Anxiety

It has been a relatively peaceful week and I am anticipating another peaceful week to come.  Moose did well on his first test (at least he thinks he did, but since he said the questions on the test were the same as the practice test he took right before I trust him!)  He had a great week at football conditioning and is really enjoying having more of the team back for this summer session.  Belle is doing pretty well and was in a good mood for the week.  She is packing up to go to church camp tomorrow and is very excited about that.  So it will just be Peter Pan and I next week.  Talk about quiet and calm!   Why then do I have this huge sense of anxiety?

I think it is because it will be just Peter Pan and I and we will actually have to find something non kid related to occupy our time!  No one will complain about the food or the TV show.  We won't know what to do with ourselves.

Oh and I will have ZERO control over what my children are actually doing!  I hate that!  So I am praying that I will actually be peaceful and enjoy my week, that God will protect my children (from car crashes, mean people and themselves) and that they come home safely at the end of the week!

I Miss Going to the Rink

So now that Belle has her license she doesn't want me at the rink anymore.  This initially seemed like a golden opportunity, I could actually sleep past 4:00 AM.  We are in our 3rd week of this new life and I don't think I love it so much.  I really miss all my morning ice friends!  I miss watching her practice.  I even miss the free coffee from the ice rink!

It just made me think that often when you think something will be really good it turns out not to be so good after all.  There are so many times in my life when I wish for something to be done, or to change.  Maybe I should appreciate what I have! 

There are a lot of things that I miss if I really think about it.  I miss rec league football and cheerleading.  Sure it took up all of August-November, but we had a blast as an entire family.  I miss gymnastics- both Belle and Moose did it for a while although not together, Moose stopped when he was 4 (I thought it would make him more coordinated, I'm not sure it did.)  It was low key and fun to watch and they really enjoyed it, even if we did catch chicken pox there.  I miss dance and the recitals we attended.  I miss little league baseball. I miss rec league basketball.  I really miss that it was low key and fun!

If you really put it all together I think I miss my kids being little!  They needed Peter Pan and I in such a different way than they do now.  Of course I am proud of their achievments and success and how they are growing into amazing adults.  It just all happened so darn fast.  

I'm Done With Nicknames

Okay, I can't actually keep it all straight in my aging brain.  I keep mixing up real names and nicknames in my blog so I think I should just do away with the nicknames all together. 

What do you think?

Fourth of July

When I was growing up my Dad wasn't a really big into holidays.  Don't get me wrong, we did something for all the holidays but Dad really only loved a couple.  As a veteran he loved Memorial Day and Veteran's Day, and he loved July 4th.  He was a true patriot in every sense of the word.  July 4th meant a small family cookout, maybe homemade ice cream (if we were really lucky), sparklers and snakes (does anyone else remember those), and watching the Boston Pops and fireworks on TV.  We didn't really go anywhere to watch fireworks.  It didn't matter.  It was a really fun and laid back day. 

My husband grew up in Boston.  He actually went to the Esplanade, or somewhere to watch live fireworks.  So he always wanted to take the kids somewhere and do that on July 4th.  For many years we went down to the Coast Guard base and watched the fireworks show from the pier.  Then we would go back to his office and watch movies in one of the classrooms until the traffic died down.  As the kids got older they ran in the annual 5K every July 4th.  We would watch the parade (which is sort of cool since the Revolutionary War ended here in Yorktown). 

So now I am left with 2 traditions.  Which do I choose this year?  Home!  Hands down.  I loved taking the kids to see the fireworks, but it was always hot, sticky, and a very late evening.  They both have plans to go somewhere away from us tomorrow night.  I am perfectly happy to find fireworks on TV and watch them from the air conditioned comfort of my living room.  This (and the box of Revlon #50 waiting upstairs for me) is how I know I am getting old!  I don't care at all, I will love my little cookout that Peter Pan and I have here at home with all our favorite foods.  No one will say "Ewww, I don't like the rice casserole!" or "Why can't we have hot dogs instead of steak tips".  We can have all the great food to ourselves and even have left overs! 

Will I miss Moose and Belle?  Of course I will, but this is the way it is supposed to be.  I raised them to be independent and self sufficient and confindent.  I understand why my Mom was okay with us going out and doing something else.  There is a peace to having a semi-empty nest.  I am not sure what I will do when they are gone for good, but I will find something to occupy myself.  Life goes on!

Commonwealth Games and Family Visit

Well, we all made it through the weekend.  Between the test session, the competition and preparing for my sister to visit I felt as if a truck had run over me. I know the other board members did as well.  Having said that it was a fantastic competition and we got a lot of positive feedback.  The judges we had were wonderful and they seemed to be very fair to me.  Belle skated 3 tests and 2 events at the competition.  The testing wasn't great, although she did pass her bronze dance test.  Her moves and freeskate will have to be retested, hopefully at our session in August (there is more there, but I will save it for another post).  She did win her Junior Ladies short program which was a surprise to both of us, but a happy one and I think she deserved it!  She didn't do as well on her free, and she got 2nd of 2. 

So all in all the Commonwealth Games were a success! 

My next summer event was my sister coming for a visit.  We had an amazing time with her and my 2 nephews.  We didn't get to see them long but even a little visit was fun.  We also went up to VMI to see Moose.  I was so glad they got to see his school and mostly get a little time with him.  We went out to breakfast with him.  He has decided he is a coffee drinker.  He ordered a coffee and then proceeded to add 5 creams and 5 sugars.  I commented on his choice of adding coffee to his cream and sugar and suggested he drink soda if he really wanted caffeine.  He informed me (while he was scarfing down bacon, grits, and biscuits and gravy) that soda is unhealthy. 

"Soda isn't good for your cardiovascular system" he said.

"I think your coffee has surpassed the soda risk with all that cream in there."  I answered not mentioning the baconalia on his plate.

"No, coffee is better."  Whatever, he is at least starting to think about what he eats.

We also got to take my sister and nephews to see the stadium and the parade ground and they went shopping in the bookstore.  I think they had fun, I know Moose did.  At the end of our morning together Moose had to go to class and we had to go meet my brother in law to drop off his family.  I told Moose he should move his car, but he assured me it would be fine where it was (okay Moose, we will see).  I got some great pictures and we headed out.

Off we headed towards Charlottesville.  About 10 minutes north of VMI on I-81 we hit a huge traffic jam.  It was totally stopped.  It turns out they were blasting up ahead (I am not sure what they were blowing up?) and the highway was closed.  Off went the car, down went the windows.  We had been sitting there for about 10 or 15 minutes when I noticed a foul odor.  I looked around and realized we were stopped next to a dead deer.  It was disgusting!  I tried to get the car forward but we were as close to the car in front of us as we could be.  Up went the windows, on went the car.  I smelled rotting deer for the rest of the afternoon! 

We finally met my brother in law, and said goodbye.  Belle and I made our way home and she promptly left the house.  It was really quiet.  You would think I would be excited, but no it was sort of depressing.  I had to watch Toddlers and Tiaras to regain some sense of happiness.  I always feel like a better mother when I watch that show!

Oh, and Moose called, he got a parking ticket!  I could have told him......

Summer Time and the Living's Easy

Well, I am officially done with another school year.  I didn't think I would get everything done, but all my records are updated, my room is packed, moved and put away, and I have turned in my keys.  It was a long haul the last few weeks, but now I am ...  EXHAUSTED!

I did get my room moved, but everything is just shoved into cabinets so in August I will have to start back early to get it all organized and put away.  I still have a ton of stuff in the garage that needs to go back so that will also need to get done. 

No worries, now I can focus on the next two big events:  the TFSC test session and Commonwealth Games competition, and my sister and her family coming for a short (much too short) visit.  I have a lot to do for both events, so that will necessitate some work. My plan is to clean this house first then I will do prep for the big skating event. 

Then it is easy street....

Spider! Aaaaaah!

I just overheard the following conversation.

Belle said, "There is a spider in the bathroom!"

Peter Pan said, "I'll take care of it," as he picked up the broom (it was apparently up high.)

Belle said, "Don't use the broom, I have to touch that to sweep in a minute!"

Peter Pan (somewhat incredulously) said, "Okay, I will use something else!"

Really, are there spider gut germs that travel up the broom?  Will they be spread about the house?  Why can't Peter Pan kill the spider with the broom?  I know, spider ghosts!  If you kill the spider with the broom the ghost will attach to the broom and haunt the user!  We will need Jennifer Love Hewitt to help the spider ghost cross over to the big web in the sky!  By the way, and this is really unrelated, does anyone else think that the ghost's popping up out of the ground in the opening credites of Ghost Whisperer look like a wierd, haunted Whack-A-Mole game?

Now, I will admit that I do not love bugs or spiders.  They creep me out!  Crickets are the worst, they jump at you and scare the snot out of you.  Spiders are so unpredictable, they move so fast and get into little corners where you can't get to them.  I am going to have nightmares about camel spiders (I found this picture while looking for a spider picture)  ewwwwww!  And yes, from what I could research they are real.  They are found in the Middle East (thankfully, and yet another justification for hazardous duty pay!)

Bugs in the classroom are a major nuisance!  The entire class gets wound up.  Some love them, some hate them, but they are all screaming for one reason or another!  Once when I was teaching Kindergarten there was a bee in the classroom  I had to evacuate the class, literally.  They were all screaming and running around.  I sent a note to the office to tell them I needed help getting the bee out and they couldn't understand why I didn't just handle it!  Well, between the screaming children and the insane bee I sort of lost it. 

By the way, can you tell where my children (yes, Moose hates bugs too, especially spiders!) get their bug phobia?  You got it!  They inherited it from me!  So, while I can laugh at Belle and Peter Pan I am laughing from the safety of another room!