the plane trip

Yes we made it. Here is the full story.

When you dropped us off we went over to the Delta counter there were like 3 people in line. So we get up there, and she says Ms. M I have some bad news.... your flight to Atlanta is delayed. I said well what does that to my internation connection..... OH, no, you won't make it. So how are we going to get us there. So she goes to work. 30-45 minutes later (the line behind us is NOW HUGE) she has found us flights, on 2 other airlines. (mind you J is hungry) So we go to the second airlline to check in....... um, ma'am, there are some problems here. (they had issues transferring J's ticket because of the child fare) So we can check you in........ but you need to go check with the 3rd airline and then come back to us and we will send your luggage on. Go to the 3rd counter and she gets MAD. why didn't they just do this. Ma'am there has been some issues they just want to make sure I don't get to Chicago and not have problems getting on the plane to Frankfurt. So we went back. They then sent our luggage on. So then we finally went on thru security where we were LUCKY enough to have been selected for SPECIAL screening! They put us thru this puffer machine. It blows air and tests you for exposure to things like explosives. Finally got to get J some pizza.

What is amazing about all of that is that normally this stuff will set me off. I will get really angry and some what loud and demanding. Thru the whole thing I was just like Okay. No problem, just get us to Frankfurt. So we get to Chicago.... and go wandering off to find a few things. Likes benadryl for J's hand, and a potty. Freaked myself out cuz after all that drama I could only find ONE boarding pass. Then it was almost as if a voice said, K, it is in your purse. You had them both. So I stopped and looked, and there it was. Get to the gate, and our flight is delayed. Get on the plane, and after an hour of sitting there, they realize the plane is broken and we have to switch planes. So our flight was SUPPOSED to leave at like 730, but by the time we realized it was broken and then moved planes and reloaded everything, it was close to 11 Chicago time and midnight our time. We got to Germany about 6 hours after our original flight time and like 4 hours after second set of tickets.

On the go..........

Okay, I want you all to know I am not ignoring my responsibility to be out here. I am just swamped with moving and packing for our Christmas trip and yard saling....... and everything else.

We are doing well living in our chaos.

Moving on......

So as most of you know we have been living here in FL for just under 18 months. It is time for us to move on. I was offered and have accepted a position in VA. Just south of Richmond. It is a good move for me career wise.

I am not enjoying the thought of leaving behind friends that I have made here nor am I am excited about uprooting Jman, but it is where we need to go. God is working what things need to be worked.

So our thanksgiving trip

J man and I flew up north to be with family for the big holiday. My mom flew in from Germany. Oh how wonderful it felt to be in a place that gets cold. We did get a covering of snow while we were there and it got down to 10 (people in FL are going right now to turn on their heat just thinking about it)
We did Thanksgiving proper with close to 40 members of the family at my cousin's place. There is something to be said for a large area with family gathered in small groups talking and children running rampant everywhere.
Other than that the trip was uneventful.

My brother had a rough week last week. He lost his best friend of creeping up on 20 years last week in a fatal car crash. Life is never as long as we think it will be. I think my brother will mourn his friend for years to come. Even with a life time of memories.

I will have big news to post on the blog sometime on sunday.......... so check back on us.

Roller Coasters

So I think that growing up all of us loved roller coasters. So I have been patiently waiting for Jman to realize they are cool. He has never been a motion child.....so I knew I would have a wait. A couple of years ago we dragged him on a log ride.......and he freaked and hated it. Since being here, with Busch Gardens right down the road, we have gone a few times and he loves that ride now.
Yesterday for something fun to do, we hit the BG........... I wanted to ride a few things and see some stuff we havent' done before. So we hit Rhino Rally, where Jman navigated us thru the safari (yes he rode with the driver) and then we ended up in a river, fun stuff.
Then he rode some kiddie plane thing.......and we hit the Merry Go Round........ well just beyond the Merry Go Round is what I would consider a "training" roller coaster. It is small, quick, and designed for kids. So I asked, he was like YEAH YEAH. We wait in line..........all the while he could look to see what we are getting on.......... so it is our turn, we crawl into the roller coaster car......... lock down and off we go..........
He does great going up the first hill. Then we level off and HE FREAKS OUT! He then begins to cry and scream like someone is cutting his legs off. And I of course being the good mom that I am, start to giggle and laugh at him. He screamed and screamed and screamed.
I wish I had the money to buy the picture........ the one the roller coaster takes.......cuz he was screaming in sheer terror and I was laughing. Not a pretty site........

So i told him maybe next year........ which may be when he starts talking to me again.

Catching up

So we have been busy mostly with nothing. We went up north the weekend before Halloween and K ran with the Marines well, their friends anyway. Just a short marathon. 26.2 miles. It took me FOREVER to run and I am now planning on beating my own time.

J is doing well. Continuing to excell in school and enjoying his outside activities.

In the meantime, we are starting to gear up for Walk thru Bethlehem at the church and holidays in PA and in Germany.

I wish this were more exciting.

Off to the North

Okay, for those of you who didn't know I have been training for MONTHS for a marathon. Well this is it. J and I are heading up to DC area for the Marine Corps Marathon. I will be runnign most of sunday *and yes I mean MOST of sunday* so think good thoughts for me on Sunday and pray for endurance for me. (and no rain if you could) I will have pictures hopefully next week to update on here. :)

Ta ta for now.

Photo shoots and frosting

J had a photo shoot this week. His first "real" work. He did very well. If we make the cover of the magazine, I will post the link. Other than that, we are doing well. I am ready to be doing with marathon training. J is excelling in school and started speech therapy this week. It took us a while to get the approvals done and the evaluations done. He is still about 2 standard deviations below the mean in speech, but we will get there. PUSH PUSH PUSH.

Boredom will do strange things......... I frosted my hair tonight........ OH BOY! It looks very different to me. I think I did okay......

Not much going on

So I realize I haven't said much in the last few weeks. Jman is making amazing progress. He can recite the books of the New Testament and reciting his chapel verse like a CHAMP. I am very proud of him.

He also has been tested again for his speech stuff and needs even more therapy than before, but I think he will progress quickly.

And me, well I just keep running. Running Running. Remember to scream GO K when you see me go by. So I can keep it up.

Amazing Healer

Okay. I am sure everyone wondered whatever was the result of J man's ear surgery. Well. We went yesterday to see the Doctor. J had been anxiously awaiting permission to use straws and to get rid of nightly ear drops.

He got it!

The graft has taken completely. He is doing VERY well. Now as long as we dont' do anything stupid, his hearing will be restored and we won't need ear plugs next year for swimming.

God lead us to the right doctor with the steady hand. Then finished the healing up!

Thank you for all of your prayers and thoughts, they worked!

Did we forget?

So I was listening to the radio on the way home tonight, and they brought up todays memorials. Then they opened up the lines to callers to discuss are we mourning this too long? People were calling in saying "it is time for us as a nation" to move on.

I think they should ask those that lost family friends or loved ones in WWI, WWII, at the Pearl Harbor, in Viet-nam, the Korean War, or countless other "police actions" that we have been involved in when it is okay to quit remembering. I think this nation is too caught up in too many other things to remember.

They came.
They killed.
And they did it on our turf.
They took out innocent people.

And those people deserve to be remembered!

My heart, my prayers and my condolences go out to all of those families who lost, not only in 9/1/1 but to all those families of our military who have been lost fighting to get the man who did it. And fighting other atrocities.

Take me out to the ball game........

So J and I managed to snag 2 field side tickets to a Rays game. MAN. What a game. We always stay till the end, and BOY am I glad we did. Rays won in the bottom of the 9th, coming back from losing at 1 to 4. They won the game 5 to 4. It was amazing.

But we are now totally spoiled and will hate going back to the cheap seats. OH WELL.

Fun times......

Jman the weather man. :)

Catching up

My goodness we have a lot of news.

J is thriving in school. He had his first spelling test this past friday and ACED IT!!! Go J!!! He was very proud as well he should be.

I on the other hand won most Original in a Chili Cook off at work. My tummy didn't much care for all the spice, but dang did it taste good. So for the record, evidently I make some KICKING WHITE CHILI!!!! Surprised myself along with quite a few people I guess. It was fun.

This morning we discovered J has his first loose tooth and thanks to the wonders of television, he was already asking about the tooth fairy. They learn that all so fast.

The new school

Okay I am sure many of you know that J was starting a new school this week. It was something I was a little nervous about. That maybe he wouldn't like it, or fit in or whatever. But God is amazing. He is the one who guided us to that school. And J is fitting in like a champ. There are only 5 kids in his class. So he is getting plenty of attention. And learning already. :)

Week one is already pretty much done. WOOHOO.

And tomorrow we can SLEEP IN!

HA HA HA

I have figured out in the last year of living with J and just me that I can do just about anything myself. I may have to ask a question or two along the way, but I can do it. I installed a shelf a while back, and I had bought some ceiling fans to put up. Well. Someone was going to help me. And we all know how it is. Folks are busy, we all have lives. So I waited a while and today I broke down and put it up myself. I am so proud of myself. Thanks to one buddy who was on call to answer my electricity questions I was able to do it. :) And it works!!!!!

So cool.

Here see.

Another year........

It amazes me how much faster these years fly by. Today is my 33rd birthday. And it seems like just yesterday I was 22....... or 16............ where do the years go. I am hoping 33 is a good year for me. 32 had some rough patches.

These are my pretty flowers my mom and dad sent me. :)

On to recovery

Hello all. Jman did well in surgery today. Funny kid. We got home around 4 pm after his 3 hour surgery. When he finally woke up fully, around 6, he wanted "breakfast". Eggo Waffles. Then 20 minutes later he wanted lunch. I think he is doing well and the surgery went well. Now to see if his ear heals up.

The next monday

For those of you who don't know J will be going in for an ear drum reconstruction on Monday. It is a longer surgery than we have gone thru before, but I have faith. He is a trooper. He really is. So pray that it goes well and that the graft takes. I will update you when the time comes.

Freaking MONDAYS

Okay. Why is it that when a monday happens, it really happens.

We commute by bus, saves a TON of money. So I am getting a phone call and closing down my computer to run to get J man and catch the bus. Talking on the phone and to my new boss....... almost miss the bus. No problem, ran in front of cars, jumped on. Get all the way out to where we live.......well where we park the car.....and you guessed it. NO KEYS! Thank you for small mercies. A bus buddy was willing to drive me BACK to work, to get them. And thankfully my office mate was still there.


Well maybe it wasn't so bad afterall.

Bird time

J and his uncle got to spend some time at Busch Gardens in the Lory Landing. Thought you might enjoy. Those two love to spend time with birds. So for Uncle M it got him some much needed time with a bird........ he misses his Bird, Bonehead in Germany.

Sad news.

Today my grandmother passed away. She was 88. I think she went peacefully. I am grateful that she didn't suffer. She wasn't in pain.

I will be out for the next two weeks or so. I will catch you all up when I get back.

Rest in Peace Grandma Maxine. You were and always will be an amazing woman.

Birthday weekend

Well this was one of those busy weekends that sneak up on you. J had back to back birthday parties it seemed. He went to a party at a horse ranch on Saturday, where he was a cowboy. He had a BLAST!!! He got hot, sweaty and dirty. Just as boys should. All while wearing frog galoshes. Then today was a Pump It Up Party. He ran and ran and ran. He loved that too. And it was for his favorite little girl who I jokingly call his girlfriend. Isn't she cute????

I guess hurricane part II

So now my starter is going out. Anyone know what that will cost me???? More than I have in my checking account I am betting. OUCH. But on a lighter note, J may have clicked on a private school. I think I have one that I feel good with.

Hurricane K

I guess I have a special talent. My talent is to magically (without doing anything SPECIAL) crash every electrical item I touch. It started with my Internet, then went on to my work computer and the refrigerator at home. So finally we are back online. Thank you for your patience. I will try to get new pictures out here and get this thing caught up.

Been busy

Sorry guys for not posting much. I have been busy. J got bit up by fire ants and his leg is swollen. We are now at a 1.5 days after and it is STILL swollen. At least now I can see the bite marks so I don't think that he fell and broke himself. Other than that, we are prepping for a quick trip up to visit with friends this weekend. Both J and I are looking forward to that. A break from our sleepy little life.

Hunter Cat

I thought in all my years of owning cats I had seen it all. I was WRONG. Jason the great hunter kitty started hissing and growling at us last night. So I went to look to see what he had. Jason the great hunter did not have a lizard, or a bug, or a mouse, but a piece of broccoli. He hissed and growled and was very proud of his vegetable. He defended it, batted it around. and finally ate his prey.

NOW, I have seen everything. I was ROLLING.

Memorial Day

On a serious note. Today is a day of honor for all those who have fallen for our country. There is something profound about the men and women of the armed forces who take the oath to defend our country against ALL enemies, both foreign and domestic. And oath they take freely without coercion, and it includes "so help me God."

Thank you to all of you for serving your country and protecting our freedoms.

Graduation Day

So Kindergarten is over. J graduated and will be moving on. I tell you what, there is chaos in our schools at the end of the year. I didn't get information I needed about his summer camp, they didn't seem to know which way was up, but they sure knew how to sugar up our kids. J was exhausted from the sugar drop..........

So now the summer is begun. WOOHOO

Poor kid

So thankfully this past weekend J's pictures were on Saturday. Cuz the poor kid jumped into the pool at the same time as his buddy D. Well they were both going for the beach ball and since D is heavier, he hit the water first....... and J came down on his head. Chin first. Put a pop knot on D'd head. What I didn't realize until the next day was that J bruised his chin. As if having a purple chin wasn't enough, he got stung by a wasp beside his nose yesterday after school. So he had a swollen nose and a purple chin. Boys will be boys!

Kids do the darnest things

Jman will probably be upset at this story, but it cracked me up last night. Well that and embarrassed me. We had a long day, so I told him he could choose where we went for dinner. He said CHUCKY CHEESE. We haven't been in a long time, so I said okay. We ordered a small pizza, got some tokens, and off he went. Well, the pizza came, he sat down, ate a little and off he went. I ate what I wanted and decided it was time for us to go, it was late. So I went, found Jman and tried to get him headed to the door. Well he headed out alright. Straight to table with pizza on it. Not out table. And picked up a piece of pizza before I could stop him. I was mortified. I got him to put it down, and went and apologized to the family. I felt AWFUL. What kind of mother was I???? Got him out to the car, and by now he is hysterical. Not because he was embarrassed, but he was hungry. And tired. And did I mention hungry? So we drove the McD's in the SLOWEST drive thru line EVER!!!! He ate on the way home and that was that. Thank the heavens today is friday and we can relax tonight.

Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day to all those mother's out there, the mother's to be and mother's of mothers. It is the hardest job in the world, but also the most rewarding.

Nothing new

You know, I had a terribly busy week, and oddly there is still nothing new. An old friend bought me lunch on friday, which was a nice surprise. The kittens are adjusting well, they are starting to run the house as a good cat should. I got my pictures back from when the President was on MacDill, turned out rather nicely, so once I get a chance to scan them, I will. :) And post them out here. Tomorrow is mother's day. Hard for me to believe that this will be my 6th one to celebrate.

Jobs.......

Okay so sometimes the journey to find a good job is long. And it can be very disappointing when you make it a long ways thru the "weeding" process and then don't make the cut. I think I knew that it wasn't to be, but it does not make the disappointment any less. Will I try again? Yeah, sure......... maybe. But for now I have to be content with knowing that I was in the lower part of the cream of the crop. That is good enough right? Why doesn't it feel like that?

So we picked up the kittens last night. I would post pictures, but they promptly went two different directions. One has a stubby tail and longer fur and the other is tall and lanky. Both are tabbies. They will keep us mighty busy. As soon as we can get they to hold still long enough, pictures will be forth coming.

Note to self

You know, sometimes I forget that I am fair skinned and blonde. One should not forget that on days when you are at the beach for 6 hours. YEAH. So we had a blast, but I am paying for it now. Oh well. Somethings are worth it. I also learned another thing, I have to be VERY careful about making sure I take in enough liquid on the beach. I was pretty dehydrated by the end of the day.
Good thing I look good in pink.

The Shelf

Okay, so since I moved in to this townhouse I have wanted a shelf over the washer and dryer. And while I am handy, I am didn't have the time to even think about it. Oh watch out now Tim the Toolman Taylor. I now own a drill, a level (what did I do without one) and a bunch of other cool stuff. OH YEAH, I PUT UP A SHELF!!! And dang it all folks it is level. Yea, I know, I have issues, but I am very proud of my first solo little thing. It doesn't take much.


Check it out.

Interesting to me

It is always interesting to me when you point out to someone that what they are doing is illegal how they respond. This week involved me taking a stand on some time practices that my office engages in. Well, it started a sort of chain of events that left some of the office not very happy with me. They don't consider the "perks" they have been getting an issue. So they are not happy that they will no longer be getting them. Here again, they should have never gotten them to begin with........so why is it an issue?

A rough day

Today was a rough day. I had been worried about my cat. We thought her thryoid was acting up. It wasn't that. She had cancer.

At the ripe old age of almost 13........ she had cancer. I made the hardest decision I have had to make in a long time. I decided the best course of action was to put her to sleep. I cried for the better part of the day, but she was in pain. She had lost about 1/2 of her body weight. It was still hard tho.

She is buried in a beautiful location where she can rest in peace.

Betsy Moo Cow. Rest in Peace.

The RACE!

So who knew that there was a whole world out there that involved creating cars out of a 7 inch piece of pine??? So Jman and I created a pick up truck for the race. We didn't win, but we gave it a good ole college try. I was amazing to me how much goes into these things. But we lost! It upset Jman, but thankfully with a birthday party later in the day, it was quickly forgotten.

I now know a lot more about pinewood cars and how to make them dang fast. Next year we may have more of a chance........

How much is too much??

Okay, so we all have pets that we love. I have a cat. I have had her since she was about 8 weeks old. Love her to pieces. But then I had my son. And as much as I love my cat, my son will always come first now. So now my cat is sick. She has lost 5.5 pounds. She is 12 1/2 years old. If she has what we think she has, then to fix it would cost me over 1K. So is that too much? When I don't have that much spare cash sitting around? How can I watch her waste away?

Hair today............ gone tomorrow.

Okay, so it was a toss up which was worse until today........ which is worse..... child at home after surgery or being at work........ then someone got a hold of a pair of scissors......... that took care of which is worse. Pictures coming soon as to what littl man looks like with half a head of hair......and then without hair after I get it cut off. :(

Surgery

So Jman had surgery today. It is amazing how quickly they can do things. But how many folks it took to get us there. I think we met 6 different doctors who were going to be in surgery, and then nurses too. But it went quick and we were home by lunch. By mid afternoon Jman was up and driving me crazy again. The specialist called us to make sure that he was recovering well. Most importantly, Jman no longer has adenoids. So hopefully things will go better for the next surgery.

So this is a blog???

Okay, so I am new at this and just getting started.......so bear with me.

It is the day before Easter and Jman has surgery in 2 days. Nothing big, but I certainly don't remember anything in the baby books about how to deal with repeated surgeries as your kid gets older.

So I am just playing around with this. I hope it turns out okay.