Going to Hell in a Handbasket

The title of this post is in reference to the state of American politics.   Falco and I watched the debate last night- we both agreed on who won, but today my news feed has blown up with the ugliness of this election.  I really do fear for this country no matter who wins- it feels like we are on the brink of civil war.   Rocket was going to stay up, but this is him during the debate.  He could have gone to bed, but he wanted to "rest" on the camping mat.  He said he was hot, but when I got him into bed, he complained he was cold- go figure.

On Sunday, Auntie Lulu (my sister) brought over the finished blanket for him.  She has been working on it since he came home.  I am not the only one who takes forever to finish things. 

Saturday was filled with sports- Rocket had soccer in the morning and Falco had a cross country race in the evening.  This is him having a banana.  Apparently he hates them (or strongly dislikes them), but if he has to run 3.1 miles (5K) and then needs a snack he will eat them.  This is a hint for his parents- make him run, he will eat anything!!!!!

The board shows his time- he is number 159.  At one point the board showed him in 259 place, but apparently it was 159.  There were 306 runners in his race.  According to Falco, he took 26 seconds off his personal best time.  this is AWESOME!  Only 3 more weeks of races for him and then his season is likely over.  He will go watch his team mates for the district, region and state championships if they advance- but only the Varsity runners go and he is not varsity.  He is looking forward to some extra time in his schedule.

He is the runner in front just after the finish line.

Coming down the home stretch.

this is the 306 runners taking off from the field behind the stadium.

getting ready to line up for the start.

so you see the curve of teams!

Rocket's team played hard in the morning.  They lost 1-0 (though Rocket says it was 4-0).  Rocket was a wing in this game- he is on the far left of the screen- all by himself.

 

Rocket has at least 4 more weeks of soccer.  if his team wins at least half their games, they move to the league championships- right now they have lost 3 games and won 1 game.  I think I would like to be done with soccer for this season at the end of this month instead of playing into November again this year.  Basketball will be starting soon and it really would be nice not to have to drive either of the boys around for a few weeks.

 

that's all for today.

Love and hugs,

deb

 

 

no pictures

I would love to have some pictures to show you all, but we have been so busy that there are no pictures.   Busy, you say, then there must be pictures!

but, alas, we have been busy with mundane stuff- school, soccer, cross country, scouts and I am usually running from one thing to the next thing, especially on Tuesdays.  I have decided that I don't like Tuesdays and that is going to be my story until the end of October.

this is my schedule this past Tuesday (13Sep)

5:45 am- wake up (actually I had been up off and on since midnight, so I was just ready to get up)
5:45-6:00: get dressed, get the boys up close to 6 am, get breakfast on the table
6:00-6:15: eat breakfast with the boys, one is usually faster than the other.  the little one gets to the table at 6:10 usually.
6:15-6:20: throw a load of laundry in, get tooth brushes ready for me and Rocket, brush my teeth, feed the dog, make sure Rocket has finished his breakfast and is moving along.
6:20-6:35: start answering work emails.  Remind Falco at regular intervals how much time is left until he has to walk out the door at 6:35. Get Rocket started on his piano practice or reading for 20 minutes
6:35: walk Falco to the door, make sure he is all set, see him off to the bus stop.
6:35-7:20: finishing work emails, make sure Rocket continues to read for 20 full minutes (which is not the same as reading for 20 minutes). Put dinner in the crock pot (pot roast)
7:20: get Rocket started on getting ready to leave the house- book bag, lunch, water bottle, gym clothes, bathroom run, getting the leash on the dog, etc.
7:35- walk out the door with Rocket
7:40-7:50: talk with the other moms and kids at the bus stop. Play tug with Pablo with sticks at the bus stop.
7:50-8:00: home, a treat for Pablo, water for me, talk to mam.
8:00 start my "real" work day
8:30-5:00 pm- conference call all day.  15 minutes to grab lunch and come back to my desk, answer emails,  a few times in the day I got up to stretch and let Pablo out for a quick run and bio break for me.
3:15- Rocket home, make sure he has his homework ready (he did not bring his homework home).  Dash off email to his teachers that he left homework at school and request they give him grace to fail (don't keep him in at lunch to complete, don't let him do it Wednesday for homework).
5:00- sit down to eat dinner with Rocket before leaving for soccer.  Falco is being brought home by another cross country parent (that was the plan).
5:30- out the door with Rocket for his soccer practice
5:45- receive a text from Falco, no one picked him up from cross country, he is going to walk home.  I am on the highway at this point and can't turn around to go pick up Falco (I knew I should have checked in with him at 5 pm).  Have Rocket use my phone to call a friend to see if she can pick up Falco, tell Falco she is coming and he needs to stay at school.
6:00- get to soccer practice, call my friend- she is at school and Falco is not there.  Wait- she sees him now.
7:00- talk to Falco, the friend is picking him up for boy scouts.
7:30- soccer practice for Rocket is supposed to end, the coach has not called them off the field. 
7:40- practice ends, Rocket is getting in the car and we leave for scouts
8:00 pm- arrive at scouts; drop Rocket off.  Pablo and I head home
8:04- arrive at home, get Pablo a drink, take a shower
8:20- head back to scouts to pick up the boys
8:30- scouts is supposed to end
8:40- scouts ends, we are in the car coming home
8:45- home, Rocket into the shower, Falco and I talk.  I put the laundry in the dryer and put in another load of laundry
9:30- rocket goes to bed
10:00- Falco goes to bed, I am watching the news so I know the weather for the morning
10:30: I go to bed. I am tired.

that is one busy schedule.  I don't always have meetings that last all day- this was a quarterly meeting with a client. Usually the meetings end at 4 pm, but we have a new project manager and I think she felt she had to have the meeting go that long. 

it seems like the last few weeks have been busy like this.  I am slowly being worn down, I get my energy from down time (I am an introvert), and right now with the boys schedules and my schedule (PTO, Scout committee, work), I am not getting enough down time to feel like I am doing alright.  I am looking forward to some down time later in October, but I might have to take some time for myself before then.  I might just have to tell the boys NO to weekend activities or at least tell Falco that he can go out but he needs to arrange rides because I am not going out at all other than church.

it will be fine, I know it will, I just need a little more me time and less running around.

I should have pictures after this weekend, we have soccer game, cross country meet, pool party (Falco is going), and a concert to attend, and it is Oktoberfest weekend.  Falco is going to that with friends.

Love and hugs,
Deb

moe firework pictures

The pictures are all out of order

 

 

Some more pictures and details.  We left the house a little before 2 and were downtown by 2:15, but we still had to walk to the park.  I am thinking we got to the park sometime around 3.  I had the kids pack cards, hats, sunglasses, and a book to read along with their phone or ipods.  I remaindered the teens that there was going to be no way to charge their phones once we got in the car to leave.

 

I packed food, blankets and water for us.  We had 12 frozen bottles of water for the day.  Around 4 pm, Lisa and I sent the tends off to see the packed area, which Lisa had already explored.

 

 

After the fireworks we headed back to garage under the downtown square.  We were able to get in quickly and get the car into the line and then we sat there and sat there, and sat there.  We found out this morning, there was a shooting 2 blocks north and the police initially thought there were multiple shooters, so one of the exits from the garage was blocked by police, fire, and other emergency vechicles.  After 45 minutes of not moving in the garage, I was able to squeeze into a parking spot and we left the garage to go get something to drink.  We ended up at graeter's getting ice cream and water.

 

Rocket being silly- you can see the green space starting to fill in.

close to the start of the fireworks

This how the kids relaxed, on their phones

reading  and loosing to Momma in UNO (even when the Europeans tried to "cheat" at the game by using rules no one had ever heard of)

Over there- that is where I sat 15 years ago

we had these planes flying over throughout the day.

The "I love brownies" look

I am Happy! these balloons were our markers for our spot so we all could find the blankets if we left.

They came in really handy as it got darker and more crowded.

Diva.

Dancer, using up all her phone battery.  When she finally ran out before the fireworks started, it was not a happy time.

The barge with the fireworks being moved into place- this is about 6 pm

About 7 pm- getting much more crowded

 

It was a great day.  Definitely something I would do again.

 

Love and hugs,

Deb

Catching up leading into the holiday weekend

I took my camera to the fireworks last night and found pictures I had not posted yet.   I took rocket to a concert in early Aug- the Kidz Bop concert.  this is the group of kids that sing the current popular songs, but with the words cleaned up.  Rocket and I like them because he learns all the songs and I don't have to worry about the lyrics being inappropriate for him to sing out loud.  It was a awful humid day and the concert was in the pavilion, where it like an oven.   We were up at this level, but I noticed during the concert that the lower level was fair empty on the sides.  At intermission, I asked one of the event staff if we could move to an open section and he allowed us to move.  it was so much cooler. 

 

 Another soccer practice, another hot, humid day.  UGHHHHHHH. Rocket is in the orange shirt with the blue socks.

Last Saturday, after Rocket's soccer game (see pictures below), I took the kids to see the kick off weekend for high school football.  The games were being played down at the University.  The day was 100F (40 C) and so humid, it was awful for us in the stands, I can't imagine how it was for the football players.  Falco's team is in white and the rest of the fans for his school are in the stands you see- sitting in the hot, blazing sun.  We sat with the visiting team's fans, in the shade.

The concourse behind us channeled the wind, so we had a good breeze.

The negative of this day was that I left my wallet in the car, so I had to walk back to the car at the start of 2nd quarter.  By the time I got to the stadium, it was half time and the rain was coming.  The wind picked up and we watched the dark clouds start to move in.

 Half time was just ending as the lightening started.  That means the game is delayed for at least 30 minutes.  The rain came down in sheets.  the folks on the other side had to scramble to get to shelter while we were covered.

The rain kept up for another 30 minutes.  As the teams were coming back out on the field and stretching, lightening started again!  at that point the game was delayed until 4 pm and I told the kids I was too hot and tired to stay.  they agreed and walked back to the car in the gentle rain.

Monday night after Falco gave his talk to the younger scouts, I took the kids to get ice cream.  I had some happy kids.

Sunday morning breakfast before church- at McDonald's

 

Sunday, the Sunday before Labor day, is the end of summer firworks bash.  I have not been in about 15 years, but with 2 teens and a preteen, I figured we could do it.  My friend Lisa came along too.  One decision was where to see we could sit.  Lisa usually sits on the wall, but it is so packed with people in that area, there was no way I was taking the kids in that area.  So I did some checking and we ended up at Smale Park

 

 

We had no problem finding a spot in the shade, near the water

The green space was totally open.  the packed area is ahead of us

My favorite bridge

Falco and I took a walk across the bridge- these are the boats lining up to watch the fireworks

see the blue under the trees- that is our spot.  Rocket is waving at me.  Across the river is the hill by the Aquarium and that is the hill I sat on 15 years ago-never again.

The bridge.  this is the prototype for the Brooklyn bridge.  I think I have posted the history of the bridge, but if I have not, I will post another time.

my teen model

 

Looking back at the packed area on the Ohio side of the river- Lisa usually sits in there. This is about 3 pm in the afternoon.

Looking toward Ohio

around 8 pm, Lisa and I left the kids for the final bathroom run, when we got back, this is how Falco looked.  He had given some of our water to a grandma who needed some water for her kids), the lady gave him 2 dollars and it inspired this look

and this look

and this look

 

 

The fireworks started at 9:05 and were great.

 

A seperate post with more fireworks coming next (the rest of the rest of the pictures are on my phone)

 

 

 

 

 

Last Saturday, 27Aug, Rocket had his first soccer game.  Yet again, temperatures were 90 F (like 35-40C)at the start of the game at 9 am.  We took Pablo and an unbrella to stay cool.  Pablo ended up using the umbrella when I would not keep walking him around the park

 

Mam came to watch

Falco came too

 

Those boys were hot out there.  The ref decided to shorten the quarters and give them longer between quarters to allow them time to recover.  Rocket's team won 7-1, with the other team needing some players from our team to use as subs. (when is that going to end).

Rocket was his usual defender position.

 

In the last quarter there was a lot of walking by both teams.  it was brutal.

 

So now we are caught up, except the additional firework pictures.

 

Love and hugs,

Deb