It's That Time of Year...

Holidays are over, and we settle into the gray days of winter. As much as I try to enjoy it, I have an intense dislike for this time of year. Now is when the weather gets bad and school delays, which wreaks havoc on my schedule. For exmaple -

School delayed 2 hours last Tuesday. I quickly reviewed my schedule in my head, and thought that we should be okay. Kaylee and Whitney catch a ride with a friend, so I usually take Cassidy. On a normal day, K & W get picked up about 7:15 and C and I leave about 7:30. This still gets her to school WAY early. (Like, so early she is usually the first student there and a teacher's aid has to play UNO with her for awhile until other kids start to arrive!)

Let me back up - she could catch a bus at the only bus stop in town, which is about 2 blocks away from our house. She could walk over, or I could drop her off there WAY early. But, it's about 16 degrees out most mornings, without the wind chill factor, so I have a really hard time sending my 9-year old out in that. Yes, I spoil her. And yes, I realize that many kids do this and I walked further than that in the winter as a kid. (No, not 10 miles up hill both ways.)

Anyway...

I called home on Tuesday to remind K & W that their ride would be there about 9:15. Whitney said that Cassidy was asking how she would get to shool, and I said "I'm taking her." End of conversation. We've done this many times before, so I figured she knew the drill. I had a quick meeting from 9-9:15, so figured the timing would be perfect for me to get home about 9:30...two hours later than we usually leave. Well, my meeting ran over and I didn't get out of it until 9:30. I knew Cassidy would be waiting for me so I grab my purse and look at my work phone - only to see my voice mail light blinking. Do I check it now or wait until I get back? I check it quickly and find two messages from Cassidy. The first one was pretty normal: "Hey mom, it's Cassidy. I'm just wondering when you are going to pick me up. Maybe you are on your way now. Thanks, bye." or something like that. The second one was much more panicky. "Mom, it's Cassidy, and you're not here yet." Soft crying. "I'm not sure how I'm getting to school." More crying. "Please come and get me."

I run out of work dialing my cell to tell her I'm on my way and reassuring her that it's okay. When I get home her face is red and her eyes are swollen from crying. I feel like the worst mother in the world. Only one week in to the new year, and my nomination for "Mother of the Year" is in the toilet. Of course, we have several discussions about what to do in the future if she can't reach me, telling her I'd never forget her, and reminding her that she is still getting there way early, etc.

Later in the day I check my cell phone and see she had also left two messages there. Again, the first one is kind of relaxed, but by the second one you can't even understand her, she is sobbing so hard and out of control. She ends the call with "pleeeaaase, pleeeeaaase, pleeeeeaaaase, call me back!" Horrible. Absolutely horrible.

To top it off, on Thursday of last week, I'm in the middle of hosting a web conference at work, and another line in my department starts to ring. A co-worker answers it and takes the message that Whitney has gotten sick at school. It happened right at the end of the day, and they didn't want to put her on the bus and risk her getting sick on there, so she is in the office and they need someone to come and get her. Perfect. I wrap up as quick as I can and run to school to pick her up. She must have had a touch of the flu or something.

These things were somewhat easier when Jeff worked in town because between the two of us, one of us could usually slip away from work. Now it is all on me. Being a working mom is the hardest thing in the world. I know that being a stay at home mom is no walk in the park, but being torn between work and home stinks. Those are the days you feel like you are not doing your kids justice. I tell my girls all the time that if at all possible, they should try to stay home when they have a family. Or at least have a flexible job, or be their own boss, or work from home...I'm not sure what the answer is.

I realize that I'm fortunate to have a job, but it's just really stinky that society has become so money-centric that I have to work just to provide some nice things for my family - like food. Of course, it's somewhat easier now that they are older. Plucking a sleeping infant out of their crib to put them in a cold car seat and drag them to a sitter was gut-wrenching most days.

Okay, enough boo-hooing. Sorry - but I feel better now.

On a completely different topic: remember the jigsaw puzzle we were working on after Christmas? We finished it this past weekend:

This puzzle kicked our behinds! I'm not kidding. There were several times we had to stop and take a whole section apart to re-do it because the same pieces would fit in multiple locations. I was getting tired of seeing it half-done in the middle of the living room, so threatened to take it apart. Jeff decided it was time to just get it done, so we spent almost all Saturday afternoon bent over the card table and finally knocked it out. NOW, I get to take it apart!

Holiday Update

One last post for 2008, just to keep updated.

Christmas went well. I worked a half day Christmas Eve. My company has a "Christmas drawing" where they randomly pull a few names of people who win small prizes. I actually won this year. I got to choose my gift, so I picked a Gingerbread House Kit. I thought it would be something the kids could do that afternoon to keep them occupied. The house comes pre-assembled, so you just have to decorate it. Although the thought of eating something that has sat on a shelf for a month at Wal-Mart was a little intimidating, it was in the spirit of the season, so what the heck? The kids actually did pretty well with it, and have decided we should do one every year.

The final product:

I think it turned out pretty cute, considering that the icing was not very easy to work with. However, it wasn't exactly edible once it dried. We picked some of the candy off of it, but then threw the rest out...yuck!

As soon as we wrapped up that project, it was time to get ready for the children's Christmas Eve Mass. Whitney and Cassidy both had speaking parts, but like bad parents, we didn't take our camera. :( They both did a good job. Plus - Santa came to our house while we were gone! He has done this most years. When the kids were younger, it was great because then they could open their gifts and have time to play. We used to always have to get up on Christmas morning and drive to my family's for our Christmas, and it was hard to tear the kids away. Now, my family holds it a different day so the kids can enjoy their Christmas at home a little; but I've let Santa know that we're still fine with him coming to our house while we are at church. So Christmas day was pretty relaxing. Just us hanging out, and trying out Guitar Hero World Tour.

Here they are unwrapping:

(For some reason Whitney was cold so kept her coat on to open presents.)

So, here we sit on New Year's Eve. We tend to be home-bodies, so it's going to be pretty quiet for us. Kaylee is at a party (I wonder what it's like to have a social life?) and the rest of us are baking brownies and putting together a jigsaw puzzle. Jealous? We'll try to keep it under control...

Here is hoping that you and yours have a very happy and blessed 2009!!

Where Do I Begin?

I've been a bad blogger lately. December has been so busy. Kaylee has had a couple of dive meets. Here is a picture. We really have to figure out appropriate settings on the camera for the conditions:

Central had their Children's Christmas Party. My kids are probably getting too old to go; but I figured this might be the last year for Cassidy. Whitney insisted on going also, even though it meant missing gymnastics. Then, Kaylee didn't want to stay at home, so opted to come along, "to eat some cookies." Really, my 15 year-old at a kids party? The younger two played games, which earned them tickets that they could then turn in for prizes - much in the spirit of "Chuck E. Cheese." Kaylee kept trying to talk them in to one particular princess crown - made out of sparkly pipe cleaners. Whitney finally got tired of hearing her whine, so went and purchased it for her. I then insisted Kaylee wear it for the remainder of the party. She was only too happy to oblige:

I just thought this was kind of a cool shot, even though it's blurry:

I finally got Christmas cards out. We usually take a family photo, but we haven't been able to find the time. We opted for a quick picture session of just the girls in front of our little tree. This was a late decision, so some people received just cards, while others got the photo. Here are a few out-takes:

The final result:

On to more recent news. As all of the locals are well aware, we had a major ice storm last Thursday night/Friday morning. School was cancelled (for the second day), and Jeff left for work early. I got ready as usual, and just as I was finishing up, we lost power. I woke up Kaylee so she'd know that they may be without lights, etc. once they got up. She wanted to get up then and the other two ended up waking up amid the commotion. I had heard the sump pump running all morning, so decided on a whim to call Jeff at work and let him know the situation. (I never call him at work.)

As I'm on the phone, I hear Kaylee say the words, "I'm standing in water!" so I quickly hang up with Jeff. She was in the toy room, looking for the Nintendo DS. I go in with a flashlight (it was pitch-black) to find a growing puddle on the floor, coming from the window sill. Ice had dammed up the spouting and water was running down the window in a wide river, coming in and filling up the inside of the sill, and leaking through the molding. Jeff calls back, saying he is on his way and tells me to check the sump hole and if it is filling up, to start bailing.

I quickly deal with the mess in the toy room (the kids had tons of stuff on the floor, which was now soaking up the water). I then take a flashlight to check the sump hole - which is located UNDER our basement stairs, with an opening between the stairs and cinder block of about 18 inches to squeeze through. I shine my flashlight down and see a stream creeping toward the front of the stairs. I utter something inappropriate and yell at Kaylee to get a bucket. She holds the flashlight while I start to bail - hauling the water out the back door and to the yard about 10-12 times before Jeff pulls in the garage. Oh - it is still raining and large branches weighted down with ice are snapping and tumbling to earth.

Once Jeff arrives, he yells for larger buckets from the garage and he takes over bailing, filling the 5-gallon buckets to the top while Kaylee and I take turns hauling them to the yard - sometimes one at a time, and sometimes doubling up. They are kind of heavy for us, so we end up slopping a lot of the water over the top, which pours down our legs, into our shoes, and over the stairs to shower Jeff with stinky water. (We have additional septic line issues which are scheduled to be fixed next week, but result in a very foul odor that periodically escapes from our sump hole. It is not pleasant.)

I'm not sure how long we do this before Jeff's dad shows up with a battery operated pump from Ace. Only then did I really start to feel the cold. I'm sure we were at it an hour at least, and I'm guessing we hauled over 150 gallons of water. But, we managed to keep up and nothing was ruined...not that there is much in our basement that could be ruined. Whitney and Cassidy went with my father-in-law to his house since they had a generator and heat. Kaylee and I changed clothes and huddled on the couch to take a nap. We woke up hungry and made a run to McDonald's to get lunch for everyone. Big mistake when everyone else in town is also without power.

To make a long story short (I know - too late), the kids and I ended up staying at my in-laws Friday and Saturday nights. Jeff had to stay here and mind the pump. He had to turn it on to drain the hole, and then turn it off so the motor wouldn't burn up. He was up every 20 minutes the first night, and then it finally slowed down so he could sleep for 2-hour stretches the second night. He had no heat until Saturday afternoon when his dad insisted on bringing kerosene heaters in. It helped, but still was not my idea of comfortable.

As if this weren't enough, we had Christmas with my family on Saturday, in Russells Point. The kids and I went, but we all felt bad leaving Daddy at home. Christmas was fun, and my sister invited us to spend the night there, but I felt we should get back. Christmas with Jeff's family was on Sunday. We still had no power Sunday morning, so it was hard to get in the spirit. Jeff came to his parents to shower and get ready, and brought laundry since we were running out of clean clothes.

The kids opened presents, and it was almost time for Jeff to run home to drain the sump hole once again, when he got a call from a neighbor that our power was back on! We really felt like it was a Christmas miracle!! He ran home to turn everything on, return the pump, and make sure the furnace fired up. We ate dinner, visited awhile longer, and then started the process of loading the vehicles with all of our possessions - laundry, coolers of food that we had moved there, Christmas gifts, and the dog.

The clean up at home was no small task - and is still not complete - but it is good to be home! A big thanks to my in-laws for putting up with us for three days....again, no small task!!

MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL!

I am Thankful...

I realize that I am a little late for a Thanksgiving post, but I just don't know where the time has gone. I can't believe I was only able to update twice in November; and that December is already here.

Thanksgiving was good, except that Jeff had to work. The kids and I went to my sister's in West Liberty and had a nice day with my family. I don't get home as often as I should. My Nephew, Cliff, made it home this year. He is in the Navy and hasn't been back for quite awhile. It was nice to see him again - he looks good! (Any single, young ladies reading?) My Niece, who is in Iraq, was supposed to call, but I left before we heard from her. Hope all is well with you, Ashley!

We then headed back to VW to have Thanksgiving #2 with the Meyers'. Jeff was off of work by then, so we met up there. Once again, it was relaxing. We surfed the internet for Christmas bargains and tried to get the kids to make their lists.

I have started some Christmas shopping. It's not much, but at least I'm ahead of where I was a week ago. I've done most of my shopping online this year, but will have to venture out eventually.

The kids are keeping busy. Whitney had a Christmas band concert this evening. Here is a somewhat poor picture. (You know how the lighting is at these events.)

Cassidy starts basketball this week, and Kaylee has her first dive meet on Thursday. We will try to get pictures of that. Neither Jeff nor I have ever seen her dive - this is the first time she has ever done anything like this. I'm just proud of her for trying something new!

January and February should be interesting. I believe there are several Saturdays where we will have dive meets, basketball games, and gymnastics meets that all overlap. One of us is going to have to clone ourselves!

The kids' uncle recently donated a foosball table to them. It was no sooner in the door than they started assembling it. Here is a shot:


So now I have a half-assembled foosball table in my entrance. I have no idea where we will eventually find a spot for it.

I actually have the perfect spot - in the basement of a house we looked at about a month ago! Oh, wait...the title of this post is about being thankful. And I AM thankful for my home. Many people don't even have that. I'm thankful for my family, my job, and our health. I'm thankful that the election is over and that the school levy passed! I'm thankful for the holiday season, spending time with family, Christmas lights, receiving cards from old friends, and for Jesus - the reason for the season! I'm trying to be more thankful every day, and recognize the many things that make my life complete as it is. I'm trying not to concentrate on the things I THINK I need and be happy with the abundance that I actually have. Happy Belated Thanksgiving!

What are you thankful for?

Identity Crisis

Meet "Chris" and "Nick." They came to visit over the weekend. Apparently, they are my new sons. They first made an appearance on Friday night, while Kaylee was spending the night with a friend. They came back for most of the day on Saturday. They appear to be typical boys, and have a very "gangsta" style of dialect....saying things like "'sup" and "true-dat." They even spit and scratch themselves a lot. Just as I was getting concerned, I saw them dragging around and playing with several Build-A-Bears, so I think we'll recover from their visit just fine. Whew - I was starting to miss my girls!

Not much is new other than that. I can't believe November is half over. I usually have some Christmas shopping started by now; but I have to admit - I haven't even started. Not really sure where to begin this year. I did buy a new Christmas tree today! Jeff and I bought our first one the year before we got married - on clearance, of course. I think 18 years is pretty good for a Christmas tree. I wasn't able to get the big one I wanted due to space constraints in our house. Maybe someday...

Kaylee just finished the classroom portion of her Driver's Ed class. Now, she has to take her permit test, and we can schedule some driving time. Scary! I can't believe how fast the past 15 1/2 years have gone. Time is so funny - it seems like the days drag on forever, but when I reflect back, boy has it gone quickly! I suppose I 'm showing my age just a bit. I'm sure I'll have more to post on our driving adventures soon!

Trick Or Treat On My Street

Halloween at our house is always fun. For whatever reason, my street gets crazy-busy with trick-or-treaters. It has always amazed me. It's not like our neighborhood is a ritzy, up and coming kind of neighborhood. But, people tend to flock to our neck of the woods for beggars night. Here is a picture of the commotion from this year.

Actually, I think the crowd was down a bit. Cars usually line the street and it is a constant stream of kids. Maybe it's the economy. However, we did run out of candy.

For many years, we combined Halloween with Cassidy's birthday celebration, so Trick or Treat meant cousins, aunts, uncles, and grandparents. We would hit the neighbors up for candy, and then come back for presents and cake and ice cream. We have since separated Cassidy's birthday, so she has her own celebration, but I still like to have people over for Trick or Treat.

Here is a picture of my own beggars:

Cassidy was a pirate, Whitney was an Ohio State football player, and Kaylee stayed home and passed out the candy. I guess 15 is officially too old to dress up and go door to door. Whitney actually went to a friend's party that night, so Cassidy was my only beggar. Now I just have to keep the other two out of her candy!

In other news:

- Here is a picture of the flowers Jeff sent for our anniversary, and for Cassidy's birthday:

- Speaking of Jeff, we picked him up at their airport yesterday! Five weeks is really a long time. He had an opportunity to stay longer, but wisely turned that down. All three kids came with me, and we celebrated being back together as a family by going out to eat. We're glad to be back to "normal."

- However, the kids might have a different opinion. After five weeks of mom carrying most of the weight of household chores, dad cracked the whip and had the kids out doing yard work. Here are their less-than-thrilled reactions:

- And here is a picture of the man, himself:

He is off of work this week. Boy, do I have a "honey-do" list for him!

Welcome home, honey!!

Happy 18th Anniversary, Honey!

Yes, today is our 18th Anniversary, and we can't even be together to celebrate. I've put together the slide show below to commemorate our 18 years together. Forgive the quality of the pictures - I had to scan the majority of them in.

I struggled to find many pictures of us together after we were married. (Note to self: Take more pictures of all of us together.) So, I focused on pictures of Jeff. He'll be thrilled with that decision!

I just wanted him to know how much the past 18 years have meant to me. It hasn't always been easy - nothing worthwhile ever is. However, I wouldn't change any of it.

I even loaded the song we danced to at our wedding. He had to remind me of this a couple of months ago. I could have sworn it was "Groovy Kind of Love" by Phil Collins. Yes, we really were that dorky.

Happy Anniversay Sweetie! I love you and miss you.