Molly Cat, Molly Cat

It's Halloween. Molly cat was very ill. She followed right down the foot steps of her brother, Spencer. It was kidney failure all over again. Today, we say goodbye to our sweet, little Mollycat. Sweet dreams, dear one.

Who's the Crazy One Here??

Well, I am now an official county employee, and substitute teacher.
What was I thinking? Tomorrow is my first assignment... and I have a couple of cold feet.
I also went on another job interview... I haven't done that in about twenty some odd years. The little ones are nervous... what if they have to go to.... " day care" ... oh no!! It's like they have some idea of daycare as big green monsters with scales that will force them to eat stuff like meatballs and sausage and make them scrub floors with toothbrushes... hmmm... gives me some ideas.

ps - I bet you can't guess what darling daughter ate for dinner tonight....

(if you guessed Duck A la 'orange - you'd be wong...
if you guessed spaghetti noodles... well, you know her pretty well by now)

Hallelujah!! It's September.

Another school year has begun. Can we say, "E X C I T E D"??? YES WE CAN. Well, anyway, I can. I love the start of the school year even more than I love Mondays. If that's possible. I made the leap of becoming a substitute teacher this year. I must have completely lost my very last marble. I'm still waiting for my badge. . . . . . yup . . . .. .... . . .... still waiting... ... ..

Anyhoo - one of the reasons I love little kiddies going to school is that I finally have time to go hiking, and actually hike. When I hike - I like to move it along, buddy. I do like taking my kiddies hiking, but I often feel like I am always tripping over some little person!! We have taken up letterboxing - well, actually, we have been doing this for a year now. I am nearly to my 100th box. I hope to hit that milestone by Halloween. (see letterboxing.org or atlasquest.com)

The older kids have gone nutty over geocaching. We all make fun of each other for the other's nerdy addictions. Actually, I'm just to broke to buy a "geo-tracker-thinga-ma-bobby-device".
You know - a "GEE-PAS" (or GPS for you regular folks). And I love letterboxing.

Almost as much as I love Zork. (thezorklibrary.com)


zorket

Good Bye to an Old Friend

Today I took my kitty, Spencer, to the vet to be put to sleep. It wasn't easy. He rubbed my hand, and let me pet him and I took a while to say good-bye. I stayed with him for a while even after he was gone. I wanted to linger there, and found it really hard to leave him. I smoothed his fur, and carefully arranged him to look like he was having a really nice nap. That will be my final memory of the tough old boy. He was one cool cat. Sixteen years old, with a strong personality, for sure. Demanding. Cranky. Awesome. Good-bye my friend.

"Gourmet" Mac 'n Cheese at the Buffet House

We went to the buffet house for dinner. Mmmm... or not as you see it.
I don't care - I didn't have to cook dinner. That makes it "Mmmmm..."

My dd had the 'gourmet' version of mac 'n cheese. Oh, yes.. and a roll.
Oh - she did eat a little fruit, and a little ice-cream. That makes it a very
well rounded meal. SCORE!!

Her little brother chowed down on meatloaf, mashed potatos, gravy, grean beans, carrots, corn, corn bread, milk, fruit, and cleaned up with an ice cream cone. He announced that he is going to be a 'cleaner man' when he grows up. Awesome. Will save some dough when it comes time for college.

All in all - it was a pleasant evening. And it's quiet here since we dropped the darling girlie off at dance class on the way home. DS is playing on the Wii (with his biggest brother) - but that is for another blog - another day.

Go Tech

An anniversary of an awful day. Still recovering from that day. It's hard to believe it's been a year already. I thank God my boys stayed safe that day. I think that experience aged me 10 years in a moment. I pray that God will bless those families who are still grieving. I can't imagine. When I couldn't locate one of my sons on that day, I have a brief glimpse into their reality - be it ever so brief, my being ceased for a flicker. My breath gone. But I was given blessed relief. He was safe, and I could breathe.

Is a Quesadilla 'really' Just Cheese and Bread???

Well - guess what? My dd actually ate a fairly good sized portion of a homemade quesadilla for supper. It's a miracle from heaven above. Shhhh.... don't tell her mother it's cheese and bread...

Oh, and she had a scrumptious, healthful snack - a slice of garlic bread!

Somehow, I managed to sneak a carrot stick in there. I go to bed a happy mom.

My Dad's Final Prank - An April Fool's Day Passing

Today is the anniversary of the day my Dad died, April 1st, 1998. My son, John went to the cemetary this morning to visit his grave.
I guess I should take my Mom over there - and some flowers.
I still miss that old grumpy guy!! I miss cheddar cheese and Wheat Thins, and working
the crossword puzzle with him. Grilled cheese and tomato soup with the blackest croutons... fishing, boating... building contraptions for stuff... playing the piano - and his trumpet when he could still play. His red jacket and his funny hat. The way he could twitch his ears, and make that funny sound with his lips to amuse a baby. I miss the way his fingers twitched when he would scratch his head - he couldn't move one hand without moving the other. I even miss being called a "dummy" when I did something stupid.
I miss the look of pride on his face when I did something right.
I miss you, Dad.

Hateful, Spiteful CDC

I just don't know really what to think here. The CDC says finally something to the effect of - yes, we admit our mercury laden vaccines can make kids sick - BUT - only if that kid is seriously defective and seriously ill before we ever lay a greasy little hand on him. The cat is guarding the mousehole. We need a bulldog to watch over the cat. Who is kidding who, here? If the chocolate company is going to pay me big bucks to eat their chocolate, and bigger bucks to promote their chocolate, I would probably do it right? If I know that you might be allergic to chocolate, but some company is going to pay me a million dollars to give it to you anyway, I just might do it - depends on how disgruntled I am feeling that day. I would like a million dollars. But I probably wouldn't, because I have some SCRUPLES. Some VALUES. And a few sprinklings of MORALS.
But a government agency has none of these things - it is a machine. A machine designed to "protect us from ourselves." But who is protecting us from the government mother? The mother who would give her own allergic child some yummy chocolate... and then be surprised when someone calls her out on it.

If only I had known better. If only I hadn't listened to our government, to my own pediatrician, but instead - paid closer attention to my own gut instincts - that were in place from DAY ONE.
I might have a child with a "normal" brain. A child without Autism. A Child who didn't have to flap his hands and spin in circles to "center" himself. A child who could make friends. A six year old child who liked toys and didn't tell me he "hated Toys R Us - it's a STUPID store". A child who didn't need to be in "special ed" or need speech therapy or need occupational therapy or physical therapy or special diets or ....

Maybe. If I had only known. So now - perhaps the government could pull it's proverbial "head" out of it's proverbial "ass" and get on with funding some research into WHY some children are made so ill by their vaccines. ("some" being 1 out of 150 at this point in time)

Enough rant.

St. Valentine vs. the Easter Bunny

So, yesterday was St. Valentine's Day. My daughter made valentine bags for everyone in the household. In her head, these bags were to be filled with lucious chocolate treats, and handmade doily heart cards with sentiments of love filling the pages. Instead, I put a small handwritten note to each kid with a tiny chocolate heart. She was quite disappointed. I explained that St. Valentine's Day was to share your thoughts and sentiments with those whom you love. The gift giving is on us - not St. Valentine. He isn't like the Easter Bunny. Believe me, there were lots of chocolates to go around by the time Daddy got home. And a giant card for both little kids.

Grandma came for dinner - but DD would not touch what we ate. She had a little applesauce and her token 5 peas. She did drink 1/2 her glass of milk. Yum. I cought her sneaking candy some time later in the evening.

We were preoccupied with our sad little Molly-cat who had just had two molars extracted that day. Poor Kitty. Her little face was swollen and her eyes - glazed. She was quite an unhappy (and unstable on the little kitty paws) camper. Her twin brother, Spencer, has kidney stones. A busy day at the vet. Getting old is hell. For every living thing, evidently. They are now 80 years old in kitty years!

Meow.

Giving In

So today, I caved. Got tired of throwing food away, and made my precious little girly her favorite - skinny little chicken sticks (way overcooked so they are "crunchy"), ketchup,
and some carrot sticks and fruit.

Here's a shocker - I threw it away anyhow. She did manage to eat one chicken stick and some fruit.

Whew, now that's a meal to put hair on your chest.

Who runs my house?

My lovely young daughter refuses to eat anything that falls outside of two food groups: bread and cheese. Of course, I exaggerate....she eats gum, pop-tarts, butter, and kool-aid. You might think she would be chubby on such a diet, but no - you can easily count all her ribs from two blocks away. The pediatrician tells me she is growing just fine (gained a whole pound this year), but also told me I had to "force" her to make more healthy food choices - and thus began the loss of sanity in my household.

Two days ago, I gave her a splinter of a bite of roast beeef.
She threw up.
Yesterday, I gave her 1/4 of a teaspoon of yummy chicken soup.
She threw up.
Today, a tiny crumb of a hamburger.
She threw up.
Tomorrow I am making cheesy creamed chipped beef over mashed potatos. Guess I'll have the trashcan ready.

Ahhh, my coffee is ready, fire is burning - off to read a good book and forget the dinner hour for now. Oh, wait - she is already complaining about tomorrow's dinner!

Is it bedtime yet?