And in my spare time I torture puppies

I have had one of those do-everything-all-at-the-same-time-and-then-do-some-more weeks. It’s like everyone else’s calendars read “if you have something to do that involves Erin, plan it for this week.” It’s a giant conspiracy, I tell ya. (It’s not being paranoid if it’s true, btw.)

At the very least, the grade school had it out for me, because I had 3 major commitments there, two of which required me to teach and herd boatloads of children. I’m pretty sure they’ll never invite me back, based on how grouchy I was by the third visit. I know there’s one 5th grade boy in particular who will sleep with one eye open from now on.

Good place to insert soapbox… Why is it that so many of today’s kids think they rule the world? I’m no “kids should be seen and not heard” person (well…55% of the time), but really—-do they have to talk ALL of the time? And with that much attitude? I swear there are too many parents who are literally afraid of their kids, and can’t say “Hey, maybe when an adult speaks to you, you shouldn’t mock them to their face.” Well, those parents better sleep with one eye open too, cause I’ve got their number. That’s right, world wide web, I’m calling out wimpy parents everywhere.

Okay, raise your hand if you’re never leaving me alone with your kids again. (Heck, I've got my own hand raised. This chic is s-c-a-r-y.)

Stalker Mom Hits Paydirt

I know I've mentioned before that my oldest child is not much into communication...at least not with us. Judging by his texting record, he knows how to do it--A LOT.

Let's be honest, though, how teens text can hardly be called communication. "You suck." "No, You suck." "No YOU suck" "Huh-uh" "Uh-huh" and so on. (And oops--I actually included punctuation there for a second. As if.) I've texted with my son. He answers most of my queries with "You would" or "Maybe" as in:

(Me) I need you to come home for dinner.
(Him) You would
(Me) So you'll be home at 6:00?
(Him) Maybe
(Me) I'm going to be upset if you're not here.
(Him) You would

(To be fair, he always does what I ask him to, so I enjoy his sarcastic little answers. I might even do the same to him. But admitting all of that would ruin my point, so let's pretend this paragraph doesn't exist.)

When I succumbed to the Facebook pressure, I hesitantly sent a friend invitation to my son. I could just picture him cringing at the thought of letting his mom into this corner of his life. I was pleasantly surprised when he accepted my invitation right away (not with any fanfare, mind you--there was no "Look everyone! My mom's here! Hooray!!!).

Having access to my son's Facebook wall has opened up a whole new world of deep communication for us. He's pretty diligent about updating his status on there. Sure, most of the time what he posts makes absolutely no sense (which is the way he likes it IMHO.), such as this one: "Shnookie 1 is rain master." Ooooookaaaaay...

HOWEVER, a lot of the time I get more out of his little one-liner synopses than I could ever gather from 3 sentences of forced face-to-face conversation. For example, yesterday I bopped on over there and found this little gem: "Shnookie 1 is happy with everything that's going on." Whoa. That's just too much information for mom to handle--especially in complete sentence format. He almost sounds--dare I say it--like an actual mature person.

(I wonder where he learned sarcasm?)

It is rather ridiculous how happy Shnook 1's statement made hubby and me. If you have one of those 'can't shut them up' teenage boys (I'm sure they're out there...somewhere...maybe?), this might not make sense to you. But for ME, I'm walking on air. It's the most revealing conversation he and I have had all year.

In Potty News...

I am finally ready to post a picture of an entire remodeled room. We've done so much, but I hate sharing a room until it's all done, and...well...that's a difficult concept for me. I can't think of a single room in my house that I consider 'done,'and I've been at it for 11 years. (Wait--my master closet is done. But don't ask for a picture of it. I said it was done...that doesn't mean it's clean.)

Okay, so the big whole room I'm ready to show is our powder room. (Ya know--baby steps.) And it's not done. (Surprise.) I still have to hang some art, but I can't wait that long.

Now, keep in mind that this was Boozer's room for the first 8 months of his life, so it was trashed (thus the remodel). Try not to be frightened. Okay, so here's the before:



And here--ta dum, ta dum--is the after:



I know the bright colors aren't for everyone, but wow, do I love them!! We're all a little overly giddy about the whole thing, but when you consider that we haven't been able to use this bathroom--our only main floor potty--for a year, it's a tad more understandable. It's a long hike up or down a flight of stairs when ya gotta go, KWIM?

The moral of today's post? If you want a new bathroom, move a massive puppy into it, wait a year, and viola!

A flash into the future

This week, Shnookies 3 and 4 participated in a 3-day dance clinic put on by our high school's drill team. They got to perform at half-time of the school's basketball team last night. Look how cute they are!:



I was so proud of them! They both worked really hard and had a lot of fun. And in true girl fashion, it took them 2 hours before the performance to do their hair and make-up. My bathroom looks like a war zone this morning. We are sooooo in for it.

Angels on the Moon

My friend, Jill, tagged me on Facebook for this fun little quiz/game. You put your iPod on shuffle, go to the first quiz question, and whatever song starts playing on your iPod, you use for the answer. I had way too much fun doing this. I'm sure it would take like 2 minutes for someone with a REAL iPod (i.e., on that has a screen where you can read the song title and artist.); however, I just have an iPod shuffle--no screen. So I had to look up a lot of the songs to get the titles exactly right. It took me a half hour to track down the official name of CAKE's song "Mahna Mahna," because it doesn't technically have any lyrics--just music and sounds. (It's on my playlist to the right, if you want to listen to it.) A sane person would've just skipped the song and gone onto the next, but I did not want to cheat. I'm sure it would be the last straw that keeps me out of heaven.

I wanted to put my results on ye ole bloggy, so here they are:

If someone asks, “Are you okay?” You reply:
I Miss You - Blink 182

How would you describe yourself?
Best of You - Foo Fighters

What do you like in the opposite sex?
Superman - Five for Fighting

How do you feel today?
The Reason - Hoobastank (my favorite band name EVER)

What is your life’s purpose?
It's All Been Done - BareNaked Ladies (of course!)

What is your motto?
Homecoming Queen - Hinder

What do your friends think of you?
Accidentally in Love - Counting Crows

What do you think of your parents?
Falling for the First Time - BareNaked Ladies

What do you think about very often?
Lips of an Angel - Hinder (I can't even tell you how much I love this song)

What is 2+2?
105 - Smash Mouth (I am not kidding--this is exactly the song that came up for this question!)

What do you think of your best friend?
When I Come Around - Green Day

What do you think of the person you like?
If You Leave Me Now - Chicago

What is the story of your life?
Another Postcard - BareNaked Ladies (what can I say? I like me my BareNaked Ladies)

What do you want to be when you grow up?
Believe - Staind

What do you think of when you see the person you like?
Harder to Breathe - Maroon 5

What will you dance to at your wedding?
Mad About You - Hooverphonic (I would LOVE to dance to this at my wedding, actually)

What will they play at your funeral?
You're Beautiful - James Blunt (The obvious answer, duh! BTW - He high-fived me this
summer. Yup. We're tight. So he'd probably come and sing it himself gladly at my funeral.)

What is your hobby/interest?
Bring Me Down - Puddle of Mudd (absolute favorite head-banger song)

What is your biggest fear?
I'm Yours - Jason Mraz

What is your biggest secret?
Walking On the Sun - Smash Mouth (Dang--I didn't want that secret to get out. Now it'll get crowded up there.)

What do you think of your friends?
Mahna Mahna- CAKE

What will you post this as?
Angels on the Moon - Thriving Ivory

You CAN go back!

I just did not have enough to distract me from my real life, so I went ahead and joined Facebook. I've had friends put it on my 'to do' list for at least a year now. I get secret pleasure out of being rebellious; however, I was sick for 3 weeks and just COULD NOT find another way to avoid it. So off I went...bit the bullet...took the plunge...slapped the hippo...(made ya think, huh?)

I was really thinking that I'd be able to stalk my current friends by participating on Facebook. (They've gotten really tricky at avoiding my calls, emails, and drive-by's. Time for a new strategy.) I hadn't even really considered un-earthing the friends of yester-year. But about 3 days into the biting hippo plunge, I suddenly discover all of these people from my past, and within 24 hours, we're TALKING (slash typing). Oh my, what nostalgia--I'm suddenly craving leg warmers and big hair and fretting over what I'll wear to the next dance. But better than that (as if it gets better than leg warmers), I'm reconnecting with these people who have shaped my life significantly, and it's exhilarating!

Take my friend Cheri. Becky, Cheri and I did EVERYTHING together from middle school right through until college. Then Cheri went to Idaho for school, while Becky and I went to Utah. Sadly for Becky, this destroyed any chance she had of shaking me off. But Cheri got away from me, and I've only seen her a few times in the last 20 years--not at all in the last 10 years. I had no idea where she was, even.

20 seconds of searching on Facebook, and there she was. Amazing thing is, she'd moved back to our hometown, and I was scheduled to visit there in just a few days! Once I got to town (where Becky also lives) Becky, Cheri and I got together, and WAHOO we had fun! Here we are (Me, Becky, Cheri):



It's just amazing how quickly we were right back in high school--oh the giggling and squealing! But we also had such great discussions about kids and life and overcoming hurdles. It was hard to leave. I was ready to drive my Dodge Colt home, say goodnight to my folks, and do it all again the next day and the next and next... It's just too bad the Dodge Colt is in the junk yard, my folks moved away, and there's a major street running through my old bedroom now. Sigh.

I had such a great time. It was hugely 'healing' to be with my best girls again. And Becky's family were great hosts (as always). I pulled a quick one by making Becky buy all sorts of paint and then sneaking out of town. Heh-heh :)

I've struggled many times when I've come home from vacations. I just can't re-engage with my my super-glamorous life for weeks. But not this time! I feel rested and strong and complete. Thank you Becky! Thank you Cheri! Thank you Facebook! I love you all.