I was waiting to be picked up at OHare today about noon.  I waited about 5 minutes.  In those five minutes I said the following things to myself..

• (at the bus honking nonstop) Geez can’t you wait a minute, the poor guy is moving as fast as he can to load up his stuff
• these poor bus drivers- you couldn’t pay me s million bucks to have that job dealing with idiots not knowing what to do all day
• Wow lots angry people today
• Lady- can’t move your bag back just a little bit?  You’re in the middle of the sidewalk. You can’t see this poor guy is having to walk around your stuff to get to his ride- geez
• why are you yelling at the nice person who came to this madhouse to get you. They haven’t even gotten the car stopped yet and you’re shouting st them.
• She’s gonna hit that guy. She’s gonna hit that guy. Maybe if that guy stops yelling at his ride he would see the lady not seeing him!!
• Don’t let the 3 year old dance around the car while your loading it!! Get her in the car!  It’s a madhouse!!

it really wasn’t even that crowded for OHare.  Luckily while I was there there were no incidents.  But WOW what a crazy 5 minutes. Couldn’t imagine if I was there all afternoon 😳.

Can’t believe it’s day 31 and I wrote 31 posts. So glad I did it once again.   See you slicers next year!!

Lasy year I was stuck on what to write about on one of the last days of the challenge. I went back to my previous posts and ended up writing a “follow up” to the topics I wrote about. I ended up really enjoying looking back, so I’ve decided to to it again with this years posts.

• John still fills up his gas tank at half a tank and mine has had the light on each week this month before I filled up
• im still on my jigsaw puzzle and old game show kick when I get a few free moments
• Reese has changed her future plans from being a retired cheerleader to being a waitress. She asked me how many years she needs to go to college for that 😂.  I said I wasn’t sure.
• My classroom was once again healthy by the time spring break came. Hoping everyone stayed well over break
• I finally got my new contact lenses and new glasses I could actually wear out in public.
• No more students have accused me of “looking pretty”.
• Reese and John has a great time at the daddy daughter dance. My heart is still so happy
• my lack of hostess skills didn’t stop everyone from having a good time at our St Patrick’s Day party. I actually did a pretty good job.
• Still not a perfect mom, but still a happy one.
• Still rocking the sandals even though it’s been a bit chilly still
• After my drop off fail in December I learned my lesson and continued my success the rest of the week that I dropped off.
• This is my 92nd post with one more to go!
• Im still at Disneyland (aka my friend in New York) and it has not disappointed.
• 1 of my 2 brackets is officially bust.  Not looking good for the remaining one.

If you haven’t looked back and reread your posts I suggest you do.

well almost.. my NCAA bracket that is.

I had never been a basketball fan, but when I was with my first husband he was a Michigan State Alumni and a huge fan of their sports. So naturally I was introduced to (inundated with) them and have become a fan of the teams as well as a college basketball fan-during March Madness that is.

Every year I love to fill out my bracket. Anything that involves sports and a little gambling- I’m in.

Unfortunately I do not know anything about the teams.  Back in the day I would have insight because college basketball would be on the tv all the time and team stats and facts would be shared with me whether I wanted to know them or not.

I know I could research them but who has time for that.

So this year I clicked away, trying to pick some upsets, ending with my annual choice of Michigan State winning it all. I always pick them because I am hoping to cheer for them in the championship game. This year I actually did a second bracket and picked an unlikely team to win (Houston).

After last weekend I was so excited- my brackets were still intact!  This never happens!  I recall many years where I was busted midday on the first Friday!  This is great!!!

Or it was great. Last night’s games really hurt and although my two winners are still in (but they didn’t play yet in the sweet 16) it’s not looking good for me elsewhere.

Here’s hoping to get through another night of basketball without busting!!!

 

Growing up in the south suburbs of Chicago, and with the exception of college, living either in the city or suburbs you get used to the busyness of life.

The traffic, the people, the noise, etc

Yes the convenience of shopping and expressways and airports and just about anything you can think of is great and I don’t really think about the craziness that it all can be that often.  Until yesterday.

Yesterday I headed to OHare Airport on the busy expressway to catch my flight to Syracuse, NY.

I headed into the crowded airport and went through security with lots and lots of other people.

Made my way to my gate weaving around all the people and luckily found a seat-not at my gate, but one across the way-close as you usually get unless you’re real early.

I got onto my little American Eagle plane, which although was smaller and may freak people out,  I kind of found the smaller, less packed plane a lot nicer than the packed 727’s.

The flight was not full so it was quiet and relaxing.

I get off the plane in Syracuse welcomed by a quiet, peaceful airport- the opposite of OHare or Midway.

I easily walk to baggage claim where, as I am walking up the buzzer goes off and my luggage is already there.

I text my friend, to see where I should find her in the crazy pick up lane- not crazy at all-she’s the only car pulling up.

We make the hour drive to her house on an open 4 lane highway, very few cars, very few towns even  though it’s “rush hour”.  So peaceful, so nice. So unusual.

It’s funny how when you get used to something you just consider it normal.  And as much as I like the quieter/easier life here in upper New York I think I’m used to and like the craziness of the Chicago suburbs, at least for now.

 

 

Not really. I’m heading to Fort Drum Army Base in northern New York- 30 minutes south of Canada

But I feel like s kid going to Disneyland!- well that’s probably a stretch too.  But I am excited!

I am excited because for the next 5 days..

I will be staying with my best friend whose husband is stationed at Fort Drum.

I get to hang out with one of my top 3 favorite people.

I know I will laugh nonstop

I will get to get a glimpse into her life at this new base

We will get to sample craft beers and visit breweries together instead of sharing our reviews over the phone or text

We will head off to a local casino to play some blackjack together

I will get to be a piece of family/home for her and her kids while her husband is in Afghanistan

I will feel like a kid for five days- no work, no responsibilities- just hanging out with one of the best people I know!

So I know it’s a stretch (or maybe sad 😂) calling it Disneyland but right now it kinda feels like it.

 

 

While I was trying to decide what to slice about today, I started clicking through my blog website and the numbers caught my attention.  They are pretty cool to think about.

87 (this one will be 88) posts I have published.  This is over the 3 years I have done this challenge.

321 comments have been made to me regarding my posts!

264 (at least) comments I have made on other people’s blogs (assuming at the minimum 3 a day) but many more posts that I have read and just not commented about- crazy!

5 more posts to do to finish this year’s challenge ( I swear it goes by faster each year).

As I was realizing all these numbers I really wanted to know how many words I wrote..  BUT it only listed the word count of each post and I did not want to know bad enough to go back and add each one up..

After discovering these numbers it made me really surprised and proud of how much writing I had done (we all have done).  Looking forward to adding 31 more posts next year…

P.S. to my Woodridge peeps- speaking of numbers..  only 41 more days of school left!!

 

Not today..  I learned from the last time…

Because my daughter and I do not have the same Spring Break I get to do some mom stuff I usually do not get to do this week.  One of those things is to drop Reese off to school instead of her having to take the bus.  She loves being a “car rider”.  So while I was happy to be able to do this the incident of last time, as well as some anxiety popped into my head.

I have done this before in the last 2 years she has been at this school.  But this particular time was different.  In the past she wanted me to park and walk her up to the door- easy.  Or when I have dropped her off she has been a late arrival due to an appointment or something so I had to bring her to the office- easy.  This time it was this past December and she was older and did not want me to walk her to the door just drop her off in the drop off area- NOT EASY.

Her school has a drop off circle for busses but the drop off area for cars is just in the parking lot.

I just figured you drop her off at the front doors-nope

I figured there would be a line of cars and I would just follow- nope- I swear not one car ahead of me.

I figured there would be an arrow or drop off sign-nope

I figured there would be patrols out or something- nope, just a custodian helping a woman getting something out of her car

I figured there would be cones or barricade- there was one but it was in the street right next to the sidewalk which said to me “no parking”-nope.

So I pulled on passed all that and stopped the car in front of the school.  Turned around to get my goodbye kiss and give out my, “I love you.  Have a great day!” when..

BANG BANG BANG- pounding on my window by the aforementioned custodian.

Roll down window..  “There is a reason that we have cones up!  We would appreciate parents following the rules!”  In a not very nice tone.

“I’m so very sorry I did not know.  This is my first time dropping off.”

“You will now have to wait for the buses (the smaller buses for students who require special assistance)!” same tone.

“No problem, no problem.  I’m sorry.” I shout as he storms away.  I am now embarrassed and flustered.  I do not want to cause any trouble or have anyone yell at me.

I pull up and wait behind the little bus who is waiting for a staff member to get the few students off the bus.   Once they are out I can get out of this disaster.

But my adventure is not over.

Another little bus comes up behind me and that bus driver throws up her hands in disgust that I am in her way. My anxiety is going crazy.  I do not want people to be upset at me.

I spot a parking spot to my left.  I can pull in there and get out of everyone’s way.  But I have to back my car up just a bit to get in there.  Back up toward the angry bus.

So I go for it and the bus driver is throwing her arms and hands all over the place even more so now.  A different staff member starts walking toward my car.  I immediately roll down my window and shout, “I’m so sorry!  I am trying to get out of the way! I have never done this before!  I am trying to get out of the way!  I was going to back up a few feet to park right there! I’m sorry!”

Luckily she is nice and says, “No problem, it’s okay.”  She waves at the bus driver to calm her down.

Suddenly that loud angry familiar voice is heard, “Keep the kids on the bus!  Don’t let them off!  Stay on the bus!  Get this lady out of here.”  It was the angry custodian shutting down the bus unloading because of me.  Once again the nice lady helped me and told him all was okay and helped me into my spot.  I swear I stayed there 5 minutes after the buses were gone and school had started just in case.

I was still upset and flustered as I drove home.  Then it hit me, “I HAVE TO PICK HER UP!!”  How does that work??  Luckily I have a mom friend who knows all the ins and outs of the school (should have checked in with her for drop off) so I quickly texted her and got the directions on how to pick up and had a successful after school situation.

SO this morning as we headed toward school, Reese kept reminding me that I do no pull up to the front doors.  I need to drop her off at the cone and she walks up the sidewalk to the entrance.  Remember Mom you can’t pull to the front.  Do you know what I mean Mom.  You can’t go the way that the little buses go.

I guess the thought of  me doing it the wrong way last time popped in her head this morning too.

I am happy to report that we had a successful drop off this morning without incident and although I feel like I know what I am now doing, I know I will still be a bit nervous at tomorrow’s drop off.

 

 

l have a love hate relationship with laundry as I’m sure lots of people do.

I love when laundry is done and I have lots of wardrobe choices.

I love seeing that full laundry basket quickly disappear as I do load after load.

I love the smell of fresh clean clothes, sheets and towels.

I actually love matching socks as it is so satisfying to me to find the pairs!

However…

I hate when I forget to move a load from the washer to the dryer and then have to wash it again because it has been that long.

I hate folding clothes.

I hate even more having to put them away.

I hate having a leftover lonely sock which I cannot for the life of me understand where it’s partner went.

I hate that I let it all pile up then have to spend so much time taking care of it.

I usually do the laundry and then it sits there in baskets overflowing on my bedroom floor.  I then find myself digging through it to find what I need.

I sometimes dump the clean laundry onto my bed thinking that I will have to fold it before I can go to bed. But that usually doesn’t work because I just grab a basket and dump the clothes into the basket..  problem solved.

So today, all afternoon I have been working on the laundry. I have no excuse and we are running out of baskets. I am finding every little excuse to do something else that has to be done- like writing my blog.

The end is near and I am promising myself the same thing I always do on days like today-next load I do will be washed, dried and hung up in the same day! Not gonna hold me breath.

My daughter Reese is the youngest cousin on every side of the family.  Including her new cousins she got when John and I got married this past winter.

Although it helps that all but one are girls, the age difference is noticeable.  Her next closest cousins are 3 years older than her and the rest just go up from there.  The oldest being almost 10 years older.  When they were all younger (Reese is 7) it was easier to get them together because no one usually really had other things to do (like dates and friends and sports) on the weekends.  Now they are all at that age except Reese.  SO finding a Friday or Saturday night not filled with friend outings or softball tournaments for sleepovers is tough.  They still love hanging out with her but they want to do their older girl teenager stuff.  I totally get it.

Today while her and I were having a date afternoon at the movies and Target, one of her new cousins texted me and asked if she wanted to go out for dinner with her and the other 2 girls cousins.  She has been driving already for a long time and they were going to go a few blocks away for an early girl cousin dinner to Panda Express.  Reese was THRILLED.  I was so happy for her and so loved that her new cousins who are just as crazy about her as she is them, thought of including her to go with them despite them all being at least 5 years older than her.

I have always seen and loved the bonds between her and her cousins (my sisters’ daughters), especially since she has no siblings.  And now I cannot believe how lucky she has gotten with her 3 new girls cousins that have treated her as part of their family since the day she met them.

It is really just a 30 minute or so dinner a few blocks away but to her it was the coolest thing ever!  She gets to be one of the girls tonight!

 

Spring break started off with a special treat.  My daughter Reese  had a second grade musical performance this afternoon. Of course I couldn’t miss it and it didn’t hurt that it meant I was going to have to take a half sick day off of work before break.

Last night we got a call and an email and a message on seesaw ( this school is very thorough) that told us the time for each teachers performance and where to park and what time doors open and last but not least it mentioned that the kids should pick something nice to wear for the performance. Not Sunday best but something nice.

Last night I mentioned it to Reese about picking out something special to wear for musical.

She said, “ yes mommy I know. Something nice but not real fancy like the boys don’t have to wear a toxedo 🙂”.

No that’s not a typo. She said toxedo and I didn’t correct her. 🙂

so I asked what she was going to wear. I was worried she would pick her daddy daughter dance dress or her flower girl dress.  Too nice for school and PE and recess. Luckily she did not

I should have known better. My girl picked out her own combo.

While most of the other girls were wearing cute Easter looking outfits or church outfits or really any matching outfit, she picked a pinkish/orange dress with a light blue fluffy vest paired with black stretch pants with gold stars and pink slip on gym shoes.

I asked twice last night if that was the outfit for her. Twice she said “yes, it’s perfect”. And perfect it was.

I continue to love her being her and she was perfect in her musical!!

No one wore a toxedo but everyone looked great. Especially my girl 🙂