Zippidee do dah

Well, never let it be said that I don't give Mikey props when he deserves it. I have been teasing him about never doing anything for my birthday and I just knew he would blow off our 10th anniversary. I knew it. Stuff like that is just beyond his scope of important. All on his own, he arranged for Chelle to take all the kids and for us to have an evening out. I thought it was great that he was willing to go out to dinner on a work night and not even complain about being tired (not a lot anyway ) :) Nothing spectacular but then it has never been about that, just acknowledgement of some kind. Some no kid time was really good. Of course we spent a lot of the time out looking at stuff for the kids but hey, they weren't there driving me nuts. Speaking of looking at stuff, we checked out the new 08 Grand caravan's. I am so in love. I liked the Uplanders but I LOVE the caravan. Dianne had one and it finally died around 250,000 miles. That is just nuts. So I am hoping that maybe, just possibly, I can convince the gods that I really need one and I'll be able to get one. Soon.

Doing better today. Yesterday Chick and I spent the day together and met up with Chelle for lunch and a quick trip to the local dollar tree for some Halloween Spooktacular supplies. We spent 3 hours looking for shoes. 3 hours. We went to every store that sells shoes. We even went to the Buckle, which by the way, I wouldn't recommend unless you like being followed around and shown merchandise at every pause. That is not my preferred way to shop. After we finally found a pair of shoes that was way to expensive but by that time I just wanted to be done, Chelle came and we had lunch. After our adventures to the middle of Omaha, she brought us back to our Kia. Yeah, let me tell you about that damned thing. It is a gutless little thing normally but at least it doesn't smell, doesn't leak and all the seat belts work not to mention the radio and air conditioning. So Chick and I braved Walmart and then made another stop real quick to get gas. When we went to pull out of the gas station onto Broadway (the main drive in Council Bluffs), it wouldn't go. It rolled far enough into traffic that people were stopping to let us out but it wouldn't go any farther. Then I couldn't get it to go backwards either. Did I mention that this is at 5 pm or so? Really fun. I called Mike, he couldn't leave right that second but he was on his way as soon as he could. I called my mom who had driven down to stay with Mr after he got home from school to let her know I was going to be a little later. I tried to move it again, I got it to scoot back (after 5 full minutes of trying) 10 feet or so, so I was at least out of traffic's way. I called Mike again, called my mother again, and vented a little to Chick. I decided to try it again, and I noticed that the air was on. I turned that off and the little P.O.S. took right off like there had never been a problem. Made it all the way to Mike's shop without a problem. Then I had to go get Chinese because I didn't feel like cooking. :) Chick didn't want anything and Blondie doesn't like Chinese and it still cost me $40. It is nuts how expensive it is but damn is it good. I should have then been prepared for Chick coming into my room in the middle of the night to tell me she puked. She LOVES Chinese and something must have been bothering her pretty bad to miss out on it.
Mr was very good for my mom. Of course, she is convinced that he is Damien reincarnated. She never has sugar coated things for me and sometimes that hurts but I know when she says that my kids were good for her it is the truth. I always worry that people tell you that your kids were good and then go 'damn, I am glad they are gone' when you leave. Not that anyone would ever do that. ;)

I am sad.

Yesterday, Chick wrote me a letter. In this letter she tells me that I don't listen to her, I don't know what I am talking about when I make suggestions, and that I am comparing her to Blondie. It broke my heart. I have made a point of listening to everything she has to say since she learned to talk. I have worked really hard to make sure that we had what I thought was a good relationship. I have made jokes about my daughter thinks I am stupid because she is a teen. But she really does think I have no clue. How can she not know how proud of her I am? How does she not see that I think her individuality is amazing? I don't understand how she could possibly think that I would want her to be just like someone else. I thought I have made my opinions clear. Yes, I get mad at her behavior. That is because she is not perfect, no one on this planet is. Her and I are taking a mental health/mommy&daughter day tomorrow .
I am proud of her for writing it out for me and having the courage to tell me. That says something of our relationship, right?
I know that everyone with daughters has/will go through something like this but it truly, deeply hurts.

Aggravation

You know you have those days when you have to check the calendar to make sure God isn't playing some kind of joke and it isn't really a Monday, Again? This is one of those days. It seems amazing to me that on the days that everyone is home to pitch in cleaning, something always manages to come up. Spectacular phenomenon that leaves me to clean up after 6 other people. Many mini battles being fought daily that I am tired of.

There is the school. I am becoming less and less in love with the whole thing. If you have a student that has turned in 1 assignment out of 8, wouldn't you think there is a problem? I told the principal and whoever else would listen that Blondie was behind the curve. They finally scheduled testing last week and it won't be till Oct. 9th (at the earliest) that they do anything about it. I completely understand that she isn't the only student that needs help BUT!! I get a letter saying that she is failing 4 classes because she won't do her work. Really? Think that might be a problem? I have been trying to get some help since before school started and they are just now coming to that conclusion???

There is my niece, the fascinating psychological study, that is pissed at me because I wouldn't lie for her. It seems pretty easy to me, you pay your bills, you get good references.

I have insurance to deal with, yeah that is fun. Trying to deal with all that red tape and stupid applications and forms is enough to make me wanna scream.

Then there is Chick and her jealousy. I don't even know where to start with that. I have tried talking to her, rationalizing with her and all she wants to focus on is so and so is talking about/with/to Blondie. She is feeling so insecure which I get, it goes with the age. I just wish she had a little more self confidence. I had to move Blondie in with 411 last night, we'll see how long that lasts.

And on top of all of it, I get my mother calling me semi guilt tripping me about my grandmother. Or my lack of visits to be more precise. I feel bad that I don't take the time, but she doesn't have a clue who I am and doesn't talk anymore. The last visit that my mom went to at the nursing home, she found out that Grandma has to have her diaper changed every hour and is confined/restrained to a wheelchair. She doesn't recognize anyone and doesn't talk or even acknowledge that you are talking. If I had had an even semi close relationship with her I might be more apt to drive the 2 hours up there. As it is I feel I have enough on my plate and don't see the point when she doesn't understand what is going on around her. And truthfully, that makes me feel like such a bitch. It is one thing in my head but I can't stamp out that little morsel of guilt.

So, that is how this day is going and it is barely noon. Did I mention Mikey wants to go camping this weekend and it is supposed to rain all weekend? Perfect.

Now tell me why the rest of the world can't get along??

My niece sent this to me and I had to share..

In a zoo in California, a mother tiger gave birth to a rare set of triplet tiger cubs. Unfortunately,due to complications in the pregnancy, the cubs were born prematurely and due to their tinysize, they died shortly after birth.?The mother tiger after recovering from the delivery, suddenly started to decline in health,although physically she was fine. The veterinari ans felt that the loss of her litter had causedthe tigress to fall into a depression. The doctors decided that if the tigress could surrogateanother mother's cubs, perhaps she would improve.?After checking with many other zoos across the country, the depressing news was that therewere no tiger cubs of the right age to introduce to the mourning mother The veterinariansdecided to try something that had never been tried in a zoo environment Sometimes a motherof one species will take on the care of a different species. The only orphans" that could befound quickly, were a litter of weanling pigs. The zoo keepers and vets wrapped the piglets intiger skin and placed the babies around the mother tiger. Would they become cubs or pork chops?Take a look...you won't believe your eyes!!
??

So today...

Nothing terribly exciting, same old same old. I helped my landlady clean an apartment this morning (that is what I needed the paint chips for), got Mr off to the bus, took care of Miss Smiley, got a call saying Bubba has detention on Thursday, AGAIN, got another call saying Chick was tossing her cookies at school. Yeah, real excitement. I ran into the teacher that is doing Bubba's testing for the Excel program. She told me that he blew her away. She asked him to name 2 of the US's enemies in WWII.( She said to me most kids in the 4th grade can't get Germany,Japan or Italy.) Bubba piped up with Hitler and Mussolini. That is my boy. Then she asked him how a private and a corporal were alike. I was like sure, anything military and he is a walking encyclopedia. This is the kid that was checking out WWII books in the first grade. I am kind of anxious to see the results of the testing.
I made a total of $10 at the craft show this weekend. Everyone says that I undercharge for the quilts but then no one will buy them. I was telling Mikey that it doesn't matter if I charge $1 or $1000 if no one is buying them. The kids were all excited because they got to keep one. I am on the lookout for more Bratz material, I have a niece with a birthday coming up that really wants a quilt with them and 411 snatched it up as soon as I set the box down after the show. At least my children think I am cool! ;)

Quilts