Joe's Pushy Mom

We have a winner!  I forced Joe to write a poem this year for the Arts In Education Reflections program for PTA.  He did not want to do it, but I told him that I had promised my friend Debbie, the Arts In Education Chair, that he would be submitting a poem.  There were tears.  There were accusations that I was forcing him to do something he could not do.  There was a shouting match.  There was a brainstorming session.  There was instruction on how to make simple phrases sound pretty.  There was a tutorial on how to make a rhyming scheme.  There was another shouting match about how long the poem should be .  Four lines just wasn't going to cut it.  And then finally there was a poem!

Beauty Is... was the theme.  Joe decided that the most beautiful things he has ever seen, he has seen in nature.  He decided to think back on his camping trip to the Olympic National Park to come up with inspiration for the beautiful sights he saw in nature.  Here is his poem:

Beauty Is Natural

Beauty is found on a lake at night


Moonlight shimmers both soft and bright.



Beauty is found in a forest deep


Trees making homes that the animals keep.



Beauty is found on a mountain so high


Snowy caps reaching ever up to the sky.



Beauty is found in a flowering glade


Where blossoms find sunshine outside of  the shade.



Beauty is found in Nature so dear


Making life better and giving me cheer.


I am happy to announce that Joe's poem won Judge's Choice at the school and district level and will now be going to state!  But more important to me is that Joe now knows he can write poetry.  I have to admit I love poetry.  I think it is a powerful way to use words to bring feelings and thoughts to the surface.


I know that I will not be able to influence Joe to do all of the things I think are good for him for very much longer. My older kids have taught me that.  But for now, Congrats to Joe!

Love of Country

I have been doing some family history research lately and have traced another line back to the 1640's.  Don't you love it when you can find Quakers in your background?  They kept such good records.  And they came to America a long time ago!

This is the second line I have traced back that far.  The other line I can trace back to the Puritans.

And, of course, there is the line that holds my Native American Heritage.

These ancestors settled the New Land.  They fought in the Revolutionary War, The War of 1812, The Civil War, World War 1, World War 2, The Korean Conflict, The Vietnam War, and Jeff did his part in the Persian Gulf to support the war in Iraq.  They were on the front lines any time any new territory opened up.

I know that people whose ancestors have not been here forever love America too, but I can really feel it in my bones, as if it is part of my DNA.  Me and America, we have history.


   

New Friends From India

On Black Friday Eve, the day that the rest of Americans call Thanksgiving, I went out to Best Buy to wait in line so that I could get the electronics for the family for the next year.  I started out as number 11 in line,  Numbers 1-7 were a family from Arkansas who had been waiting in line for 2 days when I got there. They thought Texas was warmer than Arkansas for two days of camping in November.  I wonder what their kids will write about Thanksgiving?  We went to Texas and went camping in a parking lot at Best Buy.  It was really fun!  Numbers 8 and 9 were two bachelors from Mumbai, India who are computer consultants for American Airlines. They are here for a few years.  They were interested to hear what I thought were some must see spots in the USA.  Number 8's parents are working on finding a bride for him.  I guess the kids in India trust their parents a lot more than we do here because I can see the men my parents might choose for me and I would have to decline.  Number 10 was a pad to sit on.  I moved him to the back of the line after he had been AWOL for 3 hours.  He showed up an hour and a half after that and was disapointed that he had been moved but promptly left again.  There is a certain ettiquette about waiting in line.  The first rule is that you really have to be there.  You can leave for bathroom breaks and for food but don't expect to take off for hours.  As the new number 10, I had gained the alpha spot.  Whenever people left they checked in with me to tell me where they were going and what they would be doing and when they would be back.  I thought it was pretty funny that I had that much power.  Numbers 11 and 12 were a couple from India who had a two year old that they took turns watching in the car.    The line continued to grow, especially after the Cowboys game ended.  Things were going pretty well until number 50 got there.  I don't know what his problem was, but I think it might have been that he got there several hours after the people in the front of the line got there.  He started making trouble with a lot of people.  I guess he didn't get the memo that I was in charge.

I had set up a tent and had an air mattress and a sleeping bag.  I was pretty comfortable.  At about 1AM number 50 started to harrass number 11.  He was questioning why he kept going to his car and accusing him of not really being in line.  Number 11 grew tired of his harrassment so he told him he would not be speaking to him any more.  Number 50 started using really foul language and making gross threats.  I recognized this as a testosterone war.  What was number 11 to do?  He was a guy and he was being verbally threatened in front of over a hundred people.  Number 11 remained silent for about 45 seconds before he gave up on that resolve. I wondered if it would result in a fist fight.  Then he came out with the worst cussing he had ever come up with in his life, "Who in the hell do you think you are?  You go back to your own spot in line!"  Number 50 was urged to go back to his own spot by everyone else.   Later that morning I told number 11 that I was proud of him for not using horrid language and for not getting in a fight.  After all, it is shopping, and shopping should be fun.

Thanksgiving Preparations

Today I went to Kroger and picked up a bunch of groceries to prepare for Thanksgiving.  I also stopped at Costco to pick up a fresh Butterball turkey.  After years of trying to cook a perfect juicy bird I discovered the secret was buying a fresh turkey.  I had always thought the free turkey or the cheap turkey was such a good deal.  Maybe they were a good deal but they were almost always dry. 

I made my cranberry relish this afternoon.  My Grandmother Bullock used to always make this fresh relish.  She knew that it had to be made a few days early for the flavors to meld in time for Thanksgiving.  This is how you make it:  Proccess a pound of cranberries and a whole unpeeled orange in a food processor or blender.  Add in a jalapeno with the seeds removed (unless you like it really hot, then leave in the seeds).  My grandmother never added the jalapeno, that is my little Texas thing.  Add a cup of sugar.  Put this in a covered container and keep it in the refrigerator.

I am going to try a new recipe this year. It is called a topsey turvey apple pie.  I will put it in the recipe blog after Thanksgiving when I have a good picture.  It is a cross between a pecan pie and an apple pie.  My freind, Cathleen made it for a pie contest at Spring Creek Elementary and I got a taste.  It was excellent.  If you can't wait to find it on my recipe blog, you can google it.  It is a Pillsbury recipe.

I am just glad I don't have pnuemonia this year. 

Can't wait for Black Friday!  I can be so much more competitive now that I am not coughing up a lung.  Last year I had to take a lot of breaks to catch my breath.  That really slowed me down.  The worst part was during the initial entry into the store when everyone was running and I just couldn't keep the pace and I felt my heart beating out of my chest because of the lack of oxygen.  Some may ask why I didn't just skip the best shopping day of the year when I was so sick.  I think this proves that I will have to be dead to be out of the fray.

Levi Johnston Makes Me Sick

I know I am not the only one who is tired of seeing and hearing about Levi Johnston.  He is the dorky kid who knocked up Sarah Palin's daughter Bristol.  He is using his notoriety to keep himself in front of the cameras and in the press.  But is anyone really interested in this guy?  He is the kind of kid that if your daughter brought him home you might consider moving out of state. If your sons brought him home you might count your silverware upon his departure.  He isn't buff, he's not great looking.  He certainly isn't smart.  Almost every word that proceeds from his mouth sounds suspicously like a lie that will extend his time in the limelight.  I guess that the only good thing about him is that he has taken some of the tv time away from John and Kate.

There's No Crying In Football

Today Joe watched the Cowboys go down in flames.  He can't help himself for getting so emotionally involved.  I think when he gets older he will learn how to yell insults at the TV and get angry like most guys.  But for now, Mr. Tender-heart just sobs when things go tragically wrong.  He did manage to say, "Well, so much for the lead in the NFC East," several times.

I tried to make him feel better by telling him that maybe some of the recievers might be dating Jessica Simpson, to explain why otherwise great players were having a bad day, but he failed to see the humor in this.

What Happens to Evil People After They Die?

I was tucked up under my kitchen sink today, holding a flashlight in my teeth, with water dripping on me from a line I was trying to repair.  I was trying to remember how to turn the nut.  It is just opposite of what you would think when you are under the sink in that position.  My father started chiding me about my lack of mechanical ability.  You know,  that is one of my visions of what hell will be like.

My other vision of hell is working behind the ticket counter at Chuck E. Cheese while children with too few tickets painstakingly shop for treasures. 

Okay, so maybe these visions lack any doctrinal support, but I can't imagine worse fates than to be sentenced for eternity to either of these scenarios.

Feel free to share your own version of a horrible eternity in the comments.

Confessions of Vengeful Heart

One personality flaw that I have had to work on all of my life is vengeance. I know that I should not feel the need to take revenge, and usually I keep this desire under control. I have trained myself not to act on my vengeful feelings for a few days after I feel the urge. This time allows the feelings to simmer down and allows reason to take over. For several years I would just think of perfect revenge and act out the scenario in my mind, and then I would let it go. I thought I had progressed to feeling compassion for the offending party, as I tried to see his or her point of view. But this morning all of my self reported progress went down the tubes.

I originally heard that Dr. Nidal Malik Hasan, the shooter at Fort Hood, had died by being shot to death by a female police officer at the scene. Good, I thought, at least it will be closure for the families of the victims. Then I heard he was still alive, but in the hospital due to his gun shot wounds. Well, at least he will be questioned and we will find out his sick motives for this shooting ,which will bring closure for the victims' families who have to know why. Then, this morning, when I woke up I heard on the news that he is paralyzed from the wounds he received. My feeling about this was not glee, but a feeling that he was getting what he deserved. Not only will he be locked up in a military prison, he will be guarded by the brothers in arms of the men and women he assaulted and killed, all of this while he is imprisoned in a wheel chair. I am hoping the guards feed him a solid diet of pork: bacon for breakfast, pulled pork sandwiches for lunch, and pork ribs for dinner. While they are at it, they should give him marshmallows for dessert for every meal.

So, obviously, I am back to square one on overcoming my desire for vengeance.

This whole situation makes me sick. As a member of a military family I think it is particularly evil that this man was an officer and a doctor. He was in a position of trust and privilege. Who were the geniuses who decided to transfer this troubled man to another base when he was being watched by the FBI for pro-terrorism statements on the web? It kind of reminds me of the abuse the Catholic church perpetrated on its members by transferring around pedophile priests to new and unsuspecting congregations. I hope that this problem will be investigated because our active duty military members deserve better treatment than this.

Halloween Feast and The Free Clinic

We started our Halloween feast with deviled egss.  The spiders are made out of olives.  These were really really tasty and so cute. 

What Halloween Feast would be complete with out bat wings?

One of our family favorites is a big serving of bones with blood dipping sauce.

Jack-o-burgers have been a family favorite for years. I fed this to everyone right before Joe went out Trick-or-Treating.  Joe got to go out by himself this year. Of course he had a phone and Bob and one of the other dads followed behind them about two houses. 

We made Megan's favorite Halloween treat for dessert.  I carved the tortillas and fried them in a little oil and then sprinkled them with cinnamon sugar.  Bob and Joe ate theirs with ice cream.  I felt that I had reached my sugar limit so I ate mine just as it came.

This year I dressed up like a Democrat.  Megan had given Joe a Barrack Obama Tshirt.  He refused to wear it and actually threatened to throw it away.  I saved it and wore it.  How could anyone waste a two dollar shirt?  I explained to the kids that last year I was Sarah Palin and I was campaining for John Mc Cain, but this year I was a Democrat.  All of the Democrat children were so happy that I had seen the light.  The Republican children were a little confused that I could change political philosophies so quickly.  I then asked them if they wanted their shot in the arm, leg or butt.  Almost all of the kids 6 and under tried to run away.  I asked them if they had read the sign about the free vaccinations.  Some older kids said they had already had the vaccination.  I asked them if they were pregnant because in Dallas county those are the only people getting vaccinations for H1N1.  I found one little girl who really had recieved the vaccine because she was a type one diabetic.  A lot of teenagers said they wanted a shot of whiskey.  Its pretty evident who was absent during Red Ribbon Week.  When the line got really long I told the parents that this was no way indicative of what would happen when our national health care plan passed Congress.  As you can probably guess, all of the children opted for their vaccine to be served in the oral suspension form. They got to choose H1(cherry) or N1(lemonade).  I also had the juice machine filled with plain water.  It is amazing how thirsty you can get while running from house to house. 

   

I started making slushees the night before. I got the machine all cleaned up and filled.  Each side takes 12 cups of sugar.  When I started up the machine the red side came unhinged and I had three gallons of double strength red Koolaide all over the kitchen floor.  It took me about an hour to clean it up.  I got the machine going over night and I cupped up about 160 slushees in the morning and put them in the freezer.  Then I started the next batch so they would be ready for the Trick-or-Treaters.  After a few hours I noticed that the red side was not freezing up.  Some of the electronics got sugared up during the big spill.  Fortunately I was able to clean up the connections enough to get the machine running, thus saving Halloween.  It was iffy for a while.

Joe dressed up as a rapper. He looked a lot like a football player with aviators.  By the end of the night I was exhausted!  I am glad Halloween comes but once a year.