LOL

I wish I had a mind that never forgot things like jokes or silly songs, or heck, even my own name on some days. Unfortunately, I know there are many-many funnies that have been lost forever.

I am adding a new label to my blog - LOL - so I can start documenting some funny things that I know I will forget otherwise.

As I was typing this very post Athena called and said, 'Nice Comment' on Lindsay's blog. You wrote, "I tickled me." OBVIOUSLY, it was SUPPOSED to read IT TICKLED ME. Oops. I was meaning to write funny things about OTHER people in this post, but it made Athena giggle and I thought I'd better address the typo before people started asking questions....oh well. LOL!

Funny #1: Grace told me this morning that her teacher was not going to be at school today. "I'm going to have a substitute. You know, the one that passed away."

I was confused. I asked if Mrs. Fry had to go to a funeral for someone that passed away...thinking that Grace was confused. Nope.

"No mom, our substitute is the one that passed away. You know, the one that worked there last year, she passed away, SHE is our substitute."

The light bulb went on. "Mrs. Storey?"

"Yeah!"

"Grace honey, Mrs. Storey RETIRED, she didn't pass away."

"Oh, yeah."

I told Mrs. Storey today that she looked pretty good for someone who passed away last year. :-)

Funny #2: This is an old funny story, but I'm sure someday it will fade from my memory too...so I'm writing it down.

It was my first year teaching. I had 18 second graders. We did a lot of carpet time. My mom had bought me a rocking chair for my class room as a graduation present. I would love sitting and reading to the kids because two or three little girls loved to touch my nylons. They would sit by my feet and just pet my feet and legs. I would start drooling and want to take a nap, but I would resist. It was in that very rocking chair that I told my class that I had some exciting news to share. I let them play 20 questions to guess what I might be sharing with them. No one came close so I announced that I was pregnant and would be having a baby at the end of the school year. (One day before the last day of school to be precise.) Some girls giggled. Some immediately wanted to tell me stories about someone they knew who was pregnant or who had babies that they knew. One little red headed girl sat quietly at my feet with her hand in the air. When I called on her, she said, "It's too bad you are pregnant, you were always so cute before." :-) That story may be a keeper, as it has been 8 years and I haven't forgotten her or her sympathetic look of concern yet.

More LOL's to come.

Obsessed

I know that I have not been very visible in the blog world lately. I have all the usual excuses, a new school year, kids activities, laundry, meetings, etc. I am here tonight to tell you about my most recent excuse. It is how I am obsessed this week.

When I grow up I want to be one of those 'freaks' who has a spot for everything. "Everything has a place, everything in it's place." I want color coordinated containers in my closet. I want my towels folded, just so. I want dust to be a thing of the past. I want a PDA to sync with my laptop. I want my Christmas card list to update itself from my address book. I want - I want - I want.

What I KNOW about me is that I probably won't ever get to the level of 'freak' that I desire. Every now and then I will hit a stroke of good luck and I will pull off something that tickles me pink. It may be as simple as getting everyone to their appointed places on time. Other days it may be teaching an entire day without needing to run to the copy machine for something I've forgotten. Some days if I fold the laundry that has been in the dryer for 3 days it is sheer bliss.

Yesterday I was out of the door by 7 am, headed to get routine blood work to check my thyroid levels. (They were fine.) Then I headed to school. I walked out of school after a meeting at 4:20 pm. I drove through Starbucks on my way to the ESD for a 3 hour technology training. By 7:30 pm you might think that I would run out the door without a second look and collapse into bed to watch some worthless show on TV. But no...

You see...at the Tech meeting I was introduced to my newest favorite tech tool. Forgive me for being slow if you already know of the goodness of iGoogle and Google Calendar. Joe & Stacy & Ronda & Athena helped me get started on a family calendar. When the class ended, I couldn't wait to get home to set up more calendars. I ended up with SEVEN calendars on my Google Calendar. I can see Anne work, Soko Family, Marc, Taryn, Grace, Reagan or Birthday alone, or I can layer the calendars so I can actually count how many places I am supposed to be at one time. I LOVE IT!!!! I am now obsessed with adding activities to my calendar and seeing all the pretty colors pop up. If the monthly view gets too overwhelming I can switch to a week view or a day view.

So friends, please forgive me for the next few weeks. I am realizing part of a dream here. I have a color coordinated calendar for my family. Everyone has a place. Everyone is in their place. I feel like I am in control of the chaos (don't kid yourself...I know I'm not) but I do feel more at peace with this tool in my life.

I will be back...with pictures...and stories...and real life stuff...but for now...I'm hanging with Google!

Are you kidding me?

Other potential post titles?

• This was not on the list!
• *&^%$^&*
• Jake...the Good, the Bad, the Ugly!
• Theme? Can you name it?
• Why I love The Grocery Game.

Clue was one of my favorite games growing up.

Let's see if you can solve this blog mystery.

Time: 8:48 pm

Evidence: See above & below.

&

I'm pretty sure you all get the idea here.

* * * * *

This was not on the list. - I'm talking about my 'nothing' weekend list.

*&^%$^* - Pretty self explanatory.

Jake, the Good, the Bad, the Ugly.- The good - he's adorable. The bad - he kills cats. The ugly - I don't know how I'll wash him...I can't get near him right now.

Theme - Can you name it? - Candles and other pretty smelling things.

Why I love The Grocery Game. - I got to dig into my stockpile of pretty smelling things to take the edge off. Unfortunately tomato juice hasn't hit my list, so I'll be shopping for that tomorrow.

* * * * *

Oh dear. I'm now nestled into bed, remote in hand, candles burning, praying that Monday doesn't stink too bad.

What does NOTHING look like?

It was Friday night when Marc asked me what my plan was for the weekend. I replied, "Nothing!" It seems that the best I can do these days is make a list. Allow me to list what

-nothing-

ended up looking like this weekend.

Friday night:
Enjoyed babysitting the Nelson girls while mom & dad had a date at Hamley's.
Baked a Confetti Cake.
Tucked girls in for bed at 9 pm.
Watched ER from Thursday night. (I love DVR)
Read Blogs.
Tucked myself in at 10 pm.

Saturday:
Cleaned the kitchen.
Balanced check book. (Is it payday yet?)
Torn down oodles of boxed and supervised the burn barrel.
Sorted through my freezer to make meal plans.
Showered.
Went to Vigil Mass.
Ate dinner at La Fiesta.
Printed out Grocery Game shopping list.
Tried to watch Oprah's on DVR. Fell asleep by 9: 30 pm.

Sunday:
Grocery shopping.
Made homemade applesauce.
Walked 5 miles with my walking buddies. (Only 95 to go...)
Went and visited day old puppies. Not cute enough yet to be considered irresistible.
Began setting up the playroom again. Construction in that room is complete.
Made dinner.
Blogged...
-up next-
...watch Amazing Race. (The one reality show I would be tempted to try.)
...set out clothes for this week. Picture day is Friday...yuck!


All in all the weekend was wonderful. Nothing turned out to be just enough. I read the newspapers, I played on the computer, but I still felt like I accomplished a few things.

I'm hoping as the school year routines become more established I can get back to the 'creative' side of my blog. Right now I'm posting to try and remain 'connected' and to keep track of this insane season called 'Back to School'!

DISNEY DELIGHT

Disney Delights

A List

One Daughter

One Mother

One Grandmother

Two Theme Parks & Four Days




Dozens of Characters







Hundreds of Smiles









Millions in Memories

Disney Learning per Reagan

"It really is the happiest place on earth."

"If it goes up, it's got to go down."

Disney Highlights

Princess luncheon & autographs

Rides-Rides-Rides

Key Lime Cheesecake from the Cheesecake Factory (twice)

Hannah Montana bear from Build-A-Bear

Disney Fireworks

Real Tinkerbell, flying on a zip line, above the castle.

(That little green fleck above the castle is Tinkerbell.)

Heat felt from the fire from our nearby seats.

Disney Downside

I went on this ride...I hadn't seen the sign.

I did quickly notice the barf bags inside the car after the latch was closed.

LISTS

Lists are the only thing keeping me going these days. I have 'blog' written on a list somewhere. Yet, not on the top of any current list. This is a short post for my favorite stalker...my brother, Jason. He keeps me on task. Thanks to Stacy too, for checking in. I miss you all when you don't post...but I get it. Really, I do get it.

Things I've crossed off my list:

• Set up my classroom.


• Clean out drawers of summer clothes that don't fit.


• Finish one quilt.


• Make a budget for this school year.


• Photo of kids on the first day of school.


• First day of school.


• Round Up Twilight Breakfast.


• Pack for Disneyland.


• Finish book #4 of Twilight Series.


• Camping w/Nelson's @ Target Meadow.


• Pick Huckleberries.


• Make Huckleberry pancakes.


• Make Huckleberry muffins.


• Freeze Huckleberries.

Things still on my list:

• Upload pictures and update blog.


• Order pictures. (1,000 + photos on computer...not yet printed.)


• Read other 8 books on Summer Reading List.


• Organize Sewing Room.


• Lesson Plan...get ahead a few weeks...stay ahead. Ha-Fantasy world-


• Take Reagan to Disneyland. (Sept. 10-14, 2008)


• Make Huckleberry Crisp.


• Survive Back-to-School September.

Photos may follow...

Future posts will happen...

I'm just not promising when.

Trillum Lake

WHO: Cousin Camping

Anne & Jill - Taryn, Grace, Aiden, Reagan & Madeline

WHAT:Camping

WHEN: August 18-21, 2008

WHERE: Trillium Lake, Mt. Hood

(This is a 2007 photo...it didn't look like this with the smoke from the forest fire and all the rain.)

WHY: To teach the city cousins about camping fun.

Day one: I had to tear down camp at Camp Creek by myself. Marc & the Smith's headed home on Sunday evening so they could work on Monday morning...poor things. HOWEVER-I was left to tear down camp-alone-in the pouring down rain. I tucked the kids into the van w/snacks and a movie. The process only took me about one hour. We headed to Trillium Lake where I set up camp-alone-in the rain. The kids continued snacking and watching their movie. We then drove down the mountain into Hood River. I had gotten passes for us from the RAC in Pendleton to use the club in Hood River. We swam and showered! It was a much needed break from camping. Aunt Jill & the cousins pulled into camp right behind us that afternoon. I showed Jill around the lake & the campground, we ate dinner and feasted on S'mores!

The kids were all asleep in bed by 9:00. Wow-that was a big accomplishment.

Day two: Jill ran around the lake twice. I walked around the lake once. We rode bikes. We made nature prints. We played games. We ate lunch. We drove to Frog Lake and played with the frogs and went swimming. We wore ourselves out...we called it an early night...because the rain came!

Day three: Jill & I decided to ABORT the camping trip a day early. There was a total DOWNPOUR. The good news is that this time I had help tearing down camp. We got the job done and Jill headed back to Portland. She is running Hood to Coast this weekend. The kids and I headed home.

We took a quick detour at Rasmussen's Fruit Stand in Hood River.

We bought apples, fresh corn and wonderful sunflowers.

Even with all the rain, we considered our first Cousin Camp out a success.