Oops, I don't "stick" at this, I "stink" at this. Good thing I'm not teaching typing ; )

I stick at this!

Hi Y'all!

I have been really bad about keeping this blog up . . . sorry!

When I was scrapbooking, I started not only taking pictures with a page plan in mind but planning events just to get the photos! Sad, I know.

Well, the first week of school went great for everyone - kiddos and mom. M is having some adjustments to her teachers but she got one of her good friends in her class, so that made not getting the teachers she wanted a little easier.

The hardest part so far has getting up at a rather painful 5:30 in the morning. But everybody has made efforts to make the new morning routine run smoothly - what troopers!!

Keeping the early waking hour in mind, I am going to bed (it is 10:00 and 5:30 comes along really quickly) and watch the rest of the Republican National Convention. I know, it is an exciting life, but sombody's got to live it!

Back in the Saddle Again

Let me just say I have been unbelievably busy.

Tomorrow starts the school year - not only for the kids but for me too! Yes, I am a full time working woman again.

I am teaching the "at risk" kiddos at an awesome elementary school in Allen. Not a classroom full of them. Just one on one or in small groups. No lesson plans, no discipline issues, no parents, no ARDs, none of the stuff that had kept me home a year longer than I should have been. I think this is an answer to many many prayers. I am still learning the ropes but am soooo excited. I am ready for this. I think I have been ready for this. I have needed this.

I had so many hesitations about going back to work full time after being home for 10 years. I mean how do I get everything done and meet everyone's needs and work a 40 hour week? But this was meant to be. My fears and hesitations had kept me from fulling pursuing a full-time position as seriously as I needed to. But this was meant to be. Thursday week before last, the principal got my name from a friend and asked if I could come in to talk to her and the person who is head of this particular department on Friday. I did and left there feeling like things went pretty well. Then I got the phone call on Sunday offering the job and could I be there for inservice on Monday.

How's that for fly by the seat of your pants?

This has actually worked out for the best. If I had too much time to think about it all I would psych myself out of it and be a nervous wreck. Which, by the way, is what I think is the source of all my health problems and panic attacks. My nerves are just shot. Odd to think that adding something else to my "to do" list would be what I actually needed.

I'll let you know how I survive the first day of school.

is this what they mean by the 'tween years?

I have already confessed to being a Guitar Hero family and we are sitting here at 9:55 am and it is 95 degrees outside so guess what we are doing? Yep, playing Guitar Hero. Not for much longer, we are about to go to the library. But while M was sitting there rocking out to Stevie Ray Vaughn's Pride and Joy she tells me we have to hurry up and get to the library so that she can get the Pooh Bear book she wants before someone else does. Is it just me or does that seem odd? Is this what they mean when they talk about the 'tween years? Trying to grow up, but still hanging on to being a little kid. I'm not ready for the grown up part - she is only starting 4th grade in a month. Well, she decided she is done so it is off to get some new books . . . apparently Pooh Bear books!

The Simple Life?

So my clothes dryer started making this really bad burning smell about two weeks ago and my house has become a virtual clothesline. There are clothes hanging in doorways and on the shower rod. It's kinda funny, reminds me of the old Honeymooners shows where they would have clothes hanging across a line strung through the dining room or something. I have spent several days disassembling the dern thing to figure out what is wrong. It is not the belt (it's not a rubbery kind of burning smell and the tub doesn't slip when it is turned on), it is not the lint (I've removed the hose and completely vacuumed out the line), so I thought for sure it would be the heating element as it only smells when it is on a cycle with heat. "Air fluff" still works fine (so I know it is not the motor) but it would take hours to dry a load on "air fluff"! Finally yesterday, I got the heating element out and I didn't see any signs of damage or a problem. UGH! I don't know if I should spend $80 take a chance on replacing the heating element and have it possible still smell, spend $200-300 on a repair guy, or bite the bullet and spend $450-550 a new dryer. None of the options are really in the budget right now.

Drying the clothes by hanging them hasn't been a big deal, but sheets and towels ... that's a different story! So yesterday I washed the sheets, packed up the kids, three root beers, and a pack of UNO cards and off we went to the local "Coin Laundry" to dry our sheets. I was ready for all kinds of complaining from the kids, but they didn't complain at all. Apparently, root beer and UNO can make any kind of waiting fun. It's the simple things that make life's bumps a little easier to take. My friends think I'm nuts for not just going out and financing a new dryer. I haven't convinced them that a dryer is actually a luxury that our lifestyles have turned into necessity. (I live in a very material world - but I try not to be a material girl!) We haven't financed anything in over 5 years and I have no intentions of starting now. So for now, I'll change my perspective and take pride in the fact that my personal carbon footprint just shrunk a little (at least for now) and try to focus on the fun stuff like UNO and root beer and living the simple life.

Is it really so wrong?

OK, I've lied to my kids. I know it is wrong, but it is also kinda funny. My kiddos always wonder how mom always knows what they are up to. So I have convinced them that I have eyes in the back of my head - literally. They have spent hours digging through my hair trying to find them, trying to figure out why daddy doesn't have them, and wondering if they will ever get them. They also like to test me to see if they are working. Funny thing is, they always choose to test them while I am fixing dinner. That is my trick. They are too short to realize that I see their reflection in the microwave door which is above the stove. They test me to see if I can tell which one has come up and smacked me on the backside or what kind of crazy dance they are doing. Everytime I tell them precisely what they are doing and who is doing it they try to make it more challenging. It is quite entertaining to me and certainly helps keep them in line.

So my question is: even though I know lying is wrong and they are learning by my example, is this one OK to keep?

We are a pop culture family

Probably much to the dismay and horror of some of my friends, we are a Guitar Hero family. Yes, my children can recite the lyrics to Rolling Stone and Foghat. And they are quite proud of their accomplishments. Today, C was playing (because it is too stinkin' hot to go outside) and was thrilled when he bumped M out of second place on "Juicebox Hero", actually it is Foreigner's old song "Jukebox Hero" but C is convinced it is juicebox. He has been singing it all day, now I keep hearing the song over and over in my own head and he has me singing it as juicebox hero too.

Speaking of singing, I don't think I mentioned that my sis-in-law is in San Fran right now auditioning for . . . American Idol. No, I'm not kidding. Yes, she can sing. She finished med school, works in an emergency room, is performing in The Sound of Music in August (I think it is August.) now she is trying out for American Idol.

What can I say, we are a pop culture family . . .