It's a conspiracy!

As we know, I am in need of a 12 step program for china.  In a bad way.  I started my Spode Christmas Tree collection in 2002 when Hunter & I first got married.  That year's purchase was a star shaped candy dish.  That one little dish turned into a yearly purchasing tradition.  Dishes followed, serving pieces, wine glasses, high ball glasses, candy dishes, ornaments, etc.  

This year I purchased bowls as we use our Spode as our daily dishes starting the day after Thanksgiving & until New Year's Day (or the day after).  I was thinking that maybe a few more salad plates & dinner plates would be nice to have.  

But there's something rotten in Denmark, or at least Columbus as NO ONE has the dishes.  Well, not entirely true.  Dillards & Macy's do.  But I'm looking at TJ Maxx & Marshall's as they tend to be a little cheaper.  We have 2 TJ's & 1 Marshall's store.  All 3 are sold out.  HOW is this possible??  Suddenly everyone is buying Spode??  They better be buying for me!

I'm debating going to Macy's/Dillards after Christmas & seeing what they have but GAH! No Spode?!!!!  

Piggy Backing

As I mentioned in my last post, my New Year's Resolution is to give up feeling guilty about things that are out of my control or at the very least, to not feel guilty when I say no to things.

A very wise woman whom I'm fortunate enough to call a friend shared this list on FB earlier today.

Food for thought, no?

The Crazy Train Pulls Into The Station

Do you mind if I vent about something?  I mean, it's my blog & I can do what I want (said like a petulant 5 year old) but do you mind?

So, yesterday was the second day of the Secret Santa Shop (SSS).  We knew things would be busy as we gave the teachers 1 hour slots this year.  Yesterday was early release day so we lost 2 shopping hours.  Two very precious shopping hours as we had a couple teachers doubling up during one slot.   

Our PTA President works part time for big name insurance company headquartered here.  Yesterday she had to go into their headquarters for a meeting & was planning on coming in to help as soon as the meeting let out.  Our Fall Festival Chair person had to go to work as she'd missed the last 4 days because of a sick child.  The SSS chair was at her part time job as well.  So, it left me & another mom to run the show.  We're hard core, we can do this.  

Things went south when she was ringing on the register & I was wrapping gifts.  And by going south, I mean she messed up & loudly proclaimed "SH*T!"  In front of half a dozen kids.  And while this is happening, her husband is texting/calling her.  We switch jobs & she's on the phone while wrapping.  I hear the following come out of her mouth:  "I can't leave.  Laurie would be all alone in here"

The next few minutes are a blur as there are dozens of children in the shop, her phone is ringing & next thing I know she says "I have to go & do something for him"

PTA volunteer say what?

Leave?  Me?  NOW?  With no one to help me?  This just isn't done!

But dear readers, it WAS done.  Chick leaves me high & dry.  And riding the crazy train at that.  

At some point, one of the 4th grade teachers came in with her class & told me she'd help wrap.  And as soon as some of her super reliable kids had shopped/paid/been wrapped they'd help me too.  

I tell you, it took a village, or at the very least, a 4th grade class to make this SSS happen yesterday.

And, may I add that you know people feel really bad for you when teachers are suggesting you go home & have a drink when school lets out at 12:30.  Teachers, plural.  I may or may not have taken their advice---I'll leave you wondering on that ;)

Today was Hunter's ankle surgery---apparently things were quite messy in there.  His ligament (or was it tendon?) was as thick as his doctor's finger & a bone spur had developed to mess things up even more.  He twisted it over the summer while mowing the lawn & things just never got better.  He went from a brace to a boot to a cane to an MRI to today's surgery.

He drove himself in at 5 am as we both agreed that waking Sunshine & having her ride in w/ us would be awful for her.  So after I dropped her off at school, I started my trek to one of the civilian hospitals.  After a quick diversion to the PO to pick up my Mom's Christmas presents for us.  

We got home around 1:15 & he's spent most of the day in bed with his foot elevated.  He's in a bit of pain & so far hydrocodone's not helping much.  We'll see if things are better tomorrow or whether we need to get something else to help him feel better.

And, can I tell you about the cold therapy unit?  It's a COOLER with electric cables plugged into it.  Seriously.  A cooler.  You know the person who created this thing is rich from it.  A cooler, people!  *shakes head*

Tomorrow is my other day off from the SSS.  I felt incredibly guilty about taking 2 days off.  Never mind the fact that our VP is never around for anything, saw I was alone on Tuesday & left me to go back to her son's class, but told me to "call" if we needed help or anything.  What did she think I needed when it was me & some 4th graders running the show?  You'd be right if you said a xanax & a big ol' cocktail, but they frown on stuff like that in elementary schools.  You'd also be right if you said "OH!  Laurie, you needed someone to pitch in & help you!"  And I'd give you a big ol' prize for that correct answer.

So, back to my guilt.  It's awful.  I didn't help out at Family Fit Night last Spring because Sunshine had a knot on her head from falling the day before & honestly, I didn't want to leave my house.  I was beating myself up for days over that one.  Then, the weekend before Fall Festival I skipped out of Beautification Day at school. I worked like a dog at the one before school started & was sick that afternoon.  The best guilt trip I took was during Book Fair---you remember Book Fair--it's how I got started in this whole PTA Crazy Train trip.  So back during Book Fair in September we also host a Grandparents Breakfast on that Friday.  I'm already running & working a major fundraiser.  I've done the planning, the scheduling, the copying, the set up, the working, & will be working the break down so I can have my margarita w/ our librarian.  BUT, as I'm signing checks for the breakfast (I'm also the Treasurer, remember?  Yes, I'm insane), I'm apologizing like a fiend because I can't help with the breakfast.

Seriously.  Insane.  I know it---it's okay, you can say it.

Yes, I have a hobby.  I knit.  At PTA functions sometimes.  Book Fairs at least.

So,  yesterday as I was fuming over being ditched for some errand to the Dollar Tree,  I was writing my letter of resignation to the PTA.  I was going to give up the Treasurer's position, tell them they could forget about me being either Secretary or Treasurer next year & that I'd do Book Fair & nothing more.  I know, I'll never actually write that letter but the fantasy of doing it helped me through the situation.

When I was telling Hunter about my awful day & how I was ditched for the DOLLAR TREE!!!!, I told him how I felt guilty about being gone for 2 days.  He just shakes his head & tells me that I really need to share my thoughts with people about certain situations.  I'm not sure about that.  I don't think that this woman needs to know what I think about her Dollar Tree mission.  Not if I don't want my tires slashed.  Or worse.

It hit me that my New Year's Resolution will be to give up feeling guilty.  I will do the jobs I've volunteered for & that's it.  Someone else can pick up the slack.  Things won't fall apart if I don't have a hand in them.  And I'm sure there are other moms & dads who want to be more involved.  Aren't there??

So tomorrow I'm going to do some knitting, get my Christmas cards written out & addressed & possibly go for a hot stone massage pedicure if my patient is okay.

And I will NOT feel guilty about it!

The Crazy Train Has Left The Station

and I'm in the first car!

My crazy week has officially begun.  On Saturday, we spent 4 hours setting up the Secret Santa Shop for the kids & had a brief PTA Board meeting.  Brief partly because our agenda wasn't terribly long, but also because it was after 3 & we'd all been there since 10:30.  I was so tired the rest of the day!

Today is the first day of Secret Santa & in true "can't say no" Laurie fashion, I'm working from 8-2.  It'll probably be more like 230 as we'll have some parents coming in to shop with their children.  I also need to make copies for Sunshine's teacher & get them distributed to the kids myself as the letter contains a request for donations for her teacher's gift.  I'm making a gift for her myself, but I've found that if you go in on a joint gift, sometimes you have better options.  We'll see if the parents agree!

Tonight is my Knit Night where I'll work on Sunshine's teacher's scarf.

Tomorrow is Secret Santa until early release at 12:30 then we'll dash home, get Sunshine into her pretty dress, head over to get her hair trimmed & then to the mall to get our annual Santa picture.  I was so excited to find red frames at World Market last weekend when I was there.  Now all of our pictures will have the same frames!  We also have to work on her Mary Musgrove presentation.  Not having been raised in GA & semi ignorant of the founding/early days of GA, I wasn't aware of who she was until Sunshine came home talking about her, James Ogelthorpe & Tomochichi.  BTW, hearing her say Tomochichi is the cutest thing ever.

Wednesday is Hunter's surgery day.  Prayers, please.  Not just for him, but for me as he'll be restricted to 2 - 3 weeks w/ no weight on it.  Have I mentioned that we're going to the American Girl Store w/ Sunshine exactly 2 weeks post surgery?  In a mall.  Where walking is required?  I may have to get him a scooter.

The upshot about Wednesday is I'll have time to get some knitting done while I'm in the waiting room.  Hopefully I can finish that day.  I'm anticipating staying home from SSS on Thursday as well & will have time to address my Christmas cards,  upload games/music to Sunshine's ipod touch that Santa is bringing on Christmas & hopefully do some work on the PTA Treasury records (filing paperwork & such).  It'll also give me a chance to get some cleaning done.

Friday is the last day of the SSS so we'll break down & put away anything that doesn't sell for next year, count some $$ & head to the bank.

And then I'll just have 2 days of school to worry about ---ornament day & brownie tree decorating day.  But those should be fun & less chaotic than this week.

Happy Monday & feel free to board the Crazy Train with me. I'll make room on the first car for you!

Fire

Hunter & I don't do big anniversary or Christmas gifts, usually.  There have been years where I received a particularly nice piece of jewelry or the armoire that goes with our bedroom suite.  But we try to keep smallish.  Really, the Kindle Fire is smallish.  As in 7" tablet small.

I'm an iphone/ipod type of girl by nature.  I like things that don't have too big of a learning curve out of the box.  I want it to work IMMEDIATELY.  Like yesterday.  Like a 4 year old wanting to tear into their cake & presents BEFORE the party starts type of immediately. 

I've had a bit of a learning curve with my Kindle & have much frustration with the Vanity Fair app not accepting my sign in, despite 5 days worth of communication between VF's customer service & my email.  But so far I am LOVING this device!  Luckily, my favorite bookatarian has one & has been wonderful about sharing sites/freebies/etc.  Today, I downloaded 4 free books as a result of her sharing this info!

I'm also bone tired.  Today we set up for the Secret Santa Shop at school.  Five of us showed up to get everything done & it took us about 3 hours.  This is the calm before the storm.  Every time slot is filled on the teachers' sign up sheets.  And despite my working Monday, Tuesday & Friday from 8-2, I'm still feeling guilty that I won't be there on Wednesday & possibly Thursday as Hunter is having surgery on Wednesday.  I think my New Year's Resolution for 2012 is to work on that whole feeling guilty because I can't be everywhere all the time.  

I'm just over 50% finished knitting the scarf for Sunshine's teacher.  I'm planning on working on it tonight & hopefully will have it finished by Thursday so I can block it in time to give to her on the 20th (last day of school before break).    I also want to try to work on a scarf for Sunshine's Kindergarten teacher.  Sunshine started at this school in January '10 so technically, I'm free & clear for not having a Christmas present for a teacher she didn't have at that time.  But, my original plan was to give her a knitted gift at the end of the year, only it never happened.  I have the ribbing to finish on my Mara shawl & could give that to her, but was thinking about using some yarn that was gifted to me by Kristine (everyone's favorite bookatarian).  I could work something on larger needles & have that finished by the 20th as well if I am home with Hunter for the day of his surgery & the day after.  Hmmm, something to try to do.

Shopping

Not Christmas shopping, not shopping for myself or family.  But shopping at the school district's clothing bank with two special needs children.  One of whom lives in a foster home.

Our PTA brings children twice a year, or as needed to the Sara Spano Clothing Bank.  I worked there last Spring & helped a little girl who touched my heart.  This year, I've been promoted to driving/shopping with the children.  I'm the contact person for the PTA so I'm automatically on the drive committee along with our PTA President.  We took a special needs boy in the fall.  He's a sweet boy & worked well with us as we told him he had to try on the clothes we were picking out &if  he was good, we'd take him to McDonald's afterward.  Over lunch, he told us about how he'd moved to GA from WI, the amount of snow he was used to & what his hobbies were.  I'd see him in school periodically & he'd high five me.  When I realized I hadn't seen him in a while, I asked his teacher.  He's currently living in a battered woman's shelter with his mom.

Today, we went with M & M.  She's 5 & he's 10.  Both have special needs.  One lives in foster care.  Both have such sweet little eager faces that it just breaks my heart to think about their situations.

A busload from another school managed to get into the building ahead of us.  Once one of the admins realized we had 2 special needs kids, she pulled me aside & got us signed in.  Since there were 3 of us (PTA President, myself & the aide for our 5 year old) and only 2 kids, we were asked if we'd mind helping a child from another school.  I helped a boy who was a total sweetie.  We had fun filling his bag & I kept going back to find more clothes.  It's not as cold here as it is in other parts of the country, but it's cold.  I stopped counting after 8 shirts went into his bag.  He gave me a hug & high five when he went back with his school.

We took our kids to McDonald's for lunch & things were fine until we were almost back to school.  Our 5 yr old lost it.  Took off her seat belt, tried to open the locked door, screaming, crying, etc.  When we got back to school, her teacher put her in a keeping area where she told me the same thing happens daily at 11:30.  Total & utter melt down.  I've been home for a little over an hour & I can still hear the screaming in my head.  Trust me, Sunshine's had some major screaming melt downs, but nothing like this.  The desperation in that little voice---so sad.

As I was leaving school, I passed one of the 2nd grade teachers who was bringing her class back from the lunch room.  We stopped to chat for a couple minutes & she asked what I had been up to this morning.  I told her & she just shook her head.  "Thank you for everything you do.  You ladies may think that people don't notice or appreciate it, but they do.  And you're making the difference for children who really need it."  she said.

Thank you, Mrs. J.  I needed to hear that today.

Nine

As in 9 years ago, Hunter & I were married. If you've read my blog for a while, you know he had been home from 6 months in Kuwait for a week & that he would leave to go back a month later for the build up to OIF.  The next time that I'd see him would be July '03. 

I'm fascinated by numbers & find it interesting that both of our birthdays are on the 4th of the month, our anniversary is the 4th, our daughter was born in the 4th month of the 4th year.  I also love the old wive's tales about things, such as when to marry:

"Married in days of December cheer, Love's star shines brighter from year to year."

"When December's snows fall fast, Marry, and true love will last."

Having chosen the month, next the day of the week must be decided upon, and here we find:

" Monday for wealth, Tuesday for health, Wednesday the best day of all, Thursday for losses, Friday for crosses, And Saturday no luck at all."

In 2002, December 4th was on a Wednesday.  We were married at high noon.

Like all married couples, we've had our fair share of ups & down, trials & tribulations but we've always remembered our commitment to one another.  Plus, we joke that when we got married we signed a 35 year contract & that we'd be up for negotiations when the 35 years were up.  

I don't things will change after those negotiations except for Hunter having to fold more laundry & unload the dishwasher.  Oh, and to stop using the sink as a staging area for the dishwasher!