A very good Saturday morning, friends

[timer lady]

and fellow warrior parents.

The hmj is brewing (I've already snuck a cup:coffee2:) - it's tasting fine this morning.

Sorry I've been so absent of late. Too much going on about tweedleland & I'm struggling just to get on here to check my emails.

There are big changes here with the remodel ~ downstairs bathroom will be complete on Tuesday; that same day construction begins to make my back 3 season porch into a laundry/utility/pantry. I'm so excited to see these things in the midst of construction & then see the end result.

I have delivery scheduled for today for my living & bedroom furniture. I believe I'm done spending soon (except for remodel). I decided I deserve new bedroom furniture & have the funds to make it happen ~ the same with the living room.

Oh, well, enough about me ~ I hope you all have a pleasant, family filled day. Find one thing to laugh at today ~ it's good for the soul.

 

[Marguerite]

G'day.

Linda, I too have been mostly absent lately. Partly recovery from easy child's wedding, plus sister in law/brother in law have been staying here and we've been ferrying them around a bit. I'm glad the renovations have been going well for you. It sounds very exciting.

We've had a busy week, even when staying home helping difficult child 3 with his study.

Today was a red-letter day - we went to see "Guys and Dolls" in Sydney, then had dinner in Chinatown afterwards. It has been a week-long (longer) effort to get difficult child 3 to come with us. Tickets not cheap and he has difficulty with ANY new movie/book/TV show/stage show. We buy tickets that include him and often find ourselves having to give away his at the last minute, due to his panic attacks. But last night I borrowed a DVD of the movie from difficult child 3's godmother, plus I had easy child 2/difficult child 2 and godmother in the queue for the spare ticket, if we needed to do it that way. So we were up very late last night, difficult child 3 & I, watching "Guys and Dolls" on DVD. He didn't like it much, said it was too long, didn't follow the story well - problems. I asked him to sleep on it then decide in the morning. I literally had the phone in my lap and my finger on the dial button, when he finally agreed to come.
And it was great! He enjoyed it more than he thought he would, behaved well, then even continued to hold it together when we ate dinner. However, he didn't eat much at all. He's not great with Chinese food. So I bought some barbecued pork from the restaurant and we just got home, I opened it up and got him to eat some.

husband has gone to mother in law's to have coffee with sister in law & brother in law; I'm going soon but after spending most of the day with them and trying to be nice, I need a bit of a breather. It's not that I don't like them, but lately I'm finding them (especially brother in law, and as a consequence the influence he has on sister in law) to be really hard work. So I thought I'd pop in and say G'day to you lovely lot, you preserve my sanity.

Then I'll toddle off to mother in law's and save husband's sanity. I might even feel charitable enough to inveigle brother in law into coming for a walk with me, to find some of the local deer herd. We're fed up with the local deer, but to him it will be a novelty. And he probably will be needing a breath of fresh air by then, too. Abrasive people tend to also find other people abrasive. And me - I'm treating him as an interesting experiment in psychology... otherwise I'd have been screaming long ago!

Tomorrow we're having a big Mothers Day celebration at mother in law's, difficult child 1 & daughter in law are coming too. Possibly in the evening easy child 2/difficult child 2 & BF2 will come; not sure how BF2 will get on with brother in law. Because brother in law tends to avoid coming to visit with sister in law, I don't think he's ever met BF2 (who has only been on the scene for 4 years!).

So one more day of family togetherness, on one of the biggest days of the family togetherness year, and we then take them to the airport on Monday morning early. VERY early. When I will have another really big day committeeing at difficult child 3's school.

Mixed feelings are such a trial - we miss them when they're not here, we feel guilty when we find them too much. But if we work at it, we will enjoy our time together. And that is the aim right now. Even if I feel I'm doing all the work - the result is what counts here.

Enjoy your Saturday.

Marg

 

[Wiped Out]

Good Morning,

Linda-Enjoy the new furniture-you do deserve it

Marg-Glad difficult child 3 went with you and all had a good time. I love your idea of treating brother in law as an experiment in psychology!!

I am so tired this morning but I had so much fun last night. The lock in was a huge success. We raised $2000 for the girls whose mom died. I had a blast leading the horse game outside on the basketball court and then I helped get glow necklaces ready for the dance. After that I chaperoned the movie "Flubber" for those who didn't want to do the dance or needed a break.

I did manage to escape to the dance at one point and the kids were doing the Limbo while all of the teachers and parents (me included) were doing the "Hokey Pokey" (sp?) One of the really cool things is easy child came along to help and had an awesome time!

Today it's work, then home. Would love to fall right into bed but husband has an hour training over the phone for this new very part time job he will be doing.

Then I will crash and at some point hit the health club.

Wishing everyone a peaceful day

 

[Andy]

GOOD MORNING
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Timer - Good to see you back. I was thinking about you last night. Give me a call when things settle down a bit.

Marg - I am glad difficult child 3 made it through the program. I hope he has a good night's sleep to bring some of his anxiety down. A great experience for him. He really has been doing awesome for a long time now. Great kid!

Wiped Out - Glad the lock-in was a success. Sounds like a lot of fun!

I am so addicted to difficult child's bowling. (as if you all haven't noticed!) I took him after school yesterday. His first game was 204 with two turkeys and a 7/9 split. Wow! and I missed it because I was visiting with bowling lane staff after ordering Cinna-fuls. He bowled a total of 10 games with 113 being the lowest and an average of 150 for the day. Unfortunatly starting Monday, the bowling alley will be closed 3:00pm Monday - Thursday. I jokingly told them they should close at 4:00pm to give difficult child a chance to bowl a few games after school. I am already feeling the bowling withdrawals coming on (for me - I don't know what difficult child will do - he will most likely be o.k. with it). I also jokingly told the alley that I will need to pull difficult child from school once in awhile to bowl Monday - Thursday.

I am deciding rather to go to Brainerd today (2 hr drive) or stay home and clean. Just asked difficult child if he wants to go to Brainerd and he said, "Not really". That surprises me. He hasn't seen grandpa for a while. I suppose if I get up and get him going his answer may change. I think I will compromise with some cleaning and then maybe heading over there? There is road constrution on both ways I would go. I told husband that this weekend may be easier to get through since it just started on Monday.

Everyone have a great day and find a way to make your kids laugh!
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