Archive for March, 2010
There’s Always a Price
Posted by: | CommentsMy friend had a great day.
Her husband surprised her with a limo ride from work (at 10-ish in the morning) to a day spa. Surprise number one. A bunch of us met for dinner. Surprise number two. Then we went to a bar. More friends there. Surprise number three. I think she had a fun birthday.
I was glad that I was able to come out. Although I was only able to stay for dinner and a couple of drinks after, I had a really good time. It was nice to be out with grown ups. No kids. Love ‘em, but they’re not really the “dinner with some conversation, then some drinks” type 
My kids were at my brother’s house. They had a blast. They always have fun when they’re with sitters. And even though I had a great night out, I always end up paying for it one way or another. My kids were up late. Not anybody’s fault (well, except maybe for me). They always stay up late with a sitter…whether they’re at our house or at somebody else’s house. I think it’s just all the excitement. But they weren’t cranky.
The logical mind would think that maybe they would sleep in the next day.
Fast forward a bit.
“Mom? Mom. Mom! It’s seven-three-two.”
“Uh, thanks Chlo. How about you let Mommy sleep until eight-zer0-zero?”
“OK, Mom. I’ll cuddle.” “Mom? It’s seven-three-three.”
“Mom? It’s seven-three-four.”
Yeah, that was all I needed. I was just a little tired (and really, that wasn’t sarcastic…I was only a little tired). Becca woke up at 8:15. Which was fine. We were headed out to an Easter Bunny Breakfast and Egg hunt that morning. Do you remember? Remember the fight last year? Well, this year Becca got two tickets. Chloe didn’t get any. Becca gave a ticket to Chloe. Becca got a stuffed animal. Chloe got a big plastic egg filled with pop rocks. You know where THAT went. But, I digress…
So, we headed home. Had a mellow afternoon. They headed outside to play with some friends. And then it hit them. They were crabby. And sensitive. Tears. Everywhere. They were just exhausted. Hell, by that time I was more than a little tired. They needed some quiet time. So we all laid down on the couch and watched a movie.
So, the trade off for having a fun night with friends? Crabby kids the next day. Never fails.
We (a bunch of moms) have decided that the next big night out involved a hotel room and sleeping in. Definitely.
We just have to convince the dads.
Big, Tough Sissy
Posted by: | CommentsYou know, I’m not a person who cries all that much. I THINK that my friends and family consider me pretty tough. I’m not overly emotional or sappy. I roll with the punches. I don’t fret over things that I’ve done in my past. My head is pretty clear.
Don’t get me wrong. I DO cry when it comes to those major times in life when having a cry is good. Death. Miscarriage. You know.
**OK, now that I’ve brought you all down, let’s move on**
I have a dirty little secret, though. I cry like a hungry baby when I am proud or overly happy. School concerts? I cry. First day Becca got on the bus? Tears. Weddings? **sniff, sniff** And here is the stupidest thing of all that makes me cry. Folgers commercials.
Really.
Back in the day (I think this one is from the eighties), I used to cry every time I saw this Folgers commercial when Peter comes home for Christmas.
Well, this morning, as I was brushing the kids’ hair and getting ready for school, I saw a new Folgers commercial. I couldn’t find it on YouTube, but it basically has a twenty-something girl drinking coffee at the kitchen table. Dad comes down and tells her that she came in pretty late last night. She tells Dad that she’s not sixteen anymore, and he won’t have to worry about that much longer, and shows him an engagement ring.
BAWL!!!
Becca was very confused about my tears. When I explained that I would cry when SHE got engaged, she told me that she wouldn’t get married. I told her that they would be HAPPY tears.
She looked at me like I had “Crazy” stamped on my forehead.
If all is right with the universe, she’ll get my crying gene.
A Store For Giants
Posted by: | CommentsChloe and I went to Costco today. I’m sure you can already see where this title is going. We needed some groceries, but not a ton. We ended up with 54 rice crispy treats, milk, half and half, a gigantic container of strawberries, cashews and some other stuff. All food (except for the ‘Home Defense’ bug spray. What a deal. A gigantic container for only 8 bucks). I don’t go to Costco all that often. Why? Because I end up walking out with food, a new book, a video game, and other stuff that I THINK I need.
As we were walking through the bakery (because I told Chloe she could get cookies), we browsed. Have you seen the Costco cupcakes? They are gigantic! I mean, they have to be three times the size of a normal cupcake. Chloe then asked me if the food in there is made for REALLY big people. Yup, I guess so. I do have to say, though, that I DIDN’T buy the coconut cream pie because it was just too damn big. And I would have to eat the entire thing.
We paid for our groceries, and stopped to buy our customary churro. As we were driving home, Chloe talked to me about what she did in school today. They were talking about weather. She said “Mom. Weather is either a tiger or a sheep.”
:::huh?:::
OOOHHHHHHH, you mean either a lion or a lamb? OK, I get it.
By the way, today got a lamb 
Spring, Ice Cream and Dirt
Posted by: | CommentsI have this little ritual. I think I’ve been doing this since I was able to drive. As soon as I see that Dairy Queen has opened for the season, I have to get on the phone and yell that it is, in fact, open. Back when I was sixteen, and cell phones were thousands of dollars and almost as big as my car, I drove home first. Now, I have my handy dandy iPhone.
So, it was St. Patrick’s Day and I went to get our personal taxes done started. It was a beautiful day. Sunny and warm. Tony caught me on my cell just as I was leaving the accountant. He needed some supplies for the bar…could I stop somewhere? No problem. I headed to Wal-Fart, which meant I had to pass the DQ. (Now that I live out in the ‘burbs, I don’t drive past a DQ very often). It was open! I got right back on that cell and screamed to Tony “DAIRY QUEEN IS OPEN!!!!” I never seem to stop on that very first day I see that it’s open. I save it. I plan for it.
The days passed. We had fantastic weather. There was bike riding, chalk drawing, basketball, roller skating, swings, bubbles. All that good stuff. Well, yesterday I made the plan. I told the girls that we could head to DQ after dinner. Ice Cream? Sprinkles? They were in. As we were getting ready to head out, I looked at them.
Oh my gosh. To put it nicely, it looked like they had a fun day. Becca had a gigantic splash of mud on the back of her shirt from throwing various objects into the sandbox-that-is-now-a-science-experiment-because-it’s-filled-with-water. She had biker shorts on. Both of their hair? Mess. Chloe had on some hand me down flowered corduroys that were too short. I made her change her pants, brushed some hair, and had them cover up with some hoodies. Becca looked at me and said “Mom! Why do we have to look nice? We’re going to get ice cream, not to a wedding!”
Smart ass. She’s never even been to a wedding.
We had a great night, got to the DQ before there was a long line, and headed to the park for a couple of hours. Chloe passed out on the couch as soon as we got home. Slept in her outfit all night.
Sure beats what was happening a month ago…more than two feet of snow and being stuck in the house for a week. Glad that’s a distant memory!
Enjoy whatever weather YOU have!!!!
A 20th Year Junior
Posted by: | CommentsDid I tell ya that I’m back in school? Did I? Well I am. Here’s the nutshell-version of my post high school education. Graduated high school, went to Pitt. Quit Pitt. Went to CCAC. Stopped. Started again. Stopped. Waited about 5 years. Went back again. Stopped. And now I’m back. All of that back and forth to school gave me 60 some credits, but no Associates Degree, no nothin’. I talked about it back in October a bit. Anywhoo, I’m in the middle of an online Astronomy class through CCAC.
Yup, it’s a thrill a minute.
I mean, it would be more interesting if I were, say, going to be an astronomer. But I’m not. Lots of reading and lots of online quizzes and tests. It doesn’t fit in well with the whole ‘Mom with a kid at home’ thing, but I’m getting through it, and I have an ‘A.’ I’m very glad I didn’t decide to take more classes until they are BOTH in school. Astronomy was the one class that I could still take at CCAC (and pay only 80 bucks a credit, instead of five hundred something a credit!)
The plan is still to start at the University of Phoenix this fall. I’m a bit torn, though. I originally had decided to go through the Web Development program, which is an information technology degree. I THINK I’m gonna stick with that. But I was also looking at the Business degree with a concentration in e-business. I can handle the techy-programming stuff though. And I think I may have already learned a lot of stuff in the business degree, just through my travels.
Speaking of my travels, I bought a course online. Normally I think that every e-book or ‘make money online’ course is a scam. (And quite honestly, they usually are scams). But THIS course…this one is different. It was really like taking a college course. Tons of information, and lots of tools. It’s called Niche Blueprint 2.0. I got it on the first day that it launched (so I didn’t pay $500 for it). It has been fantastic! A great forum, fantastic ideas…it will help me in my domination of the internet…
So, I’m in the middle of building an online store. As soon as I get it all up and ready, I’ll let you go and see it. But now? Right now? I’m off to read three chapters of Astronomy. Yippee.
