My Pet Peeve

I have a pet peeve. Okay I have a few, but for your sake I just have one right now. My pet peeve is unmade beds. I can't stand them. They bother me and call out to me to be made, straightened, beautified. Have you ever sat behind someone who has the tag of their shirt sticking out...and it's all you can do to not tuck it back in for them?? That is how an unmade bed looks to me...something I can't overlook or ignore. Ever since I can remember I have always made my bed the second that I get up...when I was little I even remember taking pride in getting out of bed and having the bed still look made!! Sometimes I would sleep on top of my made bed with a blanket so that it was still made when I was done sleeping. I know, I'm a little wacky!

When I was younger I shared a room with my older sister. She had the opposite feelings about bed-making. She never made it unless she had friends over. It drove me crazy!! One day I made her bed for her thinking that maybe she would appreciate it and knowing for sure that I would. Her reaction was unexpected. She was so mad! She told me to not touch her things and to leave them how they were...VERY emphatically! I never made her bed again.

But it's different in my own home. I encourage bed-making. Our kids are supposed to make their beds before leaving for school...maybe 50% of the time they succeed. I used to make their beds for them, but I am learning (it has been difficult) to close the doors to their rooms on the days that they don't...after all they can't grow up thinking that Mom will do what they neglect to do...at least that's my reasoning.

Okay, I know you're wondering where is all this going? What is my point? My point is this: It is now late evening and I just walked past my own bedroom and guess what...MY bed is still unmade. I'm still in shock at the discovery. But guess what? I resisted the urge to make it. I kind of felt a little wild and crazy, rebellious if you will.

I have been distracted lately...see my last two posts. Photoshop is an adventure to me...a mystery to be unfolded. Apparently it is also a cure for my bed-making obsession.

More fun and more pics

Here are a few of the pictures of our graduating niece. She is CUTE!!! and available...

Fun in Photoshop

I do have an excuse for my blogging silence as of late. I have been busy making these. Our (very cute) niece has graduated from college and asked me to take some pics for her to send out with her announcements. It has been a very fun adventure...I have learned a lot!! I'm going to post these pics so you can see, but also so she can tell me what she likes. Click on the picture to get the full effect.

What one is your favorite?

Lucky Me

You'll never guess what I got to do today! I know you'll be jealous!

Because our oldest son has the chicken pox, he didn't go to school today. Today is April 2nd, an ominous day in the life of a fifth grader at Rees Elementary. Today was the dreaded "Human Growth and Development Program." You don't remember that do you...let me remind you. Remember back in fifth grade (I actually remember it from sixth grade) when they separate the girls and boys and then educate them about the P-word (puberty) and the changes that you get to look forward to (or dread ...at least that's what I felt). They even talk about deodorant and shaving and they use the proper anatomical names when they describe changes to certain body parts....now you remember!

So after lunch today I (unless you count my husband lying on the couch in the same room with his eyes closed as participating) sat down with our oldest and I tried to fill him in on what he was missing in the school presentation.

How did it go? Well, I think the school nurse would have approved. There was, of course, the necessary awkward giggle that happens when saying certain words out loud to an 11-year old boy, but it actually went pretty well after that. I can say that he knows what is going to happen to his body during puberty and that we had a decent discussion.

After we had finished and I was encouraging our son to come to us with any questions that he might have, I did look over at my husband and noticed that he had one eye open. He gave me a look of approval and then closed his eyes again.


You are jealous, aren't you?

Sanity

As of my last post, I was really questioning my state of mind. I was a bit rattled, but I can now restore faith in my sanity with this little disclosure: our oldest broke out yesterday with the chicken pox. Yes, chicken pox...the reason this itchy rash is the key to my sound mind is simple. Before a person actually breaks out in bumpy red spots, he or she first runs a fever. A fever thoroughly describes his headache, his nightmare, and the fact that he was cold and needed another blanket put on his bed. (I did leave out that last bit in my prior post, but I actually didn't remember doing it until now...) So that bit about him coming in and asking me something actually was a dream and I am not going crazy!

Yes!! My saneness is no longer in question. I really do feel better about things.

However, I'm not totally celebrating my compos mentis just yet. I have been reading up on the chicken pox virus and have discovered an alarming fact. While getting your child immunized with varicella (weakened chicken pox virus) is a smart way to prevent this childhood disease, it is not always 100% effective. 10% of those immunized will still get the virus, but will be spared the full blow and will experience a milder form of the disease.

This is where I feel my mental health beginning to waiver just a little...the incubation period for chicken pox is 10-21 days. What if, (a big if, but still) all five of my cute kids somehow fall into that 10% who still get chicken pox after being vaccinated and we have to deal with chicken pox for a possible 3 months straight???? I don't even want to think about it...the thought of such a scenario gives me nightmares!

Signs of Senility

Late last night (or early this morning-I'm not sure which), our oldest woke up with a headache. I got him some ibuprofen, tucked him back in and promptly went back to sleep. Sometime later (it could have been 20 minutes or two hours-I'm not a good judge of time in the dark) he awoke again and this time he was quite upset...he was crying and was mad at me. He said that he had come into my room to ask me a question and I had basically brushed him off. I told him that he didn't come into my room and that it must have been a dream...I answered his question and then we both went back to sleep.


I'm a little troubled this morning because, to be honest, I'm not REALLY sure if he had a bad dream or if I did ignore him(I don't have any recollection of him asking me any question...). I suppose I may never know for sure. Is this a sign that I might truly be losing it...or am I just getting along in years? Never mind...I don't really want to know.

Time Flies

I love to look through my pictures. I can waste spend hours at a time looking through them and remembering...I also like to play around in Photoshop and try to "fix" them. Here is one that caught my eye today. This was back in '02 at a wedding. It doesn't feel like 7 years ago, but I can't deny that my cute kids are much bigger now. Will time pass as quickly over the next seven years???
I'm grateful that by taking a picture, I can freeze time and capture that moment forever.