She Said I'm Cool

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

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

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

(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

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