"Life can be overwhelming and absolutely crazy, but it’s OK. I wield a camera. I freeze time, so I can play it back S-L-O-W-L-Y and better appreciate the moments of complete bliss that are plentiful and so very good."
I read this today on another blog (Stacy Julian for those of you who know of her) and it immediately hit a chord.
Showing posts with label Rita whines. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Rita whines. Show all posts
Thursday, January 21, 2010
Saturday, July 19, 2008
Lost Wii Controllers
When we went to the beach I had the brilliant idea to take the Wii for the kids, and the moms too, to play during their down time. It was a great idea I thought. We got back from the beach on Wednesday and today, Saturday, I just got around to unpacking the Wii and hooking it back up to our tv at home. All the parts to the Wii were in the box, except the two controllers. Somehow they got left behind. And this is going to drive me crazy for the rest of my days.
We have always traveled alot because we've always lived away from our family so I'm a pretty good packer, traveler person. And I pride myself on never (or very rarely) leaving anything behind. Ask Jim's mom...she'll tell you that with all the crap we bring to her house, we hardly ever forget anything when we leave. Jim will say it's because of his obsessive checking of the drawers, under the beds, etc., ten times before we leave. But in reality, it's due to my uncanny, superb packing skills. Nevertheless, we are somehow without two Wii controllers...on my packing duty...there's no way I can blame Jim for this one. At least, I haven't figured out yet how it's his fault.
I did e-mail the owner of the condo and she said she'd check, but there have been renters there since we checked out so I'm sure if the cleaning people didn't take them, those people scooped them up. Maybe humanity will surprise me and they'll still be sitting right where we left them. We'll see. In the meantime, I'll be obsessing over how I could have possibly overlooked them.
We have always traveled alot because we've always lived away from our family so I'm a pretty good packer, traveler person. And I pride myself on never (or very rarely) leaving anything behind. Ask Jim's mom...she'll tell you that with all the crap we bring to her house, we hardly ever forget anything when we leave. Jim will say it's because of his obsessive checking of the drawers, under the beds, etc., ten times before we leave. But in reality, it's due to my uncanny, superb packing skills. Nevertheless, we are somehow without two Wii controllers...on my packing duty...there's no way I can blame Jim for this one. At least, I haven't figured out yet how it's his fault.
I did e-mail the owner of the condo and she said she'd check, but there have been renters there since we checked out so I'm sure if the cleaning people didn't take them, those people scooped them up. Maybe humanity will surprise me and they'll still be sitting right where we left them. We'll see. In the meantime, I'll be obsessing over how I could have possibly overlooked them.
Tuesday, March 11, 2008
Rat Terrier vs. Rat
As my dear, sweet friend Heather pointed out, it's March and i guess I haven't posted in a while so here's one for everyone to enjoy.
This past Sunday morning while I was getting dressed, Jensen ran into the bathroom and yelled, "Mom, Bella is fighting with a rat!" I said, "No, it must be something else" but went to look out the window anyway. That tail is unmistakable. It was definitely a rat. And Bella had it cornered in the shrubbery. After a few minutes of her going after the rat, she grabbed it and actually flung it into our pool! The rat was still alive at this point and furiously paddling around my pool. Bleeding into it by the way. I didn't know what to do so called Jim who wasn't home at the time. He, wisely, told me to "call someone." By the time I got off the phone with him, the rat had clearly expired. Still bleeding into my pool though. I called my lovely neighbor, Richard, who I knew had experience fishing rats out of pools (it's actually a pretty common occurance in our little corner of paradise). He came down the street with his pool skimmer and fished it out for me, bagged it up, and hauled it to the dumpster. Thanks, Richard!
Rat Terrier 1
Rat 0
This past Sunday morning while I was getting dressed, Jensen ran into the bathroom and yelled, "Mom, Bella is fighting with a rat!" I said, "No, it must be something else" but went to look out the window anyway. That tail is unmistakable. It was definitely a rat. And Bella had it cornered in the shrubbery. After a few minutes of her going after the rat, she grabbed it and actually flung it into our pool! The rat was still alive at this point and furiously paddling around my pool. Bleeding into it by the way. I didn't know what to do so called Jim who wasn't home at the time. He, wisely, told me to "call someone." By the time I got off the phone with him, the rat had clearly expired. Still bleeding into my pool though. I called my lovely neighbor, Richard, who I knew had experience fishing rats out of pools (it's actually a pretty common occurance in our little corner of paradise). He came down the street with his pool skimmer and fished it out for me, bagged it up, and hauled it to the dumpster. Thanks, Richard!
Rat Terrier 1
Rat 0
Saturday, July 28, 2007
Summer Doldrums
Wow, 2 weeks goes by fast! When I last updated we were getting ready to go on vacation. Now we are back and the summer doldrums are setting in. We had a great vacation but often when we get back from a trip I feel a little let down...I've got no other trips to look forward to and we face 30 more days of hot summer before school starts. I've got about a million things I should be doing around here, but just don't feel motivated to do any of them. This past week we've been home more than we're used to and when I'm home I tend to eat. I've gained 4 pounds in the past 2 weeks. Gotta put the brakes on that. Hopefully I can snap myself out of this next week but in the meantime. let's relive our beach vacation!
We left Kingwood on Sunday, July 15th at about 5:45 a.m. Crazy early, I know, but we were caravanning with friends and they wanted to get there early. I'm pretty proud of myself that we actually left somewhat on time.
We drove about 9 or 10 hours through a lot of pouring down rain through Louisiana, Mississippi and on to Alabama. We made a stop in Lake Charles, LA at a cajun meat market to pick up some sausage, stuffed pork chops, stuffed chicken, etc. for the grill. Cajun meat markets are the best! We even sampled cracklins (not sure what this is...near as I can tell it's fried pork fat). It was pretty disgusting and I won't be trying that again.
We arrived at our destination--the Beach Club in Fort Morgan, AL--at about 3:00 p.m. Got the car unpacked in the rain then went down to the beach. It was still sprinkling but we didn't really care. It was nice to be on the beach.
The next day the rain had gone and we spent the day on the beach. The only problem we encountered were the jelly fish. That put a little damper on the ocean for the kids since everytime we were down at the beach at least one of the kids got stung. Luckily there were 5 different pools, tennis courts, and a playground to also keep them occupied.
To take a break from the beach we went to a nearby waterpark one day. On another afternoon Jim took the kids to see a movie while the moms went shopping at the outlet mall.
All too soon it was time to pack up and head out. Our drive home was in much better weather and was pretty uneventful...just the way I like it. Even though we had a great time I don't think I'd stay at this particular condo complex again. Fort Morgan seems way too out of the way for me. I prefer to be closer to stores, restaurants, etc. Plus they only had two community grills to use for the entire complex! When we go on vacation we like to grill. Our group ended up going out to buy our own grill to use. All in all, though, it was another fun year at the beach. Now...what are we going to do for the rest of the summer...
We left Kingwood on Sunday, July 15th at about 5:45 a.m. Crazy early, I know, but we were caravanning with friends and they wanted to get there early. I'm pretty proud of myself that we actually left somewhat on time.
We drove about 9 or 10 hours through a lot of pouring down rain through Louisiana, Mississippi and on to Alabama. We made a stop in Lake Charles, LA at a cajun meat market to pick up some sausage, stuffed pork chops, stuffed chicken, etc. for the grill. Cajun meat markets are the best! We even sampled cracklins (not sure what this is...near as I can tell it's fried pork fat). It was pretty disgusting and I won't be trying that again.
We arrived at our destination--the Beach Club in Fort Morgan, AL--at about 3:00 p.m. Got the car unpacked in the rain then went down to the beach. It was still sprinkling but we didn't really care. It was nice to be on the beach.
The next day the rain had gone and we spent the day on the beach. The only problem we encountered were the jelly fish. That put a little damper on the ocean for the kids since everytime we were down at the beach at least one of the kids got stung. Luckily there were 5 different pools, tennis courts, and a playground to also keep them occupied.
To take a break from the beach we went to a nearby waterpark one day. On another afternoon Jim took the kids to see a movie while the moms went shopping at the outlet mall.
All too soon it was time to pack up and head out. Our drive home was in much better weather and was pretty uneventful...just the way I like it. Even though we had a great time I don't think I'd stay at this particular condo complex again. Fort Morgan seems way too out of the way for me. I prefer to be closer to stores, restaurants, etc. Plus they only had two community grills to use for the entire complex! When we go on vacation we like to grill. Our group ended up going out to buy our own grill to use. All in all, though, it was another fun year at the beach. Now...what are we going to do for the rest of the summer...
Sunday, July 08, 2007
Happy 4th and other stuff
It's been a wet July here in Texas so far. I think I read in the paper that it's rained the last 23 days in a row...yuck. This year, the 4th of July was on a Wednesday...weird to have it in the middle of the week. It was overcast in the a.m. but we decided to go to the Kingwood parade anyway. It started drizzling about halfway through but we were sitting under some trees so we didn't get too wet. The kids don't seem to mind the rain.
We had just planned a cookout with some of our neighbors and luckily we have a porte cochere--a covered area over part of our driveway--on our house (never even heard of this until we moved to Texas but now wouldn't want to live without it). We grilled under there and set up tables to eat. The rain actually held out for most of the evening and the guys were able to set off all the fireworks they had purchased (probably $300 or $400 worth combined!).
On Thursday Jordan had a sleepover with her two good friends on the street, Madison and Kristina. She's been dying to have a sleepover since we moved back into the house but with early morning summer swim practices/meets we didn't have one until now. The girls all braided their hair, watched a movie, ate popcorn, listened to music, talked and stayed up late. Typical sleepover stuff. Luckily, Jackson was asked to spend the night at his friend Austin's house the same night so no little brother around to bug them.
On Friday we had the Kellers over for dinner. They have the distinction of being our first dinner guests since we've moved back in. I've hosted girls' night and some of the neighborhood friends have ended up eating over here after grilling out but this was the first time we've cooked for others since we've been back. It was a fun time!
This week (July 2nd) also marked the two year anniversary of our fire. We are so happy to be back in our house but things are far from over. We're still dealing with the arbitration case against our contractor and our Ford lawsuit hasn't even started yet. Currently our trial date is set for November, but our neighbor's insurance company just intervened in the suit so that will probably mean another delay. We have lost so much financially and emotionally that some days it seems like we will never recover.
On a happier note, this week also marked the first time in two years that we've had kids swimming in our pool. That was a good day! The kids have all grown so much in the past 2 years that our pool suddenly seems really small but at least it's ours and it's up and running.
We had just planned a cookout with some of our neighbors and luckily we have a porte cochere--a covered area over part of our driveway--on our house (never even heard of this until we moved to Texas but now wouldn't want to live without it). We grilled under there and set up tables to eat. The rain actually held out for most of the evening and the guys were able to set off all the fireworks they had purchased (probably $300 or $400 worth combined!).
On Thursday Jordan had a sleepover with her two good friends on the street, Madison and Kristina. She's been dying to have a sleepover since we moved back into the house but with early morning summer swim practices/meets we didn't have one until now. The girls all braided their hair, watched a movie, ate popcorn, listened to music, talked and stayed up late. Typical sleepover stuff. Luckily, Jackson was asked to spend the night at his friend Austin's house the same night so no little brother around to bug them.
On Friday we had the Kellers over for dinner. They have the distinction of being our first dinner guests since we've moved back in. I've hosted girls' night and some of the neighborhood friends have ended up eating over here after grilling out but this was the first time we've cooked for others since we've been back. It was a fun time!
This week (July 2nd) also marked the two year anniversary of our fire. We are so happy to be back in our house but things are far from over. We're still dealing with the arbitration case against our contractor and our Ford lawsuit hasn't even started yet. Currently our trial date is set for November, but our neighbor's insurance company just intervened in the suit so that will probably mean another delay. We have lost so much financially and emotionally that some days it seems like we will never recover.
On a happier note, this week also marked the first time in two years that we've had kids swimming in our pool. That was a good day! The kids have all grown so much in the past 2 years that our pool suddenly seems really small but at least it's ours and it's up and running.
Tuesday, May 08, 2007
One of Those Days
Just because I feel like whining, this is how my day went:
* 5:30 a.m. alarm goes off. I get up at about 5:40 and start a pot of coffee. Drink coffee and check e-mail.
* 6:00 a.m. shower
* 6:30 a.m. wake up kids (one was sleeping in my bed since Jim is out of town so that one was easy).
* 6:30 - 7:27 a.m. Get kids dressed, fed, lunches made, etc. Yell at Jordan for backtalk. Off to school for 7:30 a.m. parent/child book club meeting before school starts. Late as usual.
* 8:06 a.m. back to the apartment to get Jensen's things for school and put my makeup on since I didn't have time to do it before.
* 8:40 a.m. Take Jensen to school. Get there about 8:55...late as usual.
* 9:00 a.m. Go to house on Misty River to unpack more boxes.
* 9:30 a.m. Meet with landscaper. Go to his nursery to see some stone selections. Get call from city inspector that he is at my house and needs to get in. Rush back to house.
* 10:00 a.m. House passes mechanical inspection...the last inspection (we think).
* 10:30 a.m. Back to landscaper and off to see a few houses he's done.
*11:00 a.m. Bed Bath and Beyond to get items for the bed, bath, and beyond. The list is endless.
* 1:00 p.m. Drop off beach towels to be monogrammed for birthday gifts. Pick up lunch on the way back to house.
*1:30 p.m. Back at house to unpack a few more boxes and wait for people from Star Furniture to show up to fix something they delivered last week.
* 2:00 p.m. No guys from Star furniture yet, but I have to leave to go pick Jensen up from school.
* 2:30 p.m. Back to apartment to pack up kids' gear for swim practice. Head out to pick Jackson and Jordan up from school.
* 3:00 p.m. Back to house. Wait for guys from Star Furniture. Kids play out on the street with other neighbor kids. That is awesome!
* 4:45 p.m. Neighbor Jen takes Jackson and Jordan to swim practice for me (love her) since I am still waiting for guys from Star Furniture.
* 5:20 p.m. Guys finally show up. Fix the problem while they sweat all over everything.
* 5:55 p.m. Guys are done in the nick of time and I leave to go pick up kids at swim practice. Rush back to house, kids inhale leftover pizza and change clothes.
* 6:30 p.m. Last Cub Scout meeting of the year.
* 7:45 p.m. Meeting over; head back to apartment.
* 8:00 p.m. Get kids showered, in pjs and off to bed.
* 9:00 p.m. Ahhhhh.
* 5:30 a.m. alarm goes off. I get up at about 5:40 and start a pot of coffee. Drink coffee and check e-mail.
* 6:00 a.m. shower
* 6:30 a.m. wake up kids (one was sleeping in my bed since Jim is out of town so that one was easy).
* 6:30 - 7:27 a.m. Get kids dressed, fed, lunches made, etc. Yell at Jordan for backtalk. Off to school for 7:30 a.m. parent/child book club meeting before school starts. Late as usual.
* 8:06 a.m. back to the apartment to get Jensen's things for school and put my makeup on since I didn't have time to do it before.
* 8:40 a.m. Take Jensen to school. Get there about 8:55...late as usual.
* 9:00 a.m. Go to house on Misty River to unpack more boxes.
* 9:30 a.m. Meet with landscaper. Go to his nursery to see some stone selections. Get call from city inspector that he is at my house and needs to get in. Rush back to house.
* 10:00 a.m. House passes mechanical inspection...the last inspection (we think).
* 10:30 a.m. Back to landscaper and off to see a few houses he's done.
*11:00 a.m. Bed Bath and Beyond to get items for the bed, bath, and beyond. The list is endless.
* 1:00 p.m. Drop off beach towels to be monogrammed for birthday gifts. Pick up lunch on the way back to house.
*1:30 p.m. Back at house to unpack a few more boxes and wait for people from Star Furniture to show up to fix something they delivered last week.
* 2:00 p.m. No guys from Star furniture yet, but I have to leave to go pick Jensen up from school.
* 2:30 p.m. Back to apartment to pack up kids' gear for swim practice. Head out to pick Jackson and Jordan up from school.
* 3:00 p.m. Back to house. Wait for guys from Star Furniture. Kids play out on the street with other neighbor kids. That is awesome!
* 4:45 p.m. Neighbor Jen takes Jackson and Jordan to swim practice for me (love her) since I am still waiting for guys from Star Furniture.
* 5:20 p.m. Guys finally show up. Fix the problem while they sweat all over everything.
* 5:55 p.m. Guys are done in the nick of time and I leave to go pick up kids at swim practice. Rush back to house, kids inhale leftover pizza and change clothes.
* 6:30 p.m. Last Cub Scout meeting of the year.
* 7:45 p.m. Meeting over; head back to apartment.
* 8:00 p.m. Get kids showered, in pjs and off to bed.
* 9:00 p.m. Ahhhhh.
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