Happenings

Today is a quiet day, not too much going on...yeah right! I have to get the kids off to school, make sure everyone has what they need before hand, fold a couple of loads of laundry, try to get some more laundry done, and go to Cassidy's school for "superhero" accessory making. Her teacher had them create a ssuperhero. They spent time developing a name for the character, developing a story and writing a book. He ordered tee shirts (asked for our children's sizes) and they are going to or already have made those. Today we are doing belts, capes and I guess any other accessories necessary to complete the costume. Of course, Mr. O knew that I would be available to come in to help! I just love the fact that I can, no lie, I love being there for my little girl. It is something I really wasn't able to do with the boys, and my mom had to work, so she couldn't do the little things that were special for me. Don't get me wrong, she did make sure I got to Girl Scouts, concerts, and she volunteered to go on field trips when she could. The big trips, like the BRONX ZOO, the MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY, the COLD SPRING HARBOR WHALING MUSEUM, SAGAMORE HILL. Things like that. I just missed that she didn't bring the cupcakes to my class, that I had to bring them in in the morning, by myself. I missed that she wasn't there, like the rest of the moms after school to pick me up, that I walked home, to an empty, well not empty, my brother was in a coma sleeping from work the night before in his room upstairs. Lord knows it wasn't only from work, he had chemical help, but that is another story. I really love that Ihave the freedom to "help" the students and my daughter. She will remember that I was there for things, maybe not what things, but she will remember that she saw me in her classroom. I think the teacher helps too. I really like the teacher that she has, he is great with the kids, he teaches to them not at them, and he enjoys what he does. In the first grade, my daughter knows more about the way we read and write. He teaches beyond what they NEED to know, he teaches what they SHOULD know. He also makes them tie in other stories to the one that he is reading to them, he asks them to "remember" what was said in "BLAH BLAH," that we read last week. It is cool to watch him, really. He is the kind of teacher that I wish I had when I was younger. My daughter will have a love of reading and writing that will last a lifetime. She really does love books. But this is only a part of my day.

After that I have to start calling COD oil delivery companies. My mother's house is just about out of oil, and I must call someone to put a small amount of oil in the tank, just so that the burner doesn't burn out turning on. I have to pay out of pocket for it and get it back with a receipt of course, when the estate is settled. I cannot call her oil company, she owes them a big bill. A tank of oil was selivered after she died, even though I asked that they take the house off of automatic delivery. Don't get me started....But anyhow, I have to do that to make sure that the house stays intact. I can't wait until the whole business is settled. Believe it or not, it is still getting very cold here at night. The temps are supposed to go down into the high 20's or low 30's tonite!

After that I have to make sure that I have spaghetti in the house, I know I have pasta, but specifically spaghetti, is needed for tonite. I am making a sort of chicken catticitore in the crockpot today, I won't be here to ensure that nothing burns, or explodes, or sets the house on fire, so the slow cooker is my best bet. Actulally, my husband used to make this type of chicken, when I was working, when we needed to have a good hot dinner, when I didn't make things on the fly. He was good at it too! He hasn't made it in quite a while, I haven't seen him cook in a dogs age, he hasn't the need to, I am not working outside the home, I make sure that dinner is on the table, when and how it needs to be, and I stick to the "do not cook list."(again, another story)

Daniel is trying out for the middle school team, he started on Monday, he has practice tonite for his travel team too. They open the season on Friday night under the lights at a baseball complex (privately owned, and expensive for the teams to play there) locally. His pal from school is comming over today after tryouts, they will take the athletic bus home together, they are on the travel team together, and his mom is working, and dad doesn't get home early enough for him to take the kid to practice. It isn't a big deal, it works out pretty good, the boys come home, if they have time eat dinner(maybe not tonite) and fly to practice. If they don't have time for dinner, I will give them a snack and they will have to eat after practice. Patrick wants to help out the manager tonite, so both boys will be going. It helps out the team and it helps keep Patrick loose for his own team. He starts practice on Friday. Daniel has a game at 8pm, Patrick has practice at 6pm. It will all work out. I wil probably send Scott with Daniel and Cassidy, and I will endure the chilly weather by the water for Patrick's practice. Hope that the games don't conflict with Daniel's, it wouldn't be fair to either boy for one or both of us to miss out on the games. It will all work out. It always does. Anyway, must fly to get my dinner started, I have to make sure that the seasonings all are in the slow cooker, that everything is in the "go mode" as my sister Marge would say. Have a great day, think of me around 6pm, on the baseball field, freezing....