Unhappy Momma

I'm not a happy momma. Nope.

Friday, my sister-in-law asked if Thomas would like to go with her husband, son and another cousin to their house for the weekend. NO, I uttered. Their home is four hours from where we are staying.

I got lectured that I need to let go and let him experience life and quit worrying. I got chided (spg?) by my husband. I got pissed and told my husband it was up to him.

Thomas went.

He has ragged on me the entire weekend. I have not said one word about Thomas at all, but the teasing will not stop.

Now it's not that I don't trust my BIL, I do. I know Thomas will have fun. The whole point is why on earth did they need to drive four hours away when they were already at grandma's house having fun? In fact, they could have more fun at grandma's because grandma lives on 30 acres, has a cave, has a spring, has a creek. The boys were building a fort outside. They were having a blast here.

I have caught nothing but flack from almost every family member. There are 20 family members here, minus the three boys and BIL.

So here's the funny part. I finally asked my SIL *why* she wanted the boys to go to her home. Well, my sisters pick on my son and he gets upset and stressed out over it, so I just don't want him around that.

Okay, so is it me being overprotective or is it her?

This SIL is a public school teacher. I have had to endure the "homeschooled kids who enter the public school are always behind" BS the entire weekend. Did you all know that I am the only homeschool mother that is good? The rest don't put any thought into their children's educations. The rest don't educate their children.


The worst about all the homeschool talk has been that I cannot seem to come up with a good comeback. I sit there looking stupid, because I can't counter her. I guess I'm so shocked by what she says.

She wanted to know when we were putting Thomas back in public school. I smiled and said I didn't know. How about: WHEN HELL FREEZES OVER?

I think someone needs to make a list of anti-homeschool comebacks. I want to memorize it.

I have a headache.

Our Sad Thanksgiving News

The cowboy, also known as my father-in-law, passed away tonight.

He fell and broke his hip the morning after we left. So his passing, is a blessing because he won't have to suffer.

Our hearts ache, but I can't help but think about what a wonderful life he had. He was 81.

We will be spending Thanksgiving on the road again. Another nine-hour drive. This time our beloved dog will be joining us. I'm sure that will be an experience. Instead of chancing finding an open restaurant on the road, I am packing leftover meatloaf sandwiches. We are looking at that as a fun treat, as we all love meatloaf sandwiches. So, I am very thankful I made a meatloaf for supper tonight!

I told Thomas that some day after the new year, we'd have a real Thanksgiving meal and celebration.

I want to wish all my virtual friends a very happy thanksgiving. I am thankful for the blogging community, my blogging buddies, and my group buddies.

Will be back in a week or so.

Free Lapbook

I woke up this morning and headed straight for the computer with coffee in hand. I hadn't read The Well Trained Mind boards for a long time so thought I'd make a visit. I usually just read their curriculum board.

Someone asked what a lapbook was and someone answered by stating there's a free download right now at homeschoolestore.com. So for grins and giggles, I visited homeschoolestore, made an account and downloaded the free lapbook.

The download is for the Project Pack Continent Studies Asia by In the Hands of a Child. It is a multi-grade level. Normal price for this book is $18.

I downloaded it, opened it up and looked it over. Actually, I was quite impressed. We typically shy away from lapbook type projects because Thomas thinks that kind of thing is busy work. That kind of project just isn't suited to his learning style. When I was a kid, it would have been right up my alley.

I think when the time comes, I'll print it out and have Thomas actually do it.

Anyway, just thought I'd share the link as I love finding free goodies.

Evan Moor

This is for Mull-berry and anyone else who did not know this.

You can go to Evan Moor's website and look at many of their books online. Many of them you can look at the entire book.

I like many of Evan Moor's products, and I love the fact that they are confident enough to let their customers check out their products. Two thumbs up for them!

Mull-berry, the nonfiction book you asked me about in the comments section is one of the books you can look at. Rather than me giving my opinions, you can look at the entire book and make your decision.

I have problems opening their page-by-page book function up on my old computer that runs on Windows 98. In fact, it will completely freeze up my computer every time. I have no problem viewing their stuff on XP, though.

Not Suitable for Children who Love Seasme Street

Nine hours of this -- twice

A view, just past the Minnesota/South Dakota border. (I think -- it all looks the same.) This is what we saw for nine hours straight. I personally find the wide open spaces refreshing and beautiful.

We are home safe and sound. It was a very sad and difficult trip. I know it will be the last time we see the Cowboy alive. He gave us all a good hand sqeeze before we left, which was heart-warming.

I decided to give my husband some alone time with his mom and dad, so Thomas and I did a little sightseeing one day. We drove the Wildlife Loop of Custer State Park, toured Mt. Rushmore, went to the three open stores in Keystone and visited my old stomping grounds in Rapid City. November is just not a very good time for tourists in the Black Hills as not much is open!

My husband and I also went to the grocery store for my MIL. Thomas stayed behind. It was so strange to be alone with DH! We could not remember the last time we were alone together since beginning homeschooling! I'm not counting the times Thomas spent the night with friends, because we always stay home. We were actually out and about. We enjoyed our hour, short as it was.

I'll upload some pictures soon of our day out. I am counting it as a school day! For now, I feel so behind because I haven't bought anything for Thanksgiving dinner, I have to get my dog out of the kennel, I have to pay bills, yada, yada, yada.

It's good to be home.

A long, rambling post

It has been a "chitty" week. I don't swear on my blog, I do swear in comments on others' blogs, and I do swear in real life. So just change that word in quotes. (There, Thomas, I don't owe you a dime for cussing this time.)

This house seems to be a sick house. If it's not one thing, it's another. I ended up at the doctor's office on Monday and now have three new prescriptions and a renewal of my beloved Ambien. So at least I'm sleeping well. I am starting to feel better, too.

Homeschool this week has pretty much been a bust. We had a pretty good day on Monday, but Tuesday I had so much scout stuff to do in preparation for the den meeting, that school was dismal. Thomas did start reading Caddie Woodlawn. So far he likes it but not nearly as well as Laura. We're digging around to find some good boy series like these.

We set up a card table in our living room and are working on a puzzle. At a garage sale this summer, I came across a 3-D castle puzzle for a mere $2. They lady insisted all the pieces were in it. I'm sure they are, but the puzzle maker included a form to send of for missing pieces just in case. We've been pecking away at the puzzle and really enjoying it. My husband has even sat at the table and worked on it a bit. We've all decided we like 3-D puzzles better than regular puzzles. I still prefer online puzzles at Jigzone and work a few of those daily.

I found a website one night and had quite a bit of delirious bored-housewife fun there. I thought it smelled (in a good way) of homeschooling, and had that confirmed when I read the entire site. Thomas had a great deal of fun the next day at the site. He now wants to build his very own Lego castle. If you're studying middle ages and castles, check the site out. Sure to please if your kids love Legos! Thomas learned a lot there.

I found that site through this site, which I found on a google search. It is a great history links site which is now bookmarked in my favorites.

Last week Thomas and I decided that Story of the World was not meaty enough. He is, after all, in the 5th grade now, so I was reminded. So I broke down and ordered History Odyssey Middle Ages 2. That has not arrived yet, but our new Kingfisher Encyclopedia and The Story of Mankind arrived in today's mail. I was a little mad at Amazon because Mankind arrived with the ends of the book torn, scrunched and in poor, ugly condition. After closer inspection, the glue was off inside the book and the first several pages were -- well, icky, so it was probably the publisher. It would be more of a hassle to return it, though, so I'll just be ticked every time I see it instead. lol

I like Kingfisher. I never ordered it before because we have a similar book by McGraw Hill. I decided to order Kingfisher because I wanted to be in sync with HO instead of having to find the correct page in my McG Hill book. I was amazed when Thomas actually sat down and looked at it with me for a good 20 minutes this afternoon. It piqued his interest, probably because the pictures were better than our book. lol

Thomas has nearly completed his Nonfiction Reading book. This is by far his favorite school subject. Now he reads fine and with the discussion we do after reading, it really wasn't necessary that I get him a book like this. However, my child is like me, and he likes nonfiction. I knew he'd love it so I bought it for him. He has devoured the book. I need to order the 6th grade book and soon! This is the one thing that he will do on his own. I even caught him reading it on a weekend once.

We're heading out tomorrow to visit the cowboy for a few days. We'll be listening to Story of the World in the car, at Thomas's request, and I still need to find another book at audible. I have 11 credits left there to use up! I'm not looking forward to a nine-hour drive each way, though. Yuck. I need some flu powder.

Next week for school, because it will only be two days, we are working on scout stuff. Thomas has three badges left to complete. He's one of two boys in my den that will complete and earn all the badges. He's also going to work on his few remaining belt loops and pins from the Sports and Academics program.


That's about all that's happened at my kitchen table this week.

Another weird craft site

Holy buckets, I just cannot imagine what people are thinking.

I thought the tampon crafts were bad enough, click here and you can learn to make maxi-pad slippers.

Good grief.

Perhaps I could make a pair and give then to our "crotchety" old neighbor across the street for Christmas. he he

The Almost-Perfect Day

Today is a day I will remember. It really was the almost-perfect homeschool day.

Thursday night, my insomnia had kicked in. Even though I had taken my Ambien, I still could not sleep. My husband was snoring. He was crossing the invisible line and was partly on my side of the bed. I just had to remove myself and go to the couch. Feather pillow, DVD of Brokeback Mountain and Stop Smoking book in tow, I trapsed off to the living room. I made myself a bowl of popcorn, poured myself a Diet Rite, hit the play button, and snuggled in on the couch with my super-soft Biederlak blanket, affectionately called the fuzzy, my feather pillow, two cats. The dog would have crawled up with us as well, but there wasn't room. Instead, he laid down right next to me.

The movie started, and I just closed my eyes and soaked in the beautiful music. I need to buy the soundtrack because I love that music. In fact, that's the only reason I put the movie on. I read a few chapters of my Stop Smoking book. I have never, in my life, taken so long to read a book. I think that is a sign of a true nicotine addict.

Anyway, with a full tummy, a good movie, and all those critters, I finally drifted off. The last time I looked at the clock it was four in the morning.

I awoke to the sounds of my husband turning the television off, then he gently tucked me in. I was aware of him, but didn't speak. I just enjoyed his gentle nature, the softness of the blanket and feather pillow.

A little while later I awoke to the sounds of Thomas's voice. I could hear Spongebob on the TV as well. "Mom, it's time to get up," he said softly. I grunted. I opened my eyes and found my beautiful son sitting on the loveseat across from me. I looked closely and he had his spelling book, his vocabulary book, his logic book, and his favorite of all, the nonfiction reading book. He was over there doing work on his own.

When he saw that my eyes were open, in a bright and cheery tone, he said, "Good morning! Dad got me up before he left for work. Mom, I have showered, had my breakfast and done a lot of school on my own. I figured you must have had a bad night so I decided to let you sleep."

What a sweet kid! I couldn't help but smile at that. I got up, got some coffee in my system, showered, and when I was finally coherent, Thomas was done with the majority of his work.

At this point I realized the poor dog had not been outside yet. Just as I was starting out the door, the phone rang. My husband asked me what I thought of the great outdoors this morning. Oh my gosh, thinking quick, I said that it was pretty. Running for the window, I discovered about five inches of snow. A beautiful snow it was, too. The sky was gray, but the snow was gleaming white and it was reflecting the light so that it was very bright out. It was a picture-perfect snow. Heavy, clinging to plants, trees, shrubs. Ah. It was still snowing as well, the great big fluffy white snowflakes.

After that, we set up my boom box in the living room and put in our Story of the World disk. We listened for about an hour. We looked at books that corresponded with our CD as it played. We snuggled for awhile in the chair, then Thomas moved to the floor and listened while he played with his legos.

We would pause the CD and he would ask questions, many of which I didn't know the answer to. We would get off track and discuss other things. We kept catching each other's glance and then smiling.

It was perfect. A morning filled with love.

After lunch we decided we'd visit the library. I had a great big list of books I wanted to get on the history topic we were studying. I was anxious to get to the library then get home so we could continue our lovely day. I was so sad when we got to the library and I learned it was closed for the weekend for Veteran's day! (Happy Veteran's day to all the vets out there -- and thank you!!!)

Not wanting to put a damper on our now almost-perfect day, we decided to go shopping. We don't go shopping during school hours, ever. We both just felt the need to not go home empty handed immediately, so I made the exception this one time.

Not wanting to go to a mart store, and because we were downtown, the only store that was of any interest at all was the Salvation Army. So off we went. They had a huge Christmas display set up. We were amazed at all the cheap artificial trees they had! They were in great condition, too. Thomas and I laughed as we came up with a brilliant idea. We decided that we should buy one of those trees because they were already assembled, take it home, and use it. Then after Christmas, we could take it apart, put it in a garbage bag, donate it back to the Salvation Army. Then we could repeat the process next year. That way we wouldn't have to put the tree together every year, our least favorite part of decorating for the holidays. $15 for a beautiful six-foot tree.

It was a good idea, but I didn't want to spend $15 and I knew my husband wouldn't be too keen on that. We left the tree, but we did come home with a Classical Christmas CD, with all our classical favorites. $1. Not a scratch on it. I also picked up one book for Thomas, My Side of the Mountain for a quarter.

At the register we got "the question." An old, gray-haired, stern-looking lady asked, "Why aren't you in school?" Thomas hesitated. I piped in and said we're done with school, we homeschool. I was expected a lecture, because there was a group of senior women gathered at the register, you know, the kind that appear to be judgmental. Well, I was the only one being judgmental. They were all very nice. The one I feared the most smiled and told us her niece homeschooled all six of her children. Whew. We didn't have to defend ourselves.

After that we came home. We shoveled the driveway, and I didn't even care that public school was not quite over. Thomas is a lot stronger this winter and he did an excellent job yielding his shovel. I think he was surprised at how heavy the snow was, though.

Thomas is now in the back building a snow fort. I stood at the window, sipping my hot chocolate, watching him.

Yes, today was a warm-feel-good-fuzzy loving, learn-and-absorb-a-great-deal kind of day.

A day I'll always remember.

What day is it?

I am so lost. It is Wednesday, right?

Monday afternoon I started not feeling well. I had two meetings to attend Monday evening and luckily I felt better during the meetings. However, when I got home, I was almost out of it.

I have this recurrent pain in my abdomen. I have had it for years. I have no clue what it is. The only thing the doctor did was give me an anti-spasmodic drug for when the pain hits. Well, I haven't been to the doctor and my prescription ran out.

Aside from not feeling well, that pain hit. An Intestinal bug and that pain thing. Ugh.

Tuesday I was sick, sick, sick. I was worried I wouldn't be able to vote, but I made it. I jumped in the shower, threw sweats on, looked like a piece of work because I didn't do my hair, didn't put makeup on, didn't even care. I wore flipflops. In Minnesota. In November. DH drove and we went and voted. It took me about ten minutes, even though I knew how I was voting. I was so shaky that I kept resting my head on the table.

We always take Thomas with us to vote. I think it's very important. The place was packed and he was the only child there. The volunteers were very kind to him and chatted with him. They also gave him an "I voted" sticker.

I got yelled at by DH because we needed a gallon of milk and DH didn't want to stop and get it. Oh well. He did. He survived. Like it's my fault I'm sick and didn't feel up to getting a gallon of milk earlier.

When we got home, I passed out on the couch.

The worst thing about Tuesday was not that I was sick. Rather, it was my husband. He's been a pita lately. He knew I was sick. He also knows that when I'm sick, I gather up a bunch of work for Thomas to do independently (usually in bed next to me) and he will do it. I told DH before he left for work NOT to call home that morning because I needed my rest. I had been up ALL night long. So at 9 am the phone rings. It was my husband. He says, "It's 9, you need to get up out of bed now and do school."

I was livid. It was just the lack of respect that annoyed the h-e-double toothpicks out of me.

Last night I still was sick. Life goes on for a mom, sick or not. I did three loads of laundry, cooked a light supper, organized some schoolwork, checked email, surfed, then passed out on the couch again.

Today wasn't much better. I cancelled our dentist appointments for this afternoon. It was in the 70s -- in November -- in Minnesota -- and we were stuck inside. My dear, sweet husband startled us while we were doing pajama school at the table. He came home at 11. Seems he was sick, too.

I have always been one to admit my weaknesses. I am a whiner when I'm sick. My DH is not. Atypical, because supposedly it is the other way around, the men whine and the women endure. I didn't whine this time. Nor did DH. However, after Thomas completed his best ever narrative writing today, I woke sleeping beauty on the couch and had him read it. He knew what I was doing. Payback. He was gracious, told Thomas what a fantastic job he did, and he gave me the look. You know, that look of guilt. His eyes said sorry I was such an a$$.

This evening I was going over all of Thomas's work from today. He had an "on" day, his work was outstanding. It took me back to when I was a kid. When there was tension in the air between mom and dad, I was always on my BEST behavior. While DH and I weren't fighting, I'm sure Thomas picked up on the tension that was there. I wonder if that's why he had such a fantastic day today.

I think our tension is gone now. We were out of everything (but milk) and I had to go to the store tonight. I came home with $125 worth of groceries, so exhausted I didn't think I'd be able to put stuff up. Surprisingly, even though it was after DH's bedtime, he met me at the car, brought all the groceries and put them up. Okay, so he's officially forgiven now.

Sigh.

I think it's Wednesday. I need to snap out of my funk and get with it.

Impatiently Waiting

First and foremost, I'm waiting for my sleeping pills to kick in. It's close, but not quite there yet.

Secondly, I have Pete's Pond up on my husband's computer. I'm waiting for something other than birds to appear. I finally downloaded the real player thing-a-ma-bob that we needed to watch, so we just started viewing this weekend. We've seen some type of antelope, and lots of 'em, and two ostriches. I want to see an elephant. I can see becoming addicted to this, because it is calm, peaceful and relaxing to watch. Exciting when a critter comes walking by, too.

I'm waiting for tomorrow morning to come. I want DH to go to work. He was rather, uhm, grumpy this weekend, bless his little pea-picking heart.

I'm also waiting to find out WHY our Taco Bell closed. About five years back, a Pizza Hut/Taco Bell combo was built at a car wash. I love both Pizza Hut and Taco Bell, but when I'm on Weight Watchers, I can actually eat well at Taco Bell without guilt. When I'm not, I eat even better. My husband was on dinner duty tonight and he drove out to Taco Bell to pick something up. When he walked in empty handed, I nearly cried. Pizza Hut is still open, and that's what we ended up eating tonight. Now my DH is sad for me, but happy for him because when we get Mexican takeout, he prefers Taco John's. I'll eat there, and for Pete's sake, I *should* eat there because I did grow up in Cheyenne, Wyoming, home of the original Taco John's, but it just isn't Taco Bell. TB is better.

I'm waiting to start school. I puttered around all weekend organizing, going through books, correlating, etc. We've been doing Story of the World Medieval times, but we kind of forgot to do it the past two weeks. I was getting out all my medieval resources and actually got excited. I can honestly say that I did NOT learn any of that in my public school experience. I learned more when I toured 7 European countries in 35 days back in the '80s.

I questioned Thomas tonight as we were eating pizza. We had done the first three chapters of SOTWII. I asked him who the Celts were. Wow, he answered. I asked him about Beowulf. Again, he answered. He talked about the Romans without my asking. Okay, he's retaining.

This year I decided that because we usually use the CDs in the car, that I wouldn't buy the book. We have the CDs and the activity book. I don't like the activity book except for their book selections. Anyway, that was a huge mistake on my part because I don't know this time period and it's faster for me to read than it is to listen to a CD to know what to plan ahead for. I may, gulp, order the book tomorrow. I wish our library had it, darn it.

It's really funny because we had Thomas tested by the gifted educational psychologist specialist. She was a lovely woman. She told us that Thomas would not be an auditory learner in any respect, especially because he has CAPD -- Central Auditory Processing Disorder. She said he was a conceptual learner. Funny things is, Thomas is a superb auditory learner. That's how he learns best.

As a mom, you should always trust your heart, and follow your gut instincts when it comes to your child. You know what experts, well-informed relatives, and friends don't: You know your child inside and out.

I have a good kid and through homeschool his self-esteem has soared, he is happy, joyous, and perfect.

So I'm waiting for Monday morning, so we can get our week off to a good start. I'm waiting for my fantastic good-morning hug I always get.



Now I'm going to bed because my wait is over, the pills have kicked in.

Weird Craft Site

Because I am a 40-something, bored, lonely housewife whose husband's idea of a great Friday night is to be prone on the couch watching Numbers and then fall asleep, I found myself yet again, with nothing to do. All right, I'm doing laundry, but still. Thomas is no fun either, he is completely absorbed in a book.

Internet to the rescue. I decide to Google craft sites. Thomas likes making things (what I affectionately refer to as messes) and I like to find fun, creative things for him to make.

Before I share the website, I just need to share this. I have a wicked sense of humor. I find some things funny that most people don't. I'm warped and I admit it. Well, maybe not that warped, but I laugh at things my husband shakes his head at.

So this is the site I found. Crafts. I've set the stage, you know I have a crazy sense of humor, right? I've actually just been redeemed. My sense of humor is not crazy, wicked or gross. Someone out there is much sicker than I am.

For the record, I find these tampon crafts gross and disgusting and not funny at all. I do, however, applaud their out-of-the-box thinking. Those earrings -- just GROSS.

I think this made my Friday night. Perhaps the next time I'm PMSing and my husband does everything all wrong, which is always the case when I'm PMSing, I'll join the Menstrual Militia, make myself a special blowgun (and hope Thomas doesn't get it confused with his PVC blowgun that he made) and shoot my husband in the behind with tampons.

Seriously, what are people thinking???

I'm getting old

Thomas and I recovered from our traumatic lunch. We finished school and ran errands.

The wind is blowing from 25-32 mph. It is 33, but with the wind chill, it feels like 21. I am just not ready for the wind and cold. It makes me cranky.

We picked up his school photos at the studio. This year we went to the photography studio that does photos for the schools and had his homeschool photos done. I am so disappointed. The background is a horrible color for his skin and he looks washed out. I should have just taken him to Walmart.

We then had to stop at city hall to drop some scouts forms off to a gal that works there. We had a very nice visit with the gal. She is the nicest lady, but every time I see her I just immediately feel guilty. She's also the Weight Watchers leader. Yes, I used to attend Weight Watchers. Yes, I lost tons of weight and put it back on. Ugh.

Back into the cold and wind, we went to the grocery store for milk and bread.

Final stop: Kmart. I wanted to check out the Halloween sales. Nothing was left but junk, sadly. I should have gone out at 8am because there were some cool decorations I would have liked to have had. Oh well.

While there, we decided to look for a pair of slippers for Thomas. He felt that would be safer than being barefoot after his splinter episode this morning. The shoe aisle is right next to the sporting goods aisle. At the end of the sporting goods aisle was an entire endcap of hideously obnoxious musical decorations. Remember that stupid fish that you pushed a button and it wiggled and sang? Well, these decorations were along the same vein.

So we're shopping for slippers, Thomas is being picky and taking his time, I'm already cold and cranky, and along come two 20-something men. Boys, I should say. They hit every #$%#@ button and turned every single one of those obnoxious things on. The sound just really annoyed me. It annoyed Thomas, too.

So we continued our shopping, listening to that cacophony of mind-numbing, canned, so-called music. There were many playing, but none were in synch, so it was like listening to 50 kids singing a song one word off from the next.

Finally, the music stopped, and I felt better instantly. Thomas decided he needed to try every single pair of slippers on that were his size, and many that weren't. He had about two pair to left to try on and then make his decision. Along come two teenaged boys. Just guess what those two boys did? GUESS?

They hit EVERY single button and turned all those %&*#!! things on again.

Now this is why I'm getting old. I snapped. Really, I did. I stepped out into the aisle close to them and yelled, "Damn it, you try shopping listening to that crap. Knock it off!" It was a mean tone, too. Their laughter stopped immediately and they stood with their mouths hanging open, staring at the crazy lady.

It was then I woke up out of my trance and realized what I had done. That is SO not like me. Before I could say I'm sorry, they shot out of there. I think the crazy lady scared them. I know the crazy lady scared herself.

Thomas and I shot out of there, too. Without slippers. I was so embarrassed!

Thomas couldn't wait to tell his dad what I had done. They had a good laugh about it.

I think it's time to become a hermit again. I don't have to leave the house until Saturday and I'm not going to. I don't need to scare any more teenage boys. I don't need to scare myself or Thomas. (Thomas didn't get scared, he thought it was funny.)

Years ago, as a young girl, I would have hit all the buttons and giggled, too.

Sigh.

It was not on my agenda today to teach Thomas that his mom can easily go postal at Kmart.

Never a dull moment

We got up, started school and I was able to get some picking up done. Thomas was having a great "on" morning so I was free to move around here and there.

Thomas was sitting at the table, doing his writing, and kicking his bare feet. He stubbed his big toe on the underside of the table leg and aquired a huge splinter. The splinter went very deep into his toenail. It was highly painful.

As luck would have it (luck for me, that is) it happened two minutes before my husband would arrive home for lunch. So we iced the splinter and waited the longest two minutes. DH got home, and started to dig that splinter out. I was about to pass out. Thomas was screaming bloody murder.

DH was unable to get the entirety of the splinter out. He called his mom, who was an RN for 40 years for advice. We called the doctor's office to make sure his shots were updated. And now we're just going to watch it and hope it works itself out. We applied antibiotic cream to it and Thomas made himself a very cool bandage.

I have a headache now. His screaming, plus the fact that he was hurting SO bad, just did me in. He's fine now, but mom is worn out.

I hate it when things happen to him. I told him it hurts me worse, or at least as bad -- emotionally. I want to wipe any pain he may have to endure away. Then reality clicks in my brain and I know he can't grow without ups and downs -- and splinters -- in his life.

After my husband left for work, Thomas said to me: Thank you, mom, for taking care of me. You helped me a lot trying to get my mind off it and talking to me about last night while dad was digging. It still hurt a lot, but you made it better.

I guess a little love goes a long way.

I need to go to bed

But instead here I sit. Staring at this glowing box. Reading boards, blogs and more. I learned a very popular costume this year was Steve Irwin with a stingray barb in his chest. Now, I found that funny. Really funny. I guess many people didn't. I think humor helps people get over things when they hurt, so perhaps that's why I found it so funny. I didn't tell Thomas, though. I also was reading the message boards at Snopes.com and about peed my pants laughing so hard. Seems some college student in Boulder somewhere in time dressed up as a priest and he also had a cabbage patch doll attached to his outfit. To keep this G rated, I won't tell where. But it just struck me funny.

I couldn't come up with a creative, clever or unusual costume if I tried. Thomas desperately wanted to be a chameleon this year. We bought green sheets (no fabric store here) and I just ran out of steam, willpower or desire to attempt it. Actually I had no vision. So he went to a party as a green ghost, and he went trick or treating tonight with a Scream? mask on and a black cape. He was happy. I'm not. I let him down this year.

On my defense, my husband had been out of town for two weeks. I don't do well when he's gone. It's not that I miss him, I usually love it when he travels for a week. Longer than that, I do miss him. It's just that I let our routine get so out of whack that everything is a mess.

This past weekend, while I was worrying about the cat, I went on a rampage through this house. I must have done 20 loads of laundry. I washed anything cloth. All my lace curtains got washed and hung. Pillows, bedding, blankets, drapes, table skirts, rags, clothes -- you name it. So the night DH got home we were going into the bedroom ready to sleep when what do we see on the clean comforter/sheets/mattress pad? Our other cat, who was not sick, had hacked up a huge hairball right on the bed. Pulling the bed apart, it soaked all the way through to the mattress pad. I almost wanted to cry. In fact, I think I did shed a tear. Note to self, buy another mattress pad cover. We stayed up an hour and a half later so I could wash the mattress pad. Used our other sheets.

Well, my husband arrived to a spotless home (except the bed) and he exploded. He always explodes when he gets home. Yes, he's always grumpy, but that's not what I mean. His stuff explodes. His suitcase has been in the living room, in our bedroom, and now is in the hall. His gloves and hat are sitting on my kitchen counter. His glasses are there, too. His plane tickets and receipts he needs for work are laying on another counter. His dirty dishes are stacked in the sink. That man goes through more dishes than anyone I know. His dirty clothes are piled on the bedroom floor. His books -- this man reads two paperbacks in one evening -- are scattered everywhere.

My spotless house from Monday is a complete and utter disaster on Tuesday. See, that's one of the things I like about him travelling. My house stays clean.

I need to go to bed, but instead I sit because I am dreading tomorrow. My kitchen is trashed, although the dishes are done. His books, our school books, a garbage sack full of pumpkin guts, three huge pumpkins -- there's no where to turn. I entered Thomas's room tonight and it is a filthy mess! What happened? It was just so clean. I told him tonight as he got in bed that if we had a fire tonight and a fire fighter had to get in to save him, they'd trip and break their neck. I was just making a lame and crude comment, but I think that scared him. He got up and cleared a path to his bed. I didn't mean to scare him, but if he cleans the room tomorrow, I guess it would have worked.

Now that DH is home there are probably five loads of laundry awaiting. He actually expects me to cook supper -- or at least get food at the store so he can cook it. Sheesh, he just expects so much from me! ;-)

Okay, so when he gets home I get cranky, too. Because it means there's always tons of work for me to do.

I have a gazillion errands to run tomorrow, too.

What is bothering me the most, though, is how are we going to do school with everything such a mess! Thomas has attention problems and I pretty much have to be at the table with him, or at least in the same room. Table works better, though.

It's going to be a sucky day tomorrow. Either school will suffer or the house will. Either way, I will definitely suffer.

Calgon, take me away.

Finally, blogger let me upload a photo.

Please, ignore the mess -- although, what homeschooler hasn't seen piles of books everywhere, pumpkins, etc.

This picture was taken this morning. Snowball hopped on our kitchen table and started attacking Thomas's pencil.

I almost cried, it made me so happy. Things are back to normal. We love our kitty!

And one further thing -- Thomas's hair is not greasy, he just got out of the shower. When I saw the photo I was hesitant to post it due to that! lol

Happy Halloween

I hope everyone has a fantastic day. We will be carving pumpkins this afternoon, hitting the local haunted house late in the afternoon, then Thomas and his dad will hit the streets and I'll stay home handing out candy.

I love Halloween.

It has turned out to be a happy day aside from the holiday aspect. Yesterday I called the vet's office. I was not given an update, but told the vet would call me. Four hours later I called them again, right before the lunch hour, assuming I would get through -- and I did.

Snowball's body temp was back to normal, he had quit throwing up and he was well hydrated. He told me to come bring him hope as he'd get better faster at home.

His prognosis was very good if Snowball would eat. He gave me two types of special food, which literally stunk. Snowball turned his nose up at it, but being the persistent mom that I am, I spoon fed him. He must have thought he was getting something special because he wouldn't touch the stuff in his bowl, but on my spoon, he ate. He ate again this morning, too. Everything else is working. ;-)

The vet told me he would probably be lethargic yesterday. Well, he wasn't himself, but he was anything but lethargic. He bounced between Thomas and me. He followed us everywhere we went. He wasn't lacking energy. He slept with Thomas last night.

This morning, when we started doing math, I almost cried. Up jumped the cat, laid across Thomas's book, and started batting his pencil.

Sniff, sniff. Our beloved cat is back.

Thank you for all the well wishes.

Be patient with me while I obsess

I know, I know: I'm obsessing.

Snowball's blood work came back with only a very few things slightly elevated and the vet thinks that was just due to the stress of being at his office and getting blood work. He has no idea what is wrong.

Snowball is spending the weekend at the vet's office. He's crated, lying on a heating pad with an IV.

The vet promised to call me today to give me an update. At 12:30 I got a little upset that he hadn't called yet because I knew the office closed at 1. I called them. They changed their hours (or else I was just wrong) and they closed at 12. So, I have no clue how my cat is doing. They're not open tomorrow, either.

They had my phone number, my cell and my husband's cell. GRRRR.

I'm hoping that it is safe to assume he is still alive. Surely they would have called me otherwise. I'm hoping he gets better.

Snowball joined us every day for school. He thought it was quite funny to lie down on Thomas's work. He loved to bat the pencil, too. He looks like a big, fat cat in this photo, but it's mostly hair.

Not looking good

Another post about our kitty.

We took him to the vet this morning. He is dehydrated, but worse, his temperature is three degrees below normal. The vet said that is typically a sign that "they are on their way out."

We left him there as they are going to run blood tests and give him an IV.

It doesn't look good, in all honesty.

Thomas has been bawling all morning. This is the cat who sleeps with him every night. This is the cat who lies on his math book and bats his pencil during school. This is the cat we love with all our hearts -- all three humans in the house.

This is just out of the blue. Oh, so sad.

I have a bad feeling

My kitty is sick. Our precious white kitty who found my husband at work one day. Our loving, snuggling kitty who adores Thomas. I have a very bad feeling about this.

Kitty got sick a couple days ago -- all over the entire house. Even on my one-year-old love seat and carpet. I didn't complain like I might if there was a hairball, because I knew he was really sick. I didn't think to take him to the vet, either. Just thought it was a bug of some sort.

Today Kitty did not bother us during school like he normally does. We finally took a break in search of him. He was lying on his side with his mouth open. He looked dead. He wasn't. He was very lethargic, though. I carried him up the stairs and brought up a litter box for him. He finally drank just a touch of water and used his box. Then I tried to hold and pet him like he loves. He wanted no part of that. He jumped down, with great effort, and sat at the other side of the room watching us. Finally he lied down.

Tonight I lied down on the floor next to him and he let me pet him. He didn't purr, but he moved his head into my hand. I could tell he was enjoying this. I watched his eyes and they just don't look well. His mouth is funny colored as well.

I will be a basket case if he dies. I love this cat. Thomas loves this cat. If he makes it through the night, I'm calling the vet first thing in the morning.

My world just wouldn't be the same without him. Sigh.