Embarrassing 3rd Grade Moment

Tonight while I was making dinner, Kt came up to me and asked, "Mom, do you know how to play the Name Game?" I told her I did, and reminded her that we used to sing that when she was little. I then proceeded to sing it with her name in it. She then says, "Did you know that if you use the name 'Chuck' it makes you say a swear word?" I then sang it, in my own way, without saying a swear word, and told her you didn't have to say that word if you didn't want to, all the while wondering how she knew that was a swear word but assuming she'd learned it from her friends.

Then came the big question, the one I was not completely prepared for, but it was honest and fair. "Mom? How come you and dad never taught me the swear words?" I had to hold in my laughter, but I know I did at least crack a smile. I told her we had no reason to, that those words are disrespectful and their meanings are things we don't really want to talk about, specifically the one she had mentioned in the song above. I then asked her how she learned them. It goes something like this:

A "friend" says to her, "Kt, what is this word? [spelling out one of our wonderful curse words]" Kt replies, "It's @#$%." Everyone laughs, and it's obvious she has never heard the word, said the word or has any idea it's a bad word... until now! Third grade - gotta love it! Has she really made it this long in public school and never heard that word? All my attempts to steer her away from that kind of language at the mall, or in a restaurant or anywhere else we go has been successful? Wow, I'm pretty impressed, of course, at the expense of my daughter's social life!

Of course, we have talked about this all night. Are they really your friends if they do that to you? What can you do to be a good example yet still enjoy, have fun with your friends? Why don't we use those words around here? (OK, sometimes I slip, but I've never done it in front of my kids - apparently!) Kt, I'm sure, hasn't heard the end but only a mere snippet of what the rest of her public school days will encompass. Unfortunately, that kind of crude language is becoming more and more acceptable in everyday discourse. It's a sad statement about our society.

I must admit, having a key role in completely embarrassing my third grader was not as fulfilling as I thought it might be (totally kidding here), but if it has to be for something, this is one of those things I don't mind being associated with. I'm glad I didn't teach my children any curse words, but I guess now I might have to start filling in some of those blanks!

Longer School Days?

I think not!! I just found this awesome article about the validity of increasing days or the length of a school year. I completely agree with this article, that there is little difference, therefore no reason to increase a school day or year. While this article is primarily focusing on increasing achievement with such an increase, I would have to say the real reason for wanting longer school days and years is the same as the drive for full day kindergarten - daycare.

The truth is that lenthening the school day adds only minutes which are rarely filled with more instructional time, yet cost schools a great deal of money. Extending a school year only adds another unit maybe to each area of curriculum, which these days is dictated by the "standards" put forth by No Child Left Behind anyway! I do, however, agree with the assessment that for lower income, lower performing schools, a shorter summer break might be warranted, but only if compensation is given to the teachers!!

I just find it amusing that while school boards sit around mulling the extension of days and years, homeschooled children are finishing up well ahead of school schedules, enjoying their summers and probably working half days compared to our public school students. Now there's something to learn in that, don't you think?

Scary

Talk about scary! Would you not be scared to be mentored by this guy? hehe....

Miss Utility Update

Here's my law this morning (notice the small amount of orange):
Here's my lawn now:
Wow! Maybe T and Audrey were correct and that paint DID melt right onto my lawn!!!

It was an interesting idea, but thankfully, as I was leaving to go to the grocery store, Miss Utility had enough integrity to return and repaint for us - thanks Miss Utility. I was hoping that 46% rate hike in our electric bill would cover something useful!!

Pump It Up!!

Yesterday Em finally had her 6th birthday friend party. It was like "Birthday, take 4" for her! We took a bunch of her friends to a place around here called Pump It Up and had a total blast! This place has two rooms with large, inflatable playscapes - moonbounces, one of Em's favorite things. the first room has a large slide, a huge round moonbounce and an obstacle course. The second room has a relay race obstacle course, a double slide and a moonbounce basketball court. After playing in those areas, we were lead to a party room where the kids had a snack and cake. We were quite fortunate to have some awesome helpers. I've gone to other parties where they weren't as good. Ours played with the kids and our party room helper did everything, was extremely attentive to us and the kids. It was awesome, and at the end of the day, we were all totally exhausted!

By the way, you may think this place is for kids, but the adults were having JUST as much fun!!

O'Malley

So, is our new governor going to ask anyone FROM Maryland to work for him?? Just curious... and it looks like education, while it was so important to him, will be focusing on two counties. Hmm... more expensive cars, less funding for my county schools, funding widespread healthcare... can you say higher taxes and higher cost of living?? EEK! Well, at least no surprises!!

StrengthFinders

T has been bugging me for months to take this test for him. It hasn't been at the top of my priority list, but I finally took it for him today. It's a Gallup thing... Anyway, here are my top 5 strengths. I agree with the first four, the last one is questionable.

MY SIGNATURE THEMES:

Responsibility: People strong in the Responsibility theme take
psychological ownership of what they say they will do. They are
committed to stable values such as honesty and loyalty.

Belief: People strong in the Belief theme have certain core values
that are unchanging. Out of these values emerges a defined purpose
for their life.

Connectedness: People strong in the Connectedness theme have faith in
the links between all things. They believe there are few coincidences
and that almost every event has a reason.

Developer: People strong in the Developer theme recognize and
cultivate the potential in others. They spot the signs of each small
improvement and derive satisfaction from these improvements.

Adaptability: People strong in the Adaptability theme prefer to "go
with the flow." They tend to be "now" people who take things as they
come and discover the future one day at a time.

All my "positivity" husband could manage to yell to me was, "What???? Adaptability????" He then proceeded to tell me just how scary I really am. I'm so glad I took this test for him....

Miss Utility

Whenever we have our yard dug up, Miss Utility comes out to paint it all up so the workmen know where the various lines are. No kidding, one of those utilities, who shall remain nameless, just showed up and painted OUR SNOW. Now, tell me, how ridiculous is that?? It will likely be gone by night! I was sticking my head out the door to find out which one it was when T rudely commanded me to go back inside - I guess he figured standing on the front steps might prompt the guy to come back later??? Anyway, I wonder which utility they will be digging up on Wednesday?

Deja Vu?

I know I said I was going to bed, but did we not hear this very same thing for 8 years?? And did those health care reforms never happen?? So why are we hearing this again?????

Summer Trips

Before I hit the sack, I'll just post briefly about where we are in terms of summer. T has been briskly trying to pull together summer trips. We have some leads, but nothing completely solid. That is fine with me, except that we are debating whether or not to all go this summer, meaning me and the girls. There are so many things to consider, the first being is that really what God is leading us to do? I have yet to feel as though I am being asked to go, but sometimes we have to take the initiative. Another thing to consider is whether it is feasible to go, depending on where it is. I'm not saying that I have to wait to see where and then decide if we "want" to take our girls there. I mean, for a short-term trip, what impact will that have on a 6 year old. Last year, Cameroon was just not in the radar for a 5 year old, especially not for only 10 days, 4 of which would be spent traveling. That's a bit unreasonable, even for an adult! Finally, if we take our girls do we cover our own expenses or raise funds for that? Neither of us know how we feel about that. I'm completely at a loss. Hmmm.... it's a good thing I'm not in a control!

New Blog Template

So, what do you think?? Green is my favorite color and I was getting tired of the other blog template. Of course, I can't do all this code stuff myself, or at least I don't bother to since I have my own computer guru right here at home. If anything ever happens to him, what will I do? Let's not even go there!

Thanks, T!

Dunkin' Donuts

So, for those of you following my conversation with a NYC sanitation worker... tomorrow morning is the morning I'm supposed to leave something for our garbage men. We had agreed on a Dunkin' Donuts gift certificate since we aren't coffee drinkers. I'm a little leary about making coffee for people - it might seem more like a punishment!! Anyway, there's a little snag in my plan, and it's called ice! Not ice coffee, but ice on the roads!!

T said to me this afternoon, "So, I guess I need to run up to Dunkin' Donuts and get that gift certificate??" The sad thing is that we were just there after church. Not at DD, but at the Subway right next door. Neither of us thought to run in as we had to make a grocery store run and T was supposed to take the girls to his parents... Well, not even 30 minutes later it was snowing. I did not see that on weather.com last night!!

Anyway, the last time I let T go out in a snow/ice storm, he came home with a busted bumper after doing a 360 on an overpass. He's lucky that 1) he only hit the guard rail, and 2) that he didn't plunge hundreds of feet off that thing into the reservoir!! Now, I love my garbage men, but I love my husband more. We'll have to do something for them next week. I think they'll understand... especially because they have no idea we're even doing anything for them!

So, friend from NYC - because I have a feeling you'll be checking up on me tomorrow, please check back next week. We have not forgotten, but we're a bit snowed/iced in at the moment!! Now, if we get out in the morning and they are running late, by all means, we will run up there and get something for them!! Keep warm!

First Snow

It's hardly worth mentioning... but it snowed today, less than an inch or two. It put a little snag in my plans for today. T was supposed to take the girls out to his parents so I could take down the Christmas tree uninterrupted. We also have minimal dinner choices as I feel guilty calling the pizza guy and didn't do any shopping because I had no idea it was going to snow!! Time to hibernate!

Ban on Spanking?

What do I think about this? Well, being an adult who was spanked as a child, I would say that the reasoning behind this, that "such a law is needed because spanking victimizes helpless children and breeds violence in society", is completely unfounded. They later go on to talk about "whipping" a 1 year old, which, in my humble opinion, is ENTIRELY different than spanking. Like the article says, they are still working on a definition of "spanking" - obviously.

Around Maryland, this is an extremely interesting subject. I have a good friend who I taught with, a wonderful, loving woman and her husband, who were essentially banned from ever adopting because they would not agree that spanking is never necessary. They were asked during their home visit how they felt about spanking, and both said they would consider it as a means of discipline, especially if a child repeatedly put themselves in danger, let's say, sticking their hand near a socket. Having never been parents, I thought their reasoning was pretty sane myself, but the case worker just looked at them and said, "Well, I will have to fail you for this homestudy. Under no means are you ever to spank your children." And that was that, they are not able to pursue adoption at all, and spanking is not even illegal in Maryland, as far as I know!

When government begins to legislate the way we discipline children, I would think we are in more trouble than just deeming certain extremes of discipline unlawful. When spanking becomes a bipartisan issue (the article states that republican lawmakers thing the law is ridiculous) then we are just being childish! I know plenty of democrats who spank their children, I mean REALLY!! There is nothing partisan about discipline. I'm not sure what precipitated this attempt to dictate how parents should parent, but don't we get enough of that already in public schools??

In my own experience with my own children, I'd have to say that spanking came in most handy between the ages of 2-4, with an occassional hand-smacking (also part of this legislative ban!) before the age of 2 for playing with outlets, throwing of food with plenty of warnings, pulling pet hair, pulling my hair! and various other repeated, willful and defiant behaviors. After the age of 2, spanking was reserved for severe offenses and often just the threat of doing it was enough to end the behavior. I'm not sure other discipline would have been as effective and I certainly didn't want my children behaving the way some unspanked children behave. Yup, I can pick them out pretty quickly!! Of course, some people breed overly compliant children, who never need any form of discipline and never show it, but I think that is rare, genetic and super for you! I personally have yet to meet such a child!

The fact of the matter is, spanking is unpleasant for kids and parents, but it is just a means to an end. If you do not have that end in mind when administering discipline, you ought to not be disciplining at all! I wanted my children to understand that certain negative behaviors are just completely unacceptable, and the choice to willfully act those out would have unpleasant results. Taking away privileges and instituting other consequences are great means of disciplining. I happen to think that spanking fits into that category when appropriate. If you enjoy spanking your child, I would advocate finding another means of discipline - not once have I felt good about having to discipline my child's willful, defiant behavior. Unpleasant yes, but with satisfactory results.

One of the things my sister, brother and I enjoy most when we are together is reminiscing about growing up together in our family. We roll on the floor in hysterics remembering spankings. Each of us had our own way of dealing with them, we each loved watching the others get it, we recall the inch thick "paddle" our father crafted out of scrap wood, sanded and stained to perfection. My mom recalls the day she burned that paddle in the fireplace because it was no longer needed. She also remembers why he made it, and so do we! She was chasing my sister up the stairs with a melmac spoon, which promptly broke in half at the first smack. We all ended up laughing hysterically on the stairs. It was the spanking we all remember best, of course we have no idea why she was getting it! Incidentally, not one of the three of us felt victimized, nor have any of us acted out violently in any way.

I guess after reading this article the most prominent thing in my mind is that spanking does not victimize helpless children or breed violence in society, bad parenting does that, but not spanking. If you want to curb those issues, start investing in young parents, don't vicitimize responsible ones. Differentiate a responsible form of discipline from a senseless, harmful beating by all means, but don't start putting away good parents for trying to shape the behavior of their young child. I personally think this kind of legislature will become a nightmare of parentless children in foster care over simple question, "Are you going to spank me, mommy?" My kids used to ask me this all the time, not because I spanked them all the time (it was a rarity - they'll even tell you that), but because it was their way of determining how wrong they had been. To them, that was their measuring stick for determining how wrong their behavior had been. The act that required a spanking was ranked as a very bad one, and we spent more time debating the hows and whys of spanking requiring behavior than we ever did spanking.

So, why not change that "spanking" into some other form of behavior, like "time out"?? Maybe I am alone in my belief that "time out" was a very unsuccessful form of discipline. My kids enjoyed sitting on the steps, singing to themselves, playing with their fingers, counting ripples in the ceiling. They would complain incessantly about it, but it was not feared in any way, shape or form. When they were older, say 4-6, taking privileges away was much more feared and we used that regularly, replacing spanking completely. The reason? A 2-4 year old really doesn't have the capacity to understand the impact of taking something away like a 4-6 year old does, whereas a spanking, well, they know what that will be like. Most of the time, they are choosing not to be spanked.

I could probably go on and on about this very subject. I can remember having little kids and asking my mom how she felt about spanking now that her kids were all grown up. I love her answer. She said, very simply, "I wish I had done it less, but it worked at the time!" That is exactly how I feel about it as well. I have no incident that I'm guilty or ashamed over. I would love to say that my children were so wonderful or responded so positively to other forms of discipline that spanking was never necessary, but I would be kidding myself. I watch parents who don't spank and think to myself, even now, "One spanking might just be the cure for that defiance!" Who knows!

On a last note, I know this whole post sounds extremely judgemental, and it is of that silly law that I hope never passes. I would like to say that parenting is something that needs to be a combined effort, and all parties need to be comfortable with the forms of discipline used. There are extremely valid arguments against spanking as a form of discipline for some, either that they were abused as children or it just goes against their very nature. In those cases, by all means, do what works for you. I just feel like it's wrong for others, then, to judge the way I choose to shape the behavior of my child. I also feel that, as a parent, you know what works best for your child. I had one who was deathly afraid of a spanking and another who shrugged them off like it was an annoyance. For the second, we quit spanking altogether because it was ineffective. I can count the number of times I spanked her on one hand! Be creative, but hope that someday someone doesn't decide to legislatively ban "time outs" because they exclude children and lead them to become psychopaths!!

Let the whipping begin...(of me, that is!)

Interesting Food for Thought

T and I have realized that one of the responsibilities we have as parents is to talk to our girls about sex, puberty, relationships, etc. before they hear about it in school. We can tell from conversations we've had with Kt about anatomy that the time is coming very soon, however from the few things she has been exposed to, we can also conclude that she may not be ready to fully grasp all the intricacies about sexuality. This article completely intrigued me, about middle-schoolers wanting to host a Pro-Life protest, informational movement. It's a great read, and has gotten me a little more motivated to figure out how to introduce all these topics to my daughters before they hit middle school - EEK!!

Long Weekend...

I did not really want to wake up to this, but who didn't see it coming from a foot away! (rolling eyes in extreme disgust!) I can think of plenty of other Democratic hopefuls this Republican would be inclined to vote for in 2008, but definitely not this one. I draw the line!!

Yesterday the girls had a half day, then Kt took off for her sleepover at the Science Center in Baltimore. She had a blast and can hardly stay awake!! T is up at church with the freshman doing a day of community service in the middle of some crazy wind storm. He had taken Em, so I ran up there with Kt and ended up bringing them both home. It's way too cold and the girls wanted to spend the day together. On the ride home, Kt asked me if I'd ever been to a planetarium. Funny - we've done so much with the girls but we've never done that!! She surprised me by not only explaining what constellations are to Em, but also gave her a thorough accounting of the names and backgrounds of each constellation. All Greek to me, but she retained so much of it. I wonder if she'll take after my dad??

The wind is howling outside and I feel like there is not a sealed window in my house. The windchill is 22 degrees, which is 12 degrees lower than the air temperature. Kt said this morning, at 6:30 am while they were eating breakfast (hahahaha - I've never known my daughter to wake up any earlier than 8:30 - it's just unheard of!), it was blizzarding in downtown Baltimore! They slept in the Body Parts exhibit with a phenomenal view of the harbor - at least that's what she said. Personally, that just sounds creepy to me. I wonder if they fought over who got to sleep in the heart??

As for the sewer problem, the guys are coming out Wednesday morning, bright and early. Hmm... We'll have to figure out how to get ready for school with no plumbing... Since the camera was inconclusive, meaning we have no idea where the sewer line has been breeched, I don't know anything about Wednesday other than 1) our two little bushes out front with disappear, 2) there is the possibility they have to dig under our driveway - not sure what that entails..., and 3) I guess there is that slim possibility we will pay $2500+ and the roots are coming from the street up to our house and there will be nothing we can do about it. I don't know, I just hope they get to the root of the problem - pun intended!!

Monday we are having Em's birthday party at Pump It Up. I cannot be happier that we chose to have it elsewhere! I am a little reluctant to spend the $$, especially right now, but it's so worth it!! She had wanted a "Puppy Pump It Up Sleepover" party, we talked her down to a Pump It Up party! She cracks me up, as the guest list, while it is set in stone now that the invitations went out, changes daily depending on who is her friend on any given day. The person at the top of her list has not yet replied. He was Numero Uno when we made the list and now he is no longer a friend - I'm not sure in that little kindergarten world of hers how that works, but I've explained that whether or not he comes is now dependent on his mother, not on him annoying her or not during her seatwork time! That didn't go over so well, but we are learning multiple social skills all at once through this one experience!

I guess my stalling needs to come to an end. I have work to do around this house today and posting on my blog is only delaying the inevitable AND taking away my valuable productive time. It is fun, though!! Poor T, after a day of braving this wintery weather, he'll come home to brave our mess... Oh well - it's the price you pay to own a home.

A Little More Recess in Our Lives!!

I made it in for the last part of Kt's lunch today. She begged me to stay for 5 minutes of recess and how could I resist? I mean, as a kid recess is a staple of life!! I can remember dreaming about recess while staring out the window with my pencil tapping on my head, the "fake thinking" stance. The monkey bars, dodgeball, kickball, hopscotch, just hanging out with friends, flirting with the boys... it all happened at recess. It was the best time of the day, especially after being cooped up inside all day.

So, out we went and off Kt went. I was left to chat with the Instructional Assistant/Recess Duty person about how freezing cold it is, how much these kids needed to get out and how my daughter was totally ignoring me. We then noticed that just by her a small group of kids were forming with two long jumpropes making an extremely feeble attempt to double dutch. I loved double dutch jumproping in elementary school. The reading teacher had taught us in an after school club, the same one where we learned to unicycle and juggle. So, I ran over to try to teach them a bit about double dutch.

It was after about 20 minutes of straight twirling that I realized if every adult American took 30 minutes each day to join a group of third graders on the nearest school playground, we could quit spending so much money on Bally, Gold's Gym and the YMCA!! I mean, what a workout!! We never did get anyone jumping, but I have to admit, I'm more inclined to go in for recess after that. I actually enjoyed myself. Unlike the recess attendants, who have to keep their eyes on all the kids, I was able to focus on one thing and have fun. I really enjoyed that.

Now my arms are quite limp, I'm pretty tired out (I had just returned from Curves before going!) and now I'm adding to my list of things to do going to the hardware store and picking up appropriate rope for making better double dutch ropes. Those poor kids were using those ropes of little plastic beads, the kind that leave big red welts when they hit you in the face! Talk about being a bit timid about just jumping right in!!

The only other workout I can think of that might be more challenging is digging up our front lawn. That will be starting next week. Bad news in the sewer pipe. The word is "so many roots we can't get the camera down the pipe". I'm not liking what I hear!! And it goes under our driveway..... EEK!

The Big Day

Yup, tomorrow's the big day. We get our sewer line "TV'd" - at least that's what the lady on the phone keeps calling it. I have no idea if that stands for television or telescopic video... either way, grim if you ask me, just grim and stinky!

Tomorrow is also the day I get to reorganize my tiny pantry. I finally found what my husband tried to convince me were no longer available - smaller racks for the door. His friend convinced him not to hang the larger one we bought (thanks for nothing!), so I was on a hunt. I found it, he hung it (I won't mention that whole saga, just that it is finished!) and I can finally organize a bit. I have had some big plans for that pantry and every know-it-all man has ruined them. I really want movable shelving - wood, not these ridiculous wire shelving things that nothing can sit properly on. I am very close to calling a custom closet company, other than the fact that we have no money! I'm thrilled I have this one new shelf, but it still doesn't help my other problem - falling food!

Tomorrow is also a day that I really don't have much to do - that's big! I can actually do a few things at home. Here's my short list: clean the basement mess, take down the Christmas tree, finish organizing Em's room, organize the kitchen pantry, wait for these video guys to finish. Aside from those things, I need to run to church and I'm hoping to get in one day at Curves. OK - so the list is just getting longer. Kt also asked me to have lunch with her at school. I'm going to shoot for that because ever since she started third grade, she has warned me that it's not "cool" for parents to come in for lunch. Now that she asked me I'm feeling like I ought to take her up on it before she resorts back to how uncool it is!

On a deeper note, tonight I led Kt's Grace Girls Adventure small group and I'm really feeling like I should do that this year, but I need to get my act together. I hate leading anything at church when I'm out of sorts in my own spiritual walk. I don't know how I've let myself wander so far, but I have and it's time to pull myself together! Less time on here, more time in the Word. End of story.

So, tomorrow's a big day with nothing to do but be with myself. Uh, right!

Things at Sheng-ra-la...

Well, the furniture arrived yesterday.... at 1:10pm, only because they "got my call"! It appears they were enjoying some downtime at Burger King or something... anyway, I raced out the door, tutored, grocery shopped, got home in the nick of time for the girls to step off the bus at 4. Crazy!

I have to run out today to pick up a few things before volunteering at the girl's school, then tutoring again... never ends! Tomorrow they "TV" our line, as in video tape all the yuck down the sewer. I don't know if "TV" means "television" or "telescope video" - all I know is that I do not want to watch it!! I'll let T do that!

Back in the fall we had our roof redone, it was leaking into our bedroom. $5000 later, after signing a waiver to let that huge truck park on our driveway (they warned me it might leave some stress cracks - forgot to mention it might sever our sewer!), here we are, looking at another $?000 repair. That's one expensive roof! They say bad things happen in threes, and I'm wondering why we're on, well, it's way more than three. Worse things can happen, though, and I'm reminded daily that we have a home, a family, a job, food, cars and just about every modern convenience necessary to live comfortably. We just aren't meant to have $$, and that's fine, because most of the time it just gets in the way!

Twiddling My Thumbs

and the rest of my fingers on this computer... I'm waiting for the furniture delivery people. And waiting, and waiting.... will they ever come? They gave me the window 9 - 1... I have to tutor at 1:30 and we had a conference with Em's teacher at 8:45, so my aunt kindly offered to come get the girls on the bus and wait for the furniture! All that planning and guess what? They aren't here and they don't really care!!

I've also been having a nice conversation in my comments with a true hero - a NYC sanitation worker. Talk about a big job! Read the comments if you have a moment. Looks like next Monday, bright and early, I will be waiting outside my house to watch the men in action with Dunkin' Donuts coffee and bagels/donuts. Want to join me? I might even have a dresser for them to throw in there!

OKAY: I'll say it, Gardiner's Furniture, you've wasted my whole morning!! I called them, they have no idea why it's taking so long, their delivery men are "somewhere in Columbia" but aren't answering the walkie-talkie. I told her I have to leave at 1:15 to tutor, which I didn't cancel because with a 4 hour window I figured I didn't need to!! I told her I'd be back around 3:30, and what did she say? "Well, I don't know if they will still be out at that time." Well, honey, now that's not MY problem, is it? No, my problem is that I spent all day yesterday rearranging furniture for this delivery, cleaning my house, have two dressers sitting in my master bedroom and a houseguest staying here AND my daughter is still sleeping in her room, which is a complete disaster area. But I didn't make her suffer through my own personal mess, instead I told her, "Well, I guess you'll have to reschedule this one!" Hmph.... it's too bad our furniture delivery people aren't as prompt or nice as our sanitation workers!!;-)

Sanitation Workers

In our county, we only have trash pick-up one day a week and recycling one day. Recycling is not required, thank goodness!! At my mom's in Connecticut, the recycling/garbage pick-up people have a thing going where they put these HUGE orange stickers on your cans if you recycle something that isn't clean or correct and a HUGE orange sticker if you throw away something recyclable. It's outrageous!

Here, there are some fairly strict guidelines about how to recycle, such as the exact measurements that you need to cut cardboard before it will be picked up. The recycle guys are so picky about the kinds of bags you use, the size of items that it is just way too tempting to forget it and throw it away, especially if your garbage men are PHENOMENAL about taking just about anything. There has been almost nothing left behind by these amazing guys.

So, as you may have already read, we had a little sewage backup last night and had to dispose of some pretty stinky boxes. In fact, in our basement T had been collecting, for about 4 years, boxes in a large treadmill box in our basement. Don't ask me why - I've wanted it out of that basement for years. Instead, he's always complaining to me about my junk!! Anyway, last night he finally got that box out the door, and out to the curb. I noticed it as I was running to my neighbor's house to use their bathroom and my thought was, "They'll NEVER take that! It stinks, it's too big and by morning, it will be not only saturated with sewage but with rain!"

Well, this morning proved me wrong. It was gone, along with the extra bags of garbage and about 6 other boxes we left out by the curb, wreaking of sewage. I'm actually embarrassed! I don't think we realize how lucky we are, and we certainly don't thank those guys enough. Maybe next week we can think of some way to thank them - hmmm.... at about 6 am! EEK! But it'll be worth it!

Haunted Bed and Breakfast

Yup, I'm talking about our place!! I'm not sure "haunted" is the correct word, maybe possessed?? It's super fun to have house guests, but we've never had much luck in that department. It seems that the moment we invite, our house has a temper tantrum. Let's recap:

Good friends stopping on their way through to Florida: our heat pump goes, freezing cold night, have to use space heaters!

Good friends wanting to visit for the first time ever: bathroom falls apart just a couple weeks before they are planning their trip, bathroom remodel has major delays due to inavailability of the people who SAID they could finish in a week (unfortunately, they are the same ones we are now waiting on to replace our pipe out front, still haven't called with an estimate!)

Friend arriving this evening to sleep here all week: sewage back-up, all over basement, minimal water usage, house is a disaster, also getting ready for the arrival of dressers in the morning for Em's room - so the entire house is in disarray. I mean, it's a total mess. And the guest bedroom/office? Well, T bought new bookshelves and that was yesterday's project - until the sewage.... it's a disaster area as well.

Anyway, if you would like to stay here, it's come and stay at your own risk - and beware! This house is bound to surprise us all with it's next major disaster!!

Third World in Suburbia...

WARNING: Some content not for the faint of stomachs!

Well, OK, it's not exactly the third world, I mean, our house is large, neighbors not living right up against us and we have the ability to have indoor plumbing. It's just not working at the moment!! We have a small (well, large!) sewage backup into our house. It's not pretty, will require a lot of cleaning and disinfecting and we're nearing the 24 hour mark. Needless to say, I've had better days! We are expecting a friend of our family tonight - he's supposed to stay here all week - sleep and shower.... I'm not really sure he's going to want to do that!! EEK! Here is a list of things you cannot do when you don't have working drains:

use the toilet
use the sink
clean your house
brush your teeth (I chose to do this with a cup of water over a toilet that desperately needs flushing)
wash - do your laundry (which really stinks - pun intended - when someone wets the bed!)
shower - this is a problem for me, as I am still sleepy from lack of sleep worrying about how smelly our house will be!

The plumber is here and, well, T just gave me the update. It would appear that there is a tree root that has grown into our sewage pipe. Only in suburbia!! I confirm, this is no third world country problem!! Just a really expensive, overpriced suburban issue!

UPDATE: I have had it with Ryland Homes!! It appears that we have yet another builder defect - the pipe from our house to the sewer was not installed properly, leading to that connection being easily overtaken by the roots from a shrub!!!! I mean, come on folks!! We have had so many builder issues with this house that I don't have enough time to list them. Looks like we'll be in the hole once again - ugh.

Happy Birthday, Em!

I'm writing in purple today in honor of Em's 6th birthday! It's her favorite color, along with pink - I think because she's a princess at heart! Along with those favorite colors is her love for music, dancing, pretend (this one can be a little, uh, confusing, shall we say!), animals - especially dogs and horses, her family, McDonald's, the carousel at the mall and chasing boys at recess. Please take note that school is not on that list!! We're dealing with that one... much later!

In lieu of cupcakes, which have been BANNED from school parties along with anything edible, Em brought in pencils today for her classmates and a Target gift card for her teacher to purchase something for the classroom. (Cupcakes are so much cheaper - and way more fun!) When I first asked her what she wanted to bring in for her classmates, she said, "MP3 players!" We are also working on that little thing we call "reality" and still refreshing last month's money math skills! I guess it could have been worse, let's say if she had had another favorite Christmas gift, such as her Polly Pocket cruise ship! EEK!

I can honestly say there is a never a dull moment when Em is around. Her smile lights up a room, melts a heart and covers the worst of iniquities. She has a propensity for mischievousness, a desire to be surrounded by love and an ability to occupy herself for long periods of time that combined make life an unending adventure! She leaves a trail of cut hair, hole-ey clothes and cut and stapled scraps of everything in her wake and prefers scribbling on walls to coloring on paper any day of the week! Her ability to frustrate knows no bounds, but her gentle spirit covers many (certainly not all!) transgressions. She proudly carries Jesus to school each day in her heart, understanding she's making a way for Him to be heard - after she is! We have a long way to go, but we are on the right track (next to the left track which is the one we're supposed to be on!). Em's direction, I imagine, will always be to follow the star that I can't see.

Em has taught me to be tender in a way that no other person has been able to. I will forever be indebted to her for that. I don't know if it's my inability to wrap myself around how different she is from the rest of our family or if I am following my father's lead, who was always intrigued by her smile, her disposition, her eyes.... What my father saw in her at such a young age (she was 2 when he died) always amazed me and I have been since been watchful of those differences. I am excited to see what God will do in her life, with her life and how he will direct that free-spirit of hers. I know that I'm having no luck in that area!

So, six years of fun and laughter, goofy jokes, lots of singing and dancing and a beautiful princess to adore. I'm so much more than thankful.

Happy Birthday, Emmylulu!!

Photo 1 & 2: Em sat down this morning and said, "So, today is my birthday. January 10?" She then drew herself a cake on her new dog calendar, complete with six candles. Then signed it "E." - a woman of few letters!
Photo 3: Taken by Uncle D at Tybee this past Christmas. Isn't she a cutie?

Craigslist

I have no idea who Craig is, but if I meet him I'll tell him his list is flawed!! I've heard people mention this site often, so when we started hunting for just the right dresser for Em and I couldn't find just what I was looking for, I decided to give this a try. Since I'm never opposed to purchasing previously used items, that aspect of Craigslist didn't bother me. I've used ebay quite a bit and for the most part I've been pleased.

After spending a small amount of time getting accustomed to the site, I soon navigated to furniture listings in my area. After finding nothing, I branched out a bit and found a listing for something I didn't need, but had wanted very, very much. A couple years ago, T had offered to purchase a very expensive Pottery Barn project table for me, but when he called to order it they had discontinued it. While slightly disappointed, I was probably more surprised that he was willing to buy it! It cost around $700, which was not an amount we really had, not to mention we didn't really have the space for it. Between scrapbooking and calligraphy, though, I was really excited that I might have my own workspace with ample room!

After branching out on Craigslist to Connecticut, looking for a dresser of course!, I found a listing for this: "Pottery Barn Bryce Project tables/stools/cart - $395". Now, I was surprised and figured it was worth checking out. In the listing, this person mentioned having 2 tables, 2 stools and one cart. She also included the catalog picture, catalog prices and description. I knew I didn't have room for all that, so I was glad that she also mentioned being willing to sell individual pieces if not all 5 pieces were wanted. Boy was I excited!! So, I contacted her!

My initial inquiry explained how I lived out of state, but had family in the same town where these tables were located. I told her I would be interested in one table, stool and the cart and was wondering what the price would be for those three items. Imagine my shock when she promptly wrote back that they would "let" me have them for $695! Hmmm.... I quickly went back to the listing to see if anywhere in there they mentioned that these items were $395 EACH. Nope, in fact, the only price other than original prices posted from the catalog was $395 for all those pieces. I nicely replied that I had misunderstood her listing and read it to mean that all 5 pieces were $395. I also said I would need to rethink that. In her reply, which sounded as though I'd insulted her, she simply wrote that these items were well worth the $400 asking price.

I must admit, this exchange left a bitter taste in my mouth. I know these tables are expensive, but they are used and even though she claims to have had them for one year, I happen to know they were discontinued over two years ago. I wasn't interested in starting a debate about the age of the desks, but with so many question marks - would they fit in my van, could I find someone in CT who could help me load them, was this person being honest - I decided to skip it. No skin off my back - it was a pipe dream!!

So, moving along. Despite my one brush with misleading advertising, I pushed ahead, continued to hunt for a dresser and came upon this morning a Pottery Barn bookshelf for $30! Wow! It was white, gorgeous and I just couldn't pass it up. I emailed this man right away, he replied that he still had it, sent me his number. I emailed back that I had no questions, I wanted it, when could I pick it up. He emailed he was available after 6 tonight, call for specifics. I called, and this is what this guy tells me:

"I'm sorry for any confusion, but I first listed the bookshelf for $30 and we had about 20 responses. My wife decided that we listed it for too little, so I relisted it for $50. Which listing are you replying to?"

Huh??? My first thought was, "How do these people live with themselves???" In all honesty, a Pottery Barn bookshelf in excellent condition for $50 is still a great deal, but not from someone with so little integrity. I had checked that listing TWICE and never saw the $50. I came home, checked again and there it was - he'd changed the listing that you see, but after you click on it, it still says $30 right across the top. I gave him no grief, replied to him, "Oh, I see..." That was that. Very disappointing, but not the end of the world. The Lord is probably trying to keep Pottery Barn out of my house!!

Now I am extremely leery of this Craigslist thing and I'd like to tell Craig what I think of his dishonest, scamming listers who lack an ounce of integrity. Funny thing, our pastor's whole sermon this Sunday was about this very subject! Maybe the Lord was trying to create illustrations for me of what integrity really means and how it feels to be the victim of people who lack it. I'd love to say that I am an extremely honest person who would never do such a thing. Truthfully, I'd never do what these two people did, but integrity involves more than just listing used items incorrectly online and then being dishonest about it. Integrity involves the hidden areas of all our lives that we do not reveal because we know they are ugly, sinful, or disgusting. We don't want anyone to know we are like that, so we pretend that we aren't. I won't try to tell you that I don't have anything like that in my life - of course, I'm not fessing up to the world about anything specific, either!!

In defense of some EXTREMELY honest friends, who have proven their integrity ten times over, I know there must some of these listers on Craigslist. I hope you find them should you respond to a listing. For me, I guess I need to stick to ebay, where I can read feedback about some of these sharks! I must be a sucker! I'm thankful for the reminder of what I DON'T want to be!

An Introvert's Nightmare

I knew right away when T got back in the car and excitedly pronounced, "THAT was an extrovert's dream!" that I'd made the right decision to wait in the car. Of course, you would never guess what a true extrovert would consider a dream. He was picking up lunch for Kt and I in Quiznos after church. As we pulled up in front of the little take out place, a few other people from church were walking in. Being the true introvert that I am, I chose to wait it out in the car. I mean, all morning in an almost mega-church was enough to knock the wind (or the conversation) right out of me!!

We sent him in with two simple orders, flatbread chicken salad and an untoasted ham and american cheese sandwich. Very simple, he brought Em along to help pick out the chips! When they returned, he just couldn't stop talking about everyone. Mrs. So-and-so was looking so great after her bought with cancer, her husband would happy to talk to him sometime about the future, Mr. Who-see-what's-it's daughter had a great time at Urbana, wants to go to Africa someday, her Rwandan Compassion child was abducted (not a good thing!) and she is ready to go! Then there were the two girls who he met outside of Quiznos who were looking for a Starbucks who had just visited Grace. He was telling them they should try Fusion - better music! He went on and on....

When we got home, Kt grabbed her sandwich and looked dejectedly at her father. "Dad, I said NOT toasted! This is hot." He gave her that, "So?" quizzical look. She then opened her warm sandwich to find cheddar cheese on it, he once again dismissed her dislike. "Just eat it, it'll be fine!" I then pulled out my "flatbread" salad to find no flatbread. Um, that's kind of the reason you order flatbread salad, right? I just said to him, "Next time, why don't you pay attention to what you are SUPPOSED to be doing?!" Not a detail oriented person when it comes to tasks, only when it comes to people.

T promptly took his extroverted self out of the room and hid in his office so we could suffer in silence. He must have had way too much more to share about all the people he met in his 10 minutes in Quiznos, but realized his failing in his task. Who knows? I will never understand that part of being an extrovert, because I'm an introvert, and now I know; Quiznos is an introvert's worst nightmare!

Recap of my week

All week, I've thought of a bunch of things to blog about, but for one reason or another I just didn't. I was going to write about the New Year, about an old friend, about another friend, about my headache that wouldn't go away for three days (T got it later, so at least I knew I wasn't crazy!), about stuff driving me crazy at Em's school, about her upcoming birthday, about Kt's new "boyfriend", about all the things you should NOT send to school in a preschooler's lunchbox (Go-gurt, yogurt and overly watered down fruit cups at the top of that list - oh, and chocolate pudding, which is worse when you forget to send the spoon!), but all those things ended up in my mind. Floating around and then disappearing into thin (gray matter) air. It was really just one of those weeks.

To end my very blah week, I had to spend the NICEST day of January (temps were around 70, it was sunny, gorgeous!) inside at a scrapbook day. Not really where I wanted to be, but I've said no so many times now, I felt like I couldn't get out of this one. There I sat, bored, not much to do, just anticipating and evening out with T. We had reservations at The Melting Pot, before which we had planned to go furniture shopping FINALLY! for some real bedroom furniture for Em. A lot of our furniture is hand-me-down. We bought Kt a bedroom set when Em was born at The Room Store - more like The MDF Store. It's totally cheap and falling apart. Em, on the other hand, has totally mismatched bureaus that are too small and the fronts of the drawers on one chest constantly fall off. In fact, one drawer does not even have a front anymore. It's embarrassing, to say the least. I mean, we can certainly afford to buy her a normal dresser, but for various reasons that has not happened.

I spent all last night shopping online, Craigslist(now THAT is an experience!), ebay and didn't find anything but was able to get a pretty good idea of what I was looking for and what price range. I couldn't have been more prepared. Shop, eat and relax - NO KIDS!! I raced home from my scrapbook day just as things were finally picking up for me, got home and waited.... and waited.... our babysitter never showed up! You know, my mind was not prepared for the possibility of not having a babysitter. She is one of our most reliable babysitters ever - but she decided to go to a movie with her mom instead. Brain freeze moment - see, I knew college finals were detrimental to our health!! So....

Plan X was set in motion. First, we needed food. So, after we calmed down the girls (they threw a total fit at our not even bothering at 6:30 on a Saturday night to find another available babysitter!), and after I convinced T that furniture shopping for a birthday present with my children present was not going to happen!, we got into the truck and were headed for Target. We decided to get a birthday present for a party tomorrow, go to UNO's. UNO's was packed, 30 minute wait AND the girls BOTH fell asleep in the car on the way. THIS is why we don't take our kids out on a date!!

Our evening: McDonald's drive through, eat in the car, I run into Target.... shop by myself (that part I did not mind) and return home. The girls got their PJ's on, made popcorn and are watching a movie, I made bellybuttons because I needed some MAJOR comfort food after today and T went to get us a movie for later and is now painting (the 10th coat) a desk out in our garage. And here I am, writing this to you, whoever is bored enough to care to read this on a Saturday night!! LOL

I guess Em will have to have a birthday without a big gift - she probably won't even remember anyway (I'm saying that so I don't feel so guilty!). She's having a rough time of it lately in kindergarten. I think she still loves school, but kindergarten these days is no fun anymore. I can honestly say that there is not one thing about full day kindergarten that I like better than half day - I see no benefit and if anything, it's been much more difficult than half day on our family. Maybe for her birthday I should just give Em what she wants - to be homeschooled.... OK, let's not go there. Not today anyway!

Ringing in the New Year with a bit of history...

We had a quiet New Year's Eve at our house this year. After a LONG trip home from Savannah, I think it was a great idea! On our journey home, we discovered that Kt is likely allergic to penicillin. This discovery was made at 3 am in our hotel room, when Kt woke us up with hives on her hands and feet and a few stray one around her mouth. I didn't sleep the rest of the night, worried that she had hand-foot-mouth disease - ewwww! In the morning, it was obvious that this was more than that, as she was covered with extremely itchy hives everywhere, some of them turning into blisters. We called the doc, got her on some benadryl and headed home.... poor thing!

After she was feeling much better on Sunday, T took the girls to see Night at the Museum, and they both LOVED it! I know that movie hasn't gotten the best reviews and I'm not even sure T was that impressed with it, but if kids are any indication of how well a movie will do, my kids both gave it a thumbs up. As a parent, having not seen it but the result of it, I'd have to agree. Kt came home and went straight upstairs to research Sacagawea. She quickly put together a binder of information and has become our resident expert on this woman. If only she had been as interested in her pre-Christmas school project!!

We did stay up to see the ball drop in NYC. Em fell asleep promptly at midnight and today was looking a bit shell-shocked on the school bus. She was unfortunately not looking forward to returning to school. It's so sad when kids don't like kindergarten!! That's supposed to be the fun year of school! I've given her a day off of her behavior chart - I think we both need a day where her teacher can't complain about her. Poor thing.

So, here we are. 2007. It's always strange when you have school because it doesn't really feel like a new year. I feel overcommitted, stressed and wishing it were vacation again.... not the best way to have a new beginning. I kind of wish the new year would start in June, just as school is getting out, when the summer is just beginning and we are gearing up for some fun. Instead, I'm feeling like hibernating!

Happy New Year, to all you polar bears out there!

Happy Birthday, Mommy!

Today is my mom's ?? birthday!! Hooray! (I'm not stupid enough to post which one it is! but it's also not a terribly high number either!)

Every year, nations around the world celebrate her birthday in high style, with fireworks displays, countdowns, parties and of course the Big Apple ball drop.

While I'm sure it's been fun to have a New Year's Eve birthday, it doesn't leave much for a kid who always has to share a birthday with a familiar holiday. In fact, my mother recalls several years when her birthday was forgotten by her own parents! Imagine that! We try our best not to repeat the sins of her parents, but this is one of those years we just aren't together to celebrate.

So, just so I'm not forgetting, here's her story:

My mom was born the last of three children to first generation Christians - at least in that family! Her parents met in DC, married in a small wedding in Annapolis at the Capital, and became Christians after their first two children were born. My grandmother never drove, was always sick and sent her first two children off to boarding school (Hampton DeBois), so my mom barely knew them as she was 8 years younger (yes, the mistake!).

My mom had rheumatic fever when she was in second grade and spent an entire year at home in bed. She recalls watching all the kids play each day outside her bedroom window, having blood drawn frequently at the doctor and having a home tutor. To this day she attributes that year to her being extremely shy, scared of doctors and I think it led to her being the most gentle spirited teacher I've ever met! I wish my girls could have her as a teacher!

When my mom went off to high school, she warned her parents that if they sent her away to boarding school like her brother and sister, she'd be home within a week - kicked out!! They heeded her warning and did not send her away. Instead, she was indentured to her mother, who would make her take her to the grocery store every day! so that she could meander up and down every single aisle to pick out the 8 or 9 items she chose for that particular day. I'm so glad my mother learned to drive!

My mom attended the King's College in Briarcliff Manor where she met the love of her life, David Miles. They were engaged in Times Square and life was a dream. That all ended abruptly when Dave was killed in a head on collision with a drunken driver one Thanksgiving vacation. As devastating as that was for her, I have always pondered the idea that I would not exist had he never died - such a strange thought!

My mom later was pursued by my dad, the organist at Kings, a student who came with little money but lots of brains to college from Illinois. He drove a car that could not go in reverse, paid for college with help from his grandmother, who agreed to match whatever he made at McDonald's or housesitting to help pay for school and who majored in history. He wanted to marry her, but not before trying to get his M. Div. at Moody. My mom, in the same stubborn manner in which she threatened her parents, gave my dad an ultimatum: Either forget about being a pastor or find another bride! She was a smart woman, because my dad chose her and became a phenomenal teacher. Pastor material - I'm doubting his calling in that area!

Being raised by my mom was fun. She was dedicated to us (and he friends on the phone!) and loved doing crafts, like Shrinky Dinks, she loved taking us to the beach and even let us help her hang out the laundry! I know, it sounds sort of boring, but she created a world where life was fun, she taught us to make fun out of nothing (we had practically nothing - since my dad was a teacher in CT and she stayed home!) and how to appreciate all that we had. She instilled in us a love for God, forced us to listen to Evie Turnquist every Sunday morning (John Denver during the week!) and read Bible stories to us all the time. She taught Sunday school, Pioneer Girls and supported my dad in all he did - except for that wrestling he always watched!

I am so thankful that I still have my mom around. I don't ever want her to be alone and she reminds me that she is never alone, because God is always with her. I still wish I could live closer, of course, then we'd spend all our time together and never get anything done!! She really is my best friend and I hope she has another wonderful year for us all to enjoy!

Happy Birthday, Mommy!
I Love You!

(Picture - that's my mom and me at Johnny Rockets in LA, taken by Em)

Happy 9th Birthday, Kt!!

Today my little girl is 9. She is having the time of her life in the shower right now - LOL! It's gorgeous here at the beach, albeit a little wet. For breakfast, her father went in search of pancakes and was fortunate to find that Hardees was willing to give him their leftover as we all slept in a bit.

I really cannot believe how big Kt is, how mature, how smart, how sweet (most of the time!) and how fast she is growing up. Her grasp of the world she lives in is getting so big, so deep and her love for all that God is is profound. I never really knew that God created us to grow up so that we could teach our older counterparts more about Him through our development. Kt has forced me to see things about God that I either passed by or had forgotten. I'm completely indebted to her!

I'm so sad to see her grow up because I love little kids, but I guess the inevitable must happen. She is so excited to be old enough to do.... well, her list is so long! This Birthday and Christmas will be full of technological gadgets we wouldn't have dreamed of giving her a couple years ago, some hopefully she'll become more responsible with her age (don't worry, I'm not holding my breath on that one!). If anything, she will at least be a little closer to making her own decisions about her place in this world and what she wants to do about that!

Happy Birthday, Ktbug!

(sorry about the camera phone photos - not so clear today! 1) the girls enjoying birthday breakfast, 2) the view from our deck - we're at the beach!!)

Like Mother, Like Daughter!

As some of you might remember, I came to Savannah a few short weeks ago for the birth of my nephew. The unfortunate part of that trip: the discovery while at the airport that I did, indeed, have strep throat!! Well, this morning, at 6 am on the day we were heading, once again, to Savannah, Kt came in to tell us she could hardly talk or swallow. I knew right away what that was!

12 1/2 long hours later, here we are in Savannah. Kt has her chewable amoxicillen, we are staying in the most gorgeous beach house on loan to us by an extremely generous family and it's wired!! Three years ago when we stayed here for Christmas, T and my brother spent hours on dial up - LOL! My brother will be so thrilled when they arrive tomorrow!

Since Kt is not well, we'll be hanging around here for a bit tomorrow, her 9th birthday! I cannot believe she is 9 already. Next year it will be a whole decade of life for her - I'm just not ready for that! She chose to drive all the way through and not be driving on her birthday. We had reserved a room at one of the few hotels along this southern route to have an indoor pool just in case she opted for that. Instead she saved us the dough so here we are. I guess I ought to go to bed so we can start off our trip on the right foot - the non-sleepy, time to have fun one!!

Tomorrow, for Kt's birthday, we are having lasagne at my sister's, and brownies for birthday dessert. If the weather holds out, we might even have a little beach time! What a fun birthday!

Overwhelmed and Venting...

So, I don't like to do this, but I will. This has been a horrendous week, and it's only Wednesday! At this point, I cannot wait for Christmas to come. I feel like I'm walking around in a fog and I really don't know what to do next.... so I'm blogging!

We started the week with a day at the girl's school, so of course, by today, when I even spent another morning there, I feel lousy. Sore throat, runny nose, achy.... you name it, I feel it. It's not as bad as last year, when I'm pretty sure I had the flu the week before Christmas. But this definitely has the potential...

Monday afternoon I went to the mall (yup, mistake #100), to get some gift certificates. I ran into another 3rd grade mom who asked me how Kt's book report project was coming along. What? That was the question that ran through my head. Book report??? I knew she had to read James and the Giant Peach for a "book club," because she was sick two days last week and I had to run out to Borders to buy her that book. But a project??? Due Thursday??? Problem!

So, I finally made it through the line at the mall, out of the parking lot and home to meet the girls get off the bus. Kt was happy as ever, until I asked about her "little project" which she seemed to think was "no big deal". Of course, she'd left the assignment sheet in her school folder and would have to bring it home Tuesday, but she promised it was no big deal and she was practically finished with the book. Since she had an afterschool piano lesson, we were stuck at home unable to return to school to get more information.

I then moved on to checking their folders, where I found Em's interim report. I won't go into a lot of detail, but it was not pretty. After a few days of emails, questions, behavior charts.... I'm still completely perplexed. What was documented as an academic issue of immense proportions has somehow resolved itself with almost no effort in one day. I have some concerns, but the jury is still out on that one. Of course, the toll it took on my blood pressure is irreversible!

Tuesday rolls around. I had Christmas cards to mail, Sunday School stuff to pick up, cookies to deliver that I'd stayed up late Monday baking, a luncheon to attend and of course I am wrapping, laundering, packing (trying to, anyway) and cleaning.... It's cyclical, exhausting.... On top of that, I had to bake for the teachers because, let's face it, I do that every year and I can't really deviate from that - correct? Kt brought home her book report assignment and got to work on that. I finally sent her to bed at 10 pm after an evening of tons of homework, Thank You cards from her birthday and doing her hair for her school birthday today. We then had a college student visit from 10-1.... while I made fudge, that today I'm thinking I need to throw away. It's as hard as a rock... what a waste.

This morning, up early and all morning at Em's school, then on to tutoring, where I find that not only is the elementary school dumping on loads of homework this week, but the high school is as well. I thought we could forgo the tutoring tomorrow, but low and behold we have a paper to write. Crazy. What has gotten into the minds of these teachers???????

So, I finally get home, completely exhausted, feeling lousy, my house is an utter disaster area, I'm still doing laundry, have packed next to nothing, still have presents to wrap, cookies to bake, fudge to remake, and I'm sick. Kt brings me her "practically finished" book so I can read her the last 30 pages or 11 chapters!!!!!! to her out loud - I have almost no voice now. Em is screaming to go to the Festival of Lights, T HAS to meet with someone tonight. He's told me several times who he's meeting but not once why, tonight, when we have all this stuff happening.... makes no sense to me, but he's gone. The girls were both up until 10, Kt's project not done. I sent her to bed wailing. Unfinished project, unstudied for test - YES, the possessed third grade teachers have made these children the week before Christmas break do a major project and take assessments all in the same day. It's just completely insane!

So, why you ask, am I even considering making cookies for these crazy people? Well, considering is a good word, because right now it's just not happening. Something must give, and it's going to be the baking. I've paid my dues, done my time, suffered enough grief at the hands of these teachers during the busiest week of the year. They will just have to live with their gift certificates. Someday, they can thank me for keeping them 1 pound thinner this Christmas. I have packing, laundry, wrapping and most importantly recovery to take care of tonight. Merry Christmas, teachers - or whatever holiday you choose to celebrate this year - just not in school!! Maybe next year you can have a little mercy on your students and their parents for the holiday season!

Surprise!

T and I just received a really nice (and I mean REALLY NICE!) surprise gift today. Attached to the gift was a really nice (and I mean EVEN NICER THAN THE GIFT!) note. Gifts really speak to me, not because I love to get things, but I like being acknowledged for things. For me, the consummate people pleaser, it's the approval of someone that I appreciate. This person could have give me a package of OREOs and that note and I would have been just as appreciative. The fact that they gave us something really nice (it was awesome!) makes me feel a little embarrassed. But I'll get over it!;-)

So, since it's the season for giving, remember this: a gift can go a long way when accompanied by the right words!! A really good gift, well it still needs the right words.

We spend a lot of time at Christmas trying to come up with fun, good, useful gifts, but how often do we think to add something from our hearts to them? I don't want to get caught up in just giving a great gift. I want to give something that says "I know you!" and then I want to add a little something on top - a note, a video clip, an old picture - you know, something embarrassing, so that person will know that this gift was heartfelt.

This great gift today, we'll use it up, it will be gone, but we'll keep the card, because it reminds us that something we do is important to others. Something we do matters, is recognized and appreciated. We've always felt that way, but it's nice to hear it from someone else. Truth be told, I'd happily received 10 more cards like that in place of the great gift - but we'll take the gift, too, because we're so, well, you know, (do I have to say it??) - um, selfish, in a nice sort of way! (LOL - there's no nice way to be selfish! but I like to pretend!!)

Have a happy heartfelt gift-giving season!!

9,000th Blog Visitor!

I had my 9,000th blog visitor early this morning (I was asleep!) from New Delhi, India! Wow! I can assure, I have no idea who this person is! I just think it's absolutely incredible that we can have visitors from so far away - such a huge audience for such a tiny voice!!

Warning!

Well, I just have to warn all you folks out there who might be expecting something fun like last year's Christmas letter.... it's just not happening! I finished this year's, and it's just a boring old Top Ten list. I mean, those creative juices just weren't flowing. Not to mention, we never did get a Christmas picture. There hasn't been a day all month that we are all well at the same time! So we did one of those photo cards that looks like a collage.... still waiting to get them in the mail. The biggest question of all: will we even get these suckers out before Christmas??? Some stamps might help! I wonder if there will be any Christmassy ones left. For those highly motivated, over-achievers of you out there who have already sent your cards (the pile here is growing daily) kudos to you. Of course, I say that with a smirk on my face!

So, what do you think the #1 highlight of our year was?? Anybody willing to take a stab at that one?

Some Call Me Butterfingers...

but here's the real truth!

Your Elf Name Is...

Minty Sticky Fingers

What's Your Elf Name?

Bingo!

This one is so dead on, it's scary! Wait until T sees this one!!

You Are a Boston Creme Donut

You have a tough exterior. No one wants to mess with you. But on the inside, you're a total pushover and completely soft. You're a traditionalist, and you don't change easily. You're likely to eat the same doughnut every morning, and pout if it's sold out.

What Donut Are You?

Hmmm.. somethings missing on this list!

Your Career Type: Investigative

You are precise, scientific, and intellectual. Your talents lie in understanding and solving math and science problems. You would make an excellent: Architect - Biologist - Chemist Dentist - Electrical Technician - Mathematician Medical Technician - Meteorologist - Pharmacist Physician - Surveyor - Veterinarian The worst career options for your are enterprising careers, like lawyer or real estate agent.

What's Your Ideal Career?

Homeschooling.... again!

It's all T's fault. He sent me a link yesterday to an article entitled "Why I Do Not Homeschool". The first part was pretty good, but today's was really a reflection of how we feel, T and I, about our decision to send our children to public school. It was nice to have someone else eloquently express what I feel has been our gut feeling all along. Of course, I couldn't keep my mouth shut, either. I had to comment a bit... trying not to get into a bitter battle!

The truth is, I just really feel like it's a matter of conviction and world mission view. God clearly speaks to some differently than others, creates children so uniquely and places them with parents who can provide for them in ways only they can! I wish this subject was not so divisive when it comes to relationships. It shouldn't be that way. I hate that Satan has used this arena to get a stronghold on the church today - it's something we should never have allowed!!

In saying all this, I don't want to dissuade people from homeschooling, private schooling or public schooling. I do want us to stop judging each other for decisions we make for our children based on our individual convictions. In each area, different efforts need to be addressed in raising up our children in the way they should go. May God be the one to point these out to us in a loving, encouraging way!!

Bedtime Stories

Well, I just finished putting the girls to bed. Kt has a cold/fever, so she'll be home tomorrow. She went right in to bed. Em is wired. If she were a coffee drinker, I'd say she'd had too much caffeine! While putting her to bed, she counted up to 100 for me, something she's never done for me. I was impressed! She then went on to talk about school. She told me about her hearing and vision screening as if it was the highlight of her day. She then made me guess what she made in art out of clay giving me only the first sound, then again for what she made out of the extra clay!

Then, I asked if she'd gotten in trouble lately. She has been too loud a couple of times during reading group and had to return to her desk. She very sheepishly looked away, then covered her face. I asked what happened and she said, (with a huge smile/smirk on her face), "Well, I had to go to the PRINCIPAL'S OFFICE!!" I had to dig a little deeper for this one, only to find that she and the one boy we hear LOTS of stories about were running in the hall. I asked her why, and she replied that he had to go to the bathroom very badly, so he ran and she followed. They DO have to stay with their partner. A boy partner to go to the bathroom with?? Hmmm... Sometimes I feel like I'm not getting the whole story, or am I? Anyway, I was not impressed with this one! Thank goodness she's at least learning her numbers!

Freaky

This is a little freaky, because I used to have a Volkswagon Cabriolet (just remembering that after my last post!).

Your Summer Ride is a Beetle Convertible

Fun, funky, and a little bit euro. You love your summers to be full of style and sun!

What's Your Summer Ride?

Wheels

Yesterday, as I was pulling into my neighborhood our neighbor's teenage son, in his Volvo, waved to me. Later I was stopped at a red light next to two teenagers in their Acura Integra. A BMW driven by a cute little girl cut me off as I drove around town in my 1999 Toyota Sienna we bought used because, well, that was what we could afford! What are these kids going to do when they graduate college and realize all they can afford with their first job is a used Ford Fiesta???

"Schaffranek'd"

I just read/watched this incident that happened yesterday in Scotland. Crazy! If this started happening in America (maybe it does??) I wonder if we'd be ready?? At the moment, at our church everything is so scripted, I don't think they could handle an unplanned event like this!! from a cult movement. Hmmm.... something to think about, and I'm completely impressed with how this was handled and how prepared they were - good work!

Santa

After Kt's slumber party was over and all the girls had gone home to get some sleep, we took to the girls to our local pottery place, The Studio at Fulton, to get a picture with "Santa". Em confessed to me before we went that she was a little nervous. She asked me if it was the real Santa and I told her it was likely one of his "helpers". "One of his elves?" she inquired. I agreed, that was likely. She then said, "So, this is not the one who goes to the mall?"

I had to laugh. She is so different from Kt. Em is definitely a analytical thinker, but her focus is very different from Kt. Where Kt will question what she believes, Em only questions about what she believes. When Kt was in kindergarten, her teacher was furious with me because she overheard a conversation where she presumed Kt had broken the news to her class that Santa was not real. In discussing this with Kt that very same day, it turns out she was thinking aloud, wondering if anyone in the class had ever wondered if it was possible for one man to fly around the world in one night to bring toys to every child in every country of the earth. It was not a statement, it was a question. She wasn't getting the right answer from adults, so she turned to her peers! LOL

Em, on the other hand, believes in Santa (for now). Her questions revolve around not if he's real but every last detail of his life. What does he feed his reindeer? Do they get cold on the North Pole? Does Santa actually make any of the gifts? or does he just buy them when he gets here? She was totally OK with Santa sending gifts here early so we can take them down to Savannah. She figured as long as he gets the here on time, it really doesn't matter how!! She loves that Santa shops on Amazon.....

Wait a minute!! On first glance, Em seems a simplistic, average five year old kindergartener, but when I probe a bit deeper I find an amazingly keen and deceptive young con-artist!! This is a child who will go along with any story just to make the parents happy, but deep down, she knows the truth. She has done this before, not interested in upsetting the status quo. If we all believe in Santa, she must as well. Truth be told, she's knows something's up!!

So there we are, at the The Studio, and Santa is none other than the pastor that married T and I. Bringing our children to him was fun, and he soon realized that one of our little children was completely intrigued by him. She stood next to him for a picture, studied his beard and glasses, giggled at his funny jokes and loved hanging out with him. While we painted our ceramic ornaments, I asked the girls what they told Santa they wanted for Christmas. Em looked right at me, shrugged her shoulders and said, "He didn't even ask!!!" Uh oh, a Santa who didn't care what you wanted?? I thought for sure she would finally fess up, but instead she said.... well, nothing!

Sometimes, it's the silence that reveals the most. In fact, not only didn't she anything, but she never brought it up again. And Kt? Well, we have never really confirmed or denied the truth about Santa, but we have always instilled in her the "idea" of Santa, and the giving of good gifts. We have always recognized that the giver of the greatest gift is God Himself, the greatest gift, His Son and the reason why we celebrate Christmas. During this season, being a "Santa" is practicing what was taught to us on that first Christmas and remembering that it is more blessed to give than to receive.

On the way out of the pottery shop, I told Kt who Santa was and she laughed, loved being in on a little secret. At this point, I think it would have ruined the whole experience for Em, but soon she will be in on our little secrets. I can tell it won't be long now. I mean, if Santa shops on Amazon, who needs elves, right?

Weather

The snowflakes are not coming down - yet! I don't see any snow, but I hear the wind howling and boy is it freezing. It feels like total hibernation weather to me. That's exactly what I feel like doing. In fact, I missed getting the girls from the bus today because I fell asleep! I just was not created for cold weather. I wonder often what kind of a person I would be in a warmer climate, because this cold just doesn't feel like it suits me very well.

Tomorrow is Kt's slumber party. I cannot believe she will be 9 in just a couple weeks. I'm totally unprepared for this party. Thank goodness the older they get, the less they even want your involvement! Kt has planned this party, all I've done is the shopping. She basically told me what she wanted and how it's going to go down. Kind of nice for me. I'm thinking I might even get some sleep this time around! Now, if we could just get the wind to quiet down we'd be all set!

This IS our Final Answer!

We finally made a decision.... we booked one night at the Animal Kingdom resort, two Disney days. We opted to do something memorable that we would never do for a whole week. We are getting a savannah room, where you wake up to giraffe's and other wild animals munching outside your window in the morning. I think the girls will love it. This also give us more time with our Florida friends. We'll do the Animal Kingdom, then the Magic Kingdom. Since they both close early in winter, we'll have some free time in the evening. I'm excited.

So, has anyone ever stayed at the Animal Kingdom Lodge?? Any tips, advice, bewares??? The girls have always loved the Animal Kingdom. Em used to call it the Aminal Tintom, which we all thought was hysterical. One Christmastime, we visited K & M and they had some leftover Disney hopper passes. Since we were only spending one day and the passes were free, we let the girls choose where they wanted to go. On the way, they both agreed the Animal Kingdom. We went there first with plans to head over to the Magic Kingdom for dinner. Wouldn't you know, they closed MGM, the Magic Kingdom and the Animal Kingdom at 11 am, all filled to capacity!! Fortunately, we had reservations for dinner! Christmastime at Disney is beautiful and terribly crowded!

At this point, with this cold, I cannot wait for warmer weather!

Snowflakes will Come Down

Em, our 5 year old weatherwoman, announced over and over this morning that on Thursday, the snowflakes will come down. At first, I didn't think this was weather related, instead I was trying to figure out where we had put up some snowflakes. Then I realized she was listening, as usual, to the traffic and weather report. Snow. I'm just not ready for it! But then again, I'm never ready for snow. On top of that, I've finally come down with the cold that's been in our house. I'm really beginning to miss summer!

This is one way God works...

This February we have plane tickets to travel to Orlando for a conference that T wants to attend. The girls and I love to tag along, visit the mouse and hang out with our friends, K & M. Planning this trip has been a little crazy, but really I'm thinking more and more that I'd really like to hang out with K & M, meet some friends I only know through T or through blogging and maybe do less Orlando touristy things. We'll see.

Our friends, K & M, have lived in Orlando for several years now. I first met K through a letter I received from Gordon College, introducing me to my very first roommate, other than my sister, that is! I went off to Gordon, excited to finally be living in a Christian community after enduring (happily!) 13 years of public school. Gordon was new, exciting, fun and K was the complete opposite of me. Poor her!

I knew right away that she was going to have a big adjustment with me in her room. When I arrived, she was already moved in, bed made, notebooks all organized, clothes folded neatly, everything had a place, nothing more than what was necessary for comfort. She was from NJ, and promptly greeted me with her NJ drawl, mawl accent. I think she might have even been playing Bruce Springstein or something - or was it Bon Jovi?? I really can't remember, but I do remember thinking, "Wow. Totally not what I expected!"

Truth be told, we were excited to be rooming together. We'd even met once before heading up to Gordon. My boyfriend at the time had driven me down to the Patterson suburb to meet her and her family. I just wasn't sure she was ready for me. I'm not really that organized, I actually function better in an "organized mess" - that's putting it mildly. I don't really have a special place for everything, but I know where everything is when it's not where it's supposed to be! I didn't exactly think to bring a laundry basket along - I just figured I'd keep my dirty clothes where I always found them - on the floor or in a huge pile at the foot of my bed (I'm short!). I brought along with me every modern convenience allowed plus some. My style was cluttered, homey and not at all sparse, that word just wasn't in my college dictionary!

And so we began our two years as roomies. We had some incredible adventures, lived through some crazy practical jokes, studied together, did Boston together, got cranky at each other and put up with each other. Our third year at Gordon, K moved off campus with a friend and left me behind. She then went off to the U.K., where she went to school and met M. When she returned, I knew something was different. She'd had crushes, boyfriends, but this one was different. And then, he came here. And I was not ready for him!

By this time, K and I were living in the same apartment building on campus, but with different roommates in different rooms. M decided to spend a semester at Gordon so we all had a chance to meet him. He wasn't the first British person I'd met, but he was the first one I knew well. My first impressions were that he was friendly, very outgoing, a bit different than I would have expected for K, but very authentic and genuine. I loaned him my car a few times (I must have been nuts! I'd forgotten they drive on the other side of the road over there!), spent some time with them and really enjoyed getting to know him. Then off he went, back to the U.K. K followed him! Sort of...

After those two got married, T and I copied them and then took our first real adventure together. We went on vacation to England and ended up at the K&M flat. It was super fun and T really enjoyed our stay with them. We did a lot of sightseeing and even visited M's classroom, where he taught elementary school. We did a little cross-cultural lesson with the kids there, introducing T first, without him speaking, and me later as his wife. T always loves that the kids assumed that the wife of this Chinese man must work at McDonalds!

After our time in England, I was happy T had met K & M, but I'm not sure he was able to really get to know them. They later moved to NJ, where we had a few opportunities to connect with them. Nothing was really in depth, but we genuinely tried to connect. It must have been a yearning from within, because T kept telling me he liked M.

When I was pregnant with Kt, I dragged T up to Boston to meet a small group of friends K and I hung out with at Gordon. Most of them were from Gordon, except for T and M. I know T felt a little uncomfortable, and the only reason he agreed to go was because M would be there. On our last morning at the King's Grant hotel, M whipped out his cards and started doing a little magic. That was it - T was hooked. He was utterly amazed and adopted this passion from what he saw. I honestly think the God used a deck of cards to create a permanent connection between two really passionate men, and cemented that bond with a passion for the lost.

After that weekend, T shared with me that out of everyone on that weekend, he felt like M was the only one he really related to. I could see that as well! LOL I'm always teasing T that he never likes any of my friends! It's totally true, except where K & M are concerned. From that point on, those two have been amazingly connected. They email, call each other, discuss ministry, passion, life and anything else that comes to mind. Never once have they lived close enough to be physically together for more than a few days or a week, but that has not stopped them from pursuing each other passionately.

K and I joke with each other that we never realized when God put us together as college roommates He really meant to bring these two men of ours together. He is so direct, yet so indirect in His ways. All four of us have been blessed by our relationships in a way that only God could craft or design. He is the passion that connects us and it's amazing to see where He might take us all.

So, we're off to the land of the mouse, but really the home of our good friends, who God has chosen to interweave into our lives in a way only He can. I like a plan, it doesn't have to organized and neat, but I like some semblance of a plan. Maybe God has something else in mind, because my plan isn't working so well. But that's typical. It's just one of many ways God works in us.

Frosty

Not the snowman, just the weather!! It is soooooo cold, I'm starting to think that Global Warming is a total farce! Where is it when you need it? On top of it being the coldest day of the year so far, I woke up with Em and T's cold. I'm pretty miserable, but it's better than the strep throat of a month ago! I guess I better go get some hot chocolate with marshmallows ready for those girls when they get home!

High School Musical

I took the girls today to see a high school production of High School Musical. The tickets were a bit pricey for a high school production, but they were far more reasonable than the actual Disney production, which were $100 for floor seats and $85 for a seat in the stands at a huge civic center!!

This particular production was apparently one of 7 high schools chosen by Disney to pilot their script in high schools. I had no idea... In a short video presentation before the start, they introduced the director, who has put together other Disney shows. I guess I was expecting some totally spectacular show after that little video, but it was, indeed, a high school musical! The kids all loved it just as well.

Speaking of Disney, our Florida Disney plans are a mess for February, partly due to the fact that we are so indecisive but also due to the fact the Disney World is nearly sold out for the first week in February. Supposedly, that's "value season", but it's turning out to be a headache instead! Maybe we should just hang out with our friends and forget the mouse!