Now I know why I've had my email address for 8 years - changing it is a pain in the butt. You think, ah, most email software has a notify section where you can send everyone your new address...yes this is true. What you don't think about is that every company, service provider, interest etc all has some kind of login requiring your email. That's the pain. I think I must have updated 30 websites today and I'm sure there are many more at home that I haven't thought of.
Also, a little note about software. When I purchased my laptop they asked me if I wanted antivirus software, I said no. I knew on Comcast they gave you free McAfee. And when we started talking about switching services, I thought I'd just wait. Anyway, as I'm sure you all know, but worth mentioning, AT&T also gives you free software. So before you go buy something, check with your provider.
Tuesday, July 15, 2008
Monday, July 14, 2008
What a weekend!
We had a great time camping. Really nice weather with the exception of a monsoon Saturday morning. The sky was looking pretty dark and we decided to put up the gazebo/tent, whatever it is that goes over the picnic table. Anyway, we are just about done and BAM downpour. Luckily, the kids were inside the camper with Mindy cuz out of nowhere this HUGE wind came up and took their awning (of a 30+ foot hard sided camper) over and twisted the metal arms holding it in place. It was crazy and a total loss for them. Cross your fingers on insurance! I didn't get any pictures since the weather would have destroyed the camera, but Mindy got some great shots of the kids playing in what looked like a huge pond through the middle of the camp sites. So much so that we could fill up large water guns by dipping them in the "pond". Then the rain turned into a drizzle and the kids came out to use the "pond" as a slip 'n slide. I was thrilled they were taking it so well.
Later that day (actually twice) we headed down to the lake to cool off. Drew was showing me his new "let's see how deep I can go" skills and had no fear to head out into the "deep part" up to his shoulders. He also dunked himself under several times and "swam" around with me from shallow to deep more times than I can count.
We also took Drew's Jeep with us on this trip. We had really big sites so we figured it would be a good time for him to use it. He and Haley had a blast driving around the sites. She sat in the passenger seat softly screaming woo hoo, woo hoo. You could tell they thought they were IT!
I also noticed a change with Drew. I'm not sure if he was just exhausted, but both for nap and bed, he really didn't make a stink and fell asleep within 15 minutes of laying down. I was pleasantly surprised.
On Sunday we got packed up and headed back home. Mike's boss and director came in to town and wanted to go to a Tiger's game. So he went to Detroit. They had perfect weather - sun, nice wind and not humid. Unfortunately, Mike got back to the van to find someone threw a rock through the passenger window and stole his cell phone. Note to all who venture down to Detroit - PARK IN A LOT WITH SURVEILLANCE. If you would have looked in the windows of the van, you literally would have seen a car seat and 12 pack of Diet Coke...that's it! (Which is really quite odd for my car) I guess they took a chance on something being in the console...like a cell phone. He called me to ask what he should do. I said, really, you should call the police but who knows how long that will take. I don't think their priorities include smashed windows. So he decided just to come home. The up news...He cancelled his phone which can no longer be used by anyone, ever. Ha! What the heck is the point in stealing a cell phone anyway? I guess they could have called India or something, but I just can see some hoods in Detroit knowing many people outside the city. And any other calls were free since it was Sunday. I'm crossing my fingers on the bill, but I guess we'll see it soon enough. On Monday, I called insurance and got the window fixed for $100 and didn't need a police report. YAY!! The thought of wasting a day going back to Detroit to get something in writing really had me down before I made the call, so it ended up being a pretty good Monday. And luckily we emptied everything we had in there from camping, cuz man, it really could have been bad.
Later that day (actually twice) we headed down to the lake to cool off. Drew was showing me his new "let's see how deep I can go" skills and had no fear to head out into the "deep part" up to his shoulders. He also dunked himself under several times and "swam" around with me from shallow to deep more times than I can count.
We also took Drew's Jeep with us on this trip. We had really big sites so we figured it would be a good time for him to use it. He and Haley had a blast driving around the sites. She sat in the passenger seat softly screaming woo hoo, woo hoo. You could tell they thought they were IT!
I also noticed a change with Drew. I'm not sure if he was just exhausted, but both for nap and bed, he really didn't make a stink and fell asleep within 15 minutes of laying down. I was pleasantly surprised.
On Sunday we got packed up and headed back home. Mike's boss and director came in to town and wanted to go to a Tiger's game. So he went to Detroit. They had perfect weather - sun, nice wind and not humid. Unfortunately, Mike got back to the van to find someone threw a rock through the passenger window and stole his cell phone. Note to all who venture down to Detroit - PARK IN A LOT WITH SURVEILLANCE. If you would have looked in the windows of the van, you literally would have seen a car seat and 12 pack of Diet Coke...that's it! (Which is really quite odd for my car) I guess they took a chance on something being in the console...like a cell phone. He called me to ask what he should do. I said, really, you should call the police but who knows how long that will take. I don't think their priorities include smashed windows. So he decided just to come home. The up news...He cancelled his phone which can no longer be used by anyone, ever. Ha! What the heck is the point in stealing a cell phone anyway? I guess they could have called India or something, but I just can see some hoods in Detroit knowing many people outside the city. And any other calls were free since it was Sunday. I'm crossing my fingers on the bill, but I guess we'll see it soon enough. On Monday, I called insurance and got the window fixed for $100 and didn't need a police report. YAY!! The thought of wasting a day going back to Detroit to get something in writing really had me down before I made the call, so it ended up being a pretty good Monday. And luckily we emptied everything we had in there from camping, cuz man, it really could have been bad.
Friday, July 11, 2008
Super Anything
Drew's been using "super" a lot these days. Mom, I'm super thirsty. I'm super hungry. I'm super cold etc. On the drive back from Northern Michigan he'd periodically let us know he was super tired. Then, with about an hour left in the trip he says, Mom, I'm super, super, super, super, super, duper, duper, duper tired! I say - go to sleep. He says, no, I'm going to wait to get home to your bed. oye vey!
Finally getting up to date
While I'm stuck at work, Drew & Mike are off camping at Sugarloaf Lake. I'll be heading out at 5, after work which seems like it will never come. I did think ahead though - decided to bring in my laptop so I could clear out some of the 2000 pictures I've taken in the last month. Whew! I've decided it may be good to be more selective in what I shoot, or I'll spend the rest of my life getting rid of pictures that didn't need to be taken. My cousin Kyle prompted me to do it, although I'm sure he doesn't know it. When we were Up North I asked him if he wanted my memory card before I deleted it. He said, no, I'll wait until you clean them up some. (at that point I had taken 800 pics and I think we were on day 4). It made me think that if I stay on top of them, it may not feel quite so daunting when I do decide to do something with the pics. So today was the perfect day to do it. I've taken the first swipe at it anyway. I'm sure there will be plenty more to get rid of, but enough is enough for one day! With that said, I've added most of the pics to the Picasa Web Albums and linked it to the blog. I'm not sure how long I'll keep them up...probably until I max out the free space and have to purge the oldest. I figure that gives anyone ample time to pilfer any photos they may want. If you don't want to save them to your hard drive, they can be ordered directly from the site by three different print providers.
TGIF
TGIF
Thursday, July 10, 2008
But..that takes a long time
Oh to be 3 again. You've got more energy than you know what to do with. You've got someone scheduling your life. You just tag along to the next great adventure and you think 5 minutes is a long time! Lately we've been hearing lots of...but that takes a long time! Or afterschool is a long time. Tomorrow is a long time. And the word time sounds really good when you whine it too...bet ya didn't know that. If I had a dime everytime I heard it, Drew would have at least enough money for all his college texts!
I think we may be pushing him right over the edge
I'm exhausted from all the fun and excitement we've been having for the last few months so I know Drew is too, but do we stop? Nope! And it's starting to show this week. First, Monday going to school was a big production. Drew did not want to go to school, cried about it at home and clung to me when we got there. Tuesday was better,I had to wake him up and he was still clingy but not as bad. Same for Wednesday. This morning Mike woke him up and he was really showing signs of wear. He wanted someone to come sit with him on the couch. Nothing more, just sit with him. I told him dad was taking him to school which caused some problems too. Rubbing his eyes, laying on the couch, I could tell he could have used about 3 more hours of sleep. We tried to get him excited about going camping tonight with dad, but that just made him more sad that mom isn't coming until Friday night. Ahh, what to do? Just keep swimming, just keep swimming, swimming, swimming...gee, we haven't watched Nemo in a long time!
Wednesday, July 9, 2008
We're back...
I've started this post about 10 times and got distracted with work of all things! I (like a few other mom's I know) feel like we've overbooked ourselves like crazy this summer. I really don't know where the time has gone. Well I guess I do but I don't want to think about it because then I realize it's already mid July!
We had a great time in Indian River last week. So much so we stayed an extra couple days. We had planned to come back on Friday, then changed it to Saturday and finally left Sunday evening around 7pm. And wouldn't you know Drew fell asleep 10 minutes from home at 11:30pm!
There are so many highlights I'm not sure where to begin. We brought up Drew's Jeep so he and cousin Henry could ride around and pick up chics. They had a blast driving down the road, trying to make it through dirt, hills and lawns. Drew also found a new love...Aubree. She's the 12 yr old granddaughter of Dan & Suzy. She's really cute and Drew had a great time flirting with her. He'd drive by in his Jeep, and glance out of the corner of his eye to see if she was looking. At one point he was passing her and stood up while driving by...big time crush at 3 yrs old!
Henry and Drew had a great time playing with water guns. Danny took them down to another neighbors house, who happen to be taxidermists, so they could look at all the animals on the walls. So off they went, the boys in the Jeep and Dan following behind. They were gone quite a while and came back with handfuls of peanuts. Apparently, they got to feed a baby squirrel being nursed back to health. Drew was very excited about it and also realized a love for peanuts in the shell. His Jeep, including the glove box, were full of shells. I think he may have eaten more than the squirrel.
The boys had something else in common...Wii. Henry also has a Wii and had the Lego Star Wars game (we have it for PS3). The controllers are quite a bit different, so Drew didn't get in to it as much as he could have - a small blessing as he could have probably stayed in front of the TV much more than he did. Oh, side note - Kyle and Amy (Henry's parents/my cousins) recently instituted a timer rule. When the timer goes off, so does the Wii. It worked like a charm. I've had other friends tell me about it too, but never saw it in action. Now here's the funny part - Mike was so impressed he said we should do it at home too. I'm totally game so Tuesday night we tell Drew about the timer. He's fine with it. Let me just say it was the fastest 25 minutes of my life. All of the sudden, the timer went off and what do you think happened? Mike said, we're almost done with this level lets just play for a few more minutes. Yep, that's right, sabotage you're own rule! LOL. They play for a few more minutes and finally decide it's time to shut 'er down. Last night we changed it up a bit. If we are playing with him, we won't use the timer, we'll just let him know. So we're playing and get to a tricky part and Drew says, oh, let's just shut this off, ok?! Craziness!
I could go on and on but I'll end on another high point of the week...fireworks! It started with a few Mike picked up at a fireworks tent. The kids (and adults) loved them so much, he went back and bought more. We had SEVERAL fireworks shows that week and by the end, I think we were all a bit fireworksed out, at least our version of fireworks. On the 4th, there must have been at least 8 houses we could see around the lake putting on magnificent shows. It was great. Didn't have to go anywhere but down to the deck to see a great show. The boys loved it and got to stay up extra late to watch. It didn't get dark until after 10 so it was really hard getting them to bed any night so we didn't even really try on the 4th. I've got tons of pictures but haven't gotten them past my laptops hard drive. I'll try to work on that sometime soon.
This weekend we are back to Sugarloaf for another fun filled weekend of camping. And yes, I am tired.
We had a great time in Indian River last week. So much so we stayed an extra couple days. We had planned to come back on Friday, then changed it to Saturday and finally left Sunday evening around 7pm. And wouldn't you know Drew fell asleep 10 minutes from home at 11:30pm!
There are so many highlights I'm not sure where to begin. We brought up Drew's Jeep so he and cousin Henry could ride around and pick up chics. They had a blast driving down the road, trying to make it through dirt, hills and lawns. Drew also found a new love...Aubree. She's the 12 yr old granddaughter of Dan & Suzy. She's really cute and Drew had a great time flirting with her. He'd drive by in his Jeep, and glance out of the corner of his eye to see if she was looking. At one point he was passing her and stood up while driving by...big time crush at 3 yrs old!
Henry and Drew had a great time playing with water guns. Danny took them down to another neighbors house, who happen to be taxidermists, so they could look at all the animals on the walls. So off they went, the boys in the Jeep and Dan following behind. They were gone quite a while and came back with handfuls of peanuts. Apparently, they got to feed a baby squirrel being nursed back to health. Drew was very excited about it and also realized a love for peanuts in the shell. His Jeep, including the glove box, were full of shells. I think he may have eaten more than the squirrel.
The boys had something else in common...Wii. Henry also has a Wii and had the Lego Star Wars game (we have it for PS3). The controllers are quite a bit different, so Drew didn't get in to it as much as he could have - a small blessing as he could have probably stayed in front of the TV much more than he did. Oh, side note - Kyle and Amy (Henry's parents/my cousins) recently instituted a timer rule. When the timer goes off, so does the Wii. It worked like a charm. I've had other friends tell me about it too, but never saw it in action. Now here's the funny part - Mike was so impressed he said we should do it at home too. I'm totally game so Tuesday night we tell Drew about the timer. He's fine with it. Let me just say it was the fastest 25 minutes of my life. All of the sudden, the timer went off and what do you think happened? Mike said, we're almost done with this level lets just play for a few more minutes. Yep, that's right, sabotage you're own rule! LOL. They play for a few more minutes and finally decide it's time to shut 'er down. Last night we changed it up a bit. If we are playing with him, we won't use the timer, we'll just let him know. So we're playing and get to a tricky part and Drew says, oh, let's just shut this off, ok?! Craziness!
I could go on and on but I'll end on another high point of the week...fireworks! It started with a few Mike picked up at a fireworks tent. The kids (and adults) loved them so much, he went back and bought more. We had SEVERAL fireworks shows that week and by the end, I think we were all a bit fireworksed out, at least our version of fireworks. On the 4th, there must have been at least 8 houses we could see around the lake putting on magnificent shows. It was great. Didn't have to go anywhere but down to the deck to see a great show. The boys loved it and got to stay up extra late to watch. It didn't get dark until after 10 so it was really hard getting them to bed any night so we didn't even really try on the 4th. I've got tons of pictures but haven't gotten them past my laptops hard drive. I'll try to work on that sometime soon.
This weekend we are back to Sugarloaf for another fun filled weekend of camping. And yes, I am tired.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
