Thursday, April 26, 2007

picture of my mom




Saturday, April 21, 2007

How pathetic am I. . .

What does it say about me when the high point of my day was when I narrowly beat out a fumbling first time dad at the Saturday Clinic by getting my paper work filled out before him. . .even though he came in before me! Lets start at the beginning. . .After going to the Deanna Rose Farmstead for a kindergarten field trip where I chaperoned yesterday and then today I went downtown to pick up over 350 books for RIF. I was home for just about an hour so I downloaded pics from the digital camera of the field trip to the computer then uploaded them to Wal-mart.com to put in the scrapbook. Got lunch in the oven, ate it really quickly then ran out the door to take the pound cake to the church for the ladies spa afternoon. Pound cake that I bought by the way. After being at the farm all day and on my feet the WHOLE time since Robert's teacher is due to have a baby in 2 weeks and we all tried to make her rest as much as possible. When I got home yesterday and was SO TIRED and still had to make dinner I decided to just make the roast chicken I had gotten out of the freezer before I left and a vegetable to go with it. Only problem was I was out of veggies. . .ugh. Since I did have tomatoes and some of the great mozzarella cheese in olive oil and seasonings I decided that is what we would have with it. Normally we have a starch also but I was too tired to worry about it. Well, all of that boring stuff just to say I was way too tired to make homemade pound cakes so I bought them. So besides all this my son says, in a very crackly voice no less, that his throat is hurting. The only night clinic open was Children's Mercy and if you remember the social worker story. . .you KNOW I am not going there unless one of my kids is dying! So I told him I would wait until today to go.

So I dropped off the store bought pound cakes, came home and picked up Chris and we went to the Saturday clinic at our doctors office. About a 20 minute drive each way. And on a Saturday it normally a HUGE wait! Believe me I have 5 kids, I know about waiting in doctors offices to see doctors. . .and waiting. . .and waiting. . .and well. . .waiting! And having 5 kids who always seem to need stitches or have sore throats or twist something AFTER hours I am familiar with the night and Saturday clinic procedures. So I came in prepared with my insurance card out and ready (even though they have enough copies of it by now to save the rain forest) and my medical credit card in the other. With nimble fingers I wrote down my child's name, DOB, insurance company and reason for visit on the form before the receptionist could even greet me. Just as quick I grabbed a clip board to fill in the form required for Urgent care visits. With amusement I looked over at a man, who was by himself with a tiny baby in an infant seat. He was fumbling with the diaper bag and the clip board, looking for the insurance card presumably. Amateur. . . I sat down just long enough to finish the form and then I was up and handing it to the receptionist before the man even started! I got some kind of perverse pleasure out of knowing that my son would be seen before this poor first time dad. How sat is my life! So about 30 minutes later when with a script in hand for an antibiotic for my sons strep. . .we were on the road.

Thursday, April 19, 2007

Laughing so hard!

"We shared an almond croissant, and Mommy had a delicious and much-needed cappucino, and we played the world's longest game of 'Got Yer Hat!", the adorableness of which undoubtedly made the other patrons grow a new ovary, or else frow up in their mouths a widdle." Oh, my gosh! Betsy you are so funny!

Tickle me Elmo TMX. . .

My cute little neice "tickling" her new Elmo. . .and my first You Tube blog video!

Sunday, April 15, 2007

Easter Pictures. . . .


These cuties are my neice (getting a loving pinch from Grandpa!) and her new baby brother, Maeson!


Saturday, April 14, 2007

SNOW!!!!


Well, it snowed last night. . .on Friday the 13th! TOO weird, we had measureable snow here yesterday! During the kids spring break for God's Sake! After raining all day, it started snowing around 7pm. Needless to say the kids thought it was cool! I think most of it will melt today though. We will see. . .
My week has been pretty much uneventful. . .save water balloons being popped in the living room and kids hopped up on Trix Crispy Treats (yeah. . .Trix and marshmallows! Yippee, can you say HYPER!!!) I guess by uneventful I mean I did not get to do anything that I needed to do, except laundry, this week. The girls and I did go to Curves, but that is about it. Hopefully this week, when everyone is GONE, I can get some things done.
I started out the week in Maryland. We took my Aunt and cousins to Einsteins for breakfast then my sister drove them home. When she got back we talked for a little bit then we left for the airport. On the way to the airport we visited my mom's grave. She says she goes often, since it is only about 10 minutes from her house at the most. My check in time was 4:45 for a 5:15 flight. We left the cemetary at just before 4 pm. I arrived at the skycap at 4:40 to check one bag. He asked me when my flight was and I told him 5:15, he looked at me like I had horns or something and threw my boarding pass back at me (I had already checked in online at my dad house) and told me I better RUN! I was like, dude, I just made this flight a couple of months ago. . .relax. So I went about 1000 feet to the security check point at Reagan National Airport, which is about 1500 feet or so from my gate, gave them my id and boarding pass and got in line. As I took off my shoes, cuz everyone these days has to do that, I put took out all the metal I had. . .my cell phone etc and put it in my carry on. I made a mental note of my person to make sure I was "good to go". I had the same bra on I flew out to Maryland with and it was an underwire, but it had not set off any alarms in KC (unless you count my husbands. . .) so I figured I was fine there. Nothing else metal on me so I knew I would breeze through the checkpoint. WRONG!
I kept setting off the alarms! We could not figure out what is was so I was taken aside to wait for a female TSA agent to inspect my "wares". Of course she was taking a break or something and did not seem to interested in moving quickly. She leisurly finished her conversation with another TSA agent as I stood there in my stocking feet waiting to be patted down so I could catch my flight home. After another agent gathered all of my things, my purse, my shoes, my carry on and the little bowl that now held my earrings and necklace. . .just in case they were the metal detecting culprit, and took me further down to wait. Right next to a wall clock that read, 4:50. I sat patiently, well at least I seemed patient on the outside. . . Ask my husband, I am not very patient when it comes to being on time. I HATE to be late. I did not want to leave as late as we did from my parents house, but I was not driving so I just went with the flow. So here I am trying not to cause any undo commotion that would get me in big trouble, waiting, so it seemed, patiently. The female agent finally comes over and in painstaking detail explains exactly what she will be looking for and at and when. Inside I'm thinking, just a quick pat down and you will see that yes, indeed this is all my fat. . . I tell her quietly since now there is a man and his cooresponding male TSA agent right next to us, that I have on an underwire bra. She notes that and proceeds to scan my body with the metal detecting wand of doom, which goes off at my bust on both sides of my body. Great, lets go I think. Nope, not so fast. The wand started beeping at my head now! What, my head? Ma'am, Are your barrettes metal? DOH, why yes they are. I did not wear barrettes on the flight out to MD. So now it is time to put down the wand and use her hands on select places. . .which she again explains in excrusiating detail! Finally she is done and I can go. I try not to run as I grab my things, put my shoes back on. . .thank God for slip on shoes! As I arrive at my gate, there are just a few people in line waiting to board. I casually, on the outside again, fall in line like I have been here for hours looking at the overpriced magazines, books and $5 bottles of water. Whew, makes me tired just thinking of it! After some chit chat with my seat mate, I dove into my book, determined to finish it before we landed in KC. The rest of the flight I only stopped reading long enough to get some pretzets and a drink. . .and then 2 world famous hot chocolate chip cookies. I finished the last sentence just as we touched down. Perfect timing. . .

Thursday, April 12, 2007

Easter Weekend in Maryland


Well, gonna try to write an update now. . .The weekend was quick. . .too quick! I got in on Friday at 4:45 and my sister met me at the airport, we drove to the house and talked a bit while we waited for her husband to get ready and for my dad to get home (he was at his sisters, she lives close). Then we went out to Buca di Beppo for dinner, which was a lot of fun! The next day we picked up my Aunt and 2 cousins (they do not drive) and did the grocery shopping for Easter. My aunt and cousins arrived just after lunch, so I made them some sandwiches and we looked at the albums I brought (did I tell you all that I had a box of pics that I put in about 10 albums- each with over 200 pictures in it??? Then we went to the Easter production at my moms old church, the one my sister still attends. Lets just say it was HUGE! there were 12 of us there. On the way home we picked up pizza and I HAD to get a sub too since you cant get a decent sub here in Kansas City. . .go figure!? After dinner we made pies, played cards, looked at pictures, dyed Easter eggs, talked and talked and talked! We all slept in on Easter, since we had gone to church the night before. The rest of the clan arrived around 2ish and we finished prepping dinner while we talked and had fun. My newest nephew, who was named after my mom, was there. . .he is only 3 weeks old. His name is Maeson, after my mom Mae. All in all it was a good trip. I did not get to spend as much time alone with my Dad and sister as I would have liked because my cousins were there. Both of them are mentally delayed. the oldest one is 28 and she probobly has the mental capacity of a 12 year old. She is actually smart, but her social skills are very very delayed. My other cousin is 21, and is a senior in high school. Their mom is my late mothers sister. Another one of my moms sisters died in October. Spending the weekend with them made me wonder what would happen to them if my aunt were to pass away. They are on welfare and assistance. They have very very little. My younger sister is going to help them by trying to get my younger cousin to go onto college and my older cousin to work. Right now she does not work. I know she can hold down a job. Their mom is not in great shape, she has a lot of physical problems. I know before she passed away, my mom was trying to help my aunt. They had just gotten back in touch. My aunt had moved and not told anyone and they were not able to track her down until the last few years. Anyway, since my aunt and cousins were there until Monday (they were supposed to go home Sunday night, but my sister asked them if they wanted to stay the night again) I did not get to go to my moms grave until Monday on the way to the airport. That was really hard. There is no marker yet, just a long patch of dirt. It was hard to believe and still does not seem real. My dad seems to be doing okay. He is having finacial issues waiting for the insurance money and my moms savings account to be freed up for him. I wish I could do more, I got him a $50 grocery gift card and put it in a card before I left. I wish I could have stayed longer. Easter was also my brothers birthday, he was not there, he lives in Florida and since he already missed 2 weeks when my mom was sick and passed away in January and February he could not make it. We called him. He did finally get to see his oldest daughter though. Her step father was killed in an accident just about a month after my mom died. She is supposed to spend the weekends with my brother, she had not since her step father passed away. Supposedly to be with her mom. This past weekend was the first time she went to my brothers since then. He was very happy to see her again! I am trying to write in the journal I got from my mom every night. I found hers, one very similar to the one I have from her, and it had about 4 pages written in. I photocopied them. It is the leather bound book with a bible verse and short "story" on each page with a place for you to write in. One of the things she wrote was how she wanted to keep a record for her kids. Just about 3 weeks before she passed away she started a writing class, she was SO EXCITED about that class! She went to one class before she went into the hospital! I don't think I have nearly as much to say as she did, but I want to say it anyway! So I am going to try to be consistant with writing every day in it.Sorry I have been away so long! Hopefully next week when the kids go back to school I can get back into everything I need to. . .it is amazing how busy they keep me! Today they popped a water balloon in the living room, all over the coffee table, carpet, and Wii Motes! ARGH!!!! And the fact that it is hard to get them to bed at a decent hour!Dawn