Coloring Easter eggs has always been a big deal in my family. My mom, sisters and I colored eggs every year while growing up and I've done the same with my kids. Now that my boys are older, attendance at egg coloring is different every year. It started changing when my oldest, Brian, went off to college. Then it was Adam, Evan and I. Then when my middle guy, Adam went off to college 2 years later, it was Evan and I and I think that was the year my sister Cathy started joining us because her sons lost interest and my mom usually comes over too. Sometimes Steve is here for coloring and sometimes he's not.
This year Mom is in Florida and Evan chose to go out with friends :(. Traditions are not as important to 16 year old boys as they are to their mothers. But Brian was here and we skyped with Adam and put the computer on the kitchen counter so we could show him the eggs and talk to him while we colored. Cathy, Brian & I colored eggs while Steve watched and Adam was chatting with us. It was a good night.
I think skype will be my next quality of life blog.
Saturday, April 7, 2012
Friday, April 6, 2012
Another quality of life issue
Appliances. I am slowly replacing all my appliances. First to go was my washer and dryer. I now have 2 really big front loaders with the pedestals underneath. I've had them for about 2 years now and Steve is still afraid to use them (maybe an excuse not to help out with the laundry!). He says they look like spaceships when in use because of all the lights that light up and the beeps they make. I love them, they hold a lot of laundry, everything comes out clean and dry. It took forever for the laundry to dry in my old dryer. I keep all my supplies and the instruction manuals in the pedestals.
Next to go was the dishwasher. Our old dishwasher was horrible. We had to practically wash the dishes (mostly Steve's job) before we put them in and there was always still food stuck on the dishes and floating on the bottoms of the cups. It was so loud we couldn't hear each other. With our new dishwasher we don't even rinse anything. It's so quiet and everything comes out clean and dry unless we don't load it properly.
We use our appliances everyday. They should do what they are supposed to do. They do effect our quality of life. Next to go is the microwave.
Next to go was the dishwasher. Our old dishwasher was horrible. We had to practically wash the dishes (mostly Steve's job) before we put them in and there was always still food stuck on the dishes and floating on the bottoms of the cups. It was so loud we couldn't hear each other. With our new dishwasher we don't even rinse anything. It's so quiet and everything comes out clean and dry unless we don't load it properly.
We use our appliances everyday. They should do what they are supposed to do. They do effect our quality of life. Next to go is the microwave.
Saturday, March 31, 2012
Generosity
I work in a school. The generosity I see everyday by the staff is incredible. The most recent acts of kindness I am aware of are: a teacher offering to finance all prom associated costs for a student, an administrator taking and paying for a sports physical for a student, a central office employee buying new shoes for a student, a teacher making birthday cupcakes for her students, the athletic trainer coming in to school on Sundays to help a student rehabilitate her ankle, the secretary who directs the play buying pizza for the kids during rehearsals, the teacher who has a student living with her family because the girl had no place to live. The guidance counselor taking up a collection for a student's family to buy heating oil. Everyday there are lunch money and rides given and supplies bought. There is interest shown in the students lives and family, time freely given.
I work in a wonderful place and I'm sure most schools have the same things going on.
Sunday, March 25, 2012
Quality of Life Issues
Remember traveling before e-zpass? My kids roll their eyes when we approach a toll. They know I will go in to my mantra. Before e-zpass we always had to travel with rolls of quarters. If you didn't have exact change you were screwed. Even when you did have exact change the wait was so long to get through the toll. I especially love when you drive under the sensor and don't even have to slow down. I think e-zpass has improved the quality of many people's lives.
Tuesday, March 20, 2012
Traveling
I took my middle son, Adam, back to school after his spring break. On Sunday we drove to the ferry, then drove the rest of the way to his college, where he promptly ditched me. I thought we would have dinner together but I guess he was anxious to get back to his college life. I'm happy about that.
I always feel so melancholy when my kids leave. I wonder if that will ever change.
Anyway, I used 4 modes of transportation for this trip: car, ferry, plane & train. We drove to Orient Point, then took the Cross Sound Ferry to New London then drove the rest of the way to Northfield, VT. The next day Adam drove me to Burlington Airport, I flew to JFK then took the air train to Jamaica and the LIRR to Ronkonkoma where Steve picked me up. I don't like flying, it seems unnatural to me, being above the clouds. I especially don't like taking off and the only reason I like landing is because I'm landing and I'll be getting off the plane. Because the flight from Burlington to JFK is so short, most of the time you are taking off and landing. It seemed like there was just enough time to eat the tiny bag of peanuts and then we were descending.
I can't complain though. Each part of my trip went smoothly and I got to spend 7 1/2 hours with Adam.
I always feel so melancholy when my kids leave. I wonder if that will ever change.
Anyway, I used 4 modes of transportation for this trip: car, ferry, plane & train. We drove to Orient Point, then took the Cross Sound Ferry to New London then drove the rest of the way to Northfield, VT. The next day Adam drove me to Burlington Airport, I flew to JFK then took the air train to Jamaica and the LIRR to Ronkonkoma where Steve picked me up. I don't like flying, it seems unnatural to me, being above the clouds. I especially don't like taking off and the only reason I like landing is because I'm landing and I'll be getting off the plane. Because the flight from Burlington to JFK is so short, most of the time you are taking off and landing. It seemed like there was just enough time to eat the tiny bag of peanuts and then we were descending.
I can't complain though. Each part of my trip went smoothly and I got to spend 7 1/2 hours with Adam.
Saturday, March 17, 2012
March Madness
Well, it's been a while since I posted something on my blog. Steve tells me I did my last posts incorrectly. I'll figure this blog thing out.
I work in a school. I'm not a teacher, I'm the athletic director's secretary. I am so lucky to be the class co-advisor for the junior class. Usually, the class advisors begin with a class and stay with them for all four years. However, this class had someone else the first 2 years, but she was unable to continue this year. So I applied and got the job. Let me just say, I love this class. It helps that my son Evan is in it so I know a lot of the kids. We just finished March Madness which consists of class competitions in floor hockey, wacky races, tug of war, penny wars, dance, lip sync, Mariner Idol & quiz bowl. They also have accumulated some March Madness points for other competitions from homecoming.
As freshmen and sophomores, this class came in last place for March Madness. They were determined that this year they were going to make a comeback. They worked so hard on their float for homecoming. The float theme was movies. Our class picked Finding Nemo. They made a fish tank. They did the whole thing themselves with Diane, my co-advisor, and myself supervising. The float was amazing! So many people who came to the parade said the Junior float was the best. We were confident we would win. When they announced our float for 3rd place, our kids were devastated. But they persevered and won some of the other fall competitions.
As soon as the fall competitions were done, Liam, our class co-president and Maude, our class co-vice president set their sights on the dance competition. The dance competition is huge. They worked night and day on their dance. They got together on weekends at the local rec center, stayed after school, some came after sports practice. We were at the school until 10:00 the last 3 nights before the competition. Was it too much? They were consumed. I'm sure some of their grades were suffering. The other classes were working hard also and the rivalries were getting a bit fierce. Was it going to be worth it, I had my doubts. There had been crying, undone homework, fights within the class and fights with other classes. Then when the big night finally came one of our dancers got hurt in the floor hockey competition and couldn't dance. Another setback.
I was so nervous when the time for our dance came. They nailed it! Everything was perfect. When they finished, the whole class came out of the bleachers to celebrate. There are 159 kids in this class, about 30 of them were in the dance. The seniors were next and their dance was fabulous also. Of course, I thought the juniors was better, but I wasn't one of the judges. I also thought our float was the best. At the end of the night all of the March Madness points up to, but not including, the dance were tabulated. We were in 2nd place after the seniors. We were all happy, for the first time in their high school career, they weren't last!
The next day, the final events took place. Lip sync, Mariner Idol & quiz bowl. The winner of the dance competition and the overall winner were announced. The Juniors came in 2nd overall and we won the dance competition. The kids were so happy. Coming is 2nd was great, the seniors should win and after being last 2 years in a row 2nd was really good. Winning the dance, that is something memories are made of. Twenty years from now, will these kids remember what they got on their 3rd quarter report card in their junior year of high school? I think not. They will remember winning the dance competition and how good that felt, and so will I. So was it all worth it? I say yes.
I work in a school. I'm not a teacher, I'm the athletic director's secretary. I am so lucky to be the class co-advisor for the junior class. Usually, the class advisors begin with a class and stay with them for all four years. However, this class had someone else the first 2 years, but she was unable to continue this year. So I applied and got the job. Let me just say, I love this class. It helps that my son Evan is in it so I know a lot of the kids. We just finished March Madness which consists of class competitions in floor hockey, wacky races, tug of war, penny wars, dance, lip sync, Mariner Idol & quiz bowl. They also have accumulated some March Madness points for other competitions from homecoming.
As freshmen and sophomores, this class came in last place for March Madness. They were determined that this year they were going to make a comeback. They worked so hard on their float for homecoming. The float theme was movies. Our class picked Finding Nemo. They made a fish tank. They did the whole thing themselves with Diane, my co-advisor, and myself supervising. The float was amazing! So many people who came to the parade said the Junior float was the best. We were confident we would win. When they announced our float for 3rd place, our kids were devastated. But they persevered and won some of the other fall competitions.
As soon as the fall competitions were done, Liam, our class co-president and Maude, our class co-vice president set their sights on the dance competition. The dance competition is huge. They worked night and day on their dance. They got together on weekends at the local rec center, stayed after school, some came after sports practice. We were at the school until 10:00 the last 3 nights before the competition. Was it too much? They were consumed. I'm sure some of their grades were suffering. The other classes were working hard also and the rivalries were getting a bit fierce. Was it going to be worth it, I had my doubts. There had been crying, undone homework, fights within the class and fights with other classes. Then when the big night finally came one of our dancers got hurt in the floor hockey competition and couldn't dance. Another setback.
I was so nervous when the time for our dance came. They nailed it! Everything was perfect. When they finished, the whole class came out of the bleachers to celebrate. There are 159 kids in this class, about 30 of them were in the dance. The seniors were next and their dance was fabulous also. Of course, I thought the juniors was better, but I wasn't one of the judges. I also thought our float was the best. At the end of the night all of the March Madness points up to, but not including, the dance were tabulated. We were in 2nd place after the seniors. We were all happy, for the first time in their high school career, they weren't last!
The next day, the final events took place. Lip sync, Mariner Idol & quiz bowl. The winner of the dance competition and the overall winner were announced. The Juniors came in 2nd overall and we won the dance competition. The kids were so happy. Coming is 2nd was great, the seniors should win and after being last 2 years in a row 2nd was really good. Winning the dance, that is something memories are made of. Twenty years from now, will these kids remember what they got on their 3rd quarter report card in their junior year of high school? I think not. They will remember winning the dance competition and how good that felt, and so will I. So was it all worth it? I say yes.
Saturday, March 3, 2012
my first blog
I almost chickened out and stopped setting up this blog. I thought; what am I an egomaniac, who wants to read what I have to say. But then I thought, maybe nobody will read it and that's ok. I've never kept a diary or a journal before, so I'll give this a try and see if I like it.
I'm a 50 year old woman. I still think of 50 as my parent's age. I've been married for 26 years and have 3 sons. God knew what he was doing when he gave me sons. I love my boys, they are all so different from each other. My husband and I are still in love. My parents are still healthy and active, they are 85 & 80 years old. I have a close and loving extended family, some great friends and a job that I love. Wow, I am truly blessed by God! Sometimes you have to point things out to yourself. I really am blessed! I'm going to keep that in mind today.
Well, this is my first blog. I like this so far.
I'm a 50 year old woman. I still think of 50 as my parent's age. I've been married for 26 years and have 3 sons. God knew what he was doing when he gave me sons. I love my boys, they are all so different from each other. My husband and I are still in love. My parents are still healthy and active, they are 85 & 80 years old. I have a close and loving extended family, some great friends and a job that I love. Wow, I am truly blessed by God! Sometimes you have to point things out to yourself. I really am blessed! I'm going to keep that in mind today.
Well, this is my first blog. I like this so far.
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