Friday, April 29, 2011

Wedding, Schmedding

Well, unless you live under a very big rock, on a remote island, and have sand in your ears, you know that today Prince William married Kate.  I don't know when the news broke of their engagement, but I do know that we have been hearing of little else since then.  Today, though!  Today was truly shocking to me.  Every time I got on the computer I was bombarded by the headlines (our default is set to Yahoo).


"Best and Worst Royal Wedding Fashions"- That was followed by... "The bride looked stunning, but some guests made questionable style choices for the big event".   REALLY?!  I'm shocked and enthralled!  What were those idiots thinking, wearing something they liked, rather than what some fashion yahoo deemed appropriate?!


"What Prince William whispered to Kate" - Followed by... "As the cameras zoomed in at the altar, the groom turned to the bride and set off a lip-reading frenzy".  OH MY GOSH! What could he have said?!  I have to know!  Actually I'm a pretty good lip reader.  He said, "That frock is lovely darling.  I'm going to thoroughly enjoy ripping it off of you later".


"Kate's sister in surprising white dress" - WHAT?!  She wore white?!  The nerve!  I cannot believe it!  I'm beside myself.


"Who is frowning girl in royal kiss photo?" - Followed by... "and other mysteries solved".  Oh, I cannot bear the suspense.  I must know, and I must know now.


"Strong reactions to royal's hat" - I have a strong reaction for you - WHO CARES?  Who cares, who cares, who cares?!  WHO.... CARES???


I went to a school to do some testing for my job this morning.  I could not listen to the radio without hearing more "important wedding details".  A delivery truck driver, who was bringing food into the school actually stopped me to say, "Maybe YOU can answer my question.  What does the royal family DO?  What is their job?"  I bit my tongue and repressed the overwhelming urge to scream "WHO CARES?!", and just answered, "Look pretty?"  He just chuckled and walked away from me muttering something.


In our local newspaper, a reporter stopped several people to ask this very important question... "The coverage of the royal wedding will air beginning at 4am on some channels.  Will you get up early to watch?"  Four of the four said they would!  I told Jim, "I wouldn't even get up at 4am for my own wedding!"  He laughed and agreed.


I'm really hoping things can get back to normal tomorrow.  Please tell me I won't have to be bombarded by "Shocking, Important Honeymoon Details".  Surely there will be SOMETHING else going on in the world that is considered news?  PLEASE?








Tuesday, April 26, 2011

Spring Break 2011

Sometimes I wish I was my friend Julia... or her children... whichever.  They have so much fun, and always seem to be traveling somewhere new, seeing something new, experiencing something new.  I'm pretty sure she knows I am jealous (or she will now!).  Reading about their plans for Spring Break was making me all twitchy, thinking "Why don't WE ever go anywhere?!".  Oh right, because we can't afford it.  It was time for another list.  (You know I love lists right?)

I would show you a photo of the list Dylan and I made, but he spilled milk all over it, so I'll just tell you that the "Things To Do On Easter Vacation" list has 18 things on it.  I'll also tell you that we managed to cross off 10!  Not bad!  Not bad at all.

We
1. Blew Bubbles (You gotta love a kid who puts "Blow bubbles" as the first priority!)
2.  Went to "the dinosaur museum", with "Daddy" and "Mi-Ma".
3-5.  Had playdates with Caleb, Kaiden, and David.
6. Went to SeaBase, (where we ran into Caleb, and a kid from Dylan's class at school). (It's an indoor play area - it rained A LOT last week).
7.  Went to My Little Outback. (Another indoor play area - rain, rain, and more rain!)
8.  Went to Ikea (Okay, so that was totally MY idea, but Dylan tolerated it well!)
9.  Saw a magician perform at Chick-Fil-A.  (He LOVED it, and performed many hilarious "tricks" for the next few days.)
10.  Went to Reilly's Summer Seat Farm.  (I was really going to be disappointed if we didn't get there, because it is a yearly tradition.  Even though the forecast was for thunderstorms, and it looked a bit ominous, we went, and were lucky enough to not have any rain!)







Friday, April 15, 2011

Food Poisoning?

Last night I had dinner at a restaurant with Dylan and my dad.  I had the tomato basil soup, 1/2 chicken salad croissant sandwich, water, and a chocolate chip cookie.  It's what I always get at this particular restaurant.  I'm pretty sure I won't be getting it the next time I go there.  As a matter of fact, I'm thinking it might be a while until I go there again.

You see, I spent most of last night and today until 4pm either curled up in a fetal position with massive stomach pain, or running to the bathroom.  Food poisoning?  Whatever it was, it was not fun.

Luckily, my mom was coming over to watch Dylan so I could go to work, which of course, didn't happen. My timesheet also didn't get turned in (sigh).  So, she spent the entire day alternating between bringing me ginger ale and cinnamon toast, and keeping Dylan out of the house, so I could get some sleep.  (Thanks again Mom!  You are the best!)

Jim called twice to check on me, and see if I felt any better.

And, even on a craptastic day such as this, my little sweetheart managed to put a smile on my face.  First, by ever so carefully carrying the plate with my cinnamon toast upstairs for me.  Then, by bringing me a stack of his books, that he had selected because "they're all long, and you'll be sick for a long time, so you'll need something to read".  Then, by bringing me a stuffed animal ("Mommy Puppy") to console me.  Then, by picking a dandelion for me while he was out with "Mi-Mi".  Last, but not least, by bringing me this note...

It looks like it says "Feel Bitter Mom", which I kind of was, having to miss enjoying the beautiful weather today.  But, really, more than anything, today I just felt...loved.

Wednesday, April 13, 2011

The Problem With Public Blogs

There is a funny thing about a public blog.  It's out there, for anyone to stumble across.  At times, it can be a bit disconcerting.  Once, I went on a job interview, and the woman had googled my name beforehand, came across my blog, and read until she knew way more about me than I was probably comfortable with her knowing.

Because my blog is public, there are many things I can't write about - certain family members, certain friends, work, etc, etc.  There are also things that I could write about, but choose not to for whatever reason.  I try to keep my blog upbeat.  No one wants to read a blog that is constantly "Wah, Wah, woe is me with my boo boo face".  But, there is a consequence to only writing the positive in your life - your blog is not an accurate portrayal of your real life.  It is a rainbow sprinkles and sunshine version of your life, and sometimes the people reading your blog might start to wonder why their life sucks, and yours is all rainbow sprinkles.  I'm an extremely "real" person in real life, (some might say too much so), and I would like to be "real" in my writing, but I also want to be fair.

Is it fair for me to write certain things about Dylan?  If Jim has a problem, I probably wouldn't write about it.  I figure he wouldn't want everyone to know about that.  Would Dylan care at this point?  No, but he might in the future.  So, that is what I wrestle with.

I feel, though, that I need to discuss something.  I remember a couple years ago, when Dylan was 2, and I was visiting a friend of mine with 3 kids.  She said, "After you were here the last time, I told my husband that Dylan knows his letters, and so now he's on me to get X to learn his.  He thinks he's behind!"  I assured her that her son was not behind, but it was still awkward.  If I say "My son is just advanced", I sound like an idiot, and probably just make her feel worse.  If I downplay Dylan's intelligence, I feel like I am being unfair to him.  I want to be proud of his accomplishments, but without putting other people off, sounding like a bragging fool, or making people worry about their child's abilities.  I don't think I've figured this out yet.

When I moved Dylan into another preschool in December, the teacher asked to talk to me a couple of weeks later.  "We feel he is advanced, and would maybe be better off with the other four year old class, because that group of kids is a little more advanced than this group.  Would you want to switch classes?"
That was already his third preschool class, so I decided not to switch again.  A couple of weeks ago, his teacher said that "...he isn't really interacting much with the other kids".  I don't know if it is because he is more advanced than this group of kids, and doesn't have much in common with them.  It could be that, or it could be that he is around adults the majority of the time, or it could be that he is just bad at making friends.  I can't help but worry that this will be an ongoing issue.  When you are "different" than everyone else, it is often harder to fit in.

If you didn't know this already, I am tall - 5'11".  In junior high and high school I was taller than most of the boys.  I'm also clumsy, so it was a lovely combination for that awkward period of adolescence.  I was always a fantastic speller, and one of my teachers would have spelling bees every Friday.  The whole class would start out standing, and if you missed a word, you sat down.  The person left standing was the winner.  I would keep spelling words correctly until I couldn't take everyone looking at my freakishly tall, awkward self another minute, and then I would throw it.  I know how being "different" can make you insecure.  I don't want Dylan to feel that way about being smart.  I don't want him to purposefully not do his best, just so he can fit in.  But I do want him to fit in.  I want him to have friends.

Where am I going with this long-winded post?  I'm not even sure.  I guess I just want to say that I'm not trying to portray Dylan as this perfect, genius, little boy with no faults.  I choose to focus on the good.  Some days are rainbow sprinkles, but somedays are not.  Really, we should all remind ourselves that what people put on their public blogs is only part of their lives.  We're not seeing the whole picture, we're only seeing it through the colored glasses (rose, in my case) they choose to show from their blog.

Thursday, April 7, 2011

Smiles

I have been in one heck of a bad mood lately.  There are a couple things that just really aren't going my way.  There are a couple family situations that are stressful, also.  Sorry to be so vague, but I can't really discuss any of these things on a public blog!  Let's just say that it has all been getting to me.  Well, that and the completely ridiculous weather (snow and 30-40 degrees in April is ridiculous by anyone's estimation)!  But, today the sun is finally shining, and the temps are in the 60's, so I am smiling.

Dylan might have been trying to give me a message yesterday - that I needed to "turn my frown upside down" - with these play food faces he made...



(He said this one is "Bert, because he only has one eyebrow")


I have to admit, this story he came up with, did make me laugh...

Hope you are all smiling today, my friends.


Friday, April 1, 2011

Fools Thoughts Are Scattered

*Sometimes you wonder how much a four year old is listening, and how much of an adults conversation they are actually "getting".  But, I figured it out, one day this week, when he said,  "Mommy's job is more ridiculous than Daddy's job!"

*I was putting cream on his legs, which have a lot of eczema on them right now.  I told him, "I really wish we could make this rash disappear!"  He answered, "Well, we could get a magician.  Are there any magicians around here we can call?"

*(The weather has been in the 30's in Pittsburgh this week).  Dylan and I were sitting at the kitchen table, looking out at the back yard.  There was a whole bunch of birds that we watched fly around and around and around in circles.  They all seemed irritated and confused.  I had this thought... When birds fly south for the winter, do they always come back at the same time every year?  They must be really ticked off this time.  "We cut our Florida trip short, for THIS?!"

*I woke up to snow on the ground, and in the sky, this morning.  HaHaHa...Very funny, Mother Nature.
April Fools!

*When I was in high school, I had to take a typing class (on actual typewriters - imagine that!)  One of my best friends was in the class with me, and we sat with our desks facing each other.  The instructor would give us timed typing drills.  Almost every time he would yell "STOP!", you would hear "click, click, click, clickety click..".  "WHO WAS THAT?!", the poor man would scream, a vein in his head bulging.  My friend would sit there, innocently looking around the room as if to try and guess who it had been, and I would have to bite my tongue to keep from laughing at her.  Poor thing just could not type to save her life.  I loved that class, and actually enjoyed the timed drills.  So, when I found this link , I enjoyed reliving my youth.  Each time the drill ended, I imagined I heard, "click, click, clickety click".  I discovered I can type 50-60 words a minute, with pretty good accuracy.  Anyone want to hire me?

*If you ever wondered how fast (or slow) you read, you can also go here.
And, you were wondering what you were going to do this weekend?