Live from Tormville!

A huge long grab your favorite cup sit down and enjoy catch up post!

WHERE does the time go????

First off.  Thank you for the all the kind emails after my weepy day the other day.  I'm trying to answer them all.  But thank you.  It caught me off guard.  Also...I learned something that day.  You see...I've always loved to write.  I've kept journals forever. 

Then...sometime during the past 2 years I stopped writing journals but began writing on bulletin boards and blogs.  And you know what?  I can no longer write to myself.  I tried.  With that entry...I tried.  I was going to write just to get it out of my system. I was planning to keep it private.  I opened up a word doc and it wouldn't come.  It.would.not.come.  So ya'll are stuck with me...I have to write to people.  ;)  I've always been a letter writer, a rambler...and now I know that this is the key to my writing..I have to write TO somebody. 

So.

Tomorrow is March.  I'm still not done with January, and tomorrow is March!!!  So much going on - life is picking up speed now.  The winter doldrums are over with wether I like it or not.  We are picking up the pace in Tormville!

Purging

Still.  I brought back about 6 boxes from storage the other day.  One of those rubbermaids was FULL of cassettes from our teenage days.  Full.   I threw all but 20 out on Sunday.  This week we have the stereo going constantly.  I'm listening to those last 20 and pitching as I go.  Today it's been Cyndi Lauper, Bruce Springstein, Whitesnake and Yaz.  Wendy, I think, won't let me toss out Yaz.  Good times.  Lots of memories in music. 

AND.  Purple Heart called today and will be here on Friday.  The next 2 days are now purge days full steam ahead.  yes!  Love when I know they'll be picked up right away.

Brian

is a goofball.  Can you tell?  He seems quite determined to follow in his siblings goofy shoes.  He loves to tease

He loves to laugh

He crawls around the house wiggling exageratedly. And he's starting to walk pretty well.  Crawling is still easier tho.

He's still a momma's boy...but dad seems like he might be sticking around, so he's letting his guard back down.

He now has 8 teeth

And he's goofy.  This picture is for whoever it was that requested a smiling one after his bawling at the fence one last week.  ;)

Class of 2019

Class of 2019???????  Oh my stars and bananas! 

Wendy had Kindergarten round up this morning.  She's excited.  She's a tad worried about the last immunization she needs...but for the most part, she's excited.  It's hard to believe that next year I'll have an elementary kid AND a middle schooler.  Where is time going???

Class of 2019.  My word.

Becky Thompson

hehe!  Becky Thompson is coming to Michigan for our megameet!  I'm SOOOOOOOO excited!  I happened to notice on her blog the other night that she had it listed in her places that she'll be column.  I'm.so.excited!!!  It's so fun to meet scrapping friends after emailing for several years.  And Becky, she's got a special spot because she's the only person I've ever known who has the same dread of holes as I do.  Now, if that doesn't cement a friendship, I don't know what does.  Can't wait! 

Juggling

Somebody posted this link on a message board the other day, and we Torms are so impressed.  It's been watched quite a few times already - it's one of those video clips that makes you feel all full up.  It's so fun to witness somebody succeed in what they do.  This guy, he's succeeded.  Click on the word 'watch' on his page...and do just that.  Sit back...and watch.  Chriss Bliss

Allan

He's a boyscout now!!!

Tonight is his first boyscout meeting.  I'm anxious to get the schedule for this year.  In boy scouts they do so much more than they did in cubs.  It's going to be a struggle to keep and find new balance...but he loves it, so we'll do our best. 

whoops...dad's home for supper....I'll have to continue another day.

be good!

Winding down the weekend

ah

And here we are.  9:25 pm on a Sunday night.  Wendy's asleep on the couch behind me and I just carried Brian upstairs and tucked him in. In 5 minutes we'll quietly tell Allan to turn out his flashlight.

Greg is in his lazyboy reading a book, and I'm here.  There is one light on for him to read by,  and the light of the computer. All else is dark.  The garbage has been taken out, the dishes are done and I'm sipping a cup of tea. 

It's quiet.  We're all here.  It's good.

It was a busy, yet relaxing weekend. 

Friday...Greg walked in the door just after 7am from his red-eye flight from San Jose.  He'd had one hour of sleep in 24.  He had breakfast with us, unpacked...and then I took the littles out so he could sleep for a few hours.  At noon I woke him up so we could get busy for Allan's blue/gold banquet which was that evening.  Allan is officially a boyscout now.  Poor Greg was at the school from 2-10:30 helping with the festivities. 

So on Saturday we paced ourselves.  We got stuff done...but we were in relaxed "if it happens" mode.  I went to Curves, Greg worked on his jeep, Uncle George stopped by and we went over to my brothers for evening coffee and brownies.  It was a good full day.

As was today.  Sunday school, church, visiting.  Allan went to a friends house, and we went to anothers.  And relaxed. 

Tomorrow is Monday. 

And routine.  I'm so dang excited to get back into a normal routine I don't think I'm going to be able to sleep!  Everybody's home, there's a full week of school. Routine. 

Monday's rock.  Can't wait!

'till then.  be good! 

Perhaps

Perhaps it was Wendy asking from the backseat this morning as we did our errands, "Mom..can we listen to that song about the soldier who doesn't come home?"

Perhaps it's that my kids have taken to saying this past few weeks, "I wish he would come back so we could meet him"

Perhaps it's the weather.  There is a touch of spring in the air that reminds me so much of that day and time nearly 15 years now gone.  That day that still, at times, feels like yesterday.

Perhaps it's knowing that such a normally unthought of thing as the turn of the calendar page can suddenly make memories, and pain, that much more acute.

Or perhaps it's me feeling quilty about the complaining I do when my husband travels for work, when I know full well that I have it easy.  I know this.

Maybe it's seeing the little boy who overnight became a young man.  A young man so much like the father he never met.  And I ache...not for his life now, but for what he did not know. 

Most likely...it's a combination of it all.  Today I keep shedding tears, and it's caught me offguard.  I don't cry all that often, but today it feels so fresh.

Today I can so vividly remember that day we got the call.  I was at a morning brunch.  I can't remember the reason for the brunch, but I remember we were of many ages there.  Me, still quite young.  Grannies.  Babies.

And the phone rang.  You can tell sometimes, I think, just by the ringing of the phone that something is going to change.  I remember the ring alone signaling something different.  I remember the feeling of foreboding.  And I remember how all our hearts ached as one, together, when Grannie let out a heartwrenching wail on the phone.  We knew.

Moments before we had been talking with anticipation about how Tom would be home soon.  How relieved we were that the war was now over, and that he and Sue could be a family again. That he could come home and meet his son.  Oh how vividly I remember that dive from anticipation to heartbroken agony.  Oh, we hurt.

My memory fades just a bit here.  I don't remember who I was with or where we went next.  I do remember that my mind was chaos.  Who do I comfort first?  How can I help?  How will Greg receive the news that his older brother died?   I remember restlessly turning, wishing I could somehow quickly transport myself from Michigan to Virginia to be with Greg.  I remember him being my main concern. My worry.  I remember trying to absorb his pain from over the miles.

Greg was in the military then.  It was something that the brothers always knew they would do.  Tom, the leader - the eldest, a Marine.  Greg chose the Navy so he could see the world thru a porthole.  Ken - he was in bootcamp that very day. 

In 1991 we didn't have cell phones like we do today.  I remember trying to get ahold of Greg all day long.  I called, and I called, and I called.  For hours.  As the hours went on, I became more and more nervous.  I just couldn't imagine how this news had hit him.  Did he hop right in the truck to drive home?  More worry...how could he drive in such a state...why didn't he call first? 

Was he okay?

Finally...that evening, he answered. "Are you okay" I asked.  And he said, "I'm fine"  And I knew then...he hadn't yet heard. And I knew that it had to be me.  For whatever reason - it had to be me.  And more accutely then anything before or since - I remember.  I remember how he broke down when I told him those few words over the phone - "Tom. Tom is dead"  I wish now that I could have somehow been more eloquent, that somehow thru words I could have softened that blow, but realistically I know that with an unexpected death, there is no way to soften it.  It's a sudden pain, and it hurts.  Oh my goodness, how it hurts.

I had to let Greg go then. He needed to be alone and absorb it, and it was one of the hardest things I ever had to do.  To hang up that phone when he was so far away, and not be there to comfort. to help.   As it was, the military finally came to his door almost immediately after he hung up the phone, and they stayed with him until they knew he was okay.  And I know that for whatever reason, it was meant that I be the one to tell him.

And I remember so precisely going to pick him up from the airport.  For us, he couldn't get home soon enough.  I stood in the lobby, weeping, so emotionally drained...and I waited.  Ironically,I waited beside 2 families who were welcoming their soldiers home, and that made me weep even more.  They had yellow banners, they had balloons...they had complete families.  They had no clue that we were in such opposite shoes, that our emotions were at such opposite ends.

And somehow we made it.  It was the longest 2 weeks of our lives, and there are holes in our hearts that will never be filled, but we made it.

And while we can be happy that Tom has met his everlasting reward - selfishly we are lonesome.

And every once in awhile, we weep.

Today, I weep.
Tomorrows another day.

be good

(and mom, I'm fine...really!  ;) - just weepy, and that's okay)

Tormville = Happyville

It's a happy post day!!

<------------------ New Happy Art!
This is one of Wendy's latest drawings. I *love* this picture.  The scan doesn't do it justice.  It's hard not to smile at a drawing of happy sunshines and people with so many fingers.  Love it. 

Purging!  Still!
Today I purged the fridge (don't ask) and the linen closet.   I took my little dymo upstairs and labelled each shelf.  4 beds and the guest linens.  2 sets each.  Everything else is GONE!  And Thank You for all the encouragement and support yesterday.  I've not gone back into my dumpster yet!!  And I just threw my old moldy food on top of it all, so that should really deter any second thoughts I may have had.  ;P  And for all of those who didn't post here but emailed me your dirty little hoarding secrets privately. PURGE!  Trust me...it feels great.  And again... Read.This.Book!  Especially if you're having a hard time letting go.  It'll have you laughing at yourself and looking at everything in a whole new light. 

Walkin'
Brian can, all of a sudden, walk! 1/2-way across the living room and there he collapses into a bundled of elated giggles.  These times are so much fun!  We've been giggling with him for a day and a half now.  It looks like he'll be my youngest walker, Allan and Wendy waited until they were just over a year.  Brians acting like he might have them beat by a few weeks. 

Sunshine!!
We've had sunshine for a few days now, it does SO much to lift the spirits.  Unfortunately...it also makes it obvious how badly I let my dusting go.  I've been dusting between purgings.

Allan's Art
We're a house full of artists - as Allan says.  We all like to be doing something creative.  Allan is excited that one of his drawings will be on the annual school t-shirt!  High fives for Allan!  I guess the vote was pretty tight and he got in, just.  We'll take it! 

Girl Scout Cookies
I will not tell you how many I ate yesterday - I justified every single one of them.  And boy..did they make me happy!

Cub Scouts
I'm almost ready for Allan's Blue and Gold banquet.  This weekend he will officially cross over from Cub Scouts into Boy Scouts. Yep...as soon as I sew 50 more patches onto his felt I'll be ready. 

Single Parenting
Okay...that's not a happy thing.  In fact....single parenting comes close to one of the most exhausting things ever.  The happy part is...I'm in the home stretch!  Yes!  That man I married has been gone for almost 2 whole weeks for work, and he's going to be home.  soon!  HOORAY!!!  Single parenting is totally for the birds.  The worst part is having to bundle up 3 kids in sub zero weather just to go to the store to get milk. I'm excited to being real close to having a built-in babysitter tho, Allan is almost there.  Almost.  And evenings...those kinda stunk too (altho the not making dinners and the kids not getting wound up with dad is a nice positive) The weekends?  Oh, those are WAY too long when single parenting.  So we're all a bit giddy over here awaiting his arrival.  He's been out there in San Jose....and I have to confess that I giggled just a little when he woke up to frost one morning (it was the same morning I had shoveled slushy crap while Brian screamed in the house..momma's boy, remember) so I figure it was okay.  I do feel bad tho that due to a scheduling conflict he did not make it to Alcatraz or the Winchester Mansion. He did send us this cool picture tho:

So there you have it...all kinds of happy things happenin'!  I hope all is happy in your world too!!! 

Take care

be good! ;)

Be proud of me. Please?

I need you to be proud of me and my purging.

I need you to be proud of the fact that today alone I've filled 1/2 a dumpster.

I need you to be proud of the fact that I half filled the dumpster with my own crap...not my childrens.

I need you to be proud that the stuff I purged was all craft crap.  You see...I've been crafting crap for going on over 30 years now.  I've got quite a collection going. In today's purging I tossed over a dozen started cross-stitches that I know I'll never touch again in this lifetime, as good as my intentions may be.  I couldn't quite get rid of the very first project I ever started (I can see now that this not finishing thing goes WAY back) because it's significant. It was my first.  It's an embroidered Precious Moments pillow with an eyelet edge.  All still in pieces of course...I'm not done.  Yet. 

For years I've felt guilty about not finishing these projects and I've held onto them, hoping to finish them and thus get rid of the guilt (remember I've said I feel guilty everyday) someday.  Some of these projects I haven't touched in over 30 years.  Man...that's a long time to feel guilty.  So out they went..now I can just feel one lump of tossing guilt rather than all these pieces.  And boy, do I feel lighter now.

Better yet, I also threw away a substantially large pile of other peoples projects.  It hasn't been enough, apparently, that I feel guilty for just my own unfinished projects...but I've gained thru this guilt of mine a very large stash of other peoples unfinished projects.  Sad little want to be finished things that I've picked up at garage sales and antique stores. 

Gone.  In my dumpster.

Now...I really really need you to be proud of me so I don't start feeling guilty again and begin digging in my own dumpster.  ;P 

And I'm excited because my camera equipment now fits nicely under our bed.  Hoorah!  Less clutter, more storage!

Please....be proud of me.  ;)

Momma's Boy

For my own memory keeping...I thought I'd jot down Brian's 11 month stats. 

He's a momma's boy.  All I have to do is step over this gate that separates the kitchen from the laundry room/stairs and outside and he starts crying (wailing/bawling)  put my foot back to the kitchen side...and like magic, he smiles.  Momma's boy. 

21 lbs and tall (I forgot how tall..) but he's wearing 24 months mostly for his height.

7 teeth.  At least one more on the way.
Wiggle worm.  Next to impossible to get him to sit still.  Church is a somersault event for him.
Smiley and giggly.  Ticklish.
Waves hello and ba-bye.
Just now attempting to stand unassisted by props, hands or couches.
Loves when Allan and Wendy take him by the hands and walk him.
Wishes he could do the stairs more often
Has become a stinker of a sleeper, likes to sleep with his mom.  Momma's boy.
Hair is growing, I'm tempted to trim the locks going over his ear.  He has a bit of a curl in the back.
Had his first ear infection this past month
The cordless phone is his favorite toy
Digs in drawers, cupboards and reaches to pull down everything he can
Loves music...and the guitar.  Sings along as only a 11 mo. old can.
Hates socks and shoes - typical of our kids
Commonly told he looks like my brother Dennis's kids.  Rebecca's eyes - and something Pete'ish. 
Also told he has my sister's boy Roberts mouth.
Throws tempers all ready.  Hurls himself on the floor and holds up his arms and legs and wails.  The first of the three to dare and do this.  tsk tsk.
Loves to play catch...totally a gigglefest event.
Leg grabber
Eats pretty much anything - loves Mac and Cheese.  Takes a sippy cup or bottle no problem
But still loves his momma.  Momma's Boy. 

February

You know...I think this was about the time of the year when I retired from my job of waking the publications board up every morning.  I'm clearly not very motivated to write this time of the year.  We've been lazy in Tormville. 

Well...as lazy as a mother of 3 young kids can be. 

Today is the last day of winter break.  We woke up a bit late (9-9:30), ate breakfast and took a drive to Cabela's.  It's just over 50 miles away, a nice relaxing drive and a fun way to spend the morning.  The kids were excited to play in the shooting gallery, look at all the animals and walk thru the aquarium.  I enjoyed going, for once, when it wasn't weekend busy.  A refreshing change.  Peaceful.  We had offered to be the ones to pick up a gift certificate for Allan's cubscout leader..and that we did. 

The kids read books both there and back.  We had gone to the library last night (something we do at least once a week) and filled our bags.  We're all readers in this house.

And I got a dvd.  Now...ya'll know we don't have a tube...but I will confess that my computer can play dvds.  We don't get them often...but every once in awhile I enjoy being wrapped up in a quilt and just vegging. Normally I feel too guilty to do this.  Last night I watched Shawshank Redemption.  Man, that's a really good movie.  Brian didn't wake up once and I was able to enjoy it in it's entirety. It's been AGES since I've done that.  Occasionally Greg will bring one home from work and I get the giggles cuz here we'll sit like two old farts.  Me..I can't hear so the captions are on, him..he can't see.  Two bumps on a log just 2 feet away from the screen.  good times.  ;)

I'll also confess that I kinda wish we had a tv during the olympics.  I have fond memories of watching the olympics, and it's just not the same reading about those.  ah well. 

I can't remember if I've mentioned that we purged Allan's room this weekend.  And I mean majorly purged.  8 full bags of trash went out.  He's still talking about it.  'Mom...I can't believe how clean my room is!" "Mom...we should have done this ages ago!"  "Mom, my eyes get startled everytime I open the door cuz it's so sparkling!"  He takes purging to a whole new appreciation level.

Now if I could just figure out where my March CK went. I've been cleaning my downstairs for 2 days now looking for it.  argh!  I think I put it somewhere when I was on the phone....

A fun surprise today.  I opened the mailbox to find the Stampers Sampler latest top ten issue.  I have a card in there!  fun!  With that publication you don't find out, literally, until it hits the market.  Fun.

Anyway..that's today's ramblings.  What are you up to??

Vent Hockey

Sheesh!  Vent Hockey!  It's simple!  LOL 

Take the cover off of your vents/air returns...preferably on opposite sides of the room.

Find a puck (my kids like yogurt covers or cool whip covers)

Have at it..covers whip awesome across new wood floors.  ;)   Tennis balls can be used also if you use the larger vents and PROMISE your mother that they will NOT leave the ground and break her pictures/lamps/or stacked dishes. 

Vent hockey.  try it!  ;)

who needs a tv?

when there are open vents around

We don't have everything together yet from putting in our new floors.  The kids have been enjoying some rousing games of vent hockey.  Brian is in the drop and retrieve stage, so this has been beneficial to him as well.

Vents.  who knew?  It's happenin' in Tormville I tell ya!  ;)

growth spurt

One of my favorite things to do is eavesdrop on childrens conversations.  Yes..I'm bad. 

A little background...Allan is 10 and a little short for his age, nearly the shortest in his class.  Wendy, 5 years younger is catching up to him fast.  Allan has a cousin over today...and I caught the end of this conversation:

Allan:  I'm short for my age, but my grandma is short too.
Kent:  Your grandma Tormanen?
Allan:  yeah..I'm almost as tall as her
Kent:  oooh, she'll get her growth spurt soon I bet and she'll be a tall granny
Allan:  yeah, probably
Allan:  I had a growth spurt when I was a baby
Kent:  pretty much everybody gets that

And so on....