Wednesday, November 29, 2006

Let's hear it now.... Awwwwww

When L. promoted to her current classroom, we gave the teachers from her old class gift cards and a thank you note for the excellent care she had received. We were thanked very nicely by her teachers and then received the sweetest note on Monday:

Dear Mr. & Mrs. W.,

Thank you so much for the gift card. It was so nice of you to do that for me.

I want to thank you for allowing me the privilege to take care of your precious child. L. is such a joy to be with and I thank God that I get to help take care of her.

Sincerely,

Isn't that just the sweetest note? The teacher who sent this note also promoted with L. and is still her teacher. I'm that much more glad she moved up when she did.

M.W.

Stayed on green yesterday!

Apparently, S. decided to have a great day yesterday. Her color didn't change at all, and she was over the moon about getting some Kool-Aid last night.

She was great getting ready this morning, too. No fussing and no stalling around since she wanted her hair braided today. She is sporting a lovely braid with purple flower elastic at the top and a white elastic at the bottom. Whew!

I've promised her some gummies after supper tonight if she stays on green today.

Bribery, it's a lovely thing...

M.W.

Tuesday, November 28, 2006

From green to red in one morning...

S. made it all the way to red at school yesterday well before lunch. Her usual m.o. of backtalking and open defiance lasted all blooming day long yesterday. After the agonies of getting her ready this morning, I suspect today will be something of a repeat.

We put her to bed early last night, thinking a large part of the problem was a lack of sleep. Instead of sacking out, she managed to stay awake in her bed for a good hour. She spent the morning refusing to get out of bed, refusing to get dressed, refusing to come out from under the Christmas tree, refusing, refusing, refusing. The major consequence is that her hair is not braided. She loves having her hair in one long braid down her back and lost that due to a lack of time. I enjoy the time spent braiding her hair, but it seemed like a logical consequence for taking so very long to get dressed.

When we got to school, I had her apologize to her teacher for being so disrespectful yesterday. S. and her teachers have been informed that if she messes around during naptime again today, her Nemo blanket would go into timeout. Pretty much everything is fair game for timeout with the exception of her little security blanket, and I specifically mentioned that to her afternoon and morning teachers. S. has also been promised some red Kool-Aid if she stays on green or yellow today.

I really hope this works. Overall, S. is a great kid, and I hate to see her getting into so much trouble...

M.W.

Monday, November 20, 2006

Understatement of the century:

I and senior management agree with the American public that this was an ill-considered project,” said Rupert Murdoch, News Corp. chairman, when announcing that News Corp. was withdrawing plans to publish O.J. Simpson's book 'If I Did It' and the companion interview broadcasts. here

Ya think? Assuming (just assuming, here) that O.J. was innocent as the driven snow of any harm done to his ex-wife and Ron Goldman, this book and interview would be the absolute height of tastelessness. Who but a psychopath would go on public record describing how he would 'hypothetically' murder the mother of his children? Who would voluntarily enrich someone who embarked on such a sordid project?

I can't even begin to describe how awful this plan was if you do believe O.J. got away with murder...

blegh

M.W.

What is WRONG with people?

Turns out S. was almost in the middle of a really nasty altercation Friday.

S. stayed out of school on Friday, since her throat was still bothering her, and she had only been on antibiotics 20 hours. She instead spent the day with Grandma and Grandpa (an arrangement all three thoroughly enjoy). Lunchtime rolled around, and they headed toward S. ' favorite food joint, 'Chick Fil A,' where there is a great indoor playland. For the first time EVER, S. decided she'd rather go to the McDonalds next door. In typical grandparent fashion, Mr. W.'s parents went along with her request.

After they ate, they headed out to the truck and noticed several police cars and all kinds of chaos around the Chick Fil A. Saturday's newspaper carried the story. In short, two men escalated a confrontation between each other until one pulled out a gun and fired it. Fortunately, nobody was injured, but my GOD, my baby could have arrived there at the absolute wrong moment!

The guy who was shot at, was bringing his 6 year old to the restaurant! The guy who did the shooting is 58 years old! Is there a gene that prevents some men from growing up? Please, someone explain this to me. How can two men, who should know better, so flagrantly disregard their own and everyone around them's safety? How? How can ANYONE think pulling a gun on another human being is acceptable? Why? Why would you get in the face of someone who had already pulled a gun on you once?

When I read what had happened and heard how close my girl was to being in the middle of it, I began to cry. I am grateful that she was not exposed to any of the events that transpired. Hug your loved ones close, because you just never know.

Article here, if you want to read the whole thing.

M.W.

Happy Anniversary!

Happy anniversary, Mr. W. I love you more today than the day we married. Thank you for being everything I could possibly need or want in a life partner. I hope the next 7 years are as blessed as our first 7 have been.

S.' reaction when Mr. W. and I discussed that we have been married 7 years: 'In a row?!'

M.W.

Happy Blogoversary!

This blog was created 1 year, 2 days ago. Wow has time flown by.

Happy blogoversary to me!

M.W.

Friday, November 17, 2006

E-mail tween Mr. & Mrs. W

After he told me about a program he created that will cut down on extra work for many years to come (if he is ever given the green light to implement).

Mr. W.: I get pro-active ever once in a while. Waiting on an answer….

Mrs. W.: I bow before your fabulousness

Mr. W.: Don’t hurt your back.

Don't know why, but this exchange cracked me up.

M.W.

Ho-hum Friday

'I do not want to work today,'
we heard Mrs. Wheezer say.
'I have sick kids and both are sad.
With Strep and colds, they do feel bad.
The little one sniffs and coughs and groans,
While the big one holds her neck and moans.'

M.W

Wednesday, November 15, 2006

Here's to hoping I escape a sinus infection

It's been a windy, windy, windy day here in Central Texas thanks to a fast and furious cold front. Unfortunately, I'm allergic to both the pollen (cedar?) being blown in and the smoke blowing in from the fire out at the marina across the lake. Yep, there is/was a fire down at the marina, and early news reports tell of 6 houseboats damaged beyond repair. My office is directly across the lake from the marina with the fire.

Looking out the windows, I see haze, haze and more haze. Is it dust? Is it pollen? Is it smoke from the fire? Who knows? I just hope the fire stays on THAT side of the lake, but with 50 mph gusts, it could move pretty fast in a big hurry.

Meanwhile, my eyes are itchy, my throat burns and I cannot stop coughing. This is most definitely NOT fun.

M.W.

Friday, November 10, 2006

Insurance Humor

An insurance claims manager says to a customer, “Thank you for your patronage, Mr. Smith. I wish we had twenty policyholders just like you.”

“Gee, it’s nice to hear you say that,” Mr. Smith replied. “But I have to admit, I’m kind of surprised. As you know, I make many claims and my premium payments are always late.”

"That’s OK,” the claims manager replied. “We’d still like twenty customers just like you. The problem is, we have two hundred.”

Happy Friday.

M.W.

Thursday, November 09, 2006

Election woes

Another election year has come and gone, and I'm wallowing in the post-election blues. I tend to be a trifle independent/libertarian in my political views, and well, it wasn't a good year for either.

Of the 20 or so items/people I voted for, exactly 1 was elected.

I don't know why I'm so disappointed, it's pretty common for me to look at the list of candidates, roll my eyes, take a tylenol and want to chug some Pepto. Then I pick out which one makes my stomach churn the least. Don't you just love election by process of elimination?

I am glad I voted. Even if my candidates of choice hadn't a prayer of a chance of winning, my vote shows that someone wasn't happy with the candidate who won.

The debacles with redistricting, school finance and the proposed Trans Texas Corridor leave me with a bitter taste in my mouth for Governor Perry. He may have been re-elected, but he only received 38% of the vote. Maybe he'll take heed of the many issues championed by Grandma and Kinky.

M.W.

Monday, November 06, 2006

Halloween cruelty

Let me preface this post with: I do not condone being mean to anyone, no matter how much they deserve it!

Halloween brings a gazillion (a bajillion more or less) kids from well beyond my little town's borders to my neighborhood for trick-or-treat. I'm irritated by the gangs of kids going door to door who I will not lay eyes on again until next Halloween. I dislike the people who drive slowly down the street while their truckload of urchins go door to door (hello, people, just park the blankety-blank-blank truck and get out and WALK already so you don't run someone down). But the number one thing I loathe, is the 12-15 year olds who show up with a sack and no costume. I'll happily give a 30 year old a fistfull of lollipops, but if you can prepare enough to bring a bag and expect me to be prepared enough to fill it, then you can come up with a costume!

In the spirit of Halloween, I refused to give candy to anyone not obviously costumed until they gave me a clever 'costume' explaining what they were wearing. I got things like 'cool kid', 'my own twin', 'American outfitters model' which sort of worked for me. One poor soul who looked somewhere around 13 could not come up with anything beyond, 'I'm a kid.' I told him he needed to come up with something better than that and proceeded to ignore him. After a few batches of trick-or-treaters, I asked him if he had come up with something better. He responded with a panic-struck 'how much are grief are the guys going to give me if I leave without any candy' stare. Another batch of trick-or-treaters came and left. Then I went soft (curses!), told him I guess he had suffered enough and sent him on his way with a Tootsie roll.

M.W. - the softie

Reason #312 why having a kid with a food allergy can be terrifying

**THE FOOD ALLERGY & ANAPHYLAXIS NETWORK SPECIAL FOOD ALLERGY ALERT NOTICE**

MILK ALLERGY ALERT
October 17, 2006

HP Hood LLC is recalling pint and half-gallon containers of “Hood 100% Apple Juice” due to undeclared milk.

The product was distributed to retail locations, distributors, andinstitutions throughout New England (Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont).

The product is packaged in plastic pint and half-gallon containers and has a code date of NOV 14/06 and a plant code of 2508.

Who would expect 100% apple juice to contain milk? Very thankful to the people at FAAN for providing an e-mail service allerting us (me) of improper labeling of the top food allergens.

I try to be super diligent and read the label of everything that L. eats, but I know I wouldn't expect apple juice to contain milk. Especially '100% apple juice.'

Don't even get me started on 'Knorr®-Lipton® Sides' which has had 9 or 10 varieties recalled due to undeclared milk...

M.W.

Sunday, November 05, 2006

What not to do...

when you have a ferocious head cold.

Watch a tear jerker movie!

doed anybon hab a keenex?

M.W.

Thursday, November 02, 2006

So Proud

...and so exasperated

S. is remarkable. I have battled horrid shyness my whole life, but S. is as outgoing and fearless as they come. She has no qualms about letting her feelings, wants and desires be known to just about anybody. She rarely just goes along with the flow. If she likes something, she speaks up. If she dislikes something, she speaks up. I find it impressive, since at the ripe old age of 34, I still have trouble doing the same.

On the other hand, she will also argue, backtalk and disobey authority figures with very little concern for the consequences. Me, I'm comfortable working with trying to get a kid out of her shell. This child who has never had a shell at all leaves me at a loss. Do I try to curb her assertiveness? When do I worry about her being overly aggressive? Will she be one of those who forces her will on others? How should I react when she comes home from school after getting in trouble for backtalking and/or ignoring a teacher every day for a week?

Parenting, it isn't easy.

M.W.