Mama On The Move

Katie and I were putting a puzzle together yesterday. Each time I would pick up a piece and start to put it where I thought it should go, she would pluck it out of my hand and put it in the right spot herself. I pointed out to her that she was doing this and she apologized. I jokingly told her, "If you do that one more time, I'm going to snatch you bald-headed." She looked at me in complete bafflement and said, "Snatch you bald headed? What does that mean?" "It means we'll have a kicking, screaming girl-fight where we roll around on the floor and I pull all your hair out." She grinned and laughed. Then every so often for the rest of the time we were working on the puzzle, she would randomly chuckle and say to herself, "Snatch you bald headed." It's amazing how a common insult when I was growing up is now a quaint amusement to a ten year old. I could tell she was filing that one away to pull out and use later. It made me think of ...

Kerry and Ben went scuba diving the day after Thanksgiving. I always love to see the photos when they return. It's like seeing another world. Or another planet. Or just seeing our planet from a different perspective. Watching this Eagle Ray swim along is fascinating. Two Moray Eels telling everyone to stay away!

On Sunday, as we were leaving the house heading for church, I noticed a letter in the mailbox. Apparently, whoever brought in the mail on Saturday missed an envelope and it caught my eye as I was locking the door. I pulled it out, noted it was from my mother and hopped in the car. I opened it as Kerry started driving and pulled out a letter. It was written by my father when he was eighteen years old. It was note to his mother to thank her for his birthday gift. It says: Dear mother, I thought I would write a few lines to let you know I got my birthday present. I was proud to get it. But I bet you wouldn't guess in a year what I did with it. I bought Daddy some medicine to keep him from drinking. I paid $5.50 for it. You have to put it in his whisky for it to do any good. We tried some and it made him so sick it put him to bed for a while. He didn't drink any for about a week and then he started back again and we haven't been able to get any more in him......Leon...

We always go to the mess hall for Thanksgiving. I know, I know. You're thinking of "Gomer Pyle" or "Mash" and the unidentifiable glop they used to slap on their trays. Well, this is not your father's mess hall. For one thing, it is now referred to as the DFAC (that's the acronym for Dining Facility). For another thing, the food is fabulous . Not just "at least I didn't have to cook anything" fabulous, but "why don't we eat here all the time" fabulous. They provided so many more choices than I could have cooked at home. There were king crab legs, shrimp, prime rib, ham, turkey, ribeye steaks, and fish. There was a long line of hot vegetables where I asked for a giant helping of collards because I don't make them at home since I am the only one who will eat them. There was a potato bar with all the fiixns' and a salad bar. There was probably a desert bar but we were all too full to look around for it. Plus, we ha...

Katie has a hard time waking up in the mornings. I've found that when I try to get her up early, 9 times out of 10 she will fall back asleep once I've left her room. Fortunately, since she doesn't have to meet a school bus or be in class before the bell rings, this isn't often an issue. I can just go back in and wake her up again every five minutes until she's really awake. I'm her own personal snooze alarm. I've found that the best way to get her to really be awake is to hold a conversation with her. If I just walk in and tell her it's time to get up, she may respond to me, but she isn't really awake and won't remember that I ever came in and said anything to her. I generally have a running monologue from the moment I enter her room, telling her everything that we have planned for the day and what she needs to do to get ready. This morning, the kids all had early dentist appointments; sleeping late was not an option. I went in Katie's room,...

Kerry and Ben were marching with their scout troop in the Veteran's Day parade so the girls and I went to watch. We went an hour early to make sure we could get a parking spot and a space to sit along the street. My friend Kim and her kids met us there. We set up our chairs behind some other families and chatted while we waited for the parade to start. We saw some other people we knew and we all visited and had a good time. Then the parade started and everyone stood up and pressed forward to see the show. The family in front of us had spread some cheap beach mats on the ground and Katie stepped over them to get up to the street so she could see. Her legs weren't quite long enough and her foot landed on the edge of the mat as she crossed. And the dad of that family went ballistic. The jerk He started yelling and cursing at her, calling her a "#@%!ing haole". (Haole - pronounced howlie - means white person.) I didn't see what was happening, I just heard the ...

The last time Kerry took the girls to a Father/Daughter Dance, they looked like this . This time, they looked like this: I love that Katie is now wearing the dress Emily wore two and a half years ago. Katie almost missed out on this dance. For some reason, she was in a "mood" while getting ready. One of Emily's friends had fixed her hair for her, and she decided it was "uncomfortable" and brushed it out again. Then she wanted to wear makeup, but complained that I got shadow in her eye and the lipstick felt weird . Then she had an issue with the pantyhose (which she had insisted I run out and buy earlier in the day) and wound up taking them off entirely just before heading out the door - at which time she also decided she didn't like the shoes she was wearing and switched to a different pair. We all had steam coming out of our ears by the time they left. Kerry warned her that she was this close to not going. They had a very good time, but wound up comin...

Tonight was my worst night at Awana ever . I teach the Sparks, which includes Kindergarten, First Grade and Second Grade. Tonight, I was teaching a lesson about Joseph (he of the fabulous coat and jealous brothers; not Mary's husband). I was trying to make a point about how Joseph's brothers must have felt about their father having a "favorite" son. I went to Gabby, one of the older girls in Sparks, ahead of time and explained to her what I wanted to do. "I'm teaching a lesson about how Joseph's brothers must have felt when Joseph was the favorite son. I'm going to call you up front and tell everyone that you are my favorite and how special you are, and then I'm going to act like I'm giving you special treats, but it's all just an act and to teach the lesson. Okay?" She was thrilled, and asked me about six times how much longer until she got to help me with the lesson. Finally, her big moment came. I called her up in front of th...

Emily made a comment that Katie didn't like. "Ow!" Emily wailed. "Mama! Katie punched me!" "I did not," growled Katie. "I poked her really hard with my knuckles."

I voted today! I get very excited at election time. I haven't been terribly pleased with the way things have been going government-wise and I adore the opportunity to get out there and get my vote counted. If you have the ability to vote, but choose not to, don't let me find out about it. I will go on for hours about your responsibilities as an American citizen. If you are choosing not to vote I had better not ever, ever, ever hear you say one word about the government, the war, gun control, abortion, gay marriage, taxes, the school system, the roads, or even litter. You have given up your right to have an opinion. Every. Vote. Counts. Unless you are a liberal. If you choose not to vote and you are a liberal - party on dude. I had my first Hawaiian voting experience today. My polling place was at the National Guard Armory. I drove over immediately after leaving the gym. I was hoping to avoid the crowds but I went prepared with a book to read while I waited in line. I...