peas in a pod

Sitting in ER today I just had to laugh......laughter is the best medicine, though, right??? Anyway, James was sitting there going AHHH! every single time he coughs (bruised ribs) and I was sitting in another chair that was so uncomfortable I was afeared of falling out of the thing and complaining about my own pains...........yea, we are quite a sight to behold!!! An elderly middle-aged couple creaking and groaning every time we move! Well they gave him Vicodin for pain so now we *really are a sight to behold and listen too...........now we sound like a drunk elderly middle-aged couple creaking and groaning! Isn't it grand?????

TKD yellow belts

You could just feel the hum of
excitement today! These boys were ready by early afternoon to get dressed and go to the club. I was asked every 5 minutes, I think, if it was time to for them to get dressed in their uniforms. lol



Anyway, Jen and Grandma/Grandpa couldn't make it to the award ceremony so we brought the video camara and my digital. I'll put a few of them here.....

Next testing date is Sept 16th so they all have two months to learn their new patterns and one steps. Once they get all that down and get their green belts it will be buying gear at about $225 per person.........whoa!!! Boy, is *that going to be a bundle! But then they will be sparing and I *KNOW* they are going to just LOVE that!!!

There is also a tournament coming up on August 26th. That should be really fun if we decide to do that.

rain, pain, and gain

black, rainy days are so depressing!!!

saw a pain mgmt specialist today....now, not only will I be juggling work, kids, and home but I'll have to add trips to the Big City to the mix! It will be tough to find someone to take my place here while I am driven there and back in order to get injections in my neck....what a lovely thought. And on the pain front, my dear son stepped on a rusty nail at work so now I have him limping around, too.

As far as the gain....I stopped at Michael's today and picked up a bunch of t-shirts. They are on sale there 5/$10 so stocked up on a multitude of colors for some of us. I forgot to get the picture/storage boxes I wanted to get....dadblastit

white belt testing day

It was a busy day but, boy, was I a proud mama today watching my boys show off all they'd learned this summer. Grandma and Grandpa showed up along with my niece so I left my so comfortable (not) metal folding chair and sat in the much more (not) comfortable and crowded bleachers. It made me hurt pretty bad but I had a better view from there. I did bring my camara but.........the battery died after one picture! ACH! I'll have to get some good ones for award ceremony on Tue.

Anyway, I think they did well. Jeff popped out his form and one-steps. Jared made one mistake doing the form so they had everyone do it again and he popped it out the second try and did great with the one-steps. I didn't go to watch James' testing but he got frustrated and had a bit of a problem. I have to say, though, that it is the cutest thing to watch those little 5yos popping out those moves with such precision! Too, too cute!

So, after testing we went to Fuddruckers with Grandma and Grandpa for burgers then home where James and I both collapsed from exhaustion!

late preparations

It's 1 am and I just finished ironing/starching James' TKD uniform. His testing is scheduled for 8:30 am. The boys testing is at 2:30 so I plan to get theirs finished tomorrow.

We got school pre-registration packettes in the mail today for the two highschoolers. They have scheduled days to go pre-register, get locker assignments, books assigned, etc. Just one more sign that the summer vacation is almost over...

OK, gotta get some rest. It's going to be a fun but tiring day tomorrow. :)

good hollywood?

I came across this dvd rental website that I think I'm going to try out. They have supposedly cleaned up versions of your favorite movies.........sounds worth a try! The website address is http://hollygood.com.

summer grillin!

Throw some steaks on the grill, throw together some 'tater salad and bbq beans.......quick, yummy summer dinner - YEEHA!

Gee! This heat is about to chase me to the north pole! I don't know how much more of this my poor achin' body can take! Terri, are you *sure* you *really* want to move to Texas? I'm beggin for a big blast of a cold to blow in from the north!

And yet another late night for James.....I have no idea how he does it. As for me......."I am so loneleee, I am so loneleee, I have nobodeee to call my ownnnnn....."

end of a day

after a day of work, taxi-driving kids to work, cooking dinner and housework.....finally have the kids in bed and ah! Peace! Sweet, wonderful, peace! I love this part of the day..........then, oops! Turned the tv on and slammed with news - this trouble and that in the middle east. Who sees WWIII in the horizon?

My two boys are sooooo impressed with my cooking these days! pimp Tonight we had pork with some rice and snap beans followed by some yummy oatmeal chocolate chip cookies. They still believe that I'm the best mommy in the world. (G) (That is until it was time for them to go to bed.) Ah, these boys!

The excitement is really building. Tomorrow is our last class before white belt testing!!! Saturday is testing day and then awards ceremony is next Tue. I'm itching to wash those belts so they'll be nice and sharp, no dirt, for testing day but noooo, not supposed to wash away that hard earned dirt so I'm doing my best to refrain myself! Jen is supposed to be starting classes in the next few weeks. I'm debating if I want to do TKD or join Curves. Can't quite make up my mind!?

Still waiting - waiting - waiting for James to fix my dryer! It's not drying clothes so my choices are hang them outside (when do I have the time?) or make a trip to the laundrymat every weekend (darn expensive when doing laundry for 6!!!) I need someone to chain him to that darn dryer until he replaces those thermostates!

darkness

One of those nasty little summer storms rolled thru last night although not too bad. There was, however, a gusty little wind that topped a pine tree KABAAM which fell over onto the high wires, dragging the wires down to the ground. We weren't even aware of it until a truck showed up and they shut off the power. The guy told me it would be a couple of hours before we had power again so we ate dinner out and expected it would be almost finished and back on when we got home...........WRONG! There was no one even working on it! ARGH Now, we've had practice living in the dark. Our post-Rita lives were uncomfortable to say the least. We have lanterns, flashlights, and candles aplenty. However, living without the comfort of cool air in this humid tropical climate without at least a fan is far from pleasant!!! It made for one miserable night. They finally showed up around 3ish and raised the wires off the ground. Today I am exhausted from lack of any restful sleep and in pain. I'm in love with my electricity and air conditioning. I can't live without them!!!

a sense of humor

I just have a this strong feeling that I am going to need one today! After a night of only restless sleep from the pain and now James' alarm going off every 6 minutes (that will continue for the next HOUR btw!) I am already annoyed and it's only 5am!

I just realized yesterday that the registration tags on my car expired last week. Big oops! I'll have to take care of that on my lunch break today.

Saturday after TKD class my boys didn't take off their uniforms right away after class like I *told them to do. Instead Jeff, while trying to pour himself a glass of GRAPE JUICE, no less, spilled the entire pitcher of juice all over his WHITE uniform. I decided to try that new SprayNWash duel action stuff so ran out and bought some from WalMart (my boys were thrilled to see me buy the stuff on tv and commenced to tell me all about how to use the stuff! pimp) so tried that on the grapejuice stains and what do you know? It all came out in the first wash! I was amazed!

School stuff.........that busy part of the summer that always gives me a thrill! lol I've already put clothes on layaway for the boys and placing orders for clothes for Jen. And I always hit the stores as soon they get the first school supply sales going. I've already stocked up on notebook paper for the year and gathered most of their required supplies. There are always those difficult-to-find items that I'll have to keep looking for. What I usually go back for are the pens and pencils we'll use throughout the year. I find it much easier to just fill our school storage cabinet in the beginning of the year with everything we'll need than to run to the store every time they need a pack of pens or box of crayons.

OK, need to get James' clothes out of the dryer....it only took him 45 minutes today to finally turn off the alarm clock and get up! Something is wrong with the dryer. It takes 2 hours to dry each load of clothes! What a pain! We think the problem is with the two thermostats that need to be changed again......just another honey-do for him.

OK, sleepy and will regret it if I don't get more sleep but will I get up in time for work if I go back to sleep? What do I do?

board breaking

James has been a little jealous of the boys getting all their stripes at TDK class this week but he got a special treat at class today..........breaking boards! It might be simple but a new, fun accomplishment for him.....too cool

flies

Just sitting here working, waiting on phone calls........James and boys are at TKD, Jen is away on her trip, Jim is at a friend's house.......so all is quite. You'd think it would be relaxing without the busy-ness of everyone being home but nooooooooo - I have a darn fly that is annoying the begeezees out of me!!!!!!!! round and round my head, tickling my arm, or setting on the front of my monitor. HOW did this thing get in here? Or more importantly HOW do I get it gone???? Quickly, before I lose my sense of humor........

I just talked to Jen on the phone. They didn't get there until the wee hours of this morning and are just getting started with their day at Fiesta, Texas. It's exciting to know she is off having fun. James has a *really hard time with letting the kids go off and do things on their own but I see these weekend trips as a weaning period to help us all adjust to when she is 18 next year and preparing to be on her own in a few years.........That will be tough for all of us, I know.

and they're ready!

Just a couple of weeks of polishing up on some things but they are *ready for testing! Yay for my boys!

wired!

It's 1 am and what am I doing? Awake and on the internet......Where is the sense in that? We have an early am trip to the dentist (an hour away in the rain - lovely!) and instead of sleeping like I *should be I'm too wired.

I just finished the final portion of my new certification testing....maybe that is why I sit here, awake, not sleeping, not resting, just awake with the heating pad on my lower back with James complaining about the keyboard clicking whilst he tries to sleep.........need to turn the fan up!

The holiday this week has really messed up my "schedule sense" for the week. We had no TaeKwonDo on Tuesday so I kept thinking Wednesday was Tuesday and planning to make class and then having to rethink it all. Hopefully class this evening will help me get my schedule sense back on track.

Life is rather boring around here, although I'd rather that than the alternative. Jen leaves Friday for a weekend trip. James leaves probably Sunday for a week in Florida. My work schedule is looking really light for next week. All my online loopies are busy with traveling, politics, and kids. Yea, they get to have all the fun.......(G) I think if my schedule stays as skimpy as it is now I'll plan some fun days with my boys. I *know they'll love that!

I gave Buddy a haircut yesterday. Most of the hair on his back half was matted so I started cutting that out before his bath. Well.......that left his top half (head and shoulders) shaggy and didn't look right so I cut *all of his hair.....James says he's the ugliest dog he's ever seen now! (which he is pretty ugly right now, btw!) I wonder how long it will take to grow out? Hey, at least it is probably much cooler for him in this heat!

I think I'd better attempt again to get some rest. I have to get up in oh....about six hours

rainy independence day

I'm enjoying some much deserved time off from work. ahhh

My boys
think cooking is fun. Here they are today trying to take over cooking lunch for the family. I have to wonder how eager they will be in a few years..........hmm?




I spent all day Saturday with my little sweetie shown here. He was lonely after his sister died from an illness so he spent the entire day either on the back of my computer chair (shown here) or on my tummy when I took a nap. Unfortunately, my heart is now heavy because he is no longer with is, either.



On a good note, I finally finished the testing for the new certification for the contract work I do. I have one last piece of the training then I can start scheduling for that project as soon as I get my log-in info. Hopefully it will prove to be less stressful than the last project I've been working.

We have family coming over for brisket, bbq beans, cole slaw, cornbread, cakes and other goodies, and no telling what else James or my mom have come up with........It will be enough to make the tummies happy, that much I do know!!! We may try to find a firework display later, depending on the weather.

Happy 4th of July!!!