Happy Halloween!

I don't sew. Costumes I make look a lot like Charlie Brown's ("I had a little trouble with the scissors.")

So I'm going as...me. That won't work for the kids but I don't want them to end up uttering another famous line from the show, ("I got a rock,") so they have store-bought (or rather, internet-bought) costumes.

Anakin Skywalker and his big sister, the Snow Princess, are ready! Are you?

Happy Halloween!

A doctor's son, indeed

C's question for months has been "how do you see in Heaven?" While it's a tough idea for me to understand, C seems to grasp that your body stays here when you die and your spirit goes to Heaven (let's hope)! He's been trying to understand how you can see your family in Heaven--and see God!--if your eyes are still down here.

The latest question--at least every other night--has been: "Who made God?"
My answer--"God did," is hard enough when you're 36--so apparently I have not entirely convinced my 5-year-old.

The conversation last night went like this:
C: "I know your body doesn't go to Heaven when you die but does your heart go up to Heaven?"

The hubbie did not miss a beat. "Sure, son! Your heart is part of your soul, so it goes to Heaven."

C nodded, thought for a moment, then asked: "What about your bloodstream?"

God complex

Can you have a "God complex" at the age of five?

C realizes the world does not revolve around him. He's a compassionate kid.
He is saying his own version of the Lord's Prayer, however. Of course, words like "trespass" are difficult when you're five but that isn't the word he's changing.

C's version:
Our Father, who art in heaven,
Hallowed be my Name.
My kingdom come,
My will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.
And forgive us our trespasses,
As we forgive those that trespass against us.
And lead us not into temptation;
But deliver us from EVIL.
Amen.

Jane, stop this crazy thing!

Stop the world. I don't even need to get off. I just want to "pause"--like the kids do with their DVDs--I just want to stop for a little while! I need a Calgon moment!

The boy is recovering from his tonsillectomy; he swears his throat doesn't even hurt a little and doesn't want to take medicine. The girl has a cold and cough. She took her medicine. She keeps reminding me: "I can have more in 4 hours. I can have more in 3 hours and 50 minutes. I can have more medicine in 3 and half hours." She's a Triaminic junkie, apparently.

At least they take turns with the crying, the arguing, the whining. Only one person has gotten physically sick on the sheets--he waited until I'd changed them twice already (two spills).

***********
We're better. I couldn't find any Calgon so we all had pudding.

C - 2

C had his tonsils removed Monday morning. He is doing quite well. (Of course, after being rewarded with a new Star Wars toy and Star Wars movie to watch during recovery, who wouldn't hang in there?)

We knew that both tonsils were large but apparently they were larger than anyone thought! This kid is going to be so much better off! (After he gets through this week!)

N woke early Monday morning to tell me she had a sore throat and cough but recovered after a little breakfast and has made it to school both mornings so far. She is enjoying the extra ice cream in the house afterwards, too--it's good to live with a patient with a sore throat! And when we get him to take those nice drugs they sent home with him, he does alright! If they could just send home some nice drugs for mommies, we'd be all set! ;)

20-17 = a Good day!

...and there is joy and peace in our home! (We weren't so sure there for a while...)

My BIL and niece attended the game so there are many more happy relatives out there, too!

Whew!

I wanted to post a thank-you note to our Guardian Angels! (And I apologize for wondering the other day if my angel was this guy!)

Maybe it was my son's angel. Maybe the hard-working cherubim belonged to my son's friend who was also in the backseat. Maybe it was a team effort.

I could already see the front end of my car slamming into the driver's side of his car. I slammed the brakes as hard as I could but I knew we could not avoid hitting that car.

I'm still not sure how we missed it but one of those angels must be very thin!

The polls are closed--thank you for your votes!

There is no place like home. The definition of "home" can change, however! This upcoming move has been a new challenge in that we expect to really make this new town our home. We've moved a few times with the Army and enjoyed each place we've been; however, it is easy to find the positives when you know your time is limited. We knew we'd be moving again.

At each new assignment, we reasoned that we were learning more about what areas of the country we liked most. Having rented and owned a couple of houses now, we thought we were learning what would be most important to us when looking to settle somewhere.

Yet we are moving somewhere we have not lived before. While we agree on a few features, we're finding that the some important aspects of our new "home" are different for both of us.

It will be a new adventure--in Lafayette, Indiana!

I was talking to a friend in the grocery store the other day and telling her we were heading to Lafayette. A woman was standing patiently nearby so I thought I was blocking the items she was looking for. I stepped aside, and she moved, too. She was waiting for me to finish my conversation. As soon as I did, she put a hand on my arm and said "when are you moving to Indiana?" I told her we'd be moving to Lafayette in the summer and her face lit up. Both she and her husband attended Purdue many moons ago and still have dear friends in the area. She was very excited to tell me about how much we will love it. I'll take that as a good sign!

I am not a good rememberer!

Both of my children know that if there is anything important that I need to remember, I need to have it written down. My son's kindergarten teacher seemingly made this easy--sent out a snack calendar. It is on the refrigerator. I still forgot. I suck. He was supposed to bring snacks on Tuesday. I remembered on Thursday.

I have all sorts of excuses to reassure myself that I am not already in the midst of Alzheimer's. The hubbie had the day off on Monday--which throws my week off. We were finalizing decisions on which job he would accept. We had guests coming Tuesday night and I was thinking about when they'd arrive. In the back of my mind, I knew there was something else happening on the 10th but couldn't put my finger on it. Until the 12th.

I felt horrible and apologized to my son. He looked sad for a moment and mentioned, "Yeah...my teacher said I was supposed to bring snack that day. You are not a good rememberer, Mommy."
However, that was it! While I still feel terribly guilty, he's fine. His teacher did not scold me or even shake her head. She patted me on the back and sympathized--"you've got a lot going on right now! Just as long as you decide to stay here and not move, we'll be fine!" (More guilt but along different lines...)

I can add this to my growing list of qualifications for Worst Parent of the Year award. At least this latest disappointment was towards my son and not my daughter (who has both an excellent memory and is quite skilled at making me feel guilty, often with high drama). My son is only five, he's pretty laid back and going by the papers and library book that traveled to school and back in his backpack for three days straight without being turned in--I've got a running chance that he'll forget this event, too.

Winter, Spring, Summer or Fall?

We were accused of bringing "Texas weather" back to Kansas with us when we returned from College Station. It was 95 degrees here the day after we returned!

Though the leaves have been changing lately, I've wondered if was a sign of Fall approaching or if they were just over-cooked. However, the winds changed in the last two days---blowing in cooler weather from the north and relatives from the south!

It was wonderful to see my aunt and uncle last night--even if they had to do a little shopping on the way to our house so they could bundle up a bit! I am so glad they could stop by for a visit but between packing for warmer temps and finding that the heater in their truck was not functioning, they may refer to this visit as The Big Chill! (Soon, my aunt will be back in sunny Florida and will likely be grateful that she is not in Kansas anymore!)

So it looks like Fall has finally arrived in Manhattan, Kansas. Or perhaps a small dose of winter? We have a "freeze warning" in effect this week, too!

I never could diagram a sentence.

Your English Skills:

Punctuation: 100%Spelling: 100%Vocabulary: 100%Grammar: 80%

Does Your English Cut the Mustard?

Karma Chameleon

While my dogma has good strong legs, it can't outrun my karma! While I worried about my karma well before Earl made his list, perhaps I should follow his lead!

OK--so Friday's events weren't bad but I started to wonder...

We all headed to school Friday morning. After dropping the kids off, the hubbie noticed that one of the tires on the car was noticeably lower than the other three. I shrugged it off, saying I'd fill it later and talked him into going to the all-school Mass with me. (The plan included saying a few prayers before taking him to breakfast to make our final decision on the big move). After Mass however, we came out to find the tire almost entirely flat. We filled it at the closest gas station before heading home to get his car. I drove his car and met him at Sears where he was already talking to a guy about my tire.

We learned that there had been a large nail in my tire. As we got ready to leave, he noticed that one of his tires was low. They found a screw in his tire.

I'm not real good with odds but I let him do all the driving today.

Mea Culpa V (I've got to stop numbering these)!

While a little caffeine gets the inspiration going...too much causes me to post too often, with complete disregard for accuracy. While I did get a few pages completed on the WIP, I also posted recklessly...with complete disregard for spelling.

I'm sure the poor people over at FOX simply had a typo and did not catch it. Kinda like when I tried to give Marrit credit for her witty comment but misspelled her name and did not notice.
If I can change an "a" to an "e," I'm sure busy tv producers can miss a "D" that should have been an "R." There are certainly a few larger issues to ponder today!

(Marrit ~ I apologize! I enjoy your comments and am sure you don't have to rely on Breakfast Blend or French Roast to get your mind percolating!)

No spin zone

I'm sure the hard working fact checkers just wanted to make it immediately clear the Foley had resigned. They wanted to let us know that he is a de-republican now.


(It's bouncing around the blogosphere. Kudos to Merrit for coming up with the "O Really? Factor!")

What are you reading?

My sister enjoyed a book I'd mentioned and asked for another recommendation! (Thanks, H!) That made my day. (When we were younger, it seemed this sister did not like to read much. Now she's reading and asking for my opinions!)

I have not yet posted a book review for The Red Tent. Hopefully I'll manage that soon! (While it's great to leave home for a few days, it seems it takes me twice as long to catch up on things when we return!) So in case I don't get to that in the near future, I'll just say it was excellent and I highly recommend it.

When we traveled to Toronto recently, the hubbie and I were on different flights. It was exquisite to have a little time by myself (amid a hundred or so other passengers) to get into another book! (Of course, I love spending time with my husband without the kids but there was plenty of time for that after the plane landed!) I did not have time to finish the book but I'm nearing the end of Beloved. I can already highly recommend it as well and will say more when I finally reach the end!

While I still have a few books in my TBR pile and many more on my list, I'm always looking for great titles to check out (and pass along)! So what are you reading? My sister and I want to know!

Return from Aggieland

We are back. We went to visit College Station to help make our decision whether to move to Lafayette, Indiana or College Station, Texas. We were fairly sure we wanted to move to Indiana but felt we owed College Station a visit. When we drove through in July, I thought there was nothing other than Texas A&M in this town in the middle of nowhere.

This trip, it felt comfortable--same weather and many of the same stores as they have "back home." (Even though I've lived elsewhere for almost as many years as I lived there, it's still "home," right?)

What fun! OK, looking for "signs" as to whether or not we belonged there, I found my first negative leaving the airport. It was, in fact, a street sign--but a sign, nonetheless! George Bush Drive. I can't drive that every day.

However, playing in the outdoor pool and getting a little sun during the last week of September was a very positive sign!

The real estate agent helping us was very cool. (A t.v. star, too!)
Natalie seemed a little jealous that he and C hit it off right away, until she and Clay talked closets in one of the houses we saw. "He loves shoes too, Mommy!" She found a new friend instantly! ;)

We liked the houses we saw in Texas more than the ones we were shown in Indiana. I really like the doctors and their wives.

However, the rest of my family enjoys four seasons and Lafayette seems to a better fit for the family. Not to mention the fact that the hubbie fell in love with Chicago while acquiring his EMBA and Lafayette is only 90 miles away.
Of course, College Station is within driving distance of much of the hubbie's family (scattered throughout Texas and Louisiana) and I have good friends in Houston (90 miles away).

Not 100% sure either way ...we're still taking votes!