W-MOM - The Morning News

Good morning!  It’s 7:15 am and it’s time for the W-MOM morning news show.  This show is being brought to you by Breakfast Cereal.  Yes, it’s Breakfast Cereal, the favorite breakfast of ours and so many families across America.

                We love breakfast

                We love cereal
                Pour in the milk and hear it crunch
                We promise that you’ll like it
                We promise that you’ll eat it
                So go to the store and buy a bunch

First we’ll take a look at this morning’s traffic.  Everything was quiet this morning until about 6:30 when the first of the morning commuters started getting up.  By the time Husband left for work, all five children were up and the commute through the house started picking up to its usual frantic pace as everyone started searching for shoes, backpacks, and homework folders.  Keep an eye out for traffic jams in the bathroom and be careful leaving your bedroom and going into the hall for the preschooler who seems to be running through the house in nothing but her underwear.

Today’s weather calls for sunshine, but right now it’s partially cloudy with a temperature of 14 degrees.  Make sure you take those coats when you head outside.  It’s cold out there.

This week is an exciting week as tomorrow is Valentine’s day.  Children across the household have planned and prepared in their own special way for the day’s festivities.  We go out live now to our Valentine’s correspondence, Daughter, to hear about some of the planned activities.

                “Thank you Mom.  Tomorrow my class is going to have a party.  I got a box of Princess valentine cards from the store.  I wrote the name of each friend on the card, wrote my name in the ‘From’ space and I closed the card with a heart sticker.  We will be trading cards in our class and having cookies.”

Thank you Daughter for that breaking news story. 

Also in this week’s busy schedule is the 100^th day of school celebrations.  Children are encouraged and some are even assigned to bring one hundred of something to school.   This assignment can be a daunting task for parents, but it need not be a cause for extra stress.  This Mom has done many 100^th Day celebrations over the years and has some tips for stressed out parents.  You might have heard about gluing 100 pennies to a poster board, but I will tell you that doesn’t work.  No matter how good you glue is, pennies are not going too stayed glued to a flexible poster board.  So what else is there to do? Here are some other good ideas: 100 stickers on a sheet of paper, 100 pieces of paper from the shredder machine waste pile and for those last-last minute ideas, grab a box of toothpicks.  All of these ideas are simple and economical.

We’ve just had a breaking story in the traffic center, it seems that the Kindergartener was making a left turn out of his bed room and ran right smack into the preschooler who was sitting on the floor in her underwear playing with dolls.  Big sister is on the scene to help pick up the scattered dolls and hand the preschooler a t-shirt to put on.  Kindergartener is reporting minor injuries on his knee from his fall onto the floor.  Be wary of traffic in the hallway, it is a bit slow right now.

Up next we have an idea story – school lunches.  Do those two words make your hair stand on end?  Dread lunch time no longer as we share a story filled with tears, laughter and information.

School lunches brought to you by Silverware, the leading brand name in silverware.  Silverware is perfect for spreading peanut butter on bread and makes packing those pesky school lunches a little easier.  Don’t forget to pick up your own package of Silverware.

Hey Moms! Does the thought of making school lunches everyday cause you to break out in a cold sweat?  One mom felt this way, so she set out to find ways to make school lunches fun, nutritious and eco-friendly.

                “I make five lunches every day for my children. I was getting bored with peanut butter sandwiches, chips and snack cakes. Plus I was using a lot of plastic baggies.  I decided to do a little Internet research.  I found some really great websites and blogs that showed pictures of the cutest lunches ever.  Instead of plastic baggies, they used silicone cups to hold the food in cute lunch boxes.  They filled the lunches with colorful pasta salad, fruit slices and they cut the children’s sandwiches into shapes with cookie cutters. 

                “I was inspired!  Searching the Internet a little more I found those great silicone cups for sale.  Four cups for $12.95? That seems pricy.  I guess I’ll just keep using the baggies.  I tried cutting my children’s sandwiches into fun shapes, but it was leaving a lot of scraps that were perfectly good food.  I felt more wasteful than ever.  I tried colorful pasta salad, but the kids didn’t like it.  All they wanted were their peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, chips and snack cake.  Well, I tried.”

This great idea segment was brought to you by Silverware.  Show your kids you care, use Silverware!

The time is now 7:40 and it’s time to walk the children out to the bus stop.  The temperature has risen to a balmy 17 degrees.  Burr! It’s cold out this morning.  Make sure those coats are zipped up.  From the house the Pre-schooler has walked out.  She is wearing an unusual ensemble of a pink shirt, purple princess skirt, one sandal and one hot pink flip-flop.  It seems the chilly temperature has deterred her and she is going back into the house. 

It’s 7:43 and the bus is right on schedule.  The kids are on the bus and off to school.  Join us tomorrow right here at W-MOM for our morning show where we will talk about planning dinner by starting the slow cooker at breakfast.  Have a great day everyone!

What's that sound?

The other afternoon, I went outside to pick up the mail.  As I started down the driveway, I heard a loud noise.  It sounded like a deep rumbling.  We have trucks driving down our street all the time, but this wasn't a truck.  We don't live near enough to the freeway to hear the constant stream of cars flying down it.  The sound stopped me in my tracks.  I looked around and listened.

Then, I realized what the odd sound was - it was the sound of a strong wind blowing through the trees.  Three years of living without trees has made me forget what the sound of wind in the trees is like.

I can't wait until summer, when the trees are full of leaves and then to hear the wind rush through that.  What a sound it will be.  I love living among trees again.

Top 10 foods eaten in this house

I've got a house full of kids.
Top 10 foods eaten in this house:

1. Peanut Butter Sandwiches (most of these have grape jelly on them, but not all)  Two of my children will not eat most any food I make for dinners.  They end up with pb&j sandwiches.  One son has been known to eat 3 or 4 per meal.

2. Toast with cinnamon/sugar - A favorite snack and dessert among the kids

3. Hot dogs - Everyone loves hot dogs.

4. Crackers - if I don't hide the crackers, the kids have been known to eat an entire box in a matter of minutes.

5. Apples - Yes, we do have some healthy things.  My oldest daughter especially loves apples.  She will eat several a day if you let her.

6. Tortillas - fill 'em with what you like, but we eat a lot of tortillas.

7. Cheese - I've got two sons that refuse to eat cheese.  It's OK, the amount the rest of us eats makes up for what they don't eat.  The Hubby (a cheese lover) and the oldest daughter love blue cheese and stronger flavored cheeses.  I love Parmesan (real, off the block) and mozzarella.  The kids are happy with cheddar.  We all love smoke flavored cheese with smoked Gouda being a family favorite, except for the two weirdos that won't eat cheese.

8. Pizza - we don't have this all the time, but it's a favorite choice among the family.  Everyone has their preferences.  The two boys that don't like cheese, like to eat cheese-less pizzas.  Weird.  The oldest daughter loves the "Hawaiian pizza" with Canadian bacon and pineapple.  I love stuff crust when I can have it and we all are huge fans of pepperoni.  White pizza with Alfredo sauce is also a big hit.

9. Pork - we eat this in so many varieties: chops, loins, ham, bacon, and sausage.  Pork is fixed up in some form or other every week.  I also like Spam when I can't get pork.  Living in Hawaii taught me the many uses for Spam.

10. Cereal - My kids eat a lot of cereal.  Favorites include Marshmallow Mateys, Cocoa Bombs (that's what we call them anyway), and frosted mini wheats.  Some of the kids love Grape Nuts, and Hubby is a fan of Life. 

Can you tell I've got five kids in the house?

Hobbies

Over the years, I've had a number of hobbies. For the most part, they have remained the same over the course of my life.  I've added a few, like weaving, and some I don't get to do much anymore, but still love to do when I get or take the opportunity.

Cinderella puzzle I did last March

1. Puzzles - I've been doing puzzles as long as I can remember.  When I was a teen, I got my first 1000 piece and set it up on the floor of my room one summer.  I spent hours listening to my radio, sitting on the floor and doing my puzzle.  Last year, I did three or four 1000 piece.  One day I'll have to try a bigger one.

2. Reading - I've always enjoyed reading books of my choice.  I don't like it when people tell me what to read.  For that reason, I've never joined a book club.  I might take some one's recommendation, but I don't like it when someone assigns me a book.  I prefer young adult and classical children's literature.   For my favorite children's literature reading list, click here - Children's Literature.



Peter Pan cross stitch
done by me in 1990

3. Cross stitching - My first cross stitch was when I was seven years old.  It was a little Christmas tree with probably no more than 20 stitches.  I still have it and hang it every year on my Christmas tree.  I've loved cross stitching ever since, but I haven't seriously done any in almost 4 years.  I have got to finish my youngest child's Christmas stocking this year.  She keeps reminding me that I've done the other kids, but not hers.  I've also got a couple of huge projects in the works.  I should pull those out again.

4. Weaving - a fairly new hobby.  It will be three years this March that I discovered the joys of weaving.  I still feel like a beginner.  I don't spend nearly as much time on it as I should to move beyond beginner.  I'm almost done with the project on the loom.  I just need to finish it so I can move on.  I already know what I want to do for the next project.

5.  Watching old movies - yesterday I watched a Bob Hope comedy.  Good stuff.  I love old comedies, especially Doris Day, Cary Grant, and of course the musicals, Singing in the Rain and such.

buying clothes

I feel like I am constantly buying clothes. 

A couple of kids need new shoes.  Didn't I just buy new shoes?  Oh wait, that was for the two youngest.  Now it's the oldest son and oldest daughter's turn for new shoes.

Get this:  my 13 year old son is 5'9".  That's tall for a 13 year old, but he is going to get taller.  His hands are bigger than my husband's (who is 6'2") and the boy's feet are the same size as Hubby's too.  Whoa!!!  Stop growing kid!

Since the youngest son started school, he is going through pants like crazy and with him, it's not because he is growing a lot.  The little guy seems to be about the same size as always.  He is, however, always putting holes in the knees.  I need to learn to patch his clothes so I don't have to buy more. However, he is at that wonderful age where his size is the biggest in the toddler section and the smallest size in the boys section, giving me two options to shop in.  Yesterday, I went to buy him pants (again) and the cheapest pair of pants in the boys section was $12.  I crossed the aisle to the Toddler section.  I found pants his size on sale for $5.56.  YES!  New pants!

It's not like I'm out buying outfits just for the fun of it, although that would be fun to do sometimes, but, I just feel like I'm constantly buying clothes.  I shouldn't be surprised with 5 growing kids, but for whatever reason, I figured I'd by clothes and shoes at the beginning of the school year and clothes and shoes at the beginning of summer and that would get us through the year.

But NO!  My kids have their own ideas of growing in between those time.  The nerve!

Downstairs colors

So, I took the advice of a certain comment from SLC and turned off the flash of my camera.  I also took the pictures during the day, but that really didn't matter for two of the rooms since there are no windows or natural lighting.  Get ready for a most unusual rainbow of rooms.

Youngest son's room.  It is an odd blue/green on top and a rather ugly brown on the bottom and a white shelf that runs two of the four walls.  This room has no windows and only one small ceiling light.  I really need to buy some lamps for this guy's room.  He won't play in there and I don't blame him.

The two other boy's room.  Yes, it's light purple and dark purple.  It would have been better for the girls to have this room, but it is the largest of the kid bedrooms and so it went to the two largest kids in the house.  They don't do much more than sleep in here anyway.

The downstairs bathroom.  Again, no natural light.  It's a sagey green and it's quite nice.  The stone in the bathroom is white/grey marble looking.  It is the nicest of the three bathrooms in the house.

The main common room downstairs.  It's a bright yellow, but it's nice.  Like our fan?  We've had that since we lived in Hawaii.  It actually looks nicer in person than it does in this pictures.  I got a little too much ceiling in the picture. 

Laundry room.  An unfinished room with our disco ball.  It's a very groovy laundry room.

Well, there you go, a color tour of the house.  Nothing matches, but after the monotony of the last house where the tiled floors, walls and ceiling were the exact same white, this house is kind of fun.

Guessing game

What is this, you may ask?  These are photos taken with a flash.  I'm not a photographer.  Take a guess what these are and how they are all in common:

Tannish-brown

sage green

a shade of blue

maroon

OK, what do you think?  Are you ready?  They are all the colors of the walls in the upstairs of my house.  The living room, dining room and hall are that tannish-brown.  The girl's room is the green.  Really, it's much brighter and more like a lime than sage, but my excellent photography skills made the picture look sage.  The bluish room is the master bedroom and bathroom and the maroon is my loom room.  None of them work together.

Just wait until you see the down stairs colors.  None of them repeat what you see here.

BTW, I did not choose any of these colors, they came with the house, and being a rental, I can't change them, but if I could, I would make more of the house the bluish color.  It's a cool, pleasant color without being overwhelming.

If music could follow me around....

If you've seen the movie "Sleepless in Seattle," you know the entire show kind of revolves around another old movie - a Cary Grant movie too, but he's another blog entry for another time.

Now, I haven't seen "Sleepless" in a long time and I don't remember anyones names in the movie, so you'll have to excuse my vague descriptions. The two girls in the movie are sitting together watching the Cary Grant movie and the one girl is talking to the other girl "You don't want to be in love, you want to be in love in a movie."

There are days I don't want to live my life, I want to live my life in a movie.  I want a soundtrack!  I want music to play to help express my emotions or add emphasis to what is going on at that particular moment in my life.

So, I was listening to the Narnia: Prince Caspian soundtrack the other day and was listening to a beautiful song called "The Kings and Queens of Narnia."  Oh, such beautiful music!  There is one particular part, and you must go to this YouTube page.  It is just the sound track, nothing else.  The entire song is beautiful, but please listen to 1:06 - 1:35.

click here: The Kings and Queens of Narnia

Did you hear it?  Isn't it just beautiful?  I want to have that music played during some moment in my life.  I want to walk into a scene of my life and have that music playing while I walk.

Ahhh, if only I could have that soundtrack.  I've seen shows where they are talking about movies and they show a scene without the music, like say, Lord of the Rings.  It's just a guy walking across a castle floor.  Yeah, OK, whatever.  Then, they add the music and suddenly, it's not just a guy and it's not just a floor, it's Aragorn becoming the King of the Men of Middle Earth.  The music completely changes how the scene is seen.  A couple on screen aren't just kissing, it's love's true one and only kiss.  You can tell by the music.

How different my life might be if I had a soundtrack.  I think that would be pretty cool.

Two and a half hours

Four days a week, I've got around two and a half hours completely to myself.  Peanut is going to preschool.  She absolutely loves it.

We've only been doing the preschool for a couple of weeks now and she hasn't gone a full four days of school in a row yet, but that's been because of school holidays and bad weather interrupting the schedule.
My problem is what do I do with that time?  I've got a million things I can do, so how do I choose?

Yesterday was a perfect example of my unorganized use of time:

*Get home from dropping Peanut off at school

*Get on computer, check email, read a blog

*Still on computer: check school stuff (Monday was the first day of the new semester)  pull up readings for the week and shrink them down on desktop.  I pull up my school emails and glace through those.  The grade from one of my classes last semester is posted.  I check my grade and read the comments the professor left regarding my paper.

*Call Hubby, tell him my grade

*Work on a new project I'm formulating to eat better, exercise and hopefully loose some weight.  Typed up those ideas and transferred my food diary I've been keeping on a scrap paper into my new system.

*Thought comes across my mind: Wow, I should be spending this time exercising.

*I walk out to the back yard.  The day is beautiful and quite warm for being the last day of January.  I walk to the back fence (our yard is quite large).  I walk back to the house.  I walk to the fence, I jog back to the house.  I'm done.  The ground is mushy from previous rain and very uneven.  I'll just do one of my videos in the house.

(By now I'm down to 40 minutes left before I've got to go.)

*I can't find the video I want.  OK, I'll do the other one.  I put it into the DVD player and turn on the TV.  No sound.  What happened to the speakers?  I mess around with the hundred wires that run behind the TV.  Forget this!  I take it down to my computer.  The computer plays the DVD and I have sound, but why isn't the mouse working on the DVD menu?  I literally bang around on the keyboard for a moment.  Somehow it changes to the workout and I'm set.

*I do the workout.  It's fairly short.  I look at the clock and whoa!  I should be leaving right now to go pick up Peanut! Run out the door and drive to the school.  Peanut's waiting for me.  I get a big hug.

I didn't get the school reading done.  I didn't get the dishes done, laundry rotated, dinner thawing, or anything cleaned. No writing, no weaving, nothing.  Even though I kept busy during all that time, I only accomplished 15 minutes of exercise. 

I really need to get better at organizing this personal time.

The Witch

I don't know when my mom came into possession of the Halloween Witch, but I believe it was when my oldest son was a baby.  I came to visit my parents (and it wasn't Halloween), any my mom had a Halloween witch doll.  If you squeezed her belly, she would say, "Halloween is fun!"  If you squeezed her belly again she would say, "Uh oh, what was that?"  Then, if you squeezed her a third time, she would start to vibrate, laugh with a cackle, and yell, "Hee hee hee, run for your lives!  Hee, hee, hee!"  It was very funny.  

Every time I went to visit Mom, that witch was among the toys for the kids to play with.

Over the years, that silly witch started having computer chip issues.  Without anyone touching her or even being near her, once in a while you'd hear the witch say, "Halloween is fun!"  It's much more creepy when the doll talks on it's own and because it's a witch, it's extra spooky.  It gave everyone a good laugh when we're sitting around the table, having dinner and from the other room we hear, "Halloween is fun!"

Well, it became a family joke that during big reunions at Mom and Dad's house, that whoever thought of it first, would get the witch and hide it somewhere in the house.  Usually it was hidden under some one's bed.  You could expect the witchy witch to go off in the middle of the night and scare the begeebers out of whoever slept on that bed.

The witch would then be hidden in a new spot and the fun would start over.

I love reunions at my parent's house.  I love Mom's Halloween witch.

reconnecting in the time machine

About 6 years ago I met a wonderful friend.  I had never had a close girl friend to go out and do stuff with.  Someone to talk to about girl stuff.  It was a kind of friendship I never really had, except with my own sister.  This was an awesome friend.  When we moved away, I was so incredibly sad.  Before I left, she said to me, you will always be my sister and when we meet next, it will be like we never parted.

Over the next few years, I saw her once and talked to her on the phone a small handful of times.  She's a busy lady and I know that, but I would call and leave messages and never hear from her.  There would be the occasional email or hello on Facebook, but that was about it.  Life was busy for both of us.

We've now moved back to the state we lived in when I had this wonderful friend.  We are several hours away, but she travels this direction a lot because she has a sister who lives about 20 miles away from me.  This past weekend, she came to visit her sister.  She invited me to a women's conference her sister had organized.  I went to the conference.

I was nervous.  I was afraid we could never really talk like we use to.  Three years had passed.  I was certain she would be quite disappointed in seeing me and had only invited me to be polite.  When I arrived at the conference, I quickly found her.  She looks exactly the same and she is such a beautiful person.  All my fears and nervousness flew away as we hugged.  We sat together, not hearing the first speaker at all because we were too busy whispering and catching up.

We helped with the clean up at the conference, still talking and sharing news and stories.  At one point I looked at her and said to her, it's so fun to be here standing next to you.  It's like those three years never passed and we were hanging out like this just last week.  She agreed.  That's when you know you have a good friend.  Time doesn't really pass.

With this move, I left another dear friend behind.  She is my sister and I know that when we see each other next, it will be as if time never passed.  We are planning a get together late this year.  I hope all works out for us both that we can make it.  It will be fun to reconnect, share stories, look at pictures of each other's kids and laugh.  Nothing quite like the feeling of being with great friends.

My cozy corner

While unpacking a house, you get to know the house quite intimately.  You find it's quirks because you are trying to figure out where personal belongings fit into the home.  It's easy to find the faults and problems with the house while unpacking.  However, once the unpacking is done and you can just enjoy living in the house, those little quirks aren't such a big deal anymore.

So it is with this house.  One thing I LOVE about this house is my loom room.  I have a little room of my very own.  It has my loom, my rocking chair, a little bookshelf, and my Eiffel Tower lamp.  It's a nice place to sit and relax and read. (Not that I have a lot of time to just sit and relax....)

Here is my loom room:

I know, terrible lighting in the picture, but I've never claimed to be a great photographer.  Anyway, you can see my cozy corner with my lamp a-blazing.

In the other corner of the room are my looms.  The big triangle wrapped in towels and blankets is my tri-loom.  It has about a million nails on the front of it (that's how you weave on it).  I didn't trust the movers to take good care of it, so I wrapped it myself.  I'll hand it on the wall soon.  The white decorations are decals.  I never would have put them there myself.  I'm not a huge fan of the dark purple/maroon color, but it's not bad either.  It's my room and I don't care what color it is.

There is also a closet on the wall opposite of the loom.  In the closet I've got a couple of t-shirts hanging, but also my warping board, inkle loom, sewing machine, and several drawers filled with yarn for the looms.

I love my little corner of the house.

Licence Plates

My clever son updated his blog Stonehelm the Wise.  Also, if you didn't see it, check out my blog entry just before this one about my son.  I think the pictures of him and Doctor Who are pretty cool. :)


OKAY!
Moving to a new state involves many tedious things, like changing your address with everyone and every company you've ever known.  It also involves getting new licences plates for vehicles and new drivers licences.  That involves a trip to the DMV and we all just love going to the DMV, right?  The long lines, the unfriendly workers, and the fact that everyone there is mad about having to be there.  I imagine it is the way one might feel about jail, except in jail they feed you.

In our new state, getting a personalized licence plate cost the same as getting just a standard issued one with it's random numbers and letters.  So I've been thinking, what do I want on my new plate.  I've never done a personalized plate, now might be a fun time to do it.

This is one idea I've come up with:

MVD2MCH

Do you get it? (moved 2 much)

I'm not clever at coming up with other license plate ideas.  I'm looking for suggestions for the van.  I don't want any thing cheesy dealing with mom wagon or family van, five kids, or insane parent.  I think it is pretty obvious that an insane mom is driving a van of kids around.  I don't need to put it in words on the van.  I would love to paint the van like the Partridge Family Bus, though.  That would be awesome.

Come on get HAPPY!

Doctor Who?

Until September, I didn't know anything about Doctor Who except it was an old British TV show.  I didn't know it was modern and popular until my oldest son was introduced to it by his science teacher.  Now the son loves Doctor Who.  He is quite determined that he should be the next Doctor.  Never mind it is a British TV show and he, who is quite American, has no chance at ever becoming Doctor Who.

The newest Doctor is the youngest actor to take on this role. This actor's version apparently likes to wear a bow tie and has been known to wear a fez.  My son thinks this is quite awesome.  For Christmas I got him a bow tie and a fez.  He wears the bow tie to church and the fez around the house.  I have no doubt that if he could find a place to wear his fez in public, he would.  I think his Halloween costume for this coming year is complete and ready.

Matt Smith and one of his famous poses.

My son's version of the Doctor Who pose.

The green thing in the Doctor's hand is called a sonic screwdriver.  My son has one.  There are several other great pictures of the Doctor and my son has done his best to recreate them, but since I don't like to show pictures of my kids online, I won't be sharing those, but let me say, they are quite good.

I have seen very few episodes of the show.  My son really wants me to watch them.  I will some time, or at least see a few more so I'm more familiar with his favorite show.

A few short months ago, I didn't know who Doctor Who was. This is no longer the case.

Two more funny comics

I saw this in the paper yesterday and it made me laugh.  Years ago, before Twitter became what it is today, several friends and I talked about how two moms can't speak a full sentence without getting a interrupted.  If I had only known we had discovered the secret to Twitter, I'd be rich!

Rhymes With Orange  by Hilary B. Price

And this comic strip about teaching anatomy in silly, cutsie ways:

Close to Home

I promise, I did not coordinate my blogs with the comics this week, it just worked out this way, but it seems that the artists are feeling my vibes.

Title: Cutsie Anatomy or What in the World is That?

Organ Wise Guys

This is what they are teaching my children at school and frankly, I find this a little disturbing.  Body organs with personalities and hobbies.  Tennis playing lungs, a dancing muscle (I think), a running bone (with big lashy eyes and pouffy lips), a football playing heart and exercising organs.  However, what I find most odd is the four kids walking with the heart and the, um, what is that?  A pancreas? A section of small intestine?  Perhaps it's the end of the large intestines (If you know what I'm talking about.)

Is this what they are teaching my children?  What ever happened to simply learning anatomy without turning them into cutsie characters with smiling lips?  Disturbing.

Comic

I think this comic captures the frustration with the phone guy I was feeling the other day.

Close to Home comic

By the way, the promised service that would come by sending two guys out to inspect the tower didn't happen.  Guess what - no service!

Did you plug it in the wall?

Do you ever just feel insulted? 

OK, not the best start or the right way to ask that question.

You've seen/heard the joke where the guy calls customer service saying, "well, I turned it on and nothing happened."  And the customer service guys says, "is it plugged into the wall?"  And of course for the joke's purpose, the appliance is not plugged in.  Oops.  Ha ha, we all laugh.

Well, that's fine and dandy for a sitcom, but in real life, it's just plain insulting and yet, you've had that kind of question fired at you when you've asked for help, haven't you?

Today, I call our cell phone server because in our new home we don't get service.  Nothing.  First, I go through the automated menus that ask for the phone number and name on the account.  Then, the automated voice tries to help problem solve with me.  It asks me have I turned the phone off and then on again since having this problem.  Duh!

I get transferred to an operator who asks me for the same information.  Name?  Phone number?  What's the problem?  Did you try turning it off and on?   Calmly I answer in the affirmative.  Then I'm asked, did you go outside?  I explain, again, that we don't get any service for 5 miles away from the house.  This is beyond her power.  She transfers me to the tech guys.

Tech guy asks me name?  Phone number?  What's the problem?  Did you try turning it off and on.  (Really, by this point you have to ask?  Do you really think I'm that stupid?)  I explain there is no service until about 5 miles away from the house.  He asks me, "so, what is it you need me to help you with today?"  I tell him that if there is no way to get service here, we need to alter or cancel our plan since it's silly to pay for services not being received.

He asks me to remove the battery.  It's not going to help.  The problem isn't my phone, it's your service, but I comply.  Nope, still not the problem.  He says to me, "well, now we know the problem isn't your phone."  I slap the air.  Too bad the guy isn't there.

Then he asks me, will you go outside and try?  I say, "Sir, we have no service for 5 miles from the house, going outside on the back porch really isn't going to help."  He tells me to go out and try it anyway.  I go out the back door.  Hello winter weather!  No sir, still no service. DUH!

After a while, he tells me he will put in a service request.  A couple of guys will figure out what is going on with the signal.  There is service, he tells me, but something is interfering with the tower's signal. I should see this entire thing corrected in three days time.

Yeah, dude.  We'll see.

This is just one example I've dealt with recently of such idiotic questions.  It's never their fault, it must be something wrong with me.  Oh silly me.  I forgot to plug it in.  Oh silly me.  I forgot my son's correct birthday.  Gosh, where was I when he was born that I wouldn't remember?  No, wait.  I was there - so BELIEVE ME!  I'm not stupid people!  Give me the benefit of a doubt that I have tried the simple things first.

Rant, rant, rave, rave.  Don't mess with me right now.  I'm feeling confrontational.  Does anyone need their insurance company called?  I will call and yell at them.  I need away from the house, some chocolate and a few laughs. 

A little tea party

My youngest, who is three, got a little colorful porcelain tea set for Christmas.  She has loved it.  Since Christmas, we have had many tea parties together.  We had another this morning.  I warmed some water for her tea pot.  I cut a pop tart into little bite sized biscuits and we had a lovely little party.  We sipped our water, ate our biscuits, and laughed as we wiped up spills every time we used the tea pot.  Good thing neither of us serve real tea parties, we would be disastrous hostesses spilling the tea while we poured.

It was a fun, sweet time with my youngest child.  I was holding her early this morning.  She fell back asleep while I held her and I looked at her pretty face and smiled.  Love those little moments.

Losing and finding the talent

There is in the Bible, the parable of the talents.  I always felt bad for the one guy.  I tend to take the side of the person in those stories who is wrong or is wronged, but that's not what this blog entry is about.

In the talent story one poor guy is given one talent.  To make this story short, let's cut to the end: his talent is taken from him and he goes home sad.

I was given the talent of singing.  I'm not Barbra Streisand or anything close, but I had a pretty good voice and I just loved to sing, even if no one ever heard. (As a teen, I actually sounded a lot like Karen Carpenter, only not as strong.)  I sang all the time.  I sang when no one was around and I loved to sing before an audience.

When I went to college, I shared a dorm suite with four other girls.  To be courteous, I didn't sing around the dorm like I had done around the house while growing up.  I didn't want to disturb them, so I didn't sing. When I got married, I didn't sing for my husband.  To be honest, I was embarrassed.  I don't know why, but I was and I didn't sing.  (Plus we lived in apartments or the basement to someone else's house and I didn't want to disturb the neighbors with my singing.)

Then I had kids.  I felt silly singing for an infant, but I did sometimes.  As they got older, I tried singing for them, but they didn't like it.  I all but quit singing.  Years later, we moved to Hawaii.  While I lived there, I developed a chronic gunk in my throat.  I couldn't get rid of it and it kept me from sounding good when I sang.  I figured when we left Hawaii, the gunk would go away and I would sing again.

Four years later we did leave Hawaii and the gunk in my throat did not go away.  I tried to sing, but it just didn't sound good and it was hard.  I quietly sang hymns at church, but gave up singing any other time.

Then, in October 2010, I tried singing while driving in the car.  I sounded terrible. I hated the way I sounded and even through my husband said I sounded fine, I knew that I didn't sound like I use to and I couldn't stand to hear my own voice.  The talent had been taken away.  But I missed singing.  I decided to start singing again and try to work through the awful sound.  I put some of my favorite songs in the car and I started to sing while I drove.  I didn't care if my kids heard me or not.  If they didn't like it, too bad!  Slowly, I started to notice my voice was getting clearer and stronger.

In November 2011, one year after I began, I sang for my husband.  It was the first time I could ever remember where I really opened up and sang.  At Christmas, I noticed I was able to sing two notes higher than I could a year ago.  A year ago my highest note was really a struggle and now I can go two beyond that.  Those aren't my greatest sounding notes, I'm an alto and need to stay in that range, but I can do it. 

I don't say this to boast, but I have to admit, I'm rather proud of myself when I sing now.  No one who hears me sing wouldn't know how I've struggled and it really doesn't matter.  I know how far I've come and it makes me happy.  Is that silly?  I know I don't sound as good as I did when I was at my peak in my late teens, and I might never again, but at least I don't hate to hear my own voice any longer.  I worked at it and the talent was given back to me.  Now I just have to continue working to keep it.  I can't loose it again.

Phoneless

For someone who hates making phone calls and talking on the phone, I'm sure missing having a phone available to me. I think that I could live without a phone again in a few weeks, but having a phone is kind of critical right after moving.  There is just a lot of phone calls that need to be made, whether I want to or not.

The cell phones don't work out here.  To get even service - not just a signal, but service - I have to drive about four miles away.  At that point, there is no where to pull off the road and make a call.  You have to go another mile down the hill for that.

So, two days ago, while sitting in the parking lot of my kid's elementary school, I made about 8 phone calls.  One of them was to the local phone company.  I told them I need a phone.  Certainly, they would be happy to obliged.  The appointment was made for two days later.  Then they asked me, "Is there a number I can reach you?"

Um, I need a phone and that's why I'm calling you.

I told them I had a cell phone, but we don't have service where we live.  They took the cell phone number.

Apparently, they called the cell phone yesterday to confirm today's appointment.  We didn't get the message until that evening when my husband went to take the boys to Scouts.

What happens if they call today, to make sure I'm at home before sending their technician out and I don't answer because I don't have a working phone at home?

I can't get phone calls at the house, that's why I'm asking for phone service! By the end of the day I may or may not have a phone.

I'm amused by the irony, but completely frustrated by it.

My mushy memory and the Titanic

When I'm at home, I'll think, "OK, next time I'm at the store I need this and that and a new whats-it."

Then I go to the store, walk in and think, "What am I here for?"

I try to write lists, but sometimes, I think of something and by the time I made it to the kitchen where my pen and paper are, I've forgotten.  My brain is like mush.

It goes the same with my blog.  I think of terribly clever things to talk about, but by the time I sit down at the computer, I've forgotten them.  Mushy, mushy, mushy brain.

Oh well!

Today I unpacked the girls room and I put away all the bathroom stuff.  That was fun, let me tell you.

Something I found amusing while driving across America last week:

The year 2012 is the 100th anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic.  A reason to celebrate, right?  I heard about a company that is charging $8000 for people to go on a cruise ship and re-enact the Titanic experience.  How many people are jumping to be first in line for that?  Then, as we were driving through (I think) Tennessee, I saw a large billboard.  Now, I was passing it at 73mph, so I only caught a quick glance, but this is what I saw:

A woman dressed in a maid outfit with a huge smile on her face.  She is holding one arm up in the air as if to say, "Come on in!  Welcome!"  Behind the smiling maid is a large black ocean liner.  The billboard says, "The Titanic, a family experience."

Words failed me.  I laughed.  I had to.  What else are you suppose to do when you see something this ridiculous?  Any thoughts on "The Titanic, a family experience?" 

To top it all off, why is the family Titanic experience in Tennessee?  I don't think they launched the Titanic from there.  I mean, unless they sent it sailing down the Mississippi River first.  So, why Tennessee?

I would be most interested in any insight you might have.

OK, I found a link to the Tennessee Titanic enthusiasits historical family fun website: http://titanicpigeonforge.com/  You can see the maid with her arm up welcoming you to the Titanic!

Progress

My body is tired tonight, but my mind is happy.  I got the entire kitchen unpacked today!  It took all day long (from about 10:30 - 4:30).  I ended up just dumping out most of the boxes into the middle of the floor and just sorting it all out.  I repacked three boxes of kitchen things that I just don't have room for in the kitchen. 

The kitchen looks great. I took pictures, but I haven't found the cord to connect the camera to the computer. When I find that, I'll post some pictures of the house.

Remember when I talked about wanting my own room and my Eiffel Tower lamp that I wanted a cozy corner for?  Guess what - I have that cozy corner in my own room!!!!!  In my room, I've got all of my looms, my rocking chair, and a little book shelf that I'll put my weaving books on (when I find them).  On top of my little book shelf is my lamp, and a scented diffuser.  I'll hang a few pictures in there when I find a hammer and nails.  It's a perfect little slice of heaven for me.  I'm thrilled to have my own place to hide away in.  Again, when I find the camera cord, I'll post pictures.

Today I ran to WalMart and got all those little household items that you need in a new home.  This home is dark.  We are in the country with no street lamps.  I had to get night lights for several kid rooms and the main bathroom.  I needed new furniture polish, light bulbs and Clorox wipes. An exciting trip, right?

Well, I'm excited about the progress.  I feel good about what I accomplished.  Now I just need some Tylenol and some sleep.

Utterly exhausted

If this blog entry isn't entirely coherent, it's because I'm very, very tired.

We've had a crazy few weeks.  Ten days ago, the movers finished packing up the house.  I believe that was on a Wednesday.  Thanks to good friends, my kids had places to go that day to play.  We spent the night at another friend's house, since our entire house was packed away in a moving van.  They had comfy beds for us.  I was so very tired.

Thursday morning, I went back to the house.  Three other friends came over and they helped me scrub my floors.  Every inch of the floor in that house was tiled.  To get that tile clean, it has to be scrubbed with a scrub brush.  We only had two scrub brushes and two mops, but we got it all cleaned.  It was amazing.  Those tiles are hard on the knees because you have to kneel while scrubbing, but those friends helped me without a single complaint.  They were so dear to do that.  We left the house at noon and I had a few errands to run.  We finally left the city to head out on our journey at 2 in the afternoon.  We arrived in Midland, Texas six hours later and stayed in a hotel room.

Friday morning we left Midland and six hours later we were in east Texas at my parent's home.  It was so wonderful to be there.  My parents and Gran were there.  The kids were so happy to be out of the van.  They played and played for hours.

We had a wonderful Christmas with family in Texas.

I left my parent's home on Wednesday, December 28th.  We drove and drove and drove and arrived in Tuscaloosa, Alabama around 5:30pm.  We ordered a pizza to our hotel room and we watched movies on TV.  My youngest daughter was  bouncing off the walls and jumping on the beds of the hotel room. 

Thursday we drove from Alabama to Salem, Virginia.  It was another long day in the van for everyone.  I don't think I had ever been through Tennessee before, but I loved it there.  It was green and rolling hills.  It was really pretty country.  I listened to a radio program for a while that was broadcasting from Detroit! 

The trip from Salem to our home near DC was only four hours yesterday.  I drove through some gorgeous areas of Virginia.  It was really beautiful.  Thanks to the GPS, I was able to find my way to the house, where the Hubby was waiting.  If it weren't for the GPS, I never would have found my way.  The house is tucked up in some hills, through winding roads that are filled with tall trees and beautiful homes.

Our home is very nice.  In another post I'll describe it more.  I like most everything about it except it has no garage.  Where do we store all of our stuff?  Where do we put holiday boxes?  Oh, and the kitchen is very small, but after the wonderfully huge kitchen I had in New Mexico, any kitchen would seem small.

Today the moving van arrived with out house stuff. It took the guys about six hours to unload everything.  The house is just filled with boxes.  I've unpacked a lot, but there is still so much to do.  I'm feeling quite overwhelmed and my feet are killing me.  I'm looking forward to sleeping tonight in my own bed again.  I'm just looking forward to sleep.   If I make it to mid-night to see the new year in, it will be amazing.  My husband reminded me tonight that unpacking the house is a marathon, not a sprint.  I can't do it all today.  Good advice.  Maybe it's time to quit the unpacking for the year :) and relax with a cup of root beer and a plate of cheese and crackers.  Yeah, that sounds like a plan.

Happy New Year!

It's a shame when.....

It's a shame when you are having a great hair day and will spend that entire day in the car.

Traveling

Tonight we are in Alabama.  Tired of traveling, we ordered a pizza for dinner.  We are eagerly awaiting the pizza.

We started the day in Texas, drove through Louisiana, Mississippi, and now we are in Alabama.   The kids have been great.  We have one more full day on the road tomorrow.  Friday will be a short drive.

I had a wonderful visit with family in Texas, but I am very excited to arrive in our new home in Virginia.

Just a few more days.... I can make it.

Slightly hysterical

Today I am slightly hysterical.  I keep telling myself it will all work out in the end.

I mean, so what if I forget to keep something out and the packers pack it away in a box.  This isn't an uncivilized country.  There is a WalMart every 10 miles in every city across America.  If I've forgotten something desperately important, like a toothbrush, I can buy a new one.

I will be reunited with all my stuff in about three weeks time.  I'll probably get all the boxes off the truck and wish I didn't have so much to unpack.

I admit I haven't had much patience with the kids (they've been bickering so badly), and I've sometimes been annoyed with my husband for leaving me in this situation, again.  I'm mad at myself for not having it more together.  I've not been terrible, but I've not been great either.

Today I took a pile of stuff to the local Goodwill drop off and on the way home I had my hysterical sobbing moment.  By the time I got home, I felt much better having let off some of that emotion and frustration and was able to face the house and kids again.

There is still SO much to do.  I guess what will happen will happen.  My sister reminded me tonight that in a few days, I'll be at my parent's home, resting, laughing and relaxing.  It will all be OK.  I've made plans to get together with a few friends from high school.  One of them I haven't seen in 20 years.  I'm excited to see them both and meet their families. It will be a merry Christmas.

My husband found a house for us.  I'm relieved.  I saw some pictures of it today.  It looks like a nice home and it has a yard!  A real yard with a fence and grass and trees.  It will be green in the spring.  How lovely it will be.  The kids will be able to play outside again.  We move in New Years Day.

If I am gone for a while, it's because I'm moving.  I disconnect the Internet tomorrow.  How will I survive?  If I'm not here again before Christmas day, then I want to say to ya'll,

Merry Christmas!

How time flies

The move is upon us.  It's almost here!  The movers come on Tuesday!

There is so much to do and yesterday I was kind of freaking out about it, but then I remembered that no matter what, the movers will come, the house will get packed and we will leave.  Taking care of my huge to do list will make the move easier, but it will happen regardless.  So, I shouldn't stress out to much.  It will all work out.

One week from today is Christmas!  Yay!

Yesterday I emptied the pantry, cleaned the shelves and repainted them.  I cleaned the stove and oven.  I hate cleaning the stove and oven. I cleaned the fridge.  I still need to do the freezer size, though.  I held a yard sale.  It was freezing cold outside.  I looked completely ridiculous, I'm sure, sitting in my big, soft computer chair, wrapped in a red and black Scotty dog blanket, sitting in the driveway.  To keep me occupied during the several hours outside, I read a book.  I found Black Narcissus  by Rumer Godden at the used book store.  I've been wanting to read it for a long time, but the book is out of print and most of the copies I can find online are more than I'm willing to pay.  I got lucky at the last trip to the used bookstore.   It's a great book.

I need to take down all the pictures in the house, puddy the holes and paint over the puddy.  Tomorrow I'll take down the few Christmas decorations I put up.  The tree is up with only the lights, the star on top and about 6 candy canes the kids hung up.  I also hung a small wreath and two strands of lights on the porch. 

Tonight I pack the kids suitcases (as much as I can.) I hope they don't pack the washer and drier until the last.

The other day, I was at the Walmart.  I was in the toy section with my youngest, letting her play with the toys before we moved onto the shopping.  I saw a Magic 8 Ball.  After thinking of all the many things I could ask it, I finally asked it, "Is everything going to work out with the move?"
It answered me: "Outlook good."

Pizza Cereal

The other morning, my three year old asked me for pizza for breakfast.  We didn't have pizza.  She asked again for the breakfast pizza.  I had not made a breakfast pizza.  Frustrated with me, she showed me what she wanted - Honey Combs cereal.

Yeah, I guess it kind of looks like little pizzas.  So now, when I list the cereal choices to her, she gets to choose between cocoa bombs, pizza cereal, or the stuff in the red bag.

What to join us for breakfast?

The Christmas play

My Auntie M's Children's Theater just had it's second production.

It was a reader's theater called "What Will You Tell Us of Christmas?"
The reading cast was divided into three groups and they read as a chorus.  Choral reading is really becoming a lost art among children.  They don't do those kinds of things in schools anymore.  No more reading plays or poetry.  So, a play like this is really a unique opportunity.

It turned out so cute.  The kids did great.  There was one little hiccup in the show, but it's pretty funny.  During the show, the children sang the first verse of several Christmas carols, but they never could get the tune right for "Once in Royal David's City."  They always sang it to the tune of "Hark, the Herald Angel's Sing."  I sang it for them, we even had a pianist playing the song during the show.  They still couldn't get it right.

I was sitting back stage during the show to help the little actors with costume and prop changes.  I just shook my head and laughed during the one poor mixed-up song.  Other than that, it was great!

Here is a picture of the cast after the show. Yes, we had 2 boys and 13 girls.  After the show, we had cookies and lemonade, which many of them are holding.

Thanks to my sweet kids and the parents who helped me out with the set up and clean up.
I'm sad that this was our last show here in New Mexico.  I'll take Auntie M's to Virginia and maybe I can start up something there this summer.

Christmas Shows

In October I talked about some of my favorite TV shows and their Halloween episodes.

Now it is Christmas time!

Those great Christmas specials are out and playing on TV now and I have a few favorites:

A Charlie Brown Christmas - classic.  Just classic.
Garfield Christmas

Favorite Christmas movies:
A Muppet's Christmas Carol
Several of the Christmas Carol versions: George C. Scott and Alistair Sim
Scrooge with Albert Finney (I love the song, "Thank You Very Much.")
White Christmas - gosh, I just love the songs and dances and I think Rosemary Clooney is just amazing

TV shows:
The Monkees - a cute episode to be sure, but at the end, they sing A cappella "Riu Chiu" and it is beautiful.  The harmony is amazing and it is such a fantastic display of their talents.

Enjoy!

Dear Friends

Last night was a busy one.  My oldest son had his last orchestra concert at this middle school.  It was in the cafeteria of the local high school and involved every orchestra and choir from two middle schools.  As you can imagine, there were a LOT of families in that cafeteria.  It was hard to hear the performing groups.  Before that concert was over, my next two kids had their piano recital.  My two kids did a duet.  It was sweet and they did very well.

Hubby left yesterday morning to go to our new home.  Well, he's going to stay in a hotel because we don't have a home yet.  That's his job while he is there before the rest of us arrive in three weeks.

I had to rely on a friend to help me last night.  I couldn't be in two places at once.  I'm an independent person and I don't like to ask for help, but there was no way around it yesterday.  Thank goodness for dear friends.

I've been blessed here to know many wonderful people and have many good friends.  I'm sad to leave them. It's sadly funny, but you know who your good friends are when you are moving because they all offer to help with that trickiness that is moving.  They have said, "Do you need help packing?" "Do you need help cleaning?"  "Do you need a place to stay?"  "I'll take the kids anytime you need so you can get some work done without them."  Then there are the people who say, "What day are you packing?  I'll be there."  They don't just offer, they are ready to put it on their calendars.

It's truly amazing.  Thankfully, I don't need help packing.  The movers will do that for me!  Hooray!  We have a place to go after the movers have packed our things.  I've got sleeping bags, but on our dumb concrete floors, it's not a fun place to sleep.  My husband's co-worker and his wife (my son's cello teacher) are putting us up in their house.  I've told them you don't need to do anything special for us.  We'll just all crash in your living room.  But no, they'll have two bedrooms waiting for us.

If I really thought about all the generosity that is being shown us, I would break down and cry and you might not be able to pry me away from my empty house.  How can I leave?

I just hope that I can find good friends where we are going.  I hope I can help someone in return.  I hope I can repay the kindness that is being shown me.

I didn't mean to be so mushy and I didn't intend to write this when I sat down to blog, but I can't help it today.  Thank you dear friends.  Thank you.

The Rio Grande

Here we are standing in the middle of the Rio Grande.  It's dry during the winters and fast flowing with water in the summers.  A number of miles up stream is a dam.  Right now they aren't letting any water through.  It's been a dry year, until this last week.

I knew we couldn't move without getting our picture taken in the middle of the Rio Grande.  We were surprised by the very soft sand and clams in the sand!

It was very cold that day and it started to rain while we were in the middle of the river.  We took a few goofy pictures and hopped back into the warm van.

Then on Monday, it snowed!  Tuesday was a snow day!  The kids loved that.  Today the world is back to normal, except for some snow left unmelted in the shadowed places of the city.  Pretty cool.  Actually, it's pretty cold.  Today, when my son left for school it was 20 degrees.  I wouldn't let him out of the house to go to school until he had put on long pants.  Monday, the day it snowed, he went to school in shorts and a t-shirt.  He was so mad at me today and told everyone about the cruel and unusual punishment that he has endured because his mother made him wear long pants.  He still wore a t-shirt and no jacket....

Teenage boys..... what can you do?

The Lamp

We are quite practical when it comes to furnishing our house.  I don't have a decorating gene in my body.  My sister got them all!  We have a black sofa.  We have a black rocking chair.  We have bookshelves that hold books.  The pictures on the wall are family photos.  I've tried to match all the frames, but that's about all the decorating I do.  I would like to decorate.  I would like to make cozy corners with a side tables, comfy chairs, and a gee, I don't know.  A knick knack?  What do you do with a cozy corner with a table and chair?

See I'm really not talented when it comes to decorating.

Last week, my son's employer (and a good friend of the family) gave our son a family gift.  It is a lamp.  The lamp is shaped like the Eiffel Tower!  I love it!  It's so art deco.  Now I know what to put in that cozy corner with the table and chair - my Eiffel Tower lamp.

Too bad I don't have that cozy corner.  For now it sits on my kitchen counter.  Hey!  Maybe the next house I can have a cozy corner. Now I just need a comfy chair, a side table and a house to put it all in....

Back on line

I'm so happy to have my computer back.

Today was our last play practice for Auntie M's Christmas play.  This has been a very different kind of play and experience for me.  It's been fun.  I'm not nearly as stressed out as I was last time, but there are a few things that I'm just not sure how they will come together for the play next week.  They may not, and that is OK. 

I didn't want to involve kids younger than six, but instead I ended up with two 4 year olds.  They, actually, are doing great.  Although one of these cute 4 year olds was picking his nose on stage today.  I laughed.  It's amusing to see a shepherd digging for gold.

Next Saturday morning is the big show.  I'm excited for it.  It will be a lot of fun.  The play is short, maybe 25 minutes long, and half of that time is singing Christmas carols.  I'll be glad when it is done.  Since we are moving in three weeks, not having my Saturday mornings free to work on things has been difficult.  I really need to hold a yard sale.  I could just take all the stuff to the local Goodwill, but it would be nice to try and make a little money first.  Moving is so expensive.  Anything extra I can get will help.

This next week will be crazy!  Not bad, just busy.  I bought paint so I can start touching up the walls in the house.  I'll work on painting on Monday.  I'm NOT doing that while all the kids are in the house.

Well, I'm just kind of rambling.  I'll stop that for now.  There is a lot to work on....

I decided not to pull out all the Christmas decorations this year, but I did pull out the tree and put lights on it and the star on top.  That is probably all we'll do with the tree, but it sure is pretty to have my little tree with the blue lights on it.  I love Christmas lights.

Just a funny thing:  Last night I made my oldest son laugh while he had three saltine crackers in his mouth.  Yeah, there was a lot of cracker pieces to clean up, but it sure was funny.

The Phone

Years ago, we had a phone.  It had been a good phone.  It had actually gone through the washing machine (accidentally) once.  And yet, it lived, worked, and was good to us for many years.  Then it died.

I used a cheap corded phone while I decided what to do next.

My sister had just bought a new phone for her house, so she mailed me her old one.  Now, the reason she bought a new phone was because the old one was very unreliable.  She was quite annoyed with it.

Now, I was in possession of the annoying phone.  It did give us trouble, but most of the time it worked.  Then, as time passed, it got more and more unreliable.  It didn't ring.  It wouldn't give us a dial tone.  It was not a good phone.  But, I was too cheap to buy a new one and of course, I didn't want to offend my sister, who had so graciously given me the phone.  (In retrospect, she probably sent me that phone to pay me back for trying to sell her when she was a baby.)

The phone got worse and worse.  I called it the stupid phone.  I would see someone out and about in town and frequently heard, "I tried to call you, but your phone did something strange."  and I would say, "Yes, it is a stupid phone."

Still, I was too cheap to go out and buy a new one. 

Well, this last week, it wasn't working at all.  We couldn't make calls out and we weren't getting calls in.  I yanked it from the wall and tossed it out.  I plugged in a cheap corded phone again.  My new cheap phone is a white, slim-line phone with no connections to oriental food what-so-ever.  (That's for you, sis)

Today, I admitted to my sister that I had gotten rid of the stupid phone.  Do you know what she said to me?  "It's about time!"

Well, (snobby turned up nose) see if I accept a used phone from her again.

the dead computer

My computer is dead.  It's so sad.  It was fine Saturday, then that night it started having problems.  My dear Hubby, who is, in my opinion, a computer genius, has worked on it for days.  He has tried everything, but it could not be safely saved.  Tomorrow he will take it and have it erased.  We have tried to get all the important files off of it and I hope we did.  Right now, the only truly important file is my school file with the two papers I've been writing.  If anything should happen to those, I might go quite crazy.

This won't be long as I am typing from a touch pad keyboard.  I can do it, but it's kind of a pain.

Something kind of funny - my eldest son seems to have a difficult time coming out of rooms when the door is shut.  It always sounds like he runs into the door and has a fight with the knob before he gets out.  Well this morning I joked with him that really needs to remember to open the door before trying to walk out.  He smiled and walked out.  Several minutes later I hear a loud bang against a door and my son going "dang it."

ok this is getting really hard to type on.  later dudes!

Children's Literature

I love children's literature!

I love how fast I can read most of them.  Wow, I just read an entire novel in one hour! (OK, so it's a novel for a 2nd grader, but hey...)

Still, I'm picky about what I read.  I prefer to laugh or feel good while I'm reading a story, so I avoid serious dramas for the most part.  I like a lot of the classics.  I don't like books about dogs who die at the end.  I hated that we had to read Where the Red Fern Grows and Old Yeller when I was in middle school.  They are still making kids read the same books.

I like fantasy and I like biographies.  I like books about everyday life and the silly situations we sometimes find ourselves in.  I like when the main character is an underdog, but manages to save the day.

Some of my favorites:
Peter Pan (of course) - Sir James M. Barrie
Heidi - Johanna Spyri
Long Way from Chicago - Richard Peck - all of his are funny and so heart-warming!
The Chronicles of Narnia - CS Lewis
The NeverEnding Story - Michael Ende
The Hobbit - JRR Tolkien
The Ramona Quimby books - Beverly Cleary
The Phantom Tollbooth - Norton Juster
Harry Potter series - JK Rowling

Recent reads include:
Island of the Blue Dolphins - Scott O'Dell
The Worst Witch - Jilly Murphy (a cute book)
Diary of a Wimpy Kid Cabin Fever - Jeff Kinney

Currently working on:
Swiss Family Robinson - Johann David Wyss  (I'm loving the archaic language.  No one uses the words "repast" or "repose" anymore.)
Five Children and It - E. Nesbit (again, great old language.  It was written in 1905.)

The ol' batteries need a recharge

My batteries need to be changed, I think.  I feel like I'm running down.

Nothing bad is going on.  I'm quite fortunate that life is really pretty good.  Still, I feel like the batteries are dying.  My play is in two weeks.  I've never had all the kids come to the rehearsals at the same time.  One of them told me she didn't have her script because she lost it in her room and she is too lazy to look for it.  Yes, that is what she told me.  Know what I told her?  Find it!  She got my last copy of the script and I'm not making another just because she doesn't feel like looking for it.

I've got two school papers due.  One in December, one in January.  That really isn't a problem.  The problem is we will most likely be moving during those times. Moving in the middle of the semester makes getting homework done and papers written difficult.

Speaking of moving.... where are we going? Somewhere in Virginia.  When are we going?  I don't know.  Some time in December.  How's that for planning?

We lived in Hawaii for almost 5 years.  There is a lot of wonderful things there to miss, but for the most part, I don't think about it much.  Tonight we were visiting with a Hawaiian local that is here visiting family.  We heard her sing in Samoan.  She fed us!  We realized how much we miss that island and the beautiful people on it.  The culture, the food, the kindness.  It isn't the beaches or palm trees we miss.  It's the people we miss.  Too bad this upcoming move can't take us back to Hawaii.

Sigh. OK, that's enough of that. Like I said, things aren't really bad, but I feel worn down. Among other things, I'm concerned about not knowing where we are going, the kids school, saying goodbye to friends and hoping that wherever we go there are people as kind as the ones here. I need a hug. I need someone to hug me and tell me everything will work out just fine. I'm sure it will, but the hug would be nice anyway.

Things will be better Monday.  The kids will be back to school and I will be able to enjoy a little more peace.  My goal is to have my two papers for school finished before we leave and with everyone home for the Thanksgiving holidays, it's been hard to concentrate.

Trans Siberian Orchestra

Last Tuesday, my husband's work's Christmas party for the employees, were tickets to see the Trans Siberian Orchestra.  I wasn't terribly familiar with their music.  I only knew a couple of songs.  If you aren't familiar with TSO, they are kind of an electric guitar rocking band.  They have an electric violinist, two pianist, a drummer on a huge set, and a small string ensemble.  They really rocked the house!  I'm not a head banging, electric guitar rocking fan, but their music was quite awesome.  I had a fun time.  The show lasted for about three hours.  The first half of the show they told a sweet Christmas story with the spoken story being in prose and inbetween the storyteller's tale, they had their music.  Some of it was original music and some was new versions to old tunes like Carol of the Bells (one of their more famous songs.)  The second half of the show was their own oringinal music and showing off their tremendous talents.

The light system was incredible and their were lights in time with the music, laser show, pyrotechnics, and everything you would expect of a rock concert. It was a lot of fun.

Sadly for me, that's the night I got sick, so I was cold, achy and not enjoying the experience nearly as much as I might have otherwise.

I was really amazed to see, among the concert goes, a lot of gray and white haired people.  I was kind of surprised to see so many older folks at the show.  I mean, this was head banging, loud electric guitar music.  But then I got to thinking about these gray haired folks.  These guys were teens or young adults in the 60's and 70's.  This was the generation that went to Woodstock.  This is the generation that saw the Rolling Stones and The Who.  They were the first to go to ear-bleeding, head banging concerts.  Why wouldn't they still enjoy it now? 

This is my 3rd concert I've been too.  If you know anything about me, you might be able to guess who two of my favorite bands are.  Can you guess?  The Monkees and The Beatles.  I was a kid when the Monkees had their 20th anniversary tour and I got to see them when they went to Dallas.  I sat out in the grass for hours, drinking Gatorade and being so excited I could hardly sit still. Then the thrill of seeing Peter, Micky and Davy was beyond anything I had ever experienced. The funny thing about that concert was "Weird Al" was the opening band.  At the time I didn't know who Weird Al was, but it was not a full year later that I was introduced to his music and became a big fan.  All I remember of Weird Al's part of the concert was the "Addicted to Spuds" song.  He had people dressed as potatoes dancing on the stage.

My other favorite band, The Beatles, broke up before I was born, but in the 90's, Ringo Starr and his All Starr Band came to Dallas and I went to see him.  Awesome!

Now I can can Trans Siberian Orchestra to my list of concerts.  It was so much fun.  Next time, though, I need to remember ear plugs.  It was a little louder than I was comfortable with.  I'm such an old fuddy-duddy.

If you've never heard any of TSO before, I recomend this - Carol of the Bells: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4vNcGlM8O3I

if you like that, you should also listen to Wizards in Winter: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XFLOh44P5z0&feature=related