Hurry Up and Wait

Mom came over to the house this morning and did me a big favor by hanging out with William while I got a few things done around the house. It was very nice to have him occupied for a little while so I wasn't trying to do my thing and keep up with him at the same time.

After lunch she needed to go sign papers on her new car and asked William and I to go with her. I didn't see a problem with that. I figured it would take an hour tops. We sat in the car dealership for nearly 4 hours waiting for them to get her car ready for her to take.

I thought this was a ridiculous amount of time. I was late getting home to get Ben up and get dinner made. I was one hot momma! However,William handled all of this very well, and was for the most part very well behaved. I was very proud of him. The evil part of me was wishing I'd let him climb all over the corvette in the show room.

So in the end, Ben got an extra 30 minutes of sleep, Mom got a new car, and William got brownie points for not completely losing it during 4 hours of waiting.

Attitude Adjustment

Well, I've decided it's time to get back to posting about something good. I won't say every day, but most days. Since I have quit doing this blog, I have gotten in the habit of dwelling on negative things and being stuck in a cycle of self-pity. Well, depending on the situation, I'm usually not very tolerant of self-pity in others, so it's time to quit putting up with it from myself.

Today, while a challenging day in the realm of parenting, had it's definite ups. About 6 o'clock this evening I got a bug in my backside and decided that there is WAY too much stuff in this house. By 9 o'clock had two huge boxes and six giant bags of my belongings gathered up and ready to be taken to Goodwill in the morning.

While I am in no way done purging this house of things that are not benefiting this family, I at least got a start, including, I hope, some of my current funk.

Chaminade vs. Hot Cross Buns

Today, as I wrapped up class with my 4th graders, we had about 5 minutes left before it was time for them to be back in class. This happens from time to time and when it does, sometimes I'll play my flute for them. (I think it's important that they be exposed to all different kinds of music and most of them will never see a symphony so I do what I can to fill in that gap.)

So, I got out a piece that I've played many times before and I can play pretty well with out much practice. I played the first page of the Concerto for Flute and Orchestra by Cecile Chaminade. This piece is rather technically difficult and a pretty important piece of music in the realm of flute literature. So, I busted out a less-than-perfect-but-still-respectable rendition of the Chaminade Concerto.

I was feeling pretty proud of myself. My students were clapping. I was mentally patting my own back when one of my 4th graders raises her hand and asks "Can you play Hot Cross Buns?"

At which point I surrendered and took them back to class. Sigh. Only in small town Texas.

Antibiotics

Yep, William has his first ever Rx for antibiotics. I'm thinking the kid got to 2 and a half before needing them, I think that's pretty awesome. So, I'll give them to him with out complaint. Not that he'll take them with out complaint.

William was still running fever when we got up this morning so I called the pediatricians office for an appointment. Got in at 11:30. Dr. Marsh (whom my mother was encouraging William to call Dr. Marshmallow, thanks Mom.) looked at him and listened to him and said he has an ear infection for sure in his left ear, maybe a little bit of one in his right ear and bronchitis. He said it probably started out as a virus and since the virus didn't clear, the infections set in. All that told me was, "Way to go Mom! Should have kept him home from the party."

Anyway, what's done is done except that I have to call the doctors office back in the morning. I picked up his medicine to put it in the fridge and was going to shake it, well, I didn't put the lid all the way back on and my mom's kitchen got splattered with Augmentin. So, I get to have them call in a new Rx and dish out another $25 to fix my screw up.

Here's the good news in all of this. My co-worker took all of my kindergarteners for me because I was gone with William to the doc. I came back and taught my 4th grade class, then my 5th grade class didn't come because they had a special guest today. Then. . .I was done . . . for the day . . . at 1:45. Not a bad way to get back in the swing of things after spring break.

Now, at 9:15 I'm gonna go crawl under the covers and watch Twilight for the 3rd time. I'm a dork. I know.

Things I still wonder and the one thing I've learned.

How is it that my kid has been sick for three days and I'm exhausted from him being up and down all night for three nights, but he is bouncing off the wall and singing????


How is it that three hours ago he was shaking with fever and just a lethargic little lump and now he's his wonderful self again? (not that I'm not thrilled that he's feeling better.)


How is it that he hasn't eaten in three days and now he's sitting at the kitchen table finishing his 3rd jelly biscuit?

Do you use the same procedure to get red kool-aid puke stain out of fabric that you do regular red kool-aid stain or is there some special procedure???

Is there anything more gross than the sight of milk + red kool aid regurgitated on your couch?

How many times in a row can I watch "Finding Nemo" with out going insane? "42 Wallaby Way Sydney, 42 Wallaby Way Sydney, 42 Wallaby Way Sydney"

What was I thinking letting him go to my niece's birthday party yesterday? (We got maw-maw sick. Sorry, maw-maw.) (Possibly I was thinking that if we didn't both get out of the house one of us might kill the other.)

Is he actually getting better, or is he going to be sick again tomorrow?

Is this yet another "virus" or do I actually need to take him to the doctor?

And finally, the ONE thing I've learned . . .

There is a reason they tell you to give sick kids CLEAR fluids. It's not for their health, it's for ease of clean-up.

Broken record

Scene: My Jeep on the way home tonight.

WB: Momma, wook. (sticking his tongue out)
Me: EEW! (while sitting at traffic light)
WB: Momma, wook.
Me: EEW!
WB: Giggle
Yilliam stick tongue out momma.
Momma, wook.
Me: EEW!
WB: giggle
Yilliam stick tongue out momma.
Momma, wook.
Me: I can't William. I have to drive now. I have to watch what I'm going.
WB: Momma, wook.
Me: I can't William. I have to drive now. I have to watch what I'm doing.
WB: Momma, watch out.
Me: I'm watching.
WB: Momma, watch out other cars.
Me: I'm watching William.
WB: Momma, watch out.
(repeat ad nauseam)

Two year olds are so much fun.

Dream a little dream

Ever since Ben and I knew we wanted to get married, I've dreamed of having a new house. My house, that I bought before I ever met Ben, is, for lack of a better term, a turd. It's not only too small, it's poorly constructed and has been nothing but a project for Ben since well before he ever moved in.

As we've all heard a MILLION times on the news, foreclosures are up, home prices are down. This has prompted Ben and I to start, very tentatively looking at new homes knowing that it'll be about a year before we're financially in the right place to buy. Well, "seek, and ye shall find" right?

There is a great little subdivision, in an awesome location that has been slaughtered by foreclosures. We're talking 180-200 thousand dollar homes on the market for about $135,000. I want one of these houses so bad I could just scream. My fear is that a year from now, this little subdivision will be on the rebound and we won't be able to afford a house there anymore.

The next 12 months is going to be very long. Either that, or my luck in the lottery is going to really have to improve.