After a hiatus over the summer I am back. I have missed blodding to tell you the truth.. so I am happy to be back at it.

Today was a pretty busy day. Steven had an early call and had to go clear to the other side of Cheraw SC. Seemed like an awfully long way to drive. But you have to go where the jobs are. While he was gone I tackled reorganizing and clearing out our master bath. I am a bath product junkie and I had aqumulated WAY to many half empty bottles of product. Not to mention baskets of bobs and bits and weird ends of things. So,  I went through it all and threw out all the junk. I also went through our medicine cabinet and tossed out all the out of date stuff and made a list of OTC meds we were out of. Nothing worse than be awakened in the middle of the night by a sniffling,coughing kiddo and not having anything to give them for it. Because of that I try to keep stocked up on Dimetapp, mentholatum, pepto bismol, ect.  Nwo that I have cleared out the old.. it may be time to try some new stuff. Any suggestions?

When Steven returned it was time to take Thing Two to her NEW school and meet her teachers.  This year she moves from the small primary school (that we LOVED) to a big elementary school that is fed by FOUR primaries.

 Its a big school and I think T2 was a bit overwhelmed. We liked her teachers though and she was happy to find a couple of her church friends included on the class roster. After leaving the school we headed over to Wal-Mart to pick up the supplies requested by her teacher.  I gave her a choice of whatever colors/styles she wanted and she took AGES to choose. They really do have some neat binders out there.. They’ve come a long way since the Lisa Frank  trapper keepers we had!

After what seemed like forever we grabbed some lunch and headed home for a nap. It was storming out and it was delightful to snuggle up to my honey and listen to the thunder. It being wednesday we had youth group tonight so unfortunatly it couldnt be tooo long of a nap

Another busy day tommorow…. I know you are skintilated by my day.. but I think some daily blogging of just normal everyday journaling will get me back in the groove over here!

I love summer camp. I grew up attending an Assemblies of God church camp in Houston Alaska. Little Beaver Camp was a GREAT place to spend a week or two every July.  I dont remember her specifically. But someone said that Governor Sarah Palin was a camper there one year that I attended. Neat huh? As I got older I not only attended as a camper but worked as staff. I peeled potatoes in the kitchen and ran the “snack shack” and then in later years I was a camp counselor.  I have so many great memories of playing in the Lake, canoeing, campfires and fun church services.  Some friendships I made at camp have lasted a lifetime.. my best friend Elizabeth even met her future husband for the first time at Little Beaver.

I love the camp experience.  everything about it.  So, as you can imagine I was excited a few years ago to find out that our church here in SC attends a summer camp! I have staffed there a few times over the years and LOVED it. This year, when I was laid off from my job at the cafe.. I took the opportunity to volunteer to work there all three weeks of camp. Two of which my own daughters will attend in turn.

This last week was the first week. Called MINI week since it is a day shorter than the other two camps and for Ages 6-9. (so that meant Thing 2 was a camper)  We had a blast. I was responsible for 10 little girls and a 16 yr old CIT (counselor in training) . We arrived tuesday morning at 10  for a quick training session and to get our assignments. I was assuming that I would be a staffer this week. But I was asked to be a counselor.   The sleeping arrangements are “dorm style” with around 7 or 8 bunk beds per dorm. One communal bathroom with 8 showers and 10 or so stalls serve the female population and likewise for the men.

The “campers” arrived at around 1pm and we hit the ground running. My CIT Rachel and I got our girls settled and said good bye to Moms and Dads. I was surprised to not have any tearful girls. They were so excited to play though.. so it didnt take long!. After an opening ceremony we headed out to play sports. Kickball, soccer, volleyball, and basketball kept us busy until 4 pm. I was pretty lucky to have a fairly athletic group so I didnt have to drag them to play.. I was glad though when we switched with the boys who had been playing on a huge waterslide and swimming in the HUGE pool. The girls we SO excited to swim. (what kid doesnt love a pool?)  It was SO hot. Thats one thing we never had to worry about at LBC in Alaska! Usually it was the opposite. July can be jacket weather in Wasilla Alaska.

After swimming we headed in to get cleaned up and ready for dinner. Im sure you have heard nightmares about campfood.. but really we are pretty blessed to have good food at camp. The cooks are sensative to kid pallets and we ate a lot of chicken nuggets and mac and cheese and koolade all week. They had a nice salad bar available to workers though.. so that was a nice touch.

After eating we all got ready to head to the evening services.  The speaker admin chose this year was AMAZING. He is a powerlifter and lifted all kind s of heavy things.. tree logs and broke cinderblocks with his head and the like. The kids loved it. He used all kinds of object lessons to teach kids the Verse of the week

For God has not given me a spirit of fear but of Love, and Power and a Sound Mind. 2 Timothy 1:7

They had dancers and strobe lights and a smoke machine going. It was pretty impressive. The theme this year is UFC (ultimate fighting christian)  and they decorated the chapel to look like a fight ring. So cool. The little boys especially loved it. They printed up cute t shirts in red and white with UFC on the back.

Church services lasted maybe an hour and the kids played in the chapel/gym afterward. They had blow up moon bouncers and a camp store selling all kinds of kid junk.. and  the t shirts and the like.. as well as a canteen selling hot dogs and nachos and piles and piles of candy. YES! nothing  like getting kids sugared up at 10 pm and then getting them all riled up with crazy “camp games” like chubby bunny and hula hoop races. We sang silly songs and did the “chicken dance” as well as the YMCA. I dont know about the kids.. but I was EXHAUSTED when 11pm finally came around.  I was never so glad to crawl into the bottom bunk and crash. My girls were really good about bedtimes.. I was pretty lucky because I heard nightmare stories from other counselors about finally getting to sleep at 3 am. They giggled for only a few minutes before they were crashed out.

Reville is 7 am and it came SO EARLY. ohhh my goodness I was SORE. This old body isnt used to running on the soccer feild and playing so hard all day! Each day’s schedule was pretty much the same..

8am breakfast

9 am morning bible study (usually bible stories told in updated ways and silly games to get things started)

930-12pm tournament style sports. soccer,basketball,kickball, ect

12pm lunch

1pm rest/free time

130 sports or swimming

3pm olympic games (water games.. one day the firetrucks came and sprayed the kids sprinkler style.. they LOVED it. They also had a HUGE slip and slide one day)

430pm- showers.. (yeah for 145 campers.. they must have  HUGE waterheater.. I never had a cold shower)

530 dinner

630- finish getting ready for church (kids had to wear clean clothes and be clean for church..)

7 church services

9 late night live (games ect)

11 pm- lights out

phew. Yesterday was the camp closing and pickup. I camp home and slept most of the afternoon. I was so tired! Today I am zipping my laundry through the wash and re-packing for week 2 that starts at 9 am monday. It will be an easier more laid back week though as it is ages 13-18. More attention to keeping boys and girls hormones in control than anything else!

So its summer… and of course I am reading voraciously . I dont know what it is about hot weather that makes me want to haunt the library. Maybe it’s all the hours spent under the AC or at the beach.. or by the pool.  Or maybe I read this much all the time? LOL

Lately I have been making my way through Jodi Picoult novels. I havent ever read her before and I have been enjoying her style of writing quite a lot. She writes each chapter from the point of view of each individual character. It is a really different way to look at a story and I rather like it.. only that you must pay close attention because the story can jump back in forth in time according to each character.

Have you ever read a book and with each chapter you think “THIS is when I am going to “get” the story and find my hero and become friends with the characters”? and you read and you read and you get to the end and you never found the one you “like”? UGH. The Song of the Humpback Whale was like that for me. I just kept reading and I couldnt ever decide who I wanted to “win”. This morning I was in the bathtub when I finally finished it. I wanted to throw the book and scream. I stomped around the kitchen slamming pans and making with so much iritation that Steven came in from outside to find out what or who was bugging me so much.  When I told him he just looked at me for a long time and shook his head and went back outside. BOYS! 

The story just ended… it took 20 odd chapters to get where it was going and then it was a dead end. Nothing was resolved. No one came out of it better, or sated or anything.  Its like you just fade out the character’s lives and you dont know what the heck happens to them.  UGH! It was so frustrating. Its like I need a few more chapters to resolve my feelings about the story.

I wont go into the exact story since Im sure there are those of you that will now want to go get the book to see what I am talking about… OR there will be those of you that will close this post and think. Wow, she’s a nut. Possibly both? heh.

and everyone else too f course.. but these are as promised. some new photos of the Things.  I have a lot to post about.. but we are all softball all the time thsi week. Thing One made the Allstar team.. so we have a tourney this week.. I promise a big catch up post before I head off to work at church camp for 3 weeks.

This is T2 and my Daddy in his garden. They grew the cabbages together for a school project. It made a LOT of cole slaw!

T1 is ALL about tons and tons of random self portraits.. I thought this one was pretty.. except kind of funny since she has two pairs of glasses on.  You can REALLY see how much weight she has lost since starting weight watchers. YOU GO BABAY!

I might have already posted this one.. but I love the dress T2 has on in it. We are growing out her bangs.. wow It makes her look so much OLDER. Boo. it makes me sad to see her look so grown.

** notice she is wearing the earrinsg Shanny made me again. You can get your own pair in her etsy shop. They are perfect with this outfit!**

This is T1’s softball photo. She played for “First Bank” and had a pretty good season. SO much better than last year. She is loving playing ball. I sure wish we’d have gotten her started when she was little!

This is one of the shots we took at the Angel Oak Tree in Charleston. She’s so cute

Here is a freebie of me on my birthday. I love the look on T2’s face

Thursday Steven, Thing Two and I went on an adventure to Charleston SC. We had an amazing time.. and it has totally ruined me for Myrtle Beach.. Id way rather go to Charleston.. to the beach and to the city. I totally fell in love with the place.

Most people know that I grew up in Alaska. Living in SC has made it really easy to  have really lost touch with a lot of the people that I grew up with…. and sadly I am bad about correspondance. BUT the magic of facebook has really changed all that. I am talking with people I havent spoken to in years on a regular basis and just loving it. Its so fun.. I bring this up because I recently got back in touch with my friend Jimmy Filley. He was a huge part of my life for a really long time.  A really fun guy that I just love. He works for a television station as a news producer and  when I heard he was going to be in Charleston covering the hockey finals I KNEW I had to go up to see him.

I am so so glad we did. We had a blast!

Thursday morning we got up early and got Thing One off to school.. she was going on her 8th grade trip to a local state park and didnt want to miss it, so we decided she could stay home.. she ended up wishing she’d have gone with us.. we had that much fun! We hit the road and Thing two curled up with her favorite blanket and her dvd player and we didnt hear a PEEP from her the entire trip.  I really love taking my girls on road trips. I am pretty lucky because they are easily entertained and often just either sleep or watch the scenery. T2 especially loves to go on trips. She packs months ahead of time and plans and plans her outfits… hmm I wonder where she got that from? heh. It didnt take long at all.. at by 9 am we were pulling into Jimmy’s hotel parking lot. It was so so good to see him. I cant believe we didnt take a picture together! I was so sad to get home and realize that. ohh well. next time for sure!

Neither Steven and I or Jimmy had been to Charleston, so we didnt really have any set touring ideas.. and its a good thing too.. because Thing Two definatly had preferences for what she wanted to see. She has been taking South Carolina History this year in school and knew all the places she wanted to see in Charleston. It was amazing how much she actually knew about the area. I was totally impressed!

The very first thing she mentioned was visting the “Angel Oak” a 1500 year old oak tree that is on John’s Island outside Charleston. She knew all kinds of facts and was only to happy to act as tour guide.  The thing was HUGE and the feeling in the thicket where it grows was really cool.. You could almost hear the tree talking and thinking. I have never actually FELT a tree’s pressence.. It was almost like its been there so long it holds a friendship with God. The Angel oak is over 1500 years old and is 65 ft high and covers 160 feet and It is considered the oldest thing living or dead east of the Mississippi. VERY cool. We had a great time taking pictures and exploring the area. It was a perfect morning. Warm and breezy. The sun was so pretty and the shade of the tree made it perfect for pictures.

* I really wish Thing One was in this picture.. it would be a perfect christmas card right? We might have to photoshop her in!

Darn Tree Huggers

 After we visited with the Tree we drove to downtown Charleston. We didnt really take very many pictures down there. I guess we were to busy looking at everything.  This is a fountain that is on the waterfront near the battery. There were little kids in swimsuits playing in the water.. that water would feel GREAT on a really hot summer day.

We didnt get our own photo’s of these places.. but we went there.

 Rainbow row is a block of historical houses. There are so pretty and colorful. The ironwork on all of the gates is so so pretty. There are foutains and beautiful gated flower gardens everywhere you look. Most of the houses have painted shutters and window boxes full of such pretty flowers.

 They had amazing jewelry there that is fashioned after the gate designs. SO pretty.

 Thing two was disapointed to learn that the “pineapple fountain” did not indeed spout pineapple juice. bummer man.

 I loved this pier. They have porch swing type benches under the covered areas. What a neat place to sit and watch the goings on of the waterfront park. PERFECT place for a picnic

Speaking of food.. we were getting hungry. In my research of Charleston I had read several reviews and seen some food network stars eat at a place called Jestine’s Kitchen right there in downtown charleston. AND being that I knew that Jimmy had never experienced low country cooking. I knew that was where we needed to eat.

 We headed over there. I knew that there would be a line.. traditionally the line for Jestine’s can stretch around the block. They dont take reservations and you cant leave your name with the hostess. You just stand in line. Luckily we didnt have to wait too long as I think we got there between the lunch rushes. We were entertained while in line by watching the goings on at an antique firestation. It is said to be one of the oldest fire stations in the US and was SO pretty.  The openings in the building are so narrow that special firetrucks had to be built for the station

It wasnt very long and the super sweet hostess invited us in for lunch.  It was cool the way she did it. She opens the door and says “Wont you join us?” heh. love that southern hospitatlity. We all ordered Sweet tea and enjoyed the cornbread basket while we decided on what to have. Thing Two was steadily cracking Jimmy up with her antics and they kept eachother entertained while we waited.

I ordered fried chicken and mac and cheese. It was so so delicious. They litterally bring you HALF A FRIED CHICKEN. It was HUGE HUGE HUGE

 I ended up taking most of my plate home with me. That fried chicken was just as good cold on the way home as it was hot and crispy.  YUMMMY. definatly not a weight watchers day.. we just suspended points for the trip.. I know you shouldnt do that.. but I couldnt even count that high!

 After lunch.. and an amaing Pineapple bread pudding Desert from Jestine’s Bakery next door we found a place to park and explored the Charleston City Market/Confederate museum. It was built in 1841 and was all brick and had such neat little shops and all kinds of tables with people selling everything from sweet grass baskets to t-shirts and all sorts of civil war memorablia and souvinears. We got t’s teacher a little tiny sweetgrass basket and picked up some UV activated nail polish for T1.

The market goes on for something like 4 blocks. tons of fun places to look around in.. We had fun talking and walking and as you can see goofing off.

Before long we were all done shopping and getting really hot. We didnt want to melt my Alaskan friend so we headed back to the car and went in search of something cool to drink. We ended up at a sonic for slushies. I could eat a lemon berry slushie every day of the week. YUMM.

Very soon it was time to head back to Dillon and to say goodbye to Jimmy.  We dropped him off at his hotel and turned toward home. I dozed on and off and T2 watched another movie. It was SUCH a fun day. I cant wait to take Thing One there and maybe spend some time in the museums and visit the beach!

Fletcher “Matthew” Rowell

August 13, 1974 – May 31, 2009

I am begining to think that as time goes on, and moves faster and faster that I will become dangerously alone. People that I love are leaving at an alarming rate.  This past week my cousin Matt joined two other cousins, an Aunt, and an Uncle in the lengthening list of loss in the past year. It seems like things barely calm down, and the long grieving process gets underway before we begin again… and sadly so needlessly.

Matt was married to my cousin Tammy and they lived next door to us for 8 years. Thier daughter Patience is T1’s best friend. He and Steven were very close and spent time together almost every single day.  Matt called my mother “ma” and me “sis”. My babies called him “Uncle Matt”. Unfortunatly though, in addition to all these things, he was also an alcholic. His body just couldnt recover from the amounts of poison he put into it.

He had been sick for a while.. and I know now that he knew he wouldnt recover. He had talked with different family members and last tuesday had a talk with Steven about needing someone to “have his back” and take care of his family. Steven wont go into what they talked about exactly.. only that he told him that when the “time came” he wanted Steven to be there to take care of Tammy.

Wednesday night Tammy had called the ambulance to take them back yet again to the hospital.. and since this wasnt that unusual. Steven and I went ahead with a planned day trip to Charleston… we got a call at lunchtime that he wasnt expected to live through the weekend. That evening my mom and I planned to go to Florence the next evening (the next town over where the nearest major hospital is) to spend time with my cousin and to see Matt. But we recieved a call very early the next morning and rushed to the hospital. I hurried through the shower so fast I still had soap in my bellybutton!

By the time we got there Matt was in a coma. He was struggling for each breath and in so much pain. His bloood pressure was very very low and he was a terrible color. It was evident that it wouldnt be long… in fact the nurses were amazed that he had hung on as long as he had.. one said she though he was waiting for someone to get there.. or for something to happen.

We each spent a little time with him. I was so glad I had the chance to hold his hand and remind him of how very much he was loved.. before he went to the hospital and again that day.  As the day wore on his family finally arrived (THAT is a whole other story.) but still he hung on. Around 1 pm Steven who had been watching the business phones and waiting to see if we needed him to bring Patience came into the room. He leaned over Matt and kissed his forehead and told him that he was there.. and that he “had his back.” That if he was tired he should go toward the light and that his “girls” would be taken care of… it was an amazing moment.. I moved into the hallway to catch my breath  and the nurse came and asked me who Steven was? When I told her that he was one of his best friends she told me “well, that’s what he was waiting for then.. its almost time” It wasnt very long and peacefully Matt went to Jesus.

As Im writing it still doesnt even seem real that he wont be home around 5 tonight with his Ozzy blaring and that he wont holler accross the yard and ask what I am cooking for dinner. I cant tell you how many times I have looked accross the yard and seen his car parked there.. and caught myself wondering what he was doing home at that hour…  That at 29 my cousin and friend is a widow.. to the man she was with for 15 years…. Above all.. and selfishly perhaps..  That I am SO SO thankful and aware that I was very nearly in that place just a few months ago.

Three years ago today my sweet Emma Grace was born.

In case you are new to A Mom’s Life.. Emma is my cousin’s little girl that I am a Godparent too.. Well maybe more than that.. I dont know how to describe it. She is my little person. I felt our connection before she was even born. I took care of her mom when she was pregnant and then was the labor coach when she was born. I cut the umbilical cord and held her in those first precious moments when she was brand new.  I loved her from the start and knew we’d be friends….

This is her and I the day she came home from the hospital. She was such a tiny little toot. I was deep in a depression over our infertility and youd think a new baby around would have deepened it.. but it didnt.  She wasnt mine.. and I was still not pregnant. (and still am not)  BUT Holding that tiny little gift was like a salve on the wound. I cant even explain why. She still is.

Happy Birthday Sweet Girl.

I got caught in a blog warp. A cycle of procrastination, and then guilt and finally appathy. I hate that too.. because I love my blog and really really enjoy reading past entries. SO I am rebooting my blog.

restart.

The main reason I got stuck was the fact that so much had happened since I last blogged that I was dreading the monster huge post Id have to make in order to catch everyone up on life and whatever… so Im not doing it. You get bullets.

*job* Ugh. long stupid story. I am currently unemployed. When last we “spoke”  I was enjoying a new job.. but did not feel very stable. Good reason for it. Days after that post was made, I was laid off.. well told that “I cant afford your salary” nice right?  Sure.. quit your sucky but totally stable job to come work for me.. but wait, I cant afford you after all. My boss closed the place for a few days.. let the staff all go and then re-opened running the whole place by herself.. I havent been back in. whatever Steven and I decided that I would spend the summer with the Things. Chill out. Read books, go to summer camp, lay out by the pool. Cut the grass.. cook out, do volunteer work. play. YAY. I didnt know if I would like it.. But so far? I am liking being home again.  In the fall I plan to get registered to be a substitute teacher. That could be fun right?

*kids**. The Things are good.  Both are playing ball still. T1’s season finally got underway. She is loving it. She blossoms on the field. I love seeing her become more and more sure of herself and really enjoy being athletic. SO fun. T2  is still slogging through her season. They arent winning that often, but still are having a good time. If anything she is getting a lot of fluids drinking all that gaterade! lol They finally finished all of thier testing at school (it gets out on June 4!) and its party down time now. I cant believe they are both graduating up this year! My babies arent babies any more. T1 will go to HIGH SCHOOL this fall. It makes me sad, yet excited at the same time. T2 will move from the primary school that we love love love to the elementary school that looks like a prison. I hated it when T1 was there and I dread my baby going there. But there isnt any choice in the matter. The private schools in the area arent an option and there arent any other public ones. boo. I guess we just gotta work through it.

**weight watchers** We started back. Steven and Jasmin of course are doing awesome.. for the most part. I am sticking to it pretty well. I cheat sometimes. Then feel guilty for cheating.. then stick to it religiously for a few days and then cheat again. Church meals are KILLING us this time. It seems like there have been a huge amount of potluck church dinners lately. and how do you deal with a buffet of homecooking? YIKES. We may have to resort to either just not attending, or eating before we go and bringing a big bowl of fruit and ONLY eating that. Its a struggle for sure…but I feel like maybe this time at home might be my chance to concentrate on weight loss so we can get pregnant. 

**Steven’s Health** Steve-o is doing pretty well. He has “episodes” where his tummy hurts and he has to work to eat right. WW is really helping that. . We go back to the dr 6-18.. so I am anxious to see what he will say about the “episodes”.

sooo thats us.. and now Im picking up and plan to blog every day again. I miss it. .. and you. Let me know if you are out there. De-lurk and let me know you are reading. Id love to hear from you!

See? I told you Id get back around to finishing this trip report!

This day started out pretty dissapointing.. well kind of. We had planned to hit anything we missedin DC and see the Archives and the Library of Congress.. but when we got to the Metro stop it was pretty clear that idea wasnt so hot.. It was the official day of the DC cherry Blossom festival and parade.. and the metro stop furthest from the city was PACKED beyond anything we could cope with.. I could only imagine just how crowded the city was that day! NO WAY! So we had planned to head back to baltimore and rest.. perhaps see a movie or whatever.. (allowing our poor sick host to rest!) As we were heading back to BMore though.. I decided to call Lisa and see what they were up to for the day. I was really happy that they didnt have any set plans and were up for heading out to breakfast together. The last time I was in Baltimore  (with our sweet friend Shanny) Lisa took us to her favorite breakfast place “cookies cafe” and I loved it.. I was excited to take Steven and the babies there too! Steve tried scrapple. And loved it.. we meant to pick some up.. but forgot. NEXT TIME FOR SURE!

The girls posed with the silly statue/doll they have there.. It was so fun! I just realized that because the weather was cool we wore our sweatshirts/jackets the whole time.. it kinda looks like we wore the same clothes the whole trip! oops!

After breakfast Lisa and Pete took us on a driving tour of the city. T2 had studied all about Fort McHenry and was excited to see it. We drove up there and walked around some. The weather was so pretty.. but the wind was WHIPPING. I was certainly glad I had a jacket on. This Carolina girl’s blood has gotten very thin!

I still think Lisa took her life into her hands being out in the wind with that awful cold.. but  after we saw Ft. McHenry and I picked up a little souvinear for the kids , we went to a park on federal hill to see the view of the city and and the inner harbor. It was so pretty up there.

Id think that by now the girls would have been tired of posing for pictures.. but nope! They posed for “ms lisa” for this cutie.

We spent a good bit of time up on Federal Hill. The girls ran around and had a good time. Although T2 kept getting WAY to close to the edge of where the hill broke off to a drop off down to the harbor!

We dont have the “smooch” photo down to a science like Lisa and Pete do.. but I like this one

After spending about an hour at the park Lisa and Pete showed us more of Baltimore. We saw where both Lisa and Pete work and the girls were exposed to some of what a big city looks like. T1 was mezmerized by the graffiti everywhere. She mentioned it constantly. Im not sure why it was so interesting to her.. maybe that the city didnt cover it up right away. Here in Dillon whenever anyone tags something, or paints anything its repainted right away. Of course being food network Junkies we had to have our photos taken in front of Charm City Cakes.. where the show “Ace of Cakes” is filmed. We saw some bakery staff members bringing cakes out to the van.. we tried not to be tooooo obvious in our gawking. But ya gotta be tourists sometimes!

After our amazing tour of the city we headed back to Lisa’s to rest. We al lazed around and relaxed. We played some serious Wii (Disney Think Fast! was a HUGE hit with the girls.) games and napped some.  We had a late lunch and just relaxed together. It was so much fun to just hang out and not have to run here or there.. Lisa and I got so much time to just get to know eachother and chat. I feel pretty special to have gotten that time with her!

After a lovely afternoon T2 mentioned that she wanted some cold stone ice cream after seeing a shop on our tour.. I didnt realize it was so far away! But Lisa indulged her and the three of us ran out for ice cream for desert after dinner. The place was like 20 minutes away! I couldnt believe it! We also stopped at a Krispy Creme to indulge my hunny for breakfast the next morning. DEFINATLY not a low fat trip! We totally backslid on WW!

When we returned from the ice cream store Pete had manned the grill and we had AMAZING marinated steak and baked potatoes for super. I tell you, we were so SPOILED by the amazing dinners Lisa planned. It was crazy. I keep saying it.. but I really hope they can come down so I can spoil them right back! After dinner we all sat around and chatted after the girls went to bed early. AFter the boys went to bed,  Lisa and I stayed up WAY WAY to late talking and looking at wedding photos.

Soo.. the day didnt turn out like I planned it.. but honestly it was my favorite day of the trip. Sometimes an “unplan” is the best plan!

I cant believe its been so long since I posted.. wow. Its amazing what facebook has done to the blogesphere isnt it? I just dont get to this as often as I once did.. although I am not about to give it up.. I like looking back over my old posts every few months.. kinda shows me where Ive been. ya know?

blah blah blah right? on with the show.. or the tell.. or whatever.

Of course we have been super busy.. so busy in fact I have very few pictures to share of everything that we have been doing! We were somwhere the other day and I told Steven to make sure and get some good shots for the ole blog and GASP! We didnt have a camera among us. rats! So… I am given to filling you in using the bullet system

* I recently started a new job! I know I blogged a little about this. I am really liking my new place. Its hard physical work.. (much more so than being a customer service manager at Shoney’s) There’s a lot of running around the kitchen, chop this, mix that.. make 125 beef and cheese rolls.. make 3 dozen apple hand pies.. now sell them at a street fair. I love that no day is the same as another. Its always something different and pretty fun. The owners are very nice.. they have very high expectations though.. and I am hoping that I will be able to live up to them.  In this economy people have come to expect a big bang for thier payroll buck, and  I wonder if I will be able to hang with what they want me to accomplish. I am trying my very best though, and I cant expect more than that from myself you know? Just when I think I am doing pretty well, getting a handle on the routine or what is expected of me? It changes. Ive been told by other emloyees to expect that though.  One thing I have loved is seeing my ideas and recipes on the “specials board” and seeing people pay for and enjoy MY food.

* We are still at the ball field most nights. Caitlin’s team is officially 2-2. There are some pretty tough teams this year. Last fall Kiwanis ran a fall ball session and those teams played an extra season last year.. so they have a whole 9 weeks (which is light years in little girl softball)  more experience together since most of the kiwanis teams stayed together when they drafted for Rec ball. This has been pretty frustrating for Thing Two since she HATES to lose and is so competitive… especially since she cant play fall ball because it interferes with the soccer season.  I keep telling her not to worry about it and I try to make softball her “fun sport” since she is so serious about soccer… but I have a little perfectionist on my hands.. I wonder where she gets it from?

* Last week we took the girls and went Strawberry picking! It was so fun. (this is the outing where we had no camera BOO!) There are farms nearby that offer “pick your own berries” and after school one day we took the girls and picked two flats of delicious ripe strawberries. This particular farm is where Thing Two went with her preschool every spring. They had a good time wandering up and down the rows.. eating berries and picking some to share. I sure wish we’d have had the camera.

* My parents are home from thier vacation. They seem to have had a really good time.  Hearing all of thier stories made me homesick for my westcoast family. I havent seen them in 9  years.  My mom and I took T2 when she was 2 mos old to a family reunion in Cody Wyoming.. that was even before I met Steven!

Thats about it.. around here.. we are busy bees for sure. I am hoping to finish the trip report from our time in Baltimore.. the last three days of the trip were my favorite days and I cant wait to tell you all about them!