Happy Birthday Baby Girl

My baby is 16 today! Hardly seems possible that that many years have gone by already. She's such a beautiful girl, with a great head on her shoulders. Yes, she's goofy as all get out, and irresponsible at times...but that's just the normal part of being a teen! She is growing into such an outstanding young woman and I am so proud of her!

Getting Cory Home

The worst winter storm in 40 years - that's what the weather experts are calling it. We've been trying to get Cory home since December 21st and have had no luck so far. His flight was supposed to leave on that Sunday from Pullman, fly to Lewiston, then on to Seattle to make connections to Portland, then Eugene. If it wasn't for the weather, he'dve made it. But weather was conspiring against us and his flight was cancelled.

He was told if he could get to Lewiston, he'd be able to catch the flight there (they couldn't land in Pullman - too much snow), and then continue on with is flight. Poor kid...didn't know a soul at the airport, only had $8 in his pockets, with no way to Lewiston (45 minutes away on a good day). Luckily, God was watching out for him because he connected with another student who had to do the same thing. She had a car! So they drove to Lewiston, met the plane there, had their bags loaded and were just waiting to get on the plane...when that leg was cancelled. Total chaos ensued. There were going to be no more flights in or out of Pullman or Lewiston until after Christmas!

He finally arranged a flight out of Seattle on December 25th. And thankfully, the girl he caught a ride with to Lewiston, also got a flight on the 25th, so they can travel together. She (her name is Danielle) drove Cory back to his dorm, and there he's been waiting. I'm so thankful he's somewhere safe (and not stranded at an airport). But I hate the fact that he's ALONE in his dorm. There is not another soul around. He's bored out of his mind and tired of eating ramen noodles! Poor guy!

He & Danielle are supposed to travel to Seattle tomorrow (Weds) where he'll spend the night with his roommate and then hopefully fly out on Christmas afternoon. There's another storm brewing that is supposed to hit tomorrow...so we're praying that it misses the northwest altogether and that Cory can get home. If he can get to Seattle, and the flight is cancelled from there, we'll drive up to get him. I just want him home for Christmas!

Advent Conspiracy

Wow. Need I say more?

This is what the fuss is about...

So, I signed up. And within 20 minutes of signing up, I found my best friend from High School. I've been looking for her for almost 15 years. We lost contact about that long ago, and every so often, I'd try to find her through various internet searches - with no luck.

The funny thing is, she had signed up for Facebook the day before I did. On a whim. Just like I did. On a whim. How funny is that?!

I was so excited when I found her, I cried. We talked on the phone and have emailed several times, and maybe this summer we'll get to meet up with each other. She's trying to convince me to attend our 30 yr HS reunion. I'm not so sure about that, but maybe we'll be able to get together some other time!

As for Facebook...yeah...I'm hooked. So many fun games to play like Mob Wars, Dragon Wars & Mousehunt. It's stupid, I know...but sometimes you just need to spend some stupid time on the computer! Now if I could just break away long enough to work on some scrapbooking....

What's all the fuss about Facebook?

I don't get it. Facebook. What's all the falderol about?

I first heard about it when we were at Cory's college orientation. The college staff members said, "It's a great way for kids to connect here at school." Cory heard the same thing, and the very instant he could, he signed up. Of course, it was "off limits" to us because he didn't want us checking up on him. OK. Well. Be that as it may.

Now, a bunch of my scrappy friends have it. I keep hearing about it. "Join!" they say. "It's fun! It's addicting! You'll get to play with flair!" Do I really need to be addicted to one more thing? You betcha. Of course, today I signed up. I'm not impressed. What's flair and how do I get it? Hmmm...I think I'll stick to blogging. I have a hard enough time keeping up with this! hahaha. And Cory has no worries...I haven't invited him to be my friend. Don't want him checking up on me! *giggle*

Goodbye Pooh Bear

She was 14. We had to put her down today. In the last couple of weeks, we could tell that she was failing. She wasn't able to walk easily and wasn't eating much. Today though, her breathing was labored and she couldn't stand at all. It was time, poor baby. She was a good dog and she lived a good long life. I'll miss her. Goodbye big beardog.

I've been tagged

My friend Charlee, tagged me. I'm supposed to share, with the world, 7 strange things about myself. I don't think I know five people with blogs, and there is certainly NOTHING strange about me. I'm practically perfectly normal in every way! *snickergiggle*

Here are the rules:* If you are tagged, you must firstly post the rules:* Write 7 strange characteristics about yourself. They interest us all!* Tag 5 other people at the end of your Post.* Visit everyone that you have tagged and leave a comment on their blog to let them know that they have been tagged.

ok, here' goes...nothing strange here:

1. I collect Winnie the Pooh stuff. Started with a wrist watch that my Grandparents bought me at Sears when I was 9 years old. Back then, Sears was the only place licensed to sell Pooh (besides Disneyland/World). My Grandparents thought I was weird (ok strange) to want Pooh. Didn't I want one of the princesses? NO! I wanted Pooh. So now, after a few years (ok, LOTS of years), I've amassed quite a collection of Pooh stuff. A whole houseful! That doesn't make me strange...just weird.

2. My first car was a 1965 Mercury Comet. I named it Clyde because there was a little "mercury man" emblazoned on the steering wheel. My Dad bought it for me from my Uncle. It was supposed to be a "good little car." Ha! The first time I drove it any distance (like off to college), the water pump broke. Every time after that, another weird (not strange) thing broke. The right front wheel fell off one time, the tie rods broke another time. I had to change the spark plugs frequently. If it wasn't one weird thing, it was another. I finally got rid of that car and bought...guess....another COMET! This one was a 1964 Comet. I named it Claude. Ok, so I didn't learn from the first time. Go figure.

3. I love going to the beach and hunting agates. Hate the wind. Luckily, I've found a place reasonably close to home where I can hunt agates and stay out of the wind. Bandon Jetty. My family thinks this is a strange hobby and usually refuse to go with me anymore. I can literally sit for hours sifting for rocks, looking for a prized agate that is the size of a pinhead. If I'm lucky I'll find one the size of a thumbnail, but those are rare. I just love being at the beach and photosynthesizing. The dog goes with me. She doesn't mind sitting on the beach with me!

4. My daughter will disown me when I admit this...but I love John Denver & Barry Manilow. Now that's music you can sing to and understand all the words!

5. Nothing strange about this, unless you ask my husband...I love to camp but HATE sleeping on the ground. YUCK. Who wants to do that? I remember as a kid, I'd tease my mom about "camping" in a motor home. "That's not really camping," I'd say. Now I have to laugh at myself, because I'm thinking camping in a motor home would be perfect....though I do settle for tent camping if I can bring an air mattress with me!

6. My husband says this is strange (only because he has NORMAL knees)...I've had 2 knee surgeries on the same knee in less than a year, and it still hurts.

7. Ok, I guess the last thing would be...I so want to be creative. I look at other people's scrapbook pages, their art, their creations and I want to do that. I want to be that. I want to create like that. And try as hard as I can...I just can't. I'm not. It isn't there. The desire is, but the talent isn't. And the strangest thing of all is...I keep trying.

So thereya go Charlee! Now I've got to go see if I've got 5 bloggie friends I can tag and hope they haven't been tagged already! Here's who I've tagged:

1. Rachel. She just took a photo walking tour of Portland. Her photos are awesome!
2. Anne-Marie. She has the most amazing blog! Her artwork is beautiful!
3. Kathy. She took a trip this summer on Route 66.
4. Shirley. Hoping this "tagging" will inspire her to get blogging again!
5. Becky. I've "known" Becky for a long time. She is one of the most amazing scrappers I've "met". Someday I want to grow up and scrap like her!

Home again, home again. Jiggity jig.

We dropped Cory off at school on Sunday morning. We had driven up to Kennewick on Saturday (an 8 hour drive) and then another 2 hours to get to school on Sunday morning. The dorms opened at 10am and we got there right when they opened. There were already dozens of families there before us.

We managed to snag a hand truck to haul most of his boxes & fridge up to the 4th floor. We didn't have much time to spend with him once we got him unloaded...1) because the parking police wanted us out of there as soon as possible (to make room for others; 2) because I think Cory was ready for us to go. He's not much of a decorator, so really didn't want us to spend time getting his room put together and 3) because by the time we got him unloaded it was close to noon, and he had to have lunch and then dash off to band practice. It was hard for me to leave him there. I think we all had a little cry before we left.

We had a long trip home. After we dropped Cory off, we had to drive another 10 hours to get to Daddy's house, where we spent Sunday night. Monday morning we headed down towards Eugene to do some school shopping and then finally made it home today (Tuesday). I still don't know when Grandma's service will be, so I may be driving back up to Portland at the end of this week.

We've talked to Cory on the phone a few times already. In fact, he called me about 30 minutes after we'd dropped him off to let me know that he'd had his first PB&J sandwich as a college student! I couldn't help but laugh through my tears. Today I woke up missing him a lot. The hardest thing about him being at school is that I won't get to talk to him every day or hug him every day. That makes my heart hurt.

Megan and I had a great time shopping. Once again, spent way too much money, but I think we got enough clothes for her to start school with! We both decided we're going to work hard this fall to lose some weight because we like the clothes that are offered in the smaller sizes better than those in the larger sizes! hahaha...

Off to College and other stuff

Cory's all packed up and it's everything I can do to keep from crying. I'm excited for him, really I am...but I'm going to miss him like crazy. We leave tomorrow and will drop him off Sunday morning. I think I'll be a basket case by then. I know it will be hard for Megan as well. Thankfully, I'll still have her at home! *happy smile* Cory's going to have a busy week besides getting moved in. He starts band camp on Sunday afternoon, and that will keep him busy until school starts. He's got a heavy schedule (chemistry, calculus, economics and a gen ed course). I think he is in for a big surprise...this isn't high school anymore, where you can get away with no studying and waiting until the last minute to turn in your assignments! Hopefully, he'll realize that early on!

Megan's been busy this summer. She went to church camp as a camper for a week, then back to camp to be a counselor for the younger kids, then she volunteered with the Spanish Club at the county fair - cleaning toilets. YUK! After that, she, Cory & I went to Corvallis for a Christian youth conference for a week. It was a crazy July. She's also babysitting twice a week. She's earned a bit of extra money for new school clothes. I think it's burning a hole in her pocket right now! Cory also had a job and earned about $1500 for school! I think we're all looking forward to school starting again.

I've been busy clearing out the clutter in my scraproom. That room seems to be the catchall for all things we don't know what to do with! I also have boxes of old photos & stuff from my mom that I have to go through. I ran across some old family Bibles from her side of the family that have details of our family tree in them. Very interesting stuff. I gave the info to Daddy to put into his family tree program. I also have a bunch of old/heritage type photos. I've gotta figure out what to do with them. Maybe I'll post a few here from time to time! For now though, my scraproom is a huge mess and I haven't been able to scrap in about a month! YUK! Gotta get that cleaned up so I can scrap again....SOON!

Grandma

I created this layout earlier this year for my Grandma. It was from a challenge at tallyscrapper.com to use the lyrics "Five hundred twenty-five thousand six hundred minutes is how we measure our lives with love." I gave it to her as a belated Christmas gift. I knew she was missing Grandpa and I wanted her to know how much they both meant to me. I have so many great memories of spending time with them.

The journaling reads "There are 525,600 minutes and moments in every year to remember the love of my Grandparents. I remember listening to Grandpa's stories; having breakfast at the kitchen table and dinner at the dining table; watching Grandma cook; Grandpa reading the Bible on Sunday mornings; Grandma taking me to the library; Grandpa's fudge; Grandma's Holly Hobby plates; watching Grandpa work in his shop; how they called each other mama & daddy; picking lemons & tangerines with them in the backyard; Grandma's quiet yet strong voice; the way Grandpa would pick me up when I was little. Five hundred twenty-five thousand six hundred minutes is how we measure our lives with love."

Grandma passed away, peacefully,in her sleep yesterday morning - August 14th. I miss her.

My Wordle

The kids & I just got back from a Christian youth conference and are still on an emotional high from the event.

At Tallyscrapper, Minda posted a link that does some cool text formatting. I took some of the words & phrases that were important to me from this conference and created a wordle (that's what it's called) for it. Here it is. Wish I could figure out how to make it a bit bigger. Check out the program at Wordle.net

The Last Lecture

Several months ago, I stumbled across Randy Pausch's "Last Lecture" on YouTube.

If you haven't seen it, google it up and watch it. That lecture is the single most inspirational thing I've seen in a very long time. Since that time, I've been reading/watching his blog for updates on his journey with pancreatic cancer. I prayed that somehow, he'd be one of the very few who would beat the odds. Unfortunately, he wasn't. He died yesterday from complications due to the cancer. I knew how amazed he was at the overwhelming response to his lecture. I knew he did it for his kids. But I hope he knew how much he impacted lives other than his family by that lecture. How he impacted mine! If only we all lived our lives like that! What a world this would be!

"We don't beat the reaper by living longer, we beat the reaper by living well and living fully." Randy Pausch

Scholarship Results

God answers prayers, surely He does! And He answered in a BIG way when it came to scholarships. We knew about a couple of them, but most of the scholarships we applied for we didn't find out until graduation - when they were presented! Cory was awarded an additional $7,546 for a total scholarship award of $19,777! Can you believe it?! We feel incredibly blessed! Thank you Lord!

Graduation

I've been neglecting my blog again! No excuses. Just busy.

Well, today's the day. Cory graduates.

I'm excited and happy and sad all at the same time.

Our parent group has planned for a year for this day, we've done a ton of fund raising for our drug & alcohol-free party, and we finished decorating the gym this morning. Now we're just waiting for the time to go back down to the school for the ceremony.

Did I mention that I'm excited and happy and sad? Tears keep leaking out.

Since I'm on the school board, I get to hand him his diploma. I don't know if I'll be able to hold it together then. I'm taking a box of kleenex with me! Right after graduation, we're boarding the bus to go to our party. I'm one of the chaperones (one of the benefits of being the president of the parent group). I'm looking forward to the trip...we'll have lots of fun...and hopefully by then I will have stopped crying!

The tough part begins

We just received Cory's preliminary financial aid award notification and it's not good. We're about $20,000 short of covering his first year in college. *sigh* The way the financial aid office has proposed us to cover the shortfall is for Cory to take out a $3500 loan and for us to take out at $16,500 loan. YIKES!! There is no way we can afford to take out another loan for that amount.

At this point, I don't know what we're going to do. He's got a few more scholarship applications pending. We won't know final amounts from those until June. Even if he gets every single scholarship he's applied for it won't be more than about $3000.

He's looking for a part-time/summer job right now, and he's got a little bit of money in the bank, and we've got about $500 in savings bonds to put towards tuition. I just don't know what we're going to do.

I hate to even contemplate the options but he might not be able to go to the school of his choice this year. He may have to stay home and go to the community college, which would just break my heart and really disappoint him. He's such a bright kid and deserves better than he's getting. It's just not fair, I think, because his parents are "middle income" he can't get any financial aid. I'd like to know where they think we can afford a $16,000 loan?!?!

I have to put this in the Lord's hands because it's too big of a problem for us to handle alone. I know He has big plans for Cory and I have to trust that He will work this out. In the mean time, we keep applying for scholarships and hoping Cory can find a part-time job soon!

Pooh-isms

To say that "I love Pooh" would be an understatment. Pooh is my hero. I love his philosophy of life. I love the way he thinks. He makes me smile and brings joy to my life. OK...before you call the men in the white coats...YES...I do know that Pooh is ~just~ a figment of someone's imagination...a fictional character. But I ignore all that. Period. End of statement.

Here are a few of my favorite "Pooh-isms". After you read them, how can anyone think that Pooh's not real?

* If it’s the thought that counts, why are there fingers?

* If you want to make a song more hummy, add a few tiddely poms.

* Nobody can be un-cheered with a balloon.

* It’s so much more friendly with two.

* I am a Bear of Very Little Brain, and long words bother me.

* Those who are clever, who have a Brain, never understand anything.

* Before beginning a Hunt, it is wise to ask someone what you are looking for before you begin looking for it.

* Always watch where you are going. Otherwise, you may step on a piece of the forest that was left out by mistake.

* Don’t underestimate the value of doing nothing, of just going along, listening to all the things you can’t hear, and not bothering.

* Did you ever stop to think, and forget to start again?

* If the person you are talking to doesn’t appear to be listening, be patient. It may simply be that he has a small piece of fluff in his ear.

* If you live to be a hundred, I want to live to be a hundred minus one day, so I never have to live without you.

* Some people care too much, I think it’s called love.

* They’re funny things, Accidents. You never have them till you’re having them.

more great news!

We got a letter today from the Engineering Department at the school Cory's going to...and found out he's getting another $2000/year scholarship based on his grades! And it's renewable each year if he maintains his grades at a 3.2 GPA or better! I'm so happy I could just bust. So far he's received $9500 (renewable) and $800 (non-renewable) for his freshman year! YIPEEE!

The Mom Song

This is the funniest thing I've seen in a long time!

Growing Up too fast

My little girl is growing up! I can't believe how pretty she is.


Today we went shopping for a "winter ball" dress. Found a cute little black dress with a red bow under the bodice. We found it at Ross for $10! Very sweet. But wow...ummm...my little girl is not 12 anymore and her father & I are having a difficult time adjusting!

Sadie & Heartworms

I took Sadie in to the vet for her 2nd heartworm treatment today. Her first treatment was 6 weeks ago, and we've had to keep her confined for 6 weeks because as the little heartworms die, if the dog is active they can lodge in the heart & cause a heart attack. SO....it's been a tough 6 weeks on her and us.

Today, before he started the 2nd treatment, I asked him to run the heartworm test again just to be sure she still had them. The original test showed that she had a "low load", so I was hoping the first treatment would've killed everything.
Good news! Her test came back NEGATIVE!! NO HEARTWORMS! I'm so happy!! We don't have to go through anymore treatments. Just have to test her once/year and keep her on the heartworm medication!

And the best part?! Now she can PLAY again! She's such a ball dog and was miserable without them. First thing I did when we got home was to give her a ball!

Economic Stimulus Package

We decided we'd do our part to help stimulate the local economy with our kickback check that we're supposed to be getting from the government (someday). SO...we went out & bought this!

We got the couch & loveseat. It's a beautiful suede-y material!




And we got these: a coffee table, cocktail table (for behind the couch) and an end table. All the tables have slate tops. Gorgeous!



And we got this pub table with 2 chairs to sit by our picture window that overlooks the valley!



The furniture will arrive next week. Who knows when the kickback check will arrive!

End of an era

This weekend was another milepost for us. And for Cory. He competed in his last wrestling tournament. His last High School sport.

Overall, I think he did pretty well in the district meet. He placed 4th. Not bad, but it wasn't where he was hoping to end up. He was hoping to get 3rd so he could compete at the State tournament. I'm not sure if this was a major factor, but he did pull a muscle or tendon or something in his shoulder during his last match. I could tell he was in pain. He did his best though and worked through it, but I could tell he was very disappointed when he lost.

For us it means, wow...a change in lifestyle. Really. We've followed that kid around with all his sports since 6th grade! It already feels weird knowing that we won't be sport groupies anymore. Kind of sad. He's decided not to run track this spring, in lieu of getting a job. That will be good for him. It'll help him earn some money for college & maybe help with getting a car.

In the meantime...I seem to be getting closer & closer to that "empty nest." Yes, Megan will still be here for 3 glorious more years, but it will feel very weird not having Cory here too! And then, in the blink of an eye, Megan will be off to college...and then what?

My Excuse? I'm sick!

I haven't been this sick in a long time. It started this weekend with a nagging cough, that quickly progressed to a long prolonged cough. I feel like I'm hacking up a lung. I haven't been able to sleep more than 20 minutes at a time for 3 nights without waking up coughing. I'm coughing so hard I'm having "stress incontinence". NOT FUN!

This morning I woke up all stuffy. So now I'm coughing AND have a stuffy head & nose. I'm sneezing in between coughs. I've had to change my pants three times today. Ok, I know...TMI.

That video I posted a few days ago didn't mention being sicker than a dog. So that's my excuse. Who can walk when they can barely breathe?!

What's your excuse

I need to look at this EVERY single time I come up with a reason not to exercise!! I found it on our "To Iraq & Back" blog and wanted to post it here so I could look at it when I needed motivation.

25 miles

I walked 25+ miles this month! I'm so impressed and proud of myself! I don't think I've ever done that before. My knees are killing me, but if I keep this up, it won't be too much longer and maybe they'll quit hurting! Haven't lost a pound yet, but that's ok. I feel better because I'm walking!

Scholarship News

Great news! That scholarship application we were agonizing over a couple of weeks ago was worth the effort. It was a national scholarship that has to go through a local group first, then on to district/state, etc. Well, we cleared the first round and he will receive $800 from the local level! Hallelujah! What a blessing! Now we just have to wait to see if he'll pass the next level! Keep your fingers crossed.

Progress

I haven't made it far yet (only 15 or so miles) towards my goal of walking to Washington DC. Here's a map to help me track my journey. It's a bit wonky, but will give you the idea of where I'm headed.

*EDIT* I decided to take the map out. I'll add a different one later!

Into the Space Age

This two cow town has moved into the space age!!

Yes, we finally have high speed internet!

And for those who don't remember what dial-up was like, let me tell you that I feel like I'm cruising down the open road at 120 mph!

Not only do we now have high speed, but I can actually be on the internet and on the phone at the same time! We could only do that before if we had two separate phone lines. We also have TV service with a kajillion channels! Most of which we'll probably never watch, but it's fun to go through them! We only had 20 channels or so before, so this is lots of fun!

Zoom zoom ZOOM!

14,000 miles

I'm determined to walk more this year, and hopefully in the process do two things: lose weight and make my knee feel better! It still hurts as much as it did 2 years after the 1st surgery!!

So, I bought myself a pedometer, and I joined this awesome group of ladies who are tracking the miles they walk, bike, run, etc. We're trying to "walk" to Iraq & back because one of the ladies in the group has a husband who's going over there for a year. It was her idea and we've just all joined her in her efforts to get there! Check out our blog 14,000 miles. That's where we're going to keep track of our progress. Or you can click on that little blinkie below on my side-bar.

I'll be trying to post here from time to time about my progress. My personal goal is to "walk" to Washington DC because Megan & I are going there over spring break this year! I hope to "be there" by the end of this year. I estimate it's about 3000 miles.

I need encouragement...so please, cheer me on by leaving me a note!!

Scholarship Anxiety

This is the season for scholarship applications...a time we go into hyperdrive looking for and applying for college scholarships. Let me tell you...it's NUTS! And a bit aggravating.

Cory's had this one particular scholarship in his hands since November. If selected, he could win $60,000 ($15,000/year for 4 years). Then there are incremental awards down to $1000/year for 4 years. ANY of those would be a HUGE help to us! So what's he been doing with this application since NOVEMBER? Not a thing. Ok, he's dinked around a little bit on the essay, but has he collected all the necessary attachements? Copies of awards. Letters of recommendation. Transcripts. Nope. When is it due? NEXT WEEK!

*sigh*

I've been trying real hard to let him make his own decisions, his own choices, not to nag him about stuff...but DANGIT...this should've been his first priority. $60,000 is nothing to sneeze at. And yet, he's been ho-hum about it all.

I told him this morning that as of now...THIS was his first priority. There was nothing else more important that finishing up all the scholarship applications he's applying for (because most of them are due mid-January!).

SO THERE! Mom steps in once again to make his life miserable. But how else is that kid going to get through college? He is BRILLIANT, but doesn't have a lick of common sense!