Sunday I slept in a little, and then got up and went to exercise while the kids did their cleaning. When I got back, I vacuumed and cleaned the kitchen floor. Scot took the kids ice skating in the afternoon and I stayed home and made my Oscar picks. I went to an Oscars party that night and had fun, even though I didn't know anyone except the hostess. I got 18 picks correct. My closest competitor got 14, so I was happy. lol I didn't think James Franco was a good co-host, although the beginning sequence was funny. I know everyone was offended by Ricky Gervais at the Golden Globes, but I thought he was funny and it made the show more interesting.




I was working the evening shift today instead of my usual day shift, so all day I kept reminding myself so I didn't forget that after picking up the kids from school, I needed to head to work. Changes in routine tend to throw me off! During the day I was able to watch my Big Love disc. Six episodes down and I have no idea what is going to happen next! I am still waiting for Social Network to be available from Netflix since that is one of two Oscar nominees that I haven't seen yet, the other one being 127 Hours. I'm not enthused about that one now after seeing James Franco host the Oscars...I have been watching old Curb Your Enthusiasm episodes if I am still up. Tonight is the one where he refused to give candy to the 13-year-old trick-or-treaters that didn't even dress up, and then his yard got t.p.'d.

I got the kids soccer practice schedules finally, but am still waiting to find out the game schedules that will dictate our Saturdays in March-May. I also found out the scout camping trip will be the weekend before our 4th of July camping trip, but it's only one night, so not a big deal. I need to get a pop-up reserved since I promised the kids we could try one out for Leadville, especially if we are going to be up there for 5 or 6 nights this time. I'm hoping I will sleep better in the pop-up since there will be a heater if it gets really cold, and I'm sure the beds are more comfortable than mattress on the ground! I like camping, but it does take a toll on me after a couple days since I don't sleep well, so I figured for a longer trip, this might be a good solution. Scot won't be there for the whole time since he is saving vacation days for our Portland and Pittsburgh trips, but my friend with a pop-up will be there to help me figure out how to set it up.

Saturday we didn't have too much going on during the day. Owen had one hour of soccer, kind of a pre-practice since his soccer schedule isn't out yet. It sounds like a lot of the same kids are coming back for the spring session. Since we had the afternoon free, Scot and I decided to see a movie, The King's Speech. There is really not many good movies playing right now to choose from. I thought it was a good movie, although after watching the Oscars tonight, I'm surprised about the Best Director win. Saturday night was the Blue and Gold banquet for scouts, when the kids get their patches for whatever rank they have been working towards. Declan got his Tiger patch and Owen got his Bear patch. The entertainment for the evening was the Reptile Guy, which was fun. He had some cool animals and let the kids touch and hold them all. Owen was excited to get to see blue-tongued skink, since that's the reptile he seems to want. They have two males available at the Longmont reptile shelter, so we would probably adopt one of those. They are very suitable for kids because they don't mind being handled and don't move fast or anything. I think the bearded dragons are cuter, but Owen has never warmed up to them for some reason. The skink that he wants to meet is named Al Pacino: http://www.corhs.org/alpacino.html

Thursday I finally had a chance to do a little shopping. Since I just ordered a bunch of scrapbook pages, I needed an album or two to put them in. I wasn't impressed with the albums at Michael's, but I checked the Hobby Lobby ad and saw that all albums and pages were 50% off. I found some there that I liked, and got some refill pages, also. Since I was near Qdoba, I decided to have lunch there. Nachos, as usual! I decided to take the kids swimming after dinner Thursday night, since Scot was at bowling. It gave me a chance to finish up The Four Stages of Cruelty, just in time since it was due today and couldn't be renewed.



This morning I helped in the school library for about 1 1/2 hours, then went to Apex to exercise. It snowed a tiny bit and was very cold. Not sure what tomorrow will be like, but if it's cleared up, Owne has a little soccer training with his team. After I picked up the kids, we went to the store and then got take-n-bake pizzas for dinner. After we ate, Declan decided to do some of his famous dancing. He put in a CD from Owen's piano book but I told him we had better dance music CD's, so we ended up pulling out a Disco compilation. They liked some of those songs, so I pulled out a Madonna dance CD to see what they thought. Then I told them to pick out a CD they were curious about so they could hear some different things. Owen picked out Metallica, which he ended up liking, but Declan had his hands over his ears and was rolling on the floor in agony. We tried some other music to varying degrees of success. Between the two of us, Scot and I have quite a variety of music to choose from... Then it was bedtime, and Scot and I watched Modern Family from Wednesday. I checked out the next two books from the Uglies series, so I'm sure I will get through those this weekend since they are a fast read.

Tuesday the kids were back at school, and I had an orchestra board meeting. We are trying to finalize the plans for our little festival in June in conjunction with the
Recorder Orchestra of the Midwest. In the afternoon, we had an electrical inspection and I got some info about changing out the lights in the basement. They can do all of it except the drywall, so we would have to find someone else to finish that off. Of course, we were also told that we have an old and potentially dangerous electrical panel so now I feel like we have to get that done before the lights, but the lights are what we really want to spend the money on. They would replace all the big rectangle fluorescent lights with canister lights and put them on two different switches so we don't have to have all lights on or none. I'll probably call and get another price on both items.

Trying to get caught up. Monday was a school holiday, and Owen ended up getting invited to a jumping place with one of his friends. She didn't have room to take Declan, so he and I went roller skating. Of course, my phone was acting up that day, so I told her to call me when they were done but then my phone wasn't working and I hadn't thought to get her cell phone number. Sometimes my phone suddenly gets really hot to the touch and won't hold a charge. I am guessing I should get a new battery, but it always seems to recover. I didn't skate with Declan since it was really crowded, but he had fun since his friend was there. I was lucky to get the day off from work, since it is no fun for the kids to have to be there with me all day.

I guess I was in a mood for the green mug lately! I am way behind since this wisdom tooth set me back a little. Wednesday my friend came over, we dropped the kids off at school, and headed on our merry way to the oral surgeon. I was a little anxious and hadn't slept well the night before, but luckily they were organized and I didn't have to sit around or anything. I had already filled out the paperwork and everything, so I just needed to pay and I was brought back to get started. She hooked up the monitors, set up the music for the headphones (I chose classic alternative), and then she strapped the oxygen thing across my nose and started the nitrous. I remember them putting in the IV, barely, and then I was out for the count. The whole thing took about an hour, and then I was led out the back to the car. We went through the Krispy Kreme drive-thru and then headed home. We came back and watched Salt and I just lay down with the ice pack. My friend had to leave to pick up her kids from school, and then I was on my own until Scot got home. I felt o.k., but just picking up the kids from school kind of wiped me out, so I tried to rest for most of the night. Scot made me some mac and cheese for dinner, since I needed soft food, and comfort food was nice to have, too! I must have slept wrong that night because I woke up with really sore shoulders and back of my neck, but maybe that was partly from the surgery. Who knows how much I was flopping around as they tried to pull that huge tooth out! lol I didn't have to do anything on Thursday but rest. I felt well enough for some coffee and small bites of food, and even walked down to pick up the kids. It was probably too much too soon, since I woke up after a bad night's sleep on Friday morning with my cheek all swollen. I could barely open my mouth and felt the worst of any of the recovery days. Luckily I started to bouce back on Saturday, and today I was able to go my recorder meeting without any problems. I lucked out on Friday because even though it was a school holiday, Declan had a scout field trip and Owen ended up going on a playdate during the same time, so I had more time to rest, in theory. However, the phone kept ringing, and I felt like I had to answer because the kids were not with me so it might be related to them. Scot took the kids out for dinner and got my some more yogurt since I was feeling like I wouldn't be able to eat anything solid again. Saturday I was in better spirits and took the kids to a swimming birthday party. I just read and played with my iPod while they were swimming, so it was relaxing. Today they went roller skating while I was at my recorder meeting, and this morning, we did our usual big weekly clean. Owen re-arranged his furniture and his room is looking nice. I hope he keeps it up! Tomorrow is another day home from school, so maybe we will see a movie or something. We haven't done that for awhile.

I was excited to get the first disc of the previous season of Big Love. It is a fun show to watch. Too bad it's not on Watch Instantly or I could be done already! I am still reading The Four Stages of Cruelty and also The Uglies, which is a young adult novel I got from the school library. I think it's part of a trilogy. One of the other library volunteers read the series and enjoyed it.

There was a print sale over the Super Bowl weekend, so I got some more of my scrapbook pages printed. I am really glad I decided to go with the 8X8 size. I just need to get some albums now to put them in.

I had a chai tea latte today, just before dinner, actually. I told my friend from orchestra I would help set up her new printer if she got one, and it took longer than I expected. I tried one last time to get the software installed so the printer would actually communicate with the printer, but it took so long for the installation, I had to leave to pick up the kids from school. I told her to call and let me know what happened, and I could come back after dinner if it didn't work, but luckily the last time it actually went through and she was able to print some pages and everything. She mentioned that her husband had bought a new VCR/DVD combo machine, but was having trouble getting it to work, so I looked at it and realized he just wasn't putting the tv on the right channel. I guess he has little patience for those things, so he was ready to pack it up and return it (along with the printer!). He is in his 80's, so it's undertandable that he doesn't want to spend a lot of time trying to connect electronics. lol

I spent the morning drinking my throat coat with echinacea tea, although my throat is fine. I didn't have any Gypsy Cold Care, which is what I like for colds. The dentist called to confirm my appointment tomorrow. I can't wait to get it over with. I know I won't feel any of it, it's just the anticipation that bothers me, before they knock me out. It really isn't supposed to take very long, probably because the tooth is already fully erupted and there is only one being taken out. Luckily I have all Thursday to recover before the kids are home for the 4-day weekend. It turns out that Declan will have a scout field trip on Friday, so it will just be me and Owen at home. Then they have a birthday party Saturday, and we might get tickets to see a Lacrosse game on Sunday night.

This is from yesterday. I managed to drink a quick cup before heading out for the CPR training. Luckily it was at a center closer to me instead of the one way out on the other side of town like I had originally thought. If it hadn't been for people "sharing" all their first aid stories, we probably would have gotten done around 4, but we had a bunch of Chatty Cathy's in the class! It's interesting to note that they have figured out that it doesn't matter whether adults get the breaths or not, it's the chest compressions that are most important, so they don't even recommend bothering with the breathing if you don't have a protective mask to use. However, for kids, it's more important for them to get the breathing over the chest compressions.

I had to work again today, but got to leave a little bit early so I could stop in on the kids Valentine parties at school. It is always so crowded and chaotic, it was just as well to miss some of it! I guess we were supposed to automatically know that the third graders needed to make a Valentine box at home, but I didn't realize that and no note was sent home, so Owen didn't have one. He just put a sticky note on his desk saying "Put Valentine's Here". After we got home, I started to feel kind of bad, so I think I'm getting a cold.

My two favorite drinks. I rarely drink anything other than water, especially while I'm at home. I never did get into soda, which is probably just as well!

I slept in this morning since we didn't have anything going on. The kids originally were supposed to have an afternoon playdate, but last night at the dance the mom said that she had to babysit for her neighbor, so it wasn't going to work out. Luckily I hadn't mentioned it to the kids, so they don't know what they missed out on. Scot and I couldn't really do anything since he is on-call this weekend, and I was on-call for work starting at 4 p.m. Then I got a call that someone was sick so I had to go in instead of being on call. After I got there it became clear that the person who usually closes wasn't feeling well, and I felt bad making her stay until 11, so I ended up closing. We were pretty busy most of the night, since everyone was going out for Valentine dinners.

I have been leaving notes and little pieces of candy for the kids in their paper Valentine baskets at night, but otherwise, we don't do too much for Valentine's Day. I bought a heart-shaped cookie pan, so I was planning on making a big cookie for the kids to decorate, but I think that will have to wait until Monday since I have CPR training all day tomorrow. I got them a few little gifts for Valentine's Day, also. I have to work Monday, but the night shift person is supposed to come in a little early so I can get to school to see some of the kids parties. I am taking next Monday off since it's a school holiday, and I'm sure the kids don't want to spend it stuck at work with me!

I helped in the library again this morning. Both the regular librarian and the usual library aid were gone, so I felt very needed! After that, I went to the Apex to do some treadmill and weights. Next, I was off to get a haircut. As much as I have enjoyed being able to put it in a ponytail, it just gets yucky when it's too long. My hair has always been thin, and I'm afraid it's getting worse with age. At least when it's short it has some semblance of life...

Tonight was the parent/child dance at school, so we had fun going to that. It was a luau theme, but I didn't have any Hawaiian shirts so I just wore my regular clothes. They always have a raffle, so they had 4 items to give away. I was actually the third winner, and it was between a one hour massage and a Kids Bop CD. Owen said he didn't want the Kids Bop, so I happily took the massage gift card instead. Toy Story 3 and Beverly Hill Chihuahua 2 (the kids would have wanted that) had already been taken. Well, soon afterwards the mom of one of their friends told me Owen was out in the hall and was upset, so I went out to chat with him and he said he was upset because he really had wanted the Kids Bop CD but was afraid he'd get teased by one of his friends if he knew he had it. I told him he shouldn't worry about it and should get or do the things he liked, no matter what people might say, and that we could look for a Kids Bop CD at the store. He eventually recovered and ended the night running around with his friends again. They were playing Thriller by Michael Jackson, who is someone he seems to know of, although not his music so much, so I told him it was Michael Jackson, and he said, "But it's a girl singing. Isn't Michael Jackson a boy?"

Today I had to give out the STARS prizes for the school reading program. I meet my helpers at the library about 1/2 hour before school ends and we attach the prizes to the sheets and put them in the teacher mailboxes. This month it was roller skate erasers.

I didn't really get much accomplished other than that, today! My recorder group came over in the evening so we could practice for a play-the-recorder-month performance. Earlier today, I finished watching Benjamin Button. It was kind of interesting, but not something I would watch again. Scot is thrilled that Machete has arrived for our viewing pleasure this weekend.

This is from yesterday. I decided to try a new recipe from the slow cooker cookbook I got for Christmas. I picked one that was chicken and potatoes with balsamic vinegar. It also gave me a chance to try out the new crock pot. I didn't get it started as early as I had hoped, but luckily there was an option to cook it on high for only 3-4 hours, so it worked out.

It was an early release day, which means the kids get out at 1:10 instead of 3:40. I helped in the library for a little while in the morning, and then came home to get some things done before going back to pick them up. Owen had his tour of the Ball factory later in the afternoon, which he seemed to really enjoy. He was back just in time for me to pick him up and head to the Apex for my turbo kick class. It was nice to come home and have dinner be ready, which is always the beauty of the crock pot meal!

I started watching Benjamin Button, since it's on Netflix watch instantly now, and I had never been that motivated to see it. I'm glad that I didn't bother to see it at the theater. It seems kind of slow and rambling...

I got a present from my mommy today! Well, yesterday, but the mail was really late and I forgot to check for it after dinner, so these were sitting out by the gate this morning. I also got a towel with a heart border, and the kids got some sticky foam craft things. Also pictured is the craft I made at the Stampin' Up party, and a new book I got from the library.

The Healing Minds people are coming tomorrow for our donation, and we have 3 garbage bags of clothes and two grocery bags of shoes to donate. It felt good to go through the closet and purge. I also steam cleaned the upstairs carpet and did two loads of laundry. The kids and I did a little Valentine craft after dinner, also. Tomorrow I am hoping to finally get to those Christmas/birthday thank you cards. The kids wrote theirs out a long time ago, so I am the one holding things up! It's early release at school, and I am helping in the library in the morning, so we'll see how much I accomplish. If it's not too cold, maybe we will look for a sledding hill since I think there will still be lots of snow on the ground. Owen's supposed to have a scout field trip, which was rescheduled from last week, so I hope it happens as we have moved his piano lesson two weeks in a row now.

No coffee today, and I really could have used some given the scant hours of sleep I managed to get last night! I was thinking of getting a cup on my way home from work since I usually have 40 minutes but it's only a 20 minute drive to get to school from work, but the person coming in for the night shift was late, so I didn't get to leave at 3 after all. It is looking pretty nasty outside tonight, so I am wondering if they will cancel school. Today was the 100th Day celebration, so luckily that will not be affected. It is pretty fun for the younger kids, but I guess 3rd grade and higher don't celebrate it.

Dottie has been throwing up every night lately, so I'm wondering what is going on with her. I did switch food and gave her a new chew toy, so I took away the chew toy and switched her back to our usual Costco dog food, so hopefully that will solve the problem. If the kids do go to school tomorrow, I will be taking that opportunity to steam clean the living room carpet! If she still keeps doing it, I will take her to the Maxfund vet, but Scot and I are both confused as to why it only happens at night, even though she eats twice a day. She seems fine otherwise, but I know she had issues in the past with food allergies.

I ordered a bunch of scrapbook prints since there was a SuperBowl sale going on, so now I just need to get some albums. I decided to go with the 8X8 size, since I just like it better than the 12X12. Luckily scrapbook albums seem to be 40% frequently at Michael's and Hobby Lobby, so I just need to stock up during a good sale.

Yes, today was the big day of the Steelers being in the Super Bowl. We woke up with a bunch of snow, so the kids shoveled the driveway. Declan wanted to go get a game for his DS, so he was motivated to clear out the snow so the car could get out. We headed over to the Super Bowl party around 2 p.m. The kids had fun playing, and we ate lots of yummy food. Owen was pretty upset when the Steelers lost because he thought he would get teased at school tomrrow. Hopefully it won't come up, but there seem to be a couple kids in his class that are thorns in his side.

Yesterday I had orchestra rehearsal, and then I met Scot to see True Grit. I liked it more than I expected. It's hard to get excited about westerns, but it was good. I also ended up going to a Stampin' Up party at the last minute, and had fun. We made a cute Valentine project and a card. I got some vinyl that works as a chalkboard. It's thin and you can stick it on the wall and write on it with chalk or liquid chalk.

This morning was my volunteer library time. I didn't go Wednesday since school was closed. I come in at that time because of Declan (it's his class library time), but I kind of wish it was later! There is a class I used to like going to at the Apex at 9 a.m. I went out to Target afterwards to get two more sets of drawers for the closet, and also ended up getting some Valentine stuff for the kids and a new crock pot. Ours has been missing a lid and it's hard to clean since it's all one piece but you can't get the cord part wet. The new one has a removable part that you cook in so you can take that part out and clean it or even put in the dishwasher.

After I picked up the kids from school, we went to the library since I had to return a couple books. I finished Taroko Gorge just in time, and Owen had to return his beloved Big Nate book. I checked out three new books, and I also got the 3rd Tess Gerritsen book for the e-reader, so I've started on that. The kids were excited to get some new Goosebump videos. They love those cheesy movies! Owen also checked out a book about the history of the SuperBowl, and he's very excited for Sunday's game. I have been reading an old childhood favorite of mine, M for Mischief, to Declan, and he seems to be liking it.

My mom left behind some white chocolate pretzels at Christmas, and unfortunately, I have found them to be rather tasty! Luckily they will be gone soon. I have been so lazy and blah lately, I really don't need to have junk food sitting around!

The kids went back to school today, and ironically, we got snow most of the day, when we really didn't have any for the past two school days that were cancelled. Because of that, I didn't really run the errands I was planning on doing, and just went to school to drop off the STARS sheets for tomrrow's Friday folders and stopped quickly at the store to get the bag of popcorn Declan is supposed to bring for the 100th Day celebration on Monday. Owen had his piano lesson today since he was supposed to have that field trip yesterday, and I kept almost forgetting, since we never have it on Thursday! We had an early dinner so we could go to Declan's scout meeting. They all had to come up with a holiday, and unbeknownst to them when they started, they were going to get to vote on the favorite made up holiday. Well, Declan did Extra School Day as his holiday, and picked July 5th for the date, so needless to say, he did not get any votes! He was kind of upset, but I tried to explain that it was just for fun...

I was playing around with photo actions for this photo and yesterday's. I love to use them, but they are a pain to load into Photoshop so I don't have that many. Declan has been asking to play Farkle, so we got a game going last night and finished tonight. I thought I was going to win, but he got some good rolls and managed to get ahead for the victory!

We have had a fun two days off, but tomorrow is back to reality since school was not cancelled for the third day. I am looking forward to some slightly warmer temperatures! Today we met some school friends at a bouncy place. We realized too late that we didn't have each other's cell phone, since she got held up and couldn't let me know. The kids were getting disappointed, but luckily they finally made it. Then we came home for the afternoon, got chores and homework done, and then off to the Apex for my TurboKick class. Scot picked Owen up so they could eat dinner before his scout meeting, and Declan came home with me after the class. Not an exciting day, but they weren't fighting or anything, so that is always a plus!

I am on Season 2 of the Everest show, wondering how Tim is going to keep going with a broken hand! I also got the Wall Street sequel for Scot and I to watch this weekend.

I do have a photo from today, but it's not handy and I wanted to get this up before I forgot, since I already skipped yesterday! I was at work yesterday and didn't expect to have time for coffee since it took me forever to get there. The roads were icy so traffic was slow, along with the drop-off lane at school, so I was running behind. It turns out the owner was working, so she went out mid-morning and got us Starbucks. I had a yummy caramel macchiato. I stayed most of my shift and then hung out in the lobby at school until the kids got out. It was definitely too cold to be waiting outside or in the car! They had already cancelled school for Tuesday. We went home and had some hot cocoa. My small recorder group was going to come over that night, but decided not to due to the weather.

Today I got to sleep in a little bit, and then we went to the Apex so I could exercise. I didn't make it in time for a class, so I just did the treadmill and some weights. We came home and I told the kids if they finished their chore early we could go out to lunch. They picked Panera, so we had a nice lunch there. We came home and had a lazy afternoon, but after dinner Owen had some school work to do since I am guessing school will be back on Thursday, which is when his weekly homework is due. His scout field trip for tomorrow was postponed until next Wednesday since school was cancelled again.

The third book in the Rizzoli and Isles series came in for my e-reader today, so I need to get that loaded up tomorrow. I am almost done with Dragonfly in Amber on the e-reader and am still reading Taroko Gorge. I was talking with my KT boss and she seemed really surprised that I read multiple books at one time, but I assumed everyone did that. Sometimes I'm in the mood for a certain book, or maybe one is handy while the other one isn't. I try to keep one in my car in case I am ever stuck waiting somewhere.

I'm starting on Season 2 of Fringe on DVD, and also got caught up in a show my mom told me about, a documentary type show about climbing Mt. Everest. I already watched season 1 since it's available through Netflix watch instantly. I am really wanting to see The Social Network, so I hope that video is available soon!