rainy rainy day in the northeast....

I looked at the weather map, our whole state of New York is covered in rain, rain and wind. I took Rosie out for the quick/cheaty walk this morning. I wanted to hug her for peeing right away, and not dawdling around to find just the right spot. It is actually a nice day for a walk, if one has this sense to put on a jacket, which I did not.......

Five of the kids are home from school today.....Jon is still coughing, so I told him yesterday he could stay home. And I am not feeling too well today, so I offered Suze and Sonja to stay home too....then I did a quick tour to see who didn't go on first trip, since I was still in the bathroom when that bus came.....Kathryn and Evelyn....they are both coming down with something and were feeling lousy last night. (although they are up now, and there is a jovial, celebratory spirit in our dark cozy house...they sucessfully skipped school!)

Here is something that makes me happy: my two daughters, Emily and Abigail, 25 and 23, live in an apartment 5 or 6 miles down the road. Due to a plumbing problem, their upstairs bathroom floor started to fall into their downstairs living room....so obviously their landlord has to fix it (and of course I feel sorry for the landlord...)...anyway, they don't want to be there when he is working, really can't be there because of the bathroom...anyway, we know what that means!! They are here more! I am so lame, I love it!!! hee hee.....

So yesterday afternoon I took a quick trip to the close by town....I needed milk and some shortening and eggs....Kathryn and Sonja and Charlotte Claire and Camille and I....as soon as we got in there we saw Aaron walk in....he works there, just started last week. (he looked so handsome in his white shirt and tie, but if I had snapped a pic on my phone, he would have killed me). Anyway, we saw him several times as we made our way around the store (ice cream wasn't on my list, but they had some on sale, and they had Piece Of Cake, which is a favorite here). I tried to behave and act dignified so as to not embarrass him. The little girls were just staring at him, they couldn't quite place that he actually worked there....they acted like he was a stranger, or like he had horns....anyway, I had bought some cider that was on special, three day sale. I won't bore with the details but it didn't ring up the same price as was in the ad, so the manager had to come over. I had already told the cashier, when she commented on the cute little girls, that they were Aaron's sisters, "you know,", I said, "the boy who just started..." Then I told her not to tell him I told her anything, please....she thought it was hilarious....anyway, the manager had to come over, and to make a long story short, this guy is very jerky. He always is when I go in there. He wouldn't honor the price in the ad because there was a typo next to the price that said "lb",.....so he tried to tell me that he couldn't sell it at the sale price. "because we don't sell cider by the pound!"....that the price it rang up WAS the sale price....(why was it featured with the three day sale things if it was ringing up it's regular price? rrrr.) But since Aaron was just a few feet behind me, I just smiled like an idiot and bought it at the regular price. And I am not just SAYING this guy was jerky, he WAS. He was SO condescending. He told me if I wanted to buy the cider by the pound, I could, it would cost me a lot of money though....oh, the frustration. But by the time I got out to the van, I decided that I had done the right thing. It was only a dollar twenty extra, and hey, Aaron has to work there.....I go in there alot and the last thing he needs is to be known as the kid with the Terrible Customer Mother.

Also, I think the cashier girl I had really really likes him. rrr. Girls, stay away from my boys! They don't need the heartache or the frustration! Please don't tempt them off the straight and narrow! rrrr.

Sonja just asked me for ice cream for breakfast. I told her I was going to slap her just for asking. I don't really slap them, but it was pretty funny.

They are acting like this is an unexpected Christmas or something. I bought three new coloring books yesterday, because I still remember that excitement when I was little of a brand new coloring book. They have big plans to color while they eat breakfast. The little girls are still sleeping, but when they wake up and see these guys here, they are gonna be happy campers.

My stomach hurts and I feel lousy, perhaps that is why I am so merciful to these guys....I couldn't function in school if I had to go today. blah. I did manage to put towels in the dryer and some darks in the wash.....and here I sit.....

Our pizza was so good last night. The dough was 99 cents, the mozzarella was ten bucks for five pounds.....we made four. One was just black olives, green, red, and yellow peppers and onions, for Mali. The others had bacon and pepperoni too. I was glad I had a good and plentiful dinner when Emily showed up, then later Abigail....I always make Abigail take stuff for her next day's lunch, too....I am just like my parents...

So I haven't found my slippers yet, and of course no one knows where they are, no one touched them. Socks...I don't like socks....I had to go out and grab Miss Rosie yesterday, and I had socks on, breaking one of my rules, they got all wet and soggy...rrr.

Jonathan is singing little songs of happiness, he is just plain thrilled to be home. He is joining his sisters' coloring/cereal party.

I figure it's okay they missed school today because I showed them the weather map in the morning paper, and also told them about the Chilean miners being rescued...and they are coloring, that is school-ish.