Oh My!

Just To Let You Know--Holiday Cards Are Finally Sent

Ruth right before her ears are pierced!

Russian River Getaway!
Mother-son trip to Europe--the London Eye
Ice Cream at Balderson, Ontario, Canada
Proper sun protection in Mexico

Holiday Angel--painted by Ruth

It's taken me this long, but I'm sending out the last of the holiday cards today. I got a late start, I'm getting a late finish, and please don't be offended if you didn't get one. I got a little mixed up, and I'm not even sure who got one and who didn't.

My list is missing. My official Ye Olde Handwritten Christmas Card Address book is missing. I am a loser in this category this year. Do I get points for trying?

Above you'll find Ruth's excellent Angel. I love this painting! Also, all of the pics we've included on the card...just in case you didn't get the card and wondered what you might be missing.

Two Beers and a Hot Tub?

Here was tonight's dinner conversation while eating with a good friend:

Me: John (age 12, in Little League) is having trouble with his back.

Birk (age 7): His coach told mommy to have him go home and have two beers and a hot tub.

Good Friend: What?!? What did your mommy say?

Birk: Mommy told the coach that she told John he could have a hot bath and a margarita.

John: Yeah, and the coach said that margaritas don't work because kids don't usually like them.

Oh, boy.

Friday

Here it is Friday, and I haven't accomplished much this week. What's new? I feel like I'm one step forward, two steps back all of the time.

Booking camp is the one thing high up on the to do list. It amazes me every year the fear I have of committing my summer to a schedule. I love the wide, open feeling of the whole summer spreading way ahead of me like a lovely, green field.

The Long Slippery Slope

I realize that time is winged. I saw a friend in passing this morning, and we both skirted each other with the same words: we thought things would eventually slow down, but they don't. There is only so much time and only so much you can do. No matter how much you want to. The road to Hell, blah blah blah.

Not to mention the crazy factor. The crazy factor is huge. By this I mean, how much can you handle and not need medication or hospitalization? How much is too much?

I'm starting to feel like this theme raises its head around here over and over. How many ways can you say that too busy is just too busy? How do you trim the towel, without throwing it in?

My house is a hodge podge of evidence of the busy, disjuncted life that we lead. No one has time to really take those old computers to the dump. No one has time to weed through the excess and the outgrown (both adult AND kid).

My husband showing up for dinner is a mixture of shock and surprise. I never plan on him, because he's never here, therefore, there is never really enough food to cover the situation. I am happy to see him, but feel guilty that he's kind of written out of the nighttime storyline.

I'm an adult with ADHD. I was a child with ADHD, but now I'm all grown up and I can tell you it still effects my life in ways that are functional in a disfunctional way. I can do it. I can get it done. It's not always pretty, but here we are.

I am over-caffeinated, sleep deprived and mostly exhausted. I read other blogs and wonder at the fresh ideas and ability to write day after day something brilliant and witty--well, at least something interesting.

Back to the ADHD, my friend says that if I just got the medication, I would be so much more organized and productive. I keep thinking, maybe I just need a different lifestyle? You know, the kind you don't have to medicate yourself for? If I truly slow down, can I enjoy a life that doesn't require medication for me to keep up with it?

My adult friends with ADHD swear by the medication. I would like to avoid that kind of situation, I would like to be able to manage my own situation.

Mommy Dating

Last week, I went to lunch with another mom and her kid. I barely survived the experience, I felt stressed, harried and flustered. There was no aura of calm surrounding the event. It was, in a word, chaos.

Her young child was yelling, screaming and kicking up a fuss. The waiter was giving us the evil eye, customers were complaining and I felt trapped in a bad episode of Super Nanny.

As we left the restaurant, I thought we might share a moment of relief, thrilled that THAT was over. Whew! We'd never do that again, right? Instead, with sincerity, the other mom gushed about how wonderful the lunch was.

Look, there are times that it is better, in fact, to stay home, make a lot of dirty dishes and pans, and be up to your elbows in soapsuds whilst screaming bedtime marching orders. Horrifying other people and myself, is not my idea of a good time.

However, it looks like this is all a personal perspective.

I found myself back on an awkward date with a boy that I really did not want to see ever again. This could be referred to as the "Don't call me, I'll call you, and then I won't call you," situation.

This statement is only party true. I like the other mom a lot, I just did not want to ever go out to lunch with her kid again.

Maybe I'm dating myself? I'm older, my kids are older, we do not live in the world of Pampers and throwing food in public places anymore. Maybe I'm a dinosaur. Maybe I forgot what it's like to eat with tiny tykes, because my tykes are towering over me now.

That's not the surprising part. I get that kids will be kids. I get that you can't expect angels. What I don't get is that the other mom thought it was a lovely afternoon and was oblivious to the mass hysteria we caused the waitstaff and fellow diners.

Despite my rant, I'm speechless.