Trip Pretty Good So Far

Our spring break trip has been pretty good so far.  We woke up to snow one morning and visited the zoo yesterday.  I will definitely appreciate the Florida weather when I get home.  Everything is so dry here  that I feel like I need a bath is body lotion.  I guess I miss the Florida humidity too. 

I must admit that I miss my desktop computer too.  I have been using my daughter's netbook and everything seems to be a little more difficult.  I have not been able to visit all the blogs I love to read, so I feel like I am missing out. 

Only 2 more nights left on vacation, then we have the drive home.  It is nice seeing family, but I am looking forward to getting back home. 

Spring Break Trip

After the kids get home from school today, we are leaving for Kentucky for Spring Break.  The kids have not seen their grandparents for over a year, so it is time for a visit. I am not looking forward to a 1000 mile road trip in my little Scion Xa, but it will have to do.  Last time we drove there, we took the F250 diesel, but with diesel prices being what they are, it makes more sense to take the little car.  So, I guess the kids will have to get along in the back for the trip. 

Of course, it has been gorgeous here in Florida and we are leaving this weather to go to freezing weather in Kentucky.  It seems weird to be the only people that go north for spring break.  I guess we will appreciate the Florida weather all the more when we get back. 

One thing I am thankful for is that one of John's boys (he is actually an adult) will be house sitting for us.  I hate leaving a house empty when we are gone, I am just paranoid that way.  He will be watching our dog and getting the mail.  I am hoping I can get him to water our tomato plants too. 

I am having my daughter take her netbook (much smaller than my laptop, and newer too) so I can keep up with my blogs.  We will see how easy that is.  One of the things I really love about blogging is the portability of it. 

So, wish me luck on my trip. I will probably need therapy when I get home (family does that to me).  I am sure I will have some stories and maybe some pics. 

Hershey's Track & Field Games & Giveaway

For those of you who read my blog, you know that I find physical fitness for children important.  Both my kids have been active in sports since they were 5 years old.  Currently my daughter is in soccer and my son in baseball.  That is why, I jumped at the chance to be able to blog about the Hershey's Track & Field Games.  My kids have never participated, but many of their friends have, and let me tell you, this is a big deal!  Our local schools have tryouts for the meet and the kids feel honored if they get to participate in it.  Nothing quite like getting kids excited about fitness.  Way to go Hershey's. 

For this promotion, I received a Hershey's Track & Field Games gift pack from Hershey's and MyBlogSpark.  The gift pack consists of a draw string backpack (my tween already claimed that), a water bottle with a clip (very handy), a visor, and shoelace covers.  Hershey's and MyBlogSpark were generous enough to provide a gift pack for me to give away also (find details for the giveaway below).  Now, some info from Hershey's regarding their Track & Field Games:

Physical activity is important at any age, but by encouraging your children to be active, you can help them gain an appreciation for a healthy lifestyle at a young age.

Since 1978, The HERSHEY^®’S Track & Field Games has helped more than 10 million children get active and learn valuable lessons such as sportsmanship and hard work. Now in its 34th year, HERSHEY’S Track & Field Games hosts thousands of boys and girls, ages 9 to 14, in nearly 4,000 North American communities. They will compete this spring and summer in track and field events ranging from the standing long jump and softball throw to a variety of running and relay races – and all at no cost of entry. All you need is a pair of shoes.

To program culminates each year with the HERSHEY’S Track & Field Games North American Final Meet in Hershey, Pa. Held each year in August, the North American Final Meet hosts 450 outstanding young participants in a fun and exciting, all-expenses paid weekend trip to Hershey. During the weekend, participants tour the world’s largest chocolate factory and visit Hersheypark amusement park, among other exciting activities.

Nine-time Olympic gold medalist Carl Lewis and Olympic decathlon legend Rafer Johnson will again return as HERSHEY’s Track & Field Games ambassadors in 2011.

To further encourage physical activity among kids and families, Hershey is teaming up with the Nike Reuse-A-Shoe program to collect old, worn-out athletic shoes to be recycled into Nike Grind, a material used in creating athletic and playground surfaces, as well as select Nike products. Program participants will be invited to bring used athletic shoes to state and provincial meets, which will then be recycled into Nike Grind. A HERSHEY’s Track & Field Games playground will be awarded to a participating local community as part of the program’s work with Nike’s Reuse-A-Shoe program. Since its inception in the early 1990’s, Nike’s Reuse-A-Shoe program has recycled more than 25 million pairs of athletic shoes into Nike Grind.

So lace up your children’s favorite pair of sneakers and get ready to cheer them on at the finish line! To learn more about HERSHEY’S Track & Field Games, and to find a local event in your area, please visit www.hersheystrackandfield.com.

Giveaway

Hershey's and MyBlogSpark are letting me give away a gift pack like the one I received (see pic). 
In order to be in the running for this great gift pack, simply leave a comment below.  I am keeping it easy and only allowing one entry per person for the giveaway. 

The winner will be picked using Random.org at 11:00 PM on Saturday, April 2nd.  

Mid-Week Mingle

Making some new friends, how about joining us?

Guest Gab at The Mommy Mambo

I am being featured as the Guest Gab over at The Mommy Mambo.  If you are not familiar with The Mommy Mambo, you need to get over there and check it out now.  Jennifer is just hilarious.  She is full of spunk and is always a great read.  Of course, you need to go to read my post too, so I guess I will see you there. 

A Lesson in Pronounciation

It seems like a constant battle with my tween and teen on the pronunciation of words.  I think it is very important to speak properly and it drives me nuts when the kids speak with too much slang or do not pronounce words correctly.  One of the constant battles that we have is that the kids often omit a "t" or "d" in a word.  So, the word button is said "bu'on".  This totally drives me and John crazy and when the kids do this so of course, I think they do it more just to annoy us. 

So, here we are sitting at my son's baseball game.  My ex and his wife are there and my daughter is sitting on the other side of them, down a ways on the bleachers away from me.  A foul ball is tipped and it lands not too far from where we are sitting, so I tell my daughter she should go get the ball.  She cannot however she announces loudly, because she has peanuts on her lap.  The only problem though, is that she did not pronounce the "t" in peanuts.  Needless to say, several people turned around to see what she was really referring to.  Of course, like a good mom, I motioned for her to come talk to me and I point out that she forgot the "t" in peanuts.  You have never seen a girl turn as red as she did.  I would have loved to have had a camera! 

I couldn't have asked for a better lesson to emphasize that pronouncing all the letters in a word are important.  And now, my tween girl pronounces her "t's".  Of course the running joke in the house is "you have what in your lap?"

Falcon Baseball and Fury Soccer

My son's baseball team had a game last night.  It was really great to watch.  They played really well.  The hitting, base running and teamwork in the field were all good.  Even though they are a young team with only 2 seniors and no juniors, they are having a pretty good season so far.  It will be exciting to watch them grow even more as a team.  Go Falcons! 

Just got back from my daughter's soccer game.  It was the best game of the year so far.  Wooohooo!!!!  It is amazing when a team actually comes together and plays like a team.  There was good passing and communications.  The girls were anticipating plays and playing proactively rather than reactively, it was beautiful to watch.  We have another game tomorrow.  Go Fury!

I am excited to have watched both kids teams succeed yesterday and today, it must me be the super full moon!!!  LOL

A Week of Giving!

It seems that this week is one of giving at my house.  My daughter cleaned out her room and I have donated books to the local library and items to Goodwill.  I took her old communion dress to a consignment shop and got so little money that I will not even bother with that anymore.  Everything in the future will either go to people I know or I will donate the stuff to the appropriate charity. 

In the past, I have had garage sales but where I am located now, it would be too difficult as I am pretty far off the beaten path.  Besides, I am not sure what I made at my garage sales was worth the effort.  I think I do better donating and getting a receipt so I can claim it on taxes.  In fact, after my divorce, I had a run down car that was worth essentially nothing for trade at a dealership.  It ran pretty well and I had some extra parts (brakes) and a Chiltons book on it from when my ex used to work on it.  I ended up donating that car to a local high school and the auto mechanics teacher was thrilled.  Not only did he get a car for the kids to learn on, but the book on repairs for it and parts too.  There were even some dents in it and he was happy that he could teach the kids how to pull them out.  And did I mention that I got a nice little write off on my taxes because I could claim the retail value of the car, not the trade value? 

When I have stuff that is in pristine condition, I do put those on ebay to sell.  In fact, I will be listing some clothes for a build-a-bear and a child's tent soon.  So, if you are interested in either of those items, let me know, maybe we can work a price out before I put them on ebay (after the kid's spring break).

Tomorrow, I will be going to the blood bank to donate blood too.  I received a call yesterday that they desperately need blood and I am a universal donor, so I feel like I need to go. 

Yay for More Daylight!

So, we changed our clocks over the weekend.  I must say that I am happy.  I love when it is daylight longer.  I am a little concerned about my daughter walking to school during sunrise, but at least it isn't completely dark out. 

I am looking forward to going to soccer practices while it is still light out.  Yay!  Maybe on non-practice days, I can get John off the couch to go for a walk after dinner.  My dog would be thrilled about that.  I am already spending more time outside since I started a garden, so the extra daylight will give me more time to work on the garden.  It is amazing how just an hour time change can make a huge difference in your everyday life....

Building Shelves with Sometimers

John and I put up more shelving in the garage.  We are trying to organize everything and start our spring cleaning.  So, on this beautiful Sunday, we are in the garage, trying to deal with our sometimers. 

What is sometimers you may ask?  Sometimers is what we call forgetfulness as you age.  You forget things some of the time.  John and I both are battling sometimers.  How do you know if you are battling sometimers?  If you walk into a room and have no idea why you are there, you may have sometimers.  If you lose things some of the time, you may have sometimers.  Those of you that have it are saying "hey, that's me", the rest of you have no clue. 

So, back to the garage.  Here we are trying to put up shelves.  These are the closetmaid shelves that you attach to the wall.  The tools needed are a drill, screws, brackets, shelving, clips, end caps, hammer, a level and we used a string to make sure the whole shelf was level.  Now, let me tell you, we should have known that this project would take twice as long as expected since we do suffer from sometimers.  If I had a nickel for the number of times we asked "where did the hammer go,"  I would have a hefty start to my son's private school tuition for next year.  We definitely spent way more time looking for the parts and tools than actually working.  Of course we were laughing the whole time because I am sure we were just hilarious to watch. 

Do you have sometimers?  How do you cope?  Do you laugh at yourself all the time like we do?  I really cannot imagine accomplishing anything 10 years from now, if we can barely put up shelves now...lol. 

Freaking Out

Every morning ever since 9/11 I wake up and turn on the news hoping that the world is still in order.  Well, this morning it isn't.  There has been a HUGE earthquake off the coast of Japan with a tsunami warning in more than 20 countries, including the United States.  I am trying to hold it together here and not freak out. 

One of my flaws is that I am too empathetic, so I get caught up in the horror and sorrow from disasters.  The videos out of Japan are horrific and my heart goes out to the Japanese people as they are trying to recover from their own tsunami.  Meanwhile I am feeling helpless waiting for the tsunami to hit other locations. 

There is news coverage of the warnings in Hawaii.  The tsunami is expected to hit there at 8 AM EST, or 3 AM local time.  I am hoping they pull through this relatively unscathed.  The good news is that Hawaii is relatively mountainous, so hopefully everyone will be able to get to safely.  I hate to think what would happen here in Florida if we got hit by a tsunami because we do not have any elevation to evacuate to....we would be toast. 

So, here I sit, and wait for the impending devastation that is coming to many countries and I wonder how this shift in news coverage will hurt Libya as their people are massacred without our attention.  I feel as if this wonderful world we live in is coming apart at the seam and wonder where the next big earthquake will hit and whether the financial markets are stable enough to take the hit of major disasters right now. 

Only time will tell.  Meanwhile, I will be praying and wishing well to everyone that this disaster affects. 

Rainy Day Today

It is a rainy day here in Florida.  I had to go to the store this morning and pick up some essentials, but now all I want to do is nap.  I have way too much stuff on my plate today, including taking my dog to the vet for his rabies shot, not to mention laundry, and dishes.  The good news is that I don't have to take time out of the day to water the garden, so that is one less thing. 

In fact, speaking of gardens, does anybody grow edible ginger? I have been trying to start some from ginger root and have not been successful yet.  Any pointers? 

Also, I want to grow some bamboo.  Does anybody have any advice on that either? 

Varsity Baseball: All Over the Board

My son is in varsity baseball this year (Go Falcons!).  They had a game last night and the team performed very well.  In fact they smoked the other team.  It was almost painful to watch.  What amazes me though, is that the skill levels of these varsity teams is all over the board. 

Like I said, my son's team totally killed the team they played last night, but my son's team has been killed the same way, by two other teams.  So, it makes me wonder, how is it that the skill levels of these varsity teams vary so much?  I know some of the schools recruit players and some coaches are better than others, but it still seems like there shouldn't be that much of a difference.  My son's team is middle of the way this year because they are a very young team with only 2 seniors.  They do have a really good coach so they will improve and I imagine they will be better next year than they are this year.  But will they ever get to the caliber of one team that they played that had multiple players that were consistently hitting home runs and pitching over 85 mph?  There were actually MLB recruiters at that game.  Talk about scaring the crap out of a freshman...lol. 

So, what does it take to build a great team?  Individuals?  Coaching?  Expensive clinics?  What do you think? 

It's a New Day!

Okay, I am officially over my funk.  I had a fairly good weekend.  The International Festival at Florida Air Academy turned out great.  I got fairly good reports from my son's teachers and my daughter and I are happy that we now know where she is going for middle school.  Even though she did not get in to our first choice, I think that where she is going has a great program.  Also, not being in limbo any more is a big relief.  I think she is a little excited to try something new.  Also, she is excited to be getting away from some of her friends that she has outgrown (passed in maturity).  I am happy that she will be in a program that is challenging and around kids that are her equal intellectually.  Unfortunately, my daughter has a tendency to "dumb down" to the level of the kids she hangs out with.  Hopefully, being around kids who work harder will change that. 

As far as looking for a job, I am plugging along.  I am hoping the blogging fairy waves her wand over this blog so that I can actually make some money from it so I can stay at home.  I really am meant to be a Mom above all else and enjoy volunteering and being here for my kids. 

Overall I need to remember that I have a pretty fantastic life.  I am choosing happiness.  Are you with me?

Lottery Results

The lottery results are in.  My daughter is moving on to middle school next year and we applied to 3 different academic programs.  Participation in any of the programs is determined by a lottery.  All 3 schools had their lottery on Thursday and we have now received letters from all 3.  Our first choice is to attend Westshore Middle/High School, an IB (International Baccalaureate) program at a middle school is our 2nd choice while a Science & Technology program at the middle school our neighborhood we are zoned for as our 3rd choice.  Worst case scenario is that she would not get chosen for any of the programs and would be mainstreamed in regular classes at the middle school for which we are zoned.  Let me just mention that it is my opinion that the local middle school is a nightmare.  In fact that school is the one that I pulled my son out of to send him to the military school that he now attends.

And the results are:  We did not get into our first choice.  We received a letter stating that she is on the waiting list at number 395, so it is very unlikely that she would get in next year.  The good news is that she was accepted to the other 2 programs.  Needless to say we will be going for the 2nd choice, the IB program.  Now I just have to find out how to make money from home so that I can drive her to and from school, since bussing is probably not convenient. 

So, if you have any work from home ideas, let me know.  Or, if you know how to get a blog to make money, I am willing to make a serious go at that as well.  Let me know. 

Feeling Like the Kid Who Never Gets Picked

Well, here it is Friday, and I still have not heard from the company that I interviewed with last week.  I called their office and they said that HR will be contacting me.  I don't feel too confident with that since most of the other companies I have interviewed with don't respond either.  What happened to etiquette in business?  A simple phone call or email saying I was rejected or whatever.  It is like they want to keep me on the hook in case they change their mind or something.  I think it is just rude. 

Then today I was summoned to jury duty.  I called the number to find out if I was needed last night and I am not, so denied again.  Yes, I actually wanted to serve on a jury.  I have never been called before so I figured that since I now have the time, being unemployed and all, maybe it would be interesting.  Oh well, not picked again.....

So, here I am feeling dejected and I want to jump up and yell "PICK ME!"  But I am afraid of what I will be picked for if I do that.  I just keep thinking that God must really have a really special plan for me, I'll let you know when I figure out what it is....

Definitely Staying in the City

I must admit that sometimes I think about maybe moving to a home that is on a couple of acres.  Then I always change my mind.  Between the monster mosquitoes, wildfires, alligators and various other wildlife.  I have decided that living in the city is just fine with me. 

I have been watching the Iron Horse wildfire in the north end of the county.  Wildfires definitely scare me.  When I grew up in Kentucky, we rarely ever had a wildfire.  Here in Florida though, it is a common thing.  In fact there are species of plants that will only germinate during a fire.  I know, strange.  In addition to wildfires started by people and lightening, we also have prescribed fires to allow the land to replenish and to diminish the wildfire threat. 

So, I am done fantasizing about having a farm or a huge garden and make do with the suburban lot we have that is on a street with fire hydrants and gets sprayed for mosquitoes.