Packers won today

Rainy day.  Owen was here cause he didn't want to go with his Mom and sister to take Ethin back to Michigan.  He tried on his football stuff and had me take a few pictures.  Then, when he want home he put on his Packer jacket from last year.  He's gotten taller so it was kind of short in the sleeves.   He wanted to wear it though.  Kids are having their pictures taken tomorrow so I hope they have cute expressions.
Not much else going on.  Didn't get any of my jobs done today.

You are somebodies reason to smile

So sorry to have wasted today.   The only thing I accomplished was the wash and I didn't get it finished.
Somedays I just catch up.  Was cold and sunny.

wash day

“Never, never be afraid to do what's right, especially if the well-being of a person or animal is at stake. Society's punishments are small compared to the wounds we inflict on our soul when we look the other way.”
― Martin Luther King Jr.

So tired praying for the energy to do some yard work.
Almost time to remove flowers.
Cloudy day.
Have four good books to read.  The first one is Betty White's book, If You Ask Me
I put out the recycle bin last night but it isn't recycle day.  Debating if I should sneak out there and bring it back in.
I ate Hostess powdered sugar donettes for breakfast...yum
Enough dilly dallying, time to get to work.

Sunny Day

...sweeping the clouds away, on my way to where the air is sweet, can you tell me how to get, how to get to seseme street
There was a time when my sibs were loving and caring but now they suck.

cold and sunny

Enjoyed the day with my grandchildren. 

Laundry Day

also exercise day cause I have to go up and down so many flights of stairs.  I wanted a single story house, kids wanted an upstairs...got an upstairs, kids moved on and I am still here trudging up and down all these steps.  On the plus side, it's good exercise.
Still working in yard.  Things grew so tall but don't know what they are, not flowers, not trees, must be weeds.  I wish I had a weed book so I could name them LOL.
Planning to go apple picking with kids on Saturday.  Always a fun thing to do.  They have a hay wagon, and lots of animals and  a little park.  Hoping for a nice day.

A Fun Day

Met my old drinking buddies for lunch and did some shopping.  We had lunch at Frank and Pats Pizza place.  Haven't been there in years.  The pizza was still as good as I remember it was after the bars closed.  I always enjoy our once a month dinner dates.  We have a lot of fun together.
Did some sewing this evening and watched a little TV.  Have a new book to start called The House of Stairs.  I'm attracted to weird titles, hope it's a good book.
Forgot to take pictures, I meant to.

BOATLIFT, An Untold Tale of 9/11 Resilience

It was asthma season

and all the ER rooms were occupied mostly with kids having problems with their breathing.  The only room left was the small specials room.  The boy was with his parents and I was giving him a breathing treatment.  A nurse came in and said there's been a plane accident in New York on one of the skyscrapers.  By the time I finished the treatment and was ready to head upstairs to the Respiratory Department, the accident was already on the news.  They said that a plane hit a building and smoke was coming out of it.  It was live on TV, I don't know what channel.  As we were all watching a plane came into view and headed right for another building and crashed it...someone said that must be the World Trade Center.  I left and went upstairs.  We were doing testing on the machines that day.
The TV was on in the break room and they were saying that another plane had hit in Washington DC and they thought there were one or two more that had been hijacked.  I got through the rest of the work day and went home.  I assured that my children were safe and at home.  I remember I was shaking pretty bad.  It was the worst of days so filled with horror.
When the jets fly over on game day I have to prepare myself for them, wait for them, while the game is starting so I know what they are here for.  This last summer the Air Force jets scrambled twice and afterward they announced that it was a practice run each time.  I guess they got so many inquiries that they finally said what it was.   The Spring after that horrible day, Bellin Hospital was building a tunnel under the road by their hospital and they hauled the dirt to the trainyard less than a block away from me.  The trucks would empty out the dirt and then slam the back of the truck box a couple times to get all the clay, etc. out.  It would start at 5 in the morning so it would wake me up.  I woke up screaming almost every day thinking we were being attacked again.  I never got used to it and it lasted over two months.  I finally got up the nerve to call the administrator at Bellin and told him what was going on.  Bless his little pea pickin heart they moved the dump site to a non-residential area.  My house is under a flight pattern so the planes fly over every day.  They look like the same kind of planes.  I still think of that day every time I see them.  It affected everyone in some way.
God Bless America.

Sign up day

I signed up for a Craft Class, a Cooking Class for Vegetables (can't always eat them raw I guess) and also as a volunteer after school tutor.  Gotta keep up or get left behind.  It was such a beautiful day I would have thought I'd spend time in the yard.  But took one look at those clothes lines that got wrecked when the big branch fell and decided no.  I did, however carry out the flat of plants I bought and put them out by the barrel planter hahahahaha, they are annuals and I bought them last May.  The Morning Glories are still in the tiny little pots and they are blooming.  The rest are shade flowers all colors.  Maybe tomorrow I'll plant them.  That's a good Sunday job.  Checked on the grapes today and thank God this is the off year as I don't think I feel like messing with them except to grab a handful when I'm outside looking at them.  Finished the Postmistress, very good book.  Now I searched and made up another list for the library but in the meantime I have two magazines to read.  Woman's Day and Family Circle...they are kind of like Dr. Oz and Oprah on paper.  Goodnight people everywhere.

The old bench that Hali loves

To begin with the bench was just an old curb shopped piece of junk with good bones. I painted it and re-covered the seat and put it next to the side door. It has been there all Hali's life which is only five years. But over the years it got pretty warn. The back was all broken and the seat was in pieces. I was hauling it out to be picked up for junk one day and Hali thought I should fix it. Well by that time it was pretty well unusable but she likes that old bench. We sat on it for stories and to change shoes and to watch the stars at night and to have our root beer floats so it had good meaning for her. I liked it as well while it lasted but I wanted new. Well I took it apart and glued the back slats back on and removed the seat part that had broken in two. I painted it, got a board, some screws and a piece of fabric and today I put it together. I have before and after pictures so Hali can remember. Owen likes it too but he isn't much of a sitter. He's always playing football or riding his bike or doing work in the yard.  This is the after picture.

Letting in a little winter

Today I changed my bed sheets to the flannel ones and added the mattress warmer to the bed.  I didn't turn it on yet, but it's there and ready.  Didn't quite turn the furnace on but the next best thing to warm the house was to bake a cake and turn on the oven.  I made red velvet cupcakes with cream cheese frosting.  I also washed clothes and vented the drier inside for this one time.  Couldn't work in the yard cause my left leg didn't work right and was pretty painful.  I was surprised as that usually only happens when it's humid and it wasn't humid today.  The wind and rain storm the other day left such a big branch in the back yard across my clothes lines.  I waited to see if I could get help moving it but then ended up moving it myself.  I know I shouldn't but it did work out okay.  I moved it to the front for pick up yesterday...could be why I'm having a little muscle pain today. 
The cupcakes are delicious. 

 Hali won a summer reading program prize at the Southwest library

 Owen modeling a Cub shirt I got for him and holding up a sign that says the Cubbies suck...I guess he isn't happy with the shirt and cap.

 Fort Howard had a picnic and open house the day before school started

 Owen and Hali getting ready to sit down and eat at the picnic

The Slack boys posing for the camera