Happy Birthday to My Girl

My very own Divine Miss M turns 9 years old today. At precisely 8:12 pm, to be exact. Even though I have an 18 year old son, somehow it's different when the youngest start to approach the higher numbers. Not that nine is a high number in the scheme of things, mind you, but still, it seems like a lot for the time that has flown by. I thought that, in honor of her majesty's big day, I would jot down some of my observations, in no particular order:

M, you are:

• Smart as a whip
• Great at math (I like to think she got that from me)
• Curious
• Creative
• Strong
• Confident
• Brave (girlfriend rode the Tower of Terror at Disney MGM when she was barely 6!)
• Loves roller coasters
  
• Self-assertive
• Giving, just not all the time
  
• Helpful to other kids that need her
  
• Absolutely beautiful
• A book lover
• So much like me sometimes that I am alternately fascinated and scared to death
  
• A red belt in karate
• Color blind as it pertains to people
  
• A good and loyal friend
• The owner of a great sense of humor
  
• Going to be an amazing woman

And you are also:

• Stubborn as a mule (see self-confident above)
  
• A very picky eater
• Mean to your little brother way too often
• Turning into a teenager right before my eyes. It's too soon for that!
• A whiner
• Not one to pick up after yourself
• Convinced beyond all reason that the world has to be FAIR
  
• Apparently afraid of heights, which doesn't compute with your love of roller coasters
• Going to need braces in the near future

All in all, a fascinating, often frustrating and exasperating combination. But one that I definitely think I can live with, and love to the end of my days.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, BABE. I LOVE YOU.

Kindle, I covet thee

Hi,my name is Laura, and I'm a bookaholic.....


Seriously. I see a book that I think SOMEDAY I might want to read, and I buy it. Not check it out at the public library for free, like a wise person would do, but BUY it. Is Amazon a publicly traded company? If it is, I'm buyin' stock.

I have a stack (no longer merely a pile) of books that I hope to get to within this lifetime. And that stack is growing in height, with no end in sight.

Some of the books on my waiting list:

Plus the one(s) I'm currently reading:(thanks to my little bro for this one - LOVE it!)

and

* Sorry that is so long. Does anyone know how to put images side by side on Blogger?

So, I'm thinking that some day, I want one of these:


This is a Kindle, made and sold by Amazon.com. (So I SHOULD buy stock!). It is an ebook reader, which, in theory, has been around for a while, manufactured by the likes of Sony and Palm. But this one, oh this one, WIRELESSLY downloads books in a matter of seconds, at a much cheaper price than an actual book. It holds over 200 books! I could take my entire library with me wherever I go: karate lessons, intermission of a concert, heck, the grocery store checkout line. It automatically saves your place, can look up a word you don't know in the dictionary, and it it supposedly very easy on the eyes thanks to some newfangled technology that electronically simulates paper.

The only problem is that stack of books waiting for me. No way am I stupid, not to mention financially solvent, enough to re-purchase all those books. I'd spend a fortune. But if I wait so long as to actually READ all those books, no way will a Kindle ever make my life easier. What to do, what to do? Such a dilemma!

I guess I better either: 1) Get moving. 2) Beg for one as a present from some wonderful relative or other loved one (these babies are $399, so they'd have to REALLY love me), or 3) win the lottery. Number 3 isn't likely to happen since I don't play the lottery, but #1 and #2 are entirely within the realm of possible.

I'll start dropping hints.

PS - Anyone with any experience with ANY of the above books, please let me know. I'd love to hear how you liked, or disliked, them.

One other thing....

Somebody turned double-4 today. So, here's to me, and the year ahead.

Without a Trace

moar funny pictures

We had a good laugh over this tonight. M thought it the funniest thing she'd seen a LONG time. I'm not exactly sure WHY this is funny, but it is. It reminds me of a story from about 9 1/2 years ago.

I was pregnant with M (about 7 months along), and hubby and I, plus our two oldest, and only at the time, boys, M & E, went on a walk in the woods. M was about 15 and E was about 9. It was October, and not too cold, but cool, so we all had jackets on. We went on a different path than we'd ever taken before, so we didn't know what was ahead of us. We came to a small stream that had a log "bridge" spanning it. I wasn't too sure that I myself wanted to try to cross it, but the boys saw an adventure in the making, so M took off over the log to the other side. For some reason, he stopped on the log, right at the edge of the other side, and E had already started across. He was in more of a hurry than M to actually set foot on solid ground on the other side, so he hopped off the log onto the ground near the edge, which was covered in leaves.

Only it wasn't just leaves.

That "tiny" little stream swallowed my son whole, in the blink of an eye. Seriously, he vanished under the water without even making a ripple. I distinctly remember standing there dumbfounded saying "Oh my God". Not screaming, not really panicking or anything, just awestruck at what had just happened. One second he was traipsing across the log, the very next, gone without a trace. I truly thought aliens had just come down and plucked my first born from the planet. He was gone. I pondered jumping in after him, and was seriously just about to, when his head popped up. He came up laughing, which obviously was a HUGE relief. M helped him out on the other side, and we all just collapsed in laughter. He was, ahem, surprised that he hadn't jumped onto actual solid ground, but other than that, he thought the whole thing was pretty funny. Since it wasn't too cold, and he was, of course, soaking wet, we weren't worried about him freezing or anything, but we did turn around and head home after that, recounting the whole thing from all our various vantage points.

To this day, it is one of the funniest things I have ever seen. I KNOW I could have won $100k on "America's Funniest Home Videos" had I had the foresight to bring a video camera. Of crouse, it's only funny because he was okay, but hindsight's 20/20, right?

Sort of like the poor little kitty above. He was told he could walk on top of that snow, and damned if he didn't sink straight down.

Okay, they can stay

I think I'm beginning to recover from the holidays. This year, despite my having all my shopping done in plenty of time, was possibly the worst, most stressful holiday ever. I can't really elaborate, but let it suffice to say that anything that actually causes me to LOSE my appetite must not be good. I've taken steps to alleviate that particular stress, although other sources manage to creep in. Getting back to a normal routine helps.

I have decided to let my children stay, although the ice wears thin at times. To be honest, I think they're just being kids; it's me with the problem (see above). I must have been last in line when God handed out the patience allocations. If I'm out of sorts or under pressure, my fuse can be pretty short. I don't react to the kids fighting/whining/nagging/complaining/whatever with much parental grace during these times. Which, of course, only makes them act out more. If I can manage to step back, count to at least 10, and re-evaluate the situation, I'm sure my inner Cliff Huxtable will begin to emerge. I remain jealous of how Cliff and his wife (what was her name?) could diffuse any situation involving the kids with a bit of humor and love.

Clair, that's her name.

Anyway, I'm working on it. With some professional help. Wish me luck.

Look for them on Ebay

I love my children, really I do. But there are times such as the last few days where I have to stop and wonder if they are going through one of the proverbial "stages", or if I'm just not doing my job as a parent very well, or what. Seriously, I think I may kill one or both of them. Okay, not really; don't call the police....yet.

But L (now 7 1/2 yrs) has found his stubborn side, and uses it constantly. He had a good teacher, his sister M (almost 9). L has always been a bit of a nag, but we could at least reason with him. He is now putting his foot down, then screaming about it. Oh, and he changes his mind all the time. For example, yesterday we thought we'd take the kids to a movie. We decided on National Treasure. L thought that was great at first, then changed his mind and threw a fit about how we 'make him go to movies'. Okie-dokie, then. We called up Grandmom to see if they could go over there while hubby and I went to a grown up movie. Well, L then proceeded to pitch a fit about having to do THAT. He wanted to go to the movie after all. Too bad, buddy. Hubby and I went to see Charlie Wilson's War, and thoroughly enjoyed it, and our alone time. We took them to see National Treasure today, and both kids were transfixed the whole way through, even saying "great movie!" as we left. However, the tranquility lasted about as long as it took us to get to the car.

See, they are also fighting CONSTANTLY. About EVERYTHING. Most of which is vitally important to them, but truthfully the stupidest things you could imagine. It is impossible for the two of them to do anything together lately without WWIII breaking out.

To my Mom - I am SO sorry. I now understand what my brother and I put you through. Truly I do.

Now for M. She has found her inner bitch. Lordy almighty, has she. During the whole movie fiasco yesterday, she decided to pitch a tantrum about how she never gets what she wants, and numerous variations on that theme. The world MUST revolve around her. Shouldn't she know better, at least a little bit, by age 9? She then proceeded to take out her frustrations on her little brother by kicking him HARD for no valid reason (not that there is EVER a valid reason to hit, kick, or bite your brother). Let me just say that what followed was not one of my finer mommy moments.

After we both calmed down, we had a talk that gave me hope that she can learn to control herself, however she was back to her old ways today.

I can't WAIT for school to start back tomorrow! But please do keep checking Ebay for two very cute children - you may see them there yet.

Thoughts On The Eve of the New Year

I suppose everyone has 'resolutions', or at least good intentions to do something different during the fresh start also known as the New Year. I have resolved to not have any resolutions. I'm sick of making then breaking them, then hating myself for being such a loser that I can't even keep promises to myself. I'm pretty good at keeping those made to other people, but never to myself. Exercise, diet, writing more letters, all those resolutions in years past that were never kept.

I am, however, not getting any younger, so I really do need to take better care of myself. Just moving around more would be a good start. Not be so lazy. Get the body moving more.

My church is doing a "Year of the Bible", during which we are given a schedule that will allow us to read the entire bible in one year. I've always wanted to read the whole bible, and have made numerous starts to doing so, but always got hung up around Leviticus or Deuteronomy. Having a few hundred people doing it with me, in only about 20 minutes a day, should make this one entirely doable. I'll keep you posted on this one.

Other than that, I'm just going to take it as it comes. But I wish more than anything for a more peaceful year. As the mom of a kid that will most likely be headed to Iraq within the next two years, I hope that we find some way to start pulling troops out of there.

On that note, I will leave you with a picture of E and his girl heading out for a special dinner the other night. He couldn't wait to put those dress blues on!

Oh, and have a Merry Ducky Christmas

Who knew that each Dec 25 we celebrate the birth of our blessed savior and rubber ducky?

Get your Kleenex out

When we were down at Parris Island for E's USMC boot camp graduation, they had family day the day before the actual graduation ceremony. No one had seen their kid since they left for boot camp. A ceremony was held in the 'all weather building' at which a movie was played showing many scenes of training that the raw recruits had gone through. As soon as the movie was over, the new Marines came running into the building and lined up in formation. It had all the makings of a reveal from Extreme Makeover. There was not a dry eye in the house. Here is the reason why; it was the soundtrack behind the movie: (this is worth watching, trust me)



Utterly manipulative of the Marine Corps, but unbelievably effective. I CANNOT listen to this song without major tears.