Confessions of a Mimi

Spring Deliveries

2011-03-14T19:53:00.000-05:00

Yesterday was a busy place at the Bisbee residence.

Roisin went into labor and delivered 4 little kittens. One kitten was stillborn but the other 3 are doing fine.

At the same time that this was going on, my brothers brought us two baby squirrels that had been abandoned. They don't even have their eyes open.

Since I seem to be the haven for all strays (how else could you end up with 5 cats, three newborn kittens, and 2 baby squirrels!) I was fully prepared to bottle feed the squirrels with some pet formula that I happen to have in my fridge. I was not looking forward to getting up every few hours to feed them when I had to be up so early to teach seminary. Four thirty in the morning comes really early, especially when we had to "spring forward". Then I had this amazing idea! What if I slipped the squirrels into the basket with Roisin? Brilliant idea! I placed the baby squirrels in the basket and she didn't seem to mind. After a short time she began grooming them. It took the little squirrels about an hour to warm up to Rosie and then, Voila! They began nursing. Before you know it, they are cuddled up with the three kittens just as content as can be.

I must confess.....Life is good.

Christmas in the Rock

2009-12-28T12:12:00.003-06:00

We all worked hard to get all the trees up and decorated even as Hattie thought it was a

new toy to climb.

No matter how hard we tried, she continued to climb.

We finally decorated the tree and hung our stockings by the chimney.

Hattie and Simon each found a little place to call their own.

Hattie continued to climb the tree not letting ornaments slow her down,

Simon preferred the soft blanket beneath the tree,

and Sebastian preferred to be completely away from all this mess.

Our Christmas was a simple one this year.

We elected to stay at home and celebrate rather

than travel. I think the

kids enjoyed it much better.

Traveling is fun but there really is no

place like home!

I confess that this truly was one of our best Christmases!

My Little Trip To New York

2009-12-23T15:26:00.000-06:00

I went to New York last week to help pack up Sarah's things. She is moving back to Little Rock for a while to prepare for more Grad School. For some reason the girl wants a PhD...go figure??? I am really proud of her but am most happy that she is back home with us for a while after her 2 year stint in Manhatten. Anyway, I digress.

Back to the trip....My sister, Lynne, Sarah, Sarah's Grandmother Ratliff, and I set off on a little road trip to see some sights, take a break away from responsibilities, and pack up Sarah's stuff.

These are just a few sights we captured on the way up.

Hershey, Pennsylvania

Aren't these streetlights so cute? They varied from chocolate to silver wrapped.

Lancaster County, Pennsylvania

Isn't this so neat? Don't worry, we were very discreet with the camera and didn't directly photo anyone.

New Jersey

This was mounted on top of a car!

Can you guess what this picture is all about? Is she throwing a fit? Collapsing? Asleep on the floor?

Well, it's a little of all three. She collapsed in a hysterical, laughing fit that completely exhausted her. We were all very tired and had just checked into a room. We were attempting to collect all our luggage and enter the room. Grandma Ratliff went first and apparently I wasn't quick enough to catch the door before it closed in our faces. Grandma went through the room completely unaware that Sarah, Lynne, and I were waiting and laughing hysterically in the hallway. We finally got her attention and she kindly opened the door for us.

I must confess that, luckily, we were able to get Sarah packed up without much fuss and even make it back to Little Rock just barely ahead of the big North East snow storm.

Organic.....Is It Worth It?

2009-12-10T14:06:00.000-06:00

You would think with a title like this I would be talking about nice green, clean veggies and fruits......Guess again!

Yesterday my trusty Sherman the Tank (non eco-friendly big white Suburban because that is the biggest vehicle to fit all my family without driving a charter bus) needed a little oil added to his motor. There is a gas station right up the street from my house, so I go there to buy a quart of oil that is completely overpriced ( a whole other story). While I am standing in line, the girl in front of me is buying a pack or "organic" cigarettes! Yes, you heard me! Now, call me crazy, but isn't it kind of silly to be worried about your tobacco leaves being organic when you are about to assault your body with deadly smoke, nicotine, tar, etc. Get my picture? So, after the young lady leaves I ask the store clerk if I'm going crazy or if this girl just bought a pack of "organic" cigarettes. The clerk laughed right along with me. She was a smoker and even she got that a cigarette is a deadly stick and it probably makes little difference if the tobacco leaves are sprayed with a pesticide or not. Maybe the "organic" cigarettes won't shorten your life span as quickly as the "non-organic". Perhaps you can gain an extra 45 minutes by making this choice. I wonder how much more expensive these are?????

So, to all you healthy smokers out there I ask, Organic...Is it worth it?

Halloween With The Bisbee's

2009-11-06T08:33:00.000-06:00

I'm just a little late posting our Halloween pictures, but I had so many to sort through.

Here are our pumpkins all ready for carving. They were picked out with great care!

Hattie wanted in on all the fun. She inspected all the pumpkins and deemed them ready to be carved.

Bailey was a little put off by all the pumpkin "goop". How can you maintain perfect cleanliness and carve pumpkins? When someone has an answer could you please let us know? By the way, she was Bella for Halloween.

Brenden wasn't able to carve pumpkins with us but he enjoyed all the pleasures of Halloween parties and trick or treating. What a great Ninja!

Bryan thought he was a little too old for Halloween this year...you know, being 14 makes you practically and adult! He did help carve a wicked, scary cat for us.

I think Caleb might have had the most fun carving this year. Could it be because he only had to pick out the template and then cheer his Mom and Dad on while they carved his "Freak Spider"? He was so proud of himself for picking out yummy cookies to enjoy while all the festivities were going on. Don't you think he makes a good "Scary Skeleton"?

Kristen really enjoyed carving her pumpkin. Nothing about it bothered her. She is far too daring to use a template. She just carved what she felt and it turned out great. She enjoyed being Alice from the Twilight Series.

We were so happy to have Sarah home with us this year, Manhatten has had her for far too long! She carved a great Edward profile from the Twilight Series. Bailey was ready to fight for the template but Sarah won out.

Here are the finished products! Aren't they great? It's too bad that we didn't have a single trick or treater darken our doorstep this year. I guess these guys were just a little too scary for them.

Nana enjoyed the warmth of the fire while everyone created. Aunt Earline had just gotten home from the hospital earlier that day so we didn't want to stress her too much by taking pictures or moving the hooplah around her. She enjoyed the nice fire all comfy in her special chair.

Cecil was kind enough to take the kids trick or treating this year since it was right in the middle of a great Razorback football game. Lynne and I got to stay at my house and "Woo Pig Sooieee". We then enjoyed the fruits/candy of the kids labor!

A Purpose And A Plan

2009-10-21T21:50:00.000-05:00

I was talking to a friend tonight and observed her crocheting a scarf. I asked about the pattern and who she was making it for. The answer gave me a new purpose!
This friend works with adults that suffer from mental illness. Tragically, most of the people she works with are also homeless. She is making scarves and hats for them to protect them from the cold.

I am an accomplished knitter, so I have decided to put my skills to work for those who are less fortunate than I. Here is a scarf pattern I picked out.

I want the scarves to be pretty and functional. I think this pattern will work great. I was also thinking I might use this pattern for a hat.

And I think I want to make these mittens...

Hopefully these will be functional (very warm) and pretty.

I might even find some simple, beginner crochet patterns and get Kristen to help me make some things. She loves to crochet. I love to knit with a purpose!

It's Good To Be Me!

2009-10-03T23:15:00.002-05:00

Today was a good day to be me! I woke up to a little girl snuggling me and anxious to be on our way to General Conference. This is a semi annual meeting where we are able to hear from the General Authorities of our church for two days. It was so wonderful to be able to listen to the two sessions today and come away feeling spiritually fed. There were so many wonderful things to take in but a few really caught my ear.

From Elder Richard G. Scott: The Lord will not force you to learn; you must exercise your free agency...

Sister Vicki F. Matsumori: One reason we are encouraged to read the scriptures and pray daily is to allow a time to invite the spirit into our lives.

President Dieter F. Uchtdorf: The first step in walking in righteousness is to try it.

I think this last one is my favorite of the day.

During the break, Kristen and I went to the local Wal Mart to buy some yarn for her. She is learning to crochet and wants to make an afghan for someone special to her. We picked out colors and tomorrow morning she will go through some patterns. I am letting her crochet during conference sessions. I was a little worried that she would not take in anything from conference because she was concentrating on practicing her stitches. I couldn't have been more wrong. Tonight while we were lying down she told me that she had listened to a talk from Elder David A. Bednar (she didn't mention his name, I'm just filling in for her) that really touched her. She wanted to make sure that I knew how much she loved me. My heart melted. She told me that she wanted to do as Elder Bednar counseled and tell me how much she loves me more often.

See? It's good to be me!

And the cap for the good day? The Razorbacks kicked butt tonight! Yeah!

Little Rock to New York to Madrid

2009-06-28T17:52:00.005-05:00

I'm blogging just a little late but here are the adventures thus far.

In the security line at the Little Rock airport we are behind an elderly lady in a wheelchair begging the security personnel to let her keep her full can of hairspray. No can do. So she pulls off the cap, starts spraying almost the entire can on her hair and the rest of us poor souls in line behind her. She primps her hair and tosses the can in the trash. Meanwhile, the security guard and I are trying to find oxygen to breath and hold in laughter at the same time. I was not successful! Wouldn't you know it? She ended up on the same flight with us.

After a late start we make it to Atlanta, cause ya know, you can't get to NYC going northeast....apparently you must go southeast by northeast to sneak up on the city. They must have caught onto us because we had to circle New Jersey for an hour before we could set down in La Guardia's hallowed runways. As we are exiting the plane, my sister grabs her carryon from the baggage stowage and we proceed up the breezeway to the airport. We get almost all the way up the breezeway when we hear someone behind us trotting and yelling "Ma'am, Ma'am". He finally passes us and stops in front of us. He points to my sister's carryon and says "Ma'am, I think that's my bag. There is another on the plane that is probably yours." We laugh and mumble about how we are not theives, etc......and then we walk back onto the plane. The flight crew is looking at us a little funny but they let us go on, we retrieve the bag, and Voila! we are on our way to Manhatten to Sarah's apartment.

We spend a leisurely day shopping and running errands before it is time for us to get on the plane to Madrid. Have you ever traveled to JFK on a Friday afternoon? We made it to the airport just in time for them to tell us the flight is delayed due to weather. After sitting on the runway for an hour we are off to London. The flight is very uneventful but late. We, of course, miss our connecting flight to Madrid. This is not a problem for us. We are so used to things not going smoothly on our many trips. We finally get rebooked on another airline and head off to Spain without our luggage.

This is us looking sad because our luggage is not with us.

It is no problem. We grab a taxi to our hotel and set off on this marvelous journey in a country that speaks spanish.....did I mention that none of us speak spanish? We do very well. The wonderful Conceirge at the hotel helps us out.

For instance, he tells us to go to our room and when we are ready for dinner just come back and he will give us a good place to go. So, we go to our rooms to .clean up as best we can without our personal things. There is just one problem. We can't turn on the lights in our room. We hit all the light switches....I even found the main breaker and flip it a couple of times...no lights. Finally Sarah sticks our key into some contraption just inside the door and we have lights. Now, my brain is running on very little sleep and when the lights go off about 5 minutes later I want to cry. I cannot believe we are going to have to get up every five minutes just to turn the lights back on. Boy, am I glad Sarah had more sleep than me. She puts the key in the slot and leaves it there......and guess what? The lights stay on! After this trying ordeal we go back to our friend at the front desk to get directions for dinner. It is about 5:30 or 6:00 pm at this time. We ask him where to go for dinner and he says "Now?". We go through the whole thing about how tired we are and how hungry we are, etc. He tells us that the restaurants won't be serving dinner until 8:30pm but no one goes before 10 or 11 pm on a weekend. Sarah asks him what old people do because they eat dinner at 4:30 and go home and go to bed by 8:00. I think the majority of the sentence was lost to him because he told us "you are in Spain, now you get to think like the spanish and do like the spanish." He did find us a restaurant to go to and we managed to order dinner by pointing at pictures on the menu and doing a little miming action. All in all we do pretty good our first day. I even get my luggage delivered the next day around noon. Sarah's and Lynne's still haven't come. Lucky me!

4 Kids...Spring Break...Boredom

2009-03-28T13:01:00.004-05:00

My kids have been on Spring Break this past week, and yes I am still alive, barely! We had a few rainy days that they had to really work at to pass the boredom. Their cousin, Boo Boo, was over for several days and the girls thought this would be the perfect opportunity to create. Unfortunately, they used Boo Boo as their canvas. Boo Boo is an adorable 4 year old boy. They thought it would be cute to create a buxom woman out of him. This is the result:

One day he is going to be big enough for payback. They need to be looking over their shoulders.

Me, Three, and History

2009-01-20T20:52:00.003-06:00

It is on days like this that I am so grateful for the simple teachings of my grandmother, Lessie. Throughout my life I listened to her tell me that in God's eyes there is no color. She taught me to be colorblind and status blind when viewing people. It has served me well in this life.

Today I was able to share a marvelous day with my children and pass these same teachings to them. We now have a new President and I am happy to say that the only issue I have about his appointment is that we belong to different political parties. I, along with my children, will do all we can to support this man and will keep him in our prayers.

It was a glorious day to snuggle up with my kiddos on our couch and watch the inauguration of President Obama. It was wonderful for them to see history in the making and another testament that their really are no limits to what they can do in this life. His presidency will show that the barriers are down and, yes, it is possible! I am glad I had this day, and I am glad I shared it with my children. So, world, embrace the change and support this man!

The Esteemed One

2008-11-20T09:30:00.003-06:00

I don't have a lot of time this morning but I just wanted to let you know that my baby, LiLi, made the esteemed list at school. This means she made all A's the first grading quarter. I am so proud of her! She has actually made all A's on all of her report cards since she started school. I love that she is like a sponge and soaks up anything and everything she can while learning about a subject. I love that her teachers love having her in their classes. It makes for great Teacher/Parent conferences. But most of all I just love her for her! Way to go LiLi!

What???!!!

2008-11-18T08:47:00.002-06:00

Yesterday, after picking up my kids from school, I dropped by the library to return a few books. As I was driving down the road a car started to pull out of a bank drive and almost hit the side of my beloved Sherman the Tank. I was startled by the near miss and looked at the driver of the BMW, an older lady, and could not figure out why she was glaring at me. After all she was the one who almost hit me! Some people. Well, the kids and I laughed it off and went on about our way.
This morning as I was driving the kids to school YaYa started talking about the "almost accident". I again reflected on the glare the lady gave me and said something to the kids about how you shouldn't glare at people that you almost hit with your BMW. LiLi quickly piped up that the lady was glaring at her, not me. I then told her that the lady wouldn't be glaring at her, she wasn't driving the car. She then responded that she was the one who raised both arms and with a disgusted look on her face mouthed "What??!!!" to the lady.
Now I understand the glare!

Just Do It!

2008-11-16T09:23:00.002-06:00

It has been so long since I last posted anything.....It is hard to start back because I feel like I have to catch up on everything that has happened in the past month or so. Well, this morning I decided I don't. I am going to take a page out of my dear mother's book of "Putting Your Head In the Sand; Life really will go on around you but you don't have to deal with it!" It's a great book! I recommend it to anyone who wants to check out of reality for a while. You know....if you ignore it it will go away!
So, now that that is out of the way. I had a few minutes before I left for church and just thought I would take care of the big elephant in the room, or rather, on the blog. Now when I sign in to blogger I don't have to feel guilty for not updating:

my latest thoughts
goings on
going
crazy
fun things the kids have done
not so fun things the kids have done

Now I can go off to church secure in the knowledge that I did my small part today.

Until the next time!

On a Trolley to Treasure Island

2008-10-05T20:21:00.000-05:00

Isn't this the neatest way to travel to a field trip destination? I went with LiLi's class to see Treasure Island last week. Because their school is located in the downtown area it is much easier to hire a trolley to take the kids to the Children's Theater. We sure looked smarter than any of the other schools as we climbed off our cute trolley and they clambered out of the big yellow bus.

Unfortunately, this might have been the highlight of the trip for me. The play was Treasure Island. I am not a fan of pirates, swashbuckling, treasure hunting, ships, did I mention pirates? I really just endured the play. The kids enjoyed it. That is good enough for me.

After the play we walked next door to the park and ate a picnic lunch. The weather was great! There was a slight breeze and the temps were about 70. Just perfect for some fun in the park. The kids were able to run around and chase geese after they ate. They loved it!
The geese........not so much! I love this school and I love the teachers. We are so fortunate
to attend this school. I am having so much fun being the room parent and doing all these fun things.

Emotional Tsunami vs Hot Flashes

2008-10-05T09:58:00.002-05:00

Last night I was reminded of how horrible those pre-puberty days were. YaYa is falling head first into puberty with all the grace of a Tsunami. I feel so bad for her. One minute she is perfectly fine, dancing around and happy-the next she is sobbing like her world ended and running around slamming doors and screaming into a pillow. Yes, my little YaYa can make some noise! I sat with her in my lap last night talking to her about what was happening in her little body (it is not the first talk, it just helps to keep reassuring her that she is not going crazy!) and telling her that it will get better one day. I'm not so sure she believed me. Which brings me to my title: Emotional Tsunami vs Hot Flashes. Which is worse?

With her Tsunami she just needs a few doors to slam. I will need to buy stock in Kleenex and keep a few dozen boxes on hand at all times. It would probably be a good idea to invest in some extra pillows. If she screams into 3 stacked on top of each other do you think it will mute the screams?

With my hot flashes I just need to have someone invent a portable air conditioner that I can strap to me at all times. I could move to the North Pole. I just need to keep a snow bank in my back yard that I could run to in tshirts and shorts whenever I need it. I could invest in an ice company and keep tubs of it on hand always. Why, oh why did my great great grandparents have to sell the ice house business? Didn't they know it would come in handy one day. Who said ice houses would be passe with the invention of the electric refrigerator? I have become immune to my kids calling me "Ice Queen" because I keep our house nice and cool all the time. Can I help it if my kids like to wear coats and quilts around the house all the time? The temp seems just fine to me.

I guess it is a debate that will go on for eternity. I can't say that I enjoy either state. For now I will just have to keep pamprin and ice on hand.

It's Gil Stovall, Ya'll!

2008-09-28T18:15:00.007-05:00

A few weeks ago Gil Stovall visited my childrens' school. Who is Gil Stovall you ask? He swam the butterfly on the 2008 USA swim team along with Michael Phelps. What's he doing down here in the south, you ask? He was doing a favor for his mom. Isn't that sweet? He actually goes to school one state over from us but he came to our great school as a favor to his mom.

This is his mom giving him (no she is not giving him the "finger") directions to get back home. She is the economics teacher for the elementary children. LiLi has been learning about China and their economic system since school began. Mrs. Stovall even brought each of them a small gift when she returned from China. For those non Olympic enthusiasts (I, so , do not connect with you....I was glued to my tv night and day!) the 2008 Summer Olympics were held in Beijing. China (for those non geographic enthusiasts).

Sorry about the blurriness of the pictures. The batteries in my camera were a little low. He was a big hit at the school. He spoke to everyone in the school first, then he went to every class and answered specific questions and gave autographs. Can you guess what types of questions he got to answer? This is what I heard about. BB's 7th grade class a young lady raised her hand.
Gil Stovall: Yes, what is your question?
Girl: You are hot!
Gil Stovall: Ummm, thank you. Anyone else have a question?

In the 5th grade he got a lot of giggles and whispering mixed in with adoring, worshipful looks. I think the elementary kids were a little more interested in his training.

Building on yesterdays blog about Miss YaYa getting boys to do things for her.....The whole week we were preparing for him to come to our school, she was not the least bit interested.
After he came to the school she took on a whole new attitude.
Suddenly she was very interested in the Men's Olympic Swim Team. She suddenly wanted to go to the University of Tennessee, now. Isn't it great that she is only in 5th grade and wants to jump right into college courses. Her enthusiasm was dampened just a little when I told her that Stalking Gil Stovall 101 had been dropped from the curriculum this year. My girl is no quitter, though. She decorated her notebook with his personal, signed autograph (She got LiLi to ask him to write a personal autograph with her name and a message. Apparently she was struck dumb by his hotness and could not speak for herself). She even wrote his name about 100 times in different styles and colors. Isn't she creative? Anyway, we were impressed by the sincerity of this young man and his dedication to his sport. And, just for the record...he has beaten Michael Phelps a couple of times in the Butterfly..just not at a major meet. He beat him during training. How many of us can say that?
Go Stovall!

Why do it myself when I can just get a boy to do it?

2008-09-27T11:31:00.002-05:00

Yesterday before school, Ya Ya and I were talking and the strangest things came up. I asked her to turn in a PTA form to the school secretary for me and she said "Okay, I'll get one of the boys to do it." I was a little confused. She passes the secretary every morning on her way to classes. Why can't she just hand it to her? I questioned her on this and her response was, " Well, whenever I want something done I just ask a boy to do it and they do it for me. It's great! I can even get the ugly boys to do it too."
This concept is just a little foreign to me. I did not grow up in a family of flirts. None of us flirted. We were all very serious, goal oriented, "I can do it myself" type of people. It would never have occurred to me to ask a boy to do something. When I was in High School I was placed in an experimental co-ed PE class. There were only 4 girls in the class. I competed with them and beat them in various games. I doubt they would have done anything for me if I had asked them to.
LiLi then piped up saying "I don't ask boys to do anything. If I want them to do something for me I pay them with 4th grade bucks." Now that is something I can relate to.
I think I am in big trouble. YaYa is not old enough to be flirting is she? The teen years just might do me in!

Six Flags and Thunderstorms

2008-09-23T09:59:00.007-05:00

This past weekend I took a trip to St. Louis, MO with my three kiddos. They were so excited to go to Six Flags. We were really in need of some bonding. It was great just having fun with the kids, not prodding them to clean their rooms, do their homework, work in the yard, etc. Instead, we had lots of kid friendly music in the car, laughter, snacks, and fun topics to talk about. I think I may have hit "Cool" on the mom meter!

We stopped in Sikeston, MO for a late lunch/early dinner at the famous Lambert's Cafe (home of the thrown rolls). I enjoyed the meal;the kids enjoyed catching the dinner rolls. Who cares that we had more rolls at our table than we could eat?

LiLi had fun playing on the wooden train outside of the restaurant. She thought they had cool grilled cheese sandwiches, too. YaYa and BB were way too hip to go anywhere near this train.

We got to our hotel room in St. Louis with plenty of time for more fun. The kids were all set to go swimming. Alas, the pool had closed on Labor Day. The kids were not happy. It was said that their mini vacation was ruined! Oh the drama of pre teens.

BB had a few milestones on this trip. As many of you know, BB struggles with Aspergers. He is responsiblity challenged....is that a term? He has issues with being responsible? Oh well, those that know him realize that he doesn't take the lead on things without lots of prompting. Well, my sweet little guy (he is now taller than I am) ordered a pizza for us almost all by himself. This is a big step for him. He had a little help from me finding the address of the hotel, but he looked up the number for the pizza place on his own, he ordered the pizza with just a smidgen of help from me, and he paid for the pizza when it was delivered. He was so proud of himself! We then ate some pizza and watched the dreaded Disney channel until it was time to go to bed.

The next morning the kids were eager to get started on their Six Flags adventure. We stopped at the local Denny's (right next door to our hotel) and fortified ourselves with some breakfast. Just as our food was delivered the sky opened up and down came the rains.

I think YaYa's face says it all. We hung around Denny's until the downpour became a nice misting and headed off for Six Flags. The kids were so excited to finally be there. They impatiently waited while I bought the tickets and we were scanned into the park. It then became a race to see which ride they could get to the quickest. The Batman ride won top honors. The nice thing about going this past weekend was hitting the park during the off season. Yep, you guessed it. NO LINES! It was still overcast and a balmy 60 degrees. I loved it. Back to Batman....We stood in line for just a few minutes before we were able to board the ride. The few minutes turned out to be just enough time for LiLi to figure out that she did not want any part of this ride. We were already there, so being the perfect mom that I am, I grabbed her kicking and screaming and plopped her onto the ride. I buckled her in amidst a volley of cries about not liking rides that go upside down, not liking Six Flags, being scared, I can't remember the rest. I felt a little bad because she cried the entire ride! I thought the ride was fun. I'll have to keep a close eye on her for a while to see if there is any permanent damage.

Luckily we were able to find rides that LiLi enjoyed. She built up her confidence and got on some of the wilder rides after first making sure that they did not go upside down. During the late afternoon we were deluged with rain again. By this time the kids had been able to ride all the rides and were ready to head back to warmth and dryness. We were absolutely soaked by the time we got to the car. We made it to the hotel and got out of our dripping clothes, grabbed something to eat, and settled in to watch some movies. This gave us plenty of time for snuggling, laughter, and much needed bonding and relaxing. Later, I had a milestone of my own. I let BB and LiLi go across the parking lot, at night, while it was dark, to the sonic to pick up some treats. They were so excited. I was in agony. YaYa kept laughing at me and telling me to chill out. You could see the Sonic from our hotel window so I made her stay at the window and keep tabs for me. You know, just to make sure a booger man did not grab my babies. I couldn't look out the window because I had promised them I would be adult about this. That is why YaYa was forced to do it. They made it back okay and BB was glowing. I guess he thinks it is a little easier to breathe without the apron strings being so tight! Anyway, we had a ton of fun regardless of the rain! BB now wants to go back for Fright Fest. Not this year, buddy!

It's All In The Name.....

2008-09-17T13:25:00.003-05:00

Who knew they would have my name?
What Marnita Means

You are confident, self assured, and capable. You are not easily intimidated.

You master any and all skills easily. You don't have to work hard for what you want.

You make your life out to be exactly how you want it. And you'll knock down anyone who gets in your way!

You are usually the best at everything ... you strive for perfection.

You are confident, authoritative, and aggressive.

You have the classic "Type A" personality.

You are wild, crazy, and a huge rebel. You're always up to something.

You have a ton of energy, and most people can't handle you. You're very intense.

You definitely are a handful, and you're likely to get in trouble. But your kind of trouble is a lot of fun.

You are very intuitive and wise. You understand the world better than most people.

You also have a very active imagination. You often get carried away with your thoughts.

You are prone to a little paranoia and jealousy. You sometimes go overboard in interpreting signals.

You tend to be pretty tightly wound. It's easy to get you excited... which can be a good or bad thing.

You have a lot of enthusiasm, but it fades rather quickly. You don't stick with any one thing for very long.

You have the drive to accomplish a lot in a short amount of time. Your biggest problem is making sure you finish the projects you start.

You are a seeker. You often find yourself restless - and you have a lot of questions about life.

You tend to travel often, to fairly random locations. You're most comfortable when you're far away from home.

You are quite passionate and easily tempted. Your impulses sometimes get you into trouble.

What's Your Name's Hidden Meaning?

An Elephant Safari

2008-09-06T20:31:00.017-05:00

Well, not really....But we did go the the Riddles Elephant Sanctuary today. What an adventure.

I have been told by many, and I admit to it myself, that I cannot find my way out of a paper bag. A little harsh, but true. I hate to drive because I am so directionally challenged. On every vacation that we drove around on, I managed to land us smack dab in the middle of the slum/ghetto of each city we visited. Not so bad if you are driving around in Podunk, USA: how dangerous can their slums be? Ooooooh! A rabid rooster and a drunk skunk!!!!! But when you are in Boston, NYC, Philadelphia or even DC it can get a little creepy. And its not like I got us lost in broad daylight....nooooo....I had to get us lost at 2 or 3 in the morning. Anyway, you now understand my severe handicap.

Well, I decided to take my kids to see the Elephant Sanctuary since it is relatively close to us. I got on line and printed out step by step instructions and realized that it was going to be a breeze to get there.

This morning I get everyone up and around so we can be some of the first to arrive when the Sanctuary opens at 11:00 am. NanaMama even decided to go with us. (Oh how I should have waited for Suzie Q or Dr. Mom to mapigate for me!) We hit the road at 9:30 so we could take our time getting there. We made the obligatory stop at Sonics to fortify ourselves with the big Route 44 Diet Cokes (it helps me stay alert and function) and fueled up Sherman the Tank (cough, cough $135 at Sams) and headed to the Elephants. Things were going great. YaYa was ecstatic because she had Disney Radio to listen to. BB was just happy not to be grounded for the day. LiLi was in heaven. She is my animal lover. She had her notebook and pen ready to take notes and learn about elephants.

Before we made it out of the Rock, LiLi spotted a cool looking motorcycle with a couple on it. She went "Oooooooh.....Eeeeeeew, yuck.....They have wrinkles!"

I guess that sums up our day; We had a few wrinkles.

We reached the exchange of the route point in great time. I saw a sign for Hwy 64 and got off the interstate. We traveled through towns I have heard of but never been to. The only problem was not seeing a sign for the town of our destination. Did I mention that in all the hustling out of the house I forgot to pick up my step by step instructions? Well, after driving about 30 miles NanaMama and I look at each other and realize that we got off on Hwy 64 when we should have exited at Hwy 65. Now this is a pet peeve of mine. Why do Hwys have to sound so much alike? You can see how easily I could get confused between 64 and 65. They sound too much alike. Maybe I can write to our congressmen to do something about this. It should be covered under some protection of idiot's rights. (I am referring to myself as the idiot so don't get all bent out of shape).

So, we drive back to the exchange point, get back on the interstate and head for Hwy 65. Still a little behind schedule but not too bad. We travel up 65 until we get to Hwy 25 and we veer onto our new road. See how easy that transition was? I can clearly discern between 65 and 25 without any confusion. We drive along to the little town, and I do mean little, that the Sanctuary is supposed to be in. We cannot find a sign anywhere. I have all my kiddos in the back seats reading every street sign, speed limit sign, and attraction sign to me. As if this wasn't enough chaos, I have my legally blind NanaMama trying to read signs as well. Is it any wonder we missed the sign? Well, instead of driving about 10 miles down the road we drove about 40 miles and several small towns more. Again, we visited places I had heard of but had never been to. At this point I am a little bit frustrated so I pick up my cell phone, shout hallelujah when I see that I have service and call Dr. Mom to get me out of this mess. Dr. Mom has rudely left her phone in her car while she sits at a friends house merrily scrapbooking. Curses to her!!! After our 40 mile jaunt I pull in to one of those service station/convenience store/restaurant. I ask the clerk if she could give me directions to the Elephant Sanctuary. Now I understand why men do not ask for directions. She looked at me like I had just asked her to explain Newton's laws of gravity. She points down the road in the opposite direction that we have been going and says, "Maybe it is back thataway somewhere." I'm on it! With directions as clear as mud, I head back in the opposite direction. It is getting later and later and I am hoping we can find this blasted place before it closes. Finally, after driving about 30 miles we see the sign. Guess what? It was blocked by a bigger sign when we first came through. We head down this road looking for elephant signs when we come to the end of our road and are confronted with a new road. Which way do we go? We couldn't find a sign. I pick right. We drive along for about 5 miles and reach the end of the road without any trace of an elephant. Don't worry. I wasn't the least bit surprised that I chose the wrong direction, again. We turn around, head back the other way and finally come to the gates of the Sanctuary. Yeah! It is still open. We pay our admission fee, get out of the car, with the camera I remembered to bring and head off to see the Elephants. After walking about 15 yards I come to a Kodak moment. I pull out the camera, turn it on......wait....and wait....to see that it is never coming on....the batteries are dead! Way to go, me!

Even without the camera, we manage to have a great time. LiLi is furiously taking notes on everything the handlers are telling us. We are watching the antics of a little (about 800 lbs) 9 month old elephant and enjoying ourselves. All the wrinkles of getting there are forgotten.

We leave the Sanctuary, head back to a larger town, find a restaurant, and have some lunch. We managed to get home without any problems. I hate to even say what time it was when we got home. Let's just say it was an all day adventure!

I do recommend it to all. It was neat to learn about the elephants, and wonderful to know that there is a place for these poor creatures to go rather than face death.

If you ever want to go....Just give me a ring and I'll give you the directions!

It's A Love/Hate Thang!

2008-09-02T21:45:00.004-05:00

I have this love/hate relationship with hurricanes. On the one hand, I hate the destruction they bring. I do not wish calamity or sorrow on anyone. On the other hand.......I love the weather it pushes up to our neck of the woods! We live in the best place for good hurricane weather. We started getting the rains last night from our little friend, Gustav. We were able to enjoy a nice cool Labor Day cookout thanks to this little guy. It was even cool today. Are you ready for this? I turned the air conditioner off today! I never turn the air conditioner off (well, almost never). It was wonderful.

The wind has been blowing. I mean really blowing. Whenever I look outside the trees do a little curtsy for me. I can hear a "whoooooooosh" whipping around the corners of the house. It's kind of freaking Ya Ya out a little. She keeps thinking someone is lurking around outside, popping her window with branches. I tried to tell her that if someone were outside they wouldn't announce themselves by hitting on the window first. She hasn't grasped the concept of stealth yet.....kids.....ya gotta love the way their minds work.

It has been raining all day. Not the wimpy drip drip kind. The hard gusts that turn the rain sideways with the force of the wind. When you are at home it is great. I did, however, encounter two auto accidents on the way to school this afternoon. That's the hate part of the relationship. Two different cars hydroplaned. One ended up against a tree upside down. The other accident happened on the freeway. Let's just say it is not a good idea to swerve to avoid a little thing when the roads are that wet. Sometimes it is easier to just run over the little thing and risk a flat tire instead of doing pirouettes in a suburban and find you are suddenly going in a northerly direction on a southbound lane. It's not the pirouettes that cause all the damage, it is that silly little car that insists on going in a southerly direction in direct opposition of your notherly direction. Let us just say that fenders and front ends are a lot harder to fix than flats.

The best part of today was dinner. It has been so hot lately that I just hate cooking. Why heat up an already hot kitchen? Isn't that why General Mills created cold cereal? It is the dinner of choice during the hot summer months! Right? Well, tonight I surprised the family with steaming, fragrant chili. It is a favorite of ours on a cold day. Of course, if you were to ask my kids they would tell you that any day in my house is a cold day. I gave up trying to explain that hot flashes make people hot.....it is easier to cover up than it is to have me walk around our house uncovered! Ewwwwww!!! I digress. The chili was delicious. The fragrance was heavenly. It is just what we needed. A good semi home cooked meal with all of us eating at the same time and practicing Spanish in between bites. BB and Ya Ya have a big test in Spanish class tomorrow.

Life doesn't get much better than this. Nice, edgy weather outside; Cozy, cuddly family safe inside. Who wouldn't love this? Don't spoil this by asking the people of Cuba and Louisiana how they fell about Gustav. Let a girl have her moments!

I Can Sell That!

2008-08-31T00:38:00.002-05:00

My little LiLi is always thinking. (What am I going to do if she wants to be a philosophy major one day?) She ponders life's little secrets, ways to help others, ways to get back at others, and ways to increase her money stash.

She was discussing one of her entrepreneurial ideas today. Her economics teacher (isn't it great that her school teaches economics in elementary school?) recently went to Beijing to see her son swim the Butterfly in the Olympics for Team USA. (Gil Stovall;did not medal) She came back from China with all kinds of goodies that she used to teach her classes about Chinese culture. LiLi brought home a set of chopsticks and talked about the eating customs of the Chinese.

She was most interested in the silk that Mrs. Stovall brought back. She loved the feel of it and loved that it was created by silkworms. She went on to explain how expensive it was because you have to import it from China. I think her words were "It costs so much because we have to trade things to China to get the silk". She wanted me to find her a pair of "fake" silk pajamas to wear since it was so soft. She then wanted me to get her some silk worms so she could start making her own silk. She wondered where we would be able to put that "machine thingy that turns it into silk fabric". She then goes on to explain how she can charge so much money for plain silk, and could get even more for colored silk!

You go girl! I love her enthusiasm about everything. She is like a little sponge taking in everything she hears, putting her own spin on it after she ponders it a while, and spouting out her views about it.

I can't wait to see her as an adult...she's gonna be quite the woman!

I'm Cool......Aren't I?

2008-08-19T09:52:00.003-05:00

Since my kids have started school again (they are now starting their 4th week) I've made a deal with them to help get them out the door on time. If they make it to the car by the specified time they get to take turns choosing the music we listen to. If not.....then I get to pick the music. Apparently this is a big deal since their school is downtown and takes about 20 minutes to get there.

I generally pick Country Music to listen to just to give them a reason to hurry a little more in the mornings. However, I have been known to listen to all types of music. I have learned that no matter what songs I listen to and like, I am still not cool and my music is not cool.

I still monitor the television shows and the music my kids listen to so we don't get a lot of inappropriate exposure. I decided to pull one over on my 13 year old. I had his cousin, SuzyQ, make a cd with a mixture of music on it. I happen to like the music on it and would have suggested these things for BB to listen to, but it is much cooler to get the cd from his "too cool" cousin than from his "uncool" mom.
So....I still get to listen to music I like and I get to secretly be cool!

Training for the Olympics

2008-08-14T18:36:00.006-05:00

During this past week I have come to realize just how hard the training is to participate in the Olympics. The participant has basically devoted his/her life to the pursuit of earning a medal. There is no social life. Your routine during the two weeks can be grueling, especially if you are going to participate in more than one event. It hurts me right now as I am thinking of the grueling schedule and the toll it can take on your body. It takes great dedication, concentration, and self discipline to stick with it. No wonder only the elite can make it! I'm glad that the end result is worth all the sacrifice. Just think of all the family time and personal time that is forfeited during the training and the actual events. I'm am getting tired just thinking about all the hard work.

Well, the good news is that one week is almost over and there is only one more week of the grueling schedule to go. I am patting myself on the back for the extra hours of training I put in. Yep! I practiced endless hours in front of a television, staying up late, late, late. I knew that when the Olympics appeared my kids would already be in school. Not everyone can stay up till 1:00 or 2:00 in the morning cheering the USA to victory and then getting up at 6:00 am to get the kids ready for school. I rush back home to hear all the early morning interviews of the athletes and settle in for all the prelims. I go pick up my kids, rush through a "fend for yourself" dinner to hit the prime time events. I've gotta tell ya.... I've been hanging in there! Yeah, Me!!!

In fact I have to go right now to catch the prime time events!

For Love and Money

2008-08-13T10:34:00.002-05:00

I have been so busy watching the Olympics that I haven't had time to blog. This will be a quick one so I can get back to cheering for USA.

BB (my 13 yr old son) wanted to have a serious talk with me the other day. He doesn't do this very often because it is very hard for him to express things. He was just diagnosed with Pervasive Development Disorder (PDD). He has to have more testing done but they are pretty sure he has Aspergers.

Anyway, he wanted to talk to me all by himself. We just happened to be at the local library so I sent LiLi and YaYa in and BB and I stayed in the tank. He has a very hard time getting everything out but finally told me he is having a difficult time concentrating at school and has been having very strong feelings for a girl that has talked to him 3 or 4 times. He is convinced that he is in love. Yep, true love! I talk to him a little about what he is feeling and find out that he is happy because she talks to him. Not many people talk to him in a nice, friendly manner. His ability to socialize with his peers is sadly lacking.

I do try to convince him that perhaps the strong feelings are happiness because he possibly has a friend. I then go on to explain how love evolves through getting to know another person, liking that person, sharing interests with that person, and developing a relationship with that person. I explain that I am not sure that love comes after 4 brief meetings. Crisis is over...He admits that he is very happy because someone is nice to him. We discuss how he can continue the relationship to try and develop a friendship. I assure him that it is okay to be happy and lose concentration (just as long as he gets his school work done first...)because friendship is a great thing.

A couple of days later I notice that BB has a pocket full of money. I haven't given him any and can't imagine where it has come from. Of course, I ask him about the source of his money and he tells me that he has been taking extra snacks to school and selling them to kids that didn't bring snacks for the day. He is really proud of himself because he is that much closer to buying a new game for his Nintendo DS.

It was not easy explaing to him that you could get kicked out of school for selling things. He didn't quite grasp that you have to have a special permit to sell food, it is against school rules, etc. Now I get to check his pockets each morning to make sure he only takes one snack to school.

I thought my kids were going through their snacks a little too fast!

Book Tagged

2008-08-07T08:37:00.002-05:00

1. Pick up the nearest book to you (one of at least 123 pages).
2. Open the book to page 123.
3. Find the fifth sentence.
4. Post the next three sentences.
5. Tag five people.

The closest book to me is Evening is the Whole Day. This is the book I am currently reading.

Valli, who was stirring the evening's dosai batter in the far corner, paused mid-stir and opened her mouth to say something. Two geckos, absorbing the tension in the air, charged at each other and began a noisy, inappropriate fight on the ceiling.
"There's trouble," Subru said before she could speak. "Going to get even worse it seems."

I tag Llewellyn, Nikki, Joe (the Admiral), Maria Mae, and Alison

Dearly Beloved We Are Gathered Together…

2008-08-03T18:32:00.005-05:00

Saturday night my family attended the wedding of my cousin's daughter. It took place in a small town in Southeast Arkansas. I didn't even know this place existed. We traveled to a lake home for the outdoor wedding that started at 7:00 pm. I must mention that this day happened to break weather records as being the hottest day! We were able to capture a tiny breeze every so often from the lake. It was not frequent enough to dispel our discomfort. I want to give you as detailed a description of these lovely nuptials as I can. Maybe you can get the same joy/shock that I got.

We drive to the lake property to find a long fishing/swimming dock decorated with white lace and small lights mingled in. There is a long walkway to get to this dock. On the dock there are some folding chairs that, we are told, will be for the immediate family. On the bank are more chairs that are for the remainder of the guests. The wedding guests are a small number. This is to be expected since the invitation was by word of mouth and not a formal one that would have been mailed. We are a little bit early, so we take our seats on the bank of this lake and watch the ducks swim while are ears are splitting with classical music booming from a portable stereo. The sound is turned up so high that it is painful for us. I boldly walk to the stereo and turn the music down to an enjoyable level, one that allows us to actually hold conversations while we listen. We watch a motley crew of individuals arrive in various forms of dress. We saw guests in shorts (very casual), sundresses, and even two suits. I kept my eyes on those two in case I was needed to administer first aid for the heat stroke they were surely going to have in this 100+ temperature. There were people here from all walks of life.

For a little background, the bride was able to overcome extraordinary circumstances to escape the life she was born into. Her mother is an alcoholic that gets increasingly worse each day. Her father, my cousin (and it turns out not really her father) is a meth addict who has been in prison a couple of times. Her biological father, a brief affair her mother had, is an alcoholic and has served a couple of prison terms as well. The bride, K, has put herself through college, has a nice career, and put this wedding together herself because she was afraid that her mother would spoil it with her drunken high jinx.

Okay, back to the wedding….As we are sitting on the bank waiting for the wedding to start, the bridegroom's father comes over to meet my extended family. All of my mother's sisters are present as well as my sister and our kids. My aunt has also brought her grandson. The groom's father goes to my aunt, the grandmother of the bride, and gives her a big hug. Let me just mention that he looks like he just stepped out of Woodstock. He then goes to my sister and gives her a big hug and then turns to me. My nickname for him is "Cop a Feel". He totally grosses us out. My other aunts give off a "don't you dare try to cop a feel from me" aura so he bypasses them. I've gotta tell ya… This is the first time anyone has wanted to get that close to me at a wedding. Maybe he thought he could kill two birds with one stone. Attend his son's wedding and pick up a date for the reception.

Eventually the wedding begins. Coming down the aisle (grass) are two little boys in shorts. One is carrying a ring pillow and the other is carrying a fishing pole! That's a first for me too! Then two little girls walk by spreading beautiful flower petals in their beautiful little dresses and bare feet. The maid of honor comes by in a pretty gown with a small bouquet. I forgot to mention that the groom and the best man are dressed in black shirts and khaki shorts. We wondered if the bride was going to be as casual. We anxiously wait for the bride to make her entrance. Guess what? It was another first for me! The Bride and her Biological father come from quite a ways back in the property in an all terrain vehicle. It must have been the formal version because it had a top on it. The ATV takes her to the beginning of the aisle where she is handed off to her father. Meanwhile, he has to put out his cigarette to walk her down the aisle. She is dressed in a beautiful gown and looks like a Greek goddess. The wedding continues with only one small glitch. The minister says it is time to say the vows. K gets a panicked look on her face and whispers "Do I have to say anything? I didn't write my own vows." To which the minister replies, " Just say I do at the appropriate spot." She sighs her relief as a title of laughter goes around. The guests are then entertained with an idolesque performance of Love Can Build A Bridge and I'll Stand By You. Don't get me wrong…the singing was beautiful…it was just styled more for a pop performance than a wedding performance.

Did I mention how hot it was? All the guests were drenched with perspiration. I think if anyone had dared us, we would all have gladly moved our seats into the lake just to get cool. We began gathering up our things to go to another residence for the reception. On the walk back to the cars my little YaYa asks her Nana why our group was so dressed up and no one else was. My aunt replied " Because our mother taught us better!". This appeases YaYa.

We travel a few miles to the reception and see some tables decorated nicely. There is a beautiful fountain streaming out lukewarm punch (I guess to help cool us down from the oh so hot temps). They do have a beautiful wedding cake. Behind the cake table you have an assortment of ice chests with ice cold soft drinks and more lukewarm water. To the right of the cake table there is a pot luck spread to rival any family reunion or picnic. The bride's father has assembled a few of his musician buddies and they perform for us. They were actually pretty good. By this time it is dark. After about 30 minutes of being shrouded in this darkness, someone has one of those genius moments. They wheel their car around, point it at the crowd, and turn the headlights on high beam. Thus, our romantic reception lighting is taken care of. Only a few people needed to move back some to escape the harsh glare. The bride and groom join us to partake of the food and fun. She has matched her groom in an outfit of tank top and shorts. A reception outfit any beach would be proud of. The highlight of the evening was when I hear a bloodcurdling scream and see LiLi running for her life along with YaYa grabbing BooBoo and hightailing to me as fast as they can. I would have been embarrassed at their screaming and running in the midst of this reception except they are screaming "Snake, Snake" as they are running. Immediately the stoner looking men run to the area to teach that snake a lesson. It is at this point that my mind has taken in far too much excitement and shock for one day and our family takes our leave.

On the way out I see the bride and give her a hug and tell her how beautiful she looked in her gown. She has tears in her eyes as she thanks our family for coming to the wedding. At this point I realize that to me it was quite the fiasco or red neck celebration….but to this young lady it was the most wonderful day of her life. She did the best she could with what she had. I wished then that I could have flown her and her groom to a beach resort where they could have had a gorgeous outdoor wedding to rival anything Martha Stewart could do. This young deserves so much more than she has ever been given in life. I am just glad that for her, the wedding was beautiful and a wonderful success. Her mother did show up drunk but she managed not to end up in the lake or some other embarrassing situation. It just shows that we all measure success in different degrees.

Congratulations K. I hope you have a beautiful life with your wonderful, kind husband.

Surely We Don't Reap What We Sow?????

2008-08-01T22:30:00.002-05:00

Today I took my 3 kiddos and my mother to meet my sister for lunch and a day of shopping. My cousin is getting married tomorrow and we wanted to get some clothing that could possibly help us reduce the heat that will be scorching down on us. She is having an outdoor wedding...in southern Arkansas...in August...with temperatures running in the 100's...and the humidity somewhere at 90%! I think a bikini is going to be the only thing that might help us all, but only if everyone is blind (visualizing me in a bikini is worse than a nightmare!). Oh, what fun we are going to have this weekend. If no one sees or hears from me by Sunday night, it can only mean one thing...I melted!

While we were shopping I was trying to help LiLi and YaYa pick out a couple of dresses since they, apparently, aren't going to stop growing. By the last store my sister was actually laughing at me. It seems this shopping trip brought back some old memories of me shopping with my dad. I think after the first few times of shopping with me my mom refused to go anymore. My sister so kindly pointed this out to me as I was rolling my eyes and refraining from "choking" LiLi over her indecision (about the 40th time that day) on which shoes to buy for her two dresses that she may or may not want to keep. What if she finds cuter dresses in the next store?

When I was younger I would have my dad take me to a store and l would look around at all they had to offer. I never bought anything from the first store. I would turn to him and tell him that I didn't see anything I liked and wanted to go to another store. He would patiently take me to the next store and I would look at all they had to offer and turn to him with the same statement. He would ask me if I was sure I didn't see anything I liked and then patiently take me to another store. This would go on for several stores. I can't tell you the hours he would patiently wait for me while I looked and tried on piece after piece, only to head somewhere else. After a few hours of this I would ask him to take me back to the first store and I would miraculously walk up and find just the right thing! I know this frustrated him to no end. He could never understand why I didn't like anything the first time around but found the perfect thing after hours of looking everywhere only to end up at the starting point. What a great dad he was!

Well, my sister was trying to point out to me that LiLi was only doing the very thing that I used to do. In her twisted way she was trying to tell me I was only getting what I so richly deserved!

Hey, Dr. Mom! Do you thinking he is having the time of his life laughing at me right now?

Don't Forget!

2008-07-31T12:21:00.002-05:00

Yesterday BB had a swim party that he was excited about going to. It was a combined youth activity at a home about 10 minutes from us. He was so excited about going that he got a little OCD about it.

He got up yesterday morning and reminded me that he had a party tonight. I told him that I remembered. He got ready to go swimming with the family in the morning and reminded me that he had a swim party to go to tonight. I reminded him that I already knew about the party and that we would get him there for it. We got in the car on the way to the neighborhood pool and he reminded me again. Feeling a little exasperated with all the reminders, I told him a little crankily that I knew he had a party and I would really appreciate him not reminding me about it anymore since it was only 10:00 am and the party was that evening.

We swam for a couple of hours in the intense heat! At 1:00 we finally had to admit defeat to the high temperatures and go home to the air conditioning.

BB comes to me and reminds me about his party that night. I assure him that it is only 2:00 and he will be going.

BB comes to me and reminds me that the party starts at 7:00 pm. I tell him that we will get him there on time as it is only 2:05 pm.

BB comes to me and asks if I know where the pool is. I assure him that I know where the pool is and it only takes about 10 minutes to get there. I, again, assure him that we have plenty of time since it is only 2:10 pm.

BB sends YaYa to let me know that he wants her to let him know when it is 6:30 pm so he will not miss his party. I assure her that she has plenty of time and that we will get BB to his party since it is only 2:15 pm.

My entire afternoon was spent reassuring BB that he was going to get to go to this party! Do you think he was excited about it?

Guess what? BB got to go to his party and he was there on time!

Good Lips......

2008-07-30T08:44:00.002-05:00

I really love my little BooBoo. He makes me laugh and fills my heart with love. On Monday he wanted to spend the night with me and play with my kids. I love having him around and couldn't say no to him. Even though it was a school night for all I decided to let him stay with me. He did great.....until bedtime. He couldn't make up his mind who he wanted to sleep with...YaYa or BB.....but wait.....Mimi! I think he just assumed that I would be up the latest and he could stay up longer if he chose me.
Well, he was right on the money. He could not settle down and he wanted to watch the news with me to see LiLi. She was chosen to ring the bell at school for the Governor. He visited their school that day. There were news cameras all around. Too bad we couldn't find the news station that carried the story.
When I wake up BooBoo to go to school the next morning he is just a little bit sleepy and doesn't want to get out of bed and get moving. He is soon persuaded because he wants to go with me to drop my kids off at their school.
After I drop off my kids I head to BooBoo's house. He has a mini GPS system in his little brain and always knows where he is and where anyone is going. He quickly determines that we are headed to his house and tells me that he is not ready to go home. We go back and forth for a while until he asks why I have to take him home. I say "Because...". He comes back with "Mimi, that is a wrong answer." (Apparently he likes to say because as an answer to his mom a lot and she tells him its the wrong answer.)
I promise him that I am staying at his house for a little while and he calms down. When we get to his house his Dad is about to leave for the day. He runs over to give his dad a kiss and a hug and then excitedly turns to me and says: " Mimi, come kiss my dad! He has good lips!"
How do you explain to a 4 year old that Mimi's don't kiss other peoples dads?
I just love my Boo!

What ever happened to the Abacus?

2008-07-28T09:07:00.002-05:00

My three children started school last week and the rush was on to get all the needed school supplies. BB, my 13 yr old son, brought his match class supply list to me and I almost fainted! He needed to buy a super max, way too technical calculator. They range in price from $99 to $200. Has math really gotten that technical that we can't work without a mini computer in our backpack?

I thought about the needed item for a couple of days. I even went to the store twice to purchase it, but I just could not make myself do it! What happened to the days when you counted beads on an abacus? Or on your fingers? Or, dare I say, used scratch paper? Okay, maybe not scratch paper so I can help save a few more trees.

I realized I had no choice but to buy the little super duper handy dandy calculator. I brought it home to BB and helped him get the batteries in. It only takes about 400 batteries to run the darn thing (okay, maybe 4 batteries, but still.....). I showed him how to turn it on and after much practice I figured out how to turn it off. This is the point that he tells me he already knew how to do all this. Then he proceeds to tell me that you can text people on it, download games, and even brainwash teachers.....(he really didn't say the brainwash teachers but I want everyone to feel my emotion).

I have never felt so old and dusty in my life! Call me crazy, but how is texting or game playing going to help solve all those math equations? Again, the abacus may be a little outdated but it sure did the trick.

You can probably imagine all the alarm bells going off in my head when BB recounts all the million and one things this super machine can do.

Is a 13yr old boy responsible enough for such a costly item? He tells me his Nintendo DS costs about the same and he has kept up with it....mostly. I have to remind him that the first week he had it, he took it outside and then laid it on the hood of his Dad's truck. He forgot to get it off before his Dad left at his usual speed of 90 to nothing. I spent 30 minutes going up and down the roadside looking for it!
Can this same 13 yr old really figure out how to use it properly? Well, duh!!!!! He did show me how to turn it off when I tried this little task for at least 15 minutes.
Is he going to text and play games on it so much that the batteries will need constant replacement? I wonder if 400 batteries every other day is really eco friendly?

I really start to chastise myself at this point. After all he is 13 yrs old, and as my sister keeps telling me, I need to loosen up with him a little. I need to let him experience a little freedom so he can learn to make good choices. (This is easy for her to say. Her daughter is 26 and as near perfect as you can get. Her son is 4 and she can exert all the control on him she wants. I think I will have to pull this post out for her to read in about 9 years.)

As I am taking the kids to school, I go over all the rules about the super max computer thingy with BB. (He says I went into my "wa wa wa wa wa wa" mode. I think he means I keep repeating myself and he stops hearing words and instead hears "wa wa wa wa wa wa".) I remind him several times to use the top secret computer only for his way too complicated math class and not to text anyone or play games. His reply is "Mimi, just trust me. I won't do anything I'm not supposed to do."

Now, lets fast forward to pick up time after school.....I ask all the kids how their day was. I get various replies but notice BB isn't saying much. I zero in on him. I ask him how things were going for him.

Mimi: Did you get to use that top secret machine in math class today?

BB: Yes, but the batteries that we put in must not be very good because they are already dead.

Mimi:Hmmmmm.(I actually thought this) Did you do a lot of texting today?

BB:No. I didn't text on it at all.

Mimi:Did you play any games on it today?

BB:(in a much quieter voice) Yes, but only in my free time.

Mimi: (in a much louder voice) What do you mean you played a game on it? Didn't I just talk to you this morning about not playing games on it? Didn't we agree that you were only going to use it to solve math problems? Why would you do this? Now you don't have batteries for your super machine so how are you going to solve all those math problems?

BB:Easy. I'll just stick them in the recharger.

Mimi: They aren't rechargeable. Didn't you pay any attention to what we talked about this morning?

BB: Yes, maam. I just saw everyone else playing games on theirs and this kid let me download some games onto mine.

Mimi: (going into orbit now) You did what? You downloaded something on the super max? That's how viruses get spread. What happens if you get a virus and your super max dies? Also, that tells me that you had plenty of time to think this through if you downloaded and then played games. When did you play these games? In your classes?

BB: Yes, maam. But it was during free time.

Mimi: What type of free time?

BB: In my science class during the teachers power point discussion.

Mimi: How is this free time?

BB: It was boring, so I just looked at the highlighted words and played my game during the rest of it.

I could go on and on (I actually did with him. He calls it nagging. I call it lengthy discussions.) with all the dialogue but BB says it really gets harder to listen to when I just keep repeating the same things over and over. I did tell him that I thought it would be very difficult to edit a power point display while playing a game. I have seen him with is Wii and his Nintendo. I doubt that he edited anything. At this point I really didn't want to hear anymore about what other classes he did this in. I am just glad that he didn't get caught. Now I have to come up with a way to let him use his calculator but not let it get him in trouble.

I've gotta tell ya, I really blame Texas Instrument for all the wrong in the world! Didn't they think this through when they were designing this super machine? Surely the knew that the teenagers wouldn't be able to resist the lures of texts and games and every other non math item these little jewels contained. What were they thinking????? Don't any of them have kids? Are they trying to compete with the Gameboys?

Again, I want to know.....What is wrong with the Abacus? I bet BB wouldn't try and use it improperly!

My Little Break

2008-04-08T06:56:00.002-05:00

I am enjoying a much needed break from my family. I love them very much but the down time was needed. I am in Breckenridge, CO with my sister, aunt, and a friend of my aunt. My sister and aunt (70 yrs old but doesn't look or act like it) are enjoying some good skiing. I am enjoying some great leisure! I have read 3 books without being interupted to mediate an argument, answer 50 questions, clean, cook, etc. It is very selfish, but very wonderful.

Today I am going to do nothing more than visit a few shops (there is a yarn shop that I am excited to see), maybe get a manicure, walk in the snow, and just chill. That sounds pretty decadent to me. What a change my life has taken.....

Hey! I need to tell you something!

2008-03-31T09:05:00.005-05:00

Well, today is the last day I will be watching BooBoo. He has been staying with me for a week while his mom has been in NYC visiting his older sister. The days have been a little (maybe a lot) stressful because he has been out of his routine. I also didn't have a car last week so we couldn't go to any fun places. My kids were home on Spring Break and LiLi had a difficult time with that little green monster on her back. She does not like to share my attention. The time wasn't all bad. In fact, most of the time was actually wonderful. I really am going to miss having him around all the time. So, to help me out every once in while, I am going to write down some of his most memorable lines. He is rather hilarious most of the time.

BooBooisms

Mimi: BooBoo it is time to go to sleep. You need to be quiet and close your eyes.

BooBoo: (as he is holding my face with both hands to ensure that I am looking right at him) Wait, Wait, Mimi, I need to tell you something!

Mimi: Okay, what do you need to tell me?

BooBoo: Ummmmm

"Mimi, can you hear my heart blinking? It's blinking really fast. It's going click, click, click."

"Mimi, can I hold the bunny now?" (This was said about 50 times a day)

"Don't you think that is a good idea Mimi?" (This was said whenever he wanted to do something he knew he shouldn't do)

"Mimi, look! Your dog really likes me! He's letting me pet him."

"I don't want to stay here anymore. I am really angry. I want to go home right now." (This was only said at nap time or at bed time)

BooBoo: Mimi, I am angry at you. I am going to kill you.

Mimi: Boo, don't say kill. That is a bad word.

BooBoo: Well, I'm going to dead you!

Mimi: LiLi, If you don't stop you are going to be in trouble.

BooBoo: Go, Mimi! Hurry, go get her in trouble.

Mimi: What should I do to her?

BooBoo: Spank her.....And then throw her in the trash can!

BooBoo: Mimi, I want to name your bunny Fluffy the bunny.

Mimi: BooBoo, he already has a name. It's Van Gogh!

BooBoo: I don't like Van Gogh. I want him to be Fluffy the bunny.

Mimi: Well, he's not.

BooBoo: Your bunny is going to be Van Gogh Fluffy the bunny! My daddy says I can have your bunny and he will be mine.

(Daddy did not say this)

I will certainly miss this little stinker....Oh, well.....it's not like I won't see him every other day.

Hippity Hoppity

2008-03-29T13:23:00.003-05:00

Meet our newest family member, Van Gogh. We thought the name was cute and it fits him. He is just a little bunny, who, tragically had part of his ear nibbled off by his mother. He is very cute and trying to accustom himself to our rowdy crew. My girls have been great about caring for him. The clean his cage about 2-3 times a day, they make certain his water bottle is full, and they keep plenty of food for him. They love to cuddle with him. They are constantly asking to hold him. They get to hold him quite a bit but I also think he needs some down time so he doesn't stress too much.

BooBoo has been staying with me this week while his Mom is in NYC. He loves Vanny Go Gogh! He wants to hold him all the time! Vanny Go Gogh isn't so sure about this....Sometimes too much huggin' and squeezin' isn't a good thing. Vanny is happy each night when BooBoo goes home. You can see the relief as BooBoo walks out the door. He settles himself down and takes a well deserved nap.

When BooBoo is around we always have to be careful that he is not opening the cage and getting Vanny out by himself. Once I told him he couldn't hold Vanny because he was asleep. That didn't deter BooBoo. He walked over and banged on Vanny's cage, then pronounced," Vanny Go Gogh is awake! Now can I hold him?" He is constantly peering into the cage and letting us know how many times Vanny has "pooped" in his cage. He calls LiLi and YaYa to come clean it out. He knows we take Vanny out of the cage to clean it. BooBoo knows all the tricks to hold his beloved new friend.

So welcome to our clan, Van Gogh! May you be as happy and crazy as we are!

Skating in a Winter Wonderland

2008-03-08T18:58:00.005-06:00

This wonderful March started with beautiful snow. We don't get a lot of snow in the south, so we were all pretty excited. I let the kids stay home from school to play in this white wonderland! Boo Boo was here to enjoy it with them. They had all kinds of fun making snowballs. This was great snowball snow. Typically we get more ice than powder. They froze while they were launching snowball attacks. It was wonderful! I brought them in after most of their visible body parts had turned a bright red. I stuck them under blankets and gave them hot chocolate. I love the snow!

By the next day, Wednesday, most of the snow had melted. There were only spots here and there. I walked the girls to the bus stop and we froze while we waited for the bus to come. It was all good! The cold was invigorating. I felt alive.......and at just about this point, as I was walking back home my foot slips on a piece of black ice.......Imagine a hippopatomas twirling and spinning and falling! I imagine that is what I looked like. I did a miniature version of the splits as one foot shot out in front of me and the other sort of stayed stationary. My sister likes to call it the "ground hurkey". Yea, I was in fine form. My knee slapped the pavement with such force.....and pain......and not one little bad word slipped out! I looked around to see how many people witnessed my skating spectacular. I didn't see anyone, but windows can sometimes hide those prying eyes.....I did my best to gather myself up with as much dignity as possible and hobbled back home. Who knew a knee could hurt so much? Thank goodness I did not throw my arms down to break my fall. I did that two years ago on roller skates and broke my wrist. It was no small thing. I had to have surgery to install a plate to hold the bones together. I broke a couple of fingers on the tips, and damaged some nerves and tendons. Hand therapy is not for the weak! It took three months to get my hand working semi well. Did I mention how much I hate skating? Did I mention how much I hate the snow? I mean, really, you would think we would be protected from the lethal, nasty white stuff living in the south as we do. Who gets snow in March anyway? Is someone out to get me?????????

Let me tell you 'bout the birds & the bees...

2008-03-02T14:37:00.004-06:00

Well......this mother thing is fairly new to me and I am never quite sure if I am scarring the kids for life or helping to nurture greatness!
My middle child is turning 11 years old in April. This weekend it occurred to me that she has not asked me anything about growing up, where babies come from, changes to her body, etc. Now...am I supposed to wait for her to come to me so she gets information when she is ready? Or do I go to her and create an unstable child because I have told her things she is not ready for? Well, you know me. Why tip toe around something when I can just bull doze it? This weekend I started noticing little things going on with YaYa. She is starting to get oil zones on her face and one or two zits. Her hair gets really oily in spots if she does not wash it every day. So I think to myself (really, who else am I going to think to?) what if other major changes happen to her and she thinks she is seriously ill or dying because I have not had the "talk" with her. I think back to the "talk" that my mother had with me....that makes me jump start the action. My mother's talk was about 3 years too late. I cannot let that happen to my YaYa! I call YaYa to come in the room with me and not only do I get her company but LiLi and BooBoo come in the room with her. Okay, I'm just going to go for it even with the extras. I sit her down and start drawing a great graphic of the inner workings of a woman's body (I know this because my sister is here and she tells me this). The minute I start in on the "talk" YaYa sticks her fingers in her ears, LiLi is pointing to the diagram and asking questions, and Boo is doing his best to keep up. Well, it was a successful talk with LiLi! She will be prepared for the changes to come. Boo has a semi understanding of the human body (as well as a 4 year old can understand). YaYa caught sketches of the conversation when I kept pulling her fingers out of her ears. I'm not sure it will all make sense though.....So, will my baby be prepared? Or have I just grossed her out so much she will hate her body? Who knows. I did learn one thing though....I can see Boo's future now. He looked up at me and said "Mimi, can I squeeze your breasts?" My answer, of course, is "Why no, Boo, you may not squeeze my breasts!" His next remark is, "No, Mimi, I don't want to squeeze them. I want to squish them flat!" You realize what this means, don't you? I hope my sister is prepared for the path her son will take. I mean, is it normal for a 4 year old boy to want to squish boobs? No it is not. This can only mean one thing unless my sister can intervene. Boo is destined to become..........yep, you guessed it...............
a plastic surgeon who specializes in breast reductions!

Shhhhh.....It's a secret!

2008-02-08T00:32:00.000-06:00

I really love my kids. I hope I am not doing anything that will screw them up forever....I can't believe how lucky I am that I have them in my life.

I have the flu....yuck! I risked spreading it to my kids elementary school so I could attend YaYa's honor roll ceremony. I snuck in, sat all by myself, and then snuck out. It was worth it! She was not expecting me because she knew I didn't feel good. She walked into the cafeteria just as casual as can be and then saw me out of the corner of her eye. She almost stopped the line! This gorgeous smile broke out on her face and she mouthed "You came!" I could have crawled across a desert for 2 days without water just to see that smile on her face.

The girls sort of enjoyed my being sick today because I did not have the stamina to enforce much of anything. I don't think they completed all their homework and they watched more tv than I generally allow. They basically had a fun afternoon. However, I know that I remained in their thoughts today.

Tonight when I was eating a little food, LiLi came into the kitchen with a picture of a beautiful "diamond" necklace from Kohls. She asked me if I liked the picture. I told her that it was very beautiful. (I thought she wanted me to get it for her!) She kept saying things like....." Don't you just want to have this necklace so bad? Would this be the best necklace ever?" So I'm thinking I'm wrong and I'm trying to figure out where this is going. Before now, every time they have wanted to buy presents for people it is generally for their absent mother and father (I think they were willing to do anything to make their parents happy and have their love). So I am gearing up for LiLi to tell me she wants to buy this necklace for her dad's new girlfriend. I can live with that. Their father has certainly been more attentive and fun since she has been in the picture. I am putting on my "oh, that is such a sweet thought" face when LiLi leans in close and whispers, "Can you keep a secret? This necklace is only $11.00 at Kohls. If YaYa and I put our money together, we will have just enough to buy this necklace for you as a Valentine's gift." My heart just melted. In spite of everything, I rate with my kids. I mean I really, really rate with my kids. They have been saving their money for some Hannah Montana stuff and they are willing to forgoe getting anything so they can buy me a gift. We all know how popular Hannah Montana is! That must put me way up at the top of the list.

I really love my kids........And for any of you interested in my new fame......I'll be happy to sign any autographs and sell my stuff to you!

Simon Says.......

2008-01-25T16:57:00.000-06:00

I don't think I have ever talked about Simon before. Simon is the head of our household. How can he be the head of our household if I am single, you say? Because he is the Simonater! He is the ,shhhh, say it quietly.............CAT!

He is the most beautiful cat you will ever see. He almost looks like a Russian Blue. He isn't quite as fancy as that. Simon is quite the mystery to us. A few years ago he showed up at our door and politely asked for some food. He used his guest manners when he first met us. He loved the food. He came back the next day and asked for more. He did this for several days in a row. Then he politely invited himself into our home to dine. He stayed a while and would leave as any guest did. At some point in our relationship, Simon decided that he loved our home. He decided that we could use a good house leader so he graciously invited himself to stay and help us out.

What would we do without our little boy? He is always mindful of how slow humans are to catch onto things.....He practices supreme patience with us by repeating requests as many times as needed until the light bulb finally clicks on in our heads.

Take his food for example. He so lovingly meows to us if we should forget to refresh his bowl every hour. He is generally very loving about reminding us. He even uses his polite voice when he has to wake us at 3 or 4 in the morning that we forgot to refresh his bowl. Isn't he so sweet? Most people would use their annoying voice so early in the morning. But not our Simon! He is so polite at all hours.

He is even so sweet about his water bowl. He realizes it is so hard for us to see whether he has enough water, or even if it is fresh enough. He has found a way to help us out. He simply pushes his water bowl out in the middle of the kitchen floor for us whenever he wants it serviced. And Simon, in his good natured way, never gets upset with us when we accidentally trip over the water bowl and spill the "old" water all over the kitchen floor. He understands that we are so dense that sometimes we don't even see something that is so obviously placed right in front of our noses!

He is the sweetest when he plays with the kids. He realizes that all kids need to use their brains and create strategy! Isn't that what life is all about? He loves to get in the middle of their beds and let them try to figure out how to get him out without getting a scratch or a little nip. He wants them to learn to conquer pain and fear! Most people would laugh at the fear that Ya Ya displays whenever she has to confront Simon.....Not him.....He patiently teaches her to toughen up. Won't she be so ready for the world when she is grown?

Simon has even found an easy way to let us know when he wishes to go outside or to come in. If we happen to be sleeping the day away at 5am he simply jumps on us to get our attention. He, of course, knows he is helping us in two ways. First, he needs to let us know that it is time for his morning constitutional. I guess he can't understand how we forget this each day. I'm sure he wants to shout to us that it happens at the same time every day....How do you forget this. Are we like Drew Barrymore in 50 First Dates or something??????? He also wants to make sure we are up and about to enjoy the day. Wouldn't it be so sad if we missed the best part of the day!

He even devised a way to alert us to let him in when we can't hear his precious little yowls. He simply launches himself at our front door and gives it a swift little karate kick with all fours. The sound sure gets our attention. (Last night Ya Ya thought someone was trying to break in.....I think Simon has a special little place in his heart for Ya Ya.)

He is even as conscientious about our bedtime as he is our awakening time. When it is time for bed he is always there to alert us. A nice stare and a few yowls are usually all it takes to let us know it is time to stop all our daily chores and rest in our beds. Of course no bedtime is complete until Simon has positioned himself right beside me so that I have no problems lending my palm to pillow his little head. Of course, this is only after he has been petted for at least 100 hundred strokes. And you thought this only applied to brush strokes to your hair!!!!

What would we do without our little Simonator? I guess we are pretty lucky he found us.

Oh Yeah! She Went There!

2008-01-23T22:16:00.000-06:00

Well, I decided to start blogging again! I can't believe how long it has been. I went on quite the adventure today. I took care of BooBoo this afternoon while my sister, Dr. Mom, took the older brother to the doctor. BooBoo got out of his mom's car and whooped it up! He said, "Mom, Mimi is my little boy now!" I think he got a little mixed up and meant to say he was Mimi's boy for the afternoon. Life is quite the adventure with little BooBoo around. He has the most vivid imagination of any three year old I know. He sure brings out the kid in me.

We were driving down a pretty busy street when he informed me that I was driving a race car and we needed to go faster! I think the speed limit on the street was 35 mph. He then started pointing out cars for me to pass. So I indulged him and sped up to a whopping 37 mph and passed a few. He loved it! One of the cars, that I so speedily passed, turned right onto another street. I told BooBoo that the car was so embarrassed that we beat him so he left the race track. BooBoo loved this. He then started pointing out cars for me to "beat up"! I think some of the meaning of "beating" cars got a little mixed up in his 3 yr old mind. He started telling me to "fight that car" and "beat up this car, Mimi". What a tiger!

Well, being the adventurer that I am.......I told BooBoo that we were going to go on a new, faster race track and then proceeded to enter on the Interstate. He was beside himself looking for cars for me to "beat up". I pointed to a car that we had just passed and told him that the car was now eating our dust.......BooBoo then threw his little fist toward the back window and yelled, "Mimi, I threw dirt at him so he could eat dust!" We are quite the team, little Booboo and me.

After we exited the Interstate, he pointed behind us and said, "Look, Mimi, all the cars are behind us! We're good race car drivers!"

I think I'm going to bring him around every time my ego needs a little boost!

Jefferson Lives On!

2006-11-25T12:25:00.000-06:00

During this Thanksgiving Holiday my mom, Nana Banana, and I started reminiscing about our younger years. Inevitably we compare ourselves and our kids to the traits of our parents. It tickles my heart every time I hear a new story about my parents as children. Everytime you think you've heard all that they have done, some random story brings about new musings.

Nana Banana and I were commenting on my younger brother and his many antics. Boy did he pull some stunts as a child. CB was forever roaming as a child. My mom would tell him to stay in the yard and he could play outside. After a few minutes she would check on him and he was nowhere to be found. I told her that she just didn't speak his language. To CB a yard was anyplace with grass. As long as there was grass under his feet he was in the yard! He just wasn't too concerned about who's yard it was. We laughed about how fearless this kid was except for one little phobia. CB was deathly afraid of the dark. He may have been quite the little roamer but you could always be sure that about 5 seconds before darkness fell he was running through the door.

Nana Banana told me that my dad, Jefferson, was quite the roamer as well. Apparently he enjoyed his own company and preferred to entertain himself. He would go off and hide in caves or in woods always eluding his brothers. He would also hide under his house and create an entire city for his little cars to go. There were times when he would find some money and decide that he needed to add to his car collection. He never let anything stop him from doing what he felt he needed to do, so he hitchhiked (he was about 6 or 7) into town and purchased his little car. I'm not sure if he even bothered to tell anyone where he was going or ask permission to do it.

I believe that same spirit lives on in each of his children. We do like to take charge and make things happen. I think he was always proud of our independant characters. He always told us not to let anything hold us back from what we wanted to do. He reminded us that hard times were just ways to build character.

We lost our adventuring Jefferson some time ago during his 11 year struggle with Alztheimers. Every once in a while a little glimmer of his true self would be able to make it through the fog of the disease. Jefferson left this life a year ago on September 30th but I believe his spirit carries on in his children and theirs. Everytime my little Li Li shows that mischevious streak I see her papa in her. Everytime I laugh till my sides hurt I feel that happy spirit of my papasan living on inside me.

Thank you Jefferson for the wonderful legacy.

Mirror, Mirror...I Want a New Me!

2006-11-21T09:06:00.000-06:00

I certainly have learned a lot by interacting more with children in the last three years. What insights they give us.

Let's take Li Li for an example.....I've always thought she was a little bossy. She loves to tell people what to do and if they don't do things as she feels they should be done she can always run and tattle. I have since changed my mind about her. Perhaps bossy isn't the right word for her. I believe that in her 7 year old wisdom she sees things....decides she doesn't quite like what she sees.....and takes action to change that which she doesn't like. Now don't go thinking that she is changing her inner self. No, no, no. She is not quite there yet. She is changing her outer self!

Two years ago I began reading Junie B. Jones to her. The series is really delightful if you want an entertaining read. We read one book that captured her attention more than most. It was Junie B. Jones ...Is a Beauty Shop Guy. In the story (you guessed it) Junie B. decides to cut her hair with some disastrous results. Well, what is good enough for Junie B. is good enough for my little Li Li. She decides that the shoulder length bob (hair is all one length, no bangs) is not the right look for her. One evening while taking a bath she decides to change things. While her hair is nice and wet she cuts herself some bangs. Then with a little more bravery she snips a chunk of hair from her nape. I believe she let good judgement sway her and decided that since she couldn't really see the back of her head she should stop at this point.

When she finished her bath she came to me to comb out her hair and dry it for her before she went to bed. I start combing her hair and low and behold this long, clump of hair falls out of her head. Imagine my horror as I see that her hair is falling out just by combing. You would also need to know that her older sister, Ya Ya, has alopecia (auto immune disease that halts hair regrowth thus causing hair to fall out and leave bald spots on the scalp). A million things are running through my mind as I stare at this clump of hair that has fallen out. Does she, too, have alopecia? Is hair loss an indicator of childhood lukemia? Is this a precursor to some horrible and fatal disease? I jokingly ask Li Li if she's been playing with the scissors and cutting her hair. I think it was my one stab at allaying the fears of something ghastly being wrong with my baby, but knowing in my heart it couldn't be true. Imagine my surprise when Li Li drops her head and starts crying. Oh, no! My baby knows she has some fatal disease too! She is much too perceptive at her young age! How do I comfort her? I pick her up and put her in my lap and start telling her that everything is going to be okay. She tells me through her tears that it won't be okay because I'm going to be really mad at her for using the scissors on her hair without permission. I again start to let her know that all will be well when her words finally penetrate my brain......Oh, no she didn't!!!!! How could she cut her hair? I turn her to face me and then see the bangs that she cut (I must admit that these actually were cut quite well; I only had to do a little bit of evening out) and now I want to cry. My baby's beautiful, all one length, hair is ruined! Not really, but I felt that way at first. Well, imagine the little talk we had.....needless to say we stopped reading those horrible (they teach children bad, bad things) Junie B. Jones books! Li Li lost the right to use scissors without an adult watching her. She never really had the privelige to begin with but we made certain she understood that rule this time. As time went by her bangs grew out and now we are at middle of the back, one lenth hair.

Now, just a few days ago Li Li was once again taking a bath (Do you see a pattern here? If they weren't necessary I think I would forbid her to ever bathe or shower again.) and deciding that she wasn't happy with another physical feature. She has been blessed with a unibrow. It is the sad, much hated trademark of the women in our family. Li Li has commented a time or two that she does not like the way her eyebrows meet and form one long brow. I have offered to pluck the brow or even wax it to give her two nicely shaped brows. She wanted no part of this. It seemed far too painful for her to consider. I should have known that one day soon my take charge girl would correct this little problem. She didn't let me down. She came to me after her bath a few nights ago and told me that her eyebrows were falling out. I didn't fall into the fatal disease panic this time. I looked at her sternly and asked her what she meant. She broke under the pressure of my gaze. She started crying and let me get a good look at her eyebrows. She no longer had a unibrow. In fact the spot just above her nose looked very clean and smooth. Aha, I deduct she has used a razor! She admits to doing so and I start on my long spiel about how dangerous razors are and how she could cut herself when I notice her right eyebrow. Or at least what's left of it. While she did a great job between the eyes, she was a little heavy handed on the top part of her mid eyebrow. In fact, she almost looks like she was trying to shave the whole thing off. Now I am starting to come unglued!!! I do contain myself and try not to scar her for life with some wild tirade. She goes back to the mirror and bemoans the loss of half her brow and worries about how the kids will make fun of her. I am not feeling too sorry for her because she did it to herself but I realize that part of my role as parent is to boost self-esteem. I tell her to hold her head high and ignore anyone who says anything to her. I also tell her that it is really not that noticeable.....(why do people keep getting this funny look on their faces when they see her?) and rush her off to bed. Then I just can't help myself. I bury my head in my pillow so she can't hear me and burst into........yep..........laughter! I can't control it. My little girl is going to be a force to be reckoned with! I hope as she continues to grow up (and probably tries to alter her physical looks many more times) that I can always appreciate and nurture that take charge attitude. I want her to not be afraid to make decisions and stand up for herself. I just hope she uses wise judgement as she does this!

With Liberty and Justice for All

2006-11-20T08:34:00.000-06:00

Well, I closed a pretty big chapter of my life last week. Maybe I should say almost closed. Three years ago I was a much different person with my priorities a little skewed......

I was working for The Big Bad Wolf Department Stores as a Buyer. I had been working with them for almost 18 years. In that time I saw many people come and go. Some left happily, some were asked to leave and sadly some of us were just not so happily stuck there. I am not sure if it was complacency or fear that kept us there. We really did work for the Big Bad Wolf. He was one of three owners: CEO - Bigger Badder Wolf, President - Big Bad Sometimes Rational Wolf, and the President of my Division - Big Bad Psycho Wolf.
We came in on a daily basis always listening to Big Bad Psycho Wolf huff and puff and threaten to blow our house down. When I was there in the moment he was the scariest monster I could ever dream up. I watched him paralyze grown men and women with fear. He took pleasure in the control he had over us. He commanded that we work 6 days a week during holidays with no extra compensation or days off in the future. He would send us on out of town trips with just a couple of hours notice. He watched when we came in each morning and blustered and spewed if we were one minute late. He eagle eyed us as we left each day and spit and fumed if we left one minute early. He loved to make women cry. He thought we were so weak and dumb. During the end of my sentence in this place he even grew to despise those who were not under 30 because apparently we could no longer think clearly or muster up enthusiasm.

During the last two years of my sentence there I watched great people belittled and fired for some silly reason and fumed at the injustice of it. Yet I still labored on, being loyal and true to this psycho wolf. I missed out on many family events because I was too busy bowing down to this ogre and doing his bidding. And then one day it was my turn to be dismissed without a second thought because my usefulness to them was at an end. I was given some flimsy excuse that really didn't ring true or make sense to me.

Little did I know that it would be the best thing to ever happen to me. So why is this the closing of a chapter in my life now when I was not so kindly asked to leave 2 1/2 years ago? Well, I left feeling that once again an injustice was done....to me!!!! I spoke to a very good friend of mine just a few days after my dismissal and she so wisely advised me to make a stand for justice. To let my voice be heard and stand up for what was right. I took her advice. I searched the city until I found the perfect attorney to represent me and I stood up to the Big Bad Psycho Wolf!

It has been a long 2 1/2 year battle with the Wolf Attorneys fighting us and postponing any attempt we made to seek justice. But, alas, last Wednesday I was able to sit before a judge and be heard. What is more important is that I was able to sit and watch while my attorney caught the Big Bad Psycho Wolf and two of his cronies, Liar Liar Pants on Fire Wild Dog and I Think I am so Wonderful Semi Wild Dog, in several lies and doctored documents meant to make me look bad. I enjoyed, sorry if it makes me a bad person, watching my attorney turn Big Bad Psycho Wolf into a sniveling, subserviant dingo. When he was taken out of his domain he wasn't nearly as powerful as I had remembered. It was a wonderful sight to see.

I now await the decision of the judge to know if my fight for justice will be accepted. The judge has thirty days to rule on this matter. I told my attorney that no matter the outcome I feel that I won on Wednesday. I learned, a little late in life, that nothing is more important than family. That no one should have so much power and command so much fear. That it really is okay to stand up for yourself. I purged so many bitter feelings, regret, and anger just by taking a stand.

I even started winning almost immediately after my dismissal. I became happier not serving a sentence to Wolf and friends. I was able to take in my three kids and give them a good home filled with love and encouragement (okay, sometimes a little disorder). I was able to start this wonderful venture to help bring the creative and performing arts to kids and adults. I am happy with myself and I am happy with life. That makes me the winner.

Go Justice!!!!! Yeah Liberty!!!!! WooHoo for those Founding Fathers who knew we would need it!!!!!!!

Tap Tap! Hooray!!!!!

2006-11-08T08:39:00.000-06:00

I attended my first tap dance class last night. Wow! Who knew remembering all the different combinations could be so tough on such an old bird as I? And no one told me anything about having to be able to balance.....Did you know that you have to hop and jump in tap? I thought you just popped those little metal taps on the floor to make wonderful rhythym. What a workout! Boy did I feel great after the class. I was able to do a shuffle, hop, shuffle without falling on my great big behind. I even put a few combinations together and actually got to dance in time to music. Of course I had to slow the stuff down a little. How in the world do people actually move so fast. What silly person would actually write music with a tempo that would make me have to move like there was fire under my feet? I mean, really, I watched all the Shirley Temple movies and I swear I don't recall her feet moving that fast. Whew! And if having to move my feet fast and hop around wasn't enough......at the end of the class my girls, Li Li and Ya Ya, came in to observe. Well, you can imagine how that was. Ya Ya had to comment on my moves and tell me how easy it was to do a shuffle,ball,change or whatever the heck that combination was. Should 9 year olds be able to do this? I almost had to go tap on her toes! Well here is hoping that a new and healthier me can emerge from all this tapping, shuffling, and hopping. And by newer I don't mean any more titanium plates in my body from broken limbs. I have enough already, thank you!

Kids.....seen but not heard?????

2006-11-06T20:52:00.000-06:00

Well don't kids say the darndest things? I wonder if we should allow them to speak sometimes because they reach a certain age (of course all three of mine are at that certain age!) where they seem to spout off smart aleck remarks at the drop of a hat. Where do they pick these things up? Surely not from their smarty mouth relatives (including me) or the television? I cannot believe their lovely little school mates would ever do such a thing!

However, if we only allowed them to be seen and not heard we would miss out on some of the funniest interactions that make us love them so much...right? We do love them so much????

Here are just a few of those interactions I have had lately:

Li Li (7 yr old) and I were going to an appointment one morning and we were talking and having a fun time. It is so rare that its just the two of us. Well, she decides she wants to watch a little TV as we are driving along. I warn her that the TV stations may not come in too clearly since we are moving through town. She flips through a few channels and then says, " Here's a sofa. I like those. I think I'll keep it on this channel." I have a pretty puzzled look on my face because I have no idea what she is talking about. I say, " A what?" and she replies, "A sofa. You know like Nana watches every day." "Oh", I say, " You mean a soap opera?". "Yeah", she says. I then ask her if she even likes soap operas. She replies, "Well, not really, but that's all Nana watches so I would rather have that on than nothing. It makes her happy.".

Boo Boo (2 yr old nephew) was in my room one morning as I was getting dressed. Now I haven't completely dressed yet so he walks up to me and pats my bare bottom with his hand and says, "Uggggghhhhh, Mimi!" Isn't that what everyone should start their day with? Then just when you want to ban him from your presence for life he says, "Hug, Mimi?" and "Kiss, Mimi?".

Li Li was playing with her dolls and dollhouse in my office one afternoon and she is speaking rather forcefully to her dolls. I get a little uncomfortable with the angry tone she is using so I ask her to be nice to her dolls. My sister, Dr. Mom, immediately tells me to let her express herself like this because it helps her work out her aggressions. She then tells me that I don't like hearing it because it is an echo of what I probably say to her and I'm feeling guilty. Li Li then pipes up with, "Actually, I'm saying things like you do Aunt Dr. Mom. That's not really how Mimi talks to us." Well, out of the mouths of babes and all that!!! You go Li Li.....she'll think twice before she offers me advice again.

I guess it all evens out at the end of the day, doesn't it? We love the kids and seconds later we want to stuff gags in their mouths. Do you think this is anything like freedom of speech? Surely we didn't do this to our Mothers.....

Rah Rah Ree! Kick 'Em In The Knee! Rah Rah Rass! Kick 'Em In The Other Knee!

2006-10-16T08:32:00.001-05:00

Can you believe that I spent some great, fun, alone time with Li Li (really my 7 yr old daughter) on Friday night watching "The Making of a Dallas Cheerleader"? Who knew you could have so much fun watching such a wierd show? Li Li loved it! She was doing some of the dance steps and the kicks (she needs just a little more flexibility) and having the time of her life. She offered very insightful critiques of the rookies that were trying out for the squad/team. I never knew reality TV could be so fun. I bet most moms spend time teaching their kids something practical like baking cooks, how to sew, proper diction and poise.......Not me! I rock! My kid is going to know how to do the famous Cowgirl kick!

Now on to more serious things. We did spend the weekend doing some other things. The girls had an art lesson Saturday morning and their drawing is coming together. Now if I can just get them to sketch once a day as their teacher asks I might be in business. Ya Ya went to a birthday party and loved it. The party thrower was an older girl....she just turned 10! B.B. (my 11 yr old son) just sat around and sulked most of the weekend. He was bored. He wasn't having any fun! On and On and On. He hates my ideas of fun things to do when you are bored. I love to escape into a great book. He thinks books are evil. The idea of anyone opening one up for pleasure just freaks him out. He was grounded from his x-box so the whole world sucked as far as he was concerned. I would really like to have about 5 minutes alone with the inventor of the x-box. It would not be pretty. Couldn't he have just kept that little invention to himself? Why, oh why did he have to go and market the thing? I mean really, was the multi million dollar profit really worth putting all moms through this?

My mother went to visit my brother on Saturday. He is serving a 10 year sentence for manufacturing meth. He just found out that he has hepatitus C about 2 years ago. He just started a treatment of interferon a couple of weeks ago and he is so sick right now. He says he freezes all the time and he feels like he has the flu all the time. The guards are trying to help him out a little by allowing him to lay on his bed most of the day. They have a rule that you cannot be under the covers during the day so the guards have given him some coats to cover up with. He is hoping that the chemo will help slow down the disease if it doesn't kill him first. I think this has got to be horrible for my mom because there is nothing she can do to help him right now. He has to go through 48 weeks of this and she worries that he will not be strong enough to fight through it.

Well I am off to strip adhesive from concrete floors in the studio today. Sounds like a lot of fun, doesn't it...... I will keep you all posted on my progress.

Working in a Crystal Mine

2006-10-13T18:07:00.000-05:00

I can't believe how long it has been since I have posted anything. I'll just quickly say that putting together our studio and recruiting for classes has taken up almost all of my time!

Today I went with Li Li (my 9 yr old) to the Crystal Mines. It was a field trip for her class. Actually it was a field trip for the entire 3rd grade class. I know, I know, who would go on a trip with thousands (okay maybe a couple of hundred) kids to a crystal mine on Friday the 13th????? Me. Why? Because I am crazy!!

We did have fun. However, I wonder why I accompanied Li Li to this little trip to observe her digging for crystals and I ended up digging, carrying the crystals, and trying to talk her into digging? When did these kids get so smart? How do they know how to sucker us into these things? The best part was getting home from the mines and watching Li Li pour out her bag of crystals for everyone to see what "she" dug up and found! It's okay. I enjoyed the trip. We haven't had any alone time in quite a while. We listened to her music on the way back and had loads of fun.

Here a Book, There a Book, Everywhere a Book, Book

2006-09-14T21:30:00.000-05:00

I spent the morning at the elementary school library helping out with Book Fair. This is the most wonderful event! We transformed the library into a wonderland of books and learning tools that each child and his family will be able to shop in next week. Oh the books we set up. I love books. I come from a family that loves books. If I weren't a human I would want to be a book! (At least a rare, treasured one) It was so fun working with the other moms that had volunteered. We spent the morning lifting heavy cartons of books and having an impromptu book club. We all talked about the pros and cons of books we had recently read. What a fun way to do service. Why can't all acts of service be this fun?
If I do nothing in life I hope that I can instill in my kids the love and joy of reading. Isn't it wonderful to be able to sit in a comfortable chair and travel all over the world in all sorts of decades? When I read I love to transport myself to all the neat places. I love inserting myself into their lives and feeling the emotions of the characters.
I was so happy working in the library that I forgot to be stressed over how much work there is to be done in the studio before we open up on Monday. Thankfully, a whole group of friends showed up this afternoon to move things along rather quickly. So.....does this mean that service begets service? Nah, things couldn't be that easy could they?

Why Do It Today When I Can Put It Off For Eternity?

2006-09-12T09:08:00.000-05:00

I must confess that I am more of a procrastinator than I want to be!!! I have been putting off blogging for so long it is pitiful. I do have about 101 really good excuses, though.

Okay...here goes. My very first blog. I have worried so much about what to write that I have almost paralyzed myself. All I know is what I live so that is what will fill these pages.

For the past 3 weeks my sister and I have been consumed with putting together our performing and creative arts studio. We were supposed to have our first classes today. I have finally come to my senses and realized that it would not be prudent to open the doors today. Oh, I have good, sound reasons. Here are just a few:

1. Would parents sue us if their kids had an allergy attack or asthma attack from all the sheetrock dust floating and coating everything?

2. What are the probabilities that one could actually break bones if they tripped over the rolls of carpet that block the entrances?

3. Can ballet shoes withstand a concrete floor with 10 years of carpet glue piled on it? Are floating wood floors really all that important?

4. Do we really need instructors for two of our most important dance classes? Couldn't I just put a video in and they could teach themselves?

5. Are leotards a must have if I have promised all the students that I would provide them for their classes? Couldn't they just wear restricting street clothes and pray they don't rip, shred, or tear on our 10 year old glue piled concrete dance floor?

6. Is music really necessary in a dance class? Couldn't we all just hum?

7. Should the owners/staff be completely sane when greeting the public and introducing our new business? Do you think parents would mind dropping their children off if I am passed out on the 10 year old glue piled concrete floor with exhaustion?

Okay, you can see I have been in denial for some time now. My nephew and brother in law have been trying to tell me that it was going to take one more week and I just kept insisting that it had to be today. I think I just didn't want these two clowns to be right and me to be wrong.

They are probably going to show some great little dance moves when they hear that I have conceded that they were right and I was wrong. I am so glad things like me being wrong only occur about once a century!

Well, I am off to continue taping, mudding and painting!!