Footprints on windows

I'm sitting here thinking of things to write and mindlessly gazing out the window. As I start to focus on the tree outside I see a smudge on the window about halfway up that looks like a footprint. That is a really weird place for a footprint and of course I mentally picture how it could be done. Awkwardly.

Jordan was not able to go to camp. We don't have proof of insurance yet. Their father has had insurance on them since November (at least) and yet we still don't have proof. I'm really disappointed for her since she cut her time with her friends short to come back so she could go to camp. She is disappointed too. It especially sucks because our cousins sponsored her so it was free for us. It was a fabulous and thoughtful gift that she can't use. There is always next year though.

I'm working a temp assignment and a couple ladies were talking about their dogs and the heat. One woman was mentioning that her dogs love to chase the "hose pipe." This got me thinking that I should give you some lessons in Tennessee vernacular. There is the obvious ya'll but some of the fun ones are:
hose pipe = garden hose (while it's just referred to as a hose in Oregon, it's the full hose pipe here)
smashed potatoes = mashed potatoes
Tailgating can have two meanings out west - a tailgate party before a game or driving too close to the car in front of you. Here it is only the first. If you are too close to the car in front of you you are "riding their bumper."

Yay to deanna for answering the Wilson question! She said Cast Away which is correct! Tom Hanks named a Spalding volleyball "Wilson." We haven't had anymore activities with Wilson Jr. yet. Jordan was going to ride her bike but couldn't figure out how to lower the seat. By the time I got home to help her, she decided it was too hot and had lost the motivation to go. Poor Wilson Jr. has just been sitting on our kitchen counter being bored. deanna, be watching for that Tinkerbell sticker. Oh, and thanks to her gamer husband Keith for the spelling of Princess Leia. See, being a gamer can come in handy...

Hugs.

A New Addition to the Family

...meet Wilson Jr.!!!!! (I've got a Tinkerbell sticker to anyone who tells me the movie reference.) Jordan and I were at dinner and I noticed the bottom of one of the rolls was hollow so I found another one and held them up to my ears like I was Princess Leah (is that how you spell Leah?). They were so hollow and fun - like they would fit right over my ears. As I was searching for another fun bun (okay roll but bun fit better) I found this little happy face guy. I held it up to Jordan and said "he's happy to see you!" Well of course my timing was perfect...Jordan starts cracking up just as the waiter walks over to take our order. We said, "We don't want food to eat - we want food to play with! What do you suggest?!" :) No, not really, although he did walk up to find me (the adult at the table) playing with our food. Of course we couldn't eat our happy face dude so we decided to play some more and emphasize his eyes with frosting from Jordan's healthy dinner of chocolate cake and we added a bit of ketchup to highlight his charming smile.

So I would like to introduce you all to Wilson Jr. Our happy little fellow...

He's still happy even with a thumb up his butt! :D

Look at him taking up the whole sofa just to watch a stupid soap opera. You'd think he would at least like CSI or Deadliest Catch!

She's baack

Jordan is back home. She had a nice visit in Oregon and most importantly - brought home two bags of Snoqualmie Falls pancake mix! We've tried pancakes from scratch but truly SF is much better. School just got out there so many of her friends were out of town so she didn't get to see everyone she wanted to see. She was glad to get back to her own bed though.

She did have a little excitement with the connecting flight in Dallas. Her plane arrived a few minutes early but there wasn't a ground crew around so they couldn't unload the plane. Well, Jordan's connecting flight was leaving in 40 minutes AND it was the last flight of the night heading to Nashville. By the time they got a ground crew to get the walkway attached the connecting flight was leaving in 4 minutes! Jordan had to run to catch a tram, go 5 stops then run to the gate. They were holding the plane. Jordan was the lead runner with about five or six grown men all following along running desperately for the Nashville bound plane. She said it looked like an outtake from Home Alone and "Run Run Rudolph" needed to be playing as they ran through the airport.

I'm in a bit of a funk right now. What type of funk? The Jordan may not be able to go to camp on Thursday because we still don't have a copy of her insurance card even though we've been trying to get it since January funk. The can't find a job within a 15 mile radius that pays more than $12/hr funk. The funk that comes along when noxious gas is released, it can't be undone and since it's a mixture of gasses, nobody knows the damage it will cause until it's too late.

Okay, gotta go pick popcorn kernels out of my teeth.

A Can of Worms

Turns out I'm related to a buttinskie. On the upside, it is only my close friends and family who read my blog. :)

My mom came clean tonight and told me she contacted the kids' dad. Far be it from me to truly believe he might try to make contact. Although in a way, it's sort of fitting that she call him and lead him to believe the kids' want to see him or talk to him. They don't. They don't want to call him or talk to him. She now has to answer to him as to why the kids haven't contacted him. But I do have to say it's just fabulous that he now knows we don't live there anymore. She has created drama that she alone gets to address. She's a little old to learn this lesson but I guess she has learned not to butt in. She had good intentions, she just didn't take the time to consider who it might affect and discuss it first. The only person potentially hurt from this is the kids' dad and at this point, I really don't care if his feelings get hurt. Call me heartless but don't call me late for a date. :)

Which, by the way, I really wouldn't be late to if I can ever get one lined up. :-)

Agh, itchy, itchy!

I've just discovered the best form of torture! Forget Chinese water torture or any of those scary looking machines from the dark ages, forget everything you've learned about or heard about. Think nature think mosquitoes. Think mosquito bite. Think mosquito bite on the ball of your foot! Usually a little calloused the stupid mosquito really had to work for that drink and I'm feeling it! With every step!!!!! Step, itch, step, itch, step, itch. I have itch cream but it doesn't penetrate the callous. I need the ped-egg. LOL!

Boring and Quiet

It's quiet with both kids gone. The cats are worried and fretting about. They are following me everywhere, keeping me within their sight at all times. Little boy is the worst. He is needing lots of attention and reassurance right now.

The kids' dad finally made contact. It's only been a year and half so imagine our elation when he contacted my mom. It's the weirdest coincidence that he happened to call her house the day after Jordan arrived in town. My mom did tell that we live in Tennessee now. I guess he knows we've moved. She wrote down his number and passed it along to the kids. It's interesting that he made contact right after Jordan gets into town...(hmmm). At least I know someone besides my family and former co-workers are reading my blog. :) Maybe he can throw in that bridge while he's trying to sell me the rest of his story.

Jordan has summer camp coming up next week. It's a Christian based camp so they are not allowed to wear two piece swimsuits. She is having the hardest time finding a cute one piece. They are either hideous "old lady" patterns or really expensive swim team type suits. The camp is set at a private residence on some lake in Kentucky. Jord's got to get a suit or she will be sitting on the dock getting tan watching everyone else have fun on the lake. I guess we'll hit up the sporting goods stores and get her a plain ugly suit meant for serious swimmers.

Boy cat is demanding attention and driving me nuts. I'm gonna go love on him a little.

Estrogen Week is winding down

This is the girls last night here. Tomorrow they all fly to Oregon. Jordan tortured her friends by making them go to one night of training with her. They were both struggling and Jordan said it was an easy night. It wasn't overly hot tonight so it was comfortable for the workout.

Yesterday was the water park. I forgot my camera so purchased a disposable there. I'll finish the film and post those pics later. The park was really fun. The weather was fabulous! It was around 90 but there was a nice breeze so it was warm enough even when you were wet. The slides were fun and they had a few areas of the lake blocked off for other activities. There is kayaking, a place to just lounge on floaties, and then a sort of floating park setting with a trampoline and a huge rock climbing thing and a teeter totter. I have pics that show it. It's hard to imagine and hard to describe. For all the sun these two fair skinned visitors have been exposed to they have a slight sunburn from the second day here when they walked to the mall and that's it. I'm such a stickler for sunscreen that even being at the water park for over 4 hours they didn't burn. :)

Today the girls made brownies and had a mini birthday party. Mackenzie had a birthday last week and Alyssa's was last month so they all had presents to open. The girls got Jordan a mask and snorkel set because Jordan says it's so humid here it's like breathing in water. The humidity hasn't set in yet but Jordan's ready when it does.

Happy birthday girls!

Ghosts and Gore

Jordan's friends are here! She is so excited! Two friends from Oregon have flown in to spend the week so we have officially started Estrogen Fest '08.

We went into downtown Franklin for a Ghosts and Gore Tour. Franklin is extremely haunted. Well, being that it is Friday the 13th and we have out of town guests, who are easily freaked out 15 year olds, this tour sounded cool. It wasn't. It had the potential to be really creepy but the lady leading our tour wasn't a good story teller. I was disappointed and we didn't get to go into any of the haunted places. :(

Tomorrow is a lazy day for the girls to hang out and gossip all day. We don't have solid plans. It is teenagers choice tomorrow.

Jordan's visitors are fascinated by the lightening bugs. Or are they fireflies?

Even with the boring tour Jordan is having a great birthday.

Getting nervous

Jordan hasn't heard back from her soccer tryouts. She is nervous that she didn't make a team. It was for a travel team which is the equivalent of classic in Oregon. :(

Gotta go hang by the phone with fingers crossed...

Postage thief

I decided to end my job assignment early after being accused of stealing 84 cents worth of postage. Yeah, better watch out, I've got access to blank checks and the program to print checks but I'm going to steal postage! So instead, I sat and milked the clock for the rest of the day which costs way more than $.84 worth of postage. :)

Einstein (our boy cat) is all out of sorts today. Devan is in Oregon for the summer now. He is going to hang out with his friends there, visit his grandparents, be a carnie for a couple weeks to earn enough money to fly to Chicago to visit my sister and attend Lollapalooza. He has grown so tall and his voice is low now. When my mom picked him up at the airport she was very surprised.

We are preparing for what I have deemed "Estrogen Fest 2008." Jordan has two friends coming from Oregon to stay for a week. She is very excited. I will have an apartment full of 15 year old girls. They arrive on Jordan's birthday which makes it extra special. I have something special planned for them that evening so I'm keeping my fingers crossed that the girls' flight is fairly close to arriving on schedule. Yep, Jordan's birthday is on Friday the 13th. (insert evil laugh)

I'm loving Devan's new CSI game. I'm a decent CSI on the Playstation. :)

Soccer is a kick!

Hee, hee.

Jordan just offered me a macaroni noodle that was stuck to her toe. yum

Tryouts went better tonight. We'll find out by early next week if she made the team and which team she made. It wasn't as humid tonight and there was a nice breeze plus she made sure to hydrate well and ate a banana so muscles were good.

Gotta help Devan solve a crime on his CSI video game. I'm gonna be Catherine. :)

I had something interesting to say, but it went away

No seriously, it was a cute little story about something.

Okay then, on to the boring stuff. I had an interview today for a payroll position with Williamson County. Yeah, they get 13 holidays a year. Coming from construction, that's like an extra week of holidays. :) Obviously the benefits are great and my commute would be very minimal. I would be taking a pay cut but the benefits totally make up for it. It's a newly created position and with the growth this county is experiencing, I'm sure they will need to add someone else in a couple years. We'll see. They have 5 other candidates to interview. :

Jordan had tryouts for travel (classic) soccer. She went Tuesday, performed decent but not great. The only problem with the way they hold tryouts here is that travel soccer teams play in the spring and into summer so the other girls that were trying out have been playing and are still playing so while Jordan is in shape, she hasn't had much time with a ball recently. Rec soccer doesn't help much, it's just not as competitive and intense as travel soccer. There are two teams so she has a very good chance of making one. She's nervous though. It was very hot and she wasn't feeling super confident because most of the girls knew each other so she felt like the odd man out. She is making sure to hydrate today and will be well hydrated for tomorrow nights tryout. She's also making sure to eat a banana and drink some Gatorade so she won't get muscle cramps from lack of potassium. Tomorrow night should go better enough to leave her feeling confident.

Oh, I can die now. I have life insurance. It's not a huge amount, but it's enough to bury me and give the kids and education. I thought it was ironic that it will pay out for suicide but only after the policy is two years old. I guess they think by then the urge to kill yourself is gone. I can understand why they make you wait though, they don't want someone getting a huge policy then two months later killing themselves and the insurance company would have to pay out a million dollars when they've only gotten two payments. BTW - I'm not gonna kill myself in two years nor do I want to die anytime soon. :-)

My finger itches so I'm going to go scratch it.

Scabby toes

I'm sitting here trying to think of something to write about and just realized I have a scab on my middle toe. Hmm. Peculiar, I can't think of where it came from.

The Baldwin news in Brief:

Big electric storm last night. Began right around 4 am and lasted a full hour. It was right over us and the lightening was so incredibly bright it woke me up. The thunder was deafening at times and somewhere in the middle of the thunder and brilliant light show, there was what I refer to as a sonic boom. It was seriously insane. It woke Jordan up and at some point Devan woke up because when he got up this morning, he had unplugged the computer in case of loss of power or a power surge.

The kids are wasting their summer away and happy to be doing so.

Devan has been playing his guitar a lot. He and a friend think they want to start a band. :)

Jordan had testing night at her training place. She did really well. She was the only girl in her age group with 10 other boys there to test. She is used to working out with 5 or 6 of them at a time but not that many. She did really well on her testing though and has improved a lot. She can even bench press 50 lbs! The guys started out seeming like they were going to be annoyed with her and sort of ignored her as she did her vertical jump and then of course she can't do a pull up. She had to jump just to reach the pull up handles. Anyway, she couldn't do that so instead, one of the trainers helped lift her up and she did an arm hang. She could hold herself up there for 52 seconds! By the time she got done, the boys and all the parents there were impressed and from then on the boys were really encouraging and not at all annoyed she was there. She earned a lot of people's respect Friday night.

Report cards came. Jordan got a 4.25 with her cumulative for the year at 4.225. Devan got two C's, two A's, and the rest B's. His report cards don't give GPA for some reason. One of his C's might be a B if they consider it to be a high school class - his math grade.

Utter disappointment has fallen upon our household as we learned of the new "dress code policy" of the high school which is their nice way of saying uniforms. The kids' hearts sank. This was a very sudden and extreme way for the school to deal with a dress code that has never been enforced. I think the kids were actually looking forward to next year...

I'll end on a high note - the company I am currently working for went with another candidate! :) Yay! I was going to withdraw my application anyway because I am not interested in going on permanently with this company and I can't stand doing A/P. If it was a combination of A/P and something else it might be okay, but straight A/P is not for me. hee, hee, I'm a poet. ;-)