A Perfectly Perfect Day

Posted on July 29, 2010 by admin

My daughter is away at camp until tomorrow. I have been trying to get updated with my home business stuff since getting the computer back.

Yesterday I woke up- did my emails and read a few blogs. Then, I threw work to the wind (sort of) and took a break.

My friend “L” is a “new” New Yorker. She has  lived in Texas, California and Arizona for the majority of her life. Her husband is from here. They came out here a year or so ago. Her husband worked with Ron, which is how we became friends.

Anyhoo, she hasn’t been to a lot of the “hot spots” In Central New York,  so I took her to one of the parks which is on a lake.

They have miles of walking trails that run along the lake, you can rent bikes, kayaks and rowboats. There is also a tram that stops at several points along the way. There are playgrounds scattered along the way and a food stand at one of the stops.There are also grills and picnic tables everywhere.

They also have a great dog park, but I left puppy home. No dogs allowed on the trams………….and I wanted my friend to experience that. Sorry Cosmo (the puppy!)

I swear, we had the most beautiful day you could get! It was in the mid 80′s but felt cooler because it was slightly overcast and breezy. It’s always a little cooler by the lake anyway.

We started out walking, just talking and taking in the sights. We walked about 2 miles – until we got to the food stand.

We had a hot dog, hung out a while, then took the tram from that point to the end of the route, and back again to where the tram starts.

Then we left. We were there several hours and we were both beat! We went back to her place and hung another hour or so, then I left.

I rushed around the grocery store looking for something easy to make indoors as it looked like rain was on the horizon.

I get home around 5:30- no one’s here! Ron is on a road call and the boy’s were still at work picking blueberries.

The boys got home around 6:30 and had already bought something to eat on the way home. Ron showed up around 8 p.m. and announced he had grabbed a couple of slices of pizza when he was out.

Cool!

I fended for myself and had my favorite zucchini dish. I’ll put the recipe up tomorrow…

Now I must go to the library and get a dream book for my Journal Writing class tonight. We are analyzing dreams- always a lot of fun!

BTW- On my other blog, I posted about a great exercise to do if you are a business owner. Check it out HERE.

Posted in Blogs, Dreams, Internet Money, Journal Writing, Kids, Lake, Making Money, Parks, Saving Money, writing | Leave a comment

No Time, No Money, No Prospects?

Posted on July 27, 2010 by admin

You can still make money on the Internet! Check these out- they are all FREE:

I actually signed up for the affiliate program  (FREE) on a Thursday. I put it in a blog post on Friday and on Monday I had an email stating I had made $10.00! Sweet!

Plus, there’s a great forum and coupons you can print

Search & Win

I had seen Swagbucks around on the Internet for a while. I have seen where people had several Amazon cards from there. I believe I saw proof of checks at one point, too. Finally, today I took the plunge!

I figure it’s FREE and even if I get a few books free from Amazon, that’s money I save!

Can’t wait to start earning!

And this….

Now it’s your turn to earn, too!

Get signed up for these programs FREE and post a banner or two on your blog- watch the money start trickling in…….and before you know it, it will be pouring in!

Have a prosperous hump day and don’t forget Tuesday Tag-a-long!!

Tuesday Tag-Along

Posted in Amazon, Coupons, Internet Money, Making Money, Saving Money | 5 Comments

Old friends and new………

Posted on July 26, 2010 by admin

The wake on Friday was quite interesting. I did see a couple of the “kids” I grew up with at camp, but only one that I hung around with a lot.

That would be the son of the woman who passed away. Remember I promised one day to post the story about my marriage to him when I was younger?

By younger, I mean around 12 years old!

And no, I’m not sharing the story today :-)

Maybe Friday for all the Friday Blog Carnivals I participate in.

I am Facebook friends with my first husband :-) and another guy from camp. I gained a new Facebook friend after the wake- a woman whose family camped for a couple of years at the same campground. She was more my brothers age (3 yrs younger than me) or even a little younger. There were like 5 kids in the family, so it was great to play catch up.

It’s pretty awesome in this day and age to have Facebook and other online communities. I mean, there are people I’m friends with that I may not have ever seen again with out Facebook! Cool!

New friends

My daughter went away to camp last night. She will be gone until Friday. I felt very uneasy last night. This is the same camp where we went with the Girl Scouts a month or so ago.

She LOVED it and wanted to go to summer camp. So I called the camp- there were only 3 openings left. I rushed and got the money, health sheet and medication list submitted.

All this week, I told her to figure out what she’s bringing. She if anything needs to be washed. Anything we need to buy?

She sort of moped around……….I was really afraid she would change her mind.

But once we got there she brightened up.

I think she’s a little sad- she recently had a birthday and did not hear from her Dad- again! It has been over a year since she’s seen him and it has been sporadic for the last few years…

He used to take her every other weekend, and many times EVERY weekend.

Then married the new wife, and well…………….

Anyhoo, enough depressing stuff. I think camp will keep her mind occupied. And hopefully she’ll meet some great new friends.

I asked her if she wanted copies of the contact sheet I made up for my Central New York Network Marketing Group- it asks for name, phone number, email, Facebook and other social networking stuff.

She looked at me like I was nuts :-}

I must depart now- I have a meeting with a few of the finest ladies in the world to talk about the Attraction Marketing System that we all use.

Talk later!

Carolee

Posted in Uncategorized | 2 Comments

Why parents run away!

Posted on July 23, 2010 by admin

Wow, it’s Friday again! I love Friday’s in the blogosphere. I must admit, I’ve been a little lax the last few weeks.

When I did post, I forgot to go over and add my link to the McKlinky’s of the hosts of the blog hops! Then life got busy and I didn’t get to visit too many of the other blogs anyway.

I’ll try harder this week, I promise!

Why I love Friday’s

Who needs to go to a bar or nightclub when you have great friends right here on the Internet?

Friday brings us Friday Fragments, Friday Blog Hop, and Virtual Girls Night Out.

Half-Past Kissin' Time Photobucket


http://www.mynewlifeasmom.com/

and a spanking brand new one, Bee Funny Blog Follow:

Friday Fragments

Why parents run away………………

My house guests from last week are gone, but this week brings new boarders. My son recently came home from Louisiana. He and my son who recently graduated are looking for work. To make a little money, they have been going out to our friend’s farm and working for him picking blueberries.

They decided that to save on gas, the older son and his GF should stay here for a few days. They come with a puppy, a 1/2 black lab, 1/2 pit bull – a female named Midnight. We all keep forgetting and calling her Nightmare. She’s a very good dog. Rocky and Cosmo have a ball with her.

Anyway, this is why parents run away…to get away from the kids that are supposed to WANT to get away from us, but don’t.

Things that go missing………...

It seems to me there are some items that seem to go missing from just about every household on a regular basis:

Socks: I have been battling sock issues for ages. Check it out HERE!

Those twisty tie’s that keep your bread closed: This seems to be an ongoing problem here. It seems every time I take out the bread (or go to put it away when someone has left it out), the twisty is gone. Nowhere to be found. Not on the table, not under the table..not on the counter, and obviously not on the bread!

The thing is, if the twistys lost, at least close the bag like this:

Just twist it closed and pull the excess bag back over the rest of the loaf.

For the record, every time I sweep the kitchen floor I find twisty’s- where they were hiding beforehand is anyone’s guess.

More disappearing acts:

Kids: When you want something done :-)

Men: When you want something done :-)

Shut Up!

I was on my way to the vets today. I was flipping through the radio stations like always…..found something I liked.

A few minutes later this song came on…excuse me if you like it…but it seemed to me that all it said was SHUT UP…SHUT UP….

Hello? This is music?

No cell phone?

My 19 year old refuses to have a cell phone! Strange, huh? He said they are a pain. I can see his reasoning when he was younger. He worked on a farm and was constantly losing his cell  in the hay loft or the grain bin, or it would fall out of his pocket and get stepped on…by cow or human.

But now he has a car he can keep it in…

I freak out with out my celly!

Good-bye to an old friend

I got word via Facebook (gotta love it) that an old friend has passed away! This woman, her husband and kids camped at the same place as us when I was a kid. We have known the family for about 40 years, although since everyone stopped camping about 20 yrs ago we only see them occasionally.

My mom was good friends with Barb, the woman who passed away. My sister hung with the two daughters, and I hung with the son. He was actually my first husband (at the rip old age of about 12!). That is a story for another day :-)

Anyway back in the day everyone helped watch each others kids at camp. If I was on the beach and my mom wasn’t there, you can be sure Barb or one of the other parents was watching me right along with their kids. It was almost like an extended family.

I remember my mom and Barb hanging out in the shallow water at the beach, picking out rocks and throwing them in a pile. Although the owner of the camp put sand on the beach and in the shallow part of the creek every year, there were still rocks that hurt our little footsies! The kids would often join in.

Maybe that’s where my love of rocks come from!

Anyway, some of my fondest childhood memories are from camp, and Barb was such an integral part of that.

So here’s to Barb!

Now I must go and put my links out there. I have the wake tonight, so not sure if I’ll visit blogs tonight, but will definately over the weekend!

See ya!

Posted in Death, Homeschooling, Kids, Music | 4 Comments

What irritates me!

Posted on July 21, 2010 by admin

I can handle a lot of noise that kids make, but there are a few things that irritate me.

And didn’t my daughter have to go buy a few of them yesterday. Of course, she may not have realized just how much they irritate me. After all, I try to do my best NOT to act irritated by the kids noises!

Yesterday she babysat for a few hours for my stepson and his GF and made $10.00. It was seriously burning a hole in her pocket, so when we went to Wally World she spent it- on party stuff!

You know, the noisemakers, some bouncy balls, the HUGE blow-up balloons and a stick-the-tail-on the donkey.

The kids were here when we left, so I can only assume that she was thinking of the 3 yr old when she bought the stuff.

She is always spending her hard earned babysitting money on her babysitting kids!

Anyway, the kids were gone when we got back.

But that didn’t hinder the fun!

Remember, I have boys! They may be 19 & 20, but they are still boys. Because of them, I detest bouncy balls! I used to have quite a bit of my breakable stuff out when they were younger.

Get 2 or 3 kids bouncing one of those destructive items around, whipping them at each other, and you have the recipe for a major conniption fit from momma!

And the sound of the boom, boom, boom when they bounce it…just grates on my nerves…

Same for those huge balloons being hit back and forth…..annoying.

Noisemakers…let’s NOT even go there!

Anyhoo, she bought them all.

The 19 yr old gets involved in the bouncy ball action. Bouncy balls flying from corner to corner.

The noise made my nerves want to jump out of my body

Finally I begged for mercy, and they finally stopped.

The Princess then began STACKING the balls on the table.

Then she wiggled the table, thinking the balls would fall.

NOT!

They all stayed together and rolled around! She was pretty amazed.

Anyway, that was a more acceptable QUIET way to play with the balls until I find them laying around and put them in the Bouncy Ball Graveyard (the garbage :-)

I know, I’m an old Bah Humbug!

But in my defense, I can handle babies crying and toddlers whining (to a point) , noisy trucks & cars, video game noise and more.

Am I forgiven for hating a little bouncy ball?

Just had to share………….

Posted in Homeschooling | 2 Comments

Wow! Socialization? Really?

Posted on July 20, 2010 by admin

As many of you know, I homeschooled my 13 yr old daughter for the last year.

She has been talking since the end of last year that she wants to go back to PS- she is bored and misses her friends.

Of course the friends tell her about all the fun she’s missing…you know- the fights, the boys who disrupt class, the insane teachers and all that “fun”  stuff.

In my heart, I know she won’t be happy back at PS. She has become such an independent learner (actually, always has been!)

But again, going with an Unschooling approach if she wants to go to school it’s up to her.

I actually put in my Intent to HS to my district, and figured we have a few months to mull it over. Pray, think, pray some more..

Yesterday, my daughter announced she may want to homeschool.

Her reasons?

Well one I know that has been eating away at her is the fact that if she goes back to PS, she loses a lot of babysitting.

My daughter is a small kid freak. She often has the opportunity to watch kids when other kids are in school. She has also helped our neighbor after she had surgery and  helped homeschool a 6 year old one day a week.

She makes her own money and has purchased her own cell phone, buys her own texting cards and often buys herself food (like ours is no good :-)

Now my neighbors son & GF are having a baby this winter, and my stepson, GF and two kids moved back to the area and will need a sitter now & then.

The kids will probably come here, so I can help. She can do any schoolwork as well, although she can do her schoolwork whenever- who says it has to be from 9 a.m.- 3 p.m.?

She has also made quite a few HS friends- she probably has more of them than PS friends now, but they live scattered about, so she only see’s them at co-op and maybe youth group at church.

But the reason she stated  yesterday? Two girls threatened to beat her up if she comes back!

I’m not happy about THAT reason, but happy it’s making her think!

So I’m rejoicing ….I think she’s coming along!

Speaking of beating people up, a member on one of my homeschool groups shared this- she couldn’t remember where she found it, but check it out!

“When my wife and I mention we are strongly considering homeschooling our children, we are without fail asked, ‘But what about socialization?’

Fortunately, we found a way our kids can receive the same socialization that government schools provide.

On Mondays and Wednesdays, I will personally corner my son in the bathroom, give him a wedgie and take his lunch money.

On Tuesdays and Thursdays, my wife will make sure to tease our children for not being in the ‘in’ crowd, taking special care to poke fun at any physical abnormalities.

Fridays will be ‘Fad and Peer Pressure Day.’ We will all compete to see who has the coolest toys, the most expensive clothes, and the loudest, fastest, and most dangerous car.

Every day, my wife and I will adhere to a routine of cursing and swearing in the hall and mentioning our weekend exploits with alcohol and immorality…. And we have asked them to report us to the authorities in the event we mention faith, religion, or try to bring up morals and values.”

That is powerful!

 

Posted in Homeschooling | 4 Comments

I wanna be a picker!

Posted on July 16, 2010 by admin

It’s Friday! And I just got my computer back yesterday- all cleaned up and running like new! Yeah!

I feel like I’m waking up after a long winters nap. So out of touch.

Realistically, between my Blackberry and the computer at the library I wasn’t THAT out of touch, but it felt like it.

I had so much time on my hands :-)

I took that time to really enjoy the Grandkids. The baby is 8 mos, then the other two are 2 and 3 yrs old. I got the baby his bottle in the morning and hung out with him and his brother, letting my stepson sleep in.

Soon after they get up, Little Man comes out in all of his morning grouchiness. I let his Dad sleep, too.

Yesterday I had to go get my computer in the a.m. so decided the boys can take care of their own kids (or GF’s kids).

Bad habits set in fast!

No one heard the baby crying……

It took several minutes to get these boys to get up.

Today I’m in my office blogging.

Sorry, Grandma will see everyone later!

On to some Friday business….

Friday Fragments, Friday Blog hop and Virtual Girls Night Out!
                Half-Past Kissin' Time                Photobucket


http://www.mynewlifeasmom.com/

Friday Fragments

 
Princess Der has been busy working! That girl is always up to something. In the past week, she has babysat for her cousin and his wife 3 times.

Wednesday she went there to spend the night. Ron had a road call. All the grandkiddies moms and/or Dads were here.

I hid in my room at 7 p.m. and watched a zillion episodes of “Pickers”. I love that show.

Here I am trying to get rid of junk, but would LOVE, LOVE, LOVE to be a picker.

No, this isn’t me. I wouldn’t DARE wear a dress while dumpster diving :-)

My mom and grandma each had a second hand shop when I was a kid- it must run in the blood.

Speaking of TV (am I REALLY the one who hardly ever watches TV????) , I saw a commercial for Vodka…been dying to see it again.

It showed two woman- it was one woman having a drink with it’s clone or whatever…. not sure if I’m explaining it right…

Anyway, the one said some word which I can’t remember (that’s why I need to see it again)….the other one says, “Did I just say _____”(whatever the word was…)

Then a voice over asks something like “Would you have a drink with yourself?”

I just happened to catch that little bit but I had to laugh.

Let’s see, my kids are constantly reminding me that I am so lame…

I use words like cool, man, fave. If someone’s being weird, I still say, “You’re so queer!.”

My kids say I’m so (19)60′s,70′s,or 80′s (I’m not telling you which one…)

Could I stand having a drink with myself?

Probably not!

Job anyone?

 
There is a story on the news this morning about the lack of American workers on local farms.

They were interviewing a fellow who owns a blueberry business. He was saying that he has had a few American workers, but they rarely last more than a day.

He has turned to refugees from Burma. They are more than happy to come work- they do a fairs day work, and even the minimum wage pay is better than nothing in their eyes.

We have a friend who also owns a blueberry patch. Acres of them- he pays anyone who wants to work, but they have to be a good worker.

I’ve done it in the blazing sun- it’s not easy but hey if I needed a job….we usually pick a bucket for him and he tells us to pick a bucket for ourselves…

Surprisingly, the majority of his workers are older. Like in their 70′s and 80′s! I was there one day and saw this older gentleman hauling around TWO huge buckets of berries.

My stepson and his friend, both were maybe about 14- 15 yrs old at the time, were working that day, too. They picked one bucketful and you would think they were going to die….

Those two have never been back.

What is with Americans, especially kids?

Would you work picking blueberries in the hot sun if you needed the money?

Why or why not?

Funny Kid…

Yesterday, the 3 yr old was on the porch, trying to hit the itty bitty puppy with Rocky’s huge tail.

Ron said, “Now what reason could you possibly have to do that?”

The kid shrugs his shoulder and says, “I’m a boy!”

The way he said it was so matter of fact – we cracked up (oops! Showing my age with that phrase!)!

That’s about it for today. I still have to catch up on other blogs and check email.

Then blog hop- I’ve missed you’all so much!

Later!

Posted in Uncategorized | 2 Comments

The Graduation Party

Posted on July 13, 2010 by admin

Golden Child’s graduation party went great. The weather was excellent- pretty warm, but not too hot.

Ron took a huge tarp and extended it out from our porch, so we all could sit out of the sun.

I used my electric roaster which has 3 sections to cook. I put kielbasa and sauerkraut in one and more kielbasa in the other two. Once our wings arrived, we moved the all of the kielbasa into one section, and put the wings in the other two. This kept everything warm.

Beans went into the crock pot. Then we had hamburgers and hotdogs as well as macaroni salad and a vegie tray. Chips, dip and deviled eggs rounded out the menu.

My uncle and mom came up from Pennsylvania. My sister came from Virginia. Of course my sister had no choice as she had my daughter and niece and nephew for the week beforehand. Was she ever sorry she did that! Her granddaughter, who lives with her and her grandson from NY did not get along too well!

The day after the party, I did pretty much nothing. I was wiped out from all the painting we did the week beforehand, when the temperature was in the high 90′s.

Princess Der was surprised and happy about her room, and the fact that my stepson, GF and two kids ( 8 mos and 3 years old) were staying here for a few days. She’s always in her glory with kids around.

Little Man ( 2 years old) came the day of the party for a visit with Dad, Grandma and Grandpa, and family. He will be here until at least tomorrow. That makes 10 of us sharing space right now!

The house is a wreck but that’s ok.

I’m really having fun with the kiddies, too!

Anyhoo, my computer is in the shop getting a good cleaning and re-installation of everything. I should have it back later today.

I hope so, my time is limited at the library!

So I must go for now- I’ll add pics a soon as I get them back.

Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a comment

The Rocking Potty!

Posted on July 9, 2010 by admin

Todays Friday- time to blog hop!

Ok, so I’ve been M.I.A this week. I have been sooo busy preparing for this graduation party.

It’s nuts! I bit off more than I could chew, then the heat had to kick in.

OMG!

My daughter has been gone since last week – I’m trying to finish projects that should have been finished AGES ago! AND I decided to surprise my daughter and redocorate her room while she’s gone.

BIG MISTAKE!

I had to fix walls…every kid in our family has resided in that room at least once.

Over the past couple of years, the boys accidently put a hole in the wall moving a futon, put a butt hole in the wall (you don’t want to know) and skate boarded on the wall!

Ok, not skate boarded on the wall, but my son has hung on the wall every skateboard he has ever owned and broken .

That’s several years worth of birthday and Christmas presents- and a lot of wall damage..

Let’s see, a bit of writing adorned the walls (payback- remember my Father’s Day post?!), 8,000 thumb tac holes, and…

Well, you get it!

And I still have to paint the hallway and a kitchen wall!

And the kids informed me that their toilet rocked! It was coming right off the floor!

Since the potty was getting a little old, and the kids are supposed to keep it clean, well…

We got a new potty and linenoleum on the floor.

I want my guests to have fun and rock out, but not on the potty! Or off the potty if they aren’t careful :-)

Since the Princess isn’t here, and Golden Child went to the Adirondacks with friends for a few days, I was on my own the first few days.

On Wednesday, my son was back and Rons son, his GF and 2 kids came to stay a few days while thier apartment is getting new carpeting and such.

You would think 2 more adults, a 3 yr old and a 8 mo old would be more of a burden, but really not.

While Ron and I shopped the other day, they finished The walls in Princesses room. They are a pretty blue.

But like I said, the walls were BAD and you can see some flaws….I never claimed to be a drywall fixer upper or a painter!

So Rons son convinces me to sponge paint over the blue. The Princess wanted blue and red ( 2 walls of each)

NOT!

I had already painted her dresser and shelves red. So I took the stepsons suggestion and started sponging red on the blue.

Big mistake!

I was rushing and a few of the sponge prints started running. I did it all but the top.

Now I have to run and do some last minute shopping. The boys said they would finish the top, paint the hallway and the kitchen wall.

How much you want to bet they won’t have it done?

With all of this 95 plus degree weather, a few days work has become a weeks worth. You can only work about 1/2 hour before taking a break. I have NEVER sweat so much!

Dang, I hope my kids appreciate all of this!

Ok, gotta go!

Will try to play catch up on Saturday night or Sunday!

Have a great weekend everyone!

BTW- I am on the library computer right now and noticed that I need to change my design here to be a little friendlier to those with smaller monitors.

Sorry if there is too much scrolling…I will set things straight after all the graduation stuff is over.

BYE!

Posted in Uncategorized | 2 Comments

Happy 4th of July!

Posted on July 4, 2010 by admin

Happy 4th of July!

Happy 4th of July everyone!

How is everyone celebrating today?

We are staying home. Rons son and his GF are coming over with her baby. Her other son is off with relatives.

Since Princess Der went ot Virginia, I have goofed off more than worked….

Today I need to get serious and get this house put back together.

Then the rest of the week will be crazy with getting ready for Golden Child’s graduation.

Speaking of Golden Child, he left this morning with some friends to go camping in the Adirondacks. He calls me soon after leaving. He got stopped in the NEXT town over. He was doing 42 where the speed limit changed to 30!

The officer was a good sort, and let him go with a ticket for having an air freshener hanging from his rearview mirror.

Lucky child!

Yesterday, we did get a bench swing put together and hung on the swingset. We got it I don’t know where, I don’t remember when.

Nice place to hang in the morning with coffee or in the evening.

Am I hanging there with my coffee now? No, I’m in the kitchen playing on the computer :-)

Anyhoo, have to get making breakfast, then paint the hallway.

Then maybe goof off again!

Have a great one and stay safe!

Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a comment