ARMY News

I have Drew's address for the Army now. Call me and I will give it to you.

He writes that he is pretty happy so far. He is very busy of course. He had planned to quietly do the basic training, but is now a squad leader. He also is #1 on the roster and is the go to guy for drill sergeant.

I am so relieved to know he is alive. I was so excited to get his letter. I had some housework to do before I could write a response. During my cleaning, I actually threw his letter away and had to did it out of the trash.

LULA!

Since it is my blog, I will begin the tale of a group of women, losing their minds. First, you need to know that we love author Janet Evanovich and her Stephanie Plum book series. June 18th, we loaded up the "minivan of love" went to a book signing in Omaha, NE. You can be SURE the hundreds of people at the book signing will NEVER forget us. Or our character costumes. We know this, because many people took our picture. I am pretty sure they thought we were part of the book signing.

I chose to portray a favorite character, Lula-former 'ho turned file clerk turned plus size sidekick. She enjoys coloring her hair, animal print, and spandex.

Scroll down to next entry for more me in ALL of my Lula glory followed in the next entries by my friends/co-workers. You will be comforted to know that we are ALL in the field of education.

Normal goes crazy!

This is me.



























These Ladies are all characters on their own merits. I hope you enjoy seeing these pictures as much as we enjoyed ourselves. Ladies, YOU ROCK!

The CHARACTERS!

Robin is Connie. Bail Bonds Office Manager. "Betty Boop with a mustache." Penny is our heroine, Stephanie Plum. "Gets the bad guys, but we don't know how!" Sally is Carol, a.k.a The Chip Lady. After the no-carb diet, she cracked one day and highjacked a Frito truck. Linda portrayed a really youthful Grandma Mazur. A woman know for attending funerals and always looking for that special someone. Finally is Morgan portraying the unpopular, Joyce the woman whose dining room table antics caused the break up of Stephanie's marriage. A direct quote when Janet met our Joyce, "B-tch!"

The Signing # 1

This is Alex, daughter of Janet. We like her she gave us presents! She is Awesome!




Janet and our homemade name tag. She had to close her eyes to its sheer glory. Tag Says "Damn Fine Writer." We love Janet too!

The Signing

Robin, Morgan, Penny, Linda, and Sally.

He's in the ARMY now.

Look at that long hair, that smile, and the leisurely eating. That's changed!

Play time!

We are playing.

I apologize for the reading picture. Some of us are fat and should be running instead. Hopefully, it is the shirt that is that unflattering so unflattering on me. Poor baby Cash dressed in a mis-matched camo and girlie tie-dye shirt that his mother made him wear.

Cash gets more pictures than Veronica because she doesn't sit still.

These kids are REALLY growing

Look at those legs on Veronica. She isn't as tall as her mom was, but she has grown.

Baby Cash is a BEAST! He looks like he could drive a Harley.

Bedtime for my Babies!

Guess who snuck in Mom's bed. Isn't Veronica a beauty? What a complexion! Isn't Cash a little man?

Baby Cash is ONE!

I am so cute on my birthday! Sunday, May 18.

As you can see, we had a good time at baby Cash's b-day. Aunt Bebby, Uncle Drew, and Robin were special guests.







It is now June 17th. Sorry that it has taken me nearly a month to blog. BUSY!

Catch up time!







Bob has been in Argentina forever. He did make it home to see Drew before Drew left for Georgia. Bob has accomplished a lot and made lots of overtime! Hurray, we are paying down bills like crazy. He will be coming home tomorrow afternoon.

Next, he is off to Ibiza. An island off the coast of Spain.

I stayed at home, finished the school year, helped honor my retiring principal, won a golden apple award for leadership in my building, cleaned my classroom, went to my student's funeral and cried the ugly cry, wrote curriculum, ate out with friends MANY times, did career ladder report, attended a wedding, and danced like a mad woman. You may not know that I am a dancing fool or is it foolish dancer, but I learned the Cupid Shuffle off the Internet and I shocked many the other night by breaking out my moves. Believe me, when I move, A LOT of me moves!

I didn't blow away in any bad weather, but we had some. I also played with the grandbabies. Mostly I cried over Drew joining the Army. I am doing better, but I was glad that I had a lot to keep me busy.

Rachel has been working for her dad and generally driving herself nuts with trying to keep up with everything. She has been sick with allergies for weeks and she is wearing down. She felt bad because SHE MADE ME CRY the other day, but felt better when I explained that was my new normal.

Veronica is still going strong, although allergies are getting her down. She is going to summer school and likes that. She finally can officially ride her bike unassisted.

Cash is a walking, talking snot machine. Allergies and teething have got him it their grip. He learns new words daily and is just as happy as can be. He got a dump truck and a riding fire engine for his birthday and he is in love with them.

Drew left June 5 for the Army Basic Training at Fort Benning, GA. I spoke to him once for about forty-five seconds and he was okay. I will put his address up on the blog when I get it. He has been gone almost two weeks.

I had emailed Dolores, Mike and Ryan's maternal grandmother, that I was sending them some money. She forwarded the information to Tracey and suddenly Ryan called me. We hadn't spoken but once since before Christmas. He said he was fine, and they are just finishing up their school out there. It was very nice to hear from him.

This week a year ago is when my friend Robin's mom, Frances died a year ago. Robin is adjusting, but Frances is missed. My parents would have been married 45 years this June. My ex-in-laws just celebrated their 50th. Bob and I will be married 9 years this July 10.

Bob's parents seem to okay. Mom came up for a visit recently. We looked at houses for her and spoiled the babies. My Mom is on FINAL COUNTDOWN to her July 30 retirement! She is getting a little giddy.

So, Bob returns on Tuesday afternoon. I am leaving for an overnight trip to Omaha on Wednesday. "Ships that pass in the night..." Big ships in our case. I am going with a friend and some people from work for the Janet Evanovich book signing. It will be great. We are dressing up and going for liquid refreshments in mass portions afterward. There will be pictures. Hopefully, I can upload them.

Next week, my summer officially starts. I have been taking the opportunity to sit on my back patio each morning. Next week I will be sitting out more and finally working on my book.

Have a great day and week!