Still Surviving

Friday night we went to see the band Survivor in the KC Power and Light District. It was an outdoor venue so the acoustics weren’t great but still very cool to see them perform. The only thing that annoyed me was the excessive amount of guitar solos that left me saying, “Dude, we get it; you are a REALLY talented guitarist. Now please move on because much like you, I’m not getting any younger.” 

The crowd was primarily composed of people in their late forties to early fifties who were probably in college at the height of Survivor’s popularity and we had a lot of fun people watching while enjoying a Cubana cigar from Maker's Mark. There was a whole lotta fifty-something over-tan cougar wannabe’s that should have looked in a full length mirror before stepping into public.  That or they need a teenager like mine that won’t think twice about calling you out on a clothing choice. It can be a downright brutal experience.  The woman in the hot pink club dress who clearly had made a conscious decision not to wear any undergarments definitely could have used a wardrobe intervention. (Just don’t ask me how we unfortunately discovered that little tidbit. I almost have that image out of my head.) Anyway, our next trip to the ol’ P&L is in a couple weeks to see Uncle Kracker perform and I begged to go. More importantly I promised not to wear something that would show my who-ha to a crowd of gawking strangers.  *shudder*

Picture this. You walk into an outdoor party only to discover six (already drunk) people all standing around a wooden stump wielding a hammer and slamming down jello shots.  Would you drop your cooler, run in and yell “Oh, oh, me next!”?  Or, would you mutter a “WTF?” put on the brakes and slowly try to back out of the fence before any of them saw you? 

That was the scene we first encountered Saturday night when we attended my coworker’s birthday party.  The first scenario, dropping the cooler and joining in was me. The latter option of making a run for it is exactly what Daniel wanted to do only I was his ride home.  Ha, ha sucka! 

The game they were playing was called ‘Stump’ (original huh). Everyone has a nail in the stump and the object is to pass around the hammer, take one swing to try and pound in someone else’s nail before yours is sunk.  The last nail standing wins.  

I wasn't any good at the hammer game however they did have a larger scale version of beer pong that I kicked ass in! They had 5-gallon buckets full of water stationed at each end of the yard and we had to throw tennis balls at them. There were some other games but soon it was too dark to play and I sure as hell wasn’t going to stand next to a drunk dude swinging a hammer!   

It was an interesting night and definitely gave us plenty to talk about the next day. I think everyone should partake in at least one redneck yard party each summer. We had ours so... ‘Check!’

Did I Hear You Right?

When you have struggled daily with an ADD child one of the best things in the world to hear is, “hey mom, I think the medicine is making me smarter in math! I know the answer before she even tells us to write it down.” Or maybe, “I need to do my homework and it will only take a second because it’s easy.”  I had the pleasure of hearing BOTH of these statements this week! Honestly just her REMEMBERING to bring work home is a reason to celebrate.  I can’t even count the times she forgot to bring home her assignments or the book required to complete the assignment. Hell, I didn’t even know until January that she even HAD spelling words each week because she NEVER, ever brought them home! I know, I know.. that pretty much qualifies me for “Mother of the Year”, right? How this kid dodged summer school, I’ll never know.  The thing is she’s a smart girl. She’s also very creative, dramatic, crazy funny, and is turning into a good little softball player. It’s so cool to finally start to see her get excited about school and sports (she starts volleyball next month) and I really think that is because she is now getting the help that she needs to concentrate.  Oh, she still has her moments but that is what makes her unique. Her sister and I just roll our eyes and say, “That’s Syd for ya!”  

Nighty Night

Gen tried to strike a deal with me on some new locker decorations. They HAVE to match and what do you know, Pottery Barn has exactly what she wants..  to the tune of $47; for locker decorations. Ridiculous.  Anyway, she said if I would go ahead and order them, she would work to pay me back. (Hmmm…. Seems to me I’ve heard this song before).  I stood my ground and told her I’d need to see some work out of her first and she could start by mowing the yard. 

To make a short story, long… she was too wiped out to mow so I did it myself. Monday night was the only night we had free this week and so it had to be done. I advised her that since she was so “wiped out” that she needed to go to bed early especially since she was too tired to mow. She knew exactly what I was getting at and agreed but didn’t think she’d be able to sleep. I went and got her a Tylenol however I didn’t tell her it was Tylenol; I didn’t tell her what it was at all. I simply told her to take it, that it would help her sleep. After she took it, she said, 

“Was that a sleeping pill?”

“It will help you sleep.”

“Mom, did you give me a sleeping pill??”

(Me, smiling evilly), “You might wanna get your jammies on… soon.”

“Mom! (stuttering) That’s illegal!” 

The mind is a powerful tool and I just thought if she thought she was given a sleeping pill, maybe her mind would convince her she was sleepy. But, it really was just a Tylenol. I’m not totally evil and besides, it did help her relax and she was asleep at a good time. 

The moral of this story is; if you want your mom to buy you overpriced locker decorations but you aren’t willing to work for them, you can bet I’m going to mess with your head to make a point.

First Day Back

When I was in school I never left the house on the first day back without being thoroughly prepared for anything and everything short of a natural disaster. By then I had already practiced my locker combination and had my schedule complete with room numbers memorized HOWEVER, I still had that information on me in the event I panicked and blanked. I still have nightmares about the bell ringing and I’m still trying to get my locker open. I wonder if I’ll still have these dreams when I’m in the nursing home in 40 years. 

Not Gen. The extent of her school supplies today were a pen and single piece of paper she had folded in her back pocket. I argued, “But what if you need another piece of paper? Don’t you want to take a notebook?”  Nope. She simply looked at me, stuck her hand up and said, “Mom. I got this.” I even printed off her schedule and locker combo but do you think she would even consider taking it with her? Hell nooooo!

The only rational conclusion is this is not my child. She MUST have been switched at birth with my logically thinking, OCD baby who is now wandering aimlessly searching for me but yet will be okay because she is carrying a backpack full of supplies.  

So, I drop the girls off at their schools and Gentry wasn’t even out of the car yet when I heard the screams of “Twiggy!” coming from the large herd of kids that were waiting outside the school. Her little cluster was anxiously waiting for her and now that I think about it I’m sure that is who she was texting the entire drive. 

OTW

Almost there

Yay, my mom is driving me crazy. She keeps nagging me about a stupid notebook.

I’m here!

I C U!

Teenagers have the most riveting text conversations.

My baby is a fifth grader. Oh.. my.. gosh, really? How is that possible? Today with all her school supplies in tow she walked into her school all by herself only knowing the name of her teacher and the general vicinity of the fifth grade pods. I offered to walk her in but she said she didn't need me to; she was going to meet her friend (who we affectionately call Manders) at 7:40am. Syd and Manders were in the same fourth grade class and are together again this year. It's not like the girls don't see each other outside of school, we are neighbors with her family and I work with her mom. The two of them have been practically joined at the hip all summer long.

My Sydie struggled with school last year. It wasn't because it was a new school or because she missed her old friends because she adjusted very quickly to her new surroundings. Manders really helped with her transition; especially when we moved into our house and the girls were within walking distance. Syd has always had a problem with focusing. Ever since she was little she has been like a human pogo stick bouncing between tasks and ideas seemingly unable to control her overactive brain. This summer, finally, we had to concede that she may need a little something to help her concentrate and our family doctor agreed. I worried that even a low dosage would change her into a little zombie. I want her to be able to pay attention to her teacher, follow directions, and remember to bring her assignments home. The last thing I want is for my creative, comical child to become some sort of droid. Tonight as she was strutting around jabbering at us in a thick Jersey accent, I had to smile with reassurance knowing that no medication will ever mask her unique personality.

Sharkfest 2011

The Sandbar is a local bar downtown on 8^th Street, between Massachusetts and New Hampshire.  It’s just one of those tiny hole-in-the-wall places with a whole lotta character. They are famous for their hurricanes, dancing on the bar, and every Friday night before a game the KU band makes an appearance to get the crowd pumped for the weekend.  This past weekend the Sandbar celebrated its 22^nd birthday with a block party called Sharkfest 2011.

We grabbed dinner at Zen Zero before wandering closer to scope it out. We could hear a band playing island music on the outdoor stage that was positioned in the middle of the street.  At the other end of the block was a 20 foot inflatable shark slide.  In between was the beer garden. That’s where we were shoulder-to-shoulder with hundreds of Fin lovers, drinking our Shark Attack drinks and batting beach balls into the air until well into the night.  

I was double dog dared to go down this slide but had enough common sense… and/or self-respect to refuse. Another reason getting old sucks!

Casulty Gift

Among the things you never think you will hear, “Mom, I just found a dead baby bunny in my room” would have to be in the top 25. However, this was the call I got from Syd as I was driving to work this morning. My gut reaction was (first), GROSS! The second was, Dang Syd, exactly how long has it been since you cleaned your room?!?  Our precious killer kitty apparently wanted to show Syd how much she loves her by bringing her a small token of her affection. Hazel has a cat door that goes out to her favorite spot; the screened porch. She isn’t supposed to be able to get out into the yard but something definitely went array in her favor. 

I'm not proud to admit that I was kinda relieved she found it after I had already left the house and REALLY relieved when she said she didn't have a problem "taking care of the situation." On the bright side now there is one less varmint helping their furry little selves to what is left of my garden. My entire contribution to the situation was a text to her after the fact saying, "Be sure to wash your hands!" 

This past weekend the Lawrence Hummers held a garage sale as a team fundraiser. Brilliant idea! Twelve families working together to create a relatively easy form of cash flow…$1100.00 worth of easy to be exact! We had an overwhelming turn out even with the morning rain. The girls stood out on the frontage road sidewalk in their jerseys and their signs bringing in the customers till well after noon.  It was such a success that we decided to hold another one the end of September. 

Last year at this time I wasn’t in a very good place and frankly didn’t feel like being a team mom so I let the girls’ dad take that role. He made an awesome “softball mom” and everyone loved him. Gentry even joked, “Dad is very popular with children, dogs, and softball moms!” I, on the other hand phoned in my duties. I didn’t socialize with the other parents and I basically just did what Gen needed me to do... and I really didn’t care.  This year I have made an effort and have met some incredibly generous, good-hearted people. Everything is clicking convincing me even more this is our team. One of the ladies is the food services manager at Gentry’s school. She asked Gen if she remembered her and she replied, “Yeah, I think I asked you for butter one time.”  Later she had a revelation:

Her: “Maybe if I slip her an extra dollar she will give me an extra cookie!”

Me: “Well, how much are cookies?”

Her: “25 cents.”

Me: “Uuuum.., she better slip ya FOUR cookies!”   

Her: “Oh.. yeah. Guess I didn’t think that through.” 

Me: “Math really isn’t your strongest subject, huh Sis.” 

Syd had her first Phenix practice last night and the mom’s on that team are crazy as Betsy bugs. When one of them asked who was making the list so we would know who is in charge of adult beverages before games, I knew I’d found my people.

Gen is channeling her "inner Grandpa" with her new found love of Nike socks and sandals.

All night she ran around the house singing this song.. her new anthem. (Caution: Listen at your own risk. It does get stuck in your head, unfortunately). "Whaa, whaa, whaat!"

We Made It!

As a side note, I later found out that out of the hundreds... HUNDREDS of Dog Day's participants this summer, only 11 kids did the 28 work-outs to earn t-shirts. Syd & Blake were two of  these 11! Way to go kiddos!

Hazel also joined the summer reading program.

My sister and I must have spent 30 minutes watching funny cat videos on YouTube last night. This one makes me giggle every time I watch it so I thought I'd spread the love.

 

Clappity Clap for Chatty!

This morning at 5:45am as Chatty checked in, she received the “Big Hands” clappity, clap! Number 28; she made it! She woke up grouchy but hearing the “Yea’s!” brought a big smile to her face. How many 10 year olds, hell, how many teenagers or adults do you know who would give up their sleep to go work out at 6am for two straight months?? It’s been humid, hot, and most days down-right miserable yet she kept going and I am so incredibly proud of her!  Tonight we celebrate with Blizzards and she can bask in the bliss of knowing she can sleep in tomorrow. Awesome, amazing job Chatty. You kept me going as well and for that I thank you.

Double the Fun

Well…, as of Saturday my weekly scheduled just got a wee bit more hectic but I’m so glad! As of right now, that is. I’m sure come October I’ll be whining about not having any free time, blah, blah,blah and I’ll lose readers. But for right now I’m pleased as punch! Syd tried out & was offered a position on the 10 and under Phenix softball team. She actually tried out for catcher and the coach liked her so we will see. Not only will she also have two practices per week starting this month but they are on the exact same nights as Gen.  Lord help me.

Hold up, oh my gosh, have I even mentioned that Gen tried out and was offered a position on the Lawrence Hummers.. and accepted?? This coach is focused on preparing the girls for Free State softball next year and we like his coaching style so I’m hopeful this season will be a nice change. Plus, so far his emails are not laced with gross misspellings so he already has brownie points with me. This weekend I was given a magnetic bumper sticker that says, “I ‘heart’ Hummers!” While I am very appreciative of the gesture, that will NOT be going on my bumper anytime soon.  (Gotta love smartass friends).  It is however a great conversational refrigerator decoration.