Scrapbooking Weekend

I've just returned from a lovely, refreshing weekend at Gull Lake. It was technically a scrapbooking conference, but I managed to squeeze in a whole bunch of other stuff, like a massage, watching 2 chick flicks, a trip to the mall, Panera for breakfast one morning, a couple of naps, a lot of reading, etc. As a result, I didn't get a whole lot of pages finished, but that wasn't really the point.

I wish I had taken a picture of the cropping room. There were 58 women there for the weekend. There must have been tens of thousands of dollars worth of equipment and supplies in that room. One woman stood up this morning, and ecstatically proclaimed that she had finished 1997. Another woman shared that she had finished 70 pages. One of the women I shared a workspace with got through 60. That's dedication! I, on the other hand, was in it mainly for the relaxation. It was a successful weekend, as far as I'm concerned!

Halloween Costumes

The kids all recovered enough from the flu to have fun trick-or-treating. Here they are in costume. Big K went trick-or-treating in Connecticut with her cousin.

Flu Week

That's what I've decided to call this week. Actually, its turned out to be a blessing in disguise. I've had to clear my entire calendar, so I've been hanging around the house in my jammies and getting a lot of stuff from my never ending list taken care of. The house should be in somewhat better order by the time the kids recover.

In other news:

Big K is on her way to Connecticut in a couple of days. She has sufficiently recovered from the flu to be able to go. I'm hoping that she will be a big help to her aunt and not a huge tweenie pain in the backside.

It turns out that I made enough money from the consignment sale to pay for a weekend scrapbooking conference. I'm in the process of getting reservations for that. It will be nice to get away and relax for a couple of days!

I've decided to take a break from being "sick" for a couple of months. The neurologist wants to treat me for MS. I'm a little skeptical about the diagnosis, and I'd like to talk to a couple of other doctors before I become a walking IV port. We'll change over our insurance in January to make that possible. So until then, I'm on vacation.

We're kicking around a brief trip to Frankenmuth sometime in the next month. Since we didn't take a family vacation this year because of everything going on, it would be a chance for a low key, low energy expenditure outing. The kids want to go to Splash Village, of course. I'd rather get a good look at the outlet mall, myself. I'm sure a compromise can be worked out. :-)

Little K at the Orchard

These pictures are from the past weekend. This was her preferred method for picking apples. Don't miss the one she has crammed in her mouth!


Check out the jack-o-lantern grin!

Picture of the Day

Here she is...




Big K with braces. She spent two hours in the chair this morning getting all the gear put on. There's a lot more than you can see in the picture. I have a good one of her sitting in the chair, but I've been forbidden to post it. It will make good blackmail material later in her life!

The Week in Review

So it turns out that a spinal tap is not as bad as you might think. Sure, it hurt a little, but the anticipation was the worst part. The best part was that I had to lay on the couch yesterday afternoon and this morning to avoid the post-spinal tap headache. So I couldn't cook dinner, do the dishes or pick up anything I dropped. It was rough. Plus that, I was supposed to drink a lot of caffeine (which I've decided to extend until today) so the husband provided beverage service to the couch. Overall, it was a pretty good deal.

Unfortunately, the test didn't show what the neurologist thought it would, so we're still on a hunt for a diagnosis. A few more tests will be run on the spinal fluid, and I'll go back in a couple of weeks for a follow up. In the meantime, I still can't see.

In other news, the husband survived this round of layoffs, and I'm relieved that we don't have that hanging over our heads anymore. Christmas shopping should be more fun this year!

J-Man will start another medication tomorrow. The therapist thinks that we'll get some good results out of this one. I hope so. She also said that one of the side effects is weight gain. Which certainly couldn't hurt...except that I just bought the kid some slim jeans, which I still had to cinch up!

Glad the week is over!

Waiting...Nothing more than Waiting....

That seems to be the theme of my life these days.

I went to the neurologist yesterday. Now I have to wait for the spinal tap and then wait for the follow up appointment.
"Come back in two months", said the receptionist.
"Two months! You've got to be joking!" Said I. (Really, I said this out loud.)
"Well, when do you want to come back?" she said, a little bit snottily.
"Well, how about as soon as he has the results from the spinal tap." Said I.
"You'll have to call us, then. NEXT!"
Umph.

So then I had to wait part of the day to make the appointment for the spinal tap, because the husband had a meeting informing him not to take any days off next week. They want to make sure that everyone is present for the layoff party, apparently. Kind of like a family reunion, but with a greater chance that someone will go postal. It turns out, however, that they're willing to make an exception if your wife needs a spinal tap.

But of course, we're also waiting to make several decisions regarding J-Man's treatment until after next week. Because most of those expenses would be out-of-pocket, and if the husband doesn't have a job... Food..Psychiatric Care...House Payment...Psychiatric Care... You get the picture.

And I'm waiting to see if my vision will come back after the spinal tap, because right now I can't see to drive after dark. That changes what the kids and I can participate in at church during the evening hours. As the days get shorter, I'm going to have to be home earlier and earlier. Yuck.

That, along with all those dumb little things that pop up every day, and I've just about had it. Patience may be virtuous, but I've had about my fill.

Household Project Update

So here's what I've been up to in my spare time:

The girl's bedroom. Kind of hard to capture in pictures, but just imagine a very small space with two very large lofts. Both girls seem to be very happy with the arrangement, though. And I'm getting a lot less whining about whose stuff is cluttering up the place.



The green side is Little K's, of course. I have a little more work to do on the curtains when I find time, but they're functional for now.





This is underneath Big K's bed. Both girls have a chair, a dresser, hooks for bags and purses, a lamp, special quilts on the wall, and all their miscellaneous junk. Essentially, all the stuff that they can claim as theirs. Community stuff is on community property. Books, for example. I find it interesting that Big K likes her curtains open, while Little K keeps hers closed.



Here's the front porch project I mentioned awhile ago. Most of the stuff came from Pier One and IKEA. I'm waiting for some red cushions to go on sale, but other than that, I'm about done.



And in my ongoing battle to declutter this house, I'm working on getting all the outgrown kids clothes ready for a consignment sale in October. I figured I'd better start early if I wanted to have a fighting chance. I've used at least 250 hangers so far. This picture isn't all the clothes. I've taken over J-Man's entire closet for the coats and pajamas.



And here's the pile of other junk besides hang-up clothes. Yes, that is an overflowing bin of shoes you see there. I can't wait until October and these piles leave the house. Then I can start in on the bookshelves.












We started a light school schedule last week. I told the girls that we were going to use the "boil the frog" approach to starting the school year. Maybe that way it won't be so painful!

The husband's garden is coming on strong. We've had plenty of squash, beets, carrots, cucumbers, potatoes, beans, and finally, tomatoes. We spent a couple of Saturdays doing some canning, and it looks like I'm going to need to start freezing soon. In an unusual spurt of energy, I also managed to bake a batch of bread today. Crazy!

Waaaaay too many doctors!

This week, I've visited the offices of (drum roll please) the Orthodontist, the Neurologist, the Therapist, the Psychiatrist and our Primary Care Physician. Thankfully, we have tomorrow off. But next week we start up again with: the Orthodontist (again), the Vet (because the cat needs to get in on the action, too), the Primary Care Physician (again, but for me this time), and the therapist (again, but not for me this time). I've decided to reschedule the appointment with the Neuro-ophthalmologist on Tuesday, since he's not going to tell me anything that I don't already know. "Yes doctor, that's right. I still can't read that eye chart."

On Tuesday evening, just to add a little spice to the mix, the social worker is coming for our two year post-placement report, which needs to be in Russia in September. Can I tell you how much I'm looking forward to chatting with her about how things are going around here? I told the husband that I'm not going to go to a lot of trouble to clean up the house for this visit. I figure I can just tell her that the bulk of the mess is a result of not being able to put that addition on like we'd planned, since we're pouring all our money into therapy.

On a positive note, we came away from the psychiatrist with some medication for J-Man. We'll start it tomorrow evening at dinnertime. I'm praying that we'll hit on the right medication, or medication combo, very quickly.

And before I sign out for this evening, I must take the opportunity to wish my sister a happy 30th birthday. Yes, that's right, she's 30. THIRTY! I'll call you tomorrow to see how your day of pampering went.

Hopeful

That's how I'm feeling this morning. Our appointment last night went well. J-Man has been diagnosed with a long list of disorders, but underneath it all the testing psychologist felt that he has a desire to please and there is the abiblity to think coherently. We just have to get his brain to start firing properly. Now, I am not a medicating kind of person, but this child does not stand a chance unless we can get his brain chemistry staightened out. Both of the psychologists at the meeting last night said that therapy is useless right now, and we will discontinue until we are able to see the psychiatrist and get medication started. Which we will do ASAP. So, during the break, I'm off to therapy to work out some of my own junk and hopefully learn to be a better mom for J-Man. Should be interesting.

Weekend Aftermath

I've just finished up a weekend alone with J-Man. So watch out, I'm going to vent. I can't stand to stay at home with him for an entire day...he'll drive me batty. So that means that I'm going to take him out in public where I risk embarrassment, humiliation, or worse.

Let's start with keeping track of him in stores. Have you ever taken a 2-year-old into a china store? Now imagine that he's bigger (like, say, 5) but still acts like a 2-year-old. He will touch and break anything. He dances and spins wildly in the aisles. He runs into people and things. He wanders off. Add to that, that he would go home with ANYONE because he thinks I'm a big, bad monster and anyone else is sure to be nicer. He's a cute little boy, and this really concerns me. He either has to be in a shopping cart where he gets no exercise, or my hand has to be on him at all times, making it very difficult to shop. Now, I want to know, what is wrong with putting this child on a leash? How is this different than putting him in a cart or hooking my finger in his shirt collar? He would be able to walk, and I would have my hands free. But no, social conventions don't allow that. Never mind that its for his own safety and my peace of mind. Someone would post a cell phone video on utube, I would be labeled "bad mother of the year", and social services would break down my door.

Now how about his mouth. Do you remember the oldest character on The Golden Girls? The mother (Sophia) who had lost the part of her brain (stroke, maybe?) that censored what came out of her mouth? That's J-Man. He will point to someone in a store and, at the top of his lungs, "Hey, that guy looks like a girl." "Hey, why doesn't that guy have any legs." (ironic, right?) "Hey, that guy is fat." Why does it always start with "Hey"? Just to make sure everyone in the store is looking and listening?

And how about the temper tantrums? The therapist has given us a technique to deal with these, which we use effectively at home. It involves physically restraining J-Man. Oh my, that's a no-no. We've had to cut several trips short so that I could come home and deal with a tantrum. Judging eyes just don't let me properly handle his issues.

And, of course, he has no cause-and-effect thinking processes developed in his brain. So we deal with the same crap every time we go somewhere. Over and over and over. It does not matter what consequence he receives, it does not matter how much we review appropriate behavior in stores, it does not matter if I bribe him. He is unable to put it all together. Here's a small example. J-Man was watching TV in the living room on Saturday while I was somewhere else in the house. I heard a loud bang and then silence. He had crawled up on the arm of the couch, fallen over backward, and whacked his head HARD on the piano. I think he may have been knocked out for a few seconds. I can't even tell you how many times I had to tell him to get off the arm of the couch for the rest of the weekend. A hundred, maybe? No joke. Frustrating.

So that, in a nutshell, was my weekend. I'm looking forward to a meeting tonight with J-Man's therapist and the psychologist who did J-Man's comprehensive testing. I'm hopeful that we will develop a plan to improve things around here.

Household Projects

My project in the girls' bedroom is coming along nicely. The used IKEA loft did finally go together after quite a bit of work and assistance from the husband. I don't think the previous owner could ever have had that thing put together. So there are now 2 lofts in that bedroom and not much room for anything else. I used some very cheap sheets (thanks again to IKEA) to make curtains for the bottoms, so now each girl has her own little fort. Little K has chosen to put in a saucer chair, which takes up most of her space. Big K is still thinking it over. I don't really care as long as they keep the mess behind the curtain. Kind of like the Wizard of Oz, right? This is a good time of year for these reorganization projects, as all the back to school stuff is out in the stores. You can find some neat things that you wouldn't find otherwise.

While I was sewing curtains, the husband spent his weekend stripping and refinishing the bench from our front porch. Which now means that I have to spend a little bit of time finding some other stuff to put on the front porch so that the bench doesn't look so lonely. I have a couple of trips out and about planned for this afternoon to see what I can find. Fortunately, outdoor furniture is on sale now, since summer is almost over, you know.

In other news, I had planned to start school yesterday. But I decided that there is too much going on in our lives for the next couple of weeks, and I was feeling too stressed about it. The girls and the husband are heading out to go camping for a long weekend anyway, so I couldn't have gotten in a complete week. Behind before I even start. Oh, well.

And for those of you who may or may not be interested...I saw a neurologist this past week who thinks that I have a spinal fluid build-up which is pressing on my optic nerve and causing my vision loss. He's going to do some other testing to rule out anything else first, but it looks like I'm headed for a spinal tap. Yee haw!

Yes, I'm a Bad Blogger

Yes, it turns out that I'm a bad blogger. I would like to post more often, but most of the news at our house lately has not been that uplifting.

However, I can share a quick tidbit from my life this past week before I go pass out on the couch. (Yes, at 9:30. That's how exciting my life is.)

I had my first craigslist experience this week. I can't say I'm sold on the experience. I bought an IKEA loft for Little K. (As an aside, I had to pick it up close to where the husband works, which is quite a hike, so the kids and I met him for lunch for the first time ever.) Now, the guy I bought it from assured me that all the parts and hardware were there, just missing the instructions. So when I got home, I went out to IKEA's website and was able to download the instructions (very handy) so that I could do an inventory. Well, what do you know, several of the hardware pieces were missing. Some of them, the husband informed me, would be impossible to find in a hardware store, making the loft unusable. So I took myself down to IKEA at about 8:30 at night, where the very nice person at the service desk filled a little baggie with all the missing hardware. I almost cried. I've read all sorts of nasty things about IKEA on the internet, but I've never found them to be anything but helpful.

Alls well that ends well.

Birthday Party for Little K

I finally pulled myself together this year, and my 7-year-old had her first birthday party ever. I figured there was no reason that I should do all the work for this thing, especially with 5 able-bodied girls running around.

So when they first got here, they sat down and decorated some plain aprons (I got a great deal at Hobby Lobby) with fabric markers.


We slapped those puppies on and they got to work assembling their pizzas. I gave them each a piece of Naan bread (Indian flatbread) that my kids like, and each girl got to choose from several toppings. I popped them under the broiler and they were eating in no time. After lunch (and a little clean up) the girls came back to the kitchen to whip up their own cupcakes. While they were baking, Little K opened her presents, and the girls spent some time playing with the new loot. Then we put the aprons back on and assembled cookie mixes for them to take and bake at home. I had them fill a quart sized ziplock instead of a canning jar and then later tucked them into a cute gift bag with a label and cookie cutter decoration. I found similar pre-made mixes at a cooking party website for $7 or $8 each. Yikes!


After some more clean up, I mixed up the frosting, and the girls frosted and sprinkled their own cupcakes.

They each got to take home an apron and a cookie mix, which I thought was a lot better than some of the junk that my kids have brought home from parties! Fortunately, the sun came out near the end of the party, and I was saved from having to pull out my emergency craft kits. Yeah! As far as I could tell, a good time was had by all.

And A Blessing

I spoke with a very nice person at the University of Michigan where J-man needs to go for his fetal alcohol evaluation. She very kindly informed me that the evaluation is FREE! Can you believe it? I about fell off my chair! We have to wait awhile to be seen, but I can deal with that!

Blessings and Struggles

Let me start by saying that God has blessed us greatly. We have 2 beautiful biological daughters, and God provided the funds for us to adopt J-man and bring him home a year and a half ago.

We found him in a Russian orphanage when he was about 3-1/2 years ago. Through a winding string of events, we brought our son home in September 2007, just shy of 4 years old. I've never doubted that God intended this boy to be a part of our family - to be our son. But I have to admit that I often go back and play his adoption story in my mind in order to remember how God orchestrated the whole thing. Because since then, it's been rough.

We're fresh off a couple of appointments to start trying to work out his behavioral issues and learning delays. Last week, I took him up to the special ed preschool to have a comprehensive evaluation done. Of course, he's much too bright for special ed, they told me. But he does qualify for some therapies. No kidding. Then yesterday, we had a very long and very expensive visit with an Attachment Therapist (Attachment meaning basically the bond a child has with his parents and then can transfer to others. The ability to do so is often missing in children who have been institutionalized, abused and/or neglected.) She gave a preliminary diagnosis sight unseen, and he'll start seeing her shortly. She also wants him to be evaluated for Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (meaning his birth mother was an alcoholic), ADHD, and speech and sensory issues.

Now, if he was my only child I could accomplish this all. But I also have the girls who I'm trying to homeschool. The real problems will begin when I have to make decisions about who I'm going to sacrifice so that the other(s) can have needs met. It promises to be a difficult journey. And you add the fact that my husband could lose his job at any moment, and the wisdom of starting to throw lots of money at this problem becomes a little shaky.

And of course, I'm angry. I haven't completely sorted out who I'm angry at, but I could start with his birth mother who didn't care enough to stop drinking or even check on him after he had been removed from her. And how about the adoption agency, which did not inform us that pretty much any 4-year-old child who had spent his life in an orphanage will have an attachment disturbance, so you'd better be prepared for some expensive therapy. I guess that information might scare people away. I'm sure there are other targets for my anger, and I do know that I need to work through it before I can help J-man. I'm pretty sure some of the therapy will be directed at me. (sigh)

Our family usually goes to a wonderful camp together in the summer. I told my husband at dinner last night that I was recalling the Director describing how they assign work loads to the college age employees. They assign one more task than the workers are capable of handling so that they will have to rely on God to get it all done. That's how I'm feeling - overloaded. There is no earthly way I can do all this. So, he looked at me and said: If that's the lesson for the kids at camp, then what do you think God is trying to teach you? Smart Aleck.

Weekend Activities

I've been busy tonight baking some of the roughly 1,000 cookies needed for a men's conference at our church next weekend. While doing this, I was pondering the wonders of parchment paper. I did a lot of baking as a kid...how did I not know about this stuff? Which leads me to wonder what other simple things are out there that I don't know about? Oh, the possibilities!

I've also been working on getting my Sonlight books and folders in order. (Sonlight would be the curriculum I use.) I made a small mistake last year when I was putting the color coded stickers (for easy identification) on the books and I somehow managed to switch them around. So I ended up googling a chart for which color should go with what level, and I came upon this blog post. Look at this woman's Sonlight shelves!
http://roadstolearning.blogspot.com/2009/03/my-sonlight-shelf.html
I thought I was doing good to get the stickers at the same height on the book spines and possibly just a little nutty to use binders that match the stickers. It turns out that I may not be as uptight as some people think I am!

I'm Glad That's Over (For Now)

This round of layoffs is done, and my husband still has a job. Hallelujah!

Traverse Review

Well, we should know something by the end of today.

In the meantime, here's a mom's review of the vehicle I'm trying hard not to covet:

http://www.motherproof.com/car-reviews/new/2009-chevrolet-traverse/#When:17:15:25Z

Here We Go

Notice has been given that there will be another 1,600 white collar lay offs at GM this week. This is scary for us as we're now forced to confront the future. Please, if you're so inclined, join us in praying that God's will would be done in our family, that we will have peace, and that we would trust God to take care of us no matter what happens.

And even if its not my husband, its still going to be someone. Even if we're "passed over" in this round, it will still be hard to rejoice at the end of the week, knowing that many were not so fortunate. There's really no good outcome.

At the moment, many of the small annoyances of my life don't seem so important. I'm thankful for a house and a working furnace, cars that run, healthy children, food to eat, and friends that come alongside to help bear the burdens.

For those of you who call me every time you see a reporter standing outside a GM facility on the news (you know who you are!) I'll try to update as we know something and save you a phone bill. I appreciate your concern!

And We're Back

We've returned from our annual Easter roadtrip to Minnesota. Let me just say that its good to be home!

We rented a larger vehicle this year to make the drive more comfortable, which worked out really well. However, I have yet to figure out the Rental Car Reservation System. I called Enterprise weeks ago to reserve a GMC Acadia. (Let me just say up front that our Enterprise up the street has had great customer service every time I've dealt with them. It's not the people or the branch, it's the whole system in general that I can't figure out.) The Very Helpful Person on the other end of the line told me to call a couple of days before we were leaving to see if we could actually get the Acadia. What? I thought that was what a reservation was for?

So sure enough, when I called two days before the trip, they couldn't find an Acadia. Something about the basketball tournament. Once again, I thought I had a reservation? So I told her that we'd only drive a GM product, and she said she'd look around and see what she could find for us. The next morning she called with an available Uplander that they'd give us for the same price. Yeah! And when I dropped it off yesterday, I told the guy at the counter that a couple of service lights had been blinking (ABS system, no big deal) and we had topped off the wiper fluid. So he gave me an extra 10% discount. Yeah again!

I can't say I'm sold on owning a minivan, but after this trip, I can certainly see the functionality of the thing. You can tell you're getting old when function starts to outweigh form!

Thank you, Mr. Ilitch

Here's a man who puts his money where his mouth is. I have a sudden hankering for a Little Caesar's pizza!

Detroit Three Find Hope in Centerfield

BY MITCH ALBOM
FREE PRESS COLUMNIST

When the Tigers open their season this week, fans will look to centerfield at Comerica Park and see the greenery, the flagpoles and the giant fountain. And, as usual, every time there's a Detroit home run, those fountains will erupt. That spot, in the stadium business, is what they call prime real estate. Companies pay big money to have their logo smack dab in the middle, so that every time fans gaze out there, the brand is what they see. For the last few years, General Motors has sponsored that fountain, and paid a substantial fee to do so. This season, with all that has happened in the auto business, GM's folks called the Tigers and said, regretfully, they could no longer afford it. Given the layoffs, the bailouts, the threat of bankruptcy, well, owning centerfield was too great a luxury. GM had to step aside. Which is when Mike Ilitch, the Tigers' owner, stepped in. There were other bidders. Other offers. Who wouldn't want that real estate? A deal of three years worth between $1.5 million and $2 million was on the table.
Ilitch said no thanks.
He was going to give it away.
Or maybe "give it back" is a better way of putting it.
Chalk up an outfield assist "It just seems strange to have the car companies in trouble," he told me this past week. "The Big Three, where would this city be without them? I mean, my father came from the old country and got a job at Ford's. It put food on our table. "It's scary to think that any of those carmakers could go away."

So Ilitch told his people to thank the potential paying customers, but to say that the centerfield fountain this year was spoken for. It would be the feature site for General Motors, Ford and Chrysler.
For free.
No charge.
Not one penny.
"It's just a small opportunity to respond to what's happening," Ilitch said, embarrassed by the attention.
There's nothing small about it. Every business has been affected by the collapsing economy; baseball teams are no exception. Walking away from a couple million dollars is not considered a wise financial move. Who turns away paying customers? In this case, Ilitch did. Because sometimes it's about the where and the who, not just the how much.

A message from the ballclub "I thought for a few weeks before deciding," Ilitch admitted. "I didn't want to offend anybody. I didn't want to put off the foreign carmakers. And I didn't want people to think we couldn't sell the fountain. As a businessman, you do worry about those things. "But I finally said, 'The heck with it.' I want to do something to help." So starting with the home opener this Friday afternoon, the Chrysler, General Motors and Ford logos will be on an equal plane above the fountain. And beneath those logos will be a few new words: "The Detroit Tigers support our automakers." It may be as close to a social statement as centerfield has ever made.

Visitors in Detroit for this weekend's Final Four may think our small, thriving downtown looks a lot like other cities' downtowns. But there is something different beneath the surface. Here, we construct in the face of adversity. We build on hope. Pure investors will tell you a city with rampant unemployment, enormous budget shortfalls, a troubled school system and a laughable city council is not a place to put your money. We do it anyhow. We do it because we love our past and we believe in our future. We do it because the alternative would be to close shop altogether. We do it because last week there were stories about the gleaming new Yankee Stadium, which cost $1.5 billion and has seats as high as $2,625 a game -- and here is Ilitch giving away his fountain for free.

Detroit may be the new home of the bumpy ride, but as the Three Musketeers once discovered, it's a little smoother when you grab hands with others. Think about that the next time a home run sends that fountain shooting up to those logos. Sometimes it really is all for one and one for all.

Blowing Off Steam

I haven't updated in awhile because I haven't had anything nice to say. And you know what our Moms told us about that. But, for the sake of my own sanity, I need to vent a little. For those of you who have somehow stumbled upon this post accidently, my husband works for GM. This is not a pleasant time at GM, but we're riding out the storm and trusting God to provide, whatever may happen to the company.

What I'm tired of, is people (those I know, but also the yapping heads on TV) talking about GM (also Ford and Chrysler, for that matter) as if it were a big faceless blob floating out in space somewhere. Let me assure you that there are actual people who work for the domestic automotive companies. Lots and lots of people. People with families and mortgages. People who spend money and help keep the economy running. People just like you.

For those of you who feel the need to share with GM employees and their family members all about the problems that you or a friend have had with a GM product: Please Keep It To Yourself. We do not need to hear about it right now. It does not help. If you or your spouse were on the verge of unemployment, I certainly wouldn't slap you in the face and tell you that you/he/she deserve it.

Just for fun, let me tell you about my GM products: My Chevy truck is now 12 years old with 148,000 miles on it. I just drove is across the state and back 2 days ago. It runs beautifully and I'm hoping Big K will learn to drive on it. My husband's Oldsmobile is 8 years old with 179,000 miles on it. Also running well, with lots of life left in it. The Chevy car we traded in for it had 245,000 miles on it. We haven't made a car payment in years, and the money we spend for maintenance is minimal. The problem we're having with our cars right now is that we'd really like something with more seating, but we can't justify buying a new car when both of our old ones are running so well and saving us money.

There, I feel a little better. I'll have to do this more often.

Expectations Met...

...and how often can you say that? I had a wonderful weekend trip. The seminar I attended was eye-opening (to say the least - I think my mouth dropped open so far that I drooled on my shoes) and full of useful information. Now I just need to start in on actually using it. The scrapbooking bed and breakfast was delightful. The innkeeper and I turned out to have a lot (and I mean A LOT) in common and breakfast was really good...fabulous crepes with this orange custardy filling, along with coffee, fresh juice, tons of fruit, and these reeeaaallllly good caramel roll things that I wanted to eat all of (darn that wheat allergy!). I was stuffed! I stayed up until about 3:30 working on scrapbook pages, and was beat the next day, but it was worth it! The scrapbooking room was well set-up and fully stocked with supplies and snacks. I highly recommend a stay! Then on the way home I stopped at a nice fabric store and found some fabric for Big K's Easter dress, which she loved. Another miracle! I haven't had such a good weekend in a long time.

Dress Shopping...Bah, Humbug

It's time for my annual struggle to find Big K an Easter dress. Ugh. The kid is 10, but already 5 feet tall, and her measurements just zigzag wildly across any size chart I've ever seen. We spent yesterday morning at the mall trying on dresses here and there and couldn't find anything cute enough or modest enough in her size. Why exactly, when a little girl graduates from a size 6X, do clothing manufacturers consider her to be all grown up...or perhaps ready for the world's oldest profession? We did find one dress that we both liked at Macy's, but it had an u-g-l-y belt and it didn't fit quite right. So then I spent yesterday afternoon looking at patterns and fabric online. I think I can copy it and make it better. Somehow I have to fit that in before Easter!

Anticipation...

I'm heading across the state in a couple of weeks for a seminar. "Well", thinks Me to Myself, "there's no way I can drive home after that. It's really just much too far. I'll have to stay in a hotel... all by myself... without kids... alone. Oh, darn." So I got to thinking a little more about how I could maximize this outing. "I could take my scrapbook stuff", I think, "and scrap in my hotel room. No, wait. I could find a scrapbook store with a late night crop and stop there before going to my hotel." So I set out online to find said scrapbook store. Well, lo and behold, instead I stumbled upon a bed and breakfast for scrapbookers in the vicinity of the seminar. And they're totally open for that night. Can you say Providential? I sure can! Here's the website: http://www.lastingimpressionsbb.com/
I've made my reservation, and I'm looking forward to both an informative and fun evening. The anticipation alone will get me through the next couple of weeks!

Wednesday Night

Our Wednesday night program at church has been working through the 10 Commandments. I'm the director for the K-2 kids group, and for some strange reason I can't seem to get a lot of people to share the teaching duties, so it's usually my turn. So last night we finally got to "Thou Shalt Not Commit Adultery". And you can guess who got to teach that one. I came at it more from the angle of Keeping Promises and I think I only mentioned the word "Adultery" once in the middle of a very fast sentence, leaving no room for any of the kids to jump in with their ever so helpful questions or explanations. Whew...I'm glad that's over! And I don't think I'm going to get any calls from parents! For anyone else teaching such a lesson, Horton Hatches the Egg is very useful - and time consuming!

Spring is Coming!

I'm happy to report that the first robin of the year was spotted in our backyard this afternoon. I can't tell you how much joy this brings me! Just a few more short weeks until I can send the kids outside to play. I'll bet our neighbors are looking forward to it, too. Tee hee.

Fridays at IKEA

So Friday is art class day for my girls. On a good day when I have my ducks in a row (and quite frankly sometimes when I don't, like today) I drop the girls at art and J-Man and I make a bee-line for IKEA. The kid loves Small Land, and I love an hour to drink coffee and read a book without paying for a babysitter. Everybody wins. So today I wandered the store for awhile before I settled in with my book, and I ended up coming home with a new toilet seat. (I bet you're wishing your life could be as exciting as mine, aren't you?) When we got home I deposited said seat on the floor by the door and ran upstairs to take care of something. When I came back, the kids had taken the seat from the package and were trying it out on the living room floor. Which makes me wonder a couple of things....what's wrong with my kids....and who else's rear end has touched that seat? Lysol, here I come!

Hello!

To the small handful of people who may be reading this post - Hello! I've been a wife for almost 14 years and a mom for 1o. We homeschool our kids, and with that comes almost a daily string of fun, frustrating, wonderful, annoying things. Along with the normal daily life stuff that we all deal with, of course. I created this blog mostly for someplace to share and vent. I'll refer to my husband and kids with generic terms: I have a 10-year-old girl (Big K), a 6-year-old girl (Little K) and a 5-year-old boy (J-Man). I also have a cat, who doesn't care about her privacy, so we'll just call her Emily. Thanks for dropping by!