My Green Thumb, or lack there of...

At the beginning of the summer, Jenna brought home the little white flower plant that as a sprout was no bigger than the palm of her hand. Then, a friend of mine, Sher gave me the other plant (which for the life of me I can't recall what it is - which is dumb because it is a pretty common one). So, Jenna and I went out back and planted them. We planted them in a flower bed that gets hits by the grass sprinklers and that's it. Then we did nothing, not one dang thing. Just left them there in the dirt and what do you know?

Those things grew! I love that kind of gardening. Makes me wish I had gone out and gotten more and planted them EVERYWHERE! I haven't ever ventured into the world of annuals, but I think maybe next year, I will!

{Seriously, what are those things called (the pink one)? I think it will bug me and I won't be able to sleep tonight.}

A Conversation with Melissa

Have you ever noticed that most of my conversations with Melissa seem to be really thought provoking? Who would have thought that you learn more from your children than the other way around. Seems kind of backwards, but I guess that's how it's supposed to work. Or at least how it does in our house.

Melissa and I were discussing her "Personal Narrative" that she is supposed to be doing as a writing assignment in her class. She is a little frustrated because as she put it, "If I do it the way my teacher wants it done, then it just won't be me..."

{Insert pertenent information necessary to the story: Two weeks ago, she wrote a poem entitled "I Am" which if she gives me permission, at some point I will post the whole thing, but for now, I will tell you one line of it. She wrote, "I try to please everyone."}

It reminded me of a time in High School. I had this English teacher that simply put did not EVER share my point of view. If I wrote a paper on some subject using my own thoughts and ideas, she would return the paper chuck full of red ink, with a big "Re-write" on the top. The comments throughout the paper would say things like, "You didn't support this idea enough." or "What about {insert contradictory idea}?" She would thoroughly pick apart the paper because she didn't agree with it. So one time I went in to her class during lunch, and she told me all of her ideas of how my paper should be, what should be said, and I went home and rewrote it, and got an A. So, I learned my lesson. Each time she gave us a subject for our next paper, we would have a little discussion about it. I took very careful notes on what EXACTLY her position was on the subject and wrote a paper based off of that. Got an A everytime.

I am a people pleaser, just like Melissa.

What is sad about being a people pleaser, is I think that each time you cater to someone else in order to please them, I think you lose a little bit of yourself. I think you become what everyone else wants you to become instead of what you yourself wants. I think I am that way, but I don't want that for Melissa. I want her to be able to be her own person, and not cater to so many other people that she doesn't ever decide what SHE wants, or stand up for what SHE believes.

I know, shame on my teacher or any other teacher for that matter who isn't open to all thoughts and ideas. And accepting of ANY paper that is turned in as long as it is well written and done under the proper guidelines. And shame on the rest of us who aren't as open and accepting of others in their own thoughts and ideas. I'm just sayin'.

My form of AA...

Sometimes I get a bad wrap for having a clean house ALL THE TIME. I go to other people's houses and you know what, there houses are clean too. I think just because my house doesn't have a lot of decor people mistake that for being overly clean. However, I have a confession to make. Deep down, I really am a messy person. BIG TIME. Ask my parents, or my sister Michelle who had to share a room with me until my parents took pity on her and let her have her own room.



Growing up we had rules about keeping the house clean. "Everything has a place and everything in its place" was my parents motto. That one didn't work so well. My parents even tried the rule where I would get my curling iron taken away for a day if I left it out. I just wouldn't shower the next day so that they were still somewhat curled and just used A LOT of hairspray to achieve my "Bangs to Heaven" look. I even remember dreaming once that I had cleaned my ENTIRE room and was so shocked when I woke up the next morning and realized that it was still dirty. I used to even get grounded from watching TV if my room was a mess.



Then when Steve and I got married... You know how you would hang out with your married friends and they would all talk about how their husbands would leave their clothes all around the hamper, but not in it. Yeah, Steve's comment, "I wish she (meaning me) would even care to get it THAT close." Because, yeah, I'll admit, I didn't so much. And yes, I know how to clean, I know how to organize, my parents taught me well. I just didn't care to do it so much.



So what happened? How did I get from there to where I'm at today. {I am a pretty clean person} I'll tell you what happened, Spencer happened. Spencer went through a time in his life, where he seriously freaked out. All. The. Time. And not just freaked out, FREAKED OUT! As in scream and cry unconsolably if I wasn't around. It was like he didn't feel safe in his own home, if I wasn't around. And no, Steve wasn't good enough for Spencer. I couldn't even leave him with his own Dad. He needed to always know where I was.



Then one day, I noticed he was actually doing OK. And I said to him, "Spencer, you are doing really good today." And he said, "Yeah, Mom, the house is clean." Tell me that just doesn't make you want to cry. I did. So, at that moment, I realized that cleanliness, orderlyness, and routine, mattered for Spencer's well being. His "spiritual" well being. And so I changed.

When we were in our last house, a friend of mine introduced me to "The Fly Lady." She has a way of cleaning and organizing your house, that is only a little work everyday. Her philosophy wasn't that different from my parents growing up. Everything has a place and everything in its place. And I did her little program the last little while of living in our last house. Then we had to move in with Steve's parents because our house sold quickly(within a week of listing it, and they wanted us out by the end of the following week). We hurridly packed up and moved all our stuff to a storage unit and went to Steve's parent's basement. There wasn't anywhere to put our stuff, the basement was flooding every time it rained, carpet was being pulled up, the family room furniture was all shoved to the other side of the room. And even the room the kids were sleeping in flooded a bit and had to cram all the stuff onto one side, and that's when his problem kind of started. Then it just got worse when we moved here. I hadn't really gotten everything into any sort of an order. Not until we were having some friends over to see our new house and it kind of forced us to get things in more of an order. That's when Spencer made his revelation.



It was a pretty hard blow to my ego. I always fancied myself as a "clean person". But I wasn't. I knew how to clean, and I did it when I had to {read: when company was coming over}, but really, I am a messy person. That was the first step, admitting I had a problem. And then every day, making a conscious effort to change. And it is something that I work hard at, all the time. My tendency to to be messy. {Just look at my counter in the bathroom when I am done getting ready in the morning. Stuff everywhere. Not like my husband where the counter is perfectly cleared before, during and after he's done getting ready.} And everyday I try to overcome that tendency. And just like anyone else trying to change any behavior, sometimes I slip a little bit. {Like right now, my house is a bit messy}.

So, when someone comes into my house and makes a comment like, "Your house is so clean!" with the undertone of it being something disgusting. Yeah, my feelings get a little hurt. Or if my house tends to be messy, when someone sees it and says, "I can't believe your house is a mess!" As if I have just done something horribly wrong, yeah that stings a little too. I do slip every once in a while. But I won't slip for long because I notice a change in my kids' behavior when the house is a mess. It's kind of a crazy thing. They aren't as happy when the house is a mess. Same thing goes for routine. They are happier with a schedule. Life goes better when things are in order.

So, here you have it, "Hi, my name is Andrea and I am a messy person..." I'm just sayin'. {Now I think I'll go clean the kitchen... gotta jump back on the bandwagon so to speak!}

The Bare Chest Backlash

The Bare Chest Backlash

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We caught this on Nightline on Monday. And after looking for the video, I found that it originally aired in January. It's good news for people like Steve. What do you think? Bald or "man fur"?

ksl.com - Women with high testosterone take more money risks

ksl.com - Women with high testosterone take more money risks

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Testosterone and Money

So last night, the news has this story about how some study somewhere has shown that women with higher testosterone levels are more reckless with money. And basically that was it, {it was one of the reports that kind of ends the night broadcast, and so it was cut pretty short}. But it got me interested, so I looked up the study on line.

Basically Northwestern University noticed that in their MBA program, only 36% of females were choosing high-risk financial careers compared to 57% of males. There was already some research done in England that (supposedly-I'm a little skeptical as to just how you could prove this) higher levels of testosterone boosts short term success at finance. That study tested only male traders and found that those with higher levels of testosterone in the morning were more likely to make an unusually big profit that day. Having heard of that study before, the university decided to test their students and see if the same held for women. They found that women with higher levels of testosterone were almost seven times more likely to take risks than women with lower levels.

One other side note: The study also showed that married men and women had lower levels of testosterone than single individuals and were therefore, more risk averse than unmarried people.

So here I am, thinking when I was younger and unmarried, I was not very good with money. At least not like my sister who has ALWAYS been good at saving it and spending it wisely. When Steve and I got married, we went to the bank to consolidate our funds, and I had $25.47 to my name. {you would remember that number too if your husband had a lot more than you in his account} The bank lady asked before we closed my account if there were any outstanding checks that hadn't been cleared yet. "Ummmmm.... I don't think so." Followed by Steve's, "Don't you check?" And no, not really I didn't check, and we went ahead and closed the account only to have a 3 dollar and some change check bounce and have to pay the bank back that amount plus the $20 bounce fee which means I basically had a little over $2 to my name when we got married.

But you know, I worked really hard to save money and not spend it. I worked as a teacher for a couple of years after being married, I feel like I contributed to us being able to buy our first house and pay off all my own student loans.

So now, after hearing this report, I was thinking all along that I was actually learning to be good with my money and really budget, but according to this "study" they are saying that really, I just had high levels of testosterone in my body when I was single, and just as time has gone on, the levels have decreased, and so therefore I am just less reckless with my money? Yeah, whatever, I don't buy it. I think when it comes to anything that we are either good at or bad at, there is some personal effort in it. There is some amount of physical and mental discipline that comes into play. And it is NOT just all based on how much testosterone is in my body.

One thing that the study forgets to look at, is what are the levels of testosterone like in men who are not risky with money. Or, maybe they did and found that there were more men with higher levels of testosterone in their body who were NOT high-risk takers and it just didn't support their "findings" so they left it out. I have added the site for you to take a look at if you are interested in the study at all. I know that I am just rambling, but this story kind of seriously bugs me. I'm just sayin'.

Random stuff and then some tunes {a little late}

I missed Friday. I took the kids up to my Mom's house to get in one last fling before school started. We even stayed the night at my sister's Friday night and enjoyed hanging out and playing.

While my sister Michelle was visiting, I made pancakes for breakfast one morning, and she was surprised to find out that I made homemade syrup. I DON'T like homemade syrup, but Steve prefers the homemade syrup and so I would make it for him and it seemed like my kids liked it better too, so I thought it was kind of a waste to buy just me syrup. However, one day while my sister was at the store, she picked me up a bottle as a litte "gift" and it tasted so good! Not only that, but the next time I made pancakes, I put brown sugar on my pancakes followed by syrup. It is one of my ABSOLUTE favorite things to eat for breakfast. Thanks Michelle!

Last week when we were out shoe shopping for the kids we happened on an accident where an older model car had hit a newer model SUV into the first row of cars at a car dealership! Yeah, tell me that wouldn't suck! There were at least three of the brand spanking new cars that were affected. How would you like to call your insurance up and explain that one?

Another thing I witnessed last week was a Dad and son almost getting hit by a commuter train! There are two sets of tracks along the freeway nearby, and a father and son were walking and stopped to wait for a slow freight train to go by. Only the "genius" was waiting on the other set of tracks. Which I didn't think anything of it until I heard the horn of the commuter train. I looked up, the dad looked up, the kid looked up, and they FROZE! I was surprised though that the commuter train was able to stop so fast. Cause if not, yeah, that would have sucked.

We watched the new Hannah Montana movie this weekend. {It came out on DVD} I thought that there were some good entertaining parts on the show, but I can not stand those parts where the characters are faced with a predicament and then doing such crazy and obnoxious things to try and get out of the predicament. When all they had to do was be honest in the first place and it would have been so much better and easier. There was a little too much of that in the movie, that I considered it obnoxious.

I have had a hard time lately coming up with things to make for dinner. It seems like we are eating the same things over and over again. Even my kids seem bored by the food I make. I swear every meal I hear something like, "Not this again!" Not only that, but when I go in the kitchen to start dinner, I feel like I just made that meal last night. It's not the case, but it sure feels like it. Where do you come up with your ideas?

Well, that's it. Now for the tunes (since it's back to school, I did a playlist full of sings that remind me of my school years).

1. Please Don't Go Girl - NKOTB {I went to their concert my freshman year of high school}
2. Istanbul (Not Constantinople - They Might Be Giants
3. Bicycle Race - Queen
4. West End Girls - Pet Shop Boys
5. Don't You (Forget about me) - Simple Minds {This was actually our senior song}
6. Right Stuff - NKOTB
7. We are the Champions - Queen
8. We Will Rock You - Queen
9. Oh L'Amour - Erasure
10. Summertime - NKOTB

Bonus: A little Respect - Erasure

Random Stuff and then Some Tunes

I have always wanted to play, but part of the rules in playing the Random 10 Friday, is you have to have a playlist. Which up until this past week, I have not had one. However, thanks to Melissa who set me up, I've got a playlist and I'm going to play. For those of you who are not familiar with Random 10 Fridays, I got the idea from Motherboard and Sher. The rules are you ramble off some of the random thoughts you've got going around your brain and then at the end, you hit your music player to play randomly and then list the first ten songs that get played. The idea is to get some ideas for some good music. For me though, the idea is to hear what random stuff people have going around their brains. Although, every once in a while I have stumbled across some good songs.

So, random thought #1 has to do with my playlist. I had Melissa put on songs that she thought would be considered some of my favorites. She did a pretty good job, although I think there are quite a few songs that would actually be considered my kids favorites. There is one, "Don't You Want Me Baby" that for some reason, my kids and I all like to sing along with when it comes on the radio and I mean belt out at the top of our lungs sing. I guess you could call it our theme song. Just don't listen to the words to carefully. Funny thing is, Spencer was always excited for it to come on the radio when he was a little tike and now Jayden is the same way, I guess they are brothers.

Why is it that some people have embarrassing moments, and they make great blog posts, but I have an embarrassing moment, and it becomes a "yeah, you only wish you knew" kind of moment. I may someday be brave enough to post it, but it has to do with some girlie stuff, so it borders on the maybe too graphic to post. So why it is that some people have "embarassing" moments and I have "humiliating" moments is beyond me and from my perspective completely unfair.

I also have this remarkable talent for putting my foot in my mouth. I mean seriously it could be listed as one of my best worst qualities. The dumb thing is, you would think that by now I would have learned to think before I speak, but the problem is, I HAVE thought before I spoke, I just didn't hear it in my mind the way it actually came out. Those moments are the worst. Like the time in the past couple of weeks where I was taking a picture with two other ladies. Neither of whom I am very good friends with, we just happened to be standing next to each other in the food line, and the person taking the picture said, "Scoot closer together." To which I replied, to the lady standing next to me, "I guess we have to pretend to like each other." I say that all the time to my kids and it's no big deal because they know that they really do like each other, but I guess you shouldn't say it to someone who thinks that you don't actually like them. And the truth is, maybe I don't, but I didn't mean it that way.

When you are counting down the days until school starts, do you count today or not. School starts here on the 24th, and today is the 14th (I think, but since the kids aren't in school I really don't keep track of the days actual date) so does that mean there are 10 days left, including today or 9? Just wondering.

We have officially gone (well almost, the summer's not quite over) the complete summer without taking any sort of a vacation. I feel jipped and I think my kids feel jipped. What are my kids supposed to write about in the ever popular first day of school assignment, "What did you do over the summer?" We've stayed busy, but nothing real exciting. Kind of sad if you ask me. It almost makes me feel like I want to hop in the car and go somewhere for this last week of summer. Any good ideas?

So there you have it, here's some tunes:

1. Love Story, Taylor Swift
2. Slipping Through My Fingers, Meryl Streep
3. Lie, David Cook
4. Our Last Summer, Benny Andersson
5. Viva La Vida, Coldplay
6. I'm Not That Girl, Idina Menzel
7. Crush, David Archuleta
8. Touch My Hand, David Archuleta
9. SOS, Meryl Streep & Pierce Brosnan
10. Home, Daughtry

Bonus: Human, The Killers

Thanks for letting me Play!

Let the Countdown begin! {Mostly}

Every time summer comes around, I am pretty excited to have a break from the school thing. It is nice to not have the constant battle every morning of:

"Eat your breakfast."

"Are you eating your breakfast?"

"What are you supposed to be doing right now?" {Answer: Eating breakfast}

"Well if you are done now, why don't you put your bowl away and go get dressed?"

"Are you planning on wearing your jammies to school?" {Replied: no}

Followed by me saying: "Well if you don't hurry up and get dressed, you will be 'cause the bus is coming in like 5 minutes."

{You get the picture.}

So when summer comes around, it's nice to not have this conversation every morning. But when it gets to the point where we are having conversations such as, "You can NOT stay in your jammies all day." And "Just because you don't have to go to school, doesn't mean you don't have to brush your teeth."

And when our fights are sounding like this:

"Mom! Melissa BREATHED on me!"

"Mom, Spencer is looking at me like a weirdo!"

Or, {my personal favorite} Spencer and Melissa telling me that they are sick and tired of Jenna doing her "I get whatever I want face - and she knows it!"

The countdown officially begins and I can't wait! So here you have it, 12 days until Melissa and Spencer go to school.

{I am a little nervous yet for Jenna to start school, so the countdown for her will have to wait another year.} I'm just sayin'.

Family Foods

I know I have spoken on this subject before, but it's my blog, so humor me...

I have had this conversation several times in the past few months/days with numerous people and I'm wondering what's the deal?

I have found that there are certain foods that families just seem to like, but it is only THAT family. It doesn't seem to leave the immediate family. For whatever reason, you just can't seem to initiate the in-laws into believing how wonderful and how much of a delicacy that meal is.

For example, (and I have brought this up before) our family enjoys a thing called rice custard. We just about had either that or mac n cheese with pigs in a blanket everytime my parents went out for a date. However, I don't think ANY of the in-laws in my family like it.

Then there is the Choc -o- mint that we (the family I grew up in) have for Christmas each year. Some, who will remain nameless {read Brett} can't get past the fact that it is made with lime jello. Now I will admit that there are a few in-laws who actually like it, but not many and not all.

Then there is the fact that every family has it's own lasagne. Everyone seems to like it the way they had it when they were growing up. However, why is it my kids don't like the lasagne I had when growing up? Why do they like Steve's Mom's better? And why is it that as a whole my kids like the kind of food that Steve grew up on better than the food I grew up on? When in reality (no offense to Steve's mom) the food I grew up on was {I need to say it carefully} more flavorful? A little side note on the lasagne: Steve's Mom's lasagne literally made me puke everytime I had it, but as the dutiful wife, I continued to eat/choke it down everytime, AND made it for my husband and have as a result produced an acquired taste for it.

In my defense though, Steve's family does have it's share of weird things. For example, they always mix eggnog with orange juice and Sprite. And being the typical in-law, I hate it. Then there's the fact that ALL home-made ice cream revolves around some flavor of jello {there are some I actually like}. Then there is the Spam and Cheese that they all seem to like or Creamed Tuna on Toast. And like all "family-type" foods, I think those will die with his immediate family. I'm just sayin'.

So, what kind of "family foods" do you have/like?

Those Things we Hate to Love

I know before I ever had kids that I was could be heard saying, "I will never let my kids EVER watch Barney!" Yeah, famous last words... We now even own the videos and know ALL the words to ALL the songs. And even know ALL the kids names clear back to when it was Barney and the Backyard gang with Michael, his sister Amy (who at sometime overtook the older brother in size), Lucy and her little sister Tina, Adam (who they changed the actor that played him partway through) and Derek.

Then there were the "Teletubbies" who 'experts' came out and said was detrimental to your children to watch. It would slow them in their vocabulary development. But who cares because for a while there we never missed an episode, it was a chance for me to sleep in an extra 30-minutes in the morning while Melissa was completely engrossed in mindless entertainment.

And who could forget Caillou who was so sickly nice to his sister 99% of the time and was so unnaturally good that it made you want to puke. Yet, Jenna thought that it was the best thing in the world. She even wanted to go get her some fast new running shoes just like he had in one episode.

And last but certainly not least the "Boobah" who I loved to watch with Spencer because it made him laugh so hard, I could not help but laugh right along.

For as much as these shows were completely annoying and obnoxious, there is something about them that kids just love. And we love them too because lets face it, it keeps our kids occupied and entertained so we don't have to. They're happy, we're happy what's not to love? I'm just sayin'.

What would you add to the list?

It's been a while!

So why is it that it is summertime and I don't have time to do anything. I think the reality of it all is that we aren't in a routine anymore like we used to with school. I spent the first week of Summer get the kids hooked into a new summer routine and then the second week, that all went to pot!

I started out with making my kids 6 3 by 5 cards, one for each day of the week. Those cards had a list of chores they were supposed to have completed by the end of the day. And then a 'Master Card' for them to mark off when they did their chores. They were totally gung-ho on doing their cards, but then the second week, not so good, and the third week hardly at all. Dang! huh?

Then not only that, but the first week I was doing so great on limiting their computer/game time to only a half hour each, but that has been thrown out the window as well. I guess that's because I have been completely busy myself with other things, and just letting them play on the computer kept them occupied.

So, what have I been busy with? The yard for one. That's right, the yard. I have weeded, tilled and raked every flowerbed we have in the yard, not to mention transplanted several bushes to other parts of the yard. I have also planted several new plants. Then right now I am in the process of covering all of the flowerbeds with some mulch that we got last week. The weather has been so rainy, I have only been able to start putting it in the flowerbeds this week. And when I am all done with it, I will take a picture, so you can see just what a project this was. And then you can understand why 1. My house looks a mess and 2. why my kids have neglected their chores. Oh, and 3. why we haven't had a "real" dinner in quite a while. We've been eating sandwiches, cereal and whatever else is quick and easy. However I am proud to say that NONE of those days have been any sort of fast food. (Although I can't count how many times my kids have slyly said, "Mom, since you are so busy, why don't we just go get some Wendy's?)

Steve is usually the one that does the yard and stuff like that. However he has been so busy this past week with their company moving their office to downtown. He has been put in charge of all of the making sure the new office gets finished, and arranging all of the moving and stuff, so he has been AWOL for yard work. So, once all this stuff is done, we are getting back to a routine! (Or at least for one week until something else comes up!)

Seriously!

Each of my kids seem to be different in their sentimentality (I don't know if that's a word, I just made it up it means some are more sentimental than others). Melissa saves everything, Spencer could care less, half of the time, it is me rescuing stuff I want to scrapbook out of the trash. Jenna seems to not care so much either. I have been wondering how Jayden would be, and now I know! I have thrown this:
away who knows how many times! And yet each time, it finds its way out and on the floor somewhere. I guess I now know that I have to throw Jayden's stuff away in the outside garbage if I don't want to see it again!

I have actually gone to the box method of saving things. I put all of my kids' stuff that is 'special' to them in a box downstairs. And then when the school year is over, they have to go threw it and decide what they want to save and what is OK to keep. However, the catch in all this is they only have 1 plastic bin of stuff they are keeping 'forever' (or so they think) and if that's full, they have to go through that stuff too and decide what stays and what goes. I know, I'm a mean mom, but if I didn't my house would be filled to the brim with school art, know what I mean? They honestly do like five art projects everyday!

What are your kids like? And what do you do about it?

The proof is in the shaving!

Shaving of my legs that is! I don't like having any sort of leg hair. And mostly is just bugs me when I go to sleep at night. I don't like the feel of there being pokies on my legs rubbing against the sheet. We all have our quirks right?

When I first started shaving YEARS ago, (or least it seems that way to me) I could get away with shaving just once a week. And then as years have progressed, it has needed to be done more and more frequently. And up until recently I have only needed to shave just about every other day. However, as of late, I have needed to shave every day! And what is up with that? However, I had an epiphany in the shower today. Isn't hair made up of dead cells? So, there you have it! My brain cells really are dying and is manifesting itself in the growth of my leg hair! So there you have it... I'm just sayin'.

The daily grind...

So seriously! Do you ever get the point that you wonder how you ever got in this situation? I mean honestly, you are just going on in your life and then wham! All of a sudden, your house is in complete shambles, you have a bunch of projects and activities that are needing to be done like yesterday, and there really isn't anything in your kitchen that you could possibly make into something even remotely resembling a dinner (besides opening a can of soup, but then two of your four kids won't eat it, and there isn't even bread in the cupboard to tell them to make a PB& J sandwich). And yet, I can recall that just Friday I was sitting on the couch in a completely clean house Melissa, Spencer and Jenna were off playing at friends' houses, and Jayden was taking a nap. I was just sitting there thinking that I could just relax and do nothing. And that thought was bliss.

So, how does that happen? What I ask you could have possibly occurred in the last three days that I am suddenly in this predicament? The bad thing is, it makes me not want to do a dang thing though. I just want to sit and reconjure up those feelings from last Friday and then open my eyes and suddenly have it be so.

I am not sure why I am actually looking forward to school being out. I am sure that the kids being home all weekend had something to do with the current state of the house. But I have these grand images in my mind of the kids actually doing chores and being completely productive and wonderful over the summer. I have thoughts of getting a routine established that will continue through to the school year, and only slightly be interrupted by school starting in the fall.

I guess you could say that my state of mind today is all due to the reality check I had this morning. I thought that after getting Spencer and Melissa out the door that I would make a list of things to do today {I do that when I am in a delusional state of bliss - you know, think that I could just about do anything cause I'm miracle mom}. So, I started off writing on the calendar upcoming events this week and slowly realized {oh crap!} all of that is THIS week! And I gotta do THAT this week, and THAT's got to be done too, and all of a sudden my somewhat restful week just went completely CRAZY! So in my state of frenzy I thought that I would at least make sure dinner was a go for tonight, but then realized that of about the five meals I thought I could make, I am missing some ingredients for each one. So to add to my already busy day, I gotta go grocery shopping as well.

So here's to hoping that Jayden cooperates today in what is going to be a rush from here to there! And again that is wishful thinking! I'm just sayin'.

What a waste

School should have been out like two weeks ago. The kids have all finished with their end of level testing, in fact, Spencer's teacher already had their scores and everything back from the state. So if you ask me, why are the kids still in school? All they have done for the past two weeks and now one more to go is play. And I am fine with having end of the year parties and what not, but not every dang day. Spencer has gone on a 'walking' field trip seven of the last 10 school days and then also on a 'real' field trip to the zoo. Their walking fieldtrips have all included such like visiting the post office, the police station, the firestation, the bank, a grocery store, and two others I can't remember. And the kids are naughty. The lady giving the tour will say, "I need you all to take a step back and not touch this while I am telling you about it." And the kids all swarm around it and start touching it. All while the teacher is just standing there {although that is a different rant for another time} and the mom's who volunteered to go on the fieldtrip are reigning the kids in. So, the teacher's tired of school, the kids are tired of school, and so nothing is being done. So I say either the teacher's keep on teaching, or just let the kids go home. It is just such a waste to do nothing for three weeks, party the last week, but that's it... I'm just sayin'.

Tough choice

I'm just sayin'!

Clothes Suck!

I just spent the last twenty minutes standing in my closet trying to figure out what to wear. I have 17 shirts (I counted) hanging there, all clean and ready to wear, but yet, I don't have anything to wear. I can't wear that shirt because the shorts that go with that, are a really like khaki and I am going to be spending sometime with Jayden today running errands and at the school watching Melissa's program, so that's out because without a doubt that situation means Jayden shoe prints all over my shorts. Those shirts are out, cause they are just to grungy for going out in public. So then, once I weed it down to the three shirts that are OK to wear, which surprisingly are three of the five shirts that I seem to wear all the time.

And you know why I wear those five shirts all the time? {I don't care if you really want to know or not, cause I'm gonna tell you anyway} Clothes fit differently at the store than they do when you get home. Or at least, after the first wash. What is it about washing your clothes that make them not fit the same? And I've tried it all, believe you me I have! I have tried every single cycle or method you could imagine trying to preserve the store quality clothing item, but I just can't get it right. Not to mention, but sometimes the clothes just don't move the way that you need them to move in order to go through your daily tasks. And I am just not all that comfortable with just letting my bra hang out. When I try on clothes at the store, I seriously move my body all around in various positions to make sure that everything stays put and keeps things covered, but for some reason, getting that clothing item home and in real life situations, it just doesn't seem to work. And its not like you can take clothes back once you've given them a real 'test run'. Wouldn't that be nice?

So, then once I had it weeded down to the three shirts (the two other regulars were dirty) I went to the pant options. And why is it that some days your pants fit and some days they don't? And yes, I understand the dynamics of the female body, but seriously, can't our clothes. Can't they make them so that no matter what time of the whatever our body is in, our clothes would adjust to compensate? I do have to say thank heaven for stretch denim! Those old ladies who have been wearing stretch denim with the elastic wastes, have had it right all along. It's just nice that they are a little cuter now than they used to be. However, the only pants I have clean that go with my three shirts, were either not fitting right today or just not very appealing to wear.

So that leaves us with clothes suck, and I'm sitting here in my jammies thinking that I am literally just going to have to suck it up and put on something! I'm just sayin'.

0 for 7

Yep, that's right! I have yet to been right as to who would win American Idol. I TOTALLY thought that it was going to be Adam. Just like I totally thought that it would be David Archuletta, Bo Bice, Clay Aiken and all the other number twos. And if I had actually watched season 1, I probably would have been wrong then too, I'm just sayin'.

Sherrie's Release Concert

So, last night, Sherrie had her release concert of her new CD "Solitude". And I have to tell you, it was A-MAZ-ING. And the crazy thing is it got better and better as the night went on. I was in complete awe the entire time. I could not believe the music that was coming off that piano. As I was driving home, I was trying to figure out what song was my favorite and I couldn't decide on one. They were just all so great. And the worst part of the whole thing was my emotions got the best of me. I had to duck out quickly at the end because I was so close to completely losing it, and I did not want to majorly embarrass myself. So sorry Sherrie, I wish I was more under control to have said you did a fantastic job... and even that is an understatement. I would suggest those of you who haven't heard her music, go listen here. It will be time well spent, I'm just sayin'.

To whom it may concern...

This past Friday I had the privilege (or not) of attending our states PTA convention. They had quite a variety of classes to attend. However, as the day progressed I realized that what was in the class descriptions and what was ACTUALLY presented in the class were two entirely different things. The first class called, "Organization in your life" could be renamed, "What kind of PTA nut are you?" That's right, there were some completely crazy PTA ladies in there. When we first arrived at the convention, we parked our car a ways away from where the classes were being held, and they had shuttle vans to take us to the main hall where the classes were at. There was one lady on our van who had a rolling suitcase, with a matching purse and her shirt matched too. I wondered what in the world she could possibly be carrying with her. Perhaps she was from far away and had to check out of her hotel room, and that was her luggage. However after attending the first class where the lecturer instructed us all that we too should be carrying all of our PTA files and what not around with us {and a rolling suitcase is a great place to put it - cause it would also fit things like bottled water for those meetings that last just a little longer than anticipated} I realized that there are some crazy, wacked out PTA people in this world. To be fair, I should mention that there was maybe 10 to 15 minutes in the class talking about how to organize your PTA stuff {not your life like the class description said} the majority of the class was about how to set aside 1 hour every week that is completely devoted to doing your PTA duty. And she even went so far as to suggest that if someone asked us to do something else during that time we were to say {and I quote}, "I'm sorry, but I have other plans for that time." And then ask to change to a different time. Really? A whole hour every week? I know that there are events here and there that need extra time devoted or what not, but not 1 hour EVERY week of the ENTIRE school year. Come on, I am just not THAT much of a PTA person, nor should anyone else be. And seriously if you had a friend call you up and want to go shopping would you really say, "I have other plans for that time."?

The next class, was supposed to be entitled "The secret to parenting". Now who wouldn't want to know the secret to parenting right? Well, a more appropriate title would be, "Why the campaign, 'Parents empowered.org' is so great". I sat threw an HOUR of some guy up there talking about the states campaign to curb underage drinking. He talked about how wonderful it was, how brilliant he is, and a bunch of hoopla about filming the different commercials, challenges they had to overcome to be able to get the shot they wanted on film, yada, yada, blah, blah...

Pretty much every class went this way. There were a few of the other classes some of the other ladies attended that were exactly what they thought they were going to be. However, for the record, whoever is in charge of writing class descriptions, you did a poor job, and next year maybe you should find someone who could write a more accurate description. Either that or communicate better with your presenter as to what the topic is supposed to be 'cause that just didn't happen, I'm just sayin'.

Odds don't look too good...

There is this great giveaway over here. I don't actually know the lady, but who cares, a laptop is a laptop. Although, I have three different entries and so the 3 out of 1604 odds, are certainly NOT in my favor, but then again, hopefully luck will be on my side.

I'm taking the High Road

Lately I have been working with my kids on helping them to not make assumptions about people based on their outside appearance. Today at the store I saw a guy with several gang tattoos buying nothing but this:

So in the spirit of taking the high road and being a good example for my kids I am just going to assume that the guy had a rusty chair in his backyard he was going to paint... and then pray that I'm right and it doesn't end up on some wall or building somewhere... I'm just sayin'.

Somethings got to be up huh?

You know how you see someone maybe once or twice a year, and they ask you, "So, what's new?" And my typical response is "Nothing." Yeah, really in the year since I last saw you, nothing has changed... Maybe a more honest response should be "Nothing worth mentioning." When you don't have a new baby, you aren't pregnant, and you still pretty much do the same dang thing every day, what would be worth mentioning? SO, in the last week, or really month of not having much to say on my blog, what's new?

First of all, I am going through all the stuff in my house again. I know, it's a sickness, I got it from my mom. We used to do what we call trash and DI several times a year. We would have to go through our rooms and dejunk after Christmas before the summer and before school. It's one tradition I have continued, but sometimes I find myself doing it more than the traditional three times. And I am sure it is just because I don't want to actually just clean the bathrooms which is why the house feels dirty. This time it was spurred on a little by some shelves that we got in the basement from Steve's brother. Under the porch we have a cold storage area that we have some shelves in for our food storage, but then it just got to be so jammed packed, we had to move some of it out into the storage room.See? We've been busy. These are the shelves in the storage room. Pretty fancy-schmancy shelves huh? They are on rollers, so they can be loaded from behind! And below is our cold storage area that is now a lot less congested.

Then there's my bedroom. I went through my medicine cabinet and besides the 27 jars of expired medicine I threw out... yeah, seriously 27 bottles of expired meds. Who in the H needs 27 different kinds of medicine, and why would they all have expired like five years ago? Because I KNOW that I cleaned it out more than five years ago because we moved into our house only 4 years ago, and I WOULD NOT have put expired medicine in the cupboard in the first place which leads me to believe I bought expired medicine...The other crazy thing about this particular closet in my house is the fact that I have a bunch of smelly soaps, lotions, and girlie type stuff that is perfectly good, never been opened, and what do I do with it? I don't use that kind of stuff. I have one brand of lotion that I use and mainly because it actually DOESN'T smell. In fact I am very particular about what kind of deodorant I use because I can't stand to smell myself. Occassionally I wear perfume, or maybe I should say rarely. So, if anyone wants some smelly lotion/soap, let me know, you can have it. I am sure that I will have another bar of glycerin soap up for grabs after Sunday {being Mother's day and all}.

Honestly, I could go on and on about cleaning my house, but I won't bore you with the details. So next time you ask me what's new? Just be grateful when I answer with a "nothing" because seriously what really is going on around here just isn't all that exciting. I'm just sayin'.

I think I'll play it safe...

Back to the issue of spending other people's money...

I could list some specifics, but for fear of what might be read, I'll just keep it in general.

My question to you is this: How careful are we when we spend other people's money?

One specific (because I am no longer teaching) way back when I was a teacher (which I don't know why it shocks me so much that it was over a decade ago that I started teaching, but that is besides the point) teachers got some money that was intended to be used for the classroom. At the time it was $200 that was just given to you. When handed to you it was explained that you were to spend the money on things for your classroom. You didn't have to turn in receipts or show any proof on what you bought, but that you perhaps should keep receipts "just in case" you were audited for that money, but no one had EVER been audited for that money so don't be too worried.

Some people I knew, used the money for their classrooms, others though thought of it as just a little pay bonus that they could do whatever the heck they wanted with it because teachers got paid so little anyway and they felt they earned it. I even knew of some teachers who would use it to by their "work attire" saying that it was being used in the classroom. Somehow, I don't think that was the 'intent' of the money.

So now when I see money being spent, I wonder just how careful people are when it comes to money they have been entrusted with. How much effort do people take to spend the money in the best possible way. It really bothers me when I hear people say that a certain amount of money has been budgeted and you need to spend it all because the next time you won't get as much. Well why not? Maybe if we could actually spend less and have just as great of an activity as we would have with more money, why shouldn't we do with less money the next time? People are pretty creative, and I bet given the chance to do more with less money, they could come up with something. And I still subscribe to the opinion that you don't always need money to do something fun. Just a really good imagination.

Of course, I am not opposed to every once in a while spending a little more for a really great activity, but that should be the exception, not the rule. And maybe if people didn't expect such huge elaborate things all the time, they would be so disappointed all the time.

And really we should be this way with our own money, but even more so when that money is entrusted to us by someone else be it church or school. Especially in this economic down time. When you have someone who is tightening their belt because they have taken a pay increase donating to the school because they think that their childs education experience is a worth while thing, then I think we ought to treat that money as if it is a huge deal and truly use it to make their childs education experience better. And that's all I'm sayin'...

I'm in a funk...

I think that my life goes in circles, and right now I would say that I am at the bottom. I am in a complete funk. I have so much I could/should be doing right now, but I don't. I just go through my day, do the bare minimum and mostly waste a bunch of time. Sooner or later, something will kick me back into gear and I will get to all of those things that I could/should be doing. Until then, I bought me some Dove Dark Chocolates with Almonds. They seem to actually help quite a bit. And you know, there is a chocolate company that seems to understand women. You look on the back at the nutrition information, and some chocolates put one or two pieces for a serving. Not Dove! They give you a whopping 5 pieces! Nice...

Sometimes I wish I had the guts...

I just put together this real nice post about how responsible are with other people's money, but I just don't have the guts to post it. It's like those times when someone does something to really tick you off and you have the perfect comeback for it, but just don't say anything because you just can't bring yourself to be mean (at least not in public). I don't know if this is a strength or a weakness, but for now I will just keep my rant on people spending other people's money under wraps (until I get the guts). I'm just sayin'.

There's more to be said...

So aparently my last 'regurgitating' post where I purged what was on my mind worked. I haven't had anymore "mountain climbing" dreams, and I have actually slept 'crazy dream' free for the last little while. Which is saying a lot since I dream quite crazily quite often. So, in order to continue with my peaceful slumber, I thought I would purge some more of what is on my mind. And yes, this post is going to be very random.

While watching Conference this last weekend, I heard someone say, (and no I don't remember who because quite frankly I wasn't paying THAT much attention) "Things that happen in your life is a result of choices that have been made, not destiny." And who knows, maybe that wasn't EXACTLY how it was said, but that was the gist, and maybe I even dreamt that part. But, it has kind of stuck with me. Kind of puts all of the responsibility back to us on what goes on in our life.

I get asked from time to time if a person that I have annonymously mentioned in my blog is them. And pretty much everytime I have been asked that question I have been happy to say that it isn't. In fact, I just might be talking about myself. However, if my blog makes you take a step back and look at how you view different things, or how you react to different situations, I don't think that is a bad thing. It is a good idea to have a little bit of self-reflection. I have noticed with myself that a lot of things that I truly don't like about other people are those things that I do that I really don't like about myself. Sometimes I think that why we find it so hard to think that people might actually like being around us because we know all of our flaws. Funny thing is, other people really don't care, they see all the good stuff about you and that's good enough for them.

Do my kids really know how lucky they are? Do they understand that they are pretty damn lucky to live where they live, have what they have and have the ability to do what they do? I think the only way for them to really know that kind of stuff is to take it away from them for a while. But how exactly does one go about doing that? Because lately they have been acting pretty selfish about a lot of stuff. And, I think 90% of the fights we have around here are centered around them being jealous about something. How do you help them to see that just because someone is good at something, it doesn't mean that they are not good at it? Or even if they stink at something that someone else is good at, why can't they be happy for the other person. Competition is good thing up to a certain point, it's what makes us strive to be better, but how do you teach them to be good losers if that's what happens in the end? It kind of bugs me that in church they ask you not to have any sort of game where there is a winner or a loser. Because honestly when I was little, I paid attention more in class if I knew there was a game because by dang I wanted to win! {I know I am all over the place in this paragraph, what's my point? There is no point, I am just purging my thoughts. Welcome to my brain...}

One last thought, and then I will go. Jenna is playing "Mouse Trap" and singing a song that goes, "She doesn't get any CHE - ESE! We get all of the CHE-ESE!" Over and over again. I remember those days of being able to just make up your own game, not have to play by the rules. I used to like to get the game of "LIFE" out and make the little people in the cars drive around and play with it more like 'house' rather than the game that it was intended. I miss those days, wouldn't it be nice to just make up our own rules and not have to play by everyone else's rules? I think for one day it would just be nice to have a totally unconventional day. You know, make some meatloaf for breakfast or something. Do something totally spontaneous and crazy. I'm just sayin'.

The "Downers" of vacationing...

Getting back into the "swing of things" - you know, having to get up in the morning and go to school... do "chores" around the house... make sure bed-time is strictly followed... actually planning and making dinner...

And the mound of laundry that you brought home with you...

Enough said...

Step up and Be a Parent!

I've struggled for a while about the whole trend of people who punish their kids 'nicely'. And by that, I am meaning people who... well for lack of a better way of describing it, let me give some examples. I have witnessed some child doing something naughty. The kid is three, but they are hitting another kid. Nothing out of the ordinary, typical behavior of a 3 year old who is learning right? So, the parent goes over and to get the kid to stop, goes over to the kid and simply removes them from the situation. That. is. it. Or, another time when I witnessed another kid being destructive to some property and the parent going over to the kid and just suggested that they find something else to do. It is something I see more and more. In a parents attempt to 'parent' they just get the kid to stop. Not very often do you actually see a parent actually tell the kid that what they are doing is wrong. You don't hear the parent actually say "No, that is not acceptable behavior."

I've also heard it said on numerous occassions parents say that if they just ignore their child's naughty behavior, the situation ends sooner because if they try and stop it, it turns into a tantrum and having to haul the kid off to their room or do time out, or yada, yada, yada. So seriously? You aren't going to tell your kid that what they are doing is wrong because it just means more work for you? Uh, OK, if we just ignore the guy who is stealing from a bank because it is so much 'work' to hunt them down, arrest them and go through a trial, it's OK because the situation is just going to end... Same difference...

And it doesn't just stop with our kids either. When you see someone else doing something wrong or harming someone else, do you just sit and ignore it, or do you say something? When you overhear someone saying something mean or degrading to someone else, do you stand up for the other person? More and more I don't think we do. I think that we just let them happen because it is too much work for us and we don't want to get involved. And shame on us. There was an incident a while back where I saw a kid doing something that I knew was not going to turn out well, and I didn't do anything (mostly because I knew the kids parent was seeing the same thing that I saw and I assumed they were going to do something about it) and I didn't stop the situation and someone got hurt pretty badly too. While I know that the situation wasn't my fault and such, but I can't help but feel a little guilty that I didn't do anything. I didn't step up and be the parent, but I hope to never say that again. I'm just sayin'.

My Random Thoughts

Today is one of those days that I swear I have a hundred different things swimming around in my head. And it is probably because it has been a while since I have purged my mind on my blog. So, here it goes: (And no, I won't give you all 100 things, that would be crazy! I'll just give you the highlights)

Item #1: How far do you go to see that someone who hurt your child is punished? Over the weekend, I was with my family and my sister-in-law was telling us about a kid who hurt my nephew on the bus. The way she handled it, which is by far a much more mature way to handle it than I would have was to talk to the principal. She explained to the principal, that if this was an unusual show of behavior for this kid, then she was fine with him being talked to, but if this was behavior that was somewhat of a pattern, then she would prefer that he be more harshly punished. I actually thought that this was an interesting way of looking at the situation. In general, I am a believer in harsh penalties {remember Spencer's 'swear club' punishment?} but this was the first time that I agree with maybe not dealing out a harsh punishment. However, how do you tell if it is a pattern or not? Do you rely on the parents or go by behavior at school? And does all of the naughty things that kids do always get reported? {Like I said, these are my random thoughts - stuff just swimming around my head}

Item #2: I am losing my mind. I used to be able to multi-task with the best of them. I could do several things all at the same time, and get them all done, no sweat. Things were always done to the best of my ability, and in somewhat of a timely manner. Not any more. And Lisa can attest to it. During Melissa's birthday party that we had here, we were making breakfast and I swear I could not remember from one minute to the next what I was doing. I can't even count how many times I misplaced the stupid spatula. And seriously it was a good thing Lisa was here because she knew where it was everytime I asked. I don't know if it is because I am worrying about exponentially more things all of the time now as opposed to when I was younger and had fewer kids and less to worry about, or if it is just an age thing, or just me, but sometimes I really wonder about myself.

Item #3: Why is it that it seems like some people go from one presidency in the church to another? What is it about those people as opposed to others? {I know this sounds somewhat hypocritical because I myself am in a presidency, but for the record, this is my first one EVER.} Is it that those people have some perception of being ultra-spiritual, really organized, out-going, with it (mentally) or more qualified than others? Really, I can look around at the people specifically in my area, but I'm sure that you have the same kind of things that go on around in your area, and I can see SEVERAL people who would be really fantastic at being in a presidency, yet they NEVER have. And I know, people don't really petition or aspire to high positions in the church, but sometimes, I really think people are under-utilized, and talents are being wasted.

Item #4: I teach piano. And there are some students that I want to fire. I feel like they are somewhat wasting my time and more importantly wasting their parents money. I could just let them keep coming and keep on taking their parents money each month, but I don't want to. When I have people calling me up all the time asking my if I have openings, and having to turn them away, it makes me ill. Because I would love to take them over some of the ones that I have. At the same time, it is not an easy thing to do. Especially for my personality. I hate to be the bearer of bad news so to speak. And also, I CRY! That's right, I cannot call them up with a complaint or concern and not cry. It is flat out embarrassing and doesn't really seem very professional either.

The biggest complaint that I have over the people that I want to fire, is the fact that they just don't practice and they don't care to either. Then they complain that I give them such boring stuff and they hate the songs. I really do try to make things interesting. I search all over for some good stuff, and I try to find them good stuff, but you can't just always 100% of the time, play fun stuff. Sometimes, you have to suck it up and just get through the "boring" stuff so that you can play harder, more fun things. Truth be told though, I have given them "fun" stuff and they don't practice that either. So what do you do?

Item #5: I've been asked why I prefer afternoon kindergarten. It is mostly just because of Jenna. I have nothing against morning kindergarten. I put Melissa in morning kindergarten because it was best suited for her. She was/is a morning person. She loved to walk to school with the other neighbor kids, and I would go walk and pick her up when school was over, come home eat some lunch and then put Spencer down for a nap and she and I would have one on one time and it was great. Spencer and Jenna, are not morning people. Spencer still isn't and if it weren't for the fact that he wants to get out to the bus line for a good seat I would have to be on him every minute to get ready for school. Jenna doesn't even eat breakfast. For one, she doesn't like it, and even if it is the one thing that she does like (roll-up pancakes) she really doesn't eat much. Around 10:30, she finally decides she is hungry and then she'll eat a sandwich, or something not breakfasty. So, I worry that morning kindergarten will be tough for her. And yes, I know that eventually she will have to go to school in the morning, but I think by then she will be older and better able to handle it. Although, I may change my mind for her. After talking to the school about her speech, her particular speech problems aren't critical enough to insure that she'll get any help this year. However, if she is in a class with not very many speech problems, they will have room to take her. If there is a class with a lot of need though, they won't. I just worry that she'll be perceived as less intelligent just because of her speech. Because less face it, it happens. So, if I find that there is a class with less speech problems and she could get some help in kindergarten and not have to wait until first grade, I will move her to mornings.

So as to not bore you any further, I think I will stop there. Who knows, maybe if I still can't sleep tonight because of all the crap going around in my mind, I will purge more tomorrow. OK, just one more little tidbit. Ever since Friday night, I have been having dreams about climbing up mountains. In my dream, I don't know why I am climbing, sometimes it is a path that is icy and slick, other times it's rocky, another time, I was climbing up a path that had water cascading down it. I have no idea why I am climbing, all I know is that for some reason or another I have to get to the top. And even like last night when Jenna woke me up from one such dream because she had a bad dream, when I went back to sleep, I started climbing some more. I keep thinking that it is because there are so many of this kind of stuff going on in my mind, and so much that needs to be done, or whatever, but I am hoping this purging of my random thoughts will make them go away. Either that or some of you will have good comments to help settle my 'issues' . So, here's hoping to a restful sleep tonight... I'm just sayin'.

I should be shot...

On Sunday Steve and I took Melissa to the Draper Temple Dedication. It was the first time she has ever had an opportunity to go. And while I was very excited for her to be able to go, I myself was not so enthused. In fact I even offered to just have Steve go and take her while I stayed home with the other three.

Because, let's face it, they are really rather boring. I even found myself nodding off several times. Mostly during the prayer. I will admit that yes, there were two moments where the speakers said something interesting and I took note, but overall, I think I could have done without. When it was announced that there would be a song and then a closing prayer, a kid behind us said to his Dad, "Is it really almost over?" When the Dad said that it was, his reply was exactly mine..."YES!"

SO, it begs me to ask, what is wrong with me? I have a Mom and two sisters that seem to REALLY like that kind of stuff. And I heard other people on the way out talking about how great and wonderful it was. Really? Or are you just saying that? What is it that makes it so that we both go into the same experience and come out with two totally different responses?

And you can't tell me that it is because I went in with the wrong attitude/spirit because really, I tried. I did it for Melissa. We talked before hand about what would happen, and I even suggested to her that she pray about it before we left, and I did too. Yet, when all was said and done, it was like, "OK, that was nice..." {Melissa's response was she was glad that she went, it was kind of neat, but kind of a little boring}

So again, I ask you what's wrong with me? I rarely feel the spirit in those grand opportunities. For me, it is more in the day in and day out kind of stuff. It's the small things that happen that really seem to catch my attention. Like the time when I was potty training Spencer (which was an ordeal in and of itself) and just when I was about to stick a pull up on him because I couldn't handle one more accident, and the thought pops into my mind that I should give it one more shot. And the next time, we had success! Or even just finding an extra 20 minutes somewhere in my day to take a little time out for myself in an otherwise VERY busy day. And sometimes it is during a crisis that I feel it the most. Just the calm thought that everything would be OK.

The more I think about it though, maybe nothing is wrong with me. Maybe I'm doing just fine. I'm just sayin'.

What more could I have done?

Honestly I don't think there was any more I could have done... I tried to turn my stuff in on time, actually early even and you wouldn't take it. You told me that it would be alright to hang onto it for a bit. I even asked you twice. Then I told you that this happened to me two years ago, but still you assured me it wouldn't. But guess what? I was right, it happened again. And it makes me mad.

That's right, Jenna got put into morning kindergarten. Just like Spencer got put into morning kindergarten. With Spencer, they had us turn in our kindergarten registration at kindergarten round-up. And while we were turning in our packets, they asked us for our preference, Morning or Afternoon. I requested afternoon, she wrote it down on his registration packet, and that was that. Then it comes time for us to get our assignments in the mail and it says - Morning Kindergarten. SO, I called several times I called and it wasn't until I actually got the principal on the phone (by some small miracle, he actually ANSWERED the phone) and we got it changed.

So this time around, when it came to registering Jenna for Kindergarten, I filled out all my forms, however, I couldn't get her shot record fully completed because you can't get all your shots until you are five which was this month, not by February 20th which was the registration deadline. So, I got on the phone to the school's office, explained the situation with the shots, and asked the office lady if I could just turn in all the other stuff and then turn in the completed shots after they were done. She said sure. SO I got all my stuff together, went to the school, and tried to turn my paperwork in and this time, the head secretary of the school said to just hang on to all of it until the shots were done. Then she said, "Did you have a preference for teacher?" To which I said, "No, but I do have a preference for Afternoon Kindergarten." Then I preceded to tell her about my situation with Spencer and so I would like to make sure that it gets written down somewhere that I want Afternoon. She then assured me that if I turned Jenna's packet in on March 20th when she got her shots (that's when her appointment was scheduled for) we would be OK.

Secondly, the secretary called here after the February 20th deadline to ask about the whereabouts of Jenna's registration packet. So I reminded her of what we had talked about above and she said again that it would be alright. Then I once again asked her about requesting for Afternoon Kindergarten, and just wanted to be sure that before they started to make class lists, they had written down somewhere that I wanted afternoon. She assured me that I would be fine.

But no, when I went to turn in all my stuff, the asst. secretary told me that I was not fine. Jenna would be getting morning kindergarten. I am just hoping she is wrong. And somehow we can just sort this all out. For now, it sucks, I'm just sayin.

And you call yourself a doctor?

I have to say, I REALLY like my kids Doctor. He is fabulous. And I happily drive the 20 minutes to get there even though there are probably a hundred doctors that are closer. And it's times like last night that make me appreciate him even more.

A couple of years ago, we had a little scare with Melissa. She started having all of these bruises pop up out of nowhere. And for no aparent reason. Of course, the big C {cancer} was the first thing to come to mind. And our doctor was fantastic throughout the whole thing. Answering all of our questions and doing whatever he could to personally call the specialist and get us seen by them just as quick as was humanly possible. And all because he knew the wait would be unbearable. She wound up 'just having' (I use the term lightly because it wasn't an easy thing for her to go through, but better than cancer for sure) a blood disorder, which luckily wasn't life threatening.

She had to have weekly blood draws. And the lab would call him at midnight the night of the blood draw with the result. Which we didn't know about until much later. I always just took her in after school, which was a much busier time, so the results would come a little slower and he would get the call around midnight. However, he called one day to see if we could go in one day earlier so that he could get the results before he left for vacation, and then he explained the time that the calls come in and if it happens to be even a minute after midnight, the call would go to the doctor covering him the following day and he didn't want the call to wake up the other doctor. I told him if I would have known, I could have easily taken her in before school, and he would have the results while he was still at work. He just said that he didn't want to inconvenience us. That's what kind of doctor he is. {for the record I did start taking her in before school}

OKay, so back to the actual story of the post, Spencer's doctor appointment last night. Two nights ago, he woke up and told me he couldn't sleep because his ear was hurting. Our doctor (the one mentioned above) had given us some drops that numbs the ear when it's hurting like that so that we can at least make it through the night before we can get them seen. So, I put drops in his ears and sent him to bed. The next day, he said his ears weren't bothering him at all, so I didn't bother getting him an appointment. However, at 6 o'clock, he complained that both ears were hurting him. So I decided to take him to Kidscare that night, and that way I could still send him to school the next day.

How do I put this nicely? The doctor there, was an absolute, 100% bonafide, died in the wool creap. Talk about giving me the willies. From the minute he walked in, I wanted to ask to see his credentials. Not that he was a bad doctor, but just something about him made me sick. He kept rubbing Spencer on the back and commenting on his hair. Which I've gotten compliments on his hair before, but that was from women and known gay men.

And there are those doctors that will give you coments as to what they are seeing as they see it. Like, "Yeah, those ears are red" or "There's a little bit of redness on the tonsils" etc. But this doctor, was just well, cryptic. He'd look in Spencers ears and say, "Huh." So is that a "Huh?" as in "Huh, no redness I'm not sure why they are hurting him." Or a "Huh, they are infected, we ought to get this kid some medicine!" Then he checks Spencer's throat, say,"Ah." Okay, is that an "Ah! his throat is red, I bet it hurts." Or an "Ah, these guys are full of crap." kind of "Ah." Then he went through checking his lungs, feeling his neck, and who knows what else in silence. Then he goes and sits down over at the computer, types away, occasionally asks things like, "How long did you say his ears have been hurting him? Has he had any coughing? and Has your tummy hurt at all? {only he asked that one is some weird way that Spencer couldn't understand, so I had to interpret that one} And then FINALLY we got the verdict.

Double ear infection.

Thanks.

Now give us our medicine and let us get the H out of here. I'm just sayin.

Side Note on the Butter Thing...

My kids love for my mom to baby sit. Especially when she brings popcorn.

What's so special about her popcorn?

Two things, a bag of microwave Butter Lovers Popcorn, and a CUBE of melted butter.

Combine the two and enjoy. Snack from heaven. Ever since she brought it once, my kids BEG for this kind of popcorn. I have only given in once... However, when they go to bed it's a different story, then, Steve just can't be home...

Confessions of a Closetaholic...

I have actually started this post three different times, and just couldn't quite decide what to include and not include. Afterall, somethings are better left my little secret... However, here it goes...

Ever since I was little, I have always been aware that there are some things that you should and shouldn't like. But I also found that sometimes you just can't help it, if you like it you like it, and as long as noone finds out, big whoop! For example, I LOVED to play Barbies. Which is no big deal, little girls should like to play Barbies. However, I liked to play Barbies clear past the age where it was socially acceptable. So, I would either hope and pray my little sister would ask me to play Barbies with her and say, "Well, I guess so..." Or just play quietly in my room with the door shut.

So I guess you could say, I have been secretive about certain things for a long time. But not anymore, here are some things I am willing to admit, I like...

1. Hostess. I don't know how many people I hear say that they can't stand to eat them because it is nothing but lard or whatever inside, but I say "YUM!" Bring them on, Twinkies, Ding Dongs, Zingers, Hohos, you name it, if it says Hostess on it, I love it. The one exception is those Snowballs, only if you take the yucky coconut stuff off from around them, then I will eat those.
2. Pillows. I have always liked Pillows. I had a squishy pillow, two actually clear until I got married. Then Steve made me get rid of them. I think he was worried about how many germs they had in them. If I could though, I would own hundreds of pillows. I would fill my bed with them. I love to just sit in a pile of pillows, kind a like a nest, warm and comfy.
3. Shoes and Jewelry. I know, what girl shouldn't like those? However, I never have admitted it. They are just so expensive, and if I had all the money in the world, that is what I would buy. I also don't really do the jewelry thing because I don't know how to do the jewelry thing. I see some people with such cute necklaces on, but I don't even know how to pick them out to go with an outfit.
4. Fast food. McDonalds, Wendy's, Taco Bell, you name it I like it, in fact I don't think that there is really any fast food, I don't like. Even the cheap Chinese you can buy in the mall.
5. Comfy clothes. If I could wear sweats and yoga pants 24 hrs a day and look decent I would. I have seen others wear comfy clothes and look great, but I just can't pull it off, maybe it's because I don't own any nice sweats. All the ones I own I have had forever and so they all look ratty.
6. Butter. No margarine or spread crap for me. Just straight butter and lots of it. I don't for obvious health reasons, but I would love to just smother anything with butter. You know that commercial where there is a family having baked potatoes for dinner and the Mom sticks a cube of butter in each one? Yeah, that would be about right. {I guess this isn't a closet-type thing because I don't actually endulge myself in this one, but occasionally it is nice to put on a little extra butter every once in a while.}

Well, I think that that's enough of a confession for one sitting. Besides, I can't let it all out of the bag at once. So pardon me while I go eat a Twinkie... only I don't have one, so I guess I'll just drink a Diet Coke instead. Cause that's more healthy... I'm just sayin'.

The Swear Club

Yep, you heard that right, my Spencer is a full fledged member of "The Swear Club". At school. Yesterday, I got a call from the ground duty at the elementary school informing me that Spencer lost his recess priveledge yesterday because he and his buddies were swearing. To each other and to anyone around. She said that she just figured that she would call and let us moms know because she figured that she would want to know if it were her own kid. I told her "Thanks for informing me and that we would take care of it at home as well." She then said that if it helps, Spencer was the one who was openly honest about what they were doing.

When Spencer got home from school, I asked him if there was something he needed to tell me about that happened at school, and he kind of hung his head down and said, "Uh, yeah..." Then he preceded to explain that he and 5 other boys decided to join a 'Swear Club'. I then asked him what words were they using? Which he then said, "I can't say them!" Uh, yeah, you should have thought about that before you said them at school!

So what was his punishment? He scrubbed all the tile in the house, with one of those Mr. Clean magic erasers for tile grout. Then after that he folded three loads of laundry. Followed by no video games, computer games, or friends for two days. At one point, Melissa offered to help him fold the clothes, she told me that she felt bad for him. I told her that she couldn't because he needed to have the full punishment to learn his lesson. Partway through, I said, "I know you are mad at me," But before I could get anymore out, he said that he wasn't mad at me, he was mad that chose to swear.

Really, the situation is kind of funny. But I just hope that the next time he feels like joining his friends in bad behavior, he thinks twice and decides not to.

Why do they call it 'Enrichment'?

Last week, the Primary President gets a call from the lady in charge of the Enrichment meeting, that happened to be last night. She said that they have noticed that the ladies in Primary don't attend Enrichment night very often. So, they would like to envite the Primary to not only come to Enrichment night, but to sing as well. Well, let me tell you, enviting us is one thing, but making us sing? Come on! I graciously hid behind the piano and just played, but to all the other Primary ladies who sang, you did a great job! And for the enrichment people, next time, just ask us to come.

As for the actual "activity" last night, I have some mixed feelings about the whole thing. The night's theme was "Angels among us". They had a dinner, which I had nailed from the beginning, angel hair pasta and angel food cake for dessert. I had also hoped for heavenly hash (the ice cream) but knew that wouldn't be on the menu. The food was good. As for the program, there was a family that sang that "Angels Among Us" song by some country person that I can't for the life of me think of dang it! {Hate when that happens} Followed by people sharing experiences and what not about people who have helped them and been their own little 'angels'. Followed by inviting those of us in the audience who wanted to share our own experiences or whatever to feel free to stand up and share.

I don't mean to sound callous, or make light of anything that was said because it was all good, and sure, people cried. However, that is not my idea of a great time. It was all just a little too heavy for me. Considering I have had a heavy enough week with life going on around here, the last thing I wanted to do was go listen to crying, cry myself, and then have to sing (or in my case, play the piano). Next time, I think I will just skip it and make a run for Coldstone... Care to join me?

Where is Benji Schwimmer?

This is a Tag from Sher. As I researched the Tag back, Wonder Woman, added a questtion as to do you know where Benji Schwimmer is right now? And aparently he was staying with a woman in her ward whose son was friends with him. Right here in Utah. (Just in case any of you were wondering.) And for those of you who don't know who he is, he won "So you think you can dance?" on Fox a couple of years ago. We are faithful watchers of the show, given Melissa's obsession with dance. So, back to the tag.

Step 1: Respond and rework. Answer the following questions, replacing one question that I dislike with a question of my own invention.

Step 2: Add one more question of my own.

Step 3: Tag eight other bloggers.

Questions:
1. What is your favorite day of the week? I don't have one anymore. Not one specifically. Life is so busy now, no day really gives me a break. So, my answer would be a day that goes mostly good. (Don't laugh at the gramar, I talk to a two year old all day, and after that, real grammar gets fuzzy).

2. What is your biggest fear? Me dying young and leaving my kids without a mom.

3. What was your worst subject in school? English, hands down, which shouldn't be any surprise, you read my blog, you know it sucks.

4. Who did you hug last? Jayman, he is right here on my lap where I am saying, "Don't touch the computer!" Over and over again. And he keeps saying, "I don't like this song!" But I do, so we are having a little fight.

5. What websites do you visit when you go online? Blogger and email, is there anything else worthy of visiting?

6. What was the last item that you bought? Bread. We have been completely out since Saturday and I have been to the store twice since, but kept forgetting to get some. SO, last night I went and got me a free Redbox (They have a code for free Redbox every Wednesday in March on their Redblog) and bread.

7. If you could go anywhere in the world, where would you go? Australia. Of course I would make sure that it is during the "wet". I watched Australia last night (it was my redbox). And man it was awesome during the "wet" that they talked about.

8. What if your favorite book? I don't have a favorite. I just like to read. I am reading "The book Thief" right now and really liking that.

9. What was the longest car ride you ever took? Out trip to Detroit two years ago.

10. What was the last movie you watched? Australia. I liked it, but prepare yourself it is LONG, like 2 1/2 hours long!

11. If you had a whole day to yourself with no work, commitments or interruptions, what would you do? Well, I would have to add 'and money was no object' to the question. I would start of with sleeping in, go out to breakfast, have a pedicure, and go shopping.

12. If you were to win the Powerball, what would you do with the money (besides invest it)? Paint the dang Living room, and finish decorating it.

13. If you could pick the single most pivotal moment in your life, what would it be and why? I think this is the question I will toss out.

14. In your opinion, who is the most significant person in history and why? Ourselves, because quite frankly, if we weren't around, life would mean nothing, right? If more people realized the significance of their own life, I think people would behave better.

15. If you had a choice of places to live, where would it be? I would pick my town up and just move it somewhere warmer in the winter. Other than that, I like where I am. Well, I think maybe in moving the town I would NOT take some of the houses.

16. What's a item on your property you can't live without? Yeah, there's the obvious 'the house', but not having a car would kinda suck.

17. If you were stranded on a desert island, and got one luxury item to take with you, and one perosn to take with you, what and who would it be? I would take Steve and some sunscreen, who wants to get burned?

18. My added question? Who am I going to tag? Honestly anyone who wants to follow it, I would love to hear all your answers.

Sometimes Controversy can be fun?

Way back during my Freshman year of College (it actually doesn't seem like way back, but almost 15 years ago kind of is way back don't you think?) I had a roommate who went on Acutane. If you don't remember Acutane, it was an acne medication. If you were to get pregnant while on Acutane, it could cause all sorts of birth defects, so her doctor insisted on prescribing birth control while she was taking Acutane. It put her Mom in an uproar. Why should her daughter who was not sexually active have to take birth control? Back then, birth control was associated with even more mood swings, nausea, and irritability. So she faught and faught until the doctor agreed to let my roommate have Acutane without the birth control. I wonder if the benefits of birth control we have now, the little to no period each month, would have caused her Mom to react differently.

Recently, I had a conversation with a friend of mine who said that her daughter has been asking to get some birth control simply to lessen her periods. Which sent us into a very interesting discussion...

One opinion that was stated was the fact that if she was on birth control, if she ever got into a situation with a guy, there wouldn't be the fear of getting pregnant holding her back from doing stuff with the guy.

Another thought was that if her periods right now interfere with her being able to function normally, then why not?

Yet another thought was would going on birth control at a younger age cause problems in the future, fertility-wise?

Then, on Datelines, "What would you do?" Last night, they were discussing teen-use of birth control. The situation they set up, was where a 16 year old girl went into a pharmacy with a prescription for birth control and the pharmacist refused to fill ther prescription due to 'ethical' reasons (a.k.a. The doctor just was morally opposed to giving a 16 year old birth control). The program wanted to see how people reacted. Most people sided with the girl. Only one guy, who was a dad with a daughter that was 16 as well, sided with the pharmacist.

SO, what do you think? I've tried to not interject my opinion (although I do have one) so that I get honest feedback from you. I'll post my opinion another time.

Maturation

Don't you love that word? It just so totally fits with everything else about it. What a creepy word to describe all of the other creepy things that you are going to have talked about for the next 51 minutes. Yep, 51 minutes because noone I mean NOONE dares to ask questions. So they schedule the 50 minutes for the info. followed by 10 minutes of Q&A and 1 of that 10 min. get eaten up with "So, any questions?" "No, no questions, really there is no such thing as a silly question." "Usually the questions we get asked are really helpful." "In the past we commonly get asked about {insert whatever here} and the answer is this" {Honestly if it is such a common question maybe you should just consider adding it to the presentation and then save us only 5 min. to NOT ask questions.}

Honestly, the whole thing was just great. I have actually had a couple of conversations about said topic with Melissa in the past. Sometimes it's because she asks questions, or sometimes, I am just that kind of mom and want to make sure that she is not the clueless kid in school. So, today wasn't anything that she hasn't heard from me in the past. All except for the FANTASTIC animation about how to insert a tampon properly. Which seriously and in all honesty was probably THE MOST HELPFUL info of the entire 51 min. Cause how in the world do you explain that to someone? Showing them is alot more helpful and the fact that it was a computer animated presentation of it, well, that was fabulous! As in Sharpay, HSM 2 F.A.B.U.L.O.U.S. Isn't technology wonderful?

So, how exactly does a Maturation class go? I LOVE that the first thing they do is pull up a powerpoint presentation that the first slide is a comic strip about how it's an embarassing subject. You know, put everyone to ease, and then second slide is a full on onslought of all of the crazy words. I won't name them all here, {you're welcome} but you get the idea. I had to stiffle a bit of a laugh though when that was quickly followed by a bunch of the girls saying to their friends, "EW gross!" What is so funny about that to me, is that is completely for show, cause seriously most of those girls are genuinely 100% interested in what is going to happen to them, and want to know all the stuff, cause let's face it, they are also 100% terrified and knowledge is power baby, and they want the power. However, if they say the "Ew gross" comment, they are publicly stating their discomfort and are then free to soak in the rest of the info without social backlash.

So, the power point presentation went through all of the physical, emotional, and social changes a girl goes through. All helpful info, but like I said nothing that I hadn't told Melissa before. Then there was the video that Playtex put out. So of course, it had plugs in it periodically for their different products, but like I said before, with the amazing technology we have out now, it puts that little filmstrip we used to watch in 8th grade biology to shame.

So, one down and one to go. I will go with Jenna, but Steve, he will have to go with the boys. That's how it works right? I do have to add here though that Melissa {and me for that matter} was very mature about the whole subject. She asked questions, she expressed her concerns and her fears, and overall, I think right now she is not in any hurry to grow up. And I'm not either, she's already moody enough, I can't imagine how it will be when hormones kick in overdrive.