An unexpected visit

Kristy and I haven't seen or talked to each other for over a week due to our busy and often conflicting schedules. I called her this morning at 9:00am but she wasn't home. At 9:45am she called me and said she was stopping over for a visit. We had two hours together to chat and catch up. It was great and so very unexpected.

Do yourself a favor today. Call or visit a friend you haven't talked to in a while. It will make you both happy!

Thanks Kristy!!

A bad PMS morning

I have heard it said that Lizzie Borden killed her parents during PMS. Ya,I can totally see that. Hormones are perplexing things. They make a sane woman act irrationally at times. I guess that's what happened to me today.

Rich told me to set the alarm for 6:30am. He was going to get up early and do the laundry. (It's dog eat dog in our apartment laundry room so he had to get up earlier than normal to get a washer.) When the alarm went off, I tapped Rich and told him it was time to get up. He mumbled something that sounded like, "I want to eat my shoe with rice," but I think he said, "I didn't get any sleep last night." I'm not sure.Then he asked if I had enough clean clothes for the day. When I said that I did, he put 2 pillows over his head and continued sleeping.The bottom line was, he was not getting up any time soon.

I hauled my tired body out of bed and went to take my shower. I got dressed, dried my hair and went into the bedroom to glare at my sleeping husband. Out cold! Damn him! I'm tired too, you know. It was 7:15am.
I got Lillianna her clothes,gave her breakfast,combed her hair and put it up in a ponytail then I went and glared at Rich some more.

"Ok, YOU! It's Eight o'clock.I think you need to get up now!!" I said in a not so loving way. Rich mumbled something and he got out of bed. I informed him that after I dropped Lillianna off at school at 8:20am, I was going food shopping and would be home before 9:00am so that he could carry up the bags of groceries. Oh, how he loves that!

Shopping was stressful because I only had 15 minutes to shop and I forgot a bunch of things since I went in without a list. No time to write one this morning. All Lillianna mentioned was, "Don't forget the Sunny Doodles!" Ya, I got those.
I got home at 8:50am and Rich came downstairs to meet me.

He popped his bagel in the toaster while I ran around making his lunch. Then, sensing my stress and tension, he did what any eight year old,uhm, excuse me, thirty eight year old would do. He put his finger near my face and in a little boy voice said,"I'm not touching you." I continued to make his sandwich and he kept trying to make me laugh but I had a blaring headache and no patience so I did what any other PMS stricken woman would do. I punched him in the stomach.
He said I hit like a girl but he doubled over clutching his stomach. OOOOOOPS!
Well, the moral of the story is, don't piss off the wife!

Are you bothered by PMS?

Gay bashers protest 12 year old's winning essay

What kind of world do we live in? A 12 year old girl writes a winning essay about a woman in history and now her school will be invaded by angry protesters. Oh,did I mention that this girl wrote about Ellen DeGeneres? My goodness! What was she thinking? We all know that Ellen is (please say in hushed tones)a lesbian! I know. It's hard to believe but Ellen has openly declared her attraction to women. How could anyone admire such a person? Apparently that is what the angry mob is wondering.

Gay bashers are coming from other states to protest at the middle school.
On the news yesterday, the principal said the essay won based on the student's writing not on the subject matter.
I say, "Who gives a rat's ass?" and I mean that sincerely.

She won. Everyone say it with me, "Yay!" Most people would congratulate this girl but oh no......let's jump on the gay bashing bandwagon and make a mountain out of a mole hill, shall we? G-d knows we don't have enough to worry about!

Well, there's the war in Iraq, people are flying into the U.S.A who are on a "no fly" list but they still make it to Maine. The whole object of being on this list is so that these people DON'T GET ON THE PLANE IN THE FIRST PLACE! Fathers are killing their precious children on a whim. Husbands are killing their pregnant wives and lying about it. Parents are beating their children. Children are doing drugs.......the list is endless if you think about it. But let's not think about that. Instead,let's drive thousands of miles to go scare the crap out of the whole middle school with this ridiculous protest. 'Cuz golly gee, that sounds like a good way to spend my time.

The bottom line is, life is short.....too short. I don't care what religion you are. I don't believe that G-d is a judgemental and vindictive entity. I believe that He/She is pro-love and kindness. That's all. Now I am not asking you to support the gay community. That's an individual choice.But is picketing and protesting at a middle school an appropriate response to a 12 year old's winning essay about a woman in history who just happens to be a lesbian?

I don't think so. Do you?

A family weekend.....at last!

You can read my latest post over at DotMoms.

Having a weekend off was so much fun! Why can't we just hit the lottery so that I can have every weekend off?

My right....your left

I'd like to think I am a fairly intelligent person. I have been working in an ophthalmology practice for the past 15 years. I have a complete understanding of where your eyes are located, I really do. So, when you are telling me your complaints,just tell me which eye on your body is bothering you and leave me out of it!

I can't tell you how many patients say, "My right eye is blurry. Well, my right,your left." How did my eyes get involved in this patient's story? I don't even know these people. Even if I am standing face to face with you, I know your right is on my left side and your left eye is on my right side. It's really so simple that I can't say I ever think about it until a patient makes such a mountain out of a molehill that I don't even know what the heck they are talking about.

"You see,my right eye, well your left eye was bothering me at first but then my left eye,I mean my right eye,.....no, you're right eye....my left eye....." Come on people. Let's keep it simple, ok? Don't try to make it easier for me...you just can't do it. You try my patience and make me want to bolt out of the exam room.

Now, whatever you do,don't tell me you have a pig stye on your right eye, my left eye or I will be forced to kill you.

Things that bugged me this week

Yesterday, on my way to work, I started thinking about the things that bugged me this week. There are a lot of petty annoyances in everyone's daily life and we just shake them off because in the scheme of things,they really don't matter.
That being said, here's my list:

1)Lillianna got her class picture back last week. Usually the picture is taken indoors with the children in two rows. The first row sits on chairs. The back row stands. If there are a lot of children some of them sit on the floor in front.
Apparently this year, the photographer wanted to do something different. This picture was taken outside on a wooden playground jungle gym of some sort. The kids are all squinting because the sun is blaring in their eyes. They are spread out all over this wooden thing so they look like ants because they are so far away.
It is the worst picture I have ever seen!! Of course I already paid for it and I don't have the heart to return it because Lillianna wants a class picture.

2)I got my hair cut on Tuesday and when my hairdresser, Karen, styled it, it was exactly what I wanted. I was thrilled. Two days later and I still can't make it look like anything other than a bird's nest.The wind hasn't helped but the 'poof' Karen added has poofed out for me. I look like a ragamuffin!!

3)When we moved 2 years ago I lost my video camera battery charger in the move. Now I am trying to replace it so I can charge my battery to videotape Lillianna's dress rehearsal on Saturday. Ya, I waited til the last minute so I kind of pissed myself off!

4)I made my favorite chicken piccata last night and I ate way toooooooooo much broccoli. I couldn't help it. I love sauteed broccoli. My stomach hurt so much I thought I would drop dead. You'd think I would learn to eat broccoli in moderation........NOPE!

What bugged you this week?

The fear of empty ice cream boxes

I don't want to sound unsympathetic, but apparently Lillianna and Rich have a fear of empty ice cream boxes. That has to be the reason that they don't remove them from the freezer.I can't tell you how many times I have reached for a popsicle or fudgesicle only to realize the box is completely empty but it's still sitting on the shelf giving the illusion that there is still a frozen treat in there.

The other day I reached for an ice cream and realized it was empty. I haven't mentioned it to anyone yet because I am trying to figure out just when they may address this issue. Well, it's been 3 days now and the empty box is still sitting there on the top shelf in plain sight. Clearly this is not a big issue. It's just another one of those things that makes me shake my head and laugh.

Does your family have a fear of empty ice cream boxes?

Animal cruelty

I couldn't believe the story that I saw on the news this morning. A man was walking by some adult and baby geese. (Is it a gaggle of geese?) Anyway, one of the adult geese hissed at this man which apparently caused the man to fall down.
Here's the story from Fox25.com


Man Accused of Killing Geese in Angry "Rampage"

(05/09/05) — A Rhode Island man who allegedly stomped a Canada goose and five goslings to death in Attleboro over the weekend goes to court today on animal cruelty charges. John Sanders says he felt threatened by the geese. Police say Sanders — an industrial engineer — was walking on property owned by Texas Instruments Saturday when he slipped and fell in the mud after the adult goose hissed at him.

According to the police report, Sanders — angered by his fall — got up and began a "rampage," chasing and kicking the geese. The North Kingston man told The Boston Globe by telephone that he's "heartbroken" over what happened, and that he's not a callous person. He says he felt threatened because the geese were acting aggressive and moving toward him, hissing and beating their wings.

Ok, quick quiz now. If you were in this situation, what would you have done?

A.) Get up and walk away.
B.) Get up, give the goose the evil eye and walk away.
C.) Get up, shake it off and laugh, "Well, that's a goose for ya," and walk away.
D.) Get up, chase after the offensive goose and then stamp 5 goslings into the ground, killing the goslings and injuring the adult goose so badly that it had to be euthanized?

Well, this moron chose option "D"! Can you believe this??????

When my sister Kara was 4 years old and I was 16, I always took her to the park to feet the ducks and geese. One time a goose hissed at her and Kara literally jumped off the ground and into my arms.She was terrified.We slowly walked away and we went to a different area. I didn't turn on the goose and kill it! When does that even become an option?

What do you think is an appropriate punishment for this man? Do you think it was ok for him to kill the geese?

Happy Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day to all the moms out there.
A special wish goes out to my dear friend,Cheryl, who is days away from giving birth to her first child,Lincoln.
I hope you all have a day filled with laughter and love.

Hot Feet

Last night,as usual,I went to bed before Rich did. At some point I woke up in the middle of the night. I'm not sure if he was just getting into bed or he happened to wake up suddenly but he sweetly said, "It was kind of cold in here so I put another blanket at the foot of our bed so our feet will be warm."

To most people that would sound like such a loving thing to do but I HATE HOT FEET!
I was too groggy to complain but I stuck a foot out of the bed to cool things down a bit. When I woke up at 5am the blanket was in a heap on the floor. Oooops. Now how did that happen?

Do you like your feet to be hot or cold when you sleep?

Mother's Day Presents

When Lillianna was 2 1/2 years old,I wished for a noodle necklace for Mother's Day. I figured this was a good age for her to start making me presents.I didn't share my thoughts with anyone and looking back, I think I should have.Rich is an artist. I imagined that while I was at work on a Saturday (this is back when I only worked 6 hours on Saturdays and not the entire weekend!) he would help Lillianna paint some pasta and then string it into a beautiful necklace for me. I couldn't wait to wear this wonderful piece of jewelry.

When I opened my present on Mother's Day, I was surprised to find an addition to my fairy collection. Now don't get me wrong, I adore my fairies, but I had my heart set on a noodle necklace! I looked up at Rich.He was clearly confused by my lack of enthusiasm and of course, I didn't want to hurt his feelings but I sadly sad,"I wanted a noodle necklace!" He just stared at me. "A what?" he asked. I explained my hopes and dreams of pasta jewelry. He explained that he had no idea that I wanted a noodle necklace and that the thought of Lillianna making anything for me at 2 1/2 years of age never crossed his mind. I thanked him for my fairy but the loss of noodles stayed with me.

Luckily, once Lillianna went to pre-school,I have been overwhelmed with homemade gifts. Her hand prints with a poem hang in our dining room. There are two of those.We take out her Christmas throw rug with one red footprint and one green footprint on it. Those feet look so tiny now but they looked to be just the right size when she first made it! My,how time flies.

The pin she made in pre-kindergarten is something I wear every Mother's Day, although I do try to wear it throughout the year because it's just gorgeous. Lillianna picked out all the stones and rosebuds herself and then Miss Mary hot glued them on the plastic pin. It's mostly purple since that is my favorite color and I adore it.

This past Monday, Lillianna made me a big bucket of silk flowers in her Brownie troop. She chose the flowers herself which always makes me smile. I am thrilled that the flowers are silk because I kill real plants and now I will be able to keep this forever.

Yesterday,when Lillianna got home from school,she told me not to look because she was going to hide my present. After dinner she ran into the living room with my gift. In her little excited voice she said,"Mom! I just can't wait any longer. I have to give you your present." I had to laugh. She is so like me in this way. I can never wait either.

She presented me with a baby food jar filled with bath salts that she made in school. The jar was decorated in purple material with a purple flower on top. I knew she could choose the scent of the bath salts herself and I was secretly hoping she didn't go with the purple theme and make them smell like lavender or lilac which I hate! I opened the jar and sniffed the salt. Ahhh.....I was suddenly on a beach with a tropical drink in my hand. Now, how did I get here?
"Mom! Open your eyes!" Lillianna ordered. I could barely follow her request.My lids felt so heavy.I was suddenly so relaxed. "What scent is this?" I asked.
"It's pina colada," she said smiling. Then she burst into song, "If you like pina coladas..... and getting caught in the rain...." Leave it to my 7 year old to know a 70's song.

I gave her a big hug and thanked her for this fantastic gift. She said,"I know you don't take baths,but maybe you could smell it every day." I told her I definitely would. And that's just what I did before I left for work this morning. It was lovely.

What was the first gift your child made for you?

Girl Talk

I am way behind on my blogging! My newest DotMom's post was on May 3rd but here I am 4 days later and I am just getting around to posting it on my own blog.
You can read Girl Talk here.

Is selfishness and stupidity a crime?

I'm sick of hearing about the runaway bride. I guess now they are saying she is mentally ill. No one knew this before now? If she didn't want to get married and she felt like she needed time on her own,then fine. Go. But tell your parents you are going away. Do you have to make them suffer and think that you are dead? What kind of moron are you that you would fake your own abduction? I think she needs to be brought up on charges.

It should be illegal to do this and to waste all the time and money it took to try to find her when she wasn't really lost! The boy who cried wolf got eaten by the wolf!! No one has the right to put their loved ones through this childish behavior.

What did you think when you heard she wasn't really abducted? Do you think she should be punished?

How many televisions are too many?

Rich and I grew up in different types of families.
Rich was one of four children. His mom died when he was 4 years old. His siblings were 2,6 and 8 at the time. They were raised by their dad. There was one t.v. in the living room and I believe one in his dad's room and that was it. I guess whoever got there first could control what they watched but if their dad was there,obviously he was in complete control.

I was an only child until I was 11 1/2 years old. We had a t.v. in just about every room: my parent's room,my room,the living room and the kitchen. When my sister was 4 yrs old,she got a t.v. in her room. I never thought twice about this at all.

When we lived in the house we lived in before we moved to this apartment,we had a t.v. in the living room,our bedroom and Lillianna's play room which was right off the living room. Rich thought that was fine because it wasn't in Lillianna's bedroom.

When Lillianna and I were in Florida visiting my mom and John this past December, John said he had won a t.v. and he wanted to give it to Lillianna for her bedroom.
I didn't see anything wrong with that so I said yes. When I told Rich,he was less than pleased. I assured him we would have rules. Lillianna won't be able to watch it in bed to go to sleep unless she was on vacation or it was a weekend. I do that all the time. It helps me relax. This t.v. is for her to watch if Rich and I are each watching something on the other t.v.s and she really wants to watch something else. I don't have any problems with this because it's what I grew up with.

How many t.v.s do you have? Is there one in your child's room?

Computer help

Lillianna doesn't know what she clicked on but now my "Start" menu is on the upper left hand of my computer instead of the lower left side and my icons that are usually in the lower right hand side with the clock are now on the lower left side.

I have gone into tool bar and tried different things but nothing will put this back the way it was. When I restarted the computer,it went back to this crazy way.

Does anyone out there know how to fix this? Thanks in advance!

Stupid spellcheck.....again!

When I wrote the post about Samantha,I checked my spelling with good old spell check. Do you know what they wanted to replace the name Siobhan with? Huh? Do ya??
The replacement for Siobhan was......soybeans!!! Can you believe it???


And I thought suggesting crusty for my friend Kristy was bad!

Sick again

Well,Lillianna is sick again. It seems like she is always sick lately. It started with complaints of,"I think my allergies are bothering me." Then Saturday morning she came into our room at 2am and said,"I'm shaking and my heart is racing." Ahhh,the tell-tale signs of a fever. By Sunday she was coughing and complaining of a sore throat. Luckily I had the day off on Sunday so I could spend the day taking care of her instead of being at work feeling sad that I wasn't home.

Yesterday her cough sounded worse so I took her to the doctor. She has a viral infection which means no prescription medication will help her. I kept her on her cough med and motrin for fever and now we have to wait it out. The doctor said her fever should be gone by Wednesday but the cough,which is like croup, may linger for a week or more.

I took today off from work because Mom just came home from Florida yesterday. How could I bring my sick child to her for 5 hours today? Hopefully she will feel better tomorrow and she can go to Mom's.

In the meanwhile,Lillianna is frustrated with her cough and goes from playing with her toys to clinging to me and whining. I try my best to make her feel better but I know how horribble I feel when I'm sick. Sometimes there is nothing that will help except the time to get better.

How do you make your kids happy when they are sick?

Three Wishes

Today Lillianna said she had three wishes.

1. "I wish we had enough money to go to Disney World."

She knows we have been saving money but we haven't saved enough yet and I wanted to plan a trip for this November. We will probably have to postpone that thought.

2. "I wish all medicine tasted like real bubble gum!"

Since she has been sick these past few days she has been having a hard time swallowing some medication. Only Motrin has the bubble gum flavor she likes. Other bubble gum flavored medicine is thick and yucky!

3. "I wish there was no such thing as Diabetes."

Lillianna has a close friend with Juvenile Diabetes and she sees what she goes through every day. She said,"I wish she didn't have it,Mom. Plus Auntie Ida has Diabetes. I wish there was no such thing." I have to agree!

What do your kids wish for?

Trying not to feel guilty

You can read today's post over at DotMoms.

In the middle of the night.......

At 2:30am I heard a frightened little voice say,"Mom,I'm shaking and my heart is racing." Nothing snaps my old eyes open quicker than my sweetie pie daughter waking me up in the middle of the night. I said,"Well, you probably have a fever." I grabbed the thermometer and popped it in her mouth.Sure enough she had a temp.I gave her some Tylenol and got her snuggled in the middle of our bed. In reality, the three of us do not fit in this bed together but there is something comforting being in between your parents when you are sick so that's where I put her.
Rich was asleep but he managed to scoot over to make room for Lillianna.

We slept for an hour and then I felt her and decided she needed some Motrin. Our pediatrician suggested that when she was an infant and whenever she has a temp that disturbs me,I give her Tylenol every 4 hours and Motrin every 6 hours until it's under control. At 3:30am Lillianna decided she would rather lie on the couch and watch t.v. than go to sleep. I set her up with a snack and a drink and went back to bed.

When I woke up at 5:30am to shower for work,she was sound asleep. By the time I left for work at 7am her temp was down and she felt better. I always hate when Lillianna is sick but I always feel powerful in a way, that most times, I can fix whatever is wrong with her. She knows she can walk into our bedroom and we will instantly take care of her.

Do you put your kids in your bed when they're sick?

The last day

A woman that Rich had briefly worked with,was killed in a car accident this week. She had her 6 year old daughter in the car as well as her roommate. No one was wearing a seat belt but according to what Rich told me,that wouldn't have even saved her when they were hit head on by an suv. Her daughter and the roommate are in critical care.

Last night when Rich came home from work he said he was stunned that his co-workers were not bothered by the death of a woman they worked with for 8 months. No big deal.
He was appalled by their apathy. How could this not have an impact on these people? Rich said,"You know,she was just taking her child to school. You don't leave the house in the morning and think,'Gee....this is my last day on Earth!' You never think that.Now her child has to be told that her mom is never coming back!"

It kind of freaked me out when I thought about what he said. I guess realistically I know that any day could be my last day but the way he put it gave me the chills.
I can't dwell on this because it's just a fact of life which will happen whenever it's supposed to happen but now it's on my mind.

Do you ever think of your own mortality?

A bigger age difference than I thought

When I picked Lillianna up from school today she told me that she and her friends were chatting about their parents' ages. She explained,"Some people said their parents were in their twenties or thirties. I said my mom is in her forties but my dad is in his twenties........or thirties."
"What???????" I shrieked. "You said Daddy was in his twenties?????"
"Or thirties," she added.
"Daddy and I are only 4 years apart. I am 42 and Daddy is 38. He is not in his twenties!"
"Ya,well,the kids all just kind of stared at me," she said quietly.

How old do your kids think you are?

Foul language on the playground!

Yesterday, Rich took Lillianna to the playground so that she could enjoy the nice weather. When I called her from work to find out how her day was she said,"I saw Julia from my dancing class there." I told her that was nice but then she said,"It really wasn't. She swore,Mom." I asked her what she said and she refused to tell me. I asked if Rich had heard her and Lillianna said,"He knows what she said but when he tells you, I am going to put my hands over my ears and say 'Lalalalalalala' until he's done!"

When Rich got on the phone I asked him what happened. There are these 2 pipes that stand straight up with a shower head looking thingy on the end. They are about 15 feet away from each other. If one person talks into one of them,the other person can hear what they are saying through the second one. Kids love this! Apparently,Julia was at one of them and 2 boys were at the other. She yelled,"Hello!!! Can you hear me????" quite loudly and the boys replied,"You don't have to yell." This darling 7 year old then yelled,"Ass!!" to the boys. I forget what Rich said their response was but then Julia yelled,"You don't have to be a winy ass!!!"

Lillianna was horrified. I don't blame her. We don't say things like that to people.
I am sure it's something she has heard at home but I still think it's horrible. Rich said her mom was across the playground chatting with other moms at the time. We try very hard to keep our language clean around Lillianna. I would be devastated if Lillianna ever swore at someone.

Do you swear in front of your kids? Do you find they are repeating what they have heard?

Twenty-nine years ago today

April 10,1976.......Today is the 29th anniversary of my Bat-Mitzvah. It was one of the happiest times in my life and I whisper a little,"Happy anniversary to me" every year on this date. I am in the process of writing about this for my DotMoms'post for next week. In the meantime......Happy anniversary to me!!

Chicklets

When I was a little girl,my mom always had a package of Chicklets in her pocket book. It never failed that the pack would become open and the Chicklets would spill into the bottom of the pocket book. Whenever I wanted a piece of gum,I would reach in there and pull out a few linty Chicklets. I would blow off the lint and pop them in my mouth. Mmmmmm....nothing ever tasted so good.

Did you ever chew linty Chicklets?

Scrapbook memories

I am still working on Kara's scrapbook for her birthday which was in October.Better late than never,right? Yesterday I worked on her book for 2 hours and it was very difficult. I managed to get 3 pages done but the page of my dad just about did me in.
Looking at Kara as a baby and small child with Dad just stabbed at my heart. I burst into tears.

Then I listened to the cassette I made when Kara was a baby through age 4 or 5. Keep in mind,I am almost 12 years older than Kara so I kept track of everything she said and did. I could hear my Dad's voice on the tape and I cried and cried.Lillianna ran to grab tissues for me and then she started to cry too. I keep thinking that I have learned to live without him over these past 17 years but it's just like he died yesterday. I still miss him so much and it's amazing that just the brief sound of his voice can reduce me to a pool of tears.

What a pain!

I woke up this morning with a bad pain on the back of my head. Rich checked to see if there was a bump or a mark but he couldn't find anything. He said,"It's probably just an ingrown hair." I figured the way my luck was going,it could be just about anything. I said,"Well,if this should kill me,make sure that when they do the autopsy you tell them that I had this pain in my head.Okay?" He assured me that he would.

How the heck was your day?

What's the point?

Some days I wonder,"What's the point?" Why do Rich and I work so hard? We never get ahead! We don't spend money frivolously unless you call ordering a pizza once a week frivolous. We do everything we are supposed to do. We are good people. We help others whenever we can. What's it all for?

I am desperately trying to save enough money so that we can go to Disney at the end of the year. Every time I think I have money to put in our account,we end up paying a bill with it. We were expecting money back from our taxes this year. We were planning to put that money in the Disney fund. My accountant called yesterday and told me we owe money!! He said that we aren't having enough taxes taken out of our weekly paychecks. Rich said,"If they take out any more money,we won't have anything!!"

I'm tired. I have no free time. It all seems pointless. I'd rather not work at all and make the state pay for me although I'm told we make way too much money to apply for welfare. That figures!! I just got a call from my mechanic. The grinding breaks weren't my only problem. I need two new front tires. Total cost....$400!! It just keeps getting worse every day.

I am grateful for all the good things in our life but there has to be a better way to live!! I can't keep going like this much longer. I am just about to crack!

Who needs sleep?

You can read today's post,Who needs sleep? over at DotMoms.

I always knew I made the right choice

All this talk of marital problems with friends and co-workers has made me think of my wedding day. I always knew Rich was the person I was supposed to marry. I never had second thoughts or wondered if I was doing the right thing. We met,planned a wedding and got married.

Some people are now questioning their own marriages and relationships and more than one person has said that they wish they knew for sure if they were with the right person. Even with our separation,I always knew Rich was the guy for me. Too bad it took him a little bit longer to realize it but that's the way things go sometimes.

Around 3:00pm on my wedding day,my bridesmaids came to my house to finish getting ready. Sue,my MaryKay lady was doing my Mom's make-up at the dining room table but Mom was so stressed and nervous,her face kept blotching. Kara,Kristy and Liane were dressed in their beautiful gowns and chatting. I was still in my jeans and t-shirt from my last minute shopping trip and I was snacking on a Devil Dog. We had oodles of time. My hair had been done at 1:00pm. I was waiting for Sue to do my make-up and I was hungry. A Devil Dog seemed like a good choice.

My mom suddenly realized I was there and shrieked,"Why hasn't anyone dressed the bride????????" I just laughed. We weren't late. The photographer hadn't even arrived yet. What was Mom so worried about? I just looked at her and laughed,"Mom,why are you so stressed out?" She frowned at me and said,"What's the matter with you? Why aren't you nervous? You always panic. Why are you so calm today on a day when you should be nervous?"

I didn't even hesitate when I answered her. "Well, if I thought I was making a mistake and that Rich was the wrong person for me then I would be in a panic. But I know he's the right one and there's nothing for me to worry about," I replied as I popped the last bite of cake into my mouth. I kissed Mom's cheek and said,"If it makes you feel any better,I'll get dressed now."

How did you feel on your wedding day? Did you have doubts or were you absolutely sure you were doing the right thing?

When you just can't get there fast enough

Thursday was a horrible day for me. Our home computer was broken and I attempted to fix it for 3 hours without success. At 12:30pm I showered and got dressed. Then I made ziti with meat sauce to pack for my dinner and I made a plate for Rich and put it in the fridge. I made my lunch and ate it while watching "Judging Amy."
At 2:10pm I began packing up my things for work and when I looked at the clock it was 2:25pm!!!!!!!! I usually leave the house at 2:15pm to pick Lillianna up from school. She is dismissed at 2:25pm.

I ran down the stairs with my lunch box and big jug of water.I jumped into the car and drove through the apartment complex. As I tried to turn onto the main street,there was a steady flow of traffic and I couldn't get out! My heart was racing. I was late. I would never get there in time. I saw a school bus pass by. I panicked. The walkers are dismissed first. If a full bus of students already left the school then I was very late! I finally got onto the main road but then I couldn't turn left into the school which is right across the street from the entrance to our complex.

The crossing guard had my side of the traffic stopped so that the cars and buses could leave the school. I felt like the mom in HOME ALONE,who kept trying to get to her son but things kept getting in the way. When you are trying to get to your child as fast as you can,sometimes it's just not fast enough.
I parked my car in the lot and ran across the walkway. All the cars in the semi-circle pick-up area were gone. The last 3 buses were loading up and getting ready to leave. At the beginning of the walkway to the building,I saw Lillianna standing with a teacher. She turned and pointed at me.

The two of them began to walk towards me. I was almost in tears. Lillianna was the last child left. I looked at the teacher and apologized and thanked her. She smiled and said good-bye. I hugged Lillianna tightly and kissed her head.

"I am so sorry,honey. I am so sorry. Were you worried?" I asked her.

"No,Mom,why?" she asked.

"Did you wonder where I was?"

"Of course not. I just figured you were running late. Mrs.Bailey said if you weren't here by the time the last bus left then I could sit in the office and wait for you," she explained matter-of-factly.

My heart broke. My poor baby was waiting for me.The only child left in the entire school. I could picture her sitting alone in the principal's office if I had been any later. All I could think of was what a horrible mother I was. My heart was still beating rapidly as I apologized to my child again. She rubbed my hand as we walked to the car and said reassuringly,"Mom,it's ok. Relax."
I looked at my child and tried to explain,"You know,it's the worst feeling in the world when you are late and trying to get to your child quickly and you just can't get there." She smiled at me and continued to rub my hand until we reached the car.
I gave her a big kiss and thanked her for being so understanding.I guess I was the only one actually upset by this incident.

Have you ever had this happen to you?

Teasing

Today,Lillianna and I were listening to the Grease song "Beauty School Drop-Out" while we were in the car. We have heard this song many times and I have actually explained the song,line for line to her so she would understand it. After she heard ".....turn in your teasing comb and go back to high school," I could see her puzzled face in the rear view mirror. "Turn what,Momma? What is he saying?" she asked.

I burst into a fit of laughter. She has never seen a teasing comb. I remember that crazy metal comb from my childhood. My mom teased her hair all the time in between her appointments at the beauty parlor. To preserve her hair sprayed "do" she clipped squares of toilet paper all around her head before she went to sleep. Ahh, the memories.

I explained the teasing process to Lillianna. Her little face lit up and she exclaimed,"Oh,I know what it is. Nana still uses that comb." That made me laugh. I forgot my mom must still tease her hair in spots. Some things never change.

Are you old enough for your mom to have used a tease comb?

Easter preparations

Yesterday I warned Lillianna that if she didn't clean up her bedroom,the Easter Bunny wouldn't be able to hide her eggs because he would trip and fall on the clutter. Today,while I was at work,she made sure her room was picked up.
During my dinner break I called home and Lillianna informed me that she wrote up a questionnaire for the Easter Bunny to fill out.She always likes to be connected to the Easter Bunny,Santa Claus,Leprechauns and Tooth Fairy. She asked things like:

1) Are you a boy or girl bunny?
2) Do you have brothers or sisters?
3) What are your favorite movies?
4) What is your favorite fruit?
5) What is your favorite vegetable?

At 7:00pm she called me to say she was going to bed so that when I woke her up at 5:30am tomorrow morning,she wouldn't be in a bad mood.(I have to leave at 6am to go to work so she does the egg hunt before I go.) I told her she didn't have to go to bed now but she said,"Yes, I do.I don't want to be cranky with you on Easter,Mommy." Believe me, I don't want that either!

What Easter Bunny traditions does your family have?

My husband cracks me up!

I did not feel this was worthy of space on my blog but Rich is insisting that I write about what happened this morning.

I was sitting at the computer which is in the corner of our bedroom. Rich was standing in the doorway which is across the room on my right side. I was typing and looking at the computer screen and Rich began to talk. I continued typing but turned to look at him. That just about freaked him out.

He took a step backwards as if he had seen a venomous snake and shrieked,"I hate when you do that!" I just looked at him in confusion and asked,"Do what?" He said,"Type without looking at the keys." I rolled my eyes at him and in my usual sarcastic tone I said,"Ya, well it's called typing! "But you didn't even look!" he said accusingly.
I sighed. "Didn't you ever take typing in school? It was mandatory for us in 7th grade. We had to take half a semester whether we wanted to or not. Once you know where the keys are, you just type." Rich's typing technique is the good old "hunt and peck" method. He looks for the letter for a few seconds and then pounds it with one finger. It works but it's a little slow.

Rich said,"Ya, well it's not like the keys are in alphabetical order or anything."
I just laughed and said,"Didn't they offer typing at your school?"
He said,"Well I had my choice of typing or Home-Economics. I chose Home-Ec so that I could make breakfast for myself." How can you argue with that?

Is there anything that you do that you consider ordinary but your spouse thinks it's extraordinary?

Where have all the marriages gone?

It has kind of hit me lately that marriages are breaking up faster than a heart beat.
Two weddings that Rich and I attended within the past 10 years have already ended in divorce. I remember those weddings vividly. In both cases,the couples were certain they had found their soul mate. They looked lovingly at one another and it made Rich and I smile knowing they had found what we had found. At some point, one or both of them looked at their soul mate and wasn't satisfied with what they saw or with what they wanted. Suddenly their dreams weren't the same. How does that happen?

In March 2003,Rich and I separated for 6 months. When he left,he said it was for good and I believed him. I didn't understand how that could happen. With the help of a good marriage counselor,we were able to work things out and I have to say our marriage has been better than it had been in the years prior to him deciding to leave.

Many couples refuse therapy.Luckily it saved our marriage. Some husbands think it's stupid and just decide that it's not for them.Marriage is hard. Anyone who says it's a breeze is either lying or not married. I'm not saying it's impossible,I'm just not saying that everyday is not a day in Disney World.

I hear people at both of my jobs talk about the problems they are having in their marriage and I wonder what will happen? Will they work it out? Do they even want to?

I don't think that a man or woman who is in an abusive or neglectful marriage should stay because that is a situation no one should live with especially if they have children.I wonder if marriage has just become disposable over the years.

What do you think?

Folding the laundry

Usually I don't really think much about folding the laundry but today it hit me. All our clothes were intertwined,just like a family.Rich's shirt had Lillianna's Scooby Doo underwear in it's sleeve. Lillianna's little socks were next to my medium socks and Rich's tube socks.They looked like they were all hugging. They weren't stuck together,Rich uses Bounce in the dryer to prevent static,it was more like they looked comfortable being together all curled up in the laundry basket.
It made me smile.

Dear Mother Nature

Dear Mother Nature,
I know you must be very busy but I thought I would drop you a quick note to ask,"What the heck is going on?" I realize that we live in Massachusetts and our motto is,"If you don't like the weather,just wait a minute," but this Winter has been particularly rough on us. My daughter has had 6 or 7 snow days so far and at this rate she will be going to school until July.

Technically,Monday was the first day of Spring and Tuesday was such a warm and wonderful day we all ran around in a light jacket or with no jacket at all.My daughter wore a spring dress with pretty white tights to school. It gave us hope and brought us one step out of our Winter depression.Seeing the grass even though it was brown and not green made us feel better than looking at everything covered in white. Wednesday was a little cooler but the joy of Spring stayed in our hearts.

This morning,the white returned. I sent my child to school in her Winter jacket,boots,mittens and scarf. Snow was brushed off the cars. The plows are in the parking lot clearing out parking spaces. I am ironing a long sleeved shirt for work.

So, I just want to know.....when the heck is Spring coming to stay?

Sincerely,
Robin

I don't want to live like that

You can't turn on the t.v. or radio without hearing about Terri Schiavo. Her husband said she wouldn't want to live like this. Her parents have been heard to say they're not sure what her wishes were but they want her to keep living this way.
Is it really living to be severely brain damaged and being fed by a feeding tube? Is that living? I can't speak for Terri Shiavo but for me, I never want to live like that.

If there is ever a situation and I am found to be severely brain damaged,I hope they let me die with some type of dignity. I don't want to die a painful death of starvation,but give me a morphine drip and let me go peacefully. I don't want to be a burden to Rich and Lillianna. Why should their life be filled with the constant care of a wife and mother who isn't really there and who will never be there again? For me,it would be better to let me die and remember me when I was healthy and alive.

As for my mother and sister,I know they wouldn't be fighting to keep me alive like that. It wouldn't be what I wanted and they would know that.

G-d forbid this should ever happen to Rich or Lillianna,I wouldn't try to keep them alive if the doctors said there was no hope of recovery. No hope. As in they will never come out of this and never function on their own. How is that living?

If you were in this situation,what would you want?

Five year old child arrested in Florida

You have to read this! (For reasons unknown to me,if this link brings you to a map of the USA,click on Massachusetts then click out of the screen.Click on this link again and it should take you to the story.This is just another bizarre internet thing that makes no sense to me!! Sorry for the inconvenience.)

I am all for disciplining children who misbehave but I think removing the child from her kindergarten class in restraints and being taken to the police station is beyond ridiculous.
1.Give the kid a time-out.
2.Call the parents.
3.Send her to the principal's office.
4.Make an appointment with a therapist.
5.All of the above.

Call the police? When does that become an option for a 5 year old? Even if the child had emotional problems,I would think the first call would be to the parents. If Lillianna suddenly pitched some kind of fit in school I would hope I would get a call before the police did. I know how to handle her and can calm her down.I'm her mother,afterall.

What do you think?

I want to be a 1950's sit-com mom

I am so behind in my writing that I didn't even post my DotMoms post from yesterday until now. My latest post is about wanting to go back to a simpler time in life when families had time to be together and life wasn't so stressful. Well, at least not on t.v. and that's where I want to be.
You can read,I want to be a 1950's sit-com mom at DotMoms.

Thank you,Holly!!

I got an awesome suggestion on my post about BLTs from a reader who goes by the name hols.
I think it's safe to assume her name is Holly,right? (Don't give me the "When you assume you make an ass out of u and me," speech.I've made enough mistakes from assuming to know that's certainly true,thank you.)
So,anyway,she suggested adding avocado to a BLT.I had to think that one over and decided that the next time I had a BLT I would certainly give it a whirl.Well,next time was last night.

I have to say the only way I enjoy an avocado is with lemon and salt. I learned this when I lived in Israel and we grew them. So I sliced up an avocado and added it to my BLT. Even thinking about it now is making me drool.(Sorry,I had to wipe my chin!)
This has to be the most delicious food combination I have had in a long time. I loved it. I made little happy noises while I ate. Rich looked over at me and sarcastically asked,"Good?" There were no words to describe how I felt.

If you haven't tried avocado on a BLT you are missing out on something phenomenal.
Thank you so much,Holly!!

I've lost my enthusiasm.Let me know if you find it.

In the past two weeks I have felt like all of the joy has been sucked out of me.It's not like I can even say it's this one thing,because it isn't.It's a bunch of little irritants and situations I can't do anything about that are chipping away at me like a woodpecker pecking at my brain. I wake up in the middle of the night worrying about how this bill will be paid or how we will ever buy a house since we don't have the money to do it or how I'm going to add in hours to my work schedule when I am already working 36 hours a week. All I can think about is how we can make more money.It consumes my every thought and I hate it.

Some days,I just want to stay in bed and sleep the day away and forget that my life is not going in the direction that I had planned.I suppose it's in my favor that my life is so busy I can't even wallow in self-pity and give into the depression.Ok, so I wallow a little but I can't even indulge in a good old-fashioned pity party. I just have to keep going and do the best I can.

I try to focus on the fact that I have a wonderful husband and a very loving child. We are in good health (knock on wood),we live in a nice apartment and we both have jobs and cars.I know there are families who don't even have that much. I just wish life wasn't so difficult financially and that we could spend some time as a family on the weekends instead of me working all of the time. I am sure we will get on the right track eventually but until then it's pretty darn tricky to cope some days.

How do you cheer yourself up in the difficult times?

Short sleeves in the snow

When I picked Lillianna up from school today she was very unhappy.Every other Friday she has gym class,which she looks forward to. When I took out a heavy turtle neck sweater for her to wear this morning,she argued that it would be too hot in gym. She decided to wear a short sleeve shirt with her pink fluffy button down sweater over it. That way if she got hot she could remove the sweater. I agreed to that sensible argument.Anyone who knows me,knows I hate being too hot!

Apparently,while her class was in gym,an announcement was made throughout the school that the fire alarms were going to be tested. This did not reach Lillianna's gym class due to some overhead problem with the P.A. system. When the alarm went off,Mr.Smith,the gym teacher, thought it was a fire drill. He hurried the children to get in line and rushed them outside in the snow!

Lillianna was only wearing her short sleeve shirt since she had taken her sweater off and wasn't given any time to run across the room for her sweater. As she stood outside, the snow fell on her bare arms and shivering body.She had her sneakers on for gym and not her boots which she wore to school because of all the snow,so the bottom of her jeans got wet. After a few minutes,when no other class went outside,Mr.Smith must have realized something wasn't right. The class went back inside. Lillianna's teacher came to pick the kids up and told him that it was just a testing of the alarms and not a fire drill.

When I picked Lillianna up at 2:30pm she was still cold and couldn't seem to warm up.
I was absolutely livid when I heard this story. I understand Mr.Smith made a mistake because he couldn't hear the announcement but couldn't he see that Lillianna was not dressed for the snow? Does anyone use good judgement in that school? I have had a bad feeling about this place since Lillianna came home her first week of school this year with this ridiculous note to sign. I think common sense is lost in this school.

How would you feel if this happened to your child?

Don't blame me!

Rich called me at work on Sunday to ask where I put the laundry card. In our apartment complex we have cards to run the washer and dryer. I had just put $15 on our card so I was aggravated when Rich asked this question especially since I was having a very stressful day. My fingers were so swollen I had to remove my rings. I was convinced my blood pressure was up and I was scared. Going to the ER at work would've meant losing a day's pay and sitting in the ER for hours. I didn't want to do that. I tried to put it out of my mind but thinking that I could have a stroke at any minute was rather nerve racking..

So there I was,all stressed and frazzled and Rich was freaking out about the laundry card and saying that I was the last to use it. Just what I needed! Now we've lost $15 and we still have a huge pile of dirty laundry. I could only to talk to him for 2 seconds because my head was splitting and we said good-bye.

When I came home at 4:45pm Rich met me downstairs to carry up the groceries. Sheepishly he said,"Uhm,I found the laundry card." I asked him where he had found it. "Let's just say I found it and leave it at that." Hell no!!! I wanted to know more and I told him he had to tell me. "Well..... it was in the shirt pocket of the shirt I was wearing," he looked down at his feet and said,"Sorry,honey." I burst out laughing.
I just knew it wasn't my fault!!!!!

Do you apologize after you have wrongly accused your spouse?

Our first taco night

Tonight is going to be our very first taco night. Why have we waited so long? Well,Lillianna doesn't eat meat and Rich doesn't eat anything spicey so I have never suggested it. What would be the point?

The other night Rich told me a story about Lillianna and a friend who were talking about tacos and Lillianna declared that if she were to actually eat a taco it would contain lettuce,cheese and shredded carrots.I thought,"Hmmmm....I could do that! Too bad Rich wouldn't eat it." Rich said he would eat tacos if I didn't add the spicey flavor. I was overjoyed!!

I will make Lillianna her veggie taco,Rich can have his taco without seasoning and I will get a yummy taco with everything.
We'll all get what we want.

How do you like your tacos?

A WHAT is in your eye?

Ok people,I am getting sick of this! Let's define a couple of things here.

Pigsty:
n. pl. pig sties
1.A shelter where pigs are kept.
2. Slang. A dirty or very untidy place.

Stye:
Main Entry: sty
Variant: or stye
Function: noun
Inflected Form: plural sties or styes
: an inflamed swelling of a sebaceous gland at the margin of an eyelid called also hordeolum


I want to make sure everyone knows the difference between the two words. Pigsty is a home for pigs and a stye is a swollen gland on the eyelid. They are clearly two very different things. So unless you happen to have pigs running around your eyelid,please do not call your eye doctor and
complain of having a pigsty in your eye. Because if you do have a pigsty in your eye,you have some serious problems!!

Do you know the difference between a pigsty and a stye?

Police car panic!

As I was driving to work at 7:15am this morning,I noticed a police car driving behind me. He didn't have his lights on and I couldn't imagine that he was going to pull me over for anything because I wasn't doing anything wrong. However, I still sat up straighter(no slouching!),checked my speed (of course I was going the speed limit!!),checked my inspection sticker(I just got it in November)and held my breath.
Two seconds later he turned down a side street.

Now why does that make me nervous every single time?
Realistically I know that the police have to drive their cars on public roads so chances are I will be seeing them on a regular basis. It's just when they are right behind me that I feel all worried and frazzled.

Does this ever happen to you?

Crazy phone calls

One day,several years ago,I had a dilemma at work.I decided to call Rich at his work to solve my problem.This was back in the day when he had a cell phone but only turned it on as he was driving home from work. Of course now we both have phones and if I need to talk to him I just call his cell. Back then I had to actually go through the main number,be transfered to his department and then someone had to find him to take my call. I rarely called Rich at work so he was quite anxious as he answered the phone huffing and puffing.

Rich:(breathless) Hello?
Me:(cheerfully) Hi,honey!
Rich:(hesitantly)What's wrong?
Me: What was the name of the fort on F-Troop?
Rich: Fort Courage.
Me:(excited!!) Oh ya....Fort Courage. Thanks!
Rich:(clearly confused) That's what you called me for?
Me: Uhm....ya.We were talking at work and none of us could think of the name of that fort.I knew you would know so I decided to call you.Thanks for your help.Love you!!
Rich:Uhm...Ok....love you.

Since that call,Rich has teased me about it many times.It hasn't stopped me from calling him with crazy trivia questions,though,over the years.
The other day Rich called me at home.I had already spoken to him earlier so this call made me nervous.

Rich:(chewing)So,I'm eating lunch....
Me:(interrupting) What's wrong??
Rich:So,I'm eating lunch.....
(I decided to sit down while I listened so that I could brace myself for whatever he was going to tell me.)
Me:(trying to hurry him up so I could hear the news quickly) What happened?
Rich:(still chewing) So I am eating low-carb pita right?
Me:(wondering what the heck that had to do with anything)Yes,it's low-carb.
Rich:How many grams of carbs are in this?
Me:(still not understanding where this conversation is going) 10 grams.
Rich:Cuz Kevin has low-carb pita that only has 5 grams.
Me:(finally realizing his emergency was just like my F-Troop emergency.) You called me about the pita???
Rich:Well,ya!!

Do you and your spouse call each other for funny questions like this??

Keeping my daughter safe

Do you talk to your children about sexual predators and how to keep themselves safe?
You can read today's post at DotMoms.

If you're not in the movie then stop saying the lines!!

I want to start off by saying I love Rich and Lillianna more than anything else in the world. That being said,they are two peas in a pod and they have the ability to drive me insane!!!!

When Rich and I first got together 11 years ago,I realized he had an amazing memory. He could watch a movie once and then recite many of the lines when it was over. But it never ended there.If we ever watch a movie that he has already seen,he talks along with the actors.It was cute at first but then it annoyed me!
Goodfellas is a nightmare to watch with him.The movie is long and I beg Rich not to talk along with it.Sometimes he takes a break and actually lets me enjoy it. Well, as much as I am able to enjoy a movie about the mafia.

Lillianna has her Daddy's special talent for remembering movies too. Last week I took her to see ARE WE THERE YET? As we drove out of the theater parking lot,Lillianna was already quoting the movie. "Here we go," I thought. I have listened to her recite her favorite lines all week!

This morning I went into work a little later than usual.I wasn't acutally on the schedule but I had planned to go in anyway. As I raced around doing last minute things,Rich and Lillianna sat side by side on the couch watching WILLY WONKA AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY. The two of them talked right along with the movie. When it came time for each child to get an everlasting gobbstopper,Rich actually made the noise the machine makes. I was impressed and annoyed. I laughed and said,"I can't wait to get out of this house! You're driving me nuts!!"
I left them singing the oompa loompa song when Violet is being rolled down to the juicer to be squeezed.It was a relief to go to work.

Do you know anyone with the talent to memorize an entire movie? Does it drive you insane?

I got my refund!

After last night's little computer fiasco,I wasn't sure if I would get my $40 back.
I just called the corporate office and explained the situation and without hesitation I was told my account would be credited! Yay for me!!

Stars without make-up

If I hear one more commercial for this show I am going to scream so loud you will hear me,no matter where you may be!!
This show is going to give us a glimpse of famous people without make-up! Oh my! How exciting! So, like,you know,without make-up these glamorous people will look like hags? This is definitely good tv viewing to be sure.

Is this the best the tv industry can do? Who doesn't know women look frazzled and blotchy without make-up? If I had a personal make-up artist I could look glamorous too. I look half way decent when I do my own make-up and I look worse without any on at all. Do I need a tv show to give me this information? Big deal.

Are we so insecure that we need to look at these actresses without their make-up,point our fingers and laugh because they are just regular people? Is that what it takes to boost our own ego?
I,for one,will not be watching this ridiculous show.

How about you?

Sometimes "thank you" breaks my heart

I love a polite child.I feel that if a child is rude it's because the parents haven't taught their child the correct behavior and in my mind there is no excuse for that. Oh,I know kids slip up now and then and that is perfectly normal but you know what I mean. That being said,there are times when I feel Lillianna is too polite.

Yesterday,Lillianna wanted home-made soup for lunch. She is keeping a food diary because we suspect she might be lactose intolerant and we are trying to see if there is a pattern. She handed me a bag of noodles and asked if I could make some soup. It wasn't my wonderful soup where the broth is actually made from a chicken. It was canned broth with some carrots thrown in for texture and then some noodles were added. I set the bowl on the table and Lillianna said,"Thanks for making me lunch,Mom.I love you."
Maybe I am too sensitive but that always makes me cry.I am happy she is polite but to thank me for just feeding her breaks my heart. As if I wouldn't feed her?

This past weekend Lillianna had a swimming pool birthday party at the local Y.M.C.A (no singing,please!)There was pizza and cake first then swimming. Before the pizza was even served,Lillianna ran over to me and whispered,"I have to go to the bathroom." Unfortunately the one and only bathroom that was open was way on the other side of the building. We walked as fast as we could.Lillianna hugged me and said,"Thank you for taking me to the bathroom,Mom." I laughed and said,"You're welcome but you don't have to thank me. I am your mother and it's my pleasure to take you to the bathroom." She had to make 2 more trips before she even ate her pizza.Each one was followed by a thank you and an apology. "I'm so sorry I have to keep going to the bathroom,Mom." This kills me because I have never ever been mad that she has had to go to the bathroom in her entire life! I am always there for her in every way and I wonder why she feels the need to apologize for something like this.

Do your children thank you for everything you do? Do they apologize for things but you don't know why?

Does anyone speak English anymore?

At 9:00pm I decided to check my email before American Idol came on. When I clicked on internet explorer,my Comcast page couldn't be displayed. I immediately called Comcast who told me my memory card had somehow been erased and I had to call Hewlett Packard to have them walk me through reinstalling it. Do I hear a WTF????? I decided to wait until after AI was over. At 10:00pm I made the next call.

My already pounding head began to throb even more.I spoke to a non English speaking person for 30 minutes. I still don't know if this person was male or female. There was no way to tell. He kept repeating the same things to me: What model is computer?
What Window you use? How old computer? Is under warranty? What serial number?
Ok for this one,Rich had to crawl under the computer desk,pull out the hard drive (?),turn it around which was no easy task since the wires and cables don't leave much room for pulling and then read the serial number with a flashlight.
Finally,after telling me this would be a $40 charge and giving my VISA number, I was transfered to the tech who could help me.

Just then my cordless beeped and I knew it was going dead. I grabbed the non-cordless phone and waited 5 minutes until another non-English speaking person picked up. I could barely understand him at all. Rich stayed on that phone while I picked up the cordless again and tried to follow the tech's instructions. A minute later my phone went completely dead and Rich proceded to yell instructions to me from the dining room. The tech said to unscrew the cable from the modem. Rich came to do it since I must have been too weak for this.

The tech had put us on hold but we had questions. Rich yelled out,"What's this white cord for?" How the hell do I know? I don't know how to hook up a computer. I waited another minute,then hung up.Rich restarted the computer and voila! it was fine. Somehow this cord became disconnected.I am calling HP back in the morning!

Since the tech never did anything for me, can I get my $40 back?

Don't get the steak and cheese bagel

Ok, I know Dunkin' Donuts is no steak house but somehow I believed that this luscious steak,egg and cheese bagel sandwich they advertised on t.v. was a winner. I ordered it last week on my way to work and it sure smelled good. I took one bite and almost gagged.Steak is not supposed to be spongy!! What the hell was this abomination they were boldly passing off as "steak?" I opened my sandwich hesitantly and tried not to pass out. I couldn't have been more shocked if I saw a human head in there! The steak was like salisbury steak....all squishy and wiggly! I pulled the offensive meat off of my breakfast and tossed it in the trash with disgust!!

Have you ever eaten this stomach churning morning meal? If so,how did you survive it?

What a bunch of losers

A chat about husbands prompted me to think about the losers I dated before I met Rich. I suppose in hindsight,the stories are kind of funny but believe me,while I was going through it I was less than amused!

Alan: I met Alan in Israel. I was 23.He was 19. I guess I've always had a thing for younger guys.He was blonde,cute and had a sexy English accent.He was also a wild child and I was a sweet and innocent flower.We lived together for 3 months which in "real life" as we called the world outside the kibbutz, would've been the equivalent of 3 years! At some point I suspected he was cheating on me so I confronted him.

His most memorable line was:"But I couldn't enjoy it because I knew you'd kill me if you found out!" Ah,poor boy!! My heart just broke for him,you know?
*************************************************************************************

Ari: My other love affair in Israel. Ari was the typical Israeli guy:opinionated,arrogant and condescending. We dated for 5 months.I was thin when I dated him but somehow he thought I was fat.He kept telling me I was gaining weight.
I stood in front of him with my hands of my hips (arms akimbo if you read romance novels...they always say that instead of hands on hips.Don't ask me why!)and I demanded he point out where this supposed fat was. He looked at me and said,"I do not know where......I just know it is there!"

His most memorable line was,"There was a man selling roses on my way to see you.I thought of buying some for you. But I didn't!" If you're going to be a thoughtless clod,keep it to yourself. Why hurt my feelings?????
*************************************************************************************

Rick: This was a really sad and pathetic story.My mom actually met him on a plane and she told him all about me. She gave him my phone number and one year later he called me! Ya,one year!!!! He called me at work. At that time I worked for an optical shop. He said he wanted to take me out after work for ice cream. He was one hour late. We went out and he was nice. He happened to mention that while in Boston where he worked,he saw one of our other offices and looked in the window where he saw an awesome eyeglass frame. Long story short:he used me to get a discount on glasses! That was our one and only date. After he picked up his glasses,I never heard from him again.
No memorable line! We only had that one date!!
*************************************************************************************

Brent: He was basically an experiment. I wanted to know if I could have a relationship with a guy I didn't actually love.Ya,well,I could but it wasn't very fun.I was 26 and he was 33.I should've known I was dating a loser when he admitted that his mom told him,"I pity the woman who marries you!" If your own mother thinks you're a dip-sh**,you pretty much are!!

His most memorable line was:"You should have a bag packed with a change of clothes at all times in case I want you to stay overnight!" (Ya,get real!)
*************************************************************************************

Brian: Ah,Brian. He was my biggest disappointment.We were both 30. We dated for a couple of months and had so much fun. I had never laughed so much in all my life.We liked all the same things. He was Jewish. Our families were similar.We just seemed to be going in the right direction.
After one particularly fun date I invited him to my sister's high school graduation party that we were having at our house in 2 weeks.He was going away on business but he'd be back in time. He said he wouldn't miss it. He never showed up.After 3 Pearl Harbors I got the nerve to call him. Yay,alcohol! After much hemming and hawing about why he didn't show up he finally said I was too easy to be with.Why couldn't he just tell the truth? This was clearly a lie!
His most memorable line was: I'm glad you called because I realized, in order to be happy,I really need a woman who plays golf."
*************************************************************************************

Stu: I was just about to end this post when I realized I forgot to add this psychotic moron to the mix. Wow,I must be good at repressing bad memories! Stu was the ugliest human I ever dated. My dear sweet mother fixed me up with him. She bumped into his parents who she knew from days gone by and next thing you know,I had a blind date with this guy!! When I met him,I was wishing my eye sight wasn't as good as it was. Eeeegads! What a mess! His teeth were all crammed into his ugly face.
I dated him for a month or two (no kissing,no nothing!!)and he played such head games. For such a loser he thought he was quite a catch! *gag* Why did I continue to date him? Sheer boredom,that's why!
I was really sick and tired of him and I knew this relationship,if you could be so bold as to call what we had a relationship,was heading nowhere. Who would want it to?
I asked him what the hell he wanted from me.

His most memorable line: "Just help me move into my new condo and then this can be over."
*************************************************************************************

After surviving all these unbelievably horrific relationships, I finally got my reward and met Rich. I suppose you can't appreciate a great guy until you date a lot of bad guys but I think I had more than my fair share. Thankfully,Rich was everything and more that these losers were not! I finally got my reward!

What is the worst romantic relationship you ever had?

Young love

You can read today's post at DotMoms.

The vanishing head-set

The other day I wrote that I had lost something. Well what I didn't want to say was that the "something" was a head-set for my cell phone that Kara bought me for Chanukah. I remember stuffing it into my pocket book as I got out of the car Thursday night after work.I haven't seen it since.

Since that time,I have pulled my car apart twice but I couldn't find it anywhere.I was really mad and frustrated because I knew Kara would be upset if I told her and plus, I love that head-set! Today I took another look in my car and still no head-set.

I went upstairs and made ice cream cone cupcakes for Lillianna.I will make walnut brownies for Rich after Lillianna's Brownie troop meeting. I wanted to make them something delicious for a Valentine's Day surprise. At 2:10pm I opened the back door of my car to put a tub of chocolate frosting in Lillianna's booster seat. That way she would know something was going on but not exactly what. I took one last look for my head-set and.....there it was! It was out in the open in between the front and back seat. I know it wasn't there the other 3 times I looked.{Now that I have found it,Rich wanted me to apologize for being in a grumpy mood the other night and taking it out on him so....Sorry Rich!!}

I hugged the head-set,looked up to the sky and said,"thank you." When I started the car, the radio came on and "Cross My Heart" by George Strait was playing. That was our wedding song! Hmmmm, someone was trying to tell me something. When I called Rich on his cell phone to tell him,all he said was,"And you're surprised?"
I don't know who is responsible for returning the head-set to me,but I am grateful that we always have help from "beyond."

Has this ever happened to you?

Mix it up?

This morning I made Rich a sandwich to bring for lunch.He's pretty much a potato chip kind of guy but I asked him if he would like tortilla chips with his lunch instead of potato chips. He said,"Ya,mix it up." I grabbed a Ziploc bag and threw in some tortilla chips and then some of his favorite potato chips. I left everything on the counter for him to pack and I went in our bedroom to check my email.

A few minutes later,Rich entered the bedroom holding the bag of chips.
"What kind of chips are these?"he asked curiously.
"Tortilla chips and potato chips,"I replied.
He gave me his head shake and squinty eye look that asks,"Why?"as he held out the offensive bag for me to look at.
"Well, you said to mix it up so I did;a little bit of tortilla chips and a little bit of potato chips." I looked at him wondering what the heck his problem was.
"When I said mix it up I meant ya,change it up.I'll have tortilla chips instead of potato chips today. I didn't mean mix them up together."

He left the room with a huff and a puff and an eye roll. I heard him changing the chips around before he packed his lunch up.Once again I marveled at the realization that Rich and I speak a totally different language.

What would you have done if you were in my situation? What would you think mix it up meant?

I wouldn't have picked me for a wife

I guess there are days when I am not sure why Rich married me. I hate cleaning. I do the basics because I would hate to have our apartment condemned by The Board of Health. Do they condemn apartments or only houses? Would I just be evicted by the rental office? Anyway,right now the t.v. in our bedroom has close to 5 inches of dust on it. I occasionally blow on the screen to clear it and that seems to work until I can find the energy to actually dust it. I wonder when that will be.

I also hate to cook. I mean, I do cook but I don't enjoy it. There are only a few meals that all three of us will eat so it just isn't fun to prepare a meal.Luckily Rich isn't fussy. Worst case scenario,he will pour himself a big bowl of cereal and happily munch on that for dinner. On the nights that I am home,I do provide some type of proper meal,even if it is only hotdogs or BLTs.

Last night I came home from work tired and grumpy and if I had a cat I probably would've kicked it.(No hateful comments from animal lovers,please.It's just a figure of speech!) Instead I yelled at Rich because *I* lost something and couldn't find it! Rationally I know he had nothing to do with it but his lack of hysteria over my lost object was pissing me off. I was fueled with fury and his response was,"Well,if it's lost,it's lost." UGH!!!!!!! It can't be lost!!!!!!! That was the whole point!!! I have to find it!

Rich realized my nerves were frazzled beyond belief so he told me to lie on the couch while he rubbed my feet. It was hard to focus my anger on him while he was trying to make me feel better. It's a nice trick and it worked. He's clever like that. Don't get me wrong,Rich is not perfect (sorry honey!) but he doesn't get as grumpy and irrational as I do at times. Since he clearly didn't marry me for my cleaning skills or cooking ability and most definitely not my even tempered personality,I wonder why the heck he did marry me.

Are you a good spouse?

Spell check is stupid!

I am really getting sick of spell check. It doesn't know a darn thing. When I wrote my last post I decided to check the spelling which I almost never do because,basically,spell check can't spell!! Even when I ask it to "learn" a word,it doesn't retain that information for the next time.

So listen up you moronic spell check,Kristy is the name of my very dear friend.I am sorry you can not readily recognize this name when I write it but do not, I repeat, do not offer me crusty as a substitution!!She is not crusty!!!! Her name is Kristy....K-R-I-S-T-Y!! Get it right next time!!

A very unpleasant dream

Last night I had a very frightening dream.I was back home in the house that I grew up in and my friend Kristy and I were standing in the living room. One of her cats was outside on the lawn and we were looking outside from the bay window.Suddenly,an enormous snake,I mean HUGE,came out from underneath the grass. The ground was breaking apart to let the snake come out. I was horrified.I called for Rich to hurry up and come see this.I was in a panic!He never left the kitchen where he was just standing.

Then I noticed that the snake was looking at Kristy's cat who was now playing with a neighbor's cat.
The snake gobbled up Kristy's cat and then the other cat jumped out of the way and ran across the street to it's house.When it got there,it jumped about 10 feet in the air and it's owner caught it. Then the snake looked at my house.
Horrified,I noticed a huge gap in the side of the front door and before I could get there to close the door,the snake was coming through!!

I ran to my old bedroom and locked the door and forced myself to wake up.I got up,went to the bathroom and tried to go back to sleep. Every time I fell asleep,the dream picked up where I left off! It took about an hour to make the snake stop bothering me in my dream.

I decided to check out dream interpretation online and looked up snake,cat and running since I ran into my room. I am not sure how accurate this is but here's what I found.


Snake
1. An ancient symbol of transmutation. The dreamer will soon undergo a vast inner change that will be reflected in her outer life. If the dream is a positive and uplifting one, then good times are ahead. If the dream is a scary one, the times ahead may still be good ones, but the dreamer needs to be very careful of pitfalls along the way.
2. An even more ancient symbol for the Great Goddess. If the dreamer is a woman, then she will soon come into realization of her power as a woman. If the dreamer is a man, especially if he is single, a very powerful and exciting woman will soon come into his life - though she may not be a potential love partner.
Astrological parallels: Scorpio, Pluto.
Tarot parallels: The Tower, The Empress.

Cat
1. Love, loyalty, beauty.
2. Fierce defense of loved ones or pursuit of something desperately desired.
3. Royalty; godliness; a keeper of hidden knowledge.
Astrological parallels: Venus, Taurus.

Running (away from something)
Something in the dreamer's life is difficult to face, and the dreamer would rather run away from it than face it. If such a situation is not readily recognized by the dreamer, looking to the other symbols in the dream should give the answer.
Astrological parallel: Pisces.


Ok, so what is this all about?I have been putting off a dream because,damn it,I am afraid I might fail. Ya,ya,how can I succeed if I don't try? Don't think that thought hasn't crossed my mind a million times. I have written a few childrens' books and I have been afraid to send them to a publisher since I am terrified of rejection.Suzanne said she is rejected lots of times but it doesn't bother her anymore.How can it not bother her? I would be crying in a box of tissues with each rejection letter. What if I'm not thick skinned enough for this?

I know I have to put my fears aside and get my ideas out there because maybe,just maybe I could be a published author one of these days. I always encourage people to follow their dreams. I suppose it's only fair that I take my own advice.

How do you overcome your fears?

Prince Charles and Camilla.....what a joke!

Come on now! Charles is marrying the woman he was cheating on Diana with and the world is giving him a thumbs up? I don't buy it. William and Harry are happy for their father? Why? He is a lying,cheating,back stabbing piece of royal rubbish. If he loved Camilla he should've married her before he married Diana. If Camilla had really and truly loved Charles she would've waited for him,not married the first man with 2 last names who walked her way.

My Dad and his friends used to have an expression for morons. They would've called Charles "a shmock with ear flaps!" Yup, that name seems to fit.
I was a huge Diana admirer and I think Camilla is a hag and I am happy she will never be loved as much as Diana was and always will be.

Do you have any opinion on the upcoming royal nuptials?

BLTs are more complicated than you think

The other night I was feeling lazy so I figured I would whip up some BLTs for dinner. Lillianna is a fussy eater but she has been trying new foods lately. She agreed to try it so that the three of us could eat the same meal for once.
While I fixed our meal I realized that for a sandwich with just 3 ingredients (4 if you count the mayo)it was rather complicated. There were so many ways to eat it.

Rich likes his sandwich with a little lettuce,2 slices of tomato and lots of bacon, no mayonnaise! Lillianna decided that she preferred a BL with lots of lettuce,a little bit of bacon,no tomato and no mayonnaise.I gag at the thought of no mayonnaise. I would rather lick the desert.Wouldn't it be the same thing?
I like my BLT with lots of lettuce,2 slices of bacon,2 fat slices of tomato and tons of mayo on each piece of toast.

How do you like your BLT?

My birthday surprise

My Mom has missed by birthday many times due to being in Florida.I wasn't surprised a few weeks ago when she said she'd be coming home on February 10th for a 10 day visit. Ahhh,so close. She would arrive one day after my birthday.
"I tried to get home for the 9th but there were no available flights,"she explained.
I just sighed. I should be used to it by now.

On a Sunday in January 1981,I arrived home at 7:30pm to find my friends yelling, "Surprise!!!!" I was stunned. My Mom ran across the living room to hug me. "Are you surprised?" she asked breathlessly. "Uhm,ya,since my birthday is in FEBRUARY!" I laughed. Mom explained,"But I'll be in Florida on your birthday so I threw the party now." Yup,that sure surprised me.

As of February 8th,my birthday plans consisted of me,Rich and Lillianna going out for Chinese food and then home to have strawberry whipped cream cake which I make every year. Kara said it was too "rushy" to come all this way after work and my friends Kristy and Jerry are in a group that meets every Wednesday night so they couldn't make it. I wasn't mad at anyone but I was disappointed.

Yesterday morning at 6:30am the phone rang. I figured it was someone wishing me a happy birthday and knowing I had to leave for work before 7am. It was Mom. She was at the airport in Florida and waiting for her flight. She would be home by 11am. Due to the snow storm warnings she changed her flight!Yay! My Mom would be here for my birthday! Suddenly I changed my plans.

As it turned out,after work I went to Kristy's house and we had lunch. She surprised me with cake and a plant.We had a lovely time chatting together.At dinner time I picked up Chinese food and brought it to my Mom's house and Kara met us there.We were together for my birthday after all! It was wonderful.

It's funny because the snow ended up being just rain.The warning was a false alarm but it got my Mom home for my birthday. I wonder if my Dad had a hand in this? If so, thanks,Daddy!! I got just what I wanted for my birthday this year!! My whole family was together.

What do you like to do on your birthday?

I'm getting 8-16 inches on my birthday!

Well it's that time of year again. Tomorrow,February 9th is my birthday which means I can expect snow! Sometimes it's only a flurry,other times it's a full blown blizzrd. My 15th birthday was The Blizzard of '78. We were house bound for a week. My sister,Kara was 4 years old and the snow drift in front of our house was way over her head.

In 1986,I celebrated my 23rd birthday in Israel. A week before,I warned everyone that it would snow on my birthday.Everyone laughed at me. "Robin,you are in Israel. It does not snow here,"all my Israeli friends explained to me.
"Yes,I know where I am but I always have snow on my birthday. As far back as I can remember it has always snowed for me!" No one believed me.

On the morning of my birthday,from 8:00am-8:15am there was a sudden hail storm. Everyone was surprised. Some of the teenage children said they had never seen hail before. I stood outside and laughed as the hail stones bounced around me. Maybe it didn't snow where I was but I felt like G-d wanted to wish me a happy birthday so he made it hail.

The weather forecast is saying that snow will begin tomorrow night and continue through to Friday. The prediction is 8-16 inches.When we heard that on the news this morning,Rich asked,"Does snow just follow you on your birthday?" All I could say was, "Yes it does!"

Honeybells

Yesterday,my mailman rang my bell and told me I had a package. When I got downstairs he said,"Looks like someone sent you some fruit." I was thrilled. I had never received fruit before. It was from Mom. I brought the box upstairs and Lillianna and I opened it.(She was home sick from school.)

The box contained beautiful orange honeybells. I had never heard of honeybells but we love oranges so I peeled one for Lillianna. It was like trying to peel orange juice. The juice dripped all over my hand and the kitchen counter. Lillianna managed to eat what was left of the fruit although she would've gotten more vitamin c if she had just licked the counter.I learned that slicing the honeybells instead of peeling them worked out much better.

These honeybells are simply delicious. They are only around in the month of January,so once they are gone,I have to wait until next year. I hope Mom sends them again. I am going to miss these delectable fruits. If you have never had the pleasure of eating a honeybell,I suggest you try one. Your life will never be the same.
Have you ever had a honeybell?

Me and my big jug!

I try to bring my 48 ounce water jug with me whenever I go to work. Sometimes people laugh when they see me walking down the hall carrying this thing.More than once I have heard the comment,"Is that the water supply for the whole office?" I try to drink at least 2 of these a day but you do have to figure in that I fill it with ice cubes and they take up a lot of space. What can I say? I love water. For me,it's the only true thirst quencher. On the rare occasion when I drink soda,I usually need a glass of water to chase it down.

This morning I heard a local doctor on a talk show say that it is very important to stay hydrated,especially in the winter.When your nasal passages become dry,you become sick. I hate when that happens so I was proud of my daily intake of water.
Then she said, to determine how much water you should be drinking,divide your weight in half. If you weigh 120 pounds then you should be drinking 60 ounces of water per day!

I have no intention of revealing my weight to anyone but let me just say this,
I AM NOT DRINKING ENOUGH WATER!!!!

How much water do you drink every day?

It's not a crime to be addicted

We all have our obsessions:some more than others. Some people drink alcohol excessively. I can't do that because after 2 drinks,I am asleep. Some people over eat. Ya,ok,I guess we know I have to confess to that one. Others gamble with money they need to pay their bills. I have never done that. I'm too responsible for that one.
So what is my addiction?
Lean in closer and I will whisper it to you....closer....closer....ok,I am totally addicted to Build-A-Bear Workshop(BABW).

Last year I took Lillianna to BABW and she built a dog that she named Kayleigh.Since we live in an apartment,Kayleigh is the best dog for our family.She never barks after hours and she doesn't shed at all.

There are so many outfits and accessories to choose from at BABW. I love them all, I mean Lillianna loves them all. Ya, that's what I meant.I let her pick out 2 new outfits last week:a diva outfit complete with headset and a red and white cheerleading outfit with pennant,megaphone and matching bows for Kayleigh's ears.Then I fell in love with a pink furry dog bed that I had to buy. Lillianna thinks she talked me into it but I didn't need much coaxing.

Friday I was shopping with my friend, Cheryl and we ended up at The Plaza which is the BABW that we go to. I had to go in and buy Kayleigh a Brownie Uniform to match Lillianna's Brownie sash. She was so surprised when she saw Kayleigh sitting in the back seat of the car wearing her Brownie uniform when I picked her up at school.

I just love Build-A-Bear. Have you taken your kids there yet?

The surprise in my mailbox

Ok, well I knew it was on it's way to me but I was still surprised when I opened my mailbox and there it was; a little package.Suzanne McMinn is a romance author but she is also a writer for DotMoms. We had been emailing back and forth and I ended up going to her website and reading the first chapter of HER MAN TO REMEMBER. I loved it! Who doesn't like a good Silhouette romance book? I just enjoyed her writing,descriptive without being so boring I had to skip around for dialogue because I was falling asleep. I hate those kind of books but we have all read them.

I remember reading a book one time and for 3 pages the author decribed the scene. After one paragraph, I got it!I had been in the woods before. I knew what that entailed. I didn't need a description of each rock,flower and babbling brook. I have an imagination. Let me use it! The next few pages I had to skim over because my eyes began to roll in my head. Thank goodness, Suzanne doesn't write boring crap like that!

So, a few days ago, Suzanne said she had an extra book that she would send me. I was absolutely thrilled!! This wonderful book was my surprise today. Best of all, she autographed it! I wanted to ask her to autograph it but I didn't want to be a pain. I was happy just to have the book.What a great surprise for me especially since my day hadn't been too fantastic up to that point.

Go check out Suzanne's website by clicking on the links above and read the first chapter of HER MAN TO REMEMBER.

Thank you Suzanne!

Speak up and be heard

Today's post is over at DotMoms.

Punxsutawney Phil.....whatever!

Ok, let me get this straight....college educated meteorologists predict the weather incorrectly on a daily basis but a furry groundhog without any type of formal education is going to accurately predict if we have 6 more weeks of winter?
How is this possible? They're just guessing that he saw his shadow. Did you actually hear him say those words? Even if he did,what the heck does that mean? I see my shadow all the time. Why aren't I famous?

If we do have 6 more weeks of winter I am pretty sure it's cuz we live in Massachusetts.It's pretty darn wintery here. I don't think it's because of good old Punxsutawney Phil!!

Do you?

Being grateful for whatever they do

I kind of left the house in a huff this morning. It's no secret I don't like working on Tuesday and Wednesday mornings,but today I was even more frustrated with the early morning rushing around.I was running late and Lillianna had finally let me do her hair after the daily struggle with snarls. I gave Rich the 5 minute warning as he lay in bed,"I'm outta here. You have to get up," I told him. Rich staggered out of bed,dazed and confused.

I looked around the living room. Lillianna's Yu-Gi-Oh cards had been sitting on the living room rug for 3 days.Oh sure I had asked her to pick them up since Sunday but she always responded with, "I'm still playing with them,Mom." I'm no neat freak so I let it slide. This morning I told Lillianna that anything of hers that she didn't put away would be thrown out when I got home. I told Rich and Lillianna that I expected both beds to made too. I said good-bye and off to work I went.

When I got home at 1:00pm I checked the rooms. The living room was free of Lillianna's cards and pajamas and she had made her bed. It was a little bumpy,(I suspect there is a pair of socks under her blankets) but she did much better than Rich.When I saw our bed I had to laugh. He put the comforter on sideways! The green border is hanging off of my side instead of at the top with the pillows.
I'll just keep my mouth zipped and be grateful they both did what I asked.

Do you get upset when your spouse or children don't clean the way you do?

My mom is on vacation

In case it's not bad enough that my mom lives in Florida for 6 months, now she is on a vacation from her vacation. Mom and John are on a cruise and they won't be home until Saturday. For those of you asking, "So what?" you have to understand that my sister,Kara and I talk to our mom between one and three times a day. It depends what is going on. Lillianna called my mother during her week off from school (5 snow days!)because she wanted to watch THE PRICE IS RIGHT with her Nana! Thank goodness for my long distance calling plan.

Today Kara called me on my way home from work.She complained how much she misses mom and I agreed. It's weird not talking to her every day. She is probably glad for a break from us since she worries about everything. The snow storm here caused her to worry because Kara and I had to get to work. The cruise will do her good but Kara and I can't wait to talk to her on Saturday.

When I got into the apartment I went through the mail. There was an early birthday card from Mom just when I was missing her the most. The card made me cry and I thought about leaving a teary message on her answering machine but with my luck,she'll think something bad happened and she'll panic!

She will be in Massachusetts in 9 days for a 10 day visit.We are very excited for this visit. It will be hard to say good-bye when she has to leave but that will mean she will be home 2 months later. I can deal with 2 months.....I think.

Are you close to your parents?