Feeling down...

I am trying to stay motivated and clean up the house. While hubby was home, I did very little, so now it's like playing catch up. While I'm cleaning, I'm trying to declutter areas. We're bad about tossing stuff on table tops and leaving it there, and it piles up more and more..... then there are drawers. You get the idea.

I got Chris's side all straightened up, took a break, ate some food, and watched the season premiere of Medium. I'm so glad that the shows are back :o) I'm so glad we have a technology that gave us the wonderful thing called a DVR.

Once that was over, I set off to clean more. It was my side of the couch,... my end table, top and bottom.

Under the table I have a huge photo album,... and a box. I bought the box a long time ago,.... it had smoked salmon inside. The box is wooden with a metal plate, an image of a fish on top. It looks very Alaskan for art. The salmon has long been gone of course,... but fishing makes me think of Dad. I use the box to store the letters that I'd received from him over the past years.

From time to time, I like to pull them out and glance through them. Today was one of those days. I always cry when I do this,.... it makes me miss him so much. The letter that was on top held a picture of him. He was in the VA program to help get him on his feet, and while there, it was his Birthday along with several other VAers that month. It was a picture of him standing there w/ a mic in his hand.

I can only imagine the things he might be saying,... he loved to talk. He could be quite funny, so I imagine there were several laughs to be had.

Always in his letters, he would tell me how much he loved me, and how proud he was of me. There's still not a day that goes by that I don't miss him. He's been gone now for 8 years. While it doesn't feel like just yesterday that we said good bye to him,... it sure doesn't feel like it's been 8 years.

I guess I will go back to cleaning now.

So, what's new with you??

Been awhile since I'd posted,.... thought I'd jabber a little bit. School is still plugging along for the kids. We got progress reports on Sydney,... less than stellar,... but she's got 4 weeks to bring her grades up before we remove her laptop from her room. *crossing fingers she brings her grades up* One of her grades is math, it's always been hard for her,... the teacher commented about tutoring. Of course they don't offer such things AT the school, so I asked her teacher for suggestions. Seems her older daughter can tutor Sydney,.... we're still waiting to hear more about that. I will also see if she can work with Geoffery each week as well.

I've torn apart Sydney's room. Now that Jess isn't here,... no point in the two beds year round. Was sad to do, but at the same time,... it sure has made Sydney happy :o) She has her OWN room. Rearranged, cleaned,... all that good stuff. It took me 2 freakin days to get it done. I'm still wanting to sort through the closet as it's still full of junk she never plays with. I do have a pile of toys and bags of clothes to be given away.

Chris took well over a week off,... from Sept. 16th - 27th. He was sure to be home for our Anniversary, and he defiantly needed the break. Work was really getting on his nerves LOL We enjoyed a lot of at home quiet time. We went for coffee in Jonesboro one day,... wandered around the mall,... was really nice :o) On our way home, we popped into the furniture store we use,... Gamble Home Furnishings and spoke with Jeremy there. He's a good guy. The whole family is really. Anyhow, we went in to see about ordering Sydney her full sized bed :o) We found the perfect bed, matches her existing furniture! Got that ordered,.... and well, Chris loves his toys... especially the electronic type. He was in the TV area. We love our tv now,... but Chris was determined to see a better picture, and to do so, we needed one with the 1080p ability. So, he wheeled and dealed with Jeremy and we got our new tv the next morning LOL The bed frame and all will be here in a couple weeks I guess.

Sept. 20th was our 12th Anniversary :o) We celebrated by leaving the kids at home with Brian and going to the 501 for dinner. Mmmm was sooooooo good!!!! I had a nice salmon dinner. I already knew what I wanted before we even got there :o) Was delish!

We went out for coffee another day, wandered the mall some more,.... but for the most part, while he was off, we vegged at the house, played online game called Guild Wars,... some friends from my PSP group also play so we had our headsets and got to talk with them and their husbands,... just a lot of fun :o) Watched a couple movies and things too. Very relaxing and just nice to have that time together.

Brian,... he finally got a job,.... which was like his dream job :o) Game Stop!!!! What better job for a future video game designer???? Sadly,.... he had his one day at work,.... a Saturday morning,... for like 4hrs of training. He called the next day for his schedule, only to find that the store is having to reduce it's hours, so he's not even on the schedule this week. He said he'd be on call for Fri and Saturday. *sigh* I told him that he needs to visit WalMart, and see if he can't get on there. He'd still have electronics, and discount,... whatever he could need would be there. I know he doesn't like the idea of working there though. I can't seem to get it through his thick skull that he NEEDS money,... we won't be paying for movies, lunches, etc. He also needs a car,... badly. I hate nagging. I guess he'll figure it out eventually??? Can't do much of anything without some cash in pocket right??? *shrug* He's a big boy now. Time for mom to cut the cord ;o)

On that note, cutting this now,.... need to get dinner going.

They grow so fast....

So,... we're headed home from school this afternoon. Geoffery asks me if it's okay if he calls a friend when we get home. Well, no, not until after homework and chores are done. "Yes, I know that already" Mmm hmm.... "What friend are you calling today??" The other day, he called his friend Kristopher, and they would talk like 30 seconds and Kris would say he needed to call him back,... they must've done this like 5xs until I finally put a stop to it.

He wanted to call his friend Sydney,... said that he needed to get a girlfriend. He then proceeded to tell us about how his girlfriend in 1st grade was a user.

A user??? Where do they come up with this stuff??? I mean, he's in the 3rd grade!!!! Should he even KNOW that there are girls out there that will use him??? Wait.... he's in the 3rd grade,... should he even be worried about HAVING a girlfriend??????

Sheesh. I swear, the boy cracks me up, and at the same time,... I am scared for what's to come. I've already raised one son to 18yrs old, and I don't recall going through this stuff with him,.... ever. The poor thing has had one real girlfriend ever, and she ended up moving away. Maybe I should worry about him more? LOL

Oh well.... there are bigger things to worry about right now,... like teaching Sydney how to crochet!! I hope I have the patience for this LOL

Labor Day Weekend

High in the pine tree,
The little turtledove
Made a little nursery
To please her little love.


"Coo," said the turtledove,
"Coo," said she;
In the long, shady branches
Of the dark pine tree.

Hubby is working nights this week. He got in around 6:30 this morning. I always get up, shut the house alarm off, visit with him before he heads for the shower & bed.

Because the kids are back in school, the dogs have the school schedule down pat. No sooner was hubby in the door, bearing the fruits of breakfast from Mc D's for the kiddos,... the dogs were prancing around my feet, crossing their legs ready to go outside.

*sigh* "Okay, come on" I said. To which hubby says "be careful out there..." ?? "stray dogs running around??" "no, hunters" Eh??? in our backyard????? I peek through the blinds of the backdoor, don't see anything, so head outside w/ the dogs.

While standing there as they do their business,... I hear these *pop* *pop* sounds around me. Holy crap. I poke my head back inside and ask him "They're hunting in the cotton fields????" "yeah, this is the first day of dove season" "oh."

Back outside,... I'm amazed at the sounds going on. It was really REALLY weird. We've lived here now 3yrs,.. and I've not ever noticed this before now??? How could that be?? Obviously I wasn't ever outside this early in the morning on opening day.

All I could really think is "poor lil doves" I have sampled dove. Hubby's cousin brought us like I dunno... 5 cooked up doves. I could easily put all 5 in the palm of my hand, bacon wrapping included. I can't help but wonder, is it REALLY worth it??? You surely couldn't feed a family of 6 with dove. You'd have to kill 3 dozen of the things!!!


Poor doves.