What a Year!

This year has gone by so fast! It seems the older I get – the faster it flies by! I blame it on Flo. She keeps having all these birthdays – and drags me along with her.
This year has seen a lot of changes. Some good, some bad, some happy, some sad. Oh lookie!!I rhymed!
My OS and FDIL moved into their own place this year and have been setting up housekeeping to their likes. They recently added to their little family – they got a puppy!
MS joined the Marines, graduated from boot camp and is in training now.
This was a year of firsts for DD. She attended her first prom, got her driver’s permit (finally), and started her first job. Her last year of high school has started – and we’ve been busy picking out Senior pictures, ordering cap and gown, etc, etc.
SD graduated high school also and is attending college here in KC.
YS kept me busy this spring and fall with baseball and football. (Is lawn-chair butt permanent?)
Hubby has had some hard losses this year with the passing of his best friend and then another close friend. Both were sudden and difficult to deal with. He also learned his boss has cancer, so poor hubby has been looking at his life and making some good choices. He’s cut back on his work load and spends more time at home. (Not that that’s always a good thing!!) He’s been able to do some things that he’s always put off thinking there’s time to do, so some positive things have come about.Been a busy year for nephews! I had two nephews get married this year. One has moved to Canada to attend school there. The other lives with wife and baby down the hi-way a wee-bit. Another nephew graduated high school and is attending college here in the home state.
And me you ask? Well, I started what was to be a simple, quick remodel job in my house. So what if it took 11 months and a few more dollars to complete? It’s done and looks great. I’ve joined two volunteer organizations this year. Both help our soldiers overseas. I have had a wonderful time with these two groups and find it so fulfilling and it keeps me busy and off the streets as they say! I had surgery on my foot early this summer and that has been and still is quite troublesome. I did manage to find shoes that I could wear before the snow storm hit so I’m grateful. I was beginning to think I’d have to wear my flip flops year-round!
I also took some nice little mini-vacations this year. My family went camping over Memorial weekend. We left a few days early to have extra time at the lake and just really enjoyed ourselves. We also took a canoe troop over hubby’s birthday. We went with OS, FDIL, and her parents and it was a blast! Gonna make it an annual thing now! I also went to San Diego with OS to see MS graduate from boot camp. We went a day early so we could go to Sea World and see Shamu! Awesome trip!
Our extended families have had some major health issues this year, but we’re so grateful that everyone is still here with us and we were able to celebrate the holidays together.

It was a wild and crazy year – and I’m looking forward to next year!

May you all enjoy the happiest and safest New Year!

part 2

I awoke Christmas morning at 5 AM. Had to get the ham on, breakfast ready and a zillion other things before YS and DD got up and OS and FDIL showed up. I managed to stay ahead of schedule and even had time to read a few blogs before the day just snow balled!
I tell you, it just doesn’t get any better than watching a young child open their gifts on Christmas morning! The excitement is contagious and Santa must have decided we were all very good this year! Everyone was surprised and very happy!
After the opening of the gifts I began in earnest preparations for the big dinner. DD moaned because she always gets stuck peeling potatoes. I offered to trade her places but she declined so her rights to moan and groan ceased to exist and she had to muddle through – and she did well I might add.
Dinner was a half an hour late to the table due to late arrivals (hmmmm….flo?), a deep fried turkey that was taking unusually long, and all around craziness, but it was well worth the wait. The spiral ham turned out beautifully and the green beans were awesome. YS said the blessing and it was every man for himself. There was so much food that if anyone left hungry – they had no one to blame but themselves!
After dinner we got the chance to really visit and that was nice. Everyone was gone by 6:30 and the our family gathered to watch the movie “Cars”. It was a great movie and a nice way to end a nice day.

Naughty or Nice?

And how was YOUR Christmas?!?!?
Was Santa good to all of you? Let me tell you about my holiday weekend!
Friday started off with a frantic phone call to the dr. It seems that YS had developed an ear infection. I wasn’t sure what was up with him – just that something was. So it was either I beg the office manager to find time in their double-booked schedule for him – or I knew an ER visit was coming. I admit I groveled but I got him in! A z-pack later he’s on his way to full recovery.
DD and I ventured to the mall (yuck!) and finished up the shopping that we had to do there – made good time so I couldn’t complain too much. Hit all the stores I needed for gift cards and loved the in and out way of shopping! I felt like I had accomplished so much that way! I even managed to stop and pick up some great throw pillows for my couch…I’m really pleased at that point and head to the local grocery in that town hoping to find me a whole spiral ham. I can find half-spiraled hams all over the place. Finding a whole one is a different story. I had already shopped at all the markets between home and this town so it was this or I’d end up with 2 halves. Not my first choice but will pork in a pinch. I found one and soon DD and I were home with our goodies! Then it’s was hubby’s turn to take off and get a haircut and finish some shopping that he wanted to do without little eyes around (which is good news for me!) so DD, YS and I started watching Ice Age 2 and all three of us ended up taking an afternoon siesta!
After we woke up we checked our list (we made a daily list up until Xmas of things to do so we wouldn’t get behind) and found out that we were behind now! We doubled-timed it and got everything taken care of and even managed to watch the movie we had slept through. It was a great movie! I do question the rating though. I’m not a prude by any means but this movie is rated PG and I’d have to say it should have been PG-13, but that could be another topic!
Saturday rolled around and it was time to prepare for the next days festivities. I started making the cookies for Santa – and all the little “elves”, the fruit salad (love the foods I can make ahead if time!), made some deviled eggs and generally got things lined out. A friend of mine stopped by for a few and it was nice to be able to give her a Christmas hug and wish her happy holidays. Hubby finished his shopping and YS was feeling well enough to go with him and get that special present for Mom. The evening brought a casual-ness to it with frozen pizzas for dinner and another shot at watching Ice Age 2 – which we all managed to stay awake for.
Christmas Eve started early for me. I was up and had pies in the oven by 7 AM. I baked pies all day, boiled more eggs for the next day and readied myself and YS for the evening. We went to Sis’s house (Flo’s) for the evening and had dinner with the step-family. We were given a tour of their new house (almost completed!) and just fell in love with the architecture. I’m looking forward to seeing it completed and Flo getting all her things out of storage and into the house – as I’m sure she is too! It’s a beautiful home, well worth the wait and well earned by her whole family. Their family has worked hard, done without when needed and been through two deployments and heartfeltly deserve everything going their way. Moving on, the evening was nice and I enjoyed seeing everyone but Santa was n his way, so we had to move on home and get YS into bed, and all that was accomplished by 10:30. We had gone onto bed about 12:30 and about 1:30 – hubby got up to fine YS watching the discovery channel on TV. He said he couldn’t sleep and oh yeah….Santa had been there already – can he open his presents now? Hubby explained how that just wasn’t gonna happen and helped YS back to bed where he sleep peacefully until Christmas morning…

To be continued

To Be or Not To Be

I attended YS’s class Christmas party at school. I’ve been to many of these over the year. I kept saying to myself that someday I’ll be done. I’ll never have to do another one of these and then I realized that I only have 2 more. YS will be in middle school – and they don’t have parties in that school..
Anywho, this party was well organized and went as smooth as butter! The kids cooperated nicely and were very well mannered.
My job was to take Polaroid pictures of each kid standing next to Santa and then the kids decorated greeting cards (that the pictures went into) while they waited for the pictures to develop. One boy told me that he had seen a camera like the one I had in a really, really, really old movie that him and his mom watched. He thought his mom told him that the movie was made in the 80’s. It was time to change the subject.
The party was moving along and all the kids and I got into quite the discussion on whether or not Santa really exists. There was a wide gambit of opinions, and feelings ran high on this subject. Very passionate these kids were, on both sides of the “issue” and the whole time I was thinking “gee – wouldn’t it be nice if this was your only concern in life!” I did have to step in once and remind them that everyone has an opinion and everyone has a right to that opinion and that kept things under semi-control.
It got me to thinking of when we were kids and the lengths that my parents went to in order for us kids “to believe”. I remember one year – and I was about YS’s age, when the thought of just who Santa really is and does he really exist was a troublesome question for me. We went to midnight mass and when we got home our presents from Santa were all laid out. Now both of our parents attended church with us – all four of us kids kept on eye on them! So if it was dad and it wasn’t mother…who was it? Well it just HAD to be Santa! My beliefs were good for another two years! Seriously though, my parents did go to a lot of trouble for all of us. Christmas was a magical day for us. I hope my kids look back on their childhood Christmas memories just as fondly as I do.


May each of you have a safe and wonderous holiday season! Spend your time with those you love, think of those you can't be with, and have a hug on me!

Merry Christmas!!!

A Stinky Situation

Years ago, I took my Girl Scout troop camping. We went to a camp down by Warsaw. Beautiful camp, absolutely gorgeous. Wonderful place to take hikes, rappel off a cliff, watch the wildlife, learn archery, study creatures in the lake water. Just an incredible amount of opportunities for the girls to learn something and have fun doing it
We stayed in a site that had perma-tents. One had electricity but the girls didn’t know it and I wasn’t telling. That perma-tent was left empty.
We had the usual fire ring – the ranger (a good friend of mine) had brought us a stack of firewood. Only the big stuff, the girls had to find their kindling. We were still learning different camping techniques so this was a compromise.
Our latrine wasn’t bad. It was a cement block building of sorts; long sink with spouts on one side, and three stalls on the other side (with porta-potty type toilets) with cement floor in between and open on both ends. There was one light bulb that was on 24/7 hanging in the middle of the building. Roughing here was not bad. I’ve been worse places for sure!
We had a great first night there. The girls were in a good mood and cooperative. We sang songs around the campfire and ate smores – it was girlie – and it was fun!
The next day we kept the girls busy with KP duty, and as many fun activities as we could squeeze into the weekend. All the while we were working on badgework. The theme for the weekend was “direction” so we learned to use a compass and played games to enforce it. The archery instructor even showed the girls how important it was to know which direction the wind was blowing. It was a great fall day and the girls worked hard and played hard, so it didn’t take much convincing to get them to bed down for the night.
We spread the adults out amongst the girl in different tents. They were still a little young and a few got nervous and so it wasn’t a problem. We did our nightly checks – no food in the tents. (It’s amazing how many times you tell apparent – do not pack food…or at least tell me that you’ve packed food so I know to remove it at bedtime. There isn’t anything worse than a pissed off raccoon who wants that food!)
Anywho, as my luck would have it, nature called in the middle of the night. I quickly dressed, grabbed my flashlight, and dashed off to the latrine (the girls’ would’ve had buddies).I’m almost there when I hear a noise. I look towards the picnic area and there sat the fattest raccoon I’d ever seen in my life. The summer camp kids were good to this guy let me tell you. His cholesterol had to be over 300 for sure. But, that wasn’t the noise I was hearing either so I stopped just short of walking into the open area of the latrine. The light of course was burning and luckily so, because in front of me was momma and baby skunk! I froze, didn’t so much as blink while momma got between me and baby. I’m thinking “oh sh*t”. Real Girl Scout-like isn't it? I stood like that – and blinking only when necessary for 22 minutes. I cannot think of a time when 22 minutes went any slower. That baby was all over the place exploring and momma had her eye on me the whole time. Kept between me and the little one – she was a good mommie. I tried to back away once and I saw the tail rise up. I froze. I didn’t know how far she could shoot that stuff! So I froze – and I stayed frozen. Now you know I waited until the very last minute to get out of my bunk to pee in the middle of the night so after 22 minutes of waiting, I’m about to the point of crying. Baby finally decides to head off in the other direction and momma happily followed. As soon as they were out of sight, I hear “Are they gone yet?” I about lost it! Scared me to death! My assistant leader was in the middle stall (it had a door with slats on it)! I had no idea she was in there! I mentally thanked my OBGYN for telling me about the benefits of the Kegal exercises and swore upon my flashlight that I’d do them faithfully for the rest of my life. Told her not to go anywhere till I got out and went to do my business.
When I was recovered, she explained that she was just about to leave when she thought she heard something. She looked out the slat on the door and saw the baby skunk and knew momma wasn’t far away so she just stood there watching me. She was afraid to say anything to me for fear it would scare momma and she’d shoot with her stuck in that stall! We both got to laughing.
Course the girls were bummed since they didn’t get to see the baby but we had seen enough!

Better

Man! It is amazing what 24 hours of antibiotics will do for a person! That Keflex is some good stuff! Anyway, I'm feeling better but still not up to snuff so maybe I'll write more later - but it might be tomorrow. Gonna get the YS off to school and head back to bed. You all have a great day!

Blog

Due to the fact that I have a severe (not a mild one - they said severe - I just know it's painful ) sinus infection and a general feeling of poo...there will be no blog today :(

Holiday Eating Tips

I wouldn't normall pressume to tell anyone how, who or what to eat but with Christmas only a week away and office parties, dinner parties and the like keeping everyone busy this week; I just thought I'd pass these tips along


1. Avoid carrot sticks. Anyone who puts carrots on a holiday buffet table knows nothing of the Christmas spirit. In fact, if you see carrots, leave immediately. Go next door, where they're serving rum balls.

2. Drink as much eggnog as you can. And quickly. it's rare. You can't find it any other time of year but now. So drink up! Who cares that it has 10,000 calories in every sip? It's not as if you're going to turn into an eggnog-alcoholic or something. It's a treat. Enjoy it. Have one for me. Have two. It's later than you think. It's Christmas!

3. If something comes with gravy, use it. That's the whole point of gravy. Gravy does not stand alone. Pour it on. Make a volcano out of your mashed potatoes. Fill it with gravy. Eat the volcano. Repeat.

4. As for mashed potatoes, always ask if they're made with skim milk or whole milk. If it's skim, pass. Why bother? It's like buying a sports car with an automatic transmission.

5. Do not have a snack before going to a party in an effort to control your eating. The whole point of going to a Christmas party is to eat other people's food for free. Lots of it. Hello?

6. Under no circumstances should you exercise between now and New Year's. You can do that in January when you have nothing else to do. This is the time for long naps, which you'll need after circling the buffet table while carrying a 10-pound plate of food and that vat of eggnog.

7. If you come across something really good at a buffet table, like frosted Christmas cookies in the shape and size of Santa, position yourself near them and don't budge. Have as many as you can before becoming the center of attention. They're like a beautiful pair of shoes. If you leave them behind, you're never going to see them again.

8. Same for pies. Apple. Pumpkin. Mincemeat. Have a slice of each. Or if you don't like mincemeat, have two apples and one pumpkin. Always have three. When else do you get to have more than one dessert? Labor Day?

9. Did someone mention fruitcake? Granted, it's loaded with the mandatory celebratory calories, but avoid it at all cost. I mean, have some standards.

10. One final tip: If you don't feel terrible when you leave the party or get up from the table, you haven't been paying attention. Re-read tips; start over, but hurry, January is just around the corner. Remember this motto to live by:

"Life should NOT be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in an attractive and well preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways, chocolate in one hand, body thoroughly used up, totally worn out and screaming "WOO HOO what a ride!"

Dinner for Two

MY DD and I decided to do some Christmas shopping last night.
We left as soon as Hubby got home, leaving him and YS to fend for themselves when it came to dinner.
Now my Hubby is not a bad cook by any means. His menus might be limited but he’s more than capable of fixing a well balanced meal for the two of them. If all else fails – he can read the back of a box and turn out one of those “helper” meals or slap together a mean PB & J. So I left giving neither one of them (nor their stomachs) a second thought.
DD and I trudged through shop after shop, store after store and managed to knock out 90% of my list. I was thinking everyone on my list will be pleased with the results and my feet were killing me – so it was time to head home for sure.
We arrived home and were lucky enough to get all of the sacks and bigger items into my spare room (to be wrapped at a later time) before hubby made it off of the couch. YS had been to bed a couple of hours already and DD headed to her room to do the same. I regaled hubby with stories of our shopping adventures and, when done, asked him about his evening with YS.
Things went well he said. They had dinner, watched some TV, and had gotten their showers taken. All in all a pretty quite night. I asked him what he fixed for dinner and he answered (oh, you’re gonna LOVE this), “frozen pizza and scrambled eggs”! I busted out laughing! It was just so M-A-L-E! I’m trying to explain this to him (still laughing) and he’s totally confused by my thinking (and laughing). He saw nothing wrong with the meal plan at all! I explained that it isn’t necessarily wrong – just different. Male. Very bachelor-like. No female (or at least one I know) would put together that particular combination of foods. He still didn’t get it! I told him to never mind – it didn’t matter. It was funny to me and provided my blog for the day!

Dancing Drama

Recently I had the pleasure (really – someday I’ll actually think of this day as pleasurable) of attending the Nutcracker with my son’s 2nd grade class. I have been on many a field trip with children this age and groups this size, so I knew exactly what I was getting into. Or thought I did. I suppose it’s kind of like childbirth – once it’s over – you forget all about the pain preceding that point.
Now I am a firm believer that children should be exposed to the fine arts – at an early age even. However, I believe it should be done age appropriately. Having an entire school of 2nd graders sit for 2 hours without moving, talking, kicking, farting, picking their noses, picking their neighbors noses, yawning or humming is unrealistic. It’s just gonna happen.
The first act is not my favorite by any means, however, I really did want to see the ballet – or most of it anyway. I spent the entire first act patting the knee of “the kicker”, giving the “look” at “the Mexican jumping bean”, shaking my head no at “the tattler” and “ssshhhing”(finger over lips – not actually saying it) at “the talker”. I looked around the auditorium and noticed that there were several age groups represented there. We were not the youngest there but they were in the balcony so I wasn’t able to watch them. On the main floor was our age group up to middle school (say 6th grade?). First I was pleased to see that it wasn’t only my little group (all parents had 4 kids they were responsible for) that couldn’t sit still. It was the entire school – which explains why we were all seated in the back (the older kids were seated up front). The groups directly in front of us were 3rd maybe 4th graders. They sat in their seats quietly, not moving for the most part. I watched and wondered if they were better behaved than our school or if their little lives were threatened if they moved.
I don’t believe it was either. I spent a great deal of time observing “our” kids. They were really well behaved kids. There was the one or two that needed special “attention” (every group has them) but for the most part – they were really good. The kids in front of us were good also. I jus think they were older, more mature and could sit for a longer period of time.
I asked our classroom teacher who chose the field trip. Is it teachers collaborating or music teachers or administration? The particular trip was spear-headed by the music teachers. Which explains a lot. The senior teacher – is just that. She ready to retire. Very nice woman, don’t get me wrong, very, very nice woman. Good with kids but a little out of touch with today’s kids. The other music teacher shouldn’t be allowed around small children. Her maturity level is that of a 3rd grader. (I don’t like her – can’t you tell?) I mean really, who wears a form-fitting see-through mini dress to a second grade field trip to the city?
Anywho, as I said before, age appropriate exposure is the name of the game. Instead of being delighted by the dance, the costumes and the story, these children will not be giving ballet a second thought. On the bus on the way back to the school, we talked about our favorite parts (processing is what they call it now). I, for one, am not a huge fan of ballet but I can appreciate the beauty of the dance as well as the work and stamina needed to do the dance. The children couldn’t name anything off the tops of their heads that they liked about the ballet. Oh, the bathrooms were cool and had lots of toilet paper, and the lines weren’t too bad, there wasn’t any candy or pop or any refreshments, the balcony would’ve been fun to sit in. But for the actual ballet, the only one to say anything (and yes, it had to my YS), he liked the sword fight where the mouse died cuz’ he’s an action kind of guy and not a “dancing drama” kind of guy. How sad for these kids. Hopefully, these kids will be exposed to this dancing art at another time when they can appreciate it a little better.
Me? I came home, took 4 advil and a 15 minute power nap. When I got up, I emailed the teacher thanking her and volunteering to go on the next trip.

Update

I’m happy to report that all of the parties involved with the mid-term grade issue met and resolved any and all questions
DD – 1, rotten apple - 0

The Haircut

It’s a new day. It was Friday and I awoke knowing I had a list of things to do that day. I needed to get them done so I’d be free for the weekend, forgetting all about the week’s child-rearing frustrations.
Hubby is off to work, the older kids off to school, YS is fed, clothed for the day and coloring with his new crayons in his new book that Santa had given him the week before. I ran around putting a load of laundry in, gather up the bills to be paid, ran the vacuum, laid out a pound of hamburger for dinner and straightened up the bathrooms.
I looked at the clock and Lo and Behold!!! It was SESAME STREET TIME!!!!!
I went into the family room and turned on the TV to PBS and the show was just beginning. YS came around and sat down in front of the TV (and NO – it’s NOT a babysitter) and began to watch his show. I picked up the crayons and book and set them aside. I told YS that I was going to do the dishes but he was so engrossed in the show he didn’t even hear me.
I was putting the breakfast dishes into the dishwasher and in my haste, I spilled a bowl of half-eaten cereal all down the front of me. I quickly cleaned up my mess – I didn’t have time to doddle that day – and I finished the kitchen. Sesame Street was only half over so I had time for a quick shower. I checked on YS – who still didn’t know anything existed outside of his show and I ran take a 10 minute shower. I was dressed and ready to go in that 10 minutes too, mind you. I had mentally made my list of things I still needed to do and had put them in order. Top on my list was YS’s hair cut.
I had grabbed his jacket and walked into the family room when I saw it. YS was sitting in front of the TV, watching it, the way I had left him. Only now there was this orange crayon scribble all over the front door, TV and paneling.
It was ugly. I sat YS down and told him all of the reasons why we color ONLY on the coloring books. I explain that punishment will come later when I had calmed down and that unfortunately for him, Santa had seen the whole thing. What was Santa going to do? I spent the next hour cleaning that mess up, half crying, half talking to myself (about different forms of birth control).
We’re finally on our way to our first stop which is the barber shop. Hubby had insisted that his son go to a barber shop – not a beauty shop (that was then - now it’s up to whoever takes him).
We entered the shop and took our seats. YS patiently sat there and took the whole scene in. There are several old time farmers in having their hair cut, reading the paper and catching up on the week’s gossip. He watched as each man got up for his turn, sat in the chair, told the barber what kind of cut and then proceeded with the gossip. (As God is my witness – men are worse than women when it comes to gossip.). YS still sat there quietly, waiting for his turn. I was so proud. And relieved.
Finally his wait was over. He got up, climbed onto the seat and waited while the barber adjusted the booster seat. He waited while the barber draped the cloth around him and then told him to give him a “little boys’ hair cut”. I thought that this was one cute kid. And then it happened.
YS proceeded to tell this barber and all the little old men (all of them stayed) what kind of week he had. How he ate momma’s chocolates. How he then tried to hide them – several times. How he then colored the walls and TV orange. How Momma was gonna have to beat his butt later cause she was to mad to do it then and how (heavy sigh) Santa was not going to come cuz’ he messed up big time.
Now to his credit (and all the old men), the barber never said a word during this heartbreaking confession. He nodded and grunted at the appropriate time, tsking here and there and expressing his sorrow over the troubles that had occurred. YS was very serious about everything and the barber understood that. As I was sitting in the chair, mortified; the barber was biting the insides of his cheeks so that he didn’t laugh out loud and all the old men were looking down to their laps, shoulders jerking.
The barber finished the haircut and told YS that he’d give me the bubble gum (he gives to all kids) to hold until I deemed his behavior good enough to receive it. YS hung his head and agreed that this would be a good idea. We solemnly walked out of the shop and I closed the door – only to hear that entire group bust out laughing, saying they couldn’t wait until the following week when he came in for a trim to find out what happened! I started laughing myself (and at myself) and all was right in my world again.

The Candy Dish

I had a couple of requests for more of YS stories so here’s another one:

At Christmas time I always put out a decorated jar that I fill with chocolates (wrapped in holiday colored foil). One day, while cleaning the house, I came upon a pile of wrappers sitting on the floor next to the jar. Since I was the only one home with YS and know that I didn’t eat them and they weren’t there that morning – it was pretty easy to figure out who ate them. So I called for my 3-year-old (at the time) and asked him about the candies. He looks at me totally confused with the biggest brown eyes, wide with innocence, and asked me how I knew it was him. I explained to him first – you don’t eat the candy without asking for it and second – how I figured out it was him and third, (I jokingly told him) that if you’re gonna try and hide something… don’t leave it in the middle of floor for me to find. In my holiday euphoria I forgot who I was dealing with and I never gave the situation another thought.
The next day, I found a pile of wrappers behind the fish tank. Frustrated now, I called my YS and asked for an explanation (thinking the whole time – “does he not learn?”). He tells me that yes he had eaten them, but they weren’t in the middle of the floor so how did I find them? I showed him how the tank sits out from the wall and anyone walking by can see behind it. He’s put into time out again.
The next day I’m cleaning the room. I pull off the cushions to the couch and what did I find? Yep. Candy wrappers. Once again I called my YS and ask for an explanation. He tells me yes he ate them, and yes, he knew it was wrong, and did I clean under the cushions everyday? AAAACCK!
These are the kinds of days that I meet my hubby in the driveway when he gets home - with child in tow. My hair all messed up, my eyes bugged-out, my shirt untucked and wearing two different shoes. I smile that smile and hand the man-child over.
I went to my room, locked the door and waited for the next day. The only problem was – the next day I had to take him to get a hair cut. THAT is tomorrow’s story.

S-M-A-R-T?

Every parent believes that their child is smarter than every other child the same age. They believe that because their child teethes first, walks first, says their first word before another that that somehow makes them better. It’s their right as a parent to think so. To argue would be futile. Accept it and go on.
Shortly after the birth of my last son, I realized that my youngest child wasn’t necessarily smarter than other kids – but he was quicker. Worse yet, he was quicker than ME. I had to learn to stay on my toes with this one.
His vocabulary was well beyond what any normal 2-3 year old should have. I had become one of those parents. My child was S-M-A-R-T. At 2, he was all but negotiating discipline contracts with me. By the age of 3, he found loop holes in everything I said and exploited them. I’m thinking, “Surely this isn’t one of MY kids. He had to have been switched at birth!” I quickly became an expert at picking and choosing my words for my own protection.
One day after coming home from a particularly exhausting trip to my favorite discount store, I’m walking up to the door with my arms loaded with sacks. My youngest beats me into the house and thought it would be cute to push against the door so that I couldn’t open it. I played along with him for a few minutes but the sacks I was holding grew heavy. Much to his chagrin, I told him enough was enough and proceeded to push the door (along with him on the other side) open and walked through. I barely made it through the door when WHAM! The door slams shut. I turn around ready to shoot bear. I was furious! Slamming the door in a fit of anger - I don’t think so! There stands my 3 year old, backed up to the door with eyes the size of silver dollars and all the innocence he could muster, “Whew! Is it ever windy out there!”
Yep. He’s S-M-A-R-T

Part 2

Jump forward 8 years.
With a family of 4, laundry is pretty much a daily thing. If you do laundry once a week then expect most of the day to be gone once you put the last bed sheet back on. Now since I’m one of the lucky ones who can stay home with my children then a load of laundry a day worked well for me. Until a year ago.
I only had another week left at my job. I was trying to be responsible and get everything I could in order for the next supervisor so that the transition would hopefully be a smooth one. I was concerned about the people who worked under me since I was leaving at the busiest time of the year. I only had 5 more days to go through all of my files and make my notes, deposits, etc. Needless to say, laundry was not a priority that week. My last day came and went. I sighed a heavy sigh and went about the task of putting my personal life in order. Priority number one was laundry. I got up early Saturday morning, sorted all the different colors and started my first load. I got half way into the 2nd load when kaput! The motor went out on the washer. Great. Just peachy. Now, my husband is mechanically inclined (yes!!!!) and he was able to replace the motor himself with only a hundred dollar bill and some grumblings (yes, he does that a lot). A few short months later, my dryer quits working. My husband tears it down, finds the problem and gives me the name of the part and model number of the dryer. I’m to call and get a new part. Well, I called. Then I called DB back. It’s cheaper in the long run to buy a new dryer. A few more grumblings later we’re on our way back to Kenmore Manor. Did I want a new set, he asks me? Nope. The washer is fine and nobody sees it but me. It doesn’t mean a hill of beans to me if it matches. I just want one that works. So, I get a new dryer and DB thinks I’m thrifty.
A few short months ago, my refrigerator/freezer (side by side) doesn’t make ice anymore. I call a repairman. He comes out, blows out the back of the refrigerator (says it’s dirty and needs to be done once a year), claims victory over the machine and leaves. It works fine for a few short weeks and then poof! It quits making ice again and our frozen food is thawed. I call the repairman back out. This time it’s a young man who went to school with my middle son. He tells me he has good news and bad news – which did I want? Give me the good news first I tell him. He starts off telling me I’m getting a new refrigerator! That’s the good news! The bad news is the compressor is going out so I HAVE to buy a new refrigerator. Wonderful. A new compressor for this would have cost $689 but, he says, it does come with a 30 day warranty. I showed him the door.
Back to Kenmore Manor again. We had bought our refrigerator on clearance and it had all the bells and whistles. Almost 9 years later I’ve learned I liked those bells and whistles and wow! We got a good deal 9 years ago! So our salesman (or stalker – whatever adjective you like to give them) asks us what we have now and then starts us off going down the aisle where not one refrigerator has a price tag of less than $2000. I stopped and told him that there was no way in hell I was spending that much money on a disposable refrigerator. Disposable he asks? If I have to buy a new appliance every 8-10 years then it’s disposable. Parts to fix the appliances are so expensive; it’s cheaper to replace the appliance than fix it. That makes it disposable. Oh, he grunts. He shows us the cheapest models he has, the ingrate. We ended up with all the bells and one whistle for a price we considered reasonable. Now my dishwasher soap dispenser is not working properly. We’re back to the dilemma of to fix or not to fix? DB says the stove is safe since it has to be USED in order to break down.
He’s a funny little man.

Disposable Appliances

Most women would be ecstatic at the thought of getting a new appliance. Not me. It’s like punishment.
About 9 years ago my stove went out. So we get a new one – right? No big deal. All we needed was a basic stove – not a fancy one. I’m not Martha Stewart. I’m not a baker. I cook – not bake, so a basic 4 burner (electric) with oven would work great for me. We headed for the nearest Kenmore dealer to pick it out.
White – it goes with everything and never goes out of style. Right? Well, white with a black finish across the top back (knob thingy part) anyway. We bring it home, install it and it works great. A few days later I’m looking at my dishwasher and thinking that the front has interchangeable panels in it. So, I unplug it (it has a HUGE sign across it that says unplug before servicing) and I proceed to tear it apart only to discover that it doesn’t have the interchangeable front panels. Well I put it back together and only ended up with a few extra parts. Needless to say – it didn’t work. And I now had to tell my husband (DB) what I had done. Shortly after he got home I confessed my dirty little sin. He mumbled a bit (loud enough for my benefit), grabbed his flashlight and took a looksey at what I had done. Three days later (and a LOT of mumbling now) my husband declared the dishwasher officially broken. Now I had been doing the dishes by hand (gawd help me) for three days. That’s my penance. I accepted that. But indefinitely? No way. I’ve heard those stories about how my parents walked 6 miles uphill (both ways) to school. It was rough on them. I don’t care. I’m spoiled and I like it.
DB tells me that we’re going to have to buy a NEW dishwasher. Oh darn it, I remember thinking. Well, the next day I happen to be putting away some trash bags under the sink when I noticed that the dishwasher was STILL unplugged. DB had never plugged it back in. What to do? Do I tell him and not get my new dishwasher? Hmmmm…..
Well, he came home from work and solved my little dilemma for me. He took one more looksey at the dishwasher and then noticed it unplugged. I had my shoes on and my purse in hand, standing by the door. I was ready to go and that’s when he notices?!? (insert heavy sigh).
Well, as luck would have it, DB decided to go ahead and look at new dishwashers. He picked one out that has the stainless steel tub and a garbage disposal in it that would eat small children. Yippeeee! (New dishwasher – not eating children). Anywho…when walking out of the store a refrigerator on clearance catches his eye. This is too good to be true. I must have been a very good girl ‘cuz I got me a new stove, dishwasher, AND refrigerator.
All this and only a few short months after getting my new washer and dryer set. Yes indeedy, I must have been a good girl.
Little did I know that the damn things are disposable.

To be continued.....

Tagged

I’ve been “blogger” tagged! So here goes:

1. Three things that scare me:

losing a member of my family again
critters (snakes, spiders, ALL them ickie things)
driving on ice covered roads

2. Three people who make me laugh

my kids
Jeff
Robert

3. Three things that I love

A good book
Snowed in
My house

4. Three things that I hate

mean people
slow people in the fast lane
asparagus

5. Three things that I don’t understand

html
cars
Republicans

6. Three things on my desk

coffee cup
mechanical pencil
my glasses

7. Three things I’m doing right now

drinking coffee
waiting on the dogs to finish their business
answering this silly thing

8. Three things I want to do before I die

Visit South Dakota
Get the garage cleaned out
Win the Lottery

9. Three things I can do
crochet
organize huge events successfully
be a good friend

10. Three things I can’t do

travel in a car for long periods of time
the Sunday paper crossword puzzle
knit

11. Three people you should listen to

your spouse
your boss
your doctor

12. Three people you should never listen to

phone solicitors
A fortune teller
A drunk

13. Three things I would like to learn

how to solve the rubic cube
how to establish world peace
why men can't put the seat down

14. Three of my favorite foods

steak
taters
all of the above

15. Three beverages I drink regularly

coffee
diet pepsi
water

16. Three TV shows/books I watched/read as a child

The Waltons
Hee Haw (my dad made me)
Speed Racer

Who's Laughing?

It’s done. Completed. Finito. My 8 week remodeling project is finished. Ok, so what if it took 11 months to complete - the point is that it’s totally done as of 11:30 Friday night.
I have been remodeling 2 rooms (and a hallway) in my house. I have had all of the major work done and the rooms have been functional for several weeks now, it’s just been the odds and ends, those final details, which I have been slowly working on.
The last thing that needed to be done was to assemble the entertainment center. I’ve had it for a couple of weeks now but a few pieces were broken and I was waiting for the replacement parts to arrive to fully assemble it. Well, the last part arrived Friday. I had until noon on Saturday to call and report any damage or other missing parts. Not a problem I thought.
As you know from my earlier post, hubby was out pushing snow. Delightful daughter (DD) was working hard making sure that all Friday night pizza lovers had the best dining experience possible, so that left me and little britches, the youngest son (YS), to hold down the fort. And put together the entertainment center. Yeah, like that was gonna happen. I suck at those kind of things. Since hubby was gonna be gone all night, I decided to call in back up.
My oldest son (OS) was kind enough to spend his Friday night here along with FDIL (future daughter in law). FDIL and I supervised OS putting together this center – after he’s put in a day at work and after his car breaks down on the hi-way and had to be towed. I’m so lucky, I have such nice kiddies and I really enjoyed the evening. YS was busy playing games on OS’s phone and ordering gawd-knows-what from T-Zones, I got to visit with FDIL and DD made it home well before they left so she had time to visit also. As always, when she gets off of work, she loves to share her stories of the day so she entertained us with her tales. I found myself stopping a few times and just watching my kiddies, just enjoying them being here, talking, laughing, teasing. Just us. It doesn’t happen very often so when it does I try to remember to stop and just live the moment, just enjoy being. I truly treasure these times. Course, I figure I better enjoy them since they are all the time threatening to throw my old wrinkly butt in a home when the time comes and I’m gonna need something to remind me that they are good kiddies. The last laugh’s on them though. In 6th grade, the Ouija Board (remember them?) told me I’m gonna live till I’m 86. I’m supposed to go into the “home” at 84….so they have 40 MORE years of me left!

Oh the weather outside is....

AWESOME! We ended up with about 10 inches of snow!!!! Just finished breakfast and hubby is on his way out to start up the snowblower (that way I don't have to walk through the snow to get to our sled). It's days like today that remind me of how much I enjoy being home and being with my family.
I do plan on being outside with the kids later on today when it warms up to 15 degrees or so but for now I' going to work on my little project I have going.
My eldest son and his girlfriend (whom I adore) moved into a place of their own last Feb. She has been busy making a home for them and every holiday brings new challenges. Both families have helped with contributions to home decor for Christmas since it just adds up so fast when starting from scratch. My son has decided that there isn't any reason to decorate the outside however, since no one but the people across the street can see it . Now, anyone who has seen my house during the Christmas season knows how I feel about outside decorations. If I knew how to posts pictures - and I will learn soon - I'd post a picture of my house with the lights lit up.
Anyway, I am making an outside sign for their place. It's a personalized snowman and the mrs. wishing all a happy holiday. It's turning out really cute and will look great next to their front step. I have a bow left over from the wreath that I made for their front door so maybe I can incorporate that into the sign - if not - no big deal.
Have a great day!

It worked!

It looks like the ice storm is over - we ended up with about an inch of ice. Just enough to be pretty and not hurt the trees to bad. The main roads have been treated, and the kids are home from school along with hubby!
We have until early afternoon to get ready for round 2, which is 8-18 inches of snow! And here I apologized yesterday for taking a wrong turn - and getting the wrong weather. Geez, almost like a real weatherman!
Hubby has decided that we don't have enough bread for 4 days (or 5, 6 or 7) so we must venture out in the ice and cold to get it. He just wants to go out. Get a feel for the storm as they say.
He'll be pushing snow tomorrow. His boss's brother owns a trucking company and asked if he'd pushed snow for him. Heck yeah! When you're choices are staying home, couped up with the wife and kiddies or out playing in the snow? Hmmmmm, I wonder what he'll pick? Course he'll say he's doing it for the money, one for the gipper, all for one and one for all kind of thing. Yadda, yadda, yadda. I know the real reason is to be out in the snow. He loves it. He'd rather play in the snow year round then work in the horrible heat and humidity. His reasoning is he can always get warm, but there are days you just can't get cool.
I have a big pot of ham and beans on already and fixin's for a batch of cornbread at the helm so I can sit back, watch the storm and relax. My job here is done.

Upgrade

Apparently when I did my Indian weather dance, I took a wrong turn. The NWS has now issued an "ice storm warning" with significant ice accumulation expected. No snow. Just ice. For this I apologize.

Winter Watch

Our local weathermen have put our area under a winter watch! I LOVE winter storms! Okay, okay – I only LOVE it for two days, and then it’s all brown and dirty and icky and needs to go away. (The drivers around here really are bad in the snow and ice…and rain…and hail…..and clouds in general just really mess them up).
Growing up, we used to get those monster (giggle) snow storms with totals of 6, 8, 10, 12 inches of snow all winter long in this area. It was great! Now we get that one time a year or every other year. Global warming? El Nina?
But, I miss those types of storms! The excitement of an unexpected day off from school, the bucking up of the tears when your sled hits the tree and you don’t want your siblings or friends to see you cry, the hot chocolate (with mini marshmellows) waiting at home along with your mom yelling at you to get your dripping wet clothes off and into the dryer.
But the best, the absolute best thing about these types of snow is the sound of the silence. After it finally stops snowing and you step outside on your way to garage to start up the old snow blower, you stop and listen. The silence is so incredibly LOUD! You can almost feel it! You look around at this pure white blanket of untouched snow, watch a squirrel head back to it’s nest, you notice that the snow is taller than the bird bath and make a mental note to check the bird feeder too, and all the while you can’t get over how deafening the silence is. Almost like the town has been abandoned. (Reminds me a show that I saw as a little girl on “the Twilight Zone”. Cool show - but that’s another blog.)
Anyway, it just doesn’t get any better than a huge snow storm so bring it on! I already went to the grocery store so we’re good to go for 4 days, 5 if we stretch it, 6 if we have tuna and 7 if we have a meatless dinner! So bring it on!
Let it snow! Let it snow! Let it snow!!!!

The Curse

My father was a member of the National Guard ever since I can remember and then some. When I was little he used to go away every summer for two weeks to “summer camp”. I think they call it annual training now. Away, every year it seemed like when he went away something always happened. Something caught on fire, someone got sick and had to go to the hospital, the car broke down, etc etc. “ The curse” is what it has become known as.
My Dearly Beloved is an avid hunter. Or he tries to be. We’ve even nicknamed him Rambo during “the season” just to make him feel like a real hunter. Now, when he was single, he claims to have killed any and all deer that moved. His freezers were full. It was the only meat he ate. Since we’ve been married however, he has partaken to “trophy hunting only” status - or at least that what he claims. And by the look of our freezer every winter – he’s obviously telling the truth.
The very first year we were married and hunting season came around, I ended up with double pneumonia. He went hunting. Yep, you heard me right. He went hunting. (He pays for that little mistake every day….trust me.)
Ever since then, something has always happened. “The curse” - that lovely little tradition has now been passed down to my family. Unfortunately, I am usually the recipient of the particular demise of the year. Twice now I’ve been hospitalized with pneumonia during rifle season. Last year my doctor actually suggested I get the pneumonia vaccine. Yeah, right. And miss the wonderful guilt trip my DB goes through every year?!? And right before Christmas?!? I may be sickly in the fall but I’m not stupid.
However, if it’s not me – it’s someone or something. This years’ rifle season began and it was my youngest that had been chosen. I had my usual cold but it was better but my little one (ok – he’s not that little – but he’s still my baby) had gotten a stomach flu virus. Of course it ran the full gambit: fever, aches, pains, and my favorite – hurling groceries.
He managed to sleep most of the day, which was a good thing and a bad thing. Good because he needed the rest, and bad because I couldn’t get fluids into him while he’s sleeping so he became a little dehydrated. When the dry heaves came the poor thing starts spitting up blood. Hence the call to the doctor – and one to Dad to come home.
The curse had arrived.


P.S. The man-child survived and Rambo killed 2 deer.

A (rotten) Apple for the Teacher

Mid-term reports came out here at our local school. Generally, this is not cause for concern. This, however, was not one of those times and not necessarily because of grades either.
As with any profession, there is good and there is evil, right or wrong, good or bad – however you want to put it. Teachers aren’t any different. I have had the pleasure of meeting some of the most ethical, caring, professional educators one could ever hope to know. Within this same district, I have met a few people (and I use that term loosely) who I wouldn’t let teach my dead dog. I’ve even put this in writing to one particular school when discussing the class placement of one of my children. I don’t kiss and tell but if they were to read this blog – they’d know exactly who I’m referring too.
One pet peeve that I have when it comes to teachers is that some seem to think that just because they are the adult, their word is law. In short, the “I am God Complex”. That, heaven forbid, they (the teacher) would be wrong – it has to be “the child”.
I personally believe that a child should show a teacher respect if for no other reason than they are the adult. But being an adult doesn’t always make them right - they are human after all (or most of them are anyway).
When reports came out, my DD went to a particular teacher. She noticed that some of the points that she had earned where not on the report and thus lowered her grade. When she asked the teacher about the points, his response to her was “I don’t have to explain this to you”.
Say what?!?!?!?!?
Two things came to mind immediately:
1. My DD is/can be a lot of things but she’s not a liar, so I know she was not making this up and
2. This teacher WILL explain to her how he figured her grade.
I immediately picked up the phone and called another teacher whose capacity is similar to that of an advisor (A). We have been working closely with A for 4 years. I had to leave my name, number and a brief but to the point message with the secretary because A was already gone for the 4-day holiday weekend. Three minutes later I received a return phone call from A. They tracked her down (they obviously know me too well at that school). I explained the situation to her and I told her that I would like a meeting with the 4 of us immediately. Come hell or high water Mr. I-don’t-have-to-explain – will explain.
So, I’m left to wonder at this point: when did kids (eeewwweee! DD will be mad since I referred to her as a kid) become non-people? Are they not allowed to self-advocate? Have a vested interest in their education? If he doesn’t have to explain to her – the “owner” of the grades per se’, then who pray tell DOES he have to answer to? Who exactly is a teacher accountable to? The student? The parents? The administration? The school board? The community? All of the above?
As I said before there are a lot of very worthy teachers out there. A few rotten apples can spoil the bunch and there’s definitely something rotten here.

Black Friday

Ok – how many of you were crazy enough to go shopping Friday morning?!? I mean, you really have to like shopping or great prices (or just good in some cases) to venture out on this incredulous day!
This was my third such undertaking and sure to be my last. I went several years ago with my daughter – not a smart choice since she was younger and had no want, need or desire to stand in line for hours for a gift that she herself wasn’t getting. So the following year I took my middle son. He had never heard of “power shopping” and afterwards made it clear that he could care less if he ever did it again. Sleep was much more important and easier to obtain that the treasures I went after.
So just fine. I quit shopping on Black Friday. It’s not that I don’t like to shop alone or I need someone to carry my bags or any thing like that. It just makes more sense. The more the merrier and better chances at success. A “battle plan” can be a good thing in this particular situation. The public is generally a polite, happy and talkative society (ok – with a shove or two here and there) so the wait times in line go by quickly.
This year however, was different. First, I went shopping with my husband. The fact that he went – and did it cheerfully (well, he wasn’t complaining anyway) was indeed a holiday miracle. Our plan was the “swoop and scoop”. He’d drop me off at the designated store’s front door and I’d call him when I was checking out. He’d then swoop in, scoop me up at the door and off we’d go to in search of the next “got to have” item on my list. We thought we were the cat’s meow and had it all figured out.
I could write out the entire adventure for you (I already did butit was so long that I deleted it) but I can sum it up with one word: horrendous.For example, when we parked at the first store, we were sitting in our vehicle watching a young man maneuver through the parking lot, peeking into a car here and there, trying a door a couple of times. He turned and saw us watching him and continued on like it was the order for the day! He did manage to move on through the lot away from us pretty quickly. Then the store employees acted shocked that they had so many customers and the people were just awful! Crabby, rude and down right mean! And this was just the first store! WOW! Where did the holiday spirit go? Did it even come out?
We did manage to obtain 2 out of the 4 items we were after so we felt lucky in that respect. We talked about it on the way home however, and decided that there wasn’t anything that we needed or wanted to give that badly to justify going through the entire experience again. It was a learning experience and we learned we don’t like it!
We were home just as the littlest one was getting up for the day so we all had breakfast and started putting up Christmas decorations. It turned out to be a wonderful day all around - heck - even the weather cooperated!
‘Tis the Season!

It's today!!

I wish you and yours a day filled with peace, love, and of course lots of food! Happy Thanksgiving!

The Curse

My father was a member of the National Guard ever since I can remember and then some. When I was little he used to go away every summer for two weeks to “summer camp”. I think they call it annual training now. Away, every year it seemed like when he went away something always happened. Something caught on fire, someone got sick and had to go to the hospital, the car broke down, etc etc.
My Dearly Beloved is an avid hunter. Or he tries to be. We’ve even nicknamed him Rambo during “the season” just to make him feel like a real hunter. Now, when he was single, he killed any and all deer that moved. His freezers were full. It was the only meat he ate. Since we’ve been married however, he has partaken to “trophy hunting only” status - or at least that what he claims. And by the look of our freezer every winter – he’s obviously telling the truth.
The very first year we were married and hunting season came around, I ended up with double pneumonia. He went hunting. Yep, you heard me right. He went hunting. (He pays for that little mistake every day….trust me.)
Ever since then, something has always happened. It’s “the curse”. That lovely little tradition has now been passed down to my family. Unfortunately, I am usually the recipient of the particular demise of the year. Twice now I’ve been hospitalized with pneumonia during rifle season. Last year my doctor actually suggested I get the pneumonia vaccine. Yeah, right. And miss the wonderful guilt trip my DB goes through every year?!? And right before Christmas?!? I may be sickly in the fall but I’m not stupid.
However, if it’s not me – it’s someone or something. This years’ rifle season began and it was my youngest that had been chosen. I have my usual cold but it’s doing much better now (thanks for askin’) but my little one (ok – he’s not that little – but he’s still my baby) had gotten a stomach flu virus. Of course it ran the full gambit: fever, aches, pains, and my favorite – hurling groceries.
He managed to sleep most of the day, which was a good thing and a bad thing. Good because he needed the rest, and bad because I couldn’t get fluids into him while he’s sleeping so he became a little dehydrated. When the dry heaves came the poor thing starts spitting up blood. Hence the call to the doctor – and one to Dad to come home.
The curse had arrived.


P.S. The man-child survived and Rambo killed 2 deer. Whooo hoooo!

Alligator Tears

My daughter’s senior pictures were taken on Sunday. This was quite the experience - for both of us. She had several outfit changes as well as locations and I left the details (hair/hand placement, lint removal, lighting) up to her and the photographer. I just watched (with only a comment here or there…well, ok, maybe more than a comment). While I stayed behind the scenes (as much as physically possible for me) I found myself wondering back to her first day of school.
It was something she had dreamed about for a long time. Years went by as she watched her brothers leave to go to the “big kids’ school” and now it was finally her turn. We shopped for the perfect first day outfit, bought enough supplies for her and a third world country (ran my sharpie pen dry marking everything with her name) and scrubbed behind her ears.
At that time, kindergarten was still only a half day long. DD (darling daughter) was in the afternoon class. She was dressed in her pink and white dress with white bobby socks, white patent leather shoes and her hair was pulled up into a pony tail with a pink ribbon. Cute as a button!
It was to be a miserably hot August day. The temperatures were to reach 110+. The schools in this small town were still not air conditioned. For the “safety” of the students, they canceled the afternoon kindergarten session. It was heart wrenching to see her ballooned excitement deflate. The alligator tears were almost more than I could bear.
Fast-forward 12 years. She stands in front of me, in cap and gown. Fighting back the alligator tears - only now they were coming from me! I had this mental slide show going on in my head: her first pulled tooth, little league softball, the cutting of her hair for Locks of Love, lying on the couch reading Harry Potter, her first crush, the death of her pet frog, earning the Silver Award, holding her drivers permit up like a trophy, Prom. I’m thinking “where the hell did the time go”? And how did it go so fast? Here is this beautiful, energetic, witty young woman standing before me, who, for the last 18 years has been in my life on a daily basis. What’s it going to be like when she moves on?
I’m thinking all of these deep thoughts with this slide show thing going on and in the background I hear “Mom – where’s my lip gloss? Mom, should I wear my hair up or down with this outfit? Mom, should I smile or be serious in this shot? Mom? Mom? MOM!?!”Ahhhh, yes. It’s gonna be quiet for sure!

It Is Good...

How many times have you heard a teen say, “my parent’s think they are so smart” or “my parents think they know everything” or my personal favorite, “I know what I’m doing”?
I love reciting that mantra over and over again with that high pitched shrill only a parent can get when they are in total control. Let me explain.
Several years ago, I took my preteen Girl Scout troop camping. We were at a private site that had permatents. (A permatent has a wooden floor, roof and three sides with a canvas tarp for the front.) We had cots on which to throw our sleeping bags, and our campsite came with a fire-ring, cut wood and latrines. Not the Hilton but we had camped before under more difficult circumstances. I would like to mention that the latrines were not of the flushing variety so that was our “roughing it” part of the trip.
Three adults (myself, my assistant leader and a leader of another troop) all bunked together with the girls divided out into the other permatents.
The reason for the camping trip was for the girls - for them to have nothing but pure fun and relaxation. They could do whatever they wanted, whenever they wanted (within reason – safety always came first). Being an “older” Girl Scout meant a lot of service – be it to the community, the younger Girl Scouts or themselves so it was important that these girls got a chance to unwind.
After we had arrived and set up camp we went about the start of our weekend doing the things that we just do. Shortly before bedtime, the three adults decided to get our things ready for bed. Imagine our surprise when we got to our permatent – only to find it had been TP’d! Those silly rotten little girls had used the entire camp’s toilet paper on the inside of our tent! There was so much paper hanging from the rafters – you couldn’t see to the back of the tent. Once we had stopped laughing and admiring the ingenuity of the girls, we pulled paper down, picked it off of our beds (folding it neatly) and then we sat down to figure out HOW to get even.
We had been brainstorming for about 30 minutes (stopping a few times to listen to the giggles outside our tent) and still could not come up with the ideal plan. And then it fell into our laps with a loud thud (actually that was me falling over with laughter).
I had gotten up and told all the girls to get ready for bed. They went about their business of spreading out their sleeping bags, getting their pjs, toothbrushes, and wash cloths. They all went and stood in line at the latrines when they realized the position they were in. They didn’t know what to do and begun whispering amongst themselves, while we sat in our tent and smiled. Once they got their nerve up and came and ASKED for some toilet paper, the other leader smiled brightly at the girls and began telling them about “low impact” camping, all the while she tore off (one square at a time) paper and handed each girl a sheet. The look on their faces was priceless.
Ahhhh yes, it’s good to be queen.

Where Did T-Day Go?

I have been in the process of remodeling/redecorating a few rooms in my house. This has been going on since January and I’m in the final stages – finally. One of the rooms I’m working on is our family room. I’m putting together a lodge/hunting/rustic type of décor for it, at the same time trying to keep it balanced out with the rest of the house. I’m happy to say I’m pleased with it to this point. I’ve been carefully selecting fabrics for furniture, draperies, and carpet. The walls are paneled so that was an easy check off my list.
I thought this would be the perfect time of year to shop for the accents (floral, afghans, knickknacks, etc) since the colors are of a rustic, fall-ish nature (get it? Hahahaha).
Anyway, I’m out shopping the DAY after Halloween. November 1. Pre-Thanksgiving - by weeks even. Everything I find is already picked through. Clearanced out. Which, on the one hand is a good thing since everything I do buy is 50-70% off, but trying to FIND what I want, in the quantity that I want, is next to impossible. Anything that isn’t Christmas – diappeared.
I asked a sales associate at my favorite craft center where all the Thanksgiving stuff went. Gone she says. Have to get it before Halloween or it’s gone. We go straight into Christmas Nov. 1 (keep in mind that this particular store has a “Christmas section” all year long for those crafty crafters). The stores load up for Halloween (it’s apparently becoming big money now) and throw a little Thanksgiving in with it. That’s it. That’s what Thanksgiving has been reduced to. A throw in. An extra. A few pilgrim paper plates with matching napkins.
Even some discount stores are open on Thanksgiving Day now and have early, early bird specials just for the occasion. If it wasn’t for the fact that most stores have to close in order to stock for the day after Thanksgiving sales – there would be now reason to have Thanksgiving anymore. The retailers have made it as such. A non-holiday. There’s no money in so it’s gone way-side.
Gobble Gobble

Because I Can

The phrase “Children should be seen and not heard” was obviously made by someone who has never truly raised children.
Even when you can’t see the little buggers their essence is everywhere. Just look down the hallway. Three feet above the floor and about a hands-width wide is a dirt mark all the way down the wall. Why do they drag their hand down the wall enough times to leave a permanent mark? Because they can.
Then there’s the moments when you’re trying to peek in on them while they’re sleeping – just to remind yourself that they DO have an angelic side - and you end up stepping on a lego (or Barbie head) and doing the “new version” of disco.
Or how about (and sorry if you’re the queasy type) that distinct smell of the dirty diaper. What parent hasn’t asked themselves, “what did I feed that kid”?
As they get older they just wear more clothes, eat more food and basically just cost more. The only difference being is that you don’t have to haul half your house with you for a quick trip to the store and the phrase “because I said so” will end a conversation.
I’ve been blessed (or cursed depending on the moment at hand) of having more than one child. Just when the sleeping through the night, teething, and potty training became a thing of the past, I brought another angel into this world. Why you ask? Because I could.
Seriously, I have been mothered or a mother all my life. I can honestly say it’s been the most challenging, yet rewarding things I’ve ever done.
I’m looking forward to becoming a grandmother some day. I can spoil the children rotten, do all the things I wanted to do but couldn’t and then send the little buggers home when I need a nap. Why?
Because I can