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And we're back

2011-08-04T17:08:00.003-04:00

Officially, that is. I started back to work on Monday, but today, the kids came back. It was actually kind of fun. We have a sort of strange thing going on where we don't do anything academic on the first day of school. I would not choose to start a school year like that, but no one asked me. Regardless, I spent the day telling my students what school supplies they will need and asking them questions about themselves. Had I been more on top of things, I'd have had one of those ice-breakers prepared...but I didn't.

I think it will be a good year. I've got some neat kids in my classes and I'm excited about it. I love how optimistic and fun the first few days of school are. Everyone is so positive and it is contagious. It always reminds me of why I love my job so much!

Adding to the joy of a new school year is the fact that this year, I have my very own classroom. I am starting my third year at this particular school and I just now got a classroom. I spent the last two years on a cart (but I did have an office almost entirely to myself). I feel grounded and I like that.

I think it's going to be a really good year! It will be interesting to look back at this post at the end of May and see what I think!

All good things must come to an end

2011-07-27T12:36:00.003-04:00

And for now, that thing is summer vacation. This is my last week off; I go back to school Monday.

I know - it's awfully early for summer vacation to be ending. After all, it's still summer. Heck - it's still going to be summer for a LONG time.

I grew up in New Jersey. We used to be out of school for the summer. School ended around June 20 (+/-) and we did not return until after Labor Day. We were not out all summer, but most of it. Now, I live in the South. The kids get out of school before Memorial Day and return very early in August. It's not summer break, but spring/summer break. Most years, it's only warm during "summer" break. Other years (like this one) it's hot the whole time. Oftentimes, it's hot when the kids go back to school. There is no sense in buying jeans and such for 'back to school' because the kids won't be wearing them for another few months! Last year, The Boy wore shorts to school every day through winter finals. (Most people did not; they turned to their jeans around Mid-October or so.) When kids grow as frequently as mine do, I cannot buy jeans at the start of the school year because they won't fit when they actually need them (which happened with The Boy two years ago).

I don't really understand this timing. As I said, it is typically hotter in August than in June. Why spend the extra money to cool the schools when it is hotter out? Buses do not have air conditioning and there are students who ride the buses for an hour each way. It's insane. Additionally, kids from around here don't have the same opportunity to go to national camps and such because they typically hold sessions in July and August. To go away for the month of July is cutting it awfully close around here, and I even have a friend not far from me whose children will begin school tomorrow, JULY 28!

There is a group/movement called Save Tennessee Summers that is trying to make some changes. Hopefully, their changes will take hold. And, not that I think tourism should dictate school calendars, but other states have ordinances that dictate the start and end of schools. North Carolina, for example, has an ordinance (brought up by the tourism industry, I believe) that states school cannot begin before August 25, nor can it end after June 10. I'm not saying it has to be that strict, but it would be nice if summer break were, indeed, in the summer.

Neat Website

2011-07-23T18:17:00.002-04:00

If you have not already checked it out, Pinterest is a really cool website. My friend, Nichole, got me hooked and I really love it. I believe it requires an invite, but if you go to the website you can request an invite and you should receive one promptly (I believe it took a day).

The thing about Pinterest is that in addition to seeing lots of cool ideas and things, you can search for things as well. If you are throwing a Halloween party, you can type "Halloween party ideas" and you'll get TONS of stuff. Change the wording to simply "Halloween" and you'll get a whole different set of ideas.

Anyway, it's a really cool site and I recommend it. So far, the only drawback seems to be that you cannot start a "private board." This can be a problem if you are looking to pin ideas for a specific birthday/celebration that is a surprise and the guest of honor is following you on Pinterest. Perhaps one day they'll allow for private boards. Until then, happy pinning!

Etiquette

2011-07-20T16:04:00.002-04:00

Why is this so difficult for people? What has happened in our society that we are now seemingly unaware of or incapable of exercising proper etiquette?

I am having a bit of trouble with our upcoming festivities. It seems people are unaware of basic etiquette. An invitation addressed to a single person is not an invitation for an entire family. Why is this unclear? I always thought the basic rule of thumb was that only people named on the envelope are invited. And yet, I am seeing that is no longer common knowledge.

A few weeks ago, The Girl received an invitation to a birthday party. It has a phone number and asks that we RSVP. The invitation was sent about a month prior to the event, which is awfully early for a birthday party, but it *is* summer and I suspect the mom wanted to know who would be on vacation. At no time from the moment that envelope was placed into my mailbox to now did I think that I was invited to this party. I did not plan for The Boy or The Husband to attend either. It is very clear it is intended for The Girl; she is to whom the envelope was addressed.

Why is it people think the case is different for a more formal affair? I have already had several people imply they would be attending the kids' party. None of these people were invited. It is now my job to be the "ugly one" and tell each person that he or she is not invited to the event; The Boy and The Girl invited their friends, not their friends' families.

I want to be able to mail this article to everyone, but alas, that would truly be ugly of me. And so, I will continue to make phone calls and attempt to let people know if your name isn't on it, you are NOT invited!

Moving right along

2011-07-19T11:18:00.004-04:00

Well, there have been no more signs of our little rodents, so that is a good thing. I have put the silverware away, which is good, because it was getting on my nerves sitting on the counter top!

All the invitations for the B'nai Mitzvah have gone out and we received the first few response cards yesterday. People are amusing. Because some people are invited to two parties, I have two response cards. I have only one response envelope. I would think people could figure this out and put both cards into the envelope. In my first six responses, one person did not make this connection and mailed one response card in a different envelope. I don't really mind, but I had paid for the postage. Guess he wanted to pay a little more!

Today, I meet with the caterer. I'm not even sure what the questions I have are, but I had better figure that out; we meet in three hours!

I have gone into work only one day so far. There is so much to do there, it is overwhelming. I will definitely go back again this week and most likely, a bunch next week...I think!

I think my posts will become more infrequent, but I'm trying to keep on top of it all. Wish me luck!

Friends in low places

2011-07-14T00:07:00.002-04:00

It seems the deceased mouse indeed has a friend. I learned about him today when I opened the silverware drawer to get a fork and found some mouse poo on it.

Can you say YUCK?! I swear I puked a little in my mouth!

SO...we emptied out the silverware drawer (which had a LOT of droppings in it...droppings that were NOT there yesterday when I emptied the dishwasher, by the way) and put everything in the dishwasher on high heat! We cleaned out the drawer and now the silverware is sitting on the counter top. I am waiting to see if there are signs of Mr. Mouse again in the drawer. I need to put the trap in there.

What bothers me most, though, is that the silverware drawer is above the tupperware cabinet. Guess what has to be cleaned out next?

Again, I don't mind having the random mouse now and again, but ONE per year is all I can handle. I would prefer this little guy go next door!!

Little Bunny Foo Foo

2011-07-11T17:06:00.003-04:00

Hahaha! Now you are all singing that song. It's stuck in my head and I shouldn't be the only one!

Before our house was built, this area was a field. It was a rotating field of corn and soybeans. I know this because across the street, behind the houses, is the rest of the field and those are the two rotating crops. With a field comes field mice.

This house is about five years old. That means that for as long back as anyone can remember up until about five years ago, there were field mice EVERYWHERE. When we first moved in, we expected mice. We had quite a few, but they have since been...um...taken care of. Now, we get one or two mice every year.

Two days ago, I noticed remnants of said mouse under the kitchen sink. Last night, I cleaned out the cabinet and set my trusty trap. Now many people think the sticky stuff is more humane than the snap-traps. I beg to differ. The snap-trap is a swift and almost instant kill. The sticky stuff is slow and painful. The green blocks the exterminator uses sometimes work, but we still get the stray mouse here and there.

This afternoon, I decided to check the trap. Sure enough, the little field mouse was dead under the sink. Then it was a matter of "who wants to get rid of the mouse?" It was just like the Little Red Hen. All I heard was variations of "not I..." So, I grabbed my plastic grocery bag and used it as a glove to dispose of our now dead critter.

I set another trap just in case our friend was not acting alone...but I'm guessing he might have been as there were not signs of him anywhere else besides the sink.

I'll keep you posted.

Backward Desserts

2011-07-10T22:58:00.002-04:00

Yes, you guessed it. Backward desserts is STRESSED!

I know, I know...most people prefer to look at it the other way around. I wish I could, but right now, it's more stress than dessert and I'm hoping to try to stay AWAY from the desserts!

You see, there comes a time in every Jewish child's life when he or she is called to the Torah. It is a time of joy and happiness. It is a signal of adulthood. It is an occasion to be celebrated.

With that celebration comes a party. With the party comes stress. Are you following me here?!

We are within the 6 week countdown to the event. There are fewer than 40 days between now and when my head will explode. Have I mentioned that school starts back up inside this block of time so I will have the added stress of the new school year and all it entails as well as all else on my mind?!

The Boy is not exactly counting down the days. Yes, he's excited about a party, but not so much about the service. The Girl is pretty excited about both aspects. I am still stressed. (Have I mentioned that yet?!) The Husband is taking it easy and not worrying one bit. After all, that's what he married me for, isn't it?! His job is to sit back and relax. MY job is to go crazy!

So...if you don't hear from me, fear not. I am somewhere losing my mind as I try to finish planning and preparing and counting and such.

Incidentally, I am already planning The Girl's elopement!!!!!!!!

Interior Design...sort of!

2011-07-07T18:36:00.002-04:00

The Girl is not particularly happy with her bedroom. I can't blame her. While it is plenty large enough, it doesn't work. It has far too many obstacles and no good bed placement options. She has, in her room, 3 doors, all of which open in. Additionally, she has a large window that is roughly 75" long and *not* centered on the wall. Setting up this room is a nightmare at best.

The other day, I was browsing one of my new favorite sites, Pinterest. There, I found a cool website on which you can design your room. It is called The Make Room and it is from Icovia. I went to the site and set to work designing The Girl's room. I went upstairs and took meticulous measurements to ensure all would fit. Here is what I designed:The Girl really likes the design, although we've already modified it some. We have decided *not* to put a desk between the closet doors because it is too crowded. Also, her dresser is not as large as the one pictured, but that is because she needs a new, larger one. At this point, there is no chair in the corner yet. Again, we don't have one, but she definitely knows what she wants.

The "rug" in the middle of the floor is a cool shaggy blanket. The color is the same bright green as on her bedding, shown below.

We are, for the most part, pleased with how it all came together. The bed is pretty close to the door when it is opened, but there isn't much we can do about that. One closet door does not open all the way, but The Girl doesn't really use that side much and, without putting a desk in, she will be able to access it with no trouble.

Next up...The Boy's room!

Happy 4th of July!

2011-07-04T14:44:00.002-04:00

Be safe and have fun!

Jealousy

2011-07-03T23:06:00.004-04:00

Today, I took The Boy and The Girl down to the creek behind the neighbor's house. The neighbor's teenagers came with us.

To call it a creek is not exactly accurate. To me, a creek (or brook, as I grew up calling it) is a small, steady stream of water.

This creek is big enough that it has large pools suitable for swimming...and decent logs from which one can jump (as long as one is careful)!

The kids had a BLAST! Personally, I'm not a huge fan of swimming in anything other than a pool (although I'll make an exception for the ocean), but this was fun. We all kept our shoes on, though, to protect our feet. I did not swim; I followed around in the shallow parts and shot lots of pictures.

After an hour or two, we returned home. Both boys remained in their swim trunks. No big surprise there. The girls, however, did too. Both wore bikinis. Both stayed in them with no other clothes on for the rest of the day and evening. We ate dinner, they baked cupcakes, and everyone ran around the neighborhood some.

I'm ~~jealous~~ super proud of the girls because they both have the self-confidence to wear their bikinis all day long. Grant you, if I had the body to pull it off, I might consider doing the same, but I don't and I won't!

Hope you all have a safe and happy 4th!

Thoughts about summer

2011-07-02T16:09:00.002-04:00

I do love summer - and not just because I don't have to go to work everyday! I love the warm weather. I love how it stays light for so long. I love long evenings outside with the neighbors just hanging out. I love the lack of responsibility of summer and the ability to get up and go away on a whim. I love the beach, even though we are not going to be able to make the trek this year. I love pools and swimming and that sort of thing as well. I love reading for enjoyment! That is a rare gift.

I don't like the fact that, as I look at the calendar beside me, I see summer is half-way over. Summer here is shorter than it is elsewhere. Growing up (on the East Coast), summer was a good 11 weeks long. Here, it is not. Here, my summer break is 9 weeks long. I realize many jobs don't offer a "summer break" and I get that. It's definitely a perk of being a teacher. That being said, I want my other two weeks! I go back to work on August 1! That's ridiculous! (Although some schools not far from here go back in July, and they are not "year-round" schools!)

Another gripe I have is that with this schedule, it is incredibly difficult to get together with the rest of my family during the "summer." They are all still out east; that gives us ONE month in which we can attempt to find a span of time everyone is free. NOT easy.

OK - I'm finished complaining...for now. To those of you for whom summer has just begun, have fun and enjoy every minute! To those of you, like me, for whom summer is beginning to wind down, I hope you had a great break and try your best to enjoy every last bit of it!

Madhouse

2011-06-26T11:17:00.004-04:00

First, I'd like to report that the blood work on The Dog came back good. According to the vet, The Dog is fine. I'm not 100% convinced. I still won't allow free access to water because she is still overdoing it. She gets water in the morning and if I give her more, I make sure she is outside. Just last night, I had her out back and gave her some; she drank it too quickly and puked a little back up.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Last night, this place was a mad house. One of my neighbors has four kids; two teens and two toddlers. Another neighbor and I decided to take all the kids so my first neighbors could have a date night. Since I have teens, I took the older two; my friend, who has a 3-yr-old, took the younger two. In addition to the two I took, The Boy had another friend over. I had 5 teenagers ranging in age from 12 - 15.

My first challenge was feeding all these kids - 3 of whom are boys! That proved easier than I'd anticipated. Pizza. We ate around 6pm, so I knew there would have to be a second round of feedings! For that, I loaded them all up and took them out for ice cream. I realize many of you think it would have been cheaper to buy ice cream at the store, but to be honest, it was less than $20 to take them all out (including me) and they were able to get a better variety this way.

Everyone stayed up WAY too late. I called it quits just after midnight. At 2:30 AM, I had to yell at them for standing outside my door arguing (that would be MY darlings, not their friends!). I did not hear another peep until I got up. I went in search of bodies and found them sprawled out all over the floor in the bonus room!

I was concerned about breakfast, but all three who stayed had to run home to get ready for church, so I did not end up feeding anyone breakfast!

Overall, they all had a blast. I know mine are tired and I definitely see naps in our future. Luckily, it's a rainy day, so it's a perfect excuse to 'lay up sorry' all day long!

Pet woes

2011-06-24T16:44:00.002-04:00

The other day, The Dog got into a fight. It seems The Dog, who is a rather small Boxer, thinks she is a Great Dane. She believes she's huge and powerful. And dominant.

She's not. She is not even 50 lbs!

So Wednesday afternoon, The Girl opened the front door a little too much and The Dog took advantage. She booked across the street to the neighbor's house. The neighbor has a lovely black lab/chow mix who is really well behaved and quite sweet. The Dog decided to show Neighbor's Dog who is boss.

(In case you are wondering, Neighbor's Dog is clearly boss!)

I was not home when this altercation took place. A handful of somewhat hysterical phone calls from The Girl were all I needed to find out what had happened. When I got home, I checked The Dog. She was a little worse for wear, but not that bad. She had a scrape on the top of her head and her right ear was pretty messy - lots of dried blood. Ears bleed heavily on a dog! I cleaned out her ear the best I could and called it good.

That night, The Dog was outside with us. We came in and she peed all over the floor. Very odd. During the night, she had two more accidents. She was also drinking A LOT of water. She was acting the way I would suspect a diabetic to act. I brought her to the vet.

We are still waiting to hear back on the blood work. We received antibiotics for her ear and an anti-inflammatory as well. She's really good about taking her pills and allowing me to put the ointment in her ear. She is still drinking A LOT, so we're watching her closely and not allowing total free access to water. This morning, she drank too much and threw it back up. I am making sure she gets plenty of water, but also making sure she gets out plenty and we do not leave her alone anywhere unless she's in her crate.

Hoping for good news from the vet...

Pseudo Spa Evening

2011-06-21T22:47:00.002-04:00

For Mother's Day this year, The Girl really wanted to give me a day at the spa. As flattered as I was by the offer, I had a few problems with this idea.

First of all, I am not interested in The Girl spending that much money on me. We have a few spas here, and despite the fact that they are relatively inexpensive compared to larger cities, none are affordable on a 12-yr-old's "salary" (read allowance).

Another problem I have is time. I barely have enough time to get done all that needs to be done in any given day. To find a way to make the time to spend several hours at a spa seems impossible to me.

The last "problem" is less of a problem and more of a issue with the entire spa day process. If I'm going to spend my day relaxing at a spa, the last thing I want to do is get in my car and drive home, because Lord knows some idiot will end up in front of me and the fruits of all those hours of relaxation will be gone in an instant when I get irritated at said idiot! (Not that I suffer from episodes of road rage or anything...)

Tonight, The Girl and one of her best friends decided the spa treatment could wait no longer. They informed me this afternoon that there *would* be a spa evening and it was to be tonight. I arrived across the street (smart girls to remove driving from the occasion) just before my treatment was to begin. I was lead to the ~~living room~~ relaxation room where I was ~~attacked by one of two naked 3-yr-olds fresh from the tub~~ greeted warmly with a hug from a junior staff member. My neighbor and I had appointments at the same time, which was pleasant. My first appointment was for a massage; hers was for a pedicure. Then, we were to switch.

My massage was quite nice. Soft music, champagne, dim lights...all that was necessary for the proper relaxation. After the first half of the spa treatment, we were led to another relaxation room where we were serenaded by ~~the sound of rapid-fire machine guns and other death noises produced by Call of Duty: whatever version~~ more up-tempo sounds. I was then led to the pedicure room. I was seated ~~on the potty seat~~ in the chair and my feet were placed in the hot, bubbling water. My pedicurist did a wonderful job and even put a small daisy design on each of my big toes while ~~one of the 3-yr-olds clambered into my lap and watched intently~~ I was showered with more affection.

Sadly, as all things do, my spa evening had to come to an end. (After all, the champagne was gone!) Overall, it was a wonderful evening and I truly enjoyed every moment of the experience. I highly recommend this particular spa and will definitely be returning!

Happy Father's Day

2011-06-19T18:30:00.001-04:00

I have a great dad and I want to wish him a Happy Father's Day!

I also have a great husband. Happy Father's Day, Joboo!

Love you both!!

The one that got away

2011-06-17T09:04:00.004-04:00

Yesterday, as I was walking, I thought of something I wanted to post. Ordinarily, I'm not that bad at keeping a thought for a full day into the next, but for whatever reason, this one I could not. I'm talking gone. Kaput. Nada. I cannot, for anything, remember what it was I wanted to share.

Now there are many things to which I can attribute my loss of memory here, but I'm pretty sure it has something to do with the fact that after my walk, I decided to run the bleachers.

WHAT was I thinking?

And, by run I mean walk!

Anyway, I had done two big laps around the parking lot where The Girl plays softball. If memory serves, it is about 0.8 miles; I usually try to walk 4 laps. Yesterday was a little hotter than I'd planned, so I decided to do 2 laps and the bleachers. A friend had done them earlier in the day so I figured surely I could too.

Facts about the bleachers:
~There are 34 steps up the bleachers.
~There are 34 steps down the bleachers.
~Despite the fact that falling down is the quickest method to descend, I recommend against it.
~There are four places to go up or down the bleachers.
~I went up (and down) four times.
~34 x 4 is 136.
~I climbed up 136 steps.
~136 is a lot.
~I came down 136 steps.
~136 is still a lot.
~I think I died on the bleachers, but I'm not sure yet.

The good news is that shockingly, I can still walk. Even more bizarre is the fact that I'm considering doing that again.

I probably won't remember it.

My ABCs

2011-06-13T09:31:00.000-04:00

Here is some meaningless information you may or may not (I'm guessing may not) find interesting about me!

Age: 42

Bed Size: Full. My friends think we’re crazy, but we like it this way – it’s more snuggly!

Chore you hate: All of them!!

Dogs: Boxer named Bailey

Essential start of your day: COFFEE

Favorite Color: Green

Gold or silver: silver

Height: 5’ 2” Ok, fine! 5' 1 3/4". You caught me!

Instruments I play or have played: violin, guitar, & piano – none of them well!

Job Title: professionally - Teacher; always - Wife & Mom

Kids: Two

Live: In a great house that I wish was located elsewhere on more land!

Mom’s Name: Ma!!

Nickname: CPK

Overnight hospital stays: 3; two kids and a hysterectomy

Pet Peeve: Really? You think we have time for this? It could take DAYS to type!

Quote from a movie: “You’re killin’ me, Smalls!” (The Sandlot)

Right or left handed: Right

Siblings: 3 brothers

Time you wake up: During the school year, 5:15; in the summer, whenever!

Underwear: What kind of question is this? Do I wear it? or what kind? Yes, I wear it, and I share secrets with Victoria!

Vegetables you dislike: I love veggies and can’t think of any I dislike…

What makes you run late: Kids and/or the computer!

X-rays you’ve had done: good question…a bunch, but can’t remember them all.

Yummy food you make: Everything I make is yummy!

Zoo animal: Penguins and Polar Bears

Thanks to Jason for this!

Your turn!

Mini Va-cay

2011-06-12T15:17:00.003-04:00

We decided to go away on a mini-vacation of sorts. Wednesday night, after The Girl finished softball practice, we ran home, packed up our stuff, and headed out for the weekend. Our original plan was to go away Wednesday morning through Friday night, but because of practice, we changed our plans and decided to stay gone longer.

We really enjoyed our relaxation. We stayed at my parents' house, but my mom was not there. Dad was, though, and it was great to see him.

We spent Thursday afternoon lounging at the pool and then went to a baseball game. Friday we visited my MIL and then I went out to dinner with my best friend from high school. Saturday, we did more lounging by the pool and then went out to dinner again at a restaurant where my old neighbor now cooks. It was a cute place and I even ate gator for dinner. It was fried (and too salty, so I ended up taking off the breading). I'd had it once before, but that was about 25 years ago! It is not something I'd order regularly - or eat regularly for that matter - but it was pretty good. Neither The Boy nor The Girl chose to be adventurous; The Boy had pulled pork and The Girl had shrimp cocktail and a salad! Dad wasn't as adventurous either; he had fried chicken!

Sadly, The Girl got a little sick last night, but it wasn't bad and she is feeling much better now. She is completely back to normal; I think it was a 12-hour thing.

Again - really enjoyed the break, but we are all glad to be back home!

A new sport

2011-06-08T16:04:00.004-04:00

I received an email about a month ago about middle school softball. I was confused when I read the part that said something about "you are receiving this because your daughter has expressed interest in being on the team."

What? MY daughter? The same child who, at 4-yrs-old, wandered around the ball field asking if she could come in now? The one who sat in the outfield picking flowers? The one who tried like hell to quit the season early because "It's HOT, Mommy!"?

OK - Just checking.

I have to be honest when I say I wanted her to back out. I wanted her to quit before it began. The Husband was in favor (but had his doubts), and I wanted her to say, "No, Mommy, I don't want to go." It would make my life easier. And, really, it is about me!

So, Monday night was the first practice. It was a lovely 90+ degree evening as we headed to the field. It was the kind of evening where breathing made one sweat. I warned the mom in charge that The Girl hadn't played ball since she was 4 and that I wasn't sure she could even catch one. She was using The Boy's old baseball glove. I refused to spend money on a sport she was *trying out* to see if she liked. No cleats, no bat, no helmet: nothing! She wore shorts, a t-shirt, sneakers, and the above mentioned glove.

Well, was I in for a treat. The Girl can catch. And throw. And run. And, the best part? SHE'S NOT AFRAID OF THE BALL!

I suppose this is a good time to mention that I ~~played~~ was on a softball team when I was younger. I sucked. I was deathly afraid of the ball and closed my eyes whenever it came near. We even have a photo of me in my catcher gear (what was I thinking?!) where my eyes are closed and if you look closely, you can see the ball is actually bouncing OUT of my mitt! But I digress...

The Girl...she's not afraid. At all. The coach even threatened to throw a ball at her. She stood there showing him she knew it'd hurt for a bit, but not for long and she'd be OK. Wow!

After the long and sweaty practice, The Girl came off the field with a huge grin. "I LOVE IT!" she said. To be honest, I'm proud of her and thrilled she loves it. She will now have to juggle cheerleading and softball throughout the fall. We know the football games are Saturdays so there should be no conflicts there, but she'll have to worry about practices. She'll manage. She always finds a way!

Reading for fun

2011-06-04T15:06:00.003-04:00

I swear, I nearly forgot what that was like...to read for fun, that is! It's been so long since I had the time to devote to myself. Now that school is out, I intend to do a lot more reading. I have several books on the list, too.

Yesterday, I read Summer Island, by Kristin Hannah. I have enjoyed all of her books so far. (I see I linked to the Kindle edition; I read the actual paperback. I do not own a Kindle.)

My mom gave me a few other books to read as well. From her, I have Saving CeeCee Honeycutt by Beth Hoffman, and The School of Essential Ingredients by Erica Bauermeister. Eventually, I would like to read The Girl with the Dragon Tatoo and the other books that follow. Mom has those as well but I haven't gotten them from her yet.

There will also be a new Stephanie Plum novel, Smokin' Seventeen, by Janet Evanovich, this summer and I can't wait for that one!

What is on your summer reading list? What do your recommend I try?

A trip to the dentist

2011-06-01T12:39:00.002-04:00

Yesterday, The Girl had to have some teeth pulled. Our first attempt at this was back in April. She had an appointment for April 22. She needed 4 teeth pulled so she can get her braces on. That trip did NOT go well. At all. The Girl hates shots and such. I did not even tell her why we were going to the dentist because I knew she'd freak out. When she figured it all out, guess what happened? She freaked out! The only thing that angered me about the entire thing is that I had asked the dentist for one Valium for The Girl to take prior to the appointment and the receptionist acted as though I'd asked them to build me a meth lab! "We don't do that here!" was her reply.

Um...OK. Whatever.

We finally got in for another appointment; this one was to discuss our options. Whatever. Just pull the freaking teeth. They are baby teeth and none need to be cut. It's NO biggie!

The plan was made that we would come in and they'd give her some meds to "relax" her. Um...didn't they just act like I was crazy when I suggested that?! Whatever! Yesterday was the big day. The Girl was to eat nothing after 1pm. We had to be at the dentist at 4:15pm for the meds; they'd do the procedure after hours. Fortunately (for The Girl, as she'd have been footing the bill) they did not charge us for the meds nor did they charge us an after hours fee.

While she was nowhere near as funny as David, she was, in fact, amusing. At first, she insisted she felt nothing different. After the gas, though, she was pretty darned loopy. She never fell asleep (she was not supposed to), but she was definitely somewhere else. This girl who claims to have a morbid fear of needles chatted with the dentist the entire time he had needles in her mouth. After about the 9th shot, she said, "Am I going to get a shot now?" We all laughed.

The teeth came out without incident. Our biggest trouble was that her gums bled longer than we'd anticipated. When we ran out of gauze, a friend suggested using a tea bag. Just wet it a bit and use it the same way you'd use gauze. It totally did the trick.

Today, The Girl is talking a little funny, but that's about all. She is fine and in no pain. She is still working on the vanilla shake a friend brought her last night...but she is eating it with a spoon!

Vacation!

2011-05-30T09:47:00.003-04:00

It is finally here! Summer has, in my world, officially started. And, like all good things, it won't last long. All the same, I hope to make the most of it.

Yesterday was the very first day that I did not have to be anywhere at any specific time. I relished in that fact...so much so that I did not even leave my house all day. I can't remember the last time I did that! I *thought* about going places...the grocery, a friend's house, a different store...but I kept coming back to the idea that I didn't have to go anywhere, so I didn't.

Today we are back to our running. Basketball practice this morning. Perhaps hang out with friends this afternoon/evening. Basketball tournament over the next three days, appointments and luncheons this week, and the dreaded trip to the grocery store.

Alas, summer will fly by and before I know it, I'll be headed back to school (August 1 for me!!!). In the meantime, I hope to do a lot of relaxing and READING!!

INSURANCE

2011-05-24T16:52:00.003-04:00

I know; the title alone makes you want to run away screaming! It does me too. *sigh*

This is not a post about the health care system. It is what it is. It's broken, yes, but I have no idea how to fix it and am not even going to pretend I have a clue!

This post is about a stupid insurance policy or rule. (Wait...aren't most of their policies stupid? But I digress...) This particular rule is pretty dumb.

The Boy and The Girl both need physicals for sports and school. Sports begin this summer. Last year, when I called (in June) to make their appointments for their physicals, the earliest they could be seen was THE END OF AUGUST! Whoa! I was pissed, but what could I do? They started school (and sports) with a note saying they had an appointment scheduled.

This year, I decided to call in May to make their appointment. I was told by the receptionist they cannot come in until AFTER August 20! When I pressed for a reason, she explained the insurance required 366 days to pass before they could have another physical. The stupidity of this rule is immeasurable. I explained that with this sort of rule, there would be a time when my kids would have to wait until October to get their appointments! The receptionist seemed to understand that, but, alas, there was nothing she could do.

I offered to pay out of pocket for the physicals so we could get them in July, hence getting the kids back on track. The same receptionist first warned it could cost as much as $200 or more per child. I told her neither needs shots. She said that would be the cost without shots! Then, she said she wasn't sure there was a physician on staff who would even *do* a physical prior to the 366th day...they don't like to do that.

WTF? Seriously?! What is the reason behind this? Aren't we told over and over that preventative care is the most cost-effective health care? If that is the case, why can't annual physicals be given less than a year apart? I understand the desire not to have too many 'check-ups' I guess, but to open the window just a little bit and say you can have a physical ten months after the last one makes a lot of sense...especially when we are talking about school-aged children.

And so, both The Boy and The Girl will have to wait until the very end of August this year for their physicals. Next year, they will have to wait till September, a month after school starts!

Rapture Party

2011-05-21T10:49:00.003-04:00

Last night, we had a house FULL!! Just as school ended, The Girl asked if she could go with a friend. I said yes, as long as she would be back at school by 7pm. That wasn't going to work out, so The Girl reluctantly came home from school on time. At 5:30, The Boy has basketball practice. The Girl called another friend and plans were made to spend the night together.

After basketball, we went to another friend's baseball game. The Girl's friend met us there. So did two of The Boy's friends. By the end of the game, the plan was hatched for ALL of them, plus the boy whose game we were watching, to spend the night at our house!

I have NO idea when the boys went to sleep; the girls went to sleep around 2! I went to sleep around midnight!

Tonight, we are going to a friend's for dinner, but coming home to go to sleep at a reasonable time!! All this planning for the end of time gets exhausting, you know! ;)

Post Project/Post Election life

2011-05-20T17:51:00.005-04:00

The Boy turned in both projects this week. On the zoo project, he earned a 94%. On his Social Studies project (the report about a country) he earned 100%. I'm so proud of him.

On a sadder note, The Girl did not win the VP election. Even though she said she would not care, she does...although she CLAIMS she only cares because the boy who won is a trouble-maker and she's concerned for her class. She is upset all offices were taken by boys and that if the girl against whom she was running had won, she'd be happy for her (and, to be honest, I believe she would).

Next week is exam week. Then, we relax!

You're killin' me, Smalls!

2011-05-19T20:58:00.002-04:00

Without a doubt, this is one of the BEST movies. EVER. I had forgotten how much I love it...until I watched it again today.

The blondist redhead alive!

2011-05-18T20:36:00.003-04:00

It's official. Underneath that beautiful red hair, The Girl is blonde - even more than I am!

This evening, we were out to dinner with some friends, one of whom is now her cheer coach. First, the coach showed me (on her phone) a picture of next year's cheer uniforms. The Girl's first question: "Is that the top or the skirt?"

Really? REALLY? 'Cause skirts now come with v-necks and arm holes, ya know.

Just sayin...

Then we were talking about last year's uniforms. The girls will have those and the new ones this year so they each will have two. The returning girls will get their old uniforms back - or first pick if they need a new size. The new cheerleaders will then get their uniforms. The Girl is rather small, so I asked the coach who was the smallest girl to move up.

The Girl answers that it was one of her classmates.
I just looked at her.
"Moved up!" I said.
"What? Moved where?" she asked.
"MOVED UP!" I answered.
"Who moved?" she asked.

By now, the cheer coach was surely rethinking choosing The Girl for the squad! We explained what we were saying. The evening continued much along those lines. I offered to let the cheer coach take The Girl home for the night if she wanted. Shockingly, she said no thanks!

Project Hell

2011-05-16T20:24:00.003-04:00

Here we are, winding down the school year: both The Kids and me. One might think, since there are fewer than 10 days left of school, that life would be settling down some. Study guides would be issued and grades finalized. At least, it is at my school, and it is for The Girl.

Alas, that is not the case for The Boy. He has already turned in one small project and is now finishing two major ones. The first major project is to design a zoo. Yes, design a zoo. The heading on the project says Become a Zoo Architect! I think the teacher's husband is an architect and needs new ideas! Essentially, The Boy has to design a zoo from the ground up. He has to draw the map of the zoo and have specific types of animals. This has to be realistic and he has to have things like restrooms, phones, first-aid stations, concessions, gift shop, etc. Additionally, he has to account for what animals can and cannot be near each other.

Now I normally would not complain about a big, meaningful project, except that this one is lacking one element: meaning! What, exactly, is The Boy to learn from this project? Seriously. I don't understand. Now, if the assignment was to create a diorama with a realistic habitat for a specific zoo animal, I'd understand that. They could have to label either end with animals who could share the habitat and on the back, an animal who couldn't, all along explaining why. That, to me, is educational. Drawing a zoo map? Not so much. The Zoo must be cleverly named, colorfully and creatively decorated, and is due Thursday.

The second major project has meaning. The Boy is to research a country and write a 10 paragraph paper on it. Additionally, he must include two maps (and I can't remember what about the maps needed to be labeled) and some photographs (can be from the internet) that are relevant to the country as a whole or the history of the country. The Boy wrote that paper today and now only has the other stuff to do. That project is due Friday.

In addition to those projects, there was a test today, a quiz and a test tomorrow, and another test Thursday. Then, they have exams.

Have I mentioned The Boy is only in seventh grade?!?! I'm not sure we're ready for eighth!

Open Letter

2011-05-15T09:00:00.002-04:00

Dear Cashier at the local craft store,

I am not a huge fan of school projects and, I guess, you saw that in my eyes yesterday. I was the one who bought two pieces of foam core, a coupe of bunches of moss, ribbons, adhesive, and other classic 'school-project' craft stuff. Maybe I rolled my eyes one too many times while mentioning the outrageous cost of school projects and that gave away my exasperation. I don't know.

To be honest, I wasn't really kidding when I told you I wanted everything on sale. I say that. A lot. Everywhere I go.

The thing is, no one ever takes me seriously. No one except you, my new bff. You rang up every single item at half price. We both know it was not all on sale; we had discussed it prior to your touching the register.

Maybe you were mad at your boss or the company for which you work. Maybe you felt sorry for me, knowing the daunting task ahead. Regardless of the reason, what you did for me did not go unnoticed. I did not make a fuss or even say a word. I silently watched you and silently thanked you. I truly appreciate what you did.

Thank you again!

We've got SPIRIT; yes, we do! We've got SPIRIT; how 'bout you?

2011-05-14T11:01:00.004-04:00

Blogger was down and somewhat killed my mojo! Glad to be back up and running.

The big news here is that The Girl made the cheer squad. She is officially a middle school cheerleader. She is so very excited and I am happy for her. Try-outs were two weeks ago and the results were posted Thursday after school. She had planned to wait for me to get to her school to look, but she couldn't hold back. She called just as I was pulling into the school parking lot to tell me she made it.

The next step is fittings after school Monday. Then, cheer camp this summer.

This will be so easy for us, which is nice for a change, because The Boy will be playing football and basketball while The Girl cheers. We don't have to be two places at once; The Husband and I don't have to go in separate directions!

A problem with blogging...

2011-05-11T18:50:00.000-04:00

...is that if you take a break of oh, say 3 or 4 months or so, you tend to lose your readers. Or, at least *I* do. So when you have questions you want answered, there is no one there to answer them...which makes one think he or she is talking to oneself. Sometimes, it's hard to hold up both ends of a conversation.

I know I'm asking a lot, but are you out there? And, if you are, can you give me advice as to how to fix my masthead so that the coffee cup picture goes ALL THE WAY across the top of the page?

Thanks!

Running again

2011-05-10T19:33:00.002-04:00

Not literally. That would be silly. As much as I'd absolutely LOVE to shed some excess weight, I'm not all that committed and not yet willing to put forth any sort of effort. I'd much prefer the weight to simply disappear. Sounds bizarre, but it *has* happened in the past. 15 lbs simply vanished over the course of about a year, and stayed away for another year. Sadly, they have reappeared over the last year. But I digress...

My running has more to do with sports. It seems we will learn tomorrow or Thursday if The Girl has made the middle school cheer squad. Clearly, we are hoping she does. I think she'll make a great cheerleader; she definitely has the personality for it, and the years of competitive gymnastics won't hurt either!

Additionally, conditioning and practice has begun for basketball again. Apparently, it is against regulations for the boys to practice football, so they are no longer going to football conditioning. Only high school students are allowed to practice football all year. Today was the first day of basketball practice. The Boy said it went well. After practice, a friend of his came over. The two of them went into the garage and did box jumps and then ran hill sprints before going out back to practice shooting. I am very impressed with both of them.

So, my vacation from running to practices is over. It lasted a week. It's all good, though, as I was confused as to what I was supposed to be doing with my time, and my car really missed me!

Happy Mother's Day!

2011-05-08T15:32:00.002-04:00

Wow! Who knew hitting "enter" after the name of the post immediately posted an empty thread? Not me! Thank goodness for the "edit" button!

So, Happy Mother's Day to all the mommies of the world. I've spent a good amount of my morning reading people's facebook statuses, many of which say how lucky they are to be the moms of their beloved children. I didn't post that. I did wish a happy day to my mom, and another to all my friends and family who are moms.

We have had a peaceful weekend so far. Yesterday, we were doing some tidying up. Is that really a word? "Tidying?" And, if it is, is that how it's spelled? Seems so odd to me right now. But I digress...

In the midst of the tidying, I decided it was time, once again, to clean out the pantry. I spent most of the morning cleaning, moving shelves, and reorganizing. Then, I turned to look at the laundry room. (Technically, the pantry is *in* the laundry room, but on the opposite wall of the washer and dryer.) I have a small shelf unit next to the washer and dryer (which are stacked, but probably shouldn't be...but that's a whole 'nother post). I decided I needed another small shelf unit to place behind the current one so there would be plenty of storage. I quick shower and off I went to the store. I bought another shelf and put it up. It looks great, too.

Today has been a pretty lazy day. The kids bought me breakfast on our way to Hebrew school, which was nice. Now, they're playing with friends. Later, another friend is coming over and we are going to cook out.

Hope every mommy out there has a super fabulous day!

"Cinco de Drinko"

2011-05-06T17:31:00.002-04:00

I recently learned (and by recently, I mean yesterday) that Cinco de Mayo is not a big holiday in Mexico. Like many others, I thought it was their Independence Day (which, as it turns out, is September 16). Cinco de Mayo is a celebration of the Mexican militia's defeat of the French army at the Battle of Puebla. I learned all of this from my Puerto Rican friend who teaches Spanish.

It's not a big holiday in Mexico, except in Puebla and the area around it. And in the US.

It's HUGE here in the US, but then again, we're all about finding a holiday with which we can celebrate with drink!

Yesterday afternoon, a friend of mine texted me asking if I wanted to go to a particular Mexican restaurant for dinner. I wanted to go, but reminded her it was Cinco de Mayo. She didn't care. Neither did I.

There were five of us who went to dinner last night. To say we had fun would be a major understatement. I have spent the better part of every weekday evening with these women. We call ourselves the "Moms' Ball Social Club," or "Social Club" for short. We meet at football practice, basketball practice, and baseball practice. Since the baseball season has ended, we have found ourselves lost. This spontaneous evening out was just what we needed.

There was great food, a lot of laughter, drinks, and a ton of fun. One friend renamed the holiday "Cinco de Drinko." I believe it is a new tradition we will have to keep.

Hope you had a fun evening as well!

Serendipity

2011-05-04T21:28:00.002-04:00

One of my dearest and closest friends is an incredibly busy woman. We try, all the time, to plan get-togethers, but they rarely work out. I am always working around The Boy and The Girl, not to mention The Husband. Plus, there is work, the house, the dog, and all sorts of other things. She has to work around her THREE kids and her husband, plus HER work, pets, and all sorts of other things. We live so close to each other, but rarely see one another.

This afternoon, just after I'd gotten home, she called. She had just picked up her kids from school. The conversation turned to her asking if I was on my way out the door to run to some sort of sporting event. No, actually, I was not. Was she running off to one of her kids' obligations? No. Surprisingly, she was not headed anywhere in particular. She had to run to the store, but that was all. So, she came over.

We decided to leave all the kids here and we ran to the store together. Then, I asked her to stay for dinner.

We had a wonderful time. Our kids, despite their age differences, get along beautifully. The Boy is 13; her oldest boy is 10. The Girl is 12; her girl is 8. They have known each other their entire conscious lives; as far as they know, they have always been friends. We had a fabulous dinner and toasted to ten years of memories and friendship.

Random stuff

2011-05-03T18:40:00.004-04:00

I'm back.

BUT...I make no promises. Life is busy and blogging takes time.

Things have settled down considerably around here. The Boy has finished sports for the school year. His baseball team ended the season 10 and 5, I believe. They placed 3rd in the final tournament.

The Girl has yet to start back in sports. She had cheerleader try-outs last week but we will not hear back on that for another week or so.

I'm in the midst of the calm. It is officially day 2 of no extra-curricular activities and I truly don't know what to do with myself!

Both kids tried out for and made the middle-school math team. Their competition was last week and they each had the top score for their grade in their school. I was a very proud mamma!

Both are also preparing for their B'nai Mitzvot. That will happen at the end of the summer (or, if you are in our area of the world, where school starts WAY before it should, early next school year). The Girl knows her Haftorah portion very well; The Boy knows his, but not as well. Both are still working on it.

Not much else going on at the moment. I'll try to be more savvy or witty next time! Hopefully, that won't be far off.

Feelings of abandonment

2011-01-21T20:30:00.002-05:00

Yes, I know you are experiencing them. I'm sorry.

But it's not my fault!

REALLY!

It all started about a month ago. I noticed my iPhone was not keeping its charge. It went from keeping a good charge for a few days to not keeping a charge for ONE full day. Then, a few days later, I was on my pc and suddenly, it froze. No clue why. I restarted it, but it was all for naught. Despite repeated efforts, I could not bring it back. I was sliding into a technological black hole!

Luckily, I'd gotten an iPad for Christmas/Chanukah, so I was not entirely out of the loop. I was still able to get online, but it just wasn't the same. (I have gotten more savvy on the iPad since then).

After a week or so, I managed to get The Kids' computer back online. For some bizarre reason, it often has trouble accessing our wireless network (quite bizarre, since the xbox, which is about four feet from the pc has NO trouble recognizing the wireless; The Boy spends a significant amount of time on Live).

So, I am back online somewhat regularly, but this computer is out of my way and I don't come in here all that often. My pc is at a friend's house and the word is it is going to live. As soon as it is totally healed, I'll be online more often. Perhaps I'll even blog more too!

ps - still have not fixed my phone. It needs a full-blown restore (deeper than can be done from home) and I had to wait till I could update my itunes on this pc before I allowed such silliness!

A not-so-popular topic

2011-01-08T17:16:00.004-05:00

I don't normally get political AT ALL here; in fact, I'm not sure I have ever written anything about politics, but this has to be said.

I was on my way to work yesterday morning and I was listening to NPR, which I do nearly every morning. Yesterday, they were discussing the upcoming Chicago Mayoral Election. The reporter was discussing two of the main front-runners, Rahm Emanuel and Carol Moseley Braun. He then asked two people on the street who they favored for the job.

The first person, a woman, said (and I am totally paraphrasing because I cannot recall the exact words) that she was in favor of whichever candidate would do the best job for the city. The second person, a man, said (again, I am totally paraphrasing because I cannot recall the exact words) that it was time for a black person and he was in favor of Braun.

WTF?

Why does this man believe that a candidate's color makes a difference as to how he or she will perform a job? That's the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard. In all that he said, not once did he mention a word about Braun's qualifications or what he thought she'd do that was better than what Emanuel would do.

I cannot speak to the race as I don't know a whole lot about either candidate, but you can believe whole-heartedly that I don't care if the best candidate is PURPLE, as long as he or she was, in my opinion, the most qualified and best person for the job.

I just don't understand why people have to see color when they look at one another. Why can't they simply see PEOPLE?!

How I spent my afternoon

2011-01-05T20:59:00.002-05:00

My iPhone has been acting up; the battery has suddenly decided it no longer wants to hold a charge. I'm OK with this. I have no idea how old the phone is, but I've had it since July. My neighbor bought an iPhone 4 and I bought her old 3G-S. (I had a 3G). I am guessing she had the phone for at least two years because she upgraded. It is entirely possible that after three plus years, the battery might go bad.

My plan for this afternoon was to go to AT&T and get a new battery. I also planned to set up my iPad. I knew it would be a looooooooong afternoon of waiting, but I was prepared for it.

I definitely got my afternoon of waiting...a long time. I think I spent about 2 and a half hours waiting...but not at AT&T. Instead, I spent it at the ER.

The Girl came home from school saying her knee hurt and was wrapped and the school nurse suggested she have x-rays. Then, she showed us her knee. It was totally swollen. Apparently, it has been bothering her for over a week (she says she told The Husband, but no one told me). I could have called her pediatrician, but I knew it'd be a week before we could get in. SO, we went to the ER. (We have a minor-emergency center here, but they don't take my insurance). A hurt knee is not exactly an emergency, so we patiently waited our turn.

After an examination and some x-rays, the PA came back and basically said she didn't know what was wrong...some sort of inflammation (um...I knew that) and said The Girl was going to get a full knee-brace and crutches. She is to follow-up with her doc next week. The nurse came back but with only an ace bandage and crutches. Apparently, they do not have any child braces, only adult ones. The girl weighs a whopping 83 lbs (and is about 5 ft tall). The adult brace would wrap around her twice!

So...she is on her crutches and Motrin. She was THRILLED to get the crutches, which I think is silly because by the end of school tomorrow, she'll probably hate them! Guess I'll get a new battery another day!

The New Year's Post

2011-01-01T17:00:00.002-05:00

It just seems as though there *should* be one, ya know?

I'm not much of a resolutions gal. I no longer bother making them because I know I'm not going to keep them. So maybe I should make one this year...not to make any! :)

I have to admit, 2010 flew by. It was a complete whirlwind of activity. A LOT has happened this year, most of which is good stuff. Everyone is happy & healthy. Life is good.

I wish you all the very best for 2011!

A word about license plates...

2010-12-30T10:43:00.002-05:00

It seems to me there are certain letter combinations that should not appear on license plates. Just sayin'...

I finally got my license plate, and despite my wish for the PMS 247 plate, it was not the next available, so I did not get it.

That being said, I *did* get a plate with the letters XMF.

Really? I laughed my ass off at that...Extreme Mother F***er!

Hahahaha!

How many trips does it take to get to the center of the DMV?!

2010-12-29T10:10:00.003-05:00

WAY back in December of 2004, I purchased a new vehicle. It was a minivan. I was not particularly interested in the minivan, but it was the perfect vehicle for me at the time, so it is what I bought. We got a good price for it and, since they were offering 0% financing, we went ahead and financed it.

I live near the border of my state. I purchased said minivan in the next state. People plate their vehicles in either state and it is OK. The dealer sent off and did the paperwork; my minivan was plated in the other state. No problem. After a year, I tried to re-plate the van in my state. They wanted me to pay all the sales tax for our state to do this. I said nevermind and kept the vehicle plated in the other state.

Fast forward to this year. I sent off the stuff to renew my plate. It came back with a note saying I was missing one paper. I did not have time to resend it and really didn't want to drive to the county clerk, so I decided to plate it here.

Trip #1: Monday. Office closed.
Trip #2: Tuesday morning. Didn't bring title, can't get plate.
Trip #3: Tuesday afternoon. Brought title, but didn't bring proof vehicle had no lien. No plate.
Trip #4: Going today...I better get a plate! I have only until Saturday, and the offices are closed Friday!!!

The annoying part, of course, is that when I was there Tuesday morning, the woman asked if the vehicle was paid off. I said yes. She said to bring the title, but she never mentioned I needed proof from the financing company that the lien was released. ARGH!!

The Story of the One That Got Away

2010-12-25T23:08:00.006-05:00

Merry Christmas to you all! My gift is an actual post! Hahaha (well, it would be funny if it wasn't true)!

We spent this past week up at our farm. One of the things we do there (and by "we," I mean The Husband) is hunt. We arrived at the farm on Monday afternoon and The Husband promptly went out to hunt deer. The Boy stayed home and helped The Grandma. The Girl and I went out for pedicures.

Tuesday morning, The Husband went back out. That afternoon, he called me to tell me he'd shot a deer, but needed help tracking her. I loaded up both kids and off we went. We had NO luck at all. No deer, no arrow, no blood...nothing.

Wednesday morning, The Husband went back out, but this time, he took both kids. They were very eager to go. He was not planning on actually hunting per se, but he had the kids to show them. He put The Boy in a tree stand and kept The Girl with him.

Shortly after getting settled, The Girl whispered to The Husband, "Daddy! Daddy!" The Husband shushed her..."Not now, Honey. It's time to be quiet." "Daddy! DADDY," she tried again, this time adding, "DADDY...BLOOD!" The Husband looked and sure enough, there was blood...a TINY bit of it. Here you can see The Girl pointing it out:

Well, imagine The Husband's surprise! The Husband and The Girl headed toward The Boy. They were going to try to track the deer. They looked a bit, but decided to come home and get ME first. WHAT were they thinking?! OK - in all honesty, they came home to use the potty and eat, but I'm going to stick with my story.

I got dressed and off we all went to the farm to track the deer.

We tracked her for a good 300 yards through the woods to a clearing, where, somehow, the arrow had worked its way out of the doe. Problem was, there was no doe. In fact, once we came to the arrow, there was no more sign of blood. It's like she somehow removed the arrow and disappeared. It was terribly frustrating for us all.

I'd always heard fish stories of the one that got away, but never doe stories. As it turns out, The Husband nicked a tiny tree limb with the arrow so he did not hit the doe where he was aiming. Our best guess is he shot high and she somehow survived...or went VERY far before dying.

There was one kill for the week, though. Thursday night, I saw a possum in the garden. The Husband grabbed a shotgun and managed to kill the offending possum! He was huge, but not a trophy and DEFINITELY not dinner!

EXTREMELY long week...and it's only TUESDAY!

2010-12-07T21:54:00.003-05:00

I started my week at the ridiculous hour of 3am because that is what time the garbage truck comes to pick up my neighbor's garbage. Luckily, I fell back asleep, but it was not a restful sleep. My alarm went off at 5:15. I got dressed, got the kids up, ate breakfast, and went to work. After work, I rushed home to pick up my parents and The Kids. They got home about 20 minutes before we had to head back out. The Boy's basketball team had its first game last night. We had to be back at school at 4:30 (and the coach did not want any of the boys staying at school; he wanted them all to go home and eat before coming back). The boys left for the game and we followed behind, stopping for snacks along the way.

The game was tough. The boys were down 22 - 3 at one point, but managed to rally back and won the game 45-34. It was incredible. We got home rather late (after 9pm) and I had to do laundry so The Boy could wear his sweats (uniform) to school today.

I woke up this morning at 5:15 in utter disbelief the night had passed so quickly. I was sooooo tired! My morning routine was the same; however, this time, after school, I drove directly to the kids' school where I picked them up and took them for food. We came back and I had to get ready to work concessions during the girls' game. (We trade off - boys' parents work tickets/concessions during girls' games and vice versa.) After the mad rush of concessions, it was time for the boys' game. We settled in and the game began.

Right away, we knew things did not look good. Our boys were making great plays and good shots; however, the ball kept avoiding the net. On one shot, the ball circled the rim at least twice before falling to the side! The referees were calling an incredibly one-sided game, which happens, but not usually at a HOME GAME! There were multiple technical fouls called as well as flagrant ignoring of calls for Time Out. It was ugly.

BUT...and this is big...despite all the adversity, our boys lost by only by a handful of points (either 3 or 5), which only goes to show that had the game been called more evenly, the boys probably would have won. I'm proud of the boys, but the emotional drain of such a game is too much! And - the best part is that The Boy actually got to play some tonight. (He had never even played basketball before last season!)

It's late and I'm headed to bed. Something tells me my alarm will be waking me far earlier than I would like!

Happy Birthday to The Boy

2010-12-04T10:24:00.002-05:00

Thirteen years ago, we welcomed The Boy into the world. Labor and delivery were pretty tough, and after 28+ hours and an emergency c-section, we had our "little guy."

Now, he's a teenager! Eeek!!

Despite the moodiness and surly attitude, we could not be prouder of the young man he is becoming.

Happy Birthday, Son!

Happy Chanukah!

2010-12-01T20:57:00.002-05:00

Tonight is the first night of Chanukah. We did not do much to celebrate. The Boy had basketball practice till 5PM, so we quickly came home, he showered, we lit the candles, and then decided our gift tonight would be dinner out.

We had a nice dinner and, for the most part, The Kids behaved themselves, which is always a treat. I had told them it was what I *really* wanted for Chanukah this year!

I did give The Boy and The Girl each a bag of gelt. We have dark chocolate this year, which is our preference in the world of chocolates. I forgot to give them the dreidels I bought for them. Oh well...there is always tomorrow night!

The Dreaded Christmas Card Incident of 2010

2010-11-30T17:28:00.005-05:00

Every year, for as long as I can recall, I've sent out Christmas Cards. I absolutely LOVE Christmas Cards, Chanukah Cards, Holiday Cards, New Year's Cards...whatever you want to call them. Fifteen years ago, when The Husband and I were first married, I sent out store bought cards. They were pretty generic, but cute. I would write notes in all of them, too. When The Boy was born, I decided to go with the newsletter. The Girl came shortly after and the newsletters continued, stuffed inside the card.

Then, my dear friend Nichole got me started on card making. We were both already crafty, and she was all into the papercrafting thing, so she got me started. (Trust me, I did resist at first!) I did get into the card making so much so that I began hand-making my Christmas Cards. I did that for a few years. It was around that time I began putting a photograph on the card. I knew people who ordered their cards with photos, but I thought I'd do one better and have handmade cards. Like I said, that didn't last too long. Plus, photo cards have come a LONG way over the years. Now, I order my cards. I take a good photo, upload it, and then either order it through Kodak or pick it up locally.

Last year, we went to a Buddhist monastery while visiting my brother and I thought I'd get a great photo of the kids there. That didn't exactly happen. I got a bunch of decent pictures...and some really good ones, but no great ones of the two of them. I compromised on the card and chose a layout with multiple photos so I could put one of each child and then a shot of the two of them.

This year, I had planned on a FULL family photo for our cards. I had ~~warned~~ told The Husband I wanted to take the photo over Thanksgiving while we were visiting his mom. I even made sure to bring nice clothes (they do not dress up for Thanksgiving dinner). The photo never happened. There was too much hunting and not enough time together. The weekend flew by without a single photo opportunity.

OK - no biggie. Back up and punt!

I ~~warned~~ told The Boy that we would take the photo Monday evening. I told him this on Sunday. We got home from basketball practice and I told him to get dressed after his shower.

Surly Teen Boy: Why?
Me: I'm taking a picture. Put on a pair of jeans.
Surly Teen Boy: I can wear shorts.
Me: Put on a pair of jeans, please.
Surly Teen Boy: Why? Why can't I wear shorts? Do you not want everyone to know I wear shorts to school all the time?
Me: I don't care what you wear to school. I told you to put on jeans.
Surly Teen Boy: They're in the wash.
Me: Fine. Put on slacks.
Surly Teen Boy: WHAT?! I'll look stupid!!!

(I'm skipping ahead...you know how this turns out. You should have seen his face when I told him to tuck in his polo shirt...it nearly popped right off his face!)

We get downstairs and I am all set. The Girl is dressed in a pretty knit dress and is sitting in front of the fireplace. The Boy will not go near her. I ask him to sit down. He slumps. ALL ATTITUDE! He was absolutely NOT going to smile for me NO MATTER WHAT. And, every time he felt a smile creep across his lips, he closed his eyes and turned away.

Long story short, I shot roughly 40 photos. Out of those 40, I came up with one that I could work with. I manipulated the crap out of it. The cards were ordered last night...finally!

Next year, I think I'll hire someone to play the role of my sweet son!

Thankful

2010-11-25T10:00:00.000-05:00

Today, I will take the time to write out all that I am thankful for. Well...maybe not all that I am thankful for. Because I know I'll forget some stuff. And then my OCD will kick into high gear and I will spend the rest of eternity editing this post to add all the things I forgot, and quite frankly, I'm just not up to that!

So...here are some of the things I'm thankful for!

~ The Husband. He is so totally amazing. I don't have the time to get into it, but trust me. Half the time, he knows what I need before I do. He's good like that.

~ The Kids. They rock too. They annoy me like no one else in the world, but at the same time, they're amazing people and I'm super proud of them.

~ My Parents. I have a great family. My parents always make sure to try to be with my kids on their birthdays. They have 12 grandchildren and they do this for each of them, which is WAY cool. They also make a point to attend at least one practice and/or game of each child's sports.

~ My Brothers. I have three brothers. We don't all live near each other, but we are still close. When we visit, which isn't often, our kids get along well. They genuinely like each other, despite how different their lives are. I know that if I ever needed anything I could always call any of my brothers and everything would be OK.

~ My Mother-In-Law. I don't often write about them, but I do have great in-laws. I always hear about women who hate their mothers-in-law. I don't. I love my mother-in-law. She's an amazing woman. Her husband has a good heart and we genuinely enjoy spending time together.

~ My Sister-In-Law. I know - she's technically in the "in-laws" category, but it was my sister-in-law who introduced me to The Husband, so she will always be special to me.

~My Friends. I have written about my friends in the past. It is difficult to put into words exactly how much they mean to me. Because we do not live anywhere near our relatives, my friends are my family.

~ My Job. I truly love what I do. Of course there is always the typical BS that goes along with every job, but when I am in the classroom with those kids, I am in my element. I love the interaction and watching them have epiphanies. It's the best feeling ever!

~ All the material things we have. Sure, there is always the want for more, but it is important to take the time to step back and appreciate all that one has. We have a nice home, plenty of clothing, plenty of food, and all the things we need. I'm not sure we appreciate it all enough!

I'm going to stop here. As I said, I could go on and on, but I will not. I will mention I specifically stayed away from religion; it is a personal subject about which I don't feel the need to post.

I wish you all a happy and healthy Thanksgiving.

Time

2010-11-24T10:32:00.004-05:00

You would think that with all this extra time on my hands, I'd be a better blogger, right?

Wrong.

Why is that? Why am I still a major slacker? All this time, I attributed my "laziness" to the fact that I was almost never at home where I could collect my thoughts and compose my posts. But now that I have more "at-home" time, I am still not writing as much.

I'm thinking that, for now, it has a lot to do with the new-found freedom. Suddenly, I have time. Time I can waste! I have spent a significant amount of time on crackbook foraging on my frontier, mastering bejeweled, and writing witty status updates. Ok. Maybe not that last part. Whatever!

Perhaps another issue is that my life is . . . get ready, folks . . . boring. I live a plain, basic life of going to work and shuttling the kids around. Not a whole lot of excitement there. Here's me: happily married, working mom, two kids, one dog.

I *did* spend some time this morning rearranging things. I think I like the new layout, but I'm not 100% yet. I accidentally removed the music and I'm not sure I remember how to put it back! How's that for pathetic?! I like the new colors, but on my pc, the picture for my header is not centered and it bugs the pee out of me. (It hasn't been centered for a long time and I don't know how to fix it.)

I'm open to suggestions...

How I spent my Saturday

2010-11-20T19:16:00.004-05:00

Last night, The Kids went to a "lock-in" at school, which meant they stayed up ALL night. I picked them up just before 7:00 this morning. Noticing how light traffic was at that hour, I dropped them home and decided it was the perfect time to go grocery shopping. The Husband and I knew the kids would sleep most of the day.

After my trip to the grocery, I decided I would go off again on my own, this time to Target. It was such a wonderful trip...no one bugged me to buy anything! I grabbed what I went for and wandered the aisles aimlessly.

Finally, I knew I had to go back home. The Husband had called. Apparently, The Girl was on the floor in the bathroom throwing a fit because she did not feel well. (What did she think would happen if she stayed up all night?! I knew she'd be queasy from a lack of sleep, but she refused to get in her bed. Whatever!) When I got home, I went to check on The Girl. She was asleep on the bathroom floor. She had not been sick (I didn't expect she would be) but I was not going to wake and/or move her!

I went outside to help The Husband with his newest project. In one BEAUTIFUL morning/afternoon, we took this:

and made it look like this:

Pretty impressive, huh? It's amazing what you can do with some primer and a handful of cans of spray paint! Personally, I'm amazed at the transformation. I think it looks great. I did all the taping and even painted the tailgate and right rear quarter-panel!

After we finished that, The Husband fixed the steering.

Believe it or not, it was *still* light when we finished everything, so The Husband went out back to practice shooting his bow. The Boy woke up around 12:30 and has been playing with a friend ever since. The Girl...is still asleep! I refuse to wake her. I figure at this point, she'll simply sleep through the night!

Hope you had as productive a day as we did!

The end of an era...or "free at last"

2010-11-15T18:46:00.003-05:00

The Girl began gymnastics when she began 3rd grade. She went all through that year and began competing in the middle of 4th grade. We moved at the end of 4th grade and she moved right into a new gym. She competed through 5th grade and here we are, approaching the middle of 6th grade.

The Girl has been "done" with gymnastics for a month or two now. She does not feel as though she is treated well at the gym. She is not one of the "it" girls, and it shows. Her love for the sport has wavered...a lot. In fact, she no longer likes it. Still, we would not allow her to quit; she made a commitment and she was going to finish it. We paid for it and she was going to finish right.

Until...

Until I got angry about something. I wrote a letter to the coach expressing my frustration. Rather than sit down and talk about it, the coach kicked The Girl off the team. Because she was mad at me. Incredibly immature and totally ridiculous.

Today, The Girl came home from school. I asked her how she'd feel if I told her she never had to go to the gym again.

She cried.

TEARS OF JOY.

She was elated.

In an attempt to "hurt" us, the coach did us a favor. Not only did she kick The Girl off the team, she is actually sending us all our money back.

Life is good! The Girl is happy. We have our life back. The Girl is already making social plans!

Another First

2010-11-12T22:52:00.004-05:00

Wednesday night, The Husband took The Boy on his very first hunting trip. Since it is bow season, we felt it was a good opportunity for his first outing.

Thursday morning, The Husband went out on his own and let The Boy sleep in. The Husband saw four or five nice bucks. The big one - an older 10 point was about 15 yards away and staring right at The Husband. Of course, he was ready for him...except for one thing. The buck was staring RIGHT AT HIM and, so The Husband could not move. Had he gone to draw his bow, the buck would have run. They stayed in that stale mate for a good ten minutes before the buck took off.

Thursday evening and Friday morning, The Boy went with The Husband, but they saw nothing. Friday afternoon, They did see some...The Husband saw another nice buck, but he was too far away to get a good shot off.

I know the two of them had a wonderful time together and it was a great bonding experience for them.

As for The Girl and I...well, we caught a movie, ate out, and did some shopping! Although - she did go out back and practice shooting her bow too!

Open Letter

2010-11-09T21:32:00.002-05:00

Dear Person Who Keeps Calling My House,

If you really want to speak with me - or anyone else in my home, you must do one of two things. Either you must STOP calling from a RESTRICTED number, or you must LEAVE A MESSAGE.

I've always felt if it was important, you'd call back...and you do. Daily. Several times daily, in fact. Nevertheless, I expect you to leave me a message. I will not answer the phone blindly...those days went out long ago - just after caller ID was invented.

If you are selling something, I don't want it. If you are asking for charity, go elsewhere. I will choose charities on my own. If you have another reason, LEAVE A MESSAGE. If I determine it is important, I will call you back!

Going out with a bang

2010-11-06T19:04:00.002-04:00

Today was The Boy's last football game of the season. It's a bittersweet time because we hate to see the season end, but DAMN, it's cold outside!

They ended the season the way they began...with a win! It was a great win, too, because The Boy was playing one of his best friends' teams! Last time they met, our team lost in overtime. This time, we won BIG TIME. The final score was 22 - 6. The Boy scored our first touchdown of the game, which was super exciting. The momentum kept up all game as the boys played their hearts out.

We had a lot of fun cheering them on, and that's the part we'll miss.

Of course, basketball practice begins Monday, so we've got a whole 'nother season ahead of us!

A question of WHY

2010-10-29T22:43:00.002-04:00

A friend of mine recently posted on a bulletin board how sad she was about how women treat each other. Her descriptive words included the following:

shitty
backstabbing
hurtful
click-y
disrespectful
unhelpful
sneaky

And you know what? She's right. In fact, there are several words she didn't use, but then again, she is far more classy than I. Had it been my post, I'd have used all those other unsavory words as well!

Why is this? Why are women like this? What is wrong with us? And - more importantly, why are we allowing this and perpetuating it?

Let's face it...we are not born mean. We learn it. We learn it from our mothers, sisters, peers, idols, etc. Being a MeanGirl is a learned behavior. When we are young, we love everyone. We are friends with everyone and we want everyone to be friends with us. But then we see the women around us excluding people. We hear them talking about how ThisWoman is not quite good enough and ThatWoman is not thin enough and TheOtherWoman doesn't wear the right clothes or act quite right. We see the women around us hug their DearFriends and chat about the latest and greatest only to hear them privately speak ill of each other when those same DearFriends are not around.

Why is this OK with us? Why are we teaching our daughters to be mean?

One of my other friends replied to this first friend by telling her "I'm finding the older I get, the more easily I can "scratch" crappy, dangerous or otherwise unhealthy people right off my mental "friend-list" and never look bad or feel bad about it!" Isn't that wonderful? How liberating that feels! Can you imagine having that power when you are in your 20s? Or - even better yet, imagine that power and confidence when you are in your teens!

I am ready to do something. I am ready to stop the toxicity in my world. I know myself well enough to know I will most likely continue to speak ill of people from time to time; however, I will do everything in my power never to do so in front of The Girl. She is 12. She deserves better than that. I know she will experience MeanGirls in her life; she already has. But maybe I can teach her to let them go a little bit sooner than I learned to.

Time Flies...

2010-10-26T08:25:00.003-04:00

Today, The Girl turns 12. I can hardly believe it. These past twelve years have really flown by.

I remember vividly when I was pregnant with her, I *knew* she was a boy. I had just had a baby boy and I knew I was having another. No one had told me so; I refused to find out the gender of the baby during the ultrasound. I wanted it to be a surprise.

You see, deep down, I wanted a baby girl. I wanted one so much and I knew I wouldn't get one. It took me a long time to come to terms with that, too. I even told The Husband that I would love this little one as much as I loved The Boy, but that when *he* was born, I'd be disappointed. I told The Husband he'd have to be patient with me because it would take me a while to get over my disappointment and fall in love with this new baby boy.

We had a name picked for our second boy. It was Jarrett Nathaniel. In the delivery-OR (The Girl was delivered via scheduled c-section), I told The Husband I didn't really like the name anymore. It had taken us forever to come up with a boy's name, and here I was, on the delivery table, telling The Husband I no longer liked the name! It was in the middle of that conversation that the anesthesiologist looked at us and said, "It's a girl."

We were stunned into silence.

Not only was she a girl, she was a red-head. Not too long before, I'd given birth to a blonde-haired, blue-eyed boy. We were expecting another. Instead, we had a red-head with grey eyes...and she was a girl!

I cannot express the joy and elation I felt at that moment. The Husband told the doctor to go look again and find that boy we swore was in there!

And here we are, twelve years later, with an amazing young lady on our hands. She is strong, smart, beautiful, compassionate, friendly, warm, kind, athletic, and everything else a parent could want.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, Muffin!

I really am bad at this!

2010-10-21T17:07:00.002-04:00

The blogging, I mean.

I have a lot to say...a lot on my mind, but what I don't have is a lot of time to write it all.

Here are some random things...

The Boy's football team lost again.

The Girl is doing well at the gym, but she's frustrated.

The Girl wants a compound bow for her birthday.
She is getting one.
The Boy already has a compound bow.

He got it for an early birthday present!

The Husband also has a compound bow.

I am the only one without one...and I'm OK with that.

There is a 3-D deer target in my backyard.

I spend too much time in my van.

I've started walking and go about 3 miles every day while The Boy is at football practice.

I haven't noticed a change yet.

The Husband just walked in the door and I am logging off!

Happy Birthday to ME!

2010-10-07T17:13:00.002-04:00

...just sayin'!

Feel free to send gifts. I've taken to celebrating all month, so no worries - the gifts won't be late!

Major downside to the whole working-outside-the-home-mom thing...

2010-10-06T17:05:00.003-04:00

I've been a "working-outside-the-home-mom" for a few years now. I went back to work (outside the home...I am in no way implying SAHMs do not work; they do. I did for YEARS. It was a LOT of work. REALLY a lot!) when The Girl was in second grade. It had been my intention to go back when she was in first grade, but it didn't happen. Whatever.

Now that I'm a WOHM, things are hard. I mean, I *knew* it would be hard, but I wasn't ready for some of the emotionally hard stuff. Some of it sucks.

This morning, The Girl left for a three-day field trip. She went last year as well, and so did The Boy. I went too, as a chaperone. I wasn't working yet, so it was no biggie to go. This year, I could not go. I cannot take three days off right now. I am taking a half-day off on Friday so I can go pick her up from school when she gets back. Since we have parent-teacher conferences that day, I had to make up the time so I could meet with as many parents as wanted to. I gave up my planning period this morning for conferences. Of course that also meant I was not able to come in late; I was not able to bring The Girl to school this morning. And, of all days, The Husband had to be out of town overnight last night.

And so, I had to send The Girl off to school on the bus, with all her stuff. She dragged her duffel bag and her bedding on the bus with her. In fact, because I had conferences this morning, I had to leave before she did. That sucked. A lot.

So there you have it. One of the suckiest parts about working outside the home as a mom. Don't get me wrong - I love my job - but I hate the fact that I was not able to be there for my kid this morning.

That will take some time to get over.

Quick Recap

2010-10-02T14:43:00.003-04:00

We have THE CRUD. Well, not all of us, but most of us! The Husband, The Girl, and I all have something and we know it is allergy induced, but that really doesn't make it any better! I had it two weeks ago, but it is so darned dry here, it has come back for a second round. The Girl also had it about two weeks ago and she's doing much better than I right now. She actually had to call me from the gym on Wednesday so I could pick her up. We kept her out of the gym last night and today just for safe measure - and to help make sure if it is *not* allergy related, it won't spread there! The Husband has been fighting it for about a week. The Boy is the only one not currently effected!

There was a football game today, but it wasn't a good one. The Boy's team lost 14 - 6. I don't think the game was as close as the score indicates. It was ugly. Hopefully, next week will be better.

Now we have what's left of the weekend to rest up for another whirlwind of activity all week! I'm so ready for a vacation!!!

Blatant Bragging

2010-09-28T17:14:00.004-04:00

Several years ago, when The Boy was in third grade, received an invitation to the Johns Hopkins University Center for Talented Youth. He was invited because in second grade, he had scored in the top 95th percentile on a standardized test at school. He was then invited to take an SAT-type exam, which he did. He scored in the top 10% for the state. He never took advantage of the programs they offered because he was so young, but each year, he was invited back to the program.

All these years, The Girl has asked when *she* was going to get *her* invitation. We moved just after that year and the kids took different standardized tests. Now that we've been back a full year, both kids took those same standardized tests. This year, The Girl was invited to participate in the CTY Search. She was thrilled. We have not figured out when she will take the exam or what programs, if any, she will participate in, but she is excited.

In other great news, The Boy was notified of his qualification for Duke University's Talent Identification Program! Again, it is because he scored above the 95th percentile. It will require his taking the SAT and/or ACT. He's not sure which to take and is seriously considering both!

Both of these programs offer neat courses over the summer. We're all excited about the prospects!

I'm a super proud mama...and The Husband a super proud dad!

Sports Recap

2010-09-26T19:02:00.002-04:00

Wow! What a weekend! We went nonstop all weekend long and the results are positive!

We started our weekend with our usual double-dose of practices; The Boy had football practice while The Girl had gymnastics. The Boy's practice was a walk-through - shorts, t-shirts, and helmets. Because The Boy had tweaked his neck Thursday night, he did not wear his helmet Friday. They had a great practice. The Girl said her practice wasn't particularly good, which concerned us because she had a competition Saturday.

Saturday morning, I took The Girl back to the gym for practice. It was not necessary, but she wanted to go and her competition did not start until almost 8pm, so her working out in the morning was not likely to be a problem. After dropping The Girl, I came home to get The Boy and we all took off to the football game.

The game was extremely stressful; it was close, but in the end, our boys didn't have quite enough for the win. The final score was 24 - 20; it was a heartbreaking loss. I have never seen our boys play with so much heart. During the fourth quarter, The Boy scored two of our team's three touchdowns. That was so incredibly exciting, I cannot express it. He had even told us Saturday morning he was determined to score a touchdown! A friend had brought The Girl from the gym to the football game just in time to see The Boy score the first of his two touchdowns. THAT was pretty cool, too.

After the game (and lunch!), we all came home and napped. We were only half-finished with our day! We headed out to The Girl's competition. They were running a tad bit late, but it wasn't too bad. This was a huge competition for The Girl because she just moved up from Level 4 last year to Level 5 this year. If you don't know about gymnastics, it is a *huge* jump. We were hoping for the best because we knew The Girl had really worked hard and her practice Saturday morning was awesome.

They began on beam. In practice on Friday, one of the coaches (who is a trained judge) scored The Girl's routine at a 7.1. Last night, however, she managed an 8.5! After that, they moved to floor. The Girl scored a 7.9 on floor; although her tumbling and such were good, she messed up her pattern (meaning she wasn't always going the right direction and such), and that cost her. Next came vault. This is the first level for vaulting on the actual vault platform. The Girl scored an 8.650. We were so happy! Finally, they moved on to bars. During her warm-up, she could *not* get her feet onto the low bar in order to reach up to the high bar. I was truly sick to my stomach watching her because I was so sure she was going to fall. Luckily, when it counted, she hit it! Her score on bars was 7.9 for a total AA (all around) score of 32.950. She was bummed she did not score even one 9, but this was the first meet and I have a feeling she will improve next time.

Next weekend should prove relaxing as there is only a football game and gymnastics practice to deal with on Saturday!

Only in America...

2010-09-23T21:43:00.003-04:00

Today, The Boy had football practice. While they were doing their warm-ups, The Boy's neck went stiff. It was pretty bad; he could not raise his head up level, and I could *see* how tight the muscle was. You really could have bounced a coin off that puppy! I've tweaked my neck before, but never so badly that I really couldn't move it at all. It scared the crap out of The Boy, which, in turn, got him completely worked up. The more upset he got, the stiffer he became. I tried to get him to relax, but he couldn't. I called our neighbor, who happens to be a nurse, and then decided a quick trip to the urgent care doctor couldn't hurt.

By now, The Boy is starting to calm down and is reasonable. He isn't sure he wants to go to any doctor because he does not want a shot. That being said, he really wanted the pain to go away! (Luckily, his helmet was not on when he got hurt, but taking off the shoulder pads was not fun!) We walked into the urgent care clinic and were about to fill out the paperwork when the woman tells me they don't exactly take our insurance.

What? What do you mean "not exactly"?

It turns out, they *do* have a doctor on staff who takes our insurance, but not our level; he hasn't been "trained" in our level of care yet.

What? WTH does THAT mean? Medical care is medical care...one would assume (and there is the mistake, I guess) that each patient would be medically treated equally and that there wouldn't be different levels of care based on a patent's insurance.

I was told The Boy *could* be seen, but we'd have to pay out of pocket and that fee started just under $150. If there were any tests run or x-rays or anything else (to include medication, etc) it would all be extra.

Now, I would like to interject here that if I had gone directly to the ER (as I've done before), there would be NO out of pocket expense. My insurance (which, btw, is pretty good insurance, even if it *is* a PITA some days) is really good insurance. So I put this question to the nurse at the urgent care. I asked if she thought it made sense that, for us, it would actually be cheaper to go to the ER (which bills at a higher rate) than to go to this urgent care facility. She simply looked at me as though I'd suddenly sprouted an arm from my forehead.

I walked The Boy back to the car and headed for the hospital. By the time we got there, The Boy had managed to calm himself so much he was able to move his head quite a bit. We chatted with a nurse for a bit and decided to come home. The Boy iced his neck and took some ibuprofen. He is resting now...he's got a big game on Saturday!

Homecoming

2010-09-19T10:53:00.004-04:00

What an exciting weekend it has been...and it's not even over yet!

Friday night, the high school won the homecoming game, which was pretty exciting. We were not there, but we heard all about it.

Saturday was the middle school football game. It wasn't exactly the 'homecoming' game, but it was the first game, and it meant a lot to the boys. The game was great and the boys won 20 - 8. They scored 12 points in the first quarter alone! It was very exciting and a lot of fun to watch. The Boy caught a pass, made a bunch of tackles, forced a fumble, and, overall, played a great game.

Saturday night was the big dance. Everything came together beautifully. We had a few glitches at home with The Boy, but we managed to get through them all and both kids enjoyed the dance. The Girl came home raving about what an AWESOME time she had. She told us they played three slow songs and she danced with three different boys. (This was one advantage of The Boy being at the dance...he could watch out for The Girl!) I don't think The Boy danced at all; he said there was a TV there and the college games were on, so a large number of the boys watched the games!

As I said, the weekend is not over yet...there is still Sunday Football to watch - and, to top off the day, the Manning Bowl tonight!

Whirlwind of activity

2010-09-17T19:19:00.004-04:00

I'm finally here to write a post! I know - shocking, but true!

It's been a good two weeks since I've written a real post and I do have plenty to write about!

First off, it's FOOTBALL season! We are all pretty excited about that. As you all know, we're huge football fans here. The Boy is playing middle school ball again this year. Their team is pretty small, so he is playing ALL over the place! This year, he is playing linebacker, wide receiver, and is also on special teams as a punt receiver, and anything else they can think of having him do. Poor kid will not come off the field all game...and it's a long game. They play 10 minute quarters. Technically, the season has not started because the jamboree was cancelled (rain).

Gymnastics competition season is beginning too. The Girl has her first competition next weekend. She is competing both Compulsory level 5 and Prep-Op Gold this year. What that means is that she will have ten competitions this year beginning next week and lasting through March. She is most excited about doing Prep-Op because she was able to choose her own music for her floor routine and she will also have her own beam routine.

Tonight night is the Homecoming game at the kids' school and they're pretty excited. This past week was spirit week and there was a WHOLE LOT of spirit around here. The Girl's favorite day was pajama day, but who can blame her? It'd be mine too! In fact, I'm wondering if they do that at my school! Of course, the culmination of Homecoming week is the homecoming dance. The kids' school has a middle school dance as well as a high school dance. Last year, The Boy went. This year, The Girl is beside herself with excitement over the dance. She has been asked by three different boys, although she believes the first two were just joking around (they're all good friends) so she did not take them seriously. The last boy was serious, but we told her we thought it would be best for her to go with friends; we are not ready for her to go on a "date" yet!

Dress shopping for The Girl was a task! She is pretty small, so finding a dress that is appropriate for homecoming, but still fits her was no small task! We went shopping about two weeks ago and I swear, The Girl tried on at least 20 dresses! She finally found one we all liked. Many of the dresses are strapless this year, and I'm not entirely comfortable with that...especially when you consider I had no time to get a dress altered for her and almost nothing was small enough! She ended up with a cute teal dress with spaghetti straps. It is still a tiny bit big (we could find nothing xs or size 0/1), but with the straps, it's good.

That is all for now. I promise to try to post more...at least weekly, since we have football games and competitions coming up.

Still Remembering...

2010-09-11T14:38:00.002-04:00

...because it would be a huge disservice not to.

I will ALWAYS remember, as we all should.

Please Stand By...

2010-09-06T20:55:00.004-04:00

I have a bajillion posts to write; however, I'm having a hard time making the time to write them all! Since I last wrote (LAST WEEK) there have been two trips to the farm, a wienie roast, and a whole lot of progress.

I promise to catch up soon...VERY soon! As soon as football and gymnastics slow down. Oh - wait - they're just starting! Eek!!

And - thanks for all the suggestions for the coffee dilemma. We did, on our most recent trip, bring our camping coffee pot up to the farm, so we at least have that. I'm definitely going to get some of those Starbucks Via packets. They come highly recommended!

Coffee

2010-08-29T19:04:00.004-04:00

We made a quick trip up to the farm this weekend (and I'll post about that later). Since it was a super quick trip, we decided to stay at the Mother-In-Law's house.

We did not work particularly late Saturday night, but we did get up early Sunday morning so we could get a bunch done before coming back home. Neither the Mother-In-Law nor her husband drinks coffee. They do not even own a coffee pot! The Horror!

I should mention there was an offer of some instant coffee, but I just knew that was NOT going to work; nor was the General Foods International Coffee. I needed REAL coffee...and badly!

THIS is a problem!

I should also point out that the Mother-In-Law lives in a tiny country town that does not have a grocery store or gas station...no "Quickie Mart" to run to for a cup of Joe!

I managed to start my day with a Diet Coke, hoping it would stave off the potential bad mood I knew I'd be in without my coffee (not to mention the headache!). Once we ate breakfast and went to the farm, I left The Husband and The Boy and took off in search of my fix. I found it about 20 miles down the highway at the next town...a town that boasts not one, but two convenience stores, a drug store, and at least one grocery! I grabbed an extra large coffee to go and all was right with the world!

Chivalry is dead

2010-08-24T16:59:00.003-04:00

Well, not totally, but it's well on its way out.

When I left work today, I noticed, much to my chagrin, that I had a flat. My left rear tire was dead. There were three men in the parking lot as I noticed this, so I yelled (pretty loudly), "Hey! Anyone want to help me change a tire?"

I was kidding of course. I knew no one wanted to help, but at no time did I expect those gentlemen to get into their respective vehicles and drive off! I was a bit shocked. One of my female co-workers, upon seeing my van, drove back around the parking lot to check that I was OK and had the help I needed. Women 1; Men 0.

I had to go back into the building and ask someone for help. I could not believe it.

Now I'm certain I could have changed the tire myself; I've done it before; however, I was totally going for the damsel in distress today and it was SO not working. And - I was wearing white pants! As it happens, I did help quite a bit. I drive a minivan and my spare tire is under the middle of my van. I lowered the spare and released it while my co-worker jacked up the van and removed the flat tire. Women 2; Men 1.

I really am surprised by the behavior of the men who literally scurried to their vehicles so they would not have to help!

Why I don't like impulse shopping

2010-08-23T18:18:00.006-04:00

I mentioned that the other day was our 15th wedding anniversary. It was a week day and The Husband had to work late, so we did not do anything to celebrate. Our plan was to go on a date Saturday night.

Originally, we had planned to try to go on a mini-vacation (sans kids) but neither of our work schedules lent themselves to such fun or adventure. A standard date was all we were going to get!

I don't remember our 5th anniversary much. It was quite a while ago. I remember The Husband was out of town, but I don't recall what we did when he got home. I can't recall what we exchanged for gifts. It is entirely possible we did not exchange gifts at all, since I was not working and we had two small children.

For our 10th anniversary, we (impulsively) bought a 1965 Mustang fastback. Our plan was to restore it. We both love old cars (he more than I, but still). We kept that Mustang for a couple of years, but had to get rid of it. The Husband was unexpectedly transferred and we had no place to keep the car (at this point, it had no longer had an engine). We sold it to a friend.

For our 15th anniversary, we bought a Polaris Ranger. With nearly 80 acres, we knew we would need it on the farm. We have so much work to do there that this guy is going to be worth his weight in gold!

We purchased this on Saturday. The Girl had gymnastics, so we went to look while she was at gym. Then, after we picked her up, we went up to purchase it. The process was incredibly easy and stress-free...until the end! We have a trailer that we'd swung by the house to grab before heading up to the dealership. Once all the paperwork was finalized, we went to load the UTV onto the trailer...except it didn't fit! I could not believe it. The salesman was not concerned; many people simply load them in the beds of their pick-up trucks. They got the forklift and lifted the UTV.

Guess what didn't fit. Go ahead. Guess. I've got time!

The salesman was really nice and offered to loan us a 6 x 10 trailer for the weekend so we could get home. Since we knew our 5 x 8 wasn't going to help us get the UTV to the farm, we realized we had to buy the trailer. The Husband was planning on getting rid of our smaller trailer, but I pointed out that the Ranger has the capability and power to tow the smaller trailer and we will DEFINITELY use it on the farm, so we now own TWO trailers.

See why I'm not such a fan of the impulse shopping?! All the same, the Ranger is cool as hell and super fun to drive!

Milestone

2010-08-19T18:46:00.003-04:00

Today is our fifteenth wedding anniversary. I wanted to write something wonderful and sentimental and amazing. I've got nothin'! Seriously. There is NOTHING in my brain and I cannot come up with a single clever thing to write!

Pathetic!

I'm still as much in love today as I was fifteen years ago. More, actually. He's a great guy. I adore him. I can't imagine my life without him. We're still mushy when we're around each other. (We make other people sick!) I can't wait to see how the next fifteen years unfold.

Happy Anniversary! I love you bunches, Baby! I can do anything with you by my side.

Teacher Humor

2010-08-17T23:01:00.004-04:00

I saw this a few years ago and forgot about it till recently. English teachers love it!

Make sure you turn off the music below so you can hear the video and enjoy!

Spell Check

2010-08-15T11:12:00.001-04:00

Yesterday, my friend posted a really funny video clip on facebook. I loved it so much I posted it on my profile. While I was doing that, I was texting The Husband. I intended to type, "You have got to see what I posted on my fb wall. You will love it!" Since the keys on the iPhone are so small, I sometimes make mistakes. Since it is so very smart, my iPhone makes the corrections it thinks I want.

What I sent The Husband was, "You have gonads what I posted on my fb wall. You will love it!"

VERY different message, no? You can just imagine the confusion (and laughter) that ensued!

Why?

2010-08-14T16:20:00.004-04:00

Why is it ok for you to be my friend (or, as the case may very well be, pretend to be my friend) for a number of years and then, when you no longer want/need anything from me, snub me? Who said that was OK? Who told you that was acceptable behavior? You're a grown-up. You should know better. I've met your parents. They did not raise you like this.

I am disappointed. Hurt too, but mostly, disappointed. I expected more from you.

Wine With Hope

2010-08-11T18:28:00.007-04:00

I have always been a wine drinker; however, I have never been a fan of the red wines. Oh, I've tried to like reds...believe me, I've tried...but I've never found any I liked.

Monday, I stopped by our local wine shop and one of the women working came up and began to chat with me. We discussed some wines (I'm a Pinot Grigio fan) and I told her my feelings toward the reds. She felt the same way. She said she rarely drank red wine because she didn't much like it either. Still, she steered me toward a bottle that she said she'd tried and recalled liking. I had never heard of it before.

This amazing woman introduced me to Bully Hill Vineyards. She pulled out a bottle of Barnyard Red, and said she had liked it. I liked the label! I know it is not easy to see here, but it is a colorful and fun label, so I was immediately drawn to it. The back of the label claims it is a drier than sweet wine, but if you ask me, it is PERFECT! Mom was visiting Monday night and we went through the bottle rather quickly! It is a flavorful wine and easy to drink. I would definitely recommend it and have since gone back to (1) purchase more, and (2) thank the woman who recommended it!

So, the interesting thing about this wine was that when I opened it, the cork read "WINE WITH HOPE." I have read the vineyard website and don't see any place that explains why that is on the cork. I *did* see some other short comments on the site that began "Wine with..." so maybe that's just their thing? I don't know. It is the only bottle I've opened so far, so I don't know if the other bottles have other messages on their corks...but you can bet I'll find out!

Anyway, I highly recommend the wine. I also bought a bottle of their blush, I think. Haven't tried it yet, but I do expect greatness!

Bottoms up!

Groceries

2010-08-09T18:42:00.004-04:00

I want to start this post with a disclaimer - which is code for "someone is going to be offended." It is not my intention to offend, but nonetheless, it will happen. In advance, I apologize to anyone I upset.

Now, I am not a small gal, by anyone's standards. In fact, if you were to classify me medically, you'd have to call me overweight. I was, for a time, obese, but I have lost about 20 lbs. To be classified as "normal," I'd have to drop another 20 lbs, and I just don't see that happening any time soon!

One of the ways I ended up losing weight was through diet (because it certainly was not from exercise) but not diet in the sense that I went "on a diet." I simply changed what I ate. I wrote about our change in diet here. It has been over a year and it has been a good change. Part of our diet is that we do what is called perimeter shopping, which means the majority of the foods we purchase can be found on the perimeter of the store. I rarely go down the aisles unless I need something specific. Nuts, detergent, dried fruits, and health & beauty items are some of the reasons I venture off the perimeter of the store.

The other day, I went to the grocery. I noticed a rather large woman with her large young son. For whatever reason, I immediately noticed the woman's cart. It was *filled* with soft drinks, processed foods, snacks, and the such. (And here is where people can and will get offended...) I had to ask myself if this woman realized what she was doing. I'm no saint. I love a sweet treat now and again, and, truth be told, ice cream is my big splurge. I justify it by buying all natural ice cream and convince myself it's not that bad for me. Hey - it's my denial here, so go with me!

Anyway, I know not all heavy people make poor food chioces and that there are, in fact, as many reasons to be heavy as there are heavy people. That being said, it saddens me to see people (regardless of size) put such unhealthy foods in their bodies and their kids' bodies. Actually, if you want to eat it, that is fine, but to give it to your kids who have no choice, well, I guess that is what really upsets me.

I'm sure I can go on and on about this (and piss off a WHOLE lot of people) so I won't. I will stop. I don't really have a point here, but it's my blog, so I don't have to have one!

Random stuff

2010-08-07T09:54:00.004-04:00

The first week of school is over...except it was really only two days. I worked all week, but the students were only there two days. All the same, it went well and is promising to be a good year.

My kids still have most of this week off. They go back at the end of this week. We still have orientation and all sorts of other fun things to take care of this week!

Went out to dinner with some girlfriends Tuesday night. Hadn't done that in quite a while, and it was a blast. Note to self: go out more often!

I'm kind of shocked I have absolutely nothing worthwhile to write. That never happens! Well - it does, but I'm never short on things to say! Writing is different.

Yeah - so thanks for wasting a few moments of your life reading! Hopefully tomorrow will prove more interesting!

Back to School

2010-08-02T22:49:00.003-04:00

So today was my first day back to school. It wasn't bad (but maybe that is because there were no students...)! Just kidding; there were quite a few students, actually. There was a whole lot of orientation stuff going on so a bunch of my former students were there giving tours and such.

Overall, it was a decent day. Lots of meetings (and more to come tomorrow), but still pretty good. Did some reorganizing, but that was all.

The Boy and The Girl still have a week and a half before they go back...lucky stiffs!!

----------------------------------------------

The Girl had a great day at the gym tonight and her coach was bragging to me about all they accomplished. We submitted her floor routine music tonight and two of her coaches were very pleased (the choreography coach is who OKed the music but she wasn't there). We are all looking forward to what she does with it.

The Boy has football sign-ups next week, and we're really looking forward to that too. He can't wait to get his pads and hit some people!

It's Time

2010-07-29T15:13:00.003-04:00

As much as I am reluctant to return to work, I know I must. There are a variety of reasons I must return, not the least of which is that if I do not, they will totally stop paying me, and I'm just not up for that. I have become rather fond of the whole pay check thing.

There are other signs that it is time. One of the most obvious is The Children. O. M. G!

There are not words to express how much it is time for us NOT to spend every waking moment together anymore! The arguing, the fighting, the crying, the tantrums. And then there are the kids!

Seriously, there is a reason kids are in school for ten months of the year. There is also a reason summer break is only 10 weeks! But, the funny part is that at the end of the school year, I couldn't wait for school to end because - are you ready for this?! - I missed my kids! I hated the fact that I rarely saw them. We were all in school all day (different schools) and they were at their sports practices all evening. I rarely spent any time with them and I missed them. WHAT was I thinking?!

Truth be told (and any mom can attest to this), either one alone is great. I truly enjoy our one-on-one time. Get them together, though, and the shit really hits the fan.

And so, it is time. Time for me to return to work, and time for the kids to return to school. And it is happening none too soon!

Blog music

2010-07-24T15:17:00.004-04:00

I have music here on my blog. (I know - shocking! I wasn't sure you'd all noticed!) I like the music (obviously) because I put it there.

Funny thing is, when I go to other people's blogs, the first thing I do is turn off their music, which leads me to wondering how many of you do the same? Clearly, I have a whole lot of 80s music on here, and, truth be told, I never really cared what anyone else thought of it. Some days, I'll click on my blog and minimize the window just to hear my music, which is pretty silly since I can open iTunes and do the same thing...with a whole lot more music!

(Have you all figured out yet that I really have absolutely nothing worthwhile to blog about so I'm randomly spewing nonsense? No? Good, I was hoping not.)

So I'm thinking I could maybe take requests, you know, like a DJ would. EXCEPT (because there is always an 'except') there are certain types of music I don't like. For instance, I cannot stand Country music. It irritates me in a way I cannot fully express (which is funny because our wedding song was a country song...but I digress).

That being said, what suggestions do you have? Leave them in the comments...maybe I'll add some!

Upgrades and technical difficulties

2010-07-20T10:19:00.006-04:00

I don't have a whole lot to blog about right now, so here is the extent of the excitement in our corner of the universe...

The Husband came home last week exasperated; he finally realized he needed a new cell phone. No one could argue this fact, as he was sporting a Nokia 6102i. His particular model was so old, it actually has cingular inscribed on it, rather than at&t!

I can't recall exactly when The Husband got this phone, but I know it was at least 4 years ago because some of the photos he took were in a house we purchased in 2006. I'm fairly certain he got the phone in 2005, though. The way technology runs, I'm shocked it has lasted so long (and so well...despite the duct tape on the antenna)!

With a grumble, The Husband decided to go for the iPhone 4. He said he didn't want to bother with the 3Gs because he knew even the 4 would be obsolete in about two years, so why not go ahead?! While he was at work the next day, I went out and got him his new phone (which he likes so far and he has not had any issues. Regardless, he will go get the band Apple offered as a fix for the antenna problem).

I have an iPhone 3G. From the moment I purchased it, I thought I'd regret not buying the 3Gs. At first, it was no biggie, but lately, I've regretted it. Also, for whatever reason, my phone decided it would no longer recognize any wifi networks...even if they were manually entered. I wanted to upgrade, but could not justify the cost; I have not had my phone a full year yet.

Luckily for me, my neighbor, who is rather techno-savvy, upgraded her 3Gs to a 4. I was able to purchase her old phone for a mere fraction of the cost of a new one. I upgraded from an 8M 3G to a 32M 3Gs...all for only $50!

I will admit I was nervous about switching everything over, and, for the most part, it hasn't been too bad. My apps and music switched without a hitch. Moving my photos proved to be a more labor intensive issue and, while I did manage to get them moved, they are in a different place than they were on my original phone. Contacts were OK; I never synced to any accounts, so I could only move what was on my sim card. I will have to go back through them and fix them (which will be time consuming and a royal PITA, but I'll get it done).

Syncing my calendar has proven to be the most difficult thus far. I show that all my calendars are on my new phone; however, not all my events are showing up. Not sure about that and it will cause me some grief, but I'll manage. For a while, I suspect I will be carrying both phones for the purpose of keeping organized!

So...if you were wondering how I was spending my final two weeks before going back to work, now you know. I'll be playing with my new phone trying to get it set-up like my old one!

Books

2010-07-15T15:47:00.002-04:00

I've been trying to take advantage of the little time I have left before I go back to work. Reading is one of my guilty pleasures and I can't do it much during the school year. I have tried to read quite a bit this summer. I haven't gotten to as many books as I'd planned, but here are some of the books I've read:

On Mystic Lake - Kristin Hannah
I had read Firefly Lane sometime during the year last year and this was my second of her books. I really like her and this was a good book, although not as good as Firefly Lane.

Between Sisters - Kristin Hannah
I picked this one up at WalMart the other day, along with The Things We Do for Love. I read it in a day and a half, but I have not read the other one yet. I will start it today (and probably finish tomorrow)! I enjoyed it, as I have all of her books. She writes her characters so vividly.

Sizzling Sixteen - Janet Evanovich
Nothing to say...loved it as I have each of the previous fifteen novels. I love Stephanie Plum but hate that when I read about her, I eat like she and Lula do! NOT good...and makes me happy the books come out only once a year!

The Wednesday Letters - Jason F. Wright
This was a sweet novel; however, the ending was, to me, a bit on the preachy side. All of a sudden there was a whole lot of Jesus where there had been very little mention prior. It was weird and unexpected.

The Forgotten Garden - Kate Morton
I really enjoyed this novel. It was a mystery but not a "who done it" mystery; it was a "who am I" mystery. There were a lot of story lines, and at times, it felt like there were too many, but it does all come together nicely and not in a predictable way.

I know that cannot be all I've read this summer, but it is all I can come up with off the top of my head! I have a stack of books to go through, including the above mentioned The Things We Do for Love. I also have The Castaways and A Summer Affair, both by Elin Hilderbrand. Wish me luck getting through them all in the next 17 days!

My Addiction

2010-07-13T16:29:00.002-04:00

I had to go to the grocery store. The closest place for me to do my grocery shopping is one of those Very Well Known mega-marts that carries EVERYTHING (and advertises it's LOW PRICES...if you know what I mean).

The problem with doing one's grocery shopping in such a place is the number of distractions...like, for instance, SCHOOL SUPPLIES!

I great-big-puffy-heart school supplies! I'm talking deep, unnatural, unhealthy obsession here! They're so neat and shiny and bright and colorful and I just *have* to have them! All of them!

The other day, while I ran in for a few items, I walked out with twenty composition notebooks, thirty spiral notebooks, twenty-five pocket-folders with brads, and fifteen packages of loose-leaf paper! When added to the grocery items I bought, my total was still under $60!

Today was not so good. Today, I had both The Boy AND The Girl with me. I had said we were not school supply shopping but I just couldn't help it! This year, everything is so organized and color-coordinated!! The shelves are neat and the items are tidy. Everything is so easy to find. Did I already mention bright and colorful displays? I was actually trying to convince myself I needed things I have never in my life even thought about using before, because they were oh, so cute! Our only set back was that there were no Crayola crayons, which The Girl prefers over the off brand they had. At twenty cents per box of 24, I went ahead and stocked up. I bought 25 boxes for myself.

Today, the damage was intense. Today, with our groceries, we tipped the $300 mark. Hell, we more than tipped. We went straight over that puppy! Luckily, I had perused The Girl's school supply list before we left home; there were only two items we did not get for her. The Boy did not have a list this year. I'm thinking his teachers will let us know once school starts.

I had heard one of the office supply stores is having a big sale and I was doing so well to steer clear of it. *sigh* I have no willpower!

20 Days

2010-07-12T19:33:00.002-04:00

Can you even believe I have only 20 more days until I go back to work? How did that happen? I could have sworn it was summer! How is it I have to go back to work so soon?

It's one of those bizarre things about where we live. I grew up in New Jersey. School started after Labor day and ended sometime in June - usually the 3rd week or so. Summer was July and August.

Here, that's not the case. Here, school starts in the beginning of August and ends before Memorial Day. Summer here is June and July.

In case you haven't noticed, for the most part, August is hotter than June. I'd rather go into June than begin in August...especially EARLY August!

When we lived in North Carolina, it wasn't so bad. We started in August, but it was the last week of August, and we went into the second week of June. That was actually pretty good, except that we were in school for both Memorial Day and Labor Day.

I guess it is better than year-round school...(unless that's your thing.).

A Riddle

2010-07-07T09:51:00.004-04:00

What do you get when you cross two kids and a huge apple tree?

You get apples, of course. LOTS of apples. 5+ gallons of apples, to be exact!

What the heck can I possibly do with that many apples? There is no way we could eat them all (and, truth be told, many have bruises and such from falling off the tree while the kids were picking).

I decided to try my hand at making applesauce.

And, here is where, if I was good, I'd have taken photos all along the way to show the process. I even thought about doing it before making the last batch...but I didn't. Get over it!

I am currently making the last batch (because I'm *that* multi-talented)! I was amazed at how simple it is and more impressed by how YUMMY it is!

I'll admit my first batch was rather small. I used about 3/4 of the apples from the one gallon bucket. I was stunned by how good it was when I was finished. I was at my mom's house at the time of that first batch, and luckily for me, she has a food mill:

That guy made the process OH, so much easier! (Ignore the "click to enlarge" as it will do nothing!) When I came home, I brought the food mill with me...mostly because I brought a 5 gallon bucket of apples home too!

I did try my hand at making apple pie as well, and it was OK, but I did not add enough sugar, so it had to be eaten with vanilla ice cream!

Back to the applesauce! I will happily share the recipe I used, but I don't know what kind of apples I used! I found the recipe online but adapted it some. The recipe today was as follows:

2 gallon buckets full of apples
3 cups water
lemon juice (I did not measure...just pour some in)
cinnamon (again...no measuring)
nutmeg (still no measuring!)
sugar (as needed to taste...I had hoped not to use any, but my apples were not quite sweet enough)

Core and cut all apples. I did not bother to peel my apples, but you can if you want. While coring and cutting, I placed all pieces in ice water to help prevent browning. Put water in large pot and dump apples on top. Add lemon juice and stir. Add cinnamon and nutmeg and stir again. Bring to a boil and then reduce to simmer. Cover and simmer for 10 - 15 min, (or until apples turn to mush) stirring every 4 - 5 min or so.

Ladle mixture into food mill (OVER A BOWL!!!) and begin milling. Once finished, taste and add sugar as needed.

Voila! Applesauce!

Taking the Fun out of the Fourth

2010-07-04T17:22:00.004-04:00

For as long as I can remember, Independence Day was celebrated with much fanfare, food, friends, family, and fireworks. And, to the best of my knowledge, that all occured on the FOURTH of July. Makes sense, especially since fourth begins with an F, as do all the other words. Right? Right.

So what's up with all the festivities occurring on the THIRD of July? Third begins with a T, not an F, although, in some cases, they look similar, which is why, when I give a True/False quiz, I make my students write out the words true and false.

But I digress.

So here, in our town, all festivities for this holiday occurred yesterday. There was a fair, food, and, of course, fireworks. Last night. On the third. Of July.

NOT Independence Day.

Why is it we think we can just *change* holidays to fit our needs. Yes, the 4th falling on a Sunday is inconvenient to many who have to work on Monday morning; however, that is the day it is. Period. Deal with it. If you can't stay up to get drunk and watch fireworks, then get over it. You're a grown-up. You have responsibilities.

The same thing happened here on Halloween a few years ago. It fell on a Wednesday (in 2007) and so Trick-or-Treating was done the Saturday night before Halloween. WHAT? That makes no sense. All Saints' Day is November 1. All Hallows' Eve (aka Halloween) is October 31. You can't *move* the holiday for convenience sake! This year, Halloween will fall on a Sunday. I'll bet you Trick-or-Treating will be "held" on October 30th.

Is NOTHING sacred anymore?! Next thing you know, they'll move New Year's to the first SATURDAY in January!

15 random things - farm edition

2010-07-03T16:34:00.007-04:00

1. There is such a thing as a shit-spreader, although it is commonly called a manure spreader.

2. Tractors come in ALL sizes from cute little ones to ginormous ones.

3. Just as cars are doing in Detroit, tractors are going retro! This is a brand new model.

4. Tractor attachments are expensive!

5. We need several attachments!

6. I need to learn how to "can" foods.

7. Why is it called "canning" when you put things in glass jars?

8. 79 acres is a LOT of land. (OK...technically, I knew that, but sometimes, it's overwhelming.)

9. I love old grain bins.

10. There are catalogs for chickens! I looked through two different ones last week.

11. There are special spreaders for chicken poop too.

12. Chicken poop spreaders fling chicken poop 50 feet!

13. Hawks are territorial; we have several at our farm.

14. The Husband saw a coyote on the farm the other day. I think that's cool as hell, but The Husband does not.

15. The color of a chicken does not necessarily determine the color of its egg.

There is so much more, but am at a loss right now. Happy Trails and have a Happy 4th of July. Remember what it means.

Adventures in Farming - Chapter 3

2010-06-27T09:56:00.004-04:00

Well, I have no new photos today, but I will update on our adventures. Technically, I do have photos, but there is nothing particularly new about them and they'd probably be boring to you!

We went back up to the farm to do some work. We keep forgetting how big it is...except when The Husband is mowing. I swear, he's mowed at least a full year's worth and barely dented the property! Our goal was to mow all that is "tillable," but that was NOT going to happen! A portion of the property where the house will sit is done and maybe half of another field is done. That's all!

We also decided to change our house plans (which I'm sure will happen another dozen times or so)! We have decided that we are going to build a small cottage first. It will serve as a guest house when our house is built. It also means we will build a smaller home for ourselves, as we will have the extra cottage for when we have company.

Our plan is to go very simply and somewhat rustic in the cottage. I think we've decided on a 600 sq ft footprint. It will have two loft areas to serve as bedrooms, increasing the total square footage to around 1000. We have not even begun to look at floor plans...just sketching things out on our own. The cottage will be directly in front of the lake we intend to build; it will back up to the lake, actually. The Husband also wants to build a pavilion of sorts right off the lake for entertaining. I think it's going to be so neat.

That's about all for this update. Hope you are all having a wonderful summer. I'll keep you posted and put up new pix when I get some!

Happy Father's Day!

2010-06-20T17:49:00.006-04:00

It's Father's Day, and in true family spirit in our home, that means another unadulterated WORKDAY! We used to refer to these as "family fun days" but the children have since lost interest in working around the house, so they were scarce today!

Our first project was to battle our Japanese Beetles. I've written about them before and we were definitely making headway, but they are fierce this year and you can't dust certain trees, so it was off for the liquid backup:

This poor tree looks more like fine lace than a tree. I sprayed the heck out of it, and then did the ones out back for good measure!

After the trees were taken care of, it was time to dig out the pressure washer. This is one gadget EVERYONE should own. They're magic!

Since The Husband had just mowed the lawn and cleaned the mower, we had to get the pressure washer out to clean the driveway. While we were at it, we decided to do some much needed maintenance as well.

We grabbed a bottle of house cleaner and got busy.

We've owned this house for over four years and we've done our share of maintenance; however, we rented the house out for two years, during which time NO maintenance was done. Even still, we thought the discoloration of the shutters was due to fading, as our house gets a significant amount of direct sun every day.

You would not believe how shocked we were to find that the shutters were not faded, but rather dirty! Above is the before shot and below, the after. Amazing!

Despite the ridiculous heat, The Husband and I spent the bulk of the day outside (wearing sunscreen) working on the house. We are now cooling off and relaxing and, I suppose I'll cook him a nice dinner!

Open letter to the woman in the car next to me yesterday...

2010-06-19T11:03:00.005-04:00

Dear Crazy, Stupid Woman,

It does not bother me in the least that you choose to smoke cigarettes while you drive. It is your life and you are welcome to kill yourself if you choose. Since I was driving with my windows closed, I do not believe any of your second-hand smoke permeated into my car. Have fun with your demise.

It is my concern, however, that you choose to text while driving. The fact that you so deftly laid your wrists atop your steering wheel while texting reiterated to me that this is not the first time you've done this, and, in fact, you probably do it frequently. THIS is where I draw the line. Again, it is your prerogative to make stupid decisions that endanger your life, but when you endanger my life and the lives of my children, I have to do something about it.

So...next time you see me and I honk at you and tell you to stop, don't get pissy and swear at me. Stop texting and drive...or pull over and text.

Thankyouverymuch.

Trials, tribulations...and a card

2010-06-15T19:04:00.006-04:00

We are very much in the midst of summer here and I'm not sure how long I'm going to make it! I was one of the few parents excited about summer because I *thought* I missed my kids. Our lives during the school year are so hectic, we barely see one another and when we do, it is in the car while running to one practice or another; sometimes, it's one game/competition or another.

Summer, to me, is a time to slow down and relax. Except that's not happening. The slowing down is happening, but there is very little relaxing.

You see, The Boy is 12-and-a-half. He *thinks* he runs the house. He is now taller than I, so he believes, in his twisted, misinformed mind that he has some sort of power over me...that he is, in some way, my superior, if you will. He could not be more wrong! Be that as it may, the arguments have become far more frequent. I can point to a black shoe and tell him it is black, and he will argue that it is yellow JUST FOR THE SAKE OF ARGUING (and in the hopes of proving me wrong). He's a very self-righteous child, which, when he was young, was cute. Now, it's annoying.

The other day, The Boy was at a party. The party was at a pool. When The Husband went to pick him up, The Boy decided it would be a great idea to jump out of the pool and unload a super-soaker on The Husband. Let's just say that did *not* go well. For anyone.

I am beginning to believe The Boy will spend a significant amount of time this summer getting reacquainted with his bedroom, as I suspect he will be grounded often. And, since we are the mean, horrible, rotten, no-good parents that we are, he will be BORED TO DEATH since he has no TV, game system, computer or anything of the sort in his room. Just a bed, books (all of which he's read at least two or three times), clothes, and a few toys...and his iPod, but that may have to be taken!

*****************************************

On a more positive note, the other day, I watched my friend's kids. When I went to bring them home, she offered to keep MINE for a few hours. Giddy with delight, I ran out of there before she had a chance to change her mind.

I came home and decided to make a card, since it is something I have not done in MONTHS! Here it is:

I should totally do a supply list but I cannot, for the life of me remember how I did that since it's been too long. Suffice to say, all products are from PapertreyInk. Cardstock is Vintage Cream & Berry Sorbet and a tiny bit of Lemon Yellow. (The black is leftover Stampin' Up!). The stamp sets are Flower Garden and Everyday Classics. The inks are Very Black and Berry Sorbet. The twine is plain twine that I dyed with the Very Black ink.

Facebook High

2010-06-10T12:28:00.004-04:00

I graduated from high school 24 years ago. (Damn, that's a long time!) The best part about graduating from high school is that I'm not in high school anymore. I know...seems redundant to say, but it is true.

OK - fine. I *do* work in a high school. I get it. It's not the same, so hush! This is MY story, not yours!

This morning, I was reading a post from Hot Tub Lizzie and I was reminded of something I wanted to post.

Facebook is NOT high school, and yet, for so many people, it is. Why? What's up with that? Why is there still this ridiculous need to put others down or "unfriend" people or, even more bizarrely, delete comments people make?

Situation 1:
A girl who went to my elementary school sent me a friend request. It is important to know that I did NOT seek her out in any way. She "friended" me. I remembered her fondly and accepted the request. It is also important to note I do not accept requests from EVERYONE...only those with whom I am interested in reconnecting or catching up. I accept requests from friends with whom I've lost touch. Anyway, as I said, I accepted a request from *Jane* and that was that. I remember writing something on her wall, and, if memory serves, she replied. I think her daughter is involved in gymnastics. So is The Girl. I think I commented on that. A mutual friend had said she heard *Jane's* husband had passed away a few years before. I did not know any of this. All the same, I sent *Jane* a note in her inbox asking how things were and giving the brief reader's digest of my life; I never heard back. A month or two later, I could not remember if I had, in fact, sent the message or if I'd just thought about it. I sent another, more brief note. Again, I heard nothing. I went to check on something and realized she had "unfriended" me. WTH?

Situation 2:
I am Facebook friends with a girl from high school. I don't remember who "friended" whom, but it's been a while. She had pix posted and I looked at them. She and her high school sweetheart (with whom I was actually more friends with in HS than I was with her) are married and have a beautiful family. There was one picture of them from HS and I commented on it. It was a really cute picture and it was exactly how I remembered them. The other day, a picture of hers was on my home page. I flipped through the album and realized it was the same album with the photo on which I'd commented...except my comment had been deleted. Again, WTH? It was a complimentary comment.

These are only two of so many stupid little things that happen regularly at Facebook High School. It literally blows my mind that so many people have NOT left high school in their past and continue to try to live it. I use Facebook to keep in touch with people...not to brag or show off or prove my superiority. My friends already know I'm superior! :)

At this point, I can honestly say that if it wasn't for all the addictive games and the few good friends with whom I've reconnected, I could easily leave Facebook forever!

Yardwork and Japanese Beetles!

2010-06-07T17:35:00.006-04:00

It is no secret to anyone who knows me that I am not particularly fond of my neighbor diagonally behind me. I would love to spin a tale about some major wrong-doing or some other unjust thing, but the fact is, the man annoys me. Period. That's all. Funny thing is, I've never even had a conversation with him. He just irks me.

The Husband has had a conversation with this neighbor. Once. It was about a year ago. In said conversation, the neighbor was ~~a complete braggart and an ass~~ not the most cordial guy. We (The Husband and I) have thoroughly enjoyed making fun of the neighbor.

Our renters had a fence up and one of the other neighbors heard a rumor we took it down because the jerk-neighbor "made us," as it was on his property. None of that happens to be true, and we took the fence down because we don't like fences. Because the neighbor was such a jerk about things, we decided to plant some trees in the corner of our yard. We began with three emerald green arborvitae, much like these:

We would like, eventually, to have them run the entire side of the property line as in the photo above, but for now, there is one in the corner, and one on each side. They look great.

In addition to these three guys, we also purchased a maple tree. We had originally planned on planting that on in the front, but The Husband decided it should go in the back as well. The trees we bought were not small, so there was a LOT of digging to do. The three arborvitae trees stand nearly 6ft tall each, and the maple tree...well...I have no idea how tall it is, but since you dig the hole twice the diameter of the root ball, just know the hole we dug was 60" in diameter!

This morning, we were cleaning up the dirt from "the big dig" and I noticed bugs swarming one of the arborvitae. At first, I thought they were bees. The Boy, who was helping out, freaked out. He stepped on a yellow-jacket hive once and was stung 6 times. He's not a huge fan of bees! Upon closer inspection, we learned they were Japanese beetles...and they were ALL OVER the trees! UGH!

I ran to the local home improvement store for help, and the man recommended this:

I thought it was kind of gross and did not believe they would work, so I bought some Sevin powder as well!

Apparently, I was wrong! That little Bag-A-Bug works wonders! I cannot believe it. Within hours of setting it up, there were no longer Japanese beetles on the trees; they were all in the bag instead. In fact, while The Husband was putting it all together, the beetles came to HIM! Apparently, the little lure thingy is a sex pheromone and attracts the beetles like mad. I don't really know...I do know that it works!

I will admit I was a bit hesitant once I read they were not too effective and only captured so many beetles because it attracts them from all over the neighborhood, but I really don't see that happening. I am excited, though, because we have a red plum out front and the beetles (while not too bad) got it last year. I am hoping the bag we have out back will attract all the beetles and they won't even notice my tree out front!

Adventures in Farming - Chapter 2

2010-05-31T14:13:00.005-04:00

We went back up to the farm for a bit this weekend. I was only there one day; The Husband was there for two. There is a LOT of mowing to do!! It's amazing.

We spent time on Friday deciding where the driveway and future house will go. The driveway off the road was started LONG ago and is set.

We also now have a door on the shed/barn. We are pretty excited about this because it means we will no longer have to drive the tractor through town when we want to use it!

Here is the rest of the driveway...although we think we are actually going to move it to behind the clump of bushes you see in the distance (um...to the left, I guess, not behind!).

Here is what it looked like after The Husband mowed the entire house site.

It's really hard to see and the perspective is awful, but this is sort of where the house will go. I tried to outline it but I can't draw a straight line to save my life!

Originally, we were going to take down the grain bin, but it has become my FAVORITE feature on the property. I just LOVE it. We have no idea what we are going to do with it, but it BELONGS there!

If all else fails, we won't starve. There are already blackberries growing (that is the clump The Husband mowed around). Hopefully we will get some before the deer eat them!

We had our first visitor to the property. Actually, if all is fair, he was probably there first. He's pretty lucky, too, because we didn't find him until after The Husband mowed.

Even luckier is this little guy. It's amazing he survived the bush-hog. We are fairly certain he's a quail, in which case, The Husband wants to be sure he grows up...so he can be shot and eaten?! Ugh!

He clearly has a few thoughts about THAT idea!!

Until next time...

And don't forget to thank a veteran if you are out and about today! It is because of them we have our freedoms!

Lost

2010-05-27T17:41:00.003-04:00

No...not the TV show. I've never even seen the show! This is a different lost.

*****************************

The kids got out of school on Wednesday. I am not yet finished, so the Mother-in-law came to take them for the rest of the week. Because we needed her help Tuesday and she had already committed to taking care of my nephew, who also finished school Wednesday, she took MY kids home with her, rather than stay here with them.

I am lost.

I always thought it'd be so great to have the kids go away...and, in some respects, it is. I can't even TELL you how amazingly peaceful it is in my house with just me and the dog (The Husband is still at work). Except, it's TOO peaceful. I can't even believe I'm saying this, but it's so strange to not have them home. Bizarre even.

Not thinking I'm going to get used to this any time soon. Good think it won't last!

Adventures in Farming - Chapter 1

2010-05-23T13:50:00.008-04:00

Yesterday, we decided on a whim to go up to the farm to get some work done. It is not far from here, but we did not make the decision until around noon, and The Girl was still at the gym. I grabbed her, she ate, and we got our stuff quickly, but it was just about 1:30 when we finally left town. It's a pretty easy drive - 95% highway driving, so it was an uneventful trip. We packed overnight bags and the dog in case we decided to stay.

Our first stop was my Mother-In-Law's house. At this time, it is where we are keeping our tractor.

This is the Mother-in-Law's husband on their tractor. The Husband loves their tractor, but was worried he'd spend more time working on the tractor than the farm! That's why he bought a new one (or so he says!).

The Husband had to hook-up the bush-hog (I haven't a clue if that is how it is written...I believe this is the very first time I've actually written that word). That took some doing.

Once it was ready to go, we headed to the property. That was fun. I followed in the truck as The Husband drove the tractor through town. It was almost 5pm when we got to the farm!

As we pulled up to the farm, we were both a little surprised at how long the grass had grown. We were there at Easter and it had been mowed; however, no one had mowed it since then, so the grass was easily waist high. The Husband set to mowin'. (That was a country sentence, wasn't it? See how good I'm getting at this?!)

This is the view as you come up to the farm...before you turn onto our road. Below is the newly framed space for the door on the shed.

After a good, solid 2 1/2 hours of mowing, The Husband was ready to call it quits for the day! There is noticeable change on the property, but he barely put a dent in what needed to be done. We realized, for the first time, that 79 acres is a LOT...and we hadn't even mowed a tenth of it!

Because ticks were such a problem last time we were at the farm, The Kids didn't have a whole lot of fun this trip. They spent most of their time in the truck playing games. The Dog did some investigating, but she too spent most of her time in the truck. I pulled one tick off her and one off me (neither had bitten; they were just crawling).

After we gave up mowing, we went back to my Mother-In-Law's to put the tractor away. The shed on the property does not have a door yet; it has come in, but is not on. We had dinner and decided that we are *just* crazy enough to go ahead and drive home rather than spend the night. We left at 9:15 and made it into our driveway at 11:45! It was a VERY long drive...but worth it to sleep in our own beds. In fact, the kids let us sleep in and we did not get up until 10am!

Open letter to clothing manufacturers...

2010-05-18T21:51:00.004-04:00

Dear Women's Clothing Manufacturers:

While I am rather pleased with the fact that I have, over the past year and a half, lost about 10 - 15 lbs, I do not appreciate the tricks you are playing on me. I know I am somewhat smaller than I used to be, but this tom-foolery has got to stop.

Several months ago, after some coaxing from a friend, I decided to try a pair of jeans in a size 10. Imagine my surprise when I saw they fit. As I said, I'd lost some weight, so it wasn't a shock, per se, but a happy surprise. Not long after, I purchased two pair of jeans in a size 8. My neighbor handed me a pair that was a size 6 and my jaw dropped when I slipped them on with ease. I have not worn a size 6 since sometime in high school!

Last week, I purchased five new pair of capri pants; two pair are size 8 and three are size 6. Not to be fooled by your silly sizing tactics, I decided to do some investigating.

I took my new size 6 slacks and held them up to some other slacks that are a size 12.

THEY ARE THE SAME SIZE!

Ok - not exactly...but no more than an inch different. The waist of the 8s is larger than that of a size 12 skirt I have had for years.

Do you really believe, Manufacturers, that we women are so shallow that we will be fooled by this new size system?!

I thought so.
Thankyouverymuch.

Sincerely a six,

Green Acres

2010-05-12T16:46:00.004-04:00

The Husband and I are officially land barons.

As of two days ago, we are the official owners of a 79 acre farm not too far from here. The farm had been in his family for a number of years, but it now in his and my names, hence the tractor! There are approximately 62 tillable acres on the farm; the rest is wooded. It has a barn of sorts and a grain bin, but we are going to remove the grain bin.

Here are some photos of the land and one of the kids playing in the creek.

More details will follow!

Homecoming

2010-05-08T12:17:00.005-04:00

I may have mentioned once before that where we live now is a place we have lived before. We lived here for about nine years before The Husband was transferred. We moved away but after two years, were still not happy at our new location. The Husband managed to get transferred back to his old place and, very happily, we moved back "home."

They say you can never go home...you can never go back, and, to some extent, I get that. What it was while you were gone is always so much more than it was in reality. The memory fogs the reality..."absence makes the heart grow fonder."

We've been back for almost a year and it has been one of the most difficult years of our lives. For the most part, the transition for The Girl has been absolutely seamless. Life for her has been good. She loves her new coaches and her new gym; she has really excelled there. School has been rather smooth for her. Many of her friends are still here and they welcomed her with open arms. She has straight As and is happy.

The Husband transitioned into his job smoothly enough. Sure, there is drama...where is there NOT drama?! He's happy, though. He is doing what he wants to do...what he'd been working toward all along. As always, there are micro-management issues (see above-mentioned drama), but The Husband is really good at his job and everyone who knows him knows that.

After the panic of not having a job, I ended up with one and am happy with it too. Like The Husband, there is some drama, but I'm OK with it. I'm a high school teacher. Drama is practically in the job description! I have great kids and work with some amazing people. My happiness, however, is only in my job. My life outside of work is not so good, which leads me to the other member of our family.

The Boy has had a horrible transition. If you were one to pay attention, you might notice more posts have been dedicated to him than to The Girl. Not many more and I guess many of the posts I wrote were only in my mind...they never made it to the blog! Anyway, as I was saying, The Boy has had a difficult time this year. His biggest issue came when he got into a fight at school. That happened back in January. It was not pretty. The school called and I went in. We discussed everything and The Boy took full responsibility for all that happened. Despite the fact that the other boy egged him on, The Boy threw the first punch; he was wrong. He knows that and took responsibility. The problem then came from the fact that the school labeled him as one with "anger issues." This label got completely out of hand; everyone was saying it...including some of the younger students. The Boy was starting to believe it. Kids were pushing buttons trying to put The Boy over the edge...they wanted to enrage him. They wanted to see him get into trouble. There was a lot of name-calling, button pushing, bullying, etc. I went to the school; they said it would stop. For the most part, it did (after another month or so). There are still boys who enjoy being jerks, but no one seems to care enough to stop them. Whatever...

Which brings us to now. It is important to mention, by the way, that aside from the one fight, we have NEVER been notified by the school that there have been any other issues. No one has called, emailed, or done anything to let us know things are not all fine and dandy. If it wasn't for the fact that The Boy is so darned honest about everything, we'd have no clue of all the other minor incidents that have occurred...times he's gotten into trouble for being on the receiving end of some garbage; times he's tried to stop fights; times he overstepped his bounds and tried to correct others. (We KNOW he is not entirely without fault. We live with him...we know what he is like.) I will say I did receive one phone call from a friend who told me about an incident after school one day where The Boy got into it with a friend. He and this friend are a volatile pair; they get along well, but they argue a lot too. This was an argue day...and everyone saw it. Again, no one actually called on behalf of the school.

Yesterday, The Boy came home to tell us that Field Day had been taken from him. Did the school call us? No. Did the teacher contact us? No. The Boy told us that his friend was about to get into a fight with another child and The Boy stepped in to stop it. He was reprimanded. He lost Field Day. His friend tried to tell the principal that The Boy did nothing wrong and was trying to help, but the words fell on deaf ears. Remember...The Boy has a label. He has "anger issues." No one is listening. I should point out that when The Boy got into that big fight in January, another boy stepped in to stop it, and, in so doing, hit The Boy. We were informed no discipline action would be taken toward that boy because he was trying to help. I have no problem with that, but if that is the case, why is The Boy being punished for trying to help HIS friend?

There is really no reason for my posting all this other than to get it out. They are right. You can never go back home. And yet, despite it all, The Boy has straight As (not one grade is below 100% and he is the only student in the sixth grade who is in the advanced seventh grade math class). The school did not bother to label him as a "smart kid" because they were too busy with the "anger issues" they made up.