September 30, 2015

Wednesday

Yesterday TJ picked me up at 6:30 AM and we drove all day to Raleigh, NC. It was dark when I left and I could hardly see going down the stairs outside. I thought I was at the bottom of the stairs when I had one more step left. God was protecting me though and my foot slid off the step and I landed on my feet and didn't fall down, didn't get hurt at all. Scary. We need better lighting out there.

Anyways, we drove all day, and made it just outside of Raleigh, in Garner, where my aunt lives, about 10:30 PM.

I slept in till 9 and had a relaxing, lazy morning. I walked 3 1/2 miles, showered, and then we went to the IBMA convention in Raleigh. We hung out a little, listened to a some music, then Laurie and I took a walk. When we got back TJ and Ang were ready to eat supper so we walked to a Vegan restaurant two blocks from the convention center. The food was delicious. 

After eating we hurried through the convention center to the Marriott. We went to the California Bluegrass suite to watch a showcase by one of Angelica's friends, Molly Tuttle. When she finished Laurie and I were tired and went home. On the way we got mint chocolate chip milk shakes. We visited with Louis, then watched a little HGTV. Next, we watched an episode of 'Duck Dynasty.' It was the first time I watched it. I'm so behind the times, but we have no cable, and no TV so I don't get to watch anything. 

It was a fun day. I enjoyed it and  am looking forward to tomorrow. 

The thing built around the statue is built out of banjo rings and necks. Crazy!

September 28, 2015

Monday 

I went walking, then started packing for my trip to Raleigh, NC with TJ's family. We leave early tomorrow. We're going to IBMA. I haven't been there in forever. I went to college in Raleigh and Tom and I lived there for 3 years when we were first married.

Kim came over with the kids for a while. Then we went to Sloppy's. It started raining right before we ended, but stopped when it was time to carry everything out to the van. 

September 25, 2015

Friday

I made banana bread with the old bananas, then took the day off school  so I could finish Callie's birthday dress. We went over to their house for the party at 4 o'clock. Angelicaade a yummy lemon cake and the kids played in the kiddie pool.  We even had a special guest; a Key Deer showed up for the party. 

September 24, 2015

Thursday

I did school all day. Tommy had a guitar lesson and Charlie had swimming, but swimming was cancelled after Georgina drove the kids all the way there. 

The big kids all had youth group. I paid some bills and did a bunch of Spanish lessons on Rosetta Stone. Charlie is doing it for school and I want to keep up with him.  Then I did reading for my class and took notes. 

I steamed spinach and kale for my supper. Earlier I had leftover split pea soup for lunch. The fridge is getting pretty bare again. I read to Charlie and called it a day.

Here's a pic of Jake and Rob form the other day. I forgot to put it up. 

September 23, 2015

Wednesday

I did school all day, then went to church. The band went to Schooner. After church, Tommy, Charlie, and I stopped at Walgreens. Back at home the time sped by and I got nothing done. I gave Shannon a ride home from work. She got a job at Bistro 31 a few days ago. Then I unloaded some cushions that I'm supposed to recover for someone at church. I did dishes and went to bed. 

September 22, 2015

Tuesday

I'm sleeping bad because my shoulder hurts, but it gets me up earlier.  I went walking and did school till 3, then we went to Sloppy's. 

September 21, 2015

Monday

I woke up at 8:30, too late to get a walk in before school. I woke up Tommy twice for his classes but he didn't get up till 5 minutes before they started. I've been treating him to a mug of hot chocolate every morning. 

I washed the kitchen floor real quick. It was gross. Then did school with Charlie from 11-3. I ate lunch really fast and then we left for Sloppy's. Charlie went to swim practice with Georgina. 

I crocheted at Sloppy's during the first two sets. We dropped Garrett off at Dion's where he was working tonight, washing floors. 

September 20, 2015

Sunday 

We went to church. The kids led worship. Kim came over afterwards with the kids. When she left I worked on my class, then Tom and I went to church again. Some of the kids went to a movie in KW with some friends. 

Tom, Rob, and Joe went to skate at the park. I made corn chowder, a salad, and watermelon for supper. Rob brought steak and green beans and cooked them up. I did dishes late and read to Charlie. The chapter in our book (the 2nd "Little Britches" book) was so sad it was hard to read. 

September 19, 2015

Saturday

I went to breakfast with Charlie and Rita. We went to Bistro 31, just 2 blocks from our house. On our way home we dropped off some stuff at Salvation Army. 

I spent the day cleaning in my room and closet, and did some more laundry. Rita made another trip to Savation Army for me. My closet is down one plastic bin. Woo hoo! There were two empty guitar cases in my closet. Why? 

Charlie and I went to Kim's studio for about an hour. We went to Winn Dixie afterwards but Charlie didn't have any shoes on so we couldn't go in. We went back home. 

I worked more in my closet, went back to Winn Dixie and got groceries, and went over some of Tommy's homework. Then Charlie and I watched "The Help."

The band had two gigs today at Sunset Pier. When they got home Charlie and I read "Little Britches." It's kind of a sad ending. We have one chapter left. 

September 18, 2015

Friday

I went walking this morning, then

Made breakfast burritos. Today we did an artist study and a composer study. We also did geography and a folk song. Tommy has no classes on Fridays. I checked his homework and assignments and he has a lot of homework to do tomorrow. We did school till about 6 o'clock. 

Rob stopped in. The band went to The Hurricane. I stayed home tonight. I did half an algebra lesson, made spaghetti and a giant salad, and then did the dishes. I moved the laundry along, then read to Charlie. 

I'll have to check the weather. I'm not sure what I want to do tomorrow. I'd like to clean off my dresser. I'm not happy with the clutter in my room right now.

I forgot, Kim and Rita got their hair cut yesterday, and there has been so much road/sewer construction in our neighborhood for weeks. What a noisy mess. That's the view looking out from my teacher chair where I spend so much of my time. 

September 16, 2015

Wednesday

I did dishes till 1:30 AM last night and slept in this morning. I woke Tommy up for school. His classes start at 9:30 AM. I went over to church to go to an exercise class that just started, but there were so many cars in the parking lot I chickened out and went back home. 

We did school all day, till 5 o'clock. Tom and I zipped out to the bank for a few minutes. We opened a new account because the Bank of America closed in Big Pine and it's been such a hassle now. 

We watched Stevie and Reed for an hour during worship practice. Then we went to church. When we got home I made popcorn, then I read 'Little Britches' to Charlie (and Tom). 

Here's a pic of Violet climbing on Callie's doll house. She's always climbing. She's my little monkey.

September 13, 2015

Sunday

We went to church, then stopped in for an hour at Byron and Ida's party. We went swimming, but had to leave early. Tom went to Schooner Wharf with the band and I went to TJ's to bbsit. I took the kids to evening church and picked up a veggie pizza on the way home. Callie wouldn't touch it. She wanted pizza with the round things. I thought I would be a treat. Nope. 

It poured while I was there and I left the back seat windows down in the car. Oops! The front was dry though when I drove home. 

September 12, 2015

Saturday

I went grocery shopping and had to carry almost all the bags upstairs by myself. Feel sorry for me? Everyone was still sleeping when I got back, but Tommy got up and made the last two trips for me. Then it took me an hour to put it all away. 

I ran away and went swimming by myself for an hour. When I came back the band was gone. They went to play at a wedding in Key West. I helped Tommy with some homework until it was time for him to work at church. Then I did my homework for the class I'm taking at church. 

By the time I finished that it was 9:30. I made spaghetti for Tommy and Bob, and Charlie and I ate leftover soup and I had a salad. Tommy did his math homework and I did the dishes. I corrected his math, and while he did the corrections I made banana muffins. Ed had left banana French toast stuff in the fridge that needed to get used up or it was going to end up in the garbage, so even though I didn't want to, I made the muffins. 

I checked Tommy's math one more time and then we got ready for bed while the muffins cooked. I read a chapter to Charlie and went to bed at almost 1 AM. 

I really wanted to sew or quilt today. :0/

September 11, 2015

Friday

Almost everyone and a few friends went to Rock the Universe in Orlando today. Garrett, Tommy, and I stayed home. Tommy did school 9:30-3:30. Garrett worked part of the time. I did laundry, cleared a path thru the foyer, made soup, and made an apple pie with Tommy. That's his favorite. I went to Kim's studio and wove for 1 1/2 hours. Tommy and I went swimming, and I ended the day by watching a tambour embroidery DVD and practicing it. 

September 8, 2015

Tuesday 

Today was Tommy's first day of school. He had two online classes. Tomorrow he will have four. He doesn't like taking notes or writing down his assignments but I'm making him. :0)

Charlie had a fiddle lesson and then I did school with him. I thought we had all day, lots of time, and then someone reminded me that we had to leave for Sloppy's in a half hour. Ugh!! How did I forget that. I was able to go over Garrett's corrections in algebra and he better have finished the next lesson by the time I get home. 

We went to Sloppy's. It was a long night for everyone. We are all tired, but I guess Wednesday and Thursday are our weekend. It looks like I will have Friday off though. Everyone is going to Rock the Universe in Orlando. 

September 7, 2015

Monday

Kim came over and we went walking. I spent most of the morning and early afternoon with Tommy, getting ready for his first day of online classes tomorrow. He had some reading to do too. Charlie and I took a ride to Walgreens to get some notebooks. Then it was time to get ready for Sloppy's. I packed a salad, refried beans, and black berries for my lunch. Emma left to go back to college and we left for work. 

We had a great crowd at Sloppy's. Jake was awesome tonight. 

September 6, 2015

Sunday

I think I forgot to mention that Emma is visiting for the long weekend.

We went to church. Nina's group played at Sunset Pier but the rest of us had the day off. Kim came over with the kids after church, and Doug even came over for a little bit. Then Tom and I went over to Byron and Aida's for supper and to go swimming. It started raining right when we got there and then poured for quite a while,  so we didn't go swimming. 

We went to church again, then all the boys played hockey. I made spaghetti, garlic bread, and a salad for supper. I did dishes, then didn't read to Charlie. I was too tired. 

I forgot to put up my beach pics from yesterday so here they are.

September 5, 2015

Friday and Saturday 

Friday 

I did school and then went to TJ's to relieve Joe from babysitting. TJ and Ang had a gig in Key West. Then when they got home TJ and I drove back to KW for our gig at Schooner Wharf. 

Saturday

The band had a double today, Sunsrt Pier and Schooner Wharf. 

Charlie and I went to the beach. We get there early when there's hardly anyone there and leave about 1:30 when it's getting busy. When we got home I had a hard time deciding what to do, and it shouldn't have been hard because I knew what I had to do...fold laundry, the whole weeks worth of laundry. I'm thinking of having the big kids do their own. I'm not sure how it would work. They would probably just keep throwing their stuff in the laundry room anyway. And it would get backed up...ugh!!!

Around 6 o'clock I went grocery shopping (another not so fun thing) but after the groceries were put away, I took Bobby out for his birthday at Boondocs. It was almost 10 o'clock when we left and Kurt's car wouldn't start. You have to turn the key slowly and that's what I was doing. I texted Kurt and he said to turn it really really slow, so I turned it super slow-mo and it started!  Crazy car. It's much nicer that the car I drive. For one thing, it doesn't sit as low so it's easier for old people like me to get in and out, and for a second thing, the AC works. 

I folded one more basket of laundry out of the dryer, read to Charlie, and went to bed. 

September 3. 2015

Thursday 

I went walking but I was so hot I quit early and only walked 2 1/2 miles. I ran 1 time around. I think I'll start running in the middle of my walk again, as some kind of punishment, or discipline, or something. It is an accomplishment, right?

I did school and gave Charlie a piano lesson. Tommy went to a guitar lesson and later Charlie went to swim practice. I'm so thankful to Georgina for taking him. I just couldn't run him 3 times a week.  Garrett went to work with Fran.

The kids played Ultimate Frisbie at the park with the youth group. I decided to make spaghetti for supper, but I ended up with no car to get groceries, so I figured everyone would just be on their own. At the last second though I threw together a salad and pulled the last grapes out of the fridge and that was supper. 

I did dishes, read to Charlie about 10:45, and went to bed.

September 2, 2015

Wedensday

We did school all day. Charlie and I are having a good time. 

Construction started on our street for the sewers. What a mess. They dug a huge hole in our back yard. 

At 4 I went over to TJ's to bbsit. I finished the label for Jake's quilt. It's the one that a dog chewed a hole in and I fixed it. I took the kids to church about 6 o'clock. Then went home and read to Charlie. 

Here's the recipe for Buffalo cauliflower. I've tried a few and this one is the easiest and best. 

September 1, 2015

Tuesday

I slept till 8:30 and just didn't have the energy to go walking. I also didn't want to deal with the heat. I made the kids banana muffins for breakfast . 

Bobby moved home for a couple weeks. He's waiting for a place to open up that he's going to rent. 

This week is my "pre-school" week. I kind of try things and see how they work and how it goes. If you try it during real school you end up wasting time looking for things, or making copies, and my students get bored and then I get frustrated. So, I did school with Charlie, checking things out, and had to get a few more books on our Kindles. 

Later, Rita stopped at Winn Dixie for me and when she got back Tommy cut up four heads of cauliflower. I made a 4-times batch of Buffalo cauliflower. When it was done we took it over to church for Stevie's 2nd birthday party.  That was a blast and Kim had great food. :0)

Afterwards, Tom and Rob went to the park for hockey. I cleared the table and did dishes. I read to Charlie and went to bed.