Homework Help

Spirit was told one morning last week before he left for school to be sure to complete his homework in the after school program because we had an event at the school that night and we wouldn't have much time in the evening to work on homework.

As soon as we all walked in the door that evening Mr. Man asked Spirit if he completed all his homework. I could hear the panic in Spirit's voice as he was trying to tell his dad that he had done none of his homework, not that he didn't get done, but that he hadn't even started it.

The after school program has a mandatory homework/quiet time. If the kids do not have homework then they need to sit and do something quietly. Spirit decided not to do the homework in his backpack, but instead he played a game with a friend.

I then heard Mr. Man raise his voice "What do you mean you didn't do it?" Then Spirit was pleading his case, which was weak at best. Oh my. I really thought he might lose his head over this one!

Sooooooooo, while I made dinner Spirit started the homework. Then after dinner we went to the school event, then when we got home he tried to finish, but didn't get his 20 minutes of reading done, so we got him up early the next morning to finish the homework!

Will this be a lesson learned? One can only hope!

Latest update on the dog

It has been one week since we brought the stray dog home and posted signs. We have received only two calls from our signs and neither one was looking for this dog. Both of those calls were in the first day or two. We have also driven through the area looking to see if anyone posted a sign that they lost her. No signs. No more calls.


Today we decided she is probably going to be ours. Forever. BUT, she has not been spayed. All along we kept saying that if no one calls for her we need to have her spayed right away. But how long do you wait for the original owner to surface?


My MIL called me yesterday to tell me that a woman who attends their church works with the Dumb Friends League and they host a clinic in the church parking lot once a month. TODAY happens to be the day. So, for $50 she will get all her shots and will get spayed. YAY!


Now, if for some reason the owner comes forward they owe me $50. Just kidding! I was hesitant to spend a lot of money on her in case the owner still surfaces. I don't know if we did the right or wrong thing, but for $50 it seemed like a good time. If, the owner surfaces now I hope they aren't mad that we spayed her!

Not-so-typical morning

I had been at my desk all of about 20 minutes when I heard some commotion in the hallway. There is a small window by the front door of our office that looks into the hall so I went to look out and there were 7 or 8 cops yelling all with their guns out and everything!

We had received a memo from our building management last week that we needed to be on the lookout for what the area police were calling the "Laptop Bandit". He was coming into buildings in our area and stealing laptops and digital cameras. (I wonder why they didn't call him the Laptop and Digital Camera Bandit...hmm, maybe it was too wordy! hee hee)

Apparently, a woman who works on my floor was on the elevator with a man that was dressed with a dark hoodie on and carrying a laptop bag. She said he was acting strange and wouldn't look at her when she tried to strike up a conversation. She immediately called 911 when he got off the elevator on our floor acting suspicious. Also, he had gone up to the 11th floor and was wandering around and someone there asked him if he needed help. When he left she called the building management who alerted our security guard. The guard was waiting for this guy as he got off on the first floor. He asked him what he was doing and the guy avoided him and started running out the building.

This is where the cops come in and take him down!

Pretty soon a detective comes in my office asking if we are missing anything. So I go looking and one laptop is gone, but I told the officer that the attorney may have it with him. So he left his card and told me to call him if we are missing anything.

When the attorney came in he told me he had taken it home with him last night, so it appears nothing in our suite was stolen! Thankfully!

I've told you that there are times I am in here alone. Now I am all creeped out. I do, though, lock up my purse in a desk drawer so that should always be safe. My boss said I should feel free to lock the door when I am in here alone. Phew! That makes me feel better!

Camping trip

This was the sunset just before we ate dinner. Isn't it gorgeous?

I had to work late Friday so on my way home I called Mr. Man to tell him I was on my way and he said

"Good! We've been waiting. We're going camping."

Me: "Ummmm, huh? Did you say camping? As in c.a.m.p.i.n.g?"

He said that he was borrowing his mom & dad's camper trailer and we were going camping.

First of all, this girl isn't crazy about camping in October (almost November!). Don't get me wrong, I like to camp, when it is nice. Call me a "fair weather camper" I guess!

So anyway, I convinced him that there was absolutely no way that I could get 5 people packed plus food gathered for a camping trip. It was already 6:00 pm. It was starting to get dark. I am not much for spur of the moment anyway, but a camping trip can not be thrown together when there is 5 people PLUS a dog now!

Before I got home my friend Michelle had called to see if she could take Lady Bug for the evening. So she met us at our house and picked Lady Bug up.

Saturday morning, the boys all took off to go to a soap box derby. They ended up and didn't stay because of the crowd. So they headed back home to get me to go camping. I got us all packed up and off we went to get lunch and Lady Bug. Then we headed to the camp ground. It was sunny, but chilly when we got there. Later in the evening it got real cold and windy!

Lefty at the campsite playing the ring game. The ring game was a lot of fun!




Spirit and Mr. Man roasting hot dogs for our dinner.

Before the wind and cold, we were able to roast hot dogs for dinner, we had roasted marshmallows for dessert, we played the ring game and the boys tossed a football around, we were also able to ride bikes. I even got to read a book for a little while. Then it got cold and windy so we moved into the camper. We played board games for awhile before going to bed.

Spirit roasting hotdogs.




Lefty and Spirit playing games.

During the night the camper was rocking so bad from the wind that I literally woke up several times just to pray the whole thing didn't tip over. I was really scared!

The boys in bed. (Somewhere in that blanket was the dog too!)

I woke up Sunday morning with a full blown migraine and could not move. I managed to pull myself together enough to go to town to get some over priced migraine pills which kicked in about an hour after I took them. I was a trooper and went to church, although I thought my head would explode during the worship service - seriously was not feeling good during that. We were camping close enough to a church we had gone to years ago so we decided to go there, after being gone for a couple of years. It was nice to see some old friends although my head still wasn't 100% so I probably wasn't as friendly as I could have been!

Then we went to lunch at a place that serves family style fried chicken and mashed taters. Many years ago they were a working farm. Now they are a restaurant, a petting zoo, they have gift shops and it is a really fun place to go! (Yep, THAT'S my kinda camping!!! Hee hee)


Then the boys took us girls home and they went back to camp again. The boys are on fall break this week and Mr. Man is on vacation from work this week.


While Lady Bug and I were painting our fingernails she said "Are we camping momma?" I said "We are doing what is called 'girls' camping!"

She and I had fun together. We watched Angelina Ballerina (twice) and a Dora movie. Then we laid together and read books before bed!


Fun times!

Au Gratin Sausage Skillet

This is a quick dinner and is so very colorful. My kids love it and my husband requests it often!

Au Gratin Sausage Skillet
INGREDIENTS:
1 lb fully cooked polska kielbasa, halved and sliced into bite size pieces
2 Tbls vegetable oil
1 pkg (5 1/4 oz) au gratin potatoes
2 1/2 c water
1 pkg (8 oz) frozen California style veggies (although I've done with different types too, this is our favorite)
2 c shredded cheddar cheese

In a skillet cook sausage in oil until lightly browned; drain. Add potatoes with contents of sauce mix and water. Cover and cook over medium heat for 18-20 minutes or until potatoes are almost tender but not done, stirring occasionally. Add vegetables; cover and cook for 8-10 minutes or until potatoes and veggies are completely tender. Sprinkle with cheese. Remove from the heat, cover and let stand for 2 minutes or until cheese is melted.

Update on the dog:

**SORRY for the horrible picture, it was all I had this morning!**

So far we received two calls from the signs we put up, one man was looking for a little black dog and another one was looking for a brown one. She was with us again last night and had a second really good night. She doesn't bark too much, which is nice; except for this morning when she barked as the kids were leaving for school. I think she just wanted to go too!

The kids named her Gidget. They had chosen, Otto or Gidget and I said Otto was too boy-ish. Then they said they could name her Autumn, but the more we all thought about it she just looks like a Gidget! SO Gidget it is.

The vet said she is most likely a Jack Russell Terrier & Chihuahua mix. If we end up with her we will take her in for a more thorough check up. The first vet visit was mostly just to be sure she didn't have one of those location chip thingys.

I really got nothing

I have a very boring post today. I got nothing. I hit these blogging blocks once in awhile and for whatever reason I am uninspired and life just doesn't strike me - doesn't strike me good, doesn't strike me bad, doesn't strike me funny -- just plain does nothing for me!


This is one of those days. Probably because I haven't been sleeping well. It has been real windy here and one of our trees kept scrapping my window last night. I woke up every single time with a jolt! On Tuesday night I finally got up at 3:00 am and went to the couch to start Book #3 in the Twilight series (I'm sure you've heard nothing about it! hee hee)


OH! But I just thought of something, Perpetual Chaos asked me to post my play dough recipe, so here it goes:


Play-dough
INGREDIENTS:
2 c flour
1 c salt
2 Tbls vegetable oil
2 tsp Cream of Tartar
2 c water
food coloring


Mix the water with the food coloring. I like intense color so I do 6-10 drops probably. In a large pan, stir together flour, salt, oil, Cream of Tartar and water over medium heat. Heat until the dough starts to form a ball and pull away from sides of pan. Remove from heat. Let cool. Knead to get a good consistency. Store in a plastic bag or other airtight container. This will keep, unrefrigerated, for 2-4 weeks, maybe a little longer. This will also be a little sticky when it is warm, but after it is cooled completely it won't be sticky anymore.