Whooosh......

That was the sound I heard as January flew by. 'Ya always hear it and I find it becomes true, the older you get the faster time goes by, I think it should go slower myself, we are!

January was a quiet month, weather ranged from 71 degrees to below zero, another age thing - I tend to stay in when I hear the winter winds whipping past my window, add rain and there ain't no way I am going out - chills me to the bone. We used the fireplace for the first time in along time, found the rest of the bird feathers, I am assuming part of the ones we found in December.

I started the year as I have for the past few, the Defabis New Years Day Poker Tournament, I didn't fair as well as I did last year, hopefully that isn't a predictor of the future, but enjoyed catching up with a group of friends I don't see very much through the year.

Kelsey was accepted and decided on Purdue University for Chemistry.

My 21st? Birthday!

Christmas Morning

Kelsey Turns 18!

Tile, Missing Bird and Snow?

As I was getting ready for work this morning I was summoned to the downstairs by both my daughters screaming to me up the stairs. It seems our live in wildlife was stalking prey last night and the evidence was left in the living and around the house.


Never did find 'the body', still looking.....

The Tile is down!!!

With the hard work for Rick (thank you, thank you - I have great friends)... we worked to get the tile down and the stuff back into some semblance of a house....there is still some patching, painting to do on the walls and finishing work.....but the floors are in and looking awesome!!! As always, random images of Alex appear on the camera

Snow is on the way to our fair state and as usual catches me having not gone shopping for groceries for a bit. Now to hear my girls tell, there is No Food in the house but a quick scan of the pantry and freezer tells another story. There is no use, I must hit the store and endure all the last minute bread, milk, egg buyers.....

We are taking a break from the house wrecking follies to slow down and participate in the looming holiday season. Shopping, decorating and possibly some cookie baking still needs to be enjoyed! Work will resume after the holidays with my own personal deadline of February for full house completion..stay tuned.

The Floors

It began in October with the tearing out of the wall and removing the viynl and carpeting. I am putting down porcelain tile downstairs, it is coming along and will be finished soon - I am so excited. A friend has been gracious enough to do it for me, he started the weekend we went to granny's. With him laying the tile, we do the grouting and clean up, I move everything to start the next section. This has allowed me the benefit of keeping my household functioning. We are almost there, this week we will grout, then I get to clean up, move stuff and get ready for the last phase...

Course, this just lets me move onto the next thing....getting ready for Christmas and Kelsey's birthday on the 7th - dang, where is the time going.

Grandpa's Cabin & Church

My grandfather was a scoutmaster for many years in Kansas City, it was his life and he did many things to move the organization of Boy Scouts along. He was a 'father' figure to many young men. When he passed, they named the Boy Scout cabin next to the church for him.

In the 90's, the current scoutmaster Mr. Ealy was shot by a 13 year old boy trying to steal the money from the boy scouts popcorn drive. They re-dedicated the cabin in both their names.

Thanksgiving with Granny B

The girls and I packed up and headed to Kansas City. My grandmother is moving to Chicago from a 3 bedroom, full basement house to an apartment. She decided to make only one move versus staying in Kansas City, then later having to move to Chicago.

As you can well imagine, this is both stressful, heartbreaking and sad for her, she is leaving her home of 60+ years, the few friends she has left and a life she has known. For many, this is an easy move, for granny I know it is hard.

The house she leaves behind has gone through raising 2 natural born children and 100's of adopted children who were grandpa's scouts. I lived there for the first 5 years of my life and many summers after that, my grandfather battled cancer from the front room of the house, watching friends, neighbors, his scouts and the squirrels. It has a lot of good memories and like any long lived home, some bad ones...but it has served us well.

When I was younger, the gardens were beautiful under the loving care of my granny, a true green-thumb. The raspberries and gooseberries are harvested for some of the sweetest jelly you have ever tasted. She would like to tell of me digging up the front gardens cause you could find the best night-crawlers there. I played red-rover over the brick walk and spent many of hours with my friend on the front porch.

So, over Thanksgiving, off we went to pack up memories, grandma's house and for me, try to get her to listen to some reason. You can imagine after that many years there was a lot of stuff, did I mention a lot of stuff........

She wants to take it all. Now just measuring the dimensions of the two homes, we know it ain't going to fit. So through pure stubbornness she taught me with honed skilled....as I kept telling her I learned from the master. We got through it with getting rid of a little stuff. Okay, I screwed up sorting and sending some of the sweaters to the salvation army, and yes I heard about it....but things that are precious to her are lovingly packed so they will make the journey, and slowly it is coming together. My parents worked so hard, I was glad I could help in some way.

Oh, I failed to mention I endured being told to shut up and threaten to be hit with the sledge hammer by my granny...I laughed....bless her heart, she can't help it!

Love you Granny B....I know this is hard.

The house is getting there

As fall arrives so does my penchant to crank up house projects. This year, with the change of job and life in general I worked it out that I could complete several projects at once, some I have been waiting many years to complete.

Fencing, they are up and beautiful. The dog loves the freedom to run and I like the freedom to just let him out the door. But, as with any one project several will follow - its a cascade effect.

Downstairs, the flooring is removed, most of the walls are painted, flooring purchased now just awaiting a little assistance in getting the floors laid out. I just don't trust myself enough when it comes to measurements and fractures. I have laid out the foyer tile and got an idea of what I want it to look like, but I am not yet prepared to dive into the actual application yet, I am getting there.

Things left to do, finish painting the hallways, course with any project this involves 'preparation'...something I am not fully known for. So, my 18ft ladder is buried away in the garage behind a mass of stuff that was evacuated from my living and dining rooms.

The kitchen cabinet needs to be moved, again, just hesitant in my skills into moving the actual cabinet, I am awaiting help to arrive with direction soon, once this is complete I will continue with tiling into the kitchen. Once complete, new countertops and sink will be installed.

Upstairs, we are replacing the shower/tub with just a shower unit, complete with glass sliding doors. I have the big tub in my bathroom, and we just don't use this one, besides its cracked and needs to be replaced. I have found the shower and surround I want, now just got to price out installation (I hate working with contractors and just the whole process of it all - its why I tend to do things myself). I miss Armin, my handy man in Kentucky...could always trust him, he did great work and the prices were reasonable.

I'm workin on it as I can, it gets frustrating some days, I just want it done but I figure, if I wasn't waiting on myself, I would be waiting on someone else and that would be more expensive waiting! ;)

Soccer for Kelsey is done.....

As one of many final chapters in Kelsey's high school career begin to close, soccer is the first. The girls played a tough state game and it came down to one goal, the other team won. We as parents were so proud of our girls and how they handled themselves, a parent couldn't ask for a better group of girls.



you were just four
when soccer came knocking at our door

the ball, shin guards and cleats
they look so big on your feet

I stood there at the fields
watching you never yield

I gained more daughters
than any mother should

I felt pride, joy and laughter
in all that you were after

I prayed, hoped and hurt
when the game put you in the dirt

you learned strength, skill and resolve
through this you all have evolved

you learned friendship, leadership and team
in it you all found your dreams

never has a mother felt so much pride
thank you for the ride....

Car Crash

CGHS - Wins Semi-State

After making it through sectionals and regionals, we were off to Evansville, Indiana for the semi-state matchups. A three hour, no easy way to get there drive, I left on Friday to make the trek. One missed turn and several small town, country road and s-curve roads later I made it around midnight, missed the trip down to the boat, but relaxed with a few of the other parents that had come in late.

Up early Saturday, we were off to play our first game of the semi-state, after a early first goal, the girls finalized the game winning 5-0, that put the team into the elite 8. A 5 hour layover between games left us sometime to relax, eat and in the case of Lisa, myself and a few other parents, head down to the riverboat casino.

I quickly lost $20 on the roulette table, my numbers weren't hitting so off I went to seek out the penny slots, an hour later, I was up 120.00. Knowing we had to get back for the evening game I found Lisa working a slot, I sat down next to her, while waiting I stuck 10 into the machine in front of me....it hit, another 30 up!!!

The girls faced Columbus North for the final game, it was an even match, with 2 minutes left in the game, score 0-0, Lindsey scored a final goal and the girls won Semi-state for the first time in 10 years!!! It was a great weekend all around!

Demoliton: 2 Girls - 2 Hammers

Max 2007 - 9/30 -10/4

Senior Night for Soccer

Kelsey is #19

Alex Playing Soccer

Kelsey Scores Goal

Soccer

Friday evening I got in the car to go to Alex's game, the temperature gauge read 105, it cooled down a bit before I hit the school...99. They didn't win their game, but the football team did in between a huge downpour, think it got over at midnight. Not a big high school football fan but can't help know when they score, they fire off a cannon, with my house only 2 blocks away, its just like being there.

It was a hot, wet Saturday, the weather couldn't decide if it wanted to pour or roast us as we sat on the sidelines. We played 2 games, here are few pics of Kelsey.

The games were brutal, the refs not calling anything and the girls came away victors in both games but with a lot of war wounds, thankfully nothing serious but they were hurting. I took off between games and dried their pre-game shirts that were soaking wet from the first game, it was all worth the hassle of finding a laundry mat (15 minutes away and had to ask 2 stores for directions) when the I left and over heard the girls exclaim with excited voices 'they are still warm', everyone loves shirts right out of the dryer.

The CG Lady Trojans now have a website here: CG Lady Trojans

Sunday was the day I decided to tackle the yard. With no rain this summer, the weeds are growing just fine, the lawn, well, its been almost 6 weeks since I mowed if that tells you anything. (I just trimmed the tall weeds). I managed to get a few things done outside and it is now ready for fall, the worst is getting all the tiny weeds growing on my patio. I gave Patches a new soccer ball to destroy and he was having a good time.

Big Weekend

Whew! We all made it through the first week of school. Kelsey's varsity team beat their rivals 2-1 for the first game of the season. Alex played Friday, their game ended in a tie 0-0.

Grandma and Grandpa came down on Saturday for a visit and I was having fun making my niece giggle. We all went to the zoo on Sunday, it started out with beautiful weather, getting a little hot and humid towards the afternoon. We all enjoyed the day.

We were also introduced to Chris's new baby.

A very good week of family and fun!

First Day of School

It's here....both my girls are now in High School and I feel old.
But as tradition, here is the first day off to school picture!