Home for the Holidays

Several years ago, when I first started blogging, I wrote a post called "The 12 Irritants of Christmas." It was a great post, if I do say so myself (and I do). It's one of my favorites. And it helps that every Christmas I pass the inspiration for many of those irritants. (Tacky yard displays? Check. Decorated cars? Check. Freaky people in the mall? Double check.)

This year, the holidays are a little bittersweet for my family. In June we lost 2 people that were close to us ... as much as either of them could be close to anyone.

At the beginning of June, our friend David died from pancreatic cancer. He'd been diagnosed last Thanksgiving. David was a small, quiet man who worked with us at the church, and SuperHubby and I kind of adopted him. He spent most holiday dinners with my family. He didn't say much, but when he loved you, you knew it. I hoped he knew we loved him. When he died, I was given a gorgeous scarf he'd made for me and set aside to be gifted only after he was gone. Yeah, he knew.

Then at the end of June my grandmother's husband, Van, died. He'd fallen at their assisted living facility, hit his head on the sharp corner of a wall, and never recovered. He was married to my grandmother for 20 years, and in all that time he never complained when we talked about how much we loved and missed my granddaddy. He knew my grandmother could never love him as much as she had Granddaddy and he was okay with that too. He didn't say much, and often grumbled when he did say something. He was in hospice near my house, and I really didn't want him to die alone, because I wanted him to know that he was loved. True to his nature, he passed away right after the nurses had checked him. He was totally alone. I got there about 20 minutes too late. I was afraid he'd never known I cared. My grandmother told me later that he told her he loved me. He knew.

So Thanksgiving was tough this year, and Christmas will be hard too. We have 2 empty chairs around our holiday table. But Van and David both loved the Lord, and they knew where they were going, and so did we. We rejoiced in their homegoings. There may be 2 empty chairs around our holiday table, but they are both spending their holidays at home.

God's Provision

So my previous post was about Froggie getting braces, and all that will entail. Anyone who draws breath knows we can't afford to pay for braces, so I thought I would explain how God provided them for us.

We've been discussing the need for braces for Froggie with his dentist for years, but we needed to get to a certain point in his growth before we could moved forward. Over the summer, it was finally time to take him to an orthodontist for a suggested plan of attack. After a couple of hours, the plan was in stone...and boy was it gonna cost us!

I felt horrible, because the orthodontist kept stressing how important it was to start as soon as possible to prevent loss of permanent teeth, the need for dental implants, etc. I felt like a failure as a parent when I had to tell him, "I just can't afford it." They offered us a 10% discount for SuperHubby being a minister. Still no. We couldn't even handle their payment options. They changed them - very graciously - but I still didn't feel like it was something we could take on. I hated myself for letting down my little Frog Man.

Then it dawned on me. Maybe I could get a grant. I contacted the grant folks, and got a big fat no. But I also got a big fat referral to an agency specifically designed for Froggie's type of dental need. I got in touch with them and the ball started rolling - fast.

In order to qualify for this program, you have to have a serious, life-altering issue. They take all sorts of measurements of your mouth, and you're graded based on that and some other criteria. Base score to qualify is 35. Most kids score around 36 - just hovering over the minimum. Froggie scored a 42.

Since I'd already taken him to the orthodontist, the paperwork was easy to do, and the case worker came out to the house shortly thereafter. She pushed him through at the cranial facial clinic at MUSC and what could have been a 6-month process was about a 3-month process.

Our contribution? We have to make sure Froggie takes care of his braces. We have to let them know every time he has an appointment (so they can approve payment). Basically, we have to be adults.

When I found out Froggie needed braces, I felt horrible for not being able to provide for him. Through prayer, I was led to the program I needed, and God has provided abundantly more than I could have asked or imagined.

Never think He won't do the same for you.

Braces!

It's been about a year in the making, but on Tuesday, December 1st, Froggie started the process of getting braces. I say "started" because, of course, nothing is simple in our house.

Because of the seriousnes of his jaw problems, it turns out that there is a very extensive plan for fixing said problems. Tuesday was just the beginning.

Froggie now has braces on his upper teeth only. This is to get things aligned and straightened enough to have oral surgery to pull down an upper tooth that's killing it's next door neighbor. I found out Tuesday that when he has the surgery, they will put him completely under anesthesia. This does not make me happy. I am trying not to dwell on that aspect of the process.

Once he has the oral surgery, they will put a little pulley system on that particular tooth and hook it up to the braces and pull that tooth out. In addition to the braces not being comfortable, that little dealio will probably be painful for him. At some point after oral surgery, they will add the bottom braces.

Supposedly he will have the full braces on for 2-3 years, at which time they will remove the braces and figure out which jaw should be broken to fix THAT problem. At this point the orthodontist is 98% sure he will have to have the jaw surgery, which will require breaking his jaw and wiring it shut. After that fun, he will get to be in braces yet again, probably another 1-2 years.

Seriously.

To top things off, his underbite is so severe that they had to put a bumper brace on the back of his bottom front teeth. It's halfway up and would annoy me like nobody's business. It's there to keep him from closing his mouth all the way, because if he did, he'd knock the braces off the upper teeth. This means that even when his mouth is closed, he has about an inch of space between his upper and lower back teeth. It feels like he can't chew his food.

Really.

He did pretty well getting the braces on - which took over an hour - although he did try to talk the entire time. He has asked about a dozen times a day since then when he's getting these stinking braces off. Could be a long adventure.

I rewarded him with a Lego for his troubles. He seemed pretty happy about that at least.

An Interesting Month


Yes, I realize this is a couple of months late in coming, but that's life. Especially with the month we had in October.

It started with a visit from one of our New York cousins at the beginning of the month, when Grandpop came home. We had a lot of fun hanging out with Matt and the rest of the family.

Then SuperHubby left (in the middle of Matt's visit - poor planning!) for a conference in Atlanta. The day he left, FrogBoy was injured at school. He was walking to the back of the school, and the automatic door opened FAST and smacked him in the forehead. He had a huge bruise, a dent running down the length of his face, and a serious "head-ick." So while SH was gone, I got to study him for a concussion for 3 days.

We had about a week of calm, and then Froggie had to go to MUSC for a scheduled visit with the cranial facial clinic about his jaw issues and getting braces. Not to be outdone by his little brother, Spanky picked the EXACT day and time as that appointment to get injured at school. He was tripped in drama class, landed on his wrist wrong, and ended up with a major sprain (which was determined after 2 visits to the ER, a CT scan and an MRI). Yes, only Spanky could get hurt in DRAMA class.

Needless to say, we were happy to see October come to an end!

Lessons from My Dad

My dad is nuts. Absolutely, positively, don't-bother-calling-back-cuz-he'll-be-the-same -(or worse)-tomorrow looney.

Back in the day, before we realized he was crazy, Dad used to impart his wisdom at regular intervals. He actually still does, but we just say "Yes, Dad" and move on. However, when I was a bit younger, I learned a few lessons from my dad. I notice remnants of these lessons sneaking into my life every so often. I shall share them now.

Nothing good ever happens at 3:00. Of course, this statement was almost always accompanied by examples. "What are you going to do at 3 AM?! Nothing! Nothing good can happen at 3 AM!" "Why would you want to be out at 3 PM? You'll just get caught in pre-rush hour traffic! And that's NOT GOOD!" Apparently regardless of whether it is 3:00 AM or PM, it's either too early or too late for anything good to happen. He's almost right. Almost.

Never trust a blinker. Okay, I'm going to confess, I still use this principal. Basically Dad's theory was you should never turn in front of a car with it's blinker on, because the idiot driving said car probably either doesn't realize their blinker is on or doesn't really mean it, and if you turn in front of them, you'll get hit, and it will be your fault and you'll probably die, and that's not good.

Always carry emergency money. Before debit cards, Dad felt like my brother and I needed to have "emergency cash" on us at all times. For important things, like if the car broke down or we were going to be 3.2 seconds late getting home. Dad provided the emergency cash, which was generous. For my brother, it was $20. For me, a shiny quarter. But I'm not bitter.

Naps are good. Another Dad-ism I like. Dad has always been a lover of his naps. Back in the day, he'd take an hour nap daily (perk #1 of owning your own business...extended lunch hour that includes a nap!) and a 2 hour nap on Saturday and Sunday after golf. As the years have gone by, Dad's naps have grown a little longer. He's currently napping about 18 hours a day.

Fun will kill you. I know, it sounds like a real downer, and sometimes, honestly, it is. But he's right. Planes crash. Cruiseliners sink. People get shot while hunting. Fair rides fall apart and kill everyone on board. It's a dangerous world we live in.

Sometimes you just have to walk away. No, not a divorce reference. When I was 18 and getting my first car (I was a late bloomer in the driving department, what can I say? See the previous Dad-ism for a possible explanation), I found my Dream Car. It was a fire engine red Sundance, adorable, and in my price range. Dad was putting down $1500 and I had to pay the rest in payments. The dealership didn't like Dad's price and Dad didn't like their price; so he wrote them a check for $1500 and tore it up in front of the salesman and forced me to leave. I cried all the way back to our office. He insisted they would call before we got back. When we got to the office (a 10 minute drive away), we had a message to come back for the car. Quite possibly the smoothest thing my dad ever did.

There's plenty more from Looney Tunes Land, but I prefer to meditate on these lessons - the ones that really stuck. They aren't pretty, but they ARE 100% Dad.

Oh Happy Day

Today has been an amazing day. Well, not amazing, but really, really good. We like good days around our house.

I had a meeting at Froggie's school to review his IEP and discuss his progress so far in middle school. I figured since he's been there 2 weeks, they've had time to come up with a laundry list of questions for me...and I wanted to check on him.

I was a little concerned going in because yesterday one of his teachers emailed me and let me know he'd used a couple of racial slurs against a little girl in his class. This girl has been in his class for several years, and they get along great, so I was surprised. But I was afraid of what that might mean during the IEP meeting.

Turns out, FrogBoy's doing great. To the point that all of his teachers placed him in the top half of his class as far as making the transition to middle school and coming to class prepared and doing grade level work. The extra accommodations we put in his IEP last year don't even seem to be needed at this point...he's handling things that well.

The best part? His science teacher said he's so talented in science she would like to move him to the Honors class. She's not, but only because it's a larger class than the Advanced class, and she wants to be able to offer him more individual attention. But she's bringing in Honors work for him so he won't get bored. And he's smart enough to handle the work.

In our house, this constitutes a VERY GOOD DAY.

Don't Look a Gift Card in the Mouth

Can I gripe for a bit? Can you really stop me?

I have a simple question: Whatever happened to people actually thanking you when you give them a gift? I have always believed it was right and proper to send a thank-you note toot suite upon receiving a gift, and I have instilled such in my boys. Not that they would ever think to do it on their own...but with a little guidance (and threats), it always seems to get done.

I have found, however, that I may be the last of a dying breed. I have given many gifts in the past few years, and unless I am standing right there when it is opened, I don't get so much as a "thanks, nice gesture, crappy gift, whatever." Just no acknowledgement whatsoever. And that ticks me off. Bad.

I personally don't think people should expect gifts. I know a lot of people who do, whether its their birthday, Christmas, or just because they are all around awesome people and feel they should be rewarded for it. And you know what? If people don't mind giving you gifts, then good for you. But at least be appreciative.

I used to hate giving gift cards. Too impersonal. But then I realized if I just put some thought into the gift card, or gave cash (for those hard-to-shop-for teens), I would be doing everyone a solid. Learned that one the hard way - from a niece who was refreshingly honest about a purse I thought was cool but was clearly NOT.

These days, I'm stumped. If I send gifts in the mail, or put them on a gift table at a reception of some sort, and I don't get a thank-you, how do I know my gift was received? How do I know I was properly credited with giving a great gift? I can't very well say something. THAT would be tacky.

That said, I don't think you should give gifts expecting anything in return. A gift is just that, a gift. And yet, I wonder what it says about society that we don't thank people anymore. I personally try to thank every single serviceperson that helps me throughout my day: at the store, at the pharmacy, at the doctor's office...this week I even thanked a creditor who called to tell me I would be turned over to collections for a whopping $4 bill. He was, after all, just doing his job, and he wasn't rude about it...so why not thank him? I can honestly say he sounded a little surprised...and I'll bet he was nice to someone later because of it.

I guess my main point is, let's not take each other for granted. Good manners are a great thing.

What a Week

This has been one doozie of a week. Well actually, if I'm going to complain, and I am, it's been a heck of a month. But this week capped it off perfectly.

At the end of last month, SuperHubby had his first ever migraine. I say first ever because it was the first one he's ever had that has been totally, completely, 100% debilitating. The neurologist assured us he's been having them for years and just didn't realize it because they weren't as bad as the one in May. That's very comforting.

I spent 2 days ferrying him back and forth to different ERs for different treatments. During that time, my grandmother's husband fell at their assisted living facility and hit his head and had big issues from that. He had to have brain surgery. Yes, really.

Fast forward 10 days. SH has another migraine. Only minor stuff was going on that week, so while it really stunk for him, it was more of an annoyance for me. Just some schedule adjustments and all was well. During that time my grandmother's hubby went to hospice, so I had to juggle some things, but it was do-able.

Fast forward another 10 days, to the beginning of this week. Granny's husband passed away on Monday. He was 91, loved the Lord, loved my grandmother, and had a really good life. So we were sad but rejoiced for his homegoing. Funeral was set for Wednesday, with SH and Spanky and 2 of the pallbearers. Froggie's job was pushing Grandmama's wheelchair.

Yeah, that apparently was too much planning, because on Tuesday SH got hit AGAIN. Yes, really. Third major migraine in 4 weeks. He ended up missing the funeral completely (actually, he missed this week completely, but that's another story), and I started something I'm fondly referring to ask Lori's Taxi ... Service with a Frown. I was shuttling kids everywhere (because, of course, we had camp and therapies this week on top of everything else!). After many calls to the neurologist, I finally decided yesterday they were going to get the not-so-pretty side of Lori. Luckily, I was wise enough to ask for prayer before I called, and I didn't go crazy on them right away. He's my neurologist too, after all.

End result: SH had an infusion treatment yesterday, which just means he got an IV cocktail that went straight to the migraine, which I still find very confusing and extremely cool all at once. It seems to have done the trick, and he's feeling much better, although the doctor told me to keep him immobile for 2 days. That should be a challenge.

So we made it. I'm grateful for all the prayers of my friends and family, and I'm grateful that my hubby is feeling better. Most of all, though, I'm grateful this week is finally ending.

Happy Easter (+7)

So we have a strange little "tradition" in our family. Since SuperHubby and I both work during Easter services, we usually aren't able to go out to my aunt and uncle's for Easter and the massive Easter Egg Hunt. Most of the time we just miss it altogether; last year, because of unforeseen monsoons hitting the area, our egg hunt actually happened at Thankgiving. This year, we postponed the celebration one week, which happened to also be my grandmother's birthday, and we had a great time with what I'm afraid may be the last of the big egg hunts. We stuffed and hid almost 300 eggs (the boys and I stuffed, SH and The Professor hid).

I helped hide a couple of eggs. We have a tradition of hiding 2 special eggs...a gold and a silver egg. The silver egg has silver coins in it; the golden egg has 5 gold $1 coins. The Professor and I hid the silver egg inside my gas cap. Hey, the kids are older now, let 'em work for it!

Spanky found the silver egg...but only after my sis-in-law gave the hint "THINK SILVER!"

And Froggie found the golden egg. He was so proud. He didn't even care that we told him where it was.

Cell-abration

So everyone always uses their blogs to complain about companies; I'm guilty of that myself. But how often do we use our blogs to give kudos when we get superior service? I'm here to start that trend, friends.

A few weeks ago, I got my cell phone bill. I have been with the same company for 10+ years. First it was Suncom, then a few months ago they were bought out by T-mobile. I wasn't sure how I was going to like the change, frankly, but with 3 of us having phones (and no landline), they were the only ones I could afford.

Anyway, I got my bill. And it was TWICE what it is on a normal month. So clearly they forgot to apply my payment, right? Wrong! I looked it over and found $132 in texting charges, courtesy of the Spankster. Not good.

Now we have unlimited texting, but Spanky, being Spanky, got into trouble as only he can manage. He found a way to send (and receive) texts to chatrooms...stupid kid chatrooms...at 99 cents a pop. Do the math...that's almost 150 texts! Oh yeah, I was ticked!!

We had some intense moments of fellowship. We had some grounding going on. And then, 2 days later, it hit me...He probably didn't stop with the texting before he knew that I knew about the texting. So I checked online and found that waiting to be applied to my next month's bill was another $567 in text charges. Yes, really. Almost 600 more texts.

I was livid. First, that amounted to $699 additional on our cell phone bill. We don't have that kind of cash. And we can't afford to be without our phones. So I was a wee bit upset. Second, he was texting during hours when he should have been sleeping, studying, or at the very least NOT texting. Angry didn't come close to describing how I was feeling.

I was also worried about the $699. So I called T-mobile. I asked for help. They graciously blocked his phone from ever sending or receiving one of these chatroom texts again. I was grateful. I was also feeling confident, after talking to the representative, that they might be willing to help me out a little. Unfortunately, there was nothing they could do until the bill processed through the system. I was instructed to call back in a week. Until then I was stuck.

So a week later I was in bed with the flu with nothing to do but wonder how we were going to pay this $699 bill. I called back to T-mobile, and after spending over 30 minutes on the phone with a new rep, he backed off the original $132 and made a note in my file to back out the other $567 next month when it processes on the bill.

So....long story long...I love T-mobile! They were nothing but kind, respectful, pleasant, and extremely helpful every time I called. Every one of them sympathized with the fact that my 14-year-old had run up such a high bill...one even complimented his ability to get a bill that high. They had to get all sorts of approvals to get the $699 taken off my bill, and they never acted like it was anything but a pleasure for them to help me.

The end result? I'm a lifelong T-mobile customer now. They've earned it.

Oh, and anyone who needs cheap slave labor, Spanky still has to work off the bill...and donate the proceeds to charity. Just don't tell him I got T-mobile to back out the charges. We haven't told him that part of the story yet. We're waiting to put the exclamation point on our lesson with that one.

What Do YOU Want to Be When You Grow Up?

On the way home from school yesterday, FrogBoy asked, "When's payday?" How strange. I said "Tomorrow" and figured that was that. It wasn't.

Seems my payday is his payday. Or so he thinks. I tried explaining that he doesn't get an allowance, to which he responded, "Aw man. I really need to get some money. I need to buy some things."

Since it would never occur to Spanky to EARN money, I figured I'd take this as far as it would go. I asked what he thought he might like to do to earn money. His first choice? A lemonade stand. Sounded like a lot of work to me, so I told him we didn't have any lemons and asked for another idea. Then it got fun.

"I could be a personal chef."

"For the family? Are you going to help Daddy cook dinner?"

"No, I'll be a Lego chef. I'll make Lego meals."

"Well, that doesn't really help the family, so I can't see why we'd pay you for that. What else do you have?"

"I could be a weatherman."

"Oh, you mean you'd tell us the weather?"

"Sure."

"Well, they do that on TV. What else?"

And then, the angels sang.

"Well, I could help you with the laundry. I could fold clothes and hang up shirts. Would that help?"

Oh yeah, Froggie. Now you're speaking my language.

365 - No Way. 24 - Possible.

My sis-in-law is a kooky one. I mean that in the most loving way. She's a big photo-taker, and she came up with this idea to chronicle her family's year in pictures. Specifically, she will take a photo every day and post it on her blog with a little caption - or maybe a story - telling what it's about. Hence her "Project 365" and the first part of this post's title.

I take a pictures a lot...of things most people probably wouldn't...but I don't think I can come up with an idea every day. Sis-in-law takes pix of her kids, and her car, and the grass, and toothpaste. (Not yet - but she might now that I've given her the idea!). She takes pix of dishes and people watching TV. And she weaves a family story out of it. It's pretty cool. But I don't have it in me.

So I've decided to do my own project. I chose 24 because there are 24 hours in a day, and I figured if it came down to December 31 and I hadn't done anything, I could just take 1 picture every hour for a day and still meet my goal. The real goal, however, is to take 1 photo per week at least every other week.

So far I'm on track. We'll see how long it lasts.

Happy Valentine's Day!

It's official. We've had our last Valentine's Day class party. They tend to not be quite so much fun when you move to middle school. (Why is it things go from awesome to stupid in the course of 3 months? Why do we think our kids are so grown up after those same 3 months?)

Yesterday was FrogBoy's class party. And just like every other elementary school student in America, we were instructed to bring in a decorated shoebox to collect Valentine's. Do these people not realize how stressful something like this can be for the FrogMan?

We started a week ago. Seriously. And we weren't having much luck. Then SuperHubby hit on a fantastic idea. (There's a reason he's called SUPERHubby). What if Froggie made the box out of Legos?

I cleared it with the teachers, who were all for it. Good thing, since we already mentioned it to Froggie. He proceeded to make a really cool box, the exact size of a shoebox. I thought he'd make a flat top, SH thought he'd making a slanted top (like a mailbox), but no, he surprised us and made 2 towers with a slot in the middle. He likes to keep us on our toes.

When I picked him up at school yesterday, I thought he was going to explode. Apparently there was a contest (who knew?) and he won. His Valentine's box was 1st Place for being Most Decorative and Most Creative. The prize? A coke and a free homework pass.

You would have thought he won a million dollars.

The Difference Between Men and Women (Vacation Version)

The Fitzes are thinking of taking a vacation this summer. It's been 4 years since our trek to PA, and my memories of the flight are starting to fade somewhat, so I have convinced myself it wouldn't be too terrible to venture out yet again and see SuperHubby's BFF in Ohio. Sadly, SH isn't too keen on driving to Cleveland, so while I'd LOVE to park my butt in the Sebring and cruise on up to Ohio, it would appear I am not going to win that particular argument and we will be airborne at some point in the next 6 months.

I do these things to myself. The whole trip was actually my idea. It's only fair; my BFF lives in Greenville, so I can technically see her whenever I want. SH's BFF is in OHIO, and they haven't seen each other since the BFF came to see Spanky when he was 6 months old (13 years ago for those keeping track at home). That's a long time! (Sidebar: Spanky is named after this particular BFF).

So yeah. I figured I could probably handle the plane trip. After all, I'm older, wiser, more mature. And I plan on taking drugs, which I didn't do last time. So it's all good. And we're all excited. Except we have a little issue...

See I actually want my children to join us on our vacation. To me, "vacation" means "family." SH is more inclined to think "vacation" means "drop the boys at Aunt Linda's and don't come back until the last possible moment she'll watch them." Forget that we probably won't get to do this again. Forget that hubbies never actually DO a whole lot with kids while on vacation, forget that he's never packed a suitcase for anyone but himself, forget it all...all SH knows is that this sounds like a great trip for THE 2 OF US.

We've had some fellowship over it. I have a free flight that I can use, which would mean only paying for 3 of us to get there. The bad news is tickets are $328 each. To Ohio! I mean, who actually goes to Ohio? When I told the BFF we were coming, he asked why. (He was thrilled when I said it was just to see him; we don't care a thing about Cleveland). Seriously, the airline should pay us to fly us there.

My big problem is this: If we all fly togther and the plane goes down, well then I've just killed my kids. But if SH and I go alone and the plane crashes, guess what? I just orphaned my boys. And it will ruin their lives forever and they'll need massive amounts of therapy and it'll all be because we didn't let them go on vacation with us. These are the things that keep me up at night.

I guess SH doesn't want to have to take care of 2 kids AND a doped up wife while travelling. I already informed the BFF that I probably won't recognize him when I get off the plane, and he shouldn't take offense at that in the least. We'll get there early enough so I can sleep it off and be great by dinner.

So I'm hoping the boys can go with us, SH's hoping the cost of airline tickets remains steadily unaffordable until after this summer, and the boys just want to go anywhere outside of the state of South Carolina. We all have dreams.

How Do YOU Spend a Saturday?

Last Friday, SuperHubby's older brother and his wife were visiting. They live in the Poconos, and we haven't seen them in 3 years, since we went there for vacation. They have been building a second home in Myrtle Beach and came for a quickie visit.

We didn't know they were coming, but that was okay. Shift a few things around, and we had a great time Friday evening. To cap it off, we decided to have breakfast before they headed back Saturday. Nothing like the Shoney's breakfast bar to say "I love you."

So we're sitting there eating, and my sister-in-law says, "So, how do you normally spend your Saturdays?" Innocent enough question. SH replied that he normally hangs out at home while I spend the better part of the day running errands...which was exactly the plan for the day after they left. And we didn't think another thing about it.

Fast forward 45 minutes and that conversation made me giggle. Coming back to Mt P from breakfast, a crazy lady in a land yacht hit my car. YES, the convertible. YES, we're fine. But SHE HIT THE CONVERTIBLE.

Okay, maybe she wasn't crazy. She WAS 74 though, and was certainly at fault (she felt like our lane must be the cool place to be, and so invited herself over). I knew we were in trouble when SH got out of the car yelling at her. He normally keeps his cool, so this surprised me just a tad.

As far as accidents go, this was a pretty minor one. The car held up really well, which I was happy about, but we had the top down, and it turns out when another car hits you and the top's down, it is LOUD. She hit right where Spanky was sitting, which I believe made him soil himself. We had just been joking around about whether he'd live to see his 14th birthday (which happened to be the next day) and CRASH! The hubcap also flew off over his head, which freaked him out in a major way. FrogBoy simply said, in a very quiet, even tone, "What just happened?"

Mom mode kicks in when you have an accident. Of course, my first concern was my children. Once I knew they were fine, I was concerned (for a brief moment) that SH might kung fu someone. Then I remembered his brother was there and figured he could get between SH and the old lady. And then it hit me.

SHE HIT MY CAR.

I almost started crying. I've only had this car for 6 months. And she hit it. She tried to hit us a second time pulling out of the line of traffic. NICE.

So the first half of this week was spent with me trying to reach the insurance company, which frankly didn't seem very concerned about our claim. The second half of the week was spent hammering out details with them. It promises to be more of the same next week.

Afterwards, I told my sister-in-law, "THIS is what we do on a Saturday. Who knew you'd get breakfast AND a show?"

Call Me Quirky

As previously reported, I spent the other day shopping with my 11-year-old nephew. Call it what you want, but like all shopping excursions for me, it was really just the hunt for the perfect purse. Which I found, by the way, at least for now.

While we were shopping, Jacob told me in no uncertain terms that I have "too many purse rules." And he is totally and completely right. The perfect purse must be a color...not black, brown, white or gray. And it needs to be a solid. (At least now; that will change when Vera Bradley comes out with good patterns again, I'm sure). Unless of course it has a funky pattern, in which case it can break the solid color rule AND the neutral color rule...but only under these conditions. No wonder he was frustrated.

Then there's the issue of size. And length of strap. And whether it can have pockets on the front. And - most importantly - whether it has a cell phone pocket inside. All very important matters when finding the perfect purse.

I do have too many purse rules.

At lunch my nephew got Chick-Fil-A. So did everyone else at our table. Except me. I had a cheese steak sandwich. Of course, I was asked WHY I didn't get Chick-Fil-A. After all, everyone loves Chick-Fil-A. Except I don't eat chicken in public. How weird is that.

Turns out most people don't think of things like this, but I can't eat chicken in public because sometimes when you bite into chicken, you get that little chicken vein, and then you're stuck. You can't swallow it because it's gross, and you can't spit it out, because that's grosser, so you're stuck. Solution? Don't eat chicken.

Now I'm starting to think I have some issues.

Then today I was watching a movie on TV. And I realized that I don't really like to watch movies on DVD. Oh, I will if that's the only way I'm going to get to see it, but I really need to have a movie with the junk cut out and commercial breaks so I can move around. Yes, I am aware that you can pause and fast forward and all sorts of neat things with DVDs, but that's a lot of work, frankly, and you might just miss something good. But when it's on TV, they cut out the filthy language and the sex and keep the essence of the movie. And you get mandatory breaks. If I have to pause the DVD, I'll never take a break...because I'm into the movie and don't want to stop it.

Okay, so I have my quirks. So what? If you knew my lineage, you'd think I was normal.

A Good Start to the New Year

Today was the Big Day: USC played against Iowa in the Outback Bowl. I use the term "played" loosely, because I'm not even sure the Gamecocks even showed up. However, during the game, I got to have some great fun with my sis-in-law, my niece and my nephew.

We went to the mall. I never go to the mall. If they don't sell it at Target, I figure I don't need it. Plus, we don't have a mall in Mount Pleasant, which makes it much easier to not shop at the mall. But I digress.

So we went shopping. And I made quite a few nice purchases, if I do say so myself.

First, I got a couple of Hallmark ornaments for next year. I used to buy ornaments every year the day after Christmas for the boys, but then I got out of the habit because the discounts weren't good enough to warrant fighting the crazies in the store. The ones I got today were on sale, and I had a coupon, so I ended up spending only $10 total.

I love Snoopy, and FrogBoy loves the Statue of Liberty, so I thought this would be a nice addition to our collection.

My favorite Disney movie of all time is Lady and the Tramp, so I had to have this one.

The big search for the day was, of course, for my new Christmas purse. This was purchased with money from my grandmother, which meant it didn't cost me a penny. This is always nice. My 11-year-old nephew assisted with the search, at one point telling me "You have too many purse rules." He's right...but I finally found one I loved. Jake said it looked like a bomber jacket. I think it's great!

At that point we dropped the kids at the house and sis-in-law and I hit Books-a-Million. I spent the rest of my Christmas money from Granny (the purse was 50% off, so I still had $20) on a new Bible. I like to get a new Bible every so often, so here's what I chose:

You can't tell, but it's purple and very cute. I don't know how to rotate the picture but trust me, it's adorable.

Finally, I found a game called Farkle. I don't know if anyone else has heard of this game, but it's really simple and 2 people can play, which is great because generally it's just me and Spanky playing games. We played tonight and had a blast.

So it was a very successful day shopping, plus my dad gave me his Bi-Lo Fuel Perks card, and he has accumulated 85 cents...which means the next time I have to buy gas, I'll pay around 60 cents a gallon!

But the best part of my day was getting to spend it with my nephew. I haven't ever spent that much one-on-one time with him, and I'm sorry I haven't, because we had a ball. He's a great kid, and I hope I get to hang out with him more...he's a lot of fun. 2009 has started out great!

2009 Ideas

I don't make resolutions. There's no point; I know I wouldn't stick with them, everyone who knows me knows I wouldn't stick with them. Instead, I like to make ideas. This is basically a to-do list on which I can randomly cross items off when they start to get on my nerves and I start wondering what I was thinking when I wrote them down. On January 1 it might seem like a good idea to write "start exercising," but let's be honest, by January 3 we all know it ain't happening, so it's time to mark it off and make myself feel better. No need to have failure staring me in the face for the next year.

This year my New Year's Ideas list looks something like this:

• I will blog more. With the onslaught of Twitter, I have been very slack about blogging. But blogging is my first love, and I will return to it in 2009. I hope some of my favorite reads will do the same.
• I will start exercising. Okay, I'm getting that one out of the way early, because as of RIGHT NOW, I fully intend on it. Check back later today; I'm sure the feeling will have passed.
• I will try not to get irritated when people do things that annoy me that they can't help. I'm really good at this with FrogBoy and all the autistic nuances; everyone else is on their own. This year, I hope to become more tolerant of other people's quirks.
• I will be more organized. If you know me, this sounds stupid. It's not. I seldom think I am organized enough. I'm rarely happy with my level of organization on any particular project. This year I will work to change that if I can, and be happy with where I am if I can't.
• I will hug people more. I already started this at the end of 2008, so I'm on a pretty good roll with this one.
• I will conquer my fear of flying...at least long enough to use the free ticket our cell phone company gave us. I'd like for SH and I to go away together, but since it's a free plane ticket and not a free rental car, this will require some work on my part.
• I will get red glasses. I found some sassy red glasses that I want, and darn it, I think I'd look pretty cute in them. They are on my list for the cute factor alone.
• I will stop worrying about how much we owe MUSC. If I can't change it, why stress over it?
• I will upgrade my prayer life and my Bible reading. These stay on the list. I always want them to be better.

That about does it for now. Like my to-do list, this is a living document, a list that constantly has additions and subtractions, a list that has to be rewritten when there are too many subtractions so it looks pretty enough to be in my notebook. I probably won't accomplish everything I want to, but I'm sure gonna try.

Chloe, Oscar and Buck - The Three Amigos

2008 brought some interesting new things into our lives...namely, wild animals. Spanky killed his first deer (Buck) at the end of August, and then got his second one (Oscar) a couple of months later. We have 2 sets of antlers on our living room wall (whatever) and he is now fully outfitted in the hunter's choice of clothing: tacky camo. It's all good.

Then for Christmas my aunt and uncle gave us something that was definitely NOT on our list...a cow. Yep, a real live cow. I have named her Chloe. Apparently that wasn't the smartest idea, since she is apparently alive now but is set to be slaughtered in February. But I figure if someone's going to give you a cow, you should at least get to name it. I thought about visiting it and braiding it's tail and taking pictures with the boys on her back, but SuperHubby thought that might be a bit much.

The cow actually seemed like a really strange gift at first, but after much consideration, I have decided that it's a really cool idea. Everyone in our family always asks what we want, or asks for a list, or else we'd end up getting stuff we don't want. This was creative and economically sound, which is a great idea with uncertain financial times ahead. You'd have to know my aunt and uncle, but it makes perfect sense from them. Of course, I had to point out to SH that every gift we got this year was food...either a cow or a gift card...so I'm not sure what that tells us...but hey, I'm not complaining!

So 2009 brings new and exciting things as well. We probably won't have to buy much meat in the Fitzgerald household, which is nice. And it will certainly be the first time in history that we're eating what we killed (and by we I mean Spanky).