And the Award Goes To...

ME!

My daughter Carrin gave me this lovely award (because she has to) because she loves me. She also said these nice things about me as the reason she was giving me this award: My Mom. I must credit her for my love of many things, writing included. Since we have been blogging I have learned more about her than I had in "real life". It's amazing how more free you feel with the written word. Keep it up, Mom. I want to learn more and more about you and your layered past......

I love blogging and sharing things with my family and friends. I have always had a very active imagination and wanted to become a writer alas (does anyone say this anymore?) this never happened but blogging allows me the freedom to express myself creatively.

There are rules to receiving an award (damn, nowadays everything comes with strings attached) and so I must find at least 5 deserving fellow bloggers to pass this on to or the award fairy will sneak into my computer whilst I sleep and steal this cute little feller away from me.

I would like to give the first award to the person who got me started blogging Adrienne . I started reading her blog and thought, How hard can this be? I should start one of my own. Her blog is always full of cute pictures and wonderful stories about her boys. She is my niece, a wife, a mother, works in the corporate world and travels all over, yet manages to have a firm grip on her life.

The second award goes to AFRo I love reading this woman because she puts it all out there and isn't afraid to tell it like it is. I started reading her blog after she commented on one of my writer workshop articles, so you could say MamaKat is responsible for this hook up. AFRo was talking about 100 Days of Sex and it was one of those topics you just had to go back day after day to find out what happened and if they actually made it to day 100. My husband wants to know too cause if they make it he wants to try next.

Award 3 goes to MamaKat because if it wasn't for her writer workshops, I probably wouldn't have met some of the people I have. Reading her blog and participating in her workshops have led me to read some really great blogs that have become favorites of mine.Thank you.

Fourth Award is presented to Jori at Jeff and Me + Three. I stumbled on this site by accident and never want to leave it. She is hilarious and I never get tired of reading her blog. You are what I want to be when I grow up.

And the fifth and final award goes to (drum roll please) my daughter Tara who didn't want to do this blog thing in the beginning, but then she kinda got the bug and even started changing her templates and adding pictures and even asking weekly questions. She hasn't quite got as hooked as my daughter Carrin and I but maybe someday she'll get there. In the meantime, I'm just happy to have her in blog land with us.

Now should you accept the award, please follow these steps:

1.Post the award on your blog.

2. Link me for giving it to you.

3. Link the originating post - here

4. Pass the award on to five more deserving people.

5. Post these rules for your recipients

I would like to take this opportunity to thank the academy for nominating me for this award... oh wait wrong show. Maybe next time.

Living on the Edge

MamaKat has assigned the next writing class and the prompt I chose was # 1. To write from the point of view of the glass on the edge of the table.

Today I am not in my usual spot, above the knife and a little to the left. Today they have left me teetering right on the edge of the table, scared, alone and out of place.

Sometimes I feel like the glass on the edge of the table. I like being in that familiar place, always knowing where I'm at and what I'm supposed to be doing. When they place me on the edge, out of my comfort zone, I am unsure and venerable. It is an unknown element and a whole new world.

I can either stay on the edge, hoping that someone will push me back where I belong, at the top of the table with all the other plates and silverware, or I can take the plunge and find out what awaits me on the other side. Life with the feet and food and chair legs might not be so bad once I'm down there. (Think of all the gorgeous shoes I can look at!). Life is like the glass on the edge of the table, you can either live it staying on the edge your whole life or you can go over the edge and see what life has to offer. You decide.

Trick or Treat

Look there is Sleeping Beauty, Rapunzel, Jasmine, a Ninja, a Unicorn, a Bride, and a Dragon. Am I in Disney Land, I've always wanted to go there? Wait pinch me and see if I'm awake? OUCH, I didn't mean that literally! That's gonna leave a bruise. I'm not in Disney Land, I'm in Kip and Jennifer's garage and at their annual Halloween Party!

Every year for at least the past 3 now, Jennifer has turned their garage into a spectacular Halloween Haven and put on a wonderful party for both children and adults. She decorates the garage from top to bottom with things she makes (Yup, she's crafty as hell) from ideas she gets out of magazines. Then they have this amazing maze for the kids to go thru. Last year it was made from cardboard boxes (but they kept falling down) and this year they made it with straw bales. They put lights on the inside so the kids won't get too scared to go in (but she also puts blinky heads and skeletons in there too). She makes goody bags for each kid to take home with them filled with all kinds of stuff.

There are games to play and hidey holes for kids to find as well as many places to run, jump and climb. There is no end to the many things the kids can do and not once in all the time they were there was there one fight or argument amongst the kids.

Meanwhile the adults are enjoying themselves talking and eating and drinking because they don't have to constantly be monitoring the children who are having too much fun to be whining and crying and wanting Mom and Dad. Works out well for all involved. Can somebody say, Genius, Jennifer.

Eventually it's time to eat and let me tell you no one goes hungry here! There was turkey sandwiches as the main dish and then all the extras. Pickle wraps, wieners in BBQ sauce, spinach dip, chips, veggies, cheese, crackers, cupcakes, pretzels, punch. You name it and it was probably there and with a Halloween theme to it.

I have to say I don't know where Jennifer gets the energy sometimes. She worked nights this weekend, has the 3S's to chase after, is home schooling Sydney, they are now milking a cow (Gloria), she is remodeling her bathroom (just got it finished enough to use right before the party) and planned a party on top of this. Where does she find the time? This weekend she is putting together a birthday party for Sydney Jo. Maybe I should check her to see if she is running on energizer batteries. I'm tired just writing about it. Wait, she was dressed as a witch at the party- maybe she's Bewitched and she just twitches her nose to make it all happen. Hmmmm!

Drinkin In the Dark

Wow, I can't believe I haven't blogged in four days! that must be some kind of record for me. No I wasn't sick and I wasn't out of town. just in a funk and didn't feel like yakking with you all.

I've been coming down off that high stress level I create for myself now that school is over for the semester and things have been really intense at work and felt it was better to not share anything rather than share all the negative crap.

So over the past week every evening after coming home from work I have (felt the need, had to have, would have killed for) shared a cocktail with my husband. With all the shit going on in my life this doesn't always mean it happens before supper so some evenings I had my cocktail (where does this strange word come form anyway) after we ate.

Now I am not a raging alcoholic and do not need to run right out and join a 12 step program. 2 drinks and I'm usually happy as can be, 3 and my husband is happy because he gets lucky later and 4 drinks and I'm done for the night. But as you can see by the title of my blog there may a just a tiny problem with my drinking habits.

My husband and I do not have the same taste in TV entertainment shows so I usually retire to the den every night to watch my shows while he stays in the living room and reclines on the comfortable furniture with the BIG TV. I like to sit in the dark when watching TV ( maybe a little candlelight once in a while) as it is wasteful to burn all that electricity and much more relaxing to watch in the dark. Besides it makes it easier to fall asleep if it's dark.

Anyway, this week when I retired to the den to watch TV, I took along my cocktail telling my husband. " Time to go Drink in the Dark". Later I would come out with the empty and he would look at me and shake his head. After about the third night of this when I came out with the empty our conversation goes like this:

George: " Still drinking in the dark, I see?"

Me: " Yeah, do you think I have a problem? Should I see someone?"

George: " No, Just turn on the lights that'll fix it."

Without George, I'd still be drinkin in the dark and have a problem but he solved it for me. Now I drink with the lights on- no problem. Right? Thanks Honey.

Memory Lane

I just finished my last college class for this semester, am waiting on my final grades and next week I sign up for classes for next semester.

For some reason, this made me think about the first go round with college life and some of the really fun and really stupid stuff we did. I thought I would share some of them with all of you.

My best friend was Nanette, she was also no taller than 4'10" and our nicknames were Flatman and Ribbon (for very obvious reasons). We had some really great times together.

My first semester 8:00 am class was Anatomy and Physiology- who the hell wants to dissect animal at that time in the morning! Especially if you had been partying the night before? I missed a few of those classes.

My older sister also went to school here and lived in an apartment so I did not have to live in the dorm- WOOHOO!! Party Central at our house!

There was a mental facility in the town where I went to college and occasionally someone would escape so everyone in town was put on alert. Kinda scary!

Some of my classmates and I had a scavenger hunt for Halloween and it was a lot of fun.

I was a Speech/Drama Major so had to participate in most of the plays the they produced and for one I needed an empty pint alcohol bottle. several of us didn't have one that empty so we had to buy some bottles that were full. I bought a bottle of peppermint schnapps and drank it til the bottle was empty. We went to play practice a tiny bit drunk and the director sent us all home and told us not to come back til we were sober! It was fun though and the play was a success.

I tried out for the college cheerleader squad but didn't make it and was horribly disappointed for all of 10 minutes then got over it.

I had a work study program where I graded papers for one of the professors so always had the test papers before anyone else and probably could have made a ton of money selling them if I was that kind of person.

I snuck into all the bars before I was old enough and partied and never once got ID'd. (Don't know if that's a good thingor a bad thing).

We would og home on the weekends and bring back enough food to stock our cupboards for weeks. Thanks Mom.

All in all I was your typical 18 year old college kid having way too much fun and not paying enough attention to my grades. All I cared about was Drinking and Boys so it's no wonder I never finished my first year. But 35 years later, here I am back in college, older, wiser and all that stuff out of my system. Maybe this time I can get it right.

Coffee Anyone?

Meaghan has a great new business up and running that you have to check out if you are a coffee nut like I am. It is called Get the Bean and you can find her at http://getthebean.blogspot.com/ . You can order coffee, tea, biscotti and all kinds of great stuff. She has my all time favorite coffee Blue Mountain from Jamaica and it's not a bad price . I can't wait to check out all the goodies.

Things That Go Bump In The Night

This would be my incredibly drunk husband as he stumbles around at 2:00 am after coming home from bowling. I have to say in Georges defense that he doesn't do this often (maybe once or twice a year) but when he does, it is both irritating and comical at the same time.

Irritating because he wakes me up from a really sound sleep which I then find it hard to return to while he passes out once he finally hits the bed.

Comical because he tries sooooo hard to be quiet so as to NOT wake me and the harder he tries the MORE noise he makes.

I didn't hear George actually come into the house last night but he must have had a hard time getting from the back door to our bedroom because that's when I woke up. I give the man Kudos for not wanting to turn on the lights to wake me up but trying to make it across two rooms of furniture in the dark while inebriated is not a smart idea. Not sure what he actually bumped into or if he just was using the furniture to steady himself.

He finally made it to the bedroom and into the master bath where he did decide to turn on the light (before he shut the door) Thank you honey! He didn't get the door shut quite tight so he tried again with a little more force this time resulting in some noise decibels. He gets done in the bathroom and turns out the light (before opening the door this time) and proceeds to walk acroos the bedroom in the dark. How do you all think this went?????

Yup you're right. Not well at all. He ran into the corner of our bed which caused him to utter a few choice words ( I won't print them here) and almost fall into bed and on top of me. By this time I am laughing my ass off (silently of course because he doesn't know I'm awake) and just hoping he makes it into bed without doing any bodily harm to himself or me.

He manages to get into bed, set his alarm for 3 hours later and instantly starts snoring! Now I am wake for the next 30-45 minutes trying to get back to sleep after being dragged from a deep sleep and beautiful dreams just a few short minutes ago. Go Figure?

Getting Noticed

OK so I tapped into Mama's Losin It and got hooked.I even added her button to my blog so it was easier to get to her. How obsessed is that? Anyway her assignment today was to pick a subject and write about it. I chose the one Recall a time you did something to get noticed. My writing is no where near as good as hers but here goes.
I don't remember a time when I didn't do something to get noticed. I am 4 feet 10 1/2inches tall and the middle child (Hello what's that tell you?) so I was always trying to get attention. I think from the time I could talk I was getting my older brother and sister in trouble for no reason just so Mom would come running and I ran away from home to my grandmas house (she just lived down the block and through the alley). She fed me cookies and milk and called my mom.
When I got older, I would leave the house for school and roll my skirt up til it was so short if I sneezed you'd be able to see what I ate for lunch thinking I was cool and my mom wouldn't know. I got to school and put my make up on in the bathroom so I'd look really cool, then went across the street and stood on the corner (yes I was one of those girls) and smoked cigarettes before school and at lunch. I thouhgt this made me really hip and one of the BAD GIRLS.
I would skip school and forge my mother's name on the passes the next day and was so good at it I was voted Best Escape Artist by my classmates for the yearbook my senior year. I went out for all the plays because I could act out and people would notice me.
I would change my hair color and style frequently to get noticed even if it turned out Funky once in a while (and it did). I still do this now but I go to a stylist so it doesn't turn out Funky now.
I flirted with the boys a lot but had a big brother that policed by dating life so didn't actually get to date many of them.
Now a days (since I am mature) if I want to get noticed, I use my knowledge. Hell no, I still like to get down and have a GOOD TIME! I have been know to get tattooed and do shots of Hot Sex at Bowling Tournament weekends. I may be 55 and a grandmother but I'm not dead yet.

You Are a Hazelnut Latte

You often having the craving for something exotic. You get bored easily. You are a true adventurer. Nothing makes you happier than traveling. You're a very cosmopolitan and worldly person. You have sophisticated tastes. You have a keen attention to detail. Little things matter to you - you are a bit of a perfectionist.

The Whole Fam Damily

I talk a lot about my kids and grand kids and occasionally about my parents but seldom about my brother and sisters. Today I am introducing you to my Siblings. I would not classify us as a normal family (after all Normal is just a word) growing up, my dad drove semi and was gone a lot so my mom was the main stay of the home but there was a lot of love and laughter and tradition in our lives.

The oldest and only boy-Marvin or Mick- Your typical older brother growing up. Always thought he could tell us what to do and always snitching on me to Mom and Dad. Especially once I started dating! He would tell mom and dad that the boy I was trying to date was no good and they shouldn't let me see him. Of course they believed Mick and I was forbidden to date the boy. He also snitched when he caught me smoking which lead to my dad making me smoke a HUGE cigar in it's entirety. If I didn't turn green and puke my guts out I could then smoke cigarettes. I won and smoked for 30 some years (not sure that was such a victory- have been smoke free for 9 years now). Mick had some really cool cars and pick up trucks that he drove fast like all teenage boys and had his share of wrecks. He also had his share of Hunky friends that I "Crushed" on. He married and had 9 children and is now the semi driver that is gone for long periods of time. We have a good relationship.

Next is Natalie- Nickname Kat- She is 13 months older than I and we used to fight BIG time when we were younger! I remember scratching and hitting and hair pulling. Do I remember why? No. It probably didn't matter at the time, she could look at me the wrong way and I would scream for Mom just to get her in trouble. Natalie was the child that if she didn't learn how to do something then she never had to do it. For instance after we moved to the farm, she didn't learn how to run the milking machines so all she had to do was feed the cows and dump milk. I had to do the milking which wasn't the cleanest job in the world. She wasn't too dumb huh? She's the instigator in the family and you have to watch out for her. One minute she'll be standing there talking to you and the next minute you could be wearing cake or ice cream or have a hot dog shoved in your face just for fun. More than one food fight has ensued when our family is all together thanks to Natalie. Natalie is married, has one daughter and two grandsons. We live a couple hours form each other and share the love of shopping so we get together a couple times a year to do a Mother/Daughter Shopping Trip. I really enjoy spending time with her when we do these trips.

Five years after me came Lisa-better known to us as Scooby- Growing up I don't remember a lot of real closeness with Lisa because she was younger than me. When I was in Junior High she was in elementary school and when I was graduating High School she was just entering Junior High. We didn't have a lot in common. I loved her( most of the time) she was my sister but she was playing with dolls while I was playing with boys. I do remember sewing clothes for her. Then she grew up and got married, moved away and had 2 beautiful girls of her own( the smart one and the pretty one). Lisa helped me through one of the toughest points in my life-my divorce. She was my confidant, my BFF and my safe haven when I needed somewhere to run to. I spent many weekends at her place and many hours on the phone with her during this time. I don't think I could have made it through that period without her. We've had our moments (what sisters haven't) but I know she's there if I need her.

And last but by no means least- Paula- or Frog as she is affectionately called. This is our New years Eve baby. I was a senior in high school when mom got pregnant and I was embarrassed to think my parents still had sex let alone that they were going to have a BABY!! YEW! Needless to say once she was born we all thought she was so damn cute we spoiled the shit out of her and that's why she is the way she is today. Independent and used to getting her own way. I had a baby about 1 1/2 after Paula was born so my daughter and my sister were actually closer than my sister and I were for many years (after all they were closer in age). In fact when Paula would ask me something I used to tell her to go ask Grandma instead of Mom- it was hard to think of my mom being her mom too. Not until after Paula grew up, got married and had kids of her own did I start to relate more to her as my sister and not my child. It was hard though. We have a good relationship now but she and my daughter are still closer since they are closer in age.
These are my Siblings- all a little quirky, but all mine. We don't always see eye to eye and we may fight once in a while but we all love each other. They say you can pick your friends but you can't pick your family. I don't know- I kinda like mine- quirks and all, don't know that I'd pick any thing differently. Well maybe I'd make me prettier than the rest of them.

Housewives-A Lost Art

Back when I was a young girl, my mother taught all of us (my brother included) how to cook and bake. She taught us how to can produce and make jelly and how to sew. We learned how to do laundry from sorting the whites and colors to folding and ironing. We all had our chores inside the house as well as outside and they had to be done before we could play. I remember our house smelling of cinnamon and sugar and homemade bread when she baked and the smell of laundry soap when she did the wash. We had one of those wringer washing machines back then where you put the clothes through the wringer to get the water out (none of this spin cycle stuff back then) and you pushed it through with a wooden spoon because you didn't want to get your hand caught. Then into the wash tubs full of cold water to rinse the soap out and through the ringer again. This was repeated once more before we hauled the clothes out to the clothesline and hung them up to dry.
We had a huge garden at the end of our yard where we grew our vegetables and lots of fruit trees that we used to make the jellies and jams. Every summer our house was filled with steam from the pressure cooker used in canning vegetables that we would eat all winter long. Mom used to make the best Bread and Butter pickles (to this day they're still my favorites). I can remember listening to the lids pinging as they sealed when the house was quiet after we had gone to bed.
My mom also sewed and made almost all of our clothes as well as Barbie doll clothes. We have pictures of all of us girls dressed alike for Easter. She used to make beautiful dresses full of detail. She also crocheted and knitted everything from sweaters to afghans and baby layettes.
She made sure all of us learned how to do these things whether we wanted to or not (and sometimes we really didn't want to) telling us someday we would be glad we knew how. She was right.
As I married and had my own family, I found myself cooking, baking, growing a big garden and canning vegetables, making jelly and jams and sewing for my children (even the dreaded Barbie doll clothes) Laundry was never my favorite and still isn't but at least I know how to do it. I tried to teach my own children all these things but this generation had different ideas. Modern technology was here and did so much they didn't need to know all these things.
They had the microwave to cook for them so why spend all that time cooking and baking? No need to grow a garden and can vegetables when you can buy frozen from SAMS. and why sew your own clothes when you can buy with credit cards so easily?
My son was the one with the love of cooking and baking and he would whip things up for me but neither of my girls had any interest for a long time. Gradually they started asking me for recipes or they would call and ask how to make something. Yesterday my oldest daughter called and asked my how to make something for the first time and it made me feel a special bond. That Mother/Daughter thing. They still don't crochet, sew or grew a garden and can vegetables but this is a start. One step at a time.

It Oughta Be Against the Law

To have to roll my ass out of bed at 6:15 am on a Saturday morning for anything! I don't think I do this even for shopping and we all know I am a diehard shopaholic!!!
But yesterday (after babysitting for the 3S's the night before) we got up to go watch Tegan play his last football game in Necedah. You guessed it, this means we also had to wake up and dress a 2 year old, a 3 year old and a 5 year old to take along with us. Does this sound like fun to you???? Sydney and Sadie weren't too much trouble but Sailor is the cranky, don't touch me, or talk to me type when she first wakes up so she did not want to get dressed. I thought we were going to have to take her in her jammies there for a while but she finally let me put her clothes on just seconds before we walked out the door. Score one for Grandma! Then we packed all 3 girls plus Grandpa , Grandma and Carla, Tegan and his football stuff in the van and headed to Necedah. Thank God for travel mugs of coffee! the kids on the other hand were eating powder sugar doughnuts (just what you need-kids on sugar highs when trapped in a confined space). I heard giggles, Carla get me, don't touch me and stop that for the next hour and 15 minutes. All the while this is going on George is driving the van and not hearing any of this because he has that hearing problem ( he hears only what he wants to). You know this is true because he hears the radio just fine and is singing along to the oldies being played. We finally get there and pile out of the van to head on back to the field and of course we need to make a potty stop first. Sadie wants to go in the stall by herself and the proceeds to tell me (and anyone else within hearing distance) not to look at her butt, that she is pooping, I am wiping, now I am flushing and pulling up my pants. In other words a play by play of what was going on in her stall along with a little singing while she was doing her thing. During the game, there wasn't much to keep the girls occupied so they played in the dirt and got filthy!! So before they got back in the van, I washed them up as good as I could in the bathroom. Then Grandpa treated all of them to Starbursts(more sugar highs for the ride home!!!! Yeah Thanks Grandpa.
By the way Tegan's team won 22-0. They only lost one game the whole season so they did pretty darn good. Next year though can we make the games a little later in the day or a little closer to home so I don't have to get up so early??

The Joys of Grandparenting

We babysat the 3S's (Sydney, Sadie and Sailor) on Friday night. Jennifer works nights in the emergency room every other weekend and Kip had to get up early Saturday morning and go into work for a while so the girls spent the night with Grandma and Grandpa. I came home form work Friday night and found my house already in total disarray. It seems Grandpa had left a door ajar earlier and we had Ladybug and stink bug visitors so they had the vacum out and had rid the house of the unwanted invaders but failed to put the vacum away again. I nearly tripped on it coming into the kitchen when I got home. Then there were Madi Gras beads from one end of the house to the other. Sailor is obsessed with these beads and will wear every one there is in the house and there are a lot! (I won't tell you what I had to do to get these beads at bowling tournaments, it's better you don't know.) The three girls and Grandpa were all watching cartoons when I arrived home after stopping to purchase the movie Enchanted for them to watch that evening.
Sydney Jo tells me: We have that movie.
Me: We don't and I thought it would be fun to watch it.
Sydney Jo: We've seen it and don't want to see it again. Can you get something else?
Me: No, we're watching this one.
Sadie: I don't like that movie.
By this time I'm thinking I'm really batting a thousand here and what I thought was a nice thing is turning into a disaster so I quit while I'm somewhat ahead and decide to start supper.
We sit down to eat and this is what I hear:
Sydney Jo (making a face): What's that?
Grandpa: Ring Bologna
Sydney Jo: I've never had that before is it good?
Me: Yes, very good try it.
Sydney Jo: My mom never makes this for us. She never ate this before either.
Grandpa: I think she ate this when she was little.
The next things we knew, her plate was clean and she was asking for more bologna so guess she liked it. Sadie on the other hand ate everything but the bologna.
After supper they played for a while with a few squabbles thrown in here and there and then we did watch the movie until bed time. Got them all in their jammies and tucked into bed (they all sleep in one bed when they stay over) with hugs and kissses all the way around and lights out.
The next sound I heard was silence.... What bliss.
They are wonderful little girls and we love having them with us once in a while. I have come to understand why were are parents when we are young- I do not have the energy to chase after kids now that I did when I was a mother.

From a Boy to a Man

Yesterday, Tegan asked George and I to take him shopping so he could buy his mom (Carla) a birthday present. (Don't tell anyone but she turns the BIG 30 today!) So we headed into Marshfield after work (No Carrin we did not go to Target so your relationship is safe) and the mall. Tegan had decided on what he wanted to get her and what stores he had seen these particular items at (she hasn't opened her gifts yet so I can't tell you what he got her) so off we went in search of the perfect gift from an 8 year old son to his mom.
As we enter the mall and pass the new restaurant, World Buffet we get a running commentary from Tegan.
Tegan: I've eaten there lots of times. Have you?
George: Nope, Grandma and I haven't eaten there yet. Is it good?
Tegan: Yes, really good. My mom and I like it a lot.

We then pass a pickup truck parked in the middle of the mall on display by the Chevy dealer and the conversation goes like this:
Tegan: Grandpa that would be a good truck for you
George: You think I need one?
Teagn: Yup, yours is full of holes and is really loud when you start it.

We proceed to the Tea Shop and after much looking around at all the Webkinz, balloons, Halloween decorations and everything else that might catch the eye of an 8 year old boy, we made the purchase we came in the store to make in the first place. We then moved on to the next store and finished our shopping.
We are hungry by this time and we decide to go to Perkins for supper before getting the gift bag and card to finish things. Now Tegan "always" has the chocolate chip pancakes when we go here without fail. Last night though he decides he needs the adult menu.
Me: So chocolate chip pancakes buddy?
Teagn: (Looking at the adult menu) No I would like a ham and cheese omelet, hash browns( he actually called them those little skinny potatoes) and a muffin.
Me: That's a lot of food, are you sure you can eat it all?
Tegan: Grandma, I know. I ate it once when I was here with my mom.
Me: OK then if that's what you want.
He ordered it and ate 85% of it. I was impressed.
So somehow while we weren't looking Tegan went from a little boy to a young man. He is growing up right before our very eyes. Shopping for his mom, giving Grandpa advice and ordering from the adult menu. What's next- dating?

What I Want/What I Get

Ever notice that what you want and what you get are usually two very different things?
For instance:
At 6:00 am I want to roll over and go back to sleep- I get to get out of a warm bed and go to work.
I want to be 5' 6" tall with legs that don't stop- I get to be 4'11" with hardly any legs.
I want all my children and grandchildren to live within 5 miles of me- I get to drive over 500 miles to see some of them.
I want a million dollars- I get a paycheck twice a week.
I want to be able to sing- I get a voice that would scare a cat to death!
I want to live where it's warm and sunny all the time-I get to live in Wisconsin!
I want to be young and full of energy- I get to be old and tired(most days).
I want to be able to drink like I used to and not get a hangover- I get to drink 3 drinks if I'm lucky and then I'm done.
I want to remember everything that happens- I get to remember what happened in the last week if I'm lucky (and write it down on a post-it note)
I want the work week to be 2 days and the weekends to be 5- I get the opposite.
I want really great kids and grand kids and the love of a wonderful man- oh wait I get that.
Guess sometimes you do get what you want. My mom always had this wonderful saying she used to tell us when we were kids and we wanted something we didn't have. It went like this: "If wishes were horses we'd all have a ride."

Mother of the Year-NOT

Lately my oldest daughter has been doing a "Tell All Tuesday" blog and two of her recent blogs have made me stop and wonder if there was something missing in my children's lives as they were growing up. I always thought I was doing a good job of raising them. I worked full time while they were young and they went to a sitter but I tried to make up for that in other ways, Now as I read Carrin's blogs I guess I know why I never won Mother of the Year. Maybe I just remember things differently. I remember the one day a week I had off being a play day with my kids instead of the day I cleaned my house ( I could always do that but I didn't always get to play with my kids). I remember tucking them into their beds every night, giving them big hugs and kisses and telling them how much I loved them. I remembe when bath time meant I was wetter then the kids were and they were the ones in the water! I remember I used to bake homemade bread and cookies, I made home cooked dinners (none of this microwave stuff for my kids) every night for supper, I sewed their clothes for them (obviously their Halloween costumes didn't make an impression though) and I had birthday parties for them with all their friends. Our house was the place all their friends wanted to hang out. I remember a lot of laughter and good times as they were growing up. We might not have decorated the outside of our house for Halloween or Christmas but we certainly celebrated the holiday. I always did cookies and candy and put decorations up on the inside.
Carrin I can't believe you don't remember reading books as a child or the Halloween costumes I made you. What do you rememeber?

Chew On This

OK so last night was class and when we got there, instead of doing our assignment like we were expecting, our instructor proceeded to chew our ass big time! This is a Marketing Principles class and a big part of our grade is this huge marketing project that we are doing for the City of Marshfield. We are creating a brochure and a web page link to encourage people to volunteer for government committee opportunities. (They are actually going to use it when we are finished). We were divided up, 2 people were in charge overall, 2 people were Layout for the brochure, 2 people were IT for the web page link, and the other 14 people had 2 committees each that they had to attend a meeting and then interview the chairperson for information to put into the brochure. Each committee also has a mission statement and short blurb on the City of Marshfield web page that these 14 people could have gotten information from. We are now down to our last 3 classes and last night was to have been the final ad layout as Mike and I (we are the IT part) have a meeting on Tuesday to turn the brochure into a link to the city's web page. Imagine our surprise when our leaders and instructor told us we had to pretty much start over because most of the people had not attended any meetings like they were supposed to and most of the information they gave for the brochure was WRONG!!! Was Diane (our instructor) livid or what? So for the next 3 hours we went through the brochure page by page and corrected everything so it could get to the printer and the IT department next week. I'm glad I wasn't one of those people who was responsible for a committee- this is worth 90 points of our grade and they just blew it. My 90 points are still safe. The upside to last night? We were supposed to review 4 chapters for an exam next week and we didn't have time-Sooooo- she knocked one chapter off the exam and made it an open book exam!

Miss(ed) Manners

So last night after work I stopped at Target (yes Carrin I couldn't wait to make my first move) to get a few things. They are doing an extensive remodel of our local store so there is only one door to both enter and exit through right now. As I walked across the parking lot there was a group of 6 young men and 1 young woman about 16 years old also walking toward the store. They were pushing and shoving each other as young people do and joking around loudly. We all reached the entrance at the same time and who do you think had to give way to the other party? I was actually at the door a second before them but had I not stepped out of the way, I would have gotten trampled on as they came thru because they were too busy with their game of pushing and shoving to notice me. There were no "excuse mes" or "thanks yous" from any of them as they went by just " who has money? I want a latte." ( we now have a Starbucks in our Target).
I shook it off and proceeded to stroll down the newly renovated aisles trying to find my way around (oohing and ahhing at how pretty Target looks). I was back by the book department and immersed in reading about a really good book when who should I hear but the Rude 7. I couldn't see them yet but I could sure hear them loud and clear. Next thing I know they are right next to me in the CD/Music department still pushing and shoving, grabbing CDs and yelling at each other that they should buy this CD cause it's only $11.99 and it's really good! Then one guy picks up this other guy (he's really small) and starts carrying him around the store like a baby. You have to realize they are not contained in a small neat group, they are taking up the whole aisle as they are walking. They are not saying excuse me or I'm sorry, the other people are having to walk around them! What is wrong with this picture?? Where is the common etiquette that is taught when you are a child? I'm almost positve their mothers taught them to say please and thank you and excuse me when they were little- all mothers do. Please do not disrupte my pleasant shopping experience with your rudeness. If you must behave this way in public- do it at a time I do not shop.

Name Game

What's in a name? We all have them. They are given to us at birth by our parents and we carry them for the rest of our lives. Sometimes we are named for other family members and sometimes we are named after celebrities. We don't always like the names we are given and sometimes we will shorten them or even legally change them. Some peoples names are more outrageous than others and some are downright weird.
But we don't stop there- we name our pets too. The family dog is Lucy, Binty or Hampton, the cat is Thomas or Chelsea. The hamster might be Oliver and the rabbit is Pepper.
I understand why we name our children and our pets (after all we can't say hey you or call them cat all the time) but I don't quite understand why my daughter Tara must name her fish Michael (which we ate by the way) or my granddaughter Sydney must name all her farm animals (which usually end up eaten also). Do you see a trend here guys? Sydney named the pigs Hooky and Pinky (he was all black by the way), the cow was Fred, the goats all had names that I can't remember and now they are getting a new cow named Gloria. She would name all the chickens too if there weren't so many. They all meet the same fate sooner or later (they end up in my freezer and later on my table) so to me it is pointless to give them a name but to her each of them has a personality so they get a name. She has an amazing imagination and just has to look at them to know what their name should be!