I also have a bunch of misc. pictures to share, in no particular order, with no rhyme nor reason... Just some things I have photographed for one reason or another that I found amusing or made me happy.This first picture, to the right, is from Eric and my "date" after taking Kimmie to the airport, sitting at Houlihan's, outside at Union Station, with the lovely Marriott to the right of us, and the hungry koi in the pool in front of us. It was such a beautiful day, and yet it felt amazing to be sitting outside, having lunch with my wonderful husband (my three martini "minitini" lunch). It is a beautiful site, and I hope St. Louis continues to promote businesses to open there. It is a wonderful site for boutiques and specialty shops, although in this economy there is always a risk to opening something special...
I told Liisa when she comes to visit me the end of July that we for sure would make a trip here to Houlihan's and Union Station so she could enjoy the magic of a site similar to her Marriott Depot from Minneapolis.
This next picture is how the kids and I had the table set for Eric for Father's day. It greeted him on his arrival home after work (we were not thrilled with the idea of getting up at 3:30/4 am so we could surprise him with gifts etc. before he left for work). Luckily for us, he had a short day and was off at 2 pm. I had been so excited to be surprising him with a circular saw that I bought all by my lonesome, however the surprise was on me: he already has one out in the garage! (I could have sworn he said he only had a table saw and wanted a circular saw...) Oh well!
I tried! I also bought him the most delicious cologne for men: Aqua de Gio. He smells wonderful wearing it! The kids got him some "short socks" just for him (Eric hollers that the boys have stolen all his short socks and that he's only "allowed" to wear the taller socks), and Reimond picked out a really cute Snoopy t-shirt for him that Eric wears proudly. Brie bought him a "You're my Hero" dog from the Build-a-Bear workshop, as well as a very handsome engraved ID bracelet, and we had heartfelt cards and notes for him too that made him tear up and feel loved. Eric has been playing catch with Rei in the back yard of late, so Rei added the gloves and balls to the "display" because as he said, "Nothing says Dad like Baseball!" Eric was really touched, and said that no one has every really made a fuss for him for fathers day before, and he was really surprised and pleased by our attempt to make it special for him. I grilled pork chops and made dinner while he napped (he wasn't feeling well--sinus allergies or something), and we had a nice evening with the kids.
We have had some crazy weather here of late: first there was the non-stop storms; this photo is of a wall of clouds with a severe storm ahead of it that barely grazed us; I continue to be amazed at how great the sky seems here, so much more open and "bigger" than in Minneapolis. Perhaps it is our lack of towering trees where there had been corn and wheat fields, but I love to watch the skies. We are now in day 10 of 90+ degree temps, and with the humidity we have had a heat index of up to 105-115 degrees. It has been miserable! Tomorrow is supposed to be our hottest day yet, near 97-98 real temps and 100+ heat index...
I am very pleased: I made my first knitted lace shawl. It is technically a "shoulder shawl" because it is not full size--something I really hadn't been aware of when I started it, and if I make it again (which I will, I love this pattern and how it turned out!) I will make it bigger... This is what it looked like as I blocked and dried it on the futon in the front room, and the next pic is a close up of the colors and the lace pattern. It took me exactly one month to make from beginning to end, a fast, easy, beautiful project!
So what has gone wrong of late? Our cable tv box
is screwing up on us on the main floor. Something either in the DVR box or the cable; we have picture but no sound, then we had sound but no picture; then, when the tech came out and couldn't figure out what was wrong, he switched a few things around and said it must be our TV... I had him put things back together the way they were and it worked! But he didn't get our DVR box reset and just after he pulled away we only had channels 1-27 instead of all of them to 99... We now either need to take the box to Belleville and get it reset ourselves, or we need to wait for a tech to come back out on Sunday morning...Then there was the major project Rei had for
English due (for Thursday) which he didn't tell me about until dinner time Wednesday night; we got going on it, and I was up until after midnight typing it for him (he does not type well at all). He had to turn it in as well as do an oral presentation of it; he has never written an outline before, so that was a learning process for him, and he has never done an oral presentation either. Fortunately we got it all completed, and he actually got 90% on it, a solid B. I was very proud of him, despite how stressed I was over it all.Some of you may be aware of the phobia I have around frogs--this creature in this photo had the audacity to be sitting on the grass near my new tree when I was filling up my bird feeder and I almost stepped on him. Rei and Patrick were playing catch in the back yard and were quite amused when I screamed and jumped a foot, then put myself in the house... Rei caught it and put it into a rubbermaid tub by the house where I very bravely screwed up my courage and photographed him... I HATE frogs with a passion!
Here is a picture of our "birthday tree" with my beautiful new bird feeder next to it on a shepherd's crook (the branches are not yet strong enough to hang the feeder in the tree). I am so enjoying them both!
Let's see, what else about this week... The kids were to be spending the weekend with their mother, and she was supposed to pick them up today for IN. She called Patrick to see if Eric could drive them to her today, and she'd bring them home Sunday; when Eric called her about this yesterday she decided to cancel the weekend because something came up that would delay her ability to spend time with them. This works for us, in that Eric and the kids all had school this morning, and even if we drove them, we would not get them there til this evening, and then still have the drive home again... Sunday we have church commitments--the kids are supposed to serve, Eric is to read, we are to greet, and I have to help at fellowship after service... It would have severely messed things up to be on the road to pick the kids up in IN. So we are all relieved to have a "quieter" weekend.
We will probably spend part of it at the pool!Rei and Aurora got pretty badly sunburnt at the pool the day I took these. They were there from 11:30 am til 5 pm and they didn't have any sunscreen on... Aurora made me laugh because she said to me "What kind of Mother are you to let us leave the house with no sunscreen on??? You should have grabbed us by the ear and dragged us back in til we were coated up!" Made me laugh! I put sunscreen on ME before I joined them there, and I got a nice base tan started! The kids have really been enjoying our pool pass, and I have too. Eric went with them on Monday to the pool while I was working, so we are all indulging in it! I am so glad we got it!
Other challenges: my desktop computer needs to go in to the Geek Squad to be looked at: this morning I went to get on it and it had the "blue screen of death" up with a message that a fatal error had occurred and that there was either a hardware or software issue on it that needed to be fixed before I could use it again. I rebooted it as instructed and got the same message, so I will take it in this afternoon. It is still totally under warranty, but it is just a PITA to have to do this. We have to take the kid's desktop in too as it won't connect up to the internet. My laptop is struggling with there being a connection issue between the power cord and the battery; that is lower on my priority list to deal with UNLESS the desktop issue is too major... Still, with my desktop being only 5 months old, they should just replace it if nothing else... I had a mix up in my personal checking account that I hope will be easily resolved; I need to make a trip to the bank and talk to them about it... More annoying than earth shattering, but frustrating none-the-less... And we need to swing by the clinic to get a form for Aurora to have a follow up ultrasound on her pelvic pain; once that is done we should know more about what is going on in her hip area with the tendonitis type pain she has been dealing with for close to 3 months now.
Things have settled some with Brianne; she is home but rarely present; she has been working a few more hours again (close to full time), and she has continued to spend lots of time at the neighbor's a few doors down. The wedding last Saturday was lovely, and she had fun. She has a new guy she is "dating" and he seems nice enough. My biggest concern about her continues to be her lack of participation as a family member here. She is home to sleep, sometimes to eat; she does her laundry here, and watches movies or uses the internet, but she still hasn't finished her room, she doesn't really tell us what her plans are (she just comes and goes as she pleases), although she has gotten better about asking before using the van, and she has put in gas once. I know this is all a part of growing up, but it would be nice to have her participate more. She is supposed to be going to her mother's for a week, leaving Sunday (I *think* her mom is coming down to get her, unless that falls through too). I am glad she is making peace with her mom, but it makes me sad that it came about initially as an "In Your Face" reaction to Eric laying down the law here...
Reimond and Kimmie have decided to "break up" and the plan is for Kimmie to go back home when she gets back into town mid August. She and Rei talk all the time, and have chosen to remain friends, but they are no longer "going out". I am really proud of how they have chosen to handle this and themselves over it. Rei started boxing up Kimmie's stuff and either we will drop it off at her house, or someone from there will pick it up when her parents get back into town (her dad's job is nearing completion whereever he is currently working). I hope, I pray this all works out for her. She is a sweetheart and she deserves to have a stable, happy life. This break has been so good for Reimond, and he has been dealing really well with all of it! The two of them have impressed me with their maturity and understanding!
Cliff is finding that life as an adult is full of challenges. He took the kids last weekend for an overnight--they had a fire in their fire ring and just hung out and played video games, etc. Eric and I provided Subway for them for dinner and sent cereal and milk for breakfast--Cliff had NO food in the house for himself or guests, lol. I think he really misses being a part of a family unit and he has been wonderful to stay in touch with and be active with all the kids, especially Rei. Cliff wrote the most beautiful note to Eric for father's day last weekend, and it made both of us tear up. He is such a sweet boy, and is growing into such a responsible man! I am so glad we have been able to help support him and show him love.
Patrick had been really helpful the first week of vacation around here prior to heading out with friends, but the last few weeks has really slacked off. He has done some of the round-about plans-making: can I go to a movie, leaving the impression it's an early afternoon show, then calling after the tickets have been bought (at 9 pm) to say it's a 9:45 show and he'll be home "later"... He has been better about calling to check in, sometimes, but is hit and miss when he follows through on things. I see glimpses of responsibility and then it disappears... The joys of parenting young adults! It HAS been nice to see him bringing friends home more though, and I really appreciate that. I like knowing who he's hanging with and what they are up to!
Aurora is focusing on driving. She does well, Eric says so. The day I rode with her behind the wheel I was in the back seat and after white-knuckling it for a few minutes I just looked out the window rather than forward (Eric was in front with her). She DOES do well, she is just new at it. I stand by my decision to not drive with her til she is more experienced. I would make both of us too nervous any other way! She and Rei spend lots of time at the pool, and she spends time on the computer or watching Animal planet. She and Rei have started walking the dogs more, and her goal is to get Po to be better behaved on the leash. It's fun to see!
Liisa is coming down for a week vacation the last week of July, and Jesse is gonna fly in on the 31st to join us, then they will drive home together on the 2nd, Eric and my 1st anniversary! It is Mascoutah's homecoming weekend, and there will be parades, craft shows, picinics, and and auto show. It will be so fun to have her/them here! I cannot wait! I had a fun conversation with Justin on the phone the other day; he was getting frustrated with me because I could not see his game he was playing through the phone... I miss my babies! I had toyed with going to MN next weekend, taking all the kids with me, but I first need to figure out what I work next weekend before I lock in my plans. I was leaning towards going, but now am leaning towards staying home (Aurora and Patrick would like to go to MN) because of gas money etc. Eric and I have some thinking to do about it.
Lastly, I wanted to say how stunned and saddened I am by Michael Jackson's death. It's not hitting me as hard as Lady Diana's did, and yet I am sad. I grew up with his music and performances (he is almost 4 years older than me), and I followed his antics in the teen mags and the tabloids through the years. I have loved his music and always thought he was an amazing and talented performer. Liisa has really been hit hard by his death. As we were talking today, his music has essentially been the sound track of her life and has been in the background of many of her memories. I am of the opinion that prescription drugs played a role in his passing, and I feel badly that he has had such a tragic life in many ways. I still have my doubts about whether or not he was a pedophile; admittedly his behaviors and decision-making skills have been lacking at times, but I don't know that he was abusive. As with Elvis' passing when I was 12, I will always remember this day, just as I remember Diana's death (I was watching it on the news after I came home from work on the night of her accident and death), and JFK jr.'s, whom I also had an indirect personal connection to (my aunt's sister in law was the caretaker of the Kennedy's Hyannis Port "Compund" and we took a tour of it once when I was a kid). The other two celebrity deaths this week haven't has as big an impact on my thinking--Farrah Fawcett was lovely but ill, and her death wasn't unexpected, and Ed McMahon was old! Michael Jackson was just a bit older than me, and while his health wasn't great, he wasn't "old". I feel so badly for his kids, and for his mother. I pray he has found peace, and that the media shows some respect to them and their grief.
Eric just called and is on his way home, so I guess I should wrap up this novel. We have lots of running to do when he gets here, so I should get myself organized!
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