Confessions Of A Grade School Mother

I managed to live through the first two days of school (for second grade)...although they weren't void of tears; and I will readily admit that yesterday I came home from the car pool line at 4pm and drank a Mike's Hard Lemonade...all by myself. I actually called a friend after I finished it because I worried that I was drinking alone, because you always hear that people who drink alone have "issues". And you know, that one small bottle might lead to me appearing on Oprah or Dr Phil 5 years from now on the "Desperate Housewives: I Couldn't Stand The Pressure Of The First Week Of School" episode. By the way, this "I'll get caught" paranoia would be why I didn't drink in high school or college...I was always afraid I would get caught...or worse, die; and then my legacy would be "she died at a desert wash party(where kids who live in the southwest go to party) from one sip of really cheap beer while the police raided the party and everyone got away except her"....but i digress.

Next week will be the first week of Kindergarten. Which brings me to my next story....I went to Target to get a few little things that are needed for my Kindergartener. My list included a Strawberry Shortcake lunch box and a towel for her "rest time" blanket. As I was shopping I began to think about how I have spent the last two week really being anxious about this whole 2 kids in school thing...for instance last Wednesday I was feeling a little sad....so I ate not one, but two, Snickers bars for lunch...and the ads are right, Snickers really do satisfy. I had never personally eaten 2 candy bars at once (although I have eaten half a bag of "mini" candy bars... and almost an entire 3lb bag of Peanut M&M's.. but those don't count) but I can't say I would never do it again...sometimes life requires chocolate. But anyway, we were shopping at the Target and I realized that there was this woman shopping with her daughter who was obviously shopping for her dorm and getting ready to start school at one of the local universities. It occurred to me that there are so many years ahead of me in my first week of school activities....13 more years of worry, and change, and for goodness sake Target expenditures! I was glad that I was buying a lunch box and a towel...this other mom was buying a small fridge, linens, plates, appliances and, I think, a kitchen sink. But it made me feel good that I was on this side of things...the time will help me to get my act together...who knows what i will be doing 11 years from now when I am shopping with my college kid? For goodness sake i better get a handle on this chocolate and "sauce" problem... 'cuz this is just the beginning.

So this weekend i am focusing on getting my second grader to go back to school next week, and making a plan for my first days alone as an official 'Mom of Grade-Schoolers'.

I better go get all the chocolate products out of my house.

I'm No David Letterman

TOP TEN THINGS I CAN DO NOW THAT BOTH CHILDREN ARE IN SCHOOL:

10. Clean the closet I have been meaning to get to for the last 8 years.

9. Loose that last 5 pounds of "baby fat".

8. Listen to music that doesn't have anything to do with Barney, Veggie Tales, or Wiggle's.

7. Go to the bathroom...alone.

6. Read the last 5 years of Good Housekeeping that is still wrapped in plastic.

5. Save $425.77 on the "food" budget...since I won't have to buy "kid-in-tow" extra's.

4. Work on that food budget.

3. Address and send the "We Have Moved" cards I ordered in March.

2. Stand outside the window of the kindergarten room until the principle tells me I might want to go home.

1. Chill out and know that the time will go quickly.

Don't Blink

It seems impossible that three mornings from now I will wake up two children, make two breakfasts, pack two lunches, and then, drop off TWO children at school...

My kiddos are very normal children...they are sweet and loving; they like to laugh and play; they talk incessantly and eat more food known to man;; they protect and defend each other and every once in awhile they have a sibling spat; but mostly they pretend to be Harry and Hermione, Spiderman and Super Woman, Han Solo and Chewbacca; and right now they are working on a backyard fort, made with fallen trees and "buried treasures" that they find in our yard; they get ludicrously silly and out of control... feeding on each other and making the silliness escalate to Out-of-Control proportions; causing the house to rock back and forth with there noise and movement. And, shockingly, they occasionally have bouts with a bad attitude and a tendency toward getting in trouble...

But....


They are fun...


And not only do I love them, I like them...


The "toddler" years go fast...don't blink.

I miss them already...

Come... Summer 2006.

Being sick

It has been a long time since I have been sick... really sick... I am talking lay in the bed, don't get up, children running around unsupervised 'cause you don't even care if they eat Poptarts for breakfast and lunch sick...

Since I have had children I can't remember being this sick...

But this is the REAL sign that I am not feeling well....yesterday I didn't even want coffee....now that's sick.

It's my Favorite Day!

Friday is my Fave Day...

When I was in high school and college there was a song that the radio guys played every Friday at6:30 am...

Friday, Friday, Friday is my favorite day!
Friday, Friday, Friday is my favorite day!

Monday is a bummer.
Tuesday's only fair.
Wednesday's getting better.
Thursdays almost there.
But, Friday, Friday,
Friday is my favorite,
Friday is my favorite,
Friday is my Favorite Day-ay-O!

Have a good weekend!

Hot!

Well, I seem to be having a case of "Blogger's Block"...so I am resorting to talk of the weather...

It's hot.

But I am a desert rat...so I don't mind the heat.

Summertime in the "Olden Days"

I was feeling a little bit bummed cuz our dog has a bad infestation of ticks (although she is on a monthly preventative) and it is just gross. At 8 a.m I ran out to Petsmart to buy every tick shampoo, collar and spray on the market . I was grumbling (just a little) in anticipation of the morning ahead....the bathing and cleaning and sweeping and vacuuming etc, etc.

After getting back home with several pesky-pet-products I started to give Kona a bath.
While sudsing her up The Boy came over and helped me a bit with the "rinse cycle"...I needed another set of hands to hold down this beast...she's not fond of baths. The Boy, gravitated toward the hose as we finished and before I knew it he and The Girl were playing in the hose, completely dressed, and having a blast.

The Boy often comes to us and asks us about "the Olden Days", and watching these two squeal and play in the water made me remember some fond summer memories.....for instance, my brothers and I grew up in a house that had a covered patio in the back. My brothers and I would spray it with the hose and it became super slippery. And although we had a pool, my brothers and I would spend hours slipping and sliding until our arms, knees and legs were all scraped up and bruised.

Also, in the "Olden Days", there were fun things like Bullet popsicles...not the new ones that are red, white and blue, but the real and original Bullet...the orange-on-the-outside-red-on-the-inside kind. And "back in the day" you couldn't find them in a store...your Dad had to drive you to the Circle K... and you had to dig deep in the pint-sized ice cream coolers for one. I haven't found them here, but when I went home to AZ in June I found a box at a grocery store and consumed them happily.

Thinking of all these happy summertime memories of the "Olden Years" (you'd think I was 80) made me less irritated with Kona for galavanting into the woods and catching ticks.

How about you? What are your fun summer memories from "The Olden Days"?

Happy Summer Moment

I am listening to James Taylor's greatest hits, making chocolate cupcakes (for a BBQ with friends tonight) drinking a diet Lime Coke, and it's Friday...La Vida Dulce.

Happy Weekend!

Smile!

I am showing my pearly whites today. Went to the dentist and got them all cleaned up and....drum roll please....no cavities!! For some of you "lucky-toothed" people this will seem incredibly silly...but for those of you who know me and my "dental woes" you know that this is a huge deal! I finally have the "issues", as the dentist would say, resolved, so just for fun I am going to go and get an old filling replaced in September....I thought going 6 months without Novocaine might be like quitting cold turkey so I made an appointment. It's a win-win situation, I get to replace an ugly old silver filling with a pretty new "tooth colored" one, and my dentist gets to take the whole month of August off for vacation to the Bahamas.

So today I might even say that today I have a bird on my finger, except I am feeling a bit like the Cheshire Cat...

I do have to say that I am starting to feel old...my Dental Hygienist was VERY young. She had just graduated this year and this was her first full time job, and she was getting married in September. When I told her I had been married for ten years she gave me that "holy cow" look and then gently tried to brush it off by saying "That's cool!". This happened last month when I got established with a new doc here in town. She was definitely my age or a bit younger...scary.

The only thing that makes me feel better is that my parents will be celebrating there 34 wedding anniversary tomorrow. Now that's old!!! (Hi Dad!)

;)

kla

No Birds Today

I should have known that today would be a bit of a bummer when I got up, got ready, got the kids dressed and presentable, and started loading up to go to the dentist, when I realized that my appointment was not today, but tomorrow.

So we had to reschedule what I had planned to do tomorrow and get it done today...

I had been putting off "tomorrow" just by the simple fact that it was to be a "Walmart" day. As most people I know (especially those with chirldren under 12), I have a love/hate relationship that goes with the dreaded Walmart visit. Quite frankly, I'd rather go to the dentist. But sometimes you can't beat the fact that even the Ramen is cheaper...

A friend here told me that there was a Super-Walmart that was not that far, and yet, it was in a different town..."Only about 20 minutes away"--a local phrase that I find myself muttering under my breath as I try to read my Mapsco and navigate down a foreign country road...How I long for the day when I can be driving back roads and short-cuts and actually get to where I am going.....but I digress.

This morning, after driving all over 3 different counties (and I am not kidding) the kids and I never found the Super-Walmart. We did however find a stretch of highway that would take us back to our county and some familiarity: Super-Target.

After taking two hours to get to Target (that is only about 20 minutes from our house), I get my list and begin shopping with two children who are complaining because they "never" get to look at the toys in Target...never, meaning not since last Monday.

Then I got home and the cellular phone issue that our "cellular phone guy" said would be taken care of last month, is not, and we received not one, but two, bills in the mail.

I had a friend in Fort Worth who, when her life was going completely as planned, or if something really awesome happened, she would say "It's like I am walking around with a bird on my finger!" (Think Mary Poppins).

There are no birds today.

Actually, I did buy ice cream this morning...things are starting to look better...

A Big, Blogging, Blueberry, Day

I have decided to blog....

Now perhaps I can post pictures and instead of everyone having to get emails every other day you can come to the blog when you need an update or a picture fix.

Today we picked blueberries at a blueberry farm nearby. The picture above is of the 10 pounds of Blueberries we picked...The kids (and I) had fun.

So this is the first, of hopefully, many happy blogging memories (note the bit of sarcasm)

By the way....I picked La Vida Dulce...translated: the sweet life....(it's also the name of one of my favorite coffees) becasue I liked it...it can be my tag line....kind of like the Mexican Martha Stewart....only NICER!

;)

kla