Day Twenty-Six

What a weekend!

It was long, but good to get away. I've got pictures documenting the 7 hours it took to get there and a few pictures of the 6 it took to get home. I even have some of the 12 hours of daylight activities while we were there.

However, I won't be uploading them until tomorrow at the earliest.

I did have an interview this morning at a new daycare/preschool that is opening here in town and I got the position. I'll know more in the next week or so, after the state inspections, but right now I know that life as we've known it the last almost-eight years is about to change.

The position is full-time.

Day Twenty-Three

DONE:
Up before the alarm. Talked to Fishing Guy a couple of times. Checked my lists. Got dressed.

DOING:
Packing. Doing Laundry. Charging my phone. Eating Pumpkin Roll for breakfast. Drinking my coffee.

TO DO:
Dig out the bags from the garage. Pack all the activities. Pack all the food. Make a picnic lunch. Load the car. Stop at the store for a few last minute things. Get cash for the ferry. Drive to the ferry. Wait in line. Switch to "Island Time" and relax.

Have a good weekend!

Happy Thanksgiving

We are home from a fabulous dinner with family.

The kids are tuckered out and we are full.

I feel better about the weekend plans and know more what to expect.

Now, I'm off to be so that I can get up early tomorrow and clean and pack to leave.

I'm not going anywhere near a shopping experience.

32 Days until Christmas!

Day Twenty-One

The kids are out of school for the next four days. WhoooHooo!

I wish I could say that I was planning on taking a big nap and relaxing until Sunday night. But I'm not. I still might take a nap, but I'm taking the kids to my aunt and uncle's vacation house in the San Juan Islands for the weekend. That leaves Fishing Guy home alone with the kitties and no one to cook, iron and find things for him, for two nights.

This is stressful in the following ways:

1. I had to go buy a second litter box today so that Fishing Guy doesn't have to scoop. Well, in his case, scoop and gag and puke and clean up and gag, etc. He was the same way with poopy diapers.

2. I need to have meals prepared for him. This might mean he orders pizza one night and goes to McDonald's the other. I just know that he doesn't see ANYTHING to eat out on the pantry shelf unless it is made by Chef Boyardee or Hostess.

3. I have to clean the house before we leave. So Fishing Guy doesn't do it. Because I don't react well to his cleaning methods and most of the time I really like having him around. And I really don't find Dish Hide and Seek to be as much fun as he thinks I do.

4. I have to pack for the kids. They have already been asking to start packing toys. I said no. Repeatedly. And then my head exploded. Amen.

5. I have to pack for an Unknown Location. This stresses me out. I am the Master of Having All Things In Case of An Emergency. I am not good with The Unexpected Mystery Need. I do know that there is a cliff and we will not be falling off of it. Note to self - pack rope. Ha, I kid. Sort of.

6. We are taking a ferry. Now, I have gotten much better about water and such since living in Alaska. However. this time, I will have both kids on my own. Note to self - put my PFD on first.

7. We are going to be operating under someone else's house rules for a couple of days. They are pretty much our exact opposites - I know that they don't have cable TV (never have) and frown on electronic entertainment and we don't talk about politics, religion or Harry Potter movies. (I have read the books, but won't watch the movies.) I'm considering smuggling our portable DVD player and movies, my iPod and my Nintendo DS into the house as my sanity insurance policy. I was asked to bring puzzles for the kids, because that is what they do most of the time. I'm considering teaching both kids how to knit instead, since that sounds much easier at this point. I also don't know if they have coffee yet. I do have some Coffee Singles and can pack creamer just in case. They will have hot water for tea though.

I also won't have Internet or computer access to post on Saturday (at the very least) and might skip Friday and Sunday depending on the schedule. Tomorrow, I am not cooking very much and we are going away for our food, so I should have plenty of time to play on the computer.

Happy Thanksgiving!

For Day Eighteen

A couple of somewhat blurry and very small photos from the Silvertips game.

The first one has the prize blimp AND both Zamboni(s).



The second is the view of the ice almost straight down from our seats. We were WAY up high, but the total view was pretty good. I was also glad we weren't sitting in the flying puck zone, like the lady whose camera was hit by a stray puck or where the checks come blasting straight at you. Because I would flinch a lot and that would look silly.



It was also Crafty Neighbor's birthday on Saturday and we had a chance to chat on the phone in the evening, hence no posting after the kids were in bed.

Day Twenty

I spent this morning in The Prince's classroom, helping make Pumpkin Bread.

The recipe was broken down into 4 parts (A,B,C and D) and the room was grouped into 5 groups of 4.

Let me just say that having 5 First graders scoop flour or pour oil or (the best) crack eggs (!!!) at the same time is a bit much for anyone. I was trying to keep my two tables at the same point in the recipe and that worked pretty well.

After we got all the batter in the little loaf pans and washed up all the dishes, it was time for lunch (at 10:25 am!!) and then they all headed out to recess.

I got to carry the big trays down to the lunchroom kitchen and then fetch them later after they were baked. I ran home to get The Princess' shoes for gym so she didn't get in trouble while the bread was in the oven and made it back in time for recess.

I even finished the reading for the last 4 kids from last Friday.

These days spent at school have made it clear to us all that I need to go back to school, finish my degree and get my teaching certificate. As it is now, I'm going to be applying for an Emergency Substitute certificate for our district and hope I can get my foot in the door for a position somewhere here in town.

I love being in the classroom.

Day Seventeen

Tonight we went to an Everett Silvertips game.

It was a church sponsored event, which only meant that we sat in a section with a lot of people that we don't know and the church's name was put up on the jumbo-tron mid-game.

The kids went with us and had a blast. The Prince FREAKED out the first goal we scored though. I happened to be standing outside the bathroom waiting for The Princess. Speaking of The Princess, she couldn't figure out why people would randomly cheer. That alternated with asking, "What just happened?"

We spent most of the second period telling the kids we would get water at the next break. I finally just sucked it up, headed down to the concessions and paid $7 for two bottled waters. The kicker is that they keep the lids so if you spill you are out of luck. Thankfully the kids drained them in record time and we were free to enjoy the rest of the game.

Fishing Guy wanted to leave with about 5 minutes left in the last period, which I stretched out to one minute. We made it to the parking garage fairly quickly and traffic was light heading out the boonies where we live. The Prince crashed in the car on the way home, even though it was only 9:30 pm.

Overall, the experience is one we will do again. Fishing Guy joked as we were heading into the stadium that I have changed my status from Chief Diaper Changer to Ticket Master.

The only pictures I have are on my phone, so once I upload them I might share.

Day Sixteen

I know I missed yesterday and if I don't sit down right now and feed the kids candy, I won't get it done today either.

You see we are on the Conference-Half-Day schedule. Yesterday, I had these big plans for a post about where I've been spending all my time. But then I got sucked in again and ran out of steam by 9:30 pm.

Thanks to Kimmer for the addiction to Ree.

Who, I should add, should be saved for when you have NOTHING to do for about 3 days. I read the current stuff and then had to go back and start at the beginning. I'm a fast reader and it took me about 3 hours just to get from Nov 2006 to March of 2007. I can't share how much time I took the night before, except that my post reflects the time I started packing lunches and ironing shirts. I'm at the end of May 2006 right now and I (sadly) don't have 3 more hours today to scroll through the stories and laugh and sigh at the beautiful pictures.

The deeper part of this is the reminders of my youth. You see, I grew up in Wyoming. Not on a working cattle ranch, instead very much in town. We had family friends that had a working ranch though, where we spent time in the summers and that is where we hunted for a long time. In fact, that is where I shot my first and only deer.

We rode horses, rode in the back of the pickup and picked grass as it scraped the sides of the truck, looked for rattlesnakes and avoided cactus patches. My whole family would go out as extra help for branding and the pictures can't describe the smell. I was a city kid though, so I didn't get to participate as much as the ranch kids. I didn't know how to rope, so that left the dirty, smelly and gross jobs that I really didn't want to do anyway. We sat on the fence, played in the creek, took pictures and ran any errands back to the house for the guys.

In High School, my favorite lunch buddies were the Hicks. We were a close bunch and went through a lot during the course of our 3 years. Things like the County Fair, Demolition Derby and the 4H dances were always fun. Someone always had a 4x4 to take out in the mud or snow. I helped a boyfriend shear sheep one year and if I'd known what I know now about knitting, I would have scooped up every fleece and learned to spin back then. I've always felt more at home with the crowd that would eat Ranch dressing on everything and it started with them.

I had cowboy boots and Wrangler jeans when I headed off to college in... Montana. Where they really know how to grow a cowboy. Most of those stories are not to be retold, but I did have a roommate one semester that had a ranch and I went home with here to go horseback riding over Easter Break. They forgot to tell me the horse I was riding liked to RUN back to the stable for a treat at the end of a ride. She balked at the ditch, jumped most of the way across the last road and flew to the barn fence, where she stopped on a dime. With me jammed most of the way up her neck. BUT!! I didn't get thrown!

I can Two-Step and do The Pretzel. I don't have my Wranglers or my boots anymore, but that is because next time I go home to visit I'm getting new ones that fit the After-Kids body. I've never had a cowboy hat, but I know how to wear one. I can still saddle a horse and ride, I just don't look as cool as I used to. I can change tires and the oil in a car. I can drive pretty much anything with a stick.

So much of who I am comes from where and how I grew up. I was trying to really hard to leave the past in the past, but I can't. Plus, now I remember all the stuff I was going to tell my kids when I grew up. For example...

I walked almost a mile to and from school in all weather from Kindergarten to Sixth Grade. Up hill. Both ways. Really.



The hill was in the middle.

Day Fourteen

It's really late and I really need to go to bed. More tomorrow on what kept me up so late.

Day Thirteen

This really should not count, but it is a post on the correct day.

There really isn't much to talk about anyway. It wasn't a banner day, but it wasn't a total waste either.

More if I make it back downstairs. Otherwise I will update tomorrow afternoon after my stamping workshop.

**Update 9:48 pm**

So everyone is now tucked into bed, for the last time, I hope.

How about I work backward tonight?

I plugged in my phone to charge overnight. I put the soap pellet in the dishwasher and started it. I made Fishing Guy's lunch and put a note on it to remind him to wheel the toters to the curb in the morning for Trash Day. I wiped down the stove and counters. I washed the pots from dinner and loaded the dishwasher. I set up the coffee pot for the morning, even though I have the wrong creamer and will have to buy some when I drop the kids at school. I diagnosed/fixed the DVD player in the bedroom for Fishing Guy and tucked The Princess in AGAIN. I washed the pans and coffee cups. I tucked The Princess in and received my poem from her. I tucked The Prince into bed and read him Skippyjon Jones in Mummy Trouble. If you don't know about Skippyjon, look for him in your next Scholastic book order. You won't be disappointed in Mr. Fluffernutter. I helped Fishing Guy find all of the remotes for the bedroom TV and turned out the lights.

I played on the computer while the kids tied more flies. I made Root Beer Floats for dessert. I cleared the table and put away leftovers. Dinner was Spaghetti with homemade sauce and sausage meatballs and bread sticks from scratch that were a bit too salty. The kids and I made the bread sticks after school.

I went to the post office for the second time. I got The Prince at school. I let The Princess walk home by herself and let herself in with the garage keypad. I went to get the kids at school. I took all the mail in the house and put one more stamp on the package that should have been in Alaska by now.

I stopped at the church to get some information about a few things and talked to two very nice ladies for a while. They seemed very interested in helping us get involved and into a ministry area. It will still take some time, but I feel better than I did this morning.*

I went to the post office and mailed a CD to a friend. I shopped in the Downtown stores and founds a few things of note. I bought a battery at the Hardware store for the car button to the garage door opener. The Hardware store is my favorite store in town. It is an old building, with problems I'm sure, but it has the best creaking wooden floorboards. Just walking around makes you feel like you are a part of history. There are little alcoves and nooks filled with useful things. There is an old boiler that has a sign on it - Do not touch, this is old and doesn't belong to the store. The little town touches are all clustered in this one store and every chance I get I go in and wander up and down the aisles.

OK, this is where I have to stop going backward.

*This morning?

Well, let's just say I processed enough hurt for today. How, you ask? I sorted through all of the Girl Scout stuff to send back to My Troop in Alaska. It is the first of a couple of pet projects I have to sort, purge and return to the people that will carry on after me. (I still have VBS to work on and I'm not even close to touching that yet.)

The hardest part of this was missing my friend that was my co-leader. She was one of the three best friends I had/have there. Our daughters are/were best friends and we had a lot of fun together. It seemed like every piece of paper I touched had a memory or a story attached to it. Even the email I sent, describing the boxes I'm going to be putting in the mail is full of little inside jokes and things she would only know about.

So to cheer myself up (NOT), I spent a really long time going back through my archives and changing ones that need in-depth editing to draft and realizing an hour later that I still have half of 2005 and all of 2004 to go.

How I wish I could not allow access by year.

And that's when it hit me. I'm coming up on my 4th Blogiversary. There's a lot to wade through and reflect on. I also found a bunch of similar posts from this time three years ago. Right after the move to Juneau. The answer then was a prescription from the doctor. I was hoping to make it through on my own this time, but only time will tell.

Day Twelve

It's been a pretty busy day.

We got up this morning and sent Fishing Guy to the store for donuts. Yum! You know staples for the big storm we were waiting for.

That was followed by making crystals with the kids. Nothing growing yet, but I'll take pictures if any develop.

Watched out the window for the storm. Nothing.

I gave the boys haircuts, followed by baths/showers for both.

I've done several loads of laundry and the kids have cleaned their rooms.

Still no storm. About 10 minutes of wind and a brief downpour while I was on the phone with a friend, but nothing exciting.

I read too many crafting blogs, but have some new ideas for Christmas presents. I will be spending some quality time out in the craft area tomorrow when the kids are back in school.

For now, Fishing Guy and the kids are out in the (cold) garage tying flies. They each make one and maybe by next summer there will be enough tied for the local river fishing season. The kids feel like they are doing a craft and I get a little quiet time!

I'm off to prep the coffee pot, make Fishing Guy's lunch and be ready to tuck the kids into bed ON TIME tonight. Then Fishing Guy and I can watch some TV before bed.

Day Eleven

On the Day of Remembrance, I did a bit too much remembering.

I always get into trouble when I spend some time navel gazing and projecting myself into the rear view mirror. I can't go back and it really sucks going forward right now.

Where I am and where I'd like to be are worlds apart right now.

I want to recognize people on the street and wave to friends on the morning drive to school. I want to walk into church on a Sunday morning and have my kids be welcomed by name, rather than by the sign-in sheet and I want to stand and greet friends, instead of looking around awkwardly to see if anyone is coming over to talk to the "visitors." I want to volunteer for something and have someone realize that I am capable and qualified, without filling out (on average) 7 pages of questions and background checks and waiting for them to not get back to me.

This is what I didn't miss when we were in Alaska.

Day Ten

We just got home from this:



It was amazing and inspiring. I'll post more of an update tomorrow after we have them in church with us.

Day Eight and Nine

I remembered once yesterday to blog, but I wasn't by the computer.

I went to my Bible Study in the morning and came straight home. I had a bit to eat for lunch and then set my timer for an hour and a half. I parked myself in my craft room and made my swap cards. I wrapped them up, put them in an envelope and they went in the mail right after school. The kids and I watched Kid Nation with popcorn and then I got dinner ready. Fishing Guy and I played on the PlayStation for a bit after the kids went to bed and then headed to bed ourselves to watch TV off the DVR.

This morning started with one of the cats getting into the garage and bringing a frog into the family room. I had to get dressed and remove it (still alive and perfectly fine) to the backyard. Then I made breakfast, packed lunches and made coffee before Fishing Guy got up.

I left him reading the paper and I've been at the school all day. They put on a very cool Veteran's Day assembly this afternoon and honored quite a few Veterans that came for the show.

There was a mini air show and The Prince had two reading parts. He's one of the (5) highest readers in his class, so he got a special part. The Princess sang a song with the rest of her grade that was really good too. Since Fishing Guy was off of work I convinced him to come down the hill for it too.

I am looking forward to the weekend and not having school on Monday. The Princess is out of things to do so she is happily going to scrub a tub for me. The Prince is out pruning bushes with Fishing Guy and I need to figure out what we are having for dinner.

Day Seven

Today started with me missing the trash pickup. I really didn't even try after that.

The kids are playing outside and I've been looking at my cousin's wedding photos from a month ago.

I have homework to oversee tonight and my Daniel Bible Study work to do for tomorrow.

Not much else is going on.

Day Six

So far, so good.

It was a pretty good day.

The sun was shining and there were tons of birds at the feeders both in the morning and this afternoon. I got out the bird book and I know I saw several Steller's Jays (didn't need the book for them), a Red-Shafted Flicker and I think a few Bay-Breasted Warblers or Oregon Juncos. There were some little House Finches and maybe some chickadees. I took a bunch of pictures from the kitchen bay window, but I haven't checked them on the computer to see how they turned out.

I finished the vacuuming downstairs and cleared off the kitchen table enough to eat on again. I have a bunch of big dishes to hand wash this evening, but it is looking much better.

After school, The Princess went to a friend's house to play and The Prince and I went into town. I had to stop at the bank to deposit Fishing Guy's birthday money and The Prince got a treat at the Dollar Store. I checked out the Vet in the same complex and got their card to schedule appointments for the kittens. It's also good to know of a vet in case there is an emergency.

We stopped and got gas on the way home, which was normal except for the price going up from $3.29 to $3.39 in the time it took me to pump. I think I was the last one to get my gas at the lower price. I did get the 8 gallons that qualified me for the free car wash. Hopefully, I will remember to use it this time!

Dinner tonight was conceived around the idea of McDonald's Arctic Orange shakes, which I think taste exactly like Dreamsicles. We did get some other food, but we all got the tasty shakes.

I have the normal stuff to get done this evening, since I am skipping the Parent Group meeting. They are planning for December's Craft Night and I can't volunteer to do everything if I'm not there. I can volunteer to help after everything is planned though.

It's supposed to be a little more dreary tomorrow, with rain for the weekend. I need to make some cards for a swap, get them in the mail tomorrow and plan what I need to make for Christmas gifts.

49 Days until Christmas!

Day Five

It's been a long day, but good. Fishing Guy had today off, so we just hung out around the house. I vacuumed, did some laundry and did some dishes and mopped, but the kitchen is already a disaster again. There is so much crap on my counters and it doesn't matter how fast I clean it off. I just can't keep up with the three of them.

I still I have to make Fishing Guy's lunch, iron his work shirt and get the kids to bed before I can relax for the evening.

As a side note, I'm already dreading the lack of new TV shows the writer's strike promises to bring. There won't be much point in having the DVR if it drags everything into reruns. I guess we can scale back on the cable package we have and rent the TV shows on DVD that we haven't seen. I'm sure we are some of the last people not already watching Grey's Anatomy and 24. I also have the second and third seasons of Lost on my list, as well as the first season of Heroes.

Day Four

First of all, Happy Anniversary to my parents!

Today, I have run out of steam. I think it might be because of the time change. I have been up later than usual this week and up by 8 am both days this weekend. This morning the kids were up at 7am, thinking that they were sleeping in. We went to church at 11 am, after waffles for breakfast.

The service was great and emotional and encouraging. However, it was also draining. I'm not one to wear my emotions on my sleeve, but once they are there I can't just shut them off. I've been holding so much back since the move and that all came boiling to the surface today. I've been on edge most of the afternoon.

I did step out of my comfort zone and asked another mom I met (about two seconds before ) about meeting with me to pray with Moms In Touch. She actually said yes! I hope she will follow through. I also talked to the associate pastor about ways to serve in the church. I don't think he actually believed me and the things I listed I could help with. He said they would be in touch with me this week to talk more.

Fishing Guy should be on his way home and then I might be able to escape for a little quiet time. I really miss Alaska.

Day Three

Well, it is still Saturday on the West Coast and with the time change, I should be safe for the East Coast as well.

The most exciting thing to happen today was that I got Firefox back up and running. I've been using IE for the last week and it's been driving me batty. I haven't ever run it on this computer and I hated every minute of it. All my links and passwords are back!

The kids declared today a PJ day and it was perfect for it. The weather has been rainy and dreary all day. I worked on laundry and cleaned up The Princess' room. I watched a show on the DVR and talked to a couple of friends on the phone. I played some computer games and introduced The Prince to Jigzone.com, including how to choose new pictures and set the piece count and cut. This evening I've been searching online ads for part-time jobs and getting the kitchen cleaned up.

Just a normal laid-back day for us.

Day Two

Friday's are my day at the school.

I spend the morning with The Prince's class, have lunch with the kids in the cafeteria and then spend the afternoon with The Princess' class. I've worked on crafts and grading homework and filing, but most of my time is spent doing the fluency reading testing for both classes. I get to work one-on-one with the kids and it is a little way I can still "teach."

Today was especially crazy and I am very happy to be home with nothing but the weekend in front of us. To keep the kids from running me over as soon as we walked in the door, I set the timer as soon as we got home for 20 minutes and they can't bother me while it is still counting down.

I have 6 minutes left... More tomorrow!

Day One

Well, here it is the beginning of NaBloPoMo. I'm not officially signed up, since all of the networking, find-me stuff is freaking me out right now, but I will be trying my best to complete the month anyway.

Yesterday was crazy. I even have some pictures of the crazy which I will share. It all started about 3 pm on Tuesday afternoon though...

I picked up the kids from school and we came home to bake cupcakes for their classroom parties. I won't go into how and why I think what I do about it, but I'm playing along for the sake of the kids right now. We got home and started gathering box mixes and containers of frosting and the cupcake papers. So after a quick count I realized I was more than a few short. No worries, we ran up to the store and then start baking.

Once home again, The Princess got busy adding her ingredients to the mixer bowl and The Prince grabed a spatula and started emptying cans of frosting into a big bowl for me to color orange. We mixed and stired and scooped and finally, baked the first two pans of cupcakes.

Then, the kids took a cartoon break.

Once the cupcakes cooled, I took them out of the pan and put them onto a cookie sheet. And we started again with The Prince's batch. Mixing and cracking eggs and scooping and baking again.

Now it was time to make dinner. Oh goodie!

[Of course, the harder I work on something, the less of it gets eaten. In this case, I got wrapped up in other things before I went to bed and the leftovers didn't get put away in the fridge. Nothing like tossing out an-almost full pan of food the next morning to cheer me up.]

After dinner, I frosted and the kids topped each cupcake with Mellowcreme Pumpkins. We ended up with these:



Halloween morning:

The kids are not allowed to wear costumes to school - for which I am thankful. I bought them both Halloween shirts at Target and they were happy to wear those instead. We made it through breakfast and drop-off, with promises that I would be at their parties in the afternoon.

I headed to the school about noon, with both trays of cupcakes and my camera. The Prince's room needed the most help, so that's where I was. The Princess was just going to have to "Deal with it."*

I helped make Spider Hats - even one for myself. No pictures of that though. The three classes rotated through the rooms and we made about 75 hats. Then came the feasting. The Prince handed out his cupcakes - the only treats for the class and can proudly say he made them.

I took a break for a quick dash to the next wing of the school, wherwasI made an appearance at The Princess' party. Where I am told by a very precocious student to go back to First Grade with my Spider Hat. Good times.

We made it through the end of the day clean up and pack up, only to head home and bravely face carving the pumpkins.

I have to state for the record that I do not like to carve pumpkins. As in "strongly dislike" or "would rather clean the litterbox."

Anyway, I put on my apron, lined the table with newspaper, armed my self with my favorite sharp knife and an ice cream scoop and went to work. The kids drew what they wanted carved on a piece of paper as I cleaned out the guts and then the fun started.

The Prince chose wisely. Triangle eyes and nose, a mustache and a toothy grin. See here:



The Princess got creative. This is the modified version of her original. We have a decorative forehead triangle, eyes with eyelashes, nose with mustache, four upper square teeth and three lower fangs. I did not do the fancy cheek lightning bolts for fear of structure failure. Here is the proof of my mad skillz:



And we all made it without any tears, so that is a success!

Fishing Guy got home from work and was discouraged by the lack of an organized dinner. The Prince and I were having Macaroni and Cheese and The Princess was having a can of chili with cheese. Fishing Guy finished the Chili and ran to the store later for two deli entrees.

We then got "Dressed." The Princess was an angel and The Prince was a ninja. Fishing Guy and I were Bob the Builder and Wendy from last year. Here are the photos from the front porch.






We took the kids out for about 45 minutes and made it home in time to hand out candy to about 300 kids. I overbought candy by about 4 (large) bags and we will be munching on it for months to come.

Now I have to run and pick the kids up from school. Happy First of November!