A little bit of this and that (and Book Blurb Friday!)

My mind and life is so jumbled lately, but I thought I would reveal a couple highlights, and they revolve around my son.

• My son has developed a habit I am desperately hoping to break him of-everything that pops into his head comes out his mouth, and I mean everything! I admit that some of what he says is downright funny, and my husband and I have shared moments where we laughed like crazy at something he said (when he is not within earshot of course.) But no amount of, "Listen to what you say in your head before letting it come out your mouth," seems to be working. The other morning I did a quick blow dry prior to my usual straightening when my son walked into the bathroom. Our conversation is as follows:

My son: Woa, mom! What's with your hair?
Me: I haven't straightened it yet. He stood there very quietly for a couple minutes watching me brush my hair before I tackled the unruly mess with the straightener.
My son: You know something mom?
Me: No, what?
My son: If your nose was a little more pointy, and you were wearing a pointy black hat...
My son was comparing me to a witch for crying out loud! I wouldn't let him utter the rest and once again reminded him about thinking things through first. Now I admit, my hair was sort of witchy-looking, and it is kind of funny now, but he has said very blunt and hurtful things to his sister lately, so the sooner he gets a handle on this, the happier everyone will be.

• My son decided at the end of last Spring that he didn't like soccer much anymore and really who could blame him-all that endless running up and down the field in games where goals were made, but no one officially kept score. His latest passion? Baseball. Something clicked in the boy after my husband bought him his first aluminum bat, and now all he wants to do in the evenings is batting practice. The problem with this is that he wants the most non-athletic person in our family-yours truly-to pitch to him when his dad works late.
  
  Well, since hubby has been working a lot of evenings lately, little old me has been trying my best to pitch to my budding baseball star. We started using tennis balls for practice because I have lobbed the poor kid more times than I care to admit, and I've blamed it on everything from the sun's in my eyes to it's getting too dark to see, but the fact is, I don't know where the ball is going once it leaves my hand! You would think my son would wise up and just wait until daddy can practice with him, but he doesn't.
  
  Sometimes we're in stitches over one of my wild throws, but I do see some improvement to my form-he is hitting more and more of what I throw him. And even though I still have that moment of dread when he asks me to play, when I'm old and gray I know I will look back on this and smile-I'm hoping he does too...
  

I'm so glad it's time for:

Book Blurb Friday! This is where Lisa Ricard Claro, from Writing in the Buff, posts a picture meant to serve as a fictional book cover. It's your job to write a blurb about the book in 150 words or less to entice a prospective reader. Are you up to the challenge? Here is this week's picture and my story:


The Moment of Truth

Alana Anderson had always been ordinary. She came from a working class family in a poorer section of town, worked her way through school only to land a mediocre job in finance, but she was just hours from marrying His Royal Highness, the Prince of Dunbar.

Things started out simple enough-a case of mistaken identity brought Alana face to face with the Prince on a daily basis, but slowly things started spiraling out of control. As time went by, it became harder and harder for her to break free from what had once been an innocent charade, but she decided she didn’t want to live a lie anymore.

But someone else knew Alana’s secret, and he threatened that if she ever revealed her true identity, her prince would pay with his life. (132 words)

This is way under my usual word counts, but I'm out of practice-I really regret missing last Friday, but I was just so tired... Hope to stop by and read all of yours tomorrow!

Nothing better than chocolate (and Book Blurb Friday!)

Tonight has been a trying evening-first we were made to sit and wait for someone from Lowes to come out and measure for a replacement sliding glass door (I just don't get the 2 hour window that repairmen give when they make an appointment to come out to the house), and since I gave my son a "trim" back before school let out, the plan was to do another tonight. Let's just say that I will pay any amount of money to have someone else do this next time! I still don't know why he was making such a fuss, but the end result was an angry mom and dad, a pouting kid, an early bed time, and a dose of chocolate for me! (Chocolate always cures, but just for the record, I think I did even better than I did the last time, but still, never again...)

I'm glad it's

 Book Blurb Friday! This is where Lisa Ricard Claro, from Writing in the Buff, posts a picture meant to serve as a fictional book cover.  It's your job to write a blurb about the book in 150 words or less to entice a prospective reader. Are you up to the challenge?  Here is this week's picture and my story:

So the Story Goes
The dilapidated old house was left to Deborah in the will, and though Deborah’s husband had been in the attic earlier declaring it unfit for man or beast, she had to see for herself.

Deborah’s husband was right in some aspects-the thick layer of dust and cobwebs indicated years of neglect, and trash was scattered amid the boxes on the rotted wooden floorboards. But as she started rummaging through the bits and pieces of her grandmother’s life, she came across a rusted typewriter and a box filled with what looked like the makings of a novel.

Curiosity more than anything made Deborah sit down to read-she never knew her grandmother could write. But as the words began flowing into Deborah’s head, the story about kings and queens seemed to come to life, and Deborah soon found that she too was a part of the story… (145 words)

This picture was really interesting so I can't wait to see what everyone wrote-unfortunately it's almost 12:30 AM so I will stop by tomorrow!

So the Story Goes

An exhausting weekend (and a little Succinctly Yours!)

We headed to Wildwood, New Jersey Saturday for my daughter's regional gymnastics meet. We decided to make a weekend out of it, spending time in Wildwood, Cape May, and Cape May Point, and with all this activity and not a lot of sleep, we are all pretty exhausted.

It would have been nice for my daughter to have finished well at the end of the season, but after scratching her last home meet in April due to a very lengthy flu bug, it was touch or go on whether she would even attempt regionals this year. She just wasn't strong enough to do her dismount off the beam or her back handsprings without a spotter-her body needed to rest. She finally went back to practice this month, and since she was able to do her routines, we decided to book our room.

I'm just glad we were able to spend some quality family time this weekend because regionals were pretty disappointing for her-she worked so hard this past month, and as a parent all you want to do is make everything better, but nothing you say seems good enough-in my eyes, my daughter is a hero!
Unfortunately things seem to be going from bad to worse-it looks like my daughter has caught another stomach virus, because she started getting sick this evening! (Keep your fingers crossed that we all get throught this because I'm feeling a little queasy myself, and I can't miss tomorrow or this week-it's finals week for seniors, and senior awards night is tomorrow...)

I'll write a little more about this weekend later in the week, but right now it's time for Succinctly Yours, another writing meme that piggy backs on the idea of Susan of the Stony River Blog. Grandma Goulash posts a picture and you are to write a 140 character or word story about it. You can also use the word of the day in your post if you wish. This week's word is glisten. Here is the picture and my story:

The thief grabbed the old woman’s purse but crime wouldn't pay today-Petrobras nabbed the bad guy, returned the purse, and became a hero. (137 characters)

I was still thinking about heros when I saw tonight's picture so I went with it. I can't wait to come around and see what everyone else saw!

Almost worry free (and Book Blurb Friday)

Our house is back to normal again, or at least I'm not worrying as much as I was about my son. I didn't mention it but a small white mark on my son's face that appeared a year ago (the doctor wasn't sure what it was but said just to watch it) became enlarged almost overnight.

My husband and I thought that it looked bigger, then we were sure it was, and then my son was complaining that it hurt. The pediatrician said that it needed to be looked at by a plastic surgeon, but the practice she recommended said they couldn't see us until the end of June!  Meanwhile, this thing got bigger and now redder and another visit to the doctor finally got us seen by a plastic surgeon a couple weeks ago.

The surgeon was sure it was a cyst that got infected, but he couldn't operate until the infection was taken care of first, so my son walked around with a giant bandaid on his face for another ten days until the swelling and redness subsided, and he was operated on Wednesday morning. (They had to put him to sleep and I was worried sick, but all went well and his face, even with the small bandage and stitches, looks so much better!)  Did I mention that we are heading to New Jersey for my daughter's state meet this weekend?  What timing, huh?

But I come into tonight's Book Blurb Friday feeling pretty good. This is where Lisa Ricard Claro, from Writing in the Buff, posts a picture meant to serve as a fictional book cover.

 It's your job to write a blurb about the book in 150 words or less to entice a prospective reader. Are you up to the challenge?
Here is this week's picture and my story:

Mystery Man at Boulder Lodge

The weather reports promised plenty of snow for Kathy’s ski vacation, but the trip was for singles, and Kathy’s sister had made the reservation-without asking. Still, a weeklong stay at a luxurious ski lodge didn’t seem like such a sacrifice, so she agreed to go.

An avid skier, Kathy checked into Boulder Lodge and lost no time hitting the slopes…or another skier. She hadn’t seen Paul pick himself up from a nasty fall until it was too late, and he would end up back in the snow again.

The pair hit it off immediately, (almost literally) and spent the rest of the day together, but Paul said he had an important appointment elsewhere that evening, and subsequent evenings, and he always returned at daybreak.

Was Paul married? Kathy decides to find out before things get serious, but maybe knowing everything isn’t always a good thing… (146 words without the title.)

I was first thinking I would take this story to the dark side, but I mentioned it to my husband and he wondered why I couldn't do a "nice" story. So, I thought about it, started writing, and I ended up with a story that could go either way. But, it's after 11 and morning comes quickly, so I'll stop by your blogs tomorrow!

A New Perspective

I’m feeling a bit wishy-washy these days because I want things that are totally opposite. Since my kids are getting older I’m trying to carve a little time in the day just for me-I’m not asking for hours here, just minutes where I can pursue activities that interest just me. I sometimes think about all the things I do for them now that I won’t have to do when their older, like make their breakfast and lunch, do their laundry, supervise all bathing/teeth brushing/hair combing, and help them clean their rooms (this one always stumps me-if they can mess it up, why does it take mom or dad’s assistance to clean things up?) I am rarely ALONE!

Then, if by chance I do get a few precious minutes, I start to feel like I’m missing something-that if I don’t stop what I’m doing and connect with my kids their childhood years will just fly by and I will have missed them. I’m already experiencing the twangs of separation with some of my kids changing habits. A year ago, my son would always give me a hug and a kiss at bedtime, and we would go through the same ritual every night:

"Goodnight Mom."
"Goodnight Buster Brown."
"I love you."
"I love you too."
"See you in the morning."
"I’ll see you in the morning."

Now that little ritual is gone, and although I still give him a kiss, I guess I have cooties, because there are cries of “Yuck!” as he tries to wipe his cheek. I still get a hug, and he always hugs me before I leave in the morning, but how long will this last?

My daughter is physically connected to her electronic devices, and spending more and more time in her room. I’ve had to establish times when devices are off and although I can usually coax her to help me make dinner or bake, gone are the days when she followed me around telling me about her day. (The girl is a virtual vault these days, and I only know something is bothering her when that mouth of hers starts working over time…)

I’m constantly stretched in different directions-grow up, don’t grow up, please grow up, please don't grow up-but now I know what alone feels like. My husband’s grandmother died Saturday night, and since I don’t get bereavement unless it’s someone in my immediate family, my husband took the kids and headed five hours away to my in-laws house. I got what I’ve always wanted-plenty of kid free me time, and I hate it! I didn’t make dinner since it was just me (I had an egg sandwich and fruit), and I can’t seem to be able to sit in one spot (I finally managed to plant myself in front of the computer to type this, and even then I didn’t feel like doing too much.)I've texted my daughter all evening (the most we've talked in a while) and both my kids sounded so small when I talked to them on the phone tonight...

I’m so worried about their drive back tomorrow and about how the kids are handling their first funeral that I can hardly keep my eyes open-and after dealing with teenagers all day, I'm emotionally drained. So that being said, I’m heading to bed knowing I better be careful what I wish for…

The "tween" years: the good, the bad, the ugly

I’m getting an education in how to deal with my "tween" daughter, but it’s happening at a snails pace, one day at a time-isn’t that a song title? And as the countdown is slowing to just a few weeks before my daughter turns the ripe old age of 12, and the battles of "who's the boss" continue, I can’t help but remember some of the battles I had with my own mother at this age, and I hope time won’t repeat itself.

Do all mothers and daughters disagree when the teen years start, or are my control issues driving a wedge between us? I‘m coming off a real low point right now, in part because of an argument I had with my daughter before school on Friday. It had been a trying week for me, mainly because I hadn’t been feeling too well, and I hadn’t been getting much sleep at night-my body was dead tired, but I just couldn’t shut my brain down.

Anyway, I was off on Friday, but my kids still had school, so I was the one who would have get them on the bus (my husband usually drives the kids to school because the bus gets to our house pretty late.) Things weren’t going too well with my daughter, and speed was the issue-there seems to be one speed for getting things done anymore, "slow!" I was watching the clock and trying to get her to finish getting ready, but she was still in front of the mirror fooling with her outfit-no shoes on, and hair and teeth not brushed, so I was a basket case! They had a teachers vs. students basketball game that day, and all of her friends had decided that they would dress a certain way…

The bus would be here in ten minutes so I shouted my last warning, and headed outside with my son. With five minutes left to spare, she meanders outside carrying her winter coat, and decides that she needs her light coat instead. Back in the house she goes, and comes out with a very thin hoodie-now I know the temperatures were to get into the 60’s later in the day, but it was still in the 30’s, and with the wind blowing it felt like 20’s!

So I headed back in the house in search of a light but a bit heavier jacket, but when I came out I knew by my daughter’s face that I was in for an argument. You see the shirt she was wearing was pretty long, and it didn’t look right hanging out from under her jacket. Back into the house I went in search of another jacket, coming out with one that I bought her last spring. She refused to try it on to see if it would fit. I had my doubts too, but I mean she actually flat out refused and that brought out the control freak in me-I gave her an ultimatum-either try on the jacket, or lose her iPod for a week! She tried on the jacket but even though it still fit her in the sleeves, it was now much too short, so back into the house I went for the winter jacket again!

That’s three trips into the house and back, and I was livid-my daughter wanted to go back into the house to retrieve her jacket, but like I said before, the only speed she knows is slow, and the bus was due any minute.

Now a smarter person would have just let the matter drop with only two minutes before the bus, but since my education in tween isn’t complete, I did not stop. My daughter’s hair (or more like the lack of a hairstyle) has been a point of contention between her, her father, and me for some time now-I had wanted her to browse the web until she found a style she liked, and then we would go the beauty shop this weekend. She hadn’t done this yet; I told her that I was taking her this weekend and the style I wanted her to have would be the one she would come home with. This didn’t go over very well, and there were some tears and some angry retorts-apparently I have ruined her life, and she was going to make sure I never saw her grandchildren.

Okay, I was so hurt by the "ruining her life" comment that I didn’t laugh at the grandchild comment (um, I would be dead so I wouldn’t see her grandchildren)-she must mean "children" but I didn’t correct her. And I got no wave or acknowledgment (although I rarely do anymore) when she walked on the bus.

I called my husband up when I got back inside, and he promptly welcomed me to his world-he has daily altercations with my daughter about the speed issue (I believe the "I hate you!" is uttered by her to him quite frequently), but he says he tries to back off before things get too intense, sort of signifying that once again I had a lot to learn about tweendom.

Things are better between my daughter and I since Friday morning-we talked, and I listened, and I started to remember how hard school and life is at this age. Everything is changing for her-more responsibilities at home, harder work at school, and friends and their opinions taking a bigger role. I’m not saying that we’re not going to have any more battles (she lost her iPod today after I asked her three times to get into the shower), but I’m going to work on listening a little more and talking a little less, that and looking for a book on this stuff-I hate being the slowest kid in the class!

Medicine for the Soul

I love to read and always have, and even though I had three sisters and my family wasn’t well off by any means, my mother always made sure there were books in the house. Not only would we get books as gifts, we each had a library card at a pretty young age, and we continually added to our own supply every time the Scholastic Book Orders came out. My grandmother also taught us the value of books, and she never kept any on a shelf we couldn’t reach.

This approach to books and reading sort of went against the times. I am from the television generation where wholesome family entertainment each evening was sitting together in front of the television set, and we even had “TV” trays we could set up just so we wouldn’t miss our favorite shows. It was also the dawn of children’s television programming and parents didn’t think twice about plunking their children down in front of the tube for hours on end to watch the likes of Mister Rogers or Sesame Street-it was educational, so something should rub off…

But my mother would limit our time in front of the set (even though it would certainly have been easier for her)-we were often encouraged to read instead, and I am convinced that this helped me perform better in school, and made me want to be a life long learner. This love of the written word is exactly what I want to pass on to my own children, and I hope I have succeeded.

I started reading to my kids when they were still babies (around 5-6 months old) because I read study after study that touted the benefits of starting this early-just 15 minutes of reading each night encourages speech and language development, creates a love of reading, and affects their overall performance in school. Some studies say the earlier the better and here are some more facts from the Literacy Connections web site:

• National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) 2000 found that "87% of fourth graders who loved to read on their own scored proficient on the exam (those who read very little performed at the Basic level)." And the students performing highest read for fun every day.
  
  
• This U.S. Department of Education: students read to "at least three times a week by a family member, were twice as likely to score in the top 25%."
  
  
• Young kids read to throughout the day did better in kindergarten.
  
  
• Now take a look at some scary reports 
  
  
  • "The average kindergartner has watched 5000 hours of television" (the report states that this is longer than it takes to earn a Bachelor’s Degree!)  I also read a while back that "screen time"-this includes TV, computer, and hand held games-should be no more than 1 hour of your child's day, or no more than 7 hours a week...
    
    
  • "80% of college professors state that freshman cannot read well enough to do college level work."
    
    
  • US Department of Education-"a functionally illiterate adult earns 42% less than a high school graduate."
    
    
  • It is also critical that kids read well by the third grade-a new study reports that children who are not proficient readers by grade three have a much greater chance of dropping out of high school...
    

The thing is, reading to your children isn’t hard to start, and even though most nights I want to just plop down on the couch and veg (you know, after the homework checks, dinner, and running around), reading with the kids turns out to be my favorite time in the evening. We curl up in one of the kid’s beds or on the living room sofa, talk about what’s happening to the characters, and lose ourselves in the story of the moment (generally it’s a chapter book that we continue to read throughout the week). This is one of the best ways I know to relax and connect with my kids.

I was actually planning on reviewing the books I’m reading with my kids (we are switching between two stories lately) and what I’m currently reading, but I guess I sort of went off topic. However, I will make a point to share these in a future post and leave you with this thought:

"You may have tangible wealth untold;
Caskets of jewels and coffers of gold.
Richer than I you can never be -
I had a mother who read to me."
~Strickland Gillilan
Happy reading everybody!

Rewind Time

School is back in session for both the kids and I so finding the time (and energy) to post hasn’t been easy. I’m back to getting up at 5:30 AM but I haven’t adjusted too well-by 9 PM I’m usually slumped on the sofa while a dozen or so “to do” lists dance through my head, and adding blogging to that list seemed like just another chore. Then there is physical therapy twice a week-I found out that a little pain is not a good precursor to writing new posts… But I miss writing and connecting with all of you-writing makes me feel as if I’m this giant pitcher pouring all of my thoughts and feelings of the moment onto this page, and to me there’s no better means of stress relief.

I thought I would do a little rewinding today since my son turned eight on Tuesday and I can hardly believe it-in fact, I am sitting here thinking about how much things have changed. Here is my list:

-Gone are the once pudgy cheeks and legs-now he’s all arms and legs and he’s almost as tall as his sister.

-Gone are the slobbery kisses he used to give me because he couldn’t quite get how to “pucker up”-now I am the one doling out most of the kisses, but I still get my hug goodbye every morning.

-I remember when getting my son to talk was next too impossible (his sister did most of his talking for him)-now getting him not to talk is just as challenging. He seems to have an endless stream of ideas in his head that he has to get out. Things (from all one conversation) like this:

• Mom, how much air do we have-500%?
  
• Mom, if you went to the fridge and no food was in there, then went to the grocery store and it was closed, that would be a bummer, huh?
• Mom, how long can you live without food?
  
• Mom, can a person pass out? What does it feel like?
• Mom, I can see so well with these goggles it’s like magic! (I guess he got tired of my, "I don't knows" and confused looks with the other subjects...)
  

-Gone is the insatiable appetite for just about anything I would put in front of him-now I say things like, “You need to at least try it before you say you don’t like it,” “Take four more bites,” and “You need to eat some fruit not cookies.”

-Gone is the neat and tidy room with everything in its place-now everything is everywhere no matter how many containers I buy for him to pack his stuff in. Tonight I had to step over a half made Lego castle, several super hero action figures, clothing that just couldn’t make it to the laundry shoot, a pair of flip flops and his tennis shoes, and there was something behind the door but I was too tired to investigate.

Sometimes I wish I could go back in time and relive what was lost, if only for a little while, but there’s an old saying, “Time is like a handful of sand- the tighter you grasp it, the faster it runs through your fingers,” so I will marvel as my son reaches new milestones and watch as today’s norm changes tomorrow.

Summers gone...

It’s been a whirlwind of activity over here the past couple weeks. We took a trip back home for my in-laws golden wedding anniversary celebration, and believe me when I say it is no small feat getting everyone together-three brothers and a sister and their spouses, and 14 kids ages 7 to 21. We also had an impromptu visit from my brother-in-law and a niece and nephew the next weekend, and we have been running around gathering the gear for school, all while trying to squeeze some special times with the kids before school starts tomorrow. But as I sit here waiting for my daughter to get home from practice, my son is in bed (although he found another excuse to get out of bed again), I am both pensive and sad.

Another school year is about to start, which means the summer is over, and as usual I never get to do all the things I wanted to do with my kids for some reason or other. I have such good intentions, but in June it always looks as if there is so much time ahead, so the fun can wait another day because the laundry needs done or we need to get groceries-you name it, there is always something that needs attending to that takes time away from the people who need your attention the most, but I never realize this until the time has run out.

So here I sit, typing and hoping that my kids enjoyed their summer vacation and their time spent with me. I know it was a little rough the last couple weeks in July, but when I look back at this summer I still smile because there really were a lot of good times. I’m just hoping that the good will outweigh the bad when my kids look back…

Just between friends

Shelly over at Tropical Mum recently passed me the Circle of Friends award, and to say I was tickled about it is an understatement. Okay, maybe I’m a bit late with this but I have really good excuses-just let me think a minute…um, broken ankle, remember? Anyway, the rules are that I am to list five things that make me happy, try to do one of them today, and then pass this on to five other bloggers who brighten my day, but I’m going to tweak this just a bit. Instead, I am going to share five exasperations over the course of the day, and hopefully I will give you and me a little chuckle.

I may or may not be the cool mom I think I am, and I came to this realization after a discussion with my daughter today. Here is an excerpt:

Me: Hey, hurry up so we can get to the pool early. (This is the first time I have done the pool thing in two weeks and I decided to brave the heat because the kids are driving me nuts.)

Daughter: Can you go to the pool with your crutches?

Me: Yes, I can go to the pool. I’m not going to get in but I can still take you. Why?

Daughter: It’s embarrassing.

Me: What’s embarrassing? (She just stared at me) Me? I embarrass you?

Daughter: It’s just that the last time we were at the mall I saw one of my friends. She’s not one of my best friends, but she is a friend, and she stared when you were walking with your crutches.

Okay, she's eleven going on sixteen, but still...

Me: Aw, so sorry my darling… I’ll limp 10 paces behind you when we get to the pool, okay? (Gee whiz, I thought big, black air casts were all the rage this summer!)

My son has started to repeat my name over and over again even if I answer him and I don't know why. Does he like the sound of my name or should I get his hearing checked? Today in the car went something like this:

My son: Mom?

Me: What?

My son: Mom?

Me (a little louder): What?

My son: Mom?

Me (louder still): What? What? What?

My son: Are you unbeatable until someone beats you up?

Me (huh?): Um, yes, I guess so. I think people would say that you were undefeated though and not unbeatable.

My son: Oh… 

(And then quiet. I don't know what is in his little mind right now, and I’m not sure I want to know.)

The kids have been taking turns helping get the dog out to do his business, but just in case someone should do it more than the other, my daughter is keeping a running tally on our big wipe off board in the kitchen. The thing is, even though it might be the other person’s turn, if said person is not around, there has been a problem. I can’t remember what I did yesterday let alone remember who took the dog out last so things got kind of sticky this afternoon right before we had to leave to take my daughter to practice.

Me (to my son): Can you take the dog out while your sister gets ready?

My son: But I took him out the last two times.
(Maybe he did, but I can’t remember…)

My daughter (shouting from the bathroom): No you didn’t. I took him out last.

My son: I did too. You weren't here yesterday when I did-you owe me two times.

My daughter: Well, you owe me two times from a couple days ago.

I blocked the rest of the conversation out, and by this time I am sitting very quietly in a darkened corner, hoping that someone takes the poor dog out. My son lost and finally took the dog out, but I don’t know if my daughter now owes him three times, or if mom is going to put a stop to this recording who does what business. My money is on mom...

I know that’s only three, but I thought I would end with the three things you should remember when you arrive at a pool with a bum ankle, so really that’s six…anyway here they are:

Never forget how low a beach chair actually is.
I knew my daughter would be the one who had to lug a chair around, so I told her to just grab one of the beach chairs-wrong! It took me nearly five minutes to figure out how I was going to sit my butt in that chair without killing myself, and I really can’t remember how I accomplished it-I think some kneeling was involved.

Just as in real estate, remember, location is everything.
I was a bit nervous about my kids being in the pool and me sitting out so I had my daughter set my chair on the pavement near the pool’s edge. I slowly baked from the heat, and people kept stepping over me, but after all the time it took to get in the seat, I wasn’t moving until it was time to go!

This last one is a three-fer (is that a word?)  Water is the best thirst quencher, people with broken ankles need both hands to walk, and hornets are not your friends.

Okay, I know I said I wasn’t moving until it was time to go, but it was nearly 2:00 and I was dying of thirst-remember the hot pavement? Anyway, with the help of my daughter, I managed to get out of the chair and I hobbled over to the snack bar to get something to drink. First of all, a normal person would have ordered water, but I think all the time in the sun bleached my brain because I ordered a root beer-in a cup. So here I am with my cup of root beer and it dawns on me-how the heck was I going to carry this? Thankfully I had been hanging around a friend of ours and she rushed over to help me carry it-that’s when I saw the hornets surrounding just about every picnic table available. And what do hornets just love on hot, sticky days? Well sugar of course, and a little bit of root beer will do nicely…

By the time I sat down to take a drink, I had one hornet on the lip of my cup, another on the straw, and a third on the big ice chip sticking out of the cup, and in my haste to get away from them, crutches went tumbling down and I had hopped (cup in hand) to the entrance of the ladies room-I had worked hard for this drink and if I got stung, so be it. I was drinking that root beer and the hornets weren’t. I got about half down before the hornets (and my friend) found me again, so agreed that they (the hornets I mean) could have what was left, and I chucked the remaining liquid refreshment into the nearest trash can. What a day.

Now it's time for me to pass this award on to five blogs that make me happy. Here are five ladies whose blogs I turn to again and again. Feel free to follow my lead or stick to the rules-it's up to you-but be sure to link your post back to Shelly.  Thanks ladies!

Septembermom at My Voice, My View
The Girl with the flour in her hair over at Peeling An Orange With A Screwdriver
Molly over at I'm a Sleeper Baker
Amo over at Where a woman shakes her tablecloth
And Mom of the Perpetually Grounded