OOPS

That picture is really small. Later on at home I will have to fix this. Sorry.

Family Affair (Retro photo time!)

I want to talk about this picture for a second. This is me. Its the 70's as you can see by the groovy pattern on the lawn furniture, which isnt on the lawn at all. Its on a patio, so I think it is patio furniture. See those evil things on my legs? Tights? I HATED tights, they were so itchy, which is probably the reason for the look of agony on my face. I would pull on them, and scratch and pull on them some more. Those and turtle necks, HATED turtle necks. I would gag and cough whenever my mother made me wear one. Im sure most of it was for effect. I was a lovely child. S has tights, and she doesnt seem to mind them. I would never force tights on anyone who didnt want the tights, because that is just wrong. I may have adult issues now because of the tights. In fact Im sure of it.

Oh, and see this dress? My mom just told me something about the dress. Apparently it was a Buffy line. Remember the show Family Affair, with Buffy, Jodie, Sissy (did she even have a real name?), Uncle Bill, and Mr. French. Oh and dont forget Mrs. Beasely, the doll (MRS.? Was she married? What exactly is HER story?). Anyway, if you dont remember the show by now, you dont know it. Anyway, apparently (I like that word)there was a line of little girls clothes modeled after Buffy. There was a store in Los Angeles that sold the stuff, and my mother went there and bought me one. We lived in Anaheim, so it was not a very long drive. I just learned this and thought it was interesting.



Oh, this is Buffy...Buffy, this is everybody. In case you havent met.

I feel forever connected with Buffy now. Oh, isnt she dead though? Didnt she have one of those tragic child star stories? I think she died of a drug overdose as a teen or something. Anyone know? Anyone care? Probably not, so never mind.

I feel a change coming on....

Im thinking about changing the background of this blog. I dont think the pink is doing it for me anymore. I like pink, a lot, but its kind of a pepto bismal pink. It kind of makes my stomach hurt, and makes me crave 7 up.

Twisted.

If Im not more careful my kids will be as twisted as I am. They dont get my sense of humor, which I have apparently got from my mother (although she is MUCH funnier than I am). Anyway, my kids love to watch Animal Planet, and it is one of the few things I allow them to watch. We (me really) especially like to watch those shows where animals are attacking people. Here is where it all goes wrong. I LAUGH!!!




I cant help it. When a woman jumps over a barricade and walks UP to a polar bear enclosure, right up to the stinkin' bars, to get a better picture, and the big white beast grabs her leg and pulls it through the bars, all I can do is laugh. I mean can you BE anymore stupid? I think not. Its not a "oh, she is dumb, I think I will laugh at her now" moment. Its automatic, I.cant.help.it.



What really got me though was the man who rubbed female deer urine all over himself to attrack a big buck. Ok, ok. I know hunters do that stuff (not my hub though!) sometimes, maybe it is a hunter thing to do but it was still funny. He found his buck alright! The clip showed the guy on the ground and a big deer was beating the snot out of him with his front hooves. PUMMELING him. And I laughed, a big old loud belly laugh, too. I mean, where was his GUN? Did the buck get up on its hind legs and tip toe up behind the hunter? How did this happen? Im sorry if this offensive but Im just being honest here.

So my kids laughed too. Fine. The next story was a couple who were walking and MINDING THEIR OWN BUSINESS and got attacked by a cougar (please dont stop reading, I didnt laugh here)and they were really messed up. The guy was wearing an eye patch and in a neck brace and the woman had stitches all over her face. My kids LAUGHED. OOPS.

I was mortified. I had to turn the tv off for minute and we had to talk. I tried to explain the difference, one person was breaking rules and/or being stupid, the others were just out for a walk and not bothering the cougar, he just snuck up on them, and thats what happens sometimes. It isnt anyone's fault, and it is NOT funny.

N got it. Im not sure about S. A did not. Everytime he saw someone getting mauled or hurt somehow by an animal, he LAUGHED. So, I guess Im not allowed to watch that anymore, because I wont be able to stop myself from laughing at some of them. Im afraid Im not doing a very good job of teaching empathy am I? Hopefully Im teaching them about stupidity though.

Situation rectified

So all three kids are in their afterschool things. The lady in charge of that stuff did call me back. A is all set. So, I dont have to go over there and threaten anyone, which is really nice.

I left work early and rushed home to have dinner made by the time they came home, since the hub is out in the mountains looking to asssasinate Bambi. They came through the door and said, as they smelled dinner, "Mom, we already ATE dinner at school" I had completely forgot that school feeds them too.

I just think that is weird. I mean, its nice, dont get me wrong. Especially with the price of food now. On a school day, my kids eat all three meals there. I had made chili dogs too, which N has been asking for. Oh, well, I forced to eat one. After all, they were MADE already.

So, the other day on Torina's blog (or was it like a week or so ago?) she mentioned how you will gain weight after you adopt. It is true. I have only gained a couple, but I dont see any signs of it slowing down, since Im always WANTING to eat. Like right now, Im eating one of those vending machine cookies. Oatmeal Raisin. Yes, yes it is good. I have slowed down on the Starburst though (NOT starBUCKS people, starBurst, for heavens sake).

Grrr....

Im very annoyed. About a month ago the school sent home sign up forms for extended day program, which are after school activities. We sat down and filled it out that night and the kids turned them in the very next day, since it is first come firts serve. This would mean that the kids would come home at 5:00 instead of 3:00 and my husband who works nights, could get a little more sleep.

So, S comes home and shows me a form which says she is enrolled in her activity. Great! N says his teacher will hand theirs out tomorrow. Ok. Then A speaks up and says his teacher said that he never turned one in. WHAT?!!!!

I had put the form in the backpack. The backpack was taken directly to Kindergarten with my son, by my husband. When the kids got home that day, I asked, "Did everyone turn in thier forms?" "Yes" they all said.

A is adament that he turned his in. I believe him too. So, Im mad. I believe the teacher lost it. I called the school today and they confirmed that they dont have a form for him and that his name isnt on any of the lists. The lady in charge is out today (but of course she is!!!) and they will have her call me when she gets back. Sigh. I certainly hope that they can fit him in SOMEWHERE. In the meantime I will be working on the delivery of my sob story. I decided to be pathetically disappointed instead of MAD. It may get me farther.

Public speaking

I hate talking in front of a bunch of people. Id almost rather stick needles in my eyes. So, I was hoping the hub would say no when I told him our worker asked us to speak to the new class of adoption/foster hopefulls. Is that a word, "hopefulls"? It is now, petes sakes. Anyway, he said, "yes, I think we should do it". Rats. Well, he did the majority of the talking. I was shocked at myself, but I actually spoke. A few times.

We talked about the importance of being "ready" when matched with kids. We werent. We thought surely we would not get chosen at our first committee. Well, I did. The hub knew these were our kids. He KNEW. I should have believed him too. He did know something was going to happen on Sept. 11, he said so on Sept 10. He said, "be careful driving to work tomorrow, I have a terrible feeling". Seriously, that happened. Not that Im likening our experience with the kids to Sept. 11 or anything, so just stop it.

What was I talking about? Oh, yeah...we told the class that many people we know have been waiting more than a year to matched, and have gone to countless committees, and still have not been chosen for reasons unknown to anyone.

So, we told the good and the bad. We warned about worker visits after the kids are moved in and how these visits always make the kids act up. Remember, workers have meant another move, to many of these kids. So, they are freaked out. The first worker visit with our kids, had my daughter hanging from the banister and my youngest son laying on the floor with his feet in the air, spanking his own bottom and they were all talking baby talk. It was a bit unnerving to say the least.

It went well, our worker was happy with our talk. We also pleaded for respite care. We told the new people that it would look good at committee to have experience providing respite to three kids. Its true to, especially if they dont have any child experience, this would be a SMART thing for them to do. No takers yet, darn it.

We also brought our family book, at the workers request as an example for what one should be like. Which is awesome, Im extremely proud of my family book. If you dont know what a family book is, its the book that will help sell your family at committee. It should have pictures of everybody and various parts of your home, like the kids rooms, etc and pets and all activities such as vacations or any family fun. We also included pictures of the community stuff like the park, the aquatic center, the schools, etc. Also, use PowerPoint, it is awesome when doing a family book, because you can add cool little graphics to your pages instead of going to the store and searching for and then buying stickers. It will save gas, its lovely.

Anyway, Im glad we did it. I hope someone calls us soon.