Memorial Day

In memory of those who have passed this way before us ...

I think I'll plant some flowers. Perennials, the ones that bloom again year after year.

Another Look at the Alphabet

Seen at Perpetual Chocoholic http://perpetualchocoholic.blogspot.com (and promptly "borrowed"!)

Accent – Depends on who I'm speaking to. Mostly bits of Boston mixing with a touch of New York drying out to a Midwestern Bland, and an occasional y'all thrown in for fun.

Breakfast of Champions - was "Booze of choice" but my boys are currently making their own breakfasts right now instead of asking me! How grown up! How independent! How much Baked Cheetos can you fit in that bowl? And let's not forget the chocolate chipped cookies! (They're still waiting for Mom to bring the chocolate milk)

Chore I hate – Cleaning.

Dog or Cat – Dog. Just not in my house (see above).

Essential electronics – Yup. Electronics are essential, expensive toys.

perFume - (Never would've found it here if I was lookin!) Yep, just a dab, every morning, so that no matter what I look like, at least MOMMY SMELLS NICE!

Gold or Silver? - Gold. or silver. as long as there's Diamonds, who cares?

Hometown – a nice quiet place in the suburbs.

Insomnia? – Child induced. I'm sure I could sleep through the night if ALLOWED.

Job Title – you may address me as Your Highness.

K? Where's K? I could add one: Killed anything? (or anyone?) Unfortunately, the Queen of the Castle is also the Spider Killer of the Castle

Living Arrangement – You mean I'm allowed to Arrange the Living? Hmmm, things are gonna change around here!

Most-admired trait – Integrity

Number Of Penguins In Your Bathtub – No penguins presently, probably eaten by the dinosaurs.

Overnight Hospital Stays – twice, and came home with a prize both times!

Phobia – stairs, as in falling down them. Do it enough times and you start to worry.

Quote – I read Wisdom Quotes regularly. I liked this one this morning.
H. L. Mencken:
In this world of sin and sorrow there is always something to be thankful for; as for me, I rejoice that I am not a Republican.

Religion – another quote, from yesterday's sermon: "I believe in the separation of church and hate."

Siblings – yes. one of each. I'm the middle child. Yes, I know, that explains a lot.

Time I wake up – when the snoring becomes too loud to sleep.

Unusual talent/skill – Sometimes able to "Pull It All Together" in time.

Vegetable I refuse to eat – Brussel sprouts. Just don't like the sound of it.

Worst habit – putting the piles of clean clothes too close to the piles of dirty clothes. Some people around here get upset when that happens.

X-rays – yeah, that's an X word. So is xylophone. So?

Yummy foods I make – Chocolate chip cookies, home baked bread, banana bread ... oh, I should go make some now.

Zodiac sign – The bull. No laughing.

But hey. . .what about you?

It's Not My Fault ... Really!

I'm feeling a bit like a jinx.

First Steven Tyler. Now Keith Richards. Who's next?

Let me explain. This past year I finally got to see two of the greatest rock bands still touring after all these years. I don't know how I missed them before (yeah I do, something like MONEY getting in the way) but now I'm finally working on my list of Concerts To See Before They Retire (or die, but really, who wants to think of that?)

So then, not too long after seeing Aerosmith LIVE and being all amazed that they can still do all that rock star stuff and sing and play and ... well. Amazed. And then, Mr. Tyler came down with a bit of a throat problem. A big enough problem that he actually had to cancel shows. WHOA! That may have been my last chance to see them. I hope not, but you never know.

Recently, after many attempts over the last several years, I scored tickets to see the Rolling Stones. Another AMAZING show (in my humble opinion, which is what this blog is so please go on). Again, thinking they're not getting any younger, wow, this could be my last chance. And by the way, I'm not getting any younger, either.

And here we have Keith Richards, recovering from a head injury. Well, at least he doesn't have to have brain surgery, I read today. And so far, there's no plans to cancel any upcoming shows. At least not yet.

Just wondering who's next ...

(Madonna!)

The Case of the Exploding CD

BANG!

"What just happened?" We both turned and looked at my son accusingly. He was sitting at the computer, playing his favorite dinosaur game.

"Nothing! I didn't do anything!" He was looking around the desk area for any signs of damage, but neither he nor I could find anything wrong.

My husband then confessed that "he's been at that computer all day." Oh good, so much for Turn Off the TV Week, just give 'em a substitute and business as usual. "Finish up and let your brother have a turn," I said.

No more noises, until Lil Guy wanted to change the cd. "Mom, it's stuck!"

Great. Add that to the list. This computer isn't very old, but it's showing signs of wear and tear ... as in children having a little too much freedom to download cool stuff off the internet which will therefore wreak havoc with parents IMPORTANT STUFF (also downloaded off the internet).


"OK, move aside, let Mom get to work here." I shut down. I restarted. I shut down and restarted again. I pushed on the CD door. I jiggled it. I shut down and started again. (I did a few other things that would take too long to explain and might even sound like I knew what the heck I was doing so we just won't go there). Anyway, eventually, it opened for us.

And there sat the shattered pieces of the dinosaur game.

"Well, at least we know what that noise was."

From Chaos to Harmony

Front hall closet: DONE

(One box of shoes to send to younger cousin, one bag of shoes for Salvation Army, one small pile of jackets to sort and distribute - but it's OUT of that closet!)

We've got a long road ahead of us, but step by step, one small section at a time, this cluttered house will once again become a serene home.

Oh, and I have to add, I can still fit my car into the garage!

Just dropping by to say "Hi"

That's about all I ever have time for these days. "Just a minute" seems to be my favorite phrase, since it's all that comes out of my mouth.

Just ask the kiddos. Even they're getting tired of waiting for me to finish what I'm doing (which is usually something for them in one way or another) in order for them to drop yet another request. For me to DO something else for them.

It would be a lot easier if I could just get organized.

I've been saying that for many years, but now I mean business. It seems that homeschooling has turned this moderately disorganized but comfy home into UTTER CHAOS & CLUTTER.

Not that I have never seen worse. My college dorm may have been worse ... yeah, probably was. But there was just me and my mess to contend with. Right now we have the combined messes of a growing family, and two of them are learning their slovenly ways from the wrong parent.

Dad tries to step in and make things right, but he's in a losing battle. It's up to me, since I am officially the Home Administrator and Queen in Residence, to shape things up.

I may be gone for long periods of time, since blogging must drop ever lower on my list of priorities. But when I'm back, it'll be better than ever. Or not, but at least I'm giving it my best shot.

Wish me luck.

Stuck in a Time Warp

What year is it? 2006 ... a long way from 1968, doncha think? But have we evolved, or has our government gone back to the "good ole days" of spying on us?

James Carroll wrote a column in yesterday's Boston Globe, also reprinted at http://www.commondreams.org, entitled "The Politics of Pacifism Meets FBI Monitoring."

So it's true, it's not just the President who's spying on us, but his minions, as well. And they've been doing it (or rather, they've been CAUGHT doing it) for the last FOUR YEARS. But you won't find it in any news reports. No, No, NO! Because, after all, it's just one columnist's OPINION (a very well-respected columnist who backs up his assertions with FACTS, but, well, you know).

So now you know what really ticks me off. Besides the ugly business of war and all that war-profiteering going on, that is. Stepping on the toes of our hard won civil rights. Yeah, some of which were won through war, I know. BUT STILL!

Don't make all our past mistakes in vain. Let's not repeat history. If we didn't do it right the first time, then things ought to be done differently. And labeling pacifism a "left-wing political cause" is ... oh, let me be the first to say, it's UNPATRIOTIC.

Maybe the FBI should go back to investigating UFO's.

Climbing Back into the Saddle

OK, so I'm not as back as I thought I was. Still on the mend, here, as I try to regain both my strength and the upper hand in the household.

That might take awhile.

Everybody else around here recovered pretty quickly, and thanks to the tireless efforts of both my mother and my husband, the world did not come to an end. Although I did find it somewhat amusing that it took BOTH of them to handle my various tasks around the house, and yet they left some for me.

In the eternal wisdom of my mother, "You have too much to do."

Don't we all.

I'm Baaaack

Wow, I didn't realize how long I had been away. Well, for those who have been in the dark, I've been recovering from my tonsillectomy. This is one of those things that's easy for kids, HAAAARD for parents.

I thought I had things all under control. In the days leading up to the surgery, while both boys developed colds and lovingly shared those colds with their father, I popped the Airborne like candy. It was actually kind of a treat, like drinking soda all day. Anyway, it got the job done, and I remained healthy enough to go through with the procedure.

Since my mother was flying up from sunny Florida to spend a week in confinement with my demolition crew, I thought the least I could do was start her off with a clean house. Cleaning is something that I just am no good at, I barely keep this place acceptable to my husband (who has had to DRASTICALLY lower his standards in order to live here). But since the last two times my mother came to help out she landed in a disaster zone, she was pleasantly surprised this time.

Everything was going pretty smoothly. The boys' colds had abated (dh was still pretty miserable, but coping), the house was clean, my mother even bought me my Last Meal ... PIZZA, (which, by the way, is No. 2, after chocolate) with plenty left over for the crew to reheat the next day. Even the boys ate well that night. Little Guy had two whole slices of pizza.

Which he promptly threw up all over me, all over the Big Chair, all over the BEIGE carpet (well, it was beige when we bought it), all over the end of the sofa (which I didn't notice until the next morning, eww), and a trail down the hallway to the bathroom, where he stubbornly refused to aim for the toilet. No, the floor was working just fine for him.

I'm sure my mother was thinking "I didn't sign up for this!" as she helped to clean up the mess. Things only got better from there.

He was sick throughout the night. Lucky for me (and my bed!) it was mostly dry heaves, since he had already thrown up everything he had ever eaten. But still, pretty hard to get a good night's rest when every cough, every whimper caused me to jump up and shove a bowl under his chin all night long.

But still, we stuck with the plan. In the morning, DH went to get "sick" supplies, and then we left for the surgery center, left my mother to care for one sick little boy, and one healthy (so far) big boy. (Sick Boy had no fever, so we were hoping it was just a case of overeating) Good Luck.

The surgery was quick and easy (I was asleep, real easy) and I was back home in time for supper, only I wasn't going to be eating any supper anytime soon. Mom had a pretty easy day, too. Sick Boy lounged around, didn't eat, drank his flat coke as directed by Dr. Gram. He was a very good Sick Boy. And Healthy Boy was good too, occupied himself with cartoons and computer games, read books with Gram, wrote in his Thursday Journal (the only school work he was required to do all day).

So in the early evening, as I was trying to get comfortable sleeping upright in my bed, with Sick Boy squeezing in beside me, DH totally passed out after his marathon (work all night, stay with me all day ... 22 hours), I heard the coughing start downstairs. Too late, Healthy Boy had just lost his supper (why did he pick now to finally eat?) and my dear mother was cleaning up another mess.

Since I was drugged up on pain meds, and clearly out of my brain, I went down to help. We eventually got Big Sick Boy settled into a makeshift bed on the floor of his bedroom (since the top bunk is NO PLACE for a Sick Boy). Mom took the couch to be away from Big Sick Boy and what was now clearly a HORRIBLE CONTAGIOUS DISEASE. I joined her, finding the Big Chair (totally Febreezed the smell out of it by now) to be more comfortable than propping myself against the wooden headboard in my bed upstairs. Little Not-as-Sick Boy squeezed in.

Big Sick Boy had a rough night. We ALL had a rough night. Well, not me, really, as I was pretty drugged. And Little Guy slept pretty well, too.

So now comes the part where DH tries to be me. And take care of me at the same time. Homeschooling Big Sick Boy was out for the day, so he was off the hook there, but pretty soon it was apparent that Mom was succumbing to the DREADED DISEASE.

She totally didn't sign up for this.


(sorry, this is getting too long ... to be continued)

Getting rid of your domestic aliens

My own personal grafitti artist has struck again.

Despite all our rules about putting crayons away, no pens within reach of our youngest little artist, all art supplies neatly LOCKED UP ... somehow, he found a pencil.

One innocuous little pencil turned several walls into an Alien Castle. Big enough for all the aliens to live in. And, apparently, we have an overabundance of aliens around here. So we NEEDED an alien castle, so they would go away.

I hope they were all safely nestled in their beds when I got out the cleaning supplies and helped the artist wipe away his creation. So now they can't come out and bother us anymore.

And for now we're looking forward to spring, and that great vast canvas known as the SIDEWALK (clean-up provided by Mother Nature).

Happy Valentine's Day

My favorite holiday of the year! (Christmas seems just so far away right now) What could be better than a day devoted to love and chocolate?

The boys, at least the little ones, cringe when I get all smoochy and huggy around them. But they like the candy. So they dutifully cut out paper hearts for me, in hopes of getting more candy.

Chocolate for breakfast, today! And hugs and kisses all around!

CODEPINK

Library Day

Today is Library Day in our household. It's a very important day, as we ALWAYS have lots of books and videos that are DUE TODAY. Always.

And sure, we spend most of our time in the Youth Services Department, aka The Children's Section. But I make sure to get myself some light reading, and I'm making an effort to pick out a movie of the week for myself, now, too.

So, for this week, the picks are ... (drumroll please)

Wise Blood, by Flannery O'Connor. A recommendation from a fellow writer.
Pendragon, The Lost City of Faar by DJ MacHale (book 2 in a series, and yes it's for kids, but irresistible)
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by JK Rowling (another book 2 for those who've lost count)

And the movie of the week ... Spanglish. I've been waiting for this one to be in for weeks and I finally found it. Now let's hope I find the time to actually watch it!

So, anybody have any favorite books or movies that I MUST check out? Go ahead now ... make yourself heard ...

Biggest Event of the Year

As the BIGGEST EVENT OF THE YEAR, the Rolling Stones concert is going to be pretty tough to beat, at least in this family. Even if it is still only January.

IT WAS AWESOME!

Even if I wasn't feeling my best. Should've known ... been fighting tonsilitis since Thanksgiving ... yep, it's baaaaack. With a vengeance. Went from "eh" to not sleeping, not eating, not talking, barely breathing in only a couple days.

The first dr to look down my throat said "Oh holy Pete!" and promptly ran out to call a specialist. Who said "Come in Now." As in NOW.

And when he looked, he said "Ooh those are gonna have to come out. But not today ...first let's see about relieving some of your pain." And he took out his medical stuff (NEEDLES and STUFF) and waved his magic wand and ...

After a few hours I really did feel better. And I can drink and talk and even eat food (and I love to eat food, especially chocolate!). But the nasty things that have been ailing me and slightly inconveniencing my family have got to come out, and soon.

Surgery is a scary word, even if it's "day surgery". But especially when the dr wants to discuss the entire procedure and recovery with my husband, because, well, I'm "very important to your family and he needs to understand what's going to happen". Made it sound so ... serious.

Could even be the biggest event of the year. Let's hope not. Nothing's bigger than Mick Jagger. Keith Richards. As Tears Go By LIVE . Yeah, I'm still basking in concert after-glow.

Mommy gets to have a little fun

I've been keeping it pretty quiet, not getting too emotional or anything but ... I'M GOING TO SEE THE ROLLING STONES!

Whew! That felt good.

My dh, who is NOT a fan, bought the tickets as my Christmas present. Isn't he the GREATEST HUSBAND EVER? So while he may not enjoy the show as much as I will, he gets all the credit for making me so happy.

I showed my boys the commercial on tv, and they seem a little puzzled as to why I want to go see a bunch of old guys try to be rockers. I guess it's going to be a stadium full of old people trying to relive their youth.

And we're gonna have fun, Fun, FUN!

Sponge Painting

It takes both creativity and energy to set up any kind of art projects around here. So I was quite proud of myself yesterday for taking advantage of tv time and using it to cut up some sponges into neat little shapes ... for painting.

I cleared the table and covered it with newspaper. Removed any extraneous furniture (to avoid having to clean up the inevitable splatters), got out glitter paint (because who can refuse GLITTER PAINT?!), got the whole place set up nicely for them and then ... when their show was over I announced: Who wants to paint?

Usually that's like asking for a stampede of elephants. But not this time. They casually walked over to the table, saw the sponges, sat right down and began to build with them. Monsters. Robots. A castle.

At least I took pictures before I cleaned up.

Morning Coffee

I've just had a good long (uninterrupted!) night's sleep (it's an event to be celebrated) and now I sit here, my mind still not awake, just a blank slate, waiting for the day to start.

No coffee yet, cause that's just a command, like "Gentlemen, start your engines!" and then the brain floods with ideas and plans and all kinds of tid bits that don't fit together and I try to write them down as fast as I can before I get interrupted by the family ruckus.

No, right now I can just look out the sliders and watch the sky clearing and think "what a beautiful morning" and not be inundated with the rest of the world. There's a sprinkling of snow left on the grass, and I know later I'll be asked to make a snowman out of it. But for now it lies untouched, like my brain before coffee.

A moment in time that comes to pass all too quickly. I hear them coming ... better get my coffee!

Stayin Home and Lovin It

No, I'm not going to start in on my newest home business that would be just right for you! I know, I see that slogan everywhere, and I know exactly what it means.

Staying home, and loving it, is what my son now says about school. It's a huge responsibility, taking his education into my own hands, and I feel the pressure. But it's worth it every day. And I'm lovin' it, too!

Don't get me wrong, we have our down times: there's boredom, there's lack of motivation, there's endless review to see where we stand ... there's fun math games and computer web sites, there's dinosaurs and skeletons and drawing and music and reading "cool stuff" and writing and so much more ...

I love it so much, I cleaned yesterday. Oops, sorry, should've warned you that was coming. Hey, it happens, occasionally. I do know how to clean, and I invited friends over just to make sure I finished (at least finished the common areas!)

And we're gonna do it again, today! More school, more cleaning, more friends. It's taking me awhile to get into a groove (we just don't do "routine" around here, so I settle for a groove). But it's working.

And we're never going back to "reglear" school again!

There's No Place Like Home

It's good to be home. After more than two weeks of travelling with the family, in the car, it is so good to be home. Now I can catch up on piles of laundry, mail and email, (and take down the Christmas decorations) and get back to the routine of family living. And start homeschooling. Yep, today's the day I have waited for since we made the Big Decision last fall. Am I ready? Well, as ready as I'll ever be. Is the Big Boy ready? He spent the last couple of weeks telling all his relatives how great it was going to be ... now it's the real thing. It may take us a few days to wind down from the Family Holiday Road Trip, but it has been a good transition period, and I think we're ready. Nobody wants to get back in the car today anyway ... might as well school at home! There's definitely no place like home ... for school!

Happy New Year!

May 2006 be your best year yet!