New windows today!

We are getting new windows installed today!  Exciting, noisy, and unpredictable time.  Molly is locked in the basement with food, water and her litter box.  She may be losing some fur based on how noisy it is as the guys cut out the old windows.  Hans is at doggie day care.  For $16 a day he can go from 7 am to 7pm.  Otherwise, they would require him to be locked in his crate all day here.  I figured he'd have more fun there. 

I do have some pictures of the new/old windows, but I don't want to intrude on the guys working.  I was able to get all the old window shades/treatments off the windows and became very depressed as I realized how long it's going to take to put them ALL back up again.  Let's see....we have 19 window blinds/shades to install.  Now, don't everyone rush over here to volunteer all at once.  At least it gets darker much later and there isn't a necessary need for blinds on all the windows right away. 

It's certainly a nice day to have giant holes in your house open to the outside - not snowing or raining or cold.  I don't think "Pebbles" is going to get much of a nap today.

Speaking of "Pebbles" - my sister asked a good question - now that I will be working from home (and getting paid) what about "Pebbles?"  The answer is, I don't know.  I was going to be done watching her at the end of August anyway - her mom is having another baby and will be home at that point.  So do I keep it up til August or quit now.  The truth is that it will probably be something in the middle.  Nothing will change for the month of May, then I guess we'll see how it goes.  I guess I'm watching her because she's easy to entertain and I'm greedy.  Thinking about getting paid for 2 jobs for 3 months gets my kind of jacked up.  After so many years of not bringing home a typical paycheck for the family - I kind of like the thought of bringing home 2 of them.  However, now that I'll be working a chunk of the day - the time that I do get to spend uninterrupted with Katie and Will needs to be treated a bit more preciously.  And do I want to share that time with "Pebbles?"   I told her mom that I'm fine if they want to move her right away - to be with kids more her own age.  Especially since Katie and Will have lots of camps and classes here and there during the summer, there will be some days where neither one are here for a week....kind of boring for a 3 year old.  We'll see.

Hopefully I'll have some pictures soon!  Although - the windows won't look drastically different.  There's only 2 that we are changing the look of. 

Exciting news

Friday night at 7:00 I got a phone call.....but my phone was turned off til Monday morning actually - so I didn't get the message until then.  Oddly enough my old boss from before Katie was born had called and wanted to "run something by me" and asked me to call him back.  I called Monday morning and he was on the other line, but asked if he could call me back in like 10 minutes.  No problem.

In that 10 minutes I thought - Gee, that's odd that he's answering his own phone when he's got a call on the other line - he's got staff.  Where are they?  Oh man....what does he want?  Could it be a job offer?  Oh God, what if it's a job offer?  I went through every scenario with crazy e-mails to John and another friend in the meantime.  Not wanting to get too ahead of myself I waited....and waited.

He called back and we had about 15 minutes to talk.  In a nutshell - yes, it was a job offer.  But that's not the best part.  It's a work-from-home job offer.  He had 2 office staff leave him last week - one was a drama filled irate walkout/firing situation.  The other was a stab-in-the back leaving to start her own business situation.  Anyway - he's looking to create more of a virtual staff instead of an in-office one.  His overhead will be much lower and hopefully increase efficiency.  He thought about contacting a temp office to find someone and then I popped in his head and he said that was the end of the issue.  Either it was going to be me or he wasn't going to do it. 

We talked again later yesterday afternoon because he had some meetings to get to - but the bottom line is that he will supply all necessary software, computers, scanners, etc. and I will be paid on a contract consultant basis with a set salary.  He didn't think it would be any more than 20-25 hours a week with some extra time needed up front to get everything set up.  Obviously I was interested so we will be talking again either today or tomorrow to finalize things while he draws up an official offer. 

Can you freaking believe it?  I can't believe how things can come so full circle.  When I worked for his company in Rochester - (I say "company," but it was really just him and me with 1 part-timer) it was a job that was stressful, but I had every intention of returning to work after Katie was born.  Then John had an opportunity to transfer back up to the cities and we moved.  I quit work with the understanding that I would stay home "for a bit."  9 1/2 years later, I'm still here, and it was the BEST decision I've ever made.  

Now I can't see giving up the things that I've come to appreciate.  Time with the kids, my volunteer work with schools, church, the breastfeeding non-profit - everything!  I thought going back to work might mean having to give some of that up, but now that this has come along - I don't think I'll have to!  Yes, these 3-4 summer months will be a bit more work and juggling keeping the kids entertained and busy, but once fall hits and they are both in school all day - wow.  I feel like I'm going to be able to create my day and have enough time to get done what needs to get done. 

In the meantime it's just a lot of trying to picture what it will all look like and how it will work, but it will. :)

Big things coming!

I have some big news to share, but I'm too tired tonight. 

Don't you hate waiting? :)

I'll try to write more tomorrow but for now, just know - it's big and it's good.

May Day

Happy May Day everyone!  We would make May Day baskets for our neighbors, but it sounds like they'd be full of snow tonight anyway.  Ugh.  We are supposed to get 3 inches on the low end.....up to 7 or 8 on the high end, with some close to 10.  I don't know what to believe, but I honestly can't imagine anything over 3.  A lot will melt right away, but I'm sure it's going to be the wet, heavy stuff that is so impossible to shovel.  And yes, we are back in the 70's next week, but then after that - who knows.  It seems we have to have a snow storm once a week, no matter what.  This morning Will asked if it would be snowing on his birthday in July.

I should be painting right now.  I have plans to finish painting the rest of the bedroom today - and it will happen...just not right now.  I had to finish up some work for the non-profit I'm with and a big fundraising project I'm in charge of at Katie's school is wrapping up this week so that has been taking some time too.  I also have my last night of teaching Katie's weekly church class tonight so I've had to get some goodie bags ready to hand out.  That class has been a lot of fun - 8, 3rd graders.  Last week we talked about miracles.  What are they?  Do they really happen?  Did they really happen as the Bible says?  If they do happen, why don't they happen for everyone?  It was a heavy discussion, let me tell you - with a LOT of "I don't know" 's on my part. 

Ok - time to paint.
Well, Will comes home in like 15 minutes...so I'll wait, and THEN paint.

Well, I have to go get "Pebbles" from school at 11:45, come home and THEN paint.

Well....then the kids will need to eat lunch, so I'll fix lunch and THEN paint.

Well....I spose "Pebbles" has to go down for a nap after lunch so I'll do that THEN paint.

Yeah, that's right.

More snow

We woke up to more snow this morning.  It snowed most of the late afternoon and overnight.  Luckily it didn't amount to more than a couple extra inches.  However, there's more snow/rain coming for tomorrow.  It sill says 65-70 for the weekend, and a few 70 degree days next week too.  I'll believe it when I see it, the kids are still wearing snow pants at school for goodness sake.

 

Here's a fresh picture out our front window this morning.

 

And of course, the boys.

Happy Birthday John!!

It's John's birthday today!!!  The kids have been preparing gifts and cards for about 2 weeks.  Will has written out a "plan" for the day which includes decorations and a cake.  I have a feeling he's got it under control.

John got to shovel for his birthday.  The pictures from yesterday don't quite capture how much we got because they were taken at about 4:00 pm....and it continued to snow overnight.  Even our neighbors with snow blowers haven't been out.  It's like everyone has just said - screw it, we're done. 

Happy Birthday John!

May is less than 2 weeks away.....

April 18, 2013

 

It might not seem like a lot of snow in the pictures....ugh, but it is.  I've shoveled three times today, trying to catch it before it gets too terribly heavy to lift.  It's murder on the back, very heavy wet, mushy snow.  And then the snow plow finally went by at about 3:50 (for the first time all day) and holy hell, was there a crap load at the end of the driveway.  There was no way John's car was going to get through it so I spent a good 30 minutes picking at it bit by bit until it was clear. 

 

And it's still coming down quite a bit.  Luckily there are hints of 50 degree weather next week.  I'll let you know if the tractor gets broken out across the street again.

Quite an example of love, courage and strength

I've only been following this blog for a couple of days.  A friend brought it to my attention last week and I thought I would share it with you.  WARNING:  Reading this WILL cause tears.....sobs even. 

I'm watching coverage of the Boston Marathon explosions too - this is crazy.  Also putting me on more of an emotional edge.  I can listen to it....but if I go watch it, I get too upset. 

Here's a link to this mother's blog. 
http://www.kateleong.com/

Her name is Kate.  Her son Gavin has had many health struggles including contracting botulism and being diagnosed with Cerebral Palsy. However, he has overcome many obstacles that the medical community deemed impossible. 
Her son, Gavin, passed away yesterday and this mother (it also happened to be her birthday) has the strength to write about it and share her son with others.  Literally.  Gavin's organs are being donated, and they've found a match for his liver already - a 3 year old boy in Texas. 

Anyway, read if you can - even if it's only for a few minutes.  Yeah, I got about 2 minutes in and had to take a break.  It's very powerful.

New Neighbors

We have new neighbors across the street.  It's an "older" couple and they just moved in Tuesday.  In fact, I don't even think they've moved much in yet or are staying there at night yet - I haven't seen a moving truck, just their blackish/bluish truck in the driveway now and then. 

As I was shoveling the sidewalks this morning (John had already done the driveway), I thought "Oh man, an older couple shoveling this heavy snow?  I'll have to watch out the window and make sure they don't need some help." 

Yeah, they got this covered.

 

 

Now that's a tractor, by our suburb definition, anyway.  We have another neighbor across the street who has a tractor, but he also has a farm.  I bet this is also how we'll see them mowing the lawn too.  So will he be willing to expand his "acreage" and plow our driveway too? :)  As he was plowing, the wife was sitting in their big truck in the street.  She communicated with him through annoyingly loud honkings of the horn. 

 

Oh, and he pulled it right into the garage when he was done.  They closed the garage door, and off both of them went.



Catching up

Spring break is over.  We were off school last week, and it seems spring has somewhat started.  Our snow is mostly gone.  Our yard is always the first to be totally without snow - well, ours and our next door neighbors.  We get lots of morning sun in the front yard, and afternoon sun in the backyard.  I still see big piles across the street. 

The Easter bunny brought Lego sets for each Katie and Will and most of the day Sunday was spent putting those together.  We also got new baseballs and a new bat for the spring, which we finally got to use outside yesterday.  I'm on a mission to get Katie, Will and myself gloves over the next few weeks. 

Last week we took a little trip to Wisconsin Dells to do some family waterpark stuff.  I would say our family vacations are getting more and more adventurous.  It's no longer 1 parent taking 1 child to do something so that the other parent can stay with the "little one."  Now it's 1 parent taking one child to do something crazy and wild, while the other parent does the same thing, just in a different direction. 

We stayed at Great Wolf Lodge - which was awesome.  It was big enough that it had stuff to keep us busy over 3 days, yet small enough that we all knew our way around.  Will really enjoyed playing MagiQuest - which is like an electronic scavenger hunt with a wand, and Katie liked the arcade and wave pool in the water park.  We also checked out the Tommy Bartlett Science Experience, which was also pretty interesting. 

I wasn't able to take pictures in the waterpark because I was afraid the moisture would wreck my camera and I've lost too many cameras on other vacations.

Obligatory stop at a WI historic site

Will defeating his dragon.

Raising our hairs

On the way home with our wolf.

Too much fun.

Weekend reunion

We had our Lenten play last night with the 3rd-5th graders. They did SO well!  It was a really great show and it lasted about 30 minutes, well under my 40 minute prediction.  I know there were pictures taken....I'll share if I ever see them.  Katie was a cheerleader and did a great job!  The kids even had flowers for me after the show - (a sly mom's doing I'm sure) - it was very sweet.  I have officially been asked to direct next year's show as well and I'm looking forward to it.  It was a fun experience. 

Today is the last day of school before spring break.  They have tomorrow and all next week off.  I got an e-mail yesterday that this weekend Hans' mom will be in town and they would like to see all the puppies again.  So everyone is getting together at a dog park in Minneapolis to see how everyone has grown.  I think out of 9 of us, only 3 can't make it.  It's our first dog park experience and it will be good to be with people who can tell us how to behave at one. 

Who wants to bet on where Hans ranks in size?  Do you think he's the biggest?  I'll have to remember pictures for sure!

Last day of winter

Tomorrow is the first day of spring!  So I fully expect the mounds and piles of snow everywhere (we got 3-4 inches more yesterday) to be all gone overnight, and tomorrow will be a warm, sunny 50 degree day.

Ok, can I at least settle for 30....and the snow can stay?  Sadly, I don't even think I'm going to get 30.  We may have to wait a bit for spring, but we got so spoiled last year with no snow by mid February that we forget what a true upper-Midwest spring is like.  Can I at least hope for 60 by Memorial Day?

We have Will's parent/teacher conference tonight.  I always look forward to those.  It's fun to hear things about him that we don't get to see first hand.  (The good and the not so good.  Although everything has been great so far.)  Katie's was last week and there wasn't much to say other than she's doing wonderful.  She is in a 4th grade math class and a 4th grade reading class where they just got done reading a 5th grade leveled novel.  She said that over the year she's noticed that Katie has her own way of doing things, and her own timeline for doing them.  She doesn't liked to be rushed, but rather take her time.  The teacher said that she gets her things done on time, but would just rather have control over when and how she works on it.  Yeah....I've learned that at home too.  It took me 8 years to see that....her teacher learned it in 6 months. 

Lent is about wrapped up too and while that announcement normally wouldn't make it to my blog, this year it does.  Do you remember when I posted a few weeks back about having to teach 50 kids about Lent each week?  Well I've done 4 weeks of Lenten Education....and now we are about done.  We'd get together for 10 minutes to talk Lent, then break up into groups because we were working on putting together a play for our final week.  Well, the final week is here and the play is set for Wednesday night. 

It's a simple one-act play (10 scenes), with about 50 kids involved as actors, props/sets, cheerleaders, dancers, etc.  We had a dress rehearsal last night for 2 hours.  It didn't go TOO bad....but holy cow was it stressful.  Actually, to be honest, it was a bit stressful for me, but also equally exhilarating.  It's kind of giving me a "high" to be in charge of such a production.  As director I haven't had to do too much week to week so far.  I have parent helpers who were running the scenes with the kids and putting the props kids to work making things.  That all changed last night.

Suddenly I had to deal with microphone assignments/changes, assigning kids to deal with props and setting the stage for each scene, entrances/exits, costume changes, staging, creating a backstage, etc.  It was a little overwhelming, BUT I'd be lying if I said I didn't have a good time. We are set to run through it one more time Wednesday, then we'll have a small pizza party followed by the real-deal show at 7:30.  It makes me realize that our church may be a bit more into drama productions than other churches. :)  Gee, 2 shows within 3 weeks of each other?  And then this summer we have a musical camp for kids set up too.  I guess we Lutherans like the overacting drama part of it all.   

week recap

The play is over and went well.  We had a lot of main characters sick though.  Willy Wonka lost his voice and had to have someone sing for him offstage.  He did his on lines though.  I think I mentioned that the guy off stage that we had helping us was from the dinner theater - nope, I was wrong. He's actually from the Guthrie!  So we felt very lucky to have that much talent off stage.  Saturday we had two shows and Katie and I showed up at church to discover that Charlie had awoken and lost his voice as well.  It was agreed that the guy offstage would read his lines AND sing Charlie's songs.  I think he also sang some Wonka songs as well. 

By the Saturday night show things were better voice-wise.  Everyone sang and read their own lines.  (Yay1!) However, by Saturday night we also had 3 cast members sick to their stomach....."Violet Beauregard" (the blueberry girl) was feeling very sick, "Verruca Salt" (the spoiled girl) had thrown up, and "Augustus Gloop" (the boy that keeps eating) threw up minutes before he had to go on stage and sing (and eat) for his big scene.  Then "Uncle Joe" started to feel sick too...so we decided to keep a bucket on either side of the stage and we had mothers roaming around with ice cream pails....just in case. 

By Sunday everyone was feeling much better, although tired.  Katie escaped all sickness, but I came down with a stomach bug late Tuesday night and into Wednesday.  I'm finally feeling much better today - pretty normal.  Although, I don't think it had anything to do with the "backstage bug"....because of the painful stomach cramps I had, I think it was more associated with something I ate. 

Oh well, all better now.  Katie has a big birthday party tonight for one of her friends.  She is to go to her friend's house at 6 pm....everyone is to bring their snow gear, their iPod (seriously), and a stuffed animal.  She gets picked up at 10.  Yes, that's right, 10!  While Katie is at the party, I think Will and I will head to the rec center's free family carnival and give John a few hours at home to himself. 

We are due to get rain tomorrow.

Give and Take

There's a lot of give and take to Will's relationship with Hans....

Will can rest on Hans....

 

Hans can rest on Will....

Pictures from rehearsal....

I have some pictures from the Tuesday night's dress rehearsal.  I know when they were from because I can gauge the date by how high the "bump" in my hair was...and this wasn't very high. :)

 

Katie is up behind sitting with the group of girls. 

You'll notice that "Charlie" needs a shave before opening night....

 

And here's Katie again....up behind, with a red lollipop.

 

 

Here's me with my "son" and the reporter interviewing us after we have found our winning ticket.

...mid-song....

....and here, well...I don't know.

 

Weekend

Tonight is opening night - very exciting.  Last night's dress rehearsal went pretty well in most areas, but tonight will be great.  The biggest drama this week has been around Wonka himself.  The actor playing him came down with a mild case of laryngitis on Monday night.  Tuesday he rested - didn't sing or really speak lines during rehearsal.  Wednesday he went to the dr and got some sort of steroid treatment, then last night he rested and didn't speak or sing again. He told me that his voice was pretty good last night, and if it continues to improve he'll be able to speak the lines. 

What about singing?

Well, that's a big strain on the voice, so they have brought in a professional actor - not 100% sure where from...could be the dinner theater if I heard correctly.  Anyway - he has played the role before and was there last night to read lines and sing while John - our Wonka actor - was up on stage.  It was ok, but confusing because the new guy was not used to our timing or stage planning that we had already done.  I really hope our guy can do it all, but we'll see how it goes.  I remember last year when I lost my voice during the play it was a good 10 days before I could say anything. 

Katie is also not feeling great today - so she is staying home a few hours to rest.  I don't think there's too much affecting her though because she seems to be feeling great when it comes time to go on the iPad.

Stay tuned for pictures - they were taking them last night during Act 2.  I should have some soon.

It's coming!

 

We had a long tech rehearsal yesterday - walked through entrances/exits and set/prop placement.  Only Wonka, the ticket winners and their parents were there for that rehearsal.  I had to sing, and I think I did a pretty good job.  I will have to sing again today in front of more people. We have a good time and there were lots of laughs. 

 

Today will be a long rehearsal too.  We will run through start to finish, but this time with ALL cast members there.  All 45 Oompa Loompas.  Whew. 

Katie has also been added in as a squirrel in the factory.  I've not seen costumes for those yet....but I'm sure it will be quite funny and cute. 

 

We wear costumes tomorrow night for our rehearsal, and full hair and make-up on Tuesday night.  Then we get a break from rehearsal on Wednesday night, with one more full dress rehearsal on Thursday night before opening night on Friday.  Wish me and my hair luck.   

Ruined morning

Ugh - a phone call with a bitchy woman has just about ruined my morning.  I'm taking over her project at school that she doesn't want to do anymore and I called her (at her request) to run through details.  Actually, this would be the 3rd time I called her this week....she hadn't returned my calls, but she picked up today.

Bitchy, snippy and rude to me the whole time.  I don't think I'll be calling her again with questions.  I was totally taken by surprise with the attitude because I thought she would have been relieved to have it off her plate.

Ahh well....let it go, right?  I'm not the reason for her bitchy attitude...it could be something else she'd going through today.  That's what a small part of my brain says.  I can barely hear it though because the other part of my brain is going off on her ass.

I'm getting a hair cut today....

Not only do I get a wonderful massage today.....I also am getting my haircut this afternoon.

The "hair" people in the musical asked if I would be willing to go shoulder-length so that we could do the hairstyle they had in mind for me and my character. Sure, no problem.

This is what they are hoping to do to my hair.

 

OR.....

 

 

Now aren't you all looking forward to pictures.....

Wednesday already....

This week seems to be going to fast.  I spose it has to do with the kids being off school on Monday and the fact that I don't have "Pebbles" this week.  She is in Mexico - I assume with her parents. :)

We are supposed to be getting a bunch of snow on Friday.  I had scheduled a massage for Friday - thanks to a gift certificate from John for my birthday last fall.  But I had to reschedule it for tomorrow in stead.  "First-world" problems, right?

I've spent the last 2 hours getting caught up on some volunteer work with a local breastfeeding group.  I feel like that's enough for today and will tackle more of it tomorrow.  There's always more.

I also need to make some phone calls regarding a new project that got thrown at me at the last PTO meeting at school.  There was no one to handle the "SchoolKidz" supply kits that parents can order at the end of the year for their children to have the following fall.  It's supposed to alleviate some of the "back to school" shopping that's done, and it's a fundraiser for the school.  I said I would take care of it, not knowing exactly what had been done so far this year.  The orders need to be collected with money and sent in by May so I need to get hopping on that now.  Then I will need to organize the orders when they come in before school starts.  A little work now, a little work later.

Then it's on the the NEXT volunteer stuff I have to get done today.  Since Lent started last Wednesday...yes, for all you heathens our there...Lent started last Wednesday. :)  During Lent, the 3rd, 4th, and 5th graders at church get to choose a special project to do.  They can choose a Bible study group, a family service project or be part of a drama/play that is put on.  For most, the drama sounds like the most fun and we need actors, dancers, props/costume people, etc. so we are lucky that most of the kids pick that one. 
This year, I was asked to help direct the play.  Ok.  I would be helping Alex, who is a high school senior, very involved at school, on the debate team, in plays at school, and he's also "Charlie" in the church's musical.  He's just a TINY bit busy.  So they wanted me to help him so that he didn't need to do it all. 
The play we are doing was written by one of the church members and is a cute, short, fun story of a basketball team with "Jesus" as their coach.  But he is leaving soon and they will have to deal without him.  Sort of a "Last Supper" based basketball play. 
Anyway - the play, I can deal with.  I have parent "scene" leaders assigned to each and every scene who are responsible for rehearsing those scenes each week.  I have parents assigned to props and costumes as well and they are to organize what needs to be made each week.  What do Alex and I do?  Supervise, baby.

Oh, and one more thing.  Each week we gather for about 5-10 minutes as a large Group and I teach all 50 some kids about Lent.  They figured I would be more comfortable with this and have more time to prepare than Alex would.  So.....yeah.  As soon as this ignorant louse learns what it's all about.....I'll pass that on.  Seriously, I know very little.  Just the basics.....40 days....some desert.....some waiting.....some betrayal.....some followers.....and then it's Easter.  Good enough?  Yeah, I didn't think so.