velo-dude. Last month it was the dinosaur cookies for Curly's birthday. This month it's the spaceship cake for the Cub Scout cake decorating contest. The boys designed it and decorated it once it was frosted, but hats off to velo-dude for taking the design and cutting the cake out in the perfect shape, and then frosting cut cake without making a huge crumby mess of it (which I would most certainly have done). Velo-dude has a much better story to tell of said cake making activity (if you don't care to hear about a bicycle training race, scroll down through the first part of this entry).
So, speaking of linking to the hubby's site, I have pretty much abandoned hope of anonymity with this blog, even though I'll continue to go through the motions. Velo-dude doesn't see any need for anonymity, and has mentioned me by name in his blog. I've told him not to do that, so he no longer does, but then he posts a picture with me in it. (head hits wall) Oh, but he did make the effort to start referring to me as something other than my real name. And the term of endearment he chose? "The wifely one". Huh? I can't put my finger on it, but I don't like it. Maybe it sounds matronly to me.
Finally, here's the only good thing about having a fever earlier this week (well, other than missing a day of work, but since I spent it in bed, it wasn't all that great). One of my many fever-induced dreams involved me shooting a movie with Sean Connery. I was just my plain old self, but had happened to land a gig as his co-star in an action flick (ok peeps, quit yer laffin now!). What I remember of the dream was very brief, but I had the fever in my dream, while shooting the movie as well, and at one point he had to grab me in a scene, and do you know what he said? (think of your best Sean Connery impression here...) "You're hot". And he was referring to my fever. Of course. Although it took me a moment to figure that out. I woke up right after that happened, and as crappy as I felt, I smiled at the cornball humor of my dream.
Thursday, March 26, 2009
Monday, March 16, 2009
FB, I guess I do like you
Yes, that's Facebook I'm talking to. In the past week I have reconnected with a cousin that I have not kept in touch with for years, ditto for a fave friend from high school, and then today I got something from a childhood friend I knew while living across the country, and haven't kept in touch with for ages!
Yes, there are people that contact me that I really don't have much to say to, but some of these unexpected little gems are really nice!
Yes, there are people that contact me that I really don't have much to say to, but some of these unexpected little gems are really nice!
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
Pinky Drops the F-bomb
Yes, that’s right, my nine year old. Not feeling like a great parent right now. Here’s the story (warning--long post ahead--I was never very good at editing)
Yesterday, I picked up the boys from After School Care, and Pinky hesitantly said it was not a good day for him. He sounded frustrated, some run-in with a 3rd grader in after care. He didn’t really want to get into it, but the teachers didn’t know about it so I dropped it for later. He has a project he is working on at home right now, a “book publishing”. They worked on writing a book about themselves at school, typing in the text on the computer, then the artwork for each page is to be done at home. Then it gets sent to a company that “publishes” it, so it looks like a real book. Cool idea. We are a little behind, it’s due Thursday so after dinner I was pushing him to get a few pictures done. He messed up a letter on the cover page, in crayon, and it’s special paper of which he does not have extra, so this was frustrating for him. I tried to help give him ideas for fixing it, but he started to shut down on me. Velo-dude, the more artistic of the two of us, stepped in with some suggestions, but he got even more frustrated. I told him to go up to his room and calm down (I didn’t want him doing permanent damage to the cover page with a temper tantrum) before working on it again. Meanwhile, I noticed that my iPod was on, and was playing a Reel Big Fish song that was repeating the phrase “I don’t f*cking care, I don’t f*ucking care, I don’t f*ucking care, I don’t f*cking care”. I wanted to run over and shut it off, but I chose instead to try to address Pinky and his problem. Velo-dude was in the kitchen as well, and as I sent Pinky upstairs he ran in and changed the song (Bad Parenting Exhibit 1--I have a few third wave ska bands on my iPod, it’s a sound I’ve always liked, and Reel Big Fish even has a parental warning, but I usually don’t play it for the family. But, I kind of forgot about that particular song). Anyway, Pinky came down a few minutes later and apologized to velo-dude for getting frustrated when he was trying to help. Velo-dude resumed help-mode but Pinky immediately got frustrated all over again. Velo-dude said “fine, I’m done” and walked away (I had already done pretty much the same thing, the first time around). Pinky was getting all worked up again, so I again told him he needed to go to his room to cool down. He blew a gasket, left the dining room and out of my eyesight, then reappeared on his way upstairs, stomping, red in the face, hands pulling on his hair, and yelled at the top of his lungs “I AM SO F*CKING FRUSTRATED!!!!”, stomped up the stairs and slammed the door. Velo-dude and I looked at each other with mouths dropped, then did what any sane, rational, and responsible parent would do…laugh. Quietly, of course, so he wouldn’t hear, but laughed pretty hard (that was Bad Parenting Exhibit 2). Don’t get me wrong, I do NOT think a 4th grader using the f-bomb is good stuff, but part of it was shock, part of it knowing that I was at fault for letting the song play, part of it thinking about how good/bad that must have made him feel to be so daring to say that. This kid is a pleaser, and NEVER gets in trouble at school. Very uncharacteristic of him. In fact, I have another song on my iPod that repeats the phrase “g*d d*mn”, and if it accidentally comes on in a shuffle, Pinky will come running from any room in the house, change the song, and say “that was the bad word song, Mom” (was that Bad Parenting Exhibit 3, or can I include that with Exhibit 1?).
Back to the action…I went up and talked to him after a cool-down period. He finally said that he was very worried about the Kansas Assessment Test the next day at school. His teacher had made a very big deal about it, told the kids how important it was to the district that they do their best, etc. Stupid flippin’ standardized tests! I hate them, and the fact that school district funding is tied to them! I know, I understand the pros and cons, at least to a point, but I don’t like it and I never have. And I realize that the state of Kansas is in a major budget crisis, so this year feels even more important. But give me a break, they are 4th graders! I really like his teacher this year, but, to quote a fine young man I know, “I am so f*cking frustrated” with her right now for laying this on so thick.
In the end, Pinky did not get a punishment. But he does realize that if I hear that word come out of his mouth again, there will be punishment, and it will be severe. No punishment because I don’t think it will happen again any time soon. How often does the Perfect Storm brew? This was it… the Assessment Test stress, the finality of messing up on the cover of your first published book, and the f*cking song burning in your ears during all of that stress. I feel bad for the kid. I know it’s possible that he will become a habitual 4th-grade-f-bomb-dropper and I will have to eat my words, but I really don’t think so.
Oh and by the way, once the storm blew over, we were able to salvage the cover of his book and it’s going to look just fine.
P.S. Do you remember the first time you cursed, and meant it? I think I was in the 4th grade also. Very dissatisfying it was, all I could manage to blurt out was "b*tch", and that was to a boy who had knocked me down on the playground. What can I say, I choked, but I've improved over the years. First time I cursed in front of a parent? Quite honestly, I think it was less than a year ago, it slipped out, and my dad was so surprised, HE laughed. Yep, I was the pleaser in my family.
Yesterday, I picked up the boys from After School Care, and Pinky hesitantly said it was not a good day for him. He sounded frustrated, some run-in with a 3rd grader in after care. He didn’t really want to get into it, but the teachers didn’t know about it so I dropped it for later. He has a project he is working on at home right now, a “book publishing”. They worked on writing a book about themselves at school, typing in the text on the computer, then the artwork for each page is to be done at home. Then it gets sent to a company that “publishes” it, so it looks like a real book. Cool idea. We are a little behind, it’s due Thursday so after dinner I was pushing him to get a few pictures done. He messed up a letter on the cover page, in crayon, and it’s special paper of which he does not have extra, so this was frustrating for him. I tried to help give him ideas for fixing it, but he started to shut down on me. Velo-dude, the more artistic of the two of us, stepped in with some suggestions, but he got even more frustrated. I told him to go up to his room and calm down (I didn’t want him doing permanent damage to the cover page with a temper tantrum) before working on it again. Meanwhile, I noticed that my iPod was on, and was playing a Reel Big Fish song that was repeating the phrase “I don’t f*cking care, I don’t f*ucking care, I don’t f*ucking care, I don’t f*cking care”. I wanted to run over and shut it off, but I chose instead to try to address Pinky and his problem. Velo-dude was in the kitchen as well, and as I sent Pinky upstairs he ran in and changed the song (Bad Parenting Exhibit 1--I have a few third wave ska bands on my iPod, it’s a sound I’ve always liked, and Reel Big Fish even has a parental warning, but I usually don’t play it for the family. But, I kind of forgot about that particular song). Anyway, Pinky came down a few minutes later and apologized to velo-dude for getting frustrated when he was trying to help. Velo-dude resumed help-mode but Pinky immediately got frustrated all over again. Velo-dude said “fine, I’m done” and walked away (I had already done pretty much the same thing, the first time around). Pinky was getting all worked up again, so I again told him he needed to go to his room to cool down. He blew a gasket, left the dining room and out of my eyesight, then reappeared on his way upstairs, stomping, red in the face, hands pulling on his hair, and yelled at the top of his lungs “I AM SO F*CKING FRUSTRATED!!!!”, stomped up the stairs and slammed the door. Velo-dude and I looked at each other with mouths dropped, then did what any sane, rational, and responsible parent would do…laugh. Quietly, of course, so he wouldn’t hear, but laughed pretty hard (that was Bad Parenting Exhibit 2). Don’t get me wrong, I do NOT think a 4th grader using the f-bomb is good stuff, but part of it was shock, part of it knowing that I was at fault for letting the song play, part of it thinking about how good/bad that must have made him feel to be so daring to say that. This kid is a pleaser, and NEVER gets in trouble at school. Very uncharacteristic of him. In fact, I have another song on my iPod that repeats the phrase “g*d d*mn”, and if it accidentally comes on in a shuffle, Pinky will come running from any room in the house, change the song, and say “that was the bad word song, Mom” (was that Bad Parenting Exhibit 3, or can I include that with Exhibit 1?).
Back to the action…I went up and talked to him after a cool-down period. He finally said that he was very worried about the Kansas Assessment Test the next day at school. His teacher had made a very big deal about it, told the kids how important it was to the district that they do their best, etc. Stupid flippin’ standardized tests! I hate them, and the fact that school district funding is tied to them! I know, I understand the pros and cons, at least to a point, but I don’t like it and I never have. And I realize that the state of Kansas is in a major budget crisis, so this year feels even more important. But give me a break, they are 4th graders! I really like his teacher this year, but, to quote a fine young man I know, “I am so f*cking frustrated” with her right now for laying this on so thick.
In the end, Pinky did not get a punishment. But he does realize that if I hear that word come out of his mouth again, there will be punishment, and it will be severe. No punishment because I don’t think it will happen again any time soon. How often does the Perfect Storm brew? This was it… the Assessment Test stress, the finality of messing up on the cover of your first published book, and the f*cking song burning in your ears during all of that stress. I feel bad for the kid. I know it’s possible that he will become a habitual 4th-grade-f-bomb-dropper and I will have to eat my words, but I really don’t think so.
Oh and by the way, once the storm blew over, we were able to salvage the cover of his book and it’s going to look just fine.
P.S. Do you remember the first time you cursed, and meant it? I think I was in the 4th grade also. Very dissatisfying it was, all I could manage to blurt out was "b*tch", and that was to a boy who had knocked me down on the playground. What can I say, I choked, but I've improved over the years. First time I cursed in front of a parent? Quite honestly, I think it was less than a year ago, it slipped out, and my dad was so surprised, HE laughed. Yep, I was the pleaser in my family.
Sunday, March 8, 2009
Bad hostess?
Last night we had two houseguests. I'd never met either of them before, but I was happy to let them stay. In town for a bike race, as most of my houseguests are. Velo-dude knows the guy, I think they ride for the same team. All I knew about them was it was a guy from his team, and his girlfriend. College age. I didn't analyze the situation. They arrived a little before dinner time and I had made a lasagna. They were sweet, rather shy and quiet at first as we did intros and some chitchat. I showed them the guest room, they cleaned up etc. Then while the lasagna was still baking I decided I needed a quick shower (still had the smell of the pancake breakfast lingering on me from early in the day, yuk). While in the shower, I suddenly panicked. I hadn't questioned whether they would want to share a room, I simply assumed they would. I didn't even know how long they had been together. Yikes, what if I had thrown them into an awkward situation? Once done I called velo-dude to the kitchen to quietly ask what he thought. His response? Well, you could either ask them point blank if they sleep together, or you could just throw them into a den of iniquity and hope they don't mind, or ... but basically he was saying "YOU could", as in, HE wanted nothing to do with any conversation I might have with them about it.
Well, once we sat to dinner I gave them the twenty questions about where they were from, what they were studying, when they would graduate, HOW LONG HAVE YOU TWO BEEN TOGETHER, etc. (slipped it in all subtle-like, of course), and they said about a year. Good enough for me, so I dropped it. I was too squeamish to ask if they preferred one room or two (two would have been fine, Pinky's sheets were clean and he slept in the top bunk in Curly's room anyway, like he often does on weekends). Squeamish as in, I hate awkward moments. So better that they have an awkward moment (or night) between the two of them, than I have an awkward moment asking, right? Bad hostess? Yep.
Well, hopefully it was all okay for them. It could have worked both ways I guess. They could have been wondering whether we would LET them sleep in the same room together, since we are (gulp) old enough to be their parents. OMG, that just made me feel a little queasy. Should I have not LET them? Holy crap, this is way too complicated.
I still remember a little trip Velo-dude and I took long ago (bike race, of course). We met up with a friend of ours whose parents lived in that town, and being on a college budget, decided to stay with his family to save on hotel. The mom showed us the guestroom and I was thinking to myself "wow, she is really going to let us sleep in the same room!". I pulled our friend aside afterward and asked if this was really okay, or if it was uncomfortable for his parents. He looked at me like I was crazy, then said "Um, mathgeek, I'm pretty sure I was at your wedding two weeks ago. I think they're okay with it". Yep, I had forgotten we were actually married.
Finally, thank goodness for the college students being here. Because velo-dude and I pulled one of our stupidest moves ever. Set the clocks back, one by one, before going to bed (everyone else had already gone upstairs). This morning we all get up, eat breakfast, chat, drink coffee, etc. Eventually they say they need to get going to the races, and comment that it's already 9:40. Well, I try to correct them that it is really 7:40, since time changed last night. I get the "are you crazy?" look (I get that a lot), although a little more polite since they barely know me, and they are my guests, and I'm old enough to be their parents, etc. I pause to think, recite "spring forward fall behind" out loud, think again, and realize that yes indeedy, it is 9:40. My, how time flies when you're clueless.
Well, once we sat to dinner I gave them the twenty questions about where they were from, what they were studying, when they would graduate, HOW LONG HAVE YOU TWO BEEN TOGETHER, etc. (slipped it in all subtle-like, of course), and they said about a year. Good enough for me, so I dropped it. I was too squeamish to ask if they preferred one room or two (two would have been fine, Pinky's sheets were clean and he slept in the top bunk in Curly's room anyway, like he often does on weekends). Squeamish as in, I hate awkward moments. So better that they have an awkward moment (or night) between the two of them, than I have an awkward moment asking, right? Bad hostess? Yep.
Well, hopefully it was all okay for them. It could have worked both ways I guess. They could have been wondering whether we would LET them sleep in the same room together, since we are (gulp) old enough to be their parents. OMG, that just made me feel a little queasy. Should I have not LET them? Holy crap, this is way too complicated.
I still remember a little trip Velo-dude and I took long ago (bike race, of course). We met up with a friend of ours whose parents lived in that town, and being on a college budget, decided to stay with his family to save on hotel. The mom showed us the guestroom and I was thinking to myself "wow, she is really going to let us sleep in the same room!". I pulled our friend aside afterward and asked if this was really okay, or if it was uncomfortable for his parents. He looked at me like I was crazy, then said "Um, mathgeek, I'm pretty sure I was at your wedding two weeks ago. I think they're okay with it". Yep, I had forgotten we were actually married.
Finally, thank goodness for the college students being here. Because velo-dude and I pulled one of our stupidest moves ever. Set the clocks back, one by one, before going to bed (everyone else had already gone upstairs). This morning we all get up, eat breakfast, chat, drink coffee, etc. Eventually they say they need to get going to the races, and comment that it's already 9:40. Well, I try to correct them that it is really 7:40, since time changed last night. I get the "are you crazy?" look (I get that a lot), although a little more polite since they barely know me, and they are my guests, and I'm old enough to be their parents, etc. I pause to think, recite "spring forward fall behind" out loud, think again, and realize that yes indeedy, it is 9:40. My, how time flies when you're clueless.
Sunday, March 1, 2009
Bits
No big news in my life right now, just some bits and pieces...
1) Wii Fit and I are still bff's. I am doing it pretty regularly (I've skipped 4 days in a row a couple of times and got scolded). I know it is not the key to truly getting fit, but it is motivating me to do more than sit on the couch right now, so it's good. Two lbs. down, a gazillion to go.
2) Scoutsuck continues. Must find a way to step down from one of my responsibilities with the Pack.
3) Still liking my new job. I have come home pretty grouchy on several occasions, but I know why and I think it will continue to get better. While I was miserable with my old job, I knew what I knew, knew what I didn't know, and just plodded along getting the job done as best I could*. I felt like I was doing a good job, for the situation I was in, with virtually no guidance or mentorship. With the new job, I frequently run into things I just don't get, and it makes me feel stupid. I'm not used to that feeling, at least not at work. Frustrating, but I am catching on and in a few months I am sure I will feel much more comfortable with it. I have a strong need to believe I am adding value, and I'm not there yet.
* Is it my imagination, or has this phrase changed recently, from "as best I could" to "as best as I could"? I seem to be hearing the latter frequently, and I really could swear that it did not used to be that way. Should that second "as" really be there? I don't think so, but I could be wrong. Really, help me out folks, cuz it's one of the little things that drive me crazy (and I know my readers, all 3 of you, are wordsmiths).
4) Pinky and Curly are winding down a month of indoor swim lessons. Pinky? No worries, he likes to swim and is learning flip turns, although there is some other term for them that I was not familiar with and which escapes me at the moment. Curly? Ahh, Curly. Have you ever had a kid get kicked out of swim class? We almost did. Even got a call from the pool manager one day. However, we took him swimming the weekend after "the incident" (Curly being pulled screaming and kicking from the pool by Velo-dude, during class), and after lots of coaxing, cajoling, whining, balking, etc on all of our parts, I simply said, "okay, I'm going to the whirlpool. If you try the float you can come with me". He did it, no problem. Then he grabbed a kickboard and started using it properly, head in blow bubbles, head out breathe, kicking all the while. WTF? The kid knows how to do it all, he just refuses to do it unless he's darn good and ready. He does have a pretty hefty fear, but he knows what to do. So, last week went better. Took him today and he was having an off day again. We'll see if he makes it through his last 2 classes this week. Not passes the class, mind you. We already know that won't happen. But makes it through without another incident? THAT will be a success.
5) To my 2-3 readers...some bumpy times going on there. I hope things get better for all of you, soon. Rowan? Please tell me things are better than last week. If they are not, might have to jump in my car and come see what I can do to help. Really. I will. Laggin? We need to do lunch, or an evening with adult refreshments. Dibs/Moving Mom? I'm checking daily for updates on your site. Yikeys, I know my turn will come with the heavy stuff, but for now all I can do is let you all know I'm here if you need me!
6) I still have no time for Facebook.
1) Wii Fit and I are still bff's. I am doing it pretty regularly (I've skipped 4 days in a row a couple of times and got scolded). I know it is not the key to truly getting fit, but it is motivating me to do more than sit on the couch right now, so it's good. Two lbs. down, a gazillion to go.
2) Scoutsuck continues. Must find a way to step down from one of my responsibilities with the Pack.
3) Still liking my new job. I have come home pretty grouchy on several occasions, but I know why and I think it will continue to get better. While I was miserable with my old job, I knew what I knew, knew what I didn't know, and just plodded along getting the job done as best I could*. I felt like I was doing a good job, for the situation I was in, with virtually no guidance or mentorship. With the new job, I frequently run into things I just don't get, and it makes me feel stupid. I'm not used to that feeling, at least not at work. Frustrating, but I am catching on and in a few months I am sure I will feel much more comfortable with it. I have a strong need to believe I am adding value, and I'm not there yet.
* Is it my imagination, or has this phrase changed recently, from "as best I could" to "as best as I could"? I seem to be hearing the latter frequently, and I really could swear that it did not used to be that way. Should that second "as" really be there? I don't think so, but I could be wrong. Really, help me out folks, cuz it's one of the little things that drive me crazy (and I know my readers, all 3 of you, are wordsmiths).
4) Pinky and Curly are winding down a month of indoor swim lessons. Pinky? No worries, he likes to swim and is learning flip turns, although there is some other term for them that I was not familiar with and which escapes me at the moment. Curly? Ahh, Curly. Have you ever had a kid get kicked out of swim class? We almost did. Even got a call from the pool manager one day. However, we took him swimming the weekend after "the incident" (Curly being pulled screaming and kicking from the pool by Velo-dude, during class), and after lots of coaxing, cajoling, whining, balking, etc on all of our parts, I simply said, "okay, I'm going to the whirlpool. If you try the float you can come with me". He did it, no problem. Then he grabbed a kickboard and started using it properly, head in blow bubbles, head out breathe, kicking all the while. WTF? The kid knows how to do it all, he just refuses to do it unless he's darn good and ready. He does have a pretty hefty fear, but he knows what to do. So, last week went better. Took him today and he was having an off day again. We'll see if he makes it through his last 2 classes this week. Not passes the class, mind you. We already know that won't happen. But makes it through without another incident? THAT will be a success.
5) To my 2-3 readers...some bumpy times going on there. I hope things get better for all of you, soon. Rowan? Please tell me things are better than last week. If they are not, might have to jump in my car and come see what I can do to help. Really. I will. Laggin? We need to do lunch, or an evening with adult refreshments. Dibs/Moving Mom? I'm checking daily for updates on your site. Yikeys, I know my turn will come with the heavy stuff, but for now all I can do is let you all know I'm here if you need me!
6) I still have no time for Facebook.
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