Musings from my little corner of the world

Not Me! Monday

2009-07-13T16:50:00.009-04:00

Oh, wow, where to begin. I did not spend most of my "have the house to myself" day sitting around reading The Shack and napping. I did not spend Friday night sitting by the fire pit drinking wine and enjoying the company of friends. I did not laugh hysterically as Claire the cat chased a lizard. I did not eat out more than I ate in last week. I certainly did not not leave camp yesterday before Youngest Child was unpacked and set up in her cabin. I could have very well not been the last one to get there and the first one to leave. Oopsie! I did not make my new teammate mad because I did not tell her that I didn't know what I was teaching, what she was teaching, and that I didn't care because I had two weeks of vacation left. I did not forgot to feed the dog one day.

Now, pop on over to MckMama's blog and see what others did not do this week...

Edited to add: I most certainly DID NOT stand by and watch helplessly as Oldest Child carried ~~Claire's new play toy~~ a dead lizard outside.

An Open Letter

2009-07-12T07:47:00.003-04:00

Dear Not Me and I Don't Know:

This time you have gone too far. I've been putting this letter off for a long time. Always before, what you took was either (a) replaceable or (b) not so important. But this time, I will not let you get by with it.

When I realized my Microsoft Works installation disk was missing, I figured I'd find it later. When my favorite earrings weren't where I'd last put them, I figured Ms. Donna had put them in a safe place. When I'm looking for a movie that I know I bought, I guessed it would turn up later. When I couldn't find any of the 638 flashlights we'd bought for the camper, no big deal.

Now that you've taken my digital camera, complete with memory card and power supply, I demand an answer. We even had a Family Fun Night that included a Find the Camera party. When that didn't turn up the camera, I knew we were in trouble. When Oldest Child cleaned her entire room and the camera was still missing, I began to panic. Now that it's been over a week and I've wracked my feeble little brain of when I saw the camera last, cleaned places in my house I haven't cleaned since we moved in, and still no camera, I have no other choice than to expose you for what you are...ruth-less.

I am onto you now. You have crossed the line, gone over the limit, and I will make you pay. Or, if I don't find the camera, I guess I'll be the one who's paying.

Sincerely,
fabthemayor

Update

2009-07-09T09:15:00.008-04:00

Yesterday was somewhat productive. I cleaned the laundry room (hold your applause, please!) because the new dryer looked out of place amid all the various and sundry clothes piled high on the counters. So now, laundry is caught up, including put away...the counters are cleaned off, the dryer is neat and clean on top. We'll have to see how long it stays that way.

Then I moved to the "bill cabinet". I bought a cute antique-looking cabinet at a yard sale a few years ago that fit perfect in my kitchen. A perfect place to hide things. I have one of my violets sitting on top. I bought one of those clocks/weather predictor/temperature inside and outside thingys at Home Depot over the weekend. It looked out of place amid the piles of bills and other junk that had accumulated. And once I cleaned off the top, I had to clean it out. It became too easy just to throw stuff in there and close the door. I should have taken a before/after picture to show you the progress that was made in the house yesterday. Oh, my, I just go sit and admire the handiwork. DH was impressed, to say the least. He even commented that I am on such a roll I may need to become a Stay Home Mommy again so I can continue my clean-sweeping ways. Don't go overboard, DH...don't go overboard! One project a day is enough...

The Official "To Do" List

2009-07-07T20:41:00.007-04:00

I don't think I am the only school teacher who spends the school year making a huge list of things that will be accomplished during the summer. I work in a system that is basically "year round" school which means I go back to school the end of July (the 24th to be exact - not that I'm counting or anything), but I get a fall break in October and a winter break in February. The board says it improves test scores; I just like having a job, given today's economy.

This summer's list included painting the trim on the windows, cleaning out my closet, stripping wall paper and painting the girls' bathroom, putting down "hardwood" floors in Youngest Child's bedroom, cleaning out the cabinets in the kitchen that didn't get cleaned out last summer. Considering how time consuming each of these jobs is, plus how many time-consuming jobs are on the list, coupled with the heat and humidity that is Atlanta, to say I had "high hopes" is a vast understatement.

Add to that the fact that I spend ~~two weeks~~ an enormous amount of time mourning/recalculating because special saints who were close to me went on to their greater reward, I'm ashamed to say that this may be the summer that absolutely nothing on the list gets accomplished. Considering I have less than three weeks of vacation left, I may just take this summer officially off.

I was sitting around tonight reading various blogs I enjoy, and low and behold, it is not a lost summer afterall. ~~I'm stupid~~ . Dawn over at Because I Said So gave away a little, itsy bitty secret about how to cross out words.

So now, even if the girls don't have their new sparkling white bathroom, my windows don't get painted, my witty, wise cracking humor will now be made even more evident because Dawn shared her little secret.

Not Me!

2009-07-06T22:01:00.004-04:00

How could I have forgotten it is Monday already! I have been saving up my "not me's" all week so I could share them especially with you!

- I did not keep my best friend's kids so she could accompany her husband to Hilton Head Island on a business trip.
- I did not help organize a 4th of July "block party" in my neighborhood. It just happened to include two dear, sweet neighbors who never get to visit with the neighbors.
- I did not keep avoiding my dogs' scratching; if I avoid the scratching, they don't have fleas. Right???
- I did not go on Friday and buy a new dryer because the other one had officially bit the dust. It wasn't the timer - it was the motor. They don't make dryers like they used to.
- I did not go out to dinner tonight at the Japanese restaurant.
- I did not continuously use my girl friend's laundry room the whole time I was at her house (hey, what can I say - it's the Get What You Pay For Babysitter!
- I did not leave her children with Oldest Child one evening while I went to get my hair done (on top of what it cost to get my hair done, I had to add in babysitting fees!)
- I did not almost forget about "Not Me!" Monday!

Proud to be an American

2009-07-04T15:32:00.004-04:00

I wasn't going to post today; after all, what could I say that hasn't already been said before. How could I possibly expound on what freedom is or why we have it. But then I read this, and couldn't stop myself. This happens to be my across-the-street neighbor, and no, I haven't checked it against any of the "scam" web sites. It really doesn't matter if it's true or just a good story, now does it?

From someone who has been there, done that, bought the t-shirt, and who is trying vainly to figure out how to give back, it's just good to read how some people still show how proud they are to be American. When we go anywhere with The Dude dressed in his uniform, he is treated with utmost respect. We have been shown appreciation, had our meals bought at restaurants, and saluted, just to name a few. I have been to the airport with The Dude and had people clap and salute him. Unfortunately, it was when he was going to and coming from Iraq. I have also been to the airport when it was my turn to do the clapping and saluting. One of the things I want to do when I retire is volunteer with the USO at the airport. Hopefully by then, there won't be any servicemen and women going to war. Hopefully by then, all the servicemen and women will be shipping off to train, or to keep peace somewhere. Hopefully by the time I retire, the wars will be over and parents won't have to send their sons and daughters in harms way so that we can stay free.

So however you celebrate Independence Day, remember to say an extra special prayer for those who are in harms way and for those they left behind to carry on while they're gone. But for the grace of God go I. Happy Independence Day.

Not Me!

2009-06-29T16:47:00.009-04:00

For those of you who haven't read about dear, sweet Stellan, you may not know about Not Me! Monday. Since I have been so lack in blogging lately, I decided it would be a great way to get back into the blogging mode. And as I sit here trying to think of what I didn't do this week, quite a bit comes to mind...

- I did not secretly wish DH couldn't fix the dryer so I could go get another one. (But I must confess, I won that one - he gave in this afternoon when the new timer came it and it still didn't work. I asked him if he couldn't fix it because it couldn't be fixed or because he was too tired to deal with it. When he confessed it was lack of sleep, I agreed to wait until this weekend to see if it, too, needs to go to dryer heaven. That will make THREE dryers we have gone through in 17 years...not sure I like those odds.)
- I did not go pick up Chinese for dinner because when DH works doubles, we have to eat dinner at 3:30 in order to eat as a family. It's not too hot to cook dinner at 3:30 in June in Atlanta.
- I did not hold off cleaning up the camper from the beach (too hot to cook, too hot to clean the camper...)
- I did not sort through the laundry and see what could be hung on the deck to dry, what could wait until the dryer got fixed, and what we had to have for the week
- I certainly did not sit and read blogs instead of doing what needed to be done around the house
- I also did not leave OC at the skating rink after it closed last Monday. We thought it closed at 11 so I was going to pick her up at 10:30. I get a phone call at 9:58 from OC telling me that the rink closes at 10. Guess she forgot the fact that we live, oh, hmmm, 20 minutes from the rink! I send The Dune running out the door to go pick her up and I stayed on the phone with her until he got there. Glad there was a lot of other parents slow in picking up their kids, too.
- and last but certainly not least, I absolutely, beyond the shadow of a doubt did not spend too much time watching TV last week.

Long Summer

2009-06-27T20:16:00.010-04:00

It's been a long summer already at our house. I know I haven't been posting regularly lately; I've been too busy living. But I am taking time now to sit back, ponder, relax, regroup, turn over some new leaves and forge ahead. What on earth am I talking about, you ask?

I live in the country. Not the country like Ree. But the country where you can still call your neighbor and borrow a cup of sugar. The country where you see your neighbor out planting flowers and you go over and help. The country where you see lots of cars parked in the driveway nextdoor and you call to see (a) if there is a party or (b) who died. When we bought our house seven years ago, God told us from the beginning that we were where we were supposed to be. Too many chips had to fall in place for us to be in this particular house. And once I got to know our neighbors, I am so glad we followed His lead.

We don't live in a subdivision; we have a small circle of houses of retired couples living around us so I never have to worry about our house being burglarized (Hear that, Mr. Big Bad Robber - our neighbors are always watching you...). And then H World Adventures lives across the street. I wouldn't take anything for my neighbors.

Our comfy little circle 'o friends was rocked to its core this week. Our dear, sweet Fibo went to her reward with the angels. She was diagnosed back in November with a very rare form of cancer. She had radiation throughout the winter, and was declared cancer free in February. We celebrated with her. Our celebration was short-lived when it returned in March. This time, the doctors decided it would be best to attack it with chemotherapy. We did what we knew to do. We cooked for her, threw her a "hat party" so she would have plenty of hats to wear with her various outfits. We went and sat with her and kept her company. We rallied when we needed to rally.

Being a teacher, I was extremely anxious for summer to get here. Not because I didn't have to go to work, but because I could go over and sit with Fibo. She was going to help me make another quilt because that's who she was...always quilting or painting. Since she was too weak to quilt, she was going to help me. It was going to be green and we already had the pattern picked out. Then when we finished that, we were going to make my Christmas tree skirt I've been going to make for three years. She was going to sit in the bed and tell me what I needed to do. I couldn't wait to get started.

Those plans have been put indefinitely on hold. I was able to spend some quality days with her at the beginning of June, then the girls and I had to go to West Virginia to attend my cousin's funeral. The cousin who was more like a grandmother than a cousin (another post for another day). Then we went on vacation. While we were on vacation, Fibo went into the hospital. She never came home.

Our neighborhood is sad. Our road is sad. I am sad. I know she's in a better place; I know she's not in pain anymore; I know everything happens for a reason. The rational side of me knows all of that. But the human side is broken. The picture is of Fibo and Oldest Child before the prom. This summer I am learning to do for others, to not put off tomorrow what I can do today, to take life by the horns. RIP, Fibo; you will be sorely missed.

Goals

2009-05-03T08:52:00.013-04:00

Before I had kids, if anyone had told me how totally different each sibling would be, I would have thought they were exaggerating. Being the parent of two girls and a boy who are as different as night and day...and night again...I can totally stand behind that statement. Enter Oldest Child.

Oldest Child is very much her mother's child. I can see so much of myself in her. Only instead of squelching her creativity/individuality, we encourage it. She decides what she wants, what it will take to achieve it, and goes for it. The day she walked through the doors as a freshman at High School, she wanted to go to the prom as a freshman. She started talking about it in AUGUST people! I let her talk...and dream...and scheme...until oh about late February/early March. Then she started getting serious, and so did we.

She is involved in a church with a very active youth group. A guy from the youth group is a senior and needed a prom date. Oldest Child is a freshman and needed a date. We know him, we know his parents, we know Who and what he stands for...perfect match. DH and I felt safe with him, knew he would show OC a good time, and we, as her parents, wouldn't have to worry about letting our baby go to the prom. There comes a time when you have to sit back, pray, and trust that everything you have spent the past fifteen years telling her has sunk in.

It was a perfect night. The day went very smoothly. Youngest Child was occupied with a friend all day, out having fun. The day was totally devoted to OC...the way she wishes every day would be. Her wish was my command. M, OC's best friend, spent the day with us keeping us both calm. And from the time she woke up yesterday morning until sometime yesterday afternoon, my baby, my firstborn, my goal-oriented child turned into a princess.

Happy Anniversary, DH

2009-04-18T21:41:00.003-04:00

Today is a special day. This time seventeen years ago, I walked down the isle of a church dressed in a long, flowing white dress. I didn't take my eyes off of his the entire walk down the isle. The love I saw then is the same love I see when I look into his eyes today. It was a beautiful spring day, sunny and hot (especially in a long sleeved dress!). The church was simply decorated; it was Easter weekend so we used the Easter lilies with a few bows strategically placed throughout. The ceremony was simple. We are, after all, pretty simple people.

We even held off leaving for our honeymoon (a week at the beach) until Monday. After all, DH's mother had Easter dinner and everyone was expected to be there. Nevermindthefact that you just got married yesterday. So we went to church Easter Sunday, then to the family lunch. Then bright and early Monday morning, set off for our first trip as a married couple.

There have been many trips to the beach since. There have been many happy days since. There have been many more lunches at DH's mothers since. We have shared with our girls our love for the beach, family time, and dinner at Mawmaw's (including last Sunday!).

Seventeen years encompasses a vast amount of territory. Three moves. At least seven new vehicles. Two campers. Three dogs. Three cats. A son who decided to join the Army and spent a year in Iraq. Thank God he is now safely home and living in our playroom. Nine job changes. Two births. Four churches. Three meals DH asked me to please not make again.

Here's hoping for another seventeen happy years. Happy Anniversary, DH. I remember all the details of our special day like it was only yesterday. I'd say "yes" all over again! Thank you for making me happy.

I Love Donna

2009-04-02T21:00:00.004-04:00

Donna has been in our life for the past seven years...and I love her. She shows up every Monday morning like clockwork while OC, YC and I are getting ready for school. DH has already left for work and The Dude is either getting ready to leave for work or in the bed. She is as much a part of our family as the dogs or the cats. The girls love Donna almost as much as I do. Yes, Donna shows up every Monday morning, and when Donna leaves, I have a clean house.

I was a SAHM while YC and OC were at home; I quit my job when YC was six months old. And I stayed home with the girls until YC started pre-K. Then I signed my first contract and have been teaching ever since. But one of the negotiating points of my going back to work was getting someone to clean our house. I don't want to be gone all week and then spend all weekend cleaning the house. And Dear, Sweet Donna has been worth every penny we have paid for her.

No matter how many times we refigure or recalculate the budget, Donna is always right under the mortgage payment. I will miss groceries but I won't miss Donna. Call me spoiled, call it my way of stimulating the economy.

Case in point, we are on Spring Break this week. We went camping in the Castle that is our new camper. The dogs and The Dude stayed home. The dogs are going through a "mourning stage" with Midnight - they are doing crazy things they rarely ever do. This week, they decided to open the pantry with their nose and take out (1) peanut butter, (2) Crisco, and (3) Bisquick. Thankfully, the only one of the three they got opened was the Bisquick. They ate the whole box under the kitchen table. I have never ever been so thankful for tile floors. But I also had to do something I haven't done in forever...I had to mop my own floor. I have the biggest kitchen in the history of the world; gourmet cooks would kill for a kitchen this big. I just call it a lot of wasted space. But it is only Thursday and Donna won't be back until Monday and I couldn't leave Bisquick under my kitchen table for four more days. So I spent the morning cleaning up Bisquick and appreciating Donna.

And when I finished mopping my floor, I realized we don't pay Donna nearly enough money for what she does!

Happy Birthday to Me!

2009-03-28T21:13:00.009-04:00

Bristol Motor Speedway is the mecca of Nascar racing. For those of you out there who don't like Nascar racing or don't understand Nascar racing, skip this post; return later for a non-Nascar-related post. For those of you who consider Nascar a competitive sport, happy reading. I have been a huge Nascar fan for as long as I have been with DH. About ten years ago, we started going to the Atlanta Motor Speedway for the fall race. Been to Charlotte Motor Speedway for the longest race of the season. Even had garage passes a few races and been so close to Dale Earnhardt, Jr. talking to Michael Waltrip I've seen the blue in their eyes.

But it all paled in comparison to Bristol Motor Speedway. I've known people who have Bristol tickets. I've longed to go to Bristol. But, you see, if you follow Nascar, you know how hard Bristol tickets are to come by. When DH saw the commercial way back in February that said not only tickets to the spring race at Bristol were on sale, but also tickets to the Sharpie 500 Bristol night race were on sale, he turned me loose with his credit card blessings. And far be it from me to disobey DH...especially when a credit card purchase is at stake.

Those of you who know me in real life know I can justify anything. Those of you out there who need something justified, I'm your girl. But these are tickets that haven't even been available to the general public for over eight years. There has been a waiting list to get on the waiting list to get these tickets. Then, to see the commercial, it has to be fate. And so close to my birthday...even better. DH came up with the best birthday present in the history of the world. Chop it up to the recession that we're in, but now that we are Bristol season ticket holders, we have first chance at them from here on out. This time, we took two fiends. In August, we're taking OC and YC. NEXT March, The Dude, DH, and two of their friends are going. Not that we're planning or we're excited or anything.

So last weekend, in the midst of the Midnight drama, we left for Bristol. And the weather was beautiful. And the race was wonderful. And the company was wonderful. And then we drove all night after the race and I realized once again, that I am not, by any stretch of the imagination, a night person. I was a zombie all day Monday and most of Tuesday. But now I can say I've been to Bristol; and I plan to be back for a number of years to come. Perhaps even taking my grandchildren to the coveted Sharpie 500. All because DH said yes.

Oh Christmas Star of Midnight

2009-03-25T20:41:00.008-04:00

It's been a sad week at our house. Our beloved Midnight had to be put to sleep. Our beloved Midnight that was DH's Christmas present our first Christmas as a married couple. Our beloved Midnight who we have had longer than our children. Our beloved Midnight who has been there through welcoming two children home from the hospital, three moves, countless camping trips, numerous swims in Lake Lanier, and more chewed up tennis balls than I care to count.

We knew then end was inevitable; how many people can say they've had a dog live to be sixteen years old?! But I had complete and utter confidence in our vet and she assured us we would know when it was time. But even through "Snowstorm '09" she was out walking around on the deck trying to eat the snowflakes. She still barked when Spencer barked (whether she could actually hear the doorbell ringing, or knew Spencer was barking so she needed to bark we will never know), she wagged her tail when we came home. Walked around the yard and garage with DH because that was their special time. She wasn't in pain and she didn't suffer.

So in the midst of all the fun we had this weekend, it was bittersweet because a member of our family is gone. Already this week, I can't count the times I've been outside calling the dogs back in and almost called for Midnight. Or done the "dog count" and been looking for #3 when I saw only two. I'm sure there will be many, many more times to come when I call for her, or listen for her bark when Spencer is barking, or think of her when I see a tennis ball lying around.

So thank you, Midnight, for being our loyal, loving companion. Thank you for staying with me during Snowstorm '93 and '09. Thank you for sitting up with us countless nights rocking sick babies. Thank you for welcoming The Dude home from Iraq. Oldest Child thanks you for eating all those vegetables she told us she ate so she could get dessert. Thank you for helping me learn to stay home by myself at night when DH worked night shift....when you barked, you meant business and I'd better get up and see what it was. Thank you for being the best dog a person could ask for.

The Early Bird Gets...

2009-03-01T18:05:00.007-05:00

...killed. Case in point:

This morning, on the way to church, these were beautiful, daffodils...in full bloom. Now, after 7 continuous hours of snow, this is what I'm left with. I love it when my daffodils bloom; it means I've almost survived the winter and it is almost time for spring (which just happens to be my favorite season). But, if it has to snow, there are three positives to the day: (1) school has already been cancelled for tomorrow, (2) DH is calling out tonight so he doesn't have to go to work and can be home to enjoy the fun with us, and (3) it's perfect snow capable of making snowballs and snowmen. And riding four-wheelers: OK...now go up and look at the 4-wheeler picture.

Things I've Never Done

2009-01-10T16:08:00.004-05:00

Melanie over at This Ain't New York has quite an interesting list going on over at her place. Everyone always brags about what they've done and where they've been. She put a new twist on it. What have you never done? Some things I thought about I am chomping at the bit to get to do and other things on the list I have no plans to do. But it is an interesting list none the less.

1. I've never been in a car accident (yes, I know I just jinxed myself!). I was once put on a jury because of that fact. It was a car accident trial and the lawyer thought it was very interesting that I had never been in an accident.

2. I've never broken a "real" bone. What is a "real" bone you may ask. I've only had a broken elbow...how on earth do you break an elbow? Don't ask. It wasn't pretty. And it was when Youngest Child was about three months old and DH left at 5 to go to work and I had to get my dear, sweet neighbor to come over before 6:30 and get YC out of bed, change her, dress her, and put her in the car seat for me. Not fun.

3. I've never been on a cruise. Sometimes I want to cruise, sometimes I have no desire to. And since DH has absolutely no desire to cruise, this one will be totally my call. And since I have severe vertigo and can't fly without getting sick, I'm kinda leery about cruising. I love the idea but the thought of spending howeverlong on a ship throwing up doesn't appeal to me.

4. I've never stolen anything. Ever. From anyone. Not even a pack of gum.

5. I've never tried drugs. Ever. At all. This one will come in handy when YC and OC ask the question. Oh, wait...they read my blog. So now I guess they know. NO, YC and OC, I have never even attempted or experimented with drugs. My prayer is that you won't, either.

6. I've never ridden a snow mobile.

7. I've never owned a horse. Off the wall, I know. But I love horses.

8. I've never driven a convertible.

9. I've never cheated on my husband. Obvious, I know...just wanted to clarify.

10. I've never para sailed. Refer to #3 and the whole vertigo thing. Looks fun, but not worth the cost to me...I'd be sick for a week.

Now you know a little more about me. What about you...what have you never done?

Merry Christmas...almost

2009-01-08T19:57:00.005-05:00

I love Chris Tomlin. He has some very powerful songs playing on our local Christian station. If my radio had a "repeat" button, I would constantly hit it when his songs came on. So one day a few weeks ago, it dawned on me to actually purchase one of his CD's. Love it! Perfect house cleaning music. Perfect clothes folding music (do you know how many clothes you can put away while singing praise songs up and down the hall!). Perfect dinner cooking music. Just perfect music. Period.

Then came Thanksgiving. And Thanksgiving means that I can officially get out all of my Christmas CD's. My Amy Grant, my Michael W. Smith, my Gary Chapman, and yes, even my Statler Brothers. And we sang. And sang. And sang. All the way through New Years.

Yesterday Oldest Child and I were coming home from one of the various and sundry errands we had to run after school. And she says, "Mom, put in your Chris Tomlin CD." "OC, I don't have a Chris Tomlin CD." "Yes, you do." You bought it ...yadda yadda yadda, word word word. No, OC, I wanted to buy a Chris Tomlin CD but I bought a Christmas CD instead. No, mom, you didn't. You bought it and it's blue and black and where is it put it in the CD player I want to listen to it NOW! So luckily she got sidetracked and we made it home without any major fights.

So this afternoon when I picked her up from dance practice, again she wants to listen to THE CHRIS TOMLIN CD PLEASE! We go through the whole conversation again. She looks in the console of my truck and guess what she found? Low and behold, I did buy the Chris Tomlin CD. And I forgot about it. And she found it. So it was like finding a late Christmas present. For ME! And we got to sing praise songs all the way home.

Dear Santa

2008-12-23T07:03:00.007-05:00

Every once in awhile you come across an article in a magazine that is worth holding onto. This is just such an article. I cut it out of a Family Circle many, many years ago. When Oldest Child was a mere babe. Every Christmas, amid the hustle and bustle that has become the holiday, I pull it out and reflect. And remember. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.

Dear Santa, by David Chartrand

My five-year-old boy scribbled out his Christmas list. It's there by the fireplace. The Coke and chocolates are from him. In case you're hungry. You know 5-year-olds these days. The Cheez-Its are from me.

Santa, if you don't mind, I thought I'd go ahead and leave my list, too. It's long, but do what you can. It's all I want for Christmas.

* Santa, let my little boy grow up still believing that he has the funniest dad in the neighborhood.
* Give him many close friends, both boys and girls. May they fill his days with adventure, security and dirty fingernails.
* Leave his mom and me some magic dust that will keep him just the size he is now. We'd just as soon he stayed 5 years old and 3 feet 4 inches.
* If he must grow up, Santa, make sure he still wants to sit on my lap at bedtime and read The Frog & Toad Together.
* If you can help it, Santa, never let him be sent into war. His mother and I love our country, but we love our 5-year-old boy more.
* While you're at it, give our world leaders a copy of The Killer Angels, Michael Shaara's retelling of the Battle of Gettysburg. May it remind them that too many moms and dads have wept at Christmas for soldiers who died in battles that needn't have been fought.
* Let our house always be filled with slamming doors and toilet seats, which are the official sounds of little boys.
* Break it to him gently, Santa, that his dad won't always be able to carry him to bed at night or brush his teeth for him. Teach him courage in the face of such change.
* Let him understand that no matter how nice you are to everyone, the world will sometimes break your heart. As you know, Santa, a child's feelings are as fragile as moth wings.
* Let him become a piano player, a soccer star or a clergyman. Or all three. Anything but a politician.
* Give him a hunger for books, music and geography. May he be the first kid in kindergarten to be able to find Madagascar on a map.
* The kid's a born artist, Santa, so send more crayons. May our kitchen window and refrigerator doors be every plastered with his sketches of surreal rainbows and horses with big ears.
* Steer him oh so carefully to that little girl destined to be his bride. Let his mother and me still be around when he walks her down the aisle. If there is a just God, let her daddy be obscenely rich.
* Grant him a heart that will cherish what his parents did right, and forgive us for the mistakes we surely will have made over a lifetime of raising him.
* Let him not hold it against us that he was born with my chin and his mother's ears. Time will teach him that these are God's ways of girding him for life's adversities.
* Hold him steady on the day that he learns the truth about you and the Easter Bunny. May he take the news better than I did.
* While you're flying around the heavens, Santa, make sure God has heard our prayer for this child: Lead our little boy not into temptation; deliver him from evil.

Be careful out there, Santa. And close the flue on your way up.

Tis the Season

2008-12-21T15:47:00.002-05:00

Ever hear a song that you know was speaking directly to you? They sang this song in church this morning. Talk about powerful; talk about moving. Talk about speaking directly to me.

Oh, Blogland How I've Missed You

2008-12-06T17:41:00.004-05:00

Missed me? Yeah, I thought so! I can't even get into why I've been away so long right now. Let's just say we have been have ISP issues and many, many, oh too many dealings with customer-no-service. You have to realize I live in a house with five people who need the computer. And when we're down to one computer connected to a wall...well, blogging doesn't take a backseat. It gets tied to the roof like a luggage carrier.

I can't wait to sit down tonight and watch an on-demand movie and blog, blog, blog. I may surface again in two or three weeks. I can't wait to catch up on all the blogs I've missed. I bet I've even missed some great, super-fantastic giveaways that I know I would have won.

Well...the wireless has been hooked up for a whole ten minutes and it still works. Here's hoping we made a good choice with our new ISP. The mood I'm in, for their sake...I sure hope so!

Sad but True

2008-11-20T16:45:00.005-05:00

This Ain't New York: Dear Uncle Sam,

Melanie is quickly becoming one of my all-time favorite bloggers. I can't post new material because I'm too busy repeating hers...too good not to read!

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

2008-11-15T22:32:00.005-05:00

This weekend has been an extremely busy one for me. It is only Saturday night and I am so tired I can hardly hold my head up. Last night we went to our high school's playoff game. I am so totally addicted to high school football. When I taught in the other county, and the new high school opened, I had every intention of going to their football games. You know what they say about good intentions. When we moved to the country, and they opened the new state-of-the-art-stadium for the old high school, we wanted to become season ticket holders. See sentence above about good intentions.

But now that Oldest Child is in high school, oh, my word, she has to be at the football games. And I can't let her go alone, so we turned it into family night. So every home football game this year, we have cheered out team to victory. At the beginning of the season, we were predicted to be 5-5 at best. When we ended the season 9-1, everyone was shocked. So we had home-field advantage for the first round. Our high school hasn't been to the playoffs since 1991 and now we have home-field advantage! (I wasn't even married in 1991!)

All week long, they've been predicting rain for Friday night. All week long, I've been gathering up all of our camping rain gear. Coats. Check. Blankets. Check. Towels. Check. Gloves. Check. By watching us walk into the stadium, you'd of thought we were spending the weekend there. But we are serious about our football. And it only drizzled and misted (and fog-ed...if that's a word).

And our team looked really good. And they played good ball. And we cheered very loudly. For the first three and a half quarters. At the end of the third quarter, we had a 21-12 lead. Then DH had to leave to go to work. Then the other team started coming back. And they scored. And they intercepted. And they scored. And they scored again. And no one will ever convince me that it's not his fault we won't be playing football next Friday night. He's in the stands, we are winning. He leaves to go make money, we start losing. I see a connection. But the final, heartbreaking score: 27-21.

And then this morning, Oldest Child had her first high school swim meet. She thought she stunk; I thought she rocked. She wants to be the best and gets frustrated when she's not. Even when I explained to her she was swimming against seniors and has only been back in the pool just over 2 weeks and her times were strong enough to put her in the top third of the heats...that wasn't good enough. She swam her heart out.

I'm ready for a nice, quiet, sit-at-home-in-your-pj's kind of weekend!

Thank You

2008-11-11T21:25:00.004-05:00

Red, White and You

Have you hugged a veteran today?

If you don't know one to hug, take a minute to pray for them, thank God for their courage. They are honored once, maybe twice a year for their sacrifice. The rest of the year, we tend to forget them while we enjoy the freedoms they've so unselfishly provided.

And while you're at it, take a moment to watch a flag wave. Watch as it freely unfolds in the air we breath. Those colors represent so much of our great nation's history.

Give pause. Give thanks.

I was trying to link directly to this post, but I'm also trying to figure out my new computer and this whole new Vista thing and I'm tired and it's not working like I think it should. But you really do need to go over to thisaintnewyork.blogspot.com for some other fabulous reading. She has some good, thought provoking food for thought.

So thank you, Dude, for giving unselfishly. Thank you, Dude, for doing what you do so well. Thank you, Dude, for being you. You rock!

She Said I'm Cool

2008-10-30T20:12:00.004-04:00

And I had to blog about it before she changed her mind. Oldest Child is a typical teenager. She wants more than she has; nothing is good enough for her, her parents don't know anything, and we are oh, so totally embarrassing to her.

But I didn't let that deter me. I kept trying. I kept nagging. I kept inviting her friends over. And they came. Kinda like "If you build it they will come." So last week was intersession in our county. Most of the county gets a week off, some are in school half days for remediation or enrichment. I was off. OC and her peeps hung out together all week. They took turns going to different houses watching horror movies. One day they wanted to come over here, did I mind? DID I MIND??? YOU ACTUALLY WANT YOUR FRIENDS IN THE SAME HOUSE AS ME??? OF COURSE I DON'T MIND! So I did what any normal mother would do in such an instance. I went and picked up Taco Bell for everyone. Feed them, they have to come back, right?

Right! Friday was cold, rainy, dreary, yucky. They wanted to come over and watch a movie. Not sure if it had more to do with the fact that they liked our house or the fact that I was the only parent home on a Friday afternoon and having a parent home was one of the criteria for going to the house. Either way, they came back. And I just happened to be baking brownies. They were to take to the Nascar race, but how do they know I don't bake brownies every Friday afternoon. I'm sure if you look hard enough and long enough, you will see the pearls and heels I wear every time I enter the kitchen...just like June Cleaver. Anyway, I digress. The first batch of brownies went to the kids and I baked another batch for the race.

Then the leader of her Thursday Night Bible Study group called and asked could we meet at our house on Thursday and have a fire in the fire pit and roast hot dogs and make s'mores. Am I hearing things?? MORE friends want to come over to our house and hang out?? I must have died and gone to Heaven and haven't realized it yet. OF COURSE you can come over and meet at our house Thursday night. Usually they meet at the leader's house and I take OC there, kill an hour and a half at the public library because it is too far to drive to come back and then go pick her up, and we usually get home about 9:45. OF COURSE you can meet at our house where I don't have to drive anywhere!

So as I was showing them where everything was before I came in the house to leave them to their meeting, OC came up to me, (don't tell anyone, but she) kissed me on the cheek, and told me that DH and I were actually COOL PARENTS. She never realized it until last week, but we really are fun. The scene from Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer where he leaps through the air when he finds out Clairece thinks he's cute..."I'm cute...I'm cute...SHE THINKS I'M CUTE" - immediately popped in my brain.

WE'RE COOL. WE'RE COOL. SHE THINKS WE'RE COOL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The Tale of Two Plants

2008-10-24T09:45:00.007-04:00

I love violets. Violets are comforting for me. As a child, my grandmother always had a violet in her kitchen window and her bedroom dresser. That was one of the constants of my childhood. I have attempted to always have a violet somewhere in my house. I should have done a "before and after" picture, but you know what they say about hindsight. But use your imagination and picture these two plants in the blue pot...together...overgrown.

But I was afraid to seperate them because I was afraid of killing them. Then one day, I had a temporary moment of insanity and took the plunge. They are now two normal sized violets instead of one giant one. I have to find a place in my house that the other pot will grow and not die.

I hope the girls will pick up on this and want violets in their home when they go out on their own.

Meet Claire A. Belle

2008-10-19T16:17:00.007-04:00

Yes, I admit I'm crazy. But we have another pet at our house. For those of you keeping score, that is 3 black Labs (yes, three; yes, all living in the house), Reggie the cat (who now spends the majority of his time outside my house), and Claire. I can be bought for a price. And when I am considering buying, I always take into consideration what the payoff is worth to me. Welcome, Claire.

Reggie the cat is a sweet, loving cat. But Reggie the cat is a boy. And Reggie the cat love to go around my house marking his territory. It is a favorite game around our house to see who can be the first to find out what needs to be (a) washed or (b) thrown away because it has been marked by Reggie. That game got real old, real quick. After many trips to the vet, much expensive special cat food, we finally convinced (or bribed) YC that Reggie would be happy outside and he could still come in the house to sleep at night.

We tried this about this time last year. Except DH decided to put him out without telling YC. And Reggie got mad and decided not to come home...until we got a call in late January telling us he had our cat - about a half mile from where we live. So we gave him the benefit of the doubt and decided he had been reformed (Reggie the cat, not DH). Wrong.

Then The Dude decided not to stop Reggie when he ventured onto the deck last week. Oh, my word, the havoc that was reaped when YC found him on the deck and brought him back in. So being the smart mother/educator/briber that I am, I decided to ask YC if she'd like to have a new kitten. A kitten that would be all her very own; she could name it and play with it and wrap it up in baby blankets, etc., etc. But the only catch was, Reggie had to be an outside cat.

Welcome Claire. May you be smart in your young age. May you not claw my leather furniture. May you quickly learn where the litter box is...and what it's for. May you curl up with the dogs on cold winter nights. And realize Spencer is just kidding when he chases you down the hall. May you know that you can lead the life of Riley...as long as you follow my rules and leave my carpet unmarked.

Happy Birthday, Midnight

2008-10-19T15:59:00.009-04:00

(Midnight is in the middle, Spencer is on the right, Montana is in the back)

Saturday, our beloved black Lab turned 16. Yes, count them...sixteen years old. We have had her longer than we've had our children. She was my present to DH the first Christmas we were married. Keep in mind we lived in a tiny duplex on a main road in metro Atlanta. And he wants a Lab for Christmas. He won...and we won. Midnight has been there through all the highlights and low-lights of our married life. She was with me when DH had to work during Snowstorm '93. She was the one stable thing The Dude had to come back to when his mother moved him eight hours away from us. Every time we would talk on the phone, he would ask about the dog. One of my favorite baby pictures with OC is DH rocking OC in the recliner and Midnight lying on the couch, her head resting on the arm, looking over at DH and OC. Always the protector. When YC came home from the hospital and didn't sleep (another post for another day...oh, my, yes it is...), Midnight could be found many a-nights, lying by her cradle and then her baby bed, keeping watch, so DH and I could get some much-needed sleep.

We found out in July that Midnight has a fast-growing tumor entwined around an upper molar in her mouth. I love our vet; our vet rocks. She gave us some literature and told us we would know when the time was right to have her put to sleep. Since we found out about the tumor, she's had a couple of infections, causing her whole face to swell. Friday night, we came home and her whole head was swollen. DH and I both thought the time had come. I always thought I'd be ready to let her go when the time came; I thought wrong. Everyone in my house was in tears Friday night, loving around Midnight. But alas, our wonderful vet told us it is probably another infection, treat it with antibiotics and warm compresses and we'll look at it on Monday.

I am happy to say, she is bouncing back once again. She did her usual "exercise" walking around the house yesterday. Her tail wags when she sees us. She still gets excited and shows emotion; I'm so glad we got to celebrate her sixteenth birthday. Not many animals live sixteen years. Sixteen good years. So happy birthday, Midnight. And in honor of your sixteenth birthday, we brought home Claire A. Belle the kitten.

Sad but True

2008-10-18T16:56:00.009-04:00

It has taken a mimi to get me back among the blogging. Although I am still a faithful reader and commenter, I haven't posted in oh, so very long. But rest assured, inter-peeps, I have two in the works as soon as I get my laptop with my Cannon software on it back from the And Babies Make Six Hospital.

Ten Years Ago
1. I was a stay-home-mommy
2. Had a 4-year-old and an 18-month old
3. Only had one pet (Midnight)
4. Actually worked out regularly
5. Hated sitting down to pay bills

Five Things of Today's To-Do List
1. Go get a new kitten (done)
2. Pay bills (see #5 above)
3. Laundary (never caught up)
4. Clean the kitchen (a never-ending job)
5. Fix chili for dinner (done)

Five Snacks I Enjoy
1. Bruster's Oreo waffle cone
2. Oreos and milk
3. Homemake peanut butter cookies
4. Mini-reese's cups
5. Fountain Coke

Five Things I'd Do If I Were a Millionaire

1. Pay off my house (Dave Ramsey would be proud!)

2. Buy a motorhome and park it permanently at the beach

3. Travel to all the Nascar tracks

4. Buy a cabin in the mountains

5. Build our dream house on our land in the north Georgia mountains

Five Places I've Lived

1. West Virginia

a. home

b. college

c. friend's house

2. Duplex when I moved to GA

3. First apartment with DH

4. First house with DH

5. Present house (I don't like to move very much)

Five Jobs I've Had

1. Dairy Queen

2. switchboard operator in college

3. Administrative Assistant for Russell Athletic

4. Stay-Home Mommy

5. Teacher

And now, the fun part...I tag Lynne, Scott at Honey, I Fed the Kids, and Queen B

Enjoy the Swing

2008-09-25T19:51:00.006-04:00

Today was an enjoyable day for me. I got to take a trip down memory lane. As many of you know, Lynne over at And Babies Make Six and I are good friends. Great friends, actually. Well, her husband is in the hospital so she needed someone to pick the kids up from preschool so she could stay with him. Since I was home "sick" today, I was glad to help.

So when we got home, it was a beautiful fall day out, they just got a new swing last week for their birthday, and the first words out of Austin's mouth were, "Can we play outside today?" And who am I to be a spoil sport. Of course, we can play outside, Austin! So outside we went.

And we swang, and we played in the sand, and we played on the Little Tikes climby thing, and Tyler and John "hiked" through the woods (I mean shrubs...), and we swang some more. And as we were swinging, and the boys were calling to me from the top of the fort, my mind wondered.

It seems like only yesterday that Youngest Child and I were swinging in our backyard waiting for OC to get off the bus. It seems like only yesterday that I took YC to the park for the first time to feed the ducks and play on the baby slide that was way too big for her. It seems like I have only blinked a couple of times since the girls used to love to go out in the backyard and play in the sandbox together. Now, getting them to do anything together is quite an accomplishment. One of YC's favorite things to do was wait in the driveway for the school bus. We would go out extra early so she could get in plenty of bike-riding time before OC got off the bus.

So as the babies were swinging, and Austin was saving the world, I was walking down memory lane. How quickly I've gone from "Will my girls remember this?" to "I hope my girls forget about this one". Where have those days gone? The carefree days of play dates (for moms as well as the kids), spending mornings at the park feeding the ducks, story time at the library...far be it from me not to have the most well-educated child on the block.

When did it get to be school/homework/dinner/bed - and wake up tomorrow so you can do it all over again? Where has all the time gone? The girls have gotten older, but I certainly haven't. So enjoy the swing. Swing them high, swing them low. But by all means, swing them. For you, too, will blink your eyes only once or twice and they will be in high school and middle school, you will be the dumbest person on the planet, and they will need your help for nothing other than driving them somewhere to do something with someone they like.

Enjoy the swing, babies...and happy birthday! (Maybe by the time you're 30, I'll quit calling you babies!)

100 for 100

2008-09-04T19:08:00.004-04:00

This post has been a long time in the making...just over a year, actually. But one hundred little-known, boring facts about yours truly. I promise it will be boring, so if you want to stop reading now, I'll understand. If you're nosy like me and just like to know "stuff", keep reading.

1. I've been married to Dear Husband for 16 years
2. It has been a wonderful sixteen years
3. I am married to my best friend
4. Oldest Child is 14, Youngest Child is 11, The Dude is 23
5. I teach fourth grade in a public school
6. I love teaching fourth grade in a public school
7. I worked as a secretary for a major athletic company for 7 years right out of college
8. I was a stay home mommy after Youngest Child was born
9. I wasn't a very good stay home mommy
10. Being a stay home mommy is, by far, the hardest job I've ever had
11. Midnight, the black Lab, will be sixteen on October 18th
12. Midnight was DH's Christmas gift the first Christmas we were married
13. Montana, the black Lab, is seven
14. We got Montana to lessen the blow because we knew Midnight wouldn't live forever
15. Midnight may very well outlive Montana
16. Spencer, the black Lab, is 4
17. We rescued Spencer from an abusive relationship
18. When Spencer first came to live with us, he wouldn't go near DH
19. Spencer has come to love his life of luxury and his unfortunate beginning is far, far removed from his brain
20. Reggie the cat is 5ish.
21. Youngest Child used to have trouble substituting "W" for "R"
22. Youngest Child began speech therapy in kindergarten
23. Reggie the cat is quite happy YC started speech therapy at such an early age
24. I don't remember a time in my life when I didn't believe in God
25. My mom died when I was four years old
26. You never truly get over #25
27. My favorite sport is Nascar
28. My favorite driver is Dale, Jr.
29. I lived in the same house the first 20 years of my life
30. I only went to one elementary school
31. I love to go camping
32. My students think its "cool" that I have a dirt bike and a 4-wheeler
33. I love living in the country
34. It's not really "country"; its not in a subdivision. It's off the beaten path
35. I've actually borrowed a cup of sugar from my neighbor
36. I wish I was in better shape
37. I have good intentions of walking 30 minutes daily
38. You know what they way about good intentions
39. I love my mother-in-law
40. I was sad when she moved two hours away
41. I like high school football games
42. Karen Kingsbury is one of the best authors I've ever read
43. I'll be sad when her last series comes to an end
44. Could this list get any more random than it already is?!
45. I am a good friend to others
46. I put up a wall around myself that hinders me from letting others be a good friend to me
47. It's hard loving with everything you have
48. You get hurt a lot when you practice #47
49. Sometimes it's hard to forgive
50. It's always hard to forget
51. One of my biggest college regrets is not joining a soriority
52. I didn't think I needed #51
53. I hope OC and YC join a soriority
54. I hope they choose a good one
55. I would love to live at the beach
56. I hate airplanes
57. If I never fly again, it will be one day too soon
58. I have vertigo
59. I think #56 and #58 are connected
60. My vertigo is triggered by stress
61. I'm a control freak
62. Blogging relaxes me
63. Painting rooms relaxes me
64. I have repainted almost every room in my house
65. I love sitting by the fireplace on a cold, rainy evening
66. I hate snow
67. I could never go back living where it's really cold
68. I could eat out every night of the week
69. I would have to be independently wealthy to do #68
70. I am not independently wealthy
71. Financial Peace University was one of the most beneficial classes I ever took
72. I used to be able to water ski
73. I still like riding the boat and watching people water ski
74. I can't water ski anymore
75. I enjoy the challenge of keeping indoor plants alive
76. I have one of the biggest (real) violets I've ever seen. I'm tempted to seperate it, but I'm afraid I'll kill it...so it continues to be overgrown.
77. My grandmother always had a violet in her kitchen window when I was growing up
78. We go with that which is familiar
79. Sometimes, familiar is not so good
80. I learned my multiplication tables when I was in 4th grade.
81. My fourth graders don't believe #80
82. They also don't believe all the tears it took to make me memorize my multiplication tables 83. Some things you learn in school are good for you
84. 9th grade math is too hard for me
85. I showed up to take the Praxis (teaher certification test) with the wrong calculator
86. I failed the test
87. I got certified anyway
88. I'm glad I got certified anyway
89. I love teaching
90. My perfect dream day includes sand, the ocean, a cold beverage, a comfy chair, and a Karen Kingsbury book
91. I love homemade macaroni and cheese
92. I have a goal of reading the Bible from cover to cover
93. I hope I have lots of time left to complete #92
94. I drive a truck that is paid for and hope to never have a 5-year-truck payment again!
95. I hate paying bills
96. Paying bills, the physical act of paying bills - not the stress of is the money there, causes me stress
97. Refer back to #58 and #60
98. Antivert is a wonder-drug
99. I hope you have enjoyed reading this
100. I have enjoyed writing this; it made me relax, reflect, and remember. Sometimes that is a good thing.

Alas...

2008-09-03T21:35:00.006-04:00

You don't honestly think I went through the whole ordeal of painting my living room and now I'm not going to get credit for it, do you?! I think not! Although I have to admit that I didn't get to the organizing the kitchen cabinets. But hey, I've still got...let me do the math...a few more days to get it done. And I actually bought the bins I need to clean out the cabinets. And the dogs actually broke the lock on the pantry and we've been trying to find one that's black-Lab-proof so I can, hmmm, use the pantry. As opposed to coming home the its contents strewn all through my kitchen. And, as an added bonus, I may actually have something, the perfect something, on my mantel.

And, as another added bonus, you'll have to come right back here tomorrow, because as of this post, it is now time for me to post my famous 100th post and I know you wouldn't want to miss that one!

That Mom

2008-08-27T17:22:00.005-04:00

I was that mom. The mom who went anxiously to Open House the year Oldest Child started kindergarten. And a few years later, when YC followed in her footsteps. I was the mom who waited for the bus each afternoon to see what she learned during the day away from me. I was the mom who had homemade Rice Crispy Treats ready after school. Who was eager to sit down with homework because it was "fun". Who went to every practice of every sport the precious cherubs ever played...and cheered. And even COACHED one season. I was the mom who made sure we ate dinner at the dinner table every night because I would warp my children if we didn't. Who made sure that the meals were well-rounded and healthy because I didn't want them growing up obese. And the park. Oh, my goodness, the park. We had to be there at every opportunity. We walked, we fed the ducks, we rode bikes,we swang. We played. A lot.

And now, I'm not. I'm the mom who hates homework with a passion. I'm the mom who wants homework done as soon as possible, so we can get on with our evenings. I'm the mom who maybe gets one homecooked meal prepared a week. I'm the mom who feeds her children "whatever" for dinner. Just eat so you don't go to bed hungry. I'm the mom who worries about OC getting her learner's permit in March (this March!). She doesn't even know how to put gas in the car - much less pay for it. She doesn't know directions to our house...how will she ever get home? I'm the mom who worried if she did enough during the early years. Is she fundamentally grounded? Does she pick good friends? Does she know that noone will ever love her more that God and me? Did I lay the groundwork I was supposed to lay? Did I do what I was supposed to do during those early, formative years? Because if the years we are going through now are "formative", God help us all!

And Youngest Child, oh, my goodness. Middle School is rocking our world. We have spent the past eleven years getting ready for this. She is so ill prepared. What could I have done differently? How could I have helped more? What did I need to do and didn't? What did I do that I shouldn't have?

I think we all go through this life trying to do better than our parents did. I think I should be reimbursed, because the hospital forgot to give me the owner's manual when I brought them home. We do the best we can, and let God do the rest. We learned that with The Dude. He moved to Tennessee with his mother when he was five. The middle of Tennessee. A long way from Atlanta in Tennessee. So we did the best we could. And he turned out fine. Great, actually. A fine young man I would proudly set up with your daughters. So I need to learn to let go and let God. I'm not raising a couple of ax murderers. The Dude turned out ok. The girls will, too.

Date Night

2008-08-16T21:40:00.003-04:00

Last night DH and I went on a date. An honest-to-goodness-go-out-to-dinner-and-then-do-something-fun-before-going-home-and-crashing-in-bed date. We had a great time. Way back at the beginning of the summer, I was playing on my laptop looking at stuff (as I may or may not be known to do from time to time). And by a fluke, I decided to see when/if Charlie Daniels was coming to the Atlanta area. And sure enough, he was coming to town on August 15. I asked DH if I bought tickets if he would take me. Back when I bought the tickets, August 15th seemed like a long way off. He was at a new venue that we hadn't been to before and Shooter Jennings and The Outlaws were there with him. Sounded like fun. So I clicked on "best seats" when I bought the tickets, printed them, and put them in the drawer until August 14th.

Yesterday I ended up staying at school longer than anticipated. This year, my goal was to leave everyday by 4-4:15. Not happenin, my friend; not happenin! The concert started at 8:00 and it was on the other side of town. If you know anything about Atlanta traffic, especially on Friday evening, it can take anywhere from 45 minutes to 3 hours and 45 minutes to get to the other side of town. So by the time I got home, I had just enough time to put on my sassy outfit, run a brush through my hair, and walk out the door. Because I am such a planner, and I was hungry, we decided to eat dinner on this side of town because if we waited, there would be long waiting lines at every restaurant we wanted to eat at. So we went to one of our favorite Mexican restaurants.

After feasting on fajitas, we were off to face the traffic to get to the concert. Keep in mind that DH drives downtown in traffic every day. I, on the other hand, drive seven minutes to school and consider it a traffic jam if there are two cars stopped at the 4-way stop. You would see me on the nightly news under "road rage" if I had to drive in actual traffic. So I left the driving to DH. We get there in plenty of time to park (in the pre-arranged, FREE parking lot). The amphitheater was awesome. Clean. Nice workers. Relatively calm crowd.

I knew our seats were in the pit area, row EEE. We start walking. And we keep walking towards the front. And we keep walking. And finally stop. Fifth row, center stage we finally stop walking. We were so close, I could almost see the colors of their eyes! DH couldn't believe I got such awesome seats just by "playing" on the computer. I told him to just sit back and enjoy.

Shooter Jennings was terrific. Didn't put the puzzle pieces together until today that his is Waylon Jennings' son. Duh! The Outlaws were awesome. They knew how to put on a show. Once I got over the fact that one of their guitarists looks exactly like my ex-brother-in-law, only with hair down to his waist, I was able to really enjoy their performance. Finally about two hours after the start of the concert, Charlie came out. He's still got it, internets. He's still got it!

I think what I liked best about his performance was he is turning towards the religious side. And patriotic. Oh, my goodness, the man is patriotic. He played The Star Spangled Banner on his fiddle and had the entire arena on their feet with our hats off and our hands over our hearts. A-M-A-Z-I-N-G.

Why, you ask, am I not posting pictures of my fifth row, center stage, so-close-you-can-almost-see-the-whites-of-their-eyes concert? Oldest child took my camera out of my purse without telling me. Thanks, OC!

A Fitting End to a Crazy-Hazy Day

2008-07-27T21:57:00.006-04:00

I am killing time waiting for Oldest Child to get home from church with her friend. I'm learning the hard way I have to be very literal with OC. I've known this since she was an infant...why is it taking me this long to get it right?? She wanted to go to visit evening church with a friend who was doing a presentation on a mission trip to Romania she went on this summer (the friend, not OC). OK, if we're home from the going away party at the State Park on the hottest day of the year, you can go. We just made it in the nick of time. I dropped her off, the friend's mom was going to bring her home. That was at 6:30. It is now after 10:00 and I'm still waiting. Of course there was a "get together" at the youth minister's house after church. One last hoo-rah before school starts. I know, I know...I should be glad she's at a church function with her church friends and she is making good choices, etc., etc. And I am. I am. I promise I am. But that doesn't bring her home any quicker when I'm tired and want to go to bed and have to get up for school tomorrow and I turn into a pumpkin at precisely at 9:30 every night. But if I hadn't been up, I wouldn't have been checking out blogs. And if I hadn't been checking out blogs, I wouldn't have found this.

This song has been one of my favorites since the first time I heard it on the radio. But today has been a day. I found out in Sunday School this morning that a dear, sweet friend has been admitted to a treatment center for anorexia. She has a husband and two small children at home.

Then on the way to the going away party, my assistant principal called me and told me that one of the teachers new to my school this year had been shot and killed by her brother Friday night. Impossible. I just met her Friday morning. Impossible. She was in my small group for our activity. Impossible. She has a husband and four children at home. Impossible. She is so young, so full of life. Impossible. These things happen to other people, not people I know.

So say extra prayers tonight for these two special friends. And go hug your babies just a little tighter when you tuck them in tonight.

** Edited to add...I should have known...as I was finishing up this post, just as I was publishing it...OC came home and had a great time. I'm going to bed; good night!

My Summer of Accomplishments - A Recap

2008-07-24T14:08:00.002-04:00

The sun was beautiful; the sand was refreshing; the airplane ride was horrendous; the painting was long; the book was exciting; the water was wonderful. That, in a nutshell, sums up my summer. Hard to believe I start back to school tomorrow. I had so many plans for the summer. I had so much I wanted to accomplish this summer. I accomplished some of the "to do" list; others will remain on the list until, oh, probably Christmas vacation.

The beach trip was great. I could live at the beach and be a bum. Period.

"Leaving on a Jet Plane" is not my theme song. My feet are meant to stay on the ground. But once I got there, I had a great time. Las Vegas was very glad to see me leave, thankyouverymuch.

My living room is completely painted and looks great. Now I'm just trying to find the right finishing touches for my mantel. If you have something in your garage you'd like to send, feel free.

Didn't quite read as many books as I'd have liked to. I tried. I really, really tried. But every time I sat down to read, I had a problem...and woke up fifteen or ninety minutes later. But if I try really, really hard today and tonight, I can finish my first book by the time I start back to school.

Stay tuned. Pictures of the living room and trip to Las Vegas coming soon...promise!

I'm Home : )

2008-07-14T22:40:00.004-04:00

If you came here looking for pictures and details about my weekend in Vagas, check back in...oh...six months or so. I may be caught up on my sleep by then. If you want an instant version, go here. It's obvious that Lynne doesn't require as much sleep as I do, as her highlights are already up and running.

We had a great time, the weather was great, the company was great, Dramimine is my new BFF and I'm still tired.

Christmas in July

2008-07-09T12:48:00.005-04:00

With the uttering of one single sentence, my entire Christmas shopping list was completed...and it's only July. "We're going to Orlando...on New Year's...to the Capitol One Bowl!" Only Oldest Child had a few more explanation points in there; and I think possibly her's could have been written in all caps; possibly with a quotation mark or two thrown in for good measure.

Perhaps you will recall the OC is the typical, driven, oldest offspring. She can accomplish anything she sets her mind to. I merely sit back and hang on for the ride, not afraid to tighten the reins when necessary. I stopped asking, "How bad can it be?" long, long ago with OC...because she will set out to show me. Another phrase I refuse to use: "What are the odds?" What were the odds a freshman would make the high school dance team?? What are the odds that said dance team will finish in the top three at dance camp this week? Because the top three teams get a "chance" to compete at the Capitol One Bowl in Orlando on New Year's Day (perhaps, could it be, that my ALL CAPS button isn't working...hmmm...). Notice I used the word "chance". As opposed, to...oh, say, "all expense paid trip to the Orange Bowl".

So now my Christmas list is made. Gas cards will fit so nicely into the stockings hung by the chimney with care. Hotel vouchers will be quite heavy if I put them in a box with a couple of rocks. And I will look so nice in a bathing suit on NEW YEARS! Wanna hear the real kicker?? OC thought I was joking when I said we were turning this into a family vacation! Merry Christmas to all. And to all a good night.

I Really Do Need To Get Our More

2008-07-08T19:18:00.005-04:00

I'm trying to get my ducks in a row so I can pack what I need to take to Las Vegas this weekend. I'm trying to figure out what I can take that will be stylish yet cool, because it's supposed to be 187 degrees in Las Vegas this weekend. And in doing this, I'm realizing that I am totally out of my league.

I have been on a plane exactly twice in my entire 42 years of existence...once from West Virginia to Atlanta and then back again. I got up close and personal with the throw-up bags both times. Part of me thinks it has to do with being a control freak; if I can't drive my car there, I don't need to be there. Part of me thinks it has to be with my dreaded vertigo.

Lynne keeps checking on me making sure (1) I'm doing OK and (2)yes, I'm still going. I keep promising her I'll try not to do anything to embarrass her in the security lines. You don't have security lines at the campground. You don't have checked baggage vs. carry-on baggage at the campground...throw it all in the camper and off you go.

I went to the store this week to get Coke and snacks I know I can eat when I start to feel vertigo coming on. Can't take 'em. I keep changing my mind as to what carry-on bag I'm taking on the plane. Can't decide. There are too many decisions to make when flying.

I promise, promise, promise, I'm trying not to embarrass anyone, but this trip is sure to be a case of The Clampets Come to Town.

Short but Sweet

2008-07-05T21:14:00.005-04:00

I saw this over at Melanie's and it sounded like fun. But one-word responses are very difficult for me, so I may have to break the rules.

1. Where is your cell phone? Truck
2. Your significant other? Amazing
3. Your hair? Curly
4. Your mother? Deceased
5. Your father? Deceased
6. Your favorite thing? Beach
7. Your dream last night? None
8. Your favorite drink? Coke
9. Your dream/goal? Beachhouse
10. The room you’re in? Living
11. Your church? Amazing
12. Your fear? Fire
13. Where do you want to be in 6 years? Here
14. Where were you last night? Fireworks
15. What you’re not? Fake
16. Muffins? Absolutely
17. One of your wish list items? Demdaco
18. Where you grew up? West Virginia
19. The last thing you did? Hang pictures
20. What are you wearing? Shorts
21. Your TV? Nascar
22. Your pets? Many
23. Your computer? Lap
24. Your life? Comfortable
25. Your mood? Depends
26. Missing someone? #6
27. Your car? Blue
28. Something you’re not wearing? Make-up
29. Favorite store? Target
30. Your summer? Short
31. Like(love) someone? Hubs
32. Your favorite color? Purple
33. Last time you laughed? Yesterday
34. Last time you cried? Thursday
35. Who will repost this? Amy

She's a Maniac

2008-07-04T07:46:00.003-04:00

Just a quick update of the BooMama challenge...the painting is done. Looks good. Great actually. But when I got the new paint on, the baseboards looked shabby. So I had to paint them. When I got the baseboards painted, the door facings looked shabby. So I had to paint them. When the living room trim was painted, the hall trim looked shabby. So I had to paint it. Will it ever end?

On the agenda today? Finish the baseboards and door facings in the hall and put the pictures back up on the wall. Wish me luck!

The Calendar...

2008-07-01T13:28:00.005-04:00

...it's a terrible thing to waste. That noise you heard last night around 10:00ish Atlanta time was me screaming...in Lynne's ear nonetheless. We've had this trip to Las Vegas planned for her "big" birthday for awhile now. We toyed with several dates trying to get three couples together for the weekend. But between lining up babysitting, schedules, etc., it ended up only DH, me and the birthday couple were going to be able to go. Bummer.

When I turned my calendar from May to June, I realized I had written the wrong date. I had penciled in June 19th as our departure date. I knew that couldn't be right because we were leaving in July. So I rescheduled it for the third week in July - depart on the 17th, return on the 20th...happy birthday Lynne. Had babysitting all lined up; DH had vacation all lined up. Taking it easy until time to pack.

Last night, Lynne and I met at the park to walk (or play...). She called when she got home and got the crabby four in the bed. The best laid plans went a-rye when their neighbor was outside when she got home and they talked in the driveway until 9:30...which just happens to be an hour and a half past the babies' bedtime. Oopsie!

So we're talking on the phone and she's telling me about her neighbor having to transfer to Ohio because of work and he has to be there on July 14th, which is the day after we get back from Las Vegas. "No, it's the Monday before we leave for Las Vegas," I reply. "NO, it's the Monday AFTER WE GET BACK FROM LAS VEGAS!" "NO, WE LEAVE THURSDAY THE 17th". "UH NO..."

It took us a couple minutes to realize that neither of us was kidding. Oh, brother. DH is sitting on the couch listening. Then he realizes what I've done...planned around THE WRONG DATE! But the real kicker...there is no way, no how, notta, nuttin doing he can get off work next week. It's the one week his plant is shut down and he works doubles all week fixing all the machinery that breaks during the year. Geez. Panic starts to set in.

Of course, he's fine with me going without him...go, have a good time...see ya when you get home. But there's a little issue of a plane ticket with his name on it that he's not going to be able to use. Having flown ONCE in my entire 42 years of existence, you know why I didn't make the arrangements. So Lynne and I start racking our feeble little brains trying to figure out who can be the fourth person to go on the trip. Juju immediately comes to mind. Juju is the wife of the third couple we were trying to get to go with us. Their only hold-up was getting babysitting for four days. If she goes and hubs stays home, she only has to find babysitting for two days. Hello? Oldest Child? What are you doing on Thursday and Friday of next week? Yes, the day after you return from DANCE CAMP...Have I mentioned lately that I have been carting you back and forth to dance team practice this whole summer? And I provide a roof over your head 365 days a year? And I will pay you handsomely if you go move in Juju's house and babysit for me (I mean her...) for two days...great, I knew you would!

So guess what I've been doing today! Rearranging babysitting for OC and YC. Starting to think a little more seriously about what to pack because I got a week cut off my plan time. And, of course, charging the batteries in my palm pilot and making sure the calendar is up-to-date.

Caught Up In The Moment

2008-06-30T18:33:00.006-04:00

As many of you know, Lynne at And Babies Make Six and I are good friends. Great friends, actually. Such great friends that we are getting ready to spend the weekend in Vegas (Las Vegas, not Chevrolet Vegas...but I digress...) to celebrate her "big" birthday. We talk several times a day on the phone, see each other numerous times throughout the week, etc., etc.

Today she called in desperation...hubby out of town, kids crabby, yadda, yadda. So being the planner/problem solver I am, I came up with the idea of "tricking" the kids by getting her to come to the great walking park near my house that has the playground hidden in the back of the property. Thus, we get in a great walk before all eight eagle eyes spot the playground. It's a win/win situation.

This park just happens to be the park where Oldest Child and her BFF Maggie ride their unicycles. OC has been wanting to meet Maggie up there and ride. Maggie also happens to be Lynne's daughter's BFF - every time we go over there, she wants to know where Maggie is; we have to be very careful not to mention that name unless, of course, Maggie is in the car on the way to their house. Stop here and imagine four kids, ages 4 and 2, all in bad moods, all wanting something different from Mommy RIGHT NOW, and think of the noise level in the house. So I was explaining to Lynne that OC and YC would be with me and we may even invite M-A-G-G-I-E to go with us. As soon as I had spelled the word, we both burst out laughing. Her kids couldn't hear my end of the conversation; my kids (hopefully) can spell...guess you could say I was feeling her pain : )

Now I'm off to walk with four crabby kids and two (potentially crabby) teenagers.

Note to Self

2008-06-29T11:03:00.004-04:00

When using years old paint, make sure to only paint one wall at a time...as opposed to starting in the middle of the wall...you may save yourself some time.

I am diligently working on painting my living room. I had it all mapped out, and all was going according to schedule. I was even impressed when I went to the Home Fix It Up store and the nice helper-man said that yes, my paint was still good and I only had to buy two more gallons of the lighter color...because I either (a) gave two gallons away to someone and don't remember or (b) paint thieves came and stole it during the night. So I'm getting off pretty cheap for painting an entire large room, complete with high ceilings.

The accent wall was first and it looks amazing. 'Cept now, I have to add another "to do" to my list because my mantel looks totally bare and I have to fix that. But being the "smart" home improvement queen that I am, I knew to start with the old paint first. It is, afterall, OLD. Save the new...who knows, maybe in three or thirteen years, I'll want to paint this color again. So I trimmed out everything and started painting the "picture" wall. Then I painted beside the entertainment center. Then I painted over by the door. Then I ran out of paint and opened a new can. Then I noticed a spot I missed, so I went back to the picture wall. Silly me thought that the only reason the "touch up" spot was lighter was because it was wet paint and the other paint was dry. Imagine my surprise eight hours later when the touch up spot was still lighter.

In desperation, I called DH and explained my brilliance. He tried and tried to come up with solutions so it wouldn't be "noticeable". This is also the same DH who suggested I didn't need to move the big, humongous, tall, heavy entertainment center and paint behind it. Afterall...no one was going to see back there.

So I would be finished with project #1 and ready to move on to project #2 except for the small, tiny, minute problem of two different color paints. My only solution - repaint THE ENTIRE THREE WALLS the lighter color. So instead of one nice, smooth coat that covered everything...my walls now have two coats of fresh, new paint. Except of course, for behind the entertainment center...I'm waiting for DH and The Dude to be in the same house at the same time so they can take pity on me and move it for me.

But as a side note, I did happen to notice at the paint store a nice long edger-trimmer thingy...so I added painting the baseboards without trashing the carpet while I was at it. I think that should count as a project in and of itself.

Now I Have To

2008-06-19T18:10:00.015-04:00

BooMama has issued the call, and I must heed "the call". Well, and I've only been going to do the to do list since Christmas vacation. Now I'll definitely get it done because BooMama told me to and who am I not to rise to a challenge?! Well that, and I like to use my Christmas holiday and summer holiday to do something productive since I'm pretty busy the other 190 days of the year.

On my "to do" list? At the top is painting the living room. And I actually figured out a way this week to do it so I wouldn't be so overwhelmed. Completely paint one wall before moving on to the next. That way, it's finished, out of the way, complete and then I move on to the next. I've even had the paint for a VERY. LONG. TIME. So long, in fact, I have to take it back to the Home Fix It Up store to get them to mix it again to see if it's still good. So long, in fact, that I've changed my mind about how I'm going to paint the LR since I bought the paint (DH is thanking his lucky stars I just changed my mind on the WAY I was going to paint, now the COLORS I was going to paint!). Originally, the plan was to paint the darker color on the bottom of the wall up to chair rail level, then paint the top the lighter color. But now, I'm painting the wall with the fireplace a chocolate-y color and the other three walls a cream color. And don'tcha like the cup and feathers on the mantel? YC thinks the mantel is a catch-all. And see those lovely pictures of Oldest Child and Youngest Child up there on the wall? They're really cute; 'cept OC and YC are now in high school and middle school. Oopsie!

Then I'm going to move on to the kitchen cabinets because I have so many cabinets I've just shoved junk in them. I have the absolutely biggest kitchen in the history of the world. That would be a good thing if, you know, I liked to cook! You would think a humongous kitchen would inspire me. Notsomuch. But I do have lots of "stuff" stuffed in lots of cabinets (doesn't everyone store old birthday cards in the kitchen cabinet?). But BooMama told me to clean them out, so I am. By July 25th.

And both of those are indoor activities, which won't require me to be out in the sweltering 198 degree heat that is Atlanta in the summer. I still have paint the trim on the outside of the house on the "list", but that will be done on a weekend in the fall (provided that there isn't a good college football game or Nascar race on TV!).

Serious Decisions

2008-06-18T21:42:00.012-04:00

You'd be surprised how much clearer you can think while on vacation! With the toughest decision made all day being (1) whether to lie by the pool or on the beach and (2) whether we were grilling or eating out. Those two decisions made, that left many, many, many hours to contemplate the meaning of life and the like.

My favorite place in the whole world is the beach. I love the beach and the waves and the wind and the sand and the smell and the sea gulls and the everything else that accompanies the beach. In the time that DH and I have dated/been married, we have only missed vacationing at the beach on a couple of occasions. I have always said when I win $1 million, I will buy a house on the beach.

But then you have to decide what beach, house or condo, what kind of house, and all of the other tough questions associated with house-buying. I don't want a block away from the beach, I don't want in a beach city...I want to walk out my front door and be on the beach. I'm picky like that.

DH then proceeds to tell me the 1,000 reasons why, even if we could afford it, buying a house on the beach would be a bad idea. Insurance and hurricanes were at the top of the list...he is, after all, the practical one of the two.

This is our second year in a row vacationing at Camping on the Gulf in Destin. And yes, we have already booked next year's vacation. And this year, our major beach-house buying dilemma was solved. We won't buy a house on the beach when we win $1 million...we'll buy a top-of-the-line motor coach and park in on the front slot at Camping on the Gulf. Problem solved.

Why the change of heart? Think about it, dear internets. I won't have to buy homeowner's insurance for "beach property" because it won't be on the beach in case of a hurricane. I don't have to pick my favorite beach because I can park it at various and sundry beaches. I won't have to worry about hurting people's feelings when I tell them they can't stay at my beach house. When I retire because I'm a millionaire, I can also take my "beach house" around the country to all the Nascar cities I've wanted to visit. It's a win/ win situation. This dilemma checked off the list, there's no telling what world-wide problem I'll be able to solve while sitting on the beach next summer. I know...dream on, Alice; Wonderland is two doors down.

WOW!

2008-06-06T21:51:00.003-04:00

Back to the real world. I'll post about my week and getting the precious cherubs back home safe and sound and how I came crashing back to reality at 11:00 this morning and spent the majority of the day in the car retrieving the cherubs and the washer hasn't stopped since 11:00 this morning... all of that will come tomorrow.

But now, you have to go here. Rocks in My Dryer is having a giveaway and I wouldn't be doing my job if I didn't tell you about it. She is giving away the WOW Online 1 CD and the artists/songs looks awesome - I can totally see myself singing totally outloud if I win!

No Title

2008-06-04T21:53:00.005-04:00

The break from our normal life has done my heart so good this week. It was too hot to even think about painting outside. We are having late July/August weather and we're barely into June. So I have spent the past three days doing absolutely W-H-A-T-E-V-E-R.

I've gone walking two days in a row; tomorrow I'm shooting for 3. Laundry is caught up. I'm getting the camper ready to take to the beach next week. Crossing things off the "to do" list left and right. Not making much progress on my book, but working lots and lots of Sudoku puzzles.

Yes, I have sent both girls e-mails almost each day. I log on to look at pictures from church camp daily. Oldest child looks like she's having a ball! But the break, it is oh, so nice!

D-A-N-G-E-R-O-U-S

2008-06-03T16:33:00.002-04:00

No, Paula Deen isn't dangerous, but remember back in May when I told you my girlfriend took me to have lunch with Paula Deen for my birthday. And remember yesterday when I told you that Oldest Child and Youngest Child were both away at camp this week and I wouldn't know what to do with myself for a whole, entire, uninterrupted week?? LOOK!! I posted a picture on my blog! (All by myself, I might add. My IT support is tied up at the present time...). I am so proud of myself - you just don't even know!

Over the past 24 hours, I have decided that having the house to myself is nice for awhile, but I couldn't do it all the time...it's too quiet here (geez, I never thought those words would appear on my blog!). What have I done, you ask?? Yesterday DH and I went on a date when he got home (fun!). Then we paid bills when we got home (NOT fun!). This morning I went walking at 7:45, finished up some laundry, went to WalMart, worked some Sudoku puzzles, read some of my book, worked on my blog. Getting ready to go meet a friend for dinner. Actually, she's having her hair done over by my house and I'm going to go sit and talk to her and take Chick-fil-a so we can have dinner and visit.

And you know what the best part of the whole picture thing is?? I learned it just in time to take it to the beach next week! You may very well see 1,000 pictures of the beach on my blog next week just because I know how to do it now!!

Home Alone

2008-06-02T12:26:00.002-04:00

OnePlusYou Quizzes and Widgets

I have just, in the last few days, discovered the fun over at One Plus You Quizzes. I may do nothing all week long except take quizzes. Perhaps I should have taken this quiz on a day that (a) we actually had groceries in the house and (b) weren't preparing for vacation. Then maybe we would survive longer.

The Excitement - It's Too Much!

2008-06-02T07:08:00.002-04:00

I remember a conversation that took place over fourteen years ago very vividly. A girlfriend (who already had children) called on the Saturday before Oldest Child was to be born to check in and see how I was doing. She asked what I was doing and my response: "Cleaning house. I want everything to be in order when Oldest Child comes home." Her reply: "Your last free weekend for the next eighteen YEARS and you're CLEANING HOUSE?!" Didn't realize it then, but she was on to something! I should have been sitting on the couch eating bon-bons watching a movie. But the house, it was clean!

Fast forward fourteen years to present times. Yesterday I took Oldest Child to church camp in north Georgia. She loves camp and would live there permanently if they would let her. She already knows she wants to be a counselor as soon as she's old enough, and she will make an excellent one when she does.

I am counting the hours (2 hours, 48 minutes thankyouverymuch!) until I drop Youngest Child off at 4-H camp. FOR FIVE LOVELY, QUIET, PEACEFUL DAYS WITH NO RESPONSIBILITY - AT ALL - PERIOD - END OF DISCUSSION.

I didn't plan for this to happen. OC picked her week at camp; 4-H is only offered one week. But oh, my word, when I looked at the calendar and realized what had happened...that loud noise you heard at your house was probably me trying to contain my excitement!

What am I going to do, you ask? I was going to paint the white trim on the outside of the house and garage. That is, until I watched Weather Man and realized it was going to be 325 degrees this week. I don't paint when it's much above 70. So I am making a list of little "to do's" around the house that require inside attention. They may get done, or on Friday I may be able to give you reviews on 3 or 27 books I've read this week. Guess you'll just have to stay tuned.

But don't call the house - I may or may not answer the phone. Depends on whether or not my mouth is full of bon-bons!

It's True!

2008-05-31T09:55:00.004-04:00

OnePlusYou Quizzes and Widgets

It is nearly 10:00 (AM) as I type this on a Saturday morning. DH is talking to his mom on the phone so I decided to check in with the bloggy world. So far this morning, I have already (a) done two loads of laundry and (b) finished up cutting the grass. I am only on my second cup of coffee so the little test, by my calculations, is pretty accurate. Thanks, Queen B, for sharing!

I was "moderate", chipper and perky. DH, however, was "high"...highly excitable. I could be a long day at the mayor's house today!

At Last!

2008-05-29T22:08:00.005-04:00

Someone who says it better than I ever could...This Ain't New York has the perfect idea! Parents, both in my class and around town, ask what I, as a teacher, like to receive as a gift. And it has taken me a long time to learn to give an honest answer...if they didn't really want to know, they wouldn't have asked. So let me take this opportunity to chime in and give you some hints from a teacher on what we like and what we don't like.

First of all, back away from the apples and apple-related items. We have enough of everything apple-y. And along those lines, leave the "World's Greatest Teacher" everything. If your child thinks their teacher is, indeed, the world's greatest, have him/her make a card for the teacher.

Next, gift cards are always a plus. We can get what we want, when we want. Wal-Mart, Target, Borders...always a hit. Starbucks, Kohl's - who doesn't love 'em?? Gas cards...tacky? I think not! Be creative.

A plant or seeds, garden gloves, cute pot painted by the child, water bucket.

This year, Youngest Child gave her teacher a cute plastic pitcher (from WalMart!), matching glasses and Crystal Light drink mix.

A nice quick-read book and bookmark.

A beach towel and bottle of sunscreen and a current magazine - Good Housekeeping, People, etc.

Note cards or stamps to create cards and a book of stamps to mail them. Teachers still write thank you notes and what child doesn't love to get mail addressed to them?

A handwritten note from both the parent and child telling her/him how much they've meant to them. This year, one of my most precious gifts was a note from a mother of a struggling child thanking me for helping him score so high on his standardized test. Nothing monetary - but precious because I know it came from the heart.

When buying for a teacher, just remember it doesn't have to be expensive; it doesn't have to be big. Make it thoughtful and practical and you will go down in history as a parent every teacher wants to have!

My Calendar Says "Summer"

2008-05-29T16:39:00.003-04:00

Once school is out for the year and the teacher workdays are finished, I start my summer reading list. And how accountable would I be if I didn't share my list with you. Last summer was my Karen Kingsbury summer. I totally loved reading her last three series' and some of her stand alone titles; you won't be sorry if you read them. This summer, however, I am switching gears. I realized there were two Jan Karon Mitford books I haven't read. I truly enjoyed visiting Mitford and would love to move there when I retire. I can hardly wait to escape there this summer.

Love Walked In is a book that came highly recommended by Oldest Child's Youth Minister. Haven't heard of the author before (Marisa DeLosSantos). If you've read this book, I'd love to hear your opinion, but don't spoil anything for me!

I will also catch up on the various and sundry magazines that have accumulated on my counter. I'll keep you posted!

Wii Twins!

2008-05-26T20:39:00.003-04:00

Among the list of things to do this summer is loose some weight (ha ha!). I have an entire closet full of clothes I can't wear and I refuse to get rid of. Internets, I have just given you the unthinkable responsibility of holding me accountable! I also live with a high schooler (geez, that was hard to write!!) who wants to tone up. The simplest solution...Wii Fit. I pre-ordered it from Amazon way back when and forgot about it. Lucky for me it was waiting for me when I got home from school on Thursday. We had such a busy weekend I put it in the closet until tonight when I would have time to sit down and figure out how to hook it up...translated, my technical support would be able to walk me through step-by-step what to do.

So Oldest Child set it up...well, kinda. She got it out of the box and pieces were strung all over the living room. Then she gave up and went to her room. I called Technical Support and got to work. After a few colorful adjectives with explanations points after them, I was all set up and ready to go. Unfortunately, when I entered in all my information, I wasn't the cute, skinny Mii I had once been. Mr. Wii took all my pertinent information and made me...pleasingly plump. Oh, who am I kidding; Mr. Wii made me fat! It can weigh and figure BMI (body mass index) just by taking numbers you put in - amazing! The funny thing is, Lynne and I are in the exact same category with the exact same BMI and we weren't even trying.

Guess I know what that means...the challenge is on! Now we'll have to see who moves down the scale quicker.

Cats Really Do Have 9 Lives

2008-05-17T11:32:00.004-04:00

And ours is on life number 6 or 7 at least. We rescued Reggie from our vet a few years ago; he was one of about twelve she adopted out, having saved them from an elderly lady who could no longer care for them. Reggie and his brothers and sisters were named after characters in To Kill a Mocking Bird. Scout, Boo and Atticus were also sent to good homes. When we got Reggie, he had just been in a cat fight; his head had stiches and he is now cross-eyed as a result. But you should see the other guy.

Since he's been with us, he was locked in a closet a whole week we were on vacation (lost a few pounds, but recovered nicely). He is normally a house cat, but around Thanksgiving he got out without us realizing it. We looked for him, sat food out for him, but no Reggie. Then, one Friday night at the end of January (yes, 2 1/2 months after he left the warmth of our humble abode) we got a call from a man DH is in the Lion's Club with. Reggie had taken up residence at his house, but was with a wild cat and wouldn't let Mr. Lion get close to him...until then. Once again, he was a few pounds lighter, but none the worse for the wear.

Last night, Youngest Child came running through the house carrying Reggie. She found a puncture wound in his side that looked like you had stuck a pencil in between his ribs. One of the nice things about living in a small town is my vet actually answers her phone when you call after-hours. Her "best-guess" phone diagnosis was that he had been in a fight while he was out being Hudini and there was a foreign object under his skin that had worked its way out. As long as he wasn't "acting" sick, it could wait until morning. I convinced her morning would be fine...he didn't let us know, YC just happened to be playing with him and found it.

So upon our visit at 8:00 this morning (don't you wish you could have been at your vet at 8:00 in the morning on a Saturday morning??), her phone diagnosis was confirmed. She even noted in his chart back in January that there was "something" exactly where the puncture is now. Lucky us...we get to give him antibiotics three times a day for 14 days. Unless the wound gets bigger or shows no sign of healing. Then we get to take him back for surgery. I'm guessing he's at the short end of his nine lives... better slow down a little, sweet Reggie.

Deja vu All Over Again

2008-05-16T20:52:00.003-04:00

Let me just start by saying, "go ahead and send up prayers for me now." Followed by, "if you are a new reader, go back to August, September, and October reads to familiarize yourself with Oldest Child." The question that has been ever-present in my mind since 6:30 pm is "Why did I agree to this?" Whatever am I talking about, you ask?? You will be happy to know that Oldest Child is the newest member of the dance team at her NEW HIGH SCHOOL - OMG!! (applause, applause!). Do you remember the drama? Do you remember the cat fights? Do you remember the girls gone bad episodes that made up the middle school dance team? Do you remember the fact that she and Other Dancer were FIRED from being co-captains because of said drama?

dé·jà vu - n. 1. Psychology The illusion of having already experienced something actually being experienced for the first time. 2.a. An impression of having seen or experienced something before

There has already been enough drama involved with tryouts; I can only imagine what the actual season will bring. The directions said be at High School at 3:00; no sooner, no later all week for practice. That in and of itself was enough to send me over the edge. DH wouldn't be home, I wouldn't be home, The Dude wouldn't be home, Activity Bus would be late. Don't know how on earth she was going to get to practice all week. So I wrote a note for her to ride the activity bus, be late, I would explain it to the coach why she was late. Problem solved. Not good enough for OC. She rode with another girl's dad from her school on Monday. OK, she's what I always encourage my students to be - a problem solver. Can't fault her for that. Tuesday, I get this frantic e-mail from OC's assistant principal (who also just happens to be a personal friend of ours...) explaining that yesterday's ride can't be Tuesday's ride because word word word word yadda yadda. OC doesn't know what on earth she's going to do. In the most concerned voice I could muster, I responded to his e-mail. "Dear Mr. Assistant Principal; let me understand this. You are in charge of discipline for over 1,200 students, interviewing teachers for next year, monitoring halls and restrooms for said students. And you're worried about how MY CHILD is getting to dance team??" That's what I love about living in a small town. His response was priceless: Yes, but, I realize how important and pressing to the social life and the phenomenon of gaining peer acceptance is to future high schoolers. And I must add that I would never do anything to hinder the display of god given talent. At this point, all I can do is laugh. So I tell him to let OC know I will get in touch with The Dude and see if he can bail us out ('scuse me, I mean pick her up). You'd better sit down if you're not already...I get a reply from the AP asking me if The Dude isn't supposed to be in TN, so HE WON'T BE ABLE TO DO IT. Rest assured, dear AP, The Dude, indeed saved the day.

Fast forward to last night (Thursday with tryouts on Friday). When she shares with me that she has to have black shorts and a plain white top for tryouts. AND she has to have baby powder for her shoes because they are the WRONG shoes and she will totally mess up if she doesn't have baby powder. Sorry, not my problem, OC. Then this morning, her daddy, DH, was oh, so happy when I shared with him that OC really didn't need him to pick her up at school and take her to tryouts, she had it handled. And imagine his surprise when I shared this news somewhere in the neighborhood of 3:00 - 3:20 AM when he was ready to leave for work. You see, he had rearranged his normal 6:30 - 2:30 schedule so he would be at OC's beckandcall.

Can you see it? Isn't the excitement about dance team just oozing from my post? I know you will be waiting with baited breath to see if this year's drama can possibly top last year's (I don't even want to think about that right now...)...

...to be continued.

Update

2008-05-10T22:09:00.002-04:00

OK...yes...I am still among the living. Quite boring, but among the living nonetheless. Didn't realize it had been nearly a month since my last post; things here have been pretty much status quo for the past month. We closed on our land up in the mountains last week. Getting ready to wind down the school year; only 10 more student days, 14 more work days. This time next month I will be lying on the beach with no worries in the world.

Staying strong in FPU; very difficult, but very worth it. I have never been much of a "bill" person. I like creating the bills, but not paying them once they arrive in the mail. I like using "plastic money" because it's not "real" money. Sitting down with Dear Husband to pay bills has been enough to cause more than one full-fledged panic attack. When I heard President Bush was going to give me $1,800 just for living, breathing and taking up space (and, of course, filing my tax return) I immediately went to work deciding how I could spend "my" money. See, with our last rebate check way back when, DH bought a trailer. One we could put dirt bikes or lawn mowers or stuff on and pull it behind the truck. So it was only fair that I should get to spend this one. I decided to buy wood blinds for my whole house. I had them picked out and priced, knew exactly which ones I wanted. Then, the more I got into FPU, the guiltier I felt. Then, when I actually saw the money sitting in my bank account, I couldn't do it. I could either buy the blinds or pay three bills off. So as of Monday, we will have paid off four credit cards since February; started the envelope system for buying groceries and fun monies (ask Oldest Child how much she likes Dave Ramsey...she'll be happy to tell you..NOT!) Plus we thought long and hard about whether to buy the land up in the mountains before we actually signed the papers. But it's hard to go wrong with something that appreciates in value as soon as the ink dries. So we had to say yes. Now saving money has turned into a game for me. Like paying cash for groceries and getting $7 in change back. Or taking a "thingy" back to Home Depot and getting a store credit worth more than the Mother's Day present I want from there costs. And our teacher gives chocolate to those who bring credit cards to cut up each week. I haven't been able to do that yet, because way back when, DH and I cut up our credit cards; all I have now are the gas cards and my emergency Mastercard and my American Express card. But Wednesday night I get to take a credit card to cut up because as I was going through the bill book this morning, I found a Kohl's card. I will proudly be walking up, cutting that sucker into itsy, bitsy, teensy, tiny pieces and enjoying every bit of chocolate in that candy bar (who cares if my beach vacation is less than a month away and I will look like a beached whale...)

The Clog

2008-04-13T21:07:00.005-04:00

WHAT?? Two posts from me in one day? Whatever is the world coming to? I was reading Cindy over at Still His Girl and came across this. It is too cool not to share. Cindy and her husband are bloggers I've never met, but spend countless hours laughing with/at weekly. If you haven't read them, stop by, relax, and enjoy a few laughs. Don't forget to let me know what kind of shoe you are!

As for my results: The Clog

You Are Clogs

You are a solid and down to earth person.
You seek and almost always achieve a really sound balance in your life.

You are stylish yet comfortable. Mellow but driven. Excited yet calm.
You are the perfect mesh of contradictions.

No matter what happens, you have the ability to stay well grounded in your life.
People know that they can truly depend on you.

You should live: In Europe

You should work: At a company dedicated to helping the world

What Kind of Shoe Are You?

I was especially struck by the "work" sentence. Afterall, isn't that really what teachers do? Except it's at a school, not with a company?

I really wanted to be a flip flop because they are so comfy and cozy. But I came back a big, bulky clog. Could it be that's because that's all my winter shoe attire consists of?? Various and sundry colors of Clark's??

Going, Going, Gone...

2008-04-13T14:53:00.004-04:00

...and back again. I have decided after a two-week break from "real life", that I could get used to being independently wealthy and being able to be on one constant vacation. We were camping the first week of spring break. We had beautiful weather and wonderful friends to share our experience. Oldest Child had another "unicycle dork" to ride with her, so she didn't feel isolated. She has almost mastered her new gianormous unicycle - I told you before we left she would. She proficiently rode around Roosevelt State Park on her "regular" unicycle. One camper even commented, wanting to know where the other half of her bicycle went.

We had beautiful weather every day except the day we were packing up to come home. Then on Monday morning, the girls and I headed off to my old stomping grounds of southeastern West Virginia. It was the longest I've ever driven without Dear Husband. But we made it fine and had a great time. I was able to visit with friends and family I hadn't seen in awhile. Youngest Child was able to help Grandma out in the yard. Oldest Child even guilt-ed Unce Carlito into leaving a whole house full of company to drive two hours to see her.

I will update throughout the week - hopefully with pictures from the trip...depending on how busy my technical assistant is this week. We took great pictures at The Little White House - hopefully it will get Oldest Child some brownie points in Social Studies since that's what they're studying now. The azaleas were beyond beautiful down near Callaway Gardens. A bunch of deer decided to visit us while we were at the Sims Bed and Breakfast (thank you, Anne and Randy, for opening up your home to me and my precious cherubs!).

But for now, after more than 1,300 miles on our vehicles, it's back to real life. Finishing up laundry, groceries, bills, lesson plans, menu planning, etc., etc.

A-Camping We Will Go

2008-03-30T16:52:00.003-04:00

Our county is on spring break this week. It's Sunday afternoon and instead of being in my usual mad-Sunday-afternoon-get-ready-for-school-rush, I just woke up from a nap, I'm catching up on my blog reading, not quite finished with the laundry, and not worried because I have two whole weeks to get it done.

Well, not quite. Tomorrow we leave for a week in the wilderness. Well, not quite. Not sure if you call Roosevelt State Park "wilderness". But it is "nature" and there are "animals". We will be taking our camper, complete with running water and heat/ac. We will spend all week doing a whole lot of nothing. Dear Husband and Youngest Child will fish (a lot!). Oldest Child will try to master her new unicycle (another post for another day but my bet is she'll have it mastered by this time next week). I will try to finish up the two books I'm reading plus the three magazines I've been saving for occasions such as this. We are supposed to hook up with my old assistant principal who is now a principal down by where we're going.

Not sure how much blog-checking I'll be able to do while I'm there (I may go into withdrawals), but rest assured I'll be back next weekend with stories a-plenty and hopefully some pictures to match.

Quiet on the Homefront

2008-03-24T21:28:00.005-04:00

Just thought you'd like to know we have had a very quiet, uneventful Monday. Oldest Child celebrated her 14th birthday yesterday at MawMaw's up in the north Georgia Mountains. Youngest Child left this morning for a three-day field trip in the north Georgia Mountains. God bless the chaperones!

But with Youngest Child on a field trip and The Dude at a concert with his sherriff-department peeps, Oldest Child had noone to argue with. What, argue with me or Dear Husband? I think not! So what was accomplished during our quiet, uneventful Monday? Finished laundry. Unloaded and reloaded dishwasher. Fed dogs (before it was bedtime and remembered they hadn't eaten all day). Paid bills (boy, was that a fun one!). Ordered Oldest Child a giant unicycle for her birthday (yes, you read that right...she's mastered the regular unicycle and wanted the giraffe unicycle for her birthday. Call me crazy...). Googled and found out the Mountaineers play on Thursday night at 7:41. So see, I can be productive when everyone at my house is getting along. Who knows, maybe even tomorrow I'll actually get dinner cooked and papers graded. What a concept!

Still Dancin'

2008-03-22T21:10:00.008-04:00

What about them Mountaineers?! Being from West Virginia and all, old Mountaineers die hard. Don't get me wrong; since moving to Georgia, my college ball loyalties have moved south of the Mason Dixon Line. Normally, I cheer for the Bulldogs or Yellow Jackets. Except when the Mountaineers are playing. Even little Tyler at And Babies Make Six is confused when it comes to college loyalties.

I follow Nascar more than I follow basketball. But when the Mountaineers are in the big dance, you can't help but watch. They won their first game by a big margin. My girlfriend and I even joked that their dancing days were over because their next opponent was the #2 seed in their division. Perhaps you've heard of them: the Duke Blue Devils. They're only known for being one of the top basketball powerhouses of all time. And West Virginia is...well...not.

Tomorrow is Oldest Child's birthday. Hard to believe my baby is 14 tomorrow. So since one of our birthday traditions is the birthday girl gets to pick where she wants to eat, and tomorrow we are going to MawMaw's to celebrate Easter, she got to go one day early. So we sat at Chili's eating our chips and salsa with our eyes glued to the TV. I think it is a safe bet that we were the only ones in the whole restaurant cheering against Duke.

But yes, they pulled out the upset; yes, they are in the sweet sixteen; yes, you know who I'm pulling for to make it to the final four. Let's go, Mountaineers!

Patent Pending

2008-03-14T17:28:00.003-04:00

Almost. This week, I may have mentioned, is early release at my school so we can have parent conferences. The kiddos go home at 12:15 and the rest of the day is spend conferencing with their parents. Although I have yet to figure out why kids get so uptight about us conferencing with their parents. They are always shocked to find out if I have bad news to share, I am going to tell said parents way ahead of time so they will have time to digest it, not when I am alone with them in my classroom when there may or may not be administrative back-up in the office. Kids...

But yesterday I woke up not feeling well. Since I have determined that my vertigo is stress-induced, I thought I was just getting another bout with the dreaded disease since parent conferences stress me out anyway. Either that, or the lasagna I ate at church on Wednesday night didn't settle so well on my stomach. I kept telling myself I was going to be fine. I was trying my best to be fine.

It wasn't until I had to go running out of my classroom carrying a trash can praying I would make it to the restroom, that I realized maybe I wasn't so fine. Luckily there was a parapro in my room who could take over for me. Because then I had to go lie in the clinic to see if it was just a one-time deal or if I had lost the battle and I was truly sick. Just as the kids were leaving for the day, I finally admitted to myself that I wasn't Superwoman and I really was sick and needed to go home. Just in time for all my kids to write notes in their agendas, "DO NOT come to parent conference, Teacher is SICK!" I was in my room after all the kids left getting phone numbers of today's conferences just in case I was sicker that I originally thought when my neighbor teacher and the nurse came and took everything away from me so they could handle it, and sent me home.

I was so sick, I even called my dear, sweet neighbors to come pick me up; I didn't even trust myself to drive the short 7 minutes it takes me to get home. So while I was trying to think of what kind of bowl I had in my classroom I could take home, just in case I got sick again, I couldn't find anything. As someone who threw up for six of the nine months it took to bring Oldest Child into the world. I definitely didn't want to throw up in my truck. So I got a gallon size Ziplock baggie, stuffed 3-4 paper towels in the bottom, and presto, a puke-bag-to-go. Now, if I could only find the number to the patent people

You will be happy to know that I dodged the flu; it was only a 24-hour bug. I didn't go teach today, but I did go in for conferences. The thought of rescheduling 20 conferences made me feel even sicker. Unfortunately, I did miss Youngest Child's birthday dinner at the local Mexican restaurant, but she forgave me; she even saved me a slice of the Bruster's Ice Cream Cake for when I feel like eating it!

Nothin' Much

2008-03-11T20:55:00.006-04:00

DH is back from Daytona safe and sound. He came back early because the spring breakers were starting to arrive. You know you're getting old when you leave a city just when the party is arriving. Lucky for me, though, I was asleep when he called to tell me they were leaving...at 10:38 PM on the night the time changed. Had I heard the message or talked to him, I wouldn't have slept all night because I would have worried about them.

He came back with several stories of what they saw and where they ate; he got reacquainted with two high school buddies from oh-so-long ago. He relaxed and enjoyed his time off. Why do I keep mentioning that? On average, DH works 60-70 hours a week. Not counting the hour commute each way. Before this weekend, he had taken three days off since January 1. No, not three week days off. Three total days off. It was time for a break.

But he came home as we were leaving for church Sunday morning, slept, and spent Sunday afternoon with us. It was a very relaxing day. This weekend, however, is not shaping up so quiet or relaxing. I hate it when weekends don't shape up quiet or relaxing.

Friday night, YC has a function at church. It involves 24 Easter eggs filled with candy and a flashlight. A fun time should be had by all. I'm thinking DH and I can sneak in a date between drop off time and pick up time. Then Saturday is service day at our church. From 9-12 we are going to do a service project for the community. Then YC has a tennis match at 1. Then OC has a dance team party from 4-7. Then we're going to our dear friend, Ed's, birthday party Saturday night. He's going to be old...he's going to be 40. Oh, wait...that's not old, I passed that a couple of years ago!

Then I think I get to spend Sunday recuperating from Saturday. We are having a special church service on Sunday so I get to sleep in. Instead of being there at 8:30, it doesn't start until 10; I get to sleep in AND go to church. I am a happy camper!

And in the midst of all of that, YC turns 11 on Thursday. Thursday also happens to be the first of two parent conference days. I think after parent conferences, I will need a date with DH on Friday night. What ever happened to slow, ordinary and boring??

Fun with Friends

2008-03-07T20:50:00.004-05:00

DH is having a great time in Daytona; they are staying at a hotel that is right across the street from a police station...not sure if that's a good thing or a bad thing. The weather is holding out for the most part and he is making the most of his much-deserved time off.

Youngest Child and I went to the teacher work day at my school; I actually got to work and didn't have to attend one single meeting. Got bunches and bunches accomplished; now I'm almost caught up! Then my girlfriend called to see if we wanted to meet them for dinner. Far be it from me to say no and sorely disappoint them!

I let them decide where to eat because they have four kids; YC and I were just happy to be dining out. They decided the babies would do good at the local Japanese resturant. Have I mentioned that I absolutely love the local Japanese resturant? And it was so much fun! We ended up sitting at a table with a family from their subdivision, so Austin sat by his "best friend" and Cassie had her pick of which baby she wanted to tend to ('scuse me, I meant to say "sat beside"). The babies loved it! They ate, they clapped, the laughed, and then they ate some more.

The best part of the whole evening? Clif told our waitress to put everything on one check. What an unexpected surprise! Now I can actually tell DH I went out to eat Japanese and his heart won't have palpatations because we didn't figure it in the budget.

Speaking of budget, on Wednesday night, we started Financial Peace University at our church. Even though it was DH's idea, I am very much on board and want to see how much money we can pay off/save by doing this program. So as I was digging through my kit on Wednesday, I found the little "card protectors" that you slip over credit card to protect the magnetic strip. Only on the outside they contain warnings about how using them can cause harm to your financial situation. Being the go-getter that I am, I immediately slipped my two credit cards in the sleeves. I did, afterall, want to show DH how determined I am to make this successful. So last night when I went grocery shopping (within the budget, nonetheless), I went to pull out my debit card and it was nowhere to be found. I immediately started thinking where it could be, when was the last time I used it, is it in a pants pocket at home somewhere, etc., etc. I then went to pull out my AmEx card...wasn't there! I am now almost in full-fledged panic mode. The Dude is at work; DH is in Daytona; the checkbook is at home.

Then the light bulb goes off. When I put the protectors on the cards, they wouldn't fit where I normally put them...I had to move them to a different place in my wallet. There they were, safe and sound, in their pocket protectors, right where I left them. I might be successful at this FPU thing afterall!

Daytona Bound

2008-03-06T21:30:00.002-05:00

...almost. Every year about this time, Dear Husband gets Daytona-fever. Never heard of it? It's when all the great (or the great-wanna-be) Harley riders gather on the streets of Daytona on their bikes and have a great time. Only this year I was going to surprise Dear Husband and go with him. I was going arrange the babysitter, getting OC and YC to sitters and school, take off school, and throw caution to the wind. We've always talked about riding out to Sturgis, but that will have to wait until I retire because it always coincides with the start of Georgia schools. But I was going to arrange all this and let him know once it was all set.

Then I looked at the calendar and realized tomorrow is a teacher workday. Our board has a policy that you can't take those days (or the days before or after) as personal days. So being the supportive wife I am, I helped him pack his bag, wished him well, and went to school and moped around all day.

Personally, I think my county needs to check the Daytona Beach and Myrtle Beach Bike Weeks before they set the school calendars. So till then, I will be living vicariously through him and waiting for my present he brings me on Sunday! Maybe this fall I will actually get to go to a bike week!

Fabric Paint: $41.23; Bonding with Oldest Child, Priceless

2008-02-28T21:30:00.006-05:00

Almost. This week was Spirit Week at the middle school. When I heard the words "Spirit" and "Week" mentioned in the same sentence, I should have ran hard and fast in the other direction. But I didn't. I held out on "silly sock" day. When I saw her, she was wearing green and white striped toe knee knee-socks wth a snowman on each one. That's pretty silly. But not according the Oh, She Who Must Be a Fashion Statement. So she did the next best thing, or so I'm told. She went shopping at the "Best Friend Store" for something "silly". I'm sure when I do laundry this weekend that I'll see some silly pair of socks, wash them, put them in her bookbag, and remind her two or thirty-eleven times to return them to the "Best Friend Store".

Today was "tacky day" - she chose to dress normally. Not sure if that was a hint or a fashion statement. I ignored it.

Tomorrow is "spirit day". What better day to cap off Spirit Week than spirit day?! She was on the dance team, so she has plenty of spirit shirts, right? WRONG! She hates the dance team shirts, she misplaced her spiritwear t-shirts, so she needs to make a spiritwear shirt. Which for all intent and purposes, would be fine. Except by the time I got home and finished running errands, it was, oh, about 6:23. Dear Husband and The Dude were working, Youngest Child (otherwise known as Homebody) didn't want to leave the house. So I decided to go against my better judgement and take Oldest Child to get something to eat and stop by the dreaded Wal-Mart ont he way home.

There is a reason I don't go to Wal-Mart except for once a week...and when the new Kroger opens up at the end of my street, I will go to Wal-Mart a lot less than once a week...money just jumps out of my checking account. But off we go. I needed some cough medicine for Youngest Child and ingredients to make vegetable soup for DH for this weekend. In case you've forgotten, the girls and I will be with our second family this weekend. So Oldest Child got fabric paint (3 colors, because one color would be...hmmm...boring). A t-shirt. And walked out a mere $41.23 later. Nevermindthefact that I have bought $78 milk at Wal-Mart before.

But I will be able to live with myself all day long tomorrow knowing that OC will be all decked out in her homemade spirit shirt tomorrow and all is well with the world...for now.

Note to self: how bet next time there's something going on each day, we write it down in our agenda the week before, decide on Saturday what we want to do each day, and make a list and get everything at once...what a concept.

EDITED TO ADD: She wore the tacky dance team shirt afterall...oh, to be 13 again...(NOT!)

I'm Old

2008-02-23T18:04:00.002-05:00

Not officially...not until tomorrow. But tonight I'm feeling every bit of my 21 years times two. You see, Lynne had to go out of town unexpectedly. And nothing happens unexpectedly when you have four children ages 4 and under. Luckily for her, I have no life and a husband who was working all weekend, so I was able to move in to her house and play Supermom for a mere 24 hours. I have just one request: pray for Lynne. I honestly don't know how she does it, especially with a husband who travels like Clif.

It has taken me, Oldest Child and Youngest Child, and we all feel like we've been run over by a Mack truck. For her to be as organized as she is, and have the kids on a schedule like she does, and have them all eating healthy like they do, she has to work at least 26 hours a day! Her house looks like a tornado has come through it (but don't tell her; I'm hoping to have it all clean by the time she comes home!). The kitchen is the cleanest part - thank goodness she has a working dishwasher! Hopefully when the kids go to bed tonight, we can at least get all the toys back in the toy room instead of the toy room, the living room, the kitchen, the bathroom, the master bedroom, and the stairs. Hopefully I will get my second wind and have her house in recognizable condition when she walks through the doors late tonight. Hopefully, she will walk in to a clean house, with four soundly sleeping, clean children who will sleep until at least noon tomorrow.

What have I learned this weekend? It takes a village. No, I am not endorsing any political candidate, but noone can truly do this alone. I have forgotten that toddlers have a boundless amount of energy from the time they wake up until the time they fall asleep. I have forgotten that toddlers like to "help" you do everything. I have forgotten that four year olds think that just because the sun is shining it means it's OK to go outside and play...nevermind the fact that it is 45 degrees outside; the sun is up, so we need to be outside. I have forgotten that wintertime in toddlerville means noses...lots and lots of noses. Everytime someone sneezes, I have to find out (a) which one it was and (b) do they need a tissue. Teenagers have one thing going for them: they can wipe their own noses.

And to think, I get to do this all over again next weekend! Next weekend has been on the calendar for awhile; this weekend just came up. So I get six days to rest and recouperate before I get to come back over and spoil these amazing miracles that are running around like wild banchees.

Starting High School off with a BANG!

2008-02-21T19:27:00.003-05:00

Yes, you read correctly...in exactly 12 weeks, I will officially have a high schooler on my hands. The sappy, sentimental stuff will come later (maybe). Tonight was parent night at the new high school. When did I find out about the parent night, you ask? When the phone tree called the house and left a message. Tomorrow, schedules with elective classes selected are due. When did I find out about schedules being due, you ask? When the teacher across the hall from me who also has an eighth grader going to the same school asked me what electives Oldest Child was taking because she knew I was so on the ball and so organized that our schedule would already be completly filled out and waiting anxiously in the agenda to be turned in.

Oh, geez, am I ever going to survive high school?? If I were a mean mother (reminds me of another Erma Bombeck post for another day), I would complete fill out the electives section with courses she (a) hates, (b) doesn't need, or (c) that none of her friends will be taking. But I'm not a mean mother. I'm a rather giving, kind, caring, considerate mother who only wants the best for her Oldest Child (Youngest Child, too, but she's severely low-maintenance right now). So Oldest Child and I will talk about the electives issue while we are driving 20 minutes...at 7:30 on a cold, rainy night when DH and YC are curled up in their jammies watching a movie...to Bible study. If I remember correctly, I think somewhere in the Old or New Testament I read about getting an extra star in my crown for stuff like this...

Valentine's Day

2008-02-16T16:05:00.002-05:00

Every year, DH asks me what I want for Valentine's Day. Usually, he's not surprised to find out I want to go out to a fancy resturant, no kids, just me, him, and 4,634 of our best friends. Everywhere in Atlanta is crowded on Valentine's Day. Everywhere in Atlanta is usually crowded when it's NOT Valentine's Day. So I started thinking about it early this year; afterall, he hasn't given me a present since Christmas, so time was of the essence.

Imagine my surprise when I started tracking the Nascar season back in early January. I live for Nascar; I love Nascar. I can get so much laundry folded (or sleep so soundly) when there is a Nascar race in the background. Imagine my excitement when I found out the Gatorade Duals would be held on Valentine's Day.

My perfect, romantic evening was planned: Record the Duals because they start at 2:00 - hellooooo, most people are working at 2:00 in the afternoon. I love my DVR. Order pizza. Get in our comfy jammies...sit in front of the TV watching Nascar.

And it was a night to be remembered. Nothing says romance like delivery pizza and Nascar.

Prayer Updates

2008-02-16T11:40:00.004-05:00

Thank you for your continued prayers for William. He is on the mend from the flu, and so far, all of his family is flu-free! But as a side note, Matt Galley, another Barth boy, continues to struggle in the ICU in Australia awaiting a heart transplant. One of the complications of having Barth syndrome is that the heart is a muscle, and can be drastically affected by the simplest illnesses. So please say a prayer for Matt today; say a prayer for William's continued improvement; and hug your little ones a little bit closer today.

Pray for William

2008-02-12T21:25:00.000-05:00

Back in the fall, I sent out a request to help a mother of a Barth Syndrome boy win air miles to their conference this summer. She won. Tonight, I'm asking that you send up prayers for William, who is also a Barth boy. But William is a personal friend and William has the flu. Luckily, they didn't keep him in the hospital tonight, so he will be able to rest at home. But knowing his mom and dad the way I do, they won't do much resting; they will do a lot of praying.

Specifically pray that William is able to battle this illness without losing his strength. Pray that his heart will stay strong during the process. Pray for his parents and brother and sister, that they remain flu free and this is short-lived in their household.

For those of you who hunt, or those of you with hunting spouses (yes, Big Mama, that would be you!), William is also David Blanton's nephew. He recently took William "hunting" and wrote a wonderful article about it on his blog. If I were technologically savvy (Lynne, you can stop laughing now...), I would link you directly there. But since I'm not...I will tell you that you can go to http://www.realtreeoutdoors.com/blanton/ and scroll down until you see a post titled "My Hunting Buddy".

Julie, William's mother, has passed on prayer requests from time to time for other boys and their families. There are only about 100 boys worldwide who have been diagnosed with this so they have a very close group. Recently, a 10 year old boy who had just been to the cardiologist and got very good and encouraging results died of a sudden arrhythmia. So they are always holding their breath. Please say a prayer for William.

Spring has Sprung

2008-02-10T20:38:00.000-05:00

Not according to the calendar, of course, but according to my daffodils. Yes, you read that right...I have a daffodil blooming in my front yard. If I were multi-talented, I would take a picture of it and show it to you just to prove it. But since I'm technologically challenged (actually, I think I'm a hopeless case!), you will have to picture it in your mind.

Spring is my favorite season of the year. I love the way God makes all things new in the spring. I love the way we usually have birds build nests near our house so we can watch. I love the way the days get longer and the nights get shorter. I like the way I can sit on my front porch and drink sweet tea and watch the girls play...and not swealter in the heat and humidity. I love the smell of fresh cut grass at the beginning of the season.

And if my daffodils are blooming, can my azaleas and iris' be far behind?

Jobs

2008-02-06T20:46:00.000-05:00

I've had this post in my head for some time, but am just now sitting down to write it. I've thought a lot about jobs lately. Mostly jobs I could never hold. Mind you, I've been working since I was 16 - at the local Dairy Queen. It was THE place to be in my small town. Then in college I worked the switchboard - yes, I was even "the mayor" back then because I even knew what was going on at my college. Then I was an administrative assistant for a large athletic company. Then I was a SAHM for 4 years. And now I teach in a public school.

What job could I not do? The top of the list is mail carrier. Stop and think about it for a minute - how much junk mail do you receive on a daily basis? If I were your postal carrier, I could take care of over half of that because imagine...the postal carrier is loading the mail into the truck in the early morning. Junk, junk, junk...credit card application, junk, sale flyer...it's all going in the trash anyway. I'll just go ahead and throw it in the trash now. Yes, I know it's illegal and I wouldn't last very long in that job.

Convenience store clerk. I would be convinced everyone coming into the store had a gun and was going to rob me.

School bus driver. I can teach the kids, I just can't transport them to and from school. In the classroom, they're in front of me. On the school bus, they are behind me.

Any armed service, God bless them. That's not even an issue since I would never be able to pass the physical to get into the service, so that one is a no-brainer.

Nurse/doctor. First of all, the studying it requires for either is astronomical. Then you have to look at all that blood.

The person who stands and holds the "stop/slow" sign when they're doing road work. Do you know how hot they get on the hot days? Or how cold they get on the cold days? And all that standing...I'd have to bring one of those port-a-chairs you carry with you so I could sit and hold the sign while I was sweating or freezing.

So what about you? What job could you not, for all the money in the world, be able to do?

Mom of the Year

2008-02-05T20:10:00.000-05:00

...for a minute anyway. I didn't go to school today; I was "sick". But I had to venture from my "death bed" to run a couple of errands. While I was out, even in my "deliriously sickly state", I remembered that the new Clique book came out today. And if you're a regular reader, you know that I go to great measures to keep Oldest Child happy. So I found the new book and waited in the extremely long line...or behind two other people...and her book was waiting in her room when she got home from school.

Needless to say, she was proclaiming accolaids to me/for me/about me for a- whole five minutes at least!

It lasted until we got to the eye doctor and I hugged her daddy (you know, my HUSBAND) hello and it totally embarrassed her and she couldn't believe we would do that out in public and the huffy breaths and eye rolling started.

Oh, the joys of living with a thirteen year old - kinda like the weather in Georgia...if you don't like it, stick around for five minutes because it will change.

In Memory

2008-01-30T20:23:00.000-05:00

If you're looking for the funny, witty, latest-drama-at-the-middle-school post, come back tomorrow; I will be back on my game then. Today is a solomn day in my life, and try as I might, I can never escape it. It has been around every bend and corner all day long and I have tried my best to bury my head under the covers and pretend today is not January 30th. I loathe January 30th. But yes it is January 30th and yes, I have done everything in my power to stay busy today so the hours will pass quickly and it will be January 31st. And I will have survived the 37th anniversary.

On January 30, 1971, my mom died. I was four years old. (Almost 5, but four nonetheless).

This has been a year of growth for me, and as a testament to that, I am not focusing on the negative or the harshness of growing up without my mother. Last year, maybe. Year before that, definitely. But this year, I have even embraced the winter as I never have before. All last night and today, I have been thinking about what has changed in the past 37 years. Stop for a minute (assuming you are still reading...) and think about all we have today that is not 37 years old.

1. Microwaves
2. Cell Phones
3. Cruise Control
4. Standard A/C in cars
5. Cordless Phones
6. Computers (and all that entails!)
7. Cable TV
8. Video Games
9. Decorative Flags for the front porch
10.Dishwashers
11.Coffee Makers and instant coffee
12.CD/DVRs
13.Electric garage door openers
14.American Idol
15.Pay-at-the-pump gas stations
16.Self-service gas stations (the attendants actually put it in your car and cleaned your windshield and checked your oil while the gas was going in your car!)
17.Answering Machines
18.Hospital visiting hours all day long even for kids under the age of 12
19.Nurses wearing scrubs instead of sterile white
20.Private hospital rooms
21.Girls on a sports team
22.Guys teaching in the classroom
23.water and ice in the door
24.Remote Control TVs (or cars or airplanes)
25.Air Conditioning in campers
26.DQ Brazier in my hometown - it was only a walk-up DQ that closed in the winter
27.Glider Rockers
28.Electronic door locks
29.Electronic windows
30.Rear window defrost
31.Garbage disposals

And the list could go on and on and on. The things we we use on a daily basis that wasn't around when Mom was alive. And it will be interesting to look back in 37 more years and see what has changed!

That's What I Get for Thinking

2008-01-29T21:46:00.000-05:00

Anyone who lives in the metro Atlanta area and has tried to register kids for various and sundry sporting events can totally relate to this blog. More than one fine, moral, upstanding citizen in the community has been known to loose their religion over trying to get Precious Cherub into sports... camp out for days ahead of time to get Precious Cherub into said sport. Youngest Child has decided she would like to attend 4-H camp this summer. She liked taking 4-H in her class, enjoyed the projects they did, she's an out-doors-y type person, so I encouraged this new challenge.

Nevermind the fact that 4-H camp just so happens to coincide with the week Oldest Child will be at church camp. That means, for all intent and purposes, I will be kid-free for one complete week, 5 whole days and 5 whole nights, totally guilt free because they are off having fun, not pawned off on some friend/relative so I could have a break. Because, you see, dear internets, the happiness of my children is my first priority. yeah, right!

So anyway, for a culminating project, she had to make a poster and give a 3-minute speech about her poster. She chose to do her presentation on making friendship bracelet. Because she has made approximately a million friendship bracelets before, I thought this was a great idea. Little did I know she would win first place in her class. No drama, hardly worth a post.

So tonight all the first place winners had a larger scale competition...like half the county fifth and sixth graders competed in various categories. We put little pressure on Youngest Child; we try to find her talent and nurture that. She wanted to do it, so we supported her. Keep in mind that I had about two or 58 other things planned on the agenda tonight because I didn't think this would take up the whole night. When we drove by the school and saw the completely full parking lot, I knew I was in for a long evening.

But, because her teacher assured me that those competing in the fair tonight could register first for camp, I was all over it...I'd hate for camp to be full before I had the chance to register her and my lovely, quiet week of bliss...'scuse me, I meant to say "my week of missing my children terribly"... would be ruined. So the first form they handed us was the pre-registration form for camp. SCORE! We could have left at that very moment and I would have considered it a successful encounter.

But she wanted to do her presentation, so we stayed. Now, keep in mind that her poster and presentation have been lying in the floor of my classroom since she brought it to me after the classroom competition about 3 weeks ago, so you can imagine how much she practiced. Refer to the above paragraph about not pressuring Youngest Child. But she and about 12 students presented in her category and then we all went back into the cafeteria for the results.

Now remember all we wanted out of the evening was the free pass to camp registration. Imagine our surprise (Youngest Child's included) when they called her name and announced she had won third place! In the craft division. You go, Youngest Child.

And as a reward for winning third place (and getting the free pass...) we now get to compete AGAIN with a LARGER GROUP OF PEOPLE at the regional competition at Rock Eagle in February...oh, be still my beating heart!

Winter Wonderland

2008-01-19T16:27:00.000-05:00

I know now why I live in the south. No snow. And when it does snow, the whole city stops to watch in amazement the small while flakes falling from the sky. Growing up in West Virginia, I have had my fair share of sled rides and snow days. Living in Georgia, we haven't been out of school for a school day for three years.

Had today been a school day as opposed to a Saturday, that would have changed. Oldest Child and Youngest Child have been outside since 1:30 playing. It would be a little different if there were actually, hmmm, snow on the ground...but it's melting as soon as it hits the ground. So basically, I am up for the Mother of the Year award because I am letting my children playing outside in the cold and mud. Guess I'd better clear a place on my mantle for the trophy...and then get the girls inside to warm up so I can send them out again!

Drama (and a Gift)

2008-01-04T21:53:00.000-05:00

Guess Dear Hubby and I really need to coordinate our calendars more closely...oopsie! I stayed late at school today trying to get ahead ('scuse me, I mean catch up...). I even looked at the clock at one point and decided I wouldn't go to the basketball game to watch Oldest Child dance because her daddy was there and I could go home and keep crossing items off the "to do" list since I was, after all, on a roll. So I get in the car (at 5:45) and call DH:

Me: "Hey, DH, what's going on?"
DH: "Just working."
Me: "What do you mean, just working?"
DH: "Just what I said."
Me: "You mean you're not at the school watching the basketball game?!" (Notice the exclamation point which means panic is starting to to take over...)
DH: "No, remember, I told you I was working over on Friday."
Me: "No, I don't remember that conversation. If I had remembered that conversation, I would have left school at a normal time, gone to the basketball game and watched Oldest Child. But I thought since you were there, I would stay at school and get ahead."
DH: "No, remember I told you I was working over on Friday." (Men are quite the conversationalists, aren't they?!)
Me: "I guess I'm going to the school instead of going home. Glad I called you to check in."

But it turned out to be a really good game. It was the really mean team from football season, and it was the closest game our team has had all year. It has not been uncommon for me to want the opponents to score in double digits, for crying out loud! But the opposing mean team actually had the lead back and forth. Very exciting, I tell you! But in the end, our coach put in two really tall players who normally don't play together - either one plays or the other plays while #1 rests. And we scored the go ahead basket with 2.6 seconds left.

So then, Youngest Child wanted to go home with a friend. And who am I to stand in the way of what Youngest Child wants to do?? So OC and I came home, stopped and picked up Chinese on the way home (have I mentioned DH is working over tonight?!) Talked with The Dude for a little while, then read my People magazine. I live for Fridays when my People magazine arrives in the mail (except when you live in my town and the Christmas season is busy and the postman is busy getting Christmas cards and Christmas bills delivered and 3 of my last 4 People magazines fail to arrive at their destination...another post for another day...Why I Could Never be a Postal Carrier). The Dude even has a fire built in the fireplace when I get home. So I start eating and reading, and the next thing I know, my house is quiet.

Now living at my house and it gets quiet, you'd better go look and see what's wrong. Upon further examination, The Dude is asleep in his room; Oldest Child is asleep in her room; Youngest Child called and asked to spend the night with Friend; DH is still at work. Even the dogs are asleep on the couch right now. I'm lovin life right now...me, the remote, a fire in the fireplace, and an entire night to devote to reading/writing blogs. Yes, there is a God and He does love me!

Got Kids?

2007-12-28T21:31:00.000-05:00

I have spent the biggest part of my day cleaning up and organizing Polly Pockets. Lots and lots of Polly Pockets. I detest Polly and her Pockets. For those of you who are unfamiliar with Polly, just make Barbie and Ken collide with Honey, I Shrunk the Kids and you've got Polly Pockets. Nothing. I repeat NOTHING in Polly's wardrobe is larger than 1 inch. Total. Period. Polly herself is only three inches tall. While I was organizing all of her shoes and mittens, I found one of Ken's shoes mixed in...it looked like it belonged to a giant. You get the picture.

I would be willing to bet that the inventor of Polly Pockets didn't have children. Who, in their right mind, would make miniature Barbie dolls, complete with all the accessories. Polly has her own private jet, limo, jeep, house, spa, etc., etc. She even has her very own swimming pool. With water and everything. I even came upon hangers with which to hang the 1-inch dress or ball gown of Polly's. Youngest Child won't even hang up her real clothes, no way is she going to hang up Polly's!

So I was temporarily insane this morning and decided I was tired of Youngest Child not using her closet for that in which it was intended. You could open the door to the closet, and that was about it. Clothes were mixed with stuffed animals were mixed with Polly Pockets were mixed with books were mixed with shoes. And that was just the beginning. No wonder YC couldn't find anything...it was probably in her closet! So I put the stuffed animals together. I put the Webkins together. I put the Bitty Baby and American Girl goodies together. And I was left with Polly and all of her accessories.

It was so bad, I even tried to play Deal or No Deal with Oldest Child. She is getting wise to my ways. When I asked her if she'd like to make some money, her response was, "It's not worth $10 to clean up that mess." When I upped it to $25, she was very interested. Yes, I know I'm crazy to pay someone $25 to clean up a bunch of dolls. Have I told you lately how much I loath Polly Pockets?? We have PP storage containers sitting completely empty because it would be too logical to put the "stuff" where it's supposed to go. But Oldest Child is all about making money. And when she's in the mood, she can clean up a storm. I was hoping today was one of those days. Unfortunately for me, she decided I could keep my money because she'd rather play on the computer or the Wii instead of back in YC's room.

But alas, I did prevail. All of Polly's rooms are sitting on the bookshelf. All of her cars are in the floor. Each drawer of the plastic storage container thingy has one specific Polly item in it. All the clothes (Youngest Child's clothes, not Polly's clothes) are hung and organized, shoes in the shoe hanger. And it will stay that way for, oh, 9.4 seconds at least.

No More Oatmeal Kisses

2007-12-20T20:31:00.000-05:00

I was talking with my sweet neighbor over at H World Adventures the other night, and it dawned on me that I'm getting old. Thanks, Aim's...Merry Christmas to you, too! We were talking about motherhood and kids and messes and on and on and on. I made a comment from one of my favorite authors of all times - Erma Bombeck. Aim's had no idea who I was talking about. So I went to my trusty little friend, the Internet, who has all the answers. I didn't realize she has been dead for 11 years! Seems like only yesterday I was reading her columns in my Good Housekeeping magazine. She was a blogger before there was a blog; she started out as a SAHM turned newspaper columnist turned author. So for those of you who are too young to remember dear, sweet Erma, I am writing one of my favorite stories from her book, Forever, Erma. For those of you who don't know who she is or have never read any of her work before, stop now, run to your local library, and check out two or three of her books and spend the week between Christmas and New Years reading and laughing.

No More Oatmeal Kisses - January 29, 1969

A young mother writes: "I know you've written before about the empty-nest syndrome, that lonely period after the children are grown and gone. Right now I'm up to my eyeballs in laundry and muddy boots. The baby is teething; they boys are fighting. My husband just called and said to eat without him, and I fell off my diet. Lay it on my again, will you?"
OK. One of these days, you'll shout "Why don't you kids grow up and act your age!" And they will. Or, "You guys get outside and find yourselves something to do...and don't slam the door!" And they won't.
You'll straighten up the boys' bedroom neat and tidy: bumper stickers discarded, bedspread tucked and smooth, toys displayed on the shelves. Hangers in the closet. Animals caged. And you'll say out loud, "Now I want it to stay this way." And it will.
You'll prepare a perfect dinner with a salad that hasn't been picked to death and a cake with no finger traces in the icing, and you'll say: "Now, there's a meal for company." And you'll eat it alone.
You'll say: "I want complete privacy on the phone. No dancing around. No demolition crews. Silence! Do you hear?" And you'll have it.
No more plastic tablecloths stained with spaghetti. No more bedspreads to protect the sofa from damp bottoms. No more gates to stumble over at the top of the basement steps. No more clothespin under the sofa. No more playpens to arrange a room around.
No more anxious nights under a vaporizer tent. No more sand on the sheets or Popeye movies in the bathroom. No more iron-on patches, rubber bands for ponytails, tight boots or wet knotted shoestrings.
Imagine. A lipstick with a point on it. No baby-sitter for New Year's Eve. Washing only once a week. Seeing a steak that isn't ground. Having your teeth cleaned without a baby on your lap.
No PTA meetings. No car pools. No blaring radios. No one washing her hair at 11 o'clock at night. Having your own roll of Scotch tape.
Think about it. No more Christmas presents out of toothpicks and library paste. No more sloppy oatmeal kisses. No more tooth fairy. No giggles in the dark. No knees to heal, no responsibility.
Only a voice crying. "Why don't you grow up?" and the silence echoing, "I did."

I'm Sorry, I'm Sorry, I'm Sorry

2007-12-18T20:25:00.000-05:00

It never dawned on me that yesterday was December 17th. I remembered it was December 17th today when I sat down to catch up on my blog reading. The first blog I read had, hmmm, Tour of Home pictures...oopsie! So then, of course, I had to go around blog-er land and look at everybody else's pretty Christmas decorations. But you know there's a good reason I forgot why yesterday was the 17th.

I live with Oldest Child (13) and Youngest Child (10) and YC takes every advantage to get back at OC at any given moment. Well, yesterday YC stepped over the line by telling the neighbor kids a bunch of lies on OC because it made YC look good. Before I can figure out what happened, OC and YC are crying hysterically, Neighbor Kid 1 and Neighbor Kid 2 are in tears. OC is screaming at YC and slamming doors (surprise, surprise, surprise!). Mom across the street and I are trying to untangle the tangled web that was woven to figure out who said what and what is true and what was made up. All while I was supposed to be posting Tour of Homes pictures and getting ready for my Christmas Bunko party. Geez, Youngest Child, if you're going to tell a bunch of lies on your sister, could you please do it on a night I don't have any plans?!

But, alas, DH to the rescue! After the fiasco that was my evening, he insisted that I go to Bunko because I had been looking forward to it. He would handle the girls because they were now walking a straight and narrow path because they realized they had stepped over the line. Neighbor Mom had her kids settled down and yes, OC would be able to babysit again and yes, the kids would be able to play together again and no, they don't hate us...You know you are among friends when you can arrive at Bunko in your PJ's with a tear-stained face and be welcomed with hugs and a cold glass of sangria. I love bunko!

Dear Santa

2007-12-16T20:48:00.000-05:00

I've held on to this article since the year my daughter was born. I've read it each year since, and thought about the changes of the past year. This year, it's not different...'cept for the fact that I am now sharing it with you lucky internets. I cut it out of the December '94 Family Circle (page 156 to be exact, thankyouverymuch). Enjoy (but be forewarned about reading it aloud with wee ones around...)

Dear Santa,

My 5-year-old boy scribbled out his Christmas list. It's there by the fireplace. The Coke and chocolates are from him, in case you're hungry. You know 5-year-olds these days. The Cheez-Its are from me.
Santa, if you don't mind, I thought I'd go ahead and leave my list, too. It's long, but do what you can. It's all I want for Christmas.

Santa, let my little boy grow up still believing that he has the funniest dad in the neighborhood.
Give him many close friends, both boys and girls. May they fill his days with adventure, security and dirty fingernails.
Leave his mom and me some magic dust that will keep him just the size he is now. We'd just as soon he stayed 5 years old and 3 feet 4 inches.
If he must grow up, Santa, make sure he still wants to sit on my lap at bedtime and read The Frog and The Toad Together.
If you can help it, Santa, never let him be sent into war. His mother and I love our country, but we love our 5-year-old boy more.
While you're at it, give our world leaders a copy of The Killer Angels, Michael Shaara's retelling of the Battle of Gettysburg. May it remind them that too many moms and dads have wept at Christmas for soldiers who died in battles that needn't have been fought.
Let our house always be filled wth slamming doors and toilet seats, which are the official sounds of little boys.
Break it to him gently, Santa, that his dad won't always be able to carry him to bed at night or brush his teeth for him. Teach him courage in the face of such change.
Let him understand that no matter how nice you are to everyone, the world will sometimes break your heart. As you know, Santa, a child's feelings are as fragile as moth wings.
Let him become a piano player, a soccer star or a clergyman. Or all three. Anything but a politician.
Give him a hunger for books, music, and georgraphy. May he be the first kid in kindergarten to be able to find Madagascar on a map.
The kid's a born artist, Santa, so send more crayons. May our kitchen window and refrigerator doors be ever plastered with his sketches of surreal rainbows and horses with big cars.
Steer him oh so carefully to that little girl who is destined to be his bride. Let his mother and me still be around when he walks her down the aisle. If there is a just God, let her daddy be obscenely rich.
Grant him a heart that will cherish what his parents did right, and forgive us for the mistakes we surely will have made over a lifetime of raising him.
Let him not hold it against us that he was born with my chin and his mother's ears. Time will teach him that these are God's ways of girding him for life's adversities.
Hold him steady on the day that he learns the truth about you and the Easter Bunny. May he take the news better than I did.
While you're flying around the heavens, Santa, make sure God has heard or prayer for this child: Lead our little boy not into temptation; deliver him from evil.

Be careful out there, Santa. And close the flue on your way up.

David V. Chartrand

It's Beginning to Sound A Lot Like Christmas

2007-12-11T19:52:00.001-05:00

I had a meeting tonight after school and was childless; Oldest Child had a dance that DH was chaperoning and Youngest Child chose to stay home for a quiet evening. So after the meeting, I ran to Wal Mart because both of my printers were out of ink...just my luck. Some important papers are being faxed to me and neither printer has ink...wonder where it went? Oldest Child, do you have an answer for that one??

But I digress.Now being in metro Atlanta, you can drive 15 minutes and be at almost any store you want. Only I didn't want to pass my house on the way to WM, so I decided to go to the WM in the neighboring town, thus making a big circle, thus utilizing my time more efficiently. I go, get the ink for BOTH printers, and stand waiting patiently in the checkout lane.

Suddenly, there is a tap on my shoulder. Turning around, this nice young lady said, "Do you know you have something white on the back of your pants?" No, I replied and thanked her for kindly telling me. Thankfully I was headed home, and only my fellow Wal Mart shoppers were going to see the white whatever smeared all over my black pants. Guess Nice Young Lady didn't think she'd made her point because then she uttered, "Yeah, the whole $ % & of your pants is covered in sometin white; looks like it might be sheetrock dust."

I love the sounds of the holidays!

Dogs vs. Cats

2007-12-10T18:25:00.000-05:00

There are many, many posts rattling around in my feeble little brain. But with all the other "needs" on my list right now, I'm having to prioritize my blogging in order to get everything else done...like dinner and dishes, laundry and feeding various and sundry animals. So I decided that this post was the most important one at this point in time right now. It is entitled "The Cat Years" and was written by Adair Lara at the San Francisco Chronicle. It came to me via my friend of a friend Marney Bet. If you have babies or toddlers, hold on to this post, as it will be useful in your near future. If you have older children, you now have a name for what you experienced when they were teenagers. Come back soon to read the post entitled: Adolescence, A No-Brain er (Literally). Until then, enjoy.

I just realized that while children are dogs - loyal and affectionate - teenagers are cats. It's so easy to be a dog owner. You feed it, train it, boss it around. It puts its head on your knee and gazes at you as if you were a Rembrandt painting. It bounds indoors with enthusiasm when you call it.

Then, around age 13, your adoring little puppy turns into a big old cat. When you tell it to come inside, it looks amazed, as if wondering who died and made you emperor. Instead of dogging at footsteps,it disappears. You won't see it again until it gets hungry - then it pauses on its sprint through the kitchen long enough to turn its nose up at whatever you're serving. When you reach out to ruffle its head, in that old affectionate gesture, it twists away from you, then gives you a blank stare, as if trying to remember where it has seen you before.

You, not realizing that the dog is now a cat, think something must be desperately wrong with it. It seems so antisocial, so distant, sort of depressed. It won't go on family outings.

Since you're the one who raised it, taught it to fetch and stay and sit on command, you assume that you did something wrong. Flooded with guilt and fear, you redouble your efforts to make your pet behave.

Only now you're dealing with a cat, so everything that worked before now produces the opposite of the desired result. Call it; and it runs away. Tell it to sit, and it jumps on the counter. The more you go toward it, wringing your hands, the more it moves away.

Instead of continuing to act like a dog owner, you can learn to behave like a cat owner. Put a dish of food near the door, and let it come to you. But remember that a cat needs your help and your affection too. Sit still, and it will come, seeking that warm, comforting lap it has not entirely forgotten. Be there to open the door for it.

One day, your grown-up child will walk into the kitchen, give you a big kiss and say, "You've been on your feet all day. Let me get those dishes for you." Then you'll realize your cat is a dog again.

Sante Fe' Soup

2007-12-07T06:17:00.000-05:00

I posted this recipe for BooMama's Soup-Tacular. Check out other recipes over there.

2 lb. ground chuck (or ground turkey)
1 large onion
2 - 1 oz package Hidden Valley dressing mix
1 - 1.25 oz package taco seasoning mix
2 - 11 oz cans shoepeg white corn - drained
2 cups water
1 16oz can black beans (don't drain)
1 16 oz an kidney beans (don't drain)
1 16 oz can pinto beans (don't drain)
3 4.5 oz can stewed tomatoes (don't drain)
3 10 oz cans Rotel tomatoes (don't drain)

Cook beefand onions together. Add rest of ingredients. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer 2 hours. Enjoy!

A New Blogger!

2007-12-06T21:59:00.000-05:00

My friend across the street has a blog! Welcome to blog world, Amy! Can't wait for you to share her joys as she finishes nursing school, raises BB the local spelling bee champion and DQ who is muttering through fourth grade...just happens to be my specialty...hmmmmm. So jump on over to Hworldadventures and tell her hello. Stop back often and check in! Welcome aboard, Amy!

I've Been Tricked

2007-12-04T20:41:00.000-05:00

6:00 a.m. My house. I should have known from the beginning it was only a trick. Oldest Child woke up on my first trip to her room. She actually woke up without grunting or yelling or telling me to leave; she didn't even kick the dog off of her bed. She got up and started getting dressed. That should have been my first clue I was being set up. I'm still working on my first cup of coffee when I meet her in the hall.

"Mom, if I get dressed really quick and I brush my teeth and do everything I need to do, can we please, please, please go to WalMart". I immediately start racking my brain trying to figure out what she's told me she needs for school that I've forgotten and she's going to fail a major project and it will be all my fault because she needed a major ingredient at the store and I forgot and now she can't complete her project (remember, the last sentence of the first paragraph talks about the first cup of coffee...)

"Pirates of the Carribean 3 comes out today and I really, really need to buy it before they sell out". I wanted to go back and crawl under the electric blanket.

Dear Santa:

2007-12-01T18:40:00.000-05:00

I have finally figured out what I want for Christmas. No, not my two front teeth. No, not a shiny new car parked in the driveway with a big, red bow on top. No, nothing that costs a lot of money. The thing that will be on the top of my Christmas list this year? One day without drama. Just 24 hours, from midnight to midnight, with everyone coexisting in the same house, with no tears, yelling, screaming, slamming doors, and everyone talking the entire 24 hours in a normal tone of voice. Too much to ask, you say? You could probably just go ahead and go shopping, 'cause this one wish even you can't grant. Why such an odd request, you ask? Walk with me back through the past 72 hours of my life...

Thursday was the Christmas parade in our neighboring town. We've never been to that one, because we always go to the parade in our town. But Oldest Child's dance team was dancing in the parade, and being the supportive mother that I am, I had to go watch her. So off we go, only to discover that the only route I know has the roads already blocked. Uh, oh. Don't know a plan B. Oh, wait...somehow we've found the back of the building where she needs to be. Of course, that wasn't good enough. That wasn't where she wanted to be dropped off. I should have known that was my warning of what was to come. By the time the parade got to where we were standing, all of the girls looked angry. And noone was, hmmm, dancing. Should have been clue #2. So when the parade was over, we waited for OC to come find us. And waited. And waited. And waited. Finally, we decide to go walk and try to find her. At long last, we meet up. The scrowl on her face should have been clue #3. I knew better than to ask her how it went. Every ounce of my being told me not to ask her how the parade was. Unfortunately, I didn't listen. You got it...I asked. And she proceeded to tell me how horrible, awful, rotten their performance was. The drama that ensued on the trip home is not even blog-able. Use your imagination.

So today was the Christmas parade in our town. Again, the dance team was scheduled to perform. After the fiasco that was Thursday's parade, the dance team decided to ride on a trailer and throw candy. Personally, I've dubbed it "the dance team that doesn't". They didn't dance, but they were speaking at the end; does that mean we call this a win?

Then fast forward to our house after the parade. Youngest Child casually asks, "Why is the cat dish outside?" Then starts bawling. Nevermind the cat bowl has been in the same exact place on the deck for the past week. Nevermind that Youngest Child hasn't asked about the cat since at least Sunday (how do I know, you ask...because that's when Dear Hubby put the cat outside). But for some strange reason, she chose today to inquire about the cat. We have been debating this drastic relocation of the cat for some time. We have tried everything we know how to try; we have used every remedy our vet suggested. But the cat still insists on marking his territory in my house but outside of his litter box. I kept trying to side with the cat because he really is a sweet cat. And Dear Hubby and I have seen the cat everyday this week, so we know he's still here. But when we came home from Thanksgiving and every bedpost in the house had been marked, that was the last straw. I, being the supportive mother I am, made DH do the dirty deed. I merely set the bowl outside; he did the rest. But today, for some strange reason, YC decided to inquire about Reggie. She has been in tears since. She missed a Sunday school Christmas party because she couldn't bear to leave looking for the cat. She only looks forelornley out the back window...and cries.

So you see, Santa, a day with no drama is all that's on my wish list this year. And if you could find that in your bag as you land on my rooftop on Christmas Eve, I will be forever indebted to you.

Sincerely, your BFF,
Fabthemayor

The Irony of it All

2007-11-30T21:12:00.000-05:00

Kudos go out to my neighbor, B, who won his school's spelling bee today. When I heard he won, my first thought was, "I need to go to Bruster's and get him an ice cream cake to celebrate". My first thought for almost anything that needs celebrated is, "I need to go to Bruster's and get an ice cream cake". So after school, I ran a couple errands, and stopped by to pick up the cake. Yes, they had Oreo cookie cake already made up...life's looking pretty good right now. So the nice high school girl asked me what color I wanted the writing in. Decisions, decisions, decisions. Now having only girls to buy for, the colors pink and purple immediately came to mind. But being a boy, B may not appreciate said colors. Then I thought blue...blue is a boy color; too generic. Oh, wait...I know...his school color is green. So I decided on green, and all I needed to say was "congratulations". Simple, right?

WRONG! It is my hope that tonight was Miss High School Girl's first day on the job. After she found the green icing, she was trying to figure out how to make it write on the cake. Uh, oh. I think we're in trouble. That thought was confirmed when Miss High School Girl asked the "manager" who was a couple years older, how to spell congratulations. Oh, my...and my students wonder why I get so upset when they can't spell correctly.

So after they discuss the correct spelling of the word congratulations, she starts writing it on the cake. I notice there is much discussion occuring around the cake; I also notice how wobbly her hand is as she is writing. I really didn't think stopping by picking up an ice cream cake would be this difficult. I wait, and I wait, and. I. wait...

"Wait", I say. "How 'bout we just keep it simple and make it say, "Congrats". I really didn't mean to stress the poor girl out; I was simply trying to do a good deed. "No", came the reply. "she's almost got it". Oh, my goodness. Perhaps spelling should be added to the employment application for Bruster's. She was so proud of herself; she brought the cake over (we won't even go into the trouble she had trying to figure out how to unfold the box and fold the lid flap over...you can only imagine). I looked at the cake, paid for it, took it from the counter, and walked away shaking my head. After all that, I presented my neighbor with a cake that proudly said, "CONGRATULATION".

You can bet your bottom dollar my students will be focusing more on spelling in the coming weeks; you never know, they may work at Bruster's one day. Congatulation, B, we're proud of you!

P.S. Remember you have until December 3rd to vote for Susan so she can take her son to the Barth Syndrome conference this summer.

We've Almost Done It!

2007-11-27T21:36:00.000-05:00

OK, let's face it. I've accomplished absolutely not a whole lot tonight. I wanted to show a clip from YouTube to my classroom tomorrow, so I went to my "technical support" and played with the triplets while she worked her magic...except her magic failed me this evening. Only I was ready to give up the ghost long before she actually gave it up. I should be logging on to the online gradebook checking Oldest Child's grades to see if, in fact, she has turned in everything like she says she has (gee, wonder why I have to follow up on that one!?!?). But instead, I have been totally productive and I just checked the voting for free air miles (see previous post) and Susan is running neck-and-neck with the first place person...she is within 1% of taking her family to the Barth Syndrome conference this summer! Come on, internets, you can make this happen for her. If my Sunday school class can raise enough money to send one family to the conference for a week, you can log on to vote and send Susan and her family to Florida for this invaluable experience. Remember you have until December 3rd to send her to the conference!

Susan Needs Our Help!

2007-11-25T22:00:00.000-05:00

...and time is of the essence. If you don't know what it is, please go read about Barth Syndrome. We have very close friends who have a son, William, with Barth Syndrome. With the season of thankfulness in the air, they are thankful that he is one of the healthiest boys in the world with this genetic disorder.William is in an elite group. There are only around 100 boys in the world who have been diagnosed with this disorder. One of the other elite members in this group needs your help.Susan Hone's son also has Barth Syndrome. The Hone family lives in Canada and they are trying to win airline miles to be able to attend the Barth Syndrome conference this summer in Florida. This conference is very important as many physicians across the world attend. The boys are seen by the top docs in this field.Please take 2-3 minutes and read about their family and vote for them to be able to go to the conference. Voting ends December 3rd! And say a little prayer for all of these boys.

I found out tonight through my Sunday school prayer chain that one of the boys, Aldo, received a heart transplant on Thanksgiving day; talk about a family being thankful. I have been monitoring the rankings since Juju sent me her e-mail, and Susan is catching up. It would mean so much for her family to be able to attend this conference. So right now, I need for both of you who read my blog to go to the link and vote for Susan. Thank you, thank you, thank you!

Christmas is in the Air

2007-11-25T20:02:00.000-05:00

I'm really trying to get in the Christmas spirit. Really. I look at the calendar and see how many (or how few) shopping days there are 'till Christmas. I have the place picked out for the Christmas tree...once we get it out of the attic. I sit here waiting for the Christmas tree fairy to come decorate my house and I'll be all ready for the holidays. In the meantime, I found this wonderful new Christmas CD to listen to. Perhaps the Christmas tree fairy will hear it and come running!

Hey, I Know You!

2007-11-20T14:48:00.000-05:00

I was doing my favorite thing in the whole world today...grocery shopping. Me and many, many, many of my best friends we shopping for Thanksgiving dinner today. After making my list and checking it twice, everything was loaded in the truck, chocolate and fountain Coke within arm's reach; ready to head home...to do my second favorite thing in the whole world. Unload the aforementioned groceries.

I am trying to adopt BooMama's philosophy of listening to Christian music in the car for two reasons. (1) It is difficult to bless other drivers out when you are singing along with 104.7 The Fish...sorta sacreligious dontchathink. (2) It is difficult to yell at Oldest Child and Youngest Child when singing along with 104.7 The Fish. And coming from someone who drives approximately, hmmmm, 7 minutes to work, I don't do traffic. Imagine my surprise when I turned my truck on and The 21st Time from Monk & Neagle was PLAYING. ON THE RADIO. NOT ON MY FREE CD THEY SENT ME (see my sidebar). I sang and sang and sang...right along with the radio. I'm telling you you will not be sorry if you go buy this CD; every song on it is absolutely fabulous. Then when you hear The 21st Time come on the radio, you, too, will be able to sing along.

Among the Living

2007-11-05T19:54:00.000-05:00

Yes, I am still among the living, reading various blogs on a daily basis. Been keeping up with BooMama, Big Mama, and Rocks' wild weekend in Birmingham. Already logged in with Lynne at And Babies Makes Six so she can get some Ebates thanks to me. But that's about all I can muster.

I could tell you about going back to school after being off a week for Fall break and how I enjoyed my week off tremendously. And how Oldest Child went to Kentucky with Lynne and the babies.

I could tell you about trick-or-treating with my Sunday School class and what fun we had. It was even a great outreach ministry because of another occasion that was going on at our church during that time. Got to meet people I wouldn't have otherwise gotten to meet.

I could tell you about celebrating The Dude's 23rd birthday with him on Friday and how it is his first actual birth date since he was four that his dad has gotten to spend with him and how we took him and his favorite cousin out to eat Mexican. I could tell you that I originally set it up to meet at 6:30 for dinner. That would have worked perfectly except for one, small, tiny, minute detail. The resturant was 30 minutes away from the house and The Dude doesn't even get off work until 7:00. Guess he'd actually like to be there for his own party, huh?!

I could tell you how excited I am to be working out the final details of my aunt and uncle from WV coming to visit next Monday for dinner. Oh, by the way, it is an aunt and uncle I haven't had any contact with in the past, oh, say, twenty years...give or take a few years...That could lead into a whole 'nother discussion of the relationships that have rekindled in the past month since my father passed away.

These are the things I could tell you if, indeed, I had the energy to do so. But the truth is, I'm exhausted. I'm enoying reading the blogs and laughing with you. But between work, and homework, and housework, and life in general, I'm too exhausted to be witty right now. But alas, I wil prevail and I will return. The dance team is working on a new dance and you know you wouldn't wanna miss all the drama that entails. I think I hear a bubble bath with my name on it.

Recalculating

2007-10-23T21:52:00.000-04:00

“Carry each other's burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.” (Galatians 6:2) What an appropriate verse for today. Haven't been blogging about the WVU/MSU football game; haven't posted pictures of us at the GT game; haven't caught you up on the latest middle school dance team drama; haven't writting a blog in awhile. I received a call on Tuesday evening that my dad was in critical condition in the hospital in VA. Everything else takes backseat when you receive a phone call like that.

Unfortunately, my dad didn't make it through this illness; he passed away Wednesday afternoon after a long illness. So instead of all the plans I had for the weekend, everything in my world was recalculated, we traveled to WV for the memorial service, and now we're home. When I read this Bible verse, I thought about all the phone calls and e-mails I've received in the past week.

Everyone wants to do something to help. It took me so long to be able to say, "yes". It took me a long time to be able to accept the help that others are offering. It is not a sign of weakness; it is not a sign of need. It is a sign that if the tables were turned, I'd be the one who wanted to help. So when a neighbor called and said she wanted to bring dinner tonight, instead of telling her I was fine and she didn't need to do that, I simply said, "thank you" and "that's nice". She and her husband even joined us for dinner and we had a great time.

I'm sure there will be many examples of that in the days ahead; so I will receive when it is my turn to receive. By doing that, I will be ready to give back when the time comes.

Football in the South

2007-10-14T20:02:00.000-04:00

On this, I must disagree with BooMama. I have enjoyed her fashion expertise; I've even stopped by my local Target to check out some items she's previewed for me. I'm still trying to find the Wal Mart yoga pants from last season that, once I find them, will be the most comfortable pants in my closet. I love her recipes; in fact, I picked up all necessary ingredients to try her delicious granola recipe. I love her blog and check in faithfully each day to see what Howard is up to. And I thought the blog of BooMama was as close to the real thing as Coke.

That is, until I was reading the hometown newspaper for my hometown (my original hometown in West Virginia, not the hometown I live in now). I always check to see if they're playing on TV in the south because once a Mountaineer, always a Mountaineer. I realized West Virginia University had its homecoming game next Saturday. Guess who they're playing?! BooMama's Mississippi State Bulldogs. I've even found myself cheering for the Bulldogs this season because I knew BooMama would be proud. That is, of course, because they weren't playing West Virginia.

But come Saturday, all bets are off. Unfortunately, I'm gonna have to drop BooMama a note and have her cheer for both teams because I have been invited by Lynn and Clif to the Georgia Tech homecoming game. With FRONT. ROW. SEATS. ON. THE. 10. YARD. LINE!! And as if that's not enough, we're taking all the babies (decked out in their GT spiritwear, of course) so the chances of being on the (1) jumbotron and (2) TV are very high!

However am I going to concentrate on the duties-at-hand this week with all the excitement in the air this weekend??

I Do Love Me a Good Football Ballgame

2007-10-10T20:55:00.001-04:00

...Subtitled "God Don't Like Bad".If you're a return visitor blog, you know that Oldest Child is on the dance team at her middle school. What you may not know is that her middle school team is undefeated, which makes for an exciting game because every team you play wants to knock you off. Last week we played a team who played "dirty ball". They tackled around the neck and tripped you if that didn't work. I can tell you anything and everything you ever wanted to know about Nascar, but my knowledge of football rules leaves a little to be desired. When I can tell there is something wrong, there is something definitely wrong. When I can see the penalty, there was definitely a penalty. But we won the game in the last minute by two points.

This week, the playoffs started. Guess who we played this week in the opening round of the playoffs?! You got it...the Bad Team...again...two weeks in a row. This time Bad Team brought more supporters with them. Our fans were there dressed in the green with their shakers ready to root, root, root for the home team (oh, wait...that's baseball). On our first offensive possession, the kid carrying the ball got tripped. The ref called it! A couple plays later, the Bad Team got called for a face mask...in the same possession they got called for whatever you call it when you tackle them around the neck! It was priceless...just priceless I tell you. We scored on that possession; we scored on the next possession, we got a safety on THEIR possession. All those yellow flags took the wind right out of their sails; hate it when that happens! They couldn't play fair, so they couldn't play at all.

Final score: 31-0...should have taken a picture and posted it for you to see! Moral of the story, play fair. God don't like bad. Some people can't play by the rules. And coming from Oh She Who Is a Rule Follower, I shook my shaker with all my might because every time they broke the rules, the refs called it!

Stay tuned next Wednesday (or Thursday...) for a recap of the regional championship game!

P.S. The dancers couldn't perform tonight because the PA system wasn't working, so there is no Oldest Child drama to report. Chances are it will be up and running next week, so the drama can continue; I know you wouldn't wanna miss that!

I Did Not...

2007-10-07T20:03:00.000-04:00

...feed them more than one piece of cake - I promise!

Let me explain these pictures. Several of you read my dear, sweet friend Lynne's blog over at And Babies Make Six and you know all about her triplets and older brother Austin. And you can imagine how much alone time she and her husband get; you can picture how often they get to go on an actual date. Well, Friday was Clif's birthday, my calendar was free on Friday evening, so I went to stay with the kiddos and Lynne got to take Clif out for sushi for his birthday.

Rewind to earlier in the day. Friday is a school day for all four kids; Lynne kept Youngest Child for me because it was a teacher workday. When they picked up the kids, they headed off for Stone Mountain to ride the train and play putt putt. DURING THE BABIES NAP TIME! So there was no nap on Friday. So there was no way the babies would be awake when Mom and Dad got home from their date, let alone be in a mood to eat birthday cake. So we sang and blew out candles before they left; the babies ate cake while they were gone (yes, we saved some for the birthday boy!). Fortunately, there were four people in the house ten and older, which meant there was one big person for every little person. Tyler is going to be the party animal of the group; he ate this birthday cake like there was no tomorrow. That baby enjoys birthdays...his, mine, dad's, or anybody's...he doesn't care - it's a birthday and that means cake. John is usually the neat one of the bunch...notice I say usually because that baby got icing places I didn't know icing could go. He would look at Tyler, rub chocolate through his hair, and laugh. They enjoyed the evening, we enjoyed the evening, Mom and the birthday boy enjoyed the evening. What's a little chocolate among friends?!

Clif took one look at the pictures and couldn't believe they got this messy from one, little, small piece of birthday cake. Well, rest assured, dear internets, that yes, I only fed them each one small piece of cake, and judging from the amount of icing on them, I'm fairly confident that not that much icing went in them.

They were all bathed, squeaky clean, and sound alseep by the time Mom and Dad returned from their nice quiet evening of eating sushi.

Overheard at My House Today

2007-09-20T19:30:00.000-04:00

Keep in mind, these conversations took place throughout the course of the day. Each line break indicates a different time span.

Mom: "Oldest Child, it's time to get up"
Oldest Child: "I don't want to get up"
(well, I didn't either, but I really need to keep my job for a few more years, so I decided that it was in my best interest to do so).

M: "OC, I need you to pick up your school bags"
OC: "I don't want to, I'm watching TV and reading a book"
(yeah, well, don't think I asked if you WANTED to pick them up)

OC: "OMG, where's the pizza?? I only had TWO PIECES OF CHEESE PIZZA and everybody ate the REST and now I DON'T HAVE ANYMORE"
M: "Well, you chose to go to your room instead of eat"
OC: "WHY DID YOU EAT ALL THE PIZZA??"
Dad: "Look in the refrigerator, it's been put away"
OC: "WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL ME THAT??"

OC: "Can I please go to Girlfriend's house on Saturday and spend the night with her because word, word, word, word, lots of other words, and Youngest Child has spent the night at two houses in the last two weeks PLUS had 4 other playdates and you always tell me no and word, words, words, and that's why it's only fair that I get to spend the night at Girlfriend's house"
M: "Go ask you dad"
So she goes through the whole spill again.
Dad: "Yes, as long it's OK with your mom"
(OK, you caught us, we love Younger Child more than we love you so we let her do more stuff)

OC: "Mom, you didn't go to The Sporting Good store and buy me a pair of gym shorts"
M: "I haven't been to the store this week"
OC: "Yes you have because you went to The Sporting Good store and bought you that new shirt you have on because it's a new one because I haven't seen you wear that one before you and when you bought that shirt you FORGOT to buy me a pair of gym shorts"
M: "I bought this shirt in the spring on clearance and it's been in my closet since then"
(I'm sorry; WHY am I justifying my spending patterns to a 13-year old again??)

OC: (low growl)"Why do they have to make this stuff so hard??? (as she sits doing square root homework) I hate this stuff, I'm just gonna drop out of school!!"
(well, not so much. not an option)

OC: (at 7:30 pm) "Dad, you needed to pick Mr. Neighbor up at...uh oh...6:30"
M: "OC, what time did he call?"
OC: "It doesn't matter, Dad was supposed to pick him up but you already talked to him"
M: "Yes, we've already talked to him, but you didn't know that and you answered the phone and didn't deliver the message and Mr. Neighbor could have been sitting over there waiting on Dad to pick him up"
OC: "Yeah, but Dad already talked to him so it doesn't matter"
M: "Yes, we did already talk to him, but you didn't know that. If you're not going to deliver the message, don't pick up the phone."
OC: "Yeah, but it's Other Neighbor's fault because one time I didn't answer the phone because I thought it was Mr. Neighbor and I was gonna let the machine get it and it was really Other Neighbor because his mom wasn't home and he needed me to babysit and I thought maybe it was Other Neighbor calling from Mr. Neighbor's house because he needed me to babysit him and I could make some money because I'm broke and, like, I have no money and so if Other Neighbor needed me to babysit then I could make some money and I wrote the message from Mr. Neighbor on my hand so I would remember, I just forgot to tell you to call him."
(all's well that ends well???)

OC: "OMG, why do you always tell everybody everything"
(as Mom is rudely interrupted while talking to a girlfriend on the phone)
OC: "You just think you have homework; just wait till you get to 8th grade!"
Youngest Child: "Shut up!"
OC: "Make me"

And I will spare you the drama associated with bedtime at my house. Just start sending up prayers now.

EDITED TO ADD: OK, I thought I was going to spare you the drama of bedtime...wrong! Everyone is settled, in bed, all is quiet and everyone is falling asleep. It is, after all, 9:15. When all of the sudden, from Oldest Child's room, came a blood curdling scream. A scream like no other; a scream the definitely says something's wrong...a scream that wouldn't stop. DH and I both jumped up and ran, all the while asking what's wrong, what's wrong?? Wouldn't you know it - she was stung by a scorpion in her bed. OUCH! So I went into doctor mode and DH went in to Alligator Hunting mode. Alas, rest assured, dear internets, the offending scorpion has been rescued and is now safely in a jar. Getting Oldest Child to ever sleep in her room again, however, will not be as easy. Good thing we have a comfy couch!

You, Too, Can Be Like Me

2007-09-19T06:24:00.001-04:00

Yes, I know you've wanted to be like me all along...now it's possible! For awhile now, I've been listening to (rockin out to) the new Monk & Neagle CD their producers sent me to preview. Guess what...yesterday it went on sale. Stop what you're doing right now, click on the link, decide that yes, you really do love their music, and run right out to your nearest Christian bookstore and you, too, can be the proud owner of this fabulous CD.

Thank you, Monk & Neagle, for making me one of the first in my town to be the proud owners of this powerful music!