Sweet Surprises...

So we ate McDonalds tonight as we were all starving and running late and after dinner Sam asked for a go-gurt, his usual dessert. When he reached into the fridge, there was only one go-gurt and I knew there was only one ice-cream pushup in the freezer (their favorite that they are only allowed once or twice a week), so I threw a curveball at them saying "well you have to decide between you who has which", and thought I would just sit back and watch the fireworks fly in the fight for the push up, like my sister and I used to do when we were given such options. When I was a kid, I would have scratched my sisters eyes out to get the ice-cream over the go-gurt, but Sam put me in my place when he calmly said "you can have the push up Abby, I will take the go-gurt". Tears started welling up in my eyes. Sweet little moments of generosity like that from my kids are just so precious. I was a very proud mom tonight.

"Free Knowledge and Free Gas"...

I sometimes believe that god sends down little tests for us to see how we handle them and then evaluates us accordingly...

A prime example of this was when yesterday a friend of mine called to see if there was any way I look after her friends' little boy after school for a couple of hours each day. Of course, I love to help people, (and she was going to pay me money to do it) so just before I was about to say "yes" I thought I had better ask what the child's age was. The answer was 6, "perfect" I thought, Sam's age, they can play together...

Now there is one "child" who shall remain nameless for his sake, that Sam or another child in their class has a problem with every day at school. Yesterday, this "child" hit Sam right above his eye because Sam touched his easter bunny and the "child" thought sam was going to take it. The principal dealt with this one and told me what happened when I went to pick Sam up. The day before that this "child" kicked a little girl and got sent to the principals office and the day before that the same "child" nearly poked Sam's eye out with a pencil...

So going back to the conversation with my friend... after delving further for information about her friends' "child", it turns out to be, yes... none other than our little trouble maker at school. What do I say? I have told my son to stay away from this "child" numerous amounts of times, how can I possibly look after him after school and let them play? Argggh.

Most of the people who know me well, also know that I am a terrible liar and follow the "honesty is the best policy" rule for everything... so I told my friend the truth and apologized for saying "no". She completely understood and filled me in with a little more detail about this "childs" background, which includes being from a broken home and his mother being a drug addict, which would explain why he behaves like he does at school. So now, the "test" from god seems a little clearer, it wasn't a test at all, but merely a way to inform me of what this child is going through, so I can be a little more tolerant of his behavior.

I still have a meeting with Sam's teacher tomorrow though to try to keep Sam away from this "child" as he has to sit at the same table as him at lunch... but at least now I can state my case with a little more compassion for what he must be going through...


The second test happened a couple of weeks ago at a gas station. I pulled up at Fishersville Sheetz to fill my car with gas and realized that it was $0.20 per gallon more expensive than the newly opened Sheetz in W'boro, so I decided to put $8 only in my car just to let me finish running my errands for the day and then I would fill up at the other station.

So I whacked it on the credit card and went inside Sheetz to use the bathroom. As I am sitting on the potty (sorry for the visual) I look down and see a rolled up bunch of dollar bills on the floor. When I have finished my business, I reach down and pick up the notes, looking around me in the bathroom as I do so like someone could be watching me...

It turns out that there is exactly $8 (yes, the same amount that I put in my car) in the bundle... So as I am walking out of Sheetz and back to my car feeling all smug that I just basically got "free gas", I look down at the neatly folded bunch of notes, that look like they have just fallen out of some old lady's pocket, and suddenly a guilt wave passes over me. I must have sat in my car for a good 5 minutes contemplating what to do as I knew that most probably if I took them back into the gas station, the money would end up in some employees' pocket... but at the same time "why should it end up in mine"?

So I decided to take the money back in - after all it isn't about someone else's actions that god was testing me on... it was mine - and handed the wad of notes to the gas attendant, who answered "oh great, thanks very much", like I had just given him a tip or something... but at least I was clear of guilt and who knows, I like to think that some nice little old lady did go back to that gas station and get given her money back... it is a nice thought... as for me? well I think (hope) that I passed that test.

Kids are so creative...

So the thousands of toys in my house are just not enough entertainment for my kids, they have come up with two new games to play which they absolutely love...

The first is called "Monkeys jumping off the bed" which involves just that, my two little monkeys jumping off the bed into one of our arms. we had many giggles playing this last night, so I recommend to all with strong arms, but be quick, as soon as one has jumped, the other will jump, so you almost have to throw the other one to the ground real quick or it could get ugly...

The second is called "tummy ski-ing" and involves sliding on your tummy down carpeted stairs (do not try if you are pregnant!). The kids wanted to do it down the stairs to our basement which has no carpet, I just made it in time to stop them as I knew it would be disastrous!

So next time, your kids say "I'm bored", you will know of two more exciting new games to play...

Car Buying

So we are in the process of buying a new car and it is turning out to be a bit of a headache... We have seen one in H'burg that we like, especially the price but it has been in 2 mild rear end accidents which is putting us off a little. We went to try a similar one out today at McDonaugh Toyota in Staunton and that has the worst thumping noise we have ever heard and when we sat idling in it, we could smell burning!!@!! Got out of that one as fast as we could... but it did look nice... might go back... lol....

I had my car detailed today, so it would be all nice and clean for a prospective buyer, and it came out looking fab... no more 5 year old McDonalds fries lingering under my car seats, the perpetual odor of sour milk has virtually disappeared and my "oil explosion" under the hood is nearly untraceable. So why am I getting rid of it? After looking at all these ringer cars, I am beginning to ask myself that same question...

Age is just a number.... right?

So it has been brought to my attention more than once recently that I might be getting old... and after just having had probably the most forgettable birthday ever, I am not sure that age is just a number anymore... You know you are getting old when:

... your youngest asks you on your birthday if you are now older than Grandma.

... a friend asks how old you are going to be and you have to refer back to your year of birth to calculate...(yes it happened to me)...

... you rethink about buying a car you like because it has a "young" looking spoiler on the back... gotta stick to that stay at home mom family mobile...

... one of your best friends buys you Garnier anti wrinkle firming moisture cream with "ultra lift" for you birthday and you love it!

... your love handles start to creep out of your jeans and you have to wear a belt to flatten them back down again...

... asked what I want for my birthday from my husband, I pick kitchen knives instead of jewelry!

... you start receiving a lot more birthday cards that poke fun at your age!

... you don't wear half of your wardrobe because it would look better on a teenager...

... your teenage niece wants to steal your favorite Aeropostale hoodie!

and finally... when you won't step out of the house without your usual minimal amount of makeup... yes, au natural is finally out of the window.

And so it begins...

So I have decided to create a blog, to share the sometimes meaningful? everyday goings on in my life with my friends and family and because I have waaay too much time on my hands, especially since I am joining the Ebay strike happening from 18th - 25th Feb!

Anyhow, USA and UK readers please bear with me as there might be words/phrases in my blogs that you might not understand, seeing as this is written straight from my thoughts... in Englerican, hence the title of my blog...

Anyways, Abby has the flu and I went to Rite Aid to pick up her prescription the other day of Tamiflu. Now, we have never had the flu in our house, so I had no idea of the cost of medication for it, which turned out to be $50. I was shocked at the cost and shyly asked the pharmacist if it was absolutely necessary that we give her the medication, "won't this virus just go away on its own?", only to be told that "a lot of young children still die every year from the flu, so it is just not worth the risk." Suddenly $50 seemed like $0.05 cents to me and I swiftly ran the credit card.

Turns out this drug is like a miracle drug. Abby was running 103 degree temperatures until we gave it to her on Monday night. Tuesday she woke up feverless and remained so for the rest of the day and today. However, Abby is now wild... Although I am not sure if her hyperactivity is a side effect of the drug or due to the fact that she has been cooped up in the house for so many days... the doctors are probably sick of me calling as I have called every day this week with questions... I don't really care though as I believe in getting my moneys worth...

So I take her out today as I have to run an errand and she NEEDS to get out. I thought I would treat her to McDonalds as we haven't had that certain junk food for a while now, only to suddenly smell this horrible burning oil odor. It turns out that when I filled my car with oil earlier at home, I had failed to put the oil cap back on, so when I opened the hood (bonnet to all you brits) of my car, oil had exploded everywhere all over the motor. Luckily the cap was still there, so like shutting the gate after the horse has bolted, I put the cap back on and proceeded to try to clean the mess up with a rag. By the time I had finished, I had oil in my hair, on my clothes and all over my hands.... Luckily Abby was sleeping through the whole thing in the back... oh to be a child...