Well my baby has gone and done it, graduated from high school. We are so proud of her. The ceremony was wonderful and she looked so grown up....where have all these years gone.


Above is the picture of her graduating class. After the ceremony, there were fireworks and the local police were lined up to give them a salute with flashing lights and sirens blaring. It was great!!

I'm off work for the next five days, four of which will be in preparation for the party this Saturday. I can't believe all that we did in the past month to our place. It was as if we needed a reason (the party) to do the stuff we should have been doing years ago. I'm glad it's getting done and I'll just have to have more big parties like this to get more done in the future.

The girls were painting some trim under the porch out front when my youngest encountered a black snake. I was in the house working but heard the scream and the loud chatter that followed so I went out to see what was going on. They were so funny. She could have sworn it rattled something at her (we have no rattlers around here) and that it hissed at her.....Poor snake (yeah right like I'm really that NOT afraid of them) it just went under the porch to get away from them. They finished painting out there and went around back to finish more painting there when they heard a car thump over something on the road in the front. Here didn't that snake go and try to get away from us and cross the road. Unfortunately he got squished on the road. It was a 4 ft black snake and it took several cars to hit it before it was completely squished. yuck!! I don't mind the snakes as long as I don't see them.

I remember about two years ago I was working in my office when I heard a plastic bag noise beside me. When I looked over I saw a black snake (young - about 2.5 ft) slivering from the window (air conditioner side panels were not fitted properly) over the bag into who knows where. Well, I immediately started to hyperventilate but did manage to scream before doing that. This caused the family to come running to see me breathing hard and pointing. My husband put it outside far away from the house. Needless to say, that air conditioner's side panels fit extra snuggly. If I was a calm rational person, I would have gotten my camera and took a picture of this snake trying to be quiet while sneaking in the house and then looking at me as if I was the strange one.

Well, tomorrow is going to be yet another busy day. Wow, where did the time go.... My children are all graduated, are 18 and almost 21 - boy am I feeling a tad old. Hopefully that won't last. Night...

When they were small, I often wondered if I was doing the right thing by the way we were bringing them up. I was a pretty lenient mother. I always paid attention to what I said to them and how I said it. I remember my own childhood and how hurt I was by the words my mother spoke or how she spoke to me. I made a point of breaking that behavior that seemed to run in my mom's side of the family. I believe that I have succeeded.

When they were small, they were very active in gymnastics, dance and my oldest even played the flute. The youngest was the "tom boy". She was always outside running around with the animals getting as dirty as she could. I loved it. As they got older their interests changed and gymnastics was stopped and eventually dance lessons stopped as well. They weren't interested in sports. I never did figure that out even after asking them. I was okay with it as long as they stayed active. They did. They played hard and eventually took up other interests. Both were very active in scouting.

The oldest who will be 21 years old this August is a creative thinker. She was interested in film but opted to become an accountant. She will be in her fourth year of college this fall and has been on the dean's list every semester. We are very proud of her. Although she is very intelligent, she does lack some self confidence. She is my right hand these past summers. She helps out with my mother a lot (she is my mother's unspoken favorite). She has never held a job and we never pushed it through high school. As for when she was in college, it just turned out that helping around here was more important. We probably should have made her get a job. She does the survey thing online. She gets checks almost every day in the mail. Some are only for a dollar, some are ten dollars. I think her highest was 100 dollars. Pays her gas (somewhat). My mom pays her when she helps her. She isn't hurting for money - she finds a way. Not only does she get checks, she gets samples and coupons for free things. She is creative in avoiding a job, I do have to give her that. She is the one that tells me that she likes living here and sees no reason to leave. I told her that's okay as long as she pulls her share and saves her money when she eventually gets a job for a down payment on a house. We'll see.

I have never had problems with my daughters like others have. They were not into the boy thing as bad as their friends were. They were silent about the crushes they had and maintain their interest in doing well in school. There has never been drugs or alcohol and they absolutely hate smoking. Whew!!

My youngest who is 18 and going to be 19 in November is the reason when she was 3 and 4 that I took parenting classes. She drove me crazy with her independence. She was determined to make her breakfast of eggs by herself. After fighting with her a couple times, I just gave in and made sure she stayed safe and taught her how to do that. Once I gave in to her independence in a safe manner, we didn't butt heads as much and she continued to grow up to be a very independent young lady. She grew up too fast though. I reflect back and think about how fast time went. Everyone told me that when they were small and it's absolutely true. I'll probably start watching the videos we have of them growing up soon. I know I'll cry but what the heck, it'll be a good healthy cry that my girls grew up healthy, intelligent and overall great young ladies.

She had to work a little harder in school for the A's. Every semester though she made superior honor roll or distinguished honor roll. She tried her hand at playing an instrument but didn't have the knack for that. That was one thing that I never forced her to finish; it wasn't worth it. She loves to read and can finish a book in a day. She also is the animal lover in the family. She named all the hundreds of cats we have owned over the years, learned how to bury them properly when they got squished on the road and even had funerals for them. She did cause her older sister some grief though. Turns out she is the bossiest of the two. The older one lets it happen, knows it happens but is so laid back that it doesn't really matter to her. She gets her way when she NEEDS it to go her way. They are complex creatures.

The youngest has a job this summer. Her first. I'm nervous but happy for her, especially since she will be making almost 19 dollars an hour. Like her sister, she has informed us that she sees no reason to move out. She suggested building a house in the pasture once the horse is gone. I kinda am okay with that idea. More on that in a later post.

Did I spoil my children as they were growing up? I often wonder that. I think my hubby thinks I did to some point and maybe I did but I remember what it was like without a lot of things growing up and what it felt like at school by not having certain things. I never just gave in to them if they wanted something. They did have to earn the money for those items so that they would appreciate them more. And so what if I did spoil them a little - they aren't spoiled brats now. They are not selfish and demanding and they have friends who are nice people as well. They know right from wrong and they know how to manage their money (took a while for the youngest to learn that concept). I think overall we did pretty darn good!!!

Okay so I'm not really playing hooky on Friday but I don't have to work as it's a scheduled day off - yippee!!

Things are moving along with party planning. Let's see, gardens are almost (I said almost) completed.


We have our tent up on the deck. This will probably be the last year we use that one as it is pretty worn but will serve its purpose this year. The table is finished and ugh!!! That was a rather interesting task to do (tiling and grouting). It turned into a family project. No one escaped mom's plea for help... oh okay so it wasn't a plea it was more like a "no choice" option. It's not a professional job but then I never expected it to be either but it does look nice.....from a distance.....oh okay it looks nice up close too. If I remember later (when the sun comes up) I'll snap some pictures and post.



We went shopping last Saturday and I bought a new grill....oh but wait, don't get all excited, it went back Memorial Day after the leg/wheel broke. I hadn't even used it yet. I was disappointed but took it as a sign that I wasn't meant to have it and took it back and was refunded the money. No replacement. Hubby said he can fix up the old one - uhhuh, I think all women can relate to that comment. Needless to say when I lit it to make dinner the other night, I had a torch on the right side and this little wee flame on the left. Hmmmm.....Let's see, Party in 8 days.....time is ticking.

I also purchased this cool screened in gazebo for the food tables at the party. It's black and on each of the six sides the screen zips for an entrance way which is really nice. That hasn't been put together yet....Still have time for that.

We did open our pool this week. Just a slight tinge of green but with the right mixture of chemicals it will be fine. I couldn't believe how much water was left....usually we have to add it but not this year.

Our goat died and was buried out in the "back 40". It was sad but she was up there in years. She also was the companion to my horse. I'm not sure what I'm going to do about that situation. I guess I could get him a chicken.





Last weekend, I spent the night at Doc's. It was nice to get away from home but I was tired when I got there as I had been working all day at my home. I helped him and then we just relaxed. And get this - we slept in separate bedrooms. It was nice not to share a bed with someone. We both were okay with it and it was actually my suggestion!! Sex is sex and sleep is sleep. It was great to sleep in too. Our relationship is getting better. Maybe it has to do with my attitude or maybe we are becoming more accepting of each other or maybe I'm not even close in guessing the reason why. All I know is that I enjoy it so why cause waves.

Even my relationship with my hubby is going smoothly for the most part. We still rub each other the wrong way at times but we end up laughing over it which has pretty much been the case our entire married life. The kids used to pick on us that when we fought, we always ended up laughing and they never thought of it as fighting. Good thing? I don't know but I do know that my kids grew up in a more loving family than I did and that's all that matters.

More work to do later for this dang party. I'm telling you this youngest daughter is a slave driver when it comes to how she would like things - but you know what, I don't mind....they grow up too fast.

Have a great Friday everyone!!!

This week has been the final week of girl scouting for myself and my youngest daughter. She has officially bridged to adult and completed 13 years of girl scouting with her mom as leader for 12 of those years. When she was in kindergarten she was a Daisy and my best friend was her leader with me as her assistant (I was already a Brownie leader for my oldest daughter). There was a ceremony Tuesday night in front of the leaders from our area and then Wednesday night all the troops from out area got together and bridged the girls from one level to the next one higher (if they were eligible to do that). It's always a fun night as we brag about our troops. In addition to making sure I had everything straight and in order for these bridging events, I was putting together a scrapbook for my co-leader for the past 6 years. I was able to finish it Monday night. She loved it. Can you believe that I have no scrapbooks that I did for myself. I have given them all away as gifts....I think that is funny considering I love putting them together. Again, time is the factor. All the scrapbook gifts I made there was time limits for them whereas the ones for myself have no time limit. I suppose if I want to get them done I need to give myself that time limit.

Now we have to get through the graduation and graduation party. I can't believe that my baby is graduating from high school and starting college in the fall. My goodness where as the time gone. I'll have to get the videos out and watch them as they were babies...that is if I want a good cry. I haven't seen them since before my dad died. He is on a lot of the videos. Who knows, might do me good to deal with it all at one time.

The party invitations have been sent and people are calling. So far the count is up to 14 with one-fourth of the people responding. I ordered the port-a-potty. I have been purchasing things each week and get my bonus check tomorrow (yoohoo) and will buy the meat (all frozen). I have my lists all made (hey I'm trying to be organized) but I know that when it comes down to the day of the party those lists won't be found. I have been running all this information through my brain for so long now that it's memorized. I just made up candy bar wrappers for Hershey candy bars for favors and will probably print them out this weekend and finish that little project. Youngest daughter has her school scrapbook finished up to graduation. We'll be putting that out for display and her three scrapbooks she did for scouts. She brought home her cap and gown from school today. It's getting closer - June 6 will be here before we know it.

The mattress situation has been resolved and now I'm just waiting on my refund of shipping ($55) from Mattress Warehouse. They delivered the third set and it was from a different manufacturer all together and had absolutely no smell. Since that has happened, my mother and I have hardly seen each other. I realize that she is toxic to me and her negativity really brings me down. I deal with her as I need to but I do not go out of my way like I did before. I'm not spending countless dollars on her trying get the things that she ends up being ungrateful for and when I go to the grocery store I will only pick up the things she says she needs - I use to pick up other things and spend a lot of money on her and never ask anything in return. I don't believe she ever realized just how much I did do. This will do us both good - the break that is. My therapist says that I have an internal battle with myself when it comes to my mother. I make myself feel guilty and that is why I have been doing so much for her and then when she doesn't give me the feedback I think, I get upset that she isn't grateful therefore becoming bitter. I have to tell myself when I start to do battle that I am a good person and I am doing what I can and that is good enough. I can see this is going to be a big internal battle. But no fear, I will handle it and be better for it. It was funny today when I went to see the therapist and she asked me what conclusion I came to after our session last time. I told her that my mother is not good for my health and that my life would be healthier if she didn't play a role in it. I think I shocked her but she smiled and agreed but said that wasn't going to happen right now and that I needed to deal with the situation now......oh fine! I'll do that!

We have been working on the outside of the house, gardens, patio, deck, etc to get it ready for this party. Oh such hard work for a person who has a desk job but so rewarding to see it when we are done. Once I get the table grouted (yes, I haven't done that yet - just have the tiles in place) I'll try to remember to take pictures and post them. I'll also try to get some pictures of the "area" for the party. Here is what it looks like a couple of springs ago when family was staining:

There is a brick patio off the main porch of the house (porch of the house goes three-quarters of the way around farmhouse) and then there is a wood deck that is in two levels - the upper level is around an above-ground pool. This is our party place. It looks different than this of course as no furniture is on the deck and some of the gardens around there have been changed but the basic structure is the same.

Thank goodness it's Friday and a three-day weekend is upon us. Even though its suppose to rain, there is still lots to do. Happy Friday Everyone!!

Happy Mother's Day to all the mom's out there - I know I'm a little late but that's me - always a little late. I had a very productive weekend. As you know my youngest is graduating and like her older sister, we are planning on having a big graduation party. My youngest is a go-getter. We will work on something together and she pushes me to finish it when I'm ready to quit or take a break. She has always had her projects done early for school. She was NEVER a last minute type of person, very unlike her older sister. I have praised her endlessly about this trait of hers. She is someone I look up to for this reason (among others).

We did some gardening this weekend. She worked very hard and was obviously very motivated to get certain things done. Her graduation party being the motivation. Such a difference from three years ago when her older sister graduated. That child would have been happy if every one sat on the ground and the weeds were a foot high - obviously not very important to her but is important to the youngest. Anyway, we got some gardening done and then we were going to work on a project that was started 2-1/2 years ago. Let me explain. Two and a half years ago, I bought this table and chair set - it was the high bar seats (6) and a hexagon GLASS table. I had bought the matching umbrella - it was comfortable and looked great on the deck. Well, one day we went up to my mother's (surprise surprise) and I had left the umbrella open (the sky looked clear, no weather reports for storms). When were at my mother's the winds started and we had a quick downpour. I didn't think anything of the umbrella and the GLASS table. Well, we got home and the glass table was shattered. Apparently the wind got underneath the umbrella, lifted it and it fell down onto the table shattering it. I had just gotten it a couple months before this. I was sad. Well I made some phone calls to glass places and it would have cost me an arm and leg to have that table top replaced - might as well bought a new set. So I decided that I will just make a top myself - tiling it. My hubby cut a piece of wood to fit the hexagon band of the glass table. He covered it with a piece of formica we had so I could put the grout for the tiles on it. Well, it has been 2-1/2 years and we finally put it together this weekend. I have had the tiles for 2 years. Yes, I know, I'm a procrastinator. I have never done anything like this before and I totally respect anyone who does this for a living or even who has done this before. I'm sure it was simplier than what I made it. I had both girls helping me and it was a large table, I was hurrying them to place the tiles before it set - something I probably didn't need to do so urgently. We had numbered the tiles but then realized that we didn't number them all. It's funny thinking about it now but at the time, it wasn't quite so funny.  I have to put grout between the tiles now. I would have done that today too but the pail that I had was hard - It was over two years old. My intentions were good back then but life got in the way of completing it. Still though, it was a productive day.

My youngest got a job this summer. My husband's work has summer work for the college students of their employees. My oldest applied last year but she was #63 and they only took 60. It's a lottery on how these students get in. This was the first year that BOTH daughters applied. The youngest was #4 and the oldest was #80-something and they only took 55 this year. This a good thing even though the oldest needs the experience and the money. She presently does online stuff - surveys, click to pay, etc and has actually brought in more money than I expected. She usually gets a check every day and some days more than one. The most she has gotten was 100 bucks. Not bad for 10 minutes of work(if you call survey taking work) The youngest will be starting out at 18.96 an hour. I know WOW - I want a job there - NOT!! Good money for a college student that's for sure - maybe she could help support her sister :) 

Here's an update on the mattress situation that I vented on a couple days ago. Two days after getting the replacement mattresses, I sent a rather nasty but polite email to the manager who finally did something about my complaint. I wasn't asking them to do anything but I did want to let them know that these new mattresses still had the smell. I tried Fabreze and I tried Lysol - nothing seemed to work completely. Well the next day she called me back and offered me two new sets but from a different manufacturer. I wasn't really keen on the idea and said I would sooner have the money back but that wasn't what they were offering so I thought what did have to lose but more time off work. So it's set up for this Wednesday. I hope this works. This whole thing has been a pressure for my mother and I. She has made me realize how uncooperative she is and how she perceives things and then relates these untruths to others. It doesn't matter to me what others think of me but hey - have the correct facts first. I am just plain avoiding her nowadays. Not answering the phone and not returning her calls. She did call at 2 in the morning the other night and I did go to her house to help her with an "accident" she had in her pants, but other than that nothing else. I did mail her a mother's day card and did wish her one Sunday. This is going to be good in the long run - hopefully we have a better appreciation for each other. I also gave her a mattress pad and new sheets.  However, she will still tell people that her son and daughter didn't spend mother's day with her or give her anything. I'll never be able to please that woman.

Start of another week and I'm actually ready for it. I haven't been able to say that in weeks and months. I feel rejunenated for some reason. This is a good thing. Could be the break from my mother. Could be the medicine. Maybe it was being productive. Maybe it was a little of everything.