Summer Manifesto 2012

My kids are out of school this Thursday, which got me to thinking...what should we do this summer? Evan will be going to a tournament & soccer camp. Emma will have driver's training, girl scout camp & cross country training. But what should we do together, as a family? I decided to follow Ali's lead and make a summer manifesto. Then I'm gonna put it all together in a scrapbook.

1. Go to the drive-in

2. pick strawberries

3. have a bonfire every week

4. go to the beach

5. walk. lots.

6. go to a Tigers game

7. make homemade pickles

8. go to the farmer's market every week

9. knit 5 pairs of socks

10. visit friends

11. water balloon fight

12. read 10 books

13. play with Evan

14. redecorate one room

15. do something unexpected

Some of the things I've already started (drive-in, bonfire, knitting, books) and others I haven't. But there is plenty of time. I've thought of a few other things too, but most are 'just me' things, so I didn't include them. Or I can choose to include them later.

Let summer begin!

Hello, August

It's barely noon on the first day of the month, and I have already medicated myself three times against a monster headache lurking under the surface, and threatened to kill my son if I see his face again before 3:00.

It's going to be a long month.

on my iPhone: July 2011

I love having a good quality camera at the ready, when I don't feel like carrying around my digital. The camera on my iPhone is worth the price alone, and there are so many cool apps you can add to it.

Here are 10 shots from July 2011, in no particular order.

4 man splashdown. Matt, Luke, Bart & Evan. I don't know what was trickier; trying to avoid the sun flare or trying to avoid getting wet.

Max having a snack poolside.

Lola and her funny sit. Bunny ears optional.

Me, zombified.

Bart & Emma in Chicago.

Lola under someone's bed. I didn't take this picture. I just found it on my phone.

Chicago, as seen from my Segway.

Evan & Luke by the pool. I turned them into bubble faces, and they look awesome.

In my pond today.

Driving with my girl.

Good ridance, August. Glad to see you go.

Well this month has by and large sucked.

I haven't had a lot of positive things to say, so I decided to just stay away and wallow in my bad mood. The good news is that it's beginning to lift...I can see the light at the end of the tunnel.

I hate this last month of summer. Everyone is bored. Soccer training begins and messes up the day. It has been too hot and humid to enjoy anything, even the pool, that is if we get time to go. I'm sick of the kids watching their inane TV shows (I swear I am going to scream if I hear the iCarly theme music one more freaking time) for hours on end. I'm sick of the songs on the radio. I'm sick of there being nothing on television. I'm sick of the garden. I'm sick of everyone being home and yet not being home. I'm sick of not sleeping well, of eating poorly. Of not being able to go to the dog park because it's too damn hot.

I can't wait for fall. For cooler temps. For schedules. For a little time to myself. For long walks with Lola. For chili and stews and bundling up at soccer games. For cider mill trips.

September will be good.

Blooming hot

It seems this spring we have had two temperatures...unseasonably cool or hot.

I have a feeling that hot is here to stay! After two weeks of rain every other day, the heat is here (hopefully the humidity will steer clear for a bit longer) and it feels like summer is just minutes away. The house is shut up tight and the AC is cranking...one of my least favorite transitions of the season. I want the weather to get warm, but I want it to stay cool enough to not need the AC. I feel like I'm in a cave.

Since I get up early with Lola nowadays, I decided to beat the heat and plant this morning. I'm going to do this every day until I have all pots planted, all beds weeded, all rocks pulled back. It's far better than doing it in the full sun. She whines the whole time I have her in the outdoor pen, but she'll get used to the routine. If I have to get up, she can deal with it!

Today I planted 5 perrenials and moved a few things around. I haven't bought but a few annuals yet. Shopping at the market last week with Lola was tricky, and this weekend is the annual flower sale downtown. we usually find lots of great things there. Hopefully Bart can play hooky and go with me :)

I'm also going to attempt poppies again. A neighbor behind us has a ton of them, and uses Liquid Fence to keep them bunny free. I'm pretty sure I have tried it, but her success makes me want to get them planted again.
Happy Tuesday!

what's new in my 'hood

Somehow it's the end of May and school is only in session for 20 some days. Crazy. The weather hasn't helped put me in 'summer mode' at all either. I was closer to feeling it in March when we had that 6 week stretch of goregous weather. Now it seems to rain every other day and has been chilly. I hope we are finally over the hump and I can start to plant some stuff!

Life with a puppy is very challenging! I love her to death but MAN is she a lot of work. I must have puppy amnesia, because i don't remember Buddy being as active as she is. He must have been...Jack Russells are an active breed. She gets into everything! Today had her chasing her first chipmunk and bumblebee. And another first-she licked a toad on the patio. It made her foam at the mouth and make her shake her head. Just about gave me a heart attack. I'm sure the people at the vet's office got a good laugh out of it. She was foaming because toads don't taste good. Naturally.

I pulled weeds for an hour today. Things are growing fast from all the rain. I have a lot of purples and yellows in bloom right now. Beautiful. Tomorrow I'll be heading to the farmer's market to pick up a few new lovelies. Friday and Saturday will bring the downtown flower sale as well, where I always find something unique and neat. I can't wait!
We also have 5 games this weekend. Aiyiyi. That's what ya get when you have almost 2 weeks off! I hope they are good ones :)

get ready, go!

One thing I did this weekend was review my calendar and to-do's for the upcoming few months.

It wasn't pretty.

In fact, if cloning technology were in my hands, I would be making doubles right now. Maybe triples. So I could have a spare.

The month of April just makes me want to crawl into a deep, dark hole and not peek my head out until May 1st.

Not only is there something to do or somewhere to be on every weekend, there are multiple somewhere to be's. It's enough to make me wish I would have rethought the whole second child business. (Just kidding...I wish I had a few more that were of driving age to drive the ones that need to go places to there!)

I'm not quite sure how we're going to navigate through those 4 weeks, but I know we will find a way. I'm gonna try to not stress out about the things I give less than my full attention to, and try to enjoy the things I do.

But I will sure be glad when May arrives.

review time

A quickie for the week:

• Started the week feeling like I was coming down with another sinus infection/bronchitis-y thing, but by Tuesday it had passed. Thank God! So did not want to have to deal with that!
• Found out that Evan scored a 97% on his IOWA/COGAT tests, meaning that he scored higher than 97% of fith grade students nationwide. Holy mother, the kid is smart! We got two letters today inviting him to be in the advanced programs next year. It's official-both kids are smarted than their Mom.
• finished another knitty project and mailed it off.
• Hopefully drove to my last indoor soccer practice in Wixom for the year! (I say hopefully, because we may still have practice Monday. I hope not.)
• Evan scored a goal this past weekend...his first in a long time.
• Had a great weekend with BFF Heather, except that I worked myself up and didn't sleep well, so we didn't stay up late or do anything rowdy. Next time, all nighters!
• Thinking it's just about time to get an outfit to wear to the baby shower.
• HOW is next week Easter already??
• Went to the doctor this week and have agreed on getting an IUD, which I should have done several years ago. Now it's gonna cost me about $1000. Joy. My blood sugar is still above the charts high, so I need to see my regular doctor and find out what I should be doing. Diabetes is not something I want to add to my list of ailments.
• Another weekend of games ahead for us. Year round sports is beginning to take it's toll.

Have a great weekend everyone!

Noodlepalooza twenty ten

Another gorgeous day in Southeast Michigan. Gorgeous doesn't even begin to describe it, actually. Glorious is a better choice of words! Yesterday at 4:00 our temp. was 67 degrees. I find it extremely amusing that we were 2 degrees warmer than Miami! It's going to continue on through the week, and turn to cooler weather with a chance of rain over the weekend, ending with a possibility of snow showers on Monday. I knew it was too good to be true.

In other exciting (for me) news, my friend Heather is coming to visit for the weekend! She's my internet BFF and all around fun girl. It's ridiculous how excited I am. One of the first things were are going to do is go to Noodles & Co. for dinner on Friday right after she gets here- her choice. Just as I was geeked to go to Chipotle, she wants Noodles. She's also threatening to bring her Snuggie to wear to soccer games on Saturday, even though the games are indoors. We'll be traveling to Lansing to visit the best yarn shop in the state, watching 'Glee', and who knows what else we can pack into 36 hours!

I have been a busy bee, taking advantage of the weather the last few days and getting my garden up to snuff. All the dead stuff from the fall has been trimmed back to allow the tiny green shoots to reach for the sun. I cleaned up all the leaves that found their way back into our yard; 2 bags worth. The pond is running smoothly and I have to clean the filter daily. I wish I had a floating plant...it feels so naked and the 4 little fish I have left look so vulnerable. They are still moving slowly (the water is cold!) and I don't want some heron to come and pick them off. Not to mention the ducks...they're back! No sooner did I leave for soccer on Monday than they took up residence.

Time to tackle Evan's room. Wish me luck.

a pretty good representation of what a weekend looks like around here

one near teen

one sunbathing cat

one good book

one comfy chair

one afternoon with nowhere to go

equals

one cozy but awkward cuddle session that last for many hours

much to my amusement

p.s. She finished the book all in one sitting.

lazy day

Today is a 'teacher professional day', so the kids have a three day weekend. Hooray! Naturally, it's 14 degrees outside, so I can't even kick them out to play. Which, by Sunday, I might have to. Coincidentally, we only have one soccer game all weekend. I hardly know what to do with myself! For now, we are all doing our own thing...in Emma's case it's cuddling with Ben on Mom & Dad's bed. Have a good one!

a new look for me!

I have been wanting to change around my blog for ages, and I finally found a design I like! You would never know it, but this is two hours worth of work you are looking at. AND all I did was paste the code. I must have tried 6 different designs on for size. I found one that I really really loved, but couldn't figure out how to change the pics in the header. Dealbreaker!

We are enjoying a lazy Saturday after our 7:30am soccer game. I took a huge nap and have done noting productive since! Good times.

Happy weekend to one and all!

mid-January rambling post about nothing

• The temps have warmed up considerably in the last few days, so I took Ev & a pal up to the sledding hill for a little outdoor fun. There was no one there! The boys had a great time snowboarding and sledding down the hill while I watched from the warmth of the car. He's even taken to wearing the hat I made for him !
• Almost 24 hours to the minute after getting the spacers in her teeth, Em had picked one out. She is totally my kid.
• My good friend Lisa from high school is coming over today, and I am super excited to see her. We have sort of lost touch over the last year, so I can't wait to spend some time with her and just hang out.
• This week was filled with appointments galore. I am so glad it's over!
• Evan had soccer practice last night from 7:30-8:30, which cheeses me off because Thursday is a great night of tv and who wants to go up and sit at the soccer place again? Well, I discovered that on XM radio 80's on 8, Thursday nights they are playing awesome 80's tunes. I sat in the car and knit, jamming out to some of my favorite tunes from the 80's. The time went by quick.
• I am grateful for seat warmers :)
• This weekend, somehow miraculously is soccer free.I don't question it; I just celebrate it.
• Maybe we'll finally take down our Christmas tree. We've never ever left it up this long, and usually I am chomping at the bit to get it gone, but this year it just doesn't bother me. We have a bunch of unused ornaments that we need to sort through before we put away the loved ones. Probably the biggest reason we haven't done it yet.
• Yesterday I was listening to 'Mamma Mia' and trying to get rid of a headache when Emma came home from school. She says.. "Glee?" As if! I need to work on her musical education. She is totally not my kid.
• This is the same kid that watched 'Pants on the ground' on YouTube 50 times yesterday.
• Happy Friday!

pretty snow

Yesterday and into the night was our first big snowstorm of the winter. Overall I think we got 6 inches,which in the scheme of things is not too much. Not enough to close school; just enough to make a big mess of everything. But the neighborhood looks lovely and is quiet, the way one can only be after a snowfall.

I am enjoying the birds and how active they were during and after the snowstorm. They add little specks of color and motion to an otherwise still vista out my back door. We are headed for another deep freeze, so I'll enjoy the beauty of the chill from inside, until it warms up and the kids can go sledding or chase each other in the yard.

Tomorrow brings 4,...count 'em...4 soccer games. And just like that, a day is gone. This is the one thing that I really don't like about travel soccer; the year round play. Sure, we had a few weeks off for the holidays, but then we get this crazy schedule where every weekend is like this again. And I truly love to watch them play, so I hate to complain, but the hours dedicated to it are just ridiculous!

Have a great weekend!

team Jacob!

Today is opening day for 'New Moon'. I don't have to tell you that nationwide girls of every age will be lining up around the block to see it.

I bought tickets for Emma to go with her friends tomorrow evening. 8:45 was the only time all weekend that all 4 girls could go, and we are even dicey on that time (tomorrow we are going to Frankenmuth to celebrate my MIL's 70th birthday, and 8:45 may be cutting it close) I am going to wait a few days, until I can be sure that I won't be surrounded by a gaggle of screaming teen girls who sob at the sight of Edward. {{shudder}}

I am firmly a member of team Jacob.

*************************

It's going to be a busy weekend, with all the travelling to Frankenmuth and chicken dinner eating going on tomorrow. I'm hoping to get a bit of Christmas spirit out of this trip. If you can't find some at Bronner's, then I doubt there is any to be had!

Both kids have soccer games on Sunday. Then I really need to plan what we are having for dinner on Thursday. It won't be turkey. Not that I am against turkey in any way, but on Saturday we are driving to Canada to visit my brother's extended family, and there will be turkey galore there. And ham. And probably some other meat. Shannon is going to put us into a serious food coma.

**************************

Evan bid on (and won) a used PSP with his birthday money, on ebay. If it doesn't come within the next 48 hours I am going to lose my marbles. NOT a good week to be home sick for a day, and then have 2 half days. He literally sat in his window and watched for the mailman all afternoon yesterday.

Happy Friday y'all!

getting older sucks

This pretty much goes without saying, but aging ain't for sissies!

Getting older just sort of creeps up on you in the middle of the night. One day you are a carefree 18 year old, wondering who you should hang out with on Friday night. The next day you are 41, hobbling around your house in pain and pondering your youth.

I have no idea what I have done to my tailbone, but I did something. You would think whatever I did would be big enough for me to notice, or to remember injuring it. You would be wrong. I just woke up yesterday with an incredible amount of pain in my ass. Today is not much better. In fact, the surrounding muscles are rebelling and spasming in protest. Everything is off. It hurts to walk, to stand, to sit.

This tops off a week that saw one of my heaviest and ickiest periods. I am so ready to go into the doctor and just beg for it all to be removed. I don't need it. I think 30 years of suffering is enough.

And AND you would not believe the white hair I found on my head the other morning. It was the thickness of sock yarn, 7 inches long and wiry beyond belief. Why did I not notice it before it was so long? Gah!!!

I know I'm a barrel of laughs. But aging stinks!

keep on keeping on

Haven't posted much lately- been feeling 'blah' to begin with, and nothing much has been happening except for the daily grind. Every day feels like the same day.

I have been working all week to finish up the umpteen projects that I have ongoing. Made a pretty good dent in them, but haven't finished. Just keep knitting. Just keep cleaning. Just keep shopping. Just keep cooking. Just keep washing. You get the idea!

Because I am so LAME that I have nothing intersting or funny to talk about, I will direct you to Jen's blog where you can pee youself silly with this post. I seriously have been wasting my talents all these years!

Happy Thursday!

hello, October

Really?

Ok, summer flew by...but September had to have set some sort of land speed record. Gah!

Lately I have been feeling like time is just going by so fast. And some days, I want nothing more than time to fly by. But others, not so much. It makes me sad to think that very soon both my kids will be grown and leaving the house. I know it's silly to think so far into the future, but 7 years isn't that long. I start to go down that road and it's not a good place for me to go right now. Maybe it's fall, and the start of a new school year that makes me so melancholly. I need to snap out of it!

Not much has changed around here-busy with school, soccer, football, knitting, and house stuff. The temps have plummeted and I need to think about pulling all the basil and finally ripening tomatoes into the house. Tomorrow. Tomorrow is another day!

Happy Labor Day!

The weather gods are blessing us with beautiful weather this weekend

(perhaps to make up for Memorial Day?)

Bart and the kids spent the day today at his sisters' house building a pergola

I stayed at home, recouping from a two-day headache

and getting a few things finished.

Tomorrow we will have one last day at the pool

grill some hot dogs

relax

it's all good.

Have a great weekend!

Grrr

Today was one of those days where I was fed up with being the chef/parent/maid/chaueffer.

I have one every once in awhile (gee, now that I think about it, they seem to cluster around my monthly cycle. What are the chances??)

Today's grievances were multiplied by the fact that I have to drive two kids thru town during rush hour to different locations. Why was I thinking I could do this? Did I plan to teleport myself? I just don't know anymore. All I do know is that from the hours of 5-6, going anywhere in Northville is a total pain in the ass. It took me 25 minutes to drive Evan to football practice and back home. Total distance? 2 miles. 2 frickin' miles. Shoot me now.

I talked to my Dad for a minute, and he said "Those kids are probably kissing your feet they are so grateful for all that you are doing for them right now" To which I responded with a "ARE YOU $#@%ING KIDDING ME?" Because nothing rubs the salt into the wounds like a whiny, uncooperative, unappreciative kid. Of which I have two.

To my credit, they both are still alive, to torment me another day.

Grrr. I may take up drinking in the afternoon, just to get thru the b.s.

(just kidding. drinking just makes me sleepy, and lazy. I don't have time to be either)