I don't want to be awake...

John and I have been going to bed way too late on Sunday nights since the new season of The Sopranos started a few weeks ago. We have to watch it at 11pm because when it's on at 8pm there are still to many small children awake in our house who don't need to see gangsters getting shot in the eye. Being the responsible parents we are (and not wanting to give Jenna any ideas), we catch the later showing, and then once The Sopranos are over Gene Simmon's Family Jewels comes on. So we haven't been making it to bed until about 1am lately.

This normally isn't a problem for me because I don't have to get up on Monday mornings...

Alexi and CJ, our two oldest kids, usually spend the weekend at their dad's house, which means that John can get up with Tiana on Monday's and drop her off at school on his way to work. I only need to sit up in bed long enough to do her hair, give her a kiss and a hug, and then I can sleep until the two foot tornado wakes up.

This was my weekend to have Alexi and CJ though. Don't get me wrong, I love having them and wish I had them for more weekends. We had a great time, the weather was beautiful so we took a nice walk on Saturday. We went down to the little shopping area near our house and found that it was the Annual Racine Arts Walk, so all of the stores were doing special things. We watched a wood turner make a little top at one store, had coffee and treats at the local coffee shop, and just had a good time being with each other. On Sunday we got some much needed cleaning done around the house, and while there's still a lot that needs to be done, we managed to accomplish quite a bit.

I had to get up this morning though, to do my usually morning runs, and I have to say I'm not so thrilled about it. I could use an extra hour or two of sleep...

Anyway, I wanted to catch you up on a couple of things. First of all...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JOHN!

He's feeling a little old and doesn't want anyone to know though, so keep it a secret, ok?

The last thing is that Tiana got some disappointing news on Friday. She was scheduled to get her brace off on Wednesday, but Shriners called... Her doctor had a medical emergency and has had to take a personal leave. Her appointment had to be rescheduled for May 4th. So she's in the brace for another week and a half and she's really not happy about it. We did make a flurry of phone calls on her behalf though, and they said that she could keep the brace off while she's at home until her next appointment. So that made things a little better for her, but she still has to wear it at school, and she's not cleared for PE class, or any extra curricular sports yet.

All in all she took it well, she tried not to cry, but she was really disappointed. Poor kid, she just wants to get back to her normal life again.

So that life at my house... So many exciting things going on, and I'll keep you posted on them all!

Have a great day!
Anne

Tag

I've been tagged by Jennifer (aka Doodlepie)!

It was actually really cool to see I was in her top 5 list. I never expect anyone to remember my name, let alone think I do anything of note. So it's always a shock anytime someone gives me a compliment. Jennifer's a real sweetie though, she sent us a big box of chocolates after Tiana's surgery, which was a wonderful and unexpected treat. She's also an awesome papercrafter! If you haven't seen her Doodleblog, go check it out!

So now as I understand it, I'm supposed to list my favorite 5 blogs and bloggers. So here goes...

#1 - Patti Talbot - Patti is an Admin on ASB and one of my best friends. I can not tell you how awesome this girl is, in everything she does! She's a terrific confidant, she's always willing to put herself out there to help in anyway she can, and I'm so lucky that we managed to hook up in this great big Internet world.

#2 - Jenn Lambert - Jenn actually has two blogs that I love. She has her Stamping Corner, but she also has a blog for her family that I've been wanting to tell you about. It's called Jenn's Family Corner. It's a blog about her family, and how they're dealing with her husband's deployment to Iraq. Visit it, and watch the movie at the bottom of the page. It's sure to bring tears to your eyes. I've been fortunate to get to know Jenn through ASB and her strength amazes me on a daily basis. She is truly a woman to admire.

#3 - Vicki Hook - Another of my A Shade of Blue buddies. Vicki is on the ASB mod squad and is such an important part of the site as a whole. I've said it before, but I don't think ASB would ever have grown like is has if Vicki hadn't jumped on board right at the beginning. One of the things I love most about ASB is watching people grow in their craft as they participate, and Vicki (having been around so long) is a really good example. She's always been an awesome papercrafter, but if you look through her gallery you can really see how she's developed over time. Now her blog and gallery are filled with stunning creations that will knock your socks off! She also has a terrific sense of humor, and is a lot of fun to be around.

#4 - Cathy St. Clair - I used to be the techniques team leader on a Yahoo group called Create-a-Card. One day the group owner sent me a note that she had a new member for my team. I got Cathy's submission for her first technique a few days later, and had to pick my jaw up off the floor. Her submission was amazing! Ever since then I've been addicted to her designs; I love her style, layouts, and use of color. Check out her blog, and you'll see why!

#5 - Sharon Crown - Sharon showed up on ASB not too long ago (referred to us by Jenn) and jumped right on in. She quickly won a spotlight contest, and joined the Challenge Team. Her artwork is incredible, so it really wasn't surprising. I'm still getting to know Sharon, but she's another woman who's strength amazes me. I have the utmost respect for military wives, who keep their families connected and running, even when all the members can't be together.

So there's my fav 5... That was really hard to do! There are so many people out there who I admire, and who's art I love to check out. It was tough choosing just 5!

Hugs,
Anne

Busy, busy, busy...

Am I like the worst blogger ever? No, probably not... My posts might be sporadic, but I still keep coming back to it.

You should be able to see from my post time, that I'm writing this at some insane hour when I should be sleeping. That's because this is about the only time I can sneak in a few minutes without feeling completely guilty. Lately I'm either working or doing something with the kids. There hasn't even been a lot of time for John.

The good news is that I can see the light at the end of the tunnel.

So what have I been up to besides work? Absolutely nothing...

The band played last night at Fat Boy Roadhouse in Milwaukee. It was fun, but my feet and legs are so tired from standing in my 3.5" heels for 4 hours that I can barely walk today. We made it to bed at about 4:30 am. John took the precaution of turning off the pThones so that we wouldn't be woken up before we were ready, but one of them escaped his attention, and of course it rang at 9:30. It woke the girls up, so of course we had to drag our butts out of bed for the day. I ended up taking an unscheduled nap on the couch this afternoon... I often wonder if I'm getting too old for my rock-n-roll dreams.

A Picture from last night for you... I'm getting a little hippy, I need to work on that.

So the usual fan club couldn't make it to the gig, but the rest of our friends put in a good showing. Kat and Tim came all the way from Madison, and brought a couple of friends with them. Lisa and Jeff put in an appearance, and Chad (aka Snake Boy ala John) came with his imaginary wife, who is really a lovely girl.

All in all, not a bad night, we played to a crowd which is always better than playing to an empty room, and we made it though another gig without getting any beer bottles thrown at us. What more could we possibly ask for?

So... Let's see... Other news...

Tiana gets her brace off in a week, I can't tell you how excited she is about that. She's literally counting the days. She started piano lessons last week at School. The music teacher is offering them for free after school for six weeks. We're going to see how she likes it, and if she wants to continue we'll consider getting her private lessons. Music is a big deal in our lives, as I'm sure you can guess, so we encourage the kids to pursue it when they have the chance.

Alexi and CJ have been in Florida with their dad this week. Alexi turned 15, but was away for her birthday. I called her to wish her a happy one, and we'll celebrate when she gets back. I miss them, I always do when they're gone, and I worry. I'll probably call tomorrow to make sure they made it back safely though, then I'll be able to sleep again.

We're working on some summer vacation plans. John and CJ were invited to a Cord rally in Auburn in June, which is when we usually take our vacation. So maybe we'll do that. I can amuse the girls while the boys get their testosterone running with the vintage cars. Honestly, I think it's great that John and CJ are having such a good time with the Cord connection. It's a healthy obsession, so I'll encourage it if it makes them happy.

I think that's it for now... I think I'm going to go get reacquainted with my bed. it's been awhile, so I hope it remembers me.

Hugs,
Anne