The Cookie Jar

Useless Greek Mythology?

2011-10-17T19:56:00.001-07:00

I asked my fourth grader what book he was reading in school.

He answered, "I like reading about Greek mythology. Now I'm reading the Adventures of Useless."

I was confused for a second and then asked, "Do you mean Ulysses?"

"Uh, I guess so."

Then I tried to hide my laugh.

Can You Guess??

2011-09-21T10:44:00.001-07:00

What do these things have in common:

A huge card box for a TV

A garden hose

My 9 year old's homework binder

A side table

4 pencils

Any guesses???

No, they aren't things on my son's list of class supplies he needs for this year. But that was just as absurd.

If you lived in my neighborhood and looked out your window this week, those are all things that you would have seen me carrying up the sidewalk. Not all out once of course. That would be ridiculous. In 2 separate trips. On 2 separate days. Why? Because those are things that my kids took out of our house and brought to neighbors house to use in their yards.

It almost makes me look forward to the rain that should be coming soon.

What I Like About You

2011-07-01T09:02:00.000-07:00

My boys have been fighting. A lot. I could say they have been fighting since school got out but that wouldn't be true. I think they started fighting when the younger one was old enough to spit.

Almost everyday I have to be the referee. I'm tired of it. I told the boys that they should respect and love each other. I sat them down and asked them to compliment each other, to tell their brother something they like about him.

My 9 year old started. He said, "I like that you're not in the way too much."

We were off to a great start.

My 7 year old said, "I like your nose."

That went well.

A Home Run

2011-06-30T13:00:00.000-07:00

The other night we decided to take the kids to play tennis after dinner. My boys are ages 7 and 9. This was their first time on a tennis court. They had been asking for a while to go so we thought we would give it a try.

The ball was all over all 6 courts.

Everywhere.

My 7 year old hit the ball really hard and it went out of the court. He smiled and said, "I hit a home run."

"There aren't home runs in tennis, honey."

"But mom, it went over the fence."

"Yes it did."

One nice thing did happen. We started out with two tennis balls and ended up with 4 when we left. How funny.

What Does It Mean?

2011-06-09T18:52:00.001-07:00

My 7 year old stumbled over the word, "microclimate" tonight while doing his homework. I asked him if he knew what a climate was. He did not. So I asked his older brother who was sitting next to us if he knew what climate meant.

He said, "You know when you go up a mountain. You climb it."

I tried not to laugh.

Too cute.

Why?

2011-05-10T19:09:00.000-07:00

Why is it that whenever I need large potatoes to cook with, the bag is filled with small ones. And today I needed 3 small potatoes and there were only large potatoes in the bag. Why???

It must be a conspiracy!

Spring Break Lingo

2011-04-10T20:51:00.000-07:00

My kid were off from school this past week for spring break. Spring, however, never got the memo and failed to show up. We made the best of things indoors most of the time and had some great conversations. My 7 year old asked me, "Mom, if you're dad is in the army, does that make you a veterinarian?" I didn't mean to laugh. I just didn't know where to begin. While my 7 year old and 9 year old were playing a game on their Nintendo DSi's, I heard one say, "I just caught this Pokemon who looks like Lady Gaga!" Another proud parent moment for me. My 9 year old had a friend over and they were discussing the subject of jumping on a trampoline at another friend's house. My son's friend said, "My mom can't jump on trampolines. She pees herself a little when she does." Poor lady! and TMI! Spring break is officially over. Tomorrow they can have more great conversations at school.

Who's Laughing Now?

2011-03-25T12:06:00.001-07:00

I feel so old. I feel like I'm always at the doctor's office. I hate it. Most of you remember that I hurt my back this fall and had spine surgery in December. It's been 6 months and now I'm better. But I put off a lot of things during that time. Last month I caught up on some dental work that I needed. This morning I went to my annual OBGYN appointment.

At the dentist I get to sit back in a chair and watch TV and enjoy some nitrous. It never makes me laugh, but I enjoy it.

At the OBGYN, I have to strip down to a paper towel, lay on a cold table and stare at a Nemo picture taped to the ceiling. This is when I could really use that nitrous!

The doctor walked in and started with small talk and chatted about my history. When she started the physical exam, I was so tense. Who enjoys this?? It is definitely easier having my teeth poked at than having my WhoHa poked at. And have you seen the size of the needles the dentist uses?? That's nothing compared to the size of the speculum! And then comes the scrape, scrape, scrape. I get stressed just thinking about it.

At least it's over for this year. Next year I'm going to search for an OBGYN that has nitrous.

Would You Rather...

2011-03-16T11:36:00.000-07:00

The other day my kids had a friend over and I heard them talking. My 8 year old asked his friend, "Would you rather kiss a girl in public or eat fly?"

His little brother and their friend were laughing uncontrollably at this idea.

The friend finally replied with absolute certainty, "Eat a fly! If I kissed a girl in public it would be all over twitter and facebook."

Horrific to even think about.

My Perfect World

2011-03-10T10:44:00.000-08:00

In my perfect world...

Spatulas would not melt when resting on a frying pan.

Both kids would have soccer practice at the same time on the same field on the same days.

Chocolate would not have calories. or fat. or sugar. or caffeine. It would be like celery.

$40 kids shoes from Nike would last more than 2 months.

My car would always pass inspection on the first time. Or at least the second.

If someone steals your mailbox, they would have to pay the bills that are in it.

Schools would have one winter break, not early winter break, midwinter break, and end of winter break. Only to be followed by spring break.

Furniture shopping would be easy. and affordable.

The guy working at the front desk at the gym would not change the channel when Regis and Kelly comes on.

That would be my perfect world. At least for this week! How about you?

Getting Organized

2011-03-07T13:06:00.000-08:00

I saw an article in a magazine recently with suggestions for organizing your closet. The article suggested that you put your jeans into different piles and then label each one. There was a picture of 4 piles of neatly folded jeans. Under the first one it said, "Skinny." The second was "Flare." The third was something like "Cargo." And I can't remember what the last one was. And I thought, "who has that many jeans??"

Here are the categories that I thought would be more useful:

~~Used to fit me 5 pounds ago~~ Skinny Jeans

Jeans that show my undies when I sit down

Jeans that have holes

Jeans that have stains

Jeans that I actually wear

One lonely pair of jeans that actually get worn. And that's only on my "dress up" days.

Where Is It?

2011-02-26T21:35:00.000-08:00

Tonight we went to a dinner party with some GeoCaching friends. Geocaching is my family's new hobby. You can go to www.geocaching.com and find of list geocaches in your area. Then you need a GPS to enter the coordinates and then go and find them! It's deceptively easy.

One of our favorite things about GeoCaching is finding trackables. Trackables are items that have a unique ID engraved on them. You log in the trackable code and you can see all of the places that it has been. Next you log in where you drop it off. It's fun to look at a world map crisscrossed with lines and discover that the trackable you are holding has traveled 50,000 miles!

Tonight my son traded some trackables that we had found with others at the party. He entered one of the codes and came to tell my husband that this particular trackable had been to Columbia!

My husband asked, "Where is Columbia?"

My son replied confidently, "Canada!"

My husband was confused. I laughed.

Then I said, "I think you are thinking of British Columbia."

My 7 year old chimed in, "Beautiful British Columbia!"

Just like the license plates say.

We see a lot of Beautiful British Columbia license plates around the Seattle area.

But we have never seen a license plate from Columbia.

Let It All Out

2011-02-16T14:04:00.000-08:00

There are days when I find myself complaining a lot.

Today is one of those days.

One of those days when nothing seems to go right. Not that something awful happened, just nothing went exactly as planned.

Yesterday I made an appointment for acupuncture. I spoke with the clinic owner, asked if he took my insurance and made an appointment for today. The procedure went ok. Afterwards I was told that I had to pay $25 because my insurance doesn't cover acupuncture. Umm... but my insurance does in fact cover acupuncture. Turns out that the clinic does take my insurance for other things but they are not contracted for acupuncture. So why did the owner tell me that he took my insurance when I asked about an acupuncture appointment???

I stopped by the store on my way home. I needed milk and wanted to get a few of the sale items. They were out of stock of some of the sale items and I forgot to get the milk.

I hate when I'm at the store looking at something on the shelf and a few minutes later I look up and realize that someone is waiting for me to move out of the way. Don't they know that I don't have eyes in the back of my head?? Why can't people say "excuse me" anymore?? Or at least do a pretend cough so that I know they are waiting for me to move. Am I the only who hates that? Does everyone else just keep a lookout for people that may want to get past you in the grocery store aisle?? I feel like I need to yell "cover me" whenever I stoop down to check the price on the lower shelf.

I hate when someone stops at an intersection and they don't have a stop sign. There is one intersection in the grocery store parking lot that is like this. 2 ways have a stop sign and the other 2 do not. Those 2 lanes should not stop at the intersection. It messes everything up when one of those 2 lanes stops. No one knows what to do at that point. Since it becomes a free-for-all, next time I may just run them over.

A bird left me a present on my car. On my car door handle. Thanks, birdie.

After my adventures at the acupuncturist and the store and the parking lot, I ordered my favorite sandwich from this wonderful Vietnamese restaurant near my house. Warm tofu on delicious bread.... Yum! I picked it up and brought it home. I opened it. I found beef inside. I ordered tofu. I'm a vegetarian.

I think it may be a conspiracy.

I'm supposed to go to chess club soon. I wonder who will be out to bug me there.

Anyone want to let it all out and share your pet peeves? I promise not to tell ;)

My Secret Admirer

2011-02-14T22:52:00.000-08:00

Happy Valentine's Day!

I'm wondering if anyone received an email today from their secret admirer. I did. I don't usually open emails that have subject lines about a "secret admirer" or "someone is looking for you" or "someone loves you" or "we're going to send you $1M and then you send it back to us." Especially that last one.

But today I knew the sender of my "secret admirer" email. I get emails from this person regularly. My admirer included a picture of himself. He's an older man, but looks young. He has great skin, but he could stand to lose some of the fat around his middle. And he could really use a good tan. I've heard that he tastes delicious covered in butter.

Did anyone else get the same email?

I have a feeling that I'm not the only one with this secret admirer.

My secret admirer has a way of getting around.

Anyone else who has subscribed to the Pillsbury newsletter may have gotten the same email from the same secret admirer.

One Solution

2011-02-10T10:53:00.000-08:00

Since injuring my back, I have been using a lumbar roll when driving. I got this Tempurpedic one below. This $50 Tempurpedic one.

I feel like it does help. It forces me to sit up and puts that arch in my back. Did I mention that it cost $50? My kids call it my "peanut" because of the shape.

I like to leave it in the car so that I don't forget it when I go out. But recently we've been hit with some extreme cold temperatures here in the Pacific northwest. It was 30 degrees when I woke up this morning! And the grass was covered in frost. I just wanted to put that out there for all of you who are enjoying the negative degree temps through out the rest of the country. I'm not bragging, just ~~rubbing it in a little~~ mentioning it. (Please keep in mind that if you live in Miami, Hawaii or Southern California, your comments may be accidentally deleted. It is my blog after all.)

My pillow was frozen when I got in the car this morning. It was more like a rock than a pillow! Maybe I should bring it in the house overnight. For a while I would bring the pillow in the house with me each time I came home. Then my kids started using my pillow as a very expensive indoor football.

I believe the term "indoor football" is an oxymoron. Not only did I enjoy watching my pillow be tossed around and barely miss knocking over the TV or landing on the stove while I was cooking dinner, I also never could find it when I was ready to go somewhere. So I went back to leaving it in the car.

This morning it was frozen solid.

I have a solution. I will be moving to Aruba next week.

Et tu, Brute?

2011-02-08T20:21:00.000-08:00

I have been feeling a little old lately. I had to walk with a cane when I ruptured the disc in my back. I had to go to therapy at a nursing home to help with my back. I was taking more medications than everyone at Seattle Grace Medical Center combined! Okay, I may be exaggerating a little on that last one, but not the others.

And now this??

I came down with bronchitis over the weekend and the pharmacist filled my prescription into one of those bottles with the big lids. The big lids for certain people who have trouble opening lids. The big lids that make it easy for old people (like me apparently) to open their medication.

Et tu ~~Brute~~ pharmacist?

My husband is still laughing.

You Can't Lose

2011-02-07T16:09:00.000-08:00

My kids (ages 7 and 8) were so excited about the Super Bowl. I'm still not really sure why. We live in Seattle, and we're not Packers fans or Steelers fans. This year we didn't even have any big plans for the game, no Super Bowl party to attend.
We did watch the game yesterday. My 8 year old had decided he wanted the Packers to win. My 7 year old copies everything the 8 year old does, so he also wanted the Packers to win. My husband thought the Steelers had more of a chance to win, so he took their side.About halfway through the third quarter my 7 year old starting cheering, "Go Pittsburgh! Go Pittsburgh!" over and over again. I said, "I thought you were cheering for the Packers."
The look on his face said it all. He was cheering for the Packers. You know, the Pittsburgh Packers. My husband and I laughed at how he had all of his bases covered.
My 7 year old thinks he knows everything. Last week he came home from school and told me that winter is almost over because the ground hog didn't see his shadow. "That's right," I said. He replied very proudly, "only 6 more days of winter left." So mark your calendars everyone and get your sandals and sunglasses ready!

Merry Christmas

2010-12-23T11:53:00.000-08:00

I know it's been a while since I've blogged. I don't like to blog when I have nothing positive to say. I went through a really difficult, really dark time.

I ruptured a disk in my spine. I didn't do anything specific to rupture it. I wish I had a great story about how I was climbing a mountain in the Alps and then when I tried to save one of my fellow climbers my back snapped and I had ruptured a disk. But that wasn't the case. I wasn't doing anything and all of a sudden I couldn't stand up. The pain in my leg was unbearable. I couldn't sit. I could do anything but scream in pain.

My husband took me to the ER where they gave some pain meds and did an MRI and said to go see a surgeon the next day. I got shoved around by the medical system for a few weeks. I was repeatedly told that my condition was nonsurgical and that it would get better with time. Finally one doctor said to go see another surgeon for a second opinion (really it would be about the 10th opinion!). This surgeon said that my symptoms were straightforward and that he would do surgery in 10 days. He said that surgery would take about 1.5 hours and that I would spend one night in the hospital.

My husband waited for 6 hours while I was in surgery and recovery. The surgery took 2.5 hours and I ended up spending 2 nights in the hospital.

Yesterday I went to my post-op check up. All the bandages and surgical tape was removed. I'm able to walk again. (I had to use a cane for 8 weeks). I'm still restricted in bending, twisting and lifting. But I feel so much better.

Here's my Christmas card to you:

May your Christmas be filled with brotherly love.

I Want to Wear High Heels and Dance!

2010-11-02T13:28:00.000-07:00

Or at least be able to sit in a chair for more than 5 minutes.

I hurt my back... again. No accident, no fall or anything. My back just started hurting. To the point where I couldn't stand or sit. My husband had to take me to the ER. It's been over two weeks and I still can't sit upright for more than a few minutes at a time and that's on a good day. I've been to all kinds of specialists and tried all kinds of drugs. I'm anxious for this to be over so that I can wear high heels and dance. That's my goal.

I don't usually like to "complain" on my blog. I prefer to share the happy things. So hopefully you'll see a picture of me wearing high heels soon! Until then, I'll be on the couch.

A Busy Day

2010-09-30T20:53:00.000-07:00

Today was a busy day with the usual chores and errands. I paid some bills, did laundry, did the dishes, mowed the lawn etc. Then after lunch I went to the craft store to look for some Halloween ideas. I stopped at the mailbox on the way home and picked my kids up at the bus stop. The busy day didn't end there. Then it was time to get homework done and then a neighborhood kid came over to play. Tonight my 6 year old had soccer practice. My friend has a son on the same team and we alternate weeks to take the boys to practice. Tonight was my turn to drive.

I pulled into their driveway and said "Hi" to my friend. Then I opened the car door to help her son hop into the backseat. I saw a small postcard on the ground. I picked it up. It was a reminder from my OBGYN that I need to schedule an appointment.

Classy, I know.

I'm very glad that it was my friend who was in the driveway with me and not her husband! I was so embarrassed. So I'm no longer going to be able to put the mail on the seat in the car again. Ever.

A New Boyfriend

2010-09-26T12:36:00.000-07:00

Friday my 6 year old came home from school and told me, "Mom, Anne (name changed) has a new boyfriend!"

"Oh really? Who is it?" I asked.

"Tommy" he replied smiling (name changed again).

My 6 year couldn't stop giggling. So I asked, "Does Tommy know about this?"

He replied, "I don't think so."

Then I couldn't stop giggling.

What Bumper Stickers and Cell Phones Have in Common

2010-09-22T09:01:00.000-07:00

This morning as I was leaving the gym I noticed a bumper sticker on the back of a car that said, "Where's the Birth Certificate." It was written in big black letters and that's all it said. It made me pause and read it again. I guess I was looking for a clue.

I drove away still wondering what it meant. Then I thought, that's funny. I should take a picture and post it on my blog.

So I drove back around and leaned out of my car window with my camera phone and took a picture.

Do you like the picture?

You can't see it, right? Well, not only do I not understand bumper stickers but I also don't understand camera phones. I can't find the picture anywhere on my phone.

Just last night my husband said, "We've had our phones for a year now. The contract is up and we should get new phones."

"No," I said. "I still haven't figured out how to work this phone, if I get a new one, I'll have to start all over again!"

So what do bumper stickers and cell phones have in common? They can both stump Cookie.

What's A Hippie Anyway?

2010-09-21T20:20:00.000-07:00

Tonight I was doing a puzzle with my 8 year old son. We were joking around and he teasingly called me a "hippie." I laughed and asked, "do you even know what a hippie is?"

He said, "Isn't it the same as a hobo?"

"No," I replied. "A hippie is person from the 70's who is all about love and peace. Someone from my mom's generation."

He said, "Really?! I didn't think your mom was like that."

Good thing my mom doesn't read my blog.

Still Here!

2010-09-17T08:46:00.001-07:00

I admit, I've been a very bad blogger lately. I'm sorry. I have thought about writing now and then. I think my last post was a short one about my nephew. He lives in Detroit. I went to visit him this summer when my sister had a baby. That's a very difficult thing for me to say, "My sister had a baby," because that's not the full truth. My sister had twins, a boy and a girl. The boy lived for 5 hours. She found out at 34 weeks into the pregnancy that the boy's lungs were not developing. Those last 6 weeks were horrible. I went to be her for the birth and the death. It was so sad to look into his eyes knowing that he wouldn't be there for long, knowing that he didn't have a chance.

The baby girl is healthy and home. The boy was buried with his great grandfather. The funeral was 2 weeks after the birth and I wasn't able to return for it. I still wish I had.

So it's taken me a long time to go back to "normal." I still feel like nothing will ever be the same. But slowly happiness has returned.

Yesterday I drove my 6 year old and one of his teammates to soccer practice. From the backseat I heard my son telling his friend, "Our car is really old. It's from the nineteen hundreds!"

He is right. The car is a 1999. But I never heard it put that way before!

And one more thing that my 8 year old said when we were at a restaurant. He ordered pasta with butter sauce and french fries. (You can only get away with that when you're 8!) My husband asked him how he liked his dinner.

My 8 year old said, "It's good, but I like mom's better."

I smiled.

Then he added, "the one she makes from the box."

My husband laughed.

The King of the Jungle

2010-08-05T18:21:00.000-07:00

I was visiting my 3 year old nephew for a week. He picked up the book next to my bed and read me a story. He said, "I'm going to read a story called, 'The king of the Jungle'." He opened the book and read, "One day there was a king of the jungle."

Then he closed the book and said "The end."

He's destined to be a great author one day.

What I learned During Summer Vacation

2010-08-04T18:19:00.000-07:00

I try to keep the summer filled with educational things for my kids. Tonight they learned that if you laugh and drink milk at the same time, the milk will come out of your nose. And onto your dinner plate.

This proud parent moment is brought to you by the Washington Dairy Farmers Association.

Webster's

2010-07-27T15:54:00.000-07:00

Today I took my kids to see the movie, "Hotel For Dogs." They loved it. The theater was packed with kids. There was one line in the movie when a said, "I'm going to sue you!" My 6 year old turned to me and whispered, "What does sue mean?"

I hushed him.

Then I heard the little girl next to me say to her mom, "Mom, what does sue mean?"

Her mother replied, "It means getting money from a person."

So true.

How Can You Eat That??

2010-07-23T14:10:00.000-07:00

Today was my kids' last day of chess camp. We out to IHOP afterwards to celebrate. My 8 year old read the list of flavors of syrup. Suddenly my 6 year old looked worried and said, "How can you eat that?"

I didn't understand what he was referring to. Then my 8 year old said, "It's Boysenberry, not poison berry."

My 6 year old replied, "Well, that's a scary name!"

So far no deaths have been reported by eating Boysenberry syrup at IHOP.

Whew.

I Take That Back

2010-07-21T10:24:00.000-07:00

Yesterday my kids were inside playing video games. It was a nice afternoon and I was planning to do some yard work so I sent the kids outside to play.

My 8 year old asked me if he could cut some blackberry bushes that were invading his fort by the swing set. I told him, "Sure, go ahead."

About 40 minutes later I surrendered to my weeds and was putting the garden recycling can away when my 8 year old said, "Mom, come over here and look what we've done to our fort!"

OMG. They had cut all of the ivy on the hill. The ivy that needs to be on the hill so that the hill remains a hill. We do live in Seattle. The rain will be here soon enough and the hill will be gone.

So I take back what I said earlier. "Please go back inside and play video games."

My husband is going to be really mad when he sees the bare hill. So nobody tell him, okay. Hopefully it will grow back before the Autumn monsoon starts.

Uh Oh

2010-07-20T13:44:00.000-07:00

Usually my blog is about my kids and the silly things they do or say. Today I'm writing about me and the silly thing I might have done.

On Saturday I went to a friend's house to meet up with some friends and play Bunco. I brought an hors d'oeuvre to share. It was crackers with cream cheese and jalapenos. Simple and yummy! My husband took the kids out to dinner so he used my car and I drove his car.

I came home and my bag was wet. The jar of jalapenos had leaked. Just a little. The jar remained filled with jalapeno juice. So I dropped the bag in the laundry room.

On Monday when my husband drove his car to work it stunk like a jar of jalapenos. Whoopsie. Never thought that it may have leaked through my bag and into his car.

When he came home I used some carpet cleaner and then some baking soda to try and get the smell out. When I was done he car still smelled but then it smelled like cleaner, not jalapenos.

He sent me an email today saying it still smelled.

So now I'm shopping for a new car.

Spelling Test

2010-07-12T09:03:00.000-07:00

The other day while in the car my 6 year old said, "Mom, do you spell 'gum' 'G-U-M'?"

"Yes, that's right." I replied.

Then he said, "So do you spell 'come' 'C-U..."

I started to slam on the breaks and scream "NOOOOOO!" But luckily before I could, my 8 year old interrupted laughing, "no, it's C-O-M-E."

Whew. Good thing the 8 year old was there.

Why do they learn how to sound out words anyway?!?!

Funny Signs

2010-06-16T10:44:00.000-07:00

I came across these signs on the Internet this morning and they made me laugh. Hope they make you smile too!

Do you think police are giving out a lot of tickets for not stopping here?

I'm glad my children don't play here!

A Little Bit of History

2010-06-13T10:23:00.000-07:00

Here's a little bit of history you probably didn't know about...

The second civil war started when the small states in Europe were fighting the big one. Then it moved over to Asia and Japan bombed Pearl harbor, so the US entered the war and bombed Nagasaki. Then Japan surrendered on a boat. And Canada signed in the wrong place.

This account was given by 6 year old. I heard him saying this to his friend yesterday morning. I think it may have something to do with our visit to Pearl Harbor while we were in Hawaii last week.

Annoying

2010-06-10T10:21:00.001-07:00

The other day my 8 year old was teasing my 6 year old. Finally my 6 year old had enough and said, "Stop it! I'm getting annoying!"

Like the good mom that I am, I chuckled. I'm pretty sure he meant to say that he was getting annoyed, but I didn't say anything.

In other news, I finally did it. I got my hair cut. 11.5 inches. I donated it to locks of love which is great because I found a swanky salon that gives a free hair cut when you donate your hair. I did the same thing 5 years ago. A $50 haircut for free! Well kinda for free. I have to wait another 5 years to get another free hair cut.

I Still Can't Figure It Out

2010-06-08T14:53:00.000-07:00

My bluetooth. I know it's only one button. But I can't figure it out. I hung up on my sister today. Twice. And I ignored my husband's call. When I finally pressed the button I heard it ringing. I'm sure I hung up on someone else in my phone book. So sorry.

Now for my lame excuse for not being here. I just got back from Hawaii. I went with my husband and kids for 7 days. We met my husband's family there for 4 days. They traveled from Japan. I'll try to post some pics later. Not that anyone really wants to see me in a bathing suit, so I might just post some pics of the kids.

I know that's only 7 or 8 days accounted for. I also hurt my back. I was out of commission for almost a month. I was taking so much medicine and had two shots in my spine. You know someone is in a lot of pain when getting a needle inserted into her spine sounds like a good idea. And the second shot seemed to have done the trick. Oh, I also got a fashionable back brace. It's about 2 feet long and fits like a sharp corset. I heard you will be able to purchase one for yourself this fall at Nordstrom's.

Figuring Things Out

2010-05-14T19:41:00.000-07:00

Today my 8 year old son asked me, "Mom, what month is 7 months before October?"

I replied, "I don't know."

Then he said, "March! That means you got pregnant with my little brother on March 17th 2003."

Gulp.

That caught me a little off guard.

Then he said, "I wonder what time."

Just then I choked on my gum.

No more math lessons for him!

Look Mom!

2010-05-07T12:07:00.000-07:00

Yesterday morning my 8 year old son was holding his little brother's teddy bear. The bear was face down on the counter and my 8 year old had one hind leg in each hand. He gave a tug to the left leg and then to the right and continued doing so. He looked up at me and said, "Look mom, I'm milking the bear."

Being the good mom that I am, I laughed. Which only encouraged him.

I tried to stop. Then I heard my husband say, "Please stop milking the bear."

I laughed some more.

"Please stop milking the bear" definitely falls into the list of Things you never expected to ~~utter~~ say.

I'm afraid my 8 year old has a lot to learn.

Ducklings

2010-04-12T22:34:00.000-07:00

Last week was spring break. My oldest turned 8 on Saturday. 8?! How did that happen?? I feel old.

My 8 year old needed new sneakers. He had already outgrown the ones I bought him 2 weeks ago. So I took my 2 kids to the mall to buy shoes. Well first, I begged him to pick a pair from payless. I found a cute pair of cheap sandals for myself at payless but my son found nothing.

I don't take my kids to the mall very often. In fact, I try to avoid it. I can't even remember the last time I took them there. It was weird.

My kids are now obviously too big for a stroller. They have been out of the stroller for several years. And they are no longer running away from me in the mall. I don't have to chase after them like a crazy mom of two toddlers running in two different directions. All of a sudden I was at the mall with my kids and they were following me. I was the mother duck and my ducklings were following me. I had to turn around every minute to make sure they were still there.

I had heard of this in fairy tales, but I never believed it was real.

Things have changed.

I now have ducklings.

Quack.

Do You Like Peas?

2010-04-04T22:18:00.000-07:00

Last week I was reading with my 6 year old. The character in the book was eating spaghetti and meatballs. My son looked up at me and said, "That's my favorite!" I smiled and he continued reading. The next line said the character also had peas for dinner. My son looked up at me and said, "Eww. I don't like peas." He paused for a moment and then added, "Except for black eyed peas."

I think it's important to keep your kids well rounded and up to date with pop culture. Not that I would ever let my kids listen to black eyed peas. Ahem.

This proud parent moment is brought to you by the letter "P".

1 in 4 women

2010-03-26T11:29:00.000-07:00

Have you seen the commercial for Clear Blue Easy Pregnancy Test? The one that says, "Did you know that 1 in 4 women can misread a traditional pregnancy test result?"

I searched for a video clip of the commercial, but couldn't find anything. But I did find it written their website here. In case you haven't seen the commercial and think I'm making this up.

That statistic surprised me. I think, "1 in 4 women can deny a pregnancy test" is more accurate.

You Just Know

2010-03-23T08:38:00.000-07:00

You just know it's not going to be a good day when you start the day packing lunch for your child to take to school. He wants chicken nuggets with barbecue sauce. And when you take the barbecue sauce from the fridge you discover that the lid was not screwed on. How do you discover this? When you grab it by the lid. Your feet suddenly feel cool and moist. And not in a good way. You look down and see that your socks and the kitchen floor are now a deep reddish brown color. You just know this is not a good way to start the day.

I'm Still Here

2010-03-11T14:47:00.000-08:00

I know some of you may have been wondering where I've been lately. And I'm guessing some of you may not have noticed that I was gone. And I'm sure still more are wondering who is Cookie anyway?

Would you believe I'm just being mysterious?

I didn't think so.

Today was my final exam in my Japanese class. I still have a presentation next week (that I haven't started preparing for) but soon I'll have more free time. I should have been studying yesterday, but my 6 year old had other plans. He vomited in his bed and slept in it all night. I walked into his room yesterday morning to a bed full of chunks. How can you vomit and not continue sleeping??? There was also a pile of bloody tissues next to his bed. He told me that the vomit was boogers. He had a bloody nose and thought that had caused the vomit. Poor kid. I had already taken him to the pediatrician last week and we already had a follow-up appointment scheduled for this morning. So he stayed home sick yesterday and the pediatrician gave him the OK to go back to school today. Tomorrow we have an appointment with the allergist. A 3 hour appointment.

The other thing that has been taking up my time is that I joined a gym. I've become a workout junkie. Or rather a workout junkie wannabe. My biggest complaint about the gym is that there is a McDonald's across the parking lot from the gym. So after burning 200 calories on the treadmill, I can reward myself with a thousand calorie milkshake. A vicious cycle.

Spring is in the Air

2010-03-01T19:29:00.001-08:00

And so is the pollen.

The flowers on the trees are blooming, it's 60 degrees outside (just had to rub it in a little for my east coast ~~Eskimos~~ friends) and my 6 year old can't stop rubbing his eyes.

I mentioned last week that we had a trip to the urgent care. Yes, I took him to urgent care for his allergies. It's more of a clinic than urgent care. Anyway, I had to. The school nurse said he had pink eye.

I took my son at 7pm to the urgent care clinic. We waited for half an hour. Then a lady wearing shorts came in the room. Shorts, in February. And high heels. So high that she wobbled when she walked. And the high heeled shoes had ankle straps. She had grey hair pulled back in a pony tail. Oh, and she was wearing a white lab coat. Yes, the short-wearing, wobbling lady was the doctor.

I explained that my son has seasonal allergies and that the school nurse thought he had pink eye.

She looked at his eye and said she couldn't tell if it was allergies or pink eye, but the eye was definitely red and swollen.

Her solution? She told me to wait until the morning. If he can't open his eye because it's all crusted over, then he has pink eye. If not, he has allergies. $50 please.

Not so fast! "So what should I do if he has pink eye?"

"Oh, here's a prescription for eye drops."

"And what do I do if it's not pink eye?"

"Then he has allergies." I could here the duh tone in her voice.

"Well, the nurse won't let him back to school with red eyes."

"Ok, here's a note saying he can go back to school."

"Thanks, but is there anything else I can do for his red eyes. He's already taking Claritin and it doesn't seem to be working."

"Ok, here's another prescription for eye drops for allergies. Now $50 please."

So I left that clinic not knowing anymore than I did when I walked in. But I did have prescriptions and a note! That night I filled the prescription for the allergy eye drops, because that's what I thought was the problem.

The next morning, his eyes were still red, but not crusty. I gave him the drops and he went to school. That was almost a week ago.

This morning his eyes were hurting so bad that he woke up crying. So I thought maybe I should take him back to the doctor. Well, his normal pediatrician, not the short-wearing, high-heel-wearing, wobbly lady. But after talking with my husband we thought it might be worth just trying the other prescription that we already had.

I dropped the prescription off at the pharmacy this morning. When I picked it up the pharmacist explained how to use the ear drops. I interrupted her. "Isn't it for his eyes?" I asked. The pharmacist went in the back and I could hear some arguing. She came out and apologized for the error. Then told me that they didn't have the eye drops in stock. She called two other pharmacies for me. No place had the eye drops in stock. So she was going to order them and they would be there tomorrow.

2 hours later the pharmacy called. The lady told me that that medication doesn't actually come in eye drops. It's only available in ear drops. This only strengthens my confidence in the clinic "doctor." The pharmacist told me that she had already called the doctor's office and left a message. I thanked her. What a wonderful pharmacy I have.

I immediately called the clinic. The receptionist was very slow. She asked me four times what date my son was in the office. She took the information and said she would get back to me. She never did.

How many more weeks until winter??

Craigslist Buyer Rant

2010-02-24T14:43:00.000-08:00

As many of you know, my husband has been fixing TV's. So far we have sold two on craigslist. The first buyer called later the same day to say that the TV kept shutting off only to find out that he was using a bad outlet. He switched outlets and the TV was "fixed."

The second buyer bought a TV from us 18 days ago. 18 days. He emailed me last night. When I checked my email, there were two messages from him. The first said that he was having trouble connecting the TV to his PC. Personally, I never thought to connect a TV to a PC. He was asking if I knew how to do this. Uhh... no. The second email, timestamped 30 minutes later, said that he tried everything and wanted to return it.

I am not Best Buy. I don't give 30 days for returns. Especially for a TV that works fine.

I asked my husband what he thought. He was annoyed. Who does this buyer think he is??

Finally I wrote a reasonable reply. My husband found a thread on a geeky message board with people discussing the same issue. I forwarded the link to the buyer. I also suggested that he call Sharp directly. And I concluded by saying that since the TV works fine and as described when he bought it, that if he wasn't satisfied then maybe he should re-sell it.

He replied back 30 minutes later. He asked me to reconsider.

I almost threw my computer monitor out the window.

I didn't reply.

This morning there was yet another email from the same person. He let me know that he changed some settings and now it does what he wanted it do.

I don't need an update about what he's doing with HIS TV.

Later I'll have to rant about my trip to the urgent with my 6 year old last night. It was good night.

What's That For?

2010-02-21T10:21:00.001-08:00

The other day I was watching TV. I think I was watching the news. My 6 year old was on the floor sorting out his Pokemon cards for the 835th time.

A commercial came on and I didn't pay any attention to it until my 6 year old looked up and asked, "Mom, what's that for?"

I looked at the TV. It was a commercial for carefree pantyliners.

So I did what any responsible mom would do. I pretended like I didn't hear him.

Maybe when he's old enough to stop sucking thumb at bedtime I'll stop pretending that I can't hear his question.

Sisters

2010-02-17T08:00:00.000-08:00

I saw this on a car in the grocery store parking lot yesterday:

I have 4 sisters.

This made me smile.

Holding On

2010-02-16T09:20:00.001-08:00

I've been trying to encourage my kids to watch the Olympics. For some reason, they don't seem interested. My 6 year old started to watch some of the speed skating competition. He watched for a minute and looked confused.

I said, "It looks hard to skate that fast, doesn't it?"

He asked, "Are they allowed to hold onto the wall for help?"

"I guess so, but then they wouldn't go as fast."

"Mom, you should skate in the Olympics. You can skate without holding onto the wall!"

He made my day.

Are You Calling Me Old?

2010-02-15T06:00:00.000-08:00

I was telling my husband that I recently read in a book that only old people wear watches these day. Young people use their cell phones to tell the time.

He laughed and pointed out that I'm the one who wears a watch. He never wears a watch.

My 6 year old said, "Mom, you should give your watch to dad!"

My husband wasn't as pleased with our son's comment as I was :)

The Missing Disc

2010-02-14T10:20:00.001-08:00

As I've mentioned before, my husband likes to fix things. Mostly TV's these days. But he also fixes computers, computer monitors, game systems etc... Yes, I married a geek.

We've sold a few of these ~~toys~~ things on craigslist. Some that he bought just to fix and others he bought and used for a while and then decided it was time to upgrade. I am usually the one dealing with the interested buyers. I try to negotiate a fair price, schedule a pick up time etc...

Recently my husband sold an xbox. The original xbox. Yes, it was old, but it still worked great. We had been using it as a media center for a while. But then he decided to upgrade our media center. I have no idea what kind of media center we have now. I really can't tell the difference. (Please don't mention that to Mr. Cookie. He is very proud of his upgrades.)

The xbox was connected to one of the TV's until the day it was sold even though we hadn't used it a few months. Or at least we thought it wasn't being used.

I posted the xbox on craigslist. Someone wanted to buy it. My husband packed up the xbox and met the person. The next day I was going to the library. I couldn't find one of the discs that was due at the library. I asked my son where it was. He ran into the living room to retrieve it. He came back empty handed. "Mom, I put the disc in the xbox."

I asked my husband where the xbox was. He had sold it. It was gone and the disc was gone with it. The library disc.

My husband asked my son why would he put the disc in the xbox, when we were supposed to be using the newer, better, thing? The disc wasn't working in the newer better thing. So my son thought maybe it would work in the old trusty xbox. It didn't. The disc was scratched.

I went to the library with one disc of the 2-disc set. I explained what happened but I knew that I would have to pay for the disc. Of course I had to pay for the 2-disc set. $37 for 2 discs that don't even play. I was told that if I can find the disc within one year and return with the original receipt that I could get the money back.

I decided to ask the buyer if they have the disc and if they would be willing to return it. I called the number and a woman answered. She immediately knew that I must be calling about the disc. She wouldn't accept any money and said that she would mail it right away. Sure, I thought. I can't imagine it being high on her priority list.

Two days later the disc arrived in the mail.

What a nice person!

I spend so much time dealing with people on craigslist who say they are going to buy something and never show up. Or people who offer $100 for a $400 TV. Or people who are phishing for information and not really interested in buying anything. I can't tell you how much it made my day to find such a sincere, honest person. And of course being able to get back my $37 from the library is nice too.

My First Sale

2010-02-11T08:31:00.000-08:00

I posted earlier about my husband's new hobby, fixing broken TV's and how it has transformed me into a used TV salesman.

I am happy to say that we sold our first TV last week. The craigslist buyer came to the house on Friday afternoon, picked up the TV and gave me the cash. I was thrilled. Thrilled to have the money and thrilled to see the TV gone!

Friday night at 9pm my cell phone rang. It was the TV buyer. He said the TV wasn't working right. It was shutting off by itself every 15 minutes or so. My heart sank. For a second, I lost faith in my husband's TV repair skills. My husband called the guy back 10 minutes later.

Mr. Cookie spoke with the TV buyer for about 5 minutes. He asked questions about the TV, about the signal etc... Then he said "It sounds like there could be a problem with the outlet you are using. If the outlet is loose it could cause the TV to shut off automatically." He suggested that they try a different outlet and call back if it doesn't help.

Six days have passed. The TV buyer hasn't called back.

I wonder if we can send a bill for technical assistance.

And I wonder if he was having the same problem with his old TV.

I Missed the Frat Party

2010-02-10T08:43:00.000-08:00

My Japanese exam yesterday when better than I expected. I didn't ask anyone to sit under a chair like I may have on the previous quiz. But I probably wrote "Please help the phone." I was going for originality on that one.

Now I have a composition due tomorrow. A one page paper written completely in Japanese is due tomorrow. And the worst part is that I'm expected to write about my day.

We learned lots of great verbs in class. Verbs like, to go, to eat, to play, to watch TV or to watch a movie. We learned how to say "I'm working at my part time job today" or "I'm studying to be a dentist." Important things like that.

We did not learn how to say, "I did the laundry, washed the dishes, broke up an argument between my kids, listened to my friend about her divorce, spoke to my son's teacher about cuss words on the playground, paid bills online, negotiated TV prices with people from craigslist (another post to come about that), postponed making a dentist appointment or gave up on looking for curtains to go with the new paint in the bedroom." I don't understand why they don't put those activities first in the textbook designed for college students.

I guess I am not your typical college student. I do all of the work but miss out on the frat parties on the weekend. And I'm not sure that's a bad thing anymore.

Exam

2010-02-09T08:34:00.000-08:00

In 2 hours, I will be taking an exam. An exam in my Japanese class that I am not prepared for.

I have been studying. I studied last week. I studied this weekend. I studied last night. I studied this morning. Still, I feel unprepared. I feel old. Studying didn't used to be so much work! Or maybe I blocked out that part of college.

I usually volunteer in my son's kindergarten classroom on Tuesday mornings. I cancelled this morning so that I could ~~blog~~ study some more.

Anyone want to let me copy off of their paper?

Before and After

2010-02-05T21:54:00.000-08:00

As I mentioned earlier, I have been busy working on painting my bedroom.
Here is a "before" photo.

Notice the beautiful ladder in front of the windows. I love that way it filters the light. And the plastic floor covering is great for unexpected messes.

10 days later the room looked like this.
The furniture has been rearranged so that the ladder is off to the side of the windows and the light bulb stands alone to make a statement. The plastic carpet has been replaced with a worn out grayish color with a few stains to give it that "lived-in" look.

We're almost done moving everything back. We tried moving the bed to a different wall, but I think tomorrow we'll be moving it back to where it had been before this project got started.

I'm happy to see the cold lavender color gone. The new color is called "Navajo white." Turns out that it's more of a Navajo yellow. Still it's calm and peaceful, which is what I wanted for the bedroom.

Not Me

2010-02-03T08:45:00.001-08:00

I know it's been a while since I last blogged. I'm sorry, but I don't have a good ~~excuse~~ reason. I've been busy painting the master bedroom. I'll try to post some pics tomorrow. So stay tuned!

I've written "Not Me" posts in the past. These are posts where I list all of things that I haven't done and would never do. For example:

1. I didn't leave my cell phone on while I was volunteering in my son's kindergarten class. And it didn't disrupt the class by ringing during reading time. Then I didn't fumble with the buttons so that I accidentally answered the call (instead of silencing) and then immediately hang up on my friend. Then my friend didn't call back and the ringing didn't disrupt the class again. And when she left a message, my phone didn't start chirping to let me know that I had a message waiting because I had "missed" a call.

2. I didn't return my friend's call and leave her message and then have my bluetooth accidentally dial her number 3 more times. And then I didn't immediately hang up so that my friend doesn't have 1 message and 3 missed calls all from me. (So sorry about that!)

3. I didn't write "Please sit under the chair" on my Japanese quiz this week.

4. I didn't buy 36 boxes of oatmeal at the store this week. (It was a good sale!)

5. I didn't stay up late watching a movie instead of studying for my Japanese quiz earlier this week and that doesn't explain #3.

6. After painting all day, I didn't consider even for a second my kids' attempt to get me to serve ice cream for dinner.

7. I didn't go a week without writing in my blog. Real bloggers never do that.

8. I didn't dip my hair into a can of white paint while painting the window trim.

9. I didn't drive 20 miles to Krispy Kreme for a box of donuts. Two weeks in a row.

10. I didn't wait until 12:30 to take a shower when I was scheduled to volunteer in my son's classroom at 1pm.

11. I didn't take my son to the wrong ice skating rink to go ice skating with his cub scout den.

These are all things that I would never do.

School Play

2010-01-28T21:39:00.001-08:00

My kids don't have school tomorrow. Again. I don't know what the ~~excuse~~ reason is this time. I think we are celebrating the last Friday in January.

My kids came off the bus today very excited about being able to stay up a little later tonight and they asked if we could go to the school play tonight after dinner. Grades 3-6 are putting on "Peter Pan" or as my 6 year old calls it, "The Tinkerbell Movie."

I love going to the theater. I have even been to a Broadway show once. But a play starting kids in third, fourth, fifth and sixth grades is really meant just for the parents to enjoy. I didn't want to go. I told the kids that I didn't think we would have enough time tonight. My 7 year old had basketball and that would rush dinner if we had to leave the house again by 6:45. But the kids were almost finished eating dinner at 6:20. They still wanted to go. Reluctantly, I agreed.

Then my 7 year old suddenly no longer wanted to go. ~~Hallelujah~~ When I asked him why not, he told me that he never called his friend to make sure that his friend was going too. My 6 year old said that one of his friends would be there. My 7 year old thought about it and wanted to go again. And he wanted to bring his Pokemon cards. My 6 year old wanted to bring a sleeping bag.

I explained that we would be going to see a play, not to play. We would not be bringing Pokemon cards, sleeping bags or anything else. We would sit in seats and watch the performance.

Silence.

Then my 7 year old said, "Then I don't want to go."

Whew! Neither did I.

A New State

2010-01-27T22:45:00.001-08:00

Tonight at dinner my 7 year old asked me, "Mom, is onion a state?"

"Onion is a vegetable, not a state," I said. I thought he knew that already.

"Then why does the TV say it is?"

I looked at the TV. The president was giving his State of the union address, not state of the onion.

A New Word

2010-01-23T08:44:00.000-08:00

Yesterday my 6 year old said to me, "Mom, I thought of a new word."

"What's that, honey?" I asked.

"Later" he said.

"Later?" I repeated. "I think that's already a word."

"Noooooo, not later. Later!" my 6 year old insisted.

"How do you spell that?" I asked.

"L-a-d-e-r" he said.

"Oh. What does that mean?"

"It's a boy who screams like a lady!" he told me.

It seems like my kids' are learning new words every day.

Not A Good Idea

2010-01-21T17:18:00.000-08:00

Today we went to a gym at an old elementary school for my second grader's basketball practice. Outside of the gym was a group of teenage boys with skateboards. Two were on the steps and one was climbing a tree next to the steps. He had a video camera in the tree. It looked like the setting for an "America's Funniest Videos" clip.

As we get closer my 5 year old noticed what was going on. He pointed at the teenagers and said loudly, "Mom, that isn't a good idea, is it?"

I had to agree with him. I hurried my kids into the gym quickly.

Next lesson will have to be "minding your own business."

This proud parent moment is brought to you by your local YMCA boys basketball association.

A Used TV Salesman

2010-01-19T08:47:00.000-08:00

Before I start today's post, I wanted to follow up on yesterday's post. I took my 6 year old to the pediatrician (he wasn't even the cute pediatrician!). My son has strep throat. After the pediatrician's office we stopped by the grocery store to fill his prescription. The way my 6 year old was running up and the aisles shooting his brother with an imaginary machine gun, you would never guess that he was sick. But that's what the pediatrician said. I should have asked to see the test results myself. After a day's worth of antibiotics my son was able to go to school this morning. Yay!

A Used TV Salesman... That's me. When I was a little girl and people asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up, I said, "an astronaut" or "a scientist" or "rich and famous." I never dreamed that I would be a TV salesman. Make that a used TV salesman. But somehow that is what I've become. Or rather, that is what my husband has turned me into. (Yes, it's always his fault.)

In the last few months Mr. Cookie has started a new hobby. He likes fixing broken TV's. First he just wanted a nice TV for the family room. Something to replace the dinosaur that we've had for the last 13 years or so. He found a cheap broken one and thought it was worth a try to fix it. So he got it and fixed it. We kept it in the family room for a while. Then he found another broken one that he wanted to try fixing. The second one was bigger and better. He fixed it and we used it for a while. Now we have 10 TV's in our house. 10 TV's?!

For the last month or so I've been asking if we could sell any of these TV's that are springing up like wild mushrooms out of the carpet. He always had ~~an excuse~~ some reason for keeping each one. But last night he finally agreed to sell one. The big one. The biggest one we own. But he left the selling part to me. I took the picture. I created the craigslist posting. I answer the emails of interested buyers. So I have become a used TV salesman.

If you're interested in getting a pre-owned television, step right up, because I have a deal for you! And if you call in the next 15 minutes I'll also throw in this lovely remote control too!

Starting the Day Off Right

2010-01-18T09:27:00.000-08:00

Today is Martin Luther King Jr. Day. My kids have no school today. We started the day off right by doing some homework ~~that we were too lazy to do all weekend~~. My 7 year old is really into the "Captain Underpants" series. Part of his homework is to read any book he wants for 20 minutes. He read "Captain Underpants and the Wrath of the Wicked Wedgie Woman." (I'm so proud of him!) As he was reading he looked up and said, "This is so funny it says 'shut your pie hole.' What does that mean?"

Now I have to wonder, "why does he think it's funny if he doesn't know what it means?"

I told him that "pie hole is not-so-nice way to say mouth." He wasn't impressed and kept on reading. Another important vocabulary lesson completed.

My 5 year old started the day by vomiting in the toilet.

What a great way to start the day.

The Rain

2010-01-15T08:32:00.000-08:00

It's January and I live in Seattle. That means it rains. Every day. Yesterday the sun came out and teased us for about thirty minutes. Then the deluge started. As I've mentioned before, I'm not from Seattle. I did not grow up with a rainy season. In Seattle only tourists carry umbrellas. I am still a tourist. I carry my umbrella even in a drizzle.

To appear busy, the weather reporters show when you can expect light rain, medium rain, supersized rain or even rain and wind. This morning was supersized rain. The kind where you get soaked in 2.9 seconds. The kind where your kids get wet from the top down and from the bottom up at the same time. Lovely.

My kids were born in New Jersey. We moved here 4 years ago when they were 2 and 3 years old. They don't remember New Jersey. They think they were born here. They act like they were born here. They don't mind the rain.

This morning at the bus stop in the supersized rain I had my umbrella. It's not a wimpy $5 Walmart umbrella. Mine is a giant Seattle-tourist-sized golf umbrella. I can fit an entire T-ball team under my umbrella. (Yes, I've done it. Twice.) But, my kids wanted no part of my umbrella. They would rather be in the rain. I watched them play. They acted like they didn't even notice the rain. True Seattleites.

I wonder how many more years before I stop noticing the rain?

The Focused Dermatologist

2010-01-12T08:54:00.000-08:00

Yesterday I went to the dermatologist. I chose this dermatologist because his office is close to my house, he takes my insurance and he had appointments available before next year.

I needed to two moles removed close to my shoulder at the base of my neck. The nurse came in and set me up with a lovely bib. Then the doctor came in. He got all comfy on his stool and got to work. Then he started talking. But he wasn't talking to me. (Not that I was in the mood for conversation.) He asked the nurse to phone in a prescription to the pharmacy for his wife. He gave the details of the prescription and then talked a little about her cold sores. Nice to know that he was focusing on his work, which at that moment was me.

Today I have a band aid on my neck. I'm a little embarrassed to go in public. I wonder how many people will giggle when they see me. Heck, if I saw a lady my age who looked like she was trying to cover up hickeys, I would giggle too!

Times Are Tough

2010-01-08T07:42:00.001-08:00

Yesterday my 6 year old lost a tooth at school. He was very excited to show me the tooth in his hand as he ran off the bus.

He went to bed last night and the tooth fairy came. She left $1 under his pillow.

This morning my son wasn't very excited about the money. He handed me the $1 bill and said, "Mom, is this fake?"

He hadn't seen such a crisp dollar bill before. Or maybe the economy is finally taking it's toll on the tooth fairy?

A Note

2010-01-07T08:25:00.000-08:00

Last night when I tucked my 6 year old into bed, he stuck his tongue out at me.

I told him, "Be careful. Someone might come along and pour hot sauce on that tongue if it's sticking out like that."

He thought for a minute and then came up with a solution, "I'll just make a sticky note that says, 'Do not pour hot sauce here.'"

I couldn't help but giggle and never bother to ask exactly where he was going to stick that sticky note.

$15 Per Lesson

2010-01-06T08:30:00.000-08:00

Around Thanksgiving my son's school had ~~another~~ a fundraiser. They were selling poinsettias. ~~this time.~~ The poinsettias were $15 each, cash only. I didn't have $15 exact cash to send in right away. But after a few days I sent the envelope back with enough money to buy one plant.

I waited for the first week of December to get my plant. The first week of December came and went. Then the second week came and week. And then the third. Winter break had started and I never got my plant.

I contacted the lady who was in charge of the fundraisers. She forwarded me to the lady who was handling this specific fundraiser. My envelope was never received. She suggested that I check with the teacher.

I checked with the teacher. She doesn't remember seeing the envelope and it's not in the classroom now. She suggested that I check with my son.

My son insists that he handed it in.

It's gone. No poinsettia this year. And no $15.

$15 Lesson Learned. Do not send cash in an envelope to school.

Just a note here, I do not believe there was any wrong doing by any of the teachers, staff or the fundraising committee. I know how things get lost and turn up 6 months later when they clean out for summer. I also wonder who else was watching that envelope since it was clearly marked on the outside how many plants were ordered and how much money was inside.

They're Gone

2010-01-05T08:40:00.001-08:00

My kids went back to school today. I'm ready to start singing "Free Fallin" by Tom Petty.

Part of me feels like a bad mother when I say that I am happy to send my kids to school and have the days to myself.

Then I look around at my friends, other moms who were not counting the days until resumed. I wonder what makes them better mothers.

Most of them work outside of the home. I used to know a few other moms who were home during the day, but not anymore. They have returned to work. I have not. I did work for a little while after my kids were born. Working does have good and bad points. Earning money is good. Interacting with other adults is good. Being up all night with a teething baby after having been at work all day and knowing that you have to return at 7am is not so good. Missing out on your kids "firsts" isn't so good either.

Most of my friends also have family nearby. During the winter break, my friends were able to drop their kids at their relative's house for at least one night. They also had family gatherings during the winter break. The kids were given a chance to play with cousins and were spoiled by grandparents. My nearest relative is in Detroit. I am in Seattle. So there were no family gatherings or sleeping at a relative's house for my kids.

The other moms who were counting down the days had breaks from their kids. They did not endure the 18 days like I did. 18 days home, with no plans and miserable weather. 18 days of refereeing. 18 days of whining.

I am glad the kids are back in school not just for the break that it gives me. But also, the kids need a break too. The need a break from me. They need a break from boredom. They need to be with their friends and teachers again.

Now I have 18 days worth of chores and errands to catch up on.

One More Day

2010-01-04T09:59:00.000-08:00

Today is Monday January 4th. Most people are returning to work today after the New Year's break. Most kids are returning to school today after a long winter break.

Not my kids. They are off from school again today. Not for snow. It was a scheduled day off. I can't answer "why?" I think it's a cruel joke by the school.

One more day and things will be back to "normal."

An Important Lesson

2009-12-30T09:15:00.000-08:00

Christmas was nice and quiet in my house. The kids were spoiled and I'm counting the days until school starts again.

I do think it's important that my children continue learning during vacation. I don't want them to be ignorant and lazy. Fortunately they have a natural curiosity about the world we live in.

Yesterday my six old asked me, "Mom, what are tighty whities?"

After choking on my tea I asked where he had heard it. It's in the commercial for the Disney movie "G-Force."

I reluctantly explained what "tighty whities" are. The next hour was filled with giggles and tattling. "Mom, he said tighty whities!"

Proud Parent Moment #643 is brought to you by Disney's G-Force.

Garden d'Lights

2009-12-23T22:09:00.000-08:00

Last night we went to the Botanical garden that was decorated for Christmas. It was called "Garden d'Lights." It was beautiful. And crowded.

The kids were given a piece of paper with a list of animal to find in the garden. We found a spider, a slug, a monkey, 2 doves... all but the three geckos.

Here is a picture of my kids in the beginning, looking with amazement at one display.

The grapes were one of my favorites.

I also liked holding ~~mars~~ this big red ball.

After waiting a few minutes the kids were able to pose for 5 seconds in front of this tree.

Winter Break

2009-12-21T15:41:00.000-08:00

Today was the first official day off from school for winter break. I had little choice but to take my kids to run a few errands. I had to pick up a prescription, go to the grocery store and stop by the bank. 2 hours later I came home with 2 whiny kids, a bag of groceries, a migraine, a rented video game and a case of beer.

I was planning to rent the video game. We don't rent video games very often. I was surprised by how much it costs. $8.75. I gasped slightly when the cashier told me that amount. I handed over the money and commented that it was expensive. The cashier replied that he hears that a lot and then said, "It's not really that much when you consider that a new video game costs $65-70." Really?? Where does he shop?!

His comment made me wonder if I'm really that far out of touch. My husband always says how cheap I am. Is he right? So I went online and I checked. I couldn't find any Wii video games that were over $50. Well, there were some that came with an extra controller or a mat or those kinds of things, but nothing over $50 for just a game. In fact the game that my kids picked out was $16.97 new on Amazon.

After we came home my kids started playing the video game. It took about 3 seconds for the first fight to start. I didn't know that the game they picked out is a one-player game.

My husband opened a Netflix account last night. He said it would be nice to have during the break. It took me 30 minutes to figure out how to access the instant streaming section on our TV. The kids watched one movie for 5 minutes.

It wasn't long before I heard, "I'm bored."

Has anyone started a back-to-school countdown yet?

No More 5 Year Old

2009-12-18T09:43:00.000-08:00

My youngest son turned 6 yesterday! I feel so old when I say that it feels like he was born yesterday. But somehow overnight he became 6.

Here are a few pictures from his birthday.

And here's one from his party with his friends last Saturday.

Good Morning

2009-12-16T08:28:00.000-08:00

This morning I woke up at 5:46 when my 5 year old came into my room and said, "Mom, I wet the bed." I can't think of a better way to start the day.

I helped him get changed and put new bedding on his bed and tucked him back in. Then I crawled back into bed and laid there till my alarm went off just before 7:00. Then I said to my husband, "I can't believe our 5 year old wet the bed. He hasn't done that in a long time." Mr. Cookie was surprised to hear me say that. Somehow he managed to sleep through everything.

At 7:30 I discovered that my 7 year old had been watching TV and still wasn't dressed for school. His punishment is no TV after school today. He says, "I don't care. I have chess club and cub scouts today so no time for TV anyway." He was right.

My kids were ready for school 7 minutes before it was time to leave. That was 7 minutes of fighting and whining.

On the way to the bus stop there were still a few chunks of ice on the street. The ice is a magnet for my kids. They immediately ran to it. And fell. With wet pants, my kids finally got on the school and I happily waved good-bye.

I returned home to the huge pile of laundry including wet sheets and blankets. There is an equally huge pile of dirty dishes. I started to clear off the mountain that is taking over the counter. I opened the cabinet under the sink to put a wrapper in the trash. I found a tissue stuck to the inside of the cabinet door. A used tissue. A nice wet and sticky tissue.

That's just the first two hours of my day...

Are You Ready for a Challenge?

2009-12-14T21:17:00.000-08:00

That's what my 5 year old said to me tonight. "Mom, are you ready for a challenge?"

I was cutting his toenails at the time so the question seemed out of the ordinary to me. But not to him. He said, "The big toenail is huge! It's a real challenge."

Sure enough, the big toenail was bigger than the others. Whew.... I'm glad to report that I was up for the challenge.

Winding Down

2009-12-13T17:13:00.000-08:00

I know a few of you have been wondering if I'm still here. I'm happy to say that I survived my busy week. And with only one migraine.

I'm pretty sure I got an "A" on my Japanese final.

I didn't fall in my "Thriller" ice skating performance.

My son's 6th birthday went smoothly. The cake that I made was a big hit. In case you're not familar with Super Mario Brothers, the cake is the 1-up mushroom.

Today I wrapped presents and prepared packages to send to my in-laws in Japan.

I am looking forward to having a week with my kids in school and no classes for myself. Santa still has a some shopping to do! Then I'm going to hibernate until June.

Not Me

2009-12-09T20:47:00.001-08:00

Some of my fellow bloggers participate in "Not Me" Mondays where you write about things that you would never do. I'm bad at keeping up with this. I did participate once here, but it was a Friday. And I'm doing another today.

I did not use the vacuum to clear off the kitchen table. Not for the stove either.

I did not send out a blank invitation to my son's birthday party on Saturday. What kind of absent minded mother would do a thing like that??

I did not actually consider using the glow in the dark pink silly putty for my son's birthday party. I know how much my boys love pink.

I am not dressing up as a zombie for my ice skating class's performance in the winter holiday show on Friday. And we are not skating to the traditional Christmas classic, Michael Jackson's Thriller.

I am not waiting for the last minute to ~~start~~ finish my Christmas shopping.

I did not eat almost every Christmas cookie that I baked.

I did not calculate what my grade in my Japanese class would be if I didn't take the final instead of actually studying for the final.

I was not secretly relieved when one box of Christmas decorations fell and a few were broken. What a shame that I wouldn't have to find an inconvenient place for that knickknack that an old co-worker gave me 9 years ago and I ~~never~~ always liked.

Yup, those are things that I would never do.

Busy Week

2009-12-08T13:26:00.000-08:00

Things are little busy around here. My kids have school until the 18th. Then they are off until January 5th. That means Santa needs to finish ~~her~~ his shopping before the 18th. Santa just figured this out yesterday.

This week is also my last week for Japanese class. My final is tomorrow. I realized this on Sunday. I'm no where near ready.

Friday I'm in a Christmas show with my ice skating class. I need to finish my costume and I really need to practice. Especially stopping.

Saturday is my 5 year old's birthday party. He'll be 6 on the 17th. He wants a Super Mario brothers party. They don't sell Super Mario brother party items in stores. Super Mario brother party supplies are only available online. I ordered everything. They arrived today. Including pink glow in the dark putty eggs. I did not order pink. I called and they credited my account, but I'm still missing party favors. Pink putty eggs will not cut it, even if they do glow in the dark.

My husband's family live in Japan. We send them gifts once a year. At Christmas. In order to get there in time these have to mailed by Monday. This Monday. Again, I realized this just yesterday.

Before I can send the gifts, I need to take a Christmas picture and have cards made. My kids hate this. My husband says he'll take a picture this week. Ahem, moving right along...

My family live in Virginia, and Michigan. I need to send gifts there too. Of course I would need to figure what gifts to get first and then send them.

I know that by next week the rush will slow down. Then I get to spend 3 weeks home alone with my kids. Not totally alone. My husband will be here on the weekends and he is off 2 days for Christmas and 2 days for New Year's. But that still leaves a lot of time for just me and the kids. I need to plan some activities.

I think I'll add a stop at the liquor store on my next shopping trip.

Say That Again

2009-12-05T16:20:00.000-08:00

Last night I went to a Pampered Chef party. One of my neighbors was there. She has a 10 year old daughter. My neighbor told me the funniest story about her daughter and I thought you might enjoy it.

On Thanksgiving my neighbor was getting the dinner started. It was early in the morning and her daughter saw the turkey getting ready for the oven. The daughter cried, "Mom, you're not cooking a turkey, are you?"

My neighbor looked kind of confused at her daughter and said, "It's Thanksgiving. Of course I'm cooking a turkey."

The daughter looked down and was very sad. Then she said, "But mom, I wanted to become a virgin!"

After pausing for a minute my neighbor said, "You mean a vegetarian, honey."

More Holiday Confusion

2009-12-03T18:31:00.000-08:00

As most of you know, my seven year old is studying the holidays at school. He's learning all kinds of new facts.

Today my five is adding his own version of the classic Christmas carols. Maybe you already know, "Shrek the halls with bows of lolly... Fa la la la la la la la".

Or perhaps you can sing along to "Happy Hondakah"?

I must admit, I didn't understand what "Hondakah" was at first. My seven year old had to explain it. It turns out that my five year old likes Hondas and Hanukkah.

Should I be worried now?

The Holidays Can be Confusing

2009-12-02T08:51:00.000-08:00

Let me start off by saying that I don't consider myself to be a religious. I was raised Catholic and my husband was raised Buddhist. Now we are raising our kids to be good, honest, and respectful people. We do celebrate Christmas. My kids know we celebrate Christmas because it is Jesus' birthday. But that's about it.

Now my kids go to school and they are learning more about Christmas. They are also learning about Hanukkah and Kwanzaa.

At Thanksgiving my five year old said, "When was the first Thanksgiving."

"I'm not sure," I replied.

"That's when the Indians shared their food with the pilgrims," my five year said.

My seven year old joined in, "The pilgrims came to America to get away from the mean king in England. He was trying to tell them what to do."

"That's right, honey." I said.

Then my seven year old thought for a minute and said, "So Thanksgiving is sorta like Hanukkah."

"Huh?" I asked.

He explained, "Yeah, the Jews wanted their freedom so they escaped from Minnesota."

After choking back the giggles, I tried to help him gain a little better understanding of Minnesota.

So should I be worried that my seven year old came home from school yesterday and said, "Guess what mom! I'm the leader of my Kwanzaa group at school! Do you think we can play dreidel?"

Merry Kwanakkamas to you!

Getting Organized... Or Not

2009-11-30T20:44:00.000-08:00

I recently ordered some new shelves for the closet by the laundry room. And a new bookcase for my son's room. I even ordered a cart with shelves for the laundry room. I'm trying to get organized. I can't stand the clutter anymore. And I dread all of the holiday clutter that is soon to arrive. Oh, and my 5 year old has a birthday soon too. I don't know what he was thinking having a birthday so close to Christmas!

I sorted through some books and some toys. I cleared off the counter. My husband emptied everything from the closet, put the new shelves in and threw everything back in. Now I really have idea where anything is. And those books and toys that I went through... they are spread across the dining room floor. Some are for craigslist. Some for freecycle. Some will just be donated at the Salvation Army.

But for now, it's creating more clutter! And to make it worse, I can't find the envelope with the details of my son's birthday party. Did I mention what a bad idea it is for a kid to have a birthday in the middle of December?

My dream of being more organized is gone. In fact my dream of being organized is laughing at me. I really should have hibernated this year. Or flown south for the winter!

Passing On Traditions

2009-11-28T19:22:00.001-08:00

Hope everyone had a nice Thanksgiving!

We live in Seattle. My parents live near Washington D.C. My husband's family live in Japan. Our closest relative is my sister in Detroit. (No, I can't explain why she chose to live in Detroit, either.) So we have no family around for the holidays. We get together with some friends who also have no family close by. It was nice. We had the traditional Thanksgiving dinner of turkey (I'm a vegetarian) and rice noodles and egg rolls. Oh, did I mention the family that hosted is Chinese? Now you know why they have no family around either.

Yesterday we went to a hotel about 90 minutes from here that has an indoor water park. More on that in another post.

This afternoon we came home and unpacked. I started making dinner and my husband took out the outdoor Christmas lights from a box in the garage.

I can remember as a kid watching my father dig out the same box of lights from the previous year. He'd plug them in and only about half would work. This was back in the day with those big bulbs. It was easy to figure out which ones needed to be replaced because only those lights would not work. It wasn't the kind where a whole string of lights would stop working when one measly bulb was out.

Then it would be time to put the lights up outside. My father had one tree in front that he thought the lights should go on. My mother wanted them on the bush. And my older sister wanted them on the house by the front door. It was the same discussion every year...

Of course my father always won that discussion. The lights always went up on the small tree. The job of putting up the lights went to my younger sister and me since we were small enough to climb the small tree.

By the time the bulbs were replaced and the discussion had been resolved, it was always dark outside. And it was usually raining. At least that's how I remember it. So my sister and I would have to climb the small tree in the dark and rain with my family ~~yelling~~ watching and instructing us how to hang the lights. Ahhh... Great memories.

Now it's time to pass the same tradition on to my kids.

I leave the outside lights to my husband. He grew up in Japan and he missed out on so many years of Christmas light fun. I think he has some catching up to do. Now our kids want to help. They are old enough to ~~get yelled at~~ help with the lights. This afternoon my husband pulled out the box and plugged in the lights. A few sections weren't working. With some jiggling and persuasion more of the lights worked. The kids were told to find the lights that weren't lighting up and to replace them with those from another strand that were working. Simple, right? No.

It's almost 4 hours later. My husband has officially given up. The lights have won. He is going out tomorrow to buy new lights. I have learned to stay out of it. I didn't even bother to ask what kind of lights. I have no idea if he's planning to replace all of them or only try to find more bulbs to replace a few more. I'm not even convinced that he is certain what he will do when he goes shopping tomorrow.

It's nice to share the Christmas tradition of putting up the outdoor lights with my husband children. I'm sure it is something special that they will always remember.

What is That?

2009-11-25T08:56:00.000-08:00

The other day I took my 5 year old to the grocery store. I needed to buy eggs and butter. While I was putting the eggs in my cart my 5 year old said, "Mom, is that egg juice?"

I think I may have puked a little.

I looked up to see him pointing at Eggbeaters.

"Yes, honey. That is like egg juice."

Drink up!

How to Play Basketball

2009-11-24T08:48:00.001-08:00

Yesterday at dinner I said, "Wow! Can you believe basketball practice starts on Monday?"

My ~~teenager~~ 7 year old shrugged.

My 5 year old shouted, "YES! I'm gonna kick the ball really hard!"

I immediately felt very sorry for his new coach.

It reminded me of my post, "How to Play Basketball" from January. Hope you enjoy it!

How To Play Basketball

How To Play Basketball - according to my 5 year old son

Step 1. Be Prepared. Wear your uniform. Wear it over your clothes. Wear it at home. Wear it all weekend. Wear it to bed. You never know when the team may need you.

Step 2. Get the ball. Or wait patiently for someone to give you a turn. Either way is ok.

Step 3. Try to dribble. When the ball stops bouncing, pick it up with both hands and run.

Step 4. Shoot a basket. Take the ball with both hands (easy to do since that's part of step 3) and swing it between your legs. Stand under the basket and throw it into the air. The ball will enter the basket from the bottom. This is a technique that not even the pros use!

Step 5. Protect yourself. After making as basket, use your arms to cover your head. Duck and cower.

Step 6. Get Motivated. After the ball is safely in the hands of another player or coach and step 5 is complete, go to your mom and ask, "Did I do a good job?" She will always enthusiastically say "Yes!" Then get a hug and go back on the court.

Whatever You Want

2009-11-22T21:05:00.001-08:00

Recently I picked out some new bedding for the master bedroom. Before I purchased it, I dragged my husband to the store to get his approval. He looked at it, shrugged and said, "Whatever you want is fine with me."

We bought it and brought it home.

The master bedroom has not been painted since we moved into this house three years ago. I want to paint it soon. I started looking at paint samples that will go well with the new bedding. I decided I want to paint the room a boring beige color with white trim (to match the rest of the house). I asked my husband what he thought. He said, "Whatever you want is fine with me."

I have already painted a few rooms in the house beige. So far each beige room is a different shade of beige.

I opened the bedding in the guestroom and took out the comforter. I thought the colors in the comforter went really well with the beige on the walls in the guestroom. I don't know why, but I asked for my husband's ~~approval~~ opinion. I didn't want to hear the same, "Whatever you want..." I was surprised when he said "The beige color in the guestroom is too purple."

Okay. I guess that's better than hearing, "whatever you want is fine with me." I'd rather know that he doesn't like that shade of beige very much before I paint the bedroom the same color.

I thought about the color a while. I looked at more paint samples. Then I thought, "The beige in my son's room is a nice color." So I asked my husband what he thought of that color. He said, "That beige is too dark."

Hmm... It doesn't look too dark in my son's room. But again, I guess it's good that he has told before I paint the bedroom that he doesn't like that color.

I looked at more paint samples. I searched for something beige that's not too purple and not too dark. I picked one that was very similar to a beige in the small downstairs bathroom. So again I asked my husband what he ~~hated~~ thought about that shade of beige. "That one seems too light" he said.

I think I may have liked it better when he said, "Whatever you want is fine with me."

Sick Again

2009-11-21T12:03:00.000-08:00

Sorry I haven't posted in a while. My 5 year old has been sick. Again. He came home from school on Tuesday with a fever of 102.4 and said his throat hurt and didn't have any appetite. My husband took him to the pediatrician the next day. They did a test in the office and said it wasn't strep throat. It was just a virus that we had to wait out.

We waited. We went through lots of Tylenol. On Friday morning his fever was down to 99.5. That's the lowest it was all week without any medicine. By Friday night his temperature was normal. He was eating dinner.

Then the phone rang during dinner. It was a nurse at the pediatrician's office. She was calling to say that the lab results showed that my 5 year old did have strep throat. She wanted to call in a prescription to the pharmacy. She was surprised when I said that wasn't necessary. Actually it was necessary 5 days ago! But by the time she called he was feeling much better.

I understand that sometimes those instant tests can give false negatives. But if they suspect a false negative do they have to wait that long??

Today my 5 year old is feeling like his usual self. He's back to fighting with his older brother.

Now I'm holding my breath and hoping that no one gets sick for Thanksgiving :S

The Letter I

2009-11-17T15:35:00.000-08:00

My 5 year old learned about the letter "I" in kindergarten today. They talked about things that start with the letter "I" like inchworm and igloo. Then they were given a paper where they were supposed to draw 4 things that start with "I" and write their names.

Here's what my son drew.
In case you can't read kindergarten writing, the box on the top left has a picture of Idaho. The box on the top right is Illinois. On the bottom there is an inchworm on the left and Indiana on the right.

A while ago we had a conversation about the letter "I" here. Who knew that "I" would become such a popular letter for places.

Ouch!

2009-11-16T21:54:00.000-08:00

Saturday night we hired a babysitter. She arrived at 5:45. My husband and I were supposed to leave the house at 6:00pm. At 5:59 my 7 year old ran through the hallway and fell. On his face. Hard.

We stayed a little longer to make sure he was ok, but we still went out.

These pictures were taken the next day.

He is feeling much better now, but he still looks like he was on the losing side of a boxing match. Ouch!

Found the Perfect Gift

2009-11-13T21:55:00.000-08:00

As I mentioned earlier, I already did a little Christmas shopping. I have asked my husband if there is anything he wants for Christmas. He never answered.

He jokes that he will be buying me a Snuggie for Christmas. I can't help but laugh when I see those.

Now I have found the perfect gift for him.

Yes, that is an Obama Chia pet.

I think it would be great for his office (because I wouldn't keep it in my house).

I can already see his face light up on Christmas morning.

You can order your own here. Better hurry before they sell out.

It's Official

2009-11-12T09:07:00.000-08:00

I'm the meanest mom ever. At least according to my 5 year old son. That's what he told me this morning. Actually, I think his exact words were, "You're the meanest mom I ever had."

What did I do that was so awful? Like all mean moms, I made my son stand next to me at the bus stop, of course. Now, I don't normally force my kids to stand next to me at the bus stop. This morning my 5 year old wasn't behaving at the bus stop. He pushed another kid. I called his name and he ignored me. So I pulled him aside and he still ignored me. And that earned him some time standing next to me at the bus stop.

He did not like standing next to me. He screamed. He cried. He stomped his feet. He punched me. It brought back fond ~~nightmares~~ memories of when he was two years old. After what seemed like an eternity my 5 year old said, "You're the meanest mom I ever had!" I couldn't help but smile and think to myself, "I'm the only mom you ever had." But it didn't seem like a good time to point that out.

I started thinking that it would be kind of nice if he had a different mother right now so I wouldn't have to deal with this. I wondered if I could sell him to the black market in some far away country where they use child labor. How much do you get for a 5 year old anyway? He's healthy, has some muscle... I wondered if I would get enough for a vacation to... My daydream was interrupted and I was brought back to reality with a loud cry, "I want to leave NOW!" screamed at the top of my 5 year old's lungs. I'm pretty sure he woke up any neighbors who were trying to sleep in this morning.

Eventually he did calm down. He got on the bus and I waved good-bye. Then I went for my usual walk up the hill. Today I didn't stop when I got to the top of the hill. I kept on walking. I walked farther than I ever had. Then I ran back home. I feel better. But I'm still dreading 3:00 when school gets out.

No School

2009-11-11T17:09:00.000-08:00

My kids were off from school today and yesterday. Today is Veterans day. Happy Veterans Day! I'm not sure why the kids had off yesterday. I think the teachers were just tired of my kids.

It's hard to find things to do with the kids when there is no school. Yesterday we went to the library in the morning. My first grader did his homework. A friend came over to play in the afternoon. My kids still complained that they were bored.

This morning my kids woke up "bored." I gave them haircuts. I helped them make cookies. We ate lunch and then went to Chuck E. Cheese (I hate that place). We came home at 4:00. At 4:01 I heard, "I'm bored." I almost screamed. Instead I opened a beer and started eating the cookies.

I felt better. At least for a minute. Ok, maybe 5 minutes.

But that's not the point. The point is, why do we make cookies and the kids don't eat them? I end up eating them.

Two weeks ago my kids convinced me to buy cheetos at the grocery store. I don't usually buy these. I couldn't remember the last time I bought cheetos. So I bought them. My kids ate them once. The bag is still in the cabinet. I feel bad just throwing them away. So what do you think is happening to that bag? Well, I discovered that Cheetos goes well with beer and homemade cookies.

I don't get it! Why don't my kids finish the junk food that they make me get?

I feel silly saying, "Hey kids, you can't leave the table until you finish all of the cheetos!"

Oh well, it's a dirty job, but someone's got to do it.

I Took the Plunge

2009-11-09T08:19:00.000-08:00

I did it. I started my Christmas shopping. I wasn't planning on it. I went shopping for winter coats for my kids and Christmas decorations were everywhere. Christmas music was playing everywhere. The mall was packed. And Christmas sales were everywhere. For an entire hour, I believed it was December 24th.

So I took the plunge. I bought a few Christmas presents for my kids.

Then I came home and realized that I need to hide these presents for seven weeks. Seven!! This is not going to be easy.

Seattle Rain

2009-11-06T20:33:00.000-08:00

We're getting some stormy weather here in Seattle. The television evening news stated that some places had record breaking rainfall amounts. My 7 year old overheard this and asked, "Mom, does that mean there is a new high score?" I think we may need to cut back on video game time.

This proud parent moment is brought to you by Nintendo.

Good Bye Soccer Season

2009-11-05T08:55:00.000-08:00

Both of my boys played soccer this fall. The season ended last week. No more soccer practice until next year. They had their end of the season parties and got their trophies. Everything is done.

Here's my 5 year old getting his trophy from his coach.

And here's my 7 year old showing off his soccer ball trophy that his friends signed.

So why do I still have a car filled with soccer equipment? There are goalie gloves that seem to have taken a permanent spot on the backseat. The gloves feel right at home with 3 soccer balls rolling around. Yes, I said 3 soccer balls. I have no idea how I ended up with 3 soccer balls in my car. I only have 2 kids!

Sick

2009-11-01T20:22:00.000-08:00

On Thursday my 5 year old came home from school with a fever of 102.5. I took him to the clinic that night. They said he probably has swine flu.

This was really bad timing. Friday was his classroom Halloween party. He couldn't go. Friday was my husband's office trick-or-treating and Halloween party. My son couldn't go. Friday night was the school Halloween Bingo event. My son couldn't go to that either.

Since my son was home sick on Friday that meant I couldn't help with the school Halloween parties that I had previously signed up to help with. And I couldn't help to set up for the school Halloween Bingo, that one that I was chairing and that I had been planning for the last month.

My 5 year old was feeling better on Saturday and he was able to go trick-or-treating in our neighborhood. By Saturday night he had passed his flu germs onto me. So now it's my turn to be sick.

From The Backseat

2009-10-29T08:51:00.000-07:00

I was driving the kids to soccer the other day. It's already dark here at 6 pm but the field is lit. This is the conversation I heard coming from the backseat:

7 year old big brother: I can see a planet in the sky.

5 year old little brother: Where?! I want to see it too.

Big bro: Oh, too late. It already moved.

Little bro: I can see the moon.

Big bro: Where? I don't see it.

Little bro: Oh, too late. It already moved.

We had a very busy solar system that night.

First and Last

2009-10-27T20:39:00.000-07:00

Today my 5 year old lost his first tooth.

Today was also his last soccer game of the season. Don't worry, he lost his tooth at school, not at the game. He was so proud. He's not a baby anymore.

It was my turn to bring snack for his soccer team. I made cupcakes as a treat since it was their last game. It is amazing how many 5 year olds will drop a cupcake as soon as it is placed in the hands. When I picked them off the ground they looked like they were covered with black sprinkles. Yummy! Good thing I made extra.

Blah Blah

2009-10-25T17:55:00.000-07:00

Thank you to Funny in My Mind who gave me this award. If you haven't checked out her blog, you should.

And now to pass it on to some of my commentators who always make my day. Go check out their blogs too!

GirlyTwins at Better Leite Than Never

Fishsticks and Fireflies

Hokgardner at The Days Are Just Packed

Betsy at Joyful Reflections

Gin at My Own Road

Nelson Who?

2009-10-22T08:43:00.000-07:00

As many of my faithful readers know, I'm taking a Japanese class at the local community college. Yesterday my sensei taught how to make a negative sentence. For example, "I am not a teacher."

Sense decided to play a game where she taped a card with the name of a famous person on the back of each student. Then us, students, were supposed to go around and ask questions. The questions were limited to:

Am I woman?

Am I man?

Am I singer?

Am I an athlete?

Am I a politician?

Am I a movie star?

Sensei had posted lists of famous people in each category. So once you figured out the right gender and category you could go to the list and start guessing names. I thought it was a neat idea. Turns out that underneath this blogging mom, there is an inner golf star trying to get out. I was Tiger Woods. You can see the resemblance, no?

At the end of the game, one person still hadn't figured out who the person taped to her back was. She was at list of singers. But her person wasn't a singer. It was Nelson Mandela. Can you believe someone in the class told her Nelson Mandela was a singer?! I turned to the student sitting next to me and said that, "Can you believe someone thought Nelson..." Before I could finish he said, "Wait, wasn't Nelson Mandela an athlete?"

When I got home and started to tell this story to my husband his reaction was, "Who is Nelson Mandela?"

Really?

I'm Not From Around Here

2009-10-21T08:22:00.001-07:00

It's raining. According to the weather ~~guesser~~ man, it's not supposed to stop raining until about next May or so. I live in Seattle. It happens that way every winter.

I moved here three years ago from New Jersey. It rains in New Jersey. For a day or two at a time. And when it does, everyone goes inside. Or if we need to go somewhere, we get our umbrellas and go.

Not in Seattle.

The rain doesn't stop people in Seattle. No one goes inside when it rains. I even got a letter from the school principal making sure that parents (especially those that moved here from New Jersey) knew that the kids will be playing outside during recess even if it is raining. The school does have some covered areas outside for the kids to play under, but my kids like to get wet. A slide with a puddle at the bottom is irresistible to my 5 year old. So my kids are soaked after recess.

No one in Seattle uses umbrellas. Using an umbrella here is like wearing a huge sign that says, "I'm a tourist."

People don't stop when it rains. They still go jogging. They still bike to work. They still go outside for recess.

Not me. I got all ready to go running this morning. It hadn't started to rain until five minutes before it was time to leave. Then it started. So I took the kids to the bus stop. And I brought my tourist umbrella with me. Sure enough none of the other kids or moms at the bus stop had umbrellas. I wonder if they have some secret duck-like hair that is inbred in the local Seattle population... Running will have to wait until tomorrow or maybe till May.

Places That Start with the Letter "I"

2009-10-19T21:06:00.000-07:00

Today while I was driving my 7 year old home from soccer practice he asked me, "Mom, which license plate has black on top, and some white and starts with an 'I' and is a short name? And it wasn't Idaho."

I gave the best answer I could. "I don't know."

"It must be Iran," he said confidently.

"I don't think it was Iran, honey. Do you think it said Illinois instead?"

"Oh yeah, maybe Illinois," he said.

Illinois. Iran. Close enough, right?