Do I or Don't I?

I am having a very hard time trying to decide whether or not to do my National Boards. I hesitate only because to assure success, I need to take a 4 day class next week. Part of me says I mind as well go ahead and take the class, my summer has been spent in class anyway, and it is only 4 more days. Then, there is a part of me that would like to spend those 4 days doing NOTHING! Of course, I will really regret not doing it this year. I would be one year closer to my Masters with only $300 invested. I know it will be lots of work, but I think I can pull it off. Hmmm, any suggestions??

Farwell Harry?

Well, I can now discuss the end of the BEST series of books I have ever read. I loved reading about these characters. They were original and all well loved (or hated). I was physically and emotionally exhausted after finishing the book. I read it in 3 days which is by far a record for my with my crazy family! I was a little disappointed because I really like my closure at the end of a story. So my question to Ms. Rowling is, are we finished? Are we going to make a spinoff series? She definately left room open. Lots of unanswered questions. I guess we shall see. God knows she won't do it for the $$, but a writer as talented as her should not stop writing. I am not sure we will ever see this much excitement about a book again, unless she writes again!

Thank you for the ride!!!

Hairspray

OK, I just finished reading the last Harry Potter, but I am way too emotional right now. So, I will discuss the movie I went to last night. Hairspray was GREAT! I loved the music and it was perfectly cast. I was worried that John Travolta would be distracting as the mom, but he was great. And I have no idea where they got the girl playing Tracey, but she MADE the movie. Amanda Bynes.. hilarious! It was worth going to see in the theater. I wanted to buy the soundtrack on the way home last night. Maybe tomorrow night I will be ready to discuss Harry...

Yes, I am one of those people...

Thats right. I will be somewhere at midnight tonight getting the Harry Potter. I KNOW I could have ordered the book and had it delivered it at home. I KNOW I could pick it up in the morning anywhere!! But, what's the fun in that? I love going out and being with people who are just as excited about a book as I am. Who knows when we will ever get this excited about a book again.

Order of the Phoenix

Last night, Chris and I had a date night and went to see the new Harry Potter movie. I thought it was very good, but as a loyal fan of the books I felt they left some huge plot points out. But I will say I LOVE the strong girl characters. I think Looney Lovegood may be my favorite! She was brilliantly cast! Ginny is also starting to show her personality. I have mixed feelings about the last book coming out on Friday. I am very eager to see how it all ends, but I am emotionally attached to these characters and I am afraid of what Ms. Rowling may have done to my favorites. Oh well, we shall see!

Day 5: Home again

Well, we have all made it home. I don't know who was happier, Rosie or Gracie. We had a very long ride home. Gracie had no less than 3 emergency potty breaks. Now I have a huge stack of mail and an even bigger stack of laundry to deal with this weekend. I am going to work on writing the grant I get for attending the class so I might get the $$ when school starts. I also will spend the weekend getting the house back in order after being gone for the week. Home sweet home!!

Day 4: Science Rules

Today after class we went to the Great Lakes Science Center. It was lots of hands on activities on all kinds of science topics. I thought Alex and Abby would like it, but I couldn't have imagined how much Gracie would enjoy it. We couldn't keep up. She was running from station to station. I think and exciting time was had by all. After that, we headed back to the hotel for a a very lame dinner. So after an hour and a half of swimming in the indoor pool, and a quick soak in the hot tub for me, we are about to eat the pizza we had delivered to the room. Tomorrow we will pack for the ride home. I wonder how much of our stuff will be left in the room?

Day 3: Cleveland Rocks!!

After class today, the Thompson's decided to head up to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. And although I know my husband has serious issues with the institution while the group Rush has not been inducted yet, I think he was very impressed. Unfortunately, you can not take cameras into the hall, so the only pic we have is the ones of the kids rockin' the big guitars out front. I couldn't begin to to a price on all the artifacts in the museum. The kids had a great time rockin' out in the different listening stations (Gracie especially). The hall sits right on Lake Erie next to the Science Center (which I think we will visit tomorrow) and the Browns Stadium (which I allowed Chris to make rude gestures at). Since tonight was Chinese dinner night at the hotel and Abby and Gracie hadn't eaten well in a couple of days, we went to a small Italian place down the street. Everything was good, but expensive!!! But, since the girls ate their body weight in buttered noodles, I guess it was worth it. We finished the evening by splitting up for the movies. The boys saw the Transformers movie and loved it, and the girls saw Evan Almighty. Gracie was much more into this movie. It was very cute. We will see where tomorrow brings us!

Thompson Family Vacation: Day 2

Well, we have survived another day together as one big happy family. We were limited on what we could do today because my class time was right in the middle of the day. We went out to breakfast (we overslept for the free breakfast here) and then took a little driving tour around here. Aurora is a pretty little town. After we came back, we rested for awhile and then it was time for my class. It was good even though the content spans 3 grade levels. We had time for a little bit of swimming before dinner time. As you can see, Abby is becoming very comfortable in the pool. We ended our evening with a night out at the movies to see "Rat-a-too-tee." It was good, although Grace lost interest about half way through. As I predicted, I was the one doubling up in the sleeping arrangements last night. And, also as predicted, Grace fell out of these large beds twice. You are going to have to scroll to the bottom of the page to see our genius solution...

YAHOO!! Ajoining Rooms!

That's right folks, we got here and the lovely girl behind the desk informed me that we were in Room 61 AND 63! 4 beds for the 5 of us. And even though I am pretty sure I will be the one doubling up, it was still a blessing! We have plenty of room to move around. The kids are watching cartoons in their room and Chris and I are crashing in ours. The trip up wasn't too bad. Gracie got most of her whining out in the first 11 miles of the trip and needed only one unscheduled potty break.
Tomorrow is the first day for class. The foundation people gave a speech tonight encouraging us to ask them for grant $$ (hear that, Susan?). Everyone has been very nice so far and did I mention all the rooms and food was FREE for us all. We may head to the movies tomorrow since my class time is in the middle of the afternoon. Wed. - Fri. I have only morning class, so we might hit some of the sites. But so far, things are going well! :0)

Packing for 5

It is very early in the morning. I can't sleep because I am sure I am forgetting to pack something for our trip tp sunny Cleveland today. Even though we are only going to be gone for 5 days and I packed light (2 suitcases and a duffel bag), I am still stressing it. I can not believe how much it takes to get us out of the house! I am hoping this is going to be fun and not a HUGE stress on the family to even go in the first place. We shall see...

"Argghh!"

OK, so I had no desire to watch the pirate movies. I had heard all the hype and finally decided to see what everyone was talking about. I hate to admit, but I LOVED them. Funny, exciting, and Orlando Bloom is not hard on the eyes (although much cuter as an elf in LOTR). Johnny Depp is HILARIOUS as his Keith Richards inspires Jack Sparrow. Kiera Knightly was great, even though I know my husband would leave me on Christmas Day for her if given the opportunity. It was great because Alex, Chris and I all watched it together and equally enjoyed it. We might even make it to the theaters to see the 3rd. If you haven't seen them, I highly recommend them!!!

And the game ball goes to ...

ALEX!!

I was a very proud mom tonight. Although the CNE Raptors lost tonight, my kid made me proud. He was given the game ball because according to his coach he shows great attitude and effort in every game. He encouraged him to keep playing even though he his not their star player. He had 4 hits tonight, but I think it was the words of recognition from his coach that made his night/season.