Recent Miscellany

So... here is a slideshow of our Jamaica trip. It obviously wasn't very fun! HAH! It's also almost 12 minutes long, so you may not care much to give your time. However, if you do wish to view it you can be glad that its the shortened version in comparison to Raul's slideshow at our Jamaica party. I think he may have taken 40 pictures just from the airport to the sandals resort. LOL!!! And we got to see them all.
But we LOVE Raul. He brings such color into our lives.

Next I bring you the Bridgehampton School Gym where all the action takes place for the kids. (They would not agree with that statement whatsoever!!!)

This was the National Honor Society Ceremony.

Anika was roaming the audience to tap the next selected member--Lizzy! Woohoo!!

Nate played the final band gig of his high school career, and he lingered after the ceremony to just play a little more. It may actually be the first time I've ever heard him play the saxophone. (He only plays at school... sadly enough). And he ENJOYS playing. I hope he will complete his jazz recording project. I'd love to have that on hand.

These girls are some of the National Honor Society members. Hooray!!

Next I bring you Our Memorial Day Weekend

Caleigh and Lizzy humored me by letting me take some pictures of them in the rain. Caleigh had the idea of wearing her bathing suit. I told her to wear a raincoat. (That didn't last long).

She's a garden fairy princess.

And here's the adorable Lizzy with her bathing suit and sneakers.

It was difficult to take pictures in the rain. I had to hold an umbrella (which was broken) and my camera while trying to focus and continue balancing the umbrella so that my camera didn't get wet. Does anyone have a better way?

Girls are so dramatic.

This is my brother, who has done tree and landscaping for many years. He came by to take down some of the blasted oaks so we could plant the trees we WANT to have in our yard.

Here's the equipment that was used.

Tree #1 was the one that required a bit of time... but easy schneasy for Big Bad Johnny Boy!

He's a master.

We have tons more wood.

Here are some of the trees we planted. There will be others planted in the fall, and these will all grow fairly big.

On Sunday, we had a great time with our pals.

Woohoo!

Good times!

Food was way tooooo good!

We all had fun with baby Marcus. He's so cute.

My goofball girls are always finding ways to entertain themselves.

So, I have about 18 more posts to go on Kool Daze to reach 1000. Not sure if I will stop blogging at that point, but its a good possibility. I'll keep you posted. Har har.

I Am a Conqueror

Not only did I discover that I was growing ragweed in my perennial garden, I also did some research on this vine-like noxious weed that took over all the native shrubs and trees in my back yard last summer. The poor mountain laurels have suffered greatly. I wanted to take care of the situation last summer, but was at a disadvantage with the Lyme's Disease and just didn't have the motivation to tackle it, nor did anyone else, apparently.

Well, after realizing these past few weeks that the situation has become about 100 times worse since last year, I figured I had better check online to see what I was dealing with. This weed is called Mile-a-Minute Weed. It can grow up to 6 inches a day and it destroys native vegetation and habitats. 

photo courtesy of College of Agriculture & Natural Resources

This is not my back yard, THANK GOD!!

No. This picture below is my back yard near the fence. I pulled a lot of the weeds already before taking this photo, but there are some Mile-a-Minute seedlings evident there, and a lot evident on the other side of the fence. Greaaaaaaaat!!!

And really the only way to deal with this weed is to pull the seedlings out of the ground by hand, every last bit of it. It has shallow roots, so its easy to pull, but the seedlings are EVERYWHERE!!!! 

And... So are these!

I found myself in a tick infested spot. Deer ticks, no less. Greaaaaaaaat! These little buggers were all over my shoes and legs. I probably collected about 25 of them by the time I was finished. And you can't really tell from this picture because I didn't use a coin to be able to get the perspective, but they are all about the size of the head of a pin. Teeny tiny!! I sprayed myself up good with deep woods and then took a hot, hot shower after I finished the job. Clothes in the wash. What else can ya do?  We will hope and pray that I won't go through anymore tick-borne illnesses. EVER!!!

I pulled as much of the dead vines from the Laurels as I could, and can show you my scratched up arms to prove that they have little prickers everywhere. I AM A WARRIOR!

I had better not find any poison ivy rash over the next few days!!!!

The Laurels will hopefully recover now that they've been freed. I love mountain laurels when they are full and healthy and thriving, but I think they look like complete crap when they've been attacked by choking weeds.

I collected two 13-gallon garbage bags full of these lovely weeds.

This is how it grows! It's like ground cover in the beginning, and it creeps along, more and more every day, twisting its way around the all the good stuff, choking it out from the sun. I read that the Mile-a-Minute weed is the new Kuzdu of the North East. If you happen to see it in your yard or near your yard, get some gloves and start pulling it out right away. Don't let it stay there or mature to the point of having its little berries during the summer, cuz then you'll be screwed for the next year.

With a lot of labor and toil and enflamed scratches and all the eeby jeebies from the ticks, I think I pulled out most of this Devil's Tail Tear Thumb (its the other common name). However, I need to tackle the weeds on other side of the fence, probably tomorrow! Cuz it'll just keep on creeping over.

The perennial garden is coming to life. YAY!!

There is still so much work to be done. But let us rejoice in the fact that I actually DID something today.

I'm Over It!

1. I'm pretty much over the Pollen Allergies. I'm over it!!!! YAY!!! However, I made a valuable discover about Common Ragweed today, it's the stuff that's been growing beautifully in my perennial garden. Thankfully, that's not one of the allergies that showed up when I was tested with that pinprick thing. So, anyway, today, after much research and deliberation, I was able to determine that those lush plants were not, in fact, marigolds--durr--and I pulled them all out. I know. I know. I'm a real novice when it comes to botany. Now, what does one do with pulled weeds to ensure they don't spread their seeds throughout the gardens and the yard from year to year?

Nate's Video I'm not sure you will be able to view it from this link, but its a video of his year-long experiment with his hair.

2. I got a call today from the school, letting me know that, from now until the end of the school year (which is about 14 more days), Nate has to leave the premises at 11:55, so that he won't get into anymore mischief on campus. He's been leaving campus every other day at lunch, in order to go to work anyway. He's happy to leave. He HATES the school. Here we pushed and supported and put so much energy into "saving the school" (and the principal's job), over the past 4 years, but I've also always had the one kid who hates it there. Anyway, I'm over it! And Nate will be too, on June 27th when he graduates. The fact is, there are people at the school who have invested a lot in Nate and have been a valuable part of his growth. He doesn't have to love the experience to have benefitted from it in a life-changing way. I didn't like my high school experience in Ripley, TN either, but my life was forever changed in a powerful way because of being there.

3. Lizzy is a funny kid. She gets so anxious about things, but she's learning how to have some self-confidence in important situations. She's also learning when its appropriate to stand up for herself in the face of other people's differing opinions, and how to feel more comfortable and at ease when she's with other friends who aren't her besties. I have to say, I am over it with the SHAME GAME, which some adults (and peers) like to use on her. I hope this is her year of learning not to take on shame that someone else tries to put on her... when she doesn't measure up to their expectations. People pleasing can be a cruel task master, and most times the expectations are unrealistic. I'm over it with the shame game. Hoping the Lizzy is learning that too.

4. I'm over it with the car issues. The suburban is just having the normal wear and tear... changing the oil, new tires, changing the brake pads, but I'm not longer waiting for someone else to do the work. I've learned my lesson about waiting too long when there is a problem. I made an appointment and you can't convince me that the brake pads shouldn't need to be changed yet. They are squealing like a baby. I know what that sound is.

5. I'm over it with worrying about all the things that need to be done around here. They'll get done some day. And Luke will get home eventually, with a really nice car that he fully repaired on his own--bringing it from the salvage vehicle lot to being completely restored and back on the road. Its been a huge undertaking and a big headache for a lot of the adventure, but I can't wait until May 31st when he says--"MOM! It's done! Passed salvage inspection and can now be fully registered with permanent license plates!" I'm saving the bottle of champagne for that day. Yes I am.

After the Curtain Closes...

OK. We didn't have a curtain for our Charitable Cabaret, but we had a great closing show. I'm a little sad that I have no pictures to share. Seriously!!! After all the pictures I have taken of my kids during their special events... after buying a nice camera for my daughter... after the many times they have all taken turns borrowing my camera for their own good pleasure, could no one have considered that I might like to have a few shots taken at my performance?? I even dressed up for it and everything. LOL.

Anyway, I really enjoyed this one. I played the 9 ft Baldwin piano in the pit band (band of 3 and sometimes of only 2)... but I think Fitzy, the drummer, and I were a pretty darn good duo. And furthermore, I liked it. Honestly, I wasn't sure I would like doing the show, I was nervous all through the Jamaica vacation about it, because of the endeavor being such an unknown for me, but I really did have fun. I even ended up singing a song from the piano. So, if you weren't there, you missed it. My favorites were the tap dancing numbers. The dancing was fabulous. Every one of those 20 somethings in the cast are so talented and creative... and also, I think they are starting to "get me" a little better since the last show. They probably don't know anyone like me or anyone my age or with six kids and still involved in theater, so I can understand the confusion. HAh! It's an eye-opener for me as well, getting to see how their generation thinks. But that's what I enjoy, getting to know how people think and what makes them tick. Good times.

So... what now? I had so much to juggle over the past few weeks and now, over these past two daze it has  been very quiet. Not only quiet, but boring. Not only boring, but dreary. I'm ok with all of that, because I've needed some down time. But two days is enough.  I need to now get myself headed in the right direction with a to do list and whatnot.

I have a lot coming up the pike.

Getting the pool ready.
Finishing the basement.
Getting Luke home before summer is over (that's a long story I will tell once he's home with the Lancer).
Nate and Jolene's party.
Nate's Graduation.
Jolene's departure.
Terry's birthday.
Our family vacation to Michigan and Indiana.
Sohailah's wedding in Oklahoma.

And everything that comes along in between these events which will probably show up within the next week. I'm not ready for my head to start spinning again quite yet, so I guess I'll go back to bed for another day.

It Was a Big Weekend!!

I don't know how we did it, but it went great and with little to no stress involved. I did get annoyed yesterday because of my children changing all the plans on me, making my life all that more complicated. But it worked out. Yay.

Caleigh and Anika were in a ballet over the weekend with performances on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

Caleigh is in the back on the left. I don't know why she's all the way in the back. She literally knew the dance the best and performed it perfectly. Not even saying that from a bias opinion. I didn't say it to her though, because she's the one who asked, "When will I get my own dressing room?"

There was a beautiful performance of Scenes from Swan Lake.

 I don't know any of these girls except Megan, the Swan Queen.

 Caleigh had fun with her Flower Girls.

Ciena danced beautifully as the Firebird in The Magic Firebird.

Anika was brought in last minute to play the role of the evil Immortal, Kashchei. Creepy Fun.

 ...with her long curly nails.

 Prince Ivan was under Kashchei's spell.

 The four princesses pleaded with Kashchei to release them all from the spell (or something like that).

Kashchei thought that was the most ridiculous request ever, and made further trouble for the Prince and Princess.

They were all terribly afraid.

But the magic Firebird owed the Prince a favor, because he had once captured her, letting her go with her promise to protect him in the enchanted forest.

 Firebird combatted Kashchei.

She told Prince Ivan about the secret egg that contained all of Kashchei's power. So he broke it and in doing so broke the spell.

There was great rejoicing.

And the prince and princess could now be happily joined in marriage.

Flower girls take their bows. (Caleigh seemed a bit put off when everyone came for their bows and stood in front of them).

Anika with her besties... Aubri and Ciena.

I'll have to tell you about my show, which was also this past weekend--Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday--in the next post. Fun, fun and good times.