writing assignment amusement

T11 (Northley Davis) as his scout troop now calls him turned in a writing assignment. The challenge was to write a poem about a color, describing how that color would taste, smell, sound and feel. Here it is:

Black looks poor, like a beggers rags
Black feels rough like sand paper
Black smells like sewage and back alleys
Black sounds like popping knuckles
Black taste gross and is
as rare as your bedroom floor.

Can you roll out your bottom lip and stick out your tongue? We can!

For some reason, the Commander didn't want a kiss from us.

snowmen playing snowball

It's hard to throw a snow ball with sticks for arms.

It's even harder to catch the snowball with sticks for arms.

These guys really need to get to the gym.

Standing on solid ground

It is late. I'm winding down from the craziest day at work ...ever. We are expecting a snow storm to blow through the area. Everyone and their dog was at the store tonight. People in my line checking out reported snow amounts to fall between 2 and 18 inches.
I wanted to say 'hi' and let you know that the emotional rollercoaster finally pulled into the station. My feet are back on solid ground. Commander and I decided that Saturdays will be OUR days. Besides the boys basketball games and an occassional boy scout weekend, we spend the day together. I was definitely feeling unlovable this month. http://www.5lovelanguages.com/ has an assessment page that helps in figuring out what makes you feel loved best. I will say that reading the book did make me feel worse at times, but it was worth trudging through it and about 4 other "communication is the key to marriage' books. This was not a fun 'life-hurdle' to clear. I hope we are over it for good.

Tidbits from here:  We have two snowmen in the front yard playing catch with a snowball. I'll post pictures later.

I'm driving a newer vehicle. Yes, you read that right. It was a shock for me, too. The straw that broke the Commander's back with the van was another major repair, when we just wanted to replace the tires. I now drive a GMC Acadia, luxury is all I can say about it. I had to put an OU magnet on the back of it so I'll be able to find it in the parking lot. I'm still looking for a brown van.

THe frugal item for this week is refinancing the house for ten years at 3.9%. It does raise the payments a bit, but we are dropping 46 months of payments with a substantial increase in amount going to the principle each month. Cool beans.

Basketball practice started for T13. I'm assisting again with two other parents.  T13 is the shortest player. We are still waiting for growth spurts around here. He shows talent, but he is shy, timid, and won't rough house it with the other kids. I know exactly where he gets it. If you can believe it, I was that way for a couple of years in jr. high. Then I decided that I didn't want to sit on the bench.  It will be interesting to see how he does. Unless he loves it enough to drive into the city to play, we really don't have any options for him around here after this year of parks and rec.

I hope you are doing well this winter and staying healthy. Thank you for your prayers this month. Thank you for stopping by and saying hello.

Airing out ....

The emotional roller coaster has turned me inside out these last couple of weeks. Wish I could say it was a monthly hormonal problem, but chemo blew that excuse out the window a while back. Won't air out the issues here, but would like to ask for your prayers, my friends. And prayers for the Commander and T11 and the boy scout troops that are camping out tonight with 3-5 inches of snow due to arrive.

snow workout

Yesterday we had about six inches of snow covering our part of Kansas. Our youth director called to ask how school was going. I could tell he was up to something. He had lined up a few driveways for the members of the youth group to clear, but was having trouble finding help. Why not call us? We have three boys. So the plan was made to meet him at the church at 1:00. We called the boy's friend down the street and planned to pick him and his shovel up for the afternoon.

Leaving our subdivision, you have a choice of two meridian crossings, one slopes downhill, the other uphill. When we made it to the corner of decision, I saw a truck using the uphill path and he had no trouble. I was afraid the other side might cause us to slide right into traffic. For the hill we went. Let's just say that T11 counted 12 'floor it, Mom" before I turned the wheels and let it slide back around to face the way we had came. We went back into our neighborhood and headed for the other outlet. We waited and watched for the traffic to clear on both sides and shot across the middle right into an opening. THank you, Lord. I use a lot of prayers for driving.

We got stuck in the church parking lot, we got stuck in the Basehor neighborhood, we got stuck in the Piper neighborhood. Between getting stuck, we shoveled three and 1/2 driveways, invited one gentleman to church on Sunday, the boys had a great snowball fight with the oldest of the teens that showed. Seven kids and two adults. My shoulders are sore today, it was a great workout.
We are expecting about 7 more inches (what I hear) by Sunday night. Guess we will be out snow shoveling again next week.
Let us know if you need help with your driveway.

Room pics

Here are a few pictures of the room now that the carpet is in place. First is looking in from the door toward the small pantry closet. The three tall shelves hold school books. We are down to three shelves - yeah!

This is the corner for electronic games, movies, and drawers of lego toys.

The back corner is Wildcat territory with the table and chairs. The rolling chairs and folding chairs make it easy for the boys to move them around and make space for sleepovers.

I'm glad the room is done. Cleaning out the shelves before putting anything back in the room was helpful. It has also stirred  emotions for me about getting rid of the past. I don't want to hord papers and craft materials that I'll never put to use again, so out they go. This then opened up some emotions about getting rid of things from my past so the boys won't have to later in life. What use are trophies and things from 30 years ago? I don't see any reason for keeping things that someone will feel guilty about tossing later. I saw my parents go through this with helping an aunt clean out her apartment when we thought she was in the hospital for the last time - 2 or 3 years ago. Now we move on to the storage room to clean it out.

Now, the only problem is that everything we want to get rid of is sitting in the Day Room - freezing. Can you say "Tag Sale" in January? Come on over.

Archery - "you pulled a MOM!"

The guys oohed and awwed over that fact that I got a new bow last night. Then the giggles broke the silence when I struggled to draw the string back. The first arrow sunk deep into the wooden frame.  I had gripped the riser so tightly that I sent the arrow to the right about a foot. How embarrassing. Since Herogian was standing behind me as a coach, some of the guys ribbed him about his coaching me right into the wood. I have had enough practice with chemo brain causing embarrasing moments to smile and keep dying my hair blond.
Anyway, with some expert help from the league shooters and moving my target to the far left slot on the bale, we finally got away from hitting wood. Later in the evening one of the guys that pulls 70 pounds, stuck an arrow deep into the wooden frame. It was quiet enough for those around him to hear Herogian pop us with, "Hey Jeremy, you just pulled a Mom."
Then at halftime they pinned up a poster of a deer. Right before it is tacked onto the bale, a dot is marked on the backside of the cardboard. Pay your dollar and shoot - with the closest arrow to the dot winning the money. I slipped my release and the arrow went early - oops, so it stuck in the cardboard below the deer. The guys walked down to see who won and said that the arrow in the rough can shoot again since whoever didn't hit the deer. Herogian to the rescue again. "That's my mom's arrow."
I hit the deer this time. Neither of us won, but their will be many more chances.
It was a fun night. I'm not as sore this morning as I thought I would be.

Murphy's Law and archery - makes good.

Friday night was our first return to archery league. This one is different. It is called 5 spot. You have five smaller circles. The white center is worth 5, exact middle gains you an "X", and the outer two colored circles are four points.  For those who can't handle the smaller circles (me) the other target offered is still just two colors but the circles range from "X" 5, 4, 3, 2, and 1 point. 
They put all the names in a hat and draw partners. I don't know if he truly was shaking his head, but I knew Herogian didn't want me as his partner. He was hoping to get someone like "Cabela guy".  Our names were chosen one right after the other, but "Cabela guy" said, they don't let husbands and wifes team up, they shouldn't let mothers and sons. Herogian was happy. He didn't get the adult he wanted but one of the younger boys, as did I.  I think it is as fair and equal between us as it can be.

Murphy's Law kicked in for me Friday night. It all started with the new bow string, new nock locator on the string, new arrows, and trying to move to 20 yards distance. With everything new, I had the feeling it wasn't going to be a great night. 1st - we had to change the nock location. Things started to improve. Last warm-up round before we started shooting - 2nd - my sight fell off the bow. Talk about your chin hitting the floor. There was a big gasp from those around me. We couldn't believe it. Our 'Cabela's fix-everything -guy' got it back on the bow in time for first round. 3rd,  My arrows went everywhere.
They have these nice wooden frames that hold four targets each. I hit high, low, other target papers. You name it. It was down right embarrassing to have two arrows in a row bounce off the wood and land five feet from the targets.
Then, I was asked to score the group, one of members is a youth, so he is at the ten yard area. After scoring his round, 4th, I forgot to go back and pull my arrows. We line up to shoot another around and someone points out the arrows down range. I got to take the 'walk of shame' to retrieve my arrows.
There are so many people shooting that every spot is filled and we have to rotate lines. I step up with the second group after lifting my bow off the rack. 5th, "Cabela guy" immediatel hollers at me, " it might be an improvement to your shooting, but you really shouldn't shoot with your bow upside down." I just gave him one of those Mommy (your in trouble) looks. He smiles.
6th thing we found out  - was that the new arrows were nocked for compound. I'm shooting recurve. This is the third time that evening I'm searching out "Cabela guy' for help. He has a special tool for twisting the nocks.
Okay, back to shooting, I'm now lined up with the center point but shooting low and 7th, still hitting boards. The guys next to me, suggest using the split finger hold. This brings everything up and I actually have one round of five arrows that score points. Up to this point I've had 1-4 goose eggs on every round.
8th - The next round I shoot is back to the beginning of the night. I can't figure out what has happened. When I pick up my bow, the guys behind me realize that my upper limb is twisted.  They try restringing my bow, twisting it the other way. Nothing works. I finish out the night gritting my teeth. The guys know that I'm irritated. They try to joke about sand bagging it this first night so that my averages will increase throughout the league season.  It was a rough night.

Well, now I'm ready for them. A Diamond 2011 model  29 inch pull compound.

The only problem I'm going to have is with the draw poundage. It is set at its lowest - 36 pounds. Can you say weakling? If I can pull it five times in a row, I'll be doing great. If I can pull it 80-90 times in one night - oh my gosh - my right arm will fall off.

When we sighted the bow in at Cabela's, Herogian thought it was funny that I was having trouble with the pullback. I used a trigger release for the first time and with the improvements the clerk made to the sight pin, three arrows were in a triangle pattern within one inch of each other. Herogian's chin hit the floor. Hee Hee Hee.

Mosquito Ham

T11 wanted Commander to buy some more mosquito ham for his sandwiches. That's going to make one mighty small sandwich.

Bible before Breakfast / or during breakfast

My blogging friend Julie at 40 acres mentioned a friend's blog that talked about her kids reading the Bible before they could have breakfast. Cool. Great way to start the day. Since today was our first day back to school, we implemented the program in our own way. Bible reading during breakfast. We have done this before with daily devotionals but this semester will be the book of Isaiah.  Just as Julie asked us to keep her accountable by asking how her program is going, I'd like my readers to keep us accountable. Just ask anytime. You can also ask about the gym, to keep me accountable to going daily.

Yesterday's walk ended up being 9.51 miles. I used Mapmyrun.com  to check it out. Workout today was during the lunch hour. I had a good forty-five minute workout and quick shower before returning home for afternoon subjects. It was fun. I have missed the machines and free weights. I immediately saw (in my mind's eyes) University of Arizona's weight room in my mind when I stepped into the squat rack. That's the last place I trained and where I met the Commander. Good memories.

Have a great day. Thanks for stopping by.
 I'll try to make it easier for you to leave a post. I find that I have to return to the post a comment page three or four times before it finally goes through on many of my friends blogs. I hope you don't have to do that here. Please let me know if you do.

Nothing and everything

The new year brings with it the excitement of planning school curriculum. Huh?  Yes, I get excited about thinking ahead. I'm deciphering high school transcripts lately to make sure I start off on the left foot and don't trip over my right foot. I'm a lefty by the way - in my right mind as they say. Total confusion here. So I'm clearing the bookshelves. I'll be boxing up those books that offer no help to our future and moving them aside. I think this all stems from not wanting to move them all back into the schoolroom, mancave, gameroom,  activity room. We are still waiting for the call about carpet. The walls are painted, the shelves are in the closet, the ceiling is done with the vent hole for that room sealed. The only casualty from the process is a stye in the eye. The drill jumped off a screw and hit drywall, the dust flew into my eyes. I thought I was only in need of one screw, so why bother finding the goggles. Pay for stupid move and move back three spaces.

On another note, the Commander and I were talking about my fitness program. What fitness program? He loves working out at the gym on post and would like me to join him. "Loneliness becomes overwhelming for me when I am in a crowd." I told him, NO. Not going there. He asked if I liked Anytime Fitness where I worked out while he was in Iraq. Yeah, come to think of it, I did. The next day a postcard came in the mail offering a 2 year commitment for a lower price than one year. Dude - jump on it. I signed up for it today, Commander paid for it up front and they gave us two more months on the contract and a resigning afterwards at the same low price. Can you say $20 a month for a gym pass? That's pennies a day for even February. Of all things, I didn't work out there today. We just stopped by to sign up on our way to 20th Street. We parked down the hill at the Middle school, walked for 2 1/2 hours through the hills that will be ran in May during a 1/2 marathon. The Commander is training for it, I'm not so sure about running the whole thing, but I might walk/jog it. My training age is infantile right now.
I'm excited though to be back in a training routine to tone up the old limbs. If you'd like to take this wonderful offer at Anytime Fitness, just tell them I sent you so my name can go in a drawing for an IPAD. K?

Last night at work one of the ladies that recently read my self published book, said she wanted to read more. That was one of the best things said to me about my writing in a long time. It was nice. I realized the story I am working on is so different from the one printed that there's only a thread of connection anymore. I'm looking forward to putting the story back on the front burner at least once a week. I can't say everyday, or I'd stress myself out the first day I missed writing.

Tomorrow starts school. Don't tell the boys, I'm so excited. Two of the boys can be done with two more of their subjects by March. That means I can add in electives before the school year is out. Can you hear them moaning? It must be hard having a hyperactive type A mother. HAW HAW HAWWW.(evil laugh)