Skywatch Friday and other kodak moments...

It is dark most every day when I go to work now :( However, I caught this one last sunrise yesterday morning...


These are untouched photos...just beautiful sky!

And now for other kodak moments...
I hope I can explain to you what on Earth this is...This used to be a cargo van...near as I can tell. I believe they cut out the sides and back and folded down the top to make...yes you guessed it...a redneck pickup. Do you think the side door still slides open? Wouldn't it have been easier to just say...sell the van & buy a pick up?

Finally...it has been brought to my attention that almost 16 year olds do not like their photos taken while pruning bushes...however...if you catch them while texting...both hands are busy therefore leaving no hands left to block your view ;)

Crazy one and crazy two had their first day of kindergarten this week... Angie (their mama) barely made it through, but Zoe and Jason loved it. I surely cannot believe they are so big!

Have a great weekend!

Here's the plan...

Today, Thursday...not so much going on except for calling Doc's to get excuses from PE for they boy and the precious one...more on that later. Tomorrow...I'll post for Sky Watch Friday...(got my picture all ready Tom!) Then, we are off! Kenosha for the weekend! One last trip to the beach...time away at my brothers...R&R, video games, sandwiches, eating out, lots of sleep, naps, and a perfect end to summer! So, Monday...expect a big ole long post with a few hundred pictures...

Until next time...

Amazingly smooth sailing...

For some reason the school Gods have blessed us this year. The transition back to school has gone amazingly well. Especially considering my son went from a shortened schedule to a full day this year. So far so good...are you running to knock on wood? Oh wait, I'm not superstitious, forget the wood. There are still bullying issues in the middle school, 5 days of school, 2 episodes. I have decided to track the episodes on my ketchup only blog. Although 2 out of 5 might seem bad to you, last year it was EVERY DAY...several times a day...so really...so far so good.

I am feeling totally overwhelmed with my internship at this point and find myself turning away new clients every week despite adding 3 more sessions to my schedule. That is a bit frustrating but promising too :) This week I am going to start applying for new jobs. S-C-A-R-Y! I know Harlem has some new Elementary counseling positions I'm looking at and I'm going to apply at the Autism School to see if I can get hired in to run parenting groups and children's groups there...for pay! I can't really imagine doing social work for pay. I find it so fun and rewarding, that it seems odd people actually get paid for that. Especially since I've done it for over a year for free! Oh wait...Actually I paid to be able to work for free. Oh the joy of internships. I'm placing my second to last book order today which is astounding to me. It just doesn't seem possible that it is almost over. And yes, I'm glad, and no I won't miss it. I am also looking forward to a job that doesn't require me to be up at 5. I have become a morning person because I had to...but it's really not me. I'd like to go back to the 'don't talk to me before 9:00 person' I used to be, the one that could be up til 2AM to putz around on whatever project was undone at the time. I'd like my kids to eat home cooked meals. And me too! I am such a fast food freak I never really thought I'd tire of it, but man am I tired of it!

Can you hear it? The winds of change are blowing again...and I'm ready to set sail...

what to post...what to post...

what to post...hmmmm...funeral pictures? funeral readings? funeral attendees? funeral music selections? pictures of the food? pictures of the flowers? pictures of the altar? pictures of the burial? Is it proper to take pictures at funerals? And if you take pictures is it proper to post them on a blog...because really I'm all about the proper you know.

So the funeral was Saturday and all weekend I pondered posting on the ol' blog...decided not to. Realized today that my head was a Mess with a capital M last week. Here's how I know...I lost my calendar...really? My right arm is missing and the amputation doesn't serve me well. The calendar must be located this evening...God knows what I have missed. I got hate mail in my box about things I didn't turn in last week (because they are in my missing calendar AND I forgot my keys and the office was locked and so I had no way to turn them in) AND I had to apologize to a client today for not calling after I had promised to...And really none of those things are me...forgotten keys, lost calendar, unreturned phone calls...maybe in my younger days...but not today. The over achiever has kicked in full force. So...tomorrow...I am back on track...I was nearly there today except for the calendar and accompanying missing documents.

Driving home tonight...I pondered a post about the loveliness that is the weather this week. Mid to high 70's, sunny, really...perfect. Oh and that those birds I saw last fall are back. Perhaps I should snap some pics of my terrific gardens and pop them up here? After all I did prune all the bushes, mow, weed and water this weekend. Being sad will do that for ya...it won't motivate me to do house work...only threat of a nuclear war would accomplish that...maybe...but it surely will motivate me to work in the yard. And nap... a lot.

Anyway...thought I might post the super cute pages that I made Saturday night at scrap night and along with that tell my friends thanks for being there, Cassie thanks for Hosting...love your house, and the fact that my first legacy book for my child is 6 pages away from being done.

But then...I remembered my camera battery was dead...and that I still haven't shined my sink. *sigh

They're off!

Kudos to the Harlem School District! This year they changed the junior high and high school start times to coincide with research studies that show adolescents do not learn well at 7 in the morning!

My kids start school at 8:55 now and that my friends is a beautiful thing! No stressful mornings, no sleepy kids, no standing in the dark at the bus stop. I just can't say enough about how pleasant our morning was today.

From the grungy, throw on whatever, throw your hair up kids, to this... They clean up pretty nice eh?!?

Remember those chatty girls on the phone from yesterday? Check em out today... I really just couldn't contain the pride I felt this morning as I sent off my babies to school. After I shut the door behind Brennan I mumbled..."Please God let him have a good year..." Stephanie overheard me and said, "Mom, why do you worry so much about him?" "It's a long story you know...autism does that." The precious one had a great day yesterday...she was thrilled! Whew...big sigh of relief.

Here's one more for the scrapbook...

I'll post the update from the trenches...after I hear how today goes...

Until next time...

The Carefree Dog Days of Summer have been replaced

My precious one started junior high today. Junior. High. I am not sure if the youngest child should really be allowed to grow up. I think it's just too hard on the mama :) She is a little worried this year since she is starting in the fine arts program and 'ALL' (as she puts it) her friends are not. I am hoping that she'll come home and say, "Mom you'll never guess who's in my class!" and the proverbial "I love it!" instead of the dreaded, "I hate it and I don't know anybody!" She should be walking in the door any moment. Time will tell.

My big girl and my boy don't start until tomorrow. In our district, 7th graders and 9th graders go to school the first day, so they don't have to deal with the overcrowding until the second day. Hence, the older two had one more day of summer...Yesterday they went to the park...what does one do at the park? Talk on the phone of course! Pure togetherness isn't it?!? These girls crack me up cuz they are two peas in a pod. They've been bff's since first grade...9 years later, they are a little bit different, but so much alike. I love that my kids have fabulous friends that we have known forever. It sure makes the worry of having a teenager a little bit less.

So tomorrow...the big girl starts 10th grade and the boy 8th grade. Ugh! Steph's getting her hair cut and colored today and her eyebrows arched. The boy...well, we're gonna at least be sure he's had a shower and has clean clothes on...ya know? He's got a lot of pressure this year having his little sister at the same school with him. She has already noted many rules he has to follow (mostly hygiene related) and is receiving daily briefings on how he should behave when around her and her friends. Poor guy. Wait til he's in high school with his big and little sister there! That oughta be a good time!

So...the dog days are quickly passing...

*sigh

Final Details...

I guess final is the word...final, in more ways than one. I believe I have all the details in place for Poppy's memorial service. I am waiting to hear on the luncheon info from the LLL Society, have a call into the engraving company to have Poppy's name added to the marker in the memorial garden and meet with our pastor on Friday to make the final, final arrangements.

Poppy's obituary...

Barry Kollberg--Honorary Dad, Poppy, and Brother

Barry Douglas Kollberg, 71, of Rockford passed away Sunday 7.13.08 in St. James Hospital. Barry was born 9.16.36 in Rockford Illinois, the son of Karl and Lois Bee (Johnson) Kollberg. Attended East High School. Served in the US Army. Barry worked as a realtor and later as a machine broker. Member of LLL Society. Barry loved golf, woodworking, and spending time at the club with his friends. Barry is survived by (removed for anonymity purposes...) Predeceased by his parents. Barry's family will miss him on 'family outings' and his wonderful sense of humor. Barry left us long ago through the disease of Alzheimer's. He is finally at peace. Memorial Service will be held Saturday, August 23rd, 2008 at 11:00 at Riverside Community Church with the Rev. Dr. William Kerr. Sr. officiating. Visitation at 10:00 at the church. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to the family. Honquest Funeral home will be assisting the family with Barry's final resting place in the Memorial Garden at Riverside Community Church.


And I'll try to get the photos up in the next few days, for all my out of town family. Thanks for your patience...Getting this done with out any time off work has been a challenge at best, but I think we're just about there...

Photo Essay: End of Summer

Included here are a bunch of random thoughts and how we spent our last weekend of summer. School starts Wednesday and due to my terrific internship we had no summer vacation this year. Instead, we opted for a weekend at the water park. Faded Daylilies, suffering from too much sun, but still lovely...
Day one at the water park, was spent with 300 of my closest friends...not really. My work had a water park day...and we all went. After waiting over an hour to get in...the fun began. The kids had a great time. So great, in fact, they wanted to go back on Sunday. We still had some free passes to use and some buy one get one frees, so we packed up the cooler and headed in for day two. This time...no waiting :) I had my baby Au B (That's what she calls herself) that day and so the majority of our time was spent in the kiddie pool. Au B and I stayed for a few hours, then left the kids there to enjoy the rest of their day.

Gotta love that baby neck!
Brennan is addicted to water slides!

So is Kristina! After Aubrey and I left the park we headed out to lunch with Tim, Deb, Kev, Brennan, Me and Shana. The following picture illustrates why one year olds should never be allowed to have a cup of ranch dressing with their chicken! Oh wait...except for this reason... Ah yes! The sheer joy of ranch on your face, your hands, in your hair, and on your grapes! Yum. my. I had to tease my brother...I said, geez, when my kids were little you wouldn't sit anywhere near them when they looked like that, but now that it's your grandaughter...you even get a ranch dressing kiss! My how times have changed...

We just about have the school supply shopping done...and we're just about broke! I have to purchase two calculators still, one of which is $100, gym shoes, and a few spirals for Nina and then we're done! For now...I didn't buy any school clothes, since they have pretty adequate wardrobes already. I had bought quite a bit over the summer so they'll be ok until it starts to get cold. How am I feeling about the 10th, 8th, and 7th grader? I am feeling like where has the time gone and could I Puleeeeeez be done with school so that I can enjoy them before the rest of the time slips away?

Our summer sure has flown by...without one 90 degree day I might add...global warming? Not here!

Until next time...

Maybe I will...

Probably at some point I've mentioned here that my kids are Jonas Brothers FREAKS...yes, yes they are. Sad but true. So...as I've also mentioned, I had to drive them to target to purchase the CD the day it came out in case it sold out before they owned it. Really, do CD's 'sell out'? I'm not so sure. AND, the girls have been stalking tickets on ebay to the concert in Chicago and I'm just about thinkin we're not going because it's nearly thousands of dollars for tickets (if you sit close enough to actually be able to recognize what you're seeing and not watch them on the jumbotron) -- but then...I'm hooked. The new CD is SO SO SO SO fabulous! My bff said to me today, "yeah I don't want to be one of those moms that's all crazy hooked on their kids music." Guilty. Yep, I'm one of those moms. Why is this CD the best ever? The Jonas Brothers came into their own on this one. (Am I getting paid for this excellent review?) Um definitely NOT! I digress...seriously this album is the best. At vacation bible school last night I overheard my big girl speaking with another small girl (actually taller than my big girl but younger) saying, yeah and what about da da da, can you believe how great that is? To which the small girl replied, "It's GENIUS!!!" OK, that might be a little over the top, but I must admit...I do like it.... a lot.

My faves: be be good and love bug. COME.ON.

So, I was thinking that since these tickets are not in my price range...and I have money in the bank that my mom sent me to buy the big girl a bedroom set, perhaps I'll buy Jonas Brothers tickets instead (insert here that my mom reads this blog and right now she has the angry look on her face ;) Ok, so I won't buy tickets with the bedroom money, but perhaps some reader out there who happens to have an extra 4 pack of tickets, including back stage passes would like to send them to me? Anyone? Anyone? Hello?

Hmph.

Mike's Show & Shine's got nothin on me!

If you've checked out my blog roll, you may wonder why I read Mike's show & Shine...Here's the deal, my husband's a car buff. To involve him in the blog community, I keep up with Mike...so hubby can enjoy a blog once in a while. We own an auto shop and formerly owned a race team with a prostock funny car and a rear engine dragster. My husband bought his first new car in high school...a 1977 Chevy Nova Concourse...which he still owns today. My Dad was also a mechanic and owned his own shop. I've been around cars my whole life. I tend to prefer small foreign cars with nice stereos and sunroofs which gives my husband a nervous twitch, but I also have a very special love for 55 and 56 Chevy's. My first love in high school had a 56 Chevy (and no I'm not that old!) that was all original. It had sat in a barn for many years and had 75,000 original miles on it. OK, for all my girlfriends that are not car buffs, I know you're ready to clickety click right out of here, right? (I mean Pioneer Woman is looking better all the time...) Ok, let me get to the point...as I was leaving the subdivision last night to go to tennis, this is what I saw... I first wondered what was going on when I drove home and saw that my neighbor had a port-o-potty in his yard. Odd right? I thought...well for sure there's gonna be a party there. Then on my way back out...fabulous! You see, this old duffer collects antique cars. I really should take a picture of the garage in his back yard. It is the cutest thing ever complete with an antique Texaco gas pump. Anyway, evidently his 'car club' meeting must have been at his house last night. There were a lot of old guys there (um the ladies were definitely underrepresented) and there were lots of nice cars. I for one...enjoyed the view tremendously. Don't worry, that squad car in the background belongs to a neighbor also....there was no 'trouble' last night :) Just old dudes with nice cars. Oh, and 1 port-o-potty Of course with large antique cars parked on both sides of the street, and my car stopped in the middle while I was taking pictures, I definitely created a traffic back up. A well worth it traffic back up :)

PS. Funeral update...got all the plans made with the funeral home last night. Need to confirm dates and times with the church and all should be final. Hope to have that all done today. Thanks for your patience.

You really like me?!

Ok so two folks, this one and this one, nominated me for the brillante award.
How exciting is that? So, evidently there are 'rules' with this here award, and let me not be the one to not follow the rules...

the rules for this award are:
the winner can put the logo on his/her blog
link to the person you received your award from
nominate at least 7 other blogs
put links to those blogs on yours
leave a message on the blogs of the people you nominate

Ok, lets see...I can put this on my blog...check
Link to the person...check
nominate 7 others...really should not be a problem...

1. Sunshine
2. The newborne identity
3. Wine on the keyboard
4. Sardonic Catholic Dad
5. Matt, Liz, and Madeline
6. Riding the short bus
7. Dust Bunny Hostage

Check.
Um really, it was hard for me to only choose 7. I read a wide variety of blogs faithfully every day. Some for wisdom, some for laughter, some for the beautiful photography, and some to just keep it real and keep me grateful.

Now, I'm off to leave a message on all those newly nominated blogs :)

PS, making final funeral arrangements today...check back tomorrow for obit and funeral details.

Final Resting Place...

I have decided to have Poppy's cremains scattered in our cremation garden at church. It is a beautiful, peaceful place on the river...where he will be at peace. I feel blessed to have this option...

Expect the unexpected, and then expect God...

Why does my pastor know just the right things to say? Is it odd or God? For me...I vote God. The title of this post wasn't really the theme of the sermon today, but it is definitely what I took from it. My pastor talked about loss, grief, pain, illness, etc...and how it can make us doubt...sometimes even make us doubt God. What I realized is through all this craziness with Poppy, it is evident to me how strong my faith is. I never doubted. After I got over the initial shock of Poppy's death...I began thinking...the worst part of Alzheimer's for Poppy was how much worry it caused for his mom, (my Gramma Bee). As she got nearer toward death, she always spoke of her worry for him and thanked me for taking care of him. Always...every time I saw her. So when I thought back to the day he passed...July 13th....I thought, Gee...I bet Gramma Bee sent me a sign and I must have missed it. Or did I? I thought for sure that she would let me know she was no longer worrying...and that he was safe. And then I remember seeing a bee not too long ago and as I saw it...immediately thinking of Gramma Bee... You see, as we stood by her casket at the cemetery...a bumble bee buzzed all the flowers and for me, I knew her spirit was free...free from the crippling pain she had suffered. Since then, whenever I see a bumblebee, it reminds me of Gramma Bee. So...although I don't know the date that the bumble bee buzzed by me recently, I can't help but wonder if that was the sign...a sign to let me know that Gramma Bee had welcomed Poppy Home and that she no longer had to worry. I do think...that was the sign...he is here, he is safe and we are together...do not worry or be sad for him any longer. In the words of Bill Kerr..."Expect the unexpected and then expect God."

Exhale...

I finished my summer semester today. *sigh I was to the point previously that the end of the semester signaled an out of sync time for me...a time without every minute of every day scheduled and I usually had a hard time adjusting to it. As I get closer to the end of the journey...these small hiatuses (is that a word?) become more and more welcome. I have two weekends off...we have two days scheduled at magic waters, hope to get up to Kenosha to get in some beach time with my brother, one memorial service, and then continue to work on the to do list around the house. We got A LOT!!! accomplished today, the first of which was the arrival of my new mattress. The 15 year old one that I got when I was pregnant with Stephanie has been replaced by a new non flip very tall, very dust mite free mattress. I sealed it up in every kind of water proof, allergy proof, zipper cover ever made, including the box springs because really, the whole dust mite thing gives me the heeby jeebies. So currently I have my newly waterproofed mattress sitting waiting for my newly sanitized mattress pad to come out of the dryer. That brings me to my next point...does your washer have the 'sanitize' setting? Cuz mine does, and although it takes about a year and a half to wash one load...I feel better knowing my bedding, towels, sock and underwear have all been sanitized and dutifully scoured by the 180 degree water. You think it really sanitizes them or is it all in my head? I don't really know or care, but I do know that I like the sound of that. Really, not too many things in this house are sanitary, what with the domestic engineer of the place working 70+ hours a week you know, so I appreciate even the slightest bit of sanitation. What this house needs is an Alice. For sure.

Tomorrow, church, and then more organizing of my bedroom and my scrap room. I also need to mow my lawn. A friend of ours said today...."gee who mows your lawn?" To which I replied, "nobody...can't you tell?" All right, point taken...I'll mow the stupid lawn tomorrow. Tonight, I have to take Cinderella, I mean Stephanie, to the ball (I mean Cherryvale mall) with the prince, (I mean the boyfriend). The teen years have hit full fledged as I've been instructed to drop them off at the mall and please don't linger. Hmmmpph. Guess I can actually do something for me with this new found free time. ;)

Disbelief...

As I was making funeral arrangement calls today, I came across a lot of disbelief. Mine, others, everyone's...yes it is quite unbelievable, but yes Poppy has moved on to a better place. Yes it took them 24 days to notify me.

As it appears right now...we will have a memorial service at church and Poppy will be cremated with his remains placed in the memorial garden at church. Will keep everyone posted for service info as it become available. Thanks for your calls, your cards, your prayers and your thoughts. It's good to be loved.

The twilight zone...

Yesterday was a day from the twilight zone. I woke up this morning and thought...was that real? Is Poppy really in Heaven? Was I dreaming all that? Nope...still here...still real. Yesterday was odd...I left work and suddenly felt wiped out. I went home, dropped the kids at the pool, and took a long nap...woke up...made some calls, still haven't reached all the family members...fought some bureaucracy...and headed to tennis with Brennan and Nina...Love this one of my boy...really could he be any more handsome? I know, I'm just a bit biased...but still...And then this girl...how I love her sun bleached hair...the same hair she is constantly wanting to dye dark brown. She has always been my nature girl...the girl with the natural beauty...The sun bleached hair, the pretty green eyes, the peaches and cream skin...love her...

Wire Tapped

Pretend you were wire tapping my phone at work today...

This is what you would have heard...

Strange man named Frank: Hello Mrs. Ruch? Yes, this is Frank I'm calling from blah blah blah about Barry Kollberg.

Me: Yes?

Frank: I was calling to see if there is any family member that will be claiming the body.

Me: What body?

Frank: Mr. Kollberg's body...(long pause) Were you not notified?

Me: Notified of what?!? What are you talking about?

Frank: Mr. Kollberg passed away and we need to know what to do with the body.

Me: What?!? WHEN?!? HOW?!?

Frank: Evidently he passed away July 13th.

Me: WHAT?!? JULY 13TH?!? AND NOBODY NOTIFIED ME?!? (Interject here that Barry is my step-dad and I am his legal guardian...he was in a nursing home with Alzheimer's...or so I thought)

Frank: Gee I'm sorry, I don't know how that happened, but will someone be claiming the body?

Me: (Ready to go slightly postal) Excuse me for my utter surprise, disbelief, shock, dismay, (the list goes on and on and includes swear words) No, I don't know if someone's going to claim 'the body' as you so eloquently call him, because I didn't even know there was a body!!!! Could I possibly call you back after I get my head about me?


I.Kid.You.NOT.

Swear to God, that was my day today. I am now planning a funeral.

Ketchup only

Finally...blog #2 is up and running...and it is REAL plain... it needs a lot of work, and I have a lot of ideas for it. I'm off school for the next two weeks and that is one of many projects on the list. Check it out here if you get a minute...thanks!

Where did Ketchup only come from you ask? For the last few weeks I pondered the name of a new blog, a place where I could write about my son's life with Asperger's. A place that other families could turn to for resources, help, a laugh, or a listening ear. I digress...back to ketchup only...now, one would think that ordering a cheeseburger, ketchup only, would not be such a monumental task. One would also think that raising a son would not be such a monumental task. Throw Asperger's Syndrome into the mix and both of those things become monumental. I cannot remember how many times my son ordered ketchup only...only to get a cheeseburber with everything that resulted in 1) the cheeseburger flying across the room, car, restaurant etc., 2) a meltdown that could last God knows how long and, not or....and 3) my bubba being too upset to eat anything. That's the imagery...my life with my boy, and my boy with Asperger's...the ups, the down's and everything in between.

Like water off a duck's back...

The goal for today....shake it off. Do you have days, or perhaps weeks, or lifetimes, where it feels like you gotta shake a lot off? Like water off a duck's back? For instance, lack of loyalty? Self centeredness? Fighting the system? Crazy dysfunctional family members? There are times by God, when all of that craziness can surely be a little much. And really, there are real people in this world, with real problems, real...life threatening problems and situations and somehow they manage to get through life happy as a lark. Ok, maybe not happy as a lark, but with a darn more grateful attitude than a whole lot of people that have the world handed to them. Typically, I am not the 'rant' kind of person...but today....thank you for listening...I'll try to be sunshine and smiles tomorrow, but for today...would some of my family members puleeeeezzzz get their heads out of their A**es long enough to realize all that you have, not the little that you don't?

The rest of us would be eternally grateful...

:rant off:

In the same frame...

Meet Woody...My brother's cat...temporarily staying at my house. Old, male, cranky, super cute personality...
Meet Jake...cutest cat that ever walked the planet...permanent resident at the Ruch house...not very old, male, HATES other cats. Genuinely likes dogs...

You see where this is going right...whose bright idea was it to think that they could peacefully coexist. Well, after a month or so...they are beginning to adjust to each other, and have made it into the same frame...
Meet Jake and Woody...new friends.

Softball sadly is over for the season...it's only sad for me emotionally, because my schedule TOTALLY appreciates it! Kristina, being in a new league this year, only one one game...but guess what?!? They sure won a tournament game :) Gotta love that...

Kristina got her end of the year trophy & metal...I made these super cute (if I don't say so myself) photo cubes for all the coaches...I included photos from the season and THE cutest softball stickers I found at hobby lobby...which said 'You wish you could throw like a girl, sugar and spikes, if softball were easy it'd be baseball, etc. etc.' So cute! I also made one for Kristina and had all her team mates sign the top.

Finally, just wanted to share this photo...when the big girl got home from Wisconsin...it was only a matter of minutes before this occurred.... 8 Days without my space??? How did she live? And...of course we must text and my space at the same time...

She cracks me up!

Quite weak, yes that's me...

I sure laid down...'just for minute' at 7:30 last night...only to wake up at 3:30 this morning thinking it was Sunday and being grateful I had 7 more hours until church. WAIT!! This isn't Sunday...what did I do yesterday? Oh, I worked, then what did I do last night? Oh, more work...than this for sure isn't Sunday...what the heck day is it? After a few moments of clarity I did determine that it was Tuesday. AND...that it was indeed 3:30...and why am I so frozen? Well...my honey had a hot flash last night, which therefore makes it necessary to put the air on ... I don't know 68?!?! Anyway...somehow during my thrashing in the night my micro fleece blanket...(the softest blanket in the whole world without which I cannot sleep) -- my cozy blanket landed on the floor...so I tried to go back to sleep, but of course knew I had no alarm clock set...therefore knowing too that I would oversleep, knowing that I had to go to the bathroom, and knowing that I was freezing, yet, there I lay, thinking perhaps I'd go back to sleep...why are we so crazy when we're trying to sleep?!? So, I finally got up, found my cell phone, set the alarm, went to the bathroom, turned up the air (or down the air, however you figure it...anyway I made it warmer), found my blanket and pointed out to my idiot dogs that it was indeed 3:45 not 5:00 and that there was no way in H E double hockey sticks they were going outside right now and that if they knew what was good for them, they'd instantly go back to sleep. (They gave me the why so cranky look and laid back down) Finally...I got that last blissful hours sleep...and started my day...yes...with 10 hours of sleep. I AM weak, and I AM lovin it!

Until next time...

Sleep is for the weak...

That thought has been my mantra lately unfortunately. Tonight I planned on my big girl getting home about 10. Well, she arrived about 8 after I just destroyed the kitchen making zucchini bread, ate corn on the cob, the remnants of which were still in my teeth, and generally our house was in the worse case of CHAOS (Can't have anyone over syndrome) that it has been in for quite some time...and I look out the front window and there is my brother, his wife, and my big girl pulling in the driveway...two hours early. Yeeeeeeesssssiiiiirrrreeeeee....I am sure they'll want to come in to sit down. Now...where did those chairs go? Oh yes, there they are covered with laundry that is waiting to be folded. Well, lets head them off at the pass and offer them a lawn chair...yes a lawn chair...good idea and let's pray and light a candle that they don't ask to use the bathroom. We'll even offer bug spray being the great hosts that we are, in the event of a mosquito attack. Yes...I was the worst hostess ever...I didn't even have anything to offer them to drink. I mean milk doesn't really count right? So...we chatted in the driveway...my new spot to host guests...and here it is 9:30---they headed to the hotel and we are going to meet for breakfast in the morning in a much cleaner INDOOR restaurant with comfy seating that has a full range of beverages. Perhaps they could build a restaurant next door to my house and I could accommodate guests there? I don't know...maybe someday I'll be done with all this crazy schooling, working, interning, and kid raising and the house will be clean. Oh wait...I vaguely remember days without interning, working, schooling, and kid raising and I seem to recall the house wasn't much cleaner back then. Hmmmph...back to the drawing board. I think this week I'll make a valiant effort at shining my sink...

So...back to sleep is for the weak...it is now 9:45 pm and here I sit on the computer...why? Cuz SLEEP IS FOR THE WEAK!! I'm going to start the laundry that should have been done this morning, finish reading the paper...also a task from this morning, clean up my dinner dishes...and get up at 5AM with my happy face on ;)

Until next time...

Calling all my preschool teacher homies...

Ok, since most of my friends either are preschool teachers, have formerly been a preschool teacher, or dream at night and sometimes during the day of being a preschool teacher (ok, maybe I've lost a little bit of touch with reality...) I believe that sunshine has pointed me to perhaps the best crackin me up blog ever! PLEEEEEEASE take a minute to check out 'riding the short bus' and her post about dropping off her son to preschool....crackin me up~

Sky Watch Friday

Yesterday, my precious one said to me..."Gee Mom before you started posting for Skywatch Friday, I never really looked at the sky and now I seem to notice it all the time." Gotta love that huh? Thanks Tom for helping my little one appreciate nature and all it's beauty...

This week I have more sunrise photos to share...

This one I thought looked like the remnants of fireworks and this one... my son pointed out to me this morning as the only bright cloud in the sky...When we got up today it had recently rained and all the other clouds were gloomy...this bright cloud in the sky...we're dedicating to Amanda Kordich.