Apple Pie Ring!

After all the dishes were cleaned up from Christmas dinner my mom went home, Matthew played Wii and I settled down for a short little nap. By 8:30pm it was time for Matthew to get to bed and my friend/coworker Tracey was coming over for dinner...aka left overs! She had to work 9am to 9pm and couldn't resist my grilled pork chops that she had on Thanksgiving! I guess she didn't get sick then and thought she'd try it again. Not to mention I bribbed her with an apple pie ring I found on a blog from http://www.reluctantentertainer.com/ I found this blog from Christine's blog, whom I met on yahoo 360. Anyway, on the reluctant entertainer blog I have gotten numerous recipie ideas, life lessons, inspirations and have just really enjoyed reading it. So, thank you for this apple pie ring that we had! I did only use one can of crossiants so it spilled out of the ring but oh how it was good! And...even though I was just "entertaining" for one...poor Tracey, after a 12 hour shift got stuck getting her picture taken.... I tried to plate it up nicely for her to have a nice Christmas dinner. And as Matthew's shirt says...I need more practice in the kitchen...lol!

Favorite Gift...Ever!

After the cookie incident and a few more fibs, I was about to cancel Christmas all together. But eventually Matthew saw the light and realized he should probably be on his good behavior. I finally heard come out of his mouth that he was acting disrespectful so I am either making progress or he was working me over to get to Christmas. Either way, I ended up getting the flu the weekend before Christmas. I managed to work the weekend with the chills (I'm sure my co workers appreciated me sneezing the blowing my nose the whole time) and then Monday I was in bed the whole day. Matthew was an angel and played and entertained himself very well and the house remained standing! Finally Christmas came and my threats of getting socks and underware did come true! (its tradition) He did get some clothes but also a Wii. He was SOOOOOO excited. I have to admit, it is pretty fun. I am loving bowling! Even Grandma played a little. Tonight I bowled a 187 and I am quite determined to beat that and my 3 strikes in a row that both Matthew and I attained tonight. For Christmas morning breakfast I made an egg casserole and cinnamon rolls and for dinner I grilled out pork chops. It was a little chilly but not too bad out. Grandma left with left overs so it must not have been too bad! lol

The Great Cookie Caper!

I am totally behind in my blogging so its time to play catch up! So, it started with a little school project about family traditions that led to bringing to school a snack that had something to do with what your family traditionally makes at Christmas time. Matthew always likes to help me bake cookies. If you know me...you know its been YEARS since I've made cookies from scratch. I think if I had anything besides a hand mixer I would go back to the old way. But ever since my friend/co worker, Susie, brought me cookies after having Matthew...and it turned out they were the already made kind that all you had to do was either slice and bake or tear off and bake....well, I've been spoiled ever since. Anywho, so our version of baking cookies is putting the cookie dough on my Pampered Chef stoneware (the secret to my never burnt cookies) and baking! So, we go to the store, pick out these tree cookies, bake them and Matthew is going to take them to school the next day to share them with his class for the Traditions Party. Keep in mind, it has snowed the day before and they have a snow day...giving us an extra day to do all of this. So, I get up the next day, take Matthew to school so these cookies don't get broken and wish Matthew a great day and party. :-) Matthew comes home with.....THE COOKIES! ah....WHAT??? After making a special trip to the store (in the snow no less) , baking the cookies, and driving him TO school....I get the back???? Matthew said there were extras and he got them back. Hmmmmm....something isn't making sense. So, I email the teacher and of course, get a different story. After much grilling the next day, Matthew finally cracks. He wanted a cookie and didn't want to share....so he brought them home. Oh dear....what child lies just a few days before Christmas??? Yep....Matthew. So, since the whole point of making the cookies was to give them away....we gave them to Grandma as part of her late birthday gift...since it is better to give than to recieve. At least that was part of the lesson I was trying to teach in the end here.

More Pics

A couple more pictures....my kitchen and Matthew's tree......which looks better in the dark! :-)

Decking the Halls

As soon as we finished lunch on Thanksgiving, Matthew was super anxious to start decorating for Christmas. So, it was time to put away the pumpkins and drag out the decorations from the garage. Finally we got it all up. There is the main tree in the family room, a small one in the basement, 3 little ones in my room, one in Matthew's room and several above the kitchen cabinets. I love to turn the lights out at night and just sit and watch tv by the light of the tree and greenery. Can you tell I love this time of year???

Love, Compassion and Grace

I hate cancer.....again!! It is with a sad heart that I write this morning. I have been following a blog for about 12+ weeks about a local woman named Stephanie Vest with a rare form of cancer. I asked for prayers for her a few weeks ago. Sadly last evening, she lost her battle and passed. Its times like this when I don't understand God's plan. She was a young mom of 3 beautiful YOUNG children that are now left without a mother to care for them. I don't understand that. I want to ask God WhY?? But her life and her witness through her blog was what thousands will remember. I do know that and I am one of them. I learned to not take life for granted. It is too short. I am blessed to have Matthew and I am going to be a better mom to him and love and hug and let him know daily how special he is as well as those around me that I love. Did I mention life is to short not to spend it with the ones you love the most? One of the local tv stations just did a story on Stephanie before the KU/MU game last weekend. http://www.myfoxkc.com/myfox/pages/Home/Detail?contentId=7965814&version=2&locale=EN-US&layoutCode=VSTY&pageId=1.1.1

So, be thankful this holiday season. By the way...it's not about the meal, its not called ThanksTAKING...its was called Thanksgiving for a reason. I'm just saying. I hope the soup was worth it.

The Right to Vote!!

A few weeks ago I went to a McCain/Palin rally here in town and today I excercised my right to vote :-) I expected a long line but at 1050 am, there really wasn't one. I was a little clausterphobic though. I vote now at Matthew's school and they have us CRAMMED in a TINY little entranceway. It is about the size of my storage area in my basement for those of you that have had the misfortune of seeing that. lol. It is small. I had to laugh when the lady that took my driver's licence complimented me on my picture. She said..."wow, that's a great picture of you"...I renewed it last week and if I do say so myself...it is one of my better pictures. Anyway...back to voting. So, there is a guy that greeted me, the nice lady who took my id and had me sign, and then the guy that gave me the 'how to vote' inservice so I wouldn't smear the ink on the ballot. Then after I voted, I did have to wait in a small line to exit.....obviously some lady hadn't listened to the inservice and had a rejected ballot. It was LOUD in there too. Not condusive to being able to read the ballot at all!! Thankfully I had done all of my research prior to going. So, I've done my civic duty and I will be so glad NOT to get anymore phone calls asking me to vote!!!!! I even had a lady come to my door this afternoon. Once she saw my "I voted today"....she left. Now, we wait!

They had an election at school....so I asked Matthew who he voted for. At first he told me Omaha. Uh...who is that? Turns out it was Obama. WHAT?? I told him you better talk to your father and grandma about that. Then he proceeds to tell me he has the RIGHT to Choose and I can't take that away from him. OH MY! What are they teaching him at school!!! My next question was why? What where his policies? What did he stand for? Was he a KU or an MU fan (yes, that made him think...) THEN he said.....after a long pause....and after giving me his "right to choose" speech again"...Well, mom,....Alexis G. told me to! WHAT!!! Are you kidding me? You let a girl tell you what to do?!!??? Oh it's starting early!!!!!! Now we wait....

Halloween

Lisa and Matthew!!

Sitting in a circle telling a scarry story.

Matthew as a Kansas City Chief.

Matthew playing a game at school.

Class Halloween Parade.

Halloween started with the party at school. I had been talked into being the head room parent by another mom at school....who originally said....all I'd have to do was call a few parents and pick up the supplies for a party. Yeah....she didn't mention I'd have to send out a mass email through the teacher, shop for the stuff for the party with all of the money the parents sent in (which of course I didn't mind), go to two planning meetings and then put together the goodie bags for 23 students, bring ALL of that stuff to the party on Halloween, make sure we had parent helpers, make sure the games flowed during the party, pass out the snack, etc.....yeah, no stress. But Matthew LOVED having me there and it was totally fun. It has kept my mind occupied with a project lately and that was a good thing too.

Halloween evening Matthew and I went out to dinner with my coworker Tracey and then came home to wait for his dad to take him out Trick or Treating. In years past, we have gone to the church on Halloween. But this year, Matthew wanted to help pass out candy and actually go trick or treating. So, his dad comes to take him around the neighborhood and they are gone for maybe 5 minutes and they are back and Matthew says he's "done". WHAT????? Well, he thought Tracey and I were having fun and playing UNO without him and he wanted to stay home. Yeah...no, that isn't gonna happen. So, we ALL went out and went Trick or Treating.....for an HOUR. Filled up his candy pumpkin and half his Chiefs helmet and we called it quits. Once Matthew got the hang of trick of treating he was totally into and saw his friends out in the neighborhood he was fine. Some of the houses really went all out....scarry lights, crazy decorations. If I'd been a kid his age, I would have skipped the house....but we made him ring the door bell!! So, we had so much candy I had took a ton to work this weekend. Bottom line, Matthew had a BLAST! Me...my feet hurt and my plan of watching a movie got thrown out the window! lol.

Seven Things

Seven Things:

Travis Tagged me (http://www.pracharfamily.blogspot.com/)

Here are the rules:
1) Link to your tagger and list these rules on your blog
2) Share 7 facts about yourself, some random, some weird
3) Tag 7 more people at the end of your post by leaving their names as well as links to their blogs4) Let them know they've been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog

1) For the most part, I love my job. I complain about it in my blog a lot but I do enjoy the nursing aspect of it. It seems the politics of it lately has gotten under my skin. Just last night 4 of my friends/co workers and I went to the breast cancer seminar (see previous blog about me emailing the CEO of the hospital). We show up and it turns out they cancelled the seminar. Yeah....due to POOR PARTICIPATION. Thats due to their poor public relations. This leads me to number 2.

2) I have an issue with anger control....especially while driving!! Yes...lately I've been the queen of road rage. I know, not exactly safe in this day and age.

3) I love my new Kenny Chesney CD. I admit it. I love to listen to music...and especially country. He wrote a lot of this music after the end of a relationship and since I am in the midst of a recent break up myself, I've found it strangely comforting. In the little book that came with the CD, he talks about trying to find peace. There is the following quote " Sometimes peace is where you find it -- and where you accept it." I often pray for peace in my heart and to not be so angry and hurt anymore. I'm so not there yet.

4) I've never been the same since my dad died. I wasn't done being a daughter yet. I didn't get to say goodbye. Enough said.

5) I love being Matthew's mom. Obviously these were written in no particular order as this is really number ONE. He has grown up, litterally so much in the last few weeks. He is such a sweet boy with such a big heart. Anytime he has seen me cry or sad lately he has just given me a big hug. The love of a child is unconditional and is so special to watch. It is truely an honor to get to be a parent. He is definetly a blessing.

6) I love diet coke and chocolate....especially chocolate chip cookies or reeces. While it's not the best diet to be on, it has been good lately.

7) Pedicures. I love them. I need one and a hair cut desperately! It's on my list of things to do next week. I also really enjoy eating out.....just ask my friends. :-) Oh yeah...and I need to get back to excercising and join the gym down the street. It's on my to-do list too. That and paint the basement. Should I mention I'm a procrastinator? That would really be #8....

National Breast Cancer Month

Yes, long time, no blog. I haven't been in the best of moods I guess....but that is another blog in itself! On this subject, it all started about 2 weeks ago when I heard through the grapevine at work that the hospital wasn't doing anything this year for National Breast Cancer Awareness Month. I was shocked. I mean I understand we can't celebrate every National this and that month that exist but seriously, breast cancer is a big one and is celebrated NATIONALLY!! I was blown away. I was working the weekend of the 4th and there were posters all over for the campaign for something else but nada for Breast Cancer. So, as my dad always taught me...if you want something done...you go to the top! I wrote an email to the CEO. He is rather new to the hospital and I had met him once since his arrival so he doesn't really have a clue who I am. Well, that was until now I believe. My letter was pretty much to the point and I used the words....blowing off National Breast Cancer month more than once. I am quite passionate as my mom is a 10 year surivivor this year, I've had 3 sorority sisters moms diagnosed and last week I had a sorority sister die (MY AGE) with stage 4 Inflammatory Breast Cancer. Her name was Angie Vincent Elliot and she had a courageous and amazing story. She lobbyed in Washington D.C, Austin Texas, and New Mexico to raise awareness for the rare type of cancer she had. Did I mention she was my age. She also made this amazing survivors creed. http://www.survivorscreed.com/catalog.htm Anyway..so to hear the hospital was doing nothing had me a little upset. Well, two days ago, I finally got a reply from the CEO. Turns out we are doing a couple of things as a hospital....but WHO KNEW! They are handing out muffins and a goodie bag with self breast exam info to those that are getting mammograms, having extended hours in radiology and there is even some kind of seminar next Monday. Trust me...ALL of this is news to me! There has been NO mass email as of last Sunday when I last worked. Hmmmm makes ya wonder if I raised a stink and got things moving along??? Well, either way....stink or not, education and early detection is the key and was my main point. I got my mammogram this month and ladies, if I can do it....so can you!!! So...stop procrastinating. As women we have so many roles and often we are so busy caring for our families that we don't take care of ourselves. This is something that we must make time for....be selfish and make the time for yourself and save your tata's!

Muffins for Moms

This morning it was up early for Muffins for Mom's at school. The parking lot was CROWDED! So after a little walk from where we parked we headed right for his classroom. We had our picture taken for his teacher and then off to the gym for our muffins...or in my case, donut and chocolate milk. Matthew was way too busy pointing out everyone he knew and socializing to have time to eat. I see why he is starving by the time he gets home. I figure lunch is the same way. :-) I ran into a girl from college that I've seen at another event....she played basketball there but of course this morning I can't remember her name. Now I have to find my yearbook!! Matthew had fun dragging me from here to there showing me where everything was and where his artwork and other things he had made that were hanging on the walls in the halls. It's an early release day...for what reason I have no clue so Matthew will be home in an hour. That doesn't give me much time to get things straightend up!! Then we have errands to run and lunch! Hope everyone has a great weekend.

Breath of Life

My friend and coworker Lindsay had her baby Addyson (not sure I'm spelling it right) by emergency c-section on Monday. So, the day we said goodbye to a coworker...a new life was being brought into the world. Well, Addyson was a couple of weeks early and has had some problems. She has been in the nursery since birth and Lindsay hasn't even gotten to hold her yet. Last night they put her on the ventilator and this evening I got a call that they have taken her to the Children's Hospital. I saw them both today. Lindsay looked great and I made us both an ice cream run....how convient there is a good ice cream joint right across the street from her hospital. Addyson, while sedated on the vent, still looked to me like she had agonal breathing...which I didn't like. So, I am thankful she is going to Childrens. Please keep Addyson, the doctors, nurses and Lindsay and her family in your prayers.

I also found out this week that one of my college sorority sisters has been battling IBC...Inflammatory Breast Cancer. She was diagnosed two months after she got married and has beat the disease 3 times. She has an AMAZING story of fight and survival. http://www.utsystem.edu/news/features/BreastCancerCenter.htm

I have also been catching up the last year on her blog through MD Anderson's Carepages. If you have more room or desire for more prayers, she could use them too. At present, she if fighting pneumonia and is on the ventilator as well.

Its been a week!

I can't believe it's been so long since I last blogged! There has been a few things going on I guess. Sadly, one of my co workers died last week and today I went to her funeral. She worked at the old hospital I used to work at as well as my current place of employment...so I've known her for a while. I had started her IV last Saturday at work before we transfered her to a different hospital and we all knew, including her I believe, that we were all saying our final goodbye's. Oh let me tell you, that was one of my worst shifts. I was actually thankful my cold was still hanging around and I had to wear a mask in her room so she couldn't see the tears welling up in my eyes as I started her IV. I saw a few people today that I hadn't seen in a while and it was basically a sad day. I had a horrible headache when I got home and ended up taking a two hour nap. I still feel exhausted. I also lost a patient at work this weekend. In those cases, I always second guess myself....if I hadn't of gone home when I did maybe he wouldn't have coded...no, he would have. He was in bad shape to begin with and had numerous health issue that I had no control over, but second guess myself, I will.

On a lighter note, Matthew had several little test last week in school. This is the first year that he has actually brought home a science book etc to read and study from so he was pretty excited about being more grown up. Of course, being more grown up has more responsiblities....like bringing that book home the night before a test. He forgot last Wednesday (with the test on Thursday) so we had to get in the SUV and drive up to the school asap and get the book! Oh he was so upset I was making him do this..lol. The boy has to learn the material AND responsiblity if it kills me! Seriously....how was he going to study??? And yes, I made him go into the school, by himself and get the book. I think he's learned a valuable lesson!

My new Instinct phone from sprint....well, it went back to the store. It was less than desirable performance wise....as was trying to get it fixed. I went to 3 different stores before I finally gave up on ever getting their software to work on my computer. So, now I have the BlackBerry Curve, with functioning software and all is well.....I did manage to make a little profit too....I got a credit on my account for all of my troubles. However, when I went to exchange the phone, I had MORE problems. In walks a family with 3 or 4 unruley children. They destroyed the store and litterally pulled down one of the floor to ceiling displays. The store manager had my paperwork so messed up that someone had to call me that night saying they owed me $54 more dollars. Who knows when I will see that!!!! I told you....it's been a week!!

Prayer Request

PRAYER REQUEST:

I found her blog off Shawndra Turners blog (another blog I follow) and I've mentioned before. Her name is Stephanie Vest and she has recently been diagnosed with a rare form of Lymphoma that effects the skin. She started chemo and collapased after her first treatment. She has been in critical condition, on the vent, in the ICU ever since. Here is the link to her blog. http://rainkitephotography.typepad.com/stephanie_vest/
No, I do not know her but she's a mom of 3 young kiddos and has a beautiful family and she really needs our prayers.

Cough Cough!!!!

I keep SAYING that I'm feeling better...maybe I'm hoping it will be true! I seem to do pretty good during the day and then the SECOND I lay down to go to bed...COUGH COUGH. So, back out last night came the cough med with the codeine and finally at 3am, I fell asleep. We have had a nice steady rain for the last couple of days so that has been great for the lawn and very nice for the occasional day time nap as well :-) After coughing through my whole shift on Sunday, my coworker Cathy had pretty much wanted to do some pillow therapy on ME. I had barely made it home and she was calling me. I figured I had forgotten something...but instead she was making sure I was starting my antibiotic. Yes, I caved....started on Sunday night.

Today I again went to dial a number on my phone and text and my phone froze. Okay...enough was enough! I caved in and got a new phone. I didn't want to renew my contract with Sprint but I did only when I heard it is prorated now. If I want out in a year, I only have to pay $100 rather than the flat $200 no matter when you exited your contract. So, after having the same phone for over 2 years...which was part of the problem and dropping it a few times here lately I guess, I got their new Instinct phone. Oh it's fancy and quite fun. Now, if I can just figure the crazy thing out. They couldn't get my contact numbers to down load so I've wasted quite a bit of time doing that by hand tonight and then there is a way to download the music I already own on my PC into my phone too. But of course I'm having trouble getting the software and my phone to meet. Can you tell I'm NOT computer savy....I just pretend I am! GRRR! I have figured out the radio, tv, texting...my FAVORITE thing on any phone I've owned....and my contacts are in. Not too bad for a few hours of playing around.

Matthew and I played a few rounds on UNO tonight as well. I LOVE to play cards. My dad taught me Liverpool Rumy (sp?) long ago so tonight was fun showing Matthew how to shuffle and deal....I remember how my dad taught me how to hold my hand etc. Matthew won a few rounds....I may have a little competition on my hands! :-)

My Landscape

Way back in June my B/F redid my landscape. Oh it was a HUGE undertaking. What started out as lets dig out these two bushes and put in a couple of plants turned into finding a TON TON TON of rock. It was a mega all day job. I have several pics and hopefully you can figure out the before and after shots. I have gotten a ton of compliments....lots recently ...the appraiser :-) the people giving me estimates on the a/c unit and then my friends who always tell me my yard looks like a park! It has NEVER looked so good. THANK YOU!

Ah....COOL!

It took over 8 hours yesterday but I have cool air in the house now! Ah....and I slept like a log last night. I only woke up once coughing like crazy. I took some of the cough syryp with codeine and went right back to sleep. :-) That stuff is good! The guy did have quite the time getting the unit down in the small space in the basement but he somehow managed. Eventually about 2pm I heard...ummmm, Mamm, I've got a problem. He said he didn't have any power. WHAT??? That was never an issue! OMG......what happend? So, he called out a tech and in about 15 minutes the loose wire was found and the new a/c was humming!!!! I managed to only sneak one picture of the new unit being delivered while I was outside watering!

New A/C........today???

TODAY IS THE DAY! YES!!! As I type the old a/c is being removed and the new one will be installed today. Not a moment too soon too! I'm a coughing fool!! I've got a sinus infection and bronchitis. Thankfully I don't feel sick at all but I am sore from coughing my fool head off for days now. Kinda like I've done thousands of crunch sit ups!! I didn't sleep much last night even though I took the new cough med with codiene in it. Hmmm...how did I get that? Well, my doctor came to my hospital. You might think that would happen all the time. Well read on. My doc is from my old hospital in another part of town...he doesn't have privilages at my current hospital but he was there seeing my patient that he's known for years. So yesterday he heard me coughing and stopped and examined me at the nurses station. I guess the fact that I was wheezing and looked like I was going to cough up a lung....ewww. So, he called in a script for an antibiotic, a non sedating cough med for the day and the cough syrup with the codiene for night to help me sleep to Target.....all which Lindsay....my 9 month pregnant friend went and got for me when she got off work at 3. The codene may have helped but I didn't sleep that great. Anywhoo....it's going to be a long day with the a/c....my inside unit is in a very very SMALL space...it's the original, it's never been removed and my hot water unit is in the way. I smell a problem brewing already....and there is only ONE guy here to install. Can you say PROBLEMS????? Thankfully it's only going to be around 80 today...I hope!

First Day!!

The first day of school was a success! I asked what the best part of the day was and of course it was PE and the new play equipment outside. Go figure! He was up at 7am this morning excited to get going again! I however was not moving quite so fast! My allergies are in overdrive after not having a/c for almost a week now. Thankfully the weather for August has not been all that bad. We are supposed to be cloudy today and hopefully rainy today. I spent yesterday getting some stuff accomplished. First my best friend mowed my lawn and made it look like a park for my appraisal. Even the appraisal guy said I had a beautiful lawn. :-) I'm going to get pics later!! Then I got my first estimate for a/c with two more to go by the end of the week. I just pray the 'nice' weather holds out....although at times its cooler outside than inside. AGH!

Meet the Teacher

I'm a bit behind in posting but it is always such a fun time of year! BACK TO SCHOOL!! Buying new school supplies....ah, the smell of new crayons! Meet the teacher night (last week) is such fun and what a great idea. The kids get to bring in all of their school supplies....including the boxes of kleenex now required and hand sanitizer....and find their seat and see who is in their class. In years past it was a scheduled time and the teacher did an organized 'hello' chat with parents and kids. This year it was an open house feel and then you go to the gym to put money in your childs meal account, join the PTA, buy a year book, t-shirt and a planner for the year. It's very organized and we were in and out in less than 30 minutes. The open house style worked well!

It all started....

It all started with the fact that I had to refinance. I've known for months and finally got that ball rolling. It's kind of a daunting thought when I got to thinking about it actually....holly crap....what if I didn't qualify to buy my house on my own. ...where would Matthew and I go and what on earth would I do with all of our extra stuff??? (that was before I found craigslist..lol) Well, that isn't an issue as I qualified and as it looks like, even with the interest rates up from what crazy ARM we got involved in 5 years ago, my house payment will increase a little and be managable. So, I thought it would be a good time to start adding a little furniture to the basement that no longer had any couches. Thats when my best friend got me addicted to Craigslist and I found a cheap couch. Yes, it was cheap but it fit in the back of my suv. Then my retail therapy continued when I found a really pretty rug on clearance at Pottery Barn....that would someday match stuff that I REALLY want. So, I bought it and brought it home. It somewhat matches my new little love seat and I can add a chair down there, bring in some nice paint colors and call it a new basement in a few weeks. Thats when I noticed the house was kind of warm....uh oh. So, I went outside and saw the pipe outside was frozen. Well, turned off the a/c and the repair man came the next day. My coil on the unit inside the house has a leak....to the tune of $1000+ to fix. Well, the unit is 15 years old and I've already spent quite a bit on it last year and about 275 on it a couple of months ago....so this was the last straw. So, he topped off the refrigerant, didn't charge me anything, set up an appointment to hear about an a/c with their company for the end of next week. Ah...just what I wanted to do...shop for an a/c. And Monday my suv goes in the shop as its making a weird noise too. ...Tuesday the house gets appraised for the refinancing and Matthew goes back to school :-) So that is the latest here!!

UPDATE!!

I feel quite vindicated actually. I got an actual response from a live person today! I spoke with the Superintendent of Recreation and he said there IS a dog policy. (see the previous blog if you are lost) There are NO dogs allowed. There was an email sent out to the managers of the pool facility and the life guard company so that everyone who was at the pool this morning and those that were not will be aware of the incident and it will NOT be allowed to happen again. The only dogs allowed are Service Animals. Ahhhhh, vindication. Well, now I am waiting to see "no dogs" on the web sites rules. I will give him a week and then email back if that doesn't happen to my satisfaction. He will find out I can be very persistant!!

In other news.......I am so tired of looking at blank walls and no couches/chairs in my basement!! I've looked off and on at some furniture stores for something but nothing has caught my eye or has screamed..."buy me". Now I've been looking at Craigslist. Maybe I'm too picky....lol.

DOG Days of Summer....

So it's FINALLY the last day of swim lessons this morning. It's been fun but next year we are so not getting the first lesson of the day! The 45 minutes of peace and quiet has been nice and lounging at the pool too. I do long for a community pool for sure. Well, the time of relaxing came to an abrupt end when I saw a woman today with a dog! Yes...you read that right....a dog. No, she wasn't blind. For those of you not hip on my scarcasm..I mean it wasn't a seeing eye dog. I would think that would be the ONLY acceptable dog allowed in a pool park of this kind. It is a BRAND NEW facility that I'm sure cost millions what gives her the right to bring her in her dog? So, I asked the woman in charge of the swim lessons what their dog policy was. Apparently, this was the second time she has brought her dog and I wasn't the only inquiry....and there was no dog policy. GASP! What? Are ya freaking kidding me? My reply? Oh there will be by the time I'm done. Big smile on my face...look of concern on her face. Hell has no furry as a tax payer miffed! I have a call into the director of the facility!!!!!!!! Good grief...there are kids with allergies, what if a dog bites someone....hello...can you say law suit?? duh!! I'll update later when I hear back.

So Matthew passed his class and I finally got up close enough to get a few pics and I watched him swim! He does need to work on his coordination a bit but he does have the beginnings to the freestyle started. I promised him next year we would start lessons earlier so he could maybe get two sessons in and yes, he would still be doing summer school. :-) School starts in 12 days! Ahhh....not that I'm counting or anything.

Swim Lesson Pics

I am finally getting around to posting some pics from swim lessons that started last Monday. Last Monday it rained off and on but they still started lessons. Tuesday it was cool and then Wed it rained so much (3.7 inches) that they cancelled them all together. By Friday it was back to hot and muggy. This morning, it was blazzing hot at 8:30 in the morning and is supposed to be the hottest day of the year at 100. My yard with all the rain from last week looks GREEN again and totally needs mowing but its too hot for that for sure!!! Matthew has certainly taken to swimming. He has become a little fish in the water. His goal is the water slide with the quote...mom, we can do it together. Gasp! They don't let the parents too close to the kids during the lessons but I'll try and get closer for some better pics. I like the one where his teacher looks either freaked out or is yelling. LOL. She is very nice and has them very well under control. In a couple of the pics you can see there is a life gaurd standing by. There is one at each of the swim lesson stations. I've been very impressed with that. They were fanny packs that have rescue masks in them. Certainly more advanced than when I was a kid going to the pool. No age comments!

The Razor....OUCH!

This morning Matthew was taking a shower and all was well and usual. I have let him have some independence as he has proved he can use soap and get the shampoo out of his hair on his own. So, I hear the shower get turned off and I figured he is toweling off. Then I hear the sink water running. Hmmmm....that is odd. So, I get up to check out the situation and Matthew comes up to me and shows me his right thumb and says...."this kinda hurts". Blood dripping out of it and into the sink....but amazingly, no tears. OMG! What the HE** happened? A closer look reveals several cuts on his thumb about a half an inch long and a piece of skin hanging. He had found my razor in the shower and had a closer look. HOLY CRAP! So I rinse off the wound, get the bleeding to stop and put a waterproof bandaid over it. Now comes the fun part....getting to the bottom of what happened. At this point, Matthew has selective memory loss. How convienent. Perhaps me raising my voice didn't help. After looking closer at my razor I see little blonde hairs that are not mine. OMG....what else did he shave? After spending about 30 minutes in his room alone, his memory miraculously comes back and he did pick up my razor and try to cut his hair on his head with it....and he swears nothing else. Well he has picked a fine time to have an open wound since Monday started swim lessons....oh yes, you can bet there will be a blog when I remember to take my camera :-) BTW...does anyone really read this blog???? If so...please leave comments!!!! That is part of the fun of this blog!!! The pictures were taken 12 hours after the incident and don't really do it justice...lol. He's been really brave actually.

THE Look...

Yesterday we did lunch with Cheri from Baptist, her 3 year old Lucy and 3 month old Charlotte. Such cute girls. I will say, Lucy is very 3. I guess she has had some adjusting to the new baby. Cheri was totally calm where I would have been less than. Her 6 year old that Matthew really adores was still in Summer school :-( We met at our usual IHOP but didn't get seats near an outlet so the kiddos couldn't watch the dvd player. Yeah...that was our first mistake. Lucy was hungry and a little age 3. Eventually our food came and all was good. Finally the baby woke up and she actually cried a little...she was so quiet I almost forget she was there! So, Cherie went to the bathroom to feed her. This is where it gets funny....Matthew tells Lucy..."My mom's in charge now!" At this point she had started to act 3 again and I gave her one of my "looks" and she sat down nearly on command with this 'oh crap look' and didn't move an ounce. Matthew said..."told you so". I almost couldn't keep a straight face! She was good as gold, eating her pancakes. I had just had a patient this week that had called me a DRILL SERGEANT....so I guess it must be true. Obviously I'm a little stressed out and in need of a vacation!!!! Ya think??

Then later in the afternoon we decided to hit the mall to Macy's to see if their swim suit sale was really a sale. Basically at this late in the season....it's is there anything that will fit. If you are a size small, the world is your oyster in the clearance swim suite isle! So go now and shop til ya drop! If you got boobs and a little extra warmth...have fun searching :-) I'm sure this was the LAST thing Matthew wanted to do. Thankfully, there were chairs OUTSIDE of the dressing room. I tried on two and he didn't get off the chair once....well, not that I know of anyway. Do you think the baseball cards I'm bribing him with on Friday could be the reason for his good behavior all week? Hmmmmm.....I said we would LOOK at them.

Birthday Pool Party

Matthew and I attended a birthday party this afternoon. It was a coworker's daughter, Hailey who turned 6. It was a warm day but not super hot but very nice to be pool side for a couple of hours. Matthew had a blast! I'm not sure if it was because for the most part he was the only boy or not. He did become quite fond of a little neighbor girl of Hailey's...whose mom and dad I met and whose mom is also a nurse in town. The little girl is wearing a longsleeved lime green shirt in the pics and you can see Matthew is a bit smitten. I just showed him the pictures on the computer and he totally knew her name too! Oh dear....

Sunshine

One of Matthew's favorite things at school was learning about the life cycle of these baby chicks. They watched these chicks from an egg to a chick and he was so totally enthused. He had the days counted down until they were born and even until he could hold them. Pretty much all I could think of was what a mess they must be making in the class room and we are soooooooooo not bringing them home to watch!! His teacher sent us this picture yesterday and Matthew just BEAMED when I showed him the email. LOL. He said...oh that is Sunshine. You mean you named them too! No, we are still NOT getting a pet! It was a sad day when the chicks had to go....and to this day, I'm really not sure exactly where they went. I was glad to see him get excited about learning. Whatever it takes!!