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So Quiet

tag1114 | 26 July, 2008 21:54

Things around our house have settled down just a little and it's all so quiet for now.  We've survived the first few days out of school, sleepovers, birthdays, trips to Chuck E. Cheese and Build a Bear, the mall and too many fast food places to mention.  We've played games, put puzzles together, watched TV and movies, went swimming, played outside and let our imaginations run wild.  And now, without being bored, we're just quiet.  I think the reality of school starting in a little over 2 weeks is hitting us hard.  We're simply not ready.  It seems as though our summer break just started.  Where did it all go?  My girls have a sad look on their face when they think of school and that makes this mom sad too.  Buying school supplies, backpacks, new shoes and a first day of school outfit is a tiny bit exciting but yet those long faces linger on. 

Tuesday we're going to a small amusement park/water park close to our home.  It'll likely be our last outing before school begins.  We do have a paid for trip to Chuck E. Cheese's and we might try to get there again before school starts or maybe we'll save it for a pick me up weekend after school starts.  But for the next two weeks, my girls and I will be busy enjoying one another, I hope.  In many ways, I'm ready for school to begin.  I like a little structure, a little peace during the day and the different pace that the school schedule brings.  But I will miss my girls terribly.  As much as they pick at each other and fuss with each other, they bring me so much delight.  We laugh and act silly and even have enjoyable serious moments. 

Summer, you've come and gone too quickly.  Your hot temperatures will continue on for a while but my girls will be too busy doing homework and worrying about school activities to notice your presence.  I guess I'll have to sit back and wait for my favorite season, Fall.  All the while, wishing you, Summer, were still around just so I could enjoy that laid back summer schedule with 2 of my favorite people.

So the next two weeks in my house will be ...... QUIET.  Just quiet as we soak up the last few days of relaxed schedules, lazy days, long nights and a little too much ice cream.  I'll be back to my 5:30 morning awakenings(6:30 for my girls).  We'll be back to rushed mornings, packing lunches, brushing hair and teeth, tying shoes and grabbing backpacks before heading out the door.  We'll have afternoons filled with homework, lots of whining, stories of what teachers said and what kids at school have done that day.  Nights will end earlier and yet days will be longer as there's much more to do.  So for now, I'm going to turn off the computer, the TV and all the lights and find my beautiful daughter(my oldest because my youngest is with her dad tonight)and spend some girl time with her.  And we'll find the house is all too quiet, just as it will be for me on that first day of school.

Enjoy the quiet times in your life~~

 

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Ever Have One of Those Days?

tag1114 | 13 July, 2008 19:20

One of those days where you should have stayed in bed and if you'd of known, you'd never have gotten out of bed?  Yes, today has kind of been one of those days.  Give me a minute and let me vent, complain and then I'll learn to be appreciative!

First, today was the day we were going to Chuck E. Cheese's to celebrate my youngest daughter's birthday.  No party, nothing fancy, just my 2 daughters and myself.  We decided to go early because it's less crowded and more enjoyable.  We got up, got ready and everything's going good.  (see, after a bad day, I have a way of going back and trying to figure out exactly WHEN the day went wrong)  We walk into CECs and wait and wait and wait....there's not an employee in sight.  And of course you have to wait to get your hand stamped, you can't just go in.  Finally, an employee walks in from outside carrying his Kroger bag.  Hmmm...were they out of food?  Or was he carrying in his lunch?  I don't know but he throws his bags down and acts like he's been there the whole time.  So I must ask him if he's the only one working.  His reply:  "no, they're back there, I guess".  OK.  So I proceed to explain that we had waited about 10 minutes and no one knew we were there.  I get a blank stare.  OK.  Finally as he unhooks the gate so we can go in, he says "sorry 'bout that".  Not a good start but hey, we're there to have fun and this won't ruin our day.  We get tokens, order pizza(yes for BREAKFAST) and play for quite a while and then eat and play some more.  I decided to buy some more tokens, using a coupon I had printed off of the CEC website.  The cashier tells me that they can't use those because there's not an expiration date on them.  OK.  But I printed them off of your website just a few days ago.  She shrugs her shoulders, looks at the boy putting the salad out and asks him if she should take them.  He shrugs his shoulders(is this a problem that happens after you sniff too much pizza dough?), looks at the girls like "who cares" and she asks him again.  He goes through the entire same motions.  I said "never mind, I won't be buying anything else".  I had already spent almost $50 and all I wanted was a few more tokens without having to take out a second mortgage, you know?  I went back and ask for the manager.  The girl looks at me with a half smile and says "ok but it'll be a minute.  <long pause>  He walked down to Circuit City".  OK.  I laugh because I felt like I had landed at some hillbilly circus.  I sit and wait and wait and wait as my kids play games, finishing up their tokens.  Finally, some sleepy headed younger guy looks at me and walks over to me, no smile, no hello, NOTHING.  I proceed to tell him the same story I just told here.  No one to check us in.  He very hatefully says "what time did you get here because I've been here the whole morning?"  I really thought I would laugh and be a true smart a$$ and say "oh really?  You've been here?  But no you weren't here when you were at Circuit City, right?????"  No, I didn't say anything to him because I knew that would only confuse him.  I told him what time we arrived and that I thought everyone was probably in the kitchen.  To that, do you know what he said?  You want to know?  You ready?  He says "well, yeah, what do you expect we need to get food ready for people to buy".  OK, you are kidding me, right?  Now, I'm getting pissed and say "what I expect is for you to have at least 1 employee out here to check your guests in so that we may buy that food you're back there preparing or at least to have a camera in the kitchen so that you can see the guests coming in and come check them in so that we may give you our business".  He looked at me like I was some witch on Halloween night.  But he gives me no response, which was probably for the best.  I then proceed to complain about my coupon, which he grabs from my hand and says "it has no expiration date, I can't help you".  Again, I make my case that I printed it from the official CEC website.  But it's ok because corporate needs to know about his attitude and inability to manage.  He says "it's a corporate rule so I can't do anything."  I say "good, all the more reason for me to call corporate and tell them that if they're going to provide coupons, they should at least allow the stores to accept them, don't you think".  He looks at me crazy again and I really thought he's probably start growling at me at any moment.  He starts to walk off and I say "oh yeah and you may want to tell your employees that it's rude to stand and talk about a customer as they did while you were at Circuit City".  He shrugs his shoulders(I am NOT kidding you)and says "I know nothing about that".  I said "doesn't matter because their attitudes are just like yours and you don't care so why would they?".  At that point, another lady asks him when this coupon rule started because she said she always uses coupons she prints except today because they would not except them.  I told her not to ask him because he has no good answers and they're all rude there anyway.  She laughs and I gather my kids, their receipts for their tickets and the few tokens they had left and we LEFT.  My kids saw how rude the manager was and they were not interested in staying any longer.  SAD.  You know, CEC's is not a cheap place but it's fun, normally, and considering you get food, drinks, entertainment and prizes, I don't mind going from time to time.  I always use coupons though because it's much more affordable and well, I'm frugal.  I like to get more for my money.  And I would have accepted the coupon rule, never said a word, though I do think it's crazy because those coupons are from the website...but I would have just rolled my eyes and said "oh well".  But the rudeness, the attitudes of the employees and manager, the lack of service and customer service that wasn't...it was all too much.  I hate it for my daughter, it almost ruined her day but she recovered, LOL!

THEN.....I take her to an area mall to Build a Bear to use her gift card she received for her birthday.  On the way there, my car just does not feel right but I thought it was the road, since the roads here are awful.  We were only a couple of miles from the mall when the car acted strange anyway.  So we go along, go to Bath and Body Works for my oldest daughter who had a coupon for free lotion(she's a BBWs addict like me).  We then go to Build a Bear(excellent customer service there) and back to Limited Too for my oldest daughter to use her gift cards from her birthday.  She shopped, shopped and shopped and saved tons of money and bought lots of things.  So here we go, back through to mall carrying, 2 cardboard "houses" for the bears, a bag from BBW and 2 HUGE bags from Limited Too.  We get to the car and what do you know...a flat tire.....yes, that funny feeling was NOT the road but rather my flat tire.  Lovely!  I called a couple of people who were not home and finally relied on dear old dad to bail me out.  My girls and I went back inside to wait for a while and then came back to the car.  The entire time we waited, there was 1 person that offered to help and that was after my dad was there.  But, it was a sincere gesture of kindness and much appreciated.  One man, pulled up before my dad arrived, his wife rolled down the window to ask if I was moving and I said "no, I have a flat tire".  That man left so quickly his tires squealed but he managed to say "oh no, god love ya".  OK.  Maybe he thought I would ask him to help. 

I said when I began this that I would vent, complain and then be appreciative.  Though today had it's bad moments and trying times and times when I felt like I wanted to cry, I came home to a cool home with 2 beautiful girls, water, electricity, food and a home filled with LOVE.  I then began to think about a family I don't even know but have been following their journey on a blog.  The husband was diagnosed with a form of leukemia a few months ago.  He received treatment and after the 2nd round of treatment went into remission.  Though I cannot recall all the details, suffice it to say that he became very ill not so long ago with pneumonia and couldn't go further with treatment until the pneumonia was gone.  He passed away yesterday.  He had a wife and 3 very young kids.  This story broke my heart.  I know there's stories like this every day.  And oddly enough, I don't know them but still feel their pain.  I am human after all and I cannot imagine how his wife and family must be feeling.  It put my minor problems of today into perspective.  It made me thankful to only be facing a flat tire and rude managers.  It made me realize that I can still hug my mom, dad, friends and kids.  It made me think about how quickly life can change and how I need to not let minor problems interfere with my enjoyment of life and love.  So read my story of today, shake your head or laugh or feel my frustrations but most of all just know that it's nothing compared to what many people are dealing with. 

On a positive note:  I'm off to watch Big Brother 10!!! 

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Happy Birthday!

tag1114 | 10 July, 2008 21:47

My youngest turns 8 tomorrow.  I'm afraid I'll be busy and not get to post my Happy Birthday wish for her then so tonight I want to say:

Ms. M,

You were born on July 11, 2000 at 10:30 a.m.  You weighed 7 lbs. 1 oz. and were 20 1/4 inches long.  The pediatrician immediately called you a little Peanut.  That name stuck for a while but then you grew and though you are still petite in many ways, you're no longer our little Peanut.  You've grown into an 8 year old beauty, inside and out.  You're feisty and have a zest for life that amazes me.  And yet you have a quiet demeanor.  You're a wonderful daughter, loving sister, sweet grand daughter and kind hearted friend.  You love animals and you love to play hard.  You can be a girly girl with painted nails and play make up, dresses and curls or you can be a girl that likes to play in the mud, scuffs her knees while climbing the tree in the front yard and takes off as fast as possible on her 4 wheeler.  You're competitive but only to a certain degree.  You want to win, you like to win but you'd hang back and wait on your friend so she won't feel bad about being in last place.  That happened in 2nd grade at Field Day.  You were running the 400 meter race and you CAN run very fast as even your teacher noted, your best friend at that time was a rather slow runner, so you ran with her, very slowly, losing any chance at winning a ribbon.  Sweet, sweet girl!  I'm so proud of your loyalty, your kindness and generosity. 

I hope you continue to be the loving person you are now.  I hope you and your sister always have a special bond, as you do now.  I hope you realize that you are a special person and never live in anyone's shadow.  Be YOU because we LOVE YOU!  We always need that slice of life that you give us. 

Have a wonderful 8th birthday, Ms. M.  Enjoy the day, enjoy the year and know you are very loved!

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The Bachelorette

tag1114 | 07 July, 2008 20:04

So I do a lot of "heavy" blogs and tonight I felt it was time to lighten it up a bit.

I'm waiting on the finale of The Bachelorette.  I love reality TV shows, all types on all channels.  I remember many years ago watching The Real World on MTV and loving it and wondering why there wasn't more shows like that on TV.  I have no idea why I'm so attracted to reality shows but I am.  I'm addicted.

If it's a competition type reality show, I find myself rooting for the underdog, the less than perfect looking guy, the open and honest one.  Of course, then I must wonder if that's just how they are for the show.  And I also wonder how much is real and how much is "made for TV". 

Is anyone else as addicted to reality shows as I am?  I've noticed my oldest daughter really likes some of these shows too.  My youngest isn't as much into them, she's still in kids shows like Suite Life of Zach and Cody, Hannah Montana, That's So Raven and those popular shows.

Back to The Bachelorette, who's going to win tonight?  I saw the show last week and DeAnna said she is engaged and the preview tonight said both men ask her to marry them...hmmm.....ok.  Well, I'll know in a little while because off I go to watch!

 

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How Do I Know?

tag1114 | 06 July, 2008 21:27

As a parent I often wonder if what I'm doing with and for my kids is right.  Am I discipling enough, too much, am I babying them too much, are they lazy?  How do I know? 

I watch my kids as they interact with other kids and even each other.  I watch other kids and compare their behavior to my own kids.  I know I probably shouldn't but I like to see how other kids behave in public, treat other kids, treat other adults, respond to their parents and how well other kids listen.  Over all, I'd say my kids are very well behaved and they make me very proud on most days.  But I still wonder if I'm equipping them with the life skills they'll need.  How do I know if I'm giving them the tools they need for now and to grow with?  Am I giving them too much too soon or not enough?  Should I just keep doing what I'm doing and watching them and as long as their behavior is in check, not worry about it? 

As parents, how do we know how to get our kids to each point in life that they need to be at?  I've managed to get my kids through their first 8 and 10 years of life but will the tactics I've been using continue to be successful?  How will I know?  If what I'm doing isn't right, will I find out too late? 

My kids are the core of my world.  Because they're so important to me, I just want to give them what they need at the right time.  I want them to grow up to be successful, happy adults.  Who doesn't want that for their kids?  It's a huge responsibility and I do take it seriously.  At the same time, I want to have a good balance.  I don't want to be so caught up in what the future holds, that I can't enjoy each moment of life as I live it with my children.  I want them to be kids, to play, laugh, splash through mud puddles, eat ice cream for dinner every once in a while, cry for no apparent reason and rely upon Mom to soothe them.  I want them to need me not just today but tomorrow and next week and for years to come.  I want them to enjoy their childhood because after all you only get one chance at it.  Once you're an adult, you can never go back to childhood and do it over. 

So how do I know that my kids will enjoy their childhood, will grow to be wonderful adult women, will need and love me all of their lives and how do I know that I'm doing the right thing now?  I don't but as I walk through each moment with my kids, I'll watch them, pay attention to who they are and how they are, how they treat others and when necessary I'll discipline and teach them what I believe to be the best way for them.  I'll laugh with them, cry with them and enjoy every day with them.....this I know I can do!

 

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Another Birthday Approaching Soon

tag1114 | 03 July, 2008 20:31

My youngest daughter will be 8 on July 11th.  So in honor of her turning 8, I give you 8 things:

 

8 things I love most about you:

1.  You're funny.  And when you know someone finds something you said or done funny, you keep doing it over and over.  Anything to make someone else laugh.

2.  Your innocent, sweet, shy personality.  You have a true love for your family and friends.  You're kind, willing to help people when they need you.  You have a quiet, shy side that's more dominant than your outgoing side until you get to  know someone and then you let loose!

3.  Your beautiful curls.  I know sometimes you hate the curly hair but it's YOU.  It's beautiful and people comment on those curls all the time.

4.  Your big, blue eyes.  I can see your whole soul with those eyes.  They tell me when you're happy or sad, when you're hurt or when you're being mischievous.

5.  Your love of animals.  You keep saying you want to be a vet when you grow up.  I think you would be wonderful as a vet since you truly love animals and don't mind the "yucky" parts of taking care of them.

6.  You're very smart.  Often times you feel like you aren't smart but girl you excel in school, sports and everything that you put your mind to. 

7.  Your big heart.  You hug me so often, telling me you love me.  When you're away from me, you tell me how much you missed me.  You want to be with me, spend time with me and I love that.  You also show so much love to your big sister, your grandparents and your true friends.  You're generous, loving and kind.  Don't change that.

8.  You're YOU.  Sometimes you follow in your sister's footsteps.  But when it really matters, you lead.  You speak your mind, tell me and others what you like and dislike and you don't mind being different from the crowd.  (good example is plaid....so popular, so cute and I love it....you HATE it, loathe it and refuse to have anything plaid!) 

 

8 Things You Like:  in no particular order

1.  Hannah Montana

2.  Jonas Brothers

3.  Candy

4.  Your family

5.  Animals

6.  Video Games

7.  Swimming

8.  The colors pink and purple

 

8 Foods You Like:

1.  Ice Cream

2.  Pizza

3.  Candy

4.  Fruit

5.  Shrimp

6.  Steak

7.  Salad

8.  BBQ

 

 

8 Favorite Activities:

1.  Swimming

2.  Riding Bikes

3.  Riding 4 wheelers

4.  Karate

5.  Jumping on the trampoline

6.  Drawing/Arts and Crafts

7.  Jump Rope

8.  Putting puzzles together

 

8 Places You Like To Go:

1.  Your grandparents house

2.  Chuck E. Cheese's

3.  The park

4.  Rainforest Cafe

5.  Amusement parks

6.  Any swimming pool

7.  Build a Bear

8.  The Mall

 

8 Movies You Like:

1.  High School Musical

2.  High School Musical 2

3.  Hannah Montana 3D

4.  The Incredibles

5.  Camp Rock

6.  Cars

7.  Finding Nemo

8.  Toy Story

 

8 Words That Describe You:

1.  beautiful

2.  innocent

3.  sweet

4.  caring

5.  funny

6.  silly

7.  loving

8.  wonderful

 

8 Wishes For You:

1.  I wish for you a lifetime of happiness.

2.  I wish for you to find real love when you're older and the time is right.

3.  I wish for you good health.

4.  I wish for you to always have forgiveness in your heart.

5.  I wish for you a good education and common sense that will get you where you need to go in life.

6.  I wish for you to have good relationships with your family and friends, even those that you feel have done you wrong.

7.  I wish for you to have a Mom that learns from her mistakes, that you can be patient with and that you'll always love as much as she'll always love you!

8.  I wish for your 8th year of life to be fun, happy and full of memories!

 

Ms. M, I loved you before you were born, while you were still growing inside of me.  I loved you the minute you were born more than when you were growing inside of me.  I loved you when you were a toddler, walking and still learning to talk.  I loved you when you were 5 and started school.  I've loved you more and more each year of your life.  And this year will be no different.  Each day of your life, my love for you grows!  You're an incredible person, a wonderful daughter and I am honored to be your mom.  You make me proud!

I love you~~

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