This is kind of a recurring theme in my life. I let the checkbook get sorely out of whack. And then I attempt to balance it. I am terrible about writing anything in the ledger. I write down the checks, but then I forget about the direct deposits automatic withdrawals and ATM transactions.
I hadn't really gone through the checkbook since April, so you can imagine it was pretty bad. It didn't help that the Fifth Third site kept kicking me off for being online too long. But now it's all squared away. And I am ready to whack myself over the head repeatedly with a blunt object.
Paul and Abigail are out on a bike ride together. It makes me happy just thinking about it. It is so great when daddy's take time to spend with their little girls. I suspect there would be a lot less really messed up women out there if father's spent more time with their daughters.
I still haven't ready the new Harry Potter book yet. It's killing me. I know I will have a lot of spare time the next couple of days, so I have been making myself wait for it. It's hard to resist staring longingly at the cover though. Paul isn't helping either. "Did you hear that Voldemort turns into Hermione?" , "Did you hear that Dumbledore creates an army of space aliens?", "Did you hear that Harry and Malfoy are actually brothers?"
Actually I have heard too much.
Saturday, July 28, 2007
Sunday, July 15, 2007
I'm an incurable geek...
... but I think we all already knew this. The reason I have to make this confession yet again deals with the crazy softball game I played this evening. The craziest part about it being my team (finally) won a game. (I play on a co-ed softball team with my church group against other YA groups in the area... ours is the most co-ed of any team)
All my years of running make it hard for me to stop on any base. I'm thankful for the fact I'm allowed to over-run 1st base. At one of my at-bats this evening, the 1st baseman was playing a little more on the bag than he ought to, and as consequence, there was a collision. I hit the 1st baseman then rotated in the process of falling. I wasn't hurt (and I took the worst of the damage). In fact, I found myself thinking about the fact I went from linear motion to rotational motion and I wonder if from inventorying where I felt stiff from the accident if I could figure out what my point of rotation was. Well, that was the 2nd thought I had (the first was to find my glasses which thankfully did not get damaged after falling off my face during the descent).
In an intelligent move on my part, I did not go telling my teammates about conservation of momentum. I decided if I did that, they might think I'd hit my head harder than I was admitting. As it was, one of my teammates to me that she knew how to check for a concussion, she had a 1st aid kit, she could do surgery if needed... she is one of the characters of the team so I'm hoping that at least part of that was a joke. I reassured her I was fine, that is, once I could breathe long enough to talk. I think that is as close as I've come to being broken since leaving Rose (breaking == laughing too hard to breathe).
I wasn't the only one who fell or got hit by the ball or bat this evening. Our team's catcher had at least the latter two events happen to her this evening. One guy got hit by a foul ball by one of our teammates while he was coaching 3rd. In the end, nobody got hurt that badly (the catcher's probably has the greatest likelihood of being sore tomorrow).
On a lighter note, Saturday I got to go biking with some of the church group. We probably went about 10 miles on the Ohio Canal Towpath. It was fun. I saw some ducks, a few random heron, and as I was leaving I saw the obligatory gaggle of geese. Because, there are few places I can go in life without the geese following me.
All my years of running make it hard for me to stop on any base. I'm thankful for the fact I'm allowed to over-run 1st base. At one of my at-bats this evening, the 1st baseman was playing a little more on the bag than he ought to, and as consequence, there was a collision. I hit the 1st baseman then rotated in the process of falling. I wasn't hurt (and I took the worst of the damage). In fact, I found myself thinking about the fact I went from linear motion to rotational motion and I wonder if from inventorying where I felt stiff from the accident if I could figure out what my point of rotation was. Well, that was the 2nd thought I had (the first was to find my glasses which thankfully did not get damaged after falling off my face during the descent).
In an intelligent move on my part, I did not go telling my teammates about conservation of momentum. I decided if I did that, they might think I'd hit my head harder than I was admitting. As it was, one of my teammates to me that she knew how to check for a concussion, she had a 1st aid kit, she could do surgery if needed... she is one of the characters of the team so I'm hoping that at least part of that was a joke. I reassured her I was fine, that is, once I could breathe long enough to talk. I think that is as close as I've come to being broken since leaving Rose (breaking == laughing too hard to breathe).
I wasn't the only one who fell or got hit by the ball or bat this evening. Our team's catcher had at least the latter two events happen to her this evening. One guy got hit by a foul ball by one of our teammates while he was coaching 3rd. In the end, nobody got hurt that badly (the catcher's probably has the greatest likelihood of being sore tomorrow).
On a lighter note, Saturday I got to go biking with some of the church group. We probably went about 10 miles on the Ohio Canal Towpath. It was fun. I saw some ducks, a few random heron, and as I was leaving I saw the obligatory gaggle of geese. Because, there are few places I can go in life without the geese following me.
A review of yesterday
We ordered the camcorder. It's a Canon DC100 I think. Paul read lots of reviews and decided it was our best option (reasonable quality, but still affordable).
Then we went for a walk at Lakeside Park. The rose gardens are quite lovely there. We also walked around the neighborhood and admired/critiqued the homes. a couple of them were for sale. We looked at the fliers out of curiosity. The first was about 15 times the cost of our home, the second was only 10 times as much. Paul and I agreed that there was not a house we would ever be willing to spend that much on.
After our walk we headed to the theater to watch Harry Potter 5: The Order of the Phoenix. We went to the afternoon showing a 4:20. The marquee said Harry Pot : 4:20. We were amused, to say the least. We both enjoyed the movie. Paul, having never read the book, had a much different perspective on it. The credits after the movie seemed to be especially boring. We didn't stay through the whole credits though, so it is possible we missed something.
After the movie we drove clear across town to our favorite Chinese place. It was closed, so we drove clear back across town to our second favorite Chinese place. The food was scrumptious. Unfortunately, they seemed to miss the no MSG request. So we both had splitting headaches before the evening was out.
After that, we went to Lowes to attempt once again to order the blinds for our living room. Once again we failed. We were told we needed to come back sometime in the morning. So maybe sometime next week.
...
Tomorrow, I will be taking Sam to Riley for his screening for the drug research program. I'm a little nervous, so pray for me. At least I finally did find someone to watch the other children in the afternoon.
Then we went for a walk at Lakeside Park. The rose gardens are quite lovely there. We also walked around the neighborhood and admired/critiqued the homes. a couple of them were for sale. We looked at the fliers out of curiosity. The first was about 15 times the cost of our home, the second was only 10 times as much. Paul and I agreed that there was not a house we would ever be willing to spend that much on.
After our walk we headed to the theater to watch Harry Potter 5: The Order of the Phoenix. We went to the afternoon showing a 4:20. The marquee said Harry Pot : 4:20. We were amused, to say the least. We both enjoyed the movie. Paul, having never read the book, had a much different perspective on it. The credits after the movie seemed to be especially boring. We didn't stay through the whole credits though, so it is possible we missed something.
After the movie we drove clear across town to our favorite Chinese place. It was closed, so we drove clear back across town to our second favorite Chinese place. The food was scrumptious. Unfortunately, they seemed to miss the no MSG request. So we both had splitting headaches before the evening was out.
After that, we went to Lowes to attempt once again to order the blinds for our living room. Once again we failed. We were told we needed to come back sometime in the morning. So maybe sometime next week.
...
Tomorrow, I will be taking Sam to Riley for his screening for the drug research program. I'm a little nervous, so pray for me. At least I finally did find someone to watch the other children in the afternoon.
Saturday, July 14, 2007
Happy Anniversary
Yesterday, I forgot to mention, was our fifth anniversary. I forgot, because we are celebrating today. After I get the kids fed and clothed, I will take them to Nana's house, and then Paul and I will have this whole wonderful day together. This afternoon we will be going to see Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix and going to the Chinese restaurant we went to one our first date or was it our last "not date" (we haven't decided for sure which to call it).
As an anniversary present to each other, we are considering purchasing a digital camcorder. Not a super fancy one, of course. But it would be nice to be able to capture the kids on film. We currently have an old analog one that my Grandma Pat sent us. Without a TV/VCR the thing isn't that useful to us. Plus she didn't send an adaptor for the VCR anyway, so we would have to buy one in order to watch anything anyway.
Hard to believe it has been five years already. Time sure flies when you are having fun (or are incredibly busy). But between cleaning up poo (I'll post about that another time), warring the crud, feeding a clothing the children, when I do manage to think about life, I reflect on how glad I am that Paul and I are together.
He is not perfect, and life is not a bed of roses. But it is so obvious to me that God meant for us to be together. We complement each other well. There is no doubt in my mind that we made the right choice to get married. What would I ever do without such a wonderful husband.
As an anniversary present to each other, we are considering purchasing a digital camcorder. Not a super fancy one, of course. But it would be nice to be able to capture the kids on film. We currently have an old analog one that my Grandma Pat sent us. Without a TV/VCR the thing isn't that useful to us. Plus she didn't send an adaptor for the VCR anyway, so we would have to buy one in order to watch anything anyway.
Hard to believe it has been five years already. Time sure flies when you are having fun (or are incredibly busy). But between cleaning up poo (I'll post about that another time), warring the crud, feeding a clothing the children, when I do manage to think about life, I reflect on how glad I am that Paul and I are together.
He is not perfect, and life is not a bed of roses. But it is so obvious to me that God meant for us to be together. We complement each other well. There is no doubt in my mind that we made the right choice to get married. What would I ever do without such a wonderful husband.
Friday, July 13, 2007
Grocery Shopping
Tonight I took my little ones grocery shopping. First we went to the 3 Rivers Food Coop, which is a small health food stores. Abigail pushed one cart, which had groceries in it. And I pushed another which had her two brothers and a few more groceries. The children were marvelously behaved and all went well.
If only we had called it quits then...
After that we went to Meijer to do our more major shopping. It is always a little tiresome to do all out grocery shopping with three children. Tonight was a nightmare. First, we went to a different Meijer than usual since we were on the north side of town for our other shopping. Apparently this Meijer only has one extended bench shopping cart (this is the sort of cart that is like a regular cart but can seat two additional children). The cart was not available. So we set off with two shopping carts. Me pushing one, Abigail pushing the other.
Eventually Abigail became too tired. So she attempted to ride in the bottom part of the cart while I pushed one cart and pulled the other. Needless to say this took a lot longer than normal.
Part way into my shopping I nearly had a temper tantrum. I spotted the bench cart. It was NOT being used by a mommy and her small children. No of course not. It had zero children in it. The cart was being used by a man who was simply buying a lot of groceries. He was accompanied by a woman. So the two easily could have had TWO carts.
I considered confronting them, but decided against the matter.
Inside I was having a major temper tantrum. I did speak to a customer service person about the issue after I was done shopping. She sympathized with me, but I highly doubt anything will be done about the shortage of bench carts.
But, I will probably not do my grocery shopping there again. (Which is there loss since we spend a lot on groceries -- $300 tonight).
In retrospect when I discovered there was no bench cart available I should have loaded the kids up into my van and driven to another store.
If only we had called it quits then...
After that we went to Meijer to do our more major shopping. It is always a little tiresome to do all out grocery shopping with three children. Tonight was a nightmare. First, we went to a different Meijer than usual since we were on the north side of town for our other shopping. Apparently this Meijer only has one extended bench shopping cart (this is the sort of cart that is like a regular cart but can seat two additional children). The cart was not available. So we set off with two shopping carts. Me pushing one, Abigail pushing the other.
Eventually Abigail became too tired. So she attempted to ride in the bottom part of the cart while I pushed one cart and pulled the other. Needless to say this took a lot longer than normal.
Part way into my shopping I nearly had a temper tantrum. I spotted the bench cart. It was NOT being used by a mommy and her small children. No of course not. It had zero children in it. The cart was being used by a man who was simply buying a lot of groceries. He was accompanied by a woman. So the two easily could have had TWO carts.
I considered confronting them, but decided against the matter.
Inside I was having a major temper tantrum. I did speak to a customer service person about the issue after I was done shopping. She sympathized with me, but I highly doubt anything will be done about the shortage of bench carts.
But, I will probably not do my grocery shopping there again. (Which is there loss since we spend a lot on groceries -- $300 tonight).
In retrospect when I discovered there was no bench cart available I should have loaded the kids up into my van and driven to another store.
Thursday, July 12, 2007
90% chance of pink
Dr. Wheeler says he's almost sure it's a girl. Looking at the ultrasound I'd have to agree. No signs of boy parts at all.
He says he won't sign off on it yet though. It's a lot easier to be certain with a boy.
He says he won't sign off on it yet though. It's a lot easier to be certain with a boy.
Sunday, July 8, 2007
Crud
My house is full of crud. It seems that just about every surface in the house has some type of crud on it. I get really discouraged because while I remove crud from one surface three more surfaces are being covered.
The dining room is almost clean right now, although while I am taking this break from cleaning, Sam is eating a snack so we will see what happens.
Please tell me I am not the only one out there with a cruddy house. Everyone else's house always seem so clean. But they've probably been cleaning for company by the time I show up.
The dining room is almost clean right now, although while I am taking this break from cleaning, Sam is eating a snack so we will see what happens.
Please tell me I am not the only one out there with a cruddy house. Everyone else's house always seem so clean. But they've probably been cleaning for company by the time I show up.
Friday, July 6, 2007
Trip to Pittsburgh
Last night about 9:00 we returned from our annual fourth of July trip to Pittsburgh.
Some highlights of our trip include...
-Playing at Grandma's house
-Seeing Cheryl's new apartment
-Taking walks on the Montour trail
-Visiting the Carnegie Science Center
-Chuck E. Cheese
-Mini Golf (for Paul, Dave, and Cheryl)
-Grilling on Grandma's rarely used grill (a downside to this was the hornet's nest)
-Stopping at Ohio Caverns on the return trip. A stalactite hangs "tight" to the ceiling; A stalagmite "might" reach the ceiling some day.
All in all it was great fun.
Some highlights of our trip include...
-Playing at Grandma's house
-Seeing Cheryl's new apartment
-Taking walks on the Montour trail
-Visiting the Carnegie Science Center
-Chuck E. Cheese
-Mini Golf (for Paul, Dave, and Cheryl)
-Grilling on Grandma's rarely used grill (a downside to this was the hornet's nest)
-Stopping at Ohio Caverns on the return trip. A stalactite hangs "tight" to the ceiling; A stalagmite "might" reach the ceiling some day.
All in all it was great fun.
Wednesday, July 4, 2007
Fireworks surprise
I had not expected to see fireworks this evening. My suburb cannot afford to put on a display (in all honesty, I'm thankful they didn't try; there are other matters that should be higher priority). The neighboring suburbs with displays have them on other days. And, the closest I get to seeing the downtown display is watching part of it on TV.
However, I did see fireworks this evening. Presumably illegal fireworks (on account of it being illegal for the general public to set of fireworks in OH) were visible from the front lawn. Mom pulled out some lawn chairs and we watched while my youngest sister tried to catch lightening bugs. We were glad that the display was coming from far enough away we could watch without worrying about the safety issues. Mary was confused by the concept of "illegal fireworks" and asked if it was okay that we were watching (which I found amusing). We couldn't decide if the fireworks were being set off in a backyard or the nearby industrial parkway. Even now I can hear some type of fireworks being set off.
So it has been an interesting holiday.
However, I did see fireworks this evening. Presumably illegal fireworks (on account of it being illegal for the general public to set of fireworks in OH) were visible from the front lawn. Mom pulled out some lawn chairs and we watched while my youngest sister tried to catch lightening bugs. We were glad that the display was coming from far enough away we could watch without worrying about the safety issues. Mary was confused by the concept of "illegal fireworks" and asked if it was okay that we were watching (which I found amusing). We couldn't decide if the fireworks were being set off in a backyard or the nearby industrial parkway. Even now I can hear some type of fireworks being set off.
So it has been an interesting holiday.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
