Yesterday

I turned 41. Yep, I am officially middle aged, but that is not what I intend to write about today. Today I was remembering this slumber party I went to when I was 12 (I think). My friends Chris and Valerie were there too, but I can't remember whose party it was. There was a Ouija board, almost always at the slumber parties we had a Ouija Board. At Chrissy G's 12th birthday/slumber party we asked the Ouija Board for Rick Springfield's phone number and we got the number to a bar in Dallas TX. I can imagine Chrissy explaining that call to her parents. It was waaaaay before the internet, so there was no predatory action going on. Anyway, I always had pretty good luck with Ouija Boards. I don't know who was directing me, but we got some pretty good answers to our questions. This one slumber party, with Chris and Valerie, the three of us were using the Ouija Board. I asked "what will we be when we grow up?" The answer: secdertary, producerq and layer. Now, I thought that was going to be one each, and I was going to be a producer. A movie producer, right? Well, I have been thinking about this answer lately, and I think they were answers for me. I have been a secretary, probably the most lucrative way to pay for college. I could be a producer, I think I have the skills, and it's really all about who you know, but I also have been thinking of going back to school to study law. I think I would make a good lawyer. I like to argue. I like to win arguments. So, there you go. Midlife crisis, okay, maybe.

So, the other thing I wanted to mention was I read The Lovely Bones. It's an amazing book. I would reccomend it to everyone I know. It's sort of sad, in a very winsome sort of way. I really loved it. I also read Twilight, the teen vampire novel. X borrowed the next book for me from a friend of his, but I am just not into it. Twilight left me sort of mad, it is just way too sappy for my taste, and the next one isn't promising to be much better. I'll give it another couple of chapters before I throw in the towel.

Last bit of new, I joined a knitting club. They meet locally on Sundays and Wednesdays, though I have never gone to a Wednesday get together. There is one happening tomorrow, at a coffee shop I really like, so I might go, before the madness of school starts. On Thursday we get to find out Thomas' kindergarten teacher. I am excited for him, but I am nervous. This summer he has really had a hard time focusing and paying attention. I am hoping it's a growth spurt or something. Glee has a mermaid/fairy tea party planned for Saturday night. I think I might have them both sit down tomorrow and do some school work, some math pages and write their letters and such. I also have a couple of gifts to send out, to a couple of friends for belated birthdays and congratulations on new jobs (E and C!), my nieces Hannah Montana themed gifts, and get a couple of things to send to Aurora... oh, and grocery store, and what the heck I think I will take the kids to the coffee shop for breakfast... finish out the lazy days of summer.

Lazy days of summer

We are at the end of them, for this year anyway. From the previous post you can see things are starting to add up.

I just want to take a minute at the end of summer here to make some observations about Thomas and Glee. We haven't studied anything this summer. We haven't taken the time to learn anything new, but Glee can read anything now and her comprehension is really high. That means I have to be careful now, because she can read over my shoulder. Thomas is putting letters together, and not really reading exactly, but getting the idea of it. He has decided he wants to skateboard, and has a skateboard on the back patio he likes to play on. He is trying to do tricks like they do on tv. We need to get him a helmet at least, and probably some knee and elbow pads. Glee learned how to play Zoo Tycoon 2 this summer and has a real nice zoo going.

I am surprised by how little and how much they actually know. It's hard to remember sometimes they are only (almost) 5 and 7. I catch myself expecting more of them than I probably should, but I wonder if it expecting too much for the common sense to kick in. Today Thomas went to the bathroom, and in pulling up his underwear they got stuck. So what does he do? He just yells for me. Instead of unsticking them, he asks me to do it. No, I didn't. I told him to do it himself. If he is in school and finds himself in that situation, he has to know how to get out of it! Also today, he was drinking orange juice out of a juice bottle, and instead of using his finger to reach in to get the straw he decided to tip the bottle. I stopped it before it poured all over him, but I wonder if I should have just let it pour! So, really, it's only his common sense that it is bugging me. I guess it will come. Hmm.

Here we go!

So, last couple of weeks of summer, and here is what the schedule for the next three to four months looks like...

Thomas has soccer practice on Thursdays from 5-6, Glee has soccer practice on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 5:30-6:30 (thankfully, the same location for all the practices). Games will be on Saturdays. Girl Scouts will be on every other Wednesday, for which I am the leader, so there will be prep and organizing to be done. Oh, and I am team mom for Glee's team (Thomas' team coach's wife took the job on that one). School will be Monday-Friday from 8:30-1:50 for Thomas, and 8:30-2:50 for Glee, except Wednesdays which will be out at 1:30 for Thomas and 1:50 for Glee. In all that I have to revitalize my business because we need the cash, and I have been feeling slightly useless lately not participating in the income portion of our house. Of course I do manage to save us some money here and there, but it would be nicer to generate some once in a while.

In other news, we sold out Pathfinder for $1200.00. That was a good deal all the way around. The guy who bought it is going to have to put about $1000.00 in for repairs, and we don't have to pay for insurance on it anymore. Oh, and it sure did like to drink gas, and we really only drove it in emergencies. So we are once again a two car family (and good thing, since only two of us can actually DRIVE).

It seems like a thousand years since my cousins were here. This summer dragged on and now it's over in the blink of an eye. I am looking forward to school starting. I think the kids are too, they are starting to get a little stir-crazy at home. Thomas has been bouncing off the walls for about two weeks now, and it seems it is not enough to have him rest in the afternoon, which ironically calms him down. Glee has been sick for a couple of days, bad sore throat, temp of 104 on Saturday. The doc today said it was just a bad cold of some sort, and to wait it out. She tested her for strep and it came back negative. Thomas is probably getting it too.

X is playing lots of hockey right now, and he seems tired. I would be too if I had a game that kept me out until 1am and I had to be at work at 7am the next day. He's a good guy, and I hope he isn't wearing himself out. I joined a new club, a knitting club, it meets every Sunday. I hope to be able to knit socks by Christmas (guess what I want to make for everyone!).

Quick update, but there you go.

Just so I don't forget...

8/2: Spent the day at stitch shop (disappointing!), Riverside National Cemetery and Corona at relatives.
8/3: Day OFF!!! Shopping, cousins went to church, great conversation and delicious dinner.
8/4: Long Beach and Laguna Beach (never been there before, very Mediterranean!).
8/5: Disneyland from 8:15a-10:45p. Whew.
8/6: Graumann's, Hollywood and Highland, Griffith Observatory
8/7: Universal Studios (what a disappointment!).
8/8: Final shopping, packing, and collapsing in a heap of vacation exhaustion.

What can I say, we filled the vacation. So much for the Brits who like to stay in one place when they go on holiday! We put over 1200 miles on brother-in-law's borrowed van (thank the heavens for a borrowed van!). I learned how to knit correctly. I hope to be able to make socks soon. The first ugly pair will be sent to the UK. They need socks there, it is raining all the time. Even in the summer.

I do have a lot more to say about the vacation. I just can't right now. I miss my cousins. Glee told me she had a dream last night that had her, Thomas, me, X, and my cousins (I am naming them with new names here...) Aurora, her husband Gordon (he's the big train), and daughters Marilyn (the older, Hollywood starlet) and Summer (the youngest, she's beachy). Our "whole family" was here, and she thought it was real. We have only had a few tears from Glee since the departure. She misses people badly sometimes.I think she gets that from her mom.

Today is Monday. It's quiet. I have a job to do, going to play at a friends house this afternoon and a soccer meeting tonight (Glee's team!).

One more bit of news. In the middle of vacation we got an email from the principal of our school. He is not going to be our principal anymore. He took a job closer to home. Looks like I am going to have to get in with the PTA now. Ick. More on that later too...

Vacation ongoing...

A couple of home cooked meals... CHECK
A four hour drive to AZ... CHECK
102 degrees at 9:30pm (that's at night btw)... CHECK
Hoover Dam... CHECK
Cheesecake for $1.50 at Cheesecake Factory in Cesars Palace... CHECK
A five hour drive (with a good two hours discussion about taxes natch!) home to LA... CHECK
The beach is calling for tomorrow... Disneyland next week. More relatives over the weekend, and more driving. Wow, this vacation stuff is HARDWORK!

See you all next week.