Guessing Game

Here is the game. Below, I have listed 10 words or phrases that my child uses around our house. They may look like another word, but I have just written them phonetically, for those of you that don’t spell well anyway. First person to guess all ten words correctly wins!

Edited - Jan. 2 - Melinda wins with 9 correct! The red is what little man means!
1. opum - open
2. cuck - truck
3. shashite - flashlight
4. hork - fork
5. boops - boots
6. muboo - I love you!
7. boolan - balloon
8. peeses - PIZZA
9. kickin - chicken
10. tattoo - Thank You!

Wins what, I haven’t decided, probably bragging rights that you can understand the babblings of a toddler! Happy guessing!

Great job to the mommy that doesn't have a talking toddler yet, but understands that babblings of this one, and to the aunt that little man calls for whenever you ask him who's at the door!

Frrrozen Hot Chocolate

Get this...
My sister is in New York City with my parents for Christmas, and she just called me and asked me to look up an address on the Internet for her for a place to get hot chocolate.
Apparently, she remembers that in the movie Serendipity the main characters stopped in at a restaurant and had a big cup of hot chocolate, and she wants to go there too.
Coincidentally, the hot spot is also called Serendipity, and is on East 60th Street in New York. So, I relayed the address so that they could go get hot chocolate. Talk about some expensive brown water!
Then, while we're talking, she says, "Hey look, Mom! There's a Prada store across the street!"
Argh. I'm so jealous!

Kiss It

My child has reached the age where if he falls and starts to cry, I can ask him where it hurts and he'll show me. So, I started asking if I could kiss it and make it better, and he lets me. It's so cute, now, because he'll fall or hit something and then come straight to me and start holding out his arm or head or whatever hurts and he'll push it to my lips so that I can kiss it. It's so cute!
But now my question is this... I can kiss it and make it better for him, but who will kiss my hurts?
Today is Christmas eve, and for the first time in I can't count how long (since 8th grade) I won't be playing in the three Christmas Eve services at my parents' church. For me, that was the definition of Christmas. Now, here I sit in my pajamas, watching my child make a mess of my house, all by ourselves. It's depressing that I'm not with my family, and that I'm not helping make this beautiful music, and that my husband has to work. But, he'll be home tonight, and we'll start our first tradition with Micheal tomorrow morning, and I am excited about that.

And before I forget... Happy Birthday to my little brother, who turns 18 TODAY! I can't believe he's that old, because that means I'm old, too!

Merry Christmas!

I'm Gonna Say it Anyway!

This year, the world has hit a new low. Retail stores and commercials everywhere, and even my favorite daytime TV shows have eliminated using the phrase Merry Christmas, and now have to either say Happy Holidays or say nothing at all. The worst part is that most of them have chosen the nothing at all option.
I have been upset by this all holiday season, and then I started looking around. At our faculty Christmas luncheon, or any faculty get-together that involves food, our superintendent freely says a blessing for the food, and allows us to freely express our Christianity by saying Merry Christmas. We went to my husband's "company" Christmas party the other night, and we opened with a prayer and the "forbidden phrase" abounded everywhere! And these are city employees! :) Then, I went into Hobby Lobby, and heard Christmas carols instead of the usual Christian music, and I was not offended. It was refreshing to be able to hear carols instead of being offended by people that DON'T want to hear them. This is the holiday season, so celebrate it!
So, I have decided that this year's politically correctness will not apply to me, and I will continue to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and a Blessed New Year, and I will not be ashamed.
I'm not saying that those people who would like to celebrate their own holiday can not, because just this morning I watched a commercial about Hannukah, and I wouldn't be surprised to see one about Kwanzah, either. Let those who believe celebrate, and those who don't can keep their X. But I won't take the Christ out of my family's Christmas, and I hope that you don't either.

MERRY CHRISTMAS! MERRY CHRISTMAS!! MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

Guilty Pleasures

Before Melinda left town, I scouted out a few places where we could go for one last pedicure. Problem was, we both ran out of time to do it together. So, for her, I went anyway. And since I felt bad that the establishment wasn't getting the double sale, I felt the need to get a little extra done to make up for the missing person. So, I got my nails done, too.
I grew up with my mother's fingernails. If they grow, they grow really pretty, and then all of a sudden, somehow each and every one of the nails that took a good couple of weeks to grow one or two at a time breaks off, usually below the nail line, and deep into the meat of my finger. I also have nails that are layered, and the top layer lifts off all the time. My husband says I need to drink more milk, but I know that I drink plenty of that(no matter what AS says about dairy), so I don't have that excuse. So, in order to combat that problem, I used to get my nails done all the time to keep them strong. That was before Micheal came along. Once he came along, there was no more time for such luxuries, and my nails got pushed to the back burner, just to get them growing, and then bend one and break it again.
My husband has his "habits" that cost a little bit of pocket change every month, and I didn't think it was fair that I had to quit mine. So, I asked, and he agreed.
My nails look good, and my feet feel good, and I have no guilt about dropping my child off at his babysitter's to play with other little boys while Mommy worked out and had a little "play" time.
Now I'll have to think of something to do tomorrow so he can go play with the boys again!
Or maybe we'll just stay home and play together again! :)

Everyone Else Did!

I decided to jump off the bridge along with everyone else.

Lately, all my blog friends have been changing their backgrounds, causing me to do a double-take when I click on my link and am used to seeing a certain color pop up. It really messes wih me when that's not what shows up. So, I decided today to do it, too!

Now I just have to figure out how to make things look kinda like they did before. Argh... Melinda helped me do it last time. I guess this time I've have to try it solo and see how good of a teacher she was.

Have a good day!

FYI or TMI

My Dearest Husband,

I try very hard to be the kind of wife you can be proud of, but this week, I don't think that's going to happen.
It's very cold outside, and our hot water heater isn't doing the job that it should be. When I take a shower, by the time I get to my legs, it is just too cold to even attempt anything.
So, until we get a new hot water heater, or until it's not so cold outside anymore, you can just forget about seeing my legs bare of hair, and instead be thankful that I at least used the razor for my underarms.

Lovingly yours,

Michelle :)

Emotional

Know how when you stay busy, you don't really pay attention to how you feel or think about what events lie ahead of you? Ever notice how when you don't want to think about it, that's the only thing on your mind?
All day Friday, I worried about getting my house clean and ready for my parents to come over. Saturday morning I worried about feeding people and getting everyone ready to leave the house on time. Then, I worried about making sure that my child didn't get loud enough to disrupt anyone else while watching their child or sister or other family member walk across a stage and receive the diploma they've been working so hard to get. Then, I worried about getting home and getting food ready for my family and all of my sister's friends. And it turned out well.
And then it was time for everyone to leave. Including my sister.
I hugged everyone, leaving her for last. The second I put my arms around her little neck, I couldn't breathe. My world stopped, and I realized that this was the last time I would hug my sister and not see her the next day. She tried to make me feel better by saying she'd see me in a couple days, but we both laughed because we knew it was just a joke. We've always been able to go at least a couple days without seeing each other, but I don't know how long these "couple days" will be. As they pulled away, we both had tears in our eyes, so I came back inside and just let them flow.
Ever notice how a really good cry seems to take away all your energy and momentum for the rest of the day?
And then the other side of the family came over for dinner and Christmas presents. Whoa... what a weekend.

To My Sister

Tomorrow, my sister will get the two degrees that she has been working towards for the past five years. I am so proud of her, and at the same time, am so heart-sick about it because I don't know what it's going to be like without her here. So, I wrote this for her, and thought I would share it with you.

To My Sister,
You are my family, you are my sister, you are my best friend.
You have yelled at me, cried with me, and laughed together afterward.
You understand my frustrations, and I don’t test your boundaries.
You support me, and I support you, even when we don’t necessarily agree.
As you step into the next chapter of your life, I thank you for sharing this chapter with me, and I want to remind you that no matter where you go, no matter what we do, no matter how far apart or close together we are,
You are my family, my sister, and my best friend.
Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow…


I love you!

Along with it, I gave her a ring that is three rings intertwined together to make one ring. Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow...

So, go to her site and congratulate her on a job well done! She deserves it!

"Easy"

Webster's dictionary defines easy as

1 a : causing or involving little difficulty or discomfort b : requiring or indicating little effort, thought, or reflection

I don't think that's true. I think the word "easy" is a relative term.

This is the main reason why I don't allow my students to say the word in my math classes. Certain aspects of mathematics are not as easy for some people as they are for others. So, if they insist on using that word, I make them amend it and say the phrase "easy for me."

This year, a group of teachers decided to repeat a fun thing from last year, and we're doing a cookie exchange. It's fun because you bring a certain amount of cookies, and then you go around and get some of everyone else's cookies, too, and you end up going home with the same amount of cookies you brought, but of all different varieties. The only non-easy part of this cookie exchange is that they said you couldn't bring the same cookies this year that you brought last year. Ugh.

Anyway, I remembered that one of my master's ladies had brought some cookies once that were to die for, so I asked her for the recipe. She started the description with how "easy" they were because there were only three ingredients that you needed. Oreos, cream cheese, and white almond bark. So far, so good, in my mind. Then she told me all I had to do was crush the Oreos, mix in the cream cheese, and dip in the melted bark. Sounds "easy" enough, but boy, was it NOT!

First, Kroger didn't have any regular Oreos, there were only Reduced Fat Oreos... weird. Then, there was only one package of the bark, even though she had told me that if I needed anything extra it would be the bark. Ugh. So, I started these "easy" cookies Tuesday night, so that if I needed more stuff, I could run and get it Wednesday afternoon, since we were exchanging our cookies today. Not only did I not have enough bark to dip them twice, it was barely enough to dip them once! And when we say "dip" that's not exactly the easiest way to do that. Oreo balls like to come apart if they haven't been in the refrigerator until the exact moment before you "dip" them. Argh.

So, two more packages of bark later, I finally have four dozen little Dirty Snowballs. They are really good, though, so I guess I'll just have to forget how "easy" they were for next year.

And then, my husband of few pieces of advice, tells me not to forget that the first time you try anything it's always hard. I guess that's his vote for me to make another batch.

Heavy Hearts Abound

My bestest friend is upset about her baby's tiny flaw... which I understand...

My husband is upset because he lost his pistol while hunting with his dad, and our child has a cough that won't go away, and our checkbook has a leak and doesn't hold all the money that goes into it.

My sister is upset because someone is stupid and immature, and she's worried it will affect the difficulty of her final exam, therein preventing her from making the B in the class that she so painstakingly worked for. If she doesn't make the B, she can't graduate on Saturday.

All of these people I care so deeply for, and I can't stand to see them hurting, but right now, no words I say can make any of their pains go away, and so all I can do, and what I'm asking you to do, is pray that God takes care of each of their needs in the ways that He sees fit, and that in a few days, all will be back to the joyous spirit of Christmas again, because that's the fun part.

Before I had kids...

Everyone always says that after you have kids, you forget what life was like before they came along... and WOW is that the truth!
Before I had kids, I had time for everything that I don't have time for now. I stayed in better contact with all my friends, I kept my house cleaner, and I got to wake up whenever I wanted to wake up. I could go to bed without having to pick up clothes and toys off the floor, and there weren't crushed pieces of cracker in my carpet.
I didn't react to sudden noises by saying "Noise!", I didn't open the cabinet and hear "More, more?" and I didn't see the little things as so important.
Since Thursday night, I have had the opportunity to remember what it was like before I had Micheal. My husband decided to go hunting with his dad, and he took our child with him so that Micheal could hang out with his grandma. Plus, it was my LAST AND FINAL MASTER'S CLASS EVER! So, he went to her instead of her coming down to him.
Anyway, I got to do the things I've been wanting to do this weekend, and it has been wonderful!
I got to have one last hoorah with my sister, who will be moving away from us next week. But, I can't talk about that. I got to go Christmas shopping without having to worry about when I had to be back home, and I finished my shopping! Then, Amanda Sue came over, and we wrapped our Christmas presents and had girl time fun! I had forgotten how much fun it is to just hang out with a great friend and not have to worry about babies and husbands wanting attention and other things needing my attention. I got to have conversations with Amanda that opened my eyes to things that I've been wondering, and I got to share time with the people that I love, other than my husband and child.
I realized that I have been neglecting certain things since my child was born, the most important of those, myself and my friendships.
But, in the end, I find myself wondering what time my child will be back home, and I can't wait to hear him ask for hugs and kisses, and say thank you for everything that goes his way, whether I gave it to him, or if he gave it to himself.
What did I do before I had kids?
Does it really matter? Because it's so much more fun now! And he gives me so many more things to laugh about!

I am Woman, Let Me Cry!

Ever since the stupid buyout of AT&T Wireless by Cingular, we've had some creative cell phone bills. We opted to stay with the default carrier that picked up our contract, and have been happy with their service for the past few months. But, when our carrier officially cut all ties with AT&T, we had to go into the store and have a piece in our phones switched out, so that it would officially be all our carrier, and nothing else. My husband took his in a couple of weeks ago and had his SIM card changed out, no problem. So, yesterday, since he's been off forever, he took my phone to get "updated."
When I got home, I asked for my phone, and he told me that they couldn't get mine "unlocked" or some crap like that, so they just transferred all my phone numbers, and then gave me a new phone. It is just like my old one, except it's not blue, it's grey, ugh. And, they lost all my photos that were on there. Like the ones of my child being goofy, and the things that I had seen that I didn't have my camera with me, but I had my phone. I was pretty upset that I had lost my phone, and I had had a long day, so the tears started flowing.
That's when my husband starting getting defensive. Why do they do that? Let a woman cry if a woman wants to grieve the loss of a phone and all her photos!
Then, to top it off, when they transferred my phone numbers, they doubled and tripled almost all of them, and now I have to go back and delete all the repeats. Stupid minimum wage phone company workers.

Lazy bones!

Just a moment ago, I received this short e-mail from my husband. He is off work for the 18th day in a row, just because he wants to, so he is watching my child today...

910......3 numbers, no big deal.......till today....910 has great signifcance today.....on this great day 910 represents the time that jr decided to wake up today.....and since it was good enough for him to sleep to 910 i figured it was good enough for me.....so now i guess we can both be classified as worthless and lazy...he is his daddy's child....later.

I can't believe it! Any time I want to sleep in, the boy has to wake up between 6:30 and 7 in the morning... But NO... when it's Daddy at home, they sleep until 9! What the heck?!?

Here Today, Gone Tomorrow

Yesterday in church, I was listening to our associate pastor drone on about the same point for too many minutes. In doing so, I happened to fall victim to my lack of decent sleep the night before. And twice, my husband caught me. So, not wanting to give him too much to nag at me about later, I tried to keep my mind occupied with other things that would keep me awake, since the ever-continuous sermon kept going on.

In doing so, I noticed that there was a gentleman that used to lead our Sunday school class, who was always impeccably dressed, was not so impecible this morning. He was wearing a shirt that had a bodice one color, the collar a different color, and each sleeve was a different color as well. I was drawn to it the way you're drawn to a car wreck. I wanted to look, just to be sure I was seeing what I was seeing, but it was so grotesque that I couldn't take my eyes away.

And then I started thinking. I know, wrong thing to do, but I did it anyway. Looking at his shirt, it looked like the ones that were really popular in the late eighties, early nineties, which was about the time that he was in college. And, being the fit, muscular man that he is, he probably hasn't changed sizes since then, so all of the clothes he used to wear probably still fit. So, he chooses to wear them, still.

Herein lies my dilemma. Do I wear clothes that are out of style now, or are the clothes I wear still timeless enough that it doesn't matter? Do I have enough sense to know which clothes are out of date now, and not to wear them? Or am I getting dressed every morning and being a distraction to my students as I stand in front of them? Even worse, is there anyone that would tell me that a certain outfit shouldn't be worn anymore? My husband sure wouldn't know.
I just don't want to look like that other guy when I go out in public.

The Apple is Red

When I was going to school to be a teacher, I decided that I liked the 3rd to 5th grade range the best. Junior high kids scare me, I didn't want to teach high school where they were all bigger than me, and I didn't want to go lower than third grade because that was when you taught kids how to read and write, and that was my biggest fear: being responsible for the literacy development of twenty kids. So, I am now teaching high school. Ironic, I know.

Then, we wanted to start a family. We were so excited about the baby, and what to name him, and what he would look like, that I forgot about all my fears. Then this little angel was born, and for over a year, I've been watching him grow up and just been amazed at how fast he's growing up and all the things that he's learning.

Then, I hear a bunch of other parents of toddlers talk about all the things that they are teaching their children. And, suddenly, my fear returns. I don't think I'm teaching him all the right things. Or even ANY of the right things! How do I know what to teach him first? There are so many things, and I don't even know developmentally where he's even supposed to be right now!
He learns new words everyday, he knows to say please if he wants something, and to say thank you when he gets it. He pretty much can communicate exactly what he wants with either words, gestures, or grunts. He can recognize many different objects by either their picture or looking out the window, he can tell you what cows, horses, chickens, ducks, Mickey Mouse, dogs, monkeys, lions and a few other animals sound like, and he can name a whole bunch of different body parts and point to them when you ask where they are.

But are these the kinds of things I am supposed to be teaching him? Are there more important things we should be working on instead of colors and how many pencils are in the picture? Why didn't anyone tell me when he was born all the kinds of things he's supposed to be able to do by certain milestones in his life? And don't even get me started on potty-training...

Can't we just go back to seeing if he can raise his head and roll from his tummy to his back?