I must be dreaming

I don't usually remember my dreams - oh, I know I have weird dreams occasionally.  I know that sometimes I will wake up in the middle of the night and think, "THAT was a weird dream."  But then I fall back asleep, and in the morning I usually don't remember a thing.


Not the dream I had last night...I still remember most of it, and it was WEIRD, and it is still creeping me out a bit!


As with all dreams, it doesn't really make much sense.  What I remember of it is that in my dream I woke up one morning and went into the kitchen.  Except my dream house wasn't anything like my real house.  I had to go upstairs to get to the kitchen. (so was my bedroom in a basement??) Anyway, in my dream I got out of bed and started to walk to the stairs and I saw a bunch of ladybugs.  The ladybugs were all lined up in a row, marching along to somewhere.  In my dream, I stopped and looked at them and thought how sweet it was (but DIDN'T think it was strange that they were inside my house!)

I began to walk up the stairs and I saw something out of the corner of my eye - ewwww, it was a spider!  No, wait, there are two or three of them - and they're big!  I then realized that there was a huge, thick spiderweb  (do tarantulas even make webs?) all along the staircase.  I ducked underneath it and started running up the stairs, at which point I saw something out of the corner of my eye again.  I looked, and this time it was two HUGE hairy, red tarantulas and they were following me!  

Of course, since this was a dream, it all seemed to take a really long time - but eventually I did make it safely into the kitchen.  I started screaming for Tim, and he came running (again, I don't know where he was running from - it's a dream, remember?) and I hysterically (yes, even in the dream I was hysterical) began telling him there were humongous spiders in the stairwell and DO SOMETHING!!  I remember that he looked at them and said, "Gross."  and then HE WALKED AWAY!

Then the dream ended.


I have to tell you that, while I don't LIKE spiders, I've never had a phobia about them or anything like that.  So, what do you think that dream means?  Is it a premonition that we are about to become infested and overrun with huge, hairy, gross spiders?  Does it mean I need to clean the house?  Maybe it means we should close all the doors and turn on the a/c?  (It is supposed to be 90 degrees tomorrow, so that is happening anyway!)  


The other thing I have to tell you is that I am just a little bit annoyed with Tim today.  Because, he WALKED AWAY!  Oh sure, it was a dream - blah, blah, blah - but still.  I'm a little bit ticked off.  This has happened before.  There have been a few occasions when I remember dreaming about him kissing another girl, or cheating on me.  Oh, only in my dream of course - but I remember those dreams!!  And when I wake up from those - he is in some serious hot water.  Poor Tim, he is always a bit confused as to why I am mad at him.  I will tell him, "YOU know why - you were kissing that bimbo in my dream!"  and the poor man will act all innocent and say, "But it was a dream!"  Either that or he will really try to score some points with me and say, "Really?  Was she cute?" Hmmph.  Whatever.  I know that being peeved with him might be just the teeniest little bit illogical.  I know that.  But.....


So, anyway, I'm just a bit annoyed with him this morning - because, even if it was only a dream - he should have come to my rescue from those big, old, mean, hairy, scary spiders.  

Right?

On my mind...

I am totally at a loss as to what to blog about today.  This is because I have some things on my mind, and can't seem to think about anything else.  I've decided to "share", because, well - blogging is cheaper than therapy!  


First, I confess that I have become obsessed with the news.  I have been getting online and doing searches for news about a certain airline and another certain airline and a potential merger.  How obsessed am I?  I have been doing this constantly and I limit it to news from the past hour.  Because I am online checking every single hour of the day!!  If you wonder why I am so obsessed, perhaps this conversation that I overheard the other day will clear it up:

Clay:  "Dad, if there is a merger will you lose your job?"

Tim:  "No."

Clay:  "Will you make more money?"

Tim:  "Yes.  Probably."

That sums it up pretty succinctly.

Last night The Financial Times had an article (which has since been picked up by The New York Times) about how the top 5 executives at one of those particular airlines stand to make MILLIONS if a merger goes through.  May I just say for the record that I think those "executives" are evil, greedy, immoral, money-sucking leeches who care not one iota for the employees who have sacrificed for years, and who deserve to be tarred and feathered?  Not that this has anything to do with my obsessive news gathering.  I'm just saying.

Anyway, this has been occupying my thoughts because it could have a huge impact on our lives.  Hence, my obsession.

The other issue which has been occupying my mind, and making it difficult for me to think of anything to blog about is - STILL - the Teacher from Hell.  I know, I know - I haven't written about this for while now.  Rest assured, she has NOT suddenly found her medication and become normal.  I have been brooding about this situation and hesitating about having another conference because this particular teacher takes it out on Clay in the classroom.  In case you're interested, I think this teacher is an evil b*@ch insult to her profession and a disgrace.  I think she needs some sort of intervention, and as long as I am tarring and feathering people, I think she is a prime candidate!  

There is one other little issue which has been on my mind, and I plan to take care of it today.  These evil spawn of Satan kittens have been driving me crazy and keeping me awake at night and/or waking me up at 5:00 A.M. with their shenanigans.  Then they want to sleep during the day.  It can't go on.  IT CAN'T GO ON!!!  My plan is to acquire one several of these.

Ya'll wanna play?  Heh, heh, heh - I've got a FUN game!  Here, kitty kitty.....

Wednesday Wonderings

 *  Waking up before the sunrise stinks.  Seeing the sunrise (and a cup of coffee) make it worth it!

*  The tides have been really low lately....

* It's chilly out there this morning!  See the steam rising from the water?

* I was able to make the kids very happy last night by making this for dinner.  I guess I haven't made it in a while, and they were happy to see it on the table!

* Isn't it nice that something so little can make someone SO happy?

* I haven't watched much TV all year (no particular reason - just got out of the habit, and have been reading a lot) so when everyone is talking about DWTS, or American Idol, Lost, Glee, etc. I am clueless.  Once Boston Legal went off the air, I think I just gave up!

* Paige's Coppelia rehearsal for Saturday has been canceled, and an extra one thrown in this afternoon - from 5-6 p.m.  I am NOT looking forward to spending all afternoon across town and then driving home in rush hour traffic.  

* I wonder if the kids will ever appreciate all the things I/we do for them?? I wonder if they think I ENJOY being in the car all the time driving them hither and yon?

* I have been trying to make plans for summer.  Both kids want to go to camp, Paige wants to do a summer ballet intensive (or two), Clay will be going to Nationals, Paige wants to do tennis camp again....ugh.  I just want to sleep late every day and do nothing.  

* I wonder why Gus and Jack (previously known as Scout) feel the need to careen around the house like possessed felines every morning at 6:00?

     (Side Note:  Tim named him Jack...after the character Jack Torrance in The Shining.  Don't ask!)

* I wonder how I have managed to avoid hitting them when they begin careening around the house, wrestling and knocking things over and I start yelling and throwing things at them?

* I wonder how everyone else is able to continue sleeping while I am growling and cursing and throwing things at the aforementioned crazy cats whose sole purpose in life appears to be to MAKE ME CRAZY!!

* I wonder why after running and leaping and cartwheeling through the house dodging flying paperbacks and shoes, they feel compelled to jump up on the bed (where I have finally drifted off once again) to cuddle and purr with me?  

World Peace and Rice

Whenever Tim grills fish for dinner, he asks Clay to make rice and Paige to make a salad (I get a night off!).  Paige does a great job with the salad, but the past few times Clay has made the rice it has been...um....a bit...crunchy.

Last night, Tim was grilling the halibut, Paige was chopping cucumbers, and there was a bit of teasing going on regarding the crunchy yellow rice.  Tim was advising Clay that he needed to leave the top on the pan so it will cook completely, etc.

Clay, who never noticed anything wrong with his rice in the first place, replied indignantly, "Hmmph!  When I become a famous rice cooker and when my rice solves world peace....you guys will be sorry!"

His rice was great last night...tender and perfectly cooked.

At the table, Clay was smugly going on (and on and on) about how awesome the rice was, and weren't we sorry now that we had teased his amazing rice making skills....When Tim informed him that he had added an extra cup of water to the rice because there wasn't enough water, Clay sputtered and stammered and refused to believe it.  He replied that it would have been better with a bit more crunch, and implied that Tim had messed "his" rice up.

That boy takes his rice making seriously.

Who knows - maybe it will solve world peace one day and Clay will be famous for his rice.

He certainly is famous for his crunchy rice around here!

Everyone is picking up on that feline beat - Cause everything else is obsolete

In my next life, I want to come back as one of these.

Not an old, mangy alley cat, mind you.  I want to come back as a beautiful, pampered, spoiled kitty.  Gus, for example...does THIS all day.

Oh, he gets up and eats...and he plays a little...but mostly he sleeps.

He jumps up on the bed and purrs...and people pet him, and rub him under his chin, and scratch his ears, and tell him how beautiful he is...he rests comfortably in his supine position, drowsy and calm...

He purrs some more, soporific and languorous, and drifts off to a blissful, happy slumber.

Eat, play, sleep, nibble some more, frolic and romp a bit more, take a nap, go find a human to pet and love you, take another catnap, purr a bit, relax, and zzzzzzzzzzzzz..............

What a life.

When your number's up...

I just had my morning cup of coffee while reading the paper.  I read about the tornadoes that killed so many people over the weekend, about a 19 year old who died after drinking too many caffeine drinks (he had an undiagnosed heart problem), about a car full of teenagers that drove head on into an SUV - 4 teens were killed (alcohol is suspected).  


First of all I just have to say - eewwww.  NOT a nice way to start the day.  Why do I do that?  Why do I read all this doom and gloom news first thing in the morning?  I think I need to re-think my morning routine!


Back in the days before I became a full time mommy and I was still working, people always used to ask me if I was ever nervous about flying.  My answer was always no.  I believed that when your number was up, your number was up - and there was just no sense worrying about it.  I used to say that you could walk into a McDonald's and some idiot could walk in and blow you away...or in the post office...on campus...etc...


I still feel that way for the most part, and I think the events I read about in this morning's paper bear that out.  BUT.  But since I became a mother, I find that I worry about stuff anyway.  When we fly, I always locate the emergency exits, and review in my head what I would do in an emergency - Tim and I always go over who would grab which kid and which exit we would use.  Is that worrying or just being safe?


When we go on car trips, I am always hyper-alert - I don't read or sleep.  I feel like it is my job as the "co-pilot" to help watch for danger (and cops) and help keep the driver awake.  Is that just my natural control-freak tendencies, or am I being ridiculous?


We haven't gotten to the stage yet where we have a teenage driver out late at night, but I'm sure I will not be able to sleep until all my babies are home safely!  I'm sure I will become obsessive about the kids calling, and go over safety (no texting while driving, no drinking, not too many kids in the car, etc.) every single time they take the car out.  Is that crazy behavior, or just using common sense?


It's hard to reconcile my two selves sometimes.  There is the "laid back, you can't control destiny" me...and there is the "crazy, control freak" me.  As I've gotten older I've become a bit of a germ-a-phobe...not in a crazy, Howie Mandel way...but in a take hand-sanitizer everywhere, wipe down the cart at Publix before touching it sort of way.  When anyone in the house is sick, I run the dishwasher constantly - on the high-temperature, sanitizing cycle.  I also do laundry on that cycle when there are germs around.  Tim thinks that may be a bit obsessive.  As well as expensive!  I am always watching when the kids are in the pool, or on the dock.  In the boat?  I sit there perched on my seat, constantly looking around for hidden dangers.  


The point of this long, rambling post is that I'm not sure how I feel about the randomness of life anymore.  For someone who professes to believe that "when your number is up, your number is up"...I sure do try to control everything and keep everyone safe!  So, am I becoming obsessive - or am I just being a mom?


What do YOU think?

Paige's video

Click here to see video of the first half of Clay's sparring match.


Click here to see the second half of Clay's sparring match, where he was injured.


Please notice how many times Clay knocked the other kid out of the ring - this should have resulted in a half point taken away from the other kid each time, but apparently the judges didn't notice.  They must have been too busy jumping out of the way!!


Clay is red.

Saturday

9:00 a.m.
On the road!

1:15 p.m.

After stopping for lunch, we arrive at Polk State College in Winter Haven

This is what a Taekwondo competition looks like...there are about 8 rings.  They group the competitors by age, belt and weight.  

Clay just hung out with the other kids while waiting to be called to the staging area.  He was completely uncooperative, so the papparazzi had to be summoned to get some pics....

...hence, the shots are not always so great...

I think he must have been a bit nervous, because he kept chewing on his badge...

Like this!

5:00-ish

Waiting to do his form

5:30-ish

Clay does his form

Waiting for the judges to give him his score

Second Place!! A silver medal for forms....

6:00-ish

Now to spar!  Getting laced up by Master Berry

Warming up...

Bowing

Getting "frisked"....

As I was snapping photos, I heard two of the team girls next to me talking.

"Oh, that's my boy - there's Clay"...this was said several times.  I turned to her and said, "Actually, that's MY boy!!  She said, "Oh...teeheeheeeheeeee"

A bit later I heard her yelling, "Come on Clay!  Kick his head!!"  Then she said to the other girl, "I KNOW he can do it - he's done it to me enough times in practice!"

(Please note how the judge in the foreground is on the edge of her seat....)

(That's because Clay kept knocking this kid down, and out of the ring!  See how she is jumping out of the way....)

(Yep...notice the empty judge's chair....Clay waits for the other dude to pick himself up)

Clay wins! (And fought the last minute or so with an injury - a bruised ankle)

Shaking hands with the judges, and getting his GOLD MEDAL and his invitation to Nationals...

Yay Clay!!!!

Everyone on Team Mudo did great and qualified for Nationals

7:30-ish

On the way home (Clay singing along with his ipod)

10:00 p.m.

Almost home!

Sleepy kids!

Clay did great - Sparring state champion (OK, OK, in his weight and age division, if you want to get all technical about it) and a silver medal for forms.   He qualified for Nationals!

Clay's invitation to Nationals, and his medals.