Mid-week update

I'm officially changing Atlanta's nickname from Hotlanta to WETlanta.  Seriously, when is it going to stop raining!?  It will be almost 70 degrees today (yes, in January!) and we can't even enjoy it b/c it's raining AGAIN!  This totally, completely, and utterly sucks.  Morgan's peeing in the house again b/c he's a primadona and won't go out in the rain, Sarah tracks dog paws all over the hardwood floors b/c she doesn't gift a rats a** about the rain, and I just stare out at the gloomy sky.  I do see an end in sight, maybe by this weekend which will be good for Jeff's lax team who is playing in a tournament.  I've decided instead of going there, I'm going to take Phil to get his driver's permit.  Lord help us all! :-)  It will also give me a chance to clean this nasty house and get some exercise in and Phil won't have to reschedule his guitar lesson either.  So much going on this time of year.

Earlier in the week Phil was invited to play on LB3's U-17 team this summer.  He still hasn't made up his mind if he's going to do it or not.  Unfortunately 2 of the 4 tournaments conflict with our Myrtle Beach trip this summer and you know what takes priority. :-) 

Oh oh oh, I'm so excited about this news - yesterday we (mom) booked us for a week in the Pocono's this December!  Finally, Phil will have his white Christmas (well sort of).  We're going the week before, I think the dates are the 14th-21st.

Well, back to work.  Originally just wanted to complain about the weather.

Signed,
Grumpy in the WTL (get it? ATL/WTL?  WETlanta)...ok nevermind :-}

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Heather

This weekend

Holy rain...I'm so sick of the rain !  Another blah day today and the chance for 1 day of sunshine this entire week ahead.  Enough already!  Anyway.....

Speaking of rain, Jeff had a scrimmage on Saturday that was delayed for nearly an hour - because of the stupid rain - (they won...and he scored), which made Phil miss his guitar lesson.  Luckily I called the store during the delay and we were able to reschedule the lesson.  The team played great - much better than in the December tournament.  The final was 9-5.  I think they'll have a pretty good season this Spring.

Sunday, Phil's lesson (which we rescheduled from Saturday) got cancelled b/c the instructor was feeling ill.  That gave the three of them all day to mess around with this new Mindcraft server they have created.  Jeff had practice from 3pm-5pm but other than that, he was right there with "the Phil's".  I did my weekly coupon shopping.  Filled up the entire back of the car, used all my reusable bags plus some plastic, and stayed below $200.  NICE :-)

I watched the Ravens game last night and like I said to Kate, Robby, and Dad....OUCH!  I can't say much more than that though, Eagles were out before it even began.

Right on time this week :-)

See, that Friday calendar reminder actually does work (when you don't cancel/delete it)! :-)

Since Tuesday there really hasn't been much going on.  It's been blah outside, and again today.  Jeff had a dentist appointment on Wednesday and then I made an awesome cajun chicken dish for dinner with dirty rice on the side.  YUMM...who says healthy can't be tasty? :-)

Jeff has his first scrimmage of the season tomorrow and then directly after that Phil has his guitar lesson. I think Jeff's going to have practice on Sunday as well since they have a tournament next weekend.

We've decided that tonight is going to be "electronics free" so we're going to play Jeff's USMC Monopoly game.  We tried that last night but daddy Phil got caught up in work until almost 8pm so I threw a tantrum (who, me?) and put everything away in a huff. LOL  Anyone who knows me can totally picturing me doing that LOL

I've been working with the HS Lax Booster Club to coordinate a camp on February 4th as well as selling tickets to the UNC vs. Penn State College Game on 2/11 here in GA. Both have had luke warm responses.  It's just weird to me that there's so much involvement at the youth level and then you can't get a single response from the parents at the HS level.  Hopefully things will change once more players move up from the youth program.  We'll see.  I'm trying to stay in the background as much as possible.  Just offering help when I have an interested.  I don't think I want to be so involved again.  Too much drama and politics.

Anywho - gotta get back to work to pay all these damn bills!  Have a great weekend!  MUAH

Slacker

Seriously, I can't even keep up for 1 week before I get behind and I even put a weekly reminder on my calendar to update this blog every Friday!  I totally suck at this but I'm determined!  So on Wednesday our washer died.  For those who have been to the house over the past few months you know it was only a matter of time.  Every time it went to the spin/rinse cycle I thought there was a cat locked inside the damn thing.  So, to go along with my saving/couponing scheme, I researched the best washer deal and, I have to say, found a great one!  We got a front loading Samsung washer for $450!  YEA BABY!  I love it love it love it!

OK, so really, it doesn't take much to make me happy...just being able to wear clean clothes is enough for me :-)

The rest of the weekend was pretty non-eventful.  Jeff had practice Sat & Sun, Phil had guitar lessons both days too.  Big Phil is still trying to figure out what the hell is wrong with the computer he's building/built.  The boys and I had off yesterday for MLK day so we went out to lunch.  I spent the majority of the day reading my Kindle and of course they were on their computers or the XBox.  Just plain lazy day for us.  It was nice.

Absolutely no excuse!

OK, so I am completely awful at the whole "blogging" thing but like weight loss, I'm determined to get to it this year! :-) So, since it looks like I haven't updated this site since October of last year, I guess there is a lot to fill everyone (what, 2 people?) in on.  Side note - not sure I even posted about this in June but I started a new job supporting an old boss.  Still working from home, nice pay raise, and now just 1 boss as opposed to 4!  It's working out great...so on to the rest of the year:

October:
* The boys continued their fall lacrosse season which kept us busy every day of the week with the exception of Wednesdays.
* Young Phil (at 6'2" we can't really call him little anymore) got the rest of his components for his state of the art gaming computer for his birthday.  He's in heaven now!
* Daddy Phil got the beginnings of his own computer for his birthday since he can't be shown up by his son :)

* Mom came into town (well state) to do some retirement home shopping in Augusta, GA so I took a couple days off to go check them out with her.  We found a great home and she actually put an offer on it but when dad went to see it a couple weeks later he found some pretty significant issues so they recinded the offer.  Instead, they chose a homesite in the same neighborhood and are building their dream home.  I'm so happy for them and so excited that they'll be close in a couple months!

* Halloween was absolutely awesome.  We built an actual Dot Room in our garage, framed it out and everything.  I think we ended up using 100 yards of black fabric (just for the ceiling), probably 3x that much of black pastic for the walls, etc. and 16 cans of neon colored spray paint but it came out amazing.  I also bought a full black costume and painted dots on it, hid in a corner of the room so I blended in with the wall and scared everyone who came in.  It also helped that there was heavy metal music blarring when they walked in so the kids were completely disoriented (which made them even more scared when I jumped out).  It's too bad the concept doesn't show well when you try to take pictures of it.

November:

* Jeff tried out and made the Sr. Select team for his lacrosse program.  He's very excited to have Coach Mark as his coach this season.  Mark was Phil's coach until this year when Phil moved up to the HS.

* Phil played in a HS tournament with upper classman from several different schools on his team.  The uniforms were really funky but Phil liked them and the team came in 2nd overall in their division.  Not too shabby for never even meeting his teammates before the tournament, much less having a single practice with them!  (Seriously, some of these kids drove themselves to the tournament and most had full beards for No Shave November).  It was so bizarre!


HS tournament team - we called the guy with his arms outstretched "Jesus"...say no more

* Thanksgiving was wonderful.  Theresa and Kinsley were here to visit and it was so nice having them around.  We ate great food (including 2 rum cakes) and did some Black Friday shopping.  We had talked about going out like all those crazy fools at midnight for the shopping spree but that's as far as we got - talking.  Honestly, I prefer sleep and there wasn't anything this year that I just HAD to have, ya know?

December:

* Both boys played in another weekend lacrosse tournament in early December.  It was SOOO cold that weekend and I ended up getting pretty sick afterwards.  The boys did great though and it's always fun to watch them play.

* Kate came to visit the weekend of 12/16.  It was the first time she's actually been to the house and we've lived here almost 5 years!  It was so nice having her here and Phil seemed to enjoy her company too.  I hope she comes back soon!
* I had a lot of time off throughout the holidays (12 days not counting weekends) so I was able to make 6 baskets of baked goods for friends and family members. I love doing that and everyone seemed to like them.
* Heather and Liam became the proud parents of Benjamin Bryan Nisenfeld on December 22nd.  He was born at 3:34pm, 6 lbs/15 oz, and 19.5 inches long.  CONGRATS!
* Mom and Dad came in for Christmas on the 23rd.  It was really nice to hear that mom feels at home when she visits (she actually said that as soon as they got settled that night).  They spoiled us with all their sweet treats, the crab cakes, and the filet minon.  OMG was it good though!  After Christmas mom and dad flew down to New Orleans for a few days and came back on Friday, 12/30.  They stayed one more night then started the treck back home. 
* New Years Eve was spent with friends that were hosting a party.  I actually stayed up past midnight!  I'm so proud :-)

Here are some great pics of Christmas as well as a Fundraiser we just did with one of our Lacrosse Sponsors!  Phil is in the blue jacket.

So on to 2012...

* So far this month I have started becoming a Couponing Freak (with Phil's help) :-). We watch that show Extreme Couponing and while I can't quite figure out how they get their totals down to 0, we are saving quite a bit. Example: Yesterday I went to the store and spent $22.96 but saved $23.67! We are buying 3 Sunday papers on Saturday (they usually come out a day early) and we check the current week's ad again as well as the upcoming sales. We only buy sale items - a lot of stores have buy 1/get 1 or 10/$10. Those are the coupons you should use when you see sales like that! Also, don't buy what your family does not use. Just b/c Metamucil is on sales doesn't mean you should buy it!
* Phil and I have started the New Year right. We're really focusing on getting back to taking care of our bodies, inside and out. We're eating more healthy, exercising more, and becoming more active. We had become such couch potatoes and it was disgusting. I received an Amazon gift card for Christmas and ordered an exercise ball for me and a pair of tennis shoes for each of us. No excuses now!

OK so I think that pretty much covers the big ticket items. If there is more I'll be sure to add it in...for now, Happy Birthday Jammi!