Do Not Enter. Coyote Working.

This is the newest sign #2 has designed for her door. Just so you know ...he will be out working tonight. That information is also on the sign along with a picture of the coyote howling. I believe that is his job. Howling.

The coyotes have been working like mad here at Chez Us. The basement and garage have been cleaned out and look migh-T fine. We have found some time for fun, and soon will be off to KC for a little jaunt to Dave and Buster's with the grandparents.

So many famous deaths this week. So if Sadaam is to be executed tomorrow and the rule is that deaths of famous people happen in threes, does his count as #3? I didn't know if it really counted since it is a planned event. According to my ever accurate internet news sources the TV networks plan "tasteful coverage" of the event.

Now maybe I am just being picky here, but to me the mere fact that there will actually be TV coverage of the event automatically cancels the idea of tasteful. Tasteful and watching an execution on TV just don't go together in my book.

The only other musing I have is WHERE THE HELL IS THE SNOW?

Call me crazy but I could really go for a serious snow event the likes of what is happening west of here. I need it just to affirm that winter is a season that still exists. I am having my doubts these days. If I could request that the giant snowstorm happen just in time for me to get a few more days off work at the agency's expense. So it could hit Monday...that should work well.

That's all I'm asking.

I AM ON

VACATION BABY!!!

First time I have taken more than a day or two off in a year and a half.

My plans you may wonder.


Uhhh...

clean the basement and garage.

Also at some point hang out with some cool friends who are home for the holidays.

I would like to print a retraction please

Today I said something that in retrospect I can not believe the words came out of my mouth.

I don't even have any kind of excuse either.

I am sure many of you will likely feel that I am over reacting once I finally get around to telling you what I said that I want to retract. That is ok. You are more than willing to think what you will because I can not stop you.

So on with the story.

My mother called as she was out Christmas shopping for our two little darlings, and had some questions about gifts for them. As we conversed we both commented on the fact that their lists were pretty short this year. About 3 or 4 things each. After that these words came out of my mouth, "You know they don't watch a lot of TV and what they do watch is for the most part commercial free, so they don't have the exposure that leads to a long list of wants. I guess this time of year that is kind of a disadvantage."

Good. God.

You know what is worse? I repeated this conversation to my husband and it was shortly after I told him that it dawned on me what I had really said. I took it back while I was talking to him, immediately after I pulled my head out of my ass. The crazy in me nearly called my mother back and retracted the statement with her. I did manage to hold myself in check.

I can't believe I said that! One big part of our strict TV rules is totally due to the blatant targeting of young children by advertisers. The fact that my kids do not have a raging case of the "I want that's" should be celebrated, not apologized for.

Therefore let it be known that I do not find it a disadvantage that my children do not have a huge Christmas List, and have not been exposed to the constant barrage of ads for all things toys and whatnot on TV. I am proud to say that their lists were small and relatively simple.

I vow from here on out to check my ass for the presence of my head prior to making any such observations in the future.

I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas

I figure at some point I would need to comment on the holidays, so let's get it out of the way.

I am one gift and a couple of stocking stuffers away from being done with shopping. As I have done in the past couple of years I did almost all of my shopping online. This year I did my shopping a bit earlier after my close call last Christmas. I guess Amazon was having some issues last year. I did my shopping within the first few days of December and was sweating Christmas Eve morning until the last of the gifts arrived.

This is looking to be a pretty boring Christmas under the tree for Beloved and I.

Why I am sure you are asking?

Well let me tell you.

It all started with a silent auction. My in-laws and I attended a fundraiser for my job and there was a silent auction. There was an item I very much wanted to bid on, but ran out of time to go do it. My in-laws decided they would give it a go and give the item to us for Christmas if they won, and in all honesty they did not expect to win.

Well they did. The item was a large gift certificate to a local store that sells Oriental Rugs. What we did not know is that the store is closing and the certificate had to be claimed by December 31. Not wanting us to be rushed or have a poor selection to choose from my in-laws gave us the certificate at Thanksgiving.

It was a large certificate, but not large enough to get the rug we really wanted and truly needed. So we ended up paying a large amount out of our own pocket and decided that was Christmas and Anniversary gift for us this year. We got a gorgeous rug at a really good price, and I am quite happy with it. Just means that there won't be much happening around the tree.

However we do have a purty rug to admire while the girlies open their gifts.

Not sure how we will incorporate it into celebrating our anniversary, but hey we are creative people so I am sure we will think of something.

I am really looking foward to holiday baking which I plan to commence with next week. I am really hungry for frosted sugar cookies. I am going to try and be fancy and detailed with my icing this year.

Yum!

A Jinx of an update

I know this is gonna kill it but I am gonna do it anyway.

We are on day 5 of no waking at night due to bad dreams. Woo Hoo!

I am the only one in the house who has not fallen victim to the barfing bug.

So in other news....

I was thinking about music this morning while I was drying my hair. I have some of my best thinks whilst drying my curly locks.

Moving on...I was thinking about how growing up here in T-town I was not exactly exposed to a lot of different types of music. Top 40 or (gag, yak, ergh) country music were about the only options around here. We had MTV I guess, but I wasn't allowed to stay up late enough to watch the shows that featured more alternative-type bands.

These thoughts led me to think about what was my initial foray in to music that was not Top-40 and at least around here you had to dig a little to find. I think my answer to this question is that my first foray was the Violent Femmes. If I recall correctly my good friend Kayla had a tape of a tape that we listened to on a very small tape player that she had in her car as I don't think it had a working radio. My friend Jennifer also had a copy that we listened to on a boom box while driving around in her parent's ancient and gargantuan station wagon that she could paralell park without blinking an eye. I was always jealous of that skill.....but I digress. Upon my first listen I was not overly impressed. But in a remarkably short time I had to go find my own personal copy.

(Saw 'em live too in the Ballroom at KU during my VERY brief stint as a student there. GOOD TIMES.)

That took me to recall how very little my parents censored what I listened to. There was profanity on that particular Violent Femmes recording. I turned it down around my mom at first but that didn't last long, especially since I cursed around them with fair regularity it seemed kinda silly. When I was in the fifth grade I believe it was, I recall my family listening to the soundtrack from Purple Rain with it's wholesome ditty Darling Nikki on a pretty regular basis. It was one of my favorites to listen to while doing the dishes for a long time. I think my parents were just banking on my not getting the sexual references in the song. (They were right. I was 11 for God's sake.) You can bet your sweet bippy that won't be happening with my kids. I run a tight ship when it comes to the inappropriate material for children.

So these are the thoughts I had today 'bout music. All that thought took about 10 minutes. I do run on a slow clock in the morning.

Crap

We seem to have a barfing virus making it's way through our family.

Beloved was the first to fall...this morning it was #2.

So I am home today, running wee ones to the bathroom at lightning speed, holding back hair, and generally trying to soothe barfing beasts.

I HATE the barfing illnesses. HATE THEM. Hate sitting around wondering when the next victim will succumb, being afraid to eat due to the certainty that sometime over the next few days it will be me making the vomit sprint.

At least the kids are old enough now to actually make it to the toilet.

Damn flu season.

Hopefully this will mean we get to have an illness free Christmas Break for once.

I gotta go find some wood to knock.

Nightmarish Experiences

We are having some bad dream issues here at Chez Us.

#2 is on a bad dream tear these days.

Common themes: Bad guys, dinsoaurs, harm to loved ones, and our favorite lovey being torn apart.

There are a lot of theories about dreams out there ranging from dreams have absolutely no meaning/significance to every single thing in a dream being significant and having deep subconscious meaning.

I think the truth probably lies somewhere in the middle.

She almost always gets up and lets us know she has had a bad dream, and rarely does she seem overly upset. She will usually come in and tell us, and then we send her back to bed. We used to let her get in to bed with us, but that is more disturbing to everyone's sleep so we have stopped that in the past year or so.

As she seems to go through little episodes from time to time where the dreams are frequent we have at times out of sleepiness been less nurturing than we could have been. I particuarly struggle with the middle of the night nurturing as I have always been very slow to wake up and am at my least pleasant when first awakened.

Right now as we work are trying to work through the latest episodes we are trying a few new things. First instead of just sending her back to bed one of us goes in and reassures her and stays with her a few minutes until she feels better. My research has shown that we were right not to continue letting her get in to bed with us. We did that for a long time and it is biting us on the butt now I think.

Today I had her draw pictures of her dreams, and then we talked about what we could do to "fix" the dream and then draw that. We talked about real life application to, (i.e. if "bad guys" are around we call the police and things of that sort.) This really seemed to be empowering to #2 and she totally got in to it. When she was done with her drawings she tore up the pictures, threw them away and said, "take that you bad dreams!" She made plans about what she would say to those bad guys if they showed up in her dreams again.

Then came the epiphany for me as a parent. I got to thinking about things as I watched her draw one dream involving dinosaurs and her lovey being torn apart, which has been in nearly every dream recently. I explained to her that sometimes people have bad dreams because they are worried about things and those things come up when they dreamed. So I asked if she was worried about her lovey. She said yes that she worried he would be lost forever. I was totally awash in guilt as I thought about how many times we have made comments that to us seemed harmless about how fragile and tattered her lovey has become and joking about not wanting to wash it because we are afraid it will fall apart and things of that nature. To us...comments that are just us joking around and trying to be funny and not meant seriously at all, but to her....awful and anxiety provoking. I reassured her that her lovey will in all likelihood be around until she is a grownup and that we will keep fixing it as long as it needs repaired. I promised to do the repairs I have put off for so long, and that she has asked for more times that I really want to admit this very night. She was willing to give him up at bedtime to allow me the chance to complete repairs, and seemed reassured that we would make every effort to keep the lovey around for a very long time to come.

She is also having to learn to cope with things without using her lovey and that is hard to do, but she is trying hard.

Will all of this take care of the nightmare problems we are having? Weellll...probably not right away.

I hope that at the very least it will help our child know that we value her feelings and take them seriously.

I also hope that I will be more thoughtful of my child's feelings before I make comments about things that are important to her. It is too easy to always look at things like a grownup and forget how the wee ones view the world. Sometimes "small stuff" is a big deal to little people. I guess I needed a boot to the head to remember that.

So I guess we can chalk up one more lesson in this journey that is parenthood. Hard as you try...there are always screw ups made and damage control to be done.

Pleasant Dreams!

Baaad Combination

I am currently suffering from what Beloved and I have decided to call "The Winter Hungries."

Our definition of "The Winter Hungries" is: An onset of cold and winter-like weather coupled with a strong desire to consume larger amounts of food than normal. Desired foods are generally from the category of food commonly known as "crap-ass bad for you." A secondary symptom may be a compulsion to make phrases seem more clever by the over use of quotation marks.

The other side effects of "The Winter Hungries" (I can NOT stop with the quotation marks I only wish you could hear the musical sting that offers further punctuation as I type "The Winter Hungries.") Anyway the other side effect seems to be a general lack of desire to exercise. So there you see where the bad combination comes in.

Truthfully my lack of desire to exercise actually came about two weeks ago after my team kicked some ass and won the office exercise challenge. Yours truly logged the most work outs in said office.

Can you guess what the prize was for each member of the team who had the most workouts during the competition?

Why a $35 gift certificate to Johnny Carino's of course!

I guess I am going to have to come up with some kind of challenge for myself at home.

It will involve prizes you can be sure!

Maybe I should make it a cross country blog wide thing...just to up the anty.

Who's in?

Meemmmoorrriiiiiieessss

9 years ago at this time I was running (well maybe not exactly running) around the house we had just moved in to three days before trying to find all the gear I needed to go to the hospital and have a baby, since my water had conveniently broken a few minutes before.

What were YOU doing December 1, 1997 shortly before 9:00 PM?

Fresh Air

I have been trying to think of fresh new and exciting posting ideas for this blog. I have been inspired by a blog that I secretly read. (Definition of secretly read: I read the blog on a regular basis but never comment because I don't know the person. I have only recently started very tentatively to post comments on blogs of people I don't actually know. Just one of my many nerouses.)

So I think today I will post a fairly easy and somewhat common question then of course answer the question myself. Then if you are so inclined post your very own answer in comments.

So here is the fairly easy and somewhat common question.......(ooh aren't you excited?)

What is your earliest childhood memory?

Mine happened on the way to my parent's wedding when I was about 2 1/2. On the way to the church my Aunt slammed my fingers in the car door. I don't remember the actual slamming, but I remember the pain, and my refusal to let anyone look at my fingers because in my two and half year old mind squeezing them with my good hand made them feel much better. My aunt still has some residual guilt over it too.

Now share yours while I go watch the season premiere of Scrubs that I have been looking forward to for sooooo loooonnnggg. Ah ZB...it has been too TOO long since you have made me belly laugh out loud.

Stuff I Don't Believe

I don't believe:

That we are going to get tons of snow today.

Greg has left the Wiggles.

More than a couple of my clients will show up for appoinments today.

That I have to leave for work in 15 minutes and my husband gets to stay home all day.

I shoulda been a teacha.

She can not speak so she writes

Day 3 with little to no voice.

I do not feel bad atall.

I do not even have a sore throat.

I DEFINITELY do not have a voice.

Over the weekend it has been annoying,but not terribly problematic. Tomorrow however I must return to work. There it could be a problem.

Y'see I am a therapist and I kinda need my voice to do my work.

Here's hoping for the best!

Enuff 'bout 'dat.

We DID NOT have 46 people here for Thanksgiving thankyoujesusmaryandjospeh.

We DID have more than thirty. A good time was had by all and thank the abovementioned bible dwellers for good weather so the kids could run and play outside til it got too dark.

Now we must prepare for our next event....#1's birthday party. 'Twill be a tame event just family and a few friends of the family. It is 6 days until her birthday. We get the count down first thing every morning. She has also prepared a list of things she would like to do that day. Apples don't fall too far from the tree as they say.

In other news:

Movie you shouldn't see: Deck the Halls. Truthfully I did not want to see it, but it was one of those family in town pressure things. I am still upset that I spent 8.25 for that waste of film. I am a bit grumpy because I can not remember the last time I went to the movies to see a film that I was interested in seeing. It may have very well been Capote. So I have stated clearly to Beloved that the next time I set foot in a movie theater it will be to see something I am interested in. So there.

Speaking of Beloved. Go to his blog. He has posted after a VEEERRRRYYY long absence. In my opinion it was worth the wait. I laughed. Or rather I shook and odd squeaking noises erupted from my throat.

Alrighty then. I am gonna go. Perhaps adequate sleep will help heal my vocal issues.

TA!

William wants a doll!

I VOWED that I was going to go to bed on time tonight if not early.

So here it is 11:41 and I ain't even taken out the contacts yet.

I have developed a very bad habit of going to bed really late recently, and sooner or later it is really going to knock me on my ass I am sure.

Until then...

Had our little mini-vacation this weekend. It got off to a bit of a rocky beginning but we had a good time despite the less than stellar start.

Long story made short:

#2's Dr. appointment took far longer than we expected and we were not fully released from restricitons. We hit the road as soon as the appointment ended and decided to stop for gas outside Lawrence. Filled her up..turned the key. No go. Tried in vain a few more times and spotted a tow truck behind us. Tow truck guy offered to give a jump, it was successful but we decided we had better go back home and switch cars. No other major mishaps after that thankfully, we got there later than planned but all was well.

We watched Free to be You and Me tonight with the kiddies. I used to love it when we got to watch it every year in grade school. It stands the test of time..the girls loved it. I think the soundtrack will be my next itunes purchase. I did have some funny grownup thoughts about some parts. Especially the scene near the end where Marlo Thomas and all of her "friends" were sitting around a fire with guitars singing a song. I imagined what really went on with Marlo and her friends.

It had nothing to do with guitars and singing.

So I can not get enthusiastic about the upcoming Thanksgiving Holliday. Let me clarify I am enthusiastic about the 5 days off, I am NOT enthusiastic about the actual day, dinner, and upcoming preparations. The festivities are at my house again this year and at last count if everyone shows up who has said that they intend to come we should have about 46 people at the house.

That number could have something to do with my lack of enthusiasm.

I am worried that there won't be enough chairs.

My beloved suggested that we pretend we are at Sonic and just deliver food to people and let them eat in their cars.

My mother did not find that idea amusing.

I thought it was funny as hell.

Thought I prolly oughta check in

Hi!

It's me!

Been awhile hasn't it?

So what's new?

With me?

Not much..things have been busy. Beloved's high school musical performed last weekend so I have been busy being a single mother for the past two weeks. The show was a fantastic success and we couldn't be more proud of him and his students. We are glad to have him back at home more. The girls have been busy catching up on rowdy playing with Dadoo, although #2 can't have the full effect yet as she is not totally released for full contact activity yet. I have to say if you are going to break your arm do it at age 5 because healing is quick. She has been out of the splint for almost three weeks now, and pretty much gave up the sling altogether last week. Our (hopefully) final orthopedic appointment is scheduled for Friday. As soon as we get the good word from the Doc we are off to Great Wolf Lodge for the weekend. We are so darn excited about it you would think we were headed to Europe or something. It has been a long while since this family has had anything that resembles a vacation, and we need to celebrate the healing of #2's first major injury. My tiny ones are so excited about the room we are staying in. They are thrilled about the fact that their sleeping area has it's own TV. I am sure this will prompt much begging for their own TVs, but we WILL stand firm on our no TV in the bedroom policy. We ain't got one and they ain't gonna get one. #1 and #2 have already determined that grownups can only come in to their den if they know the secret password which of course has already been decided upon. We have also deterimined that bedtimes will be extended for this weekend to 10:00, a concession we may very well regret by Sunday if I know my children at all. I am sure we will have a lovely time and if all goes really well Mama will come home with some new fancy shoes because someone has said he will take the children to a humongous arcade while I browse the shoe store. What a man I have.

In other random thoughts....Tom and Katie getting hitched...don't really care. We still have two years before the presidential election and I am already tired of hearing about it as I need to recover from mid-terms....there is an intriguing headline on the left side of my screen that I am feeling compelled to check out..something about a wax wedding of Brad and Angelina...and NOW I am creating in my head my own special version of a Billy Idol tune....when is it a nice day for a wax wedding I want to know!

For once it is fun to be a Democrat in Kansas

Well I think I have O-ficially burned myself out on election results.

Good news here:

We are saying buh-BYE to Phill Kline.

Hooray!

Looks like the same will be said for Mr. Ryan as well.


Hee! HEE!

Kirstie Alley Dons Bikini....

Yeah, once again this post title comes to you from the first thing I saw on my sidebar.

I won't lie and say that I didn't check out the article.

I did.

Really was not worth the time it took.

SO..

Tomorrow is election day!

Please get out and take care of your civic duty.

There is actually a tiny bit of hope here in Kansas that we will see some conservative losses. I am by no means holding my breath...but this is the most hope we lone liberals out here have had well...I think just about since I was old enough to vote.

So I likely will turn on the ol' boob toob tomorrow evening to watch the results.

I will be watching the results in the comfort of my freshly cleaned house courtosey of some people I lovingly refer to as the cleaning fairies.

Yes dear readers I have bitten the bullet (it was sweet and rich my friends like a bar of Ghiradelli Dark Chocoloate) and hired a cleaning service to come and spread their magic over our abode once a month.

Y'see having a house that is not clean causes me UNDUE stress. I blame my mother who never allowed our house to be dirty when I was growing. Now my standards are no where near hers (as I am sure she would be glad to tell you) but I gots to have it clean 'round here or mama gets cranky. Since I often forgo cleaning so as to actually try and spend quality time with the kiddos or just to get other things done. Hence Mama was getting cranky a lot.

My house is not small, and it takes Beloved, the kids, and I a couple o'days to get it cleaned IF we have kept things straightened up. If we have to straighten it'll take a week.

Speaking of...we have lived in this house about 4 years and man have we acquired some CRAP. Massive loads of it that must go soon. I dunno how we did it. We moved here from a MUCH MUCH tinier house, our belongings no where near filled out this place. That ain't so now. We need a garage sale and big ass trip to the dump soon.

So now the fairies come and do the tough work once a month and we do maintenance in between. Mama is less cranky now. Although it has not afforded me the massive amounts of extra time that were so sweetly present in my fantasies about the cleaning fairies. Oh well....I ain't complaining mind you...merely........noticing.

Now I must end my blogging. I have two more rooms to make cleaning fairy ready (it is hard for the fairies to work their magic when all surfaces and floors are covered with stuff), 20 minutes of exercise time to get to yet tonight and YIKES! It's already 9:30. Crap.

Don't forget to vote!!

A very interesting combination

Perhaps you have already seen or heard this, but JUST in case you haven't..

Check this out!

File Under Things We Already Knew

This bit of information hasn't been known for years?

Really Doogie.

Korea and the Daisies

Well my readership continues to expand to.....the Republic of Korea.

Via a link from someone in Indiana apparently.

Not sure how that came about.

In other news...

We held our first Daisy Scout meeting tonight and there was a whopping three girls there. Which was fine really, seeing as how much of this seems to have had to come together very quickly and with little notice.

I don't think it will go down as the greatest meeting in the history of Girl Scouts, but #2 reported that she had a good time.

By the way...according to #1......... I think of everything.

Pretty high praise for an overbooked and stressed out working mama.

Happy Halloween!

From me and my cuties!

IT'S MY HEAD

Here is what is in my head tonight.

MustbakecookieshopeIhaveenoughplatescupsnapkinspartyfavors
sleepysosleepyneedtocallgirlscoutleadermustfigureoutthegameneed
totakethegirlsbygrandparentsgreatgrandparentsneedtocallmybrother
canigetdinnerdonebeforewehavetoleaveforthemeetingmydeskisadisaster
onlythreemoredisksformylifeneedsomenewmusicforthecarwhenwillIhave
timetoexercisetomorrowtellbelovedabouthishaircutmustgiveunitedway
contributionchecktomorrowgottafinishmynotessleepysosleepygottofindtime
for#1topracticeviolinmusttypeinfoletterforgirl
scoutszzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.

Step right up and make yer guess!

JUST opened some bills that came in the mail today.

What do YOU think the price tag is for two ER visits (each with x-rays), and a visit to the orthopedic doctor (included x-rays and splint)?

Any guesses.... anyone?

I'd tell you now but I have to change my underwear.

I miss good radio

I am really pining for my favorite radio station that went off the air more than a year ago. YOu can listen to the station on line, but that doesn't help me in the car which is when I most crave good music.

It seems like forever since I was exposed to any really good new music.

The radio stations in T-town just make me want to scream, cry, and tear at my clothing every time I try to listen. The capacity of these local radio stations to be repetitive and incredibly, unbelievabley boring is truly astounding.

I have looked at satellite radio, but I just can't bring myself to pay for it when there are only one or two stations I would be interested in listening to.

I suppose I could make myself some CD's to listen to in the car, but I don't really have the time it will take to accomplish that task.

Recently I have been listening to a book on CD. (My Life by Bill Clinton. Interesting listen. LOOOONNNGG. 21 discs, and apparently this is just part 1. I am on disc 15 right now. It is currently way overdue to the library. But I gotta finish it after going this far.) It has been enjoyable, but sometimes I just need some good tunes while I drive.

Hmmm...this has turned in to a pretty whiny post.

Some things you just don't get over I suppose. One of those things for me apparently is the loss of a really good radio station that I LOVED.

Help me.

It's our One Year Anniversary Sale!

Actually there is no sale, sorry to disappoint.

I just realized that this blog has been up and running for a whole year now.

Surprising.

I really thought that I would have given this up LO-ooong before now.

So what has changed n this here blog over the past year?

Let's see...

• Far less frequent posting
• Wa-hay fewer pictures
• I seem to have abandoned the ever popular Hottie of the Week(ish) entries
• I now have people making comments that are not people I have known most of my life

I think that covers it.

Wonder what changes the next year will bring?

Will I even continue to blog over the next year?

Hard to say. Life seems to get busier by the day. It is much easier and faster to just check other blogs and occasionally make silly comments, and then there is my ever waning confidence in my ability to keep this stuff even the slightest bit interesting.

Well I am not going to answer those questions now and maybe never will answer those questions. I need to go to bed if the construction of the last sentence is any indication. It is late, and my day starts ear-lye in the morning.

Hey Ma! I'm Doin' a show!

Hey all you T-town and general vicinity readers....

Get in touch with me if you want information about the upcoming production I am involved in. I decided that I am not comfortable with putting all the info out in to cyberspace. There is a very important event happening with the production tomorrow so get in touch soon!

Ta!

No surgery (Thanks for the chants Val!)

Well after two and a half hours at the orthopedic office we have...

a new splint
orders not to return to school until Friday. F-R-I-D-A-Y.
another appointment for Friday morning at which time we will apparently do the same thing that we did today.

So there you have it.

Good news..the bones are in the proper place to heal correctly so no setting was required. Getting the new splint was painful though. So if we are indeed doing the same thing Friday that we did today...I am not so much looking forward to it.

I personally am hoping for a cast Friday. I am really just not comfortable sending her back to school in a splint. Just walking to her classroom today to get school work I felt like I needed to be her bodyguard to keep her from being ran into or knocked over. Granted I am a bit hyper-sensitive to potential dangers for her right now.

Oh yeah...by 6:00 chocolate milk spilled on the newly wrapped splint.

Good times....

In Case I Forgot to Mention it...

I completely and totally hate this broken arm thing.

I hate seeing my child in pain.

I hate seeing her scared.

I hate not being able to truly help her feel better.

I hate giving her medicine with codeine in it.

I am beginning to hate re-telling the story to the many well-meaning people who have asked.

I hate that people have felt compelled to ask me if she is going to require surgery. I REALLY hate it that when I say the possibility was not mentioned to us by anyone at the ER the same well meaning people seem to feel it is necessary to offer their lay-person opinion that surgery is likely. I had not considered that thank you very much, and NOW I have one more thing to worry and fret about. Once the idea was presented oh... 5 or 6 times it was hard not to go there. Especially for me. I have discussed the very tentative hold I have on my ability to stay away from the crazy place when things like this happen in some previous post some months ago, so I won't bore you with it again.

This is only day two.

My Worst Fear

Since becoming a parent my worst fears have naturally changed quite a bit. I think every parent has their own particular worst fear about their children.

Mine happens to be getting a call at work from whomever has my child in their care and reporting that they have an injury of the type that requires a visit to the emergency room.

Yesterday afternoon at about 3:00 I am wrapping things up at work and very near to being on my way out the door when my cell phone rings.

I notice that it is the school calling. (Odd thing. I usually keep my phone set to the vibrate mode and keep it in my purse checking it from time to time so as not to have the disturbance during sessions. For some reason this week I have felt compelled to keep it on my person instead, which as it turned out yesterday was a good thing. Mother's intuition? (cue dramatic music) I don't know.....)

So I answer it:

"This is so and so from the school. We need you to come and pick up #2. She fell on the playground and we think she broke her arm."

Despite my shaking and horrific anxiety, I managed to convey that I was on my way, and even proceeded to call beloved and tell him that he needs to get to the school. Of course this was after I snapped at the poor innocent secretary who had the misfortune to answer my call. I told her from the get go this was an emergency. I waited while she paged him and waited...waited some more. She got back on the line and said that she had paged him three times and he was not in the building. I begged to differ with her and said he was at rehearsal and suggested she look for him there. Now I may have been a little shall we say....abrupt with her. I don't do well when my babies are hurt. Niceness goes Fuh-LYING out the window at warp speed.

I managed to get to the school without having an accident or getting a ticket. The drive (all of about 5 minutes give or take) was JUST enough time for me to go through about a bazillion different scenarios of what I would find when I got there. The most vivid being me hearing her screams from the parking lot because she has bone protruding through her skin.

Fortunately it was not that dramatic. What I found was a very sad and scared little girl with her arm in a splint sitting with her big sister. That diffused my anxiety by several levels. (Props to the school for thinking to get big sister right away.)

The nurse explained what happened. #2 had been trying to flips on the bars on the playground. She fell and landed on her hand with her arm fully extended. The first time she came to the nurse she checked her out and there did not seem to be any swelling, disfigurement or dislocation. She gave her some ice and sent her back to class. Not too long after that #2 was back still obviously in a lot of pain and crying so she splinted her up and made the call.

About flips. #2 has been trying to learn to hang from her knees on the acrobar on our swing set at home just like #1 can. After several attempts and at least two incidents of falling on her head I put the Ki-bosh on this skill building activity at home. Much as I wish I could, I can not control what she does on the playground at school, and unfortunately my predictions of dire and doom from continuing that activity came true. I like being right, but not about this stuff.

So we wait for Beloved/Daddy to get there and off we go to the emergency room.

Apparently when you come in with a small child who is crying and is wearing a sling you get speedy treatment. I have never been processed through an emergency department so quickly.

They gently examined her arm, gave her some Tylenol with codeine and an ice bag and we were off for x-rays. Fortunately Aunt J was working and came down to do the x-rays, which helped certain little people (and big) feel a lot better.

Shortly after that the doctor comes back with the bad news. We do indeed have a broken arm. Fractured right below the elbow.

One splint, prescription for Tylenol with Codiene, and an appointment with an orthopedic doctor for Monday...we're on our way home.

About an hour and a half later the fussing, crying begins. Unfortunately we are an hour away from another dose of pain medication.

Time for more pain medication and bed. We are fairly confident that soon our injured little angel will be out like a light.

Little more than an hour later we are stil waiting for that pain medication to kick in. We have more crying and complaints of pain. So Beloved poses the question to #2. Do you want to continue to try and go to sleep, or do you want to go back to the Hospital? #2's answer without hesitation take me back to the hospital.

I get the hospital people on the phone, explain what is going on and they tell me to bring her back in. So off we go. Of course once we get in the car she is down right chipper and chatty and I am thinking that this is about to be a wasted trip. It turned out it was probably a good thing we went ahead and went back.

Another examination shows a wrist that is swollen. We did not x-ray the wrist first time around, so more x-rays. No broken wrist. The first splint was kinda funky and had her hand at a strange angle and her fingers all squished. We decide to do a different kind of splint. We put this splint on and #2 seems more comfortable than she has since it all began. The doctor showed us in detail the x-rays from earlier and #2 did a pretty good number on her arm. Looks to be fractured in about three different spots right below the elbow. We are sent back home. More pain medication is given we are tucked in to bed and go right to sleep.

The rest of the night wasn't too bad, we did have one wake up when the pain meds wore off. The next dose seemed to last much longer, and she is still uncomfortable today which is to be expected, but NOTHING like last evening.

Today we are having a movie marathon so that we can keep the arm elevated and iced. I expect a repeat of these activities tomorrow. Keeping the arm propped is a bit of a trikc

#2 wants to go to school Monday morning, but I am more inclined to keep her home. Our appointment isn't until the afternoon and I will feel much better turning her loose among the kindergarten masses once we have a full report from the specialist and a full cast on the arm.

Ok, I gotta go. Keeping this kid's arm propped up is not as easy as I thought. She is slippery I guess. I have to help her sit up and readjust about every half hour or so it seems.

Hope all of you have a better weekend!

Now I am international

Apparently someone from Australia has checked out the blog.

Cool!

Can't get to sleep

I tried to be smart and go to bed at a decent hour, seeing as I was feeling pretty tired and everyone else was already asleep.

Unfortunately once the light was out and my head was on the pillow I went from drowsy to "Oh shit, how long am I going to lay here before I fall asleep?" After nearly an hour I gave up and here I am.

I HATE that.

I am guessing this is a result of the "medicinal" cherry coke I consumed mostly between 9-10 this evening. (Had an ugly headache, advil not doing the trick, so consumed a caffeinated beverage. Works almost every time. This one included.)

Question: Why is it that a mere week after I have switched out the summer clothes for fall/winter we get temps in the 90's again? Every damn time.

But on to bigger news. I have nearly finished my first crochet project. It is a belt. I just need to finish it off, find and sew on the beads. It doesn't look too shabby for a first ever project. Not sure what I am going to do with it because I don't care to wear belts much. All this down time at reahearsal helped me to get going with it. Now I am working on a bikini top. That will definitely be going to someone else because despite a drop in jeans size...I will not be appearing in a bikini ever. It is a fairly simple project stitch wise, and thus my reason for doing it.

We are about a week and a half away from the big TV broadcast of The Hound of the Baskervilles. Those of you who have ever been part of a production know that this is the point where things get stressful and people get bitchy. I don't much care for that. The show is definitely coming together and I think it will be OK. A lot of seasoned actors in this one. Be sure to tune in at 8:00 PM on KTWU (channel 11 here in T-town) or AM 1440 if you prefer to have the "real" radio show experience on Wed Oct 11. Don't blink if you choose to watch, as you could miss me.

Ok.. am feeling v. tired now. I think I will try to go to sleep now. Nighty night.

So little time..so little to say

I have been woefully neglectful you my faithful 7 readers. I can say 7 readers with confidence now!

I have added a little stat counter thingy which tells me all sorts of information. My favorite bit of info is the city and state my readers hail from. Apparently folks from as far away as Atlanta, GA and somewheres in Washington have stopped by. How exciting! Feel free to speak up and say who you are if you feel like it!

Rehearsals are on the increase..the show is coming together. I am going to try not to go crazy as I am onstage for all of about 10 minutes total, however unlike a "regular" show I can not hang out backstage during my off time, I have to stay onstage the entire time. B-O-R-I-N-G. I am hoping the director will let me crochet. Ladies in the 40's would have done that in their spare time. I doubt I will get to though. Bummer.

We did the Supper Thyme thing over the weekend and so far so good. The kids had great time helping us assemble the meals and what we have had so far has been right tasty. So easy too. Just throw it in the oven and VOILA! Dinner is served. I LOVE IT.

Y'know what else I love?? The cleaning fairies. They will be coming to my house soon. I am nearly giddy with excitement.

You know what else makes me giddy and nearly weepy? Going to buy jeans and having to by TWO SIZES SMALLER THAN I USUALLY GET BABY!!!!!

It may be a brand fluke, but I don't give a flying rat's ass. I'm going back to buy more next paycheck.

I nearly wept in the middle of Target people. Seriously.

Pirate for a day

Today as you may or may not know is National Talk Like a Pirate Day.

My place of employment decided to celebrate this important notsomuch a holiday by having a secret pirate...thingy.

Here is what happened. Three pirates were identified at each building. Employees ask other employees, "Are you the (insert my place of employment here) Pirate?"

If like ME you were the pirate, then you gave that person a $5 gift card to a local establishment and a badge saying they found the pirate. Then I got to put a badge on my door telling everyone that I was a pirate.

Kinda dorky, okay really dorky but it was fun, and the person who found me was very excited and happy to have won the gift card.

Always nice to improve another person's day don't you think?

Ask and ye shall receive

Ali asked for it and I have decided to deliver.

Things I am not particularly good at:

1. Tap Dancing
2. Crochet
3. Singing
4. Being pleasant in the morning.
5. Any thing that remotely resembles math.
6. Leaving messages on answering machines.
7. Thinking on my feet.
8. Taking tests.
9. Improvisational acting.
10. Impersonating Wolfman Jack.
11. Looking at people I don't like when I have to talk to them.
12. Drawing anything besides stick people.
13 .Photography.
14. Remembering to correspond with friends and loved ones who live far away.
15. Being nurturing at 2:00 AM when #2 has awakened me because she had a scary dream. Especially when that scary dream was she lost a marble and couldn't find it.
16. Being patient.
17. Following a budget.
18. Not procrastinating.
19. Debating.
20. Making fluted edges on a pie crust.
21. Solving riddles and brain teasers.
22. Anything that involves good spatial skills.
23. Saying no when asked to do something I don't want to do without providing an excuse.
24. Writing interesting, thought provoking, or creative blog posts.

I think that is enough. I begin to depress myself.

On Food and Feeding

It has been awhile since I have talked about food around here.

So let's talk about it tonight.

I love to cook. Really.

However in the 8.5 years that children have lived in our house, cooking sadly, and wrongly has been one of the things that seems to have moved way down on the priority list. When I speak of cooking I am referring to the preparation of meals that involves more than heating the oven, boling water in which to cook frozen processed ready to eat type foods. I'm talking chopping, marinating, and the like.

There are a few reasons we have let "real" cooking go.

1. We both work full time and are just damn tired when we get home.
2. We want to spend actual time interacting with our children, when one gets home at 5:00 or later and one's children go to bed at 8:30, time is limited.
3. Did I mention the damn tired bit?

Our decision has had some unhappy consequences:

1. Expanded waistines for the adults.
2. Children who have a very limited repetoire of foods they will consume.
3. Whining and rude comments when a meal is presented that does not fall on the very short list of foods the children will consume.
4. Once the whining and rude comments issue was taken care of it was replaced by silly and annoying behavior during meals that children won't eat due to the above mentioned list.
5. Our list of quickly prepared meals is small and we get bored, which leads to more decisions to eat out because we don't want or are sick of what is on the menu.

We eat out WAY too much and that has created the idea for my children that they should always get to eat what they like because that is how it is at restaurants. When I cook meals at home they do not always contain foods on the short list, and our rule is no special meals, you eat what is prepared or you wait until the next opportunity to eat. My children are nothing if not stubborn and regularly choose not to eat. We can't get past this because we are just not consistent enough with eating at home. It will take a long time of consistency in this area to effect change.

I have been on a quest to eat out less and cook at home more for the majority of these past 8.5 years and have never found any solution that seems to work. I haven't given up trying to find new ways to combat this problem.

So here is my latest solution.

I read about it in the paper, checked out the website and those of some similar places around here, discussed it with beloved and decided to give it a go. Our first session is in about two weeks. I will consider this a success if we can keep eating out down to once a week. It will be a roaring success if my children eventually increase their repetoire of foods they will consume. (I don't expect that for a long time to come however.) It addresses a few of our trouble areas in particular... ease of preparation, and variety. Overall the pricing was not terrible I did not think and I am pretty sure we will get at least two meals out of most of those available. Even when it is something they like, my kids aren't big eaters and the adults are being portion conscious around here. I am not opposed to paying a bit extra for convenience either.

So here's hoping. Rest assured I will be keeping you posted.

If this does not have the desired results........rest assured I will be asking for ideas.

The Best

Watching your veryown children get excited and enthusiastic about creating something with their own two hands and imagination.

To me it doesn't get much better than that.

Busy and plain ol' tired

I was doing better there for a while with keeping up on the posts, but I seem to have fallen off once again. Probably won't be much improvement for the next month or so, as my time spent in rehearsal increases as the weeks go by...and evenings are the only time I gots to do the blog thang.

Life is busy busy at chez us. Beloved has held auditions for his first show at the new school. Good turnout and he seems to be excited. He is still crazy busy with work. That will not be improving any time soon with the advent of rehearsals next week.

#1 has begun orchestra at school. She will be following in her mother's footsteps by playing the violin. (I tried hard to encourage the viola or cello, but it was a no go.) She is exercising her creative writing skills with amusing stories about grandma and grandpa's new kittens that include some darn impressive vocabulary words.

#2 is way pumped and ready to become a girl scout. Guess who is going to be an assistant girl scout leader? Yes...moi. When they asked at the informational meeting if there were any parents interested in being leaders #2 clutched my arm and looked at me pleadingly with those big ole green eyes and the deal was sealed. Because I don't have enough to occupy my time right now.

Moi...I rehearse for my 10 minutes (maybe) of stage time. Having fun working on the accent. Director is very pleased with my efforts so far, I am not sure why..still sounds off to me. Started my tap dancing class this week. I am not naturally gifted in this area it would seem. I will just add it to the list of activities that I am not particularly good at. I think I am old enough now and had enough experience for that list to actually be a long scroll. Had fun though.

But more importantly Brittney had her baby..maybe. Whitney Houston is getting separated....Jennifer Aniston is the best-dressed...Patrick Dempsey is going to be a father again...Diddy is having twins. I just don't know where to stop! Luckily my fatigue and schedule have not affected my ability to keep up on celebrity gossip. That would be a travesty.

Love your word choice! 100% A+

8/25/06

Dear Plouto,

I am sorry you aren't a planet anymore. You must feel dejected. I still belive you are a planet, no matter what scientests say. I think its kind of silly. Not to mention unkind. Xina should be a planet to. How is Charon? I believe he is a planet to. These scientests are driving me crazy. Oh, Jupiter and Saturn the kittens like you. Your Friend,
#1

Plouto and Charon and Xina are

(insert drawings of planets here)

PLANETS TO ME!!

(Letter written by #1 at school to Pluto regarding her feelings on Pluto's new status.)

The pile grows and my glass is half empty this weekend. I should probably fill it with bourbon.

Yes our pile of crap from this long holiday weekend has and continues to grow.

So to add to the list:

• Beloved Husband spent $116 on donuts yesterday morning. That'd be $5 for the donuts and $111 for the ticket he got for making a bad left turn. (He turned into the right hand lane instead of the left lane (like most people do.) That horrendously dangerous move is apparently worth $111 to our city's finest. I guess they do need extra money right now to cover all these bad guys they have to shoot and kill. (I might be less antagonistic on a better day.)
• #2 knocked a nearly full syrup bottle off a shelf in the pantry and it broke spilling syrup all over the floor. I was less than nurturing and kind about the whole deal.
• Our washing machine is now leaking a pretty decent amount of water on the floor.
• We got sunburns at Worlds of Fun.
• Got our new dryer today, but had to dismantle parts of our basement to get it down there. (Took off two doors, and a ledge then the guys had to to carry it off the side of the stairs instead of going all the way to the bottom.)
• I spent 30 minutes waiting for $23 hotdogs/hamburger at Worlds of Fun.
• I had Republicans at my house.
• Two of the three stands I tried to purchase ice cream from at Worlds of Fun did not have the standard flavors one usually looks for when buying ice cream, then when we did find one we got surly wait staff who instead of asking what I would like just stared at me until I spoke up. This was after I watched one person take and fill the order of the person in front of me while another person stood and stared.
• It would appear that the DVD player we have downstairs (the one we use while we exercise) is crapping out now.
• My throat is starting to hurt, thus leading me to believe that I am starting to catch the yuck that Beloved has had all weekend.
• Once again the check engine light is on in my car because the gas cap refuses to stay tight despite the fact that I turn it the required number of times AND the gas cap has been replaced.

I think that about covers it.

I am actually looking forward to going to work tomorrow. Although I am afeared that this trail of crap is going to follow me in to my work week.

Here's hoping.

This is some crap I tell ya!

I feel it is my duty to warn you that the following entry will contain mass quantities of whining.

I am not sure what it is about this family and the long holiday weekends lately but we seem to be having a run of not so great luck on those precious occasions.

The last holiday weeked was spent traveling to attend a funeral.

This one is not quite as depressing, but irksome none the less.

So far:

• Beloved husband is ill with some vile cold - like illness, and we had plans to go to Worlds of Fun tomorrow.
• Our clothes dryer bit the dust last night and we spent this morning laying down some serious money to replace it.
• We had to replace our DVD player today because IT shot crap about two weeks ago.
• I had to drag two loads of wet laundry over to the in-laws because our new dryer won't be here until Monday. (Of course I did not discover the dryer issue until I innocently went down last night to change the laundry only to find that the clothes in the dryer were just as wet as they were when I started the thing.)
• My clever planning that was going to leave me a household chore free Monday has totally been blown to bits by all of this. I may have fewer chores howeever if Beloved is too ill to traipse all over WOF tomorrow, but I will still have to do laundry because of the stinkin' dryer situation.

I would really like to know how our major appliances and other expensive items seem to know when we get some extra money. I promise you every time that happens to us...something breaks down. Of course we always say, "Thank goodness we had that extra money to deal with the situation." But Damn! I would like to use that extra money for other planned things like....oh say... paying off debt, or doing something fun. Don't seem to work that way for us lately. I'm thinking we need to figure out a way to build up some excess good Karma or something.

On a better note, while we were handing out money by the fistfulls today we did purdhase Season 3 of Arrested Development. Perhaps roaring laughter will help ease our woes.

I did get a darn nice dryer though. Of course now I want the matching fancy washer too. I will live without it however.

Maybe for Thanksgiving. I think that is the next holiday weekend.

She has a slight Spanish accent

Hi.

I guess it is time for a what's up posting.

So here is what's up with me and mine.

#2 typically has some kind of transition issue when we transition from the summer routine to the school year routine. The transition reaction takes different forms, but it has usually been an increase in behaviors that require time out. Not so this time. This time we are fussy and annoying at bedtime. I think I prefer behaviors that require more time outs. Because after 8:30 it is MY TIME, and I get cranky when MY TIME is messed with. Thankfully the transition issue is beginning to wane, as it does every year.

#1 is kicking academic butt at school. Which she does typically. A smartie that one. Her teacher is on it this year and has already called me to discuss what to do about the issue. We are awaiting results of testing..that on the front end seem to indicate that we are again just a few points shy of the cutoff for the smartie kid extra stuff at school. Stinks, but her teachers are committed to working her on whatever it is she needs to get those last few points. We'll see. This is our second go-round with this stuff, so we need to decide when to cry, "Uncle!"

Beloved is adjusting to the new school. Lots more kids, totally different classes, and teaching younger students than he has in the past 6 years. Great response to upcoming auditions. He is working hard. This will be an extra busy year..like being a first year teacher all over again. I have no doubt that he will get things whipped in to shape like he always does. He has worked hard on the diet/exercise thing this summer and it is really beginning to show. If only his wife were equally committed...

Me...I am about to begin rehearsals for Hound of the Baskervilles. I love doing shows...but I hate rehearsing..mainly the giving up of my evenings. Karen Hastings Players is putting this one on..it is a radio show meaning when you see us perform it is like you are watching an old radio show being put on.. people doing sound effects as you watch and the like. These are pretty easy for actors in many ways, no memorization as you perform script in hand, no blocking other than walk up to the microphone. The challenge of course is that everything must be conveyed to the audience using only your voice. This particular show has VERY slim offerings for the females, so I don't have a lot of stage time. That is ok with me, I have never been one for the big roles anyway. I prefer small, interesting and memorable. The quirkier the better. No quirkiness in this one, but I get to do accents which I LOVE. (Big surprise to those who know me!) The other cool thing is that we are going to be broadcast live on KTWU on October 11. That should be fun and a different experience for me. I don't know what time we will air, but once I do I will let everyone know so you can watch if you are so inclined. We will also perform October 13, 14, and 15 at Helen Hocker Theatre where you can see us upclose and personallike.

That is all for me.

I should go to bed now.

I would rather be watching the second season of House, and I would be if someone had not changed the Netflix queue.

Some people think they need DVDs for classes they teach or some such nonsense. I say you take your life in to your own hands when you mess with my House.

Thank goodness I haven't lost my Mojo

My baking Mojo that is.

My past couple of attempts have been...how shall I say this?

Less than stellar?

Complete crap?

Nasty?

All of the above?

I dunno what the deal was, but tonight ...I'M BACK BABY!

Made some blueberry lemon muffins that were quite tasty if I say so myownself.

I am quite relieved, as it would be really sad for me if I lost my ability to bake.

The only unfortunate thing is that we have to go to church tomorrow and the muffins have to go with us. (Sunday school graduation or somesuch and apparently #1 is being presented with a Bible or something like that. Otherwise I would be sleepin' in tomorrow, and likely not enjoying any muffins at all.)

Huh......maybe it was DIVINE intervention.

My powerhouse did not get the attention it required

During my morning Pilates I had to pause for a moment to answer the phone.

Who do you think it was?

Well I'll tell you...it was a "friendly" solicitation from the Dove Foundation.

It seems that they want Hollywood to start making more "family" movies. (In my opinion what they mean by family is Conservative Christian.)

I think the lady was a little taken aback when I stated that I did not agree with her thoughts and was likely even more so when I hung up on her.

This shit gets on my nerves. You all most likely by now know that we are not big on the TV here at Chez Us and we keep a very tight rein on what the younguns watch. We do that because that is what we believe is best for our children. It has as much to do with what there is out there for them to see that we feel is inappropriate for a 5 and 8 year old, as it does with the fact that in general we think there are far better and more enriching ways besides zoning out in front of the TV to spend our limited time together. I won't even delve in to the research about it.. most of you seem to be well informed people I trust you know the gist, if you don't..think about finding out.

There is a lot of stuff out there that I am offended by and I consider myself to be a fairly liberal gal. If I am offended by it, I don't watch or read it. People have the right to film, and write what they want. I believe our constitution says it is so. I will certainly spout my opinion about it to others if asked or frankly if I feel they will be receptive to what I have to say..and occasionally even if I feel like they won't.

I do strongly believe that parents need to be aware of and monitor what their children watch. My parents didn't. Yes I believe I turned out ok, but I am certainly different with my own children.

So here is what I think...let's drum up some support for education and awareness building for parents about the effects of TV, movies and the media on their children. Give them the true information and let them make informed choices about what they feel their children should be exposed to. Teach them how to process with their kids what they see on TV, stir up some conversation between parents and their kids about what they believe. Where is that happening I ask you? Where are the annoying phone solicitors about that movement? Where is the organization?

OK. I have to get off of my soapbox now. I turn this debate over to you my faithful reader(s?)

That stupid phone call ruined my concentration on my powerhouse.

AND how in the hell did they get my number anyway? I am unlisted and on the state and national do not call list. I know I have not contributed to the likes of that organization.

Grumble!

Allllll byyyy myyyyseeeellllffff

So today was my first official "all by myself" lunch hour. (I worked through lunch yesterday so that I could come in late and leave early for the official first day of school drop off and pick up.)

I know that you are all waiting with bated breath to hear about what I did during this momentous occasion.

WELL! Let me tell you.

I came home.

Made myself something to eat. (Pasta Roni and some ice cream. It's grocery store time, so pickins is slim 'round here.)

Took laundry out of the dryer.

Put more laundry in the dryer.

Sent beloved husband an e-mail.

Felt a little lonely and wondered what the kiddies were doing at school.

Checked a blog or two.

Read some of a magazine.

Let the dog in.

WILD TIMES. I tell ya WI-HILD.

Is anyone still awake after reading this?

Whew!

The first day of school was a great success for all. #1 was very glad to be able to hang out with her best buddies again. #2 came out of the school smiling and full of excitement about her first day and even thinks that she has made a new friend or two. I also believe that she ate more of her lunch on the first day than her big sister has eaten at lunchtime during her entire school career thus far. Not having a morning snack for the first time in ohhh..her life makes for a hungry girl at lunch!

I BARELY made it out the door before the tears started. It was pretty crowded and I got stuck trying to maneuver around poky meandering parents who apparently were not the emotional mess I was about to become or, if they were they did not seem to be as concerned about a public display as I was. I did make it out the door before I succumbed to tears and I did not even have to elbow anyone to do it. I had just enough time before I had to be at work to get over it. (And thankfully my 9:00 did not show up!)

So the school year begins.

May it be productive, filled with learning and free of drama!

A tradition comes to an end.

Tomorrow marks the end of an era in our little family.

The end of daily lunch dates with my children.

I am pretty sure I have mentioned this before, but what I really wanted (much to my veryown surprise) once I gave birth to my first child was to be a stay at home mom.

Alas due to many reasons and all of them being financial, it was not to be.

My one way to compensate for this loss has been to spend my lunch hours with my children. As we are beyond fortunate with our daycare situation that has been possible.

That my friends is how I have spent the overwhelming majority of my work day lunch hours for the past 8 and a half years...hangin' out with at least one and for a few years both of my best girls.

Tomorrow will be the end of that tradition as #2 will march off to Kindergarten Wednesday in all her pink new first day of school clothes, leopard print backpackin', ponytail bouncin', Supergirl lunchbox totin' glory.

I have to say that in truth I am feeling much more emotional about this lunchtime thing than I am about the actual first day of KG itself. (Now come 8:15 or so Wednesday morning it may be an altogether different story as I am making my quick -before -the- tears- come departure from the good ol' KG room.) It may be a long and tearful drive back to work tomorrow. I will be sure and stock plenty of Kleenex in the car, as there will be much call for it over the next two days.

So now I have to figure out what exactly I am going to do with myself now that I have this huge expanse of child-free lunches ahead of me.

Any ideas?

I should be so lucky

Now this article begs the question, "Why NOT me?"

THIS is exactly the kind of crime I would LOVE to be a victim of.

Tee Hee!

Here is the partial headline on my little SBC news headline thingy at the side of my computer screen:

"Malaysia fines Pussy...."

That is all that shows up until you hover over the headline and then you find out that in fact Malaysia is fining the Pussycat Dolls organizers.

Still makes me giggle.

Beacause sometimes I am immature that way.

Only three more days 'til I'm off papers

(For those who may not be in the know.. being off paper is slang referring to getting off of probation. A bit of a throwback to the days when I was working with Juvenile Offenders.)


Yup I am in the last few days of my probationary period at my current place of employment. I am proud to say that I have not updated my resume, and have no plans to do so. As you may or may not be aware 6 months in MJT (Missy Job Time) is like 5 years to people who actually stick with their jobs. I am still happy with what I am doing and really am committed to staying put for a while.

Unless of course someone comes to ME and offers me a position with great money, benefits and summers off.

Since that isn't too likely, I will keep my resume un-updated.

The good thing about being a non-probation status employee is that I can now use vacation time. As my employer is rather generous with the vacation time right off the bat AND the fact that I have been able accrue time since day one I am already in posession of enough time to take more than a week off if I so choose.

Unfortunately everyone 'round this hizzouse is goin' BACK to work and will be of course unable to take any time off. Of course that person will also get a hefty chunk of time off at the holidays and a day or so before then.

Too bad too because I am ready for a vacation. The kind where you travel far beyond your home state and stay in hotels and eat out for every meal. And I wanna go someplace I ain't been before. Preferably in a direction that is generally west of Kansas. Or East. Really I don't care.

However.... whenever we take that next trip (God only knows when that will be because travel requires more than just paid vacation time ya know.)Beloved Husband gets to pick our destination, and I will happily go where he wishes.

So in a nutshell dear readers, do not fear that you will soon be seeing the required "I won't be posting for a while because I am goin' fishin'," message that we bloggers so politely post when going away.

But maybe I will do that anyway and then have a bunch of posts telling you about my fake vacation when I "get back." Perhaps that will take the edge off the itch in my wanderin' foot.

Nighty night!

I'm a survivor..

Whew! Made it up and out the door on time on our first day back in the real world.

I was damn tired today though.

That hour after lunch was the WORST.

Has anyone besides me and beloved seen the Northern Exposure episode where Dr. Fleischman runs into pole, knocks himself out and has a dream that he has an evil twin? During that episode, Fleischman and his "twin brother" decide to switch places and Fleischman ends up in jail. While in jail he just happens to run into Sigmund Freud and has a few sessions, at one point when Joel is rattling on he discovers that Freud has fallen asleep. I fear this. I do. So tired not a good thing during a really quiet session. Which happens sometimes with the population I tend to.

I just remembered another funny thing from that same episode. Joel is getting all uppity with Freud and ranting about all the research out there refuting Freud's ideas. At the end of his rant Joel gives Siggy baby a version of the good ol' "what do you think of them apples?" question to him. There is a fair sized pause, then Freud shrugs and says in a rather off-hand manner, "It's just a theory." Much more humorous when you watch it. One of my favorite little scenes from that show. You can watch it on DVD. Season Three, I think the episode is titled "Jules et Joel." Watch the entire series for that matter. Very clever show. There is another funny scene with Jung in a later episode, but I will spare you my retelling here. Go rent the DVDs. It'll be good times I promise.

On to other things, I am a bit rambly tonight.

I am thinking it is time to engage in a grown up night of board games. I spend A LOT of time at work and home playing children's board games and I am ready for some adult games. (NOT THOSE KIND!!!) I am talking of the Trivial Pursuit, Balderdash, Monopoly variety. I promise I will not even bring up my personal favorite...SONGBURST. It seems to turn people off, though I don't know why. It's a very fun and extremely challenging game. You get to sing with your friends.. what more can you ask for? But I promise to keep it buried in the closet.

There might even be cookies. I have been known to make cookies when I play board games.

I'd like to order an alternate reality please!

Well for those residing at Chez Us summer and it's carefree days officially end today.

My Beloved must return to work tomorrow, and the school year begins for all in just over a week from now.

No more "lazy" mornings "sleeping in" until 6:30.

No more freedom from the weekly trek to the dreaded life sucking machine that is Wal-mart for groceries.

No more weekends free from housecleaning.

No more loving husband and children to greet me with love, excitement, and tales of what they have done that morning when I come home for lunch.

Summer is always kind of confusing for me emotionally speaking. It is hard to be the one who goes to work everyday while my loved ones are at home, but at the same time having everyone else at home significantly reduces my daily and weekend chores. Since the end of May I have not had to do any significant cleaning of this house, and I have only had to make ONE trip to the grocery store. My participation in the laundry has minimal at best. Dinner is usually on or near to being on the table when I get home most evenings. Conversely I do not get to participate in nap time, no extra fun play time stuff, I still have to get up at 6:30, and everyone else is home but me.

So you can see why this is difficult. I have some major summertime perks that I do appreciate and enjoy...but my jealousy and resentment over having to go to work every day is tough to deal with.

The transition from summer to school year is always a little rough around here. We do what we can to make it easier. Making sure for the past few weeks that the kids have gone to bed on time, making them get up at the same time they do during the school year...things like that. Now everything in the morning is back on a time table, and we have to get things ready to go the night before...blah..blah..blah.

This school year will bring more changes than usual with #2 starting Kindergarten. Going to school all day every day will be tiring for her and will take some getting used to I am sure. For the first time in 8 1/2 years my lunch hour will be my own...no kids to visit at a grandparent's house. Not sure what to do with myself, but I'll think of something.

I am trying to prepare myself for the waterworks that will be #2's first day of school. We are ready. New clothes have been purchased and the school supplies just need to be marked and put in spanking new backpacks.

Look for the photos in about a week and half.

Well, I should tie this up. Got an early start tomorrow morning.

I must prepare.