1. I feel Like it’s already Friday night, I really don’t want to go to work tonight.

2. hanging out with the kids is always fun.

3. Right now, I can hear these things: Paul Simon singing “you can call me Al” via my mp3 in my cell phone, the dog snoring & mr 10’s tv which he fell asleep to (his room is too messy for me to risk going in there to turn the tv off).

4. I’m wasn’t too involved with my (now former) supervisor at all and I’m glad I never was now that he’s gone & everyone is saying such awful things about him

5. The last time I went to the Hillsville Flea Market was 2007, I’m sorry to not have been back, but I never seem to have expendable cash, Next year!

6. I’m working Monday night of this Labor day weekend. But once I’m outta work Friday night, I don’t have to go back until Monday night (at least)

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I’m looking forward to getting out of work, early, hopefully, tomorrow my plans include hanging out with the kids, after we take the trash out, maybe doing some crafts and Sunday, I want to go swimming if it’s warm enough!

1. Photo of Me:

2. Current Candle Scents: Chrissie burned an apple scented candle on 8/29, which was lovely.

3. What I am Currently Reading: Candle Night by Phil Rickman.

4. Newest Music Added to my Playlists: What a Wonderful world by Louis Armstrong, Champagne by Cavo & Bad Things by Jace Everett. (The True Blood theme song)

5. Movies I saw: In the theater- none. At home I watched Coraline because mr 10 purchased it &

6. Something yummy I made this month:  Broccoli Cheese Chicken & Rice came out especially well the other night.

7. The Last Place I Ate Out: Mr 10, ms 13 & I went to our local Mexican restaurant,: El Grande Rodeo where mr 10 made me very proud by trying not only guacamole but the hot white salsa, he preferred the salsa to the guacamole but that’s ok with ms 13 & I as he’s 1 less person we have to share it with!

8. Something which made me Cry:  Chrissie’s dog got hit by a car (not fatally) while I was trying to leave for work, he’s ok for the most part, but I was really upset that this happened while he was in my care so to speak, since Chrissie & her daughter were not at our house at the time. (I did not ever sign up to be a dog babysitter however!)

9. Something which made me Laugh: All the weekends at multiple river spots this August was really wonderful & also amusing as I definitely felt we were trying to cram as much summer into August as we possibly could.

10. Something that I looked forward to this month: In spite of not wanting summer to end, I was looking forward to the kids going back to school as it makes it a little easier for me to get the sleep I need in the mornings if they’re not arguing with one another while I try to sleep.

11. Something I am thankful for: My co-worker’s who gave me all the kid’s school supplies for free.  Since I couldn’t afford to contribute to the school supply drive at work it came out that I was having trouble financing the supplies for my own kids & 2 of my co-workers got my children’s lists & filled them out completely.

12. Something I want to remember about this month: The fun we’ve all had at the river & just hanging out together, while it’s crowded & crazy having Chrissie & Sami here it’s also a lot more fun.

13. A Picture I took this month: My favorite picture of the month is Chrissie & her former BF on the rocks (along with the dog of course!) this picture really gives you an idea of how beautiful the falls where we swim are!

How long it’s been since I even looked at my blog, let alone posted. (sorry, it’s been a little crazy at my house)

How odd it is that when one thing is a problem  or improves, a whole bunch of other things do the same too.

Is the rumor true that my boss is no longer employed at our company. He disappeared sometime Thursday evening (I didn’t even notice until 1:30 when I wanted to be sure I was logged out of my computer)  & didn’t show up Friday & I’ve been hearing rumors.

How can we be more than a week into the school season & mr 10 hasn’t had any homework yet (he says he’s going to have a spelling list next week & that the teachers didn’t want to ‘burden’ them too much the very first week)

About the marathon rummy game the kids + ms 19’s bf & I played last weekend & wondering if I can convince any of them to play again this evening (maybe not until midnight again though)

That it might be more fun to just settle in the living room, catch up on the tv shows on the DVR & embroider some more tonight instead. I’ve almost finished a project I am embarrassed to admit I started in 1998 as a housewarming gift for a co-worker, we’ve worked together at another job & still see each other in town occasionally,  she’s divorced, moved & moved again since then & I’ve made this piece into a hanging for my kitchen instead of hers.

Why I’m suffering so much writer’s block just lately, some of it is Chrissie & her daughter living with us, it’s chaotic, seldom quiet & also, a lot of what I might write could be intrusive to their lives so I am sort of keeping mum.

How difficult it was to find 13 meals for 5 people for $100. (especially when you include breakfasts for everyone & something for me to eat every few days before I go to work – to minimize my consumption of junk from the snack machines at work) that was my whole food budget for the next 2 weeks (although I may have child support in September- if we get it at all it will likely show up the day before I receive my next paycheck- this does some good, but it would be much better received a week from yesterday!)

About how to spend the money…I’ve just finished paying off a loan I took against my 401k this week & as I’m more than a little hard up with no overtime at work I’m going to take another loan right away so when the deductions start back up automatically I won’t notice it so much.

With this new loan I’m going to: get myself back on track with my bills (I’ve been robbing Peter to pay Paul for way too long) get our bathroom floor redone (A hole has opened up right in front of the toilet, which, while it doesn’t go all the way down through the base floor is very deep – we haven’t had any linoleum in the center of the bathroom floor for at least 18 months either- which explains why the floor is falling apart) pay off one major bill which, while it was neccessary at the time I accrued it, is a huge, major inconvenient drain on my finances now & put away money for Christmas.

When I think I have something to say, I still get sidetracked & end up staying up way too late playing mahjong or spider solitaire & after 30-40 minutes of that- I don’t even remember what I had to say!

(or I’ve thought the better of it, since tonight it was a rant about work- best kept to myself!)

1=# of years experience mr 10’s homeroom teacher has had in teaching. It’s so cute when they’re so eager to begin.

2=# of pairs of sneakers purchased on our last gasp school shopping expedition Tuesday to Roanoke with Chrissie & her daughter, it was a lot of fun, which was good because the kids were feeling pretty unhappy with the whole back to school ordeal.

3= # of minutes it took mr 10 to check in his schoolcalendar after receiving it for the last day of the school year this year.

4= June 4 2010, the last day of the school year, as confirmed by mr 10.

5= # of times I was asked to join PTA during open house at the school last night they’re striving for 100% attendance & I can’t give it to them, I work nights & am not a joiner so wouldn’t go even when I worked days.

6= # of times I heard “he got a new backpack, why can’t I” from ms 13, mr 10 received a backpack from one of my co-workers along with the school supplies, she’d purchased it for a step-grandson at a yard sale & then discovered her step-grandson had 3 already. Ms 13’s backpack from last year, the year before & our spare, emergency backup backpack are all in working order so I saw no reason to purchase yet another one.

7= # of years I have left to go through the open house thing.

8= # of forms I had to fill out/sign in both kid’s classrooms. (doesn’t it seem that if I’ve opted out for my kids pictures appearing in school literature, newsletters etc every year since kindergarten, that it would go without saying that I’m going to opt out again this year?)

9= “Months of school until it’s summer again” as announced drearily by ms 13 on our way to open house, it sounded like a dirge.

10= # of things on my to-do list for the next few days now that my living room isn’t taken up with lounging kids annoyed at me for getting between their eyes & the tv (& even more annoyed when I…gasp,….turn the TV off & insist they either help me with my clean up campaign or go outside & play)

11= # of times I’ve seen my favorite back to school commercial this year!

12= # of folders with pockets & prongs mr 10 needed for his 4 classes- a dozen? Really?

13= # of times I’ve heard one kid or the other say “do I really have to go back there….”

Picture notes, Ms 13 posing for yet another facebook picture- way too much makeup I think. Mr 10 at the river, yet again this past Sunday.

Why I have to log in to my email after ms 13 has been logged in & then I get my homepage, but when I click to go to my in box I always end up with ms 13’s inbox & have to log in a second time?

Why dogs can be just as stubborn as people.

Why music sounds so much better to me through headphones, even though I know I should take it easy on them & use the computer speakers & music player & even though it’s past 2am, everyone’s asleep & I won’t bother anyone if I do play the computer’s speakers, the same songs sound so good through my phone’s mp3 player & the headphones that I use them instead.

Just how many games of spider solitaire I can play before I get sick of it, same goes for Lifetime Network’s 3d Majongg games, I play them during the time in between calls at work late at night (we go 15-20 minutes in between calls from 1230 to 130 most nights) I can’t play at home very well because it’s supposed to be fast-paced & my internet connection is too slow.

How long it will be before the next Southern Vampires book by Charlaine Harris is released, I’ve really enjoyed this series, (I’m reading book 9 now) It’s not deep, but it’s very amusing & easy to pick up & put down (especially important as I read between calls when I’m not playing majongg.

Why when it’s summer & I should be taking the kids swimming, hanging out on the porch enjoying the breeze or a thunder & lightning show, weeding the garden, etc. I want to watch movies I haven’t seen in years & when it’s winter & the perfect time to dig out the DVDs, I’m yearning for summer & all those pursuits I wasn’t into when it was actually warm out.

How I can possibly thank 2 of my co-workers. At work we have a school supplies drive every year & I told my boss privately that I couldn’t contribute because I was struggling to get my own kids’ supply lists filled let alone contributing to anyone else’s.  He assured me it was quite alright & that was the end of it.

Thursday night, one of the two women involved asked to see my kids’ lists, we’d discussed it earlier in the week when I was making a master list, combining the two kids lists into one so I could be sure I got enough of everything so she knew I had the lists in my purse.

She wasn’t too subtle & I asked her why she’d want to see it & she just winked & said not to worry about it. All I said was please don’t embarrass me, so they didn’t give me the things they bought during our opening meeting or anything, but after work they made me come over to one of their cars & take all these bags of paper, notebooks, loose leaf paper & binders, enough to cover the whole school supplies lists for both kids!!!

As it turns out it’s really a good thing they did that, we’ve discovered we have a bees nest in the garage, the tub caulk is falling apart as I type, I’ve run out of shampoo & the new toilet seat I bought 2 weeks ago is broken already (frustrating since my last toilet seat purchase was half the price I paid for this one & the cheaper one lasted over a year- quite a feat in this house with my violent kids)

I’m still on vacation time- or at least that’s my excuse just now. It’s been hot here & I’ve been focused on keeping cool & work (also keeping cool at work, it’s a rough job if you don’t like verbal abuse, constant criticism & calming angry people- none of these I like, but it is the best paying, non specialized {as in, college degree required} Job in the local area) This switch over the past 5 months to nights instead of days has helped my family life (less fights with Ms 19, more day time time with the younger ones while school’s been out) & my waistline. But not my blogging, my housekeeping or my sanity at all!

1. Photo of Me: I thought at first (hoped might be a better word for it) that I didn’t have a photo of myself for July, but I had forgotten about the dinner in Boston with Chrissie & her daughter, so I did have a picture of myself.

2. Current Candle Scents: This month I Actually had some, we bought some lovely car scenters & votive candles at Quincy market. My favorites were the lilac & the lemon/lavender mix. After we were home, Chrissie & I spent a Saturday evening on the front porch chatting & enjoying the candle light & their scents.

3. What I am Currently Reading: This was supposed to be the The Abyssinian Proof by Jennie White, but I put it aside upon the loan of the ninth Southern Vampires book from my current desk mate. I’ll go back to the other book as soon as I’m caught up with Sookie’s adventures.

4. Newest Music Added to my Playlists: Well, I’m trying to get Cabo’s Champagne, but it’s hard to come by (or at least the unedited version is- I hate censorship!) As for songs added, they weren’t really all that new. I went through a short phase during the reading of one of the Vampire books where I had to hear Quinn the Eskimo which brought on a large load of trippy 60’s music, think Donovan & the Guess Who.

5. Movies I saw: Ann & I watched a scary movie which was pretty much a Ring rip- off. There were a few good jumps in it though.

6. Something yummy I made this month: That would have to be Mr 10’s birthday cake, I’d only made it once or twice before, it takes a huge chocolate bar (or a few small ones) but it is soooo worth it!

7. The Last Place I Ate Out: In July that would have been The 99 in MA. It was pretty good, 99 is mr 10’s favorite restaurant & I admit, I share his wish that they would expand past New England, once a year is not enough.

8. Something which made me Cry: Nothing really. I was not unhappy to go home after the trip to MA. Which I know some people would differ on. For me I was never really home until I got here to VA, my whole life before here I felt out of place, out of step & wrong. Here I’m more in step, it’s laid back, relaxing & beautiful.

9. Something which made me Laugh: The vacation was a laugh a minute, we really did have a great time & even when the weather wasn’t so great, we found it was better to laugh than to cry & still enjoyed each other’s company & the company of the family & friends we got to see (next year, I’m going to save more money for the trip & save up more paid days off so we can stay a little longer- we’ve got big plans for next year’s trip already!)

10. Something that I looked forward to this month: July is a huge month for us, the fourth holiday, mr 10’s birthday & then the vacation were all awaited with deep anticipation by everyone involved.

11. Something I am thankful for: That I have family & friends who can put us up (And put up with us) when we visit up in MA, if I had to rely on motel rooms, well really we wouldn’t even go on vacation!

12. Something I want to remember about this month: How awesome it is to re-connect with my favorite cousin J. Every year we do it & then swear we’ll keep in touch better but we never do, with kids, jobs & just life in general, it’s no one’s fault, but next year, we’ve got a plan in the works for us to spend more than an afternoon with each other & our families!

13.  A Picture I took this month: Actually this is a set of pictures, I apologize for the non-adherence to the rules, but anyway, this is what the ocean looked like on the last day of our vacation, it was about 62 & the kids thought they were going swimming in this- it happened to be high tide in Hull & we got out of the car & looked at the waves coming up to the wall to meet us, one crashed over the wall & nearly soaked us & mr 10 said “nevermind” & ran back to the car. Ms 13 still thought she was going swimming, once I got her back in the car I took pictures of their different reactions to the wild ocean.

Mr 10 rather traumatized by the violence of the ocean & Ms 13 sulking because she wanted to be out in that wild surf!

Saturday we went to a beautiful location to swim, we’ve been before, but not for at least 2 years. It’s a drive from the house (34 miles one way) But still in or nearly in the county. There is a lovely place to ride down a waterfall & a deep pool below the fall. Mr 10 barely remembered being there the one time he’d been before, ms 13 remembered being there a few times before that (we used to live on that side of the county, back before mr 10 was born & right after he was born.

You can see the fall between Ms 13’s & Mr 10’s shoulders & then beside Chrissie, Kevin & the dog in this next picture. Ms 19 came too although Sami was at a friends house & so was Ms 19’s BF.  We went on the cheap with PB&J sandwiches, a bag of chips & some sodas. Everyone got well & truly tired out (including the dog) & came home sunburnt & happy.

Ms 19 was looking lovely in a very green bathing suit which was supposed to be mine but fit her better (I would not be comfortable with that much cleavage showing either- it must be so nice to be young)

Then today, we went to the valley to a deep swimming hole, I don’t actually go down into this one because it’s too steep, but Ms 19, the BF, Sami, 13 & 10 all enjoyed themselves greatly, until some horesflies bit them, then 19, BF & Sami went home & 13 & 10 came down to the shallower area where Chrissie & I had been sitting in the water & keeping cool (it was nearly 90 here today) chatting & relaxing. No beter way to spend a day in the summer that’s for sure. We’re planning to go back to the place we were Saturday with everyone on next Sunday, trying to cram all the summer we can in before school starts on the twentieth.

I know it’s not (mr 10 is very into Chinese astrology & would be very upset by my stating that)

This year however, needs to move on through the snake thing & go on to something else- I admit Raccoons & skunks have been heavily represented in my life this year too & I’d just as soon not see any more of those either.

Earlier in the year we discovered a large brown snake was living in the bench with an open & shut seat for storage. Then, Tuesday, we went to the river.

Everything was lovely to start, it was hot & sunny, we had 3 hours of time to spend, Ms 19, ms 13, Chrissie’s daughter Sami, Mr 10 & I  jumped into the water in near record time, we found a snapping turtle just after entering the water, he was only about the size of my palm in size, about 2 & 1/2 to 3 inches across & Mr 10 moved him up onto the shore where he burrowed back into the mud & left us alone. The younger girls jumped off the rocks, I worked with mr 10 on his learning to swim thing (he’s very motivated this year, but he’s so skinny he doesn’t float very well) even ms 19 got up on the rocks for a group jump into the water with ms 13 & Sami (mr 10 has to become proficient in the water before I’ll let him try jumping at all- a lot of his motivation for learning to swim) 

After an hour or so I was water logged & ready to go read my book (book 8 in the Southern Vampires series- I finished it tonight & am moving on to the treasure trove of books my mother has given me from her already read piles) I text-ed with Chrissie who had stayed home to put out job applications & read, the kids came up & ate their random sandwiches, drank their sodas, we shared pretzel & nacho cheese combos & the kids went back in the water.

My first clue that something was wrong came when I heard Sami say “Was that…?” Then mr 10 shrieked: “It’s a snake, run” I looked up to see the 4 kids all grouped together & running through the water en masse to the shore, they came up the path shrieking, fussing & screaming, pointing back toward the water where I couldn’t see anything at first. Ms 19 professed to having seen it first but telling herself it was a stick. Sami was adamant that she saw it first.

After a few minutes when the water had calmed down the kids pointed it out to me swimming around in the water in the general area where the kids had been before freaking out, it was about 2 feet long & not particularly thick. As we watched it went over to the rocks & swam back & forth in front of them along the edge of the water in an apparent victory lap as if to say “Ha! These are my rocks & you people need to go on with your lives & not bother me any longer” It was about 20 minutes before I had planned to leave & for once I had no argument from anyone about leaving early.

This is a fairly popular swimming & fishing spot, I’m sure the snake doesn’t bother the fishermen but I wonder how others who swim there will enjoy this snake’s company!

Post note: You may or may not be able to see the snake in the last picture, I know it was in the picture when I took the picture, but since all my pictures come out of a cell phone, I’m really not surprised it’s nearly impossible to locate the snake in the picture!

We do a lot of the same things every year so you could go back & read the vacation files & get a very good idea of what we did this year. Some changes were going to Boston on the ferry, not quite as much emphasis on the beach (more because it rained so much than by design) & no museum or historical landmark trips this year (just couldn’t afford to do Salem MA this year, hopefully next year!)

Ms 13 was enamoured of how she looked in the side view mirror while we were driving through VA on the interstate on the way to MA so she took a picture.

Our trip Sunday was to Newburyport to the Jabberwocky bookstore, Eureka Toys next door & a quick run around downtown Newburyport’s shopping area, looking for a store I loved in 1995 which is no longer there. We had a lunch/dinner at Skips & then went to Salisbury beach for the kid’s first swim. This was really the only warm, sunny swim they got for the whole trip!

Ms 13  at Salisbury beach displaying her true personality, as in: “There was a little girl, with a little curl, right in the middle of her forehead, when she was good, she was very, very good & when she was bad she was horrid” That is her to a T!

Mr 10 buried his sister first & then she buried him, for some obscure reason he decided to be buried face down very weird, when she was through he looked like a turtle.

After a few days with Ann, in which I somehow took no pictures at all, we met up with cousin J & went to lunch at Papa Ginos, then to Winnekenni castle so they could play on the playground for awhile, then for ice cream at the best homemade ice cream place in Haverhill (well, Bradford really) Carter’s!

Ice Cream was a very popular choice with all the kids as you can see here!

More another day, it’s getting late here & I’m ready to end the computer use for the night.

1. All that driving, even splitting the ride home up between 2 days it was a lot of driving! (all told in 10 days I drove 2,170 miles!

2. All that cigarette smoke at my mother’s apartment, she doesn’t have any sort of cross breeze & the apartment doesn’t get much wind at all in the 2 windows she has so it’s not particularly fresh in there.

3. It’s just nice to be home.

4. The kids were ready for 200+ channels of satellite & DVR after 16 channels of OTA at my mother’s for all but 2 days of the trip.

5. I discovered that as slow as my internet speed is with Satellite internet, it still is (much) better than dial up!

6. While we’re much hotter here in VA & we do have thundershowers nearly every afternoon I was pretty sick (after only 8 days) of all the rain up there in Massachusetts.

7. Gas prices are outrageous in the northeast, ’nuff said.

8.  My mother’s sofa bed has seen better days, I was much more comfortable on Ann’s loveseat than I was on my mother’s fold out bed (I might have been more comfortable on my mother’s sofa if I hadn’t folded it out- but the kids insisted on swapping off on sleeping on the sofa bed with me with the other one on the floor each night so I had to fold it out)

9.  The garden is terribly overgrown, of course, I haven’t gotten out there to do any weeding quite yet!

10. Ms 19 was happy to see us & we were happy to see here (absence makes the heart grow fonder indeed)

11. I hadn’t brought the book I was reading with me because it was borrowed & I was glad to be able to jump back in to the series when I got home (still working my way through the Southern Vampire series by Charlaine Harris)

12.  Although my intention is to be there for longer next year, this year, 8 days in Mass was more than enough.

13. I missed being at home, the homeownership thing is growing on me, it feels odd to not be at home to me now- at least, at the end of the day it does!

We leave Friday afternoon, (ms 19 unexpectedly has to work Friday & I have to stay home until she’s out of work to go pick her up & bring her back home) I’m getting excited about being out of work, seeing my mother & friends & the kids are bouncing off the walls already!

1. Swim at Hampton NH (I admit to being a little more interested in shopping in the stores than swimming- it’s always so cold at Hampton beach!)

2. Visit with my mother, she’s relieved that we already have plans for 4 out of 5 work days so she doesn’t have to miss work while we’re there.

3. Shop at Quincy Market/Faneuil Hall. The kids especially love this & with $100+ each this year to spend, I’m sure we’ll be coming home with some interesting stuff (they both requested cash, and that I hold it for them until vacation time, for their birthdays in June & July this year)

4. Visit my Cousin J & her family, her kids are quite a bit younger than mine, but they get along & J’s my favorite cousin!

5. Visit Ann & her family, many years we’ve stayed 2 or 3 nights with Ann & much thanks to her for putting us up (& her husband for putting up with us) This year the whole thing is downsized, (we’re only going to be in MA for 6 or 7 days total- rather than 12-14 most years) so they may not have to put up with us much at all.

6. Lake Patuckaway. My kids could swim all day every day & never get bored.

7. Visit the Jabberwocky Bookstore & Toy Store, maybe this year we’ll get to do a little general Newburyport shopping too. (probably not, this is going to be a shoestring vacation, at least for me)

8. Salem MA This will be the fourth year I’ve intended to go there (I’ve never been)maybe this time we’ll make it!

9.  We always go to Skip’s for at least 1 meal, their french fries are to die for & the burgers are great too (no lie, this is my mother’s favorite resturant in the whole world!)

10.  Nantasket beach at Hull MA. We’re big on swimming (at least the kids are & as I’m outnumbered & thus outvoted, we do a lot of swimming) and we try to get to Hull at least once or twice each year.

11.  We went to the New England Aquarium 3 years ago & the kids would like to go back, I’m not sure if that will happen this year or not but it’s always a lot of fun (even back when I was a kid, I loved only the Science Museum more than the Aquarium.)

12.  Speaking of the Boston Museum of Science, we haven’t been there in 4 years, so if not this year, definitely next year!

13. On a less touristy note we do always go to the town I grew up in & visit my brother, father & grandparent’s graves (all conveniently in the same cemetary) we also have to do the ‘tour’ of the house I grew up in, the place my ex & I lived when we first moved in together etc. etc. The kids are good about putting up with my rambling on this trip down memory lane most years. This year Chrissie is up in MA too so we’ll quite possibly be doing a similar ramble too I’m not sure how the kids will enjoy that!

To vacation. Just a couple weeks ago, at the fourth of July, I found myself wishing the days between then & 7/17 (when we leave on vacation) away. I reminded myself that when we come back on the 26th, there will be just 5 days left in July & then only 20 days until school starts again for my younger kids & that I don’t want to wish the whole summer away, especially since it has not been too terribly hot yet (I understand Thursday & Friday will make up for that somewhat) I’m trying not to wish it away, but the 2 days left to work are making me crazy, we’re still slow at work & since we’re still on mandatory overtime (even though we’re slow) I worked from 3 to 130 tonight & will do the same tomorrow- that makes the day drag on & on when it’s slow. I admit, I’ve ripped through 4 & 1/2 of the Sookie Stackhouse, Southern Vampire series by Charlaine Harris in the past 3 or 4 weeks (I have a feeling I’ll be through with #5 tomorrow night- Thursday at the latest. I also read another book from another Vampire series (I had to wait to read #3 & read Vampire Interrupted by Lynsay Sands & was also reading Practical Magic by Alice Hoffman before I started all this Vampire stuff!).

I’m not at all sorry to be leaving, I only wish it was for a longer vacation, so much for 14 days, I’m doing well to get the 10 I have. One good thing about this setup is that I have 4 more days for the rest of the year, of course, once you get to November, the days available close up tight & then you end up having to roll paid days off over to the next year (worse yet is the need to save a day or two for Christmas time, then get turned down when you request the day or days off meaning you absolutely have to roll the days over to next year {if they let you- which my company doesn’t always do}) The kdis are very excited about going on vacation & every day come to me with more & more plans, ideas & packing innovations. (Mr 10 is determined to get his & his sister’s boogie boards up to MA even though I don’t think there will be room for them in the car, he initially tried to stow them beneath the front seats but they’re too wide to fit, now he’s trying to convince me that they won’t be in the way if he just lays them in the trunk before we put the clothing bag, the air mattress  & our individual bags of toiletries & entertainments. They probably won’t make that much difference & I am sure we’re going to end up taking them with us I am a pushover for the most part when it comes to things like this.

1. The last thing I ate was Snyders Cheddar cheese pretzels and then, back at my desk, a Hershey bar- got to quit with those.

2. gas- milk- basic necessities essentially, is something I recently bought.

3. When it rains, it makes the cats grouchy!

4. my son was the first person I talked to today.

5. Hugs are very important in day to day life.

6. being home in the summer with the kids every day provides extra comfort.

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I’m looking forward to being through work for yet another week, tomorrow my plans include making mr 9 a birthday cake, maybe weeding the garden a little & hopefully running some errands to pick up a few items we’ll need for vacation- like sunblock & toothpaste- which are cheaper here than in MA and Sunday, I want to enjoy a nice quiet day relaxing in the hammock & reading!

Sometimes the symmetry of my life astonishes me, how odd is it that my 2 younger children were born 3 years, 1 month & 3 days apart & that their birthdays also fall nearest to the paychecks which I get an extra day of pay for holidays (Memorial day for ms 13 & 4th of July for mr 10) to cover their birthdays? Here are 13 about Mr almost 10- he’ll be 10 on July 14th.

1.  He’s the most cheerful person I know. 

2.  Even at almost 10 he’s always hungry.

3.  Although he can put the food away, he’s very picky & would live on hot dogs, green beans & pizza if I would let him.

4.  He loves to swim, river, ocean, pond or pool, he doesn’t care, just get him in the water.

5.  He alternates throughout the day between passive TV watching & running around outside to check the garden, feed & torment the cats & work on digging the holes he’s made in the yard behind the shed.

6.  Not a day goes by that he doesn’t push me to get him candy. He is terribly candy obsessed.

7. Luckily he inherited his dad’s genetics & is skinny as a rail even with all the TV watching & candy eating attempts.

8.  He wants to run a bakery/resturant when he grows up & is full of plans for which of my recepies he’s going to use.

9.  If you like bread & desserts, you’ll like his resturant I think.

10. True to his baker/chef plan he loves to help me cook in the kitchen, although he often disappears when it’s time for clean up. (not too surprising there)

11.  As the “man” of the house, he takes care of the mess when the cats bring us “gifts” I would not want to be the person who someday, for some reason, excavates the ditch across the road from our house, as that is the mouse/bird/mole burial/dumping ground.

12.   He reminds me of my brother a lot, but not so much that it hurts.

13.  Finally at nearly 10 he can clean his room on his own & get it looking pretty good (as long as you don’t look under the bed!)