HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!!!
As you can probably guess this is my favorite holiday ! I'm just as excited as the kids. The costumes are ready, the kids are ready, I am ready...Let's go trick-or-treating!! Yes, I dress up. I even laid out hubby's chainmail so he can dress up. He doesn't get into it quite as much as I do but he says my excitement is contagious.
Be safe and everyone have a spooky, scary, ghoulish, freaky kinda Halloween!!!

The Gift

Last year my husband and I gave a lot of thought to the Christmas gifts we would give the children. Like most parents we took into consideration the things the really wanted and of course the things they would "just die" if they didn't have. Some they got, some they didn't but nobody died. Yet.

One of the things my son asked for, it was on the "die if I don't have" section of his list, was a guitar. Wanting to encourage artistic talent and expression in our child we thought this was a good idea.

Having had my brief stint with a musical instrument in childhood I wanted my son to have that as well. My mother did not encourage me in that area, to be honest I was only allowed to practice in the garage. I never felt encouraged to play the instrument. I wanted my son's experience to be wonderful, telling him what a good job he is doing. Hell, I had the boy playing Jimi Hendrix by age 10. Christmas morning he woke up to find his most sought after gift delivered by none other than the Jolly Old Elf who's only goal is to make my sons dreams come true. He was so happy, he carried it with him all day, he sat it by his chair at Christmas dinner, he kissed it goodnight that evening and gently set it by his bed. Which is where it has remained, until today.
He has pulled out his long forgotten gift, the book and the CD that accompanied it to learn how to play. In order to better share his gift with the rest of the family he has chosen to practice with the CD player in the living room. He found that learning to read the notes and learn the finger placement was just to hard. Choosing instead to find the notes on his own. The CD gently lulls a rendition of "Mary had a little lamb" accompanied by my son thrashing a horrific sound and saying "See mom, I don't need the book I can find the note on my own." Everytime he has found an even more horrific note than the last one I hear him yell out "Mom, did you hear that one? Didn't that sound good?!".

I found my body has forced itself in a slow retreat from the living room. I am now in the bedroom which only causes him to play louder to ensure my listening enjoyment. I don't know how long I can last before I feel the blood begin to trickle down my face as my eardrum has burst. I find that I am bombarded by one thought and one thought only....
"I will not be my mother!" No matter how much I would like to lock the child in the garage, I will not. Thus I do not know if I will survive to write to you again.
I have nobody to blame but myself, I bought this godforsaken present. My dreams are dashed, no Santana will hum from my 7 yr olds fingertips. But I will smile and assure him that is the most beautiful sound I have ever heard. All the while attempting to fight my bodies instinctual reaction which is to use that damn thing as firewood!

Good news all around

The camping trip rocked!!! We had so much fun! There were over 300 people there and it was organized so well that the number of people was never a problem. They had a archery and BB gun range set up, showed movies outside at the pavilion, did a midnight haunted forest hike and a million other activities. It was done so they had activities to do but still had plenty of free time to play. The boys had such a great time, they earned several beltloops and completed a lot of requirements to earn their patches. I have to say, I am really impressed with the Boy Scout Reservation. That place is unbelievably huge! We were only on one small section of it and t here was a castle built, tepees, a pirate ship docked on the lake. All of this the kids could play on. There were so many more things out there I just cant think of them all. I am really glad I was able to go.
On another note.....I'm pretty excited about this week. Tomorrow is girls night. We haven't had a girls night in many years. It was something some friends of mine and I did years ago once a week. We would get together at one friends house and just spend time together. Goofing off, laughing and just generally enjoying each others company. I have missed that and them. Well we're back and better than ever so its only reasonable girls night should be back :) I cant wait!

Quick note

Just a quick note to let you know I am going camping! Yeah!! Justice has been kind enough to keep our dog, she's rather persistent. I tried to talk her out of it but she swears she understands what she is agreeing too. I realize that I will owe her big after this. Don't get me wrong, I love our little foster dog but to say she is special is putting it lightly. She is like a house full of 2 year olds, more work than I have ever seen in an animal. So Justice, I got lunch next week!
I'm heading out for the boy scout reservation, hope everyone has a good weekend!
Thank you Justice!

Change of Plans

Ok, I'm slightly disappointed. This weekend is our one and only big camping trip of the year with the boyscouts. I cant go :( Well, I guess I could go but if I did my dog would have free reign over the house for an entire weekend. I would come home to a dog poop filled house. So yea, I'm a bit bummed. I was really looking forward to going. Like last year, hubby will take the boy and I will stay home with the dog. Which means my son is destined to live off of hotdogs and donuts for the weekend. My husband, as much as he likes to camp, does NOT cook over a fire. Atleast not anything that requires more than shoving it on a stick and hanging said stick over a fire for 2 minutes.
So I am going to go sit and pout for a minute.

They are killing me

I know I have been away for a little while but I have been busy avoiding the knife. You know, the one my children are constantly trying to stab in my chest. I believe I have told you before that they are trying to kill me, well, its true. I think I have figured out their strategy. You see, they run me crazy taking them back and forth to this and that making me exhausted. Cant think clearly if your exhausted, isn't that a technique for brainwashing? Hmmm gonna have to give that some thought too. Then, after I am completely exhausted, they will pop some horrible surprise just for shock value. You know, like "Hey mom, I want to go vacation in another country with a group of kids my age", or "Hey mom, I think maybe I might go to school overseas". Anything to knock me off of my feet.
So in my sleep deprived delirium I have put a deposit down for my daughter to go visit a foreign country FAR FAR AWAY with kids her own age to do God knows what (I cant think about that). 1 week after that I received a letter from the organization that handles foreign exchange students. Guess what? My daughter has been nominated to participate in their program. Ok, maybe you didn't catch the most important part of that sentence.....Key word here is "nominated". I do a little research to find out who is conspiring with my children to bring about my demise. What should I find? That a teacher, a TEACHER is participating in this act. Do I know exactly which teacher is in on this plan? Nope, I just know it is one of them. Now what did I ever do to them? My children attend school regularly and on time, are prepared for class, hell they are good students. My daughter gets straight A's. So why the torture? I thought the teachers were supposed to be on my side. Bastards, they have turned against me.
SO here I sit exhausted and apparently brainwashed because I am going to their stupid meeting to hear all about the wonderful things they want to do for my child FAR FAR FAR FAR away.

Just a thought

Ok, let me ask you a question. Lets say I want to be a mechanic. Never really been under the hood of a car but I have read so many books I could draw you a blue print of your engine with my eyes closed. I can drive a car, change the tires, I know where everything is under the hood but I have never really been there myself. Would you bring your car to me? Do you think I could get a job with the most prestigious car company in the country as a mechanic?
Just a guess, but I don't think they would hire me without experience as a mechanic.
So why is it that you can be a supreme court judge without ever having sat on the bench? I know, I try to stay away from political posts for the most part but this one just has me puzzled. Do we not have enough judges in this country to choose from? Is there a shortage? Out of all the judges in this country are NONE of them qualified?
If I were a judge I think I might be offended.