This blog brought to you by the makers of 'procrastination'

I am in one of those moods...a gazillion things to do, and not an ounce of motivation...I am not even sure where to begin. Here is my list: housework (LOTS of it!), grocery shopping, bills to pay, office to clean, I have several meetings that I need to attend to wrap up our Poetry Residency, and we currently have our Art Residency happening, and I have put a lot of hours in, but I need to be there again, I have a lot of paper work to fill out for all of that as well as random other packets, for Shawn's GT placement and Greg's potential IEP, I have an assembly coming on Thursday to celebrate Black History Month, and I need to get that ready, and I need to start writing Grants for 2010-2011 school year ! This is the short list, I don't know where to begin so I am going to waste time on my blog!


January has been somewhat productive for our home projects...Dale has worked hard putting a much needed surface on our driveway. He also arranged for a shed that will be great for storing EVERYTHING. I am so excited to put the kids bikes in there so they can ride up and down the driveway!

Shawn, Melissa and Alex are all playing Basketball and David is still in Hockey. Shawn had his first game in January. He and Alex also played a 3 on 3 tournament and did very well. Shawn has grown about 7 inches since last basketball season, and that has come in handy this season. He is about 5'7 now...still the smallest on his team, but he has inherited his dad's 'impressive wing span', so he will continue to get better as he grows bigger. This picture is Shawn last year...the short kid in the white jersey at the top of the key...


Here is Shawn this year, center of photograph...

This month David competed in his first pinewood derby...taking third..so he has an invitation to the super derby! Good job David and greast job Dale with the assist!

Dale and Shawn spent a lot of time this month on designing a complicated game. We started playing it last night, it was really fun! Dale was the mastermind behind it, but as of right now, we are are 'beating him at his own game'...(love you sweetie!)

I can't talk about January without mentioning the amazing memorial we held for my mom. It was a terrific tribute to all things good about my mom. Trying to post my thoughts on her memorial and her life would not do my feelings justice, but I felt it needed to be mentioned. Here is everyone starting to gather before the service began...




One BIG accomplishment in January was unloading 'THE Lamp'...this ugly thing gets passed around from family member to family member at random...One frosty morning after Thanksgiving I went to my car and this is what I found....!!


DOHHH!! Lamped AGAIN! The family Heirloom that just won't go away! I drew Dara's name for Christmas, so guess what was in the beautifully wrapped box that Brandon drove all the way back to Pennsylavania for her to open? Thats right, "THE Lamp" !! Merry Christmas, Dara!

How sad was I when this stupid thing showed up in my garage again in January?!?!?(Courtesy of Tracey and Ronnie I hear)I was VERY SAD! so I decided to not only brighten Scarlett's day with this thing, but also her Spa with this beautiful accessory...What do you think..? Looks Great huh??

A productive January indeed!