Wednesday, June 29, 2005

What the..........????

Holy Stingers, Batman, this is craziness at it's finest brought to you by Amkeli's World.

What's Up?

Wow! I don't think I've ever gone this long without writing. I've been busy, to say the least. Last Wednesday I came home from work to find out that there was a murder a block from my house...THAT was scary. There is still no motive, but there is a "person of interest", finally. I still get a little creeped out, especially when PC is working nights, but at least now I'm not looking at every single person walking or riding around my area.

That was Wednesday. Thursday was one of SmallBoy's last baseball games. The series was a best-of-three series and they lost the first game, leaving us yearning for Friday night's game. Friday night, his team came in 2nd place for the south side of our Village. It was a terribly exciting game that lasted nine innings which, in t-ball, is three extra innings. SmallBoy scored one of the initial tying runs, so that gave him a sense of accomplishment. They got trophies, too, so he was a happy camper. After that I rushed...no, that's not quite the right word....drove like a maniac to get to my sister's wedding shower and then off to visit PC at work with ET & SIL, Chica & MG. We had fun.

Saturday we slept in. Oh yes, we slept until about 10!!!! THAT was sooooooooo awesome! I had a wedding to sing at in the afternoon, so I was beginning to feel a hair guilty about sleeping so long and wasting part of my day. And then the over-tired, underpaid, and overworked part of me kicked in and gave me a good swift one right in the ass. DUH! So we ran around and found PC's cousin and girlfriend's new apartment, said hi, went grocery shopping and came home to get cute...ok, well, somewhat cute. Sang the wedding, made a quick bit o'change in a sweltering hot church, went home, cleaned some more and proceeded to have the most phenomenal cheeseburger I've ever tasted in my life. I can't give you the recipe, though. ET was cooking and a) I've no clue what he put into these burgers and b)I'd be in huge trouble for giving away his secrets.

Sunday, PC and I went to the ball game. Mind you, this was not any old ball game, but PC's precious Cubs against my Incredible White Sox. The best part was that PC had to come to the south side and come to Comiskey Park (oops, US Cellular - maybe that's why they wouldn't let me sing this year...) to watch the game. The game was great, the Sox lost, sadly, in a game of 98% defense by both teams. PC gloated all the way home. He slept in the bathtub...no, just kidding. We had a ball!

PC worked Monday, so the kids and I ran around after work and did "stuff". SmallBoy and I took the car through the carwash and almost melted - my a/c desperately needs to be recharged. Last night PC and I went to Ravinia to see the Beach Boys. This was PC's birthday gift. He's a HUGE Beach Boys fan. Man, did we have fun fun fun! We drove up there and did pretty well on time and traffic. We parked what seemed to be only a mile or two away and took the shuttle to the concert. Much wine was consumed, large amounts of dancing was done, and we even made it close enough to the pavillion seats that we could SEE the Beach Boys. We couldn't believe that Mike Love still has all those high notes! After the concert we all herded out of the park like cattles to the pasture. The line to get back on the bus was ridiculously long, we're talking 2hrs of standing and doing nothing. We decided to walk back- it was only a mile or two, right? HA! We walked for over an hour, had to have been at least 5 miles. There was a distinct advantage to walking, however, as we were able to make a couple of pit-stops along the way which were very condusive to emptying this peanut sized bladder. We finally made it, though. What an ENORMOUS relief! Then off to the bar where PC works to sneak in a couple of karaoke songs before the night ended.

We got to bed around 2 and I was up and at work by 7:30. PC is picking me up for a nice romantic lunch of buying a new village sticker for my car before tomorrow's deadline. Terribly exciting, isn't it? I think tonight I'll be going to bed terribly early!

Wednesday, June 22, 2005

Asperger's in a Nutshell

I realize that there are many new readers to this blog (HOORAY!). I speak quite often of my son who has recently been diagnosed with Asperger's Syndrome. Many people have inquired recently as to the nature of AS. I urge all of you, especially those who know and love my SmallBoy, as well as any of you who may be curious, to visit the site by Lars Perner, Ph.D., an adult with Asperger's. In his site, he describes the common symptoms of Asperger's as,
"...social problems, vulnerability to sensory overload, awkward posture, and a tendency to take many figures of speech literally."


There is a multitude of other symptoms and not every person with AS displays or experiences the same symptoms. SmallBoy, for example, when overloaded, will absolutely melt down, even if it is for something miniscule. I encourage everyone to check out this site. It is most informative. I also have a quick link in my favorites on the sidebar.

Wow, That Was Weird

Please forgive me in advance for the following ramble. It may very well be written as train of thought.

SmallBoy has a T-ball playoff game tonight. The team hasn't had practice in a while so the coach wants to practice for an hour tonight before the game. Sounds reasonable. He asked that the players arrive at 5:00, the game's at 6. I work until 5:00 and cannot get him there and PC is working nights tonight....so I called my ex to see if he could help. He said he was planning on coming to the game and would be more than happy to pick SmallBoy up for me.

If you recall, Ex & new wife recently had a baby; a "fresh-out", as we like to call newborns. Being courteous and polite I inquired how NW & the baby were doing and he said all were well. He told me that LL looks a lot like Large & SmallBoys when they were babies.

Then this really strange thing happened. Something dropped in the pit of my stomach and I got a little teary-eyed. Perhaps it was just a maternal thing remembering when my boys were babies. Lord knows it's not an urge. I'm DONE. But, boy was it just the weirdest feeling. It kind of freaked me out a bit. I feel better now that I've written, though.

Does anyone have any thoughts as to WHY that hit me like that?

Monday, June 20, 2005

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, DEAR CITATIONS

Wait, wait, wait, let me do that again:

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, DEAR CITATIONS.
To my dear dear friend who is ready to beat me with a pointed stick because I do not spend nearly as much time with her as a good friend should, I send out birthday wishes of sparkly things, and chocolate things. OOOPS - I FORGOT - Citations is celebrating the day of her birth, not the number of years it has been since then (especially since we all know it's only been 23 ::::giggle:::::). Why not stop by and wish her a happy birthday.

SmallBoy the Big Brother

SmallBoy officially became a big brother this weekend....not from this mommy, though. No way, uh-uh, no how, all done. His father and his wife had a baby boy early on Father's Day morning. I think SmallBoy is excited, although he hasn't really quite gotten it yet. He's seen the baby, held the baby and knows he's the big brother, but I'm not sure he gets the whole concept. I explained to him that now he and LL will be like he and LargeBoy are and that he understood. I think once he has had more time to spend with his new brother, the more he'll grasp the idea of his new "position".

My only worry now, is that the priority of children to father will have changed. I have already experienced the shift beginning...it seems to be very difficult for my ex to pay any extra time, attention, or finances to his FIRST children. I know what the law says and what the divorce decree says, so I always have that to fall back on, but I certainly do not want my children to feel second best and become jealous of their new sibling. I would love to hear your feedback on this...especially if you are a First Marriage Child or a Second Marriage Child.

Thursday, June 16, 2005

So Much For an Update

My plan tonight was to write a follow up post to "SmallBoy and the Princess" to talk about what a grand time we had at the game, getting to and from the game, etc. I can't now, my contacts are suctioned to eyes. I stayed up working on my band's website: setting up a new one, filling in the pertinent information and trying tor formulate my thoughts from last night in order to really relax. Oh well, didn't happen

PC is working nights tonight and won't be home 'til the wee hours of the morning...although he's technically off the clock in 35mins.

Well, hopefully tomorrow, along with the right inspiration, I will leave you a piece on SmallBoy and his adventures.

Now, I must really go and get these contacts out and get to bed. I plan on waking up when PC gets home so that we can chat about his night...just like we did last night.

Good Night to All!

LargeBoy is a Smartass...Well, DUH

So, LargeBoy took the Holy Grail Character Quiz...I was totally NOT surprised by the results!

Take the quiz: "Which Holy Grail Character Are You?"

The Smartass French Castle Guard
I'm French! Why do think I have this outrageous accent, you silly king-a?! You don't frighten us, English pig-dogs! Go and boil your bottom, sons of a silly person. I blow my nose at you, so-called Arthur King, you and all your silly English k-nnnnniggets. Thpppppt! Thppt! Thppt!

Wednesday, June 15, 2005

SmallBoy and the Princess

My niece is coming to see a baseball game with me and all of our town for our annual Little League outting. My niece, the Princess, is 6 going on 25. She is adorable, precocious, loquacious, fun, and makes bad jokes just as much as her father, ET, and her uncle PC.

Princess is SmallBoy's counterpart. She is his balance and is able to "work" with him (=play) in a way that we, as adults, cannot. She got him to come out on the front porch one afternoon and watch a hail storm when he was insistent that he would get hit by the hail and be hurt if he had. Without even being at our house, she is able to get him to brush his teeth better; because we want to make sure that SmallBoy's smile is as bright and shiny as Princess's.
So tonight I am terribly excited that she will be coming along to the game with us. We are taking public transportation which is only a block from my house. SmallBoy can tell you every stop from here to our exit and where we transfer to the next train. Princess will talk your ear off and keep you entertained, as well as everyone else on the train, until you reach your destination. They are going to be so much fun! I can just see them going through the showers at the ball park....we will be at Comiskey (I REFUSE to call it US Cellular Field, for Pete's sake!), and they have a shower kind of like the flashdance shower, just off the left field bleachers. The kids run through it every year, regardless of the temp. As in years past, and even after the heat wave we've had the last 2 weeks, we will be at 55 degrees tonight. BRRRRRrrrrr. I can guarantee the kids will be in the shower...Princess dragging SmallBoy by the hand over his protests, yet he'll be the one dragging her back for "Again! Again, Again!"

This is going to be a blast! I wish I were singing tonight. Stupid people telling me I've done it too many times before - only 3 - sheesh! Now they're paying people to sing. Hell! I sing for FREE! Just for the exposure. Ok, I'm done with that rant. I plan on thoroughly enjoying myself and the children this evening!

Monday, June 13, 2005

Good Work Ethic.....ZZZZZzzzzzzzzzz

I did minimal housework this weekend. I went out Friday night with PC and some friends from work and stayed up WAYYYYY too late. Saturday was a LONG day out in the sun, yes, I'm crispy. Sunday, PC worked and I helped mom pull weeds before we went to check out PC's new job. Is it any wonder that I can feel my eyelids falling, as though someone had tied heavy weights to the bottom of each lid. Even as I type, I have no energy in my fingers and arms. I have a good work ethic, really, I do. I'm not particularly fond of the early mornings that I get to work, but I've never ever fallen asleep on the job and only ONCE did I EVER come in late to work (because my power went out and I had no alarm clock). Today, however, I can feel it just seeping out of me. I am all caught up on my work and I'm just beat. From my office I can see parents who have already been here for 2 1/2 hours sleeping on our disgustingly comfy couch and I just want to close my eyes...oh God, for 5 minutes!!!!!

I'm planning on working out after work today, (I really must) but I REALLY REALLY have no drive. Does anyone have any suggestions on how to keep awake??? Coffee doesn't do it for me anymore.

Friday, June 10, 2005

Still Bored, but Planning....

Gee, it's only 11:45 now. I've found a few "work" things to do to fill that time, but good gravy, I can't believe it's only an HOUR since last time. Planning for tonight, though. Girl has a tournament game that's actually IN our town instead of some remote suburb - yes, Citations, that same remote suburb to which you have traveled to see family. Hopefully it won't rain too hard. ET & his fiancee, a co-worker & her husband, and PC & I are going out tonight to hear one of our FAVE bands, Mr. Blotto. Then there's way too much to do for the rest of the weekend, that I can't even begin to think about it or my head will explode (and that's SO not a pretty thing).

I think perhaps I will surf sites now and see if I can find any FUN things for y'all.

I'm Bored!

It's 10:45 on a Friday morning and I'm bored. My work here at the office is done. That NEVER happens on a Friday. I'm usually scrambling at the end of the day so that I CAN get done and get the hell out of Dodge. Not today. I'll be flopping my shoes and picking my nose until 4:30.

The kids have been on summer vacation for 45 whole minutes and I'm expecting to come home to a trashed house. But hey, it's the first day of summer vacation, they're entitled. Having lunch with Dad & KR at 1:00 on my lunch hour at this yummy deli a couple doors from my office - so much for a salad.

Bored. Bored, I tell you! My boss is in meetings most of the day, so perhaps, if inspired, I can write this afternoon...ooooooh! That would be fun.

Oh, and by the way Birthday Wishes to Queen P! Queen J is shortly to follow, so I will send pre-birthday wishes now and then catch her again later. They will now both shoot me, but that's what girlfriend's do! Well, ladies & germs, it's time to get down to not working and looking like I am. That's an extremely difficult job!

Wednesday, June 08, 2005

King o' The 'hoo?

Thanks to Amkeli's World for setting me straight on my Python personality.

Take the quiz: "Which Holy Grail Character Are You?"

Arthur, King of the Britons
Arthur, son of Uther Pendragon, from the castle of Camelot. King of the Britons, defeater of the Saxons, Sovereign of all England!

Tuesday, June 07, 2005

A Mother of a Graduate

LargeBoy has now officially graduated 8th grade and is spending this 90 degree day on all of the water rides at Six Flags; the newly graduated class takes one last class trip every year to Six Flags - we never got to do that! Anyway, he did very well, walked proud, didn't screw around during the ceremony, shook the hands, said the thank yous, etc. PC & I were very proud of him as were his grandmothers, his grandfather, his Mimi, his brother and sister, and his father. Once the ceremony was over, they all filed out of the church and threw their caps into the air. They were ecstatic, sad, overjoyed, and overwhelmed. Following graduation was a party that lasted until midnight, terribly brutal on a Monday night, but it was worth it. Overall, it was a wonderful evening. We're lucky we got there.

Let me start from the top. LargeBoy's last official day of school was May 31. The next day was graduation practice. The class of 2005 received their caps and gowns and their instruction on how to process up and around and shake hands and, ultimately, graduate. The days that followed were filled with trips all over our town, hanging out with friends, coming home scratched up and then giving mom a heart attack telling her HOW it happened (skateboard....slipped....bounced off car....), etc. Not one thought was given to anything else. Sunday night was spent ironing the robe and hunting down an elusive tassell which LargeBoy claimed Girl had lost - Mom found it in LargeBoy's folded-but-not-put-away-like-I-asked laundry basket. Tassell found. "LargeBoy, here's your tassell, go put it with your cap."

"Mom, I'll do it at the commercial."

Yeah, you know what comes next, right?

Monday evening's itinerary looked a little like this:

4:45: Mom gets home from work and arrives into chaos - Boy can't find tassell (HA! - like I didn't see that coming a mile away).

5:00: Still can't find tassell, leave boy on duty, grab a glass of wine and go get dressed.

5:15: Mom realizes there's a stain on the dress and she doesn't have a short enough slip. Tearing into closets looking for more dresses. Mom hasn't worked out in a month because she had snot from hell and bronchitis, so nothing fits!!!

6:00: Mom finds stupid frumpy dress and breaks out the iron. Fortunately, PC had already been ironing (see, he irons too! I LOVE him!), so it was all set up and warm. GR & Milly arrive, Mom freaks out cuz it's already 6. LargeBoy has to be at church by 6:30 and Girl has to be there by 6:45 to get set up for orchestra (they did a phenomenal job, btw).

6:15: Frustrated, Mom goes downstairs to say hello and to check on the hunt for the tassell. Still missing!!!!!!!!!

6:25: Oh CRAP! LargeBoy and Girl are still home with no tassell and no time! GR takes them to church and reserves our pews..THANKS MAMA!!!! Finally settle on a different dress, still not amused, but it will do.

6:35: Go back downstairs and have another glass of wine with Milly and de-stress for a few minutes.

6:55: Pull up at church and actually FIND a parking space in front of Citations' house. Settle in just in time to hear Girl and the orchestra begin the prelude music. It was wonderful.

7:30: SmallBoy's asthma kicks in full force and PC, being the lovely wonderful stepdad that he is, runs all the way back home to grab the inhaler which Mom, in her crazed state of lunacy has forgotten.

It was a wonderful service and I am so proud of LargeBoy. This has been a long time in the making. Grammar geeks like me: Please forgive my inconsistent tenses. When I write at work, I, unfortunately don't even have a chance to "think" a rough draft. I'm sure you'll understand.

Monday, June 06, 2005

Just a Quickie

I hope you all had nice weekends and, that those of you in my neck of the woods survived the lovely weather to grace our area.

Not much time to write this afternoon, as I'm bolting out of work in 10 minutes in order to make it home in time to change out of my work clothes into something suitable for my son's graduation, and then to make myself somewhat presentable. You know, wash face, do make up - again, fix hair - again (only mine will take some serious fixing today, I let it air dry and it's TOTALLY curly and I hate it). LargeBoy graduates from 8th grade at 7:00 tonight. Of course he has to be there by 6:30 and Girl has to be there to play with the orchestra by 6:45...which means minimal time for Mom to get ready.

Hopefully LargeBoy managed to find his Dockers and a nice shirt and tie to wear under his cap & gown. First we had the arguement about why in the world could he not just wear jeans - "It's a cap and gown, mom! No one can see underneath!" Um hmm...riiiiiiight, especially where the gown ends at the calf...nope, no one can see. Then we had the arguement about why he had to be there so early. Hmmm, let's see, because the rest of the graduating class has to be there that early and, therfore, so must he! Apparently, that logic didn't make sense to him, but oh well.

I'm leaving now so I can go do all of those fun things to "get cute" again and maybe sneak in a glass of wine before I leave. I musn't forget the kleenex, though. I WILL cry.

Thursday, June 02, 2005

Hello, Bank? This is Customer.

Dear Banking Institution - aka THIEVES:

I am highly displeased with your money management skills; specifically your management of MY money. It seems to be your policy to charge me money for not having money in the bank when a check goes through, thus leaving me with LESS money. Then you charge me for having less money and so on and so on. How can you justify that? The money isn't going to magically appear in the account - trust me, I've tried that trick myself. It doesn't work.

I wonder if any of you in the INSTITUTION have ever run into serious financial crunches. You musn't have or you would have some small sense that, hmmmm....this happens to people who don't have ungodly amounts of money rolling in. Things happen in people's lives when there are unexpected expenses, or when you have to wait a year to get the check back from the insurance for your child's medical bills, or when your child support check doesn't arrive on time, or when payday falls differently than it usually does, or when you switch jobs and you go a month without a paycheck.

Everyday the mail carrier brings me those white envelopes with Time Sensitive Material posted on the outside. Like I even need to open those. They all say the same thing, "YOU are BROKE. You have NO money. And your reward for not having any money is that we're going to charge you MORE money that you don't have and make it harder for you to catch up."

Oh, and to all of you credit card companies - well, I shake my fist at you! You do the same thing only with a different spin. You lower the limit that I'm not over yet because I missed one little payment. Now that you've lowered the limit, I'm over the limit. Guess what....I now have a new charge for being OVER the LIMIT that I wasn't over in the first place. Now that new charge throws me deeper into their little web of money. You people at the credit cards must be disgustingly wealthy after all of the money you've milked out of us poor saps. Explain to me, though, why it is that if someone gets sucked too far into this trap and has to file bankruptcy to get out, that he or she is then considered a risk and a bad person? WHAT ABOUT THE CREDIT CARD COMPANIES AND BANKS? Do they receive any form of punishment for robbing us blind? Isn't fraud illegal? Oh, that's right, they have all of that small print that none of us bothers to read. It's wrong. Just wrong.

In closing, dear lenders, I would like to say that I consider you all slime. I hope that someday you worry about your bills and if your paycheck is even going to bring your bank balance UP to $0.00. No, I don't wish that on you. That is a horrible place to be. Trust me. Thankfully things are working the right way for a while and our horizon is looking a bit brighter, but I still think you're all scum.

Most Sincerely Yours,

MG

Wednesday, June 01, 2005

A Funny from Milly

My neighbor found out her dog could hardly hear so she took it to the Veterinarian. He found that the problem was hair in its ears so he cleaned both ears and the dog could hear fine. The vet then proceeded to tell the lady that if she wanted to keep this from reoccurring she should go to the store and get some "Nair" hair remover and rub it in the dog's ears once a month.

The lady goes to the drug store and gets some "Nair" hair remover. At the register the druggist tells her: "If you're going to use this under your arms don't use deodorant for a few days." The lady says: "I'm not using it under my arms." The druggist says: "If you're using it on your legs don't shave for a couple of days." The lady says: "I'm not using it on my legs either; if you must know, I'm using it on my schnauzer."




The druggist says: "Stay off your bicycle for a week."