Interview with a 6 year old

April 24, 2008. 7:30am

Mom: So how old are you now?
Scott: {{holds up five fingers on one hand and a thumb on the other}}
Mom: So how old is that?
Scott: {{draws a “6” in the air}}
Mom: So how old is THAT???
Scott: Six!!!!
Mom: Wow!! Six years old? How does that feel?
Scott: BBWWAHHHHH!!!!! {{does a crazy dance}}
Mom: So what does THAT mean?
Scott: Good!!!
Mom: Tell me what you can do now at 6 that you couldn’t do at 5.
Scott: Go to the Sunshines. (that’s the next afterschool class up at our daycare)
Mom: Well, tell me how you are going to celebrate being 6.
Scott: TRANSFORMERS PARTY!!!!!!!!
Mom: You know what?
Scott: What?
Mom: I love you!!
Scott: I knew that!!!!!!!

Happy Birthday Scott!! We love you lots!!

Friday Fill In!!

1. The last time I lost my temper I beat my bed with my pillow!
2. Criticism is what I'm fed up with!
3. The next book I'd like to read is something from the Mitford Series. I need some uplifting.
4. Scott's b-day party is what I'm looking forward to.
5. If you can't get rid of the skeleton[s] in your closet, use them as hangers!
6. The best thing I got in the mail recently was JEWELRY.
7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to folding clothes, tomorrow my plans include hockey and cleaning and Sunday, I want to clean but will do more hockey and Scott's friend's b-day party!

Here's my sign.....

I'm going to get a T-shirt that says this!!! I have had not one but TWO people assume I was pregnant in the last month!!!! So not funny!!! Yes, I have gained weight......yes, a lot of weight. Yes, now that I am older, I carry it in my midsection and yes, I do can look pregnant depending on how I stand. But, NO!!! I am NOT pregnant!! So don't assume I am!!!!!

Nor do I want to be. I'm crashing headfirst into 40 this year. My last "baby" just started school. I have the patience of a ..................... well, I don't have any patience!!! I am done having babies so I can enjoy the next stages in my children's lives.

I should also add that both people (who were people I work with--not strangers) were mortally embarrassed. And to that I say..........GOOD!!! Next time, wait until I'm carrying around a 3yo on my hip to congratulate me!!!

But, honestly folks, I really need to get off my big fat pregnant looking butt and take care of myself. I guess I wasn't listening the first time some one assumed I was pregnant. This time I get the message! GEEZ!!! I'm working on a plan that I'll share later so ya'll can help me along.

But here's the kicker. Have you seen the new fashions for this summer????? They ALL look like maternity shirts!!!!! I'm doomed!!!!!

Calapitters 2008

Yes, we have "calapitters" again! I’m still amazed that Sara will pick them up and play with them and Scott won’t touch ‘em!! They each have two that they have collected. Every day they ask to keep more but I think four caterpillars is a gracious plenty to keep on my kitchen counter top!

Let me tell ya, those little things are eating and pooping machines!!! They are eating a heavy diet of maple leaves and making complete pigs of themselves. One of Scott’s has already make a webby cocoon. One of Sara’s made what looked more like a chrysalis. I wanted to keep it but she said it was gross and threw it away. LOL!!! I will try to get some pictures of the little guys before they all get to the cocoon stage. Hopefully, they will emerge this year. The one we had last year didn’t do anything. Look for pics!!!

Friday Fill In #67

1. I love springtime in _____!
2. _____ are foods I love to eat for breakfast.
3. It seems I'm always searching for _____
4. _____ is a great way to end the day.
5. I think I _____!
6. _____ is what I've been craving lately.
7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to _____, tomorrow my plans include _____ and Sunday, I want to _____!



1. I love springtime in the arctic. They don't have pollen!!!!
2. Grits, scrambled eggs with cheese and bacon are foods I love to eat for breakfast.
3. It seems I'm always searching for my mind!!!
4. A hug from my children is a great way to end the day.
5. I think I can!
6. Townhouse Flips is what I've been craving lately.
7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to watching a movie with my family, tomorrow my plans include hockey practice for Scott, therapy session for Scott and an evening with friends and Sunday, I want to REST!!!

A good night

Sara has definitely been a challenge in recent months. Her attitude leaves much to be desired. She is defiant, impatient, whiney and most times downright ugly. I was dreading dealing with this when she hit 10 or 11 yrs. I didn’t expect to have to address it at 7 ½. She didn’t used to be like this but this school year has really brought about some changes in her. I don’t know if it is her friends that are influencing her or even sadly, us being poor role models, but I really hope we can turn her around.

Last night started out poorly with lots of attitude and picking on Scott. I tried to prepare for the worst. But after homework and dinner and showers, she came to me while Scott and Hubby played video games. “I want to read a book”. Unfortunately it was very late. “As much as I hate to say it, honey, it’s just too late.” She then climbed into my lap and snuggled. Now, Scott is the world champion snuggler, but Sara has never been much a snuggler. So I relished in the rare opportunity to be close to her and love on her. “Can we go to my room and talk?” Wow!!! What an opportunity! Again, a rare occasion to spend wanted one-on-one time with my daughter. “Yes! Yes, we can”.

In her room, I brushed her hair and we talked. We talked about school and how she thinks it’s boring. We talked about her favorite subjects and those that were hard for her. We talked about her friends—who she likes, who she doesn’t like and why, how some of her friends don’t play with her any more and how that makes her feel. It was a perfect opportunity to discuss her attitude and how she relates to others. She was very open to my advice and shared honestly with me—something that hasn’t happened in a long while.

But all good things must come to an end. It was, after all, a school night and we all needed our rest. I hugged her tight, gave her a huge kiss, told her how much I loved her and said “Good Night”. Yes, it was definitely a “good night”.

That's my boy!

Overheard in a bathroom while traveling to TN for Easter:

Me: SHOOT!!
Scott: What, Mommy?
Me: I forgot my makeup.
Scott: Why do you need it, Mommy?
Me: To make me look pretty.
Scott: That's ok, Mommy, you're pretty anyway.

:)

Friday Fill In!!

1. Some relationships are meant to _____.

2. _____ is the last concert I saw; it was _____.

3. Spring should be _____.

4. Oh no! I forgot _____!

5. I've recently started _____.

6. _____ never fails to make me smile.

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to _____, tomorrow my plans include _____ and Sunday, I want to _____!

1. Some relationships are meant to saved.

2. James Taylor is the last concert I saw; it was AWESOME!!!.

3. Spring should be BANNED!!! I have horrible seasonal allergies and I HATE SPRING!!

4. Oh no! I forgot to send my Pampered Chef party invitations!!!!

5. I've recently started selling the most awesome sterling silver jewelry!!!!

6. My son's hug never fails to make me smile.

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to watching the Carolina Hurricanes beat the Atlanta Thrashers, tomorrow my plans include 2 counseling sessions for Scott and a ton of cleaning and Sunday, I want to sleep in and watch movies all day BUT I'll be doing MORE house cleaning and getting the kiddos ready to go back to school on Monday!

In like a Lion!!

WOW! What a night!!! We experienced the lovely (NOT!) storm front that moved over the southeast yesterday. We really need the rain but I could have definitely done without the high winds and lightning!!

I went to bed about 10:45 and left Hubby on the couch knowing full well he would be asleep in 5 minutes. I flipped on the TV and parked it on the local news station so I could monitor the weather. Didn’t look too bad and I was soooo tired so I drifted off to sleep.

I woke with a start. I’m not sure what woke me--maybe the weather alert signal on the TV or the wind hitting the house (although it was eerily silent when I awoke). I glanced at the clock--11:20pm--the storm front was supposed to have passed through by midnight. I looked at the TV and saw the biggest, reddest, most horrific-looking Doppler image I have ever seen. And then I noted it was right on top of us. About that time, the wind hit the house like a Mack truck and I headed toward the living room to get Hubby. Two steps from the bedroom door, the power went out. No flicker, no stutter—just OUT!

Hubby came to bed and we lay and listened to the wind beat the side of the house. There was an odd consistent whining sound making me nervous. You know, train sounds and tornados. We thought it was just the wind but weren’t sure so Hubby got up to look around. He even went outside. I tagged along and stuck my head out the door. The whole area was dark because of the power outage so it was kind of weird. We couldn’t see any funnels during the lightning flashes and the sound started to get softer so we went back to bed to listen to the wind slam the rain against the house and strain our ears for any hint of tornados.

Finally the storm passed and we fell asleep. Until 5:30am that is, when the power came back on with all the lights on and the TVs blaring static. I saw several downed trees on my way to work this morning and the power guys were out in force righting utility poles and repairing lines. Our manufacturing facility lost power too so we have lots of stuff to do to get all the systems back up and evaluate the products. It’s gonna be a long day. But we thank God that everyone is ok.

And how did the children fair through the whole ordeal, you ask? Sleep through the whole thing!! God love ‘em!!!

Ok, Ok, I get the message!!!!

I was starving. Don’t ask me why. I had eaten a ton of chips and salsa and a lunch special #6 at the local Mexican restaurant. But the afternoon munchies settled in anyway. I checked my wallet—a $20 bill and a handful of pennies. So I checked my desk—65 cents. Well THAT won’t get anything out of the machine. So I rifled through the pennies and ………. Eureka!! A dime!!!! Woohoo!!

Now armed with 75 cents, I headed to the breakroom. HHhhmmm……. A bag of Doritos is all I could get. Well, that would work. I was craving salt, anyway. In went one quarter, then a second, followed by 2 dimes then the nickel. But wait, what was the odd metallic sound? It had spat out my nickel! So I put it back in….. and again it spat it out. Over and over and over, I fed the machine my nickel and it promptly spat it out. What was I to do? Maybe it was the sequence, yeah, that was it. So I pushed the coin return button and collected my money. THIS time, I started with the nickel. Perhaps it wants that first. But again, the machine spat it out. Maybe it was the sensor…….so I dropped it in slow. Nope. Then I shot it in fast. Still no go. I rubbed it on my pants. Nope. Scraped the edge with my fingernail. Uhn uh.

At this point I realize how silly and desperate I must look and I admit defeat, retreating to my desk with a glass of water. Kudos to my Diet Angel!! But next time, she may just have to knock me up side the head!!!!

Thought for Today

If you want to remain in touch with the spiritual side of life, you have to be flexible enough to follow the direction of the journey as the journey itself changes direction.

~~Phil Catalfo
author of Raising Spiritual Children in a Material World

Name Update

Well, the two people who read my blog have spoken and I'm gonna leave it as is. But I'm leaving the Wag More pic at the top. :) Thanks!!!!

Thought for Today

In the present moment, there is no stress. Stress is the resistance to what's happening right now. As we allow ourselves to open to this moment fully, there is absolutely no stress.

~~Stephan Rechtschaffen, M.D.
author of Timeshifting: Creating More Time to Enjoy Your Life

Should I or shouldn't I??

I've been toying with renaming my blog. I know, it's not something you typically do, especially with a large readership. But I think the one or two people who currently visit would be able to keep up. :)

So, why am I thinking about renaming it? I dunno. I really like the sentiment of "Sunny With a Chance of Clouds". But really, it's a bit long, don'tcha think? I could just never come up with a better way to say it.

So, you ask, to what would you change it? Honestly, the more I think about it, the more I really really like "Wag More, Bark Less". Or maybe just "Wag More". I mean, it's simple, slips easier off the tongue, kinda makes you go "HHHhhhmmmmm", kinda catchy so you might remember it. It's meaning goes right along with tagline I currently have.

So what do you think? Should I go for it?
(I also have a poll on the top of the sidebar if you'd like to vote.)

Fear

Scott has a consult tomorrow. It is needed to get a diagnosis to even get his ped to talk to us. It's an observational appointment since he is too young for a standardized test. Then that counselor will talk to the other counselor and then hopefully, we'll get a diagnosis so we can fax it to the ped and THEN........FINALLY get on a waiting list for a consult with him!! It is so darned frustrating!!!

And then there's the fears. The observation is one-on-one which is typically not a real problem for Scott. What if they don't think he has a problem? What if they do agree but it takes forever to get to the Ped to get meds started? How long will it take to find a med that works for him? What are the meds going to do to him? Will I lose my little boy to a med-altered state? Or will the "real" Scott finally be allowed to emerge and flourish? What will happen.........

Happy Valentine's Day

Ahhh….Valentine’s Day. A day of hearts, flowers and cards. Chocolates and candies. I remember my first Valentine’s Day with Hubby. We had been dating for about 8 months. But we lived 750 miles away from each other so we only saw each other about once every 6 wks. This time, that worked out to be at Valentine’s Day.

He sent me the most beautiful red roses at my Mom’s house where I was staying and we went to Olive Garden for lunch. He held my hand lovingly taking my opal ring from my finger to play with and wearing it on his pinky. We had a very nice meal then he took me to the high school parking lot to teach me to drive his Mustang which was a manual transmission. (15 yrs later, I STILL can’t drive one!) Later that afternoon, we took a long drive through the mountains. There was snow and it was beautiful!! It was so wonderful spending that time with the one I love!!

Six weeks later, he visited me in Chicago and that’s when he proposed. He had used the way my opal ring fit on his pinky that Valentine’s Day to size my engagement ring so it fit perfectly!!! We were married the first of that next year.

Now, I have to say, we do not really celebrate Valentine’s Day. We try to get something small for the children but we don’t do anything for each other. I used to get cards for him but he never did for me saying it was silly and a waste of money so over time I stopped all together. I got extra hugs and kisses from my kids this morning and a Love stamp from Scott. We’ll have a nice dinner together at home as a family. And a little later tonite, I’ll toss Hubby a box of peanut butter Girl Scout cookies. “Happy Valentine’s Day, Hun!!!!”

Dream a Little Dream

I had a dream last night. We were out and about in the car, the whole family. We were getting ready to pull out into the street from a shopping center when I woman dressed as a Flight Attendant motioned for us to wait and to back up. We did and then looked up the road to see a passenger jet sliding (not landing) down the street and past us. It was scraping almost sideways on the pavement, sending sparks into the air. Then there was another, then a commuter jet, then a jumbo jet. All in all, we watched about 6 airplanes skid down the street. We commented to each other that they must have been trying to make it to the new airport a couple of miles away. And then I woke up. WEIRD!!!!!!!

Time

The wait is killing us. We wanted to try all the avenues before making that last ultimate step. Now, we are totally aware that the last step must be taken but time still drags on. More sessions…… more discussions…….. more evaluations…….. more appointments. In the meantime, it’s one step forward, two steps back. Little successes dashed by a bad day with no apparent underlying causes. He tries so hard but can he really control himself? It’s difficult for him….difficult for his classmates…. difficult for his teachers…... heartbreaking for us. When life is good, time flies by in the blink of an eye. When life is hard, time stands still. Remember, we are doing the right things. Remember, we are getting him the help he needs. Remember, these things take time. But remembering doesn't make the wait any easier.

Two New States!

Sara and I were working on her homework tonight. She was reading in her social studies book about the "new" state quarters. (Apparently, this book is just a few years old!) Anywho, as she was reading through the names of the states, I noticed a couple of new ones

Deltaware
New Hamster

Anyone been there?

Wag More Bark Less

Pretty much says it all, doesn't it? The perfect philosophy of life. Short. Sweet. Simple. I saw this on a car at work today. It immediately spoke to me. I've been "barking" a lot recently--at work, at home, everywhere--and I don't like it. Gracious, I bark more than Piper, the Hyperdog does! This is going to be my motto, my mantra, whatever you want to call it. It's perfect! See me wagging???