1-31-11
How is it that January is already over?
Uber yawns this morning. I didn’t get my standard 2 days of sleep in time. I crawled out of bed at 5:30 yesterday and into my car at 5:45 to take Miss Luna to Pedro. It was nice, though, as it isn’t often that she and I get a private outing. She was so freaking nervous. She knew something was up. It probably didn’t help to smell thousands of dogs, all with pee that smelled of impending doom.
On the plus side, we were first down there which meant even though the entire process still took about an hour, she didn’t have to sit in the waiting room for too long. She also was really good. I had several compliments on her behavior. She was good, but a lot of it was out of sheer terror. My poor pup. She specifically did not care for the gobs of boy puppies checking out her back side. People, on the other hand, she adored.
We were able to pick her up way earlier than I expected, so I was quite pleased. She was ready at 1. It dawned on me that the shelter is right next to the hazardous waste drop off place, so we took the time to load up the car with our E-Waste and other hazardous stuff we had piled up in our backyard cleanings.
Friday night, Stephanie and I headed over to So Cal Tattoo. We thumbed through the artists’ portfolios, hoping to decide on the best one for her design choice. It looks like Tom is the man, and I am anxious to see his creation from what she asks for. She has a consultation this afternoon. I wonder if he will draw something up today.
It was cool, too, to go since I found these wonderful, whimsical skull designs that would be perfect for me. They are tiny, but so me. Terri had these in hers, so I may need to give some thought to ways to make these happen on me. I also need to take Ken down to look at them so he can have some time to prep for the inevitable.
Saturday morning, we went with my folks and brother over to RPV near the old Marineland. There is some resort there that also has a decent trail along the coast. It was gorgeous out, and it was a pretty good little walk. The boys alternated between excited and annoyed, but that seems to be their demeanor in general these days. Especially Dax. He is struggling with this whole being 4 thing. He has the grownupness of getting to go to school, yet still has to do things like daycare. He also wants to be such a big boy, but doesn’t quite grasp that he is still little and it means he doesn’t get everything he asks for. He also has given up on naps (insert a mommy whimper here), despite the fact that there are days in which he would benefit. On top of that, he gets up at the crack of dawn, no matter what time he goes to sleep. I think he needs more sleep, but just short of drugging him, I don’t know what we can do for now.
With the recent Bobby freakout, I at least have gotten some good feedback on that. I spent about a half an hour with Mrs. Fasheh on Friday afternoon. She showed me Bobby’s class work. It was so odd since he could do a worksheet in the morning, and the writing is hieroglyphics at best. He could do the exact same sheet in the afternoon, with no further instruction, and his font looks typed. It is crazy.
She also clarified his wall words dilemma. His rainbow isn’t colored fully because if you miss just one word in each color stripe when she tests you, you don’t get the row. Plus, you cannot sound these words out. You cannot hesitate. You have to just know them. These are pure memorization words.
She stressed that she wouldn’t be worried about him if it wasn’t for the fact that she knows he is super bright, and even has him in the top group. She also apologized profusely for spooking me. She appreciated that Ken and I are taking such an active role in getting him back on track. She was incredibly kind and supportive. She and I also went over some words and penmanship with Bobby while we were there. It was very cute at one point when we were showing him one sheet he had done and he tells us, “Don’t you just love how I wrote ‘Robert” here?” We both loved his pride and encouraged him to keep it up. It was cool.
Since we do need to get these words in his head, I took a very aggressive approach. Not mean, mind you. I just want to make sure Bobby knows we are all on his side with this, and I want to make these words super accessible. I brought home some post it notes that were very brightly colored, and we put all of his wall words up on our wall. We also put the numbers 1 through 30 on there. He has been very excited about testing himself on them. Each time he gets on, we put a star on it. Once he gets a word 5 times, we will take it down. I figure words like ‘the’ he knows really well will come down quickly, which is fine. But the ones he still struggles with, like ‘what’ or ‘done” will take some time. I also put up the words that the class hasn’t even gone over.
I also took some post its to my mom so that I can keep her up to date on which words he needs to work on, so that every time we go over there, she can have some post its up there so he can practice. He loved this.
I have put in the bribes, too. Once he colors the next line at school, he has a tiger Lego figure that will be in his possession. He keeps looking at it on my desk, getting all excited. I also told him once he colors the whole rainbow, he gets a tiger Pillow Pet. Seriously, this kid has asked me about this promise like 50 times since I mentioned it. He is so pumped!!
In addition to this wonderful new plan, I have noticed that the lines I had him do did help him in memorizing the ‘wh’ words. So I may have him do lines during homework time. Plus, we have some new coloring books and I told Ken that after dinner tonight I want to do family coloring hour. We can each take one page, and we all sit down together and color. That way both boys get practice, and it isn’t like they are racing to do something else since we are all together.
Ken was kind enough to be my personal salon this weekend. He colored my hair for me and then proceeded to give me a top notch pedicure. I feel all pretty this morning. Silly me, I am wearing my new knee high socks so no one can see my toes, but that was only because I knew it would be brisk today, whereas the rest of the week is supposed to be hot, so I can show of my piggies this week.
I really need a nap.
I think this is the week we need to call for bulk pick up. I figure we have whittled the pile down to a manageable size in which we can bring it all out in not too much time. This will then complete the driveway cleaning project which will be great for our birthday party that is fast approaching. I need to get some invites. I am having Bobby write their names on the envelopes. I figure it is his party, and it is another excuse for practicing.
In my randomness, I have decided to do something with my department at work that I have done before. I get little odd things at the Dollar Tree or 99 Cent store, and anonymously place them on everyone’s desk, including my own. I then pretend I have no idea. It is weird, I know, but for some reason it makes me smile when everyone is confused but happy. This weeks’ treat is a finger trap.
The finger trap is nice because it isn’t uber interesting, but it is a good slow way into this project. I steer clear of holiday specific. Random is also good. Unisex, and small.
Going into a store with Ken and the boys is a real act of patience on my part. We went into Lowe’s yesterday, and I really wanted to scream. Ken wanders around, in his own quest of finding the right item. The boys, drag their feet or feel the need to touch everything in sight. They also get bored, or annoyed, or chatty. I feel like I am herding talking cats when I go into a store like this. They all talk to me at once, all of them don’t listen to my response, and all of them seem to be oblivious of one another. Boy are they lucky I adore them.
It is good that Ken goes with me to the shelter. There was a dachshund beagle mix that for some reason I was incredibly smitten with. I do not care for little rat dogs, but this one was a doll.
Poor Dax got scared at the shelter when he approached a cage with a barky Chow mix. Ken had to pull him back suddenly since it didn’t appear to be safe. The boys know to never put their fingers in a cage, and to always put out their hand in the shape of a paw. But even that would not have been good with this dog. Poor kid, but I am glad Ken pulled him back.
I was pleased that there were so few cats, but worried that the reason for this was that they had already been euthanized. The kitties they had were all so incredibly sweet. The good news, too, is that most of them looked very adoptable.
Man, there are a lot of Pit Bulls and Chihuahuas. LOL! We certainly seem like a very Hispanic community. LOL!!
I like the coverage and how well the dye I used turned out. I would have liked for a slightly different red, but that can be revisited when I do the next round. This brand was awesome and I am quite pleased with it. Plus, the stuff smelled almost like grapes or strawberries. A very pleasant odor compared to many of the other dyes.
The boys are styling this morning in their brand new light up Sketchers. Bobby’s shoes had essentially died. He is a boy, almost 6, and in school, so the lifespan of a sneaker he owns is short. We headed out to get new shoes, and he mentioned the idea of Sketchers. We figured we could go and check out the clearance items at the outlet store. Not only did we find a pair of the light up variety, it was only $20. This seemed ok, and Dax pitched a ginormous fit that he wasn’t going to be groovin with the same shoes. Ken managed to find another pair, got them both to the front, and with sales and some sneaky price tagging on our part, we got both pair for $15 each. WOO HOO! These are shoes that are normally $50. YAY US!!
Is it wrong to have the Find A Death calendar next to the one Bobby made for me?
I am rockin my accounts this morning. I suppose I should close this out and post it so I can kick some collecting ass. WOO HOO!
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