Thanks

These items were given to me at open house last night. Thanks, Suzanne. You're a real friend. :-)

Scary Mom

It has been an extremely long week. I figured out today that we had a quadruple whammy this week. First--we had daylight saving time on Sunday, so everyone's still trying to recover from that. Second--this is the week before spring break. 'Nuff said. Third--Tuesday was a full moon. I don't care what the scientists say. Ask any cop or l&d nurse or teacher. The full moon effect is real. Fourth--we had a cold front blow through last night. Temperatures dropped 40 degrees and it's been raining all day. Talk about a confluence of events!

So...it's been a bit of a frustrating week teaching. Nothing terribly bad, just fidgety and talkative kids who can't seem to understand what "look and listen" means.

That brings me to this afternoon. Took James to karate. Went to the library to get a couple of books I've been wanting. On the way home from the library, Chris called for an early pickup from track. Seems they aren't as diligent about running in the rain as they say they are. ;-) Picked him up and went home. It's raining--still. Got everyone inside. Got Larry out of his cage and walked him in the back yard. He wasn't sure he really wanted to go because, of course, it's raining. So I stood out there, under my umbrella, watching him "do his business" - both kinds - then brought him back in the house. Went to the mailbox. :::note to self: put mailbox key on your keyring::: Finally took myself to the bathroom. By this time, it's 5:00 and I need to pick up James. Did that. Came home and decided to get myself a Diet Coke and a spoonful of chocolate icing. Just a little pick-me-up before I tackle dinner. Opened my Coke and set it on the end table. Larry jumped on the couch and knocked it over with his tail. DC goes all over the floor and my pant leg.
It was a much bigger spill than the picture. But I didn't take an actual picture and this was the best I could find. (Can you believe you can find a picture of a spilled Diet Coke on Google? Go figure!) It was all over the floor and under the chair. At least we have laminate.

I yelled. I yelled a not very nice word. Twice. Really loud. James was asking me a question at the time and John was at the table doing his homework. Oops. So (and this is kinda funny now--not so much at the time) I picked up the can and threw it in the sink--really hard. I almost threw the dish remote, but thought better of it and smacked it down on the counter. Then I threw my spoon of icing across the kitchen. Boy...that's anger when you'll actually throw chocolate! Then I stormed into my bedroom and slammed the door. I stormed into my bathroom and slammed that door. Then I slammed the closet door for good measure. (Yeah, I'm a door-slammer. Sue me.)

So I stood in my bedroom fuming. Then I realized that the chocolate was on the floor and the dog would probably eat it and get sick and then I'd really be in a world of hurt. I left the sanctuary of my bathroom to come out and pick up my chocolate spoon. Cleaned up that mess.

But what really bugged me about the whole thing was James sitting on the couch watching TV. Huge puddle of DC on the floor next to him. How many messes of his have I cleaned up? 100,000 at least. My passive/aggressiveness got the better of me. As I got paper towels and such I said, "Thanks so much for all the help in cleaning up the mess." He continued to stare at the TV. I said, a bit more forcefully, "That was sarcasm in case you missed it." James: "Ok." AAAARRRRGGGGHHHH!!!!! That was it. I'm done.

I told them they were on their own for the night. They can get their own dinner--I don't care. They can clean up their mess because no one bothered to help me clean up a mess (that I didn't make in the first place but I can't really expect Larry to clean it up--though I guess he could've licked it all up for me. Ew.) So there.

Now...did I really get to stay in my self-imposed exile. Of course not. I tried. I really tried. But Chris had to go to mutual. John needed help with his homework. Unfortunately, I wasn't a very good example tonight. I'll do better tomorrow. I think they'll be going to bed early tonight. Wish I could.

Larry's Home!

Yay! Larry's home! The boys are ecstatic. Larry spent the first few hours peeing on floor a lot, but he seems better today. I think it was just stress. The stress of being incarcerated. The stress of coming home. We've been for a walk yesterday and today. It's a little stressful for me--walking through the neighborhood. But I'm sure I'll feel better about it as time goes on.

The whole thing seems to be working out okay. The husband and I have spoken and have settled on what they would like us to do. I don't know yet if we'll have to involve insurance. We'll wait and see what the hospital bill is like. He's being calm about it all. The woman went by the animal shelter. She wanted Larry deemed "dangerous." They told her that they don't do that on the first offense. According to animal control, she wasn't very happy about it. Oh well. We'll keep him on a leash when we walk (which we always have) and we'll keep the front windows closed no matter how warm it gets.

But Larry's home and all is right with the world again. Yippee!!

Daylight Saving Time

I hate daylight saving time. Really and truly hate it. But I especially hate that it starts in early March now. It was one thing when, back in the day, it began the last Sunday in April. Then the-powers-that-be moved it to the first Sunday in April. That was always "fun" for General Conference. Actually, it was a great weekend for it when we could watch Conference at home! Didn't have to worry about getting anyone dressed and out the door. Then, I think they moved it to the last Sunday in March. And now...the second Sunday in March. And it ends the first of November, I think? So what's the point? Why not just stay in this particular time frame? Why? Because it's stinking dark at 7:00 in the morning when many of us are trying to get kids dressed and off to school--and gets ourselves dressed and off to school as well. Kids WILL be walking to school in the dark tomorrow morning.

Everyone talks about "getting an extra hour of daylight." No you don't. It's not an extra hour--it's just in a different place on our clocks. Yes, I'm a morning person. I really don't like getting up too late. 8:00 is really late for me. I'd rather be up and, well...maybe not exactly going, but at least available to go. I don't like being out in the evening. I'm not an evening person. I want to be home--watching TV, playing on the computer, watching a movie, playing Guitar Hero, taking a bath...whatever.

So...it's DST today. It's almost 9:00 in the morning and church is in two hours. And I'm still in my pj's, on the computer, not having said a single thing to the boys yet. But it doesn't *feel* like 9:00--it feels like 8:00. It's gonna be a LONG week. DST and the week before spring break. NOT a good combination. I'll survive it--but I don't have to be happy about it.

10 Honest Things

Thanks, Missty! I got an award! Wow! I don't even know what to say. Oh yeah...I'm supposed to come up with 10 honest things about myself. Ok...I'll try. I'm not sure I can come up with 10 things.

1. I'm really a shy person. I talk a good game, but in an awkward situation or a new situation, I disappear.

2. I'm a boring person.

3. I'm basically lazy.

4. I never dreamed I'd be a mother of three boys--and I LOVE it. (Except the Pinewood Derby.)

5. I love teaching music, but I would give it up very easily if I could stay home.

6. I wish I could be more like my dad.

7. I've been to East Germany--back when there was an East Germany and even came back with East German Marks. (Kinda like having Confederate money, huh?)

8. I come from a family of country folk, but I'm completely town folk.

9. I want to go on a vacation--right now.

10. I need a housekeeper.

Okay...that wasn't that great. It's entirely possible that I'll come back and edit that list. We'll see.

Pinewood Derby

We survived the Pinewood Derby. No big winners or anything, but the cars looked cool. And the boys had fun. And that's the most important part, right? Yeah. Exactly. Yeah. But anyway...here are the cars. Both were completely the boys' ideas. Making them? Well...not all them. But the original ideas--all boys.

This is John's pencil car.

James's sword car - patterned after a sword in some video game. Shoulda put some red paint on the tip! :-)

Key to Success

The question: how to keep James focused to do note cards and other things that are "in the box" in class. The answer: a timer! In his LEAP class last Tuesday, his teacher set a timer. The night before, he'd done two note cards in an hour. In class--with the timer--he did six in 15 minutes. He finished all his note cards and did the rest of his work that day. He's completely caught up on this research project. A timer! Amazing!