always happen.

Time to go hang up more clothes and start the kitchen clean-up!!

Marching Band, Concert Band and now Region Band!

It's been so long since I posted that I bet everyone's given up on me and nobody reads this!

Since the boys started high school in August life has been beyond crazy for all of us! Their marching band did very well and made it to the state competition in San Antonio in November. They placed 12th overall out of 53 schools - very good! I volunteered as the "band nurse" for some of the Friday football games and on the road trips with the marching band. Quite a few injuries and stomach aches but nothing too serious!

Of course we had several hurricanes in between everything else and I was on the hospital "ride out" team twice. For Ike I worked for 4 days straight and spent 3 nights at the hospital. I didn't know how good I had it until I drove home, realized all of the devastation and entered a house run by teenage boys (and several of their friends) with no electricity for several days! They were very resourceful (cooking in our gas fireplace with my good pots!) but also VERY messy. I can't even begin to describe the smell coming from the freezer or the goo dripping from it. My house was not damaged and only a small part of our fence came down so I really had nothing to complain about. But for a week I was showering by candlelight in the morning and getting ready at work. I spent (like many people) the evenings looking for gas, ice and hot food to feed the boys. My most memorable time was the Friday night I spent in a laundromat on South Main St. in Houston with all kinds of "characters" trying to get some of the laundry caught up! It took so long before I could drive through my neighborhood to get to the freeway without crying most of the way. Some of my neighbors still have blue tarps on their roofs and I don't think we've all completely recovered. Every time the lights flicker or go out for a few minutes I get panicky. Hope to NEVER do any of that ever again.

The boys and I returned from the Wind Ensemble trip to Chicago a couple of weeks ago. All of the kids had such a good time and I only had to handle few medical issues and only 1 true emergency. There was a big snowstorm while we were there and everything was just beautiful - their Christmas decorations are amazing! We stayed at the Omni hotel downtown and were able to walk around shopping one day while it snowed. We saw "Wicked" which was absolutely wonderful, the Chicago Symphony and the "Blue Man Group" which was so much fun! Of course the performance by our kids brought me to tears and inspired so many compliments from so many music directors around the country. It was worth all of the time and endless hours of preparation. Here's the link for the Youtube video that shows Justin and Ryan on their flute/piccolo duet:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mJCOqennu3I

The morning after we returned the boys performed with their flute teacher's Christmas Flute Choir which was also very beautiful. Video on Youtube also here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Q5ejFldCeQ

The boys auditioned for the All Region Band a week or so before we left for Chicago and Justin placed 1st on the first night of auditions. These are the high school auditions which has hime competing against 11th and 12th graders so that was very impressive. On the second day when they tried out again to be placed in chairs he placed 4th overall. Still very, very good. This placement makes him eligible to audition for the Area Band (they take the 1st 6 to Area) which is in Waco on January 10th. He is the only freshman from our Region to make it to Area and hopefully will do just as well there!

Time to catch up on a couple of chores - more updates soon.