Oldies but Goodies.

Thing Two surprised me the other day. He asked me if I knew where the cd for Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets PC game was. I was like, seriously? You really want to play that? We have a Wii. We have Nintendo 3Ds's. We have iPods. All very exciting. But no, he wanted to play a PC game he used to play when he was a little kid.

Then I realized why he wanted to play it. Because of the good memories. I have great memories of certain toys and books from MY childhood, why else would I scour Ebay looking for them? Yes, I have a circa 1978 Barbie Perfume Maker, don't you worry. I also have a complete set of Sweet Valley High books, with the original vintage circle covers. I bought Richard Scarry books for MY kids. Why? Because of the great childhood memories. For Thing Two, it's a memory of his first time he really played a game, and it was Harry Potter on the computer.
He loaded it onto the computer and Thing Four watched him play it. It brought back memories for me, too.

Nostalgia is a powerful thing. It can make us smile, or frown, it can motivate us, it can depress us. When we were kids everything was so tactile: smells, sounds, tastes--I honestly can smell a smell or taste something today that will resurrect a powerful memory once in a while. No one is immune.

What did you like to do as a child? Maybe you should revisit that hobby, and see how it makes you feel. :-)

Rainy Day.

I wish there was SOMETHING to blog about, but my weekend consisted of basketball games, running around, and the usual stuff.

And it's raining. Kind of depressing. Here's hoping there's sunshine everywhere else!

Something's Not Quite Right...

I was doing bills the other day, and I was shocked. SHOCKED by how much money we spend on gas every month. I was looking at the total, and it was almost as much as we spend on food! How crazy is that?

I tend to stay away from personal things on this blog, like Politics and Religion (two things you may be surprised to know I feel VERY strongly about) so I'm not going to say much, but I will say how grossed-out I am by the fact I spend $85 every time I fill up. Luckily I live really close to the South Carolina border, and gas in SC costs an average of twenty to thirty cents less a gallon. So I just zip there to get my gas. CRAZINESS.

Have had a rough week. My foot is injured so I've been hobbling around. I feel like I can't get a lot done unless I ingest enough Ibuprofen to kill a horse. This weekend is going to be crazy. Basketball season is winding down, but I have three kids with games tomorrow and it's going to be a little interesting. Luckily most of what I do involves running around in a car, and my left foot is the affected foot, so I can drive no problem. It's getting better every day. I'm just ready to be BETTER.

Soccer season starts up soon! Thing Four (who is four) told me yesterday he doesn't want to play soccer. He said "Mom, I want to play T-ball, because I want to be a baseball player!" This surprised me, because we've never encouraged him one way or another in sports. I figured micro soccer would be a fun outlet for him. But he wants to do T-ball. I'm down with that. As long as he's doing something. ;-)

I hope everyone has a great weekend! It was 80 degrees yesterday. The trees are blooming in Ballantyne. Of course it gets BUTT cold over the weekend again, but Spring is around the corner!

Change is Good.

Unless it really isn't change at all. So, I've been eating Yoplait yogurt since High School. Which means I've been eating it for over twenty years. Only Yoplait, none other. I decided to make a change yesterday, and try something new. Just to see what's out there. I bought Dannon Light n Fit yogurt and...*drumroll please*...they taste the SAME!

They really do! I was surprised. It was Yoplait in a Dannon package. Whether this is strategic or not, they are identical to me. Hmmm....

Busy week for me. I wrecked my foot and I've been hobbling around on it, and last night it was so bad once I was in bed I started whining. Hubby told me to elevate it, and it totally helped. Today I'm trying to function with a gimpy foot and it just isn't fun. I must have sprained it. It's the same foot I chipped a bone in a few years back, and it feels like an identical injury. If it doesn't get better by the weekend I'll be taking a trip to Ortho.

Oh, in FABULOUS news, all three of my older children need braces. Well, Thing One doesn't really "need" them, but she is extremely self conscious about her diastema, which is a natural gap in the front teeth: 

These aren't her teeth, just an example. But she is VERY much hating the gap, so we are getting it fixed with braces. I told her it could be worse. Her teeth could be like this:

This would be Thing Four. (who is four years old. ) He has severe diastema. And yes, he will need braces too, eventually.
Anyway, I learned something about Orthodontia. It's EXPENSIVE. As in I-Need-A-Money-Tree-Planted-In-The-Backyard-Immediately-Please expensive. Oh well. It's Life, right?

Time to do laundry! There's no changing THAT, unfortunately.

I'm a Woodworking Carpentress. (NOT.) Oh, and I'm Avoiding Pinterest...

Told a friend today I was busy building drawers for my boys, because they share a closet, and the closet if full of two dressers, and since I want them to be super organized, I bought two sets of plywood double drawers from Target to build and add on to their existing dressers. (For socks and underwear, because all their shirts and shorts and jeans and blah blah blah don't exactly fit into ONE dresser.) And I went with the plywood cheap kind because they're just going on top of the dressers in their closets, so no one will see them but them. Yeah. I'm cheap sometimes. But I don't care.

AnywayI'mtotallyrambling, when I say I'm "building drawers" I guess I should say they're the "assemble it yourself" kind, so people don't think I'm one of THOSE moms who goes out to the lumberyard and has all sorts of jigsaws and woodworking tools in my handy shop in my garage where I BUILD DRAWERS.

Ha ha, see? Major difference there. Guess I should clarify. ;-)

I'm avoiding Pinterest. OH. MY. WORD. have you BEEN on Pinterest???? I salivate just looking at it. I think if I seriously sat myself down (I have an account but that's as far as I got) and started looking and "pinning" I'd be on it for hours a day. HOURS.

I don't have time. I want to, but I don't have the time! I already check Facebook about 5 times a day, Pinterest will sink me. Want to know what I'm talking about in case you live under a rock and don't? Click here. And consider yourself warned.

Happy Monday everyone! The sun is out!

My Boys are DOIN' LAUNDRY.

I have three boys. And I'll be danged when they leave this house if they don't know how to take care of themselves.

I am an impatient person. I get frustrated when people do things slowly. Not exactly the best trait to have as a mother. Slow tying the shoes? Don't worry, I will jump in and finish. S-L-O-W-L-Y folding the clothes? I will take over.

Shame on me. I've had an epiphany of sorts recently. I don't want my boys to go off to college and have their roommates HATE them because they're "those" boys--you know, the ones whose mamas did everything for them and they can't clean a dish or pick up anything. Nope. Not my boys.

My boys are learning how do wash their own clothes, cook basic food, and CLEAN STUFF. My boys will not be "those" boys.

It will be hard, because I'm an impatient teacher, but I need to do it. It would be a huge disservice to them if I didn't.

This week has been quiet--Hubby is gone Sunday to Sunday. I'm ready for him to be back home. Even though his absence has made it easier to watch my Grey's Anatomy episodes on Netflix into the wee hours of the morning. Ha ha!

Hope everyone has a great weekend!

Sports are Like Harry Potter Books--They Get Darker As the Kids Get Older...

I have four kids. I love them all equally. Their skills, however, are not equal. They are all different. I have one child who played sports when younger, but isn't really interested in them now.  I have another child who tried sports, and realized they just aren't for him. I have another child who excels at any sport he tries, he's fast, quick, and coordinated. Then I have another child who LOVES sports, but doesn't have the coordination to play them. And he wants to, so bad, and I will put him in every sport he wants to try, and I will support him no matter what.

I think when kids are younger, it is "cute" when they play sports. We're in if for the fun. Parents are more relaxed (in general) at games. There is a spirit of fun and enthusiasm. Take Micro-soccer. It's basically a bunch of toddlers running around and if they manage to kick the ball any distance at all, let alone in the net, we bust out with pride.

Then they get older. There's usually a good mix of kids. The super talented athletic kids, the mediocre kids, the flat-out NOT athletic kids, they are all put together and although the atmosphere is more competitive, they still manage to work together as a team and the parents cheer them on. Only one or two tend to be uber-competitive.

Then, they become tweens/teens. Sports become cutthroat. Parents get annoyed when the less-talented kids get put in. Because points get lost. Parents yell at the coach to keep the talented players playing, to heck with the feelings of the less-talented players. They want to WIN. Parents scream at refs. They throw their hands up and yell at their kids when they aren't being "aggressive" enough. They criticize. They insult. It's a pressure cooker of barely contained, hypertensive, seething, boiling competition. And one false move can result in the lid getting blown off. Literally.

When they're older teens, there aren't any "bad" players on the team. Because if you aren't super talented, you simply WON'T make the team. Play badly? You get cut. Because when you're older, fun time is over. You are in it to WIN, and everything else is just second-best. You think stage moms are bad? Try the parents of talented athletes. They can be downright poisonous.

It's like Life, right? When you're young, everything is fun and everyone is special. Then as you mature, things get darker, reality sets in, and the kid gloves come off. Sports are like this. Life is like this. Sometimes we wish we could turn the clock back. Lately I've been wishing I can turn the clock back.

If only we could...

I'm a Dog In-Betweener.

Does it make me a bad person that I dropped my puppy off at the groomer and I am kind of enjoying this peaceful time sans dog?

Hmmm...

I think there are three kinds of dog owners out there. People who love dogs, who "get" them and see them as true companions, who will roll all over the floor with them and not care if they get slobber all over themselves, THOSE are true "dog" people.

Then there's the other kind. They have a dog, and it's cute and everything, but it's a lot of work and it POOPS IN THE HOUSE and it stinks sometimes and they just want to shove it in a kennel or room and deal with it as they please.

Then there's the in-betweeners. Not necessarily DOG people per se, but enjoy little moments with the dog and play with them and keep them clean and happy. But they still hate poop in the house.

I think I'm an in-betweener. I am not a bona fide dog person. I am not a dog loather, either. I just sort of...have a dog. My kids LOVE the dog. My husband even loves the dog. I LIKE the dog. But I'm also her primary caretaker/groomer/walker/poop scooper, so I am happy to have the kids watch her when I need a break.

I think with dogs, you either have it, or you don't. I don't, but I try. Is that worth something?

Very Very Very Bad.

I've been a bad blogger lately. Very Bad. And a bad friend. VERY bad. So, since my mother begs me to blog so she knows what's going on in my life, I will try harder.

I was emailing a dear friend of mine this morning, and I realized it's really easy to get caught up in Life. Right now, my life is very busy. New puppy, kids in sports, kids in activities, demands on my time--I just don't spend a lot of time on the computer anymore, unless it is to write (ha, haven't even done that in a week). I have friends who juggle it All. They can do the Kid thing, the Writing thing, the Working thing, and not drop a ball. Me? I've never been very good at juggling. When I'm sailing on Home things, the writing suffers. When I'm sailing on the Writing front, the Home suffers. I've lamented this before. It's a tough thing to do.

One day at a time, right?

Thank you for all the well wishes on my book. As soon as I have a cover and more info to release, you know I will! I'm very excited about it and excited to move forward. Right now my days are filled with Puppy Poop cleanups and sports practices and trying to keep the Mt. Vesuvius Laundry Pile under control.

Juggling. Juggling...