Wow, months since my last blog. That just proves how insanely busy I always am. I have things I should be doing right now, but am wiped out from a couple intense workouts this week (thanks, P90X Legs and Back).

We leave for Boston, MA tomorrow for a much-needed vacation. Looking forward to spending some quality time with the kids in a nice city. It is supposed to be a bit rainy tomorrow and the day after, but I am sure we will find something fun to do.

The summer is just flying by. This summer is particularly stressful with our upcoming office inspection in August. Prepping for it has been more stressful than I would have thought. I expected to just sail through the summer, but there have been a medley of issues that have come up over the past couple months that we are trying to fix before Inspectors come.

When we get back from vacation, D's mom arrives from Jacksonville. Entertaining an 86 year old is not nearly as easy as once thinks. Trying to think of bland foods for her to eat takes some creativity. Thankful my parents will help us out on that a bit - D is good to them, and so they reciprocate the same kindness when his mother is here.

Off to pack for Beantown. :)

Today L. made her First Reconciliation. It was a really nice ceremony - my good friend's brother is the Pastor of the Church, and he did a fantastic job with the kids. It was a great feeling to see Landis with the priest, talking, becoming more of a true Catholic every day. :) She looked gorgeous, and so innocent - it made me think of when A. and P. had their First Reconciliations. I have never actually witnessed any of the kids too well though, since as usual, my eyes were all teary. I have yet to actually see a concert, recital or anything similar, because I always get overwhelmed when the kids are doing something special. I can't imagine what I will be like at their weddings!

Still busy at work, but not as stressful. This past weekend, A. had a sinus infection, as did I, so we spent Sunday afternoon at the Immediate Care tag-teaming the P.A. for antibiotics. A. stayed home from school yesterday, and would probably start to feel better if she would get some sleep. We are all like vampires in this house - up at night - except for Daisy, our beloved yellow lab, who sleeps soundly. And loudly.

D., A. and I went to dinner with our dear friend, Mrs. B. on Saturday evening. It's amazing how when we go alone to dinner, we are in and out within an hour, and when we go with Mrs B. two hours seems like twenty minutes. We had such a wonderful time with her.

This weekend, D and I have to work an Irish Night at A.'s school. I wouldn't mind, except it's my weekend with the kids and I hate to not spend the time with them. My friend asked me to go to the Sabres game on Friday night and I said no for the same reason. I am having second thoughts on that decision though, because I haven't spent any time with my friend lately either! Basically, there just isn't enough time in the day for me to do what I want and/or need to do.

On that note, I am going to wash my face and watch TV with P. until bedtime, which my body is telling me is N O W.

Evidence....

So I literally spent the entire day working on evidence today, which I normally wouldn't mind, but today, I felt so pressured to get things done quickly because I am only in work for one more day before heading to Florida. We had a re-alignment in the office, which basically means, I have far more work than I used to. I was told today that the reason behind this was so that I can get the "promotion" when (more like IF) J. ever retires. It sounds good in theory - work really hard for another six months or so, and then get the promotion. We shall see.

After work, it was, as usual busy. I did the P90X Kempo and felt amazing afterwards. Gave L. a bath, and then spent some time with her snuggling on the couch before she went to bed. She is feeling much better, which is a huge relief.

Tomorrow evening, D and I have having company at our house. I can't wait. I haven't seen my friend C and her husband since before Christmas!! And it's always great to see A and his girlfriend. :) I invited them over for 7 pm, which doesn't leave me much time to prep beforehand, but I am not going to stress over it and just enjoy their company. D. is only working a half day tomorrow (court holiday), so he can do a few things before I get home, including the shopping for food at Wegmans tomorrow night.

A. had a crazy story about school today - apparently her English teacher approached her about her morbid stories, questioning whether something was wrong in her life. A. likes to write about morbid topics, and I completely get where the teacher would find this an oddity all the time. Other girls her age and writing about falling in love with boys....not my A - she's a female Grim Reaper. ;) I am sure her teacher has shed a tear or two with some of the topics she has chosen to write about - especially if she thinks there is any truth to them! If she only knew how A. had it made around here. :) We nearly worship her - I love her so much!

Off to spend a few moments with D. if he is still awake - A. said she heard him shoveling at 5:30 am this morning! Crazy!

Monday, Monday....

After very little sleep, a visit from A. at 4 am wherein she informed me she couldn't sleep (she WAKES ME to tell me this), and a severly coughing daughter, I dragged myself into work. Work has been rough lately - I am working on an annual seminar to be presented in mid-March for about 800 people....the speaker I have lined up is questionable, to say the least. The bar has been set so high for this seminar, and to think our reputation could be scarred by one bad speaker upsets me. But I not only dealing with the stressors of the seminar. With an upcoming Inspection in August, I am trying to get things in order for it. Throw in moving to a new office, and that is more stress than I want to deal with. But the real stress comes after work. I know that working moms all face stress. I start getting ready for work at 6:45 am, and I get home (if I am lucky) at 5:30. That means that nearly eleven hours out of the day I am committed to work, getting ready for it, or driving to/from it. Then the real job starts when I get home. Fortunately, my parents help immensely, but this year seems incredibly hard to keep up with everything. P's 7th grade work has gotten more difficult. As I write this, I can hear my husband studying Social Studies with him. L. is already in bed - she has only coughed once since I started writing.....(let's hope for a good night).

Anyway, I digress....working full time is a handful. I am mentally exhausted when I get home. Most of the time, one of the kids has to go somewhere immediately when we get home, or they have to be picked up from somewhere. My parents usually make dinner for them, which is a true blessing so they don't eat sandwiches or fast food during the week. But D and I often skip dinner because by the time we actually get to sit down to eat, it's too late to do so! Ironing the kids clothes, reviewing homework, reviwing notes that come home from school...it's just so much to do, in so little time. Oh yes, play with the pets, bathe L. , try to straighten up the house (thank god for Clorox wipes), throw some laundry in, fold some laundry, and give a passing hug to D. every now and then just so he knows we are still married. Perhaps I am more overwhelmed than usual because of my one hour minimum a night commitment to P90X - a workout program six days a week. I always said that working out is a good stress reliever. But six days a week may be causing more than it is relieving. Let's hope for a bathing suit ready body by the time summer comes so I can say it will be worth it.

Off to read the lunch menus for the three schools and decide whom I have to make lunch for tonight! And do it all again tomorrow, thrown in with a Sabres game and drum lessons after work! Arrrghh!

Had to join the club...1st blog!

So I am little late in starting my New Year's resolution of blogging. With how hectic my life is, I am lucky it's only early February.

I have good news and bad news to share for my first blog. Bad news first....my youngest daughter, L., is sick. Again. After having just spent over two months coughing, the cough has returned. This time the house had a medley of coughs, with Landis leading the pack, followed by my husband D. (who insists he does NOT have a cold), and my 12 year old son, P., dragging behind the rest. We were able to call the ENT this morning who called in an antibiotic presciption for her, so hopefully the meds will start to kick in. She is sleeping in my room tonight, snuggled very cozily in D.'s spot. He, and the dog, are banished to the family room for the night. Thankfully, he never says a word. What a saint. Keep your fingers crossed and say a prayer that L. gets better, and quickly. Especially before we fly off to Orlando next week!

The good news is actually great news. My dear, dear friend K. is home from the hospital. K and his wife, K have been my friends since college. Though they live in the Pittsburgh area, I consider them as close as family, and was devastated to learn of K's stage 2 cancer after a routine colonscopy. I felt assured after some research that stage 2 colon cancer is treatable with great success rates. His surgery went well, but then he developed an abscess on his stomach, which has kept K in the hospital for nearly FOUR weeks. I can't even imagine what he went through, not being able to eat, being in pain, and being in bed for that long. His wife K is one of my best friends - she is the most caring woman I know - an elementary school teacher (perfectly suited for her), and while most of my sympathy went to her husband, I also felt badly for her. She had to run a classroom, tend to her husband, and still keep the life of her children semi-normal. And she did. I think they are one of the most amazing couples I know....if anyone could deal with something like this, it is them.

Over the past few weeks, I thought a lot about my friendship with them. One of my favorite memories is going to visit them in my mid-20's. They were married by then, living in Jacksonville. I had never been on a plane before. I flew there, K met me at the airport, and we went to their apartment. How I envied them. I was back at home, living with my parents, dating a boyfriend, G, at a very slow pace, and they were young, in love, and making a life for themselves. K took his vacation time when I was there, and we did a couple road trips, in addition to seeing the Jacksonville area. We went to St. Augustine, and they took me, for my very first time, to Disney World. That was an eye opener for me. I fell in love with Disney World that day. Sitting at Magic Kingdom, waiting for K and K to go on Space Mountain, I sat there and decided that my relationship with G would never work because he would never enjoy a place like Disney. I pictured myself there with my own family, wanting children, wanting to make Disney an annual vacation (and if you know me well, you know that I do!). I loved that vacation with K and K. We shared many memories after that - the birth of their daughter (again, talk about envy! She was SO beautiful...), me getting married (K flew K up for the wedding with the baby), my daughther A. born, their son being born, my son being born (K and K are his grandparents)....first Communions, the birth of my youngest, L......they were there for it all. And just over two years ago, K and K gave me the surprise of my life by flying to Vegas to be there for my (2nd) wedding to D. Being married in Vegas was fun, and would have been great with D alone, but it was special beyond description to have K and K there. I still think it was fate - not only did they get to share in our wedding, but K got the treat of a lifetime and met Pete Rose. I loved how happy it made him. :) And that was only fitting because having them there as I said my vows with D. made me the happiest person in the world. I pray that K continues to get better each day.