We've been joking about how Molly has a tendency to dance around poles when she's near one (even at the auto parts store yesterday) and hope she's not showing an affinity for a future career as a stripper. This weekend, however, makes me wonder if she's thinking about a different line of work:
Exhibit A: She actually did this chalk outline of herself. You can't really tell from this angle but she made the arms bigger because she was wearing her vampire costume from halloween while she was doing this.
Exhibit B:
She drew chalk outlines around everything: shoes, a gardening can, the chairs, a planter; and...
Exhibit C:
She even drew an outline around the cat! I don't know if it's funnier that she drew around the cat or that the cat let her do it and never batted an eye (or claw!).
I guess I really like the song "Renegades of Funk" by Rage Against the Machine. It came on my ipod today and Molly-moo started singing along, then in the auto parts store she was singing it again.
Is she the coolest kid on earth or am I just a bad parent? (I vote for #1)
Wow, almost a week since my last post. I seem to be running around in a fog these days. Time is passing and I feel like I'm going at full throttle but nothing seems to be getting done.
A couple of random things:
--> Daiquiri Island is open at 8:30 in the morning.
--> Is it rude when, in a full elevator, as people get off, you move farther away to increase your personal space? I was in an elevator this week, and when we got in there were about 7 people, and as people got off, when we were down to about 3 people, I moved. As one lady got off, she looked at me and said "I'm not sick" What?!? I wasn't rude and didn't say anything when I moved, it just seemed silly to stand right next to each other when the elevator was almost empty.
--> We were listening to the radio in the car on the way to school and "Turning Japanese" by The Vapors came on. BB asks "Why does he think he's turning Japanese?" Oh crap. I took the easy way out and said I didn't know.
--> More on the Ian front: Having his teeth removed is going to cost us the price of owning a small country. But the orthodontist can't do anything else with his braces until his wisdom teeth come out. The way things have been going I think it would be that island that just sank into the sea. *sigh*
Jerrod has been busting his ass working extra details to pay the girls tuition up front. In the past month between plumbing and medical stuff we've put out over $5,000 cash in unexpected costs (with more to come - yay! I can't even imagine how expensive surgery is going to be). Looks like for the first time in 11 years we'll be financing grade school tuition. I want to cry but I know it's not going to make anything better. Ian knows it's expensive (he's a smart kid) and I don't want him feeling guilty about it. His health is important to us and we'll do anything to make sure he gets the best treatments we can give him; but he's the kind of kid who will take it to heart.
--> So, between issues I had at work in February, Molly's pneumonia, The Great Plumbing Debacle, Ian's teeth and surgery, Girl Scout cookies and breakfast every Saturday at Ian's job, it's no wonder my clothes are all too tight. Grrr!!!
--> While I'm wallowing, I'd like to share some thoughts brought on by a political mailing I received today. I think I've mentioned before I'm a Republican. A VERY liberal Republican. I received a census today from the Republican Party asking for my opinions. As I looked it over, my eyes were immediately drawn to the back page where you could check off a dollar amount you'd like to donate to the republican Party. Or, if I couldn't donate, I could send $15 to help defray the cost of processing my Census Document. Seriously? You're asking me to take time out of my day and fill out this questionaire and PAY you to record the answers?
Part two to this rant is that in looking over the questions, it seemed to be a poorly disguised "I hate Democrats" flyer. The questions start off innocently enough: Are you conservative, moderate, liberal? Do you vote? Where do you get your news? Then they start getting to the good stuff - Question 8, Section 1: How much does it concern you that the Democrats have total control of the federal government? Question 4 under Section 3: Do you believe the huge, costly Democrat-passed stimulus bill has been effective in creating jobs or stimulating America's economy? and Question 5: Do you think the record trillion dollar federal deficit the Democrats are creating with their out-of-control spending is going to have disastrous consequences for our nation? Right, because Republicans are so thrifty (tell me again which key is the sarcasm font?). Now, I'll freely admit there are some legitimate questions in the survey. But really, they make it sound like Democrats are going to sneak into our homes at night, steal our money and kill us all in our beds.
I thought we were supposed to work TOGETHER. All this petty squabbling has done is make people angry, suspicious, and bitter; I wish we could stop this piddling bullshit and stop making it an Us vs. Them issue. It's ugly and causes apathy where there should be civic pride and a sense of duty to our country and our fellow man.
Okay, ranting over. Do I feel better? Maybe a little. To end this post on a positive note, I'll tell you this:
I am so freaking excited Mike and Hannah are going to Forks, WA. Every time I think about it I get giddy, and I'm not even going! Yay Forks! Take lots of pictures, even if you feel stupid. And make Mike wear a Team Edward shirt ;)
I know being a teenager is difficult, but I think having a teenager makes things weird for the parents too. Ian and I have had some weird conversations lately, like this and this.
We went to the store today, and on the way home he glanced at my radio and said "ClockBlock?" It was actually "Clocks" by Coldplay, but it got us to talking (how could it not, really?) And through the whole conversation, I'm thinking to myself, am I really talking to my 16-year-old son about cockblocking? (Moms are the ultimate cockblock, I think.) Yet another #parentfail for the books...
It's been a crazy morning, but here's what's going on:
Ian will get his wisdom teeth out April 2 (Good Friday) and will have his knee surgery April 13 at Children's Hospital. He should be discharged sometime the next day and will spend about a week at home before he's able to go out and about, then approx. 6 weeks in various states of "crutch-iness" before hopefully being off crutches, at which point we'll start looking at the electronic-pulse thing to use on his foot/nerve instead of a brace if it works. I think it's something like this (check out what it says under "other uses" - not you Ian).
I'm alive. I know everyone was worried. Busy, busy, busy!
Saturday morning I dropped Ian off at work at the neighborhood cafe he works at. Imagine my surprise when we pulled up in front and there was a tour bus with about 50 guys in kilts standing around!!! I thought I'd died and gone to heaven! (They were having breakfast before they marched in the St. Patrick's Day parade)
Bridget's birthday party was Saturday - she had a couple of friends join her for a hibachi dinner. The girls had a great time and it was a fun evening. The chef played to their age and did some silly stuff with the food and had some fun props. At one point during the evening, I overheard Bridget telling her friends how old I am. I told her you're not supposed to tell a lady's age and if she does feel the need to tell my age I'm really 21. She looks up at me and says "Not with those wrinkles you're not!" Ouch.
Sunday we sold Girl Scout cookies; Bridget had a blast. The girls were sooooo enthusiastic, I almost felt bad for the shoppers. I laughed so hard when she jumped out from behind a pillar in front of the store to ask a customer to buy cookies. Girl Scouts are Ninjas!
We also had a very nice visit with Aunt Sara that involved a shrimp boil on Sunday and shrimp bisque on Sunday.
On to less fun news: Ian has been having some new pain in his knee that he injured back in May, so I took him to see the orthopedist today. If I understood everything he said (we were there for 2.5 hours), Ian's ligament is stretched (it was super creepy to watch the doctors move his lower leg from side to side - ick!) and actually took a piece of bone with it. The stretching is causing him to roll his foot down when he walks, which is irritating that palsied nerve. They're going to have to do surgery to repair the ligament before he damages any cartilage or other stuff and while they're in there they're going to check the rest of the knee for any other damage not seen on x-rays/MRI and "explore the nerve". I think we're going to jump on this in the next month so he'll have all summer to recover. He'll be on crutches minimum 6 weeks after surgery. Poor Ian, he finished 10th grade on crutches and now it looks like 11th grade will end the same; my poor baby!!!
Driving the kids to school this morning, Marilyn Manson's The Beautiful People comes on the radio via my ipod. Ian makes the comment "this is very un-mom-like", to which I reply, "I love this song but don't usually play it when the girls are in the car."
I start thinking about Marilyn Manson and his uber-weirdness, and I mention "He's pretty weird. Not exactly the kind of guy I'd want my daughters to date."
To which Bridget replies "I make no promises." Oh, God.
Here's the video. I don't like dystopian imagery at all, so I can honestly say that while I love the song I hate the video:
I did a bit of Spring Cleaning this weekend, and on Sunday J and I took Bridget and Molly to breakfast where Ian works, then J took the girls to the Zoo while Ian was at work. I had the whole house to myself to clean (and maybe do a bit of reading? I'll never tell!!).
Molly is obviously feeling better after her pneumonia (Dr. visit was yesterday, all is well and weather was around 65 yesterday and she only got her feet wet here so this is okay!):
Bridget and Molly climbing up Monkey Hill:
Near the main entrance (you can't see it here but it was so beautiful yesterday that practically the whole city was at the Zoo - J said it was very crowded, luckily they got there early):
Sisterly love:
Thanks J for giving the girls a great day and giving me a kid break!!!
Ian's doctor appointment Friday was not what we had hoped. The doctor said he didn't expect any more improvement so we're basically at where Ian will be for the rest of his life. He said in his experience nerve replacement surgery (or whatever they call it) doesn't really have great results, but he is going to talk to a specialist to get a 2nd opinion. On a positive note, Ian asked about accupuncture for pain management of his foot and the doctor said that is a great idea and recommended an accupuncturist who works at Children's.
As mentioned before, Molly was sick over Mardi Gras. She was better for about a week but starting Friday (Bridget's birthday), she started getting sick again. I took her to the pediatrician today and she has pneumonia. They said if I'd waited another day she'd be in the hospital. They gave her a shot, some oral meds, and nebulizer every four hours. I'm sure she'll be perking up soon.
Bridget's 9th birthday was Friday. As we always let the birthday person pick the restaurant, she picked Outback Steakhouse. On a Friday during Lent. Needless to say Jerrod and Bridget enjoyed their meat. The rest of us had fish. Seriously though, it was good and we all had a great time and she got some cool gifts and they sang to her.
Oh, I can't forget to mention - the plumber. I've been hearing a running pipe since around Mardi Gras,but with everything else going on hadn't been able to really do anything about it. We finally had a plumber come out last week. $3500 later, we have a new pipe and water heater. Our leak under the house was a hot water leak, which in addition to losing water, was running our water heater all the time trying to keep the water hot, so it died due to overuse (it was 25 years old, I really can't complain). But, it is nice to be able to take a hot shower again!!!
And, I'll leave you with these nuggets of family life:
Me, looking deep into Molly's eyes: Your eyes are so pretty. Molly, looking back into my eyes: Your eyes are evil.
Jerrod, driving through the city: Hey, look, there's a wifi on my iphone named "Bridget's wifi". Your sister's got her own wifi! Ian: With a forehead that size she should.
Introvert, Worrier, Owner of the blog “Caught in a FAB Romance”, and resident Romance Guru on Parajunkee’s View. I’ve been blogging about books for over 3 years – if it’s got romance in it, I’ll read it! You can also find me on twitter, tweeting about books, my family, and sometimes, The Saints: @lovesfabromance
She actually did this chalk outline of herself. You can't really tell from this angle but she made the arms bigger because she was wearing her vampire costume from halloween while she was doing this.
She drew chalk outlines around everything: shoes, a gardening can, the chairs, a planter; and...
