Day 27- Friday, June 6

One more day to go! We've almost made it! We are busy getting the house all cleaned up for Chris to come home. The kids are busy making a 'Welcome Home' sign for tomorrow. We will be going to High Point in the mid-morning (first, making a stop at South Park Mall (smile)!) Chris and Vance are expected to arrive about 2 or 3 pm tomorrow afternoon.

Thank you to EVERYONE who has helped me these 4 weeks! I appreciate you taking the time to read Chris' blog (and mine). We both love all of the comments we've had from our family and friends!

Love,

AMY

Day 26- Thursday, June 5th

The above pic is Miss Christensen (in yellow class shirt), Mrs. Brown and Evan

Today was a much better day than yesterday! I was able to take the day off from work and spend time with Evan at his end-of-the-year class picnic at the Broad River in Boiling Springs. Although it was about 99 degrees today and no breeze whatsoever, we had a great time together. (I braved the woods, bugs, snakes, etc to be with him on this special day!) The class sang for the parents, "God Bless America" and did sign language to the entire song. Each child got a special award. Evan got "Most Athletic." His teacher, Miss Christensen and Teacher Assistant, Mrs. Brown, are so wonderful! He loves them (and we do too!)

Going to take a shower to wash all the bug spray off me! Tomorrow is Friday- 2 more days till Chris comes home! YEAH!

Day 25- Wednesday, June 4th

As I had predicted, bugs were still in the garage this morning. I know I saw at least 2 large mosquitos that looked like they had West Nile Virus in them. We all ran out to the car on the count of three. Our dumb cat (Dash-2) wouldn't leave the garage this morning. I ended up having to get out of the car and pick him up and toss him outside. I pushed the garage door opener to close and he ran in there again! I was so mad! I had to get out and do it again! I threw him out in the yard just as a school bus of children went by our house. Erin was so embarrased because I was yelling "stay outside dumb cat!" I know it's mean to call him a dumb cat, but he kind of is. You'd agree if you met him.

We had dinner at our mexican restaurant in town, but it wasn't so great tonight. They didn't have any Diet Coke because they were in the process of changing out the machine. Then, the waitress brought my dinner first and nothing for the kids. I waited to eat until their food arrived. When it finally arrived, they had gotten both of their orders wrong. I had to send it back. We waited and waited. I decided to eat mine but it was already cold by that time. They finally brought the kids food to the table and Evan started eating his burrito. He pulled something out from his food and handed it to me. At first I thought it was just the skin of a peeled onion. Then I examined it more closely and it was a piece of plastic! I called the waitress over and she took it to the kitchen. She came back and said the cook said it was a piece of tomato. NO WAY! It was totally a piece of plastic! I pulled on it- hard- and it was definitely not a tomato or tomato skin. It was PLASTIC! (Maybe from a bag or something is what it looked like.) It was definitely not our night.

The kids played a few rounds of Guitar Hero and just went to bed. I'm doing laundry. Loads of fun. Chris comes home in 3 days, so that is what we are all looking forward to!

Day 24, Tuesday- June 3

I had a horrible bug moment tonight! I came home from work and left the garage door open for a while. I purposely left it open so I could take the garbage bin out after dinner. I did do that, but forgot to close the garage door afterwards. Apparently I also left the overhead light on in the garage and I just went to open the door that leads to the garage and about 1 million bugs, moths and flying things were in there. I screamed and slammed the door shut. (Our cat, who was in the garage at the time completely freaked out too!) Okay...now I'm officially scared for when I open the door in the morning. Are bugs going to fall on my head? Are they going to die in there overnight, or are they waiting for me when I have to walk to my car in the morning? OMG. I need Chris. Evan will have to step up and be a man and go out the door into the garage first tomorrow morning.

PS...the kids liked my dinner better tonight. Chicken patty sandwiches, french fries and corn (no, it was NOT fast food either!)

Day 23- Monday, June 2

I might have to change the name of my blog site to "28 days" instead of 29... Chris and Vance have decided to alter their trip route a bit. Their new goal is to reach High Point on Saturday evening instead of Sunday evening! I was so excited to hear this news tonight! Erin and Evan were too! The kids and I will go to High Point so we are there with Janet and we can all welcome them home together.

Chris will be home Sunday and Monday- but unfortunately he has to leave again for one more week- this time in a car. We've known about this all along, so I've been mentally prepared as much as one can be. He goes to Daytona Beach, FL for one week to grade AP English exams. I've gone with him before, and it's great- except it is not really possible to make it a 'family' vacation because he will be grading from 7:45 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. every day. The hardest part of him leaving this year is that he has to leave on our 13 year anniversary- and we only have 2 days together after being apart for a month. BUT...the best part is that when he finally returns to us, we are all leaving TOGETHER on a week-long family beach trip with my extended family. :-)

Today was an uneventful day for the kids (thank goodness) I made stir fry for dinner tonight and the kids were not impressed with it. Let's see what tomorrow brings...

Day 22, Sunday, June 1st

Okay...I've officially hit a new record for me. I've touched old aquarium water, rocks and plants. Who knows how much dead fish debris actually touched my hands. Totally and completely gross! But we now have a new fish who has joined our family. (Heaven help him. All other fish have come to our house to die.) Erin named him Tony the Tiger. While we were at WalMart today, Evan used his own money that he's been saving to buy himself a new Wii game. He bought Tony Hawk's Downhill Skater. (yes, he's my little Sk8tr boy.) He is thrilled and is already getting pretty good at it. I tried it one time tonight and immediately crashed Tony Hawk into a wall and then managed to send him over a cliff.

We all 'spoke' to Chris tonight and managed to do a video call- it was GREAT to see him live! There was a slight delay because of the 2-hour time difference, but it was fun. It made me miss him even more though! They come home next Sunday! We have to make it 7 more days. This is the last official week of school, so that will be exciting for the kids.

Off to watch another chick flick...PS. I Love You. It will probably make me cry, but that's okay.

Day 21- Saturday, May 31st

YMCA Water Park Opening Today! This was an exciting day for our town- the long-awaited outdoor water park opened and we were there! The only thing that was missing was Chris. He would have liked to have been there for this day. We had a great time (and got a little too much sun.) The Shelby Star was there and filmed Evan going down the waterslide. If you watch closely, you will see Erin walk by a few times in her green and white bikini. For some reason, there is also lots of footage of me helping Evan put on his goggles. Thank goodness he filmed me from behind and I had my shirt on! How mortified would I have been if I had made the footage in my bathing suit?!? Others in town were not as lucky. Check out the link to see for yourself...
You will have to watch an advertisement first, then the video will open
http://link.brightcove.com/services/link/bcpid1155362759/bclid1173324576/bctid1582123063

Also...another great part of the day was that my sister, Krista, together with her fiance Jason and my parents have most likely made a selection of a date and location for their upcoming wedding. Looks like we will be making a trip to Marco Island, FL the weekend of April 18, 2009! They are planning to get married on the beach (way cool) and the reception and festivities will be at the Marco Beach Ocean Resort. http://www.marcoresort.com/Weddings.asp The party is on!