Polar Opposites

Strip is a thinker. And because she is a thinker, she is a worrier. That child worries enough for our entire extended family and then some. Nugget, on the other hand, is totally my kid. Not a care in the world, does what he wants doesn't care what anyone says, does, thinks. It doesn't even occur to him to worry about anything!

I signed them both up for soccer and it starts this week, so we were talking about the last minute things we need to get before practice. Nugget got a football jersey from Ma for college game day (woo hoo! Welcome back fall!), and wanted to know if he could wear his #3 jersey for soccer.

Me: No, buddy, you can't wear your football jersey. But I think they will give you both a special soccer shirt.

Nugget: Can I be #3?

Me: No, I don't think so. They assign everyone the numbers, so I don't think you get to pick.

Strip, AKA worry wart: Umm. Do they give you the numbers based on how good you are?!

Me: No, sweetie, they just give out the numbers.

Nugget: I wanna be zero.

Oy. Maybe they will rub off on each other and even themselves out a little!

Wanna be OCD

Yes, I realize the correct phrase would be, "Want to HAVE OCD," but the "be" just flows better.

And yes, I have a pinterest board named that :-)

PaPa and Ma were visiting for college game day weekend and took the kids to their first "college" football game. I use the quotes because the team was Ma's alma mater, not mine or Hubs, so it doesn't really count :-)

The kids had a blast. Nugget was convinced that HE was going to get to play because he had a jersey. Strip started having a panic attack the minute that saw the teams warming up asking UP, "Won't they get hurt when they run into each other like that?" UP pointed out all of the pads and the helmet and she seemed to be OK. Nugget, still convinced he was going in, warmed up with team then promptly fell asleep near the end of the second quarter.

The kids enjoyed the game and since it was a holiday weekend, Papa and Ma grabbed the kids for a night on the Bus, leaving Hubs and I home alone!

What to do?!

Impromptu date night on the town? Nice dinner out and a movie? Go have coffee somewhere and chat?

Nope!

I cashed in some Bed Bath and Beyond coupons earlier that day, so while Hubs was watching football, I put the laptop on the kitchen counter, started streaming a little Netflix and reorganized my pantry.

Yup. Impromptu date night, and I'm organizing rice noodles!

Like I said, I want to be/have OCD, but it's always been a swing and a miss. I stumbled across a blog of a woman whose junk draw makes the most organized spot in my house look like Hoarders. So I channeled my inner neat freak and got to work.

First off? I HATE our pantry. Yes it's much bigger than the one we had in our old house, but it has wire shelves (which I hate) and it's just wide and awkward and full of wasted space (which I hate).

Second, I'll show you the before and afters, but keep in mind, the before picture was probably the WORST it's ever been. We'd been in and out of town, and the pantry became the dumping grounds. So please imagine that my pantry's before picture is kind of like the latest weight loss girl's before picture; kind of chubby, but you can totally tell she's sticking out her belly in the before and sucking in for the after.

After checking expiration dates, shuffling noodles, flour and sugar and arranging things by height, I finally had as close to an organized pantry as I was going to get.

Drumroll, please!

Before:

AHHH!! We're hoarders and there are probably some animals in there!!!!

And after:

You can hear the angelic voices singing from their acrylic pop lid containers!

Now what's the over under on it STAYING like this!

Adding to our kids' stability.

It's not enough that we rip our kids out of their lives every 2 years and move, once we settle in the place Hubs says is for good (or at least a little while), we take them out of school the second week!

Yup, Summer came and went and life was just crazy. We were shopping for #2 pencils before we knew it and we really hadn't spent much quality family time together. Because of work schedules, we had a certain window we were aiming for to get away, but we also knew we couldn't monetarily travel too far or stay somewhere too crazy. So when some dear, dear friends said their beach house was retable for a week, we jumped. When we found out it was the week after school started, I hesitated.

We were going with our friends T and J and their kids L and A (Strip's BFF). They had no problem going that week because they homeschool! As much as I hated to miss an entire week of school before it was even September, we had to weigh the pros and cons. Sure, it's Nugget's last year of preschool and Strip's in 1st grade, but how much are they REALLY going to do during that second week? Especially when the first week isn't really a full week? And yeah, we could always plan ahead and go next summer, but next summer, we wouldn't be going with Nugget and Strip. We'd be going with kindergarten Nugget and second grade Strip.

So we got the week's worth of school work (which Strip finished in 5 minutes), packed up the car and headed for paradise.

And OH was it paradise! Secluded beach, plenty of room for all 8 of us (and then some), private pool and no reason to put on anything other than a bathing suit and some SPF.

Hubs and I have taken quite a few trips, but we've always had one problem. Any time it's just a relaxing vacation, he gets very sick and/or has to visit a doctor. Honeymoon? Lost 20lbs after eating sushi in Mexico and I thought he was going to die. Ski trip? Totally fine. Family reunion vacation at the beach? Loses a tooth eating a Milkdud at the movie theatre resulting in an emergency dental visit. Huff and puff through Disney World? A OK.

Hubs had been traveling the week+ leading up to the beach, so when he said he wasn't feeling too well, my response was, "Don't EVEN start!" I told him to up the OJ and try to get more sleep. When we got to the beach, he upped the brews and we stayed up late playing cards.

So, a few days into our trip, he said he REALLY wasn't feeling well. My loving response? "Yeah, well, you're probably dehydrated and need more sleep, stop complaining and drink some water." Later that day he asked me to look up where the nearest urgent care place was, to which I said, "Umm probably back home. We're in the middle of nowhere!"

But it looked like the Public Health Department was taking walk-ins and wrote out the address for him. And before ANYONE throws the "Bad Wife" card at me, need I remind you that I drove MYSELF to the emergency room while in anaphylactic shock.

During a blizzard.

Off to the PHD he went and a few ivs and an antibiotic later, Hubs came back and crashed for the rest of the day and most of the next.

I'm thinking I should go ahead and book us some high impact something for Punta Cana. Otherwise, one of us might not be coming back!

It's all downhill from here!

Found this adorable gift on Pintrest! You can read more about it HERE!

So the big 3-0 is here! I had grand plans of how I would celebrate this day; weekend trip to Vegas, day trip to Chicago with Hubs, the very least a night out with the girls at my favorite downtown piano bar! So how did I celebrate? Work, take Strip to ballet, back to work, and dinner at the kids' favorite restaurant because it was late and they were exhausted.

Was it the night I planned? No. Am I upset? Not really. I think I would have been more disappointed had I wasted the almost 11,000 other days of my life worrying about plans I'd made instead of enjoying the life I was living.

So in honor of me crossing that birthday off my list, I thought I'd celebrate by compiling a list of things I've done in the past 30 years (what's the opposite of a bucket list?). Here goes:

• was born!
• Hit all of my normal milestones
• embraced total kidney failure
• rocked dialysis
• got the old kidney's working again
• learned to water ski
• sang my first solo in church
• graduated kindergarten
• learned to snow ski
• took ballet
• took jazz
• took tap
• felt my way through elementary school
• wandered into middle school
• got braces
• performed in Carnegie Hall (finger cymbal duet, thank you!)
• braces off!
• performed in Constitution Hall
• braces back on
• traveled to London and Paris
• High School
• made the boys varsity soccer team
• Opera company? Sure!
• toured Germany
• braces off
• drivers license
• Met Hubs
• Learned to drive a zamboni
• Accepted into colleges (yes, that's plural)
• graduated High School
• off to college
• met a pot-luck roommate who could have been my twin
• took some classes
• took some classes
• took some classes
• Started working at a jewelry store (with grand plans of moving to NYC and working at Tiffany's while starring on Broadway and winning a Tony)
• Adopted June Bug
• declared a major (because I was running out of classes to take)
• Received my GIA diamond certification
• Finished up BA
• Started dating Hubs
• Internship
• Graduated!
• emergency appendectomy
• Hubs proposed!
• Off to Prague with UP for 2 weeks
• got a job as a parapro
• moved into an EBD classroom...
• wedding plans started!
• party, party, party!
• married Hubs!!
• Honeymoon in Mexico (Don't eat sushi down there. Ask Hubs why if you REALLY need to know).
• moved to NC
• Had Strip
• Moved to South FL
• Impulse bought a house in a city we'd never set foot in
• met some fabulous people
• went to Disney World
• got a job
• went to Disney World
• Had Nugget
• Went to Disney World
• promoted (or working more hours!)
• Went to Disney World
• moved up North (bought our second house in a city we'd never set foot in)
• met some more fabulous people
• went to a pumpkin patch (a real one!)
• picked apples from an orchard
• got a job
• first visit to Chicago
• visited our first Christmas tree farm
• went into anaphylactic shock
• discovered I'm allergic to all food
• played in the snow
• taught my daughter to ride a 2 wheeler
• promoted (or working more hours...)
• continued hanging with fabulous friends
• sang at a wedding in Disney World
• 10 year high school reunion
• more apples, more pumpkins, more Christmas Trees
• Taught myself how to sew
• volunteering at preschool
• Said good-bye to June Bug
• Said Hello to Zoe
• Fought off a mouse in the house
• started teaching preschool
• Taught my kid to tie her shoes
• Survived my child taking the bus
• Settled into life and enjoying it
• Taught my other kiddo to ride a 2 wheeler
• Curve ball thrown and we're moving. AGAIN
• Impulse bought our THIRD house in a city we'd never lived in
• Went to Disney
• Got a job
• Met some MORE fabulous people
• Went to NYC with my favorite 5 year-old
• signed up Hubs, UP and myself for a half marathon
• Went to Disney with just the kiddos (and lived to tell about it)
• Started working more hours and a second job
• Went to Disney

And I wouldn't change a single bullet point. Because changing one would mean changing all the ones after it. So, I'm really looking forward to seeing what the next 30+ bullet points have next to them!

The Tooth Fairy has landed for the second time in our house!

Second visit, first missing tooth.

Yes, only my child could have Santa deliver presents to her baby doll AND try to trick the tooth fairy. A few months ago, Strip found a small, white rock that looked like a tooth, so she thought it would be a GREAT idea to stick it under her pillow and get see if the tooth fairy would leave her money.

The tooth fairy DID come, but left a note basically saying, "Nice try, that's a rock, I'm sure I'll see you soon."

And we finally had a wiggler! Her BFF lost a tooth a few weeks before (the very same tooth!), so I was hoping Strip would rip hers out, but no.

She wiggled.

And wiggled.

And wiggled.

I remember letting my teeth get so loose they would twirl and still not letting my dad pull them. And it looks like my kid is going to be the same way.

BUT, tonight we were over at said BFF's house having dinner when the girls got to chatting about their teeth. BFF was telling Strip how she pulled her tooth herself, but Strip just couldn't do it. You could SEE the permanent tooth almost all the way in behind it, the tooth would flip all the way forward, but she would not pop that last root.

So, I suggested BFF give it a tug. And little miss nurse washed her hands and got to work! First she watched as Strip wiggled it to see how loose it really was. Then she gave it a couple of tugs, but it wouldn't budge. BFF's mom reminded her that she had a piece of toilet paper to grip her tooth, so off to the bathroom they ran. They came back, and I had my phone ready. Armed with a square of Charmin, BFF grabbed that little wiggler, twisted and pulled and...

WHOA!

Strip didn't even know the tooth was out, but BFF, looked down with shock as she was HOLDING STRIP'S TOOTH!! They both looked down, squeal-screamed and ran to the bathroom to look at their matching grins.

And Strip wrote a letter to the tooth fairy asking if she could keep her tooth (my kid is creepy!), but still get what BFF got.

The TF delivered! A sweet note, a tooth left behind, a crisp dollar, a travel tooth brush set and a new DS pen with the reminder to STOP CHEWING ON THEM!

Can't believe my BABY is old enough to have grown-up teeth!

Blogging A.D.D

Here are some bright colors to keep you focused on this post :-)

Last night, I logged in to write about our recent mishap with the car GPS. I like pictures, so was looking for one to start the post.

Not finding one I liked, I googled "lost" to try to find an image.

And that reminded me of a funny email/blog post UP sent me a year or so ago.'

So I started searching my email for it and ran across some hilarity from www.damnyouautocorrect.com.

And because I had not looked at that site in a while, I clicked on over for some giggles.

Remembering I had a post to write, I went back to my email where I was SURE I'd found the link.

But it turned out to be a Josh Groban funny. I had not watched it in a while, so I watched it, giggled, showed it to Hubs, then we watched it again. Here is is for your viewing pleasure (and because I need an excuse to watch it one more time!):

I finally broke down and googled the blog I was looking for and found it:

http://www.27bslash6.com/missy.html

I read it and cried I was laughing so hard.

At that point I was too tired and had forgotten completely about the post I was supposed to write.

Oh well! Maybe I can focus on actually writing tomorrow.

We've got ourselves a wiggler!

Last week, we were on the way to a friend's house for family dinner/movie night. We stopped at Publix to pick up a few things to add to the menu and Strip mentioned that her teeth hurt. I immediately jumped to CAVITY!

I asked which tooth hurt and she pointed to the lower middle two.

So not a cavity.

"Oh! I wonder if you're getting a loose tooth!"

She told me that was something that a friend of hers at camp said, so I told her when Hubs parked and ran in the store, I'd crawl in the backseat and take a look.

She pointed to the "hurt" tooth and I put my pointer on it. And, shockingly enough, when I moved my finger back and forth, the tooth moved, too.

I couldn't believe it.

I knew she'd have a loose tooth eventually. I knew the movement they came in, she'd lose them, but I was NOT prepared for this.

Because I was sick as a kid, there are a lot of things I don't remember. Brains are awesome in that they can block out traumatic events, unfortunately, they take birthdays, Christmas's and First-days-of school's with them. So when I felt that tiny baby central incisor give when I pulled my finger a little, I was transported back to Mrs. Timmerman's class when I JOYFULLY announced to the first grade that I had my first tooth, and they smiled permanent or toothless grins and said, "So?"

My baby isn't a baby any more!

We called UP and PaPa and Ma to spread the word, then Strip started to lay into me.

"You know, Mom. When this tooth fall out? I will NEVER have ALL of my baby teeth again. This could be like, THE last time I have all of my baby teeth. Because when this one falls out, I'll have holes or big teeth, but never JUST my baby teeth."

Yeah, we got it! I called the photographer and set up a "last baby teeth" shoot for next week and instructed Strip to stop with the wiggling and NO eating apples! She said she wasn't going to eat anything hard because she "wanted to draw this out so she could enjoy eating corn a little longer."

Oh another note, what's the tooth fairy paying these days for teeth? She only brought me Susan B. Anthony dollar coins.