June Close

Rain, rain and MORE rain. . .made June almost a wash. . .until yesterday's Strawberry festival. . .what a great time we had!

Struggle

Trying to bridge the world of the waking and the world of the not awake. . .bridge the gap between my work schedule and life schedule- especially with summer now here. . .hoping for the best. . .

Happy Birthday Butter

Dear Butter-,

OMG- 12??? Born on the anniversary of the Israeli victory in the 6 Day War, you make my day with your smile and those twinkling brown eyes. You are fearless and practical and your help over the past year has been a literal life saver, game changer and all other cliches. You are the most amazing kid, and it is with great pride that I point to you and say "that one, over there, THAT is MY SON" whenever anyone asks me which one is mine. Your 6th grade year was incredible, Student of the month, straight As and you RAWKED the Spring String Concert on the heels of your solo in the Winter show. . .so glad you love the violin, it is my favorite instrument and so proud you use my first one to learn on!

Of all the kids in our family, it is you that tweaks my heart in such a unique way. You go from high to low in a snap, and recover at your own pace. You cannot for the life of you ever be happy with second place, nor can you tolerate the learning process. . .you make me wonder what my advisors thought of me, and still do think of me, with that drive to be an instant expert and to understand that to take advice from others is a great thing, not proof of any shortcoming of yours.

Your sense of humor is dry, your wit is SO subtle and awesome, and you have a memory that cannot be believed. . .:)You are my mini me, my cutie pie and make the best damn coffee in the world, FIE Starbucks et al. . .

Happy birthday my brown eyed boy, and know that you are amazing, awesome and outstanding, just because you are Butter! And thank you for the special dispensation of being able to hug you after your strike bowling today. . .it meant a lot to hug you, young man!

Love you and sooooooo proud to call myself,

Butter's Mom

The past few days. . .for Cocoa

One of those days. . .

Raining, kids restless, mom not feeling well and wanting to rest-unmovable object, meet irresistible force. . .and may the force be with you:)

Three more weeks until

STRAWBERRY FEST- sooooo excited I just KNOW the kids will love it:)

Chain of Fools Redux

Thanks to years of neglect by the one who was supposed to fix it, and years of illness and poverty by the one left behind to fix it, I am losing my bathroom floor to water damage. After extensive research and cautionary tales from TLC, HGTV, and Make it Right Mike, I thought I was ready to find someone to fix my floor. I called every number in the book, and of the 20 people I spoke with, only 3 passed muster to be invited to submit a bid. . .and OMG wow.

Handyman Number 1. . .total and complete EWWWWW with a side of WTF? He had be ready to run at hello, when I extended my hand to shake his and he SLID IS HAND UP MY ARM TO MY SHOULDER. . .ummm, next. . . .

Handyman Number 2. . .ahhhh yes, the is one was all nice and very eager to get me to sign a contract right away. Asked him about his references, and he seemed offended, acted like I had breached some norm. . .and when I asked him his on time completion percentage, and overrun on costs he WINKED and told me that he had NEVER had a problem working out deals for those who found added costs to their projects. . .excuse me?

Handyman Number 3- would not talk to me directly, wanted to leave the details to "my husband" when I told him I did not have one he said "well then why don't you just let me worry about the details and I'll tell you how much it will cost to do what needs to be done. . .little lady wink and HEAD PAT" OMG- wow wow wow. . .all that was missing was the part where he led me back to the kitchen and put a pan in my hand to make supper. . .

So, dear blog readers, we now will have to see. . .Am I up for this- HELL to the no, will I have to be. . .oh ya:)

Almost summer

And the schedule is SET. . .yay yay yay

Butter and Cocoa-
Monday- Zumba Dance, playground group, swimming lessons
Tuesday- Tennis, playground group, swim
Wed- playground group, swim
Thursday- Tennis, playground, swim
Friday- Playground group

Precious
Monday- Friday CAMP and swiming lessons!

All have the weekend off to go on day trips, the library or just stay home and hang out. . .and here is the list of things I am set to do with them

Baseball game
Irish Fest
Italian Fest
Strawberry Days
Fish Days
Greek fest
Bastille Day
German Fest
MAYBE Summerfest, though that is usually my mom fun. . .so much for kids there, it always makes me feel bad to not have them with me.
Got free tickets to the Dells for 2 so maybe head there in August, I have never been to the Dells. . .just saying.
Atlanta in August and all sorts of at home projects to finish. . oh speaking of which, when I have more time I will post about the "handyman" incident. . .grrrrr

Sunday cookouts continue, with shiskabobs on deck for this weekend, and yet another pathetic attempt to grill fish:) Will also be roasting corn and veggies this week:)

Yes, I still work the Arches. . .it will be ok:)