ready for holiday!

This week has been crazy! After Sunday's pj day, it never seemed to stop! Monday was the new-battery day (as previously stated). Tuesday Abby got dragged to book club (she was NOT thrilled with that one!) and then we went to violin lesson and swim lesson. Tom met us at the swimming and he and Abby stayed a bit longer, swimming together. Wednesday the house got cleaned, so Abby and I left in the morning for the library, some shopping at Target, a movie, and a trip to school to trade out 3rd grade books for some 7th grade ones from a friend of mine. In the afternoon we did swim lesson again. Thursday we headed up to my aunt's house in the morning to go to Global Wildlife with her and her 3 grandchildren. We headed home after carry-out lunch and left soon afterwards to pick mom, dad and Maggie up at the airport. Home for a short bit and on to another swim lesson (fitting 6 into a week and a day!). Ordered Chinese for dinner. Today I got up and went walking with my dad (high point of my day, I must say!). Abby had a 9am swim lesson today. While there I called the doctor's office as there's a new law here that Maggie needs to be immunized against meningitis. In the typical wisdom of every state I've ever lived in, they make the requirement without ensuring adequate supply. Thankfully they did have it at the doctor and while I was talking with the nurse she mentioned that Maggie was also missing the second chicken pox shot. I'd noticed this myself looking at their records and Abby was also missing it. Since they'd both had a physical this year all that was necessary was to go in and see the nurse. So, after swim lessons we headed to the house, mom got Maggie up and we went to the doctor's office. Got the 3 shots and decided to go to the mall as mom promised Abby a pair of shoes. Dad came with -- as we were leaving I remembered that I'd wanted to get school shoes today, so we first headed to the mall with the school shoes and bought those. Then to the other mall where we got the converse shoes for Abby, lunch, and flavored coffee. Quick stop at the grocery and home. Cooked dinner later on, and chilling pretty much since then. WHEW! Tomorrow we get to visit with my aunt, cousin, and the 3 kids again, Sunday is church and piano lesson. I need another pj day and don't see one coming up any time soon!

I'm sure the end of your summer is just as crazy, but enjoy it!

Wonderful Monday!

Well, it didn't start out so good. Got up and it was cool enough to go walking, so I did that. Came home, read the paper, folded towels, took a bath and got ready to go to the grocery with Abby. We got in the car and it wouldn't start. Even more telling, the automatic doors wouldn't work. Verdict: dead battery. So I called Tom (my go-to guy for any "emergency"). And I sent him a text. He called back in about 10 minutes, told him the symptoms, he agreed with my assessment and asked if I had to be anywhere. I said "no" which was true, groceries could wait, aside from a late-afternoon swim lesson for Abby. Then he called back suggesting I call AAA. Duh. We've been members for years and never have used the service. So I called them and within 20 minutes the guy was here. Lots of lovely corrosion on both battery terminals -- he cleaned it up, jumped it and ran whatever diagnostic they have. The car wasn't holding a charge, so he jumped it again and moved it into the street. Since mom and dad left their car (and keys!) Abby and I were able to go to the grocery. We got home to find Tom working on the car -- he went and replaced the battery and then went back to the office -- ain't he the greatest!

Meanwhile, Maggie is in New York with my parents. They left Saturday morning (7:30 flight). I took them to the airport, complete with a medical release, consent-to-travel, passport, and insurance card. I think Maggie called about 5 times Saturday! They saw Mamma Mia Saturday night. Sunday they saw Billy Elliott and LOVED it. Today they went to the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. And they've seen their share of colorful characters! They also did a bicycle rick-shaw tour of Central Park. What fun and what memories!

Yesterday I went to church and it was truly and uplifting sermon. II Peter 1:3-4 was the starting point with the overall purpose of reminding us that God keeps his promises. Amen to that! I got home and put on my pjs and had a date with a good book and the couch for the rest of the afternoon. Tom and Abby came home about 1 and also put on pjs. It's always nice to have a down-day! Especially when you are filled with joy inside.

So life continues. Trying to find time to visit with my aunt this week (she's got her grandkids). Not sure when/if it will happen. How is it that life is so crazy? Tomorrow is book-club (not sure if I'll be able to go), violin, and swim lesson. Wednesday we're going to pick up 7th grade books from my friend and drop off 3rd grade ones. Thursday Maggie and my parents get back. Oh, and I need to get Maggie a meningitis vaccine (new law). Of course, there is not enough of the vaccine available for all who need it, so this will be an ongoing project. When I called this morning to the doctor, they had it in, but, of course, Maggie is in New York. Sigh. Another thing to take care of!

In any event, the dishwasher calls to be emptied........

Just a quick one

A few minutes before I go get my daughters at camp on a stormy day. Maybe it'll make it a bit cooler outside (though I strongly doubt it!). My parents arrive today -- praying the weather doesn't impact their drive. They are here to take Maggie for her "grandparent trip". She's chosen to go to New York. They're going to 4 shows (Billy Elliott, Wicked, Mamma Mia, and West Side Story), Statue of Liberty, Tenement Museum (strongly recommended by a woman at my church), etc. etc. She's the oldest of the 4 grandkids, so this is the first trip they're taking. They leave Saturday morning and return Thursday night. Abby and I have a few plans, and I'm sure Tom will come up with things for them to do as well -- right now they are watching "Lord of the Rings".

In other news, this week has been lovely. Maggie participated in a VBS at her friend's church on Sunday and Monday, but she's had a cold and didn't go either Tuesday or Wednesday. Not sure what she'll do tonight -- we're going to "celebrate" my mom's b-day today (it's actually Saturday), but she may choose to go. Either way is fine with me. Maggie stayed home Tuesday morning -- no fever, just a head cold, but went to camp later on. She's been better the past couple days, so it doesn't seem to be a long-term illness (thank God!). Didn't want her to be ill for her trip. For me, Monday was grocery, Tuesday was driving to and from camp several times and Abby's violin lesson. Yesterday I went to a get-together with my Bible Study group, only to find that the meeting was actually today. Whoops! Tom "gets" to eat the hummus I was going to take! Today I baked and straightened Abby's room for my parents. Tomorrow is the girls' show at camp, then we're heading to the fabric store (Mom got recruited to make a shower curtain for us) and in the afternoon we're meeting Tom for Harry Potter. Saturday early is Maggie, mom and dad's flight, Abby has a piano lesson. Sunday is church and then we start all over again.

Anyway, time to do a bit more "work" before leaving to get the girls -- enjoy the weekend!

where does the time go?????

Almost another week has gone by and what do I have to show for it aside from slightly older daughters? Just when I think the summer will slow down a bit, it kicks back up into high gear. Tuesday Abby again had a successful violin lesson -- these tend to go up and down. Some days she gets quite frustrated and impatient with herself, other days she's more relaxed and recognizes that none of us are perfect. There's so much going on inside her head! Maggie, on the other hand, wears her heart on her face. Her mood is transparent most of the time, though she tries to be devious sometimes! She still doesn't have a full vocabulary to describe her emotions, and, as she's growing up, hormones are taking over often, but you do know when something or someone is bothering her. Last night she came into the kitchen in tears, this morning there were tears, but she's always quick to recover with a sincere hug and reassurance that it may not get "fixed" the way she wants it to, but it will get better. Abby, on the other hand, is as deep as the ocean sometimes. She takes everything in and you need to listen carefully and sometimes between the lines to know what's going on. As Tom mentioned to me the other day, she's the one with the big dreams whereas Maggie is more like I am -- more practical and living more in today than tomorrow or yesterday.

In any event, Wednesday and Thursday flew by in a blur. Friday was the camp talent show. Maggie chose not to participate, but Abby played her violin. She had me curl her hair Thursday evening and it turned out very cute. Tom came for the show (Abby was #3) but left for the office after her performance. She did quite well which thrilled me! The rest of the acts were varied -- dancing, joke-telling, singing, etc. Two others caught my eye -- one was a girl in Abby's group who sang "Do, Re, Mi". Unassuming looking little girl, but man, what a voice! The Susan Boyle of Kehoe-France camp. The other was a group consisting of a boy in Maggie's grade, his 3 brothers, and a friend playing drums. They did "Soul Man" from "Blues Brothers" -- WELL done and fun for the entire crowd. Of course, not as good as Abby!

Friday afternoon I brought 4 bonus girls home with me -- Tom had come home to work from the house and "hid" in his office from all the estrogen! The girls had pizza and brownies, played in the hose outside, and did whatever else young girls do when they are together. I like that they are at the age where I don't have to do the entertaining!

Saturday was a slow day for me -- Tom took the girls to see "Transformers" in the morning and I did the laundry (I'm pretty sure I got the BETTER end of that bargain!). Went to piano lesson in the afternoon. Today both girls went to church with me, then we went to Target -- Maggie needed a white tank top, Abby needed a b-day gift for a friend, and I bought the drinks for our "hurricane evacuation kit" (in which we already have bottled drinks for the car and can grab whatever snacks are in the house along with the cat and our luggage). Usually I buy these in June, but this year time has really gotten away from me. So we've got the pile of drinks sitting on the floor in my bedroom until evacuation OR October, whichever comes first. I took Abby to a b-day party, came home, then went to pick her up. Tom managed getting lunch for Maggie. Then I took Maggie to VBS with her friend and she'll be back in about an hour. Meanwhile, Tom managed violin practice and dinner for Abby. I think today can accurately be classified as a parenting"separate and conquer" strategy.

Looking forward to seeing my parents this week -- Maggie's looking forward to her trip with them to New York on Saturday. ACH! My child is touring somewhere I've never been......

Best of the week to you!

Trying something new

As many of you know, cooking the same-old, same-old over and over gets quite boring, both for the cook and the diners. For a good three weeks (when Maggie had ballet workshop in the afternoon/evenings) it was a series of doctored-up rice-mix dishes -- variations on beans and rice, yellow rice, spanish rice, etc., all with some sort of meat and vegetable. While those are quite simple to prepare early in the day for re-heating, even with variations they become BORING!!!! Now that ballet workshop is over, it's been time to "try something new". Last week, I experimented with Shepherd's Pie. I'm not one to follow recipes as written, so I printed out one, looked at about 3 others on-line, and made up my own as I went, consulting the "recipe" for basic measurements and cooking instructions. Mine was ground beef, sauteed onion, green beans, in a tomato/beef sauce, topped with mashed potatoes. Maggie was around as I was making the potatoes and requested parsley and garlic added to them, so I obliged. I was CERTAIN that Abby would NOT like it at all -- she's my picky child, doesn't like meat, and isn't really fond of mashed potatoes. HOWEVER, this experiment was quite a hit! I'm the only one not particularly fond of it (not a big casserole person -- I prefer my meat and vegetables to be separated!). Tom even ate the leftovers the next night. AND they all requested it again, though perhaps not EVERY week.

This week's experiment was chicken and dumplings. This one smelled really good cooking. And poaching the chicken has left me with about 2 cups of broth for the freezer. Instead of the peas and carrots (NOT big hits here at any time), I substituted green beans. The chicken, soup, and beans were all good -- the dumplings a bit heavy. Abby hated it but was "so hungry" she ate the whole thing. She'd prefer it with noodles. So perhaps next time it will evolve into a chicken-noodle casserole.

No exciting other news to report since yesterday -- back to normal here. Gym and grocery in the morning, thunderstorm early afternoon, picking up girls, and relaxing for the afternoon. Tomorrow Abby has her triathlon at camp -- she's doing the swimming and trike heats, someone else will run (when Maggie was in that group she ran).

Oh, one more interesting tidbit. I noticed that Maggie is very long in the body and short in the legs. Abby, like me, is all legs. Yesterday as we were waiting for Tom by the car in Austin I had them measure where their hip-bones are. Despite the fact that Maggie is over a head taller than Abby, her hip-bone is only about 3 inches higher than her younger sister. I'm not allowed to comment on it any more to Maggie - 12 and hormonal, enough said!

What a great weekend!

Wow! We were out of town for the 4th of July weekend. I was really looking forward to a break from the daily routine and got that and more. We had an incredibly early wake-up on Thursday (3:30am) to get a 5:30 flight to Houston followed by a run to the 7am flight to Austin. I'd been feeling poorly all week (achy, nauseous, etc.) and Thursday was no different, so it was a rather painful trip. BUT, thankfully we were able to check into our hotel room at about 9am and I (the girl who never naps) actually lay down for 2 hours. After that we headed to visit with a friend of mine. Amy and her husband lived in the Lakeview area of New Orleans until Katrina resulted in 12 feet of water in their house. After a short stint in Houston they decided to move to Austin and start over. Ironically, Jim is again working for Shell from his home (driving to Houston 2 days a week), this time as a contract employee. It was so nice to visit with them. Amy and I had a good connection here and you all know how rare it is to find people that "get" you. The girls and I spent the afternoon with them swimming/wading at a creek near their house and then swimming in the pool. Tom, meanwhile, lunched with two of his distant cousins that he's met through his genealogy research. He met us at the house for a bit more swimming and then we headed back to the hotel where he and Abby took a rest (Maggie, like me, isn't a big napper). We met up again with my friends for dinner and called it a fairly early night at about 9:30.

Friday we SLEPT IN. I woke up to find the time to be 10:04am. I had permission to wake Maggie at 11 which I did and then we headed to Fuddrucker's where my family had brunch. We then headed to Innerspace Caverns to explore. The girls had never been to a cavern before. I'd only been to one before. We all had a good time -- for me one of the most interesting parts was where the ceiling was fomed by coral rock from the time when there was an underground sea. WOW! Dinner at Spaghetti Warehouse and back to the hotel.

Saturday we got up relatively early, breakfasted at the hotel, and set out for Ingram, TX, the site of the main purpose for our trip. One of Tom's passions is genealogy and he organized a reunion in Ingram of many (about 50, I suppose) of his cousins and their families. He hadn't met most of the people we met. Now, those of you who know me know that I'm not particularly fond of crowds of people I don't know well, making small talk. But I had a good time. Tom's two brothers, their daughters, and his dad all came, so there WERE people I know in attnedance, but everyone was friendly and interesting. No boredom from me, that's for certain. People had pictures, documents, and stories to share and it was fun to hear their stories. Tom especially appreciated the day -- seeing the joy in his eyes at meeting all these people, feeling a common bond with them, made any minor discomfort I felt meaningless. When you love someone, seeing such joy in their eyes and being able to participate in it in some small way is certainly a blessing to not take for granted!

This morning we had (thankfully!) later flights. The only complication was a QUICK transfer in Houston (30 minutes to change concourses in a HUGE airport). Tom and Abby took the lead (he as the leader, she as the pace-setter with the shortest stride), Maggie followed, and I trailed at the end to make sure everyone got there. We got to the gate for the second flight in plenty of time, but were still the last ones on the plane (there was still about 15 minutes until departure). They greeted us by name (knowing we were the only people missing!). So we got on the plane and waited -- it took until we arrived in New Orleans for me to realize that we were waiting for our luggage to be transferred to the flight. Took off on time, arrived home on time, luggage took a while, drive home was painless. 3 loads of laundry and down for the count!

Tomorrow we go back to normal activity, but this break was definitely a blessing for me! Hope you all had wonderful 4th's, wherever you were!

Thinking of grandmothers

Today I was sitting having lunch at a coffee shop (cleaning lady day -- vacating the house) and a young woman (perhaps 30 years old -- that's young to me these days!) was sitting with an older lady. It turned out it was her grandmother. They were right next to me so I couldn't help but overhear some of their conversation -- it made me miss my grandmothers. My dad's mom was less of a "play-with-the-grandchildren" grandmother, but she was quite a fun person to be with. During summers when we'd visit in New Hampshire we'd play cards at night and she would lick her dessert plate. But one of my most favorite memories was when I was in Tampa one summer for an event with my former in-laws. I was able to spend the afternoon with my grandmother -- we went out to lunch, shared a dessert, and just talked. I don't remember what we talked about, but I remember feeling quite close to her at that point. She died a few years later and I still look fondly back on that day when I had her all to myself. My mom's mom we saw more often -- mostly because we all lived in Cleveland at the same time. She was the one who'd bake with us, make chocolate candy, and make us breaded chicken. After my parents moved away from Ohio and I was still in college, I'd go spend weekends with her. She'd make the various comforting foods of my childhood and I'd help her do grocery shopping. When we moved to New Orleans I was happy to be closer to her again, as she was living with my aunt at that time. The last time I saw her was at my house, right before she left for my mom's where she fell and later died. She sat on my couch, next to me, and I gave her chocolate candy (always a favorite).

Anyways, the young lady sitting next to me just reminded me of being with my grandmothers. From their conversation, they had a fairly close relationship and had enjoyed a bit of shopping prior to coming for lunch. And it made me again appreciate my grandmothers and miss them all the more.

In other news, we're heading to Texas tomorrow to meet a bunch of Tom's extended family he's connected with via his genealogy research. I'm thrilled to be getting away from home for a while! Happy 4th of July to all!