December 29, 2014

Monday

I was woken up this morning by a text on Tom's phone. Grrr. But I got up, had my quiet time, and went walking. I made my oatmeal and started Algebra with Garrett.  Some of the other boys went to church to help move a giant movie screen. I was hoping chores would get done, but they didn't. Tommy did his math 

I made a salad and we left for Sloppy Joes. I ate it on the way. It was very blah. I wish I could make a salad that I looked forward to eating. 

Key West was crowded. Sloppy's was crowded. It's that time of year again. 

December 28, 2014

Sunday

Kurt woke me up with a text at 7:55 AM :0/ I can never fall back asleep, so I got up. I had some quiet time and went in the hot tub. I madei oatmeal and Tom and I went to church. Joe stayed home sick in bed with a fever, sleeping. 

Ben, Emma, and Ed went to Nina's gig at Sunset Pier. 

After church, Kim and Angelica came over with the grand kids and we quilted on Angelica's quilt. After they went home I embroidered. Then it was time to go to Schooner Wharf. Rob took me to another restaurant for supper. Thanks Rob! 

Another nice night, temperature wise. The bench at our table got awful hard after sitting on it for 4 hours.  I did take a walk to Duetto's for affagato. I knitted. Then we drove home. 

Tom worked on the van this afternoon. How do you like his garage?

December 27, 2014

Saturday 

I got up and went walking. The band went to Sunset Pier. I cleaned and did laundry. Then I did embroidery for a little bit before the band got home. Charlie left on a trip with Shannon's family to the mainland. They will be gone 5 days. It's weird, but I'm looking forward to the time he is away, and then when he comes home. He's been a brat lately.

The boys played hockey in the evening, and I made Pad Thai, a salad, and cut up a pineapple. After hockey the boys watched hockey and I embroidered. The nights are perfect sleeping weather now. 

December 26, 2014

Friday

I went walking this morning. I cleaned and swept, candy wrappers and garbage. I also did laundry and dishes. 

Then I sat at the table and did embroidery, practicing a new stitch. It was hard and sloppy but I'll keep trying. 

I watched TJ's kids while they played at Blue Heaven. Garrett and Tommy helped me. Charlie slept over at Shannon's and was gone most of the day so it was pretty peaceful without him fighting with Jake. I really need to work on some stuff with him, how he treats people and how he acts.

About 4 o'clock we went to our gig at Tarpon Creek. It was a comfortable night. I brought my embroidery and worked at that. I also played "Old Maid" with Charlie, Tommy, and Jake. Charlie was too bratty though, and I quit. My friend, Carolyn, came with her son and then the kids were better. 

I was so tired when we got home. I went straight to bed.

December 25, 2014

Thursday 

Yay!! Christmas Day!!! I got up to my alarm at 7, took Excedrine, and stuffed stockings with goodies. I felt sick to my stomach, along with the headache, so I ate some applesauce. I finally gave in to my stomach and threw up. :0( I finished the stockings, took them to the living room, got a bag of frozen carrots for my head, and went back to bed. I didn't fall back to sleep, but by 9 o'clock I felt much better and got up. 

I put cinnamon rolls in the oven and took a shower. Others started getting up. Tj came over at 12, and about 12:30 we started opening presents. Kim and Doug came over, and Rob and Anastasia, and we opened presents, one at a time, till 2 o'clock. It was a fun, pleasant morning and afternoon. It went much better than I thought it would. 

After TJ, Kim, and Rob left, I cleaned up for a while and started playing with my new embroidery stuff the kids got me. Then I remembered I needed to make supper, so I madei chilli, and it turned out to be the best chilli I ever made. I'll keep this recipe. I also made 2 apple pies. 

Ben left at some point to drive to Miami to pick up Emma from the airport. Ed and Nina went with him. After we ate, I worked at more embroidery, and more cleaning up. 

It was a great day. Merry Christmas every one!  

December 24, 2014

Wednesday

I made the dough for se pastries when I got up. Joe went with me to Walgreens to help me with stocking stuffers for 15 stockings. I took that stuff home, then took Tommy, Charlie, and Aaron to Winn Dixie for last minute food items. That was it for shopping for me. Done. Yay!!

I made more dough for other pastries. No one else really cares for them, but I grew up with them and they are a part of Christmas. 

We went to the 5:00 PM Chrostmas Eve service. It was packed. Garrett and Tommy, and Kurt worked at church for both services. 

Ed, Ben, Aaron, and Garrett made Glish muffin pizzas for supper and the watched movies, "Fellowship of the Rings," and "Elf." 

I finished wrapping presents and Ariel was still up at 2 am.  I got the presents under the tree and decided to do the stockings in the morning. 

December 23, 2014

Tuesday

I went walking and we watched TJ's kids while they played at Blue Heaven. I decorated the cut-out cookies with Jake, Callie, and Kim. I got my hair trimmed and high-lighted. It's only the second time I've done that. 

My parents left today. The boys played hockey. I wrapped presents and made spaghetti for supper. 

December 22, 2014

Monday

I went walking this morning. I did algebra with Garrett and Joe went over Tommy's math with him. I hung out with my mom and dad while mom sewed the binding on Kim's quilt and I finished a baby bonnet, an old unfinished project. 

Then everyone got their Christmas clothes on for Sloppy Joe's. TJ and Ang came over early so the kids could practice their Christmas song. Mom and Dad rode with us in the new van to Sloppy's.

All the little kids did great, big kids too. Callie and Ariel were adorable in their Christmas dresses. 

December 21, 2014

Sunday

The kids led worship at church this morning. Then Kim and Angelica ce over with the kids and we made Christmas cookies. Charlie went to a friend's house. 

At 4:30 PM we left for our gig at Schooner Wharf. We picked up Charlie, and then dropped Charlie, my mom and dad, and me off at Sears where we met a group of friends for a trolley ride to see the Christmas lights in Key West. Nina met us there too. It was fun. 

When it was over, Nina took us to Schooner Wharf. It was a fun, Christmasy night. Mom, Dad, and I left a little early with TJ, but I didn't get in enough quiet time before everyone got home.

December 20, 2014

Saturday

The band had two gigs today, Sunset Pier and Green Parrot. I stayed home all day and loved it. I watched TJ's kids again because they had a rough night and Angelica needed some sleep. I finished sewing a baby dress but didn't take a pic yet. I also hemmed my dish towels and washed and dried them. My mom and dad arrived for a visit. 

December 19, 2014

Friday

I watched Jake, Callie, and Violet from 8:30 am till about 5 or 6. TJ, Ang, and Joe played at Blue Heaven, then met the band at Green parrot, and Ang came home to pick up the kids. But she had a fever, so she took Violet and the other two stayed till TJ picked them up after Green Parrot. 

Kim came over this afternoon with Stevie and helped out with babysitting. 

In the evening we watched "The Santa Clause" and "Santa Clause is Coming to Town." 

Jake is scared of my Grinch ornament on the tree.

December 18, 2014

Thursday

We had a home inspection for Habitat at 1:30 today, so I had everyone in cleaning mode till that time. They did a good job. Ben and Ed moved the living room furniture around and put up the Christmas tree. It looked great. The meeting also went well. 

After that I did school, then at 5 o'clock I went to Kim's studio and wove till just after 8. I finished weaving my dish towels and we cut them off the loom. I went home. The big kids had youth group tonight and Charlie went to Shannon's. Ben picked up Chinese for Tom and I. Then Ed ordered more Chinese for the other kids to split. He and Nina went to pick it up and I went to bed.

December 17, 2014

Wednesday

We did school all day, till 5:30. The older kids had a meeting at church. I did laundry. Watched Stevie for an hour before going to church. The kids led worship.  After church Tom, Charlie, and I went to TJ's to watch the kids while they met with the young adult group. Violet is teething and she wasn't feeling too good. 

December 16, 2014

Tuesday

I went with TJ and Ang to Blue Heaven to watch Violet. Ben and Joe had dentist appointments in Key West. Tom took Charlie to his fiddle lesson/Christmas party, and Nina took all the younger kids to gym class in Marathon. 

Violet was super good and I had an easy time watching her. When we left the gig Naomi joined us and we stopped at the AT&T store to get Naomi's phone activated. We went to Kmart, Ross. And Pier 1, my favorite. I bought five ornaments.

When we got home I laid down for a few minutes, then made my bed and put some laundry away. Joe had folded some but not all the laundry. He must think that I don't notice that he never does the whole job.

Then I took Charlie, Ian, and Ariel to a Christmas party. It was just a couple miles away and TJ and family were there, along with some other friends and it was fun. The little girls were wearing their pretty Christmas dresses. 

Went home a little after 8, and, after Ariel got out of her dress, I dropped off the kids at the park where the boys were playing hockey. I came home and made supper, brown rice, steamed veggies, and a salad. 

December 15, 2014

Monday

I walked this morning and did school till 3:00. Then we left for Sloppy Joe's. The crowd was great. They really liked "Carol of the Bells." I took the kids for a walk to Duetto's for gelato. Before we left for home, TJ went to Burgerfi and got some veggie burgers.

I forgot to mention that our 2012 taxes were returned to us on Saturday. We hadn't signed them!!! Tom just sent in the 2013 ones. Now we're wondering if those were signed. Can you believe it? :0(

December 14, 2014

Sunday 

We went to church, then we had a girls' afternoon out. Angelica, Callie, and I went with Angelica's friend Connie and her daughter, Carly, to see the Key West version of the Nutcracker. It was fun. The costumes were fun and I am amazed at the talent and dedication of the dancers. 

When we got home I made Tom and I something to eat. Then we went to church. When we got home from that the boys played hockey. I made spaghetti, a salad, and baked potatoes. The boys watched hockey. 

I wish I could get to bed earlier. 

December 13, 2014

Saturday

I had some quiet time this morning, then got everyone up. The band went to Sunset Pier. I got Tommy and Garrett started on some school work, then went to Bealls to get a Christmas dress for Ariel for tonight's Christmas show at Schooner Wharf. I ordered her one but it didn't come yet. Bealls had nothing, but I got 3 Cuban mixes for Garrett, Tommy, and Charlie for lunch.

Kim dropped Stevie off, and she and I went to Ron and Nira's wedding at Bahia Honda. It was great to be there. Then we stopped at the house, Kim picked up Stevie and went home, and I went to the reception at Boondocks. I made some new friends who also happened to be neighbors and had a great time. 

I went home and changed into my red dress and cowboy boots for the Christmas show at Schooners. I moved the laundry and scolded Garrett for not doing his math. He's really being a dumby. 

Nina, Tommy, Charlie, and I drove together. We stopped at Sears to get a dress for Ariel and found the perfect one. The school's steel drum band and a small chorus played first, and then the boat parade went by while we played. It was a fun night. 

December 12, 2014

Friday

TJ dropped of Jake and Callie at 8:30 AM and picked up Tommy. They went to their gig at blue Heaven and Toy went to babysit Violet. I fed Jake, Callie, and I breakfast , then copied our taxes again, this time for Medicaid. 

I went over Garrett's mistakes on the previous day's lesson, then we both did a test. Garrett also wasted an hour in the bathroom. Ain't got time for that. We just did algebra all day, then he finished his science test. Just after 6 o'clock we headed over to the church for movie night. We had fun, eating popcorn and cupcakes during the movie. 

Came home and about a half hour later Angelica arrived ready to toake the kids home. She, TJ, Nina, and Ed had a second gig at the Little White House in Key West. After that, Ang, Tommy, and Violet came home, everyone else went to Schooner, gig #3. 

I helped to get kids in Ang's truck and she took them home. I ordered a pizza and picked it up. We (Garrett, Tommy, Charlie, and I ate and watched a chrisas movie. It was ok. 

It was a trying day. Charlie didn't always get along with Jake, and Kurt was being a dookie. He sea to think he doesn't have to tell people where he's going.

I read tommy and Charlie at midnight and went to bed. Oh, Ben cut Garrett's hair too! He looks like Ben and Tommy

December 10, 2014

Wednesday

The first text I got during the night was from Nina. She caught Garrett downstairs smoking. I already had a headache and took some ibuprofin. The next text came about an hour later but I didn't see it till the morning. Kurt got two tickets last night, one for speeding, 54 in a 45, and another for not having his license on him. 

I didn't get my quiet time in, but we went out to breakfast with John T. After that we to pick up the trailer. They wanted an extra hundred dollars if we paid with the credit card, so we had to drive to a Bank of America to get the money instead. 

While driving, Tom was on hold again with the IRS, trying to figure out why the transcript they sent us for our 2013 taxes only had one number on it. To make it short, they say we didn't file 2012 and that for 2013, maybe our accountant pushed a wrong key because their was only one number on the return. The accountant electronically filed for 2012 and we have the receipt. Doesn't seem to mean much. So about a month ago Tom made copies and mailed it snail mail. For our 2013 taxes, Tom mailed them. The IRS got the check, but our taxes are no where. What a mess. We were supposed to give these transcripts to Habitat for the house we were applying for. Looks like that won't happen.

When Tom got off the phone with the IRS, the shop called that has our Sprinter van. They fixed a broken pulley, or something like that, but now a light came on. That light means it has only so many starts and then it won't start anymore without getting it serviced. That's the problem we had before, a few times, and it's already been in the shop for over a month for. We're starting to think we have a lemon. We talked about trading it in, while we were towing the trailer we just bought that matched it. Grrr.  After a while the garage called again and said the light went off and everything was fine. Is it? 

We never had lunch or water or anything, because Tom was on the phone with the IRS, while driving the 5 1/2 hours home. I also told Garrett he could tell Tom himself what he was doing. 

We got to church a little late, then went to babysit at TJ's afterwards. The kids were good. I got them to bed and did the dishes. Ang had the book, "On the Banks of Plum Creek,"  so I read to Charlie until TJ and Ang got home. We went home, ate some frozen pizza (compliments of Joe) and ice cream (compliments of Ben and Ed) and went to bed.

December 9, 2014

Tuesday 

Our original plan was for Tom and I to leave for Fort Pierce this morning to get a new trailer that Tom bought. It's bigger than our old one, and black to match the new van. We were going to stay for two nights, but a cold front and other reasons kept it to one night. Anyways,  Tj texted me with news that Angelica and Violet were up all night sick, and he needed someone else to play at Blue Heaven with him. Ben and Joe had dentist appointments later in the morning, and Nina and Ed were recording till 3 in the morning (with Ben) so no one wanted to go. I volunteered to help out, even though I've hardly played guitar in years and I'm not very good. TJ almost cancelled but gave me a chance. :0)

So that's what happened. TJ picked me up. I did ok on some songs and stunk on the rest. TJ said I did good but I think he was just trying to make me feel good, which I appreciate. We played all instrumentals, me on rhythm guitar and TJ with all the leads.

After about two hours, Ben came from his dentist appointment and relieved me. I wanted to stay and listen but I had to go get Joe from his appointment. Then Joe ended up going to a friend's house and I drove home alone.

When I got home I packed a bag for Fort Pierce and Tom and I left at 3:30 PM. We drove 5 1/2 hours. At home, while the boys were getting ready for hockey, Ian fell onto the pipes by the hose bib and the pipe cracked, water squirting everywhere. The only turn-off turned off the water to the whole house. To make a long story short, our wonderful friend, Randy, came over and fixed it in the dark, so they could have water in the house. Thank you Randy!!

We made it to John's house, visited, and went to bed. The temp was down around 50, cold for these parts. I was comfy, and warm, but couldn't sleep. I had a headache and my neck hurt. When I was almost asleep I got a text on my phone, which I haven't dealt with yet, so I'm not going to share, but it wasn't good news. Then it took even longer to fall asleep. When I woke up, there was another text with more bad news, but I will save that for tomorrow. 

December 8, 2014

Monday

Ugh!! Overslept and couldn't get up today. I'm not sick anymore but no energy. I finally got the younger boys up and started school at noon. We finished 3 subjects and I made myself a salad for a late lunch,  then it was time to go to Sloppy Joes. 

TJ called and needed a ride so I left to pick him up. When we got back no one was in the van. They weren't ready! Grrrr!! Do you think anyone could be responsible without me there cracking the whip? They know what time we are supposed to leave. :0(

I was able to knit a little during the show. I took a walk with the younger boys to the tea store, and then Charlie and I snuck off to Kilwin's. I bought a carmel apple for Charlie and a $4.50 peanut butter cup for me. Really? $4.50? It used to be $3.50 and it went up a whole dollar? It cost too much at $3.50! It's yummy but just not worth that.

On the way home we stopped at Winn Dixie for some essentials: milk, bread, apples, oranges, bananas, lettuce, cucumbers, and peanut butter. I even bought cheese and tuna fish, rare treats.

I read to Charlie. A few of the big kids went to church to record (from 11 pm to 3 am). A cold front is coming in. Brrrr. 

December 7, 2014

Sunday

I got up early to go walking. I used to take Sundays off but hadn't walked since Tuesday. I took Charlie to the 9:30 church service, dropped him off at a birthday party at the park, and then I went to TJ's to watch Jake and Callie so Angelica and Violet could sleep. They were all sick this past week too and got little sleep. 

About 2 o'clock TJ came home and I went home. We weren't home too long, then went to Callie's dance recital in Marathon. That was fun, but Tom and I were a little late. We saw her 2nd dance though, and TJ taped the 1st one. 

Went back home. Tom and I went to church. I needed to go to Winn Dixie and make supper, but I went to bed instead. Charlie came in and I read to him. I finally took some cold medicine and fell asleep.

December 6, 2014

Saturday

This morning Nira picked me up at 10 and we went to Mangrove Mama's for breakfast. Next stop was the Sugarloaf Craft Fair. It was my favorite craft show, but this year there was fewer vendors and fewer shoppers. Not as much fun, but I bought a few Christmas presents and it was a fun morning out. 

Kim's Mother-In-Law had a table at the craft fair. She let me put a basket of homespun yarn and some baby dresses at her table. She didn't sell much and I didn't sell anything. 

The band went to their gig at Sunset Pier.  Tommy went with Kim to the beach baptism at Bahia Honda. I spent the afternoon folding laundry, then went to Kim's and wove. I spent the rest of the evening sitting in my queen's chair doing embroidery. 

The band had a late night at the Hurricane.