Thank goodness for days off from work!

We had a nice 4th of July, spent with friends, a pool, and a BBQ.  I had to work that night though, so no firework viewing for me.  :(

The weekend found us at the Farmington Farmer's Market.  My friend Michele was selling her cookies there, so we visited her and got tasty goodies in the process.

Work was redonkulous last night - understaffed,had a nurse who was working two floors and refused to carry a phone so I could find him when I needed him, a patient fell (but was mostly unscathed - now where is that nurse?!) while their sitter was in the room with them (how does that happen?!), other patients think I'm their personal slave and should magically appear and be at their beck and call the moment they press their call button or shout out for me...  Seriously, I'm super glad to be away from that place for the next two days!  And I'm super glad that my coworker, who works the nights I'm not there, was willing to swap a day with me so I didn't have to work, have a night off, then work again, because that isn't really any time off because I come home and sleep until noon (at least) and then am up but go back to sleep in the evening/night, so I lose half a day.  :(

On the plus side, the fam and I are going to see Megadeath and Black Label Society tonight with one of Jason's coworkers and his fiancee.  Should be a good time (and I should go get ready).

Until next time, kiddies...

...trying again...

I'm baaaacccck...  Yeah, run while you still can!  It seems I'm going to repeat myself here and say, every time I try to keep up with this, it doesn't happen...  Maybe I should stop saying that...

I've started 2 new blogs, one of which I'm hoping to keep up on every day that I exercise (which should be at least 3 times a week, if not more.  Let's hope I didn't just jinx myself there!), maybe that'll help me to keep up on this blog too.  The exercise blog is here.  I don't promise it'll be super exciting but I write for myself, no one else...

The other blog I'm starting is one about all the interesting (to me, anyway) candles I've managed to collect in various places - Salvation Army, garage sales, etc.  Again, it may not be exciting, be forewarned...  You can find it here, if you're so inclined.

In other news, the family and I manage to keep ourselves busy - mostly on the weekends.  Lately we've been finding ourselves on the east side of the state.  We've been to Detroit a few weekends in a row and last weekend we visited St. Clair, Port Huron, and Lexington - all in one day.  I'll share our adventures of the last few weekends, but in another post, for I am quite exhausted right now (I worked last night and only had a few hour nap before I got up and exercised with Andrew today.  Plus it's kinda late...).

Time for my beauty sleep...

Trying again...

Every time I try to keep up with this blog, it doesn't happen. I've found the blogging app for my iPhone and hopefully that will help me keep up better.

I've been super busy, between full time work on the graveyard shift and part time school I barely have time for family or friends but I'm making it all happen. It hasn't been easy, that's for sure. Especially with a teenager who thinks he knows all AND knows best. But I digress...

I'll recap from June (when I last wrote a post). I worked briefly at the new job an hour away but the drive home was becoming really dangerous because I would fall asleep on the expressway, not good! As much as I loved that job and the people I worked with, I couldn't keep tempting fate on the drive home. I knew I'd eventually die in a fiery wreck, it was inevitable. I went on a search for a job closer to home. It meant taking a pay cut, especially on the weekends, but it also meant I'd continue to live. I was fortunate to find a job at a newly built facility 5 minutes from home. No more 12 hour, 3 days a week job :( I am back to 8 1/2 hour, 4 days a week. I'm not thrilled but it's a lot safer for me. Plus, I'm working with a lot of the same folks I worked with at "the lodge". It's nice to be so close to home, and the benefits are pretty nice too.

The kids went back to school in September. It's nice to have the whole house back on a schedule.

Beyond all that there's not much to report.

Yeah...I've been gone...but I'm back now....

Holy guacamole, where have I been?  Shortly after my last post my laptop suddenly decided to become air born.  It realized, almost immediately, that it can't fly and smashed itself onto the kitchen floor, where it laid with little pieces of its innards scattered around it.  It was so sad, really.... I cried.  I loved my laptop.

 With school starting for me in a few days we had to find a replacement.  We did so and I am the proud owner of a new (back in January) laptop.  So why haven't I been posting?  Why didn't I recap the trip to Kalahari and The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame?  Well, dear reader, I'll tell you... it's because I've been so darned busy!

As I mentioned, school started.  I was taking 2 classes - Stress Management and English Composition while also working full time, midnights.  On top of that baseball season started for Andrew, so did the twice a week practices - in addition to his weekly guitar lessons and Cub Scouts!  In mid-March, a third class began - Sociology.  It's an accelerated class.  7 1/2 weeks but we meet twice a week (with homework twice a week, too).  I'm never going to do this to myself again.  It's too much!  I've been attempting to employ techniques I'm learning in Stress Management...

Tomorrow night is my last night working at the "Lodge".  I found a new job that pays better but is an hour away but offers me 12 hour shifts (still on mids, tho) so I only have to work 3 days a week.  I'm hoping this will make my life a bit easier, or at the very least, give me some time to continue to clean up around here...

Let's see....what else to report....

Last month we thought we'd found a new place to live, but, alas, it was not meant to be and we are left where we currently are.  Oh well...

I'll recap Kalahari/R&RHoF in my next post.  I just wanted to check back in and reassure those who do actually read this, I am still alive....

Stay tuned...

We've returned from our vacation to Ohio to visit Kalahari and detour to Cleveland to visit The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame on our way home.  I took tons of photos, so stay tuned for the next post where I recap our mini-vacation.

Resolutions...

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?

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...

• 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.  :)

That about sums up 2009 in a nut shell.

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:

Upon our arrival, we met with the Kalahari mascot...

..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.

Including, the lovely, "Miss Ohio".  Not too bad a start, eh?

Just outside of the water park is a kids' play area with this tree that shoots balls.

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....  

...it has a big water dumping bucket...

...that Andrew LOVED!

This is one of the two water slides in the children's area.

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)

This is FlowRider.  You can stand and surf...

...or lay down and body board.  GO ANDREW!!

Staff is friendly and helpful.  Now it's Jamie's turn.

GO JAMIE!!

When you're done playing in the water, you can play putt-putt.

Andrew ponders the next hole...

At the end of the day, eat at The Reserve.  Their food is fantastic!

As our trip came to an end, Jason and Andrew rested by a wooden statue.

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.