Wednesday, July 30, 2008

Brian's video

The things you find when you are downloading pictures.

Brian shot a little video.

A little video of the GUM UNDER THE COFFEE TABLE.

Let me repeat myself.

GUM UNDER THE COFFEE TABLE.





How convenient that Matthew is across the country, because according to the two that are home, he is the one who put it there.

Yeah right.

=0)

Oh, and in other fun remodel news...termites.  Yep, termites.

Being the wonderful, perfect mother that I am, I actually told the boys that the termites came because someone put gum under the coffee table.

Didn't phase them much, but it made me feel a little better.

=0)

Tuesday, July 29, 2008

Rock 'n Roll

Earthquake.

Yikes.

No more typing...I will be spending the remainder of my day huddled under a doorway.  With a bottle of vodka.

=0)

Monday, July 28, 2008

Done

Nope, the remodel is not done.

I am done.

If I ever talk about doing this again, shoot me.

Quickly.

=0)






Saturday, July 26, 2008

Today's Pick

Makes me so happy.

=0)

Let's see...what is there to share today.

Ahhhh...random pictures from the other night.  Sophie and Logan cooking for the rather gigantic Alex.  Check out Logan in his apron.

A rather blurry, but amazingly adorable Maddie.  Yes, I am a proud auntie.
Logan.  3rd child.  Thirsty.
What're you gonna do?  Drink the pool, of course.
This poor child.  I'm tellin ya...until recently, he had great parents.  Now?

Ummm...not so much.

=0)
We are heading back there today for Sophie's birthday party.  It'll get us away from here, the dust pit, for the afternoon and let us have some fun.  I've been told that the painting, which is being handled by the 'there's no way I am paying someone to paint a wall' me, who is now wishing I had hired someone to paint the walls, can begin tonight.

I love long sentences.

And I love yellow paint, so I am ready.

=0)

For the Matthew followers...show in Atlanta tonight,  Jacksonville, Alabama tomorrow, and Salem, Virginia on Monday.  Pray for safe travels, please!

Thursday, July 24, 2008

Yep.

Still here.

In the dust.

We now have electricity in the whole house, as well as a lovely view of the underside of our roof from basically anywhere you stand in the family room or kitchen.

Which is a real treat.  

Cuz I've always wanted to see the underside of the roof from my couch.

=0)

Let's see...what else is new?

Matthew is in Atlanta for the next 2 days.  He says simply, "It's hot."  I asked if he cared to elaborate and there was no response.  

Summer basketball comes to a close tomorrow afternoon with a scrimmage between the frosh/soph and the JV teams.  Should be fun in a sick 'beat them by 50 points' kind of way, but the coaches seem to think it will be an important life lesson.  

Brian has been at camp this week, but we are all playing hooky tomorrow.  Just because.  We'll go to the game and then he is treating me to the movie Wall-E.  

M has been working tons and has a new best friend...Mendelssohn.   Looks like I better get used to him, too, cuz he is already invading my territory.

 And it is only July.  

=0)


Monday, July 21, 2008

Motherhood

Matthew is in Louisiana today...this was last nights texts:


Matthew: Hey, Mom. Don't worry if I don't answer any texts until next weeks laundry day.

Me: Why? Going somewhere? lol.

Matthew: Funny. I just need a break for a few days from real life.

Me: Real life?

Matthew: Yeah. I am a 4 yr vet mom. I will be fine. I want to completely become a part of my corps.

Me: Yeah. I get it. I am a 19 yr vet. Maybe I'll take a break too. I'll even have money to eat, because I won't need to pay for your cell phone while you are on your break. OK, sounds good. Call from a pay phone when you are ready for real life again.

Matthew: Love you mom. I'll text tomorrow night.

Me: Love you too. Drink lots of water. Talk to you tomorrow night.


Good, old fashioned bribery, with a load of guilt thrown in for good measure.

Nothing like being a mother.

=0)


Sunday, July 20, 2008

Wow

Last night, Mamma Mia with the girlies.

Gotta love Mamma Mia AND the girlies.

Today, basketball.

Gotta love basketball.
Lunch at Ameci's, which is owned by our friends and they graciously feed us for free whenever we want.

Gotta love free food.
Home to our construction site, where we still have only half a house of electricity, but no longer need a hard hat to enter.  I love it more every minute and can't wait to see every new little thing that gets done.  M and I found it...the perfect door.  

Gotta love remodeling.


Supper was going to be bbq, but alas, couldn't find the bbq.  Taco salads to the rescue.

Gotta love a back-up plan.

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Saturday, July 19, 2008

Just Picked

It's not a pumpkin, folks.  It's an acorn squash...a HUGE acorn squash.  

And there are many, many of them.

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Friday, July 18, 2008

A New Day

Pretty, pretty wall.
A boy, a sledge hammer and permission to hit.
(the permission part was important.)
Matthew, sorry about your room.  
Hellooooo kitchen!
Today, in between furnace inspections and duct tests and remodeling, M and I are on the hunt for the perfect door for the new pantry.  They can't frame it till we find it and they needed it, like, yesterday.

I have the door knob for it, though, which is very important.

So, if you happen to see an old, falling down farmhouse in the middle of Italy or France today....TODAY, would you mind grabbing a door, preferably with glass and peeling paint, and bringing it over?

Thanks.

=0)



Wednesday, July 16, 2008

Sad

Packed and on his way.


His drum and bugle corps travels with 4 buses and 2 full semi's...one just for equipment and one is a complete kitchen. In the next month, they'll drive, practice, sleep on gym floors, and perform in 12 different states, traveling roughly 10,000 miles...beginning with a show tomorrow night somewhere in Texas.

This year, we subscribed to watch all his shows live online, so we'll be cheering him on from home.

He was ready to go.

I miss him already.









Tuesday, July 15, 2008

More Summer Fun

Brian and his friends at the pool this afternoon...boys are so silly.

=0)


Supper tonight, after arriving home at 6:00pm from a basketball game (no pictures...they didn't play so well) was spaghetti carbonara. M and I lived on this when we were 1st married cuz it is quick to throw together and more importantly, cheap to make. And then I got pregnant. And then I had all day sickness. And then I decided to never eat spaghetti carbonara again.


Fast forward almost 19 years and it was fine...my family LOVED it, so I'll make it again. On a day when I've had a big late lunch.

=0)

After, M and I sat outside in the perfect coolness of the night, eating italian biscotti and drinking italian ameretto, talking about running away to the italian countryside.

Tonight.

Matthew just started his laundry and will then need to pack. Pack for almost a month away...and not the kind of trip where you can run to the store if you forget something. BUT, this is his 4th summer doing this and he says he has it handled, so I am trusting...though if the $30.00 marching shoes that we had to pay $50.00 to ship here overnight don't arrive by 10:30 tomorrow morning, he will be slightly stressed.

As of right now, they are still in Phoenix.

Yikes.




Summer Days

Last night, with one at rehearsal and another with a friends family, the remaining three (two M's and a B) drove to The Counter for some sweet potato fries.

And really great burgers.

And then drove off into the sunset.

For reals.

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Today, there is a houseful here.  As I type, nerf darts are whizzing past me down the hallway.  Brian has a friend over for the day and they are playing wii, Alex has Keke over and they are just being trouble and Matthew, who has the day off, just left to go see friends.

For me,  an eggsalad sandwich, a tall ice tea, and a fun book outside in the backyard...with not a boy in sight.

It's making the nerf war seem a little more tolerable.
The jersey has been washed...it's hard to get it off of him lately.  We have yet another game today at 5pm.  Fun stuff!

Matthew has to finish (or start!) packing for his trip and my garden needs a really good watering, but the laundry is actually caught up.  

Shocker.

 Supper will be on the go once again...probably just a quick pasta once we get back home.  We need to finish watching The Long, Long Trailer with Lucille Ball and Desi Arnez...another in my long list of 'must see' old movies.

Gotta love summer.

=0)

Sunday, July 13, 2008

Turkey

A little taste of our life right now...after next weekend, we get a few weeks off. Alex played 5 games this weekend and is playing really well...it's fun to watch!


In between games yesterday, the basketball boys still had the energy to wrestle.

And have a nerf war. I am still finding 'bullets' all over the house.

Notice Brian in the headlock? Brotherly love.

sigh.

This morning, we had a wonderfully lazy morning at home before heading out to late church, where we endured (I know...not polite, but so true) the longest sermon ever. OK, so maybe not the longest, but close.

Came home, flipped on that fancy schmancy new AC and cooked a turkey.

In July.

Brian was in heaven. I am so looking forward to that real turkey sandwich for lunch tomorrow...mmmm!

Matthew had yet another show...apparently, the super glue did not hold his shoe together the way he had hoped, so tomorrow we'll be scrambling to find a new pair of marching shoes. Right now, he and his dad are sitting on the couch registering him for classes...he leaves on tour on Wednesday and comes home for less than 2 weeks before he moves into his dorm.

So, we're not just packing for tour, but getting college ready, too.

And I'm not liking it.

Not a bit.

But we're not going to think about that just yet.

=0)

Saturday, July 12, 2008

Yesterday

Yesterday began with sleepy drum corps people needing food.

Brian is a GREAT toast maker.

We had another houseful for supper...this time I made pasta and lots of meatballs.  Sorry, no pics...I was too busy cooking.

=0)

We then went and watched the last of the practice and met up with our neighbors...it was fun to see them there and chat a bit.

We watched the instructors...
...and Matthew. (who is called 'beans' and has been for the last 4 years.  The funny part was one of the guys seeing his name on a picture in our house and said, ' hey...beans isn't your real name?'  Priceless.)
Warm downs.
M and I then took off to Macaroni Grill to see Natalie and Karen, two of M's students who sing opera on weekends.  They put M in the middle of the restaurant and sang to him...fortunately, I got it on video and it will go on youtube very, very soon.  
The best part was meeting up for a night out with Greg and Joanna, where we toasted their 7th wedding anniversary with these...
...and these.  Much needed.  
Greg almost dropped his cake.
M ate mine AND his.
And Joanna did this.
Gum!
The food was great, the music was great, and the company was great.

Back to basketball for me...so far today they are 1-1.

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Go, Go, Go

What I should be doing today:

But instead:

  • an early morning soccer try-out,
  • 3 basketball games...all far and away,
  • a drum corps show, also somewhat far and away in the complete opposite direction,
  • a friend of Brian's, here for the weekend,
  • and an eye dr. appt for Alex.
Busy, busy, busy!

=0)

Thursday, July 10, 2008

Maggie

Her new favorite spot. Isn't she sweet?

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Wednesday, July 9, 2008

Escape

There's a drum and bugle corps in my town, which means we've had a houseful.

MORE of a houseful.

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Last night we had 17 extra for supper, but due to my need to re-brunette myself, there was no way I could cook and have it on the table by their 4:00 dinner break.

So, pizza to the rescue.

It's a pretty scraggly crew...must have something to do with standing on a football field for most of the day.

They smelled...lovely.

=0)

The fun part has been hanging out and watching the end of the day run through's. The instructors stand up here with their microphones and say 'do it again' over and over and over.

And over.


Lotsa bugles...they sound amazing.

THIS is what drum corps is all about...practicing on a field in the middle of nowhere while the sun is setting.

Their biggest complaint about being in our town is that they have to have PG practices. Normally, they wear very little clothes...no shirts for the guys and teeny tiny tops for the girls. They work so hard and sweat so much...it is not an attractive activity at all.

This week, the school they are practicing at has said they must all be fully clothed.

All day.

Matthew likes it the other way...less laundry. And no tan lines.

=0)

We've had extra bodies sleeping here and eating here and showering here. They are gone during the day and Alex's team moves in...the family room has become a huge x-box tournament.

LOUD x-box tournaments.

Oh, and they eat, too.

Brian has this week off from camp, so in between errands and basketball and drum corps and the pool, he is hanging in there.

SO, last night M and I escaped. We fed everyone, left Brian and Alex home and went to watch Matthew practice. Then, we went to Nick's.

Alone.

Our table was waiting and we did something crazy...the restaurant closed, but we did not leave. We were able to sit and talk with everyone who works there while eating amazing food and drinking amazing wine.

We got out of there late and we were so not ready to go home. M was talking about driving all night long to a land far, far away...but decided on a movie instead.

We saw Hancock in a theatre with not a child in sight. Thankfully. Oh, and save your money and skip seeing this movie. Not worth it...but I did mention that there were NO children in sight?

=0)

I am now so sleepy today...not sure if it was the double cappuccino or the diet coke. Or both. I must be getting old. Sigh.

This morning it is kinda gloomy outside, so I spent some time in the quiet of my garden...and look what was waiting for me.

Tomatoes. Two very, very sweet tomatoes. And a rather gi-normous cucumber.


My zucchini isn't looking so much like a zucchini. Any guesses as to what it is?

And this momma was taking her babies for a walk to the lake. So sweet.

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Today, Matthew has off. Alex has back to back practices and will be home this afternoon. There's laundry to be done and pesto to be made, as well as some banana bread with some pretty nasty looking bananas. Brian is bored, so we might go and see a movie or maybe we'll just watch one from home...I'd rather not pay money to take a nap.

=0)
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