Dreamy

I had a dream about my blog last night. I logged on and had 7o comments - not sure which post it was, but 70!! BUT then I was upset in my dream that I had so many comments and that I had no time to repond to them. I don't know if it is wishful thinking or thankfulness that I have very few visitors. Either way the dream went downhill from there.

At some point Kevin and I were on a trip and we had to sleep in a drawer. Yes, a drawer (thank you Jerry Seinfeld). While in the drawer we could not figure out a good position to get it on due to the drawer being full of spoons and cramped, after all it is a DRAWER. There, I said it all out loud. Now, please feel free to tell me what you think my subconscious problem is.

My first thought is that our bed is too small? No, we have a king.

I want to spoon with Kevin? No, he's way too hot for that (body heat, not deliciousness, but yet he is very delicious)

I want a vacation? YES, absolutely, but I don't think that is the root here, I'm leaving for San Fran in a week.

I need to get laid? Well, that currently is not a problem for me.

I want new furniture? MAYBE, I want new furniture, but if I get new furniture then things will probably get ugly between me and Kevin because a) he hates to spend money. b) he hates to spend money. c) he hates to spend money. d) all of the above.

The spoon drawer is empty and I wish someone would wash the dishes? NO, Kevin did the dishes.

I'm at a loss, but it is most likely that I just watch too much TV, is that possible??

Pleasantly Surprised

As much bitching as I've been doing, I actually have something pleasant to report. We returned to the American Girl store this past weekend and there was ZERO wait. The store was not even that crowded! I was in total shock, which allowed my children to take full on advantage of my wallet.

We went to the store at 7:30 pm on a Saturday and it was perfect! I was even massaged into the idea of letting one of the dolls get a massage & facial. We were also able to pop right into the bistro which is located inside the store and sit at the counter for milkshakes and smoothies. They normally take reservations only, but the counter was empty and they were in the process of closing. Since we were only getting dessert they let us go right in and we were attended to quite well.

The bistro decor is so pretty. It is very different from the restaurant in Chicago. Of course the main color is PINK, but it has nice high backed striped seating with pink, yellow and magenta and then the lighting was my absolute favorite! Above the dessert counter there are small faceted lights against a white trimmed out ceiling. It creates this brilliant gathering of sunbursts and it was beautiful. The faceted light covers reminded me of the doorknobs in my great grandmother's home.

Another really cool lighting display was above a table for a larger party. It was oversized pink flower petals with silver accents and bright bulbs. It was SO girlie, but I would love to have it. It was just beautiful.

So, while Karma should have kept me away from this place for many, many moons in relation to my previous ranting post, I was allowed to go and was SO pleasantly surprised. And they had beautiful CAKE, and I love CAKE!!

I made a stranger let me take a picture of their cake because it is reserved for birthday parties only, so the kick in the butt is that I could not have any cake. Though the girl may have given me a bite of hers, she only wanted the chocolate half. Of course, I'm now accepting donations for groceries because we spent all our money on more important stuff...

Step Up

I'm a Girl Scout Leader. Not because it has been my life long dream, but it is because my girl wants to be a Girl Scout and the fact that there are not enough volunteers the only sure way of getting a kid in a troop is to be a volunteer. However, I've been a leader for 2 years now and I have come to really like doing it - short from things that aren't related to the girls. I really do love all the girls I work with, it is harder for some, but I love them all.

I started out my first year with girls from 2nd & 3rd grade. I wanted to have only 3rd (my kids age), but was talked into taking some other girls that were siblings or otherwise had meeting time issues that only our troop could meet. It was a good year.

My second year was when we became Junior level scouts. There was already a Junior level troop meeting at the same time and place we were and I was asked into inheriting that entire troop along with my girls who were moving up. My first inquiry was to the number of girls I would inherit. There were 6 which was manageable with the 6 I was bringing along. A group of 12. As the weeks went on the 6 to inherit somehow became more because of those who said they were not returning and then changed their minds, etc. I did not feel completely comfortable with the numbers, but these girls were previously in the troop and I felt like they would be shafted if not allowed to continue on. The group of 12 quickly turned into 15, and then before I knew it there were 17 girls in the troop. The age range was also insane, the girls were from 3rd grade up to 6th grade ages.

The icing on the cake was that I was pursuaded to take a lot of this on with the condition that there would be a Kindergarten troop for my little one at the same time I was working with the older girls. This never materialized and so the Kindergarteners of me and my co-leader were left out completely with no troop, but had some very high hopes of being in GS. So we then had 17 older girls and our 2 littles hanging out for a total of 19 girls. TOO MUCH!!

We managed to have a good year and we even took the entire group to Gatlinburg, TN for an overnight inside the aquarium. We had fun and I gave it my all. In the meantime my daughter in the Junior level did not particularly like the large troop and the varied ages. It was definately divided and though I tried to dissolve the clicks it was just natural for the olders to gravitate away from the youngers, etc. I told her that we would make the best of the year and see if we could make some changes. In short, we worked with what we had and made the best of it.

This year I've left that troop and hooked up with another leader who's co-lead was leaving and they have a troop of girls all the same age. The troop is limited to 10 girls. Waa HOO! The perfect situation for us. There were spots available so I asked the girls in my older, bigger troop who fit the age requirement if they wanted to come along. Some did. I also tried to make sure that the troop I was leaving had some ideas for a new leader. I did not want any girls left hanging out there and feeling deserted.

I feel like I did the best I could and now I'm getting raked through the mud by the GS leadership and made to feel as if I've done something wrong by 'deserting' the big troop. We also have parents that want to get their girls into our troop and don't understand why we set our limit at 10. Why have the experience if you can't enjoy it? Why don't you start your own troop for your girls? Hey, did you notice that my co-leads mom is terminally ill in Canada and she may have to leave for an extended period of time at the drop of a hat? You bitches just don't care about us or what our lives are like, you just want us to take your kids. You think you are too busy to lead, well if you gave a rat's ass about other people you would see that we are all busy, but it is an effort - an effort I am willing to make for my kid.

The last time I checked I was a volunteer, don't tell me I should shelve my kids needs for yours. The last time I checked the GS will let ANYONE (with a clean background) be a leader and they will train you and show you exactly what to do. The last time I checked each and every girl from the troop I left had a mom or a dad or both who could be a leader, but just didn't want to. WHY am I a bad person here? I took your kids once a week for a year and never asked anything in return. I took your kids away for a weekend and we all had fun. Guess what? My kid wants a different GS experience and I can give it to her so KISS MY ASS!! These people expect me to stay where I am because of the other girls in the troop. So I guess I should just tell my kid that in her NEXT childhood we will do it the way it is intended. I guess I should tell my kid that I'm sorry I can't be her mom because I have to be the mom for these other people's kids.

These parents kill me. They have kids and then spend the rest of their lives looking for a place to dump the kid so they can go to Starbucks. I have run into this in almost every area of activity for my kids. I always volunteer to lead or assist and there are always the assholes that drop their kids and run. They always have sorry ass excuses that they can't lead because they don't know how, or they don't know the sport. I am living proof that anyone can do it. I don't play sports, don't watch (except TOM BRADY, I mean, except football) and I know nothing. But I have been a soccer coach. I've never watched a soccer game in my life and I know nothing about the game, but my kid wanted to play and there was no coach, so I did it. And I learned and we actually won some games. It's an effort and I'm so sick of dumbasses that give no effort to their kids. I applaud the parents who are there, doing what they can so our kids can play and they get no thanks, only critical advice of what they could have done. I've actually heard asswipes talking about how they would have done it better, BUT THEY DIDN'T, they DID NOTHING. And I hope their kid gives them hell for the rest of their lives.

I'm all about helping out kids that need it, but for the bunch of 2 parent, 2 income families in this area who are too busy to get involved they can all just SUCK IT!

Spoiled

Does this look bad to you?

It's our new American Girl store that opened over the weekend. It's a store full of dolls and doll clothes and a restaurant and a doll spa. Yes, a doll spa. This is one of four (I think) stores across the US - a very popular place for girls from 4-12ish. The other stores I know of are located in Chicago, New York and LA. So this is a big deal seeing as how it is RIGHTHERE in North Georgia. It was also, apparently, a big deal for girls from most of our neighboring states.

We decided to go, even though it was opening weekend. I prepared Kevin, "Honey, just know right now that it is going to be chaos plus thousands of girls. Be prepared now to keep your cool. The stuff costs a butt load of money and I'm going to let the kids pick something out, so just keep it under your hat for a while, PLEASE. Mentally, prepare, PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE..." I'm begging as we drive there, because patience is not a trait of this man. Crowded places and overpriced toys are also not things to make him go to his happy place - well, unless they are ELECTRONIC toys, and are for HIM.

We see the line outside as we approach (see the photo) which I think this doesn't look so bad. I'm stunned that there is a line just to get in the store, but I'll go with it. Perhaps it will mean a less crowded in-store experience if they are limiting the numbers in. So we go into the mall and get Kevin a pretzel to ease the pain.

Then, we realize - the line is snaking through the mall, what we see in this photo is the end of a THREE to FOUR HOUR WAIT. What the F*^K? Are you kidding me? Now, I am the one who has lost all sense of patience and demeanor. These f*^ktards are waiting for over three hours to go into a store to BUY OVERPRICED toys. I'm dumbfounded. And everyone in the line is HAPPY and EXCITED and clearly all the dads must be sedated. I'm thinking that I've succombed to the idiocy of the world just by agreeing to allow my children to go to this place, and then I've pushed the envelope by agreeing to purchase them something, THEN I actually agreed to WAIT to go in, when I thought that it would be 15 minutes or so, but THREE to FOUR HOURS?! Where do you draw the line? At what point do you turn from just an idiot like me into a full blown cheerleader mom zombie?

Now, I'm sure that there are people who see me as the zombie for even attempting to go on opening weekend. But I wore my ZOMBIES ATE MY BRAIN shirt, so at least I had an excuse. There's a freak level for everyone, but I am proud that my kids were not upset that I refused to wait. They even thought it was crazy and are completely willing to wait until the hype dies down. But will it?? The Chicago store has been open for years and we went there last summer, and it was INSANELY crowded. We did not have to wait to get in, but good grief it was almost un-movable in there. We were in Chi for a week and we tried almost everyday to catch the place not so crowded and it never happened. And being that we had no clue that we were ever going to get our very own store, I allowed my child to schedule an appt. at the doll spa. And I walked the streets of Chi in the heatwave of 2006, sweating while I waited for the doll who was getting her hair done and having a facial. And I was not getting a facial of my own. And then I happily took my children back to pick up the doll and I PAID for the hair and facial day at the spa. And I know that someone saw me do it, and thought to themselves - what kind of f*^ktard...

So, we didn't get to go in the store, but we saw a little bit through the windows and the crowds and we hope to go back, someday and spend a small fortune on the bare necessities. Because you know, every dog that belongs to a doll needs a flower shaped cone for his head when he gets hurt. It just makes good sense.

Uniqueness and a moral

This is one of my absolute favorite family of trees, ever.

Every day for the past 20 years I have loved these trees. I do not think I have ever once passed them by without acknowledging either aloud or to myself how much I adore them.
WHY? Because every fall these ordinary green trees make me happy by showing their colors...



Every fall we are treated to a rainbow of color from these four trees. It is truly amazing that they are all the same type, planted at the same time and cared for the same way, yet each one of them produces it's own shade of beauty and uniqueness.

This reminds me that while I have two kids who are of the same type, same genetics, born at the same time of the year, cared for and raised by the same parents, they, too will produce each their own brand of beauty and uniqueness. And I shall love their differences and celebrate their own unique styles. And I shall be a good mama, and stop thinking that the green would be happier if she acted a little more like yellow or that red would be better off seeing a little orange in her style. And I should express to them daily how much I adore them, even when they show their colors. Colors which do not make me happy.

And there is my fine interpretation of the semblance of kids and trees. And the moral of the story is that if you turn out to be green, instead of orange, you can't really blame it all on your roots.

But, really, is this little tree family not the MOST beautiful? I am SO SO SO looking forward to October.

New Arrival

Today is the first day of school. I have a 1st grader and a 5th grader. It should be easy, but it isn't. I want them to go, but I don't. And I REALLY did not want to get up this morning at 6 am.
I have a love hate relationship with public school. Yes, they take my children and allow me some time to sit on the couch and eat bon bons, but they also force me to get up 5 days a week at an ungodly hour. I think the rigid schedule is what gets me. I'm pretty laid back and I don't like to get into routines, so having a 5 day a week routine just makes me cranky. My kids, though, are very independant which makes a morning about 1000 times easier. I've groomed them well!!

The thing about today is that we have NEW CROCS!! This is an exciting thing!! Yes, it is, just go with it. The new ones that we have do not have the moveable strap, but more of a wet-suit-ish stretchy fabric around the ankle. Very comfortable! Obnoxious to look at! Very comfortable! Anyhoo, we went swimming last night before bed and little girl swam in her new Crocs. This morning the fabric area was still wet!! Not a happy start to a girl who wants to wear Crocs for the first day of school. This really disappoints me about this shoe we all love. It is so impracticle for a shoe designed for outdoorsy-wet-stuff to not dry quickly. Not even OVERNIGHT!! Helloooo - what are you people thinking!!
Well, I popped the lime green monsters in the dryer and they dried, but they also curled up. It all worked out finally, but I'm just baffled as to why this company would use this spongy water sucky material. Clearly if we were camping this would SUCK and my kid would have to wear cold, wet shoes in the morning. Whatever. I'll show those jerks - I'm gonna go buy another pair without spongy water sucky material!! ahem...

Do you like Crocs?

This is what our new Croc's look like. It's as if we've had a new baby.....aww, look at the cute little crocling...

Orange

The following is what my 6 year old consumed in one 12 hour period. Orange soda, orange chicken, orange sherbet, orange carrots, orange cheese puffs, oranges and cheese. And the not photoblogged orange apple jack cereal for breakfast.











I fully expect her to look like this tomorrow...

That is, unless she returns this wonderful final day of summer with a steaming pile of orange vomit. Which is highly likely.

I tell you, there should be awards for parents as good as I am. Really, I amaze myself sometimes.