- Library books
- Bag chair
- Fleece blanket
- Coupon binder
- Sunscreen
- Camera
- Rolls of coins ($90 worth)
- Pack of pens
- File folders
- A baseball
Happy Tuesday!
Tuesday, May 31, 2011
Ten on Tuesday
Ten Things in My Car Right Now:
Happy Tuesday!
Happy Tuesday!
Friday, May 27, 2011
Back by Popular Demand: Fun Fact Friday!
Cheering ensues. There is much weeping and holding up of lighters.
Okay, fine. I long ago came to accept the fact that you guys generally don't care WHAT I say here, as long as I say something. So here goes:
The first toilet ever seen on television was on "Leave It to Beaver."
In England, the Speaker of the House is not allowed to speak.
Thirty-five percent of the people who use personal ads for dating are already married.
More than half of women in the United States will not leave their home without makeup on.
Every second over 7,000 Coca-Cola products are consumed.
Born in the USA from Bruce Springsteen was the first CD ever released in the United States.
In 1899, President McKinley was assured by the director of the US Patent Office that "everything that can be invented has already been invented."
I saw a diet tip in a magazine earlier this week: For a snack, have a half serving of Wheat Thins with some cheese. A half serving of Wheat Thins is defined at 7-8 crackers. I have never in my life been able to eat only 7-8 Wheat Thins. I can put away half a box without blinking. Maybe that's my problem. :)
Okay, fine. I long ago came to accept the fact that you guys generally don't care WHAT I say here, as long as I say something. So here goes:
The first toilet ever seen on television was on "Leave It to Beaver."
In England, the Speaker of the House is not allowed to speak.
Thirty-five percent of the people who use personal ads for dating are already married.
More than half of women in the United States will not leave their home without makeup on.
Every second over 7,000 Coca-Cola products are consumed.
Born in the USA from Bruce Springsteen was the first CD ever released in the United States.
In 1899, President McKinley was assured by the director of the US Patent Office that "everything that can be invented has already been invented."
I saw a diet tip in a magazine earlier this week: For a snack, have a half serving of Wheat Thins with some cheese. A half serving of Wheat Thins is defined at 7-8 crackers. I have never in my life been able to eat only 7-8 Wheat Thins. I can put away half a box without blinking. Maybe that's my problem. :)
Wednesday, May 25, 2011
The Addams Family
"I'm just like any modern woman trying to have it all. Loving husband, a family. It's just, I wish I had more time to seek out the dark forces and join their hellish crusade." - Morticia Addams
Sometimes, Morticia Addams really speaks to me. Doesn't it seem like that to you parents out there?
Okay, so maybe you're not looking for join the crusades of the dark forces. In fact, knowing that majority of my readers personally, I'd wager that this runs completely contrary to what you do want to do.
But if you stop to think about it, what she's really saying is that there are so many other things she wants to do. Morticia loves being a wife, a mother, the matriarch of her unique family. But she knows there are things she had to give up to be that person. Even with Lurch around, I'd guess that Morticia finds she spends too much of her day shuttling Wednesday and Pugsley (and later Pubert if you are a fan of the movies) to different activities and making sure everyone had everything they needed for all their various things.
Sometimes as a mom, as a wife, I find that I am lost in those roles. That I have forgotten who I am outside of baseball practice and Girl Scouts and the mountains of laundry that never seem to shrink. I ask myself why I'm the only one who knows where everyone is supposed to be everyday. Why I'm the only one who remembers what Jacob has to do for school, when he can't be troubled to remember it himself. Why I went to the trouble to get Sara out of softball so she could go to Girl Scouts, only to find she didn't bother to prepare for the meeting. Why I'm the only one who knows where the washing machine is and how to work it.
From 8 AM Saturday morning to 8 AM today (Wednesday), I had driven 354 miles. If I'm going to drive that far, I want to be somewhere warm and pleasant and alone, not sitting at a traffic light hoping we'll get to baseball practice on time so I can drop one kid off and then leave to rush somewhere else to pick up the other kid before she can be classified as "abandoned".
Everyday I think of things I'd like to do. Just fun things, just for me. Scrapbook, read, write, go to a movie that doesn't have something animated in it. But everyday I get up and go to work and then I drive kids around and then I come home in time to prepare for the next day and then fall into bed and then I wake up and start it all over again. And I know, I KNOW, they are only kids for a while. I know that before long, they'll be driving themselves to all this stuff and then they'll be in college and I know that the theory is that I'll miss these days. But my great fear is that once Jake and Sara move on, move OUT God willing, there will be something else to fill my time. Something else that is tedious and mind-numbing. That one day, I'll wake up and be 87 and find that I never had time to do something I wanted to do. Anything I wanted to do.
I'm grumpy today stemming from an argument with Jacob yesterday. He has 6th grade graduation next week and the flyer that came home said "Sunday best". I told him we need to make sure his dress pants and shirt still fit and find a tie. He told me he wasn't wearing that stuff. It escalated from there. Or went downhill from there, however you want to categorize it. It's all so ridiculous because last year, he and his friends willingly wore dress shirts and ties to school and now I can't get him to put on a tie for a few hours for a graduation ceremony. It was a little argument really that got blown out of proportion, but left me feeling unappreciated and bitter.
It's times like this that I want to run away from home. To seek out the dark forces and join their hellish crusade. To be someone other than "Mom" and "Hon". Just for a day or two.
And honestly, whatever your personal "hellish crusade" is, isn't that what we all want?
Sometimes, Morticia Addams really speaks to me. Doesn't it seem like that to you parents out there?
Okay, so maybe you're not looking for join the crusades of the dark forces. In fact, knowing that majority of my readers personally, I'd wager that this runs completely contrary to what you do want to do.
But if you stop to think about it, what she's really saying is that there are so many other things she wants to do. Morticia loves being a wife, a mother, the matriarch of her unique family. But she knows there are things she had to give up to be that person. Even with Lurch around, I'd guess that Morticia finds she spends too much of her day shuttling Wednesday and Pugsley (and later Pubert if you are a fan of the movies) to different activities and making sure everyone had everything they needed for all their various things.
Sometimes as a mom, as a wife, I find that I am lost in those roles. That I have forgotten who I am outside of baseball practice and Girl Scouts and the mountains of laundry that never seem to shrink. I ask myself why I'm the only one who knows where everyone is supposed to be everyday. Why I'm the only one who remembers what Jacob has to do for school, when he can't be troubled to remember it himself. Why I went to the trouble to get Sara out of softball so she could go to Girl Scouts, only to find she didn't bother to prepare for the meeting. Why I'm the only one who knows where the washing machine is and how to work it.
From 8 AM Saturday morning to 8 AM today (Wednesday), I had driven 354 miles. If I'm going to drive that far, I want to be somewhere warm and pleasant and alone, not sitting at a traffic light hoping we'll get to baseball practice on time so I can drop one kid off and then leave to rush somewhere else to pick up the other kid before she can be classified as "abandoned".
Everyday I think of things I'd like to do. Just fun things, just for me. Scrapbook, read, write, go to a movie that doesn't have something animated in it. But everyday I get up and go to work and then I drive kids around and then I come home in time to prepare for the next day and then fall into bed and then I wake up and start it all over again. And I know, I KNOW, they are only kids for a while. I know that before long, they'll be driving themselves to all this stuff and then they'll be in college and I know that the theory is that I'll miss these days. But my great fear is that once Jake and Sara move on, move OUT God willing, there will be something else to fill my time. Something else that is tedious and mind-numbing. That one day, I'll wake up and be 87 and find that I never had time to do something I wanted to do. Anything I wanted to do.
I'm grumpy today stemming from an argument with Jacob yesterday. He has 6th grade graduation next week and the flyer that came home said "Sunday best". I told him we need to make sure his dress pants and shirt still fit and find a tie. He told me he wasn't wearing that stuff. It escalated from there. Or went downhill from there, however you want to categorize it. It's all so ridiculous because last year, he and his friends willingly wore dress shirts and ties to school and now I can't get him to put on a tie for a few hours for a graduation ceremony. It was a little argument really that got blown out of proportion, but left me feeling unappreciated and bitter.
It's times like this that I want to run away from home. To seek out the dark forces and join their hellish crusade. To be someone other than "Mom" and "Hon". Just for a day or two.
And honestly, whatever your personal "hellish crusade" is, isn't that what we all want?
Thursday, May 19, 2011
Happy Birthday Jacob!
So, 12 years ago today, as I lay in Bronson Methodist Hospital in Kalamazoo, Michigan, ten hours into what would turn out to be a 21-hour labor that ended in a c-section, I was sure that when it was all over, I would have a little baby girl in my arms.
Whoops. I should have known then how this maternal instinct thing was going to play out.
But he finally arrived, and while everyone was surprised that he was a he, Jacob seemed to take it all in stride. I've always said he's an old soul. Right from the beginning, he's looked at us as if to say "I'll wait while you get this parenting thing figured out, but hurry up already," He's still waiting.
He got up and walked across the living room at 9 months. I remember Mitch looking at me and saying "Well, this can't be good,"
He never spoke in baby talk. The closest he got to that was when a fire truck would go by - and we had a lot of fire trucks in Milwood - he would drop everything and put a hand to his ear and say "Hear?" Once Sara was born, he designated himself her translator. He would tell me, "Lainey says we should go to Dairy Queen," or "Lainey says we should go to hot dog stand for lunch," Jacob was very intuned with the dining preferences of a 6-month-old baby.
He slept in cat naps for the first 2 years. 20 minutes here or there. Just a quick recharge, then back to the world. He didn't want to miss anything. He still doesn't, but at least he sleeps through the night now.
Once he discovered baseball, there was no turning back. If you're ever wondering who watches those old baseball games on ESPN Classic, it's Jake. He lives and breathes baseball. His favorite position is catcher. I think it's the throwing off of the mask he likes. I listen to his coach tell him in the dugout "Get the gear on" and I remember when he was little and used to call it "the armor". He wanted to play for the Detroit Tigers, but now he's thinking the Yankees might be more financially beneficial.
All he's wanted to do since he was 6 was drive a car.
He didn't want to move to Utah, but now I think he's happy here. He's made some good friends and enjoys school. He's still playing the trumpet. He's completed his 2nd class rank for Boy Scouts. He's getting ready to go to middle school in the fall. He got braces on Monday. He's thinking he might go to the University of Utah instead of University of Michigan. He might want to be a vet, if this baseball thing doesn't work out.
But to me, he's still that 7 pound, 10 ounce baby boy that was finally dragged into this world at 9:31 PM twelve years ago today. The little boy who told me once "You're the best mom me and Sara ever had." The kindergartener who brought me breakfast in bed once of french toast (toast with syrup) and hand-squeezed grape juice ("You have to squeeze a lot of grapes just to get a little juice, Mom").
Happy 12th Birthday, Jacob. I love you.
Whoops. I should have known then how this maternal instinct thing was going to play out.
But he finally arrived, and while everyone was surprised that he was a he, Jacob seemed to take it all in stride. I've always said he's an old soul. Right from the beginning, he's looked at us as if to say "I'll wait while you get this parenting thing figured out, but hurry up already," He's still waiting.
He got up and walked across the living room at 9 months. I remember Mitch looking at me and saying "Well, this can't be good,"
He never spoke in baby talk. The closest he got to that was when a fire truck would go by - and we had a lot of fire trucks in Milwood - he would drop everything and put a hand to his ear and say "Hear?" Once Sara was born, he designated himself her translator. He would tell me, "Lainey says we should go to Dairy Queen," or "Lainey says we should go to hot dog stand for lunch," Jacob was very intuned with the dining preferences of a 6-month-old baby.
He slept in cat naps for the first 2 years. 20 minutes here or there. Just a quick recharge, then back to the world. He didn't want to miss anything. He still doesn't, but at least he sleeps through the night now.
Once he discovered baseball, there was no turning back. If you're ever wondering who watches those old baseball games on ESPN Classic, it's Jake. He lives and breathes baseball. His favorite position is catcher. I think it's the throwing off of the mask he likes. I listen to his coach tell him in the dugout "Get the gear on" and I remember when he was little and used to call it "the armor". He wanted to play for the Detroit Tigers, but now he's thinking the Yankees might be more financially beneficial.
All he's wanted to do since he was 6 was drive a car.
He didn't want to move to Utah, but now I think he's happy here. He's made some good friends and enjoys school. He's still playing the trumpet. He's completed his 2nd class rank for Boy Scouts. He's getting ready to go to middle school in the fall. He got braces on Monday. He's thinking he might go to the University of Utah instead of University of Michigan. He might want to be a vet, if this baseball thing doesn't work out.
But to me, he's still that 7 pound, 10 ounce baby boy that was finally dragged into this world at 9:31 PM twelve years ago today. The little boy who told me once "You're the best mom me and Sara ever had." The kindergartener who brought me breakfast in bed once of french toast (toast with syrup) and hand-squeezed grape juice ("You have to squeeze a lot of grapes just to get a little juice, Mom").
Happy 12th Birthday, Jacob. I love you.
Tuesday, May 17, 2011
Spring Again
It's raining here, with a side of occassional hail, which is always fun. Jacob is supposed to have a ballgame tonight, though the forecast is not optimistic about that. But he does have team pictures also scheduled for tonight, so even if the game is canceled, I suspect we'll be sent somewhere else to have pictures done.
Jacob got his braces yesterday, blue and orange for the Detroit Tigers. He's pretty miserable today. He says it hurts to chew, and when I left for work this morning, he was adding more milk to his oatmeal so he could drink it. I gave him an aspirin to take to school in case he needed it, but now I'm thinking I probably shouldn't have done that. Zero tolerance drug policies and all that.
Sara is presenting the Ms. Fix-It badge at Girl Scouts tonight, along with some help from Dad. She's very excited. She loves this Girl Scout troop - the leaders are great and her friend Maddie is in the troop too. I think we've been very lucky in having such great experiences with Girl Scouts. She's been pitching at softball and is doing very well. She gets flustered sometimes and tries to pitch fast instead of accurately, but she usually settles down pretty well.
We're still house-hunting here, with little or no success. Even our realtor said last night "I'm surprised by the condition of these houses in your price range" which I believe is code for "For this price, the houses shouldn't be such crap-holes". It's getting frustrating and is just another added stress we don't need. If we don't find a house in the neighborhoods we want, it means we have to drive Sara to her school, since her program is offered only at one school and they only bus the kids who would normally be bused. There is a carpool request, but I don't usually trust those things and I hate relying on other people, especially if I don't know them well.
My job is going okay. There are a lot of days - like every day - when I sit around with nothing to do and that gets draining. There have been some other things that concern me, but unless I have another job, I'm not leaving this one. I've got some resumes out there and we'll see what happens.
Mitch is busy with work and the guard and of course, driving kids to the orthodontist and helping with baseball and Scouts. This is always a crazy busy time of year for us, and I just keep looking at the calendar and waiting for it for be over!
The kids are flying back home at the end of June to do a month-long grandparent and friend visit. We'll certainly miss them, but it gives them something to do and a chance to see everyone. This will be the first time for them flying alone, which is a little scary for me, but they will be on a direct flight and have an escort and my mom can pick them right up at the gate. I'm sure it will be just fine.
Jacob got his braces yesterday, blue and orange for the Detroit Tigers. He's pretty miserable today. He says it hurts to chew, and when I left for work this morning, he was adding more milk to his oatmeal so he could drink it. I gave him an aspirin to take to school in case he needed it, but now I'm thinking I probably shouldn't have done that. Zero tolerance drug policies and all that.
Sara is presenting the Ms. Fix-It badge at Girl Scouts tonight, along with some help from Dad. She's very excited. She loves this Girl Scout troop - the leaders are great and her friend Maddie is in the troop too. I think we've been very lucky in having such great experiences with Girl Scouts. She's been pitching at softball and is doing very well. She gets flustered sometimes and tries to pitch fast instead of accurately, but she usually settles down pretty well.
We're still house-hunting here, with little or no success. Even our realtor said last night "I'm surprised by the condition of these houses in your price range" which I believe is code for "For this price, the houses shouldn't be such crap-holes". It's getting frustrating and is just another added stress we don't need. If we don't find a house in the neighborhoods we want, it means we have to drive Sara to her school, since her program is offered only at one school and they only bus the kids who would normally be bused. There is a carpool request, but I don't usually trust those things and I hate relying on other people, especially if I don't know them well.
My job is going okay. There are a lot of days - like every day - when I sit around with nothing to do and that gets draining. There have been some other things that concern me, but unless I have another job, I'm not leaving this one. I've got some resumes out there and we'll see what happens.
Mitch is busy with work and the guard and of course, driving kids to the orthodontist and helping with baseball and Scouts. This is always a crazy busy time of year for us, and I just keep looking at the calendar and waiting for it for be over!
The kids are flying back home at the end of June to do a month-long grandparent and friend visit. We'll certainly miss them, but it gives them something to do and a chance to see everyone. This will be the first time for them flying alone, which is a little scary for me, but they will be on a direct flight and have an escort and my mom can pick them right up at the gate. I'm sure it will be just fine.
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