Bring It. Brought It. Believe It.

Here he is.  District Speech Champion.

I am one proud Mama.  

And I am a clever one.  

Because when I tell him to pose for a picture
that "I promise I won't put on my blog" 

he believes me.

Oh Lawrd it has been a whacka-doodle 24 hours.

I was 7 minutes late getting Big Funny Kid out the door for the District Speech tournament.  We arrived 3 minutes early but I felt bad.

I spent the whole day with my stomach in knots.

D-Gang invited me over for Chinese food because she said "Anxiety needs company".  She was right.  I brought over cupcakes which totally got turned topsy-turvey as I negotiated the construction in her neighborhood.  In the end, my cupcake offering was a hot mess.

No one cared.

I "helped" bead The Girl  Who Has My Heart's hair and she in turn put beads in my hair.

The Boy Whose Eyes Reach Into My Soul told me that my hair looked like Ariel.  And Cheetos.  And he requested to eat Cheetos *from* my hair.

Bruiser downed an ENTIRE container of Sweet and Sour Sauce.

Got hugs from Child #1 (Murrbeth) and noticed that Child #2 is starting to wear makeup and it looked SUPER cute.  I wanted to tell her that but I didn't want to embarrass her.



Big Funny Kid got 5th in districts in one event and 1st in another.  Awesome School got 1st overall.  They are going to State.





EXHALE. 

(soooooo different from a Sigh)

Meeting with my Prof tomorrow to discuss my Case Study.  BFK has a quiz that he BETTER be ready for.

I am gonna rock my beads.

Got 5 minutes?  Check out what happens when you Don't Stop Believin'

PS...... I love that video but have mixed feelings about "The Guy" who thinks he is Steve Perry.

Really? Universe? Gonna Punch You In The Weenie!

OK.  Truth be told I wasn't being sensitive.
I was having a heart attack.
(but the picture depicts my eyes welling up in fear and frustration)

I knew this day was gonna be insane.  I was prepared as prepared could be.  

psssht - I wore my combat boots.

Meeting.  Meeting.  Deadline.  Meeting.  Missed Meeting.

Raced home and found out that my laptop was TOTALLY crashed.

Like totally.  Like for real.

With all my *brilliant* papers on it

 No time to fix it.....just throw down a boot disc, 

hit repair and run off to the next project.

Big Funny Kid has a MAJOR speech meet tomorrow.  Up at 5:00 AM.

Steaming  a suit.  

Streaming  some tears.

It's cool.  All will be well.  

If I were me I would listen to this.....and remind myself.....

Too Legit to Quit.

Indeed.






 

What Did I Learn Today

 

Today I learned that a rat needs a slightly larger hole than anticipated to escape but a parent that lets you keep a rat as a pet is a true hero.

I learned that chickens lay eggs more frequently when exposed to soft rock music than if not.

I learned that Google Maps drains an iPhone battery faster than Angry Birds.

I also re-learned that when a teenager has a plan and you accommodate it, that plan will change.

 I also re-learned that My Mother forgets her filter.

Let me explain.

I showed up early at Awesome School because I was gonna help D-Gang with some armor for her Trojan War AND because Big Funny Kid had appointed me as Dinner Retriever for his people while they put some finishing touches on their Parent Performance tonight.

Turns out that D-Gang was good on the armor front and we had a lovely  dialogue about planning for the future.

Around that time Big Funny Kid decided he was going out to dinner with friends.  So I went to the Science Fair with D-Gang.  Aaaaaaah Science Fair.  I kinda like it.  I wandered the aisles and seriously there were some VERY IMPORTANT science-y stuff going on.  But since I didn't have a dog in this particular hunt, I mostly learned about chickens, rats, ants and gossip (turns out that Females embellish stories more than Males - who knew?)

I puttered over to the supermarket and got some yucky food from the buffet for dinner.

I awaited the speech kids.  And my parents.

I FINALLY got to see BFK's intense duet acting piece.  30 seconds into it My Mother announced in her full speaking voice - "I did not see that coming!"  

I whipped around in my seat and gave her the gas face.

We saw BFK's OID piece and I enjoyed listening to people laugh spontaneously at different parts and at different times.  One guy gave them a standing ovation at the end of their performance.  

I was proud.

I also learned that tomorrow is Pi day 3.14.  As in "Mom, I gotta bring a pie to school tomorrow."

Suck it.  He is bringing in a cheesecake.   

Parting is Sweet Sorrow

So it occurred to me today as I looked at my class schedule for next semester that I am parting ways with some very cool, very smart, very lovely friends.  Alas, they are Full Timers and I am a Part Timer.  And we don't seem to have any more classes together.  And that kind of bums me out because I have a wonderful camaraderie with them.

I really hope we can keep in touch.  I really hope that maybe I can come to their graduation even though I won't be the kid in the cap.

I don't have a problem with my choice of being part-time.  It isn't even a choice, it is a necessity.  I have (and have always had) a full time gig being the Madre of Big Funny Kid.

And now is not the time to bail on all that work.  Now, more than ever, he needs my full attention.  And that means that he gets it and my Masters gets my full attention when he is asleep or at school.

It is a privilege.

Ironically, My Mother is still helping me out.  God you would think that she would be super sick of that gig after all these years.  But she never backed down.  She never blinked.  Dad too.  I remember sitting across from him at dinner half-dreaming, half-apologizing when I told him that I wanted to go back to school and get my Masters in Education.  He didn't blink. He smiled broadly and said "Well I think that is a fine idea."

Parenting is not only a full time job, it apparently lasts forever. 

I remember right after Big Funny Kid was born.  I was corresponding to my friend/mentor Ms. Moon and I was lamenting about this or that or the other.  And I said "Tell me that it will get better."

She said to me, "It doesn't get better.  It just gets different."

At first I was pretty bummed by this answer but now I get it.  I no longer have frustrations potty training BFK.  I have different frustrations.

sigh


So here is my final thought:   If you are lucky enough to have a parent in your life, take a moment to thank them.  If for nothing else,  thank them that you are no longer peeing your pants.

If you are a kid, know that your parents are trying to the best of their ability.  Cut them some slack. If nothing else, YOU are no longer peeing your pants.

And if you are taking care of an aging parent, know that they will eventually pee their pants.  And you will clean it up.

And life will have come full circle.

Gettin' Schooled

Let the Fun Begin!

I banged out some fairly quality work on my Case Study paper today.  I also banged my head against the wall.  And I stubbed my toe for good measure.

Writing a paper is different than writing my beloved blog.  I have to use fancy shmancy academic words and massive amounts of citations to other articles written by fancy shmancy people.  In some respects academia is a series of validating those who have come before you while trying to figure out how you have a different (sometimes complimentary, sometime not) approach to the subject at hand.

But truth be told, I rather like that process.  I have since high school.

I once had an AMAZING AP English teacher who had us write a paper on Hardy's "Return of the Native".  We were supposed to write it from the perspective of one of the characters.  I told her I was writing it in the perspective of the land.  She said "The land is not a character."  I said "Really?  Cuz that guy Hardy goes on and on and on about it."  In the end she said she would let me take a shot at it.  And I did.  And I rocked it.

Cuz here is the deal with AMAZING teachers:  They are open to trying something new.  They are open for a "teachable moment".  They are open to letting a smart-assed red headed kid with a mohawk try to make a point - as long as said smart-assed red headed kid can substantiate and support said point.

Anyway, Big Funny Kid came downstairs tonight and said "Can I ask you about my paper?"

I shoved all my crap aside from the coffee table and said "Yep - show me what you have."

And what he had was a skeleton on life support.  He felt that he had chosen a topic that didn't fulfill the assignment (even though it was approved) and he felt "stuck".

 Yep.  Been there.  Done that. 

So I had him set his research aside and said "Based on your topic:  Tell me a story.  I want a good guy, a bad guy, a problem and a resolution."

It took a bit of prodding but he got through my exercise.  In fact he grinned.  I handed him back all his crap and said "You better jot down some notes and thoughts about what you just said.  You may find it helpful."

Of course, there is much more to it than that.  There are also citations, formatting and references.  And the aforementioned "validating those before you" part.  But I told him to think of those things as hyperlinks.  "You know, the thing you click on to find out more about it or where it came from.  What is the source?"

He grinned a little more and trotted off with his 90 pound backpack hitting his butt on the way up the stairs.

I looked at my empty coffee table and the STACK of paperwork on the floor and decided to write this blog.  And I decided to make it an exercise if you care to participate.

Thesis:

Discuss.  (or just smile)

Teenagers Are Messy

I have literally driven all over the universe today as a teenager chauffeur.  Big Funny Kid has some lovely friends but boy do they live all over the city.  And we live way out west.

His friend Spaz the Pirate came over for awhile and the weather was nice enough that they took off for the school/park area across the street.

Upon their return, BFK calls out "Hey Madre.  Are you in a good mood?"

"Why?  What did you do?"

"I fell in a ravine."  He and Spaz the Pirate shrieked with laughter.

And sure enough, BFK was covered in mud and scratches.  I surveyed Spaz and he looked just fine.

"That's because I used your son as a human ladder and crawled out over top of him." he screamed and the two of them laughed some more.


Well that was fairly resourceful, I suppose. 

They got cleaned up and it was off to pick up the sister of his other friend, Squirrel. And then drop off Spaz and drive the other two to a birthday party about 8 million miles outside of town.

Truth be told, I *like* spending time with my kid and his friends.  I like that they trust me and I like to hear them talk about their lives and their goals.  Oh and I like the silliness.  The mud?  Not so much.

Duck Fries, Jazz Hands and Hair Bands

C'Mon Feel the Noize

FRIDAY, MARCH 9TH

So My Mother gave me her tickets to see the Broadway touring musical "Rock of Ages".  4 tickets to be exact and so I managed to convince That Man I Love, D-Gang and Plywood Whisperer that we were going to have a double date.  I threw in a lovely dinner.

I was probably the one in the group that was the most excited to see this show and I gotta say I wasn't even all THAT excited.  I wasn't really into the whole Hair Band thing in the 80's. 

Dinner was lovely.  I had duck fries.  D-Gang had some exotic fish that I can't pronounce and the gentlemen had Paella.  We got to the show just in time and took our EXCELLENT seats.  I had barely time to drink in the set when the show started.

AND IT WAS FREAKIN' AWESOME

Seriously.

And when the opening piano notes to "Sister Christian" started, I reached across Plywood Whisperer to grab D-Gang's hand.  Cuz she knows that I live for that song.

The show is set in a club on Sunset Strip that was kind of an amalgam of The Whiskey and the Rainbow Room.  And I clocked in a LOT of hours on the Strip during the mid to late 80's.  So this show had a special place in my heart.

Oh - and there was a jazz hands bit right before intermission.

Oh and we found My Wife and her Sensible Husband Who Shouldn't Be Given a Silly Nickname at intermission and we all were raving on and on about how great the show was.  And all the men concurred that they weren't really looking forward to it and were indeed loving every minute of it.

And the entire audience ended up on their feet in the end.

We spend soooooo many hours working on our own shows that it was lovely to just sit back and be sucked into a great time (ok - I didn't sit back.  I was on the edge of my seat).

I guess they are making a movie of this show.  And I will probably see it but I know it won't be as good as what I saw with dear friends tonight.

 And yes, I held my own private concert when I got home.

97% on Sister Christian.

I rawk.