Day 89

Spring remains in Godfrey. We'll see what tomorrow brings.

Day 88

Woke up to a Spring Wonderland this morning. 3-4" of snow fell overnight. It was very pretty but not very nearly April! I didn't get to see if "hamster-size flakes" feel but I do know there was a bit of sleet

before hand (woke up at 1am & heard the frozen stuff hitting the windows.)

Well I knew it was supposed to warm up. This pic was taken 9 hours later. It's the same tree in my neighbor's yard. It doesn't look like the very wet, very heavy snow hurt any of the trees! Even the magnolia across the street looks ok, not all brown & icky like it has in previous years.

Day 87

Scott's crutches. He's been having ankle issues for nearly a month now. He's had an x-ray & it shows nothing. He has an appointment with an Orthopedic guy on Thursday. Seems WAY too long to wait. Way to long to listen to him whine!

Day 86

I made Peanut Butter Rice Krispie Treats today. I LOVE these treats (HATE regular RKT!!) Well, apparently my spatula doesn't like PBRKT cause, while I was spreading the mixture in the pan, the spatula snapped in half. I haven't bought new spatulas in YEARS. Last time, I had a hard time finding the Rubbermaid brand. I hope I can find them now or I'll have to buy Pampered Chef ones & I know they are PRICEY!!!

Day 85

I volunteered at the kids' school on Thursday. Really hoping it turns into a job for the fall! This is a lovely picture of my junk & Becca's crap. I have a van, why does everything end up in the front seat??

Day 84

As far as I'm concerned, this is WAY TOO RELAXED!! Jack, show some modesty!!

Day 83

I made the kids brownies yesterday. Scott doesn't like brownies. Scott DOES like oatmeal cookies. I don't particularly like oatmeal cookies. Somehow, I ate 5 before they had even cooled. It's ok, oatmeal's good for you, right?

Day 82

I am w/o a hubcap. Isn't it UGLY. I'm waiting for a replacement but that's taking alot longer than I'm comfortable with. I feel like such a hoosier driving w/only 3 hubcaps. I try not to look at it.

Day 81

Our new Library opened this weekend. It's pretty awesome. And HUGE!! We were the first one in the state to have a library in a mall & the 2nd one in the country. It's way cool! I can run to Macy's for something & pick up books (tapes, DVDs, CDs, etc) while I'm there. It's so awesome!

Day 80

Saturday is our dinner out night. We usually go somewhere nicer than fast food but Scott was playing cards & I wasn't even sure I would be able to eat (see previous post!) So, we had some running to do and no one could agree on what to eat. Since Scott was gone and mom is MUCH nicer than he is anyway, I told the kids we would each get what we wanted: Jack in the Box tacos for Becca, Taco Bell tacos for Nick & Rally's cheeseburger for Suzi. Everyone was happy. Until I realized I could not eat! This made me VERY sad

Day 79

I'm DYING!! I somehow got an infected tooth. Oooo, eee, owwww, pain, misery!!! I am taking antibiotics, muscle relaxers, pain pills plus over the counter meds TRYING to feel better. IT'S NOT WORKING!!! I keep asking Scott to take me out in the driveway & run me over with the car. Praying for the sweet release of death!! Why does stuff like this always happen on the weekends???

Day 78

March Madness!! Even tho I no longer work at the school, I was informed that I was still responsible for doing everyone's brackets. It should have been really easy this year; CBS had a website where you just click your teams and they will automatically update it. Unfortunately, no one wanted to deal with the website. So, I had to enter everyone's info. Next year, EVERYONE will do it this way! They send email alerts & keep all the records. But, I do find the whole process fun!

I'm near death....

I have been trying to take pics but I am not able to download them. I'm suffering from an infected tooth and it's NOT responding to the antibiotics nor the vicodin. Just when I think I improve a bit, reality comes back to bite me in the butt (why doesn't reality ever get a toothache & then it couldn't bite me!) Anyway, I'm hoping I'll be better tomorrow and maybe, just maybe, I'll get the pics posted!

Day 77

Isn't this a pretty sunrise. I guess this is an advantage DST, I'm driving while the sun is coming up & pretty. For now at least....

Day 76

Happy St. Patrick's Day!!!!

Did you know St. Pat wasn't even Irish?? Here are some more St Patty's facts:

1) Saint Patrick wasn't Irish. (He was British.)
2) Saint Patrick's Day has nothing to do with snakes. (Snakes have never been in Ireland.)
3) Saint Patrick was associated with the color blue (not green).
4) People didn't always party. (Until as recently as the 1970s, pubs in Ireland were closed on March 17th for religious observance.)
5) The 1st Saint Patrick's Day parade wasn't in Ireland. (It was in New York.)
6) "Danny Boy" wasn’t written by an Irishman. (It was an English guy.)
7) More than 40 million Americans trace their ancestry back to Ireland. (That's about seven times larger than the population of Ireland itself.)
8) Ireland is one island, but two countries (Northern Ireland & Ireland).
Two more myths we found out about later:
9) Saint Patrick died on either March 8th or the 9th in 432. Church officials added the dates, making St. Patrick's Day March 17th.
10) The Blarney Stone is kissed by the tourists, but it is peed-on by the locals.

Day 75

This is my space heater. I "live" in the basement (home of my computer, my scrap table, my big screen HD TV & the BluRay player!) and it's COLD down here!!! So, we have 2 space heaters. This one is as old as the hills! I think we inherited from Scott's mom. We have bought several new ones but they break & this thing continues to work!

It got 70 in StL today. At one point, I ran the space heater. It's colder downstairs than it is outside!! It's supposed to be 80 tomorrow. I hope I don't run it again!!

Day 74

I loaded the diswasher THREE TIMES today!! I'm glad I have a dishwasher but I really hate unloading it. Becca usually does it (eventually) but, since it needed doing twice I did one of them for her. I do love this dishwasher tho. It does a great job. It even cleans mashed potatos off w/o getting them all over the rest of the dishes!!

Day 73

I drove up the River Road to Elsah on Saturday morning. The bluffs were pretty but not yet looking "springy" The river was up and the place I had parked in January to take pics is now under water. It looks like all the Eagles have moved north?? I don't know where Eagles go when the weather warms.

Day 72

I thought this was going to be a simple pic. We went to Best Buy, bought a drum set or Nick's Wii & he's a happy boy. No such luck.

Backstory: Nick has been DYING for the drum set to go w/his Wii Guitar Hero. He has the money but, I told him he couldn't have it. He begged for it. I said no. I told him there was no room in his room for a drum set. He said we could get rid of his Lego tub. I said ok, but, he had to keep his room clean for 2 weeks. Week one goes off w/o a hitch. Friday, we're at his school & one of his teachers walks by. Casually asked her how Nick was doing; he didn't turn in a book report, flubbed a spelling test & never takes advantage of extra credit. As "punishment" he has to read the book (even tho he won't get any credit for it), do the extra credit (even tho he won't get any credit for it) and "the contest" as he calls it, starts all over again. He is NOT pleased but, by the end of the weekend he understands.

Fast forward 2 weeks. He gets his 3rd quarter report card and has brought all his 2nd semester grades up and has a GREAT report card! He has done well w/keeping his room clean & is now "qualified" to buy the drum set. We pick the kids up at school which is halfway to Edwardsville, the closet Best Buy. We explain that we're going to go ahead & drive to Best Buy & get him his drums. He's so excited I think he bounced all the way there. We get there & there is only one box & it's a little beat up. Nick says he's sure it's ok, he'll take it!! He wants to ride in the trunk w/it all the way home. He gets it home, sets it up & is happy as a clam!!

Saturday morning, I get back from my Stamp Camp and the drum set is apart & back in the box. Some piece of it is cracked. It works fine but Nick wants a "perfect" set. We go back to E'ville, there is not a set at any Best Buy w/in a 25 mile radius. We check 2 Targets, 2 Walmarts, 2 Game Stops and a Slackers, no drum set for Wii. Nick is truly bummed. Scott check's Walmart's website. They have it, in stock & $15 cheaper. We order, Nick pays $4 for fast delivery & it should be here on Wed. He's DYING for Wednesday now. Hope it all works out!!!! I hate when my kids are disappointed!

Pics coming soon!!

My camera is upstairs & I'm downstairs. When I go up, I don't think abou the camera! I need to find it 'cause I still haven't taken a pic today!!

Day 71

Spring is coming! The grass (or are they weeds?) is getting greener. Of course, the temp when I took this pic? 22!!! Brrrrrr!

Day 70

After dinner, the kids wanted to go to the Library. Jack was standing at the front door (he ALWAYS wants to go outside but never gets to 'cause he's an INSIDE CAT!!!). I told him he couldn't go with us. Then, I said, why not? So, into the van he went!! He LOVES to ride in the car & loves to look out the windows. Maybe he thinks he's a dog??? He had a good time &, as it was a short trip, he didn't have any sort of kitty accident in the car!

(Becca took these pics while I was driving!)

Day 69

Remember this little tree? Yesterday, I went to the kids' school & noticed little buds. I guess the tree will come out of it & be fine. Covered in snow, I wasn't so sure. Stay tuned for more updates as the spring progresses!

Day 68

Silly Cat. Jack knows he owns the whole house. He decided to sit with me while I ate my ice cream tonite. I'm fine if he's on the chairs but he KNOWS he's not supposed to get on the table. That doesn't mean he never gets on the table. He also knows he'll get pushed off if I catch him. LOL

Day 67

Daylight Savings Time. One word: ICK!!! I really don't like DST. I don't like losing time, I don't like the sun being up so late (not that it's up THAT late now) I don't like having to change all our clocks!! Why is it that cell phones & computers and some VCR/DVDs can change and the rest of them can't. Argh!

Day 66

Today's pics is compliments of my 14yo DD Becca. We went to Apple bees for dinner and sat in the bar area. (The state of IL is now smoke free so you can sit in the bar w/o getting immediate lung cancer!) Of course, in the bar, you have all the TVs tuned to whatever sporting events are on but you can't hear them. Applebees has solved this dilemma. Each table gets a wireless speaker system. You look around, see which TV has what you want to hear & then push that button on your little box. Unfortunately, it makes a little brrrrrrrrp sound as it tunes in that sounds like someone has broken wind. Becca, EXCUSE YOURSELF!!! LOL

Day 65

I didn't take a pic yesterday. My media card is out of my camera & I can't get them together. In fact, I'm not real sure where the media card IS right now. LOL I gotta find it before I leave!

Anyway, this is a pic I took last year, 6/2/08 to be precise (at 8:32 pm according to my computer) I have NO idea why I took sky pics but, I'm guessing 'cause I thought they looked cool. I have a whole SLEW of sky pics on this day. I'm thinking this is from my back deck, looking over the top of my house. When I do random things, I'm gonna have to journal them IMMEDIATELY so I remeber what, when, how & WHY!!!

Day 64

This is my waterproof camera case. I LOVE it so much!! I can take pics at the pool, I can take pics at the waterpark, I can take pics at the beach & not worry!!! It's actually my 2nd case. My camera & case were stolen from poolside at a hotel in Springfield, MO. Made me very sad (made hubby VERY VERY sad as he still hadn't paid the camera off!) I had to wait until my b'day to get a new camera & had to wait until the following summer to get another case.

(This case has been hanging on the coat rack since our last pool visit last summer. Today, I finally decided that maybe it's time to put it away. Before the pool opens this year. LOL)

Day 63

The ceiling fan in our living room. I love the shadow it created. Random

Day 62

This was NOT what I had planned to buy today but, I got word from WD that the error message my External Hard Drive was giving me was that it was about to crash. Since this is the ONLY copy of my pictures, I felt I HAD to replace it immediately!! The fact that I had a $50 Best Buy Gift Card made it a whole lot easier to swallow. Hopefully, this one will work better than the last. It was only 13 months old. I'll give it to my bro to see what is really wrong with it & if he can fix it. If he can, I'll have PLENTY of space for more pics!

Day 61

Homemade bread! Since I'm home & have all the stuff, why not try home-made bread. It needs a little something (more salt would be my guess) but the house sure smelled good!! Unfortunately, I only have one loaf pan (the recipe made 2 loaves) so I baked them both in a 10x10 pan. I don't think they cooked all the way thru. I'm going to try it again AFTER I buy a 2nd loaf pan!

Day 60

Guess what's for dinner tonite?? When Scott & I first started dating, I LOVED this meal. We rarely made tacos at home (my dad didn't like them) so it was new. Now, I'm so sick of tacos I HATE to make them. The kids still love them. But not the rice. If we have Tacos when Scott's home, we have the rice, otherwise, I don't make it: I don't like it, Becca doesn't like it and Nick doesn't like it. Although, tonite, I gave the kids the choice of beans or rice & Nick chose rice. Tomorrow: Pork chops, mashed potatoes, gravy, mac & cheese, green beans and Stove Top. I'm tired already!

Day 59

On Friday, I finally picked all my stuff up from work. Giant box full of the things I had accumulated over 4 years. It was sad! I loved my job & miss it something terrible!

This is a pile of Mardi Gras beads I had at work. I kept them there for special occasions: St Pat's, Red White & Blue days (school colors), Halloween. I always participated in the funky school spirit events: Pajama Day, Crazy Hat day, backwards shirt day. I loved doing stuff to make the kids smile. I had vinyl clings for every holiday and put them up just to make things cheery. Now, I'm gone & I KNOW no one else will do anything like that. But, the beads look WAY COOL piled up like this!!