Thursday, January 31, 2013

Milestones you never expect

There are moments in your life that are forever imprinted in the picture album/movie theatre of your mind. I did not wake up this morning thinking that one of those moments would occur today. After a very busy day, the hub and I dropped off the children at our friends' house and went to school for a parent teacher conference with the boy's teacher. As parents you always want to think the best things about your child, but it is always nice to have them confirmed by an expert in their field. So we walked out of school, heads slightly bigger than when we had entered and went on to start our evening. I picked the kids up who were terribly disappointed to have only stayed in the disco ball heaven known as our friends' basement for 45 minutes. The hub went to feed the dog before she chewed through all of my cookbooks and checked the mail. I had not had time to plan for tonight's dinner, so we decided to go to a restaurant. G has wanted to go to O'Charley's for months, but with an average wait of 312 minutes, we have not gotten there. Tonight was her night...no wait, no problem. Our waitress was a lovely girl who was losing her voice. You know that when the wait staff see a family with three kids they are in a back corner drawing straws to see who has to get them. I am very proud to say that my children have great manners and behave quite well in restaurants, but I understand the working side of it. She sat us down and started to get our drink orders. The hub, S and I got water. G decided to get pink lemonade. Now, in his defense, the boy's order got screwed up when fresh made strawberry lemonade was offered up as an option....but not for the kid's meal. He had to rethink his whole drink to meal combination. I get that. So when she asked him for the third time what he wanted to drink, this was his reply: "I want...umm...may I please have...oh, what do you call it? Oh yeah...may I please have a scotch?". If a record player had been going in the background, you would have heard the ripping sound of the needle scraping across the LP. The waitress's eyes got huge. The table next to us sat, mouths open in either horror or shock or pre-guffaw...I'm not sure. I didn't know what to do. I was frozen in the can I laugh at the inappropriateness of his choice or would that be encouraging something. We as parents are sometimes so over programmed to overthink every situation, we can't just immediately laugh at what is funny. The waitress broke the tension by saying, "That..totally...just ...made...my...DAY!!!". Our section of the restaurant simultaneously exploded into laughter. The boy was quite pleased, even though he had no idea what he said. After we all got control of ourselves, he made his order....the scotch of the five year old....Sierra Mist. After that, if he dropped anything or when he ran into the wall on the way out, staff kept making remarks like, "You'd better cut him off" or "He really likes his booze." Gotta love the support of others.

I thank God for moments like that. I'll never forget it.

And for the record, we have never had a drink in front of him...especially scotch.  Okay, maybe butterscotch.


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Wednesday, January 30, 2013

Kids have weird timing....

Well round 17 of the monsoons came today. It was my morning to read to the kids in the boy's class. It was also the morning that every news outlet was predicting tornadoes and mass scale flooding and, quite honestly, I was waiting for the prediction of frogs and locusts, too. The kids were majorly on edge. Every time a noise would come from outside, they had their little noses pressed up to the windows looking for tornadoes. They all needed a Xanax smoothie for snack time. I left school with a few reservations....they looked so nervous...and went home to do laundry and basically spend some time down in the basement in case Dorothy and Toto came swirling around for an unwanted visit. The family laundromat is down there and so is a TV, so I managed to get the laundry done, keep an eye on the weather and get everything up off the floor in case there were to be unwelcome water in there. That wound up being a good idea because the water came back. In all honesty, it always can be worse. This is just an annoyance. I have not sucked up any baby mice and I really hope that it remains that way. Attempts were made to clear a blockage out of our neighbor's gully which was blocked by their version of "yard trash". This term indicates leaves and sticks and weeds to me. To them, it apparently meant broken basketball backboards, picture frames with rusty nails, 2x4's and various other trash. Out of fear of tetanus, I decided my attempts at being neighborly in the pouring rain were to be terminated after 20 minutes of raking and digging. I was lookin' good, friends. I mean drowned rat in men's pajama pants and an oatmeal colored tshirt good. Then I got to go to church. But never fear, I got a shower and even washed my hair first.

When I got home from church, the kids were in the process of baths and their usual bedtime ritual. As I reached the top of the stairs, I saw my 8 year old. She was frshly pajamioed and sitting at their dressing table looking in the mirror. After brushing her hair, she turned to tell me hello. She looked like the after picture of a person who had been "jumped in" to a gang. I tried to contain my shock. I then realized she had been into the makeup. Do you know how difficult cheap little girl makeup is to get off a face? At 9:00 at night? I mean, why not put tons of that on one's face right after you've had a bath. Nice.

I am retiring for the evening. Watching an episode of "Alias" and then going to bed. LTD, dear readers. LTD.


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Tuesday, January 29, 2013

My head is going to explode....

I have no right to complain about anything...so I won't. Not publicly in this forum tonight. I sure want to, but I will not. Instead I will talk of other things. First off, our local ABC affiliate did a wonderful story on our friend, Barry Hughes who I have talked about at length. I think it is wonderful that they chose to highlight a man who has touched the lives of so many. Cancer is a cruel spectre that I despise within my very soul. It has taken away too many people I love, so I will give it no more press than to say, &^%$*$% to you, cancer. Forgive my punctuation expletives. I work with children, so I have to keep it clean. We are all better people with Barry in our lives, however much longer we are blessed to have him.

The second thing I will discuss is little boys. Good golly. The boy got in the car today, huffy puffy and annoyed with playground politics. This is not the first time he has expressed frustrations. Everybody has troubles on the playground at school...it is a rite of passage all must endure. We had the monkey bar hogs. S had the girls in the corners who would trap her outside of the teacher's line of vision and insult and mock people(including her...among other things). G has the foursquare hogs and the girls who call themselves the "Cool Kids". Whatever. The boy has the usual stuff: tire swing hogs, basketball hogs and tire swing pusher-offers. But to him, the most heinous of all playground offenses is the boy who calls them bad names. I have always encouraged them to tell me the word, no matter how bad it is. After some prodding today, I got him to tell me the word. This was not a new insult, just an ever confusing one for me. "Buddy, what did he call you?". "Well. He called me and the other boys a...a...a 'Seamus'(Shamus)". When I asked him what that meant, he said, "I don't know, but the way he said it it must be really bad!". This is the point where I have to really do trained yoga breathing and the like not to laugh in his presence. I managed to pull off a straight face. I mean, the most it means it like a private detective. Sounds pretty cool to me. Apparently, though, it is the kindergarten equivalent of a gentleman taking off his glove and smacking another man in the face before a duel. Who knew?

Lastly, G was reading the the dialogue in a speaking part she wants in her singing group's Spring musical. When she was reading the part of an athletic coach in a school she read, "Okay, kids. Hold your hand up when I read your name off of the 'rooster'." Now I know she meant 'roster', but the yoga breathing did nothing to keep me from laughing. I almost ran the car off the road. God bless her. She took it well.

I am a blessed woman, a mother to crazies, a wife to the coolest genius I know, a cancer despiser and a rabble rouser. You know you love it.


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Monday, January 28, 2013

And his laughter fills my world and wears your smile....

What a day, what a day. Baby Drew has had quite the day. He rallied a bit last night and then spiralled downward quickly this morning. 100% oxygen on his vent and a million questions. The doctors met and met and met and determined he must have surgery again, though fearful this one would be more than his little body could manage. His distraught parents sending pleas for prayer and healing for their child who has fought so hard every day of his short life. Those of us away from them could only sit by our phones and computers waiting for the latest update by text or Caring Bridge. Then to hear that he survived yet another surgery. That little warrior body is fighting to get better. He's going to get better in spite of all of the obstacles thrown in his direction. Remember this little face. He's going to do great things...he already is!

I'd talk about other things that happened today, but they don't seem very important and, frankly, they are pretty boring. I folded laundry while watching Alias reruns, made soup, bought K-cups for the hub and listened to music whild cleaning the kitchen. Living the dream, friends. Living the dream. I am very excited about the possibility of getting to see Bob Newhart on Saturday if we can find a babysitter. I'm a pretty wild person. I go out on a Saturday night to see an 83 year old man do his button down comedy act. Mock if you must, but download some of his stuff. WItty and intelligent. What more could one ask for?
Again, remember that little face looking at you. He has great things ahead of him...and we can say we knew him when.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Sunday, January 27, 2013

Sunshine can't stop my blues....

Today started off promising enough, I guess. I was so tired and had a hard time getting motivated to do anything. Flu has stricken some of the people I work with and so we were short staffed. Luckily I was able to get enough people to cover the classrooms and ran to ring bells before church. We got applause after our piece, which was nice and unusual. I sat down with my family and started the worship service. Then Baby Drew, remember him? His grandparents got up in the middle of service, signaled for our associate pastor to come with them and left the sanctuary. You could feel the tension of the entire church shoot up like the mercury in an August thermometer. Most of us started checking our phones for the Caring Bridge update or texts. Forgive me, Pastor Randy, but I caught just a few words of the sermon. I was worried and sick for the family. Then the text came telling us that Drew had taken a severe turn for the worse and had to go back on the ventilator. He has been successfully reintubated and is stable. The questions still linger as to why it happened and how to move forward. The mood was low all morning at church. Tears everywhere, worries and hopes and dreams for this fighter baby. He is going to be quite the man when he grows up. Watch out.

In the grand scheme of things, nothing is a big deal compared to the life of a baby and the struggle of this family. I think that the wieght of parenthood is a burden, a glorious one, that we all happily carry. One of my children has had a burden for several months. Tonight my child took a brave step and resolved to end the issue. Took the mature step and ended it, taking more than the lion's share of responsibility on . I will not go into detail for it is not my life to share. I share a lot, but know that I am proud of the bravery of my child.

If I wasn't emotional enough after all that, stupid Downton Abbey had to wreck my evening. I won't share the details for my west coast readers(I have none) or for those watching on Hulu or illegal downloads. Just know your gonna feel like you had a swift kick in the crotch after this episode. I'm now going to watch Bridesmaids to wipe the sadness of the day out and bring a little irreverence back. Pray for Baby Drew. Does he have a story to tell!


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Saturday, January 26, 2013

My child is loose in the city

My oldest got her wish and got to leave on her youth trip this morning. The younger siblings were mopey and annoyed, especially when there were doughnuts for the youth to have before they left, so we said our goodbyes and skipped out. Luckily my friend is a chaperone and joined Twitter last night. She's tweeting pictures throughout the weekend and texting us the play by play. S seems to be really enjoying herself, texting her FATHER five texts to my every half a text. Not like I gave birth to her or anything.... Those of us left behind enjoyed a day of nothing. It shames me to say, but I am wicked sore from my icy fall yesterday and still hacking from my sinus crud, so I took two naps today. And I think I will probably have no trouble going to bed tonight. No, I don't have mono I don't think, but I am zapped. After a nice visit to see my brother and his wife, we took the two out for dinner. The boy was stricken with a severe case of ants in the pants and bruised the bruises on my shin ten fold. He ordered the kid's pizza, sure that he would love it. His comments were as follows. First: "Mom, the black stuff they bake into this crust(char)is not good. They need to change their recipe." And second: "There are two things I'll take away from this meal-a loose tooth from that crust and the idea that next time I'll get chicken for dinner instead!". HAHAHAHA!! That kid has quite a future ahead of him. G enjoyed her burger and was beyond thrilled with the copious amounts of ketchup they brought her. Good gosh, restaurant, she could've floated her burger in that.

They are nicely tucked into bed. We are watching the filthy mouthed gold miner people. The term "gold diarrhea" was just used. There's some riveting television for you. I think I'll go watch more episodes of "Alias" on Xfinity on Demand. Who are we kidding? I'm probably going to fall asleep quickly. That's the way I party.


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Friday, January 25, 2013

Baby it's icy out-....whoops...I fell

Well, Icepocalypse hit our fair city today. No school, but we already knew that. No departure for the youth trip...sad face. Announcement of an unplanned Saturday departure brought squeals of delight. The yard and everything in it was covered with a pretty but dangerous coating of ice. We stayed inside and watched the spectacle unfold on television. Twitter was exploding with comments and reports. Who needed Redbox? Fearing our 14 year old dog would have a Bambi on the ice experience, I took her out the front door since the amount of concrete before grass is far less than in the backyard. First trip out happened without incident. Next trip out, to drain her full bladder, started out fine. I was able to get her inside without her falling too much. I got up on the poch and busted it....pride included. I am currently employing a firey hot rice bag to try and calm it down. Not much I can do about my pride.

I am about to take something stronger than sugary sweet purple ibuprofen for kids. I'd better stop typing before I get sloppy. Later....


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Thursday, January 24, 2013

School is cancelled...where's the purple stuff on the map?

Two out of the three kids in this house are ecstatic. One is terribly upset. In anticipation of Ice-amageddon, school has been cancelled for tomorrow so the people of our fair city won't be sliding up and down hills like some sick demolition derby coaster. Our oldest was set to leave tomorrow for Resurrection '13, a hugeongous Methodist youth gathering. She has looked forward to this for so long, probably more than anything else that comes from being a part of the youth group. If the roads are indeed transformed into schoolbus launching pads, the kids will not be making the trek to the mountains. There is still a chance, especially if nothing weather related happens tmorrow, for them to go. I have yet to see any purple on my Weather Channel ipad map. I'm no meteorologist, so I have no room to question the forecast. I just hope she can go if the weather is cooperative. I told everyone that I made sure school would be cancelled because I bought the makings for a school ice cream party tomorrow AND my contribution for the school dance tomorrow AND the snacks for S's trip and delivered them all where they needed to go. Blip....school cancelled. You're welcome, kids of the land.

Ending tonight on yet another downer note, I'm afraid. I found out today our beloved Barry is receiving hospice care at home. He is no longer able to walk and speech will start going next. We were told he has been given months. That was sobering to hear. His birthday is tomorrow, so Kroger has a table with cards for people to write him notes and well wishes. I wrote mine this morning and took the kids back to write theirs this afternoon. I told my friend, D, that it was pretty much a "goodbye and there's no way to express how much you have meant to our family for years" letter. Heartbreaking and eerie all at the same time. How do you possibly do an adequate job of that...ever? Crying in the grocery store will always seem weird, but I know I wasn't the only one. There was a steady stream of people writing their sentiments to him, wiping away tears as they walked away....looking to see if others saw them or if they had hidden them enough. God bless the Barry's of this world. The people who make your day a little bighter with their smile. Who know when your mood isn't quite right and give you an understanding look and a quick hug. Who make over your children like they are their own. We are blessed to have his kind in our lives and are better people because of him.


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Wednesday, January 23, 2013

Tired and sad

I have a tummy ache tonight. I'm thinking it is more stress and being overwhelmed, but it is also worry too. I'm asking for prayers, good thoughts and positive energy for our friend, Barry. He has a fast growing cancerous brain tumor and is not doing well. I just pray for his comfort and his doctors...but more for his comfort. He's just a precious person to our family.

The rest of my day has been nothing in comparison. My son, who always comes down with Wednesday Night Mania, followed one of our ECM workers out the door tonight and got locked out on the not so nice part of the street. Good times...good times. Glad he thought to pound on the door. His face was priceless. We here in Knoxvegas are bracing for Icemageddon that is supposed to arrive Friday...just in time for our oldest to go on her first youth trip. Maybe that is a contributor to my tummy troubles.

No real funny stuff today. Just a heavy heart full of sadness and worry. We all have those days. I'm sure a strange parking lot incident will present itself at just the right time. I know I need one to lighten the mood.


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Tuesday, January 22, 2013

There are no words....

I have had a long day, as I'm sure everybody else has. You know it's been a doozy when you find yourself at 9:03 in the evening, eating a bowl of fake Life cereal and hoping you can finish the bowl before you fall asleep in it. I had meetings galore today, followed by lots of scheduling and then ending with a dose of song, dance and one more meeting to top it off. I returned how to freshly pajamioed children begging to take gymnastics and a husband who looked like he needed a year long nap. Just another day in paradise...and I mean that. It can be frustrating, but I am blessed. On a completely different note, after a somewhat restful night thanks to Tylenol Severe Cold and Cough that you get carded for, I woke up groggy and not terribly enthusiastic about the day. I went through my usual routine: get up, go to the bathroom, wash my hands and check email and Twitter. Email because I have to and Twitter because it usually makes me laugh. This morning Mark Hoppus, a punk singer/television host I follow, put up a you tube video that has seriously changed me. I'll bet we watched it 5 times before breakfast. I'll leave you with the video and a goodnight. Warning: you may not be able to sleep after watching the clip....it is that good. Or maybe you won't be able to stop singing the song. Either way, you're welcome.

Monday, January 21, 2013

Odd man out

My brain functions differently than most...not that it is a good thing. So when I got a call about my child going to a sleepover last night, I had to pause and think about why someone would ask on a Sunday night. Ding DIng DIng! It's a holiday tomorrow! I'm a little slow, especially on cold meds. Sadness and envy arrived for those left behind. Understandable, but life is not fair. So then today when the other was asked over for a play date, sadness returned. The boy was left with his mother like the poor contestant on "Let's Make a Deal" who gets the goat behind curtain #3 instead of a Apple computer pack. Poor guy. I couldn't blame him for feeling screwed over a little bit. We did a lot of running, picked out a present, ate some lunch and picked out a puzzle to work together. Oh yeah, and we went to another Kroger location(I felt as though I was committing adultery against my other Kroger location)just in time to see two ladies bump carts and get into a verbal war near checkout until the cops got called. See what happens when you cheat on your go to grocery store? All this was less than mildly amusing for him. I totally understand that. Shlubby moms in Converse One Stars who have hacking coughs from bad colds do not hold the same caliber of excitement for the kindergarten boy crowd as, say, the Avengers. A close second, I'm sure. All was well when the hub got home to save the day with stories of crazy drivers and computers and, well, I don't know I wasn't there at dinner. I was instead in search of an economy pack of ping pong balls for a middle school project. Yay school projects where you have to spend money. All I have to say is that she better not open the package until she gets in her classroom. I'm not chasing those things all around the parking lot.

Regardless of whether the boy was happy to have a day with me, I'll always be happy to have time with him. He's growing up too fast and I can see his "littleness" rapidly slipping through my fingers. I'll cherish every second...even if two ladies arguing over shopping cart etiquette are involved.


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Sunday, January 20, 2013

Walking out aggression....

I have a yucky sinusy coldy thing going on in my broken down body. I sound like one of Marge Simpson's sisters when I talk and feel like I had a one-two punch from a Super Joe Commander right in the face. But, for many reasons, I still had to go to work this morning. Sunday mornings are one of my work days and there is not a somebody I have to work for me when I am like this. Anyway after a relatively uneventful morning there, I went home hungry and very tired. Nothing out of the ordinary for anyone, but I had a little extra tired with this crud going on. I ate a piece of lunch meat and then settled myself in the corner area of the sectional with one of my favorite blankets to take the chill off and closed my eyes. First, a somebody decided they wanted to snuggle up with their mom which resulted in said blanket being half ripped off my body. Then they changed their mind. Then another decided to sit in the shot out desk chair which is about as quiet as a squeaky gate in a tornado. Up and down and down and up and flop and flop and flop. Then run down the hall to see what is going on and return to flop back in the chair. All the time the hub is loudly whispering, "Be quiet! Your mother is sick and trying to rest!". Stomping out of the room and deciding to play a song on the piano and then back to the cursed desk chair. and then running down the hall to reunite with the othe sibs. I had flipped and flopped and tried to power nap through the noise when came the deathnail to nap time: "THEY PICKED ME UP AND HURT MY ARM AND TRIED TO HURT ME!!!!". Wellll, there goes the nap. I then barked the order to get socks and shoes and coats on for an outside activity. Realizing that to attempt to play soccer in the yard would result in a two parent operation of removal form the rain/snow mud that would sound like a giant suction cup being pulled off a window. So we went for a walk. We saw lots of flotsam and jetsam. We saw beautiful birds with the most lovely blue accents. My oldest saw that someone liked cans of "Icehouse" tallboys enough, they had to throw them all into the woods. They all got to learn what "Icehouse" was. These are the kind of Sunday afternoon bonding lessons that I'm sure will stick with them right up to that very first toga party with the Sigmas or something like that. We saw our friends getiing ready to go to a birthday party and discussed real estate and neighborhood happenings. Then we arrived home...tired but full of fresh air from a beautifully sunny skied day. I didn't necessarily want to take the walk, but I'm so glad I did. We had a wonderful time and got our hearts pumping too. Lovliness.


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Saturday, January 19, 2013

The problems these preteens have today...

My oldest went to a sleepover last night. I knew all the girls and their parents, so there was no problem. She was told to take "her" phone with her so she could call if anything happened or to let us know when we needed to come get her. The reason I put her in quotation marks is that the phone was originally purchased as a third emergency phone for sleepovers, field and church trips, etc.. It turned into her phone which is okay. Most middle schoolers have them now and it is very nice for us. We have it locked down and texting is restricted and we can read all that stuff. She has a boring phone, no smart phone with internet access and all that stuff that gets kids into serious trouble. We had a little snafu this morning trying to get in touch with her. She turns it off after every use. We had yet to eplain that she needs to have it on when she is away from us. Big whoop. We knew where she was...just the principle of the matter.

This got me to thinking: what does my child have today and what was my equivalent at that age?

1. My Child: An ipod/ipad mini to play games, watch movies, listen to music where ever she goes. What I had: a tape recorder pugged into the cigarette lighter of the car...then a faux Walkman...we had Merlin to play games on:



2. My child: Harry Potter, Twilight(which mine is not allowed to read), Hunger Games, Diary of a Wimpy Kid. What I had: Judy Blume, Flowers in the Attic(which I was not allowed to read) and Chronicles of Narnia(awesome!).

3. My child: One Direction, Adele, Star 102.1 and Selena Gomez. What I had: Hall&Oates, Madonna, 101.5 WQUT, Men at Work and some U2. I think there is clear winner there.

4. My child: Disney Channel, Nickelodeon, Food Network, PBS and 132-136 or something on the cable box. What I had: Superstation Funtime on TBS, some Nickelodeon, PBS and maybe some Chef Tell right before the local noon news ended.

5. My child: Bounce houses, xbox, Wii, Nintendo DSi, laser tag, electronics, assaults on the brain and more electronics. What I had: particle board shields and swords my dad made us, hide and seek, sidewalk chalk, street tennis, the Popsicle Lady and day long neighborhood bike rides.

I know my children are happy and I am amazed at all the technology and knowledge they have at their ages. I just wish they had a little bit of the 5-11yr old life I had. It was pretty sweet...
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Friday, January 18, 2013

"I can't put my arms down!"

Snow day today! Woo hoo and zip a dee doo dah! We woke up to the Winter wonderland that arrived yesterday and a whole mess of plans that the children had made for playing in it. What we found was a nice sheet of ice, also known as our street, which was going to make for excellent sledding...well at least better than mediocre sledding. The kids thought they had bundled themselves up sufficiently, but were sadly mistaken. I tend to err on the side of only slightly less bundled than Randy Parker in "A Christmas Story". We were then outside for about three and a half hours, gaining and losing additional adults and children along the way. One of S's friends/classmate, and our neighbor, came in and had lunch with us and stayed to play xbox before he had to leave on a church trip. We then received a mercy visit from our favorite pest controller, Kevin, to check about any family members I missed when sucking up the creepy mouse in the shop vac. Vendettas are hell and I am doomsday prepping for the remaining family members. After lulling myself for a quick catnap with the dulcet sounds of the police scanner, I arose quickly and went with the family to eat at the dreaded Pizza Inn. We left without a good story, took S to a sleepover which then caused intense drama for the children left behind and are nestled into our relaxation activities. The kids are snuggled under a blanket playing on their ipods. The hub is playing "Subway Surfer", his new addiction. I am writing subpar musings while listening to the Knox County Public Safety channel and realizing that there are some weird people living mere blocks from us. If only our fireplace was useable...well, next season when we save up enough money to have it restored from a disaster potential to a cozy evening at home.

One last thing. I don't presume to know who or how or why, but I sincerely thank the person who sent me the Bob Ross "Happy Little Trees" shirt in the mail. There was no information to tell me who sent it, but it was such a sweet surprise. Thank you so much! And if it was meant for someone else....too bad. It's mine now. :o)


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Thursday, January 17, 2013

Don't you eat that yellow snow

The dreams of thousands of children in our area came true today. School got out early in anticipation of bad weather and, thankfully, the weather arrived just about when they said it would...and when we arrived home. The kids went bonkers. At first, I wasn't sure if the excitement came from their early dismissal or the arrival of frozen white stuff falling from the sky. Either one would be a source of excitement for me, but I'm weird like that. After a fairly busy week, the trio needed a little bit of time to decompress and let a decent layer of snow fall before they got bibbed up and headed outside. That gave me time to locate the snow bibs and find hats and gloves and fifty seven layers of clothes. I know our Wisconsin relatives are having a little giggle at the drama over 2-3 inches of snow with bitter temperatures of 30. This area is considered a lightweight contender in the tolerating snow fight. Growing up in snowier areas with snow loving parents, we enjoyed the snowfall as much as possible without getting frostbite and I am usually more excited about the weather than the children. After an hour allowing for sloth and additional snow to fall, we bibbed up and went out to frolick and pummel each other with snowballs. They tasted the product before Cosby had a chance to leave her mark:



A side story of how messed up I am. My childhood friend, Melissa, and I would spend hours out in the snow together. We went sledding, built snowmen and igloos and tortured her brother, H, who is now a high powered lawyer and could probably come after us with some sort of pain and suffering suit. We weren't that mean. Just little scamps. For the record, I did not watch "Caddyshack" until I was in college, so I was not intentionally ripping them off. Melissa and I strategically placed melted Tootsie rolls(not Baby Ruths) and poured Moutain Dew all over her grandmother's front lawn. When her brother arrived, we took turns randomly walking around scooping up the different piles and eating them. Her brother, wide eyed and shocked, kept telling on us to their grandmother. There may have even been some gagging involved. I have yet to tell the children I did that. They are not quite observant enough to remember where the imposter poop would be if they tried it. That might result in years of therapy and multiple food issues. I took a few sledding pictures and then went inside to save my phone from a waterlogged death, only to find the dog had barfed the puddle of all puddles. Maybe it didn't help that she ate every snowball thrown in her direction. Lesson learned. The kids thawed out, got showers and headed to get warm underneath a blanket before dinner. Dessert consisted of bowls of snow ice cream:


Never fear. I set bowls out on the patio table and caught clean snow. Happy mouths and frozen brains all around. Just a glow of warmth from a happy house on a chilly night. Pure joy.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Wednesday, January 16, 2013

Then the rain came down...and the floods rose up...

Well, well, well. We woke up to a little surprise this morning...and not the good kind. We have, from time to time, had water issues with our basement. It is not a creepy basement, but not like a totally finished rec room of a basement. I have my sewing machine and craft stuff down there. The hub's workshop is down there. The washer and dryer are down there. Lots of stuff going on down there. The hub went to iron his clothes for the day, no editorials about my being a horrible wife who makes her husband iron, and found liquid in the floor. At 6:20am, he broke the news to me: "We have water in the basement!". My heart sank. We had a good three year run without any issues, but then again we rarely get 7 inches of rain in 4 days. The hub wanted to go out and investigate, but I felt that "Act of God" was a pretty accurate explanation of what caused the leak. He cranked up the shop vac and I started moving rubbermaid, boxes and paraphanalia out of the puddle and onto dry land. I rolled up the carpet and put it in a garbage bag to put in the garage. By the time I got up there, the bag had a good gallon of slurry in it. Yuck. I sent B on to work so he wouldn't hurt his back, cleaned myself up and took the kids to school. After reading to the boy's class, the water wasn't really going anywhere, I returned to try and start the cleaning and drying process. I would fill up the shop vac and dump it in the deep sink. Lather, rinse, repeat. Then after the 57th vacuum session, i took the top off to dump it again. I noticed something floating in the drum part. The kids have a play area down there with lots of craft items, a doll house with fuzzy animals, etc.. I thought about scooping the object out and saving it from the drain or trash. I thought better of it since it was gross water. I dumped the water in the sink, set the vac down and looked. The fuzzy stuff was still there. Annoying. I took a closer look, gasped loudly, started screaming and jumping and doing the heeby geeby dance.



A very unwelcome, but very dead, mouse was stuck to the side. I was more than sufficiently grossed out and probably could be heard screaming three blocks away. I turned a fan on the wet area and went upstairs. I texted the hub who was probably laughing his head off on the other end. After about two hours, I went to check on the drying process. The water had seeped in again, but I had already made it clear someone else would be getting the mouse out. A cooler head come over me. I took the bucket part, with the creepy wet rodent, took it outside in the rain and dumped it over the fence. I had to do that or the dog would find it and eat it and that's a whole area I can't even talk about. After sucking up more things that didn't feel like water, I informed the hub he would be opening the vac. What did he find in there? Plastic Easter eggs and no critters. Lucky dog.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Tuesday, January 15, 2013

Too tired to blog....effectively

It has been a busy day, but I really don't know where it went. Work, wrapping, pick up line, choir practice and my little cousin's birthday party. He was awfully cute and it was nice to be with family we hadn't seen in a while. With a gaggle of kids between us and going in a million directions, we don't get together too often. The girls loved playing with the little ones and the boy enjoyed playing with other boys and doing guy stuff.

A lot of you have wondered, okay one made a comment and two others just asked me in Kroger, about the "event". I will give you a thumbnail sketch since I am hoping to go with the sleepy momentum that is building. The boy was getting his haircut, enjoying the barbershop atmosphere, when he saw a commercial for an upcoming event and said, "I want to go to that by myself...just me and Daddy." Jerry, in the middle of cutting his hair, said, "Wow. He didn't even try to whisper that. He just put that request right out there." I wasn't shocked at all. Fortunately and unfortunately for him, it turned into a whole family affair. So we ordered our tickets, purchased our necessities and headed to the venue for the event. On the way, I contacted my friend E whose family attends these events on a grander scale, even spending a week in Vegas to watch the big wigs. She gave us some pointers and we were good to go. Then we arrived to this:



Yes, we went to Monster Jam. Now for someone who had been suffering from hellish sinus aching in their teeth and head, this was not the best place to be. But we will do things for our children that we won't do for others. The kids all had their ear protection on, the smells of exhaust and popcorn were in the air and we clearly had forgotten our colored hair spray. The boy was excited and the girls were as well. The hub was in severe back pain from the not so comfy seats and I, as mentioned before, felt like my teeth were going to fall out. The show was a very different experience, not bad, just different. A truck got a little too peppy and tipped over, which we found out later was an extra bonus when you can get it. This was the boy's reaction:



We survived it, marked it off our bucket list. We'll see if he ever asks to go again. I'll just say this about it: WWF for trucks. Bad acting, yelling and breaking trophies. It was what it was.

I'm still paying for the fact that we did not get the boy a Metal Mulisha skull mug snowcone. Oh well. He can work it out in therapy. I'm going to bed and listen to the no longer calming, now annoying, sound of rain. It can stop anytime.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Monday, January 14, 2013

Insomniacs unite!!!

I need some sleep. Okay, I need some sleep when it is the appropriate time for ME to be sleeping. I understand that people are sleeping at all hours of the day based on their shift work and geographical location, so don't get picky on me. I cannot sleep normally during the night. When I go to bed, I cannot, unlike my husband, put pillow to head and fall immediately to sleep. That is my dream. What I can do is lay in bed for 30 minutes and then fall asleep hard for about 20 minutes. I then wake up, thrash like I'm having some sort of fit and disrupt the sheet to person ratio in the bed, throwing off my entire sleeping universe. I then walk through the say like a zombie, but not the Walking Dead kind, maybe more like the lumbering mummy on the opening credits of Jonny Quest. Then I fall into a coma-like slumber whilst waiting in the pickup line at school. Luckily I have learned to set my phone alarm before any unfortunate and embarrassing pickup line incidents have transpired. You don't want to anger the people behind you in line. Not good, not good. So today I took a new step in the sleep issue. I went to the organic co-op hipster hippy grocery store to try and mind yet another herbal remedy. Melatonin has lost its effectiveness with me, so i need something different. I found the supplement aisle and started sorting through bottles. There were some L-Tryptophan capsules, but I couldn't bring myself to buy those. I don't know why. I got some tea that is full of all kinds of herbs and probably ground up caterpillars from the rain forest....wait, that wouldn't be eco friendly. Heck, I don't know if it will work, but I am desperate. The only problem with sleepy tea is that I always fear I will drink it, sleep too well and wet the bed because I drank tea. See, I get irrational when I'm tired.

I'll let you know how it goes. It'll either be sleep or a Bob Newhart Show marathon. I love me some Bob, but let's hope for some zzzz's.


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Sunday, January 13, 2013

It's raining again...how novel...

Downton Abbey is on PBS right now. Yes, I'm one of those people. Sunday is a work day for me and has been a long day, so my escape today is Masterpeice Theatre. There isn't a whole lot to report today. I did have one of my little pre-K'ers request I take a picture of his drawing he did. I love the minds of preschoolers. Here is the part of the picture he wanted taken:



The explanation given was that this was a person "pooping on the potty". I can certainly get it after he explained it to me. The person, throwing their hands up, seems very relieved to have done so. I wish he'd let me keep it, but at least I have a picture of the picture.

I sat in a two hour meeting this evening which, for those of you who know me, was torture even in the best of circumstances. I had to drop the oldest off at handbell practice at 4 and be the second adult, did work in my office and then went to my meeting. I left at eight ready to eat my hand off. During the meeting, my friend tried to find a snack in her purse to hold me over until dinner. A container of raisins and this was all she had:



Believe me, I was tempted. But I think the bald guy would have been a bit chewy. So I held out for a spaghetti dinner that the hub prepared. It was worth the wait and my tummy is now satisfied. Edith has a broken heart, Downton may be okay and everyone is good for another episode. Night all.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Saturday, January 12, 2013

Stil processing...

We had an interesting experience today which I am still processing. I am so sinusy and sore right now, I will save my opinions on today for another time.

Today, with the exception of the "event", was pretty boring. Because I was a bit of a grump, partially due to disliking the 73 degree weather in January and partially due to the massive back/shoulder/neck spasm I woke up with this morning, I was determined to not go out in the weather of the day. We stayed inside and wrote thank you notes, cleaned the downstairs and waited for the Comcast technician to arrive. I stood in line at the post office for a half an hour to buy forever stamps before they go up in price. Upon arriving home, I found that the technician had not arrived in his 10-12 window given us. After going back and forth on Twitter with my least favorite Comcast Twitter IT guy, "Comcast Michael", I was sent an ugly and snotty tweet from him which was less than a great idea on his part. I chose then to let the hub deal with them for the rest of the interaction. After the trouble we've had with them, I think I would be happy with a steady and daily stream of Bob Newhart show episodes from Netflix and ditch the cable. Our friend, Jim, is trying to bring us over to the dark side of AT&T U-Verse. Unfortunately for us, we live in a 3-6 house vortex where AT&T does not provide their cable service. Our neighbors three doors up have it...and it is around the corner. Maybe I watched too many Twilight Zone episodes and something happened. Anyhoo, I may have a talk with my twitter pal, "Comcast Bill", on Monday. He was who I asked for when "Michael" nosed his way in to the conversation. Comcast Bill ordered a manger to come clean up the antifreeze puddle left in our driveway after the technician's van blew up, endangering all the curious pets in the neighborhood who don't obey the leash law. I didn't ask for that, but he was appalled at the oversight and made it so. We love him.

Cable television is not that big of a deal. I am happy to read a book or sew something. I just can't tolerate rudeness. No siree bob. On a completely unrelated note, this is what my oldest wanted for lunch:



A plate of roast beef. And a slice of cinnamon bread. You people think I don't feed her since she looks like a child from a save the children ad. This was her choice...until I added some carrots and grapes to the mix. Take that, kid.

Tomorrow? Between an evening meeting and Downton Abbey, I will share with you the life changing event I was a party to even though I was grabbing my sinus pained head and hunching over like an old crone selling bags of birdseed. "Feed the birds. Tuppence a bag...".
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Friday, January 11, 2013

I want to be in a mu-si-cal

Tonight turned into a big ppphhhffffttt. I was supposed to go see "West Side Story" with my friend, A, but my sinuses have decided to go to war with me. My teeth feel the need to fall out of my head and I anticipate a night of Mucinex and motrin. We made a small outing to S's soccer game, which I could not enjoy. The loud yelling and the smell of the turf did not agree with me. And, admittedly, I was turning musical numbers into songs about sinus issues. "Mucinex cheap in A-mer-i-ca...Pain in my teeth in A-mer-i-ca". Or "Tonight, tonight. My teeth just hurt tonight. I'll mo-trin and all will be right." Yes, I'm an idiot. I love me some musicals. I recently saw the Les Mis movie and cried like a baby...several times. What an absolutely heartbreakingly beautiful story of redemption. I could hardly bear it. And Hugh Jackman was exquisite. I grew up watching and listening to "The Music Man". I always wanted to be Professor Harold Hill and sing with the Buffalo Bills. Yes, I'm a girl, but I wanted to be the main male role because he had the best songs. I got to be one of the prop people in "Fiddler on the Roof" and played in the pit band for "The Wiz". My brother and I used to run around the house singing selections from "Man of La Mancha" and "Jesus Christ Superstar". A proud parent moment for me happened recently when my children, listening to one of my mix CD's, sang every word of "On the Street Where You Live" from "My Fair Lady" at the top of their lungs. It doesn't get much better than that.



But for now, I'll dream of Robert Preston, Tony, Tevye and Javert and sing, "There out in the darkness. A fugitive running...fallen from grace, fallen from grace...." and cry my eyes out from the song in my heart....okay that was a little corny. But true.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Thursday, January 10, 2013

Listen(ooh wah ooh), do you want to know my secret...shame?

I shouldn't call anything my secret shame. After all, one man's secret shame is another man's pride and joy. As I've been sitting and listening to Cat Steven's, a singer some think should be a secret shame, my mind drifts towards movies/books/music that I might be a little hesitant to admit I like. Why, you ask, would I be thinking about such things? It has been a stressful day and I am simply trying to do anything to take my mind off of the yuck. So, to perform a secret shame exorcism of sorts, I have decided to reveal some of mine to you, my two readers. I will not share them all...I have to have some secrets from you people. Here we go!

1. My book is one that my mother tried to get me read for years. I refused...until I finally gave in and couldn't put it down. Then I watched the ABC mini-series. I know he has since come out of the closet and would not think of giving me a second look, but Richard Chamberlain was excellent as the priest with a secret and a lust for power:



2. My movie doesn't have as much to the movie content as the super cheezy soundtrack, because I have supermad love for James Garner...and the hub knows this...Murphy's Romance:



3. My Saturday night show is for the senior citizens in all our lives. As a young girl, I found it a bit torturous. Now, well, you know how I feel about accordions:



"Goodnight, sleep tight and pleasant dreams to you....".

4. My song is a story of a woman and the love she has for her beloved steed. If you don't shed some sort of tear for this song, well, you have no heart. I'll sing it loudly in the privacy of my locked car:



5. Lastly, my PBS show of choice. He showed us calm, genteel love and a world where we can do what we like:



Oh heck, who am I kidding? There is no shame here. Bob Ross was the painting stud, pure and simple. I'll wear a tshirt with his big, beautiful afro anywhere I go.

Okay, enough sharing. I don't want to lose the two readers I have. Let these percolate for a while. I'll discuss things less shameful tomorrow. For now, I'm going to make happy little trees with my paint app.....
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Wednesday, January 9, 2013

Do you hear what I say? Uh, not really....

I have a problem. I'll admit it. My hearing has never been as good as that of others. While it has never been investigated as to why this is true, I'd imagine that the hours of blasting The Who full blast through my fake Walkman earphones whilst mowing the lawn contributed to the problem. I had to go for a physical for a job when the hub and I were first married. During the hearing test, I was told that I had a 15% hearing loss in my left ear. It was announced to me with the same emphasis that one would use when asking a tablemate to "pass the salt"....mentioned and never fleshed out. That was at least 15 years ago. I've always had issues with sorting out conversations in a social setting, you know, with lots of people talking at once. It is pure torture. Go ahead, add a few more punches to my freak card. I will do it for you:



If any of these need explaining, I will be happy to do so over coffee and a breakfast sandwich at Panera or Starbucks.

Anyhoo, because of this hearing issue I have, I have heard some strange things from people. In these instances, I feel like I need the magic shop ear that Pee Wee puts on. You know the one:



What? WHAT?!?! Maybe it would help, but I seriously doubt it. Today was a prime example, but in my defense, a speech impediment does not help things. The boy and I were snuggled up in the living room watching G give a singing retrospective of Hannah Montana hits and he whispered in my defective ear, "Did you know secrets give you cancer?. I sat there semi stunned, unable to speak from fear of being rude during the concert, trying to process what twisted kid on the playground disseminated this gem of inaccurate knowledge to my kid. After "G Montana" finished her rendition of "Ordinary Girl", I asked the boy, "What did you say again? Secrets cause cancer?". He looked at me like I had an arm growing out of my head...kind of like this:



He said, "Uh, no mom. Cigarettes cause cancer! You are so silly. Secrets can be rude sometimes, though."

Now the disclaimer, I am in no way making fun of hearing issues. My grandmother suffered for years with hearing issues as do several close relatives and friends of mine. My hearing issue is real and one that has always been frustrating to me. We don't go out very often and when we do, I have a horrible time catching any of the conversation. I getting tired of asking people to repeat themselves. So we stay home. I feel a bit less freakish that way. So if I repeat back pure gibberish to you with a puzzled look on my face, don't smell my breath and ask me to walk a straight line. Just know that I can't understand what you are saying, but I sure am trying.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Tuesday, January 8, 2013

Owner of some snotty pants...

How was your day today? Good I hope. Today was the dreaded first day back to reality after Christmas break. The childen rose with a peppiness that was almost disturbing for my standards...and we all know my standards are a little bit on the wonky side. Since I am still on the losing side of a long battle with insomnia, the kids were able to recover much more quickly from the 6am wake up shock than their grumpy mother. I'm usually the one to emulate my mother's wake up call from *harummph cough cough harrumph* years ago when she would sing, "Good morning to you! Good morning to you! We're all in our places with sunshiney faces. So this is the way to start a new day!". We would groan and moan and get up and be at school at least 30 minutes earlier than everyone else. Now all you people know where I get it from. I sing it, not out of my own sickeningly sweet peppiness, but in that "whine at me and this is what will wake you up" kind of attitude. I'm not like that often. Just usually after especially difficult sleep nights. They all dressed in newly acquired at Christmas clothes and went downstairs with the quiet simplicity of a stampede from an African wildlife documentary. Who knew that three people under the age of 12 could make such a ruckus? Honestly I can never remember being that excited to go to school, so that must speak volumes about me. We don't have sugared cereals that often, so I thought the enthusiasm could have stemmed from the box of swirly Trix they have been nursing for a bit. The fact is that they were excited to get back to their friends and teachers. Refreshing. I dropped them off in a haze that only comes from 7:30am and a lack of coffee and headed to work. I'll fast forward through my day because everyone had one of those and nobody cares to read about that. After a shorter than usual wait in the pickup line, I got the brood home and began the usual Tuesday routine. Homework, paperwork, a little work crisis, dinner and dance. While at dance, I casually tweeted a question to one of my culinary heroes, Alton Brown. He has commented on one of my tweets before, but today was different. Today:



Yes, I know I am a geek for getting so excited about that, but he's been one of my favorites for a long time. My go to guy for culinary advice. So that pepped up a stressful afternoon. Naturally, I took about 50 different pictures of 50 different angles of the notification of the tweet excitement. We returned home from dance and I was eager to share my little brush with celebrity but there were baths to be taken, clothes to pick out and quiz answers to learn. Sweet G offered to say the prayer and insisted we hold hands. The boy, feeling extra full of himself, and allergies, had sneezed and was trying to scratch or wipe his nose during the prayer opening. G said, "Dear Heavenly Father, please don't wipe your nose on my pants." At this point we had to regroup and start again...once the guffaws stopped. Amen.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Monday, January 7, 2013

Dinner conversations on the Addams Family

Before a four hour "wear the kids out" stint at the zoo, I woke the kids up early for their last day of Christmas Break, fed them and let them watch The Addams Family. Yesterday I introduced G to this show and it was received in such a successful way, I couldn't wait for the others to try it out. My oldest was a bit skeptical. Being the middle schooler, she had to at least put on the front as the jaded preteen reluctantly indulging her crazy mother's request. But mom knows stuff sometimes....and I knew they would love it. And they did. The funny thing is, even though I love the television show and have always had more than a bit of a soft spot for John Astin, I love the cartoon drawings of the family even more. Charles Addams must have been one twisted guy, but that is why I love him so much. I can't speak for him as a person, his character, any of that stuff. But the man could make a picture say more than a thousand words. Weird twisted words. I have shared this cartoon before, I think, but I never get tired of it:



The kids laughed and laughed, wanting to visit the Addams museum house and loving how Gomez always blew his trains up on purpose. We dicussed how our families were the same and different. We talked about how the Addams family members accepted everybody, loved each other and were happy with who they wereee. We also talked about how we needed to look beyond people's quirks and look at their hearts instead. Who knew deep conversations could come from a 1960's television show? I'll take whatever chance I get to have conversations with my kids. Ahhhh, cara mia.....
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Sunday, January 6, 2013

Impending doom....

School is going to start on Tuesday and I feel that something not positive awaits them upon their return. What a way to start the New Year, right? With looming concerns about one child's learning differences to navigating the many vipers and traps of middle school or female friend relationships to simply learning to read as well as their friends, these kids have a lot on them and I can see the physical burden they carry. My prayer and hope for 2013 is that my worries are not realized....or not realized to the degree I fear. Yep, Debbie Downer at the bluetooth keyboard today.

On a light and unrelated note, I have introduced G to The Addams Family today. She was mesmerized. Gomez was always one of my favorite TV characters and I was so glad she enjoyed it. Her looming question was "What is Lurch's deal?". For this, I had no answer to give. He is just super cool. The hub went to church and Sunday School for the first time today since his surgery. He is completely worn down, but he went. This is a victory.

I hope that I will be able to bring mirth back into my posts soon. Right now, I have no mirth...but it will return. Tomorrow. Maybe.


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Saturday, January 5, 2013

Things I've learned over the holidays

Today, as I mentally cracked on the children after walking on Legos with bare feet, I realized that there are many things to be learned from the time spent with one's family on holiday hiatus. Many of these things are simply relearned, while others are totally new and added to my list of knowledge. I thought about these a lot as we were cleaning the house and preventing future Lego related injuries.

1. While Lego Indiana Jones sounds like an experiment in fun, fun, fun, it is in fact a vomit inducing activity for the likes of me. The ultimate buzzkill? Your mom having to lay down on the floor with a trashcan and a cool washcloth after fighting the Nazis for a mere 10 minutes.

2. Crumbs are invisible to children. Whole wheat toast, laying on top of a white paper towel on top of a cream colored countertop...apparently eaten by the Tasmanian Devil. Virtually invisible to the under 12 crowd. This is maddening.

3. Old school cartoons still rule. I don't care what Disney or Nickelodeon can do with special effects and computer animation. Give me Jonny Quest, The Superfriends and The Bugs Bunny Roadrunner Show on Netflix, and I'll show you children mesmerized by the excellence that they are viewing. "Overture, curtains, lights. This is it....".

4. My children will risk life and limb for a piece of candy. Any candy received at our house is checked and placed in a plastic container on the top shelf of our makeshift pantry(a shelving unit until the remodel is done). I have walked in on acrobatic acts that would make the Flying Wallendas shake with fear...and all for a Hershey kiss. Yuck. At least go for something good like a Reese Cup or something. And as much as they go through to obtain the candy, they go through as much or more to hide the evidence. Why not just throw it in the trash instead of stuffing it inside a kleenex, which is stuffed inside a sock, which is stuffed down in the couch cushions.

7. Trying a new bread pudding recipe in the crock pot is exciting. Especially when it smells so good and actually tastes better than you thought. But what stinks is transferring it from the crock pot "crock" to the "transportable to the Youth Confirmation Parents Breakfast" casserole dish and the end result looks like the aftermath of what my stomach feels like after playing Lego Indiana Jones. Yeah. They're getting mini muffins now...thanks to the hub and Kroger.

6. As much as my children want to be grown up and be trusted with big kids privileges, they knock each other over to be held and snuggled. It is my greatest joy to hold a lapfull of kid and feel all the stress and tension drain out of their body. I know we lock horns now and then, but knowing that as parents we can still provide protection and comfort to them even when they think they are too big...Heaven on Earth.

School starts Tuesday and I dread it. Not because of getting up early, well that's part of it, but because I genuinely enjoy my children. I love the closeness, the quality, the absolutely nothing on the schedule schedule. Well, it'll just make the weekends that much sweeter. But only if I stay away from the xbox.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Friday, January 4, 2013

Sadly winding down...

It is Friday and the kids return to school on Tuesday. It makes me sad. Very sad actually because not only are they going back, but the hub has started back to all day working. Not only will I miss his companionship, but I will honestly miss having a warm body at the house. I could drop the elementary schoolers off with him for some special time while I ran to go get the middle schooler. They enjoyed that time with him and I enjoyed the tiny bit of peace and quiet waiting to pickup S. Everything is working out as it should, I just had a nice thing going for a while.

The family went to see the movie, "Parental Guidance" today. It was not my choice, but the kids loved it and it turned out to be a pretty funny-tug-at-the heartstrings kind of movie. I wiped a few tears away. I'll admit it. After running some errands and doing some things around the house, the boy and I snuggled up to watch some episodes of:



I ate that time up. When the kids actually want to snuggle up, I'll take it every chance I can.

I wish there was a more exciting story for my day. It would be much more fun to read and write. But days like this, snuggling with my children and listening to them belly laugh, are few and far between. We can have weird experiences at Pizza Inn any time. Just hopefully not for a while.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Thursday, January 3, 2013

Feelin' the love

After the oldest had her sleepover, I took them to work with me for a little bit to send some emails. After taking her friend home, I received a call inviting us to one of the seven layers of hell also known as "Skatetown". The kids enjoy themselves, for the most part, but they are so exhausted and foul by the time they leave. The rest of the day is kind of shot all to Hades and I spend the rest of the evening washing the deep fried paint smell out of their clothes. This was the boy's first attempt to skate without my arms turning to jelly and my ankles getting ripped up. He was a wall hugger for 2.5 hours, often looking like Kilroy as he pulled himself up from a painful looking fall:



I vividly remember my first skating experience. We lived in Columbia, MO at the time and I went to a schoolmate's skating party. I fell so many times that, by the time it was over, my dad had to carry me out of the place, my mom had to lift me in and out of the tub and they had to help me into bed. I will not be at all surprised if he has trouble getting out of bed tomorrow. They all had a good time but were clearly done by the time we left. It was then stright home, into the shower and into pj's to start the relaxing part of the day. After dinner was over, the kids went to watch a show and I finished folding laundry. I had gotten a Netflix delivery of my favorite childhood cartoon, Jonny Quest, so I felt I was off the hook to work for a few minutes. Upon entering the family room after doing laundry, this is what I found...if looks could kill:



And yes, they were rockin' a vintage Wiggles sleeping bag...cause we are cool like that. They are going to hate me for this picture one day, but I love it right now. We could give this photo the caption of "Skatetown: The Aftermath". An update will come tomorrow when I see how hard it is for the boy to get out of bed. Have a lovely evening...bedtime is a comin' soon.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Wednesday, January 2, 2013

Another convert....I'm so proud

My oldest has a friend spending the night tonight. I must admit that I have failed my children in this department. With an older house that is in various stages of remodeling, I am self conscious about having kids and people over who may think we are messy instead of "Under Construction". Kids don't care, I know, but it is just something I need to get past. So I asked the girls what they wanted to do. They chose to eat at Zaxby's, have some ice cream and watch a movie. Instead of getting a Redbox or ordering one from Pay per view, we chose to watch one from our personal collection. I asked her friend if she had seen a particular movie, which she hadn't, so we popped it in. Her life will never be the same:



When I saw it for the first time in middle school, my mind was blown. Tim Burton is such a genius. I love everything about it. And yes, I got to have Mr. T cereal myself many long years ago. They sit transfixed now, trying to figure out what in the world is wrong with this man. I have always loved Burton's way of using strange and unusual people in his films. Paul Reubens had his troubles, but he was a champion for the strange and had a children's television show that had no rival...except for maybe the Weird Al Show.

Well, goodnight all. Pee Wee is dancing to "Tequila". No more needs to be said.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Tuesday, January 1, 2013

It's 2013 and Twilight Zone time

My favorite New Year's Day tradition as of late is enjoying the Twilight Zone marathon on the SyFy channel. Not the revamped episodes of the 80's and 90's, but the original Rod Serling and big name stars of the 60's and before. I recorded one of my favorites and watched it today, "Nightmare at 20,000 Feet". William Shatner has always been one of my favorites and his battle with a breakdown and a fuzzy gremlin on an airplane still gets me every time. What I delight in with these episodes is that my children, children of the computer animation and ipods and special effects galore age, are absolutely entralled by this show. Are they scary? Some of them are, but the ones I deem too scary are not allowed. Most of them deal with odd and creepy people or situations. Some have good messages about being happy with oneself or making the right choices. S was talking with her friend E about their favorite "Talking Tina Doll" episode with Telly Savalas. Eat your heart out, Bieber. Burgess Meredith, Savalas, Shatner...they're where it's at, kiddies. I will admit that 2013 has started off in a lazy way as it has been a rainy, yucky day. i did get the kitchen back in shape anddid some general straightening, but otherwise snuggling with children on the couch while Rod Serling talked to us was at the top of the list.

I will say again that in lieu of resolutions this year, I am just going to work on making me a better me. A better wife, mother, daughter, niece, sister, Christian, friend, employee, vessel for a soul to reside, all those things plus a million others. I want to be the best example I can be. For tonight, however, I reside in that 5th dimension..."the middle ground between light and shadow, it lies between the pit of man's fears and the summit of his knowledge. This is the dimension of imagination. It is an area which we call the Twilight Zone."


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad