Surrendered

My boys dread when Bertha comes home.  She isn't a very nice or patient person, and she came today.  She walked in the door after working all day, found two boys sleeping in a messy house, and stayed true to form.  Can I just say that they had one hour to clean the mess before the house would be invaded by 10 to 12 teenagers?   Dishes in the sink, on the table and the bar.  Shoes everywhere, Subway wrappers and other miscellaneous items waiting to be put away.  Bertha woke the boys, spewed her venom and walked to the bedroom.  There she took a breath and tried to compose herself, but Bertha just wasn't going settle down.  She went back to the kitchen started banging dishes around to get her point across and the poor boys began to get busy.  You see, they know not to even comment when Bertha is here because it would not be received well.  The mess was cleaned in no time and Berth went to take a nap.   If you haven't figured it out, Bertha is my alter ego that rears her ugly ...

I don't share much of my work online, however I did want to share a couple of photos this week.  I am a manager in a call center, and for a morale builder we did a potluck competition at work.  We had six different teams and each team was given a theme that they must build around.  Everything, the food, the decorations and atmosphere must breathe this theme.  Each team must also have a team flag.  My team drew the Mexican fiesta theme.  So we went to work right away planning it.  It was a great team building project for those of you looking for that.  Can I just say, we were the best.  I've asked for a recount, because we took 2nd place and I don't think we should have.  Anyway enjoy the pictures.  You will note, yours truly is on the flag and also had a shrine in her name.  My team loves me. Here are a couple of pictures from two other teams.  The Italian experience beat us.  I really don't know how, but I'm trying not to be bitter about it.

Of course I have to post some pictures of the graduation.  It was a wonderful night.  Many family members showed up to support him and he had a great time.  Oh, he also had his picture in the paper here .  

Today, my 3rd son graduates from High School.  I can not believe how quickly this has gone by.  It seems just like yesterday that I was literally chasing him everywhere he went, thus his nickname was "Chase".  He came into this world fast, seriously.  His labor and delivery was so quick that his body temperature was very low and we had to lay under a heat lamp for several hours with him on my chest.  When I looked into those beautiful big blue eyes, my heart was captured.  He was mine.  As a toddler and child, he was not the easiest to raise.  He was persistent, active, funny, very active, talkative, very very active, compassionate and did I say active?  Some of my memories go back to the time that he was afraid of killer frogs in his bedroom.  Nightly we had to go in his room and hunt for the killer frogs before he would go to bed.  Others include him scolding his friend down the street for stepping on some flowers in a neighbors yard, and for breaking one of the 10 commandm...

Boy, were we surprised!  Last Friday night, May 30th our boys threw a surprise anniversary party for Dan and I.  We were suppose to be going out with friends (Dan and Julie)  for dinner and ended up at Dave and Tina's (brother and sis-in-laws) on the pretense that they were going with us at the last minute.  We drove up and went into the house because David supposedly just got home from work and needed a few minutes to freshen up.  We walked into the home and there were over 50 people (family and friends) in Dave & Tina's house yelling, "Surprise".  I was so overwhelmed, I didn't even know how to react.   There were so many people there I didn't know where to start.  I wanted to walk back out and take a minute to breathe.  It really took my breath away.  They had our wedding video turned into a DVD, it was a perfect gift.  They also went through my closet and found all kinds of pictures for a picture slideshow.  The evening also included the "Newlywed...