To Believe Or Not To Believe

OK, I have a question. What do you do when you are a single working mother, your kid MAY be sick and need to be picked but you aren't sure? The DQ called me at work today and told me she wasn't feeling well. This is an issue for two reasons. One. It takes 30 minutes to get to her school from where I work. Then thirty minutes back to the office. Two. We have auditors in this week so it is a REALLY bad time for me to be out of work.

Sissy has exams this week, and is getting out of school early all this week. For today, I picked up The DQ and dropped her off at home and went back to work. I don't mean to sound insensitive but it does seem pretty strange that she doesn't feel well when she knows her sister is home early from school. She is not running a fever, nor is she vomiting. She says she just feels nauseous. Of course, if I ate a whole can of Progresso chicken noodle soup followed by a piece of cheesecake, and some chocolate, I would feel sick too.

See my dilemma. If she REALLY does feel bad, then I am a horrible mother for worrying about what is going on at work, and the gas I am wasting driving back and forth across three towns. Now, if she is faking, I am VERY upset that I drove through three towns, missed some important work time, and wasted gas.

Let's face it. At one point or another most kids fake being sick to get out of school. We as parents are required to possess the skills and knowledge to know the difference. Apparently I missed that parenting gene. Not only that, but after being a mother for sixteen years now, illness does not really phase me. I know the difference between a stomach virus, colds, strep throat and all that fun stuff. OK, the kid feels nauseous. Every time I think about how high my insurance is getting ready to skyrocket, I feel nauseous too. Big deal. I think the giveaway here is the fact that while The DQ was whining and moaning about feeling bad, she did consume the above mentioned items.

I am glad we talked about this. The final answer is that unless she produces a fever or actual vomiting before morning......she will be going to school!

Happy Birthday(A Few Days Early) Sissy!

Now that I finished the absolute last of my school work for this semester, I can get on with the really important things. Like updating my blog. (Snicker) Yesterday was Sissy's sweet 16 party. We a fun day planned of bon fires, hay rides, and a marshmallow fight. (I'll explain later). We started off running behind a little bit. What do you expect when you have four females who have to get ready to go. It took about two hours for all of us to get ready to go.

First on our agenda was to pick up the cake.















Yes, she really wanted a Winnie The Pooh cake. We also had to pick up a few other items for the party. I dropped Sissy off at my dad's house, then went out for some last minute birthday surprises. Ok, Ok, I didn't even have the cash to go in her card. I had to run by the bank and withdraw the money. One of my favorite department stores is RIGHT ACROSS THE STREET from my bank. I simply HAD to go over there and see if I could find something special for Sissy.

I found a beautiful ring for her, which I just realized I do not have a picture of. Oh well. We knew the weather forecast was calling for rain, but we hoped it would hold off until after the party. No such luck. My dad had no more than started the bon fire and it started raining. To his credit, he lit that fire and that sucker burned all evening long.

I believe I mentioned a hay ride earlier. Alas, no such luck there either. It was just too wet. We also planned on cooking hot dogs over the fire. We did have hot dogs, and there was a fire but it was too rainy to cook outside.

I also planned on having a big red bow for Sissy's car. Not only could we not find one, even if we had....it was too rainy.

So let's recount all the things that were supposed to happen:

1. Hay ride-nope
2. Cook hotdogs outside-nope
3. Big bow for the car-nope

The children did get have the marshmallow fight, but they had it in the rain. My sister Marlette and her husband bought PVC pipe. They cut it into sections. Then you put your marshmallow in one end of the pipe and blow it out the other. It stings. Really. I tried to play but all my marshmallows wimpily fell to the ground without hitting anyone.(yes I know that wimpily is not a word) Not even the smallest child there. Who I tried to hit. After a few minutes of this I gave up and went in the house.

We ended up cooking our hotdogs in the microwave, putting a movie on for the kids in the living room, and making the best out of it. Alicia wasn't feeling well, Dejah was in a bad mood, Marlette was in a bad mood. I will say that once everyone arrived they were able to put aside the frustrations of the day and enjoy the party.


































































































































I tried to post pictures of everyone. However, there are only 24 hours in one day. I have posted all the pictures I have the patience to post tonight. This is the down side to having such a large family. It takes forever to try to include everyone. I told Sissy I hope I didn't hurt anyone's feelings. She said and I quote, "I would put the pictures on there that you want, if anyone wants their picture on there, they can make their own blog".

Family members: I have uploaded all the photos to Walgreens.com if you would like to see more pictures or order prints. Contact me for username and password information.

In summary, Sissy had a wonderful birthday, despite the weather. All the people that love her the most were there. It meant so much to both of us for everyone to show up, in light of the fact that the day got off to such a rough start for everyone. That's one thing about coming from a poor family, you learn to improvise. Most of my smart mouth comments about the weather are in jest and I am not truly upset about it......at least not today.

Happy Birthday Sissy, I love you.

Compliments of My Brother Ben Via Email

A 1st grade school teacher had twenty-six students in her class. She presented each child in her classroom the 1st half of a well-known proverb and asked them to come up with the remainder of the proverb. It's hard to believe these were actually done by first graders. Their insight may surprise you. While reading, keep in mind that these are first-graders, 6-year-olds, because the last one is a classic!

1.	Don't change horses	until they stop running.
2.	Strike while the	bug is close.
3.	It's always darkest before	Daylight Saving Time.
4.	Never underestimate the power of	termites.
5.	You can lead a horse to water but	How?
6.	Don't bite the hand that	looks dirty.
7.	No news is	impossible
8.	A miss is as good as a	Mr.
9.	You can't teach an old dog new	Math
10.	If you lie down with dogs, you'll	stink in the morning.
11.	Love all, trust	Me.
12.	The pen is mightier than the	pigs.
13.	An idle mind is	the best way to relax.
14.	Where there's smoke there's	pollution.
15.	Happy the bride who	gets all the presents.
16.	A penny saved is	not much.
17.	Two's company, three's	the Musketeers.
18.	Don't put off till tomorrow what	you put on to go to bed.
19.	Laugh and the whole world laughs with you, cry and	You have to blow your nose.
20.	There are none so blind as	Stevie Wonder.
21.	Children should be seen and not	spanked or grounded.
22.	If at first you don't succeed	get new batteries.
23.	You get out of something only what you	See in the picture on the box
24.	When the blind lead the blind	get out of the way.
25.	A bird in the hand	is going to poop on you.

And the WINNER and last one!

26.

Better late than

Pregnant

Love

What Love means to a 4-8 year old . . . Slow down for three minutes to read this. It is so worth it. Touching words from the mouth of babes. A group of professional people posed this question to a group of 4 to 8 year-olds, "What does love mean?" The answers they got were broader and deeper than anyone could have imagined. See what you think: "When my grandmother got arthritis, she couldn't bend over and paint her toenails anymore. So my grandfather does it for her all the time, even when his hands got arthritis too. That's love." Rebecca- age 8 "When someone loves you, the way they say your name is different. You just know that your name is safe in their mouth." Billy - age 4 "Love is when a girl puts on perfume and a boy puts on shaving cologne and they go out and smell each other." Karl - age 5 "Love is when you go out to eat and give somebody most of your French fries without making them give you any of theirs." Chrissy - age 6 "Love is what makes you smile when you're tired." Terri - age 4 "Love is when my mommy makes coffee for my daddy and she takes a sip before giving it to him, to make sure the taste is OK." Danny - age 7 "Love is when you kiss all the time. Then when you get tired of kissing, you still want to be together and you talk more. My Mommy and Daddy are like that. They look gross when they kiss" Emily - age 8 "Love is what's in the room with you at Christmas if you stop opening presents and listen." Bobby - age 7 (Wow!) "If you want to learn to love better, you should start with a friend who you hate," Nikka - age 6 (we need a few million more Nikka's on this planet) "Love is when you tell a guy you like his shirt, then he wears it everyday." Noelle - age 7 "Love is like a little old woman and a little old man who are still friends even after they know each other so well." Tommy - age 6 "During my piano recital, I was on a stage and I was scared. I looked at all the people watching me and saw my daddy waving and smiling. He was the only one doing that. I wasn't scared anymore." Cindy - age 8 "My mommy loves me more than anybody You don't see anyone else kissing me to sleep at night." Clare - age 6 "Love is when Mommy gives Daddy the best piece of chicken." Elaine-age 5 "Love is when Mommy sees Daddy smelly and sweaty and still says he is handsomer than Robert Redford." Chris - age 7 "Love is when your puppy licks your face even after you left him alone all day." Mary Ann - age 4 "I know my older sister loves me because she gives me all her old clothes and has to go out and buy new ones." Lauren - age 4 "When you love somebody, your eyelashes go up and down and little stars come out of you." (what an image) Karen - age 7 "Love is when Mommy sees Daddy on the toilet and she doesn't think it's gross." Mark - age 6 "You really shouldn't say 'I love you' unless you mean it. But if you mean it, you should say it a lot. People forget." Jessica - age 8 And the final one -- Author and lecturer Leo Buscaglia once talked about a contest he was asked to judge. The purpose of the contest was to find the most caring child. The winner was a four year old child whose next door neighbor was an elderly gentleman who had recently lost his wife. Upon seeing the man cry, the little boy went into the old gentleman's yard, climbed onto his lap, and just sat there. When his Mother asked what he had said to the neighbor, the little boy said, "Nothing, I just helped him cry"

Tears and Lessons Learned

My sanity is in question. For the most part, I like to feel as though I have a pretty good handle on my emotions. Most of the time. As my last blog indicated, I have been feeling somewhat emotional. Actually, I had been feeling sappy. Not depressed, just extra mushy. I have moved forward to the next level, which means emotional breakdowns.

Maybe it's because I just finished a stressful semester at school. Maybe it's the stress of the holidays and Sissy's birthday being in the same week. Sissy turns 16 on Dec. 19th. Her party is tomorrow. Those who read my blog regularly will know that I bought her car a few months ago. I did it then because I got a great deal on the car, and I had the money. I KNEW I would not have the money later-which is now. I digress.

Maybe it's because my daughter is beginning her journey to womanhood, and soon she will be all grown up. Maybe it's because my insurance is getting ready to skyrocket and I will never have any money again.

Whatever the problem is, this morning I was talking on the phone to my sister while Sissy and I were on our way to an appointment. I was telling her how a couple of things that I planned for Sissy's party had fallen through. With no prior warning, I started boo-hooing. Anyone who knows me, knows that I DO NOT have breakdowns. In fact, I very seldom cry. Over anything. I attributed my sappiness to Christmas time cheer. What do I attribute emotional breakdowns to? Do I have some kind of hormonal imbalance. Am I losing my already lost marbles?

Whatever it is, I really am not impressed. Now is not the time for me to fall apart. It's what?....nine days until Christmas. Most of the shopping is done. The presents are wrapped and under the tree. The kids are excited. Our home is full of holiday cheer. We are clothed, warm, and fed. What do I have to be sad about? Nothing I tell you. That's why I am convinced I am about to lose it or something. I may have to consider medication.

The Final Frontier

Wednesday night was my last night of on campus class. The DQ and I baked some cookies and I took them to class. Does anyone remember this blog? It's about a very rude and obnoxious woman I had class with this semester. She made a big stink about someone bringing their little girl to class. Anyway, I really had a hard time dealing with this woman. She really rubbed me the wrong way.

For some reason she took a liking to me. Don't ask me why. I was never really overtly nice to her. A couple of times I said some pretty straightforward things to her. So she actually surprised me as the semester progressed. I sensed that she did try not to be so obnoxious. I felt that she really was trying to be nicer. She even cooked and brought some food to class on Wednesday night. I was very surprised. Shocked even. Sometimes it's really easy to judge other people by what they say and how they act. Maybe this woman has things going on in her life that I don't know anything about. Maybe she is not such a bad person. Maybe she is not a Mrs. Grinch. Could it be that she is misunderstood?

I know there have been times in my life when people thought I was a complete and total B. I went through a period where I had a lot of things going on, I was mad at the world for my broken heart. I wouldn't let anyone in. So maybe if I wasn't such a bad person, this woman is not such a bad person. Everybody deserves a break once in a while.

Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star

I have been on a hunt. I have been hunting for a tree topper since the Christmas tree went up. I don’t know what happened to the star from last year. It disappeared, along with my “special” ornament. As far as I can tell, those are the only two things missing from last year. I guess there could be some other stuff missing and I just don’t remember it.

I have searched far and wide (Wal-Mart and various other department stores) and have been unable to find a suitable replacement. My friends I have to tell you, I have seen some of the ugliest stars this year. I just don’t understand why it is hard to design an attractive star. The ones I saw that weren’t ugly, had clear/white lights. I am not opposed to clear lights, but they don’t match my tree.

My tree has multicolored lights, and I want my star to have multicolored lights as well. Is that too much to ask? I think not. Is it too much to ask that the star not be hideously ugly? I think not.

Until yesterday, my search had been futile. I have been met with disappointment after disappointment since around December 1st. Even my beloved Wal-Mart let me down. At any rate, I had lunch at Sonic yesterday. (Because I wanted to eat a healthy lunch-LOL). After I ate lunch I noticed a CVS drugstore right next door. I had a few minutes to kill, so I decided to mosey on over and just look around.

Know what I found? The perfect star. In a drugstore. The star itself has that kind of clear/white look to it. On the inside of the star are multicolored lights. Each triangular part of the star lights up and then kind of fades out. Exactly what my tree needed. Of course then I had to go home and be instructed by a nine year old as to where and how I need to place the star. Kind of bossy I thought. I wonder where she gets that from……..

Susie Wimpy Pants

If I didn’t know better, I could read my own blog and think that I have mood swings.( If you compare my most recent blogs with this one.) I am not sure what is happening to me. I find myself with an over abundance of holiday cheer. I sing Christmas songs. I bake cookies. I light candles. (I just bought myself a FABULOUS Yankee candle that smells like sugar cookies) I watch sappy Christmas movies.



I cry because I am so happy. I cry because I got an email from my older brother who I hardly ever talk to. I cry because the girls will have a good Christmas. Pretty much everything does me in. These are not heart wrenching sobs. Just tears that leak out of the corners of my eyes. Maybe if I had one good cry, I could dispense with all the mini sessions. On the other hand, I don’t think there are very many people that have so much joy in their lives that they cry.

Finding The Presents

The DQ spent the night with a friend on Friday night. I had done a little shopping over my lunch hour. I went home to wrap my purchases, but I didn’t have a gift box the right size. Since The DQ wasn’t home I didn’t put the bag with her stuff in it away. She came by later to pick up her Gameboy. She found the bag and looked in it. Luckily for me, it was just a pair of pajamas and some underwear.



I CAN’T be the only person to ever carelessly leave something out and have someone find it. Sissy caught me a while back with a camera I was thinking of giving her for Christmas. I didn’t give it to her for two reasons. One, she saw it. Two, because she saw it, the surprise was gone. If I give her an expensive gift like that, I want her to be a LITTLE surprised. So I kept the camera for myself. MMMMWWWWAAAAAAAA. I needed a new camera anyway. Merry Christmas to me. Merry Christmas to me.

The Missing Gift

I went shopping with my sisters over the weekend. It seems that when we get together there is a small amount of chaos. We are talking over each other. Sometimes we bicker. It’s like taking a couple of hyper kids out for the day. So as we are checking out at Wal-Mart we are talking and carrying on. We go back to our meeting spot and begin separating all the bags. I get home with my bags, and guess what my wondering eyes do not spot. THE ONLY THING that will be under the tree for me at my house on Christmas morning.

I have a very strange tradition. I usually buy a few things for myself and wrap them and put them under the tree. (Hey, I’m single, nuff said) Anyway, I am backtracking once again. My present is not anywhere. I go out to my trunk and double check. Nope. No present for Susie. I went over to my sister’s house to look in her trunk. Nope. No present for Susie. I called my other sister but she wasn’t home. Sister number 3 looked in the bags belonging to Sister number 2 for me while I had her on the phone. Nope. No present for Susie. I gave up. I had too much work to get done to deal with it.

Now I am picturing a very upsetting visit to the Wal-Mart. I will calmly explain that I did not walk out with two items I purchased. ( I checked the receipt) At which point, the Wal-Mart employees will laugh me out of the store and not give me my items because I have absolutely NO PROOF that I didn’t get the items in question. This was on Saturday. Sunday evening when I got in touch with Sister number 2. YES she tells me. She does have my missing items! Yay! Joy! Rapture! Sister number 3 will be kicked to the curb for an undetermined amount of time for this oversight. Shame on you sister! Shame.....