At the preschool, there is a little boy named John.  John really struggles with working on his papers.  He’d much rather be off running around and just playing.  Yet, he has come to grudgingly understand that before he can go play, he needs to complete his papers first. 

I always love when John completes something.  He thrusts his fists up into the air and jubilantly shouts “I DID IT!!!”   Of course I dutifully praise him and tell him what a wonderful job he has done…then instruct him to color in the other shoe on his paper. 

This month, I have felt like John.  I write a post just so I can get it done.  I praise myself that I did another post (all those wonderful comments help as well!)…then I realize that NaBloPoMo will be insisting that I finish up my commitment by writing yet another post. 

It’s been an interesting month for me.  I’ve learned that I really don’t like having to do something.  (Well, ok…anyone that knows me in real life knows that isn’t anything new.)  I do a much better job with my posts when I have time to let it brew in my head until it’s ready to come out.  There have been so many times this month where I just had to write whatever was floating there on the top…which results in what has become known as a “lame post”.  (And my family doesn’t seem to be the least bit shy in letting me know this!)

I’ve also learned that I really can post every single day.  And that choosing not to participate in NaNoWriMo at the same time was a really good choice.  Starting tomorrow, I will once again go back to posting whenever  the urge strikes.  But for now, I get to say “I DID IT!!!”

I just realized that yesterday marked my 400th post and my 10,000th piece of blog spam was captured!

What a day…

Yesterday, Shaun came home from work early as he wasn’t feeling very well.  All night he was up and down, tossing and turning and muttering how awful it was that he couldn’t get to sleep.  Consequently, I didn’t get any sleep either.  (There are times that I can really see the beauty of twin beds…or better yet, separate rooms!)

When I got up with the girls at five thirty this morning, Shaun was sleeping like a baby.  When I left for work just before eight, he was still peacefully slumbering away. (Yes, you may congratulate me for being strong enough to allow him to continue sleeping soundly.  Because, believe me, I was highly tempted to wake him up!) When I came home this afternoon, I found that my Beloved had called in sick to work.  Instead of languishing away on the couch with a box of tissue and the remote control like a normal sick person, Shaun comfortably dressed in his robe.  He barely had time to say hello to me as he was in the midst of some sort of intense quest while in WoW .  I just shook my head at him and went upstairs to deal with all the after school stuff that needed dealing with. 

Later on in the afternoon, Shaun and I took a moment to reconnect while laying on our bed as we often do. (These are officially known as Three Minute Hugs.  I’ll have to tell you all about them someday…although maybe not until next year) I made the fatal mistake of pretending to look somewhat interested in one of his WoW stories.  Fatal, because once he starts talking about his favorite game, I simply can not get him to stop.  I usually endure his tirades  heroic tales  endless explanations by thinking about something else.  Like taking out the trash, that new book I’m reading or even what shapes the textured walls could be forming. 

Today, I was just thinking and…the next thing I knew, Shaun was trying to tickle my upper lip and accusing me of faking sleep.  (You know, because we would never, ever do that!)  Um…yeah….I was faking it. That’s exactly what happened. 

I wouldn’t want anyone to think that their endless droning about fighting off some sort of imaginary trolls so you could collect their ears and sell them or get points or something, could put me to sleep.  Could that really have been what he was chattering on about?  I must have been dreaming that…

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Bit O’ Life

Yes, I know…I haven’t done this for a while.  I started with the being thankful thing and I think I decided I didn’t want to be thankful! I’ve missed this much more. And yes, there’s a rule that says I can not do both…

I’m probably the only one that is amused by this, but yesterday was Michael Vartan’s birthday.  KT made vegan brownies to bring to school so her friends could celebrate with her.  Before they could have a brownie though, they had to proclaim “Happy Birthday Michael!”

She is so her father’s child!

I unexpectedly had today off…so I took advantage of this childless time to go shopping.  Shortly before I headed home, I stopped to get a peppermint mocha couple of  gift cards at the Starbucks drive-through.   

The barista rang them up for me and instead of giving me one of those cute little envelopes that they usually come in,  she tucked them into the most adorable fuzzy red mittens. 

I couldn’t help it, I squealed in delight. (And I’m not really a squealer type of person)  Once the barista climbed back down from the ceiling she just laughed at me.  I could tell that she wasn’t nearly as charmed as she should have been. 

I’m still going to give the gift card away, but both of those mittens are staying right here!

This afternoon as we were getting ready to go to martial arts, Mimi said something about it raining out.  I just looked at her like she was nuts because I knew it wasn’t raining.  She told me to look outside. To humor her, I did…and sure enough, it was pouring outside. I have no idea how I was so unaware of all that rain coming down from the sky.  (Although it is quite possible that all those Christmas carols blaring out could have masked the sound of it)

Feeling a bit a apprehension, I climbed into the passenger seat so that KT could drive.  (She is, after all, eligible for her license in fifteen days…not that anyone is counting or anything.) I urged my girl to go slow as there was standing water all over the roads. (And that says a lot in this hilly area) A few minutes into the drive, I started to notice that those big fat raindrops were getting to be a bit slushy. 

I couldn’t decide if I should mention that to her or not.  I was thinking of the first time I had seen slush falling on my windshield.  It was all I could do to keep my eyes on the road as I was so fascinated with what I thought were snowflakes.  KT shook her head at me when I told her this.  She, unlike me, had grown up watching the slush falling on the glass. 

The slush was easy enough to deal with as it just quickly melted away.  I kept reminding myself that this was good experience for when KT actually did get her license.  (Not that I’m really going to allow her to drive in that kind of weather or anything!)  When the first snowflakes began to fall, I began to panic.  When it started to stick to the road, I was a bundle of nerves.  The only thing that made KT nervous was the sight of her mother, cringing and cowering in the passenger seat. 

Somehow, we managed to make it downtown with only one small mishap.  KT slid a little tiny bit coming up to a stop sign.  (Yes, I know it’s good for her to experience a safe little skid, but it wasn’t so good for me)

When it was time to go home, Mimi pointed out the car across from us that was covered in snow.  I knew it had to belong to the woman that was shouting out to the entire office supply store that it was  “coming down hard, right up the hill!” I was pretty sure that it was the hill that we usually went home on. 

As I started to climb into my usual passenger seat, Mimi pleaded with me to be the one to drive us home.  She didn’t think her sister could handle a road that looked like that car.  Despite the fact that I knew the right thing to do was to let my teen get her practice in, I had to really fight to be strong and not grab those keys.  

KT slowly drove up the hill.  It was just wet at first.  Then we started seeing the snow.  Lots of snow.  (Just remember that “lots” can be a relative term)  I’m quite proud to announce that we made it home without incident.  KT in her calm and cool way, did a wonderful job navigating in her first snow.

Of course, it did take Mimi and I quite a while to pry our fingernails out of the car seats…

Life in the Fishbowl want to see pictures of our unfinished projects.  As I recently posted that my baby camera was all better, I guess I can’t just make a long list of everything. (If I had known what I was signing up for ahead of time, I may not have done so!)

Of course I have those artsy/crafty/sewing projects that I started and lost interest in long before they were finished.  There is a beautiful quilt of KT’s that I started with a friend who was teaching me how to quilt.  I was quickly lost and kinda sorta stopped making it.  (Who the heck knew there was so much math and details in quilting???) I told my friend she could just have all the fabric and such.  By the time KT’s birthday rolled along that year, my friend’s daughter gave the completed quilt to her as a gift.  Hmmmm, maybe I should just start leaving projects over there…

My latest unfinished project is this pillowcase. 

I started it with the intention of working on it in those moments of waiting.  Like when riding in the car and at soccer games.  These didn’t work out so well for me.  I get car sick when I focus on something to much and the transfer runs if it gets a little raindrop or two on it. (Very common in Seattle area soccer fields!) Still, I carry it around with me and pretend that I’m working on it.  It could happen…

Another area that I’m not so great on finishing things up in, is home improvement.  Most of my problem is indecision.  For example:

This is the wall that I look at from my favorite chair.  That glob of blueish-purple came from a gallon of paint that I decided I didn’t really like after all.  I look at that several times a day and wonder to myself what color really needs to be there.  (I have to be careful with all the colors I have have going on as well as the constant gray skies.)

I know that my glob drives Shaun nuts.  I’m pretty sure that he thinks that I don’t even see the glob anymore.  (I can often have tunnel vision when it comes to things like this)

Then again…

When our girls were little we, like most other parents, worked hard to stress the importance of good manners.  It was very important to us that our children used those small but very important expressions such as please, thank you, you’re welcome and excuse me. 

Our oldest caught on very quickly.  In fact we are still quite proud of the fact that her first word was “tanku”. (thank you) Our youngest was of the much more common “NO”.  (Interestingly, those first few words says a lot about their personalities, even today)

Our youngest was very good at saying please and thank you.  She just got a little confused as to how and when she should say certain other things. In an effort to please others, she would do something kind and unexpected then beamed as she announced with a huge grin, “You’re welcome for that!”

It didn’t matter that we would tell her she didn’t need to say that, it just seemed the right thing do do for her.  (And really, how can you chastise such an adorable child for being pleased with what she has done for others?)Eventually, she outgrew that phase and politely waited for the recipient to thank her.

This evening, Mimi and I were sharing a spinach salad.  Our girl tossed it and brought my portion to me.  Then she proudly announced that she had given me the larger share.  Before I could say a word, she proclaimed “Wasn’t that nice of me?”. 

Of course we all burst into laughter at her sincere statement as she just looked at us all in confusion.  All the memories of my little girl’s childhood sweetness came flooding back to me. 

In those days when she is displaying just how awful teens can be, I can just easily reach back and remember how sweet and earnest she really is.  Some things never do change…

This posting everyday merely for the sake of posting stinks!  I find myself ready to go to bed and then realizing that I haven’t made a post for the day.  My only option is to write something real quick and then listen to those I know and speak to in real life complain about how lame it is.  Sigh…

I really did have plans on writing something insightful and slightly humorous this evening, but those plans went astray.  Mimi desperately wanted me to watch a very important show with her.  So, yes, I chose to watch High School Musical One and two, the Pop Up version with my little girl until the wee hours.

So, before you judge me, and call me lame, please remember the trauma I’ve already been through in watching Zac Efron stut his stuff….

Instead of once again going through the madness of Black Friday, I’m going to participate in

Unless, of course, I decide that I desperately need a latte!

Happy

Thanksgiving!

Have a Wonderful Day