so here's the thing...

So...I'm sensing a pattern here

Like, one post per month.

Hoookay, here's the latest: Taylor has finished softball for the Fall Ball Season. Outdoor soccer has one more weekend. Indoor soccer started last weekend. Basketball clinic started last week. All sports, all the time. And last night she was kicking her soccer ball in the ustairs hallway (new ball for her birthday, indoor use right now...no, it's not my favorite...) and I was starting down the stairs, and the ball got away from her and I very nearly went head over heels down the stairs. My life flashed before my eyes. Total adrenaline rush, and Taylor thought she'd killed her mama. I try to hide the ball from her sometimes. But what to do? she's not happy unless she's dribbling, bouncing, kicking, or throwing a ball. Softball, basketball, soccer ball, even the ginormous balancing/exercise ball. One weekend, she played soccer Saturday, then had a soccer tournament Sunday, played 2 1/2 games, scored 5 out of 6 goals her team made, then hit the second half of a double header softball game, and pitched two innings, scored two runs. Phew!

Christian is off and running at UW. I miss him terribly sometimes. And it messes with your head a little when your kid is "gone", but only 1/2 hour away. So instead of saying "goodbye, we'll see you at Thanksgiving", we trot him back and forth from week to week. And it's a constant, "will you be home Friday or Saturday?...overnight, or just for the day?...bringing laundry or not?...want to go to Tay's soccer game?" The longest we've gone is 3 weeks without seeing him. And that was tough on me. I'm a worrier. And I guess a bit of a control freak where my kids are concerned. But there has been a shift in the family dynamic. You go from being large and in charge 24/7 to suddenly having very little say in their day-to-day activities. Very sudden for us, since we're really a stayathome family. And he didn't do much else but hang out and play video/computer games all summer. And at dinner he added a friend here and there. And then, bam, gone.

Eric's dad had open heart surgery September 3rd and two days after surgery was looking great, then suddenly went into a coma. It's been a long, slow recovery for him. He finally gets to come home Monday. So we're having Thanksgiving at their house this year.

I've kept busy with my jobs, and helping in Taylor's class as art docent, room parent, and party coordinator. Never get enough sleep or have enough time to play in my craft room. October was just busy with birthdays, Halloween, sports, and getting used to Christian being gone. My main goal for this month is to find time for me. And to take the pressure off of the holiday season, I'm making lists for the first time in my life. Shopping ahead of time. I always struggle with that, thinking I'll find a better gift, or a better price. But I'm trying a different approach this year. We'll see how it goes.

And here we are dressed for Halloween. I didn't get a picture of Taylor's costume, just her hair and makeup. But homemade is best, I think:

Such a bad mood

I've been in such a terrible bad mood these days, that when the phone rang this morning at 7:45 and I had just fallen asleep after being awake since 5:05, when I woke up and checked on Taylor, (and I fell asleep with her last night from 11 - 12, so didn't actually get to sound sleep in my bed until 12:30, but that part is my fault) and then I just couldn't go back to sleep. Because I knew Eric's alarm was going off at 6...and I kept looking at the clock, "If I fall asleep now, I can get 45 minutes, if I fall asleep now, I can get 1/2 hour...if I fall asleep now I can get a 15 minute nap...) and then his alarm went off and he snoozed it for 40 minutes (which he does waaaay too much lately, and it might just be grounds for divorce), and then he got up and I tried and tried and finally dozed...just as he came running back in the house and into our room, where he forgot his cell phone, and then I tried and tried again, and when I looked at the clock it said 7:40, and Taylor is still sick, so I'm letting her sleep in and we'll see how she is. I just didn't want to shake her awake at 8, I'd rather let her sleep and take her to school late if she's better, which she might be, since yesterday about 5 p.m. she started to perk up, and was hardly coughing or snotting, like magic...back to my story...I dozed off, and I know that because I was immediately dreaming, see, that's how sleep-starved my brain is, the phone rang and woke me up at 7:45 a.m. and I didn't have a cordless in my room, so I flew out of bed and tried to run quick and quiet downstairs to get it before it woke Taylor. And it was her friend Leah wondering if she's going to school today. HELLLOOOOO?!!!?!??!?! Could you maybe call at 8:45? just maybe?????????? But she left a message because I didn't get it in time, and then, 10 seconds later, it rang again!!! Genevieve, just wondering if Taylor is going to school. What kind of parent lets kids call houses before 8 in the morning?

Sorry, sometimes I just have to vent to the blogosphere.

Obviously

I've either been busy or lazy or depressed or...all of the above. This summer kind of kicked me when I was down and I barely bounced back and then it was back to school. I think I'm about the only mom I know who doesn't have a party when the kids go back to school. Well, not really. I say I need the routine of school to keep me going. It does help.

Busy with sports starting back up. For a few weeks there we had Taylor at softball Tues/Thurs, soccer Mon/Wed, and games on Sat/Sun. NOT my favorite. But once again, she amazed us. Scored 2 of the 3 goals Saturday. It was 90 degrees and she was melting. She wanted to go in at defender, but coach said, "But we need you at forward, because we know you can score." Good for her ego. And softball - my little 9 year old pitched a great game. Crazy how much of a natural she is.

We're getting Christian ready for the UofW. I'm so close to tears over it, cannot imagine if he was going away to school. *sigh* He pledged PsiUpsilon...frats=not my favorite, but what are you going to do when they don't have dorm rooms for everyone? And the frat is cheaper than the dorms. And certainly cheaper than an apartment. So we'll try Greek life for a bit.

Project 365 continues. I'm behind by about a month, but still loving that I'm taking a picture nearly every day. Yay me. Like this day a few weeks ago, we went out behind our house and the kids hit golf balls. This was a simple, fun time, which would have been forgotten. Check that view, huh?

Emotional

Bah! Two funerals and a wedding. Isn't that close to a movie? yeah...no....throw in a family reunion...and no Hugh Grant either. Oh well. Weeks have gone by and where have I been? The constant chorus of my life. Kind of in a doom and gloom phase. We hit 100 degrees for too many days. My son is heading to college. My god-daughter messed up again. One of my businesses I keep the books for has been in a real struggle. It rained. And rained. Taylor had two weeks of daily swimming lessons. We gutted the garage. I stopped walking...gained 10 pounds. Missed most of July due to illness and softball. So. Play your little violin for me.

My cousin died. So sad and heart-wrenching to see her kids. 53 years old and I hate to say I blame it on smoking, but you know...when I was a sassy smart-mouthed 17 year-old I told my cigarette-smoking dad, "if you die of lung cancer, I won't come to your funeral and I'll never forgive you." Harsh words.

 He quit.

Smoking cigarettes.

Still smokes cigars.

Dammit.

So Cindy didn't have enough of a fighting chance. Dammit.

And. (now this gets weird) On Saturday, one of the employees where I work came into my office all shook up, seemed her neighbor was murdered by a boyfriend. And yesterday, my neighbor across the street told me she had to go to a funeral for her old neighbor, who was murdered by her boyfriend. Dude . So sad to think a 10 year old boy has no mom. And has to live with his dad who divorced his mom and doesn't care.

And we went to a wedding. Someone from our old neighborhood. I could probably write a book about this family. Really I could. Let's suffice it to say the culimination (and I'm not judging...they are good people, but I can't get the image of her kid stepping in duck poo and tracking it into her house without washing his foot off...and she never even blinked...out of my head) was the wedding of her eldest. And the embarassingly huge deal the pastor made out of the fact that they had never even kissed. Stop me right there. 

There was a family reunion in Salem, Oregon this past weekend, but I just couldn't get up for it. Driving 12 hours after the frantic summer I feel I've had....Although I'm mad at myself for just not going for it. Would have been nice. But Eric couldn't get off work. Taylor had swim lessons. Excuses, excuses, I know. Hoping there are pictures out there...

Money is still tight. I had a great conversation with my cousin Christi (hi Christi!!) about no longer receiving regular paychecks. I've been so programmed for 28 years, that it is tough to just ride the waves. I hit QFC today and spent $80 and save $60 and was so proud of my coupon-clipping self! I'm thinking my local grocery stores see me coming..."oh! there's the goof-ball who searches out the marked down stuff!" Hey, I live in the Seattle area,  where they don't double (let alone triple!) coupons...where organic is rare and expensive...and where the rent rates are exhorbitant and they pass them on... 

So I need to pull up my big girl panties and move on.

Oh...and the picture? No, that's not our car, just my handsome husband (and Taylor)  in his boss's newly-purchased car. yeah...she can afford a snazzy car, just can't afford to pay him for saving her *&^ on a daily basis.

One Hundred and Four Degrees...

We're so not used to this. So so so not used to this. It's 81 in the house, and that feels cool. This is why I'd never live in Arizona. Eric loves it. Very little complaining on his part. The kids and I, on the other hand...bunch of whiners, we are.

My neighbor Lee Ann and I were talking yesterday for a minute (too hot to stand out there for long) and decided it was too hot to cook. So we hit the husbands up for a trip to the Cheesecake Factory and some mall walking, but then at the last minute we decided to go local for pizza. It was just perfect, and once the sun went down, it dipped under 100 and was actually bearable with the slightest breeze.

Taylor and I put on our suits and hopped in the kiddie pool out back at 11 o'clock under the stars. She loved it - and it did seem quite decadent. But sleep is not easy in this weather - I have the fine distinction of not being able to sleep with a fan on. Just some quirk in my DNA, I guess, but I've never been able to get to sleep with a fan blowing. Weird. So I got maybe 3 hours of sleep.

Wahhhh.

Praying the weatherman is right and on Friday we hit a high of 85. That will be pure bliss.

Uncle

Eric knew on Saturday when I said, "I want to go to the doctor today" that I had to feel terrible. I really hate going to the doctor's. But I woke up with a fever and a glued shut eye. Gross. So I made him go with me to the walk-in clinic. Now that's what I'm talking about. I was the only one in there, waited no more than 2 minutes, had a great doctor and nurse, and felt really cared for. Not loving the super antibiotic that upsets my stomach, but now, 48 hours into it, I think I feel better. Hoping tomorrow is even better. Still have a yucky eye, but my sinus pain seems better today. And the cough is much better.

We are in for scorching hot weather this week - I think I'll go to Mom's and sit in the creek. Last Thursday, though I wasn't feeling great, I took Taylor and some friends up there. So cool and relaxing.Doesn't this look like Hawaii? Nope..15 mile creek on Tiger Mountain. My happy place.

Summer is in full swing

Finally. When Taylor tried out for the All Star Team, we explained to her it would mean practices every night/day for three weeks, and then the tournament. No hesitation. Duh, Mom, got it, wanna try out.

And so day after day, back and forth, water bottles, snacks, late dinners, early dinners, night after night, mosquito bite after...well....you get the picture. If she was getting butterflies about practice, let alone the games, I was in it for her.

So we lost out to some 'roid using kids. Not really. But really. Stacked teams.

And I'm still coughing up chunks.

Not so fun to be sick when it's 80 degrees in Seattle, a rarity. Watering flowers and coughing up a lung=not so good.

Still sick

I feel like I've had 2 1/2 weeks sucked out of my precious summer. I really tried to fight it at first, (and maybe that's why I'm still sick...) and I get the whole not-over-prescribing-antibiotics-blah-blah-blah thing, but seriously. I have a certain phobia about going to the doctor's office - even taking my kids to the doctor freaks me out - and I have to be at death's door to drag myself in. So I go once every 5 or 6 years. The last time my ears hurt so bad I couldn't sleep, I was coughing and blowing colors (sorry) and on the morning I woke up with crusted over eyes, I finally went in. I remember sitting there, telling the nurse my tale of woe, and he said, "well, these things usually resolve themselves..." - and then I whipped off my glasses and said, "but what about my eyes?" Ewwww - he scurried away, and I spent the next three weeks going to several appointments with the opthamologist trying to get rid of the lovely infection. Nice. So, I understand super-bugs, and I know some people who, when I mention I'm sure Taylor has a sinus infection, and we're diligently using our Neti pot, they'll say, "oh! I have some left over antibiotics from so-and-so's sinus infection - do you want them?" And I think, yeah, and you're why we have these problems, what part of taking all of the medication don't you understand? I'm a prime example of waiting until it is almost too late. So I'm over the two-week mark, thought I was getting better, and now my head hurts so bad, and I'm coughing up stuff and blowing out stuff. And it's been about 5 years since I had a doozy of an infection. So by Monday morning, I'll either be crying "uncle", or I'll be much better. This weekend is the turning point.

Excuse me, I have an appointment with my Neti pot.

Chugging along through July

Busy and more busy. Life as usual. So after last year, I decided to put the camera down on the 4th of July. The only picture I took was the kids in the pool. Actually, we were all kind of under the weather and not feeling well at all, so we laid low all day.

Quick trip to Meme and Papa's for ribs and fireworks while it was still light out, then home to bed by 11.

We got up and moving early Sunday and hit the ball field. And...drumroll...they won!  14 - 2  Seriously. Played the team that beat us twice, but tournament play is age-based, and that made all the difference. No more stacking up the 11+ year olds against our little 9 and 10 year olds. ha! We go again Friday night...and we're on our way to Spokane if we keep playing this way. Amazing.

Eric plays in the Glendale Invitational with Dad this weekend, and I'm looking forward to the usual gastronomic feast - lobster, clams, prawns, here I come!

We are still fighting the sinus/cough/left over yuck from being sick last week. Not fun to feel like this in the summertime, but the weather has shifted to gray, so I guess it's okay.

I've been trying to get my 365 caught up - the cool thing is, taking at least one picture a day saves so many memories. I get them in my album and can journal later.But excuse me....how can I do anything when my desk looks like this?

Mid-Year's Resolution - blog more often

Begin. That was my "Ali" word I chose this year. Yeah, well, it depends how you look at it. So here's to a new beginning, 1/2 way through the year.

Had quite the event earlier this week when my sister got stuck in Tucson for two extra, unplanned, missed-her-plane, days...and Auntie stepped up to take the kids. Can I just say I'm 10 years older than their mama, and just a little out of practice? Add to that, they were both sick (and an 18 month old sick one does not want to be anywhere but attached at the hip...literally attached her little monkey self to me)...and Sami has just learned to give big, sloppy, wet, germ-filled kisses. Yep, you guessed it, all 4 of us are now sick. Nasty sore throats, snot, and coughs, and it especially adds insult to injury when it's that rarest of all summer happening before the 4th of July here in Seattle. Go Zicam.

So for the last few days, I've been on the couch, catching up on all sorts of brain candy tv. Housewives, Denise Richard's complicated little life, House Hunters, you name it.

We're gearing up for the 4th and lots of illegal fireworks at Mom's tomorrow...although they will most likely be fired off in broad daylight, since I have to get Taylor home and to bed at a decent hour. We have to be at the ball field for the start of the All-Star Tournament at 8 a.m. Sunday the 5th. The. Day. After. The 4th.

I'm not complaining, I'm just sayin' is all...

I've been doing pretty good with my Project 365. Waaaay behind on the journaling, but I'm darn near there on the pictures. Kind of proud of myself. And getting rid of Barbies and Pollys and Pets, I knew I had these pictures somewhere, just waiting all these years to be scrapped. Forced myself: