Where the Driveway Ends

Another One Bites the Dust

2010-01-03T17:17:00.000-08:00

The end of the year is always a busy time for our family. Along with all the usual stuff - parties at school, chorus and band concerts, baking and shopping - we celebrate 2 birthdays, an anniversary, Christmas and New Year's in the space of 10 days.

My oldest baby celebrated his birthday just before Christmas -he is now a teenager (all prayers accepted) - and the youngest baby turned 5 just before New Year's. Five seems like such a significant age - it's a whole hand, after all - and P has taken to reminding us that she is now a Big Girl, not a baby. I'm all for Big Girl. She gave herself a bath yesterday, complete from starting the water to washing her hair, drying off, getting dressed and combing out her curls. She did forget to the let the water warm up, so it was a cold bath, but whatever, she did it by herself.

But despite wanting to be a Big Girl, I think P is coming to realize that it's not all it's cracked up to be. She's hearing a lot of "you're a big girl now, you can sit through the prayer without talking," and the like. Things we might have let slide when she was "little," are now being expected, just like we expect them of the other kids.

Amidst all this hub-bub, J has been waiting to loose his first tooth. It's been loose for a few months now, slowly wiggling, but showing no real signs of falling out. Over the last week or so, though, it had made significant loosening progressing. Enough that I, mean mommy that I am, have been hinting at pulling it. (A dangling tooth creeps me out, I'd rather pull it and be done with it. ) But J wanted to leave it alone, so we did.

Until the inevitable happened . . .

(Although it's not really, considering the number of times I've had to take a kid to the dentist to have a tooth pulled that would not come out. C had 11 teeth pulled inside of a month because his baby teeth would not fall out, they just clung to the top of the adult teeth, blocking their way, until the orthodontist said enough was enough, and E has had a couple pulled because her top teeth seem to pull back into her gums instead of falling out when the root is gone. Even M has had more than her share pulled in an effort to let the adult teeth come in straight until she's ready for braces.)

Tonight J's tooth fell out. The kids were running around waiting for dinner to be ready, when J stopped short and said something about his tooth. I just a bit excited thinking her was ready to let me pull it, but NO! I had disappeared.

A search was begun and C found it on the rug and J is looking forward to the Tooth Fairy and projections were made on the amount that would be left. C determined that, as it was a first tooth, J would get double the going rate (standard practice for first lost tooth), but seeing as there was no pain (teeth lost by tripping over an untied shoe lace*, or other such event, or requiring removal by a trained professional who sticks a long needle in your mouth and then yanks the teeth out with pliars, receive Trauma Pay), he would not receive any more than that.

So another of my babies has taken another step in growing up. He wanted to be measured again today, hoping that loosing a tooth would somehow make him taller. (He told be a few weeks ago, that even some of the kindergartners are taller than he is.) And then he asked when is the middle of the night. I think he might be laying a trap for the Tooth Fairy. I hope she's on the top of her game tonight.

*One day, when C was in the 1st grade, I was on my way home from running errands with toddler twins in the back seat, when my cell phone rang. My heart dropped when I saw the caller ID showed the school's phone number.

"Hi, this is the school nurse. I need to know if C had both of his top front teeth when he came to school this morning."

"Um, well they were loose, but I'm pretty sure they were there. Why?"

"Well, because they aren't there now. His shoe was untied on the walk out to the bus and another kid stepped on it and C tripped and now both front teeth are missing. One of the teachers found one, but the other is unaccounted for."

True Story. First grade teachers at the elementary school still tell the story as an example of why it is important to be sure your shoe laces are tied. This was also the beginning of Trauma Pay.

Foreshadowing

2009-10-19T08:36:00.000-07:00

P: When can I go over to C's (a friend from school)?

Me: I don't know, I'd have to call her mom.

P: I want to go to her house. I like her brother.

I'm in so much trouble.

Her Logic is Sound

2009-09-05T13:53:00.000-07:00

J and P have both reached a height, weight and maturity level that would qualify them to make the move from car seat to booster seat. I have resisted this move for many reasons.

At first is was just that I needed to wait for P to be mature enough to handle the switch because she was so close in size to J, that I couldn't really make the switch without switching both, but she wasn't old enough to handle the responsibility of sitting still without the restraining presence of the five-point harness.

Then my excuse was that I wasn't sure how to adjust the seating so that all the boosters (M and E are still in backless boosters) had shoulder belts, but there was still room for the fifth child to sit and everyone had easy access to the buckles. I still haven't completely resolved this, but I think I have a plan that will work.

Today, P put to rest my last excuse.

As she and J buckled themselves into the car P said, "You know mom, even if J and I get boosters, we'll still be your babies."

Sniff.

Bits and Pieces

2009-08-21T11:44:00.000-07:00

* Three down, two (kids) to go. With the flu, that is. M and P went back to school today and E stayed home. The doctor's office was out of the flu test and the pharmacy is having to reorder the med for the second or third time this week. You could say the flu is going around. (I don't even want to think about what happens if this hits the three adults in the house.)

* After nearly two weeks, my master shower will be finished today and I'll be able to use it as early has tomorrow morning. It's so pretty and clean, I don't know if I want to use it. (Have I ever told you I'm a little obsessed with new?)

* J's separation anxiety continued into the beginning of school. On the first day of school he ran down the hall after me. Luckily for me he waited to do this until I was out of the building or I'd have lost it. On the second day of school he cried when I tried to leave him at the door to his classroom. It was traumatic enough that the teacher across the hall (who happens to be our neighbor) had to scoop him into his classroom so his teacher could close the door and I could leave. On the third day of school, I dropped him at the curb with a picture of me in his pocket (his request) and all was well. He took great care of that tiny picture for a few days and then it went through the washer. He has not asked for a replacement. (Is it okay that I'm a bit sad that he's over it?)

Conversation

2009-07-20T18:48:00.000-07:00

Eight hours after he returned home from 5 days at Scout Camp, I had the following conversation with C.

Mom: Hey C, I'm going to the store. Do you want come?

C: I don't know. I don't have any money. Maybe . . .

Mom: You don't have to come with me, I just thought you might like to get out of the house.

C: I've been out of the house for a week. I think I'm good.

Have You Ever?

2009-07-03T20:26:00.000-07:00

Realized that the way you have been doing a particular task for years - maybe decades - is not the right way? Learned that, despite having seen signs that maybe your way was not the accepted method, your method was not only wrong, but might have disastrous consequences? Accepted this new order of things only after having been confronted by an expert and performed an Internet search for verification? Come to realize that your incorrect method was due in part to never having been taught the correct way, but also due to the fact that you never made an effort to read the instructions?

Yeah, me either.

The Story of Two

2009-06-30T19:26:00.000-07:00

Today we celebrate the birth of M and E. They are 9. The last year they will enjoy single digits. E asked me today what time she was born. I had to think about it. Is it bad that the thought process was something like this? Your dad said M was born at 11:17, but the doctors corrected him and said 11:16, you came 23 minutes later (yes that's a long time between twins, just enough time to run down the hall from delivery to OR for a c-section, yes that means I had one of each and yes, it was still easier than delivering C) so that means you were born at 11:39.

I find that I have a hard time remembering the details of the day they were born, so I'm going to write it down (no, I haven't written it down before now, yes, that makes me a bad mom).

M and E were due on July 10, but by doctors told me early on that they would not let me go a day past 39 weeks, just to be safe. My doctors were also quite surprised that I made it passed 38 weeks, so when I reminded them about their 39 week promise at my appointment eleven days before my due date (a Friday afternoon), I seemed to catch them a bit of guard. But the midwife quickly checked with the doctor and they agreed, not a day past 39 weeks, and checked the schedule for the following Monday. All booked up, they could not add another induction. So they checked Sunday and the doctor on call for Sunday was also on call that Friday night and said just send her over now. So off we went -- me, my mom and C -- to get checked in at the hospital. We called the Husband and he met us there.

It took a little while to get me in a room and the actual work of starting the induction didn't really get started until late that night. The nurses offered an epidural almost as soon as the started the pitocin. I don't know why I didn't take, but I didn't. As the contractions started to build I asked for something, got it and all was good, until I started to feel teh contractions but couldn't get the Husband's attention. I thought I was talking out loud, but apparently wasn't and he was asleep and didn't notice my pain. I was finally able to get his attention and he got the nurses and I got my epidural. And all was right with the world. I slept for several hours and then around 8 am, it looked like things were getting started. I called my mom and told her it was time and she should head to the hospital with C.

A little before 11, the nurses and midwife came in to transfer me to the OR, where they usually did twin deliveries, mostly because it was bigger, so there was more room for two sets of nurses and baby stuff, and a little bit for Just In Case. But then the doctor walked in and said, "We don't need to mover her, she's in the big delivery room. There's room for everyone." And then it was time to push and between contractions the doctor and midwife were discussing where they were going for lunch. It was quite surreal, espcially compared to the chaos that was C's delivery.

And then M was here and it was instantly obvious that she was destined to the older twin. We had decided as soon as we knew we had two girls that the oldest (Baby A, who had spent the entire pregnancy head down and claiming the first place in line) would be named after my mother's family and sure enough, she looked just like my mom's sister. 7 lbs 12.6 oz, 18 inches.

The midwife let me have a quick peek at M and then began checking on Baby B. I could see a flash of panic and she said, "I think I have cord." And I had visions of Nurse Hathaway's twin delivery on ER earlier that year, and well, if you've seen that episode you can imagine my own panic. The doctor took over and after a few minutes of feeling around decided, we were okay, it wasn't the cord, it was two hands and a foot. Baby B had folded in half, feet to face, and refused to stretch out. Although she wasn't in any distress, it was decided that it would be safer to proceed with a c-section rather than wait forever waiting for the baby to decide to stretch out and come out head first.

So the nurses and midwife packed me up and we did the quick run down the hall for a not-quite-emergency c-section. (Oh, the irony)

The new pain meds they put in my epidural made me shiver and shake until I was sure I was going to fall off the operating table. And then E was out and all was right with the world. I only got a quick peek at her before they whisked her away and stitched me back up. My first impression of E was that her cheeks almost met below her chin. She was all cheeks and looked like the Husband's side of the family. 7 lbs 13.6 oz, 18 inches.

I was in the recovery room for quite a while getting over the shaking, but finally made it up to my room where the girls were waiting for me, as well as C and my mom.

We came home from the hospital on July 4th. Best 4th ever!

Summer Shocker

2009-06-28T18:35:00.000-07:00

My kids have been out of school for a month. They return to school in six weeks.

Saturday while I was out filling prescriptions and grocery shopping I saw two things that really blew my mind.

First, Target has the school uniforms (you know, the khaki and blue pants and shorts and white collared shirts) prominently displayed. Second, Walmart has begun setting up the bins in the middle of the aisles that have all the most requested school supplies (pencils, pens, highlighters, glue sticks, crayons, etc.) Neither place has any signage that says anything about school, but the displays say it all.

Random Bits

2009-06-27T10:01:00.000-07:00

* Second fastest way to get your kid seen in the ER - severe headache. 30 minutes after our arrival we were ushered to a room, when it looked like some families had been waiting for hours. Less than 20 minutes later they were giving her a CAT scan and we were on our way home before we'd been there 2 hours. Diagnosis: Acute Sinusitis. Treatment: 14 days of the nastiest tasting antibiotic out there.

* Marshall Karp wrote to me!! A few weeks ago I commented on a post on his blog. He read my comment and then responded. And he checked out my blog. The last post in which I talked about his books. How cool is that? I am, however, a bit embarrassed that there were several typos/mistakes in that post.

*J recently went through a bit of separation anxiety - clinging, crying, running after the car when I left. So when he was still asleep when I left for work one day last week, I was prepared to receive a tearful phone call from him. Sure enough, he called when I was half way to work. But instead of the tearful "love ya, miss ya, why didn't you wake me before you left, I didn't get to hug you" I was expecting I got, "When is it my turn on the computer?" I guess we are through with that phase.

* Friday when M couldn't move with the pain in her head causing her to scream, I jokingly asked her if she felt like she was dying. Her reply, "That would be better than this."

Catching up on Books

2009-06-18T16:37:00.000-07:00

I am still working on my book resolution. okay, not so much the reading of Dean Koontz, but more the reading of Stuart Woods.

I picked up Chiefs: A Novel (25th Anniversary Edition) at the library*, and I was right. It is a fabulous book. Definitely one I would recommend. I also picked up Shoot Him If He Runs (Stone Barrington) at the library. This is one of the novels by Stuart Woods that I have been tempted to buy, but didn't want to in case is wasn't up to par. While it was no where near the level of Chiefs, it was definitely better than Hot Mahogany. I still need to read Loitering with Intent and Mounting Fears to be caught up with all his new novels, plus Hothouse Orchid will be out in September. (For those who may be counting, that's FOUR novels released in one year.**)

Three books that I did not pick up at the library are the novels by Marshall Karp. I won a signed copy of Karp's third novel Flipping Out from Beth, which meant I really needed to read the first two books so that . . . well I'm just a bit nuts that way, so I purchased The Rabbit Factory and Bloodthirsty from Amazon, which only made sense, because if they were as good as Chris reported they were, then I really was going to want them in my collection and the library didn't have them, I checked. So The Rabbit Factory was excellent - funny, well plotted, great characters. And even though there are reportedly over 200 uses of the F-word, you don't really notice so much because the book is over 600 pages. Bloodthirsty was also a good read, but I was left a little unimpressed with Flipping Out. As the story wrapped up I felt a bit lost as to how Lomax and Biggs had figured it all out. The story also felt a bit flat, with out the great details and humor that had made The Rabbit Factory so enjoyable. Karp is working on a fourth installment which I cannot wait to read.

I also recently read The Mephisto Club (Jane Rizzoli, Book 6) by Tess Gerritsen. I am really enjoying her books. (And not really feeling the need to read them in order, I'm a little late to the party for that.) This one was intriguing with good characters and a very unexpected twist. I will definitely keep Tess on my reading list.

And lastly, my most recent read (just finished it this afternoon), Odd Mom Out by Jane Porter. I won this book over at It's Not All Mary Poppins a few weeks ago. This is a story of a single-by-choice mom who is trying to figure out how to have everything she wants and be the mother her daughter wants her to be without losing herself. I enjoyed this story but felt like the end was a bit rushed. I will be adding Jane Porter to my list for the library.

*As an aside, I'm doing somewhat better about going to the library for books rather than buying everything I want to read. I did buy The Navigator (The Numa Files) by Clive Cussler at the store because it was on the bargain table and really $7 for a hardback book that I'll be able to read at least twice before I remember I'll remember half of the plot.

** For those who may think I'm just picking on Stuart Woods, yes, I know that Clive Cussler has has four books being released this year, but 1) he has co-authors and 2) the quality has not deteriorated as drastically.

The Beach

2009-05-18T07:17:00.000-07:00

I'm sitting here watching the wind whip through the palm trees outside my hotel room.

The sky is grey, the ocean is choppy and being pushed parallel to the beach almost as fast as the waves are coming in. It's a bit visually disturbing.

I am tagging along with my husband who is here for a conference. I was hoping for a little sun, a chance to capture new images that would be suitable for my etsy shop, to relax and rejuvenate before the kids get out of school for the summer.

So far I'm only missing the sun.

Little Miss Muffet

2009-05-14T12:54:00.000-07:00

Early this morning, when the house was quiet and I was checking my email and reading blogs and enjoying my last few moments of peace before waking the kids for school, a very large daddy-long legs slowly dropped from the ceiling above my keyboard until he came to rest between my typing hands.

I decided that peace and quiet was overrated and Miss Muffet had the right idea.

Now the daddy long legs is camped out on the ceiling above my computer again. I sure he is just waiting to drop in again and make me run away screaming.

Converstation

2009-05-03T20:05:00.000-07:00

J and I were talking about age tonight after is bedtime story.

"I'll be 16 on my birthday."

"You'll be 6 on your next birthday." I corrected. "In 10 years you'll be 16."

"How may years will it take for me to be 100?" he asked.

"94 years. How old will I be in 94 years?" I countered.

"Dead." He replied. "You'll be dead."

Well, okay then.

Deprived

2009-05-01T14:14:00.000-07:00

About a month ago, the local Chick-fil-A closed for renovations. Not noteworthy, unless your youngest child lives on Chick-fil-A and Taco Bell. And not really a life-changing event considering there are 3 other Chick-fil-As with in 10 miles of my house.

The Chick-fil-A reopened this week. The crowds that have flocked to eat more chicken have been unbelievable. And while the renovation is very nice (they now have what P calls "high tables"), it feels like there are fewer places to sit.

But mostly, I was disappointed that they did not make any changes to the play area. Heck, it would appear that they didn't even CLEAN the play area.

Conversation

2009-04-29T13:51:00.000-07:00

E: Mom! You really need to come see what P did.
(E is my informer)

Me: Ugh. Do I really want to know?

E: Probably not.

Me: Ugh. Am I going to want to spank her?

E: Probably, yeah.

I trudge up the stairs and enter my room, where P has taken her fudge bar, when she knows she is supposed to eat it in the kitchen, to see chocolate on my winter comforter that The Husband took off the bed, but did not put away in the closet.

Me: Ugh. At least I can wash this.

To Do List for Monday

2009-04-17T12:29:00.000-07:00

1. Wait for the Leak Detection technician to arrive to find the leak in my shower.

2. Wait for the Auto Glass technician to arrive to replace the windshield in my van.

At least I get to wait in the comfort of my own home.

Black Ops by W.E.B Griffin

2009-04-15T20:00:00.000-07:00

Griffin has written several series of novels, most revolving around the military world and I have read nearly all of them (never could get into the Honor Bound series), most more than once. Although filled with details and acronyms that can become confusing, and enough characters that you might need to keep track of them on a 3x5 card (thanks for the tip, Mrs. Houghton, world's greatest English teacher and master sentence diagram-er), each novel is filled with action and suspense.

Do I believe the military really runs this way? Um, I hope not. Do I enjoy the stories Griffin tells? Immensely. (Are you getting tired of this question-answer writing style? Me too.)

The Flirt by Kathleen Tessaro

2009-04-15T12:14:00.000-07:00

Until I saw this book on the shelf at Target I had never heard of Kathleen Tessaro, but the vibrant red caught my attention and the simple title drew me to read the blurb on the back and the next thing I knew I was paying for it. (We'll have a discussion at a later date about books and covers and what "they" say.)

And after read the first chapter or two, I almost took it back. The number of times the F-word was used in those first few pages was more than I wanted to deal with. Really, I'm not a prude, but garbage-in-garbage-out, you know and since I'm trying to clean-up my language . . . . but then one of the kids stepped on it and crinkled the pages, so I read on, and the language in the book was only occasionally foul.

The story has a pretty original story-line, following a newly-hired professional flirt - rule #1 absolutely no physical contact. It was light and easy to read, the short chapters moved the story along quickly. Will it make my list of "fabulous books" that I share with others? Probably not.

Will I consider picking up the previous two of Tessaro's novels if I see them on clearance or find them at the library? Sure.

Meredith's Test Kitchen

2009-04-08T10:53:00.000-07:00

A few months ago I decided to try making Brownie Cups - brownies as cup cakes - in hopes of avoiding the crispy edges and having only yummy soft brownies. I tried spraying the cup cake pan with baking spray rather than using the paper cups. Disaster. The brownies stuck to the sides and I had to pry them out with a knife, destroying the brownies and scratching my cup cake pans (don't worry, they aren't expensive pans).

Last week I tried again, but this time I made mini cup cakes and used the paper liners. This seemed to work great. I didn't taste them, because I used a milk chocolate brownie mix (yes, I said mix, I've never found a recipe that makes a brownie I like better than the mix), and milk chocolate brownies are just wrong. But they did come out of the papers easily enough.

Next I tried full size cup cakes. I was unsure of how long to cook them, and ended up giving them too much time in the oven. I held the kids off long enough to let the brownie cups cool completely, but then disaster struck again. The papers would not come off. I had to pick and peel and was not able to salvage some of them. Conclusion - you can't let them cool completely, but try to peel the papers too soon and half the brownie sticks to the paper.

I tried again yesterday, thinking I had all the kinks worked out, but I got distracted while making them and swapped the measurements for the oil and water (and very nearly added an extra egg), which made enough of a difference to make the experience useless in terms of learning anything new.

Now I am out of brownie mix. Further experimentation will have to wait until I can get to the store.

And I'm sure you are dying to know why I need to perfect these Brownie Cups. No reason, really, other than to prove that I can. Now if I could show this sort of dedication to fixing dinner.

Into the Woods

2009-04-06T16:31:00.000-07:00

On Saturday while M and I where at Market Day, the Husband and the other kids decided to clear a path to the creek that runs beside our house. To this point the house rule has been DO NOT GO INTO THE TREES, DO NOT GO DOWN TO THE WATER. However the Husband decided that this need no longer be the rule and set to making a way for our kids to venture to the water.

Which they did for a while until screams and pounding feet alerted us to an apparent tragedy.

TICK!!! On J's neck," they screamed as they scrambled into the house.

Not to worry. I have completed the Boy Scout First Aid Merit Badge. I know what to do with a tick.

"Credit Card." I demanded. I tried to push the tick out by scraping it with the edge of a credit card. Didn't work. Okay, maybe I'm confused. Maybe the credit card was for bee stings and slivers. On to tweezers, but don't squeeze too hard, pull firmly, but gently . . . okay not working . . . and I'm starting to hyperventilate and get all squeamish.

The husband completed the tick removal and sealed the tick in a plastic bag to be placed in the freezer, just in case we need to have it tested later, while I began searching the other kids for ticks and throwing them into showers and clothing into the laundry.

C calmly waited for his turn in the shower, only to return un-showered with a TICK!!! on his hip. I tried to be the brave mom again, but failed and let The Husband remove the second tick of the day.

J and E have vowed to stay out of the woods for a week. They aren't even going to play outside.

Fine by me, because the previous rule has been reinstated. DO NOT GO INTO THE TREES . . . unless you are wearing a thick layer of bug spray.

"Spring has Sprung" Giveaway from Amy Quarry

2009-04-02T12:59:00.000-07:00

I'm too tired to make this into a real post, but I also really want this dress for P so I'm telling you about the Spring has Sprung Giveaway from Amy Quarry, not so you'll enter, cause that would mean I'd have less of a chance of winning, but maybe you could check out her shop on etsy and find something you'd love to have.

So Amy, I've blogged it, twittered it and facebooked it. Does that me I get three chances to win?

Losing My Mind

2009-03-31T15:40:00.000-07:00

The dryer is squeaking. The dryer has been squeaking for months. The dryer is driving me to the very brink of sanity. It is the one thing in the house that could break without making me cry, but no, it must continue to work despite the continual SQUEEEEEAKING!

There is no escape. I close the door to the laundry room, I hide in the basement, but the squeaking follows me. I'm developing a twitch.

So if I'm not around for a while, you may safely assume that I have found quiet in a small padded room.

Since My Last Post

2009-03-28T13:16:00.000-07:00

-- The microwave died, we replaced it.

-- P did not get into Pre-K at the elementary school. She is #7 on the waiting list. There were tears - all mine.

-- The van died. Thankfully after we got home from taking the scouts to a Merit Badge day and not "on the way." The repair bill was just under what we were willing to pay to keep it going.

-- We discovered a mildew stain on the ceiling of the garage, right below the drain of the master shower. The plumbers say it is a very small leak, but the only way to fix it requires tearing out the floor of the shower and the bottom row of tile, but that trying to patch the tile after that would lead to a less than stellar look, so basically the whole shower will have to ripped out - down to the studs. Initial estimates also led to tears. On the plus side, the home owners insurance will help out a bit and I can probably change the color of the tile.

-- After 6 test patches I think I have finally found a color for the basement that I really like. Now to find the time to paint, preferably without 5 little helpers.

-- Next post will be much happier. Promise.

Way Better than a Hott Pediatrician

2009-03-13T13:03:00.000-07:00

Beth, of So the Fish Said has a well documented "crush" on the Hotty Pediatrician she takes her kids to.

While my kids pediatrician may not be gorgeous he can do something that is way more important . . . .

My latest trip to his office took only 40 minutes. I know you're thinking that's not so special, but I mean the whole trip took only 40 minutes, from my house and back again, and it's a 15 minute drive.

That's right folks. Only 10 minutes in the doctor's office. I had barely paid my copay before they called us back and the pediatrician entered the exam room within 2 minutes of the time the nurse left. Check the ears, right the prescription (yes, he wrote it this time, no more of the time wasting fax - maybe he reads my blog), and off we go.

I know you are green with envy and no, I won't give you his name.

The Economy and the Bailout

2009-03-11T19:44:00.000-07:00

A sign that the economy might really actually be in a bit of a down turn and at the same time a sign that perhaps one bank is trying to be a teensy bit responsible with it's bailout money . . . . .

No suckers at the drive through.

Going Crazy

2009-03-02T14:30:00.000-08:00

I have had a twitch at the corner of my right eye for EIGHT days now. It varies in strength and sometimes I think, "Thank heavens it's stopped," only for it to kick in again even stronger.

I forgot to mention it to my chiropractor (aka voodoo doctor aka Dr. Jeff) which is very sad because he probably could have done some kind of magic to fix it (really he's that good) and now he's on vacation for a week and I won't be able to see him until a week after that when he's back on my side of town (unless I make the drive to his office on the other side of the city which is not my idea of fun) but if this doesn't stop soon I might loose my ever-loving mind, so a trip through traffic might not be a bad thing . . . if this goes on for another week I'd probably crawl across glass if it meant getting this darn twitch to stop!

Confession

2009-02-25T13:51:00.000-08:00

Is it wrong that I'm more than a bit excited about the new store coming to my area when they've only cleared the land and put up a "coming soon" sign, and I've never even been inside this store?

I have seen commercials (yes, advertising works on me. Why do you think we have a Pontiac Montana? Well, cause they called it Montana and because they have cowboys in the commercials). And it just sounds like a fun place.

So what is this grand place of which I am dreaming? Not an IKEA (been there, done that, love it). . . . .

Tractor Supply Company!!!

(It's okay, I already know I'm crazy)

Carrot Cake Murder by Joanne Fluke

2009-02-25T06:44:00.003-08:00

There are currently 10 books in the Hannah Swensen Mystery series. Each mystery some how involves food and Fluke includes all the recipes for the yummy stuff she describes.

This is the second Hannah mystery I've read and both have been pleasant, easy reads. The plots are easy to follow and you don't feel like the mystery was solved with some leap of logic that you weren't let it on.

The cast of characters can be a bit difficult to keep track of because the family trees in this small town often intertwine, but you can always keep track of things on a note card if you get too confused.

I have picked up another in the series and am making a list of the recipes I want to try.

Your Heart Belongs to Me by Dean Koontz

2009-02-24T13:23:00.000-08:00

Your Heart Belongs to Me by Dean Koontz

I received this book for Christmas and read it while on vacation.

I first heard of the newest Dean Koontz novel when I saw the commercial . My first thought was, "I really hope the book is better than the commercial," followed closely by, "A commercial for a book? Not sure I've ever seen that before." (Have you?)

I was prepared for a fabulous read since Koontz's last several novels have been spectacular. I was a bit disappointed. The jacket text makes you think the main character is being haunted by the woman whose heart he received and that he fights hard to win back his girl. But in truth the plot is less suspenseful and far more tedious. At points it had the makings of a great suspense novel with a supernatural twist that at which Koontz is so masterful, but he choose the easier path and finished the book with a whimper.

Nature's Call

2009-02-20T11:39:00.001-08:00

The weather may not be in agreement, but the cherry, pear and red bud trees, the daffodils and forsythia, and my allergies agree. . . .

Spring is very nearly upon us.

Invitation List

2009-02-19T13:15:00.000-08:00

J is planning his birthday party. This morning he was wondering if he had to invite his siblings. I informed him he probably couldn't get around that.

He plans to invite everyone he knows and wanted to add one more . . .

John Deer . . . he makes the tractors.

More from the Wedding Planner

2009-02-14T07:49:00.001-08:00

As I was showing P the mother's ring the Husband gave me for Valentine's Day (big surprise, wanted this for a long time), P says . . .

"I will need one for the wedding."

"The boy who asks you to marry him will give you a ring for the wedding," I explained.

"Oh, man. I don't like that part."

"Which part?"

"The marrying."

The Library

2009-02-13T21:38:00.000-08:00

I go through phases when it comes to buying or borrowing books. I have been in a buying phase for a very long time, which means I hadn't been to the new library in town. Since we are trying to stick to a budget, I figured an easy place to trim would be my book spending. Today I went back to the library looking for a couple of specific books.

First I wanted Jane Eyre. I have read it, but not since middle school and I remember not being very impressed, but after reading The Eyre Affair: A Thursday Next Novel by Jasper Fforde (review coming soon) I felt like I should give Jane Eyre another chance. I also wanted the book that comes after The Eyre Affair as well as Great Expectations (which figures heavily in the other book I wanted and which I have never read).

I was disappointed in my efforts. Jane Eyre was checked out, and although the library does have other books by the author of The Eyre Affair, it did not have the one I wanted (must read them in order says my OCD). I did find Great Expectations.

While there, I thought I'd look for Chiefs by Stuart Woods so I could keep working on my resolution, but I couldn't find where the M-Z fiction continued and I already had a stack of five books, so maybe next time.

While checking out, I was surprised to find that I had a $15 late fee dating back to 2006 (I said it had been a while since I'd been to the library, and maybe this is the reason I started a buying phase). Thankfully the nice librarian let me check out books even though I didn't have the cash to pay the fine. If she hadn't I probably would have come right home and continued my buying phase.

Now off to start a new book.

Switches

2009-02-13T13:28:00.000-08:00

In this house we have several places with three light switches. Next to the bed - reading light, main light, fan. In the bathroom - main light, shower light, fan. By the garage - outdoor light, garage light, hall light. In most cases, the person who wired the switches didn't put much thought into which switch worked what, so the use of the switches is not intuitive. For example, the shower light is wired to the switch closet to the door, the main light is the center switch and the fan is closet to the shower.

Since the day we moved in we (okay, maybe mainly me) have been bothered by these switches. In most cases, I still flip the wrong switch when trying to turn on lights even though we lived here for almost four years. (Yes, I know, it is not difficult to switch the wires, but take a look around you own home and see what you've been living with even though it's an easy fix.)

Finally, the Husband began working on correcting these wiring errors. He started with the bathroom switch. Finally the bank of switches is wired in a manner that is intuitive and logical.

And finally my brain completed the wiring necessary to remember which switch turns on which light . . . only a few weeks too late.

The Associate by John Grisham

2009-02-02T15:18:00.000-08:00

From the book jacket . . .
"If you thought Mitch McDeere was in trouble in The Firm, wait until you meet Kyle McAvoy, THE ASSOCIATE.

From that one sentence I hoped we be returned to the John Grisham legal novels of old, like The Firm or The Pelican Brief. I have been a tad disappointed in his most recent legal offerings, The Appeal, The Broker, probably as far back as The Brethren (although maybe that one is okay and I'm confusing it with a Stuart Woods novel that had a similar idea). I felt like Grisham would rather be writing the other things, Skipping Christmas, The Painted House, Bleachers, Playing for Pizza - all of which I loved, and was writing the legal thrillers only to fulfill a contract or something.

The Associate has a story that could have been up there with The Firm and others, but it was a bit slow to get started and when I finally felt like it was about to get exciting, the story fizzled. It ended too easily, too cleanly with no real payoff.

Now again, I'm asking myself if I'm giving credit were maybe none is due. Because really, if I think of The Firm of The Pelican Brief, I think of the movies. So maybe the books wouldn't not stand up to my memory up them. I will have to reread a few of them. I 'll let you know what I discover.

Here Comes the Bride

2009-01-30T07:58:00.001-08:00

While walking through WalMart today, P disappeared around a corner.

"Where are you?" I called.

"Here in the flowers," she replied.

When I found her she said, "I will need flowers for my wedding."

"Okay," I said as we continued.

We walked through the baby clothing looking for a pair of khaki pants for P. (She likes to dress in the same colors as I am lately. But she doesn't have anything close to the khaki pants I usually wear to work.)

"My baby will like this. He will look nice in this."

"Which baby?" I ask, thinking she must be talking about her cousin E or her best friend's baby sister.

"My baby. I will call him Andeen. I will make him a pink blanket like mine and he will love it."

"Okay." I said and we continued on.

While looking for detergent P asked, "When can I get married?"

"You should wait until you're at least 20," and we continued on to find watermelon.

"Maybe I will name my baby P. She can be just like me."

"Okay."

"I will need a wedding dress."

"We'll find a beautiful dress when you get married, but it's going to be a while before you get married. You should finish school first."

. . . . .

Apparently P is already planning her wedding. Only 4 years and 1 month old.

Not what I was hoping for . . .

2009-01-24T20:10:00.000-08:00

I was ready to give President Obama the benefit of the doubt. But now that he's granted a waiver on an Executive Order on which the ink is barely dry (http://firstread.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2009/01/23/1758932.aspx), I'm not so sure.

Anyone else just a bit disappointed by this?

Look At That!

2009-01-22T15:28:00.000-08:00

I have finally been able to combine my old blog (of the same name) with the new blog. Have a stroll through the archives if you get a minute.

I can hardly believe that I started this in 2006. It is seriously sad that I only have a little over 100 posts in that time.

New post coming soon. Promise.

Choke by Stuart Woods

2009-01-16T12:52:00.000-08:00

I had planned to start rereading Woods' novels at the beginning, but I found Choke (1995) at work in the spot where people leave books and magazines for others to take, so I figured I read it.

And I discovered something very comforting. Stuart Woods was, at one time, a good writer. I was really feeling like I was dreaming it. (And don't think I haven't noticed that he has yet another new novel out - it is taking every ounce of will power to not order it. I am helped by the fact that there is a new Spellman Files coming soon and I've preordered the new Grisham.)

Choke is the story of a tennis pro who ends up in Key West and mixed up with the wrong woman, who decides he'd make a great fall guy for her plans. The plot is intriguing and full of twists, but I never felt lost or like the author had made a leap he couldn't back up. Woods' writing isn't flowery, but this story was enjoyable.

So while I wouldn't put it on the list of books I tell everyone to read, it is a Stuart Woods book I'd recommend.

Rant

2009-01-14T09:41:00.000-08:00

Dear Doctor -

I was pleased to see you, rather than the nurse practitioner again, this morning. Although having a sick child is never pleasant, knowing that I will not have to wait forever in the waiting room at your office is one of the main reasons I love your practice. What mother wouldn't love leaving the pediatricians at 9:52 am from a 9:30 am appointment?

However, I am a bit disappointed that it took you (or your staff) 45 minutes to fax my daughter's prescription to the pharmacy. I understand that you have a new nifty computer thingy that allows you to fax my prescription directly to the pharmacy and that it is paperless and so much easier, but if you don't bring it into the room with you how can it help me. When I leave your office with a child who needs a prescription I am headed directly to the pharmacy. If you won't give me a written prescription, please do me the courtesy of faxing my prescription over immediately, preferably before I leave the building (which you could do if you brought your nifty computer thingy in the room with you) so that I don't have to wait 45 minutes at the pharmacy only to be told they still have not received the fax and it will be at least another hour before it's ready even if it came right this very second.

Thanks bunches

Dragon Tears by Dean Koontz

2009-01-10T05:55:00.000-08:00

Dragon Tears, published in 1993, is the story of a perfectionist police detective being stalked by a "hulking street person (who) prophesies that Harry will be dead by dawn, the self-destructs before his eyes. As twilight falls, Harry . . . finds his rational world transformed into a place of bizarre surprises and unimaginable dangers. As dawn ticks closer, Harry is caught in a whirlwind of terror that threatens to sweep away not only him but Connie and everyone he loves" (from the book jacket).

I had read this one before, although the only reason I know this is because I own it. I did not remember anything that happened after the first chapter. So whole new book for me. While not quite at the level of his latest works (The Husband and The Good Guy, for example) and not quite as memorable, obviously, as my favorites (Lighting, Watchers), this was solid and enjoyable. The end wrapped up a little quickly for my tastes, but otherwise a good read. It probably wouldn't make my reread list again any time soon, but won't be given away either.

Note to Self

2009-01-07T15:00:00.000-08:00

Next time the kids make the really good stapler disappear because they have broken it but don't want to fess up because they know they will be in trouble because they shouldn't have been playing with it in the first place and then you have to buy a new stapler so the kids can complete their projects at home and not have to ask a teacher to borrow the stapler minutes before the project is complete . . .
. . . don't just buy a cheap stapler because you are sure the really good stapler will turn up any day, when really you know that "any day" will be the day you move and that the good stapler is most likely broken, spend some money and get another REALLY good stapler so that you don't find yourself cussing the cheap stapler and blogging about it.

CHOCOLATE!

2009-01-06T08:26:00.000-08:00

We recently provided a long-lost friend and his family with over-night accomadations. It was great to catch up with this friend and meet his family. His girls took to my kids immediately. We had a great time at dinner and rocked the house (ala Rock Band) well past my kids' bedtimes.

And they left the best hostest gift ever. Chocolate.

But not just any chocolate. Chocolates by Mr. Roberts. These chocolates were so delicious I had to beat my family off with a stick (okay, really I shared, but not happily). Our box was filled with assorted truffles and everyone was visually tempting and scrumptous.

And to add to my joy - they have a website for easy ordering although I will probably have to call so I can ask for a box filled with my favorites.

Apology

2009-01-05T12:10:00.000-08:00

Dear Mom -

You remember that time you left me at the library . . . oh, wait, you don't remember. Well I'll start again. You remember that time you dropped me off at the library, I was 9ish, to research a project for school and you said you'd pick me up in an hour and then it got all dark and stormy and I was a bit nervous because you hadn't come back to get me yet and then when I started to tear up a bit the librarian asked if I needed to use the phone and when I called home and asked where you were coming to pick me up, you asked why you would pick me up when I was only across the street and I said because I was at the library and you asked how I got there and I said you dropped me off and you said no you hadn't, but came to get me anyway . . . yeah, remember how I give you a hard time about that even to this day?

Well, I am sorry for not letting it go. Let's just say that on Saturday, the house was really quiet and I looked all over the house for two kids and was just starting to panic when I remembered that the two children in question had gone over to the neighbors to play . . . four hours previously. Yeah, so sorry.

Your only daughter.

Conversation

2009-01-03T07:14:00.000-08:00

P is helping her dad fix the door bell on her dollhouse.

Dad: Let's put new batteries in it.

P: And then push the button and test it to make sure it works.

When it doesn't, they try something else. When it still doesn't work . . .

P: We need a Man to fix it. A Man with tools.

Dad: What am I?

P: A dad.

Resolution, the First

2009-01-01T13:52:00.000-08:00

Maybe it's just me, but sometimes (okay, a lot of times) I read a book, and it's great and I love it, but a month later you can ask me about it and I can't really tell you much about the book, but I do know it was good and well . . . I've always just written it off to the fact that I read so many books that the details fade. The up side is that I can often reread a book with only a mild sense of deja vu.

A few nights ago, the Hubby and I were discussing the works of one of our favorite authors, Dean Koontz. We were trying to remember which book was the one with the blob under the city and I couldn't figure out which book had the people that became connected to computers, and whether Mr. Murder was a bad as I thought or as good as he thought.

So resolution the first is to reread the works of Dean Koontz (without buying the ones I don't already own, because if I don't like them, why own them -- library here I come, I hope I don't have a fine I've forgotten about). I will also reread the works of Stuart Woods, starting from the beginning, to determine if I've attributed better writing to him or whether it's always been a bit iffy.

There are a few of Koontz's books I will not have to reread because I know whether I like them or not. So here's a quick review of the best and the worst, in my opinion, of Dean Koontz.

Lighting - Possibly the best Koontz book ever. Always the one I recommend to friends that have never read Koontz. Time travel, Germans, love - what's not to love.

Watchers - Tied for best book ever by Koontz. Read this one second.

The Mask - Not one of my favorites. The first time I read it I was okay with it, but the second time I read it, it really freaked me out.

Intensity - My least favorite Koontz book. In fact I never made it past the first few chapters. Koontz started by getting you to really be invested in a character (he's good, it doesn't take long to get you to like a character) and then he killed her off, graphically. My mother, who had already read it, said it didn't change much after that, so I didn't waste my time.

All of the newer books are good - The Face, The Taking, The Husband, The Good Guy, The Darkest Evening of the Year, Life Expect ency, By the Light of the Moon, One Door Away From Heaven, From the Corner of His Eye, Odd Thomas, Forever Odd, Brother Odd, Odd Hours (although this last one felt more like a intro to the next book in the Odd series rather a a stand alone book), Fear Nothing and Seize the Night.

I'll give you my take on each as I read them beginning with Dragon Tears (because I have that one).

Rock Band

2008-12-31T17:15:00.000-08:00

Dear Makers of Rock Band

Santa left Rock Band Special Edition for our family this year. The entire family has had a great time playing - especially my oldest, the budding rock star - no really he's good on a real guitar too.

Anyway, while the rock star in the family loves the great guitar tracks even though he doesn't really know any of the songs, the rest of the family is thinking we'd enjoy this even more if we were better aquainted with the songs - particullaly when trying to sing.

So I've put together a request list.

For the younger set (think preschool) - My youngest would get a 100% on every song if you checked out the Backyardigans catalogue of songs. My oldest probably wouldn't mind playing backup for her vocals either since the Backyardigans encompass a variety of styles.

For the elementary school crowd - Jonas, Hannah, Miley, Disney Movies - I know you would probably have issues working with Disney, but I'm sure you could find a way to work it out.

For the parents - I'd love something a little less "rock" a little more pop. I admit it freely - I like Elton John and Billy Joel. And my husband would like anything released in 1985.

For the older crowd - how 'bout the roots of rock, a little Elvis, early Beatles, something for the rockin' Seniors in our lives.

Thanks bunches.

Book Review

2008-12-18T13:18:00.000-08:00

I am an avid reader. Avid might not be a strong enough word. Obsessive, compulsive, addicted . . .you get the picture. Until recently anyway. I've been having a hard time completing books, which is not usually a problem as I am afflicted with "must finish the book no matter how bad it is" syndrome. But lately . . . well, I have two books that I have started and not finished. Both seem to be good books so far. I just can't get excited about reading them, or anything else for that matter. Except I did breeze through Hot Mahogany by Stuart Woods recently.

At first I thought this book was the cause of my reading malaise (did I use the word correctly?). I wanted to read it, but was trying to stay away from it because I had been EXTREMELY disappointed with the last several Stone Barrington novels by Woods. I know I used to really like his work. I remember thinking Chiefs was fabulous (note to self: reread this one, just to be sure) and many of the earlier books were also good. His books can't always have been this bad or I never would have read as many as I have, or feel compelled to keep reading them even when my expectations are so low.

So did Hot Mahogany disappoint? In a word, yes.

The plot had potential, but it didn't seem to be fully thought out or else the reader wasn't given enough to follow the path. The characters, which should feel as real and multi-faceted as a living person, considering the number of books Woods as written about them, were flat, stale, stereotypical and one-dimensional.

In the acknowledgements at the end of the book, Woods thanks his editor for her light touch. I'd say, his editor should work a little harder at helping her author put out respectable work or look for a new line of work. Just because he's been writing and published for 25 years does not mean everything he writes is worthy of publication. Someone should stop giving Stuart Woods a free pass and I suppose that should start with me.

I will not purchase Woods' next novel. If I absolutely must read it, I will find it at the library.

It Had to Happen Sometime

2008-12-08T13:15:00.001-08:00

All of my kids have had a favorite blanket as babies. All of my kids still have a favorite blanket. Four of my kids still carry their blankets around the house with them. Two of my kids still like to take their blankets with them when we leave the house. The youngest occasionally adds a doll or stuffed animal that must travel with her. Occasionally the blanket and/or doll/stuffed animal must accompany us into the store.

Last Friday was such a day. P had to bring her kitty into Target with us. Half-way through our list P decided to put her kitty in the cart and carry the bread.

All was well until I asked where her kitty was as we were getting out of the van at the bank. Kitty had not made it out of the cart. Kitty was not actually lost because we knew where she most likely was, but kitty was missing in action.

P was surprisingly calm while we waited in line at the bank, only once reminding me that we needed to go find kitty. P was surprisingly calm on the drive back to Target, while I was anxiously praying that they hadn't moved the carts yet, that if someone had found kitty, they had turned him in, that I would not have to deal with a broken-hearted little girl.

Seeing our cart parked exactly where I had left it was the greatest relief. Finding kitty tucked in the bottom of the cart was fabulous. Seeing the smile on P's face when I tossed kitty into her arms was priceless.

And today, when she wanted to take kitty into IKEA, she thought twice . . . and then left him in the car.

Election Madness

2008-12-02T10:13:00.000-08:00

I bet you thought The Election was over with a month ago. And I bet you had the same feeling on that Wednesday morning -- Thank Heavens that's over. Now we can just get on with it.

Am I right?

But, alas, for us poor souls in Georgia, the election did not end a month ago. Sure the big stuff was decided, but we had one last decision to make - a run off for the Senate. And apparently it was a BIG deal. Apparently this one senate seat would be the deciding seat in the balance of power in the Senate. (I haven't done any research to see how the numbers actually look, but this is how it's being played in the media.)

So while the rest of the nation has been basking in the glow that comes after 18 months of campaigning, we have lived through another month of commercials and mudslinging and those darn automated phone calls that, while they might be filled with info about the candidates qualifications or stance on the issues, I feel are really designed to show you just how well the candidate is connected and to impress you with the clout they have. But really we all know, we just hang up the instant we realize who or what is on the other end of the line.

So today is election day again. I have done my civic duty (which maybe I could have avoided if I had voted for the guy in the first place rather than abstaining from that vote by not choosing either candidate). Now please let someone win, so I can just get on with it.

Quandry

2008-11-30T11:42:00.000-08:00

I have decided at long last to complete the I Spy Bags that I purchased supplies for 6ish years ago. I have a better design now and a deadline.

But I have also decided to use a picture card with the words underneath so my non-readers can play without driving me crazy asking "What now?" (cause any mother in the world will tell you that they just won't be able to look and see what they see. No, if there is a list, and they'll know there is a list even if they can't read it, they will want to find what is on the list, which if there are no pictures, will require bothering mommy every minute which kind of defeats the purpose of handing them the bag and saying, "Please play quietly.").

However, if I put a picture of a pink hand on the card and my youngest cannot find a pink hand because the hand in her bag is red not pink, tantrums will be thrown (and again, if I can avoid a battle with a child who only because of her age is not quite up to logically thinking*, then I will do so).

So I have gone to the extra effort of photographing every color of every object and will be making every effort to ensure that the color that is on the card is in the bag, because, although I plan to sell these at the Market Day in my town and not keep them for my own neurotic children, I am a mother and am considerate of the potential pitfalls we mothers face every day.

The Tree

2008-11-29T18:42:00.000-08:00

At 8:45 pm, as I was trying to get her to go up the stairs to bed, P said, "But what about the tree? We didn't do the tree."

And in my perfect little world we wouldn't but the tree up until after my oldest's birthday (3 days before Christmas) and it would be down before the youngest's (5 days after Christmas).

Just call me Scrooge. But the endless buildup to Christmas wears me out. By the time Christmas actually arrives, I'm ready to take the tree down as the kids are unwrapping presents. And don't even think about leaving it up past the first of the year.

And it's not just the tree. Everything must be put away before January 1. Not on January 1. BEFORE. I cannot enter a new year with the trappings of the old one still hanging around.

But if she remembers tomorrow, I might just allow The Hubby and the kids to put the tree up. So long as I don't have to help.

Traditions

2008-11-26T15:22:00.001-08:00

Today M (child #2, age 8) asked what we would be eating on Thursday.

"Um, turkey." I replied.
"What about the roast beef? We always have roast beef."
"Um, no we don't." What Thanksgiving has she been going to, I'm thinking.
"Yes, we do." I'm sure she's thinking, Where have you been , Mom.

I cannot convince her that we have never had roast beef at Thanksgiving. Perhaps she is confusing it with Christmas when we usually do a ham, but either way she is sure there should be roast beef.

So to please my nearly protein-phobic 2nd child, this year there will be roast beef next to the turkey.

Happy Thanksgiving.

Subversive

2008-11-21T12:59:00.000-08:00

The youngest of my five children, who we will call P for the purposes of this blog, has a few obsessive tendencies. She must put her clothes on in a specific order - panties (and don't call them underwear, you will insult her), pants, shirt, socks - or a melt down will ensue. I'm really not sure if I should just go with it or try to change it, but really she's 3 and the youngest of 5, so yeah I just go with it.

Her chocolate milk must also be made in a certain way. First you pour in the clean milk (that's just milk, but she must distinguish between clean milk and milk that we may have spiked with any medicine she may need at the moment but refuses to take) and then add the powder and stir with a spoon. If she sees you make it another way, she will refuse to drink it. Again, not sure if it's good for her future mental health to let this continue, but yeah, 3, 5, pick your battles.

Except . . . .

When she's not in the kitchen to see how I make her chocolate milk . . . .

I put the powder in first and then the milk . . . . and I laugh a slightly evil laugh.

Straight and Curly

2008-09-29T10:10:00.000-07:00

No. 5 has been asking for months to have her hair straight. Today I took her in for a trim and decided to have them blow it out and using a flat iron on it so she could have her wish. Now she wants it like this for ever. She's not even 4! I am in so much trouble.

Makes My Heart Melt

2008-09-10T15:35:00.000-07:00

Monday I came home from dropping the middle three kids at school to find a message from my oldest carefully written into the morning dew on the grass. Hi. That's all it said. But, ahhhhh. That's the nutty kid I love.

(sorry no picture, no camera in the car, but I did have a crabby toddler - nuff said)

Why

2008-09-02T06:03:00.000-07:00

Why is it that the child who hasn't been able to stop coughing since late yesterday afternoon (I mean really couldn't stop, neither of us slept), who I kept home from school so that her coughing would not be a distraction, now hasn't coughed for over an hour.

And the child that woke up this morning with a cough but I sent to school because she wasn't nearly as bad off as the other, is probably coughing non-stop and her teacher is probably wondering why I let her go to school.

And I've made dr's appts for both and I called in sick to work so I could take them to the doctor, but now I'm second guessing whether or not the one really needs the doctor, but if I don't take her the coughing will start again this afternoon, but if I do the doctor will look at me like I'm crazy.

I just cannot win.

Tired

2008-08-25T10:23:00.000-07:00

This morning before we began our errands, P told me she was really tired.

She fell asleep in the car between stops 4 and 5.

She remained asleep when I got her out of the car and woke up to tell me she wanted to ride in a cart. She promptly put her head down on the cart handle and continued to snooze.

P stayed asleep until I put her back in the car. I told her we were going home and she could go back to sleep. She looked awake when she insisted she was not going to sleep, but she was out before I finished loading the groceries.

When I laid her on the couch she opened her eyes long enough to request Max and Ruby, but not long enough to see that I complied.

Now more than 2 hours after she first fell asleep in the car, she is still out cold.

P is REALLY tired.

What Is It?

2008-08-13T10:19:00.000-07:00

No, really. What is it?

I picked this flower from a friends yard and the image is my new most favorite.

But what kind of flower is it? I know I could Google it and I do have an idea what it is, but asking the Internet is so much more fun.

And if you are the first to tell me, I'll send you a free 5x7 print of this image (or one of the others in my etsy shop if you prefer).

You have your assignment. Now go.

That Can't Be Real

2008-07-18T14:33:00.000-07:00

Earlier this week while taking 4 to the doctor, we saw some giant pink flowers. I was sure they must be a sculpture or similar, because I'd never seen anything that big before. Being in a bit of a hurry for the appointment, we decided to investigate on our way home.

On our way home we stopped in the parking lot where we had seen the flowers and indeed, they were real. 4's immediate announcement was that we should take one home. But I wanted to know what the flower was (and maybe get permission) before I hijacked a bloom. We ventured into the two nearest stores and found our answer -- a Giant Hibiscus. We were also given permission to pick a pink bloom and found two to our liking.

The Giant Hibiscus bloom was bigger than my head. Bigger than a dinner plate. They were also extremely fragile and bruised easily. But they were a joy to photograph and enjoy for the few hours they lasted.

These images really don't do justice the SIZE of this flower, but I think I did capture the beauty and intense color.

Blue

2008-07-09T11:51:00.000-07:00

So what do you think?

I love to photograph flowers. I love to examine the shapes and forms and textures. I enjoy caputuring the colors.

I do minimal fixing - mostly cropping for better composition and color correcting.

But this is not a natural blue. The lily was lemon yellow, but a quirk of the software turned it blue when I tried using "auto levels" - not my usual procedure.

But somehow - I love it.

If you love it too, look for it soon in my Etsy shop.

Sharing the Passion

2008-07-02T13:44:00.000-07:00

A few months ago I rearranged my house a bit to allow me to take over some of the basement so that I could set up my studio permanently. I hoped that having my equipment out would encourage and allow me to photograph whatever I wanted, whenever I wanted, without being deterred by the set-up process.

So far it's worked.

The permanent studio has had the added advantage of getting a couple of my kids bitten by the photography bug. Today has I was working on an idea I've had for a few weeks, Two (age 8)asked if she could help and then asked if she could take a few pics too. Before long Five (age 3.5) was in on the act too.

I love seeing my kids explore new things and it's even more fun when they take an interest in something I enjoy.

Seperation Anxiety

2008-06-13T14:21:00.000-07:00

Wendesday evening we had a huge storm that took out the power and had P wandering the house saying "What is happening, what is happening?"

The storm took out our less than a week old DSL modem, which the service provider assured us they would replace and would even send it overnight and we would have it Friday latest.

Turns out "Friday latest" really meant "Monday earliest."

When I thought I would only have to live without my connection for two days max, I was a bit jittery, but perfectly capable of surviving.

When I learned that I would have to make it through an additional THREE days without my connection I went over the edge. Must check blogs right now! Who cares if I don't have a connection. I am wireless. The neighbors are wireless, but have not secured their wireless. I'm sure they won't mind if I borrow it for just a minute.

Ahhhh. Much better now.

The Downside of Swimming Lessons

2008-06-04T15:44:00.000-07:00

I now have a 3 year old who believes she can swim like her older brother and 2 older sisters and better than her 1 older but not bigger brother, but can't touch the bottom of the pool or really tread water for very long, loves to jump in or swim to me without informing me of her plans and has no fear.

Shouldn't There Be A Celebration?

2008-05-26T05:57:00.000-07:00

This is my 100th post.

I feel like there should be a big hoopla.

However, I began blogging way back in Julyish of 2005 (has it really been that long?)

100 posts in 3 years -- really nothing to celebrate, so let's move on, shall we?

How about books?
Began and finished Sundays at Tiffany's by James Patterson yesterday. Fabulous!

Trenton Lee Stewart has a sequel to The Mysterious Benedict Society which I have not started yet. The Husband is reading it to E and M.

Read Odd Hours, the fourth book in the Odd series by Dean Koontz. Great book, but really seemed like less of it's own story than a lead-up to what I can only assume will be the fifth book in the Odd series. Why do I always want a dog after reading a Koontz book?

Harbinger of Doom

2008-05-25T13:28:00.000-07:00

First, is that how you spell that - harbinger - okay, spell check says it's good.

Now maybe you have to be the mother of a child (or five in my case) who has had chronic ear infections who also refuses to take any medicine orally - really she throws it all up - unless it is mixed in her milk or juice in such a way that although she may taste it, the medicine does not completely overwhelm the desired milk/juice flavor . . .

. . . but this morning while trying to get P to open her mouth so I could see if she had any strep like symptoms (since E did and P has not been feeling tip-top this weekend) I got a look in her ear with flashlight and what to my horror did I see but a small blue tube! If I can see it without a otoscope, it is no longer doing it's job!

The last time her tubes fell out, we had 3 back to back ear infections, including one that began the night before she was scheduled to have the tubes replaced and we only managed to get them back in because I cried and begged and the doctors agreed she'd only get worse without the tubes.

And to make it worse, P is currently dealing with a whopper of a case of allergies. Time is running out.

À La Carte

2008-05-24T18:58:00.000-07:00

There are two things, I've decided that should be sold À La Carte -

Cable channels and cold/allergy medicines.

After speniding 10 minutes looking for a medicine that would cover my recent cold/allergy symptoms without over medicating, I became frustrated. I could cover a couple of symtoms but miss a crucial one, cover only one, cover a few extras but still miss the biggie or take 6 different pills and hope I wasn't accidentally over dosing on something.

It would be so much easier if you could order it like fast food -- I need an order of cough with sinus pressure, hold the fever, but give me a helping of chest congestion and make it non-drowsy.

And as for cable -- well I'm just tired of looking at all the junk on the channel guide and surfing through channels to get to the few channels I ever watch. I don't need VH1, MTV, any of the shopping channels, Lifetime, WE, and so many others are taking up space. But the one channel I do want - nope can't get that one without adding another 30 channels I'll never watch.

A Better Way

2008-05-22T13:12:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow is the last day of school, therefore I have only one more chance to send in teacher gifts, unless I want to surprise the teachers on Tuesday - no wait I have to work on Tuesday - on Wednesday, their last after-school's-out work-day, with a visit from my kids and even if we are bringing cookies, I think they'd like a longer break before seeing them again, you know, to miss them some, so I decide we will make No Bake cookies, but wait, we are out of cocoa, okay, chocolate chip it is, even though the thought of turning on the oven in this heat (heat, this is hardly bad, just wait till July when even the over night low is in the 80's, okay maybe not really, but close) makes me ill, which is why I had opted for No BAKE cookies plus they only take 10 minutes rather than the 45 it will take me to bake 4 dozen cookies (no I can't put two trays in the oven at once then the tray on the bottom doesn't cook properly and even if I'm not going to be the one eating them they must conform to my rigid standards, and yes I am a cookie snob), but chocolate chip it is, at least C can make those with very little assistance, but wait, we only have one egg, we need two and while I could borrow from the neighbor, I just borrowed a couple of cups of milk from them and even though I am still on the plus side of the neighbor-borrowing scale I hate to look like I'm so scatter-brained that I can't even manage to keep the basics in the house, although the neighbor does love No Bakes and would gladly trade a bit of cocoa for a few cookies or I can call The Husband with a request for eggs and cocoa and put off the baking of cookies for teacher gifts until later, but who knows what might happen later and I have a small window of opportunity left to get this done . . .

Really there must be a better way.

Letting Go

2008-04-11T09:32:00.000-07:00

I use to be a mystery shopper. Technically I still am. I get emails and phone calls from schedulers, I'm still signed up with many companies. But I haven't completed a shop this year. I don't really plan on "shopping" again, but I just can't seem to take my name off the lists.

It is possible to be a full time shopper and make decent money doing it. I've met people who do. But when the thought of completing even one more shop at the store you've been to a dozen times in a month looking for things you have no intention of buying or hearing the sales pitch and asking questions about a product you probably know more about than the sales person brings you to tears, it's time to take a break.

And with gas prices as high as they are and shop fees not increasing, the distance you are willing to drive for a job decreases which means to keep working you have to keep shopping the same stores over and over and you begin to fear that the store has you picture hanging in the break room with the caption "known mystery shopper" like the wanted posters of the Old West.

I don't want to be a mystery shopper anymore, not really. Sometimes it's tempting, but the work/pay ratio just doesn't make the effort worth it. But it was a lot of work to get signed up and it'll take just as much effort to remove my name from the lists. And what if I change my mind and decide to be a shopper again?

Kitchen Experiments (or I Am the Coolest Mom Ever)

2008-03-21T13:15:00.000-07:00

Last week J started pulling things from the baking cabinet - flour, sugar, Crisco, salt, baking soda, oil etc.) and declared that he was going to make something. When I inquired as to what he was making he explained that he did not know, but would just put things and see what it made. (This is where I had a mini panic attack). I managed to convince him that we should make brownies from a mix and he could add chocolate chips.

But yesterday he began the same process again and would not be shaken on his quest see what he could make. I gave him a measuring cup and let him go, with only a few hints (the smaller the container, the smaller amount he'd want to use - good advice for the way things are contained in my kitchen - so the 1/4 cup of baking soda he was holding over the bowl probably wasn't a good idea.) When his recipe was complete, he declared them to be brownies and we baked them as such. J's brownies were deemed a success by C and are nearly gone.

Today when he arrived home, J declared he was making cookies and once again began pulling things from the cabinets. Again I allowed it and the cookies are cooling, waiting to be tasted, but if the dough is any hint, they aren't too bad. I'd have used more sugar and more cocoa, less olive oil, but at least he had the sense to not include the rock salt in today's recipe.

Maybe I can get him to whip up dinner tonight, too.

OOOOOHHHHH

2008-03-06T14:40:00.000-08:00

I have . . .
in my house . . .
at this very moment . . .
a . . .

MacBook Air!!!

(insert angels singing here)

Unfortunately it must return to work with the Hubby in the morning.

Bliss

2008-01-26T13:43:00.000-08:00

As I type the, first of 5 rooms is getting it's second coat of reddish (okay, really dark pink, but don't tell P, she wants red) paint. And all I have to do is write the check.

The very thought of painting was making me cry and the thought of painting 4 rooms in some shade of red, which seems to be an insanely difficult color with which to get good coverage, was making me think it would be easier to move rather than paint, but moving would probably require painting and, well that leads back to tears.

So I called a friend of my brother's to get a quote, knowing that I probably really couldn't afford to have someone else paint, but I could dream and then her quote was so extrordinarly reasonable that I asked how soon she could start and here we are getting the first room done and I don't have to to anything.

I may never paint again - yup, her prices are that good.

The Great Move

2008-01-14T04:37:00.000-08:00

Saturday was The Great Move. 6 people live in the 4 upstairs bedrooms of my house and not one of them went to bed in the same room in which they woke up that morning. 3 bags of trash and 2 bags for donation later, the boys are in the lime green room, using the pink bathroom and the girls are in the blue rooms using the blue bathroom and eveyone (except my mother who is quite happy to be back in the purple room she moved out of less than a year ago) is begging for paint. Strangely enough 4 of the 5 children would like red walls) but that's another weekend or two or three or four.

Maybe It's the Hair

2008-01-11T13:58:00.000-08:00

Today I took P to the doctor, although he was booked so we actually saw the nurse practitioner, whom we rarely see (maybe only once before) so I'll give her a little lee way for not being familiar with my family, who asked as she walked into the room, "Are you the child's grandmother (slight pause as she took in the horror in my expression) or mother?"

Now I do live in the Deep South and I will admit that my appearance was more pre-Stacy-and-Clinton-makeover than post, but I am only 34! (Ack, maybe I really to be on "Ten Years Younger!")

Now had I had my first child when I was 16 (rather than 23), and that child had chosen to procreate at the same age, it is possible that I could be a grandmother to a 2 year old (but P is 3 and my youngest).

Either way I am mortified.

Why I Had to Go To Work

2007-10-29T15:35:00.000-07:00

(Okay not the only reason and certainly not the biggest, but a factor none the less.)

Checks I Have Written to the School in the Last Month

School Photos

$10 (for the smallest package) x 4 kids =$40 (not sure why I buy the school photos since I am a photographer and do portraits of my kids every year, but there is something about a school pic that says so much about the kids - perhaps because I know it won't be the only portrait during the year so I let them have more say in their wardrobe for the day.)

Magnets made from pictures drawn by my kids (an annual fundraiser for the school)

$5.50 X 4 kids = $22 (this is one of those things that seemed harmless when I only had one kid in school, but now that there's 4 of them and the magnet thing is a tradition - the oldest kid has 6 magnets - and the youngest school age kid was so excited that he'd get a magnet this year, well . . . )

Fall Festival

$54 for "admission" armbands and 2 food ticket per family member (again a tradition that seemed harmless when only one kid was in school, but has gotten a bit painful. This is on top of donating candy/prizes/cookies in the name of EACH child, as well as something for EACH child's class basket (ie family night basket full of games, movies, treats, etc.) that is auctioned off. I'm sure I spent $100 or more this year)

Field Trip

$10 for ticket to The Cay play (this one I don't mind because it falls in the realm of "educational," but still it's more money.)

Lunch Money

$20 - 50 depending on which kid, totalling around $100 for Oct (I vowed the kids would only eat the occasional school lunch and would take a juice box rather than buy milk, but the kids quickly got tired of that and mutinied. So with the exception of M who is really picky, they occasionally take a home made lunch, and M would rather buy a milk. So at $1.75 per lunch and $0.50 for milk this quickly adds up.)

Year Books

$20 x 2 = $40 (technically this will be next month, but why leave it out when I know it's coming. This year I will buy 2 yearbooks. 1 for the younger kids to share (that's a discussion for another day, but do the math and I think you'll agree) and 1 for C since he is a "graduating" 5th grader.)

And let's not forget the winter school clothes that I've had to purchase recently and the need to keep hair trimmed so as not to be turned in for neglect and the current condition of M & E's shoes will soon require replacing and teacher gifts for Christmas and . . .

And I thought diapers and formula were expensive!

Heaven Help the Teachers Today

2007-10-26T06:13:00.000-07:00

My kids' school decided to let the kids wear costumes to school today (why today and not on Halloween I don't know, unless it being Friday was a big deciding factor) as a fundraiser for a group of teachers who are participating in the Three Day Breast Cancer Walk. So each kid brings $2 and is allowed to wear his costume (no scary costumes, no masks or face paint).

I can only imagine the craziness at that school today.

In case you're wondering I sent an old man, an un-scary witch, a cowgirl and a transformer (minus the mask).

What Does It Mean When . . .

2007-10-22T06:01:00.000-07:00

You radically change your hair style (in a good way, it's just a perm, I'm not sporting purple hair with spikes) and no one at church says anything about it?

It could really just be that I stayed home with a sick child last week and the week before I was driving to Savannah so it's been three weeks since I've seen anyone and even then I'm in the nursery so if you don't have a toddler, I don't see you anyway, but come on didn't anyone notice my curls? Or are they just so hideous that everyone went with "if I can't say anything nice, don't say anything at all?"

Nothing like feeling like your invisible to make a girl's day.

And in other news, it's raining here in the Atlanta area. Here's hoping it lasts for a few days. The dire predictions for the complete lack of water come next summer if we don't get a lot of rain this winter are getting really depressing.

Your Welcome

2007-10-19T11:45:00.000-07:00

What for? you ask.

This nice little warm spell we've had after the couple days of waking up to temps in the 40s (at least in my neck of the woods)

What did I have to do with that? you ask.

Well, the house started getting cool at night, not really turn-on-the-heater-cold, just the-kids-should-wear-long-sleeves-and-pants-to-bed-especially-since-none-of-them-will-keep-covers-on-cool. Problem was we were severely lacking in the long sleeve jammies department, so I bought new jammies for all the kids (and a jacket and gloves for me for work, cause I nearly froze the week before) and that very night the temp only dropped to the mid 60's and has stayed there since.

I can't promise this will last very long, the universe can only laugh at me for so long, but let me know when the cold is just too much for you and I'll buy new winter coats and hats and mittens for the crew. That should get us a couple of days of moderate weather sometime this winter.

(And as more evidence that the universe loves to tease me, the day the kids woke up and is was too cold for shorts and I realized they'd have to wear shorts anyway because I hadn't updated there long pants wardrobes since last spring, I made trip to the stores to get new jeans for everyone and then we had another week or more of shorts weather. Really it's a scary power.)

A Letter to My Children

2007-10-03T11:41:00.000-07:00

Dear Kids

Please enjoy the cookies that your little sister and I baked while you were at school.

Should you think that the cookies are a bit off please do not think that I have lost my touch.

P is learning quickly how to bake cookies, I'm sure in a few short years she will be able to accomplish the task of dough mixing without any help from me -- she knows exactly which ingredients to pull from the cabinets and which measuring utensils are used for which ingredients. She has not, however, mastered the number of times to use said utensil with said ingredient.

I removed as much of the over used ingredient as possible, but the damage was not completely fixable.

Any, know the cookies were made with love and please don't mention the taste to P. She would be devastated if you didn't lover her cookies.

With much love,

Your Mother

Why I Love My Kids' Pediatrician

2007-09-27T04:42:00.000-07:00

But first . . .

Why is it that your throat starts to hurt the instant the nurse swabs your kids' throats looking for strep? Or does this only happen to me?

Now for the pediatrician. . .

Yesterday I took 2 of 5 to the doctor. We were seeing the nurse practitioner rather than the doctor. But the doctor saw us while we were walking back to the exam room. He smiled and waved. Nice, but not the reason I think he's fabulous.

As we were leaving, with a diagnosis of 1 strep and 1 probable strep, the doctor talking to another mother who was on her way out. He finished that conversation and then did a quick job to catch up with us. He went out of his way to ask, "Everyone okay?" I gave him our diagnosis and he reminded me to call if we needed anything or thought the others might have the same thing.

I know it seems like a small thing, but to a mom with sick kids, it means the world.

Crabby

2007-09-09T05:36:00.000-07:00

Overheard while P and Little Girl We Baby Sit (who is 3 and will be forever more known on this blog as G) were watching Diego:

Diego: Can you say "sea turtle?"

G: Sea turtle!!

P (who will usually happily play along with Diego): I DON'T WANT TO!!!

Sorry for My Absence

2007-09-08T18:51:00.000-07:00

But I've spent every spare minute of the past two weeks working on my real estate course, at least until Thursday when I started my one-day-a-week-job, which left me with a huge headache so all I wanted to do was relax when I got home, and I made the mistake of starting a new book on Wednesday while I was waiting for C to have 3 of 7 baby teeth pulled so that he can resume wearing his orthodontic positioner that will hopefully help the adult teeth that had already started coming in behind the baby teeth come in close to straight and maybe he can avoid a second round of braces, and the new book distracted me on Friday so I didn't do my real estate course then either and we also took the little girls to out for lunch and did the grocery shopping and then today I had a photo shoot scheduled with a graduating senior, but my light broke 30 minutes before she was supposed to arrive so I had to push that back so I could run out and buy new lights, and then 3 hours later when I was finished with the photo shoot and I had to go to a birthday party for the little girl we baby sit and the rest of the weekend, and probably Monday, will be spent editing the nearly 200 shots from the shoot because she has to have them submitted for the yearbook before the end of the month and I really must get back to working on my real estate course, so I can't promise I'll be back again any time soon, but I will certainly try because I have these great little tidbits I've really been wanting to share.

Question

2007-09-03T05:38:00.000-07:00

Why is it that the first child to get sick after the kids go back to school is the only child that doesn't GO to school?

M 2, Pants 0

2007-08-30T15:04:00.000-07:00

Okay, maybe the score isn't completely accurate. M has been in school for 19 days. One day she wore pajama bottoms (even I didn't realize it until she got home. Her defense is that she took them from her pants pile in the closet, so it was oviously my fault for putting her pajama bottoms in the wrong place. No big deal, they weren't see through, or covered in bunnies), 17 days (including the pajama day) she has returned with her pants covered in so much dirt and crud that you'd think she'd been playing rugby in the rain.

And on the other two days? you ask. Holes, big holes, okay half-dollar size holes in her knit pant/leggings. Holes, as in mulitple holes.

Can you guess what my first question is going to be at tonight's open house?

Define

2007-08-28T18:33:00.000-07:00

goggleators*

As in, "Do we have any goggleators so I can see the bird's nest in that tree better?"

*J's word

Why is it . . .

2007-08-24T17:31:00.000-07:00

. . . that the child who doesn't so much as flinch when she has blood drawn or gets a shot, screams when I brush her hair?

Wash, Dry, Fold . . . . Repeat

2007-08-24T10:48:00.000-07:00

Why is it that laundry multiplies faster than rabbits? In my house we* don't consider the laundry to be complete, unless we can get it all (usually 4 or 5 loads) folded before enough new laundry has accumulated to make a new load (what I call a college load - everything goes in regardless of color). If enough new laundry accumulates during the laundry process then the deadline resets and we try to finish before enough new laundry accumulates. Generally it takes a day to do all of the laundry and if we can get it done before the kids change into jammies for the night, we win. If not, we lose, because 5 kids changing into jammies creates enough dirty clothes to make a new load (and it is pretty much a given that whatever they take of is dirty - it's nearly 100 degrees here, if you walk out side for even a moment you get sweaty and gross, ergo your clothes are dirty.) And if we don't get done in one day and a load sits in the wash over night it will almost surely have to be rewashed (the Husband has a sensitive nose and will complain loudly if there is even a whiff of something not spring fresh). And then there is the white load - the most hated load in the house. All those socks to match and almost nothing that can go straight to hangers. Unless we are in dire need of socks the white load is always the last load we wash because we would rather let it sit in the dryer and pull clean clothes from there as needed until it's time to put a new load in the dryer rather than fold it.

So anyway, I've explained all this just to complain that we have been unable to "finish" the laundry for nearly a week. I keep finding clothes and starting a college load to try and get finished, but now it seems to have multiplied and there is enough to actually require sorting and officially starting the process over.

* this is not a royal we, nor does it include the Husband. This we is largely comprised of my mother who lives with me and, truth be told does a significant amount of the cleaning and laundry, as well as covering child-care duties when I'm running one kid or another to appointments and such.

You Know It's Going to be a Long Day When . . .

2007-08-21T04:58:00.000-07:00

you are offering the crabby two-year old who has been up since way too early chocolate for breakfast if she will just stop fussing long enough to eat it.

Oh, oh and I remembered what I was going to tell y'all yesterday.

J, who started Pre-K this year is so confused. He can't understand why he has to go to bed when it's morning (translated to mean still light outside) and get up when it's night (still dark). Poor kid. Doesn't make much sense to me either. But it won't be long before it's dark way before it's time for bed and still dark when it's time to get up.

And, did you know that "y'all" get's through my spell checker? Must be a Southerner.

Homework Might Kill Me

2007-08-20T13:45:00.000-07:00

M's homework specifically - or really M's reluctance to complete her homework without complaining and whining and dragging it out.

C is to the point he realizes it's just easier to do it and be done with it.

E might frown and wimper at the thought of it, but she will sit and just do it.

M on the other hand will only do her work if I sit over her and prod and threaten her.

I should not have to take an extra prozac just to get through homework!

Oh, oh, oh, oh . . .

2007-08-20T04:38:00.000-07:00

I was so going to tell y'all something, but now I forgot what it was, and it was really good, or at least it was cute, or maybe it was only funny in that you-had-to-be-there way, but I was really going to tell y'all something and now I can't remember what it was.

Promise I'll come back when, okay IF, I remember it.

Or come up with something better to tell you.

Really Good Chocolate

2007-08-19T17:30:00.000-07:00

On a recent trip to Target, as I was waiting my turn to check out, I noticed a small chocolate bar made by Scharffen Berger, hardly bigger than a Hershey Snack Size. I was tempted, as I always am with chocolate, to take it home with me.

And then I saw the price. $1.79 for a 1 oz chocolate bar.

I was shocked! And then I wondered what was so special about this tiny chocolate bar that someone would pay that much for it.

I looked a little closer - it was Artisan chocolate. Well, okay, but that really just sounds like putting a fancy name on something and charging big bucks for it.

It's made with organic milk. Okay, I'll pay a little more for organic milk, but almost 2.5 times more?

I tried to resist, but curiosity got the better of me.

Did I get my money's worth? I'm not sure. The chocolate is divine - creamy and rich, just a little darker than most American milk chocolates, with a slightly bitter aftertaste. But would I buy it again? Probably not. I through enough money away on my chocolate habit. I don't need to double the damage, but for an occasional treat, I might splurge.

And that itty-bitty chocolate bar is so cute, how can I not take it home with me?

Working - But Just a Bit

2007-08-17T14:24:00.000-07:00

So the Husband and I decided that we need more income and there were several ways to do that. The first being that he would get a second job. Not really our first choice since then I would have no backup and he'd never see the kids.

The next option would be that I continue do the small odd jobs I have been doing for most of the last year. Not a bad idea expect it's very little money for a good bit of work (not that I mind working, but when a job only pays $10 and it takes 3 hours to complete - you do the math.) So while I will probably continue to do those odd jobs, they won't really satisfy the income need.
Another option would have been to ramp up my photo business in hopes of making it more profitable. This is really my favorite option, but also the most costly (I really need some additional equipment, not to mention some kind of advertising, not that it has to be fancy, but something to get my name out there more, and that can be costly.) So again while I will continue to work on the portrait business (as well as the art fairs I started participating in this summer) it will not be my main focus, yet.

So all of this is the long way of saying that I have been seeking employment. I have applied several places (not fast food, I refuse to do fast food right now, we are not that desperate), even received one job offer (which would have really been a fab job in my field, but the hours were outrageous for someone who had hopes of still being able to put her kids on the bus and be there when they got home - and really is that too much to ask? I could totally be the person there before the high school kids got out, okay there might be a couple hours between when I'd need to leave and the high-schoolers could get there, but come on, there's bound to be some kid out of school early on work release - do they still do that?), but so far nothing has really fit the bill.
Until today, and while you might scoff, have you ever tried finding a job when the last entry on your resume is from over 10 years ago and the company has gone out of business, so there's no one to contact for a job reference, you can't remember your boss's name, much less how much you were being paid (and is that really relevant when it was 10 years ago anyway) or the exact dates of your employment? No? Not easy.

But I did find something and my work history or qualifications didn't even enter into the conversation. I think I was hired solely on the recommendation of a friend that works there and the company's recent loss of all the college kids that worked there over the summer. And I do know the general manager, but that did not come up either, but based on the person that recommended me for the position, they know I know the GM.

It's really pretty perfect, just enough to get my feet wet, a gentle transition from SAHM to WOHM, even if the WOHM is only one day a week.

And P will stay home with Nan on the day I work, leaving me with just the teeniest bit of mommy guilt. So yippee for me.

Bait and Switch

2007-08-16T18:08:00.000-07:00

So way back in January, the adults in the house started on South Beach. We only made it about 3 weeks before gradually dropping back into old habits. The one habit that stuck was using Splenda instead of sugar to make Kool-Aid. This was especially easy because Splenda had introduced these new Quick Packs that are equal to a cup of sugar - perfect for Kool-Aid. (In an effort for full disclosure I must admit that I use three Quick Packs to two Kool-Aid packs).

So I was doing great until I ran out of Quick Packs and couldn't find them at the local store. At first I believed they were just out and in a few days (on the next milk run), I'd be able to pick some up.

No.
I tried another store, again no luck. I checked the Kool-Aid aisle instead of the sugar aisle. Nope.
During this time, I've been using the little packets to make Kool-Aid. I just couldn’t go back to using real sugar.
Today I ran out of little packets and had to use . . . Sugar. So I did the only thing left to me.
I ordered it online.
What a world.

The Honeymoon is Over

2007-08-10T19:10:00.000-07:00

On Monday the kids started school. They were each up well before the appointed time, bouncy and already dressed.
On Tuesday they were again up before I came to wake them. They were not quite as bouncy, but J was thrilled to be riding the bus to school.

On Wednesday, they were awake, but still in bed when I came upstairs to assist with the morning rituals.
Thursday, they were not awake, but the quickly got out of bed when I turned on lights.
This morning was more like the scene in Freaky Friday (okay, not that bad, but it took some definite prodding to get the kids to give up their covers.)

And then when J got home from school, he said, "Today was my last day of school." I hated to burst his little bubble, but I couldn't let him think he was done. I gently informed him that he only had two days off and then would go back to school on Monday. "Okay," was all he said.

One week down. Now I remember why weekends are so good.

Day 2, Day 5 (or is it 6)

2007-08-07T07:30:00.000-07:00

Today is my kids' second day of school. Yes, I know we start early, but we also get out before the end of May. J loved his first day of Pre-K, although he was mosted excited about getting to ride the bus. He didn't blink when I left, but it was all I could do not to shed a few tears. He's so big, but still my baby, although I'm not allowed to call him that anymore.

M & E are enjoying the second grade and I am pleased with their teachers. The first struggle of the year is transitioning to "real paper" from the stuff with the red/blue lines and the dotted center line (you know the stuff). They used it all through first grade, so the change is a bit of a struggle.

C is in 5th grade - so far so good, but the home work hasn't started yet. This is the last year that C will be in the same school as M & E until he's a senior and they are freshmen (and even then the high school here has a seperate ninth grade campus).

As for P -- she is on day 5 or 6 of living without a pacifier. She was down to one last pacifier, and we explained that we weren't buying any new ones. One day last week she couldn't find it when she woke up, so we knew it had to be in her room, but we didn't search very hard. She has gone from only taking the thing out of her mouth to eat to not having one at with very little trauma. She occasionally asks for it, but it hasn't even been a problem at night. I found this missing paci last night, and rather than throwing it away, I put it in my nightstand drawer -- the last paci, a final reminder of the time when my kids were babies.

Potty Time

2007-06-20T14:59:00.000-07:00

I am not a pushy mom when it comes to potty training. I’d really rather not deal with accidents and I just can’t get behind reminding the kid every 30 minutes – if they can’t take the responsibility to at least tell me when they have to go, then they just aren’t ready.

So my oldest was just over 3 when he trained. The twins were 3.5 (and finally took the plunge because I told them Santa would not be bringing toys to 3.5 year olds who were not potty trained).

So when J, my fourth, turned 3 I started making noise about it being time to put away the diapers, but he wasn’t really interested. So I let it go. 6 months later he still had no interest even though we promised him a great truck and a new bike. Somewhere along the way he’d transitioned to pull-ups rather than diapers, without the desired results.

But a few weeks ago while we were traveling I sensed an opportunity. Regular potty breaks, complete control of the liquid intake, etc. So I bribed him with a car at the end of the day if he was dry. And for 3 days he did great and I thought we had this beat.

Then we got home and he was back to his old ways. And then I ran out of pull-ups and decided we just go for underwear. After a day of accidents I popped his little toosh in a real diaper and called him a baby. (Not the best mothering, but the child was a month away from being 4.)

He cried and said he wasn’t a baby and he wanted his big boy underwear back. I gave him one more chance.

Four down, one more to go, but she’s only 2.5, so I’m not worried . . . yet.

Things that bother me about Caillou (other than the whining)

2007-05-02T10:09:00.000-07:00

Somehow P, now well past 2 and speaking in full sentences with attitude, fell in love with Caillou. I blame it on the little girl my mother baby-sits.

Although not nearly as bad as Barney or the Teletubbies in my book, most mothers would probably agree that Caillou is a whiney little boy and we’d rather not be forced to listen to him. But the tantrum that will be thrown by the 2 year old in love with Caillou is more unpleasant and easily avoidable, so Caillou it is.

Aside from the seemingly constant whining, there are several other things I have noticed that bother me about Caillou.

Why is Caillou bald? I mean really. He’s 4. Shouldn’t he have hair? And if his parents are shaving his head on a regular basis to maintain this look, I think that ought to be explored in a future episode.
Why does Caillou wear shorts and a short-sleeve t-shirt when all the adults in his world are wearing long sleeves? Yes occasionally he wears a snow suit or a jacket, but generally he looks a little under-dressed compared to the rest his world.
What do Caillou’s mommy and daddy do to put food on the table? We’ve seen his mommy in the office a couple of times and a few times Caillou’s daddy has been wearing office clothes, but mostly it would seem they are at home. Or maybe the show is just about what happens on the weekends, because if it’s not, Caillou’s parents have a lot of time off.

Anyone have any answers for me? I’m not going to go crazy thinking about it, but I sure would like to know. Especially that hair thing.

Emailing It In

2007-04-30T14:12:00.000-07:00

So did you miss me? No? Well that’s okay.

I’ve figured out how to email a post in, so maybe I’ll post more often.

But first let’s just test this new method.

Promise I’ll be back.

Happy Valentines Day!

2007-01-06T12:44:00.000-08:00

Hadn't you noticed?

A few days before Christmas I was wondering a store (okay Target) looking for that one gift that I should have picked up when I saw it the first time, but didn't and now couldn't find, and what to by wondering eye did appear but clothing that looked remarkably springy and pink and covered in hearts and was I imagining it but was that all the winter stuff on clearance?

No!! We hadn't even finished Christmas and they were clearancing it and putting out Valentine's Day and even a little St Pat's green!

And then I was out at the same store earlier this week and I saw SWIMSUITS in the toddler section.

I'm not sure what's worse -- the fact that swimsuits are already in stores, or the fact that I bought TWO!

The Loosing of Teeth

2006-12-22T05:47:00.000-08:00

Loose teeth freak me out.

When they were my loose teeth I wasn't bothered. But when C started wiggling his first loose tooth, I got all grossed out. I survived the initial spate of teeth falling out (4 years ago) and have peace in the wiggly tooth arena.

Until . . .

M came home from school on Monday thrilled that she finally had a loose tooth. And now, Friday, she has THREE of them.

And E could get a wiggly tooth any day now.

The mere thought of all those possible loose teeth sends shivers through my body.

What strange thing grosses you out?