A new addition to the family

Wow, two updates in one day! How long has it been since that happened?

Well, I just got this picture in my e-mail.

Congratulations to Scott and Ashley Grimes! They welcomed the newest addition to the Wangler Family. Scott is Conrad's nephew and Ashley is his wife. Last night around 7pm, they welcomed a beautiful baby girl into the world. She is as yet unnamed but I will keep you posted when they let us know.

This is the happy family.

Congratulations Scott and Ashley!

The cat blog

Well, I have two cat stories for you.

One, on Monday morning, about 5am, Rosie was crouching on the edge of the bed on my side making odd growling sounds and looking at the floor. So, of course, I look over and what do I see? Another black cat (we only have the one!) and as soon as I said "what the heck are you doing in here", it skidaddled right out of my room.

Since I had stuff to do for PTO, I got up to see if an e-mail I had been waiting for the night before had come in and I heard crunching in the kitchen. Since I knew where all my cats were I crept through the living room and stealthily turned on the light in the dining room. That other black cat looked up from the cat food it was eating and looked at me like "well, that free lunch is over, I've been caught." then hightailed it out the cat door.

I think it's been coming in while we're asleep (obviously!) and while we're not here. Danged cat.

Then, this morning, I was about to brush my teeth and Banda jumped up on the sink. Now, I've seen this cat go #1 in the sink. So, since I was about to brush my teeth, I did not want that to happen. I put her down and proceeded to load up the toothbrush with toothpaste and start brushing. While I did this, Banda jumped up on the toilet. I thought to myself, "that cat in "Meet the Parents" goes potty on the toilet, I don't know why my cats don't, especially Banda, she's such a priss". And as I am thinking this, that cat squated down and started peeing in the toilet! I ran out of the bathroom, with my mouth full of toothpaste and shouted to Conrad "As God as my witness, Banda is peeing in the toilet!!". I ran and got the camera and this is all that was left of Banda going potty when I got back.

I was so proud of her! No telling how many times she's done that and we don't even know it.

Now, if I can just teach her to flush...

Yesterday, Sadie decided to put up the easel that Anna got for Christmas from Mrs. Elsa (she calls Anna "my friend" and loves her and Anna always acts like she doesn't care until Mrs. Elsa tries to walk away). Anyway, Sadie put it up for her and here she is enjoying it.

As an update, we've had some pretty uneventful days in Wanglerworld. I can't say the same for church. We've had 6 funerals in 9 days. Today, we had the funeral for our Deacon Jim. He was a lovely man and he will be missed.

The girls got their report cards! This falls under the category of GREAT NEWS! Sadie and Madeline both made straight A's and all E's (for conduct) which entitles them to all sorts of free stuff all over town, should I have the ooomph to take them all those places which right now I don't. But, I have a copy of the report cards in my purse so if we run across a few freebies, we'll take advantage.

Sadie made it to the second round of the spelling bee. She missed harpsichord. She spelled it harpsicord. I don't think she'll soon forget how to spell it correctly. I didn't know it at the time, but there were only 6 3rd graders who got in the spelling bee and she was one of them. Woohoo!

Ok, so there's all your good news from here for now. I gotta run and pick up children~!

Happy Birthday, Madeline

Allright, so I know I've been absent for awhile with the pictures, so I am putting them on here now.

Last Friday was "crazy hair day" at ACA. Sadie did her own, as did Madeline. Sadie put crayons, paper clip, pencil and a pen in her multiple ponytails. I thought it showed creativity. Here she is in all her glory.

Madeline's fancy do...
Monday was a holiday here. Probably most places it was. MLK, Jr. day.... so my children put on a show first thing in the morning. It was acted out by Madeline, accompanied, on the piano, by Sadie. This is Mads doing "I'm a little tea pot". As you faithful readers know, that's a sentimental favorite in our family.
Today is Madline's 7th Birthday. There were alot of birthdays of her friends this month and alot of other stuff going on so I made a deal with her. She could invite one friend out to eat on her birthday and then we'd have a big blowout swimming party on her 1/2 birthday in July. She liked the idea so that's what we're going with.
This is her with Kolton (her invited guest) being sung to by the waitstaff at Pancho's - her choice of restaurant. She also got to take home the pinata. Like that hat? I got it for her.
This is my middle baby girl and her sister. My how she's grown. This time 7 years ago, I had already brought her home (the joys of midwifery) and was enjoying watching her sister explore her and get to know that little creature who would come to bring so much joy to our lives.

This is her back in December of '04. Look how much she's grown.

I was looking through old pictures for one of her and my Mom. I had asked her what she wanted from Nonnie and she thought about it for a minute then said "a picture of her, so I won't be so lonely without her". How sweet is that? Nonnie also got her a lil webkiz (and if you don't know what that is, it's only all the rage with the "tween" set. Anyway, the lil kinz her Nonnie got her was the "pet of the month" so she got all kinds of cool stuff on the website (all virtual) and her delight amazed me. It did not, however, shine quite as bright as her face when she saw the picture of her and her Nonnie, all framed in a pretty silver w/hearts picture frame.

As is my custom, on my children's birthday, I shall tell you a little about my Madeline. The picture I put up on here of her in '04 is one of my favorites. It shows her creative flair. The creative gods spent a little extra time with her. They bestowed upon her a flamboyant taste in clothes. Her favorite skirt used to be (until it was just worn out - by the way, another gift from her Nonnie) a blue/brown/gold/white/yellow number that had netting on the outside in those colors and I believe a brown underskirt. It suited her to a tee. I tried to find another one this year but to no avail.

She's also very dramatic. Not really in the "life's not fair" sense, although she can get that going, too. But, the world is her stage. We are all merely the audience for her life. She'll sing her heart out for you. She's not afraid of directing the choir - I'm talking about the adult choir at church. Lots of mature adults and she'll get in front of them and help Michele direct them like she knows what she's doing.

She's a mommy's (and Nonnie's) girl. She'd rather be with me than most others. Although her Daddy rates right up there, too. And she's not afraid of spending the night out (in fact loves to do it). She makes friends easily and often. She's a giver, a caretaker, a nurturer. It will be Madeline standing in our room on a Saturday morning bringing us breakfast in bed. She's been booted from every bedroom and bed in this house. As in, a room is hers to live in then Anna comes along so she has to move in with Sadie. Then, Sadie wants her own room so she moves in with Anna. She finally will get the top bunk, but Anna falls out of the bottom one because it has no rails so back to the bottom Mads goes, without so much as a tear shed. She's adaptable, is what I'm saying.

There's no hug like a Madeline hug. You know you've been hugged when she's done with you. When I wake her up in the morning and say "Madeline, it's time to wake up. Are you ready to face the day?" she almost always responds with "yes, I am ". When she is happy, she is sunshine on earth. When she is sad, it's usually for a decent reason and it's like a gray cloud has come over everything.

She does have her moments of "middle child syndrome". I really think all the descriptions above are all excellent examples of that. But the bad ones? Every now and then, she'll get upset because it seems like Sadie always gets her way. And she probably does more often than not, because Madeline is more adaptable. But that's something I need to work on, not Mads.

I love this child. She loves me. There is no doubt in my mind about either of those statements. I cannot imagine my life without her and "God willing" I'll never have to. I thank God, everyday, for sending her to us. What a sad world it would be, indeed, should there be no Madeline in it.

Happy Birthday, Madeline. I love you.

Little black cloud

The little black cloud that has been hanging over the Wangler household lately has done more damage.

While I do NOT want this blog to become a "whine" blog, in an effort of full disclosure, I feel I should tell you of the bad stuff as well as the good. And there is good stuff at the end of this post.

Last night, we had ACA's Eatsie's Night at Khaki's in South Arlington. As the PTO President, I felt there should be a PTO presence there the entire 4 hours, so the plan was that I would take Sadie and Anna with me and my friend's Mom would pick up Madeline from dance (she was already picking up her grandson there) and they would meet us down there. Then, we would wait for Conrad and, depending on how long it took him to get there, the girls would either eat before he got there or eat with him. Then he would take them home and I would stay and make sure all the ACAers were welcomed and knew what to do.

Well, let me tell you, 3 children in a restaurant and mingling with a crowd do NOT mix. Those children drove me crazy. Finally, about 6:30, I believe, Conrad called and said he wouldn't be making it. Talk about driving blood pressure up! I asked why (in that smarmy voice I can have when things aren't going according to my plan). He proceeds to tell me he had a "little" accident on the way home and he can't drive the truck. He was on Division St. bridge going over 360 (a three lane road) and he was behind an 18 wheeler in the right hand lane and decided to change lanes into the center lane and someone was trying to turn left - yes, from the center lane, so they were stopped and he ran into the back of them. Lovely. All around lovely.

My poor truck. I say mine, but Conrad has probably driven it longer than I did at this point. But, I got the little blue truck when I was getting my divorce from Jon 15 years ago. It was my "statement of independence". "I don't need a man, I have my own truck", etc. You know what I mean. So, the little blue truck is out of commission, has probably reached an unglamorous end to an awesome life. It's little headlight is hanging down like one of those toys with springy eyes, but you know it won't pop back in, it's front fender off like it's smile has been ripped from it's little face. It's so sad.

So we're down to one car. Not a fun proposition in our busy house.

I have to say, Conrad tried to fix the truck. He gave it the old college try but it's just too far gone, I think. Even I gave up on it before he did. He just wouldn't give up. He was going to put a spare on and drive it back to work, then he looked behind the seat to get his tools to change the tire only to discover his tool set had been stolen. Then found that the one in the garage had been stolen, too. Now Conrad's not a "doom and gloom" kind of guy, but this triple whammy really got to him. You could tell a change in his demeanor and his final give up "I guess you'll have to drive me back to work" was just sad.

So there is the - hopefully - final chapter of the black cloud at the Wangler house.

There was one bright spot in my otherwise crappy yesterday. One of the third grade teachers stopped at the table where we were and told us that Sadie made the spelling bee. She was proud, I was proud, it was a proud moment for us all. Yay, Sadie! Way to make the sunshine!

Oh, several other good things happened. I guess it's all what you focus on, huh? Ok, anyway, our heater guy got here right when I was walking out the door and fixed the heater ($118 worth of fixing took maybe 60 seconds). And the best part? AMERICAN IDOL STARTED!!!!!

I know, I know, it's shallow and inconsequential for most people but dang it, I needed some levity and escape and American Idol delivered. Thank you, Fox and reality T.V.!

Correction

OK, I only just now realized that my link to "the music mommy" blog was incorrect. It has been fixed and you can now click on it and go straight to it. I have no idea who Stephanie Apperson was (the person's blog that would pop up instead of Jen's). Sorry if there was any offensive stuff in her blog. I didn't even take time to read it, how un-blog supportive of me.

Anyway, no new news on the employment front, although, my bank teller told me about 1-800-Flowers.com and I went there and I fit all the requirements so I may look into that to tide me over until a "real" job comes my way.

I did speak to another Medical Transcription job place (well, IM'd with them) and they hire newbies but you have to buy their software. Again, if I could buy their software, I wouldn't be in this predicament. aaaarrrrgggghhhh. Maybe if I work at the flower thing and make the money for the software.....hmmm, that needs some thinking on it.

And, just for kickers, our heat is out today. And, oddly, I do know we paid the bill. We just paid it on Friday and we have hot water (the pilot light is on and everything) so I know it's not that. And, of course, it's supposed to get really cold tonight. Yay us! The heating guy is supposed to come sometime this afternoon. I hope he gets here before I have to leave this freezing house.

And, Sadie is home sick today. She threw up last night. YUCK! So, all those grandiose plans I had for today are out the window. Although, I did get alot done on the computer. All my various things I need to be sending out as PTO President have now been printed and are ready to go up to the school for copying and sending out. The bad thing about Sadie being home is that she had perfect attendance going this year. It was an actual goal of hers that she shared with me early in the year. I feel bad for her because she doesn't feel bad now, but you have to be 24 hours puke free before you can return to school.

Well, that's all the news from here. Hope you all have wonderful, warm, puke-free day!

Career assistance

So, I called about career assistance from a particular place.

And, as a side note, perhaps I shouldn't be writing about this while my wounds are fresh. You know, all those wounds from the Cowboys loss, my searing headache from last night (all DURING the Cowboy game, keeping me from cheering them on to victory in any sort of auditory way - that's why they lost, sorry other Cowboy fans - it's all my fault) and hearing what you have to pay for career assistance. However, I will share anyway.

So, I call this place and say that I see they have career assistance. She looks me up on the computer and says "well, I see you didn't purchase it". purchase it? purchase it? Who in the world purchases career assistance? I ask her how much it is and as if even speaking of money will sear the inside of her mouth in a way hot pizza never has, she connects me to the "admissions office" so I can find out how much this career assistance will cost me. The nice man tells me that LIFELONG career assistance will cost me $900, would I like to purchase it. I tell him that if I had $900 I wouldn't need career assistance. He says perhaps they can break it down into payments for me. Well, buddy, if I had a J O B maybe that would be OK. However, if I don't have a J O B I still can't even pay payments. And, I didn't ask, but I'm pretty sure your career assistance has to be paid before they actually assist you. He actually said to me "if you situation changes, call us back". As I am restrainig myself from slamming down the phone, I say out loud - passive agressive behavior at it's best - If my situation changes, it means I have a job and don't need your stinkin' career assistance and then I threw in a good expletive there because no one was around to hear it. Made me feel a little better but I am now still a CMT without a job.

So, while this blog was never meant to document any sort of search, except maybe my sanity - that should last a lifetime - I will keep you all abreast (I know all the men are laughing, it's ok) of the job search. Current mood? frustrated.

Today was an exciting day on our little block. This morning there was excitement and then this afternoon there was excitement. The events of the morning will be shown here when my neighbor has a little more humor about it. Ricky, let me know when it's safe to post those pictures! :) Suffice it to say, it is one of those things that needs a little time before it's not blood-pressure-increasing, palpitation-inducing or head exploding, don't want the world to see it (to the people it happened to). Now, me? I'd be posting the pictures on the blog tonight, however, Ricky, when I told him I took pictures, said "yeah, go put them on your blog for the whole *#@$&%$ world to see" and he was not a happy man about it. So, out of respect for him, I shall not post them until he say I can.

I will tell you, police were on our block, certain people are not allowed on our block for 3 months, tow truck, fire truck all that - out here. You just can't wait, can you? Well, you'll have to.

Now, this I can show you. Not nearly as exciting but kinda funny nonetheless. I was walking across the street today and one of the boys who lives on the street (and can be here for the next 3 months) said that there was a possum. I told him we have two that live in our garage. I started thinking about it and I asked him "a possum is out here, right now?" and he said yeah. So sure enough, here comes the possum out and about during broad daylight. I go get the girls and they are all excited about the possum. I have lots of video of it but this one is the funniest because at the end, he gets a little too close to me. But, on one of the videos I'm not putting on here, you can kinda here Anna telling the possum "cheese" as if to tell him to smile because I have the camera on him.

So, I'm sorry I'm keeping you in suspense about all our excitement but, again, Ricky won't find it amusing if I put it on here tonight. But, if you see me, you can ask me what happened and I'll tell you.

Oh, and guess who passed her Medical Transcription final with a 90%? Oh yeah, that would be ME!!!!! I am officially a Certified Medical Transcriptionist. Sure, I finally get a degree of some sort and I'm still unemployed, go figure.

Helmet head!

Back before Christmas break, way before, the Mayor of Dalworthington Gardens (where Arlington Classics Academy is technically located) came to read to the 3rd grade. While there, they somehow got on the subject of bicycle helmets and he put a boy, Preston, in charge of finding out which 3rd graders didn't have helmets. He said he would try to get helmets for all those kids. Well, who knew a politician could do what he promised? (That was a little political humor for this election year.)

Today, I got an e-mail from Mr. Simon asking me if I could be up at the school today at 2:30 because the mayor was going to deliver on his promise and would I take pictures (and, Sadie was one of those kids without a helmet).

So, Anna and I went up to the school and watched and took pictures while the kids got their helmets. Here are some of the pictures. You local people, watch for more pics in the paper sometime soon.

This is the whole helmet-less group, eagerly anticpating their new head gear.
Sadie and Mr. Simon with her new helmet.
The whole group with all their helmets.
Helmet head!

And on a personal (meaning me) note, I took my final on Saturday. Big "shout out" to Ann Wood, my proctor - YOU ROCK! She's been my proctor on all my exams during this course and I so appreciate her willingness to help. I'll let you all know "if" I passed. OK, I know I passed but we'll see how well I did.

Christmas pictures '07

I am happy to report that I finally got pictures of the girls in their Christmas dresses in front of the Christmas tree. The tree is now undecorated, the top third has been dismembered from the bottom two-thirds and the whole thing is awaiting a certain male in the house to take it out to the garage to be stored until next year's festivities begin. And, lest you think there are other male bi-peds in our home, Aaron has already gone home, that only leaves one.

For whatever reason, Anna wouldn't stick her tongue in her mouth.
Nor did she want her picture by herself. Not like her at all, really.
Had no problems taking in Mads limelight.
Finally got her out of the picture and Mads all by herself.
Miss Sadie looking all grown up. Where does the time go?

Happy New Year!

Here's your New Year's black-eyed peas for good luck! Enjoy!

New Year's Eve!

Jon and I took Aaron to the airport yesterday (New Year's Eve).
These are my boys! Handsome and tall! We had a blast while Aaron is here and I love that they get along so well and enjoy each other's company. Gives me hope for the girls.
Then, on to the New Year's Eve party. What are you looking at Anna, that has your hair standing on end? Yeah, I know, it's static, but it's still funny!
Sadie, laying the trap for our annual laugh at people driving by and popping our pop-its. See this blog for last year's romp. OK, don't click on anything, I went back to link last year's New Year's Eve party on here and I guess they get dumped after a certain amount of time. It only went back to February. Sorry! You'll just have to know we get a big kick out of unsuspecting people driving right into our Pop-It trap!
Mr. Ricky being the "grillmaster".

Me playing "Guitar Hero". I am JAMMING DOWN, PEOPLE!
Lisa, my neighbor, calls me in and tells me that Anna wants her picture taken. I look over and she's sitting there like this, holding up my camera, saying "picture". Is she a ham or what?
First picture of the new year! Aren't Lisa and Phillip cute?
Our first picture of the new year. Awwww!
And, finally, roasting of marshmallows. Yummy!

Happy New Year, Everyone. I wish you and yours (and mine) a year of prosperity, excitement of the fun kind, adventure and laughter.

Thank you all, once again, for reading my blog and taking this journey through life with me. I enjoy doing it and I love hearing that it makes you laugh, or cry or think. Well, I don't know that I've ever made anyone think but, just humor me.

Here's to another year of wanglerworld adventures!

Wangler Christmas Party, '07

Sunday, we had the Wangler Family Christmas Party. Lots of Wanglers were there, some were not due to illness (hope you're feeling better, Dana!) and distance, we missed you, John, Nora and your gang, Andrea and her gang and everyone else who couldn't make it for whatever reason. You missed a good time.

This is Rylan(d?), Rainee and Briley, the newest kids on the block at the party. Esther's little one wasn't there, so these were the youngest. Briley is on the left, then Rylan(d?) and Rainee. I really need to learn to spell his name since Conrad and I are going to be his Godparents. But they are sweet as they can be (all 3) and cute as buttons as you can see.
Madeline went fishing by herself which sent Grandma Peggy into a tizzy. She couldn't stand it that Mads was out there by herself, even though she goes it alone all the time. Finally, Mads started back and Grandma walked her in.
This is Aaron, fighting off the efforts of his little sisters...
...and, winning.
Anna following Daddy. How sweet!

We had a Chinese gift exchange and while I understand all the men just complacently opened their gifts and accepted what they got, we women got fiesty. I stole a gift that had a blanket and a Starbucks gift card, which then got stolen from me. By far, the most sought after gifts were the beautiful home decor pieces which would last about a minute in my house. After the blanket, I got a flask (oh the places I could go with that!) but that was stolen, also. I ended up with a very practical knife and kitchen shears set. It was fun watching the women get catty.

The Wanglers always have fun when we get together. How many times have I typed that out on this blog? It just happens to be so true, I can't say it enough.

The Saturday after Christmas

Every now and then, even big girls need snuggle time with their Mommy. Puss was no exception. As soon as Sadie sat in my lap, he came crawling up lookin' for some lovin'.
We went and got Auntie B. and Uncle Howard at the Airport on Saturday. This is them in all their glory! Go Air Force!
When I had gotten back from airport duty, I noticed someone had affixed Anna's binkie to her face with a band-aid. Very creative. I've often wanted to place velcro on the sides of her face and binkie to keep the "where's the binkie" game down to a minimum.
Later, I went out into the garage and heard alot of leaf rustling outside of the garage. I thought to myself, "that doesn't sound like a cat" and went out and there was the newest "Pogo". I'm sure it's one of the original "Pogo"s prodginy but there's no way to really tell. I don't tag them and study them or anything. But this thing came right up to me, freakin' me out!