Tim broke his elbow

They call it an Acute Radial Head Fracture of the right elbow. Tim (shown here about 6 hours after his accident) has to see the Ortho guy tomorrow. Or more likely Tuesday since what Orthopedic guy will be working on Labor Day?
My Tim who has not missed so much as a day of school since 6th grade is horrified that he is out of work for at least a week. Also, the very thought that he cannot ride his bike (he has logged over 5,000 miles since May of 07) made his eyes water in a way that the excruciating physical pain did not.
He was hurt while riding his bike from Middleboro (where he had been helping to take down tents at the Fair) to Hanover, for a cookout at the Edwardes. He fell while apparently reaching for his water bottle, biking over on High Street in Hanson. The shock apparently masked the physical pain and after picking himself up he continued on his way. He did not even tell ME about his fall until we had been at the Edwards' for over an hour.
At that point the swelling was very apparent and poor Tim and Don headed for the ER. Donnie commented later on how lucky we are considering how big our family is. This is only the second broken bone, Mary having gotten a spiral fracture of her leg when she was 5. With the exception of a few scary asthma episodes when Jamie nad Nikki were little, Corey and Joe with their 'ball' surgeries, and Corey and his collapsing lungs, we have overall been a remarkably healthy family.
Most of the kids have multiple years of perfect school attendance. While none match Tim's record, we really are a hardy crew. But now my poor baby Tim (ok he is 23 and 6 foot two, a college graduate, and in the work force) is in bed VERY uncomfortable and a little scared.
No matter how old your baby gets, your heart just breaks when they are hurt.

Today is our 25th Anniversary

Such a fun day. It started with a five and a half mile bike ride, then a train trip to Boston. We did genealogical research in the Boston Public library sorting thru over a hundred letters spanning the entire Civil War, from Don's great great uncle (the one who owned the island!)
Erastus was a gifted writer and I will blog some of his letters and observations later. (You can also check out Mary's blog to read about his adventures turning in KKK members and working for the Freedman's bureau during reconstruction.)
We then broke for lunch and a tour of Mary's work, and my eldest daughter treated! More research and then a lazy ride back on the train. Followed by a flurry of kid school and 4H activity, then sneaking out for dinner. We ended the night (or what I can write about, ahem) by frantically filling our back to school forms, animal care chores, and 4h paperwork. The house needed some attention since it looked like animals grazed through it leaving a path of destruction that boggles the mind.
Through out it all we reminisced about our wedding day, old family and friends now gone, and a host of current topics of importance.
It has been fun using this year to celebrate our 25th, first the Jubilee Mass with Cardinal O'Malley, then the all day kid celebration, this fun day today, and in November our Honeymoon.
They say 67% of marriages now end in divorce and that parents should not be kid -centered but center their lives around their Relationship in order to have a happy marriage.
I know our house is pretty kid based. But we work VERY hard (and who knew marriage could be hard work?) to have date nights and time for just US. I hope our kids can see our relationship and understand that they deserve a spouse who admires them, honors their dreams, and and makes the commitment each and every day to love. Way back at our PreCana classes we were taught that love is a decision and it is one made anew each and every day.
We fight and we can hurt one another and boy we both could list things about the other that need GREAT IMPROVEMENT. But he still makes me laugh (sometimes in the middle of a painful getting nowhere argument.) He is still the number one person I always want to be around. Even after all this time, I learn something new when I am with him. He can still surprise me...
Most of all I still get that feeling in my stomach when I think about him coming home....It really is all about the kiss...

Growing up, Corey Style

Today Corey and I had a dread task set for ourselves. We had put aside time after Weight Watchers (and sending the kids off to their first day of school) to gather information about college transfers.
It is almost certain that my boy will not have enough money to continue at Northeastern and so this summer he began looking into transferring for the winter semester to UMass Dartmouth or Bridgewater State. He still hopes to live on a campus but he certainly could budget their costs as a commuter as well. BSC has a very respected Criminal Justice program and although UMass is not known for theirs, he can certainly get a decent education there. He has not completely given up hope of remaining at Northeastern however. As a matter of fact he has two great roommates this year and he will cook his own food and save $$$ there. In addition he will be working two jobs, one at the nearby Shaws and the other at the Northeastern library. Hopefully they will see him as a determined hardworking student and offer him more support.
Now I was dreading helping him. I remember only too well the stress and hell Corey as a 17 year old was in looking at and applying for colleges the first time around. Plus these kinds of application's are just a nightmare no matter how cooperative everyone is about them. Not to mention the fact that I have had to this for three kids already, plus myself, and in a couple of months start the whole process for Julie.
It did not bode well when I got home and discovered Corey still abed and found out his looking into things consisted of his THINKING about transferring and talking to friends!
But once we started things turned out well. He diligently read all the literature and discussed the time line for deadlines and what needs to be gathered from where. He downloaded the applications and carefully went over them to make sure he would have everything he needed. He offered to fill them out himself, but then offered me a sweet deal. He would treat me to lunch if I filled out the main forms while he made sure all extraneous paperworks (like FASFAS, transcripts etc) were collected and sent.
At lunch he was funny and interesting and we conversed over a wide range of topics. It was such a change from two years ago when every attempt at getting the work done was met with resistance, indifference or outright hostility. My boy is growing up.
I hope he does not have to transfer. He has worked hard at Northeastern and if he can afford to remain next summer he begins their Co-op program. But I am so impressed that he has a back up plan, and one that is reasonable. Transferring to either BSC or UMass is a good option. It is a realistic fall back plan to work towards.
It is amazing to see I have child number three heading into full fledged adulthood. (Now if he would only remember not to block Aunty Maria every time she tries to park!)

6 and a half hours on hair

Nikki and I miscalculated when we decided on a day to put extensions in her hair for school. First we did not take into consideration the fact that her hair has grown quite a bit and so what once took five hours-ish took much longer! Second when we put aside today to do her hair, neither one of us remembered that I would be working the night shift and then come home to braid. I tried to block divide her hair in the morning but could only last about 45 minutes before I had to lay down. I only dozed for an hour but it took 3 hours before I could actually get up again to do her hair. So we tackled the4 hair again around 12:30 and finished just before 6. My fingers are in a semi-permanent claw -ike position and are ACHING!
She looks lovely as always of course and we tried to make it as fun as possible. But work is still work!

Thoughts to keep up motivation during running

Now that my first race is behind me it has been difficult to keep up the motivation to run. I am still going out 3-4 days a week to run of course. But it has been a hard slog. I know I am suppose to keep my thinking positive but it is not easy to simply lie to myself and say 'boy do I love running.' I am too smart to be fooled by that!
So my new thing is to go over the color genetics of breeding Red Netherland Dwarfs. Believe me, the miles just fly by working over this in my head. On Sunday when I first came back from the fair with my new Red rabbit, I pulled off a 3 mile jog at a very quick (for me) pace. Then on Tuesday I did 4 miles (ok it is really 3.8) trying to decide what breeding pairs would get me red babies, that kept both their color and their body type.
Which brings us to todays' 5.5 mile run, hills included, as I went over the whole rabbitry in my mind and possible breeding pairs. I did see other runners on the road over the last few days, brought outside no doubt by the warm sun and crisp breezes. I am dying to ask what they think about as they jog mile after mile. I am certain I am the only one thinking of bunnies...

Origami

Julie helps Nikki and Joe to make Origami Swans, last night. Yes that is a SpongeBob table and yes a large ceramic bunny looks on.

BRANTROCK

Day at the beach.

I

Julie, Joe, Nikki, and I headed for Brant Rock after dropping Jamie off at the Marshfield Fair. The water was way blue, the air crisp and clear, the sun warm, and a cool breeze blew through out. Joe wandered out on the rock and the girls and I exercised along the beach. We all tried getting our toes wet but the air was not quite warm enough to really go swimming. It was so relaxing to just sit and feel the waves come in. When you relax near the water's edge the very sand vibrates as the tide comes rolling in. It meant of course that we had to move our stuff a couple of times! But that is part of the adventure!
A whole afternoon of fun and sun with no bickering, no stress, no troubles. I always feel guilty when we have a good day while Donnie is at work. But I imagine he must feel a stab of guilt when he gets to go off to sleep while I work, so I imagine it all evens out.

Snapshots of the bunny show

The buns wait in their travel cages to be called up. Also Nikki
holds Carrot trying to get her use to little kids. (Picture Carrot's shock when she meets Joe.)

Uh, Donnie eye contact please

Back to school shopping- or what Purgetory must be...

As a kid I dreaded back to school clothes shopping. I can remember hiding in the clothes racks when I was far too old to do so because my mother loved to make us TRY STUFF ON.
Over the years I have had to buy school clothes for close to 20 school age kids. I stop the day they head off to college and no one can MAKE ME shop with them again. (Unless they want to go to the book store or the pet store, I am always up for that!) My girlfriend Reenie and I have a deal that if I win the Megabucks I will pay her to be my personal family shopper. I think it would be a tortuous job but she loves to shop.
Miss Nikki as you all know loves to shop too, for herself and anyone else. She spent hours pouring over young men's clothes when we decided to update Tim's wardrobe. She spent forever trying to find just the right stuff that HE would actually wear.
Sadly today was the day to shop for Nikki, Julie, and Jamie. I just did not have the strength to bring Joe too. Due to financial constraints it is suppose to be a one outfit per kid deal, plus undies, socks, and shoes.
Julie is a breeze to shop with as she hates it as much as I do. She always gets stuff on sale, she has been the same size for 3 years, and she favors cheerful quirky things like Snoopy collared T-shirts with little black bow ties.
My darling Jamie is a nightmare however as he has no real fashion sense but is convinced kids would like him better if he wore American Eagle clothes and to heck with sales. We did not find him anything on this trip which means I will be forced to shop with him again! My dream is to trick Donnie into taking him out as Don tends to spend more than I would.
As for Nikki, well I made her cry in Hollister. (Quite frankly the incense in there is so strong, my eyes were watering too! The dim lighting and deafening faux music gave me a splitting headache so we suffered together.) I felt bad that I made her cry, really. I know she loves shopping. She has been anticipating this trip to the Mall all summer. But she was going to spend 20$ of her hard earned money buying a pair of khaki colored itty bitty Daisy Duke shorts with orange seagulls on them. There is more material in a face clothe than in those shorts.
I was going to let her buy them but I could not resist offering my opinion about wasting a 20 dollar bill that was almost as large as the shorts themselves! She cannot understand that true fashion sense is coming up with your own style and not being a cookie cutter copy of every other kid in the 7th grade. (apparently most of her friend's parents have no extra expenses as they must spend 1000$ a year on stupid shirts with the stores name plastered all over it!)
She did get hand me downs from two different families with all the store brand names writ across them, that she could hope for. She will gladly wear a hand me down as long as it does not come from Wal-Mart. She certainly has more clothes and shoes than Julie and I combined.
But both she and Jamie have always suffered from the 'endless need syndrome'. No matter how much they have or get it is never quite enough. Abandonment issues I suppose although Donnie swears most of the world suffers from the same thing.
Well she happily got her one outfit from Aeropostale, and with her own money paid for two other outfits from the god awful Hollister. (I hate that store with a passion normally saved for tyrants and mass murderers.)
We finished up at Target ( a store with reasonable prices at least) for undergarments and then staggered on home. Nikki has tried on all her clothes at least twice now and has thanked me a half dozen times.
There has got to be a way I can convince my better half to bring Jamie and Joe out for their clothes...

Birthdays and bunny shows

Busy week, what with birthdays and bunny shows and the Fairs occupying our days. It started with a free Entrain concert next to the Mayflower in Plymouth to celebrate Mary turning 24. The band even wished her Happy Birthday from the stage which thrilled her. We collected the usual assorted Blausses and hangers-on.
A new addition to our family blanket was the middle school principal who filled me in on the latest goings on: who had babies, who was replacing who, etc. We went over PTO plans, taking advantage of our time together to discuss upcoming events and issues. Then she sat back to have birthday cake and watch the antics of Joe et al as they interacted with one another. Thankfully they behaved so I think we made a good impression!
Next we drove way the heck up to Danvers to celebrate Margo's 40 birthday. That was a relaxing mix of old youth minister friends and Margo relatives. Isn't it funny how OTHER peoples relations are amusing, when your own family can put you right over the edge?
We sat under a huge oak tree, in their front yard, that cute hubby Scott had strung lights from. Jen the old Girl Scout (who belongs to the one match club) kept the campfire burning while we all caught up with one another's lives. I had not seen some of them in quite a while and there was lots to talk about. Much remained unsaid however in the case of our friend Annie who was a lawyer for the disgraced Speaker of the House Finneran. Naturally, she cannot discuss the case although she has been under enormous stress over it, going on two years now. Boy it will be fascinating to hear THAT whole story when all is said and done!
Donnie meanwhile was in heaven playing his guitar with Northeastern whiz kid Chip. I of course had a marvelous time flirting outrageously with PJ and more sedately with Jim...
Margo was too busy hostessing so I had little quality time with her. But it was fun watching all her family and friends. Luckily I will get to see Margo and Scott next weekend at Jen's so I can catch up with them.
Let's see, that brings us to Sunday and the Marshfield Fair Open rabbit show, that Nikki and I entered. Our bunnies did well and we were able to pick up Carrot, Joe's new orange baby doe that he has been waiting all summer for. The judge thinks she looks very promising. He is in heaven to finally have an orange bunny.
Best of all I got a rare and gorgeous little Red Netherland Dwarf whose hair color matches Joe! Reds are VERY rare especially around here (this little gem came from Upper New York State!) I am really curious to see if I can get reds from her. The color is not yet accepted for competition. But....it would be really fun to work with reds while awaiting approval.
Many of our favorite bunny friends were there so it too was a fun and busy day. Summertime is sure made for friends. I even managed to get in my 3 mile run in 33 minutes after the show! Admittedly it took a while to talk myself into lacing up my running shoes. But, I did it!
Our new addition is named Red Robin:>)

Conversations with Joe before going to bed

As I stretched my stiff back (and apparently scratched my belly) Joe said, "Hey are you pregnant? You are itching your tummy."
I laughed and said 'yes I would love to be' as I headed into the bathroom to brush my teeth, Donnie was already there doing the same.
Joe raised his voice so we could hear him from the other room, over the sound of running water and teeth brushing, "You cannot just be pregnant because you say you are." Donnie was frothy with toothpaste as he continued to brush and eavesdrop on our conversation.
"Well," I replied, as I spit out some toothpaste, "How do I get pregnant then?"
At this point Donnie paused in mid brush (as did I) eager to hear what pearls of wisdom Joe would dispense.
"Hmmm it is kinda complicated to explain, trust me."
Now I thought this was VERY funny (but remember I am sleep deprived from work!) It occurs to me that in a couple of weeks when the kids start back at school Joe will officially be a BIG kid and catch the bus early, even before I get home.
That means before I sleep I will not have any of his words of wisdom to reflect on. "Don't worry Mom," he says, "There is always the telephone..."

Running finally comes through...

All those reports of a 'natural runner's high' or how vigorous exercise helps in stress reduction, blah blah blah. I heard about it but never experienced it first hand. Even trying to fit in exercise daily is a stress. Certainly having to make sure I have exercise clothes followed by a change of clothes and time to shower is NOT stress reducing.
Achy muscles, trying to figure out which kid to bring, or who is babysitting who, is not relaxing in the least. Even the gathering of the proper equipment (water bottles, cell phone, bike helmet, DVDs, music, heart rate monitor, which pair of sneakers) can be daunting. Finally you would not BELIEVE how many days it has been cold and rainy in 2008!
But today for the first time, I found working out to be helpful in relaxing me; dare I say, even make me smile?
This morning I had a stressful meeting with the head nurse at work in an effort to secure a substantial raise, get my annual review in a timely manner, and obtain information about working parttime days there as a counselor.Well, I met not only with her (she is my immediate boss) but I also spoke with the HR assistant and ultimately the head of Human Resources.
Things did not go quite as I hoped. I was under the impression that with my degree and years of working there, I could counsel under supervision while working towards my Licensing as a therapist. But I need 1000 hours of an Internship first, which is always done through a college. But I am not in college. Plus working two 8 hour days a week for over a year unpaid...
We went over a variety of possible options and everyone was very courteous and professional. But I may very well not be in a position to pursue this. Those two days a week I would be working gratis I could substitute thereby helping both the schools and our family's coffers.
Anyway...this and other small frustrations too tedious to mention left me tense and discouraged. I drove home trying to sort out various options. After getting home and tattooing bunnies for the fair, entering our rabbits, and getting some housework done it occurred to me that I still had not gotten my run in today.
Ugg! I ended up bribing the two younger kids to come with me (so Julie would have a free afternoon.) We found enough change in the bottoms of purses and couch cushions to buy two Mcflurries upon completion of my run. Then we filled water bottles and headed for the school cross country path.
Joe is going out for cross country in the Fall so I thought we could show him what it would be like and I could run on a trail that is at least partly shady. (Since by now it was one in the afternoon, sunny and HUMID.)
We ran the hottest part first, circling the track and then after crossing the softball field headed into the woods. The trail meanders in the woods, along the power lines, up and down the sand pits, and along the bogs before coming back out to the track.
Joe and I then retraced our steps back through the woods, power lines, sand pits, and bogs to get an hours worth of walking and running in. Whew it was quite a work out especially trying to run in sand uphill.
Along the way we found a great wild blueberry patch, where we snacked. Then we saw a ground hog, lots of birds and butterflies and a few terrified toads. The kids chatted happily about back to school clothes (Nikki) and animals (Joe.) I huffed and puffed and pumped and worked out.
But as I turned the truck engine on in preparation of leaving it occurred to me that I was relaxed (tired!) and happy. My body felt great and as I reflected I realized that from almost the first moment of running I had become stress free. No worrying about work decisions, no bill stressing, just working out and feeling good.
The kids happily ate their ice cream and I barely felt a twinge about going thru the McDonalds drive through and getting NOTHING for myself.
Granted it was no 'runner's high'. But I definitely felt better during and after working out and I am grateful for that.

Jamie and Deondre

My friend Sue moved back from Florida after leaving us for five years. Her 8 kids and my 6 (before Joe) had grown up together. We fostered dozens of kids from the same office, ran a support group for foster/adoptive parents. and spent a part of nearly every week together. Here is her little grandson being fresh with my Jamie!
The kids are all so big and she came over today with most of her gang plus three grandchildren!
For a while it was all little kid noise and laughter and great great fun. It certainly brought back fond memories as I shared my meal with one baby and scooped another as he ran by. We kept putting things up high (like the weights, the guitars, the baseball bat.) Gosh I could do the little kid thing every day. Why would anyone get tired of it?

Baby Love

How cute is she?

New numbers, a drum roll please.

At weigh in today I hit a few milestones. I have now been back for 7 months. I lost fifty during this time, well technically 50.4.
As I stared at the new numbers I muttered "plus 10.2" which as you all know is the weight I kept off from my last Weight Watcher journey. When my leader heard this she changed my starting number to reflect that.
So my weight loss is TAAAADDDAAAAAAA 60.6 pounds.
SIXTY POINT SIX POUNDS.

Happy Birthday Mary

Happy Birthday Mary

The Story of the celebration

When Mary and Matt arrived bright and early Sunday morning we were all eager in anticipation. She had instructed us to pack play clothes but to be dressed fancy for the start of our Wedding Anniversary adventure sponsored by all the kids.
Don and I opened an envelope to look at a photo of our prom picture and a poem instructing us to go to Hanson to get a family portrait done. Having tortured the children for years with group photos they hastened to get into "group position" much to the amusement of the photographer. She finished in record time- a cool 30 minutes- and we found ourselves with an hour to kill before our next location. (Old Hitching Post for brunch.) Where to go, where to go...
Naturally we chose the graveyard and spent an hour looking up dead relatives, posing for pictures and clowning around.
The next envelope to open, inviting us to brunch contained another goofy poem and our wedding picture. Beside the faded photo was the quote "love is friendship set to music."
We had a whole side room to ourselves and proceeded to eat, drink, and be merry. Then Mary came in with small decorated paper bags with each of our names on them and a long wrapped gift for Don and I. The envelope instructed us to go to the old softball field for a family whiffle ball game in memory of how Don and I met. (Er, he was my softball coach!)
Each of us had a matching maroon shirt, barn star in front, Blauss 25 on the back. I think this was Donnie's favorite part of the whole day, playing ball on the dilapidated field! Corey's team won but let me say for the record that I did strike Matt out!
The game ended abruptly when a terrific clap of thunder sent us racing for the van. (Ok I ran to the van in terror, the others came at a more leisurely pace.) We then opened the fourth envelope, containing a kissing picture or Don and I in DC and an invitation to ice cream.
The ride over, in the hail, rain, and wind was a typical Blauss moment. Corey and Julie belted out old Pokemon songs (Corey in a frightening falsetto) and then all the kids sang snippets of favorite goofy songs. Being on key apparently was optional.
Ice cream eaten, our fifth and final envelope revealed the family photo of us with Cardinal O'Malley at the Jubilee Wedding Mass. There were three quotes on this page, one from Martin Luther stating " There is no more lovely, friendly and charming relationship, communion or company than a good marriage." An anonymous offering " We were two and had but one heart." Finally one of my most favorite quotes about marriage offered by that aphoristic lover Amelia Peabody, "Marriage in my view should be a balanced stalemate between equal adversaries."
The kids then presented us with luggage for use on our November honeymoon.
"Dear Mom and Dad, For 25 years you have shared a beautiful love which has formed a wonderful partnership of two hearts and minds. Today we celebrate your love, which has multiplied to nourish not only two, but all seven of your children, and countless family and friends along the way. Your laughter, intelligence, advice, patience, respect, music, friendship, and love which began as a union of two have created a family and a home, which we are blessed to be a part of." It was signed with much love, followed by all the kids names, Matt and Yon included of course.
Now how is that for a perfect day?

The Paris Hilton Twist

The Groom

The ladies

The Blauss women dressed to kill.

Borrowing Corey's cool hat.

The boy does have great chapeaus.

25th Wedding Anniversary

I will write more about our awesome day after I sleep/work/sleep! This is a family porttrait taken at the end of our adventures.

Our hosts for the day

Our 25th Wedding Celebration