I'm pretty sure I'm an awesome mom

" Hey Mom, some kids from the Disney Channel are here for the grand opening of the hotel. You should bring the girls by."

This is a message I received from my son late this afternoon. He is a lifeguard at The Great Wolf Lodge, a new family water park resort in our town.

Well, I've taken my younger daughters to a great many Radio Disney appearances in the past as it is a fantastic way to win free tickets to a lot of concerts and events. So, my eleven year old daughter and I jumped in the car and dashed to the hotel.

Holy smoke! The throng of humanity attending this event was amazing. Like any grand opening, there was all sorts of entertainment. The real draw, though, was for the teen Disney idols. There were hundreds of tweens and children there. At least one parent, if not both, were with them. The kids were smiling, anxious and full of anticipation at the very thought that they were in the same building with these idols, much less moments away from meeting them face to face!

As my daughter and I were making our way to the back of the mega-line to meet these kids I heard a high pitched squeal and saw my daughter embracing a little girl friend she has known for years. I made eye contact with her mom and I know we both felt "Thank goodness! Another mom I know in the midst of this insanity!"

Our girls dashed off together to try to catch a glimpse of the mega stars through a window. I waited in line for a while then abandoned my spot to find my child. Giving up my spot, it turned out, meant that we would never get to meet these kids.
My daughter was a little disappointed when we tried to get back in line and it was closed, but she still had a fun time. We got one autograph from someone who is apparently mildly famous, but we've never heard of.

After about an hour or so of the Disney frenzy we were caught up in I started thinking to myself, "The person these kids are dying to meet is a human being, just like we are. A precious child of God. They are no more important in the grand scheme of things than we are." Of course the major difference is that this kid had kissed Myley Cyrus and the rest of us are average Joe's, going to school and working regular jobs.

For me, the real pleasure was getting to spend time with my daughter. She enjoyed being with all those kids and her chance meeting with a friend. She knows that I gave up an evening, without complaint, to take her to this event. She will remember through out her life time that her mom did these things with her and she, in turn, will remember that when she is a mom. That was the real treasure of the evening.

Thanksgiving grocery shopping

I love Thanksgiving! I think that sentiment is held by many Americans as it represents a day that is full of family, food, football and precious little commercialism.

As always though, the meal must be well thought out and planned for. Throughout the past 23 years of marriage, motherhood and holiday eating, I've learned every family member has certain favorites that HAVE to be on the table for that special meal.

My husband has a sweet childhood story involving LeSeur peas and pearl onions, so of course we have those. My oldest and her grandmother put together a special fruit salad every year. My other three children love a certain mashed potato casserole that I make every year (that turns out different EVERY time). And, if stuffing and jellied cranberry sauce were all that we had, that would be fine with me. Yum! Yum!

So, last night as I walked into my local Albertson's, I heard the voice of a woman coming in right behind me. She seemed to be muttering something to herself. Nosy-body that I am, I tried to listen. She was talking to herself about the various items on sale in the store. I wandered an aisle or so more and heard someone else murmering to themselves. They seemed to have forgotten something; an ingredient to grandma's special pumpkin pie perhaps?

Strangely, this same thing happened over and over again while I was meandering through the aisles. I thought either 1)everyone was going slightly insane before Thanksgiving or 2)they didn't make as complete a grocery list as they thought they had and now had to re-create a meal in their minds. It was really kind of funny.
All these "normal" members of society were perusing around a grocery store talking to themselves. I was probably doing the same thing..."Cranberry sauce! I need more jellied cranberry sauce!"

At the end of my shopping spree for last minute items, $147.00 later, I felt satisfied that my Thanksgiving meal shopping was complete. No family meal treasures left unattended to. Now all I have to do is cook ALL DAY tomorrow.

This evening, as I lay stretched out on the sofa my husband says "We have plenty of charcoal and mesquite chips to smoke the turkey,right?"

Back to the store...I wander the aisles murmering to myself "Charcoal, mesquite chips. Don't forget charcoal and mesquite chips!"

Happy Thanksgiving!

William Tell Mom

This mom's rendition of the William Tell Overature is too funny not to share with every one I know!

Homework...ahhh

It's 7:42pm and I'm just waiting for the next "mama, I need help".

My sixth grader is doing her math homework and her father, the math wiz, is at a business dinner.

Asking me to help with math is liking asking the kid next to you in class, who got 17 out of 25 wrong on the last test, for help. I feel like an idiot.

There are times I think "I'm an adult. Just by virtue of the fact that I'm 35 years older than she is means I ought to understand this, hands down. It doesn't matter that I didn't understand it 35 years ago I should get it NOW!"

Language Arts, I'm an ace. World Geography, fantastic. Science, dancing in the danger zone. Math, bomb.

I'm watching the clock ticking thinking that surely my husband will be home any minute to get me out of this. "Wait til daddy gets home. He'll explain it all."
That statement is followed by "but don't jump on daddy to help the minute he gets home; he needs to wind down."

I'm thankful for these silly cunundrums (sp?). I enjoy having a child to help. It wasn't that long ago that my three older children were sitting at the kitchen table doing their homework, all stuck on math and dad stuck at work. Two of those three are grown-ups now and the third is a very independent high school freshman.

This sixth grader of mine truly is a joy filled human being. She doesn't get discouraged too frequently and when she does, she just has a little teary melt down and picks herself right back up again. That's what we girls do.

So, as I suffer a little angst wondering when my husband will be home and what the next hideous math problem will be, I offer up thanks for this lovely little creature who needs my help.

A fun weekend!

Through the generosity of a co-worker's daughter and son-in-law and by the grace of God, I had a FANTASTIC weekend with some girl friends.

Let me preface this by saying that I do believe that it is important for women to just get away from the real world every now and then and enjoy each other's company. That's not to say that the same isn't true for men. My husband likes to go hiking in the woods with his friends, hunt, etc.

But, this is about ME!

So, my friend and co-worker arranged this fun weekend whereby she, another friend and co-worker and I spent the weekend on a lovely houseboat on Beavers Bend Lake in Broken Bow, Oklahoma. My friend's son-in-law owns the marina and treated us to this wonderful weekend.

We spent our weekend yaking, singing (loudly and badly),talking about our combined 15 children, watching movies, boating, tubing and EATING! It was a blast! Not only did I enjoy our beautiful surroundings, but I got to know these girls even better and we learned so much more about each other.

I love my girl friends. Not only the gals I spent the weekend with, but all of those special women in my life. Women just know how to communicate. Everyone brings a different perspective to situations and conversations. It's always interesting to hear what they have to say. Sometimes I'll hear a perspective that I hadn't thought of, sometimes I'll offer one that someone else hasn't thought of. To my way of thinking, girlfriends are arm chair psychologists sent to us by God.

I want to have a weekend like this every month! Truly I felt like a teenager again.

Don't get me wrong. We all said that it would be so much fun for our families to get together and go camping some weekend soon. We would all love that.

We have gone camping once or twice a year with family friends for years. I really do think that we, as a country, have gotten away from the basics of fun and the family.

It is FUN to play UNO in a tent with your childhood friends while your parents are outside cooking. It is FUN, as parents to grill steaks and cook dinner and yak while your kids are off with their friends.

It is FUN to be out in nature (even if set up and break down is taxing) every now and then. We come back EXHAUSTED, but happy.

So, adults of the world... enjoy your friends and family! Cherish your time together. Realize that a weekend in the woods is the exception, not the norm. Make the most of your time together!

I WAS looking forward to...

Every Fall I look forward to premier week on TV. I try to get all dinner, homework, household chores, etc. taken care of each night of premier week so that I can jump on the couch, cuddle under a blanket and watch the highly tauted premiers.

This season, in particular, I WAS looking most forward to the spin-off series from Grey's Anatomy, Private Practice.

ICK!!!

It was like the writers thought they had a good idea because of Addison's popularity in Grey's, but she just isn't leading character material. Frankly, she's silly. The premise of the practice she joins is fairly un-realistic.The story lines were over-dramatic with the characters having the stupidest conversations over the bodies of a dying young women in labor and an old guy having a stroke during sperm donation. GROSS!...and sad.

The best acting came from Amy Breneman (sp?). She was great in Judging Amy and mediocre in this, but still the best character of the show by far. She plays a psychologist and her story line involved a woman who lost her marbles over the death of her child.

My husband and I were near giddy for the season premier of CSI: MIAMI. We made sure that we would NOT be disturbed. "Yes, you may watch it with us" we told our daughters. "No, you may not speak until a commercial" we commanded. After the first commercial break we thought that surely the good stuff was coming. Nope, never came. Boring as all get out. We just looked at each other with a "Is that all there is?" sort of disappointment.

So, I may be watching football this fall. No, I don't watch football.

I think I'll read.

Proud of my young adult!

While I'm boasting about my kids...

Our oldest daughter will turn 21 in two weeks. Holy cow! Am I really old enough to be the mother of a 21 year old!?

This young lady has demonstrated a level of responsibility and poise that would make any parent just burst with pride, and I'm the lucky parent!

She holds a full-time job as a front desk agent and concierge at a four star resort. She is going to school full-time. She is buying a car, paying the insurance, paying on school loans and paying rent all by herself. She amazes us.

Her freshman year in college she lived in the dorm and didn't care much for it. She lived at home her sophomore year and didn't care much for it. I don't think it was us so much as it was her desire to be independent, not have to tell anyone when she'll be home or have to check in. Can't say as I blame her.

Yes, she's a young adult, but she is still our child. The whole parent thing doesn't vanish the minute they become an adult. We will always worry if she isn't home by what we consider a reasonable time. If you live under our roof, you have to check-in - no matter how old you are. We asked her "what on earth do you need to be doing ANYWHERE at 3 in the morning?" Her boyfriend turned out to be an unlikely ally when he agreed with us! I don't think it was so much that she really wanted to be out that late as much as she wanted to know that she COULD because she's an adult and adults don't have to answer to anyone.

So, she saved her money over the summer. She put out feelers all over the place that she was looking for roommates. Eventually she found a house and moved out just before the school year started.

Now she does things like turn off all the lights that aren't necessary, check the thermostat and have her daddy come fix a running toilet (water bill was out of control!). It's funny to hear her talk about the cost of things, though she's always been a good bargain shopper. I just see a level of conscientiousness that wasn't there until she had to pay the bill herself.

As her parents we do wish that we could help out more. She will always have a roof over her head and food in her tummy at our home. At her home she will have a sense of pride and accomplishment that comes with hard work and dedication.

I'm proud of my kid - oh - young adult!