Daybook

For today...Tuesday, May 14, 2013

On My Mind...I am still unemployed and somehow I thought that would equate to my spending more time writing on my blog but that hasn't happened for whatever reasons!...I have sent a few resumes out for positions with no responses back and also interviewed with a hospice home care agency for a per diem position, that interview resulted in my attending their weekly "team" meeting and "shadowing" one of their social workers on a visit.  That was almost 2 weeks ago and the HR lady said she would call me the next day.  Well she did to tell me that she was going away for a few days and would call the following Tues which was a week ago today.  She seemed pleased with everything though and said she is checking my references and doing a  background check before she sets me up for orientation.  Very positive but as I think the song goes "the waiting is the hardest part".

Outside My window...sunny but a lot cooler than it should be.

What I'm listening to...I've decided to continue to listen to audio books since they are such a habit of mine; it just just takes me longer to get through them but I do!  Right now I am listening to Under the Dome by Stephen King, in anticipation of the upcoming miniseries in June.  I'm also listening to something called a "playaway" when I go for my daily walk (hey I have  to do something  with my time! lol) (A playaway is this little ipod-size thing they have at the library that you put your own AAA battery and earphones into)...I'm currently listening to Summerland by Elin Hillerbrand on the playaway

What I'm reading...Because it's not enough that I'm listening to 2 books, I'm also reading a 3rd!  After seeing the movie "42" (which everyone should see, by the way), I became interested in Jackie Robinson and am now reading a biography about him.  I did recently finish two really good books which I highly recommend, both of them were quick reads for me: The Fault in Our Stars by John Green and The Time Keeper by Mitch Albom.

What I'm Watching...Both Survivor and The Amazing Race just finished up and I was happy with how they both turned out, I think it's the first time we were all rooting for the same people!; DWTS is winding down and while I really liked Ingo when it first started, I think it's just time for him to go now.  I really like Ally, Kellie, and Jacoby, not a big fan of Zendaya; watching the daytime shows, The View, The Chew, The Talk and Ellen; also still love The Big Bang Theory and looking forward to So You Think You Can Dance starting again!

Around the house...not as neat as you would think considering I have nothing else to do; laundry waiting to be folded and more to be washed.

In the kitchen...Pork chops will be going in the crockpot for dinner tonight; quick dinners the rest of the week because of baseball

Coming up this week...baseball games tomorrow night, Fri night and Sat night; orientation at the middle school Thurs night; Tucker's running in a 5K to benefit cancer on Sat and we're celebrating Mother's day and my s-i-l's birthday on Sun (Michael had to work on Mother's day so we postponed it)

Picture thought

(and yes he did catch the ball!!!)

Tucker Turns 11!!!!!

Daybook

For today...Monday,March 25, 2013

On My Mind...for those of you who don't know,I lost my job two weeks ago. The new administrator has been there for about a year and in that time about 3/4 of the department heads have left either on their own or like in my case they were really reaching to find something.I lost my part-timer about a year ago (she left for a full-time position)  and I had been telling them I was overwhelmed and needed help so rather then get me someone they decided to get rid of me!  So back unto unemployment I go. It will be a struggle but we've made it before and we will make it again. I'm hoping to pick up some per diem home care until I find something....also my thoughts are with a friend of mine whose son is stationed in Afghanistan. The prison where he is stationed  was taken over be the afghans yesterday and she has not heard from him since.

Outside my window...supposed to be spring but still a little chilly for my liking!  they're saying maybe the 50s tomorrow!

What I'm listening to... no audiobooks for me right now! The View is on the TV and I can hear the dishwasher churning away upstairs.

What I'm reading...just finished  44 Charles Street by Danielle Steele and now reading The Autobiography of Mrs.Tom Thumb (fiction).

What I'm Watching... Amazing Race,Survivior,and DWTS.No Idol for me this season;couldn't take Nicki Minaj. 

Coming up this week... baseball practice tonight and Wed, soccer game tomorrow night, no school for Tucker Thursday and Friday, 5th grade car wash, bake sale,and plant sale on Sat (let's hope the weather cooperates!)and Easter at my m-i-l's on Sunday.

Quick Takes

1. As something new at work, we as department heads have to work a 12-8 shift every two weeks.  Today's my lucky day so I'm at the library this morning returning books, getting new books, and taking advantage of their faster computers!
2.  I had hoped to be better about blogging with the new year but so far I haven't other than to start my new list of books read in 2013.  I really need to get better about doing it because I feel like we are missing out on whole parts of our life and the memory, sad to say is not what it used to be!  the blog has really helped me when I've gone back to scrapbook events and sad to say, I'm behind on that too!  Like 4 years, almost 5 years kind of behind!  I think the last time we scrapbooked I did Tucker's kindergarten graduation and now he's moving up middle school next year!  Yikes!
3.  On to other news... for the one person who doesn't follow me on facebook ...keeping us busy has been our little artist!  He will receiving an award from the CT Association of Schools for his (and I quote) "ever developing artistic talent and fine character" in February!  He just received an award from the Board of Education for receiving the February award, if that makes any sense!

Oops! I'm being thrown off the computer!  Apparently I've exceeded my time and there are people waiting!  (which is actually fine with me because the guy next to me smells kind of funky!)

Books I Read in 2012

1. Twilight by Stephanie Meyer
2. New Moon by Stephanie Meyer
3. Emma by Jane Austen
5. Eclipse by Stephanie Meyer
6. Pretties by Scott Westerfeld
7. A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini
8. Breaking Dawn by Stephanie Meyer
9. Night Road Kristen Hannah
10. Beloved by Toni Morrison
11. Captive Queen by Alison Weir
12. Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand
11. The Best of Me by Nicholas Sparks
12. Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer *
13. Crossed by Ally Condie
14. Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs
15. Out of Oz by Gregory Maguire
16. Lone Wolf by Jodi Picoult
17. Holes by Louis Sachar
18. The Mostly True Adventures of Homer P. Figg by Ransom Riggs
19. Then Came You by Jennifer Weiner
20. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone by J.K Rawlings
21. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by J.K. Rawlings
22. The Story Sisters by Alice Hoffman
23. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by J.K. Rawlings
24. The House of Mirth by Edith Wharton
25. The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis
26. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by J.K. Rawlings
27. Les Miserables by Victor Hugo
28. Where the Mountain Meets the Moon by Grace Lin
29. The Third Angel by Alice Hoffman
30.  Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix by J.K. Rawlings
31.  Moon over Manifest by Claire Vanderpool
32.  Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince by J.K. Rawlings
33.  Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J.K. Rowlings  *
34.  The Host by Stephanie Meyer  *
35.  The River King by Alice Hoffman
36.  The Friday Night Knitting Club by Kate Jacobs
37.  The Magician's Nephew by C.S. Lewis
38.  The Horse and His Boy by C.S. Lewis
39.  Shiver by Maggie Steifvater 
40.  Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantal
41. Seriously...I'm Kidding by Ellen Degeneres
42.  Linger by Maggie Stiefvater
43.  The Paris Wife by Paula McLain
44.  Forever by Maggie Stiefvater
45.  The Penderwicks at Point Mouette by Jeanne Birdsall
46.  Fifty Shades of Grey by EL James
47.  Fifty shades Darker by EL James
48.  Fifty Shades Freed by FL James 
49.  The Catcher in the Rye by J. D. salinger
50.  Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell *
51.  The Sign of the Beaver
52.  I Know This Much is True by Wally Lamb
53.  Knit Two by Kate Jabobs
54.  Amy and Isabelle by Elizabeth Strout
55.  Where the Heart Is by Bille Letts
56.  Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry
57.   11/22/63 by Stephen King *

* indicates favorite books

Celebrating October (and a September) Birthdays

We got together yesterday to celebrate Eileen and Cassandra's birthdays (along with Zach, Cassandra's boyfriend)..  First everyone blew out their candles then opened their presents!

Warning: lots of pictures but this is how I share pictures with my family!  Enjoy!

 

Thoughts on a Sunday Afternoon

-I missed doing a Daybook this week because it was a busy week so I thought I'd take a few minutes now to get down some thoughts.
-It seems strange but I have 5 kids here now, including Tucker, because his friend William and the three neighbor kids are here.  I'd go upstairs and carry on but I was down here when they came and Nava (the little girl) keeps coming over and talking to me and asking me questions.  The boys can fend for them selves I know.
-I had to laugh when I called William's mom this morning to ask if William could come over.  You may remember William....he and Tucker were inseperable from K- 2nd grade and then drifted as friends sometimes do.  Well they are in the same class this year and when Tucker told me,  I said to Michael I wonder how long it will take before William will be over again.  Turns out it was 3 weeks.  And he just asked if can come over next weekend "I like coming over here, Mrs. Doyle".  So nice to hear!  :)
-We had the annual carnival at Tucker's school yesterday and it was the perfect Fall day for it!  Somehow I ended up doing the Spin Art Booth  and getting splattered with paint! But it was a lot of fun and the kids had a blast!
-Survivor started this week and Blair from the Facts of Life is on it and they are so mean to her already because she is "older".  The ones who are being mean to her are so young they don;t even recognize her as a TV star.  There's one guy who does recognize her and he's nice to her but stuck in the middle.
-Can't wait for Dancing with the stars and Amazing Race to start!  Though I'm not looking forward to Bristol and Pamela dancing around again!  I've started watching The Voice and Glee also.
-I'm still making my way through Gone With the Wind; not really doing a lot of reading mostly because I'm working on Christmas presents and that takes up a a lot of my time.  I'm only about halfway through it. 
-I guess that's about it for now.

Every hour-Sunday

I am copying Jul and Tiffany so here is my version of "every hour" (this time with pictures)
For some reason, I can't write in between the pictures so I'll describe them first!

7:30am  The day always begins with the feeding of Shrek and Fiona
8:30am  Pancakes for breakfast (these were the rejects!)
9:30am  Warming up for the 10am soccer game (Tucker is #21)
10:30am  Still at soccer; Tucker's in the middle on the bench
11:30am   Done with soccer, getting gas
12:30am  Grocery shopping
1:30pm    Trying to finish the Monopoly City game we started yesterday (notice I said "trying")
2:30pm   Folding laundry
3:30pm   cross-stitching (can't show the front because it's a gift for someone who may still read this)
4:30pm   still cross-stitiching
5:30pm   time to make dinner-pork chops it is!
6:30pm   how would you like to eat dinner with this face looking at you every night?!
7:30pm   watching Breaking Amish on TLC

Random Thoughts on a Friday Night (from my mom's house)

-I mentioned in my Daybook that my Mom had her surgery today on her foot; she did very well.  She is in a tremendous amount of pain though so she just she just took two pain pills so she could go off to sleepyland and get a brek from the pain.
-It was only 7 pm when she took the pills so i came up here on the computer and thought I would do a random thought post seeing as how I don;t usually get too much time to myself!
-I may not be far behind her sleeping-wise; we had to be at the hospital for 5:45 this morning so we got up at 4:30 and left at 5:10.  Needless to say, it's been a long day for both of us!
-We had Tucker's Open House at his school this week and they ran it a little differently but it was better, I think.  The kids brought you to the classroom and you met the teacher and you could look around for about 20 minutes and then the kids went to the cafeteria for about 20 minutes while the teacher talked about the what the kids were going to do this year, what to expect, etc.  I found it very helpful, particularly with him getting ready to go to Middle School next year.  His teacher is new to our school and I really like her a lot as does Tucker.
-we just found out Tucker's best friend Gavin is moving to Raliegh, NC next summer.  His dad accepted a new job and will actually be moving next month.  Gavin will be finishing the school year along with his older brother Josh and then joining his dad.  Tucker's already worried about him leaving but we're talking about looking into Skype for them, I think.
-I'm going to try to copy Jul and Tiffany with their Every Hour posts probably Sunday.  I can't do it during the week because of my job but it does look like fun; though I could do it without pictures.  I was thinking today's could look like this (without pictures):
4:30-wake up
5:30-driving to hospital for mom's surgery
6:30-mom in pre-op for surgery
7:30-ortho running late
8:30-ortho finally here; mom goes into surgery
9:30-reading gone With the Wind in waiting Room
10:30-same as above
11:30-mom out of surgery, in recovery, waiting to go back, making phone calls to update everyone
12:30-in with mom, she's napping
1:30-in with mom, going to get car
2:30-home with mom
3:30-at pharmacy waiting for prescription
4:30-at vet picking up cat
5:30-picking up chinese food for dinner
6:30-adjusting pillows/ice
7:30-on computer

Not too bad for a day's "work", huh?!?!? lol

Daybook

For today...Monday, September 10, 2012

On My Mind....haven't been sleeping well at night lately and need to catch up on some much needed sleep!...hoping to get the Christmas presents actually done in time for Christmas!...proud of Tucker for doing so well on the CMTs (our state's standardized tests); he got "advanced" in Math (actually 6 wrong out of 110) and scored high in reading and writing (not quite "advanced", but close); we are very proud of him!!!

 

Outside My window...weird that it's dark outside and it's not even 8 pm !  Definitely cooling down at night, have to shut the windows tonight, or at least some of them anyway!

What We're Reading...Still reading Gone with the Wind...  Tucker's still working his way through the The Hardy Boys books.

What I'm Listening to...since I can't listen to audio books I'll have to go with what I am actually listening to....Tucker and Michael playing video games...the dryer running.

 

What We're Watching...  So You Think You Can Dance, looking forward to the finale tomorrow night...looking forward to Survivor, Amazing Race, and DWTS, even if we have to watch Bristol Palin clunk around the stage again... re-runs of Big Bang Theory and Two and a Half Men, lately anything on HGTV

I am Hoping...that I get some good sleep tonight.

Around the House...dishes waiting to go in the dishwasher... laundry waiting to be folded...the house itself is actually pretty neat.

Coming Up This Week...open house at Tucker's school tomorrow night...soccer practice Thursday night...

soccer pictures Fri night...I'm sleeping over my mom's Thurs and Fri night because she's having her 2nd and final surgery on her foot on Fri...soccer game on Sun.

No Picture thought this week (I really need to get back into taking more pictures!!!)

First Soccer Game of the Season

This year they started the soccer season with little ceremony where all the kids who play soccer in the town marched onto the field...it was actually pretty impressive to see the little ones all the way up to Tucker's age group!  Tucker started playing when he was 4 and I can't believe he was ever that little!  lol!
 

 He had a game in the afternoon...For some reason, I didn't take alot of pictures, I'm sure I'll make up for it!

 

Daybook

For today...Tuesday, September 4, 2012

On My Mind....Given that my blog is so dusty from lack of use, there's actually a lot on my mind!...I really want to get back into blogging.  Over the weekend I went back and read over the blog back when I was really into it and documented our life through it much more often and I realize just how much I've missed doing that not to mention the documentation of  what we're doing!  and how I feel about what we are doing !  and while I think Facebook is a much quicker means to an end, if you will, I can't put a lot of detail there and I think that's what I've missed doing so I will be trying to do that more!  okay with all that having been said...we have new neighbors who moved in last week, their names are Ike and Dee (easy to remember, the last syllables of ours, lol) and they have have three kids Malik (11), Izul (sp?) (8), and Nava (sp?) (5).  Nava is a girl and the other two are  boys. While we will definitely miss our former neighbors, we're really excited to have kids next door for Tucker to play with ! ... For those on Facebook (both of you), you probably saw my post about donating my car and may be be wondering what I'm driving these days (or maybe not!).  My mom still had my dad's car and was tired of keeping up two cars so she traded her 1995 in for a brand-new car and gave me the 2000 Subaru Legacy and we donated my 2002 Ford Focus.  The only thing is that it doesn't have a CD player and I got a cassette jammed in there (one Jul made me back in high school) so I can't even get an adapter for it.  We're going to get a used CD player for it so I can go back to my audio books.

 

Outside My window...we had torrential rain most of the day so no soccer practice tonight....humid tomorrow and then back into the 70s which is how I like it.

What We're Reading...I just finished The Catcher in the Rye (a re-reread) and am now tackling Gone with the Wind.  Tucker's still working his way through the The Hardy Boys books.

What I'm Listening to...since I can't listen to audio books I'll have to go with what I am actually listening to....Tucker and Michael outside in the yard....Shrek meowing because he wants to go out (he's an indoor cat)...the dryer running.

What We're Watching...   re-runs of Big Bang Theory and Two and a Half Men, lately anything on HGTV

I am Hoping...that work stops being so stressful.

Around the House...dishes waiting to go in the dishwasher... laundry waiting to be folded.

Coming Up This Week...soccer practice Thursday night, CT Sun game Fri ngiht, first soccer game of the season Sat afternoon

No Picture thought this week

First Day of School

I'm almost a week late in posting these but in an effort to get back into blogging, I'm moving forward and posting these today!

Tucker started 5th grade on Monday!  (These was a picture of me and him but even though I have recentley lost 15 lbs, it was horrid!)




The gang from his daycare!

 With his best friend Gavin!

 

Daybook

For today...Wednesday, July 11, 2012....I had all intentions of doing this this weekly again but I see the last time I did this June 19th so not so much I guess!

On My Mind....Since last writing, my uncle passed away on June 23rd and we buried him today ( he was cremated).  It was bittersweet for so many reasons; he had suffered so much towards the end that it was just a relief that he finally went.  My cousin and her son did a nice job eulogizing him.

Outside My Window...  According to the weatherman, we're expecting some record heat over the next couple of days.

What We're Reading...I just finished reading Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater over the weekend and was TOTALLY addicted; I picked up the second and third books (Linger and Forever) today at the library and am envisioning the same thing happening...Tucker is really into the Hardy Boys and I am having mixed  feelings.  I am glad he has finally found some books he is enjoying and that he wants to read but I miss reading with him.  During the school year, he reads one himself and we read one together but he is full throttle into these himself and I don't want to discourage him in any way; it took  so long to get here!

What We're Listening to...I'm almost finished with Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel.

What We're Watching... So You Think You Can Dance,  re-runs of Big Bang Theory....watched all the Harry Potters on ABC Family this weekend and also Teen Mom and a Hoarding Marathon.

I am Hoping...that work stops being so stressful.

Around the House...dishes waiting to go in the dishwasher...lots of laundry waiting to be folded.

Coming Up This Week...Actually a pretty quiet week...Tucker will probably have a friend over this weekend.

Daybook

For today...Tuesday, June 19, 2012

On My Mind....Still hoping and praying for an easy time for my Uncle Ted who is now receiving hospice services...also an elderly family friend is in the hospital with gallstones.

Outside My Window... Now that the day is almost over, the sun finally came out1  It was cloudy and looking like it could rain at any minute all day!  According to the weatherman, we're expecting some record heat over the next couple of days.

What We're Reading...I'm almost done with The Friday Night Knitting Club and really enjoying it...tucker has just started the first Hardy Boys book...we're having a hard time finding his niche where books are concerned and his best friend's mom mentioned that he loves the Hardy Boys so tucker;s giving them a try...so far, so good....

What We're Listening to...I'm still on my Alic Hoffman kick; I'm listening to "the River King" right now

What We're Watching...so excited that So You Think You Can Dance is back!  Otherwise, re-runs of Big Bang Theory and Yankee games.

I am Hoping...that my new migraine medication works!

Around the House...dishes waiting to go in the dishwasher...lots of laundry to be washed...it's still fairly clean.

Coming Up This Week...Tucker's at daycare all day now that it's summer...Michael and Tucker are going to the beach Thursday...our niece Shannon has her graduation party on Saturday...Tucker's having Gavin over on Sunday

Picture Thought...I posted all of the pics from field day on Facebook but this is one of my favorite of Tucker and Gavin

Random Thoughts on a Saturday Night

The house is clean and ready for everyone to come here tomorrow for Father's day so I thought I'd sit and catch up on some of my thoughts...there are a lot of them!  I still can't believe Tucker is officially a 5th grader now...he also won an award for excellence in physical education which surprises me to no end , only in the "where does he get it from?' way though, if that makes any sense.  Michael and I are not exactly the sports-minded types though we have certainly managed to keep up with him so far with soccer and baseball....He (Tucker) had the second day of soccer travel team tryouts today and we should find out in 2 weeks time if he made it or not. 21 kids tried out and they can only have 17 on the team; I'm hoping  he makes it (obviously) but it's harder at this new age group because there are so many kids and they are all so good...I finally finished reading the last book of Harry Potter and I know I didn't read it before.  I think I was waiting for it to come out in paperback like I did with the others and then forgot about it.  I have to say I definitely would have remembered it and it also was my favorite of the series.  I also just finished listening to The Host by Stephanie Meyer; I wasn't sure what to expect because I'm not usually into aliens-taking-over-human-bodies but it was really good!  I just started The Friday Night Knitting Club which I have wanted to read for awhile and I picked it up at goodwill a little while back,; I'm about halfway through and it's pretty good so far...On a sadder note, I was hoping you could keep my Uncle Ted (my mother's oldest brother) in your thoughts and prayers.  He was diagnosed with colon cancer 3 years ago and it quickly spread to his liver.  They told him about three weeks ago that they have done all they can and he has started receiving hospice services.  My mom, my uncle John, and I went to say our goodbyes on Memorial Day (at his request).  He;s been in a lot of pain and I just hope for a peaceful and pain-free time for him...I had another visit to the ER this past week with the same facial numbness I had back in February.  This time it lasted about 3 hours instead of 8 though.  I saw my neurologist on Friday and he has started me on Topamax to prevent the migraines and believes this is a new aspect of my migraines for me.  I hope that is all it is and that the Topamax stops it because it is just plain scary when it happens!  One of the side effects of the med is lack of appetite and weight loss so I am okay with that! ...well I think that's going to be it for now; I need to get Tucker going to get into the shower and we haven't eaten dinner yet (it's 6:45 but we ate lunch around 2:30 because of the tryouts).

A Sports-Filled Day

I'm really going to try to blog more often in an effort to document our lives (since that was the reason I started in the 1st place)

 We started today with soccer tryouts.....

And finished with a baseball game this afternoon. Tucker's team was the 5th seed overall and beat the 3rd seed 5-0!  so we move on to the next game on Tuesday!

Catching up with pictures....

It has been almost two months since I have been on here!  Hard to believe!!!  It's not that I don;t have anything to say but more finding the time and when I do have the time, it seems like I don't have anything to say!

So here is what we've been up to since the end of April...

LOTS of baseball games!

Michael, tucker, his friend Robbie and Robbie's dad went to a Yankees game (FREE tickets again from Budweiser!)

 

 

 Tucker had a SOLO in the 4th grade play (yes it was a singing one!)  He did AWESOME!
 

 

Celebrating Mother's Day with breakfast in bed (and a new wind chime!)

 

Our moms toast to mother's day below...Michael grilled steak for us...flowers for the garden ...we also celebrated Doreen's 48th birthday!

 

 





We took Tucker and his friend Gavin to the local racetrack for a demolition derby!

Our niece Cassandra graduated with her Associates degree in Health and Exercise Studies>  We're so proud!

  

Last but not least, Tucker and I participated in the Cancer Relay for Life last weekend.  We even slept over!