For The Boys

It's a long lazy weekend. Today I have been relaxing, doing a little sorting and organizing, but mostly relaxing. I stumbled across this movie on cable. I can't believe I have never seen it before. I laughed. I cried. I enjoyed it.

For The Boys is one of the best movies I have seen in a really long time. If you haven't happened across it, I would definitely give it a two thumbs up.

I am pleased as punch!

This morning I could have cared less about the upcoming presidential election. Ok. That statement is not quite true. But I have to say my interest was not where it should have been. I knew I would vote Republican this fall, but it wasn't necessarily because I was thrilled with the selection, I just saw it as the lesser of two evils. Very sad indeed.

Then I hopped online for my news update in between reports that I was working on and saw a refreshing news item stating that Sarah Palin had been selected to fill the spot of VP should McCain win. (I am a girl, I will be totally honest here, the picture of her and the caption that she is a mother of 5 with the youngest child being born with down syndrome won my vote instantly.)

I know AWB would rake me over the coals for my reasoning and thinking process, but I am laying it out here openly and honestly because I believe others will be swayed the same way I am. Not only did she instantly win my vote for McCain, I found a renewed hope in the future for this country.

Deep down, I believe a woman can do a hell of lot of good for our country. I didn't believe Hillary was the one. I felt she let a lot of women down simply by not standing up for herself in her own marriage and letting Bill make a fool of her. She could have shown women (and men) everywhere just how strong and independent she is, but she didn't, she stood by and let America point their fingers. Nuff said about her.

I have been reading up on Sarah this evening, and I am just tickled pink that she got this nod. I believe it could very well be a stepping stone on the road for her to becoming not only the first female vice president but possibly even our future president. She appears to be a woman of integrity and values with family values being the core.

Women look at things differently, and yes we look at things emotionally. But who is to say that is wrong? I think its what our country needs most. I have read back over this and I see key words that I have used the most in this post are "feel" and "believe". Yes indeed, my opinion is based on emotions, this will probably be a scary road for the menfolk to travel, but the time has come!

Cat catches frog!

So, not only do we have screaming frogs around here, but now my cat has taken to frog hunting! She came to the door on the patio Sunday afternoon carrying something in her mouth, sat it down and started meowing loudly. I walked over to the door and here was a frog at her feet. It was not harmed, it started to hop and she put her paw down on it to stop it.

She layed on the patio and watched it, chased it and brought it back if it started to get away from her and waited on the boys to come home to see what she had done! I did get pictures and will get them posted later today.

Crazy Frog NEW VIDEO!

My son goes frog hunting around our pond almost everyday and he has caught several screaming frogs like this. It's the craziest thing, they sound like a baby crying, I don't know how to do a video and post it on you tube so I borrowed someone else's to show what it sounds like~

Yeah Right!

My blog is worth $2,822.70.
How much is your blog worth?

Wow

It's a little after 10 on this beautiful day and my son and I just finished trimming the hedges. Two hedgetrimmers, and some serious lets get this done and we are done! Woo hoo! Things are coming together around here. I got the powerwashing done two weeks ago, all the kids clothes sorted and organized and rid of the old ones that no longer fit or just needed to be thrown away. Tomorrow we are going to tackle the garage. The landscape rocks got completed two weeks ago. Yes, my summer honey do list for my son and I is looking good, now the fall one is getting filled up!

A new School year

Well here we are. The beginning of a new school year. A senior, a sophomore and a fourth grader. I have wrote non-stop checks for the past two weeks. August is the most expensive month of the year, I have declared this to be the truth for several years now. But let me tell you, with one of my kids being a senior, with her driver's license and now a sophomore who will be taking his written driving exam Saturday morning, you can't imagine the expenses. Good grief.

My ex mother-in-law thinks she is helping oh so very much by giving each kid $20 for school supplies. Well first, not like it really goes all that far, but it does indeed help....however, placing $20 bucks in the hands of a kid, is just that, placing it in the hands of a kid. Does she honestly think that money will go into the kitty to pay for school supplies? Will it ever see the light of day of being used for anything reasonable? Shoot no, that money was given to the kids and kids are kids. Oh well. I am sure many would say she means well. Many more would say if she truly wanted to help, she would take each kid shopping and make sure they get $20 worth of something for school...

And on the subject of school supplies. My son's elementary school had the coolest fundraiser ever already this year. The PTO purchased school supplies, packaged them according to the supply list for each grade level, and had them ready for purchase at school registration. Not only was the shopping done, and at better prices than you would get running all over town, they only charged a $5 fee. My son's package cost $14(That includes the $5 fee!!!). I assure you I would not have gotten by that cheap just purchasing the items not to mention time and gas money. I encourage any of you who read this with elementary kids to suggest this to your PTO for a fall fundraiser. Not only is it a great idea, but you also don't have to send your kids door to door in your neighborhood selling candy bars or wrapping paper, and you don't have to sell for them at work! Brilliant I tell you, just brilliant! OH, and the other perk, everyone has the same thing.....no super expensive better than everyone else's stuff, its all uniform and consistent.

So I took a little breather for myself as I wound up my first few online courses towards ultimately obtaining my appraiser's license. I am currently working at home in the evenings updating our data base - so its not really a breather. I was given a waiver on my trainee license and it is not necessary that I get an Associates degree, I really have only five more classes I need to take....however, I am 1/4 of the way towards my associates in business administration, and why not go ahead and get it, as I understand it, a little knowledge never hurt anyone, not to mention I think it is a good example for me to set for my kids.

Lion Reunion is YouTube Hit Today Show

Try not to cry!

Glitch Central....

Earlier this evening, three posts that I made over three weeks ago using videos from "You Tube" finally appeared on my blog. Holy wow. I am not sure what happened or why they finally made their way onto my blog - but I have since removed them since it was all old news now!

Do you remember when...

We were taught to respect our elders?

If you were sitting in your dad's chair when he came home from work, you removed your butt from his chair immediately, more out of respect than anything.

You dressed up to go to church.

You dressed up for work.

You dressed up to go to a funeral home.

You dressed up to go out to eat at a nice restaurant.

Now our kids mouth off at us uncontrollably, while trying to scold one for it, two more are pushing the envelope while dealing with one...

Kids look at you like you are nuts if you tell them to get up so Grandma can sit there...

You yourself wear jeans or shorts to church.

You wear jeans or shorts to work.

You can wear your bathing suit to eat on the deck at the country club.

And just last night, my parents went to the funeral home to pay their respects to an older gentlemen who had passed away. The man was a leader in the community and greatly respected by many - his sons were around the casket wearing shorts, t-shirts and flip-flops.

I personally miss some of the routines of the good old days.

Sigh

Double Edged Sword.....

the proverbial "Catch-22" where one is damned if one does, and one is damned if one doesn't.

That is how my day went. I have a situation in which my child's safety and over all well being has been compromised while in the care of his father. In the midst of the situation, I could not go get him and bring him home to safety, because I would have been guilty of kidnapping. If I stood by and did nothing then I was guilty of child neglect. I chose the only resource I felt that I had given the circumstances and called the police to do a child welfare check. My concern was validated, even though at the time the police investigated the incident was under control and he was left in the care of my ex-husband until Sunday evening. This took place on Friday evening.

I had to ponder the entire situation over the course of the weekend and anxiously await the return of my boys on Sunday evening. I was a hysterical mess an hour before they returned. I regrouped and pulled myself together and was oh so relieved to see their smiling faces on Sunday evening.

Then we had a family meeting and discussed the events as they had transpired. I explained my actions were out of concern for their well-being. The evening actually went well with everyone understanding the seriousness of the situation and why I handled it the way I did.

Then today....dealing with the aftermath and trying to figure out how to get everything under control. I went to the sheriff department and got a report of the incident. I took it to my attorney and got an appointment with her for later in the morning. I went to the police department and gathered more reports and information. I returned to my attorney's office and was advised to file a motion for restricted visitation. I was also advised to contact child protective services and file a report there. (All before noon!) I did all of this.

I have to wait for my motion to make it to the judge and get a court date. Meanwhile.....here comes the catch 22 or double-edged sword....

It will be time for my kids to visit their dad again before the judge will see us. Legally, I have to uphold the visitation law and allow them to go. If I do this, I will negate the motion I am filing for restricted visitation and then my motion will have no merit. If I keep the boys from going, I am in contempt of court.

You gotta love the law of the land.

Parenthood

When it rains it pours.

I have had a particularly difficult summer with the kids. Not horrible. Just difficult.

Most of it is typical kid stuff and not as bad as a lot of things some parents have to deal with.

Nevertheless, what I have had to take on this summer has been just a tad much.

I am not sleeping very much. I find myself awake to 3 and 4 in the morning most mornings and basically running on empty.

It always seems like when one kid is in trouble, another one goes out of their way to be an absolute angel.

The summer started with my daughter and I going at it over most everything and me catching her doing one wrong thing after another. I think it is possible I am more strict with her than the boys. One because she is a girl. And two because her dad has turned his back on her although he continues to see the boys. I am very afraid for her and want her life to be good and it is hard to let go and let her make her own decisions, good or bad. (no one ever told me parenting would hurt so much.)

As I continued to catch my daughter up to one thing after another, my oldest son turned into this shining star of a young man. My pride in him was evident to all. (I am very proud of all three of my kids, they truly are all good kids...) It just seems as though my oldest son has turned into this grown up over night, and he did happen to hit the 6'1" mark too along with a cracking deep voice almost overnight.

Then suddenly some scary situations arose with my youngest son while in his dad's care. And as I addressed and am addressing those incidents, the light started to shine upon my oldest son's indiscretions. And now, of course, my daughter is behaving beautifully and has her halo back in place over her head (don't worry, I see the horns that are holding it in place.)

I honestly can't wait for school to start in two weeks, I am hoping getting back into a routine, and getting everyone home more often on a regular schedule will put some normalcy back into all of our lives. Before I lose my mind and collapse from exhaustion.