Christmas Chaos

I love Christmas and everything about it-the shopping, the wrapping, the decorating, the hanging with family. Everything but one...when it's over. It seems as if the much anticipated holiday dawdles on its way here and then rushes through in a flash. I'm looking around my living room at the towers of boxes and piles of paper wondering where the time went.
Pete came early to see Joey's holiday program so our Christmases actually began early in December. Christmas Eve is always spent in Dayton with the Rachford side of the family. On Christmas morning, we open the presents that Santa left at our house, then have lunch with my dad's side of the family and dinner/appetizer with my parents and siblings. Lately, our tradition has included spending the night at my sister's house.
This year we added some new family members-Matt married Justine, Brian is dating Katie and Scott married Danielle. We missed Michelle and Quentin, although I'm sure they had a great time together in Colorado Springs.
I can't wait until next Christmas!!!

Getting Our Tree

Yesterday was our annual go to the Christmas tree farm and get a tree day. This is simpler than it sounds in that we (Greg, Cindy, Jimmy and I) are the only paid volunteers at Aunt Christina's Christmas tree farm. (Bottom of Backbone Hill, Rt. 50) Joey was not into the whole walking into the field and cutting down a tree thing, so being the good parents that we are, we forced him to do it with a little bribery, I mean motivation. You know, the whole Santa and the elves are watching speech. It didn't take long to find a tree, cut it down and drag it to the car. The best part, for me anyway, was arriving home after a long day at the tree farm and seeing the Christmas tree all lit up in our living room. Joey and I will hang ornaments on it as soon as I find them-they're in storage, of course!

Elves Day Tradition

Did you know that Santa's elves do a little snooping for Santa before Christmas? My dad must have made a special deal with either the elves or Santa, because those little buggers would always sneak into our house and fill our stockings with little treats before Christmas came each year. As I was growing up, the elves also visited our friends the Sandfosses, but for some reason never visited the Ottaways. Hmmm...
Joey has been anxiously awaiting the arrival of the elves this year. Every morning in December, the first thing he has done is sneak downstairs to check the condition of the stocking hung by the fireplace. Unfortunately, there was only one stocking, Joey's, because the others are in storage. Last night, Joey wanted us to put out some socks just in case the elves were refusing to visit our stockingless house. I found some very stretchy, comfy socks for him to place on the hearth.
This morning Joey couldn't wait to tell us that he spotted two of Santa's little helpers in his doorway when he awoke around 1 o'clock this morning. One of them wore a red Santa hat, the other a green one. He even heard them whispering! Further evidence that the elves had visited lay in our full stockings.

Changes

Greg and I have probably been talking about building our dream house out on the family farm since before we were married (13+ years). Our friends patiently listened to us voice our dreams and would occasionally ask about our progress knowing there had been none. Two (or was it three) years ago, we actually started doing real things to make it happen: the land was surveyed, Greg met with the excavator, Ed designed the house and prepared the blueprints, Pete ordered the windows. Well friends, our house is now up for sale. We love our house (Greg plans to continue making improvements until it sells) and our neighbors, but Sammy's passing has made the move even more appealing.
Check out the link below:
7845 Stonehill Drive
You can also view the video tour:
Video Tour

Sad Goodbyes

My family has been sadly sharing our memories of Sammy, the best dog ever. Many lessons have been learned from his passing, but the most obvious is one that is only learned the hard way: appreciate what you have while you have it. Greg, Joey and I are realizing what an important member of our family Sam was. In December of 1997, Greg and I drove to a farm in Kentucky to "look" at some puppies that my aunt Christine told us were being given away. The beautiful mommy golden let us look at her puppies while yellow cat Jingle looked down on us from the hay bales. A little gold fuzz-ball was too scared to hide from us, but his sweet personality grabbed our hearts from that moment. We got lost on our way home from the KY farm, but snuggling in my arms was a barely six week old golden/lab mix. Our pictures from that day are in storage, but the emotions that we felt that day are fresh. I miss my sweet Sammy. So do Greg and Joey.

Lemonade for Sale

Yesterday Joey and Cassidy set up a mobile lemonade stand and sold their product door-to-door. The division of labor was easily decided-Cassidy was in charge of product and Joey did the actual selling. They were so cute and determined to do well. I am proud of their initiative.

Hopefully I'll get to enjoy some down time over the next few weeks. This summer is speeding by, only four more weeks until school begins! I finished my second class on Friday {two weeks driving to Oxford every day} and don't have another until August, so some playtime is definitely in order. I would like to see the newest Harry Potter movie, take Joey to Kings Island and the Beach, sleep in a bit, and swim at the pool.

Good Golly

I haven't written much here...too much going on, I guess. Time to catch up!
This week I began my own writer's notebook hoping to have something to show my students this fall. Usually I put all of my thoughts here, so it's a bit different actually writing something on paper. I type much faster than I write, but maybe I'll catch the things that need to be revised by doing it the old-fashioned way. I was inspired by a book I found on Amazon-The Daily Five. Hopefully my language arts class will have a new and improved focus next school year!
Father's Day was spent my family's favorite way-poolside. Lots of sun and fun for us. Even the dads enjoyed themselves.
Baseball season should have ended by now, but due to the many rained out games, Joey will be making a game up tomorrow night. I'm not sure how rested he'll be since he is spending tonight with his cousins at his grandparents' house but I do know that my parents will be resting the following night!
I finished my last SOSI course during the first week of summer. I've really enjoyed my time facilitating the science classes for teachers, but unfortunately the funding has come to an end. All's well that ends well...maybe next summer will be one in which I participate in NO professional development! Hmmmmmm...
I am looking forward to spending more time at the pool this summer and relaxing. I think I'll go try some relaxing right now...

Woohoo!

We did it! Interims are printed, the school newspaper delivered, grades submitted and first communion made! We are now back into our regular groove of soccer, baseball and tumbling accompanied by laundry, bills and yard work. In case you were wondering, I did manage to fit in a mani/pedi:-) Well worth it!
Happy Mother's Day all!

Sun Devils

In the midst of the first communion preparations, Joey had a baseball game yesterday-the Sun Devils vs. the Storm. It turned out to be a "storm"y kind of day even though the Sun was shining and I got burned. Joey was happy to get two hits since I have "motivated" him by promising Pokemon cards for each hit. Hey, nothing's too good for my boy!

What it's really all about...

Overwhelmed, that's how I feel right now. Joey will make his first communion this weekend which is a joyous thing, but the preparations for that accompanied by our daily chores have me feeling like I'm running a marathon-but without the health benefits! Of course sitting at the computer blogging will help me get a lot accomplished:-) Oh well, maybe I'll be motivated once I list my chores here.
Regular weekend chores for me: do laundry, pay bills/balance checkbook, cut grass/do yardwork, grade papers
Regular weekend activities for Joey (that require a chauffeur-me): baseball practice, soccer practice, baseball game, soccer game, tumbling
This week's extra chores: clean bathrooms for guests (Greg cleaned the rest of the house when he was home-what a guy!), grocery shopping for Joey's reception, fixing food for Joey's reception
This week's extra activities for Joey (again with the chauffeuring): first communion rehearsal, first communion, first communion reception
Oh yeah, in addition to all of the above, it's also deadline time at work. Sometime this weekend, I need to write lesson plans for next week, complete interims for my students, put together the school newspaper (as in write and edit it), finish my online course and submit the final grades for the online course to Miami. Great timing, huh?
Wish me luck! You think I could fit in a haircut, pedicure or massage?
In the end though, it's really all about Joey, his growing faith and spending time with our family. On further thought, I don't need any extra luck. I already have all I need:-)

Making a list, checking it twice...

Easter has come and gone, spring break is here to stay. Another chore is off the list, so now we get to play.
Greg has been painting the house, mostly because it needs it, but also because we do plan to sell it at some point. Say goodbye to the golden yellow and hello to almond, okay beige/taupe/off white. Whatever you call it, it is definitely neutral. So much for my blues and yellows-all gone.
Since spring break is here, we are making an effort to do some fun things for Joey's sake. Easter Sunday found us traipsing around southwestern Ohio as we did the 8:00 a.m. mass at St. Philomena followed by breakfast with my parents, grandma, Cindy, Jimmy and Jay. We then traveled to Dayton for lunch with the Rachford Clan. Poor Joey, nobody to play with...Off then, to Gram's house for the Easter dinner and lots of cousins. Playtime at last.
Monday meant fun with Cassidy...I hear the doorbell, Cass is here now!
More later!

The Big Easy was easy

This may sound shocking coming from me, but I might actually repeat this experience. Dee and I flew to New Orleans last week to present at the National Science Teachers' Association national conference. Yep, it sounds like a big deal 'cuz it IS a big deal, especially for those presenters who would rather chew off their own leg than speak to a bunch of adults and pretend to be an expert. Since chewing off my own leg was not an option, and I really did want to see New Orleans, I put on my big girl panties (as my dear friend is wont to say), xeroxed my handouts, kissed my family goodbye and was off to N'Awlins.
Result? I survived and pulled my own considerable weight. According to an audience member, I even spoke for 15 minutes straight. That might not seem unusual given normal circumstances, might even seem low at that, but these were not normal circumstances. The audience was 100 members strong-a full house, not an empty seat to be found (okay, one or two maybe). I am proud of our presentation and might even consider doing this again.

On the other hand, we saw lots of New Orleans (French Quarter, River Walk, Garden District, Warehouse District, French Market) and I continued to collect people. Some collect salt shakers, Meri collects shot glasses...Me? I collect people. On this trip, I caught a techie, a young mother and her even younger child (hello, migraine), a Boys' Town drunk, two Mad Hatters, and I almost reeled in a distinguished pilot-trust me, there are not as many of those as one might think. My husband is clearly the exception to that rule. Dee told me to quit making eye contact, but that is soooo hard...

List Work

Several months ago, Joey and I made a list of things we wanted to do. We are working on the list-both adding to it and enjoying ourselves. On Friday, we got to check off our first activity. We took Greg with us and went to Rookwood and the Cincinnati Art Museum in Mt. Adams. Rookwood recently reopened under new management, and while the freshly hand-cut fries were yummy, the sandwiches were a little greasy and not quite what we were hoping. Our expectations were fully met at the museum however. From the entrance to the stairways and balconies, much of the Cincinnati Art Museum reminded us of Night at the Museum. Joey especially enjoyed the mummies and the American artwork, but was a little freaked out by the tomb effigies.
Cincinnati Art Museum-check
Yesterday Greg's sister was in town from Vegas where she now lives and works, so Joey and I headed to Dayton for a visit. I am adding Visit Vegas to the List.
On our way home we stopped at IKEA. That place is crazy. I did not find what I wanted, but saw plenty of everything else. If I return, it will be without my child. Did I mention that place is crazy?
Today we went ice skating with Cassidy and the Wiethes. Or should I say ice-bucketing? Joey thought ice skating was fun, but he was so frightened of falling that he frogkicked his way around the rink using the bucket for support. I took my own spill and crawled to the edge of the ice to get up. I'm quite certain that my body will NOT thank me for adding this activity to our Must Do list, but we had a great time doing something new!
Adding to list: Indianapolis Children's Museum
Next up: The new dinosaur exhibit at Cincinnati Museum Center.

Lots and lots of snow

Obviously, we have had a lot of snow lately. Luckily we have a small, but perfect for us, hill next door in our neighbor's yard. Unfortunately, we trudged throughout our neighborhood with the snow and bitter cold in our faces before we found this perfect spot. As you can see, in my attempt to avoid the big tree in the middle of the run, I hit the bushes instead. Joey managed to pick himself right up, but I couldn't stand for laughing.

Happy Anniversary, Mom and Dad!

I am very fortunate to have such great parents, just a great family really, but we were especially lucky to be able to celebrate their 40th wedding anniversary with our family and friends. My sibs and I pulled together a surprise party after hemming and hawing over what we should do to celebrate. Well, it worked and they were surprised! Not when they walked in the door of course, but Mom and Dad were definitely surprised when Brian pulled into Cindy's driveway and there were lots more cars than usual. A good time was had by all!

Calmness in Our Lives

I am not a fan of chain letters, be it snail mail or email. I especially hate the ones that promise something horrible will happen if you don't forward it to 7 friends in 3 minutes. What kind of friend puts that kind of pressure on someone? Having said that, there are certain emails that should certainly be shared with the masses. Here is one that I received today:


CALMNESS IN OUR LIVES
By following simple advice heard on the Dr. Phil show, you too can find inner peace.

Dr Phil proclaimed, 'The way to achieve inner peace is to finish all the things you have started and have never finished.'
So, I looked around my house to see all the things I started and hadn't finished, and before leaving the house this morning, I finished off a bottle of Chardonnay, a bottle of Pinot Grigio, a bottle of Riesling, half a pizza, a package of Oreos, the remainder of my old Prozac prescription, the rest of the chocolate chip cookies, some puffy Cheetos, and a box of Girl Scout Thin Mints. You have no idea how freaking good I feel right now.

Who can't find the truth in those words of wisdom?

Seriously though

Even though I had a few cake opportunities (red velvet at school, a birthday cookie from a student, cupcakes at my parents) , I didn't get to make a birthday wish. I thought I could light a candle and blow it out, but wondered if that really counted if the candle wasn't in a cake or if nobody sang "happy birthday" to me before I blew out the candle. Jill said that she sang to me on facebook and that the things didn't all have to happen together. As I was looking for something to stick the birthday candle in to hold it up while I blew it out, I started to think how ridiculous I was being, so of course I needed to document my ridiculousness. I gave Joey the camera, stuck the candle in a red raspberry and blew out the flame. Well, of course I didn't like the angle of the picture, so we tried again. I didn't like that one either, or the next one, or the next two. Joey was getting sick of taking pictures so we quit. (This is the best photo cropped to within an inch-at least you can see the raspberry candle.) Then I realized that I never had made the darn wish. I started to make a wish without the candle, but realized that I really don't need to wish for anything. I have the greatest friends and family in the world. Thanks to all of you who saw me and remembered my birthday (not that I would let you forget), called with good wishes, sent cards and/or sent messages via Facebook and email. I couldn't wish for anything better than those of you who are in my life!

Happy Birthday to Me!

There comes a point in your life when you realize....
who matters,
who never did,
who won't anymore,
and who always will.
So, don't worry about people from your past;
there's a reason why they didn't make it to your future.

Thanks to all of the people who are in my life now!