Most Quotable Friday

I have tons of great quotes stored away... Here are a few to ease us in to the weekend. Happy Friday!


"Keep away from people who try to belittle your ambitions. Small people always do that, but the really great make you feel that you, too, can become great."--Mark Twain

"Character consists of what you do on the third and fourth tries."--James Michener

"If you live to be a hundred, I want to live to be a hundred minus one day, so I never have to live without you."--Winnie the Pooh

"The true measure of a man
is how he treats someone
who can do him absolutely
no good."
- Samuel Johnson

"Once a woman has forgiven
a man, she must not reheat
his sins for breakfast."
- Marlene Dietrich

Sleeping Breach

I think my sleep threshold has been breached. Forgive me if I go off on some weird tangent, my mind just isn't working through stuff correctly. I used to go with 4-6 hours of sleep and be fine. When the kids were babies, please, I was a warrior. Now? Eight hours required or I am a complete mess. The last two nights I have only slept for 6 hours (each night). I know, doesn't seem that bad, I mean don't be a wuss, 6 hours? Please, that is plenty of time. Some would even be envious to get 6 hours of sleep, right? New parents? Not feeling sorry for me.

So, the effects? My head is in a complete fog. I am forgetting things. Yesterday? I left the coffee pot on. Not good. I turned if off this morning. I think. I feel like I'm sort of floating through my day, and not in a good way. Like I'm floating but know at any moment gravity is going to flip me over and voices are going to startle me into remembering all the things I'm forgetting. Weird right? So, I'm going through all these mental checklists, for sanity reasons. I am afraid to do any work because I don't want to fix all the mistakes next week that I'm probably making now. And? I'm fantasizing about curling up under my desk and taking a nap. I could totally get away with it. Unless someone came around my desk looking for me or to leave me a note... Way to much potential for disaster, which I guess is why it will forever remain a fantasy.

I'm also trying to not stress about the work piling up at home. Ugh. Woke up the kids this morning and their laundry pile looks like, well? I don't know, I can't think of a clever analogy right now, wonder why? The floor needs to be swept and mopped, completely ignored that too. My laundry pile? Almost as bad as the kids. And I think, (I can't really remember-it is enough that I turned off the coffee pot ) that I already emptied the laundry baskets in the garage earlier in the week, which means minimum 6 loads staring at me right now. But I will choose to ignore that in the ongoing effort to not stress myself out. Stress + Tired = Bad Bad news. Thank God I am not PMS-ing right now. Someone would have to tie me down.

Where was I? NOT making sense I believe. I think I accomplished that. I need to go take a walk...

Money Well Spent

The kids and I made it to the Sharks' game last night! After a frustrating ticket buying experience last week it looked as if we wouldn't be able to get a third ticket and thus not be able to attend the game. Ah, but the ticket gods were a smiling on us as things fell together nicely yesterday afternoon. All morning I lurked around Craigslist, constantly refreshing the ticket section, on my quest. I was determined to get myself and both boys to a playoff game. I replied to listings, I called and left messages on the ones that left phone numbers all with the same result... "I'm sorry, I just sold them to someone else." Or, "I'm sorry, someone offered me more money." Uggghhhh!!! And then, finally, some wonderful soul sent me an email with the sweetest words, "Well, the other woman (who sent a reply e-mail 5 minutes before I did) still hasn't responded, so I will go ahead and sell them to you." Hallelujah! These tickets were perfect because they were 1 section over from the tickets we already had and I could bring Woody's friend with us. The hardest part was having to wait almost two hours for the kids to get out of school before I could tell them!! Let me tell you they were screaming with joy. That moment was worth all the effort right there.

Then? It just got better. We hooked up with one of Woody's soccer coaches at practice earlier in the evening, who had a parking pass (for being a season ticket holder) and asked if we could carpool to the game and he said "yes!" So, free parking! Then the game? Amazing! 4-1! It was so loud and so awesome. It is fun to scream like a maniac in my own living room, but it is something altogether different when you can scream with 17,000 + like minded people. We did manage to go visit hubby in the club, but he was to busy to be able to have much of a visit. I bought the three boys each a "Cheechoo train" whistle, much to the delight of all the people sitting around us! Speaking of people sitting around us. We had both ends of the spectrum. On my right was a gentleman who midway through the game admitted to me that it was his first hockey game. Ever. Well he sure picked a good one to be his first! Then, to my left (sitting next to Buzz ) was young guy (mid-twenties?) who was obviously a die-hard fan, which he proved mid-way through the third period when he showed us the sharks logo tattoo he had on his ankle! Um, yeah. Don't get any ideas Buzz! Meanwhile, one section over, Woody and his friend were having a blast and I imagine feeling very grown up and independent sitting by themselves. So? In all, a successful evening.
The Breakdown:
4 Round 1 Stanley Cup Playoff tickets - $164.
3 "Cheechoo Train" whistles - $15.
Concessions - $20.
Walking outside after the game with three of the happiest kids in the world - Priceless.

Spring Break Highlights

Spring Break is over, kids are back in school and I'm back at work. Some highlights from the week include:

Monday 4/17 - went to the Sharks last regular season home game. They lost miserably. I felt bad for the kids and my son's friend, but they are in the playoffs and that is all that counts!!

Tuesday 4/18 - Got up ridiculously early to get to HP Pavillion and get in line for playoff tickets. Woody, Woody's friend and I each got a wrist band. They would give them to kids if they showed that they had cash to purchase tickets. At 9:30 or so they gathered the crowd and asked Buzz to draw a number out of a paper bag for where the line would start. He picked 1239. We had #'s 1267, 1271 & 1278. So, I thought we were in great shape! Woody's number was the only one that was able to make it to the ticket counter before they sold out. He was only able to buy two tickets.

Wednesday 4/19 - The kids worked on homework projects. Woody had to write a book and Buzz had to make a dinosaur out of recycled items. I cleaned the garage and made sure they were working

Thursday 4/20 - Worked more on homework projects, went out to get Woody's hair cut and on the way home the car broke down. The engine just turned off like I was out of gas. We walked the rest of the way home...

Friday 4/21 - Hubby's friend came by and was able to fix the car. It was a fuse. A tiny fuse, the size if my thumb nail ( and not much thicker). This little thing controls the gas gage, fuel pump and who knows what else... Watched the Sharks lose game one of the Stanley cup playoffs.

Saturday 4/22 - Buzz finally had a soccer game!! Their team won and he scored 3 goals. Woody also had a game, they did very well and won their game too!

Sunday 4/23 - Watched the Sharks win game 2 to tie up the series at 1 game each. Next game Tuesday night at HP Pavillion. Still trying to get another ticket...

Mommy's a Hotty?

This lovely note is from my youngest son, Buzz. When I first saw it I thought it said "Your Hoty" And I thought, "wow my son thinks I'm a hotty!" Then I started thinking, "um, how does he know that word? and um, should he be thinking of his mother as a hotty? Should he, at the age of 7, be thinking of anyone as a hotty?" But, then almost as quickly my parental moral questioning superceded my inflated ego, I realized my son didn't think I was a hotty at all. He was telling me that I am 40 (40TY, not HOTY). Much to my chagrin, because I am not 40 for 3 more months! But, this is the little game that he plays with me. He has been telling me that I was 40 since I turned 39. Sigh. Well, I guess I am only a "hotty" in my own mind (the way it should be) and besides, 40 is the new 30 right? Happy Friday!

Sharks Clinch!

Yes, there were some wild screams coming from my house last night as we (the slightly obsessed family) watched our Sharks clinch a playoff spot by beating the Vancouver Canucks 5-4 in overtime! What a great game. We have been watching these guys fight back all season as they dug themselves a huge hole early in the season when they lost 10 games in a row while other teams were earning points left and right. Of course hubby is excited because this means extra games for him to work at and those playoff crowds spend big bucks!! (Hubby bartends in the "club" at HP Pavillion for all home games) The kids, one of their friends and I have tickets for the last regular season game on Monday night versus Los Angeles. I just found out that playoff tickets go on sale the next morning at 10 am. The kids have spring break next week and I have the week off to spend with them so it looks like we will be down there at the ticket office bright and early Tuesdsay morning to try and get tickets!!! Wish us luck! I know a lot of people will be trying to be getting tickets, the announcement said they are going to be issuing numbered wristbands, so we have to be very fortunate to even get the opportunity to buy tickets.

In other news it is still raining. There seems to be a little break today, but all the forcasts say another storm is due to hit tonight and tomorrow. Which means that the soccer games are questionable for this weekend. Woody is supposed to have a game in San Francisco at the polo fields in Golden Gate Park and Buzz is still waiting to have his first game at one of the local fields. Both have practice tonight and the Sharks play again tonight (at home) which means I have to pick up both boys from practice. Guess we're eating out tonight!

Making the mp3 leap

I finally made the huge technological leap into the world of mp3 players. I have to admit now that I'm here I can't think of a plausible reason why I didn't do it sooner. Oh, I know. The money. And, also I guess I'm (she admits reluctantly) a bit like my father who absolutely refuses to give in to modern technology. "What do I need it for?" is his reasoning. He is by no means a cheap man or a penny pinching man, but he is practical to a tee. Some of this has rubbed off on me in the way that I am usually way behind in the owning of "new toys." I held out forever in getting a cell phone. #91 had one before I did, and that was after three (long) years of his begging and him finally going behind our backs to his bio-mom (fodder for another blog and another time...). Why did he need one? Just because it was the in thing (this was 10 years ago). His grades were horrible, he already lacked focus, please explain to me how a cell phone (which weren't allowed at school back in the day) was going to help?

Anyway... I've been really wanting an mp3 player for a while now so that I can listen to music when I run. #91 got an iPod two years ago so I'm right on schedule to get one too, no? Do I really need one? No. We have cd players all over the house. My car plays cd's, the boom box in the garage plays cd's, the streo in the living room, the portable cd player... My new alarm clock even plays cd's, a nice feature if I ever bothered to put one in there... After doing some research I found out what a wide range of choices there are now compared to two years ago. I really didn't want an iPod, it just seemed like a hassle converting files to iTunes, etc. etc. I was comfortable with Windows Media and just preferred to stick with that. I wanted to spend close to $100, get something small that would hold 500 songs and wasn't complicated! I finally went with the SanDisk m250( http://www.sandisk.com/Products/Item(1211)-SDMX3-2048-Sansa_m250_MP3_Player_2GB.aspx ) It is 2GB (capacity to store about 480 songs) and cost $109 at Circuit City. And the best part? It is tiny! The bad part? I have to keep an eye on my kids because I already caught them once treating it like came out of a Happy Meal or something. It actually does look like it came out of a Happy Meal.

So, I'm learning all kinds of new things like forming a partnership between my computer and my SanDisk, creating sync lists and synchronizing files. Oh, and it sounds pretty good too! Rock on.

Oh, One of those days

Okay, so today is Thursday, April 7th 2006, right?

This morning when I went through my son's WPRF (work-progress-report-folder?) whatever, the packet thingy with his work from last week and progress report from his teacher that I sign and send back with him? Anyway, in it was a flyer about the upcoming Open House on Thursday April 7th and that this year they are also having a BBQ, blah blah blah, please pre-order food for your family if you will be eating, blah blah blah. Now, around here and as long as any of my kids have been in school, even in different districts, Open House is always on a Thursday night. Without fail, always. So of course with my pre-morning coffee brain churning away, I thought "oh great, Open House is tonight and I'm just finding out now?" Ugh, both kids have soccer practice (at two seperate fields) 45 minutes away from their school at the same time as the open house, what am I going to do? They have been rained out for two strait weeks and I can't possibly call their coaches and tell them they can't make it to practice... So, I wake up the kids and I'm ask them why they didn't tell me that they had an open house at school tonight. They both stared at me blankly and said in unison "I didn't know we had open house tonight." To which I tell them that the paper says you have Open House April 7th, and today is April 7th. "Oh." They both reply.

So, fast forward two hours. I'm at work and I plug my phone in to charge the battery and noticed that I had 2 missed calls at 8:30 (must have been driving and didn't hear it, damn radio) from someone with blocked ID, but no message. I didn't think much of it, because, well, leave a message dammit I'm not psychic! But all morning I kept thinking today was the 7th. I entered journal entries as 4/7, I filled out a deposit slip dated April 7th, I even wrote checks dated, well you get the idea, April 7th. Regarding the Open House situation, I finally decided that I would convince hubby to somehow pick up both kids from soccer, and close his office (located 30 minutes farther north than the practice fields) and give his nephew (who works for him) a ride home, because I had to attend Open House. That would be the plan, that and explain to him why I'm just telling him this today and why didn't I know sooner. All of which are good questions, why didn't I know sooner? Am I really that bad at going through the kids school work and news letters? God, I suck. I was not looking forward to that phone conversation. So, I'm sitting at my desk just dreading the whole rest of my day and cursing everything and everyone (while blissfully ignorant that I was shooting out erroneous April 7ths everywhere) when my cell phone rings it's "blocked id" ringtone. I almost didn't want to answer it in fear that whoever was calling might get an earful of my pent up frustration. I answered the phone and it was Woody . Our conversation went something like this:

me: "hello?:
him: "mommy?"
me: "yea..." (thinking of all the wild, crazy conclusions you jump to when one of your kids calls you from school)
him: "mommy?"
me: "yes!"
him: "um, Open House isn't tonight, it's on April 27th."
me: silence
him: "mommy?
me: "yea, I'm here. Um, well that makes more sense then doesn't it?"
him: "yea, well I just wanted to let you know."
me: "um, did you call this morning?"
him: "yea, I tried to call you but you didn't answer."
me: (my heart swelling with love for his thoughtfulness) "well, thanks for calling me. I love you."
him: "okay (obviously in front of some other kids who would tease him mercifully for saying 'i love you' back) um, bye."

I immediately looked at the calendar, and sure enough, today is Thursday, April 6th.

Two Blog Posts I Can Relate To

The first comes from "crazy momcat" who wrote an amazing post about lying as an addiction. I
I never thought about the lies and lying as an addiction but I have one of these people in my life too.
http://crazymomcat.blogspot.com/2006/03/her-drug-of-choice.html Read it all. I never knew or read about anyone in this situation and never knew anyone else went through the same crap that I went through. I felt almost liberated, it was weird.

I cried when I read "soul gardener's" post about her mom and the anniversary of her death. Especially the part about her being there, holding her mom's hand when she died. And also about being with the person who gave you life as they passed out of this world.
http://soulgardening.typepad.com/soul_gardening/2006/04/she_was.html
I too, was sitting next to my own mom when she took her last breath. She was at home, Hospice had provided a hospital bed so she could be comfortable at home for her last days. The Hospice ladies had come over to give her a sponge bath. Dad and (mom's sister) Sue were outside talking. My brother was sleeping in the bedroom. I didn't realize when it happened at first, but when they unhooked her oxygen and sat her up to undress her, they both stopped. One of the women grabbed her cell phone and went outside. But, when I looked at mom, I knew. I asked the other woman who had stayed in the room if she had stopped breathing. She didn't say anything, just covered her mouth and nodded. Time froze for a moment as I went to her side, to touch my cheek to hers. When I looked up I saw Dad and Sue standing outside in the driveway.
As I watched them from the window all I could think was that I knew and they didn't. How strange, I thought, they were having a conversation, not knowing. It was like a spell that had to be broken. It was like she picked that very moment. She wanted me to be the one to tell them what she couldn't. I think because I was the first to "get it" that she was dying and that she had accepted it. My dad couldn't (and who could blame him) accept it and kept trying to make her better. This was the toughest thing for her was to see him struggle like that. My brother too, just refused on so many levels to let her go. I don't fault him, we are all so different. In a lot of ways he was closer to her than I was, especially as adults. My thought process was to just get through it and go off somewhere by myself later on down the road and have a melt-down. They probably think I was very cold-hearted through the whole thing, but I watched her watching them and saw so much pain in her eyes for the pain she saw in theirs and I just felt compelled to do something. I urged them to say goodbye, to let her go. Sitting with her, holding her hand was in so many ways "easier" than talking to my father and brother. My aunt was amazing. She had gone through a lot with close family members being ill and dying and made me cry when she asked me how many more times was she going to have to go through this? She was a rock and probably helped my dad more than I could.
I didn't mean to go on so much, I guess just reading that post brought a lot of that back up to the surface.