I Don't Scare Easily...Most of the Time

We had a little 'scare' today. I had to rush Bethany over to the doctor's office and then the lab for tests. We thought she had appendicitis. Luckily, it wasn't that. No operations but I think she would have rather had that and gotten it over with. The antibiotics she took for a sinus infection coupled with the meds she takes for asthma/allergies inflamed her intestines and caused a section of them to spasm painfully...in the lower right side. So, of course, since the rest of us have had appendicitis and had our appendicts removed, I was kinda worried! So, now she is having to mix stuff in her drinks twice a day to help the spasms stop and get the inflammation out. AND she has to take MOM. LOL It will take a while for it to get all straightened around, unfortunately. At least she is okay.

So, today was disrupted A-GAIN! I have tomorrow to finish getting ready for the community garage sale on Saturday! Friday we will have to get set up in the afternoon becuz I have to help out with the Relay for Life thing Friday morning and Friday night. And, IF it doesn't rain, TJ has a softball game Friday night that I will miss. Troy will have to go.

I really don't have that much to gather for the garage sale. Bethany has some left over stuff from last year we can put out again. TJ says he has his stuff gathered and organized already. He will have to set it out on his own, I guess.

Max is really acting up tonight. Not sure what his problem is! He was good all day. Guess it was too much for him!

Tuxes, Flowers and Rest

This last week was kind of depressing to begin with...cold and rain. Troy had taken the week off thinking he could play golf most of the week. He finally got to play on Thursday and Friday. When the weather cleared I started clearing the flower gardens. There is so much to do! It probably wouldn't have been so bad except the woman that owned this place had health problems the last few years and the gardens and plants were victims of some neglect.

Troy has gone out between the raindrops and done some clearing out also and some edging. We have A LOT of sidewalk to edge since we sit on a corner lot.

I have started potting plants I don't want to sell them in the community garage sale next weekend. There was quite a pile of discarded pots out on the back patio so I am using them to put the plants in that I dig up and want to get rid of. I also am digging up a couple of peony bushes to sell. They aren't in a good place and I just want to get rid of them since I have nowhere else to put them.

TJ went to his prom last night. I told him not to get it built up in his mind too much becuause it was really just a high priced boring dance. He found that to be true. He doubled with his friend Steven and his date. TJ took a girl he was friends with from when he went to JVS. They both wanted the whole prom experience so they got it! LOL







Bethany was wiped out yesterday. She had a couple of friends stay the night on Friday night. They were up quite late. I usually don't mind having her friends spend the night on Friday night because they are usually so tired from a week of school that they pass out early. Not this time! LOL Then the mom's didn't pick them up until way after noon. They just lounged in the livingroom watching TV all morning.

Today TJ is the one that is wiped out. I don't expect to see him most of the day!

This coming Friday is the church softball game (TJ is on the team and they had practice this last Friday night). AND I have to help the adult leader on Bethany's Relay for Life team put up the tents for the overnight at the event. AND this next Saturday is the community garage sale! It is supposed to rain this next weekend, of course. It has rained the last 3 years during these events...and the Relay for Life and Community Garage Sale are always on the first weekend of May.

Other than making dinner and watching the Cavs game this afternoon, I have no plans. It is Sunday and it is supposed to be lazy!

That's All Folks

It has been nothing but cold, dreary, windy and rainy for days. Today we finally got the sunshine. It is slowly warming up. Doing some things indoors this morning until it warms up enough to go outside. I have a lot of plants to dig up and pot for the community garage sale next weekend. I am also going to transplant a few from one area of the yard to another. The woman that lived here before us went nuts with plants. I think she was trying to outdo the jungle gardener behind us!

Took TJ to try on his tux last night. It seemed to fit good so we brought it home. One thing down...flowers tomorrow. The big prom date is this Saturday. It is just so hard for me to believe that my little guy is all grown up and going off to prom. Although, I think it will be worse when Bethany gets to prom age. (let's not go there, yet)

Troy did something that surprised me...he sat down and made himself a LIST of things he needs to do around here. Of course, even though that is kind of out of character for him, it is the easy part. I will have to keep shoving it under his nose as a reminder.

I have been busy filling out applications and sending resumes. The job market is TOUGH! It didn't help to listen to Fox News this morning when they were comparing the number of jobs lost DAILY to the populations of some big cities like Boston.

While this weekend is prom weekend, next weekend is the Relay for Life that Bethany will be in with her team and, weather permitting, it is also the first church softball game and TJ and Troy will be there for that. I don't know how much either one of them will play...I may not be able to see it as I volunteered my help for the relay and the survivor's dinner. The next day, Saturday, is the community garage sale. Know anyone that wants a cooktop? an in the wall oven? or can repair and resell washers? need some plants? Come on down!

Well...so much for my allotted down time! TJ has to get over to the church to do his voluntary cleaning of the youth center and I have to get back to things around here.

Hit the Ground Running

Trying to get on the road Friday was a major feat! As we were getting packed to go out the door, Ms. Divine informed me that she had taken her last puff from her inhaler. So, I had to make a quick call to the pharmacy to get a refill. Jr. was lagging behind, as usual. We FINALLY got packed up and to the Animal Wellness Care facility to board Max. Then I had to stand around and wait about a half hour as they called our vet services to make sure he had all of his shots. Apparently the paperwork wasn't clear enough for them! I kept telling them that our vet said that Max was all up to date! But they got it straightened out to their satisfaction and we got out of there. Next stop was a the city building to pay the utility bills then around the corner to the pharmacy...where I noticed the power steering was going out. I called Troy...who was in Cleveland...and told him. He has our mechanic, Andy's, number on his phone so he called Andy while I picked up Ms. Divine's inhaler. Andy wanted me to bring the van in...it was kinda on the way so I did. And he told me what I had thought...the power steering pump was going. So, he put it up on the rack and within two hours we were back on the road. All in all, we were about 4 hours behind. At least the rest of the weekend went smoothly.

It is always fun when we can all be together and joke around. We had plenty of laughs over the weekend!

Then Monday night, Jr. informs me that he is going to a prom with a girl that he is friends with...someone that his bf Steven has known for years. And that he, this girl and Steven are double dating cuz Steven has a girl he wants to go to prom with. The prom is in less than 2 weeks...so I scramble the next day to find a place for Jr. to get a tux for the event. Tuxes don't look like when I went to prom. No more frilly shirts...which is good...but they wear these tie things instead of the bow ties. Jr. has an all black tux with a textured black vest and a black tie with some pink stripes...his date's dress is mostly black with some pink accents.

Yesterday I ordered the corsage. So the only thing left to do is sit back and wait. He has to clean out his car and give it a good wash...they decided they all want to go in his car becuz his date really likes it. Better than Steven's big ol' truck, I guess. LOL

Ms. Divine had to go to the doctor's again yesterday. She was vomiting night and morning...and it was another nasty sinus infection. They fussed over her breathing...becuz of the inhaler. That seems to be okay for now, still. They emphasized to her about how important it is for her to use her allergy meds right now so she isn't gasping for air later. I hope she gets it!

This is the weekend that we have the girls from the Mount Vernon College Women's Choir spending the night. The next weekend is the prom for Jr....the NEXT weekend is the church's first softball game (Jr. is playing), the Relay for Life (Bethany is on a team), and the annual community garage sale. The weekend after that SEEMS to be unemcumbered but then the following Saturday I am attending the Nazarene Ladies Day out event in Springfield where the guest speaker is Candace Cameron (from "Fullhouse"..sister to Kirk Cameron). I am looking forward to some 'female time'! LOL

Troy is taking next week off from work for vacation. He says he has some golfing he wants to do and some 'work' in the garage.

I guess I have enough to do for a while!

Volunteering

I spent my morning stuffing plastic eggs full of candy. I had volunteered to fill those eggs full of candy so the youngsters at church would be able to run out in the back field of the church and fill their bags and baskets full of them. When Miriam called and asked if I could be there to help at 9 this morning I thought, "That's okay...I'll just go and spend an hour." Then when I walked into the room there was only Miriam and one other lady and TWO VERY LARGE STORAGE TUBS full of those eggs! AND many bags of candy. Miriam said that always in the past they had done it for the community and it would take them all week to get all the eggs stuffed (5 large storage containers full). So, I dug in. Miriam and Ernestine did one container and I started on the other one. Every once in a while I would yap about something and keep them laughing. At one point I was so intent on getting those eggs filled that Miriam looked at me and said, "You are be awfully quiet!" I said, "I'm concentrating on getting these eggs filled!" After I had been there 3 hours, I had made it 2/3 of the way through the crate of eggs. Miriam and Ernestine TOGETHER had made it 2/3 of the way through their crate. I told Miriam I had to get home and check on Max and let him out. He was home alone...Ms. Divine was in school and Jr. was doing some volunteer work elsewhere and Troy had left for his 'customer run' after I had left for the church. I told her I could come back but she said she had a couple of other ladies that could come in the next morning and finish up. NOW she tells me!

After eating lunch with Max, I loaded him in the van. I needed to stop at Wal-mart and buy a little candy for the kids for Easter and a couple of prizes to contribute to the Easter egg hunt. I found a couple of cute things and spent about $12. There was a Bunny Mr. Potato Head (so cute!) and two small tubs of molding sand...which is kinda like 'floam' for kids to make things out of. Easier to work with than Playdoh.
Then I picked up Jr., dropped off the prizes at the church office, picked up Ms. Divine and came home. I didn't sleep much last night and have been on the run since my feet hit the floor. Ms. Divine has a GS meeting tonight and Jr.'s friend Steven is coming over for the night (they both have spring break this week). I was supposed to go exercise with the 'girls' at 6 at the church but I'm just not feeling like it. I have vacuuming that I was going to do today and a couple load of clothes. It has to happen sometime!

I hope Wednesday and Thursday turn out to be basically uninterrupted days. That way I will feel more like going to exercise with the girls on Thursday night. Friday morning I have to get moving becuz the truck is coming in to the food pantry to be unloaded and then I have to pack up Max and take him to the Animal Wellness Center and Boarding Kennel. Jr's friend Steven and his family volunteered to take Max for the weekend BUT they are having a family get together on Saturday at their place and that is just a bit much. They have no idea what they would be volunteering for! Max is quite lively and would be wanting to jump on everyone to greet them...and in the evenings he gets rambunctious. At the Wellness Ctr. he gets puppy playtime, outdoors time and he can have his own bed to take with him along with his toys. He will get lots of attention.

I guess it is time to get to some of that laundry!

Life In a Vacuum

So, it was a really nice day. And I got to get outside and TRY and clear out some of the 'beds' around the house. yikes. SO much work! Considering what it does to my lower back, I think I will have to do it in sections. I want to move the peony 'bush' but I have to figure out where. The location I had originally thought of putting it is not really going to work. drat.

We took Jr.'s car into the mechanic's this morning. He is FULL of vehicles to work on. Hopefully some of them are just oil changes and brake jobs! Troy told Andy the mechanic there wasn't any big hurry if he has other vehicles to work on that need to get done right away. I kinda wish he hadn't done that but then, there really isn't any big hurry.

Ms. Divine's friend Amber came over yesterday afternoon. They went over town (walking) then back for dinner. I invited Amber to spend the night. She has been here all day and they went for another walk and I think she will be here for dinner again tonight. I don't really care. It is spring break, the girls are bored and Amber's parents both work. She is not loud at all and likes Max.

TJ has been plugging away at his school work and filling out job applications online. There is this neat little site for hourly wage jobs for places like Kohl's and Tim Horton's, etc. the you can go to and fill out those applications and attach a resume, if you want. He has a good resume made up. He had to do it for a couple different classes. I hope he hears something out of one of these places.

I have been filling out applications and submitting them also. Takes up a lot of time. They are quite long and involved...and I attach my resume and cover letter.
Now, if someone will just get back to me!

This Saturday is the annual church spring cleaning day. TJ and a friend, Jake, are going to go down to my little sis's house Saturday to help out with yard work but the church spring cleaning starts at 8 a.m. I figure I can get about 2 hours of help in before I take them down there...they are both slow movers and Missy said she didn't figure they would show up until the afternoon.

The weekend after Easter our church is hosting the Women's Choir from MVNU. They needed ppl to take some of them in for the night on Saturday night so we volunteered to take 2 of them. That should be interesting! LOL

Sometime (soon, I hope) we will be getting the backyard fence up. The Max can roam around a bit more. I am not sure that is going to make a big difference with him. He won't be able to be nosey about what is happening out on the streets so he might not like it.

So, that's it for now...nothing surprising or out of the ordinary. Tomorrow it will rain and I will also be getting my new sweeper. YAY! oh...vacuum...um...yay.