Last Semester!

Yay for Jeffrey! He started his last semester for his Master's degree
last night. He's been doing an on-line program to get his master's
degree in a year. It's been a long year, especially for him. I don't
know how he does it with work and still spending time with Ian and me. I
think he may want to sleep for a week when he is done in 8 more weeks
and I would gladly let him.

Last night he was telling me that on the first day/week of class the
students all give a brief introduction about themselves. He said this is
a bit redundant because most of the people in his last two classes have
been in classes with him for the whole year. But he said all of them are
ready for this to be done and he for one is ready to be a part of the
family again and go to bed early. I told him I think he's done an
awesome job of not detaching himself from Ian and me. Most night (like
99% of the time) he doesn't even start course work until after Ian goes
to bed. I'm really happy that he has done it this way really proud of
him for going back for his Master's.

TTFN
Pamela Lynn

Monday

Well I wasn't around much over the weekend. I didn't get to watch the Women's Free Skate in the Olympics on Thursday night. Even though I did a great job of not checking the medal count all day on Thursday. I ended up going to bed early with a migraine. Yuck.
Stayed home on Friday too because my head still was throbbing. I slept most of the day and only got up around 4 in the afternoon to take a shower.
Saturday we cleaned house. I'm so thankful to have a husband who doesn't mind helping out with the cleaning. Actually we do pretty good time wise because I do the kitchen and the bathrooms while he does the den/living/dining rooms. Then we work on the laundry and the bedrooms together. All done in about 5 hours time.
Sunday we went out to dinner and saw comedian Ron White with a bunch of friends. It was an awesome time. Dinner was wonderful, though expensive would have been much less without Jeffrey's martinis. The show was hilarious, roll on the floor laughing hysterically.
Ian had a good time with a new sitter. The daughter of a friend of mine from work came over to watch him. They played game cube, had some pizza for dinner, played a board game and played monster trucks for a while. When we got home he was trying to convinc the poor girl to let him watch a movie. Silly us forgot to warn her that he's not one to go right to sleep when you put him in bed. My co-worker said her daughter couldn't get over how sweet Ian was and how much fun they had. And Ian was still talking about her this morning. So I guess we've found a good new sitter.

Olympics

OK, I know I've posted that I love the Olympics. Jeffrey and I even showed Ian how much we love them and now he loves them.
Well today will be the finals of my favorite event, women's figure skating.
I posted on Scrapshare today that I wanted to stay off-line as much as possible today because I'm so tempted to go check out the live coverage of the event.
Well so far I've been good, it will be a little easier once I'm home because I'll have to make dinner, do dishes, give Ian a bath and by that time I can watch it on TV. But I sooooo, want to know what's happening with it. It's very very hard not to go look.
So I'm off to find some busy work, which I don't normally like, but today anything can help to keep me distracted.

Hooray For Ian

Yes, he did it! One day without talking in class!

His reward? He's playing Lego Star Wars before dinner.

Here's hoping he can do it the rest of the week.

P.S. Don't get me wrong, he's a good kid, he really is, he just like to talk and needs to learn when he shouldn't.

How Do Others Perceive You?

The Lively Center of Attention
Others see you as fresh, lively, charming, amusing, practical, and always interesting; someone who's constantly in the center of attention, but sufficiently well-balanced not to let it go to their head. They also see you as kind, considerate, and understanding; someone who'll always cheer them up and help them out.

Not sure how true it is. You'll have to let me know.

Running Late

Ugh, so my whole day will probably be off because my alarm clock didn't go off this morning. Thankfully an internal clock must have kicked in because I popped right out of bed at 6:31. Unfortunately, it was an hour later than I normally get up.
Jeffrey wasn't happy because he had a meeting right at 8. So I let him get ready first and jumped in the shower when he was done. Then we woke Ian and got him dressed. The boys were ready ahead of their normal time to leave. So they left and I called my boss to let him know I would be a bit late. Somehow I made it to work only 45 minutes late. Definetly have to figure out what was wrong with the alarm, because I really hate running late.
Oh well, back to work, amazingly I only had about a dozen emails to sort through.

TTFN
Pamela Lynn

Guess What? I Tried Something New

So a week ago, Heidi posted about a friend's review of a new drink at Starbucks. And after reading the description in the review, I knew I had to try it!
Well yesterday I ran by Farm Fresh to pick up something for dinner and they were giving out free samples of the new Marble Mocha Macchiato.
Ooohhh, it was awesome. And because of my not liking to try new things, had I not read Heidi post and the review, I probably would not have tried it. But now I think I may have a new favorite drink from there.

The Meaning of I'm Sorry

Well, Ian got a pin pulled in class again today. Talk about disappointed, it's like a continuation from last Friday. :-(
All he could say was "I'm sorry, Mommy." Well Ian I know that but think it's mostly because he wants to watch the Olympics and play games tonight but instead will have to go to bed. I asked him if he knows what it means to be sorry. He says he knows that he regrets whatever he's apologizing for and won't do it again. Well then I asked "Then why on earth did you talk again during class?"
At the suggestion of a friend, we are now adding to the punishment. He will write a letter of apology to the teacher and say he won't talk in class. It will probably take him a half-hour to write. Maybe it will help, we'll see.
Hoping tomorrow is better. Please? Oh please? Oh please?

Weekend Is Almost Over

Well my weekend has been a four day weekend. Yesterday was a holiday and should have been my alternate work day off, so I'm off today too.
Friday night I went scrapbooking at my neighbor's house. It was great! I hadn't been in quite a while, so it was really nice to be there. But also, I got working on my journalling again. And that felt awesome! I got 10 pages done. Yay me!
On Saturday, we went to the mall so Jeffrey could go to his eye doctor appointment and pick out new glasses. We need to get Ian in to see the eye doctor and the doctor was understanding and let him go in while Jeffrey got his exam. We'll make Ian appointment soon, hopefully it goes better than his first dental exam.
On Sunday, my cold got worse. So Jeffrey let me sleep on and off throughout the day. And it must have done the trick because I was almost 100% yesterday.
Yesterday was interesting. Jeffrey suggested that Ian and I go to the movies since he had a bunch of homework to do. At first Ian was all for it, so we picked a time and choose the 2:40 show of Curious George. Then when we were eating lunch we were talking about it and Ian said he wasn't going without Daddy. That really hurt so I told him fine we wouldn't go, asked Jeff if he minded if I left the table and then went upstairs to cry. I understand he's Daddy's boy now and probably will be forever-more but why does it have to hurt so bad when he doesn't want me anymore. Well Jeffrey must have talked with Ian because about 15 minutes later he was up to apologize. Then he asked if we could still go to the movies. I told him yes, so we left and had a great time.
Sorry, I know this has been long but jsut wanted to catch up after the weekend.

For Heidi... Answer About The Jets

Started putting this in comments but then realized that it was getting kind of long so I figured I'd make a new post.
Yes, I can hear the fighters almost every day they are taking off for training or something. They get airborne about a block and a half (maybe 500 meters) from my office building, it's pretty cool. When there are airshows, they have to close certain roads on base for safety. Which leads me to the other cool thing about where I live... My house is just accross a small river mouth from the base. When there are air shows here, I can sit in my backyard to watch. I get a better view and less traffic. Also, for most tricks or whatever they are going to do they fly right over my house, usually pretty low.
It's awesome. It'll be the biggest thing I miss about living here if we ever move.

Disappointed - Ian's Pin Pulled

A little background... At Ian's school in Kindergarden they have a system for punishment. At the front of the classroom there is a sign that looks like a stop light made out of construction paper. Each child has a clothes pin with their name on it. At the beginning of the day each child starts out on green. They get one warning for whatever the bad behavior is (not sitting when they should or talking when they shouldn't or not behaving in line to go wherever, etc...). Then if they continue said bad behavior the pin moves to yellow or red if it's repeated a third time. A red will result in a letter home to the parents and a trip to the principal/admin office.
Well Ian's problem is talking. Not sure where he gets it but he talks all the time. A couple of months ago we had major problems with him going to yellow every day and it was getting old. We weren't sure how to punish and because of that we couldn't be consistent with punishment. So we came up with the following... If his pin gets pulled to yellow he goes straight to bed when he gets home, then he can come down for dinner/homework but after that it's right to bed. If his pin gets pulled to red it's straight to bed for that night and no TV or games for the rest of the week. After a few trips to bed it worked for several weeks no pins at all.
Now the last two weeks he's gotten a yellow pulled, not each day but once each week. So we were all excited when he'd made it through Thursday without any pins pulled. So imagine how disappointed I was when I stopped by the classroom and saw his pin on Yellow. I knew it was coming too because when I pulled in the lot his class was on the playground and he wouldn't wave hello. Ugh, so he's up in bed early on a Friday night.
Once I got a card to pick him up, I went out and was talking with his daycare teacher and she said he's been upset all afternoon. So I told her the reason was because of the pin and because he knew he would be going right to bed. She congratulated me on paying attention to the stop light. She said that amazingly there are a lot of parents that don't even check. So for those reading this far, do you pay attention and do you continue with a punishment at home? I'd just like to know because sometimes I think we're being to tough and then other times I'm pretty sure we are doing the right thing.

50 Questions

This was copied from a friend.

1. FIRST NAME? Pamela Lynn

2. WERE YOU NAMED AFTER ANYONE? My mom's first name became the second part of my first name and my Pop-up picked Pamela.

3. WHEN DID YOU LAST CRY? A few nights ago, I cried myself to sleep cause I'm tired of being sick.

4. DO YOU LIKE YOUR HANDWRITING? For the most part, some days are better than others though.

5. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE LUNCHMEAT? Salami

6. KIDS? Yes, one son, Ian who is 6yo.

7. IF YOU WERE ANOTHER PERSON WOULD YOU BE FRIENDS WITH YOU? Most days I think yes.

8. DO YOU HAVE A JOURNAL? This blog and a prayer journal that I need to do a better job keeping up with.

9. DO YOU USE SARCASM A LOT? I must around my husband or I'd go insane.

10. Do you still have your tonsils? Yes unfortunately, they are huge and almost block the back of my throat. Doctor is thinking of recommending me to the ENT to have them out cause it makes my colds worse.

11. WOULD YOU BUNGEE JUMP? Yes, but probably just once.

12. What is your favorite cereal? Life

13. DO YOU UNTIE YOUR SHOES WHEN YOU TAKE THEM OFF? Not once I've broken them in.

14. DO YOU THINK YOU ARE STRONG? No.

15. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE ICE CREAM Flavor: Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough

16. SHOE SIZE? 8.5 W

17. RED OR PINK? Red

18. WHAT IS THE LEAST FAVORITE THING ABOUT YOURSELF? My low self esteem/worth.

19. WHO DO YOU MISS THE MOST? My Grandma, I really wish she was still here so she could meet Ian. And because I think she would be proud of all my accomplishments. Also, because of the circumstances when she died, I did not get to say good-bye and couldn't attend her memorial.

20. DO YOU WANT EVERYONE TO SEND THIS BACK TO YOU? Yes

21. WHAT COLOR PANTS AND SHOES YOU ARE WEARING? Blue Jeans and White/Blue Sneakers

22. LAST THING YOU ATE? Cheese Danish

23. WHAT ARE YOU LISTENING TO RIGHT NOW? Evavescense - been listening to the Fallen CD a lot lately.

24. IF YOU WERE A CRAYON, WHAT COLOR WOULD YOU BE? Orange

25. What is your FAVORITE SMELL? Vanilla

26. WHO WAS THE LAST PERSON YOU TALKED TO ON THE PHONE? My Neighbor

27. THE FIRST THING YOU NOTICE ABOUT PEOPLE YOU ARE ATTRACTED TO? Their smile.

28. DO YOU LIKE THE PERSON WHO SENT THIS TO YOU? Yes

29. Favorite drink? Alcoholic - Smirnoff Twisted Mandarin Orange; Non-alcoholic - water

30. FAVORITE SPORT? Soccer

31. HAIR COLOR? Auburn

32. EYE COLOR? Hazel (Green/Brown)

33. DO YOU WEAR CONTACTS? Not any more.

34. FAVORITE FOOD? Tacos (lol)

35. SCARY MOVIES OR HAPPY ENDING? Can't watch Scary movies, I love Happy endings.

36. LAST MOVIE YOU WATCHED? At home - Must Love Dogs; At the Movie Theater - Chronicles of Narnia

37. WHAT COLOR SHIRT ARE YOU WEARING? Aqua

38. SUMMER OR WINTER? Summer - My Bday, Vacation, Jeff's Bday and our anniversary

39. HUGS OR KISSES? Hugs and Butterfly kisses from Ian.

40. FAVORITE DESSERT? Chocolate Surprise (Chocolate Pudding, crushed Oreos and Cool Whip

41. WHO IS MOST LIKELY TO RESPOND? Melissa

42. Least LIKELY TO RESPOND? My sister

43. WHAT BOOKS ARE YOU READING? Harry Potter

44. WHAT IS ON YOUR MOUSEPAD? My Mouse (Sorry I had to) the picture is Tony Stewart.

45. WHAT DID YOU WATCH LAST NIGHT ON TV? Olympics and portions of Survivor

46. FAVORITE SOUNDS? Ian's laughter and the sound of the fighter jets taking off (I work on an Air Force base).

47. ROLLING STONE OR BEATLES? Beatles

48. THE FURTHEST YOU BEEN FROM HOME? Kuwait

49. DO YOU HAVE A SPECIAL TALENT? Listening to Friends (or so I've been told).

50. WHEN AND WHERE WERE YOU BORN? June 24 - Edison, NJ

Present From Oma

Oma (my Mom) sent Ian a package and it arrived yesterday in the mail. He loves getting mail addressed to him. And he especially loved this package. She sent him pins for the Olympics. Actually she sent three, one for Ian, Jeffrey and me. He immediately went to find a place for it on his bookbag (everything goes there - pins, stickers, etc...). He wants to show it off to his classmates today.

Ian is loving these Olympics. Wants them on as soon as he gets up in the morning, rather than cartoons. Wants them on in the afternoon, rather than playing video games. And he falls asleep to them at night (yes I'm still letting him watch them till about 10 at night and it's OK).

Any how, I know Oma won't read this but I just wanted to say Thanks, cause you made my little man's day!

Stress Test

OK, so my friend at work sends me this email... it has 3 images attached and it says that she's too stressed. So I open the images and it's just pictures, huh? So I ask her and she says they are moving around, um no, not for me???
So I figure that I'll ask you all if they are moving and I upload the images to imageevent. And then I look away from the screen while I have one open from there and guess what... they're moving.
I guess I am too stressed.
Any how here are the images...

Have You Ever

Found this one on Heidi's Blog.

Place yes by all the things you've done, or remove yes' from the ones you haven't, and send it to all of your friends (including me - I'm your friend, RIGHT???). This is for your entire life:

1.Have you ever:
(yes) smoked a cigarette
(yes) Drank so much you threw up
(yes) Crashed a friend's car
(no) Stolen a car
(yes) Been in love
(yes) Been dumped.
(yes) Been laid off/fired
(yes) Quit your job - if you count CM as a job
(yes) Been in a fist fight - with my ex-fiance
(yes) Snuck out of your parent's house
(yes) Had feelings for someone who didn't have them back
(yes) Been arrested? - if you count being picked up for truancy
(no) Gone on a blind date
(no) Lied to a friend
(yes) Skipped school
(yes) Seen someone die
(no) Been to Canada
(no) Been to Mexico
(yes) Been on a plane
(yes) Been lost
(yes) Been on the opposite side of the country
(yes) Gone to Washington, DC
(yes) Swam in the ocean
(yes) Felt like dying
(yes) Cried yourself to sleep
(yes) Played cops and robbers
(yes) Recently colored with crayons ... yes, with Ian to show him how to stay in the lines
(yes) Sang karaoke
(yes) Paid for a meal with only coins...
(no) Done something you told yourself you wouldn't?
(yes) Made prank phone calls...
(yes) laughed until some kind of beverage came out of your nose. - milk as a kid my little brother loved to make me laugh when I drank milk to watch it come out my nose
(yes) Caught a snowflake on your tongue
(yes) Danced in the rain
(yes) Written a letter to Santa Claus
(no) Been kissed under the mistletoe?
(yes) Been with someone when you really didn't want to be - does work every day count? LOL - leaving this cause the work thing counts for me too...
(yes) Watched the sun rise with someone you care about
(yes) Blown bubbles
(yes) Made a bonfire on the beach
(no) Crashed a party
(yes) Gone roller-skating
(yes) Ice-skating
(yes) Roller Blading - drunk and around the third floor of the dorm
3. Any nicknames? Ramela Rynn (I stenciled my name on something once and that was what it looked like, unfortunately) and Mommy-slommy (Jeffrey is Daddy-Sladdy and Ian is Ian-Slian but I'm not sure where they started)
4. Mother's name? Lynn Ann
5. What is your favorite drink (non-alcoholic)? Water
6. Tattoos? Yes, a heart and a rose on my ankle
7. Body piercing's? nope
8. How much do you love your job (1-10) 1
9. Birthplace: Edison, NJ
10. Favorite vacation spot? Ocean City NJ
11. Ever been to Africa? No
12. Ever steal any traffic signs? Yes, if you count the street name sign where I grew up
13. Ever been in a car accident? Yes
14. A, B, C, D, DD cup size? D38 - Heidi, we're twins lol...
15. 2 Door or 4 Door? 4 door
16. Salad dressing? Ranch or Thousand Island
17. Favorite pie? My daddy's Rum Cream Pie, yum!
18. Favorite number? 7
19. Favorite movie? Beaches
20. Favorite holiday? July 4th
22. Favorite food? Tacos (Ian was asked this once, this was his answer and since I don't really have a favorite it stuck)
23. Favorite day of the week? Saturday
24. Favorite brand of body soap? Oil of Olay Body wash
25. Favorite TV show? Survivor, Big Brother, Amazing Race, 24, ER
26. Toothpaste? Colgate Total Whitening
27. Favorite smell? Vanilla
28. What do you do to relax? scrapbook
29. Message to your friends reading this? Thanks for something new to put on my blog.
30. How do you see yourself in 10 years? With a degree in something, Moved to PA and enjoying Ian's teenage years, ha.
31. What do you do when you are bored? Play games on line
32. Furthest place you will send this message? Not sure.
33. Who will respond the fastest? Not sure
34. Least likely to respond? My sister

Thankful For A Kind Stranger

This morning, I am not feeling well. I have almost no voice (my yell sounds like a whisper), I'm achy, I'm extremely tired, I have a headache and I probably should have stayed in bed.
But I didn't. So on my way to work I stopped at 7-11 to get something warm to drink because I thought it would help my throat feel better and maybe might help me wake up some. So I stop the car, get out, lock the doors and go inside. I had just finished getting my Cappuccino when a nice gentleman says "Who owns the red Saturn?" Shyly I raise my hand and he comes over to offer me a friendly bit of advice, "Ma'am, you really shouldn't leave your purse in the car, especially when your wallet is partially sticking out so you can see the money in it." So, I thank him, tell him I appreciate that he told me and run out to get my purse. Fortunately the lady working at 7-11 didn't think I was trying to steal my coffee. I came back in to get a water and pay. Again I thank the gentleman because had he not been an honest/nice person I would have been without my purse.
I know what I did wasn't smart and I should be more careful. But I am extremely thankful for the kind stranger this morning.

What Does Your Candy Heart Say?

Happy Valentine's Day

Your Candy Heart Says "Hug Me"

A total sweetheart, you always have a lot of love to give out. Your heart is open to where ever love takes you! Your ideal Valentine's Day date: a surprise romantic evening that you've planned out Your flirting style: lots of listening and talking What turns you off: fighting and conflict Why you're hot: you're fearless about falling in love

What Does Your Candy Heart Say?

I'm Soooo.... Not Ready For This

So I picked Ian up from school today (which if you read my earlier post, he did have a good day and wasn't acting tired) and he's holding a card from someone. He hands it to me to read and it's a Valentine from a little girl in his daycare. She gave it to him early because she won't get a chance tomorrow.
It's cute, lots of mispelled words (they are in kindergarden so they are phonetically spelled and that's OK).
So I'm talking to the daycare person and she's like oh yeah she absolutely loves Ian. Yikes.
Then when I get to the car I call Jeffrey to tell him and he says, well I was going to tell you at home but... a co-worker's daughter who also works at the school was babysitting this girl over the weekend. When the sitter got a Star Wars cup out, the little girl says, Ian would love that!
So Jeffrey asks Ian if this is his girl-friend and Ian says no she's just a girl who chases me around alot.
Oh my... I'm soooo.not.ready.for.this!

Too Tired

This morning Ian was too tired to get moving. Jeffrey went in to lay out his clothes and Ian hid under his geeks (blankets). Then Jeffrey gave Ian his six minutes to get ready. (It used to be five but then Ian turned six and for everything he now wants "6" and he'll hold up that many fingers to tell you.)
Six minutes later, I went in expecting to help Ian by straightening his socks or pants or making sure his shirt wasn't on backwards but I found him still asleep hidden under the blanket. So I got him out from under the blankets and started waking him up but he was too tired, kept rubbing his eyes and rolling back over to go to sleep. Finally got him dressed but I had to threaten to not let him stay up to watch the Olympics.
Poor guy, he loves watching them as much as his Daddy and I do. I would hate to take this away from him. It is only, after all, for two weeks.
I guess I'll have to wait and see how he does at school today and how tired he's acting after dinner tonight. Maybe I can just tape them for him, at least parts that I know he'd like and let him watch them earlier in the evening.

Blog Words - One Month of My Blog

Well, a week or so ago one of my SS friends found this SnapShirts.
I didn't do it then because I wanted to wait to get my word cloud until it was my one month anniversary of my blog. Silly, huh? Oh well... here it is.

Should You Quit Your Job?

Yes Melissa... I had to do this one... and you might be surprised at the results. lol

Your Job Dissatisfaction Level is 82%

Your job is a disaster - it's surprising you've lasted this long. You need to quit if you can, even if you don't have another job lined up. As far as stressful work situations go, yours is off the scale brutal. Almost any job would be better than what you've got!

Should You Quit Your Job?

Scripture Tree

The Scripture Tree.....thescripturetree.com 

 

Click on a flower – after reading hit the BACK button and click on another!

What's Your Inner Blood Type?

Found this one on Melissa's blog.

Your Inner Blood Type is Type A

You seem cool and collected, though a bit shy. You are highly driven and a perfectionist, but that's a side you keep to yourself. Creative and artistic, you are a very unique person who doesn't quite fit in. People accept you more than you realize, seeing you as trustworthy and loyal. You are most compatible with: A and AB Famous Type A's: Britney Spears and Hilter

What's Your Inner Blood Type?

I'm A+ and most of this description fits pretty well, I think.

A Good Morning!

Good Morning Blessings

If it stops with you, then the blessing will disappear. The blessing will only keep working if it is continuously passed around. If you are a recipient of a blessing, keep the blessing working by being the source of blessing to other people. 

  
Good Morning !!!!

This morning when I wakened
and saw the sun above,
I softly said, "Good morning, Lord,
Bless everyone I love."

Right away I thought of you
And said a loving prayer,
That He would bless you specially,
And keep you free from care.

I thought of all the happiness
A day could hold in store,
I wished it all for you because
No one deserves it more.

I felt so warm and good inside,
My heart was all aglow.
I know God heard my prayers for you,
He hears them all, you know.

you have two choices ... smile and close this page or pass this along to someone else to spread the good feelings.

What Kind of Coffee Are You?

OK... I'm still trying to find my way out of the haze of medicine from the past few days... and I need more coffee because I'm still half asleep... then I go to Blogthings.com for fun and this was one of the first ones on the list... too funny.
And sad but true.

You Are an Espresso

At your best, you are: straight shooting, ambitious, and energetic At your worst, you are: anxious and high strung You drink coffee when: anytime you're not sleeping Your caffeine addiction level: high

What Kind of Coffee Are You?