Following is T's Christmas story she wrote for a school assignment. She received an "A" on it - for my daughter who struggles to get "C"'s this is a HUGE accomplishment!
Once upon a time, there were two kids named Lucy and Kipper. They lived really close to a forest. Lucy and Kipper are twins but they don’t act like it and they don’t look like it. Lucy has blonde hair and hazel eyes. She’s 12 years old and acts like a prissy little girl. Kipper has golden eyes like his dad does but has brown hair instead of blonde. Kipper is the brave one of the twins. He’s not afraid of anything and when I say anything, I mean ANYTHING!
Lucy and Kipper were playing hide and go seek and they kept getting farther and farther into the forest. Lucy found these doors. One had a turkey on it, one had a heart on it, one had a Christmas tree, one had a pumpkin and one had a really colorful egg. She figured out that each door was about a different holiday. She looked at this tree and it represented Christmas so she went inside it to hide and that is how our story begins.
When she went through the door she fell down into this big black hole. She was really cold. She opened her eyes and there was snow everywhere and she saw a sign that said “Christmas Town”. So she went and looked around. She saw elves everywhere playing around with ducks and cats but then something pulled her out. This big huge hand pulled her out of Christmas Town because someone had followed her. It was her dad! So the dad said “What are you doing? You know better than to just run off.” Kipper was with his dad too and was in trouble too.
They all went home to have a nice cup of tea. So the next day Lucy and Kipper went back into the forest to try and find the Christmas door. They went in there and it was really dark out there. It was Christmas night so Santa came and they heard him. “Ho, ho, ho!” They got really scared so they hid behind the sign. They looked back and there was nothing there but when they turned around there was Santa, right in front of their faces. So they screamed and Santa screamed. They both ran off into someone’s house. So they hid under the bed and Santa, he went into a toilet and he got stuck there, but they were in the same house though.
So they heard a noise that went “arrrrgggghhh” like someone was stuck. They looked everywhere and there was Santa stuck in the toilet, trying to get out, and he said “Kids, don’t be afraid of me, can you help me out?” So the kids helped him out and he asked what their names were but they didn’t say because they were too shocked to see Santa in real life. They thought that it was their dad who had brought presents to them, not a real Santa.
Their dad was a widower, if you all don’t know what that is, a widower is a man whose wife died. Just like a widow but with an “er”.
So the dad went looking for them. He thought that they went into the Halloween Town. So he looked in there but he fell down because there was a big huge wind blowing at them. So he got really frightened so he didn’t know what to do. He tried to get out but he couldn’t so he just went to look around. He saw tons of creatures: Monsters, vampires, scary people, wolves, mummies. So they all caught him and they took him to this green liquid which was probably acid. So he started screaming “kids help!” So the kids heard him so Santa flew them out of the door and Santa was with them. So they looked in every door and yelled out “DAD!” So they went to the last door and it was the pumpkin door.
So they went in there and they said “DAD” and dad was like “Kids?” And so they flew down there and Santa rescued the dad. And the all went home, Santa even went home too. So the dad was really scared but then the step mom tried to find them. She looked into the Halloween town and so she went in there to find him. And she found no one except all those creatures. And she was dead forever and ever.
The End!
Monday, December 14, 2009
Tuesday, December 8, 2009
The Break-Up
One of the joys of being single is the almost inevitable break-up. Let's face it, when you're single, all but one relationship that you have will end in a break-up. Always, there's no getting around it. So that inevitable happened last night, and thanks to modern technology, it happened via text. Yes, I said it, by text! That's bad, I know it's bad and a sign that perhaps that was the better option.
I've been dating this guy for just a short while now so not too much heart-break there, it's more the reasoning behind the break-up that really bugs. I can handle if I'm annoying, or too controlling or too, fat, or too whatever, but this one was ever so different.
Let me preface that this individual, we'll call him Ben, had been married previously and is now a widower. Ben's wife had a son from a previous marriage. Ben spent the years of their marriage building a strong relationship with her son. The son called him dad and they were, for all intents and purposes, father and son. Upon her passing the state did not allow Ben to have custody of his son. Instead son was placed in custody with his natural father (who hadn't seen the son for the entire marriage).
So, Ben's problem with me, and the reason for the break-up was because the kids aren't MY kids. If I had three kids that were my natural kids he would have been fine. But, since they aren't mine, and their mother could come back at any time and ask to have them back (and the state would give them back to her)then he didn't want to get involved. To put it in his words "I don't know if I want to work so hard on a family I don't know will be there tomorrow. It's not fair to them or me. I just don't see this as being a good position for anyone. You're great and I miss you and I really do love you. I want to stop before I'm in love with you."
So, go figure, huh? This time my relationship woes are because I went out of my way to give a home to children in need.
Ahh, the joys of being single...did I mention I hate shoveling snow?
I've been dating this guy for just a short while now so not too much heart-break there, it's more the reasoning behind the break-up that really bugs. I can handle if I'm annoying, or too controlling or too, fat, or too whatever, but this one was ever so different.
Let me preface that this individual, we'll call him Ben, had been married previously and is now a widower. Ben's wife had a son from a previous marriage. Ben spent the years of their marriage building a strong relationship with her son. The son called him dad and they were, for all intents and purposes, father and son. Upon her passing the state did not allow Ben to have custody of his son. Instead son was placed in custody with his natural father (who hadn't seen the son for the entire marriage).
So, Ben's problem with me, and the reason for the break-up was because the kids aren't MY kids. If I had three kids that were my natural kids he would have been fine. But, since they aren't mine, and their mother could come back at any time and ask to have them back (and the state would give them back to her)then he didn't want to get involved. To put it in his words "I don't know if I want to work so hard on a family I don't know will be there tomorrow. It's not fair to them or me. I just don't see this as being a good position for anyone. You're great and I miss you and I really do love you. I want to stop before I'm in love with you."
So, go figure, huh? This time my relationship woes are because I went out of my way to give a home to children in need.
Ahh, the joys of being single...did I mention I hate shoveling snow?
Monday, December 7, 2009
Realizations
It's 6:30 Monday morning and where do you find me? Outside, shoveling the driveway and sidewalks. Not really what I want to do on a Monday morning. As I'm out in the cold clearing the way for the car I came to a couple of realizations about being a single mom.
1. Don't move into a corner lot. Yes, it has a bigger yard for the kids but honestly, it just means more sidewalk to shovel and more grass to mow.
2. The perfect reason to get into a relationship with someone at this point in my life is to NOT have to shovel the sidewalks again...is that good enough reason?
3. Next time I move it'll be into an apartment. No, we won't have as much space but, damn sure does beat shoveling sidewalks at 6:30 in the morning.
4. I'm the only house in the neighborhood who has shoveled their sidewalks the last three days. Am I an idiot? Maybe I don't have to in this neighborhood.
5. I'm also the only one who doesn't have Christmas lights up. Where is my Christmas spirit? Lost in the shoveling of sidewalks.
6. Heater vents in cars make for great hair dryers when you spend the time you would have spent drying your hair shoveling your sidewalks instead.
7. Waking up with a black tongue is cause for concern until you realize you took Pepto Bismol the evening before.
8. Why am I shoveling sidewalks when I spent the day before being sick enough to have to gag down Pepto? Oh yeah, cause I'm single...good reason to find a man, right?
9. Wouldn't it be nice if we could put our gym memberships on hold during the snowy months? Because honestly, who needs to go to the gym when you have a corner lot and double wide drive to shovel?
10. If I go back to online dating do you think the headline "Looking for Man to Shovel my Sidewalks" will be a catchy title? I will then proceed to discuss how I don't necessarily need a man, I'm just tired of shoveling.
11. How much does a snowblower cost? Less than a man?
1. Don't move into a corner lot. Yes, it has a bigger yard for the kids but honestly, it just means more sidewalk to shovel and more grass to mow.
2. The perfect reason to get into a relationship with someone at this point in my life is to NOT have to shovel the sidewalks again...is that good enough reason?
3. Next time I move it'll be into an apartment. No, we won't have as much space but, damn sure does beat shoveling sidewalks at 6:30 in the morning.
4. I'm the only house in the neighborhood who has shoveled their sidewalks the last three days. Am I an idiot? Maybe I don't have to in this neighborhood.
5. I'm also the only one who doesn't have Christmas lights up. Where is my Christmas spirit? Lost in the shoveling of sidewalks.
6. Heater vents in cars make for great hair dryers when you spend the time you would have spent drying your hair shoveling your sidewalks instead.
7. Waking up with a black tongue is cause for concern until you realize you took Pepto Bismol the evening before.
8. Why am I shoveling sidewalks when I spent the day before being sick enough to have to gag down Pepto? Oh yeah, cause I'm single...good reason to find a man, right?
9. Wouldn't it be nice if we could put our gym memberships on hold during the snowy months? Because honestly, who needs to go to the gym when you have a corner lot and double wide drive to shovel?
10. If I go back to online dating do you think the headline "Looking for Man to Shovel my Sidewalks" will be a catchy title? I will then proceed to discuss how I don't necessarily need a man, I'm just tired of shoveling.
11. How much does a snowblower cost? Less than a man?
Thursday, October 29, 2009
Blogging to Myself
Do you ever get the feeling you're blogging to yourself? Well, I guess its better than talking to yourself, right?
I've always said that talking to yourself is alright as long as you don't answer back. As soon as you answer back you know you've lost it.
Is it the same with blogging to yourself?
I've always said that talking to yourself is alright as long as you don't answer back. As soon as you answer back you know you've lost it.
Is it the same with blogging to yourself?
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
Parent of the Year Award
This blog is dedicated to all the parents out there who have had one of "those" moments with their children. You know the ones, when you're in the company of others and your child says something that makes you wish you were about 2 cm tall and you could crawl away without anyone knowing that child belongs to you.
I hope that others can share their moments with me.
I had just one such tonight. We were in the car with my sister and her fiancee' (by the way, congratulations to Miriam on her engagement!) they were driving us home from my nephews 19th birthday party.
L started telling us about a video game he was playing "It's so cool! It has these cool turds..." All ears perk up...Did he just say his video game has turds? So we asked, we had all mis-heard, the game has "turrets" haha, our mistake! Mike asked what the name of the video game was and here he says "South Park" oh dear! This is a game he's playing at dads. And Miriam says "I'm surprised it isn't turds being from South Park, you know, Mr. Hanky?"
And here is when I become mother of the year:
L - "I was watching Mr. Hanky Christmas special and there was this guy in the outhouse who was shaking his butt to get Mr. Hanky off. And there was a kid at the end who pooed Mr. Hanky out into a bush."
And there you have it. Mother of the Year! Shining moment in my life as a mother. I'm sure you've all had yours too. Please join the fun and share them with me so I don't feel oh so bad.
I hope that others can share their moments with me.
I had just one such tonight. We were in the car with my sister and her fiancee' (by the way, congratulations to Miriam on her engagement!) they were driving us home from my nephews 19th birthday party.
L started telling us about a video game he was playing "It's so cool! It has these cool turds..." All ears perk up...Did he just say his video game has turds? So we asked, we had all mis-heard, the game has "turrets" haha, our mistake! Mike asked what the name of the video game was and here he says "South Park" oh dear! This is a game he's playing at dads. And Miriam says "I'm surprised it isn't turds being from South Park, you know, Mr. Hanky?"
And here is when I become mother of the year:
L - "I was watching Mr. Hanky Christmas special and there was this guy in the outhouse who was shaking his butt to get Mr. Hanky off. And there was a kid at the end who pooed Mr. Hanky out into a bush."
And there you have it. Mother of the Year! Shining moment in my life as a mother. I'm sure you've all had yours too. Please join the fun and share them with me so I don't feel oh so bad.
Friday, October 23, 2009
Best Ruling By a Judge Ever!
This language is found in a judgment recently entered against the Social Security Administration in a nationwide class action regarding its alleged failure to accommodate individuals with visual impairments in their written notices they send out. He obviously was not pleased with how SSA fought to support its position.
"SSA has spurned that opportunity and chosen to litigate on a class-wide basis. Moreover, until this litigation was underway, the agency refused to even
acknowledge that it was obligated to follow Section 504, routinely denying individual requests for accommodation. In this litigation, it has been quick to find lame excuses for noncompliance but exceedingly slow to favor accommodations. To merely order the agency to comply with Section 85.51 would lead to more lame excuses with no accommodations. Since the agency has chosen to litigate this case on a class-wide basis, this order will require relief on a class-wide basis. Consequently, the following relief is ordered:"
Next step, money that is usable by those who are blind or visually impaired.
"SSA has spurned that opportunity and chosen to litigate on a class-wide basis. Moreover, until this litigation was underway, the agency refused to even
acknowledge that it was obligated to follow Section 504, routinely denying individual requests for accommodation. In this litigation, it has been quick to find lame excuses for noncompliance but exceedingly slow to favor accommodations. To merely order the agency to comply with Section 85.51 would lead to more lame excuses with no accommodations. Since the agency has chosen to litigate this case on a class-wide basis, this order will require relief on a class-wide basis. Consequently, the following relief is ordered:"
Next step, money that is usable by those who are blind or visually impaired.
Thursday, October 8, 2009
Meth Head with a Gun
I'm totally wired with caffeine today so if this blog makes no sense then my apologies up front.
Yesterday at around 3:40 I got a phone call from Ado, my ex husband. He was just calling to tell me that he had received a call from the neighborhood watch to tell him that the ex husband of one of his neighbors was strung out on meth and running through his neighborhood shooting things. The police were trying to find him but he will be keeping the girls at his house until they get word that the man has been apprehended. OKAY!!
What? did you hear that? A man is running through the neighborhood shooting things. My kids get out of school at 3:25. It's now 3:45, where are the kids? He informs me that all the kids are home and safe. Whew. Well, that's good, right? He'll keep the kids safe and will let me know when he's bringing the girls over to my place.
A few minutes later he calls me back to inform me he had made a mistake and the two little kids weren't home yet. L & T still had not gotten home. Is this where I'm supposed to start worrying? Where are my kids? School had gotten out 20 minutes prior and Ado does not live that far away from the school. He said that Mel (the new woman) was calling the school to find out if the school had been put on lock down or anything like that because of this man. He also said that the older kids weren't answering the phone at the house. Is NOW when I'm supposed to start worrying? Nope, I'm not to worry yet. Ado says he'll take care of it and he promises me to keep me informed as he gets updates. Oh, and the man also stole the car parked across the street from Ado's house and rolled it in the little park just a few doors down from Ado. Pleasant. Where are my kids?
I wait patiently for another ten minutes. Okay, not so patiently, at this point I can't focus on anything and am pacing up and down at work waiting to hear more news. Honestly, I could have headed home but it would have taken me at least 20 minutes to drive home and would have deemed not so productive. So I wait. After ten minutes I can't stand it anymore.
I called Ado's house and A answered the phone. "Hi A, this is mom. Is everyone home now?" "Yeah, everyone except T." WHAT?!?!? L is home but not T? How can this be? But before I can ask A starts telling me everything that's going on. I interrupt her and say "Yes, I know, your dad already told me. But I'm just trying to find out who is home. So, L is home but not T?" "oh", she says "L isn't home either." Is this good or bad? I don't know. Neither are home, school was let out about 40 minutes prior and the two little ones aren't home yet. But at least they're together? I told her I would call her back. Still nothing from Ado.
I called the school and asked if they had let the kids go at the usual time. "yes ma'am, school got out at 3:25 like it always does." Well, that was no help. The school let the kids out when there's a methed out man running through the neighborhood shooting things. I hung up and my phone immediately rang again. It's Ado.
"Hi Al. School let the kids out at the usual time", Yes, I already knew this, I called the school too, "apparently the police didn't tell the school that a meth head was running through the streets shooting. Not much the school can do now that they released the kids. A lot of other parents have called about this as well." Isn't this a pleasant situation? Kids walking the streets with a meth head who is shooting things (yes, with a gun). "Al, don't worry yet, there's no need for you to come out here, it's already dangerous enough. I'll let you know what's going on, I'm about 5 mins from home right now and I'll let you know when I know more."
So, I guess I'm not supposed to worry. Lovely.
Not much I can focus on at work at this point, except worrying. And him telling me not to worry really doesn't help much, does it? Or does it? No.
Five minutes later Ado calls again. "I just got home. The police pulled in behind me to tell me they had caught the guy and the kids walked around the corner at the same time. Everyone is safe and I'll take the girls over to your house."
Okay, I can stop worrying, right? Yes, I did. I got home and the little kids really had no idea what was going on, they were in their own little world wherein they walked a different way home because they missed seeing the little dogs at the house they used to walk by. Isn't it fun being a kid? They had seen the police cars, yes, but didn't think anything of it.
Glad my kids are safe and I have to say that I'm a huge fan of Theraflu. It's cold and flu season folks, please be kind to your colleagues and if you're sick, stay home, please?
Yesterday at around 3:40 I got a phone call from Ado, my ex husband. He was just calling to tell me that he had received a call from the neighborhood watch to tell him that the ex husband of one of his neighbors was strung out on meth and running through his neighborhood shooting things. The police were trying to find him but he will be keeping the girls at his house until they get word that the man has been apprehended. OKAY!!
What? did you hear that? A man is running through the neighborhood shooting things. My kids get out of school at 3:25. It's now 3:45, where are the kids? He informs me that all the kids are home and safe. Whew. Well, that's good, right? He'll keep the kids safe and will let me know when he's bringing the girls over to my place.
A few minutes later he calls me back to inform me he had made a mistake and the two little kids weren't home yet. L & T still had not gotten home. Is this where I'm supposed to start worrying? Where are my kids? School had gotten out 20 minutes prior and Ado does not live that far away from the school. He said that Mel (the new woman) was calling the school to find out if the school had been put on lock down or anything like that because of this man. He also said that the older kids weren't answering the phone at the house. Is NOW when I'm supposed to start worrying? Nope, I'm not to worry yet. Ado says he'll take care of it and he promises me to keep me informed as he gets updates. Oh, and the man also stole the car parked across the street from Ado's house and rolled it in the little park just a few doors down from Ado. Pleasant. Where are my kids?
I wait patiently for another ten minutes. Okay, not so patiently, at this point I can't focus on anything and am pacing up and down at work waiting to hear more news. Honestly, I could have headed home but it would have taken me at least 20 minutes to drive home and would have deemed not so productive. So I wait. After ten minutes I can't stand it anymore.
I called Ado's house and A answered the phone. "Hi A, this is mom. Is everyone home now?" "Yeah, everyone except T." WHAT?!?!? L is home but not T? How can this be? But before I can ask A starts telling me everything that's going on. I interrupt her and say "Yes, I know, your dad already told me. But I'm just trying to find out who is home. So, L is home but not T?" "oh", she says "L isn't home either." Is this good or bad? I don't know. Neither are home, school was let out about 40 minutes prior and the two little ones aren't home yet. But at least they're together? I told her I would call her back. Still nothing from Ado.
I called the school and asked if they had let the kids go at the usual time. "yes ma'am, school got out at 3:25 like it always does." Well, that was no help. The school let the kids out when there's a methed out man running through the neighborhood shooting things. I hung up and my phone immediately rang again. It's Ado.
"Hi Al. School let the kids out at the usual time", Yes, I already knew this, I called the school too, "apparently the police didn't tell the school that a meth head was running through the streets shooting. Not much the school can do now that they released the kids. A lot of other parents have called about this as well." Isn't this a pleasant situation? Kids walking the streets with a meth head who is shooting things (yes, with a gun). "Al, don't worry yet, there's no need for you to come out here, it's already dangerous enough. I'll let you know what's going on, I'm about 5 mins from home right now and I'll let you know when I know more."
So, I guess I'm not supposed to worry. Lovely.
Not much I can focus on at work at this point, except worrying. And him telling me not to worry really doesn't help much, does it? Or does it? No.
Five minutes later Ado calls again. "I just got home. The police pulled in behind me to tell me they had caught the guy and the kids walked around the corner at the same time. Everyone is safe and I'll take the girls over to your house."
Okay, I can stop worrying, right? Yes, I did. I got home and the little kids really had no idea what was going on, they were in their own little world wherein they walked a different way home because they missed seeing the little dogs at the house they used to walk by. Isn't it fun being a kid? They had seen the police cars, yes, but didn't think anything of it.
Glad my kids are safe and I have to say that I'm a huge fan of Theraflu. It's cold and flu season folks, please be kind to your colleagues and if you're sick, stay home, please?
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