Sick me...sick camera

I've been sick with a chest cold for days now. It hasn't been fun...but I am surviving. Today I finally ventured out of my house for the first time in several days. I think I'm on my way back. I'm a little tired of coughing.

My camera has also been sick. I dropped it several months ago and the flash broke. When I inquired as to how much it would cost to get it fixed, I was given the quote of approximately $125. It is a $200 camera that my husband paid $185 for because he got a good deal on it. To add insult to injury, I found out that there would be a $40 shipping and handling fee on top of the repair. You do the math. So I have had a camera with a broken flash for many months now. I was able to take this nice picture of Sherman on Museum setting because of the big picture window in the room.

I am trying to figure out what to do about this dilemma. I can send my broken camera in and get a 15% discount coupon towards the purchase of anything in Kodak's store. I can possibly buy a refurbished camera at a good price. It is all so frustrating and I'm still irritated with myself for being so clumsy!

Anyone for a piece of cake?

I found this interesting picture on the web. This is actually a cake. So what do you think? Does this cake look appetizing? Audra says she'll take a piece with the tail. Which part do you want?

Egads!!!!!

We are all anxiously awaiting the "7 strange or weird things about Dave" on Rachel's blog. Am I on the "list" now?

Tagged....

7 weird or strange things about moi? I'm not going to be very good with this. My husband could probably help you better. He is always saying I'm weird...but he must be too because he picked me.

1. I talk in strange voices to my dog.
2. I make up silly rhymes and songs and sing them to my kids.
3. I sometimes set a timer while I clean the house to make it more fun. (kind of like a game)
4. Grocery shopping gives me anxiety.
5. I play strange games with my dog that only he and I understand. (I inherited this trait from my father)
6. Pistachios make my mouth and throat itch...so I never eat them.
7. I hate having peanut butter in my ice cream.

This is a rather dull list. It is the sort of thing that I will lay awake in bed thinking about and will come up with many more that are far better and much more amusing. Ones that will make me laugh out loud and cause my husband to really wonder about me. And in the morning I will not be able to recall a single one!

Grey Day

It's a grey day here. Freezing rain and grey skies. The kind of day where you don't want to leave your house. Instead...it would be preferable to wrap up in a blanket, sip a cup of hot coffee and read a novel. But...I must venture out to the bank and to the grocery store. We are out of milk and other things.

My neighbors are in Italy. (this is not their house...they live down the street in the opposite direction) I'm thinking that they are pretty warm right now. They are a 60-70 year old couple who immigrated here in the 1960's. They own 2 houses. One here and one in Italy. I used to sell Pampered Chef products. She bought two of each of the items she chose...one for each house. There were a lot of items. It was one of my biggest sales ever during my short career as a Pampered Chef representative. (I'm no longer pampered) Anyways...every year they go to Italy for most of the winter. Sometimes during the summer, I walk by their house and they are out in the yard talking with(or quite often yelling at) eachother. Of course I can't understand anything they say since it is all in Italian. Maybe that's a good thing. It's not always an advantage to know another language. LOL! In any case...I'm thinking that they are much warmer than I am right now.

Just rambling.

My school

On Friday I drove out to UB to talk to someone about financial aid and to meet with the department of Library Science chair person. I had great plans to blog about it later that day...but meanwhile my poor son had broken his foot in gym class. Luckily my husband was able to get him from school. Between that event and Audra's birthday...I've hardly had a minute to myself.

Anyway. It took me about an hour and 40 minutes to drive there. I had never seen the campus before. It is nice. I walked around...(mostly inside), ate a lunch at the student union and visited the book store. They have coffee shops all over the place. I was able to enjoy a cup of southern pecan from Fingerlakes Coffee Roasters. Yum. Needed the caffiene for the trip home.

The 2 women I spoke to were very helpful and encouraging. I'm very excited to get started in the program. If all goes according to plan I will start classes during the first summer session, which starts on May 19th. That will mean a commute to Buffalo twice a week for 5 weeks. I'm pretty confident about this because weather shouldn't be a problem that time a year and having done the trip once, I didn't think it was too bad. Then I will take 1 more course during the second summer session for another 5 weeks. I hope to get 9 credits out of 36 under my belt by the end of summer.

I was afraid I would feel out of place there walking around with all of those young 18-20 something students. But it wasn't that way at all. Yeah...most students were young, but I noticed many that looked older. Who knows...maybe some of them were staff. It doesn't matter. I saw so many people from all walks of life and all different cultures. I noticed a high number of Asian students. (I just thought it was interesting.) Just before I left, I visited the book store just for fun. I bought Audra a birthday present. It was a reading lamp that that can clip onto a headboard. She had asked for one because she likes reading in bed. She has to get out of bed and walk across the floor to turn off the light and Alicia complains about the light being on. I think she was happy with the gift! (That wasn't all I got her just in case you think I am such a dull mother)

Happy Birthday to Audra!

Today is my daughter Audra's eleventh birthday. I love her very much! Here are 11 things about her.

1. She likes reading "The Series of Unfortunate events"

2. She likes Mr. Bean.

3. She is a swimmer.

4. She's adventurous.

5. She sings in the 5th grade chorus.

6. She's got a good sense of humor.

7. She has cute freckles.

8. She likes to control what her mother is typing about her!!!!!!!!!!!!

9. She's a good drawer.

10. She's an AWANA kid.

11. Everyone loves her.

Happy Birthday, Audra!!!!!!

The Continuing saga of Allen's foot...

I took Allen to the orthopedic department at our local hospital this morning....where they discovered that Allen's foot is actually broken, not just sprained. There are three cracks. One on each of the second, third and forth metatarsals. Dr Kenny put a cast on Allen's foot which he will have to wear for 4-6 weeks. We go back in 2 weeks to see how the healing is progressing. Some of you will be glad to know that I took Allen out for lunch afterwards. (Tim Horton's) I just dropped him off at school.

And now I must busy myself baking a cake and wrapping 2 gifts because today is Audra's 11th birthday. I will post later...just for her.

Later on: When I was picking up Allen in the loop outside of school today, I pulled up towards the curb to let him in. He opened the door and said, "Mom, you're kind of blocking traffic." I said, "Well...I should hope that whoever is behind me will see you on crutches and think, 'That mother cares so much for her son!'"...and then I glanced in my rear view mirror and saw Gudl in the car behind me. LOL!

Ouch!

On Friday Allen got hurt at school. He sprained the top of his left foot in gym class. I took him to the hospital emergnecy room to have it x-rayed. Luckily it is not broken...but it hurts and it is swollen. He has a fiberglass splint on it and he's not supposed to walk on it until it heals. He's been hopping around and also using crutches. Luckily he is not doing any sports at the moment. Only an occasional race....which now won't happen for a while. I took some amusing videos while we were waiting for the x-ray results...but I'm having trouble uploading them.

When they were little

Look at Allen and Sherman in 2003!
Photo by Rachel

Audra and Josh

Martha sent this to me today. Thanks, Mart!
Photo by Hannah

All tied up in 2004

So we had this tye-dye party in 2004. I had read about the idea in a magazine as a birthday party idea...and Audra wanted to do one. None of my children have a summer birthday, so we decided we would have a "just because we feel like it" party. So Audra and I made up invitations and sent them out to a lot of kids from our family, church and neighborhood. Everyone was to bring a plain white t-shirt (or another item they chose to tye-dye)

I bought a bunch of ice cream treats to give the children and Rachel brought peanut butter fingers. I provided the dyes which were purchased from Michael's and lots of rubber bands and other stuff to help us do out project. Everyone seemed to have a great time.

Unfortunately I do not have pictures of kids with completed shirts because they all took home wet, tied up shirts in pastic bags. They had to wait a number of hours before rinsing and washing their shirts. I made sure to print up copies of instructions for the parents. The shirts all turned out great. At least the ones I saw. I will have to hunt around to see if I have a picture of any of my kids wearing their shirts.
Maybe I ought to do another one of these parties before my children grow up!

A Boy in 2004

He was nine years old in this picture. Where has the time gone? He looks so little here. In less than 2 months he will be a teenager!

Another little girl in 2004

Alicia was only five years old in these pictures. Where did the time go? She is enjoying a peanut-butter finger that her Aunt Rachel brought to the tye-dye party we had that summer. We invited lots of kids and everyone took home a tye-dyed shirt. More on that soon!

Hey...my flowers and hostas look pretty good, don't they? It must have been fairly early in the summer! LOL!

Memories-Summer of 2004

I cleaned out 4 different drawers today. In one of them I ran across a disk of pictures Martha gave me from the summer of 2004. These were taken at a 4th of July picnic on Keuka Lake. Audra is 7 and Hannah...her accomplice is almost 9. They decided that burying Audra in the playground gravel might be lots of fun.

She turned out to be one very dirty little girl. I remember thinking, "Oh Audra!" after discovering this. Now I'm thinking that it really wasn't that big of a deal and they certainly had fun that day. It's nothing that a bath couldn't take care of quite easily.

A Fresh Path

It's a brand new year. What will it bring? Are you into New Year's Resolutions? Usually I am not...but this year I am. Do you know that saying that goes something like this: "If you aim at nothing, you will hit it 100% of the time"? That's kind of what I feel my life has been like for the last year or so. So I am changing my aim and aiming at something...rather than nothing. I have a new path to walk down this year.

An update on my plans: I have made a final decision to go to the University of Buffalo. Renewing my teacher certification was going to be more of an expense, time consuming and pain in the neck than I cared to take. So I will be getting a whole new teacher certification with School Library as my concentration. I have started the rough outline of an essay and have found one person who has agreed to write a letter of recommendation. I have another person in mind to ask. (I need 2) My submitted application needs to be in by March 1st. If all goes according to plan, I will start my grad courses in the summer. I'm planning on attending school full time. I don't see any need to drag my heels with this. That will be 2 courses this summer and 4 in the fall. Then we'll see from there.

And of course I have the usual promises....get rid of clutter, have a meaningful quiet time every day, get more exercise, eat better...(yawn). I always seem to start out well with these sorts of things and then...you know. How about you? Do you have any new goals or resolutions this year?

Oh....Happy New Years everybody!

Season's Greetings!

Merry Christmas to all my blogging friends both near and far! May God bless you and keep you during this season of celebrating our Savior's birth!

Skaneateles Lake

This is one of the Finger Lakes here in NY state. We live on one of the Finger Lakes...but not this particular one. They are all very pretty.

This is a good area to visit. There are lots of wineries and quaint towns to visit. Lots of beautiful scenery.

Soon this Lake will be frozen over and there will be ice fishermen out there. I've never been icefishing. I don't think it would be appealing to me, but there are some "die hard" fishermen who get up at the crack of dawn to make a hole in the ice and sit there waiting for the fish to bite. Some of them even make little huts.

Christmas...to come.

There is some discussion on the streets of London that Mr. Scrooge is dead.Two young London town girls.
Carolers singing "God Bless ye Merry Gentlemen". I wonder if the 2 men on the left are aware that the ghost of Mr Scrooge's old business partner (Marley) has joined them.

Bah Humbug!

We went to Skaneateles for "A Charles Dickens Christmas". There were people dressed in character walking about the town...stopping occasionally to do a short sketch from "A Christmas Carol". Here is Scrooge's nephew and his wife.

Here Scrooge was kind enough to allow me to take his picture with my children and husband. Alicia wasn't sure she wanted to stand next to such a grumpy old guy!
I'll post a few more pictures soon.

More chocolate....

Audra decided to ham it up a bit for the camera!

Like a kid in a candy shop....

Ever hear the expression? Here's Alicia, gazing at all the confections. She finally decided on a "Dark caremel cashew turtle".

For Allen and Audra...it was plain dark chocolate and a chocolate haystack.

A very satisfied customer!

Incoming!!!!!!!

I took Sherman for a walk in the snow the other day. I think he enjoyed himself!

For Aunt Rachel

"We are all being good girls and brushing our teeth twice a day! Aren't you proud of us? Now as long as we remember to floss as well......"

Love, some of your favorite and most beautiful nieces!

Allen wasn't so sure...

Allen wasn't sure he wanted to hold Josh. He seemed a little nervous. He finally obliged and did just fine. Aren't they cute? They both look a little unsure of it all...but I'm sure they will be friends one day. Allen will be the "big cousin who plays with me" for Josh.

Meeting Josh

Here is Alicia and I meeting baby Josh. Alicia just loved holding him. She will be a good mother some day.

Nothing's Ever Easy

Getting recertified as a teacher in NY state is involving a bit more than I imagined. It is going to be time-consuming and expensive...and a headache to say the least. I still KNOW that I am going to grad school to be a school librarian, but I'm no longer sure exactly what route I'm going to take. There is the option of forgoing the recertification and attending the University of Buffalo. In this route, certification is a part of getting the Master's Degree rather than it being a prerequisite.

The pluses for Mansfield is that the program is entirely on-line. With UB, it is only partially on-line and that would mean I would need to travel back and forth to Buffalo to attend some classes. Which way should I go, God?

And so it begins...

I've been tagged by T. What could I possibly say about myself that I haven't said on subsequent lists of arbitrary facts? Who knows? I am not that interesting of a person. I'm taking this opportunity to update on what is going on with me in regards to going to grad school.

Here goes:

1. I am planning on getting a Master's Degree in school library science enabling me to be a school librarian.


2. In order to begin grad work at Mansfied University, I must currently hold a valid teacher certificate.


3. Mine expired in 1999.


4. I am in the process of recertifying.


5. It could take an entire semester to do this...thereby delaying grad work until the fall 2008.


6. I'm waiting for an official transcript evaluation.


7. From what I can figure out on my own is this. I need to take 3 exams. Take a course in special education. Go to 2 seminars about child abuse and school violence. And get fingerprint clearance.


8. I'm really excited about starting the library program. I think it is a great fit for me!!!

Up Up Up...it is time for Up!

Go Allen! Go Allen!

Don't fall!

Now Audra's turn!

Weee Haaa! You go girl!

These are pictures that were taken by my niece, Danielle. She just emailed them to me today! They were taken in August.

What's up?

You are all right. I haven't been blogging lately. I just really haven't been in the mood. I don't know why.

An update on me. I am seriously considerring going to grad school. I'm looking into online programs for Library Science that will certify me to be a school librarian. I just feel like I need a change. I need to do something to fill my empty days. I used to be quite content staying home with my babies, but now they are all in school. I have too much free time. At one time, I studied to be a secondary math teacher. I never did that and I can't see myself teaching math, but being in the school system still does appeal to me in a lot of ways. I'm really excited by the idea. I just have to figure out what, where and when. (and how to pay for it)