Stuff. And more stuff.

1.  This was a BUSY day.


2.  The Princess was confirmed this morning.

The Princess with the Bishop

The Princess with Father Kurt and Bishop Howard

3.  There was a gathering after church to celebrate the newly confirmed, with delicious food, witty conversation, and a lot of love and friendship.  Unfortunately, we had to dash away because...

4.  The Princess had Nutcracker rehearsal.  Again.  Or still.  Whatever.

5.  Only one more weekend of rehearsals, and then it is the weekend of the performances.  And then...we're done!  Woo Hoo!  Oh, oops, I mean...and then, ummm, we'll be SO sad to bid farewell to Sugarplum fairies and waltzing flowers and bonbons....

6.  Nah.  Not really.  I'm ready to have my weekends back!

7.  I dropped The Boy off at the house while I took The Princess to rehearsal so that he could water all of the plants, and then bring the smaller plants inside and cover the larger ones up.  Because tonight we're supposed to have a freeze.  Actually, it is supposed to be below freezing for the next 5 nights - and here in Florida that means covering the plants, leaving water running, and taking other precautions...

which basically just add up to a lot of work!!

8.  When The Princess and I arrived home from her rehearsal, not only did we find that The Boy had taken care of all the plants, but he had also made dinner for us.  Granted, it was a frozen skillet meal - but who cares? Anything I don't have to cook tastes like fine cuisine to me!

9.  And then!  After we ate, my sweet boy (who has been known on occasion to drive me cuh-razy) sat down with his sister and "tutored" her in French and Math.  I loved hearing them speaking French to each other (with big brother gently correcting her pronunciation) and giggling together.  It's moments like those that warm this momma's heart and make me think that maybe, just maybe, I'm doing something right after all!

10.  The first of the VK Family Christmas cards should begin arriving tomorrow, and I can't wait for feedback!

Back when I was a kid...

If you are on facebook, then I'm sure you've noticed all of the cartoon images taking over people's profile pictures.  Here's the message that is making the rounds, along with the cartoon images...

Change your FB profile picture to a Cartoon Character from your childhood and invite your friends to do the same. Until Monday (Dec 6), there should be no human faces on FB, but an invasion of memories. This is a CAMPAIGN FOR STOPPING VIOLENCE AGAINST CHILDREN! ! !

Now, I must admit that I'm not quite clear as to how changing your profile picture to a cartoon image will actually help stop violence against children, but I'm all for a good trend - and this one is actually kind of fun.

I started googling images of cartoons from my childhood, which started me reminiscing about Saturday mornings, back when they were fun.  Do you remember when Saturday mornings were filled with cartoons instead of soccer games?  Back before the Cartoon Network?  

As a kid, we would look forward all week to the one day that we could watch KID TV.  We would wake up, pour a bowl of cereal and eat it in front of the TV.  We would be glued to the television set until 11:30 or so, when the cartoons would taper off and the boring grown-up shows would start coming on.  It was great for the parents as well, because they could sleep late and know that their kids were safely glued to the television for the morning.

Saturday mornings...zoned out in front of the television for hours...having to actually get up and walk over to the television if you wanted to change the channel, because there was no such thing as a remote control...watching shows like...

Captain Caveman....

Land of the Lost...

The Harlem Globetrotters...

Scooby Doo...

Speed Racer...

Super Friends...

The Hair Bear Bunch...

The Flintstones...

The Jetsons...

Sigmund and the Sea monsters...

Hong Kong Phooey...

Jonny Quest...

and my personal favorites...

Penelope Pitstop and...

Josie and the Pussycats!

Now, I'm not saying that these were great shows (Sigmund and the Sea Monsters, for example, was quite...well...ridiculous.  It was the 70's after all, and I can only assume that a lot of people in Hollywood were doing some serious drugs to come up with that one!)  My children were cracking up as I showed them clips from these old shows on youtube.  But, the feeling of Saturday mornings was magical.  

Saturday mornings were for kids.  

Actually, I'm sure the parents all thought Saturday morning cartoons were a gift for them!

Still, as I watched those clips on youtube, and remembered all of the lyrics to the catchy little tunes, I was transported back to a time when Saturdays were special.  Back when we knew which shows came on at what time, and what came on next.  When even watching the commercials was fun...singing along with the commercials (I'd like to teach the world to sing...), being mesmerized by all of the new fabulous toys, and watching Schoolhouse Rock!

Wow.  I'm thinking that those were "the good ol' days"....I'm getting old!

My mind reading skills just aren't what they used to be..

I think Mr. Wonderful and I might need to work on our communication skills.

The Princess takes ballet at a studio downtown, which is a 45 minute drive for us each way.  It's very wearing on us as a family, which perhaps explains what happened last night.

I took P to dance yesterday and dropped her off for her early class, then she stayed and worked on schoolwork before her late class, which was supposed to finish at 7:45 pm.

The other child had Taekwondo yesterday.  Mr. Wonderful left to take him to Taekwondo at 6, and he was also supposed to finish up at 7:45.  Unbeknownst to me, Mr. Wonderful dropped him at Taekwondo and then decided to "help" me out and went to get the Princess.

The Princess happened to get finished early.

Mr. Wonderful, while being very wonderful in attempting to save me a trip, only neglected one small, teeny-tiny, little detail.

He forgot to tell me that he was picking the Princess up.

So...I left the house at 7:00, drove downtown and waited for P.  And waited.  And waited.  I didn't call Mr. Wonderful because I assumed that he was still at Taekwondo with The Boy and wouldn't hear the phone ring.  I kept calling The Princess's cell phone which kept going right to voicemail.  I was getting a bit panicky when I called the hubby's cellphone and The Princess answered!

To say I was shocked would be a gross understatement.

I was relieved that P was alright, but angry that Mr. W didn't let me know he was planning this little surprise, and then I realized that our poor son was sitting at Taekwondo waiting for someone to pick him up!

I yelled at Mr. Wonderful and said some bad words and Mr. Wonderful rushed to pick up our poor son.

I drove the 45 minutes home again, fuming the whole way.

I expected to find a contrite husband when I got home, but he was laughing about it and frankly, that didn't sit too well with me.  He was smart enough to greet me at the door with a glass of wine though...

In the light of day, I suppose it is kind of funny.  In a way.  Sorta. Vaguely.

In other news I have diligently been working on my Christmas cards, in spite of the fact that at some point during one of my cleaning binges for a last minute showing on the house I managed to hide my address book somewhere.  I'm sure I stuffed it into a drawer somewhere, but I can't find it anywhere.  Thank goodness for facebook messaging, which has allowed me to quickly contact people and beg them to send me their addresses!

I'm almost finished!

This weekend marks the beginning of the craziness of non-stop Nutcracker rehearsals...Nutcracker is in two weeks!  

The Princess is being confirmed Sunday at church (and then we will rush off to Nutcracker rehearsal again).  I'm also hoping to get some cookies baked this weekend with The Boy.

What are YOUR plans?

If I could turn back time...I'd have you, babe

This evening, in the midst of the usual pre-dinner hustle and bustle, The Princess asked, "Who's Chur?"  (Say it out loud now - it sounds like "churn", without the "n".)


Mr. Wonderful and I looked blankly at each other.


"Huh?"


"Who's CHUR?"


There were a few more seconds of silence as we both frantically tried to figure out what in the world she was talking about.  Finally, comprehension struck us both at the same time...


"Do you mean CHER?"


"Umm, OK, maybe...."


We laughed.  We guffawed.  Tears were streaming down our faces as we held our bellies and gasped for breath.


The Princess didn't see the humor.  She held a magazine out at us and complained, "Well, what kind of a name is that anyway?"

I hastened to correct this appalling hole in her musical and cultural education by turning to YouTube....

I introduced her to The Sonny and Cher Show...

Sonny and Cher with Chastity, before.

Before they got divorced.

Before Sonny skied into a tree.

Before Chastity became Chaz.

We listened to "I've got you, Babe" and "Gypsies, Tramps, & Thieves" and "Half Breed" and "If I could turn back Time" and "Believe"....

I told her about how I used to watch the Sonny and Cher Show every single week when I was a little girl.

I even showed her the video for "If I could Turn Back Time"...

Her response to this video was, "Oh my goodness!  WHAT is she wearing?"

I explained to her that that was a common reaction to Cher and her wardrobe.

I think The Princess likes her.  I think she was impressed with my impromptu, ten-minutes-via youtube trip back to the 60's and 70's.

The Princess just informed me that she wants to be a hippie.  She wants to wear funky clothes and walk around saying "Peace" and "Groovy."  She said that she won't do drugs though.

Whew.

Insanity is hereditary - you get it from your kids

"If God wanted a world filled with saints, He never would have created adolescence."

I ran across those words in a book I read recently, and I had to laugh.  It's so true!

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Yesterday I made beef stew in the crockpot.  It simmered all afternoon and filled the house with a heavenly aroma.  When C came home from school and smelled it, he hovered in the kitchen, drooling, until it was ready.  

Literally.

He kept walking into the kitchen and staring at me beseechingly with his best attempt at (starving) puppy dog eyes.  I would tell him it wasn't dinner time yet, and he would shuffle off despondently.  A few minutes later he'd be back in the kitchen gazing at me hopefully with a pitiful "you never feed me" expression.  Finally, at 4:30 I gave up and let him go ahead and eat some.  You would think he had won the lottery!  He ate a rather large bowl of the stew as quickly and ravenously as only a teenage boy can, moaning in happiness and making various other sounds of gastronomical euphoria.  

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The other day I asked C if he would take the laundry out of the washing machine and throw it in the dryer for me.  He cheerfully said that he would.

A couple of hours later I went into the laundry room to fold the laundry which I assumed would be dry by then.

I found the wet laundry sitting in the dryer, with the door still hanging open.

He never started the dryer.  

Apparently, I wasn't specific enough with my request.

*sigh*

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Both of our teenagers have a bad habit lately of responding, "I will", whenever they are asked to do something.

"Would you please take the trash out?"

"I will."

Two hours later, the trash has still not been emptied.

"C & P, please come empty the dishwasher."

"We will."

Later that day, the dishwasher is still not emptied.

Apparently, when they respond with "I will", they really mean, "I will.  Eventually.  When you nag me 5,478 times more and start yelling at me in utter frustration and start pulling your hair out by the roots."

It is quite exasperating.

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Adolescence is a period of rapid changes.  Between the ages of 12 and 17, for example, a parent ages as much as 20 years.  ~Author Unknown