Yesterday I dropped Peyton off at school in my slippers. I didn't realize I wasn't even wearing shoes until I got to my friend Jill's house and looked down at my feet. By then it was too late to do anything about it because she had opened the door so I shuffled in looking pretty sheepish albeit comfortable.
Then this morning I pulled out the almost empty box of Lucky Charms for Troy and started looking for the new box I had purchased the other day from the store. It wasn't there though I could swear I purchased it. Nope. Not there. I turned around and told Troy, "I think I'm going crazy!" I still haven't found that dang box.
Then I got all the way to Peyton's school and realized that I had forgotten to pack his lunch today. Oops. So they charged me $5 for a cold lunch for him. I felt awful and crummy. Who forgets to pack their kids' lunch? Me, that's who.
I don't know if it's because I'm so tired or what, but my mind is slipping lately!
I picked up Peyton 30 minutes early today since I felt so bad about earlier this morning and took him to get frozen yogurt. First I couldn't get him out of the truck because he didn't want to get out. Then once he had eaten his yogurt I couldn't get him to LEAVE the yogurt place. He cried the whole way home. So basically it's a no-win situation with him. *Sigh*
They make me feel like a super cool alien from outerspace when I'm hanging out in my saucer.
And my big brother thinks my saucer is pretty far out too. Only he can't have antennas like me, because I'm cool like that. Plus I have a lot more hair than he does which is imperative to making antennas!
Should I tell him that the saucer is just for babies?
I got an email from my friend Aidan last night asking me to post my Halloween pictures already! I know I've been a little lax in posting lately but it's not because I haven't been snapping pictures (you just wait and see!) or because I've been lazy- we've been crazy busy around here! Here's our spookie ookie week in review:
Ghoulish Delights:
Deviled Ham Sandwiches
Frankenstein Hand Cupcakes
It think the cupcakes were a hit!
Check out Peyton's genuine chocolate face!
Mummy Dogs and King Tut's Tot Pyramid:
Peyton was in pure meltdown mode so he didn't even get to see this in its un-cut up form. :-(
Vampire Sausage Soup:
Peyton actually asked for seconds of this!
I can't get these pictures of our Halloween Pancakes to rotate, but you get the idea:
'Persnickety Pumpkin'
'Skirmish Skeleton'
We also had Dirt Dessert (chocolate pudding, oreo 'dirt' and gummy worms) as well as Pumpkin ice cream and tonight I'll be making pumpkin pudding with cinnamon-sugar puff pastry leaves (we had so much going on that we didn't get to do all we wanted to)!
Movies we shivered to:
Dracula
Abbot and Costello Meet Frankenstein
The Uninvited
Movies yet to watch (Halloween week continues!):
The Mummy
The Old Dark House
The Hound of the Baskervilles
Pumpkin Carving Night:
His and Hers
Let's Dig in!
Ewww... Squishy pumpkin guts!
Marking the pumpkin for surgery
Coming right along...
It's all in the details!
Troy's Goofy Face
Lexi's 'Hot Dog' pumpkin.
{Hot Dog is what Peyton calls Mickey Mouse because of the
Hot Dog dance they do on the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse!}
Fall Festival at Peyton's School on Friday:
He looks thrilled, don't you think?
In the gym they had a bean bag toss, fishing poles to fish for treats, a duck pond (like they'd have at a fair), a balance beam and out on the covered playground a bounce house.
I tried to sneak back to get pictures of the kids in action but by the time Chloe woke up from her nap we had missed it!
So while that big skeleton played the day away, this little skeleton had lunch with Daddy!
Church 'Trunk Or Treat':
It was sunny. And hot. And miserable.
We were there for maybe ten minutes before Peyton threw fits and we had to leave.
And he wouldn't get in his costume, he wouldn't let us hold him and he screamed when we tried to give him nachos. So we left. Pronto!
Troy was a Bruce Lee Kung Fu Master, I was Miss Alaska (no pictures of me- there was no time before the tears started in earnest), Peyton was supposed to be a dragon but made do with his skeleton shirt and Chloe roasted as a ladybug.
As Cute as a Bug!
(Which is funny because bugs aren't all that cute in real life!)
Oh my goodness, is she not the cutest?!
Sweet lil' love bug!
After the 'Trunk or Treat' fiasco, we went home and killed some time before trying to Trick or Treat. Here are the boys swinging away!
Finally it was time for some Trick or Treating!
Peyton got the idea a little better than last year, but he was still more interested in trying to go into people's homes than the candy that was put into his bucket!
A few times he dropped his bucket and shouted with dismay, "My Trick or Treat!"
Then the moon came out and the sky faded away and it was time to go in for the night.
Once upon a time...
Long before there were children to appease, my friend Jeni and I (with our husbands in tow) went out for dinner. It was late and we were hungry so we stopped at this Mexican place on Bluebonnet to give it a try.
We waited at the front a while and when no one came to seat us we just sat down at a table. After a long period of time, a server came up and asked us if we wanted anything to drink. Everyone went around the table and said what they wanted; Jeni asked for a Diet Coke, Troy and Aaron for a glass of water and I asked for a Virgin Strawberry Daiquiri.
Well this guy was absolutely perplexed as to why I would want a drink without alcohol. He would not give it up. "Are you sure you don't want the alchohol in it?" he asked looking at me askance like 'what are you smoking?' He seriously asked me this several times and finally got it that I. Did. Not. Want. Liquor. In. It. Thankyouverymuch.
He disappeared after that for a good long while only to reappear and give us menus briefly and then he took off to the back to hide some more. When he came back, we ordered our food. Jeni wasn't all that hungry so she just wanted a few things al a carte. After ordering, we sat and waited.
And waited.
And waited.
Until we were seriously close to just paying for our drinks (now empty and waiting to be refilled) and getting the heck out of there.
FINALLY... the man brought our food out to us, only he made Jeni's a la carte items a full meal. So what should have only costed a few dollars for a late night snack suddenly turned into a $20 fiasco. Now that may not seem like a lot of money but at the time Troy and Aaron and Jeni were all students and we were living in Married Student Housing alongside the cockroaches and just three streets away from the hairy scary side of town. We sat there stunned at the horrible service we had just been rendered and now here was the check and we were expected to pay for this doofus's mistake.
"Don't tip him." I implored Troy in a soft whisper. "He didn't earn it."
Aaron and Jeni were pouring over their portion of the bill and trying to decide what (if any) to tip too. Everyone left miniscule offerings on the table and we all shuffled out without a backward glance. I think that the server tried to call out, "Thanks, come again!" but the door slammed behind us mid sentence.
Sometime in January, I read a book called, 'Waiter Rant' by someone who works in the service industry and who tells tales of horrible customers and true stories about what the kitchen does to the food of these crappy patrons. He also outlines a few do's and don'ts when eating out.
For instance, he says that if the service was good, you should tip at least 30%.
30%!
Troy and I just laughed over that one.
He also says that if you don't have the money to properly tip, then you don't have the money to eat out.
Excuse me?!
When did tipping become a given? Why is automatically expected?
When my Mom and I went to France with some students and my teacher from French Class my freshman year in High School, the people who brought up room service would wait at the door (rather smuggly) for a tip. It would irritate me to no end! There were times that they were downright rude and huffy but you can be sure that they would take up the whole doorway and just stand there staring you down until you pressed some money into the palm of their hand.
And it's not only in the restaurant or hotel business either!
Whenever I go and get my hair done, I tip 15% because I always feel like they are going to mess up my hair or chop it into strings the next time I come if I don't tip accordingly. Troy says it's too much. I feel like it's too much too but I go into a panic everytime they are hovering over me while I'm calculating on my fingertips or on my cell phone calculator.
But there are also times that I am perfectly ok with NOT tipping. Like that time at the Mexican place with Aaron and Jeni (luckily, Troy took care of the check and gave him a tip; even if it was subpar). I know that servers don't make much and it is the tips that help them boost their paychecks, but then I feel like they need to work for it and give good service in order to earn it!
So what do you think about tipping?
How much is too much?
Do you tip a certain amount each time regardless of the service?
It was the 6th grade, and all of us girls had been seperated into classrooms away from the boys so we could watch videos about our inner workings (as if we were fine tuned clocks). We shifted in our seats as the the lights were turned off and the video commenced.
We girls all pretended that we knew everything about everything but really our ears were perked like hunting dogs trying to take it all in. Thank goodness the lights were down because we could blush in private without some of the cattier girls catching on. Then for weeks after that day, we would check each other out in the hallway and in the locker room and silently compare notes as to who had gotten their period, who was wearing a bra (or needed to!) and to discuss the vending machine in the bathroom that held all of those womanly thing-a-ma-bobs.
We were all verging on womanhood but we were all still children too. In Mr. D's science class a few weeks later, we watched a video tape on the blue footed booby. There were giggles from the girls AND the boys over that one and in the halls you'd hear people taunt 'You're a blue footed BOOBY!' and the hall would erupt into laughter. It was all about the boobies in those days.
We ladies still stress about those lumps of tissue and flesh today- whether they are too big, too small, or too disproportionate! Some of us let those mounds define us as though we can't possibly be a woman without them partly because society teaches us that we are (ahem) sexual beings from an early age.
Breast cancer runs in my family. Big time. As in, it's probably just a matter of time when I'll get nailed with cancer. So I have to ask myself sometimes if when it really came down to the wire whether I would lop off those tissue-y forms and reconstruct anew or if I would part with them forever as the mark of a survivor. They've been with me for so long that an empty void there might seem strange and out of place but they've also (almost) served their purpose. Once Chloe is done with them, do I REALLY need them? This is where Troy would be emphatically saying, 'Yes!'
So here's today's forum: Would you? Could you?
Would you get a double masectomy BEFORE cancer became an issue or would you ride it out and see what happens?
Could you live without breasts or would you reconstruct?
And lastly, have you done anything special for Breast Cancer Awareness Month?
Yes, there are tantrums, teething, diaper blow-outs, spit-up, constant laundry and stop-and-go schedules to Motherhood, but there is also a silver lining to it as well. Here are some perks of being the Head Honcho:
When Halloween rolls around, you can claim dibs on all your favorite goodies.
You get to play with some pretty cool toys and no one looks at you weird for it (or at least not in front of you).
You can take that very same toy and rock out and sing with it (this only works until your kids are about seven years old; then they'll tell you to shut it).
You can dance around and be a total goon and your kids will be your biggest fans.
You no longer have to pretend to buy books for "other people's kids" so that you can read what's all the craze.
You get to watch all of the kids movies your heart desires and it's perfectly ok to sing along, recite entire parts from memory and generally laugh like a girl (oh wait, I AM a girl! :-0 )
And at the end of the day, you can have messy hair, wrinkled clothes and no make up on and your kids will STILL love you.
I'm the first person to show up for Bunco last night. I tread slowly up the walkway and note the Halloween decorations in the yard, one hanging on the door and others lining the stoop. I pause and ring the doorbell. Not a moment later, I am ushered inside by the hostess as she wraps up last minute dinner preparations for the Bunco gals. I look around some more while I am helping set up chairs. As she bustles about the kitchen, I spot other fun, festive Halloween decorations on the mantle as well as in the entryway. There is a pumpkin candle softly glowing, and candy dishes set out on the kitchen ledge to tempt any sweet tooth. I am thinking to myself that she would make a great Mom... only she isn't; yet. And for some reason, that makes me feel a twinge of that Mother guilt we all get from time to time.
Do you ever get that horrible sick feeling sometimes when someone tells you about the children they have wished for, dreamed of, and payed out the pocket for in infertility treatments? Here I have two children growing healthy and strong and I take it all for granted. Oh, how I take it for granted. There are times I tell Peyton, "Just go play. Find something to do. Only let Mommy have a moment in peace." And then there are these woman who would trade places with me in an instant just to snuggle a warm body of their own flesh and blood close to theirs and then I hate myself all the more for brushing Peyton away sometimes.
Today I turned on the radio in the truck as I drove Peyton to school. No tears today- he was playing with one of those Halloween flashlights that you can change the covers on to make cool sillouettes on the wall. I had the radio tuned into the classical station and they were playing scores from various movies like 'Gone with the Wind' and 'Star Wars'. After I drop him off, the score for 'Indiana Jones' comes on and I am taken back to August when my Mom and Dad came to visit us from Indonesia.
They were all a flutter with excitement because the next month they were embarking on a journey traveling down the Nile River in Egypt to photograph and explore the tombs of the Great Pyramids as well as other ancient wonders. So we all piled on the couch and pulled out 'Raiders of the Lost Ark' to watch Indie travel to Cairo and to relish his adventures across the desert so that we could perhaps spot some things that they might see while there.
And now here's a brief flash back to when I was a little girl:
My Mom and Dad and I were on vacation somewhere and I was begging for something to read. We had stopped off at a grocery store of sorts and the only thing that my eye could find to read in the place was an encyclopedia set. It was just a starter set of two books, plastic wrapped back to back but it was a gem to me. In the car, I cracked open the spine and read all about Acid Rain when Aardvarks were less than captivating. It wasn't until I got to Ancient Egypt that I was hooked. Forget everything- the car ride, the waiting, the needing to use the bathroom- it all could wait- because before me was a doorway to another world and it was fascinating and intriguing. After I read the whole section about pyramids, mummies, ancient cities, pharohs and the Nile River, I knew that I had to see this place in person some day.
So here were my Mom and Dad, about to go on the trip of a lifetime that I had dreamed about. I wasn't mad at them, I was excited for them; but I wanted to be there too. They got back last week and regaled me with stories of where they went and what they saw. And all along as they were telling me about their adventures they would say how they both thought of me while there and wished I could be there too. And this is where my heart sinks a bit because a trip of that magnatude is just impossible with two children under the age of five.
This is where I think of all of the what if's. What would it have been like IF I could have gone? This is a dangerous game to play because it just leaves you wanting and empty. Instead of thinking of the blessings you do have, it opens you up to all of the things you don't have. Yet it is something I think about all the time- when do I get to do those things that I dreamed about all those years ago? And really the answer is that the grass is always greener on the other side. When I didn't have children, I had all the time in the world to read and do the things I wanted to do, but I would find the endless time dull and boring. Now I'm lucky to begin and finish one chapter out of a book before someone finds me and needs something and sleeping in is one of those luxuries that I haven't had in so long that I couldn't tell you what it feels like.
People say, "It goes by in the blink of an eye!" but I swear Peyton has been two for the last ten years. Others say, ""It only gets harder when they get older." and I'm not sure if that's supposed to make me feel better or what when I have two in diapers- one throwing tantrums and the other teething.
And then there are those childless Mother-Souls who are just waiting to delve right in while I'm waiting to sit things out for a bit. The most perplexing part of this whole Motherhood thing is the loss of yourself. It's worth it but it's hard. And tiring. And exasperating. It's all those things but in the next instant it's toothless baby grins, cherub cheeks, dainty toes and belly laughs.
So Egypt will have to wait. As will England, Scotland, Italy and Ireland.
I'll still have to continue putting off being fashionable while spit-up is in season at our house.
And the alarm clock (whether dictated by a blaring chunk of plastic or the internal alarm of a hungry baby) will continue to be a fixture here too.
That can be good too, right? Right?!
Last night as the evening is winding down and we're done with our games, the hostess notices my empty water bottle and doesn't hesitate to fill it. Even in that small simple gesture, she is every bit a Mom as I am and just a little bit better. My heart aches for her and I am hoping she gets to realize her wish.
What are the dreams you have on hold for right now?
