Getting The Boot

Today was a rough day at Preschool. I was supposed to sub in one of the pre-K rooms. There wasn't much of a lesson plan so I spent about 20 minutes madly throwing a few ideas together to fit the dinosaur theme that I hoped would mesh in my mind as I drove to school. By the time I got there, I had the day fairly well mapped out in my head. When I walked into the director's office, I was told yet another teacher was out for the day! The class I had just finished planning for in my head was going to be taught by the Assistant Director because her child was in the class that now needed a teacher. She's never subbed before and the 4 yr old class is QUITE challenging. The Pre-K 5 yr olds are a walk in the park in comparison. So I quickly helped her prep the dino room, we measured 75' out in the gym to represent the length of a brontosaurus, and I downloaded my brainstorms to her as much as we could in 20 minutes. Then I went in blind to my classroom to face my challenging day. It was O.K, but I don't want to talk about it. Nothing great happened and I didn't get to laugh at all today. Tomorrow I go back. Ugh. For now, I want to remember happier times.

Sooooo....... Last week, I went shopping! As you know, we love to shop at Plato's Closet, our local second hand shop where we buy cute, name-brand stuff that is new, or practically new, and drastically cheaper than if we bought it at the mall. The latest trip yielded some great finds! First, a pair of Timberland boots for Mariah. Never been worn either! Mariah's feet grew 2 sizes since last winter. The boots she got last Christmas are in Taryn's closet now. I saw these and put them on hold. We were going to Mercer the next day, so I took Mariah back with me to Platos after school. When we were in the car, I asked her if she wanted to try on a pair of Timberland's I had found. Mariah looked at me like I was nuts and replied, "Uh Yeah! Of course I do! They're Timberlands!!!". She was thrilled that they fit and wore them every where for several days in a row exclaiming about how much money we had saved. I kinda had to nip that in the bud before school started on Monday. I hope that was successful. The boots retail for $170 and we got them for $16! Saving over a $150 on a pair of boots IS heady stuff!!


I found Taryn a really nice gently used hoodie by Juicy Couture for $25. It's lined with real rabbit fur and is soooo soft and warm! Mariah, our animal rights activist, gasped in horror but it doesn't bother Taryn or I a bit. It looks just like this one in the photo which was selling for $239! If that's a realistic price for it brand new, it was an even better bargain than the boots!

I also bought a bunch of layering tanks for me to wear to preschool. I like to have a layer underneath because my shirt gets pulled on a lot, especially when I get dragged off to jail. And I learned, luckily from others' misfortunes and not my own, that there are a variety of things that can "go wrong" so it's always good to have more than one layer to remove should the need arise. Always be prepared applies just as well to the Boy Scouts as it does to Preschool Teachers!


Gib wasn't left out of the Plato's shopping trip; he got a button up shirt by Fossil for $7. I liked it, so he got it. He wasn't quite as thrilled as the girls, but put a bag of Skittles in front of the dude and you'll get the reaction an awesome clothing find brings out in us.

As a matter of fact, I remembered I owed him a bag of Skittles, but I couldn't quite remember why. So I got it and then he was as happy as Taryn and Mariah were with their Platos stuff. As I gave it to him, I asked him if he remembered why I owed it to him. After a minute of "uhhhhh" and some "I don't know but you do!" we decided it was from the day I texted him at 5:30 a.m. asking him to do my morning chores for me so I could stay in bed (I'm sure I had a good, legitimate reason): feed the cats, make sure Taryn was up, wake up Mariah, take out the lunches, lock the door on your way out, etc., and when he replied "O.K." I answered, "thanks, a bag of skittles for you" and he pinged back "YES!". I went back to sleep with the only memory of the conversation being that I needed to buy Skittles!

No Joy in Mudville

Woke up this morning to the sound of thunder and the flash of lightening, and alot of rain. Had that nasty thought of I wish the kids didn't have to drive on Arno Rd from seminary to high school in this kind of weather. So did another mom of a girl who rides with Taryn. Can you tell where this is leading?

Yep. Taryn had an accident today on the way to school after seminary. Everyone is fine. As are all the occupants of the other 3 vehicles who subsequently hit the cars in front of them after Taryn rear-ended the car in front of her. A nice 4 car fender-bender pile up; all high school girl seniors. Even the Principal came out to stand in the parking lot while the Sheriff wrote it all up, which took forever. With the wet road conditions and cars following too closely, plus the stop and go of drop off at middle school combined with students driving into the high school all on a very dangerous road, it is a parent's worst nightmare. What happened is that, apparently, the car in front of Taryn suddenly slammed on her brakes. Taryn did the same but there wasn't time enough to stop and she skidded into the car in front of her. We had to have the volvo towed away with radiator and front end damage. Everyone else's cars just had bumpers scraped or dented. The gold volvo isn't looking too good and Mike wasn't either. Pretty sure the insurance guy won't be smiling at us, his long time clients either.

Since I went straight to the high school and just called the preschool and left a message on the machine, I never got the email that I was needed to sub at Pre-K. And it was picture day, which is a really crazy day at preschool. I got there, just rather late. My director was a tad stressed. Today's Preschool Grab Bag included:

• our school's first (unconfirmed but 90% probable) swine flu
• one minor temper tantrum
• paper mache balloons which had fermented and fell on me and covered my arm in slime that smelled like vomit - and the bathroom smelled all day (gag)
• one child who didn't make it to the bathroom in time. You should have seen the sub who was subbing as me holding the dripping Croc at arm's length. I was all, "let me take care of that and you read the story" and she very quickly agreed.

I was bleaching and lysol-ing like crazy today let me tell you. At the end of the day, I read Froggy Plays In the Band to the kids (I do a great Froggy voice if I don't say so myself). As the kids were cleaning up, I spied the musical instruments and remembered the other day how one of the boys just so happened to have the triangle and as I was reading the same book he was ding-a-ling-alinging it during the band parts which turned into the other kids grabbing some musical instruments to do it too, naturally! So I grabbed the entire music box and passed out drums, jingle bells, cymbals and a bunch of other stuff and instructed the kids in basic choir lady ON/OFF hand movements for noise. They did great! I saw alot of smiling moms watching through the windows. I had a headache all day and it was about all I could take, but it was worth it - they loved being Froggy's Ragtime Band!

Mike meanwhile dealt with the insurance company, and joy of joys, made a phone call to the home warranty company AGAIN because our air conditioner is once again not working. Really? You mean it doesn't have another good 10 years left in it?! Seriously?! I'm amazed.... I'm not sure how many more parts can actually break on that thing, but I'm at the point where I'm like, "break baby break!!!" because I want it to break badly enough that I get a new one. I might run that sucker all winter long. I hope it is unfixable this time. Now we have to wait for the podunk a/c company to respond. They haven't called back and it's been all day, but they technically have 24 hours to respond. Turkeys. They will probably take 22 hrs to respond. But because it's within 90 days of the last time the a/c broke we have to use the same yahoos who came the last time.

Oh yeah, it was a GREAT day! Definitely no joy in Mudville.

My Point of View

• Big Brother ended. We started it with Indie and she didn't get to finish it with us. That kinda made me sad. But she watched it on her computer. My favorite didn't win, but my least favorite person didn't win either; however she did get 2nd place so that leaves me a little disgruntled. I would have liked to see her heiny booted alot sooner! I got to watch the finale twice (well, most of it twice). Taryn was at work and missed seeing it with us. As soon as it ended she got home so we restarted it and I re-watched it with her. Taryn only watches the last few shows so she "doesn't waste her time" on all the losers.
• Week 2 of NFL football! I should have a pretty good fantasy football team but it has let me down 2 weeks in a row. I need to change my team name to Kiss of Death. I draft perfectly good people whose careers go in the toilet when they become part of my roster. I feel sorry for them. As soon as I drop them in disgust, Mike usually picks them up and they instantly return to their former pro-bowl glory. What is up with that?! I hate losing.
• It's another season of Survivor! We enjoyed the season premier last Thursday! I love Survivor season! It is too soon to pick a favorite, but maybe by next Thursday I will have one. We already know who the villain is though.
• Another Extra! Extra! Big Bang Theory starts up again!!! Wow! This is as exciting as Survivor!!!!
• I read on the internet that Chattanooga got over 7" of rain from Sunday to Monday morning. I wasn't exaggerating about that water! When I stepped out of the car the first time we pulled over on the freeway to see if we had a flat tire, the water went completely over my shoes! That was how I took my accurate measurement. I was glad I was able to quickly determine all 4 tires were still inflated and get back into the car without getting creamed on the highway while holding my new pink umbrella with the tag still attached. And, at one point, while we were cruising in the carpool lane, 2 feeder ramps in a row to I-75 were completely shut down with major accidents which is why I guess all the electronic signs were saying the interstate was shut down but we were still moving along just fine. Our ramps were unaffected because nobody had biffed it. There was also some stupid drunk person who tried to cross the freeway on foot and got killed. And another person got swept away by flood waters. The Queen of Pessimists thinks it is a miracle we got thru it as well as we did. I hope my car makes it over the hill to work tomorrow. I think we have more rain in the forecast. Ugh.

And one P.S. from the Mercer Weekend: Remember last summer when Mariah popped a balloon with her amazing mystery talent just by looking at it as we approached? She did it again!!!!! This time there were other witnesses! Mike, Indie, and Gib saw it too!!!

Mercer Family Weekend

At 3 something a.m., we loaded into the car and headed South - Mariah, Gib, Mike and I to visit Indie on the occasion of Mercer's Family Weekend. We've been looking forward to this since drop off day! We did not want to take 2 cars, and Taryn did not to be squished in the middle of the back seat. So she decided to attend to employment and a dance on Saturday night. She is going to hold out until fall break to see her sister.

We arrived around 10 at the college, with the hour time change for Georgia. Oh, and a change of clothes for me. I decided I didn't want to be all wrinkly when I got there and since I had to get out of bed at 2 a.m. I just figured I would go in my jammies. Hey, I wore the cutest ones I had. Yeah, they raised a few eyebrows.. you know, the kind where you can tell the gas station guy is wondering "are those clothes or pj's? she is wearing slippers, so..." I texted Indie and gave her a choice of seeing me sooner in my pj's or later if I changed. So we stopped and made the wardrobe change at the last rest stop before rolling into Macon. Nobody misses anybody THAT much!!

It was great to see Indie again! She looks wonderful. Sorry, no pictures!! We blew it and didn't take ANY!!!! I was so bummed when I realized that.

I really enjoyed it when people would call out to say Hi to her as we were walking along. It's great to see that in just 29 days she has a place on campus and a good group of friends. We did the morning session which was eminently miss-able, and then we ate lunch at the cafeteria which at the time I laughingly pointed out we almost always missed all the other times we've been there due to one reason or another. Turns out we wished we would have missed because it did not set well. I took one bite of the coleslaw and just knew not to eat it. Mike had already finished his. Big mistake. An hour later my stomach was churning so I took my always handy homeopathic for upset stomach. Took care of it like a charm.

We took Indie for a Poor College Student Target Run. She stocked up on necessities and some clearance rack clothes for a wilderness survival weekend trip coming up this Friday. She has to go with her Service Scholars for 2 nights sleeping on a tarp - no tent, no facilities, no make-up, no nothing! If you don't go you don't stay in SS. Mind you, this is SWAMP LAND Macon, GA. Way below the "Gnat Line" as my good ol' boy, redneck friend Ronnie explained to me; and is thick in the heart of what Indie has discovered to be giant-sized "Cockroach Kingdom". Down here in the South, there's a whole bunch of critters that don't even have names. I seriously remember when we moved here from Utah not recognizing half of the insect life and everyday going "Ewwww! What is THAT?!!?" So in an attempt to save my poor daughter's sanity (and mine) we Sawyered her up.
Jo Ann's husband Rulon turned me on to this stuff when he was our home teacher and I was going on and on about surviving the "buggage" at Girls Camp and if I would go or not because of it. This is the famous "Line of Death" stuff I used across my platform tent opening. A cockroach walked across the line minutes after I sprayed it and the nasty critter keeled over before it even got all it's feet across the line. HooYah! Nothing bothers you and if it tries...it dies. What a great motto. It should be on the front of the box. It doesn't just repel, it kills. We put it on all of Gib's clothes and gear and he has never had a bite or a tick or anything on all of his scouting trips. That huge Caution that is usually really small on boxes...yeah, it's highly toxic during the application process, but well worth it if you don't want to sleep with things crawling on you or pick ticks off ya. So before we left on Sunday we had Mike spray it all over Indie's sleeping bag, shoes and the Target clothes she bought for the special wilderness experience! She can hardly wait! She has enough to share with Lauren so her sleeping bag is a Line of Death zone too.

After we returned from the Target run, we went to a volleyball game. Mercer lost to East Tennessee. Mariah enjoyed watching the college girls play. Indie's room had people in it, and she is super considerate of them, but unfortunately they haven't returned the favor yet, so we went in search of an empty lounge to hang out in/nap, while Indie got ready for our evening out with Anthony and his folks. By then, Mike was in a world of hurt from the Fresh Food Company lunch and was popping some of my homeopathic meds too. We finally found a sofa across campus by the mailboxes and texted Indie to let her know where she could find us all asleep when she was ready to go. Isn't that special?! Gib was O-U-T let me tell you!!! I didn't think Mike was going to make it, but he was determined not to miss the evening with Anthony's family. So he popped a few more of my miracle in a bottle pills, and we took off for Loco's. We had such a fantastic time, I'm glad Mike survived. Anthony is Indie's best friend on campus and I can see why. A very nice & fun guy, easy to talk to, and his parents are the same. We had dinner and talked for a couple of hours. We kept laughing at the situation of poor Anthony's roommate, who is just a bit of a pest. Anyway, his parents ditched him shortly into the Family Weekend soon after discovering he had joined a fraternity and had tons of hickies all over his neck. Everytime Anthony's mom repeated the look of horror on the other mother's face when she saw the hickies on her sons neck we busted up in giggles all over again. I guess it's a mother thing of thank-goodness-it-wasn't-one-of-ours laugh!! I mean, how sad is it that your love is that conditional though. I felt really sorry for him that his folks just up and left him because of that. There'll be alot more of that behavior not less as a result of that kind of love.

Before we left on Sunday, we had a nice brunch with Indie at Olive Garden. She enjoyed getting off campus for another meal of real food. We enjoyed some family time with just us and laughing at Mariah's expense all weekend long over a bunch of silly stuff like the big smile on her face as I was passing her my lemon and then she dropped it in chocolate sauce. Poor Mariah, it's tough being youngest and the source of great amusement for us all. On the plus side, you'll be laughing at us and our Depends panty lines and tripping us in our walkers long before you will need one.

We had a great visit with Indie and really enjoyed meeting her friends. It was good to see her in her new home away from home. She is doing well. She has a ton of work to do coming up. Papers, tests and the dreaded survival weekend...it's going to be a mega-busy week. But she can do it! We have faith in her!

Now the drive home...the details would take up a whole 'nother blog!! Let's just say, we're glad we made it. Our new code names are King of Denial and Queen of Pessimists. I'm going to google "unexplained ear shrieking noise emitted from unknown part of car while driving under water" There was 4" rain on the road in a torrential downpour in the absolute worst part of Chattanooga. We had to pull over several times on the way home. We turned everything off and stopped and started the car several times, checked everything but the noise kept returning. When it finally stopped (after it stopped raining), a strange smoke, mist or condensation, or was it possibly carbon monoxide? (depending on whether you side with the King or Queen cast your vote now) started coming out from the air conditioner. The only good thing about the drive home was that it wasn't boring and because we had a sunroof the carbon monoxide was allowed to escape thus ensuring our very survival.

Taryn (and probably more likely Grammy!) - thanks for taking care of the the cats! Good job returning the house to it's former glory so it would look like you never even had a house party! Good job girl!!!

Indie - we love you and thanks for sharing your campus, friends and college experiences with us!!! Good luck with your workload this week and surviving this weekend!!

9/11/09

Today Jo Ann and I walked our "4 miles". We have no idea if we walk 4 miles anymore. But we walk and walk until we just don't walk anymore and make it back to my house. It's kinda funny the route we take is never quite the same but somewhat similar. Hmmm, maybe I'll drive it today and clock it and see what we did. Then we'll know if we are walking anything near the 4 miles. I could find my pedometer and then we'd really know, but who knows where that thing is. Maybe I last saw it in with my makeup? Could be. It was miserably humid when we got back too. So bad that I cranked up the air conditioner, which I am still quite thankful for, and we each stood on a vent and went "ahhhhhh!".

As we walked today we talked about 9/11 and our memories of that day. Neither of us watched any of the coverage on TV today. Having just lost her husband, I think 9/11 is much too poignant. I know I was near tears many times in our discussion. Then again, September is always a time when emotions are closer to the surface. This year on 9/23 it will be 5 years since my dad passed away. I have missed him immensely each and every year. Milestones are harder for some reason. We were talking about how weird it is that subconsciously your mind seems to know before you do that it is coming up and you are wondering why you're throat is tight and you're so tender, and then the reason becomes apparent.

There have been so many seasons and times in our lives that I've wanted to share with my dad. Gib's scouting, especially the Philmont backpacking. I'm sure my dad would have gone on that. Indy's high school graduation. He and Taryn's shared birthdays. I think about other people going through that too when I hear about anniversaries of tragedies, or when Jo Ann and I talk about her family's recent loss. It's hard getting through all the "firsts", then there's all the anniversaries, and the milestones in your life that you wish you could share in person with your loved one.

When you have moments of missing living, sharing, and talking with them in your day to day life it's so lonely and draining. I am grateful for the knowledge I have that death is a new beginning into everlasting life. For all the trials and tribulations we face, we have the comforting words from the Savior in Matthew 11:28 that if sought after, bring blessings and peace. You may still have occasions of grief, it's just that you know where to turn for peace.

Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.

I am really proud that mom and I completed the Read the Bible in 90 Days too! It was fun to do together at the Episcopal Church of the Good Shepherd. I got to know several people throughout the summer and we had many interesting discussions in our weekly meetings about our reading that week. When I got terribly behind in July/August, they were supportive and when I finally got caught up in the 11th hour, they were jubilant. It felt so good to have so much love and support from the group. And now I have a nifty certificate that says I read the Bible in 90 days! I am pretty sure that I have never read the Bible cover to cover before. So Go Me!!

Past Due

It's an update that is way past due. Just haven't been in the mood, and nobody has picked up the slack. I've been sick this past week and even though I was home there was not an ounce of energy or inspiration required for the blog. Today I pulled myself together enough to return to work so I figured I'd go all out and try for an update too.

Taryn is working away at Subway. She is starting to get tired of the 6" subs she gets to bring home but there is always a willing family member or a lunch that it could go into the next day so we keep telling her to keep 'em coming! One day she made one for me and I gotta say, she made one heck of a great spicy Italian sub! She is not feeling well today, and I think she is coming down with a cold. She has a sore throat and runny nose so I am claiming innocence since I quarantined myself in the computer room and never saw Taryn and did not have a sore throat!

Gib is thinking he will be working at Subway soon too! He is liking that 6" sub deal and is pretty jealous when Tayrn hogs it for herself. But, for now, he is working on finishing his Personal Fitness merit badge by going to the gym 3x a week and getting used to the high school homework load. He is carrying A's & B's. Seminary is going well. He doesn't have a problem getting up early, but I am sure he would prefer not! Gib is Senior Patrol Leader for his troop again and in the next couple months will be working with the troop leader who heads up Waterworld to get the details involved in an Eagle Scout project with the Army Corps of Engineers at Centerhill Lake this fall. I think it is pretty safe to say that Gib will make Eagle before or around age 15 (next July).

Mariah is adjusting well to middle school. She is bringing home all 100's. She is in the Art Club and Chorus. Art Club meets after school on Tuesday's, and Chorus meets before school on T/W/Th's. She tried out for 1 of 10 sixth grade spots on the volleyball team but didn't make it, but figured that was okay because that meant she was able to do Art Club which she decided was more important to her because she can still do rec league volleyball too. We might take one season off to get used to the pace of all these changes of high school, middle school, and college. I know this mom could use it!

And that brings us to our college student! Indie is doing great. I knew she would hit the ground running and she has. She was well prepared to be independent and out on her own, setting priorities and making new friends. A cease-fire and truce has been declared with the roommates and from what I hear it's going pretty good in that grin-and-bear-it situation. I was right, by the way, and my child made it exactly 2 days before it all hit the fan (and deservedly so). But they have worked out their problems and are all playing nice now. Indie loves all her professors and is doing well with establishing her study time. She is reading, reading, reading! She discovered that the library is the best place to study because there the roomie's friends aren't interrupting, the comfy bed isn't calling out for a 20 minute cozy nap and the texts & rings of the cell phone aren't distracting her from her work. The cafeteria food, however, remains yucky. She eats a big breakfast and picks at lunch and dinner. Salad is about it for the edible list in the cafeteria so she is using her Bear Bucks at Chic Fil A and Subway alot. Hint: gift cards for those two establishments would bring a big smile to her face. She says she's lost alot of weight, and between the food, ALOT of walking and working out her clothes are hanging. I need to send a belt. Indie has made a ton of guy friends, spends more time in the guy dorm than her own, but she does have a girl friend who is in Service Scholars with her, whom she is very close to already. They work out and eat together when Indie isn't being one of the guys. And sometimes Lauren is being one of the guys with Indie too. We get to go down for Family Weekend on the 19th and are really looking forward to seeing her!

Mike has been sending Indie letters every week and I am both amazed and touched at the fatherly advice and content coming from the self-professed guy who "isn't good at that sort of thing". It is very sweet. I hesitate to write to Indie for fear of stealing Mike's spotlight and stopping the great show! He's doing such a fantastic job. Mike had poker night here recently and came out the big winner again. That was great!!

I guess I'll stick to the blog and try to get out of my funk - too many changes for me this summer I guess. We're coming up on a very busy week at preschool. Next week is our assessment; it hits us just 4 weeks into the school year, which is both a good thing and a bad thing. Good, because it is over with soon, and bad because in some cases, the routines and transitions aren't running like clockwork just yet. No matter which of our 3 Pre-K teachers is chosen, I will be in the mix as their T.A. It's stressful. I hate how the assessor writes everything down. If you turn left, she writes it down. If you pick up a toy, it gets written down. You're like, "should I have left that toy out? should I put it back down?! What do I do?!?!?!" It's awful. You get to where you don't even know how to wash your hands properly. And believe me, there is a right way and a wrong way to wash your hands, and to turn on and OFF (that's the clincher) the faucet!!! Holy Schmoly, that's all I gotta say. The anxiety is already building, let me tell ya. And, with me being out sick the past two days, we've lost precious time getting our last minute routines down pat, and stuff ready. Wish us luck next Thursday that one of our older Pre-K classes gets chosen - especially the teacher who wants to have her name drawn out of the hat and of course, it never happens!! If her name gets drawn I will be smiling ALL day long - no worries!