BYE BYE BIRDIE!!

Tonight is opening night of Bye Bye Birdie at the high school. It is the triplets last production for high school. I might cry when I watch them tonight. Jack is playing the part of Hugo. Jessica is Mrs. McAfee, and Elizabeth is Gloria then sexy tap dancer.

I'll try to post pictures tomorrow.

productive weekend

Even though the weekend started on a bad note, with the van needing a new battery, it got better. I got a lot of house cleaning done. 3 closets cleaned out. Junk thrown away. Fixed the bathroom door so now people won't get stuck in there anymore. We've had several people have to bang on the door to get out. Pretty funny.

So, today I went with my mom to Marshall Michigan to visit my step-dad's nephew and his friend, Frank. We had lunch at Schuler's. Yummy. We talked for hours. Nice to catch up with them. THey plan to come to the kids graduation party in June.

Just Can't catch a break!!!

My van won't start this morning. We tried jumping it with our charging unit. Nothing. I think it's the starter because for a good week now it's sounds a little funny when I start it. Like it doesn't want to start. UGH!!! The kids van is at the shop right now because is has a huge rust hole inside the back fender and when it is wet, the wires up there get wet and then that van won't shut off. YOu can even take the key out and it still runs! The kids have the car at school. I'm stuck at home! I guess this is my day off that I've been wanting.
One thing after another is draining my money...it's like butter through my fingers.

If I lived out in the country, I would stand in a field and SCREAM.

Thursday

So, the kids actually did dance last night for their drama group. It almost didn't happen. As they were leaving the house to go to play practice, Jack and Jess forgot their dance shoes, so I ran upstairs and grabbed them. They both told me it's "no big deal, we don't really need to dance, we don't want to dance", etc., etc.., I dropped the guilt trip on them: all the years of driving them to practice, feises, money spent on costumes, shoes, lessons, etc. THEN in walks my secret weapon......Grandma Mary!!! The kids were in the car, shoes in the house.....Grandma grabbed the shoes and ran out to their car and gave them what for! Go Grandma! Grandma guilt trumps mom guilt. Got the job done.

So, then I went with Mom to Mass at Old St. Patrick's, and then listened to a visiting priest give a talk (so boring). My mom was even bored. Then we went to the church hall to visit with people. NO EXERCISE for me last night. I keep giving my time away. Mom is worth it. I just wish there were more hours in a day.

Happy St. Patrick's day

I'm really not doing anything Irish today. I'm at work. Kids are at school. Tom has physical therapy appointment. I'm wearing a shamrock scarf, shamrock necklace and a shamrock lapel pin. I think I will find some Irish music to listen to on my computer.

When the kids were Irish dancers, this was our busiest day of the year! We pulled them out of school to dance all over the place. First they danced at 3 Catholic schools in the morning, then we took them to pubs the rest of the day to dance, oh and a nursing home or 2. Those poor kids were sooo tired at the end of St. Patrick's day! They might dance for their drama group tonight. Grandma Mary really wants them too. It's a good day to share their Irish heritage.

Stuck in the mud

Today is the triplets 1/2 birthday. THey are exactly 17-1/2 years old. Approaching adulthood with a long ways to go.

The girls went to Youth Group at the church tonight. Tom made sure Elizabeth had some forms with her that had to be signed by the director for the kids to get credit for volunteer hours. If they have at least 10 volunteer hours they can wear a cord with their cap and gowns at graduation. They have MORE than enough. Anyway, Tom talked to Elizabeth twice on the phone to remind her to have the forms signed and bring them home. I talked to her once and reminded her. SHE FORGOT. When she called to tell us they were on their way home, Tom asked her about the forms and she said they would turn around and go back to the church. That's where the title for this post comes from. Jessica was driving. She didn't think to do a 3 point turn...no...she pulled into the church festival grounds, driving a little car, in a wet field. She thought she could pull in and turn around without having to back up!!!! Elizabeth called us after they tried to get out themselves. All that did was bury the front right tire. I took a chain with me, but when I got there I knew the ground was too soft and if I dared drive my van out there then we'd have 2 vehicles stuck.
We had to call a tow truck which couldn't even drive out to the car. He had to use a wench to pull the car out. Cost $70. Jessica is owes me $45, Elizabeth owes me $25. I figured Elizabeth is at fault because she forgot the forms, BUT Jessica made the biggest mistake with the decision she made while driving. I've also grounded Jess from driving. In the past 3 weeks, she has hit 2 cars in parking lots and now this.

Always something with the Dawson family, eh?

all better

Jess is much better after a few days on antibiotics. Thank goodness. Whew! I had to get some sleep and so did she.

Today the kids start their last trimester of high school, ever! They will graduate in 12 weeks. I can't decide if I'm ready for this next phase of life or not. Guess I don't have a choice. We've been very busy applying for scholarships. I say WE because one of the kids has very little motivation to write essays. Tom and I have to keep after this individual CONSTANTLY and then I have to heavily edit any essay that get written. ugh... I'm doing it because they MUST get scholarship money. Elizabeth is doing great with her essays.. Wow can she write! (so now you know it's not Elizabeth who is the problem) All the scholarships apps should be behind us by mid April and then we wait. Wait for good news, I hope.

I don't think Jack and Elizabeth will be going to Heidelberg Univ. They got their fin/aid packages and although they both got nice scholarship money and pell grants and other grants, they both still need $6,500 for tuition and $1,500 for books. I don't think that will happen. They are both now thinking of Western and maybe Grand Valley State. Hope to get the fin/aid packages from those schools soon.

sick kiddo

Jessica has the worst sore throat and a fever. She is miserable and now we both are lacking sleep. She was up all night in pain and she can't take pain. She moaned every few seconds ALL NIGHT LONG!!! I slept with her in living room. ...or I should say didn't sleep. No sleep. Plus she kicks and thrashing about because she can't stand the pain. YOu probably think I should have taken her to ER....no not Jess. She just have a VERY LOW pain tolerance. Elizabeth had the same illness last week. She was in alot of pain, only ate ice cream for 2 days, took advil, tylenol and just dealt with it. Jess can't deal with it. She is a little better this morning, so she is upstairs SLEEPING. ugh. Oh, and for those of you that don't know us, you may think Jessica is a small child. She is 17! She is a big baby when it comes to pain and discomfort.

I can't seem to catch a break. Today was supposed to be my day. I scheduled this day off from work so I could just do stuff around the house. I have projects that I want to work on and I LOVE having the house all to myself. (Tom will be out with his mom). SInce I was up all night, no sleep, I don't feel very productive. I'm disappointed. You see, 2 weeks ago I had a Friday scheduled off just for me, but Thursday I got a call that my mom was being transported to the hospital by ambulance. So I spent that night and a lot of "my Friday" at the hospital. I guess I'm not supposed to take a day for myself...it just isn't happening.

Only 12 weeks left

That's right, 12 weeks and my babies will be done with high school! Hard to believe. We are very busy looking for and applying for scholarships. All three kids have bee accepted to all the colleges they applied to. Jack and Elizabeth REALLY want to attend Heidelberg Univ in Tiffin, Ohio. Tom and I took them on a visit and then the two of them went back for an overnight visit. They love it there. It's expensive! $31,000/year!!! Elizabeth was awarded a $10,000 academic scholarship, plus $5,000 to cover her out-of-state status. Then we got her financial aid package in the mail. With fin/aid and scholarships she will still need to come up with $6,500 in loans or scholarship money. The rest is covered. This weekend is dedicated to scholarship applications.
Jack also was awarded an academic scholarship for $8,000, plus the $5,000 for out-of-state status. His financial aid package hasn't arrived yet. Their second choice is Western Michigan Univ. We haven't received any financial aid info from them yet.
Jessica plans on attending Washtenaw Community College for 2 years and then transferring to Western. She is applying for a scholarship to WCC which would be a full-ride for 2 years if she gets it.

I'm getting busy with grad party details. SO much to do.

Tom is okay. He had a bad fall last week and hit his head pretty hard on the tile floor. He is also trying to recover from the flu. Before he got sick with the flu, he was going to physical therapy 3 times a week to help with his core strength.

My news is that I am training for my very first 5K run. I go to the gym 4 days a week to run/walk on treadmill and lift weights. I say run/walk because I'm working up to being able to actually run 1 mile without walking. Right now I can run a little more than 1/4 mile and then I walk for 90 seconds and then run again, and so on. Each week I increase my run time and keep my walk time to 90 seconds. Eventually I will eliminate the walk time. I've lost 60lbs in a year, but then dumby me, I gained 18 back over the holidays which I'm now still working to lose.