*Odontophobia anyone? *raising hand very high* I finally made myself make an appointment for a check-up. And I must admit I'm proud of myself for finally doing so. It's way overdue. The only problem is that I'm now having trouble sleeping and I feel like my heart is always pounding...and the damn appointment is still 2 1/2 weeks away. I am so afraid there are going to be major problems...
*I am not masochistic. Therefore, I will never watch Penn State play Iowa again. NEVER. Two years in a row of hopes shattered by them is enough. :(
*We've been trying to make this a fun weekend for Max (we don't generally do parties, but instead give them a weekend full of fun of their choosing). This, however, means I'm even further behind than usual in answering e-mails and reading blogs. But this probably won't be the day I catch up, as I've got much school work to sneak in between Maxidoodle requests.
Okay, and after all that whining, I do actually have something fun on my mind, too:
*I'm a big fat liar. Just a few days ago, I made myself a list of all the books I had to finish before starting new ones. But already I'm heading off course. See, the Stevens family has been inspired by Becky and Becky's Mom. We're going to try something similar to their challenges to one another, though we're picking out books we honestly believe the recipient will love. (We each have to have read the book we're recommending.) So Friday night, we drew names to see whom we would be picking a book for, and then yesterday while eating lunch at McDonalds (Ugh. But McDonalds playland is what Max requested.), we handed out our assignments.
--Max chose the Warriors graphic novel series Graystripe's Adventures by Erin Hunter for Annie.
--Gray chose Space Chimps: Mission to Malgor adapted by Lauren Alexander for Max.
--Annie chose Dramacon Ultimate Edition by Svetlana Chmakova for me.
--Rich chose Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone by J.K. Rowling for Gray.
--And I chose The Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness for Rich.
We've given ourselves about a month to complete our assignments. Then we're going out for pizza, where we'll discuss our reads and give out our next assignments. Maybe we'll even do fun little interviews like Becky and her mom. :D
*Also on the fun side of life, I'm finally getting back to work on the library. Doing some serious rearranging of books. Hopefully more weeding out. And Rich and I figured out a few places where we can add more shelves, and I designed something for him to build for the one area. I know...so not fair to poor Rich...I design and he builds. But believe me, it would be a disaster if we switched jobs. ;)
Showing posts with label football. Show all posts
Showing posts with label football. Show all posts
Sunday, September 27, 2009
Sunday, November 09, 2008
yes, I would like some cheese with my whine
Yes, I apologize up front...truly I do hate complaining. I know I don't always succeed, but I do try to keep it to a minimum. But one would never know after reading my last post, and now this one. I probably shouldn't post this at all, but I did want to explain why I haven't been and won't be as on top of keeping up with all your blogs.
Frankly, this weekend has just totally sucked.
*Crappy Event #1:
One of Rich's brothers is in the hospital. He was admitted from the ER with pancreatitis. Yes, from long-term alcohol abuse. The doctor said that 50% of people who come in in his condition die before they ever get to go home. My BIL is improving, however, and they think he's going to recover. He was told flat-out that if he keeps drinking, he's a dead man. While I fully believe in miracles, I'm just pretty certain that he's a dead man. Geez, I sound callous here. I don't mean to...we're actually a pretty close family, but his drinking has put a strain on everyone for a long time now. The hardest part is thinking about Rich's mom and all she's going through. It's been almost exactly a year since Rich's dad died and she's finally starting to enjoy her life again.
*Crappy Event #2:
Our computer has gone on strike. (I'm borrowing Rich's laptap right now.) It won't turn on at all. I'm just so afraid about what it's taken with it. I don't understand squat about computers, so I just don't know what to think. Rich just tells me he doesn't know what our chances are of recovering what's on there. And of course, the worst part of it all is that we have no one but ourselves to blame for not having more backed up. Like about a year's worth of photos (Rich is in charge of backing those up, but frankly, I've always been so good about sending them off to be printed that we haven't worried that much about it, figuring that not only do we then have the prints but also that Snapfish has our files if we ever want to order more. Of course, I've been lousy about sending them off lately, and we've now got that year's worth at risk.) Then there's all our home schooling stuff. We can't afford to buy fancy curriculums and whatnot, so I pretty much do all the lesson planning by myself. Seriously, I sometimes feel like I have no life outside of all the work I have to do for home schooling. I organize everything I find on-line and all the lectures, handouts, worksheets, etc. that I type up myself in folders on the computer. I add so much each and every day, that it just seemed ridiculous to back it up constantly, so I only backed it up by the school quarter. So now everything I have for this our current quarter, plus odds and ends of things I'd downloaded to save for possible future use are all possibly gone. Truthfully, I'm in near total panic mode now wondering what I'm going to do. And maybe most heart-breaking of all, there's Annie's writing. Including the 15,000+ words she had written of her current NaNoWriMo novel. But also numerous short stories, both finished pieces and works in progress. And I fear her entire novel from last year's NaNoWriMo, which she has continued editing on and off throughout the year. I'm not entirely sure, but I don't think she ever printed off a copy. She's never let us read it all, wanting to wait until she had it polished to her satisfaction. Anyway, keep your fingers crossed for us, would you?
*Crappy Event #3:
Penn State blew whatever hope they had of the National Championship. Yeah, I know that doesn't seem all that important compared to the other things, but I tell you it just sort felt like adding insult to injury.
So, anyway, that's why I probably won't be around so much in the near future. Hope everyone is having a glorious weekend, and I can't wait to catch up with you!
Frankly, this weekend has just totally sucked.
*Crappy Event #1:
One of Rich's brothers is in the hospital. He was admitted from the ER with pancreatitis. Yes, from long-term alcohol abuse. The doctor said that 50% of people who come in in his condition die before they ever get to go home. My BIL is improving, however, and they think he's going to recover. He was told flat-out that if he keeps drinking, he's a dead man. While I fully believe in miracles, I'm just pretty certain that he's a dead man. Geez, I sound callous here. I don't mean to...we're actually a pretty close family, but his drinking has put a strain on everyone for a long time now. The hardest part is thinking about Rich's mom and all she's going through. It's been almost exactly a year since Rich's dad died and she's finally starting to enjoy her life again.
*Crappy Event #2:
Our computer has gone on strike. (I'm borrowing Rich's laptap right now.) It won't turn on at all. I'm just so afraid about what it's taken with it. I don't understand squat about computers, so I just don't know what to think. Rich just tells me he doesn't know what our chances are of recovering what's on there. And of course, the worst part of it all is that we have no one but ourselves to blame for not having more backed up. Like about a year's worth of photos (Rich is in charge of backing those up, but frankly, I've always been so good about sending them off to be printed that we haven't worried that much about it, figuring that not only do we then have the prints but also that Snapfish has our files if we ever want to order more. Of course, I've been lousy about sending them off lately, and we've now got that year's worth at risk.) Then there's all our home schooling stuff. We can't afford to buy fancy curriculums and whatnot, so I pretty much do all the lesson planning by myself. Seriously, I sometimes feel like I have no life outside of all the work I have to do for home schooling. I organize everything I find on-line and all the lectures, handouts, worksheets, etc. that I type up myself in folders on the computer. I add so much each and every day, that it just seemed ridiculous to back it up constantly, so I only backed it up by the school quarter. So now everything I have for this our current quarter, plus odds and ends of things I'd downloaded to save for possible future use are all possibly gone. Truthfully, I'm in near total panic mode now wondering what I'm going to do. And maybe most heart-breaking of all, there's Annie's writing. Including the 15,000+ words she had written of her current NaNoWriMo novel. But also numerous short stories, both finished pieces and works in progress. And I fear her entire novel from last year's NaNoWriMo, which she has continued editing on and off throughout the year. I'm not entirely sure, but I don't think she ever printed off a copy. She's never let us read it all, wanting to wait until she had it polished to her satisfaction. Anyway, keep your fingers crossed for us, would you?
*Crappy Event #3:
Penn State blew whatever hope they had of the National Championship. Yeah, I know that doesn't seem all that important compared to the other things, but I tell you it just sort felt like adding insult to injury.
So, anyway, that's why I probably won't be around so much in the near future. Hope everyone is having a glorious weekend, and I can't wait to catch up with you!
Monday, October 27, 2008
in our neck of the woods...
Last week was a busy one. Busy in different ways than normal busy. Which means that I'm behind in all the normal things. But such is life, right?
*Mom and Dad came up to visit! We had an early birthday celebration for Gray, complete with cake and ice cream. Gray got Papa to watch his new favorite movie, Last Days on Earth, with him. Papa and the kids "dunked cookies"...gingersnaps and milk is a tradition with them (and they even let Grammy and I have a couple gingersnaps this time). Max read to Grammy. Papa and Gray played a lot of chess. Annie and Papa played a game, too, and we're still teasing Annie about how she let Papa take her queen with a pawn. Mom and I gabbed and gabbed and gabbed. Annie performed a mini concert for Grammy. Max and Papa were involved in an awful lot of rough-and-tumble tickling battles. Annie and I took them to lunch before they left the next day. Yep, we all had a great time.
*It was another fantastic week in college football! I'm trying not to "count my chickens" but Penn State is looking so good! And while I hold no illusions for the Dolphins making the play-offs or anything, a win over the Bills sure felt good!
*Baker had a great birthday...silly dog just loves it when we sing "Happy Birthday" to him, joins right in howling. And even more, he LOVES opening presents!
*Annie and I got her blog set up for What's in a Name 2. She picked out all new categories this time around. Hope you'll join us!
And I guess that about covers the highlights of life in our little abode during the past week. This coming week will be another hectic one...first celebrating the 8th birthday of one incredible, compassionate, creative, sensitive, emotional, handsome, intelligent young fellow, and then all the hoopla of Halloween.
Hope you all have a wonderful week ahead!
*Mom and Dad came up to visit! We had an early birthday celebration for Gray, complete with cake and ice cream. Gray got Papa to watch his new favorite movie, Last Days on Earth, with him. Papa and the kids "dunked cookies"...gingersnaps and milk is a tradition with them (and they even let Grammy and I have a couple gingersnaps this time). Max read to Grammy. Papa and Gray played a lot of chess. Annie and Papa played a game, too, and we're still teasing Annie about how she let Papa take her queen with a pawn. Mom and I gabbed and gabbed and gabbed. Annie performed a mini concert for Grammy. Max and Papa were involved in an awful lot of rough-and-tumble tickling battles. Annie and I took them to lunch before they left the next day. Yep, we all had a great time.
*It was another fantastic week in college football! I'm trying not to "count my chickens" but Penn State is looking so good! And while I hold no illusions for the Dolphins making the play-offs or anything, a win over the Bills sure felt good!
*Baker had a great birthday...silly dog just loves it when we sing "Happy Birthday" to him, joins right in howling. And even more, he LOVES opening presents!
*Annie and I got her blog set up for What's in a Name 2. She picked out all new categories this time around. Hope you'll join us!
And I guess that about covers the highlights of life in our little abode during the past week. This coming week will be another hectic one...first celebrating the 8th birthday of one incredible, compassionate, creative, sensitive, emotional, handsome, intelligent young fellow, and then all the hoopla of Halloween.
Hope you all have a wonderful week ahead!
Monday, October 13, 2008
in our neck of the woods...
*We're enjoying an absolutely glorious Indian summer.
*College football is treating us mighty fine this season. I know it only leads to heartache to get one's hopes too high, but oh my, how my alma mater Penn State is giving us a lot to cheer about so far.
*Rich took Annie and Gray to the Corn Maze on Saturday. Behavioral issues precluded Max and I from going. :(
*I can't seem to finish a book to save my life these days. Maybe if I'd stop starting new ones...
On another sad book-related note, I'm afraid there's no way our "reading room" will be ready in time for the read-a-thon. But you know what, who cares where we'll be reading, right?
*Forgot to do a short story post yesterday, but hey, there's always next week...
*College football is treating us mighty fine this season. I know it only leads to heartache to get one's hopes too high, but oh my, how my alma mater Penn State is giving us a lot to cheer about so far.
*Rich took Annie and Gray to the Corn Maze on Saturday. Behavioral issues precluded Max and I from going. :(
*I can't seem to finish a book to save my life these days. Maybe if I'd stop starting new ones...
On another sad book-related note, I'm afraid there's no way our "reading room" will be ready in time for the read-a-thon. But you know what, who cares where we'll be reading, right?
*Forgot to do a short story post yesterday, but hey, there's always next week...
Monday, September 08, 2008
Monday morning musings
*Weekends fly by much faster during the school year.
*I drink way too much coffee. But I doubt I'll cut back anytime soon.
*Gray just may gain some much needed confidence in himself. Most kids are both tying their shoes and riding a bike by age 4 or 5. But Gray, at age 7, was doing neither. The shoe-tying thing was greatly our fault, as we have always allowed the kids to pick out their own shoes. Until last month, Gray's always chosen ones with velcro closures. And it wasn't until last week that we told him that he had to start wearing his new shoes instead of the old, totally-falling-apart ones. Problem being, of course, he didn't know how to tie them on his own. The bike riding thing, well, he just hadn't wanted it bad enough to ever put in any effort. He is waaaay too big of a perfectionist for his own good.
Anyway, on Saturday, he decided he was going to learn to tie his shoes and to ride his bike. And I'll be damned if he didn't do it! We, of course, were very proud of him. But the pride he had in himself was just absolutely priceless!
*Fall is definitely getting the upper hand on summer. And I'm loving it.
*Those Dolphins really tried to give me hope in a better season this year, but ultimately failed. Thankfully, Penn State's keeping a smile on my face.
*I drink way too much coffee. But I doubt I'll cut back anytime soon.
*Gray just may gain some much needed confidence in himself. Most kids are both tying their shoes and riding a bike by age 4 or 5. But Gray, at age 7, was doing neither. The shoe-tying thing was greatly our fault, as we have always allowed the kids to pick out their own shoes. Until last month, Gray's always chosen ones with velcro closures. And it wasn't until last week that we told him that he had to start wearing his new shoes instead of the old, totally-falling-apart ones. Problem being, of course, he didn't know how to tie them on his own. The bike riding thing, well, he just hadn't wanted it bad enough to ever put in any effort. He is waaaay too big of a perfectionist for his own good.
Anyway, on Saturday, he decided he was going to learn to tie his shoes and to ride his bike. And I'll be damned if he didn't do it! We, of course, were very proud of him. But the pride he had in himself was just absolutely priceless!
*Fall is definitely getting the upper hand on summer. And I'm loving it.
*Those Dolphins really tried to give me hope in a better season this year, but ultimately failed. Thankfully, Penn State's keeping a smile on my face.
Sunday, February 03, 2008
good stuff
*Maxidoodle finally seems to be on the mend from what turned out to be another bad go-round with RSV. His fever has been gone now for a couple of days. Now if he could just say good-bye to that awful cough.
*We finally joined Netflix. I've wanted to for sooooo long, but could never justify the expense, since we have tons of unwatched movies sitting around here that we just never seem to have time to get to. But I really wanted to get my hands on Ken Burns The West series for homeschooling. Our library didn't have it, and neither did Rich's school's library system. The cheapest price I could find to buy it was $70+. But then my brilliant husband thought to check Netflix. A-ha! Who can argue with joining for educational purposes, right? Just don't look to see what we put in our queue after The West series ;)
*I could certainly always add reading my favorite blogs to the "good stuff" list. But today I just want to highlight this one specific post. Stephanie, an incredibly sweet person herself, wrote about some of the wonderful volunteers she gets to meet through her job at the Red Cross.
*The kids' unexpected enthusiasm over the Super Bowl. Not a one of them has ever cared one iota about football, but for whatever reason, yesterday they got themselves all worked up about the big game. So for the first time in ages, we'll be throwing a little Super Bowl party. Although it will only be the five of us in attendance. The kids planned the menu: cheese and energy biscuits (the boys' name for beefstick) and crackers, Cheetos, chips and salsa and Rotel dip. (I'll try to throw in a veggie plate with slim hopes that one of them will grab something from it by accident.)
*We went to Borders and I didn't buy a darn thing for myself! (The fact that I put on my sweetest smile before handing Rich a book I discovered (Runemarks by Joanne Harris) and telling him that it would make a really fine birthday present doesn't count against me, does it?)
**To read more good news or link up your own good news post, check Melissa's Good News Sunday.
*We finally joined Netflix. I've wanted to for sooooo long, but could never justify the expense, since we have tons of unwatched movies sitting around here that we just never seem to have time to get to. But I really wanted to get my hands on Ken Burns The West series for homeschooling. Our library didn't have it, and neither did Rich's school's library system. The cheapest price I could find to buy it was $70+. But then my brilliant husband thought to check Netflix. A-ha! Who can argue with joining for educational purposes, right? Just don't look to see what we put in our queue after The West series ;)
*I could certainly always add reading my favorite blogs to the "good stuff" list. But today I just want to highlight this one specific post. Stephanie, an incredibly sweet person herself, wrote about some of the wonderful volunteers she gets to meet through her job at the Red Cross.
*The kids' unexpected enthusiasm over the Super Bowl. Not a one of them has ever cared one iota about football, but for whatever reason, yesterday they got themselves all worked up about the big game. So for the first time in ages, we'll be throwing a little Super Bowl party. Although it will only be the five of us in attendance. The kids planned the menu: cheese and energy biscuits (the boys' name for beefstick) and crackers, Cheetos, chips and salsa and Rotel dip. (I'll try to throw in a veggie plate with slim hopes that one of them will grab something from it by accident.)
*We went to Borders and I didn't buy a darn thing for myself! (The fact that I put on my sweetest smile before handing Rich a book I discovered (Runemarks by Joanne Harris) and telling him that it would make a really fine birthday present doesn't count against me, does it?)
**To read more good news or link up your own good news post, check Melissa's Good News Sunday.
Sunday, September 09, 2007
football woes...
Yep...just as I feared...it's going to be another loooooong season.
And Marianne--no rubbing salt in the wounds, o.k.?
And Marianne--no rubbing salt in the wounds, o.k.?
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