Weekend...

I am home from work... Got the ad set up and opened some boxes... Sunday is my easy day... Son3 has been watching HellBoy cartoons all day... Son2 has been helping son1 and playing his Oblivion computer game... Son1 has been very busy... Vacuumed the house, did the dishes, took the Goodwill to Goodwill, did three loads of his laundry, cleaned his room, worked on the fence in the front yard and is now watching a movie with girlfriend... Hubby should be home from work in an hour or so... We went grocery shopping yesterday and got corn on the cob for 10cents ea... boiled it yesterday but we had pizza and beans and chips... So I will be making cube steak to go with the corn in just a bit....


My roses are finally blooming again... Yay.... It's 104 right outside right now though...


Yesterday I got in a bit of a cleaning mood finally and washed all the pots and pans... Wiped down the island... Cleaned out the island cupboard of all the small appliances and got rid of a couple and organized the ones back in so they are easy to get to now... Washed the rugs and swept the kitchen floor... It needs washing but everyone was in and out all day yesterday....


Son1 has still been his social self but has been more attentive to his responsibilities too... He sold some old car parts he had and was able to do some repairs on the new car... He has a couple more parts listed on Craig's List and if they sell he can replace the turn single light covers in the front and finish fixing the exhaust...


Son1 asked hubby yesterday if he could build the fence that we started planning six years ago and hubby hadn't got to yet... We already had the posts and cement, so for $40.oo the fence rails and brackets were bought and yesterday son1 started measuring for the plans for the fence.... It's going to have a country style look.. more for decoration than keeping anything in the yard... It will deter people from cutting through our yard however, especially when we put up all the decorations at Halloween... and I can put decorations on it at Christmas... That's his new white car in the background...


Pistol and son2 were helping too.... Son2's back is better and he will be going back to school tomorrow...




Today I came home to three of the posts cemented in.... He is waiting for them to dry that is why he is watching movie with girlfriend... He's hoping by 6pm they'll be somewhat set...


Hubby was also doing projects yesterday... He built a shelf to put his computer on....


But ended up coming up with a different idea and rearranged the whole computer/drafting table and used his new shelf for computer books instead... lol....


Holly was just relaxing yesterday...


This the new pen hubby and son1 made for Pistol in the backyard...

I have now done three loads of my laundry... I need to water the houseplants, wash the pots and pans we dirtied last night making dinner, update the checkbook and get dinner started for tonight....

Happy Journaling...

Color Carnival

To Play Visit Martha...


These are the parrots at our zoo... They greet you at the entrance of the Rainforest with a wave and a 'hello'....






Happy Journaling...

Working out the kinks...

Waiting for hubby to come home from work... He had to go back to work and cover for a meeting tonight at work... Son1 is off with his friend A, son2 was home from school today as he hurt his back at school yesterday jumping over a bench and son3 is getting settled in bed for the night... Son2 is saying he can't go to school tomorrow either as he can barely move and yet he hasn't gone to bed to rest...
I had a good day at work today... Finally got the boxes caught up and so got to stock today and work on clearance and clean the men's section... Tomorrow I have an ad to set, open the new boxes that they brought and finish stocking men's shoes...
I'm feeling a bit better today... still need to work on a routine for myself around here... have lost myself again with son1 moving back home... I'm thinking all time I have been spending on the computer on facebook was me hiding... so I have cut way back on facebook, just checking friend status, my zoo and yoville... so I have been visiting blogger more to get back in the habit of blogging instead, besides blogging makes me more accountable, lol, list all my plans and chores and then have to follow through on them to blog about them, lol...


With son1 back home too feeling like I'm having to be the responsible one and not giving myself permission to do what I want, to set a good example or something... I did confront son1 about his puppy and giving it back to the original owners, of course that led to a lot of drama and words said by both of us... think it was what we needed though to get past all the tension... I have since compromised on the puppy staying but I rather have my backyard back... He did cook dinner one night and had an interview for automotive at my store, well actually he had an interview with human resources and is still waiting for the automotive manager to call him for an interview... so he's going to call the store tomorrow and see what is taking all week... two months now and unemployment has not kicked in yet... since he traded cars he has new expenses with that for registration, smog, broken light covers and fixing the exhaust... yesterday his girlfriend came over for the day to have lunch and watch movies... I got nothing done, no housework, I like to clean when no one is home, someone is always home, and I had a headache all day on my day off... no me time....
Between me, son1 and son2 we all do the dishes and yet there are still pots and pans soaking in the sink and none of our other chores are getting done... Son2 is supposed to be showing me that he can do his chores consistently in a timely manner, not just when he wants to go somewhere... guess who wants to go somewhere tomorrow, lol... of course with his back hurting, don't think he will even make it to school again... he just needs to work out the muscles, they're all kinked up...
Son3 is just being his bouncy 8yr old self... getting all his homework done, still working on our 3x, hopefully tomorrow he'll pass to 4x... not sure if he has a spelling test tomorrow or next Friday... still figuring out his school schedule, not quite matching her agenda from back to school night... plus still need to get on a better home schedule too of going to bed on time...


Hubby's home... I'm watching Supernatural... Can't wait til the new fall shows start... My Nora Roberts book I have been reading is so good!... Holly is mad at me... I forgot her in the garage today when I went to work, she had food and water but it gets hot in there... I'm sorry Holly... Hubby says she is back in the garage again... she likes it in there... I made a turkey last weekend, lasted for three days but wasn't as good as Thanksgiving... Yesterday I made a pork roast with potatoes and carrots... It's 10pm and I have to get up for work early tomorrow... but then I get off early... if we buy dinner at Carl's Jr tomorrow night, 25% of the proceeds go to son3's school.... maybe teriyaki burger... mmmmmmmmm...
Happy Journaling...

At the Zoo

On Saturday, Hubby and I took son3 to the zoo... Left son2 to work on his English homework... It was very muggy at the zoo as it was in the 90's and overcast but we have seen no rain...


The Tapirs were up and about... The one on the right walked over and pushed the one sitting down out of the way so he could sit there...


And then thought it was funny...


The alligator was in his usual spot but they had cleared some of the plant growth so we were able to see all of him...


The turtles were fighting...


Son3 finally got to see the sharks at the stingray exhibit... We caught a glimpse of the 6ft one too... They are nurse sharks...


And he finally got to touch a stingray...


The bear was posing...


Remember the baby anteater, that's him on the right, all grown up, and his Mom on the left....


The lemurs were back from their visit to another zoo...


Sleeping...


Playing...


98...99...100...ready or not here I come...


Out cold.... rough Friday night??


The prairie dogs were having watermelon...


Thanks for sharing our zoo....

Happy Journaling...

Little Friend

We took son3 to the zoo on Saturday and as we were passing the turtles hubby noticed this little guy way up on an iris looking down over everyone, lol... a wee little grasshopper...


See him way up there...


He never moved, just sat surveying his world...


And then as we turned to leave there was a dragonfly posing right by us too... Stayed there while we and several others snapped his picture...

Happy Journaling...

Color Carnival

To Play Visit Martha...










Pictures from our zoo here in Fresno... We have two King Vultures...

The following is from Wikipedia...

The King Vulture, Sarcoramphus papa, is a large bird found in Central and South America. It is a member of the New World vulture family Cathartidae. This vulture lives predominantly in tropical lowland forests stretching from southern Mexico to northern Argentina, though some believe that William Bartram's Painted Vulture of Florida may be of this species. It is the only surviving member of the genus Sarcoramphus, though fossil members are known.

It is large and predominantly white, with gray to black ruff, flight, and tail feathers. Its head and neck are bald, with the skin color varying, including yellow, orange, blue, purple, and red. The King Vulture has a very noticeable yellow fleshy caruncle on its beak. This vulture is a scavenger and it often makes the initial cut into a fresh carcass. It also displaces smaller New World vulture species from a carcass. King Vultures have been known to live for up to 30 years in captivity.

King Vultures were popular figures in the Mayan codices as well as in local folklore and medicine. Though currently listed as Least Concern by the IUCN, they are decreasing in number, due primarily to habitat loss.

Happy Journaling...

Wedded Bliss

The boys are off to school, they have been back to school a whole week now... Hubby is off to work... and son1 is off to his grandpa's to work on his car... I am home all alone... well except for the hamster, cat and two dogs.... I have run the dishwasher, am on the second load of laundry, taken pictures of what few roses I have in the backyard, made a to do list, sewn the head back on Danny's toy dog, scrolled around facebook, fed the cat and had cola and popcorn for breakfast cause it's that kinda week... Now I'm watching an episode of Emergency and regrouping... I'm still having trouble getting back into the flow of writing... I think it's cause I have been a bit stressed and my journal is supposed to be my happy place... Don't want to be grumbly but think I'm gonna have to, to get the words flowing again... I had a bit of a meltdown the other day and poor hubby and son2 got the most of it... Hubby's sure most of the stress is from son1 moving back home, but that is only part of it... Being pulled between the boys, the pets, work, the house, and now school starting we've all been snapping at each other and we all have a habit of talking over each other and debating to the point that even hubby and I aren't always on the same team... don't worry there's lots of laughing too but we all snap too easily... and hubby and I have not had much alone time together for years now, lol, so that when we went out for our anniversary lunch and shopping, it took a bit of time for me to relax without the feeling that we weren't getting anything done, lol... hubby's the best we just let life get the best of us and forget about just us... I keep telling hubby I'm having his midlife crisis for him and mine too, lol...


We took son2 and son3 to see GI Joe on Saturday... It was really good... especially where they destroyed half the city trying to get to the Eiffel Tower to save all the people, lol.... Son1 had already seen it when he got back from his road trip... He has been quite the social guy since he's been back, catching up with friends or showing his true self now that he has been moved out of his apartment almost seven weeks... He's been going to the movies, concert, birthday party, I think he has only eaten dinner with us once since he's been back, took Pistol swimming at the river; he did his laundry, but my backyard is full of poop, he hasn't cleaned up the front room or made his bed, I know he doesn't have much place to put all his clothes and stuff but he can at least straighten it up... I told him he was solely responsible for the dogs but I still find myself checking to see if he fed them and given them water... he said not to feed them even if he's late but hubby couldn't let the dogs wait til ten at night so he fed them.... He also traded his car with some guy on Craig's list... they were both selling their cars for the same price and wanted what the other had so just evenly traded... I thought the plan was to sell his car so he could pay off his friend who loaned him the money two years ago... so that is why he is at his grandpa's today so they can put the exhaust pipes back on that the previous owner cut off... and it needs a turn single cover... it has a third of the miles on it his car had... it's a 1991 mustang fox something or other... everyone said he got a great deal... I'll just be glad when he settles it at the DMV and gets insurance... and pays off his friend someday.... he did fill out an application for Auto Zone yesterday... I've been trying not to advise him too much although I'll make a comment here or there not that I've seen him too much but he did live on his own for over two years and I still think he took care of girlfriend more than she took care of him unless together they made a whole person... I just get so annoyed with all my boys on little things that they should know like spelling and filling out forms and not using a purple pen to fill out your pink slip...

Son2 of course knows everything and wants to take college classes in high school but not do anything but play games and watch TV and not learn time management.... With this English class we told him he would have homework and he has but since his classes are every other day he thinks he can wait til the next day to do the homework... argh.... and he has homework on the weekend now... so we try to get him to do it early, he wants to spread it out and get distracted, he wants us to help him when he understands it more than we do, and then he finishes in about ten minutes after hours of us yelling and then he spends three hours on the phone helping his friend write her paper after he gave us all the grief that he needed help... argh... so that was most of our weekend... and him wanting a haircut... and me waiting for him to do his chores... still waiting.... he did bring me his laundry today...

Son3 has jumped right back into routine of school and not having video games during the week.... he's still liking his teacher... hubby has done homework with him the past two days, my turn today... it's a good thing we went to back to school night so we know a bit of what's going on with the homework... he's already passed his 2x multiplication test and had his first AR test for his library book he read... still trying to figure out if the spelling homework he brought home is his actual spelling words for the week.... He loved the GI Joe movie except for too many kissing scenes, lol.... he brought his Duke GI Joe action figure and he sat in the cup holder between us.... Being in third grade now I also took some chores away from son2 not that he was doing them, lol, and passed them on to son3... so now son3 is in charge of taking out the recycables and garbage...



Two Emergency shows later and I am still writing.... We finished Season 5 of Buffy... will have to wait for season 6 and 7 for Christmas... The new Fall shows will be starting next month, yay, no writer's strike this year.... Work has been crazy as usual... at least we don't have any visits coming... new procedures coming though... lost some associates from the department again and have some new ones... tons of boxes coming in so between setting the ad and opening boxes I don't get much more done.... and we had our big back to school weekend, not as bad as last year, but still as bad as the day after Thanksgiving... We're losing control of the backyard... so wish son1 hadn't taken on another dog... I wish he would change his mind and give him back, it's only been a month or so... hubby hasn't been able to spray for weeds and the grass is turning brown... I only go out for maybe five minutes a week, my roses barely have any buds on them this summer... maybe when it cools down they will think it is spring again... we're waiting for son1 to step up but he may be seeing my wrath soon... I'm trying to treat him like a grown up but he's not been acting like one much... giving him a bit of grieving time for losing his apartment, job, girlfriend... but he's not worrying about me making sacrifices for him.........
Well have I rambled on long enough... if I get back to doing this every day won't be so much of a ramble... just never enough time in the day... like now, only an hour til I pick up son3 and start homework and think about dinner... so better go eat lunch and take a look at my list.....

Happy Journaling...

Summer's End...

I have started this entry several times since the end of July and have just not been able to put words down... Of course I don't seem to have any trouble playing games at facebook... So maybe now that school has started we can get back into routine around here... The summer has been go to work, play on the computer, eat dinner, watch movies, play on the computer, sleep.... I did not get any of my projects done that I wanted to... clean out closets, drawers, organize cards and papers... read and study with son3 before third grade started... clean out my kitchen cupboards... exercise... get a suntan... I did open my trunks that I have not opened for over ten years full of cards and letters and mementos from younger years... I even found journals I had written, lol, and don't even remember writing some of the entries, only read a few of the entries.... We watched all of season 1-4 of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and are half way through season 5.... Went to a few movies: Ice Age 3, Up, Harry Potter, Night at the Museum, Star Trek, Indiana Jones, Transformers and maybe GI Joe tomorrow...



Of course son1 moved back in with his two dogs and a hamster... He's been moved back in for six weeks but for four of the weeks he went on the road with his dad who drives big rigs... His chance to see the world from California to Texas... Now he has to start his next venture of finding a job... The company that he had just started working for folded due to the economy....
Son2 enjoyed his summer of laziness and video games... And a week in Disneyland with his best friend's family... It was son2's first time to Disneyland, but he made up for it as they were there five days from morning til night...
Sun2 enjoyed his lazy summer also of video games and swimming... although he didn't get as much use of the pool this summer as I was working so much... The pool came down a week ago already...



Now school has been back in session three days already... Time to get all our brains back in working order, lol... Time to get back to blog writing... and homework with son3... this year we will have multiplication, cursive and chapter books to read... we went to back to school night and met his teacher, this is going to be a good one... Even son3 came home on the first day and said she was the his most wonderful teacher ever and he wanted to have her forever... of course he came home on the second day and said she was a bit bossy... and then he came home today and said when she gets mad it's not even as mad as you mom and dad... lol... She has a very structured class with rewards and discipline and said the only way to academics was with class management.... Son2 had homework over the summer for his accelerated English class that he finally got done before he could go to Disneyland... and had to write an essay this week and has another to do this weekend... So he's already tired after his short week of three days back to school.... His schedule is Geometry, PE, Spanish 1, Psych/Sociology, Computers 2, Mod. Wld History accelerated, English 2 accelerated and Biology...


Tomorrow is hubby and mine 17th wedding anniversary so I took a day off from work today so hubby and I could have a day alone with the boys at school... So we went to Lowes and finally found a kitchen garbage can, we have been needing a new one for months, lol and then we went to Borders and Barne's and Nobles just roaming among the books... And then we went to Mimi's Cafe for the first time... It was really good... Hubby had the turkey wrap and I had the BBQ pork sandwich... Then it was off to the grocery store to get some basics and pizza for the boys... Got the boys from school... Fixed the pizza... Started to watch a movie: The Mutant Chronicles, wasn't very good so we didn't finish it... Then we put in I Love You Man, hubby wasn't interested so will watch it later... So we put in Buffy, lol.... Now we are going to make some banana splits and watch another Buffy episode and then it will be time for bed....

Happy Journaling...

Color Carnival

To Play Visit Martha...

First day of school shirts...







Happy Journaling...

Back to School Today...

Son2: 10th grade...




Son3: 3rd grade...

Happy Journaling...