Archive for September, 2008

I can’t begin to thank all of you enough for your perspectives on the whole karate/swimming thing. I can’t reply to all the comments ’cause my computer is still dead and web based email sucks, but thank you. I really took to heart all the comments and they helped so much.

Last night I registered A for swimming, to start in October. This afternoon I’m pulling him from karate; I can’t take the battle anymore. We’ll use the time in between to get used to doing homework again and getting back into the swing of school.

In other news…I cooked yesterday, for the entire day. Yeah…I’m not doing that again any time soon. I’m alone in my house right now, a rare occurance. The only sound I hear is my typing and Rosie snoring. Yes, she snores. I love m’girl. My Thursday Thirteen of how my house is a rip-roaring nightmare of a mess was apparently only a prelude to how it is now, so guess what I’m doing today? My desk, the one missing the laptop, needs to be cleared off. I’m debating between a shovel and a blowtorch. I have a PTO meeting tonight…hooray. My to-do list has 18 items on it, and at least two of those items have their own list. I had another migraine on Sunday.

And as I cooked yesterday I mentally wrote two damned fine posts. Do I remember them? No. So…sorry for today’s drivel. I’ll do better tomorrow.

Ok, I’m actually going to avoid political talk here. Yay me! I may go Karin’s route and start up my own political rant blog. Frankly, I may have to, to stay sane. No one may read it, but I’ll feel better venting. But that’s neither here nor there, so…new topic.

One of the hardest parts of parenting is…well, parenting. Yeah, sounds silly to me, too. Today after school A didn’t listen, ran away when called to come home, and mouthed off when he was dragged into the house. There was a Grand Opening Celebration for his new school tonight and we didn’t go because of that. And then he proceeded to totally lose his shit. I’m sure it was compounded by the fact that he could see the entire celebration from the dinner table.

This is the part of parenting I detest the most.

Another one of my least favorite parts is trying to figure out when to call the game. A has been gritching for weeks about karate, something he’s pretty good at. Now, I have laid down the law about scouts. He will be a cub scout, so help me, no discussion. (Ok, yes, scouting has a spotty record on many things, but I saw what a positive effect it had on my Eagle Scout brother, who is A a generation ago, and A stays in scouting). He’s stopped that argument. But the karate thing… When do I call it? His instructor is fantastic. No, really, he is amazing. He is all about focus outside of karate, at home, in school. He’s all about respect. And I’m kinda envious of my boys, doing something that looks like so much fun!

So I’m caught between doing what’s best for my boys and what, it appears, I want. I always hated teaching the kids who didn’t want to be there, whose parents were pushing them. It was always obvious that it was the parents  who should have been taking the flute lessons, not the kid. I don’t want to be that parent.  But I see what a positive effect karate will have on my boys, too. And we’ve all heard the stories of adults who say, “I wish my parents had kept me in piano…” Sigh…so what do I do? Yeah, I’m the parent, but I also live with this kid who gritches about karate all the time. I was actually relieved that A mouthed off this afternoon, as it meant that I didn’t have to listen to him all the way up there and all the way back.

A has mentioned that his sport is swimming. I’m sure this is partly his infatuation with Michael Phelps and partly the fact that he finally got over his freak out of the pool. No, it wasn’t fear, he was never afraid, he’d just freak out over random aspects of the pool, like the jets that move the water around. And then, when I told him that Michael Phelps was just like him as a kid (he was on Ritalin 3x a day as a kid…and kept asking questions until he got answers…and how did his mother not wring his neck?), A was totally on board.

So do I bag the karate and go to swimming? I’m so lost here. Do I insist on follow through or allow investigation of many different things? I’m not worried about J here. J will start up violin lessons again, and will do whatever sport I sign him up for, whether it’s karate or swimming. And frankly…J is still working on left vs. right, so karate is a challenge for him anyway.

But what do I do? I’m sick of the fighting, it’s not a battle I care to do anyway…bleh. Thoughts?

And now for something completely different…my laptop is fried. Totally, completely, entirely fried. The motherboard is toast. Geek Squad did nothing last week; in fact, I’m pretty sure they never turned on the computer. So my repair guy dug in there and discovered that a chip had burnt up, could smell residual smoke, and the motherboard was done for. Back to the Geek Squad with an attitude, it has gone back to HP, and hopefully I’ll have it back in 10-14 days. This is the last crash I’ll deal with. If there is a next one, the laptop goes on eBay for spare parts, and I’m getting an iMac laptop. I’m done with this. So how am I writing this, then? Backup computer. I’m still without my laptop/my brain, but at least I’m able to write/do email/etc. Gah.

Thirteen Things: One breath from hysteria I’ve about had it. Princess (the laptop with a biatch attitude) is in the shop again. This time I actually believe she’ll be repaired…or at least looked at. I’m pretty confident that the Geek Squad never turned her on last week…and we all know if you don’t turn on a woman, she ain’t gonna perform! Ba dum bum! Thank you, thank you, I’ll be here all week, try the veal, tip your wait staff. But with Princess’s PMSing, assorted things to do (most of them immediately), A’s late start yesterday (um, hello? Yes, I know the teachers need meeting time and stuff, but a 2 1/2 hour late start? Starting at 11:35 is a great way to mess with my day), J’s intense desire to label everything in the house (looks like a Richard Scarry book around here lately), and a new stinky dog (God, I love that pup), my house is toast. There is a project or miscellaneous crap in every single room. Now, I’m a “place for everything and everything in its place” person, so this level of disarray is not doing my mental state any favors. And since I don’t want to write about the RNC again, I’m going with a TT today. Let’s go with “Jen’s list of disarray.” Welcome to my chaos. 1. Kitchen: Here we have dishes to put away, more to put into the dishwasher, breakfast to finish cleaning up, the floor to clean because the crumbs are taking over. Also veggies to wash and prep, dinner to prep, baking to do (finally cool enough to turn on the oven), and the fridge to clean out. 2. My “office”: My office is in the corner of the kitchen, but warrants its own section. Princess is missing, so the crap on my desk is migrating and taking over. I believe the crap pile is getting close to a foot high. In this pile is a gift I need to mail (a new nephew born last week), stuff to file, calls to return, receipts to put into Quicken once Princess comes back, books, mail, and assorted stuff. Note: I am a freak about a clean desk, so this is extremely unusual for me and it’s driving me batsnot crazy. 3. Kids’ office: Ok, we figured out we didn’t need a formal dining room, so we turned it into a kids’ office. It’s where we have most of their books, bookshelves with my scrapbooks, and the backup computer on which I’m typing right now. The floor is covered in playing cards, drawing paper, and a couple of games. 4. Tom’s office: I don’t even go in there. We painted and got him new furniture two months ago. Looks great, but it was never really finished. Still crap everywhere. His problem, not mine. 5. Our bedroom: Oy vey. This is the dumping ground for all things to leave the house. I’ve been trying (emphasize trying) to get our closets cleaned out and stuff donated. In our bedroom right now there are three separate ginormous piles of clothes to leave. There is also a pile from Tom’s office that has no place to live and will therefore be donated I don’t care what’s in there. 6. A’s bedroom: Makes the Sweet Baby Jesus cry. ‘Nuff said. 7. J’s bedroom: Makes all the animals in the stable cry along with the Sweet Baby Jesus. Mary is not happy about all this crying. 8. Garage: We haven’t been able to pull Tom’s car into the garage in months. This is the staging area for stuff to be donated, once it has been boxed up in our bedroom. Piles of crap here. And empty paint cans that my darling husband was supposed to take care of. 9. Basement: Actually, not too bad down here. I may come hide down here today. No, wait…pantry items from yesterday’s Costco run (my wallet whimpers…) still need to be stashed in the basement pantry and juice boxes need to go into the fridge. 10. Scrapbook room: I have a scrapbook room? Really? ‘Cause I haven’t scrapped in many, many months. My shredder is down there, so I do occasionally get down there to toss shredable mail, but to actually do a craft project? {snort} 11. Backyard: Mmmmm….nothing a mess out here. Beautiful patio, toys picked up and put into the storage bench, poop picked up (we pay $1 per poop and are happy to do it; the boys fight over who gets to do doodoo duty). Maybe I’ll sit out in the backyard today. 12. Bathrooms: Ick and ick. But not my responsibility. I sit and therefore have no problem with aim, so Tom and the boys clean them. But it’s been awhile and I’m about to take over. They always forget the tubs. Ticks me off. 13. My desk: I’m mentioning it again because it’s driving me in-freaking-sane. I need a shovel. Or a blow-torch. Now. Before you all think I’m a raging slob, I do exaggerate for effect. Yes, it’s a mess around here, but it will also only take me a total of a few hours to get it all in order…the exceptions being the donation piles and Tom’s office. There’s no salvaging his office. Or the garage. Or the boys’ rooms (sorry, Mary). Time to dig out. And then feet up on the porch in the backyard. ‘Cause it’s, you know, clean.

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Thank you, Karen, for getting me out of thinking of something to post on a day when my brain is just fried….

So here’s the Four, four, four, four meme…..

1. Four places I go over and over: I agree with Karen here, does crazy count? Probably not, eh? Ok, let’s go with Costco, gas station, the grocery store, and into Boulder for acupuncture.

2. Four people who email me regularly: my husband, Kate, my mom, and my group of scrapbooking buddies. Yes, more than four, thanks for noticing.

3. Four of my favorite places to eat: La Fogata, The Happy Sumo, Beau Jo’s Pizza (it’s a Colorado place and they have gluten free pizza!), and any Chinese place serving dim sum.

4. Four places I’d rather be right now: on the porch three feet to my left, Disney World, Victoria British Columbia, with my family and parents visiting my brother and his wife in Germany

5. Four TV shows I watch: Battlestar Galactica (and if you’re not watching this, shame on you!), Countdown with Keith Olbermann, Family Guy, and American Dad.

6. Four people I will tag: whoever else needs a Monday morning post.