Quick Update

I hope everyone had a very merry Christmas and any other holiday you may be celebrating. Yesterday I picked Solin up at the airport. She is staying with us this week. It was her first time travelling alone and her bag got lost. What are the odds of that? The airline delivered it to my house last night though so no harm done. Poor Mr. Daphnewood is work Q2 this week (it means he is on call every other day) but will have some time off come the weekend. So until then the kids and I will hog her attention. I'll take lots of pictures and post some later on this week.

Television Season Is Over

Well we watched the last episode of CSI Miami tonight. I cannot believe how fast we watched them this year. I am sad. I still stand by my choice that Miami is my favorite overall BUT CSI: NY is very close. I do like the regular/original CSI and have to admit the best episode of any of the shows that I have ever seen was the final 2-part show of this past season. It was directed by Quentin Taratino and I was on the edge of my seat the whole time. Kudos for them. I can't wait until next year.

Happy Birthday Solin

I don't want to say what day her birthday was just in case she wants to keep that private but my blonde daughter had a birthday this week. Happy Birthday Kitten and I can't wait to see you this month!

JMO

All I see in the news is Howard Stern and his move to satellite radio. I personally don't listen to the guy. He never has made me laugh and his voice is somewhat annoying (monotone). Whatever. I know some people like him and that's fine. My gripe is the whole "moving to satellite" issue. Here is my beef: if I am going to PAY for radio, why in the hell would I want to pay to hear someone spew off his opinions and sex fantasies? It's like paying to read a blog. How crappy is that?! When I want to listen to the radio I want to listen to MUSIC. No commercials. No disc jockeys. Nothing but music and maybe a run down of who is singing the song. Don't tell me there is dollar beer at O'Leary's on friday. Don't tell me I am paying too much for auto insurance. I don't want to hear about the weather or traffic conditions. Play the freakin music and shut up. And I find it amazing that there is actually people out there who pay $12.99 a month to hear people talk! Okay and here is my slippery slope thinking too. You know some stations actually brag that they have no commercials. That is cool, right? Well remember when you used to only pay $4.50 for a movie ticket AT NIGHT and there were no commercials? Well now you pay $9-$12 and you have to sit through 5 commercials before you get to the movie previews. I am telling you it is only a matter of time before these non-commercial satellite stations start doing the same. So enough said. Cheers all!

Flashback Friday: Having Some Fun

I used to ride my bike everywhere when I was a kid. I would ride for miles and miles, cross some major streets and back again. I was truly free. This is me teaching my "little" brother (he is now 6'2" and around 300 lbs) how to ride a bike. When he was 8 he was hit by a car when riding and amazingly, it was the driver's fault. Nine months later when he finally got out of that body cast he was right back on a bike. Freedom is such a motivation. We all need to be able to escape once in a while. Today I am using my car and escaping to watch King Kong. I will sit alone and just immerse myself into a fantasy world with no phones ringing (provided the other patrons turn theirs off) , no Christmas shopping, errands or work.

Blessing for the day: wheels!

Traumatized

Today is the end of an era. Santa is no more in this house. I never realized how sad I would be about it all. Many of my Christian friends do not tell their children about Santa with the claim that it is a worldy construct *cough-cough* (bullshit) *cough-cough* Then some of my "educated" friends do not include Santa because they feel it is a lie and parents should always be honest. Again *cough-cough* (bullshit) *cough-cough* I am not trying to judge anyone on their views so don't get offended if any of you take this stance. I just happen to see things differently. I think Santa is FUN and magical and can be used to teach Christian values. It makes Christmas amazing for young children. I have pretty smart kids and when Mouse was just a wee girl she asked how could Santa still be alive? So basically for years we have the ghost of Santa visiting our home. He leaves only 1 present for each child. The rest are from mom, dad and relatives. Santa also fills the stockings. M-boy is autistic as you all know, so I have been able to stretch the fun out until now. He is 12 (almost 13). Mouse has known for years but does not want to ruin the fun for her brothers. Well Little Man asked straight out "Is Santa real? The kids at school say it is parents that leave presents." then M-boy pipes up "yes, Mommy, is Santa real? Audrey said it is parents too" Oh my heart broke. I had three choices: 1) come clean and tell them the truth, 2) lie my ass off and 3) ignore them. All of my training and education says Santa can be healthy and enriching for children but when they ask, be honest. So I was honest. I asked a question first.

Me: So what do you boys think?
Little Man: I think Santa is real. He haunts our house and leaves presents.
M-Boy: I want him to find me something Atomic Betty (M-boy is always in his own world)
Me: well you both know that Santa was a real man. He gave presents as a symbol. What do the presents mean?
M-Boy: it means it is Christmas
Little Man: He is happy about Jesus
Me: yes he is happy that God gave us Jesus so we give each other presents like God gave the world the best present of all:Jesus! *big sigh*
Me: *another big sigh* so you know that I never lie to you guys and you did ask me so I want to tell you the truth. Mommy and Daddy are the ones that put the presents under the tree. But I am only telling this to you now because you asked and because it is important to keep the spirit of Christmas going. Someday you will have kids of your own and you have to do the same. You have to be Santa for your own kids teaching them that Jesus was a gift from God. Just because you know it is me that puts the presents there and fills your stocking doesn't mean that Christmas is any less magical. If you look all around you can see miracles and love.

There were more questions and they seemed really happy that I told them. Then right before we headed out the door to school Little Man asked "Mommy are you the Easter Bunny too?" I almost cried. I feel so traumatized.

Just Some Pictures

Here are some pictures from the last few days. The digital camera still works. I just smashed the menu screen and not the lens.

This is what I had to drive through to get Little Man to the hospital. He took the picture out the window while I was driving. Pretty good for a one handed seven year old, eh?

This is before he got his cast. He is wearing the splint from the ER visit here.

The splint was removed and the doctors let him scratch his arm good before putting the cast on. Poor baby.

It was snowing outside so this was the best picture I could get of his new candycane cast. I fell and broke the camera after this picture so soon I will update with a more recent photo. He chose the candycane all by himself. The doctor said it was his first one ever.

Snow Day

Well, yesterday was a day to remember. It snowed, snowed and then snowed some more. I think our final total was 10 inches of snowfall. That much snow sucks beyond all recognition. I had to drive to the hospital in it. I flat out told Mr. Daphnewood that if he wanted to go to his fancy dinner that he would have to drive himself. As for your question Boozie, he doesn't have a DUI although that did make me laugh. If you only knew! He drives like a grandma that goes 50 in the fast lane on the freeway. But, he gets me to drive so he can drink at these fancy dinners. I am the designated driver. When I pick him up he says "Home, James" like I am some servant. Then he has to kiss my butt for a while to make up for his insensitivity so I don't mind.

Today was the hard day. School was cancelled so all children were home AGAIN. I started getting queasy last night. I woke up still queasy but had to take Little Man to the hospital. I saw nearly a foot of snow blocking my car. I am now a fan of SUV's and minivans. The minivan was heavy enough to not get stuck although once I could not stop and skidded through a red light. I was going 20 miles an hour too. That is really bad road conditions. Little Man was in the back seat just praying away that I would not get him killed. He got his new cast though. It is like a candy cane (red and white striped) for Christmas cheer. In two weeks, he has to get another cast but at least it will be smaller and just cover the wrist then. I fell in the parking structure on a patch of ice and smashed my digital camera. So I have to see if it still works and the pictures that I took are still there. It was a terrible day. So far, school has not been cancelled for tomorrow but it has not snowed any more today. As one doctor joked to me in the office, he said:
"yeah I think this snow is going to melt. In February!"

God help me.

It's Raining, It's Pouring

I have not been blogging or even been able to read blogs. I am completely overwhelmed at the moment. I am not terribly upset by this because sometimes life just gets busy. No biggie. It is what makes life interesting. My only regret is I am missing this blog and my blogger buddies. Once you type out your feelings on a daily basis for a consistent amount of time, you begin to depend on that release. So here is the brief run down of my life at the moment:

• Little Man broke his arm and permanent cast goes on tomorrow morning at 8:45am
• Mom and brother are leaving sunday for one whole month to CA. They wanted to take a train. I had to find Union Station (it was actually easy) to buy their tickets.
• I am an official employee now (no more 1099s, I now get W-2's) so I had to fill out a mountain of paperwork. Benefits include a name badge that gets me through locked doors, retirement package, sick days/vacation days. The bad part is they take out taxes out of my paycheck now and I had to go to an orientation day b-o-r-i-n-g!
• It is snowing and I am cold
• My kids are sick
• M-boy and Little Man had dueling projectile vomit episodes last night. I am not sure if Little Man just threw up because he saw M-boy doing it or if he has the same stomach flu as M-Boy. Either way I have all three kids home with me today. oh joy!
• I have been the official driver for my entire family. I have driven Mr. Daphnewood to three fancy dinners (I was not invited) and had to fetch him afterwards. I have driven mom to and fro getting ready for her trip. I have driven to the hospital and schools and pumped gas in 13 degree weather. That really sucked.

And now what am I doing? I am off to take the car to get new brakes and fix the headlight. Then drive Mr. Daphnewood to a hospital on the Missouri side. I know you are so jealous (NOT). I hope everyone is good and will check up on you all soon.