Mommie Dearest Strikes Again...: May 2011

Tuesday, May 31, 2011

Don't make me go all mama bear on your a**!!

Dear Rude, Inconsiderate Jerk,

I see you every morning when I take my son to school. You appear in the same spot, at the same time and you have provided ample opportunities for me to lecture my novice driver on why he needs to drive defensively at all times. You've also provided many examples as to what NOT to do.

We've seen you speeding (55+ mph in a 45 mph zone) and weaving in and out of traffic erratically, with no thought to the other vehicles on the road. We see you whiz through the school zone at the high school without ever slowing down every single morning.

You have cut me off many times, causing me to slam on my brakes. You have tailgated. I don't like you and I think you are a danger but I can handle it. I have been driving for over 30 years and I have seen your kind before.

This morning, however, you crossed a line and irritated the mama bear in me.

My baby bear, my sweet boy, was driving this morning. He was driving the speed limit with both hands on the steering wheel. He was paying attention and driving defensively as we have taught him.

You pulled onto the road and swerved into our lane missing our car by inches. My son, the novice driver, had to slam on the brakes to avoid an accident.

Quite frankly, this was the last straw for me.

You are a danger and now you have endangered MY SON. Directly.

I took down your license tag number and a description of your vehicle and I have reported you to the Sheriff's office. I have requested a police presence on the road which you, apparently, consider your own personal Indy 500 track.

I want you to know that I am going to be watching you. I will call the police every day if I have to. What I will not do is let you threaten my child. And you do...every day.

I hope the police are there tomorrow morning and I hope they pull you over and give you a ticket. It may save someone's life. Maybe even your own.

Please, slow down. Use turn signals. Allow an appropriate distance between vehicles when passing. And slow down in the school zone! You are NOT the only one on the road, you know.

So is my son.

Sincerely,

An annoyed and protective mama bear

Monday, May 30, 2011

It's officially almost summer...

Today we all slept late...we lazed around the house, not doing very much at all. I had a leisurely cup of coffee and read the paper while the kids shuffled around in their pajamas.

The Boy's girlfriend came over and the kids swam in the pool and flew kites and took the dog for a walk. We had caprese sandwiches for lunch. I looked at the messy house and thought about cleaning it. I decided to be Scarlett O'Hara for the day, instead...after all, tomorrow is another day.

I swear...we DO feed him! (All the time!)

There may have been a bit of brotherly love exhibited as only an older brother can...

Awww!

We had hamburgers and potato salad for dinner. Other than make dinner, I've done absolutely nothing all day.

And...I'm exhausted.

How can that be? How can I be so tired when I haven't done anything all day? It's 7:30 pm and I am ready for bed.

There are 4 more full days of school and 3 half-days (exams) and only one more week of ballet.

I can't wait.

I dream of sunny days floating on a raft in the pool...I yearn for coconut scented sandy beaches and long walks searching for shark's teeth...The smell of Noxzema soothing sunburned cheeks and shoulders...packing for camp...fireflies...cold, juicy watermelon...long, lazy, days with nothing to do...

Summer is almost (officially) here. I can't wait!

Sunday, May 29, 2011

Ah...go fly a kite!

It's been quite windy the past couple of days. I bought kites for the kids and they decided that today was a perfect day to try them out.

The Boy decided to try from the dock...

There was certainly enough wind...and he started out OK...

But somehow, the kite kept ending up in the water.

I decided to go see how The Princess was doing...

Hmm...not bad!

"This is fun!"

"Whoops!"

"This is HARD!"

"Hmmph!"

I decided to leave The Princess alone with her kite and go see how The Boy was doing.

I found that he had attached his kite to a fishing pole and was feeding it out...

"Oh, honey...I don't think that's....."

"Whoa!"

"Wow! It really works!"

"I told you so!"

The Princess came out to the dock and she seemed to be getting the hang of it, too...

Well, sort of.

It was a fun, blustery day!

And just for the record...nothing in the world makes me happier than seeing my children cooperating and doing something happily together.

Nothing.

Except...maybe chocolate.

I'll have the lettuce wraps with a side order of thunder and lightning, please.

We celebrated Mr. Wonderful's birthday Friday evening. The kids and I planned a wonderful dinner and they were helping me to cook fried rice with chicken, ham and shrimp and lettuce wraps. Everything was coming along nicely when it began pouring outside. We saw a flash of light and simultaneously heard a huge clap of thunder. The Princess and I shrieked and the power went out. The rice and lettuce wrap filling was still cooking on the stove. We were all hungry and it was dark and scary.

We were bummed.

Mr. Wonderful lived up to his name when he decided to fire up the grill. I transported my pans outside and finished cooking our asian feast on the grill, with water dripping on my head. It took a bit longer but it tasted just as good. We all agreed that this birthday dinner was one to remember as we ate it by the light of candles and flashlights, with the cacophony of booming thunder and drumming rain and an electric light show outside the windows.

After eating, I tried to read my book by candle light and the kids kept the world wide web informed with frequent updates on the storm to facebook...

Perhaps you are wondering why The Boy is wearing sunglasses inside...at night...while it is storming outside? It's because his loving and dedicated mother pulled out her camera.

He's contrary like that.