Peaceful Sunday ~

The after Thanksgiving weekend brought some shopping, decorating of both Christmas trees and putting up all the outside decorations... yes we are the obnoxious neighbors, though most on the cul-de-sac seem to be getting into the decorating this year!
We had a fun weekend as I went to Greensboro for Katrina's Annual Christmas party and Chris stayed home and hung out with the guys.... I can say though that I am getting way to old to stay up until after 4am... haha....
Getting excited about Christmas and I need to get some wrapping going and some things taken care of so that I can see what else I need to get.....

More time at home

As soccer has winded down, we are trying to spend a bit more time at home... this has double meaning for us right now as it also means that we are trying to get visitation changed so that Ryan can spend more time at home with him. He unfortunately received some wrong information in regards to his daddy's wants, so I/we took our big calendar and proceeded to use color markers to mark the days that Ryan is currently with us and then showed him how those marks would change... the hope is that by seeing this visually, it will help us understand that all those days without marks, he will be with his mommy... so he can feel comfortable that his daddy is not taking him away from her and so that he can understand that daddy just wants to share him more. He seems to get it and he seems to be fine with it... he has told us in the past that he wants to spend more time here... but its hard at that age... when one parent starts saying things and putting the child in the center, it makes it difficult... this whole process has brought back a flood of emotions for me and some for Trenton too.... we have told Trenton whats going on and let him know that its okay for him to share some of his experiences with Ryan... it might actually help him some. When I think about this, I am so very glad that Trenton's daddy and I were able to make peace and that I was able to be un-selfish and share Trenton the way I do.... its probably one of my better decisions as I see the fantastic relationship that Trenton has with his dad, and I see how much more relaxed he is now than in years past... I only hope and pray that we can reach that with Ryan...

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving and we are all eating at Aunt Janets and Uncle Ronnie's house... grandma and all the aunts, uncles and cousins... only 2 will be missing this year I believe. Its Ryan's first big holiday with the Johnson family... as we were in Kentucky last year for Johnson Christmas, so I hope he enjoys himself.

We have so many things to be thankful for... our wonderful families, our phenomenol friends, we both have great jobs with people we really enjoy. We have a nice home and a cute puppy and we have our health and we have one another.... its good to focus on the good things in life!

Have a Happy Thanksgiving!!!!

American Legion updates

We helped open the new building at the American Legion post 116 in Fuquay Varina, NC this past Saturday. They had it open just in time to celebrate the Marine Corp Birthday (Nov 10th) and for Veterans Day (Nov 11th). Its a beautiful building with a great bar area... I can see lots of fun times there.....

A special (and late) Happy Veterans Day to all the veterans out there, past, present and future... and also to your families who sacrifice as well. Thanks for all you do!!!!

And time flies by ~

So.. a month later and life has been a whirlwind... I can see where people say that time goes by faster the older you get... ughhh..

The conference in Phoenix was fantastic... very educational, the place we stayed at was beautiful and we got to spend some time with Chris childhood friend David and his family.. they welcomed us in and we had a great time!

Soccer kept us extremely busy until the first week in November when we finished the season with a bang... both boys teams played in the tournament so in total, we had 8 games for the weekend.... yes.. each boy had two games a piece, each day... ughhh.. it was an exhausting weekend... top that off with Ryan's teams pizza party at our house after the tournament... and it took me a week to recover...

Halloween came and went and was fun....School is chugging along... and work is work. My project finally got approved and things will be busy for the next two years or so it looks like....

I have started Christmas shopping and am trying to not stress out about it... hahahaha... those of you that know me well, know that I love Christmas... but the stress of it all does tend to get to me at times!!!

The Spyder got pin-striped and looks great.. it has all of our names on the back of it.. we call it her tramp stamp... hahaha....

That's enough for my quick update.... more soon!

Once again ~

Its Sunday and my day to play catch up.. In actuality I have had quite a bit of time this past week for that, but I chose to read a book instead. It always makes me feel so good when I complete a new book, especially when it around 500 pages and I complete it in two days...
It was a great book, called Twilight and I can't wait to read books 2, 3, and 4!

Chris' trip overall went very well, there was a small accident but no one was hurt and after a tire and a belt was replaced, things were right back on track... luckily his frustration did not get the best of him and he was still able to enjoy himself and not let the accident ruin the overall fun of the week!

Girls night Friday night was a huge success.. there were 13 or so of us total Friday night who got together at Ciao Wine Bar in Cary http://www.ciaocafeandwinebar.com/ Its a great place with a phenomenal atmosphere if you have never been... the wine is fabulous and its just a great place to hang out with friends! The feedback so far has been very good, so I am already starting to think of options for next time.... hahahah!

The boys are doing well though they are not at home this weekend! Ryan tracks back in tomorrow and Trenton is just chugging along... 7th grade is harder in some ways but easier in some ways for him.. .now that he is past the adjustment and 'middle school' experiences, I think its made the year start off sooo much better than last year. I am really thankful for that!

Work is busy and last week was a bit dramatic at work, but overall, it was okay... going to a conference in a week and a half and that should be fun... as part of it, I get to go to Phoenix.... yeah!!! Its a new state for me.. so I am excited!! Chris will get to fly out for the weekend and see me which makes the trip even better!!!!

Today is football and then the hockey game.. and I really guess I should go shower and start getting ready....or we will be late!!!

Updates ~

Its been a crazy couple of weeks around here.

We have welcomed home Jim.. and showed him out to a coming home party night on the town last night! Be sure to ask Jim about it.. I am sure he remembers at least a few details!!! It was a great party with lots of friends, food, drinks and some really good times.. as well as some great photos taken!!

The boys are busy with school/track out and both doing well in soccer. It keeps our weekends busy, but lots of fun. Youth bowling has also started back up, so the early morning Saturdays are definitely back!!!

Chris is getting ready to go to Gatlinburg, TN for a big Spyder Ride with about 50 - 60 other Spyders from all over the country. It should be an exciting week for him. He leaves Tuesday and comes home Friday... he is excited!!

Work is going well... but very busy. I have a couple of important meetings this week gathering last minute information to try to get final approval on my big project.
On a similar note, Jim and I are going to a conference in early October... I am looking forward to it.

I am still getting burnt ~

In mid September ~ what is wrong with this? Two soccer games on Saturday and one on Sunday leads to a burnt forehead and a farmer's tan... good times though!!!

09-11-2001

Just a moment to remember all those who lost their lives 7 years ago... their friends, their families and all the heroes... we will never forget!

IT1 Jim

Chris and Greg went to pick up Jim yesterday morning and we welcomed him home around 4pm yesterday afternoon. It was a great homecoming with food, friends, a bit of wine and some ice cream cake! What a wonderful combination.

Chris and I are both ecstatic that Jim is finally here... we have missed him so much. Other than a few pounds lighter and a little paler, he is still the same old Jim.. and we can't wait to spend time with him!!

Jim, always thinking of others, presented the 4 couples that were there at dinner last night each with a flag and certificate. The flags flew over the base where he was stationed in Djibouti. He did this as a thank you for helping him and his family out while he was gone. Such a nice gesture, when they are really the ones who had it toughest. But through it all, if made it a little easier, and in any way helped to ease his mind, then it was so definitely worth it. He and his family had the hardest job... and it was very special to be a part of his homecoming!!!

Welcome home Jim... we love you!

Allergies ~

You know I heard that Raleigh ranks 4th as the city with the most allergies.... as I sit here with a pounding headache, I believe it. Of course some of that might be caused by the fact that I have been staring a computer screen for well over 11 hours today... that is just a bit too long!!!

Time to play catchup

So.. .time to play catchup now...

First and foremost, Jim should be on a plane making his way HOME.... YEAH!!! His welcome home party is in the planning and we are ready to see him. Looks like Chris might be the first as he is set to go pick him up next week from Norfolk just as soon as he is done 'demobilizing'... then its time to bring him home!

This past weekend we took a trip to good old Northern Kentucky to see the 'in-laws'... we spent some time with Chris' brother and overall had a good trip. We went down to the farm to check things out and then spent a day doing Riverfest 2008. The WEBN fireworks were great and amazing to watch. It was a great, HOT day spent with my man and some teenage girls.. hahaha..

The boys are doing well.. Ryan tracks out tomorrow for his first track out session.. and Trenton is winding down his second week of school. So far things are going well.

Soccer this weekend might be affected every so slightly by Hannah.. this tropical storm we have coming!!! Looks like we might just get some serious rain... but only time will tell...

Ladies night at Ciao cafe and wine bar is in the planning stages and so far it looks like about 10 girls are showing up, but the numbers keep growing! The more, the merrier!

Month end

This past weekend we started our 'crazy season'. Both boys are playing soccer, Trenton practices on Tuesdays, Ryan on Wednesday, Chris bowls on Thursdays and then each boy had a game on Saturday and Trenton had one on Sunday which was after lunch at mom and dad's... wow that is a tiring week and weekend!
We are getting ready for a trip to Cinci to see his family of course, but to also see the WEBN fireworks.. I am excited about that.. I love fireworks.. they are so romantic in a dorky sort of way!!!
Jim should officially be a single didget midget now... not sure that I spelled that right, but he should be down to 9 days before he gets to come home from Djibouti. We are thrilled beyond words. It has been a tough 9 months for his family and for everyone and I am sure for him. I personally have missed him more than I ever imagined and I am sure Chris has as well. For my own selfish reasons too, it will be nice have him home... its been a tough year on Chris having his best friend so very very far away.....

Spyder Ride pics

I forgot the link to the pics ~

http://picasaweb.google.com/chicnrdu

Just when I was getting good...

At posting... I got slack! And now its been an entire week!
Last week was quite busy, work has kept me busy, I am on-call and doing bits and pieces of several people's jobs. I should find it exhilerating and normally I do, but its also stressing me out right now. Not real sure why... guess maybe I just need to slow my brain down a bit.

This past weekend was a fabulous weekend. Chris and I took our first real 'Spyder Ride' and met up with a group of Spyders and did some riding on the Blue Ridge Parkway and through some twisty curvy roads. It was GREAT! We had a nice lunch in Mt. Airy NC famous for The Andy Griffith show and after a few more rides through the foothills, headed on home! It was a great day overall and just one of those days when you truly feel that all is well with the world.

The experience was exhilerating, the day was gorgeous, the views were beautiful and the people were just oh so nice.... what more can you really ask for?

Long Day ~

I am tired and I am frustrated. I have to remind myself that life is a series of challenges and that it's how I handle myself and how I teach my child to handle these 'challenges' that is what really counts in the whole big scheme of the world as we know it.
Still, it gets tiring.. and I am ... just drained.

Monday ~

The world could use one less blonde ~

Weekends are good, no great!

It was a great weekend overall.. We just hung out and played and visited with some old friends. Had them over Saturday evening for a cookout and a little guitar hero... I know.. we are freaks!!!
Got the boys hair cuts today, bought some soccer cleats and spent some time (and money) at Toys R 'Us... its a great thing!
Video games are starting up on this Sunday evening and all is well on the home front. Ready for the week ahead!!!!

Mom and Dad

Oh and in a separate note:

HAPPY 48th ANNIVERSARY TO MY PARENTS

I love you guys!!

Trenton

My boy came home today!!!!! Yeah!!!!! He had a great time with his dad in PA, but I believe he is glad to be home! He called me first thing this morning, when they pulled into Cary and I went and picked him up. Life will start getting back to normal soon.. a couple more weeks and then schoool starts!!!!
Looking forward to a nice, relaxing weekend with the boys....

Rough Week ~

It's been a rough week so far ~ Monday night I was at work till 11pm.. got home and layed down for 15 mins and then right back up and working until after 4am. The good news is that after all of that and 2 days of complete and total fall out from being down for over 12 hours.. we are starting to get back to normal. It's been rough, but it's getting better!

Trenton has spent the last week with his daddy in PA visiting family... I miss him sooo much and am soo ready for him to come home! I just got off the phone with him and they are leaving in a couple of hours and should be home by lunch time or so tomorrow! I can't wait to go pick him up!!!!

Things here are good, just decisions need to be made with the other young boy in the house... and that means some rough roads ahead maybe.... time will tell!!!

Looking forward to a nice relaxing weekend with the boys though.. and some old friends coming over for a cookout Saturday night.

Class of '92

Nora cracks me up ~ I love the girl though ~ but some of these pics, have got to GO!!!!

http://caryhigh1992.blogspot.com/

I love my life ~

Another fantastic weekend in the books ~

Friday night was the successful wine party ~ where of course lots of wine was had, as well as the bottle of dessert wine that I finished off!!! Good food, good drinks, great friends ~ I really am a lucky girl. Plus a portion of the proceeds goes to support Urban Ministries of Wake County, a local charity which helps people HERE in need.

Saturday was some volunteer work as Chris and I volunteered through SAS to help collect school supplies for children in need through the Communities in School organization. We had this on our list of things to do this year, more volunteer work.

Saturday night, we celebrated ~ with the Rascal Flatts and Taylor Swift concert. We just had lawn seats, but it was a sold out show and was fantastic!! We had a great time!!

Sunday was a nice bike ride all through Johnston County, with a stop in Clayton for dinner and then a stop in Fuquay to visit Kristin, Todd and the kids and then on home. Chris is working, we are watching tv and just enjoying the end to a WONDERFUL weekend!

Trenton comes home Wednesday ~ I miss him lots, but he is having fun!!!

Almost the weekend ~

It's almost the weekend... and I am ready!!! Wine party at my house tomorrow night... have about 12 people coming over ... so that should be fun!
Saturday night is date night with my man....

Trenton arrived safely in PA with his dad... hope he has fun! In the meantime, I am enjoying the kid free life!!!!!

Mid-week review

Well its Tuesday and its been a very busy couple of days. One of our team mates moved up to Info Sec this week, so my work load has just increased drastically!!! I prefer to work under pressure actually, but it can be a bit over-whelming at first... I just need to get back into my organized mode and buy my Franklin Covey planner pages refill... and then I will be good to go!
We had both boys tonight and enjoyed a nice evening of pizza, homework for Ryan and then McD's milkshakes while taking Ryan home.... very enjoyable!!!
Tomorrow afternoon/evening Trenton leaves for PA with his dad to visit some cousins.. they will be gone for 6 days or so.... I miss him so much when he is gone, but try to remember that its great that he has this relationship with his cousins up there!!!
He is just growing up so fast.. its amazing at times.. the things he does.. the things he says... he is becoming quite the young man.. and I am extremely proud of him!!!

Weekend wrap-up

Friday night we treated the boys to Batman - The Dark Night. We went to the late (9:20) show and its a 2 1/2 hour movie which put us getting out right around midnight.. it was a good movie and had a few surprises... the boys loved it!
Saturday was a good pool day and Trenton and Ryan spent some time with Greg and Missy... good times!!!
Sunday was a lake day with Denise, Las and their two boys. It looks overcast and rainy, but just as we were putting the boat in the water, the sun came out and even with 30 sunscreen on, there are some red, rosey cheeks and arms!!! We all tubed and had a blast and ended up getting beat by the waves as an afternoon storm rolled in... boat was out of the water just as the first drops of rain began to fall!!!
All in all it was a great weekend and one I hope to repeat soon!!!!

Success ~

Girl's night was a major success ~

Chris was very much the gentleman and played valet for all the ladies unloading their cars and parking them, since it was freakin' downpouring!!!
Food was good, we laughed, told stories, had 10 of us total I believe.... and sang. Yes, we sang.. and the more we drank, they louder we sang!!!!!
It was a great night and I can't wait to do it again !!!!!!!

2nd Annual Get out of your closet and Into Someone Else's clothing swap

Wow.. that's a mouthful..... AKA, ladies night, my house....

Time for food, wine, fun, wine, food, laughter, gossip, wine, food..... and did I mention wine??

The ladies will start arriving in about 30 minutes... I worked hard to clean the house and it looks quite nice and I am ready for some fun!!!!

Yeah for my girlfriends ~ they are the BESTEST!!! ;-)

Kid Free ~ for 4 days!!

It's Thursday night a little after 9pm and we are officially kid free for 4 days!!! WOOHOO!!!!
I miss Trenton so much when he is not here, but I do enjoy these weekends when its just Chris and I.. some time to relax, some time to unwind, some time to just BE...
But as a bonus this weekend, its girls night at my house... the 2nd annual out of your closet and into someone else's clothing swap is happening at my house on Saturday evening... I am soo soo excited!!!! Looks like it should be a nice crowd of about 9 of us girls for some food, wine, and shopping at no cost to us other than just the time to come hang out!!! And all the left over clothes go to Good Will... so its a feel-good bonus too... what more can we ask for????

Rough Monday ~

Today was a rough Monday ~ to start off, I am tired. Just tired....
Greg received his written offer letter and signed it.. its official.. he is moving upstairs to Information Security.. I am happy for him, but that just means one more loss to the downstairs team.... rumor has it that a couple of others are leaving as well.. we will see how that pans out!
Left work late, had to stop at the grocery store.. came home, cooked dinner .. it was TACO NIGHT... cleaned up the kitchen.. and here it is 8:42pm and I am just sitting down.. and I am pure exhausted.... while the 3 kids upstairs who slept until noon... are wide awake!!!!!!
Its been really nice having all the kids run around the house.. they are entertaining Trenton nicely... it has been really nice to not have to worry about what to do with him during these days I am at work....

Sunday evenings ~

So first off, our AC downstairs is still not working well, but luckily we have this cool unit that is helping keep the house cooler. The second, yes SECOND compressor for the unit should be arriving sometime this week... its always something.
The weekend was quite enjoyable as the kids have all gotten along beautifully. Friday evening was a basketball game out in the cul-de-sac followed by some pool time and dinner! Saturday brought about a big breakfast and then several hours at the pool, which meant we all had nice red cheeks.... we headed out the door to Jelly Beans to go roller skating and were joined by Todd and Tyler. We had a great time. If you don't roller skate, you really should. Its great exercise, lots of fun and very much enjoyable!
Sunday was lunch at mom and dad's followed by just some good old fashioned chilling out. Some video games and some cards have been played and now everyone is just having fun.
It has really been quite nice having the girls here!!!!

Life with 4 kids ~

So after spending a month with the two nieces here from Kentucky and life with anywhere from 2 - 4 kids pretty much all the time was crazy.... then they all left... and there was peace... until Sunday afternoon when Trenton's daddy calls and says that his two nieces Meghan and Brianna want to come to my house with Trenton.... GREAT.... bring them on.. no biggie..... it was just the 3 of them and Trenton was being well.. obnoxious but it was still enjoyable. Then comes the confusing part of where are these girls going from here. Dad is back in Iraq, they don't want to go to step-mom's and they aren't supposed to be going home to mom yet... soooo... as luck would have it, they are coming back here tomorrow to stay again with Trenton.... so I will have them until probably next Wednesday night.... hahaha... back to 4 kids again!!! But its all good!!! They are really good girls and lots of fun.
It really made me think though... a few years back, there was a fear of Ian (their dad) getting shipped off to Iraq and he had custody of the girls at that time. The step-mom was not in the picture and when the papers first got started, he asked Trenton's daddy if we (even though divorced) would be willing to take guardianship of the girls.... which would mean they would go back and forth just like Trenton does and just as if they were ours..... Of course I said I would do it as I would do anything for those girls, but luckily it never came to that... Its just sort of ironic that here we are a few years later.. their dad is in Iraq and they are here for a few weeks and going back and forth with Trenton....

A whole week has gone by ~

Its been crazy ~ first off, the funeral was awful, horrible and just something I was not prepared for. It was however very nice to see all of Trenton's family on his daddies side. Bryna and Johnny, Scott and Summer, Meghan and Bri and Ian.... I got to meet Ian's new wife Lori who came up to me and said 'you must be aunt angie'... and I also got to spend some time talking to and getting to know Samantha (Trenton's daddy's girlfriend). Awkward much??
It was a difficult experience for the entire family as they always felt sure that PaPa would go after a lengthy hospital stay.... but this is the way he would have wanted to go.

As soon as the funeral ended, I wisked Trenton off to the beach (with permission from his daddy of course) for a few fun filled days at North Myrtle. It was a good time and he was a bit moody at times, but that is to be expected. The poor guy has had a rough week. Overall, I think the condo route was definitely the way to go with me, Chris and 4 kids!!! We spent our days on the beach and at the pool and our nights playing cards and putting together puzzles. It was lots of fun.

We did our traditional 4th of July fireworks lasat night (yes, July 3rd) at Lake Benson park. Great play area for the kids, lots of goodies by local non-profits, and great picnic area....followed by the NC Symphony and then a great fireworks show. Its also the most organized exiting strategy I have ever seen from a fireworks show.... I am not exagerrating when I say that we can be out of there in less than 10 minutes.... last time I checked, it was almost an hour to get out of Regency.... that's just a no-brainer to me folks!!!

Katie and Kellie flew home today, we dropped Ryan off at his mommy's and then Trenton at his daddy's and now we are just vegging at home.. enjoying the peace and quiet....

Life and its uncertainties ~

Just as life seems to be rolling along and going great overall, we get thrown a curve-ball. Trenton's daddy called me last night a little after 10pm to let me know that he had just heard from his mom that his dad had passed away. He wasn't even home yet, but wanted me to know and I guess needed to know that Trenton was okay. I can completely understand that. We agreed to tell Trenton together and did so this evening. It was a heart breaking experience. Trenton has a luxury that most kids don't... both sets of grandparents live in Cary. He knows them both extremely well... this was his first grandparent loss.
As much as Curtis and I may have fussed and fought over the years, it was still quite difficult to see him cry. It was however very comforting to know that through it all, he seems to be geniunely concerned about Trenton's best interest and doesn't want Trenton stuck in a situation where he is around complete sadness. If it comes to that, he wants me to come get him....
I am at a loss for words... and its been a bit harder than I imagined. This man was my father-in-law for 10 years and I did love him quite a bit. He is most definitely in a better place and went peacefully and with no pain. Those are very important things to his family....
Either way, this will be a difficult weekend for all involved. My thoughts and prayers are with Trenton, Curtis and the entire family... and I am especially praying for the safe trip home from Iraq for Ian... his family needs him right now ~

Concert ~

The Toby Keith concert was great ~ he always puts on such a GREAT show... of course there are lots of REDNECKS there so the people watching is always amazing as well!!!

I think the Katie and Kellie had a good time as well... Katie knew most of the songs and got to give some pot smoking guy the naughty sign.... it made him smile... she is cute, so its hard for anyone to get mad at her... LOL.

We got rained on and were wet for most of the night... but it still turned out okay I think... I had a great time...and I think they did too...

Chris enjoyed the night overall except the traffic when leaving! The only tough part of the night was when he sang American Soldier, I think we both teared up a bit thinking of Jim overseas.... but he should be home in a few months!!!

Trenton called as we were sitting in traffic... he was there with his daddy.. this is twice now we have been at the same concert and not seen them... I knew the place was big... but that is just crazy big!!!

But its probably a good thing.... ;-)

Fun night ~

Its been a fun, busy week and we are relaxin' at home right now. Had a tball game and awards banquet this morning... it went fine. His ex drives me CRAZY, but such is life. I just have to remember that the chic has no manners what so ever or no proper upbringing...ughhh

Chris got us tickets to the Toby Keith concert so we are taking the girls there tonight.. hope the rain holds off for us...!!!! That will be lots of fun... we went two years ago and I am really looking forward to going again!!!!

Should be lots of fun.. lake possibly tomorrow and then back to work on Monday ~

Father's Day Weekend ~

Well Maw-Maw and Paw-Paw landed safely on Friday morning and the activities began. We took the entire tball team to the Mudcats game on Friday night and our little #4 Ryan got to run out on the field with our big #4 John Raynor. Cousin John ... it was a great time had by all the tballers and I believe all the parents enjoyed it as much as the rest of us did!
Saturday was Ryan's party and we had a great turnout.. lots of friends and lots of fun!!! The Raynor parents and the McHargue parents met for the first time and I do believe that went quite well. Ryan of course got spoiled with presents and it was overall just a great day!
Father's day saw Trenton off to spend a good day with his dad and we all had dinner at Tony's Oyster Bar.... yummy!
Today, Monday, was a great pool day as Maw-Maw and Paw-Paw made their way home to KY... the girls and I spend some time at the pool with Ryan and Julian.
Overall its been a great weekend and now I sit burnt watching Memphis Belle.. which is turning out to be quite a good movie!!!

And the fun begins ~

Katie and Kellie landed safely at RDU this morning and spent the day with Ryan, Chris and Trenton just hanging out, enjoying some pool time and catching a nap!
The evening has been pretty uneventful other than Katie burning her leg on the muffler on the motorcycle... NO, she wasn't on it.. she was standing next to it and being a little ADD and somehow or another walked into the back of it managing to burn a nice little oval mark on her leg.. a nice 3 inch long or so mark.. she really didn't need that layer of skin did she?

Guitar Hero 3 is my background noise and I am ready for my turn... haha...

No work for the next couple of days and I am ready for the in-laws to come into town and ready for some fun times!!!

Last Day of School

Today was the boys last day of school. It looks like we now have a 7th grader and a 2nd grader on our hands.. that is our hope at least!!

Both boys had a great last day of school followed by some ice cream at the quaint ice cream shop in downtown Apex. Two of Trenton's friends from school joined us and I treated them to ice cream as well. Gotta be the cool mom, ya know?

Taco night was a huge success and I am picking the girls up from the airport in the morning.... the BUSY time is starting.. but its gonna be fun!!!!

Busy week ~

So what happens when I have an extremely busy week ~ I don't blog ~ at all ~ apparently??

So with this extremely busy week at work, comes some crazy times as well with the purchase of Chris' new toy ~ the new Can-Am Spyder. Its lots of fun, looks a little different and her name is Natasha ~ yeah you heard it here first!

So between new toys, kids and a hell-acious week at work ~ I am tired. Exhausted actually. We went to the Melting Pot for dinner tonight for Greg and Missy's birthdays and that was fun, but I ate too much and now feel a bit miserable. Its 11pm on a Saturday night and I am ready for bed. This week coming up will be full of fun, but crazy times. Trenton comes home Monday, Ryan comes home Tuesday for week 1 of his two weeks, Chris' nieces AND his parents come in Thursday and we have a weekend full of baseball and birthday parties! It truly will be a crazy time!!!

Wish me luck ~

Flip Flop Tan Lines

I mean really... seriously... I know I am a very pale person in the winter time, but was pleased with how my base tan was coming along. I have already burnt my knees TWICE to the point my leg/knees actually peeled some.. .gross! All of this, and two hours at the ball field today at NOON and guess what.. I have flip flop tan lines now. Well, they are actually flip flop red lines right now... but really .... at what point in the summer, do I quit getting these lovely farmers tan lines?????

Work from Home Fridays

Are the BEST!!! To make today even better, its payday.. and we all know how wonderful of a day that is!!!
Fridays are good days and with both boys here, it just makes it that much better. Its the beginning of the weekend and the boys are wide open and playing well together. We have already been to the pool and the two of them played on the trampoline while we grilled out some chicken and made home made french fries... add a little steamed broccolli in that mix and that's a perfect summer time dinner....
Its a good weekend in that we don't have too terribly much planned other than tball and our next door neighbors 40th birthday party... It gives the kids a good chance to all play together and have fun. After all.. thats what its all about!!

All is well with the world....

Tough Week ~

It has been a fun but tough week ~ from my last post a GRAND day was spent at the lake with Greg and Missy and along with that came some boat riding and tubing... Its Wednesday now and my arms are just now recovering....
Tuesday brought back to work and Wednesday was just all together a BUSY day ~ vendor onsite tomorrow ~ some up and down emotions about various things have just made for a strange week all together....
I just can't seem to sum it all up, but its hard when Chris and I both are having tiring, busy, over-load sort of weeks ~

Ladies Night Last Night ~

Was a BLAST!!!! But I paid the price for it today ~ 12 ladies, out for a good time ~ jewelry party at my house, with appetizers and wine and such and then on down to Tony's for some live music, dancing and more drinking!!!!
Definitely a night to remember for all of us ~

Thoughts ~

Lots of thoughts and prayers have been going to Stef and Derek and their family - they are friends of Nora's who have had an extremely emotional and trying couple of weeks. With Stef's body shutting down basically due to infection, the twin girls she was carrying had to be delivered very early. Sarah lived for 14 minutes and Tessa lived for for a good two weeks I believe. Tessa has now gone to join her sister and my heart breaks for this family. I believe I have met Stef before, but through her posts on her blog, you can tell what an amazing woman, mother and believer she is.... I will continue to pray for her, that she has all the physical and emotional healing that she needs and that she and her family have peace knowing that the girls they loved are watching over them now.....

Things like this hit so very close to home and remind me why we hold our children so close to us.. even when they are 12 years old.... :)

Ugh ~

Major headache and my day is going down hill ~ ugh

Mid May Updates

Well, as luck would have it, Chris made it home from Hong Kong and we were able to spend some nice time together. My son of course was late coming home on Mother's Day which sort of bummed me out and got me rather emotional... let to some interesting conversations... haha!

The week is going okay... I found out that I am getting promoted and the announcement went out today. This is a very big thing for me and I feel very proud of my accomplishment. I have reached one of my major goals in life. I always sort of knew that one day, I might change my focus and try to do half technical, half supervisor type stuff... I think I would be good in a role like that. So to make at least a SE II position is a BIG stepping stone in the right direction for me.

I gave Chris a hard time though.. he didn't get me flowers for my promotion... hmmm .. I think I need to work on that man some.... ;-)

Hmmmm

Rumor has it Chris might have to stay in Hong Kong even longer ~ that means he misses Mother's Day. Which shouldn't be bad, because after all its a 'me and Trenton day', but I have mixed feelings about him missing something that is important to me ~
Still processing all of this......

What's Normal?

So as it turned out, normal life was normal for all of 3 days and Sunday afternoon we did our ritual again of dropping him off at the airport... I was especially sad this time. It was hard the first time, but apparently I was strong, but this time it showed on my face more... its just that the three days home was just enough to get us back to us....
But as Chris keeps telling me, look at the big picture.. lots of Marriott points, lots of Airline miles and he comes home Saturday this week! So its Wednesday evening here... so technically only 3 more days and I will be picking him up at the airport!

Work has been crazy this week - we lost power in one of hte 6513 switches... that was fun. Oh and then a change unrelated to my world caused my system to go down... at 3:30am.. nice huh? So thanks to an early wake up call, Tuesday was a l-o-n-g day! Today brought about a secure email issue and at this rate - every system we support will have had issues by Friday.. weird thing is that our stuff is usually so stable....hmmmm

On the plane ~

He is on the plane - ready to take off -

YEAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Now life can get back to normal.....

Thursday = Holiday

Thursday is a holiday in Hong Kong so as luck would have it.. Chris gets to come home a day early!!! I can't wait!!! Now he may have to go back next week for a few days, but hopefully it will be a long while before we do another two weeks apart!!!

Salute our troops parade and Spring Fest

So Saturday Nora and I went to the salute our troops parade and events in downtown Raleigh. It was a great parade and lots of fun! We then headed to Sonic for lunch and went to the Cary SpringFest arts and crafts show. All I am going to say about that is HOT!!! It was the warmest day thus far this year... and I now have the rockin' farmers tan going on!!! Woohoo!!!

More soon ~

Monday blues ~

Well here it is.. day two and I am doing okay! Day 1 went by pretty quick with church with the parents followed by breakfast with them and then some quality time at their house...it continued that evening with dinner with our old next door neighbors from Four Oaks. That was fun and I fell into bed from shear exhaustion!!!
Day two - well its a Monday but overall work kept me busy today and that was a good thing. I went by the store, cooked dinner and now am baking cookies for Jim. Hopefully I can get it all baked tonight and send out his next box tomorrow...

CRAZY Saturday ~

It has been a completely crazy day...
Left the house at 8:10am for a 9am soccer game, then on to tball scrimage (kids against the parents) then the boys had a bday party for the boy next door at Jelly Beans. Left there and took Chris to the airport to see him off for his trip to Hong Kong. It was sad, but I did okay.....
He has called a few times since then... about 10... but I miss him already.

Helping others ~

Gave blood today at the Cary location for the Red Cross....my little way of giving back... without all those 'givers' out there, my mother would probably not be alive today.... so my hat's off to them and hopefully my blood can help someone else's mom..... <3

Sunday update ~

Girls day yesterday as we got hot stone pedicures and enjoyed a nice lunch and some shopping. Tons of fun with Van and Missy. Love it, and thinking we must do it again....

Time out with friends last night... lots of food, fun, good friends and a few to many Long Island Ice Teas... made for a lay around the house and watch movies day!!!

Trenton raised all his grades on his report card! I am thrilled and can't wait to see it tomorrow....

Time to feel better ~

Like many of us, the older I have gotten, the lazier I have become. Well, not so much lazy as involved in other things. Besides working full time and then some, and the boys soccer, tball and baseball, there is life in general, dishes, cooking, cleaning and the ever growing pile of laundry. The problem seems to be that I have lost the focus of taking care of myself. With this I find that I am probably not setting the best example for Trenton and as he enters the pre-teen years, is predisposed to the opportunity to get a little chunky during his growth spurts.
So tonight, we begin the change. Chris and I ran some in the neighborhood, and yes, I thought I was going to pass out.. we ran for about 15 - 20 minutes and he did way better than I did. Then we came home and I broke out the Tae-Bo DVD and introduced Chris to the world of Tae-Bo.. after about 25 minutes of that, I had had about all I could take. I am sooo out of shape. Its sad.. Its depressing and Its time to change. So, the vow had jokingly been made that I would be in better shape when Jim returns and now I am determined to make it so....
I will be hurting tomorrow, but its all good... maybe one of these days I will be able to make it all the way around the block... hahaha!!!!
Wish me luck ~

DC, Busch Gardens and Jamestown

We had a blast - in DC we saw all the usual memorials and historical sites, well most of them at least. We then moved on to spend a full day at Busch Gardens - opened the place at 10am and left when they kicked us out around 8:20pm... it was a long, tiring, but so much fun day!!! Ryan rode his first 'real' roller coaster - The Big Bad Wolf. Chris was gleaming with pride. Trenton and I don't do roller coasters, so we just enjoyed watching and Trenton rode some other rides! Chris and I did a beer tasting and that was very cool. We have some great pics!!
We then moved on to Jamestown, VA the sight of the first colony. We got to see replicas of the ships and the boys got to learn about the way of life back then. All in all it was a great trip and since we stayed with my parents in their time share, it was a great opportunity for them to spend some time with the two boys!!!

One more day of spring break - the boys go back to school on Tuesday - and we head back to work!

Spring Break

Spring Break always brings about some interesting times around here ~ we have Ryan for 11 days straight. Trenton is with his dad for the first part of the week and then us the last part. Looking forward to going to Williamsburg VA and DC with mom and dad. Should be fun and should be very educational for everyone as well!

Easter Sunday was a nice day in which we got to spend time with Grandma ~ its hard to believe she will be 85 this year. She played the piano for the boys and seemed to enjoy having an audience.

I can't believe that it's going to be April Fools' Day tomorrow! Jim has been gone for two whole months now and I miss him terribly. Some fun events coming up, Van, Missy and I are going to do our SPA day thanks to our men and their Christmas thoughts! That should be tons of fun ~ a really nice pedicure ~ looking forward to it!!!!

Busy weekend ~

Trenton turned 12 last Wednesday so its been basically a week of partying at our house. He had several special dinners, some with just us, some with friends, etc... Friday night he had soccer practice and Saturday was party day. I really think everyone had fun at the party. It was a nice turnout, considering we were actually missing about 6 or 7 friends. Two of Trenton’s long time friends couldn’t make it because Johnston County schools are on Spring Break so they were out of state. Another long time good friend is was his dad’s 50th birthday party... and then another good friend was out of town since it was Easter weekend.... This is the earliest Easter has fallen since 1913 and from what I learned today, Easter won’t fall this early in the year again for another 200 years. So no more worries on it interfearing with his birthday parties! LOL....
The party was great though and the weather was spectacular. I think everyone had a good time and then we took all these kids to Jelly Beans to go roller skating. It was a BLAST! I had such a good time with them and they are all really good kids! On the way home we of course had to hit McD’s for milkshakes.. of course!!! So all in all it was a great day and I hope everyone had fun!
Today was Easter Sunday and we did the church thing followed by lunch at mom and dad’s... mom ended up needing to go to the hospital to get blood, so it was a crazy day, but after getting grandma home, Ryan dropped off at his mom’s, Trenton picked up from his dad’s.. we are at home now, relaxing, chilling and the boys are playing video games.
Hope this finds everyone well ~

Wow - lots to catch up on

And not alot of time, so I will keep this short, but with a list of things I want to come back to and talk about...
Firstly, at 8:07am tomorrow morning, my little boy turns 12.. wow how the time is flying by!!
Secondly, happy late St.Patricks day to all my friends out there....
Thirdly, happy 13th anniversary TODAY to Jim and Vanessa... and many more to come....

Fourthly, if there is even such a word, I spent an amazing weekend in NYC this past weekend with some very memorable stories of things like the World Trade Center memorial, meeting the fireman that was in the lobby of the south tower when it collapsed and survived (they actually did a documentary on him where scientists tried to explain how it was possible he lived)...and our 'guide' a friend named Paul who was in the north tower... experiencing those events with actual FDNY guys there with you is such a moving experience... more stories to come on that one.

Getting ready for a busy weekend... Trenton's bday party and Easter...more to come soon!

Friday nights

The weekend has begun! We started by taking the boys to the batting cage so they can get some practice in. We took Corey (CJ) with us as he might have tryouts tomorrow. I say might because the dog can currently swim laps in the backyard!

I find myself a bit grumpy tonight... grumpy as I sit here on the couch and try to watch tv but can only hear two different video games coming from the adjacent rooms. Ughhh....
I would go lay down but I have a change control to do at 1am... ughhh again!

Projects are fun ~

Working on Trenton's Rube Goldberg project ~ they set it all up last night, video taped it and its ready to turn in~
Trenton's finishing up the poster board and we will get it to school tomorrow... projects are so much fun!!!!

SWAT team showed up next door ~ WTF ~ I live in Apex people..... not the ghetto~~~~
Not sure what that was all about, but I hope to find out soon.... I think it was just a search warrant and the fact that I do live in Apex is what caused them to go to extremes ;-)

Blue Man Group

For Chris' Bday I got us tickets to go see Blue Man Group ~ the concert was Friday night (the leap year day) and it was GREAT! A very different mix of percussion, with some guitars and much more of a visual concert than most probably. It was quite the experience and something I would definitely love to do again.
Will have to check and see if they come back next year......
Saturday we had a 'fence fixing party' at Jim's house. Right after Jim left, thanks to some strong winds, they lost a tree in the back yard. It took out part of their fence, so Greg and Chris fixed it while us girls hung out. It was good to see Vanessa smile and laugh. That was the goal for the day, just to let her feel loved and not alone. I think she enjoyed herself and we all had a good time. Took her out to Connelly's for a while and I was DD... it was a good evening and everyone was home before midnight! Best of all ~ the fence is fixed ;-)

Sunday night chill ~

Well the weekend is winding down and its been a fun, eventful one. Saturday was the coaches vs the kids bowling tournament and the boys loved it. Trenton bowled his all time high of 129. I am so proud of him. Ryan bowled well to and the kids had a good time. Saturday night my parents came over for dinner and that was really nice. Chris cooked us a great dinner and then we played Scattergories. Very successful dinner and a very pleasant evening with the parents.
Sunday was a cold trip to the Sk8 park in Cary so the boys could skateboard and then home. Denise and Las came over with the boys and we hung out and had some dinner. It was nice to play catch up with them.. its been too long.
Trenton and Chris are now discussing the big science project and how to do it and what they want to do ... this could be quite the undertaking!! Ideas are often way bigger than can be handled! Back to homework ~

Updates are good ~

Tonight was our first soccer practice and it was cancelled due to weather. I mean really, who wants to play soccer in 32 degrees and rain? I have done it before, and its fun, but gets old really quick. I dreaded it all day, not because of Trenton because I knew he would have fun doing it, but because as a mere spectator on the sideline, I have a hard enough time just sitting there watching. And somehow sitting and watching in 32 degrees and rain, didn't make it any more appealing to me.
Overall, its been a pretty good week.... Monday was a bank holiday and I took Tuesday off because Trenton was out of school. It was really nice just to spend some time with him. Chris stayed up late with him Monday night playing video games online. All of Chris' gaming buddies were calling him Patches Jr. ~ it made Trenton feel sooo good! He is definitely our emotional child.. not in the sense of moody emotional, but in the sense of the deep meaning of emotions and the way they impact us... much more so than Ryan. It is very important to him that Chris sees him like a son and he does, so it makes things easy. I think he actually enjoys it when people call Chris his dad ~ he tells me its because he is like a second dad to him ~ :)

Mondays are fun ~

Its Presidents' Day, the bank was closed today and my boy is HOME. Overall it was a pretty good day. Went out Friday night for Chris' bday with some friends and drank a toast to Jim who has already left ~ and so the countdown begins until he returns home to us!!! We spent some of the weekend shopping and I am becoming a high maintenance woman. I tell ya... watch out world!
They say that clothes make the woman ~ well ~ I hope so, cuz thanks to some designer (and I mean REAL NICE) hand-me-downs, my new purse, a pair of second hand sun-glasses and a pair of shoes that resemble the name of a famous brand of purses, I looked HOT Friday night and feel like a new woman ~ there was nothing that said 'mommy' about me this weekend!
Hope everyone is well ~ and yes, I am still me ~ just a slighter better dressing version of ME!!

Valentine's Day

In less than two hours it will be Valentine's Day ~ that day of pressure and getting the perfect gift for that special someone. Finding good cards that say what you want them to say can be exhausting, frustrating and expensive!!!
Well, we cheated and opened gifts tonight... see its also Chris birthday tomorrow, and with work and bowling and such, we decided to open gifts tonight. He got to open his birthday presents early when the boys were here, as we did a special dinner out to 42nd street oyster bar with them and presents. He got new shorts, a shirt, and the Call of Duty 4 game for the pc... he really wanted that one. So tonight he only had one gift to open.. it was two tickets to go see Blue Man Group in two weeks at the RBC Center. I think he really likes it actually.. I was a bit worried, because its outside of a 'norm' gift, but I thought it would be different and fun. Memories is what its all about after all.. right?
So the man got me a black Dooney & Bourke purse.. its gorgeous.. its the Nile which is the style and its my first REAL purse ( you know, that costs more than 29.99). I am thrilled with this gift as its something that I really wanted. How nice it is to have someone who pays attention to what I really want..... ;-)

Sick child ~

So as every mother has experienced at least once in her life, I sent Trenton off to school last Wednesday morning with a 'sore throat and cough' so he said. He went to dad's that afternoon and Thursday I received a phone call in the morning that he was staying home from school. Normally I would have been mad, but he genuinely sounded 'off'. Friday morning he called me by 10am and said 'can you pick me up NOW?'.. Yeppp.. the kid is not feeling well. He rested all day Friday and looked like he had been beat up. Baggy eyes, half open and flushed red cheeks.. it was pitiful. Saturday he felt better and played some but took a shower and ASKED to go to bed at 9:30pm.. uhh this is NOT my child. After gagging at 6am from coughing so hard, he was better and back to sleep. 12 hours of sleep and he was up and ready to go again... he played and had a good day, but in the afternoon I could tell he was tireddddd. We went to 42nd street oyster bar with the boys to celebrate Chris' birthday dinner and once home, he asked if he could go to bed again. My son was in bed by 7:30pm.. those that know Trenton, just know that is just not normal. I sure hope he gets better soon...mommies hate it when their kids feel bad.

A quiet Saturday

I can't believe its been a whole week since I last blogged ~ I am already getting slack ~ geez!

Anyhow, today was a crazy day, crazy in the sense that we drove 3 hours to Roanoke, VA to buy toe shoes.... yes toe shoes... for Chris. HAHA. Just goes to show that we are some crazy people. So we taught bowling this morning and then took off on our 3 hour drive. It was a nice day all together but we were tired by the time we got home.. which was around 8pm.

Jim is home for a week ~ we get to see him tomorrow. Looking forward to that! Looking forward to Greg and Missy's superbowl party tomorrow night too ~ Go PATS!!!

Time to relax

Its Sunday evening and Ryan has left to go back to his mommy's house, Trenton is next door playing and its finally calm in the house again! Its been a fun weekend.... we interviewed a guy to do some dog sitting for us and then took the boys to Jelly Beans last night to go skating (our 2 and the neighbor boy - Big Ryan as we call him).
Trenton has told me recently that all the kids think I am the coolest mom ever ~ thats quite the compliment. He must have at least meant it since he actually couple skated with me last night!! It was quite heart warming to have him want to skate with his mommy.... especially since I spent a good part of the evening watching him skate around as well as the older kids. I made sure that Trenton was proficient on not only roller skates but also ice skates before his 6th birthday... he has always loved to skate and looks so natural doing it. I must admit though its a bit odd to help teach your child how to backward skate because when he couples skates with a girl he is supposed to be the one skating backwards. I am really not ready for all of this.
The boys are just growing up so fast.. I am starting to remember the early days with Ryan and realize just how young he was the first time I met him.. and he called me Barney (inside joke)...
Oh well.. time to get ready for a new week!

The weekend

Its finally the weekend and this is my weekend with my boys. Our house goes from quiet to 120mph in right around an hour. All is quiet and then Trenton gets off the bus. Next thing I know, Chris is home with Ryan and the weekend officially begins. Along with the madness. It seems that neighborhood boys love our house! All of them! Sounds nice, right? Have you seen the vast number of boys in my neighborhood ~ trust me, mother Theresa would think twice. There have been nights when I have kicked kids out of my house at midnight. And no, I am not exaggerating!
Dinner is done, I am blogging, Chris is playing the new burnout on the big tv and the boys are playing Halo 3 on their game room tv. Yes, they have a game room. Yes, the tv is a whopping 36 inches and bigger than what most people use as their regular tv. Spoiled much?
In this modern age of electronics and all that these boys have, nothing beats them coming in and just hanging out with us.... I think tonight we will have a family Wii tournament.... just the 4 of us!

Ordinary dinner can be extraordinary....

I have found myself lately lapsing in my true parental duty... mainly in the one thing that I knew I was REALLY good at.... cooking my son a home cooked meal every night. Now I know that I am a good mom and am certainly not doubting that, but from the time Trenton was little it was important to me that I cooked for him the majority of the week. Well as life takes its toll, I have found that I will cook when there is 4 of us, and I will even cook when there is 3 of us, but on Tuesday nights when Chris bowls and its just Trenton and I.... I find myself not wanting to cook. Ughhh... it had seemed like more of a chore than the pleasure that it once brought me.
So as I drove home from work today, I decided that I needed to get back to the roots of what I bring to this child's life. There is again no doubt that in the household we show him love and lots of it, we show him the importance of working hard, we show him the importance of sitting down to dinner together as a FAMILY. So now it was up to me to show him that as his mother I take pleasure in the things I do for him.
At this moment after dinner is done and the dishes cleaned up, he is on one end of the couch reading and I am at the other end typing this...with our feet meeting in the middle. As I look over the top of my laptop, I can't help but smile... that handsome boy over there just lights up my world!! I am a lucky mommy ;-)

Jim's Party

Even though we had our first snowy day, the party must go on. Last night about 20 of us gathered together to wish Jim a night full of memories to remember us by as he ventures to Djibouti where he will faithfully serve his country. He hopes to return home by Christmas. Chris and I wanted to gather friends and give him a good send off and we weren't going to let the weather stop us! So off to Rum Runners we go to have some fun. All in all, it was a smaller turn out due to the weather, but still a great time was had by all. Jim was saluted, called on stage, cheered on, applauded and even audience people raised their glasses in respect to him. It was perfect. We all drank and had a great time and no night out would be complete without a trip to IHOP for some breakfast around 2am. I did good... I only cried once, when Jim got on stage and thanked Chris and I... he started tearing up and Chris teared up and it was more than I can handle. Jim has become one of my best friends over the last two years and is an always faithful, always funny, always dependable friend! Those who know him...all agree!

First snowy of 2008

As I sit inside on this, our first real snow day of 2008, I decided it would be a great time to stary blogging. I need to write, I need to blog, I need to do something. For those who know me, I love to write and always have.
I hope to use this for stories, funny moments and just life in general....