#10Thankful – Are We There Yet?
I am so ready for this school year to be over.
I kind of thought when I left the classroom that I wouldn’t feel so stressed about this time of year. I figured without final exams, end-of-the-year textbook collections, and the rest of the things teachers have to do in June, I’d have no worries. I was wrong. Know why? My second-grader decided she was done and over it two weeks ago where school is concerned. That’s why. So here I am, Distracto-Mom, trying to get Distracto-Kid to the finish line when, frankly, I’m kind of done and over second grade, too. I feel like the kid in the back seat of the car on a long trip: Are we there yet? But when you’re the one who has to drive and you feel that way? Even worse.
Let’s get on with it already…
I think that’s probably a good sign, though, despite the angst and drama of pushing pulling fighting dragging through this end. We’re ready to move on, get a fresh perspective and a new routine. It’s time to see what’s next.
So let’s talk about all things new and fresh this week, shall we?
First up this week, I am so very excited that we are finally going to replace the carpet on our two stairways. We did the rest of the house two summers ago and the hardwood is beautiful. We did not do hardwood on the stairs, though, because that is just a prohibitively large and expensive project. But the carpets on the stairs are now ten years, two adults, three cats, and and one kid old. They are ugly and dirty and disgusting. (Life lesson learned: When choosing carpet for your new home, do not go with the construction tan that comes standard with the home. Big mistake. Huge.) We’ve picked the new carpet, had the measurements taken, and are now waiting for the actual price quote and installation date. The first Rotten Cat that even looks at that carpet is going to be in big trouble. Carpet is off limits, boys. No scratching. No peeing. No puking. Do you hear me?
Speaking of Rottens, I guess I need a little hypo-grat item here. I love/hate them. I do. But Cat One has reverted to drooling and spitting out his stupid laxative every day and Cat Three randomly came at me with paws a-blazing last night. Was he mad that I tried to move him off my head while I was trying to sleep? Or did he think we were playing? No idea. Cat Two continues to make a nuisance of himself daily by sitting right on either my arms or my keyboard when I’m trying to work. So, you know, thanks for making me feel needed, guys, but seriously? Cut the crap.
Next, I’m thankful for a new-to-us car. The kind of long and not very interesting story is that we car-swapped with the Hub’s parents. So I’m now driving a Mom Mobile (snappy little crossover thing), the hub is driving our black sedan, my beloved Batmobile, and his little white scooty-scoot has been relegated to a tinkering project for my Father-in-Law. Everybody is happy. Zilla and I are much happier with the Mom car for transporting her and all of her gear for swimming and karate and such. All three of us love it for space and comfort on day trips. And the Hub is not driving something that threatens to fall apart under his tush. Win. But I have to admit it’s kind of hard to feel cool in the suburban parent machine…not that I was ever cool to begin with, but you know, in case I wanted to start.
I’m pretty thankful for the very elegant waiting room at the new dealership where I passed a lovely hour waiting for the Mom Mobile to be inspected. Nicest service department waiting area ever. I mean, just look at this… They have a coffee bar, huuuuge couches and benches with tabletops to work on, magazines and TV, decent music piped in on the sound system, kiddie playroom, nice decor…it’s nicer than my living room. If it was an extended wait, I would’ve stretched out on that sofa and had myself a nap. But the inspection took less than an hour and no nap was necessary. So I left there pretty happy.
~~~~~
I’m always thankful for our daughter, our Kidzilla, but this week I am once again amazed by her enormous little brain. The other night she spent longer than usual for a trip to the powder room, so I called to her and asked if she was OK.
“Yes, I’m fine,” was the response. Then silence.
When I was a kid, I got into a lot of trouble destroying bathrooms. Ask my cousin. We used to spray water on the walls and flush Old Spice deodorant lids down the toilet, just to see what would happen. So it’s understandable that I’m suspicious of extended bathroom trips. But back to my story…
“Zilla, what exactly are you doing in there? It’s pretty long even for a poop session, you know.”
It’s a completely legit question. First, see above. Second, Zilla tends to spend time in the bathroom doing non-bathroom things. Like stand-up comedy or dance routines in front of the mirror. Or getting toothpaste everywhere. Or finger painting the mirror. Or pulling medicine cabinets off the wall. (Yes, that happened last week and we are very thankful that she did not A) kill herself, B) break the mirror and cut herself, or C) completely ruin the wall.) Or climbing up on the counter to see her feet in the mirror. (Yes, that also happened but it was like four years ago and I still haven’t told my Mother, so shhh…)
“I know. I’m doing a crossword puzzle.”
Seriously? She’s about to turn eight – a crossword puzzle? So today I saw the crossword puzzle book and decided to check. Sure enough, she had filled in a few of the answers in the puzzle I’ve been working on. Granted, they were not correct. But she did fill in words with the right number of letters, one per box, and the answers she supplied were not so far-fetched. For example, one clue was “huff and puff.” The answer was “pant” but Zilla had filled in “blow.” Totally viable. There were three or four other similar examples. So it seems my kid has the crossword puzzle gene – the one passed from my Grandmother to my Mom to me and now, apparently, to Zilla. I love it.
~~~~~
New sneaks and hiking boots for me and for Zilla – we were both way overdue. We now have very happy feet.
Zilla has provided us with several other amazing moments this week. And funny. She had us speechless from laughter more than once this week. She is just a delight. When she’s not driving us out of our minds, that is.
I’m glad the school year is almost over and we can get on to summer. Zilla and I have great plans for the summer; we’re hoping to have the first of our kid books ready to shop for a publisher by the time she goes back to school. We’re very excited about this project. It’s something to do together that, I hope, will turn out to be a success we can share. (And by success I mean pay for her college education.) And if it doesn’t? Well, we will still have the shared experience to hang on to.
I’m very thankful for my Hub’s patience. The man is a saint, really. He must be in order to be married to me because I’m kind of a pain in the ass. And this week I have been cranky and miserable and highly emotional. I suppose it’s partly stress, but I didn’t quite realize I was stressed until maybe yesterday. Anyway, he has been hugely tolerant and patient and kind with me all week even though I’ve been everything completely opposite of those things. And he makes great coffee before he leaves in the morning. And he complimented my hair a bunch this week. Winning.
I’m thankful that this horrible creature has not attacked and killed me yet. He’s been giving me the stank eye all morning. But I will admit that he has provided much entertainment over on my personal Facebook page, so there’s that. Thanks to my aunt for torturing me with spider memes. And (an update) to my Hub for removing the spider before I came home this evening. My hero.
Hey, look at the time! I’m ready to go this week, it’s not even noon yet on Friday, and I didn’t need to dance for the virgins. Go me.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Your turn – what are you thankful for this week? Have you started your summer break yet? What are your summer plans? How do you handle huge and very likely poisonous spiders in your work area? You know the drill – share ’em or link ’em! And don’t forget to check out the other posts in the link-up this weekend.
Your hosts
Join the Ten Things of Thankful Facebook Group
Love this? Share the love and tell someone!
46 Comments
Comments are closed.
FRIST???
Yup. Frist you are!
HOLYCATMOLY I AM FRIST. So, I don’t like cats but not because of them. It’s me. Super allergic (I’ve said before but it’s like SUPER allergic). UGH that spider and yay for new cars and I like the changes happening over here for sure. Also the kids books project?? Awesome. We’re done with school here too and aren’t out until the 23rd which is so late. Also T’s birthday is right after that and how am I still supposed to plan all the things when I haven’t even started? He’s convinced his teacher doesn’t like him (another story)… so he’s done. Ugh. LOVE that Kidzilla spends time in the loo doing CROSSWORDS!!! Tucker goes in and does Minecraft. Not as cool.
Not until the 23rd? That’s like three more weeks! Zilla’s birthday is just before school officially ends – we have like two half days next week which are mostly nonsense. But this week is full days and exams plus I’m subbing three days and have the carpet people coming Thursday. (What was I thinking?) Her birthday party with her friends is this Saturday, right after this crazy week. Again, not sure what I was thinking except that the following Saturday wasn’t available at the karate school. I guess the good news is that the school really handles all the details for the party. All we have to do is cake or cupcakes and treat bags. Since our supermarket’s bakery is now all natural food dyes (none of the junk she’s allergic to) we can feel free to order cake from them and know it will be safe so I don’t even have to bake. I think we’ll be good.
I think Minecraft is cool and I’m honestly surprised Zilla hasn’t taken an interest in that – she usually loves that kind of stuff. No idea. Now that I think about it, my father was a crossword in the bathroom kind of guy, too. (TMI, I know.)
Love the rottens. That waiting room is something from the super-mod 1970s. Spider now makes sense…You can always call me… I catch and release. Crosswords-yes! My best friend (we were 8) jumped up and down (while standing on the closed toilet seat) like a chimp while singing the Unicorn Song… the toilet seat put her high enough to see herself in the mirror… she broke her ankle when the cover broke and she got her foot stuck in the toilet.
It was very mod-1970s! I felt like I was in the Brady Bunch house or something.
The spider caused quite a discussion on my FB page yesterday. It was his parting gift to the world. 😀
That foot/toilet story – ouch! I can see how an eight year old foot would easily get stuck in the toilet. Definitely not cool. My cousin and I never actually ended up hurt, but we made more than a few messes. One of our favorite games was to press our finger on the faucet and see how far we could make the water spray – hitting the fish decorations on the opposite wall was top score! 😀
“…not that I was ever cool to begin with, but you know, in case I wanted to start.” LOVE this. Because that’s SO how I feel most of the time – like maybe, PERHAPS, if I tried hard enough or in the right way, I could approximate it, but…no.
HOORAY for your swapsied cars though, and for Fab Hub not being in a fall-apart-mobile. Also, I want to see what your Batmobile looks like – maybe you could have it back and Hub could have the minivan 😉
SO glad he got rid of the spidey for you, but I would definitely have come and helped if it weren’t so durn far away. The conversations were all really good fun though. Also, I think someone at my hospital found a spider in the MRI scanner yesterday, cos that was what they tried to burn down (7 fire engines and half the hospital evacuated later…all was well).
I was going to ask you something. I can’t remember what. Dammit. OH! I REMEMBER! Zilla and the crossword – her answer – it’s the three little pigs, surely? “I’ll huff and I’ll puff and I’ll BLOW YOUR HOUSE DOWNNNNN!”
I will take a pic of the Batmobile for you. I’m sure the Hub would drive the Mom car but first, he doesn’t love how they ride and second, it makes no sense to tie up that car sitting in a parking lot when Zilla and I have tons of stuff to transport. This works. But I do miss my cool black car…not that I can’t drive it whenever.
That spider thread was definitely the best entertainment of my day. 😀
The crossword puzzle – for the “blow” clue, she said she was thinking Three Little Pigs, yes. Another clue was “not well grounded” for which she put “airy.” Makes sense, right? And she did get one correct. For “plies a needle” she filled in “sews.” Brilliant!
So many things in your post struck a chord with me, but I’ll focus on the crossword puzzle thing. I’m a crossword junky as was my grandfather. Go Zilla. Sometimes I wish I’d taken French and Latin in school instead of Spanish and German, just for more crossword puzzle schema. Have a good week and hope the transition from second grade isn’t too tedious before SUMMER VACATION.
Ooh, now I’m curious about which things, Val. Funny about the languages, I took French and it has provided me with absolutely no useful assistance in life. I often wish I had taken Spanish, which has become so practical. Zilla is itching to learn Spanish but I don’t think they start the kids formally until 6th in her school. Latin, though? Always helpful. I wish I could have taken more. I wonder if that’s something one of those language programs would have? Or is Latin just too unpopular today?
We are hoping for a smooth week ahead, Val. Summer is on the way!
Absolutely love the crossword puzzle story. SO GREAT.
And congrats on your new(ish) car! I so want a new (ish is fine) car! Mine is ten years old and paid off and runs fine so… But it’s a sedan, and my dream car (Brian teases me about being boring) is a station wagon. Oh, how I wish I had a station wagon!
Did you sneak in a little Pretty Woman quote? I mean, I see one, but was it on purpose?
I know, right? I love that little brain of hers. And the answers she put in made complete sense for her schema right now. I was impressed.
The car is great. We’ve been wanting to move into something like this but cost, you know? We have been driving two cars that are both paid off and running well. Until David’s started being, well, eleven years old. This works out well because they are all still paid off and running well and the one that wasn’t so much is keeping my retired Father-in-Law busy. 😀 Zilla and I are so much happier with more room for her STUFF. I think you would be super cool in a station wagon. Do they even make them anymore? Or is it all SUVs and crossovers?
A Pretty Woman quote…did I? What is it? Clearly unintentional although I did just watch that twice recently.
Ugh spider. GRoss.
Funny because yesterday, I too had a spider on my patio door and I had to get Shawn kill it and I almost took a picture of the killing and post it on facebook for you all on your thread because OMG hilarious timing. But I didn’t because I can’t get that close.
I never did anything like that in our bathroom because my parents would have murdered me. Thank goodness my kid only threw in floaty toys in ours. Well he did throw in tampons in my sink and threw the faucet on. That was actually kind of funny!
School is out here at the end of the month. We are counting down.
PS hair compliments is always a bonus!
GRoss is exactly my sentiment, Kim. You SO should have added your picture, but I do understand not wanting to get that close. *shivers*
My cousin and I got into all sorts of trouble in our Grandparents’ bathrooms and yes, we got in loads of trouble for it. 😀
Not until the end of the month? Boo. And I thought we had it bad. Hang in there!
I was happy to see your TToT ready and posted this AM, that’s a sign that you were in grateful mode despite the stresses and frustrations of the week. I often feel like you do in having a husband that is so patient with my moods and many other assorted quirks, even when I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t enjoy being around me all that much! :-). GO ZILLA, one more week of school and it’s done, and YAY for her trying her hand at a crossword. Of all the things a kid could be up to in the bathroom, this has to be the best, and I know she’ll have her own book of easy crossword puzzles before the weekend is over! And hey, no batteries required and she used her brain… can we clone her in a world full of zombie kids?! I can’t wait to hear more about your book project together as it falls into place, delightful idea! I will send word to the Rottens to avoid the new stair carpeting if they value their lives, and we KNOW that cats always listen when they are told not to do something! Might as well get out the video camera and record their new “adventures on the stairs” sessions for us! :-))
The fact that I had this written and ready to go yesterday was amazing, Josie. Usually I don’t get it done on Friday and then the weekend gets away from me. I was pretty proud of myself.
My Husband is a wonderful human being and an especially good match for me. I always say there are no accidents and that includes us finding one another when we did in life.
I may have to grab Zilla a book of puzzles because, frankly, this book is horrible. It’s a tiny, skinny cheap-o I grabbed at the dollar store and the clues are just nonsense. I completely love that she was interested enough to give it a whirl and we love that she is so interested in things that don’t plug in. She uses them, no doubt, and enjoys her screen time but we definitely limit her time. She is perfectly happy to build with Legos or her Tinker Crate subscription, read, do puzzles, etc.
I am hoping the book project unfolds easily over the summer – we’ve been plotting and planning for a long time and this summer it’s time to move forward.
The stairs are such a tedious process. Right now we’re calling back and forth with the carpet people about the estimate – it was much higher than we expected and we need some clarification on some odd charges. Then we’re getting a second opinion estimate this week from another place. Feels like it will never be done, but we don’t want to rush in and regret the cost later. This morning someone puked and pooped on the stairs (clearly not feeling well) and I do hope they get it out of their heads that the carpet is the place to do these things. Ugh ugh ugh.
We love crossword puzzles in this house. On the Sundays when we do get the paper, the crossword will hang out all over the house as different people in the family take a few minutes to work on it, adding what they can. Really, it’s any kind of puzzle. We’ll try to solve them all. 🙂 Glad to hear Zilla has caught the crossword bug, too.
School has been out for 1 week for most of the kids. For the graduating 8th grader, 2 weeks. It has been awesome. Good luck with the last of your school year. It can be rough.
I’m counting down the days till I get to downsize to a minivan. Which is hard to do, seeing as how I won’t be getting the minivan until the full-size van goes belly up. It has over 198,000 miles on it. Surely it will be any day now. Just so it doesn’t leave me stranded between here and Ohio or Kentucky…
Now that is a vehicle that has served you, well, Christine! Nearly 200,000 miles is awesome. And yes, we’ll pray it doesn’t decide to kick the bucket in the middle of a road trip.
I like the puzzle sharing thing. I work on my mom’s when I’m at her house and I’m sure she’s done the same here. It’s fun to do that, and helps when you’re stuck! I also love cryptoquotes. Does your gang do those?
😂😂 Just in case I ever wanted to start. . . 😂😂. That is the story of my life, haha.
I am thankful to not be pregnant this week 😊.
That line seems to have struck a chord with a few readers! 😀
good call with the carpet for the stairs. aside from the expense, winter (when the heat is on and the air is dry(er), hardwood staircases make great X Games challenges. Socks? forget about it, paws? no enjoying the slippery wood…. Ola would stand at the top of the stairs and look at us, like, ‘yeah? well you can carry me down the stairs’ ‘though, from what I understand, cats would just extend their claws and do a reverse tree squirrel down the flight.
Yeah, we definitely didn’t want hard wood on the stairs for many reasons. Since our cats love running up and down the stairs when they play Running Cats, I’m thinking hard stairs would upset them. 😀
Nice waiting room indeed. If only my living room looks like that.
It was really nice! And the furniture was so comfortable.
Spiders don’t usually scare me as I’m the one around here that puts them outside so they can eat mosquitoes thing. However, that spider in your picture looks a bit scary to me. Glad you survived! I can’t believe school is still going for you. Those last few weeks of school are always hard for everyone–hang in there! Congrats on the new car although I think personally, I’d have a super hard time giving up any car that’s referred to as a bat mobile 🙂 Hope you have a wonderful (and spider-free) week!
That spider was WAY scary, Jean. He was the kind with big scary jointed legs. Bleah! :d
We are holding on for the end of school here – one more week of exams and that sort of thing, then a couple of half days and we’re done!
Right about the Batmobile? I’m happy the Hub is driving it and it’s close by. You know, just in case I need a super-hero vehicle for any reason. 😀
I always get antsy near the end of the school year, but THIS year? Oh, my gosh! I was sick of it. I told my principal I was having a strong urge that it was time for my mic drop and walk away. So, I feel your pain. Here’s hoping those final days fly by.
The car switcharoos sound like a huge change. We drive our cars until they are absolutely on their last legs. So, upgrades all around seem like a big deal to me.
I’m trying to get an image of you doing the mic drop, May. I love it! I think sometimes it’s just that kind of year, you know?
The car switch is a great idea. None of the cars are new, just new to us and it works great. We also drive our cars into the ground but this little swap will keep us in no car payment land for a good long while yet. We like living there!
Good luck with the end of the school year. I am right there with you. Rrrrright there. Thank you for commenting over at my blog the other week, too. And me not coming back? End of the school year. I just took 28 kids to an amusement park yesterday. Right now, I’m still in my jammies recovering. Haha.
Anyways, crossword puzzles. Those things are addictive.
I, too, would stay in the bathroom to do all sorts of things. I wonder if it’s a sign of a smart kid. I’d usually read books in there. Long after my booty fell asleep from sitting too long. Hehehe.
I hope you have a great rest of your weekend! Take care.
Oh man, Cynthia – 28 kids at the amusement park? You definitely earned a day in your pajamas! My Hub and I used to chaperone teenagers on marching band trips – most stressful thing I can think of! It’s like herding cats.
Crossword puzzles are one of my favorite comforting things to do. Had to laugh at your booty falling asleep. I’ve done that many times in my life because I got caught up in a book. 😀
Enjoy the rest of your jammies day and hang in there for the end of school!
Glad she wasn’t hurt by that mirror. Oh yes, the trouble kids can get into in the bathroom.
🙂
I remember getting into some of that trouble myself as a kid.
I am hugely excited to hear more about this project you two are working on. When do we get more details? I am dying to try writing a children’s book. I have a few ideas, but not sure how to proceed. Any tips?
Aw, with the hair compliments.
🙂
And the coffee…always the coffee.
Yes, she’s fine, Kerry, by the grace of God. This one keeps us on our toes, for sure. I’m definitely intrigued by the image of you getting into trouble as a kid. 😀
Our book project details will emerge as we go. I have no tips for writing a children’s book – this is my first go-around. When I come across some good ones, I’ll let you know!
Do you see me as the kid that was so sweet she never got into any trouble at all?
🙂
My brother and I thought we should find out what was inside the toilet, how it worked, so we attempted to lift off the lid on the toilet tank. We were curious what was inside. Well, the lid was heavier than we thought it would be. Oops!
So, this spider thing doesn’t normally bother me, but soon after I moved into my house I must have acquired a spider bite on my knee. It got infected and was very painful for a few weeks. Yuck.
I will look forward to more details of this book project as the summer progresses.
Have a good week. End-of-year countdown continues. Almost there.
Somehow I pictured you as the little angel, yes. 😀 That toilet story is AWESOME! Did the lid break?
I’ve had a bad spider bite and it got WAY infected and I was really sick from it. So my fear is totally legit, right?
Have a good week, too, Kerry!
Ah, well I wasn’t quite that little angel you were picturing.
🙂
Not when my brother and I teamed up to get into mischief that is. The lid did break, I believe, but at least we got to see what was inside. It was a heavy heavy lid, for the record.
I love that you and your brother had great adventures. Exploring things gets messy…I try to remember that when Zilla gets herself into trouble! 😀
I haven’t had to deal with the end of the school year for a while, but I do remember that “Can’t we just be done already?” feeling. As for my plans, I’m trying to be able to train this summer for my first half-marathon. I’m signed up for a September run, so this summer is the summer to get ready! Spider removal falls squarely into my husband’s responsibilities.
Ooh, Kristi, that’s so exciting! Good luck! Can’t wait to see how it goes.
Yeah, the Hub gets all spider duty. He had to do another one this morning because one was in the shower. No WAY I’m taking a shower with a spider.
Spiders are bad where I live, really bad. I vacuum my ceilings frequently.
Oh, Vanessa, I can’t even think about that! Ugh! One was on the shower ceiling this morning and my Hub had to deal with it before I would even think about getting in. Then the little bugger escaped (the spider, not my husband) and he tried to tell me the spider was gone. Not so! He had fallen down on the shower wall and tried to blend in with the tile pattern. Sneaky!
You have A LOT going on, woman!!! I’d say you are brave having any carpet with cats and a child in the house lol I personally hate carpet and refuse to live anywhere with the stuff in it. Seems to just collect dirt and grime and ick!! But congrats on getting rid of the old, new anything is always nice 🙂
If I could get a do-over, I would have the house built worth hardwood on the stairs. Rather than spend a fortune to remedy that, I’ll settle for new carpet. This time with stain resist stuff!
So much good here – yay for new to you car! We currently have a 2002 we are driving into the ground so that’s coming soon and will be exchanged for a “mom mobile” too. I think it’s time.
As for carpet on the stairs – I smiled as I remembered the ancient carpet in my parents house growing up. Got to the stage my mom was sewing it up over the hardwood stairs before it finally got replaced!
And doing crosswords in grade 2 – so awesome! But three cheers and let’s bring on summer INDEED!
I never thought I’d be tooling around in a mom car. But I have to admit I kind of love it.
I love the image of your mom sewing the carpet on the stairs! I’ll be honest, though, I have no intention of doing that. 😀
As a teen I was pretty mortified by the whole carpet thing (I mean COME ON, just fork over the money and get a new carpet!) But nope! They had a plan for where everything went and the carpet just wasn’t a priority.
I can understand that thinking completely. Money only goes so far and we have to make choices.