on second thought...

life would be dull

if it weren't for

our ability to

'think twice'

about things...

in the past few days

i have thought twice

on many occasions!

1. calling 911

i have never had to call before

but one afternoon

this guy in the suv behind

me was driving like a mad man

swerving from one side

of the road to the next

i got over to turn and

almost got hit by

his erratic driving!

as he passes, i see he has

handicap plates

so i worry that

something is wrong

i'm nice like that!

i follow him and

dial 911

this is what i get:

9-1-1, what....is....your....emergency?

{the slooooooowest talker ever which i thought rather ironic!}

anyhoo, due to the small town we live in,

he needed to transfer my call,

which resulted in being disconnected!

{not so handy in a life threatening situation i presume!}

so by this time, said motorist

is pulling into a car dealer

it dawns on me...

this yahoo was a service guy

testing out his repairs!

i followed him and kindly told him

what i thought of his maneuvers

on a public street.

like he cared!

next time?

i'll let him hit someone!

2. mc donald's

i took the kids for lunch

at the wretched place,

play place and all,

which generally makes

my skin crawl,

thinking of all the germs!

but i'm a cool mom,

so i indulged them...

but tell me this:

is working at mc donald's

so damn stressful

that you forget to put the food

in the happy meal boxes?

really?

i cannot remember a time

that i have 'dined' at a golden arches

and they actually get the order correct!

what gives people???

next time?

packing lunch and hitting the park...

even if it is 100 degrees!

3. kickboxing

need i elaborate?

4. are we there yet?

the dreaded question came up

2 times yesterday

during a 20 min

car ride!

why is this making me

think twice you ask?

because in a week, we are hitting

the wide open highways and bi ways

of the US of A

for a 25 hour car ride!

what have we gotten ourselves into???

it is bad to have second thoughts

about something before it begins!

any guesses on how many times

we will hear that question on our trip?

so, what have you thought twice about lately???

note to self

listen to my inner voice
more often!
like today
when i was gearing myself
up to go to kickboxing
there was this little voice
saying
what? for reals?
and she should have been
listened to!

because this was not
your modern day
kickboxing class
where you show up and
sweat it out to a
new dance mix tune
oh, hecks no!

let me set the scene:
martial arts training center
like where real kickboxing
dudes and their mma cohorts
sweat it out!
and all the tattooed gents sport
the shiny boxing shorts
and the only other girl in the class,
who i was paired up with,
was a pumped up, tattooed,
sinead o'connor look alike
that let me know she is used
to street fighting in east san jose!
off to a great start!
{in all fairness, she rocked and i think i made a new friend!}
it started out with a flurry of
blocks, punches, kicks, turns
and i was hanging in there
despite the 5 pounds of sweat
already rolling off me just halfway
through the class!

oh, wait, did i mention that
i am soooooo not in shape?

i think about halfway through
i even begged her to go ahead
and make contact,
knock me out already!

but she lassoed her street fighting ways
and i had to suffer on!
so five min left in class
i'm thinking,
great, time to cool down!
and then it happened!
we were sentenced to 5 cold hard min
of a circuit, most of which
i cannot recall
as i was trying not to hurl
or pass out in front of these tough
men and woman!

i hear 'last time'
and i am so overjoyed
i can barely stand up,
ok, so i was barely standing
because my lungs were trying
to collapse, details, details!

and then it happened!
again!
as it turns out, we had one min
of class time left!
and what else to do,
other than get a drink
and find the nearest O2 machine????

why, 50 sit ups of course!
by this time, hubs had arrived
to rescue me,
but only after i attempted the
50 sit ups!
he just beamed from ear to ear
with pride that i had hung in there,
all the while i had visions of hanging
him, who got me into this mess!

but you know what?
it wasn't all for not!
in addition to the major water weight
i must have shed,
hubs did the dishes when we got home,
{which he tends not to touch when i am not working in the summer!}
somehow, it just doesn't balance out!

note to self
join the women's class!

she crafts, she crafts

i can be crafty

but due to lack of time,

i am only when i need to be

like tonight

i want to give the big girl's

teachers

something nice for the end of the year

so here is what i came up with:

in the morning, i will have her write...

'thanks for helping me blossom!'

on the thank you note card.

and this past weekend, while at

the bookstore,

she picked out a little cross stitch kit

so we worked on this cute little guy

and stuck him in a frame!

me hope she likes!

well, better get, hubs

is on the patio dragging furniture around

at 9:45 PM

while enjoying this:

in no particular order...

this is going to be soooo random

i apologize!

first, remember this?

yeah, well, my

NNNNNNNNNNN's

are giving out on me.

do you know how

common the letter N is?

takes about three presses

of the N key to get just one!

annnnnnnnnoying!

1.5 days of school left

i am beyond excited!

tonight was a nice glimpse of

summer:

we were all outside until late

used the hose as a bath

and still went to bed dirty!

let the summer begin!

speaking of summer,

my to do list has started

and lord is it large!

what do people who work

12 months of the year do?

summer is when i get things done!

{or at least make good lists of things to accomplish!}

oh, and it is when i have time to read...

these all came today, good timing!

and did i mention i am forming a

book club?

yep...more reading!

{and hopefully some good wine and snacks?}

today was a fun day

the big girl had her

awards assembly

and

talent show

so proud of her!

to celebrate we took

the kids for ice cream...

before dinner!

rebels, i know!

the little big guy's last day

of preschool is friday

{sniff sniff}

but holy heck am i happy

to lose that monthly expense!

although, i am sure the savings

are spent already!

and lastly...some humor:

on the playground today

a boy comes over to tell me

some kids are saying the

v word!

i say, honey, i am not sure what that is.

he said, you know, the V word!!!

oh lordy...1.5 days...

irol and her ipod

once upon a time

a most deserving

mom, irol,

got a shiny new

green ipod




she fell in love

she could do anything

with those little buds filling

her ears with harmonious tunes

then...

it happened:

she popped the buds in her ears,

scrolled to her fave artist,

but...wait...it was missing

as were ALL of her tunes!

she immediately went to her hubs

who had recently added new music

{read: HIS music}

to the tiny green wonder,

surely he had to know where

her tunes went!

after much debate over

whether it was intentional

or accidental

irol and hubs finally concluded

that synching it up on a diff

computer was the problem



irol immediately became way less

productive around the house

her ears were no longer filled

with the sounds she loved

to take her mind off of the fact

that chores suck!



finally, music restored,

irol and her jolly green friend

were reunited!

her kitchen has never been cleaner,

despite letting something boil over

whilst deep in her music,

and her hubs is back to complaining

about her singing out loud...

perhaps he should invest in some

earplugs!

especially since she has vowed

to don the buds for at least

30 min a day

in order to achieve the cleanest

palace in the kingdom...

and of course to drive the hubs crazy!

lordy what a year!

as a teacher

i know the toll that a

school year can take on you!

it sucks the life out of you...

trust me!

if you listen closely,

you can probably hear it!

draining like leaky balloon!

so when the big girl

brought her writing portfolio home

i should not have been surprised

to see the toll first grade has had

on her

{self portraits from fall and spring}

not quite as perky or happy in the second pic!

please forgive me...

i have a confession to make:

i have not seen

• star wars


• star trek


• it's a woderful life


• miracle on 34th street

now before you go all crazy

and pass seriously lame judgment

on me

i assure you

i am somewhat cultured:

• i eat sushi


• i read


• and i like scrabble

so when hubs suggested we see

the new star trek

i was confused!

why?

what is there to see?

i have gotten this far in life

without seeing any!



but i obliged...

and don't tell him i said this:

i enjoyed it!



now to my cultured list

i can add star trek...

there...is that better?

{{{love}}}

The most important thing a father can do for his children is to love their mother.

thanks for loving mom, dad

and i love you mom...

Happy Mother's Day!

when it rains, it pours...

and that is a good thing!

i was in need of some

serious soul watering

and i got just that in two days time!

back up to weds...

a hard, stressful, sad day

thurs brought a feeling

of exhaustion...

emotionally and physically spent

and this was all before 7:30 am!

so i get to work

not mentally ready to take on the day

and then the bell rang...

and brought with it

watering number one:

my awesome students

surprised me with a gorgeous

flower bouquet,

a balloon,

a card

that would make a grown man cry

and a little black lab doggie statue!

i love them!

their pick me up

got me through the day!

thurs night brought

watering number two:

open house at school...

seeing the big girl's

pride in her accomplishments

was amazing

and she also made

this cute little number:

in my own classroom,

it was nothing but

smiles, thank yous, and nice thoughts

from parents and students alike!

my soul was a little less thirsty!

friday morning

brought relief that this week

is almost over

and around midday,

it brought

watering number three:

hubs emailed me at work

he wanted to bring me lunch

and eat outside!

we had such a nice quiet lunch,

just the two of us, and

much needed!

but wait, this watering had a bonus!

about an hour later,

another gorgeous bunch

of flowers graced my desk

thanking me for being

the greatest wife and mother

my soul soaked it up!

and the best part?

more waterings

in store this weekend...

i am cashing in

a facial and massage

gift cert

and hope to fit in a pedi

and hubs has plans on sunday

for a little road trip...

my soul should be sufficiently

wet by sunday!

{but i still miss you alex!}

{and i still hear you walking around the house!}

so...has your soul been fed lately?

and what are your plans for the weekend?

{background}

in the background

is where our dog,

alex,

has been for a while now.

as he has aged to a ripe

15 years

he has slipped into

the background

he no longer runs and fetches

it hurts him

he is slow to react

but quick to love on

our legs as we pass him by

he is slow to meet us

at the door

but quick to move

to a bedside as we sleep

he is slow to eat

what is in his bowl

but still quick to beg for our food

the last year has brought

some health issues for him

but he kicked them like

the trooper he is

there was a time in the summer

when we took him to the vet

and did not think he would

return with us

but he did

thankfully

alex

has been with the hubs

for longer than

me and the kids

and while i do not

envy him the decision

i know it is his in the end:

he has decided

it is time for

alex

to be free from the pain he is in

the logical part of me

knows this makes sense

no pain medication

has brought him relief

and hubs said it best

when i suggested maybe trying more...

he said,

"to make us feel better or to make him feel better?"

and he is right.

alex

just isn't going to feel better.

so with a heavy heart

and a shaky voice

i called the vet

to make an appointment

for tomorrow (weds)

one which he will not accompany

us home from.

we told the kids tonight

which i dreaded

we read a book called

dog heaven

and the kiddos

have decided that might be

a cool place for him to be.

i keep telling myself the same.

so tonight

there have been lots of

hugs

petting

kissing

and loving

and tomorrow

i am sure there will be

lots of missing...

missing him

rub our legs

sleep by our beds

beg for our food.

the background in our life will be missing...

{q and a} part 1

i am back
i am recovered
2 cat naps on sat helped!

while i was away,
a few of you had some questions.
it isn't too late
if inquiring minds
are still out there
you can still ask...

question one was from
my friend kim
over at i know, right?!
she asked me to tell
the story of how hubs
and i met...
read that cute story here...

good question kim!
thanks!