Every time the calendar flips over and a new year begins something inside me feels different, for a while anyway. I can't exactly pin point what that feeling is but it almost feels like a "freshness" has settled in - like the slate from all the years past has been wiped clean and I get to start over - again... Eventually the feeling fades and somehow I fall back into old routines and everything seems to become the same again, ho hum, ho hum, blah, blah, blah...and I find myself not sticking with the resolutions I make every year.
Once again this new year I have made a few resolutions while feeling "fresh" again... I'm going to post them on my main page and try to update/check off what I do and get done as the year goes on.
I hope that this year I can preserve that "freshness" feeling for the whole year... wouldn't that be nice?
Wednesday, January 4, 2012
I have returned!!!
I can't believe I haven't posted since 2009! I was re-reading the previous posts and having a good laugh over some of them. The memories were nice to re-live. :)
Here are some highlights from the past couple years...
It is now 2012 and while not a lot significant has happened so far this year we will be heading off to Kalahari once again thanks to the generosity of my brother and sister at Christmas. I can't wait - this is like MY Christmas!! I will, of course, post photos when we return.
Here are some highlights from the past couple years...
- The same day as the last post (1/8/09) on my way to take Jamie to his doctor appointment we were involved in a minor car accident. The person who caused it was an older man who seemed really confused when we finally caught up with him. I'm not sure what came of things because after I told my story to the responding officer he let us leave and he was still dealing with the accident-causer when we left.
- Later in the month Andrew performed in his school's talent show and rocked the house, again! This time he played and sang "Another Brick In The Wall (Part 2)" by Pink Floyd.
- In February Jason had his birthday. :) I think I also completed my nurse assistant training.
- In April Andrew turned 7 and my dad turned 63. :)
- In May I took my state certification test for my CNA license and passed!
- At some point in the summer months I was involved in another minor car accident. A man changed lanes and ran into my Jeep while we were in a multi-lane roundabout.
- In August my mom turned 63 and my sister turned 30. :)
- In September my brother turned 29. :)
- At some point in the fall I was involved in yet another minor car accident (what a year, right?!). This time a woman turned in front of me, there was no avoiding her. :( I began to think that my Jeep was an accident magnet...
- In November I turned 32 and Jamie turned 14. :)
2010:
- Andrew performed in the talent show again this year. He played and sang "Ring of Fire" as done by Social Distortion (they covered Johnny Cash). He was again, incredible!
- We went to a place called Kalahari. It was the most amazing place I've ever been. We had a fantastic time.
See for yourself:
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| Upon our arrival, we met with the Kalahari mascot... |
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| ..and a some beautiful women, who happened to also be current and former beauty contest winners! The lovely lady on the right is former Miss America Jackie Mayer. |
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| Including, the lovely, "Miss Ohio". Not too bad a start, eh? |
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| Just outside of the water park is a kids' play area with this tree that shoots balls. |
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| This would be the water park! You can't really tell how big and fantastic it is because the sunlight from the skylights has washed out the back half of the park. Off to the right you can see the children's area.... |
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| ...it has a big water dumping bucket... |
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| ...that Andrew LOVED! |
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| This is one of the two water slides in the children's area. |
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| Across from, and to the left of the children's area is a deeper pool where you can play basketball (it's on the left in this photo). Or you can visit the wave pool (in the center on the other side of the bridge in this photo) |
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| This is FlowRider. You can stand and surf... |
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| ...or lay down and body board. GO ANDREW!! |
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| Staff is friendly and helpful. Now it's Jamie's turn. |
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| GO JAMIE!! |
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| When you're done playing in the water, you can play putt-putt. |
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| Andrew ponders the next hole... |
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| At the end of the day, eat at The Reserve. Their food is fantastic! |
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| As our trip came to an end, Jason and Andrew rested by a wooden statue. |
Tuesday, August 18, 2009
He really IS a rocker!
I know this post is a long time in comin' and for that I apologize. Of all the things that get neglected when I lack for time, the blog is the first one to get the axe. Anyway...
AJ rocked the local high school's auditorium like no other (then) 5 year old could. He played a montage of (in this order) Iron Man by Black Sabbath, Paranoid by Black Sabbath, and Back In Black by AC/DC.
Dad took a video of it and you can see it here.
Tell me that kid isn't going to grow up to be a rockstar!
AJ rocked the local high school's auditorium like no other (then) 5 year old could. He played a montage of (in this order) Iron Man by Black Sabbath, Paranoid by Black Sabbath, and Back In Black by AC/DC.
Dad took a video of it and you can see it here.
Tell me that kid isn't going to grow up to be a rockstar!
Thursday, January 8, 2009
He's a rocker, dude, through and through
I believe I forgot to mention in my last posting that Andrew performed his first mini "concert" a couple weeks ago. It was the Sunday after Christmas and he'd gone to church (as usual) with my parents and my brother who was visiting from Indiana. After church Brent picked me up (along with Andrew's guitar, amp, and cord) and we went to the place where everyone meets up for breakfast. Andrew had been telling the waitresses for months about his guitar playing and they wanted to hear just how good he really is. They said it would be ok for him to bring his guitar and play. I guess they didn't know that he plays a full size electric guitar, not an acoustic.
So Brent and I haul in Andrew's gear and they allow us to plug him in (so long as he doesn't turn it up too loud - but even at it's lowest, it was a little loud). He rocked The Village Restaurant like no other 5 year old could! One girl was even recording him on her cell phone. The whole place clapped when he was done. It was awesome!
Now, on to the main reason for this post. As I'd previously mentioned, Andrew auditioned and was accepted for his school's talent show. He's gonna rock! I just know it (and this isn't the biased mother talking - he's really incredible).
The talent show is in two weeks. He and I still have to go over what he's going to wear and he still needs to polish up his work on the fast parts of the songs he's playing. Otherwise, he's all set.
I can't wait to see him up on the stage at the high school. I just know it's going to blow every one's minds when they hear how good he is.
Come to the show, you WON'T be disappointed! Message me if you're interested...
So Brent and I haul in Andrew's gear and they allow us to plug him in (so long as he doesn't turn it up too loud - but even at it's lowest, it was a little loud). He rocked The Village Restaurant like no other 5 year old could! One girl was even recording him on her cell phone. The whole place clapped when he was done. It was awesome!
Now, on to the main reason for this post. As I'd previously mentioned, Andrew auditioned and was accepted for his school's talent show. He's gonna rock! I just know it (and this isn't the biased mother talking - he's really incredible).
The talent show is in two weeks. He and I still have to go over what he's going to wear and he still needs to polish up his work on the fast parts of the songs he's playing. Otherwise, he's all set.
I can't wait to see him up on the stage at the high school. I just know it's going to blow every one's minds when they hear how good he is.
Come to the show, you WON'T be disappointed! Message me if you're interested...
Lows-n-Highs
Frustration abounds. My work is annoying me. I understand the economy is bad so my hours will be cut, that's the nature of this business. I worked ONE day (yes you read that right) this week. I don't have any days next week. This sucks. I couldn't get a hold of my boss to discuss this with him today so now I have to wait until Monday to try to track him down. If that doesn't work, I'm calling his cell phone.
Other than that, I've just been adding to my already insane workload at home. This week went like this:
Monday - no work
Tuesday - no work, help with the elementary school's talent show auditions (Andrew auditioned and made it) - auditions that ended up running an HOUR behind! Came home at 9 pm.
Wednesday - run to grocery store to return bottles, mail 3 packages for Jason at UPS store, meet up with Dad and get supplies from Home Depot for PTA sandwich board sign, MAKE sandwich board sign, prime sign, leave to go to work but end up chasing Dad's dog, Buddy, who got out of the yard, convince him to get in car, drive him back to parents' house and put him IN the house, leave for work (slightly late, I was supposed to be there at 11 am), come home and make dinner, get it in the oven and leave for PTA meeting at 7 pm, end up volunteering to chair (yet another) activity for the PTA (I already head up the Leo's Night fundraiser - what the sandwich board is for - and co-chair the talent show), come home at 9 pm, again.
Thursday - no work, meet up with Jason at his work for lunch and get my new shoes, come home at 2 pm, start cataloging and alphabetizing the DVDs (we always wanted them in a list so we could know what we had at a glace and I got tired of searching for DVDs when I wanted to watch something specific), start dinner and get it in the oven, leave for the local historical society meeting at 7 pm, end up volunteering to be the events committee chairperson and take care of putting up a billboard at the local Wal-Mart about the historical Society (as soon as possible, no less!), get home by 9 pm
Crazy huh? Tomorrow Jamie has a doctor appointment at 9:30 am and Andrew has a guitar lesson at 6 pm. The fun never stops. And apparently, neither do I!
Here's yet another thing I'll be doing: I'm going to go to "school"! My wonderful parentals have graciously volunteered to fund my 3 week schooling to become a certified nurse aide. The classes are in February. It's going to be interesting to see how this works out. If I'm still employed by my current (lack of) employer they should be able to work with my 9-3:30 class schedule, if I'm not I'll have to resort to the glamorous world of fast food (or something like that) until I can find decent work with my new certification (I don't expect that to be difficult).
Looks like 2009 is shaping up to be the year of insanity!
Other than that, I've just been adding to my already insane workload at home. This week went like this:
Monday - no work
Tuesday - no work, help with the elementary school's talent show auditions (Andrew auditioned and made it) - auditions that ended up running an HOUR behind! Came home at 9 pm.
Wednesday - run to grocery store to return bottles, mail 3 packages for Jason at UPS store, meet up with Dad and get supplies from Home Depot for PTA sandwich board sign, MAKE sandwich board sign, prime sign, leave to go to work but end up chasing Dad's dog, Buddy, who got out of the yard, convince him to get in car, drive him back to parents' house and put him IN the house, leave for work (slightly late, I was supposed to be there at 11 am), come home and make dinner, get it in the oven and leave for PTA meeting at 7 pm, end up volunteering to chair (yet another) activity for the PTA (I already head up the Leo's Night fundraiser - what the sandwich board is for - and co-chair the talent show), come home at 9 pm, again.
Thursday - no work, meet up with Jason at his work for lunch and get my new shoes, come home at 2 pm, start cataloging and alphabetizing the DVDs (we always wanted them in a list so we could know what we had at a glace and I got tired of searching for DVDs when I wanted to watch something specific), start dinner and get it in the oven, leave for the local historical society meeting at 7 pm, end up volunteering to be the events committee chairperson and take care of putting up a billboard at the local Wal-Mart about the historical Society (as soon as possible, no less!), get home by 9 pm
Crazy huh? Tomorrow Jamie has a doctor appointment at 9:30 am and Andrew has a guitar lesson at 6 pm. The fun never stops. And apparently, neither do I!
Here's yet another thing I'll be doing: I'm going to go to "school"! My wonderful parentals have graciously volunteered to fund my 3 week schooling to become a certified nurse aide. The classes are in February. It's going to be interesting to see how this works out. If I'm still employed by my current (lack of) employer they should be able to work with my 9-3:30 class schedule, if I'm not I'll have to resort to the glamorous world of fast food (or something like that) until I can find decent work with my new certification (I don't expect that to be difficult).
Looks like 2009 is shaping up to be the year of insanity!
Monday, January 5, 2009
Another year along...
'Tis the new year. Time sure flies!
Jason & I rang it in by going out to Applebee's for dinner on the 31st and going to see the new Adam Sandler movie "Bedtime Stories". Dinner was good (even though we waited FOREVER for it - the kitchen lost our order ticket?!) and the movie was cute. It was really nice to be able to get out and do something without the kids. We haven't been to the movies or out to dinner in AGES!
After dinner and the movie we came home and I played Animal Crossing City Folk on the Wii (we got it for Christmas from my brother and sister, best present EVER!!!). The game does a midnight countdown. It was fun. Besides, we're tired of creepy Dick Clark and his lack of aging each year.
Anyway, after the game's countdown I shut it off and went to bed. Maybe not the most exciting way to end the year and begin the new one but it was good enough for me. :)
Jason & I rang it in by going out to Applebee's for dinner on the 31st and going to see the new Adam Sandler movie "Bedtime Stories". Dinner was good (even though we waited FOREVER for it - the kitchen lost our order ticket?!) and the movie was cute. It was really nice to be able to get out and do something without the kids. We haven't been to the movies or out to dinner in AGES!
After dinner and the movie we came home and I played Animal Crossing City Folk on the Wii (we got it for Christmas from my brother and sister, best present EVER!!!). The game does a midnight countdown. It was fun. Besides, we're tired of creepy Dick Clark and his lack of aging each year.
Anyway, after the game's countdown I shut it off and went to bed. Maybe not the most exciting way to end the year and begin the new one but it was good enough for me. :)
Elementary School Talent Show
Andrew is auditioning for the school talent show tomorrow. The songs he's playing are (Black Sabbath's) Iron Man, and Paranoid, and (AC/DC's) Back In Black - in that order. He's only playing the beginning of each song so it'll be around 2 minutes long but it should be really cool.
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