peanut shells

Lucy has been watching a lot of Charlie Brown cartoons lately, and there is one called "Happy New Year, Charlie Brown" that you may not have seen.

Without ruining it for you, Charlie Brown gets assigned to read "War and Peace" over Christmas break and misses the big New Year's Eve party thrown by Peppermint Patty and Marcie.  Patty and Marcie both want to dance with "Chuck" at midnight but he is still crushing on the little red haired girl.

Conversations I have had with myself today:

Why is Charlie Brown more well-read than I am?

Why are these cartoon characters so relationship-obsessed?  The Peanuts Gang must live in Peyton Place 

Why is Peppermint Patty so mad that Charlie Brown invited the little red haired girl to her party when Peppermint Patty set the precedent by inviting herself, Marcie AND Franklin to Thanksgiving?




It is quite possible that I need some adult-time.  Thank God it's Friday.


Thanks everyone for the advice regarding Abby's Kindle and the charging of it overnight.  I'm glad to hear it won't do too much damage to it, but I refuse to accept that "Abby was right" since she didn't listen to her mother.  Am I right Moms?  Thanks again, peeps!

70% is bad, bad, bad

The numbers.

I'm not talking about the Lost numbers (although the G4 Channel is gone, and so is my Lost reruns fix which depresses the crap out of me, but I digress)

Numbers are Abby's thing.  She's excellent at Math...always has been.  But her structured way of thinking has moved over to numbers and is causing us grief.

We have always had issues with time.  Don't wake Abby up at 6:59, she'll yell at you about waking her up "way too early".  Wake her up at 7:00.  She helped me the other day by telling me not to trust Grandma's clock.  It was a minute off.  Abby looked at me like, "Told ya."

The other night, waiting at the mall for Amber to meet Abby for a movie, she said "What time is it?"  I said, "4:43"  She said "Awesome, Amber will be here in 2 minutes because she is supposed to meet us at 4:45."  When Amber was late, Abby was sure my phone had the incorrect time on it.

Our newest issue is with the Kindle Fire, Abby's Christmas gift from her dad, myself and Grandma.  The other night as I tucked Abby in, I noticed that her Kindle was on the charger.
"What percentage is your battery at?", I asked.
"70%"
"Un-plug it while you sleep please.  It isn't good to keep it plugged in overnight.  If you over-charge the battery, it will start to go bad."
"OK, Mom."

Well, long story short, I discovered that she plugged it back in after I left the room.

It's the numbers. 

70 is bad...100 is much better.  She relates the battery number with the school grading system.  70 is bad (average, but "bad" to Abby) and 100 is much better.  100 is essential.  100 is ideal.  She can't concentrate or sleep unless it's at 100% or charging away to get there. 

We discussed this with her therapist today and Abby said she was "distracted" by the 70% battery and needed to "fix it" to relax.

These are the things that keep Abby up at night, and the repercussions then keep ME awake at night.

I am 100% positive that we will get through this and 70% positive that the Kindle battery will fail early.  Pick your battles, Sarah.

Something STINKS in Crazytown

Well, January is in full blast and today, I must say that it STINKS.

Tonight, I somehow managed to get a big mysterious chunk of poop on my foot while changing a diaper.  I don't know where it came from...I mean, I KNOW where it came from but how it arrived on my foot, I do not understand.

20 seconds after the "stinky foot incident", a giant stink bug walked across the living room floor, causing Abby to lose it. Completely lose it.

1 hour later, assisted Abby with her bath, helped her dry her hair and asked her to give it one last brush before bed.  Cue freak out #2.

Stink bug on the hairbrush.

"That's disgusting.  Completely disgusting.  I mean, SERIOUSLY?  Why won't they go away?"

I feel the same way about January...it can go away.  Like now.

I'm dreaming tonight of anything to distract me from my January blues....

The Olympics
Lucy's birthday
Spring
Vacation
No more diapers
Death to stinkbugs

Improving Crazytown

Well, 2013 has come and gone, and 2014 will hopefully be even more full of life, laughter and mayhem.

In 2013:
I walked a 5k for Multiple Sclerosis

I was chased by bees through the woods
I watched my brother marry the love of his life

I drove 11 hours to see Justin Bieber in concert
I missed seeing Justin Bieber the next day at the Columbus zoo by 20 minutes

I celebrated my step daughter's graduation from high school

I became the Service Unit Manager for Girl Scouts in my town
 

I turned 40
I started a blog
I slacked off on my blogging





In 2014:

I will jog a 5k, or several of them
I will continue to take the girl scouts to fun activities, with an epi pen for now on, just in case

I will renovate both the baby's bedroom and my living room
I will stop calling my almost 2 year old "the baby"
I will continue to work with Girl Scouts, Relay for Life, Autism Speaks and other charitable groups
I will live a healthier lifestyle, eating and exercising for a long, long life
I will watch Abby head to high school in the fall, and probably have a nervous breakdown
I will blog more


Stay tuned, the fun never stops around here...unless it's 3:00 am and the baby  Lucy is still awake  - then NO ONE is having any fun.

Happy New Year, 2014.

RIP, Larry

When did it become customary to list your "Dislikes" next to your "Likes" in an obituary?

Direct quote from an obituary in today's local paper:

"Larry disliked beets, drive thrus, musicals and Jane Fonda."
(Yes, Larry was a Vietnam Vet, in case you were wondering)

This has me wondering what I hate enough to request that it be listed in my obituary.

Yardwork.
Bees.
Ray Lewis.
Soccer.  (Known in my house as the "S word")
Pea soup.

What's on YOUR list?

22 years ago

I have a "dark day".  It's September 2nd.

22 years ago, the phone rang and my world collapsed.

It wasn't even my phone, it was a pay phone.

It was my freshman year in college and my room didn't have phone service yet, so I would get a phone call every night from my mom.

I couldn't figure out why she was calling me this night though.  She had just dropped me off that day, Labor Day, after 3 days at home with friends and family.

"I have bad news", she said.

"Grandpa's dead.", I said.  One of my worst fears.

"No, it's Brian."  I think I was held up off the ground, by the phone cord.

His name was Brian Wilhelm and he was my world.  He was funny, charming, and flawed.  He was 10 years older than me, but I loved him.  We both thought he was invincible.  

And he was killed by his best friend who was drinking and driving.

Make good choices, everyone.  Don't create a dark day for someone who loves you.

Rest in peace, Willie.  I miss you very much.  Every time I pick up a friend at a bar to give them a safe ride home, I do it in your honor.

To the Point

Lucy is reaching for a bag of BarBQue potato chips.

I say to her "Momma, can I have a chip, please?  Use one of those words to get a chippie, Lucy."

She looks at me and says "Yum."



Close enough, kiddo.  Close enough.