Answer my cell phone???

I painfully learned a lesson today. You’ve heard people say, ‘What’s the use of having a cell phone if you never answer it?’ Ever since we’ve had a cell phone, my kids have asked me that question. I usually just sort of laugh it off, giving one excuse or another. Or I ignore the call or text, thinking that I will just call back or text back later. I just always assume that there is no real problem, and that they just want to tell me something they saw, or want. I never think that there is something wrong!

Well, last night Kira text me that she wanted to tell me about her trip to Sedona when she got off work at 9:30. I was really tired and I was already in bed and it was 9:30 my time, which meant I would need to stay awake another hour and then listen to her story. I told her I would be asleep by then (which I was) and that I would have my phone glued to me the next day. She said she would call me the next day.

I had some errands to run, and I had my phone turned on high. No call. I finished the errands, came home, changed and started working outside with my phone on high. No call. Now, on every other day, she would have already called me. I took a break from yard work to have some lunch and while eating I gave her a call. No answer, so I left a message. I finished lunch and went outside to continue working. I kept checking my phone to make sure I didn’t miss her call or text, and nothing! I called her again and left another message. I sent her a text. After several hours of this, I told Ethan about it and he tried calling. Nothing! Now I’m starting to get really nervous. If she rarely called or text, I would have thought she just didn’t feel like calling, or forgot all about it, but she calls and texts several times a day. This was just not like her. I finally quit working for the day and took a bath, trying her phone again. I even left a message on Facebook. Nothing. It was now time to leave for bells with David. I told him what was going on and that I was scared something bad had happened, and my next plan was to start calling Arizona hospitals. I was thinking all sorts of horrible things and near tears. We hung up and I was trying to get dried off and dressed when my phone rang. I thought it was David with some news…it was not.

It was Kira! Finally calling because she saw my text. My text that I had left hours ago. She had been out with a friend at a movie and had her phone turned to silent. Geez! I was angry and mad and relieved all at once. She was out having a good time and not dead, or kidnapped or in a hospital, admitted as a Jane Doe.

I told David that she had been out with a friend, and had her phone on silent and you know what he said????? ‘You have to let her go sometime’. MEN are such dolts!!! THAT was not why I was upset…I was upset because I was afraid she hurt or in trouble or worse yet, dead!

Lesson learned? Keep my phone near me, turned up loud enough that I can hear it when it’s sitting in my purse. Answer when they call, and return the texts. I can’t assume that a call or text may be unimportant, or routine when it could be something much, much, more! Thank God this time it was just a ‘New friend’.

1500 miles...

David and I spent over two hours on Skype talking to Andy and Kira tonight, and Ethan joined us for a while at the end. We got to do a three-way conference call. It was pretty cool. The unfortunate thing about this is that the conference calling isn't free. I'm not sure yet if we all have to pay for it, or if just one account is needed. I guess I'll have to check this out.
I google mapped the driving directions from Andy's apartment to the Phoenix Zoo and the miles they quoted me was 1570 miles. That is one heck of a long ways apart, but through the miracle of technology, we were all able to see one another. We were even able to take a screen snapshot, and I just may have to use it as our Christmas cards. Both kids took us on a tour of their apartments by walking their laptops around with the webcam capturing their everyday lives.
I really thought I was taking their absence quite well, considering that this is the first that Andy has lived away from home, and Kira and I did tons of things together when she was home. I realized that wasn't true two weeks ago at choir practice. We were singing a Christmas song, 'Gloria in Excelsis Deo' and I got to that line and couldn't sing anymore. I was immediately transported to one of the pews in the front of Parkway UCC, on Christmas Eve, standing with Andy to my right and Kira to my left and we were singing that song, and the lower part of my mouth started to quiver and I got tears in my eyes. Geez, I'm not certain that I will be able to sing any of the Christmas Carols. Thank God I don't have to sing 'O Holy Night', because even though I sang it as a solo several times, the duet that Kira and I sang was very, very special, not to mention, really, really fun to do. This will be a year of change for the Christmas Eve service. We have a new minister, and taking out 'O Holy Night' and maybe the pageant will be something totally different, which I think needs to happen. We'll come up with something quite special and beautiful and meaningful to give people peace and comfort. I'm looking forward to hopefully being able to brainstorm some ideas for a superb service.
Andy's plane arrives Christmas Eve morning and of course I will be at work. I won't get to see him until he walks into church that evening, unless of course, he stops by the hospital to say hi on his way home from the airport.
We plan on Skyping Kira Christmas Eve, if I had an iPhone, I could Skype the church service too, maybe Andy could!!

Teen life stuff…

Remember when you moved away from home for the first time? What did you pack to take with you? Just the things you thought were important, right? How about all the stuff you collected while growing up? The dolls, drawings, crafts, scout badges, projects, hot wheels, stuffed animals, cards, high school letters and awards. I’ll bet you left them home for Mom to deal with, because you really didn’t want to take all that old junk with you to your new place. I’ll also bet Mom saved it all for you, in boxes, or plastic bins just in case you wanted to look through it when you had kids of your own. Actually, I’ll bet she just couldn’t part with any of it and thought that you wouldn’t be able to either. I know this is what my Mom did, and I am really happy she hung on to it all because it has been a lot of fun to look through the boxes and report cards and art work and things that I thought were so, so, important at one time.

So, I have packed plastic bins with Kira and Andy’s stuff. Kira, being a girl, has WAY more stuff than Andy will ever, ever, ever have. They wanted to keep all their college books and papers which makes perfect sense also anything that they just didn’t know what to do with, only they knew they didn’t want to toss it and they wouldn’t be able to take it along. High school is a big part of what makes a person who they are and a lot of that had to be saved. I had already planned on keeping things from their childhood, because that just sparks so many memories when you look through it, especially with your own children. I was kind of hoping that they would take all this other stuff though, but really, is there ever enough room in an apartment? Just so they know that as soon as they sign the purchase agreement on their first home, I’m carrying these bins to the truck, driving on over and delivering their ‘life’ to them. 

Now all I need to do is clean, sort and rearrange my own stuff so I can fit in their stuff. At least I’ll get to that gross kind of cleaning that always gets put off until a cold winter day. Someday I’ll have a clean house. hahahahahahaha

 

Oh, I almost forgot…many, many, extra cords and such!

Little Bit…

Poor Kira, we save the yucky jobs for her! Just kidding, we can actually do them ourselves, it just takes 10 times longer.

Seriously, whenever Kira is around, we ask her to cut the cats nails. She is young and still has close-up vision so she is able to see the nail, get the clippers around it and clip before they pull their paw away. It’s quite amusing when David and I tackle their nails, he holds the cat, I take OFF my glassed, get real close to their paw and slowly get the nail in the clipper. By this time, they start squirming and it’s only the first nail, we have nine more to go. I’m making this sound much worse than it is, but it really does go so, so, so much smoother when she does it.

Still, Little Bit doesn’t seem to be enjoying himself…(Andy, where are you?! Little Bit stays still way better when you hold him!)

Just look at that face, if looks could kill…I think someone would be in for it!

Cell phones…

 

Having Kira come for a visit after nearly three months in Arizona didn’t seem a bit strange. I was getting nervous about her visiting, thinking the house was a pit and I hadn’t gotten things done that I should have in three months time, the usual thing that I go through whenever anybody comes over, (I’m just weird like that). But really, it felt like she had never been gone. The only thing that I can attribute this to is…the Cell Phone! It’s so nice to be able to text or talk anytime I want. I absolutely LOVE texting, because I can text a comment like ‘Eric…OMG!’ and more than likely she will know what I’m talking about. My older sisters don’t text, one doesn’t even have a cell phone, but if she did, she wouldn’t text either. They think it’s too impersonal, a person should call and talk, not text. Well, neither of them have children, and they just don’t get it.

I have a feeling letting her get on the plane tonight to fly back to Arizona is going to be harder than I’m anticipating, although it went a whole lot smoother getting both her and Andy to their new places than I had thought too, I’m gonna keep my fingers crossed nevertheless.

A conversation I had via text with Andy today, was about school loans, transferring money and ended up with changing my depends when I’m OLD…think about it. hahahahaah

So it is now 3:40 on Friday, September 3, 2010, Kira is having coffee with a friend, I am typing, David and Ethan are getting electrical stuff for the basement. I have No Name steaks thawing for dinner that I have to have ready by 5:30 at the very latest. We need to leave for the airport by 6:00 and her plane leaves at 8:40. It will be quite a few months before I see her again, and I’m not sure when I’ll  see Andy. Thanksgiving and Christmas should really suck this year, but they are only as far away as a phone call, or in my case, a  text!

Mitsubishi...

Foreign cars run rampant in our household (with our kids at least). We sold Kira's Galant a few weeks ago to a man that was buying it for his daughter to tool around in. Whew...I thought that car would be a permanent fixture on our driveway. Then just today, we sold Andy's Spyder to a man buying it for his daughter that doesn't even have her license yet. I would not have gotten a sporty little rag top for a brand new driver. One accident and she'll
be dead. Maybe she'll be a good driver...cough! The parents on the other hand were driving very safe cars, he a newer, big, pickup and she a newer SUV, hmmm, they probably could have afforded to pay a few hundred more. Oh well, it is sold, it is out of our driveway, we won't have to pay insurance on it and Andy had a little more in his account, well on Monday he will.

Victor...

Victor is the newest addition to our crazy family. My only grandbaby for now.

He and Kira stayed with us over Christmas because of the nasty storm we had. He got along great with Oliver. Little Bit would be Okay with him given a little more time, and I'm sure he would have gotten used to Annie too. He is a very nice cat, sort of like the little kid who befriends everyone.

Quilt...

OOOhhh!!! Kira finished my quilt. It is beautiful! While she was working at JoAnn's, she could take classes for free, and she took the quilting class. Wow...it has paid off, because she does beautiful work. Now all she needs to do is find an outlet to sell them. As soon as I get a picture of mine, I'll post it for all to see.

Happy...

I is soooo happy! First born GOT A JOB!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Yippee, yahoo, she gets to play with doggies all day, and get hairy, and licked.
Congratulations Bugs!

Art Fair...

Firstborn and I went to the Loring Park Art Fair this past saturday, Aug. 8. We had planned on getting an early start and going to Powderhorn, but as I was getting ready to leave, the sky turned dark as the clouds rolled in and it poured, so we waited awhile, the clouds rolled out, the sky turned blue and the temp. rose about 15 degrees while the humidity went to 90%, yuk. I needed gas as my car was on empty, and when I tried to get on the freeway, the exit ramps were closed, so I tried one further south, but it was closed too, then I realized the southbound freeway itself was closed for bridge painting/repair, geez, so I had to call and ask for directions. I finally got started and saw parts of the city I have never seen before, very pretty, redone areas, and lots and lots of stop lights. I was paying close attention for my turnoff, and passed a Jimmy Johns that looked just like the one near her house, and ended up at least a mile too far. I once again had to call for help. She made me drive to Target and STAY there while she came to my rescue. We finally got going 3 hours after the time we initially agreed upon, and took the shuttle bus to the Fair. It was so hot and sticky and no good food at that Fair, so when we got back on the bus to go to Powderhorn, it was getting late and I needed to pick up Middle Child from the airport, and we were starving...so we got our car and went to eat at The Neighborhood Cafe at 1570 Selby Ave. in St. Paul. Oh, my! It was fabulous. I got 2 pancakes, 2 eggs overeasy, 2 bacon and she got 2 french toast, 2 eggs overeasy, 2 bacon. That was the best I've ever eaten, and we snarfed it down. It would have tasted heavenly even if we hadn't been starving. Eventhough the day didn't turn out quite like we had planned, we got to spend time together, good time, and eat good food.

Angel voices...

Our church, Parkway UCC http://www.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.parkwayuccminneapolis.org%2F&h=11ad0cc6ecc5f667eb45b251772de168 has a choir that sings from September through May, and during the summer months while the choir has a vacation, people volunteer to sing, play piano, organ, or give a reading, today was Firstborn's day. Our choir director, Bonnie, is a person you just can't say no to. We go to Papa's Pizza in May to celebrate a year well done, and she has her trusty clipboard ready with blanks by all the summer sundays. All she has to do is pass it around and it gets filled in, and if she doesn't see your name, she will hound you until you give in and sign up. Firstborn told her to fill her name in where ever she needed it, and to pick out a good song for her to sing.
She sang 'Come Unto Him' from Handel's Messiah. Oh my, I wish you could have heard it, I had tears in my eyes. First of all, I hear the singing, then I realize that the beautiful sound I'm hearing is coming from MY daughter. The beautiful, high, soprano voice, hmmm. She needed to leave the service shortly after singing, and I got to receive ALL her many, many complements. Most everyone said her singing brought tears to their eyes...good ones. God saw fit to bless her with a wonderful gift.

Comfort shawl...

Last summer Firstborn's best friend's dad was in the hospital following a freak accident. I work in this particular hospital, and I always have a sweater with me because no matter what time of year it is, I'm always chilly. Both her friend and her friend's mother were commenting on the fact that it was cold in the building. My daughter http://kirashapedgirl.blogspot.com/ has knitted some gorgeous shawls and because she was in Oregon doing a zoo keeper internship at the time and couldn't be here to support her friend and mom, she showed her love and support by knitting each of them a beautiful, soft, snuggly, comforting shawl to help them feel warm, secure and loved while they were keeping vigil for long hours in the TNICU. She graciously knit them up and sent them off and I can attest that they were put to very good use for many weeks.
This past week, her room mate's mother asked if she would knit a shawl for a friend of hers that just had a miscarraige. I saw it last night and it was snuggly, and soft and comforting and beautiful (and it wasn't even finished).
She is so talented, knitting, sewing, baking, house and animal sitting. I'm a very proud momma.

23 years...

First born is house/pet sitting for us this weekend while we take a short anniversary trip. Our two guys are still living at home, but Dreaded Middle Born has to work, like constantly, so he gets up minutes before he has to leave, then is gone the entire day/evening. The poor dog wouldn't be able to hold her legs together for that long, and the cats would probably pee on something for spite. The Baby just doesn't wake up very easily, and the animals would be no better off I'm afraid. First born is used to getting up early, and she has a little more empathy where the animals are concerned, plus she's desperate for money. ha ha ha I'll take lots of pictures (hopefully good ones) for her to see. (She is a photo nut!)

Messy room...

I'm sitting here at my computer, in my new room (daughter's old room), with 1/2 of the contents of her closet sorted out on the floor. I went through everything and boxed up some of it, books from college and stuff from high school that she wants to keep, just not with her. That's OK, I can find a spot for it. It's in plastic buckets so 'things' won't get in and chew on it. Then there is a large pile of crafty stuff, a pile of photography books and pictures, a pile of Psychology books, some cards for holidays, and a bunch of frames. I'm hoping she'll come around sometime this week and let me know what she wants to take and what can be boxed up, because it's kind of messy in here. I have a cabinet that I want to bring up from the basement (for some more storage) that I'm going to paint, and right now it doesn't have anyplace to go.

Big move...

Well...it's official...my firstborn child, my daughter, my friend has moved out. I've been wanting her to move for awhile now. She was in Oregon this last summer for a zoo internship, and I flew out there to drive back with her at the end of September. We all thought she would be getting a zoo job pretty quickly, but NO. The recession set in full fold. So, we thought maybe she could get a job doing something else, because, really, she has a four year degree. Well, it seems that a four year degree only means one thing...you have a four year degree! Anyplace she applies to wants experience to boot...and how does one get experience if no one will hire them?? Internships are one answer, but they don't pay anything, and it's hard to live on "nothing". Now that her college loans have come due, that makes it even harder. She could get another internship, but that would not guarantee her a job. Anyway...she just happened upon a deal she couldn't pass up. Her oldest childhood friend's grandmother moved out of her home into assisted living and the family was trying to sell the house, but when that didn't work, they decided to let two of their grand daughters live there. My daughter happens to be a friend, so she moved in too. She's got the teeny, tiny room, but it's so pretty. She painted the walls a creamy yellow, and one wall dark purple. She has a black wrought iron bed, and baker's rack, and her dresser is painted black. The black looks great on both the creamy yellow and the purple. So anyway, about how I feel about this...it's way different than when she was at school, because I knew she would be coming back, but this time, she's NOT coming back. Unless something catastrophic happens. It's okay, but very strange. I'm happy that she/they got to be on their own this way, with no lease or contract. If a job comes up for any of them out of state, or just far away, they can leave without causing anyone any harm. She'll do great! (me too)

A place of her own?????

First born might have a new place to call home. Her oldest friend from waayyy back (kindergarten) has a room in her grandmother's house (who is not living there at this time) that she can rent. Woo hoo! It sounds so very exciting, I'm a little jealous. They took a look at it last night and she came home very hyped. They've got the house painted, furnished, decorated with art work and the table is set with new white dishes and a scrumtious meal (in their minds). I hope this works out for her, because this is something she really wants and more importantly, needs. After living at college for four years, it's hard to move back home into a little bedroom that is stuffed to the brim. Even though she can do what ever she wants and doesn't have a curfew, "Mom and Dad" are still here keeping an eye on her. It's hard to let your children grow and become adults, because the very thing that they need to do to accomplish this, is to move out and become their own person. I don't want her to go, because we won't get to do as much together, but I also can't wait for her to go, because I feel she really, really needs to. I can feel her regressing, questioning herself, becoming dependent again. Once she's on her own, these will change and she will blossom. We have a wonderful relationship and while it will change, it will be good for both of us, and I'm certain and confident we will always be close. I love her very much and wish only the very best for her.

What's in a name?

When I was growing up, my friends and I always pretended we were someone else, and names were very important. I always wanted to be Priscilla (name of my best friend's mom). I thought that name was pretty and exotic. I just knew that I would name my firstborn girl Priscilla. A few years later, I just knew that I would name my firstborn girl Regina. Then I got pregnant. What a very difficult job it is to think of a name for your child, hopefully one they won't hate. My husband (then my boyfriend) and I got a book of 10,000 Baby names. One would think that it would make life easier having a few choices...HA! The ONLY name we both liked and thought we could live with was Kira (Persian for sun) Leigh (Old English for meadow). Thank God she wasn't twins, because Kira Leigh was the ONLY girl name we had picked out. Now that she is older, we've come upon a fair number of Kira's. Every now and then when we're out together, we'll hear a mom call Kira...we just look at each other and smile.
So, while I was writing this, I thought I better look up the meanings just to make sure I was right...I found out that Kira in Gaelic means dark lady. Well now, this shines a whole new light on the subject of Kira. She really seems to be a combination of the two, sometimes she is sunny and sweet and helpful and loving...and then there are other times. Dark, brooding, stay away from me times. Like first thing in the morning, or when she's tired, or has a headache, or shoulder pain, or has to work when she'd rather be reading, etc. etc. etc. BUT, she's usually just like a sunny meadow (to me at least).

Baby girl

On September 1, 1985 I was dreaming of being back at my childhood home, running through the backyard. It was a nice peaceful dream, a light breeze blowing, dappled sun shining through the leaves on the tree, warming my skin...when I felt like I really had to pee. I startled awake and thought, "did I really do that?! I feel wet!" Actually, my water broke, two weeks early. I called the office, and they calmly told me to wait until I was having contractions. Well, I kept waiting...all day for something to happen. I packed, cleaned, made phone calls, went for a walk, anything to get labor started. I didn't get my first contraction until 12 hours later, around 7 pm. Little bitty contractions, my braxton hicks were worse than these. A few hours later they got a little worse, so I let my husband get some sleep, (on the couch), because I knew I would need him later on when things really got going and I spent the night in the rocker/recliner we bought (because a rocker is a necessity with a baby). By about 5 a.m., the contractions were getting kind of ugly. I woke up sleeping beauty and we trudged to the car. (it's really difficult to walk when your belly is as hard as a rock)
We had done the birthing classes, and I knew
I did not want medication,
I did not want an episiotomy,
I certainly, without a doubt, did not want a C-section,
I did not want a certain Doctor,
and because I work in a hospital, and knew the personality of a certain female intern, I DID NOT want her!
Well, me and Murphy are real close friends, and wouldn't you know it...
I got medication (it was horrible, I felt really woozy and out of control)
I got an episiotomy (what a strange sound it makes when they cut you)
I got the Doctor (it was a holiday weekend and he was "on call")
I got the icky, snotty, cold fingered female intern,
AND I had several other interns in there watching!!!
I found it amazing how hard my belly got during those disgusting contractions. (the things I think about)
I tried to think of pleasant thoughts or places, and to listen to my soothing music, but it really didn't work too well. Everytime they needed to check my progress, they waited until I was having a contraction to check dilation and the icky intern had cold fingers with long nails. So, when they asked me if I wanted something for the pain, I said YES! Unfortunately it turned out to be a bad experience. I didn't like the feeling of that drug at all. I felt like I had no control over myself, and all I wanted to do was sleep. It turns out I react to narcotics like that. I did the deep breathing so well that I hyperventilated. I had to breath into a paper bag, then I got the shakes. My mom was in there at the time, and I guess I scared her half to death. Then all of a sudden I said, "I have to push! Call the nurse." They came, checked me out, paged the Doctor and got me all set up. He got there just in the nick of time. My mom didn't have a chance to leave the room, she just looked at me and asked what she should do. I told her she could stay if she wanted.
The Doctor cut the episiotomy, I pushed 2 or 3 times (yes, that's correct) and out she came. A little pink baby girl, 5 lb. 13.5 oz., 19 in. long with strawberry blond hair.
[I was glad that my mom had the chance to see her firstborn come into the world and oddly enough, I didn't even feel strange for her to be there.]
My husband went with his new daughter to the nursery and gave her a bath, got her feet printed and came back with her all wrapped up and a little hat on her head. She looked exactly like a Smurf.
I had held exactly 1 baby before her. I had never changed a diaper, never given a bath, never gotten one dressed, and it all came so naturally. I guess my maternal instincts took over.
My firstborn, baby girl was born on Labor Day, two weeks early, and absolutely perfect!