itllbefun

What if Christians really were?

2009-02-17T12:59:00.000-08:00

I got into a fascinating conversation with my friend Ann, and we wound up discussing the topic, What if Christians really were?

I love that idea. How many of us see around us, or fulfill ourselves, the idea of really being Christian? The cat is now out of the bag on my blog. I am a Christian mom, and here's a little ditty I wrote about the subject. Well, about being Christian, anyway.

What if Christians really were?
What if they really cared?
Would they see the suffering in the world,
and give thanks that they were spared?
Would they try to make a real change?
What if they really. . .shared?

What if Christians really were?
Would they help a friend in need?
Or would they by too busy,
too preoccupied with greed?
Do they ignore a hungry heart
they're just not prepared to feed?

What if Christians really were?
Would they be content,
to let the neighbors' house foreclose
when his reserves were spent?
Would they help him pack and move?
Would they pay his rent?

What if Christians really were?
Would they stand up to right a wrong?
Or do they pretend they just don't see;
do they blend in with the throng?
Why do they hover, silently?
Are they so afraid to be strong?

What if Christians really were?
What if they weren't afraid of being odd?
What if they really read and used
the Living Word of God?
And showed the kind of sacrifice
that Jesus made for them?
What if they really prayed and paid
until Jesus comes again?

Are you really a Christian?
Does anybody know?
As you go through life
from day to day,
Does it really show?

Are you a real Christian?
What if Christians really were?

(copyright 2009, V.H.)

Chess homeschool style

2008-11-06T06:07:00.000-08:00

I have been teaching chess classes this year at homeschool co-op. I think this is funny in itself. Nothing I ever did in college prepared me for this task. Everyone who knows me will tell you that getting me to sit still for the half hour it takes to complete a quick chess game is like asking a toddler to do algebra problems.

I suppose you are wondering how this happened. I toured a private school in Idaho eight years ago with my soon-to-be-entering-first-grade son. He wanted to stay in the math room with the math teacher and his chess club. One hour later, at the tender age of five, my son not only played chess, but was beating me. Not that I have a high opinion of my chess skills, but who wants to lose to a kid less than four feet tall? He started taking chess lessons, and I eavesdropped. Fast forward eight years, and the saga continues. . .

My first class actually went pretty well. Of course, I have never personally set up chess boards for 20 kids, but they had mercy on me and set them up themselves. Here is an excerpt from my first class.

Me: "How many of you already know some of the moves for the chess board?"

Kids: Dead silence. The ones who already know the moves aren't paying attention to me, they are currently engaged in bloodless carnage over the chess boards. The ones who don't know the moves look at me like deer in the headlights.

Me: "Let's go over how to set up the board. . ."---five minutes later, after explaining the pieces and how they move, all the kids are playing. The kids who know how to play are solicitously explaining the game as they totally trash their less informed partners.

This is where I step in and start explaining things like sportsmanship, checkmate, helping someone learn the game without trouncing them and leaving them smoldering in helpless defeat and humilitation . . .and in this age group, the 8 and up kids, so far the girls know as much, if not more, than the boys. It's a victory of sorts, for all of us moms who grew up thinking chess was a "man's game" and boring and who wants to play chess anyway? I even have one girl, 10, who is now talking about going to college on a chess scholarship. Anybody know a real chess teacher?

The big kids are another story. So far I have them fooled. The oldest kid I have dared to play, 11, thinks I am amazing and was simply testing his skills and knowledge during our game. He is actually the youngest one in my class. This is a strategy that will keep them thinking I am smart for at least half a year. I hope.

Housing market rumors from Texas

2008-07-21T14:09:00.000-07:00

Well, after reading my last blog, all I can say in July is,"Boy am I glad our house sold in February!" We have friends trying to sell houses now in Plano and with all the repossessions in the area, it's not as easy as it was six months ago. And how to pick when to buy in a declining market is a real test of the harmonious mix of intellegence and intuition. We're going to wait a while. Besides, taxes in New York are inhumanly high. Taxes alone on a house in New York that is comparable to what we had in Texas are alarmingly close to our old mortgage payment. Who knew?

Well, it's July now, and we are finally feeling as though we are settling in a bit in New York. Who knew it would take so long? All along the way there are adjustments to be made. I am grateful that other members of our homeschooling coop thought that a summer playgroup was just the ticket for staying in touch. We have been making friends and getting to know folks outside of the homeschooling classes, so eventually I think even New York may start to feel like home. Maybe.

The latest addition to our little family is a tiny little "Blackberry" hamster named Harriet. Harriet Herdt Hamster, isn't that cute? She is all black, with itsy bitsy little white feet, a white streak under her chin, and a miniscule white tail. I'm talking insanely cute, here! I haven't figured out how to post pictures yet, but she'll be the first one. Now if she can just survive all the "cuddling", sunflower seeds, and cheerios, we'll be all set. She is so cute, I can see her little epitaph now: "Here lies little Harriet, our dearly departed pet,
We couldn't keep our hands off, and just loved her to death!"
Not really, the kids are being great, so she is having a fabulous little hamster life. They've been building her playgrounds and mazes and letting her run around in her hamster ball. She's been held lots, and never dropped once. They've even been changing her cage without me saying anything. What's funny is that, since we've gotten her, K.T. hasn't had an asthma attack even once. Maybe we should upgrade her status to "therapy hamster," or something equally lofty. "Queen of Cute", perhaps?

Well, I am hoping to blog more days than not this summer, we'll see how it goes. Five months between blogs seems a little long even for a busy mom. . .

Selling houses

2008-02-03T05:30:00.001-08:00

I have decided that I HATE selling houses. I could never be one of those entreprenuerial type folks who flip houses because after putting blood, sweat and tears and LOTS of money into upgrades and repairs, selling a house is no longer a business deal, it's personal.

That being said, we have gotten the first offer on our house in Texas. A just barely-barely-short-of-insulting-lowball-type offer. To be fair, a lot of people think that all the gloom and doom over the economy in general and the housing market in specific as shown on T.V. is the gospel truth. It's funny how people really think that reporters are in the business of telling the truth. Note the word business. Reporting is a business, not the same as tender, unselfish service to humanity. They "report" what gets people to watch. Happy news is not on the program; it just doesn't sell like violence, terror, and falling markets.

That is the long way of saying many buyers feel like they have a seller over a barrel. And maybe they do, to some extent, but the real estate market in Texas doesn't seem to be experiencing the same "adjustment" pains as alot of other markets. Probably because houses don't sell for as much there to begin with. It is twice as much for everything, I think, in New York. Anyway, I am sure there are many people who feel, that after making their best effort at turning a 20 year old house into a show home, all they need is an offer that makes it look like a H.U.D. foreclosure! And it really wasn't that bad, but still, it really is worth our asking price. . .especially after many thousands of dollars of upgrades and few thousand more for new paint and flooring, and landscaping, and---well, as every seller knows, the list is endless. Our realtor did say that the effort was worth it. Only houses in move-in ready condition are getting any attention at all, even in Texas. Which brings me back to my original statement: I hate selling houses!

Blogging at midnight

2008-01-22T21:03:00.001-08:00

I shouldn't be writing on my blog at midnight. I have already hit the publish button once, and I didn't even write anything yet. It's just that this is the first peace and quiet that I have had in five days and I'm afraid it will be even longer if I don't write right now. That has an interesting ring to it.

My middle child turned 10 on Sunday. Boy do I feel old. My father assures me that my recent birthday didn't make me "old": I hit that mark quite some time ago. Thanks, Dad. Anyway, my Sunday consisted of getting up and cooking a birthday breakfast for a child who is allergic to milk, eggs, and anything that might be construed as healthy. The last category is her own personal twist on allergies. That being said, breakfast consisted of roast beef hash and eggs, very light on the eggs in my daughter's serving. She had three helpings. Then we made some doughnuts for a light snack. Three dozen doughnuts. She was shooting for four dozen (there I go again with the homophones---it's not a bad word!---can you tell we've started up school again after our winter break?) when I caught her and shut that down. Yes, my tiny family of five polished off three dozen doughnuts in less than an hour. That's why we only make them on birthdays!

Then off to the mall with my daughter and two young friends to whoop it up at Build-a-Bear and ice cream joints. Have you been to Build-a-Bear lately? It used to be that when you made something yourself it was actually cheaper than premade items, but Build-a-Bear was invented by a Tom Sawyer personality who has figured out a way to extract extra cash by convincing folks that making it yourself is superior and therefore worth more money. I can't get out of there for less than $30-35 a kid, because they all want:
1. A bear or stuffy, not less than $18.00, because no one wants the cheap bears by the entrance.
2. Att least one outfit, not less than $10.00.
3. Bear underpants, because no one wants a "bare bear"bum. $3.00 minimum.
4. Fancy shoes to match the outfit. $7.00.
5. An accessory item or matching miniature stuffed item. $6.00.

I started the birthday tradition of taking a couple of friends to Build-a-Bear before all the fancy stuff kicked in. Like a cheap plastic wardrobe, made in China, that the funny Americans spend $36.00 on, "some assembly required." We all know what that means! Or even funnier to a home school mom, the politically correct astronomy t-shirt with only eight planets on it. At least I don't cripple myself at Build-a-Bear, as I am prone to do at skate parties, etc. I wonder what the other moms would think if the invitation warned them in advance, "Caution: attend Build-a-Bear party at your own risk. Your child may be returned to you addicted to fuzzy, materialistic substances with no intrinsic value whatsoever, and be inclined to overindulge in accessorizing without notice. Any child permitted to attend party does so at own risk and will cover any expenses over $20.00 from their personal funds. Any child with expensive taste must carry their own 'overage' money. P.S. : Hosts will not be responsible for humming-bird-like behavior of children who have overdosed on sugars and food dyes. Thank you."

I guess that sounds too unfriendly. That is why we only take two extra children. The kids have a good time, and I am not going to have to pay for a party out of my children's college funds. And the more conscientious kids don't have to spend the whole time wondering if they have hit the spending limit, they can just run around and enjoy the party.

If your're planning to move, just say NO!

2008-01-16T21:59:00.000-08:00

I hate moving. That being said, perhaps some history is in order. As an Air Force brat, I moved almost every year or so of my life until my dad retired when I was in the 7th grade. What a pain! We even moved to Okinawa, Japan for 2 1/2 years, staying in temporary housing, off-base housing, and then moving into on-base housing before striking out for home again. If I thought those moves were bad, especially the Japan one where all of our possessions "safely" tucked into storage burned to the ground stateside, boy was I wrong! This move to New York has been one for my record book.

I will admit that, between all of the disasters I had while my Darling Husband was away in Boston for a month before the move, the dislocated hip, the D.H. being in Boston, home-schooling two kids, sorting our fabulous stash of personal possessions, and the busy-ness of being a single parent, I fell a bit short in the vacuuming and dusting department. And the kids did manage to dump two bags of shredded mail in the house before the truck driver got there. And the youngest decided to shred styrofoam with a butter knife all over the house, which is impossible to unstick from anything short of using a napalm or nuclear bomb. But, in fact, things were essentially ready to go; the driver was just not happy to be doing our move, I guess. Which must be why the driver, who has probably never even been home long enough to change a diaper on his own offspring if he has them, questioned what I had been doing for the last few weeks; I took some exception to that. I was really busy. I would have offered him a list, but there weren't enough boxes left after all the packing to hold the whole thing anyway.

The driver, after questioning my housewifery, then proceeded to stage my D.H.'s formidable technical library, about 40 boxes of books, on our front lawn, as the rain clouds gathered and rolled. . .you guessed it. The heavens opened, and for five minutes the most spectacular fall shower drenched the book boxes. Have I ever mentioned how fanatical my husband is about his technical library? If I ask him to tidy his study, he takes this to mean that a book is out of place and will spend an entire day taking the books off the shelf and reorganizing them, replacing them on the shelves in alphabetical order by subject. He doesn't do any cleaning as the rest of us understand it, he just dotes on the books. Imagine his response the the truck driver's blatant disregard to his treasures. About the time the truck driver affixed a tarp across the books, the rain stopped.

Then the fun really began. The lumpers taped some mattress boxes to our stairs and proceeded to dump all of our personal possessions from the second floor down to the first via this precarious and impromtu chute. The first spectacular crash resounded from my prized sewing machine; not content to merely launch it, the movers dumped it "ass over teakettle" down their ramp. I am not a swearing mom on the whole, but I walked right up to the so-called catcher at the bottom of the stairs and asked him what the hell he thought he was doing with my sewing machine. As bad as these two incidents were, it only got worse from there.

By the time they were done loading, at 1:00 a.m. on Thanksgiving day, the driver and his crew had also managed to:

1.) Crash our t.v. set into our hallway wall.

2.) Crash the swingset into our wooden fence so hard that they detached it from our house.

3.) Break one of our bookcases across the loading ramp because they staged all the tall furniture on the front lawn just as the wind whipped up. Truck driver then proceeded to tell the boss that it was such a piece of junk that it just "fell apart" in the front yard.

4.) Break the mailbox in front of our house.

5.) Destroy every lamp we owned as they loaded them.

6.) Fracture half of our plastice storage tubs launching them down the "ramp."

7.) Carpet our front lawn with cigarette butts and trash from their snacks and drinks.

8.) Lose the rolling shelf out of our entertainment center.

9.) Totally freak out three kids with their bad attitudes and rough treatment of our stuff.

The list of what they broke during the move is truly unbelievable. Most of the damage we have found so far appears to relate specifically to how the cargo was loaded. Most of the antiques suffered some degree of damage, all lamps, mattresses and furniture were filthy because they didn't bother to box or wrap them, every weld on my antique sled was fractured, our autistic son's loft bed was demolished, bookcases broken; the list is amazing. We would have been better off to have left it all and just bought new, the damage was so extensive and distressing, especially to the kids who had watched the unpleasant driver and crew destroy their things during the loading. The driver even "lost" our list of high value items the packers left for him---twice! We have to keep supplying from our official copies.

All I can say is, when it comes to moving, even corporate moves, document everything! Take videos before, during, and after. And if you have a problem with a truck driver from the minute he steps into your house, send him "packing!" The amount of damage he can do to your stuff is truly formidable, and just not worth it. We should have simply had the company send another driver, even if it delayed our move, and save ourselves a lot of pain.

Even if they really pay out on everything, we still get to do all the leg work to replace our stuff. As I said yesterday, what made me think that moving to upstate New York would be a good idea? It wasn't fun at all! It's awfully pretty, though.

Hope this year is calmer than last year!

2008-01-15T17:25:00.000-08:00

It has been interesting moving to New York. What possessed me to think that moving across country again was an outstanding idea? "It'll be fun" falls somewhat short of the mark. We have had so many things happen since my last blog I'm not sure I have time to fit it in here, so here are the high points.

There are a lot of swimming pools in Plano, where it is hot and people love to see their money literally evaporate. This is why the water company charges so much--- to help people evaporate their money via their swimming pools. Rats like water, too. This is very inconvenient for people who like swimming pools but not rats. . . How, you may ask, do I know how much rats like water? My next door neighbor who, coincinentally, owns a swimming pool, was explaining this to me during a hair-raising story about the huge juvenile rat climbing her back screen door! Apparently Mr. Rat or one of his relatives decided it gets a bit cold in the winter and began searching for a nice place to wait out the cold. Like maybe my attic. Only the stinker tried to come in through the chimney and fell into the metal base of our gas fireplace.

The kids came unglued hearing the uncommonly loud, frantic scrabblings of the critter as he tried, unsuccessfully, for simply hours, to escape from his unexpected prison. Did I mention this, of course, happened on a Saturday afternoon? Once we realized the obnoxious guest wouldn't make it out on his own, I called the husband, safely ensconced in Boston, for advice. It went like this.

Me: "There is a bird in our chimney, the R-A-T kind." (This was for the benefit of our autistic son, who can cope with a bird in our chimney but would come unglued about the R-A-T. Thank goodness he wasn't listening, because even though he is in kindergarten, his spelling is e-x-c-e-l-l-e-n-t-.)

Husband: "Have you tried lighting the fireplace?"

Me: "How would you enjoy the sounds and smells of slow roasted rodent?"

Husband: "Don't light the fireplace."

Me: "You are, as always, absolutely right. I won't even think of lighting the fireplace."

Husband: "What happens if you just leave it there?"

Me: "Did you actually want to sell the house when we move? Or shall we rent it out to the Ripley's Believe it or Don't Museum as the house haunted by the most overpowering odor on record to date?"

Husband: "We have to get the sucker out of there."

Me: "Again, you are so right, my brilliant husband. I am open to suggestions as to how to get the sucker out of there before he drives our youngest into an insane asylum with sensory overload."

Husband: "We should call someone."

Me: "I did call someone. That someone is YOU."

This conversation is not noted for it's depth or problem solving venue. I eventually called every exterminator I could find until I located one who, providentially, would come at the drop of a hat because he, too, has a six-year-old son that, even without special needs, would go nuts with a rat in the chimney. Bless his heart!

The exterminators showed up at 8:30 on a Saturday night. Boy were we glad to see them! After dinking around with the chimney, poking through my attic, and thoroughly freaking out our most unwelcome guest, they confirmed that we had a really big BIRD in our chimney. Only he was in between the wall and the flue and we would have to take the fireplace apart inside to get him out.

Two hours later we reached the conclusion that the fireplace cannot be reliably dismantled from the inside. Time to call a bricklayer to take my chimney apart at midnight on a moonless night from outside the house to try to catch a really riled BIRD.

I, brilliant and desperate mother that I was, mentioned that we had just watched Ratatouille about 70 times (thanks again to my youngest) and that it was a shame we couldn't just drop a rope between the wall and the chimney flue and let the sucker climb out. The exterminators said they didn't have a rope. One of my personal passions is to always be prepared for everything, so I helpfully ran out to my car and returned with 30 feet of rope. We then went up to my attic, located a likely spot and appropriate weight, and lowered a rope between the wall and chimney (another 1/2 hour). They then set some traps, just in case my crazy lady idea worked.

As you can imagine, I didn't get to sleep very early. At 1:30 in the morning I swear I heard scrabbling and scrapings right over my head, and a trap snap. Unfortunately, the scrabblings continued. At 2:15, the second trap went off and the attic became surprisingly quiet. At which point, still unable to sleep, I ventured bravely forth, up the rickety ladder, back into the attic with a flashlight and baseball bat.

The biggest rat I ever saw was dead in one of the traps. Eighteen inches from nose to tail. I went back downstairs and fell asleep right away. When I called the exterminators the next morning, they were gratified and surprised that the whole whacked-out stunt had worked. Not as grateful as I was! The nice exterminators gave me all the credit for the idea, but they sure worked their bottoms off to execute the plan. . .and the villain.

Now I live in a neighborhood with almost no swimming pools. A cute herd of deer ran in front of our car last night. And the coyotes were barking at 1:00 a.m. I just saw a red-tailed hawk with a very large rodentish animal yesterday. I don't think these predators will let a rat near the house. One can only hope.

This move has made me realize a couple of important things. Here is the short list.

1. There is never enough time to get rid of all your junk. My advice is to get rid of some every day, don't wait until you have to. Hindsight is 20/20. On the bright side, I actually have a basement in New York. A really full basement.

2. Goals are great. Don't post them on the wall, though, because it is really depressing to see how short of the mark you really are every day. Especially if you are an incurable optimist whose vision is 20/20 only in hindsight.

3. A good truck driver will show you which of your items is really breakable. A bad one will prove it to you!

4. Don't be too attached to your stuff. Yes, you can take it with you. But if you get the driver we got, it will probably be in lots of tiny pieces. Or big pieces.

Well, duty calls. In low, medium, and high voices.

What a day I had. . .

2007-11-13T20:14:00.000-08:00

What a day I had! It started out really well, too. I woke up an hour early, which is a great way to get a jump on my really busy days while we are getting ready to move to New York. Unfortunately, I rolled over and went back to sleep just for five minutes, and woke up just a bit later than I wanted. Of course, I had someone to meet at school, so I really needed the extra time I had chosen to snooze through.

Oh, well, past time to get the kindergartener up and off to school. Which is a fabulous thought for me, but not his highest priority on a morning where he hasn't had enough sleep. See, he woke me up twice in the middle of the night screaming, "Daddy is calling! Get the phone, Daddy is calling!" This is his gentle way of letting me know that he is not happy about daddy being in Boston while we are getting ready to move. On second thought, maybe my day didn't start out quite as well I would like to believe.

I finally pry the little monkey out of the nest he has made of sleeping bags and blankets on the floor of his big brother's room and convince him to drag his tiny hiney down the stairs. Unfortunately, he headed straight for the couch and tried to fall asleep again. Only the dire threat of grounding him from his beloved Pokemon cards can move his weary little carcass from my couch to the table. He does manage to drink his vitamin-laced orange juice and eat a little something, while I wake up big sister for back up. I pack his lunch as sister reminds him to use the potty and coaxes him into his school clothes. Things are looking up when he finally catches his first wind and dashes to the car.

I make it to the school parking lot in time to exchange a child for a puppy we bring home for some big-house-large-yard time. He loves to play with our dog and they both have a great time racing around and generally making messes and nuisances of themselves, which reminds me why I have sworn to have only one large dog at a time. Puppysitting is great, but I just don't seem to have what it takes to handle two big dogs, three small, medium, and large children, an out-of-town husband, and a cross-country move all at the same time. So much for my adventurous spirit.

I am busily at work ridding the house of as much unncessary junk as possible before the move (as opposed to all the "necessary" junk, like Pokemon cards...no offense, Dawn Meehan), when my oldest child informs me that the dogs have tromped something vile, messy, and smelly all over the family room, and he sprayed it down in defense of his nose. Sensing danger at it's highest level, I inquired as to the nature of the spray he used. He responded in a tone that implied I was one step below the mental might of a kumquat, "That orange spray cleaner." Has anyone else had a child spray down the carpet of an entire room with orange oil furniture polish in an attempt to clean a dog mess? I didn't see red, I saw stars and fireworks, and the universe explode, and everything.

Yes, my oldest is still alive, but was quite tired after an hour or so of scrubbing down my carpet with Dawn dishwashing soap. Only time with tell if my idea worked, but it was the only handy surfactant I could think of that might do the trick. After all, "Dawn gets grease out of the way!", right? Hmmm.

Unfortunately, the house still looks like it is inhabited by a pack of wild hyenas, which is not necessarily an inaccurate description of my youngsters. It seems like every room I "sort" is hit by someone carrying the "Cyclone Energy" card my youngest keeps flashing around. Does anyone else find it extremely entertaining that his favorite Pokemon card is the one that best describes his personal habits? When he finds a "Contrary Energy" card we will have him completely profiled by the makers of Pokemon cards and artifacts.

I did run away for an hour of adult conversation with a friend of mine over dinner. I feel quite sorry for her; I am sure that a maniacal mom who covers the same ground over and over gets pretty boring. "I can't believe what the kids did today! What 'til you hear this one!"

Well, I'd best get back to work. I still have a long way to go to meet the goals I set for today before I can hit the sack. It'll be fun!

What next revisited

2007-11-02T18:12:00.000-07:00

Well, we have hot and cold running water again. Just because a $950.00 service call to replace a water heater bothered me, I stopped by good ol' Home Depot on Sunday and found out they replace the old one for $289.00 in Plano, which included the cost of my permit. The total for the water heater and replacement was way better than the regular plumber, and, to be honest, quite painless. Except that Monday morning I was up before 5:00a.m. to order the water heater for the third time because I mis-measured twice.

Most of the time, I do operate a tape measure with a reasonable degree of competence, but we had a family tragedy on Sunday that threw me off my stride. Because my dh is a very private person, I will simply state with great sorrow my mother-in-law passed away unexpectedly Sunday afternoon. I am not going to detail this matter any further so as not to invade his family's privacy during such a tragedy. And I mention this in the middle of a humorous blog because his mother possessed a wicked sense of humor and I think would truly enjoy the tales regarding her grandchildren, not mind being included in this "family history", and would understand that humor is sometimes the one thing that keeps me sane during times of great upheaval and stress.

On the lighter side, getting up at Oh-crack-hundred left me plenty of time before school to wake up any laggardly neighbors with the sound of my saw as I custom cut and shaped four floorboards for the bottom of the closet that the water heater damaged. Doesn't everyone do their carpentry before sunup? Darned shame that the water heater completely obscures my fabulous, heirloom quality woodwork (in top of the line plywood, no less)!

I have reason to believe that hammering four floorboards into the bottom of a tight closet with a ball-peen hammer is an exercise in frustration. Fortunately, the nice plumber rescued me with a proper, regulation-sized hammer and nailed the boards into place, and as he installed the water heater my daughter and I played street hockey in the driveway. Chalk one up for home school P.E.! Now if I can just get back on track and finish getting the house ready to move. . .

What next?

2007-10-27T22:20:00.001-07:00

Well, just when I thought I had things under control, reality struck with a vengeance. And the day started so well, too. I am grounded from yard sale-ing (the DH thinks the house is full enough, what does he know?), so I told everyone I was going to get doughnuts, and I did. With a few tiny longer stops at interesting "tourist attractions" on the way. Only by the time I hit the doughnut shop, I was out of money and had to run into the grocery store across the street for some cash. Of course, the cash wasn't for the doughnuts, it was for any other "tourist attractions" I might have missed on the way home.

It was a great hour ride to the doughnut shop. And home again. I found some really cute things for staging the house to sell. When I get home with staging stuff, I put it in my garage, right next to the doors for the water heater, and I have a great stash of pictures and furniture that are going to look really cute when I start seriously decorating . . . after I get all the junk out of the house that I drug in from yard sales, I mean.

But today I kind of took a break from sorting and tidying and let the kids play outside for a while and I watched the end of the Holiday that I started watching last night before bed. Such a cute movie! But four hours later I was still vegging and the kids had disappeared, so I rounded everyone up and started taking orders for dinner. It's really great how Wal-Mart has such a fabulous selection of processed kid foods that only take a quick zap in the microwave to make hot, nourishing, and edible. Well, hot anyway.

After the kids dinners are ready, I begin to prepare my humble repast, a delicious someones beach pizza with spinach and peppers, and my mouth is really watering, right up until I glance out the kitchen window and see Niagara Falls rushing down my driveway. And no one left a hose on. The phenomenal cascade was issuing forth from under my garage door, and my pizza never even makes it into the microwave as I hit the panic button (otherwise known as the button that opens the garage door), I careen out of my house screaming for children to help figure out what the problem is. Bless their hearts, I am prone to believing that all unnatural disasters originate with my kids. And no, they haven't been in California recently!

My children are exonerated as the problem becomes all too obvious: the water heater has given up the ghost. I frantically hit the power breakers so no one is electrocuted as I yell to my oldest to grab the water valve key and shut off our water at the street. Darned kid insisted on getting dressed before he rushed outside to obey my orders. Doesn't have any sense of proportion; just because he was trying to shower as the water heater exploded does not give him a valid excuse for being undressed during a household emergency! We had the water shut off in record time, but the kitchen, laundry room, and garage were all flooded, and even as I type this I am still trying to dry out the water encroachment areas.

Eventually I was able to contact a friend who referred me to a plumber who, for $175.00, will come out and cap off the heater to hold us until Monday when a new water heater can, for a $950 service charge plus the cost of the "part," be installed in its proper place. Except for the fact that the sub flooring area needs to be replaced. And I can't get the picture out my head of poor Dale, the plumber, lifting the defunct and decrepit old heater out of the closet, and saying something along the lines of, "I've seen 'em worse, but I can't thing when," as he clucked over the completely rusted out and mostly missing bottom.

Just to make it all interesting, my autistic five year old decided that this was the time to practice all of his game playing social skills in the driveway: four-square, catch, soccer, street hockey (yes, I do mean street hockey, and he is a little scary with a hockey stick!), and dodge ball. Just a note to all my friends: a flooded, muddy yard and driveway are not the best places to play a nice game of dodge ball, which is how the family game mud-ball came to be invented, straight from Texas.

Which should promptly be followed by a quick game of "catch the muddy pig and throw him into a cold shower because there is no hot water," and a wrap up of "wash the mud off everything you were wearing without tracking mud through the house, especially not the living room full of the previously clean, folded, sorted clothes and linens!" The only saving grace to all of it is that at least the dog was inside. And, as I mentioned before, all my beautiful house staging items were against the water heater door. As it flooded the house and garage. I am going to be cleaning up this mess until the day I die, I think. Which will probably be very soon if I have too many days like this one!

Tidy-challenged

2007-10-25T18:12:00.000-07:00

Well, life got a little more interesting this week. The DH (darling husband) has moved on ahead of us and is in Boston as a fun little prelude to our trek north to New York. It cracks me up that we got married in Colorado, spent our honeymoon in the middle of the Mohave desert, moved to Maryland, moved to Idaho, moved to Texas, are moving to New York. . . kind of like having a root canal year after year. With no anesthesia. And a dull, rusty drill. Well, maybe not that bad, but I'm not looking forward to moving the kids again after just two years in Texas. They take comfort from my saying I moved all the time growing up as an Air Force Brat kind of like I took comfort as a kid from my parents telling me they had to walk to school 10 miles and it was uphill both ways and the snow was always four feet deep.

The two oldest are supposed to be helping me to get the house ready to move, but so far their interpretation of help is to empty everything we own onto the floor so it's easier for the packers to see. . .Does home owner's insurance cover packers tripping on our junk, or is it workman's comp? Do they charge extra if we leave it all inconveniently tucked away instead of solicitously strewn about in plain sight? And do I have to pay extra for 3 cartons large enough to each fit a child, a week's worth of provisions and a Nintendo DS?

Such thoughts I have as I am trying to sort through years of debris. I know of people who actually throw out everything not nailed down, sometimes even before their family members are finished with the items. Like the current newspaper, that morning's breakfast, or the cup of coffee in their hand. . . I am tidy challenged, and sometimes I think I really can't blame it on the kids. I just believe there are so many more interesting things to do than housework; ice skating (today's field trip), grocery shopping, cartwheeling through hot coals, trimming the five-year old's finger nails. . . just about anything is better than housework. I am sure it's just an attitude thing, but after three kids and the same messes day after day, and the same monotonous tasks hour after hour, it takes a better imagination than mine to make housework interesting and rewarding. Maybe I need to set up one of those token economies for myself. . .wash three dirty dishes, win a free Kewpie doll or something. Mmmm.

Anyway, as a tidy-challenged person, this moving thing is the pits. We have enough to keep us busy around here without trying to stuff everything we own into boxes and figure out what's in them after we've moved. I hope they don't mind the puppy mud on the baseboards. Maybe we'll even have the amount of stuff we own thinned down to what actually fits into our house by the time the movers really get here. Just because I'm tidy-challenged doesn't mean I can't be an optimist!

On the bright side, COBRA coverage is retroactive. . .

2007-10-10T16:06:00.000-07:00

Hubby's last day at his current job is two days from now. His kind-hearted, family-oriented employer, unlike his previous ones, does not extend his medical benefits to the end of the month, but truncates them on midnight of his last day. Friday. Two days from now. This is enough to strike terror into the heart of this mild-mannered, catastrophizing mom. (Those of you who know me, scratch the mild-mannered.) For instance, what if I have a kid dragged into an unsolicited, impromptu neighborhood wrestling match, get a double concussion and post-concussion syndrome, and be out of commission for six weeks? Wait a minute, that happened in June, and lightning never strikes twice in the same place, right? I'd hate to bet the bike shop on that one, Orville; I know this kid! How about: another kid gets a sinus infection, goes into a spectacular anaphylactic reaction at school from the antibiotics, breaks out in hives, stops breathing, hefty emergency room visits, but by the grace of God, survives. . .oh, yeah, that was in May, not gonna happen again. No way. Can't happen at school, because I'm home schooling her now! And has anybody actually paid attention to how much COBRA coverage is these days? I am sure it's going to be more than my mortgage, which is really saying something.

Now my hubby has come up with a new idea: "Let's try going for 10 days with no health insurance coverage for our 3 careful, mild-mannered, sit-like-a-lump children (Right!). What could happen in only ten days?(It'll be fun seeing how long we can dodge the bullet)." Well, two emergency room trips for starters, not to mention my impending heart attack, brought on by a too active imagination. . .ambulance and nebulizer and epi-pen, OH, MY! Gotta go, the kids are jumping on the trampoline next door . . .

Uh, oh, here we go again!

2007-09-27T06:07:00.000-07:00

Well, things have been a little crazy around here the past few days. My darling husband, hereafter known as the dh, has decided to move the whole blooming crew to New York. Quite a change from Texas. He was very considerate this time: every other move has been on short notice (2 weeks or less), I've been pregnant, or receiving life-changing medical diagnosis on a child. Why New York, you may ask? I am convinced it's because he grew up in the mountains of Colorado and misses the snow. Snow is a rare commodity in Texas for some reason. I am frantically trying to find down coats and snow boots for three growing children in a climate that hasn't seen snow since the ice age. I am sure excited about this move.

On the bright side, at least we don't have to worry about moving or finding homes for pets this time. When we moved to Texas from Idaho, we had over 65 Peruvian guinea pigs to find homes for. Most people don't really need 65 guinea pigs, but I had two home school kids who decided to make their 4-H guinea pig project my life's work. Actually, half of them were mine, because baby Peruvians are the cutest things going. Any idea how much it costs to feed, house, and clothe 65 guinea pigs? Not to mention vet bills, because we were the bleeding heart breeders who couldn't bear to let anyone go without a fight. Which is how we got Junior Barnes, the $100.00 baby. I got up every two hours every night for two weeks to hand feed that baby, because he was so big he almost killed his mother being born and she was too tired to care for him. And we had to take them both to the vet (the only one in Idaho who even had a clue about caring for guinea pigs), pay for kitten milk replacer, syringes; we stopped keeping track after the first $100.00. I sold him when he got big and strong for $10.00. Not the best investment I ever made, except that he was such a cute little rascal, and awfully sweet. We had some of the best show pigs in Idaho, thanks to the great advice from knowledgeable friends. You didn't know there were guinea pig shows? Neither did I, until I went down the street and viewed the caviary (thats guinea pig facility in fancy show-talk, because guinea pigs are called cavies) and fell in love with the ones that had such long hair you couldn't tell which end was which.

One little guinea pig was what I bought my son for his eigth birthday. Sweet, cute little Amaro, who 4 1/2 years later is still going strong. Only one. Until 5 year old sister wanted one, too, so we got a girl, because the babies are so cute. And then we went to our first guinea pig show, and brought home a couple more for 4-H. And Amaro was a daddy not too long after that, producing our first grand champion (yes, there are guinea pig grand champions). By the time we were at full tilt, we had tortoise shell and white, black and white, roan, blue, dilute, and almost every other color of Peruvian guinea pig, with at least 10 that had to have there hair done every two days. Show Peruvians have coats that are conservatively at least 10 inches long or more, and if you don't keep their hair rolled up and tidy, they chew, pee, and poop on those beautiful coats hourly. If not more. I have to admit, I loved playing guinea pig beautician, like having one of those oversize Stylin' Barbie head sets or something only cuter.

Of course, when we moved it was a herculean task to place all those pigs, and if it wasn't for a dear friend who housed and cared for about 30 of them until their new owners could pick them up or arrange delivery, I would still be paying "pig support" back in Idaho. Since they were such good quality show cavies, it wasn't hard to find people to buy them, but they still traveled to places like Oregon, Utah, and Arizona, so it was time consuming to make all the travel arrangements, etc.

This move all I have to worry about is the service dog for my 5 year old son. Remember the "life changing medical diagnosis" comment a few paragraphs back? My youngest is autistic, diagnosed formally the day the packers arrived in Idaho, allergic to everything, and has a service dog now, named Willis. And today is the day I received notice that he tested positive for celiac disease. Not only do I have to get a house ready to sell while the dh goes on ahead and leaves me to single parent, but I have to radically change the diet of an autistic child at the same time I am moving him. I just know God has a sense of humor. If I wasn't so panicked, this would be really funny. I mean, this kind of thing just doesn't happen to real people, does it? At least I'm not pregnant. When we moved from Maryland to Idaho, I was seven months pregnant. That was really horrible. And great for another story; the airplane ride to Idaho will go down in annals of truly terrible, horrible, really bad days.

Well, I'm out of whine time for now.

Blogs and babysitting

2007-09-16T20:14:00.000-07:00

I have discovered something very interesting about blogs: they are fascinating! Now, it may seem a little strange that I am just coming to this conclusion only now, but until I was emailed Dawn Mehaan's Pokemon card ad from eBay, and followed the link to her blog, I had never actually read one. Dawn is honestly the funniest person I have ever not met. Her blog is at mom2my6pack.blogspot.com. I laugh myself silly every time I read something she wrote, even if I'm reading it for the umpteenth time. Then I found out that some of my friends had blogs, too. And they recommend blog sites from other people. Imagine that! It seems to me that the writers of 6 Degrees would have had more seasons if they had just done the rounds through the blogging world(of which I have realized I am woefully ignorant). Just think, we are all just blogs away from the person we would most like to meet. . .it could be fun!

All of which just goes to show how little I seem to understand the technology we all take for granted. Although, unlike my nine year old, I do know enough not to experiment with cooking in the microwave with metal containers. . .what? Oh, yes, that was one of the stories that got me started blogging. See, I called my great homeschooling friend Heidi and began to regale her with the lengthy list of my woes this last Friday. The "Leave scissors where the 5 year old can find them and cut his own hair" story, the "Buy the nine year old her own pudding mix to cook in the microwave because she'll have so much fun" story, and the "We must experiment with physics and the newly opened bag of chips" story caught her fancy, and she really wanted me to start a blog. Why she would want to read them quickly and impersonally on the Internet when I am perfectly happy to spend hours upon hours, day after day, repeating the same stories to her over and over, I really don't know. No accounting for taste. But I can read what Dawn writes quite quickly, and I read much faster than I can listen (probably because my ears have to process so many things at once and I can really only look at one thing at a time---my ears just have a slower clock speed), so my suspicious mind is beginning to think that Heidi suspects I might be spending too much time on the phone. Perish the thought! Anyway, Heidi told me how to start this blog, and even posted the first (and so far, only!) comment I have received. Which is kind of cool; she wasn't trying to distract me with the computer and get me off the phone, after all, she really is reading this. Hi, Heidi!

Well, the "Leave the scissors where the five year old can find them" story is really not so original. Everyone I have bitterly bewailed my fate to has a similar story about one of their children, even my dad. No need to ask which kid of his made a disastrous personal foray into the unforgiving world of "I will cut my own bangs, since Mom has no time, because it will look just as good as if Mom did it and, besides, it'll be fun!" The night before kindergarten pictures.

My oldest son has been watching his little brother from time to time as my husband and I take very short jaunts to nearby places to run errands. Never more than a few minutes away because, as I have indicated, I have a suspicious mind, to date there have been no major disasters as he takes his temporary position of power and supervision quite seriously. His almost ten year old little sister is quite good with little brother, as well, and they make an excellent team when keeping an eye on him. Most of the time.

This particular errand was to the local bookstore to pick up a copy of Farmer Boy for a home school book study unit. Somehow the last copy was not on the shelf with the 2,000 other home school titles, including every other title penned by Laura Ingalls Wilder and a few by her daughter. But the one we really needed was Farmer Boy, and as my husband has this dreadful Book Habit, he decided to keep me company as I went to the local used book store. After rooting around in all the wrong places, I had just located the copy of Farmer Boy that would actually match and fit into the book jacket with the unlost Little House on the Prairie books, when, right on cue, my phone rang.

"Mom? We have a big problem here. . ." My first instinct was to fling my newly found prize to the floor and flee wildly into the parking lot in an attempt to beat the firemen to my house so they wouldn't trip on the laundry my kids flung down the stairs when attempting to clean their rooms. Or any of the other man traps of shoes, junk, or unidentifiable objects they lay, lose, or toss willy-nilly throughout the house on any given day. Then I remembered the advice of dear friend, whose darling granddaughter will tell her in times of stress, "Breathe, Grandma, breathe!"

I took a deep breath, and in a voice that sounded almost calm, I said, "Oh? What happened?" Visions of flooded toilets, exploding eggs in microwaves, couches on the roof, filled my active imagination. "James cut his hair." At first I didn't quite know what to say. It seemed pretty minor compared to what I was imagining. "What do you mean?" "Well, Mom, I was reading Carry on Mr. Bowditch, and K.T. was in the bathroom, and James was really quiet. Then I saw that he was cutting his hair." I breathed out loudly, thinking we had dodged the bullet. A little bit of missing hair. . . not so bad, really. Nothing had prepared me for what I found when I got home a short while later.

My beautiful five year old, with hair so fine and silky it doesn't even tangle, had four inch long hair in a kind of Greek-looking page boy all the way around his head. He had managed to cut the hair from the front of his face to the back of his head, with a pair of blunt pointed children's school scissors sister left out when she ran to the bathroom. A voice sounded in my head, "Breathe, Grandma, breathe!" Who knew those useless little scissors could cut baby fine silk when they won't even dent construction paper. What I really think is, my youngest child is so talented, he could shear sheep with a butter knife.

After hiding all the butter knives, I sat James down with a sucker, stuck a 3/4 inch guard on my hair razor, and started shaving his head. No dice, his hair was almost down to the root in several places. Good thing those safety scissors can't cut skin. I tried the 1/2 inch blade with better success. My beautiful boy with the cherubic face and beautiful hair quickly became my beautiful boy with the cherubic face and sort of no hair. While I shaved his head, our conversation went something like this.

"James, don't you remember the rule about scissors?"

"Scissors are for paper, not hair. Mommies, and sometimes Daddies, cut hair. Kids cut paper. The paper Mommies and Daddies give them."

He obviously remembered the rules. What happened?

"What happened James? Why didn't you follow the rules?"

"I forgot. And I couldn't see, so I cut my hair."

That's a pretty good explanation for a five year old, I think. He'll get his next pair of scissors as a High School graduation gift.

And my oldest will be taking CPR, First Aid, babysitting, and underwater rescue classes next month. Just in case.

Why monsters

2007-09-16T15:07:00.000-07:00

I am sitting at the computer, minding my own business, talking with a friend and typing away, when a small voice out of the blue, with a piercing question shot at a sibling, invades my space: "Why?" Every mom I know has, or has had, or soon will have a why monster at their house. This is the monster, whose identity can transfer from one child to another at the drop of the hat, that must know the "why" for everything, in the universe, right now if not sooner. It takes great delight in sucking the free time of everyone in the blast zone by asking the eternal question: "WHY?"

For instance,

"Don't shave the dog."
"Why?"
"Do not, and I mean it, do not close the garage door on my car!"
"Why?"
"Stop eating that paint right now!"
"Why?"
Or, my personal favorite,
"Do not run in front of the deadly moving vehicles!! (Does this one seem as obvious to everyone else?)"
"Why?"

There is no known cure for the Why monster. It appears and disappears without notice and any response you give, including "Why do you think?" is always followed by another "Why?" The unfortunate problem with the Why monster is that, not only is it contagious, it contaminates everything in it's environment. For instance, it turns normal siblings into "MOM!!!" monsters, ordinary moms into "Because I Said So!" monsters, and fathers into elaborate story tellers, which isn't necessarily monstrous, but the stories are guaranteed to get the little Why monster into trouble at school the next day.

It kind of goes like this *

*Any resemblance of the characters in this story to any members of my family is purely coincidental and inadvertent, as all characters in this story are entirely fictional in nature. Really!! Especially since anti-box comments tend to originate from the Mom monster.

Sibling: "Why monster, do your homework."
Monster: "Why?"
Sibling: "Because Mom said we both need to do our homework before dinner."
Monster: "Why?"
Sibling: "Because Mom said so!"
Monster: "Why?"
Sibling: "MOM!!!"

Me: "Darling, you need to finish your math homework."
Monster: "Why?"
Me: "Because if you don't, you'll miss recess tomorrow."
Monster: "Why?"
Me: "Because your teacher wants you to show a sense of responsibility and complete your assignments before you play."
Monster: "Why?"
Me: "Because I said so!"

Dad, whose ears are getting tired as the little Why monster starts circling lower for the kill, butts in uninvited and says something like this:
"Because if you don't go to school and complete all of the twaddle the teachers assign you, you won't pass onto the next grade, and if you stay in third grade next year, they give you more twaddle. And if you won't do what they say and do what everyone else does when everyone else does it, how can you grow up to be a properly socially engineered worker drone in the great socialistic/communistic/welfare state you're being programmed for? Don't you know better? You're not supposed to think for yourself. Just pipe down and do your twaddle...I mean, homework!"

Why Monster: Look of utter delight. Thinks quietly to self, "What great words to try out at school tomorrow!! Wonder who'll field this ball?" Quietly pretends to finish homework, smoke coming out ears as wheels turn inside original little brain, full of fun-filled plans for the Next Day.

Next Day:

9:05 a.m.: Sound of ringing phone. Individual on other line is an unmistakable, dyed-in-the-wool Establishment Grump Monster.

Establishment Grump Monster: "Mom, do you know what your little monster is saying in school today?"
Me: ( in my best phone operator imitation) "The person you think you are speaking to no longer lives in the real world. Please forward all inquiries to the loony bin. . . ."

It'll be fun

2007-09-15T05:45:00.000-07:00

I think I still remember my first comment about children to my husband, who was in graduate school at the time. The conversation went something like this:

Me: "You are almost out of grad school. I have worked my posterior off for almost five years, and I am ready to have kids. What do you think? Kids are great! It'll be fun!"

Husband: Deafening silence.

Me: "I have a degree in Child Psychology now. How hard can it be? Kids are great! It'll be fun!"

Husband: "I thought you wanted a horse."

I am sure, due to my advanced age and the process of deteriorating memory that my kids fondly call "Mom's revisionist history," that my little recap may be somewhat deficient in important details, but the gist of it is there. Needless to say, in my clock-is-ticking-better-have-a-baby-now frame of mind, the road was clear and first baby arrived about a year later.

That first "baby" now wears a man's size 10 1/2 shoe and assures me every chance he gets that, at the impressive age of 12, he towers over me by an inch and a half. I assure him frequently in return that towering over my vertically challenged physique is no great accomplishment. What is it about the preteen male that makes it their life goal to rest their arm on mom's shoulder and gloat about how short she is? Maybe I just have "Short Mom's Attitude."

A beautiful girl arrived exactly 2 years and 8 months, to the day, after that first little blessing. We were so excited; now we had the complete set! We bought our first house, only three bedrooms (because we were "done") and settled into the domestic tranquility of raising two perfect, I-have-a-degree-in-Child-Psychology children. Hee, hee, hee.

Three "This is Fun" years later I almost drove off a bridge when I called the lab from a cell phone for the official results of the I-can't-possibly-be-pregnant-I-used-birth-control pregnancy test. Yup. Child number three joined us eight months later and, as two kids bounced on my hospital bed and my husband cuddled our new little bologna loaf, he said, "Don't worry about three kids, honey. It'll be fun!"