This & That

Hello.

This child has apparently hit a gritchy stage and is keeping his parents up more than not.  You know, there are serious advantages to being a grandparent.  SA kit  & Becky Fleck  sketch.

Down to 2

I will not dwell at length on my emotional state over the past couple of days.  Let's just say that I'm going to get on the treadmill (which I absolutely HATE) to boost my endorphen level.  The college boys left yesterday morning so I am down to 2 kidlets at home.  When we sat down to dinner, there were just the four of us.  DD is all excited, "Mom!  Can we take all the leaves out of the table??  I've always wanted a round table!"  I made the kids pose for a photo shoot the evening before the boys left.  It's a very honest look at my family life.  I just let them go at it. There are also a few shots of the boys' send off.  I'm spending entirely too much time looking at the rear license plates of my kids' cars.  And now I'm going to the treadmill.

First Day of School

So yesterday was the first day of school.  And no, I wasn't literally in the driveway pushing my kids onto the bus, but in my heart I was rejoicing.  And my kids can tell, because I start off the day the same way every year.  If you look at the pancake on this plate, you can faintly see a smiling face. I always greet them with a line from Mulan...."It's your breakfast...and it's happy to see you!"  Of course, the fact that I wake the household up with the "Hallelujah Chorus" from Handel's Messiah might be another clue.  As in, "Hallelujah!  The bickering party that is summer is over!!"  I've discovered that some summers are worse than others and I'm really hoping that as DD gets out of her adolescent snarkiness, things will improve and, who knows, maybe I'll become a big summer fan.  Well, except for the weather....and the bugs...
Both kids were a little worried that they'd get lost at the new, bigger schools, but everyone apparently got where they were supposed to be, when they were supposed to get there and there weren't even any panicked phone calls about forgotten things.  I booted both the college boys out of bed for a photo or two before the young ones were gone.  Notice the "cat that ate the canary" look on their sheet-impressed faces.  They will be headed down to UT for Men's Chorus tryouts tomorrow, but not wanting their mom to go into kid withdrawals, they will be back for the Labor Day weekend.  Then it's cold turkey until Thanksgiving or the first Men's Chorus concert, whichever comes first.
Volleyball notes.  DD played her first game yesterday.  It was an away game in an even more-rural-than-me area of  our world.  Our team won although it's fairly evident that she's pretty far down on the food chain of playing priority.  No matter, college boys and I made the drive to more-rural-than-me land to cheer her on.  I'm going to have to remember the camera next time....and start stocking up on volleyball scrapping supplies....and red and black papers for the school colors.
Lastly, here's a shout out to Renee.....Mary Ruth passed on your very sweet comment.  I appreciate it very much.  Come back any time and set a spell. :)

8 (more) Random Facts :)

OK, so apparently it isn't COOL to stay for the scrimmage, Mom,  so I've been banished back home where I will console myself by setting a batch of bread to rise and catching up on my tag from Jen to post 8 random facts.  I had to really rack my brain for this because I'm thinking you know every detail of my uneventful life, but here goes:

1--It may sound a little woo-woo, but about this time of year, when I'm driving down a certain street in town, I can really feel a shift in the light or something.  It tells me that I only have about a month before I can start enjoying going outside again because fall's coming, baby!  Take that you melt-your-brain temperatures!

2--I make my own bread and have since DH and I got married almost 28 years ago.  We were poor, starving students and then it became a habit, and then we decided we liked it better than store-bought bread.  And in the irony file, my kids think Wonder Bread is a treat.

3--I am not one of those moms that sobs on the first day of school because she's so sad the summer days with her kids are over.  Really.  I'll adapt.   I'm sorry if this destroys any kind of Earth Mother illusions you may have of me, but when my summer consists mainly of trying to smooth over disagreements my kids are having, and the disagreement tally is escalating with each passing summer day, I'm standing out in the driveway ready to shove them onto the school bus.  I did seriously consider home-schooling Preemie Boy, but  eventually decided against it.  I think it was a good choice, but I fret about it.

4--I enjoy a really good chick flick, but given the choice, I'd rather watch an action movie.  Saw the latest Bourne movie last night with DH and really enjoyed it.  I'm the same with books.  Give me a good thriller and I'm happy.

5--I have very mixed feelings about travel.  While theoretically, I'd love to roam all over, especially in this country, in reality I'm very much a home body and it's difficult to pry me out of my nest.

6--The most difficult life issue I'm having right now has to do with my changing role as a mother.  I have raised my children up to be independent people who make rational choices, and when they leave home and do exactly that, I have mixed feelings.  I realize that they will never again need me in the same way they did when they lived under my roof and it brings me up short and has me asking, "Now what?"

7--I am not an athlete.  I do not live to work out. My lumpy shape will attest to that fact. My daughter got some kind of mutant gene that put her on the volleyball team.  I was always the tall, awkward one that was chosen last for teams because I am woefully uncoordinated with anything that involves hand-eye coordination with a ball.  I can whale the daylights out of a Beethoven Rondo, but there you go.  There are two exceptions to this rule.  I love to swim.  Growing up in Southern CA made this a given.  My lumpy shape keeps me from doing it today.  And I can dance.  Really.  I love to dance.  My DH's aversion to it keeps me from doing it today.

8--My dirty little secret......I iron.  Yep, I have a weekly pile that I work through.  My DH wears a shirt and tie every day to work and then there are the Sunday-go-to-meetin' shirts.  When I had five boys living at home, that was a tidy pile.  I don't send them to the cleaners, mainly because I don't want to drive downtown to drop them off and pick them up. So there you go, I iron because I'm lazy....(?)

Scrimmage

DD has a scrimmage this morning, so I'm running.  Hope to be back to take care of an "8 Random Facts" tag a little later maybe.  It's taken me several days to come up with ANY random facts you don't already know...holy cow.  Yesterday's scrapping done with a July Scrap Addict  kit & a Becky Fleck sketch.  I am apparently going through a landscape phase.

The Pluses and Minuses

I've come to realize that there are always advantages and disadvantages to every situation or stage in life.  I'm trying to keep that in mind during this last week before everyone heads in different directions for school. 
(+) I've had more kids at home this summer than I have in three years.
(-) I have to do more laundry and cooking than usual.

(+) My kids are together, bonding
(-) My  boys are bound and determined to irritate the tween girl at every opportunity.  And then they throw their hands in the air declaring, "She's always grumpy!"  (Hmmm, wonder why.....)

(+) With the big boys here, the yard is looking really good.
(-)  They're headed to college next week.....before the growing season is over.

(+) DD made the volleyball team.
(-) They have a holy cow practice schedule.

(+) The garden's in full swing.
(-) Canning is just around the corner.

See what I mean?  A recent layout (done with an August Scrap Addict  kit) that correlates, though.  It's a tweaked lift of a layout that appears in the 9/07 CK on page 21.

The Return Trip

I have arrived back home after a weekend of canning peaches and applesauce, fixing meals for the freezer, visiting a farmer's market, picking blackberries (which grow like weeds there....who and above all, cuddling my grandson.  It was a great weekend.  It was.  That said, and acknowledging that this is probably the age talking, I'm glad to be sleeping in my own bed tonight.  What is it about sleeping in your own bed?  Here are some photos documenting my weekend:

Odds & Ends

A few little things before I leave tomorrow to meet my grandbaby...
#1--Love my roses.  I coddle them shamelessly and love the different colors and smells.  This collection was sitting on my counter yesterday.
#2--Did the Jr. High and High School registration for my 2 youngest today.  Mind-boggling that I won't have a kidlet in elementary school any more.  Makes me feel old.  We got to the Jr. High early to hopefully beat the crowds.  One of DD's friends had a stress ball she was squeezing and it ruptured.....all over the carefully planned school picture outfit.  Sigh.  The DRAMA.  The result was a trip home to change (the neon orange stress ball innard droplets didn't really go with the outfit) and getting back just in time to be one with the crowds.
#3--Jocklette update.  DD tried out for and made the 7th grade volleyball team.  Please do not ask me where any kind of athletic coordination comes from.  While the males in my household can walk/hike for literally miles, put them in any situation that involves a ball and things go downhill rapidly.  So this organized school sports thing  is a totally new experience for us.  And in all honesty, I'm not sure I like it.  Bad mommy.
#4--Headed out early tomorrow morning to catch the grandbaby flight to meet Edward.  I'll be back late Tuesday with a memory card full of photos.  Have a fun weekend!

In a Pickle

Literally.

We have hit that time of year when the garden (except for some really stubborn tomatoes) is in full swing.  We planted a lot of cucumbers this year to replace our dwindling supply of pickles. We are a sweet pickle family and I usually make 4 different kinds during good growing years.....Bread & Butters, Relish, Sweet Dills and my mother's 16-Day Sweets.  Yesterday I spent on the Bread & Butters and Sweet Dills and while I might complain about the time and tired legs that go with it, there's something about those nice, orderly rows of jars that makes you just feel so self-sufficient. 

Only 4 More Days....

Until I get to meet him....but I'm not excited or anything.