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Sunday, June 29, 2008
Holy Hot Batman!
We are home.
I love Michigan weather.
Its the best.
On my do-dad weather thingy, it tells me that in Key Largo its 84 but feels like 95. Trust me, its HOT. Really hot.
I love Michigan.
We had a GREAT time.
I loved the palm trees, and the blue-green clear ocean water. Awesome.
Details and pictures to follow.
Praise the Lord its only 72 degrees here in M-Town.
I love Michigan weather.
Its the best.
On my do-dad weather thingy, it tells me that in Key Largo its 84 but feels like 95. Trust me, its HOT. Really hot.
I love Michigan.
We had a GREAT time.
I loved the palm trees, and the blue-green clear ocean water. Awesome.
Details and pictures to follow.
Praise the Lord its only 72 degrees here in M-Town.
Thursday, June 19, 2008
Driving Miss Shari
I survived.
This was a long, stressful day. Busy. That's an understatement.
Again, I lived to tell about it. Trying to be dramatic here.
Me and Matt had a 10am appointment for his road test today. His birthday. Exciting! He was nervous. I was nervous. The plan was to go to Josh's work, leave the van and then use his car for the test. Cars are easier, right? I woke Alec up and took him with us, because around noon today was Daniel's birthday party at the skating center. No use running back and forth, right? Right. Remember that I said that.
So the three of us head into town. We go downtown to practice parallel parking. Matt is very nerved up about that. I'm barking orders at him, making it worse. It wasn't my intention, but I've got a lot on my mind. I'm also trying to stop coughing. I'm coughing my head off and its irritating him. After driving around in circles for about a 1/2 hour, we go to get Josh's car.
The three of us get into Josh's car and begin to take it out of the parking lot. Some guys are watching us, looking at us suspisciously. Leap ahead to when Josh gets home: He tells us that those same guys reported to Josh immediately that some people were driving off in his car. Anyhoo. Matt is NOT comfortable driving Josh's car. He has always used the van and finds out that he is actually more comfortable using the van. We go back and switch vehicles again.
I'm still coughing. I'm now getting a headache. We have about 9 minutes until our scheduled time. I'm in desperate need of some TH coffee. Matt rolls his eyes and says we don't' have enough time. I tell him we do and get movin'. We fly through the drive-thru and away we went.
We get in there, fill out paperwork and pay the lady, who turns out to be our instructor. Her name is Susan and her birthday was yesterday. As we are about to leave, she looks at me, looks at Alec and then looks back at me, "Now you know that he can't go with us, don't you?" Huh? It's the rules I guess. So I have to leave Alec behind. She leads him to a room that has legos and a Ninetendo 64. I feel like a horrible parent. Alec looks fine. Good thing he is number four. Number one definitely wouldn't have gone for that at eleven.
For forty-five minutes, I watch Matt parallel park, back into a parking space, honk the horn, drive onto the expressway, drive through down-town, fly through a yield sign (gasp!) and then drive us back safely to the driving school. I was in the seat directly behind him. His eyes met mine in the rear view mirror when he went through the yield sign. My eyes were wide with horror. I'm sure that was good for his stress level. I know it was for mine.
He passed the road test! Whew. We got our certificate and Alec, of course, and were on our way to Meijer. Time to get some last minute stuff for our trip.
After that, we had a few minutes to spare before taking Alec to the party. I took the boys to TH for muffins and their free iced coffee that was being promoted for today. Then we head up to the skating center.
Kristie pulls up and Daniel gets out with his friends. He doesn't look good. Oh. He runs over to the grassy area just off the parking lot and begins to throw up. Kristie is beside herself and doesn't know what to do. I try and calm her down and evaluate the situation at hand. I have nothing else going on, right? Does he want to come home with me? She asks that I go and get him some medicine. He is also complaining of a headache. Long story short: he gets the medicine, goes inside to hole himself up in the bathroom and I end up leaving with just Matt. We are about a third of the way home and I'm talking to Tammy on my cell phone when Kristie beeps in. Can I come back and get Daniel? Sure!
It's 1:30 when we finally get home and Rachel has a dentist appointment at 2:40 to get a tooth pulled (poor thing). I had told Matt that I would take him back up to Lapeer to get his driver's license. We need to do it BEFORE Rachel's appointment because we had made arrangement with Krista to meet her in Lapeer before 2:30 so she could take Matt to her neice's Dad's work to meet him. It was requested by the Dad because he didn't know Matt, who would be going out to the movie's with his daughter later in the evening, so Matt was obeying the rules. We have little time to find all of the necessary documents that are now needed to get a driver's license. Birth certificate. Nope, its not where it should be. Looking all over for that. Find it with some paperwork John put aside when he bought one of the trucks. Look in Matt's baby book to see if his social security card is in there. Nope. Dig through all of his baby stuff searching. Finally find it. Now the list also states that we need at least four other types of documents to prove his identity. Great. We are digging through everything. It's 1:50 and it's time to go. Hurry!
We get to the S-o-S's office and they aren't real busy. Whew. We are done by 2:15, just enough time for me to rush home and get Rachel. Literally.
Fast forward to later in the evening. I need to clean up the stuff strewn all over Alec's room from our search for documents. I keep the baby books and memory stuff in a box at the top of Alec's closet. I always have. I sit on the bed and go through all of Matt's stuff. Congratulations cards from when he was born. Letters I had written to him, one on the eve of his first birthday and the other when he was 18 months old. I read through the Oakland Press newspaper that was dated June 19, 1992. Then I scoot over to the floor and read through his baby book. Wow. You forget all that. Emergency room visit at five weeks. Sucking his thumb for a short time. Christmas presents. Birthday parties. Another emergency room visit at two and a half.
All that reflecting on my second baby boy while he was actually out to the movies with Josh, Krista and Krista's neice, who is a little younger than him.
Now, the true test. If he wants to, he can actually drive somewhere, by himself! I think I just felt sixteen new grey hairs sprout on my head.
This was a long, stressful day. Busy. That's an understatement.
Again, I lived to tell about it. Trying to be dramatic here.
Me and Matt had a 10am appointment for his road test today. His birthday. Exciting! He was nervous. I was nervous. The plan was to go to Josh's work, leave the van and then use his car for the test. Cars are easier, right? I woke Alec up and took him with us, because around noon today was Daniel's birthday party at the skating center. No use running back and forth, right? Right. Remember that I said that.
So the three of us head into town. We go downtown to practice parallel parking. Matt is very nerved up about that. I'm barking orders at him, making it worse. It wasn't my intention, but I've got a lot on my mind. I'm also trying to stop coughing. I'm coughing my head off and its irritating him. After driving around in circles for about a 1/2 hour, we go to get Josh's car.
The three of us get into Josh's car and begin to take it out of the parking lot. Some guys are watching us, looking at us suspisciously. Leap ahead to when Josh gets home: He tells us that those same guys reported to Josh immediately that some people were driving off in his car. Anyhoo. Matt is NOT comfortable driving Josh's car. He has always used the van and finds out that he is actually more comfortable using the van. We go back and switch vehicles again.
I'm still coughing. I'm now getting a headache. We have about 9 minutes until our scheduled time. I'm in desperate need of some TH coffee. Matt rolls his eyes and says we don't' have enough time. I tell him we do and get movin'. We fly through the drive-thru and away we went.
We get in there, fill out paperwork and pay the lady, who turns out to be our instructor. Her name is Susan and her birthday was yesterday. As we are about to leave, she looks at me, looks at Alec and then looks back at me, "Now you know that he can't go with us, don't you?" Huh? It's the rules I guess. So I have to leave Alec behind. She leads him to a room that has legos and a Ninetendo 64. I feel like a horrible parent. Alec looks fine. Good thing he is number four. Number one definitely wouldn't have gone for that at eleven.
For forty-five minutes, I watch Matt parallel park, back into a parking space, honk the horn, drive onto the expressway, drive through down-town, fly through a yield sign (gasp!) and then drive us back safely to the driving school. I was in the seat directly behind him. His eyes met mine in the rear view mirror when he went through the yield sign. My eyes were wide with horror. I'm sure that was good for his stress level. I know it was for mine.
He passed the road test! Whew. We got our certificate and Alec, of course, and were on our way to Meijer. Time to get some last minute stuff for our trip.
After that, we had a few minutes to spare before taking Alec to the party. I took the boys to TH for muffins and their free iced coffee that was being promoted for today. Then we head up to the skating center.
Kristie pulls up and Daniel gets out with his friends. He doesn't look good. Oh. He runs over to the grassy area just off the parking lot and begins to throw up. Kristie is beside herself and doesn't know what to do. I try and calm her down and evaluate the situation at hand. I have nothing else going on, right? Does he want to come home with me? She asks that I go and get him some medicine. He is also complaining of a headache. Long story short: he gets the medicine, goes inside to hole himself up in the bathroom and I end up leaving with just Matt. We are about a third of the way home and I'm talking to Tammy on my cell phone when Kristie beeps in. Can I come back and get Daniel? Sure!
It's 1:30 when we finally get home and Rachel has a dentist appointment at 2:40 to get a tooth pulled (poor thing). I had told Matt that I would take him back up to Lapeer to get his driver's license. We need to do it BEFORE Rachel's appointment because we had made arrangement with Krista to meet her in Lapeer before 2:30 so she could take Matt to her neice's Dad's work to meet him. It was requested by the Dad because he didn't know Matt, who would be going out to the movie's with his daughter later in the evening, so Matt was obeying the rules. We have little time to find all of the necessary documents that are now needed to get a driver's license. Birth certificate. Nope, its not where it should be. Looking all over for that. Find it with some paperwork John put aside when he bought one of the trucks. Look in Matt's baby book to see if his social security card is in there. Nope. Dig through all of his baby stuff searching. Finally find it. Now the list also states that we need at least four other types of documents to prove his identity. Great. We are digging through everything. It's 1:50 and it's time to go. Hurry!
We get to the S-o-S's office and they aren't real busy. Whew. We are done by 2:15, just enough time for me to rush home and get Rachel. Literally.
Fast forward to later in the evening. I need to clean up the stuff strewn all over Alec's room from our search for documents. I keep the baby books and memory stuff in a box at the top of Alec's closet. I always have. I sit on the bed and go through all of Matt's stuff. Congratulations cards from when he was born. Letters I had written to him, one on the eve of his first birthday and the other when he was 18 months old. I read through the Oakland Press newspaper that was dated June 19, 1992. Then I scoot over to the floor and read through his baby book. Wow. You forget all that. Emergency room visit at five weeks. Sucking his thumb for a short time. Christmas presents. Birthday parties. Another emergency room visit at two and a half.
All that reflecting on my second baby boy while he was actually out to the movies with Josh, Krista and Krista's neice, who is a little younger than him.
Now, the true test. If he wants to, he can actually drive somewhere, by himself! I think I just felt sixteen new grey hairs sprout on my head.
Wednesday, June 18, 2008
Not So Enjoyable
Watching my beautiful flowering plum tree sway in the extremely high winds from the bad storm we had a week ago. The roots were popping out of the ground! I was watching out the front window with my hand over my mouth, going "no!!!!" John has since fixed it.
Realizing that we should've worn jackets to the zoo when it was far cooler outside than I had planned for and it was rainy. But then the sun came out. Yay!
Cancelling our phone line that we've had since 1997 thinking Vonage would be great. NOT. After plugging in the new box to our ethernet doo-hickey, taking the blue wire and plugging that into the blue spot on the box, careful to only put the other wire from the other wire to the yellow spot indicated on the box, following the instructions to a T, and spending no less than one hour on the phone with Vonage, it didn't work. So, they immediately sent us out a new box. That box was faulty. Well, the new box wasn't faulty, but after the whole ridiculous routine of plugging and unplugging, it still didn't work. John called AGAIN and got no where. So we cancelled it. I'm going to be calling around tomorrow to get a normal phone service again. Maybe even get lucky and get our "old" phone number back. Stay tuned.
Trying to order a pay-per-view movie last night with the kids to no avail. That's cause we DON'T have a PHONE line that is needed. Nice.
Waking up yesterday morning with a horrible sore throat. Losing my voice yesterday. Coughing. Hacking. Sinus drainage. Waking up again this morning feeling horrible. Diagnosis: Sinus infection. Nice. Prescription: Amoxicillin. Whew. Anticipated outcome: Feeling way better in 24-48 hours. Just in time to, you know.
Actually, I'm very blessed. I don't have much to complain about. But it doesn't hurt to whine every once in a while.
Realizing that we should've worn jackets to the zoo when it was far cooler outside than I had planned for and it was rainy. But then the sun came out. Yay!
Cancelling our phone line that we've had since 1997 thinking Vonage would be great. NOT. After plugging in the new box to our ethernet doo-hickey, taking the blue wire and plugging that into the blue spot on the box, careful to only put the other wire from the other wire to the yellow spot indicated on the box, following the instructions to a T, and spending no less than one hour on the phone with Vonage, it didn't work. So, they immediately sent us out a new box. That box was faulty. Well, the new box wasn't faulty, but after the whole ridiculous routine of plugging and unplugging, it still didn't work. John called AGAIN and got no where. So we cancelled it. I'm going to be calling around tomorrow to get a normal phone service again. Maybe even get lucky and get our "old" phone number back. Stay tuned.
Trying to order a pay-per-view movie last night with the kids to no avail. That's cause we DON'T have a PHONE line that is needed. Nice.
Waking up yesterday morning with a horrible sore throat. Losing my voice yesterday. Coughing. Hacking. Sinus drainage. Waking up again this morning feeling horrible. Diagnosis: Sinus infection. Nice. Prescription: Amoxicillin. Whew. Anticipated outcome: Feeling way better in 24-48 hours. Just in time to, you know.
Actually, I'm very blessed. I don't have much to complain about. But it doesn't hurt to whine every once in a while.
Tuesday, June 17, 2008
Things I've Enjoyed This Week
My new Tim Horton's concoction: ordered black and then mixed with powdered cream and the new flavored splenda, caramel. Yum!
Listening to my new Hillsong United cd that I got from the Cummings family for my birthday. Love it.
Working outside, finishing up planting my flowers and weeding. It was BEAUTIFUL outside last Saturday.
All six of us talking about our very upcoming vacation. We are so long overdue.
Swimming in the pool with Rachel. Awesome.
Worshipping my Lord. Always.
Loving on Micah. Always.
Watching Matt walk across the backyard from the pool when he heard the UPS truck pull into the driveway with his much anticipated package. He seen me watching him and gave me a smile with a thumbs up. Cute.
Talking with Mom on the phone. We used to do that so much more.
Getting a belated birthday greeting and balloon from Janelle, Kathryn & little David at my work. Sweet!
Telling the kids, "Happy last day of school!" Whew.
Going to the zoo with Rachel. Fun.
Walking around outside, enjoying each beautiful petal on each flower.
Going to Stephen's open house Friday evening. What a guy. So proud to know him. I love that family!
Secretly buying coffee for the older couple behind me in the drive-thru. This world is so fast paced and so often rude, but doing one small nice gesture makes the sun shine a little brighter. Try it yourself if you haven't.
Greeting a new family at church Sunday morning.
Making "edible campfires" with the kids last Wednesday evening. Using a sugar cookie, frosting and some candies, we were able to teach the kids tips on being safe around a campfire, for their upcoming camp weekend.
Taking a Sunday afternoon nap. Well, at first it wasn't enjoyable because I had a splitting headache.
Stay tuned for the not so happy moments. Those are always sure to follow.
Listening to my new Hillsong United cd that I got from the Cummings family for my birthday. Love it.
Working outside, finishing up planting my flowers and weeding. It was BEAUTIFUL outside last Saturday.
All six of us talking about our very upcoming vacation. We are so long overdue.
Swimming in the pool with Rachel. Awesome.
Worshipping my Lord. Always.
Loving on Micah. Always.
Watching Matt walk across the backyard from the pool when he heard the UPS truck pull into the driveway with his much anticipated package. He seen me watching him and gave me a smile with a thumbs up. Cute.
Talking with Mom on the phone. We used to do that so much more.
Getting a belated birthday greeting and balloon from Janelle, Kathryn & little David at my work. Sweet!
Telling the kids, "Happy last day of school!" Whew.
Going to the zoo with Rachel. Fun.
Walking around outside, enjoying each beautiful petal on each flower.
Going to Stephen's open house Friday evening. What a guy. So proud to know him. I love that family!
Secretly buying coffee for the older couple behind me in the drive-thru. This world is so fast paced and so often rude, but doing one small nice gesture makes the sun shine a little brighter. Try it yourself if you haven't.
Greeting a new family at church Sunday morning.
Making "edible campfires" with the kids last Wednesday evening. Using a sugar cookie, frosting and some candies, we were able to teach the kids tips on being safe around a campfire, for their upcoming camp weekend.
Taking a Sunday afternoon nap. Well, at first it wasn't enjoyable because I had a splitting headache.
Stay tuned for the not so happy moments. Those are always sure to follow.
Mattie Jake
My Matthew will be sixteen years old in two days. Wow. He's going to be driving, and he cannot wait. I'm excited for him, of course, but its another worry for me as a mother.
This is one hard working guy. He has put so much time into this truck project. He has been spending so much time in the garage sanding the body, getting it ready for paint. I'm so proud of his efforts. He will be so proud of this great accomplishment.
He is very excited also to get a job. He's been wanting to work to save some money, but its hard to find a job before you are sixteen. He will be going and talking to Josh's old boss at the Foodland soon, so maybe he'll be working there to start. I'll be so proud to walk in the store and see my second son working hard, if he ends up there.
Matt is back into skateboarding. Not "hard core", but in the few moments he has for fun, while not working on his truck, he is enjoying the old tricks. For his birthday, he picked out a new skateboard and hopes to take it to the Keys on vacation. He picked up golfing last summer and wants to do more of that also. He looks forward to driving himself to the golf course or driving range soon.
This kid is so easy to please. Whenever he gets something, anything, he is SO appreciative. He always has been. I'm not talking BIG items, just simple stuff.
He is also one-track minded. This too he has always been. When he wants something, he goes after it 100 %. This he has proven over and over.
This guy has a 1,000 watt smile and I love to see it. He has big plans for the evening of his birthday and since those plans have been made, his smile has been huge. Its fun seeing him excited, because he doesn't hold back.
Whatever he decides to do in life, I know that he will work hard to excel in it.
This once extremely strong-willed little boy has grown into a fine young man.
Saturday, June 14, 2008
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