So, today I get home from swim lessons and lunch and have a message from a friend waiting for me. She had some work done on her bathroom and wanted to know if she and her roommie can take showers here. Of course, it was fine. Reminded me of when I was in high school. I was in the middle of taking a shower one morning (fairly late morning, as it was summer and I was in high school) and while in the middle of shampooing my hair, the water went out. Apparently, they were doing some street work down the block and hit the water main. I ended up calling my best friend and driving over to her house (still with shampoo in my hair) to finish my shower. Of course, I didn't remember to tell my friend about it today, but she'll probably read it here.

I think that everyone's asleep here already! I know the boys are. I think Lee even went to sleep - he was up late last night and then got up with Adam this morning. It's awfully quiet in the house - like it is at 6 am, too. Maybe I'll do something crafty tonight.

When you take pictures, do you usually take them landscape, portrait or a mixture? My dad's a photographer, and he taught me that you should turn the camera to frame your subject as well as possible. Many, many of my pictures are portrait, since that's what I want to capture. It drives Lee crazy because then he has to rotate them to be able to view them on the computer or the tv. He just put together a new entertainment computer for us that pretty much runs the tv. It's networked into the server, so we can view pictures that we've got archived, but you can also watch tv through it pause live shows and record shows with it just like with TiVo. Can't remember what the program is called now. Anyway, he was going through a bunch of pics and was getting annoyed with me for taking all these portrait shots. I was just wondering what others did...

GULP!! I just gave the check to the contractor for the basement work. It's only the down payment, but man, oh man! It'll be worth it when it's finished, but it's going to be painful until then, lol! It's not that we can't afford it. I just don't like dipping into the savings accounts, even if we did save for a specific purpose. Oh, well. I'll get over it. Especially when I move into my new scraproom!!

Matt had a rough morning today. I got him up and went down to make his breakfast. Half an hour later, he's still not downstairs. I get upstairs to find him crying because he can't find a shirt that fits. Ummmm.... He had 3 shirts that we just bought him, but he didn't want any of them. Not to mention all the shirts from last year (although many of them might be a little short in the sleeves by now) His favorite 3 shirts were dirty. One wasn't washed because he never put it in his hamper and I didn't know I was supposed to search the house for it when doing laundry, lol (sort of). He just caught the bus, but didn't really get any breakfast and I didn't have time to make his lunch because I was trying to get the boy dressed! Good thing that they were having hamburgers at school and he could buy lunch... Which reminds me. I need to go check his lunch money balance. Then, I'm going to go through one of the stacks of paperwork on the kitchen counters.

OK, so last night's dinner was soooo awesome! I went to a restaurant that I'd never been to before (1111 Mississippi). The food was great (had salmon over mashed potatoes with horseradish and asparagus) and so was the wine. But best of all was the company. It was wonderful to see everyone again and I even met someone new. She works there now and it's interesting to see all the same dynamics. I definitely don't miss it. My friend Connie said that they try to make this a monthly thing, so I'm looking forward to the next time.

Adam is doing much better - we both got some sleep last night. I got a great workout in this morning and then Adam and I just spent the rest of the day at home. Did some laundry, washed the kitchen floor, went through toys when Adam was napping and got rid of a bunch (we're being overrun with toys), vacuumed the stairs. It hardly seems like I made a dent in what needs to be done, but it's progress. Adam was so cute, helping me with the stairs. He grabbed some extra attachments and was cleaning right along with me. :-)

The contractor that we selected said that he'll be able to start work the week after next! I can't believe it!! I need to get shopping and get bathroom fixtures picked out. Colors, too!! After that, it'll be carpet and furniture. It seems to be going at the speed of light, after the wait of the last 2 1/2 years! Wahooooo!!!

I'm a bit sleep deprived these days. Adam's had a cold since last Wednesday. Sunday night he was up a lot and wasn't feeling well Monday, so I took him to the doctor. Nada. He seemed fine and it was labeled as the virus of the week. Monday night he was up again. Got him down for his nap Monday and he wakes up just crying one of those exhausted pitiful cries an hour later. He cried off and on (like almost every 5 minutes) for the next two hours. Tylenol didn't kill the pain and ibuprofen took forever. Finally got the doctor to call in a prescription - antibiotics and drops to help with the pain. Thank goodness for those drops - needed them last night. He's doing much better as the day goes on. Hopefully, he'll sleep well tonight.

I'm going out to dinner with a bunch of friends that I used to work with. I think only one of them is still with KPMG. I'm the only one not working. I haven't seen some of them since I quit working and others I've seen more often. I'm kind of anxious because I'm not working (at least not professionally). I'm usually ok with staying home with the boys, but there are definitely days when I wish I did work. I really enjoyed the work I did. I don't see myself working full time ever again, though. I need to be home for the boys when they get home from school to help with their homework and make sure things are going well for them. I want to be able to go to school and help in class. Maybe when Adam goes to preschool 2 or 3 days a week, I'll look for something I can do from home. I'm incredibly lucky that I don't need to work for the money, but I miss working.

I've made the decision to consciously try to keep in touch with friends better than I have been. I make this decision periodically and then the little things of daily life intrude and stomp out my good intentions. I'm even bad at keeping in touch with local friends. You see, I suffer from what I call "mommy guilt". I feel guilty making plans to go out without Lee and leaving him with the boys. It's not that he ever says anything. This is all self-imposed. I don't know why, but I often feel this way and it really doesn't make sense.

We've made the decision to have someone else come and finish the drywall in the basement as well as finish the bathroom down there. Lee just can't find the time and finishing drywall is one of the things that I really, really hate. It's too messy. I don't mind painting. In fact, I'll probably do that myself. We should be able to get it finished well before Christmas! That would be wonderful!! It means that I'll finally have my scrap room, too!!

I got my challenge layout done! It was pretty late last night when I finally finished, but I'm really happy with the way it turned out. Some of the elements in the kit were hard to use, but They don't look too bad. Once it's posted in the forum, I'll post here, too. Don't want to spoil the surprise. ;-)

I got to go shopping with Tammy B last Saturday. It was so nice to spend a day with a friend and just chat and enjoy ourselves. I got an amazing bargain, too. I got one of those 10 drawer rolling metal carts with the plastic drawers for $40. (It's the one in the lower right corner in the pic) I was looking at it and walking away, looking at it and walking away and finally decided to get it. Then this older woman sees me with it and wanted to know that if she beat on me with her cane, would I let her have the cart, lol!

What is it with scrapbook shows these days? I remember that I used to see so much new stuff at every show that I would have to try not to buy it all. The last several shows I've been to, there really hasn't been that much that I haven't seen... I guess I spend too much time looking at stuff online. I need to manage my time better and quit doing that.

I'm trying to decide if I should try out for the about.com design team... It's not much of a commitment - only one layout per month. I think I could do it, but I don't want scrapbooking to become something that I have to do, rather than a hobby that I like to do...

I wonder if I'll ever get used to all the evening meetings and activities that go along with having a child in school. We've had two cub scout meetings this week and we've got an ice cream social tonight. Matt's really into cub scouts. He loves his uniform. Me, not so much. I think it's because of all those Q#$^#%& patches that I had to sew on. I lost count of how many times I stuck myself yesterday. I'll have to get the sewing machine out and really get them on when I have a chance. The pack meeting last night was a lot of fun. They had 6 different stations, each with an outdoor game. Matt's worn out, though. He really needs to take a nap, but refuses to lie down. :-(

Adam's refusing to take a nap this afternoon as well. At least I can put him in is room to rest. Matt's home early because it was an early release day, so Adam wants to play with him...

The patio will be sealed in about 3 weeks. I'll post a final pic then. I hope it rains soon - I don't want to have to water all the grass that was planted (seed and sod). I don't mind watering plants and flowers, but grass? Not so much. ;-)

I just found an iTunes gift card on my desk! I had forgotten all about it. Maybe I'll download some new tunes tonight. I'm off to see what Matt's up to.

The patio is in!! I'm doing a happy dance!The first picture is the area after the excavating was done before they poured the concrete. It was really interesting to watch them stamp the pattern into the concrete. They were doing that when Matt came home from school today. We watched them for a while. Matt originally thought that they would leave the pattern mats on top and we'd have a primary colored patio, lol! It has to dry overnight and tomorrow they'll come back and wash the patio off and I'll get to see what it'll look like for the most part. They'll have to come back in about 3 weeks to seal it and then it'll be finished. This second picture is what the patio looks like now. There's a powder on it called a release agent. It will be washed off tomorrow, but some of it will stay on and become darker after it's sealed. We went with grey tones because we didn't want it to clash with the existing patio that we have and I really didn't want to have to pull that one out. I hope it turns out like I think it will.

On another note, I'm working on a layout for a challenge. I was printing pictures while Adam was napping and something has gone wrong with the printer. It seems to have run out of one color. :-( It's really got me unhappy!! I don't think that I've got another ink cartridge at home. The worst thing about it is that the printer control shows that there's still plenty of ink. Maybe I'll play around with it after the boys are in bed tonight. I've got some fun ideas for this challenge - I hope they work out. One of the things that I have to figure out how to do is how to get purple ribbon to match the greens, blues and whites I'm using. Staz-on (the opaque white doesn't seem to do the trick). I'm going to try some blue or green ink next. I've got a really cool idea for the ball chain that was included with this kit, but I'm going to keep this a secret for now.

Pizza for dinner tonight. :-) I love school fundraisers like this - we buy pizza, Papa John's donates 20% to the school. And I don't have to cook. Gotta love that one!

Lee's mom seems to be doing better. They ran a bunch of tests to see if they could find out anything about her heart, but everything looks good. She told Lee that she thought that they might discharge her Wednesday. When he mentioned that he was thinking about flying out, she told him not to come. She didn't think he needed to be there, so she must be feeling better. It's such a relief! Thanks to everyone for their good thoughts and prayers.

They started digging today on the patio! Adam and I stood outside for almost an hour watching the tractor. Well, he stood and I started my fall cleanup of the garden. A few of the annuals were pretty much done, to I cut those down or took them out. I'll take some pics and post them later today, I hope. The foreman on the job thinks that they should be able to pour today as well! I'm excited!! We're due to get to the little gym soon, so I'll post a bit more later!

Lee's Mom isn't doing too well. The infection from her urinary tract got to her liver and now she's gone septic (the infections gotten into her blood). It seemed like everything was under control, but yesterday afternoon, her heart started racing (200bpm).

Lee's all stressed out and feels helpless. He called Lynne last night to let her know what's going on and she didn't take the news well. I worry about both of them. They're under a lot of stress and being so far away makes it so much harder. Lee was looking at airfares last night thinking he might fly out in the next day or so.

Matt's got a boys scout den meeting tomorrow night - his first. The day after tomorrow, he's got his pack meeting. Talk about a busy week for him. I still need to go and buy his uniform. :-(

On to good news! We're having a patio poured under our deck this week! It's a project I've been wanting for over a year now. It's going to be dyed and pressed. I'm really looking forward to seeing the finished product. It'll be great with the walk out basement (once that's finished). I think Lee's given up the idea of finishing the basement on his own. It's been a project for the last two (almost 3) years. He's done a great job of what's gotten done, but he's just been too overwhelmed. Things at work are hectic and it doesn't look like they'll be slowing down in the near future. Add the problems his Mom has been having with her health and the poor guy is just swamped! I think we found the contractor that will finish the work for us. I'm really hoping that the basement will be finished for Christmas.

The other thing that having the basement finished means is that I'll finally have my own scrap room!!! Now, I currently have an office, but it's not laid out well and Lee's the one who picked the desk in here. It's fine for paperwork and playing on the computer, but it isn't ideal for scrapbooking and paper crafts.

What a day we've had today! It was good, bad and busy, lol! We started the morning (well it was late morning, but that's ok) with swim lessons for the boys. Matt has been in swim lessons for over a year now and is progressing slowly. This fall, I signed Adam up for lessons, but because he's so young, we had to take a parent and tot class. Therefore, I get to take swim lessons with him. I did tell Lee that next week, he could go to the lesson with Adam, since it wasn't fair for me to have all the fun. ;-P

Oh, almost forgot. Right before I left for lessons, Lee's Aunt Sue called to let us know that his Mom is in the hospital again. The poor woman just can't catch a break when it comes to her health. She hadn't been feeling well since Wednesday and finally let Sue call her doctor who told them to get her to the ER. Well, it turns out that she's got a massive UTI. Later today, we found out that they moved her to the cardiac ward because her blood pressure was very low this morning. It seemed like things were getting better until they found out that the infection traveled to her liver and now it's in her blood. Lee talked to her tonight and it seems like she was in good spirits, at least. I hope things improve for her quickly.

After a quick stop at home to grab lunch and shower, we headed out to Forest Park in St. Louis to the hot air balloon race. http://greatforestparkballoonrace.com/ It's so much fun! We got there and walked around, saw the sites and had loads of fun. This year was the first year that we stayed for the balloons to actually go up. Matt was all excited - he wanted to see the Engergizer Bunny balloon go up - it's the lead balloon and it just HUGE. Unfortunately, the wind that kept us fairly comfortable during the day made it dangerous for the big balloons to fly today. The teams had a really hard time getting their balloons filled up and ready to go - some never made it. I found it really funny that the first balloon that had major problems was the Missouri Lottery balloon. They would get the balloon very close to being ready to go and the wind would blow the wrong way and the baffle at the top of the balloon would collapse and let all the air out. They tried two different times but never could get the balloon off the ground. Here's a pic of the baffle collapsing for the second time... I guess that the Missouri Lottery wasn't all too lucky today!

The skydivers were really cool, too! The jumped at 4000 feet and all 5 landed very close to the X and one even hit only a few feet from the middle. It was amazing to watch! I don't think I'd ever have the nerve to jump out of an airplane just for the fun of it, but it's fun to watch others do it.

I guess that's about it for today. I'm exhausted - we took the wagon with us, some coolers and blankets and we ended up pulling both of the boys in the wagon in addition to all the other stuff. It was crowded, so we had to walk about a mile to get to the site. As Matt said, you sure are getting your exercise today! He can be soooo funny!