To My Friends and Family

Merry Christmas!

I learn a lot from TV

Okay, I'm an Apprentice junky. I love that show. But guess what? I learn a lot from it too. Remember the whole Toral-Rebecca episode? For those of you that don't watch, let me give you a quick run-down. Toral is a complete mess and everyone on the team agreed. However, Rebecca (who I love) saw something in her and fought for her in the boardroom. She said something like, "I know she's good and she'll prove it on the next task." She totally stuck her neck out for her.

Fast forward one week: Toral was a complete disaster on the next task and shunned her duties as the Dairy Queen spokesperson. In the boardroom that week, Rebecca ended up in hot water because she had sang Toral's praises the week before. What did she do? She admitted she made a mistake and agreed that Toral did not live up to what she had said. She could have been fired over the whole thing, but she showed loyalty and then showed honesty by admitting her mistake.

Well, I've been working for a school that is a complete disaster. I don't even want to go into everything because it's just too much to write, but I stuck by it for four months because it was my duty, I thought I was doing best for my kids and I was being loyal. After the true colors became more and more vivid, I recognized my mistake and quit today. We had our huge Christmas play and I handed the head-mistress my letter of resignation right after the play and walked out. I don't know where Amelia is going to go to school now; I don't know how I am going to pay for my house full of new furniture (that my hefty drama check was covering), but frankly, I don't give a damn. That school is the worst thing I've ever stepped foot in or actually even heard of. I'm proud of myself for standing up for what I believe in and looking out for my kids.

Judge Not, 'less You be Judged...

I just need to vent...and maybe I need some advice. We live in a VERY close knit neighborhood (probably too close, but still fun). There are four families that are particularly close. The one girl is just really unhappy. She fights with her husband and spanks her 3 yr. old kid with his pants down and her on top of him holding him down in front of everyone. She can be sweet and fun to be around, but she also says mean little things and is sometimes hard to be around.

On Tuesday my friend took the girls up to our park while I tutored for an hour. When she got back, she ran into this neighbor-friend of ours. She was telling her how much fun the kids had up at the park and how well they all got along and how good my girls were. Her response? "Well, of course they were good for you; they don't get any discipline at home." What's up with that? Am I over-reacting that it hurt me that much? I mean, I am definitely not very hard on my kids, but they are most definitely disciplined, and we all have different styles and philosophies of parenting...and we have DIFFERENT KIDS. Mine would never respond to the authoritative style that hers does. Anyway, it really hurt my feelings. It is just one of a few things she has said to me, but this one got to me.

My Favorites

Candice did this on her blog, and I liked reading it, so here's mine:

10 FAVORITES
1) Color: Red and Silver
2) Food: Fish Tacos and Diet Coke
3) Musical Group: Van Halen
4) Song right now: A Boy Named Sue (I heard it for the first time last week and laughed so hard)
5) Movie: Dangerous Minds, Mr. Hollands Opus...any teacher movie
6) Sport: Rock Climbing (we have a climbing wall at school, so I get to show the kids how to do it 8 times a day!)
7) Season: Summer
8) Day of the Week: Friday or Saturday
9) Ice Cream Flavor: Butterfinger
10) Time of Day: 8:30 p.m. both kids in bed

9 CURRENTS
1) Current Mood: relaxed and happy
2) Current Scent: Johnson's Baby Lotion (does that count?)
3) Current Clothes: Huge Old Navy sweatshirt, yoga pants and moccasins
4) Current Desktop: a picture of the girls from the aquarium today
5) Current Music: Depeche Mode
6) Current Time: 10:08 p.m.
7) Current Surroundings: I am in our sitting room right off the kitchen with our colorful little Christmas tree that the girls decorated; everyone is asleep after a big day...even Dave!
8) Current Thoughts: I am totally relaxed and kind of brain dead...very nice!
9) Current Event Happening today: We went to Dave's office party at the new Georgia Aquarium...so cool!

8 FIRSTS
1) First Best Friend: Tristan and Tiffany Hatch when I was in kindergarten
2) First Kiss: Marc Wimmer, 8th grade
3) First Screen Name: cmarsh
4) First Pet: A cat named ToJo and a bird, but I can't remember her name
5) First Piercing: Ears when I was about5, and a double and triple piercing that only lasted a couple of weeks in high school
6) First Crush: I had lots of crushes my whole life through, but my biggest one was on this guy in college my senior year named Eric (don't laugh Jayme!)
7) First Music: Pink Floyd (I used to rock out with my dad in his big brown truck starting at about age 4)
8) First Car: 1984 Volkswagen Dasher...it was even diesel!

7 LASTS
1) Last Class: I guess an aerobics class or a soccer coaching clinic, but a class for the brain was probably my ESL endorsement my last year teaching
2) Last Drink: Diet Coke, right now
3) Last Trip: Disney World in September
4) Last Kiss: sometime today...we always kiss!
5) Last Movie seen at the Theater: SpongeBob in NOVEMBER 2004 (How sad is that?)
6) Last Phone Call: Just talked to my mom
7) Last CD Played: The Eagles Greatest Hits is playing now (Depeche is over)

6 HAVE YOU EVERS
1) Have you ever dated one of your best guy friends? Yep
2) Have you ever broken the law? Yep
3) Have you ever been arrested? Yep
4) Have you ever skinny-dipped? Yep
5) Have you ever been on TV? Yes, when I danced in high school a couple of times...Holiday Bowl, ESPN Drill Team Competition...etc.
6) Have you ever kissed someone you didn't know? I knew them for at least 5 minutes :)

5 THINGS
1) 1 thing you're wearing: moccasins my mom bought me at my Grandma's store
2) 1 thing you've done today: cleaned up the messiest playroom you've ever seen
3) 1 thing you're bothered by: Dave not putting the girls to bed when he knew I was trying to talk to my mom and clean the playroom
4) 1 Thing you can't live without: My girls, Dave and Diet Coke
5) 1 Thing you do when you're bored: Get on the computer, bite my nails

5 PLACES YOU HOPE TO TRAVEL TO
1) Argentina
2) Italy
3) Spain
4) the Bahamas
5) exotic Mexico (not Tijuana, Ensenada, Rocky Beach, etc.)

4 PEOPLE YOU CAN TELL ANYTHING TO
1) Dave
2) Little D
3) Anything?????? I have a few people I tell MOST things too, but no more for ANYTHING AND EVERYTHING!
4)

2 CHOICES
1) Black or White? Black, but I like white too
2) Hot or Cold? Hot...always

1 THING YOU WANT TO DO
I want to be happy.

My Siblings

Isn't the bond between siblings awesome? There may be major age differences and major miles between all of us, but we love each other fiercely! I miss them sooooooooo much!

Chellie is the proud (new stay-at-home) mom of two awesome boys: Ryker and Jaxon.

Steph (D) is a hermit and lives somewhere in the Wasatch Mountains in a cave. She is really good at building fires from her Wilderness Boot Camp Days. She comes home to shower monthly and to stock up on beef jerky.

Josh is a Junior at Davis. He is on the football team and is now 6'5" How incredible is that? He wears a size 14 shoe...I was shocked when I saw him over the summer.

I love my family!

Crazy Turkey Time

Steph, Marla and Doug came over the night before Thanksgiving to prepare the two 20lb. turkeys. We went all out with the seasonings, butter and a secret liquid ingredient inside the turkey. We probably should have paid more attention because I never realized the pan was too small for the turkey.

Well, the turkey ended up being FABULOUS, truly, BUT juices had spilled all over the bottom of the oven, so the next night, I put it on self-clean and didn't give it a second thought. The next thing I know, Dave is screaming for me to come into the kitchen. I came down the stairs, and I couldn't even FIND the kitchen. Smoke was billowing out of the oven and had already taken over the entire first floor of our house. I grabbed the girls and ran over to a neighbor's. Meanwhile, the oven wouldn't turn off because it was still trying to clean it and was locked. Doug came running over and Dave and he got a circuit breaker turned off to the oven. It was a disaster. We have aired out our house for two days and washed everything in the house, but we still have smoke damage. We did have fun getting those turkeys ready and had a fabulous Thanksgiving and delicious turkey, so I'm sure it's all worth it...I'm sure!

Old School

When someone asks me what my favorite music is, I always answer Van Halen, Pink Floyd, Def Leppard (I'm the product of a rocker father!) I might add some Pearl Jam, Cult, Soundgarden, Clay Aiken, Alanis or a few others, but I really love old school 80's rock. Well, last night I was listening to Dave's Ipod while I was cleaning and he had some Chicago songs on there. I found myself belting out the tunes as loud as I could. I didn't want the cleaning to end. It has never been more enjoyable (weird, I know). But, the end result of all this...I had totally forgotten about Chicago and I think I love them!

My Babies

"Cleaning and scrubbing can wait till tomorrow, for babies grow up, we've learned to our sorrow. So quiet down, cobwebs. Dust, go to sleep. I'm rocking my babies, and babies don't keep."

The Parent Trap

Dave is out of town; it's FREEZING cold outside and I planned this great Saturday night for me and the girls. We started the fire, popped popcorn and all got snuggly blankies and watched "The Parent Trap." No, not the old one, but the new version with Lindsay Lohan. After about 7 minutes, Amelia started saying she wanted cheese; after 15 minutes, Mikayla wanted water; after 18 minutes, Amelia wanted cereal with milk; after 29 minutes, Amelia started asking questions, "Why is that lady (the dad's fiance) so mean?" "I thought moms and dads only got married one time, so why is the dad marring someone else?" "How are they sisters but they don't live together?" etc., etc. After 32 minutes, Amelia told me she just wanted to read stories upstairs.

I don't know what it is about my kids and TV. Most almost-5-year-olds have their favorite movies and shows...not mine. She likes to watch Arthur in the mornings...sometimes and "A Baby Story" on TLC..sometimes, and that's about it. She has NEVER watched a movie from beginning to end. Nemo scares her because he doesn't have a mom; Cinderella scares her because the sisters are so mean, Toy Story scares her because of Sid and his crazy toys...but more than being scared, I think she just gets bored. Do I have an ADD child?

Anyway, it's still freezing outside and Dave is still gone, but we are just going to decorate the Christmas tree and make cookies, no more "movie nights!"

Jolly Old St. Nick

Is there anything more magical than introducing your young children to Santa each holiday season?


They are so enchanted by it all. I love Santa Claus.

Mirror Image?

I remember when I was about ten, we were at a family reunion and my rather plus-sized aunt ran over to my 8-year-old sister and exclaimed, "THERE'S MY LITTLE LOOK-ALIKE!!!!" My poor sister burst into tears on the spot. No one wanted to look like my aunt.

Fast forward twenty years: About a year and a half ago, our favorite babysitter Hillary informed me that my girls refused to play with any blonde Barbies. She went on about how cute it was that my BLONDE girls would only play with the ones that looked like their mom. I was a little touched; I mean after all, it might be the first instance where ANYONE preferred Barbie's brunette friend to beautiful, blonde Barbie!

Well, within the last year, Amelia's hair has started turning dark, and instead of embracing the brunette tresses that she loved so much before, I would catch her looking at her hair in the mirror and saying to herself, "Why is my vanilla hair getting mixed in with chocolate?" Now when people tell her (which is pretty much daily) that she looks like her mom. I see her wince at my hair and tell them one of two things, "Ya, but my hair is STILL vanilla" or "I don't look like my mom; I look like Aunt D" (my very blonde sister). Sometimes she is just quiet, and I seriously thinks she feels bad that she looks like her mom.

What happened to my little three year old that only liked the chocolate Barbies? Is she going to have "issues" because the whole world tells her that she looks like her mom and she really doesn't want to?

Trick or Treat

Amelia ate 7 candy bars today and Mikayla had one bite of at least 18 different candies in her bucket. We send them around to collect candy, but tell them they can't have it and secretly throw it away...or else this happens.

Never Quit

Okay, so Amelia begged to sign up for soccer again this season. She didn't love it last year, even though I coached both seasons, but since she asked, I obliged. After the first week, she wanted to quit. My response, "You asked to sign up. You started. You will finish." So, she did, and she did so quite well.

Fast forward one month...I arrived at drama today to find a note in my box that read: "Goulds have quit drama as of 11-02-05." Goulds? You mean, SANTA in my Christmas play that is in one month? You've got to be kidding. Not to mention the fact that his younger brother is one of four elves. I called their mom and she informed me that her boys thought it was boring, so they quit. COULD THEY NOT HAVE DECIDED THAT A MONTH AGO??????? Could she not make them stick it out until after the Christmas play? BORING????? They have the leads! What is happening to the youth of today? Things like this.

To Volunteer or not...

I woke up this morning and had decided I needed to be at the girls' school Halloween parade. So I arranged to miss lunch and teach the two P.E. classes I would miss for the parade during my lunch. The girls looked so cute and were all ready with their bags to trick-or-treat and the beautiful cupcakes we made the night before (18 cupcakes with two bottles of sprinkles and half a bag of candy corn on top).

Well, we arrived and the girls clung to me like a dryer sheet on a blanket. Mikayla cried the entire parade...if I wouldn't have been there, they would have got over me leaving and would have had fun with their friends and teachers. Even Amelia was upset and didn't even want me to leave to just take Mikayla around when it was her class' turn. Oh well...tonight they will have fun trick-or-treating...if I stay home!

Utah vs. Georgia

When Dave told me we were moving across the country, I had no idea that I would also learn a whole new lingo and way of life!

Utah vs. Georgia

• Pop vs. Coke (any drink from "sweet tea" to lemonade --it's all "Coke")
• Shopping cart vs. Buggy (the first time they asked me if I needed help with my buggy, I looked for my baby stroller)
• The Church (LDS religion) vs. The Church (Georgia football)
• 12 inches of snow (life goes on) vs. 1/2 inch of sleet/snow (all schools, business and roads close down)
• 30% chance of rain (don't even bother with an umbrella) vs. 30% chance of rain (wake up an hour earlier to pack umbrellas, rain boots, a hat and leave early to face the grid lock rainy day traffic and know that a complete downpour will happen around 3PM)
• "It's a long drive to the grocery store" (have to actually get in a car to drive two blocks down to the nearest Smith's) vs. "It's a long drive to the grocery store" (use Mapquest to map out the nearest route to a Kroger which is still fifteen minutes from home on one highway and three different roads)
• 948 W. 1400S S. (use the grid system and find a home in two minutes) vs. 4589 Glenhaven Drive (once again, use Mapquest and hope that the neighborhood actually is a paved road--not just a gravel road that the neighbors all paid to put in and then wind your way through backwoods and countless trees and hope for the best)
• Rambler vs. Ranch
• 30 minute commute (a terribly long drive each day that takes exactly the 30 minutes) vs. "30 minute commute" (that's just to get out of the neighborhood onto the nearest highway to then get stuck in traffic and drive 20 miles to work, taking approximately 45 minutes --if you're lucky)
• 4 kids under the age of 8 (not so unusual) vs. 2 kids under the age of 8 ("Wow! How do you do it? You must be crazy! I could never handle it!")
• Barbecue vs. Cook Out
• Swimming Suit vs. Bathing Suit
• Mountains vs. Mountains (the small, leafy tree covered hills, but just ask anyone...they are REAL mountains)
• Jesse's Mom (the title kids give to their friends' moms) vs. Miss Stephanie (every woman over the age of 16, whether married or not is given the title "Miss")
• Ya, sure vs. Yes Ma'am
• Oh my heck (gosh, dang, shoot, dude, etc.) vs. Just Say it!
• Ill (sick) vs. Ill (cranky, crabby and ornery)
• Mow the Lawn vs. Cut the Grass

I think I'm finally getting it all down. I make mistakes and get confused sometimes, but it's quite the adventure! Hey, I'll add to the list as I remember more...there are tons!

Princesses

A Friday Adventure

I really was off to a good start yesterday, I promise! I woke up and got Amelia off to school and then got an oil-change with Mikayla on my recently just-hit-100,000-mile-but-it's-paid-for car and then hit the stores with just one child in tow. My house is in such disarray that I decided the one room in the entire house that is not waiting for paint to dry, my decorator's input or unsanded and unstained hardwood floors that I can't do anything with, is the girls' bathroom. So $200 later (what in the world did I buy?) their bathroom is done. Gone are the navy blue and gold fish that I have had for eight years in three different houses and here are the black and white accents and baby pink walls that my awesome decorator friend suggested (that I do love by the way.)

Anyway, back to my day...I arrived home with Mikayla and madly got everything put away and hung in the 45 minutes I had before I needed to pick up Amelia early so I could run up to the elementary school for a meeting with the choir teacher about the Christmas play. I picked up Amelia and we ran up there in the pouring rain. I came prepared with cookies and cheese and lots of water and then Amelia had to go to the bathroom. I showed her where the nearest one was, and when she came back she said, "Mom, there is red in the toilet." I was busy and just kind of said, "Um, okay, thanks, eat your cookie."

We came home and went to dinner with neighbors. Then our plan was to put the kids in bed and then head next door (with the baby monitor, of course) and play cards. I made Amelia go to the bathroom before bed because she had had an accident the night before (the second one in her ENTIRE life). I looked down and (forgive me) there was indeed a lot of "red" in the toilet. I called her pediatrician at 9PM who told me to rush her to the E.R. We ran Mikayla (sound asleep) to another neighbor's house and got Amelia to the hospital. Two hours later (not too bad, considering it was an ER visit) they gave her an antibiotic for a UTI...poor kid. She tried to tell me, and now it dawns on me that she really hadn't been feeling well all week. I will not be winning any mother-of-the-year awards.

My crazy world

I love teaching P.E., but running around with Kindergarten through 7th grade kids one class after another all day long is physically draining. I get up every morning and work out and try to stay active, but this has made me realize that I'm not as in-shape as I thought I was. Anyway, we were able to use the gym for the first time all year instead of being outside in the humid Georgia weather. Then after school, I have to be refreshed and ready to pick up my little girls that haven't seen me all day.

So Thursday I worked all day and picked up my girls and a neighbor girl to come and play until her parents got home from work (a weekly thing). I came home and the painters were here doing my bedroom and the girls' bathroom. Then, I had told the 5th grader that I tutor to come on Thursday because Amelia was sick Tuesday, so she showed up during all the chaos. By the time I got the girls bathed and to bed, I was exhausted...an average day in my life.

I am excited to have my house redecorated and for the hardwood floors and paint, but I want it done NOW! I hate to live with only some things done and things in somewhat of a mess (no door or sink in my downstairs bathroom, for example!) I'll post pictures when I figure out how this works.