catching up before the CRAZY end of the week

Shannen left Sunday for Dallas. He is working VERY hard (opening AND closing every day, just to make sure he knows how to do it) and isn't going to have much time to visit our old stomping grounds... bummer for him. Natalie asks each morning, "is Daddy coming home tomorrow???"
I made a countdown sheet so she can mark off the days. I don't think she quite gets it. Maybe by the 4th or 5th week of training (out of 10) she will.

Today Natalie gets to go to her school with Mimi for "special person night." It's a 90 minute play/circle time/snack time for the kids to bring someone who wouldn't normally get to go (like Shannen but...). They are both looking very forward to a fun night. Happy Birthday, by the way!

I'm at school today (like always) and I'm very glad it is sunny and "warmer." Yesterday might have been the worst day EVER at Greenfield, weather-wise. It was supposed to rain (and it did), so I didnt' bring any "warm" clothes, thinking i could go home instead of sitting at a softball game. Silly me. I got to sit at the softball game anyway--and have sleet and snow and wind and rain on my face most of the time.... That'll teach me!!!

I'm almost ready for this fundraiser this weekend. There's always the last minute stuff, but when you are doing it all by yourself, there is even MORE. I know I'll forget something important, but honestly, at this point I do not care. I sure appreciate all the help I had when I did this in Oklahoma for the Heart Association--like a professional party planner and a caterer and an auctioneer and such... Oh well. Whatever happens happens. I do know that I'll be able to get some good stuff for CHEAP and I won't feel bad about it at ALL.

Thanks Andy for responding to our requests for random things. We could do it again next month--there's ALWAYS random stuff we want to know, right?

Good luck Susan--the last week of work, the First Communion party, the trip to Big D, and all the fun that will follow. I'll be thinking of you lots and hope you pick out a big ol' mansion like Southfork Ranch.... (don't forget to send some of those peanut butter balls back to Indy!!!!!)

Take care, all!

Tag...I'm IT

OK, Susan, I'll play your game. Then we'll see if ANDY will do it...
1. I was born in Berlin, Germany, the daughter of an Air Force SPY;
2. My best friend when I was little was a kid named JUNEBUG. This was his real name, right mom?
3. I won the Christ the King spelling bee when I was in 8th grade. I went to Orchard School for the "city" tournament and finished one spot higher (better) than Tom O'Gara, who I went on a few dates with when I was in high school at Chatard and he was at Scecina.
4. My favorite Crayola crayon color is Midnight Blue. Now that I think about it, though, I REALLY liked silver and bronze, too.
5. One of my fondest memories of my "young" life was going on our family trip to Boston, New York, Niagara Falls and hanging Duran Duran posters in our hotel room because I was SUCH a big fan of those dudes.
6. My perfect day would include sleeping in until 10am, going to the pool, taking a long, warm shower, going to a Purdue football game and tailgating before and after, then taking in a Chicago Cubs victory--in the World Series.... A girl can dream, can't she??? (and this might be longer than 24 hours).

TAG, Andy, you are it.
Have a great end of the week, everyone.

Adventures in reading

Pretty low key day here in Indy. Got up, went to chuch (I did... the kids went to Mimi and Papa's to play), had some lunch, and went to the "new" Indianapolis Marion County Public Library for an "invitation only" event for the Early Reader's Club. We listened to some books, did some stamping (not nearly as good as yours, Susan and Sara), had a snack, went up 5 escalators (to the top of the building--so mom and I could see downtown, and Natalie and Landry could enjoy the rides), and left 1 1/2 hours later, $2 poorer for paying for parking in the wierdest parking garage I've seen in a while. Natalie and Mimi DID, however, complete the scavenger hunt, resulting in a NEW book that Shannen JUST read (like 2 minutes ago) for bedtime.

We came home and made meatloaf (the EASIEST recipe ever--hamburger, 2 eggs, 1 pkg. stuffing mix, 1 cup water, 1/2 cup BBQ sauce... I separate into two "loaves" , cook in a 9x13 pan, cook at 350 for an hour and a half, and it is DELICIOUS), waited for Shannen to get home from work (LAST Sunday EVER...), and had good dinner--meatloaf, baked potatoes, corn and rolls. It's all cleaned up, the kids are in bed, and now we're watching Big Brother 9. Life is good.

Shannen's last day (as of this writing) is Wednesday. He works about 5 hours a day for the next two days and then should be home by noon on Wednesday. He is a free man until Monday, when he reports to who knows where for who knows how long.... Stay tuned!

I guess that is it from here. Have a great week!

The SKY is falling... I mean the EARTH is moving!!!

So, I'm sleeping all snuggly in my bed this morning and for some STRANGE reason, I wake up, look at the clock, and say "why am I wide awake at 5:38am??????" WELL, maybe 'cause my HOUSE IS SHAKING and my bed is moving and there is absolutely no reason for either.... except maybe if there was an EARTHQUAKE. Shannen was in the shower and Natalie started to make some noise, so I walked into her room and asked if she was ok. I said "did it feel like your bed was moving, honey?" she said, "uh, I don't know... " So I brought her back to my room and we were talking, and Shannen came out of the shower and said "why are my two girls awake at 5:30 in the morning?" and I said "because I think we just had an earthquake" and he said "ok, good, I'm not crazy." Me and Natalie went back to sleep, he went to work, and we woke up to find out we were NOT crazy... I'm sure you've heard all about it, but it was sorta crazy to wake up to that... not your normal Friday morning, for sure.

So we went to Sahm Park for school today. Landry and I joined in because it is GORGEOUS out today and he is a BIG fan of running around at parks. We played at the playground, went on a nature hike (Natalie was mad because she thought we were looking for treasure and when she didn't find any gold... she was quite disappointed!). We had snack, played some more, and came home to get ready for our NEXT adventure--The CHildren's Museum! We got there at 12:30 and the place was PACKED with school kids. We went to Playscape (NO school kids) and by the time we went upstairs to ride the carousel, the place was ours for the afternoon. We are now at the point where Natalie and Landry like the same areas, just not the same place at the same time--makes for some juggling on my part, but Natalie is a good sport.

No school for me today--G-CHS prom tonight at Circle Center downtown. We are scheduled to have softball tomorrow, but the rain is a comin' and that is GOOOOOD news for me!!! This is a JV tournament that should NOT be played, as the level of softball we "play" is not at all good.

Shannen is deciding when his last day will be. It started as next Friday, then moved to Wednesday, and we are currently at this SUnday... stay tuned. His start date for Citi Trends is Monday, April 28--the first day of the rest of our lives!

OK, gotta go make burgers to cook on the grill. Can't pass up cooking out when it is currently 76 degrees outside. gosh, we might even have popsicles for dessert! Have a great weekend.

Did you hear the screams?????

Well, we went to the doctor today... but you probably already heard that--from Natalie and Landry. Everything went well. She is 36 pounds, 40 inches (75th percentile height AND weight--"solid" the doctor said) and he is 23 pounds, 33 inches (50th in both, I think). Both are healthy as can be BUT we had to get shots. Princess went first and got FOUR (she got her kindergarden shots now) and he only had TWO. This was the first doctor's visit for either of them without Shannen in attendance. Boy, I wish he had been there! I think Natalie was more upset about the bandaids, but I can't be sure. If you didn't know any better, you would think she was getting her arm cut off, but no, just a couple of PREVENTIVE injections. Almost $800 later, we walked out of the office, paying just $40 (so far). Not a bad deal, considering Shannen is leaving his job and this insurance in a few SHORT days....

THe kids joined me today for a visit to Greenfield. Our wonderful babysitter has some YUCKY sickness and decided not to share it with my kids. We watched track practice, went to softball and baseball practice, threw a few balls around, hit with some bats, and then went to the tennis match. Needless to say, my kids do NOT know how to be quiet when they are outside. We did not stay at tennis too long....

After G-C, we headed to the South side to meet up with Shannen to have pizza for dinner. It was delicious and I didn't have to cook it! We made it home in time for five minutes of "Super Why" computer game and books, songs, minutes, and bed. They are both sleeping now and I am off to watch Big Brother with Shannen. Have a great rest of the week. We will!

It was a pretty good day--for a Monday!

It started out as a decent day and so far, I cannot complain. Except about SPRINT, and I might just do that every day for the rest of my life... My new mission--complain about SPRINT... sounds like a GREAT idea. More about that later, maybe. You would understand why I don't want to talk about it once I tell you my story, and I don't know if I have enough time or battery power in my laptop to write it all out... maybe I'll do a chapter a day or something.....

SO, I went to work and even though it was VERY COLD, we had a softball game, a baseball game, and a tennis match scheduled for tonight. The baseball game was pretty fun--we beat Warren Central 10-0 in 5 innings (THANKS GUYS) and even though the softball team lost, we kinda knew that was going to happen, so no big deal. The tennis team was losing last I heard before I went in to clean out coolers and such, so we might not have had such a great day at home, but at least we got to play! This past Saturday, the SLEET and WIND and RAIN and COOOOOOOOLD, was NOT fun. The softball team DID play their doubleheader (lost one, won one) but the baseball team did NOT (freshmen sorta put the tarp on "backwards," allowing for rain to POOL at home plate instead of being repelled from said location). This Saturday, the day after PROM, there is a JV softball tournament. Talk about horrendous. Our team is NOT good, and to have to sit through 4 games--I'm NOT looking forward to that at all.... Part of the job I suppose.

Speaking of jobs, Shannen has officially accepted his new position and given his 2 week notice to current employer. After the way he was treated today, I think he wishes he would have given a 2 HOUR notice.... Which is one of the reasons he is getting a new job. The PRO is that he has to go to Savannah sometime in the next 2 months. The CON is that he can't go to Texas this summer because he will still be in training. SUSAN--we're really wanting to come down... we'll see!

I suppose that is it for today. Thanks to Dad/Papa for watching the kids for a few hours tonight and making "the best ever" pancakes for dinner. I wanted it to be easy and quick--and we had the bonus of: the kids LOVED them! Tomorrow should be a great day--Natalie has school and then me and Landry pick her up to go visit Dr. Mazurek for our 4 year/16 month, respectively, appointments!!! As long as there are no shots involved, Natalie should be good. The problem is--I think there are shots involved. You might hear her screams wherever you are....

I'm not talking about SPRINT today. I've had too good of a day.
Take care!

Just another Friday...

It has been somewhat of a crazy week here. You know how when you come back from vacation, you think you need a vacation? Between laundry and getting things back in order to having to go back to work... I need a break. But I won't get it today--or tomorrow.

Today I was the substitute for Natalie's class at Willowcreek. There were just 7 kids, but it sounded like 27! They are just so glad to be back from break and with the sunshine and then rain--they just wanted to RUN and YELL! I had some good help from one of the other parents and we got along just fine. I'm not so sure I could do that every day...

We're off to my school in a little bit. Of course they have rescheduled a softball game from an away contest (too much rain on their field) to a HOME contest. This would normally not be a big deal, but knowing that I had no home events today, I gave our wonderful sitter the day off (she had an appointment or something). SOOOOO--Natalie and Landry get to sit out at a softball game with me this afternoon/evening. Guess I need to find some money for the concession stand!!!

Tomorrow we have doubleheader softball and baseball. My sitters are all previously engaged, so unless we get more rain or some of that cold, flaky, white stuff, my kids will get to watch even MORE softball and baseball this weekend.... I CANNOT WAIT UNTIL SUMMER!!!!

Shannen does have a new job. We are waiting for the official letter. The offer has been extended and taken, it is just a matter of having "that letter" so he can give his two week notice. If all goes well, he should be a Citi Trends (CTRN--Andy) man by the end of the month.

I suppose there is not much else to share. The sun is shining, it is 68 degrees, and the flowers have started to bloom. We are supposed to have rain and flurries this weekend, so I suppose we had better enjoy our afternoon as much as possible. Take care!

I'm alive... and back to the real world

So you might have thought I fell off the face of the earth (or into the Grand Canyon), but I'm still here!!!

Shannen and I took a wonderful trip to Las Vegas last week, leaving our wonderful children with some REALLY wonderful babysitters. As Natalie kept reminding me "Mom, me and Landry are having a MUCH better vacation than YOU!". I don't think so. We took off EARLY last Wednesday, checked into our room at the MGM, and started off on our adventures. We walked and walked and walked and then slept. We spent time by the pool, watched some basketball, ate a LOT of food, and enjoyed our time away from chilly Indy. Some highlights include:

* I Love This Bar & Restaurant (Toby Keith's)--It was actually REALLY good!

* A trip to the top of the Stratosphere, but NOT on the "slide" and "crane" rides off of the building

* A trip to the top of the Paris Hotel's Eiffel Tower

* A gondola ride at the Venetian

* Shopping at the Forum Shops at Caesar's Palace--FAO Schwartz Toy Store

* Wondering what it would be like to be as rich as the people who stay at the Wynn Resort/Casino

* NOT flying ATA the week it shut down

Ben picked us up LATE on Sunday night/early Monday morning and I was back to work at G-C yesterday afternoon. We are starting a MAJOR construction project at the school--adding a new pool, a classroom wing, and other "stuff." This will not change ANY of my training room BUT it will probably really mess me up for parking and getting to where I need to go on the campus. We have officially started spring sports--our varsity softball team has scored 64 runs in 4 games... I think they are pretty good. JV... not so much. The baseball team is doing well and tennis and track... well, I guess they'll be fine.

Big news here is about Shannen. It is VERY probable that by the end of the week, he will be employed by a new company. The position is district manager and the compensation is pretty good. Honestly, the best part is the GAS CARD AND CAR that come with it. More news when it is official. It took me a while to see the good in this move, but the more we talk about it (and we sure did when we were in Las Vegas), the better I feel about it.

I guess that is it for now. As soon as I get the camera USB cable from mom, I'll be posting some GREAT photos (as far as I'm concerned). Stay tuned. Take care everyone.