April 30th -- I went to Bob C's retirement dinner tonight; he is retiring after 39 years in education and 15 years as principal of the elementary school where my four children all attended school. It was a really funny night with a lot of good laughs. Bob is a nice guy with lots of quirks people can easily make fun of.
I was thinking a couple of things as I sat there and listened to all the speeches. One was that sometimes I think I really blew it by leaving teaching to stay home with the kids. If I go back to school this year, I will be close to seventy before I can think about retiring. I don't know how good of a teacher I would be when I am 67. Seriously. I can barely remember things now. At age 67? Bah. I will be lucky if I remember where I put my toothbrush. So maybe one of those kids I stayed home with will grow up and get a great job and take care of their mommy. A back-up plan of sorts. Hmmmmm.
The other thing I thought about was how nice it was to hear his kids speak about him. THey are all in their twenties so they had some well-thought out things to say with deep meaning and affection for their dad. I was so impressed. I thought of my own kids and wondered if they would ever have the where-with-all to come up with a speech about Brian or me. I feel as though I would have to write it for them. I don't know. There is time yet for their appreciation for their parents to develop and grow...at least I hope so anyway!
Saturday, April 30, 2011
Friday, April 29, 2011
The Royal Wedding
April 29 -- So today William and Kate got officially married. How wonderful. No really. It's so nice to see a happy couple no matter if they live in Osh Kosh Iowa or Buckingham Palace. After newborn babies, looking at pictures of happy newlyweds never fails to put me in a good mood. And after all William and his brother Harry went through with their mother's death, it's a nice thing to know he has found love and joy.
What was interesting to me about this royal hoopla was hearing (or not hearing) the responses from my kids. Riley was most impressed with the carriage which was allegedly made of gold. Tessa was wondering what all the fuss was about and why she didn't know more about it. Luke had a kind of guy response and said he didn't even know what country William and Kate were from. And Connor was at lacrosse practice and the lacrosse pasta dinner so I didn't see him until tonight. (Poor kid came home sniffling from allergies and went right to bed so there was no royal wedding analysis from him.)
I don't know. I have to confess that I think it's kind of a nice distraction. The romance and glamour of it all -- it's every girls dream to be "noticed" by the handsome prince. My favorite part though was when I heard that Kate didn't want anyone professional to do her make-up. She wanted to do it herself. And she looked beautiful. Good for her.
What was interesting to me about this royal hoopla was hearing (or not hearing) the responses from my kids. Riley was most impressed with the carriage which was allegedly made of gold. Tessa was wondering what all the fuss was about and why she didn't know more about it. Luke had a kind of guy response and said he didn't even know what country William and Kate were from. And Connor was at lacrosse practice and the lacrosse pasta dinner so I didn't see him until tonight. (Poor kid came home sniffling from allergies and went right to bed so there was no royal wedding analysis from him.)
I don't know. I have to confess that I think it's kind of a nice distraction. The romance and glamour of it all -- it's every girls dream to be "noticed" by the handsome prince. My favorite part though was when I heard that Kate didn't want anyone professional to do her make-up. She wanted to do it herself. And she looked beautiful. Good for her.
Thursday, April 28, 2011
Guys Weekend
April 28 -- There was a time when the thought of Brian leaving for a few days really freaked me out. But these days, we are both running around like crazy people and we barely see each other anyway. So when he came home today and packed for his annual golfing weekend at the Cape I was like, have fun! Cya!
It's always amazing when the guy leaves. He packs. And goes. When I go anywhere, there is the long list of coordinated rides and pick-ups for the kids, lists of things they have to bring to school, pack for their friends etc. Seriously. Tomorrow Connor has a pasta dinner for lacrosse. It's on the family schedule. Nevertheless, there is no way on God's green earth that Brian sent me an email reminding me what we have to get for Connor to bring to the dinner. No way. Or Tessa's tourney on Saturday. Because of conflicts, I can't get her there. Did Brian coordinate a ride for her? Of course not. He does not have to sweat that detail. Mommy does.
To his defense, he did ask the boys to try and figure out where the opening is for the septic tank to prepare for having it cleaned out next week. I'll give him that much. I can honestly say that has never, ever been on my list of to-do's to prepare the household for when I go away. But for all intents and purposes, it is amazing how much easier it is for the Dad to pack and leave than the Mom. I am not sure if that's good or bad. Gotta think about that one.
It's always amazing when the guy leaves. He packs. And goes. When I go anywhere, there is the long list of coordinated rides and pick-ups for the kids, lists of things they have to bring to school, pack for their friends etc. Seriously. Tomorrow Connor has a pasta dinner for lacrosse. It's on the family schedule. Nevertheless, there is no way on God's green earth that Brian sent me an email reminding me what we have to get for Connor to bring to the dinner. No way. Or Tessa's tourney on Saturday. Because of conflicts, I can't get her there. Did Brian coordinate a ride for her? Of course not. He does not have to sweat that detail. Mommy does.
To his defense, he did ask the boys to try and figure out where the opening is for the septic tank to prepare for having it cleaned out next week. I'll give him that much. I can honestly say that has never, ever been on my list of to-do's to prepare the household for when I go away. But for all intents and purposes, it is amazing how much easier it is for the Dad to pack and leave than the Mom. I am not sure if that's good or bad. Gotta think about that one.
Wednesday, April 27, 2011
US vs. China
April 27th -- I don't know how it started exactly but tonight at dinner, we all were talking about the export deficit in the United States. It kind of started when Brian and I talked about the tornadoes in April -- more than any on record for the month. From there we went to Arizona's recent tornado disaster. And that got me thinking about how it always seems like the United States does more to help other countries than our own. That is, the other countries who produce our lifeblood -- oil.
From there, the conversation turned to the United States' isolationist period. I don't know why, but lately I have been thinking about that period in history a lot. I just think that the concept of turning inward and working out the kinks, giving ourselves oxygen so to speak, is so important. We spend so much on wars -- in other countries -- but we spend nothing in comparison on helping ourselves become healthier. In fact, for the last several years, our number one export is debt.
How stupid is that?
From there, the dinner conversation turned to examining what our exports were...and Riley and Brian soon had their iphones/ipods booted up to the internet. Take China for example. Last year we exported around 8 billion in goods to China. (Our two top items? Trash - paper waste, and scrap metal. The Chinese took the paper wasted and created paper which they, in turn, sold back to us.) The Chinese exported 50 billion dollars in goods to the United States. Helloooooo. Do the math. They own us. They really do.
Tiger Mom has the right idea. Prepare her kids to be excellent. To survive the takeover. Because it's coming. How could it not?
I try to raise my kids to be kind to others. Does that mean that we have to go into debt to be kind? I don't think so. The problem is, I am not sure how to get off of the team. Or, more importantly, if we even can. Kind of scary...
From there, the conversation turned to the United States' isolationist period. I don't know why, but lately I have been thinking about that period in history a lot. I just think that the concept of turning inward and working out the kinks, giving ourselves oxygen so to speak, is so important. We spend so much on wars -- in other countries -- but we spend nothing in comparison on helping ourselves become healthier. In fact, for the last several years, our number one export is debt.
How stupid is that?
From there, the dinner conversation turned to examining what our exports were...and Riley and Brian soon had their iphones/ipods booted up to the internet. Take China for example. Last year we exported around 8 billion in goods to China. (Our two top items? Trash - paper waste, and scrap metal. The Chinese took the paper wasted and created paper which they, in turn, sold back to us.) The Chinese exported 50 billion dollars in goods to the United States. Helloooooo. Do the math. They own us. They really do.
Tiger Mom has the right idea. Prepare her kids to be excellent. To survive the takeover. Because it's coming. How could it not?
I try to raise my kids to be kind to others. Does that mean that we have to go into debt to be kind? I don't think so. The problem is, I am not sure how to get off of the team. Or, more importantly, if we even can. Kind of scary...
Tuesday, April 26, 2011
Computers Suck
April 25 -- Today, Brian had an awful scare. A little while after he got to work, one of the accounting guys stopped by his office and asked him what his work credit card number was. As Brian read off the numbers, the guy nodded. "yeah," he said ominously, "it's you." Brian freaked out; he had no idea what was going on. Turned out, there were several mysterious charges to the account. All related to XBox. Brian was horrified. Connor plays with an xbox.
While he waited to hear what the bank said about tracing the charges, Brian got more and more pissed off. How could he not? One or more of his own children had broken a major trust zone and had used his credit card (a work one of all things!) to buy games for the xbox. This was particularly disturbing since we did not allow Connor to go on Xbox live which is necessary to have in order to buy those games via the internet. (We were furious -- how could he have gotten that live component behind our backs?!)
Parents are stupid. Seriously. We are. There are so many things in technology that kids understand far more profoundly than we do. They run circles around us. Brian and I spoke about five times today, totally upset about this breach of trust. I found myself praying, please let it be a security breach with the card; please let this not be Connor or Luke or both of them.
We got our answer late in the day. When the bank didn't call back, Brian finally contacted XBox directly. Within 10 seconds of the customer rep searching his account, he had his answer. His card had been breached. Someone was using it illegally. There was no name, no formal account. Connor and Luke had been cleared. (thank God.) Apparently, the various (and relatively few) online purchase Brian had made with this company card had been hacked and the personal information was stolen.
Or at least that is the story we have right now. I do believe (and I am so relieved!!) that the boys are somewhat innocent with this particular situation. But we have miles to go...miles to go. Non-stop vigilance of these kids is a must. Whew. I am soooo exhausted!!
While he waited to hear what the bank said about tracing the charges, Brian got more and more pissed off. How could he not? One or more of his own children had broken a major trust zone and had used his credit card (a work one of all things!) to buy games for the xbox. This was particularly disturbing since we did not allow Connor to go on Xbox live which is necessary to have in order to buy those games via the internet. (We were furious -- how could he have gotten that live component behind our backs?!)
Parents are stupid. Seriously. We are. There are so many things in technology that kids understand far more profoundly than we do. They run circles around us. Brian and I spoke about five times today, totally upset about this breach of trust. I found myself praying, please let it be a security breach with the card; please let this not be Connor or Luke or both of them.
We got our answer late in the day. When the bank didn't call back, Brian finally contacted XBox directly. Within 10 seconds of the customer rep searching his account, he had his answer. His card had been breached. Someone was using it illegally. There was no name, no formal account. Connor and Luke had been cleared. (thank God.) Apparently, the various (and relatively few) online purchase Brian had made with this company card had been hacked and the personal information was stolen.
Or at least that is the story we have right now. I do believe (and I am so relieved!!) that the boys are somewhat innocent with this particular situation. But we have miles to go...miles to go. Non-stop vigilance of these kids is a must. Whew. I am soooo exhausted!!
Monday, April 25, 2011
School Again and Everyone is Tired
April 25 -- So last night Tessa couldn't fall asleep. She was totally wired from excitement about her first game today (which they lost) and going back to school. I told her she would be okay -- just really tired tonight. Sure enough, she was the first one up to bed after dinner. The kid was exhausted.
So is everyone else. (Except Luke who is totally on this stay up late kick getting ready for college and all...) The kicker is that Brian and I have decided -- based on the kids' sports schedules and stuff that we are going to try to get to the gym at 5:30am. Which means waking up at 5am. Yuck. But it would be great to get the gym effort in before the day begins.
We'll see how that goes...!
So is everyone else. (Except Luke who is totally on this stay up late kick getting ready for college and all...) The kicker is that Brian and I have decided -- based on the kids' sports schedules and stuff that we are going to try to get to the gym at 5:30am. Which means waking up at 5am. Yuck. But it would be great to get the gym effort in before the day begins.
We'll see how that goes...!
Sunday, April 24, 2011
Easter
April 24 -- Had a great day with the fam today...there is always something interesting that pops up whenever our family all gets together.
Godchild Aaron told me I remind him of the mother on Modern Family. I don't know. I don't see it.
Krista was abuzz with wedding plans. I still can't get over the absolute miracle of her connection with her fiancee. The guy is amazing. Truly.
Apparently all the kids watched the last episode of the Office, the one where everyone starts singing a good bye song to Michael (Steve Carell who is leaving the show.) I guess Riley cried at that part. That kid -- he is such a sensitive soul.
High of the day -- coming downstairs to see the Easter gift Riley bought me yesterday. He was so excited about it, I made him move away from me at church last night and sit next to Brian. I knew he would crack and tell me the surprise before this morning. Anyway, he bought me a bouquet of flowers and left it on the island with a hand made card, "just hopping by to wish you a Happy Easter!" So cute. Now that kid is gonna make a great husband someday... :)
Luke told everyone his official college plans. It was so nice to see my brothers excited for him. It is their alma mater after all. My head is spinning with college stuff. And I learn new things every day. Oh well. All part of life.
I am grateful for it all. The good and the bad. Truly.
Godchild Aaron told me I remind him of the mother on Modern Family. I don't know. I don't see it.
Krista was abuzz with wedding plans. I still can't get over the absolute miracle of her connection with her fiancee. The guy is amazing. Truly.
Apparently all the kids watched the last episode of the Office, the one where everyone starts singing a good bye song to Michael (Steve Carell who is leaving the show.) I guess Riley cried at that part. That kid -- he is such a sensitive soul.
High of the day -- coming downstairs to see the Easter gift Riley bought me yesterday. He was so excited about it, I made him move away from me at church last night and sit next to Brian. I knew he would crack and tell me the surprise before this morning. Anyway, he bought me a bouquet of flowers and left it on the island with a hand made card, "just hopping by to wish you a Happy Easter!" So cute. Now that kid is gonna make a great husband someday... :)
Luke told everyone his official college plans. It was so nice to see my brothers excited for him. It is their alma mater after all. My head is spinning with college stuff. And I learn new things every day. Oh well. All part of life.
I am grateful for it all. The good and the bad. Truly.
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