And Now For Something Completely Different . . .

My Apologies To My Family, But . . .

I might as well go on and say it: I’m voting for Obama.  McCain’s pick of Sarah Palin forced me to abandon any thoughts of possibly voting Republican this year. Why? There are several reasons I have set forth in a long post deriding McCain’s very unfortunate VP pick. But I won’t bore you with that. I kind of liked John McCain. That’s too bad. Maybe one day someone will explain what in the world the Republicans were thinking by nominating her. Anyway, here is a synopsis of my reasons for voting Democratic this election year:

1. Sarah Palin is woefully unqualified for the position she’s seeking. (i.e., lack of foreign policy experience, lack of political experience in general, reputation for firing people who don’t agree with her, not standing up for victim’s rights as mayor when her city charged rape victims for medical exams, NRA affiliation, I could go on and on . . .)

2. McCain helped pass the bill that deregulated the banking industry and got us into this mess in the first place. I have no expectation of living or retiring as comfortably as my parents and grandparents. We will be paying for this mess for the next couple of generations and McCain has no real idea what it’s like to struggle financially.

3. Now here’s my wild, unproven conspiracy theory: The Republicans are hurting the future of women achieving public office by nominating unqualified women for high profile positions- namely, Harriet Miers and Sarah Palin. It appears (to me, at least) that the Republicans are nominating very unqualified females for these positions – and when (if) they fail, the Republicans can basically say, “Hey, we nominated some women; we’re not sexist. It just didn’t work out.” Then women will have to work that much harder to overcome the memories of a bad first experience with a high-profile female leader. Maybe I’m just being paranoid, but come on, Republicans! You have better talent than Miers and Palin! It’s hard enough to get over gender stereotypes without having to make up for bad leadership, too.

I feel so much better now that this is off my chest! In any event, get out and vote!

Red WHAT Cake?

Fortunately, all of our friends and family in the Houston area are safe. Brent and Wanda (who live north of Houston) did not have any damage to their house and they are staying at Chris’s dad’s until the power is restored in their town. We are so glad that everyone is okay!

In other news, Brandon turned 12 on Saturday. Twelve years old. The time has just flown by . . . we celebrated by having some of his friends spend the night Saturday night. On the agenda: Nerf gun battles (with full camo gear), video games and the taunting of Brandon’s little brother. We got up Sunday morning to discover that Brandon had stayed up all night. I think he later regretted that decision because we didn’t let him nap very much. Brandon got everything he asked for: basically gift cards and money. What else do you get a 12-year-old boy? His toys are now expensive – video games, electronics, massive Lego sets.

Brandon requested a red velvet cake for his birthday, so we made one on Saturday. A couple of days before, Matthew asked me what kind of cake we were having and I told him “red velvet cake.” Maybe I mumbled, or maybe Matthew wasn’t paying attention, but he then asked, “Red pelvis cake? What’s that?” That’s when I made the mistake of laughing at his phraseology – this only sparked his desire to repeat “red pelvis cake” at any and all opportunities. I tried (unsuccessfully) to correct him and then attempted to avoid discussing the cake, hoping that he’d forget “red pelvis cake” in a few days.

But he didn’t. For instance: on Friday when I dropped him off at daycare he told his teacher that his brother’s birthday was on Saturday. She asked what kind of cake he was having. I cringed. Matthew got the most mischievious look on his face and opened his mouth to answer. I practically yelled “RED VELVET CAKE” in my attempt to keep Matthew from saying his now favorite phrase. Matthew looked at me like, “You beat me to it this time, woman, but next time, you may not be so lucky.” My luck ran out on Saturday at the grocery store. We walked through the bakery section and Matthew asked very loudly, “Which one of those cakes is a RED PELVIS CAKE?” Yes, he did. People used to tell me how amazing and fulfilling parenthood was – they conveniently left off the part about how humiliating it can be. Children should come with a disclaimer:

Caution: Babies look cute, but do have some side effects. Side effects may vary in intensity and may be more severe at times, especially during the infant, toddler and adolescent years. Possible side effects include: sleepless nights, stretch marks, wrinkles, anxiety, financial stress, social upheaval, questioning of your basic beliefs and value system, feelings of helplessness and humiliation. You may feel the urge to run screaming from room to room in your house or to rock yourself back and forth in the fetal position. Those urges are normal. Consult a therapist if side effects become bothersome.

Anyway, as we were getting up Sunday morning, the remnants of Hurricane Ike blew through St. Louis, dumping about 6″ of rain in just a few hours and knocking the power out at our house about 8:30 am. We were without power for about 8 hours Sunday. Church was a no-go as there was flooding all around the building – plus we figured if we didn’t have electricity, chances were nobody else did, either. There was quite a bit of flash flooding here, but by Sunday afternoon, the rain had stopped and our power came back on – much to Matthew’s delight, as he finally figured out that without electricity, he can’t watch TV, movies, play video games or play on the computer. In other words, he had a very boring Sunday.

Are You Threatening Me?

Matthew is going through a phase. I hope. Lately he’s been resorting to threats in order to get his way. For example, I grounded him the other day from playing a video game (Lego Star Wars, his new addiction – he was grounded because he continually left the game on and didn’t put it up when he was finished). Anyway, he apologized and wanted to immediately play his game again. I told him no, he had to wait until tomorrow to play because I decided to fight this battle –  it would be better in the long run if I didn’t have to fight this one when he was 15. Then the conversation went this way:

Why can’t I play Star Wars? I said I was sorry. I am going to break all your new pots and pans if you don’t let me play right now.

Matt, I’m not letting you play today. That’s what being grounded means. I want you to remember to put the game away when you’re done playing.

Well, I’ll sue you if you don’t let me play.

Who is going to be your attorney?

I don’t need an attorney.

So you’re going to file your complaint yourself?

Brandon will help me.

Sorry, he’s not old enough.

Daddy?

No bar license.

What’s a bar license? Binki, then. Come on, Mama, let me play!

He didn’t get to play and he got a lecture on threatening his parents. Bummer. Since then, he hasn’t threatened litigation but I am toying with the idea of letting him write his grievances down and letting him “serve” them. While I think that writing his complaints down would be a good exercise in writing as well as expressing himself, I don’t want to encourage him to file lawsuits at the slightest offense. Maybe I should impose “filing fees” . . .

Hide and Seek Phone

As you know, I took a business trip to San Francisco a couple of weeks ago. About 15 minutes before I left the house to go to the airport, I had this conversation with Matthew:

Matthew: Hey Mama – want to play a game?

Me: Buddy, we don’t have time to play a game right now, but I promise I’ll play with you when I come home.

Matthew: But you want to play this game.

Me: What game?

Matthew: Hide and seek phone.

Me: What is ‘hide and seek phone?’

Matthew: Well, I hid your cell phone and now you have to find it.

Me: Matt, I don’t have time to play hide and seek phone. Where is my cell phone?

Matthew: You have to find it. I can’t tell you.

Me: Matt . . .

Matthew:  I’ll give you hint . . . it’s not in your bedroom.

Chris got Matthew to divulge the location of the cell phone and then whispered the location to me while Matthew was distracted. I was able to pretend to search while I made my way to the secret location: a file drawer in the office. This isn’t the first time Matthew has hidden something at an inconvenient time . . . Chris once had to call day care and ask Matt where he hid Daddy’s car keys. They were also in a drawer. And very fortunately for us (in this case), Matthew can’t keep a secret very long. So much for starting the day out stress-free!

Is It September Already?

Sorry for the long delay in posts – I’ve been incredibly busy the past couple of weeks and time is just flying by! I guess I should start with my new job situation – I just returned from San Francisco on Friday after my first week of work – (I’m not going to post much about work because people lose their jobs over that kind of stuff and I just want to be cautious that way). Suffice it to say, I think I’m really going to like my job and the company (an insurance company) seems to be very employee-focused and I just can’t believe that I’m so lucky to (finally) have a permanent position somewhere!

I will talk about San Francisco though – I want to go back! I had never been to California, so this was an exciting trip for me. The Golden Gate Bridge was spectacular and the whole area smelled like eucalyptus. As I got off the Golden Gate Bridge on Friday and drove into the Presidio, the air smelled so good I rolled the windows down so I could enjoy the scent. But then I had to roll them back up because it was uncharacteristically hot while I was there -in the 90s and 100s during the day – and I needed the air conditioner more than eucalyptus-scented air. I wish I had more time to sight see – I would have loved to go to Fisherman’s Wharf and the beach. But I also enjoyed being by myself for the week and actually read 3 whole books in the course of just a few days! If I had to travel on a regular basis, I would be a very well-read person. The boys survived the week without me and even ate a few vegetables while I was gone. Chris did a great job managing everything. All in all, it was a good trip but I am glad to be home!

Another Quick Update

Since I last posted, a LOT of things have happened: Brandon started middle school, Matthew started the kindergarten program and I got a new job! So please be patient as we all make adjustments – especially since this time tomorrow I will be in San Francisco for a week of training and the boys (Chris, Brandon and Matt) will be on their own for a whole week! I will possibly be without internet connection next week. Hopefully things will get back to normal soon and I can resume posting!

Quick Update

Alright, I know it’s been a week since I posted, but things were a little hectic. First – the Olympics! I have never really paid much attention to the Olympics, but with Micheal Phelps and Dara Torres and gymnastics, I’ve been watching as much as I can. Very cool!

Second – Brandon and I are still training for the 5k in November. This morning was the hardest yet – actual running. Very hard for someone who hasn’t done any semblance of exercise in about 20 years. I held out and completed all of the running on our schedule, with only minimal complaining!

Third – well, I’m going to complete this post tonight because I’ve run out of time! More news to come . . .

Parental Angst

I took the day off from work today so I could register Brandon for middle school – hard to believe he’s going to be in sixth grade! It seems like it was just yesterday I was fishing his granola bar out of the VCR and rocks out his mouth and now he’s a full-fledged middle schooler.  

As soon as we walked into the school, I was overcome with a feeling of awkwardness and wondering if my outfit was dorky and if my hair was way too frizzy. And I thought, yep, this is middle school alright. But returning to middle school as a parent is different – people aren’t looking at your clothes, they’re looking at your checkbook. We went station to station in the cafeteria – pick up schedule, drop off medical and vaccination records, update address/phone information, pay for yearbook, pay for school phone book, pay for 6th grade camp, pay for school pictures, pay for rollerskating lessons. (Yes, rollerskating lessons: $7.00.) Spirit gear, anyone? Just make your check payable to  . . .

We also found out that Brandon has required reading over the summer, which he conveniently ‘forgot’ to tell us about. Luckily, it’s not too much and I think he can do it over the next week. He is my complete opposite in this area – when I got the summer reading list, I started on it right away. It was the highlight of my summer. Okay, I was a geek and liked schoolwork, but at least I was a well-read geek. He is excited about school and has been continually re-arranging his school supplies in his backpack. I hope he enjoys school a little more this year since he’ll have a little more freedom and responsibility. I remember how big I felt when we got to change classes.

So 20 minutes and nearly $200 later, we have Brandon’s schedule and locker combination in hand. We found his classrooms and his locker. He tried his locker combination about 15 times until he felt comfortable with it and the fact that he doesn’t actually fit into his locker – just in case anybody got any crazy ideas. Ahh . . . middle school memories . . .

Couch Potato to 5k: Day 2

So far so good – Brandon and I have gotten up early and are still on our training schedule!