Brain freeze

Um.

I didn't realize how long it's been since my last post.

So sorry blogger world.

What can I say?

School is done (still waiting for that last grade Dammit!) I've been busy with the house (it's amazing how fast the house goes to hell when you ignore it for three months) and the kids (they are starting to recognize me again - YAY!) and Christmas (Ho HO HOOOOO)!

I'll blame it on my brain freezing from the bitter cold and TWO FEET of snow we got.

But you probably wouldn't believe me (because really, it's a bad excuse).

Pictures to come - PROMISE!!!

This made my day.....

Course Grade: A

Debbie:

I thought that this was an outstanding discussion of the LEED process and you did a lot of work in researching the cost numbers. It also highlights the importance of obtaining certification during construction versus afterwords. I was bit surprised about how many LEED points were thrown away by not starting rehab project under the LEED program.

I also commend you for your rational analysis of obtaining post construction LEED certification.

I am beyond thrilled! I was extremely nervous about this paper (it was Independent Study) and developing the conclusion that LEED certification for this particular rehab was simply not financially feasible made me nervous since this was a "Sustainability" class.

That's one less thing to worry about....now if I can just get through my last two papers.....

Al.....Most.....Done....

One more final and one more HUGE paper.

One class is DONE. Turned that in on Sunday.

Presentation last Wednesday kicked ass (of course - my team rocked).

By Saturday, I'll be school free and ready to enjoy the holiday.

I have lots to catch you up on!

I swear - I'll be back soon :)

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas.....

Christmas Trees from Christmas 2008

The Christmas season is always kicked off by the arrival of two special trees sent to my girls from Judi and Ted (aka Gamma Judi & Mister).

They always arrive near Thanksgiving, are always decorated so beautifully and are so unique.

Not to mention the fact that we are getting quite the little grove of evergreen trees in our yard since Brian plants them in January every year.

When the girls are older they can look at these tall trees and remember all the Christmas seasons that were kicked off by their arrival.

They truly do mark the official beginning of the holiday season here in our home.

This years trees did not disappoint...

Olivia's tree

Sydney's tree



They're getting excited!!!

When I brought in the packages the girls said "WOW!! Christmas is almost here! Our trees are here!!!!!"

Thank you for starting this wonderful tradition when the girls were so young.

We love you Gamma Judi & Mister!

Thanksgiving 2009

I hope everyone had a fabulous Thanksgiving....

We did. It was my turn to host and we had such a great time. My Parents (on the left), my mom's Cousin Ruthie and her hubby Ken (on the right), Aunt Mil (behind Ken) Brian's parents, my brother and his girlfriend Misou and the four of us all sat down to eat some amazing food and enjoy each other's company.

Aunt Mil, Ruthie and Ken

Brandon and the adorable Misou...

My father-in-law, Pop-Pop. (Can you tell that the kids had the camera?)

My Dad, Poppy.

Apparently the grandfathers were not too happy about getting their pictures taken.

I can't imagine why. And it didn't stop the girls from snapping away!

I bought 12 of these little turkey guys to use as place markers. I had this bright idea to let the girls put them together and put one at each seat with a name card.

After 3 hours, lots of glue, several fingers fused together (mine) and only 4 completed, I made the executive decision that we were no longer using them as place card holders.

They were now simply "decorative accents" to be placed on the table strategically.

At four a year, I should have them all completed just in time for Thanksgiving 2011.


Up to my eye balls in school work - only 8 days left!

I swear I'll be back soon....

Two 20+ page projects
plus a quiz
plus a law paper
plus a final exam
all in the next two weeks

Send more Corona please!

WHO ROCKS THE HOUSE???????

I know I say this all the time, but it's been a BUSY week!

Liv has had cheerleading practice three nights a week for the past several weeks getting ready for competition.

So we've been running her around to practices, and she's been working so hard........
and STILL managed to get straight A's!

Saturday, the girls cheered at the "Superbowl" game for the football team.
We drove an hour to the game, stood in the rain and wind for 2 hours and the poor guys lost.
It was so sad to see all those football players walking dejectedly off the field after getting to the championship game.

Saturday night Olivia had a "cheer"party, and all the girls got together and the coaches and a few of us moms put their hair up and curled it in little teeny pink rollers (remember those? OUCH!!) with about a pound of gel and hairspray per girl - in anticipation of competition Sunday.

They all wore bandannas over their hair to sleep in.

Aren't they CUTE????

Today, we got up and drove to University of Maryland - Cole Field House - for competition.

All the little Lancers, waiting for their turn!

On deck and practicing....Liv is a base - she's the one holding that girl up!



THEY ROCKED THE HOUSE!!!!

Those girls were PERFECT!!!!

I cried.

Sorry for the blurriness - it's hard to get good action shots - they move so fast!

After all divisions compete, they bring them all onto the floor and play dance songs while they tally the scores so the girls can blow off steam - This was a sight to see!!!

Dancing away...

And the third place award for the 8-10 division????

THE LANCERS!!!!

I was amazed at how much I got into this!! I made signs and bead shakers and I turned into one of those loud obnoxious moms.

But it was GREAT!!

I was so proud of Liv - she worked so hard, and she was PERFECT.

I'm Mrs. Brightside

Let's revisit Crap Week, shall we?

Crap Week - part one

Apparently my professor feels that I'm doing well in her class and that I shouldn't worry. When I pointed out that she gave me an "F", so how could she feel that I was doing well, I got a long drawn out speech which, I believe, boils down to this:

My grade is subjective and so long as I kick ass on this last project I may come out of this just fine.

No pressure though.

Psh.

Crap Week - part two

Copper futures are trading at $2.95 a pound.

I'll sell my copper pipes to the junk man in town. I'm pretty sure anyone in the junk gathering business follows the market carefully.

Right?

Problem solved.

Crap Week - part three

Yeah, there's not much I can do about this one until they're in their twenties, at which point they will be in therapy (because of their crazy mother) and sending me the bills.

That's a problem for another time.

HAPPY FRIDAY!!!

...And it's only Thursday......

This is quite possibly the worst week EV-ER.

Why you ask? Well, let's see, let's start with school.....

I had a group project due a few weeks ago. I knew that my group was lacking, how shall we put it, any motivation to do a good job. I did the best i could, and more work than I should have had to do for a GROUP project, and still, it sucked. Big Time. I knew this, but I also know that, in the past when a teacher has "assigned" groups, they typically give you an individual grade based on the work YOU do. Long story short, it's been an awful semester, the entire class is fed up with this teacher and to top it off, I failed my group project.

Yup. Big ole "F".

Because my grade was based on the group as a whole, and we were graded by people from the "community" who she brought in at the last minute (meaning we walked into class and there they sat, pencils and rubrics ready), who had no idea what our assignment was (because she didn't provide them with it) and who totally ripped us for not including information that we were clearly told by our teacher NOT to include.

But, I digress. Fact is, I'm screwed. I can't graduate if I get a grade less than a "B". And seeing as how I'm basically an "A" student, I find it hard to wrap my head around the fact that I can carry three classes, in my last semester, with "A"'s in my other classes and an overall "A" average, and suddenly not know what the hell I'm doing. It is some consolation that there are others in the class that are in the same position, but it really doesn't make me feel any better. The best part is, they cut off my school loans for next semester so I have to figure out how to pay for next semester while also trying to figure out how to pay all the school loans I have taken out up until this point, because they are all coming due. Apparently, I need a part time job. Because I have time for that.

So there you have it. Crap Week - part one.

Next we have the fact that some of the copper pipes in the house have sprung leaks and need to be replaced. The girls bathtub faucet runs constantly - when not turned on and with the water valve turned to "off" (I still haven't figured this one out), and the garage door opener is basically shot to hell and only works when it feels like it. And it never feels like working when I am trying to open it and I have missed the bus on numerous occasions because of it. The best part is, I can't even fix most of this stuff now, because we, my friends, are broke. And everyday it's something new.

And there's Crap Week - part two.

My children have all of a sudden turned into contrary, back talking, whiny little people with BIG attitudes, who feel that anything I say is wrong, I don't know what I'm talking about, and apparently speaking to me in a normal voice, and answering my questions is just too taxing for them so instead they feel that rolling eyes, flipping hair at me and walking away is the best course of action when I ask them questions like, "Where is your book bag?" or "Where is your coat?" or the horribly insensitive "How was your day?" I just figure it's best not to talk. At all.

And there's Crap Week - part three.

I'll give myself two more days before I have a compete and total breakdown. I wouldn't want to waste a perfectly good fit of hysteria when it's only Thursday and God only knows what else will happen before the end of this horribly-crappy-please-just-let-it-end week.

Hope you are all having a better week than me. Hell, it can't possibly be worse than mine, right?

Darkness and light...

Mwuah ha ha ha ha ha........

Olivia the Vampire queen.....

Who's just a little impatient with all the picture taking since it was cutting into her candy grubbing time.

"I vant to drink your bloooooood..........."

And then we have Sydney - the Tooth Fairy. Seems we have a tooth theme going here this year!

Seriously - could these girls be any more opposite if they tried????

And before you laugh too much, yes - I made the wand from poster board, glitter glue and pipe cleaner. The crown has poster board teeth hot glued to it and her "tooth bag" did as well.

What's a mom to do when her daughter wants to be the Tooth Fairy?

Have you ever seen a "Tooth Fairy" costume?

Exactly.

Unfortunately for my children I am the least crafty person in the world with stuff like this. This was almost as bad as the year Olivia wanted to be a rainbow.

Yes, a RAINBOW. That was an interesting one......

I have no idea how to sew - it's a major event when the kids lose a button. They have to go to my mother's to get it sewn back on.

I go to the dry cleaners. They do it for you.

But Sydney was happy with her costume and everyone knew what she was - which was my biggest fear.

I could just see her walking up to the door......

"Trick or Treat!!!"

"Um, what are you supposed to be? What are those big white things glued all over you?"

She would have been devastated.

The whole gang - Liv, Serena, Sydney, Bubba and Lucas

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!

Kicky!!

I got my "hairs" cut today. It's a little short in the back (OK it's A LOT short in the back) but to be fair, I just wanted someone to play with my hair because I've had a headache for almost 6 days now, so I just let the stylist have at it.

That was a huge run on sentence, so I should probably just post pictures.

WARNING!

I look horrible in most of them.

I had to take the pictures myself because Olivia "didn't feel like it" and Sydney wasn't happy with me because I didn't look like her mommy anymore and I needed to glue my hair back on.

So there you have it.

Look at the 'do - not the face, OK?

I like it -- so far. It's bouncy and light.

Isn't it kicky?

A pretty place to potty

Our guest bathroom downstairs needed a little refreshing, so that's what I've been doing for the past few weeks. These are old pictures - taken at different times, but you get the idea ...

It has a great soaking tub, nice long vanity and I love the tile and the brick. I was getting bored with the cream colored walls, but I didn't want to make it too dark because the room gets little natural light. Since I keep many of my outdoor plants in this room over the winter (You'll see why in a second) I decided to go for a crisp "organic" look.....

The walls were painted the palest of greens....

I found fabric water repellent shower curtains in a shade just a touch lighter than the walls....

I hung a mirror and some candles over the toilet - there's no direct light over there and it's just a tad dark. I still need to decide what to do with the color of the mirror and sconces - paint the mirror black? Paint both the mirror and candle sconces a creamy beige? Crackle paint? Suggestions welcome....

The mirror helps reflect some of the light back into the potty cubbyhole and the candles give it just enough extra light.....

I hung some white shears in the window and used an old curtain rod I had (that I LOVE and didn't have a use for..... it has amber colored glass balls on the ends - so pretty!)

Then, for privacy since you can see directly into the potty cubby from the deck, I hung a cool bamboo shade that it so pretty and carries through the color of the walls in some of the individual pieces of bamboo - I love it.

I used an old chest and put some towels in it - I needed a place to keep guest towels and I haven't found anything I like yet. We brought in the plants I wanted to keep and put them on the tile platform and changed out the light bulb for a grow light for the winter.

We replaced the lampshade and hung a shelf with some candles on top....

So, there it is. The only things I bought were:

Shower curtains

Mirror and sconces

Bamboo shade

Paint

Everything else in the room was recycled from elsewhere in the house.

It reminds me of a garden with the pale green walls, the plants, the bamboo...it's very inviting.