Can We Possibly Get A BREAK??

May 29, 2011

This week has been a very busy week with school winding down, Cooper getting a dance injury AGAIN, trips to the doctors, and a very quick trip to the Wimberley, TX area for a family high school graduation party, and Cymbre lost part of her wire on her bottom braces......will we every have a "normal" day....ever????

I am beginning to believe the quote I saw recently that said:  Around here, normal is just a setting on the washing machine!  And on my machine, it doesn't always spin right!  Just par for the course around here I guess!

Now begins the "How to keep the girls entertained for summer dilemma....I mean there's only so much shopping we can do before it gets REALLY boring....and we have to clean out the girls bedrooms like we do every summer......and there are trips planned.....and we have to clean out the dance room like we do every summer, and there are parties to have......and we have to clean out the pantry like we do every summer......and lunches to go to with friends.....and mom wants to clean out the laundry room.....and we need to hang out with friends......and there is still some stuff in the garage to clean out.....and we always have to find time to skype the grandbabies!

My sewing machine is in need of a trip to the sewing machine hospital.....it's slowly dying, and I am not sure that they will be able to fix the thing.....but I think one last ditch effort may be worth it before I sell the thing to them for scrap parts......not that any of the parts are worth using on somebody else's machine!  So, I will probably have to get a brand new machine!   UGH!!!!  Some people have said to try ebay and other such sites, but why would I want to buy someone else's used machine that I can't get parts for?   We'll just have to pay for the new one, and then I will have to go to the classes to make sure I can make it do everything, and then I will still try to make it do some things it's probably not supposed to do, but will do it anyway1  That's how it was with the one I have now.  At any rate, something will probably have to be done before much sewing gets done on costumes this year.

We have to get things ready for the girls to go to girl's camp with the church this week, they go on the 13th....till the 17th.  Guy is driving up and staying the day, but will come home when the evening shift of men get there.  Then we will hae 4 days of no kids......don't know what we will do to occupy ourselves.

My hands are no longer numb, but still are regaining the strength back from having carpal tunnel surgery.  I am so thankful for that doctor.....no more numbness just because I use my hands to do normal mom things!  The strength will return, it just takes time, and I have NO patience with waiting!  Seems to me if they don't hurt they should be able to do everything again.  That's my theory!

Next weekend I will be in Oklahoma with Britni....she is getting inducted into an honor society, so I am going up to the ceremony and to spend a day with her.  It will be fun to be just her and me for a bit.  I plan on eating Taco Bueno!  Yes, I do!

Well, I thinks it's bathtime, so guess I will close for tonight.

Spend some time tomorrow remembering those who fight for our freedoms, and those that have paid a high price for it also.

And, get out there and do something for someone....it will make you feel good.

Love you.

Mom



Honesty Pays Off!

May 20, 2011

Yesterday I was on a website called Hatch Patch that does family home evening lessons, and found a lesson about Thomas S. Monson which I paid for and downloaded. 

Cymbre is putting together another Beehive activity, and decided that she would like to use the lesson that I downloaded and have each girls (there are 12) make the lesson and game and be able to share it with their families....goes under the knowledge value.

So we went online to check out the rules, and discovered that with the purchase I could only download the lesson 3 times....not near enough for the Beehive class.

So after some discussion as to whether we should just print it the rest of the 12 times, and not feeling that would be the honest thing to do, I contacted the lady who puts the lesson packets together.  I explained what Cymbre wanted to do with her class, and ask if there was some arrangement we could make to be able to do this cheaply..each lesson download is $3.50 so paying full price was not an option in the YW budget.

So we got the answer that she would allow us to print the number of copies we needed for just $1.25 per lesson if I would call her and give her the credit card number.  She would clear the download to do the amount of copies that Cymbre needed.

So today, I called her, and paid for the lessons, and when she sent us the email receipt, she also sent a promo code for me to use at her website for 25% anything I download, as many times as I want to use it.

So now, I don't even have to turn in the receipt to the Y"W budget because I can download more lessons and make them for us or for the grandbabies, get the discount, and get the money back that way.

And in addition, I have a real lesson in honesty that we can talk about tonight at dinner.....

I guess that $14 was really well spent today!

We Survived Wednesday!

May 12, 2011

We have survived a very busy Wednesday, and both of the girls YW activities were a hugh success!

Cymbre had her mother-daughter celebration here at the house last night....blue and white color scheme, served warm browines with ice cream and toppings.  Then she had a guest speaker talk about motherhood and daughters....the speaker used a conference talk, and then added some other activities.  Then each beehive presented her mom with a rose telling her several reasons why she loves her mom.  That made for not to many dry eyes left in the room.  Then she gave out a little mother-daughter poem she found online, and presented the speaker with an apron she decorated with bees and paint to finish out the evening.  A hugh success in that they managed to get two inactive girls and their mothers out!  Cymbre and Sister Arzac were thrilled with that more than anything.  And those girls and their moms seemed to have a really great time. The Spirit was strong, and mother-daughter bonds were strengthened.  AND, Cymbre gets to count this activity as one of her value projects.

One down.....

Cooper got called late Tuesday afternoon from her laurel class president.  It seems that she couldn't come up with a good activity for their class on Wednesday.....she was crying....she had a major test to study for at school....did Cooper have any ideas as to what they could do.  Cooper to the rescue!  We put together 13 hotpad car emergency kits, got most of the stuff to stuff them from the dollar store, and then I spent several hours finishing tablecloths for Cymbre, and making the car kits for Cooper on Tuesday night until 1am.  It would not have taken so long, but my sewing machine has decided that it only likes to go half speed.....not a very satisfying experience for one busy mom making things that were needed in the morning at 1am at night!

Cooper took her stuff and the laurels had a delightful time sewing on the buttons and stuffing the kits.  They made all of the kits, and will take them to the girls who weren't there on Sunday.

Two down.....

Having both the girls in their class presidencies seems to be keeping this mom pretty busy!

It looks like Dad will have to take the sewing machine back into the repair shop next week when he gets home from Alaska....there is no way I can get it out of the cabinet, load it in the car, and get it into the store....the thing weighs about 80 pounds, and my hands just don't have that kind of power at the moment.  Poor machine....I think I have just worn the thing out.....wish I could figure out how many miles of thread it has sewn over the past 20 years.   Well, maybe I really don't want to know......  They no longer make my sewing machine, and so they can't get new parts....so if the motor is dying.....a slow and painful death....it will be time to buy a new machine!  That's traumatic for me because I LOVE this machine.....a Bernina 930.  Now all the machines are computer based, and I just don't like them but may have to bite the bullet and get one anyway.  This developement is like loosing a valued friend who was constantly there to help.....like being one handed forever....like having no electricity during a hurricane....a truly miserable experience in Houston during the hot humid summer!

So today, is put the house back together after the party, and pack the costumes for recital pictures this afternoon.....and rest my hands.

We have just one more day and Guy will return from Alaska....thank goodness.  A neighbor says that one of our sprinklers is shooting up a geyser when we water, and I am not even going to attempt to try to fix it....so I just turned off the sprinkler system.

Cymbre and I have organized all the DVDs into file drawers, and that really cleaned up a bunch of clutter in the family room....now just to finish the last few when I can get another file box, and then on to the CDs we have.  As you can tell, I am still on a clean out everything binge.

My hands are doing ok some days, and really sore others, but I just keep trying to get things done and rely on tylenol or aleve the rest of the time....still have some vicodin left for really bad days.

I have been released from the hand surgeon...he says I have no more wrists to slit and that I have full mobility and range of motion, so he is done unless I develope a problem.....let's go for no problems1

Cymbre found out that she is loosing her beloved school counselor at the end of this year.  She is retiring, and Cymbre is not a happy camper.  Hopefully, they will get someone else good in there.  Cymbre just has one more year at the school.

The girls and I have finally got the 72 hour kit rotated and put away again....a good thing to do just before hurricane season hits again.  We even went to the RS activity to make food kits....had to take the girls because my hands wouldn't carry the kits....but it made the stuffing process go really quickly.  So, yes we have out 72 hour kit, and now I just have to build up the water storage a bit....and then we wait to see if there will be a need to use it this year.  Let's hope not!

We have replaced the air conditioning system in the house....what a mess for the day after surgery.  It made for a very hot resting place while they worked.....by 7:30 at night I was just like....OK, already......turn the thing back on!!!  Mostly, I slept thru everything until the bedroom starting getting so hot when the sun was on that side of the house.  However, now the house is staying nice and cool, but they still have to come and adjust a few little things to balance the temperature a bit better back in the kitchen....and I have to tell them they can't totally shut vents because I am NOT going to listen to them hiss all day!

Well, must get these costumes ready for pictures.....

Have a great day....and get out there and meet someone new and do something for that person.

Love you bunches....

Mom

Sheer Boredom!

May 1, 2011

So, I decided that since there isn't much I can do with my hand yet because they just fixed it last Tuesday that I would try to do some typing for a little while.  We'll see how long it lasts.......

My sewing room finally got put back together just before I had this last surgery....so now we just need the hand to heal, and then Grandma is GOING TO SEW!!!!  Not sure what I will make first, but it will be something other than the pile of mending in there in that bottomless basket.

The carpal tunnel surgery on my left wrist was a lot more painful than the right wrist....maybe it's because I was just already tired. Dad had to call for a pain medication adjustment, and when the surgeon added an Aleve with my vicodin things began to feel better.  He said I could take 2 vicodin, but 1 knocks me out for hours, so I didn't want to try 2.  These past 8-9 weeks of dealing with the right hand and elbow have been a REAL TRIAL of my patience.  I get so tired of starting to do something, and then in a little while I have to leave it and do something else because something starts hurting.  So I have all these little piles of unfinished projects and stuff and papers that are just sitting around waiting to be finished.  And now, I have added the other arm....although without the elbow issues, to the mix.  So who knows how long it will be before I actually have a full productive day again.  The hand surgeon says it will take a good 2-3 more months on the right arm, so the left will probably be sometime after that by a couple of months.  Maybe by the time school starts again, I will be busy all day.  At least the numbness is FINALLY mostly gone, and my hands feel so much better.

Had to go get a crown glued back on my back tooth after the surgery on Tuesday afternoon....it came off while I was eating lunch, and the dentist says it must have been knocked loose during the surgery.  It was definitely not what I needed to be doing when I was still groggy from the surgery.  However, everything seems to be fine now.

I must say doing things mostly one handed, and that hand only having a little power is TOTALLY FRUSTRATING!  Just changing the laundry is a 5 minute job....no washing dishes in the sink until the incision is healed, no bathes....which is killing me....just killing me!  Getting dressed is possible by myself, but it is painful, and not something I want to do repeatedly, so I stay in my nighty until I absolutely have to get in some clothes.  So this week when I take Cymbre to school, there is a real possibility that I will still have my nighty on....a good thing in case there is a need to go to the hospital I guess.....however, more for my own comfort....and since I don't get out of the car, and my nighty looks like a housedress.....people will just have to live.  Unscrewing the medicine bottles so I can keep myself alive is proving to be not an easy task....Dad has taken to making little cups of medicine for me each night....one with what I take in the morning, and one with the vitamins for the day....and he even remembered the vit D on Saturday.  Then he does it all again at night after he helps with my shower.  I can wash the left side of me, but the right side is a challenge with the left hand....I'll get it by the end of the week hopefully.

The van is in the shop so Dad will have to drive Cooper's mini until it gets home again....it lost all the water, so it had to go get fixed.  Dad thinks they will have it back in the next day or two.  There is no way I could drive the mini...well, I could, but it would have to stay in first gear....and that probably wouldn't be so good for it.

Cymbre hurt her back in dance this past week, so I am waiting to see if we need a doctor to look at her....

Dad got all Shyla's stuff out of the attic and we went through it all, so now he is going to send her some boxes and he will have more room in the attic.....there is still some stuff up in her room that belongs to her....

Cymbre is getting her braces back on the bottom teeth tomorrow....then she will FINALLY be on the road to finishing this long and drawn out expensive project.  The last thing will be bonding her two little front teeth to make them the size they are supposed to be, and they will do it when the braces are coming off.

The girls both finished all the TAKS testing stuff they have to do last week, so now the rest of the year they basically don't learn anything.....and my tax dollars are still paying these teachers?  What the heck??

I watched some of the royal wedding this past week, and it was a nice ceremony, however, it was totally lacking the proper authority.  It felt so different from a temple wedding to me.  The dress was lovely, the groom was handsome in his uniform, but the feeling just wasn't there....I guess the proper authority makes a major difference.  Cooper decided some things for her wedding....and then I reminded her that they don't need those things in the temple....she was relieved.  Although I think Caleb is still going to be stuck with reciting some scriptures....so I think he may need to start memorizing now.  I'll still take a temple wedding over the pomp and ceremony and the chance to be queen here on earth....seems to me the eternal blessings are so much more valuable than the earthly finery.  I got my prince, and he isn't leaving me behind at the grave!

My plans this week are to clean off the dining room table, which means I have to mail things to Shyla and Britni, get Easter stuff put away, dust everywhere again, and maybe work on the girl's dance resumes so we can get rid of some more stuff.

Dad sent the girls with another carload of stuff to Goodwill yesterday from the garage....we are determined to get rid of everything we aren't using....or if it belongs to the kids to organize it better so one day it can go live at their house.  At this point, Shyla's elephants, scrapbooks, games, and a few other things she wanted are all boxed and ready to ship.  Dad just needs the van back so he can take everything up there at once....good luck when it gets to your end Shyla!  I still need to get all her violin music books out to add the the boxes.

I have just about got all the food rotated in our 72 hours emergency kit....I hate that job.....seems like I just do it and it needs it again.  Have to rotate the clothes again too...those girls just seem to keep growing!  I was telling Dad, there is probably more than 3 days worth of food in ours, but at least we would have something to share if the need arises.  I still have to buy some more water as hurricane season is fast approaching again, but someone has to go with me to carry it right now.

Well, I probably should stop typing and let this dumb arm rest for a bit....guess I'll go see what Dad's doing.....Cooper is sleeping, and Cymbre is out with the Beehive leader visiting some less active girls.

Ya'll get out there and help someone....you never know who's had surgery and needs someone to carry something for them.....

Love you all.....Grandma needs to skype Jack and Lucy!

Mom



Mom 157, Flies 0

April 15, 2011

In the latest fly wars, Mom is at 157 dead flies, and the flies are at 0 dead humans!  Guy thinks maybe there were eggs in the new carpet, and they are just hatching.....hopefully, we are almost done dealing with these pesky creatures!  I hate flys and I really hate them buzzing around in the windows under the blinds!  However, I have my trusty "fly Swicker" as Caleb used to call it, and I think I am winning this battle!

The girls have a big competition tonight....it's the one that qualifies them to go to the National Competition.  However, even if they qualify, which they always do, they won't be going this year.  Cooper will be doing Tap Kids, and Cymbre will be hugging on the nieces and nephew during that time.

Today will be a busy day....I have to re-rehinestone a couple of costume parts, get a new hair flower for Cooper's tap costume....she lost her other one, and sew a new hook and eye on Cooper's duet dress.  None of it will take much time, but needs doing before we can go to competition tonight.

I am making progress in the sewing room....can you imagine that I FINALLY have all the patterns filed in the pattern file.   I NEVER have that!  Guess you could say, it is definitely time to start sewing again. Dad carted down some more stuff for me to put away last night, so once I get the competition stuff done, I will be working on that again.  Set up the sewing machines yesterday....I still think I need a little table for the serger.  I have the closet pretty much done with empty drawers that I am sure will find some contents soon.

Also must work on my lesson for Sunday today.....and do the laundry.  Probably need a trip to the grocery store to pick up medicine and fresh rolls and probably milk.  And while I am out, I may just stop and treat myself to lunch....always a fun thought!

Must get busy....too many things to do before bedtime tonight....

Get out there and do something for someone...it will make your day!

Hug those babies for Grandpa and Grandma and the Aunties!

Another Week!

April 11, 2011

This week will be yet another pretty busy week around here.   I have to do all the pre-op surgery lab stuff, and we have to start getting everything organized for me to have the carpal tunnel surgery on my left hand.  That will take a couple of weeks recovery they say since it doesn't involve the elbow issues this time.  I hope they are right!  I am so ready to be done with all of this stuff.

The girls have competition again this coming weekend, so I have to pack all those costumes again.  Just twice more, and we can pack the costumes away for the year.  And then start all over for next year.

Dad did a lot of yard stuff this past weekend, and Cymbre has her flowers planted....everything is looking pretty good out there again.  Cymbre used her garden as a value project for YW....that kid only has 19 things left to finish and she will have earned her YW award.  She is constantly working on it....she's only been a beehive since July.

My lesson went well on Sunday, but my class is not impressed that I will be gone again for a couple of weeks....we talked about priesthood keys this week.  I am going to try to find a substitute myself instead of relying on the priesthood....they let me down last time.  I am also looking for someone to dress up as Lazarus for the week we talk about him....thought it would be fun to have him open the door and walk in the room when we read the scripture where the Savior calls him back from the dead.  Once they recover from being scared...it should create some good discussion on how people felt at the time.  I think this is one of the major miracles the Savior performed....the guy had been dead for 4 days, and then he brought him back as though nothing had happened.   What a lesson for those who witnessed it!  Can you imagine the stories of heaven he could tell when he came back.....and then the Savior acting like it wasn't any big deal......

Guy wants to take the girls to Disney World for Christmas this year.....a shopping break for MOM!!!!  Guess he is looking at different packages....wish we could afford to bring the entire family....but can't, so we will have to love those babies from afar.

I have to take Cooper's new tap shoes over to the shoe shop to get the rubber soles put on them....I just don't understand how come they don't come with the soles when you pay $100 for the shoes to begin with.....what is the deal....then another $25 for them to glue and trip the rubber soles.  And two trips to the shoe shop!

Well, must get those shoes over there, and then meet my visiting teachers for lunch.....

Have a great day

Mom

Really! Are You Kidding Me?

April 5, 2011
Following very strong promptings this week has made me realize that once again, my spirit is receptive to those promptings, and that my Heavenly Father will communicate with me in that manner if I am just listening.  I just couldn't ignore that help earlier this week when it sure seemed like the Spirit was shouting at me......He didn't have to speak twice...let's put it that way! Thank goodness we have a Heavenly Father who prepares the way for what we need even when we don't know we need it.
I have started to put the sewing room back together, and starting refiling the patterns back in the drawer.  What a job!  I am finding all kinds of fun things to make for those grandbabies....now I just need the time and to find the thread to the sewing machine, and my scissors.  I did find the power cord to the sewing machine, which is also a necessity.

Dad is back from Norway, and I hope is a while before he has to go anywhere again....too much trauma when he is gone.

I go back to the hand surgeon on Friday....my 8 week checkup...I'm going to talk to him about doing the other one....I need to get it done and healed before we go to Tap Kids.

The girls had a marvelous time at the Hall of Fame Dance Competition this past weekend.  Cooper's solo took top solo, platinum, and showmanship...her tap, platinum and 7th overall, Cymbre's solo took high gold, and a costume award (Thank you mom), and the duet took high gold, 4th overall.  They also got scholarships to partticipate in the Hall of Fame All Stars opening number in Las Vegas in June.   Don't think we can fit that trip in this summer.....the girls are already pretty busy.

Mark Goodman is FINALLY bringing his master tap university classes to Houston.....I have worked for 3 years to make this happen.  The girls are so excited....maybe if we can make this a success we won't have to travel to Raleigh every year....although Dad may send them there anyway.

I am working on getting the sewing room put back together, and catching up the ironing, and making a Easter garland to go on the fireplace....seems I flit from project to project depending on my mood and my arm.  This dumb elbow is still swollen, and gets very irritated with me sometimes.  It has to learn who is in charge though...don't you think?

I have finally given in and bought some stuff to get my recipe box organized....it's just falling all over, and crammed into a box that is way to small.  I want to actually be able to find what I am looking for, and I want them to be neat.  After 32 years....I think I deserve that!  However, to get it that way, I have to work on it!  I need a little recipe fairy to just take care of this for me.

Cymbre has the DVD's half organized in the family room....I need to get her to work on them with me some more....we could get them all done.

The dining room and the office are done, except that I need to make the curtains for the dining room.  But Dad has to buy, paint, and build the rod that I want before I can do anything.  I did buy the end decorations for the rod, but they are really tiger jars, and Dad has to glue to the ends of the pole....he just needs a long wooden thick dowel type pole.  And some brackets to hang the thing.

Spent the time listening to conference cleaning out files in the file cabinet.  Dad spent his time during the songs, and between speakers shredding papers....we make quite a team!

The bedroom is finally put back together, except Dad has to help me clean the high windows above the bed, and the ceiling fan.  I got some nails out to hang some pictures up we haven't gotten to lately.

It's a good thing the new carpet looks so wonderful, because all this work has taken a lot of effort!

The guy at the Goodwill donation store asked me if there was anything left in my house when I took another load up there this week.  I told him we still had half the house to clean out.  He said he would line up the semi's!

Well, I must get busy...I've been on this computer all morning.

Must run.

Get out there and serve a needy person....they told you to at Conference.

Mom