I sent by bars with DH this morning.  If I decided not to go to the funeral he could drop them off for me. 

I got the kids up and ready for school.  I took them in and came home and went back to bed.  I had the alarm set to go off at 10:30.  If I felt better I would get ready and go - and if not, I would go back to sleep. 

The alarm went off and I decided not to go.  I felt terrible - and I didn’t want to expose anyone else to whatever I had.  Plus, I needed sleep and I didn’t want to drive on 2 hours of sleep.

I called my Mother and told her I wasn’t coming.  I called DH and asked him to drop off the bars.  He assured me he would be home to get the kids off the bus and I should go back to bed.  I slept like a rock.  I never heard him come in at all.  I got up about 2:00 p.m. and felt a little better  I ate something and watched a little TV. 

When he got the kids off the bus, I spent some time with them.  Erika read to me, and I gave Kyle a bath. 

I made supper and we ate.  The kids played and DH let them have an extra show tonight.  He put them to bed and I went to bed, too.  I was dozing and my sister called.  I spoke to her for a half hour and then got up and asked DH to take a hot tub.  We went for a hot tub and that felt good. 

I feel terrible that I missed the funeral today, but I have been sick off and on now for 2 weeks.  I just want to get over this.

I watched her do it and she did it all right - and I packed Kyle’s lunch.  DH took the kids to school.  We both went back to bed for a bit and then  he went down to work.  I slept until noon - out like a light.  We both showered and went to lunch and ran a few errands.  When we got home I had to get ready and go to the wake for Uncle Lew.  DH stayed behind so he could get the kids off the bus.

I got there a few minutes after 4.  Lew’s family is doing well and it seemed like his brothers and sisters were, too.  It was time.  Lew lived a long life.  He worked hard.  He was much loved by his family and friends.  And he didn’t linger and suffer.  Ironically, I stood next to Lew at the funeral for Aunt Kay in June.  You just never know.

I stayed until 7:00 - talked to lots of people.  As I walked out, by brother was standing outside.  I asked if he was going straight home or if he wanted to stop for a bite and a drink.  We met at the local tavern.  I had one drink - it was good and went down fast - and then I switched to soda.  There were so many people in there buying drinks back and forth I could see I could have too many right quick.  Our food came and we ate.  We had anice visit.  When I left he was still there.

I came home and made my pan of bars for the funeral dinner tomorrow.  I went through the kids’ stuff from school and packed Kyle’s lunch.  DH and I took a hot tub and watched a little TV.  Time for bed.

I packed a couple of winter Packer jackets, a couple Packer hats, gloves, rain slickers, etc.  I drove to Mom’s.  She wasn’t ready yet so we visited while she got ready.   We headed to Green Bay plenty early.  Mom likes to be there EARLY.  We’re driving on backroads, 20 minutes from home and she gets stomach cramps and thinks she is going to be sick.  I pull into the first public place I see and it’s a Subway.  I order a late lunch and she sits in the toilet.  We lingered at Subway quite awhile and finally she felt better.  We got Green Bay and got parked in our usual spot.  We visited with lots of people (strangers) and went up to our seats early.  At first we just carried the winter jackets in, but they put them on when we got into the stadium - it was cool with a bit of wind.  She was still feeling okay.

The 4 fighter jets that flew over were awesome.  Diamond Rio sang the National Anthem and it was beautiful.  The huge flag on the field….it was a really nice start.

The game started and the Packers looked like a 7th grade team.  There were so many penalties called it was ridiculous.  The first quarter took forever.  Finally Rogers hit Jennings on a long ball and that got the crowd into it.  It seemed like it was 2 steps forward, one step back - penalty.  It was a good game in that it was close, exciting and nerve-racking.    We never had it “in the bag” until the Bigby interception in the waning minutes.  The Packers had pulled it together somewhat and at least it was a win.     We pulled right out and got on the way home.  We stopped at Arby’s for a sandwich and  visited all the way home. 

It was fun game, a fun day.  I always enjoy going with my Mother.  She’s funny, we have a lot to talk about and laugh about.  We can make fun of each other and ourselves.  My Mom is really one of my best friends.

When I got up this morning I got some laundry going and organized the kids’ clothes for the week.  They have one of those cubbies in their closets with a shelf for each day of the week.  It sure makes getting ready for school much easier.  Erika came down to her room to help me choose her outfits.  Funny thing - she has just started being a Hannah Montana fan.  She has never seen the show because I don’t think it’s appropriate for a 7 year old, but other kids at school must talk about her being ‘cool’ so Erika likes her, too.  I bought her several HM outfits for school.  I don’t know if the girls in her class this year don’t like HM or what, but she doesn’t want to wear any of those clothes to school.  ?? Huh?  Anyway, I got their clothes ready and did the laundry.  I packed Kyle’s lunch for tomorrow and then my Mom called.

The arrangements are for Tuesday night and Wednesday.  Mom seemed okay.  She said after seeing Lew at the hospital she knew this was a blessing - that he didn’t linger for weeks or months.  He just went to sleep.  I am probably going to the wake alone and DH will stay home with the kids.  Wednesday he is going to go to work in the morning and then meet me for the funeral.  Then he will come home right after the funeral to get the kids off the bus and I will stay for the lunch.  Kyle was supposed to have therapy Wednesday but I will have to try to switch that.  I have a call in to Deb.  That’s the plan.

I made philly cheese steaks for a late lunch and we watched Brett Favre play for the Jets.  He looked awesome!  I sure hope he does well this year.  Today was a good start…

I got ready for work and kissed the kids good-bye. 

Work has been very slow.  I had laundry to do, but not much.  We have 4 rooms booked for tonight so it is quiet here.  I kind of like it this way - I can get paid to read a book, surf the net, shop on ebay.

Going to the Packer season opener tomorrow.  It will be late by the time I get home and I have to get up and get the kids ready for school on Tuesday, so I may not post tomorrow.  Go Pack Go!

Last weekend - Labor Day weekend - DH’s 2 older children came for a visit.  We don’t see them that often and I was looking forward to their visit.  The oldest, Sara, came with her long-time boyfriend (Andrew) and her daughter, Vanessa, who is 5.  Second daughter, Kristen, came with her boyfriend of about 9 months (Phil), whom I had never met.  The kids arrived on Saturday night and we stayed up late visiting.  Kyle was p at his usual time Sunday morning, so I got him some breakfast and put on a cartoon and snuggled with him on the couch a bit.  He wanted to play with Robotcha or on the computer and I had to keep reminding him that we had a bunch of people in the house and everyone was sleeping.  Soon Erika and Vanessa were up so I got them breakfast, too.  As the rest got up we had brunch and I had arranged a babysitter so the adults could go out to dinner.   Helen arrived at 3:15 and we first set out to our favorite watering hole for bloody mary’s - the kids like them, too.  After a few we went to our favorite restuarant - now the kids favorite restaurant, too.  We had great appetizers, good conversation and an exceptional meal.  We decided to head to a third place closer to home for an after-dinner drink.  When we were said and done it was 8:00 p.m.  We laughed that we were done for the night at 8 p.m. - but if we got hom by 8:15 we only  had to pay the sitter for 5 hours, so we shagged home.  After sitting for a bit, I got very tired, very fast.   I snuck down to Erika’s room at 9:30 and slept with her.  DH got up with the kids the next day.  Erika and Vanessa were in and out of her room a few times in the morning and I tried to sleep through it.  Finally, I got up - only to discover it was 9:30.  I showered and got ready for the day.  Everybody else got up and DH and the guys went and took the docks and boat lift out before lunch.  When they came back in we grilled out.  After visiting a few more hours, the kids packed up and left. 

That night - Monday night - I got very ill.  I’m not sure if I had the flu or a bad cold because I had symptoms of both.  At 4 a.m. I asked DH if he could take the kids to school for me.  He worked from the home office on Tuesday and took the kids to school and got them off the bus.  Kyle’s teacher emailed and called to report that he was having a good day….no major problems.  The second day, DH took the kids to school and picked them up from the bus.  I basically slept all day, got up long enough to try to eat something, watch a little TV, and back to bed so I could be up when the kids came home from school.  This went on all week.  By the 3rd day Kyle did not want to go to school.  No real reason….he just had already been to 1st grade twice - why did he need to go again?  It’s going to be a long year.  And Erika?  She is having such a hard time making friends in this group.  My heart aches for her because she “can’t find” a friend at school.  I don’t know if I should try to intervene or not. 

So - the kids survived the first week of school….and I think I am on the mend.  I still have a nasty cold, but it’s getting better.

I worked today and it was pretty quiet.  You can sure tell the tourist season is over here.  There will be a busy weekend or 2 yet this fall, but it is much quieter all over.

When the parade was over we went to lunch and then stopped at a church garage sale. The kids each found something exciting. Erika got a dollhouse for $1 and Kyle found a robot for .75. When we got home I looked to see if there was a battery compartment on the robot. There was, but it was empty - that should have been my first clue. I put in new batteries and this robot has flashing lights and repeats some annoying phrase over and over. And it’s loud! At least there is an on/off button. Of course, Kyle loves the thing and named it Robotcha.

DH cut the grass and I got some cleaning done. When he got done we decided to go for a drink. We went to our favorite watering hole and I had a few bloody mary’s. It was quiet when we got there but got busy throughout the hour we were there. We then went to a second place a had a fish fry for supper. The kids got to play the bowling game and the beanbag toss game and then our food was ready. Kyle had a bit of a meltdown when it was time to go into the dining room to eat. He cried about playing another game. I told him if they ate well - maybe we would play one more. They did eat good so we played one more game of bowling before we left.

So between the parade, the candy, the rummage sale, and playing the games in the bar - they had a great day.

But today?  I am looking forward to having company this weekend - DH’s older kids and grandkids are coming Saturday through Monday.  Our kids start school on Tuesday, so maybe I’m a little stressed about getting them settled into a new routine - I don’t know.

What’s the difference between a few blemishes and acne?  Do I need acne treatments?

Time is of the essence, as they say, as we can’t/don’t want to interrupt Kyle’s therapy program.  So - we have to have a location that allows for a place to do his therapy…and we don’t have months to wait while work gets completed.  We first decided on a 2300 square foot 3 bedroom home with a complete and finished basement.  I was really sure that was the house I wanted - until we went to a 2300 square foot house.  While it was a very, very nice house - it was huge!  I got to thinking about cleaning that, plus the same for a lower level and decided to re-think this.  I’ve been looking at books again and found a floor plan I like.  I had to rearrange the rooms some, and tweak it, but I think this will work out much better.  It’s a 1750 square foot house with 2 bedrooms.  We are still planning on having a completely finished lower level with 2 more bedrooms, an office, bathroom, kitchenette, family room, and storage.  It is still going to be a big house.

Now that I have chosen a new floor plan and can picture this house in my head, I wish we could sell ours and move on.  I love the house we are in, but there is something about designing exactly what you want and seeing it come to fruition that appeals to me.  I can envision my kitchen just the way I want it; the double ovens, the pantry, the whirlpool tub, the utility room, the walk-in closets, the storage.  We have also talked about a home theater in the lower level with proper  home theater lighting and speakers and everything. So many big plans….on hold until we sell the house.

I’m not suprised we haven’t sold the house yet, but it would have been nice. I’m okay with spending another Christmas here and putting it on the market again in the Spring. (Another thing I’m looking forward to: I can have a bigger tree in the new place).

DH is going to try to get a hold of our contractor tomorrow and set up a time next week when we can meet with him to go over the new plans.

I had goals of getting the kids’ rooms ready for school. I started in Erika’s room - organizing all her dresser drawers, going through all of her clothes, sorting out what is too small, etc. I pulled a box of clothes and shoes out of the top of the closet and went through that. Then I tackled the hanging clothes in the closet and went through the same process. I had a garbage bag of clothes to go to Goodwill when I was done - and I had accomplished a big chore. Except for the pants of hers that I still have to hem, she is all ready for school.

I didn’t know if I would get through all of Kyle’s but I decided to start on it. I went through his entire dresser and closet - sorting every piece of clothing. I got him to try on a few pair of pants for me, but he has quite a few more to do. I sorted through a box of clothes from his closet, too. And I had a garbage bag to take out of his room, too.

I can’t believe I got both kids’s rooms done. It took me a couple of hours - and they cooperated really well by playing nicely. Erika did come down and help me for awhile, and actually, she was a big help. I am so relieved to have that done.
I didn’t think I could get it all done in one day - with them home.

DH came home from work and I made supper and we ate. I had to cut Erika’s corn off of the cob again tonight but the kids ate good. We played with the kids and after I put them to bed, I sewed 3 pair of Erika’s pants. I also managed to get a couple loads of laundry done today.

I’m tired tonight. One of the big plans is to start my diet - AGAIN - after the holiday. It’s so much easier when the kids are at school and I don’t have to make breakfast and lunch. I’ve been looking into some diet pills to give me a little boost. I also know I have to incorporate some exercise. We have a treadmill and an exercise bike. The problem is - I don’t use them. I used to walk on the treadmill a lot, but then I started having problems with plantar fasciitis in both feet so I had to stay off of them as much as possible. That’s been about a year and a half ago so I’m thinking I can try the treadmill again.

DH and I are going down for a hot tub and I’m going to call it a night.