I'm Emailing Matt Damon!

Or in reality he is emailing me! I had to call a software company on behalf of one of my students today. The tech support guy was very kind and after our brief conversation he sent met an email with some instructions to download.

If I knew how to take a 'screen shot' I'd do that but since I don't I just grabbed my camera and took this grainy shot...




Do you see what I saw when I opened my email. A message from Matt Damon to me! Me!

Ok, so his name is Damon Matt (poor guy) but it still gave me a little jolt to see his name at the top of my inbox. ;-)

It put a smile on my face today - and I needed that.
Thanks Matt, Damon.

Project: Bath

People say that time flies. I think it's actually on supersonic mode right now.

I'm sitting here wondering how it got to be Monday again. Didn't I just post my Monday to-do list? (Have no fear, I won't bore you with the details of that list this week although it's nearly as long once again.)

Since I last posted I've worked three days, gone to a "back to school picnic", made it to knitting night, honed my techie skills by playing around with some software (Classroom Suite, for those educational types who might know what that is), bought a new tub, and watched Rick demolish half our bathroom.

This bathroom project is like any other home project in that its scope started out in the 'doable' range and has spread to the point that we need to bring in a plumber to deal with some issues that are impeding progress.

Initially, the plan was to rip out and replace the tiles around the tub. We were having some not insignificant leakage during showers and could not completely pinpoint or fix the issue. The tiles are nearly 40 years old and the grout was dry and crumbling so it really was time to just deal with it. Before we got started we had a number of discussions about how far we wanted to go. Did we want to replace the tub? Or not. If we pulled the tub, what about the floor? And if we have to replace the floor does it make sense to do the vanity and sink over at the same time... Project sprawl was threatening to overtake our best intentions. At one point we decided to just deal with the tiles and make a quick job of it. After the tiles were removed Rick noticed a few nicks in the porcelain tub and in the end we decided to just deal with the tub now rather than later. So, Rick got to work hammering out the tub.

And before we knew it we were at Home Depot picking out a new tub. We had looked into various options and initially I wanted to just get the same kind of tub. However, it turns out the tub I wanted was over 300 lbs and would be nearly impossible to maneuver into our tiny bathroom. It was obvious that the house had been built up around the tub. So, after a fair bit of debate we opted for a much lighter weight and relatively more portable acrylic tub (no more harsh abrasive cleaners!). One issue we knew about when purchasing the tub was that it was a bit deeper than our old tub and would thus require some 'simple' plumbing (is it ever truly simple?) to move the tub spout higher up. However, once Rick got into the nitty gritty of "how to install" the tub we realized that the drain was also going to be in the wrong spot. And of course moving the drain and the spout means it would no longer line up with the rest of the plumbing. Oh dear. What was that I said about project sprawl?

On the list for today is to call a plumber (or three) for estimates on dealing with our plumbing-related project woes. Rick is loathe to hire out for household projects because he can deal with 99 out of 100 home repair or remodel issues. It's true. He is the ultimate Mr. Handyman which has saved us boatloads of cash over the years. But, this is just one of those times that my gut tells me that professional assistance is warranted. I think Rick agrees (mostly). What can I say? He's a Taurus and they are known for their stubbornness...

So, between work and the bathroom remodeling I've been rather occupied. Not that I've been doing any of the remodel work myself, but the fretting about it has been keeping me busy enough. Since I'm a Virgo I'm prone to worrying...(and a bit of perfectionism to boot which is why the thought of installing a tub/shower with misaligned plumbing was making me cringe just a wee bit a fair bit).

Off to take a shower in the downstairs bathroom (luckily we have two bathrooms!) and get dressed for the day!

Not bad...

I think I did pretty well in checking off a lot of my to-do list for today!

TJ's shopping

make appointment with my hairdresser


pick out tile at home improvement store

*clean/organize for the week ahead
well - sort of. I did get some cleaning done and things are too bad around here but this is one of those to-do items that I never feel like I fully accomplish!

*laundry (get the piles folded and put away)
Another item that gets a "sort of" rating. I processed more laundry but still have my mountain to fold and put away. Key word when it comes to Jeanne vs. the laundry - procrastination.

*start another pair of baby socks
Nope. Didn't get started on this one. I had hoped to start it at the meeting tonight (see below) but I ended up chatting with the moms I knew there instead.

*find out the mailing addresses for the kids in Middle girl's classroom who will be invited to her party
One down - three more to go on this list!

attend the meeting at school this evening for Eldest girl's violin lessons
However, now Eldest girl has decided she is not at all excited about violin now that she has learned that there will be at home practicing going on and she also said it was "too hard to learn." Sigh... I told her she can't say that until she tried. She has to at least go to a few lessons but that I won't force her or argue with her about it if she doesn't want to do it. I just don't have it in me to force her to do something that is supposed to be 'fun'!

exercise
Took Youngest girl on a walk - we had intended to go to the farm to visit the sheep, llamas, and cows but she fell asleep within 10 minutes so I just walked the neighborhood for 45 minutes while she slept.

make into banana bread
delish!

* return bottles at the grocery store
nope.

Tally for the day:

6 full check marks
3 partial/sort of check marks
2 unchecked items

oh, and I can check an additional item off my list:

bore everyone to tears with my blog posts!

Monday Monday

Yep - it's Monday again. And the to-do list is getting longer by the minute.

*grocery shopping at Trader Joe's (what would I ever do without TJ's?)

*call to make an appointment with my hairdresser for Wednesday (I've been wanting a haircut for weeks now and just haven't had time!)

*take a trip down to the home improvement outlet store to pick out tile (our shower tiles are nearly 40 years old and we are having leakage into the basement - time for a re-do on the tub surround and we've decided to just rip out and replace the wallboard and tiles)

*clean/organize for the week ahead

*laundry (get the piles folded and put away)

*start another pair of baby socks (I've been using my leftover sock yarns to make itty bitty baby socks for the November craft fair at church - they knit up fairly quickly which is great!)

*find out the mailing addresses for the kids in Middle girl's classroom who will be invited to her party (the class list came home on Friday with only names and phone numbers!)

*attend the meeting at school this evening for Eldest girl's violin lessons (The school has a grant that gives 3rd through 6th graders a chance to try out instruments for next to nothing. We will pay a $50 maintenance fee for the year and she decided to try out violin...she could only choose from stringed instruments in 3rd grade...next year she will have the option to try a wind instrument).

*exercise? I am not sure this will fit in the schedule today but I missed my walk this morning (sorry, Lauri!) because my alarm malfunctioned!! So, I am thinking it might be possible to put Youngest girl in the stroller and walk the neighborhood. Time is looking a bit tight today so we'll see.

And now I feel like I've killed two birds with one stone - I posted on my blog AND created my to-do list for the day. I feel like there is something I wanted/needed to do that I am forgetting though. Hmmmm...time to get dressed and if I think of it I'll post an update.

Because I know that reading about my Monday to-do list has you on the edge of your seat.


Now I remember! I walked into the kitchen and saw the brown spotty bananas I want to make into banana bread! Off to put that in the oven so it can bake before we leave to run our errands. And I better hope I get some exercise in today if I am going to be eating banana bread...

Oh yeah, and I wanted to return bottles at the grocery store (not TJ's...)! Hmmm....fitting a whole week's worth of to-do list items in one day is challenging!

September 12 of 12

12 of 12 time again, folks! For the uninitiated, check out the details with Chad. Basically, it's 12 pictures taken on the 12th day of each month. Check out Chad's blog for links to others' 12 of 12 entries - its a fun, cheap way to take a trip around the world!

12 of 12
September 2008

Home
o'dark hundred (nearly)
Up early this morning to get in my morning walk with Lauri




7:00am
Arrived home to find all three kiddos up for the day.



7:15am
Cup of caffiene compliments of two birthday gifts. The girls gave me the french press and my awesome friend Tux sent me the huge mug. I'm a Speech-Language Pathologist - aka SLP - and the mug says "SLP - We have ways of making you talk!" LOL


7:35
Lunch prep for my two grade-schoolers - Eldest girl's lunch is on the right, middle girl's on the left.


8:30am
Showing off my new camera. This month I am taking my 12 of 12 pics with my brand spanking new camera (another awesome birthday gift! Thank you, Rick!) and since it can't easily take a picture of itself I opted to take a picture of the website showing the model I got. Mine is silver.


Stop & Shop Plaza
10:40am
Youngest girl went on errands with me this morning. Stop & Shop for groceries and the Dollar Store for goody bag items for Middle girl's birthday party.


A 'tea and eatery' place
12:45pm
I dropped Youngest girl off with my mother-in-law and joined a friend for a belated birthday lunch. This was the dessert we shared.


The Common
2:00pm
'Trash to Treasures' sale on the Common. Every year there is a used furniture sale to benefit the local survival center here in town. Since we live an area flush with college-aged kids it's held at the start of the fall semester and there are lots of cast-off plaid couches to be had!


Home again
4:45pm
Looking at the front hall closet with Rick and taking some measurements. We want to install some shelves on one side where the girls backpacks can be stored when they get home from school.


6:15pm
Dinner has been eaten and enjoyed. Rick is putting away the leftovers. Bowtie pasta, chicken and broccoli with a cheese sauce on the side (since a certain 5 year old prefers to eat her food unadorned).


8:20pm
Kids are in bed and now it's time for some knitting and a movie.


10:05pm
Movie has ended and I managed to finish my second sock!



Bonus picture with a bonus question: What movie did we watch last night?

Overheard in E.W.*

[Sitting at the computer in the living room in the middle of the afternoon]

Eldest girl (running into the room): I am a vampire! I just bit you and now you are a vampire, Mom!

Middle girl: Grrrrr! I bit you too! You're a vampire!

Youngest girl (being the mimic as usual): I bite you so you ah a wampiya! Arrrrr!

Eldest girl: We are all vampires!

[Mayhem ensues as the vampires rush around the room, growling. After a few moments the 'vampires' flop onto the couch to catch their breath.]

Middle girl: Hey! You wanna pretend we are piggies now?!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

*Idea for this title shamelessly stolen from this site where I have wasted time amusing myself now and again.

Working Mom

Phew.

Made it through the first couple of "prep" weeks at work. The real down-to-business work starts this coming week. And it will be my first three-day week. The last two weeks I have worked two days a week and even that was exhausting and required some scheduling forethought and planning.

I have not yet found my work groove. The transition back to work is harder than I had thought in some ways, although I do have a significant amount of support and help in making it work. At times I question my sanity over my decision to become a working mom. Having two girls in school full time makes it more doable but it still requires orchestrating the day so that there is coverage both in the early morning and in the late afternoon. My work schedule does not allow me to be here at both ends of the day - and on some days I can't be here for either time and need to rely on Rick and his mom to fill in the blanks. And I need to make sure we are all on the same page so everyone knows who is responsible for what. I am hoping that it is just a matter of time before we become accustomed to the busier pace and the schedule is just part of the fabric of our lives with only a little stitch here or a patch there to keep it going smoothly.

And please God, don't let anyone get sick. I have already suffered a head cold this past week and actually went into work thereby potentially infecting my coworkers. In my defense I was unsure whether I was suffering from allergies or a cold but now that Eldest girl developed the exact same symptoms I can be reasonably sure that I spread my 'joy' throughout the work environment last week. Anyone who is sick this week is going to blame me for it (rightly so). But me being sick is one thing - having to decide how to manage a sick kid (or two) at home might get a bit dicey because it will be the double edged sword of mommy guilt vs. work guilt with a sprinkling of guilt over leaving my sick kids in the care of another. Here's hoping they continue to be the hearty and healthy souls that they have been in the last few years.

I had other reasons for going in to work last week even though I felt like absolute crap. I am still unclear on my itinerant work schedule and was waiting to find out about a particular classroom where I might (or might not) be working. I had waited a reasonable amount of time for someone to get back to me on the issue and I had left her a voice mail message on her cell phone. But, if you followed my previous blog posts about this workplace you can probably already guess that the message went unanswered. So, I was left still wondering about my schedule and figured the best way to get the information I needed was to show up and get the answers face-to-face. It seems the only way to get any answers from certain individuals. Upon arrival I found out from a different source that I would not, in fact, be working in that classroom. I was relieved to hear this answer but a bit annoyed that someone else was given the information days before and yet no one felt it necessary to clue me in. I am still unclear about just what my third day of work will eventually entail but it is looking promising that I will be in a school district not far from my home. I will hopefully find out more this week.

The girls seem to be mostly adjusting to the fact that mom is working more now. It actually hasn't impacted the older girls greatly. Sometimes I am not here to get them off to school but usually I am the one getting them off the bus on those days. Youngest girl is having the most difficult adjustment because she is spending two days a week with my good friend/neighbor/walking buddy/daycare provider Lauri (just how many hats can one woman wear?). She is being very brave but she has let it be known that she is not thrilled with the arrangement. She becomes easily upset when people unexpectedly arrive at the daycare (even Lauri's daughter coming off the bus was seen as an unexpected intrusion by Youngest girl. Lauri explained that her daughter LIVES in the house so it's OK for her to be there which seemed to help Youngest girl calm down a bit! LOL). I am hopeful that this year her adjustment will increasingly improve (as opposed to last spring when things started out great and deteriorated over time). Last spring she was only there sporadically whereas this year she is there twice a week so the regularity might help the situation.

Today is Monday and one of my days off. I think I will like having this day to hang out with Youngest girl and get some errands done for the week. It starts the week off on a good note.

Speaking of getting started, I really need to take a shower and get dressed so Youngest one and I can make the most of our day together!

Middle Girl Gets on the Bus

Middle girl had her first full day of kindergarten yesterday! She was so excited to get on that big yellow bus right along with Eldest girl. Unfortunately, I had to be at work early so I was not there to witness the big event. I made sure that Rick took a few pictures for me and consoled myself with the fact that I did get to bring her to orientation last week and I would be watching her climb on that big bus for many days...and years...to come.



When she arrived home she had a big happy smile on her face and the first thing she said was "I love kindergarten!" - awww... I recall Eldest girl coming home from her first day with the same teacher and she said the same thing. (I love Ms. W.) The next thing she did was show me her scraped knee and told me that she had fallen on the pavement on the way in from recess. Ouch. She was no longer wearing her tights which had taken a beating in the fall and the nurse had patched her up with a bandaid and some medical tape. I joked with her that although I showed her the nurse's office and introduced her to the nurse last Friday she really didn't need to make her first visit there on the first day of school!

Later in the evening I received a very nice phone call from Ms. W. letting me know that Middle girl is a delight and that she had a very successful first day of school. (Have I mentioned how much I love this teacher?) I let her know that Middle girl loves kindergarten and thanked her for checking in with us on the first day. We also got a sign-up sheet for a 'home visit' so that Middle girl can welcome her teacher to our home and show her where she lives. I remember Eldest girl being very excited that her teacher was coming for a visit so I know Middle girl will be just as excited. I love that this teacher values the home-school connection and makes such an effort to foster that relationship from the very beginning.

After school yesterday Middle girl had her first gymnastics class of the year. Even with the scraped up knee she did a great job and had a ball. Eldest girl was upset that she was going to have to come and watch because she thought she would be bored. However, once we got there she was enthralled with watching the class and even said it looked more interesting than she had remembered. I had offered to let her try gymnastics again this year - she attended for a few sessions in preschool but gave it up in favor of art classes the last few years. But she insisted that it was Middle girl's "thing" - not hers. Now that she's seen it in action she is actually excited by the idea. I checked with the gymnastics school and found out that there is room in the older kids class that meets at the same time as Middle girl's class. Perfect! I waited until this morning to be sure she wasn't going to change her mind and this morning I will be calling to sign her up as well. I've also decided that in the best interest of everyone's sanity that I am going to cancel the Monday afternoon swim classes. Between work, school and gymnastics once a week I think our plate is full enough. Swim classes might just put me (and them) over the edge. And as depressing as it feels I am going to drop the Y membership as well. I just can't fathom when I will find the time in my schedule for the two hours I need to drive there and back and get in a workout (20 minutes each way, changing, working out, showering and changing again translates to almost 2 hours!). I am going to have to step up my efforts to use my "home gym" of videos and treadmill. I really like the idea of "getting away" to do my workouts but it just isn't in the cards right now.

Off to get showered and dressed and run some errands with Youngest girl. On my list is a big ole box of tissues to get me through this stupid head cold I picked up somewhere. Ugh.