Author Archives: tracye1

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About tracye1

A wee bit about me, Tracy. Married to my high school sweetie for a looooong time. Mama of 4 beautiful kiddos, now ADULTS!!!! This blog is a potpourri of posts. Some wax on about my Catholic faith, others family, some are just a “diary” of life updates. Life is a journey, taken one day at a time (sometimes one step at a time) and my blog is about my personal trek through life. Peace!

The SALT. The SAND. The WAVES. The BREEZE. AHHHHHhhhhh!

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Spring Break is upon us, and while I don’t have the ENTIRE week off, I DO have these three days off!  So, we will be spending at LEAST a portion of every day soaking up the salt, the sun and the waves.  The girls have new suits (LOVE Walmart $9 suits!), fresh sunscreen, I have a book to read and the back of the truck is already set with chairs and beach toys.  We will vacuum on Wednesday….why bother until then?

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Apparently we aren’t the only ones getting in a post-Mass beach day.  Well….it IS Spring Break AND the end of Bike Week!  not to mention an absolutely GORGEOUS day!!

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one set of “bikes”….

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and another set of “Bikes”…it should be a little quieter around here now.

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You can find me here these next few days.  Text if you need me, I’ll answer when I can….

Friday=Spring Break, Day1

Spring Break for my kiddos, not me.  Not their teachers, as they post grades for the 3rd Nine weeks which means……folks, we are moving into the home stretch of the year.  HOLY!  COW!!  As once again, I scratch my head in wonder and confusion at how time DOES that!!!  And, so I’ll wrap up my week with Jen @ Conversion Diary and other people from around the globe as they wrap up THEIR week, too!  Happy Weekend!!

1.  Time change week.  I think…..just as we are adjusting to the time change we now go into Spring Break and will have a second transition week AFTER the break.  <sigh>  Well, at least I am off for  a few days and can enjoy a little sleep-in  here and there as well!

2.  I took our oldest to his HIGH SCHOOL REGISTRATION this week.  Again with the time clock.  OY!!!  He’s all signed up for classes.  Happy with his electives.  Relieved he gets a second chance at Algebra 1.  Looking forward to high school.  And I am just dazed wondering where my boy went who  was all about dump trucks, mud in the yard, tree climbing and Rescue Heroes.  <sniff>

3.  Bike Week 2012 is in full swing here.  LOUD. Congested.  Crazy sights.  Hope to get some pictures this weekend and share some of the zaniness that comes to us twice a year.  We try to lay low and stay out of the traffic though, so maybe we’ll just hit the beach instead…..

4.  Great gym time this week.  2 HARD days of strength training and lots of cardio.  Heading into spring in a good mindset.  Week 11 and still going strong.  Can’t say the same for the rest of the gym as it’s gotten much less congested the past few weeks as New Year’s Resolutions peter out. (which is GREAT for me on my lunch break!)

5.  Along with fixing the washer and sink sprayer, Hubby has also fixed the gate where out little Caramel the Cat likes to make a break for it and indulge his stray cat roots.  Dirty little stay-out.  He always comes home though.  Now, it appears he is relegated to the backyard and chasing lizards.  So long as no one shows him how to jump the fence we’ll be good.  For some reason, he hasn’t figured that out yet and I like it like that.  Hubby was rewarded with homemade chocolate chip cookies last night for all his efforts.

6.  Swapped out winter clothes for spring clothes and are taking stock of spring/summer needs.  WHAT am I feeding these children?????  My baby appears to be leaving the 7/8’s behind and entering the 10’s.  And my oldest daughter and I can almost share shoes.  WTH?!?!?!??  She’s 10.  Our boys are 5’8″ and 5’10” @ 12 and 14.  We may need to trade the cat for a cow and dig up the yard for an organic garden or just stop feeding them.  For now, I am just singing the praises of Aldi and Hubby is getting in tight with the Produce stand people…..

7.  Three days off next week.  Thank goodness.  I need a break.  Work is crazy.  I am getting burnt out.  Am having a hard time compartmentalizing patients and their illnesses/diagnoses lately since I  have had far too much bad/sad news lately:   a)my daughter’s 8 yo friend diagnosed with a tumor in her chest and surgery this week to remove it (still waiting to hear how she’s doing), b)my girlfriend’s 30yo daughter diagnosed with a (so far) benign brain tumor to be removed Tuesday with a risky and complex surgery and c)another friend with a recurrence of ovarian cancer cells and will re-start chemo in a week.  UGH.  UGH.  UGH.  Why is life so hard sometimes?  A reminder to embrace each day and to let the petty stuff slide and remember what is truly important and that God has it all under control far better than we EVER could imagine.

God Bless and Happy Weekend!!

Mr. Fix-It

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Funny how fixing something can make you feel so great…all pumped up with yourself and USEFUL!  Our washer pooped out on us this weekend, fortunately it was the second to last load and ready for spin cycle.  After driving all over town on Sunday afternoon looking for a laundromat to wash the ONE last load (boy’s gym clothes made it a necessity!) Hubby stopped by my step-dad’s house to wash since all the laundromats were closed.  He gave Hubby some ideas on what it could be and today he put the theory to the test, installed the part via Youtube and….Voila!  Fixed.  And already in action.  On a roll, he then tackled replacing the sprayer in the kitchen sink….drumroll for…..SUCCESS!  

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The guy is smoking!   I should find something else that needs fixing.  You know, strike while the iron is HOT!  I figure between the washer repairman and the plumber he saved us at least $150….I think I’ll make him some cookies this week!  It’s the little things.  Poor guy though, between the P90X, waking up @ 4:30 a.m. and all that “fix-it” after working all day….he’s in bed asleep at 9!  I’m so jealous!!

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Spring football: American Style

Our first foray into tackle football.  Spring football.  A little less intense, short season, short field.  Good intro.  Great exercise.  Full Saturdays.  With 3 games to go, we finally get a “W” on a cloudy (briefly rainy) Saturday.

Road trip…view from the backseat

  • ImageLast weekend, my girls and I took a road trip to see my sister, brother-in-law and nephews; while we were there, my sis, my girlfriend and I were going to see my friend’s daughter in “To Kill a Mockingbird”.  It was a whirlwind weekend, rainy, cold and eight hours of car time, but we had a great time.
  • Quality time with my sister:  a play AND appetizers/dessert (I know you are jealous…you should be), something that so rarely happens without at least one of our children present.
  • Catch up (in fast forward) with a good friend and praising God for His mercies and the works He has done in her family’s life after just a year ago their son being diagnosed with Ewing’s sarcoma.  To just visit with her after their year that changed their lives and see the grace and growth and the LIVING that continues…HUGE.  God IS good.  Even when the circumstances purely suck.
  • Mass at our old church with a powerful sermon by a young priest who is simply ON FIRE and IN LOVE with our Savior.  Seeing and hugging old friends and their growing children.  Life goes on.  We are blessed with the richness of friends and family and this weekend was but a small example.

Back to the road trip portion…..the girls come ready, they pack their own bag o’ goodies.  Snacks.  Games.  Books.  They are veterans of this drive and they know what it takes to stay busy and pass the time.  In the end, they barely touched their bag (aside from the snacks) and we listened to their music so we could hear Taylor Swift (Mama’s iPhone needs to be updated with T’s music), they made up car games, sang songs, played on the iPhone, watched the world go by and took pictures.  Love.  Them.  

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They packed their own snacks.  And dad vaccuumed the crumbs when we got home.  oops.  Image

It’s a long boring drive

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Hoping the truck gets close enough to do “the sign”…you know ‘honk your horn, mister!’  he didn’t.

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Searching for horses….

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Finally.  No offense to country music.  After 8 hours though….Mama needed a change-up in tunes!

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10 and 2, baby!  It was comin’ down!

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Should have checked the weather before we left….

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Love.  Free.  Apps.

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More clouds.

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Rewarded by a group performance in the garage by Ty and his crew…PRICELESS!  (he’s the one commanding the lead from the cooler/stage)