Late Afternoon

Well, here it is, already mid-September and where has the time gone? I swore I was going to be better at this blog thing. I mean after all I spend most of my day and many nights parked in front of a computer. You would think that I would find the time, or at least MAKE the time to get my thoughts down. Instead I do everything but!

I can hardly believe it but another school year has started for the kids.  Matt is a sophmore this year and looking at getting his driver's license. We went to orientation for Driver's Ed this week! He is also enjoying the band again this year. He plays the Tenor Saxaphone and is really quite good if I do say so myself! He really doesn't want to join anything else and isn't playing football this year. I guess that's ok as the band stuff keeps him pretty busy! He is really excited too, as the Music Department has been invited to Norway next summer to play at our sister city's 150 Anniversary! My ex-husband said that Matt has his permission to go as long as I go with him. So we are attempting to save as much money as possible so we can go. Plane tickets will be around $1,200.00 per person. We may be staying with host families once we arrive, so lodging will hopefully be taken care of, along with some of the food.


My daughter, Hailey has started the 4th grade this year, and where her brother doesn't want to join anything, she wants to join EVERYTHING! She will be taking 3 dance classes a week again this year, tap, ballet and jazz, and we are looking at a specialty class with her cousin Becca. Becca is a senior and this will be her last year in dance, so a special dance just for the two of them would be very touching! She also volunteered for Safety Patrol, and is in Girl Scouts, along with the Library Club and the Jump Rope Club. And then on top of all of that, she works at the student tv station one morning a week and ran for Student Council (which she didn't make and was utterly disappointed!) She's only 9, what will she be like in High School?  I can barely keep up with her, but encourage her every step of the way! She loves to be a part of it all!

I have started the final semester of my Associate's Degree! I can't even believe how fast it has come! I wish college would have gone as fast 20 years ago when I started as it has now! This semester I have Statistics, which of course I am terribly worried about. I really don't want to blow my GPA, but I have a severe lack of understanding when it comes to probabilities and the like! I also have a dependency class and my capstone, neither of which I am too anxious about. I sent in my Application for Degree and found it amazing that in less than 6 months I will have a degree to hang on my wall! I will be starting my Bachelor's in January so I wasn't going to do Commencement, but Paul is really encouraging me to go. He said it is a marker of how far I've come and there are a lot of people who would love to celebrate with me. Maybe he is right! Not only will I graduate, but I graduate with Honors, which is something I am so incredibly proud of!

Well, I'd better head back to work here. I haven't slept well the last few nights and I am afraid if I slow down at all I will just lay my head down on my desk and fall asleep. I told the kids that I am coming home from class and going to bed tonight! Really hope I can accomplish that!

What I am Thankful for Today:
Sunshine (Its pouring and flooding today)
Bedtime
My kids
God
Massages

Who/What I am Praying for Today
My kids and our continued spectacular relationship
Paul for healing of his heart and mind
My Dad for his pending heart operation
My friend Kris in her losses over the last few weeks

Baby its cold outside!!!

Wow! Welcome to winter in Wisconsin! They put us under a winter weather advisory late last night and this morning we woke up to about an inch or so on the ground. The roads were all snow covered and slippery on the way to school and work. It continued to snow all day, leaving us with around 6 inches total and of course the roads were not much better on the way home!

So as if the snow isn't bad enough, Old Man Winter is throwing another artic blast our way! The temps are only supposed to be in the single digits with wind chills between -25 and -35!!! Tell my again way my ancestor's decided to settle in Wisconsin?

On another note, I just had to laugh tonight as I watched my daughter do her homework. All her life, she has been such a wiggle worm! Whether she is listening to a story, coloring, homework or reading, she just can't sit still. I snapped these shots of her while she concentrated on reading me a story tonight. She is such a silly girl!

Dinner tonight was taco's and Spanish rice! Kind of a make your own night from the counter and eat in the living room watching a movie. Tonight's feature "Night at the Museum; Battle for the Smithsonian". It was pretty cool!!

Well, its time for bed again! I hope the drive in to work tomorrow isn't too bad, though I am already having my doubts. and if it is too cold, school may be late or cancelled. I wish I had the opportunity to stay home with my kids on no school days (or every day for that matter) HA! We would have so much fun!! Snow days are a blast...so many possibilities!

I hope you all have a blessed and restful night!!

Today I am Thankful For:

- Everyone's safe travels

- Kids having the shoveling done when I get home

- Another night with Paul

- My brother calling to check on me

- a Quiet Day at work

- a Beautiful Quilt to sleep under

- Laughing with my kids

Today I am Praying For:

- My children

- Paul

- Paul's children

- My family

- My cousin's twins as they come home from the hospital

- My cousin's pregnancy

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