A day in the life....

I have been giving the idea of writing in this blog on a daily basis, yet even though I have a houseful of people, my days are fairly quiet. So I decided that I would describe what a typical day is like for me. As for schedules, Maggie's is the one that changes the most, depending on the day depends on what her work schedule is like. Here is what it's like around here.

If Maggie has to go in at 6:45 am, she gets up at 4:30 am. Kyle gets up at 5:00 am so that he can be at Drill team practice by 6:00 am. Of course both of them have to take showers in the morning, not an easy feat since we only have a 20 gallon hot water tank (we live in a single wide mobile home, for those who don't know), and the tank takes at least an hour to completely heat the water. Some how the two of them manage to do it without freezing the other one. At 6:00 am Greg's and my alarm goes off, hopefully he will get up to his own alarm, most of the time he does, I always hit the snooze button. At 6:10 am my alarm goes off again, at which time I get up to make sure that Greg is up, if he isn't then I have to wake him up. If Maggie has to be to work by 6:45 then she goes to wake up Jerry at 6:15, it's always fun to wake him up, she really likes it when her Dad takes her to work. Otherwise, if she has to be in later then she doesn't get up until about 6:00, at which time she has to wait until Greg is out the door, he's usually gone by 6:30.

With Greg out the door, I go back to bed. I'm really not a morning person, I don't get to bed until after midnight. Jerry goes back to bed after he's taken Maggie to work, no matter how early she's had to go in. Since Kyle is taking classes online, he comes home after Drill Team practice is over, so he's home around 7:30. If Maggie has to go in at 9:00, then Kyle will take her to work. Somewhere around 10:00 I get up for the day. At this time I don't really have the house to myself, even though it is quiet.

For those of you that are morning people, this would be the time to write, not me. I will say it again, I am not a morning person. I may be out of bed, talking, and walking around, I'm not really awake enough to write coherently. So I turn on the TV, and I pull out one of my many crochet projects to work on. I get more stitching done at this time, than just about any other time. At about 10:45, Kyle leaves to go back to school for the ROTC class, it's this class that is making it possible for Kyle to start as an E2 when he goes into the Navy. At noon is the one show that I have to watch, Starting Over. It is the one reality show that helps women learn to be better to themselves. Around 1:00 pm, Jerry gets up for the day.

Kyle gets home from school around 1:30. This is when the kids start coming over. Some of their friends have half day schedules. Greg gets home about 2:30, with at least one one friend with him. Two or three more of their friends will show up as the afternoon goes on, Jerry has a hard time with the kids coming over. He feels that we are the only house that they all show up at, ours isn't the only house that they congregate at. Ours is usually where they start out at, they then manage to go to other houses. I happen to like being the cool Mom. Anyway, Jerry gets ready for work during the afternoon, and leaves for work by 4:00 pm, he starts at 5:00. In the midst of all the chaos, both boys manage to do their homework. By the time Jerry leaves for work, the house is not completely quiet, even though my room is. This is the time that I would love to set aside to write, unfortunately this is also the time when the phone rings, the boys are in and out of the house, they don't need me until I try to sit and write.

Around 6:00 pm, Maggie calls to get a ride home. I send Kyle after her if he's home, otherwise I go to get her. During the evening there can be trips to the store, laundry, and sometimes trips to the video store. If Maggie has to get up early in the morning, she will go to bed early, and since she sleeps in the front room, the rest of us head off to our own rooms. I can still watch the satellite in my room because Jerry ran cable from the front room to our room. Again one would think that this would be a good time to try to write, yet after having kids running in and out of the house all afternoon and evening it is difficult to be creative. I'll read, play games, or just watch TV for a little while. Both the boys are in bed by 10:00 pm usually, it's at this time that I pull out my laptop and get online to check my mail, read blogs, get bills paid, and maybe write in this one. Jerry gets home about 1:00 am, and it's lights out for us around 2:00 am.

So even though I don't work outside the home, my day is very full of activity. It doesn't usually make for interesting writing. Somewhere in this schedule I have to find time for myself for writing or any other creative endeavor that I want to do. It won't be to many months before this schedule will change, Kyle leaves in July, and Greg leaves in August, then the only person we will have to get up for will be Maggie. Then I will have a lot of time to write, and crochet. There won't be kids hanging out anymore either. It will be very quiet.

Weekends can be even more hectic, kids get to wander through for even longer periods of time. The second Saturday of the month is when the crochet group I belong to meets, every other Saturday Jerry works, and Maggie works every weekend. Every Wednesday Greg has DEP (Delayed Entry Program) meetings for the Marines, Kyle has DEP meetings every other Thursday for the Navy.

So this is a typical day for me, with a few variations depending on the day and what is happening in everyone's schedules. Yet, somehow I don't have enough to write about every day.

Live fully....

The trials and tribulations of growing up

Even though Greg hasn't changed, he is at least 6 months older than his friends. Lately he has noticed that his friends are behaving differently, younger than their age. It has started to bother him, even some that he has known for awhile are now closer to Kyle. I think what has changed is that now Greg knows how he is going to meet the goals that he has set for himself, and his friends haven't done that yet. This hasn't changed him, just how sees life now. He is ready to get on with the business of becoming an adult, and deep inside his friends are still scared of growing up. Kyle is getting closer to deciding that he needs to take on more responsibility for himself, he's just not as far along in the process as Greg. They are becoming young men, and I am very proud of them.

Live fully....

A quiet week

This has been another quiet week, which is good in a way. No upheavals in the routine, everybody is doing what they should. The boys are doing good in school, Maggie's working hard, Jerry's working in the evenings, and I'm reading and crocheting. What I've been reading lately is about developing my psychic abilities. Something I've been interested in for quite some time. I've learned quite a bit already. I have been studying reading runes and ogam sticks for a few years now, and find that, while I need to keep practicing, this is where my talent is. So I will keep reading and practicing. I have discovered some very interesting things while reading runes and the ogam sticks, mostly that following your heart is a good way to live.

Live fully....

Soup....I made soup!

This week has been fairly uneventful. Boys are back in school, have been since last week. Maggie is still enjoying her job and responsibility. Jerry is still working nights, and wishing he could work days, he won't be switched because he is very reliable. The most exciting thing to happen around here is that I made soup. Potato soup with Honeybaked Ham thrown in towards the end. It was made in the crockpot, it isn't always easy to get the potatoes to soften as quickly as you would like, so the potato masher gets used several times. Anyway, potatoes aren't the only ingredient in my soup, there's fresh onions, garlic, salt, pepper, milk, butter, sometimes a thicken agent, and tonight ham. Soup thick enough to stand a fork in! Wonderful,flavorful goodness!

Live fully.....(full tummies too!)

Greg has cut his hair!

This Picture shows how long his hair had grown. Now that he is part of the Delayed entry program, it was suggested that he start looking like a Marine. Everyone will be glad to know that he donated his hair to Locks of Love.














This is how the girl who cut his hair styled it. She didn't want to cut it any shorter. I told Greg that if he didn't like it that I would take him to the barber shop to get it cut properly.

















He never looks very happy when he has his picture taken. He isn't very happy about the length of his hair, it should either be longer or shorter, this length is just annoying. He kept trying to tighten his pony tail.














He couldn't stand his hair being at the length it had been cut to, it was at the length that was to short to tie back and to long to stay out of his eyes. I took him right after he got home from school to get it cut right. He is much happier with it this short. It is still very curly even though it is this short.













It won't be very long before both Greg and Kyle will be leaving home, and already I miss them. Can you say "separation anxiety"? At least I have time to get used to the idea that they will be leaving and starting their lives, they have chosen a good way to begin their lives. They will do fantastic!

Anyone who wants to come to their graduation/going away party let me know. So far any time after the 16th of June has been suggested. I will let everyone know when the date is set and exactly where it will be held.

Live fully....

The Power of Positive Thoughts

I am constantly reminded of how far a positive thought or word will propel someone towards a joyful life. Today was Greg's first day of physical training for the delayed entry program, they do like to make sure that the recruits can make it through boot camp. When I picked him up he was very excited, not so much for the training that he had done, more for the training he is going to receive. He loves a good challenge, right now he is being physical challenged, push ups, pull ups, crunches, running, then will come the mental challenge of the field that he will be trained for (still waiting to see which of the three he will be in). He wants to take both the SAT and the ACT tests. Each of the three Fields that he has chosen will challenge him mentally and physically. He told me that today he feels more like a Marine then he had before, and he really likes that feeling. He figures that now he can be put into a group, a very elite group.

Both of the boys have made a very tough decision, and you can see in their eyes that they are very excited about the path that they have chosen. You can hear the joy in their voices when they talk of their decision to join the military. I am so very proud of them.

I am planning a graduation/going away party for them for June. I'm not sure what day it will be on yet, if anyone is interested in attending and a certain date is better than another, please let me know. I will do what I can to schedule the party around any open dates. When I find out what their addresses are for boot camp I will let those that want them know what they are.

Maggie has been doing very well, too. She was promoted just before the first of the year to head cashier for Danny's Car Wash, and was transferred back to the store that she preferred to work at. The first morning she was back, Jerry took her to work, when everyone saw that it was her they all shouted for joy to see her. One of her general managers today told her that the cashiers were asking for transfers because Maggie was being tough, the GM told her that was a good thing. The head cashier that Maggie replaced didn't have the cashiers doing anything that they should be doing, Maggie is making them do everything that they should be doing. One of the cashiers even asked Maggie to train her again, because she hadn't been trained properly before. To hear the excitement in her voice fills all of us with joy, she has discovered her place in life. She is becoming the person that we all knew she could be.

These three kids are learning how to....

Live fully....

Happy New Year!

This week went fairly quickly. Gregory was accepted into the Marine Corp. His test scores are good enough that he qualified for any ob that he wants. When I know which job he will be training for I will let everyone know. Kyle survived his trip to California with his girlfriend, they didn't go alone. They did have fun.

Well, I did say it was a quick week, things were done, I just can't recall all that went on. To many kids, to many projects, to much to try to remember. Maybe this is a sign that I should be posting on a daily basis. Hmmm....there's a thought.

Live fully....