Ears Pierced!

Caroline has been insisting she wants to get her ears pierced, and today was the day! She looked at the display case, and right away picked out the earrings she wanted. She sat in the chair, held their "piercing buddy teddy bear," and when it was all over, she did NOT cry but it looked like she wanted to. She toughed it out though, and no actual tears fell. I think she was surprised that it hurt, even though I told her ahead of time that it would. She looks a little woozy in the first "after" picture!

I remember getting my ears pierced in South Carolina the summer before 4th grade. They used tweezers back then to squeeze the earrings together, and did them one at a time. In these times of modern piercing, however, two different ladies use two clicker guns and they get both of them done in one click.

I'm not sure who thought it was a bigger deal - me or Caroline! :) I am very proud of her, and her Daddy told her that she looked beautiful.

After we got milkshakes and Chick Fil-A, I took some more pictures of both of them so I'd have a current photo.

Today is a new day

Right before Chicken Little hit the game-winning home run, he said to himself, "Today is a new day." After that game, his life started to change for the better.

Since most everyone around me feels quite free to comment on and discuss my mental health status, I'd like to announce that today is the new day for me wherein I will attempt to achieve better living through prescription chemistry. We shall see if the results are positive. I understand it could take between two and four weeks.

After this area of my life gets handled to everyone's satisfaction, I'm thinking that all those other areas over which I have no control but that also need attention will be the top priority for others.

In other words, once the nut job isn't a nut job anymore, perhaps it will become evident who else needs to do a little work, and we'll see if they have the stones or moxie to get 'r done, too.

I got the curl!

Today I opened a new tub of butter. I took my fork, scooped out the cute little curl and laughed to myself.

When we were kids, my sister and I used to fight over who would "get" the curl. I know, it's not like it tastes any different from the rest of the butter in the tub, but when you're a kid, you'll fight about anything. We'd even sing it like Eddie Murphy sang about the ice cream: I got the curl, I got the curl. Once in a while, just to get one up, I'd open a brand new tub and sneak it while I was helping put away the groceries, even though the old butter wasn't all the way gone. Yes, it was cheating a bit. Big sisters are mean like that. ;-0

I'll probably chuckle about that for the rest of my days. It's part of what Joan Didion called "family shorthand," the strange and wonderful little things you do in your family that other families don't do and don't know about. (Hmm, that sounds like another great blog entry!)

So sorry, Sissy, but this time--I GOT THE CURL!

Fat Tuesday

Whoo-hoo, it is Fat Tuesday and it certainly lived up to the hype. Basically I have been eating junk all day, ha! Took the kids to Olive Garden tonight and I ate so many breadsticks with alfredo sauce that my stomach hurts. Hoping there is enough room in there for that 3 Musketeers bar I planned to have tonight . . .

I think I am going to try to give up the "F" word for Lent. So I have been saying it plenty of times today to get it out of my system, hehe. If I can keep myself from saying it for 40 days, then I can stop saying it altogether.

Another thing I want to give up is my salty snacks. I've been putting on weight and I don't feel good about it. Health-wise, it also would be to my advantage to get rid of the weight before it gets insurmountable.

There are probably bigger sins I need to give up, but I am going to start with these two and then we'll reevaluate after the 40 days.

Long Live Mardi Gras!

You Are Special

Tonight John Sam and I were reading Max Lucado's book You Are Special. It's about wooden people called Wemmicks who go around giving each other stars for being "good" and dots for being "bad." As John Sam read the story aloud, I just watched his face.

When we got to the part about Punchinello going to see Eli, the woodcarver, the story says that Eli calls Punchinello's name in a deep, strong voice.

"That's God," said John Samuel. Only 8 years old, and already he knew--without my even explaining it to him.

Wow, just wow.

And oh, how I needed to hear that today!! :)

Two TVs in Two Days

The free TV we got from one of Sam's lawn customers was way bigger than the nice Samsung we used to have in the living room, but the picture wasn't that great and the plastic housing around it would crackle and break if you breathed on it. But we had it in the living room because it was BIGGER. The littler Samsung with the awesome picture was in Caroline's room and the kids used it for Pac-Man and watching videos.

The DVD player hooked up to the bigger TV would not play DVDs after we hooked up the digital converter box. We got a huge black line in the middle and two screens. So I thought it was because the TV was older.

Tried to switch them yesterday and the housing on the big TV cracked so much that the bottom fell out of it. So the kids have a huge broken TV in Caroline's room that does not work. But hey - at least it was FREE, right?!

The Samsung was in the living room and I was pleased as punch that once again I had the nicer, more colorful picture. Hooked up the converter box and DVD player...... and still got the huge black line and split screen when trying to watch a DVD. Then I spent about 3 hours online on Friday night trying to find the reason for this with no success.

Today I was in the bathroom while the kids played Pac-Man on the Samsung. Heard a huge crash and everyone was screaming at poor Tokyo. Seems she tried to jump over the Pac-Man cord and caught one of her paws on it. It pulled the Samsung down onto the terrazzo. The only good thing was that the glass on the front of it did not break. The kids were so excited when it turned on, thinking it wasn't damaged. But from the unusal colors, I could easily see that the Samsung was a goner. About 15 seconds later, it cuts itself off. Oh, and there's no sound anymore.

So now the only TV we have in the house that works is the oldest one we have, and it's in our bedroom. Yep, I'm spoiled from always having 2 televisions. I'm guessing I should be thankful, but right now I'm just too pissed. I don't spend a whole lot of time in the back bedroom except when I'm on my way to dreamyland late at night. Mighty inconvenient. And my "selfishness" just pisses me off more.

All of this because I just wanted to watch a DVD in the living room. Grrrr!

Ticky

After I watched Obama's inauguration speech, I came away feeling uplifted and optimistic about the direction of this country. Nobody said it was gonna be easy, and, because we didn't get into this fix overnight, the solution isn't going to be an overnight one. But I'm not happy about not rewarding the group of people who have met their obligations--quite a large group, we are. Nothing in the stimulus package helps me or my family. I don't expect a ticker tape parade for doing what I said I would . . . but to give the lion's share of benefits to those who made reckless, poor, or indulgent choices - may I speak candidly? That pisses me off.

As a parent of young children, I try my hardest not to reinforce bad behavior, lest it become an undesirable habit for them. Yet the leader of our country is doing exactly that, much to my chagrin. That unpleasant sound you hear in the background is my waning confidence in our new leader's abilities to steer this country and economy in a positive direction.

Hmmm, I wonder what will become of the unruly offspring our country is now creating? :(

Waiting for CSI

Just waiting for CSI to come on.

Making a note of today's date and will blog about it later on when I am good and ready.

Buh-bye to Tooth #2

Little Green lost her second tooth today. I think the Tooth Fairy might need a line of credit from her bank at the rate these teeth are coming out.

Caroline's eyes look very green in this photo, don't they? What a cutie, even minus two teeth. Her teacher gave her the sweetest, tiniest box shaped like a tooth for her to bring home the tooth so she could leave it for the Tooth Fairy. It's all about the cash, you know! Ha!

John Sam got his progress report today. He got four A's and one B! He improved in every subject except social studies, which was already an A last time. He continues to read every book he can lay his hands on, and he wins a free pizza each month when he reaches the goal he sets for himself.

We sure grow 'em cute and smart in this branch of the family tree!

Heart of Gold by Neil Young

Best.Harmonica.Song.Ever!

They don't call 'em "oldies but goodies" for nothing~