Shopping with my Daughter...

Okay, so my daughter is being confirmed on Sunday.We NEEDED a dress and shoes plus any necessary support garments to make the dress and shoes functional. My daughter, understandably, has been researching, for months, appropriate dress/shoe combinations. Anyone who knows her, knows she is a force to be reckoned with, kinda' like hurricane Katrina. Fabric, color, style and cost have been the topic since New Year's Day. Now I love her beyond the reach of my own soul, but I was ready to hold a pillow over her precious little face...at times. When I say strong personality, I mean STRONG. Swartzenegger....weakling, Hercules...wimp, I'm talking strong here.

So I resign myself to hours of in-store comparison. We pull into a parking space by the front door. Walk in and there in front of us is "THE DRESS". There is one in her size. It has spaghetti straps which are not Catholic Church compatible, but on the way to the fitting room...little sea foam green sweater-jacket...perfect....on sale (really perfect),fit exactly right. Off to the shoe department. She finds the shoe she wants. heel waaaay too high. She was crushed because it wasn't available in her size. Then she sees a better shoe, heel much better too, and low and behold, they have her size. I mean does this kid have luck or what? The whole outfit was 1/3 of budget. I love this girl.

She was six and we went to a golf clinic...she won a set of clubs. She was seven and we went to the parish pic-nick, she won the raffle. She was eight and guessed the weight of a massive pumpkin, you guessed it she won...the pumpkin. She doesn't get it from me. I'm lucky to get a parking space in the parking lot at all. I am lucky in love only. *smile*....peace and love to you all...

Hello...is anyone listening?...

"...and don't forget the garbage, if we don't get it today we will have to wait until next week." No response. I am  talking  to my son about  his chores. He smiles at me and shrugs his shoulders. I can tell by his eyes  he has  no  idea  what  I  have  been  talking  about  for  the  last 10 minutes. "TAKE THOSE THINGS OUT OF YOUR EARS!!" I shout as I point to his ear with my right hand. He spins around  thinking  I am  pointing  behind  him ."No, no, no YOUR ears" I point to both of my ears. He looks confused  and tries  to look  around  me. I step  forward  and pull  the buds  from his ears with a 'POP'. I tell him he can't hear  me with them in his ears. "That  was  the point", he  says  with a laugh. Dear God, we are  raising a  generation of  people who  demand  dialogue  but  can't  hear  each other because of all of the music accessories.

My daughter breezes by, "Hey, did you empty the dish washer?" I get nothing. "HEY!", she jumps and looks at me with a hurt expression."Jeez, mom, why are you yelling at me?" Honestly, it's like living with chimps.Through all of that no body confirmed that a single chore was going to be done. They are smarter than they look.

When I was a  kid we  shared our  music with  absolutely everyone. The walls shook, the windows rattled and my  parents  knew we couldn't  hear  them. There was no guess work involved. My dad would walk in, snap off the stereo. The  music  ended  and  we  would  all  freeze  in  position  like meerkats surprised by the sudden appearance of a hungry jaguar. Now you run the risk of an injury by yanking ear-buds free from their tender resting place.

When we used to drive somewhere, we would all sing together from Elmo's Road Trip CD. Now they just turn on their personal devices and nod their heads to an undetectable beat. My back seat looks like a collection of bobble-heads. On the bright side there is much less arguing. So, reluctantly I will accept this accessory and not just because I won't have to listen to what they call music.

Later, I watch our dog leaping in the air, throw back his head and launch into a cha-cha he then twirled around, grabbed the cat and began to Salsa...alright who put the headphone on the dog?....peace and love to you all...

DON'T PLAY SIMS COMPUTER GAME!!....

So there I was, 5:30am, my daughter walks past to the restroom . "Are you still up?" she asks. "Quiet", I growl, "You'll wake the babies".I was playing Sims and got caught up in the events. My Sim couple really enjoyed WooHoo...and had several babies... oh well, you get the idea. "Mom, you have a problem", my kids had to do an intervention. "We love you and you know this isn't good for you",they plead. "What do you want me to do?"I ask, "just walk away and leave the dishes unwashed, the shower broken and the babies unfed...WHAT KIND OF A MOTHER DO YOU TAKE ME FOR?!" My son wrapped his arms around me, my daughter pulled the plug from the wall, the dog chased the cat thinking he was helping.

So, the kids deleted my files and I feel free, free from the burden of taking care of another family. They were pretty needy and quite stupid. They would stand there needing the go to the bathroom until there was a puddle on the floor. They would pass out from exhaustion instead of going to bed, staying up all night on the computer... okay maybe they are more like me than I care to admit.

I sit here, circles under my eyes, hair askew, desperately in need of a shower. This was my story, stay away from Sims, kids. You can't fight it. Sure you build a nice house, get a good job, have a couple of kids. Then the shower breaks, you pass out and pee on the floor.... Then you turn on the computer and thing really go wrong... peace and love to you all..

Who takes care of mama...?

So I am at death's door... Well, maybe not that bad, but pretty bad. Coughing all night, choking back NyQuil (only 10% alcohol) and ginger ale. Head pounding chest burning and what do you think happens....EASTER. The most important holiday of the Christian faith. Yup, right in the middle of death's d...well, I was pretty ill. Anyway, I was unable to attend Mass, first Easter Mass I missed in 18 years. Luckily we hadn't planned a big celebration. Only dinner for ten. Then three cancelled and a new one was added. Eight is pretty small for our gatherings. I have personally cooked for as many as 45, so all things considered, a small affair.

I missed the egg hunt because I wanted dinner to be on time. I prepared a beautiful leg of lamb (I butterflied myself), herb roasted potatoes, asparagus, home grown spring carrots and topped it off with a fresh strawberry trifle. We enjoyed an authentic Chinese Tea ceremony and learned many things about my Chinese tea pot collection. And all this I did in silence. I had developed laryngitis that morning.That being said, we had a wonderful time. Guy and the kids cleaned up, I went to bed. I got up today, looked around and went back to bed.

This afternoon I made some soup, yummy. The kids ate and went to bed leaving me and the dog to clean up. I'm again sorry for not making my "by Tuesday" deadline two weeks in a row. And I have nothing funny or joyful to contribute. But, at least I'm not being Eeyore. Oh, bother, the dog is doing the dishes so I have to run...peace and love to you all...

Sorry I'm late...

My apologies, I am ill. I caught what we here in our community call "The Crud". My daughter had it, then my son, then my daughter again, then my husband and now me. The dog is using hand sanitizer. I won't bore you with the details... okay, since you asked, It starts with an upset stomach, moves to a headache then a sore throat. The lovely little thing continues down into your lungs and finishes up with a severe case of bronchitis. Wow, I hit spell check on that and had no misspellings found. So, there I am. I was going to blog about not letting yourself get caught up in all of the garbage news being thrown at you. After the ABC and NBC manufactured news reports I turned it all off. Then someone called me and asked if I had heard that the president threatened the Supreme Court. I turned on the inter net news and I was shocked.

I won't go into it because if you don't know the U.S.Constitution and the term "checks and balances" and you believe what the pres says, you won't be interested in the truth. I studied law and the U.S.Constitution. What is happening is bizarre, surreal and I can not conceive of what I am hearing. So, either this will be stopped or we will no longer be " The land of the free".

What I am doing with my kids is looking for joy and humor for as long as we can. My daughter grabs the leash and we watch the dog do his dance. He starts by leaping in the air in a version of hip-hop, followed by spinning around like a ballerina. He then stands up on his hind legs and shuffles back and forth like a Spanish flamenco dancer. Then he starts all over again. This is joy. My daughter squeals with laughter. This is humor. Then she hugs him and says "I love you". This is family. Good health, peace and love to you all...