A Walk in the Park and the London Eye

On our way back from Westminster Abbey

We were headed to the London Eye later that day for "cocktails".

DOTR wants this job--he observed it here and at St. Stephen's Green in Dublin.
Everybody wants to be the guy who wades in and gathers up the moss from the water.
Not so much.

Our cute French guys getting the Champagne ready.

One last look before we go home.

Windsor

Courtyard where the Queen meets dignitaries
(the most recent visitor was President Sarkozy of France)

Round Tower

Where to next?

These two only have significance if you've corresponded with me by email or know me in person.
My pub and hotel.

I can see why the Royal family decided to take Windsor as their surname. It's a charming town, a beautiful castle and has more personality than Buckingham Palace. If the Queen asked me to move in, I probably wouldn't say no.

In Search of Sleep

I thought my sleepless nights were over once nobody needed a bottle or diaper change in the middle of the night. With the exception of the occasional bad dream or blowing chow, my kids were all great sleepers. Went to bed at a reasonable hour, fell asleep quickly and woke up in the morning (somewhat) ready to go.

That was before they hit the teen years and beyond. Now I'm lucky if all four of them aren't out roaming the greater Atlanta area at all hours of the night, weeknights and weekends. Last night I was already in my bed watching the 10:00 news when J2 informed me that she was going to meet her friend to see "Sex and the City" at midnight.....in ATLANTA. Don't you have to work at 8:00 am tomorrow? The night before she and J1 left at 10:30 to "hang out" with friends. And don't even get me started on the boys--last summer they would take naps in the evening so they could sneak downstairs to play xbox live all night long. Xbox is gone now, but they still think going to bed at midnight is cruel and unusual punishment.

I've eased myself back into the homelife this week, but it's time to lower the boom. Family boot camp starts TODAY, and nobody is running around after 11:00 pm on a weeknight--and I mean the house or town. They'll thank me for the discipline someday.

And even if they don't, at least I got some sleep. The girls have nine months of the year to stay up all night and sleep all day. I don't think it will kill them to live like normal people for the summer.

That's my story and I'm sticking to it. Because without sleep, I am beyond crabby.

Seriously.

Loving it

Cape Madras Skirt

For all my wrinkles.

So I don't get more wrinkles.

Blast from the Past Tretorns

If I didn't have those wrinkles I'd swear I was 21 again.

Pimm's

Forgot how much I liked it until I talked everybody into having one before dinner in London.

That's so funny, I forgot to laugh

Question: How hilarious is it when three 15 year olds each purchase a brewski from the beer cart at the golf course?

Answer: Not very. Just ask the manager. And the cop. And their parents.

Eighth Grade Dance

The Dinner Group
(J4's "date" is the one on the end in the black dress with red hair--notice they are standing nowhere near each other!)
Her mom has a cute picture of the two of them, but hasn't sent it to me yet.

Best Buddies
Don't you love J4's outfit? Sperry Bahamas? Who dressed you, boy?
That is a Ralph Lauren Madras tie ($9.99 at the outlet late last fall!)

Armourers' Hall

The Awards Gala (black tie) was held at the Armourers' Hall.
Home of The Worshipful Company of Armourers and Brasiers
81 Coleman Street
London

Mingling before dinner

More mingling

Every wall is covered with armour.

Our "period" musicians.

I missed the bus again

Pinot and Pacifiers, I'd love an invite. I guess you went private while I was gone?

I never seem to get "in before the lock", to quote my greekchat friends.

May I have an invite if you still have room?

Thanks,
Mom on the Run

The Boring Photos of London

Our "Retired" Double Decker Tour Bus

At the Grenadier Pub, it is customary to leave a piece of currency with your name and date on it, then they paste it on the ceiling.
They've been doing it for over 200 years--so they paint over and start again when it gets full.

Ravens at the Tower of London

St. Paul's Cathedral Photo Op

I'll be brutally honest here and confess that I hate to take pictures on vacation (unless I'm taking pictures of the kids doing adorable stuff, of course). I'd rather just enjoy the moment and buy a book later. You really can't take pictures inside anything anyway, so basically I have a bunch of photos of whitish grey buildings. Since DOTR and I are not so attractive these days, we prefer to stay out of the glare of the lens.

Prince Albert Monument.
I don't remember seeing this last time, it's across from the Victoria and Albert Museum. They said it is recently restored because it was painted black for a really long time so it would not become a bombing target during WWII. Lack of money kept them from restoring it and nobody knew that it was gold until recently.

Gates at Buckingham Palace
The only day it rained. I have an adorable picture of the girls in front of these gates when they were in middle school, so I was not snapping here like a madwoman.

National Portrait Gallery
Free admission. Highlight of my trip.

Guard at the Tower of London

Tower Bridge

Blogger is not cooperating today and I can't get these photos to move around the way I want, so I'll try again later. Don't get too excited. The rest are no more thrilling than these!

Seems Like Yesterday

This is not me, but this could be my bridal bouquet, circa 1986

Today's our 22nd anniversary.
We were married on a Sunday, Memorial Day weekend.
Just like this weekend.


I'm pretty sure I'm getting a trip to London for my anniversary.

In case you were wondering.

Have You Seen This?

I've been in the bookstore a lot lately (trying to spend my Mother's Day gift) and haven't seen this in the US. It probably appeared while I was gone.

Snagged it in Ireland. Same author as Labyrinth. Read it already.

ETA: Not sure what happened with this book. Evidently it's been out here, there was one hard copy on the shelf with two paperbacks of Labyrinth at Barnes and Noble. I seriously don't know how I missed it coming out because I hit the bookstore with frightening regularity. Maybe Labyrinth wasn't that popular here, but I do remember when it came out in paperback.

Anyway, if you like historical fiction, magic/templar/holy grail, etc. type of read, both of these are good. They both go back and forth from the present to the past. Read Labyrinth first, there are two characters that show up in both.

More Trip

I downloaded the few pictures at home, but the computer is acting up (imagine that, somebody downloaded something while we were gone and got a virus), so it's just text for now. I know that dull, but I'll forget everything if I wait much longer. I never keep a travel journal, which is really stupid because then I can't remember restaurants, etc. if somebody wants a recommendation. Such is life.

We arrived in the rain on Saturday, and we were actually the last ones to get there because we didn't fly all night. Got picked up in a spiffy Mercedes "private hire" car and everything. Got to our hotel in "fashionable Mayfair" and had a bite to eat in the hospitality room before reporting for our first tour. They've retired the old double decker buses, so some are still used for private tours. Ours was so cute, it was from the '60's, and two people tried to jump on while we were stopped (that's one of the reasons they retired them, because they were open and people could just jump on and off without paying). It was raining just a little, and we did the drive around in circles and look at stuff tour, all the while catching up with the friends we see every year at this seminar. I have to say it is just the nicest group of people and we always have a lot of fun together. There are probably about six or eight couples that we always spend the majority of our time with and we enjoy it a lot.

Then it was back to the room and the drill....change clothes/freshen makeup/touch up hair. Back down for the first mass feeding/drunkfest.

Sunday DOTR had a mandatory meeting for an hour so they can write the whole thing off as a business expense, then we had the day to ourselves until dinner. We walked all over Picadilly Circus, went to Fortnum and Mason and ended up at Trafalgar Square, so DOTR humored me with a visit to the National Gallery. He was a trooper for quite awhile, but found a bench so I could keep looking. Room after room after room. I was in an art history minor's heaven.

We were invited to dinner with 4 other couples by the First VP and her husband. She's one of those brilliant actuaries that actually has a personality and her husband is swell, too. She decided we'd get our fill of dressing up and chose a pub, The Grenadier, for dinner. It was down an alley and so hidden, I'm not sure how they ever found it. We had trouble finding our way out when they wouldn't call cabs to pick us up. Anyway, I enjoyed Pimm's for predinner drinks, a lovely carrot soup (DOTR had oysters) and Sunday Roast. Basically, the works. I actually skipped dessert because I wasn't hungry. Sadly, I had been sneezing all day and was all drugged up on MucinexD, so my appetite was just not there. Hahaha. I'm pretty sure that's the only day I didn't lick my plate clean. When we got back, DOTR and VP's hubby went to the casino in the hotel, where the excitement included a guy dropping from either a heart attack/stroke/diabetic shock and once they called 999, they just put chairs around him on the floor and resumed gambling. 25 minutes later, the ambulance arrived and it was like it never happened. Very exciting.

Monday we all assembled for our Tower of London tour. We stopped at St. Paul's Cathedral for a photo op, but didn't go in (I've been there before, but geez, it would've only taken a half hour to take a peek inside). The last time I went to London, it was in March so it was freezing and pouring, and we had to take a pass on the Tower. We poked around and saw the crown jewels, and after we got back to the hotel it was "lunch on your own". Being notoriosly cheap, DOTR and I got sandwiches and chips from the grocery store across the street from our hotel everyday. 5 pounds (10 bucks) and we were set. That night was the extravaganza, black tie deal so I guess we were supposed to spend the afternoon getting ready. I went to Boots, because after the grocery store, my second favorite place to visit in a foreign country is the pharmacy/drug store. Yeah, wild times. Then I took a nap. Then it was change clothes/freshen makeup/ touch up hair. For the second time that day.

The extravaganza was fabulous, my dress was comfy and the food and company was great. The venue was stunning and I felt, if not like the queen, at least a minor royal. I think I like Lady Pimms. Why not? Lady Pimms it is.

Tuesday we loaded the bus for Windsor, toured the Castle, had lunch by the river as a group and wandered around the town for a few hours. By that time, DOTR and I had enough of togetherness, so we split up. He hung around in some heraldic crest shop in Eton with a bunch of guys getting in touch with their English roots and I went back to Windsor (they're basically the same thing, the river is the dividing line).

I ended up going into the Windsor parish church, right next door to the town hall where Prince Charles and Camilla were married. It was my favorite thing in Windsor (yeah, the Castle is awesome, but what do you expect, it's a palace....and I've been there before). This little church is an active parish church. They had a big sign that said "visitors welcome", so I wandered in. It's old, with a painting of the Last Supper on the back wall that they date as pre-1600, but mainly it's a real church. They had a little kids table set up in the corner for Sunday School, a big bulletin board (in front of the memorial plaques from the 1600's) telling about their mission work, and a display case with newspaper clippings about the Queen's visit about 15 years ago and another display about all the hymns written by choirmasters in that parish. One being "The Church's One Foundation". As I wandered around (I was the only one there) a really old guy was practicing the organ. So it was most definitely a highlight. Real people travel is more my thing than kings and queens, hence my interest in grocery and drug stores. And churches with bulletin boards, ceiling leaks and worn out needlepoint kneelers. Don't see that across the street at St. George's Chapel, although its beauty can't be denied.

That evening we had dinner with the VP of Marketing and her husband at a French restaurant, Clos Maggiore. Champagne. Scallops. Some kind of fabulous fish on risotto. Wine. Chocolate Mocha something or other. Coffee and liqueur. Licked my plate. Seriously.

Wednesday we had the day to ourselves before our "farewell dinner". We opted to go to Westminster Abbey, which was a short walk through the park from our hotel. DOTR sprung for the Verger's Tour, so we got to go in a couple of places you can't unless you're with them. We spent three hours there, the tour was an hour and a half and then we wandered on our own. In Poet's Corner, I saw three different women walk up and touch the memorial to Jane Austen. The Bronte sisters are on the other side, but nobody touched them.

Then, of course, change clothes/freshen makeup/touch up hair.

The Farewell Dinner was pretty cool. We started out on the London Eye. They reserved four capsules, so there were about a dozen on each one. Two cute French guys got on with picnic baskets and in the 25 minutes we were on the "trip", they served us champagne and hors d'eourves. Then we did a dinner cruise on the Thames. You notice a trend. We are not underfed. We had cocktails above deck, then dinner below. Four courses. Then back upstairs for more socializing before we all loaded on a bus for the hotel. We had dinner with the President and his wife, they just randomly sat down with us. So we enjoyed that, they are nice and down to earth, just like everybody in this company. (I like this company because 1) they have great trips; 2) they have good service, which makes my job easier; 3) all the people are nice and not stuffy. When there's no difference in the rates or the plan, guess who we'll recommend. In my book, just the ease of working with them compared to a lot of the other insurers makes it a no brainer.)

We left Thursday morning, upgraded our seats to World Traveller Plus and had a good flight home. We got aisle seats across from each other, and that was wonderful because then I didn't have to sit next to Mr. Fidgets for eight hours. After surviving customs hell in Atlanta, the most unorganized airport in the world, we finally got home at about 6 pm. We called the kids and they met us at Viva Mexico. No major tragedies while we were gone.

All is well. Back to reality.

(I'll add photos tomorrow, the computer guru is scheduled to fix it tonight)

The Trip

We had a great trip. Really one of the best in a long time. Despite DOTR barely making it home from the office in time to get to the airport on Tuesday, our trip started off with a bang when the British Air employee who checked us in upgraded us to World Traveler Plus....big cushy seats with a footrest and recliner under the legs....for free. So we didn't get the beds in Business Class, but it sure beat sitting next to DOTR, who I might have mentioned is not exactly small, for hours in the back of the plane. He wiggles around like a two year old and basically drives me nuts, so that was the gift that kept on giving. I could've kissed the woman right there on the spot.

After an uneventful flight where we actually got quite a bit of sleep, we arrived with way too much luggage (more on that later) and checked in to our posh five star hotel right in the heart of Dublin. Discount with Marriot points and I'm there. We found an Irish pub (very difficult since there are 7 on every block, totally indistinguishable from each other....O'something or other's) after a walk and tucked into fish and chips and shepherd's pie. DOTR was convinced by the natives that Guiness is a different animal fresh from the taps, and he became a convert. Me, not a beer drinker, and by the end of three days I could've killed somebody for a Diet Coke (not a Coca Cola Light) and a giant cup of ice. But I digress.

I won't bore you with the details of the hop on/hop off bus tour (DOTR's favorite tourist activity). DOTR wandered over to Trinity College while I caught up on some beauty sleep and watched a cricket match and intermural rugby. We saw the Book of Kells (somebody tell the old ladies that you're not supposed to try to read the thing, just look at it and step away....errrgh!), ate at pubs, sat on park benches drinking lukewarm soft drinks, and enjoyed a slower pace before we left our hotel at 6:00 am Saturday for the airport and our trip back to London.

When we travel, I am the packing nazi. Seriously, we usually have 3-4 outfits and at the most two pairs of shoes. Usually a small bag that can be carried on. We had 150 lbs. of luggage on the way there (3 bags), and I had 6 prs. of shoes and DOTR had 4. Not including the ones on our feet. It was insane.

More on the changing clothes parade later.

We're Baaaaaack!

I got up at 4 am and read nine days worth of old newspapers. Not a darn thing happened while we were gone. Oh, except J4 got caught up in the CRCT 8th grade math fiasco. Yeah. Good news.

And we were worried about reading.

What was I thinking?

More later.

Cheerio!

Well, we're outta here tomorrow. I spent all day Saturday shopping, which was not in my long range plan for the day. DOTR jumped out of bed at the crack of dawn, and by the time I was up and moving, he was showered and ready to go shopping. I told him to go, but if he bought anything inappropriate (the man cannot dress himself) we were taking it back. So he did the next best thing, and called me to meet him at Steinmart because they were having a 50% off clearance sale and he had a whole cart full of stuff. I was wearing a pair of black running shorts, my 5 year old Nebraska Yell Squad reunion t-shirt and was suffering from day 12 on the hair cycle (no make up either, of course). First I got in my car....no gas. Then I decided to take the Bug.....thermostat light blinking red. So finally, I got my smelly self into the Jeep, jostled my brains around in my head driving over all the bumps, potholes, etc., which gave me a hellish headache, and met DOTR.

He had 10 shirts that looked exactly alike (blue and/or green with stripes) and a whole bunch of pants that were dry clean only. We whittled it down (only got 5 shirts) and 6 pr. of pants. DOTR hates shopping, so he likes to do about 3 or 4 years worth in one shot. Got a bunch of Tommy Hilfiger and Nautica repp striped ties for $20 each, some socks and other sundries. $400 and three bags later, he has presentable clothes. Then we went to KG Menswear to get studs for his tux, a sport jacket (since Steinmart doesn't carry "portly" sizes) and scored a pair of shiny evening shoes to go with the tux. At this point, I don't even care that I look like I just came down from the mountains to shop at the Super Walmart and I just keep shopping. I went to the mall and picked up a pair of shoes on clearance and found a couple shirts on super duper clearance at Belk.

I'm packed except for the toiletries and the things I'm waiting for in the laundry. A new record.

We think J3 might actually pull off passing most of his classes. J4 is in better shape than we thought and actually may not even get a single D (after my two "4.0+ Full IB Diploma with the Highest Honors" girls, it's frightening to see how far my standards have dropped). We still don't know about J4's CRCT and how that will affect his summer school/promotion situation, but oh well. I need a vacation. Like nobody's business.

DOTR gave me a $75 gift card to Barnes and Noble for Mother's Day so I can buy something to read on the trip. Oops, already spent about $50 at Border's last week, but we won't mention that. Not much is appealing to me these days, so I may just spend it later.

Today, I have to clear things out at the office and get J2 up to speed on her duties. Type a list of what the girls need to do while we're gone. And so forth.

So, cheerio. Mind the gap, and all that.

I'm outta here.

I Was Born in a Small Town

One of the advantages of coming from a small town is when you totally blow off Mother's Day, you can make something happen fast.

Just got off the phone with the local florist. I looked at floral websites all day yesterday trying to figure out what to send to my mom. My parents are leaving home for a week on Sunday to housesit for my brother in Lincoln (and take care of his geriatric cats), so I didn't want to send a bouquet of flowers that would die while they're gone or they'd have to take with (using my midwestern hanging preposition there, just for effect).

I wanted to get her something she could plant later, but everything was $75 with a $15 delivery fee. Not gonna happen.

So I called the local florist, talked to somebody and ordered a $50 patio pot to be delivered today. And a little something for my grandma in the nursing home (whose name, of course they wrote down when all I said was "my grandma"). Didn't have to explain where my parents live, because they already know.

It's not quite THAT small townish here, but when I come from that it's easy to see why this place appeals to me over subdivisions where everybody is from somewhere else.

As much as I wanted to get away from my small town, it's so much a part of who I am that in order to be completely content, I needed to find just a little bit of that in this huge metropolis we now call home.

Found it.

The Vault

Boys. What am I going to do with these boys?

All information is in the vault. Never to see the light of day.

Luckily, we have our window to the world, IParent, which we unfortunately have not used enough. We never had to with the girls and just never got into the habit. With the boys it always caused huge fights that weren't worth it, considering that most of their teachers in the earlier grades didn't keep up with entering the data. We'd be on their backs about something that was long taken care of and just not recorded. So we let it slide.

Now, a day late and a dollar short, we're keeping up with it. Sort of.

It also helps to have friends who have girls the same age. With girls you generally know what's going on. I used to say that J1 would come home from school and all I had to do was push rewind and play and I knew more than I really needed to know. About everybody and everything.

So, I was talking to somebody at church the other day and told her about our trip. She said, "oh you won't be here for the 8th grade dance! I was going to ask you to help me with the refreshments since I'm in charge." Well, obviously, this isn't my first 8th grade dance. It's my last, thank goodness. But I definitely never heard a word about it up to this point. I also heard that J4 has a DATE. Yeah, how do you like them apples?

We've asked him about it a few times since my friend spilled the beans and we still get no info. I really don't know what's expected of a date at the 8th grade dance. You can only ask somebody who is in your class, and some groups make a big deal of it and others don't. The girls were beyond awkward in middle school, and J3 was out of town at a baseball tournament (I was in charge of refreshments and he wasn't even there!).

Hopefully the girls can get some info out of the vault and take care of any details. They'll probably have more luck with it.

So yeah, my baby. He has a date.

Graduation Gifts

We'll miss four graduation parties while we're in London, including my nephew's. In a fit of organization and thinking ahead, which is totally unlike me, I have all the gifts done or in the pipeline. Thanks to Maggi, we'll be ready.

Here are the first ones:

Two giant bath sheets for my nephew--we're adding a couple of UGa Tervis Tumblers

Favorite BIL and SIL are so proud he got into Georgia!

Spa Wraps for J2's friends, who are attending (from Top to bottom) Georgia, UNC-Chapel Hill, Georgia Tech and Clemson (all IB Diploma Candidates!)

For my niece in Nebraska.

I took a few more things to Maggi yesterday, three more spa wraps and two more bath sheets. J2's roommate's mom told me she did the spa wraps for all her daughter's friends last year and they were a big hit. J2's favorite gifts last year were two sets of monogrammed towels, and boys are hard to shop for since the only things they really seem to want are electronics!

The World is Flat

Last week I was busy for a day or two doing something I should've had handled a long time ago. I've whittled my volunteer duties down to two things, acolyte coordinator at church and International Baccalaureate (IB) Booster Club president at the high school. Our high school has been an IB school since 1995. It was the first public school in Georgia to offer it; before that a couple of private schools had it including the Atlanta International School. One of our elementary schools is an IB school, and we just found out on Friday that our middle school received approval to become a Middle Years Programme along with the high school. We have open enrollment in our elementaries now, if there is space, so you can now be in an IB program from kindergarten through graduation.

Both the girls were full diploma candidates and received the diploma. Lots of people say "is that like AP?" Not really, since AP is a specific course and you are tested over the course only. You can take one, two, five or however many AP courses you want. IB is more of a process that you follow sequentially and along with the classes that take more of a global view, students also have to complete an extended essay, do 150 hours of CAS (creativity, action and service) and take a two semester class called Theory of Knowledge (TOK), basically it teaches "how do we know what we know?" They take exams everyday for about three weeks in May in every subject. All of the exams have at least two papers that usually start one afternoon and finish up the next morning. Some have three papers. All the exams have to be done by a certain time of the day per the worldwide schedule so nobody can get on the internet and talk about what was on the test. The tests require proctors to sit and do nothing for three to four hours. That's where I come in. My job--find proctors.

Last year's diploma class was huge. Out of 300 students, 61 tested in History and English. I don't think anybody ever thought it would get to the point where 20% of the class were full diploma or certificate candidates (also keep in mind that we are an urban, diverse school, as in it's a majority minority school). So we needed a lot of proctors because there were no rooms at our central office big enough for the whole group. I should add that my good friend is the IB director and up until this year she also taught Calculus and Higher Level Math. Last year was the first time she had a part time secretary. She always tried to do all this piddly stuff herself. So about three years ago, after she and I had thrown three lunches, ice cream parties and pool parties for the kids and spent a lot of our own money, we decided we needed a booster club. People responded, wanted to help and the rest is history. This year she only needed 7 proctors and I had people fighting over the spots! Can't beat that. I didn't have to cover a single spot or send one of the girls (did that last year, and the year before!)

When we went to visit Nebraska last winter (while J2 was waiting to hear from Tech), we went out to dinner with my brother and sister-in-law. They're both journalists, my brother has written a book, and I think they were amazed that J2 was so "well read" for lack of a better word. Well, first I think they were shocked when they came in to our hotel room and we were watching NewHour with Jim Lehrer (I think they were expecting Fox or something, since we live in the reddest of the red states). So these are her favorites from TOK. I'm just getting around to reading Freakonomics, although I've read enough snippets here and there to know that three of my five nieces have names on the white trash list. Which I could've told them a long time ago. But I digress.

all book photos from amazon.com

Anyway, thanks to their IB education, I hope my kids will be able to survive, or at least understand, this new world. If you have this in your schools, I'd encourage you to take advantage of it. Our county schools offer it as a magnet program, but we get a lot of tuition students from the county who prefer our program. Lots of the private school kids opt to attend as well. We've had huge growth in the past 5 or 6 years and I see no end in sight.

Better keep my proctor list up to date.

Quirky

I've been tagged by maddie

Rules of play:
a. Link the person who tagged you. That’s Maddie.
b. Mention the rules in your blog post.
c. Tell about 6 unspectacular quirks of yours.
d. Tag 6 bloggers by linking to them.
e. Leave a comment on each of the tagged blogger’s blogs letting them know they have been tagged.

Six quirky things about me:

1. When I go to a food court and I just want a drink, I'm very particular about where I get the drink. I don't like crushed ice or styrofoam cups. And although I live in the land of Coke, I usually choose someplace with Pepsi products because I like Diet Dr. Pepper (Pepsi distributes Dr. Pepper in the ATL).

2. I like tea flavored tea, coffee flavored coffee, and water flavored water. None of that fancy schmancy stuff for me.

3. Whenever I go on a diet, I never crave sweets. I always crave potato chips. If I'm not on a diet, I rarely eat potato chips.

4. When I sleep, I must have two pillows, the covers must not be messed up and nobody better even think about touching me. Or else.

5. I love to travel, but I am just dreading the flight to Europe next week. I hate the hassle factor of the airport, but the thing that drives me insane in a plane is that there is nowhere to put my feet. Why aren't there footrests in planes like on buses? I also hate to be in the middle seat, and I will be because DOTR is huge and he has to sit on the aisle because he has no perception of other's personal space.

6. I hate to run errands. DOTR loves it. It's torture for me to go to the dry cleaners, the post office, bank, etc. I avoid it whenever possible. I really hate to put gas in my car and usually I whine until DOTR does it.

I don't know who's been tagged yet because I've been away from the computer for a few days. So I'm tagging whoever wants to do this. Let me know in the comments so we can read your quirks!

Lighten Up

Go Big Blue?

Wednesday Windup

I won't make the mistake of using the h#mp word again on my blog. OMG. More weirdos per square inch than you'd ever want looking at your musings. Whenever I see google on the sitemeter, I get frightened!

So, it's been one helluva week.

The girls are home and their crap has taken over, despite all our efforts to head it off at the pass. The boys are both flunking everything except PE and are currently without electronics or social lives for the forseeable future. DOTR was treated very poorly by the baseball booster puppetmaster and that's all I have to say about that. But he can kiss any help goodbye in the future, and believe me, he will miss it. Being a good salesman also means you're the main fundraiser, so....should've thought of that instead of always trying to figure out how to protect his precious prince from any competition. I've said it before and I'll say it again, I never encountered so many evil people until I got involved with baseball. Ballet and competition cheerleading can't hold a candle to baseball parents. Seriously.

This is not the first time that DOTR has been burned. He's just nice. He expects everybody else to be nice. Then he gets his feelings hurt when they aren't. He's not always thinking about how to get the upper hand, how to get ahead, how to make sure J3 gets enough press and hype, etc. He just puts himself out there, works hard, and helps as much as he can. So he's always surprised when somebody turns around and stabs him in the back. I leave the holy roller stuff to my inlaws, but I will say that if I have any "spiritual gifts" it is the gift of discernment. I can usually tell whether I like somebody (as in, are you friend or foe) after one meeting. It's just a weird feeling I get. DOTR, not so much. He always asks me why I don't like somebody--and I don't really know, I just don't. And I have never, seriously, NEVER been wrong. So since this has happened with SO many people in baseball, I just try to stay away. I guess I should go meet everybody and give him the heads up from my gut feelings and then he'd watch his back.

But whatever. It's just high school. Some parents just forget that the kids are the ones in high school, not them. Most of the time the kids aren't into who's better or getting more attention, it's the parents who can't handle it.

In the meantime, I've been shopping for clothes for our trip. I had to buy pants and I hit the motherlode at Eddie Bauer. Their Vashon cut pants fit me perfectly (I have a short torso) and they had khaki pants on sale for $19.99. I got 4 pair in different styles and color variations. The good thing about going to someplace cold now is the clearance prices on winter clothes. I'm almost done packing, and then we see what DOTR is missing and do a quick shopping trip for him. We'll be arriving in Dublin just about this time next week.

J1 started her internship today. J2 is going to babysit the office for us while we're gone and she starts her job right after Memorial Day. We may be touring military schools for our undisciplined, xbox party boys when we get back. It's looking good to me right about now. All my days and nights free with a couple visitations a year. Can you say paradise?

I took J2 to the doctor this morning for an echocardiogram and the preliminary results show a little leaking around a valve, but nothing serious. She's had a murmur since she was born and they hear it everytime she goes to the doctor. We did the whole pediatric cardiologist thing for years and she was released when she got to middle school age, but the PA mentioned that she thought it should've cleared up by now and we needed a followup. This has been bothering J2 all year and she started having "heart pains" a couple weeks ago. A friend of ours who is a Family Physician told us he would see her and set up the echo and then if she needed to see a cardiologist we could go from there. So, hopefully this will help her stop worrying. He told her that it's nothing to be concerned about pending the cardiologists report. So I'm hoping she will chill. Sometimes you just need that reassurance you're okay.

So that's our week so far. Nothing earthshattering, just the day to day stuff of normal life.

Cause that's how we roll.

Le Frigo

I'm taking the challenge from the mrs.

Here's my fridge (or the fridgidaire, as my grandma used to call it). We just got it last year because we needed a cabinet depth refrigerator. Our other one stuck out a foot, and since we have a long narrow kitchen with a small island in the middle and neither DOTR nor I are exactly what you'd call slim, it was getting to be a PITA to try to move through the kitchen. The kids are all full sized (well, J4 has a little growing to do) so we decided it was time to take care of that problem. We moved our ginormous refrigerator to the basement to store beer and popsicles and opted for no ice dispenser on the door in the new one. Which may or may not be a mistake, but oh well. I like the sleek look much better.

I'm sure this is more information than anybody needs. Anyway, in the butler's pantry we also have an under the counter fridge for yogurt and sodas, etc. as well as a wine cooler. We also have an upright freezer in the basement. We are well stocked, but I guess we do have what you would consider a "large family". No wonder we're not exactly slim.

I did not style the fridge. Since I live with all boys now and they have that serious malady, refrigerator blindness (can't see it unless it is in the middle and right up front), I am always straightening it out so I don't have to come and get things out for them while they are standing there with the doors flung open. Because this thing beeps if you leave the door open for more than 30 seconds.

So now that you are all quite up to date on the drama of my refrigerator, here it is.

The Dress

Ok, here it is in all its glory.

In case you missed my comment under "fashion advice".....here's the story on the dress.

Fashionistas, don't judge.

I found it at Macy's. It fits with no alterations (not even a hem). I don't need any painful underwear to make it look presentable.

It was $200 and I got a friends and family coupon, so it was only $160. The jewelry was 30% off, and I got the shoes at DSW (the only pair I saw all day in that taupe color).

It looks kind of matronly, but lately I am such a heifer that's about all I can wear. And I need the jacket because the average night time temperature in London in May is 40 degrees F.

Brrr.

Laundry Advice for Baseball Moms

I'm washing J3's uniform for his last game tonight. (can I hear a Praise the Lord, an Alleluia and a big AMEN?!!) Years ago, before my self imposed moratorium on attending baseball games, I used to sit around and chat with the moms, just like y'all do now.

One of the moms we've known for years has five boys, all baseball players. The oldest is two years older than J1 (but the mom is actually a year younger than me) and the youngest is the same age as J4. I was complaining about pulling the belt out of the baseball pants, because when they are younger, that big buckle on the adjustable elastic belt is too big for the belt loops and it is such a pain to take it out and put it back in the pants three or four times a week.

Well.....she said, "I never take the belts out. I just wash them right in the pants. And I don't take cups out of sliders or jock straps."

So there you go. If you haven't discovered this little trick, that's my laundry tip for the day. I've been doing this for at least seven years and haven't lost a belt or a cup yet. The leather on the front of the belt just gets soft and more pliable and the colored belt has never run into the white or grey pants. So if you aren't already doing this, save yourself some aggravation and just throw it all in together.

Happy washing.

I Gotta Wear Shades

Do you think old people are afraid of trees? Because lately it seems like every old person around here is going to town getting rid of all their trees. Our neighbors directly across the street have taken nearly every single tree out of their front yard. When I walk out the front door, it's blinding now.

The trees are the reason we moved to this neighborhood. If I wanted to live in a neighborhood with no trees, believe me, I would have no trouble finding one now. They just go in, mow them down and throw up houses. In some places it looks like Omaha (rows and rows of houses in what used to be cornfields). Now we have rows and rows of houses in what used to be woods. In some areas the trees touch from both sides of the street and make a canopy. There are a couple houses I have honestly never noticed before because they are so well hidden. And I've lived in this house for ten years!

When you look at those satellite maps, you can't even see our house. Or most of the houses in the neighborhood for that matter. There's a new million dollar subdivision that actually backs ours, although its entrance is miles away (for you locals, the back of Oakton meets the back of Anderson Farm). So when you look on google earth, you can't see our houses at all. But you sure as heck can see every single house in Anderson Farm.

I think my trees are worth much more than a million dollars.

I'm keeping them.

One down, One to go

Well, we got J2 loaded up and moved out of her dorm room. Unlike her sister, she had everything piled in the hallway and we carried it down to the Landcruiser in three trips. We got there at 1:00 and were back on the road by 1:30. When J1 moved out of her dorm, she hadn't packed one thing when DOTR got there. They have to be out 24 hours after their last final, so we're pretty sure she fabricated a final for Friday afternoon. They had to be out by noon on Saturday, and when he arrived at 10:00 am she was nowhere to be found. She finally showed up from "telling everybody at the sorority house goodbye"....umm, yeah, we were born yesterday. Not.

So, being her father's daughter, they both grabbed some black trash bags and started throwing stuff in. They tossed it in the car and tied the futon to the top like the Beverly Hillbillies. They had to pay some fines to housing for not signing up for checkout, and since neither one of them is exactly what you'd call a detail oriented clean freak, I'm sure there was a little fine for filth as well. Then I'm sure he drove like a freaking maniac up I-75. I'm just glad I missed that day. I'm pretty sure I was at a baseball game or something exciting.

We left J2 there to finish cleaning her room. Her roommate is leaving tomorrow, so she was helping her get things packed up and then decided to spend the night in J1's room in the sorority house. J1 has a paper due tomorrow, so she's coming home Saturday after a graduation party. She did get a start on bringing her stuff home--she showed up at about 9:30 last night with her car full of dresses, blankets and knick knacks. I think leaving J2 down there to keep her on task with packing is probably a good thing.

Now where do we put all this crap?

Ugh.

Family Boot Camp

There is a serious problem at the Normal household. We are a bunch of slackers and we need to get our crap together.

The place is still such a wreck I can't even hire somebody to clean it. The boys are addicted to xbox and allergic to homework. The girls have been enjoying the delicious food at the sorority house (and probably a few too many adult beverages) and both appear to be bursting out of their clothes. And well, you've seen me and DOTR. OMG.

I don't even think about cooking anymore because J3 gets a ride home everyday with somebody who drives through McDonald's on the way. J4 will only eat cereal or chicken noodle soup. I don't know how this happened, I was always the strictest "if I put it in front of you, you're going to eat it" kind of mom. His plate from two nights ago when I actually cooked is still in the refrigerator. He had a filling that afternoon and was pretending he couldn't eat.

We know all about J1's money handling problems. She's also an absolute pig. Can't wait to see what her room looks like in about a week. J2 always has some mysterious ailment that makes it impossible for her to do a lot of what you ask. My toe, my knee, my heart (that's the latest, when she had her checkup before she went to college, the PA said that they really shouldn't still be able to hear her heart murmur, so we should get it checked out......so now she's having pains "right where my heart is". Please. Stop. Now.)

I think I just got tired. I should've stopped with two kids and I might not have gotten so far off track. We definitely wouldn't have spent the last ten years wasting a million dollars in DOTR's lost wages because he was obsessed with coaching baseball instead of working at his job.

DOTR and I were lamenting our family situation over lunch the other day (what the hell were we doing going out to lunch anyway?) and decided it's time to get tough. On ALL of us. Nobody has any self discipline around here.

Family Boot Camp. All summer.

***AFTER we get back from our trip of course. So there's still plenty of time for eating, drinking and making merry. ***

We'll see how it works.