No Day For A Snow Day :(

Well, I guess we won't be blessed with a Snow Day this year, since the temperature is supposed to be in the 40's, but I guess it will be good for Track practice.
Especially since I am cancelling Thursday, so they only get 2 days in this week.
Hope you enjoy Emily's snowman. She and Val crushed it and had a huge snowball fight, after Mark took this picture.
That's love.

Snow Day Saturday

I hope we get Monday off too! We haven't had a Snow Day all year!!!!
Val would rather go to school, but Emi and I sure wouldn't mind a day off, although Emi did leave early yesterday, due to weather, so I could get out to Bishop Carroll to get Val, since track practice was cancelled (duh), even though, Val did think that Snow Vaulting would be fun!

Weigh In

Did you know that Val joined the Bishop Carroll Track Team? Well, she did, I just can't remember if I have blogged about it yet, and am too lazy to go back and look.
Anyway, she is and she is Pole Vaulting. A few weeks agim ger coach, Denis, asked her how much she weighed. It depends how big the pole is that she can use, so, we didn't know. I am like so bad about weight or height, I cannot grasp it, so I took her to my mom's, because I know she has a scale. She said it wasn't the best, but it would be a good estimate. She weighed at 120 pounds. So, I figured, maybe 115. That is what she told Denis, so he started her out with that weight in mind. Apparently, in pole vault, all the poles go in 10 lb increments. She has done pretty well, and can do it, but not really high yet, but you have to start somewhere.
Back to the point, Val had to have an official weigh in. She was so nervous! Denis told her that since she must weigh about 115, she either needed to lose 5 lbs or gain 3 lbs over night. So, she made herself sick eating McDonald's and ice cream. Then, she went to her weigh in, and weighed 108 lbs. Coach Swords, the head coach, said she needs to eat more. So does her cousin Jake. He was in the weight room working out with her. He did not realize she wasn't running, and was like not believing she was in pole vault, but she is used to it, because everyone has had the same reaction.
So, anyway, it was kind of a pointless story, except that it was so funny that she gorged herself to gain 3 lbs to be 12 lbs less than what she thought she was.

Starlite-Star Bright

So, we didn't really do a lot over spring break. Mostly stayed home, although Val did get out to Pole Vault Practice most days, and went out with friends a few times.
She was invited to the drive in for last night, which means, her friends wanted us to take them to the drive in, and we did.
We took 2 cars, the truck for Mark, Emi and I and my mom's van for Val, Jared, Kaitlin, Sarah and Jessica. Yeah, he was pretty lucky, the only guy with 4 lovely ladies, although, he is attatched to Kaitlin, I think he protected all of them during Friday the 13th.
We sat in the truck bed, parked next to them, but Emily was cold during Watchmen, and wanted to sit in the cab of the pickup. Well, when she got out, her foot caught in this arm thing that holds the flap up, and she fell, bruising her foot. She wanted to leave at that point, and Mark was really miserable with the cold, so they ditched us. HAHA~!!!!
Watchmen was finally over. It was maybe the most awful movie ever created. Long, and gross, and just awful! Well, then the kids wanted to stay for Twilight.
By the time we got home it was 3:50 am. A.M.! That's right. It has been a long day! Now, Val had to go to Confession, it is her final step before Confirmation on April 1. She just has practice next week, and that's it! She has worked hard all year for this, it should be a nice evening!!!! And, the best part is, that Mark will be home for it that night, so it will make it extra special for her!
Anyway, tomorrow is back to school. Track, school, dance.... for 2 1/2 weeks, before we are off for Easter break. The rest of the school year is going to fly by, and it will be summer before we know it!Yay!

Nerds

So, you all know that (especially Val), we are all big fans of CRIMINAL MINDS. It is a tv show on Wednesday nights. We try to watch it every week, because it is basically the only night of TV that we can all agree on liking what is on. It is also the only night that we will like sit and watch TV.
Anyways, did you guys watch last night's episode? It was about the scariest thing I have ever seen. I can't believe it was on network TV. I can't even explain it to you, because I don't want to start thinking of it again. Especially the end, in the jail cell--OK, I got to stop now.
Mark was out of town, so it was just the girls and I watching, and I decided it was too scary to venture around the house after that, so I made the girls sleep on the pullout sofa with me. For some reason, I deemed our living room more safe than, say, my bedroom. We have never been so uncomfortable, and the girls actually ended up ditching me after a few hours, but I lived through the night, and am getting up and around and ready to drive Val and some friends to the mall, before her Pole Vault Practice. The mall, with a bunch of freshmen girls could end up being scarier than the TV show, I am not sure yet.

You Know That One Friend....

...all of us have one friend that every oddball, off the wall thing happens to, and you always think I am so glad that happened to them and not me???
Well, look no further, you have officially found that friend.
Me.
Let me tell you about my week.
I think I am allergic to my contacts. I am taking a week off with eye drops to see if they clear up. They are itchy and red, and irritated.
Tuesday, I picked Val up from track. It was about 6-615, and she gets in the car, and is chit chatting, and pipes up that she needs Romeo and Juliet puppets for school. Puppets???? She could have said anything and it would not have caught me as off guard! So, I took her to Hobbytown, and we found a princess, and a knight in shining armor-which we deemed close enough. They were kind of pricey, but when I thought of the expense for the supplies to make puppets, and then actually having to make them, we just bought them.
The serpentine belt in the truck needs to be fixed now. Mark can do it, just fine, but you can scroll down and read about my trip with the truck.
I have had to cancel track all week, because of weather.
My mom landed in the ER last night with chest pains, and flu-like symptoms and was sent home with RX's, and told she has a virus.
And today, to top it off, I had to cancel my checking account because I think we were being targeted for identity theft. It was a crazy story,which basically came down to some (not American) man saying we took out a $5000 loan in October 2007, never paid it back (never was asked to either), and he would take care of it for the bargain price of $1000.
I have a friend who has a sister who works for the better business bureau, and she said it sounds like a scam, and is investigating.
So, tomorrow is Friday the 13th. I am a little apprehensive about what will go down, but who cares really, because, this time tomorrow, I will be on Vacation!!!!!

Check This Out

Not only can Emily hear fine, she can hear better than the average human. Really!
Dr. French, the specialist, said that the twisty thing in her ear is 1/10 of a milimeter larger than normal,so that lets in more noise than an average person's ears.
SO,the question is..... does she pay attention. Well, according to her of course she does! We will see... or hear, as the case may be. HAHAHAHAHA!!!!

A Day In The Life

I feel I should give you an explanation why I have been so lax recently in my blogging. It is not that nothing is going on, it is that everything is going on.
This is a sample of our schedules, since track and field practice has started this week. Did you know that I am the coach at SMM? Pretty scary! As I told my friend Lynn, I don't have any experience, so I am not really sure what I can teach them, but they will have the cutest costumes, since we ordered new ones for the team. She then said, Uniforms? And yeah, they are uniforms.DUH! Luckily I have good people helping me, so we should be ok!
On to the schedule.
Each weekday, we get up, take Emi to Nanny's house to wait for Tarah, take Val to BCCHS, get Emi and Tarah, go to school, and Val has track after school until between 6-7. On Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday, add in Emi's track practice from 315-5. On Monday and Thursday, Emi goes to dance also from 730-830. Somewhere in there we find time for homework. And remember, Mark is in Greensburg Monday-Thursday, so that leaves only me for all this driving.
You would think that weekends would be easier. Yeah, right! TOmorrow, Emi,Val and I all go to the eye doctor from 9-1030. Emi has dance from 11-12, she bowls with friends from 1-230, at which time we pick her up and take Val to BCCHS for pole vault practice, because pole vaulters don't like to get up early, in case you were wondering. And on top of all of that, every Sunday this month, Val has Confirmation class.
No wonder, I don't have time to blog, but I will keep you posted on the important stuff. Right now, Emi is at the hearing doctor, with her dad, so hopefully that goes well, and I am getting ready to leave and get Lauren and take her home, before I go out west to get Val and her friends movie tickets for a Date Night after track practice....
So, are we busy? Yeah, but I also wouldn't trade the time with the kids for anything. They are growing up after all.

Mommy Knows Best

My mom has always had issues with driving. If you ride with her, it is a given fact that you will always have to go down to a light, instead of turning left onto a busy street unprotected. You always know that you have to take the city streets instead of the highway. You always have heard never to use cruise control, because it may stick.
I never really give this much thought.
Until today.
Mark's truck.
We got the brakes fixed on Friday. Then, yesterday morning, Mark put gas in it, to drive it to Greensburg and gas started pouring out of it. There was a seal broken. Got that fixed too, but to do it, Mark took my Rav to Greensburg, and I borrowed my mom's van until the truck was ready.
Well.
I went to pick it up, and it started fine, got going, it was all good. Then I got on the highway, and the check engine light came on. That freaked me out so I got off on the Macarthur Exit. But didn't stop. I stomped on the brake, but it would not go slower than 15. If I took my foot off the brake, it would accelerate to 35. I started to panic, naturally.
I called Mark and he told me to pull over. Well, how could I pull over when I couldn't stop?
I threw it in park. That did it. But, I was blocking someone's driveway, so I figured I should move it. I started it back up, and it did the same thing.
Through the grace of God I made it home. It was a total of like maybe 4 miles with no brakes. When I went through intersections, I just laid on my horn. I didn't know what to do. It worked though.
Anyways, I got it home, put it in park again. Mark got here and called our mechanic who came over and figured out what happened (did you know mechanics make house calls?) and disabled the cruise control.
It works fine now, but I don't trust it, until Mark can drive it around more this weekend.
Scary stuff!
Always listen to your mommy! That is the lesson of the day. Even if she won't turn left.
This could have been a very devestating day. I mean, what would all of you do without me.

I'm kidding!!!!
No I'm not.
Yes I am.
Not really!
Love to you all. Just so you know!