Walk of the Roses

The obligatory family photo. 

 Lindsey and her good friend Vicki with Dr. Cantwell.  Dr. Cantwell came as an interim principal this year.  He was fabulous.  The Board tried to convince him to stay but being an interim principal is his "thing."  You would think that someone that was just filling in wouldn't be as involved.  He showed up at athletic events.  He met the girls at the front door almost every morning.  At least once and often more times a week, he joined different girls for lunch.  He showed up at After Prom at 2:00 a.m. . . . this after being at the Prom from 5:30 until 12:30 a.m.  What a guy.  In one year, he has put his footprint on the school and the students. 

Vicki, Emily, Sarah and Lindsey . . . going to University of Cincinnati, Bowling Green, Loyola of Chicago and University of Dayton.

The students walk from the Academy to Our Lady of Angels (about 1/2 mile).  The police close the street.  They have been doing this for 120+ years.  It is called the Walk of the Roses.  Most of the neighborhood comes out and cheers them on, along with parents, grandparents, family and friends.  It is very impressive.  The walk is led by a bagpiper, followed by the teachers, administrators and finally the students.  And here is Lindsey.

One Prom down . . . one to go . . .

Lindsey's Prom for her school was this past Saturday.  I have to admit that I got a bit more than mushy . . . especially when I happened to be watching Andrew's face as Lindsey came down the steps and he just sucked in his breath and whispered "gosh, you are beautiful." 

This pic was taken shortly after Lindsey's 2nd birthday.  She joined our family when she was 22 months old.  At the time, she had been having seizures, living on the streets and was really and truly a holy terror.  She wanted her mommy . . . even though her mommy was the absolute worst thing for her.  Her mommy is my niece.  My niece by the way, hasn't seen Lindsey, or for that matter, her other children, since any of them were removed from her custody.  Zachariah was removed from her custody when he was four months old and placed with us, five years after Lindsey.

In any event, I have been having fun going through pics and finding those that are some of my favorite.  I did a collage thing for her graduation party and these are some of my favorite of her.

I remember clearly that Zachariah was devastated when Lindsey went off to camp and no one, no one could calm him down, except Lindsey.  He is going to camp for the first time this summer.  But I just wonder what is going to happen when we pull away from Dayton on August 21 . . .



and her 10th birthday . . . she hated that her birthday was in March and she couldn't have a swimming party . . . so we waited until summer for her 10th birthday. 

She was all of 13 when she raided her sister's closet for this dress.  She thought that I would let her wear it to her 8th grade graduation.  Ha!

Her first "official date" with Andrew was the 2009  Winter Formal.  Aren't they cute? 

Kind of a frightening thing that they have been together for two years. 

Of course, the following year for winter formal, they didn't look that much older.  But they were pushing their way to their senior year of high school, making college visits and decisions and devastated when we told them they would NOT be going to the same college.

And last year, we had Sarah's wedding and Lindsey looked almost angelic as she practiced walking up the aisle. 

And of course, then we have the senior photos.  When did she grow up?

And the joy of being a Senior at Saint Joseph Academy.  Fall started off with a bang and Lindsey did so well.  National Honor Society, University of Dayton,

And the "Team Dynamite" not only finished 3rd in the State, but they went on to the National F1 Engineering competition in Ann Arbor . . . and this is what was posted on the school's website:

Calling themselves "Team Dynamite,” the students were the only all-female team at the competition, an international contest open to all secondary schools and other organized youth groups. Their task was to design and manufacture CO2 powered model racing cars. F1 in Schools, Inc. is a non-profit company "committed to providing an exciting yet challenging educational experience through the magnetic appeal of

Formula One.” In the process, "the students learn about physics, aerodynamics, design, marketing and team work, to name a few skills,” said Math Department Chair Mr. John Lesko.

In addition to competing at the National Race, the SJA team placed first in the presentation portion of the April competition and third in the engineering portion. "Our students are thrilled at the prospect of being able to compete at the national level,” said Mr. Lesko. This college event drew 120 teams from the best colleges around the country.

They were the first team from SJA to ever place high enough in the finals to go on to the National competition. 
 
But then there is this. 
 
SJA's Prom was Saturday, May 21. 

Andrew's prom is this coming Sunday (only an all boys' school would schedule a prom for a day when most hair salon's are closed).  Lindsey made her dress for Andrew's prom, well, she is almost done.  There is still some beads to be sewn on and it needs to be hemmed.  Other than that it is done, including that she made a purse.

When did they grow up.  I still remember holding her for the first time and trying to comfort that holy terror that didn't understand why her life was turned upside down.  Forget Zachariah, what am I going to do when we leave her at Dayton on August 21?

What a racket!

Lindsey went for her senior pics on May 29. 

They are lovely.

To get the number of 5x7s that I need to just give my siblings and a couple of other people pics, I would only have to spend $659.95.  Oh, and that doesn't include shipping and handling.  Or, I could get the 5 x 7 individually for only $69.95 for two (I need 10 . . . but actually could use 12).  Plus pay $94.95 for 96 wallets, oh yeah, according to Lindsey, we need almost 150 wallets, so that gets us to $634.60 . . . plus shipping and handling. 

When somone at church looked at Lindsey and said "when Jacob saw how much the pictures were, he said 'forget about it . . . that is just way too much, Mom' " and Lindsey looked at her and said "well, that's just how guys are."  I've got news for my darling daughter, that's just how this Mom is too!

The worst thing is that the studio takes all the schools photos for most of the high schools around here.  They also take all the pics at dances (Lindsey's school has three major dances every year (Fall, Winter Formal and Prom).  It is such a ripoff.  The students have to go there for their pics to be included in the yearbook.

Sigh.  Again.  I am going to be the evil mother. 

p.s.  If you want to check out the photos . . . and for the most part they are really good, except for the ones where she looks like she is selling her violin . . . go to:

Liveyouryear.com


Click on: Senior Stuff
Click on: Your Senior Session Images
Account number is: 286935
Password: 22q3b6

Lindsey is a Junior

In reviewing my blog, I realized that I forgot to post the picture from Lindsey's first day of 11th grade. She is a JUNIOR in high school. Her school does block schedules, so classes are 80 minutes long but each semester, she only has four classes. This semester is substantially harder than next.

This semester she has Theology 11, AP Government (which lasts all year), pre-Calc and Physics.

Next semester, she has AP Government, Orchestra/HandBells, Honors English 11 and Calculus. She is just a tad smart. LOL.

Anyway, her first day of school was Thursday, August 20, and here she is in all her 15 year old glory!

Simple Woman's Daybook ~ 9/29/08

FOR TODAY:

A poem is never finished, only abandoned.
-- Paul Valery

Outside my Window... grey clouds and the leaves are beginning to turn colors
I am thinking... I have sooooo much work to do and I really, really should get started . . . maybe after I finish my breakfast or, maybe, after lunch . . . LOL!
I am thankful for... my family and laughing . . . and the fact that many times, my family makes me laugh.
From the kitchen... Sarah and Kyle left a bag full of apples (various kinds) so Zachariah and I made apple pie (two of them actually). I used Pampered Chef's apple corer/peeler. If you ever thought about buying one of these things, trust me when I say that it is worth it! Since we had it out, we also sliced a couple of potatoes which I left soaking in cold water with a little bit of salt. The potatoes got browned with onions and garlic and then cooked in a non-stick pan for about an hour. Psuedo fried chicken and broccoli completed the menu. Yum. And I have some potatoes and chicken left for lunch today.
I am creating... Mary's elf hat. Finished Zachariah's last night.
I am going... to a meeting tonight (for Confirmation - I'm the retreat coordinator), I have meetings today, Lindsey has Youth Ministry music practice tomorrow evening, violin lessons on Wednesday and I'm going to a knitting group thing at a local coffee shop while she is at lessons. Janet arrives Friday.
I am wearing... not black and red . . . woo hoo. I am wearing black and PINK and a black/gray jacket.
I am reading... trade journals . . . how boring
I am hoping... to get all my expenses reported and my books in order. Tons of invoicing needs to be attended too since I was out most of last week.
I am hearing... people arriving and greeting each other. I really enjoy my department. Everyone is so friendly.
Around the house... the little elves didn't come and clean. Darn.
One of my favorite things... IKEA . . . Jacquie and I went to the new one in West Chester, Ohio last week. She had never been there.
A Few Plans For The Rest Of The Week... co-worker coming in from DC office. Birthday celebration in department. Janet is arriving Friday and spending the weekend. Lindsey is going to John's homecoming Saturday. Ugh. He drives. Ugh.
Here is a picture thought I am sharing with you...

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Originally uploaded by mlj1954ohio

Lindsey just loves being a tree hugger, especially when the tree has a face!

Artsy Fartsy

REVISED -- I originally posted this on Saturday night -- big mistake -- my eyes are just causing me so much grief. I have a cataract in my left eye and a cold which is bothering both eyes.
So I looked at this post on Sunday morning and realized that I probably shouldn't be doing anything in the evening when I can barely see the screen!


Okay, so I finally got this pic not to tilt so you don't have to flip your computer screen (LOL):

the pics above are pencil drawings that Lindsey did. She is going to enter them into an Art Show at her school.

The following is something that my Mom made, many years ago.


Oh, she also did the following. My Mom was very talented and what my daughter got was my Mom's talent and skills.

The two things my Mom did were regular rug hooking. It is not latched hook but hooked wool. She belonged to a group called the Happy Hookers. LOL. We spent lots of time at GoodWill shops looking for good wool that she could cut into strips and dye. The goose one has various lengths of wool to give the project depth. Very cool.

ignoring you

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Originally uploaded by mlj1954ohio

I'm just going to read my book and ignore you. Do you have a problem with that? Hmmmm? I'm reading Twilight by Stephanie Meyer. It is better than Harry Potter but not as good as Gone with the Wind. Get over it.

You, yes you, Mom, you have got to read this book! Well, its a series. Start with Twilight. We'll talk!

What do you mean you want me to help you in the garden . . . can't you tell that I AM IGNORING YOU????

Pssst . . . I'm over here in the garden

P9100012
Originally uploaded by mlj1954ohio

a nice Wednesday afternoon . . .

Mom is putting about in the garden. I'll just sit here on the porch and ignore her.

If I look at her, she might ask me for something. A bowl for the vegetables? Not a chance. I don't even like vegetables. If I liked vegetables, I would be a vegan . . . but I don't.

Gosh, I hope she doesn't ask me to weed. Yuck. That is almost as bad as being forced to plant the vegetables in the first place!

Dresses and fish

Among those whom I like or admire, I can find no common denominator, but among those whom I love, I can: all of them make me laugh.
-- W. H. Auden

Not the best pictures but . . . Sarah needed a dress for a wedding. She found one but wouldn't model it for me. We also found these two dresses for Lindsey for homecoming and winter formal. The black one actually has ruffles that run up and down the dress. She already has jewelry and shoes to go with it.














The cream dress is actually very pretty. It has a "balloon" bottom, which I generally don't like nor does Lindsey. However, she put this on and all three of us decided that when you wear a size 1, a balloon dress is okay! LOL.















A good friend of my family moved from Cleveland to Texas this past January.

Yesterday, we received a box from Frontgate which contained two of these fish. They are battery operated "blow fish." Even though it was soon to be Zachariah's bedtime, we added the batteries and went back out to the pool. He had a blast.

These are pretty awesome things and he just had such a great time.

By the way, he has actually gained weight this summer. Lots of sunshine and he has been eating like a horse . . . well maybe a very small horse, but substantially more than he usually does. He had been to the endocronologist earlier this summer and weighed 38 pounds (no weight gain for three years) but grew 2 inches (the first time in two years) up to 45 inches. Yesterday, he weighed 41.5 pounds and is 46 inches. Woo hoo . . . and he doesn't look like a war orphan any more either!

Go figure

Yesterday morning over breakfast, her second for the day (so far totalling 3 bowls of cereal (before church) and two biscuits, bacon, scrambled eggs and lemonade at Bob Evans (after church)), Lindsey, my lovely 13 year old, announced that her goal for 2008 was to have a "six pack" by the end of summer. She is currently on swim team. They swim six days a week. Besides their meets which are generally two or three a week, they swim on Monday, Tuesday and Thursday afternoon and Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday morning (Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, they swim from 5:45a to 7:00a . . . on Saturday, they can sleep in and only swim from 7:00a to 9:00a).

So, she asked me how to do this. I know, I know, I am obese, consider organizing my yarn stash as serious exercise, and yet she asks me about abs of steel. Go figure. I said eating correctly (more fruits and vegetables) and exercising. Obviously, she presumed I made a mistake, made a face only a 13 year could accomplish and said that "I'll look online."

Great fun. Before dinner, she checked online and was totally bummed because everything she found said that the only way to get a "six-pack" was to eat correctly (minimum of 8 servings of fruits/vegetables per day) and to exercise. She then proceeded to eat two pieces of chicken, 3 potato wedges (roasted potatoes - not her favorite because they just aren't as good as fries), 1/4 cup of brocolli and two bisquits.

By the way, she is 5'1" and weighs 101. Frankly, she looks great. The swimming has toned her arms and legs. She loves swimming the 500 meter and since the beginning of the season has shaved 132 seconds (and incredible feat) off of her time and ended up in second place for the event at this past weekend's meet, only losing by 2 seconds.

So, the question is why does she want a six pack . . . cause it will increase her muscle mass and she will be able to eat more cereal for breakfast. Gotta love the logic of a healthy 13 year old. If she wasn't so terribly annoying sometimes, she would be great fun to be around.

Knitting, the cat and weekend meals

Lindz is always cold (she is also very skinny, only seriously eats breakfast, and rarely eats fruits/vegetables). She also plays the violin, piano and guitar and, as you can imagine, her hands get even colder when she has been playing for awhile. Of course, you will note in the pic that she is sitting around in shorts and a t-shirt with bare feet . . . hmmmm and she is always cold.

I made her this pair of gauntlets (Fetching from Knitty.com, Summer 2006). They work up quickly and easily. Lindz, not being patient, snagged the left one as soon as I finished tying up the loose ends on Saturday. The other one was done Tuesday evening. Because they never made it to any end prep, they are curling at the edges. She doesn't care and I'm not sure I could get them back from her to wash/block these babies.

Last evening, we discussed what to do differently. She would like the length to be a tad longer . . . and she wasn't sure that she wants the thumb area as long nor the finger edge.

So, I am going go make her another pair using Dave Daniels' Cabin Cove kaleidoscope in fingering weight on size 3(U.S.). I don't have a pic of the yarn but if you go here, the multi-colored skein is a pic of the yarn. It is very soft and lovely and I am already through the second cable on the first gauntlet.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Okay, here is some non-knitting stuff. This is our cat. She is ten years old, will not come in the house but generally stays on the porch

and terrorizes the dogs next door. She also keeps the rodent population down which is really good for our garden or we wouldn't be able to eat this lovelies:

We made roasted vegetables on Saturday evening for dinner. Chop up a bunch of veggies (broccoli, cauliflower, sweet red pepper, onion), mix with a combo of olive oil and sesame oil (equal portions and 1 Tbs. roasted sesame seeds (roast the seeds in a bit of the oil in a non-stick frying pan for about one minute or so . . . they will brown quickly and burn in a blink of an eye). Roast veggies on aluminium covered jelly roll pan at 500 degrees for about 15 minutes. Again, keep an eye on these babies, they will go from perfect to burnt quickly. And, depending on your local fire department personnel, you may or may not want them to go to burnt. LOL.

We also had steak, caramelized mushrooms (thanks Dave). On Sunday, Sarah made Chicken Parmesan and tortellini (with onions and peppers) and Lindz made these babies to go with the rest of our dinner. This is a pseudo Red Lobster biscuit recipe. Very close. We keep trying for perfection (which might explain why I am failing at Weight Watchers). These were pretty close but we decided that they need a tad more garlic in the biscuit.

Anyway, dinner was fabulous, as opposed to what we normally eat during the week (i.e., Friday night the kids had corn dogs). Our weekends are turning into really good eating!

I am a terrible mother . . . and other open issues

This shoe versus this shoe . . .

My darling younger daughter is going to homecoming. Keep in mind that she attends an all-girls Catholic High School. So, why would they be having a homecoming dance? Seriously, follow the logic here.

The shoe on the left is the one I had in mind when we went shoe shopping yesterday. However, the shoe on the left is the one she got because, I am a terrible mother, and gave into the "but it will look so totally awesome with my dress . . . and after all, I am wearing a hand-me-down from Sarah . . . ." Oh, yeah, I fell for it. Of course, I figure that my darlin' hubby is going to get one good look at the outfit and ship her off to a convent . . . oh, yeah, never mind, that is where she goes now!

By the way, this is a pic of her older sister wearing the dress in question . . . the difference in their body types is that Sarah has curves and boobs. Lindsey is lean.

Sarah loves wearing soft, drappy things. Lindsey usually wears a sweatshirt which is a good thing because, once again, Dad is going to take a look at the shoes and the dress and wham, she will be in the sweatshirt.


The cool thing about the entire enterprise is the boy she is going with is very nice. She went to elementary school with him. At the end of the last school year, he was about an inch or two shorter than she. We saw him two weeks ago and he is about three inches taller than Lindsey. Oh, and I get to drive them to and from the homecoming.

I did offer to make her a sweater to, ummm, cover all her, ummmm, assets but was informed that hand-knit sweaters are sooooooo icky . . . ahha! another reason for me not to knit sweaters.

I did finish Lindsey's fetchings. I really like the pattern and am seriously thinking about making them in other things, maybe in Gray with beads.

Do girls still wear chastity belts? Anyone have a pattern?

Phew, she passed

I guess it is official, even though Lindsey received her diploma from Fr. Cole last Thursday, her report card arrived yesterday with the "promoted to grade 9" notation.

and here is her class or at least most of them . . .


Lindsey and her classmates are really good kids. We have a party the week before and they were wonderful, well-behaved and polite.

She received one of the two top scholarships from the Parents' Group. Very cool.

It is amazing how much Lindsey has grown over the past year. I can see more and more glimpses of the woman she will become. She is still an air-head much of the time (one of her classmates asked her if she was really a blonde!). On the other hand, she is mostly kind and friendly and generous.

Saturday morning . . .

Saturday morning was lovely . . . it is Spring break so no classes for me. Zachariah came trotting in around 6:40 wanting to know if he could climb into bed with me . . . too early, go back to your room for awhile. 7:15, he was back and I was too. You know, he always wants to snuggle, but then starts squirming and doing the countdown "what time are we getting up? 7:30. 7:30? Its 7:18? How much longer is it until 7:30?"

And then when I got up and opened the shades, it had snowed. AGAIN. Bah humbug.

So, I worked on the info necessary for my final in Innovations & Technology class, including the 12 page paper that is due Saturday. Finished work on the taxes, played Candyland, Chutes and Ladders and Hang Man with Zachariah, cleaned Lindsey's drawers (the 13 year old princess (and yes sunshine just because you can get your skinny butt into those jeans, doesn't mean that Momma will let you wear them in public)) and convinced the 20 year old that taking public transportation to the parade was the best thing to do (and no I do not want to go with you or even anywhere near the parade, thank you very much).

I did not make pancakes or waffles but did make eggs to order (actually, green eggs . . . the scrambled we added blue food coloring to and the fried eggs got green food coloring added to the whites . . . the scrambled looked icky, the fried had a lovely varigated design . . . didn't take pics though).

I never left the house the entire weekend. We were going to 8:00 Mass on Sunday but I woke with a splitting headache (staying up until 3:00 a.m. working on taxes a direct contributor) and horrible aches in my hips and knees (probably from the drawer cleaning).

Lindsey is leaving for Florida on Wednesday with a dear friend and her husband. She will end up missing three days of school. We did the battle of what all a 13 year old needs to pack when she is going some place that has a washer and dryer and will be only bringing a carry-on on the return flight. She was most particularly upset when I informed her that she could not bring large bottles of anything as she will be flying home.

Oh, yeah, and I blocked my entrelac scarf! Finished, blocked and done. And, I wish I had made it just a tad longer . . . ah well.