One cannot live on tuna cassarole alone!

I was going to write a funny and attention captivating post but this morning, while I was gettin dressed, it got me thinking of more indepth topics. You will notice that I do my best thinking in the bathroom in the mornings! Probably cause that is the ONLY time of the day I am alone and CAN think! No bickering, no demands, no Barney or The Wheels on the Bus. Anyway........

For those that don't know, I have been dealing with my Grandmothers care for two years now. Since my Pop passed away. Grams has Alzhiemers Disease (hence forth known as AD). She is still very functional but needing much more care than I wanted or could give lately. She lived with us for two years, I handled her care for three, and she just recently moved to an assisted living center near us. So our life is kinda starting new again and currently being turned around trying to get resettled.

All this has lead me to some deep thinking over the last three years. I have moved from the self-centered world of young adulthood full of soccer practices and PTA cupcake bake sales, into a world of uncertainty. Like who will take care of me when I get older..... I don't have a pension, how will I live.... social security.... life insurances and long term care policies. So in my 30 something years (yeah I said 30 something....this is MY blog and I can say anything I want and I said 30 something! Have something to say about it, write your own blog! LOL)....so.....in my 30 something years I have started to think about the rest of my life. I can't say I like it either. This is why all our parents in their "30 something" years started being stressed out and developing things like ulcers and heartburn!! Cause it was at this point in their lifes they too stepped out of their world and into reality.

But all this thinking, besides giving me a headache, makes me think of my childhood. And as I move up that aging life chain, I wish I could step back into that world of warm tuna cassaroles, sandboxes and proms. (Maybe not in that order) How lovely life would be wouldn't it? If you could go back?? I remember wishing how soooooooooo wanted to be 17....21......25...... and now I think how lovely it would be to go and play in a sandbox.

I remember coming home and playing for hours after school outside till it got dark and the owl started to hoot. We would run and jump and play kick ball till "DINNER!" was called. Probably that warm tuna cassarole!!!! And if I was lucky there was some Koolaid and jello calling my name too! Remember when red dye was the "thing"???

I remember getting a metal kitchen set. It was a small set....too big for Barbie and too small for dolls. But I LOVED it. I got it on my 6th birthday and thought it was the best gift ever. It just might have been! It came with all these little kitchen items and foods. I played with that both inside and outside in my sandbox till it was old and rusty!

I remember Sunday being laundry day. Ahhh the smell of fresh sheets!!!! (No lysol there!) And eating dinner early so that we could get in our jammies to watch The Wonderful World of Disney before bed.

I remember when my 1st boyfriend broke up with me and how it seemed like the end of the world! I would never have anyone better and life was going to come to an end.

What I don't remember is how my Grandparents must have felt or lived. Being raised by older people, they came from an era where they just didn't fight in front of the kids. They didn't even TALK in front of us. I mean real talk.....like about finances, jobs and such. As I walk into this other world of my life, it makes me wonder how I never noticed these things. Was I so wrapped in my own world that I never wondered how they did it? Or were they just masters at creating a perfect childhood world??

How could they have afforded to pay for all those pageants I did as a child? How did they pay CASH for a new car??!! Didn't they every disagree with eachother?? Fight? Even over something like socks being left on the livingroom floor?? Cause if they did, I never noticed. I don't remember those kinds of memories. I don't remember being denied anything really. I think they were probably trying to make a perfect world to make up for one that wasn't so much. But I really don't remember the bad. And as an adult I now KNOW they had to struggle. And fight. They HAD too. But I just don't know those memories.

Todd and I do not live in that world. We live in a much different world. A world of socks in the livingroom, take out, fights over who left the milk out and talks with the kids on not being able to afford that new $800 video game that just came out last week that they don't need anyway cause they just got one a week ago for their birthday and they should play with that instead of asking for something else already and.....................*breath*............ok....yeah that might be another post yet!!! Seems I have issues! LOL!

I wonder if I am doing the right thing. I mean my life was pretty good as a child. My life in a self centered world of .....ME. I was happy. I wish I could go back!! Will my kids sit and think the same thing when they are turning "30 something"? Will they have happy memories? Or will they remember that they didn't get that $800 new video game?

I can only hope that they will still know they were loved and that they were happy. Even without the video game. That they will have memories full of hugs, kisses, friends and laughter. That they will remember the days at the beach, me and Dad teaching them to ride their 1st bike and swinging outside till the owl hooted and "DINNER" was called.

But I hope that they will also take with them the arguments too. So that they learn that they can fight when they are married and that it is ok. And every couple has financial issues and they can say no to that $800 video game and life goes on. And....well.....that life can still be good and happy. Cause one cannot live on tuna cassarole alone!

Stay tuned for the next blog installment entitled....Kim's issues with the $800 video game. Coming to your computer soon!

Fresh air, clothes pins and third degree burns

I was talking with my step mother about clothes. She likes to hang her clothes outside and loves it. My thoughts on this was how do you not get your sheets to feel like sandpaper or your jeans to stand on their own when you hang them outside?

Wanna hear a funny....My grandmother, who raised me, always hung her clothes. Never owned a dryer. So I got married and decided that I would hang too. Cause that was what you were supposed to do, right? That was normal. Everyone did it!! Add in that I didn't know how to turn on a dryer anyway! *wink wink* Which all this was a good thought at the time since it was August. Not sure how my gusto would have been come December and 20 degrees with snow!

Anyway....so I go out and proudly hang everything. What a good wife! But where we were living was city water. You know. With chemicals and such? Hard water gallore! (where I came from was well water) I think the jeans would have taken a layer or two of skin off if we had put them on! Imagine that ER trip and trying to explain your injuries....."Well dr I put on the jeans my wife hung outside and got thrid degree burns trying to pull them on!" Ok that might be a bit dramatic......They certainly could stand on their own without falling over! And needless to say, being a young bride, it took me a while to realize why and that it was just not going to happen! LOL! I was destained to never have clothes that smelled as good as my grandmothers! I didn't do the hanging of clothes for very long!

I AM thinking on trying it again now that we are back out in well water in a different town. Undecided. Now that I am older, the idea of lugging out basket after basket of clothes to hang just doesn't have much of a new-bride thrill like it did back then! The dryer is now my friend! And you know...if you buy Lysol in Fresh Linen scent, you can get that "smell of freshly laundered sheets that have hung out on the clothes line to dry" and actually never have to go outside!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! How awesome can life be???!!!!!

A breakfast of poptarts, toothpaste and Dr. Pepper

Morning comes, the sun rises and the birds break out in song and we slowly open our eyes to a new day. Mornings in this house is full of excitment though. The pleasant, peaceful coffee commercials you see on tv rearly happen here. Mostly cause...well....I don't drink coffee. But I still need my eye opening. That usually consists of Dr. Pepper, Pepsi or any of the other many sugar filled caffine bubbly one can think of. I know. A bad habit but granola and wheat bran is not a common thing in my house. We have a sweet tooth. Oh I don't let the kids drink soda for breakfast. That is all MINE! They get much more nutritious things like Capt'n Crunch and poptarts! Wouldn't want anyone to think I am a bad mother or anything. I feed them. In reality they are just not breakfast people. Eggs and bacon are not seen here often unless it is close to noon on a Saturday. My house in the morning is more like a routating door. People come in, people go out, and only I seem to stay....with my Dr. Pepper in hand and a smile on my face.My son is the 1st up at 5:30. My middle DD is up at 6:30am while my son is going out the door to catch the bus. Then Megan leaves an hour later. Hopefully without any mental breakdowns over "I have nothing to wear!!" Oh yeah, did I mention that I run a family daycare too? Cause they are rolling in the door while my kids are rolling out. The mornings are full of backpacks, poptarts, ringing door bells and Barney. And, if God is kind to me, I get about an hour before Delaney wakes, with just me and my Dr. Pepper. Well and daycare kids and Barney.

This song on youtube is so fitting to my mornings that I thought I would share............

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A7R9SFBLvIk&feature=PlayList&p=7CA81CB76EA726A3&playnext=1&playnext_from=PL&index=50

The crew.......

Just to satisfy your growing curiosity!!!!

In the beginning...........

No I am not going into bible quotes. Just thought it was fitting for the 1st words gracing my blog!

As you will come to learn, I like talking. Mostly I end up talking to myself. I have a houseful of people and a dog too but I don't think anyone really listens to me....but....well me! LOL! Ok and maybe my dog Cherokee but I don't think that counts. So I figured I would start blogging so that I can better express myself without it looking like I am some crazy person talking to myself in the kitchen while making lunch with no one around. You know...express myself in a deep and meaningful way that makes one think. Or you can just shake your head and laugh. Either way is ok with me!

Which brings me to my family. I have a large age span as you will come to see. Ryan is my oldest. He is in that lovely sweet 16 "I hate you. I hate the world" stage in his life. Nothing seems to please him much other than video games and food. He is a soccer player but is now playing for the highschool team. That pushes game to just one season which beats having to sit out on a soccer field all year round, rain or shine...or snow! Kinda nice in a way and kinda sad as I have offically become a full fledged soccer mom and kinda miss the fold up chairs and grass beneath my shoes. I cheer on the sidelines and mumble that the coach has no clue under my breath with the best of them. In my heart I guess I am a wanna be soccer player. It was not a big sport in school when I was younger. But then I am not big on sports of any kind. Come to think of it, it is probably more my competitive nature more so than the soccer ball itself. I like to win. I like to win BIG. And even though I cheer my kids on through the good and the bad....cause well....they can do no wrong...... inside I am steamed that the that goal was missed on such a simple move!!! I just keep it to myself. And now my blog!

My middle DD is Megan. She is in that tween stage. Not yet a teenager but so wanting to be. Most times she is my easier child. She used to be extremely shy but has certainly come out of her shell. Now you can't get her to shut up 1/2 the time. Most days that is great. Other days I turn on my mom radio and push mute while she goes on and on and on. Just don't tell her that! LOL! Our little secret. Other times Megan is my MAJOR Drama Queen. Anything can set her off and when she starts it is with high volume WHINE! Enough that it is almost like nails on a chalk board. But I love her all the same. Whine and all. She is a very strong willed child. We often come to heads over things but I look at it this way....being a strong and independent woman will get her far as an adult. If she lives that long without me killing her in the process!

My youngest is Delaney. My little princess. Certainly the spoiled baby. She is adored by her big brother and so loved by her big sister. She gets most of what she wants and sometimes without asking. She just hasn't really picked up on that skill...yet. I am sure it is coming. She is fairly easy going at times and sooooooooooooo independent. She must do things on her own and her way. She is also my most outgoing child which, at times, I am not sure how to handle. Ryan was a mommas boy. He was always by my side as a young child. Megan was so shy she would have died if she ventured an inch from my leg. God forbid someone she didn't know talked to her!! Delaney keeps you on your toes in public places. She will wander off, smiling and saying hi along the way, without a care in the world. Where is mom? Who cares!! She doesn't need me anyway. Too much fun hiding behind the toilet paper stacks to worry about where mom is! She likes music and people laughing at her and dancing and is just in general a very carefree spirit. She certainly is the typical third child personality.

Just an FYI....all my kids deal with allergies. So that will likely be a common topic.

Ryan- seasonal, environmental and animal

Megan- food (oral allergy syndrome), severe seasonal and environmental

Delaney-outgrew wheat/barley/oats (Bless the Lord!) and environmental

That about covers everyone here....well except myself and my DH....and the dog....but we can always cover that in another post. I know you want to hear about the dog! Stay tuned! Same time, same bat channel