West Side Story, continued

Today was day 2 of "West Side Story." Years ago I tried to watch it and literally fell asleep. This time around, I cannot get enough. That is fortunate, because I get to watch it five times again tomorrow. I'm Googling background stories and character profiles. I am really enjoying it. I also embarrassed MK earlier because we went out to pick up dinner and I was singing in the store. Poor girl. I did make sure no one was around before I broke into song.

The Florida Gators are playing as I type, so I don't know the end result yet, but we're cheering for them. Here is a picture of what T. Willy wore to school today. He also had a field trip to the fire station, hence the hat.



















And here is a picture of MK and TW together.

When You're a Jet, You're a Jet All the Way

That song is running through my head. I saw the first 35 minutes of "West Side Story" five times today. But I'm not complaining; I loved it! The classes were great. They were pretty receptive to the movie, and I wasn't sure they would be. To see "tough guys" break into pirouettes took some getting used to, but they paid attention. We had some insightful discussions when it was over, and they had summary paragraphs to write, so they kept very busy. Most of all, I LOVED having MK in the last period class. She says I didn't embarrass her, but I did embarrass a classmate. One student who sat behind her repeatedly kept tapping her on the head. To do it, he had to get out of his seat and it was very obvious. He knew I was her mom, so I don't know why he chose her of all people to pick on, but I did finally say, "If you hit my daughter again...." I didn't have to finish the statement. He got the message. Other than that, I had a wonderful day, and MK is still excited about tomorrow.

So...I mentioned that MK picked out my wardrobe today. My picture of the day is of the shoes she picked out for me.














And that was our day. I hope yours was just as fun. Good night.

Quiet night

The Big Man is working late, so the kids and I had a quiet evening. I cleaned my closet and lived to tell about it. Tomorrow I'm planning to work on T. Willy's room. We need to find places for all of his new Christmas toys.

MK is still excited about tomorrow. She picked out an outfit and shoes for me to wear. We also have an agreement that I won't "intentionally" embarrass her, but I can't promise it won't happen accidentally. I'm just happy that I get to work three days in a row.

That's about it. Have a great night! Since I posted pictures this morning, I'm going to count that as my pictures for the day. Good night!

Look what I found

Thanks to my brother and the wonder of the iPhone, I am able to post pictures of him and me as kids. Bear with me as we stroll down memory lane.

We have audiotape of this era. In it, Aaron calls me, "Annette Susan." Quite a mouthful for a little guy, so he soon shortened it to, "Couldn't we have gotten a dog instead?"


















And who could blame him?


















But things got better. (Any guesses where I found these pictures?)

















And soon we took to the open road...he even let me drive.

















I love being a girl. Dress styles come and go, but a light blue polyester suit lasts forever.

















This picture was taken in our backyard in Australia. I loved this swing. What was I saying about blue polyester?

















The last one...thanks for indulging me. This was also taken in Australia; I think on a trip to Ayers Rock, but I'm not positive. I am certain that it was the 70s!

Same ol' same ol'

It's just fine with me that we went back to our normal routines today. MK was thrilled to go back to school to see her friends. T. Willy was not thrilled to go back, but he did just fine. The Big Man went to work, and I stayed home and cleaned. It is warm here...so I have fooled myself into thinking it's spring and time for spring cleaning. My mom will be so proud.

T. Willy has discovered text messaging. He knows how to use our iPhones just a little too well. He sent texts to grandparents today and to his dad. I have tried to make sure that he prefaces each text with, "This is Ty." He sent one to my mom that said, "Are you sure?" and she was completely confused. He is really starting to read a lot of words, but he asks for help with spelling.

A lot of girls are "daddy's girls." Don't get me wrong...MK loves her dad, but to me she has always been a "mommy's girl." This has continued even to middle school. I am subbing for her band director on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. She seems more excited than I am. I am so thankful for this. It may not last forever, so I want to appreciate it as long as I can. We are going to watch and discuss "West Side Story." I found the song, "When You're a Jet," for her tonight and now it is going over and over in my head. I can't imagine how it's going to be when I watch it 5-6 times a day for 3 days.

Finally, I challenged myself to try to post every day for a year. It's January 5; we have a long way to go. In addition, I have been challenged to post a picture every day for a year. So, I'm now accountable to you, and here is my first picture. This is T. Willy getting ready for the tub. The goggles came with a Spiderman bath bubble set that Santa brought.

Mr. Nobody

I have been reminded of this Family Circus cartoon recently. I can't believe I found a picture of it. At that family's house, there lived a little gremlin who went around creating mischief for the poor children who did nothing wrong. He went by the name "Not Me." Our house now has its own little gremlin whose name is "Mr. Nobody," and T. Willy is the only one who knows him.

T. walked into my room a little while ago to show me that my slippers had stickers on the bottom of them. I asked, "Ty, did you do that?" His reply was, "No, it was Mr. Nobody." He also said this with a completely blank face. He even told me details about Mr. Nobody; for instance, his birthday is December 31.

This just reminds me how different two children can be. If MK had done something similar, she would usually tell the truth. Furthermore, she wouldn't have brought them to me and told me about it. On the occasions that she didn't immediately confess, her face would completely give her away. It would turn bright pink, and her eyes would droop. Not with T. though. He could convince you that Mr. Nobody did it. In fact, it's awfully quiet out there right now...I'd better find out what Mr. Nobody is up to.

Pictures

My mom has pictures of the grandchildren on the wall going down her stairs. After realizing they dated back to when T. Willy was a year old, she decided to update them. My brother took the pictures, so here they are. (Note: these are pictures of pictures that were just printed on paper, so they aren't great. In a family of photographers, it is necessary to add the caveat.)


T. Willy, 4
















MK, 13
















Jonathan, 14

















Alyssa, 16

















Benjamin, 18


















I also took two pictures of the kids at the airport. Since everything went so well, we had a few minutes for T. to play. MK didn't want to be left out, so she tried out the slide.

This picture captures her well wearing her "Chucks" and her shirt that has Lucy Van Pelt saying, "Trade your boyfriend for a musician," and carrying her "Panic at the Disco" bag...only her favorite band.




















T. Willy driving a truck.

Part 6 - Aaron...and we're home

I ran out of time to post this while I was in Delaware. (Computer time is hard to come by in a house with 4 teenagers staying in it.) However, I could not complete my feelings about Delaware without including my brother. He is my lone sibling, older than I am by 4 1/2 years. My mom asked me recently if I can remember ever having a fight with him. I do remember one, but she wasn't home at the time, and I take the blame, because I was an annoying little sister. But we weren't fighters. I suppose it was the age difference and the boy/girl thing, but we really didn't have much to do with each other growing up. He was always there but had his own interests, and I had mine.

One thing brought us together: one of my good friends in middle school was Wendy. She had an older sister, Lyn. He wanted to date Lyn, so he was always glad to have to pick Wendy up or take me to her house. He and Lyn celebrated their 20th anniversary in August.

He was away at college during my teenage years, but it was always fun when he'd come home. He often brought gifts and had stories that made college seem so fun. So, I followed in his footsteps and went to the same school. His last year there was my first year. Everything changed after that. He lived off campus, and I was stuck in a dorm with no means of transportation. He would pick me up and take me to his apartment just to hang out or he'd get me out of a night at the campus cafeteria by taking me out to dinner. He would also take me home for weekends, because he wanted to see Lyn, and I would get homesick...the first semester at least. During those 6 hour drives home, we bonded. I now count him as one of my best friends. We often finish each others' sentences. When I go to DE, he often plans fun for just me. He takes me to off the beaten path places to see movies and bands, and it is a lot of fun. This time we went to a regular movie, but it was still a great time.

I will close with one picture taken the night before we left. I had several picked out but ran out of time to have my dad take the pictures. Too bad, we were pretty cute kids.

On a jet plane....

We are sitting on a plane in Atlanta. Next stop: home!!! We had a wonderful time in Delaware, but it's time to go home. Things have gone very smoothly today which was an absolute relief after last week. I am eager to get home and take down all the Christmas decorations and get the house back to normal.

I've been wanting to redo the kids' bathroom. I bought some accessories while we were away, so I'm eager to tackle that project too. I looked everywhere for a shower curtain that would coordinate and not require me to paint again. I think I found it but won't know until we get there.

It's time to turn the phone off now. Have a great day!!!

A

*edit - we just landed safely!

2009

A new year holds so much promise. People talk about fresh starts and make resolutions. I don't have any specific resolutions. I do hope this year holds a full time job, but I am thankful for all of the subbing I've been able to do and hope that opens some doors. I look (all the way) back to 2008 and feel gratitude. I learned a lot, and am thankful for the family and friends that were a part of it. I'm thankful for my family. I'm thankful for my friends. I'm also thankful for my "cyber" friends; there are several friendships that I've made via this blog, and old friendships that I maintain through it. I wish each and every one of you a happy and healthy new year!

Part 5 - Games and kids

My brother has 3 children. They are 18, 16, and 14. My older nephew is a little too old for us now, but the niece and other nephew pretty much stay here the entire time that we do. They do things with MK and T. Willy all day, but at night, we all play games. This time it's been "Apples to Apples" and "Imaginiff." So here are some pictures of that. They are always so nice to include T. Willy even when he doesn't quite understand how to play.














Who let this boy have an expo?

Part 4...Shannon

There really isn't a way to adequately express what Shannon means to me. We live 1,000 miles apart, and yet, when we are together, it is as if no time has passed. Shannon has been with me for everything in my life. She knows nearly everything about me. Apart from my mother, there is no woman in my life that I trust more. MK and T. Willy call her "Aunt Shannon," even though they have an actual aunt named Shannon. I didn't date anyone who didn't quickly learn that Shannon would accompany us. That usually worked well, because guys seemed to come in pairs. However, Shannon is a bit younger than I am, so she didn't date these guys...she was more of a chaperone. There really isn't a story of my teen years that doesn't involve her in some way. I could go on and on and on; however, that would take too long. So, my dad helped me with some pictures tonight. These are pictures taken of pictures of our history together. There are many, many more, but a lot of them are at my house.

Several times we have been mistaken for sisters, and I don't have a sister, but don't think I could feel closer to an actual one. One of my favorite stories is this: my mom has people over for the 4th of July every year. There is a couple that attends that came to our church and worked at the school after I had moved away. So I knew who they were, but didn't know them well. One year we attended the 4th of July party. Toward the end of the afternoon, the husband asked, "Do you know Shannon?" He had no idea that we were even friends, but couldn't get over how much I reminded him of her. (She is a principal at the Christian school that we attended, so he had worked with her.) I have always loved that story, and took that as a great compliment.


This is a picture of us with our brothers. Her brother was in my grade, and he is a part of the history too. This was not the way we really dressed...we aren't that old. This was taken on "Old Fashioned Sunday" at the church you saw earlier. I would guess that I'm 8 or 9, and she is 6 or 7.











Just the two of us on the same day.










This is us playing at my house. The sweaters are draped around our shoulders, because we are pretending to be "teenagers," and looking at a yearbook. I suppose that is what we thought teenagers did. I spent the day with her today and told her about this; she laughed and laughed.











She was the maid of honor in my wedding, 1989. She was getting ready to be a senior in high school. And you thought my bangs were big...











And I was the matron of honor in her wedding, 1997. MK (2 years old) was a flower girl.












There is no way that I could talk about Delaware and what it means to me without mentioning "my Shannon."

Part 3

Today we attended a funeral for a woman that I'd known my entire life. Her granddaughter was one of my childhood best friends. Mrs. S. had seven children: six girls and a boy who was a year ahead of me in school. Today her life was truly celebrated. Fortunately, I don't go to many funerals. This is the first one I've been to that had the family giving the eulogy. It was amazing. They are a close family. They have gathered at Mrs. S's house every Sunday for as long as I can remember. That was spoken about several times, and I am so thankful that I was able to be a part of several of those Sunday afternoons. I knew most of the cousins, and it just seemed like a big adventure to me, with babies and cousins and aunts and uncles and kids playing in the yard and lots and lots of good food. Last year when I was home for Christmas, I stopped by unannounced. Nobody blinked an eye. They just welcomed me in. My friend, Jami, wasn't there yet, so Mrs. S. and the aunts and Jami's mother showed me photo albums and talked to me about where everyone was. I always felt at home there, and, although I would have liked to have seen them under different circumstances, I am very thankful that I was able to be a part of it today.
That really is one of the things that Delaware means to me.

Another is dinner with my family. My mom was very good about having us eat meals together as a family. I have many memories of the 4 of us gathered around the table laughing and talking. Tonight we gathered around the table with 4 of the grandchildren. I was seated between my parents, so I asked MK to snap a picture with my phone. It isn't the best picture, technically, but it does say Delaware to me.










Have a wonderful night! I'm off to play board games...that will probably be #4!

What Delaware means to me....part 2 (Go Eagles)

I took a few more pictures today, because I actually left the house. We went to church this morning.


This is the church. Since a church is really the people, and not the building, they started attending this church when my mom was expecting my OLDer brother. It was in a different location and they moved here in the 60s, I think. This building came to be as it looks now when I was in high school. In addition to being at church twice on Sundays and once on Wednesday nights, I also went to the Christian school there from 4th grade until Graduation. I was married in the church, and have countless other memories involving it. I can't think of home without thinking of it. (My older nephew is in the foreground getting into the car.) My friend's grandmother died on Christmas Eve, and I'll be going to a funeral there tomorrow.












In high school, I worked at McDonald's. Here it is. It is walking distance (ish) from my parents' house, and also holds a lot of fun memories. I also learned, "If you have time to lean, you have time to clean."















Since I went to the Christian school, there was always a fascination with the very large public school across the field. I dated a couple of guys from there, and most of my coworkers at McDonald's went there. My mom also worked as a secretary there, which I loved!!!











So that's another snippet of my life in Delaware. More to follow...and go Eagles!!!

What a difference a day makes.

For as hectic a day as we had yesterday, today turned out to be just the opposite. I only left the house once, and that was just to run to the street to take a picture of the house. We caught up and watched football and Christmas movies. The kids played with each other and had a blast. They love having their cousin around, and he's so fun for MK and patient with T. Willy.

Tomorrow is church, so I'll at least leave the neighborhood. There is a bit less running around to do when it's cold out. In the summer, we are outside constantly, either in the pool or in the front yard swinging or playing basketball. But we still have plenty to do, so I'd better rest up for it.

Have a great night!!!
A

What Delaware means to me

Did that sound like the title of a third grade school essay?

Anyway, I get a little sentimental when I'm here. I was born in Delaware, and with the exception of two years (ages 3-5) that we lived in Australia, I lived in Delaware until I was 17 and left to go to college in Virginia. I got married when I was 19 and have lived out of Delaware longer than I lived here. However, I still use the word "home" to describe it. T. Willy questioned that yesterday. I said something about "when we get home" meaning after our plane arrived, and he said, "We aren't going home till January 2nd." Clearly he has only one definition of home. But home is where the heart is; therefore, I have two.

I have compiled a photo gallery of just a few things that mean "Delaware" to me. There are many others, but not everyone is here right now, and I haven't left the house yet today.


I must start with the house. We moved here when I was 7. Not one room in the house resembles a room as it was when I lived here. For that matter, when we moved here, the exterior was gold, with darker gold shutters. How things change. But it's home.









The porch swing. My grandfather built this, and it is my favorite place to be. I have held both of my babies and my brother's babies on it, and I've spent hours just "being" on it. No matter how cold it is when I'm here, I always spend time on it.













My mom. Home wouldn't be the same without her. She spoils the grandkids (and me) and is always on the go. I caught this picture of her while she was taking down the Christmas decorations.














My dad. There are some things that you don't ever want to change. This is one of them...my dad starts his day with coffee and the newspaper. He has also grown a goatee. I love it! My mom is less enamored with it.














Circus peanuts! My mom never disappoints.













The Christmas card basket. My mom keeps her Christmas cards on the piano (my childhood archnemesis.) I love to come home and read them and look at pictures of people I haven't seen for a long time.












My nephew. (The other nephew and niece didn't spend the night, so I'll have to add their pictures later.) He is almost always wearing a hat.












There are others, of course, but that's it for now. I'm sure I'll find plenty more to post later. Have a wonderful day!!

Late night

Late morning. We stayed up late last night, but we finally did get some sleep. I haven't seen anyone yet, so I am enjoying some quiet before the havoc begins again.

We haven't made any plans for the day. The kids were given money for Christmas, so I'm guessing that they will make a trip to the mall at some point. I will get in touch with my very dear friend, Shannon. Other than that, it should be a quiet day of playing with new toys and enjoying family. I hope your day will be just as relaxing and fun!!!

We are here

After a very long day, we are at my parents' house. The kids have already played and opened presents and are having a great time with cousins and the grandparents. I have already found the Chex mix and the circus peanuts...all is right with the world!

We had delays because of fog in Atlanta, but it wasn't a terrible day. We arrived in Atlanta to find that our connecting flight had departed without us. The airline had already booked us on a late flight, but we were able to get on an earlier one. However, when they boarded us, we were in 3 separate rows. T. Willy was most unhappy, and a very kind lady saw that and offered to take my seat so he and I could sit together. It all had a happy ending. The flights were smooth, and the delays were bearable.

One funny thing. T. Willy is four...the prime age for learning and repeating "potty" words. He has been talked to about it, and we've tried to explain good words and bad words. So...my mom gave MK and my nephew labelmakers for Christmas. There are labels everywhere...on the microwave, the stairs, my mom, etc. T. Willy found a label on the sofa that said, "Place butt here." He read it out loud, and repeated it several times. MK told him that he's not supposed to say "butt." (He has been told to try to find substitutes for "butt"; however, "but" is different and acceptable.) So he told her, "Yeah, when I said it, it only had one 'T'."

That's it for us. I will try to post pictures and maybe even some video this week. Have a great day!

A

Still waiting.

Due to fog in Atlanta, our flight is delayed. The last word is that they hope to board us at 12:18, but there is no guarantee if the fog doesn't lift. I am pretty patient, and MK can occupy herself, but T.Willy is bored!!! We've had snacks and a drink, and now MK is walking him up and down the corridor. Oh well. We've been through this before. My biggest concern was missing our connecting flight, but Atlanta is at a stop, so we should be okay. Just wanted to give you a little update

On the road....again!

We are on our way to the airport. We had a wonderful Christmas day and a very fun night! The movie was a lot of fun, although T. Willy got a bit bored. Now we are packed up and ready, I hope. We will be back next Friday, but I'll be sure to post from DE.