My Sister..

My sister is unbelievable! We truckstered south this weekend to see her in the Windmill Follies "You can't get there from here". She was SO good. I can't get over how she can memorize all those lines and look so at ease on stage. We really had a good time. I'm so glad we went and get this - we surprised her. I thought for sure somehow she'd get wind of it - see our truck at Mom and Dad's, we'd slip up, even pop in at Mom and Dad's. It was too funny. You should have seen the look in her eyes. What a fun time.

S did very well - we sat from 6:30 - 9 and she only lost it just a tiny bit at the very end. In fact after the first scene she was quite concerned that "Arthur" one of the characters had been in an accident with a dog. I was so surprised she even knew the man's name was Arthur. She really "got" it.

J was "sick" today - he was up a lot last night burning hot and this morning was still kind of out of it. So he stayed home. I stayed home also and really caught the house up. He was content to lay on the couch, so I knew he was sick.

S took the play book to school and I guess talked their ears off about it. I also think she realized that Keith (from Dan's store) was in the play also.

During her week at Gpa and Gma's there was a bomb threat at Central - the kids were all bussed to the church and S and Gma had to go home early from quilting. She also visited Lola in the hospital and seemed quite concerned about Lola's "owie". Gma was on the radio in Carthage and Gpa and S both clapped for her when she was done. It's cute what S deems as important.

This weekend in TKD and Social Club. S is very excited about it. She's really doing well with conversation and with in general being more grown up. It's fascinating to watch her.

You all know this guy........... "The Hell"

6 to tie and 7 to Break
by B-Ball Fan on Tue Mar 11, 2008 1:12 pm

That is what Central/Southeastern's Baseball Coach Dave Swisegood's Baseball team needs to win this spring for him to become the All-time Winningest baseball Coach in IHSA history. You can't meet a more knowledgeable and better man in high school baseball than Dave Swisegood. Good luck Dave and your team, and may you coach many more than 7 more wins @ Augusta & Camp Point.




Coach Dave Swisegood
Swisegood, '98 vikings, Hall of Fame inductees

by Doug Endres

Southeastern coach Dave Swisegood is being inducted into the Illinois High School Baseball Coaches Association Hall of Fame.

The induction ceremony is Feb. 5, at Lisle.

Swisegood begins his 50th season as a high school baseball coach this spring. He has 845 career wins and 12 regional/district titles coaching at Plymouth and Southeastern high schools.

Swisegood ranks second on the state's all-time victories list. He began coaching in 1956 at Plymouth High School. He spent 25 years at the school, finishing with a record of 417-207. He spent the next 24 years at Southeastern where he has posted a record of 428-230. His career winning percentage is 65.9 percent.

"Coach Swisegood is a phenomenon, a legend to so many," said Southeastern principal Todd Fox. "He coached many of our student-athletes parents and grandparents. There will truly never be another Dave Swisegood."

Besides baseball, Swisegood is the assistant basketball coach at Southeastern.

He is a former minor league baseball player and former scout for the Cincinnati Reds.

Swisegood resides in Augusta with his wife, Francis.

The 1998 Nauvoo-Colusa Viking basketball team, which won the Class A state tournament, is one of six teams and 84 individuals being inducted into the Illinois Basketball Coaches Association Hall of Fame. The ceremony is April 30 at the Bone Student Center on the Illinois State campus in Normal.

Nauvoo-Colusa finished the '97-'98 season with a record of 31-3. They were the first unranked team to defeat three straight ranked teams and win the Class A state tournament in state history.

Members of the team were: Joe Wilson, Emmett Reidner, Doug Siegfried, David Hamma, David Griffiths, Brian Griffiths, Kenny Haas, Patrick Weaver, Paul Goetz, Marshal Stott, and Kellen Fernetti. They were coached by Reno Pinkston who was assisted by Frank Gayton.

It's been a week and a half already.

Only one kid this week and it's definitely EASIER but it just seems still so stressful. I got home last night and collapsed. Napped before dinner. What the heck? J fell asleep on his initial garbage picking expedition! Him and Dad are going again tonight.

Finally got my taxes done today. Now my problem is J's ssn. Seems someone else is using it. *Lovely*. So now begins THAT whole mess. I have also faxed my 1099 Int to Eileen with questions about the trust's tax return. Special Needs just sucks ALL the way around! Is there ever a time that you don't have to contact this person, or set up this insurance, or look this or that up???? Can I just say I'm looking forward to the Old Folks home - where they let you read and watch movies and bring you ice cream every night at 8:30. :-)

My Mom was on the radio this morning tooting the horn about The Follies. Do you think the DJ said ANYTHING about the adorable granddaughter she had with her??? NO!

Dan was happy to see her (Dan's store). She's already gathering things to take to J. I think J misses her - esp at night. He seems just a little forlorn. He started out sleeping in her room - but decided not to after the first night. I think it was because her recorder doesn't have a "repeat" button and quits in the middle of the night. Who knows with that boy.

Wouldn't you think by your 40s

.....you'd know how to SHUT your mouth? Well, seems I haven't exactly learned that lesson. So Easter was just a little more intense than was wanted.

I can be SO patient with my child, so unbelievably understanding - but then why do I totally LOOSE it with others? Why can't I take a breath and think reasonably? Oh, well, there's just another chink in the armor that must be worked on.

The kids had a BLAST. They SO love their "cousins". K,L,L, and M - they all get a long well, too. We have the usual "tattle tailing" but nothing severe.

Got together with T&R and had a FANTASTIC time. The girls rein supreme in Tribond - AGAIN! Thank you Barry Manilow!!! :-) It was SO good to laugh so much.

My sister, as usual, cooked up a storm. Not only does she really cook well - she makes it look SO effortless. I always feel guilty not doing much - but I feel like I'm in the way a lot. I just really SUCK at cooking.

It snowed on Easter Day and we got to hide eggs in the snow. We hid them in the basement too. They kids loved finding them. I'm not sure we could have erased the smile on S's face. It was plastered there all day.

We left her with Gma and Gpa for the week. J seems to be under the weather today. A fever and sore throat. We'll see what some sleep does for him today. He's supposed to go "picking" with Dad tonight. Sanford and Son has nothing on them. :-)

The drive home was SO peaceful. J did the headphones and B and I talked the whole way. It was nice for a change. I love S so much - but having a break is really nice too.

Back at work I return to a whole cabinet full of work - :-/ So I guess I should get at it.

Knocking out the ISAT

Well, *my* kid is knocking the ISAT test out of the park! Mrs C stopped me yesterday and showed me S's test so far. That stinker picks up the darnedest things. She was shown a newspaper clipping from Sat when they died the river green - she told them all about it. I remember *J* asking about it and as I recall S wasn't even in the room!!! She's really impressing them by what she has retained. And since she really doesn't play on the same scoring field as others she's never been made to feel anxious about tests - so she's just flying through stuff! I'm so proud of her!

Really really looking forward to the weekend. NOT looking forward to seeing Theresa. Nothing against her - it's just all the finance talk makes me sick to my stomach. We're trying to see if we can also get together with T&R also. He took back his crown in the lip syncing program. ;-/ Aunt J's stuff was SO funny, though. She sent pictures. She also told me that Ack was going to Girl Scout Camp and when I reported that to the kids J was upset because "she was a favorite". Ok, name one that's not I said - he didn't have an answer. S was concerned that Tiny might not be there - no, Tiny goes for visits but he's a keeper. ;-)

S is staying the week of Spring Break with Gma and Gpa - who she told me the other night - talks a lot. :-) I don't even remember how it came up - but she just said matter of fact like "Gpa talks a lot". ;-) I said "So does S." She smiled.

Mr Chad has to take care of Rexy. Sally reported to me that he (Mr Chad) was a nice man. :-) She's really coming on strong lately. LOTS of communication and not all over the place. She's holding her attention more and more.

We swim tonight. This will be J's last session. We got the tee ball schedule last night and it looks like Tues and Thurs will now be tball practice. S will stay in swimming, though. She loves it so much and I honestly don't mind an hour to sit and read. It would be nice if it was a little *cooler* though, but beggars can't be choosers.

We leave Friday morning for Gmas (for b-fast) and then on to Aunt J's. I've got a whole suitcase full of "stuff" for the kiddos. I sure hope the weather cooperates. S is looking forward to flying kites and petting Bob. Sadie will stay with Gpa for a well deserved rest from children and cat. Dad says she really misses us though when we leave. Goofy dog doesn't even know when she's got it good.

SO many things........

The boy broke his board and rec'd his orange belt. He had one little melt down but they were patient and he brought it back and finished. S did VERY well also. 4 hours of sitting and watching and SHE held it together. She was a little under the weather and was content, for the most part, to lay her head on my lap and let me rub her hand. ;-)

That weekend J also lost his tooth. His dad convinced him to let him pull it so he could eat cake at Ts birthday party. It was over in a second.

The birthday party was a HUGE hit. They were there from 2-7. J stayed till 8:30! S was VERY good - and they both had a ball giving their presents that they had picked out.

Our trip to the ballet had to be cancelled. Mrs P got our tickets and SO enjoyed the outing . So that all worked out perfectly.

Work is getting a little too much. Since I've had to cover a lot of hours I'm really feeling burnt out. My patience is at an all time low. I'm really looking forward to going to Aunt J's.

Speaking of - S had to do a "favorites" sheet. Her favorite place to go: Aunt J, her favorite day of the week; Monday (of course), her favorite friend: Taisha, her favorite TV show: COPS, her favorite food: chicken, and her favorite song: If You're Happy and You Know it." I got such a kick out of this assignment. She takes her ISATs today. From my IDM meeting I'm finding out more and more that there is no such thing as "normal" students.

IDM meeting - I'm always more and more amazed at what actually transpires at school. Learning the ins and outs have made me even more appreciative (if possible) of public school teachers. I can't say enough how very much I am pleased with my school.

So I took a day off yesterday and in the midst of the naps and laundry - I decided I'd like to win at least $100,000 tax free money. I made a mental list of all I would do with that money. And you all thought I was just playing hooky. ;-)

No More Yayakeeper

I'm really getting the business about switching screen names. But one thing - no spam. I'm LOVING that!

Too much going on lately. Have to duck out of our ballet on Sunday - Tommy is having his birthday party on Sunday. You know THAT comes first.

Had swimming last night. 'The boy' is hysterical. Dang, he was in a good mood. He had taken his robot to school - him and Dad had made it- and they got to show case them in the library. Then he was so excited to be in S's class at swimming. She was too. Kept saying it over and over and over. :-)

She's got a really upbeat aide lately. Makes me tired to be around her. There should be a law against someone being *that* perky. B went picking last night. He finds the wildest stuff. He came how with some kind of school stuff that is going for like $350 a piece now!!! Too wild. Someone from Golden has been bidding on his Windmill checks. He was going to contact them and cut out the middle man. :-)

S and I had our regular weekly encounter with the public at large last night. What is it about a locker room that makes people STARE? I don't know - *I* don't see S that different - but I guess she is - the adults just stare and stare at us. Of course I'm usually laughing inside about how there is ALWAYS some woman screaming at her kids to hurry up and making a scene. Sometimes they get so crazed that S has to get in the middle of it - repeating their screams. Now THAT gets the stares! I have to wonder what those women think when they hear themselves in her voice. *I* find it comical.

Had a TON of stuff I had to fix yesterday because of my "buddy" Heather. Good Lord, I swear I don't know what she does. There was a return that I caught that hadn't been electronically filed - even though she logged it in. There was one that was rejected and low and behold she had put in the wrong SSN. I think bossman is getting a bit nervous. I told him to call B and between her and I we could probably work out something. I'd rather know the night before that I'll be staying the duration the next day than having someone call in. Which I'm still waiting for today. I've had a phone call from her around this time every day for a week now. Ugghhh.

*Some* People!

Good Lord - is it a full moon? Have all the CRAZIES come out or what??? I'm so tired of rude, insensitive people. So very tired. I sometimes feel like I'm really putting my children at a disadvantage because I'm teaching them to be considerate of others - to hold up your end of a bargain, to be responsible. Silly me. I find like Noah sent to find one honorable man. (wasn't it Noah - maybe Moses?) So my kids get screwed again. Forget seeing J make his robot or S getting ready for school tomorrow. I *get* to work again tonight. I've never seen a younger generation that is SO sick all the time. Personally, I blame it on all the anti-bacterial stuff. ;-)

J went to his very first sleep over last night. Down the street (T&V's). He called a couple of times - laughing his head off - trying to tell "spooky stories", but really not getting anything out. The second time he needed his blankies. He's so funny - doesn't really care what others think about sleeping with a blankie. I'm *kind* of proud of that.

S was ok till this morning. While we sat and read books this morning I was questioned several times about where J was and when she (S) would be able to go to a sleep over. I told her that maybe she could go to Aunt L's for a sleepover. I'll have to run that past L. ;-)

She did VERY well over the weekend. We were invited to a birthday party (last minute) and even though this is VERY tricky for her she did well. She was a little anxious when we got there because she really didn't know what to do - not a lot of welcome - iykwim. But she held it together and managed to even have a good time. She did come and get me and tell me it was time to go home. She's so funny. She really does know her own tollerence.