Just when I thought it was safe to go back in the water....

Da-dum da dum da dum da dum dadumdadum.......Or however the Jaws theme goes.....
Just when I thought it was safe to be the parent of teenagers again.......
Anyway, when the jr and freshman came home from school today, we got into a debate of sorts over why they do not have to take semester finals next week. The excuse is that their attendance was great, so this is their reward, basically. So in other words this county is going to have teenagers at loose ends next week because they do not have to be in school for these tests. I think it is a crock. Anyone who knows me also knows that my kids go to school when they are supposed to. They have to be fevered or throwing up to avoid school. The junior, my 16 yr old stepdaughter, is just ever so thankful that she gets nearly a week off to pull herself back together again. I told her with a three day weekend at the start of the week and one at the end of the week, that should be plenty of time to recuperate. And since she and my son are not taking finals, they really don't have anything to rest up from. She then tells me that if she took these tests she would flunk for sure. Ummm....I thought the purpose of tests was to make sure you knew the stuff that had been taught during the term......I'll leave you to the obvious conclusion on that one......

Then when her dad walks in from work, he goes to the kitchen to fix himself a couple of sandwiches---he and I had already decided that it was fend for yourself night for dinner---and she goes in to corner him. I find out a little later--after getting him off to himself and asking what her latest deal is---that she was instructed by her mother (the custodial parent) to ask him if it was ok is she goes to Las Vegas with one of her friends, when and how long who knows. Of course Ron's first answer was NO. She says this girl and her folks are ok, her mom has met them a couple of times, she spends days at a time with this friend, so he should know she is ok. He looks at her and hands her the set-down. He does not know this girl or her family, so his answer is no. Then he asks why all of a sudden after years is his opinion suddenly sought after by her mom. She certainly hasn't asked for it before. She lets the girls watch what they want---at least it seems that way when we have forbidden certain shows and movies, and yet they have seen them----does not monitor their Net usage----as shown by the number of times we have had to jump in and give the "Myspace" lecture. She certainly did not ask his opinion when she decided to let the 16 yr old start dating at 14. Every time we lay down a rule or try to explain the rules, we are shot down. Ron even told the 16 yr old that he knows this is why neither girl comes over as often as they used to--because we have raised the bar on behavior. We have set rules on what is allowed and what isn't.
I told him that I had two opinions on the LV issue---either momma is wanting to say no but doesn't want to be the bad guy, or she hopes he will say yes, then anything that goes wrong can be laid at his feet. He concurs. He also told Kris that the answer was going to have to come from her mom, because since he didn;t know the people involved, he couldn;t logically give any answer but no.
I hope her mom says no too, but past history shows that if it is something we oppose, she's all for it. I guess we'll have to wait and see. Since she is custodial, end game is up to her. (Just like I have had to tell my ex on occasion).

picks and pans

Or whatever. My first day back at work dealing with employees and customers. Not too bad. A little sore at the end of my shift, but that's to be expected after being off so long. Boring, since I can';t really do anything yet--no lifting, etc.

I think the next time a teacher tells my kid he has to make up a test after school, I'm going to shoot her a note telling her that since the school bus is his way home, she better have another plan.Chris had to make up a Spanish test since he missed it last Thursday for a dr appt. Personally I think he should have been given a seat in the back of the room and told to take it during class time. That's what we were always told. She can;t penalize a student for transportation reasons. My husband's ex fought that one earlier this school year, and won.

Then we have the state teacher's union requesting a 6% pay raise this legislative session. Bull****.I'd like to see that on my next raise. Wouldn't you? More than that, I would like to see some accountibility for my money--some results that would show me a raise is warranted. Yeah right. They have fought merit raises, teacher testing, and anything that would require them to show why they should have or keep their position. Gee, in my job, if we don;t show that we have performed our jobs, we don;t get a raise; sometimes we don;t get to keep our job. Unlike the state job thing----must be nice to have a job for life.

Then on the radio coming home today, I hear that some citizen/legislative oversight committee or something is recommending that our state delegates/senators receive a raise from $15G to $20 G this year alons, and that their pay will double by the year 2009. I'd like to get $15G for 60 days work. Plus all the perks of special sessions, for which they also get paid per diem. Please, taxpayers, wake up!!!!!!!!!

superhero/supervillian quiz

From a link on this website--wvmountainhome--we all took this quiz to see which superhero or supervillian we would be. Results were"

Me: Spiderman/Riddler
Ron: The Flash/Riddler
Chris: Spiderman/Dr.Doom
Ben: The Flash/Mr.Freeze
Kate: WonderWoman/Riddler

Hmmm........

quiet, gray, day.....

Never ever plan on a sunny day this time of year. It's been gray and windy and "threatening to storm" all day. Just one of those days where you just want to curl up on the couch under a blanket next to a fire with a cup of hot chocolate and a book.

Or at least I would like to.

Except its not quite cold enough for a fire, even if I had the passing laughable thought that I could actually get one started long enough for it to catch. Then there is the fact that with 4 kids in the house, 1 of whom is sick, it's not highly freaking likely that I would have been able to laze the day away reading in any room of the house. Not even the bathroom when I HAVE to go. They knocked on the door 3 times while I was in the shower earlier.

But on the other hand, after I showered and prettied up a bit (stop laughing, Mike!), I left the sick 5 yr old napping in her room (you know she is sick when she voluntarily takes a nap) while the 14 yr old son stayed here (after requesting that I buy him a razor---yes he is to that point--but no where near an everyday thing yet) to keep watch over her, and took the other 2 to ACmoore and Wally World, then dropped the 12 yr old off at his friend's to stay the night.

Then after dinner--takeout--the 5 yr old wanted to play PS2, but the others were watching tv, so to distract her, she and I began a quilting project. She is putting quilt pieces together the way she wants them , and I am sewing them to make a baby doll quilt. The top piece is about half done, and quite honestly, her taste is placing the colors together could be better, but she is 5 and just had a whole new world of things to do with Mommy opened up for her, so I am telling her how beautiful the quilt is. The important thing is she thinks it is, and she spent time with Mommy learning how to do something new, and sharing in my hobby, instead of just watching me or walking around bored while we all did our own thing.

And she can;'t wait for tomorrow to get here so she can work on her quilt some more!!!

Isn't that just the coolest thing?

Beats the hell out of reading by myself......

One piece of advice....

One of these days I will learn never ever to ask a group of kids where they want to go to eat. After Ben's concert tonight at the middle school, me and the 4 musketeers piled into the car and I had to open my mouth and ask if anyone was hungry. I got requests for Subway, Taco Bell, Pizza Hut, McDonald's; you name it, it was an option for someone. I finally just waited for the uproar to subside and said that I was going to the ATM and we were going to the food court at the mall and everyone could get what they wanted as long as it was to go, so I could go home and nurse my flu.
2 of us opted for Chinese, 1 for Japanese (thank God it wasn't sushi), and the youngest 2 opted for pizza. Then we had to follow the slowest driver in the world home--all the way home, as everyone kept moaning about how good the food smelled and weren't we ever going to get home so they could eat.

Ah, but I got the thank-you's in bunches from all of them after they ate!!!

So I guess the minor aggravations were worth it.

Now all are asleep except for Kate, the 14 yr old, and since her dad just walked in the door from work, neither of them will probably hit the sack for a while. They don't get a lot of daddy/daughter time anymore, so I can't begrudge it. I did request some husband/wife time at some point this weekend, but we'll see. Probably end up in bed, tv on, tissues and cough drops handy as we hack and cough and choke through the night. Not pleasant, just the tail end of a nasty bout with the flu. Enough to turn anyone off his or her feed.

Where's my inhaler? and Nyquil? LaLa Land here I come!!!

Goodnight!

One of those days....

Did ya ever have one of those days where you just wish you could crawl back into bed and pretend you weren't an adult with responsibilities? That was my day today. Starting the day taking the 5 yr old to mom's while I went to PT, because little fuss was too sick to go to day care and her 14 yr old sister was up all night throwing up so I couldn't leave her with her. While I wait for the dr to call me back for my appt., I call our family dr to try to get the little one in, because she just finished her 3rd round of antibiotics in 2 months and I'm really worried at this point. RSV is the least of what I am thinking. After PT, I pick fussy up and take her to the doc, who checks her out and gives her a stronger cough/decongestant syrup and then tells me to take her to get a chest xray to rule out anything she may not be hearing on her stethoscope. So I do that, finishing just in the nick of time to get her and me both a happy meal (I devour mine while driving) and get her back to Mom's while I take her 14 yr old brother to the orthodontist. Keep in mind that the other 14 yr old is home sleeping off being sick all night and I'm keeping in touch with her by phone. Which is more than her own mom did, but that's another story. (She was nursing the 16 yr old through her round of it.) I left the house at 8 am and did not get back until about 3pm. Kate is still semi asleep, I put Shel to bed with her care bear, and put Chris on his homework while I wait for the 12 yr old to come home from school, plus try to catch up on the phone calls from while I was gone. Sheesh........Is it too late to not have kids? Just kidding, I wouldn't trade any of them.
Just another day in the life.......
I did accomplish one thing--I finished the cross stitch that Ben gave me for Christmas;now I'm trying to figure out the next project......
Darling hubby is still trying to kick the flu, and I'm trying real hard not to succumb to it. Good news is I don't go back to work til midnight Monday, just ot sit while the floor cleaners do their thing, so I at least have plenty of time to rest.
Maybe......
Can someone tell the kids that?
I keep telling myself that too soon they will be gone with their own lives........then I feel guilty for wanting time to myself...........
Ah well.............

Hi ho Hi ho it's back to work I go.....

Boo Hoo......I like being a stay home mommy. But my physical therapist says it's time to gradually get back to work---part time at first then working into my full time plus hours, eventually with no restrictions. I go back with no lifting, climbing, pushing, pulling, standing or stooping for prolonged periods of time, etc. So what will I be doing? Hell if I know. Probably catching up on emails, receivers, markdowns, etc. We inventory in less than 3 weeks, and that's about the time the dr says I should be good to go. What timing!!

Anyway, it's been fun. Not the pain part, but just being here for my kids. my hubby says he has really liked me being at home (and no he's not a complete caveman) and he worries about how much longer my back will hold out. The dr says how I take care of it willdetermine the next relapse, which we all know will come--but if I am real careful abut keeping up with the strengthening exercises and watching severely what I do with my back, then that only will help lengthen the time between this time out and the next. Of course he also said losing even a little bit of weight will help, too, but I already knew that and have started working on it. Being back at work and not being next to the tv and fridge will be a plus too.

I've already told the kids that just because I may not be here when they get home from school doesn';t mean they can slack. We finally got Chris's grades, I think, back to where they belong, and Ben has maintained his, so I don't want them losing progress. That means I will have to be supermommy, but ok, whatever gets it done.