Saturday, February 27, 2010

Blind Parenting

(content deleted ~ therapy session completed)

Blind parenting. I'm not blind. But, I am blessed.

Thank you, Ms. Blog, for once again being my therapy session. The check is in the mail.

Saturday, February 20, 2010

Here We Go Again

Here we go again....
Today is my last "free" Saturday until the 2nd week of May. Yes kids, it's SPRING MUSICAL SEASON, and I will have no life. LOL Auditions for our musical will be held tomorrow afternoon, and voila!, next Saturday begins our weekly drama rehearsals.


This year, I've chosen "Acorns to Oaks" for our musical. It's a New Testament musical, based on the parable of the sowing of seeds. I think it's a wonderful musical, full of great lessons for the kids, that will hopefully remain with them on their way to growing into mature Christians. Acorns to Oaks is all about growing up to be Christ-like, and becoming a mighty Oak, with roots that are spread deep and wide and are firm in the Word. There are some funny elements in this musical, which will be challenging for me. For instance, the birds: Maggie, Lark & Robin, the birds dressed in upper crust black, with boa feathers, large hats, pearls, and they have come to eat the seeds. That will be fun to put together.

Then there's another challenging section: the Weeds ~ Blabs and Squeal. They are the RUMOR weeds, and they are nasty. They will be dressed up like gangsters and will use a Brooklyn accent. We'll put together a dance routine for them, and they will also be the soloists for the Rumor Weeds song.... Nasty, but cute. Hopefully the kids will learn the lesson about spreading false stories, rumors, and how they can damage people.

The kids will also be learning about the fruits of the Spirit. That will be fun for them. (Love, peace, patience, kindness, joy, self-control, and I can't remember the other ones off the top of my head) Bad, eh? Oh yeah, Gentleness. Hm... was that a Freudian slip? I try to be gentle.... lol.

I'm in the search for a Mr. and Mrs. MacDonald. They need to be older, not kids from the choir. I'm trying to get Meg & Drew to do this... Meg's on board, but Drew is hesitant. He's thinking about it. Hopefully he'll come to the auditions tomorrow and read the part with the kids. We'll see. It would be perfect if they did it. It would be so much fun for the kids to see Mr. & Mrs. Weaver up on stage with them. Fun times will be had by all.

***
And I come to the question, why do I do this???? I know how busy I'll be getting. This becomes practically a full-time job, if it's done right. And I always ask my self, WHY????? Well, I dunno.... I guess because it's my passion, teaching the children about the Lord thru the music that we sing. I love interacting with the kids. They feed my spirit. I get so much joy out of watching them perform in ministry. Also, I love being able to direct the band or orchestra. For me, that is a huge challenge, and one I look forward to every year. We have some very talented musicians at our church, and it's an honor for me to be able to work with them, and they make me a better musician. And when we put it all together, lights, sound, band, action, props, sets, choreography and kids, it's all very exciting and worthwhile. So, I guess that's why I do it. I just have to keep remembering this.

***
Don & I stayed in bed until 10 this morning. Cuddling and watching Property Ladder on TV. There are some real morons on that show... lol. We had a good laugh. Then we got up & went to Ihop for breakfast. Yes, breakfast at 11:00. Actually I had breakfast, Don had lunch.

***
Laundry Day. I don't know, but I'm afraid that we both have way too many clothes. We just got back from vacation, and the laundry is piled up. I really need to purge alot of stuff from our closet. I probably have 6 loads of laundry waiting for me. Coloreds, whites, towels, jeans, and more coloreds.

***
Tomorrow night, Don is taking me to see "Riverdance: The Final Tour" It's my Christmas gift. I love love love riverdancing, and it will be tons of fun to see the pros at it. I'm really looking forward to this. Just hope the snow holds off. Oh wait, we drive Hummers. Not a problem!

***
And that's my life so far....

Tuesday, February 16, 2010

Back to Reality

Back to reality.... real life. No more laying around by the pool all day while Julio brings me a soda & quesidilla... No more sitting by the ocean watching the whales playing... No more walking to town talking to the locals... no more making new friends with little girls in town... No more sleeping whenever I feel like it. LOL Our vacation this year, I think, was the most relaxing time we've had to date, down in Cabo. Didn't really do much of anything. I got up when I wanted, had my coffee, sat on the patio and watched people walking by, all while I'm sitting there in my nightgown & robe, lol, reading on the porch, putting my swimsuit on and went to the pool around 11 or so. It was just delightful. Two of the nights, we didn't even go into town for dinner. Kinda nice. One night, Don cooked pasta, and the other night, after my one hour nap turned into 4 hours, we ordered room service and sat in the living room and watched the Opening Ceremonies of the Olympics. Nice.

We love going to Cabo every February, and this is why: We are familiar with the town and what we like to do there. We have a wonderful resort that we stay at, and we know what restaurants are good and what to avoid.... And we see some of the same locals every year. We also get really good exercise daily in our walks into town. Up the hill, down the hill, past the marina, and into the town. The locals are really cleaning up the town of Cabo and making some really good improvements. They have widened the sidewalks in town, planted lots of new palm trees, changed the traffic patterns so that it's not so dangerous. We love knowing that at least for ONE week out of every winter, we can escape to the warmth and get our fix of the sun. Nice. We are blessed.

***
Back to reality.... All 3 of my sweet grandkids came over yesterday. I was completely exhausted, but since Dyan was here too, I really didn't have to take care of anyone, except Kenzie, who I watch on Mondays while Meg works at our office. I missed my grandbabies, and really enjoyed playing with them yesterday. Christian loved his Cabo hat and wore it all day. I bought the girls some beautiful embroidered sun dresses. Bought Meg & Drew a new Mexican nativity, and bought Dyan & Jory a new pewter serving dish set. Bought my choir 3 kids necklaces, which is tradition. Also gave Christian a sharktooth necklace, which he thought was really cool. Fun times yesterday...

***
Wish I could find some more energy. I think that for Lent, I'm gonna give up bread. Perhaps that is what I need to do. I'm also going to get serious about the exercising and eating right. The thing about being in Cabo, is that I hardly ate any fruits or vegetables. I was afraid to eat them for fear that they were washed in unfiltered water. Didn't wanna make THAT mistake... I really need to up the consumption of fruits and vegetables, and watch the consumption of any processed foods, sugar, or breads.

***
Going to clean out my stinky fridge today. Should have done that before we left for vacation, but time ran out. Gonna go to the grocery store and stock up on things we need in order to eat healthy. Fruits, vegetables (fresh), some lean meat, juice, milk... Right now the cleaning girls are here, so I'll head to the grocery store once they've left. I'll have way too many bags to bring into the kitchen.

***
Yes, I have cleaning people. It's taken me a while now to not feel guilty about spending the money on this service. But, in getting older, every time I try to deep clean, my bones & joints ache for days.... So, I splurge a little and have some young girls do the heavy cleaning for me, and it's so nice. I do the picking up, of course, and the laundry, and the light cleaning, but the deep, gotta get on your knees and scrub stuff, they do. Yup, still trying not to feel guilty.

***
Time to get moving on the planning of the spring musical. Auditions will be next Sunday. Looking for a Mr. & Mrs. MacDonald. I had them all set, but the teen boy dropped out. Meg? Hoping Meg & Drew will do it. Wouldn't that be great???

***
Lots of changes at church. I hope that people in our congregation will continue to keep their eyes on the Lord, and not mistake any interpretations of the changes that our Pastor is making. The changes he's making are necessary to the life of our church, in my opinion. I trust that the Lord is guiding him and using him, and that great things will be happening in the future at our church. I do love my church and the choir parents, kids & my church family.

***
And that's my life so far.

Friday, February 5, 2010

Bye Bye Snow, Helloooo Sun

Yup, this is what we're leaving! Friday before leaving for vacation, we get hit with a buncha snow again. I borrowed this picture from my friend, Karen. I cannot believe we got this much snow again! And I'm sooooooo looking forward to leaving it behind.

So, what did I do today? I went and fake baked. For 10 minutes in a 12 minute Mega Bed. Boy, it felt great! It's like getting a big dose of sunshine, which I've been craving! And it's preparing my skin for being in the sun, so hopefully I will not get burnt.

Also went to the bank to get some cash for the trip... went to the drug store to get a few prescriptions and some little bottles of stuff for the trip & some new sunscreen / suntan lotion. I'm ready to go!
Gotta get some laundry done. Most of my clothes are dirty and in the hamper in the bathroom. I'll work on that tonight. And tomorrow morning.

I'd like to get all packed up and take off in the afternoon tomorrow. I'd like to take Cali to Meg's house, then drop off the superbowl watchin' chairs to Dyan's house, and then head north to a hotel by the airport and spend the night there. I think I wanna do that. Will talk to the Donmeister about it when he gets home.

Chinese for dinner tonight.
I couldn't get Cali into the groomer. They're booked solid. Oh well...

I printed out our travel itinerary, our Baja Transportation vouchers for our ride from the airport in Los Cabos down to Cabo and then back again on the 14th. Printed out some coupons for dinners in Cabo. Love coupons. I emailed our itinerary & phone information for our resort to the girls, should they need to get in touch. But who am I kidding? I always take my laptop, and will be on it daily, checking my emails, facebook, playing games... We will pay for WiFi at the resort, because, really, I have to stay in touch with my kids.... Is that sad? Nah.... just me.

I can't believe it's been a year already since we've been to Cabo. I cannot wait to get back down there. I'm just kinda sad, tho.... (yes, I forgot my happy pill today) I will miss my kids and grandkids. That's always the hardest part. I wish I could take them all with me every year....
I'll close with a picture from Cabo, taken at one of the 5 pools at our resort. My toesies... I can't wait to have some SUN instead of SNOW....
And that's my life so far....







Tuesday, February 2, 2010

Anticipation Vacation

Hello Cyberworld... Thought it was about time for me to jot some thoughts down.... most likely random thoughts...

I am greatly anticipating our much anticipated vacation next week. I soooooo need a break from the every day, mundane life I lead.... well, I guess I should strike out mundane... because in truth, I love my life. However, I am in serious need of some hot tub time and time spent laying by the pool getting baked by that wonderful sun... Where has the sun been lately? We have not had much sun since Halloween.... I miss it so....

I fake baked today. My doc suggests that we get a little "sun" on our skin to prevent the sudden burst of sunburning that is likely to happen, should I not fake bake. So, I did it today. Felt soooo good... I lay there imagining myself laying by the pool at our resort... and I imagine seeing the ocean, the beloved Pacific where the whales jump and play.... and I envision Manuel bringing me a soda & chicken quesidilla, poolside, of course... and I envision walking up the hill and down the hill into Cabo, walking past the marina, looking at all the glorious yachts.... and I envision eating dinner at Edith's.... and I envision hopping a water taxi at lunch time and taking it across the marina over to the Office on the Beach for a wonderful lunch, literally on the beach. Oh, kids in cyberland, I can hardly wait....

My house is spotlessly clean... just need to get some laundry done up. My bills are caught up and will be put in the mail tomorrow. Everything is getting done that needs to be done. By the way, I love it when my house is really clean. Everything is in order, and it makes my life calmer. Cali loves it too, I must say. She's always so happy when the girls are here cleaning. The thing is this..... before the girls come to clean, I have to do the picking up and putting away... which is getting easier as time goes by. With only two of us living here now, we don't make big messes, so it's much easier. All I usually have to do is pick up 5 or 6 pair of Don's shoes & several pair of socks which are all usually surrounding his chair in the living room. And the kitchen usually needs to be straightened.... dishwasher unloaded and reloaded, and stuff thrown away. It took me about an hour to get the house back in order this morning. Not too shabby....

***
Still getting over my cold. It's really nagging me to death. However, come to think of it, I have not coughed that much today. Yay, perhaps I'm getting over it!

***
I'm getting my mammogram on Wednesday. It's that time again. I always get really nervous coming into this.... It always brings me back to the time 4 years ago, when the doctor called me into his office to look at my films, only to discover my cancer. Whoa, what a time that was.... I don't wanna go back there. I must tell the tech tomorrow, to not delay in letting me know my films look good. When she delays, like she did last year, I thought she was calling my doctor with bad news.... I was in tears, I was so scared. I don't ever want to go through that again. So, hopefully, tomorrow will bring good news. Then in 2 weeks, I take my films to Dr. Jew and have my follow up with her. She's a wonderful doctor, and I have been blessed to have her care for me. She's the best breast surgeon in the midwest. Anyway, mammo tomorrow. Oh joy. Did I mention that because of the incision to get to my lymph nodes, that the scar there is very painful when smashed to smitherines??? Yup, PAIN. The kind where you can't breathe. Oy....

***
I seriously need to do something about this weight. I seriously wish I could go off of this daggone Tamixofen. It's horrible for causing such a big weight gain, and makes it nearly impossible to lose the weight. One more year.... then I'm done! My cyberdaughter, April is sending me info now, with dieting tips, yoga exercises, and basically good stuff to get me healthy. She's wonderful in the way that she cares for me. We hope to get her out here for a visit in April, around Meg's birthday, for some serious girlfriend time. Fun times will be had for sure.

***
So, I can't wait for the plane ride on Sunday. Now if you knew me several years ago, you'd remember how absolutely TERRIFIED I was of flying... But this trip, it's gonna be fun! Don & I splurged on this trip, for our Christmas gift to each other & 30th wedding anniversary.... we bought 1st class tickets to Cabo. Yup, we are flying first class TO Cabo, and 1st class back home, which will be on Valentine's Day. I wonder if we'll get special Valentine's Day treats on the way home? That would be nice, eh? Anyway, looking forward to not having to stand in any lines, to having large seats with LEG ROOM, and getting waited on hand and foot. Nice times.... We've never done this before, and feel just a wee bit spoiled.... actually, blessed.

***
Lily cut her first tooth tonight. Woot Woot.

***
Mackenzie rolled herself over from her back to her tummy and got all mad about it because she couldn't turn back over! LOL

***
Christian ate a booger today while Dyan was on the phone with me. I thought I might throw up. He thought it was hysterical.

***
I am in great anticipation of our vacation next week. What will I do? Well, here is our typical day of vacation: Wake up whenever, make the coffee, eat some breakfast, sit on the porch and read or watch people walking by, wash my face & put on my swimsuit, head to the pool, read, swim, order lunch, read, swim, talk, head to the hot tub at 4, head to the condo around 5, shower, get gussied up, walk to town and have dinner, grab a taxi back to the resort after having walked all over town. Some days, we might make 2 trips into town, depending on how much sun is out. We might also take a day and ride ATCs.... Don usually deep sea fishes.... and he surf fishes every morning before the sun comes up. Perhaps we'll walk along the beach this year. It's so beautiful there.... a great time to talk to God about life.... and to marvel at His awesomeness and creativity.

***
And that's my life so far....