I'm not a big fan of Halloween. I just can't resist the candy. I don't like to pass out treats (pretzels this year) to the kids that ring the doorbell. It drives the dogs and cats crazy and Marcia isn't here this time to hand the treats out. She likes to see the little kids in their costumes.
When I was a kid I never really liked to dress up for Halloween either. We used to have to do it for school and have a parade around the playground. My mom was pretty creative in coming up with costumes, but I've never really liked to wear them.
Going trick or treat was okay, but we were only allowed to go to the homes of people we knew. Since we lived overseas (on base) when I was this age, that was pretty easy to do and mom and dad knew a LOT of people.
Going through the candy at the end of the night was interesting. Mom would get most of the ones with coconut (I never liked Almond Joy or Mounds) and she would steal a few of the Snickers. My brother and I would trade some of our candy with each other. Candy corn was (and still is) my favorite. I, of course, would eat my candy fairly quickly. My brother would parcel his out slowly and then when mine was gone he would bribe me with candy to play with him. I would take the candy and find a way to get out of playing as fast as possible. We were both bad.
Not my favorite time of the year, but always good memories. HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!
Saturday, October 30, 2010
Wednesday, October 27, 2010
SINGLE MOTHERHOOD
Marcia left at 4am to catch a plane to head to Boston to visit her mother. Yes, I get along just fine with Marcia's family, but I leave in two weeks for Egypt and can't afford any more time off.
So I'm a single mother to seven babies for the next five days. The whole week before she left Marcia was giving me reminders about their feeding schedules, their medicines, their treats, their potty times, etc. Makes it sound like I never do anything with the babies doesn't it? I do things like buy the food, keep the food containers full, and keep us in a steady supply of kitty litter. I don't usually deal with all of these other items.
I had to set my alarm thirty minutes earlier so I can take care of the kitty feedings, get the dogs outside, pass out doggie medicine and treats, and give Grayson his medicine. Pee pee pads for the dogs are changed, one cat put on the patio to take care of her business, Tigger takes care of whatever the kitties left on their plates.
I just did the dinner run. Feed the dogs (with appropriate meds), clean the litter boxes while they are eating, and then take them outside separately to take care of business. Then the kitties wanted some treats and Joel is pestering his sister Bindi.
I really don't think we pay Laurel enough when she stays here and takes care of them when we are gone.
I still have the bedtime routine to do tonight as well--another potty run, fresh water, treats, more medicine for Grayson.
Marcia is sure I'm going to forget something, so I had to run down and list everything I did today to make sure I had it all covered.
Sigh, four more days to myself (sort of)...
So I'm a single mother to seven babies for the next five days. The whole week before she left Marcia was giving me reminders about their feeding schedules, their medicines, their treats, their potty times, etc. Makes it sound like I never do anything with the babies doesn't it? I do things like buy the food, keep the food containers full, and keep us in a steady supply of kitty litter. I don't usually deal with all of these other items.
I had to set my alarm thirty minutes earlier so I can take care of the kitty feedings, get the dogs outside, pass out doggie medicine and treats, and give Grayson his medicine. Pee pee pads for the dogs are changed, one cat put on the patio to take care of her business, Tigger takes care of whatever the kitties left on their plates.
I just did the dinner run. Feed the dogs (with appropriate meds), clean the litter boxes while they are eating, and then take them outside separately to take care of business. Then the kitties wanted some treats and Joel is pestering his sister Bindi.
I really don't think we pay Laurel enough when she stays here and takes care of them when we are gone.
I still have the bedtime routine to do tonight as well--another potty run, fresh water, treats, more medicine for Grayson.
Marcia is sure I'm going to forget something, so I had to run down and list everything I did today to make sure I had it all covered.
Sigh, four more days to myself (sort of)...
Friday, October 15, 2010
Friday
What a beautiful day today in Gainesville!!! Sunny but not hot, nice breeze. I'll take it.
I'm spending my afternoon being a domestic goddess. Don't laugh!! I'm on the third load of laundry and I made a triple batch of spaghetti sauce that is being canned in pints as I write. Makes for some easy dinners when we are busy.
Under 4 weeks until we leave for Egypt. I am so ready to go. The documents came by email yesterday and caused about 20 hours of anxiety. The flight to Frankfurt had been changed to three hours later than originally planned and there was very little chance we would make the connection to Cairo in only 30 minutes of layover. There was no way our luggage would have made it. We would have been put on a later Egypt Air flight and would have arrived in Cairo at 5am, after travelling for two days.
I get an email today telling me of a schedule change, but a different one than the one I discovered last night. Either Gate 1 or Lufthansa changed us to United and we leave at the same time and arrive at the same time (pretty much), but going through Dulles. We didn't want to have to change planes, as every time you change a plane your luggage has a higher likelihood of getting lost. I'm just going to pack a bigger carry-on to cover that possibility and think good thoughts instead.
The next problem was that the new reservation didn't have assigned seating. I took care of that by phone but all of the good seats (2 seats instead of the 5 across) were already taken. I owe Elaine big now as she will let me have the aisle seat and she will be the one squished next up to someone else on the other side.
Let's pray they don't change anything else!!
Now, for my Friday night...Marcia is going to an awards banquet and I'm staying home and doing research for the trip. I'm watching "The Mummy". I claim it is for research, but Marcia knows it is because I like to look at Rachel Weis for 2 hours. The things I have to sacrifice in order to be prepared for this trip! A bottle or two of the hard cider I found will also be available for my sustenance. Good thing I get to sleep late in the morning!
I'm spending my afternoon being a domestic goddess. Don't laugh!! I'm on the third load of laundry and I made a triple batch of spaghetti sauce that is being canned in pints as I write. Makes for some easy dinners when we are busy.
Under 4 weeks until we leave for Egypt. I am so ready to go. The documents came by email yesterday and caused about 20 hours of anxiety. The flight to Frankfurt had been changed to three hours later than originally planned and there was very little chance we would make the connection to Cairo in only 30 minutes of layover. There was no way our luggage would have made it. We would have been put on a later Egypt Air flight and would have arrived in Cairo at 5am, after travelling for two days.
I get an email today telling me of a schedule change, but a different one than the one I discovered last night. Either Gate 1 or Lufthansa changed us to United and we leave at the same time and arrive at the same time (pretty much), but going through Dulles. We didn't want to have to change planes, as every time you change a plane your luggage has a higher likelihood of getting lost. I'm just going to pack a bigger carry-on to cover that possibility and think good thoughts instead.
The next problem was that the new reservation didn't have assigned seating. I took care of that by phone but all of the good seats (2 seats instead of the 5 across) were already taken. I owe Elaine big now as she will let me have the aisle seat and she will be the one squished next up to someone else on the other side.
Let's pray they don't change anything else!!
Now, for my Friday night...Marcia is going to an awards banquet and I'm staying home and doing research for the trip. I'm watching "The Mummy". I claim it is for research, but Marcia knows it is because I like to look at Rachel Weis for 2 hours. The things I have to sacrifice in order to be prepared for this trip! A bottle or two of the hard cider I found will also be available for my sustenance. Good thing I get to sleep late in the morning!
Sunday, October 3, 2010
Life is Expensive
Just a recap of our last week or so. Last Wednesday my car battery died. Tuesday we took Marcia's truck in for a tune-up and minor repairs. Then on Thursday we found that the washing machine was dead. I think the lightening from the storm on Monday fried the motherboard. It would be more to repair an 8 year old washer than to replace it, so we bought another one. While I was trying to call Marcia to tell her the news and get her approval, she was trying to call me because the "check engine" light came on in the truck. That turned out to only be a loose gas cap and they didn't charge us the $80 for the diagnostic. Then when they delivered the washer on Friday the drains backed up so we had to call a plumber. Since we had to pay him for a whole hour anyway we put him to work on some smaller stuff as well.
We are now officially broke for the month and it is only the 3rd. I look at the children and tell them they better not get sick because vet visits are expensive too. They don't really take me seriously for some reason....
We are now officially broke for the month and it is only the 3rd. I look at the children and tell them they better not get sick because vet visits are expensive too. They don't really take me seriously for some reason....
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