One of the funniest blog posts I have ever read… Andi Buchanan is absolutely hilarious. I can not only sympathize but wholeheartedly agree as well. It also reminded me of the days when my kids were a little more innocent and their ears seemed to be directly connected to their mouths… if you know what I mean. ;o)

My husband and I were just discussing the evening when we had friends over and were walking them out to their car when our son (5 at the time) glanced over and saw our cat, George, walking across the lawn. Realizing that Georgie was supposed to be inside he said, “George, you little bastard, get in the house!” Of course, you’d have to understand that George was often in trouble and my husband often called him a “little bastard.” Not realizing that our son was completely picking up on this and figured it was some term of endearment.

Which is probably the opposite when it comes to our daughter… who at the age of 6 discovered that her brother had taken her name tag off of her bedroom door as her dad was carrying her to bed one night. She looked over at the door and back at her dad and said, “Ethan did that… that little bastard.” I think my husband almost dropped her!

We were discussing tonight how this type of thing just happens and the bad part about being a parent is that you can’t just start laughing because you are grown up and are supposed to be responsible. So you have to contain yourself, correct the little person and wait until you are alone to laugh yourself into near hysteria.

Ah, parenting… what a bastard!

I don’t know if there are many (if any) people who are subscribed to the APPP Ezine that read this blog as well. Just in case there are, I wanted to post a couple of quick notes!

• I’ve been really busy lately. My husband is starting his new job (as a Real Estate Appraiser) after spending the last several months in class and studying to pass his California Real Estate Appraiser Exam, which he did last October. We are all really excited for him, but it has caused quite a stir in the household as well.
• Between the birthdays (my son, Ethan, turned 13 in December and my youngest daughter, Maggie, turned 1 on New Year’s Day) and the holidays, I’ve really neglected my email and have gotten a little behind. I’m catching up slowly but surely. If you’ve emailed and haven’t heard back from me yet, this is why.
• Originally, there was supposed to be a Jan. 5th and a Jan. 12th issue of the APPP published. Unfortunately, due to all the upheaval in the household, I haven’t had time to finish up the issues and get them out. My goal is to have the next issue out January 19th. Wish me luck!

I really appreciate all of my APPP subscribers, many have been with me for several years now and that really means a lot to me. It’s not an easy job, publishing an ezine, although I’m sure there are many people who think that there isn’t much to it. Anyway, if you are a subscriber reading this now, then just know that I really appreciate you hanging around and I’ll start running issues every other Wednesday starting January 19th!

Another rainy Monday every once in a while we get a hint of bright blue sky between the clumps of gray clouds. Maggie is down for a morning nap and I’m supposed to be putting together all of our stuff to file our taxes. We’re (and by WE I mean I…) usually pretty good about getting it all together by the end of January, there’s still every hope that we’ll pull it off within our usual time frame this year as well.

I caught part of “The View” this morning and Sarah Ferguson (aka Fergie) was on. She’s stick-thin… which I knew she wasn’t as chubby as she used to be, but she’s REALLY thin. And, it reminded me, once again, that I really need to start doing something to lose weight. One more item to add to my “To Do” list.

The last time I was on a diet (Atkins) I lost nearly 20 pounds and got pregnant with Maggie. That put a quick stop to that diet. ;o) I’m at the start of psyching myself up to do it again, it’s always harder to start. Once the momentum is built up it’s easier.

Things always go the way they are meant to. If you are lucky, you are aware enough to see events unfold and appreciate the chain of events.

Most days I hang out with my mom at her house during the day because she lives closer to the kids’ schools than I do. It’s just easier because the boys like to come home for lunch. Today I came home and had the chance to play with Maggie and research for her next carseat upgrade. Around noon there was a knock at the door, my cousin had stopped by. She’s expecting her first baby the end of this month (YIPEE!!!!) and she was feeling pregnant… those who have been there will completely understand what I mean by that.

My point is that had I not come home today I wouldn’t have been able to have a wonderful visit with my cousin and hopefully cheer her up a bit as well. A definite win-win situation! I like days that go like this.

The kids returned to school today after two wonderful weeks of winter break. I’ve enjoyed my kids being home the last couple of weeks. It’s been great. We’ve watched movies, played games and had a lot of fun. I always look forward to three day weekends, winter and spring breaks, and most of all, summer vacation.

I often wonder what these breaks and three day weekends are like for children who are home schooled. I mean, when you LIVE at school… how do you get away? When you go to regular school chances are your algebra teacher isn’t going to show up on Saturday and decide to have an impromptu lesson. But, what happens when MOM or DAD is your algebra teacher? Worse yet, what if mom or dad is one of those over-zealous parents? You know the one who wants little Johnny to be the next “Doogie Howser?” Whew…

I’ve known people who home-school their children. On one hand, I suppose I would like to, the idea of shaping and molding your own children in an academic sense is both inspiring and overwhelming all at once. I want my children to question almost everything, think for themselves, and develop their own opinions on all the important subjects in life. Home schooling seems like it could be an ideal way to do just that.

On the other hand, I know my limitations. I lack patience. I know that I wouldn’t be as diligent as I should. I love helping them with their homework, I love helping them put together science projects and book reports. I just wouldn’t like to be the one assigning the work. I like to be the cheerleader on the side saying, “do you have homework this weekend? No! GREAT!!!! Let’s have some fun!” or “How’d you do on that test?… an A! That’s GREAT! Let’s order pizza!”

I applaud the parent who makes this choice and loves the challenge. I just know I’m not that type of parent. And, I’m really ok with that.

Rainy days and Mondays… Mondays are a bummer, but rainy days don’t really get me down. I love the rain. I love a decent storm. It’s something different than our usual weather around here which seems to swing from sunshine (spring, summer, fall, and a little in winter) to FOG (fall and winter).

The kids returned to school today, a very rainy Monday morning. It’s almost 11:00 and the rain hasn’t let up yet. The street out front is almost flooded, the flower beds are overflowing, and the rain is pouring in thick streams off the edge of the roof. This is probably one of the darkest, rainy days I’ve ever experienced. Everything seems to have this deep gray cast to it. If this wasn’t my favorite type of weather I’d almost be willing to say that it’s a rather bleak day.

Maggie and I seem to have fallen right back into our routine. She’s down for a morning nap and doesn’t seem to be too put out that everyone, except mommy, is gone for the day. My mother started back to school today, my sister is at work, and Mike will come home for lunch, which will make a nice break in the day.

So far, it’s a pretty quiet yet stormy Monday.

I’ve just put Maggie down for a nap. I can’t believe she’s already a year old. This last year has just flown by. It’s really amazing. She’s grown so much from the 7lb. 15oz. baby we took home from the hospital January 02, 2004. This past year has been so much fun with her. I’ve really enjoyed each little stage, but I’ll always miss that cuddly, sweet, quiet first few months. Still, she’s not walking yet and that thrills me to no end. She has very little hair and a mouth full of sparkly, sharp, pearl-like baby teeth. Eight to be exact… four on the top and four on the bottom. She seems to really enjoy using them too.

I’m ready for spring now. All the winter fun is done… once we finish with Maggie’s birthday (January 1st) I’m done. Unless we take a trip up to the mountains and play in the snow. That might be nice. But, aside from that, I really am looking forward to spring now. Mild weather, sunshine, the great plants and flowers that start appearing at the local nurseries. This year is going to bring about a lot of wonderful changes, so many things to look forward to.

I’ve actually considered making some New Year’s resolutions this year. I don’t normally go in for that sort of thing, but for some reason this year it just seems right. I’m giving it a lot of thought and really mulling over what self-improving changes I could make that will be important and satisfying. I know a lot of people talk about losing weight, improving their health, exercising. And, I think all of those are important… and I always plan on starting a diet right after the holidays… well, not always… but most years I do. It just doesn’t feel right to make that a resolution. It seems too cliche’ and overused.

So here I am thinking about what profound change I should make. So far, I’m not coming up with anything life altering. I’m thinking about eliminating all use of foul language… resolving to have all of my Christmas shopping done by October 2005, cleaning out my closet, cleaning out my file cabinet. Nothing profound, in fact, it sounds like a typical laundry list of resolutions that many people make. Maybe I’ll just take care of the things that require my attention, do my best at all times, and let the negative roll off. Now, that sounds a bit better.