First Day of Freedo– I mean, School

Today heralds the first day of school. I was the only one excited. I can’t imagine why.

I went to get Eldest up, knowing that she wouldn’t have set her alarm for the amount of time she would need, and I was right. Her reasoning: she proved to herself this summer that she can get ready in 20 minutes.

(Insert maniacal cackle here)

Yes, I kicked her out of bed, and told her to get ready anyway. Son was out of bed by 6:30, and ready by 6:50. Eldest was STILL getting herself ready, and was out the door by…. 7:00 AM. So much for that 20 minutes.

Little One is on a different schedule, though. She still got up early, but then had a crisis: She had no PE clothes.

Me: We went shopping yesterday, and you said you didn’t need any!

LO: Well, Eldest was supposed to give me hers!

E: I did! But she can’t find the shirt.

LO: And the shorts are too big!

Me: And y’all didn’t figure this out until now??

E: Well…

LO: ….

Me: GAH!!!

But I resolved the crisis, as usual. It was a bittersweet moment when I saw her to the bus stop. But only for a moment, because peace and quiet had made a date with me back at the house, and I didn’t want to keep them waiting 😉

Gutterballs

Our first day at the lake, I was greeted with a beautiful sunrise, waves lapping gently against the rocks, and herons flying overhead. The morning was tranquil, and made perfect by my cup of coffee.

But good things don’t last forever, and so we woke the kids and asked them what they would like to do on such a beautiful day.

BOWLING!!

Uh, ok. We drove 250 miles and rented a condo ON the lake so that we could do…. what we can do at home. But the point of vacation is to have fun, and so we headed out to the bowling alley. And I must admit, it sure was fun. I had a record-breaking 42 gutterballs in three games. But I also scored some pins, and apparently I was very creative about it.

Son: (after I scored ONE pin) Hey, Mom! Now if you score another pin, and then score two, and then score three, and then score five, you’ll be on your way to doing the Fibonacci Sequence!

Me: So, my plan to establish a pattern is working.

Son: Yep.

Me: Uh huh.

Hey, it was a great excuse to explain my lack of prowess 😉

Guess What???

I’m still busy. I know. Y’all are just SHOCKED. I can tell.

Today I was up before 6 AM to take the older two kidlets to the ROTC Fish Camp. Then I drove through traffic so congested it needed Nyquil™ in order to drop off my BIL at the barracks in time for his appointment today. I raced home, only to remember to stop to get some groceries, because dishes need dishwashing liquid in order to get clean. Also I was out of coffee creamer, and I was actually doing the kids a favor by getting some. That way they wouldn’t have to deal with a cranky mom tomorrow, when I have to do this all over again, only with a trip to the mall included. Oh, and school registrations are this week, along with prep days and school portraits and my appointment at the hospital, and packing for our vacation.

Hopefully a week at the lake will relax me.

I get the funny feeling I’ll be doing pretty much the same stuff I do here, only with a lake attached. Whatever…as long as there’s wine and the noise is lower than 1200 decibels 😉

Sunday Sithy

Today I am travelling. I’m taking my mom back to her home, and it will be an all day affair. So, here’s a Sithy for y’all.

I’ve always wondered how they bend 😀

Have a great Sunday!!

Working for the Weekend

It’s Friday, and time to start winding down!

There was a time when we would make plans to party hard and stay up until dawn, but that was in our youth…in our youth… Sigh…

Ok, truthfully, the only time I stayed up until dawn was when I gave birth to Eldest. I was never one for partying or clubbing much. In fact, most Fridays I recall sitting in front of the TV to watch Remington Steele in my high school years, and whatever Sci Fi (I refuse to use the new spelling) had on in my later years. But the one thing I look forward to on Fridays is Hubby being home and relaxing.

It’s nice to just sit and enjoy each other’s company. Until one kid yells at him that the new level has been reached and he runs to give guidance in navigating through some dungeon. Then it’s just nice to hear the “Wait, wait!! Go that way!!”, smiling at the intense look on their faces. At least until they go down the wrong passage and are accosted by evil lurking things and consequently get killed before saving the game.

Well, it’s still fun for me, anyway 😉

Snap Like a Twig

There are days that I feel it coming on. The need to just… SNAP!! Of course, when I do feel the need to do so, my only targets are the dogs, and all they get to hear is “Blah, blah, blah!! Blah, Lenny, blah!!” Seriously, they just end up looking at me like I’m in need of Xanax™ or a swig of Moscato. They are very judgmental. Lucky for the family, the need goes away in the afternoon, so they don’t have to deal with it. Much.

And with the cacophony this morning, I may have need of my BRAND NEW SWITCHBLADE!!!

What can I say? Hubby knows me well 😉

Math in Public

This past weekend, we travelled to the Houston bay area to visit with relatives. Yes, I delivered Christmas gifts, and before y’all decide to judge me, we ended up picking up a bunch of Christmas gifts, too.

I’m not the only one who procrastinated in the family.

A house full of kids will drive anyone insane, so the adults, consisting of Twin BIL and his wife Red, Nomstress and her hubby Nightflyer, and Mr. Aggie and myself, went out for sushi and adult conversation Saturday evening. We needed it. I had been exposed to so much Winx and Spongebob, and Call of Duty While Killing Nazi Zombies in a Cow Field (or some such game), that I was starting to ask my 6 year old niece why the Winx fairies didn’t have armor. I was a mess.

Anyway, we met the Nommie and Nightflyer at the sushi place, which was nice, except the ambiance was all hipster and the music was all contemporary American pop. Seriously, no Kitaro?? Silk Road I and II?? Sheesh… We get the menus and decide what sushi to ingest, and the talk turned to our perspective families, and the ties between then, since Nommie and Hubby and Twin BIL grew up together. The talk turned to the graduation timeline, and Nommie was trying to determine if she was “legal” the time they went to Spec’s™ to buy beer.

Nommie: Well, keep in mind I graduated with you (Hubby and Twin BIL) in 1984, but I was sixteen.

Twin BIL: And the accident happened after I moved in with [Hubby] in 1991.

Nommie: So I was still underage, right?

Nightflyer: Honey, it was 1991. You were 16 in 1984.

Nommie: So….??

Me: Uh, 16+6= 22!!

Nightflyer: You should never do math in public, honey.

Nommie: Lesson learned!

In their defense, the sake was flowing pretty smoothly by this time. A great time was had, and a repeat performance scheduled for the next trip we take down to the area.

But there will be no math 😉

Saturday Stuff

I’m at the inlaws this weekend. FINALLY delivering Christmas presents. STOP JUDGING ME!!!

And when I return, I shall be enjoying a few episodes of The Walking Dead.

I’ll have to enjoy them as I unpack Hubby’s stuff from Egypt, and doing laundry and ironing his uniform. But hey, I am great at multitasking!!

Enjoy the weekend!!! 😀

All in the Family

This weekend was like a whirlwind. We arrived a little late after dealing with hellacious traffic on the way up yonder East Texas. But better later than never. We had a great time catching up with relatives, and as always, enjoyed adding names to the HUGE genealogy chart.

The tragedy: I forgot to take the lemonade, and its additives.

Sometimes my mind is like a sieve. Especially when trying to get your eldest kid out the door on time.

So, I made do with Dr Pepper, and pie, and cookies, and more pie. Then Hubby’s cousins got the wonderful idea to go to the lake for a while. A bit of fishin’, a bit of tall tales, and a lot of family. Usually I tend to skip that part of the visit, mostly because my sisters-in-law tend to stay behind and that gives us a chance to visit, but this time none of them were able to make it, so I went to the lake with the kids and the cousins and one very big uncle. And then, my salvation:

You see that percentage number??? Yes, it took me an hour to drink one. ONE. HOUR. By then, my distaff cousins-in-law were well into their thirds. And thus, hilarity ensued.

All in all, it was a great weekend. We missed most of Hubby’s immediate family, but hopefully that will be remedied the following weekend.

Provided I don’t forget my lemonade again 😉

Family Ties

This weekend we shall be travelling to Hubby’s family reunion. We always get excited about it, because so many people show up, and it’s always fun to catch up on news, as well as see the new additions and witness the many re-tellings of family histories.

It’s also the best time to wager who will wig out first. “Crazy” is a relative term in our family.

Every year, we are asked to bring something for consumption for the masses. Travelling for four hours makes it tricky, so I can never bring any hot foods. Most of the time I bring dessert, but so do most people coming in from out-of-town. So, this year I shall bring some of this, and some Solo© Cups.

I know it will be gone in 60 seconds.

But no worries. I will be designated driver, just so I can write down all the delish gossip for Sithy. There will be plenty, I’m sure. When you have Bible thumpers and Wiccans in the same venue, hilarity will ensue 😉