Mi Vida Loca

My wild and crazy life! We've taken an interesting turn. My mom had booked herself on a cruise some time ago, and was having trouble finding someone to go with her. A couple of weeks ago, she made an offhand comment to me that it was too bad I couldn't go, since we travel so well together. Well, I talked to The Lion King, and the upshot is I'm in London, heading for Dover, and then the Baltic Sea. The cruise covers the Baltic capitals. We've only ever been to Copenhagen, so I'm really looking forward to seeing the other sites, particularly Tallinn and St. Petersburg. How cool with that be? I am also going to particularly enjoy not having to distill the information I'm learning and reteach it. This is an information-for-me-only trip! I'm hoping to also go home with a good plan for the next schoolyear. I have no idea how this is going to go, not having ever been on a cruise before.

Shamelessly borrowed from a friend's blog

You know you're from Ohio if...

1. You don't think of Florida first when someone mentions Miami.
   
2. You snicker when someone's from Tiffin, because you think of the State Hospital.
   
3. You think Pro football teams are supposed to wear orange!
   
4. Schools close for the state basketball tournament. Deer season, too.
   
5. You're proud of your state fair, but would rather go to Cedar Point.
   
6. You know all the 4 seasons: Winter, Still Winter, Almost Winter, and Construction.
   
7. You live less than 30 miles from some college or university.
   
8. You know what a buckeye really is, and have a recipe for candy ones.
   
9. "Toward the lake" means "north" and "toward the river" means "south."
   
10. You know if other Ohioians are from southern or northern Ohio as soon as they open their mouths.
    
11. You root for a college team though you've never taken a class there.
    
12. You can spell words like Cuyahoga, Olentangy, Bellefontaine, Tuscarawas, Wapakoneta and you know which letter is doubled in "Cincinnati."
    
13. You always visit more than two amusement parks in one summer.
    
14. You know that Serpent Mounds were not made by snakes.
    
15. You know what game they're playing when the Mud Hens take on the Clippers.
    
16. "Vacation" means spending a day at Cedar Point or King's Island.
    
17. You measure distance in minutes.
    
18. Down south to you means Kentucky.
    
19. Your school classes were canceled because of cold.
    
20. Your school classes were canceled because of heat.
    
21. You've ridden the school bus for an hour each way.
    
22. You've ever had to switch from "heat" to "A/C" in the same day.
    
23. You know what's knee-high by the Fourth of July.
    
24. You end your sentences with an unnecessary preposition. Example: "Where's my coat at?"
    
25. You install security lights on your house and garage and leave both unlocked.
    
26. You think of the major four food groups as beef, pork, beer, and Jell-O salad with marshmallows.
    
27. You carry jumper cables in your car.
    
28. You know what pop is.
    
29. You design your kid's Halloween costume to fit over a snowsuit.
    
30. Driving is better in the winter because the potholes are filled with snow.
    
31. You think sexy lingerie is tube socks and a flannel nightie.
    
32. The local paper covers national and international headlines on one page but requires 6 pages for sports.
    
33. You think that deer season is a national holiday.
    
34. You thought that the Phil Dirt and the Dozers was the most popular band in the country.
    
35. You actually understand these jokes then forward 'em to all your OH friends!!

I'm thankful for...

Joy is found in the small things today.

Nothing on the schedule to get up for- we needed this slow time in the morning today. Time to sit on the sofa, children gathered 'round, reading about Flower Fairies.

An oldest child, hard at work on an essay, preparing for college, plans in place.

An older child playing hymns on her flute.

An older brother reading 'Brambly Hedge' to two transfixed younger siblings.

A middle child curled up in a chair, lost in stories.

4 cubic yards of soil being delivered, so we can start our gardens. Boxes already waiting to be filled with good dirt.

Band tonight, with a concert tomorrow. A fun, creative, productive time, and a reward for hard work this spring.

I think I can breathe again...

I should be nominated for Mother-Of-The-Year....

Those of you who have boys will particularly appreciate this story. At the moment, Pip and Squeak, the youngest Dynamic Duo, are drawing a morel mushroom Pip found outside. This is particularly noteworthy, considering the week's earlier events, that I even let Pip outside any more.

Earlier in the week, younger BoyCub was complaining his stomach hurt. When I asked him where, he pointed to his bladder. I mentioned that the stomach was generally a few inches North of the belly button, not South. I was reminded it's all the same general area, Mom. So much for my Anatomy and Physiology classes. So I decided he needed to be drug off to the pediatrician. You have to understand how momentous this is, since my kids have to be close to death to be drug there. And of course, the minute we darken the doorstep, they are magically healed. I can't seem to take the man a child that is truly sick and easily cured. So anyway, appointment is procured, and since Pip has been having allergy symptoms for the last few weeks, but hasn't been properly diagnosed, I thought I'd haul him off too, before I just started doping him up.

We get in there, and the Dr. is poking around BoyCub's bladder, and we've already done the urinalysis, which of course is normal, and Doc says 'He's just constipated, and it's affecting his bladder.' Of course he is. Because I can't have a truly sick child, right?

Then he moves on to Pip. I told him I thought it was allergies. He starts checking him out, and says 'No, his ears are red, and he's got a lot of stuff going down the back of his throat. I think it's more than just allergies.' He looks a little further, and lo and behold, Pip has STUCK AN AIR-SOFT PELLET UP HIS NOSE!!! AUGH! An Air-soft pellet is a small neon green, clear hard piece of plastic, for the uninitiated. About the size of a pea. And it's obviously been there a while, since he has no idea how it got there. I asked him repeatedly, and the suggestions just got better and better. 'Maybe it ricocheted up there!' 'Maybe Squeak put it up there when I was asleep! No, wait, I go to sleep later than she does...' All said with a slightly apologetic smile and a shrug.

Son, I'm sure more than a few of these gray hairs have your name on them.

Yesterday's QOD

So I'm brushing my teeth yesterday morning, and I hear "Mom, I have a question." Hmm. Must be 8 am. "Here it is." OK, I'm ready. Not. "Exactly how fast do the electrons in electricity move? I have it figured out that they move 3 mm a second. Is that right?" Son, I have no idea.....

I assume this is from our d=rt conversation the other day, which pertained to vehicle speed, just for the record. And just for the record, I WAS RIGHT THAT TIME!

Big Doin's in the Lion Kingdom!

This morning, I volunteered to jack my auto insurance rate into the outer stratosphere for the next 20 years. It's official- the Oldest CubKid has gotten her driving license! She earned a perfect score on her driver's exam this morning. The Lion King is in shock, I think. I suggested that she drive her siblings to the soccer field, (joking, of course, I'm not ready to turn her loose just yet :-P), and he just sputtered. "You can't do that!" "Why not?" "You just can't! She's not legal!" Oh, yes, Daddy Dear, she is. Better get used to it.

And just to update on 2nd CubKid's big music contest last weekend, she did very well. The steel drum group scored a 1 (top score), and the comments were great. She also received a 1 on her piano. When it came time for her flute solo, which had fallen apart in spectacular fashion the weekend prior, I told her not to worry about it. The judge she had was giving out 2's and 3's- he'd given about 6 1's all day. I just told her to go in and do her best, and we wouldn't worry about the score. She did fine, 2 little trouble spots, but sailed through much better than the prior week, and we were both pretty pleased. He didn't write very long, so we figured it probably going to be one of his favored 2's. Well, she wound up being one of the 10 1's he gave all day. And then, silly me, I volunteered to take her and 3 friends shopping after, since they'd all done so well. What was I thinking? Repeat after me- never, ever, ever take 4 teenage girls to the mall without tranquilizers. I'm not sure for whom, but they're definitely necessary! I'm still traumatized...

Comment of the Day

So I'm standing in the kitchen, looking out the window at the beautiful spring day developing, thinking warm, sunny thoughts, and I'd just made a comment about it to Oldest BoyCub. He looks back at me with a serious expression on his face, and says, "Mom, the word 'president' must have a Latin or Greek root."

Huh?