Catching Up as I Turn 42!

Today is my 42nd birthday- I do not feel the slightest bit different, so that is good, I suppose. I have already received flowers from my friend Shellie in California, and Alyssa is upstairs making my birthday cake- so it should be a good day.
In an effort to start MY new year off not running behind, I am going to attempt an update of what has happened since June 4th, when I last posted.

1. Getting a kid out of high school takes a lot of time- we attended something almost every other night for the last two weeks of school. Awards nights, baccalaureate, senior banquet, etc. It was fun to see all of the kids frequently during those few weeks, but it was pretty all encompassing. Tony's biggest award was Male Athlete of theYear. We were very proud, and a little surprised- he was up against some really talented guys.

2. Tony did actually graduate from high school on June 14th. I did not cry- one friend said that was because it was my first, and another said it was because he was a boy (so I guess I'm in trouble when it is Alyssa's turn!) I didn't cry at my own graduation, either, and I had a lot of friends that did, so maybe graduations just don't do it to me. I do know I will be an absolute mess when I drive away from CNU and Tony isn't in the car with me. Count on me to lose it then.

3. Tony and I went to Christopher Newport University for his orientation. We both stayed overnight in the dorms- I enjoyed only having one bag of stuff with me. Nice to travel light for a change. The sessions were all pretty good- only a few were not necessary. The campus is really beautiful- a lot of new buildings, and it is very walkable. Tony left pretty excited for the fall. I am glad he enjoyed it- one of the girls was crying, and I felt so bad for her. Tony has no trouble meeting people, and he was vaguely amused at some of the kids inability to mix with people they don't know.

4. The girls had their dance recital, so dance is finished for the year. They did a great job- I even ordered a DVD of one of the performances- at $39 a DVD- what a racket!! The week of recital is so intense that you are counting the days for it all to be over. Summer dance starts next week, so it isn't a long break, but it is something. Both girls want to work more on their technique this summer, so they are going to take some "privates" with Alyssa's ballet teacher. They are addicted to So You Think You Can Dance, and they have aspirations of greatness.

5. We had a graduation party for Tony with way too much food and way too many drinks (of all kinds). The party was fun- lots of people came, so that made me happy. Our backyard made for a lovely party venue, and the weather even held off, even against the power of Typhoon Mary!

6. Summer Swim Team started, and the first two meets are already under our belt. Hard to believe- four more to go!

7. Alex did decide to dance on dance team, so she is going to work hard all year to ensure that she makes varsity next year. I am proud of her for continuing, and for committing to working hard. I Hope she gets what she wants out of it.

8. I've been working hard on a photography class I am taking online. Having a deadline every week really makes you get out there and use the camera (even if sometimes it is the day of the deadline!). One of my favorite pieces of advice from that class is to Practice with the Camera- she says you would not only pull out an instrument only to play it on recital days, but we often only pull out the camera on the days of big events. So I am trying to make that a practice of mine- using the camera more. My manual work has improved significantly.

9. I have finally incorporated walking into my routine again. I hope I never totally drop out of exercising again, because the amount of energy required to overcome that amount of inertia is incredible. I don't know if I have it in me to start over again.

10. I did manage to get the house all cleaned before the company came- up next- the garage and the basement. I am still in the mood to get rid of things. I need to strike while that mood it hot.

11. Waiting impatiently for my new puppy- she has opened her eyes!

O.K., posting everything that has happened makes me think that I really wasn't that busy! What's up with that?? I will try and do better on my posting. Here's to summer!!

Winding Down

The school year is definitely winding down- we are counting the days, and I have subbed my last day! I love that, because this time of year it is really babysitting more than anything, and I don't enjoy babysitting 13 year olds. The students are done, the teachers are done- it really isn't pretty.
Tomorrow I continue on my cleaning up and out project that I hope to finish in the next 7 days or so. I don't know if it can be done, but if it can, I will do it. I cleaned out under the bathroom cabinets- can you say medication that expired in 2006??- on Tuesday, worked on the linen closet organization, etc. I am ready to move on to the other rooms, because I am taking over the kids rooms on Monday morning if they have not sufficiently cleaned them by then. Having company always makes me motivated to get the house cleaned, and since moving here, we really haven't had much overnight company. (could be the lack of a guest room, but I don't know- that would be a reason Mark would say not to have a guest room, and I would say the opposite.)
Alex tried out for dance team today, and when I picked her up, she wasn't pleased with her performance and was claiming there was no way she would make varsity. She, unfortunately, was right. She made the JV squad again, and since she was captain of the JV squad last year, she is thinking of not dancing this year and swimming instead. That would be fine with me; I am just upset that she didn't get what she wanted. She is definitely not happy, and I hate it when my kids aren't happy, or don't get what they want. I know she will enjoy swimming, and anything else she chooses to do, but that is not the point tonight.
Alyssa doesn't have to go to school tomorrow because of the testing schedule. She is my best hope at cleaning help, so I am optimistic about what we can get done, with the bribe of eating out for lunch, or something. We shall see. I want to walk in the morning, but the tornado warnings will have to stop first.
Alyssa came down already tonight complaining about the lightning waking her up, and I know I won't sleep well with all of this racket going on. For some reason, this house howls with wind. It really freaks me out- I feel like I am going to wake up to big pieces of siding lying in the grass. When Mark is gone, it is really bad. Maybe I am tired enough to sleep through it tonight.
Off to bed to get some rest to be ready to work tomorrow.

Memorial Day

Today was Memorial Day, well, I guess technically, it still is, but for my intents and purposes, this day is over. I am onto tomorrow in my head, planning all of the things I need to do and plan for this week and next. Only about 14 days of school left total, and my kids probably won't have to go the last few days of exams. Yikes!!I was quite productive this weekend, and so was Mark! Yippee!! My desk is cleaned off, my photos now have a back up hard drive in addition to the hard drive they are stored on, the graduation announcements are ready to go, party invites went out, I read two books, and worked on Tony's album. Really coming to the end of that- ordered some more pics for it tonight, and I hope to finish it by this weekend except for the graduation photos, that I can't put in until the end. I will build the pages for those shots first, so I know what I need to take for the book. Mark did all kinds of outdoor work, including trimming the giant holly bush that was taller than the house- he used the upstairs as a ladder, leaning out the window of our bedroom with a polesaw to cut the bush. He also repaired the sectional in the basement, and recaulked the kids' bathtub. Yay for us. Now we really need to have a garage sale next weekend. I had been holding onto stuff for the swim team sale, but when I asked where I could drop it off, they never got back to me, so I still have it all, and it is taking up quite a bit of room in my garage. Not like the rest of it is super neat, either. I figure we'll drag everything out to sell, and while we are waiting on buyers, we will clean out the rest of the crap. Is that a plan for success or what?I am energized by the amount we got done this weekend, so I am ready for the week. I am going to read a book the rest of the evening. Doesn't that sound wonderful??

Memorial Day Weekend

Memorial Day weekend. The unofficial beginning of summer. I think the forecast here is actually for a warm and sunny day- very unusual. The pool in the neighborhood opens tomorrow- so hard to believe it is time for that already. This weekend has the advantage of having nothing on the schedule. I was supposed to have to play for the choir this week, but that got moved because the soloist was going to be out of town, so for now, no real commitments. Mark wants some help in the garage and in the yard (trimming the holly bushes), and of course I have plenty to do, but I like the fact that we are not on a time crunch.

Took the girls to Target today to let them buy some clothes. I gave them each $100 and told them they were in charge. Well, Alex managed to spend most of her money, but both girls were a little shocked at the sizes they required. Aren't we all. Hated to hear them saying how fat they were, but we all need to get in better shape. I did manage to walk this morning. They are trying to adjust to living without so many hours of swimming each week.

For my photography class, I posted an environmental portrait- I used one of Alyssa in her bedroom. It is the kind of photo I have been wanting to take, so that you can see her Jonas Brothers posters on her wall, but also see the stuffed animal she sleeps with each night. The tween stuff is fleeting, and I wanted to capture it. This assignment gave me the deadline to get it done.

You can also see her beautifully straightened teeth in this photo. I took a whole bunch all in a row, and she liked this one the best. It is a little posed, but I am glad I have it. I can't believe I managed to take a photo in the house with no flash! So proud of myself. Really learning some stuff about my camera and how to manipulate it to get the pictures I see in my head.

Have a wonderful weekend. I hope to achieve the balance of free time doing fun things and accomplishing some things.

Disappointed

Tonight's game did not go as planned- we lost 4-3 in a game with Albemarle. We beat them twice in the regular season. We had 11 hits and only 3 runs- we left 12 runners on base. We got hits, just not enough of them together. Tony's high school baseball career is officially over. Weird. At least he is not done playing ball forever- we have college games to look forward to.
Tony handled it very well. He had a good game personally, so I think that helps. Another thing finished at the end of the year- but this time it is the last year, so that makes it different.
Busy making invitations for the graduation party, and ordering senior pics from the developer, and addressing announcements. Hard to believe it is all almost over- not just baseball. very weird.
Alex and Alyssa have been such troupers while we drove to Tony's games and left them to go to dance and get picked up by different people. Tomorrow is Alex's chorus concert. I am glad we will all get to go to that. Alyssa's year is winding down, too. SOL tests start this week for her- the schools go all kinds of crazy over them, but thankfully, they don't faze my kids too much.
Feel a cold coming on- need some rest, so I am going to head to bed.

FLOWERS

These are the beautiful flowers I have on my deck.

This is the one of the gorgeous hanging baskets the kids got me for mother's day. I love how they brighten up the deck!!

Baseball

We won the first round of the district baseball tournament tonight (3-0 against Massaponax). I am very excited for the team. They have been through a lot lately, and they deserve some wins.
Subbed today- not really liking the one day sub jobs. I enjoy more autonomy than that. I had to sit in class while they read silently. The teachers are doing something called Work to the Rule. In order to protest the fact that they are not getting any kind of raise this year, they are just working to the absolute letter of their contracts. That means not getting there a minute early, and not staying a minute extra. It was odd to have someone coming through the halls saying- three more minutes, you need to be out of here at the end of the day.
Planned a lot of things to do in the house before the big graduation to do. Need to start on some of that tomorrow. I may even call a house cleaner to see how much that would be the week of the party. It would be so nice to have all of that done at once- just can't afford much to have someone else do it.
Must go to bed- game two of the tournament is tomorrow at 5. Can't wait.