When it rains, it pours...

I mean this both literally and metaphorically. The weather today sucks! The temps have dropped continuously throughout the day, it has rained steadily most of the day, and in fact has poured heavily at times. We have had lightening and thunder so loud that the walls and windows have shaken with the repercussions of it! As the evening wears on the rain is supposed to turn to snow, with snow a given after midnight. There is a prediction that St. Louis will see anywhere from 3-8" of snow, and we are up for ???? (I have heard anything from a dusting to 6 inches). It won't last long. The weather pundits say that the temps will be back in the 60's on Monday and everything will melt. It's just getting through the next 36-48 hours.

We are also having vehicle issues and have laid down the law that neither the van nor the crx are leaving the property until repaired. It took borrowing tools from the auto repair shop we use to get the lug nuts loosened enough to remove the flat tire, and once the spare was on, we discovered the front passenger tire was starting to split. Not safe to drive on, especially in this weather! The auto repair shop is getting 4 tires for us to replace the ones on it, and should have them in Monday. I have to work from 10 - 2 on Sunday so I am glad that Eric will be home from work and sleeping so I can take the Pilot back and forth. Unfortunately that means no church though. I had asked to work afternoons on Saturdays and Sundays, but I will take what I am given for the moment, just to have some hours. I also work 10 - 2 on Tuesday and 8:30 - 12:30 on Wednesday. We will need to juggle some things to figure out how we are going to get Brianne back and forth to work for 6 am at least on Monday when Eric doesn't generally get home from work until 7 a.m., provided she is even on the schedule. In calling in sick last week with her UTI she got taken off the schedule for the remainder of the week! I am not sure I understand that, but that's what they did.

I was a bit discouraged to find out how much it is going to cost to put in the paverstone patio in the front of the house (which will probably be double that when we get to the back yard...). I hadn't taken into account the cost of some of the prep materials we will need, and when I got prices on all of it, it basically doubled my estimate and added on a bit. We don't want to cut corners as we want it to look nice, and to last, but wow. I didn't realize we would need to lay down as deep a base as we will (they say 4-6 inches of crushed stone, topped by an inch of sand, then lay the pavers). When Jim and I did it back in Minneapolis, we just cleared the area, spread a sand base, and laid down the stone. It has held up for the better part of 15-20 years without issue, although some of the stones are now starting to crumble a bit due to weather and aging, but still. We aren't giving up on doing it, but it will probably be a bit longer before we can start than I had hoped it would be. On the plus side, he really liked the same paver I did, and we also agreed on a layout that would flatter it. We also got a magazine (free) put out by the paver manufactorer that had worksheets for how much of each needs to be bought (paverstones, sand, crushed rock), and clear instructions as to how to DIY. I would say we could do it in a long weekend once we are prepared. We just need to be prepared to do it!

It's really quiet around here today. Rei is at a friend's from the bowling alley til tomorrow afternoon, Brianne went out with friends last night and isn't sure when she'll be home (no vehicle available to go pick her up); Cliff has gone to work, Patrick is getting ready to go to a birthday party, and Aurora is cuddled in her quilt reading a book. Gonna be just her and I home tonight when all is said and done as Cliff works til close I believe, Patrick will be home around 11:30, and who know's what Brie's plans are. It's a good day for coccooning in! I may play some Everquest tonight, or I may just watch tv and stitch. Not sure which sounds the most appealing right now. Unfortunately I had NOT slept well last night, was up early this morning, and laid down and napped with Eric for a couple of hours this afternoon when he got home from school. (I hadn't planned necessarily to sleep, but I guess I needed it). He is now off to work, and NOT looking forward to patrolling in the rain, sleet, and snow tonight. Yuck!

I wanted to say a quick thanks to my friend Erika. She arranged for Tony and Andrea to have a nice night away at the casino in Prior Lake, and even upgraded the room to their best suite in the hotel! The room they stayed in is housing Jay Leno tonight! They had a fantastic time and it was so nice for them to have a night away from being parents and enjoying each other. It made me happy to know they had fun.

I am torn at the moment between making a margarita or making a big cup of herb tea, and just cuddling in myself for the remainder of this dreary day! Maybe I will start with tea, then have a cocktail later on (lol). It's just that kind of night!

Bits and bobs of things, without rhyme nor reason.

I have a headache today, maybe sinus, maybe migraine. Blech. I took something about 20 mins ago and am hoping it helps soon. We are under a change in weather with the risk of storms off and on today so it could be either, or both.

The van has a flat tire on it. Yesterday it was really low and I put air in it, and was able to drive on it, but it went totally flat in the night. I am not sure how Eric is gonna change it as it was put on using an air socket wrench at the station, and the last time this tire went flat was on the freeway in IA between here and MN. The van is driving really crappy right now. Has a terrible vibration in the front end, and gets worse the higher the speeds are. In talking to my favorite mechanic people the consensus is that the front end probably "hit" something, a curb maybe, and that the tire, tie rod, or axle may be bent. That is what it feels like to me, but I will be honest, I have been scared the front tires were gonna fall off going 65-70 (even though I have been assured that that probably won't happen) and I have taken to driving the back roads (max speed 55) when I can just because it feels more managable. Regardless, we need to get that looked at. So with the van only going where it is absolutely necessary to go to and the CRX not being driven until the brakes get dealt with, that leaves the Pilot for doing misc. running in. Sooooooo tired of broken vehicles!

Eric has survived part one of his hell week; by bedtime last night he was running on 40+ hours without sleep, but he was functioning. He slept like the dead last night and seems to be in good shape today! He has Saturday yet to do in a similar manner: work til 6 am, go to school from 9 til noon, and then come home and sleep so he can work Saturday night and Sunday night. But then he has his lighter week to deal with next week. Not sure what we have on the agenda for today, but I am thinking I would like to go browsing at Lowe's...

I sent an email to Rei's science teacher about the grades on his two projects (the ones we were pinning our hopes on to bring his grade up to passing); he got a ZERO posted on his one project where he had to draw out an invention using 5 simple machines, and there was extra credit if it was built. She did apologize to me for the zero and said she "meant to give him 40 point", the max plus extra credit. She was very defensive in tone in the email though, and it sounded like on the other project/assignment, which I thought he had done well on (but only got 70% on, which is a D), was because he hadn't handed in project components on it previously (and had already gotten zeros on those). I feel, quite honestly, like he was double jeapardized on them, and am eagerly awaiting review of the "evaluation" of his project to see exactly where he lost points. I know he hadn't handed in the components as he went along, because he didn't understand how to do them, so didn't, and asked for help as he came to the final project because he wanted to do it right. The thing that REALLY angers me also though is that the teacher YELLED at him, in class, for my having emailed her... But if I hadn't would she have corrected her error in his grade? And I want her to know that I am keeping up on his grades and his homework issues. Rei was really frustrated when he got home yesterday, because he sat with me when I wrote the email and he knew exactly what I had said to her. I am thinking I need to follow up with the special ed teacher for more info, even though I really detest triangulating. Bottom line is I am clueless as to whether Rei will pass most of his classes this term, and I am suspecting he won't, although he is doing quite well in a few.

Patrick we are also concerned about. School really hasn't seemed to be a priority for him either, despite our trying to stay on top of him too. We have really tried especially hard to help him find a balance between freedom and school stuff, and so far we have not acheived it. We had another long conversation with him last night, but we aren't sure if this term has again been a bust. He started out rocky, we thought he pulled some of it together, but we are not sure... He understands that at 17 we are giving some of the responsibility back to him, but that we support him and are concerned. Parenting is so hard sometimes!

Brie and Cliff continue to hold us hostage on a roller-coaster of emotions and attitudes. It is becoming harder and harder to remain supportive and neutral in this situation, because the pendulum swings to each side, without landing on middle ground. Both are being unreasonable on one level or another, and neither is giving an inch (for kids who are supposedly almost full adults they are remarkably concrete operational in their thinking!).

Aurora is doing fine, grade-wise and otherwise. She has a track meet tonight at 4 that Eric is planning to be at, and because the Tuesday one was cancelled due to torrential rains, tonight's might be a fairly big meet. She seems to be enjoying running, and loves her new running shoes. It has been so fun to see her hanging out with one of her girlfriends lately (having her come over) and she spends some "girl-time" with Kimmie too (Rei's girlfriend). Aurora seems happier and more outgoing/settled than she was when I first moved down here and it makes me/us very happy to see.

I have to go to a party tonight at work for the wrap-up on the store setup. It opens tomorrow. I need to double check the schedule because I had initially been told I wasn't working, but we'll see. I need next week's schedule too. Yesterday I spent time draping fabrics, which I loved, and colorizing one of the quilting walls with solid quilter's cottons. I had been trained the previous evening on the features of the sewing machines we carry and will be selling (Singer brand) and I am sorta interested in some of the features of the "top of the line" one we carry--it's a $900 machine, and we don't get a discount on it, but it *may* in some regards be an upgrade to my 10 year old machine (although in other ways it's really not). I would love to try it out to put it through it's paces; I hope we will set up a demo table where we can try it/show it to customers. I know for me, if I am paying big money for a machine, I want to see it in action before I lay out my hard earned dollars. Still, I feel fairly confident I understand the pros and cons of the various models we carry and can discuss them intelligently with the "guests". I am so very excited for the store's opening: there are things they carry that I will use for sure that I haven't seen other places!

On the Minneapolis front, the "babies" (although in reality Miss Alexis is a toddler and Justin is a preschooler) are still talking about their time in Mascoutah, and Andrea called me to today to ask me why we "taught" Alexis to say "No" to everything, heeheehee. I said that it sounds like normal almost 2 to me, and she laughed too--said Alexis is saying NO to things, then looking for your response to it, and it's adorable. Probably not for long though! Liisa is applying for an assistant general manager position at a Marriott in her chain; she got the blessing of her current GM, who said she would be fantastic in the position, and the GM at the hotel she'e be going to is the one who told her about the opening and encouraged her to apply. She is very excited, and I hope she gets it!

Eric wants me online in our Everquest world for some quality playing time, so I guess I will wrap this up here. We are doing fine, and eagerly awaiting the arrival of spring!

I feel like I am living in a wind tunnel!

Today is a cloudy and overcast day, and since yesterday, has been one of the windiest I have ever experienced! As I sit here on the bed, with the window open about 10" all I hear is it howling as it races past, and the tumble of things like plastic bottles bumping the curb as the wind kicks it down the street... I's amazing to me how forceful it sounds, and yesterday afternoon I had the catalogue ripped right out of my hands as it blew past me! There was no way I was going to try stitching when it took all my concentration to just keep the pages in place in the magazine I was paging through! In some regards it makes me smile though. In MN it would howl like this sometimes at night as it raced up and down the river valley just a couple of blocks away. Sounds familiar, even if it is far stronger than I have previously experienced.


I went onto Liisa's facebook page and "stole" a few pictures from her that I could put on my blog. Jesse had taken her, fresh out of bed, outside to the beach to watch the sunrise. She got some amazing pictures of the beach at dawn, with the seagulls flying, so I wanted to include at least one of those shots; that's Liisa walking along the beach with the sunrise and seagulls behind her.
I love the way everything is reflected! Then there is the shot of her ring, and look how she glows! I am so thrilled!




















Lastly, I wanted to include a picture of the travellers who showed up for beds and breakfast at my house on Sunday morning: Liisa rode in the middle of the front bench seat between the two guys, and said it was a loooooooonnnnngggg ride back! They took about 12 hours to get back to Minnesota from here because they made a few stops along the way, just to get out and stretch, and they also got pulled over in Iowa City for going 5 mph over the speed limit, as well as having too dark a tint on the windows. The officer just gave them a warning rather than a ticket, but Liisa had to be a brat and call me and ask if I could "come bail them out of jail"! Eric was of the opinion the officer was just curious about the hearse. That made sense to me. Jesse is holding his certificate in the photo that went along with his prize money for making the trip.


It was nice that Jesse was here when he was. He checked out the CRX for us and verified that there are indeed issues with the brakes on it, and that it needs to be repaired yet again. We are not happy about this state of affairs, because it really means juggling of vehicles for us between everyone's work schedule and Eric's classes. I have to go in to work for an hour or so tonight to complete yet another training I hadn't gotten, so I will need to drive the kids to bowling (Brie and Cliff), and pick them up on my way home. Then I work tomorrow from 8-12 and Eric works overnight again tonight, and has class tomorrow morning after work (he is in class as I type this too, after working all last night, so he has not been home yet!). Brianne has to work tomorrow too, so my guess is Cliff will need to drive her to work, so I can have the van for my shift. then I will hang out at the mall or something, so I can bring Brie home after she gets off at 2. All this logistical planning makes my head hurt!


I need to call and get an appointment set up for Brianne at the clinic in a bit. She may have a UTI. She called in to work today, and is sleeping at the moment, but is showing classic symptoms. She was up most of the night. She is curled up in Aurora's bed at the moment, and Cliff is on the futon in the loft! I know he was in my room at 5 am getting the green machine, so I am not sure what got soiled in his room... Patrick and Rei continue to push limits a bit on homework and grades; the term ends Friday and I am getting nervous as to whether or not they are going to pass. I was disappointed to see Rei's science report only got 71 out of 100 on it; I thought he did a nice job on it, and I know the report itself looked good, because I typed if up for him while he sat beside me and we talked it through. He had all the components in it it was supposed to have, because we followed the outline on it completely (I typed it, but did NOT write it for him--he just gets really frustrated typing, and I don't mind doing it for any of the kids!). Still have not seen his grade for the "invention" he and Tony designed and made. I had really been pinning my hopes on those two items helping to significantly boost his grade. I know they need to fight their own battles, and that the grades are a reflection of them, and not us as parents, but still, it is so very frustrating, because they are both such bright young men! Aurora is doing fine scholastically, and she is enjoying track this year as well. She has a meet tonight and Thursday night after school, and she hopes Eric can at least make the Thursday one.


I am sending out prayers and big hugs to Vera (Eric's sister-in-law), because she is having surgery tommorow to repair her rotator cup. If you could also send out good thoughts, it would be appreciated! I think that is all I have had on my mind today! Have a good Tuesday!

Exciting news!

I will probably post more later on, but for the moment I would like to say it has been an exciting 24 hours! Liisa called and woke me up at 7:15 yesterday morning to say that her and Jesse are engaged--he proposed at 6:15 a.m. CST, on the beach in Myrtle Beach, at sunrise, near intercoastal waters, and she said yes! Then they went to the car show, where he won $500 for travelling the furthest distance to enter, and this morning showed up at my front door (around 5:45 a.m.) to "say hi" and crash for a few hours before continuing on to Minneapolis! It was like "wow! Where do we put them?" because Aurora had 2 girlfriends here sleeping on the futon in the loft (after an evening at the library watching "Twilight" at the release party held there), and Cliff brought 2 friends over after work, who were crashed in the living room! Then we remembered the boy's room was open, because Patrick was at a friend's overnight, and Reimond was at a different friend's house overnight as well! So we found extra blankets and pillows for the three of them--Liisa, Jesse, and Jesse's good buddy Jeremiah, and they bunked down in there. Guess we won't be headed to church this morning! Eric and Patrick (who came home for 8 thinking we were going) headed to go pick up Rei, and get a few groceries, while I am finishing a second cup of coffee and headed to pick up the kitchen so we can make a mega-breakfast for 14 (??!!??!).

And I wonder what my neighbors are thinking about the hearse parked out front with the vanity plates that read "6ftUNDR"????

Happy First Day of Spring!

I was told last night I don't need to work on Saturday, so I now have the full weekend off. Eric is at work today so we won't be focusing on the yard, but I know I have things still to do around the house, and I have books to return to the library. Patrick is home today too. He has a miserable cold that he came down with earlier in the week. He came home from school yesterday and went straight to bed, where he has basically stayed since then. I double checked that he didn't have homework or tests due today, and since he didn't, figured it won't hurt him to rest today to feel better. It sucks to be sick, especially when it is so nice out!

Brianne also has the weekend off (today through Sunday) and I sure hope she gets cracking on her room. Once again it is uninhabitable, and she has been sleeping everywhere BUT her own bed. This is a picture Aurora took of her tossing a green ball in her partially painted green room, wearing her "St. Patrick's Day" tee-shirt... As you can see, it's going to be quite green. It's a cross between an apple green and a grass green, with a hint of lime thrown in... Kiwi green is the closest I can come to describe it. It's bright and cheerful though and she loves it. Now if she would just finish it up! I am just happy seeing color on the walls. Aurora is eager to do hers now, as she has helped Brie to paint in that room, and the boys too would like something other than stark white. Eric has said yes, yes, and yes, but... one room at a time.

Other than that things are pretty status quo for us at the moment, and for that I give thanks. It's nice to have a routine and stick to it!

Blue skies and sunshine!

It's a beautiful day again today, albeit a little chiller than the past few days, only around 51 degrees. I was out running around with no coat and wearing capris. I have to admit, I like the weather down here! I am hoping to get back outside for a bit after I finish up some things inside.

I love the base pharmacy, and I hate it too. I love that it's free, and that it's nearby. I hate the wait. Rei's med needed refilling and it became (once again) an all day process. Because it's a controlled substance, they make me pick up the rx at the clinic, where I have to show my ID and sign for it. Just for a paper prescription! That's a 20-30 minute drive each way. Then I head to the satellite pharmacy on base to get it filled. You take a number and wait. Then you turn in the rx and you wait. Today they at least told me it would be about 45 mins or more to fill it, so I ran over to the BX and wandered around/window-shopped (saw some adorable sandals, but they were $25, and of course drooled over the coach purses--my oldest brat now has 2 of them to my 1 designer fake...). Got back to the pharmacy and again waited in line just to pick it up. Started my trip at 10:45 and got home at 2:30. Wow!

I looked at patio paver stones at the BX while I was there (no sales taxes if purchased on post) and discovered that the ones I like are 16" square versus the 12" Eric and I had been thinking they would be, so I will refigure what it might run (ballpark figure) to do the "front porch" area first; the plain pavers which we would use for lining the driveway are significantly cheaper, so I am not as concerned about those. They also had some lovely rosebushes on sale this week, and while I didn't get any today, I filed it away for talking to Eric about. The other goal for this spring is to get at least one tree for the back yard, and a lilac bush. When we used my gift card from the youth bowling league for lunch on Tuesday we spent some time doing a rough sketch of where we might put them and I am so looking forward to having shade eventually in the back yard!

Eric is working an overtime shift tomorrow, then will have the weekend off. He returns to overnights on Monday (boooo!) so we will be readjusting our sleep schedules yet again. I really like the early to bed-early to rise gig. Makes it seem like I have so much more time to get things done! Ultimately I will take it as it comes though. I may have my hours cut on Saturday due to them having pretty much used up the store setup budget up, and am clueless as to what I might work next week. They are having a "customer walk-through" tomorrow with one of the company VPs and other staff to review all that has been done, and last night I went to a training for using things at/around the cutting table. Most of it was review for me, but meh, I got paid for being there. If all goes according to plan we will be having a "soft opening" beginning March 27th, with the grand opening later in April. I have to admit, it's kind of exciting to be on the ground floor of a new store opening. Seeing all the products come in, everything all bright and fresh and new... I do like that alot!

Tony says his kids are missing us down here. Alexis keeps telling everyone "Pekeiko is upstairs" (Aurora's cat), and telling Max (Liisa's dog) to "back up!" Justin told me on the phone he needs me to come to his house now, or he can come back to mine. As much as I loved having them here though, it's nice to have things a little quieter now. Speaking of quiet, the kids are all getting home from school, so I guess it's time for me to start running again.

What a beautiful day! Oh, and Happy St Patrick's Day!

I couldn't tell you exactly what the temp is outside, but I got home from work all sore and worn out, made a sandwich, grabbed a beer (medicinal purposes--heehee), and sat outside on my swing in the sunshine. Eric got home from class, did the same, and joined me. We have decided we are going to use paver stones in the front of the house to extend the porch area where the swing sits, as well as to line either side of the driveway and the walking path from the driveway to the sidewalk near the house. Then we will put in gardens and so forth. We took measurements today though so we can price out the paver stones, and figure out how many we need. I am very excited about this! We are considering putting a "rail" of some sort around the extended porch area to add to the feel of it being an enclosed space, but we won't do it all at once. A little at a time as we can swing it! It's really nice to dream!

Eric has bowling tonight, as does Cliff and Brie. I would like to go to the alley too, but think I will stay home--chores to catch up on. Seems like it never ends! I have to admit, it has been nice to have Tony and Liisa come visit; they have actually helped with chores down here (unlike the olden days in my old house, heehee). I got a cute text message from Andrea that said "Justin misses you!". I miss them too. Today would have been perfect for going to the park, or just playing outside in the sunshine. Or, as I told Eric, going for a ride on his motorcycle. We need to contact Hawaii about the title and registration so we can get it licensed here.

So far the kids are staying on top of assignments for school; we have our fingers crossed that the grades will be passing! Things feel peaceful on the teen drama fronts for the moment, but like being in the hurricanes eye, that can change with the wind. I am not sure what I will have for hours next week: apparently we have very few hours left available for store setup, and I have worked only minimally these last two weeks, but when I have been there I have worked my butt off! I hefted so many bolts of fabric today my fingers, hands, arms, and legs just ache! I am NOT used to this typed of physical labor, and while I know it is good for me to be active, I have used muscles that forgot they had muscles recently! I don't bounce back the way I used to at all!

Aurora just got home from tack practice, I guess Kimmie is coming over, and Patrick is doing homework. Eric just reminded everyone that they need to help me out with chores as they do live here too, so I guess I need to go and set the example for them all... Can't I just sit on the swing and drink another beer?