Easy Peasey

I was just writing a blip about Catie.  And I realized that yes, I like life easy.  Not that life is ever easy with littles.  But I try not to make it more complicated.  I no longer carry relationships where I do all the giving.  I'm not going to do all the work.
For some reason I have always found people who are more than willing to let me.  And sometimes that is okay or has been in the past.  Until it wasn't.  I'm old enough now that I don't have time for that.  There has to be a certain amount of give and take.  I'm not going to do all the inviting and making plans and paying.  So old relationships, new relationships......there has to be a certain amount of respect and honesty on both sides.
And as I like to say and it is true in relationships also.....if it is important to you, you will find a way.  If not, you will find an excuse.  If you are too busy all the time, you are too busy.  Sometimes I'm busy, but I have always tried to find time for those important to me.

Smart Cookie

So Catie and her family had to move.  And due to credit, etc they were having a tough time finding a place to move to.  She was complaining about it.  I gave her my best "I'm sure you will figure it out," as there is nothing I can do to help her.  So they managed to work something out and they are renting someone's travel trailer until they can find a place that will take them.  They are in a hard spot, but working on it.
Two things.  I had made a comment about her feeling better and she replied thanks grandma.  I thought ohhhhhh someone would be mad if she ever heard that Catie had called me that.
Two days before they moved she gave me her new address.  She did that last time also.  She makes sure I know where she is.  I called her a smart cookie as her birthday is coming up.  I wouldn't know where to send a gift if I didn't know where she was.
I'm at a point in my life that if I have to do the work......I'm not.  If you don't want to give me your address or make arrangements to pick up stuff or dinner plans....so be it.  No skin off my nose.
I don't know if Catie is smarter or had better parenting or both.  But a gift she will get.

First Day

The little woman got off just fine to school.  She was so happy she has the same bus driver as last year.  I'm happy also.  The little man is a little disappointed that he has to wait until Friday to go to school.
When I picked her up from day care she was so excited. She made a friend in class.  And she gushed and gushed. This friend has the coolest shirt.  It was so nice to see Audrie truly happy.  Now I don't know that this person will stay her friend.  Would be nice if she did.  Audrie doesn't really have any friends and hasn't yet made one at school to speak of.  Time will tell.
And she was happy that she had no  homework today.  :P
I had noticed last night at "Back to School" night that the little woman was so happy to see those kids she knew from last year.  And most of them were not nearly as happy to see her.  I was so glad that Mr. Crystal stepped up and was over the top happy with her.  And what I loved about her, is even though she had to see the expressions on the kids' faces, she still was excited to see kids from last year.  She has a very big heart.

Back To School Night

We attended "Back To School" night at the littles' school.  We met both of their teachers.  Got to talk to the little woman's teacher for a bit.  The little man's teacher was pretty tied up with parents of kids who are their first kindergartners.  The little man liked that he got to pick his seat.  I don't think he realized that he could pick a low table and sit on the floor.  That is what I would have thought he would like.  It's all good though.
We managed to give one of the teachers her walmart gift card.  She was very pleased.  We will give the other one hers at our conference Friday afternoon.  :)
After finding their rooms (and they are both on the ground floor this year) and meeting the teachers we went out to the playground.  They burned off some energy.  They had ice cream sandwiches when we first got there so they were pumped up.
Once home one had a bath and got her clothes all set out for tomorrow.  She is ready and excited.

Ramblings

Used up the last of Dave's shampoo.  That last summer he was on a buying spree.  Not at the store.  He was hooked buying things off facebook and Craigslist.  So he had bought a box full of shampoo and then shared it with me.  I stretched it out and am now done with the last bottle.  Thanks Dave.
I got a new purse and it is small.  So I needed to downsize.  The first place I looked was at my keys.  So I took Dave's keys off the ring.  Didn't drop the number by a lot but it did remove one ring.  Guess those keys can go into Connor's ring of spare keys.  I should get rid of a bunch more off the ring since I no longer know what they are for.  It is starting to feel like we are losing the last things we have of Dave/Papa.
Working hard on patience.  I had an epiphany today.  The little man has been acting out a little more than normal.  Well he is nervous about the big change getting ready to happen in his life.  He starts kindergarten on Friday.  His care house days are going to go to a school schedule.  He said he wasn't nervous, but I know better.
Mom is better.  I made a comment about the beach and spending the night and she got mad.  Sorry Mom, no tent camping for you.  It is hard when she doesn't remember why she can't do some of the things we have been doing for awhile.  Have to remember not to comment on the next camping trip.

Impromptu Sale

Decided the garage needed a little attention.  So I moved the car and started hauling things out onto the driveway.  Went back in and posted on facebook about our impromptu free on the driveway sale.  I didn't have enough junk to have a real sale, nor do I have the motivation to do it.
I think the little man and his little friend had more fun than anything.  They went through stuff and I had to collect it all back up.  When it became evening I rounded it all up to make a small pile at the end of the driveway with a free sign.  Put a couple things back in the garage.  Whatever is left tomorrow night goes to Goodwill.  And I did find a couple of things that need to go on a sale site.  And you can tell I did a little work in the garage.  Mostly it looks better getting some of the packing peanuts swept up.  I don't know where they came from, but they made a mess every where.

Sweet Saturday

The little man told me he was going to ride his bike all day.  I told him I thought that was a great plan because I was cleaning house and then he wouldn't be behind me making a mess.
Started with the living room.  Got it all picked up and got the vacuum cleaner out.  Two feet into vacuuming the belt popped off.  This happened last time I vacuumed also.  Took it apart and put the belt back on.  Four more feet and the belt popped off.  Oy.  So I gave it a half assed job of vacuuming without the beater brush running.  Obviously the belt has stretched out.  And naturally I didn't check the number while I had it apart.  But the living room was good enough for now.
Moved to the kitchen and the little woman got in and helped.  She swept the entire floor and did a fantastic job.  Now she never wants to help.  So some bee got in her bonnet.  Finished the kitchen and the bathroom and called it good for the day.
It's been planned for a week that Madison would come babysit.  I had thought about going to see a movie...and the pirate movie is playing at the ten.  "Atomic Blond" was playing at Cinetopia, but the times wouldn't work with my babysitting.  Pat was sick, so I opted to go shopping by myself.
Finished getting the supplies the little woman needs for school.  Got them shoes and I hope they fit.  We will be trying them on tomorrow.  Just enjoyed the quiet of shopping by myself.  Also hit the grocery store. I think I spent the normal amount but I don't feel like I have the normal amount of junk.  Too bad for the littles.  ;p

Getting Things Done

We had a small list of errands to do today.  Started with getting the dogs nails clipped.  Check.  Then we moved on to the post office and getting the little man's hair cut.  Ha.  I was not paying attention to what the stylist said.  She rattled off the numbers of the clippers.  Now realize the numbers mean nothing to me.  And he has always had the same cut so I just said yeah.  She was about half way through clipping the bottom when I realized he was getting a summer cut.  The one and only time we did something different and that was the numbers she rattled off.  Good thing we still have some summer left and it gives his hair time to grow before it cools down.  He looks much better and not shaggy anymore.
We then had lunch outside and then we were done.  I wanted to shop for school shoes for them, but the good behavior was ending. I did not feel like a fight so we went home.  And I made phone calls.  Got my 45 minutes hanging on hold with DSHS.  Knew the other day was just too good to be true.  Something got messed up with the daycare.  Now it is again straightened out.
The little man's orientation day was rescheduled and so was our parent teacher conference.  Both of those fell on work days and times.  The district was not busing and neither is day care.  I felt a tad stuck.  But it was no problem to get things switched.
And the little woman has a dr appt in a couple of weeks prior to her dentist appointment.  I made the appointment for Wed.  Then when I was adding it to my calender I realized it was the first day of school and I didn't think it would be good for her to be late her first day.  I called back and rescheduled.
All in all a good productive day.  And maybe tomorrow I will buy some shoes.

Dumpster Diving in a Garbage Can

Today we rounded up our supplies for setting the buyback room up next week. One of those things on our list is the garbage can from the back office. After conferring with Amy, I decided to take her garbage can. And she had used it already. I looked inside and told her she had the most interesting garbage. There was a gold compact (empty) that I took and gave to Audrie. And she LOVES it. She now has a gold mirror. Thank you Amy for the garbage. Who knew that what you threw away could make one little girl so happy?
Then in the mail we got a fabfitfun box.  And she fell in love with the sponge.  So I may just give it to her.  She is becoming so girly now.  Must be because she is almost eight years-old.  I like watching her change and grow and her interests become developed.  

Long Day

I was scheduled for fives all week.  But then Liz asked if I could do an eight today.  Well of course.  And we rocked even though we are tired.  We have received a lot of freight this week.  We managed to almost get caught up.  The goal is for all books that have come in to be in the shelves for the release of the book list on Monday.
On our way out Liz asked us again to work a longer day tomorrow.  Not an eight though.  Just a seven.  I'm going way over for this month.  That is going to make a nice paycheck next month.

Patience

On my gratitude list is always the practice of patience.  Lately I have noticed a little less patience than normal.  And naturally the littles react to that.  I learned a long time ago about children and parents playing off each others' mood.
So again I am grateful for the opportunity to practice patience knowing it will never be perfect.  Counting to ten, yoga breathing and biting my tongue.  And immediately there is a return on the payment.
Grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change,
The courage to change the things I can,
And the wisdom to know the difference.

Eclipse and Ducks And Fairies

I've heard it was awesome.  I've heard it was no big deal and how stupid people were about it.  I thought it was amazing.  To watch the air change.  To feel the temperature drop.  To see the most amazing shadows on the walls from the eclipse showing through the trees.
What I can say is it did not get as dark as the last one.  I remember the one in 1979.  So I have a comparison.  It was still pretty cool and then how quickly it went back to normal and bright bright bright.  I was grateful that Monica brought in extra glasses.  I just wasn't going to look at it.  But since I had the option, I did.  Brenda and I shared a pair.
Then this evening the littles really wanted to go to the duck pond and look for fairy doors.  They found seven of the 13 (we assume there are 13 as that was the highest number we found).  A couple of older boys helped them find some of them.  And they were all excited.  Behind two of the doors they found these little rocks.  Then I found the big rock in one of our favorite hiding places.  We remembered to bring some corn for the ducks and they liked that.

Sad

The littles and I had dinner with my friend Tom and his kids last night.  The kids we met are young grown ups.  And the littles just loved TJ.  I loved TJ.  He is so personable and outgoing and funny.  And then I realized he made my brain buzz.  And that made me very sad.

Tom is an alcoholic who is not drinking.  As I have discovered though he is not in recovery.  He has went through rehab six times.  When I asked him if he learned anything he just basically said it was always the same stuff.  To which I replied it probably was but we hear different things at different stages of our lives.  It was a bit disheartening for me for that to go over his head.  But every one goes down their own paths.  And while we may be friends, it won't be one of great substance or quantity.  

I wonder if he knows his son is going to go down his path.  I wonder if he cares.  

Back to School Supplies

Awhile back I shared a post on facebook from a teacher about shopping in Walmart. The teacher had heard a parent complaining about school supplies while shopping with her child. The teacher was kind of floored. In the end another parent, shopping with their child gave that teacher a Walmart gift card to help with the supplies the teacher was buying. Naturally I can't find that post again. The comparison was made about what each incident says to the student about the value the parents place on education.
I have two gift cards set aside to give to the littles's teachers on welcome back night. Education is important to me. I have bought everything on the little woman's list. This year I only send money for the little man and they buy the supplies in bulk.
If the supplies that I buy end up in the "community" group, that is okay with me. Because education is important for all the kids in the classroom, not just mine. Our school is one of the poorer in our district which means kids from some lower income households. Just like ours. But I'm a good money manager and so I can afford to do my part and help the classroom. And I always put my money where my mouth is.
A couple little side notes. When the supply list asks for Crayola, they ask for Crayola because Crayola holds up better than other cheaper brands. And they do. I buy them on sale. When they ask for specific sized containers, it is because those are the sizes that work best in cubbies, desks, etc. The teachers are not trying to make life hard on the parents. Plain notebooks and folders just make things easier for the teacher who has enough to deal with without teaching kids how unfair life it.

Beach To Tom's

We woke up and packed up.  Headed to the park with the telescope.  The little man had seen it the day before with Uncle Pat, but neither one of them had quarters with.  So we put a few quarters in the telescope and watched the ocean and the fishing boats.  Pretty cool.  Then we headed for home.
We had made dinner plans with Tom a week earlier so we needed to clean up.  Grabbed our lasagna and headed over.  Both kids were enthralled with Tom's son TJ.  And TJ was great with them. The little man was rolling on the skateboard on his belly and somehow face planted.  After that he decided to stand up and ride.  Like that is less dangerous.  Anyway he did not crash again and it did settle his roll down.
We had a nice dinner and nice visit.  Thanks Tom for having us over.

A Wild Hair

Friends at the Park

The little man got to try his hand at driving a crazy cart.  Looked them up online when we got home and whew.   A little over $200 for the one the little man was riding.  Almost $600 for the one the man was riding.  My little man loved it.
The little woman made a new friend.  And boy what a friend.  He decided we needed to move into the house next to his that is for sale so we can be neighbors.  He kept playing with my earring.  He and the little woman wondered all over the park and played on all the structures.
We spent over two hours at the park burning energy.  The little man went up and down several times on the rock.  The last time down he conned some dad to get him down.  I'm of the opinion that he got up and he knows how to get down...so he should.  But if he convinces someone to help him so be it.  Anyway they played hard today.
That was their reward for me getting all of the things on my agenda done today.  Found Mom's old phones and connected one and charged it.  Yay! We have a working landline again.  So I cleared all the voicemails.  Visited the City of BG to get my easement notarized and granted.  There is a creek that runs behind the rental house.  I am suppose to maintain it.  Now I have no clue what that means exactly.  So when the city of BG offered to do that for me as long as I granted an easement...I was all for it.  Course then I lost the notice for a month.  I opted for the easement and not having to pay the management company to maintain the creek.
I also finished my eligibility review with DSHS for the kids' TANF and food stamps.  I had every thing ready and had already faxed all the extra paperwork I knew they would need.  The woman said it is the easiest review she has had in awhile.  I'm pretty sure that since I don't pay for daycare anymore starting in Sept that we no longer qualify for food stamps.  And that is all right because I won't be paying for day care.  The woman loved my attitude.
When I was done with that she transferred me over to the child care side.  It was set up for the little man to come back on in Sept.  Well school starts Aug 30th so she upped my date and went ahead and set it up.  So we are good on that.
I also took Mom some lunch.  A pepper bacon burger from Burgerville.  We didn't converse much.  Just ate our lunch and then she wanted to take a nap.  I hit the gas station and the grocery store and got a nap.  It was a busy good day and I got a lot done.

Camping

So Pat is going halibut fishing.  He texted me to say he reserved a campsite at one of the state parks for the night before.  I asked him if we could tag along if we got a wild hair.  He said yes.  If we go we do super easy.  A tent, sleeping bags, pillows, air mattress and snacks.  I don't want to take everything if we are only going for a night.
Then he told me I could reserve for the next night.  No can do.  Having dinner at Tom's.  It's already planned.  And now it seems that so is a night of camping....at the beach.  Love the beach and we sure have been there a lot the past couple of years.

Family

Brenda and I were talking at work today (we talk every day we work together).  Her brother is looking for a job in the Phoenix area and wants to move there with his wife, two sons, her mother and her brother.  His ex-wife is moving to CO with his first born son.  So Brenda and her parents are going to miss the grandsons/nephews a lot.
We were comparing the finding a family.  We are always looking to expand our familial group with non related people.  And it looks like they may be doing a bit of that themselves.  She commented on the fact that family won't look like it did before, but it will be family.
We don't expect things to always stay the same.  We don't expect those in our group to always stay close by.  She just feels like her family got a double whammy at once.  And they did.  Not that it is all a done deal yet, but it looks like it will be.
So here is to looking for a group of people who want to be around and stand up and be part of our village.  We already consider Brenda part of our group.  And I think she considers us part of hers.

Blessed

I feel so blessed to have the littles in my life all the time.  Yes, there are days I wish I could just be a grandparent and have a clean house and quiet and time to do what I want.  But when I get some free time I find myself lonely for them.  So I am truly blessed.
Someone in my group had commented on telling the littles how lucky they are.  Like so lucky to have all this good food, a nice home, etc.  It puts things in perspective.  They, too, are blessed, in what they have.  And while they don't have what most kids have, they do okay.  They are fed, clothed, housed and loved.  Above all else they are loved.
We have all we need and more.  And we are blessed.

Family Dinner Again

It was Family Dinner night.  Pat bbqed us up some lobster tails and shrimp skewers.  I made us a tortellini salad and it was all good.  The little man played with the little man visiting next door.  They share a name and were born a week apart.
The little woman snubbed her nose at the food.  The little man tried the lobster and the shrimp and proclaimed that he didn't like either one.  More for us.  Mom liked it all as did Pat and I.
After dinner the littles went and played with Connor next door.  His grandpa came out and shot these things in the air and the kids took turns trying to catch them.  We have had these whirleygigs but ours ended up on the roof of our house and the neighbor's.
A good night together.  Thanks Pat for bbqing.

Wait...What?

Yeah that is one of my favorite sayings.  So today I saw a post on facebook posted by a member of Cassie's family.  It was a very sentimental, tear provoking video of a family who asked people to write something for their baby's first birthday.  They tucked all the letters away and gave them to the baby when she turned 18.  The part from the family member said "if our family ever has another baby...."  Wait...what?  Cassie's baby is due in January.  My heart broke for Cassie and Cassie's children.  All four of them.  I'm just getting used to having a broken heart I guess.
I understood today why Cassie lives in Indiana.  Maybe I understood part of it before since I feel a lot of what she may feel in regards to the littles.  Cassie has family in Indiana.  And it might be tumultuous at times, but they accepted her right in.  I will probably never understand every thing about her moving, but today I got some of it.  If you are looking for family and your "family" isn't very welcoming, sometimes you have to go make a new family.
I already know how far out of sight, out of mind the littles are for the family that lives here.  I've had seven years of no contact no matter what I try and do to keep them connected to their cousins and aunts and uncles.  If Nita isn't here, they are completely disregarded. And we just live our life. The littles don't know what they are missing because they didn't have it.
Family can be hard.  And I'm sorry that Cassie had to go away to find one that accepts her.  I'm sad that the five of us were not enough to keep her here, but we can't compete against David.  And we wouldn't. She is never out of sight, out of mind for us.  She is part of our family whether she lives there or here.  Along with David, Jazzlynn and the baby coming.

It's a Bust

We woke up to clouds.  And our hopes were dashed of watching shooting stars during the meteor shower tonight.  But then the day progressed and the clouds burnt off.  Blue sky and our hopes soared.
Come the evening the little man goes outside to see if he can see stars.  He cannot.  So we all go out and only Drew left his back porch light on.  We can move behind his trees and it mostly blocks it.  Stars could be spotted between the shifting clouds.  The littles bring out the blanket and what do the other neighbors do......turn on their freaking back porch light.  And not because they were outside.  Oy.  I knew it was too good to be true.
We stayed out watching as the clouds moved and moved and then the drops of rain came.  The littles were cold, so we bailed.  Brought the blanket in and are getting ready for bed.  Makes me want to leave my porch light on all night because I know ours also shine in their bedrooms, just like theirs does ours.  Spite.
No shooting stars and we are sad.  The little man said this is the worst day.  And it has been for him.  He has gotten in trouble a lot and then didn't get to see the shooting stars.  Maybe next time little man.

Fixed It....Not Really

But I was getting ready to.  The disposal quit working awhile back.  I suspect it got a little rock jammed in it.  And disposals do not like rocks.  So I know it needs to be taken out and looked at.  Well that is a daunting task when I think about all the things I have stored under the sink.  So time went by.  I hoped that the dishwasher water was keeping things from growing in it while I procrastinated.
I think the dishwasher water helped, but not completely.  So this morning the dishwasher is running and the water is not draining at all through the disposal.  Had I not bailed some out it would have overflowed before the cycle was done.  So that told me it was time to do something about that disposal.
And naturally it is full of water.  First things first, I reset the reset button on the bottom.  And it worked to drain the water, but you could hear that rock or whatever.  So I knew where a flashlight was.....and isn't that amazing?  Used it to do a good look in the disposal.  Made sure the moving parts were free and could not find a rock, but I did find some gum.  Ew.  Scrubbed it a bit to get some gunk out.  Turned the disposal on again and it works and no noise.  Voila.  Fixed.  And I didn't have to dismantle it and then figure out how it all goes back together and not leak.  :P The not leaking part would have been the most important part.

Picnic At the Park

We decided we needed a night out.  So we grabbed a ready made pizza from Little Caesar's and hit Kiwanis Park.  Amazingly no one was there for the first hour we were there.  It felt really strange.  Then people started showing up and the littles had other kids to play with.  It was a nice night and not too bad in the shade.

Kitchen Utensils

The little man and I had this conversation just yesterday about kitchen utensils and how they are used in the kitchen.  Not outside as saws for wood or what not.  I thought I got it across to him.  So imagine my surprise...or not....when I found my Pampered Chef vegetable chopper out on the garbage can.  And judging by the debris on it I think it was used to cut.......wood.  I will have to wait and see if it still works on vegetables.
When I said something to him, he wanted to know how I knew.  I told him I found it.  He asked me where.  I asked him where and he said "on the garbage can."  Yup,  Oy.  The joys of raising a boy.  I just don't think he is ready for a pocketknife. And a pocketknife would be a much better wood tool.

Working With Ramy

Ramy seems to be our extra fill in guy now.  We haven't had a guy working with us since Spencer.  So poor Ramy got his trial by fire at shrink wrapping.  A big order of disposable lab coats came in and they all needed to be shrink wrapped.  Then he got to join me in checking and verifying all the Roaring Springs paper order.  He is funny.
We talked about food.  I had seen a picture of the pyramids from a balcony of a Pizza Hut.  It struck me odd, but then not.  He told me if I ever ate pizza in the middle east I would never eat pizza here again.  We compared some food here.

The Fair

We hit the fair shortly after they opened.  The rides didn't start till noon so that gave us some time to look at other things first.  The littles loved the calf.  They kept letting it lick them and laughed at how rough the tongue was.  Papa used to say it was like a BIG cat tongue.
We had a little lunch and then hit the rides.  There were so many smiles and giggles and laughter and "this is awesome".  The little man got to go on lots of bigger rides this time.  He did not like the roller coaster type ride.  The first time through on the swing he cried the first half of the ride.  Made me wonder if his brain wasn't remembering the year he rode it when he shouldn't have.  Anyway then he realized how much fun it is and they rode that thing like five times altogether.  Her favorite ride was the kite ride and it was one of two that she did without him.  Next year he will be able to do all she does.
I've been contemplating a new phone and plan.  Walked by Metro PCS's stand and they had the phone I want and the plan I want.  And viola.  I have both and it only costed me $50. Got to like that.  The littles were tired by that time but they waited as patiently as they could while I did the business end of it.
We had ice cream and a shake from the Dairy Wives.  The littles played in the bounce house and watched a show on the kids stage.  We had a really good time.  And they did their sunscreen better than I did mine.  Oy.

Sunday Shenanigans

Started the day with another pick up of the living room.  I have this habit of getting it all picked up and then I don't get the vacuum cleaner out right away. So by the time I want to vacuum it needs to be picked up again.  This week there has been weird stuff on the floor.  Finally figured out a lot of it is pieces of this bird nest that the dog is bringing in and dismantling.  I don't know what is up with her, but there is no more nest to bring in and the floor is vacuumed.  :)
We did a little shopping.  I want to try stamping on the rocks for us to color in.  One of the color me rocks we got from the trading station is done that way.  We found some cool stamps at the craft warehouse.  Now we will see how we do.
BBQed dinner.  I ate when it was done and the little man ate when he came in from playing.  It's hot and then he goes to play when it starts cooling down.  Doesn't want to stop.  The little woman devoured watermelon and discovered that you CAN swallow the white seeds in a seedless watermelon.  Amazing.  She never believes me.

Boy Day

The little woman went and hung out with Uncle Pat today.  So the little man and I went to Target and poked around.  Didn't find what we were there for.  Then we hit Costco and picked up a few things.
Came home and ended up falling asleep on the floor.  I'm thinking I won't do that again.  When I was young it felt good.  Not so much anymore.
After we picked up the little woman we stopped at Walmart to get the boy a pair of shoes to replace his dilapidated ones.  Grabbed some chocolate for Betty.  Drove out to her house and left the card and the chocolate.  Happy birthday and many many more.

Best Laid Plans Always Go Awry

The plan for today has been planned for eight days.  We came home from the concert in the park and looked at who was playing upcoming.  Saw that the movie "Sing" was playing in the park today.  So I opted for that as our family activity this week.
This week hits and it is hot.  Several of the week's activities in the parks got cancelled.  But since the movie was an evening thing it wasn't cancelled.  But the little woman said it was way too hot to go watch a movie outside.  This at noon.  So it turned out that "Sing" is on Netflix so they watched it at home during the heat of the day.
Since my plan fell through it seemed like a good night to go pick blueberries.  So our family activity was that.  We went to Aunt Betty's and picked.  There were no big berries this year so picking took a little longer.  Every berry I ate tasted just fine though.  The little woman picked, the little man did not.  Which is the exact opposite of what normally transpires.
On the way home we saw a doe and two fawns cross the road.  The fawns stopped and watched us as we had stopped to watch them.  The littles thought that was the coolest thing.  I'm so glad they still get excited about small things.

Yeah

Still waiting on the plan from Elizabeth about dinner.  Not holding my breath.  Looks like she is moving in a couple of weeks.  The gal who is going to be her roommate posted on facebook about it.  Good for her.  Too bad she blew me off.  She could have had a complete, and I mean complete, kitchen set up.  She could have collected her graduation gift.  She could have done a lot of things, but didn't.
Glad I didn't have my hopes up too high after our last conversation, because nothing really changed.  Actions speak so much louder than words.

John

My friend John called me.  He is working in Minnesota now.  I haven't talked to him in so long.  It was so good to hear his voice.  The kids talked to him.  We all miss him and all his stories and how much he loves my kids.
John had had a few beers.  The last time I talked to him he was sober.  He got married and all seemed right with his world.  But something changed and so he reverted back to his ways of before.  Being a single man and self medicating.
Here is what I know.  I love John because he drinks too much.  He loves me because I am co-dependent.  However I don't enable him.  I don't judge him.  He is my friend and I listen to his stories and I ask him what he is going to do when he tells me he drinks too much.  So while we could have a totally unhealthy relationship, we don't.  I don't feel the need to fix him or help him.  He has to find his own path.
I'm sad that his marriage didn't work out.  I'm sad he has to sell his house and that he felt the need to look for work elsewhere.  His children are here.  And while he makes that work..... I hope someday he finds real sobriety.
I do miss my friend though.  We had many great conversations when we were neighbors at the apartments.  Miss those days and the neighborness.  I miss all the great parenting input.  Guess I just miss John.

Weekending

Wow.  A short work week of long days.  Got all my returns done.  That isn't a big boast when returns were so small.  The rest of the time it seems I have spent working on Monica projects of getting clothing on the floor ready to sell. Heard we have a bunch more coming in and I have no idea where it is going to be stored.  I will be told when I need to know.
I got a facebook message this week in response to one I sent awhile ago.  When I was on my own, living in the apartment and trying to figure things out, I tracked down, via facebook, a couple of old friends.  Left messages for them in their other box.  Back then it was the other box and if you didn't know about it then most of the time you didn't know if there was anything there.  Well Tom just discovered his other box and replied to the message I sent in 2013.
We spent some time playing catch up.  We didn't thrash over the old days too much.  That is like ancient history when we have had over 30 years since we have talked.
It is really nice to have grown up conversation.  Thanks Tom for finding your other box.  And in my head I am thinking.....took you long enough, but I still have a couple messages out there that haven't gotten answered.

Hot Hot Hot

Well it reached 105 degrees here today.  After work I picked up the kids and some McDonald's.  We came home and hibernated for awhile.  And then the little man just couldn't stand it anymore and out he went.
We went to the store a little later and got cold treats.  There is a rock trading station and some color me rocks were put out.  Amazingly enough there were still four left when we got there. They were created by some of our favorite local rock artists.  So each kid got to pick one.  We left one of my rocks. I'm super excited to see what the little woman does with the James girl rock.  We have been looking for one of his for quite some time, but have never found one.

I managed to start working on another memorial rock for my cousins.  Melinda asked for one and then asked for one more for my other cousin.  In the picture that pink doesn't look bad.  I'm not sure I like the paint though.  It is really thick and doesn't coat well.  Hopefully I can finish it tomorrow and get them sealed.

Smallest Ever

We decided it was because we had whittled down inventory so much prior to inventory. The returns were sitting on the shelf waiting for me when I got to work.  Way less than half what there normally is.  Now granted it is summer and summer is always lighter in every way, but not this light.
So I set to work on it.  Got a couple of permissions in quick.  Worked on the no permission needed.  I have a few orders to finish in the morning.  No pallets.  Just boxes.  Now when I say light I mean light, but that doesn't mean light for the UPS driver.  Since there are no pallets it means more boxes heading out the door and leaving on his truck.  Sorry dude.