Jewelry for the wife...

My husband, being unhappy with my mood swings, bought me a mood ring the other day so he would be able to monitor my moods.

We've discovered that when I'm in a good mood, it turns green.

And when I'm in a bad mood, it leaves a big frickin red mark on his forehead.

Maybe next time he'll buy me a diamond. Dumb ass.

Go Elf Yourself!

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Ah yes, it is national Leftover Turkey Soup Week

Alas, we have no leftovers. It's one of the problems with going away to have fun with friends on the holiday. I'll likely make a turkey this next week or so and make some awesome turkey soup from it. Kasia's been requesting it forever. We do lumpy mashed potatoes whenever we like, so it's not going to be a special dinner or anything. I just got after Thanksgiving turkeys on sale and bought two - one for the fridge, and one for the freezer. I'm impetuous like that. Heh.

Anyhoo, it's been a week of work and cleaning... Mom's likely to come to see Kasia in Annie, Jr., and we certainly can't let her see how we really live. And honestly it takes that kind of motivation to actually get off my rear and get everyone started. Of course no one here is a self-starter. Kasia tries, but like many 12 year olds, it soon becomes "I have to do everything. She has to do nothing. Wah, wah, wah." Either that or she's horking cookies from me, holding out her hands and saying, "Alms? Alms for the poor?" She needs a better union; as do I.

Speaking of unions (like that segue?), TJ's union is trying to screw him over. Not gonna happen. he's loaded them with paperwork filing grievances. Long story short, he may be back to his higher paying position soon. Perhaps not on days (where we like him) for awhile, but at lest it's a step in teh right direction . Squeaky wheel and all that.

Speaking of squeaky wheels (again with the lead-ins), a certain little someone was a sickie for a few days and missed the three days of school before Thanksgiving. She'll be making up a math quiz and test after school tomorrow. Big whoop. She had 102.5 at its highest (or at least at its highest before I treated it) and over the three days it dropped. She went on Zithro, the magical fruity drug, and a wackadoo cough med that really helped. Once she stopped draining gunk from her head (including what I thought was brain matter at one point when she sneezed it across the room), she felt a lot better. Tuesday she should have no problem singing.

Practices are now in "run through" stage. It's getting to be crunch time now. I'll have 95% of my props there on Tuesday for them to practice with so they get used to it. And we found a dog to use for Sandy. She's a 1 1/2 year old golden retriever, trained well. Her name is Lily and she loves Kasia to death. (She's got a way with animals, even if they're ornery. Em does too...funny.)

Em and Kasia both got report cards. Just as I suspected, the school psych was there. I was ready to smack him one. Of course an Aspie kid can have extreme focus when there's just two of you in the room. (he made a comment back in 2006 or 2007 that he'd never seen test results as good as hers.) He all but called her lazy, hard headed, and just plain "not gonna do it" attitude. Not always true. (Yes, that is true to some extent, but what they don't "get" is that it's the Asperger's and anxiety that makes it worse. And that what they're seeing is her ON meds that work. I'm half tempted to take her off all her meds so they can really see the difference. He kept harping about the meds and side effects and blah, blah, blah. And just about said, "I'm the one with the PhD." Who friggin' cares. I LIVE with it.)

But I digress...

I'm looking to get everything in order, get rid of tons o' crap, and NOT have a crazy Christmas. Mike already knows he's getting a laptop. We got a new tv (our old one has been on its last leg for about five years...we finally broke down and bought an LCD for a really good price. Wanna take bets on whether or not he can really last until Christmas without hooking it up?) I can't write here what the girls are getting, because Kasia's one of my readers. (Stop snooping, you little brat! LOL!)

Organization. My key word.

I figured 7+ garbage bags (of clothes only) for Goodwill is a good start. There's more to come...we haven't cleaned TJ's room yet. Ugh.

When I die....

Today I'm still feeling kind of sickish - fatigue, joints hurt, eyes ache, and some "south of the equator" rebellion. Nothing contagious, I'm sure. But I'm not licking the bacon or anything over here. I went and got the flu shot when everyone else was shitting their pants about getting a vaccine that "wasn't ready." "How dare they expect me to get injected so I'm less prone to infect half the universe with the latest flu!" Whatever. Get over it already.

Bit I digress...

Heard today (while I was cooking meals to hold us over...you know, should I kick off or just feel like being lazy or anything...)

Him: What are you doing?

Me: Making three different meals.

Him: Why?

Me: Because when I keel over tomorrow, you guys won't starve to death. I suppose I should do laundry, too, so you're not all naked and shit.

Him: *sniffing with scrunched nose* But I don't like sauerkraut.

Me: How about I open a can of whoopass and you can chew on that? *WHAP*

Who cares. Let 'em forage for berries.

I am MADD... and you can be, too!

Recently MADD created a blog - The Power of Parents.

The Campaign to Eliminate Drunk Driving kicked off in November 2006 with the goal of eliminating drunk driving permanently. The Campaign has four essential elements:

• Mandatory ignition interlocks for ALL convicted drunk drivers
• Increased law enforcement efforts including crackdowns during holiday weekends, sobriety checkpoints and saturation patrols
• Advanced vehicle technology that would make it impossible for a drunk person to start a vehicle
• Public support – led by you and other concerned citizens nationwide

All the talk about making the right choices - that has to start with the parents. Children are not able to make choices by themselves any more than we could at that age. (I agree times have changed, so don't just sit back and call me a fuddy duddy...trust me.) If we made our own decisions, we'd have ice cream for breakfast, hot dogs for lunch, and cookies for dinner EVERY. NIGHT... And clogged arteries and no jobs...or we'd all be superheroes and nurses and veterinarians.

My kids recently participated in Red Ribbon Week this month. They need these talks - in school and out. And they need to know they can come to me (or you) with any questions or concerns they might have. Yes, you start young. I did. I don't know why a lot of people avoid the "taboo" subjects such as the proper names for body parts, the functions of body parts, what happens when you do something wrong, like drink (not only do you feel like crap, you also break laws, potentially killing people, AND you have to suffer the wrath of your mother!)

Seriously though, I know far too many alcoholics, and one of them lives in my own house. That story comes later.

So here is our story from about three years ago. (I'm happy to say he has since stopped drinking - after a few more slip ups - and realizes now that he had to choose between his family and alcohol.)

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Such has how livid I am in regard to TJ's behavior tonight at Kasia's TKD banquet.

What kind of jackass drinks (after we agree to stop for the evening), lies about it, and then gets behind the wheel with his two young children with him?

As it turns out, he spent about $60 at the cash bar! I had no idea he even had that much on him. (Now I know when he went out to "charge up the truck" earlier today that he went to the ATM. I wonder where his bank card is now. It certainly isn't in his wallet.)

Luckily I noticed something was up about two blocks out of the parking lot. He couldn't keep it between the lines, and then he started to speak. Everything he said was slurred so badly that I thought perhaps he was having a stroke. He still claimed he was fine to drive!

The kids are pretty shaken up - especially Bug. She was literally screaming in fear when she saw how he was driving even a few blocks out of the parking lot. They begged him to pull over. He claimed he was "fine." I forced him to let me drive when I heard him slurring. (He didn't say anything before that.) I thought he was having a stroke at one point it was so bad. Had I had one inkling he had had that much to drink I NEVER would've let him get in the driver's seat.

Kasia told her dad that she doesn't want him at the banquet next year at all. I can't say I blame her. Other people had come up to me throughout the evening (after we had hit our "stop drinking" point) and asked if I was the designated driver tonight. It should have dawned on me then that they saw something I didn't. (I wasn't with him for a good part of the evening. Now I know where he went and why. And now I know why he was making such an ass of himself on the dance floor.)

I guarantee you he won't remember some of what happened tonight, like him grabbing someone else's girlfriend, the look of horror on her face, his acting like he knew a dance and knocking over a few people, and not being able to stand up at the end of the night, along with slurring his words and bobbing his head, trying to explain it all away.

The girls are pretty mad at their dad, and scared. And I promise them this - it will NOT happen again...EVER. Over my dead body.

I'M not just mad..I'm LIVID. I told him that it would take killing someone with his drunk driving for him to realize that he needed to stop...and quite possibly that it would be his children that he killed. (For months they wouldn't get into a car with him driving, even if they knew he was sober.)

Thanks MomCentral for raising awareness with MADD.

*Disclaimer: “I wrote this review while participating in a blog campaign by Mom Central on behalf of MADD. A donation was made to MADD in my name to thank me for taking the time to participate.”