To Sir, With Love

COUNTDOWN TO STEPDAUGHTER'S ARRIVAL: 18 DAYS.

The title of today's post comes from the Lulu song, most recently performed by the cast of Glee in the season finale. I have watched it twice now, and bawled both times. Gosh, I love that show!

Didn't do much of anything today, except play around with some photos in photoshop that I took of my niece. I also made plans with someone awesome (seriously, I LOVE my husband's family - see my list of things to be thankful post several entries ago) to go and take some pictures when my stepdaughter gets here! Can't wait! We have so much planned just that first week, it's going to be amazing. Eclipse midnight premiere that night, shopping the next day, and for two days after that, a trip to Little Nashville in Brown County, Indiana!!! LOVE IT!

The thing I'm dreading is cleaning my oldest daughter's room next week... I HAVE to clean it before my stepdaughter gets here, as she and Bud share a room upstairs. I have bad problems with arthritis in my knees, so I do well just to make it to the basement and back to do laundry... I rarely go upstairs. Unfortunately, my less-than-neat daughter takes advantage of this fact, and as a result, her floor isn't visible! I am SO dreading the cleaning it's going to take to get that room ship-shape.

Tomorrow... which I guess is technically today, since the clock is currently reading 12:13 a.m. - we have dentist appointments for all 3 girls, and then in the afternoon a visit to the pediatrician for my oldest daughter's yearly checkup. I will also have to make a stop at the Dollar Tree to get some wrapping paper - I always wrap up my stepdaughter's gifts before she gets here. She loves opening gifts, and we love watching her do it, she's so funny!!!

Okay, I'm going to say goodnight to blogland and TRY to get off of my laptop... my husband complains that he thinks it's attached to my lap anymore! LOL!

it's over...

Lulu took her test this morning, so it's over. Phew. We won't find out the results until Monday or later next week, though they did say Monday would be the earliest we'd hear anything. The lady told us it would take an hour, but my girl finished it in 20 minutes! She said it was easy peasy, so we'll see.

Since we got up at the buttcrack of dawn, I was dragging. We came home and I crawled back into bed and fell asleep totally without meaning to... but my wonderful husband let me sleep and he took care of the kids, even made them an early lunch! Thanks, honey!

In 20 days, my stepdaughter will be home. I finally ordered the invitations for her birthday party, and hopefully once they arrive here I will turn around and get them straight back in the mail! It's going to be a busy several weeks around here!

Tuesday blahs?

I woke up with a weird feeling today. Not a bad one or anything, just weird... does anyone else do that? Sometimes I get the feeling I've forgotten something important, and it eats away at me until I remember what it is. Sometimes I get a funny feeling and it lasts and lasts until I go to bed, and then somehow it's magically gone. I know it's all in my head, but still.

So this is shaping up to be a busy week for us. Yesterday the girls and I went outside and put the canteloupes, watermelon, and corn in the ground. They were all 3 inches tall or taller, so it was time. Today I have to go out in the heat and put the tomatoes in the ground - I HAVE to, or they'll die. They're running out of room for their roots in the containers they're in right now. My garden is starting to take over my back yard... right now there's: rosemary, greek oregano, common sage, sweet basil, mint, pumpkins, squash, zucchini, canteloupes, watermelons, corn, and cucumbers. Now I have to make room for the lettuce, onions, lavender, thyme, chives, parsley, and carrots. Sigh. I have a feeling I'm going to be giving some seedlings away - anyone interested? ;)

Tomorrow I take Lulu in the morning to take the NNAT to see if she gets into the gifted program at a local school. If she doesn't (which I am sure is unlikely, I have the utmost faith in her), then the girls will continue to be homeschooled next year. If she does, then she and Bud will probably go to the school, which is a little ways away from us. We should know something by the end of this week, supposedly.

On Friday, all three girls have dentist appointments in the morning for their 6 month checkup. Then in the afternoon, I have to take Bud for her yearly checkup at the pediatrician - which actually works out really well, considering that she has a plantar's wart on the bottom of her foot that needs to be burnt/frozen off, and she's started to have tiny bumps all over her face. I don't know if it's the beginnings of acne, or if it's heat rash.

Tonight we're going to the library. It's time to sign the girls up for the summer reading program, like we do every year. And my husband (God bless him) volunteered to cook dinner tonight for me - BBQ chicken, mashed potatoes, and baked beans... his favorite meal, lol.

But for right now... we're all camped out on my bed, watching a rerun marathon of America's Next Top Model... lol!



parsley



lettuce



lavender




L-R: rosemary, sweet basil, greek oregano, common sage



L-R: common sage, mint, pumpkins, squash



L-R: pumpkins, squash, zucchini, cucumbers



L-R: cucumbers, canteloupes, watermelons, corn.



Chives.



Chinese Lantern flowers.



Carrots.

3 day lapse

COUNTDOWN TO STEPDAUGHTER ARRIVING: 23 DAYS.

Wow, I've been really lax about posting for the last three days. I can't help it; I've had so much to do around the house. And on top of everything, my allergies have been kicking my butt. I stepped outside the mudroom door yesterday afternoon, and my eyes immediately starting itching, burning, watering, and swelling up. I was miserable.

Today was good. We got Papa Murphy's pizza and took it to the in-laws' for Sunday lunch, and hung out for a while playing with pictures and whatnot. I love my mother in law, and I love that she likes messing with pictures on the computer. Then we went to my niece's dance recital, and she did so well! It was a lot of fun. I like stuff like that, though - dancing and singing and theater-type activities. :)

Right now my head is pounding though, and even though I took two ibuprofen during the intermission of the recital, it still hurts. I am going to hop offline and relax for a while. Good night, people in blog land!

so tired

I am so tired. I think my allergies and the repeated trips down to the basement and back up are finally taking their toll on me. The back of my legs burn and ache all the way up and down! But hey, at least there's not a scrap of dirty laundry in the house, right? Right... I think...

One of our neighbors was outside today, mowing her grass for the THIRD TIME THIS WEEK. I kid you not. Well, if you are a regular reader of this blog, you know that I blew up the only lawn mower I had access to... so yesterday my husband asked the teenager (boy) across the street to mow it (he does it for $20 a pop, too expensive for my tastes but we NEEDED it this time). he said he'd mow it today after school. So I'm in the kitchen as the girls and my husband carry the groceries inside, and my husband comes inside steaming mad. I said what happened? and he said, she (our neighbor) stopped me and said, "I was just wondering when you are going to cut your grass." My husband explained that the neighbor boy was going to do it today, and he told her what happened to the mower, and she cuts him off and says, "because you know there's a law about having to cut your grass." and walks off. How incredibly rude! We lived next to people like this once before, and let me tell you, it is not pleasant or a happy thing to know we live next to someone like this again. It's not like we didn't plan on cutting it soon, but we have to roll with the punches as they come. Sigh.

We had taco night for dinner, which all the kids love. Taco night is the best night in our house, they love putting their own tacos together! Then we watched Alice In Wonderland (the new one with Johnny Depp) - we'd seen it in the theater but we just love it so much! Then we had ice cream. It was a pretty good day, I'd say! You know... except for the nosy, rude neighbor...

Got the ball rolling

I finally have the ball rolling on this whole school thing, though I'm not sure I like it. My husband heard from his sister (who works in our county's school system) that the school she works at has a gifted and talented program for advanced kids. Well, when my middle baby was in first grade during the 08-09 school year, her testing showed she was off the charts for a first grader - she read at a fifth grade level (actually the teacher said she probably read even higher than that, she just didn't have time to keep testing her). The class shared a "reading box" - a box of books that they were supposed to read when they had completed work and had free time. My child had her own box, since the other box of books was too easy for her. The teacher said she was worried about my daughter getting bored, since she completed all her work (correctly) way before the other kids got done. She's been homeschooled this last year, and her appetite for learning has just been voracious. I had the girls reading The Secret Garden, which is 5th grade level reading. We did tests and everything for that, and she was still passing her older sister in the work we did. she has done leaps and bounds more in math, as well, and I am still teaching them both French & Spanish. My husband thinks the G & T program would be good for her... I am undecided and want to keep them home, but at the same time I don't want to deny her such a wonderful opportunity... so I have been calling the admin building for a week. Finally got in touch with the woman in charge of the program today, and so a week from today at 9 a.m., she will take the Naglieri test to see if she gets into the program. She wants to go, but at the same time she says she doesn't want to leave me. For every reason she finds to go, she finds one to stay home. I told her not to worry about it until we find out whether or not she makes it in. She wailed, "I'm gonna fail!" I assured her you can't "pass" or "fail" this kind of test.

My oldest daughter keeps asking me to take her shopping for a training bra. She is 9, will be 10 in a few months. I don't know why she's in such a hurry to develop and grow up - I suspect that since her almost-15-year-old sister will be here in 27 days, she wants to be like her and wear a bra. She went to the bookshelf this morning and got the "Care & Keeping of You" American Girl book that I bought when she started needing deodorant. She's reading the section on developing chests... I don't want to discourage her from learning about it, but I know it's making her Daddy VERY uncomfortable! She keeps wanting to ask me stuff, but he's in the room so she says she'll ask me later.

So. On to subjects that I know how I feel about, lol. Gardening, yay! ;) I now have three green something-or-others in the lettuce pot, 6 lavender shoots, and the two thyme shoots are still the only ones in the pot. One of Lulu's Sweet William flowers began to sprout this morning, so of course she's out of her mind with excitement. She also has 13 greenish things in her pot of Chinese Lantern flowers. :) I need to go out today and get some things in the ground, too.

I've been doing laundry like crazy the last few days. I discovered that I actually find it soothing to sit and fold baskets of laundry... except for fitted sheets, which make me want to pull my hair out. I (literally) have done 15 loads of laundry in the past four days. Every time someone dirties something, I grab more stuff to be washed and take it downstairs to the machine. I am starting to think I may be addicted to doing laundry, as I can no longer stand seeing dirty clothes ANYWHERE. Or maybe I'm addicted to the smell of the clean laundry - I guess that makes more sense, lol. I just know I feel calmed when I sit and fold the clean clothes. Speaking of which, I need to go get some out of the dryer, and take down this basket of dirty stuff that just popped out of nowhere this morning... heehee....

the mean reds

Holly Golightly: You know those days when you get the mean reds?
Paul Varjak: The mean reds, you mean like the blues?
Holly Golightly: No. The blues are because you're getting fat and maybe it's been raining too long, you're just sad that's all. The mean reds are horrible. Suddenly you're afraid and you don't know what you're afraid of. Do you ever get that feeling?
Paul Varjak: Sure.
Holly Golightly: Well, when I get it the only thing that does any good is to jump in a cab and go to Tiffany's. Calms me down right away. The quietness and the proud look of it; nothing very bad could happen to you there. If I could find a real-life place that'd make me feel like Tiffany's, then - then I'd buy some furniture and give the cat a name!

Sometimes I suffer from the mean reds. Quite frequently, actually. And yes, Breakfast at Tiffany's is my all-time favorite movie, hands-down.

This morning I got up and went into the kitchen, where I'd moved my lavender, lettuce, thyme, parsley, and rosemary pots in an effort to keep them away from the birds. I have 5 strong-looking lavender sprouts and one pretty decent lettuce sprout. Nothing yet in the pot of rosemary. Two weak looking thyme sprouts, where I used to have about 15. Stinking birds. :( I also noticed a weak parsley sprout, but hey, weak is better than nothing, right?

My back hurt so bad last night and I am so weepy this week. It sucks to be overly emotional and physically in pain at the same time.

My stepdaughter arrives in 28 days, so we are doing our spring cleaning before she comes. We worked together and got the family room clean in less than 15 minutes. Next room is my bedroom, which is going to suck, because no matter where we've ever lived, my bedroom is always the catch-all for all the crap in the house. :(

Today is another marathon of America's Next Top Model, and the girls are thrilled. They love that show, lol.

Well, I've done my daily blogging duties, so I guess it's off to to begin work on my bedroom, and then start dinner... we're having garlic shrimp pasta tonight. Love to all, hope you had a great holiday weekend.