Today we celebrated Tessie’s 15th Birthday with my sisters and their families. This is the first time we are all together since January 3rd, before all the college kids had to go back to school and us teachers got back to our hectic days of teaching.

We talked (loudly), we laughed (at each other and together), we ate, and talked some more.

We celebrated my girl. We celebrated being together.

All 8 (+ 1 – my nephew’s fiancée) whispered, talked, laughed, snuggled, squished themselves on the couches while they talked and laughed some more.

They may not realize it now, but the best gift Tessie got this year was time with her cousins! Bonus present: Franny is sleeping over so they have an extra 18 hours together!

As my baby’s birthday is approaching in two days, I am setting some goals for myself. Overdue goals.

• Cut out the Coke (I stopped drinking it about a year ago, but started it again and it’s difficult to stop again!)
• Drink more water – some days I don’t drink water until after lunch
• Get 6 – 8 hours of sleep – my sleep schedule is off and I need to get it back on track
• Get some cardio in at least 3 times a week
• Do some strength training (it was so difficult to lift the baby carrier even when there was no baby in it)
• Lose the baby weight (from all three kids)

I can’t believe my baby will be 15 in two days!!!

I drove to Iowa City. In the snow storm.

My two and a half to three hour drive took almost four hours. The first three hours were of me gripping the steering wheel with both hands, looking into the snow coming at me, trying to stay calm every time a car passed me on the left because the splash from their car blinded me for those first few seconds until the wipers could clear the windshield. The left lane was unused the majority of the way because you couldn’t see anything but the snow.

Once I made it to University of Iowa, I took a deep breath. we made it safely.

John jumps into the backseat of the car, says something so stupid that I honestly can’t even remember and Andrew and I start laughing. We laughed through the entire dinner together.

Just me and my boys. Their laughter took away my stress.

I know . . . EVERYONE does! But, I seriously get giddy just thinking I have a chance at winning.

February 22, 2008

At fundraisers I buy raffle tickets so I can win. It doesn’t even matter what I win, as long as I win something. About 15 years ago, when I was two weeks from my due date, I was at a fundraiser with my girlfriends. As I listened to the six digits get called one at a time, my heart started beating faster, my legs trembled, and each number called was on one of my tickets. When the woman called the last digit and I saw I had all 6 numbers I screamed, I jumped up, knocked down my chair, and ran up to get my prize. With the bag in my hand, I walked back to my table. My girlfriend excitedly asked, “What did you win?”

I responded, “I don’t know! Who cares? I won! That’s all that matters.” Then I opened the gift bag. It was an old-fashioned looking serving platter. I already knew this was going straight to my mom’s house.

March 8, 2023

The school where I work at is having a Family Fun Night this Friday. I won’t be able to make it. I bought raffle tickets before they even went on sale. I didn’t know what the official presale date was, but I didn’t want to take the chance I was going to miss it. I bought 40 raffle tickets even though there are about 5 things I want. My tickets have been placed into the boxes of the prizes I want, with a few in some of the boxes I know would interest my daughter, my nieces, and my nephews.

Today I also find out that there is a silent auction! What?!?! Everyone knows you need to be on guard at all times for a silent auction. Unfortunately, I’m going to be driving back from Iowa bringing John home for his spring break. I need to find someone who will be there, without kids, who can be focused on my bids. My friend, Sara, said she will be at the silent auction table! Score! I seriously couldn’t wait for the end of the school day so I could give her the paper with my maximum bids. I was very clear with my directions:

If my max bid is $150 and a parent is at $125, just let them have it. I don’t want to outbid a parent that really wants it for a small amount. BUT, if a teacher is at $125, go for it! If they really want it, let them pay more than my max bid!

I seriously cannot wait for Friday night!! I hope I win big!

Pete asked Tessie to make chocolate chip cookies for dessert. She brings out a tray with 5 cookies. Pete takes two, Andrew takes two, and I’m given the last one. I asked Tessie if there were anymore and the response of laughter is heard from the kitchen.

“What’s so funny?”

“Tessie, there are four of us at home. You should have made eight cookies,” Pete says in between bites.

“Um, honestly Mama, I didn’t think you were going to eat any. And I was going to make eight, but I got a little hungry.”

“Tessie! Did you eat it raw?” Ugh! What is she thinking.

“It’s edible before you start your lecturing. Yes, I ate one and then I made the other seven.”

The confusion shows on my face. “Seven? Where were there seven? There were only five on the tray.”

Tessie pointing to Pete, “One, two,” then pointing towards the office to Andrew, “three, four.” She continues to point at me and says, “five, si . . “

I interrupt her mid number, “Um no! I only got one. You only gave me one.”

“Oh! Um, yeah! Daddy one, two. Andrew three, four. You, five. And I guess I had six and seven.” She can’t control her laughter.

I on the other hand am craving chocolate chip cookies. One is not enough to satisfy the craving. It’s actually just enough to awaken my taste buds. And now I’m craving chocolate chip cookies!

“Thank you, Mommy for taking us to the park.”

“Thank you, Mommy for bringing us to Yiayia’s house so we can play with the cousins.”

“Thank you, Mommy for making us dinner.”

“Thank you, Mama for taking me shopping.”

“Thank you, Mom for taking care of me.”

Thanks Mom for picking me up.”

Thanks Mom for taking me to the basketball game tonight. I really appreciate it.”

“Thank you, my loves for recognizing all I do for you.”

My Mind had so many plans for the weekend – clean out closets, deep clean the bedrooms and open the windows for some fresh air, change the sheets for all 4 beds, order wedding shower invitations for my nephew’s upcoming wedding, work on my posts for SOL, complete my homework for my class I took through my school district, book hotels for upcoming college visits, pick up my husband from the airport, watch Andrew play basketball, make numerous calls, visit my mom, and hang out with Tessie.

My Body didn’t want to have any of that!

So, my Body compromised with my Mind: it was willing to do anything that didn’t require too much physical movement.

My Mind and Body posted Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, as well as commenting on numerous posts, I went to my sisters house and ordered wedding shower invitations for my nephew’s (and soon-to-be-niece’s) upcoming shower, went to lunch with my youngest sister at one of our favorite Italian restaurants, stopped by my mom for a quick visit, watched Andrew play basketball, enjoyed a nice dinner with Tessie followed by snuggling on the couch catching up about all things going on in her friend universe, completed my homework for my math class, and picked up Pete from the airport. Although most of my weekend was spent sitting or driving, my Mind worked and got a lot marked off the To-Do list.

I’ll take it as a win for now!

My mind always has big plans!

Mind: Once I get home, I’m going to change into comfy clothes, bring down the laundry and get a few loads done while I grade these essays. After that we’ll have dinner and then I’ll pay the bills.

Body: Walks in the house, takes off coat and shoes. Drops school bag, purse and lunch bag on the kitchen floor, grabs the cell phone and sits on the couch saying, “I just need 5 minutes to relax.” Two hours later, the body is just too tired to eat dinner at the kitchen table and asks, “What’s for dinner? Is it something that needs to be eaten at the kitchen table?” The body also then takes a nap at 8:00 pm and wakes up from that nap at 2:00 am. The deep sleep hits at 5:00 am and fights with the mind an hour later when the mind is saying, “We need to get up! I have to put gas in the car so I don’t have time to snooze 5 times today.” The body continues to snooze the alarm 3 times, shuts off the alarm, and resets a new alarm for 6:45 am.

This weekend I really hope the Mind can overcome the Body. There is so much on the Mind’s To-Do List!

At 1:30 this afternoon I send a text to my two sisters and my cousin Helen in Montreal, Canada. My one sister and my cousin respond to the text.

Three hours later I receive a text from an unknown number. Once I see it’s a 514 area code I realize it must be one of my cousins in Montreal.

I open the text and read “Helen Bougas (514) ### – ####. This is my new number.”

“Oh. So the 714 number is no longer a good number to use?”

“No. I’m starting a new job and I wanted a new number. Out with the old, in with the new.”

I go into my contacts and delete the old contact and create a new contact with the new number.

As I scroll through Facebook I see a post from my cousin Helen. “Hey everyone! I have a new cell number. If you want my number message me and I can send it to you.”

😬

I go back to my text messages. “Is this Uncle John’s Helen or Uncle Peter’s Helen?”

“Uncle John’s”

I go back to my contacts, open up Helen (Uncle Peter’s) change it to Helen (Uncle John’s), go back to the group text I had with my cousin and sisters and create a contact for that Cousin Helen.

#GreekFamilyProblems

#WhySoManyHelens

#ThereAre7HelenBougasesInMyFamily

We’re supposed to be getting a lot of snow tomorrow in the Chicago suburbs. I haven’t decided if I want enough to call for a remote day or not.

Our students don’t have school, so it wouldn’t take any extra effort on my part to be remote. Our Institute Day meetings would move from in-person to remote. My own children have off tomorrow for Teachers Institute Day so it wouldn’t require me to have to get up and take them to school. My husband is out of town so I wouldn’t feel guilty lounging in pajamas and sitting on the couch all day.

But on the other hand, I have plans after school that I don’t want to miss. I wanted to spring clean this weekend, but if there is snow everywhere it won’t feel very springy and my spring cleaning mood will disappear quickly.

I guess I’ll leave it to Mother Nature to decide!