Hoover Floor Mate

I bought a Hoover Floor Mate a few months ago and blogged about it here. I just want to say I STILL LOVE IT!!! I would recommend it to EVERYONE. We have 2 rooms of Laminate and the rest of the main floor is tile. We just tiled the basement family room so I have a lot more tile then carpet now. Today I did a really good floor cleaning and I can not believe how nice it cleans:) The amount of DOG HAIR that came up AFTER I swept was AMAZING. I would love to say it makes Cleaning FUN but I won't go that far:)

2 days till we leave on Vacation...wooohoooo!!!

The basement is ALL painted and Hank needs to finish the baseboards as we went and bought new ones last night. It looks soo nice down there..if only my FURNITURE was back I would be a happy women. My goal was BEFORE we left on Vacation but I decided this week I could make the WHOLE house nuts or back off and finish when we get back.

We also listed my parents house this week..I know that is SOON but it will be better for both of us when we do not have it hanging over our heads that we need to clear it out. It was HARD cancelling their phone number as it was the ONLY number I had growing up and I know when it sells it will be really hard.

3 Word Sunday

We leave Friday night for Gulf Shores and can I say HOW MUCH I AM LOOKING FORWARD TO A VACATION!!! We have never been to GS before but have heard a lot of GOOD things about it! We have ALWAYS went to FL but thought we would "try" a different place this year. We had booked this after the first of the year and it was suppose to be my sister and her youngest, my dad and our family..We know my parents will be there is spirt!!
The only BAD thing is we get back and my kids start to school the middle of the week so this means summer is OVER for us:(
I still have not bought any school supplies BUT I did get/order Tylers BDay gifts as his Bday is the Monday we get home. My baby will be 11!!

I am sooo not ready for school and all that goes with it...(plus I go back to work then and I have not had enough "float" time.

Open Arms

Monday was my dads funeral and it was a hard day that I am glad is over. I have a EMPTY feeling now that I do not know if it will ever go away. I feel completly different then when my mom died 10 months ago. I HATE that they both are gone and my kids do not have the JOY of having them as Grandparents but I am glad they are together again.

When my sister walked into the room after my dad passed away Journey song "OPEN ARMS" was playing. We played it at the service and it is a beautiful song with a lot of meaning now. When I got there I stopped and got us both a beer and we sat with my dad and toasted them on the beach together again. We placed his little cooler and radio in with him as he ALWAYS carried it to the beach with their chairs..my mom carried snacks to feed the seagulls which ALWAYS pooped on my dad:)
Since my dad was in the service he had Taps played. My sister spoke at the service as she did at my moms and I am so PROUD of her..I could never have gotten up and say ALL she did but she did and it was BEAUTIFUL!!!

I had a lot of my friends from here drive the hour and a half to come to the service which meant SO MUCH TO ME!!! The only thing that has gotten me through this last year is MY friends and I so appreciate ALL that they have done for us!!!

Friday night I went to a outdoor concert with a group of Friends....Denise bought me the ticket a while ago and after my dad died on Thursday I was not going to go but I decided that evening that I needed to...Karen said something that night that I will NEVER forget and I do not think she realizes the IMPACT that it had on me...Wednesday night when I was coming home from Cinti there was the most BEAUTIFUL big Orange sunset which when I saw it it was there for a few seconds then dropped behond trees. I thought "that looks just like a Florida Sunset"! As soon as I said that I thought my dad is going to pass tonight..well it was the next morning. Friday night when we were at the concert there was the BIGGEST Orange Moon. Karen pointed it out and said "Your mom gave you the Sun and your dad just gave you the Moon". That sentence will be with me FOREVER!! I have wanted a tatoo for EVER on my ankle (YES I am a BIG chicken) and that is what I would want..a sun, moon and a palm tree. Now I just need to get my nerve up and GO!!!

We are leaving on vacation the beginning of August (Gulf Shores) and I have to say I am sooo looking forward to getting away. We booked this a long time ago and it was suppose to be my family, my sister and her youngest and my dad..My sister and Katlin are still going with us and we WILL be having a lot of drinks in honor of my parents.

My Dad

My dad passed away this morning..
He was a GREAT dad and WONDERFUL Grandfather and now him and my mom are together again. I am sure my mom is wearing a new swimsuit and they are sitting on a beach together again!

My dad

My parents last July!!

As some of you know my dad has not been well recently. He was in the hospital for a 2 weeks, here for a week, home for a day (with my sister), back in the hospital and then in a nursing home in the rehab part for a little over a week.

We have noticed a decline and so has the nursing home...he went back to the hospital on Friday for a MRI and they found out the spots that were bleeding in his head from his FALL over a month ago has gotten worse..(Personally, I would like to know WHY he was not given a follow up with the neurosurgeon but that is another story). His options were brain surgery and honestly he is 86 and has to much damage already from the bleeds or Hospice. Plus he has voiced his opinion before this on he will not have surgery again and we know how much he misses my Mom and wants to be with her again.

He is with Hospice and basically sleeping 24 hours. He is not in pain BUT this is so DAMN HARD. We took the kids up yesterday basically for them to say Goodbye as we did not let them see my mom near the end and I am not sure if they will see my dad again or not. It was HARD on both of them.
Please pray he stays pain free and he will be with my mom on a beautiful beach again soon.

This is the only thing that is making this any easier for me...

4H Fair

This week is the 4H fair here..we went tonight and it was a BEAUTIFUL night there. They have a "PIE" eating contest and we were trying to get Nicholas to sign up but since there is a meet this week he would not do it....

Well as we were sitting there waiting I ask Tyler if he wanted to do it he said YES!!! I was SHOCKED to say the least. Well guess who got 3rd place out of 20 something kids..YES, TYLER!!! We laughed for the who 3 minutes as he GAGGED his way through a lemon cream pie. He won $5 and got a ribbon. There were a TON of swim families and kids cheering him on and he just kept eating.

AND yes..we had to try to win a fish and YES he won one...

AND no..I forgot my camera and bought these at the fair:)

Look who came for a VISIT

Susan and "Aunt Rita" and the BuNcO Box:)

Gabi, Susan and Emily

Nicholas and 2 Beautiful Girls:-)

Susan and her BEAUTIFUL girls who grew up since we saw them last were in town for a funeral last week..I hated for this to be the reason for me to see her but it was NICE to see her again. Susan moved a few years ago to AZ and is now in Iowa and is MISSED!!!
Susan girls both swam and I did Hospitality with her at the pool for a FEW years!!! We were GOOD:)
She also was in our BuNcO group and is missed..No one can snort like her:)

June "DRINKS" aka BuNcO

For the summer we are doing "DRINKS" instead of BuNcO..It is ALL about getting together and having fun and since so many weeks this summer are meets and some are gone for vacation we decided to just meet and whoever shows up is GREAT!!! This picture was taken at Barbs and we had a nice evening sitting out on her patio in the garden by her fish pond:) It was GOOD for ALL of us as it we talked about the FLOOD we had....Tracy and Terry lost pretty much their WHOLE houses and Barb and I had damage.

The Eagle has Landed:-)

I got the "call" before and the EAGLE have landed:)
(Exact words on the phone)
The "Eagles" AKA the Diehn Family are back in the USA!!!!
WOOOOHOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Welcome Back..We missed ALL of you!!!

Happy 4th of July

We are going to see my dad today at the rehab center;)
He said is is "better then he expected" so this is GOOD!!!
Last night we went to the Qm1x fireworks and they were PRETTY good..we just need to bring our radio next year.
Happy 4th of July!!!

Hoover Floor Mate

I borrowed one of these today from Mary J and I LOVED IT!!!!
So tonight I went and bought one. Our main floor is laminate and tile and now the downstairs is all tile so I know I will use it a lot!
I was amazed at how much cleaner my tile looks.

Another great thing about it is that you can use it as a wet cleaner or as a vacumn.

This and That

• Well, my dad went home Saturday night and is in the hospital today. His HIP is killing him so they said to bring him to the ER so my sister called 911 for him. He is in so much pain. It is so sad how he has went downhill the last year. We have reservations in Gulf Sh0re$ in August but there is no way he will be able to go and I am not sure what we are going to do.
  *Update on my dad is that he is going to go to a REHAB part of a nursing home for a few weeks to try to get his strength back..He is not "thrilled" with the idea but he he really needs to get stronger. He will not get better laying in bed here as he needs someone to work with him. Please pray..this is a VERY hard decision and I hope he understands why we did it.


• My DAMN washing machine is still not fixed..it has been over a week since it stopped and a week since the repair person was here..what PI$$e$ me off is this is the 3rd or 4th time for the same problem. I am TRYING to get it under the lemon thing as I bought the extended warrenty on it but they need invoices as they have NO record of what the one company did to fix it and they have not returned any calls..and this is MY FAULT!!
  *I did get a call today from the one company and they are looking for the invoice so hopefully they will find one.
• Tyler went back to the Dr today for his hand/fingers..they did another x-ray and the DR did say he thinks he probally did break his finger near the growth plate but being so close to the growth plate would actually make it heal faster..it is still a little swollen and he can not move it 100% so now we go back in 6 weeks.
• Today was a PERFECT pool day..Diane came over this morning and we sat out for a while and she left and I floated/napped for a while and tonight me and the kids went in.
• Tyler is doing a Lego Robotics Day camp next week with a couple of friends..this is SO HIM and then the following week he is at CAMP for a week. He can not wait.
• We are 1/2 way through summer vacation and I hate this..it seems as soon as it is the 4th of July summer vacation is OVER:(
• Nicholas 6th grade teacher passed away today..she will be the teacher that Nicholas had that will make a difference in his life..she has not been "well" and his missed a lot this year but no one was expecting this. Nicholas had actually wrote her a letter a few months ago telling her how much he appreciated her and how she believed in him. She had a daughter that swam in high school and she sooo understood and encourage Nicholas..she will be MISSED as she was a SPECIAL teacher. Her house had flood damage and I am sure that played a part in her death..a person can only take so much..
• It is still so depressing here..They tore a house down around near us this weekend and the people were standing watching and it was HEARTBREAKING!!
• Never did I think FEMA would be at my house..You watch the news it is always someplace else..
• Hank is in Mexico and if he calls again to tell me about the GOOD food he is eating I am hanging up on him!
• I need to get back in the habit of going to the GYM..I did so much better with eating and felt better when I went..I need to quit eating crap too..when is it watermelon time?
• Love the tile and am so ready for the drywall to be done..My house is a mess no matter when I clean so why clean.
• Saturday night we went to Barbs for DRINKS...we actually stopped Bunc0 for the summer and are just getting together for DRINKS so this is what we are calling it..
  I was suppose to have the July DRINKS but there is a outdoor concert that night here so we are going to that instead..Personally I have not heard of them but some have and we always have fun so I got a ticket to go..thanks Denise;-)
• Suzanne is back in the MONDAY and we can not wait!!! It will be nice having them back here again:-) WoooHooo!!!!

My tile

They started my tile today in the basement and I have to say I LOVE IT!!! I was going for something that DIRT blended in with and I think I did well:-)

Nicholas on his Bday

Here are a few pictures of Nicholas on his Birthday..The smile was over me teasing him about a GIRL!!!

Happy 15th Birthday Nicholas

Today is Nicholas 15th Birthday..I can not believe he is that old already as he was just a little chubby cheeked little boy. The day I became his mom was the happiest day of my life (tied with the day I became Tylers mom:)
This picture is of Nicholas and his Best Friend ANDREW who is moving back in 11 short days from England..Andrew being back here will be the BEST present for Nicholas. Suzanne had this posted on her blog and I had PLANNED to do a picture thing on mine but I ran out of the time or the energy to do it..so THANKS SUZANNE;-)
Happy Birthday Nicholas

You are a GREAT kid!! A Great Brother to Tyler (most of the time), and GREAT Grandson and a GREAT SON. Not many kids your age would swim the amount of time you do, teach swim lessons and be a A student. I am so proud of you and proud to be your Mom.
I love you!!!

3 word Sunday

HIGH POINTS WINNER

Nicholas had a swim meet this weekend. Hank took him today as I was in Cinti. but he won the High Points Trophy for his age group, 13/14 (he is 15 on WEDNESDAY). He was not "thrilled" with his times but he did ok for this time of the year..
*I am calling it "The $120 Trophy" as that is how much the ticket Hank got on the way to the meet today. This is why I HATE driving with him..he drives to fast and does not pay attention and heaven forbid if we drive past a golf course..he has to check out as many holes as he can!
**If you want to know what the 3 word Sunday is go back around 3 or 4 months ago and look for it..basically 3 words that describe your week.
***Sorry M..I could not get the words to go on the picture..Picnik.com was not working..hope this is OK. If not OPPS:(
****If you look at my dads shirt it could be another 3 word as I noticed it says "OLD GUYS RULE" . My dad LOVES shirts that say stupid things on them and they use to drive my mom NUTS:-)

Looks Whos Here:-)

My dad has been in the hospital for 2 weeks and was sent home Saturday. (Why I am not sure as he is not doing well at all). I went down Saturday night and spent the night BUT I can not stay the whole week with the kids and what they have going on so he had 3 options..
1. Short term stay in a nursing home

2. 24 in home care

3. My house
We had called the company we used with my mom and she was not sure when they could get someone out but even before my dad knew this he picked ME. Is he happy to be at "Camp Wang", NO..but does he know he needs to be here, YES. He can not get up from a chair, bed. tiolet without help and he is using a walker to SLOWLY get around with help.
So here he is in his smiling GLORY..I said to him..smile..smile more and act like you are HAPPY..this is what I got*. The one picture is the bump from when he fell over 2 weeks ago. He has 3 "bleeders" in his brain. We put Tylers bed in the living room so he will sleep there and I will sleep on the couch in the family room so I can hear him.
The 3 BAD things about here are
1. I have laminate and tile so it is hard for him to get up as his feet slip (found out the hard way)
2. We have basement stuff ALL over the house from the flood so it is AMESS here.
3. We have NO hospital as it has A LOT of damage from the flood.
We will be needing A LOT of prayers as I know we will make him NUTS:-)
*Sadie I told him to smile as I was sending this to you and that is when I got the smile I got from him.

Stuff

This week is BULLETS

• Took Tyler back to the Dr and he said NO BASEBALL for another week BUT Tyler said he said it was up to him and we went but he was not the catcher...Played 2nd and 3rd base and got hit in the chin/mouth and has a nice mark on his chin. (but he did knock in 3 runs and make it home on a steal:)
  
• Bought Fearless Fourteen and started reading it but have not had time to just SIT and read..sad thing is part of me wants to read it SLOW so it is not over really quick.
  
• My pool is still CLOUDY and I am pretty much OVER it..have NO idea why but have spend enough in chemicals this week
  
• I think we are going to TILE the basement instead of carpet, then if for some unknown reason we ever got water again (which I hope we NEVER do) it would be FINE! I did find a tile I like tonight and I did buy area rugs that I found on clearance so I bought them as I can always take them back if I find something I like better.
  
• My dad is "suppose" to get home from the hospital. He is walking with a walker and is still REALLY Swollen. He will not move in with either of us and he honestly should not be living alone.
  
• It is sooo sad driving around Columbus as everything is so dirty looking. The amount of stuff you see in peoples yards is so depressing. They are saying it will be YEARS before this is done. My heart breaks for Iowa and what they are going through. I will look at other places completly different after being in the middle of a flood and seeing friends lose everything.
  
  

2 more days:)

Well whats 5 post in 1 day...
I just checked and ONLY 2 more days till Janet Evanovich's NEW BOOK is released. YES, I will be buying it that day and reading it that day ALSO!!!
WoooHooo.

Nicholas is back from SWIM camp..had a GREAT time and is back at 6 AM practices so I am UP and blogging.

Gas prices and my dad Update.

This is the Gas sign while we were going to see my dad* yesterday..
I know a lot of people are spending more but I HATE sticking $ in a gas tank..
I sooo want a car with better gas milage..we should have NEVER bought the Kia!
We put $75 in the Van yesterday and it filled it 3/4.

*My dad is on the rehab floor at the hospital. We FINALLY got to Cinti to see him yesterday and he is SO DEPRESSED. He does not talk he just sits there. His feet and legs look like tree trunks as he is so swollen. He so misses my mom and he is in a depression. As of now I will be surprised if will be leaving at home again..He is not aloud up unless a nurse helps him..he is not eating and he honestly has lost his will to live. My parents were married 56 years when my mom died and he misses her. I am praying physical theraphy will help him.