An Iowa Mom

Long Lost Blogger

I know, I've been MIA for several days.  Things have come up, some of which you'll be reading about soon. Until my next post, check out a new site I found today.  www.minti.com.  I became a member (it's free), you can find my page at:  www.aniowamom.minti.com ... Enjoy!

Okay, this was just a quick post to let you know I'm here, alive, and ready to get back to things ... you'll be hearing from me soon!

You Choose!!

This blog is pretty new, and I do get some emails asking different things about me, An Iowa Dad, and sometimes my children.  I thought it would be fun to open up my next few entries to you all ... the readers! 

Post a comment and include the topic for which you'd like to have me post an upcoming entry about.  It can be about ANYTHING!  Something about me, where I stand on certain views and issues, where I come from, if you want me to write about FISH for God's sake!  :)  ANYTHING! 

This will be fun!  Have a good time with it!  I can't wait to see what you all have me writing about!  You can post more than one idea if you wish to.

She Must Be Sick!

"NO MOMMY!"

"I DON'T WANT TO!" 

"MOMMY IS MAKING PRINCESS MAD!"

"STOP IT, MOMMY!"

"MOMMY, GET AWAY!"

"I DON'T LIKE YOU, MOMMY!"

What you just read are common phrases that escape effortlessly from the mouth of my sweet Princess.  These words come from a little girl who hasn't taken a nap (and you bet I've tried) in over a year.

Today, about 2pm, out of no where Princess says, "I AM HAVING SO MUCH FUN TODAY, MOMMY!  I LOVE SHOPPING WITH YOU! I LOVE YOU SOOOOO MUCH!"

Surprised, I giggled like a young girl myself.  My first daughter.  She loves me ... she has fun with me ...

WAIT, I snap into reality, those words have NEVER come out of the mouth of THE PRINCESS.  What?  Is she ill?  I laugh at the thought as I contine to relish in the moment ... she loves me afterall, she can think of nothing better than being with her Mommy!

About 15 minutes later ... I see what you see to the left.

Yeah, she IS sick!

Oh well ... the moment was fabulous while it lasted!  And I'll remember it forever!

Princess ... I don't like seeing you down and out ... and I hope you feel better soon ... so we can go shopping again!  Let's look for My Little Pony's and then, maybe, some Groovy Girls!!!  Yeah, that really does sound like  alot of fun ... and ya know what? 

I LOVE YOU SOOOOO MUCH TOO! Really!

Sweet Dreams Princess,

MOMMY

Have It Your Way, My Ass!

Okay, so I know I'm not supposed to be eating out due to my FFA Intervention, however, I've fallen off the wagon now that I know An Iowa Dad is not going to cave and purchase the pool next year anyway.  So ... back to McDonald's, Arby's, KFC, and Pizza Hut I go! 

An Iowa Dad was out of town the past few days and I've been taking the boys to school rather than placing them on the bus, giving me, the children an extra 45 minutes of sleep.  Well, since I'm out ... dropping them at their place of learning, I might as well stop and get something eat, right?  I'm not much of a breakfast eater, so Burger King is our restaurant of choice at 8:30am because they'll make me my 2 cheeseburger meal, regardless of what time it is.  HAVE IT YOUR WAY!  Whoo Hoo ... I like it!

Day #1 - I drive up, place my order exactly as it reads here - "Um, yes, I'd like the large 2 cheeseburger meal, but I'd like my cheeseburgers PLAIN with EXTRA CHEESE."  I pause for about 10 seconds, giving them ample time to punch it into the system correctly, or call it back to the cook, or whatever it is they need to do so that I can "Have It My Way!" ... then I proceed to say, "And a coke to drink!"   They inform me that will be $5.03 pull up to the 2nd window please!  :)  I pay, they hand over the food, I'm thrilled!  Whoo Hoo!  Nothing like a good burger in the morning, eh?

I arrive home, turn on Barney for the girls, so I can eat my "breakfast" while reading through my favorite daily blogs.  I open my burgers to find that I only got 1 slice of cheese, glanced at the receipt, I paid for 2.  Oh well ... it's early, I can forgive them for that.  I grab 2 slices out of my fridge, place one on each burger and nuke them for about 20 seconds.  Perfect!  It was all good!

Day #2 - Kids are safe and sound in school ... Burger King here we come.  Worked out so well yesterday, no dishes to clean up before I started my daily work, I'm ready to do it again.  I pull up to the drive thru ordering speaker and place my order again exactly as it reads here - "I'd like the large 2 cheeseburger meal, but I'd like my cheeseburgers PLAIN with EXTRA CHEESE. 2 piece of cheese on each burger please."  Again, I pause for about 10 seconds, giving them ample time to key it in, then I add, "And a coke to drink!"   They inform me that will be $5.03 pull up to the 2nd window please!  :)  I pay, they hand over the food, I'm thrilled, again!  No way would they not get that right ... I made it perfectly clear! Right?

WRONG ... this time, when I arrive home, not only is there not 2 slices of cheese on each burger ... there wasn't ANY cheese on either burger.  What the hell?  What happened to HAVE IT YOUR WAY!  This was not even close.  Oh well.  Between Day 1 and Day 2, I've paid an extra $1.60 so that I could use 6 pieces of my own damn cheese!  Whatever!  At least I have cheese in the fridge, so the burgers won't go to waste.

Day #3 - I'm a complete glut-ant for punishment I guess, because this morning, I drop the kids at school and return to Burger King.  Order the exact same way I did on Day #2.  Get home and I was THRILLED to find 2 slices of cheese on each burger ... along with ketchup, mustard, etc ... everything on it.  They are in the garbage, along with any hope that I could really HAVE IT MY WAY ... it was just too good to be true, I guess!

From now on, I'll send the kids on the bus and wait until 10:30 for my breakfast, where I can get it at old faithful, McDonald's, and they'll get it right, every time!

The Pressure Is On!

He's 8.  Only 8 freakin' years old, and wants to join a baseball team that he needs to TRY OUT for.  It's not a big deal for him, but it's killing me.  Tryout's were Saturday.  About 20 kids strutted their stuff for approximately 6 coaches with pads of paper, watching their every move and jotting down notes every time one of the kids adjusted their ball cap.

Every time Sporty was "up" to bat, catch, show his stuff in the infield,(attempt) to pitch, etc ... my chest became heavy and it was almost inconceivable to ask me to turn my eyes in his direction and witness his very first attempt to make a team that I'm afraid he won't be asked to become a part of.  Sporty has always been a very good athlete in general, however, now that he is getting older, his size is playing against him.  Most of the other children are growing, and Sporty is not.  In 3rd grade now and only about 47 inches tall and 42 pounds.  Not a lot of body weight behind him, preventing him from hitting anything past the infield, but his little legs will scoot.  I'll give him that.  A lot of the boys his age are 60 and 70 pounds, that's a big difference and it shows on the ball field.

The motherly instinct to protect kicked in and I just wanted to run out on the field and whisk him up, throw him in the car and race him home, every time a pitch whizzed by him as he swung the bat with all of his might.  STRIKE!  Ouch, insert dagger into my bleeding heart.

I must say, Sporty is quite a sport and I was so proud of him as he never became frustrated, continued to try his best and kept going through the entire 1 and a half hours of intense evaluations on his every move.  He even insisted on going forward after being hit in the eye with a ball from an under thrown toss that bounced up from the ground as he tried to catch it at first base.  That's my little man!  Such a tough little booger.

When tryouts were over and we were safe and sound back in our car, I asked what his favorite part was of the series of tasks they were asked to perform, and he replied, "Batting!"  Giggling inside to myself, I realized how amazing he is.  Batting, huh?  Don't kids usually like the parts they are GOOD at?  He missed probably 6 out of 10 pitches, and that was his favorite?  It's sad, because Saturday was a very OFF day for Sporty.  Normally he plays baseball a hell of a lot better than he did that day.  But hey, that's the way it goes, right?

Coaches said we'd hear something in a couple of weeks.  An Iowa Dad and me wishing the decisions could be made THAT day, putting an end our first taste of agony waiting to hear whether our first born, made the team he's been dying to play on for over a year.  As we sit and ponder over every play he made, he jumped out of the car and ran to the neighbors to play FOOTBALL with the kids tackling each other in the yard across the street, not giving the last hour and a half of tryouts a second thought ...

Yesterday evening, as I was preparing dinner, the phone rings and the caller ID reads the coach's name and number.  For an instant butterflies danced in my belly as I clicked the button to greet him.  A scrimmage game scheduled for Wednesday, could he make it so they could take a second look at him?  Aaahhhh, the torture continues and An Iowa Dad and I Sporty will have to endure another couple of hours of scrutiny. He'll love it. We'll suffer through it. Just a taste of what is yet to come ... this is the first of many, I'm sure. But what it all boils down to for me anyway is that if he doesn't make the team, how many pieces will his heart break into? How many tear drops will fall from his eyes? Will I be able to find all the right words to comfort him and make it all better? Will I be able to mend his broken heart? The pressure is on ... I hope I can live up to the wonderful title of MOTHER!

A Stranger In My House

My eyes are filled with tears, and I'm trying to force down the Spaghettio's with meatballs I made myself for dinner at 9:30pm last night, as I am completely zoned into the Primetime on my TV showing the spouses and children of the 9-11 victims coming together to remember.  Startling me back to reality, my cell phone rings the Island tune I've programmed it to notify me of an incoming call, in hopes it will constantly remind me of the recent trip to Riviera Maya I took with my girlfriends.  It's odd that my cell phone would be ringing at that time of night, considering I use it for business, and my business is closed after 5pm

I rush to the sweet sounding phone and glance at the caller ID, it's An Iowa Dad calling from Chicago.  Answering the phone with only a "Why in the hell are you calling on my cell phone?"   

"I've been trying to call the home phone for almost 3 hours and it's been busy." he replies, sounding a bit irritated.

"Couldn't be dear, we have call waiting, our phone never rings busy!" I snap, obviously very tired from my day.  As I wait for his response, I reach for the cordless phone sitting on the kitchen counter.  LINE IN USE, it reads on the display.  Directly under those words, 2-46-08.  The phone has been in use for 2 hours and 46 minutes. 

Oh good God, I think to myself.  Who in the world did Smilee call while playing with the phone, and what did they hear???  Completely blocking An Iowa Dad out as he rattled on about what fancy restaurant he "had" to eat at and how full he is, while I'm still trying to stomach my wonderful dinner, I flipped through the "recently dialed calls", to find the last one.  My heart sinks.  The name that popped up as the last dialed call was Sporty's potentially new baseball coach that had called the night before informing us of the time and place where tryouts for the team would take place.  Smilee must have been playing with her favorite big silver button in the middle of the phone, causing it to display the caller ID feature, scrolling through all 50 of the names and numbers who had called us last.  Stopping on his, for no reason in particular, her little fingers must have pressed TALK.  Dialing that number, and allowing a stranger into our house for possibly up to 2 HOURS AND 46 MINUTES without me knowing.

What in the world did this person hear?  I had been irritable all night, as 4 wild and crazy kids, sugared up on blow pops and cake (I was being the nice mommy since An Iowa Dad is away on business), ran around my living room and jumped off of furniture, knowing good and well that is a HUGE no no in this house.  My memory trying to recall all of the things I yelled and screamed at them, reminding them of our rules.  The nastiness I spouted trying to get Sporty to finish up his homework.  My head hurt ... I panicked wondering what kind of "first impression" I made on the man who would determine whether or not my child makes it on a baseball team he's been looking forward to playing on for as long as I can remember!

There was a stranger in my house last night, while I was here alone with my 4 small children, and I didn't have a clue.  Now, that's great parenting!  Way to stay on top of things An Iowa Mom!!  What do you think?  Arrrggghhhh!

My Pathetic Wish List

Ya know ... some people may classify a "wish list" as a collection of items they'd like to receive for a wedding gift, a new baby that has arrived, or for a special birthday or anniversary.  Not me!  No way!  My "wish list" is a list of things that I have been wanting to accomplish for quite some time and never seem to have the extra hour in the day to actually DO anything for myself.  I must warn you, the following list is rather pathetic ... but they are indeed things I want to do that never find a place in my daily routine.  Somehow, listing them on this blog, I feel will hold me responsible for completing them.  As, if I don't, I will disappoint you all immensely.  So here goes ... my pathetic wish list ... no explanations as to WHY they are on the list ... they just are!

1. Paint my toe nails.
2. Clip the girls fingernails.
3. Clean out the boys closet.
4. Clean out the girls closet.
5. Clean out and organize the garage.
6. Finish the table runner I started making for the dining room table.
7. Finish the place mats I started making for the kitchen table.
8. Write a snail mail letter to my 3 long lost friends, who I miss.
9. Clean out and organize our coat closet.
10. Clean out and organize the cabinet over the washer and dryer.
11. Purchase a recipe box and write out (or type) all recipes and have them in ONE organized place.

That is about it for right now.  I'm sure I'll be adding things to this list as time goes on.  What I promise to you all, is that I WILL complete these things, step by step, and I'll post the accomplishments here to share will all of you.  After all, if it weren't for me not wanting to disappoint you ... my toenails would never be painted and pretty ever again!

I must go ... and get to work ... on my WISH LIST!