Quick Takes Friday

1. Under the *what I am thankful for* file:

Tim got the tires rotated on the van this week. I was driving Naomi to soccer practice yesterday and a gentleman drove up next to me with his window down and motioned for me to roll mine down. I thought he was going to ask for directions, as that seems to happen to me a lot. :) But instead he told me my right front tire was "pretty low". I smiled and thanked him, but I have to admit, I had the thought running through my head " Hmmpf--men- they're always so anal about things like that." The van seemed to be rolling along just fine (although I am notoriously green about how cars should run:). I called Tim and he said to pull over at a gas station and check it out.
Ack! The tire was nearly flat!
How very kind of that dear man. :) I had to drive a pretty good distance and of course, Naomi would have had a heart attack if she was late to her beloved practice because we had to pull over and change a *totally* flat or damaged tire.
Tim's theory is that he has often gotten a flat tire after getting the tires rotated but he is not sure why. :)

2. Under the "what on earth was I thinking file?"

Yesterday I went up and got some Easter stuff down from the attic. I was a little puzzled because one of the boxes had ample evidence of mice infestation. It surprised me because I have never had that happen when getting anything out of the attic. (the garage, yes!). Upon further investigation, I found that there was a bag of jelly beans, and a bag of malted milk chocolate eggs in it.
Well. I am trying very hard to figure out what my thought process was last Easter. Did I REALLY intend to save those for the kid's easter baskets this year? I'll be the first to admit I come up with some wacky ideas , but that one really left me scratching my head. I can only hope that because I found some other, non food-type things in there that I had bought at after Easter sales that this was just an oversight. ie: I had left them in the bags with the other non perishables I had bought by accident.
I'm hoping.

3. Under the "It pays to be aware of what date it is" file

Yesterday I got a call from my beloved Joe College. Not to chit chat, or catch up, but so he could play a "April's Fool" joke on me and he really had me going for about 10 minutes. In fact, HE had to tell me "April Fool's!" ( I never figured it out).
I guess he knows that I rarely pay attention to what the date is. I remember even saying to Noah and Naomi earlier in the day that in the morning I thought it was Thursday and in the afternoon, I thought it was Tuesday ( so much so that I made a special trip to Mc Donald's to get Jed a *Tuesday special* Happy Meal for lunch while we were out and about! :) It was Wednesday. April 1st.

4. Under the "I wonder" file.

I would like to do an experiment where you clear out your schedule for a day ( or maybe a week) and take some kids to the park and see how long THEY would like to stay before THEY want to go home. :) It never seems like we are there for long enough, no matter how long we stay ( admittedly it's probably never been more than a couple hours :) and there are ALWAYS complaints.
It would be interesting. For sure.


5. Under the "what inspired me this week" file:

"Broken by Parenting" by the ever wise and witty Barbara Curtis.
She is mostly talking about courtship and dating in this article, but her phrase "broken by parenting" resounded with me. You have a lot of big ideas ( and for the record, I think there are definitely some non-negotiables in parenting) when you start out. Often they seem to work just fine until your kids get old enough to start thinking for themselves.
Then you find your best laid plans don't always mesh with their free will. LOL!
I don't think that the teen years are horrible. I don't shirk from them. Overall, it has been a joy to see the kids reach that age and start to form their own thoughts on things. I enjoy their company and think they are great people to know, but it does require a certain departure from *holding onto to your ideas of what is best for them with the tenacity of a bulldog" if you want to remain sane.

http://mommylife.net/archives/2009/03/teen_dating_cou.html


6. Under the "I can't help myself from complaining about the weather" file:

Spring, we must have a chat. I woke up on Monday morning to a windshield covered with a thick layer of ice and a dusting of snow on the ground. Now, I know it is foolish to think that once *Spring* shows up on the calendar we aren't going to have anymore cold or snowy weather here in Michigan, but come on! We had a long, hard winter, couldn't we get at least a little bit of a break from you? ;)

7. Under the "Way to go, Dyl" file:

He made the ALL STAR team for his basketball league.
Woot!