Travel Time

Ok! Where do I begin?

I don't travel much. I really don't fly. Not because I am scared, but just because we don't go anywhere and when we do, we drive. So here is the story.

My husband got a new job last summer and he comes home a few weeks ago and tells me that he has to go on a business trip. In the 11 years he worked for his old job, he did not travel anywhere at all. So this is a bit new to us. We start talking about that fact that it would be great if I could go along. Then reality hit me. I have a 7 1/2 year old in school, I carpool the neighbor children, I work at home, I have a 2 year old, I am in charge of our Wednesday night program for the 1-3 graders at our church, blah, blah, blah! You get the picture.

So I just put it out of my mind and planned for holding down the fort for 5 days. I was dreading it. Days without a break. AHHHHHHHHHHHH!

Then a miracle came. Her name was Tina, AKA Golden Goodness. Tina works for me on Tuesdays and last week she says, "You should really go on the trip."

*Back story-Tina's husband travels alot and she trys to go with him as often as possible. Sometimes they even make it a family event. However, she nows what is like to be stuck at home with two kids for several days, even weeks. She's a good mom.

So back to the story.
I say, well I don't know. I have this and that and that other thing. She then says, I will watch Rachel, just find someone for Benjamin. REALLY! You want to add a 2 year old on top of already having a 2 1/2 year old and 4 year old at home. WOW! So of course, I start planning.

For those of you who don't know me very well, I am a little OCD and I was very concerned about making sure I didn't over pack for the kids, but had everything in order. I had lists for everything. People who know me will be surprised that I did not type out all these lists and make spreadsheets. I didn't. Came close, but didn't.

Fortunately, my mother said she would watch Benjamin and even stay at our house. So, I did not have to pack all of his things, but I did want it to be as easy as possible for my mom, so of course, I made lists for her as well and set out all his uniforms and made sure all the laundry was done before I left. She also offered to take over my carpooling duties and take Benjamin to his swimming lessons. Thanks mom.

Okay, now Rachel. Packing her stuff is a whole different story. You have to think of everything that they would possibly need. Fortunately, like I stated before. Tina has kids, so I didn't worry about the Tylenol or toys or even a bed. It worked out great. Rachel didn't even care when I left. She was so excited to be at Evan and Ella's house and all their toys. I had to beg for good-bye love.

Now on to me. My husband left after church on Sunday morning. We packed as much as we could into his bag, but I ended up having to check a bag as well. I also had to pack everything for my work. I work at home on Monday and Tuesday compeleting payroll for a company. This is the first time that I was going to try and do it somewhere other than my office at home. I decided not to train anyone else to do it because I am a little of a control freak. Did I meantion I have a little bit of OCD?

Did I also tell you I don't like to fly? I am not scared, just anxious because I don't fly very often. I flew once last year, but it was probably 8 years before that. So, I got to the airport two hours early, like they suggest. It took less than five minutes to check in and go through security. So I had almost two hours to wait. Finally got on the plane and of course, I have the only seat with someone else. Everyone else had two seats to themselves. There was a lot of turbulance, but fortunately the flight was only about an hour. Got to Atlanta, GA, found the baggage and shuttle and off to the hotel.

And here I am, done with my work (completed it this morning), no kids, no schedule, no laundry, no appointments, no school pick-up, no nothing. I am really going to have to enjoy this and soak it all in.

Good Mail Goodie

My friend and I joined a blog called Good Mail at http://djshelley.blogspot.com/2008/04/good-mail.html. We exchange goodies with each other and send cards on their birthdays. I received a goodie today. Check out Golden Goodness for a picture. It was some Mary Kay lotion, M&M's and some gum. It was great to receive an unexpected gift.

Benjamin's Wordless Wednesday

7 Random Things About Me

This was a tag from my friend Tina at Golden Goodness.

This ought to be good. I can never think of anything good. Let's see.....

1. I hate glitter. I can't exactly pinpoint the time in my life of the realization that glitter is the most annoying creation on the planet. It gets everywhere. It never stays were you need it to be and then next thing you know you have people either poking you in the eye trying to get a piece of glitter off your face or they keep saying "It's right there, no, right under your eye, no, right over there, no..." You get my point.

2. I used to be able to put both my feet behind my head while sitting on the floor. Needless to say, I haven't tried this since having my son about 8 years ago. Just one of those weird things you find out you can do.

3. I love weird food. Example-Oats, honey and peanut butter mixed together. Or peanut butter and marshmallow creme. I also eat things weird. It's hard to explain, but I eat things in order (just some strange order I have in my mind). I may be cracking up.

4. I love biting my nails. Just wish I didn't have the consequence of the hurting fingers after a good nibble. (this is why I have acrylic nails now)

5. I love to play with my hair. I am constantly pulling on strands and twirling them. I also love playing with my daughters hair.

6. I double pierced my own ear (left) when I was in high school. It hurt.

7. I have a secret "rocker" in me due to me being a percussionist. I played drums/mallets when I was in high school and college. Can't blame a girl. Boys thought it was cool and I paid my way through college. Of course, I didn't get many dates, just lots of guy friends. Oh well!

Friday's Feast

Appetizer

Name a color you find soothing.
Blue-just like the ocean

Soup

Using 20 or less words, describe your first driving experience.
I learned how to drive in a full size van in a massive parking lot. It was terrifying and exciting.

Salad

What material is your favorite item of clothing made out of?
Denim. I wear jeans everyday.

Main Course

Who is a great singer or musician who, if they were to come to your town for a concert, you would spend the night outside waiting for tickets to see?
Elvis. How amazing if he really wasn't dead and he had a concert. Now that would be a site to see.

Dessert

What is the most frequent letter of the alphabet in your whole name (first, middle, maiden, last, etc.)?
E=5 (not mc2)

How I like to Scrap it up!

Do you know what I love about scrapbooking? Everyone page is different. Every person scraps a different way. Every page is personal and unique. There is no right or wrong way.

I started scrapbooking many years ago using Creative memories. Lots of triangles, squares and stickers. I scrapped my wedding album and then proceeded onto my son's baby album. Towards the end of his album, I started with the month he was born in (September) and then made a layout for each month. Well, this stuck. I then moved onto his next album (which is his first birthday and on) and decided to continue with the monthly layouts. It is really easy and very organized.

In total, I have completed: My wedding album, My son's baby album, My son's album from age one to three, My daughter's baby album, an 8x10 album for my son (with all his 8x10 pictures), an 8x10 album for my daughter, my son's album from age four to five (working on year six, which will include the birth of my daughter-this album has become more of a family album), an "ABC" album for my son, an "ABC" album for my daughter (I still have about 5 or 6 pictures till these "ABC" albums are complete, and I have started grandparent albums. These albums will include pictures of our wedding until present. (all albums are 12x12 except the 8x10 albums and the grandparents albums are 8x8)

My current projects from above are: Family album from 2006 until present, the grandparents albums, finishing the "ABC" albums, and adding any 8x10 photos in their 8x10 albums.

I really enjoy scrapbooking and placing all my children's memories in a special manner.

Wordless Wednesday

A day in my life

6:30=Alarm goes off and I push snooze
6:40=Alarm goes off and I push snooze (meanwhile dreaming that I am awake and getting ready)
6:50=Alarm goes off and I push snooze (a little confused thinking I was already getting ready)
7:00=Alarm goes off and I jump out of bed, realizing that I am supposed to be getting my son up at this very moment and the neighbors kids (4 year old and 8 year old girl)will be here in about 10 minutes
7:05=Get my son out of bed (finally, after some persuading and nagging), get his uniform out for school. Oh! Don't forget his belt and glasses.
7:05 to 7:15=Get my son breakfast, throw some clothes on, brush my teeth, try to look presentable.
7:15=Neighbor girls come over and I try to get my son dressed for school
7:15 to 7:30=Get my son dressed, brush his teeth, comb his hair, help him with his shoes, bag and jacket. Wake up my daughter and get her diaper changed in order to leave. (PS-we are supposed to leave at 7:25, but that doesn't always happen).
7:30-8:00=Get four kids in my car with all their stuff (a feat in itself), get them strapped in and we are on our way through traffic to get to school on time.
8:00=Drop my son and the oldest neighbor girl at school
8:00 to 8:15=Head home
8:15 to 8:45=Get all my daughters things together for Kids Day Out (lunch, mat, diaper bag and of course everything labeled) and maybe get a quick shower in between
8:45 to 9:00=Take my daughter and the younger neighbor girl to school.
9:00 to 9:15=Go home
9:15 to 1:45=Cram as much work as I possibly can in this short time period when I have no children and/or other distractions. Oh! Forget lunch. Too much to do.
1:45 to 2:00=Pick up my daughter
2:00 to 3:15=Well take your pick. I either: run as many errands as I can in this time period, or I run home and cram in about 30 minutes of work, or I go to the school early and work in the car while my daughter runs amuck in the car.
3:15=Pick up my son and the oldest neighbor girl from school
3:15 to 3:45=Go home
3:45 till bedtime=Listing is just easier: Homework, laundry, dinner, bath, play with my children, work on the laptop, try to have a conversation with my husband, clean up after dinner, clean up after the hectic day, try and get some stuff ready for tomorrow.

By the way, today, none of this happened like usual. Guess what? My daughter was sick and couldn't go to school. How is that monkey wrench for you?

So in between everything for the other children and also my work (which by the way, I do payroll and I have a serious deadline for about 650 people to get paychecks), I watched my daughter (but only for a short period-thankfully my husband got a new job last year and he has sick days. He came home and watched her so that I could work), went to the doctor's office (and of course, I had to wait 45 minutes to be seen for a 10 minute appointment), went to Wal-greens and waited on the prescription, and then came home and finished my routine, but with about two less hours to do it in.

WHAT A DAY!!!!!

Meme for Me

I was sent this Meme by my friend Tina. I have been so swamped with housework and work work that I have not been on to blog in a few days. I didn't even get my wordless wednesday in this week. AHHHHH!

Anyway, here it is......

4 Jobs I've Had:
Secretary for my Dad's Jewelry Story
Kindergarten/Pre-School/Mother's Day Out Teacher
Mommy/Wife
Payroll/Human Resource Manager

4 Shows on my TiVo/DVR:
Hell's Kitchen
Jon & Kate plus 8
Big Brother
Survivor
(I won't even mention the many cartoon shows and yes, I like reality shows)

4 Places I've Been:
Bahamas
Hawaii
Florida
Branson, MO

4 Favorite Foods:
Chips
Triscuits (the thin triangle ones)
Popcorn
Bacon

4 CD's Recently Listened To:
Chenault
Casting Crowns
Celine Dion
Mark Shultz

4 Things You Can Do to Make My Day:
Buy me a Present
No more cleaning (house, children, etc.)
Day off of work
Go out to eat with my family (and they all have to be in a good mood and eat their dinner)

4 People I Tag:
Tina tagged me and I only have seen one other blog, so I will tag

Exhausted

My friend Tina and I went to a Scrap Camp this past Thursday night through Saturday night. This was most definitely a camp. We weren't in tents (thank goodness), but we were sleeping with the bugs. Thursday night wasn't so bad except for the humbidity. Everything seemed wet. The floor, the walls, the air. Yuck! Friday morning wasn't so bad. The showers were interesting. Definitely need for shoes to be worn. It was like taking a shower in a huge cold room trying to stay in the trinkle of warm (not hot) water to wash yourself. Got through the shower and proceeded to scrap. We both got so much done. Then the weather turned cold and I mean cold. Thankfully I decided to bring a small space heater because I am cold natured. It took just enough of the chill off in the room that only my nose seemed to freeze. The shower on Saturday was even worse. This was a cold shower in a huge cold room. NOT FUN!! Tina and I had a blast anyway. We laughed so many times and so hard that we cried. Of course, many of the jokes are inside jokes, so no one would understand but us. (For Tina----Juicy Forehead, Clackamas, It's Them, LOL).

Well, I was hoping to start the Friday Feast soon, but I will start that next week.

Thankful Thursday

I have recently been hearing all the troubles and woes that people go through on a daily basis and it just made me think of all I have.

Today, I am thankful for:
*A loving, Caring, Godly husband
*Healthy, Happy Children
*One boy, One girl
*A good job for me and my husband
*Friends

That's all I have for now.
I am really tired, so I am going to bed.

Wordless Wednesday