Rainy Day

MD is home which is unusual. He volunteered at the All-Star 5K run is St. Louis this morning, and was home by 11:30. Which meant that he would not be working in a basement today. Normally that would be great, as we rarely get to spend time together. But it is raining, and I mean big time, sideways, thunder and lightening raining. Now he is antsy and wants to go do something. Unfortunately we have additional children here. Mikayla had a sleepover with two of her girl friends and Devin has a friend over (one of the only boys we do like) so I refuse to leave the house with it full of unsupervised children.

MD decided to give them an ETA for departing. They have an hour, which means he is going to get me to venture out into this mess.

Meanwhile rainy days for me means ..... decorating. Even if it is only really dreaming.

We want to put a fireplace in our pack yard. We had a bid a couple of months ago for one. First I did not like the rendering they came up with, and two ...... HOLY CROW it was expensive. For now it is on the wish list again. Need to save up for that one. I can not believe how expensive fireplaces are. The bid we got was for about 1/2 of what we spent on the entire front of the house! We were not expecting that high of a price. And the fireplace they drew was just a plane jane type. I would really hate to see what we really want would cost.

I drew up picture yesterday what I would "like" it to look like. Surfed on the net today for other options and here is what I cam up with:

Of course the drawing I did IS NOT on here, I do not care do embarrass myself like that here. I do enough of embarrassing myself other ways. But it is similar to these except shorter sides, wider in the middle, and the top has a more curved stack, but still looks very much like these. I wonder how much it will really set us back.

Wishfull dreaming I guess.

Mastercard Moment

No Doubt/Paramore Concert Tickts = $30

Soda, Water & Popcorn = $19

Concert Tank Top = $40

A night out with my daughter Mikayla .......

PRICELESS!

I took Mikayla out to a concert last night, we had "lawn seats", sat on a blanket, bounced to music, and had a wonderful night together.

Mikayla wanted to go to the concert just to see Paramore (the opening group) but ended up totally enjoying No Doubt with Gwen Stefnai. She did not think she would like No Doubt, she said they were an "OLDE" band! Wow that did make me feel old. She ended up liking them just fine and we ended staying for the entire concert.

Bye Bye Francis Howell High... At Least how I Knew It

If you don't know, or don't live in the area the Francis Howell School District has decided to rebuild Francis Howell High School as a single building facility. The costs to connect, enclose, and repair the existing A, B, C, D, G, and H Buildings is almost as costly as it is to build a new facility.

For you Alums who don't remember the buildings:

A: Art, English, A Office, Activities Office
B: Social Studies/Foreign Language (now Howell Union High for at-risk kids on the first floor)
C: Math, Science, Business, Home Ec, C Office, Guidance Office, Attendance Office, Nurse
D: Industrial Tech
G: Old Gym, Cafeteria, Library, and those shady ass sketchy classrooms in the basement for Health and Driver's Ed
H: Horticulture & Agriculture (yeah... it was that kind of school)

The new gym and auditorium that opened in the early 1990's will remain, but gone will be portions of the A Building all of the B, C, D, G, and H buildings. Has anybody ever figured out why there was no E Building or F Building?

If you think about it... the school has been on the same site since 1881 when it was the Howell Institute so this is by no means the first rebuild... most of us can still remember the old Army barracks that were on the site adjacent to the A Building. Since I attended (many years ago) they have since been bulldozed to build Gym #2 and the Auditorium.


The Thomas Howell Cemetery across the road

A OLD grave of one of the Howell's

The current Howell is a mash-up of different buildings from 5 different decades and there are 2 gyms (at one time there were 3 until the oldest gym was converted to a weight training room).


I do not ever remember having a problem with weapons "on-campus". But we did live (at the time) in a very rural area so many people had their hunting rifles hanging in their windows of their trucks.


But I do remember people bringing alcohol to school!


The two newer high schools in the district: Francis Howell North (which didn't open until 1987... some 106 years later.. and graduated their first class in 1991) and Francis Howell Central (which opened in 1997 and didn't graduate their first class until 2001) are single buildings with nicer amenities and better layouts.


This will be an exciting change for the old alma mater. So here's to you FHHS... for 128 years old, you just keep on getting face lifts... never mind the botox... Vikings don't screw around.




Yes, I went to the school where the kids paint crap on the highway in front of it. But when I went to high school we did not bother with the road, we climbed the humongous water tower and painted graffiti on it.

Ants in your pants

Did you ever have the feeling like you had ants in your pants? I mean, antsy feeling, not being able to sit still, can't sit for any length of time?

I could not sit still last night. But I did not really feel like doing anything productive. Went for a walk, sat and chatted with a neighbor, walked again. Could not get rid of that ants in your pants feeling.

Even tried going to bed, no luck, was 11 pm before I could even think of closing my eyes. Of course I paid for that today. And still kind of antsy.

Ever feel that way, and if so how did you get rid of it?

Happy Independence Day

Happy 4th of July Blog World!

As we celebrate this our independence day, Please remember to keep all of our military men & women in your thoughts and celebrations.

I Miss My Baby

Felicia is having a travel experience I have only dreamed about. I am excited for her but I am now missing her, terribly. I do not know why it feels different than her just being 3 hours away at school, but it does.

Pictures from her London Trip

Pictures from Paris

I do get to talk with her everyday, so I do not know why I am feeling the way I am. Maybe because of the issues with Devin, who knows.

Maybe it is that empty nest thing. I mean really, the other two are NEVER home. Now sometimes I am glad for the peace and quiet. Its just it does make me miss certain things we all use to do together, when everyone got along, when looking back, it seemed easier.

SUCKER

Well I finally broke down and got our youngest daughter a cell phone. I did explain that she was now to do everything asked of her. And with the warning laid out, and with her agreement, she was told if not THE PHONE WAS GONE.

I grilled the poor sale guy. I wanted to know what the difference between plan A to plan B to Plan C. What happens if.........when charges applied. We were there for over an hour. My youngest was starting to get impatient. But I want to know the differences between phones, plans, contracts all of it.

I have had the same cell phone for the last 8 years. The sales person laughed when he saw the phone I had. I just looked at him and said, now you see why all the questions. PLUS he looked up my account, I pay only $37 a month for my current cell plan. Again he looks at me, and again I response..again see why all the questions?

Well we left the Sprint store with two new cell phones, one for me (I really needed one) and one for Mikayla. Of course with a very long list of rules. We shall see if she can follow them.

This is my new phone the Rant

This is Mikayla's Rumor

On a side note: I thought for sure when Devin found out there would be hell to pay. At first, there were a few sparks. I explained that Mikayla stays out of trouble, completes school work and passed her classes, does things around the house when asked, and does not speak to her parents like we were trash. He of course would be getting the same if he could turn himself around and complete the same.

No more arguments. ????????? What was with that? He even went upstairs and was NICE to Mikayla. They sat in her room for over an hour with no arguments. Okay....... I am speechless.

WOW he can do what needs to be done to get out of trouble. Let us see if maybe he will start being better and continue to improve his behavior and attitude.

The Fool

I did something this morning I have never allowed since I have been on Facebook. I did a "quiz" and "allowed" my information to be out there.

I took a Tarot Card reading. My result:

Your Tarot reading drew the fool card. Your fortune is good, the fool reveal's a upcomming New beginning in your life. There is promis of new opportunities and adventure in your near future. Soon clue's about this new direction will present themself. Keep an eye out for them.

Pretty much read as answers to questions I answered. Do not hold much for this reading.

Wordless Wednesday

Had to share some pictures from Rachael who writes at Huse Blog is it anyway.

She has a VERY brave daughter........

And a crazy friend.........yes I have met her and Rachael. Rachael was in town visiting family and I met up with them at a local pub.

This expression is defiantly shows their personalities. Simply wonderful and fun to be around.

Oh, and by the way, the snake..... is fake.

New Bragging Rights.

Wanted to brag a little on my eldest (needed happy thoughts anyway). She has been in Italy studying for the past month. She got an A for the semester! Which was typical Felicia (until college that is).

Carolina Roomies

She has also been country hopping, which I have encouraged strongly. Seriously when is she ever going to get another chance like this again. Especially if she follows through with her plans of getting MARRIED next year.

So every time she talks of friends going on a trip somewhere I push her into going. Some trips there was no pushing required. Like Dublin, she has now visited there twice and absolutely loved it. Said this was her favorite place of all countries. "Fresh and Green" she stated. Well duh, it rains a LOT and is cool there even in the summer.

She has only told me of one or two more trips for the next month. I know one is Rome, I of course can not remember where else she said she was going to go (I know bad mom). But she has told me of so many places that I am now getting confused.

She has been to Florence (of course this is where she is going to school). Venas, Napels, Pompe, Ireland (twice), London, and Paris. Again she has ONLY been there a month!

She is making friends while she has been there, and I am hoping that she will stay in touch with these young ladies when she gets home. Of course you know me, I am already planning trips for her to take to visit them after she returns home.

I was hoping though that she would have posted on her blog or facebook more and if not that at least posted pictures. Nope not my kid, she makes me stalk her friends FB pages and get pictures from them!

How can I live through her adventures if she does not at least let me see where she has been!

Stubborn kid!

At least I know she is eating!

I talk to her almost every day (and yes that has increased my phone bill a bit. But I figure the $35 I spent on the phone bill is totally worth hearing her stories every day about what is going on. And thought it does not look like she spends much time in school, she is in class from 7 to 12:30 Monday through Friday.

She has new roommates this semester (her roommates form 1st semester only stayed a month), luckily her NY friends are there for the same length as Felicia. She does tend to run through bouts of homesickness when she does not have familiarity. This semester with her NY friends still on their whirlwind trip (Felicia came back early she did not want to go to Scotland) and Felicia moving in with her new roomies, she went through a short bout of homesickness. Luckily the NY girls were home within a day or two so she got over it pretty quickly this time.

Thanks NY girls!

And though I miss her terribly I do hope that she is having the time of her life.

And yes my savings account is taking a bit of a hit, it has been worth every penny to know she is having and experience of a life time.

Day 3 of Vacation 2

What a totally LAZY day.

I started out with all the good intentions of getting things done. BUT the kids decided to sleep late, I mean really late, like noon late.

So while I sat in front of the TV waiting for the kids to get up, so I could start my day, I watch The Next Top Model. Then next thing I knew it was 3:30 in the afternoon and the kids and I had to get to a dentist appointment.

So much for a productive day.....maybe tomorrow will be a productive day.

At least the weather is amazing, I picked a perfect week to be off. Mid 80's all week. WHOOT!

Day 2 of Vacation 2

Seeing how I was sick almost the whole time of vacation 1 and it rained 3 of the 5 days, I was unable to get the things completed that I had intended.

Day 2 of vacation 2 was very productive. MD and I got the deck cleaned and the back part of the house washed. Laundry done, some house work done, got all the bills paid and balanced the check book.

Then about 2 we sat by the pool enjoying the amazing weather. Jodi came with her rotisserie machine and we put on a fabulous pork loin. OMG I need one of these machines, just set it and forget it.

Then we watched a couple of movies and the fireworks show that Delmar Gardens put on. That is a retirement community across the way. and every year they have a festival of sorts and at 9pm they put on a wonderful fireworks show.

What a great way to end a good day.

Day 1 of Vacation Number 2

I again am on vacation! I am lucky as I get 5 weeks a year, and with the way I take them it will give me over 6 weeks. See I always have taken my vacations on Holiday weeks. So with the holidays taking over a day of my vacation that leaves me with and extra week. Cool hu?

Yesterday was my first official day of vacation for the 4th of July week. I spent it hanging out with a friend in our pool. After MD got home he decided that we all needed to go to the casino (of course I did not argue this) and go out for dinner. So off to Ameristar the three of us headed for the buffet then gambling.

Jodi decided she wanted us to hear Joe Dirt (from what I understand it is a local band) at the Bottleneck Blues Bar. MD and I decided what the heck, he was off Sunday and we had no kids at home waiting on us (that is a strange feeling we are still getting use to). So we went, it has been a very long time since MD and I have gone into a nightclub. Loud and smokey was the best description (and I am a smoker).

We then decided at 1:15 am that we were again hungry (rather MD was) so off to IHop we went. Totally reminded me of our club hopping days. But man are we paying for it today.

DRAGGING ASS.

No nicer way to put it, we did not even drink that much. Mine is a smoke hangover I think, too much intake of 2nd hand smoke, I did not even smoke while we were in the bar.

But MD true to form was up VERY early this morning and is off buying paint to finish repairing the holes Devin made in the upstairs hallway, buying grass food to spread around the yard, house soap so we can clean the siding, and a little hand rake so I can clean up the landscaping. Looks like he wants my day 2 to be a work day.

Good thing I got some lazy time in yesterday.

How Do I do This?

I had a nice conversation today with a lady I use to work with. She said something to me that has my brain going in overdrive. You see she know my son and some of the old problems we had with him and asked how he was. Now I did not go into details (I have taken Laggins lead and started giving him some privacy) just the highlights. She went through some of her struggles with her son. She has two prayers, 1 to keep her son from harm, and 2 if not let her find out. We laughed a bit about this and that. Did the little chit chat. As I was at work I needed to get back to it.

It was her parting statement that struck me. She said it will all work out, and it is our job as parents to keep our children safe and in line. That is the job of a parent.

Now how do I do that? I have mastered it pretty well with the girls, but the boy...... a totally different story.

I take him to my parents home during the day (to keep the other boys out of my house and him out of trouble) and they now are having the same feelings as I. What are we going to do with this kid?

How do I help a kid that refuses all help from anyone? How do a motivate a kid who cares about nothing?

Just random thoughts

Do you ever wonder what the heck is going on inside someones head sometimes. I do about a particular coworker .... sometimes.

She is a young person (at least to me she is young) about 27. And she can not seem to get her act together, and drama (way stranger than my kid drama) seems to always be around her. Even if it really has nothing to do with her, she has it. She has been going to full time College since I have known her (7 years) and still has not graduated for one reason or another (it is always the schools fault).

She is now in another mess. It seems that she and her roommates have to find another place to live. The roommates are definitely not the brightest crayons in the box, or at least that is what we get from her stories. The reason for the move is that supposedly the landlord was behind in his payments and the townhouse was up for foreclosure and being "sold" on the court house steps. Then the next we hear is that it is not (but not first without a LOT of drama at work about what was going on) and things were fine. Then we hear that she is going to move anyway and gave her landlord his notice. And she is not going to live with a roommate any longer.

Now mind you, she only works part time, goes to school full time, likes to shop, likes to go out parting, and needs to have roommate to make any kind of rent.

We have all been helping her locate places around town to look at. I even have other coworkers that have considered letting her live with them for a while till she "gets back on her feet". I too have thought "I have the space, I could help her". You see she has this lost animal aura about her. Something about her keeps nagging at you to want to help her. This of course is a very bad thing to do, as it has ALWAYS come back and bit me in the ass in the past. But none the less you still always seem to want to help her. May it is that damsel in distress thing who knows.

Anyway,one of my coworkers thought very long and hard about how they could help her and approached her with an idea. They wanted her to come over to her house so she and her husband could discuss it with her. She never showed, never called. Needless to say my coworker and her husband sat around the house most of the day waiting for her. Which of course made them decide that they were going to get into trouble if they continued to help her. they decided they were done.

Another coworker had basically the same idea, she has extra space in her home and was going to offer this young lady a place to stay for a couple of months. But she said that she was afraid that she would never leave and take advantage of the situation. So the offer was never made.

You see, What I mean "what is going on in this person's head". At 27 I had lived on my own for 8 years, had a child, gone to school, got married, etc. This your lady can barely manage a checking account on her own. What is going on with our youth today. I know she does not represent the mass but she does sure seem to represent a goo portion of them. She wants to get paid but not work (this one really iterates me), wants other people to support her, wants an education but not work for it. I just do not get the "I am entitled" "I am deserving" attitude. My 15 year old son has the EXACT same attitude as this 27 year old. They are deserving. Deserving of what is what I want to know. I had to work hard for everything I have, my parents had to work hard for everything they have, why are the kids today this way.

And again before anyone gets their panties in a twist I know this is not the majority, but is sure is quite a few of them.

Fathers Day

Happy Fathers Day Blog World!

MD is working on his Father's Day! I tried to get him to stay home, no go, he said he is on a deadline. An inspector will be where he is working to do an electrical inspection Tuesday and they have to get ready for that. Actually they would have been done with electrical days ago IF the home owner (rather their daughter) would stop making changes.

Also, MD and my dad are the HARDEST people to shop for. Whenever they want something they just buy it, which leaves nothing for us to purchase for them. So once again I will cook MD his favorite dinner and lounge with him in the pool. Also, my parents will be joining us as this is also my father's favorite activity.

As for gifts, well for dad I will be going over to his house to help tear down a pool and deck they no longer use (rather no longer want to take care of). For Mothers Day the kids and I went over and did yard work for them. For MD, I finally talked Mikayla into going shopping with me (Devin refused and took off for the day). Mikayla picked out a nice shirt and a 22" monitor for his computer.

He really liked this as it was "1080P" HDMI? Whatever that is.

So I am off to get the house cleaned up once again, and marinade the shrimp & beef for the Kabobs!

The Grass is Always Greener......

I work for an Environmental Consulting firm. Have been there for 10 years. I actually like my job (even though I am nothing special there), and really like some of the people I work with. They are an odd bunch. See I work with Geologists, Chemical Engineers, Hydrogolists, Environmental Scientist, and Biologists. And no I am NONE of those things. I am the lonely Project Assistant in the office. We specialize in groundwater so our primary clients are landfill owners and/or waste companies. We travel a lot and when I say we I mean them (that does not mean I have never HAD to go out of town it just does not happen often).

When we were considered a "start up" company and conducted business at one of our Economic Development Center (for start-up companies) I had several other "start ups" trying to get me to work for them vs my current employer. While I was extremely appreciative of their confidence in me I am not a person who takes to hopping from one job to another. Not to mention that they too were start ups and I was not comfortable with the prospect of the future of their business.

Now as of late I have not had other companies offering positions, rather other people trying to get me to leave from where I am. Again, I am not a person who leaves a position that easily. And granted I do not make bunches of money where I am for what I do, yes there is other companies that pay A LOT more for what I do.

It seems people today seem to forget that there ARE other things to gain from a company other than money. See the company I work for keeps family on a very high pedestal. And for that reason I am able to leave if I wish to go to a class party, 5th grade field day, teacher conferences, and of late court appointments (thanks to my son) and taxi rides (thanks to my youngest daughter). All of this with absolutely no questions or receiving any grief for wanting to such things. I have (well had) my kids call me to let me when they arrive home from school, or where they are headed off to (this seems to help my guilt of wanting to work outside the home) so I know where they are and what they are into. And again, my employers all totally okay with this.

It does not hurt that my office is also only 10 mile from where I live, so if I do need to get home for any reason (and lately there have been a few) I can get there withing minutes. I also get to dress casual which means I do not need to spend money on "dress" clothes.

So while I am very appreciative of my friends and family that keep trying to get me to a company that will pay me "what I am worth" I think that I am doing pretty good where I am. No I am not making the big bucks that I can get elsewhere, but I am making benefits that I absolutely can not get anywhere else.

That is what I think is wrong today, companies have no loyalty to their employees and employees have no loyalty to their employers. You hardly ever hear of someone staying with a company today for any length of time. My husband has been with his employer for 30 years. When people hear that they stand there with dumbfounded looks on their faces and ask "how can you stay with a company that long"? His response..."easy, I like what I do and they like me".

Time to build an Ark

Missouri has received a lot of rain lately. Well at least my part of Missouri. So much rain that quite a few roads are now under water, most of which I have to take to get to work. It is interesting in the morning to have to navigate through confused people to find alternate routs to work.

But everything is sooooo green and pretty. The storms last night were amazing. I only know this because my youngest received a phone call at 3am which woke me up. So now I am going to have to navigate through my day on little sleep.

Thunder so loud it shook the house, lightning so bright it make everything look like it was daylight, even if it was only for a second. MD and I love sleeping when there is a storm going on so it was not too long before I was lulled back to sleep by the storm.

Bad part of all this is we have a pool, and we can not ever seem to use it. Every time we THINK we are going to get a chance to play in it the storm clouds come. Mother nature is a funny gal.

Well off to find new ways to get to work.

So if you can not tell my life is driven around my family. First and foremost my wonderful accident prone husband MD. Then my kids. I know that most women put their kids on the top of the list. But my MD is first and most important person in my life. Though I have put my kids second they are a really close second. Really they are 1.5.

But right now it does seem that I revolve around my ever busy children (and not enough time with MD). I had to leave work early today to take Devin to night school. Got up early to get a call from Felicia to discuss her day (she is 7 hours a head of us). And am waiting now for Mikayla to show up because she wants a hair cut. I am not complaining but it would be nice if some of them would actually act like they appreciate what I do for them. No I am not speaking of you Felicia, you do show your appreciation, and I love our long talks. It is my younger two. They believe that I should always have an open wallet for them, should have a maid to clean up after them, a chef to cook what THEY want for dinner (if they bother to come home for dinner), and should not bother them with such silliness as a curfew, good grades, or chores.

Hey but other than spoiled children I am having a wonderful day. Hoping MD comes home from work today since I am here. Get some cuddle time.

There was another reason I got on here to post, but it has left my tired brain. Maybe I will remember later. So instead you go some of my whining and I do apologize for that.