The Tuesday Ten...things I did today.

1. Cleaned out the "mountain of mail" basket.
2. Made a "to do" list for my mother in law's 70th party at our house this weekend.
3. Finished the planting out back.
4. Weeded the front garden.
5. Watched an amazing video on racism at the middle school where I work.
6. Sweated like I delivered quadruplets. (see previous post on the weather)
7. Finished paperwork on my youngest cherub's latest endeavor, the viola.
8. Grilled asparagus--that was actually good!
9. Took daughter #1 to a therapy appointment.
10. Gave thanks for the day, in spite of the heat and chaos.

I live in the northeast section of the US. It is May 30th and the temperature today, was 93 degrees, with 60 % humidity. That annoys me. If I WANTED to live in South Florida, I would have moved there. What happened to a ramp up period? What happened to upper 70s, mid 80's, then the July jump to the nasty 90s?? I work in a school, that heats up like a brick pizza oven with one notable exception. The brick pizza oven at the local pizza place, is not crammed with middle school boys and girls, who may or may not have discovered deodorant.

Our administration is moving into a local school building, and the kids in that school, will be farmed out to a brand spanking new building (which teachers are already complaining about for various and sundry reasons). You can be damn sure, that they will have air conditioning slapped into that old school building faster than poop through a goose. That also annoys me.

I work in a classroom where there are students with special needs: ADD, PDD, Down Syndrome to name a few. Focusing is an issue for these students. You'd think they could put one stinkin' AC unit in the window to improve the environment in which these children are learning every day. Instead, it is, "I'll have mine half mushroom, half pepperoni." It is easy for me to bitch now. I sit in my relatively new (to us) house, with, for the first time, central air. I will never, ever, ever take it for granted. Yahoooo!!

The five movies I would choose, if they were the only ones I could see for the rest of my life--in order of preference:

1. The Wizard of Oz
2. Animal House
3. The Sound of Music
4. Rocky
5. On the Waterfront

Appetizer
What's your favorite flavor of ice cream? Penn State Creamery's Coconut Chip

Soup
What are 3 things you would like to put in a time capsule? A picture of my family, Bruce Springsteen's Born to Run CD, copies of my favorite recipes.

Salad
Name something you are 100% sure of. That in my life, I have made a difference in the life of a child.

Main Course
What is something you do to calm yourself when you're stressed or upset? Call my sister, have a glass of wine, or both.

Dessert
If you could receive an invitation to any important event, what would you like it to be? The Last Supper

Want to join Friday's Feast? If so, click HERE. If you already participate, please leave me a comment with a link to your Feast.

There should be brochures on parenting in the labor and delivery wing of every hospital. Because if there were, I would have picked them up. Sadly, there were none. Something should prepare you for the wrath of a 13 year old daughter scorned. My once honest, and forthright littld girl is now 13, and has morphed into a young lady who delights in testing the limits. I know, it's her job. However, it is our job as parents to set those limits. Last week it was sneaking "on line" when she was not permitted to, thinking she wouldn't get caught. A little "smoke and mirrors" ( so as not to arouse suspicion of computer parental controls)...and we got her to 'fess up. This past week, it was the dawning of the thong that got our undies in a bunch. Call it mother's intuition, but I knew the minute I saw her face on that early school morning, she was thonging. How did she expect to get those through the laundry without us noticing? She said she has been "thinking in the moment" lately, and not thinking of the consequences of her actions. At 13, she should at the very least have some forward thinking capabilities. Suffice it to say, her lack of forward thinking landed her in our laps for the forseeable future as trust has now become an issue. Looking at the bright side, we don't have to worry about where she is all the time when she's grounded. As for the thongs, they met their demise at the hands of my husband who took pair of pinking shears to them. I suggested hanging them on the Christmas tree come December. The pinking shears won out. I shared this story with a friend who is the mother of nine children, six of whom are daughters. While they are older, she too, remembered the time she came across thongs in the laundry. Her response? "It's about time. You've been up my butt for the last 17 years, it's time something was up your butt." Touche.

Thirteen Things I Did Today...

1. Blew a fuse blow drying my hair this morning, and drove around the neighborhood at 7AM looking for my husband who was walking the dog, so he could fix it, as I am clueless.

2. Sat in the sun on the bleachers at school, playing Uno with my 12 year old school day companion, Danny.

3. Ordered Jennifer's cake for her cheerleading birthday party tomorrow.

4. Went to the liquor store to stock up for the family party to follow the cheerleading party tomorrow.

5. Made baked beans.

6. Cleaned out the garden in front of our house.

7. Bought (3) perennials to put in the front garden tomorrow.

8. Cleaned out the cat box. Yuck.

9. Watched Jen's softball game on a sultry, spring evening.

10. Had anxiety for the better part of the early afternoon...annoying.

11. Made a list of last minute things to do tomorrow.

12. Cleaned out the garage gutter.

13. Decided I need to make this list every day, so that when I ask myself at the end of the day, "Where the hell did this day go?" I'll know.

While I originally thought we had lost our minds in our weekend quest for a waterpark getaway, I was pleasantly surprised! We laughed and laughed as we rode the water roller coasters and slides. We relaxed as we lazed our way down the "lazy river," (the old man and myself, n'atch) and had some wonderful meals out. (We bypassed the million dollar snack bar in favor of a more reasonable--and better tasting meal!) To be just over an hour away from home, yet feel as if we were quite a ways away, was wonderful. We all vowed to save our pennies and return again. Even the 13 year old had fun. Success? Yes, I think so.

Someday, I'll get creative and put up some cool links like my friend, Kate. I'm a total Kate-wanna-be. For now, the ramblin's will have to do.