New Family Rule

I am calling in all the authority that I can. I mean I am the Mom - right? I should have some say in what goes on in my family - shouldn't I? I realize that all my children are grown adults now and they might bristle a little in the fact that I am trying to impose this rule on them but tuff - I am the MOM. And besides its Mothers Day - who would dare say "noway Mom" on Mothers day - right?

So here goes the new rule - Anyone who has chosen to live farther than 100 miles from me cannot have a baby unless that baby is born in June, July or the first part of August. This rule stands until I retire, which won't happen for another 14 years or so. And while I am making rules I would like to impose a part B to this rule - If more than one baby is to be born in this time frame than I need to be told of the coming event as soon as you know. No more waiting until the third month - I need time to save up for tickets - I'm not a rich person.!!

So there - now if you expect to obey all the commandments - you know, Honor your Father and MOTHER - than I expect you to honor my wishes.

Why? Because my Cristy has just given birth to a most adorable little boy - little Troy!! I cannot go and see him for another few weeks and this is driving me crazy!!Is he not the cutest little guy ever? Now if you don't know - he had a hard time coming into this world. Cristy had to have an emergency C-section and Troy here has been in NICU for the first two days of his life. He is hooked up here to a few things - I believe and IV and a drainage tube. If I am wrong it is because I was not there. Now this little guy is doing great and so is Cristy.

OK - so maybe my little rule is a tad bit unrealistic - and it may sound like the ramblings of a crazy old woman - (watch what you are thinking right now - you might be braking another commandment) and in reality I totally support all my children in going after their dreams and working hard and having incredible jobs in this economy. I really, really am proud of all of them.

OK - I take it all back - not the proud stuff - just the rule thing...... maybe I'll keep the part B in - I still need the time to save!

Only bragging rights

Local road-e-o time. This is just our district - Lakeland school dist. 272. Seven drivers competing to see who is the best driver for 2010. Why? Because we are crazy. That is really the only reason I can come up with since there will most likely not be any state competition. That's right folks - all the budget cuts has cut out our road-e-o.

Anyway - out of seven drivers - I came in first!!! :) A shocker to say the least. I didn't have time to practice. But the real reason was, I wasn't nervous. I just had fun.

So after talking to my kids - I am suppose to brag in this manner - Since there won't be a State competition and there probably wasn't any other district that had a road-e-o - that would make me number one in the state for 2010!!!

I'm suppose to call this -"My wonderful Hubby"

I am upstairs in the dinning room, just finished dinner - corn beef and cabbage - (Dads' favorite) and Matthew calls from down in the dungeon - "Sue - where did all this water come from?"

Now just to let you know - these are not words you really want to hear. But before I continue maybe I should give a little background information first. First the dungeon is our food storage room directly under our kitchen in the basement. We call it the dungeon because it is cooler and darker than the rest of the basement. Next it is Sunday night at about 4:45 p.m. We have just finished our Irish dinner, my parents are over and Matt is getting ready to go off to work at 5. Now back to my story.

I leave the table and tell my folks to wait a second - I have to help Matt. I go down to the dungeon and there is water on the floor. Matt is checking out the floor on the other side of the wall - the furnish is there and I look up. There is water dripping from the top shelf and the box that was on that shelf is allot darker than it should be - the next shelf is also wet and so is the next shelf. Ugh!!! Something is leaking from the ceiling!!

Matt says "What? The only thing up there is the drain pipe from the kitchen sink" He remembers that he was just doing some of the dirty dishes from dinner and goes up to run water in the kitchen sink. It takes two seconds before I scream "Turn off the water" The drain pipe has an eighteen inch split - lengthwise - and water is spraying out like we where at a water park.
I go and get every rag we have and throw them on the floor to mop up all the water and start moving the food to a dryer place. Matt comes and looks at his watch and says - "well, can you do without a kitchen sink until Saturday?" I look at him and say , threw gritted teeth , "If I have to" Then he says the words that win him the title of this blog - "I guess I can go to work later" - We look things over and decide to cut out about eight feet of the pipe and replace it. For those of you who know my house - on the other side of the wall of the dungeon is a closet of sorts - making it impossible to reach this pipe - then there is a two foot space above the electrical box - then the downstairs bathroom. The only place you can reach this pipe other than the dungeon is over the electrical box. So one cut before the split in the dungeon and one cut over the electrical box.

Question? What is in a drain pipe coming from the kitchen sink, equipped with a garbage disposal?
So I threw some more towels down as water started to pour out the pipe - then I yelled for the electricity to be turned off (being the water was pouring out above the box) - then this is what I found when I found the flashlight. Ground whatever - from dinner and lunch and ??? Gross!!

Matt goes to Lowes and gets a new pipe and in 30 minutes we are all set. Wait - that is only one trip to the hardware store. The experts say that it takes an average of three trips. What do they know.

Matt goes up to the kitchen to turn on the water to just make sure. Things are looking good and Matt says - "I think I'll still go to work now" and starts to get ready.

"Maaaattt!" I call out. "There is water leaking out of this part of the pipe"

Yes, folks - we didn't get everything - there is another split and this time it isn't easy to cut the pipe. We have to make a cut between the floor Joice's. A saw won't fit - we try my Dremel but the blades keep breaking. So now Matt gets the air compressor out of the shop - it needs to be plugged into a 220 plug and the only one we have is in the front of the house by the porch. So we take out the window of the spare bedroom and run the air hose to the dungeon to run the air saw that will fit between the floor supports.Window out - good thing it was good weather!!


Tight spot - but the right saw does the work.


Matt with the correct saw and the next piece of pipe to get replaced.

So off to Lowes for trip number two. Now when Matt took out that last pipe some nuclear waste fell out of it on to the floor.I never put grease down my drain and this stuff was nothing but grease and oil. Where it came from - I only know the answer to be the pipe but????? So while Matt was at the hardware store for the second time -I cleaned up some of the mess - load number one of towels was done and ready for the dryer and load two went into the wash.

Matt home and once again the pipes where replaced. This time it was my turn to go upstairs to run the water in the kitchen. I did and well the water didn't go down the drain. The sink just filled up. "MAAAAAT" I called out.

Now this didn't make any sense. The water always went down the drain and it looked like what should have plugged the pipe was already on the floor of the dungeon. We tried plunging the drain for awhile but nothing. We took the drain apart and checked the trap.
More water all over the place. The dry towels from the dryer are now on the wet kitchen floor. Doesn't matter cause the trap is clear. We get a snake and nothing - we take apart what was done downstairs and snake the pipe up to the kitchen - nothing!! Matt puts everything back together and we use the plunger again - nothing.

Trip number three to the store - for Draino!!! We couldn't think of anything else. Matt pours a whole bottle down the drain and we wait. Fifteen minutes is a long time to wait. I put another load of towels into to washer another into the dryer and use a few more from the dryer to mop up more water. Time is up and we turn on the hot water - nothing. We use the plunger again and this time it works - the plug is broken and water drains. Now we can check to see if the pipe Matt replaced works or leaks.

It works - YEA!!!!!! But now I have all the cleaning to do. It is past 9p.m. now - I clean up all the standing water and the really gross stuff. It is too late to continue , we both have to work the next day and well , at our age we need our sleep. Don't worry I did finish cleaning Monday after work.

Matt has to get up at 3 a.m. to go off to work now - why couldn't things have happened Friday night or Saturday? But then I am very thankful it didn't happen 20 minutes later when Matt was already off to work. What could have been a very expensive repair from a plumber - my terrific hubby fixed it all for less than $50. Way to go Matt - you are wonderful.

Through all of this - I just kept saying - oh good - now I have something to blog about!!

Fever

Fever - this word has been in my life a lot lately. No I haven't been sick but a few of my loved ones have been. Nothing serious - just a little case of the flu or a bad cold - but a conversation of a fever has been involved. In this case, a fever is the body temperature being higher than normal. (98.6 degrees Fahrenheit) There are a few illness with fever right in the name - scarlet fever, typhoid fever or yellow fever to name a few. You just know that these illness bring on a rise in body temperature.

But I want to talk about a couple of other kinds of fever. In these cases - a fever is the attitude or emotions of a person is - well - out of control.

The first being football fever. In just a few short hours the big game will be played and we will have a new Super ball champion. Who will it be? Does it really matter? In my house if the Bears aren't playing it doesn't matter. The real big thing is the food. I mean super ball munchies are almost as important as Thanksgiving dinner. It is a chance for families to get together and hopefully enjoy a good game and eat. And eat. Oh and spend sometime together - eating. Don't get me wrong - I love a good football game. I just hope this event every year doesn't turn into a day where we have to send out greeting cards.

With the end of football fever we must look forward to another kind of fever - Spring Fever! This kind of fever has already hit the northwest hard. I too have come down with this and there is nothing a person can do. There is no cure. You have a day of beautiful weather - up in the 50 degree range - sun shinning - you don't even need a coat - the air is clean and the ground is thawing. Then you get that seed catalog in the mail. That is it - you have a full blown case of spring fever because you are planning your garden and it is only February. It is two months before you can even think of planting anything. But you think of it anyway. Then the next day it snows. UGHHHH!!! There is no cure for spring fever - nothing you can do or take - you just have to ride it out - wait - wait for time to pass. You just have to wait....... I personally hate waiting but if you don't - terrible things happen. Things like....death. Yes, many a poor plant has died because of the fever - being planted before the end of frost season - it isn't pretty - it just isn't pretty.

Now on to the third kind of fever I want to talk about tonight. This is a fever that the Prophet has asked us all to get. Yes, we are all suppose to get this fever - now as with everything in the world - there is a time for every season and the season is now for me to catch this fever. I don't want anyone to feel guilty for not having the fever - I just want you to know that I have it now or rather again. I have had this fever before but I didn't have it for very long - I hope to have it now for a long time. Have you guessed yet? Family History!! I am working on genealogy right now and have the ward history consultants helping me get things right. But Cristy actually got me to thinking about a pretty big project. Taping Dad with all his stories. Of course Mom too but you and I both know it will be easier to get Dad talking. Then I'll slowly transcribe the stories - so we can have them in print. Big project - but that is what happens when you catch the Family History fever. I plan to get a recorder this week and start taping next Sunday. I am saying it now so that I have to do it. NOW!! So - kids - check up on me and make sure I have started. This is one fever I don't want to get rid of.

Maybe this Family History fever will help me with my Spring fever?

More family - this time my girls !

Cristy and Nathaniel Moreira are on a plane back to Virginia - why? Because their week of vacation is up and it is time for them to go home. But while they where here - we did our best to convince them that this side of the Mississippi is better. (Even cheaper to)

Anyway - we had a great week. First night - Monday - Mandy, George, Georgey, Grayam, Cristy and Nathaniel took me to Tomato Street. A very fun Italian restaurant. The reason was a silly one - my birthday. I was telling everyone this year that I was 73 years old. (only off by 20 years) This way I could get comments like -WOW you look good!! - instead of the other comments I usually get. It was fun but I didn't get any pictures. I like my birthday for one reason now - I get to talk to everyone of my kids.

Next was Tuesday night. Mandy threw a baby shower for Cristy. I volunteered my house and it was a very nice evening.
Mandy did a great job in planning a really fun night. Dinner, a couple games and old friends plus Cristy got some really nice things for baby Fred. Don't worry that is not his name but until they pick a name - I'm calling him Fred.
We did get the chance to take a picture of the two sisters and their boys. Guess this is Fred 1 and Fred 2. There must have been 5 people taking pictures of the two of them - I felt sorry for them but then again I was one of the 5 saying - "Smile again" It was a fun night- thanks Mandy.

Then I took Thursday off of work. I am glad that I get one personal day a year. Starting out at 9:30 a.m. Cristy and I picked up Mandy and we all went SHOPPING!! It was great!! I had grabbed my camera but somehow it never got into the car - sorry. We went all the way up to Northtown Mall. There we made one little sales lady very happy. The store -Motherhood - and I think Cristy tried on everything they had. Cristy before she entered the store had one maternity top - when she left - she had a maternity wardrobe. It was fun - only kind of fun that girls can relate too - voting on good outfits and bad. The hardest thing was whittling down the yes pile to fit the budget.

Saturday was nice too. After a little Saturday laundry and shopping - Matt, Cristy, Nathaniel and I went to go see if we could find an Eagle. We did!!
Not bad for a little camera - Nathaniel would have gotten a better picture but his battery went dead. We hiked a small trail and saw 4 or 5 eagles. Most of them would sit for a bit and then take flight over the lake. Never saw one actually go fishing but that's OK. I think this one Eagle just had a big ego - he just sat at the top of this one tree that was kinda close - just so that we could all take pictures of him.
We walked around the resort and Nathaniel treated us to a hot Chocolate. Thanks Nathaniel. This picture is Matthew practicing smiling. Not bad!! Cristy balanced the camera on a park bench - good job!!

After the hike we went home and had dinner with Mom and Dad. It was nice and once again I didn't get a picture - Oh, well.

This morning they left at 8:45a.m. A sad good-by but hopefully not too long before I get to see them again - after all - I do have to go see 'Little Fred' when he comes into the world.

I've been out of town

Before I tell you of my tales of travel - I first must give a big THANK-YOU to Mandy and George for staying in town. I know that my parents don't need constant care (yet) but every now and then they do need extra help and just knowing that family was near by to give that help - if needed- was a big help to me. I was able to enjoy the time I had with my far away family - knowing that all will be well at home. Thank you Mandy and George - blessings to you!!!So first Matt, Darren and I went to Mississippi. Our first day there we went to find an alligator - never found one but we did see a snake.

We also went to see Millsaps College. This is the famous M shaped bench. Nice campus!!That night we went downtown and enjoyed their light display. They had rides for the kids and we went on a train ride around the block - Jack loved - I mean LOVED that ride.
The next day we drove a little way and saw some sights of the civil war. Being on the west coast -we don't really have any "history" sights to see. This was very interesting. Here we are over looking the Mississippi river - I think.
This is a battle ship from the Civil war that sank in the Mississippi - they raised it in 1964 and it is on display here. They fixed part of it up so that you could see how it was suppose to look and then left the decay parts so that we could see that too. This ship was suppose to be unsinkable. I think I have hear that before.

Then on Christmas eve - we had our big meal. Yum - Nikki did a great job. We ate and played games.The girls put on a show for us. Sisters - sisters....... you have to watch "White Christmas" - which we did. :)Then came Christmas day. Time to open presents. It is so much fun to watch kids on Christmas morning. Matt and I gave Jack a tent. This is a tunnel that you crawl through to get from one tent to the other - but Sadie and Jack found a different way to play with it. More fun!!!

The next day we packed up Damon's van and drove to Ohio. I must say that the kids rode better than I did. Ten hour drive - we only stopped twice and I think at hour 8 - I hit my limit. Those last two hours lasted forever. The kids were great! Lets hear it for portable DVD players. But we made it to Grants and after Darren was done holding Hallie - I got to hold grandchild number 6. She is very cute!!! The next day was Sunday and the day of Hallie's blessing.Here she is in her blessing dress that her other Grandma made. Sooooo pretty!!Here she is with the men in her circle. Matt thinks he is smiling - I think he needs lessons :)What a good looking family. I must say it was a great Sunday.

The next day we went to see Cincinnati.
This is Grant's office building. I believe it is the top floor - nine windows in - that is his window.
The rest of the week was family time.
I got in as much Grandma time as I could.
The girls loved coloring with Papa. Jack picked up a few new words this week and one of them was Papa. Matt couldn't quit smiling over that.
Jack got the movie "Kung Fu Panda" and we watch it every day - 3 times a day. Darren loved it as much as Jack. This is Jack watch his favorite movie. He is memorized -

It was a great two weeks. One of the best parts was every night everyone would go to bed - except the three brothers and their Mom and we played Monopoly deal - till 1:15 am. Damon still cheats - wins - more games than the rest of us. I must say I got in a couple of wins.
It was great to be with my boys again. To get to know my grandchildren better. To have some time with my daughters-in-law and get to know them better. I must say that they are better cooks than I. It was a great couple of weeks. I love family time.

Super Dweeb - that's me!!

I really shouldn't tell all the stupid things I do but this one was really funny - Matt and I laughed for a long time.

So - I have been really baby hungry since my last granddaughter - Hallie - was born. I have been seeking out babies - looking - asking if I could hold - just trying to fill the void. Now I know I am in countdown mode to when I can actually hold Hallie but I want to hold her NOW!

So I am at super one - weekly shopping - and the place is packed. They have some Saturday sale going on and well, we - Matt and I - are just taking our time and joking around with some of the many strangers that are around us.

Ahead of us is this young lady - I thought to be around 20 years old - holding a small baby. She is standing there - rocking back and forth - with a baby carrier in the shopping cart. I walk up to her and ask if I can take a peek. She turns a little red and informs me that it is just a doll and that this is a school project.

Well, I crack up laughing and tell her to keep up the good work because at this point she deserves an A.

I have just under three weeks until I can hold Hallie - maybe I should go buy me a doll to get through?