“I did something really dumb.” Those were Michael’s first words to me as I walked in our home from taking the dogs on their morning walk.
Quick, what could he have done while I was gone that was dumb? The house wasn’t on fire, his brother was with me so it wasn’t anything to do with him, he hadn’t invited a dozen kids over. Not being able to come up with anything I asked the obvious, “and what was that?”
“Remember the essay I submitted last evening?” How could I not remember it? He had worked and worked on that and then accidentally turned his pc off losing all his work. He spent more time re-writing it over. Hopefully he learned that lesson — save your work periodically.
“Yes, what about it?”
“I sent it in without proof-reading it.”
In the light of the morning he had reread his essay, found numerous grammatical […]
Original post by mtpleasant
It is getting to be that time of year when posts on the forum boards I visit fill with vent-posts. I’m sure you’ve read them….’oh no, the ILS are coming! How do I manage to stay sane while they are here?’ Or the ‘SIL has asked me to bring this and that and this and that…. but it isn’t what I want to bring….’ Don’t get me wrong I’ve had Thanksgivings’ where I was concerned about who we had chosen (or who had chosen us) to be with. There were years upon years where SIL and her family stopped by for a visit on their drive to her DH family home. They would eat before they arrived but we never knew exactly when they would show up. How do you plan your meal around that? There were years where we had some family visit us or we traveled to their […]
Original post by mtpleasant
This post is for Ang in Texas at St. Fairsted Farm, well, and everyone else who honors me with a visit here. She made a post about her chicken & dumplings, and that got me hungry for Grandma Ree’s Chicken & Noddle dish. Ummmm, so good. I posted a short version over at her site in the comment section. I thought of that 17# turkey we had for dinner on Thursday night, what should I do with it? Then this morning it was raining, and cold, and this weather sealed my decision.
Oh, I could make turkey and gravy for dinner. Or use it in Aunt Betty’s Chicken Casserole dish but then I’d have to run to the store for stuffin and mushrooms, which I didn’t want to do.
Besides, I thought, I could post the recipe here for Grandma Ree’s Chicken & Noddle recipe, with pictures. That’s what everyone called her; […]
Original post by mtpleasant
DS and I went on our first college tour to University of Delaware, Newark, DE. We went since it is practically in our backyard but prior to this DS didn’t seem thrilled about the thought of attending. Yes, I’ve never been on a college tour before so I don’t have anything to compare this tour against.
UD is set in the middle of the City of Newark Main Street and the bustling cars and other traffic is almost everywhere. We’ve driven by it for years but just never stopped and walked the campus.
The tour was their short-tour, 2-1/2 hr walking campus tour, and a visit to a dorm room. Oh, the dorm room was small, semi-neat and included a college freshman who was soundly sleeping until our tour guide knocked on the door. The kids do know when the tours are going to happen, oh well.
DS liked what he heard though […]
Original post by mtpleasant
Here’s a new question to add to the question-list you should have by your side when you call the local public or private school to sign your DC up for the once-in-a-lifetime-this-test-really-counts-PSAT:
Ask whether the school is going to have construction going on. Ask whether they will have a BUZZ SAW running directly below the window where your CAPD DC who can’t stand noise while working is trying to take his once-in-a-lifetime-this-test-really-counts-PSAT.
Ask also whether the proctor will tell the students how much time is remaining, and whether he/she will be doing this at 5 and 2 minutes. Thank god ds was wearing a watch, just a recent addition, so he could check his time on his own. However ds said it also meant that he was stopping and looking at the time rather than relying upon the teacher to say that they had 5 minutes or […]
Original post by mtpleasant
As I drove my 11th grader to the private school where he took his PSAT this morning I noticed that the woods had a red color to them.
Their red color was from leaves turning but my garden has some red flowers too.
Fall is here.
Which is why I jumped at the chance to take some photos when we returned home. Photos from DH’s rose garden.
Just a month ago these rose bushes looked dead from drought and heat but they have returned with flowers, and more flowers.
Mark called this one a perfect rose. I agree.
So many different kinds of roses and all sending out beautiful color into my garden. Soon they will be gone.
OK, so this isn’t a rose flower but he doesn’t know it is fall. It is still hot weather for him. His ears have cleared up or so the vet says. And he is just as beautiful […]
Original post by mtpleasant
Today at 15:12 all the trimwork in the house that needed to be painted by me was finished. There were miles upon miles of it, two coats too. My right arm is stiff and sore again from painting. While I was painting I wondered about how nice it would be to just have been able to sit back and watch this entire remodel take place and not have to do anything other than make a few decisions. Maybe take a few photos too. I wonder what that’s like? I’ve never been one to just sit back and watch. Can’t imagine doing that either.
At inline speed skating practice one of the Dad’s asked if I could help out at the next meet, doing what I wasn’t sure. We’ve been to one meet and Nationals but I sure didn’t watch what the adults who were helping out were doing. […]
Original post by mtpleasant
Mark’s skates came in, the new ones from a different company then the ones we waited and waited for. He was quite happy and asked Michael to go skate around the neighborhood with him a few times. He looks good on them and really didn’t need adjustment time. The wheels are 110mm verses the 84mm he’s been on so he looks taller, they roll faster and I’m told the skate is more difficult to turn. OK, if you tell me that.
Michael is feeling that he lacks time management skills and it is hurting him. I agree. We visited a few time management websites and he quickly answered NO to all their—do you track what you have done? do you list your tasks? do you use short time periods, 50 - 90 min, for your work?….. He isn’t interested yet in working on these though. What’s the saying, half […]
Original post by mtpleasant
So I wrote last night exclaiming how glad I was that it was the end of the week.
Silly me. Sunday is the end of the week. Or is it the start of the new week? I sure hope it is the END of the week cause I do need this week to be DONE!
Today DH and I went to the local store to purchase bathroom fixtures! YEA!! DH finished grouting the bathroom wall tile yesterday before we headed off to the Octoberfest and it looks wonderful in there. By evening we were going to once again have a first floor operational bathroom. Soon the toilet was in place, and the new light fixture, and then DH broke the news to me. He miscalculated. This is a guy who is leagues ahead of all other handy-men and DIY’ers on knowing how to do things. […]
Original post by mtpleasant
Thank God It’s The End Of The Week. We had a nice evening at a friend’s Octoberfest. Good brats, good German Potato Salad, Dark Beer, Warm Fire and lots of friends to talk to. We were the only hs’ing family there once again but that’s ok, I don’t have to ‘pass the bean dip’ with this group.
Last evening after listening to Mark complain for the 5′th-day about stomach pains I asked if it hurt when he pushed on his stomach. “Yes!” and he demonstrated how little pressure caused pain at the 6-level (on a 1 t0 10 scale with 10 being the worst pain imagineable). It hurt more when he moved around, he had a headache, he felt like he was going to vomit, he wanted to keep his legs bent, and please don’t ask me again to cough mom cause that makes my stomach really hurt.
I’m sure you know […]
Original post by mtpleasant
This week we have been anxiously awaiting the arrival of Mark’s FIRST & BRAND-NEW inline speed skate boots. For the past 6 months he skated on borrowed speed skates and we were very thankful that the one coach had some that fit him. We wanted to make sure that he did want to do this sport before we sunk $$$$ into speed skates. Think expensive and a zero, or two. The boots were ordered back in mid-July when we were in Lincoln, NE at the Inline-Speed Skating Nationals. That was over 3-months ago. Finally we were given a tracking number last Friday evening and told the boots were being shipped from CA — ground. Not the way I would have shipped product to a customer that had been waiting that long.
So we took it in stride using this as a nice lesson in geography too. When we […]
Original post by mtpleasant
Brutus has been crying when Mark’s hands come near his ears. Not like him. And yesterday he was crying, wimpering quite a bit. I could hear fluid like sounds when I rubbed Brutus ears but he didn’t flinch or cry or do anything other than request, as a dog will request, for me to rub more.
I called the vet late yesterday afternoon and we took him in today. This vet is so nice. When he came into the room he spoke to Brutus, explaining to him that he must be enjoying the smells on his clothes since he had just spent time with the horses and cattle. Yes, this vet sees large animals, servicing the area farmers. He let Brutus take in all the smells, petted him, peeked in the ears, and then took out the scope asking me to hold Brutus head slightly to the side so he could […]
Original post by mtpleasant
Mark saw some maggots on the ceiling outside our pantry this morning. This certainly got my attention. Pantry moths. It is fly season here, and moth season, so over the last few days when I’ve seen a moth I’ve ignored it. First mistake.
But this maggot got my attention and so I pulled out my pantry shelves and started investigating. There on the shelf was a container of dog treats covered with maggots. And the nut container, in a Rubbermaid pitcher but without the pour spout in place made a fine nesting ground for these things. Thanks DH!
On the plus side Michael took this opportunity to do a little research on the web to learn that they are edible—how wonderful, that all the food not in a glass jar or in a canned jar should be trashed, and that these […]
Original post by mtpleasant
I’m tired. No, beyond tired, exhausted. Guess that’s what happens when the dogs wake DH up at 5am, then he discovers poop in the hallway, which results in him getting Mark up to 5:03am to clean up the poop,….with the rug cleaner. Do you know how much noise a rug cleaner makes? Allot. So I got up, had some decaf—caf coffee sends my BP through the roof so I avoid it—and started grading papers. I’m teaching an online class this year which consumes a bit of my time but I thoroughly am enjoying it.
Five hours later I finally finish and switch over to painting trimwork. Geez, we have lots of trimwork in the kitchen, family room and foyer. This is the second day I’ve worked on painting all of it and by 5pm I still had more trimwork to paint. […]
Original post by mtpleasant
On the 9th I posted about how I felt like I was pushing a rope trying to teach Mark to add and subtract negative numbers and that it was a Sore Subject.
Today Mark went through his math problems, adding and subtracting negative and positive numbers and got them all correct! He even admitted that once he started thinking about the negative sign as him owing money it made so much more sense, (and he said he was saying that as he was doing the problem) . We’ve continuously worked on this concept and finally it has come together. Mark ran into this math concept in Key To Algebra, I switched him over to Mary Dolciani’s Pre-Algebra book hoping that this concept might be presented differently in there and he would understand it then. Not quite what happened. I also went through the New Elementary Mathematics 1 book (Singapore math […]
Original post by mtpleasant
Today at the Y while working out, striving to get into better shape and lose weight, I saw the t-shirt I want.
TO DO LIST
* BE THE BEST
Well, actually the t-shirt I saw didn’t SAY that, but when I first saw it I thought it said that. It actually was a West Virginia shirt, and while it did say TO DO LIST, it said below that, Be the Best Beat Pitt. I like my saying better, sorry Michele. I’ll still cheer for WV except when they play my Buckeyes, or a Big 10 School, unless it is UM.
Original post by mtpleasant
I have been very busy the last six days painting the kitchen (3 gallons of paint), the powder room (2 gallons of paint, one of white and one with color), the family room (2-story walls and 5 gallons of paint), and the foyer (2-story walls and 3 gallons of paint) and one hallway ceiling with a closet (1 gallon white paint). Yes, I have had a workout, my gluts are so sore from climbing the ladder, my arms feel like they will fall off if I have to lift them one more time, and needless to say I have not had time to do much else. 16 gallons of paint is allot of rolling, cutting and it isn’t all done yet! Trimwork still needs fresh paint.
So this morning I’m standing in the kitchen, knee deep in dirty cookie sheets, dirty bread pans, […]
Original post by mtpleasant
This morning, bright and early—-well, not that early by Kristi’s clock but very early by Terri’s clock (8am)—-the 5 gallon pail of paint was opened, paint poured into the paint tray, the roller was dipped into the paint, and color went onto the family room walls. Soon color was going on the foyer walls.
By 10am I had to pop a few Vitamin ‘I’, but the painting continued, and continued.
At 2pm Mark asked for lunch, and I popped a few more Vitamin I’s, but on I trudged putting roller stroke after roller stroke onto the walls.
Finally I stopped with the roller and turned to cutting using the new, nifty cutting tool DH had picked up for the job. Right, what did I need with this new gadget? I could always rely on my trusty brush for such a job. Oh […]
Original post by mtpleasant
Michael completed building a stone wall, about 60′ in length around our patio at the yard level. It looks beautiful and he felt so proud of his accomplishment. He should!
We celebrated my birthday on Thursday with a trip to our favorite Mexican Restaurant. Delicious food, great company however the place only had 2 waiters and needed at least three times that many. They just changed locations and I think they were overwhelmed by how this minor change brought in so many more people. Location, location, location.
The wood finisher has been here for four days. He laid the wood floor through the family and kitchen area, stripped the wood floor in the foyer, and has been applying the coating, polishing it, and coating the floor again, and again, again. Four coats. Looks beautiful […]
Original post by mtpleasant
To say it has been busy is an understatement. We started school on Monday. Went quite well too but it was a different start then we normally have. Mark is doing chemistry this year but dislikes science. Or so he says.
I pulled out the Wild Goose Company’s chemistry kits gathering dust in our basement for the last four for him to work through. We did them together and he seemed OK with them. We spent three mornings doing the one kit, and in the afternoon he did some math drill sheets and started in on his Key to Algebra books. I also pointed out his chemistry books that he was free to cruise through if he wanted.
Surprise! He came running exclaiming; “Look, this is just what we did!” He was thrilled and went on to tell me that he thought […]
Original post by mtpleasant
From the beginning of our parenting days we have firmly believed that kids could do many jobs around the house, and that they would benefit greatly by working with us. We followed the adage that if something needed to be done, we all worked to get the job completed. Afterall, we all live in our home and we all would do the necessary work that needed to be done. However, we never assigned chores or made out a chore list. I really saw no need for it. For instance when the bathrooms need to be cleaned I’ve left it up to the boys to decide who does which task or which bathroom. Same with cleaning common areas in the house or performing outside jobs. I have visited homes and seen one child who is dusting, vacuuming, mopping the kitchen floor while the other kids are watching tv or playing pc […]
Original post by mtpleasant
A little over a year ago we were visiting my Dad, enjoying the State College Art’s Festival. It seems like ions ago. At one point Mark shared with my Dad that he didn’t like an expression that I was using. “Granddad”, he said, ”Mom says CRAP all the time and I don’t like it. It is a four-letter word too and she shouldn’t use it.”
Dad replied to his grandson, “Tell her you don’t like it, afterall, An intelligent man does not need to use four letter words.”
Ahh, such an often heard saying through my teen years but never spoken to me. Dad would say this to my older brother as he spoke those forbidden words, GOSH, DARN. It was late in the 60’s and definitely a different world of forbidden four-letter words but the message resonated as my Dad repeated one of […]
Original post by mtpleasant
Do you know how much energy a 16yo male has? Well, if you have one, and one who is very weight conscience and concerned about being in great-shape then you already know that their energy level far exceeds their mom’s. At least mine far exceeds my energy level.
It is fruitless to explain this little fact to them too. At least it is pointless to waste time explaining to mine that a 50yo just might not have the same get-up-and-go that a 16yo has. Since that didn’t stop him from expecting me to keep right up with him and be able to hike 15 miles one day, 10 the next and 20 the day after, we hiked. And we aren’t talking about little walks in the parks either. When we hike we each carry a pack containing […]
Original post by mtpleasant
We arrived back home last Wednesday night from our 2-month cross-country camping trip. A great adventure but with very sparadic internet service at best I couldn’t blog. And without electricity my pc couldn’t run for me to journal and then transfer the stuff for you to read later. Oh well, I’ll bring up what we did and how it affected us over the coming weeks and months, maybe.
Coming into the house late Wednesday night we found some things better then I expected—the toilet did not need to be cleaned before we used it. That was a huge improvement over its condition when we returned from our last west trip. Some things were not quite as we expected either.
The kitchen, ahhh what a space. It is not completed but it is very functional. The […]
Original post by mtpleasant
THINK!
In every family there’s a favorite saying, a phrase or in our case a single word, that gets shouted often.
For us it is said often, frequently, way too often and always directed at our eldest child. THINK, PLAN, ACT was what we said often during his early childhood years but lately it has just been a THINK, shouted as it was tonight after the fact.
Today the boys worked for hours removing those thousand upon thousand of staples in the kitchen floor. I planted the garden, took the car in for service, visited a book store, picked up food, and made a hundred phone calls, all the while the boys were pulling staples. Now, I might have been able to get the job done a bit quicker if I was doing it but my back and arms do not hurt this evening since […]
Original post by mtpleasant
« Previous Entries