Yesterday I had an eye appointment...first one in about five years. I do not like going to eye doctors because it is always a depressing experience. But, yesterday was different. The assistant who does all the preliminary tests was very good...efficient, spoke loud and clear, and good at explaining what she was doing. THe doctor was equally good...professional, answered all my questions and spoke loud and clear and I did not even tell them I had a hearing impairment. You would not believe how many eye doctors mumble when then are talking. This doctor even did some research for me and when she found out I have a physical next week, (catching up on all my doctor appts) she said she would send her the information needed for me to go on a treatment plan. Anyway, long story short, it was a good experience.

That afternoon we took my seven year old to meet his teacher and find his desk, put away supplies, etc. First he grumbled about the fact we had to walk to the school (we live so far...two whole blocks...ugh...poor thing). He was happy to see some of his friends from last year are in his class and it looks like the one who gave him some trouble is not...whew!

Last night I made my famous chicken dinner with crescent rolls and corn on the cob...a family favorite. For dessert I made banana chocolate shakes. We watched the Packer game...they lost but it started out great and we would have one at the end but the NFL changed the rules.

Life is good.

The end of summer

A week from today the kids go back to school. My daughter will be in eighth grade and my son will start second grade. I will walk him to school, it is only two blocks away. I asked him if he can help me and let me know if there are any cars coming before we cross the street and he said "Sure". I figure it will be good practice because next year he will start walking by himself. My daughter will probably pick him up after school this year. It is getting too hard for me especially in the winter, the cane does not handle snow and ice well.

I had a great summer and I will miss them when they go back to school. Today I made a robot out of Legos with Luke. But, I have a plan on stuff to do around the house. These are things I planned to do LAST year when they started school but I did not do for whatever reason. THe good news is most of the hard part is done (all the bedrooms have been decluttered and stuff put away).

Soon it will be just me and the dog again. Maybe I can get him to build Legos with me.

Balance

If there is one thing I have learned lately is what I really need in my life is balance...family, health, etc. but it is sooooo hard to do.Perhaps I have balance but I do not even know it. The reason I say that is I like to watch "Wife Swap", a show where two moms switch families for two weeks....the family lives one week as they would normally so the new mom knows what they do, then the new mom has the family live the way her family lives for a week. Usually one mom is really strict and the other mom has no rules. Or one mom is a total fitness nut and the other eats take out every night. One is a neat freak and the other is a slob with two dozen animals who rule the house. After each show, I ask myself where my family would fall in the spectrum and usually the answer is right in the middle. We have some rules but not a whole lot. We eat healthy sometimes, sometimes not. We spend family time together most of the time but not always. We have always had a dog.

Some of the moms on the shows have the kids signed up so they are busy every night after school plus they have daily chores. Some moms do not even make the kids go to school. We have some chores, each kid has one afterschool activity and they each have a couple chores. They both have to go to school and do their best at it...school is the number one priority. We also try to treat each other with respect.

It is funny how I did not know what we had until I sat down and thought about it and hey, I am ok with it! How often does that happen?

Another post

Wow, two posts in one day...how often does that happen? Well, I am waiting for a phone call so I decided to post tonight rather than wait until tomorrow.

When we got back from vacation, some bees decided to build a nest near the roof of our house. It was about the size of a bowling ball. Three times Pete got up on a ladder, at night, and sprayed it. Three times he saw dead bees fall out of it but every morning as he went to work, he saw more live bees.

Finally I asked him if he wanted me to call someone.(This is much better than the time I took our brand new baby and went to my mother's house and said I wasn't coming back until he got rid of the bees that were somehow getting inside the house). He said he would spray it one more time. After that he came in and said to call someone because he had sprayed into the wind and got more stuff on him than the nest.

Today I called the fire department because I remember my mom called them once to have them remove a nest and they did. The lady I talked to said to call back at dusk and she would dispatch the firemen to our house. So, at 7:42 I called and the firemen showed up in their firetruck!(What were they suppose to show up in, a bus?) The kids were outside playing with the neighbor kids and were all excited about it. The neighbors out walking stopped to watch. I am sure they thought my cooking had something to do with the arrival of the firemen but instead they got to watch the guy in full uniform knock down the nest.

Luke wanted a picture of the firetruck and the fireman so Pete took one with his cell phone. Pete was going to tip them but the guy said he was just doing his job and they took off. Isn't it nice when people do something and do not expect anything in return? I may have to send a basket of baked goodies to the firehouse. Don't worry, I won't bake them myself.

Another Luke-ism

The other day I was designing some logos for a group called Prevent Blindness. When I printed it out, it was so tiny, one could hardly see it. Seven year old Luke said, "Mom, that will promote blindness, not prevent it!"

Advice needed

I do not ask for advice often, but today I am (lucky you). If one is asked to be part of a committee for a non-profit event but is ignored and/or often interrupted, does one...

A. Stop going to the meetings
B. Say something
C. Say nothing, keep going and hope to still be a contributor to a worthy cause.

I gotta say I feel like quitting but that seems immature on the other hand I do not want to be with people who are ungrateful and unprofessional...I feel stuck.

I think I know the answer but I am waiting to simmer down.

Bree has a friend over today, the dog and the husband are getting over their colds and both the kids are videotaping their own Olympic events. My favorite so far is the opening ceremony where the seven year old ran all over with a torch pretending to light all the lamps. Although, the raccoon did do some nice flips in his event...placed third I believe. Tonight, the dog has his event...

More on DC

I asked my seven year old son what he liked the best so far in Washington.
"The hotel!" he said.

I replied, "We have been here five days and the thing you like the best so far is the hotel????'

"Oh, um, also the.... Metro!" (For those who do not know, the metro is the train system that takes you to all the destinations).

So much for providing him with a fun and educational experience.

It got better because we went to the zoo and he got to see lots of animals he liked, mostly reptiles.

Another funny thing that happened was when we were walking towards the Lincoln Memorial. My son asked my husband what buildings there were across the park. "Oh, those are just buildings. " he said.

My daughter said, "Ah, dad, isn't that the White House?"

He looked again, "Oh, yeah....that IS the White House!"

Funny...

Washington DC

We had a great day here in the nation's capital. having finally mastered the metro train system, we left early to get to the Archives. Pete and the kids had been there a few days ago and there was a long line so they did not try since it was bery hot and humid. Today was beautiful and only had to wait about ten minutes. We got to see the Magna Carta, the Emancipation Proclamation, the Constitution and the Declaration.The ink on the documents were too faded for me to see so I did not get to see the John Hancock signature but I was ok with it. We also saw a letter from GW asking for supplies for his troops during the Revolution,

From there we walked about a mile to the Holocaust Museum which Breanna really wanted to see. We walked through a section called Daniel's Story...a walk through apartment through the eyes of a boy who lived through it and wrote about it in a diary. Bree and I went to the store and she bought a book and a bracelet to benefit Darfur. I felt sick in the stomach the whole time we were there so I was glad to move on.

Then we headed to Lincoln Memorial where we passed Washington Monument, Jefferson Memorial, WW II Memorial until we finally got to see Abe Lincoln. It was awesome! We then saw the Korean Memorial before seeing the Vietnam Wall. Walking back to the metro we walked past the White House. While we were walking we saw a helicopter and wondered if it was President Bush coming back from China because it seemed odd that there would be a helicopter or any other air ship close to the White House. When got back to the hotel he was on tv talking about the latest developments overseas.

We also saw Mt. vernon and went to the air space museum a few days ago.
. Tomorrow the spy museum nd the zoo before we head home Wed.

Brothers and sisters

Last night at martial arts, the master told a story about a brother and sister who fought a lot. Later, my daughter said she was glad she and her brother do not fight much which got me to thinking about my brother and me when we were kids.

We did not fight much. He is two years older than me and I was not allowed to go into his room. On the rare occasion he invited me in I was so happy! Looking back, the only reason he invited me into his room was to use me as a guinea pig for his many science projects. I recall one time when he called me in and had me put a battery on my tongue. "Did that hurt?" he asks "Nope!" I said. He tried it and got buzzed. He looked at me, "I thought you said it did'nt hurt!" I smiled and skipped out of the room.

Then there was the time he had gotten a motorcycle and wanted to give some cute girl a ride so he added a backrest on to the seat. He asked if I wanted to go for a ride which I was all to eager to go on because I like motorcycles. As we were riding around he kept telling me to lean back on the backrest to see if if was on tight or not.

He must not need me to test anything anymore because now when he calls, it is to talk to Pete. Brothers...

(Ok, he is a good brother and helped move like ten times and he always seemed have an awful cold when I was moving). I think he still has a cold....

Strange Couple of Days

Man, I have been feeling a little strange lately. First, I wish this whole Brett/Packer thing would be resolved so the rest of us can move on. I am an impatient person and hate waiting for people to make a decision so somebody decide already! (I think they should let him fight for the position, if he wins it then he deserves to be the starter, if not, then retire....again).

But, other things have happend to put things in perspective. Last week we learned two girls were attacked in the house right next door to the house we used to live in. Now, this was a very nice, pleasant neighborhood. I got a sick feeling when I heard about it. Then, some guy shot and killed some kids near a bridge where Pete and his brother use to hang out.

This has made me a little down....don't want to do anything or go anywhere even more so than usual. To make myself feel better, today I watched two movies I had not seen before and they were both funny. One was 'Cheaper by the Dozen 2" which I thought was better than the first one. I love Steve Martin and Bonnie Hunt. Then, "City Lights" was on with Charlie Chaplin. Hilarious, especially the boxing scene. I would recommend it to anyone who needs a good laugh.

Soon we will be leaving on our trip to D.C. ...lots to do before we leave.