Grocery store antics

I hate to take all three of my kids with me to the grocery store. With one it's manageable. You can entertain them while you shop and make the visit a learning experience. For example with my five year old, we count the number of steps it takes us to get to the end of the aisle. Or we find the cereal with a red box. You know fun games like that to keep him entertained so that he doesn't scale the shelves or get away and hide behind the display of jumbo rolls of paper towels only to make my heart flip flop when I don't see him (trust me I have reason to be afraid). With my 8 year old, we compare prices. Like which can of beans cost less. Or which pack of bologna is on sale (like he really cares but it makes me feel like I am teaching him something).With my 12 year old, I can send her to pick up stuff that I have forgotten (however, this isn't working so well because about half the time she returns with the wrong thing). Or we talk about different foods and ways to use them in recipes (she's beginning to get interested in cooking and I hope to encourage her so I don't have to cook).

Going with all three usually spells disaster so I try to schedule my grocery store visits on the weekends when I can go alone or when I only have one child. Today however, I was not able to get to the grocery store before they got out of school so we had to make a quick run to pick up milk and snacks for our weekend trip.

After coming in the store, they headed straight for the free cookie bin which I hate for two big reasons:

1) It really grosses me out to think what has touched those cookies and
2) By the end of the trip they are all sugared up and bouncing off the walls.

But in order to keep the peace for at least part of the trip, I let them have one (but occasionally they will take two with the premise that they have gotten one for me all the while knowing I wouldn't eat those things).

I had a list and was throwing snack food (i.e. things that they never get at home) into the buggy. They weren't whining and begging for stuff because I was actually getting them the things they whine and beg for.

The sugar apparently started to kick in and the boys decided it would be fun to race at top speed down the aisle. So to avoid them knocking over anyone or anything, I put Harrison in the cart. After all racing is not much fun with one.

Haley was pushing the cart (with Harrison in the back) so I could throw faster and we could get out of there. I warned her once about going to fast and she slowed down. But I apparently did not cover all the bases and failed to warn Holden not to climb on the side of the cart while Haley was turning it around (who would have thought?). Out of the corner of my eye, I see the cart starting to tip and Holden tripping backwards. Haley righted the cart just in time. And as I turned around, I saw a whole display of Heineken beer go crashing to the ground.

Now thankfully they were in cardboard boxes and only one whole case broke. But Holden knew he was about to get in trouble and he immediately started saying over and over, "I'm sorry". Fortunately for him, they report child abuser's.

The next best thing to a spanking is to torture them by making them go and tell the manager that they knocked over a display. Of course, he never made it to the front because the noise of the display crashing had alerted someone to the fact that there might be a clean-up needed on aisle 8. So here comes a lady with a huge orange triangle to warn customers to avoid that area. I think perhaps I need a few of those at home.

So after threatening to leave Holden at the store to work off the cost of the beer, we head home. Things got a little quieter after that. Guess they knew not to cause anymore confusion tonight. Good thing.

Haley and the terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day

Not being a morning person, it takes a few minutes for Haley to rouse from bed, especially on a Monday morning after being able to sleep later on Saturday and Sunday. And on this particular Monday, she should have known it was going to be one of those days when she woke up to a little brother poking her and peering at her inches from her face. But, she rose to meet the day, looking only slightly rumpled and dazed.

It only got worse as she dressed, made her bed and (YIKES) remembered that she had not done some of her homework. Yes, it was beginning to look even more like it was going to be one of those days. Things went from bad to worse as she scrambled to access the internet to do her homework only to realize that the internet was not working. After a frustrating 15 minutes of clicking and unplugging and plugging, it was not looking good. Haley would just have to tell her teacher that she had forgotten to do her very first homework assignment. Yep, it was going to be a bad day.

We left ten minutes later than normal to go to school that morning because of the homework fiasco. And lo and behold there was an accident on the road to school. And yes, Haley was late. By ten minutes. Fortunately when she got to school, the bus riders were also late and heading to class. Unfortunately, they had gotten late passes and Haley had not.

So, Haley's homeroom teacher sent her to the office to get a pass. While walking to the office, the assistant principal passed in the hall and asked Haley to step in her office where she explained that Haley's shorts were shorter than the required dress code. (Now here's where I come to her defense because they were not that short. Trust me she wouldn't have left the house if they had been). So she had to call me to bring her some new pants. Fortunately she was able to return to class in an oversized Cario Ambassador t-shirt (which looked more like a dress). Unfortunately, a Cario Ambassador is a rising 7th grader who assists the 6th graders during their orientation. Which of course made some of her classmates ask her if she had to repeat the 6th grade. This was definitely going to be a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day.

Things started to look up a little - well where can you go but up when you are near the bottom? Seems you can fall flat to the bottom. You see Haley had packed her lunch on Friday. She had taken some fresh fruit and did not eat it. Which of course would have been fine had she not forgotten and left it in her lunchbox the entire weekend. And to make things worse, it had leaked. So she was carrying around a bookbag that smelled about as good as she was feeling. Which was rotten.

When I picked her up from school that afternoon (yes that was my third trip to the school that day), I asked how her day was. She looked at me, rolled her eyes and said "Don't ask." Yes, it had been a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day.

But Tuesday was better.

Me, a weirdo magnet

I had technical difficulties with my modem yesterday and unfortunately did not get it working until late last night. By then my brain was fried and I needed sleep so the blog post didn't happen. So obviously computer programming is not or never has been my forte. Sometimes though, I wonder if perhaps I missed my calling and maybe instead of seeking a degree in Communications, I should have stuck with my original goal of being a psychologist. Here's why................


For some reason I have this built in radar that allows needy (and to be honest strange) people to zero in on me. I can be walking down the grocery store aisle and some random person will ask me where the creamed spinach is (even though it's obvious I don't work there) and before you know it, I have learned about their entire life including the fact that their half-sister's teenage daughter has an illegitimate child by a man ten years older than her and has left the child and gone to Utah to become the wife of a polygamist (that's not true but you get the drift, right?).

A while back I went to the post office and the line was out the door which should have been the first sign that I should have left and come back. But, I had important packages to mail and only an hour before I had to pick Harrison up. So I stood in line behind a 50-ish man who proceeded to tell me about his entire career in the NY police force, including his encounters with the so-called mob. Once that had been subject had been exhausted, he then explained his political views and why no one in their right mind would vote for a Republican (not once did I mention my political affiliation, which for the record is Democrat). As a matter of fact, I am not sure I even uttered one word during the entire twenty minutes that I stood in line.

A few days ago, I got a call from this old lady who wanted to get some of my moving boxes. During this conversation (with no prompting on my part) I learned that her children were coming to pack her and move her to an old folks home and that she had been sick for quite some time. Well to make a long story short, I felt sorry for her and since she only owned a small car and she didn't drive much (again part of her story) , I offered to bring the boxes to her. So, I loaded up the boxes and took them out to her (in the rain I might add). While I was there, she told me the rest of her story about losing her husband and downsizing to the condo and getting ill and so forth. Plus, I got the added benefit of seeing (yes she showed me) all the stuff her children were making her get rid of. Poor soul was quite distraught.

But the story doesn't end there, it just gets better. So today, again I get a call from a woman about the moving boxes (note to self: do not advertise in the newspaper again). So I answer the phone "Hello" only to hear "Praise God, I am so glad I finally reached you. I have been praying about getting some boxes and I just knew it was going to work out." Okay, so that is when I should have made static noises and said "I am sorry we have a bad connection" and hung up. But no, being a polite southern girl, I patiently listen and occasionally utter uhuh or mmm, as this woman tells me her life story.

Seems that her husband left her, she is getting kicked out of her condo because it has been sold, she can't find a roommate and she is in a wheelchair with two broken ankles. Not only that she is having surgery tomorrow (I didn't ask why). Plus at one point, she was in a coma and they didn't think she would live but she showed them (her words, not mine). She also lost part of her lip and was bedridden for over 5 years (again, didn't ask). Due to her medical problems, she hasn't been out much so she doesn't know many people but recently started going to church (that's a good thing) and now has 4 new friends (must be saints or equally nutty). And when she was bedridden her nurse stole her pain medications and the person who drove her to her doctor's appointments burned holes in the seat of her car. Oh and I forgot to mention that she collects antiques and used to be an interior designer and a landscaper. I learned all of this just because this woman wanted boxes. I was a little afraid to give her my address. I mean after all that, did I really want this woman to know where I lived? After 30 minutes, we left it that she would call me after her surgery. Why do I torture myself like this?

Things like this keep happening over and over to me making me wonder why I am such a magnet for very strange and needy people. Is it because I actually make eye contact and smile? Do I just sound like a nice person on the phone? Or is it because I was raised to be polite and can't turn people off? Or is it that I have a higher calling? Whatever the reason, I hope that I have made someone's life a little happier just because I listened.

What are the odds

Today Harrison and I went to North Charleston to do a little shopping at the outlet mall. We were in the Gymboree store and I ran into an old friend. We were best friends growing up. But, she was a year younger than me and when I moved on to junior high we sort of drifted apart. Even though we went to the same college, we never really became close friends again. After graduation we both moved on and haven't seen each other or been in close contact in over 15 years. It was such a surprise to see her and to learn that she too had just moved to Charleston.

After we talked, I started thinking what the odds were that I would run into someone I knew in a city this big and in a store at an outlet mall. Which of course got me to thinking about all of the other odds that we encounter in our lives. Like what are the odds I'll win a lottery (probably not real high) or get struck by lightening (higher if you stand out in a storm) or win a marathon (none if you are me since I don't run unless I am being chased). Do we position ourselves in such a manner that the odds of some things are greater than others? Or is it just pure luck?

Whatever it is that determines what happens, I am not alone in wondering about odds. When I did a Google search for "What are the odds", I came up with 15,200,000 results. Now I don't plan to read all of those (what are the odds that I could). But I did find one website that had some really interesting facts.

Have you ever wondered what the odds are that you'll:

strike it rich on the Antiques Roadshow: 60,000 to 1

get a hole in one: 5,000 to 1

catch a ball at a major league ballgame: 563 to 1

survive your first marriage for 15 years without separation or divorce : 1.3 to 1

be on plane with a drunken pilot: 117 to 1

become president: 10,000,000 to 1

be audited by the IRS: 175 to 1

find a four-leaf clover on first try: 10,000 to 1 (maybe if you did the IRS wouldn't audit you)

get an injury while shaving: 6,585 to 1 (bet those were higher in the days of straight razors)

drown in a bathtub: 685,000 to 1

spot a UFO: 3,000,000 to 1 (I know someone who once did. But that's a story for another day)

have a meteor land on your house: 182,138,880,000,000 to 1

contract mad cow disease: 1 in 40,000,000

die from a car accident: 1 in 18,585

die in an airplane accident: 1 in 354,319

As luck would have it (or is it that the odds were in my favor?) I found the answer to one of my original questions. Seems the odds of being struck by lightening are 576,000 to 1 so there is a pretty good chance that I won't have to worry about that one. And while there was no concrete answer to the odds of winning the lottery, if you want to try and calculate your odds, check out the Webmath website.

Now I am not about to become statistician, because honestly I don't like math all that much (well not at all to be perfectly honest). But I can tell you that the odds are pretty high that I will find something (and it may not be recognizable) in the dryer that came from my kid's pockets everytime I do laundry. And the odds are pretty high that my kids will drive me nuts and make me want to pull my hair out at least once during the week. And the odds are pretty high that at least one of my kids will make me laugh (most likely until I cry) and make me forget that they almost made me want to pull my hair out. But the odds are highest of all that when I go to bed at night I will thank God for letting me survive another day.

I've Been Tagged

My good friend Sandy tagged me several days ago and I have yet to respond, not because I didn't want to, but because my life is well, pretty crazy right now. Thankfully in "blogese", tagged does not involve running or chasing. It just means that I was challenged to answer some questions. So here goes:

I'm happiest when....I am barefoot.

Someday I'm going to... fit into a size six again (okay a girl can dream, right?).

When I'm really down, what I want to do is... eat chocolate (which is why that size six is looking elusive).

I feel anxious when...I check my bank account and realize I don't have as much money as I thought I did. (Could it be that I should have passed on that sale at the scrapbook store?)

I like people who... are a little bit country and a little bit rock n' roll.

All it takes to make me happy is... a hug from my kids.

What I really want to do is...be a good wife, mother and friend.

A person really should...never wear white pants with patterned underwear.

If I could do whatever I wanted, I would...sleep late everyday.

Now that you are bored to death, on to something a bit more interesting.

I was in Walmart today looking for a lampshade for Harrison's room. I found this really cute lampshade so I looked and looked for a price on the shelf (all the while mumbling to myself that things should be more clearly marked after all that is one of my biggest pet peeves and how dare Walmart not know this) but couldn't find one so I came to the conclusion that you had to purchase the entire lamp (base and shade) as one. So I said to Harrison I guess we'll have to go find you a shade somewhere else since I don't need the whole lamp. To which he replies, "You could just steal it like I did." Somehow I am guessing that the lesson was not learned.

A friend of mine once said that by just looking at Harrison you would never guess what lies underneath. I don't think a truer statement could have been made. With Harrison you just never know what he will do or say next.

Like last week when I was unpacking the kitchen and Harrison was sitting at the table having a snack. I figured if I could get him to sit still for a little while I might actually get something done so I bribed him with some of that snack mix stuff. I wasn't paying much attention because I was concentrating on which drawer to put the cheese grater in when suddenly it registers on me that some odd sound is coming from across the room. I look over at Harrison and find that he has dumped his entire bowl of snack mix in the flour sifter and is turning the handle and all of the crumbs are falling all over the table and floor. I yell at him to stop and ask him what he thinks he is doing to which he replies "Just having some fun".

Yes, Harrison's fun ultimately leads to work for me. But it's hard to stay mad at him when he bats those long eyelashes and flashes that smile. And if the truth be known I wouldn't have it any other way. What you see is what you get with Harrison. He is what he is and I hope that he will forever stay that way.

First Day of School and a trip to Lowe's

First of all I would like to wish my cousin Spencer a Happy Birthday. I reserve the right to withhold his actual age since it would make me feel old. When I started college, Spencer was a wee little guy in preschool. Now, he is all grown up and working in one of my favorite places, New York City.

Haley and Holden both survived the first day of a new school. Holden seemed to have had a much better day than Haley did. When asked what the highlights of the day were, he said that he made a new friend (although he can't remember his name) and he got to play on a much bigger playground than he had at his last school. On top of that, he didn't feel so alone because there were two other kids in his class that had also moved to Charleston this summer. Haley wasn't so excited about her first day. She couldn't get her lock open to put on her locker so she had to bring it home and her bus was 45 minutes late bringing her home today. On top of that Haley said the cafeteria food was awful and when she says that about food, it must have been really bad. On a good note, she has homeroom with her old best friend (from third grade) and science with our old next door neighbor.

So today while the kids were in school, I was able to get out and run some errands because my dad is in town helping me out. My dad took Harrison to Lowe's to buy some light bulbs for our garage and some other miscellaneous stuff. Apparently Harrison saw some things he liked as well because this afternoon as I was walking to the bus stop, he pulled a key chain out of his pocket and said "Here mom, I got this for you at Lowe's. They were giving them away." I looked over the key chain and didn't see a barcode so I figured that maybe they were giving them away. When we got back home, Harrison and Holden ran inside while I was out in the garage with my dad. Holden comes flying back out of the house with a handful of nuts and says look what Harrison had in his pocket. So come to find out the key chain wasn't being given away. And of course neither were the nuts. Harrison had become a shoplifter at the ripe old age of 5.

After getting myself together (because it was kind of funny), I went inside to talk to him about the seriousness of stealing. I tried to explain how it was wrong and how God didn't like people who stole and when that didn't seem to be working, I explained that people actually went to jail for stealing. He told me not to call 9911 (we can't get him to leave off the extra nine) to have him arrested and put in jail.

My dad decided that he was going to take Harrison back to Lowe's to return the items that he stole and apologize to them. While standing in the return line at Lowe's, Harrison decided he had to go to the bathroom (which of course he does everytime we go in some store). So they head all the way to the back of the store. When they are walking back up front, Harrison was skipping and acting as if nothing were wrong so my dad reminded him why they were there. Harrison looked up and said "Papa, if you tell that woman to take me to jail you are going to be in big trouble." Then he said, "Would you be sad if they took me away?"

When they got back to the return desk, my dad explained to the lady that Harrison had something to tell her. Harrison said "I accidentally stole something." The lady gave him and hug and thanked him for returning the stuff. I am not sure if it will happen again but at least for today I can hope that he learned his lesson. His blessing tonight at the dinner table was "God forgive me for stealing and making Lowe's unhappy."

It has taken me much longer than I anticipated to get back to my blogging. Mind you that I haven't been hanging out on the beach, sunning and enjoying the lull of the ocean. I have been slaving away, moving mountains (of boxes that is), unpacking, and organizing and reorganizing.

I had a car load of stuff to unpack when I got here. It is amazing how much stuff you can fit in a minivan when all the seats are folded down. I think I could have fit a few more things but the tires might have blown. It was a hot one when I drove down. I had the camera between the seats and when the car thermometer hit 111 degrees I had to take a picture. Of course it might not have been the best idea since I was driving 75 MPH down he interstate at the time (but we'll not share that with the kids).

We all slept on air mattresses our first night in the new house. That was as close to camping out as I would like to get. Every time David turned over on the mattress, I flew up into the air and bounced down. The dog thought he should be close to us so he slept with his head propped on the mattress. When David turned over in the middle of the night, Sullivan gave him big doggie kisses on his face. The kids kept losing their covers and every time they turned over the air mattress squeaked and either woke them or me up. So needless to say when 6:30 am rolled around I was so not wanting to get up. But we were all excited that our furniture would soon be there.

It was a good day for the movers to unload because we had a rain shower early that morning and it cooled things off a bit. With the exception of fighting off the flys and mosquito's there wasn't much else that could have been done to make for a more pleasant moving in day.

It has taken me an entire week to get the majority of the boxes unpacked. The packers did an excellent job but at least 200 tress must have died in order for us to move. We unwrapped and unwrapped stuff until we had over HUGE garbage bags full of packing paper. They did such a good job that they even packed the styrofoam cup from Chick-fil-a that David had been drinking out of the day they came to pack us.

I still have a few odd boxes here and there whose contents need to find a home but for the most part I am done. I have a bit of organizing still to do. It's hard to move from house to house because things never fit the same way. Plus we went down in size so I feel like I am trying to cram a size 12 foot in a size 10 shoe. Hopefully the third floor addition that we are planning will alleviate some of the space issue.

The kids are settling in here and have already met some of the neighbors. We have several little 5 year old girls for Harrison to play with (until he goes through the girl hating stage). There is a little boy Holden's age next door. So far Haley hasn't met anyone her age but I am sure that will change once school starts.

Thursday we celebrated Harrison's 5th birthday by eating at his favorite restaurant, Moe's. His Aunt Debbi joined us for dinner. It was a sad day for me because my little boy can no longer be considered a toddler. Even though he outgrew that baby look long ago, I was still holding onto the baby in him. Seems that once they turn 5, they grow up so much.

We visited both Haley and Holden's school last week. Holden met his teacher and got to look at his new class. Haley attended a "boot camp" for rising 6th graders at her new school. Yikes! I don't feel old enough to have a middle schooler. School starts tomorrow for them and they are anxious about making new friends, but excited to have something to do other than unpack.

Harrison will be starting school after Labor Day. He is enrolled in a half day private kindergarten. I was hesitant to send him on to public school this year because of his young age. We'll see how he fairs this year and then decide whether to have him go to full day kindergarten next year or on to first grade. Anyhow, having him home with me half the day is better than sending him full day. That means I get my baby for one more year. Even if he is 5 and thinks he is grown up.

So that about wraps up my week away. I have lots of good stories to share about our week but I think I will save them for another day.

On the road again........

I am sitting here in my old house that is just about empty. If you talk loud enough, you can hear an echo. So if I get bored after awhile and need to hear a voice, I'll just talk loud and I'll be able to hear myself.

The most important things were left behind:
1) a sleeper sofa that will be hubby's bed until he finishes work here at the end of August
2) a television and DVD player so that he doesn't have to stare at the bare walls
3) a refrigerator which doesn't have much in it other than drinks and condiments.
4) And of course my computer and computer table. It was much too important for the mover's to take (plus I would have been lost without it).

The mover's got here a little after 9 yesterday and had everything loaded before 5. Those guys earn their money that's for sure. No way could I ever work in that heat (well and the fact that I couldn't lift anything heavy might not work either). When they were moving we found all kind of funny things behind and underneath the furniture. We found two wads of gum stuck behind the entertainment center, an empty Gogurt tube behind the VCR in the entertainment center, another pair of dirty underwear stuffed behind some shelves (again), and lots of toys and pens and balls.

After the mover's were gone, the hubby and I headed to The Cheesecake Factory for dinner. The food there is okay but the cheesecake is to die for. After dinner, the waitress came to take our dessert order and my hubby, Mr. Never Try New Things When It Comes to Food, ordered Strawberry Cheesecake. His reasoning is that if it isn't broke don't fix it. I on the other hand am always willing to try new foods (which may explain the extra pounds around the middle). After changing my mind a million times, I settled for the turtle cheesecake. And I was not disappointed. Of course, I couldn't finish it so I had to bring it home. Since I am leaving in a few hours, I just decided to go ahead and finish it off for breakfast. I figured I could do that since the kids weren't around to remind me that I never let them eat ice cream for breakfast.

So, now I have to do a little cleaning, unhook the computer, load my suitcases into the car and head to pick up my children. They have been at my parent's house since a week ago Saturday. That's a long time to be away from them and I miss them lots. And I am sure my mom and dad are about ready for a rest.

The furniture won't be arriving until Friday at the earliest but we won't find out a definite delivery date until late today or tomorrow. The kids are anxious to get to our new home so if I can't convince them to stay a few more nights at the grandparent's house, I guess we will be sleeping on air mattresses on the floor. They'll think it's fun (at least for a few nights), kind of like camping out.

I won't have internet access again for at least a week until they come out to hook it up. That is going to be shear torture. But, I imagine I will have a lot to do otherwise. So while I am gone, I'll be gathering some good stuff to share when I return.

Airing dirty laundry

Today was packing day here at the Wood's house. A crew was suppose to show up between 8 and 10 this morning. At 8:30 one man showed up to pack us. I was hoping that he had some kind of help because he was about 60 years old and walked with a limp and could barely make it up the stairs. He said that he would get some help around 11 but they didn't show up until well after 3.

It's a good thing that I am not the sit around and watch you work kind of gal. I decided to help this poor guy out by pulling all the stuff out of the bathroom cabinets. So I started with Haley's bathroom. I think we all have one child that makes our blood pressure rise. My child would be Haley. While she is the sweetest, most polite and caring child, she has a BIG streak of lazy. She and I are on opposite ends of the spectrum here. While I find it difficult to live with a mess, she could care less. So when I opened her bathroom drawers and saw what a mess they were, my blood pressure rose slightly. Now I don't know why I should have been surprised. But honestly it has been less than a month since we last went through the bathroom and cleaned out. There were hairbows in the basket with her toothpaste and flossers mixed in with the Q-tips and hair bands thrown every which way. Poor guy would have had heart failure if he had opened that drawer and seen all that mess. He had already made mention of all the stuff Haley had in her closet (he should have seen it before we packed some up).


So after I reorganized everything, I headed to the boy's bathroom. Things were going well until I got down to the first cabinet. When I opened it, what should be staring me in the face but a pair of dirty underwear which had apparently been thrown in the cabinet in hopes of hiding the evidence. So I pulled those out, tossed them in the trash bag and moved on. I pulled the stuff out of the second cabinet and lo and behold there hidden among the CLEAN towels was another pair of underwear (from the same child). Now I don't consider myself a tyrannical mom. I mean on occasion I have been known to lose my cool but for the most part, I think I am pretty nice. So why the child (whose name shall remain anonymous) felt that he had to hide dirty underwear is beyond me.


Now this isn't the first time. Not long ago, I was downstairs in the half bath and I noticed nasty smudges (I know, eww uck) on the cabinet. I got to looking closer and found a pair of dirty underwear stashed behind the cabinet. I pulled them out and went to the boys and asked (knowing the answer) which one of them had done it. The culprit confessed while the other child smirked. So I returned to the bathroom to clean and guess what? I found another pair of underwear behind the cabinet. And this pair came from the other child. Now both were equally guilty only one had confessed while the other had remained silent. Boys, you gotta love them.

So the packers worked until 7:30 tonight and called it a day. The movers are coming in the morning and the packers will return to finish up. The end is almost near for us at our home in Charlotte. It makes me sad but just the same, I am ready to get settled in our new place. Maybe in our next house, Haley will be a little less messy and the boys will put their dirty underwear in the hamper where it belongs. Well, probably not but I can always hope that a fresh start in our new home will bring about exciting changes.

What a week it was.......

Wow, I can't believe it's been so long since I last posted. Again, I thought I would come home Thursday and have loads of time to sit and catch up on emails and do my blog but I was wrong. Seems time is moving at warp speed around here. Hold onto your hat's folks, you are in for the ride of your life.

Last Saturday we loaded up the crew and headed to Beaufort for a family reunion. I had my van packed to the ceiling with my scrapbook stuff (can we say Beverly Hillbillies?) so Haley and I were the only two riding in the van. David got the boys and the dog, which made for a very interesting trip. Before we were even out of the neighborhood the second time (that's a whole other story) he had to pull over the car and get the dog's attention. Seems Sullivan had quite the attitude and tried to be the boss of David so he had pull over and set the dog straight. I was behind them the whole time and I could see the boys beating each other over the head with their pillows. And Harrison slapping Holden with his blanket. I hate that I missed that (NOT). So anyway, the other part to that story is that we got 20 minutes away from the house and I realized I had forgotten my medication so we had to turn around and hightail it back which added on another hour to our already long journey (oops).

So 5 hours later after we left home, we arrived at the reunion safe and sound although slightly weary from driving in the pouring rain for almost the entire time. Miracle upon miracles it was not raining at my parent's river house where the reunion was being held. It had stopped raining about 10 miles before we arrived and seemed to have passed, at least momentarily. But just as the food was about to be served, the rain finally came and the entire group of about 50 crammed into two small spaces that seemed much smaller when we were all in there. But no one seemed to care as the food was first and foremost on everyone's minds. Well, my dad must have prayed extra hard because not only did the rain pass over us quickly, it remained dry for the rest of the day. Everyone had fun swimming and going to the sandbar.

We stayed at the river the whole weekend. On Sunday, the kids were swimming and the dog wanted to get in with them. So, David started throwing the ball and the dog jumped into the river (after being shoved off a dozen times), swam out and got the ball and swam back to David who then pulled him up on the dock. He did this for a solid hour. Later that afternoon, David realized he had lost his wedding band (for the third time). He walked around and looked but couldn't find it and figured he must have lost it when he was pulling Sullivan out of the water. That afternoon as we were heading out to the sandbar, my dad just happened to look down and there sitting on the dock float was David's wedding band. It had fallen between two boards in just the right place. After a lot of manipulating, my dad was able to get the ring out with a spoon and spatula. Again, my dad must have been doing some praying.

The kids did some kneeboarding. Haley had learned how last year, but this was Holden's first time and he did so good. I am a land lover so I stayed in the boat but that allowed me to take some good pictures. Harrison is still to small to kneeboard so he tried his own version with dad running dad and pulling him along on the raft. Sullivan even had fun chasing the ball and the birds.


On Monday, David and I headed to Charleston, leaving the kids with my parent's. We closed on our new home that morning. I stayed in Charleston until Thursday morning doing some painting and cleaning, while David headed back Monday afternoon to earn the bucks to pay for the two houses. Anyone want to buy a house? I have a spare

Thursday evening I worked at the Creating Keepsakes scrapbook convention in downtown Charlotte. By the time I got home, I was wiped out from my hectic week. Friday morning I got up early and headed back to the convention for a full day of classes and shopping. Tiring work, I know, but someone has to do it. And then again on Saturday morning, I headed back downtown for another full day of classes. Only this time I didn't do much shopping as I had blown my entire budget the first day. At the convention I took 8 classes and made three altered books (a family book in a box, a Girlfriends book and a Disney book), an altered tag album, an accordion mini album, a two page layout for boys, a canvas magnet, two altered notebooks and an altered rolodex. I will be putting those pictures in my photo album (hopefully tomorrow but you know how that goes).

Today, David and I spent the entire day preparing for the packer's to come tomorrow morning. They are suppose to pack our entire house in one day. I will have to see that to believe it. On Tuesday the mover's will come to load our stuff onto their moving van. I have already loaded my car with the remaining scrapbook supplies (and you thought I was kidding about taking it with me).

So that was my week. And this week will probably prove to be even more hectic. I will however be glad when it's all said and done. The kids are anxious to get to their new house and get settled in before school starts. And I am anxious to get my scrapbook stuff unpacked so I can get back to creating.