Telling You Like It Is...

This is Charlie since he's been on a diet. That old bag pretty much sums up how I was feeling last week. A haircut and dye job fixed that! But Chuckie Ton's O' fun is still doing the dance.

Friday

A man on a horse road into town on Friday. He stayed 3 days and left on Friday. How did he do it?

Punks

As you know me, I am not normally a negative person, however I have something I want to rant about that is really pissing me off. Soon enough I promise to take this blog to the happy fairytale land as you know it. As y'all know, I failed my last math test. Math obviously does not come easy to me. I am great at a lot of other things, but not math.

This class could be the beginning or the end of the next chapter of my life. If I don't pass, I will not be able to continue to my goal. With that being said, I would like to go off about the punks in my class.

Aside from the instructor who appears to be in his 60's, I am the eldest of all the students. I probably have a 15 year lead on the next oldest student. The rest are young punks. Fresh out of high school. Unfortunately I have to take day classes because it is easier for me to go when the kids are in school. I'm sure that the night classes have more adults in them.

Regardless, here is the situation... The instructor is very nice. He is very polite, and has tried many times to get the punks to 1. stay there for the entire class time, and 2. keep the side conversations to a minimum. After all of his efforts, many of the students are coming in late (like 20 minutes late), leaving early (one even said he was hungry as he dragged his feet, carrying his punk ass out of the class), carrying on loud conversations, and disrupting the rest of the class. I'm not talking quiet banter here. They are really causing a problem.

Then there is me. 37 y/o (there I said it), mother of 2, on her third attempt with this class. I don't have the luxury of getting a do over. This is it. At this rate, things aren't going well (hopefully todays quiz will be a turn around), and I have no choice but to try harder. That means that I totally can not let myself get confused with what he is doing or saying. It is virtually impossible with the crap that is carried on in that room.

I'm not saying that I would like to sit in a library, but these kids are disrespectful and pompous. Yet as I sit there, I desperately want them to shut the hell up! I don't have the luxury of doing this again, but obviously I can't do that.

I keep telling myself to just keep going, tune them out, and just keep trying harder. But part of me wants something done about it.

That's my .02 cents for the day. Now back to our regularly scheduled program.

Money.

I may have mentioned it before, but if not... Emily bowls with my mom and the other kids on a Sunday morning league. It is a lot of fun for them, and they are getting to be pretty good bowlers.

Today while I was there a young girl that was with them, started going through the Target Ad. She then proceeded to go on and on about all the things she wants. For instance, Target has the Ipod Nano 8gb for $145. She wants it. Forget the fact that she just received the iPod Shuffle for Christmas. I thought she told me her parents gave her the iPod, but as it turns out Santa did. I am so bothered by what she said. She now wants the Ipod Nano. Regardless of the fact that her Shuffle has been in her possession for about 60 days.

I'm bothered because her parents both lost their jobs last year. Her father was out of work for almost a complete year and has luckily found work at a warehouse recently. Her mom is still out of work. They do the best they can to provide for their kids and are just getting by. Santa giving her this iPod basically tells me that he gave it to her because maybe her parents couldn't afford it. Yet she is constantly WANTING more and more things. Maybe this doesn't bother her parents at all, but it makes me sick to my stomach.

Now I look at my own children. My parents did the best they could while I was growing up and I never learned how to "save" money. In this society of instant gratification, we buy whatever it is our hearts desire. We still save money, but many people wouldn't be in the predicament they are in now, if they had learned this major life skill.

Emily has holes in her pockets. If she has a quarter, sure enough it will go into a vending machine. If she has a dime or nickel, she will blow it at the school spirit store. She can't save money to save her life, and I don't know how to teach her how important it is. As parents, we try very hard to not let the kids feel the negative impacts of the economy, as we felt them for most of our lives. I guess this is why we are all now an instant gratification society!

Regardless, I am totally stumped as to how to teach my kids about saving money. They need to know WHY they are doing it, rather than for me to force them to put half of their money in the bank when they just don't understand. I am so bothered by this whole thing today. The kids just want, want, want, and when they get what they want, it isn't good enough and they want more.

While there is nothing I can do about this other little girl, I can do something about my own kids. But the thing is... what? How do I teach them something I was never really taught? Please post your thoughts and comments. I'm am racking my brains on this one.

Reincarnation

Have you ever heard someone say, "When I come back, I want to be a cat". If I had a nickel for every time I've heard this, I'd be.... well I'd have about a buck-fifty, but anyway.

Charlie.

He is huge. In fact it has been said that his body looks like a boulder and his head looks like a dot. I don't get it. Charlie & Pumpkin have been eating Iam's weight management cat food, they've eaten canned cat food, low fat cat food, food with herbs in it. You name it, they've eaten it.

Dennis is starting to think he will need to take out the cat door that leads to the basement. He's thought about tracing a basketball onto the door, then cutting it out... for Charlie to fit through it. He's that big. The other day, Den went downstairs to play his drums. When he started pounding away, Charlie shot up the stairs like an elephant, running through the door - which wasn't all the way closed, and got stuck. So instead of being able to go through the door, the door swung open hitting the garage door with a cat stuck half way through it. Two Ton Tessie had to be "rescued".

After all my feeble attempts at feline weight reduction, I called the vet and made his appointment. After pouring dear ole chuck into the carrier feet first, I carried it by the bottom, for fear of the handle breaking off.

26 pounds. I know Miranda, he doesn't compare to your kitty, but this dear fuzzy feline weighs half of what my son weighs. After being hauled to the lab area for a lab draw, dear ole' Chuck was brought back.

Canned cat food said the doc. Any kind of canned cat food and as much as he wants to eat. Fresh water and she'll call tomorrow with the lab results. Chuck is officially on the "Catkins" diet.

Reincarnation. If you wanted to come back as a cat, how would you feel if your favorite past-time of eating and sleeping suddenly got thrown out the window. Your mindless grazing of kibble suddenly came to an end, and you were FORCED into a weight loss routine. At this moment, I'm willing to bet that dear ole tons o' fun wishes he had thumbs.

Results are In

I failed my math test. :o(

I am NOT giving up. I am NOT throwing in the towel. Some things come easy for some people. Some things are harder for others. I WILL pass this class. Failure is NOT an option. I will pass.

Now I have to go do my homework.

The Bet

This is Chase. My "honorary nephew".

Chase has been wearing the same look on his face since fall.

The look on his face will hopefully turn into a smile on

10.03.2009

Can you guess why?

We Interrupt This Program...

Hey folks, I have a math test on Thursday. I'm taking algebra... AGAIN because I never understood it, therefore never could pass the class. I'm working hard and studying so that I can do well.

I'll post as soon as I can. Wish me luck! Send good Karma!

Ted

In our old neighborhood, we knew a total of 4 neighbors in the 4 year span that we lived there. That was pretty bad considering it was a normal city block where the houses are jammed together.

Once we moved into Macomb, we knew almost every neighbor on our street within a week. There are about 14 houses on our street and we know almost every family.

Two people that I really like are Ted & Lucy. They are probably in their late 50's and are polish. Ted keeps his lawn meticulous. In fact he mows in his bare feet. I once asked him if he was worried about stepping on something, like a bee's nest, which of course he replied "no". The first time I saw Ted, I immediately thought of my Dad. Ted works for GM, and wears the same uniform that my Dad wore for so many years.

He is always outside doing something, whether it be to his house or lawn. He also rolls his lawn with a huge roller filled with water, which my dad has also done. On one occasion, I borrowed it after the spring thaw, to roll the ruts out of the lawn. It worked like a charm.

Ted and Lucy mostly keep to themselves, but any conversations with them are usually always good ones. One year however, I noticed there was no activity at their house for an extended amount of time. I started to worry. For people that we normally see every couple days, there was nothing. The lawn remained untouched and there were no signs of life. Finally I saw Lucy outside, and I went over there. I told her that I was very worried (although whatever or where ever they were, remained none of my business). She was pleasantly surprised that someone noticed. They had gone to Poland for a vacation. A day or two after they arrived, her Dad passed away. They remained in Poland longer than originally planned. I felt so bad for her.

Regardless, a year or two has passed. Today it's warm out. I'm ready. I am so ready for this snow to be gone that I am half tempted to shovel the lawn off. But instead, I decided to go out and clear the areas around the drains in front of our house. Our drain was already clear, as it lays directly in front of our mailbox. Across the street however, the drain was hidden. I grabbed a gardening tool and went to work. I was diligently working at the snow and ice, trying to locate the drain, when Ted came out to his mailbox. We then talked for a few minutes, then he too decided to take up the cause. Locating the one in front of his house was of special interest to both of us. Within minutes, we found it.

We continued with tools in hand, cutting rivers through the ice, watching the melted snow rush into the drains. It was the most therapeutic hour I've had all week. At first I'm sure Ted thought I was nuts, but then when we started working together, the conversations started as well. We talked about work, school, the economy, why everyone should speak English (which this foreigner not only brought up, but agrees to). We talked about the kitten he found in his engine compartment, and how Dennis took it to the Humane Society this winter. We talked about how the neighborhood used to look before 400 ash trees were leveled to the ground. Most have planted something new. We chose a silver maple, while he went for an oak.

I am sure this post has probably bored you to tears, but for me, I feel so much better having spent the time clearing the drains today. If not for the snow to make a quicker exit, but more for time working with Ted... which is like being with Dad.

Money

So on the Comcast.com web page, the woman in California who gave birth to octuplets spoke out about it. She said she had 6 embryo's implanted via invitro. They also went on to say that she has been criticized because she is single, unemployed and already has six children.

My question is... If she is unemployed, who paid for the invitro? I thought that was very expensive.

Another Day in Paradise

Grab your seats, I'm 2.2 seconds from going on a screaming rampage.

Emily is sick. Strike that. Emily AND now Greg too... are both sick. This makes for horrendous illness #3 in this house for these kids.. this winter alone. Let's not lose sight of the 2 boughts of stomach flu prior to Christmas.

Emily went to a birthday party on Saturday, and spent the night. Sunday, I went to pick her up and the birthday girl's mom (who happens to be a friend of mine) told me that 2 girls went home sick. One had asthma issues and the other had a fever. Instantly I thought GREAT - because it is inevitable that my kids will catch it.

Monday evening, Emily was up all night with a horrendous stomach ache. Tuesday morning she felt better, but was exhausted. We let her go to school at lunchtime. (Because she was symptom-free). 3:15 we pick her up and guess who has a fever.

Last night Emily woke us up at 3:30 with the most awful cough, and raspy breathing I had ever heard come out of that child. I literally can see how parents would panic as I almost was myself. I grabbed my stethescope and listened to her lungs. No wheezing. It was coming from her throat, not her lungs. But again... she had a fever. This morning I made the appt and took her to the doctor. Diagnosis: Influenza. Luckily she is in the window for Tamiflu.

About 2 minutes after we got in the door, the school called. Guess who is in the office with a headache?! YEP. Greg.

I picked him up and brought him home. Temp of 101.4. He's now in his pajamas, camped out on the futon, with a shot of motrin in his tummy.

So here is what I'm pissed about...

The girl at the party with the fever... just spent the week with her entire family sick. She was the exception last week... until she went to the birthday party. Now Emily has it, Greg probably has it, Dennis is praying his flu shot works, and I'm wishing I had gotten one. Instead I am pounding down spoonfuls of that healthy liquid I told you about last time.

I FEEL SO DEFEATED!! We are a busy family! We have things going on almost every day and don't have time for people to be inconsiderate! I give my kids probiotics religiously so that they won't get gastritis again. They take a multivitamin daily. I make sure they are eating all the colors of the rainbow, but not in the form of junk! WTF PEOPLE!!!

As I sit here, I'm feeling sort of strange, myself. Is my stomach turning because of something I ate? Why is my neck sore? Why am I so tired?... probably because I'm nuts! The thing is, I have class tomorrow. 5% extra credit for good attendance. I don't have time to be sick. My family does not have time to be sick.

And people need to be fricken considerate of others health! Now I get to hold vigil with tylenol and motrin over my very sick children, praying they get better as soon as possible, and although I have been against the flu shot - mark my words. We are ALL getting one next year!

DAMN!!!

Mikey's Cup of Coffee

My friend Mike used to do a newsletter where he worked. From what I have read on facebook, it must have been something pretty cool, as people want him to start it up again.

At the urging of a person that shall remain anonymous, he has a blog now! Visit the link on the right under "Blogs I Stalk". He's a very funny, quirky and intelligent. I'm sure we're all going to enjoy his musings.

Are You Ready?

I am starting to equate the digital transition commercials to the political ones prior to the election. I'm sick of them. If people aren't ready for the transition, then they will move their asses once they can't watch tv. Enough already! It's a waste of perfectly good air space.