tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21851961857930557762024-03-14T07:03:46.878-05:00Living with CavemenLiving With Cavemenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12253067328763474750noreply@blogger.comBlogger182125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2185196185793055776.post-58037584426126557452010-06-19T14:19:00.003-05:002010-06-19T14:44:07.213-05:00Happy Anniversary, Construction, and Summer TimeLast weekend Ken & I celebrated our 14 wedding anniversary. He took me on a date to Stillwater, MN for dinner and a gondola ride. Stillwater is a quaint little town on the St. Croix River, on the MN / WI border, only about a 45 minute drive from our place. <br /><br />Our dinner was fabulous. We ate a restaurant called Dock Side. It overlooks the St. Croix and you can see all the harbor boats coming and going. Then Ken told me that he had booked us the last ride on the little Venician gondola. He had planned that the sun would set while we were on the gondola, but it had rained most of the day, so all we saw was clouds. Fortunately, it had stopped raining by the time it was our turn for the ride, so that was a good thing. The gondola ride lasted for an hour. It was so pretty to see the city lights of Stillwater. With all the lights dancing on the still waters of the St. Croix. <br /><br />The gondola was made in Venice. The owner had it shipped it over to MN. Apparently the owner of the gondola rides, retired from the tree trimming business, went to Venice, and learned everything he could about the gondola. They had Pavorati playing on board, so it was quite the experience. <br /><br />School is out, and it's summer time. We've had some great days so far. Summer only means one thing in MN, construction! They are doing construction on the road that our backyard faces. Kevin has been out on his bike every day watching them closely. He still loves construction and the smell of new tar. <br /><br />We made a schedule for the boys to keep them busy this summer. So far, so good. We've given them some light chores to do, reading and lessons to keep up their knowledge. Summer school starts on Monday, so that will keep them occupied for at least half the day for the next 4 weeks. <br /><br />I got new hours at work. I was working 7-4. My boss has been working from 6:30 - 3:30 and we were talking about how nice that was. He said the half hour really makes a difference. So he challenged me to it. I said "Sure! I'll give it a shot." So Monday I reported to work at 6:30 am. I am not much of a morning person, I never have been, but this new shift is really nice. Getting up a half hour earlier has not been as hard as I thought. I have been getting to bed earlier, as getting up in time to get to work at 6:30 am, makes it easy for me to get to bed earlier as well. Around 9 pm, I'm ready for bed, as it's been a long day. <br /><br />Getting off work at 3:30 sure does make a difference too. A half hour doesn't seem like much time, but it sure is. I get to beat the 4:00 rush of crowds running errands. And traffic is much lighter. <br /><br />Next week is a busy week for sure. I will be golfing two nights next week, taking Sam to get sealants done at the dentist, I'm getting my 10 year service award for working at Dart Transit Co., and it is our last game of adult spring kickball. <br /><br />Summer sure has a lot of plans on our calendar, and so far it seems to be going by pretty quickly.Living With Cavemenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12253067328763474750noreply@blogger.com25tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2185196185793055776.post-16742252997133862072010-06-11T23:11:00.003-05:002010-06-11T23:58:12.860-05:00Last Day of SchoolToday was the last day of school. It is official...I no longer have any elementary school children. Both of my boys will be in Middle School next year. Sam got to tour the Middle School earlier in the week. He surprised Kevin, but coming up to him at lunch and saying HI! Kevin was so shocked, but happy to see him. They thought it was pretty cool that they'll finally be at the same school. They probably won't see each other, but they'll be at the same school. <br /><br />They must have really told the kids that homework was going to be huge in Middle School, because Sam has said "I'm gonna be really nervous on the 2nd day of Middle School." I asked why and he said "Because you have to do more homework in Middle School." Sam (unlike his older brother) is very responsible when it comes to homework. He hates it, but he does it. I'm just nervous that he'll be at such a BIG school!<br /><br />I'm a little sad that he is leaving elementary school. His school has been so wonderful and such a huge part of his success in his life. They have been AMAZING. I'm going to really miss them. Next year his elementary school turns 50, so hopefully, we can go to that party and see his old teachers. <br /><br />Also, I now have 2 Tweens. Yikes! My boys are growing up so fast. I no longer have little boys, but young lads. I'm not looking forward to challenges of raising teenage boys. That is one thing I have no experience with and of course there is no manual. Of course there has been no part of their lives that have come with a manual, so I should be used to that! <br /><br />I'm happy that my boys are growing up and becoming more independent. It's a great thing. It certainly gives me more freedoms! <br /><br />On Monday Sam's 5th grade class got to go to Valley Fair. It's a big outdoor amusement park. He had a great time and the weather was PERFECT. His 5th grade class also got to go to a Twin's baseball game at the new outdoor Target Field, but Sam chose not to go. His words "Nah, baseball is boring." The event was in the evening and each kid was allowed to bring one parent. I didn't even tell my husband about that, as I knew it would crush him that his son thought baseball was boring, and that he was also missing out on an opportunity to go to the new Target Field. <br /><br />Kevin's 6th grade class went on a <a href="http://www.riverrides.com/pages/misc/fleet/betsey.html">Paddleboat on the Mighty Mississippi</a>. It was raining pretty heavy and lightening early in the morning, so I was afraid his trip would get canceled, but by the time they left to go it had stopped raining and didn't rain for the rest of the day. Lucky kids! <br /><br />The kids also got their yearbooks. Kevin's is pretty funny as I get to see all the kids I remember from when he was really little at his birthday parties and such. Wow, the changes. He also pointed out the girl he has a crush on. Aw....his first tween crush. He did ask her to sign his year book and she did and made a smiley face. I guess he got to sign her book too. He got embarrassed when I asked him if he had a crush on her. I guess that's not something a boy really tells his mom. So, I asked "Is she someone you'd like to talk to more and hanging out with her more often." He said "Oh yeah, definitely." Hahaha! <br /><br />Relationships at this age are much more difficult than in Kindergarten. He had a girlfriend in Kindergarten, and they "broke up" in first grade. Kindergarten is when I learned "there is no kissing in Kindergarten." I'm not sure who kissed who, but it was a wee little Kindergarten peck on the cheek. Then in first grade she "broke up" with Kevin during lunch because he told her that he loved her too much each day, and that was not a good thing. She said "Kevin, you have to stop saying that you love me all the time." And that was it, love affair...Over. <br /><br />In Kindergarten he was also infatuated with Becky the Bus Patrol girl. She would hold his hand and help him cross the street. He used his best Kindergarten charms on her. And she was the pretty Bus Patrol girl. He thought that was pretty cool as he LOVED the bus. <br /><br />In 2nd grade, a girl invited Kevin on a trip to Florida with her and her family during the summer. Unknown to both sets of parents, of course. Apparently, her parents had slit, but the dad's airfair was already paid for. Well, that left an open seat and a paid ticket on the plane to Florida, so why not invite Kevin? They had it all planned out. Ha, if only if it were that easy! She was also the girl that wrote a big heart on an autograph page in his yearbook with a BIG heart and inside the heart, she signed her name and wrote BFF. (Best Friends Forever). They are indeed still friends. She is very much a tomboy, and has more "boy" friends than "girl" friends. I suspect she'll have plenty of "girl" friends when she's older (if you get my drift). At least I that is one less girl I will have to worry about during the dating years. <br /><br />So the first 6 years of school are behind us and now we are onto the challenges and joys of the last 6 years of school. The dreaded teen-age years. Oh, boy.... <br /><br /><a href="http://http//www.riverrides.com/pages/misc/fleet/betsey.html"></a>Living With Cavemenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12253067328763474750noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2185196185793055776.post-25246511103775085262010-06-08T21:01:00.002-05:002010-06-08T21:52:04.546-05:00Guilty Once Again of Blog Neglect - Lots Going OnWell, it has been over a month since my last blog. Yikes, time flies when you are ultra busy. Since it has been so long, I'll give a quick run down (is that possible). <br /><br />Garage Sale - Did I already blog about this? I don't think so. I had a garage sale at my house & 2 other families went in on it with me. Garage sales are definitely more work than they are worth. It took a whole week of preparation. The day of the garage it rained all stinking day long, so I'm sure that kept a majority of people away, but despite the rain, we still had a decent turn out. Each family that participated make approximately $100 each. Towards the end of the sale we started to buy each others stuff, which kind of defeats the whole purpose of having a garage sale to get rid of stuff in the first place. Hmmmm....<br /><br />The day after the garage sale, I packed everything that was left over & hauled it off to Goodwill. Definitely, none of it was coming back into my house! There were several items that we ha<br /><br />d that were worth some money, so instead of throwing it out or donating it, I posted it on Craigslist to try to sell instead. So I had a couple weeks of replying to buyers & arranging pick ups. <br /><br />FreeCycle.Org<br /><br />I love Free Cycle! It's a great place to recycle household items & such. So far I have gotten lots of really good things from Free Cycle. A piano, a fax/copy machine, a fur coat, tons of cleaning supplies, and lots of other goodies. <br /><br />This one lady had a posting for a big back of hard back books. All good ones too. So I told her I'd take the whole bag. The value of the books was well over $100 and they were all in excellent condition. I went to pick them up on a Friday evening, only to find out she lives in the hood! Yikes! I locked my doors as I drove to her house & had my cell phone handy. I actually saw a guy shooting up drugs between his fingers on the grocery store stoop outside. Yikes! <br /><br />I got to the lady's house & it looked like an absolute junk yard. The extremely funny thing was that she had a gate on her walk-way to her house. No surrounding fence, just a gate. Hmmmm...Yeah, that'll really work to keep people out of your yard. Your junk yard that is. So I collected my books and got the hell out of there. It was daylight hours. I had my doors locked, and I had my cell phone, so I didn't feel too insecure. I did make a phone call to a friend to let her know "hey, just thought I'd call & let you know my location just incase I mysteriously disappear." One can never be too prepared these days. <br /><br />On my way home, I got lost. I couldn't back to the Freeway. That was odd. So I took a detoured scenic route of St. Paul. Pretty interesting and I was glad it was daylight. I did happen to drive through the Italian part of St. Paul, which I had no clue existed. Their buildings were a bit unique and it smelled of yummy pasta. I think I might have to venture down that way again on a weekend day and take photos of the interesting buildings and maybe try some of that good Italian cooking out. Oh the things you find while being lost. <br /><br />Kickball- The adult season of kickball started and yes, I once again am captaining our team. So far we have lost every single game. We are used to that. We play mostly to socialize, capture our youth, and have a few beers with friends, so it's all good. <br /><br />I was officially elected the Director of Youth Kickball with the EAA. Last year was just a temporary position to see if the program would work or not, and if the EAA wanted to keep it as part of it's program. Tada! Success! Youth Kickball will be played again this fall. I had to prepare a budget and have that approved by the board and it was. Sign ups are starting soon. EAA got a new fancy website this year. It's pretty neat. Definitely a step up from the old outdated design, with lots of new features. <br /><br />The Kids-I have been busy filling out forms and more forms and more forms for them. End of year field trips, Sam's IEP and Middle School transition meeting and forms, CYC camp forms, and so on. Kevin really has been struggling in math, so I filled out a bunch of forms for him to allow the school to test him for learning disabilities. Turns out he will be placed in a small classroom (about 12 kids) for math only. His reading, and English skills test OK. 6th grade was a bit of struggle for him. I think the new school transition was a bit overwhelming. It's a big school he goes to and the expectations certainly have increased from elementary school. He'd be a straight A student if he paid attention during class & did his homework on time. So his grades were a bit on the least desirable side. <br /><br />Memorial Weekend - Ken & Kevin headed up to Grand Marais for a father - son weekend. They went to Ken's parents semi-built cabin. They wanted to get some work done on it, but they got busy visiting, fishing, and having fun. <br /><br />Sam & I stayed home. Not enough room in grandma & grandpa's RV and no place to sleep in the cabin, as it's got lots of work left to do on it. Right now it's basically the concrete floor, the outter shell of the cabin, and an outhouse. <br /><br />With the two guys out of the house (the two that disrupt me the most and demand the most attention from me), I got so much done! I was able to completely re-organize my bedroom dresser drawers and closet. It is amazing what adding the book shelf has done. It feels so good to finally have that project done and out of the way. I've only been trying to get it accomplished for the last 3 months. <br /><br />Sam & I took a fun day during the 3 day weekend and went to the horse track at Canterbury Downs. We had a great time. We made some bets, and didn't do very well. We only got $18 back of the $45 we put down. Oh well, so we split our winnings, and came home. But we did have a really good time and I do love the horse track. We did come close to winning big, but close doesn't cut it in horse racing. You either win or you lose. Race # 7 messed with our plans of winning big. Oh well, what are you going to do? <br /><br />Fitness 19 - I joined Fitness 19 (a strip mall work out gym) a few months ago. I did have some hiccup weeks where I just plum didn't make it to the gym. But I've had lots of time to go as well. I go whenever I get the chance & really try to make it part of my daily routine. I've been lifting weights and working out on the exercise equipment. I can tell I'm getting stronger, gaining endurance, and in the process of shape shifting. Gaining muscle & losing fat. The second week of joining I did the elliptal machine for 20 minutes and thought that would be the end of me, and I was really sore the next day. Well, 3 months later I can endure an hour and a half on the elliptical, feel good afterwards, and not be sore the next day. Definitely an improvement! And holy cow does that thing make you sweat. But I keep this pace up, I'll be fitting into that motivational clothing sooner than later. It is kind of nice to see how many calories you've burned as you go. I can say to myself..."well, there went lunch, there went my mid afternoon snack!" Such a nice and energizing feeling. <br /><br />Tulum and Maya Book Edits - I was on a roll this last month with these. I got quite a bit done. I do this when ever I can get the chance with all my free time I have. LOL... Those Maya were pretty crazy, yet interesting people. Keeping their 400 some gods and their 17 calendar system straight is a big task. Now try doing that with out confusing or boring people. I think the edits are going well, and I'm keeping the information as interesting and easy to follow as possible. It is amazing how incredibly complex of people they were, yet how completely zany at the same time.Living With Cavemenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12253067328763474750noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2185196185793055776.post-42507156092722305542010-05-06T18:38:00.003-05:002010-05-06T18:43:58.907-05:00Email Conversation With Kevin's Science TeacherHere is an email conversation I had today with Kevin's Science Teacher today:<br /><br />Oh the joy of parenting!<br />--------------------------------------------------------------------------------<br />From: W<br /><br />Sent: Thursday, May 06, 2010 1:28 PM<br />To: <br />Subject: Kevin Science Notebook<br /><br />Hi Mrs. Bley,<br /><br />I am Kevin’s science teacher and I should have written a month ago. My apologies.<br /><br />Kevin is a great kid. His smile is contagious. He is a pleasure to have in class and one of the nicest kids I know.<br /><br />Unfortunately, he is very, very behind in his science notebook. I have asked him daily about the notebook and he just smiles and says he can not find it. A few moments ago I sat down with Kevin and we were going to start a new notebook----but then told me he found his at home.<br /><br />For him to get the work done he is missing, he would need to work into summer vacation. I think a better plan is for him to get the current work done and we leave missing work for when he has time. He hopefully has a list of current assignments (a pink sheet) and sent another home with him today. In the notebook pages are number with 1a on the front, and 1b on the back, then 2a/2b, etc.<br /><br />What ever work he can get done between today and next Tuesday, I will give him full credit.<br /><br />Thank you. I would appreciate your thoughts or ideas to help get him back on track.<br /><br />Sincerely, Mr. W <br />`~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~<br /><br />On 5/6/10 1:42 PM, Bonnie" wrote:<br /><br /><br />I guess he's going to be a very busy & grounded boy for the rest of the school year then. And if he has to do homework over the summer to pass 6th grade, then so be it. He's done it to himself by not being responsible. He can't go through life thinking everyone is going to hold his hand and give him a pass for not doing what is required or expected of him to succeed. <br /><br />Please email me the full list of what he needs to do. You are being too nice to give him full credit for assignments he is being too lazy to do. He has realized through the school years that there really are no consequences for late or missing assignments, since teachers are no longer allowed to put the fear of God into their students about class work. (Sorry for that rant.) <br /><br />Kevin really enjoys your class & he talks about you all the time. So, you are getting through to him & he's been learning a lot from your class. <br /><br />Email me anytime & let's get this kid back on track. <br /><br />Thanks,<br />Bonnie <br /><br />~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~<br />Hi Mrs Bley,<br /><br />Thank you for the reply. I like your philosophy.<br /><br />I asked Kevin before we emailed you if he thought it would ok to send you a message. I always let kids know I am sending a message---good or not good. Anyway he said---oh my mom just sits at a desk all day and has nothing to do. Oh, the ideas kids have about work and the world---makes me laugh.<br /><br />He should have a sheet with him. I will make a point to have him come see during flex or study time. Most important is that he brings the notebook to school. My philosophy is that there is always light at the end of the tunnel.<br /><br />Thanks again,Living With Cavemenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12253067328763474750noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2185196185793055776.post-15520066531972071882010-04-30T22:28:00.002-05:002010-04-30T23:08:48.514-05:00Garage Sale, Dentist, and That's Not My NameI've been busy since my last blog. Gee, why do I feel like each time I blog I'm going to confession...Bless me father for I have sinned, my last blog was April 13, 2010. I have ignored mine and all other blogs 17 times...<br /><br />Last weekend I had a garage sale at my house. Two other families went in on it & it was HUGE! It took the whole week before it to get ready for it. It ended up raining on garage sale day, so we couldn't put any of our stuff outside on the driveway, so my garage was packed. The people who went in on the garage sale came over & helped out all day Saturday. We had a good time. We each sold about $100 worth of stuff, of course making money off of each other. You know it's a good garage sale when you start buying each others stuff. We sold our trampoline and bought our neighbors outdoor basketball hoop. Towards the end of the garage sale, we were giving away things free to people who even just spent $1. We closed it up & I took Monday off of work to tear down & hauled off 2 van loads full of garage sale rejects to Goodwill. All of the big ticket items that did not sell, I took pictures of and posted on Craigslist. So this week, I've been busy coordinating Craigslist pick-ups. <br /><br />The garage sale was part of my 2010 house cleaning and organizing project. It is amazing how much stuff you accumulate over the years. The kids are getting older, so we can have nicer stuff. But we had to sell off the old stuff to pay for the new stuff. Well...new to us..but gently used. Although, tonight I did build a bookshelf for my bedroom that I bought at Wal-Mart for $25 That was a sweet deal. Now I have room to put more books on, which clears up space in other places, which of course clears up stuff in other places. <br /><br />May is turning out on the calendar to be the month of the Dentist. I had my 6 month teeth cleaning appointment a couple of weeks ago. They took X-Rays and turns out I have a filling that has come loose from the tooth and I have a cavity starting between the filling and the tooth. So I have to have a filling replaced. Kevin has a braces adjustment in May, and both kids have a teeth cleaning appointment with the Dentist. I might have to take notes from my big sis and do some retail therapy after my filling. Of course I'll probably just come straight home and go to bed as I'll be recovering from a cocktail of good meds for relaxant and pain. <br /><br />This last month we have been dealing with Sam not liking his birth given name. Nope, he doesn't like it. He likes even numbers and Sam is an odd number of letters and so is Samuel. I told him he could spell his name S-A-M-M, which would give him 4 letters, is unique from any other Sam at school (and there are a few), and he still gets to use his name we picked out for him when he was born. Nope, he didn't want that. He'd do that at school, but at home, we are to call him "Cat King". Hmmmm...now that is an odd number of letters, but I guess since it has the word "cat" in it, it is somehow O.K. for him to use. <br /><br />He loves cats and he is the king of all the cats at our house. So Cat King it is. Sometimes we forget and he reminds us. He received a birthday post card from the hospital he was born at. He was quite upset they did not know he had changed him name from Samuel to Cat King, so he took a pencil, scratched out Samuel, and wrote Cat King above it. There, now it was fixed. Luckily, his name changes rarely last long. Eventually he goes back to letting us call him by his real name. Which is good, as I believe this is about the 3rd or 4th time he's changed his name. He's been Snot Rod, Number 44, and now Cat King. Those have been the longest lasting ones that I remember anyway. <br /><br />I think Snot Rod was the most memorable, as at a family reunion, he told some family members that we really did not know (distant relatives, of a relative, who belongs to another relative) and he introduced himself to them as Snot Rod. I admit, Cat King is <span style="font-style:italic;">much</span> better than Snot Rod!Living With Cavemenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12253067328763474750noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2185196185793055776.post-82656659053956587692010-04-13T19:19:00.001-05:002010-04-13T19:21:51.514-05:00Guilty of Blog Neglect...Once AgainSeems to be a bit of a theme with me…Hmmmm.... nor did I win any of the radio contests...maybe next time. <br /> <br />I joined Fitness 19 (a workout club) a little over a month ago. So far I've been pretty faithful at going 5 times a week and getting a work out in. I can tell I'm starting to build muscle. Things are shifting, but nothing that is noticeable to anyone else yet. These things take time as my fitness trainer that I got to work with told me. He said "Stay off the scale for a while, as you will be gaining weight while you build muscle." Building muscle, but burning fat and muscle weighs more than fat. <br /> <br />I only met with the fitness trainer one time. I got that as part of my club membership. It was a good deal. He was very informative and got me on the right work out path. <br /> <br />After I joined the club, I did some motivational shopping. I bought a bikini, a skinny pair of jeans (my goal size), and a size small shirt. I have them hanging on the back wall of my closet, so that every time I open my closet door. There they are, staring me right in the face. It's good motivation. I need that. <br /> <br />I have found that working out is quite fun. Odd, I thought I'd NEVER say that! I get alone time. Hmmm…alone time…now that is nice! Alone time & get in shape, BONUS!!! No, "Mom, when's dinner!? Mom, are you done working out yet?! Mom, he won't stop bugging me!!" That is what I got when I tried the in-home work out DVDs. After I was done rearranging furniture, and was just getting into that work out zone…queue in kids yelling. No, I just say "Mom's going to the gym, I'll be back in a while!" And out the front door I go. <br /> <br />The club is very convenient too. It is just about 5 blocks from my house. Couldn't get much closer than that! Did I mention it was cheap. Close, cheap, alone time…Jackpot!!<br /> <br />In March I hosted a "Purse Party". It was fun. I had a lady come into my house that sells replica handbags, scarves, jewelry, ect… I invited all the girls and had about 10 show up. Not too bad of a turn out for something like that. My house looked like a purse warehouse threw up in my house! Wow, she had quite the inventory. My kitchen table was filled with jewelry. My living room was covered in handbags, purses, and wallets. It was crazy. <br /> <br />Purse Parties are the new "thing", although, it's not the multi-level marketing thing. There are no pressure sales, no sales pitches, and no pressures to become a purse consultant. She just brings her purses and sets them all out & away you shop. You like it, you grab it, you buy it. Simple as that. She stays for a couple hours. That's it. Pretty easy! She does have hostess rewards, so it was worth it. And, I'm turning into quite the handbag hoarder. I'm addicted. I decided it was so much fun, that I might have to make it an annual thing to do. Two things women can't have enough of…purses and shoes! <br /> <br />For our Easter Festivities, we went to a nice Brunch with Ken's side of the family. It was really good. I indulged and blew my diet that morning! I don't think I've been to a buffet that large before (except at one of those Buffet Restaurants). They had this lovely chocolate fountain. Endless flowing chocolate…what's not to love about that! <br /> <br />After we stuffed ourselves silly (no one left hungry) we all went to the MN Zoo. It was a gorgeous day and it felt good to walk some of that brunch buffet off! At the Zoo we saw the grizzly bears (one of my favorites at the zoo, I could watch them all day). One of them was having fun playing in his little lake, playing with a stick and his toes. Ah the life.. <br /> <br />Then we went to see the Farm Babies in that section of the zoo. We did see two cute little goats. As we were leaving the veterinarians, brought a pair of newly delivered goats to the barn. Back in we went after the mama goat and babies got put into their pen. They were so funny trying to walk right away. Their little tails were wagging and their little legs were shaking. <br /> <br />Last week Bon Jovi played at the Excel Center in St. Paul. I went to the concert with 3 of my girlfriends. Ken & Kevin went to the concert on a dad/son event. Ken was the coolest dad ever that night. Kevin was grinning from ear to ear and he enjoyed it a whole lot. It was a great concert! They put on a great show. We had pretty decent seats too. Ken & Kevin's seats were directly across the stadium from me and the girls. We girls went out to dinner before the concert and then when the concert was over, we all stayed overnight at one of the gal's house and sat in her hot tub. So we made it an entire day out. It was a pretty fun girls day/night out. <br /> <br />Spring has come early for Minnesotans, and I am really enjoying all this nice weather. We seemed to have a pretty mild and short winter. Boy, I sure could get used to that!Living With Cavemenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12253067328763474750noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2185196185793055776.post-43202974225733138652010-03-22T20:42:00.002-05:002010-03-22T20:58:30.641-05:00Caller Number 7All month long I've been listening to the radio. They have gone money winning contest crazy. Hey, I'm all about winning money for free! Who isn't? <br /><br />One contest is "Pay Your Bills". You submit your bill (under $2,000) to the radio station. Then you listen at 7 am, 9 am, 1 pm, 4 pm, and 7 pm. If they call your name, you have 10 minutes to call in and claim the prize. Which is the amount of money your bill was. And for a bonus, if you signed up to be a fan of their radio station, they will pay you double the amount of money your bill is for. So far...they haven't called my name. Hmmm.... I guess I'll keep listening. The contest is only for this month, so I still have some more days for my name to pop up. Please, PICK ME, PICK ME!!!<br /><br />Another contest they did was "21 G's with Luda and the Peas". This contest you listen to the radio station between 8am and 9 am, when you hear a Black Eyed Peas song or a Ludacris song, when the song is over, you call the radio station. Caller 10 wins tickets to the pre-show, and the concert. Now, I would never be able to tell the difference between Ludacris and Jay Z, or T I, or Timbaland if it weren't for the nifty little song identifier on my radio. I didn't really want to go to the concert. I was interested in the 21 G's. Caller 10 not only got tickets, but their name got put into a drawing for $21,000. Now, who doesn't want to win that kind of money just for being caller 10? So every day I listened and called, listened and called. I never got through, always got a busy signal. I was beginning to think my phone was blocked or something...Until on St. Patrick's Day...I heard the song and I called, and called, and called. I could not believe my ears when I heard a ringing phone instead of a busy signal. I had to check I dialed the right number. Yep, I did...Oh boy...ringing, ringing...."KDWB...you are caller number 7" <br /><br />WHAT!! Caller 7! Lucky 7 on St. Patrick's Day. No, just say I'm number 10! Pick me! Pick me! So tonight I sit at home. No hanging out with Fergie and Ludacris, and a bunch of other people I'd never recognize. But I do not win $21,000 either. Nope, nadda for caller 7.Living With Cavemenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12253067328763474750noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2185196185793055776.post-50034940504397435982010-03-06T19:02:00.003-06:002010-03-06T19:18:14.968-06:00Lots of New HappeningsI got exciting news the other day from my niece in California. I'm going to be a Great Aunt! She is going to have a baby boy in Aug. I'm so excited for her. Now I get to go baby boy shopping for her. And hopefully make a trip to California this year. She asked me if I'd come out & see her & the new baby. That made me really happy she gave me that invitation. So I'm hoping to make that happen. It sure would be neat if I could. My niece's baby will make my grandma (who will be 102 in 2 months) a Great Great Grandma. Five generations for my family in August. That is pretty darn cool. <br /><br />I had a photo shoot in February that went really well. The little girl was so cute. She made such a good photo subject. I've had a couple leads of interest for Senior Portraits, so I'm hoping to get to work with those folks. I'm taking my neighbor boy's Senior photos free of charge as his family is some real financial hard times because of his dad's recent serious illness. It was the least I could do for their family as they didn't think they'd get Senior Portraits for him. Hopefully, he will send his friends my way. <br /><br />My Tulum & Maya book edits are going really well. I seem to be on a roll. Those Maya were certainly interesting people. A little on the crazy side, but interesting.<br /><br />I joined a Fitness Club called Fitness 19. It's close to my house & only $18 a month. So I really have no excuses to not go. I started going every day, although today I took a day off as I'm pretty tired and sore. I got a one hour session with a personal trainer and it was a really good session. Much better than I had expected. He went over my goals and how to achieve them. Then he gave me a work out regiment and he went through all the equipment and exercises I need to do. <br /><br />The weather is getting nicer every day, so I hope that means that winter is over. We did have a pretty short winter this year, which is good in my book. We usually get the March Madness NCAA College Basketball Tournament winter snow storm, so I'm still expecting that. But I sure am welcoming this nicer weather. It's nice that the sun doesn't set until around 6pm and when I drive to work I get to see the sunrise.Living With Cavemenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12253067328763474750noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2185196185793055776.post-5818071945675554282010-02-23T22:29:00.001-06:002010-02-23T22:35:10.511-06:00Valentine's WeekendMy Valentine's Date with my hubby was AWESOME! He took me to a nice restaurant. They had a lady playing the harp, so it was a classy place. My food was a little on the overcooked side, so I can't really rave about how wonderful dinner was, but it wasn't bad. The steak sauce that came with my steak was really yummy though. <br /> <br />After dinner we went to a movie. We hit the late show and the earliest late show we could get into was "Wolfman". Not what you'd think your typical Valentine Romantic Date movie would be, but I like to see movies worth seeing on the big screen. It was actually very good. And scary too. So I guess it wasn't such a bad date movie choice as I held my hubby's hand so the Wolfman wouldn't jump off the screen & get me. <br /> <br />On Valentine's Day, I got a sweet card & a box of chocolates from my hubby. Then he told me & the kids to get ready to go out for brunch. Yay! We went to Bon Fire's in Eagan. Brunch was great. Sam had chicken strips and kettle chips. He LIKED it! It is so hard to find that kid something to eat at restaurants as he's such a problem feeder. 9 months of feeding therapy 5 years ago and he still has a pretty limited diet. At least it's a variety of limited foods, but still limited none the less. I suppose there is still hope for him, after all I just discovered in Sept that I like shrimp. Who know. After all these years of clear disgust of shrimp, I actually really like it. <br /> <br />About an hour after we got home from brunch I had a horrible stomach ache. I ran to the bathroom & spent pretty much the rest of the day in there. No fun. The next 3 days were followed by horrid stomach cramps. They got better each day, and I was no longer making emergency trips to the bathroom, so I didn't make a trip to the doctor for him to tell me "hmmmm…probably some kind of virus or maybe you had food poisoning" . <br /> <br />So after 4 days of Ritz crackers, rice, and 7 Up…I was back to my usual self!Living With Cavemenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12253067328763474750noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2185196185793055776.post-28052162805385737122010-02-13T12:05:00.005-06:002010-02-13T12:32:55.720-06:00February HappeningsFebruary is here & half way over. Which means spring is just around the corner. <br /><br />We got the official results of the State Lego Robotics tournament. Kevin's team came in 18th place overall out of 40 teams. So they didn't do too bad after all. They did get a medal for their Geothermal Bridge Ice Melting challenge as they came in 2nd place for that. <br /><br />This month I took my old broken gold jewelry (necklace chains) to "The Gold Guys" store at the Mall of America. I walked out with a check for $220, so I took that check and set up my photography business checking account. With that I also applied for my Certificate of Assumed Name with the state, and got my Tax ID number. I'm officially official. Today I applied for a Small Business Grant for Women. Hopefully I will qualify for that, as that will help get a few more things for my Photography Business. I have a photo studio shoot coming up next week. I'll be photographing an adorable 3 year old girl. I'm excited to work with her. Hopefully, she'll be in a good mood for it. <br /><br />Kevin turned 12 on the 7th of February. He chose to go bowling with the family for his birthday. We had a really good time. The kids really enjoy it, and the bumpers helped me out tremendously. I won the first round of bowling with a whopping score of 94. The next round Ken won, and my score was 112. We all improved on round 2. <br /><br />I've been experiencing with different short-med length hair cuts. The first one I really liked, the second one had too many layers, and I really like the one I just got. I am however going to grow it back to shoulder length as not being able to pull it back in a pony tail is driving me crazy. Shorter hair is much more high maintenance than mid length to long hair. <br /><br />In November, you may have remembered that I wrote a book about the Maya and the Tulum ruins in Mexico. I am now on round two of edits! The first round I organized paragraphs, order of topics, deleted repeated information, and deleted information that I could live with out. In this process, I was able to shorten my book by 12 single spaced pages. <br /><br />Tonight the hubby is taking me out for a Valentine's date. We haven't had a Valentine's date in I don't even know how long. He was in charge of planning everything, so we'll see what he came up with. His first idea was to take me an ordinary restaurant. One we can go to anytime...he mentioned this to me (actually, he said "choose between Houlihan's, Green Mill, or Granite City")...my reply was "go back to the drawing board, it's Valentine's, Woo Me." Then he asked what movie I wanted to see. I told him one that would be a good theater experience. So, I do know we are going to dinner & a movie, I just don't know where or what movie. I told him not to tell me as I wanted it to be a surprise.Living With Cavemenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12253067328763474750noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2185196185793055776.post-58300514509189100322010-01-30T22:07:00.004-06:002010-01-30T22:55:58.009-06:00Only 1 Day Left of JanuaryJanuary marks the very official opening and start up of BSquared26 Photography. I registered my Assumed Name with the State, applied for a Federal Tax ID number, and brainstormed on marketing, so I'm really official! <br /><br />I entered some of my travel photos in a Frommers Cover Page 2010 contest. They were scenic photos of the San Diego, CA area, Wyoming, and one of downtown Minneapolis. You can view them at www.frommers.com, click on the camera where it says "Photo Contest", and search for BSquared26. Recommend my photos if you go there. <a href="http://www.freesmileys.org/smileys.php" title="Smiley"><img src="http://www.freesmileys.org/smileys/smiley-signs154.gif" alt="Smiley" border="0" /></a><br /><br />January also included talks of vacations for 2010,some home renovations (new couch, new kitchen floor, and window work), and plans to help out with Ken's parents cabin that we will get to use from time to time. It's been a slow process and it's a fun place to go, so Ken and his parents talked and decided to get things done, so we can all enjoy it more often. <br /><br />Kevin was super busy with Lego Robotics practices for his team to prepare for the state tournament that was today. Apparently, the high school kids accidentally took their robot, and the kids made a new one. After they finished making & reprogramming their new robot, the high school kids returned their old one too them. The kids were laughing about it today, but they were frustrated at the time. They were missing one kid from the team for the tournament today, so they had to adjust for that as well. Turns out the kids didn't do so well, and they didn't place in the top 10 or get any awards. We were pretty proud of them though, as this was everyone on the team's first year doing Lego Robotics and they made it to the state tournament. I think the kids were so excited, nervous, and frazzled that their robot was acting up. At least they got the experience of working together as a team under pressure. <br /><br />The last week of January has been hard on everyone. It's been very cold and not much sunshine. We are all getting a case of cabin fever. We're glad January is almost done with. <br /><br />Hopefully Feb brings some warmer weather so we can go out and do some fun things!Living With Cavemenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12253067328763474750noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2185196185793055776.post-51020248963789604612010-01-09T18:30:00.014-06:002010-01-09T19:20:19.835-06:00ABCs of 2009Algebra - In 5th and 6th grade math. Yikes!<br /><br />Braces - Kevin got braces at the beginning of the year. He's doing really good with them. <br /><br />Cats - We added a new cat to the house. All 4 of our cats have been truck driver rescued cats. <br /><br />Devil's Track Lake - Ken and his parents started work on the family cabin. <br /><br />Elementary School - This is Sam's last year in Elementary School. It is hard to believe the kids are getting so grown. <br /><br />Football - Kenny is really happy Brett Favre is helping the MN Vikings Football team win. <br /><br />Girls Trip - Bonnie took a girls vacation to Playa Del Carmen, Mexico in February. <br /><br />Homework - It's harder for us to help the kids with their homework. They bring home some pretty complex work sometimes. <br /><br />Ignore - Our kids are getting really good at ignoring their parents.<br /><br />Juggle - It is amazing how we juggle all 4 of our schedules. <br /><br />Kickball - Bonnie made a proposal to the city athletic board to add youth kickball to its venue of sports. It was passed and 2009 brought the first organized youth kickball league to Eagan, MN. It was a very proud accomplishment for her. <br /><br />Laguna Beach - Ken & Bonnie took a vacation with out the kids to California for her niece's wedding in California. <br /><br />Middle School - Kevin entered Middle School in 2009.<br /><br />NaNoWriMo - Bonnie finished her National Novel Writing Competition challenge of writing 50K words. 2010 will bring edits and trying to get it to a publisher.<br /><br />Ocean - How we love to see the oceans. Bonnie saw the Caribbean & Pacific. Ken saw the Pacific. <br /><br />Photography - Bonnie opened a Photo Studio in our home. She built it on her own, built a portfolio, and had 3 clients by the end of the year. <br /><br />Quilt - We had a lady in MT make us a quilt using clothing from our kids when they were toddlers. <br /><br />Robotics - Kevin's 6th grade Robotics team took 3rd place at their Regional tournamet, which qualified them to compete at the State Tournament in Jan 2010.<br /><br />Softball - Ken continues to play softball with his brother. This is something they really enjoy. <br /><br />Thanksgiving - We hosted Thanksgiving at our house. Bonnie got out all the old fancy dishes and we had quite the feast. <br /><br />Used Piano - We got a free used piano (in very good condition) from Freecycle.org. Now we just need to learn to play it. Perhaps a 2010 venture? <br /><br />Vitamin D - Bonnie was diagnosed with severe Vitamin D deficiency. She controls it by taking 3000 units of Vitamin D suppliments daily and tanning. <br /><br />Weddings - 2009 was the year of weddings. We attended 5 weddings. One was in <br />California and Bonnie was a bridesmaid in one in MN. <br /><br />X-Box 360 - The kids got X-Box 360 for Xmas. We haven't seen much of them since. <br /><br />Youth Camp - Kevin went to CYC again this summer for a week. He really enjoys that week of summer. <br /><br />Zoo - Bonnie saw her favorite actor Kevin Costner play in his band at the MN Zoo.Living With Cavemenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12253067328763474750noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2185196185793055776.post-12379861336445219682009-12-22T19:48:00.004-06:002009-12-22T20:20:41.211-06:00My Poor Neglected BlogDec was a busy month for me. Aren't they all? <br /><br />My home photo studio officially opened in Oct. My website was built and my portfolio. Oct and Nov I didn't see any business, which is ok. But in December I did 3 photo shoots. It was lots of fun, and my clients were happy with their results. It was pretty neat seeing the photos I took of their kids on a Christmas card they sent me. <br /><br />We also attended a benefit for a friend of ours. He almost lost his life in November, but the doctors were able to save him. He somehow had infectious tumors in his neck and throat. He had 3 long surgeries in 5 days. He has about a 4 month recovery period. Needless to say his illness and recovery time has forced him out of a job. His baseball friends all got together and held a benefit for him. It was a really good time. You paid a cover charge to get in, and got free food and beer. Then they had a silent auction. We won/bought a Margarita/Mexican bag. It has chips, salsa, a chip bowl, 2 margarita glasses, and margarita mix. <br /><br />I've also been working on my book edits. I finished my book on Tulum, Mexico and the Maya, so now it's editing time. Edits are going pretty good. <br /><br />Kevin had a Lego Robotics tournament at the end of November. His team did a really good job, and they are moving onto the state tournament at the end of January. It's a really busy and fun day for the kids, but it's a very long and boring day for the parents. Lots of sitting, and even more time spent between performances. His team is made up of 5 sixth graders, 4 boys & 1 girl. They are all pretty excited about going to the state tournament. They have practices scheduled twice a week to get ready for it. I hope they do a good job at the state tournament. <br /><br />This year for Christmas I only set up a small tree. It's about a 1 foot tall tree. With all the Dec happenings, I just didn't have the energy to go all out. Plus, with our new kitten, I don't trust her enough to stay out of it. I don't feel like coming home to a destroyed tree every day. Not to mention taking it all down. I usually never get my tree taken down until around Easter time. February if I'm lucky. It's such a big project. <br /><br />So I put up the little tree on a table and next to it put a snow man snow globe, a nativity set, and a nut cracker. All small pieces. It's a nice little decoration, and the cat has only knocked it off the table 3 times. Not too bad. <br /><br />I got all my Christmas shopping done. I did most of it online, and just hoping it all gets here in time. My mom and grandma's present is going to be late, but I get her the same thing every year. Not really a lot you can get a 72 & a 101 year old that they don't already have or haven't already given to you. But they will always need a calendar, and that's what I get them. Each month has a photo of us in some way or fashion. They really enjoy it, and it's a good way to show off their grandsons. <br /><br />Our new kitten had her claws removed and spayed right before Thanksgiving. The little stinker was healing fine over the weekend that we were home, and then as soon as we all left for school and work, she tore out a stitch and managed to get her tummy surgical cut infected. So everyday, I had to clean it out, put antibiotics on it, and give her oral liquid antibiotics. Good thing she liked it. I had to put a cone around her neck and she absolutely hated it. It took a while to get rid of it, and I didn't dare take off the cone until it was all healed up. <br /><br />Christmas is just a few days away. We plan on spending time with my husbands parents and family. That is always a real fun time. The kids have a real good time with their cousins. <br /><br />This Christmas we are starting new traditions. My kids have reached that age where they know Santa isn't real and they want more expensive toys. The annual tradition of visiting Santa just doesn't cut it anymore. So we will spend time with the family, got to midnight mass (now that they are old enough to sit through it), open gifts on Christmas morning (as usual), and then we are going to a movie. I'm also going to make a nice Christmas ham. So as the kids grown, we form new fun traditions. I remember as a kid at their age, our mom would load us all up in the family car and we would drive around town and look at all the Christmas lights in town. We'd get home and before bed, we got to open one gift from an out of town relative. It was always so fun to get a sneak peek. On Christmas morning, we'd open gifts, and then go to Christmas mass. <br /><br />This year also marks a first that my kids are old enough to understand the spirit of giving gifts. They took me shopping with them so they could get their dad and me a Christmas gift. I was just along for the money. It's always so nice that I'm so needed. It's the thought that counts, and I'm pretty proud that they wanted to do that all on their own. They are such sweet kids. They were able to hide my present from me, so I have no idea what I paid for. I'm excited to see what they picked out. <br /><br />Merry Christmas to Everyone!!Living With Cavemenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12253067328763474750noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2185196185793055776.post-27249525700972765252009-11-29T11:53:00.006-06:002009-11-29T12:31:41.987-06:00November HappeningsNovember turned out to be a very busy month.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivjt-256Xpr_MC0BVN7Da5ALZNLXCiVU_Q0LKks_p1WsXZoC2dIRwpxFbfgGCQFpCtig__AeQ9d7VnWGY_nvlqCgtb0gMsohBWrV0B3J_vCEhFQRGBT_7Ywg7NBCrkrmBt8c5JTQd231o/s1600/nano_09_winner_100x100.png"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 100px; height: 100px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivjt-256Xpr_MC0BVN7Da5ALZNLXCiVU_Q0LKks_p1WsXZoC2dIRwpxFbfgGCQFpCtig__AeQ9d7VnWGY_nvlqCgtb0gMsohBWrV0B3J_vCEhFQRGBT_7Ywg7NBCrkrmBt8c5JTQd231o/s320/nano_09_winner_100x100.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5409586855831730258" border="0" /></a><br /><br />I finished my novel! I started the challenge of writing a 50,000 word novel in November, and I did it in 15 days. Whew, talk about brain marathon! My novel isn't really a novel persay, it's a guide book to the Maya and the ruins in Tulum, Mexico. I'm at the editing stage of it now. I have it printed out and just need to go through everything and figure out which paragraphs go where and what I can delete out of it. 50,000 words equates to 98 single spaced pages of text. I plan on including photos and have assigned Ken to do some illustrations. Once I have it all edited and put together, I plan on getting it out to a publisher.<br /><br />I'm glad I finished so quickly. I spent a week getting my house in order to host Thanksgiving at my house. I haven't hosted a holiday meal at our house in about 8 years. It was just me, Ken, the boys, and Ken's parents for Thanksgiving. Ken's mom has done the Turkey Day meal for a long time, and all Ken's siblings were out of town this year. We decided to give his mom a break.<br /><br />I went all out. I made a feast fit for Kings and Queens. It was very tasty. I even made my own cranberry sauce. That was super yummy. Much better than from a can. We had the works, lots of appetizers, the main meal (turkey, homemade stuffing, real mashed potatoes, corn, green beans, squash, dinner rolls...the works!), for desert Ken's mom baked a blue berry pie, and I had 2 pumpkin pies from Trader Joe's (yummy goodness). I bought whipped cream and vanilla bean ice cream to go with it. <br /><br />I also broke out the good dishes. Not my every day wear. I got out my great Uncle Elmer and Great Aunt Marietta's flatware. I had a floral center piece, and used my great grandmothers, and grandmothers silver and glass serving dishes.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEit6fPKM3Y0F8Opt6Kr1ZSENY8qNPImyott3L_WQFKXr1MWZPCmEyEcGWAe1nWN-os1Ew_kfVQ1cUVoCPrrcTRhQqmNJ1c1A8g-_L3c2oDMm3OEdAmi7LSWJTra8dz_v306a14GYPTEdm4/s1600/pic+020.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEit6fPKM3Y0F8Opt6Kr1ZSENY8qNPImyott3L_WQFKXr1MWZPCmEyEcGWAe1nWN-os1Ew_kfVQ1cUVoCPrrcTRhQqmNJ1c1A8g-_L3c2oDMm3OEdAmi7LSWJTra8dz_v306a14GYPTEdm4/s320/pic+020.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5409589378139203234" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg96oyWx0ULBQnqtNdjP4JTcCaWbMwe2dy1fc2vABmCsIeO8N-OwIEJf5ih6-EEGEzA-n08oZLznuAGbmqflTi5U3zHxKez2Q-SYdTrzKgwBibi8zbQReV2VitRAsDORmodhz_lWmN3MXI/s1600/pic+018.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg96oyWx0ULBQnqtNdjP4JTcCaWbMwe2dy1fc2vABmCsIeO8N-OwIEJf5ih6-EEGEzA-n08oZLznuAGbmqflTi5U3zHxKez2Q-SYdTrzKgwBibi8zbQReV2VitRAsDORmodhz_lWmN3MXI/s320/pic+018.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5409589127594967250" border="0" /></a>Living With Cavemenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12253067328763474750noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2185196185793055776.post-40777878242092313952009-11-10T18:50:00.003-06:002009-11-10T19:36:59.096-06:00I'm Declaring War!On my body fat that is.... <br /><br />Today at work a group of nurses came to our work for health checks. It is for health insurance discounts. You get a discount for normal blood pressure, normal cholesterol, and a normal Body Mass Index. <br /><br />I filled out the paperwork, and went with nurse number 1 for my cholesterol check. I sat down and told her that I hated getting my finger pricked. She informed me that the pokers are not like the little razor blades that they used back when I was a lab tech. Ok, that sounded good. Wouldn't hurt too bad at all. So, I stuck out my finger, she stabbed it, and I yelled "OW!. The nurse lied! She pipes up and asks me if I've ever had babies, and that I should put it in perspective. Blah, blah, blah...you just stabbed me in the finger. <a href="http://www.freesmileys.org/smileys.php" title="Smileys"><img src="http://www.freesmileys.org/smileys/smiley-finger005.gif" alt="Smileys" border="0" /></a> Of course it hurts. It's stabbed and it's bleeding. She put a big band-aid on it. <br /><br />Then I waited in the hallway for the next step. Getting weighed and measured, getting my blood pressure checked, and my BMI result. An older nurse came to get me. She said "Who's next?" I told her that I was and she said "No, you're not, your the nurse." WHAT? I'm not the nurse. She argued that I was. No, clearly I'm not your co-worker nurse. Not me. I'm here to get poked and prodded. So she took me back to the room and ran into the nurse she thought I was. "Oh, see you two look just alike!" That made me a bit nervous that she couldn't tell her patient apart from her co-worker. <br /><br />I got on the scale and I swear it yelled "Hey chubby, get off me!" I did not like that number that I saw. No, I'm not telling what number that was, but it was not a good number! Then I got measured. Yep, I'm still 5 foot 2 inches tall. Then she asked my age and punched all my numbers into a thing that looked much like an X-box remote. She told me to squeeze the handles. So I did. "Squeeze harder!" So I did. Ok, she got the number. I missed the cut off for the discount by just a few points. <br /><br />Then she took my blood pressure. The nurse puffed that blood pressure cuff so tight, I thought the spot where I got my finger poked was gonna pop open and squirt blood all over every one. Yikes, I've never had a blood pressure cuff pumped up that high before. She gave me my result and it was a much higher number than I normally run. I figured it must just be from running around in the morning and having the cuff so dang tight. Plus I'm not sure if she could really read the numbers right because she thought I was the nurse, and she had to check the BMI machine a few times, like she couldn't make out the numbers. Oh well, my blood pressure was still with in the range for the wellness health discount, so no big deal. My finger poke didn't pop open, and all was well. <br /><br />While I was getting told my blood pressure was higher than normal and I'm too chubby, I got the results of my cholesterol. Yay! Passed those numbers with flying colors! So I qualified for the cholesterol discount and the blood pressure discount, but flunked the BMI test, so no discount for that.<br /><br />The nurse gave me some informational sheets on BMI. It's a chart that tells you how much you should weigh for how tall you are. Hmmmmm......I need to grow a foot to catch up to my weight. How can I grow? Dang...I guess I'll have to lose weight. No more harvesting fat for future medical technology to start asking people to donate their fat. But hey! I have good cholesterol! <br /><br />After a while I took my band-aid off my finger as it was too big and it was hard to type with it on. Guess what was there? A big fat bruise! Oh how, I hate getting my finger poked. <br /><br />For lunch I went out and had a big fat juicy bacon cheese burger, some yummy french fries, and cake & ice cream for desert. <a href="http://www.freesmileys.org/smileys.php" title="Smileys"><img src="http://www.freesmileys.org/smileys/smiley-eatdrink020.gif" alt="Smileys" border="0" /></a> Gotta celebrate having such a good cholesterol. <br /><br />Tomorrow the diet starts... <a href="http://www.freesmileys.org/smileys.php" title="Smileys"><img src="http://www.freesmileys.org/smileys/smiley-sport040.gif" alt="Smileys" border="0" /></a>Living With Cavemenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12253067328763474750noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2185196185793055776.post-36049563244170364902009-11-05T18:51:00.002-06:002009-11-05T19:23:56.336-06:00Oh What A Night!Last night Kevin decided that he was going to stay late after school. I really love the fact that my son likes to stay in after school study hall. So the night before he & I discussed that I had to work until 5:00 and then I would pick him up, so I'd be a tad bit late, but he could wait for me. Ok, sound plan! <br /><br />Well……yesterday I could not find my cell phone. So I had no way for the kids to get a hold of me. Well, they could call my work number and get me. I got done working at 5:00 and drove over to the school to pick up Kevin. I waited, and waited, and waited, and then suddenly all the kids who had stayed after school were all gone. They had waited for their ride to arrive. I thought to myself….maybe he changed his mind and went home after school, or maybe he decided to walk home, or maybe he caught a ride home with someone else. No way to check my cell phone though because I didn't have it on me. I drove home and no Kevin. ACK! I lost my kid and my phone!!! <br /><br />I run around frantically to try to find my cell phone. I can't find it. So I tell Sam that I'm driving back to school to see if I somehow missed Kevin and if Sam could try to find my cell phone. I ran down the stairs and when I hit the bottom step, I stepped on one of Sam's shoes, twisted my ankle, fell down, and hit my head on the front door. Now, I'm crawling around telling Sam NOT to leave his shoes right in front of the steps, where's my cell phone, and where's my kid!!! <br /><br />I hobbled back out to my van hoping I had not hurt my ankle worse than just a twist, but it sure did hurt. I drove back to the school, rubbing my head hoping it didn't leave a mark. I get back to the school and there are absolutely no kids there. Hmmm…where did the little shit go? I can't find my cell phone. Back home I go ready to call everyone I could think of where he might be. <br /><br />I walked in the house & there is Kevin…."Where were you mom! I tried to call you & you didn't answer cuz I found your cell phone in the couch cushion, so I took the activity bus home & when I got home, you weren't here! I was getting worried about you!! " <br /> <br />Oh good grief!Living With Cavemenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12253067328763474750noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2185196185793055776.post-31150785212575756332009-11-01T09:23:00.004-06:002009-11-01T10:19:02.179-06:00Happy All Saint's Day, Let the Writing Begin, & What an October!!November is here. Happy All Saint's Day!! <br /><br />Today is the start of the NaNoWriMo. National Novel Writing Month. I participated last year, but did not finish. Then the editor inside of me killed the novel & decided I would start over on it, at a later date though. <br /><br />This year I have decided to write about the Mayan Ruins, in Tulum, Quinta Roo, Mexico. I visited the Ruins in February, and was amazed by the place. Such fascinating history. It was gorgeous and amazing. It is the most visited ruins, yet the least is written about it. <br /><br />October was a busy month! It started out with my birthday. The following week Kevin was sick with a nasty cold. He missed a whole week of school. He's been busy catching up at school, and even goes to an after school study hall on Tuesdays. He is enjoying Robotics. November will be busy with practices for him and his team prepare for their Robotics tournament. <br /><br />October also brought us a new little kitten. She is the cutest thing! So yes, I think this officially deems me as the crazy cat lady. We have as many cats as we do people. Kenny says "it's a good thing she's so cute". Hahaha....The kids named her Cali which is short for Calico. They fell in love with her right away. She is quite the little fearless frisky kitten. She chases the other cats around and pounces on them. She definitely keeps the other cats on their toes. The first few days they didn't know what to think of her and they all ran away and hid from her, but now they have learned to just swat her back. She is relentless though, and keeps trying to suck them into playing with her. It's pretty funny to watch. <br /><br />My friend Kathy & her 18 month old came to visit us for a week. They made the drive from Montana. It was so good to have them around. I took a couple days off from work so we could have some fun. We sure did. We went out for dinner a couple of nights, we went shopping like crazy (definitely stimulated the economy), went to the Como Zoo, and just hung around at the house visiting. <br /><br />A day or two after they left Kenny came down with a head cold & I had picked up a cough. Ken had his cold for a little over a week and he felt miserable. My cough was more annoying than anything. Kenny got over his cold and my cough got worse. I ended up with a viral bronchitis. I stayed home for a week feeling miserable. I went to the doctor's office and when I walked from the waiting room to the patient room, I must have walked to fast and got really winded. It was difficult to breathe, and I felt as though, I had run a marathon. The nurse said "let me go get the doctor". She came back to the room with three doctors, they had the blood pressure cuff, the finger oxygen reader, and were checking my pulse right away. They were asking me a million questions at once and I was just trying to catch my breath. They did a chest X-ray and an EKG. They said "we'll have to see what this shows before we decide what to do with you, sometimes virus' like this can attack the heart and require hospitalization." Yikes! I don't have time to be sick in the hospital! I'm the mom! Well, the chest X-ray and the EKG both came back clear and normal. So they concluded that I had an influenza related viral bronchitis and I was to go home, get plenty of rest, and drink lots of fluids, and ride it out. They gave me an antibiotic just in case there was some bacteria, but they really doubted it. I guess they were covering their bases and didn't want to see me back? They also gave me an inhaler to help me breathe better. That worked but only temporarily, but it still came in handy. I'm feeling much better now, and am ready to get back to the real world and back to mom-normality. <br /><br />I had the Kickball Awards Parties in Oct. I wasn't feeling very good, but I pulled it off anyway. I don't think people realized I was feeling as miserable as I was. Which is good, but I came home exhausted. <br /><br />Halloween was great for the kids. Sam's school had their Halloween party a week early. I missed the memo on that one. Sam came home & told me he wanted to be Godzilla 2000 and the party was tomorrow. TOMORROW! Who has Halloween a week before Halloween? So off to the fabric store we went. Wal-Mart has removed their entire fabric department, so we ended up in St. Paul. Sam found the material he wanted and we found what we would make the spikes with. I ended up staying up until 3:30 am putting together the Godzilla costume. I ended up burning my index finger on the glue gun about 5 times. You think I would have learned not to touch hot glue after the first time, but no. I guess it was too early in the morning for such lessons. The costume got finished in time for school party. The costume was a hit with Sam and his friends thought it was a good costume too. So the numb feeling in my index finger and the sleepless night was worth it. I definitely earned my mom badge. <br /><br />Halloween I took the kids to St. Paul and the kids went trick-or-treating down Summit Ave. Summit Ave is known for it's candy and highly decorated houses. The Governor's mansion is also on Summit Ave. and they usually give out pretty good candy. One house had the smoke going in their yard and porch. They had people dressed up as scary characters from movies. They stood still and then would move as you got close to them. I have to admit it was pretty creepy. They left the little kids alone, but scared the older kids, and even me too. I'll admit I jumped and let out a scream when the smoke on the porch came screaming out of the machine. The kids just laughed...hahaha...mom got scared. <br /><br />And now here we are in November. Kenny is heavily wrapped up in the Vikings Football team and the Wild Hockey team. Both teams are doing good, and he loves that Brett Favre is helping MN win. He also likes that it makes the MN-WI football rivalry more intense. He is really excited for Vikings-Green Bay game today. We are hoping that Wisconsin's Golden Boy will have a Vikings win on Green Bay territory.Living With Cavemenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12253067328763474750noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2185196185793055776.post-79579213151656523052009-10-09T23:26:00.003-05:002009-10-09T23:45:26.348-05:00How did it suddenly become Oct?So far we are getting robbed of a decent fall season. Not much of a summer & not much of a fall. I can't complain too much about Sept. Sept. we had great weather. The leaves are turning and early in the morning we are to get snow.<br /><br />The youth kickball season came to an end. My 7-9 grade team took 1st place. My 4-6 grade team lost their final game which ended up putting them in 4th place. Oh well. They were a great group of kids. My 4-6 grade team all went out for Dairy Queen after our last game. The little girl on my team gave me a great big hug. Coaching was pretty rewarding. My 7-9th grade team had an end of season party at my co-coaches house. We cooked hot dogs and the parents all chatted in the kitchen & the kids all chatted in the tv room. Those kids were a pretty good group of kids too. <br /><br />I got all the scores and stats in and updated on the kickball blog. http://eagankickball.blogspot.com I just have to wait for the awards to get shipped to me and then I'll be planning an awards party for the kids. It's going to have to be somewhere indoors as the weather is pretty cold to do something outside. <br /><br />My adult league kickball season is pretty much over too. We had 2 rainouts, and I'm not sure when or if we'll even make those games up at all. <br /><br />Now that kickball is all over with you may wonder what I will do with my time? National Novel Writing Month is just around the corner. Oct I will finish my outline for the book I plan on writing in November. I'm going to be writing about the Mayan Ruins in Tulum, Mexico. They are the most visited ruins, yet the least written about. I've been doing research on it since I got back from Mexico in February of 09, so hopefully it will all come out onto paper in November.<br /><br />I had a birthday at the beginning of Oct. I celebrated for 4 days! I celebrated with friends the day before my b-day playing bingo. I didn't win anything, but 3 people at our table did. I had to celebrate my last day of being 40. On my birthday, I met up with friends at a nearby bar. My neighbor guy ended up showing up. He knew the DJ, so he told the DJ it was my birthday & the next thing I know, the whole place is singing Happy Birthday to me. The day after my birthday Ken & I went to Osaka's a Japanese seafood & steak house with another couple. The food was delicious! I had fillet mignon, lobster, shrimp, scallops, and fried rice. We did the Hibachi menu, so they cook the food right at your table. The chef does all sorts of fancy tricks. It's very entertaining. Then on Sunday (2 days after my b-day), I treated myself to a movie at the theater. I went and saw the movie "Fame". It was nothing like the original movie. The only thing the same was it takes place at the same school, and they had the singing, dancing, musical scene in the cafeteria. Otherwise, it was completely different characters with completely different stories. It was entertaining, and I enjoyed it, but I was expecting it to be more like the original.Living With Cavemenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12253067328763474750noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2185196185793055776.post-16508992346644661422009-09-28T22:18:00.003-05:002009-09-28T22:50:15.156-05:00Summer Madness Coming to an EndThis is the last week of youth kickball. Tuesday night Kevin & Sam's team plays. If their team will take 2nd place overall in the league. If they lose they will take 4th place. <br /><br />Wed night my 7th-9th grade team plays and after the game we are all headed to Coach Beth's house for an end of season celebration. The parents are bringing all sorts of goodies, so that should be fun. <br /><br />Sometime in October, I'm going to have an end of season party for the kids and hand out awards. Awards for 1st and 2nd place overall, most home runs, most runs batted in, and most improved player will be handed out. <br /><br />Two weekends ago we had gorgeous weather! It was too nice not to get out & about. So the boys & I headed over to Stillwater for a Sunday afternoon. We had a nice lunch outside on a restaurant patio overlooking the St. Croix River. We got to watch all the big boats go by and watch the lift bridge go up & down a few times to let the big boats go through. <br /><br />After lunch we walked along the sidewalk next to the river. Then we headed to the little downtown area. We didn't go into many shops as the boys really aren't into that. But I did manage to get them into a knick knack store. They had some really neat Cuckoo clocks. Hand carved and intricate. Kevin made one of them sound off. It played music and chimed and went cuckoo, cuckoo. So I asked him how he did that. "Well, you just move the hands mom". Ok, so I went for the big one. I moved the hands and nothing happened. Well, sort of nothing. The store clerk came over & asked me if I touched the clock. I couldn't lie as I had been caught red handed touching the goods. Ok, well you need to leave. Ok, not gonna argue with that! So out we went. You can't expect a grown mom to keep her hands off the cuckoo clocks. You have to make sure it works! Maybe they should be kept in a case of some kind for curious grown ups like myself. <br /><br />After we got kicked out of the knick knack store, we went across the street to a coffee shop. They had<a href="http://wcco.com/specialreports/stillwater.caves.minnesota.2.775521.html"> cave tours</a> (click cave tours to read about it) . It was a really neat tour. Even the kids liked it. Its not the kind of cave that you typically think of. It's quite wide and easy to walk through. Our tour guide was full of info and humor. Definitely worth the tour. <br /><br />Kevin has his first night of Robotics tomorrow night. His dad took him to the initial meeting. You know, the one he had rights not to go to. When he came home from the meeting he couldn't wait to sign up. I'm sure it was just a bad idea because we brought it up.Living With Cavemenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12253067328763474750noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2185196185793055776.post-9352513367767606502009-09-19T16:00:00.002-05:002009-09-19T16:27:11.205-05:00Growing up in Middle SchoolIt's beginning to happen. He's growing up. The other day he told me that he could no longer play with the littler kids as now that he's in Middle School that's no longer cool and he doesn't want to be caught and be the laughing stock. <br /><br />Also, the other day I was fiercely trying to get him to sign up for the after school robotics program. He was thinking of all sorts reasons not to, which I couldn't understand why. So I finally told him "Well, you are signing up for Robotics." Of which his reply was "I have rights to you know, and I don't have to sign up for it if I don't want to." <br /><br />Well, I sent in the registration and his first Robotics meeting is on Tues. I told him to at least give it a chance and see what it's all about before he decides. I'd hate for him to miss out on an opportunity he actually might enjoy. He's just so cautious to try new things and put himself out on a limb. <br /><br />He's been enjoying Middle School a lot, and we are starting the growing up process. It'll definitely be an interesting year of 6th grade.Living With Cavemenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12253067328763474750noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2185196185793055776.post-56175781797029030442009-09-11T16:40:00.005-05:002009-09-11T16:57:04.165-05:00Remembering 9/11<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiA8PQ3hlxfvAgqzRJvIS6kt4b3ttnZ1AYoO2W2Aoi-NrDkmxuqpj914om1xsQs-cbGGkX5Pp7gRTKj4UU7CwC6DC1_fUXL8k0JdBtQSHYBq6D5HZPryGqIwqiZ9F1TxLdS68-NwK-x0ns/s1600-h/Picture+033.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiA8PQ3hlxfvAgqzRJvIS6kt4b3ttnZ1AYoO2W2Aoi-NrDkmxuqpj914om1xsQs-cbGGkX5Pp7gRTKj4UU7CwC6DC1_fUXL8k0JdBtQSHYBq6D5HZPryGqIwqiZ9F1TxLdS68-NwK-x0ns/s400/Picture+033.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5380331010960843954" border="0" /></a><br /><br />It is hard to believe it was 8 years ago that the horrible terrorist attack was taken upon the USA. I remember the day vividly, as do many people. I was sitting at work when some one came running through the building telling people to turn on their radios, a plane hit the World Trade Center. Everyone thought, hmmm…some stupid person hit the Center in their little Buddy Holly plane. All the TV's in the building were tuning in. Employees throughout the building dropped everything and got to a TV. The employee break room was packed. We saw the second plane hit & couldn't believe what we were seeing. It was like some bad nightmare, or really good special effect movie. It seemed so unreal. How could something that awful really be happening? Employees looked at each other to see if they were seeing the same thing. Then we saw the Towers collapse. Faces of shock & disbelief filled the room. Complete silence. No one knew what to say or how to feel. It was so much for us to consume in our minds. <br /><br />We somberly went back to work, with sadness in our hearts and minds coming to terms that this indeed was reality. Our country was under attack. We got back to our desks and listened to our radios. It was all you could hear through out the building. No office chatter, no keyboards plunking, no phones ringing. Then we heard that the Pentagon had been attacked. Fear was in us. What was next? How could this be happening? Who was responsible? We kept listening as the news came in and we just listened. Then the news of the 4th plane crashing in a field came through. It was unbelievable. Was it going to end? How many more planes? How many more people? And most of all where? Where would the next bad explosion occur? <br /><br />Planes were grounded. People stranded at airports. Everyone's lives forever changed not matter how attached or detached to the people involved. <br /><br />I went home for lunch and it was odd. Not one single plane in the sky. The sky was quiet and still. I work, live, and drive on the landing and take off path near the airport, so seeing and hearing planes is an every day, let alone every hour occurrence. It's a part of my daily life. To have it suddenly still was a strange reality of it all. I felt numb the rest of the day. How will I explain this to my children? How will I explain to them that such horror was true to life? How will their young minds even understand? How would this event impact them? I decided at home we would not have the TV on and I would keep the horror from my children at least for that day. Plus I could not watch it over and over and over. It was too horrible. <br /><br />I contacted the airport and offered up my home to house displaced air travelers. It was the most I could do to help out. I felt we needed to pull together as a society and I needed to do my part. They declined and said things were taken care of but thanks for offering. All I could think of was how lucky I was to be with my family safe and how many people's family were suddenly torn apart and how many families were worried about loved ones stranded in airports around the world on what was supposed to be just an ordinary Monday morning. <br /><br />The whole week following the Attack of 9/11 adults and children were waving flags on street corners and on bridges. Flags at businesses were at half mast. A feeling of coming together, patriotism, and how much we really do love our country was overwhelming. <br /><br />As, we take a moment to reflect upon the events of Sept 11, 2001, let's remember that Freedom comes with a heavy price. When you see a soldier on the street, at the store, at the airport…make sure to say THANK YOU. They are making the ultimate sacrifice for the people of America. They put their lives at risk for freedom. They make sacrifices you and I could never know. They deserve respect and honor. THANK YOU!! <br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzymkcv2gy0wpGDgDfpQGrphXquHmvc2VLRT55RQOdab7-l6Aa3nLBHFKRQQTLQfS9NJ7M2usax7-yZZeSIwlPDq663G3Qssxe0hxW1E1eK-cLzYNowGJPeCicE3N8N9asKozjeQ61zTY/s1600-h/img+128.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 268px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzymkcv2gy0wpGDgDfpQGrphXquHmvc2VLRT55RQOdab7-l6Aa3nLBHFKRQQTLQfS9NJ7M2usax7-yZZeSIwlPDq663G3Qssxe0hxW1E1eK-cLzYNowGJPeCicE3N8N9asKozjeQ61zTY/s400/img+128.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5380330231338535890" border="0" /></a>Living With Cavemenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12253067328763474750noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2185196185793055776.post-86848467469155100082009-09-03T19:44:00.003-05:002009-09-03T20:13:28.492-05:00Living La Vida KickballKickball has pretty much been my life the past few weeks. I am coaching 2 teams. One team made up of 7th-9th graders and one team made up of 4th-6th graders. Kevin & Sam are both on my 4th-6th grade team. <br /><br />My teams are great!!! The kids are so fantastic and the past few weeks have been so extremely rewarding. It is so nice to see the smiling faces of these kids having so much fun on the kickball field. I have had many parents thank me for bringing the sport into action and how much fun their child is having. Did I mention how great the kids are? I wish I could bring them all home with me. Well...I take that back. I'll just settle for the one hour each week I get with them listening to me. Did I just say kids listen me? Wow, now that is a new concept. Just add Coach Bonnie to my never ending list of titles. <br /><br />Besides life on the kickball field....(Yes, I do have a life outside of kickball believe it or not)<br /><br />I was in a wedding this past weekend. My good friend Jo that goes on my girls trips with me got married. I was one of her bridesmaids. The evening before the wedding we had rehearsal and went to dinner at the couple's favorite Mexican restaurant. It was good. <br /><br />The day of the wedding I had my eyebrows waxed, my eyelashes tinted, and my hair done up really pretty. My hair stylist is awesome. She's young and energetic when it comes to hair. She knows hair! I told her she's the hair expert, have at it. I had no idea how I wanted to wear it. So she went against traditional updo style and gave me a really rocking updo off to the side. It was so adorable. I absolutely loved it. And wow, I got so many compliments on it. <br /><br />The wedding was a complete blast. One of the most fun weddings I've been to. I've been to a lot of fun weddings. This one makes the top 5 (mine of course is number 1). But now that I think about it, I don't think I've ever been to a bad or boring wedding. Or wedding reception for that matter. <br /><br />Yesterday my oldest caveboy had Middle School orientation. Yikes!! MIDDLE SCHOOL! Orientation was all day long. He met his teacher and class mates. He got his locker assignment and learned his combination. Their lockers are tiny! I'm not sure how they are supposed to fit all their books, hats, coats, ect. in there. When I went to school you should shove a person in your locker. I guess they are moving away from that? Nobody will be fitting in these lockers. I don't think they even a full 2 feet wide. They are only about 3 1/2 feet tall too. <br /><br />Here is the little big man's daily schedule, which rotates on a cycle day. Blue & Green Cycle Days. <br /><br />General Music / Phy Ed - Health<br />Math Lab / Phy Ed Health<br />Art / Science <br />Art / Science<br />Math<br />American History<br />Reading<br />English<br />Homebase (Study Hall/Homeroom)<br /><br />He also got a map of the school. Yes, his school is quite large. It is 2 levels and I got lost going through there when I went to pick him up from orientation. Kevin seemed to know his way around, so apparently they navigated their way around a few times during orientation too.Living With Cavemenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12253067328763474750noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2185196185793055776.post-16450661724778932502009-08-19T21:14:00.003-05:002009-08-19T21:27:23.027-05:00Kickball Kick OffMonday night I had my first Kickball practice with the 7-9 graders. It went really well. I had another coach helping me and he knew most of the kids and had a bigger voice than me, so I was really glad he was there. I got a good feel for what positions they can play and how well they can kick the ball. They were a really nice group of kids. I can tell it's going to be a good season with them. <br /><br />Tonight I was supposed to have practice with my 4-6 grade team, but we got rained out. I'm hoping the field will be available this weekend, so we can get a practice in before our first game next week. <br /><br />Tonight I help an umpire training. It was supposed to take place right after practice on the field, but since the city closed the fields, I had the umpires meet at my house instead. There are only 4 umpires I'm working with. It quit raining by the time they showed up, so I was able to take them to the backyard to go over the rules (all 6 pages of them). The had lots of good questions and we went through every single rule. I was able to show them legal vs. illegal pitches, and how the catcher can play. Umpire training took 1 hour. <br /><br />Tomorrow night I have my adult league kickball game. That should be fun. We are on a less competitive league this season, so that will make for a fun season.Living With Cavemenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12253067328763474750noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2185196185793055776.post-34777171774290970212009-08-15T17:28:00.003-05:002009-08-15T17:40:58.023-05:00My Poor Neglected BlogIt has been a very busy couple of weeks. Kickball has been all consuming. I picked up my uniforms that I had made and they look fantastic! I'm so happy with how they turned out. I've been really busy finalizing things for kickball; schedules, late registrations, fields, equipment, ect... <br /><br />My coaches meeting was on Thursday. It went really well and it was nice to meet everyone I'd working with this season. We met at Old Chicago. There are only 13 coaches, so it didn't seem practical to rent out a lecture room. I wasn't going to give any big speeches anyway, so I just wanted something laid back and practical. I gave out their equipment, and went over the official rules with them. Answered questions they had and that was about it. <br /><br />One team I am co-coaching with is the Director of Traveling basketball and Inhouse volleyball. She also coaches those sports. She encouraged some of her kids to go out for kickball and is helping me coach so it is really nice that I have her support. So, she stayed at Old Chicago with me after everyone left and gave me some helpful tips. <br /><br />The kickball season starts up on Monday. I'm pretty excited about it really.Living With Cavemenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12253067328763474750noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2185196185793055776.post-35259210249062893222009-08-05T22:29:00.003-05:002009-08-05T22:52:47.947-05:00Kickball, Kickball, and more KickballMy youth kickball league is coming along rather nicely at the last minute. I've had some later registrations which helped out a lot. I ordered the uniforms the other day and those will be in next week in time for my coaches meeting. I'm excited to see how they look. I didn't have a logo design that I really liked. So I told the guy at the uniform store, what I was thinking. Turns out he is the designer, so he ran with my idea and threw in a few things of his own, and is going to design it for me. They should be pretty neat. <br /><br />Tomorrow, the equipment I ordered is getting delivered to my house. I ordered it locally and the sales rep is going to deliver it personally. It was the easiest shopping I've ever done. I emailed the sales rep at Metro Sports, told him what I needed. I called him today to see if he had my order and he said "yep, we have everything you need, when do you want me to bring it to you?" WOW, now that's what I call service! <br /><br />Today I got my teams formed and finalized. I'm still waiting on a couple late registrations, but I have some of their info already. I have to wait for the people's registrations to get uploaded to one program, that uploads to another program, then gets to me. So my information is a day or two old by the time I get it. I did order extra uniforms for just that reason. <br /><br />I also got the schedules formed today. I sent a copy of the schedules off to the lady who runs the fields of the city, so those are reserved for me. I've got some pretty nice fields to play on. The city has over 100 parks, so I had a few to choose from. I had to be careful with that as I'm head coaching two teams. One team for grades 4-6 (my kids are on) and one team 7-9. I needed extra coaches. I still have one team that is coachless, but I think I'll be able to find one for them before next week and it won't be me. <br /><br />My coaches meeting is next Thursday. That's where I get to give them all their team stuff and hand out all sorts of paperwork. Should be fun, we're meeting at Old Chicago so it'll be less formal. <br /><br />The season officially starts the week of Aug 17. I'm pretty excited that I got this program up & running. I was nervous I wouldn't have enough kids to participate, but things really picked up the last two weeks and it looks like a promising first season.Living With Cavemenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12253067328763474750noreply@blogger.com1