Another week, another first place

It was a great weekend for our band again! Not only did we take 1st place in our group, but also every single caption award in the group and then the cherry on top.... Best In Show!!! Way to go Hammonton Marching Blue Devils!!! :)

I spent last night with a migraine, so got very little to no sleep. I was definitely dragging this morning. Such a beautiful day out and I hate feeling like this on these types of days! Ugh!!

Fall is upon us as the cool weather is finally moving in. Fall is my favorite season, so hoping it's a good one with plenty of fall weather and colors. I hate when it seems to jump from being hot to cold and doesn't give us the comfortable in between! So far, it's looking good though for the fall weather.

I can't believe tomorrow is already October! Guess that means it's almost my birthday again. Gee, who doesn't want to get another year older? Ok, so I'm going to be 29..........again! LOL

Guess that's about it for now. Boring, I know. Just not much going on at the moment.

The last few days

So much has been going on. What a busy weekend and beginning to the week we are having here.

Saturday the band had a parade in the morning and then their first competition in the evening. I will admit to being very skeptical about the band's ability this year to pull off a win. Happy to report they proved me very wrong and not only did they win their group, but also was less than two points away for the overall at the competition. Second only to a much bigger group 3 band. We are group 1. We also found out since then that we are the band to beat at this point as we are the highest scoring group 1 band in the state as of right now. It's a lot of pressure on the kids now to stay on track. Hope they can do it. They are all awesome kids!!

Today I had to run my Dad to pick up his new Harley trike. It's pretty neat. He is loving his new toys, but I honestly feel they are just a substitute for him or something to try to take him mind off of Mom. He misses her so much. Everytime I am with him alone now, he does talk about her a little bit here and there and I can tell he is really hurting. He asked me today if I wanted all of her snow globes that he has sitting out on a table in his dining room. I don't know where I will put them all, but of course I want them! If it was Mom's, I want it!! Being with him is painful at times because after I always go through my own emotions of missing her. On my way home from dropping him off I passed the big corn maze that we did with her a couple of years and now that it's that time again, the memories hurt. I remember her, me and the girls getting lost in the maze the one year. We laughed and laughed so much. A laugh I will never again be able to share with her. So much is missing without her....
Ok, enough of that crap again. I swear anyone reading this will get tired of hearing about my mother!!

Back to today. So, Ashley went to a friend's after school to work on homework and stuff. Pat, Brit & I went to Saladworks for dinner. Yum! Nothing like a good salad! After that we dropped Brit off at band practice and headed to the shore. Branden is in the hospital so we went to spend some time with him, Chrissy & John. The poor little thing is so congested. He was happy to see us though and was smiling and talking up a storm. Such a sweet little angel! He just turned 3 months on the 17th. After our visit we stopped at Starbucks where I got a pumpkin spice latte. Yum!!! Then picked Ashley up at her friends and headed to the school to wait for band practice to get done at 9:30. We got home at 10 and now everyone, but me is in bed! Then again, what is new, right?!? Even when I'm in bed, I only take tiny little cat naps! It's going on midnight and I do need to attempt to go to sleep since I do get up around 5:30 with the girls! I miss summer already!! Those early mornings suck!

School is going well as far as I know so far for both. We shall see when progress reports come out in a couple of weeks. Both girls signed up for PSAT's yesterday as well. They are in October. Hope they both do well on those. I personally hate standardized tests like that. I think they are ridiculous and truly mean nothing. If a kid is having a bad day then obviously they can't do well on that one day test! Ugh!!!

Okay, enough babbling... I'm going to bed! Goodnight

Competition season start

Well, tomorrow is the opening of another band competition season for us! Lots of mixed feelings this year about it all. Hoping they will do great, but have my doubts at this point. Colorguard just finished learning their work on Thursday night finally and their uniforms haven't even come in!!! So, I rushed around this week and made the girls tshirts to wear with their jazz pants at least for this weekend. They came out pretty cute, but they certainly are not uniforms! Ugh!!

We will start our day tomorrow with a parade in the morning. Competition is at night and is an hour or so away. We go on a little before 7, but the competition doesn't get over until 10 or later. So, figuring that we won't be home before midnight. Will be a long day for sure!

I try really hard to get into it all, but there is alway something missing! Today is 2 years and 7 months since Mom's passing! Still not easier and each thing I go to without her is still very hard! She loved band competitions when I was in them and couldn't wait until the girls were old enough to be in colorguard and other high school things. Well, she didn't wait for that to happen before leaving us. :(

Anyway, enough of that! Gets old, I know! So, I am sitting here in my craft room waiting for Ashley to get home. Brit came in awhile ago from JD's. Ashley is at our local fair/township day. She sent a text saying that she would be home soon. Sure hope so! But, since I'm sitting in my craft room I will honor Tammy's request and add some pictures of it in this post! LOL

Well, added pictures, but they went to the top of the post. Guess it doesn't matter. Have to figure this thing out some day so I can put pictures where I want them. LOL

I guess it's time to get off of here. While waiting for the pictures to upload, I got a headache. I think someone's trying to tell me to get off the computer!

Off the IV finally

Pat went to the doctor's today. He is finally off of the iv and was very happy to have that picc line removed from his arm. Glad that is over! The doctor was great and told him exactly how this happens and what needs to be done to prevent it from happening again. His leg will never be normal again, but it will be manageable and that is what is most important.

So, right now I am sitting in my craft room. I made some more ATC's today. These ones are for the Broadway musical Wicked. It was fun to make them since I love the show so much. I am really loving my craft room. Britney just came down to say goodnight and laughed because she thinks I hide out in here all of the time now. Well, maybe I do. It's a great escape place for me now. Sometimes, honestly, I do need to hide out from the rest of the world.

I have been feeling a bit irritable the last few days. I'm trying to shake the feelings and am not even sure where they are coming from. Well, maybe I do know where they come from. It's my approaching birthday, I suppose. The last few years just have not been the same for my birthday. It is a month away now and I do tend to start feeling a bit irritable and melancholy about it all. It is definitely times like this that I miss Mom the most. I can't help but still wonder if this is normal. After 2 1/2 years, am I still supposed to be so damn angry? A couple of weeks ago I had a breakdown. I hadn't had one of those in a very long time. I found myself going into Britney's room, which used to be Mom & Dad's room when they lived here and screaming for her. Asking her where she is and why isn't she showing me that she is around me and in this house. That is the room she passed away in and I feel as if her spirit would be strong in there, but as usual, I was greeted with silence. I'm angry!

I have Dad over at least once a week for dinner. He also shows up off and on just when he is out doing nothing else. He is so lonely and every time he expresses that, I get angry again. Although I do know that I hurt for myself also, I do believe I hurt more for my Dad and my girls! I hurt for what Mom is missing out on with everyone else. When Dad was over the other day, we were having a discussion about medical bills and things like that and he talked about how after Mom died some people were trying to collect things from her and he finally gave them the address to the cemetery with her plot number and stuff. I sit and listen to him but find that I still can not talk about her death much. Sigh..... I suppose, someday it will get easier.

Anyway, this post was not supposed to be about all of that. Isn't it weird how things morph and take on a whole new life sometimes?!? I need to make a promise to myself that this blog will not turn into a full time whine fest about Mom like my online journal is. I have reread that one a few times and realize that the whole thing is just full of depressing posts. Who the heck wants to read those things???

Well, I'm off now. Should think about bed, but insomnia doesn't allow that often either. Guess I'll tinker with some craft stuff while watching (more like listening) to the Monday night football game!

Another busy week

Well, it is the start of another busy week here. I am waiting for Pat to get himself together this morning so we can head out. We have to pick a present up for his dad. Today is his birthday and then we are meeting him for breakfast. Pat has a doctor's appointment this afternoon. Hopefully he will be able to go off of the iv antibiotics today. He is really tired of them.

The girls are off to school as usual. It will be a full week of activities. Basketball for Ashley and band for Britney. We begin our competition season this upcoming weekend. Parade on Saturday morning and our first competition of the season on Saturday night. It will be a crazy Saturday, needless to say!

Well, Pat is finally up and moving, so guess that means time to head out. I will possibly write more later.