an atc of me and daddy
Saturday, April 30, 2005
flowers and chocolate
so it's a rainy crummy day here in VA but i was determined not to let this day get me down. Today's the 15th anniversary of my father's death and 3 yrs and 11 days ago the anniversary of my brothers death. Gee this seems like its gonna be a maudlin entry - but hang with me.
I miss them both very much and while I have my teary moments i think i have many moments that are just lovely thinking about them - knowing they'd be amused at a joke I'd heard or a television show we watched ... whatever.
But I like to make sure my Mom is not dwelling on their being gone - especially today. So I went over to the grocery store and picked up a few things we needed - and decided on two bunches of flowers i thought she'd like and a container of these gourmet chocolate cookies i knew we'd both like and drove on by her place. She was in a fine mood as it happened - not all sad as i feared she might be and we had a nice time. Just chatting away and munching on those cookies. Neither of us could eat more than two - and believe me - for two chocoholics to say enough at two - well you know they had to be decadent and rich.
Anyhow it was a good way to spend some time - eating chocolate and enjoying the pretty flowers. Talking with my Mom. Daddy and Ricky would approve I'm sure.
And when i arrived home, there was my son - back from college. His freshman year completed. I got a back breaking hug from him.
Not a bad day at all.
I miss them both very much and while I have my teary moments i think i have many moments that are just lovely thinking about them - knowing they'd be amused at a joke I'd heard or a television show we watched ... whatever.
But I like to make sure my Mom is not dwelling on their being gone - especially today. So I went over to the grocery store and picked up a few things we needed - and decided on two bunches of flowers i thought she'd like and a container of these gourmet chocolate cookies i knew we'd both like and drove on by her place. She was in a fine mood as it happened - not all sad as i feared she might be and we had a nice time. Just chatting away and munching on those cookies. Neither of us could eat more than two - and believe me - for two chocoholics to say enough at two - well you know they had to be decadent and rich.
Anyhow it was a good way to spend some time - eating chocolate and enjoying the pretty flowers. Talking with my Mom. Daddy and Ricky would approve I'm sure.
And when i arrived home, there was my son - back from college. His freshman year completed. I got a back breaking hug from him.
Not a bad day at all.
Wednesday, April 27, 2005
Friday, April 15, 2005
Thursday, April 14, 2005
Go with the flow
Sometimes when it rains it pours.
And the sun is shining outside. so we're not talkin "mother nature" weather.
I'm just busy. Busy is a good thing for me but i just wish sometimes things didn't pour so often lately.
Last nite my sister, nephew and mom came by with pizza. My mom lives in town and my sister and nephew are visiting from out of state. I was so excited they were coming for a long overdue visit but then I realized I'd also be working while they were here. They're leaving town on Friday - when of course it would fit in so much better to have a nice dinner for them. But you gotta go with these things when they happen (not my long suit) and enjoy.
Forget about the class you're teaching tonite you still need to create some more samples for. Forget about the two other classes you have to make samples for by Friday.
And we did enjoy the short, pepperoni topped, visit. We caught up quick. Did a lot of laughing and eating pizza. It was nice and too short.
Today i'm home from work and created a little album (as an additional sample for the class) called "the faces i love". The faces that were sitting around the table last nite are most of the ones in the album. (notable missing faces are my son and the other sister and her two sons.) I'll post pics later but now i think i need to take a wee nap and shower. Then on to the next class samples which should be fun.
And the sun is shining outside. so we're not talkin "mother nature" weather.
I'm just busy. Busy is a good thing for me but i just wish sometimes things didn't pour so often lately.
Last nite my sister, nephew and mom came by with pizza. My mom lives in town and my sister and nephew are visiting from out of state. I was so excited they were coming for a long overdue visit but then I realized I'd also be working while they were here. They're leaving town on Friday - when of course it would fit in so much better to have a nice dinner for them. But you gotta go with these things when they happen (not my long suit) and enjoy.
Forget about the class you're teaching tonite you still need to create some more samples for. Forget about the two other classes you have to make samples for by Friday.
And we did enjoy the short, pepperoni topped, visit. We caught up quick. Did a lot of laughing and eating pizza. It was nice and too short.
Today i'm home from work and created a little album (as an additional sample for the class) called "the faces i love". The faces that were sitting around the table last nite are most of the ones in the album. (notable missing faces are my son and the other sister and her two sons.) I'll post pics later but now i think i need to take a wee nap and shower. Then on to the next class samples which should be fun.
Saturday, April 09, 2005
productive day
at least i can say its been a productive day. i got a good bit of the upstairs cleaned -thats two bathrooms and 4 bedrooms - well 3 bedrooms and one scrapbook room :-) .
I should be honest and say Eliz tidied her room (you can now walk thru the room to open the window - an accomplishment). I only vacuumed J's room.
My bedroom - a bit of tidying done but no where near cleaned up. The bedroom area isn't in such awful shape but the sitting room area is still a mess (I shall enlist the husbands help as its mostly his mess). But the two bathrooms up here - you can eat off the floors and not fear any skeery germs. Whilst i cleaned i should note i ran a lot of laundry - tons of towels not to mention one large load of whites. (isn't it ridiculous how i need to justify my time? oy!)
And of course my sparkly clean kitchen floor (and off the kitchen area powder room - lest i forget to mention it). Now all this cleaning is good for what ails me - i dont know about anyone else but when things get too messy around here - i feel slightly crazy. I'm not a neat and tidy person (if you could only see my drawing table - its piled yet again with half finished projects - you'd see i dont mind a bit of mess). But when the dirt and piles get to a certain level i feel a little nuts. I cannot have too much clutter.
And my craziness comes at a good time - we will be having guests on the 20th for Eliz's Confirmation - so the cleaning must commence now. That's only 11 days away. Between everyday work and home nonsense (cooking, laundry - you get the idea) and a class at work to teach - well 11 days might not be enough time to get this place ready for company. Oh and i need to shop for something to wear for the aforementioned Confirmation. ugh... shopping. well thats a discussion for another day.
i am off to finish a belated card or two. nitey nite.
I should be honest and say Eliz tidied her room (you can now walk thru the room to open the window - an accomplishment). I only vacuumed J's room.
My bedroom - a bit of tidying done but no where near cleaned up. The bedroom area isn't in such awful shape but the sitting room area is still a mess (I shall enlist the husbands help as its mostly his mess). But the two bathrooms up here - you can eat off the floors and not fear any skeery germs. Whilst i cleaned i should note i ran a lot of laundry - tons of towels not to mention one large load of whites. (isn't it ridiculous how i need to justify my time? oy!)
And of course my sparkly clean kitchen floor (and off the kitchen area powder room - lest i forget to mention it). Now all this cleaning is good for what ails me - i dont know about anyone else but when things get too messy around here - i feel slightly crazy. I'm not a neat and tidy person (if you could only see my drawing table - its piled yet again with half finished projects - you'd see i dont mind a bit of mess). But when the dirt and piles get to a certain level i feel a little nuts. I cannot have too much clutter.
And my craziness comes at a good time - we will be having guests on the 20th for Eliz's Confirmation - so the cleaning must commence now. That's only 11 days away. Between everyday work and home nonsense (cooking, laundry - you get the idea) and a class at work to teach - well 11 days might not be enough time to get this place ready for company. Oh and i need to shop for something to wear for the aforementioned Confirmation. ugh... shopping. well thats a discussion for another day.
i am off to finish a belated card or two. nitey nite.
more cleaning
taking another break... now i'm cleaning the chamber of horrors.
translation: teenager bathroom
you're thinking "why aren't the teenagers cleaning it?"
good point. interesting point. however its that vision problem again. they just don't see dirt the way mothers see dirt. its a scientific fact.
it is E's job to clean her bathroom. and J's job to share when he's in residence (not away at college.. there he's got a nightmare bathroom of his own - one he shares with three other men. he has gained a new appreciation for my cleaning skills. )
so i admit i've been a little lax reminding her of her bathroom cleaning job. I either plain forget or, when i do remember, she's got a load of homework to do all weekend. And she doesn't remember hateful jobs on her own. Why should she be different than others right?
Well, I'm almost done cleaning in there. I'm having trouble getting the smell of all the cleaning products out of my nose. My fingers are fairly pruney and i've used almost an entire roll of paper towels. Thank God for the paper towel.
Next stop: my bathroom
translation: teenager bathroom
you're thinking "why aren't the teenagers cleaning it?"
good point. interesting point. however its that vision problem again. they just don't see dirt the way mothers see dirt. its a scientific fact.
it is E's job to clean her bathroom. and J's job to share when he's in residence (not away at college.. there he's got a nightmare bathroom of his own - one he shares with three other men. he has gained a new appreciation for my cleaning skills. )
so i admit i've been a little lax reminding her of her bathroom cleaning job. I either plain forget or, when i do remember, she's got a load of homework to do all weekend. And she doesn't remember hateful jobs on her own. Why should she be different than others right?
Well, I'm almost done cleaning in there. I'm having trouble getting the smell of all the cleaning products out of my nose. My fingers are fairly pruney and i've used almost an entire roll of paper towels. Thank God for the paper towel.
Next stop: my bathroom
it is a conspiracy
I had to break down and wash the kitchen floor this morning. I put it off and off again until i can stand it no more.
First I must take the blame for choosing a white floor. A moment of insanity to be sure - but gosh it looks so purty when it sparkles. But I digress.
I'm convinced there is a conspiracy between my cats and my daughter involving that floor. Eliz, for all her amazing and wonderful qualities, is not the tidiest kid in the world. She is a tad sloppy. I often think that her being a very intelligent child - well her mind is on loftier planes... thinking deep thoughts. Not to be cluttered more by thoughts of cleanliness. That sounds like a rationalization doesn't it? Well it is. She just doesn't notice dirt. Thats more being a teenager than having rocket science thoughts. Again - digression. She isn't the tidiest and she is often in a hurry which means spilled juice (orange soda, milk... any liquid). Now, to give her credit, she does clean up the spills she notices - you know- when they spill half the gallon bottle of juice? Okay - she doesn't notice the small splash of juice here and there.
The juice dries. Even the cleaned up juice spills dry but remain slightly sticky.
Enter ... kitties.
My cats have to be the hairiest American Short Haired cats in the U.S. Frankie is my black cat and he has a sleek physique and the most beauteous sleek coat. It shines. He's beautiful and he knows it. And Holly. My mostly companion. She's a fur ball. When we adopted her at 7 months old she had this downy fur I was sure she would lose as she got older. Well she hasn't. She is soft and sweet and that down-y stuff gets everywhere.
Mix fruit punch and fur and you get a nasty kitchen floor.
I'm sitting here typing as the floor dries. Then i will revel in the beauty of my white sparkly floor
................ for maybe an hour if i'm lucky.
.................then the cycle will begin again.
I tell you its a conspiracy
First I must take the blame for choosing a white floor. A moment of insanity to be sure - but gosh it looks so purty when it sparkles. But I digress.
I'm convinced there is a conspiracy between my cats and my daughter involving that floor. Eliz, for all her amazing and wonderful qualities, is not the tidiest kid in the world. She is a tad sloppy. I often think that her being a very intelligent child - well her mind is on loftier planes... thinking deep thoughts. Not to be cluttered more by thoughts of cleanliness. That sounds like a rationalization doesn't it? Well it is. She just doesn't notice dirt. Thats more being a teenager than having rocket science thoughts. Again - digression. She isn't the tidiest and she is often in a hurry which means spilled juice (orange soda, milk... any liquid). Now, to give her credit, she does clean up the spills she notices - you know- when they spill half the gallon bottle of juice? Okay - she doesn't notice the small splash of juice here and there.
The juice dries. Even the cleaned up juice spills dry but remain slightly sticky.
Enter ... kitties.
My cats have to be the hairiest American Short Haired cats in the U.S. Frankie is my black cat and he has a sleek physique and the most beauteous sleek coat. It shines. He's beautiful and he knows it. And Holly. My mostly companion. She's a fur ball. When we adopted her at 7 months old she had this downy fur I was sure she would lose as she got older. Well she hasn't. She is soft and sweet and that down-y stuff gets everywhere.
Mix fruit punch and fur and you get a nasty kitchen floor.
I'm sitting here typing as the floor dries. Then i will revel in the beauty of my white sparkly floor
................ for maybe an hour if i'm lucky.
.................then the cycle will begin again.
I tell you its a conspiracy
Wednesday, April 06, 2005
singing and pictures
well the birthday was nice. quiet but nice... after all the phone calls of course.
In my family, when its your birthday, you are called by anyone who has access to a telephone - singing happy birthday to the birthday person is required. If a group sing is possible, all family members are gathered round the phone to sing, at the top of their lungs, and quite often off key, the birthday standard. It wouldn't be a birthday without the singing you see.
So Eliz got her phone calls, opened gifts, had cake and ice cream. All which were documented by moi with my trusty camera. One must have singing and photos taken on one's birthday.
Since the birthday i've been working on work things - creating sample cards for the card class i teach at the store. Cute, fun, cards. I'm just about done and look forward to doing something non-card. i really am.
In my family, when its your birthday, you are called by anyone who has access to a telephone - singing happy birthday to the birthday person is required. If a group sing is possible, all family members are gathered round the phone to sing, at the top of their lungs, and quite often off key, the birthday standard. It wouldn't be a birthday without the singing you see.
So Eliz got her phone calls, opened gifts, had cake and ice cream. All which were documented by moi with my trusty camera. One must have singing and photos taken on one's birthday.
Since the birthday i've been working on work things - creating sample cards for the card class i teach at the store. Cute, fun, cards. I'm just about done and look forward to doing something non-card. i really am.
Monday, April 04, 2005
birthday comic
we're big into comics in this house. we love the funnies. at one point i'd even drawn a comic and sent it into a syndicate. i got the nicest reject letter probably there ever was. the guy told me i should write a book instead. i think cos the way my comics were written - well they were funny - but they were little stories - funny little stories.
anyhow elizabeth loves the comics. she reads them, without fail, everyday when she arrives home from school. she is an artist herself, my daughter. the kid can draw. she also has a sense of humor that is sharp. she's a funny kid this daughter of mine. This now 14 year old daughter of mine. When its time to give birthday cards, Eliz will often draw hers. She's made some great birthday card comics for us all.
So, today its my turn to make one for her. Here's the one she's getting tonite -with her gifts, cake, candles and Cold Stone Creamery ice cream
anyhow elizabeth loves the comics. she reads them, without fail, everyday when she arrives home from school. she is an artist herself, my daughter. the kid can draw. she also has a sense of humor that is sharp. she's a funny kid this daughter of mine. This now 14 year old daughter of mine. When its time to give birthday cards, Eliz will often draw hers. She's made some great birthday card comics for us all.
So, today its my turn to make one for her. Here's the one she's getting tonite -with her gifts, cake, candles and Cold Stone Creamery ice cream
Saturday, April 02, 2005
birthday prep
ok so Eliz will be 14 on Monday which means this Mommy needed to get her butt in birthday mode this week. I got a call earlier in the week from Joseph- my college boy. He called to ask me what Eliz would like for her birthday. Choke. There are these moments when that boy of mine just gets me all Mommy-misty. He's there at school but he thinks to remember his sisters birthday. Maybe this doesn't seem like such a big deal to some - but hey this is an 18 - soontobe 19- year old kid. They can often be a tad self-centered at this age. Anyway I give him the run down off her birthday list - short as it is (she's not a greedy child - she basically asked for 4 cd's and 2 graphic novels).
Later in the week I'm shopping and realize i should just purchase his gift for him (we'll settle up later) and text message him just that. He texts me back (we love to text - he and me) he'd appreciate it as he's a little busy with school - exams around the corner - little time for trips into town. So i find 3 out of 4 cd's and feel somewhat successful. I hit the Borders today in search of the graphic novels. The website says they have one in stock - they did not - but strangely enough they have the final cd she's wanting.
I hate it when they ask for very little and you have trouble producing an item for their birthday (or for that matter, Christmas. We don't gift our kids a lot - but birthdays and Christmas - we try to make those wishes come true). I'll be reduced to ordering it and it won't be here on her birthday. She, being the child she is, will be excited to get a note wrapped in a box, saying the books are on their way.
On the way home from Borders, i stopped at the grocery store to pick up the necessities to bake her cake. This is the first time in many years we are not making the traditional Ice Cream Pie. The aforementioned dessert came into existence years ago for Joseph's birthday. He and his Dad share birthdays one day apart. That's a lot of cake in one household as I believe everyone should have their own birthday cake made to order. So one year we came up with Ice Cream Pie - a decadent concoction of ice cream, oreo cookie crust and additions of the birthday kids choice (examples being hot fudge, m&m's, chocolate chips, peanut butter chips.. i think you get the idea). Nauseatingly good. Not for the fainthearted. But i guess my baby is growing up. She said she thought she'd like just a regular birthday cake - butter cake with chocolate frosting. And as birthday girls are queen (or birthday boys are king) - her wish is my command. I just finished frosting that cake. Tomorrow we'll go out for dinner - her choice of restaurant ( i can bet it will serve crab legs - her favorite birthday fare) and we'll return home and we'll have some cake. And then we'll do the cake & candles all over again on Monday nite.
As each year goes by I seem to get more and more sentimental about these birthdays of theirs. You cannot help but think back to theeee birth day. Their arrival into the world. (The two most amazing days of my life.) And all thats happened since. How you are handed this little creature and look into their face and wonder who they will be, what they'll be like. And it seems so long ago yet just like yesterday all at the same time. And each year goes along and another birthday is celebrated and i know they're thinking "now i'm 14" - or "now i'm 19" i'm pretty grown up. But me- the mom- i see it so differently. I think how did they get so grown up? I was here all the time and they did it like a magic trick right in front of my eyes.
Later in the week I'm shopping and realize i should just purchase his gift for him (we'll settle up later) and text message him just that. He texts me back (we love to text - he and me) he'd appreciate it as he's a little busy with school - exams around the corner - little time for trips into town. So i find 3 out of 4 cd's and feel somewhat successful. I hit the Borders today in search of the graphic novels. The website says they have one in stock - they did not - but strangely enough they have the final cd she's wanting.
I hate it when they ask for very little and you have trouble producing an item for their birthday (or for that matter, Christmas. We don't gift our kids a lot - but birthdays and Christmas - we try to make those wishes come true). I'll be reduced to ordering it and it won't be here on her birthday. She, being the child she is, will be excited to get a note wrapped in a box, saying the books are on their way.
On the way home from Borders, i stopped at the grocery store to pick up the necessities to bake her cake. This is the first time in many years we are not making the traditional Ice Cream Pie. The aforementioned dessert came into existence years ago for Joseph's birthday. He and his Dad share birthdays one day apart. That's a lot of cake in one household as I believe everyone should have their own birthday cake made to order. So one year we came up with Ice Cream Pie - a decadent concoction of ice cream, oreo cookie crust and additions of the birthday kids choice (examples being hot fudge, m&m's, chocolate chips, peanut butter chips.. i think you get the idea). Nauseatingly good. Not for the fainthearted. But i guess my baby is growing up. She said she thought she'd like just a regular birthday cake - butter cake with chocolate frosting. And as birthday girls are queen (or birthday boys are king) - her wish is my command. I just finished frosting that cake. Tomorrow we'll go out for dinner - her choice of restaurant ( i can bet it will serve crab legs - her favorite birthday fare) and we'll return home and we'll have some cake. And then we'll do the cake & candles all over again on Monday nite.
As each year goes by I seem to get more and more sentimental about these birthdays of theirs. You cannot help but think back to theeee birth day. Their arrival into the world. (The two most amazing days of my life.) And all thats happened since. How you are handed this little creature and look into their face and wonder who they will be, what they'll be like. And it seems so long ago yet just like yesterday all at the same time. And each year goes along and another birthday is celebrated and i know they're thinking "now i'm 14" - or "now i'm 19" i'm pretty grown up. But me- the mom- i see it so differently. I think how did they get so grown up? I was here all the time and they did it like a magic trick right in front of my eyes.
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