Last weekend I almost adopted a dog. The girls and I had gone grocery shopping and happened upon an animal fair. There were mobile veterinary clinics, dog obedience schools, dogs parading in Halloween costumes, and dogs waiting to be adopted. I am sympathetic to the girl's desire for a dog. Cassie, especially, regularly attempts to negotiate with me. Will a clean basement earn a dog? Will a promise to do homework immediately after school every day be enough? What if she promises to be the one walking the dog at 5:00 a.m. every day? So far, I have resisted because the reality is that I will be the one taking the pre-dawn walks and the one cleaning up the back yard.
Then, we saw this dog that was so cute. He was a cross between a Pit Bull and some rare hunting dog that I'd never heard of before. The woman who is fostering him described all his wonderful traits and I agreed to take him for a walk. Although the dog nearly tore off my arm, I still thought he was pretty cute.
I called Les and explained that the adoption fee included shots, neutering and a cage. Les told me that he would trust me to make the right decision. We had just put our oldest cat to sleep and a dog might be what the house needed. Then, Les called me back and said that he still trusted me to make the right decision. But, he wanted me to think carefully. I took the nice doggie back to his cage, thanked the woman and got her contact information.
This week, I thought about that dog every day, wondering if I'd made the right decision. Maybe we do need a dog around the house to keep us busy. Cassie is gorgeous and I know it won't be that long before boys discover her. So, maybe I should call and see if that dog was still available. . .Which did I really want hanging around the house, a stray dog or a stray boy?
Friday evening, Cassie told me that a boy at school had written a poem about her. "Oh, geez," I thought. Here we go. Where did I put the number to the animal shelter?"
Then, Cassie showed me the poem. I heaved a tremendous sigh of relief. I could so easily have burdened myself with a dog. For the near future I'm safe.
Here is a reprint of the poem:
"Cassie is obnoxious.
She is really mean to me.
She beleaguers me.
She is a redhead with braces.
But, she is bad!
Her verbal attacks impale and explode my crimson heart.
Her stern look shows that she's dauntless."
Sunday, October 26, 2014
Thursday, October 23, 2014
How Was Your Evening?
Les has been out of town for the past several days on business. Last night he called and said, "How was your evening?"
"What do you mean 'how was my evening?'" I demanded. "My evening has only just begun."
"Well, then, how is it going?" Les persisted.
"We just walked in the door from the fund-raising dinner," I began. "You know, we never finished discussing what Cassie and I learned at the high school information night. Do you want to hear about all that now?"
"Sure," Les agreed.
"Well," I continued, "after spending 30 minutes learning that almost all the specialty programs are lottery-based, and that the county now has a big agriculture program, we decided to speak directly to the instructor from the fine arts program. The school just announced a major change to the program. Students may now apply in only one content area."
"Uh huh," snuck in Les.
"Don't you remember that Cassie has only been planning for about three years now to apply to both the creative writing and the visual arts programs? Now she has to pick one. It will take a lot of conversations at Starbucks to sort out this challenge. Then, this afternoon I had to take Cassie to the allergist and then to her violin lesson. Because you aren't home, Lacey had to go along. Now, both girls have homework to do and I have lunches to pack. And, speaking of homework, Lacey brought home a note from her teacher that I had to sign because she forgot to turn in her homework. We finally found her homework mixed in with a bunch of bills."
"Uh, well, I hope you enjoy the rest of the evening. Love you guys," said Les.
I hung up and headed toward the porch to feed the stray cat. As I pushed three pair of Lacey's shoes out of the way, I wondered how I was going to get through the rest of the week.
Later, as Lacey headed up the stairs she called, "Good night, Cassie."
"Good night, " Cassie answered. "I love you, Lacey."
"I love you too," Lacey responded.
That was all it took for me to realize that my evening was just fine.
"What do you mean 'how was my evening?'" I demanded. "My evening has only just begun."
"Well, then, how is it going?" Les persisted.
"We just walked in the door from the fund-raising dinner," I began. "You know, we never finished discussing what Cassie and I learned at the high school information night. Do you want to hear about all that now?"
"Sure," Les agreed.
"Well," I continued, "after spending 30 minutes learning that almost all the specialty programs are lottery-based, and that the county now has a big agriculture program, we decided to speak directly to the instructor from the fine arts program. The school just announced a major change to the program. Students may now apply in only one content area."
"Uh huh," snuck in Les.
"Don't you remember that Cassie has only been planning for about three years now to apply to both the creative writing and the visual arts programs? Now she has to pick one. It will take a lot of conversations at Starbucks to sort out this challenge. Then, this afternoon I had to take Cassie to the allergist and then to her violin lesson. Because you aren't home, Lacey had to go along. Now, both girls have homework to do and I have lunches to pack. And, speaking of homework, Lacey brought home a note from her teacher that I had to sign because she forgot to turn in her homework. We finally found her homework mixed in with a bunch of bills."
"Uh, well, I hope you enjoy the rest of the evening. Love you guys," said Les.
I hung up and headed toward the porch to feed the stray cat. As I pushed three pair of Lacey's shoes out of the way, I wondered how I was going to get through the rest of the week.
Later, as Lacey headed up the stairs she called, "Good night, Cassie."
"Good night, " Cassie answered. "I love you, Lacey."
"I love you too," Lacey responded.
That was all it took for me to realize that my evening was just fine.
Sunday, September 7, 2014
Embracing Fall
A few days before school started I treated the girls to Starbucks. As Cassie puzzled over what to order she said, "I don't know whether to savor summer with a cold drink or embrace fall with a warm, spicy drink!"
I understood exactly what she was feeling. At this time of year, I want to cling to the relaxed summer schedule. At the same time, I'm eager for the new school year, the freshness of the changing seasons and the excitement that upcoming holidays bring to our house. It was with this bittersweet mindset that we began the new school year. Here's a recap of our first day.
I was up and in action early, packing the delectable lunches that we'd made the day before - spring rolls for Lacey and Greek salad for Cassie and me. I went upstairs to wake the girls. They no longer use a night light so I ran into 3 half-empty laundry baskets in the dark hallway. I paused in surprise because I didn't even remember owning that many baskets. I thought back to a time when I used to stand contentedly on the same spot, simply listening to them breathe.
My day at school went well with many new and returning students. The day flew by and before I knew it I was leaving for home, prepared to carry out the detailed plan that Les and I had put in place. The AC in my car had gone out over the weekend and it was about 98 degrees out. Step 1 of my plan had entailed packing the battery-operated fan/water bottle that we had used while visiting Universal Studios. I pulled out of the parking garage and hit the road, one hand on the steering wheel and the other spraying water directly into my sweaty face.
Cassie had to be at the allergist by 4:20 and at a violin lesson by 5:00. Les was supposed to pick her up from Taekwondo at 3:05 and go home to meet Lacey's bus. At 3:45, he called to let me know the bus had not arrived and he was going home. I got to the Taekwondo studio at 4:00 and still had to wait. I plopped down in a chair, grateful for the air conditioning. Cassie's bus finally arrived and, although we missed the allergy shots, we made it to the violin lesson.
Back at home, I settled down with the stacks of forms the girls had brought home and listened to them chat. Lacey was thrilled by her first day because her teacher had given her a new pencil bag and she now owns two pencil bags. Cassie was happy with her classes but annoyed that she has to sit with her homeroom for lunch.
Then, Cassie announced that she needed to print some pictures to decorate an algebra notebook. She began searching through her phone for pictures. Exclaiming that she didn't have enough, she turned on her computer and began searching. After Les and I ran in circles for awhile looking for photo paper, Cassie tried to print a few. But, the printer was low on ink. While Les grumbled about how unrealistic it was for a teacher to expect everyone in the class to have a working printer and Cassie declared that she was going to fail the assignment, I suggested that she draw some pictures. Well, that wasn't a good idea. I next suggested that she put some pictures on a thumb drive and we go to the drugstore to print. Off we went.
We waited our turn for the machine and, after we scrolled through all 86 pictures on the thumb drive, Cassie explained that she only needed 4. Of course, it was going to take 30 minutes to print 4 photos. Cassie and I agreed that if she had to get up even earlier to shower in the morning, she would get black smudges under her eyes. So, I took her home to shower and thought about how lucky I was that my glasses cover the smudges under my eyes!
I used the 10 minutes that I had at home to continue working on the school-related forms that were still waiting for me on the kitchen table. Then, I retrieved Cassie's photos from the drugstore and grabbed a few more essential school supplies. Back at home, Cassie and I flipped through the photos.
"What's this picture of the cats drinking out of the toilet?!" I asked.
"Oh," Cassie explained, "I thought that would be a good picture to represent family."
At least I got to end the day with a good laugh. And, since I don't know when I'll have time to get my car repaired, I can now embrace fall without regrets.
First Day Photos
I understood exactly what she was feeling. At this time of year, I want to cling to the relaxed summer schedule. At the same time, I'm eager for the new school year, the freshness of the changing seasons and the excitement that upcoming holidays bring to our house. It was with this bittersweet mindset that we began the new school year. Here's a recap of our first day.
I was up and in action early, packing the delectable lunches that we'd made the day before - spring rolls for Lacey and Greek salad for Cassie and me. I went upstairs to wake the girls. They no longer use a night light so I ran into 3 half-empty laundry baskets in the dark hallway. I paused in surprise because I didn't even remember owning that many baskets. I thought back to a time when I used to stand contentedly on the same spot, simply listening to them breathe.
My day at school went well with many new and returning students. The day flew by and before I knew it I was leaving for home, prepared to carry out the detailed plan that Les and I had put in place. The AC in my car had gone out over the weekend and it was about 98 degrees out. Step 1 of my plan had entailed packing the battery-operated fan/water bottle that we had used while visiting Universal Studios. I pulled out of the parking garage and hit the road, one hand on the steering wheel and the other spraying water directly into my sweaty face.
Cassie had to be at the allergist by 4:20 and at a violin lesson by 5:00. Les was supposed to pick her up from Taekwondo at 3:05 and go home to meet Lacey's bus. At 3:45, he called to let me know the bus had not arrived and he was going home. I got to the Taekwondo studio at 4:00 and still had to wait. I plopped down in a chair, grateful for the air conditioning. Cassie's bus finally arrived and, although we missed the allergy shots, we made it to the violin lesson.
Back at home, I settled down with the stacks of forms the girls had brought home and listened to them chat. Lacey was thrilled by her first day because her teacher had given her a new pencil bag and she now owns two pencil bags. Cassie was happy with her classes but annoyed that she has to sit with her homeroom for lunch.
Then, Cassie announced that she needed to print some pictures to decorate an algebra notebook. She began searching through her phone for pictures. Exclaiming that she didn't have enough, she turned on her computer and began searching. After Les and I ran in circles for awhile looking for photo paper, Cassie tried to print a few. But, the printer was low on ink. While Les grumbled about how unrealistic it was for a teacher to expect everyone in the class to have a working printer and Cassie declared that she was going to fail the assignment, I suggested that she draw some pictures. Well, that wasn't a good idea. I next suggested that she put some pictures on a thumb drive and we go to the drugstore to print. Off we went.
We waited our turn for the machine and, after we scrolled through all 86 pictures on the thumb drive, Cassie explained that she only needed 4. Of course, it was going to take 30 minutes to print 4 photos. Cassie and I agreed that if she had to get up even earlier to shower in the morning, she would get black smudges under her eyes. So, I took her home to shower and thought about how lucky I was that my glasses cover the smudges under my eyes!
I used the 10 minutes that I had at home to continue working on the school-related forms that were still waiting for me on the kitchen table. Then, I retrieved Cassie's photos from the drugstore and grabbed a few more essential school supplies. Back at home, Cassie and I flipped through the photos.
"What's this picture of the cats drinking out of the toilet?!" I asked.
"Oh," Cassie explained, "I thought that would be a good picture to represent family."
At least I got to end the day with a good laugh. And, since I don't know when I'll have time to get my car repaired, I can now embrace fall without regrets.
First Day Photos
Friday, August 15, 2014
Just a Two-Hour Flight
Last night, I was at an urgent care clinic about two miles from the Magic Kingdom. As the doctor put drops in my eye to numb the pain he said,
"We're pretty much 'Vacation-Horror-Story Central' here. So, what's yours?"
Here's the story I told: I had convinced Les that we should fly to Orlando this time. After all, we were so recently in Florida and I really wasn't excited about making that drive again. And, it's just a two-hour flight. We booked a flight for a reasonable departure time. The taxi arrived a few minutes before 8:00 a.m. and we loaded up. Just as the driver was pulling out, Cassie had to run back inside to get her phone. The driver agreed to turn off the meter, which kept Les from getting too angry when I also had to go back inside to help look.
Everything went smoothly at the airport, if you want to consider Jet Blue's policy of, "Okay, everybody, let's board!" smooth. We had seats together; but, we were behind two toddlers who screamed the entire time while their parents nodded and smiled. Two hours began to feel like a long time. When we finally landed, the entire back half of the plane erupted in clapping and cheering.
We got our bags and went to Hertz for our rental car. They didn't have the car we had requested and upgraded us to a Cadillac SUV. Les and the girls were thrilled. I should probably mention that my left eye had been sore when I woke up and by this time was almost swollen shut. Although I could barely see, I managed to get us headed toward the Shades of Green military resort. We couldn't check in our Marriott condo until 4:00 and had planned to go purchase discounted tickets to Universal on the way.
About five miles from the airport there was a huge clunking noise followed by a scraping noise. Les pulled over and, with my hand shielding my left eye, I circled the car and kicked the tires. They looked fine. As it began raining, I bent down and looked under the car.
"Oh, my!" I declared. "There's a big piece of rubber caught in the tires and there's something dripping!"
Les got out and decided that something called the "front air deflector" had fallen off. As we looked for the Hertz emergency number, a friendly police officer pulled up. He stuck his head in Les' window and asked, "What seems to be the trouble, folks?"
We explained and he smiled and said, "Good thing this is a rental. I ran the plates and they're registered to a Ford Mustang. On top of that, they're expired!".
The kind officer waited with us until our taxi arrived. He then offered to stay until the tow truck came. He wanted to get to the bottom of those license plates.
The kids were being great, even though it was 3:30 and they hadn't eaten lunch. In fact, Lacey was thrilled that we got to have two taxi rides in one day. It took Hertz about 45 minutes to process a refund for our taxi ride. Then, we were packed in an identical Cadillac and on our way to our condo. We had decided the tickets would still be there tomorrow.
I will skip the details about how it took Les 45 minutes to find a clinic that was 1.5 miles away. After a two hour wait, I was given a prescription for conjunctivitis, which must be the adult name for pink eye, and sent on my way.
When we got back to the condo, the girls had just finished preparing dinner. We had barbecue chips for an appetizer, spaghetti for dinner, soda and even coffee. While we complimented their efforts, Cassie explained that they had gone to the hotel marketplace and figured out how to charge everything to the room. They had to make more than one trip to the market and Cassie was worried that the cashier was starting to think we had abandoned them. Cassie had never cooked pasta before and I asked how she knew what to do. She said that first, she had broken the noodles in half because they were too big for the pot. Lacey added that the noodles had flown everywhere but that we shouldn't worry because she had picked them all up from the floor. Then, Cassie had googled the boiling point for water. Finally, to see if the noodles were cooked, she had thrown one at the wall, the way she had seen it done on "Modern Family."
At the end of the day I was thankful for my two fabulous kids and thankful that it was me with the eye infection and not one of them.
Here's the story I told: I had convinced Les that we should fly to Orlando this time. After all, we were so recently in Florida and I really wasn't excited about making that drive again. And, it's just a two-hour flight. We booked a flight for a reasonable departure time. The taxi arrived a few minutes before 8:00 a.m. and we loaded up. Just as the driver was pulling out, Cassie had to run back inside to get her phone. The driver agreed to turn off the meter, which kept Les from getting too angry when I also had to go back inside to help look.
Everything went smoothly at the airport, if you want to consider Jet Blue's policy of, "Okay, everybody, let's board!" smooth. We had seats together; but, we were behind two toddlers who screamed the entire time while their parents nodded and smiled. Two hours began to feel like a long time. When we finally landed, the entire back half of the plane erupted in clapping and cheering.
We got our bags and went to Hertz for our rental car. They didn't have the car we had requested and upgraded us to a Cadillac SUV. Les and the girls were thrilled. I should probably mention that my left eye had been sore when I woke up and by this time was almost swollen shut. Although I could barely see, I managed to get us headed toward the Shades of Green military resort. We couldn't check in our Marriott condo until 4:00 and had planned to go purchase discounted tickets to Universal on the way.
About five miles from the airport there was a huge clunking noise followed by a scraping noise. Les pulled over and, with my hand shielding my left eye, I circled the car and kicked the tires. They looked fine. As it began raining, I bent down and looked under the car.
"Oh, my!" I declared. "There's a big piece of rubber caught in the tires and there's something dripping!"
Les got out and decided that something called the "front air deflector" had fallen off. As we looked for the Hertz emergency number, a friendly police officer pulled up. He stuck his head in Les' window and asked, "What seems to be the trouble, folks?"
We explained and he smiled and said, "Good thing this is a rental. I ran the plates and they're registered to a Ford Mustang. On top of that, they're expired!".
The kind officer waited with us until our taxi arrived. He then offered to stay until the tow truck came. He wanted to get to the bottom of those license plates.
The kids were being great, even though it was 3:30 and they hadn't eaten lunch. In fact, Lacey was thrilled that we got to have two taxi rides in one day. It took Hertz about 45 minutes to process a refund for our taxi ride. Then, we were packed in an identical Cadillac and on our way to our condo. We had decided the tickets would still be there tomorrow.
I will skip the details about how it took Les 45 minutes to find a clinic that was 1.5 miles away. After a two hour wait, I was given a prescription for conjunctivitis, which must be the adult name for pink eye, and sent on my way.
When we got back to the condo, the girls had just finished preparing dinner. We had barbecue chips for an appetizer, spaghetti for dinner, soda and even coffee. While we complimented their efforts, Cassie explained that they had gone to the hotel marketplace and figured out how to charge everything to the room. They had to make more than one trip to the market and Cassie was worried that the cashier was starting to think we had abandoned them. Cassie had never cooked pasta before and I asked how she knew what to do. She said that first, she had broken the noodles in half because they were too big for the pot. Lacey added that the noodles had flown everywhere but that we shouldn't worry because she had picked them all up from the floor. Then, Cassie had googled the boiling point for water. Finally, to see if the noodles were cooked, she had thrown one at the wall, the way she had seen it done on "Modern Family."
At the end of the day I was thankful for my two fabulous kids and thankful that it was me with the eye infection and not one of them.
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