What a fabulous fall day it was today. Ian had an afternoon away game and it was the perfect day for football. That coming from someone who usually doesn't like football but the more I watch the more I am learning and enjoying it. They got beat again but played a tough game. We had several injuries so Ian got to go in the last few minutes of the game. I love to hear him talk to Sean after the game and they share the love and understanding of what its like to cream another person. Friday is senior night for Ian at his home game. I will need major sedatives to make it through the ceremony before the game. They do a presentation and introduce the seniors with their parents. I am going to be a mess. I have two senior nights to survive with him this year the other is swimming.

I had to choose between a swim meet that was an hour and 45 minutes away or a football game that was 15 minutes away. Of course I didn't go to the swim meet and Sara did her best time in the 500 a 6:01.1. I hate her. It of course would have been worse if she had finally broke the under 6 but still I am very proud of her.

I am so glad that all my children are so into the sports they are playing and are staying physically fit.

I took the opportunity of the sunny afternoon after getting home from the game to go spend snuggle time with my horses. Time has been tight lately between home improvement, sports, and work. I worked my young mare for the first time since before my surgery and it was amazing to me it was just like we never stopped. She is so smart. I am determined to ride her next year and also get the pony rideable for either Sara or Megan.

I have to try and type a cover letter to send in for a possible new job. It would be full time and working with real people and kids again. Keeping my fingers crossed it happens because the job I have now is getting unbearable. I hate it, I hate it, I hate it. But until I find something else I will have to hope I can make it through without kill someone or myself. The fact that Dave lost his per Diem job is catching up to us. We will hopefully have the house refinanced by the end of October which will take some of the press off and if I could get that full time job it would really take off the pressure on Dave.
Only time will tell.

I guess I should figure out what is for dinner. Sara just got home a little while ago from her meet and is probably hungry.

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This is what I have been doing the past 2 weekends in between football games

and social activities.

This bathroom really needed some work when we first moved in but got it shelved,

but the hole in the floor was hard to ignore so it was time to freshen the place up

with the hole repaired by the handy hubby my work was in front of me peeling old tiles, thank goodness for heat guns, and putting down the new ones. The last thing to do is scrub the tub within an inch of its life and re caulk.

I just can;t believe the difference. It give me a warm fuzzy feeling and brings tears to my eyes. Plus I did most of it myself so its a great ego pumper upper.

Off to bed the aching body has to go to work tomorrow.

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Homecoming Part 2

Well here she is Miss America. She cleans up nice. No tie dye in sight. Sara went over to one of the girls from the swim teams house to get ready for the homecoming dance. I of course had to go down and get pictures. She and Ian are going stag. It was one of those dances the girls had to ask the boys and of course Sara waited to long to ask anyone so all the good ones were taken. Ian is going to hang with his football buddies. It is Sara's first high school dance. Hopefully it will be less painful than the middle school dances she went to.

I have a new one that will start going to the middle school dances next Friday. My baby. Sean went to a few in 6th grade and one in seventh and decided they sucked and were no fun. He will be attending next Fridays dance to watch his sister it is tradition. I will probably not have to force him he is mister social butterfly these days.

Sean had his first football game today and they did okay. Better than last year against the same team. He played 2 1/2 quarters so he was pretty pooped when he got home. He got some great slams and tackles against the other team and did his best to help the line stop the other team. And best of all he didn't break anything doing it.

So now I sit and wait till ten o'clock so I can go and pick up the pumpkins from the dance and hope they aren't getting into any trouble between now and then.

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Kids Lumps and All

What a perfect night for a football game and parade. Sara helped with the sophmores float this year but they took 4th out of 4. She is the one carrying the crackle sign. The theme was breakfast cereal this year they did a rice crispy theme. It was cute. Sara came up with and made both the bowl and the milk carton and painted the mustang on the back drop.

Trombone guy

Meg and pal trombone gals

The younger two sounded great in the Middle School marching band.

We were winning the homecoming game up till the middle of the third quarter but our boys get so tired toward the end of the game due to lack of depth and they fall apart. Ian of course didn't get to play because it was close most of the game but he made a fine good cheerleader. He did a better job of getting the crowd going than the darn cheerleaders. I had one parent come up to me and say he should get cheerleader of the year, she meant it in a nice way, and those cheerleaders should be ashamed of themselves. There he stands all suited up and waiting to go in so he decided to help the only way he knew how. He is a true team player. He is an amazing young man and I love him soooo much. I am very proud of all my kids but Ian has always been the one that makes the big impression on people. I get compliments all the time about my kids I guess I have done some things right and not totally screwed them up. Yesterday at Sara's swim meet her therapist showed up to watch her swim. She made arrangements for someone to take her daughter to dance class and came and watch the meet from start to finish to cheer Sara on. I about cried and I know it made Sara's day. Her English teacher from last year came to watch too!

I really don't know what I will do when Ian leaves for college next fall. I have my first senior night for football next week and the reality is going to start creeping in. I could lock him in a closet and not let him go to college.
Yeah right!!!!!

Well its been a long week and its going to be a long weekend. Sean has his first game tomorrow and then home improvement continues after that. Pillow here I come.
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Friday Night Lights

We started our sports week out with the girls swim team winning their second meet of the season by 18 points. Sara thought it was going to be close but after the first 3 races ended up either breaking a pool record or a school record I knew the girls were on fire and it was gonna be an exciting time at the pool. Sara finished second in her 500 and her 200 relay took first place. I love swim season. Friday is turning out to be family night thanks to Ian playing football. This week we traveled to another away game that got delayed because of lightning but they got to finish it up. Once again Ian got to go in the last few minutes of the game because we were getting cream but the boys put up a good fight against a tough team. Sean had a scrimmage on Saturday and was in the game the whole time almost. It was great to see him finally realize how it feels to be part of the starting line up. This Friday is our homecoming parade and game. I have 2 marching in the parade and 1 playing football and I am hoping that it is rain free. I would be silly to think it would be warm.

I went shopping with my mother-in-law on Thursday to get new fixtures and paint so I can freshen up the downstairs bathroom. We had a great time picking things out and then had lunch and she came back here to go to Sara's swim meet. So guess what I did all weekend........I painted and painted and painted some more. The hubby is in the bathroom right now installing the new toilet. I didn't get everything done that I wanted too because you know how these things work out. Its never as easy as it looks and you run into hidden "treasures". But there is a fresh coat of paint, new lighting, new towel racks and some replaced floor tiles around the new toilet. Finish it up on Thursday then on to the next project hmmm what should I do next wall paper or.........

I am off for now to be a lovely plumbing assistant.

Go Red Sox.

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Good News/Bad News

The good news is Ian did get to play in the game Friday night in the last 7 mins of the game. The bad news is the reason why is because they were losing 41 to 13. I was so happy for him finally getting to put to use all that hard work he has been putting in since the second week in August. He said it felt good and was pumped to get better so he can go in more often. The whole family went to cheer him. It is nice when we go places as a whole family even if it is to a football game.

Soon the sports senior nights will arrive and I will be needing heavy sedation. My baby the senior doing everything one last time in high school. He can hardly wait for his senior year to be over so he can move on to college life. He says that now, if only he knew your only in this place once and can't go back so take it slow and savor every minute. This coming from an old person who does look back and realizes she blew a lot of opportunities. But on the flip side of the coin if I had taken those opportunities would I have ended up here with the people who are in my life right now and who I love so deeply? Yes that includes you honey. Who knows only the shadow do.

The main opportunity I wish I hadn't wasted is my higher education. Should have done it when I was young and had energy and time. Instead of having jobs similar to the one I have now that were and are yes money to the household but also mind numbing and stupid. And then trying to get the time, courage and money to take a class or two to change it. Dumb ass comes to mind. Should of, could of, would of, can't change the past but you can direct the future.

Today is more remodel and fixing up so that we can get the appraisal to lower our mortgage rate soon. Not much has happened toward that end because of my "vacation" I took this summer. But the next 6 month adjustment if coming soon and we need to get it done before that. My mother in law, the few times she came down to sit with the kids and help Dave while I was down and out, did some work to get us started. I love her dearly and continue to find more and more reasons everyday. I get to try wall papering again, I haven't done that since before we moved in here. And the down stairs bathroom I have to use my imagination to make it look good. We don't want to spend to much time or money on it because that is the next major rip out. It needs a new floor and bath and pretty much everything else. So wish me happy painting.

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Hurray

I got to enjoy my birthday today because it was one of my days off from work. It was really peaceful after the kids got on the bus and my hubby and I took our first walk to get fit. Since we are not going to get to start adult lap swim in the morning till November grrrrrr I will try and walk off as much of the 23 pounds I have gained back over the past few months of inactivity. And drag my husband along for the ride.

Then I got to go to a swim meet at a school an hour away and watch the girls do awesome. Most of them have already qualified for sectional in the first meet. Sara did better than she thought she would. She was saying the day before that she was going to suck big time today.
Poor thing is suffering with poison Ivy on her face and neck in this awful heat and humidity.

They all seem to be settling in quickly to school. Megan came home the first day and gave me a blow by blow of every step and room she visited that day and how cool her teachers are. Thank goodness I was worried she would be totally overwhelmed and come home and never want to go back again. She of course has a tough act to follow with 3 siblings who have past before her. All known for various things good and bad. She really likes the fact that she sees more of her friends now and can even sit at lunch with whom ever she wants. The other 3 don't ever tell me how school is anymore. I have to ask leading questions and am lucky to get a three word answer. So I am going to savor my chatty Cathy for as long as I can.

I started back to work on Tuesday and really realize that my job totally sucks. I have hardly any brain cells as it is and this is killing the remaining. So I am intensely looking for something else anything else asap. I am even tempted to work at a local manufacturing plant as a temp full time just to catch up on bills and save my hubby from having to go out right away and try to replace his per Diem job he lost last month. It would work if I got the first shift for 7 to 3 I would still be able to be at all the games and meets etc. and that is really important. Then if we catch up I will be going back to school to get a real job doing something I want to and will enjoy. One foot in front of the other.

Ian has his second football game tomorrow night and might actually get to play in this one. We are all going to watch and cheer him on. Then Sean has his first scrimmage on Saturday so my weekend is filled with football.

Well its been a long day and work is tomorrow my bed is calling my name can you hear it.
Dream land here I come.

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Amazing

It is that time of year again. Last weekend of summer and balloons floating down the valley. I got up this morning just in time to catch the tail end of the launch. It was the perfect morning with clear blue skys as the back drop for the array of floating color.

I usually do not go down off the hill during this weekend but with 3 kids in sports and the coaches who don't believe in holiday weekends they all had practice yesterday. So I got to do something I haven't had a chance to do in a few years, garage sale-ing. I actually found 2 pairs of work pants and a brand new pair of jeans that actually fit my bloated body at the first place I stopped. Something I failed to find the day before on our yearly trip for school clothes at the mega Salvation Army store in Bath.

It is a miracle this year everybody has their school supplies, clothes, and shoes before the first day of school. That hasn't happened in forever. Good thing because I am going back to my old job. I guess I didn't piss them off as much as I thought. I return on the 4th and will be actively looking for another job asap before I burn the rest of my brain cells out of my head. I keep thinking I should look into classes I can take to help toward finding a better fit of a job but who has the time or money for that.

The football and swimming seasons have begun and I will have to clone myself just to be where I have to be now. Ian has his second game on Friday and Sara's first meet is Thursday. Calgon take me away. But my husband has said he will try and make as many games and meets as he can as long as he has advanced notice and can sleep earlier. That will be great because we can split on the to for days. He gits football of course.

Well I think I may go for a short horseback ride today. It has been the perfect summer this year of course to ride. Not to many really hot days and a lot of dry pleasant days. Of course I had to be a dumb ass and blow my whole summer being down and out but hopefully everything is fixed and I can be super woman. So Happy End Of the Summer to all and a great school year to come.

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