PYHO: 2nd Grade Blues

Up until this school year I have always thought my seven year old, Miss K was a intelligent child. At six months she starting talking, at nine months she crawled, at ten months she walked and at two years old she sang the Pledge of Allegiance.
Learning the basics for entering school came to her so easily and upon entering Kindergarten I was not nervous about her ability to learn. We had our struggles with her social behavior because she likes to talk. Other than that he classwork was average for a five year old.
First grade was another struggle with her inability to stop talking to friends but her classwork was a breeze. Her handwriting skills were above the rest of the kids in her class and she was in the highest reading level.
But this year has been a struggle. It's not just the homework that she is having difficulty with she is also having a hard time taking tests. Miss K can read a 40 page book quite well but if you ask her the point of the story. Blank stare. We have tried breaking down the story into sections and she still has a hard time with that. Reviewing the story several times still doesn't help much and when she has to answer a question about the book she looks to my husband or myself to give her the answer. She won't try.
I try not to get frustrated with her but when reading books turns her to tears it breaks my heart. I don't know how to help her. We have requested easier books to see if we can step back a little and find what works for her. We skipped doing the reading homework this evening since we spent four, yes four hours working on it last night.
We tackled math which is another subject she is currently struggling in. I'm not sure what these teachers are teaching her or if she is even listening. I have questioned the possibility of ADD to her pediatrician and he turns a blind eye. He feels it's her age that is causing her to be unable to pay attention and focus in class.
We are having a parent/teacher conference this Friday. I'm hoping together we can find the problem with Miss K and find what works for her. Maybe her way of learning is different and we have to find it. I'm hoping to find answers.

Friday Fragments #113

It's been awhile since I played along with Friday Fragments
and I've missed it.
Fragments are how my mind usually thinks. Snippets
here and there and all over everywhere.

If you live in Florida or have ever visited this lovely state
during love bug season you know exactly how I feel.
It's "that" time of year and they are breeding hence the name
LOVE BUG.
I washed my van yesterday and removed all their dead bodies
from it and if you looked at it today you
would never know it. And if you don't remove them from the paint
the acid eats the paint. It's just lovely.

Photo courtesy of photobucket


I am going out of town with my husband for two days. We are
heading to St. Petersburg to watch the Tampa Bay Rays play and then we
will be watching a concert on the field following the game.
We'll be staying at a hotel near the stadium and on Sunday morning
following breakfast we'll head to Tarpon Springs.
At the fishing docks there they have the greatest Greek town
and amazing greek restaurants.
I can't wait!!


I bought a new pair of sunglasses today. I actually spent $19.99
on this pair. I usually try to not spend so much because
I break them or lose them. But they looked so good on
I couldn't resist.

Don't pay attention to the fact that I modeled these for this
photo just now and have no make up on.
Sad.
And this was funny when I went to edit this
picture, I realized that my smile is just like my younger
brother's. hehe. We have the same smile.
I miss him. It so sad that he lives 7.5 hours away.



This is another hilarious thing. Last night after Miss K took
her dance outfit off, tights and leotard Little E grabbed her tights.
He's been a real nut lately and he shoved them on his head and
said he was a monster.
Not really scary, but pretty darn funny!!
Wait until he's 18 and is going to college
he's going to love it when I pull out
his scrapbook and show his friends!!


It's already the end of September and I feel like
I'm slacking on the Halloween costume department. I am
usually on my A game and have the ideas picked out.
This year I'm debating on making homemade ones
or buying store ones. I detest buying the ones at Wal-Mart or Target.
I prefer getting them at the costume store if I HAVE TO.
But I really like making them.
But I may be out of time.
Miss K 3 Yrs old- Halloween 2006

Pour Your Heart Out: Nightmare of Reality

I woke up hoping it was all a nightmare. Sleep was overrated and I didn't even rest deep enough to get to the point for dreams. I rolled over in my bed and felt the cold spot next to me. The unused pillow lay next to me and the room was quiet except for the sound of the radio. It wasn't a bad dream it was the reality that my husband wasn't there. It was one of the worst nights of my life and it wasn't the first one, unknowable to me.

Like a machine I moved through my morning routine trying not to let the pain show. If I didn't think about the obvious absence of him it wouldn't be so bad. Waking the kids wasn't cheerful for me even though I smiled at their sleepy faces. They didn't ask where he was and it made the start of the day a bit easier.

My niece had spent the night and I needed to keep three children busy while making them breakfast. It was a quiet breakfast with the sound of cartoons in the background. I had previously planned to take them out for the day and tried to stay focused on getting out of the house. If I kept myself busy with them and left the emptiness, I might have been able to hold it together.

I didn't plan on my husband walking away from our marriage. Who does?

Sadly, my sister in law showed up early that morning to pick up her daughter. I was sad for my daughter who was looking forward to spending the afternoon with her. To not upset her anymore, I still kept the plans to take the kids out. I needed to get out of the house. Staying there would only keep reminding me that my husband was gone.

He wasn't talking to me, he wasn't answering his phone and I wasn't quite sure where we stood.

After a few phone calls from concerned family and friends, I loaded the kids in the van to go out. We met up with my best friend and her daughters and spent the morning playing at a Family Fun Fair. Afterwords we went out to lunch. My friend was being very supportive and let me choose where to go. I picked a restaurant I had never been at before in hopes to keep my mind off the situation at hand.

It wasn't easy with a 3 year old and a 6 year old. They were fighting over toys and who was going to sit next to mommy. The daily thing that wouldn't normally bother me too much. My patience was thin and I tried blocking it out. This wasn't fair. I was left to take care of our children and had no escape. I managed lunch the best that I could and didn't care if either of them finished their meal or not. I couldn't stop dwelling on the fact that the day was half over and still no phone call from my husband.

My friend wanted to go to Target and I agreed to go to avoid going back home alone. The grocery shopping was not much fun. I had to get some items we were out of but I had no idea if I should buy certain things or not. Why should I buy items that only he uses if he's not coming back? Why did everything have to make me think about the problem at hand? Why couldn't I just block it out?? I was so weak mentally at this point, I even let the kids convince me to buy them chocolate morsels and open them while leaving the store.

It was going on five o'clock at this point and I knew that letting them eat chocolate was a big mistake. On the way home Little E fell asleep which was not a good idea but considering how drained I was feeling it didn't matter. After getting home and putting him to bed for a late nap, I sat down and felt all alone. The fear of the unknown was creeping in on me.

By 6:30 I couldn't even think of what I was going to cook. Thank God for great friends because my best friend bought and delivered a pizza for us for dinner. I was failing as a strong mother and woman at this point and letting depression take over. Something that my medication couldn't even keep from happening.

I couldn't take it much more and texted my husband's stepmother to see if she had heard if he was coming home. Waiting for the cell phone to ding it's familiar chime for a text I jumped when it did. I was washing the dishes and couldn't get my gloves off fast enough to see what it said.

It was him.

He was telling me that he would not be coming home again this evening and that I needed to stop calling and bothering everyone else about his whereabouts. Really? He left me and now he was calling the shots? I guess at that point what choice did I have. I wanted him to come home to discuss what the hell was going on so I had to comply. If I turned irate and went all kinds of crazy then he was definitely not coming home.

After several minutes of text he was gone again. I was crushed. I called my best friend in sobbing tears and tried to speak to her. She couldn't understand my uncontrollable weeping and said "I'll be right there." I continued to bawl my eyes out, something I didn't want to do in front of the kids. But the pain was too unbearable anymore and I felt like I was hitting rock bottom.

My other best friend showed up unknowing the state I was in. She was stopping by to check in on me and found me weeping. By the time she had me sitting back down my other best friend had showed up. They tried their best to calm me down and helped take care of my kids for me. I am forever grateful to them for being there for me. I hope I never have to be there for them under the same circumstances but I will be in a heartbeat if the situation arises.

After a few glasses of wine, to calm my nerves, and a few hours of talking my friends went home to their families. I was alone again in a quiet house. I went through my normal routine of closing the house up and settling in bed for the evening. It was going to be a long night. Exhausted from the mental anguish, I passed out watching tv. The television, my personal pacifier.

I woke up, wishing it was all a bad dream, another nightmare but I rolled over and saw the empty spot next to me. The pillow was cold and the comforter on that side untouched. I survived another evening and a full day without knowing where my life stood. Could I do it again?


This post was inspired by Mama Kat's writer's workshop writing prompts from last week's choices. I am also submitting this as my Pour Your Heart with Shell at Thing's I Can't Say.

Monday Minute: The Fun Never Ends

What does not kill us only makes us stronger.
I have no idea who said that, but it's true.
On a lighter note, this is the last week of Monday Minute hosted by
Ian at DDoR. You're the bomb!
And this week we have the
fabulous Laura, The Purseblogger as co hostess.
Yep, she's pretty fabulous and if you've never
been to her site, I suggest you check it out!

This week's questions:

1.Have you ever lied on one of your Monday Minute answers? no. If I didn't want to tell about something I just didn't participate in that week. If I'm going to answer a question it's going to be truthful. What have I got to hide?

2.What is on your bedside table? I do not have a bedside table, I have a bookcase on my side of the bed. My husband's side of the bed has one and his alarm clock, weather radio and lamp are on it.

3. Lose your sight or hearing? I'd lose my sight. I would get one of those seeing eye dogs, they're so cute. I would be sad to miss my hearing because spoken words mean so much more.

4. Would you rather give up all kinds of sexual contact for one full year or give up your DVR for three months? I'd give up my DVR anyday because there is NO WAY I am giving up sexual contact for even one day let alone a year.

5. Name one thing that you are proud of that you've accomplished in your life. Becoming a mother, twice. Having a child is one thing, raising it and being a good role model and caregiver is a completely different thing. I like to believe that I am being ALL those things.

Eat this, not that!

After Little E's three year old check up back in July and our "poop" issues, I am no longer making separate meals for the kids. They will be served the same meal that everyone eats and be required to at least try it. We have had our moments where the "king of picky eaters" flat out refuses anything but bread and yogurt and I give up and send him from the table. You would think he would be hungry and cry for food later but nope.

The start of simple dinner turned into a power struggle all over a simple cheeseburger. It's one of those foods that you know your kids will eat along with french fries, chicken nuggets, macaroni and cheese and mashed potatoes. So when I planned Saturday night's meal with burgers, fries and sweet corn I didn't think anything of it.

This time I decided to take a stand. I needed to get my control back from a three year old and show him that mommy is in charge. We sat down for dinner and everyone had a burger with cheese except for Little E,his was plain. As we dug into our burgers and fries he munched on the fries only. I told him to take a bite of his burger which he did but only bit the bun. I was not surprised so I cut his burger in half to expose the meat. He threw a fit about seeing the burger. I ignored his screams and told him firmly that he needed to take a bite.

Of course he changed the subject and said he would eat his applesauce. This continued on for a few more minutes until I asked him again to take a bite of his burger. He flat out refused to eat it and ate more of the bun. I finished my dinner along with the rest of the family but Little E still sat there staring at his plate. I told him to take one bite and he could get up from the table.

This was the deciding moment. I could have given up and would have been taking another step back in proving to my child that he has the power but I didn't. I demanded that he take a bite. He bit the meat and did not chew. He held the bite in his mouth and started crying. I told him to chew it up and he could wash it down with his chocolate milk. He was not going to budge. This went on for about 10 minutes. He chewed that meat and bread into mush but would not swallow it.

After 10 minutes I decided that he would have gone to bed with it in his mouth if he had to and no one was winning at this point. I told him to spit it out and I told him that he would be seeing that burger for breakfast, lunch and dinner the following day. He knew I meant it and went to his room to sulk. He even told me that he was mad at me. I was sad about what he said but knew he didn't mean it.

So today I was nice enough and served him oatmeal for breakfast. But at lunch when he requested a sandwich you know what he got? The reheated burger on a fresh bun. Nothing else. He skipped lunch and I told him that he would see that burger for dinner. We had some family over for dinner and Little E was being shy about coming out to visit. It worked t my advantage and he missed seeing what we were eating for dinner. So when he came to get a snack after our meal was cleaned up, I told him that the only thing he had coming was his burger.

Yes, I did. I served him the burger again. This time I cut it up into chunks and let him choose a dipping sauce. He picked sour cream. Sounds disgusting to me but if he likes it, the so be it. I served him one chunk and he tried to sit with it in his mouth again. I thought, he we go again. He spit it out on his plate and I told him that if you do this again, I will serve this burger again tomorrow. He dipped another piece and ate it. He chewed it up and smiled at me. I told him he needed to eat two more pieces and then he was done and that I would throw it away.

He ate those two pieces. He said the meat tasted good. I had a talk with him after he was done. I hope that I taught him a lesson. I hope that the next plate of food he isn't sure about that he'll remember that burger. I hope.

Scrapbook Weekend 1

I'm bacccckkk! Did anyone miss me? I left Friday afternoon to go to a scrapbook retreat that ended on Sunday afternoon and was away from blogging. I had an amazing time scrap booking pictures, bonding with friends, making new friends and enjoying some country nature. The best part was enjoying some ME time away from being some one's mommy or wife for the weekend. All I had to worry about was myself and enjoying one of my favorite hobbies.
I got to the Bible Camp on 2 pm on Friday afternoon to meet up with my friends Toni and Mindy who invited me. I met them while going to a yearly scrapbook crop held at a Creative Memories consultant three years ago. We have frequented some of the same scraps from then on out and only recently became close friends. Mindy's and my kids both attend the same elementary school and found out that we live only one street away from each other.
Mindy and I shared and eight foot table all weekend and Toni sat across from us on another eight foot table. There were about 21 women total at the retreat from all over Florida. Some were from as far as Fort Lauderdale. Friday afternoon I spent about two hours organizing my photos, setting up my area and preparing my work for the weekend. I went to bed about 12:30am on Friday night and woke up Saturday morning about 7 am. The camp kitchen served a continental breakfast at 7 am and I got started after enjoying a hot cup of coffee to wake me up. The sleeping in a bunk bed really killed my neck and back. I really wish I had brought more pillows and a heating pad for my aching muscles.
By 10:30am the kitchen served a hot cooked breakfast of eggs, biscuits, gravy, sausage, bacon and grits. I enjoyed eating some great food with my friends and we got back to cutting photos and working on pages. Mindy and I laughed so much about some new friends we met who sat across from us. Tina and Melissa were a silly pair of ladies who came from Brandon, FL that are best friends. They showed up late on Friday night and shortly after arriving at the camp left again to go to Wal mart. By the time they settled back in at their seats we were heading to bed and they said they were going to be pulling an all-nighter. Saturday morning they joined us at the second breakfast and looked like they didn't sleep too well.
It was joked about my snoring. Yes. I snore. Toni was in the bunk next to mine and she said she pulled on my foot and I actually stopped. She was afraid that she might have woken me up but I reassured her that I sleep "like the dead" and it wouldn't have been possible. Enjoying my friends company all weekend was exactly what I needed.
We spent the day trading stories of our lives and bonding while working on our photos. Both of us being stay at home moms gives us the connection and being able to step out from being the sole care giver for a weekend only brought us closer. I went to bed Saturday night praying to God and thanking him for bringing such people in my life. I believe that he has a purpose for everyone we meet and I find it fascinating the way we come in contact with the people we meet. I made friends with my sister in law who is my husband's stepsister, she introduced me to my circle of friends where I met one of my best friends, through that group I made some more friends and made my other best friend and through my circle who introduced me to scrap booking I met Toni and Mindy. It's fate, I tell you. I truly believe that Mindy will be one of my best friends, if not a friend for life. I feel so comfortable with her and when you spend time in the rough (yes, staying in a kids camp cabin on bunk beds is rough) and wear only your pj's for half the day without a bra, yeah you bond.
It's like an adult sleepover without talking about boys.
I went to bed at 3 am on Saturday night by myself since Toni and Mindy went in before me. Mindy stayed up until 2 am but she was looking pretty exhausted and I had just a few more pages that I HAD to finish while the thoughts of creativity were still in my mind. I was the last to wake up on Sunday morning at 9 am even though I set my alarm for 8 am. My friends had already went into the rec hall to work on their books and some of the other ladies were getting cleaned up and showered while I tried to wake. I felt a bit embarrassed about being the last one and crawled out from my bed. We exchanged idle chit chat and few apologies about hoping they didn't wake me.
I got freshened up and headed to the kitchen for some coffee and made it in time for breakfast that was being served at 9:30 am. I dug right into my scrapping that morning since it was our last day and we had to be ready to leave and cleaned up by 2 pm. I was feeling a bit sad and was going to miss my friends after we left. I really missed my kids and husband but in the scheme of things, life doesn't allow much time for hanging out with friends on a weekly basis. But the one thing I did want to get home was to relax. Staying up WAY late was fun but it takes a toll on you and I'm still exhausted. I took a two hour nap today and I'm still feeling behind. Not to mention my lovely cold is still lingering and my medicine is all tomorrow.
I enjoyed my time with my friends. I can't wait until January, the camp is holding another retreat. Sounds like Mindy and I will be going. Toni will not be since she is going to Hawaii for a vacation. I'm looking forward to it.
I will have to write more later about some of the drama of the weekend, since this was a Bible Camp that is run by a different denomination than I practice or my friends practice. I'll save that for later...

5QF: I'm outta here!

I am glad to say it's Friday!!! On Tuesday I was stressing that Friday was going to be here too quickly and I wasn't going to get everything done this week before I leave for scrapbook retreat! After typing this I will be heading to drop off Little E with my mother
and heading about an hour or so away to a Bible Camp to scrapbook ALL weekend! I am sad too, because I have never been away from Little E more than a twelve hours. I have never left the kids with their daddy for more than one day either.
EEEEEKKKK!
Wish him luck that he handles the house
and kids as best he possibly can.
Oh and by the way, he has to take
both kids to a birthday party on Saturday too.
He LOVES me!

So now onto some Five Question Friday.

1. Do you feel guilty spending money on yourself? oh yes. I usually have to rationalize spending money on myself. If I go clothing shopping for myself I am more than likely going to buy more clothes for the kids or the hubs than myself. I guess psychologically it makes me feel better to buy stuff for them and then it can justify me buying something for me.

2. How well do you know your neighbors? The neighbor across the street and the guy with all the dogs we know their names. My next door neighbor, I just found out her name from a mutual friend. I never talk to her. I always see her driving her car. That's about it.

3. What age are you looking forward to being? Let's see. 60. I would hope to be retired by then and my kids will have left the nest and I will be looking forward to being a Grandma. I want to be the Grandma that I didn't get. My dad's mom was not the type to teach me sewing, baking or any of those warm, fuzzy Grandma things. My mom's mom was that woman and she passed away when I was 4.

4. Do you get excited when the mail comes? Why? nope!! We have community mailboxes at the end of the road, actually on the paved road 2 miles away and I never know when it's in the box. I dread it because I'm lazy like that an wait a few days to check it, so then I've got a pile of bills and junk. I used to love to get the mail when I first got married. It was so cool to get mail, FOR ME at my house! But not so much anymore.

5. What is your earliest childhood memory?
I was 2 and half and we moved into a rental house while the house my parent's still live in was being built. My great grandma came to visit and brought her viscous dog. He chased and attacked me and my brothers!! It was hilarious because we ran screaming and laughing the whole time. That is my clearest memory.

I do have an earlier one but it's not as clear, I was 2. My parents still lived in Tampa, where I was born and I remember going to my neighbor's house for a pool party. ( The kids were Billy and Janet) I remember their pool and playing kitchen in her bedroom. It was the last time we saw them before moving.

WMW: The best part of waking up.....

The house is quiet..it's 6:00am. The alarm clock is beeping..the ever annoying beep that tells me that my peaceful sleep is over. I might get lucky and get one snooze in...9 minutes. Then the dogs begin to stir in their crates and want to go outside and do their business. The daily routine has begun. I get my only peace and quiet while I take a shower to wake up. 10 minutes of hot water beating down on me. If I take too long there isn't much time for pampering myself. I get dressed and get to the other side of the house to wake the sleeping beauties.
Flicking on the lights in their rooms does nothing to wake them. You practically have to drag them out of their beds and start barking orders at them. It's a little like boot camp. 6:30 am and they both have 30 minutes to eat breakfast. It's odd how two children as infants and into toddler hood that loved breakfast now take an eternity to eat. I prepare lunches while prodding them along the way to eat this or that.
The coffee is brewing. Ahhhh. The smell of my sweet Kona coffee. I love you my Keurig. 6:35 am and daddy comes in and chugs his yogurt drink and pours up his coffee. The kids find the energy to crawl on daddy and get kisses and hugs goodbye. It's going on 6:45am and settling the kids back at the kitchen table to eat again. Lunches are packed and I find myself back in my bedroom to make the bed and catch the last 10 minutes of the morning news. If I'm lucky I get to see the highlights of the news and top stories before I have to get back into the kitchen to make sure the kids are done eating.
7:00am and it's time to get Miss K to go get dressed and make her bed while I take Little E to get him changed. If I'm lucky miss K will change her clothes without me having to tell her twice. If the television is on Nick Jr. she will get ready quickly and dash to the couch. 7:10am and I have to remind Miss K that she needs to make her bed, turn off the fan and lights and get her shoes on. I'm back in my room and getting my makeup on and fixing my hair. The pressure is mounting because we have to walk out the door at 7:35. Always without fail Little E will come in while I'm fixing my hair to complain that his sister is doing "something" to him. "something" could be taking a toy, blocking the tv or she won't let him on the couch. Such interruptions will set me back further but if I don't rectify the problem it will only escalate into much more.
7:30 am and I get my first sip of my coffee. I might actually get to taste it while it's still warm.

I toss a bagel into the toaster and while it's heating up I give the dogs their kibble and put them away for the day. After wrangling Little E into a calm sitting position I get his shoes on and turn the tv off. Once the cartoons are off I can get their attention and have them grab their lunch boxes and bags. I grab my bagel and quickly slather on some cream cheese-the breakfast of mom champions! I set the alarm on the house and we make it out the door.
I enjoy every bite of my cinnamon raisin toasted bagel with honey nut cream cheese. There's nothing better than Kona coffee to wash it down while I muddle through the parent drop off loop. We loop around the school and the 1st bell is ringing. It's 7:50am and I'm down one child for a few hours. The day has only just begun.

Tuesday Three: Labor 3

I can't believe it's Tuesday already

I had an amazing, fun weekend with
family and friends and Labor Day Monday
felt like Sunday.You know what I mean?
I'm linking up with Miss JLA at Stiletto's & a Fishing Pole
for

This weeks Tuesday Three,
share THREE things you did over the weekend that you really enjoyed!

3. My husband's step sister and her husband invited us to go out on their boat in the ocean. We went to this island off the inter coastal inlet to the ocean called Disappearing Island. You can only access it from a boat and when high tide comes in the island disappears. The water was so cool and the sun was just perfect without a cloud in the sky. We took the kids and they played with their cousins and their friends. It was a fun six hours in the sun.
2. We took a road trip to the West Coast of Florida to celebrate my Aunt's 50th Birthday. My cousin's invited us to a surprise birthday party at my aunt's house. It was a 2.5 hour drive but it was so nice to sit in the passenger seat and enjoy the scenery along the way. I have never been to my aunt's house and it was a pleasant drive through rolling hills (yes, Florida does have hills) and country side, old town shoppes and small towns with one traffic light. We had a great time hanging out with my cousins and seeing my second cousins. They grow so fast!!

1. We took the kids to eat dinner at Chili's Bar and Grill Friday night. For the first time we waited about 5 minutes to be seated and as requested we sat in our friend Brett's section. We try to have him be our server and show patronage to a good friend. The kids were so well behaved and waited patiently for their dinners. We enjoyed some yummy salsa and chips and laughed while Little E kept dipping his chips in the salsa and then fed them to me. I tried a new meal for the first time in years!! I ALWAYS got the Chicken Crispers but I was going to change it up so I got Quesadilla Chicken Corn Salad. Oh my goodness! It was amazing! I highly recommend it.

So if you had a great LABOR DAY weekend and feel like sharing, head over to Miss JLA's blog and link up for Tuesday Three!!

Monday Minute: A little late

This week's edition of the Monday Minute hosted by Heather and Melissa
with Guest Hostess Jules

1. If you could interview any famous person, dead or alive, who would it be? What would you ask? I am so stumped on this one because choosing ONE person is really hard. There are so many great famous dead people. Okay, I racked my brain on this one....Alfred Hitchcock. I would ask him if he ever wrote any books or movies that were ever unpublished. I would also ask him where he came up with his ideas for his movies. And did his movies represent anyone or events that happened in his life.


2. You have to give up one thing for a month. What would it be - car, guilty pleasure (ie. food, drink, fav. tv show), or sex? I would give up drinking my iced tea. I could handle that more than giving up my van or my favorite tv show and I LOVE food so that is not happening.


3. Is there a word/phrase you say that you are made fun of for? If so, what is it?
The only one I can think of is " Surrender the Fantasy". It is not my phrase, it's something my best friend says and I say it and I don't say it with enough sarcasm so I get laughed at when I say it. lol!

4. Which is a stronger emotion: Anger or Love? I would say anger. Because for me, anger is deep set and and when some one becomes very angry they can become enraged. Rage is higher version to anger and can become uncontrollable.


5. Where was your first job?
I worked as grocery bagger at Publix supermarket at the age 15.

5QF: Sleep is not OVER RATED

Wow. I can't believe that it's Friday already. Where has this week gone? It's like a 5 day weekend for me! I usually have to work on Tuesday but my parent's are closing their business for the holiday. It's going to be a busy weekend with birthday parties (yes, more of those) and cookouts! Then another short week for me and then next Friday I leave at noon to go out of town for weekend retreat of scrap booking! A weekend all to MYSELF! I am excited about having some ME time, I don't know if I'll know what to do with myself.
Anyways.... onto some 5QF!



1. What do you do when you have time to yourself? uhh, lately I am never alone but If i have some alone time, I sleep. Yeah really fun, eh. Seriously sleep is not over rated. I used to grab a good book but reading just leads to sleeping.

2. When you look out your kitchen window, what do you see? you look out into my backyard and see our tomato garden that has long ago stopped producing tomatoes, the grill, the kids plastic Little Tikes slide and cozy coupe in their play yard and the woods that have grown into our chain link fence and created a beautiful shaded canopy over the back part of the yard.

3. Who/What would you want to be reincarnated as? an Amish woman. I have always been fascinated with how people lived in the old west and since I don't see our society ever going back to that I would love to experience living off the land. Back to nature, in touch with the Lord in a way that the Amish do it. They live such a simple life and sometimes I'd like life to be more simple.

4. What is your biggest pet peeve about other people's kids? How inconsiderate they are about toys and putting away their mess. I keep the kid's rooms organized and I expect guests to put it back the way they found it. Not drag every toy all over my house and leave it where they finished with it.

5. Regular or Diet soda? Diet. Diet Pepsi to be exact.

Stage Moms

Remember about a week a ago when I mentioned the other catty mom's at dance class. I was unable to watch my daughter in her tap or ballet class because they blocked the viewing windows. So last Thursday I got there early and parked myself a chair and Little E a chair right in front of the windows. Of course I was given a few steel grey eyes and backward glances and sometimes they moved in and quietly said nothing. Well, the nothing was their heavy sighs because Little E would stand up in his chair and block their view. Yeah, whatever.

I was warned that I will have to deal with the catty moms, the "stage moms". My close friend from high school has her daughter's attend the same studio. She is actually the person who referred me to this studio and gave me a head's up on how "other" mom's are. She gave me advice and said that I should throw her name around a little. Since her oldest daughter is in the studio's senior competition dance group, the other mom's will kiss my butt. I'm waiting, it hasn't come to butt kissing yet.

Last year Miss K was only in one class on Friday evening's and we never had to be in contact with "those" mom's. I got a small taste of what I would be dealing with over the summer when I enrolled K in a summer class of tap/jazz/ballet. The mother's of the girls in her class were pretty nice but the class after ours, whoa!! They would arrive 10 minutes early and even though their daughters were standing right beside them, for some reason they would try to push up to the window and see what our class was doing. The nerve!

So last night at her ballet class I was lucky to score a chair near the window. Since Little E had taken a nap earlier in the day he was full of energy and I tried to keep him occupied with several toys. I tried my best to peek in on her class from time to time but as usual, the catty moms were blocking the window. I have had enough of it though. Seriously. I think I hit my last nerve when one of the mom's thought she could scold my son and tell him no. I shot her the look, YES THE LOOK. I was pretty hot by this and flashes of getting up and giving her a piece of mine were running in my head. But I thought better of it and gave her the evil eye. It worked. She knew I was pissed.
I am getting there early again tonight. Yes, I will camping out on a chair up front and center. I can't wait to see what happens. I think I may buy myself another frappucino and let Little E has a sip. Ya know. It might keep the vultures at bay.

To be or not to be...

I have read posts on other blogs that talk about the Top 10 Reasons you should avoid Facebook. I laugh at them but it's like crack or alcohol or candy. You can't get enough. You say you'll stay away and stop using it but it calls my name. FB is one of the top 3 internet places I visit each week. I'm usually reading what my "friends" are doing and occasionally write what I am doing. Seriously, I put what I'm doing for a few friends that I communicate through there. But really if you are close enough to me you know what I'm doing or I've texted you or spoke to you. It really doesn't matter if you commented or not, I know you read it. It's virtual stalking.
Yes, I'm nosy. Who isn't? But facebook pisses me off too. Well the people putting their crap out there does. It gets old reading what you bought, or shouldn't have bought or who you're going out with or my favorite: the cryptic status. The vague ones that give you half details and of you ask them about it you never get a straight answer. Those drive me nuts! Those attention craving people who enjoy posting stuff just to get attention.
I try to keep a level head about what I read on there. If I show that something like that bothers me then they get what they wanted. Attention. Whether it's negative or positive. My biggest thorn has been a particular person buying things and flaunting them on their status. Really? Some people might say it's jealousy but I am no way jealous. I guess I could just block them. Because frankly, I could give a damn.
Oh Facebook, how I once loved you but lately.....you have not been a good friend.