It's been a long, long time

I cannot believe it has been over a year and a half since I have added anything to my blog. Of course, I know that no one reads it, so that might have something to do with it. A great deal has happened in some areas since my last post. When school started back this year, both Riley and Regan went to school. That's right...Regan started kindergarten this year. She loves it. She has a fabulous teacher. It appears that he is going to challenge his class to stretch their brains. I think Regan will thrive under his methods of teaching. Mr. Rich
Iikes to sing, and he uses music and songs to teach them things like the continents, the states, and other things like that.
I am glad that, for the first time in 8 years, both girls are in the same location during the day. That really helps with dropping off and picking up. Riley is in 3rd grade, which is unbelievable. Her teacher seems to be great also. She is excited about getting to learn to play the keyboard in her music class this year.

Happy New Year

Well, it is now a new year, a new decade even. The Hudson family has had a good holiday, and for the most of us, it is back to the usual schedule tomorrow. Riley will still be out of school for one more week. She will go to ESP for the week, so she will be at the school all week.
We went to a New Years Eve party at Russ and Amy's house. Chuck and Stephanie and their girls were also there. It was a lot of fun eating, playing games and watching football. We did not make it until midnight because we were all tired. Regan fell asleep on the way home, but the rest of us watched the ball drop from our TV, then went to bed. Regan actually slept until 9a the next day. We had a good visit with my mom and her husband on the 1st and 2nd.
It is supposed to be dreadfully cold this whole week with lows in the teens. Yuck! This is when I will be wishing for spring to come quickly. I do not like it when it is that cold, but it will help if it is sunny.

Back again

The last couple of weeks have been busy ones. Our hayride and bonfire mentioned in my last post was postponed until November 7th due to all the mud. I think that was probably good for us because we had already been outside that day for the football game. It was unseasonably cold (it felt more like December than October), and we were all trying to get over cold-type symptoms. It was nice to be able to spend almost all of yesterday at home, even if it was spent cleaning house and doing other chores.
Riley is going to be a skeleton and Regan is going to be Minnie Mouse for Halloween this year. I think they are both going to be as cute as can be. They were both talking about what their costumes would be for the next two years. I think that is so funny. I should write it down so I can remind them next year.

Pumpkin Patch

We had fun at the pumpkin patch yesterday. The weather was somewhat cooperative. It never rained while we were there, but it was cool and muddy. Plus I don't think we ever saw the sun. The girls wore their rain boots, so they were ready to stomp around. They both had to change their shoes and pants and remove their jackets before they were allowed back in the car.
Next weekend we have a bonfire and cookout to attend. Riley is already looking forward to that. She loves to go on the hayride. I am pretty fond of it myself, especially since I can snuggle up with Ken. :) Then on Sunday afternoon I will be walking in the local heart walk for the American Heart Association. Pretty busy schedule ahead.

I love Fall

Well, I've finally made it back to the blog. Tomorrow is our scheduled annual trip to the Pumpkin Patch. We always go to Walden Farm in Smyrna. I hope the rain does not mess up our plans. It may end up being a mud fest. Regan tells me she loves the mud, so I have a feeling I'm going to have to watch her like a hawk.
I took the girls to the library last Saturday after they got their flu shots. As we walked by the children's movie section, I spotted the movie "A Wrinkle in Time". That was one of my favorite books as a child - the first science fiction book I ever read. I still remember checking it out of the library of my junior high school. I don't know how many times I have read it. Of course I checked out the movie and watched it. I think they did a pretty good job of casting the main characters. It has been years since I read the book, but it makes me want to go back and read it again. I hope when the girls get older they will enjoy reading it as well.

Today my mom drove up for a visit. It was nice to see her - it had been April since I last saw her. She was only here for the day, so we mostly just hung out around the house. Riley and Regan did their best to show off for their Nana. She is on her way back home now, so I pray that she has a safe trip.
I have been trying to personalize my blog a little more. Riley picked out the background, and I think she did a good job. Then she heard Nemo on TV so she abandoned me. I added a playlist - even though there presently is only one song. Believe me, it is not an autobiographical song. I just think the tune is catchy. I tried looking for a couple of other songs I like, but I must not have the titles right.
We have had brief moments of sunshine over the last few days. I asked one of my friends who likes the Twilight series of books if she felt like she were in Forks, WA. I think tomorrow is the beginning of a 4-5 day stretch of projected sunshine. I am looking forward to it. Along with the cooler weather for the week, it should begin to feel like Fall. I love Fall weather. I love the trees changing colors, and the cool mornings with warmer afternoons.

Wet, Wet, Wet

I have not heard the official measure, but it seems like we received about 10" of rain today. Of course my umbrella broke while on my way in to work. I have a healthy walk between where I park and my office, so my hair was a little frizzy by the time I got in the office.
On another note, today was the day to switch our internet and phone service from the telephone company to the cable company. With the bundled services, we should be able to save some money. I like that, but the whole process today was frustrating. First, last week the sales lady on the phone promised me that the installer would call 30 minutes prior to showing up at my house to allow me to get home from work. Wrong...he called from my house to let me know he was there. Second, after the mad dash home, I found out that the cable company is completely out of DVRs, one of the reasons I decided to do the whole switcheroo. Remember the new season of shows start next week, and I really want to record a few to watch once my kids are in bed. Third, I never considered how the locations of my phone jacks and cable outlets are such a crucial issue in the conversion process. Of course my computer and telephones were nowhere near where they needed to be to hook them up thru the cable lines. The cable installer is to come out again in the morning to wrap up everything but the DVR. That will be another service call. Oh well, I have ranted on about that enough. Good night.