Thursday, February 10, 2011

Things that made me smile today.

1.  My people and their plans to spoil me this weekend.

2.  Advil.

3.  Diet Coke.

4.  Ginger snaps.

5.  Homemade cheesecake.  Chocolate chip cheesecake.  Yes, I made it.  I'm not afraid to admit that it is delicious.

6.  Planning K-'s valentine party for tomorrow.

7.  Knowing that her teacher knows me well enough to not worry about the details.

8.  PBS.

9.  Seeing the Statue of Liberty on "Becoming American" on PBS and knowing that my child's obsession with it says that we will revisit Lady Liberty again someday.  We will spend as much time there as she wants and we will be able to get off the boat this time at Ellis Island to research great grandparents.  Theater tickets prevented us on our whirlwind weekend in November.

10.  K- coming to the conclusion that she will just "anor" the boastful child in her class and not say mean and hateful things like are often said to her and her classmates. 

11.  Dropping off balloons and a tacky solar powered dancing flower to Aunt Donna for Valentine's Day.  We kept our distance, as she is still working on overcoming her cold.  I complimented her for climbing into clothes this time and not greeting me in her jammies.  I told her that was a step up!

12.  K- saw bags that had slipped from a store display and she worked to move them out of the way for people.  If she sees product that falls on the floor, she'll re-shelf it.  She helped a lady at a big box store pick up all sorts of product that had fallen into a giant heap in the middle of the floor and needed tidied. 

13.  Hubs' attempt at trying to build a better mousetrap, well so to speak.  Hubs is tired of the squirrels ripping up our Droll Yankee bird feeder and he tried to create a guard cap from a bottle he had.  It didn't work.  Tomorrow, I will be on the quest to purchase plastic popcorn bowls as feeder guards. 

Have a great day!

Wednesday, February 9, 2011

Just hand the chocolate over and no one will get hurt.

Why did I not post last night?  We'll just say that I'll quote my sister by saying, "I didn't want to go forth and share."  The attitude?  Notsogood. 

I've decided that I'll share some irks.  Why not? 

1.  Magazines in the doctors office are for reading.  People read them and when they reach an article that they are a few pages invested in, they aren't too happy when they find holes torn out of the middle of the two remaining pages.  They aren't your property.  Please do not help yourself to bits of stuff.  Either purchase it or look it up online, please.

2.  Frozen wiper blades.

3.  The side roads around here are like way back country roads riddled with pot holes.  We have 3" slabs of ice attached to the road surface and scraping only lifts bits which then leaves craters. 

4.  People who come in and have me do a full gift wrap on a $2.00 item.  I wouldn't have the guts to ask.

5.  Children who make my child continually worry that what she is doing/saying/feeling might not be in line with what they would do/say/feel.  She's only in the first grade and it makes me want to scream.

6.  People who don't obey the rule about if a park car is on their side of the road, they must wait and allow on-coming traffic to pass first.  Oh, playing chicken is so much more fun, right?

7.  Whole or minimally processed foods cost much more than the overly processed and generally bad for you foods do.

Update on Grandpa:
Grandpa is still in the ICU.  Family visits are limited, as they want Grandpa to rest and get better.  He was taken off the vent, but then put back on where they attempted to put him on a trach, but he is too weak.  They have put him on a TPN (in my family it is AKA milkshake in a bag which runs through a picc line) and they will try again.  Mom thinks that he will not be able to overcome this.  I pray God's will for his life and truly want Grandpa not to suffer. 

Smiles in my day:
-  My brother, Dumpy, went to a chiropractor today who could pop his disk back into place.  He fell down his brick steps (they were icy-- surprise, surprise) and smacked his back all the way down.  He then jarred his back in his truck.  I think that when he went to the chiropractor, he heard angels singing.  Mom said that he feels so much better.
-  My brother, Billy, seems to be having some great opportunities coming his way.  That makes my heart very happy.
-  My sister, LeAnne, is on day #3 of her campaign to stop smoking. 
-  Our elementary's change drive for the local hospital raised over $1100.00!  That is over $2.00 per kid and in a school where 50% of the students are below the poverty level, that is amazing. 
-  A husband and child who still love me no matter how grumpy I can sometimes get.

Tuesday, February 8, 2011

Tales from the Trenches: During the quick thaw



During the two day thaw in December, K- was able to take her scooter for a ride down the sidewalk.
Smiles in my day:
- K- got a +2 on her spelling test. She had a few extra days to learn to spell the bonus words. (Groundhog and shadow.) We were thankful for those days!
- April will get her parents house listed today!
- Heather is coming up with some lovely trouble shooting ideas for her Pergo.

Have a great day!

Monday, February 7, 2011

Dishin' Dinners Day and 4 AM is far too early.

Meatless Monday/Tuesday-  Spaghetti with tomato sauce and salad.
Wednesday/Thurs-  Crock-pot creamed chicken and veggies over homemade-ish egg noodles.  (No, not me. The nice freezer section at the store has them on sale this week.)
Friday- Cold tuna noodle salad (Crazy day. 100 book challenge book passing, Dr. appt, Valentine Party, visit with Aunt Donna.) 
Saturday- Eat out. (A rarity for us.)

My daughter.  My beloved daughter.  Oh, bless her.  The dear was SOOOOO! excited to go to a birthday party on Saturday afternoon that she woke at 4 AM, yes 4 AM, and began to tidy her room.  (It needs it.  A decree went out that no Saturday morning cartoons would be watched until the situation was helped in some way.)  At 4 in the oh-my-heavens-too-early 30 in the AM, my dear sweet came to my side of the bed.

"Good morning, Mommy!" 

"K-, it's 4:30 AM."

"I cleaned my room."

"At 4:30?"

"Uh, huh." 

:insert flump of flower pillow and plonk of a baby doll on my chest as the feet were scampering up the side of the bed and flopping in between the husband and me:

"K-, you must be quiet."

:whispering:  "Okay, Mommy."

:time goes by with some flip flopping:

"Mommy?  It's 5:10!"

"K-?  Shhhh."

She kept announcing the time until I threatened to kick her out.  She went to watch cartoons at 7 AM for one hour.  I laid in bed and watched the Today show.  I couldn't fall back to sleep.

I told her that I was going to mandate a nap.  (Yes, I said mandate.)  "But I'm a big girl.  I don't need a nap."  After cutting her bangs about 12,000 times before they were completely straight and painting her fingernails AND toe nails, she announced, "You know, Mommy, I think I need to lie down." 

She took a 1 1/2- 1 3/4 hour nap.

I'm glad to say that she had a terrific time at the party.  I'm also pleased to say that we all slept well on Saturday night and K- did not show up at my bedside until 7:12 AM. 

Smiles in my weekend:
-  K- got her report card on Friday.  It was a bit delayed because of snow.  She has maintained or improved her grades, which pleased both of us immensely. 
-  Getting to see all the work that April and her husband have done on her parents house.  They have worked so hard and I pray that the house sells quickly.
-  K-'s extreme excitement for her friend's birthday party.  Others were beyond excited, too.  They had a cousin show up a few hours early because she just couldn't wait anymore.  May these little girls continue their excitement for the simple things in life.
-  My brother.  He landed at my sister's house this weekend, where his children excitedly awaited tacos for early dinner.  He popped in at my Mom and Dad's house.  It made my Mom's heart so happy to see him with the kids and so very happy.
-  Getting to hang out with friends and get the updates of their lives.
-  The in-law's invited us to see the Super Bowl at their house.  We were all last minute about it, but I think Hubs' dad was very pleased to have someone to watch the game with.
-  A fellow 7 year old in K-'s kids church shared with her that she is 7 (a month older, actually) and she has lost NO! teeth so far.  To K-, who has been feeling a bit left out of the dental shedding rite of passage, this made her feel better to know that she's not the only one on the wait.

Have a wonderful day!