Holiday Update

I’ve been offline for a few days with the Holiday so I am just now getting around to reading about all your glorious Christmas celebrations. So here is a bit of mine.

I took Friday off to be home with the family. Tom and Erik are both home for the holidays so the house has been full – to overflowing! LOL!


(Doesn't seem like he has moved much since Thanksgiving huh?)


(The sun was very bright coming in the east facing window Christmas morning.)

We headed up to my Nephew’s on Christmas Eve (a four hour drive) and stopped for Monicals Pizza on the way. Tom has a buddy in the Army that lives in St. Joe Illinois and used to work at that Monicals so we stopped there and he came up to the store to visit. Then off to the nephew’s house for lots of good food and family.

This year’s drive home from Illinois was MUCH IMPROVED over last year when we drove in a blizzard and that four hour drive turned into more like eight! This year we had dry pavement all the way home – so much better on the nerves.

We slept in on Christmas day as Bill was having Christmas morning with Justin and his family. Bill found out he is going to be a grandpa again in July – the due date is his birthday too which is way cool since she will be having a cesarean so unless she goes into labor early she can plan it for that day!

On to our Christmas morning – Austen got me a Nook Color! Woot!! I never expected it from just one of the kids, I thought they would all go together and get one if they did at all. Aubri got me a new cookbook from Weight Watchers – Woot - so that I can cook some low point meals now that my points have dropped so low. Tom got me a necklace and tennis bracelet which I’m wearing today. And Erik’s gifts will be a little late as he didn’t get paid until Friday before Christmas.

Bill is chomping at the bit to get heat in the shop so he can get gifts made as well – my birthday will be coming up shortly so maybe he and Erik will be just in time for that!  The turkey turned out delicious – Bill deep fried it and the rest of the dinner was much simpler that Thanksgiving since everyone complained that I made things too fancy.

Yesterday was spent in bed all day as I developed dizziness overnight. Seems every time I moved I was overcome with a wave a dizzy so I pretty much stayed in bed. It progressed to just a fuzzy head later in the day and clear by last night so I’m back at work today. I did get to watch both seasons of ROME all day and snuggle with Bill so the day was not a total loss. ;)

I have one more holiday party to get through (our New Year’s Eve Party) this coming weekend and then it will be back to eating regularly and low point meals. I think I did well this weekend so hopefully I’ll make it as well next too.

Thanksgiving weekend

I had all my guys home for Thanksgiving! Erik arrived Tuesday late afternoon. He was dissapointed that he waited until after classes on Tuesday to come home since they had 20 minutes of class on Tuesday... he could have come home on the Thursday before!

Bill came in on Wednesday. He brought the turkey frier for the thanksgiving turkey.

Tom got in on Thursday at 11:30am. His friend Kasey picked him up at the airport and they stopped at Aunt Becky's before coming home. I didn't get any pictures on Thanksgiving day - was so busy cooking and enjoying all their company! But I did get this pic of Tom on Black Friday morning:



And then he decided to join the world of the living:



His kitty has very happy to see him.

Bill and I drove up to my sister's house on Friday night so we could be there for the Auction of mom's house on Saturday morning. We stopped at the outlet mall in Tuscola and I got a pair of jeans for Tom ($8.00) and an outfit for me to wear to Yule parties in the coming weeks.

We had a really nice day for the Auction even though it was a bit overcast and rain was threatening. Unfortunately, we had a lot of lookers and no buyers. No one even bid on the house! I was shocked! I don't know what we are going to do with it now. We really need to get rid of it - know anyone in East Central Illinois that wants a beautiful old victorian home on a corner lot in Fairmount?

We came home after the Auction and brought home Monicals Pizza since Tom had not gotten any in over a year. The boys started their exodus on Sunday morning - Tom left at 4:00am and got into Destin at 7:00pm. Bill left sunday evening and Erik left this morning at 4:45am.

The house is quiet again as Aubri is back at school and Austen is asleep. Just me and the cats for 3 more weeks till they all come back for Yule!

What’s happening?

It’s been a lovely long Labor Day weekend and so much went on and so much is yet to come this week that I decided I would bunch it all into one post.  So, here goes:

I worked from home on Friday so I was there when Erik got home from College for the weekend.  I had made one of his favorite meals – Beef stroganoff.  He ate and we caught up on all that was going on at school and here at home then his girlfriend got off work and came over.  We sat and talked and pulled out old photo albums since she wanted to see him with blond hair (yes, he was almost completely white headed when we lived in Arizona!)

I got up the next morning and headed down to the property.  Bill had been busy putting the rest of the floor down in the shop and I wanted to see it. 

He worked on putting in more electrical wiring and putting up walls most of the rest of the weekend.

We had folks renting out the campground this weekend so we spend evenings down there with them around the camp fire.  I just love hanging out in the woods!  We put an air mattress up in the shop on Sunday night and slept there – our first night in the new place!  J  Bill also had dug the water line from the well.  We just need to get the well checked and run the pipe from it to the house.

As you can see in the picture – my car is fixed.  Bill’s neighbor John did the work.  He is very good – you can’t tell it was ever wrecked!

Saturday afternoon I was sitting in the window of the shop while Bill was working and I looked out and saw a bobcat loping through the front yard!  I didn’t want to spook it so I was trying to get Bill’s attention.  He looked out the window closest to him and could see it as well.  Unfortunately, it moved on before I could get a picture.  It’s pretty cool to think we have such a beautiful creature living on our land.  J

I came home yesterday afternoon to spend some time with Erik before he went back to school.  We went to get pizza at the place where all the kids work.  Then he had to pack and leave when we got home.  *Sigh* I do miss him.

Tom called that evening.  He was telling me all about what he is learning at AIT (well, not everything but the general coolness of it according to him.)  He really likes this and can’t wait to get to Eglin AFB to start the second part of his training.  He will have a lot more freedom on base there and will probably be taking his car and motorcycle with him to Florida. 

Aubri came in to my room last night to have me rub her back.  She has had a back ache for a few days now.  We had thought maybe she had just slept wrong but it’s getting worse and when I was rubbing her back she has a really tender spot.  We have a doctor’s appt this afternoon to find out what is going on with that.

JAVA class is kicking my butt!  I used to be really good at math but that was 30 years ago!  I did all my homework then checked my answers with the back of the book – I don’t get the same things.  I rechecked my math and I just don’t get it.  This may be a really long semester!

This Thursday is Aubri’s 16^th birthday but since I have class we will be taking her and her friends to Sky Zone on Friday for her party.  Erik is coming home for the weekend and will be going too.  I’m hoping that Bill will be able to come up for the weekend and maybe we can go up to my mom’s house and finish getting my sister’s stuff moved out so we can sell it.  We really need the money and we really need to get rid of the house.

I’m taking another week off from cooking.  I have so many leftovers I need to eat up.  Aubri bought some things to put in the freezer last week and we have to move some to the outside freezer as I had so many leftovers in the way.  J

Ok, enough rambles – on with the week.

Something new

Growing up in the Midwest, I have been aware of thunderstorms and the possibility of tornados all my life.  I’ve even gone to the basement a few times when a tornado was spotted nearby.  But I’ve never thought much about hurricanes.  We live too far from the ocean to have the damage that they get – yes, we get the rain sometimes if it comes up the golf and rides the Mississippi River up toward St. Louis but by the time it gets here, it’s just another storm but usually just rain.

This morning I was perusing the news and saw that the east coast is under a watch for Hurricane Irene.  Now usually I would note this and move on but today I have a son stationed at Ft. Lee Virginia so I checked the possible path of the storm.  Yep – it could get that far north.  I’m sure the base is prepared for such things and he may even get to use some of that training if the storm is bad enough in helping the local community but I’m hoping it doesn’t come to that.

I sent him a text (which he will probably not get until tonight) about it.  I’m sure by now the base is watching the weather too.  I’m just glad he’s not still in South Carolina at basic – they will get hit much harder than Virginia according to the projected path.  I guess I’ll be watching the Atlantic storms this fall just like a do the storms in the middle of the country in the spring.

Buying a baseball glove

Last night I have to say I had a one of a kind experience buying a baseball glove.  Now, I’ve bought a few baseball and softball gloves in my time but last night was the first time that it took 3 people, two cell phones and 1 hour!

Let me back up a minute and give you the background on this.  Tom is currently in Virginia at AIT.  His battalion gets weekends off but they don’t get to go off base.  So they find things to do to keep themselves busy and in shape.  Specifically sports. 

Tom called last week wanting us to send his baseball glove to him as they were planning a game on Sunday.  His glove is buried in with all the rest of his stuff in the shed down at the property.  First off I was not going to make it down there until the weekend and second it was too damn hot to go crawling around the shed looking for a baseball glove.  Fortunately, for him the game got changed to an ultimate Frisbee game and later a football game both of which he gladly joined in (he was the captain of the ultimate team in high school.)

So the game was rescheduled for this coming weekend.  Tom called to see if we would buy a new glove (using his money of course) and send it to him.  He was very specific in what he wanted – Rawlings, 12 inch.  Seems his old glove was about done anyway and he needed a new one so off Erik and I went to Johnny Macs sporting goods to look at gloves.

When I first entered the store I found the gloves right away near the door, but no Rawlings.  I looked and looked and found not a Rawlings glove in the bunch.  There were plenty of Mizuno, Wilson, and TPX brands but no Rawlings.  Erik and I hunted around and found a reasonably nice one in his price range so I called Tom.  I explained that we couldn’t find any Rawlings gloves but Erik had found a Wilson that might do.  Erik took a picture and sent it to him while I stayed on my phone and talked. 

Tom checked out the picture and said it would do so while still on the phone, Erik and I started to wander around the store a bit.  We found a clearance rack – and there was a Rawlings glove.  So we took another picture and sent it to him.  He wasn’t fond of it but it might work.  Then we wandered further and found the Rawlings gloves… an entire section of them!  So, we started the search all over again. 

We discovered that I have an uncanny knack for finding left handed gloves – seems that almost every glove I picked up was a lefty.  Tom is not left handed.  Finally I found one that I would have liked and sent a picture despite the fact that Erik didn’t like it as well.  Guess which glove Tom chose… mine.  *tee hee* 

So an hour later, two cell phones and 3 people – Tom has a new glove.  Now I just have to ship it to him at lunch time today.

Weekend Roundup

Bill came up on Thursday with the trailer to haul some of the stuff in the garage and/or basement down to the house to store.  First, it was supposed to rain on Friday so there was no loading up the trailer and getting everything wet but we did manage to clean out the computer room and load most of that in the back of the truck where it would be covered.  I can now get to my desk to work on Fridays!  Woot!  Second, we would not have been able to unload the trailer of stuff until we had rearranged the shed to put it all in (lack of planning on Bill’s part there ;) so pulling the trailer up was really a mute point.

Friday is my work from home day so most of this loading took place on Friday.  While this was going on we got some bad news – a friend of our passed into the Summerland unexpectedly (at least to us).  Apparently he had had some health issues that caused this.  Godspeed my friend.

Bill really wanted to leave on Friday night instead of Saturday because he wanted to look at my Escape and see what was making a noise.  So despite the fact that I wanted to go to the O’Fallon Farmers Market on Saturday morning to get more Goat Milk Soap and the fact that he pulled the trailer up to St. Louis for nothing – we left Friday night.  I gave money and a list to Erik so that he could go to the Farmers Market in the morning and get my soap (which he did – Oh delicious!) 

So Saturday morning we got up early so that Bill could go check on my car.  I puttered around the house a bit and watched a few episodes of Star Gate Universe the final season until he returned to tell me that my car was great!  John (who had completed the body work from the deer episode) had checked out the noise as well and determined that it was my brakes (which are brand new) making the noise.  I guess that happens sometimes.  I’ll keep an ear on it and see if it goes away.

So we ended up going to the Farmer’s Market in Fredericktown instead where I bought a Patty Pan Squash.  I haven’t tried it yet but it looks very interesting.  I think I might do something with it tonight for dinner.  Anyway, Justin and Jennifer (Bill’s son and daughter-in-law) were supposed to be coming for dinner that evening about 4:00 so we got our errands done in town and came back to the property so that Bill could finish putting pot lights up in the shop and getting a switch in.

Justin called about 2:30 to tell us that they were still in Rolla, MO.  They had borrowed Jennifer’s Dad’s little trailer to haul some furniture home and they had just finished loading it so it would be a couple hours before they got home.  Bill decided to push back starting the grill for the steaks until about 4:00.  As these things usually go, he decided to start the grill about 3:45 instead, so when he went out at 4:15 to check on the coals his phone rang – Justin and Jennifer were stuck in St. James, MO – the wheel on the trailer they were hauling home had broken and was trying to come off! 

Good thing we had not put the steaks on the grill yet – I turned the fire off under the corn that I had just put on and we loaded up to take the big trailer over to St. James to bring the little trailer home on.  I should have taken pictures – it looked very funny once they got the little trailer full of furniture loaded up on the big trailer and tied down!  By the time we got that done, we were hungry, it was about 7:00 and there was no way we were going to have steak for dinner on Saturday night.  So we ended up eating at Burger King in St. James and got home about 10:00!

The kids decided that they could come for Sunday dinner instead.  It was a beautiful day – in the 70’s so we sat out under the tree in the back yard and Bill grilled steaks and mushrooms.  Noah (Justin and Jennifer’s 4 year old son) ran all over the back yard with the dogs and a good time was had by all.

So the weekend didn’t end up quite as it had been planned but everything worked out ok in the end.

Oh and I heard from Tom on Saturday.  The General did an inspection of the barracks and out of 300 in his battalion; he was one of the top 10 that got an award from the General for excellence.  The three dogs are actually wolves and represent his battalion.

Now considering what his room used to look like at home… this is quite the change for him!  LOL!  I guess this army thing has taught him not only to eat his vegetables but to keep his room clean too!  ;)

Graduation at Ft. Jackson SC

We have spent the last week in South Carolina with Tom for his graduation from basic training.  We had decided to fly since it was faster and we could all go together in relative comfort (unlike a car where we have a smoker that would want to stop at every rest area!)   So we got up at 5:30AM (yes that’s in the morning just barely after the sun came up) and Bill took us to the airport.  For a while the kids were very excited…

But then the reality of the early morning hour set in……

Our plane was on time and we boarded and headed off into the sunrise toward Atlanta.  Once we got to Atlanta we had about an hour and a half scheduled layover waiting for our plane to Columbia SC.  Unfortunately, we ended up waiting for over 3 hours for our flight – most of it in the airport but about 45 minutes in the plane at the gate and another 30 on the runway waiting to take off!  It was frustrating to say the least.  Once we got to Columbia (about 6:00 local time) we found somewhere to eat dinner and then to bed – it really wasn’t any faster to fly but we did get to walk around more than we would have in a car so it was worth flying.

Wednesday morning we got up about 6:45 to eat, dress, and fight traffic out to the base.  We arrived about 30 minutes before the presentation which stated at 9:00.  We finally got to see our soldier and then to actually spend some time with him on base.

Unfortunately, Tom had a cold and was feeling pretty lousy all day so we spent a lot of time looking for somewhere cool to sit – which ended up being the car most of the time.  We went to the museum on base …..

We attended the dinner for his company that afternoon.  The food was ok but really not much to write home about.  I can say that the army had taught Tom to eat vegetables though so that alone may be worth it!  J   We spent the last few hours in the rec center where they had games set up.  Aubri liked the shooting games best...

We had to drop him off at his barracks at 8:45 so he could be ready for formation at 9:00.

Next morning we got up early again so that we could be at graduation at 9:00.  The ceremony lasted about 35 minutes then we had to try to find him at the far end of the field in the chaos that was 600 soldiers all looking for their families!  We found him and were able to take him off base then for the day.

We celebrated his birthday (which was actually Saturday) at TGI Fridays and then took in a movie – Harry Potter since he had not seen it yet.  Then we chilled out at the hotel and ordered pizza then he packed his laundry that I had done for him the night before.

We had to have him back at 8:45 again but we stayed for formation this time and I think the drill sergeant cleaned up the language a bit for us.  J  Then back to the hotel where the kids went swimming for a while before we went to bed.  Austen was in a good mood and I caught him being silly…

Next morning we were going to get up early to go to the ocean which was only 2 hours away but it was supposed to rain all day and the kids decided they would rather sleep in.  So about 10:00 I woke them up and said we needed to get packed up and eat.  Then we say Cowboys and Aliens before catching our plane back to Atlanta.  I’ve decided I don’t ever want to go through Atlanta again- they are always delayed!  We were only delayed 30 minutes this time but still – when you want to get home it’s very frustrating to keep getting delayed!

Bill picked us up at the airport in St. Louis about 9:30pm.  Home! 

While we were in SC, Bill put tile down on the floor of my bathroom….

We will have to repaint as soon as we can but the old paint will need to be sanded down first because the guy who did it just glopped it on and there are big drops that need to be knocked down and smoothed out first.  That will probably be a fall project when it cools down a bit.

Aubri goes back to school on Monday (and Tom starts his training on Monday at Ft. Lee Virginia) but Erik doesn’t leave for school until August 25^th.  This weekend is tax free weekend so we went shopping for school clothes and supplies.  Between the tax free weekend and the discount I had at Kohls, we did really well for Aubri.  Erik is out shopping right now so we’ll see how well he did when he gets home.

Later this afternoon I need to sit down and make out my menu for next week – I am not looking forward to getting on the scale this Tuesday – I didn’t do well on the diet while we were in SC – it’s hard to plan ahead when you don’t know what you will have available.  I did the best I could but I did splurge a bit once or twice – I looked at it as being on vacation, you are supposed to splurge a little on vacation!  J

Weekend Roundup

It's been HOT HOT HOT here in St. Louis and as I drove south this weekend to the country place it just kept getting hotter!  The grass is fried at my house - it's all brown and hasn't grown an inch since Bill mowed it 2 WEEKS AGO!  I met Bill on our road when I got down there; he was on his way from his house to the 'barn' on the mule.  So back to the house we went to unpack my car and then we hopped back on the mule and up to the 'barn' not many changes that were picture worthy - he has the trench filled back in, power inside, and several lights up so that he can work at night (cooler that way).  It was thundering a bit so we decided to head back up to the house and get the truck to go into town for groceries.  Unfortunately, nothing ever came of the rain - at least not at our place.

Saturday morning we decided to get up and go garage saleing before it got too hot.  I think everyone else decided that it was too hot to start so we never saw any sales in Fredericktown and just a few hardy souls in Farmington.  But mostly it was clothes and kids stuff - neither of what we were looking for.  So we poked around in a junk store for a while then on toward the St. Francis County fair.  I had never been to this fair and Bill said he had not been in years.  As we pulled up to the gate I was soooo disappointed.  The entire fair fit on the football field!  Rides, animal barns, crafts everything - we decided that it wasn't worth $6 apiece to get in and went to lunch instead!

After lunch as we were on our way to Wal-Mart to pick up a few things it started to rain.  Beautiful big luscious drops of rain splattering the windshield!  Oh and it cooled down.  In the Wal-mart parking lot we saw lots of folks running to their cars but this one lady just made me burst out laughing!

She has a Wal-Mart bag over her head!  I saw her coming out of the store with it positioned so only her eyes and nose were sticking out of where she had tied it on.  I laughed so hard I thought I was going to pee my pants!  I had to get a picture - she was parked just a few spots over from us and I couldn't get her as she put her groceries in the back of her car (adjusting the bag every few seconds as it kept moving around on her) so I got her as she put the cart away.   LOL!

The rain was much needed and appreciated but it brought the muggies in afterward.  We pretty much puttered around the homestead all afternoon and evening.  Then Sunday Bill loaded his truck up with tools and brought me back home.  I'm leaving my car down at his place so that his neighbor can fix it.  John has a body shop right there at Bill's house and after he painted my back door a few weeks ago, he still has paint to match!  So the deer damage will be fixed this week while we are in South Caroline for Tom's graduation.  Bill will be staying at the house to take care of the animals and to put the tile down in my bathroom! Woo Hoo!! 

So, tonight I have to go home and pack for the trip to SC.  We are going to try to carry on our bags (I think backpacks will work fine) so that we don't have to worry about loosing anything on the flight and I'm cheap - it cost $25 per bag ($35 if you have two) per person to check your luggage!  That would be an additional $100 for us to fly - no thanks; we'll just pack clothes and use the hotel's shampoo and soap.  I told the boys we can go to Wal-Mart and get disposable razors if they feel the need to shave while we are there.

The cool thing is I think we will have time to go to the ocean on Friday before our flight out!  The kids were all excited about that last night when I talked to them about it.  So, I may or may not be able to update while I'm there (we will have Tom's laptop with us) but I will have pictures when I get back.  :)

One week and counting

Tom graduates from basic training on August 4^th and we are all going to go to South Carolina to watch.  I checked my airline tickets today and was about to check my hotel reservation when I couldn’t find it!  OH NO!  Panic ensued for about 15 minutes while I frantically searched all the places I usually put this stuff in my cubicle here at work.  Finally I thought to look in my email box and there it was.  Phewww!

So, I got on Google maps and mapped out from the airport to the hotel, from the hotel to the base, from the hotel to Wal-Mart (priorities you know), and from the hotel to the zoo (graduates get free tickets to the zoo when in uniform and we need something to do off base).  So now I have my travel plans all printed out, maps in hand, reservations checked, just need to pack our clothes and catch our flight next Tuesday.

I’ve been busy watching videos of their Victory Concert that they attended over the weekend.  Tom was on the floor by the stage where there were filming so he is on camera lots of times!  He looks good – course they all look pretty much alike with their hair cut off and all in the same uniform but I look for the receding hairline and found him right off!  LOL.  I wish I knew how to capture the vid to post it here but I have been trying for two days to do that and can’t figure it out yet.

We were hoping to be able to spend the day with him on Friday after graduation so our flight doesn’t take off till after 5:00pm – unfortunately, he will be on a bus to Virginia for AIT on Friday morning so we have all day Friday in Columbia SC to spend… so I checked and it’s only 2 hours to Charlotte and the ocean!  My kids haven’t seen the Atlantic so I think we’ll make a day trip out of it – as long as we are back at the airport by 4:00pm we should be good.

I don’t know if I can take pictures on base – military has strange rules you know – but if I can, I’ll take some.  I am disappointed that he won’t be able to wear his dress blues.  They have to wear their everyday uniform for graduation because ‘during wartime ‘(When did we declare war?) ‘they have to be ready at all times on base to answer the call to duty’.  I also found out that the picture of them in their dress blues is photo shopped!  Imagine that.  So, I’ll get a pic of him in dress uniform but it won’t be HIS dress uniform it will be the same one that they all get… seems sort of dirty in a way. 

I can’t wait to see my boy – in a week!