“Love alone is capable of uniting living beings in such a way as to complete and fulfill them, for it alone takes them and joins them by what is deepest in themselves”

Teilhard de Chardin - 

Would You Wear One Of These????

Yes . . . it's a shower ring.  And I'm guessing your answer is probably 'NO!'  But after you visit here:  Bracelets . . . you may just change your mind!  :o)  

If I had any craft-ability in me I'd try it (hahaha!  I'm already picturing masses of melted plastic stuck to my fingers, hair, clothes, counters, etc.  It's not a pretty visual!)  :o)

But for those of you that are - I just had to pass this along!

Happy Crafting!

Cowboy T's Random Question of the Day . . .

Quiet moment during the day.  Everyone quietly doing their own things.

Then - the silence is broken by the following conversation:

T:  Hey Mom?
Me: Yeah T?
T: Do they make acid proof buckets?
Me: . . . . . ?????? . . . . . ?????????????????? . . . . . .  ummmmmmm . . .

(should I be concerned . . . ?)  ;o)  But seriously - I mean he has a good point!  What DO they keep acid in???? Hmmm.  But where in the world did that random thought come from?!?!?!  Ahhhhh . . . we've moved WAY past 'why is the sky blue'!

For all Moms and anyone who influences the lives of our children!

Why Oh Why Oh Why?!?!?!?!?!?

WHY is this what I see at the foot of my bed at one in the morning?!?!?!?!

(please refrain from answering that question as I am quite sure it will link back to my stunning parenting skills! HA!)

 

And THIS my friends . . . is the glory of summer!

LOVE THEM!!!!!!!  (the crazy nuts!)  :o)

MoMatron!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So . . . a little background.  Because we both work - our children have cell phones.  They are mainly to contact us before and after school as needed.  Of course - the oldest two LOVE this concept!!  Cowboy T isn't really phased by it either way.  He rarely uses it or cares where it is for that matter!

Yesterday I noticed his phone was dead so I plugged it in to charge it.  Imagine my surprise when I see a large amount of texts rolling in.  Even more odd was that they were all under the name of MoMatron.  My brain began rapidly flipping through the rolodex storage files of all knowledge I have - and after a few seconds (hahaha!) I realized I was unable to associate the name with anything.

So I somewhat irritatedly questioned out loud to my sweet children . . . "Who is this Mo  Matron person on Travis' phone!?!?!!?!?!?!?!?!"  It  wasn't even a half a second when they all burst out into laughter.  I didn't get it.  So I threw in my best "I-don't-know-what-you're-laughing-at-but-I-see-no-reason-for-any-laughter-until-my-question-is-answered" look.  It did nothing to quell the laughter but it did speed up a response.  Hrmph.

Did I feel silly or what when they lovingly told me that this strange person sending my sweet son a plethora of texts was . . . . . . ME!!!!!  I. AM. MOM-A-TRON!!!!!!!!!!

I am beyond honored and flattered!  A super hero of sorts!  Perhaps a Transformer!  I am Momatron!  (I guess it was the other capital M that threw me off!  :o)

I wasn't irritated any more - just to clear up that little silly tiny matter I mentioned!

Wow!  I had no idea my children felt so Super-ish about me!  Life is good!

Ok kids . . . BRING IT!!!!!!!

I find myself trying rather unsuccessfully to claw my way out of this deep bewildering pit of "natural bickering of childhood" (as my own children claimed it to be while cheerily defending themselves).  In sheer desperation tonight I found myself constructing a way to manage this self-consuming issue with the least possible amount of parental involvement on my part that I can think of.  (I'm SO going to win mother-of-the year!!!)  ;o)

So here is my newest strategy which will be unveiled tomorrow.  I printed 20 copies after which my printer proudly proclaimed (and then snickered) (I swear!  I heard it!  I'm not kidding!  It's also part of this maddening unnerving plot against me!  I'm ok.  Really.  I am.) that it was out of ink.  With 20 copies we just might make it to about 10 AM.  (Hello sweet Office Depot!  See YOU in the morning!)

You know . . . the more I think about it . . . I do recall bickering with my own sisters.  Maybe it is a natural part of childhood.  Maybe the madness part of it is just me!!!!  Aggghhhh!!!!  And as such . . . I may be seeking professional help!!!  Or maybe I just need a nice relaxing massage.  (not likely!) Or a trip to the store by myself? (Ugh!)  Or a walk to the mailbox.  (Too hot!)  Ok maybe just a walk upstairs. (All the way up there?)  A trip to the bathroom?  (well I'd have to get up to do that) . . . Maybe there's some chocolate in the house.  Hmmm . . . Oh look!!!!  I guess this semi-melted, sticky, fuzzy m&m between the couch cushions will do.  Mmmm Yummy!  Ahhh . . . yep . . . that did the trick.  Now I can go on - I've had my "me" moment.  I'm good for . . . oh . . .say another 10-15 minutes.  HA!!! :o)

Conflict Resolution Request

Circle one:   Is this   URGENT   or a   NON-ISSUE  ?

Is there fire or blood involved?                         YES                        NO

Can this matter  be worked out between the disputing parties without outside mediation?

YES                        NO

Circle one:  Is this a   TATTLE   or a   TELLING  ?

If it is a non-issue, blood or fire is not involved, the matter can be worked out independently between the two parties or the matter is classified as a tattle please place this paper in the closest waste receptacle.

If further intervention is still necessary – please briefly describe below:

Names of parties involved:  ____________________________________________________________________________________

Issue of dispute:  _____________________________________________________________________________________________

Did you like it?  ____  Why not?  ________________________________________________________________________________

What would you like to happen instead?  __________________________________________________________________________

Please communicate your above comments to the other party involved.

If this matter still requires further intercession please sign below, deposit on your progenitor’s pillow.

Your Signature  _________________________________________________________________

All requests will be responded to within a three day period.

Thank you for your cooperation,

Dad & Mom

My Silly Silly Boys

An Open Letter to the CEO of ECMC

After receiving a letter from ECMC (student loan company) regarding the theft of my personal info I wrote this in a much needed attempt to vent . . . not so much on the actual topic below . . . but it sure provided a great avenue to release a whole lot of pent up emotion!  ;o)

April 13, 2010

Dear Janice,

Thanks for your letter dated 3/31/2010.  It’s good to hear from you.  I received your letter on 04/12/2010.  This letter notified me that my personal information has been stolen – including my social security number, birthday, loan information, address, etc “resulting in the potential loss of your personal information.” (my own emphasis included)  I appreciate your assurance that no savings, checking or credit card account numbers were included in the theft.  Phewph!  That’s a relief!

In the nearly two weeks time it has taken for me to receive this information it is possible that my credit has already been completely destroyed and while no credit card or other account information was included – it’s ok.  I’m sure that didn’t stop anyone from opening up new accounts, running up all kinds of charges that I will be held responsible for in the years to come.  It’s fine really.  I’ll find out about them as I try and purchase a car (trust me – my crappy Daewoo (they don’t even make those anymore) that’s pushing 120,000 miles won’t last through the end of the year), a home (not in today’s market!), run a credit check for my children’s braces (can you believe all three of them need braces?!?! Just our luck!) – oh – and of course, as I try to secure student loans for my own children’s college education which is now only a few years away.

I am impressed that you have now chosen to enhance your electronic and physical security protocol.  What a relief that my information won’t be stolen yet again.  But wait . . . there’s more!  I’m the lucky winner of 12 months free triple alert coverage monitoring membership!  Woohoo!  You know now I’m really comforted.  Because now instead of being at the counter of the orthodontist when I’m declined – or on the verge of signing house papers when I’m denied financing – I’ll know ahead of time which will spare me the horrific embarrassment of other people witnessing my disbelief.  (That usually involves my mouth hanging open, stammering, wide-etc. Not very pretty to be witnessed.  So I’m relieved about that.)  What’s that you say?  We can always rely on my husband’s credit?  Funny thing you should mention that . . . he got a letter from you today too!  Since your name is signed to each one I’m sure I don’t need to tell you what his said too!

Here’s the funny thing . . . when I activate or enroll in the triple protection I’ve won since my info was stolen - I’m sure I get to give them all my information (ha! Ironic don’t you think?!?!?) – which will no doubt be protected (hopefully) by the same methods of your new security protocol.  I’m a tad confused at the wording at the end of page one.  “When you call, blah blah blah place a fraud alert at no charge.”  Wait!  What?  At no charge?  See to me that kind of wording indicates that at some point there will be a charge.  So now I’m suspicious.  Not that I was before or anything – but is this a commercial to get me to sign up for something?  You know – like those diet pills on tv where they say 90 day free trial – and in fine print it says if you don’t cancel on the 3^rd Thursday that has a barometric pressure of .257 when allergies are high you will be charged $500 every month automatically for the rest of your life.  Thankfully, I’ve never needed to buy any of those – but I do often wonder about the ethical marketing practices of those companies.  However, I digress.  Surely in the midst of this theft which has affected 3.3 million people (did I mention how much better that makes me feel.  Oh!  Well 3.2999999999999 other people had their info stolen too.   No big deal.  I’m part of the masses – don’t complain – trudge on like the rest!) no one would be trying to make gain further down the line from this - making a profit off of me from this crime which has been committed.

See I guess part of my thinking is that my husband and I are raising three children.  Since my personal information isn’t personal any more – I’ll go ahead and tell you they are 13, 11, and 9.  These three children are what we feel will be our greatest contribution to society.  Why you may ask?  Well I will tell you.  Thanks for asking.  See our kids are being raised to be honest, have a moral compass and understand that actions have consequences.  Not just “I’m sorry” and it’s all ok – but seriously – actions have consequences.  So for instance hmmmm. . . let’s say that my son’s teacher has entrusted him with the trophies for field day for the entire class.  They are in his backpack and his teacher says, “Tyler, keep these safe.  I’m depending on you.”  “You bet I will!” he replies and they head off to the playground.  Well, after a while he is tired maybe a bit complacent and thirsty too.  So he takes that backpack off and sets it down right beside him at the water fountain to take a drink.  In that split second that he takes that drink and stands back up – it’s gone.  Rather than drawing this out – you can fill in what happens between him and the teacher and the note that comes home.  The teary face that gets in the car after school . . .  Here’s where the story picks back up.  When he gets home there are a lot of ways this could go.  We could say:  A.  That teacher never should have given him that responsibility  B.  Oh well.  C.  It’s not your fault baby.  D.  Here’s a letter to your teacher saying sorry and good luck with that or E.  You were given a responsibility.  Sometimes these things happen and people might be dishonest and do wrong things that affect you.  But when we have been entrusted it is our responsibility to make sure things are cared for.  Let’s make a plan on how you can earn the money back to make sure your class has new trophies in time.  –Now clearly that might require us to help him in order to reach that goal – but that would be the right thing to do.  Not say – “Sorry Teach – too bad about those trophies!  Guess what – I’ll take a picture of some trophies and maybe you can pass those out and that’ll make everyone happy for a while.  It’s no big deal.

I feel comforted by your statement on page two Janice - that you “regret any difficulties this incident may have caused you.”  Regret for 3.3 million must weigh heavy late at night.  Just think of all those individual headaches that must cause – not just once – but all the headaches over the YEARS it takes to clean up identity theft. 

My favorite part of your whole letter was this:

No police report available at the time – but if you want it – you’re on your own.  It’s your problem.  Don’t contact us about it – call the police department (are they prepared for 3.3 million calls? – oh wait – most of us are masses that just keep trudging on – opening the mail – reading this same form letter shaking our head – and then dealing with the realities of our days without time to meticulously plan and follow up on our impending identity theft) – and by the way – here’s the police department number which is long distance on your own dime.  I guess mailing the report out to us when it becomes available isn’t a responsible option?  It’s only OUR information that was stolen.  It just seems a little odd that wouldn’t be a natural response or expectation for something that we had entrusted and yet has been stolen.

What I love the most (I guess I keep saying that – your letter just really tickled me) is that this is not the first letter I’ve received like this.  Actually, this is probably my sixth letter from a company I was supposed to trust warning me that my identity has been thefted by someone.  (And yes – I know that’s not a word.  It just seemed to fit.)  Don’t worry – not all six were from your company of course.  Banks, student loans, car loans, etc. - they all send a very similar letter – opps lost your stuff – sorry about that – try your free trial for this tracking company – have a great day!  But at this point I’m guessing my identity is non-existent.  In fact, I’m looking into renting a billboard and putting all my info – you know – social, bday, name, age, favorite color, checking account balance (oh wait – that might deter someone), hobbies, etc and then have at it.  Go for it world!!!!  Here’s my info!  Keep it safe!!!!!!  And so – now that you know the multitude of letters I’ve received regarding the same topic – and that your company is not the first – I just want to thank you for your time.  Hopefully you have a sense of humor and understand it’s been a long day.  Your letter allowed me the opportunity to vent a million other things that just culminated into your letter – because you know what?  I admit.  I am one of the masses.  How do we even begin to fight back against this?  I’m mad but I will trudge along as usual.  I’m too tired.  I work hard all day.  I teach special needs kids – 3 and 4 years old (some with significant behaviors that cause me to come home black and blue).  With that in mind - I LOVE my job because I love my students and I love teaching them.  The rewards are immeasurable - but it makes me tired.  But I don’t stop then.  I come home and try to raise our kids to be the best citizens they can possibly be.  But when the day is over – I’m done.  Tracking down my credit doesn’t cross my mind.  My husband works extremely hard too.  We are exhausted at the end of each day.  Between the two of us we make enough to break even.  We’re not big spenders.  You know our type . . .  we shop at Walmart (even the thrift store here and there – but shhh – don’t tell).  Sometimes we don’t go to birthday parties because the cost of a gift just isn’t in our budget that month.  Shopping at Target is upscale to us – at least until we get through this whole braces and college thing.  So this finally brings me to a close.

I appreciate your time.  Perhaps this letter put a smile on someone’s face as they do their job of reading mail all day long.  Perhaps it will even reach your desk.  You have to admit it’s better than Dear blah blah blah.  Your account is yadda yadda yadda.  Besides your name – Janice - sounded like a nice person’s name with a hint of a sense of humor, understanding and optimism.  I know your letter to us had to pass all kinds of lawyer tests and stuff – but just between you and me Janice – it came off a little form letterish.  I’m sure that wasn’t your intent.  Sometimes all those stuffy CEO, President, CFO, COO, C3P0, titles get in the way of just a real person – who may actually - quite possibly be understanding and maybe a little tired at the end of a long day too.

Sincerely and with respect,

Mary E.

(whose favorite color happens to be yellow)

HUGE blessings!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So my Buddy plays the cello.  So far he's played a 3/4 size cello and loves it.  Problem is he keeps growing!  :o)  And soon he will need a full size cello.  This has weighed on us greatly.  A few days ago we were at the local music store picking up a new string and of course - we went and looked at the used cellos just to see.  They were $3100+   This is why it's been weighing on us.  I was worried Bobby would be this big 17 year old hunched over a miniature looking cello.  On our way home my bro-in-law called and told me this obscure little music store I'd never heard of was going out of business.  It just so happened that when he told me that I was sitting at a red light - DIRECTLY in front of where the store was!  Coincidence?  I think not.

We went in and I asked about strings, a banjo . . . (they didn't have any - but someday!!!!! I will find one!)  :o), and a few other musical-ish things.  Then on a whim I asked if they had any used full size cellos.  He said he had one but it was pretty beat up and didn't have a bow.  I asked to see it anyway.  When he unzipped the case . . . we were both speechless.  It was beautiful!!!!!!!!  The neck had been repaired at one point - but didn't affect the quality of the instrument.  I later looked online to see if it was a huge deal and several luthier's websites said it didn't matter.  So anyway - I took a deep breath and asked how much.  We both heard him start with a 7 and our hearts sunk thinking he was about to say $700 . . . and then he finished w a 5.  Seriously!  He did!  $75!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  And then he went in the back and found a really nice bow he just threw in too.  I can't believe how blessed we were!!!!  We got it home and it has the most beautiful tone too it.  It is amazing!  I looked up the maker and it's not factory made - but luthier made.  A couple days later we went back and my Mom found a hard cello case for $50 (which online used for the same kind is $350).  Now it will be protected in a better case too!  I just wanted to cry I was so relieved and felt so blessed!  Bubba is so happy he has been playing and playing - which we love!  He is really really good!  He doesn't play like a 6th grader that's for sure!  So proud of how hard he works!

Fun Old Summer Pictures . . .

OUCH!!!!!!!!! Seriously!!! OUCH!!!!

So Bubba was so excited when his friends from church called to go play laser tag at the local pizza/bowling place. They were there about 30 minutes when he fell and hit his head on one of those metal railings like they use when you're lined up for a roller coaster or something. It happened so quickly that he didn't have time to put his hands out to break his fall. They immediately brought him home and we went straight to the ER. They did a CAT scan and everything is a-ok. The doctor said: "We checked his brain and nothing was there!" That was the comedic relief we needed - although the doctor was so embarrassed when he realized what he'd said. We all thought it was pretty funny though - even Bobby!

But bless his heart - he does have a concussion and he's still in quite a bit of pain - but he was so brave and such a trooper about the hospital. It's not his favorite place at all. I am so incredibly grateful everything was ok. There aren't words that seem appropriate enough to actually express how deeply I mean that. A lot of worries go through your mind as a parent - and Bobby had a lot of questions on the way there about what might happen that I honestly didn't know what to tell him. Thankfully we didn't have to worry about any of that. He said the CAT scan was a little scary. They wouldn't let me go in with him and it seemed like an eternity for both me and him - but I guess it was only about 10 min. One of his school teachers had recently told the class all kinds of horror stories about when MRI and CAT scans go bad! (Thanks a lot!!) But he made it through just fine! Phewph!

The picture below is while we were on the way to the ER. It's the biggest bump I've ever seen - so if it might make you queasy don't look. I think my Bubba was most upset because he was doing a great job at laser tag and they were going to play a second round and then go to the park and he had to miss all of that. Poor guy! It looks like he'll probably end up with double black eyes as it drains and heals. He looks a lot better today. The area is swollen and tender - but nothing like yesterday - thank goodness!

Who is that masked mammal?!?!?!?

So rumor has it that our school attic houses a little family of raccoons. While I've never seen them personally there is strong evidence they exist. Coming back after summer vacation we noticed considerably less fish in the fish tank and a dead one on the floor with bite marks on it. A quick review of the security cameras showed a mama raccoon sneaking out at night - climbing on top of the fish tank - lifting the lid - scooping up fish and flinging them down to the floor for her babies to eat! All mama's have to feed their babies!!!

New Blog

I know I haven't been great about posting lately - and I promise I'll get better. I have so much to share!

But check this out! My new blog: http://mrsmarysclass.blogspot.com/

I designed it with my student's parents in mind. There is so much information out there and many of them are at the beginning of this journey in need of a little direction and support.

Anyway - I thought some of y'all might enjoy it too. :o)

If you come across anything that would be good to share - send it on!

Much Better

So I went and I'm fine. :o) Some things occurred that mean I will need to go back and testify on Friday. I will get served another subpoena. Just going today and seeing the place and the people made my nerves settle and I don't think I'll have any problem on Friday. The unknown always makes me nervous until I can at least visualize it in my head.

The Family Courts building has got to be one of the saddest places. If you ever need to feel grateful or blessed go there. I've never seen such excruciating pain and anguish written on people's faces. It was really humbling. Thanks for all the prayers and support! I really really appreciate it!

Headed to Court

I've been subpoenaed to testify in a court case in the morning in relation to a student of mine.

I have no problem with doing it - but without any frame of reference for something like this I'm a little nervous not knowing what to expect. I just keep praying I won't get flustered and that my mind will be clear. Sometimes the thoughts in my head get all jumbled under pressure - but hopefully as they come out of my mouth they will be just fine! :o) Should be interesting!