Home alone, texting, and #11...

Brad left this past Sunday to go to Boy Scout Camp with his troop and he has been gone all week. He is coming home in the morning. For some reason, I have had a really hard time going to sleep with him gone. He has gone every year that we've been married so I am totally used to it, but this year has been different. I've been a little on edge... creaks, squeaks, things that go bump in the night, etc. but I think the main thing is that I have gotten used to going to bed while he is still up watching tv. I fall asleep comfortably, knowing that he is going to lock up, set the alarm, and turn off all the lights. Then after I am asleep, he comes to bed (mostly, because he has a hard time falling asleep himself most nights). I guess being the one who's turning off the lights and locking up, I have more to think about before bed. I lay there wondering if I shut the garage door, or if I remembered to feed the cat. My mind just goes and goes. Plus, I've lost track of time most nights and found myself up much later than usual. In addition to that, I've been sleeping much later than usual (9 or 9:30). This is the latest I have slept since Sam was born! Anyway, I will just be really glad for him to come home and for our routine to get back to normal.

So, without Brad home, I have struggled to keep busy and to keep the kids entertained 24/7.

*Monday we hung out at my mom's house most of the day and the worked in the garden Monday evening.

*Tuesday, Sam went to mom and dad's and spent time with Lea in her pool, and then went fishing with daddy later. Lily and I cleaned out some closets and canned green beans.

*Wednesday, Sam and I tackled the popsicle stick barn that we've been itching to build, while I finished up the canning. I also made Brad's grandpa a blueberry pie before we headed on over to the grill to help dad. Sam and Lily spent the night with grandmomma Wednesday night (that was a really lonely night!).

*On Thursday, I went to school to help with summer school testing. The kids stayed with grandmomma and swam while Becky and I went out for lunch after finishing up with testing. When I came home, I packed a bag for Sam and picked the kids up and we headed to scout camp for family night. We ate hot dogs and hamburgers with Brad and his scouts and all their parents. Sam stayed (as he has for the past few years) and he will come home with Brad tomorrow. Lily and I came home, fed the dogs and went to bed early.

*Today, I took Billy and Lea and Lily to see Wall-E at the movies. It was really cute. I think I liked Kung-Fu Panda better, but it was still really good. I dropped Billy off at Wal-Mart so he could do some grocery shopping (it's my duty as a sister to a license-less brother) and Lily and I went across the street to Kmart to do a little shopping. We found some really cute bathing suits for her that were 50% off. I got them for around $7 each! After picking Billy up, I took Lily to grandmomma's before heading off to my "job" at the grill again. I picked her up and brought her home... I wasn't fond of being here ALL alone again like I was Wednesday night.

So, here I am at midnight, up too late AGAIN... writing on my blog. I have been really thankful for my computer this week. It's kept me sane and it's given me some way to keep my mind off of being here without Brad. I often wonder what I did before I got my computer. That and my cell phone.... I know it is annoying, but I am a texter. Brad dropped my phone in a cup of water last week and I had to get a new one. I got one with the full keyboard and I just think it is the coolest thing since sliced bread. As annoying as it may be, texting is really convenient. It is like carrying email around with you. I love it. And my friend Greg turned me on to the website called myxertones.com where you can download all sorts of ringtones and wallpapers for your phone for free. It is really neat. I had my old phone all customized where all my regular callers had their own unique ringtone. My generic ring was the theme song to "The Price is Right". It made me laugh everytime my phone rang! I haven't had enough time to get my new phone customized yet.

Well, my #11 Janet Evanovich arrived in the mail today so I think I am gonna turn in and read for a little while before I fall asleep. I can't wait to see what kind of trouble old Stephanie Plum is going to find in this one. If you haven't read these books, you really need to. They are hilarious.

Fishing, beestings, and the new swing set...

I took the kids to mom and dad's this morning to go fishing. Sam had a blast. The fish were biting and he caught about 7 really big bream. He was so excited. It really makes me happy to watch him fishing because it reminds me so much of the times I spent fishing with my Granny. It would make her so happy to know they like to fish. Lily, on the other hand, was bored after about 5 minutes. She complained that she was hungry, thirsty, sweaty, etc. The fish weren't biting fast enough to suit her. I'm not thinking she's gonna be much of a fisherman. I guess there aren't many princesses who are fishermen too.

After the fishing, we went up to the house to let the kids play in the little pool mom has on her back porch. I pulled up a chair to sit down and help Lily get her bathing suit on and wasps came at me from under the chair. I got stung four times on my right foot. I forgot how much those things hurt. When I first felt it, I honestly thought I had stepped on a piece of glass. Then I looked down and saw the bees flying at me and I realized what it was. Luckily, the kids were far enough away that none of them got stung. If it hurt me that bad, I can't imagine how bad it would hurt them. That was at least two hours ago, if not more, and my foot still hurts.

Last night when I came home from the grill, Brad was still in the backyard with the flood lights on trying to finish up the new swingset. He has done a great job! The kids even stayed up to watch. He probably finished up around 10:15 and we watched the kids try it out for about 15 minutes before coming inside for the night. They are really excited about it and so am I.

Speaking of my wonderful husband and all of the wonderful things he has been doing lately, I am sad to say he will be away at Boy Scout camp next week. I hate when he's away from home. I am not particularly fond of being at home alone, but especially right now. We have been getting along so well lately that I hate to see him go get all tired and worn out at camp. Then I know that he'll be behind at work when he goes back so that will stress him out, too. Maybe it won't be so bad, but I will really miss him.

Uncomfortable quiet, stupendous, and Toady the toad...

Grandmomma and I worked out a plan this summer for her to keep the kids on Wednesday nights so I can help daddy at the grill. Then she is going to keep the kids during the day on Thursdays so I can run errands or just have some time to myself. So we started this week. Last night they spent the night with her and I had an appointment in Morganton to have my brakes checked this morning. I really didn't have anything major I needed to do so I came on home to do some laundry and finished touching up the paint in some areas in the laundry room. It is so quiet that it is uncomfortable. I feel guilty because I know I really don't NEED someone to watch them right now. I am just sitting here on the computer. Finished the painting in the laundry room. Started on the garage baseboards. Thought about washing my car (probably gonna do that when I get finished here). I know I should make the most of this time, but I really don't know what to do without them. I wish they'd come on home. You're right Carmen... I miss my hugs & shoogies.

Before I go, I will share a funny Lily story: She was mumbling some little song in the backseat on the way home from church Sunday. Then she and Sam started arguing about something and she started to call him stupid (which is a VERY bad word). In the middle of her calling him stupid, she realized I was looking at her and could hear what she was saying and suddenly "Sam, you're stupid" turned into "Sam, you're stupendous!". I was amazed that she even knew the word, but then I asked her what it meant and she said, "It means something really great, mommy." So she knew what it meant too! I worry about them watching too much television but if she is getting a vocabulary like that from watching Backyardigans and Dora, then so be it. I won't complain 'cause she's not even four years old!

Another thing that just came to mind is our new pet, Toady. Toady is a toad (duh) who Sam and Lily discovered in the sandbox the other day. They proceeded to fill the sandbox with water from the water hose (now the sandbox is a mudbox) to make a home for Toady. Lily picks Toady up and takes him to their water slide occassionally to give him a bath before returning him to his home in the mudbox. Toady has been in the same place for three days now and I am beginning to wonder if he doesn't have the sense to run for it when they are inside, or if he just can't. It's not unlikely that my children have injured poor Toady. Or maybe Toady is actually dead and they just haven't realized it. Who knows? But I have had fun watching them have fun with the good old Toady.

Hugs & shoogies and taking the first step to Disney...

I love my children dearly, really, I do. But I think I have surpassed my limit of hugs and "shoogies", as Lily calls them. Everytime they see me, it occurs to them that I need some lovin' and they hang on me for a good three or four minutes. I guess it comes from not being with me during the day most of the time, and then suddenly being with me all the time. Both of them are hanging on me as I type. Sam is sucking his fingers and Lily is sucking her bobby. I think summertime is making the sucking habits of my children worse. I guess at school they are distracted from it, but here they are sucking non-stop. All the lovin' is good, I am so thankful for the opportunity to be home with them, but I am wondering if this will go on all summer. I may be burnt out on hugs and shoogies.

I have continued on my productivity run. Although I have been productive on my computer, not in my house. I started by booking a short vacation to Pigeon Forge in July to Dollywood and Splash Country. We are already scheduled to go to the beach in August when Brad has to go for some conference. Then I took the plunge and booked our Disney trip for the week of Thanksgiving. We will be gone 7 days and 6 nights. We are staying at the Disney All-Star Music Resort and I went ahead and made reservations for two character dining experiences. Lunch with all the princesses one day and breakfast with Donald Duck another day. I bought a package that included our room and our tickets and then I added a meal plan that includes one sit down meal, one quick meal, and one snack each day. I am so excited and I have been on the computer non-stop reading about what all there is to do. I want this thing to be planned perfectly so we can gets the most fun for our money. I ordered the Frommer's guide off of Amazon to help me plan and it should be here in a few days. The website says I have 158 days left before my Disney vacation begins. I'm not sure I can wait that long!

Productive...

I have been out of school for less than a week and already I have accomplished so much! I spent the end of last week by the pool, relaxing and just enjoying not having to go to work. Then Saturday, Brad and I went shopping for a new exterior door for the laundry room. I have always been bothered by the fact that I couldn't see out into the garage or the driveway without opening the door. So I have wanted one that had a window. I also have wanted a storm door that goes into the garage so that I could see/listen to the kids when they went out that way. So, he installed the exterior door Saturday and the storm door Sunday. The door and the frame/molding around the door had to be painted, which I started working on while Brad was installing the storm door. Feeling the urge to keep going, I got up this morning and headed out to Lowes for a new paint color for the laundry room walls. I chose a light sage green. I have painted ALL day and I am finally finished. I have a few spots that I need to touch up on the trim but I have to get the trim paint back out to paint the outside of the new door tomorrow, so I'll touch up then. It looks great! I have even hung the pictures and the coat rack and everything back on the wall. I can't wait for Brad to get home so he can see!

Brad also went to Wal-Mart Saturday night while I was working at Daddy's grill and he bought the kids a swing set. When he finished putting up the doors Sunday, he started working on the swing set. He plans to work a couple hours each evening this week and hopefully have it finished before he goes to scout camp this coming Sunday.

So, my husband is being so wonderful lately. He is working so hard around the house and he is just being great all around. I had asked him to take me to look at new wedding bands because since my wrist surgery, I can't get my rings back on my fat fingers. So, when we went shopping Saturday morning for the doors, he stopped by Arnold's first. We went in and looked at the bands and I picked one I really liked. He asked the saleslady to show us some of the wraps that they had. We put my diamond in several of them and found one I liked but it was WAY too expensive. So I'm thinking in the back of my mind, next year is our ten year anniversary and he is probably just getting ideas for that, but he told the saleslady he wanted the new band and the wrap! I fussed at him because it was really expensive and I knew we were going to spend money on the home repairs and the swingset. He said he should've bought me one a long time ago. Isn't he sweet? Sometimes I just don't think I deserve him. I am so high maintenance yet he steps up to the plate no matter what. I'm a lucky gal.

The kids are already reaching the point where they are a little bored. Today Sam was miserable. He was so lazy and just sat here and watched Spongebob all afternoon. I was busy painting and Lily took a long nap. I kept trying to get him to go outside (which I usually don't have to prompt him to do) and he just sat there in the recliner sucking his fingers. I hope tomorrow he is more himself because when he was anywhere near his sister today, he was pestering the snot out of her.

Hopefully I will be able to write more frequently now that I am home for the summer. That's the plan, anyway.

Facebook, Sam's birthday, and my sunburn...

Moving up in the technology world. Figuring out how to connect all of these lovely pages I have created so they can be easily accessed through each other. I have now figured out how to post to my Facebook profile each time I write on my blog. Don't laugh at me. I am finding myself more and more technology challenged as I get older and I am having to work really hard to stay caught up. Man, it changes so quickly.

Sam's birthday was Saturday and so we had a little birthday party/campout Friday night. He had three little boys come over to stay with him and they had a ball. I can't believe he is seven years old. And tomorrow is going to be his last day of first grade. You know how everybody says time flies? I think it flies faster when you pass thirty because that is when I really began to notice it. Hope it doesn't get even faster after forty.

After the boys left Saturday, Katie and I took the kids down to the pool at Grandmomma's and took in some sun. The front side of my legs are SO red! My legs never seem to get sun anymore, so it is really strange that of all the body parts that were exposed to the sun, my legs were what burned. Sleeping was especially rough last night because I am a stomach sleeper. Every time I moved I disturbed my sunburn! Ouch!

Oh, I almost forgot to mention that Friday was my 9th wedding anniversary. Brad and I dated for 5 years before we got married, which means we've actually been together for 14 years. I was thinking about that... I have literally spent almost half of my life with him. In a couple more years I will have been with him more years than I have been without him. Funny how life works. I remember my senior year in high school telling a guy in my English class how much Brad got on my nerves. And then I turned right around and married him! He doesn't get on my nerves as much anymore! Sometimes, yes, but not nearly like he did in high school! :)

School...

Three days left, three days left, three days left...

Coyotes, birthdays, and politics...

Been really busy (as usual) lately. I feel like I say that all the time, but it is true, I promise! With school winding down, I have been trying to get all the loose ends tied up there (posting grades, taking up books, working on cumulative folders, etc.) so that I can get the heck outta Dodge as soon as possible! I'm still helping daddy down at the grill on Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday nights. Mom has orders from her doctor to stay off her foot completely for another month. I would be going crazy if I were her. Then again, I guess I would be getting a lot of the stuff done on my computer that I am always saying I want to do. Not that I would want to be in her position!

Sam's birthday is Saturday. We are letting him have 4 little boys over to spend the night at the playhouse mom and dad bought for the grandkids. Brad is going to "camp out" with them. I went tonight to buy his birthday presents. I was going to buy him an iPod but even the Nanos were $200, which was more than I was willing to spend for a 7 year old. Instead, I bought him a new bike (his old one has HAD it) and I bought him Super Mario Galaxy for the Wii. He LOVES that game. I hope he'll be happy with that. When Brad and I went to Biltmore, we bought Lily a porcelain doll (what were WE thinking?) for her birthday in July and Brad has FINALLY decided to buy a swing set because Lily asked him for one the other day. I really don't want to do a party for her (I just hate birthday parties, does that make me a terrible mom?). My babies are growing up and they are not babies anymore, are they? Depressing!

Speaking of babies, Brad's brother Jeff (the middle one) and his wife, Mary, are going to have a baby in October. They just found out yesterday that they are having a girl! I am totally surprised because they both just seem like boy parents, if there is such a thing. I am really happy for them.

Let me update you on our coyote situation... Yesterday I was coming home from Linda and Dickie's and I was headed to mom's to pick up some strawberries. Just as I got to the house a coyote came out of my yard and ran across the road right in front of me. A few seconds later, here comes Burger and Taco chasing after it. I pulled over on the side of the road and called the dogs and blew the horn and was finally able to round them up and get them in the van with us. Meanwhile, the coyote just trotted along in the field across from the house and watched us. It didn't take off like you would expect a wild animal to do, it just kind of took a few steps, turned around to watch, took a few more steps, etc. but it never seemed afraid or in any kind of hurry to get away. I put the dogs up in the lot and when I went back out the driveway I didn't see it anywhere. Now I am really getting nervous about this thing. I have seen it (yes, I feel like it is the same one) three times in the past two weeks within a very close vicinity to my house. At first, I think I was just freaked out but now I am starting to feel like I have a legitimate cause for concern. I am somewhat worried about the kids going outside to play, which is not fun since it is definitely outside weather and we are getting ready to be out of school and home all day.

I don't think I have written since the finale of LOST was on last week. Oh good gracious, how I love that show! It is just so intelligent! Kudos to Carmen for finding the Jeremy Bentham connection! You are brilliant, brotha!

Hey, did you see that Obama has the delegates needed to be the Democratic nominee? I voted for Hillary, but I will support Obama now that he is the nominee. There is some talk of Hillary possibly being his VP nominee, which I think would be very smart. And I loved Bill Clinton and I think he will be influential if she has anything to do with running the country. And I think that would have to be a good thing, since he did an outstanding job as president himself. It's not that I am such a die-hard democrat... I am just a die-hard non-republican. Actually, I am just anti-George Bush. He is just embarrassing. Has anyone watched Letterman's segment called Great Moments in Presidential Speeches? If not, you should go on you-tube and search for it and watch. Absolutely hilarious!

Anyhoo, gotta get to bed so I will be able to function in the morning. By the way, my husband has been an absolute delight lately! Washing clothes like crazy, being sweet and thoughtful, and all the things a husband should be! I love him! Our anniversary is Friday and we will have been married 9 years.