Mrs. Van Winkle

Isn't that a great name for a Kindergarten teacher? Tonight was cirriculum night for Rachel's school. The teacher told all the parents that she had a very sweet class and that everyone was nice but they were all very loud. She said they were going to be a great class but they were all social and busy. Next month they go to a pumpkin patch and then have a carving party that night at the school. They will be seeing the Nutcracker in December and it sounds like they will be doing lots of fun things. They have Spanish on Mon & Wed. so I'd better brush up since I was the President of the Spanish club in high school however I was probably hung over at the meetings. All I have to say is....where did the time go????????????

Happy Birthday Flo

Major Adrenaline Rush

Well our Saturday started out peacefully and fun. Mike left in the morning for his guitar playing with Joe so the kids and I ran some errands and did grocery shopping. My mother in law, and two sister in laws showed up around 12:30 and we all went to lunch at Luca's (our favorite local authentic Italian restaurant). Around 2 Mike came home and we all spent the afternoon making two beautiful picture boards of Frank and all the family for the Memorial service on Wednesday. I broke out my creative memories kit which was helpful as we cropped, cut and rounded out a lot of the pictures to look nicer. Lindsey just watched a movie and Rachel helped as she gathered all the scraps to make her self a collection as she called it. About 5:40 Mike left for a meeting and we were wrapping things up. We were all standing in the kitchen and Rachel kept asking me to sharpen her pencil. The pencil sharpener is in the garage and we always have the garage open on the weekends. So anyway, I asked her to wait until we finsished talking. She came back a few minutes later and she had done it herself. Then, I was walking everyone out and I said, "Where's Rachel?". First we checked Aysha's house (her friend) and she wasn't there. We all went looking through the house and yelling but no Rachel. Outside we went, some on feet and Michele in her car. It was about five minutes later and I really started to panic so I knocked on all the neighbor's doors and had the whole block outside looking with me. At this point I was completely freaked out, crying and every senario in the book was running through my head. Finally I decided to call 911 so I ran in the house (yes my achilles is hurting like hell today) and I passed the hall closet. I had already looked in there as Lindsey and Charlene did as well. I opened it again and Mike's coat was in the floor behind the vaccum cleaner but this time I reached down to pick it up and felt my daughter's head. My first reaction was that of fear and anger and I sat there crying just right in her face telling her she could never ever do something like this again and when someone called her name she was to respond...yada yada. Then I just held her as she was crying hysterically and saying sorry mommy over and over. When I talked with her later she said she was playing hide and seek with her imaginary friends. These would be the friends that I have to hold in the grocery store:) I want my child to know it was wrong and instill in her that she cannot do anything like that ever again. However, the stress in my home lately has been kinda high and she is little so I don't know if she was just reacting how she could as she has never done anything like this before. Anyway, I can breathe a lot better today.

Excuse me....

BUT WHO ARE THESE INSANE WOMEN?????

God Bless you Frank

My father in law Franklin Phillips passed away yesterday and he was 84 years old. Frank was full of life and joy..always had that Irish smile on his face. He was so proud of his family and loved spending time with his grandchildren as he thought they were the most precious things in the world. He always told jokes, was pleasant, enjoyable and a true gentleman. I will miss him very much and so will Mike.

Laughter really is the best medicine.

Well today had to be one of the most interesting days at Precor. We have a gym in Atlanta that has not made a single lease payment for a year. So, last week we filed writ to possession and that gives the customer 14 days to pay us or the police show up and we take the equipment back. I guess we were behind the eight ball as we received a call this morning that the customer had been evicted by their landlord. Mind you this is a very large gym and completely outfitted with Precor. Our equipment got put out in the parking lot/alley. I spent six hours on the phone today with lawyers, policeman, fireman, storage unit facilites, installers, nice guys who were helping us, etc. By the fifth hour I was mentally exhausted and annoyed beyond belief. At that time I was on a call with our director, the lawyer, and a mover. Well I lost it big time!!! I put the phone against my leg and starting laughing so hard that it was insane and I couldn't stop. All the girls around me had heard me all day long so when I started laughing so did they and then I really couldn't stop...so professional but I couldn't help it. When I left work I laughed the entire way home and thank the lord for my personal trainer today!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Don't eat old food

Okay I am the worst about throwing stuff out even when the date is the same day. However, Mike will eat crap that has been sitting in the frig forever. By mistake today I ate some edamame salad that had been in there for a week. Now I feel totally sick-stupid thing to do.

Last Day with Denise

Rachel has been cared for by my dear friend Denise since she was one. Denise, Dean, Ethan, Abby and Sierra have become her second family and their surrogate child. She has been loved, cared for, taught, guided and become such a sweet little girl under the care of Denise. Rachel will be starting Kindergarten this Wed. and I know she will miss the Opper family so much. Thank you Denise from the bottom of my heart for loving and taking such good care of what is most important to me. We all love you and your family.

Attached is a video Denise made for Mike and I last Christmas and I just cherish it. Make sure you have your sound on.

Love of my Life`

The sweetest thing that cares more about getting me ice for my achilles than a chocolate chip cookie...now that is huge:)

Thoughts and prayers for my two good friends

Well you can see the pictures of my two favorite east coast Precor reps on this blog. Joe has been my friend for a very long time as we worked together years ago at Stairmaster. Joe's wife Jeanie beat breast cancer 9 years ago and this week she had surgery removing some cancer from her thyroid. They are waiting until Tues. for the results to see what type of cancer and if it has spread. Please hope for the best and that she can move forward with a clean bill of health.
My other buddy Gary has a hard time these past couple of years. His wife suddenly lost her hearing (caused by a virus-rare thing) and she has two implants so she is able to hear. Gary's five year old son has had trouble with seizures and they are hoping he will outgrow them. Recently Gary's mother in law was diagnosed with cancer and she is having surgery.
I spent a week this past March in NY/NJ with these guys traveling around and visiting customers. They are so much fun to hang out with. Joe's brother is a NY city cop/agent and he tells the best stories about his brother's adventures however some are very disturbing. Joe took me to the Little Italy of the Bronx where we had fabulous Italian food and saw all the authentic Italian markets which was really cool.
Gary is a big kid and makes me laugh all the time. He and I always visited Starbucks-something Joe won't do.. Gary set me up in a cool hotel in Manhattan and got me a spa treatment one day before visiting customers. Gary loves sushi like me so we tried one of the "hot" spots in NY this time.
Please say prayers for my two special friends.

Who needs sleep?

I have slept about four hours a night this week and it is not working for me. I love the fact that we have a three day weekend ahead. It is sorta like four days for me as I will be getting off of work at 9. I have tons of errands to run and my list of things to do seems to be growing. I think I put too much pressure on myself to get everything accomplished. This weekend I need a nanny, butler, driver, maid, massage therapist, chef , starbucks barista and a beer.

Lindsey's Hair Contract

Lindsey has become very vain and spends most of the day staring in the mirror-she is 13. Well her bathroom is constantly disgusting and there is hair all over the place. I think if she doesn't start cleaning it up and I am going to hide every single freaking brush in my house. My hair stylist Courtney is one of the most awesome people in the world. She and I have discussed Lindsey's grades over the past couple of years so Courtney decided to make a deal with Lindsey. She colored her hair this summer due to the fact that Lindsey brought her a good report card. She made the same deal for summer school and since Lindsey did well she is doing her color/cut this Thursday. I would never in a million years pay for my 13 year old to have her hair colored. So, this may be the thing that keeps the girl straight and focused on her grades. Last time we were in there Courtney looked her straight in the face and told her if she ever got a bad report card again she would NEVER do her hair again. I think that is the best motivation ever for a 13 year old who is obsessed with her appearance and boys.

Busy Saturday

Well we woke up this morning and talked to Grandma who was working at the school today. Everyone got ready and we gathered the neighbor kids and headed to Chuckee Cheese. The kids ate pizza, played games and then gathered all their tickets for the cheesy rip off prizes they get to pick out. Delano was going to meet us there with the babies but there was a mixup so we met him at McDonalds while the kids had ice cream and Ethan and Alison had their pineapples, apples and chicken.

When we got home I took a shower and put Rachel in a bath full of bubbles which she loves. Then while she was soaking I went crazy cleaning out drawers, washing everything in sight and trying to get rid of junk we didn't need. The rest of the evening is laundry, scrapbooking, bills and more cleaning...I'm just in the mood.

Hope everyone is having a good weekend. Tomorrow is grocery shopping and rest for all.

Surgery Update & Today's tasks.

My surgery will be postponed for a few months. I am going to be having some water therapy, keeping my foot wrapped and using a new walking boot. Probably looking at getting it done closer to the end of the year.

Going school clothes shopping for Lindsey this afternoon so I mine as well start gouging my eyes out right now.
1. Not buying "hug your huge boobs shirts"
2. Not buying pants that looked like I cut them up at home
3. Not buying low cut ANYTHING
4. Not buying skimpy tanks that she claims she only wears under the shirts.

I would truly rather play with snakes all day then take this child shopping...she is picky, won't wear the clothes after I buy them and thinks everything has to be two sizes too small. Give me the strength and peace.

Tomorrow is Chucky Cheese for Rachel and her friend. So, tomorrow I will be kicking a large mouse in the groin if he tries to get me to dance.

Oh how we love the new clothes

Once again our wonderful friends Hannah and Abby have handed down more clothes to Rachel and she just loves them. It is like Christmas everytime we get a new bag of beautiful clothes, dresses, shoes and of course bathing suits. Rachel has so many bathing suits from the girls and she would wear one 24/7 if we let her. We so much appreciate having all the new stuff to wear.

Summer is flying by

I can't believe it is almost time for school to start again and seeing Target's aisles filled with Back to School stuff just blows my mind. It seems like school just let out but maybe that is because Lindsey was in summer school as well. We had a great visit with Grandma Kathy who split her time between our house and Auntie Shana's. Mom spent many days here blowing lots of bubbles, swinging at the park, playing house with the barbies, playing Candyland and much more. Grandma taught Rachel how to properly crack eggs and now she wants to make eggs all the time. I was totally impressed the first time I actually let her do it alone...Grandma is a great teacher but we all knew that. Ethan is walking now so Shana is in for lots more running around than she already does. Alison is not quite there yet but will walk holding on to stuff so I"m sure she'll take off soon. She used to be so quiet when Ethan would whack her or take her toys but now the girl fights back so lookout Ethan. Mike has been very busy at work taking on new accounts and building up the business. He also practices with his partner every Saturday (guitar and mandolin) and they are doing wedding, parties etc. He is having the time of his life.

I of course waited very impatiently for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows to be released and as soon as I got it I started reading until I was finished except to go to the bathroom. I love it and what a great end to the story of Harry and his friends. I have a personal trainer now and just love working out with him. I will be having surgery next month on my achillies so I will be working from home as I can't drive for a couple of months. This blog will probably be filled all the time as I will be laying on the couch bored for quite a while.

Better sign off and go watch a movie with the kids.

Too Funny

Last night I asked Rachel what she wanted to be when she grew up and her answer was, "A mature adult who works at Dairy Queen". I love it.



I haven't written in a long time and have lots to tell everyone..will post this weekend.

Back to Work

Well I have been on vacation since the 4th and it was so nice and is really hard to come back to work. However this will be a short week and then we are in Whistler the week following for our sales meeting. Alison and Ethan were blessed at Northlake Unitarian yesterday and it was wonderful. They were very good through the whole thing and Ethan spit the whole time anyone was saying anything serious so it was very funny. I read them a story after Shana told her long quest to get pregnant. The BBQ at their house afterwards was very yummy.

New Hair

Well I am on vacation and totally relaxing which is great. Tomorrow I am just going to run errands and do some things around the house that I have wanted to get done. Rachel got her first big girl haircut and Alison got one too. Lindsey started summer school and Boo is having a ball with her grandma.

Fireworks

Happy 4th of July to all! Mike is sleeping, Lindsey is doing her laundry and Rachel is watching a cartoon. We are going to hang out at home and watch the fireworks in our neighborhood as it becomes a war zone.