Mom/Student/Wife/Myself in Limbo

Today was one of those odd days, full of activity and contact with just about every sort of person I know.  I started out the day with my children of course, and it is always nice to start the day on familiar, loving ground.  But wait!  5 minutes before I walked out the door to carpool the boys to school, my friend called and wanted to go shopping with Kathleen and I to get Kathleen a birthday dress.  That sounded fun and I jumped on it, only we had a peds appointment that morning.  So it was a day like this: school - home - doctor - home - store with our friend - ice cream for Kathleen who got 4 immunizations today - quick run to the craft store - school - home - my school - home.  I talked two tons on the phone today.  I started chemistry today.  I checked out the ballet school that was recommended for Kat.  I read my developmental psych chapter and did some homework for that class.  Then there was the daily stuff that I always gets done but is too boring to mention, like dinner, walking the dog, and ignoring the clean laundry pile.

I suppose the entire point of this post is to state that I did so many different things today and made such an effort to get it all done right, that Laurie got lost for a while. 

Flaming balls of frugal stink!

I have a bag of very expensive puppy kibble that I purchased.  About 1/3rd into the bag, I discovered that it was too rich of a diet for my dog, and I switched to another brand.  Now I have about 12 pounds of uneaten kibble that cost the Earth.  Being ever watching of those pennies, and needing dog treats for my puppy to use as training incentive, I decide to make homemade dog treats out of the leftover bag of kibble.  Folks, don't try this at home.  Trust me, hot baked dog food does NOT make one's home smell very nice.  Tomorrow I will be hitting the local grocery for some good ol' Milk Bones.  That 4 dollars doesn't look so expensive now.

Fears

Yesterday our power went out.  For some unknown reason, the power has been going out a lot on our little patch of earth.  The children hate it, and do not understand why the power goes out, but the laptop still works, and why cached video games are still available, yet the rest of the internet is not working.  That is a concept that is beyond the mind of a six year old, I guess.  The power came back on an hour later.  When bedtime rolled around, my six year old freaked out about using the bathroom because he was afraid the power would go out while he was in there.  I cannot say I was very sympathetic at that point.  All I wanted for him to do was wash his hands and get into bed and go to sleep, and here he was throwing a hissy fit about going in the brightly lit room to get that little chore done. 

I remember a few of my fears.  I remember laying awake at night, having to pee so very badly, but too afraid to go across the hall to use the bathroom.  My bed was the epitome of safety.  Rain gutters on the side of the road were impossible to pass for fear I would - be sucked in? - I cannot remember WHY I was afraid of those gutters, but they were impassable. 

Now that I have a few irrational memories back in place in my mind, I hope I will be more empathetic to my child whose great fear is the power going out in the bathroom at night.

Spun Sugar Syndrome

Apparently, most of the children at the local elementary school suffer from this debilitating malady.  It requires the utmost care and upkeep, for instance, during any rainfall event that occurs, the affected child must be carpooled to school and let out under the protective canopy of the breezeway only.  There can be no exceptions to this preventive treatment, and all other carpoolers will just have to suck it up and join the highway queue to get into the school parking lot.  One drop of rainwater may be fatal for such a child. 

First

The more time I take to think about what this blog will all be about, the more time slips by, reminding me that the ultimate starting point of this endeavor is to find my voice, the flavor of me that pushes through my written words.  So this will be at first, a ramble through my life, my eyes, my thoughts.  Later I hope this will become more unified and direct, a clear voice with a purpose.  Frankly, it was only a month ago that I scorned the thought of starting a blog.  Most readers will agree that there is already so much drivel published on the internet, why on earth would I want to add to it?  Well, to practice writing for one.

I have wanted to be a published author for as long as I can remember.  It was a student teacher in high school that shot me down.  She had us all write a short story, using The Devil and Daniel Webster by Benét as our inspiration.  I worked so hard, was so proud, so thrilled with the creation I presented to the class.  I eagerly read it aloud to the class, the chore of public speaking, for once a delight.  Ms. _?  (I confess I do not remember her name) gathered our papers to grade.  The next week she returned them, announcing to the class at large that she had put a red check mark on those papers she felt were so wonderful that we should become authors.  I am sure you can see where this is going - I did not receive that check mark.  Disappointed, I turned to other interests, but the writing dream did not die, it just was tucked away.  Twenty years wiser now, I am putting away the advice from some student teacher who did not see enthusiasm as the proper talent for writing, and I am trying again.  However, I must brush up those rusty skills and I do hope my readers enjoy whatever topics I manage to come up with.