The Watts' Adventures

For those of you that know me... I'm always looking for a reason to party and what better reason.... but to celebrate my birthday. I called up a few buddies and we planned an outing. Along with David and myself, 4 other couples joined us for a night in Danville at the Japaneese Steak house. We all met at our house and headed to dinner. We had a fabulous time of gossiping, drinking, laughing, & eating. We all came back to my house to continue our night. And that we did until the wee hours of the morning. It was sooooooo much fun. A much needed time to let our hair down, forgetting our responsibilities, talking about old times and just having a good time. Jamming out to Rat, Motley Crue, Meatloaf and a few other great tunes.. we were living it up! What a blast of a night we had!

Sunday morning, it hit me........ I was REALLY thirty something and I could tell it...

Yep.. another year has gone by.... I hardly noticed, how about you? Yes, on Jan. 17th I turned.. thirty something...... I'm getting so old, I just stopped counting after thirty. This year my birthday fell on a Wednesday so there was no partying involved. Although, there was one planned. It was just another day. I got my birthday greeting as David kissed me good-bye, my boys sung to me, my Dad called and left a message, thank goodness I was in the shower because he would have made me cry even worse than I did listening to his message. Mom called with a Happy Birthday song of her own. It was a good start to "just another day". I didn't feel any older and I had to remind myself of just how old I really am. I tend to like to think i'm still 20 something...... Anyway.. got to work and all my co-workers/friends gave me a card with $$, sang me a song, and had 2 wonderful Fat-Free, weight watcher key-lime & strawberry pies waiting to be cut! They are my favorite and I'm back on my diet & exercise program and they knew that I wouldn't eat anything else! It was a great day!

More surprizes.... I got home and David had dinner fixed and had bought the cutest cake. Not Fat-Free... so I enjoyed looking at it, while the boys ate their hearts out! It was just a great day!!! Absolutley perfect! It's the simple things in life that I enjoy the most.... My beautiful family!

Well, there is a time in a parents life that one has to become mean, cruel, unfair, and any other describing word that might enter the minds of a 10 & 7 year old without coming out of their mouth! Yep... The Watts' boys are officially UNPLUGGED. Report cards did not fair too well this nine weeks. Michael had one "C" added to last nine weeks "C" cost him an unwanted vacation from Project Idea and a mom that is dead on his heels. Oh, before I forget the positive side of Michael's report card, his other grades were A's & B's. The first nine weeks of school we let Michael attempt to prepare himself for Middle School next year. Give him the benefit of the doubt and intrusting in him that he was completing homework assignments, studying for tests, listening in class, etc. First report card, clued me in....... especially when no spelling words were coming home and very little books were in his book bag, his first "C" ever. After investigating, I found his social life to be his #1 priority. Hmmm.... so, I kept the watchful eye and again, letting him learn from mistakes, and giving him warnings, we let him try to bring his grades up on his own. Low and behold... another "C" this nine weeks.

Hunter... my baby.... Hunter stuggles and fights for EVERY grade he gets. A "C" for Hunter is equivalent to an "A" for Michael. But... how do you explain that to the children???? A "C" is a "C" no matter what, so Michael says.... Hunter has struggled this year, no thanks to the year that he had last year.... enough said.... We have been working with Hunter alot this year, getting him up to par. He has improved 110%. Our work has paid off. Maybe us parents should get a % of pay from the school board.. yeah right and I'm not going there either. His other grades were A's & B's as well.

So....... the brakes were on at the Watts' house. Reality was going to hit those little angles hard! After talking with David, we called a meeting. I announced that the Watts' boys were officially unplugged. No playstation at all Monday- Thursday, TV from 8-9pm only and only if all homework was completed, checked and all studying, reading and tests had been called out by MOM! If everything passed then TV was allowed for only 1 hour. Oh and the worst of all... No baseball practice unless all written homework assignments were completed at the babysitters. There were no exceptions, bending of the rules or begging for mercy. This was the law and if it was broken the death penalty would be put in place...... not really but you get the idea.

So, actually all of this has been a great positive thing........ early to bed, early to rise, educational sites on the computer have taken the place of the PS2 which has proven to be a huge benefit, (oh yeah, forgot that one, the only computer stuff they can do is educational sites, in which I find so they can practice their "C" subjects) They have also been practicing on their pool playing, doing alot of cleaning and chores around the house. I never knew how much time they had on their hands. Am I a bad mom????

Friday nights are really funny & very quiet around here, as well as Saturdays & Sundays. The boys are busily playing their playstations, making up for lost time. They also spend time watching their recorded shows that they missed during the week.

Ah..... Life as a parent...... Keep checking back.. Interim reports come out Feb. 23rd... We'll see if "unplugged" has really worked!

Now that I'm back to 99% today... I have come up with my New Year's resolutions:

1. Never wait this long again to catch up on all my blog posts because this has taken over an hour!

2. First sign of severe sickness... go see my now established family MD, she has miracle drugs!

3. Quit Smoking sometime this year!

4. Love, Laugh, and enjoy my family more than ever before......

Wishing all my readers a happy, healthy and wonderful 2007

Love to all & happy blogging

Ok, It's now been 2 weeks, 2 antibiotics and I'm still sick. My NP bailed on me and decided it was time to see a family doctor. One problem.. I didn't have one. So pulling a few favors I went to see the wonderful MD upstairs from my office. She is wonderful and I am grateful and kicking myself for not going sooner. She did lots of blood work, Chest xray, and flu test. Good news, No mono, no flu and negative chest xray. She gave me these wonderful pills called steroids! Within 24 hours I feel almost like myself and that I'm going to live again. God bless her! Conclusion: I probably had a nasty pneumonia and the antibiotics were holding it steady but the steroids have given it an extra kick in the butt. Her original orders were for me to go home yesterday but I swear, I couldn't do it. The thought of sitting on my favorite couch for another min was painful. I love my home but I couldn't phathom the thought of surrendering to it another day! I made it thru the day popping those miracle pills and drinking my water. Everyone warned me of my night ahead.... that I wouldn't sleep and boy were they right. The worst part is, I did alot of tossing and turning and it was no need in getting up because my PC wouldn't get online and I refused to watch any TV! Come to find out, the phone line had come unplugged.... I could have been doing this lastnight! Oh well....

Hunter awoke us in the middle of the night Sunday night running to the bathroom with the dreaded stomach virus. Oh no, I can't take it! Bless his heart, he was so sick. After settling back down he slept late Monday morning and then most of the day Monday. David & Michael flew the coup for a day of getting out of the house and avoiding anymore germs. I washed and layed on the other sofa. Trying to heal before heading back to work and wondering what we had or hadn't done to deserve this! It was just dreadful. Our New Year just wasn't looking to promising. Luckily David & Michael have managed to avoid the sickness. I intend to contact Lysol for my free shares of stock as I have made more than enough consumer purchases, along with Sudefed, Nyquil, Tylenol, Musinex DM and I'm even going to look into obtaining shares with my local pharmacy! Wish me luck!

Saturday came and went and I never knew it. David and the boys told me good-bye early Saturday morning as they headed out the door to go hunting. I woke up at 12 noon, feeling as I had been run over by a semi truck! I stumbled to the bathroom to take more meds and back to bed I went. And no, I was not sick from the night before! I was SICK, worse than if I had had a hang over! The next thing I knew it was 5: 30 pm. I went to the living room and then rustled up enough energy to fix and eat a bowl of chicken noodle soup. Back to the sofa and then back to bed. Saturday came and went and I completely missed it...........

Our Seafood bash had finally gotten here. It is something several of our close friends started a couple of years ago. This year we minussed our children and added more adults. Rob obtained fresh oysters and blue crab right off the boat. The rest of us contributed shrimp, scallops, tuna, crab dip, spinach dip and a few other munchies. The food was real good and the gathering of all of our friends was great! I wasn't my happy go lucky partying self but I managed. I wish I had felt better and since I didn't, that just gives me an excuse to have another party soon, huh! Thanks to all our buds that came and accepted the reschedule! To the buds that didn't come because you all were sick: You were missed but I certainly understand!

Well this year I got to do no after Christmas shopping. My day off consisted of laying around and occationally taking down a decoration or two. I didn't even get dressed Tuesday. We all lounged. Still not feeling too great, I saved up my energy so I could go back to work. By this time, I was going crazy laying around and I had to get out of my house!!!!!!!!!!! I went to work Wednesday, trying to feel better, but I was still not up to par. Thursday came and I was getting worse again. My lovely N. P gave me a stronger antibiotic so I just knew it was going to get better. I had a party to host Friday night and I refused to put it off again............................

After returning from the airport, we all settled down to get some down time before heading to Aunt Katie's for our next gathering. I was exhausted, still feeling like crud, even funkier after being out in the rain looking for Paddy, but I gathered up enough energy for one more outing. We played dirty Santa and had lots of fun and ate lots of good food. The kids all got to play together and the adults got to fight over gifts! Always a fun gathering!

Christmas morning came bright and real early early this year. 5:15 am.. Michael comes bouncing in our room with excitement. Santa had come and left lots of presents. Me being sick, I pleaded for at least another hour but their was no discussing it. We had to call Mom & Dad so they could come in and see what Santa brought. They stayed in our Hilton aka the camper. It was so great having them here to share the excitement. I can remember that we always had to wait for Nee Nee to come before we could come down the steps, so this year was especially special because we made the boys wait til Mom & Dad got in the house before letting them in the living room. It was great. The boys teared thru their gifts that Santa left. Michael was totally surprized when he opened his new shot gun and Hunter equally excited to find his new wrestling ring, game & his very own pellet/bb gun! The boys didn't know what they wanted to play with first. It was loads of fun. After all the excitement, David cooked up a hearty breakfast. After all was said and done it was only 7 AM... OMG.. the earliest Christmas ever!

The long awaited Christmas Eve finally came. Michael practiced getting up and sneaking to the living room to see what Santa brought before the rest of us got up. He was unable to escape the squeek in his door, but he finally got it down to a science so he thought. Off to David's mom & dad's for dinner and family visiting. I still was not feeling well at all so our visit was short and sweet. We visited with Mom & Dad when they arrived back from Chad & Kathy's. Finally getting the kids settled they were snuggled in their beds anticipating the arrival of Santa. It is such a joy at Christmas with kids. It just brings a whole new meaning. The sparkles in their eyes and questions running thru their heads. Michael was especially excited this year, like no other year. He just was full of excitement and continued to express wondering what Santa would bring. It is just another great experience that us parents get to enjoy and put in our memory!

Despite the fact that I was sick, we had the Parrett Christmas as planned. David & I cooked all day and prepared for the big feast. By the time it was time to open presents I was exhausted! It was lots of fun watching all the children open their presents. Chandler was too funny. She is in awww of everything. Drake was so patient and eargerly waited to rip into one present after another! It was soo much fun.....

Michael had a fit to go with Chad to the airport so at 11:00pm Wednesda night, David met him with Michael. Mom & Dad were scheduled to arrive in Raleigh/Durham at 7:30am. Our phone rang sometime that morning and David came and told me that mom & dad had missed their plane in NJ. I couldn't believe it, but with my sickened state I just rolled back over. I was too weak to even think about what they were going to do. Eventually, I got up and started making phone calls to find out what was going on. Luckily Chad & Michael had never left to go and get them. My brother is very rarely on time, so this is one good time that he wasn't as they would have been sitting at the airport most of the day. Finally Mom & Dad got a flight out and they were headed South. Thank goodness! They got home, saw me briefly and headed to Chad's were everyone there was well.

Uh oh is only the beginning! Tuesday when I woke up, something happened.... someone, from somewhere poured a can of sickness on me! I woke up to stopped up head, congested chest and one nasty cough! I crawled to work with an attitude "I've gotta shake this quick, I've got a party to host on Friday& family to host on Saturday." This year, i was so smart. All the presents were bought, wrapped, food was bought for the up coming social events and I was so excited about all of our plans. My parents were coming home and the boys and I were to pick them up Thursday morning. Being sick was not in my plans at all!!!!!!!! I thought I only had a sinus infection or even a small little pneumonia, but with a little help from an anitibiotic, I knew that in no time I would be back on my feet. NOT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! An antibiotic, box of Sudefed, bottle of Musinex DM, bottle of Nyquil, countless Ibuprofen, Vicks vapor rub, steamy showers, rest and lots of liquids didn't even touch whatever I had. My boss even forbid me to come to work Thursday or Friday. Our yearly seafood bash wasn't looking good. I tried real hard to feel better but it wasn't happening. So my plans started changing quick. Chad was called on to retrieve mom & Dad from the air port, the boat with the seafood was haulted and my world was turned upside down........................I was down and out..........

Our Christmas activities and social events began on December 16th in Richmond with the Chandler Christmas gathering. Ted, Laura Lee, Boxley & Jane hosted our gathering at Ted & Laura Lee's beautiful new home. This is the first Chandler Christmas that our family has been able to attend in years. My family and Chad's children headed to Richmond on Saturday to meet my parents. They drove from New Jersey as well. It was the first time we had seen them since the big move. So we had a double treat. We met them at the hotel and had a late lunch while the children played running from room to room. Then we headed to the Chandler estate. Wow, what a beautiful home. Sorry, I didn't take any pictures and I'm really regretting it! It was so good to see everyone. We had a wonderful slide show of all our families that Boxley put together. It was loads of fun. Lots of laughs and a few tears for the family memebers that we had lost in 2006. It was a great way to start off our Christmas holiday!