deep breath

tonight was a rough night in parenting.

i don't really want to go into details and point blame at any one child, but let's just say that i almost utilized that crazy safe haven law we have on the books (temporarily, as it were) and free myself of 2 kids. i would then only have one. which one? he's a boy if that narrows it down. i can't believe of the 3 of them the 5-year-old boy was the best one. he knew momma was about to blow a gasket and to steer clear. the girls, being too much like their mother, did not know when to give up and almost put me over the edge. of a cliff.

i calmed down. they are all fine. i need to go over the events of the evening in my mind and find a better way to handle things next time. yes, we all know there will be a next time.

piano lessons

The Muss started taking piano lessons the beginning of October. Today was only her 6th lesson, but she is almost completely through her first book. Her teacher showers her with praise and tells me how quickly she is picking up the music. She really seems to love it and when she sits down to practice at home will go on for quite a long time. She doesn't practice as much as she should, but I don't make her so it is more my fault.

Sometimes, being the oldest, I think she feels like she doesn't get as much attention as the others. She isn't the boy. She isn't the tiny pixie-like toddler flitting about the room. She is the oldest and because she is the oldest she is expected to do more. I was the oldest so I get it. I understand how she is feeling and also understand that later in life she will enjoy being the oldest. More experiences to share, first to go to college, first to leave home, and many other firsts but it still all seems unfair now. We do our best to divide and conquer with the kids giving them each one-on-one time when we can. It is difficult though. We both work outside the home, J. is in school full-time (for not much longer, woohoo!) and there is always so much to do around the house. It is hard to find the time.

But for this 1/2 hour a week my dad comes over to babysit Boo & Kiki and I take the Muss to her piano lesson. I sit and listen to her learn the notes, play and sing. She plays sweet duets singing along with her teacher. It is really lovely. She knows I am proud of her and think she is amazing. I really need to tell her that more.

veterans' day

Also my mother's birthday. We had my mother and step-father over for dinner tonight. One of the moments I want to remember is the kids trying to surprise my mother as she came into the house. They hid on the stairs and shushed eachother so loudly that I'm sure my mother heard them as she was coming across the street. As she walked in the door, they jumped down and yelled "SURPRISE!!!" Then the Muss strummed the guitar as the 3 of them sang "Happy Birthday" to her. I got a tear in my eye it was so sweet. They had crafted her some lovely birthday cards and we ate, talked, had cake and played. Good times.

diagnosed

Almost a week since the election. An election that should have invigorated me and I still cannot muster the energy to get off the sofa and cook dinner. What is up? I think I have found the answer ~

Now what to do about it...

100 years

We had a pretty uneventful weekend I am sad to say. Just not much I could motivate myself to do. Hmmmm, seems to be a pattern here.

One thing we did do today was go to the 100th birthday party of a lovely lady from our church. Everyone in my family has known this lady for our entire lives. The Muss was especially excited to go, she just loves her. There were a few hundred people who came by for this event today. I guess when you live for 100 years, you get to know a lot of people. She greeted each one individually hugging them all. What an amazing woman to have lived to see so much in her lifetime. She mind is still sharp and her body is healthy and she is one of the kindest, most caring people you could ever meet. Now that is something to aspire to.

and the weekend

Since it's a Saturday, I should really be doing laundry and cleaning my house. Seriously, the furr....UGH. Is it cruel to shave a dog as winter is approaching? I can't handle the fur. I think I need one of those hairless dogs. Also, one that takes care of itself while we go on vacation would be nice. Do they make those? I didn't think so. But really, the fur. I could build another pet with the accumulation under the sofa....and the dining table...and the bookshelf.

Then the laundry...UGH...it mocks me. I have getting the laundry hauled to the washing machine, then washing and drying the clothes. It is after that there is an issue. I just can't seem to get the laundry out of the dryer, fold it and, here's the kicker, actually put it away. Just can't do it. So, I am ashamed to admit, we live from laid out piles of clothes that I have to hunt through every evening to find outfits for the next day. Love it.

I need a laundry fairy.

wow, am I tired

This week has totally wore me out. I have no idea what is up, but it certainly isn't me. I am so jazzed that it is Friday and the kids are in bed. I am looking forward to watching Bill Maher tonight while partaking of an adult beverage. Hearing his take on the events of this week will surely give me some laughs.

More boring than the usual boring today, sorry 'bout that. Just can't muster up anything better.

feeling many things

No matter who you supported in this election, we would all have to agree that it was a momentous one. With an African-American heading one ticket and a woman in the 2nd seat on the other, it was definitely turning out to be history-making. But for me it was more than that. When Barack Obama came to my city before he had even clinched the Democratic nomination I took the Muss to see him. I wanted her to be a part of the history being made. We are a very overlooked speck on the map politically. A Red State in the middle of the country that almost never turns Blue. Plus, only 5 electoral votes so no one really cares about us. We are far from being one of the coveted "swing states" so the fact that he came here was enough to get me off the sofa.

While he was definitely an excellent speaker and drew a packed crowd, I saw more in him. He really believes what he says. He really wants to make the United States and the world a better place. He does not seem to be pandering to any particular group of people. He is for the underdog. He is the underdog.

From that moment I became a believer in his mission.

Then after the big conventions, the real campaign began. And it got ugly. I was really afraid that the fear the other side was spreading was going to smother the hope that Obama was trying to give us. Then from the fear came the lies, the misconstruing of everything said, the pundits and their pundittiness, blah, blah, blah, etc, etc, etc. GAWWWW, make it stop.

Then it stopped. Finally.

And I really do feel like it is the dawn of a new day. I am not naive enough to believe that this will heal all the wounds, but I do believe that it is a start. A great, big start. I don't believe President-Elect Obama can fix all that ails in our country on January 21st or even in a year, let alone a term. We have much to fix. What has sunken us to a new low from the past 8 years of whatever you call the past 8 years will take some time to get past.

However, I believe that he told the truth throughout his campaign. I was reassured by his calmness during the chaos. By the way he stood tall and strong while others tried to knock him down with all they could muster. He smiled that warm smile and touched the hearts and minds of the masses.

Now let's move on, the people have spoken. Get over it, FoxNews.

the day after

I have never been prouder to be an American than I was last night while watching President-Elect Barack Obama.

There really aren't words right now.

election day

Today I am doing my civic duty and working at the office of the Election Commision for my county. Ok, I'm not really doing it by choice, I was drafted. We are the only state in the country that drafts our election workers like we draft people for jury duty. Man, I live in half-assed-backwards state. WTF are we still doing here? Anyway, you can't get out of this stuff unless you are dying in a hospital. Not this election. They think for some reason this one may be a bit busy. Gee, I wonder where they get that idea?

I have to work from 6:30am to 8:00pm and answer the phones to direct people where to vote and how to vote if they are not in "THE BOOK" as they think they should be. I get a break for lunch and dinner which they provide because we can't actually leave the premises. Don't feel bad for me, I have my own office this time (this is my 3rd or 4th election, we get drafted for 4) which is nice because I can surf the net and type on my blog while I am supposed to be working. Just kidding, I have been answering calls nonstop, but am taking a well-deserved break right now.

I have had some very interesting calls today, but let me put out a word of advice to those who would like to be able to vote. People, today is not the day to find out if you are registered to vote. No, this is something you should have checked on weeks, if not months ago. Also, I am very sorry if you were hospitalized with the flu back in March, but tell me WTF does that have to do with you being unable to get to us to register to vote before October 24th? Wow, there are a helluva lot of you who move during the months of October and November. While I can empathize with you moving across the country, but since you are a resident of Louisiana and you are moving to Oregon, you cannot vote in Nebraska. Sorry about that. Also, you people are driving me crazy.

Thanks I feel better. Break is about over too so let's wrap this shizzle up.

I will be off in a couple of hours and I plan to go home, cuddle up on the sofa with a my hubby and a cocktail and watch CNN until this thing is done. Lord, please help me make it through the night.

halloween continued

I am one of those people who loves to carve fancy pumpkins. Every year I let the kids each pick out a pattern from the book and I carve their choice for them. Yes, it is just a pattern, but they really are challenging. Some are much easier than others. This year, Boo chose a lovely skeleton-pirate guy. He was easy. The Muss chose a spiderweb with a spider at the bottom. That one was not easy. Kiki couldn't really decide, but I had a pattern to make a Barack Obama campaign logo and she decided she liked that one.

Like I mentioned, we weren't home on Halloween so I made sure to turn off all the lights as well as the motion-sensitive flood light for the driveway before we left. Then I lit our pumpkins to show off my handiwork. Then we left and did what I told you about yesterday.

When we got home, the Barack O'Lantern was gone. I looked around a bit to discover it shattered in my neighbor's driveway and a bit into the street. Now, mind you, this was the closest pumpkin to the house. This/these hoodlum(s) had to walk past my other 2 carved pumpkins to get to this one. Barack was targeted. I was disgusted. Why can't we all just get along? Why can't we just accept others differing opinions? I have some very good friends, not to mention family who are McCain supporters. So be it, but I am not. I respect their right to support the candidate of their choice, even though I think they are blooming crazy for it. Ok, not really. Maybe just a little crazy. Ok, not crazy, but I just don't agree. At all. Not that he is a bad guy. He just doesn't speak for me or to me at all.

So, Pumpkin-Smashers, I hope you got a good laugh when you destroyed my Barack O'Lantern, but let me tell you something. I carved a new one to light as a beacon to the world tomorrow night. Election night. And I will be the one laughing then.

halloween night

We are never home to pass out candy on Halloween. Our block is mostly the over-80 set and is pretty quiet with just a few lights on. Plus J. is usually at work weeknights and that leaves me to take the kids trick-or-treating. This year J. was actually able to take a vacation day so I thought it would be great to go out on Halloween as a family for, like, the first time ever. Milestone!

So we went out on our candy spree with a friend of ours and his son who is just a bit younger than Boo (but quite a bit taller, that Boo is a wee one). My aunt and my cousin also came along because we trick-or-treat in their neighborhood ~ it is flat and most of the lights are on. Everything went swimmingly until the Muss decided she was tired. Everyone had better get the hell out of her way when she is done because if you don't she will make you pay. Needless to say, there was a scene. My cousin took her back to my aunt and uncle's house and the boys kept going. Kiki (aka Tinkerbell) was done dealing, but she had her daddy/pack mule to carry her where she needed to go.

After returning with our loot to my aunt's house, I wanted to take a few pictures of the kids with family. Especially one with the Muss and my cousin who is her godmother. They always get their picture taken together, it's just their thing. But no, you would think the flash was going to steal her soul and suck the life force from her being from the way she was writhing and wailing at the thought of having a photo taken. So I took a picture of that. She didn't think that was funny at all.

As you can guess, we went home. Thankfully our friend who was with us totally understands and is chill with the whole temper-tantrum-for-no-freakin'-reason thing. Also, as you can guess, the Muss went directly to bed, do not pass go, do not get to eat any candy on Halloween night.

Oh, so the whole point of this post was to mention what we found when we returned home. Stay tuned~

it's been far too long

I can't believe how long it's been since I have posted! It certainly isn't because nothing has happened of interest or because the kids haven't been spouting their usual funnies. It must be because I have been busier than you know what and just haven't had time to put things into writing. Not wise, I know. Again I will be forgetting 10 times as much as I remember and there are so many memories to precious (or hysterical) to lose.

I have a story to share about Halloween night, but guess what, I'm too busy to type it right now. The crazies are about and I need to banish them to their beds. Once that is done, J. & I need to complete our ballots for the election so I can run them by the Election Commission since we will not be able to vote on Election Day. Why, you ask? Because I have been remanded to election duty once again and will be answering the phones directing people to their correct polling places. As much as I would like to send some of them to the wrong ones, I won't.