25 Random Thoughts About Me

The latest craze hitting Facebook is to write 25 random things about yourself.  I decided to post it on here as well for all of you non-FB people.

1. My husband, Steve, and I met in high school. He asked me to my senior prom when he was a junior. We had such a good time and started dated soon after, although the last thing I wanted as I was going to college was to be dating a high school guy. We made it through attending separate colleges and graduate schools, with a little bumpiness on the way. He makes me the happiest woman on earth and I am proud to be his wife.

2. I have a Master’s Degree in Special Education and was a teacher of mentally retarded and/or emotionally disturbed high school students before I had children. I loved it and hated it at the same time. I loved making a difference in children’s lives, but hated that most of them didn’t have much of a future and were probably just going to end up in a sheltered workshop or in jail.

3. I am the mom of five children, three boys and boy-girl twins. I always said I wanted to have five kids, but I think it was more for the shock factor than anything else. It still makes me laugh the number of times people have stared at us as well sit in a restaurant or go out as a family. I’m proud to say we have had many compliments on how well they are behaved out in public.

4. When I was pregnant with my first child, I secretly hoped he was a boy. I always felt like I wouldn’t be a good mom to a girl, based on the relationship I have with my mom. Now that I have a girl, I realize I never knew how much I wanted a girl until I got one and how scared I am of raising her.

5. The worst time in my life was when my father passed away. It was the most heart-wrenching and helpless feeling I have ever had and I hope to never go through it again with any of the people I love. I am proud of the extra time I was able to spend with him when he was sick thanks to my husband’s encouragement but always wish I could have done more. I think about him all the time. He was a very special person to my children, I just wish they had better memories of him. By the way, Steve gave the eulogy at Dad’s funeral and it couldn’t have been lovelier!

6. Our move to our small town was bittersweet. It came shortly after my father’s death because of Steve’s job at Dad’s company, but we were moving into the house of our dreams. I wasn’t sure how I would like a small town, coming from a big city, but I’ve found it to be a wonderful place to raise my children and a great place for me to call home.

7. The pregnancy and birth of our twins was probably the biggest stress on our marriage. I truly thought another baby was going to be easy, but then we had twins! It has rocked my world much more than I ever imagined. Although they are a wonderful addition to our family and I love them so much, whenever I hear news of someone else expecting twins my heart sinks for them. The divorce rate for parents of twins is much higher than average and I know why. Thankfully we seem to have survived the worst part and adjusted well.

8. My children are my world. I am fortunate enough to be able to stay at home with them and love it! Their happiness and health is a reflection of the kind of parent I am, so I work very hard to give them what they need. I’m very, very proud of them. I’m scared of what will happen when they grow older. 

9. I am blessed with many friends, both old and new. My friends come from all phases of my life. I love how I can tell a story to someone who knows me well and not have to explain the circumstances leading up to it! During good times or trouble, I am always amazed at how my friends step up to help. I am certainly lucky and hope I am as good a friend as my friends are to me.

10. I love to talk! I can talk all day! I’m sure people who see me in the grocery store or know it’s me on the phone turn around or screen their calls. Any call or visit from Sarah is going to take a while!

11. I am the child of an alcoholic. Although it’s a dismal reality, I think I have grown into a pretty emotionally healthy adult. The fear of addiction always looms for me, I certainly do not want to raise my children in that kind of environment.

12. I am a closeted slob. I try my best to keep our house neat and clean, but would be mortified if you looked in most of my closets. I recognize the state of my kitchen is directly related to my state of mind, and try to make that tidy. It’s an unending battle.

13. I always bite off more than I can chew. With five children I am always busy, but I add extra burdens with volunteering or projects. It makes me crazy and Steve doesn’t get it, which makes it even worse.

14. I am a terrible singer and dancer though I love music. I love to watch American Idol and think about how Simon would react if I was standing in front of him. I know I would be featured as one of those horrendous singers...can you say William Hung? Alas, I’m too old to tryout so no chance of humiliating myself.

15. I love the smell of wood burning fires, freshly mowed grass, play-doh, bubble gum and a clean baby. My favorite foods are Mexican, ice cream, and popcorn. My favorite drink is a margarita, frozen, no salt.

16. I am a news junkie. I read the Washington Post every morning which usually makes me late for other morning activities. The Post goes especially well with coffee, my other addiction. Any time between six o’clock in the morning and four o’clock in the afternoon there is usually a pot brewing at my house.

17. I am a bleeding heart liberal, not a popular point of view where we live. I enjoy talking politics with people who have an open mind or at least will not think less of me for disagreeing. Politics can be messy with a friendship so it’s best not to discuss unless you are comfortable with the person. I am undecided about my belief in God, also not a very particularly popular position. I attend church with an open mind, but am not convinced yet.

18. I don’t enjoy massages, but love pedicures. Watching me get a pedicure is humorous because I am very ticklish! I don’t enjoy massages because I find it difficult to relax. I think I thrive on chaos.

19. I cry at the drop of a hat. I cry over movies, dead animals on the side of road, and cross words from those I love. I haven’t mastered the single tear running down my cheek either, it’s always one of those ugly, scrunched-up face cries.

20. I have never tried illegal drugs. The first time I saw people smoking weed in high school, I was so scared cops were in the next room and we were going to get busted. Kept me away from the hard stuff, but not alcohol. I’m just lucky I didn’t get hurt during my college years with booze.

21. I have Celiac Disease, an auto-immune disorder of the gut which means I need to eat a special diet. It made me very thin and in a lot of pain until I was finally diagnosed. It makes me feel very uncomfortable when at friends’ houses because they go to a lot of trouble for me, but I appreciate it very much. To be honest, I cheat sometimes which may make me feel guilty one day if I get cancer because of it.

22. I love to entertain and have friends over. However, I don’t feel like I am a good host to more than one friend. When I have more than one friend over, I always come away from the event feeling like someone has been neglected. It doesn’t stop me from inviting multiple people over, but I always have regrets later.

23. I have a brother who I am not too close with. He and I agree it’s amazing we came from the same womb. As children we didn’t get along and as adults I think we don’t understand each other. I doubt we will ever be close.

24. Very rarely do I comment on people’s weight and only sometimes on their appearance. I think the weight thing stems from being overweight when I was younger and then being so skinny when I was sick. I felt so miserable but people were always telling me how great I looked. Now that I’m pretty average, I still get uncomfortable when people talk about my weight. I get this a lot, “You're so tiny, how did you carry those twins?”

25. I try to always be honest and optimistic, very hard to do both sometimes. Therefore, this was difficult to write.

Dooped!

My previous post mentioned some kind of silly notion that I would not allow myself to be fooled by my nine year-old.  I checked his pillow every night and found it one night.  We stuck the money in the pillow, took the tooth and all was fine.  I was not dooped!  

Silly, silly me!  Who did I think I was up against?  I thought I had it all under control until I woke him up for school last week.  I should have known when the boy who usually grunts and groans for 30 minutes sat right up and jumped out of bed as I turned on his bed.  I had it all under control and was walking down the hall until this came out of his mouth:

9 yo: I knew it!

Me: huh?

9 yo: I knew you were the Tooth Fairy! (said as loud as he could so our next-door neighbors AND his brothers could hear)

Me: huh?

9 yo: I lost my tooth last night and didn't tell you and then I put it in my pillow and it's still there.

Me:

9 yo: So you're the Tooth Fairy!

Me: (speechless but managed to come up with the lamest excuse I could) Well maybe you lost your tooth so late she couldn't put you on her schedule that night.

Very lame, but he seemed to have accepted the excuse and didn't mention it again.  It weighed heavily on me though and later I called Steve.  I tell him often he is a joy-sucker, he sucks the joy right out of life.  So of course Steve tells me to let Skye in on the secret.  Tell him about the Tooth Fairy, and while I'm at it tell him about the Easter Bunny and Santa Claus!  I called my friend who said, "Tell him if he doesn't believe, he doesn't receive."  My heart sunk, but I knew I was going to have to talk to him.

He came home from school and asked him if I could talk to him.  With a sad heart, I told him I had some good news and some bad news and paused.  He said, "My guinea pig died?"  No.  "My fish died?"  No.  "Did anyone die?"  Well sort of.  I told him he was right about the Tooth Fairy, he got a little grin on his face, and that was the bad news.  The good news is that it's kind of an adult secret and he now is old enough to keep that secret to himself.  He asked me what he should say if someone asks him and I said, "Tell them if they don't believe, they don't receive."  He seemed happy with this and went off.  I was sad but super glad he didn't ask about the Easter Bunny or Santa.

When he does ask, I will simply say, "If you don't believe, you don't receive."  He will get the meaning, and I won't have to tell him the truth.

Inauguration Day

I am sitting in my kitchen, thinking about this historic day.  The TV was on, my eyes glued to the screen waiting for the first glimpse of the man who will become the President of the United States today.  I'm thinking of the tremendous burden facing this rosy cheeked man in the next four years, the economy, wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, environment, and terrorism, just to name the big ones.  What a huge load on his shoulders, and he hasn't yet walked into the Oval Office.

Barack Obama is the first politician for whom I put a bumper sticker on my car and the first campaign to which I donated, but this isn't about how my guy won and yours may not have.  It's about celebrating our country and our first African-American president.  It's about the people of this land knowing anyone can achieve greatness, regardless of your background or the color of your skin.  It's a great day to celebrate being an American!

This is also a day of remembering for me.  Today would have been my father's 61st birthday.  Oh, how he would have loved Barack Obama!  His charismatic character and sense of family, in addition to his intelligence and work ethic.  Dad would be very proud to be an American too, I'm sorry he's missing this day.

I'll be watching his swearing in and inauguration speech, listening for the sense of hope Barack Obama brings to all around him.  It is a momentous day!  Please celebrate with me.

I Will Not Be Dooped!

Since our visit from Santa, we have been visited by the Tooth Fairy many times.  I'm not sure if it's the Halloween candy catching up with us or the substantial increase in indoor wrestling which is the biggest factor, but T-Rex and Skye have been losing their teeth left and right.  Thankfully it's all been baby teeth so far, but I won't be surprised if a permanent one comes flying out soon!

I'm not one to dispute fairies or to say disparaging remarks about magical ladies, but her story just doesn't hold much salt.  There's no history behind her or carols to sing, she just visits you magically in the night when your tooth comes out and leaves you a treasure.  What does she do with the teeth?  T-Rex's preschool teacher asked all her four year-olds what the Tooth Fairy did with all of those teeth.  The best answer, though not from my son, was that she built a castle with them.  Cute!

As for the treasure, it differs with every family and this makes her story even more difficult to explain.  At our house you get a golden dollar plus one quarter for every tooth you have lost, but it's not unheard of for us to get a story of the TF leaving $10 for your first tooth.  Insanity!  And so the Tooth Fairy has been in and out of our house, but her story just isn't jiving with Skye.  His skeptical nature about Santa has led us to pull some serious strings, but he is really not buying the fairy who loves teeth!  So we have this conversation:

S: Mom, do you put the money in my pillow?

Me: No, Honey.  I don't put the money in there.  (Mental note: Must get Steve to put it in tonight so I'm not lying.)

S: Are you sure Mom?

Me: Yes Babe.  I don't put the money in your pillow.

(We have this conversation for much of the night.)

Skye continued to be skeptical and, much to my chagrin, had come up with a plan.  He had lost a tooth and wouldn't tell me when he decides to put the tooth in his pillow.  This had me panicked!  I am not reliable enough to check his tooth pillow each night.  He will surely be disappointed when the fairy doesn't leave her treasure and even more so when he realizes why.  So I check.  I check every night.  I'm reliable!  He will not be disappointed!  Unfortunately, each night he doesn't leave the tooth.

Then T-Rex loses a tooth.  I figure this is the night, so I check Skye's pillow too.  No tooth, but it is sitting on his bed in a bag.  I deliberate, I ask Steve.  We take the tooth and leave the money.  Problem solved!  I win!  Until the morning...when Skye comes downstairs with a very long face.  "The tooth fairy took my tooth and I didn't want her to."  After drying his tears and explaining that possibly she took T-Rex's tooth and thought he wanted his taken too, he was fine especially since he had more money on his pillow than his brother.

He's still not convinced and I still have my problem!  He still has more teeth!

Paradise City

Real Lyrics:
Take me down to the paradise city,
Where the grass is green,
And the girls are pretty.

LA's version:
Take me down to the paradise city,
Where the grass is green,
And the girls give me the heebie-geebies.

Lovely.

My Urge to Build

Kyle & Trent with building their snowman and the finished result. I want to show them a REAL snowman!

Yesterday and today's weather were completely unfair. Thirty-two degrees and...get this...raining! Can you believe it? I can't either! When the temperature reaches the freezing mark, snow is supposed to be falling from the sky. Instead we were treated to some ice on the car and freezing temperatures, with no snow day or even a delayed opening.

Now many would think that after a two-week "vacation" with my lovely children, I would be anxious to shoot them off to school, revelling in the lack of snow or any delays. Nope! Still child at heart (or a teacher) and would love to have some glorious snow. Looking outside and seeing everything covered in a blanket of white just makes me happy, despite the shovelling and mess it makes when it melts. I love it!

I don't, however, like cold weather. This may seem like an oxymoron to you, but if it's cold please just let it snow. Snow is the best thing about cold weather. As far as I'm concerned, this weather we're having is just a waste of cold. Mother Nature should either get it snowing or warm us up, stop taunting me!

You may have noticed I haven't said much about what I do in the snow. I mentioned enjoying it from the window because that is really the way I like snow. As a kid, all the neighbors and I would all gather in our front hill and sled for hours. We would build ramps which would break your tush when you landed, our dog would chase after us taking our hats, gloves, and fingers along the way and we had a ball. I've loved snow for my entire life. But as I've gotten older, and used to certain creature-comforts, such as warm toes and a dry nose, I've found I enjoy snow much more from the window. I love watching my kids revel in Mother Nature's white miracle and have been known to join them less and less often.

But as I look outside and wonder how it can be that precipitation in thirty-two degrees is nothing but rain, I really get the urge to go out and build a snowman. I want to build a snowman taller than me, with a carrot nose, a top hat, and maybe even a corn-cob pipe. I want to make hot cocoa for kids once we come inside and I will even wipe some drippy noses. Just give me some snow!!!

In the Den

There comes a time during the day in which a parent just needs a little piece and quiet.  A time in which complete silence would be ideal, but most parents would just settle for the household volume to be turned down.  For me, this time is usually about 1:30 or 2:00.  All the bellies are full and everyone is generally happy, but I would like nothing other than to settle down in a comfy couch with a great book or magazine (napping is optional).

I am usually pretty good about putting aside my laundry, dishes, or other household chores in favor of a puzzle, game, or children's book when asked.  I have played countless games such as Trouble and Uno and probably enjoy myself as much as my children.  I enjoy the challenge of a puzzle and am just as satisfied when they are completed, though probably more so because all of the pieces are still there!  I love to read to my children and, now they are older, have them read to me.  I hope my love for reading rubs off on them and their memories of reading stories together linger well into their adult years when they are parents.

But I digress, the afternoon is the hardest time of the day for me.  My friend once told me she loved to play "Family" with her girls and she would play the baby.  The girls would feed her and put her to bed.  She could lay there on the pretense of playing, and if she caught a couple of winks of sleep...well, even better!

My boys don't play "Family" unless they are around her girls, so that game is out for me.  I have tried to be sent to "Time Out" for misbehaving, thirty-seven minutes in my room alone sounds like bliss, but that only happens when another adult is around to send me there and he's not likely to voluntarily take the kids on alone.

So I became desperate, until it struck me!  It's cold outside and there's nothing I would like more than to HIBERNATE!  "Let's hibernate!  I'll be the Momma bear and you can be my cubs.  We'll all snuggle in tight and hibernate through this long winter.  We can snore and make bear noises and then when we wake up, we can growl at each other."  And you know what?  It worked!  It worked especially for LA, my five year-old.  He loves the game and asks to play it almost every afternoon.  The only problem is those pesky little year-old bear cubs.  Don't they know they're supposed to be hibernating?