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.

The rules of the bus...

In first grade Melissa was afraid of the bus. She started out the school year when we were still living in Steve's parents' basement while our house was being finished so I drove her to school everyday. Then when we finally moved into our house, and she could ride the bus, she wouldn't. After much coaxing, I finally got her to just try it out and she loved it! We had the best bus driver ever back then. She even had a cool name 'Babe'. Towards the end of second grade, Babe left and ever since then, I curse the bus...

Somewhere someone came up with the idea that as long as your backpack is in line at the bus, your spot is reserved. So there are kids who are putting their backpacks out a whole hour earlier than they would even think of going out. There are a few kids, whose brother will put their backpacks down when he leaves for school (he's in junior high). I've even seen kids sneaking out there barefoot in their jammies (during winter of course) just to put their backpacks in line. Then they run back in the house and get ready for school. I have considered putting my kids backpack out when I go out walking in the morning, but I can't. I grew up in the sticks/ghetto and you just don't leave your things unattended if you want them back.

There was the one time that my brother's bike was stolen. He drove up to our house, and left it on the lawn by the front door. Ran in the house around to the garage to open it and then went to the lawn and it was gone. Not even a minute had passed. So from then on, we would just get home, and yell in the house for someone to open the garage for us so that we could watch our own bike.

So, lately getting a good seat on the bus has become important to Spencer, so he busts it to get ready in the moring and get out to get in line. Maybe it is the fact that it isn't freezing outside, so he doesn't mind standing out there forever. It just seems rediculous that he will stand out in line a half hour before the bus comes. And he's not even first. And why has it become so important to him? Apparently all the kids will get on the bus and then save seats for their friends and later stops. There are only two other stops, but still.

One rule that they have is that only family members can butt in line. But apparently that only applies to some of the kids. The first time Melissa went out and butt in line with Spencer, one of the other kids said, "Hey, you can't do that, no butting!" Melissa's reply was "Why? you do it all the time!" I have to admit I was proud of her, way to stand up for yourself. Noone has said anything since. And I have heard Melissa helping Spencer in the morning to get him out the bus line faster. She will let him go first to get his hair combed and brush his teeth. She has even helped him find his shoe so he could get out there faster.

She got in trouble once for hitting a kid on the bus. There was this kid who was sitting in front of Melissa and her friend. He would pop up and hit (not really hard) Melissa's friend on the top of the head and then hide. And he kept doing this and Melissa's friend kept telling him to stop. And he wouldn't. So Melissa had this brilliant idea that the next time he popped up to hit her friend, she would surprise him with a hit herself. Which she did, only it turned into a slap on the face and she admitted it was a little harder than she intended it to be, but anyway, the kid got to school and told his teacher Melissa hit him. Go figure, no mention of the reason why.

You know, even though all this bus stuff makes me crazy, maybe my kids are better off for it. Maybe they are getting some really good life lessons thanks to all the crap they put up with on the bus. They are learning to stick up for themselves for one. Spencer is learning that if he wants something he has to work hard for it, and a lot of times that means not procrastinating. And for once, they have a common goal and are working together helping each other to get a good seat on the bus. So maybe, just maybe all this bus stuff is actually a good thing.

If by chance...

If for some reason I were in the mood to pamper myself this is what I would do...

I would sleep in. I would not get up at 6 in the morning to go run with some friends. Especially when the plan is to run hills every Monday. Instead I would set the alarm with just enough time to get Melissa and Spencer up for school.

Then I would take a shower. A nice long, hot shower. Without the bathroom fan on. Cause that makes me a little cold. You know, one day of it not on is going to ruin the paint in the bathroom. For the record, I did wipe the condensation off the wall around the shower just so I couldn't be blamed later on.

However, that is where my nice day of pampering myself ends...

My curling iron broke, and my only other two options were to use the skinny thing I use on the girl's hair, or try my hand at the round brush and a blow dryer. Needless to say, neither of them really turned out, so my hair looked like crap all day.

The rest of my day was spent just doing mommy things. I was in charge of preschool carpool. It was my turn to read in Spencer's class, I drove dance carpool, and had piano lessons and making dinner, doing homework and stuff like that. Not to mention I had a primary meeting at my house.

I do have to say that I had a couple of visits from some really great friends and phone calls as well. Oh, and I ate pie for lunch (Thanks Mom and Dad). I also have to say that the kids rose to the occassion, there was only minimal fighting. So I count the day a winner anyway!