The First Night Away

It had to happen eventually.  I was going to have to travel away from my children and this was the week it happened.  For the first time since either of my children were born, I traveled away from them and didn't put them to sleep in their bed.  The time leading up to this dreaded event was nerve racking.  I couldn't give Mr. Chuck enough directions about how to take care of bed time and routine, as if he isn't perfectly capable of taking care of all of these things without my instructions.  I was so worried about leaving my babies that I saw every hour on the clock Wednesday night from 10pm to 5am.  Around 2am it started raining, softly at first, then harder with more lightening and louder thunder.  At times the rain was so heavy and thick that it sounded like hail hitting the many windows throughout the house. 

Finally, my friend, Tokyo, from school arrived to pick me up around 6am.  The rain had almost stopped and we thought the drive ahead might be decent.  Five minutes out of the driveway, the rain started coming down at a steady pace.  Tokyo expressed her fear of driving in the rain and we just continued driving forward in the pitch black with the rain bouncing off the road.  The farther we drove towards our destination of Tulsa, OK, the harder the rain got.  The wind was blowing the car from side to side and parts of the road were pooling with water causing minor hydroplaning.  The rain was torential at times causing us to drive as fast as 40 mph.  I tried to help Tokyo remain calm.  After two hours we arrived at our destination, tense and starving.

We walked into the conference center and eagerly began searching for the food we were told would be there.  We found the room where the food was going to be and found the perfect table.  We sat and visited with the rest of our friends patiently, but hungrily waiting.  About 15 minutes before our first conference we were told there was a misunderstanding and there would be no breakfast.  Tokyo, one of my best friends Princess, and I hopped in the car with frustration fuming from our mouths to grab some quick food.  I was so upset about being away from my family that I was sure I would just barely tolerate being gone and as soon as I could possibly get back to my family I would be out of there.

After the conference sessions were over, Tokyo, Princess, and I retreated to our rooms to rest up for dinner.  Princess and I had rearranged our sleeping arrangements (which didn't make Wonder Woman very happy...WW if you read this...sorry for being rebellious this once) so we could spend some extra time together.  So, Princess and I spent our time catching up on each other's life and solving the world's problems.  I tried blogging from the hotel but they didn't have free wi-fi.  Seriously what $200 a night hotel doesn't have free wi-fi in the rooms.  I was furious.  Then we were summoned to the lobby to go to Dave and Buster's courtesy of Wonder Woman.  We had a BLAST.  We ran into some rivals and were challenged to a Super Trivia battle.  Unsurprising to our team of Falcons, we won the challenge and settled our conference right in the middle of Dave and Buster's. 

Upon return to the hotel we joined with our friends for what turned into hours of fun, music, gossip, and laughter.  I haven't laughed that hard in a long time but what happens in the hotel room with a bunch of colleagues stays in that hotel room.  As we were getting ready to leave one of numerous times, everything goes pitch black.  We're all standing right next to each other wondering what has happened.  Initially we thought one of our friends was just messing with the lights.  So, we opened the door and the entire hotel was black.  The electricity was out...no elevators...no lights.  We didn't even know if the doors would unlock.  Through the light of cellular phones we found our ways back to the beds and spent some more time chatting in the dark.  A screech rings out, followed by a series of screams and the lights come back on.  I felt like I was in some sort of murder movie. 

So, this morning comes around and I tried to convince Princess to use the electricity going out as an excuse to sleep in but she is such a dedicated friend that she didn't want to leave Tokyo alone in the session.  So we dragged ourselves out of bed and trudged down to the session where we thought there was going to be food but alas, we were disappointed again...well temporarily disappointed at least, the food came out late.  We attended two fabulous breakout sessions today and learned information that is so valuable for our school.

At the end of the day, Tokyo and I loaded up in her car and I anxiously awaited the arrival at my house so I could hold my babies and kiss my husband.  We got almost to the exit of I-35 and Tokyo noticed that the road noise was all of a sudden much louder and her steering wheel was shaking.  She drove a little more and then we decided to pull off and check it out.  As we pull off the road, a truck with a trailer speeds beside us and rolls down his window.  This guy asks if we need help and we park the car and check the tire.  I wait in the car and but hear Tokyo say, "oh my gosh" and our red-headed angel Michael say, "we started seeing chunks of the tire start flying off right there as you exited."  Chunks of tire?  I had to see this!  So I excitedly hop out of the car and walk around to see a tire, flatter than flat because there are gaping holes on the side of the tire.  Holes and wires were all that were left in places. 

Red-headed angel Michael had a Red-headed angel brother named Chris and they suggested towing Tokyo's car on their trailor someplace safer than the middle of the lane of traffic to change the tire.  They get everything lined up and Tokyo drives up the ramps and gets her front tires on the trailor as pieces of wood shoot fifty feet down the road and almost hit the kind Oklahoma County Sheriff that is blocking traffic from running into us.  Tokyo gets lined up again and revs her engine in an attempt to fly up the ramp and onto the trailor only come to find out, her car doesn't have a high enough clearance so we have to change the tire in the middle of the right lane of traffic.  Our red-headed angel brothers block the tires and start trying to jack up her car, only to find out that her jack doesn't fit her car.  Luckily they have their own jack and use that one to put on the donut spare.  While the tire is off one of our red-headed angels tells Tokyo that her shocks are shot and suggests she have those fixed.  (No I can't really make this up and wish I had video!)  They finally got everything fixed up, we thanked them profusely, thanked God for sending them to us and were on our way!

However, that wasn't it.  A couple of minutes down the road we started hearing this HORRIBLE scraping noise.  Tokyo took it slow over all of the bumps but it the noise continued.  I thought maybe we had ran over something and it was stuck under the car.  We get to my house, look under the car and the entire, pipe and boxes (I'm not a car person) that run to the muffler is hanging down under her car.  Seriously...this couldn't have been worse.  I told Tokyo to let me know if she needed anything as she drove away.  I felt terrible.  I couldn't do anything to help her. 

But, at last I am home and I as I walked into my house expecting a loud screaming Momma from my son and daughter, I realized it was silent.  Maggie was sleeping and Noah was playing a game.  No excitement.  Not even any hugs but at last, I am back with my babies.  I survived my first night, not putting my babies to bed in their rooms and I lived to blog about it.  Maybe next year I can stay for both nights.  Oh and by the way...it snowed today so our tire adventure....FREEZING!!

Teenagers

So, Mr. Perfect (who has requested to be called Mr. Chuck instead) has an amazing job.  He gets to work with teenagers.  At his current job, we have had the privlege of growing up with some of these teenagers and we have great relationships with them.

Today was one of those days when I got to spend my time with some of these teenagers.  Ellie lost a superbowl bet (GO PACKERS) to me which meant that she owed me some babysitting time, and lunch during a day of shopping.  So, today was our shopping day.  We went to the mall which is one of my absolute most favorite activities.  I LOVE trying on hideous cloths just for fun.  So, Ellie and I went into a store and we picked out dresses that we thought would look ridiculously not cute on me.  The first one I tried on was a black, strapless number with lots of ruching and hit about mid-thigh...the crazy thing...it was actually really cute.  Total backfire on the laughing at how ridiculous it looked but total self-esteem boost that I looked good in something like that. (More to come on the weight loss business after two more pounds.)

After our shopping adventure in which we did eventually find super distasteful clothes to try on and laugh at, we went and ate at our personal favorite...BW squared with Alex and her boyfriend Morgan (weird how usually Alex is thought of as a boys name and Morgan more thought of as a girls name).  Anyway then we all ran a couple random errands and ended up back at castle (our new house which looks nothing like a castle but is kind of fun to think of as a castle if you're four). 

Since it was once again a beautiful day, we washed the car which was a fabulous experience.  Morgan is afraid of water so of course Alex and Ellie kept teasing him about that while my little m&m ate the car wash soap (should I have called poison control on that and how is it that my daughter is the one to eat dirt, rocks, and soap and my son never did?).  My little man with the scraped knees ran around drinking out of the hose and peeing in the bushes.

Upon finishing the car Mr. Chuck and I went out to a delicious dinner on the Lake.  It was perfect timing.  We got the best table in the restaurant.  It was a corner table overlooking the Lake and a pier full of sailboats.  The lighthouse was just past the pier.  The sun glistened off the water as it began to set right as we were finishing our dinner.  It was kind of one of those magical events.

When we arrived back at castle both of the kids were as happy as clams.  Little man was outside playing with Alex and Morgan while m&m was being read to by Ellie.  After getting m&m to sleep I got downstairs only to hear the sounds of puking in my toilet.  My heart cringed.  Not again.  I can't take another night/day of PUKE.  Luckily it wasn't one of mine (well not legally).  It was Ellie.  Who knows what was wrong with her but ten minutes later she was back to making fun of Alex and Morgan who are going to have to have a "momma" discussion about appropriate public displays of affection while around my children, and me :).  Ellie also came into my laundry room and let out the loudest bit of gas I had heard in a long time.  Maybe she had too much gas built up and that's why she got puked.

All in all it was a fabulous day.  From shopping and looking amazing in a short, strapless dress to magical moments at the lake with my husband, to building my son a tent in our bedroom, joy and laughter were all around.  I love happy days!

Skinned Knees

So today started off as an absolutely wonderful day.  Mr. Perfect (my husband) got our beautiful, crying daughter out of her crib at super-early-thirty and put her back to sleep, then brought her into our bed where I was able to sleep next to her for another three-ish hours.  It was actually daylight when I woke up!  WOW!

After an amazing breakfast of Grand's Cinnamon Rolls also courtesy of Mr. Perfect, we began making a turkey which unfortunately turned out less than perfect...way less than perfect.

It was so warm today, again, that we decided to plant some bulbs in the back yard and yes I know they should be planted in the fall but hopefully it isn't THAT big of a deal.  As we were digging trenches to plant over a hundred bulbs, we hear a screech come from our son.  I turn to look and he's laying on the ground with his legs all sorts of contorted.  I was proud that I remained as calm as I did as I ran to his aid.  Upon my arrival, I assessed the immediate situation and realized that his knees were skinned.  Supermom to the rescue with with cold wash rags.

My boy is a tough kid 90% of the time.  Scrapes totally freak him out though.  So, I finally get him calmed down and he goes to stand up, his shorts are slightly too big thus slightly to long and the touching of the fabric to the scrape was almost paralyzing for my not-so-tough-with-scrapes boy.  So, I figure, if I show him that he can still move his knees even though they are scraped, we'll be good to go, he's logical.  Right, he's also three.  So, I decide to race him across the yard...he has my competitive nature so he gives it his all, no pain, just running.  I figure everything is just fine because he starts playing like it's no big deal but, after a little while the scrapes were just too much.  We had to go inside and play Mario Party on the Wii.  He was so distraught he wouldn't even eat pizza (his FAVORITE) for dinner...he just went to sleep.  Sad Day.

Oklahoma Education...YIKES!

So for those of you that don't know about the Oklahoma education system, we have been ranked among the lowest states for numerous years.  46th in student spending (NEA Research Estimated Database 2009), 48th in average teacher pay (NEA Research Estimated Database 2009), and 3rd for states running out of smart people (24/7 Wall Street Feb. 7, 2011).  And that's really just the beginning. 

Let me state first that I am very moderate in my political beliefs.  I could really swing either way and tend to change my registration based on which primary I want to vote in.  So, when I might seemingly be bad mouthing republicans, just wait because the democrats will get their fair share as well! 

 Back to the problems.  Our new state superintendent is quite a head strong woman.  She is a VERY close friend to the secretary of state who is best friends with the new governor (all republicans).  Our now Republican ran Senate is moving for numerous changes in the structure of our education system to allow almost complete control to be given to the State Superintendent.  After a heated board meeting with Mrs. State Superintendent and the state school board (mostly appointed by the previous Democrat governor), the Senate Education Committee passed 12-5 to strip the school board of all responsibilities and give them to the superintendent.  They also are moving to place the governor, lieutenant governor, and secretary of state on the state school board, thus giving more support to their friend, Mrs. State Superintendent. 

How is this possibly going to work to make our state better?  Our test scores are terrible in over 600 schools.  Everyone is so worried about getting the power to "make change happen" that no one is actually looking at true ways to help the situation.

A teacher was actually told by district administrators that he/she was doing everything he/she was supposed to be doing and then told to just keep doing what he/she had been doing.  That teacher then mentioned his/her absolutely horrible benchmark test scores and expressed the concern that there had to be something else he/she could do to improve the scores.  The response: if there is, I don't know about it.  Seriously...the people that are "in charge" don't have a single idea except keep doing what you're doing?  What is this teacher supposed to do?  Starting next year if Mrs. State Superintendent gets her way, 50% of this teacher's evaluations will be based on test scores.  Less than 10% of this teacher's students are passing their benchmark but not a single person can help give him/her any ideas.  We have a problem!

Big idea people always get elected and make fancy speeches that make us feel good about them and about us but the reality is that they don't hire the right people to help them.  They don't hire the teacher that has actually been in the war zone to help education work for children.  They don't hire the poor person that has been taking advantage of the system for years to help fix loopholes in the system.  They don't hire the forester to figure out what to do about the logging industry.  They all just hire their friends.  There has to be something we can do to help Oklahoma Education...I have to develop a plan!

Valentine's Dinner

So my husband did something tonight that he has never done for me before.  He made Valentine's Day dinner...from scratch using his own created/adapted recipe.  It was so amazingly delicious that I decided I had to share it.  We had steak, augratin potatoes (from a box), mixed vegetables, and corn bread (from a box).  Everything was scrumptious.  So here are the recipes:

 Andy's London Broil
 2 lb boneless Top Round Steak
1/4 C balsamic Vinegar
4 cloves of pressed garlic (his term was crushed but crushing the garlic sounded kind of violent)
2 T evoo (Extra Virgin Olive Oil...I think he's been watching Rachel Ray)
Salt and Pepper to taste (lots)

Mix EVOO, Balsamic, and Garlic
Poke steak with a fork on both sides a whole lot
Poor mixture over steak and flip it twice to coat the entire steak
Let sit for 1 hour in the fridge
Preheat oven to broil
Remove steak from marinade and place in a clean dish to broil
Shake generous portions of salt and pepper on both sides
Broil 7-8 minutes per side
Core temperature should be 130-135 degrees Fahrenheit
Slice thinly (1/4 - 1/2 inch) at an angle and serve IMMEDIATELY
Do Not offer steak sauce...it should be sumptuously juicy!!!
Might look something like this:

Andy's Sauteed Crunchy Veggies
1 Cup Carrots
1 Cup Green Beans
1 Cup Sugar Snap Peas
3 T balsamic vinegar
1 T honey
1/2 tsp brown sugar
2 pinches of dried minced onion

All veggies must be fresh not canned
Cut veggies into bite size pieces and place in a saute pan
Mix balsamic, honey and brown sugar in with the veggies and saute on high until veggies are tender but NOT soft or mushy

So, feel free to try these recipes out and let me know what you think.  Of course, we thought they were delicious and I can't wait for my husband to cook them again!  I hope everyone had a fabulous Valentine's Day!  I love any reason to tell people how much I love them!

PUKE!!!!

Yes this is going to be a post about vomit.  I know, gross but that's all I've seen for the past two days.  Anyone know when it is that kids stop puking in their beds and start puking in the toilet?  Thank God for my wonderful husband who actually cleaned up all of the puke from the beds while I had the pleasure of cleaning the puke out of my children's hair.  This was a first experience for me. 

In the past my son has woken up, got himself wrapped around me and then puked all down me, thus I was cleaning puke off myself.  This time however, he rolled around in his puke a little bit first, then came down and told me that he threw up in his bed.  Then I went to wake up my daughter and yes she had done the same thing!  GROSS!!!  It is way more difficult to clean chunky puke out of longer hair when it is caked in there (yes I am a TERRIBLE mom; which is causing me major anxiety, and had no idea that she puked until it was caked in her beautiful baby hair). 

The most important part to this story is all of the wonderful things I learned about dealing with puke and children:
1.  Kids get scared when they think they are going to vomit; thus they want to crawl up on their mom's lap for protection.  The cold, stinky toilet just isn't as comforting.
2.  Babies don't make noise when they puke so if you hear something even remotely odd....check immediately.
3.  Never believe your child when they say they aren't going to puke...it isn't that they aren't going to, just that they don't want to.

Lessons in parenting...gotta love not having an owner's manual!

Snowy Days

I absolutely LOVE snowy days!  I guess growing up in Oklahoma for 90% of my life caused me to think that snow only happens on very rare occasions.  I only remember a couple of big snows in my time here in Oklahoma and they were the most glorious times.  When I was in the fourth grade I remember getting an absolutely huge amount of snow.  It must have been at least two or three feet...though it seemed at the time to be way more than that.  My brother and I spent as much time as possible building forts and something that somewhat resembled an igloo.  I remember spending 30 minutes outside at a time and coming inside, stripping down to our long underwear and leaving all of our sopping wet snow gear on top of the vents to dry out while we drank hot chocolate and watched TV.  My brother and I had a blast (maybe one of the only times we spent an entire day without getting into an argument).  Now, as a mom...I think it's even better than being the kid.  Experiencing the joy and excitement of playing in the snow through my son's eyes was enlightening.  I had so much more fun, explaining how snow forms, how the drifts form, and why we don't eat yellow snow.  I loved providing the new experiences for my child like making snow ice cream and ice slides.  It reminded me to see everything in amazement.  Even though I have always marveled at snow, it is even more amazing now through the eyes of my three year old.