Foto Friday

Autumn's 7th grade school softball pic. (Just got them today.)

May 27, 1973

Happy Birthday to me!

It Feels Like Monday

Even though it is Tuesday, it already feels like a Monday. You know the day right after the weekend where everything that can go wrong will. I had signed up for a Netflix free trial. I had two movies that needed to be returned. I usually take my stuff to the office to be mailed because we go to the post office every day. Chad had filled out a check for the phone company and wanted me to drop it off in the drop box at the phone company on my way in. It is past due after today and if not paid, our phone will be cut off. I had forgotten to go by the phone company so I was going to circle around the block. To circle around, I had to go right by the p.o. boxes (4 of them in a row) in front of the p.o. I thought, well, while I am here I will mail the Netflix movies. I dropped them in the box and pulled up to turn. I looked down to get the phone company envelope and it was gone. Yep...I dropped it in the box with no postage and no return address. It did have my husband's name and our phone number on it. I circled around the block and went back to the p.o., went inside and rang the bell at the service door. The p.o. was not open yet because it was 8:10. The lady went to find the key and came out. I pointed to the box that I thought I had used. Boy my mind isn't what it used to be. We went through the box and there was no sign of the envelope. There were plenty of Netflix envelopes which made it more confusing. So we went through two more boxes and still no sign of the envelope. I know I didn't use the very last box, so we didn't check it. We went through them again. At this point, I said don't worry about. I guess I will just have to go pay the bill at lunch and hope that the envelope turns up.

I think the p.o. mail boxes are like the black hole. This is not the first time that something has gotten lost in the mail! Has that ever happened to you? I feel like an idiot!

Update to my "Quick Update"

Autumn found out today that she made a 4 on the Math EOG and made a 3 on Reading. She missed making a 4 by about 3 points. For those of you who don't have children in school, or they haven't taken the EOGs yet, a 4 is the highest that you can score. She was so happy, and so am I! She sent me a text as soon as she found out. There were a lot of people that failed the reading part.

WAY TO GO AUTUMN!!!!!!!

Quick Update

I took Brittney to the doctor yesterday. Two doctors actually. The orthopedic doctor said that she needs physical therapy on her wrist from when she broke it last year. She also has exercise induced asthma. She now has an inhaler that she has to use before doing any physical activity (like run a mile in PE in 10 minutes for part of her final exam).

My cousin, Robin, had her baby this week. Her name is Maggie and she is sooo cute. We went to see them at the hospital yesterday in between appointments.

Autumn finished her EOGS this week...yay! Now we just have to wait for the results. I am sure she did good.

The tick problem seems to be under control. I haven't seen any...knock on wood...in about a week or longer.

I haven't lost any weight, but I haven't gained either. So I guess that's good.

More later!

Wordless Wednesday

Nani's New Toy

Yes...my dog is spoiled. At least that is what Brittney and Autumn would say! I took Nani to PetSmart for the first time on Saturday. She needed the hair trimmed around her feet. Chad said that she looked like a woolly mammoth, lol. She also needed some food, which I can only find there. The grooming section is at the back of the store. There is a huge glass window so that you can see what they are doing, with benches in front. I sat there because I wanted to see what they did. They cut and filed her nails first. This was a job for two people. She kept trying to bite the first girl. She had to get another girl to hold her while she did the rest. Nani was so scared. Then they got the clippers out to trim the hair. She liked that even less. After I put her through all of that torture, I decided to treat her with a new toy. We went to the toy isle. I picked up a toy, squeaked it, and this huge dog came up to me. My eyes got real big and I looked at the owner and said, "I'm sorry". He just smiled. I picked up a couple of toys and showed them to her, but she didn't seem very interested, until I picked up the Ty octopus. She already has the Ty weenie dog. The octopus has a squeaker in the head and the tentacles have this crinkly stuff in them. She went crazy. I gave it to her when we got in the car. She played with it all the way home. It kept falling in the floor and she would look at it and bark until I picked it up. This is now her favorite toy! She played with it until it was time for bed.

R.I.P. Cookie

Autumn had Cookie for a couple of years. I had to take her today to be euthanized. She had developed a malignant tumor on the left side of her head behind her ear. The tumor was about the size of quarter and had starting eating the skin and she was starting to loose her hair. The sore was about the size of a nickel. I did some research online and found out that tumors are common in this type of rat, especially in the females. If the tumors are benign, you can have them removed and they are usually fine after that, but if they are malignant, there is nothing that can be done. She was not as active as she once was. She used to run on her wheel at night while Autumn was trying to sleep, but for the last couple of weeks, she didn't have the energy to run. She would stay in her cardboard tube and would only come out to eat. It made me nauseous to have to put her to sleep, but I did not want her to suffer. Autumn was upset, but she didn't cry. She knew it was the best thing to do.

Train Tracks

Autumn got braces this morning. Now Brittney and Autumn both have them. Brittney has had hers for a year and still has a year and half to go. Autumn has about two and half years to go.
After the initial down payment of $1,075 (paid in two installments), I will be making monthly payments until they come off. I wanted a new car, but the amount I am paying for two sets of braces is almost the amount of a car payment. I want them to have straight teeth more than I need a new car. Kids can be so mean. A couple of boys at school have been picking on Autumn. She said that it didn't bother her. She is a lot tougher than I was. I would come home from school crying. I got braces the Summer before the 12th grade. I didn't want them to wait that long.

Wordless Wednesday

Choose Your Battles

I think when you have children, you need to choose your battles. Whether it be picking out their own clothes or shoes, within reason (no hoochie clothes or stilettos). I don't know if all of you will agree with me. I think if you try to tell them everything to do, they can't think for themselves. Or if you keep them under your thumb, when they go out into the world and experience a little bit of freedom, they will go wild. If you constantly tell them "no", it can be worse than if you give them a little bit of freedom now. I am not talking about going to the extreme and letting them go where ever they want and do whatever they want, like to unsupervised parties or car dating at the age of 14 or 15. Here is an example of what I mean. Brittney has been wanting to get her hair dyed or highlighted. Not just any color, but blue. We have been talking about it for about 3 months now. I took her on Saturday to get it done. I was a little apprehensive at first. We were going to go with a temporary color, but Tara told us with her hair color it would look green. So we decided to go with a permanent color. I have to admit, it does look good on her. It is more of a blue/black. Everyone likes it. My husband even likes it and he is sort of old-fashioned. Of all people, I thought he would be the one that would have something negative to say. She is worried that her best friend's parents won't like it. I hope they don't think bad of me for letting her get it done! After the dance recital in June, I am going to let her go back and add some color to her bangs. I just wanted to do it a little at a time so it wouldn't be a big shock all at once. This is the before,
and after. What do you think?

(I love before and after pics, lol!)

Happy Mother's Day!

My Mom wanted all of us to go to Church with her today. She would like for her whole family to go to Church every Sunday, not just on a holiday. My brother, Alex, and his girlfriend, Brittany, brought baby Aden. I have been going for about a month now, and it feels good to be back. After the service, we had a dinner that was cooked by the men. I am sure they had a little bit of help! Then everyone, except me, went to the park for gem mining, putt-putt, etc. I went home because I had a lot to get done. I had not been to the grocery store in two weeks. The sheets needed washing and Nani needed a bath. I also wanted to get the refrigerator cleaned out. I had to "get on the band wagon" with Shannon and Nancy. I not only cleaned it out, but I also pulled it out from the wall and cleaned the floor underneath. This is what it looked like before,

and this is after. After I cleaned it and after I went to the store.

I found two opened bottles of soy sauce. I had two cartons of eggs, one with three in it and the other one with three missing. I even put all my veggies in my Tupperware Fridge Smart containers. The carryout container is now missing because that is what I had for dinner...leftover Japanese, yummy!

I just wonder how long it will stay this way!

Ticks Galore

I am so tired of ticks. Our yard was infested. Since January, I have found at least two every other day. Most of them have been on Nani. I had found some crawling up the walls near the back door. A couple of weekends ago, we found about 9 or 10 (I lost count) in 24 hours and one of those was attached to my arm. I think we were carrying them in on our feet and clothing. I finally went to Crop Production Services and bought some stuff to spray on the yard. It worked around the house, but now Chad's shop is infested. You can see them crawling up the doors and walls. I found one on Nani Wednesday night. Last night, I was standing at Chad's shop and I had a baby one crawling up the leg of my pj's. When I got in the house, I had a bigger one crawling up my leg. When he came in the house for the evening, I made him strip down in the laundry room before he got on the carpet. The truck was parked at the shop. When we were driving to breakfast this morning, Chad had one on his hand. He must have picked it up off of the truck. He has some stuff left and will be spraying his shop this weekend. I hope it works!!!

Wordless Wednesday

Long Time, No Post

We'll...it has been almost a week since my last post. Here is a little bit of what has been going on.Wednesday, the boys and girls had their last baseball/softball games. The girls won. I am not sure about the boys because I didn't stay for that game. After the girls game and before the boys, they annouced all of the players. The 8th graders stood at the pitcher's mound and 7th graders stood on the third base line.
Nani was laying in the rocks. I tried to hold her, but it was just too hot. She was digging in the rocks until she had dirt up her nose. As soon as we got home, she had to have a bath.

Friday, Brittney went home with Haley afterschool...again. Chad wanted to go see the X-Men movie. I really didn't want to go see it, so Autumn and I saw 17 Again. It was a really good movie.

Saturday, Autumn and I hung out with my Mom. Then I took Autumn to get her hair cut. Here is a before pic.
And after.

Then we went to my niece's softball game. She is in the first grade and this is her first year playing. Right before her game, the 4 and 5 year olds were playing. It was so funny watching them. The bats were almost as tall as the girls.

Chad had been given free tickets to the tractor pull that was supposed to start at 7:00 p.m., but it was raining. It was after 8:00 before it got started. I remember now why I don't like to go. The smell of beer and cigarette smoke, loud noise, rain, cold (I didn't take a jacket), profanity, and sitting on bleachers for four hours. Chad and Landon would usually go together and I would hang out with Shannon.

Sunday I went to Church. My Mom wasn't feeling well, so instead of going out to eat, I cooked lunch at her house. I went home and just watched t.v. It was nice to just sit and relax for a change.

That's about it.