So we're in full swing of summer and I'm feeling overwhelmed and understaffed. Hah. I still have most of July and half of August to get through (our vacation falls in August so that will lend some much needed diversion). We're hoping to take a few day trips from our northern most NH perch this year. We've discussed Ben & Jerry's, the cog railroad at Mt. Washington and even some shopping in No. Conway. I'm most stoked for No. Conway and our usual trip to the most gorgeous Walmart ever. No seriously. Spacious, clean and a killer view of the White Mountains. I wish it were in my town.
Both eldest children are working. J full time and B part time. Each for their Dad. B also babysits for some friend's of ours when they need her. I'm glad that my bigger kiddos are not lazy. I mean, we all can be lazy, but when they have to work, they do it. B isn't even being paid by her Dad as dancing in company is a major expense for us. She realizes that she is doing a small part in paying her Dad back. A good lesson to learn young, I think.
I am trying to keep 4 little people from massacring each other. It isn't as simple as it sounds especially in the heat wave we've been experiencing. The library has offered some awesome activities, but by the time 4pm rolls around (when most of them start), I am done with kids. Momfail. We are tossing the idea of a pool around and I am pretty sure we will have one by August. It will be nice to have during my family reunion on Labor Day weekend especially if it is a hot one. It will also be nice for ALL the kids to know how to swim. The three eldest are fine, Daniel is just about there, but David and Emma are still very dependent in the water. I would love to see that change by summer's end.
We also have dance camp again this year. I put Em into a Ballet, Tap & Jazz camp on Tuesday mornings from 9-10:15am. Watching her in tap shoes for the first time is HYSTERICAL! Becca dances T & W from 7-8:30pm and Thurs. 7-9:15pm which is mandatory. So basically we end up getting about 3-4 weeks off from dance a year. I can see why hubby gets so frustrated with it because honestly, he does most of the drop offs & pick ups.
We also have had a house guest since school ended. While it isn't awful, there are some issues that I should have thought out and discussed before I opened my mouth and said everything would be ok for her to stay here. She is gone this week and will be back next for one week and then she is leaving the week after and we likely will not see her before her return to college in NY in late August. I think sharing your house with someone other than family is dicey even in the best situations. We are all used to each other's outbursts, bad moods, quirks, etc. To throw someone into the mix who isn't part of us makes it a bit uncomfortable on both sides, I'm sure. You live & learn, right?! I'm not sure that I would do anything different on this account, except be more forthright about her acquiring a job. That seems to be the only thing that really has bothered me.
As far as the rest - it's the same old, same old. One day at a time. Sometimes even one second at a time. Pushing on and trying to get through the days. It seems to me this is how life passes you by. When you are so busy using your energy just to get through the days, you forget to enjoy it. I hope some day I'll learn how to get by and still enjoy as much as possible. Life is really too short to not enjoy it all.
Showing posts with label summer. Show all posts
Showing posts with label summer. Show all posts
Wednesday, July 7, 2010
Monday, September 22, 2008
The Best Bits of the Weekend
It was a nice weekend despite my anxiety over it. I think my favorite part was Family Day yesterday. In the three plus years we've lived here, we've never ventured out to family day. We decided to give it a try and I'm so glad we did.
First off, it is held in a park that also holds an elderly complex here in town. There is a great big green in the middle along with a fairly large gazebo. We've not attended any of the summer concerts there or really been up in the park except a quick turn around a couple of times. The parking wasn't difficult although we had to park at the Library and cross Rte. 44 which can be pretty hairy (it is a main route through CT to RI).
When we got up the drive and into the actual park, a sea of tents seemed to fill the open areas. I needed to get to the church tent as I had baked 7 dozen cookies for the Bingo they were running (food being the prize for BINGO). The church tent was parked toward the top of the green and it offered a great view of all the different tents and what was going on. I looked around amazed at the fact that I actually knew some of the faces and that virtually everything that was offered was FREE. Yes, I said FREE. The only things that required money was ice cream (which I didn't see a tent for), the Historical Society's bake sale and the Sunday Farmer's Market that was running at the same time. The burgers & dogs were provided by our volunteer fire department (cooked on site). The corn on the cob was provided by the town Republicans and the drinks (lemonade, water, iced tea) were provided by the town Democrats. The Baptist church had caramel apples & the early childhood program was giving away balloons with cool rubber rings that fit right on your wrist. There were face painters (and really GOOD ones at that), a tattoo table (the washable ones), bounce house, large inflated slide, sand table (filling little bottles with colored sand), craft table, a pretty decent band playing in the gazebo and a host of activities for the kids (wooden chariot rides, wooden stilts to try, a wooden thing with huge wheels that the had to try and drive down a narrow roped off passage in the grass). Did I mention that this was all FREE? I wish I had brought my camera. The 3 little boys had a ball!
The other good part about this weekend? The time I got to spend with Jerm, Bec and my niece, Jess. Jess is 18 and is the youngest daughter of hubby's eldest brother. Jess hasn't always been one to socialize with her family like her older sister, but she seems to have just BLOOMED this past year. I really think it has to do with hubby's brother ditching his bitch of an exwife and finding his new gf. His new girlfriend, H., is awesome and she and Jess have really forged a strong bond. Jess hasn't had a "normal" mother figure ever in her life and having one now has made a huge difference. Anyway, just hangin' with the teenagers was great. Everyone was laughing and getting along...it was so much fun to watch them interact.
The family party was ok - no drama. The gifts we brought for our nieces & nephews were hits and the cake was delicious! YUM! Chris and I also had some solo time with Tom on Friday night which I hope will help with that situation. It was a good last bit of summer....
First off, it is held in a park that also holds an elderly complex here in town. There is a great big green in the middle along with a fairly large gazebo. We've not attended any of the summer concerts there or really been up in the park except a quick turn around a couple of times. The parking wasn't difficult although we had to park at the Library and cross Rte. 44 which can be pretty hairy (it is a main route through CT to RI).
When we got up the drive and into the actual park, a sea of tents seemed to fill the open areas. I needed to get to the church tent as I had baked 7 dozen cookies for the Bingo they were running (food being the prize for BINGO). The church tent was parked toward the top of the green and it offered a great view of all the different tents and what was going on. I looked around amazed at the fact that I actually knew some of the faces and that virtually everything that was offered was FREE. Yes, I said FREE. The only things that required money was ice cream (which I didn't see a tent for), the Historical Society's bake sale and the Sunday Farmer's Market that was running at the same time. The burgers & dogs were provided by our volunteer fire department (cooked on site). The corn on the cob was provided by the town Republicans and the drinks (lemonade, water, iced tea) were provided by the town Democrats. The Baptist church had caramel apples & the early childhood program was giving away balloons with cool rubber rings that fit right on your wrist. There were face painters (and really GOOD ones at that), a tattoo table (the washable ones), bounce house, large inflated slide, sand table (filling little bottles with colored sand), craft table, a pretty decent band playing in the gazebo and a host of activities for the kids (wooden chariot rides, wooden stilts to try, a wooden thing with huge wheels that the had to try and drive down a narrow roped off passage in the grass). Did I mention that this was all FREE? I wish I had brought my camera. The 3 little boys had a ball!
The other good part about this weekend? The time I got to spend with Jerm, Bec and my niece, Jess. Jess is 18 and is the youngest daughter of hubby's eldest brother. Jess hasn't always been one to socialize with her family like her older sister, but she seems to have just BLOOMED this past year. I really think it has to do with hubby's brother ditching his bitch of an exwife and finding his new gf. His new girlfriend, H., is awesome and she and Jess have really forged a strong bond. Jess hasn't had a "normal" mother figure ever in her life and having one now has made a huge difference. Anyway, just hangin' with the teenagers was great. Everyone was laughing and getting along...it was so much fun to watch them interact.
The family party was ok - no drama. The gifts we brought for our nieces & nephews were hits and the cake was delicious! YUM! Chris and I also had some solo time with Tom on Friday night which I hope will help with that situation. It was a good last bit of summer....
Monday, August 18, 2008
For Rach - our weekend
I'm not sure I have a whole lot to blog about, but since you asked... ;)
Jeremy went for his barium swallow chest xray series on Thursday. We have the films in the truck waiting on the Sept. 2nd appointment w/the cardiologist. The techs never tell you anything and I really haven't pulled them all out to look at them. I did pull one out and I could see the barium gliding down his middle. YUMMMM...he loved it. NOT!
After he was done, I stopped to see hubby at the shop and then we headed to my favorite coffee shop where I treated him to a slushy coffee drink and an apple fritter. I was good and had a spinach bagel, but of course I had them put some chive cream cheese on. Oh well, it was yummy! I rested for a bit and then decided to get out and weed the garden. It was getting WAY out of hand. So after about an hour or two, I had the whole garden done and felt pretty good about it. I also was happy to see a MESS of roma tomatoes on my tomato plants. They are still green, but they were planted from seed directly into the garden and I didn't think it would work. Here in CT you are supposed to plant certain seeds indoors around February, slowly "harden them off" outside and then plant into the garden once the chance of frost is over. I'll know that for next year. ;)
Friday I woke up sore from the weeding, but I had to clean the house. It really wasn't too bad as I was pretty good about keeping it up during the week. The floors are always filthy, but that's what happens when you have 6 kids, 2 dogs and a gravel/dirt circular driveway. I tried to have the little boys clean their room, but after 3 hours and not much progress, I sent them outside to play. I get very frustrated with them and I think that once school starts I will have to go in there and overhaul the room myself. They just don't take care of anything and I'm not sure how to go about getting them to understand that they have to. Sometimes I think that having so many things makes them unappreciative, but even when we've taken just about everything away, they still don't care. Sigh.
Saturday started early. I had to get to Sams Club as we were out of EVERYTHING. You know it is bad when only the 4lbs of pretzels are left in the snack closet. I woke Becca up at 6:40am and we were out of the house before 7am. Took us about 2 hours at Sams from start to check out and $916 later, we were out the door. I texted hubby the amount as I always pay with a business check. This is what my text said, verbatim: "Don't shit a brick. 915.46 for Sams" I told Becca that I was glad I didn't have to tell him that in person! He did eventually text me back and then call me. I told him to shit gold bricks if he had to because then we could pay for all the food the kids eat. Thankfully I got a chuckle out of him. :)
After getting all the food put away and finagling all the frozen goods into the freezer, I decided to use the treadmill since I hadn't been to the gym since Wednesday. I got an hour in, but of course not without 4 or 5 interruptions from the kiddos. That is why I prefer the gym, I think. I can focus on just the exercise and nothing else.
After my shower, I decided to wash the truck. David helped. I had to remind myself that he was 4 quite a few times, but I never yelled or got uptight and was proud of myself because he really had fun doing it and asked if we could wash the truck every day. Go Mommy :)
Chris pretty much worked ALL day. He is working on a new business venture with someone. I really hope it all pans out because it will mean good money for all parties involved without the back breaking labor he is used to. He is in the beginning stages and still working on the product development, but the small product sample they showed me on Saturday late afternoon was VERY promising. I pray that God will make their paths straight if it is meant to be.
After we sat down and ate dinner, I pretty much went to bed. Unfortunately, all the weeding, truck washing & the treadmill workout made a sore spot ALL over me and I couldn't sleep even though I was SOOOO tired. I ended up taking a couple advil and a couple of benedryl. I soon was feeling warm & fuzzy and went to sleep.
Sunday I woke up feeling like my head was in a fog. I couldn't think straight and felt awful. I didn't even go to church even though I had planned to. I tried drinking my coffee and had some breakfast. Still no change. I took a shower and hubby and I went for a ride. I just felt like I was carrying around a ton of bricks all day and by the time we came home from our ride, I laid down and took a nap. I awoke around 5 and hubby and the kids were shucking the corn for supper. I found the lobster pot for the corn, sliced up some fresh garden tomatoes (our neighbor is overrun with tomatoes & I happily helped him out by taking a bunch) and hubby grilled. I felt so much better.
After supper I cleaned up the (Sundays are my only clean up night) and then met hubby and the other children next door at the church for some basketball. We were joined by the niece of our across the street neighbors. She is visiting for a few weeks from Germany and is 16. We played guys against the girls (Chris & Jerm against Bec, T & I). The girls kicked butt, but of course, I cheated and that's ok because I was at least 2 feet shorter than everyone else. I also bowed out a few minutes early as Davey & Em were covered with dirt from head to toe. After I got them bathed & settled in bed, I headed across the street and visited with the neighbors in front of their bonfire. They are such nice couple and I'm so glad they moved in. L. (the male half of the couple) has promised to try and get Jerm out of his shell and help him with his German homework. He's a really neat guy (was a carpenter back in Germany and is a computer programmer here) and I know Jerm would enjoy hanging out with him. He mentioned maybe riding together (L. likes to bike it) and I told him if Jerm gets the all clear from the cardiologist in a few weeks, that would be cool.
So that was my totally boring weekend.
I am hoping that the next time I blog, it will be to tell you about our vacation. Fingers crossed that hubby is able to ditch work for the last half of the week so that we can head to NH. I just need to get out of here in a bad way and NH always soothes my soul.
Jeremy went for his barium swallow chest xray series on Thursday. We have the films in the truck waiting on the Sept. 2nd appointment w/the cardiologist. The techs never tell you anything and I really haven't pulled them all out to look at them. I did pull one out and I could see the barium gliding down his middle. YUMMMM...he loved it. NOT!
After he was done, I stopped to see hubby at the shop and then we headed to my favorite coffee shop where I treated him to a slushy coffee drink and an apple fritter. I was good and had a spinach bagel, but of course I had them put some chive cream cheese on. Oh well, it was yummy! I rested for a bit and then decided to get out and weed the garden. It was getting WAY out of hand. So after about an hour or two, I had the whole garden done and felt pretty good about it. I also was happy to see a MESS of roma tomatoes on my tomato plants. They are still green, but they were planted from seed directly into the garden and I didn't think it would work. Here in CT you are supposed to plant certain seeds indoors around February, slowly "harden them off" outside and then plant into the garden once the chance of frost is over. I'll know that for next year. ;)
Friday I woke up sore from the weeding, but I had to clean the house. It really wasn't too bad as I was pretty good about keeping it up during the week. The floors are always filthy, but that's what happens when you have 6 kids, 2 dogs and a gravel/dirt circular driveway. I tried to have the little boys clean their room, but after 3 hours and not much progress, I sent them outside to play. I get very frustrated with them and I think that once school starts I will have to go in there and overhaul the room myself. They just don't take care of anything and I'm not sure how to go about getting them to understand that they have to. Sometimes I think that having so many things makes them unappreciative, but even when we've taken just about everything away, they still don't care. Sigh.
Saturday started early. I had to get to Sams Club as we were out of EVERYTHING. You know it is bad when only the 4lbs of pretzels are left in the snack closet. I woke Becca up at 6:40am and we were out of the house before 7am. Took us about 2 hours at Sams from start to check out and $916 later, we were out the door. I texted hubby the amount as I always pay with a business check. This is what my text said, verbatim: "Don't shit a brick. 915.46 for Sams" I told Becca that I was glad I didn't have to tell him that in person! He did eventually text me back and then call me. I told him to shit gold bricks if he had to because then we could pay for all the food the kids eat. Thankfully I got a chuckle out of him. :)
After getting all the food put away and finagling all the frozen goods into the freezer, I decided to use the treadmill since I hadn't been to the gym since Wednesday. I got an hour in, but of course not without 4 or 5 interruptions from the kiddos. That is why I prefer the gym, I think. I can focus on just the exercise and nothing else.
After my shower, I decided to wash the truck. David helped. I had to remind myself that he was 4 quite a few times, but I never yelled or got uptight and was proud of myself because he really had fun doing it and asked if we could wash the truck every day. Go Mommy :)
Chris pretty much worked ALL day. He is working on a new business venture with someone. I really hope it all pans out because it will mean good money for all parties involved without the back breaking labor he is used to. He is in the beginning stages and still working on the product development, but the small product sample they showed me on Saturday late afternoon was VERY promising. I pray that God will make their paths straight if it is meant to be.
After we sat down and ate dinner, I pretty much went to bed. Unfortunately, all the weeding, truck washing & the treadmill workout made a sore spot ALL over me and I couldn't sleep even though I was SOOOO tired. I ended up taking a couple advil and a couple of benedryl. I soon was feeling warm & fuzzy and went to sleep.
Sunday I woke up feeling like my head was in a fog. I couldn't think straight and felt awful. I didn't even go to church even though I had planned to. I tried drinking my coffee and had some breakfast. Still no change. I took a shower and hubby and I went for a ride. I just felt like I was carrying around a ton of bricks all day and by the time we came home from our ride, I laid down and took a nap. I awoke around 5 and hubby and the kids were shucking the corn for supper. I found the lobster pot for the corn, sliced up some fresh garden tomatoes (our neighbor is overrun with tomatoes & I happily helped him out by taking a bunch) and hubby grilled. I felt so much better.
After supper I cleaned up the (Sundays are my only clean up night) and then met hubby and the other children next door at the church for some basketball. We were joined by the niece of our across the street neighbors. She is visiting for a few weeks from Germany and is 16. We played guys against the girls (Chris & Jerm against Bec, T & I). The girls kicked butt, but of course, I cheated and that's ok because I was at least 2 feet shorter than everyone else. I also bowed out a few minutes early as Davey & Em were covered with dirt from head to toe. After I got them bathed & settled in bed, I headed across the street and visited with the neighbors in front of their bonfire. They are such nice couple and I'm so glad they moved in. L. (the male half of the couple) has promised to try and get Jerm out of his shell and help him with his German homework. He's a really neat guy (was a carpenter back in Germany and is a computer programmer here) and I know Jerm would enjoy hanging out with him. He mentioned maybe riding together (L. likes to bike it) and I told him if Jerm gets the all clear from the cardiologist in a few weeks, that would be cool.
So that was my totally boring weekend.
I am hoping that the next time I blog, it will be to tell you about our vacation. Fingers crossed that hubby is able to ditch work for the last half of the week so that we can head to NH. I just need to get out of here in a bad way and NH always soothes my soul.
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