Kids in Maryland!

Okay.... long time, no blog - I know, I know. First of all, the home computer totally broke. The hard drive is bad. But - a blog reader and fellow choir singer GAVE me a computer in which I can blog with from home - so THANK YOU so much for that. To that end, I find myself back home and up and running with a computer. Of course, that was Thursday and today is Sunday... but it's been a bit crazy at home the past few days.

We've had yet MORE computer drama around here. With the home computer completely broken and the laptop limping along, things have been stressful at home computer-wise. I keep catching kids on the computers and I freak out when I see them on it. Then when I see the kids friends over the house on the computer - I REALLY freak out.

The laptop is set up in the kitchen because it needs to be plugged in to the docking station in order to charge. But then nothing else on the docking station works.... ugg. Then there are wires run everywhere - to the printer sitting on the other side of the table - to the mouse - to the speakers - all kinds of wires everywhere.

Yet because it's in the kitchen it poses the problem of being in the way of food and drinks. We constantly tell the kids to NOT eat or drink at this table (we don't usually eat or drink at this table, we have the dining room table which is much bigger). But the kids keep putting cups on this kitchen table anyways and it drives Chris and I nuts.

Saturday morning Chris gets up and is trying to cut a CD to work on for our performance at Church later that night. Nothing on the laptop seems to be working right. He can't get the CD burner to work. The sound isn't working. Different things just keep 'happening' wrong. He can't figure it out and he's getting frustrated. He begins to raise his voice which wakes up the kids.

Kayla and Kayte sneak down the stairs to come talk to me. They have "that look" on their face. That "I-have-something-horrible-to-tell-you" look on their faces. I knew this wasn't going to be good.

Can you almost tell where I am going with this one? Yeah....

They tell me that one of the kids down the street, Sean, the same one who put a hole in the wall, in the bathroom wall, broke the dining room chair, the picture in the living room, and Kayla's door frame in her bedroom -- he ------ spilled water on the laptop last night.

Oh.

My.

God.

I just sat with utter shock and amazement that they TOLD me this... knowing I was going to have to go in there and find a way to tell Chris. I told the girls to go upstairs and shut their doors... I would find a way to tell Uncle Chris.

And I did manage to tell him -- and I did so in such a way that he DIDN'T freak out.

The sad thing is that I think we are becoming a bit too numb to things breaking around here. They break things ALL THE TIME. I try to blog when it's something big like this... but things happen almost EVERY day that I couldn't possibly blog about. I come home and it's not a surprise to find glass in my driveway, or plastic in my office, wood in the dining room, and doors coming off their hinges in the kitchen every other day in the kitchen. All. The. Time.

I don't know what we are going to do about it.

I know that I wanted to go down and talk to Sean's mom... but Chris didn't want to do it. So.... we'll wait until we decide on a course of action we can both agree upon together and move on it together. That's the way we roll. :o)

What else.....

We've been getting the kids ready to go to visit Gwen for Christmas. This has been no small task, let me tell you. At first I felt really GUILTY about feeling SO GREAT about them going away for Christmas. But... now that they are gone, I realize that I am so happy for them that they are with their Grandmother and I am so happy to be spending some quality time with Jonathan. It's just... a much needed break.

Let me tell you about their packing experience for Maryland. That was fun.

First of all... Justin told us the morning of the day that they were leaving that he only had TWO pairs of pants. TWO. He was planning on bringing shorts. Snowing, and he was going to bring shorts. WHAT? Okay... no. So, we knew we needed to make a trip to the store. Justin had to have more pants. Did anyone else need anything?

We asked.

Kayte mentioned that she didn't have any socks. Again, why the morning of the trip and we just now know about this I wonder? Okay, we'll get socks.

Actually a friend of ours lets Kayte borrow socks. However, Kayte tells her that they are 'too big' for her. How that's possible I don't know. Kayte is a size 7 or 8, this friend is a size 8 or 9. They only make socks in one size for us girls. Kayte is just used to the 'no-show' socks I think. Anyways....

So we head to the store to get everything and tell the kids to get packed and we would check everything when we get home.

When we arrive home, it's pretty chaotic. Kayla has by far the largest suitcase. I had told her to save room in it for the 'extra' stuff that inevitably would be coming back from Grandma's house (after all, it was Christmas and they surely would come back with more than they are going up with!). However, he suitcase was COMPLETELY packed, no room for anything else.

Kayte on the other hand had two suitcases, both of them half-packed and she thought they were both full. I questioned her about her packing choices:

* flip flops
* two suitcases both half-full
* no winter clothes at ALL. I take that back... she had ONE long sleeve sweatshirt. Everything else in her suitcase was short sleeve and VERY thin material clothing.
* no jacket. Well, she had one, but was REFUSING to bring it with her. She felt it was 'un-cool' and would not pack it. Flat out refused.
* the shirt she had chosen to wear on the plane was so thin you could see through it. This is the one that she was going to step off the plane into the snow of Maryland. Mind you, with NO jacket. No sweatshirt. Nothing.


When I told her that her one suitcase was half full and she should put the stuff from the smaller one into it she said (in that smart-teenager-smarty-pants-voice) "what, you just want me to poof some more room in my suitcase?" OH MY GOD I could have KILLED her right then. Or come across the bed and smacked her in the mouth. One of the two.

Now, Kayla on the other hand HAD a jacket to bring with her. Her Grandmother last year bought her a nice white jacket with fur lining around the collar. She LOVES it and it's perfect for the cold weather up there. However, Kayla didn't want to bring it with her. Why not you may ask? Oh, you are going to love this one.... she was afraid it would get dirty. Yeah... if she wore it, it might get dirty... then what would she do?? It wouldn't look pretty hanging in her closet any more.

Lovely, Kayla.

Oh yeah, and after we get home from the store, Kayla tells us that she too has NO socks for the trip. None. Nada. Zero. Zilch. Great.

We went over everything with the kids.... what to do once they arrive at the airport, how to act, what to say, what NOT to say, how to be respectful, etc. Told them NOT to lose their ID, their boarding passes, etc. Our friend Michelle was going to take them to the airport so that Chris and I could sing at church Saturday night.

The only reason I let Michelle take them to the airport for me was because I was told by the airline that they were pretty sure I wouldn't be allowed to walk them to the gate. They would let one person walk them to the gate if they were little kids, but given their age (16, 15 and 14) they probably wouldn't let that happen. But, when Michelle takes them to the airport she asks, and they do allow her to walk them all the way to the gate and wait for the plane.

Michelle tells me that she is SO HAPPY that she was allowed to go with them. She doesn't think they would have been able to make it on their own. THREE TIMES Justin dropped his wallet and it had to be returned to him while waiting for the plane. THREE. Kayla whined. They just didn't do well on their own. Thank goodness she was there to wait with them is all I can say. Late last night I got a call from Kayla telling me that she arrived in Maryland. Gwen got on the phone to tell me how happy she was to have the kids with her. She told me that they were safe and happy and that Chris and I should enjoy the week to ourselves... take the week off and enjoy it - they had everything under control.

That felt really good.

So, I breathe a big sigh of relief.

I smile and I plan for my daughter's visit tomorrow with her husband. My heart leaps for joy as I think about our Christmas plans. Church tomorrow night together as a family for the first time in........... well......... it'll be a first that will include Gene. I really can't wait.

I should run. I promise to blog more now that I have a computer up and running! Thank you Paul for the computer. You are an angel. :o)