Life

I have to say that my neighbor upstairs has been pretty quiet for the last few months.. To be honest I could probably be friends with her but she is not interested.. the quote on her FB page says a lot about her:

I'm not a bitch, i just have a low tollerence for bullshit..

Her spelling.. not mine.. and this is a college educated person.. at least that's what her page says.. she even has a Master's degree.. just not in spelling.  I guess I can be thankful that she is being more quiet.  She is the blond in the picture.. I figured she was 30ish.. same as my girls.. but turns out she is closer to 40.  Pretty immature for a 40 year old.. There are a few times a day when she is loud but for the most part it's better.

Now that we have gotten her to make less noise we have new neighbors to the side of us.. oh joy.. two young guys.. and are they ever noisy.. running up and down the stairs.. playing loud music and slamming the door constantly.. We haven't complained yet.. Hope we don't have to.

My Mom made it home to Hawaii just fine.. I tried calling her on Wednesday when she was traveling but never got an answer.. finally talked to her last night.. She said her landline wasn't working.. and she couldn't get her computer to work.  I told her to call me today and we'll see if we can get things fixed.. I have no idea why her landline wouldn't work.. she may have to call the cable company.. She has her phone, internet and TV in a bundle.. so they maybe have shut things off for some reason..

This is Poipu Beach.. just a short drive from my Mom's place..

Part of the veiw from my Mom's back door.. that's Peter feeding the wild chickens..

And for fun.. here's a cute pic of Zack.. He's a smiler and a talker.. only 4 months old!! Just look at that big boy!!

Nana and Me

It's been a while since I've posted.. I was gone for 3 weeks visiting my kids.. had my Mom along with me.. also saw my brother and sister.. all in all a good time.. I had planned to stay in a hotel when visiting my daughter and family.. we wanted to see the baby and spend time together.. my daughter really wanted us to stay with her but she has just one extra bedroom that has a queen sized bed.. that means my Mom and I would have to sleep together.. I wasn't sure how that would go.. but we decided to give it a try.. and it was important because Paige was working a split shift and it would be hard to be there when she was around.  If staying in a hotel we would have wanted to leave after dinner.. and that meant not seeing much of Paige in the evening..  Everything worked out well.. Mom and I stayed on our own sides of the bed.. and never bothered the other.. except for one night.. She went to bed early and was in the middle of the bed.. I didn't want to wake her up but gave her a few nudges.. she never moved!!  I thought it was kind of funny.. eventually she got up to use the bathroom and I took over my space in the bed.. We've laughed about that a lot!

In Portland, we shared a bed again.. We had two queens but Erin stayed with us too and we let her have her own bed.. I was fine with that.. she kicks like a mule!! And she says I do too  :)  Now I'm home.. back in my own bed with my sweet husband who never moves all night.. I always worry that I'm keeping him up with my tossing and turning.. but he says no.. He and Max are both sick.. have horrible colds.. I'm hoping it will bypass me..

It's good to be home but even after only 3 weeks away.. I feel that I have to get my bearings..  I know my true north is here with my husband.. just have to get back into it..

My Trip

I can't believe I didn't take any pictures on my trip.. I took some of the baby but not of my kids.. darn.. here is a pic of my beautiful daughter, Erin.

Too Late

I've been gone way too long.. My Mom came to visit for about 3 weeks.. then we headed to my daughter's house to stay for two weeks and adore our new baby!!  Then it was off to the west coast to see my two other kids.. my sister and brother.. what a trip!! It was all good but I am happy to be home.. we had glitches in every flight.. I am pretty sick of it but I guess it's the way it goes.  Happy to be home.. now I just have to get my husband to go to see my new baby.. maybe sometime in January.. He can't get away in December because of work.. so January could work for a long weekend.. Our oldest will be home from college.. he will be working hopefully but the younger one is good with the dog and takes care of her.. The picture is not new.. but such a lovely picture of Mama and baby..

Learning

I have to learn more about blogging.. my blog won't let me comment on my own post.. how weird is that?? But for the fun of it.. here is a new pic of Zack.. the Little Prince!

My Baby Boy

Isn't he the cutest thing ever??  And my daughter is so pretty.. she is such a good Mommy.  I can't wait to go see them again and get some big hugs.. hold that baby!  In this picture he is getting ready for his bath.. Can you believe he's not even 3 months old???

My Daily Schedule

I titled this my daily schedule.. like I have one!  In a way I do.. I used to be very organized and almost down to the minute of what I would be doing each day when my 3 were small.. In 1978, I was pregnant with my first child.. I took a class put on by the Sidetracked Home Executives.. Pam and Peggy.. They taught a file card system and I lived by that for years.. It helped me with having my girls just a year apart in age.  I had to have a routine.  As our family grew I continued with the routines and plans.. then when I started working it kind of fell by the wayside.. plus someone knocked my cardfile in the sink by accident and I just never got it together again..

Years and years later I needed to move from my house.. I found Flylady.. she is connected with Pam and Peggy.. doesn't use the card file but has ideas of how to do things from their plan.  It's all about routines, keeping up with things and decluttering a few minutes a day.. I find it to be incredible.. I am a timer cleaner.. Since some days I don't feel well, timer cleaning is a must for me.  I just pick the most important thing and work on that.  Sometimes it's just dinner and some laundry.. other days if I'm feeling ok it's more.. I like to have a clean house, laundry done and good dinners on the table.. if I can do that I'm happy and so is everyone else..

I wake up around 6:30 or so.. the person upstairs is my alarm clock.. she is leaving for work and stomps around her kitchen in high heels and it wakes me up.. I might have slept longer except for that..Peter's alarm goes off on 5:30.. so that wakes me up and I often can go back to sleep until Sunshine, as I call her, wakes me up again.

I get tea for myself and my husband.. then settle in on the computer.. check out email, FB and blogs.. later I will get things out for dinner that don't have to be in the fridge.. or thaw what's needed.. then I do the timer cleaning.. I do have certain rooms to work on each day so I focus on that.. and just do the routine stuff.. like empying the dishwasher, a load of laundry, sweeping, vacuuming etc.. I will usually take a shower later after the house cleaning and dog walking.

Max is back at school now.. so the afternoon schedule changes a bit.. I have made a goal to make him a snack and have it waiting for him when he comes in.. He is usually starving and we have stopped buying frozen junk food.. so I am committed to making something for him each day.. it's a way of loving him.

Max does homework downstairs until about 5 so at that time when he is finished I go down and start dinner.. put something on the TV.. I go back and forth from the TV and kitchen to cook.. put the TV on pause.. works for me.. Petey comes home 6:30ish.. and we eat at 7.. If he is late I will just give Max his dinner at 7 so he can get his shower and then to bed by 9 or so.. We are usually in bed by 9 also.. Peter is up by 5:30.. so we need our sleep.

I cook.. the guys clean up.. Peter takes the dog out just before bed and then we are done.. I guess it's not that much of a schedule but that's what I do each day.. of course it does change if there are appointments but that's the normal day.