My family made some decisions this week, and hopefully we will be back on the West Coast before the end of June. I think the finality of the decision has lifted my spirits, so....here is my song for today!!! (Forgive me if I forgot some of the words, this is a tribute to my friend Ramona back in Boise!!!)
I Want a Hippopotamus For Christmas
"I want a hippopotamus for Christmas
Only a hippopotamus will do
I don't want a doll, no dinky tinker toys
I want a hippopotamus to play with and enjoy
I want a hippopotamus for Christmas
I don't think Santa Claus will mind, do you?
He won't have to use a dirty chimney flue
Just bring him through the front door
That's the easy thing to do
I can see me now on Christmas morning
Creeping down the stairs
Oh what joy, what surprise
When I open up my eyes
To see a hippo hero standing there
I want a hippopotamus for Christmas
Only a hippopotamus will do
No crocodiles, no rhinosauruses
I only likes hippopotamuses
And hippopotamuses like me, too
Mom says a hippo would eat me up, but then
Teacher says a hippo is a vegetarian
There's lots of room for him in our two-car garage
I'd feed him there and wash him there and give him his massage."
I want a hippopotamus for Christmas
Only a hippopotamus will do
No crocodiles, no rhinosauruses
I only likes hippopotamuses
And hippopotamuses like me, too
Friday, December 11, 2009
Tuesday, December 8, 2009
Happy December
Wow, I suck at this blogging thing - no posts since July. The Love Dare thing went really well, and I feel much closer to both my husband and also my children.
Am kind of feeling grinchy this Christmas though. 2nd year away from my family and I miss them terribly. Skipp is getting to stay home with the kids this year, and I have to work, so I just have not gotten into anything. I don't even have a tree up yet.
I did go over to my friend's house last weekend and make Christmas Candy,
that was a lot of fun, but since I can't really eat any of it, well, you know.
I have made it my goal to look up a happy Christmas song every day for the rest of the month, hopefully that will help me to get into the spirit. Let's see how it goes.
Day 1
Randolph the bow-legged cowboy...oh wait...
Rudolf, the red-nosed reindeer
had a very shiny nose.
And if you ever saw him,
you would even say it glows.
All of the other reindeer
used to laugh and call him names.
They never let poor Rudolf
play in any reindeer games.
Then one foggy Christmas eve
Santa came to say:
"Rudolf with your nose so bright,
won't you guide my sleigh tonight?"
Then all the reindeer loved him
as they shouted out with glee:
"Rudolf the red-nosed reindeer,
you'll go down in history!"
Plan - make Rudolph cookies with the girls tonight when I get home.
Am kind of feeling grinchy this Christmas though. 2nd year away from my family and I miss them terribly. Skipp is getting to stay home with the kids this year, and I have to work, so I just have not gotten into anything. I don't even have a tree up yet.
I did go over to my friend's house last weekend and make Christmas Candy,
that was a lot of fun, but since I can't really eat any of it, well, you know.
I have made it my goal to look up a happy Christmas song every day for the rest of the month, hopefully that will help me to get into the spirit. Let's see how it goes.
Day 1
Randolph the bow-legged cowboy...oh wait...
Rudolf, the red-nosed reindeer
had a very shiny nose.
And if you ever saw him,
you would even say it glows.
All of the other reindeer
used to laugh and call him names.
They never let poor Rudolf
play in any reindeer games.
Then one foggy Christmas eve
Santa came to say:
"Rudolf with your nose so bright,
won't you guide my sleigh tonight?"
Then all the reindeer loved him
as they shouted out with glee:
"Rudolf the red-nosed reindeer,
you'll go down in history!"
Plan - make Rudolph cookies with the girls tonight when I get home.
Friday, July 10, 2009
Fireproof
My family watched Fireproof this week, and I really liked it. I have found the book "The Love Dare" and Skipp and I are going to do it..we are starting on Monday, hopefully I will be able to post some of our "Dare's"
Friday, June 12, 2009
New Job
So, Jessica tells me I don't blog often enough, so here is my brief blog!! I started a new job on June 8, and I haven't run out screaming yet, so it looks like all is well!! LOL
Saturday, May 9, 2009
Happy Birthday to ME!!!
Wow, what a great week I have had. My birthday was on Thursday, and I did not have to work, so I had plans to have some ladies from church who live in or around Lyons (and don't work) come over for lunch...well, it did not go as planned, but we still had a great time, and we accomplished some service while we were at it. One of my friends daughter ended up in the hospital, so the other friend, who was planning on bringing blueberry muffins, brought the muffins and we went together to visit the friend in the Hospital. We were there for probably an hour, just visiting. It was really nice, and I am happy to say that when I went back last night, the daughter is looking TONS better than she did before!!!
Then last night, my lovely husband took me to the Star Trek movie!! AWESOME!!!!!!! It was great...definately on my "own on DVD" list. Of course, if you know Skipp, you know that he talked all the way through the darn movie, I really felt sorry for the couple who sat behind us. LOL
Today I went to the city wide yard sale in Sterling and found 4 kitchen chairs for $3, so when the Missionaries come over, they won't have to sit on folding chairs anymore. LOL (Not that they complained, but still) Plus I found an ORIGINAL copy of the game Clue! For 50 cents!!! YAY ME!!!
Aaron is at a Young Men's funtion today, even though he is not technically a Young Man for 9 more days.....I guess that is close enough. LOL
Then last night, my lovely husband took me to the Star Trek movie!! AWESOME!!!!!!! It was great...definately on my "own on DVD" list. Of course, if you know Skipp, you know that he talked all the way through the darn movie, I really felt sorry for the couple who sat behind us. LOL
Today I went to the city wide yard sale in Sterling and found 4 kitchen chairs for $3, so when the Missionaries come over, they won't have to sit on folding chairs anymore. LOL (Not that they complained, but still) Plus I found an ORIGINAL copy of the game Clue! For 50 cents!!! YAY ME!!!
Aaron is at a Young Men's funtion today, even though he is not technically a Young Man for 9 more days.....I guess that is close enough. LOL
Wednesday, March 18, 2009
March 18, 2009
So today I went to work, I do in home care for the elderly. Anyway, he didn't need any housekeeping, or anything like that so we spent an hour and a half playing checkers. I feel creepy getting payed to play games.
A lady from church and I have come up with a fun swap. I am giving her daughter lessons in playing the clarinet, of which I am pretty good at, I played in school from 6-2 grade, plus in 11-12 I was in the All-State honors band. Then I played for 3 years in college, concert band and marching band. Plus I played in the Gem County community band for 2 years. So 11 years of experience. Anyway, she is teaching ME how to quilt. So last thursday she showed me this wonderful thing called a rotary cutter. I need one, it is on my wish list for my birthday now. I have cut out a whole bunch of squares. Tomorrow she will show me how to sew them together. It would be nice if I had my sewing machine, but I will just have to go use hers until I get mine back from Idaho. Hopefully this summer.
What else, oh yeah. The same friend from church went to a stampin up party with me on Sunday. The people get together every month at a different person's house and whoever is hosting gets the hostess benefits, maybe I can get that paper cutter I have been wanting. The only problem is that they do it on Sunday, but it is so much fun that we both decided to put our names on the list. We are meeting at my house next month. The third sunday in April. I am not sure of the date. sigh, I know I wrote it down somewhere.
Well, hopefully this recap catches me up for the week. Next time I won't wait 11 days to post.
A lady from church and I have come up with a fun swap. I am giving her daughter lessons in playing the clarinet, of which I am pretty good at, I played in school from 6-2 grade, plus in 11-12 I was in the All-State honors band. Then I played for 3 years in college, concert band and marching band. Plus I played in the Gem County community band for 2 years. So 11 years of experience. Anyway, she is teaching ME how to quilt. So last thursday she showed me this wonderful thing called a rotary cutter. I need one, it is on my wish list for my birthday now. I have cut out a whole bunch of squares. Tomorrow she will show me how to sew them together. It would be nice if I had my sewing machine, but I will just have to go use hers until I get mine back from Idaho. Hopefully this summer.
What else, oh yeah. The same friend from church went to a stampin up party with me on Sunday. The people get together every month at a different person's house and whoever is hosting gets the hostess benefits, maybe I can get that paper cutter I have been wanting. The only problem is that they do it on Sunday, but it is so much fun that we both decided to put our names on the list. We are meeting at my house next month. The third sunday in April. I am not sure of the date. sigh, I know I wrote it down somewhere.
Well, hopefully this recap catches me up for the week. Next time I won't wait 11 days to post.
Saturday, March 7, 2009
Letter from ADHD son
I found this online today, and I think it says a lot about the way my son behaves and acts. I am posting it here today so I will be able to come back and read it when he is really driving me crazy.
Dear Mom and Dad:
I have Attention Deficit Disorder. It's something to do with the executive functioning in the brain's frontal lobes. I'm like a factory without a CEO. It feels that way sometimes - like no one's in charge and I'm out of control.
When I was little, I was so hyper you called me "the mother killer." I'm sorry I gave you a hard time, but it wasn't my fault. You took a lot of grief for having a brat, but my ADHD was behind it. I didn't mean to run away, smack other kids, jump in the pool with my clothes on and do all the other stuff I did. Stuff that made you unhappy.
That's why I am writing this. I want you to understand how ADHD feels and why I can't control myself.
My ADHD means that I am easily distracted by things. I can sit in a movie like everyone else, but the man crunching popcorn next to me will bother me the entire picture. When I'm in class, I can't concentrate on the teacher because I'm too aware of the kid who's sharpening a pencil or the construction workers outside my class window. I'm no good at concentrating. Everything pulls my attention toward it - even if it's just for a few seconds. It takes a sonic boom to distract you. But EVERY LITTLE THING distracts me.
My ADHD means I'm impulsive. The popcorn man is ruining the movie for me so I may suddenly smack him. I may tell the boy who's sharpening his pencil to stop making so much noise. Then I'm in trouble for hitting the popcorn guy and yelling out loud in class. I'm always in trouble and making you look bad.
My ADHD means my sense of time is no good. Tomorrow may as well be twenty years from now. I don't think long-term. When my teacher says that this homework is due on Friday and Friday's five days away, I don't care. Five days is forever. Then when Friday comes, I'm dead where I stand because I haven't even started doing the work. When someone tells me that drinking will fry your liver twenty years from now, I don't care. I only care about how good that drink tastes in the moment and that it makes me feel less hyper and depressed. I know it's hard for you to understand, because you have day-timers and appointment books and Blackberries. Try to understand that I can't plan ahead - not even two hours from now. I can't even learn to plan ahead unless you teach me how to.
My ADHD means my sense of judgment is not only off, it's missing. Again, no executive function. I've heard of ADHD kids who die in extreme sports or one ADHD kid who jumped in a lake on a dare and ended up in a wheelchair because the water was only two feet deep. You need to know that I'd probably do the same thing. I'll take any dare offered. I don't see the risks involved because I live in the moment. I just think how cool it would be to jump in that lake and have everyone admire me.
I was lost in school by second grade. For one thing, school was always incredibly boring to me. I know my sister loves it, but I don't. For one thing, half the time they give us tasks I don't understand - like "write a term paper." I don't get how to go to the library, look up stuff, and take notes. If they would break it into small steps, I could do it, but they don't. They just say, "Write a term paper." Everyone else understands how to write a term paper or make a pie chart or whatever. I'm not stupid, but I just can't organize things. That's why I really started flunking out in middle school. I can't organize the work from one teacher, much less five teachers.
I wish they would not keep reminding me how high my IQ is and how I'm not applying myself. Most boys with ADHD have language-based learning disorders. We are not slow learners or dumb - -it's just that the words on the page jump around and we have trouble focusing our eyes on that stupid little print. I can't read very fast and I hate writing. I fail because school is all about reading. I know that there are computer programs and high-tech stuff to help ADHD kids, but they don't have them at my school.
I know you hate the kids I go around with, but they are the only ones who like me. The cool smart kids don't like me because I have a wicked mouth and don't know when to shut up. Also I don't get good grades. They're all worried about college and careers and stuff, but I can't think that far ahead. I don't have any goals and I wouldn't know how to set them.
I spend a lot of time playing video games. Like drinking, they calm me down. I get in the zone when I play X-Box because there's so much going on: shooting, characters, colors, quick reactions. The games work as fast as my brain, but when I stop, I get even more irritable. I know I act worse after I've been at them at day. It would be better if I would only be allowed to play them a few hours a day, but I guess you get welcome relief when I'm in that zone.
My favorite shirt says "NO BOUNDARIES." I can be really hostile to any limits you set. But I've heard that kids like me do better with regular hours for stuff. Like you wake up at a certain time, eat breakfast, and know exactly what's happening every hour. I know that would calm me down. That would take away a lot of anxiety I have inside me that everything is out of control. I also know I feel less jumpy when I get more exercise, but I usually don't bother. I just drift from one thing to another.
Sometimes I think no one likes me and that even you guys are sick of me. I know you wish I was more like my sister, Little Miss Perfect. If I give her a hard time, it's because I'm jealous. If you add up all the times she got yelled at since she was born, it would be less than five minutes. For me, I've been yelled at for whole years and lifetimes. I hate the way you yell so much and I really love you guys even if I don't show it. I wish I didn't have ADHD and I'm sorry I give you a hard time. I am trying hard all the time but it feels like I never get any pay-off no matter how hard I try. Trying really hard only moves me toward normal, it does not make me normal.
Well, this is my letter anyway. Maybe you understand ADHD a little better now. I love you.
Your Son
Dear Mom and Dad:
I have Attention Deficit Disorder. It's something to do with the executive functioning in the brain's frontal lobes. I'm like a factory without a CEO. It feels that way sometimes - like no one's in charge and I'm out of control.
When I was little, I was so hyper you called me "the mother killer." I'm sorry I gave you a hard time, but it wasn't my fault. You took a lot of grief for having a brat, but my ADHD was behind it. I didn't mean to run away, smack other kids, jump in the pool with my clothes on and do all the other stuff I did. Stuff that made you unhappy.
That's why I am writing this. I want you to understand how ADHD feels and why I can't control myself.
My ADHD means that I am easily distracted by things. I can sit in a movie like everyone else, but the man crunching popcorn next to me will bother me the entire picture. When I'm in class, I can't concentrate on the teacher because I'm too aware of the kid who's sharpening a pencil or the construction workers outside my class window. I'm no good at concentrating. Everything pulls my attention toward it - even if it's just for a few seconds. It takes a sonic boom to distract you. But EVERY LITTLE THING distracts me.
My ADHD means I'm impulsive. The popcorn man is ruining the movie for me so I may suddenly smack him. I may tell the boy who's sharpening his pencil to stop making so much noise. Then I'm in trouble for hitting the popcorn guy and yelling out loud in class. I'm always in trouble and making you look bad.
My ADHD means my sense of time is no good. Tomorrow may as well be twenty years from now. I don't think long-term. When my teacher says that this homework is due on Friday and Friday's five days away, I don't care. Five days is forever. Then when Friday comes, I'm dead where I stand because I haven't even started doing the work. When someone tells me that drinking will fry your liver twenty years from now, I don't care. I only care about how good that drink tastes in the moment and that it makes me feel less hyper and depressed. I know it's hard for you to understand, because you have day-timers and appointment books and Blackberries. Try to understand that I can't plan ahead - not even two hours from now. I can't even learn to plan ahead unless you teach me how to.
My ADHD means my sense of judgment is not only off, it's missing. Again, no executive function. I've heard of ADHD kids who die in extreme sports or one ADHD kid who jumped in a lake on a dare and ended up in a wheelchair because the water was only two feet deep. You need to know that I'd probably do the same thing. I'll take any dare offered. I don't see the risks involved because I live in the moment. I just think how cool it would be to jump in that lake and have everyone admire me.
I was lost in school by second grade. For one thing, school was always incredibly boring to me. I know my sister loves it, but I don't. For one thing, half the time they give us tasks I don't understand - like "write a term paper." I don't get how to go to the library, look up stuff, and take notes. If they would break it into small steps, I could do it, but they don't. They just say, "Write a term paper." Everyone else understands how to write a term paper or make a pie chart or whatever. I'm not stupid, but I just can't organize things. That's why I really started flunking out in middle school. I can't organize the work from one teacher, much less five teachers.
I wish they would not keep reminding me how high my IQ is and how I'm not applying myself. Most boys with ADHD have language-based learning disorders. We are not slow learners or dumb - -it's just that the words on the page jump around and we have trouble focusing our eyes on that stupid little print. I can't read very fast and I hate writing. I fail because school is all about reading. I know that there are computer programs and high-tech stuff to help ADHD kids, but they don't have them at my school.
I know you hate the kids I go around with, but they are the only ones who like me. The cool smart kids don't like me because I have a wicked mouth and don't know when to shut up. Also I don't get good grades. They're all worried about college and careers and stuff, but I can't think that far ahead. I don't have any goals and I wouldn't know how to set them.
I spend a lot of time playing video games. Like drinking, they calm me down. I get in the zone when I play X-Box because there's so much going on: shooting, characters, colors, quick reactions. The games work as fast as my brain, but when I stop, I get even more irritable. I know I act worse after I've been at them at day. It would be better if I would only be allowed to play them a few hours a day, but I guess you get welcome relief when I'm in that zone.
My favorite shirt says "NO BOUNDARIES." I can be really hostile to any limits you set. But I've heard that kids like me do better with regular hours for stuff. Like you wake up at a certain time, eat breakfast, and know exactly what's happening every hour. I know that would calm me down. That would take away a lot of anxiety I have inside me that everything is out of control. I also know I feel less jumpy when I get more exercise, but I usually don't bother. I just drift from one thing to another.
Sometimes I think no one likes me and that even you guys are sick of me. I know you wish I was more like my sister, Little Miss Perfect. If I give her a hard time, it's because I'm jealous. If you add up all the times she got yelled at since she was born, it would be less than five minutes. For me, I've been yelled at for whole years and lifetimes. I hate the way you yell so much and I really love you guys even if I don't show it. I wish I didn't have ADHD and I'm sorry I give you a hard time. I am trying hard all the time but it feels like I never get any pay-off no matter how hard I try. Trying really hard only moves me toward normal, it does not make me normal.
Well, this is my letter anyway. Maybe you understand ADHD a little better now. I love you.
Your Son
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