What’s For Breakfast?

My honey surprised me with a new mini scone pan yesterday… so this morning I made Strawberry-Lemon Scones with a lemon glaze.

Oh My…they were SO yummy!!

Things here are pretty quiet. Jon is home for the weekend. We got both of the boys signed up for baseball this week. I am really looking forward to baseball, or perhaps just baseball weather. But not so looking forward to how ridiculously busy I will be spending another baseball season with my hubby out of town while I shuttle 2 boys all over the county for ball games.

We are still trying to plan a trip south…we’re having a lot of trouble coming up with a date we can both get off work though. We won’t give up, but at this point I’m despairing of it being any time soon.

I love and miss you all!

Out Like A Lion? More Like a SeaLion.

I demand a recount of days. Surely, this madness should count for March coming in like a Lion.

We have lived in this house for 9 and a half years now, and in that time I have never seen anything like last night. Yesterday, we got oddly warm for Ohio. Great, right? Well, maybe not so much. At first, I thought it was great. It was 59 degrees...that's balmy here, so I opened the kitchen window and turned off the heat. The sun was out here and there, and the snow was melting. Wretched stuff...begone.

Then it got dark. And it stayed warm. And it started raining. And it started lightening. And my kids begged to sleep on the couch. And the weather service issued tornade warnings. And flood warnings. And flash flood warnings. And it would NOT STOP RAINING. And, and, and...

You get the picture.

With Jon in NY, I get paranoid about things I would normally never give a second thought to. Things like the sump pump. When I have my big, strong man here, I don't think about the sump pump. I think about planting flowers and making cupcakes. When my big, strong man is here my most unpleasant thought is about scrubbing the toilet...I simply don't worry my pretty little head about things like basements flooding. Thats what big, strong men are for, right?

Well, currently my big, strong man is in NY working so we can pay for that basement...SO, guess who was worried about the sump pump last night. And thank God I did...

...BECAUSE I was worried about it, I didn't sleep much, but I DID check on the sump pump at least once an hour. So when the basement started flooding I caught it really early. Immediately even. It wasn't the sump pump we had a problem with though, ironically. The storm drain at the bottom of our outside stairwell clogged up...so water was coming in under the basement door. I tried messing around with it...I even plunged the damn thing...like I said, toilets are more my speed. To no avail. The water was pounding out of the sky, no relief in sight and some of it was in my basement. 

My kids reacted admirably. Sam leapt to action using towels to sop up the water and ringing it out outside, then putting them in the dryer. Over, and over, and over again. He tried using towels and boards to stop the water from coming in. Maggie sat on the couch and wrote a letter to Jesus, asking him to please make the rain stop. Liam slept through part of the madness, but quickly joined Sam in his damming efforts when he woke up.

While I, like the pathetically helpless female I apparently am, called my brother Bobby crying. Well, I wasn't that bad, I mean I tried plunging the darn thing...I was trying but nothing I did was helping, so I did, really, call Bobby crying.

Within the hour, Bobby was here, snaking the drain pipe. He got it mostly cleared...it still needs cleaned out some, which my big, strong man will take care of for me this weekend. But, it's fixed enough that I don't have water coming in anymore. Fixed enough that when it gets down to 20 degrees tonight that pipe won't freeze and burst. Yea, 20 degrees, only in Ohio, people.

In hindsight, I would like to thank the academy...

not really, but I would like to thank:

My kids, they handled themselves beautifully and were really helpful, when I really needed them to be.

My big, strong man, for talking me through the panic and calming me down. And telling me to call Bobby. That was good thinkin' when I was completely incapable of any good thinkin' that didn't consist of blubbering gibberish.

Bobby, for the obvious. LOL ~ Thank you for fielding the hysterical sister call, then charging to the rescue. And while I did attempt to feed you, out of thankfulness, I realized in hindsight that I never offered you a cup of coffee. Dadgum, I'm sorry about that. What a shitty sister.  

Krisi, thanks for lending me YOUR big, strong man.

Steve, thanks for nuttin'...sorry, Bobbys my favorite brother now. Not sure how you will ever redeem yourself after this one. Ha ha ha.

I love you all.

Spring Fever

I have arrived. At that place I arrive every year. In late February. That sick of snow state of mind. Enough is enough already. It didn't help this year that I kinda started the winter out still sick of snow. A winter hangover, if you will. Last weekend we had a couple of days that were just gorgeous. It was cruel really. We took full advantage of it though. Jon was, of course, home for the weekend so we went to the zoo. Sam chose not to go with us. I don't think I like him being a teenager. I don't know who this kid is...this kid who doesn't want to go to the zoo. I know it's a phase...he will outgrow it. I just don't know how soon. I mean, really, how many ADULTS do you know who wouldn't want to go to the zoo if Mom and Dad are paying?

In Asia Quest

Jon's coat is unnecessary, you'll just have to trust me on that. I wore a hooded sweatshirt and was perfectly comfortable. The snow was all melted. The sun was out. The birds were singing. And the animals were sunbathing.

Which just makes it worse that Monday afternoon into evening, we received a nice thick coat of ice with a few inches of snow on top of it. And now, all the weatherman are freaking out about another snow headed our way Thursday night. I'm SO DONE WITH SNOW!!!!!
Aside from snow, I apologize for doing the crappiest job ever at keeping up with a blog. Well, the second crappiest job ever, Steve has me beat on that score. I have had so much going on lately, it's really hard to convince myself the blog is a priority. Working and trying to keep up with everything at the house with Jon gone is no party, I will say that. I am still working...I had originally thought to only work 3 or 4 days a week once Jon was in Buffalo. That is not panning out too well. Work has been ridiculously busy and unfortunately, they need me more than that. So, last week and this week I have worked everyday. The house is a little less orderly than I'd like. The yard looks like crap. The closets are poised to attack everytime we open them. If I worked anywhere else, I would give my 2 weeks and be done with it. However, I adore my manager. I can't abandon her...she has a tough enough time when she does have my help. I guess the good news, hidden in there, would be that jobs are picking up. For a very long time, there were no jobs to be had in Mt Vernon. Lately, we have jobs come in every day. The problem is finding people who actually want to work. But, that is a whole nother story.
So, Jon and I have been discussing a trip south. We unfortunately, are not going to make it down for Easter this year. Which we both are bummed about, as that has become our happy bunny tradition. He is not able to get that weekend off though, so we are rearranging and making other plans. I think we have decided to come down for a long weekend sometime in March. We are figuring out pay days and cut offs and how many days he will  miss and as soon as we know, you all will. But, let me tell you, I definitely have Carolina on my Mind.
I will make some concentrated effort to keep up more on here...I'm sorry it's been so hit or miss lately. I love you all.

It Is Done

From the day we moved into this house, ten years ago, my goal for this oddly shaped little alcove in our living room has been to have a cozy little nook for reading. Reading has always been near and dear to my heart. I've never been able to comprehend not loving reading. It's escapism in it's finest form. Who could possibly not enjoy vicariously journeying with Bilbo to slay a dragon? Or win a Quidditch match with Harry, Fred and George? Or even accompany David as he brings down Goliath with a rock and God?
I've arranged and rearranged in vain. No one, including myself, has ever gone back there to read. Possibly because the quaint rocking chair I had back there was terribly uncomfortable. And before that, because you had to risk life and limb to climb into the papasan.
But now...now that I have my new chair... my goal is attained. I insisted on the chair and half and, once home, quickly came to the realization that it was THE READING CHAIR. And once I had it arranged, Maggie quickly realized the same thing. It really is the coziest little set up you ever snuggled into. I am at peace.
I love you all.

Sick Sucks

After 4 days of running a fever with no other symptoms, on Saturday evening, we took Liam to Childrens Close to Home Urgent Care. UC was a madhouse, no 2 ways about it. They were overcrowded, overworked, overwhelmed. Still, the nurse who admitted Liam really ticked my tock. She acted like I was an idiot for bringing him in with nothing but a fever. All but rolling her eyes at us, she failed to get a throat culture, despite the fact that I told her strep was epidemic at his school right now, and had us shown to a room. After seeing him and checking his throat and ears, the Dr. said he looked ok, but given the prevalence of strep coming into the office, she still wanted to get him a strep test. Thank God. Liam didn't exactly take the strep "tickle" like a champ, but he took it. After she left the room, he turned to us and said with astonishment, "She touched my uvula." It was hilarious. His strep test came back positive and he is now taking amoxicillin and on the mend.
I have been fighting a cold since around Christmas, and last night started feeling like rather than battling it back I was beginning to succumb to it, getting worse. So this morning I promptly called my drs office and got in to see the nurse practitioner. Let me just say, that at my drs office anyhow, the nurse practitioner cannot be beat. While the Dr's there are nearly impossible to get into on short notice and even more impossible to get any real attention from, NP Linda Ambrose is wonderful. She is usually easy to get in to see, and she treats me like a patient. A patient she remembers from visit to visit. She does not make me feel like a timeslot. She makes me feel like me getting better is just as important to her as it is to me. I adore her. After checking me out she diagnosed a double ear infection and possible strep. She opted not to do a strep test, I can only assume because she was prescribing antibiotics already. She also upped the dosage of my Advair and gave me a months supply of the higher dose. Just until I get well, at which point she said I can go back down to the lower dosage I was taking now. Then she got me a shot in the ass. So, Liam and I are both on the mend. And I say, being sick SUCKS!
Love you all!