Felecia: February 2006

Today marks the 10 year anniversary to our loss of a very classy lady when Andy's mom passed into the waiting arms of Heaven. We love and miss you, Pam!

Mr. Tough Guy!

My Tough Guy

My very short drive home from work on Thursday evening had me bracing myself; two cars had darted out in front of me so quickly I almost had an anxiety attack; add that to the fact that nearly every piece of office equipment had been breaking down that day and I was beat.

I walked through the door to see that mom appeared the same ~ she was shaking her head and sighing. We both started in on our days (very similar) and then finally took our respective breaths to give turns. When her time came, she said that the boys were monkeying around and Noah ended up falling down and hit his head. She said that he had scratched his forehead - but that it was nothing because she couldn't notice it any longer. We continued talking about our days when until the boys started squabbling downstairs; when they came up tattling on each other, I noticed that Noah's hair was wet; he was holding a red marker in one hand and juice in the other so when I noticed that the substance in his hair was red, I tried hard to connect the dots to what it could be. It took a nanosecond for me to realize that this substance was blood and that the fall Noah had taken had indeed done more damage that the eye could see (especially to poor gramma who didn't have her glasses on!) As it turns out, a gash that rests atop a goose egg really doesn't like to stop bleeding! The alleged scratch gramma noticed was simply a streak of blood that had trickled from the wound. A friend of ours was working in the Emergency Room at a nearby hospital and BLESS HIS HEART, he had Noah stapled up in no time.

Deciding that numbing the scalp up first would only hurt more, Dr. Incredible put 2 staples into Noah's head while the lad was distracted with stickers. "Oh - Owe" was the only expression of pain the little guy showed! (Meanwhile, Elliott was at home with gramma hyperventilating because of the blood he had seen earlier...)

So, congratulate me on surviving my family's first head wound (and help me decide what gift best says "thank you for stapling my boy's head shut"!)

1st Grade Blues

WHEW! JUST GOT BACK FROM A 16 MILE JOG AND I FEEL GREAT!!

Okay, I'm kidding - but I do seem to have a good amount of energy - though that could be attributed to it being Friday.

I think I've experienced my first school related ISSUE as a parent.

On Tuesday night, I told Elliott that I would be attending the first graders prayer service at his school the next morning (I had been receiving flyers for nearly two weeks about it). Very somberly, he tells me I needn't bother. I tell him "Of course I'm going to come, silly!" Holding in tears, he again tells me that I don't have to go. This is a little odd for the lad - he loves this kind of stuff! He then bursts into tears and spends an hour crying about the fact that he doesn't have a "part" in the service. The first part of our talk dealt with us not always being able to shine in the spotlight; others need to get a chance as well, etc. But evidentially, that's not the issue...He tells me that the ENTIRE class has been selected to do anything from reading a scripture to holding a poster - the entire class, that is, except for him. He goes on to say that for the past 2 weeks, he has been the only student sitting at his desk while the others practice the program.

(Okay, that is pretty sad)

We went through all the scenarios as to why he was not selected to help out. Perhaps they began practicing when we were out of town? "Nope - mom, we all raised our hands for parts last week." When I asked if his teacher talked with him about his exclusion from the program, he said that she hadn't. I asked him why he didn't bring this to our attention earlier; Turns out he felt that this could be a punishment for something - that he wasn't sure if his teacher was mad at him, and didn't want us to be upset if she was. (Insert sad face here.) He's not one to make this kind of stuff up, especially when I say I am going to call and chat with the teacher about it. He really wanted to know why he was the only one in his class left out. By and far, the saddest part of this story was when I went in to his room to put away a toy after he was asleep; he was doing the hiccup breathing as he slept. Ouch.

Elliott quickly recovered but even so, I talked with his teacher the next evening. I explained that it wasn't the exclusion that I was most concerned about, but that it was the fact that she didn't even bother to crouch down next to his little ear to explain why. Without much enthusiasm, she said that he wasn't the only one excluded, and that they had picked parts when we were gone. Again, why didn't you say as much to him and wait...are you saying he's lying? This isn't the only problem we've had with the teacher, but this is the only problem we can put our finger on. I know teachers aren't always going to mesh with the parents, but even my optimistic Elliott hasn't had many great things to say about her - he often tells us she's "crabby" with the class. I guess the best word for her is "mechanical". She smiles when she is supposed to, but she really doesn't come across as happy. "She used to teach 2nd grade mom, so she gets cranky when we don't understand things very quick."

I think I may talk with the principal about it (not expressly about the program incident) but the attitude and lackluster feel we have all been getting from this woman. I really want Elliott's enthusiasm for school to continue and would rather a crabby teacher not be the reason he would rather skip a day or to, as he so suggested on Tuesday night.

My Very First gimmick!

Yes, it is I... the begrudger of many a gimmick. I've mocked others without batting an eyelash for being sucked into any one of their own said gimmicks - but alas, a weak moment and a wonderful sales pitch has rendered me helpless.

I am now the proud owner of a 32 oz. bottle of Acai Energy Supplement. One ounce per day in the morning and I've become the benefactor of the combined strength of B vitamins, Green Tea extracts and who knows what other all natural ingredients.

We shall see...

I've only begun the formula today (30 minutes ago to be exact). Not sure if I notice a difference though, being as I have spent most of my day feeling energetic.

My sister-in-law, Alyssa, told me about the product this morning. She swears by it, which was pretty big because she and I are both a little skeptical when it comes to these types of things. Similarly though, she and I are both EXTREMELY exhausted by the days end what with work, kids, dogs and chores - especially this time of year when cabin fever sets in at its worst.

I'll keep you posted on the outcome (if any). I've always said that I would gladly pay for just a swig of energy that my boys seem to chug down daily, so why not hand over $17.00 for the possibility?

Belated Gratitude

I'm not a huge fan of Valentine's day - sure, it's a cute little holiday that allows us shower our loved ones with extra affection (all the while putting a larger dent into our not-so-recovered-from-Christmas finances...) but hey, at least the folks down at Hallmark are enjoying themselves. I'm half-kidding, I don't want anybody to get the impression that I'm a Scrooge about it – I do my part and purchase cards and chocolate and flowers, but in analyzing the holiday as a whole, I really think some people know how to take a cute little holiday and fill it with a whole lot of pressure to do/buy/say all the right love things in one day. I think that’s why our little family had a hard night on the 14th. Two of us were tired and cranky, one of us was 2-year old cranky and the other couldn’t stop reminding the rest of us how important it was to be nice on Valentine’s Day… of course, that was my Andy. He really did a great job of keeping the rest of us from creating any permanent damage. He’s a really great person and I truly am glad he's mine.

Which brings me to the point of inspiration for my post. I work in a law firm that dabbles in all areas of law. We do contractural work, we do litigation, we do corporate work, probate and wills. I get a call the other day from a gal who wants to come in and talk about a will with a specific attorney in our office. She shows up today for her appointment and I raise a half an eyebrow because she's quite young (30's I would say) - not that it's uncommon for this age to talk wills, but there was something about her that stirred compassion and sadness. While she was waiting for her appointment, I couldn't help but overhear her on a cell phone conversation saying something to the affect of "...I'm not sure about that - we'll just have to wait and see. I suppose I'll have to call work and take a few more weeks off to take care of things..." (Is she sick?) (Is she okay?) My mind came up with all sorts of illnesses this poor girl could have.

After her appointment, I was given her paperwork and the lawyer who met with her tells me her husband had just died a week ago. I don't even know this woman, but I'm in disbelief - she's too young to be a widow! Evidentally, he suffered from a heart attack at the age of 40.

I'm not posting this to promote fear in the lives of you wives out there, but what a reminder it was for me to realize that the love of my life is exactly that. I tend to be an independent thinker and sometimes I believe that gets in the way of my feelings for others, namely, my husband of nearly 9 years (and companion for many). I find myself held up in my own thoughts and while I know sometimes it's because of the whole mom thing, I fail to connect with Andy as often as I would like to. I don't want to some day, whether it be in 10 or 40 years, decide that I should have soaked it all in more.

Sure, I'll probably need future reminders, but I think it's time I start dishing out my feelings of gratitude for Andy TO Andy. Whether it be in the occassional card or just a passing comment, I see no reason to not spoil him just as much as I do my children.

Memories...

I was just listening to the radio and heard a song that flooded me with memories of my friend Nicky and I as youngsters. "Hard Habit to Break" by Chicago ~ we used to close ourselves off to the world and listen to this low-quality radio-recorded tape over and over again (along side of Lionel Richie's "Dancing on the Ceiling"). We sung our little hearts out and the lyrics of the song are no doubt taking up valuable memory space in both of our minds! I can't help but look back and forth from then to now and hope that Elliott and Noah are lucky enough to form the same kind bond that I have with my Nicky Noodle.

Here's to the good old days of Salt & Pepper!