Another Rainout

Softball was called off again tonight due to rain. The fields are a mess. They don't drain very well. This is the last week. Allie actually had 6 games to play. The two tonight were the last two of the season. Wed. and Thursday's doubleheaders are actually makeups from previous rainouts. Allie's team is one game out of first place. The other divisions got their trophies yesterday at the picnic. The race in the junior division is so tight that they are holding off until after the last game Thursday night. I have to work Thursday night but I will get there in time for the awarding of the trophies(hopefully).

Thunderstorms and Volleyball

Yesterday was James' graduation party. Boy did it rain! When we got there there were a bunch of boys playing volleyball in the pouring rain. Most of the adults were sitting under canopies trying to stay dry. There were a few in the house. We got our food and went out to the tables and found some fairly dry seats. We watched the boys slip and slide in the yard until the thunder and lightning came. They came a running then! It poured and poured. After about 15 minutes it stopped raining so the game started again. My girls decided they should play too. The rain started ed up again but everyone kept playing until the thunder and some really awesome lightning came back. The game ended for good this time. The adults continued to sit under the canopies discussing the storm. A little while later, the girls came out in oversized t-shirts. My friend Michelle put their clothes in the dryer so the were running around in a couple of her shirts.
It was a good time inspite of the weather. The last graduation party I went to last year was held in an ungodly rain storm too. No lightning but a lot of rain. Again, we just sat under the dining canopies and talked about the storm!

Upside Down World

Why is my computer monitor sitting on the computer desk upside down? Did the cat knock it over? Did one of the girls knock it over? No and no. The moitor is upside down so I can read what is on the screen. I seem to have contracted a virus that makes me have to flip the monitor over in order to read it. That is what my brother in law Roger told me. I called him this morning and said he had never heard of a problem like mine but he would get back to me. He called me a little later and said it was a joke virus that was popular a while ago. He said to scan for the virus and then dump it. If that didn't work then he didn't know what to tell me. I scanned and found no viruses. Roger said it is not suppose to harm anything on the computer. My friend Tracy's son said he would come and look at it. So in the meantime, my monitor will sit on the desk upside down. If anyone else has any suggestions, please let me know.

Pools

It is another steamy day here in Northeast Ohio. Threats of severe storms, etc. I have to work at noon today but I am off tomorrow. I took a personal day. My friend Michelle's son graduated from highschool this year. His party is tomorrow. I picked him up a gas card for a gift. He'll be working all summer so I figure it will come in handy. I figure it's better than just money.
Michelle and Dave have two boys-James and Joe. My girls just adore the boys. They have 4-wheelers and have taken the girls for rides. At a slow speed. Dave adores the girls probably because he only has boys. He makes sure James and Joe give the girls slow rides on the 4-wheelers.
Don set up the pool for the girls. It has a filter system but it is only about 3' deep. Not real big but enough to cool them off. It was only $39 at K-Mart. If it gets hot enough, I might sit in it!

BLAH!

Boy, do I feel like crap. I fell asleep after midnight and I was uo at 6AM. It was a life changing experience but more about that in the future. Maggie is up now too. We are going on a bike ride. Maybe it will shake the cobwebs out of our heads.

Ice Coffee

As you can see by the time of this post, it is late and I am wide awake. Maggie and Allie are awake also. We had vanilla ice coffees from McDonalds around 8pm while we were watching the Starsky and Hutch movie on FX. Don and Chrissy were watching TV with us and they had ice coffee too but since they are both asleep upstairs, they didn't drink as much as Mags, Allie and me. Now don't misunderstand me. I certainly don't feed my kids a steady diet of ice coffee. Allie certainly doesn't need any extra stimulants to keep her moving. Maggie has developed a taste for coffee and she has some occasionally. I think coffee is better than Mountain Dew or coke. I don't usually have a problem sleeping after drinking coffee. Tonight is just one of those nights. Maggie and I are watching the Jon & Kate plus 8 marathon. We've seen most of them before but there isn't anything else on. It looks like Allie has finally crashed. She'll sleep in this morning. She's my only late sleeper.
I guess I'll try and settle down now. I have to work but not until noon.

Guest Writer

hi my name is Chrissy. Im stuck home with my mom and dad. my sisters are at the beach with their friends. I played with Gavin. He is 3. I was too little to go to the beach with the girls. Maybe next time.

George Carlin

George Carlin died yesterday in LA. I really enjoyed his comedy. He was observant and irreverant but everyone was fair game. I remember the first time I heard his routine"The Seven Words You Can Never Say on T.V. My brother had it on a cassette tape and we were listening to it in my room with the door closed. We didn't want Mom to hear it. We were laughing so loud we didn't hear her come in. Then she started to laugh with us. It was a side of my mother I had never seen before. I didn't know she knew any of those words.
Just wanted to say how much I enjoyed George Carlin's comedy

Special Prize for Mom

Like most mothers, I tend to put my family's needs and concerns before my own. Oh, if I need some new underwear or some motrin, I'll get some. Sometimes I splurge and I'll buy a vanilla iced coffee from McDonald's. Today I bought myself a rocking chair. A beautiful pine rocking chair. To top it off, I only paid $20 for it! If there was one lesson I learned from my mother, it was NEVER pay full price for anything. We had the chairs for sale at Giant Eagle for $69. I asked the manager when he was going to mark them down. He said he didn't know but if I gave him a fair price, he would sell it to me. Today, Don and I were grocery shopping. We said hello to Joe-the store manager- and we continued shopping through the store. About 15 minutes later, Joe paged "Marge from produce, if you are still in the store, meet me in front of deli." Of course all kinds of thoughts ran through my head but I went over to deli. There was Joe with the chair. He was marking it down 1/2 price but because it was the display chair, he gave it to me for $20!!! It has a couple of little dings in it but it is still beautiful.
Of coarse we bought some prizes for the girls and Don got his Pepperidge Farm Milano cookies. But I got my rocking chair!!

Hobo the Kitty is Missing

Hobo, one of the new kittens, is missing. We think he is in the basement some place. The other two kittens-Kimi and Monkey are upstairs in the hall closet with their Mom Oreo. We think Oreo brought him down there. She goes down there and probably feeds him but we can't find him.The kittens eyes are open and they walk around but not very far and not very well. We aren't sure why Oreo would move the other baby away from the group. Maybe she didn't. We have had many cats and kittens in this house over the years but I still don't know much about them An animal person I am not. Some how I gave birth to animal people. They must get that from their Dad.
In other news, Maggie is taking Algebra 1 for highschool credit next year in 7th grade. She has also been selected for enriched language arts. There will be more emphasis on writing than there was this year. She will also have exploratory Spanish. I think they offer Spanish 1 in the eighth grade, again for high school credit. I think she is looking forward to 7th grade but not neccessarily for school to start!

Geneva-on-the-Lake

Today on my day off we went to Geneva-on-the-Lake. It is a "resort" area on the shores of Lake Erie. It is the next town over to Madison. It is about a mile and a half of arcades, shops and food joints. There's miniature golf, a water slide and a couple of wineries. It isn't the classiest place but it's a fun place to take the kids now that they are a little older. It is really packed on the weekends during the summer. We try to hit it during the week when it isn't so busy. Chrissy's friend Catherine had her birthday party at Adventure Zone. They have bumper boats, batting cages and arcade games there among other things. We dropped Chrissy off for her party, dropped Don at the marina to fish and Maggie, Allie and I went to the arcades on the strip. The girls and I also went down to the beach to look for cool rocks and sea glass. After we picked up Don, we went to the arcades again to wait for Chrissy's party to end. It was a nice day. It was about 80 and sunny.
Now we are waiting for Don's grill to get hot. Steak, corn on the cob and baked sweet potatoes is on the menu tonight. The girls might even toast marshmallows. No s'mores though. They finished the hershey bars the other day!

Softball Disaster

Cold and chilly here today. It is only in the 50's right now and it isn't really going to get warmer. It was cool last night on the softball fields. Chrissy had a doubleheader. She looked good out there. I guess they won both games. She said they did. Allie's team looked terrible. They beat themselves. They lost track of outs when they were in the field. They were throwing the ball around. They also like to try and tag runners out instead of throwing to the bases for force outs. Several time they tagged the runner only to then drop the ball!! I remember the one rule all of my coaches taught me about playing in the field: Everytime a batter steps in always ask yourself "If the ball is hit to me, where am I going to throw it?" I've told Allie that and some of the players on the team too. Their coach has told them too. Oh well. We dropped from tied for 1st to 3rd. The highlight of the game was Julie's homerun. It was a tremendous shot to deep center. The centerfielder had backed up but not far enough.

Doubleheaders

Chrissy and Allie both had doubleheaders tonight. Allie's was scheduled. Chrissy's was a make up game that was rained out a couple of weeks ago. Why we had to make up a game that they don't even keep score for I'll never know. The kids are only seven. Evidently, there are a few parents who feel that because they are paying for the kids to play, they MUST play all of the games. Anyways, Chrissy had three hits in each game and made several plays in the field. She also had a girl on the other team throw the bat back after she hit the ball and Chrissy was catching and the bat hit her in the arm.(I know, a run on sentence.) She was O.K. Chrissy's team won her games I guess. The kids keep score even if the coaches don't.
Allie's team split. They lost the first game 7-4 to the 1st place team(we're in 2nd). Allie had a walk and 1 hit. They beat the last place team in the 2nd game 10-1. Allie had three hits and one RBI. She was awesome. She isn't a strong hitter but what she lacks in strength, she makes up in speed. The coach of the losing team really ticked me off. She walked our best hitter in the 2nd inning when she was the lead off batter. Julie hit a 2 run homerun in the 1st inning. When she came up again, they walked her. I could see if there were 1 or 2 runners on but she was the 1st batter! The bases were empty! No wonder that team is 0-7!!
Anyways, it was a good night of softball for the Kurilec girls.

Sleepless In Madison

I hate when I can't sleep. I was tired when I went upstairs to bed. Don was watching something on the Discovery Channel. I watched for a little bit then went to sleep. That was about 9:30. I woke up and it was 1:10AM and I've been up ever since. I wouldn't mind except I have to be in to work at 6AM!! Allie has piano this afternoon and then she and Chrissy have doubleheaders at softball tonight. I will be lucky if I get to bed by 10. I have to work at 7AM tomorrow. So I sit here on the computer waiting for my coffee to brew. Roseanne is on Nick at Night. The girls are sleeping downstairs here in the living room because it is too hot upstairs Maybe I should have done something more constructive than surf the net. Oh well.I smell the coffee so I guess I should get it then start getting ready for work. Have a wonderful Monday every one!!

Father's Day

The girls made breakfast in bed for their Dad today. Scrambled eggs-Maggie's specialty- bagels and cream cheese and coffee. I was at work so they did it themselves. He gets to cook dinner on the grill!! Happy Father's Day to my Don and to my sister's Don!!!

Friday the 13th

It's 11 AM and I have already: paid the garage for fixing my brakes, paid the tow truck guy for coming out to pull my car off the concrete thing at Tessa's, stopped at the hardware store to get screws to fix Chrissy's recliner, went in to Giant Eagle to pick up some groceries and drop of some papers, went to WalMart to get more groceries and a birthday gift for Mag's friend Hannah's b-day party today and the WonderBread Store for bread and stuff. The only reason I'm not taking a nap is because Tracy and I are doing lunch today! We are going to Jade Garden for a little Chinese lunch.
After lunch (a nice long lunch) I have to pick up Maggie from Hannah's and get ready for Balin's 17th birthday party. Dori's having pizza and swimming in the pool. If I find my suit, I may go in myself. Oh, before I pick up Mag, I have to drop Don off at the Post. He is cooking the Steak Fry tonight. A quick $40 cash.
Good thing I'm off today!!

Stimulus Check

I got a letter the other day saying my stimulus check was coming this week. Today the brakes on my van went. How come whenever I think I may have a little extra money, something happens. I guess I need a new brake line so the garage guy said it should only be about $100 but, that is money that could be spent elsewhere like old bills, not newly created ones!! I will still stop the rental on Mag's trumpet and buy her a reconditioned one. It will save me alot of money in the long run. I guess brakes , a reconditioned trumpet and some utility bills will be my part to jump start the American economy.

Allie Boo

My Allie took her first piano lesson yesterday. She did really well. I think she was surprised that she knew as much as she did. The material was familiar from her recorder lessons in school. She seemed to relax after the first 10 minutes when she realized it was familiar. She came home and practiced for about 20 minutes and after softball she did her theory homework that Mrs. Reese assigned. Today she practiced alot. She has "Old MacDonald" down pretty good. She is really excited.
Last night she had three hits in her softball game. She hit the ball hard during the second game (the first of several doubleheaders). She was thrown out at first but she looked good!! Yay for my Allie Boo!!!

Jeremy

On Sunday afternoon, a 10 year old boy drowned at Arcola Creek. He was fishing in the creek and walked into the water to untangle his line or get his fish and he walked in where the water drops off 10 feet before it goes into Lake Erie. He couldn't swim. There were other people there but they couldn't get to him in time. The school principal called all of the parents in his class to tell them the sad news. The boy-Jeremy- attended North Madison Elementary. They had school yesterday and today because they had two days to make up like the middle school. There were grief conselors at school as well as the school psychologists there to talk to kids.
Although we didn't know Jeremy personally, Allie's team played against him last week. We played his team again last night. His older brother played and wore his shirt. Jeremy's younger brother plays on Chrissy's team. There was a moment of silence before the games and the games were dedicated to Jeremy and his family. It was very sad. Madison is a small town and a tragedy like this is very painfull. I'm tearing up now as I write this. When a child dies it is always sad and sometime difficult to understand. When you are a parent and you hear about a tragedy like this, it just makes you hug your kids a little tighter.

My Magpie

I got a letter in the mail today from Mr. Baffer-Maggie's social studies teacher. He said she was a wonderful student and set an example for other students. He talked about her manners and personality and her positive attitude. He said it made for a satisfying and rewarding experience for him as a teacher this year.
Maggie adores Mr. Baffer. She says he's cool. I have had several conferences with him and while I find him to be very energetic and a teacher that enjoys his work. He's been teaching for nearly 35 years. I'm not sure what is cool about him but then again, I'm not 12. Mr. Baffer also calls Maggie Magpie. Only Don and I call her that and then we better not do it when anyone else is around. Mr. Baffer started calling her that on his own. She didn't tell him that only her Dad calls her that. He said I should be proud of her and believe me, I AM!!

Field Day

Allie's class won the Viking Helmet!! Hooray for Mrs. DeLong's Red Team!!! Allie took first place in her heat of the hurdles and 2nd place overall!! Allie plans on running track in middle school and high school.
It is in the 90's today and it is suppose to be hot all weekend. As usual, we went from winter to summer with a month of rain(May) in between.
Oreo the cat had babies the other night. Allie came in my bedroom @ 2AM to say Oreo was having her babies on her bed. Allie sleeps on the top bunk. Oreo usually sleeps with her so the dog won't bother her. Evidently Oreo felt the need to share her joyous occaision with Allie on her bed. Al said she watched two of the kittens be born then realized it was the middle of the night. Oreo had 6 kittens. One was still born and one died the next day. Right now she is nursing 4 black and white kittens on Maggie's dresser. Maggie took some pictures with my new camera so hopefully she'll figure out how to put them on the computer to share with the immediate world. I couldn't do half the things I can do on the computer if I didn't have my Maggie here to show me how.

End of the School Year

Tomorrow is the last day of school for Allie and Chrissy. It is actually a make up day since they used up 1 more snow day than the 5 allowed. Maggie has school on Monday and Tuesday. MMS used 3 more days than the 5 days allowed. The middle school had two days with no power but the elementary school was in session. Maggie thought it was funny when she got to stay home when the girls had school. She's not laughing now but they are!!
Allie has the rest of her field day tomorrow. It was cut short today because of some serious thunderstorms. Don is helping out. Tomorrow Allie competes in the hurdles. Today she placed 4th in the high jump. Her class is in the lead by three points. The winning class is awarded the coveted Viking Helmet. That's why field day is referred to as The Viking Games. Mr. Kinsey won it last year. He kept the helmet in his class room for all to see. He'll put it on if you ask him!
Chrissy was suppose to go to Hidden Valley yesterday for an outing but it rained on them too. The went to the Memorial Complex for a day of games and races in the gym. Maggie just has class. Oh well, middle school isn't fun and games like elementary.
My Allie has received a scholarship for piano lessons this summer. She was selected by Mrs. Ford the music teacher at HNK. Mrs. Ford told me Allie was the first person she thought of and after watching all of the other 4th graders, decided that Allie deserved the scholarship. Mrs. Ford even found us a keyboard for Allie to practice on at home. Don and I are very proud of Allie. She worked very hard this year in 4th grade and these piano lessons are a nice reward for all of her hard work.