And the thunder rolls....

As I sit in bed waiting for The Blacklist to come on, I am watching the crawl at the bottom of the screen showing a rough weather night ahead of us. The hub and I are currently taking bets to see what time we will have a little bed visitor come and and how loud of a thunder crack will it be to jolt her from her slumber. It's gonna happen. And of course on TCAP week. Why not. She may get a better night's sleep with us than in her own room with her hacking sister. Funny story. Today was not S's day. When I sent her off to school, she asked to have some cough syrup but knew it was almost gone. I knew there wasn't a full dose left so, in order to not dirty up another medicine cup, I just told her to drink it from the bottle. Yes. I am that mom. She didn't want to do it. She kept saying, "Something about this feels so wrong." I told her it was indeed something not to get in the habit of, but for today it was okay. She got to school early and sat a table, soon to be joined by a strange girl who spent the next ten minutes making fun of how she was dressed, what shoes she wore and how she fixed her hair. Then she said S was a slut dressed like she was: jeans, a t shirt, a sweatshirt, brown boots and hair in a braid. That certainly screams the "s" word to me. Great way to start things off. I told her the girl probably used the word because it was the most insulting one she knew. Then comes the funny awful part of her day. Because she hacks all the time, the hub wrote a note stating they may need to put her somewhere else to take her TCAPs so she wouldn't disrupt the other kids in the class. Trying to be considerate of the others. They agreed it might be a good idea, so where did she go? In school suspension with a kid who refused to surrender his phone for testing and another kid who had been expelled. Things got interesting in there for her...but testing day one is over. When she got in the car, she had a long face. "I had the worst day. Got made fun of, got called a nasty name, had to sit in ISS." Me: "I am so sorry, honey. That sounds awful!". S: "If I just hadn't started out the day drinking cough syrup out of the bottle...things could've been different." I started something awful. Word to this wise: Don't ever make your child drink Robitussin CF out of the bottle during standardized testing week. You'll ruin their life. Lesson learned.


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The sweater is a lie!

I have talked about my television viewing preferences before, but I will again for just a minute. It seems like the things I like the most always get discontinued. My favorite lipstick from years ago, "Satin Sunburst" got discontinued. Favorite cereal? Discontinued. Favorite clothing line? You get the picture. I have had some favorite shows that were discontinued way beofre their time. My prime example is "Sports Night" with Felicity Huffman and lots of other great actors. Loved it and then POOF! It was gone. So I worry, probably more than a mother of three in East Tennessee with no influence or association to the television industry should. Yes, the senior class president my sophomore year in high school is now a well established commercial and television actor, with some movies thrown in there...but that is neither here nor there. I LOVE The Goldbergs. Love it. So much so that I have purchased the entire season on iTunes. I love the music, the memorabilia and the everything it has to offer. I worry that i have given it the kiss of death by liking it. If you have yet to see this program and are a person who grew up in the 80's, please give it a try. Then you will understand "The sweater is a lie!".

Yes, I have no life and watch too much television on my ipad in the car whilst waiting in the pick up line. I'll own that.


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We are the world

We do weird things to pass the time here at the ranch. Since S has been sick and on all kinds of weird inhalers and snorty sprays, she has had nervous hyper times and painful times where she needs to pass the time somehow...mostly during breathing treatments. Today has been a full day: conference at church, a make up soccer game, Bowling for Kids' Sake, transporting kids to birthday parties, cleaning house and taking care of the sick and crippled. So tonight, whilst I was trying to wash the funk of the day out of my hair, S decided she needed a primer on the 1985 classic "We Are the World". She wanted to know who all the people were. She said, "I'll wait until you get finished washing your hair." "No need. Just hold the ipad close and I can tell you." I think she thought I was being a bit boastful and waited for me to trip up. HA! Denied pre-teen in my house. I got every one and was even three artists ahead of the song all while rinsing Aussie Volume out of my scrubby head. You see, naive daughter of mine, I had a copy of this on my turntable:



...and I wore that sucker out. Wore it out. If you get me on a good day when I am not too terribly self conscious, I might even sing it for you...doing impressions of the artists as I sing. Just saying, but I do a mean Huey Lewis. Jenny out. (drops mic and struts out of the room)....(comes back in and picks the mic up so the dog won't chew it up)
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Soggy pups and tug o war lumps

The hub was off for his 9/80 day today, so we took advantage of the school day to have a little breakfast together and visit Jerry's Barbershop so the hub could be shorn. As always, the barbershop was a hub of activity and entertainment. Smack talk ensued and a Seinfeld-esque barber to barber foot race challenge was issued. We were really hoping to see a parking lot beat down the woud result in one of the two wearing a tutu for the day but, alas, it was not to be. Maybe one day...we'll be there front row...with snacks. After our follicly charged entertainment was over, we decided to take the pup to the dog park. There were no dogs about, so her interest in being there was quite low. We really needed to wear her out, so our relief was immense when another dog came to visit. His people were driving cross country from California to the Poconos to see their grandchildren and discovered the park. The two dogs frolicked and played a bit before the new friend decided to go play in the water. Copper had never gone swimming SO we decided this would be the day to try it while the kids were away. Good call. The first time the other dog went in, she whined a little and watched. No swimming. THe second time the dog went in after his stick, Copper's curiosity got the best of her and the jumped right in. And went under. And was under there...and under there...and under there...and under there...until B and I started to go towards the edge and then all of a sudden a face came out of the water. A freaked out face that swam like the wind back to us. No more dives in the water for her. She would wait by the side, maybe her feet in the water, and wait for her friend to come out with his stick, take it out of his mouth and run off. Afterwards, she got her second bath and now is soft and smells like oatmeal and honey.

This evening we went to see G and her tug o war team in the Elite Meet County Track meet. It was quite the spectacle for sure and she was very excited. Extremely. She and her buddies tugged their hardest, winning their first match, but outtugged in many others. They came in 6th out of 8th. She was disappointed until they made it clear that they were 6th out of 51 schools. That took the sting out of it a bit. I was so very proud of G and all of her friends on the team. They cheered hard for the other teams as they had their turns; they shook hands of the other teams and coplimented them on their matches. They were such good sports. Such good kids and good representatives of their school. Winners all the way around.

I now shall collapse in an exhausted heap. Sleep well, dear three readers.


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Musings from the waiting room

I had to take the coughing kid to see the pediatrician today. We have grown weary of the hacking that sounds like she is a carton a day smoker. She is tired of half losing her lunch from coughing. I get that. They were a bit flummoxed at the office as to what exactly was causing the swelling in her sinuses, but there was no doubt the she was pretty much jacked up in there. So we were sent to what we might as well cal our second home, Children's Hospital, for xrays of the chest and sinuses. On our way there, we stopped for lunch at Cook Out, S's request. She enjoyed her burger and fries. Then she had a major coughing attack and lost her lunch in Cook Out bag. Never dull in the car. She kept saying, "Mom. I'll take the bag to the trash can. I suggest you not look in there." I'm not sure why she thought I would want to look at it, but I certainly appreciated the warning. Children's was hopping as usual and we had plenty of time to people watch. As always, I was led to question whether I am a bit of a germaphobe or others just aren't so bothered when their babies drop their crackers on the floor of the waiting room and they let them eat them anyway. I try not to stare, but I want to say, "Lady? Where you daughter dropped her Gerber Puffs that you picked up and fed her was once a child sitting with a pink kidney shaped dish, face a lovely unnatural clor of green." But I just sit and surf Pinterest on the free wifi instead. As we moved to the radiology department, we had to wait a bit for a chair to open up. Soon enough we sat down next to either a father/daughter combo or a gentleman with a child bride. There was inappropriate affection for at least one of those relationships. I encouraged Sarah to concentrate on her ipad Monopoly game and not be disturbed that the male in this duo was yelling at the Nick Jr. show playing on the television. The creepy little character girl was talking to her unicorn friend about mustaches and how they grow of all things. This man was arguing the accuracy of the information given in the program, like loudly so that they could hear him in the specialists' offices in the medical building. Yes, never dull at the hospital. Grateful for the expertise and service there, but never dull.

Unltimately we were told in a later phone call that S has cysts in her sinus cavity. These can kind of mess with breathing and invite sinus infections. So we are now waiting for an appointment to see one of our favorite specialists on the list, the ENT. He dealt with her broken nose and the boy's adenoids. There may be, depending on his assessment, removal of said cysts at another time. We have not shared this with her. If he feels the need to do the procedure, he can explain it. Until then, we'll hope she stops coughing so much and can get a bit more comfortable...and won't lose her lunch anymore.


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Modern Family Therapy

It has been a run of the mill day. A school meeting made my stomach sick, but then they all do. I did laundry, tried to make arrangements for next week and school and work and the hub's trip to Nashvegas for a second opinion on his back and tutoring and soccer. Nothing any other mom isn't dealing with. I really crave another Pizza Inn bizarre experience, but not necessarily by having to go there. I will have to talk to my brother and remember some more strange family stories. I've barely scratched the surface.

Anyhoo, in light of the events of the week, I am in need of some Modern Family therapy. The hub and I are getting ready to watch a new episode. It never fails to pep me up a bit. If that doesn't do the trick, I'll just look at this picture:



Baby gorillas. How can you not smile?


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Heavy hearted day

It is on days like this that I realize how very precious life is and how I need to remember that. My G's former teacher, and still loved by our family, lost her husband to a tragic and freak accident on Saturday. Theirs was the sweetest of love stories. People talk about soul mates and I always kind of shrug my shoulders and laugh it off. But I must admit that these two were soul mates in the truest sense of the word. She lit up when she spoke about him...it was lovely. They were married when G was in her class. The kids were so excited. I just pray that memories of their short time together will provide some comfort to her broken heart and that we can be of some help to her when she is ready to receive.

Prayers to Maria and her family...


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