Birthday Fun

My baby sister's birthday was Thursday. She's 30. She and her hubby invited my hubby and me to dinner tonight to celebrate. We jumped at the chance! We haven't spent nearly enough time with them since we got back to the States almost two years ago. We all hope to change that.

We went to this place that none of us have ever tried before. It's a bit off the beaten path, which was REALLY nice, considering the fact that it's payday weekend in a military town. I knew that "Restaurant Row" would be a nightmare tonight. This place was kind of rustic looking, but had a very elegant atmosphere and was a bit pricey. The food was quite good, and the service was fair. Not quite as I felt it should be for a place like that, but my sister made a good point when she mentioned that she could only imagine how difficult it would be to find a happy medium as a server. How do you make sure you're being attentive enough without being overbearing? Good point. I worked as a waitress for a while when I was in college, so I know that feeling all too well. The most important thing was that we all enjoyed the food and the company.

The company was enjoyable indeed. There never seems to be a time that my sister and I get together that we don't go into a fit of giggles for some reason or another. I mean the kind of laugh that makes your belly muscles ache and you can't even begin to talk. The kind of laugh that's good for the soul. Tonight was no exception. Tonight it was at her husband's expense. What a good sport he is! It's no wonder we all love him. You never know who will be the brunt of jokes with my sister and me. But it's always in good fun...we're never mean spirited about it.

I made sure to take my camera with me, but we didn't take a single damn picture. That is so out of character for me, and I'm rather annoyed with myself. Oh well...hopefully we'll be better about spending time together and have pictures next time.

I just love finally being home. It's nice to be able to just spend an evening like this together. I sure do hope we're able to stay around for a while.

Tough Love

I swear yesterday I thought my daughter had completely lost her mind. My son had been cooped up in the house most of the week because of the flu and had a serious case of cabin fever. We did go for a ride Thursday because the weather was just PERFECT. They wanted to play outside yesterday, but had to clean their rooms first. The boy got finished first (huge surprise for me), and I sent him out. Then the girl child said she was finished so I went up to check hers.

While I was in there I noticed this big black spot in the middle of her floor. Asked her what it was, and she stood there and shrugged her shoulders, saying she didn't know. How in the world is a big black spot going to just appear in the middle of her floor and she doesn't know where it came from? I could tell she was lying to me. So I came back downstairs, telling her I expected an explanation before she could go outside to play. She came down a few minutes later.

Her: I remember how that black got on my floor.

Me: OK...how?

Her: Well, I wanted to draw a picture yesterday and I had a black marker that I wanted to see if it worked.

Me: So you decided to test it ON THE FLOOR???

Her: Yes. (Could tell by the look on her face she knew she was in trouble now)

Me: Have you lost your mind? What would possess you to do that? (Then she starts crying) You need to go up to your room and think about what you've done.

OK, maybe I shouldn't have said it like that, but that was exactly how it seemed. And I'm thinking at this point that she has made yet ANOTHER mess that her daddy and I are going to have to clean up. Then I thought...oh HELL no!! I'm tired of cleaning up mess after mess that she and her brother decide to make...and so is their daddy.

So I called her downstairs and found one of those sponges that has soap already in it, wet it for her, and told HER to go upstairs and clean up the spot. Told her to wet the sponge more when she needed to. After a few minutes, she called down asking me if she had to clean it ALL up. When I told her yes, she said "UGGHHHH...it's gonna take all day!" Yeah, that's kinda the point.

After about an hour or so of much crying and complaining, stomping, banging, and other noisy protesting, she came down and very politely asked me if I would come and look at how much she had gotten cleaned up. So I went up to look, and this HUGE black spot had been reduced to a very small spot that probably won't be obvious to someone who doesn't know it's there. So I told her she had done a great job and could go outside and play. We also talked about how frustrated Mommy gets when she and her brother make messes like that and I have to clean them up. I'm really hoping that she has learned a lesson that will make her think twice about doing something like that again. I'm still not sure why in the world she tested a marker on her carpet. She certainly knows better than that. I can't count how many times we've stressed to her that she's not to color on anything except paper and coloring books. Just like most kids, they've done their share of coloring on the walls. I thought she had mostly outgrown that.

We'll see if this incident has done the trick.

New Job

I don't think I've mentioned anything about this here yet, but I've been looking for a new job for a few weeks now. I kind of started around the first of the year, and got more serious about it last month. As of the end of this month, it's been a year since I left my last job, and I need to get back to work for a few reasons.

My mom knew I was looking for a job and talked to me about a month ago about the Community College she teaches at part time. She teaches down there three days a week, and I guess it has gotten to be a bit stressful with all the prep time on top of her other job. One of the ladies in the Continuing Education department approached her about returning for the summer term to teach the class she's teaching, but she told her she needed a break. When the lady asked my mom to help her find a replacement, my mom recommended me and talked to me about it that same week.

I decided to go ahead and fill out the application. After all, at the very least, it's a job I can do in the interim until something else comes up. If I hate it, I'm only committed to one term. The summer term goes from mid-April through mid-August. If I love it, maybe it would be something I could continue even after August.

My mom called me yesterday afternoon. She had seen the new course catalog for the summer session. The course was listed in there, with my last name listed as the instructor. Mom said...you're the only "F" I know who's applied to teach down there. Then when I got home and checked the mail, I had a letter from the school letting me know that I am, indeed, scheduled to teach for the summer session. I'm a little confused about the dates, so I'll have to show the letter to my mom before I call down to the school to clarify. The course I'm teaching is Administrative Medical Coding Specialist (Coding & Billing), which is pretty much what I've been doing off and on for the last 18 years, I guess.

I'm very excited, but I'm a bit apprehensive about it too. I have done things of this nature before. I have experience teaching AFTB classes (Army Family Team Building for those of you who read my blog and not familiar with the terminology). I actually have to say that my experience with AFTB is the main reason I originally gained an interest and the confidence to teach adult learners. When I worked at the health clinic in Vilseck, I did training sessions there on documentation and coding, particularly for the doctors and other healthcare providers. So I have the knowledge and expertise. The difference here is that I'll be working with a more structured curriculum. Fortunately, though, I'm basically taking over for my mom, so I'll be able to get a lot of the information from her.

One of the best things about this is the hours. The pay is actually quite good, particularly for part-time work. And I'll be working Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, from 8:30 to 2:00. The great thing is that I'll be home by the time the kids get home from school. I'll have to work something out for the times that they're on break, but I'm sure that between the family members we have here, we'll be able to figure something out. I would love to be able to avoid having to put them in daycare, but we'll figure it all out.

Feeling Better

Well, my little guy's feeling much better now. When I took him to the doctor Monday, she advised us to keep him out of school through today, and that he could go back Thursday. I could have sent him back earlier if he was fever-free, but he was still running a fever on and off, including this morning. So we kept him home.

Today was their last day of school before their 3-week Spring Break. I love year-round school! I have some ideas for things to do with them during the break. We'll have to see how that works out.

The bad thing is that he's got cabin fever something AWFUL! Thank goodness the weather here is supposed to be pretty tomorrow. I'm gonna kick both of them out of the house for a while to play. Being sick really sucks when your 9!

Poor Baby

My little guy has the flu. Woke up this morning congested and said he couldn't breathe. So naturally, I kept him home from school today. Took him to the doctor, where he was traumatized by having his finger stuck and a strep test. Fortunately, no strep throat, but the flu is bad enough. Now he's upset with me because the little girl who lives next door came by and wanted him and his sister to come out and play. Naturally, I can't let him go out, but that doesn't mean his sister can't. I feel bad for him, but at least he understands I'm not just trying to be mean. I hate when my babies are sick!

Had to Share

The Princes had a science project to do. Her class was studying sound, and she was supposed to make a musical instrument. She wanted to make a guitar. Her initial idea was to use a paper towel tube and rubber bands to make her guitar with. Well, the hubby was having none of that. He started drawing out an idea for her project Saturday night and finished it up Sunday morning. When I saw his drawing and ideas, I reminded him that she's in second grade, and that she's supposed to do the work. No problem, he said. She's going to do the work. She's just going to do it with close supervision. When he told her his plan, she was very excited. Throughout the day, he had me come out and take pictures of her using different tools and her progress in general.

Here they are getting ready to work.
Using the miter saw...we found out later this was her favorite tool. Hubby said he had to keep after her because she got a little happy with it the more they used it.
Using the drill...with a little less hands-on supervision. Check out daddy's proud face!
Showing Mom how the dowels will work to serve as tuners.
Chiseling out the frets.
Sanding down another piece and tacking it together:
And the finished product! She's so proud!

Not Quite There Yet...

But I'm working on it. I'm still trying to get back into my blog groove. I thought it had been longer since I put a post up than it has. Sometimes, I just put up something random and then forget about it later. Imagine that!

A fellow blogger left a comment on my page a few days ago that reminded me why I enjoyed this so much. I'm not sure whether I've been finding my outlet elsewhere or have been holding it in. Whichever is the case, I need to make more of an effort to keep up here. I know I have friends and family who care about me and want to know what's going on with our family. Sometimes, with the way life is, this blog is the easiest way to keep our many long-distance friends and family updated.

So for those of you who still check in on us, THANK YOU for your love and your patience. I'll try to be less sporadic in my writing from now on.