Works for Me Wednesday: The Kissing Hand

Folks, our one and only is going to Kindergarten today. My regular readers know that I'm having a bit of a hard time with this, but we're reading this before school:
(Don't click to look inside. It'll only make the picture bigger. Instead, click here.)

Mrs. Raccoon watched Chester scamper across a tree limb and enter school. And as the hoot owl rang in the new school year, she pressed her left hand to her cheek and smiled.

The warmth of Chester's kiss filled her heart with special words.

"Chester loves you," it sang. "Chester loves you."

Here's to hoping that I get my kissing hand! Have a great day!

DEAL ALERT!:
Thanks to Boo Mama for sharing her dealie do of the week. Southern Living Magazine is available for $5.00/subscription for a limited time. Click on over to Boo Mama's post for the particulars. I've ordered mine (I've never read it before!) and it is due to arrive Oct/Nov.

Smiles in my day:
- My baby starts Kindergarten. Though Kleenex will be required, I'm very happy for her.
- Brainstorming display ideas with Julia. We really work well together.
- The sore in my mouth is healing nicely. Darn those cold sores!

ARGH!:
We went to drop K- off at class, and the woman teaching is Mrs. M-. Mrs. M- informed us that Mrs. F- will be out until at least 9/11, if not longer. "Will you be taking the class over for Mrs. F-?" I asked. She said, "Well, the Board of Education doesn't tell me." Folks, she has the personality of shoe leather. My child was confused by the switch in teacher on the very first day of school. Hubs followed me to the Principal's office, who heard me and another mom, gave us papers and said that he should be able to change her class by the end of the week. I hope that there is room enough in the other classes to do so. Apparently, Mrs. F- suffers from chronic illness and was out 20% of the year last year. I hold nothing against her. I'm sorry for her illness. However, it doesn't lend continuity to class when you have 15 - 5 year olds wondering who will be sitting with them that day. Kindergarten is not child care. It is learning. To start Kindergarten off on the wrong foot with a teacher who is there only 80% of the time to me is not acceptable. We pray that this situation gets resolved by the end of the week.

Tales from the Trenches: I'll have a heart attack with a side of anxiety, please.

I think that my husband thinks that my head will implode. I'm in tears as I write this. We went to K-'s orientation and her teacher wasn't there because she was ill. Argh. So, I get to hand my child off to a woman that I've never met to have my kid hang with her for 6 hours. I know, I know. I spoke with the principal and just flat out said, "Hi! I'm a parent of one of Mrs. F-'s students and she isn't here and I'm having a heart attack." He told me that it was all good. I asked how long she has taught, how long she has been there and so forth. Turns out that she is a veteran teacher, having 23 years under her belt. She has been at this particular school for 18 years of the 23. He said that she is an excellent teacher. I told him that we appreciated her hanging back to keep illness away, but I still admit having a huge, hard time.

Folks, K- hasn't slept a night away from me EVER. Other than the day and a half in the hospital that I wasn't aware of her existence, she has been ours and I have seen her every day for all of her life. The school is old. It is due to be rebuilt in a few years. The class is tiny. There are so many things in the classroom. That is a good thing. There is a reading station, 4 computers, a station for circle time that has day/weather . . . , a station for pretend play, a sink with soap and water (important for germaphobe mommy), each child has an individual cubbie to hang coats, backpacks and lunch kits in. Of course, they have sandwiched her desk, a few chalk boards and who knows what else. My heavens, it is a festival of so much stuff. That's a good thing too, right?

I'm rambling. I'm irrational. I understand. Hubs insists that I'm crazy. I didn't sleep last night, worried about her and praying all night long. Part of that anxiety was a work thing, which for the record was all for not. I'm pleased to say that I went in with a spring in my step, God firmly in my heart and mind (thanks for that sermon, Pastor) and tackled the day with gusto. It's just when it comes to K-, I become Mama Bear. Big time Mama Bear. I don't mean it harmful. I've not let her know about any of my anxiety. I needn't cause her strife over Mommy's issues.

It's not Mrs. F-.

It's not school.

It's about me letting go.

It's about hoping that we did right by K- and sending her off to learn great and wonderful things. It's about having her not having me there to bail her out.

It's sink or swim. We've given her all the parenting we have. She's a great kid, but a little high strung (oh, my where could she have gotten that from? Hmmm . . . ) She is so caring. She just wants to be someone's friend. She loves to learn, but gets so busy about what everyone else is doing that she rushes. I want her to take her time and show her teacher what she can do. I'm so worried that the teacher won't see that. I don't want to be that parent who puts their child in a class with disclaimers.

We have to do this for her. This is her next big step in life. She is excited. She is ready. It's up to me to hold it together to let her go. I can't disappoint her. So on Wednesday morning at 8 AM, we'll be walking the 8 blocks to the school. She'll be skipping along with her backpack and lunch kit. We've made the trip several times. It's becoming familiar. We know where the sidewalk pitches back and forth because of the tree roots. We're getting to memorize the lawn ornaments. We know where the crosswalk is. We've been able to watch the city workers replace the curbs and be some of the first people to walk on them. We've played on the playground equipment. We know where the swings are. We don't need to know anything more, right? :)

I promise, I'll survive.

Smiles in my day:
- No "Monday morning chat!"
- K- wanted to play baseball after we got back. Boy, that girl can crack that ball! I spent more time digging the ball out of my flower beds!
- Hubs bought me The Cure Trilogy DVD set for my birthday. I know that he isn't too keen on The Cure, but he sat and watched part of it with me last night.
- Going to orientation tonight with Hubs and K-. She was so excited as we walked back home. She was able to meet up with some of her preschool classmates and that made her day.
- I spoke to the pediatric dentist's office that we were referred to by our neighbor. I explained K-'s dental situation to the woman on the phone, who was very caring and spoke to me for quite sometime. We have an action plan in place in the event that the pulpectomy (remaining portion of the root canal) needs to take place and we aren't successful with Dr. Rick. We will be transferring K- over to the practice regardless, as considering her dental history, we think that the pediatric dental office may be a better fit for her. I will remain going to Dr. Rick. (I love him! Why wouldn't I?!) This was a weight lifted.
- I spoke to the insurance company in regard to the pediatric dentist and though they aren't providers under our insurance plan, we have "a great traditional insurance plan" (as told to me by the lady on the phone who was stunned by our coverage) that not being a provider makes no difference. We will still have 80/20 coverage. Hubs is a county employee and as such, they tend to be provided with pretty decent insurance plans. Hoorah!
- After the orientation, I came home to drown my stresses in a chunk of DQ ice cream cake. Yes Rachael, it is my favorite, too. Oh, and my grandma's cold chocolate cake with custard frosting that my mom was able to finally duplicate this year. Grandma has been gone for 13 years and it has taken my mom that long to figure out why the icing was failing. She was using 2% instead of whole milk!

Have a wonderful day!

Many things.

I had a birthday. I am now 36. My mother-in-law commented on the amount of gray hair that I have. I know, I know. It's hard enough for me to keep up with getting my hair cut. I'd never keep up with coloring. We took my in-law's with us to Idlewild on Saturday as an anniversary gift to them. We went as a birthday/end of summer celebration for us. We had a great time! We were able to score tickets at Giant Eagle, so we saved $50.00 on admission. That alone was reason to smile! We went to the Story Book Forest, rode the train, went through Mr. Roger's Neighborhood of Make Believe on the trolley, rode a bunch of rides that even my mother-in-law went on (I think we about did her on on the Rollo Coaster.) We stopped for a bite to eat on the way back home and didn't actually land on our doorstep until 12:45 AM on Sunday morning. That's a long day for us! We don't stay up that late.

We did make it to church on Sunday morning. We hadn't been for a few weeks because of K-'s viral funk. It was a great sermon that spoke to my heart about having God at the forefront, not being able to have 2 masters in your life and readjusting priorities. Particularly with work stress, I needed to hear that.

We went to the Cleveland Botanical Gardens for my birthday. Hubs and K- take me every year, and every year EXCEPT this one (thank you!) K- didn't break down and have a horrible fit. We went on a garden tour, were able to be there for the butterfly release, where K- got a few to handle and one flew onto Hubs' head. :)

Much to the dismay of my family unit, we were able to work on the task of getting the Christmas photo done. I drove the in-law's crazy with it the day before and Hubs and K- were slightly annoyed with me today. In the end, I believe that we may have fetched a few contenders. I know that it sounds ridiculous to work on it this early, but Hubs kind of likes a destination type photo and with no vacation this year, this was pretty much our only chance. Hubs understands my artist tendencies, so it is all good. Each one of us have our own obsessive things and the Christmas card photo is one of mine.

I've been battling a little bit of something, as whatever funk I have seems to be blossoming in sores in my mouth. The sore of earlier on in the week that actually gave me an earache went away only to have one crop up on the opposite side of my mouth. This one has part of the roof of my mouth aching with redness. I've had a sore throat today, as well as some swollen glands, but after some Advil and Advil Cold and Sinus, it seems to have calmed down a bit. Both Hubs and I have been battling the mouth sores this week, so we think that maybe K-'s viral funk hit us a little bit. I had a hazy headache for a week, but finally didn't have it today. Perhaps the lightness, but annoyingness of whatever bit of something that I had is disappearing. Hopefully it does along with that huge cold sore in my mouth. Ouch.

We're looking towards the official end of summer. We have our orientation for K- tomorrow night. Mrs. F- is her teacher, but I don't recall her at the registration presentation. I admit that it makes me nervous, as I'll be leaving my child in her care for 6 hours a day/5 days a week. I'm certain that she is well qualified and all that, but I do believe that the orientation will be helpful in my being able to lay my eyes on her, getting to speak with her, finding out a bit more about her and her angle of teaching and how tightly she runs her ship. (No, I realize that this is not a parent/teacher conference, but if I can get 1/4 of my curiosities satisfied, then maybe I'll feel better, yes?) K- will be able to check out her room (magical number 3!) and meet some of her classmates. I'm excited for her, but nervous. I figure that each school year factors in adjustment to new schedules/people and whatnot. Hopefully, K- will do well with her adjustment and be the delightful little girl that I know her to be. Nevermind me. I'll be the mommy doing the deep breathing exercises over here.

Smiles in my weekend:
- A great weekend! Thanks honey and K-!
- Ice cream cake. I know that I used to work at DQ, but I never grow tired of their cakes.
- Being able to check back on the little girl who fell and bonked her head while the kids were waiting for their trolley ride. We ran into her and her family at some games later on in the evening, we were able to confirm that she was okay, though pushed down hard by another little girl. I was able to talk with the mother, who I praised for handling the situation as well as she had. Her daughter was pushed by another child who was neither reprimanded by her mother, nor even made to go to see how the injured child was. The mother said nothing. She didn't even acknowledge the incident. K- was mortified, as she had no idea what to do when she heard the collection of parental gasps when the incident happened. She came, sat with me and she went to check on her temporary playmate. I couldn't speak in detail about the incident until later, as the offender and mom were sitting right next to us in line. It made K-'s heart happy to know that the little girl was okay, as she had brought it up a few times during the day. This way, I know that she can rest well knowing that the playmate will be a-okay.

I hope that all of you had a wonderful weekend! Still spotty this week, because of sending K- off to school. Next week I'll get back to my normal schedule. I promise!

It hasn't been since 2001.

My best friend, April, took me out to a dinner and a movie for my birthday. (Upcoming. It isn't yet.) The last movie that I saw in the theater was America's Sweethearts (not a really good movie, by the way.) She said that she looked it up. Folks, that was in 2001.

So where did we go and what did we do? We went to a local Mexican restaurant for dinner. We opted to go with sides because there would be way too much food otherwise. (K- was wondering what Mexican food was, I told her it was kind of Taco Bell and she asked, "Oh! Did you have twist ties?! I love the twist ties!" No, no cinnamon twisties!) Of course, it decided to rain cats, dogs and a variety of other mammals when we were due to leave. We made the mad dash to the car and off to the theater in a somewhat blinding rain that subsided soon enough. But what does a blogger and a blogger attempter (April is having some blog issues) go to see? Julie & Julia.

There were points that I laughed so hard that I literally cried. First we laughed at the older people who seemed to huff and stare at me when I whispered to April BEFORE the movie. We laughed that there were only 18 people total in the entire theater. We laughed at Julia chopping onions. We laughed at the lobster flipping the lid from the pot. We laughed at the aspic clogging the sink.

We ate. We laughed. We had a good time. Thanks, April! I haven't had a girls night out in a long time!

Things in my day:
- My hovering panic attack about work. Because Monday mornings have been bringing me a "talking to," I found myself working myself up about it today. Monday is days away. I need not worry about it. What will be is what will be. I love my job.
- K-'s trip to the dentist was less than fantastic. In the throes of last week's viral funk, she kept crying that her tooth was hurting her. I got her in today and the fear is that she will have to have the remaining portion of the root canal done. (She had a baby root canal AKA a pulpotomy, which stops at about the roots, whereas the pulpectomy takes all of the pulp out. This is if memory serves from my dentistry research from Google.) Folks, she bit the dentist. She also wouldn't cooperate at all, but he understood. The big issue was that she checked out the tool tray as she walked in. She saw the shot sitting on the tray and refused to sit in the chair. Skipping the assorted details, we have an antibiotic for her to take, we'll go back on Thursday evening to have another check and an x-ray done. What Dr. Rick is treating her for is a possibility that the infection that she had last week pocketed under her tooth. There is no sign of infection, as everything is healthy looking. If the x-ray shows nerve stuff, we'll either have Dr. Rick do the 10 minutes of work at his office, or be passed on to a pediatric dentist who will either strap K- to a papoose board or want to put her to sleep for the work. She's good for cleaning, just not so good for work. Dr. Rick said that he understands, as she has had a fair amount of dental work done for her age. (A filling that popped out 4 times in one tooth (twice in the office as it was being filled) before changing filler composite, a nerve died and required a root canal and now this.) He said that he was thrilled to know that it wasn't another tooth, but one we were dealing with. He said that at least that way, her other teeth were holding. We reviewed what we do and we are doing exactly as Dr. Rick wants. Isn't it amazing how K-'s prenatal stuff is biting us in the teeth now?

Smiles in my day:
- I'm getting my hair cut. I don't quite know how. I'm not good at the female priority of hair cuts, changing purses, nail polish and the like (I do my hair and I do wear make-up). When I get tired of my hair, I want it cut then. Kelly was going to cut it today (Thursday), but she was ill. We had to reschedule for Friday. It was a better time for me anyhow.
- I got the baking done that I needed to do for a friend's guitar review. The baked goods will be in Milwaukee on Saturday.
- Hubs cleaned up my mess from all the baking when I was out with April. Thanks, Hubs!
- We made it to K-'s park program today. It was on seeds.

Works for Me Wednesday: Sunprint Kits

I'll start off this week's Works for Me Wednesday by saying that I was a printmaking major in college, so anything that is a print-type thing really makes my heart sing. As K- was in recovery from her nasty funk (the beginning funk post is here), I was doing anything I could to get her motivated to get out and moving. I forgot that I had purchased a Sunprint Kit that has been sitting on our microwave for longer than I care to admit. We decided to pull it out and give it a go. The kit we had was the refill, since I also have a leaded glass studio in the house and obviously it was unnecessary for me to pay the extra for a piece of acrylic when I have more sheets of glass in the studio than I can tell you. (Eventually, I'll unearth the studio again and show you some pretty pictures.) Here is what we created:We have Lemon Bee Balm, Lavender, Coreopsis, Crown Vetch and Impatiens with a Petunia. A perfect, easy craft for any age on a sweltering summer day. In fact, as K- took a nap, I did a print from things outside for each letter in her name. We plan on framing them.

Sunprints work for me!

Not in lights, but in print.

The Cleveland Magazine fact checker called today to confirm the information in the article, the spelling of my last name, the place that I work and my title. My friends, I will be in print in the October issue. Hooray!

Thunks to the forehead:
Was it really necessary for someone to abandon a $50.00 package of steaks on the shelf next to the apple juice? The package seemed recently abandoned, so I walked it back and there was someone from the meat department re-stocking the cases. She thanked me profusely for bringing it to her. We all complain about high prices, yet abandoning an expensive package of meat on a store shelf is just adding to the problem.

Smiles in my day:
- K- and Hubs went to the African Animal Safari where K- got to "ride in the front seat because it was a special occasion, Mom" and were able to cheer a pig named AJ on in the pig race. I asked Hubs about the relationship of the pig race to the African Safari and he said that it is just incredibly cheesy, but she just loves it.
- We had ANOTHER meeting today involving the floor manager, gallery director, one of the owners, Julia, me and another co-worker. We discussed what was expected of each of us. The owner told the floor manager that if a display gets changed, whoever is getting upset over it just needs to get over it as I'm display and that is my job. Hooray! The owner backed me. (I can hear the angels singing Hallelujah!) Hopefully now the floor manager will get out of her funk with me and leave me to do my job.
- Hubs' mom and dad are back in town, their flight was much more smooth on the way home than on the way to Milwaukee and the toilet that was broken was just a seal that needed replaced. (It broke on K- and I had to shut the supply valve off to get it to stop running.)
- My dad dropped off 2 yards of gravel. It will be the base for our new shed. The gravel? He got it with his discount which saved us $60.00! Thanks, Dad!

K- on the mend

Flowers for Mr. Don and Mr. Glenn. (Lime green nicotiana.)

I'm going to scab out on giving full details of the weekend, as it continued to be puke clean-up, begging a kid to eat, or even drink and finally the sun came out and K- started feeling a bit better Saturday evening. She played with sidewalk chalk (hence the blue handies), the hose and washed her wagon for HOURS! Bless her babyson heart. It makes a mama happy.

So with that, I'll be a little scarce for the next week and a half. Oh, I'll post here and there, but not big long extensive things. It's not that I have nothing to say. Good Lord, mom said from the time I started to talk, I've never shut up. Nah. I have Miss Thing going to school next week and I'm a traumatized mama. I know, there are folks who can't wait until the yellow school bus rolls up. I'm not one of those mamas. I've never told K-, as I don't want her to be distressed about starting school because mommy will miss her. No, I lump it. Next Wednesday morning, when I walk her to school, I'll probably cry all the way home. As long as I remember Kleenex, it's all good.

So, I love you guys and all, but I'll be in. I'll be out. Don't worry! I'll still read, but my baby is growing up. We need to do that last bit of summer cramming while we can.

Smiles in my day:
- K- is feeling better!

- Hanging out at the fire tonight with Hubs until 11 PM. We were able to hang out, listen to the critters and just talk.

Things I've learned:
- Whoever gave me the advice of having a child sleep on a bath towel and put a trash can next to the bed on another bath towel needs to be kissed. It saved many bed changes last week.
- A bucket of soapy water, a sponge, a hose, a bucket of sidewalk chalk and a plastic Step 2 wagon will keep a child occupied for HOURS.
- Apparently, I suffer from squirrel mentality. I regularly clean out the refrigerator, but the freezer gets purged only a few times a year. I found where all of my freezer containers got off to. I found some chicken corn chowder from last fall, turkey from Thanksgiving, pizza sauce from last Halloween, chicken pot pie from this past winter, homemade pizza from the winter, orange slices, lemon wedges and a variety of frozen vegetables that needed to hit the ditch. Really, I need to do a better job of scheduling in leftover consumption.

- 75% off red dot items in the dollar aisle at Target make both me and K- happy. We left with happy things to decorate her backpack with, nifty school pencils, nail polish, a pencil pack o' gifties for her friend next door, a paintable ceramic seal, a flower hole punch, an ice pack, and a bucket for pencils for K-'s desk at home (13 items total) for all of $3.75. That's good stuff.