Saturday, May 30, 2009

Neighbor: Part 2

Believe it or not, DH and I both talked to L (our neighbor) last night for about an hour. We were outside with our boys (plus one: luke was having a sleepover) and L came outside and came over and talked to us! Just normal as pie...I had just made a chocolate chip cookie bar, so I brought him a few pieces outside.

He has a friend who has moved in. His name is L too! So now I can call them L&L or l1 and L2,or 2Ls...I'm a little concerned, I haven't met him yet. Apparently they work together, so at least they both have jobs. And looks like L2 will be contributing a little bit to help L1 get back on his feet.

L1 has a lady friend in his life. She is a great friend, she breaks into his house when he's gone, steals the cat food, and last week she even stole his phone! Great friend, eh? He's having a hard time cutting the strings with her. She got out of jail a few weeks ago, and he went and picked her up because she had convinced him that she was ready to change her life! Now she's living a little ways from here in a house with ten men. Apparently they give her drugs and alcohol and she repays the favor in other ways.

How do you end up in a life like that? And how in the world do you break the never ending cycle?

Thursday, May 28, 2009

Life

We are still in school around here until June 10th! Doesn't that seem horribly long!? :)

Both of my boys received 4's on their EOG's! Basically you can score a 1,2,3 or 4. If you score 1 or 2, you have to retake the three tests! (ugh), 3 is average, and 4 is smartie pants! :) These tests are so long, and after you take them, you have to sit for the entire time allotted. Not even any reading, I guess kids were hurrying to finish the tests, so they could read? Anyway, you can draw on your scrap papers, but all papers have to be turned in with the tests! The longest test was 2 1/2 hrs! Can you imagine?! :) They survived and obviously thrived!

But now, we're full into all the end of year stuff!

Class parties
Class picnics
Field day
Projects due
Field trips


Plus DH is doing all the last minute stuff for our summer camps...so it's getting crazy around these here parts! We will work for a week in a low-income single parent child care facility, and also an adult assisted living center for handicapped people. I have to finish up the curriculum we'll use for them. We're going to use the same for both...it should work just fine!

I also have to figure out what to pack for three people (DH takes care of himself!) for being gone Mid June-Mid August! We need not too much and not too little! :) We won't be home except for five days during that period. We've got to get everybody haircuts! :) Got to organize the house, cause somebody will most likely stay here to check the mail, mow the grass and watch the cat! Priorities, you know! LOL

Not seeing much stitching time anytime soon! Just stitching on any of my Friendship RR's that I get before I leave.

Luke's field day is in an hour, I need to get moving! We'll be outside for 3 hours in an open field, and it's only supposed to be 87 today! UGH! :)

Friday, May 22, 2009

Virginia Weekend

I'll be back to stitching soon! :) I went to the library and found some new books, so the stitching has been set aside for a while! But here are a few pictures from this past weekend in Virginia.

This is Andrew and his friend Morgan. They are the only viola players in his 6th grade orchestra. They had just finished performing for the competition and we were on our way to Busch Gardens!

Andrew was not thrilled with riding this ride! :) I was trying to pump him up! LOL Look how serious his face is!

Not a great picture of me, but Luke and I were certainly having a good time!

His 6th grade orchestra was thrilled to win first place in their division. (Shh, don't tell him, but I'm not sure how many others were in the division! LOL) The 7th and 8th combined orchestra also got 1st place.

The next day we went to Jamestown and Yorktown in Virginia. Very cool places to go! :) Despite the downpour all day, we had a great time!

When we got to Yorktown, they couldn't resist trying on some period costumes! Aren't they cute?

Their Mamaw told them to check out their "big butts" in the mirror and boy did they think that was funny!

As you can see, there was a boy section and a girl section! Poor Luke just couldn't resist!

One of the men who worked there showed my MIL and I where we would have lived in this time period! The women had to live behind the tents of the men, about 1 in 30 was the ratio! Guess what our job would have been?! Yup...LAUNDRY! And okay, yes, I'm wearing a McDonald's trashbag for a rain coat! I set our little jackets on the floor to dry when we went in a gift store, and by the time I remembered them, somebody had helped themselves to two of them. So when we stopped at McDonalds for lunch, my MIL asked for two trashbags for us to use!:)

Luke was trying out a typical chore! He just wasn't tall enough to get the buckets off the ground! Check out how he is stretching on his tippy toes, poor guy just couldn't get tall enough!

Despite the rain, we had a blast together! I'm blessed to have a great MIL! :)

Hopefully my next post will have some stitching pictures! We'll see.. Happy Weekend!

Monday, May 18, 2009

A Few Pictures

A friendly stranger took a picture of us with our boat in the background!

What Mike does on vacation:

what I do on vacation:

In Nassau

We met a friend in Nassau, her name is Heleen.

Formal Dinner on the boat. Don't we look cute?! :)

We drove 8 hrs home, and the next day we drove 1 1/2 hrs to take Andrew (and the family) to the zoo to celebrate his 12th birthday.

I have brilliant kids!


We took Andrew to his orchestra competition this weekend in Virginia. I have some great pictures I need to upload to share. As you can tell, I haven't had time to stitch much!

Thursday, May 14, 2009

My Neighbor

I live in an old area of town, but the homes on my little block are all new homes. Mine is two years old. On the right side of me sit four new houses. On the left side of me is a house that was built in 1962. A little square house. I learned tonight it used to be bright green!! :)

My neighbor who lives there is a very quiet fellow. In fact, in the 1 1/2 years we lived here we've only waved and said hello. He's one of those people who are sort of scary, before you get to know them.

Today I saw him with lots of stuff in his front yard, and I wondered if he was moving or being forced to move. I took my trash out, and our houses sit so closely, that we just happened to end up about face to face when I opened my door. I said, "well, hello L." He said hi back, with more enthusiasm than usual!

So on my way back in, I said, "hey L. are ya moving out or is somebody moving in?"

Low and behold, forty minutes later.... I realized that L. isn't so scary of a fellow after all. The man has a four year college degree!! He is living w/o electricity. He said it really isn't so bad, though he'd rather live w/o it in the winter than the summer. (speaking from experience) He was thankful he had his water still on, because it was rough to live w/o water. The banks want to take his truck because he can't make payments on it. He is paid up on his house, but obviously not his truck or the electricity.

The man makes $10 a hour at a nearby gas station. He's applied everywhere for any thing and hasn't hardly heard back, except for rejections.

He's made bad choices. Has bad friends. He said he's helped all these friends out, and all they do is steal from him. He said his friend broke in and stole his can of chicken. He said, I just wish they would have left the chicken for my cat! He said, "I've helped so many people out. I just wish some time they would help me out."

I know L has made choices that have led him to this life. But you know what, for many of us.. we aren't too many paychecks away from a similar lifestyle. I mean, if the bank takes his truck, then how will he get to work? If he looses his job, how will he make his house payment? Then if they take his house...then where is he?

Amazing how much I learned just listening to him. I've lived here 1 1/2 years, and in less than forty minutes, I know more about him that I did the previous 1 1/2 years!

Just makes me thankful for electricity, water, and the food in my pantry! All the extras that I been wishing I could have, but can't afford... well, in the end that doesn't really matter, does it?

I hope L. can keep his house. I hope L. can get a job in his degree. I hope L. has something good come his way ASAP! :)

DH is out of town for a meeting and he called and asked what I was doing. I said I just talked to L. for forty minutes. He hollered.. "What?!" He's never even exchanged more than hello with him. Maybe we can help him out, some how, some way. He said he'd let us mow his grass, that will at least keep the town off his back.

Thanks for listening, I had to tell somebody.

Friday, May 1, 2009

Happy May Day

It's Friday again! Where exactly does the week go? This is the first Friday in a few weeks, where I haven't been packing for our entire family to go away for the weekend! This morning at breakfast, Luke said, "Today I get to stay the full day, right?!" He was so excited! They have their reward party every Friday (for good behavior during the week) and the poor kid has missed the last three! It was funny to see him so excited to get to stay a whole day at school!

I'm packing for myself this weekend...not packing much though! I'm wearing my jammies, taking my stitching bag, and we're gonna stitch all night and as long tomorrow as possible! Yeah!

DH and I leave Sunday for FL. He was GIVEN a cruise a few months ago, and we leave Orlando on Monday. We'll cruise to two different places in the Bahamas, and get back to Orlando on Friday. We'll drive home and then Andrew's 12th birthday is Saturday. He doesn't want a big party, and that sort of makes me feel bad! :) But we'll do whatever he wants to that day. My wonderful MIL is staying with the boys all week. So I need to get their schedule written out for her today, and go grocery shopping for the week too.

While we're gone, we're going to be missing Andrew's orchestra concert of this year. I am this deep fear that it's going to be one of those moments in his life where he'll always be saying..."Remember that time you missed my orchestra concert?!" This is his 2nd one of the year, and we went to the first one. And in a few weeks, they are doing a competition at Busch Gardens, and we are going with him for that. Decisions, decisions! :)

I'm been mainly stitching on Flower Power! Here's where I was last week.

Here's where I am this week: (oops! It's a little fuzzy!)

In the inbetween time, when we're driving, or when I don't have time to drag out the FP...I've been working on these PS charts. There are four in total. Some were in magazines, and some were freebies (I think, maybe not!) They are stitched on an Irish 50ct. linen over two, with one thread!

Summer:

Fall:

Spring: I have a few issues with spring! There is this huge ugly, out of place tulip that is supposed to go in that blank corner. I just don't think it fits with the rest of the pictures, because everything in them is size porportionate! (is that a word?) But the spring one isn't...I'm saving it for a professional opinion this weekend!

I'll do winter next.

I went through my stitching stuff yesterday and I am reorganized! I've got a bunch of easy LK designs together to stitch on the drive to and from FL. I doubt DH is going to go for stitching on the cruise! :) But I'll take a little something just in case!

Our crazy, summer schedule is right around the corner! I'm really thinking this cruise will be great for me and DH, right before life gets crazy!! (as if it wasn't already, right?!)

Remember the camp we've done youth camps at the last three weekends? Here are a few pictures that will help you understand why everybody loves it there so much! This is the view from the little motel we stay in:

This was on the way towards the dining hall! By this time Luke was tired of me taking pictures every few minutes as the sun went down!

Last but not least! My 3rd grader (Luke) was assigned Bridge to Terrabithia to read in his reading group at school. I wasn't thrilled when there were a few curse words in the book. When I asked Luke about it.. he said, "Oh it's okay Mom! We just say BEEP when we get to those words, like they do on TV!" Then, if you haven't read it, there is a really sad ending! And I would think hard for a 3rd grader to deal with. Last night on ABC Family, the movie based on the book was on tv. Have you seen it? Oh my goodness, by the end I was sobbing! I looked at Luke and said, "This is ridiculous, Luke!" He just sadly smiled, I think it was sad for him too. So anyway...just makes me wonder why teachers pick the books they do? He said their choice was that book or a book Captain Underpants, which is mainly a cartoon! Jeepers! Guess he made the best choice offered to him!

Happy Weekend to everybody!