My stand on 7th grade homework...

 

 

 

 

FUCK IT!!!

 

that is all.

Last day of summer vacation

All gone.

 

Bye. Bye.

 

Tomorrow I pack up the 1st grader and 7th grader for some brand new educational adventures.

Bummed that they are going to be on two different campuses, but glad that Miss A will get more of a "Jr. High" experience and not feel like she got dumped on another planet when she starts high school.

  Well, any more that she will anyway.  Makes me feel bad for all those kids that went to St. Mary's (private Catholic school back home) that only went thru 8th grade and then got dumped into the piranha infested pool called high school.

 

I will head back to work with a bigger load, but with my flexible schedule firmly in place.  Going to be in the office for 5 hours a day, but going to take every Friday off.

(And whatever bizarre juju the school calendar kicks out at me.)

 

The house got mostly purged, and mostly organized, I finished 90% of two quilts...we went to the beach, the creek, some tourist attractions and lots of pool time.

 

When all is said and done...Not a bad summer: )

 

 

 



I always forget the "before" shot...

I always get so wrapped up in a project that I forget to take the obligatory "before" shot.  I should want to preserve how ugly, outdated and junked up something looked before I worked some magic on it....but I almost never do.

Even when I "do" it's usually because I had 2 of an item :)

So,

What once was lavender with white daisy shaped hardware now looks like this...

The hubby says it looks like it's smiling...

All I know is that I have a new place to hide stuff in the living room!

It actually shows our trip out here to California in 1992...we started off in Florida (top drawer)  and drove the I-10 to I-8 to southern California (bottom drawer)

No wonder it's smiling : )

Spring cleaning in the summer, during a heat wave...

I have officially lost my mind

again : )

Decided to kick ass and take names in the cleaning organizational realm...

while the girls are trapped inside with me and its over 100 degrees outside.

Never said I was smart.

Our two main groups of friends are down for the count medically speaking (1 ear infection and 1 tonsillectomy) so they can't swim with us and if I was the betting sort (just can't bring myself to do it after taking statistics in college) my kids will last about 20 minutes together in our community pool without their friends to entertain them.

so, I will grab my Dr. Pepper, my Brain Highways literature and bravely hike down one level and let the monkeys have some water time while mommy caffeinates and catches up on her reading.  This will either wear them out and they will remain mostly silent while mommy continues her journey through the house with her magic eraser OR they will get on each others nerve even more (probably not even possible at this point) whereas mommy will forgo cleaning and start drinking.

It's not a great one, but at least it's a plan.



No good deed goes unpunished

So, I thought it would be a great idea to take some of the DVDs that my girls have outgrown or just don't watch anymore and take them to my mom's house to "update" her collection a bit...

this way they would have a few different things to watch when we were there...or when my cousin visits with her twins...about 25 movies.

Watching "The Might Morphin Power Rangers" from 1991 on VHS was getting a little old for my kids...

So, of course my mom goes out and buys a DVD wallet for them

AND

takes them over to my brother's house and gives them all to his kids

fuck

me



The past keeps crawling up my behind...

Question...

How do you put the past behind you when it keeps rearing it's head in your present?

Disclaimer:  I am on my period, I suffer from PMDD and no longer on meds for it AND I have a migraine today.

Sooooo, idiot me decides to call my mom...I call home everyday.  Mostly because Dad wants to know what "his girls" are up to.  I also like to know what is going on with them and this way Dad gets his "fix" and Mom can go thru her laundry lists of things she's done and I know that they are OK...

Today...

my brother was there when I called...

Which basically means I get ignored and she is completely disinterested in anything I have to say because in paying attention to me, she might miss something that the golden child says.  Also, my father cannot be interrupted for 5 minutes to talk to me during these visits...not because he doesn't want to, but because she doesn't tell him it's me on the phone...

Now, you may say that I am exaggerating or that I am being hypersensitive.  One of my sister's in law told me a few years ago that I need to let the past go and just move on....

easier said than done...

Example #1:

While visiting in July, I was on my cell phone in the back part of the house when my husband asked, "Did your brother just walk in the front door?"  To which I responded "How the hell did you know that?"  He said "The tone of your mother's voice just changed.  I could hear her perk right up".  It's true...and you can almost see the little hearts floating off of her head.  (I have had more than 1 person notice my mom's change in behavior when he shows up for a visit)

Example #2:

Again while in Florida this July, my mother took my 2 girls shopping to get them a toy or 2...while they were gone my brother called to say he was bringing 2 of his girls over...I told him mom was out with my girls, but they would all be back soon, but come on over...

He called my mom on her cell phone, she cut the shopping trip short and brought my girls home and said they would go out again later...have I mentioned that I live 2,000 miles away from my parents and that my brother lives 5 miles up the road?  Or mention how annoyed my mom was getting at my 6 year old who kept asking when they were going to go back and get her a toy?!

When I was a little kid, I went to bed at 8:00 so I could be ready for school...I would go to bed and my mom and brother would snuggle together on the couch and watch M.A.S.H. together...

have I mentioned that my brother is 5 years younger than me?

The more things change the more they remain the same...

just wish the results were different



On the road again....

Actually, building highways...brain highways...

It's a program that I am doing with my oldest and going to do with my youngest...called - Brain Highways (goggle it - it's pretty cool) a friend of my did it with her "autistic" son and now he is off all medication, being tested for the GATE program and attending regular public school.  He is kind of a poster child for the program with those who know them.  If I hadn't know the "old" child, I would have never guess that this was the same kid.

It is a TON of work, but she's my kid...so I do the work.  Last night I sucked and didn't do any of the work with her tho...feel like a total loser : (  We will double up tonight!

Went back to work for a couple of hours yesterday and will probably try to get some time in next week too.  It's  nice to be appreciated, but it's also nice to sit by the pool...

Going to make sure I don't overextend myself this time too...taking all Fridays off!  So, volunteer work at school will have to be on Fridays, work from home or field trips.  I am way too old to have so much of my shit not together - so I am making myself take the steps to change it!

On being a 43 year old teenager...

So at this stage in my life...

(age 43)

You would think that I would be over most of my "mommy" issues

Not that I am a mommy, but that I have one...

and I lived with her, my dad and my 2 kids for the past 4 weeks...

I borrowed my dad's car, stole some of his cigarettes and went to meet my old high school friends and drink beer...felt like I was 17 again...

except

when I had to cook breakfast (not everyday), lunch and dinner (most days), take care of my kids and do laundry while my mom took a nap...

Don't get me wrong, I didn't show up and expect her to take care of my kids, but one of the tasks I took on while I was there was specifically so she could help me...

I signed my oldest up for a program called Brain Highways to help with some focusing issues she has to help her get ready for 7th grade - the catch?!  I also have a six year old...

So the plan was, I start the program and while we were working it, my mom would entertain the 6 year old...

not really what happened...

She would go lay down, sometimes in the playroom, where - you guessed it - all the toys were!

I know I sound like an ungrateful bitch or teenager, but I just need to vent a bit.

There are a lot of little things that happened and some not so little things...none of them matter in the long run, I just need a bitch, a break, a drink and a vacation from my vacation...