It's After 11:30 p.m....

And the neighbor kid is still banging on the darn drums...

Oh, I Almost Forgot...

I was out in the garage talking to the hubby. He had fixed his rear tire (he had picked up a piece of a nail somewhere, which explained the slow leak), and had ridden it around for a little bit.

I came back in the house and he finished what he was doing in the garage. I sat down on the couch and started to settle in to work on my cross-stitch - a beloved hobby that I've been neglecting way too long. As I get settled, I hear "Oooooooooooo." It kind of startled me, because it sounded like it was close behind me, and I was trying to figure out where it was coming from. Then I realized that the couch doesn't sit right against the wall because it reclines. I leaned over and looked around behind the couch and see the boy's big head there. I started laughing and told him to get out from behind the couch. They both came crawling out amid squeals of delight. "We got you, Mommy! We got you good!" I'm not easily startled and they try but have not been successful up to this point. So I told them that yes, they had gotten me good this time. Then we had to tell Daddy all about it since he had been in the garage.

Silly kids...

The Little Things

One thing I absolutely love about kids is the fact that it's so easy (usually) to make them really happy.

I had to run to Wal-Mart today to pick up a couple of things that I couldn't get at Food Lion yesterday. The hubby has had a slow leak in the rear tire of his motorcycle and wanted me to pick up some Fix-a-Flat. Food Lion doesn't exactly have that. Well while I was over there, I decided to pick up a couple of these for their rooms. I had seen commercials for them and thought the kids would enjoy them.

So when they got home and finished homework, I told them I had picked up something cool for their rooms, but they had to get them cleaned up first. Well, they got busy after that. They finished cleaning up and I took them up to their rooms for them, with instructions to leave them alone except to turn the light on and off. After all, that scented oil stuff can stain. They're just tickled with them! I think maybe our issues with having to have lights on upstairs when they go to bed may now be coming to an end as well. They decided they wanted complete darkness up there so they could really see their cool lights and the way they change.

And I meant to write about this the other day, but never got around to it. I just love my kids' school bus driver. He's always on the lookout and watching out for the kids. There have been utility workers in my neighborhood this week. One day they were right outside my house. That day when the kids came in after getting off the bus, A told me, "Mommy, we have a new bus stop!" I asked what she meant and she explained to me that the bus driver had let them off right at our driveway instead of the corner where they usually get on and off the bus. It's kind of caty-corner from our house. He had done that because he felt it was safer for them due to all the workers milling around the area. I know it's part of his job, but I just appreciate his thoughtfulness there. They'll miss him when we move because I'm pretty sure they're going to be riding a different school bus.

Oh well, like I said, it's the little things.

I Hate...

Grocery Shopping!

I'm a terrible procrastinator about almost everything, and grocery shopping is no exception. I was gonna go yesterday, but ended up not, but I really had no choice about going today. Well, I was gonna go before the kids got home from school but waited too late and had to wait till they got home. I really don't like going alone with the kids, but I really left myself no choice. So after the kids did their homework, we headed off to the grocery store.

You know, I used to think it was hard going to the store with babies and toddlers. But at least I could keep them confined in the cart. With very active 6- and 8-year-olds, it's much more challenging. Half my time was spent keeping track of them. Yes, I put them to work helping me, but sometimes that was terribly distracting as I was trying to decide what I needed, or what brand I wanted. I got lots of chuckles from other shoppers though, as the kids asked me what was next and I asked them to be quiet and let me think. And in the frozen foods section, where they have the big freezers on either side of the aisle, they also have stuff in the center of the aisle. The kids would hide behind the stuff in the aisle until they heard me open a freezer, then one of them would appear behind me to grab what I had to put it in the cart. I nearly stepped on them several times. And I lost count of how many times I told them to move from in front of the cart. The Princess was the worst for that...she'd put something in the cart and then stand right in front of it until I fussed at her to move from in front of the cart so we could continue.

When we were finished shopping, of course they had to help unload the cart onto the conveyor belt at the register. Then the baggers put our stuff into two grocery carts, although I didn't have a problem getting it into one. So the kids pushed one of the carts out to the car. I had to get them back on track going in the right direction several times. Once we got out of the store into the parking lot, they thought it would be a good idea to take off running. I let them know real quick that it wasn't a good idea and if they ran the cart into anybody's car, including mine, I'd blister their hineys.

At home they wanted to help me unload the car, so I let them. That was a huge help...they brought the stuff in and I put it away. But I have to say that I HATE the plastic bags that Food Lion uses. I swear they buy the cheapest ones they possibly can get away with, and they don't double-bag anything. So by the time I get everything home and in the house, at least half the bags are broken. This evening I was emptying one bag into the pantry and it broke. Two jars of spaghetti sauce fell out on the floor, and one of them broke. Eeeeewwwwwwwwwww! Thank goodness that happened close to the end of the entire process, because I'd had just about enough.

So next time I procrastinate about grocery shopping, I'll try to remind myself about today's experience.

Bad News

I got a call from a good friend of mine tonight. She doesn't have a blog, so I can't link to her or anything. I'm also not gonna give out any personal information. But those of you who were closest to me in the last year or so in Germany know who my closest friend was there. She's going through a tough time right now and could use all the prayers and good thoughts she can get. I hurt so bad for her because I can't physically be there for her this time. I know I can't fix things, but I'd feel lots better if I could be there to give her and her hubby a great big hug right now.

My Ballerina and Her Brother

My baby girl had dance class tonight. She's taking ballet and tap. She took a little bit of ballet when we were in Germany, and was so excited to be able to take it again when we got here. I think I blogged about this when she first started dance, but I was excited too. The lady she's taking dance from is the same lady I took tap and jazz from when I was a kid. I was tickled to be able to give my girl the same opportunity I had...she's a wonderful teacher and loves what she does.

Tonight A was dancing around the family room, practicing some of her ballet moves. I'm seeing a HUGE difference in the way she's moving. She's becoming so much more graceful and is really "getting" the flow of movement. I'm so proud of her, and can't wait till her recital in June. She loves ballet, but tap is more of a challenge for her. I wanted her to try it this year because I figured it would be a really good experience for her. Plus, it was my favorite. My thought is that it's better that they try different things and decide then whether they like it or not. We did the same thing with J and basketball this year. He was hesitant to try, but I pushed him a bit, and he ended up LOVING it. But now that A has had the experience, I think I'll let her decide whether she wants to continue tap next year. Maybe I'll encourage her to try jazz next year if she chooses not to take tap.

J was watching her practice and decided that watching her practice made him an expert. So he got up and tried to mimick her.

J - How's this Mom?
Me - Nice try, baby, but you're not so graceful.
J - (Giggling) What about now?
Me - Honey, I don't think ballet's quite your thing...but that's ok (the hubby is listening to this exchange and I think he was a bit relieved...lol).
J - (watching A do a split and deciding he wants to try one too) Aaaggghhhhhhhh!
Me - Yeah, Sweetie, that's why boys aren't really naturally made to do splits.

Plans

OK, I know we don't officially have the house yet, but it's never too soon to start making plans for what we want to do with it, right?

When the kids first found out we were planning on trying to buy a house, they got excited. J said "I want to have our own house...that way we'll never have to move again!" As adaptable as they are, I know that the moving is hard on them sometimes. I just gave him a big hug and explained to him that even if we bought a house, it won't mean that we won't ever have to move again. But I told him that one thing it DID mean is that he and his sister could pick how to decorate their own rooms. They could pick the wall colors and everything. A piped up and said she wanted her room to be pink (big surprise there) and wanted Princess Aurora on her walls. J said he wanted Nascar painted on his walls.

So then I had to explain to them that painting Princess Aurora and Nascar on their walls wasn't as easy as it sounded. I know their daddy could do it, but it would take quite a bit of time. So I told them to choose a wall color and we would find cool wall borders that had what they wanted. So this morning the kids and I sat down here with my laptop looking for wall borders. We found this for my Princess child, and this for the little man (scroll down; it's the Dale Earnhardt Jr. one). A's sticking with her pink wall color (which will work nicely with the border she chose...look at the top and bottom edges), and J chose yellow. He surprised me with that...I figured he'd choose blue or something, but I think it's a great choice. Yellow (as long as it's a good shade) will work with so many different things. Anyway, we'll probably paint their rooms pretty much immediately after closing so we have that done before we move the furniture in. Just easier that way.

We went to Lowe's today to start looking for a refrigerator. Our contract includes a refrigerator allowance, so we're trying to decide where will be the best place to get one that fits our needs (and wants...lol) and be within the range of the allowance. We worked out a pretty nice allowance, so we should be able to get something nice.

We got to take my mom and her boyfriend over to show them the house today. I'm so excited about our first home purchase, and I love being able to share it with my mom. It just seems kind of appropriate that we buy our first home here so close to where I grew up. I don't know...it's just a sentimental thing. But P took a tape measure with him to measure the rooms of the house and get an idea of the measurements of the back yard (we're trying to plan for a privacy fence...not an immediate thing, but we do want to put one up). And I had my camera today and took lots of photos of the inside. The kids picked out their rooms today, too. J asked me at one point, "did you buy it yet?" Kids are so cute. We had to explain to him that it's not quite that easy with a house, but promised him that we're working on it.

I talked with our Real Estate Agent today. I just love her. I think it was meant to be that we met her last weekend. I couldn't have chosen a better fit if I tried. Her husband is military, too, and they were stationed in Italy before they moved here. She and I have really enjoyed talking to each other about the culture shock that goes along with moving to NC from Europe. We also enjoy reminiscing about Europe. I'm definitely gonna have to have her over for some vino in the new house! Anyway, I'm just trying to make sure that I do everything I can to make the closing process go as smoothly as possible. I found out what I need to do about the insurance since we're not going to go with that offered by the mortgage company (that was my biggest concern). Other than that, I guess there's not much for us to do at this point. We will have the walk-through, but she said they usually do that around a week before the closing date.

I know I keep saying this, but I just keep getting more excited each and every day. I'll probaby be blogging quite a bit about the new house for a while, at least for the next month, but I'll try not to blog exclusively about that. It's just a huge part of our lives right now.

Request for Help...

I saw this request from Some Soldier's Mom. Those poor kids. I think I'll be heading over to Target this week and mailing out a package.

Layout Frustrations

In my last post, I wanted an extra line break between each paragraph, but no matter how many times I go in to try to fix it, Blogger won't put them in there. It's really frustrating! I want that extra break there...I think it's aesthetically better than having my paragraphs all crammed together.

Oh well. Back to your regularly scheduled programming...

A Little More

Yep...I'm on a roll tonight.

First, here's a picture of my unicorn. She was crawling around the den on a hand and both knees, and I just had to take a picture. Not great quality, again, because I took it with my camera phone, but I actually think it does really well considering I was indoors and it doesn't have a flash. It comes in really handy in those times when I want to take a picture but forget my camera...you never know what kind of shenanigans kids will pull unexpectedly.

I have to brag on my boy. As most of you (especially those of you with school-age kids or who are otherwise involved with schools) know, February is Black History Month. Both of my kids studied influential black Americans this month, especially Martin Luther King, Jr. J had a Social Studies project/report he had to do where he had to choose a Black American to research and write a report on him/her. So we did some research, and chose Bill Pickett. After he chose his subject, we sat here and researched him, and I had him take notes. Then I had him write his report based on the notes we took. I tried really hard as we were working on this to keep from crossing the line from helping him to putting words in his mouth. It's very important to me that my kids learn to do their homework on their own, and that it represents THEIR thoughts. A's really bad about bringing me her homework papers and asking me for the answers. I remind her that it's HER homeword, not mine, and that she has to learn to understand the questions and answer them herself. I'll help if she really has problems, but it frustrates me when she obviously doesn't even try, considering how incredibly smart she is.

Anyway, as I was going through the boy's papers today while cleaning up, I found his report, which had been graded by his teacher. He got an A+! I was so proud of him! I put his report on the refrigerator. His daddy was really proud too.

There is a funny story that goes along with that report, too. J got a book for Christmas that teaches him how to draw different types of motorcycles. He actually does really well, although he complains sometimes that it's "hard." We're trying to express to him that if he wants to learn to draw, he has to learn the fundamentals. His daddy's an artist, so I really want to cultivate this in him, because it's a talent he seems to have, and I totally didn't have it. Anyway, the hubby told J to give him the book after he was finished with it, and I guess he's drawing something from it. J goes in the kitchen and sees his Social Studies report on the refrigerator and comes in exclaiming that he got an A+ on it. I cracked up, because I had just told him about an hour or so before how proud I was of him for the work he'd done on it. He was using it as an excuse to sneak up behind the hubby to see what he was drawing. I told him to grab the report off the fridge and show it to Daddy, which he did, but is still looking for excuses to sneak up behind him. Too funny!

Curiosity really gets the best of my kids sometimes, and I KNOW they're not the only ones.

On a different note, I was looking back at my archives. I started blogging in May, and had exactly 100 entries in 2006. When I checked earlier this evening, I had 58 entries just this month. It may be 60 now. I guess I'm starting to get a bit more comfortable with this blogging thing, or at least realizing that maybe I really do have something to write about. Maybe somebody wants to read it, maybe not. But they're my thoughts, and I (or maybe even my kids) may want to go back and read them one day.

This is way better than any journal any English teacher wanted me to keep when I was in high school! It must be the technology thing.

Sitemeter

This is such a neat feature, and I'm just recently (over the last couple of months) learning about it, even though I've had it on my site since September. But I get a bit frustrated with it too.

First...why do I get frustrated? Well, I saved the settings where my ISP was excluded when counting visits to my site. But it doesn't seem to work. I like to check my page after I post or make other changes (and it's a good thing, too, because recently when I didn't check it one of my posts appeared twice). And when I check my sitemeter, I can always see the times when I've opened my blog to check it out. It's really not a big deal, but I'm just wondering why it doesn't work the way it's apparently supposed to.

Now...why I think sitemeter's pretty neat. I definitely don't get hung up on the numbers, because that's not why I started this blog. But it is pretty interesting to see how many people visit my page, and where they visit from. Some of you I recognize, but some I don't. Most of you link to me from (probably) mutual friends' pages. Sometimes, though, I get a hit from a google or blogger search. Those are pretty interesting, especially the search terms that sometimes cause my blog to show up in the results. More than once I've gotten a hit from someone searching for "Steak on a stone in Pottenstein." I wrote about our final visit there in one of my very first entries. Man I miss that place. Anyway, some of the searches make me wonder, and some of them bring back fond memories.

I love meeting new people, and I have met a couple of really neat people through this blog, one of who has a blog which has become a new addiction for me. She and I actually have quite a bit in common from what I can tell so far (those of you who truly know me know that I can be pretty outrageous sometimes, and usually quite outspoken), and I'm learning to express myself a little more bravely here, at least to a point. I'm at least finding that I have more to write about than I originally thought.

OK, so this entry started out talking about sitemeter, and evolved into something a bit different. Funny how a lot of my posts do that...hence the title of my blog? After all, I do tend to ramble on sometimes!

So much for that idea...

So I posted last night about how I hoped my kids would let me sleep in some this morning. Alas, it wasn't to be. My kids haven't learned to enjoy the art of sleeping late on the weekends yet. I have a tendency to sleep on the couch when the hubby is home...the bed just seems too big and lonely. So I was down here on the couch, and I heard footsteps pretty early, but it didn't quite register how early. So I propped my head up and looked over, seeing the boy sitting on the loveseat, and it was BEFORE 7 a.m.! UGH! Instead of sending him back upstairs to bed, though (I knew where that would lead...he thinks the entire house has to be up when he is and would certainly have waken his sister up), I told him to lie down on the loveseat and rest quietly. He asked me if he could go back upstairs to bed, and I told him "no" for the very reason I expressed above. So I dozed back off, but heard footsteps on the stairs shortly thereafter. So I again propped myself up, looked at the loveseat where I had told the boy to rest quietly, and he wasn't there (remember, I'm in a bit of a sleep-deprived stupor here). So I called to him in a bit of a stage whisper, but he answered in a loud voice. Okay, so much for not waking his sister up. So I told him to come back downstairs and lie down on the loveseat like I told him to do. The girl child was less than two minutes behind him. I tried to get them to watch TV quietly, but it didn't work out quite that way. So I was up before 7:30 a.m. (not a pleasant thing on a Saturday) and got their breakfast for them and our day started.

I sat around being lazy for a good bit of the day today. After working so many hours over the last few months, it was nice to be able to just veg out here with my laptop surfing the net just doing what I wanted to do. The hubby called between 11:30 and 12:00 when he was on a break from training letting me know he'd probably be leaving there around 1:00 this afternoon. I always like him to let me know so I have a ballpark of when to expect him to be home. This afternoon I set to cleaning the house. I didn't get it all done by any means, but I'm trying to gradually get the house to a point where the cleaning will be easier to maintain since I won't be working anymore. I've never been a great housekeeper, but I do a much better job of it when I'm not employed outside the home and can keep up with it better. I'll freely admit that I've neglected my womanly duties around the house since I started work and school, because there just aren't enough hours in the day to do it all. I thank God on a regular basis that I have a wonderful husband who has picked up my slack, usually without much fussing.

I love my kids more than life itself, but there are times when they push me to my limit. They don't usually give me a lot of grief when the hubby's gone, but this time was different. I swear they did everything in their power to tick me off as much as humanly possible. They had made a mess upstairs last night, and they were supposed to be cleaning that up this afternoon while I was cleaning down here. I checked on their progress a couple of times and reminded them of their responsibilities. At one point I went upstairs, and the hallway up there looked way worse than it had less than an hour before. I was PISSED! The excuse? "The books fell off the shelf." OK, we do have more books than we have room for on the one bookshelf that we have upstairs. And sometimes the books on the front edge of the shelves get knocked off when we walk by them. But somebody explain to me how HALF the books, including those on the rear part of the shelf (which is more than wide enough for books to sit on without hanging over the edge), just "fell" off the shelf. I'm totally not buying it.

On top of their refusing to pick up their mess, they were arguing and fighting, and just generally getting on each other's nerves this afternoon. When A. gets really irritated, her voice rises to a pitch that literally hurts my ears, even when she's upstairs and I'm downstairs. I don't think her voice came below that painful pitch this afternoon. I know they were getting on each other's nerves so badly because they were so tired from not getting enough sleep. I finally couldn't take anymore and made them lie down for a nap. I don't do that very often anymore, but there are times when they just HAVE to take a nap. I was about to lie down for one myself when P. got home. I was very happy to see him, but was still pretty stressed. He was really tired and decided to rest for a while himself after he told me a bit about his trip. So after he went upstairs, I messed around on the internet for a little while longer, and ended up resting here on the couch myself. I nap on the couch because chances are better that I'll get up after an hour or two instead of sleeping four or more. That way I can wake the hubby up before he sleeps too long. So we got up, the kids were put to work finishing their cleaning upstairs, and then we all had dinner.

In the middle of dinner, I hear the baby girl proclaim "My tooth fell out!" She didn't feel it come out, but noticed a "big gap" in the bottom of her mouth. So I asked her where it was, and she said she didn't know. Then a few seconds later, I hear her say "it's in my mouth!" Thank goodness she didn't swallow it along with her sandwich. I had her put it on the kitchen counter by the sink so we can rinse it off before she puts it under her pillow tonight. She's looking forward to a visit from the Tooth Fairy tonight. Both of her two front teeth on the top are loose, too, so it's just a matter of time before she loses those.

She's been playing with pencils tonight. She was holding two of them on top of her head while sitting on the couch and said she was a bunny. Then she was sitting by the back door holding one on top of her head. The hubby asked her what in the world she was doing. "I'm a unicorn!" Alrighty then!

The boy was complaining of his foot hurting after his nap this afternoon. Let me just preface the rest of this paragraph by saying that the kids and I didn't have the flu shot this year. They came down with the flu (at least I'm pretty sure that's what it was) while they were on Christmas break, and the hubby did too. So after that, I didn't see much of a point in having them vaccinated. Besides, even if they hadn't come down with it, they've been sniffling, sneezing, and coughing off and on since then, and I simply will not let them have the flu shot if I think their immune systems are the least bit compromised. I'm the only one who didn't get sick during that time, but I didn't have the shot either. The hubby wouldn't have gotten the shot either, but he had to. The Army doesn't exactly make exceptions for those who have had the flu before they get the vaccine.

But I digress. The boy is sitting down here on the loveseat saying that his foot hurts since he took a nap. Whatever. Then I hear him say..."My foot hurts. Should I get the flu shot?" WHAT?!? Where does he come up with this stuff?? The hubby looks at me and says, "What did he just say?" I told him he had said exactly what he thought he'd just said. The boy is goofy!! They keep me on my toes though...there's no doubt about that.

Fighting Kids...

Aaaarrrrrrggggggggghhhhhhhhhh!

My kids have been fighting almost since the moment they walked in from school this afternoon. I briefly mentioned my need for a nap earlier. Between my final exam for my class that I had to turn in Monday and the hours I've been working to finish my job, I've been up really late every night this week. So this afternoon, I finally had to lie down to try to get some rest.

I was lying down when the kids got home from school this afternoon. They were fighting when they walked in the door. I finally got them to calm down long enough to go upstairs. I tried to explain to them that I had a bad headache and needed to get some rest. It apparently didn't sink in. They went upstairs and continued the arguing and yelling. So I separated them and told them to leave each other alone for a while. Then A started banging things around in her room. I called them downstairs and talked to them. A said I was mean because I told her that since she wanted to make as much noise as possible I was going to do the same next time they didn't feel good. Harsh? Maybe. But maybe it will teach them to think about the feelings of others.

My mom and her boyfriend came over tonight to pick up her vacuum cleaner. We had borrowed it when we moved in this house before our household goods got here and haven't taken the time to take it back to her house. She's trying to sell her house and needs to get some cleaning done so the agent can come over and take some photos of her house for the listing. I still had a bit of a headache, but it's always good to see them. Maybe they'll have a bit of time this weekend so I can call our agent to show them the new house. Maybe this time I'll remember the camera so I can take photos of the rest of the house.

The kids have still been fighting off and on this evening. They've calmed down a bit now though. I think it's about time to put them to bed. We usually let them stay up late on the weekends, but it's pretty late now. Maybe they'll let me sleep in a little in the morning.

Wireless Mouse

I have a wireless mouse for my laptop that I bought a few months ago. I don't use it all the time...I have gotten used to the touch pad, but have noticed my wrists bothering me a little lately. So I figured maybe it's partially because of the laptop's mouse pad. So this morning I pulled my little wireless mouse out of the drawer. It's really cute...very compact. It has a USB stick that is stored in the bottom of the mouse when it's not in use. I plugged it into one of my USB ports and was using it this morning as I finished my work.

I was sitting here on the couch tonight catching up on my friends' blogs that I haven't read in the last couple of days. I had left my mouse on the arm of the chair where I was sitting earlier today before I had to take a nap because of my sleep deprivation headache. So as I'm sitting here reading, the cursor starts moving around my screen, although I knew I wasn't moving it. I happen to look over and J was sitting in the chair playing with my mouse. So I made him give it to me and told him that he "freaked Mommy out" because I didn't know why my mouse pointer was darting across the computer screen the way it was. He thought that was pretty funny and giggled about it before he decided to go upstairs and play for a while.

Silly kids...

Finally

Well I think I'm finished with my job now. I've been working practically non-stop this week, especially Wednesday and Thursday, to get my last audit done. I finally finished it and got it sent in this morning, thank goodness. It was later than I had hoped, but it took longer than I expected. Oh well...at least I'm finished. I'm so glad to be done with them it's not even funny.

Things seem to be moving along quite smoothly with the house. P. and I have been pleasantly surprised at how smoothly it's gone to this point. I got a call from our mortgage specialist yesterday morning. When we applied for the mortgage she had quoted us two different interest rates. One would be the rate if we closed in 30 days and the other was for 60 days. Our closing date is just outside the 30-day timeframe, so we were hoping we could get locked in at the 30-day rate. So she called me yesterday to let me know that we had, indeed, gotten locked in at the lower rate. So I called P., who is in SC for a few days, and let him know. We're both really happy about it. So the house is under contract, so I guess at this point we just have to wait. I'm not sure what all is involved in the process for us between now and closing since we've never bought a home before, but I don't think there's much that we have to do.

Here's a picture of the house. I took it with my camera phone Wednesday, so the quality isn't that great, but it's definitely good enough...just a little blurry. Hope everyone has a great weekend!

New Look

So I chose a new template for my page. It' s just a different color of the same layout I've been using, but I like the blue better.

Tonight we had a little banquet for J.'s basketball team. We went to Pizza Hut and they got their trophies. J. got the trophy for "Most Improved Player," which I think is definitely a pretty accurate assessment. He went into the season knowing practically nothing about the game. He got steadily better throughout the season, and now definitely has at least a basic knowledge of the rules and progression of the game.

I got a call back from our real estate agent this morning. We got a counter-offer from the builder, which we accepted. Tomorrow we go and sign the new contract and give them our earnest money for the house, and go from there. I think I'm starting to get more excited and a little less anxious as we go. It doesn't seem quite real yet...we'll see how I do once it's definitely official.

Thankful for My Blog

Tonight I was thankful for this blog. I've never been one to keep a journal, but this blog has sort of turned into a journal of sorts for me. It's a way for me to get my thoughts down. I'm at the end of my current US History course, and will have a week off beginning tomorrow. I've been working on my Final Exam. I have one more question to answer - they're essay questions. After all, I'm taking online courses...lots of writing!

One of the questions was about similarities between Iraq and Vietnam. Made me thankful that I had written this entry. Although I had to tweak it to answer the question given by the professor, if I hadn't put my thoughts down then it would have taken me longer to answer the question. But since I got my thoughts down there, and they were MY thoughts, I had no worries about using this post for this purpose.

Our Weekend

I love holiday weekends. This weekend was no exception. We didn't have any plans, but had a really nice weekend anyway.

I talked a few days ago about the Puzzlemania books we get from Highlights magazine. I realized again last night just how glad I am we get these for the kids. They have lots of fun activities, and are such a wonderful educational tool. My kids just LOVE these books and are building their vocabulary and learning other things with them. I usually have to help them out with the crossword puzzles because of some of the words in the clues they don't understand, but they amaze me anyway. I got really tickled at them once last night, though. J. was working on a crossword puzzle in his book and A. was working with him. Most of the puzzles in these books have some kind of theme. For this particular one, all the answers had "IN" somwhere in the word. One of the clues was "another term for slender." So I asked them "what do I call A. sometimes?" Remember - A.'s lanky like her daddy. So A. jumps up and says, "jabber jaws!" I cracked up! Well, yes, but that has nothing to do with being slender and it doesn't have "IN" anywere. After a bit more prompting, A. realized I was referring to the times that I call her "skinny Minnie." Well, after all that, J. tells me the word only has four letters. So then we decide it must be "thin." We all got a good laugh out of that though. They crack me up sometimes!

Something else I mentioned a few days ago was a big decision that P. and I were considering. We've decided that now is the right time for us to buy a home of our own. We will probably settle here in North Carolina when it's time for retirement. The market here in our area is a buyer's market right now, and with the BRAC and the increase of troops that's going to happen within the next couple of years, property prices are probably about to skyrocket. Our lease on the house we're renting is up the end of May. So with all these factors, the timing just seems right. We've been considering it off and on for about a year now (since before we left Germany). Now that we're here, know the area better, and the kids are in school, we are very specific in what we want. We don't want to have to change the kids' school, so I looked up the school's district so that I knew where the boundaries are. We found a house we really like in another part of the subdivision we live in. It's a brand new house, has just been completed. We got the preapproval and made the offer today. The Realtor feels we should have an answer from the builder by fairly early tomorrow. Then we just have to wait for a commitment letter from the lender and then the process from then to closing. I am so excited about finally owning our own home, but am pretty nervous about it too. We always thought we'd wait until after retirement to buy, but this will be a good investment, even after we leave.

So that's what's been going on with us lately. Let's just hope the rest of the home-buying process goes as smoothly as it has up to this point.

Withdrawal Treatment

Today is a beautiful day...chilly but very sunny. It's kind of windy, which makes it seem chillier, but still very nice. We had plans to get some house cleaning done.

Got a phone call around lunch time and made arrangements to meet with a nice lady we met yesterday. P. asked what I thought about going on the bikes. We could have ridden when we went out yesterday, but it was overcast and windy. The wind felt damp and cold. So we decided not to with the kids. If it had been just us, we probably would have, but I don't want to ride with the kids if it's too cold. Since it was nice and sunny today, and since we weren't going to be going very far, I agreed it would be a good time to ride.

So we went out on the bikes and it was awesome! I've been having withdrawals in the worst way, and I just feel so much better after getting to ride, even if it wasn't very long. The kids loved it too, and were kind of disappointed when we came home and put them back in the garage. The wind picked up, though, and the temperature dropped, so it was best. I'm just glad spring is on its way and we'll have more chances to get out and ride soon.

Last Game

Today was J.'s last basketball game. They lost again, and lost BAD. I think the final score was 33-3. J. scored two of those points. He was so proud of himself, and we were proud of him, and so happy for him. He made a basket during the game! What a confidence booster! He played really well today, in just about all respects. He was focused and aggressive. He remembed what I told him Wednesday night about his defense.

Wednesday night I was talking with one of the dads. We were talking about some of the different teams. He was telling me how he thought they were supposed to divide the teams up to try to make sure that each team had kids of all skill levels. But some of these teams played like they'd been playing together for quite some time. Unlike our team, where you could tell this was their first season playing together. He figures that the "regular" coaches pick and choose their teams based on who was on their team in the past. Makes sense to me, considering the fact that we spent a couple of weeks wondering if we were even going to have a team until one of the dads stepped up. P. would have loved to do it, but his schedule simply doesn't allow it. It certainly makes for an unfair advantage though. Oh well...as long as the kids have fun, that's the most important thing.

The kids were VERY chatty today. I don't think we had a single quiet moment all day. Even when we tried to shoosh them for a minute so we could finish a sentence, it didn't last. Between the talking, singing, and humming, there were a couple of times when it got to be a bit much. I couldn't help but giggle at them a few times, though, and someone actually commented, saying, "well at least you're laughing." My response...they're really great kids. We have our moments, as do all parents and kids, but I'm reminded at just the right moment sometimes just what great kids they are (like at lunch out today). We typically let them stay up late on the weekends, so we just put them to bed about a half hour ago. P. and I haven't talked much since then...we're enjoying our quiet time and the chance to finish watching a movie in peace.

Speaking of movies, we tried to go see "Ghost Rider" this afternoon, but the tickets sold out while we were standing in line. Bummer.