Long Time No Post

What all have I been up to? Let's see... Thunderduck made the college soccer team, so I've gotten most of that squared away. He just needs to get a few more scholarships and all of his expenses will be covered without dipping into his tuition fund! He also has a GIRLFRIEND! (the girl he took to prom)
TrainWreck MIGHT go to regionals in triple jump - if the 3rd place kid at district is indeed failing.
Both TrainWreck and Thunderduck got the Packmule Pride award at the soccer banquet (that I spent all afternoon decorating for!) Thunderduck was academic all-district --- strange how he suddenly got serious about his grades this year. I wish TrainWreck would!
Lurch is still doing tae kwon do, and is practicing his talent for Mr. Packmule. Apparently he has a girlfriend, too, but I hear that it is a "middle school relationship" (walk to class with me but don't talk to me!)
Chunk's conduct grade slipped again to N (mostly because of HW not being turned in and TALKING)
We are working on the house from now until Thunderduck's graduation, so I now have my lawn mowed weekly (!) and it has been weed n feeded, my windmill is in the front yard (and is almost done being painted -- it needs the red trim done), my picnic table has been repaired, primed and painted to match the swing. MyPoolBoy is working on cleaning out his shed this week so we can finish another coat of paint on it and make some doors for it. We also will be building a chicken coop on the lower level of the fort and then we can put the rabbit out in the hutch.
I did P90 this AM!!!!! I hate/love the ab ripper! I decided that I will blog as a reward for doing my am workouts, so if I get behind on blogging you'll know it's because I am not working out :-)
Ok, we have a field trip today, and I still have to get Lurch to weight lifting (plus take a shower!) and get everything ready for a sub tomorrow -- I'm going on the field trip with Chunk's class --shhh he doesn't even know it yet!

Ok -- to the shower!

I worked out!

HOLY COW I HURT!
I did a 1/2 of the Power90X workout -- I couldn't get through 2 sets of the back/chest workout OMG it's tough! I love it. I broke a sweat so I know that I'm burning some calories. And the ab ripper I only did about 10-15 reps on everything instead of 25. OWWWW IT SUCKS! I LOVE IT!

I've desperately needed to get some exercise. Endorphins have kicked in ....I'm ready to get in the shower and face the day. I still need to do lesson plans, but at least I have the energy and willpower to do it now. I'm in the process of putting these exercises into my Palm so that when I go to Midland this week I can just do them on my own. It's nothing but regular ole calesthenics but really fast and lots of reps.

OK, so I'm gonna eat some Grape Nuts or something whole grain for breakfast and attempt to do some chores. I'm gettin in the shower at 5am - which is in 3 minutes.

OK - to do list for today -
1) talk to my principal about having 2 days off Thur and Fri
2) get a sub/ prepare for sub Thur & Fri
3) have MyPoolBoy call the coach and arrange everything at college for Thunderduck
4) call Dad and B for a place to stay on Thur & Fri
5) mail Thunderduck's prom thank you
6) mail Thunderduck's FAFSA signature page (get him to sign it first)
what else????
I'm sure 9 million things will crop up between now and later today. Only 2 more days of math tutoring HOSANNAH!

Ok, I'm outta here...

All kindza stuff

BY MAY 9!

I'll try to remember to get this ticker to show up on all of my new posts. For some reason it is showing that I lost 2 pounds when actually I GAINED 2. Gotta fix that somehow - in more ways than one! What I have planned now is a modified version of Power90X. I saw it on TV but I refuse to pay for it (el cheapo me!). But I did research some reviews of it from various sources on the web and found less negative stuff about it than any other program I've researched. It makes sense to, because even though you are supposed to rest your muscles and not work out a little each week -- it DOES that even though you are working out every day because it target muscle groups in isolation. And EVERY review I saw said it was HARD -- even the expert workout hounds! SOOOOO that starts this afternoon.

I also have to clean house a little more, get lesson plans done, and get ready for a sub on Thursday and Friday - Thunderduck has a tryout with a univ. soccer team so I have to take him down there and get him settled in, etc. I have a feeling that he will make it, so I have to also be prepared to get the rest of his admissions paperwork and financial aid paperwork done. We've pretty much figured that if he makes the team and can get into one of the single-bedroom dorms, that his TTF will pay for tuition the first two years, he can get a $2000 grant from the college to pay for part of his dorm, there is also a $400 Freshman dorm allowance and we can maybe snag a few more little scholarships and grants here and there (that's NOT INCLUDING PELL!!!!!) to make up for the rest of the dorm costs and books and supplies. That way all he has to work to pay for will be food and playing around money. I also think that we need to set him up a Visa check card account when he gets down there and also get him a Blockbuster online/unlimited account. The other things I have to do is get him a dorm checklist and start buying household items for him AND I want to make him a CJ so that he will have menus, cleaning, everything planned before he leaves. I really have a feeling that it's where he will be going to school. PLUS its 4 years so he can play soccer all 4 years if he wants. OH! The other thing I need to do is outline his degree plan for him and figure in how many CLEPS he can take to knock off some butt time and save some more money.

On to phase II - I have to get the graduation announcements addressed and figure out how we are going to pay for photos and get them developed and back in time to mail these announcements. We also need to get his letter jacket done before he leaves. Grad announcements still need some vellum (and I'll cut the edges with my scrapbook scissors), and some envelope seals. We purposely didn't order these because we knew we could just buy the stuff for about 1/10 of the price.

Phase III - I need to find a checklist/timeline or etiquette website to give me some kind of plan for having guests come in -- especially guests who are exes. I just hope everyone will be adults.

Phase IV - (though this should really be Phase I!!!!!) is to get the house cleaned up and in order before the guests all get here. Basically we have 7 weeks. I guess I need to make a timeline for MyPoolBoy to handle that, also. There is probably plenty that we can do for little or know money, so we're gonna have to just break down and do it. I know we'll be exhausted but I think we will be happy in the long run.

Saving $ means I HAVE to get home in time to cook every night. I may do some OAMC just to get me through the next few weeks if I can set aside a day to do it. SOOOOO we probably really need to sit down and do a budget.

Prom was last night, that was beaucoup de $ But I was making sure that Thunderduck didn't end up next year watching TrainWreck get everything that we COULD have done for him... it sucks being the oldest and having all the mistakes happen at YOUR events.

One more thing -- I told Thunderduck earlier in the year that I was going to hold up a sign at his graduation but now I can't remember what it was gonna say. Time to wrack my brains!