Hello there! Have you got your cup of room-temperature coffee by you, still in your robe as the dryer hums (sending the message: "Yes, I AM working today. I did laundry!") You may even have poured Pine-Sol in the sink or toilets, because if it smells clean, YOU cleaned it. Well done, you!
Note: This may or may not be reflective of the author's current status as she sits at the computer, wondering why she told her daughter she'd write "something" if she got 500 followers on Twitter. Accountability to your children is such a burden sometimes.
First, I actually blogged every day this week, thanks to the challenge from:
I'm not sure how I'm doing, but I'm writing, and it feels like circuits in my brain are connecting - and that feels great.
I also like reading posts from Lauren who writes From My Grey Desk, especially on Friday. Did you see that yummy dessert on her High Five for Friday? There isn't enough spandex in the denim for me to consume all that, but it's wonderful eye candy. I'm also happy for her cats' comfort in the new home. Our cat, Bella (short for Bellatrix), hangs out on the patio these days, which seems to have helped reduce the number of times she streaks through the house like a demon possessed (which may be entirely possible).
She doesn't look like the spawn of Satan. . .
. . .but she definitely suffers from a split personality (as most felines do).
Second, our Kidlet was asked to test for our new school district's GT (Gifted & Talented) program. You can hope your offspring will find a cure for cancer, or win an Olympic medal, or date Charlie Sheen (well, maybe not the last one), but all you really want is for them to be happy. And successful. And not end up like Charlie Sheen:
No Charlie Sheen Allowed. No Mug Shots allowed. This looks like great parenting advice in one image.
Photo courtesy: www.amazon.com
We didn't tell Kidlet she would be tested, because, well, she works herself up over stuff like that. Where does she get this trait? Well, I often tell friends that the best part of Kidlet's arrival into this world was that she arrived via emergency C-section. I had no time to worry, stress or freak out. I was medicated, motivated and in the maternity ward for 7 days. If it had been a scheduled C-section, my brain would have assured the rest of me that death was imminent.
We won't find out the results until June, but the fact that they saw potential in Kidlet is wonderful. Sappy, weepy, Hallmark card wonderful. I told her we will be proud of her, no matter what, and that all students, GT or not, grow up - and there isn't a GT section at Target or Chick-Fil-A. (Note that I didn't include Walmart. Ahem.)
(Still, it's pretty cool that she got the chance.)
Third, I worked as a substitute teacher again this week. I know it sounds crazy to some people to choose to spend time with 20-22 kids you barely know - or haven't met before - but it has an even better effect on me than writing. I absolutely LOVE working with students. It makes me indescribably happy, despite any cartoon depicting otherwise.
Photo courtesy: www.cartoonstock.com
Fourth, I love my Steve Madden gladiator sandals, which I wore today while working in kindergarten. They're always comfortable, and my daughter thinks they're almost as cool as her Children's Place silver gladiator sandals. Her sandals have the zipper in back, however, and are much easier to slip on. Oh, middle age, how I love what you've done with my back.
Photo courtesy: www.kaboodle.com
I admit that shoes are ALWAYS in my top five things every day (at least until I need orthopedic options. Until then, get behind me SAS Shoe Store. Thankyouverymuch.)
Finally, my fifth fave for today is the great meal that was catered today by the PTA. I knew nothing about it, so a surprise free lunch is even better. It was amazingly good food - AND I found a new place to satisfy our craving for Tex-Mex since we moved to SC last fall. Thank you, Salsarita's Fresh Cantina, for a yummy lunch!
Yes, those are black beans - and no, it's not Tex-Mex, but it IS delicioso
(as Dora the Explorer teaches all moms).
Photo courtesy: www.examiner.com
So, there ya' have it. Five reasons for me to smile this week. The lunch was a neat surprise - and I was told today by a teacher that she always calls a substitute again when that person works well with her autistic students. One of those students hugged me before nap today. BONUS!!!!
Have a great weekend, and if you're blogging and want to share, feel free to post a link in the comments - or leave a note telling me something that made your week better. There has to be something, even if it was someone's absence. ;)
Oh, and one more Pollyanna moment: there are only 18 days left in our school year!
Thanks to Kate from The Small Things Blog and Lauren, who writes From My Grey Desk, I've decided to accentuate the positive today. . .because the gray skies near Charlotte, NC, have not made it the most happy week. A transplanted Texan is used to this kind of cloudy day:
Lake Waco - raindrops do not fall on one's head - nor in one's lake that often. Today's high: 91 degrees.
Right now, however, the sun is shining and all is right in the world - as long as I don't watch the news, read the paper - or talk to my in-laws. (I kid, I kid.)
In the spirit of being positive and putting my Pollyanna on, here's my version of the "glad game" this week:
1. I'm glad Kidlet did extraordinarily well on the MAP test administered at her school this week and extremely proud to be her mom. I think MAP is an acronym for "Measure of Academic Progress" - but I'm not going to dwell on it because standardized tests are like designer clothing lines - changing and occasionally more absurd with every season.
Kidlet is eerily book smart, wise and intuitive. . .and we still tell her to look "on her other right" when she can't find something in the fridge, cabinet or closet. I LOVE HER. Seriously. She scored above her grade level in both Reading and Math, but her father and I are arguing over who will have to teach her how to drive:
Photo courtesy: www.zazzle.com
Did I mention she and I are both blonde?
2. I was invited to a breakfast to thank school volunteers. Since we moved here in October, well into the school year, it was a challenge for all of us. Kidlet was used to my working at a school, but I became a SAHM again (with her school hours from 7:30 - 2:15). I couldn't substitute teach - with 5 years' experience as a school office employee and classroom aide - until I attended a 3-hour workshop. While I was waiting for the life-changing training session, I offered to help in any way I could, which meant quality time with a cordless glue gun in the school hallways. That was fun. No. Really. I got to know teachers and students, which is what all moms with only one child like to do. Snoop. . .with permission.
3. I discovered how to make cake mix cookies. BEST. HOMEBAKER FAKE. EVER. Kidlet and husband prefer them to cookies I make from scratch, because I like crunchy cookies (and since I'm the one making them, they tended to be, well, crunchy.) Nom, nom, nom. Anyway, I discovered that by adding eggs and oil - or eggs, oil and water, you have happy people in a fraction of the time and your house doesn't smell like the garbage hubby forgot to take out. Again.
Making these made me so happy! I had no idea! Some people get really creative by adding nuts, chocolate or candies to the mix, but they're just fine without them. Seriously. It's cake mix. It's all there, including all those preservatives and additives that coat our insides. Bon appetit!
You can learn more here (I flatten the cookies with a glass dipped in sugar rather than flour, btw):
Even if you don't add anything extra, they do taste pretty darn good and you only mess up one bowl. Yay!
4. I'm not scheduled for a colonoscopy, nor being nagged by medical personnel to get one. . .nor by anyone else, actually. Anyone who can say that should be happy, don't you think?
5. What always makes me smile: my favorite tee shirt, inspired by my favorite sitcom:
So here's the shirt, which I wore on vacation to visit my parents, who might have appreciated the shirt more - or stared quizzically at me less - if they had seen the above-referenced clip of "The Big Bang Theory." As it is, they finally broke down the second time I wore it (after laundry, naturally) and asked, "What does that mean?" - pointing to my chest. (I love my dad.)
I realize now that a depiction of hand gestures on a your daughter's upper body could be cause for concern:
Actual age: 42. Age when in the company of my parents: 12 (tall and big-boned, I think is what they call it.)
So, there you have it. I've laundered, loitered and listed - and it's not even noon yet! Hope you find or ferret out some favorite things this Friday - and we'll see if I can blog a bit better. . .later.
I thought I'd be so productive today. Blogging for the first time on a new site, having written a grand total of TWO posts on Wordpress in 2011. Last year was a mixed and damn heavy bag of crap, stress, exhaustion, loss and a year-end surprise of hospitalization. Did I write about it, journal, vlog or Tweet? Nope. That would have been therapeutic, helpful, healthy. Please. Sure, I'd post on Facebook, but that was limited to tidbits of snark and glimmers of acid-tongued rants, along with links to whatever entertained, distracted or inspired me to not get in my car and run over small creatures or the people who had pissed me off.
So I started this morning on blogger.com (the practical choice, since I'm a burgeoning Google-phile). I began by being snarky regarding a society (ours, that is) that will keep Kim Kardashian in Spandex well into her 80s, with her parental unit/pimp Kris Kardashian pushing, plotting and padding the financial portfolios for years to come. I was feeling almost pleased with my work. . .and then POOF! The post disappeared. Did I highlight the entire text and delete? No. Did I hit the back arrow by mistake. Nope. Did I remember to save the post as I was typing. Well, of course not. Am I capable of accidental self-sabotage on a regular basis? No comment. I decided God must like some big butts better than others, because a Kardashian kiester was not to be roasted this morning. Let go and let God, right? I do wonder how Kris will get 10% from that personal appearance (wherever Kim ends up).
After cursing - hence the title of this post - I regrouped and thought I might as well post something that will help Kendall understand how her mother's mind works (because her father is clueless about such things) - and when karma knocks me down a flight of stairs and I have amnesia, I can come here to rebuild the inner me via this bionic blog.
That being said, here's a list of some of the sites I visit for inspiration, distraction, delusion and to bring about a feeling of faux emotional stability. My justification? No matter how much crap was delivered to my door (on a fairly consistent basis, might I add), I feel better knowing I'm NOT these people. You seek your psychological well-being where you can, right?
1) Source of all Kraptastic Kardashian: People Magazine. The latest Kim Klaptrap? To bang or not to bang.
2) Looking to malign Miley Cyrus? Look no further than The Superficial. (Just try being a mom of a 9 year old and NOT develop an intense aversion to filling the Cyrus coffers.)
3) Fun, fabulosity and my favorite: Les News. I like Trent's posts as author of Pink Is The New Blog. Much better than Perez - with a lot less pandering.
4) Reading this reminds of Big Bang Theory - without having to Google words you don't know: i09.
5) Quenching the thirst for knowledge (so you can understand WTH people under the age of 25 are posting, texting and Tweeting): Urban Dictionary
6) Having a bad face day? Not any more, you're not: Stars' Plastic Surgery
Now, you've had a peek inside the online mood medicine cabinet I keep fully stocked at all times. I may post music from YouTube, too. (That's the advisory portion of this post. You're welcome.)
*Tim Minchin is NOT Jesus. Thankfully, Woody Allen isn't, either.
Now it's time for me to stalk people on Facebook. I highly recommend it. A little knowledge is a dangerous thing, so get all the good stuff while they try to figure out the privacy settings.
