“My favorite squirrel”

October 11, 2008 · Posted in Tribune articles · Comment

Cue the mournful funeral dirge: we’ve had a tragedy here. It was a very, very sad day. We used to have neighbors with 2 really big dogs, so we didn’t have much in the way of squirrels in the yard all summer. Sadly, the neighbors moved and took “the boys” with them, but on the positive side, according to the 5 year old, the squirrels are back in the yard. This is entertaining for him, because he loves to watch them balance on the fence as they race to the next tree, their tails flipping and flopping for balance. This makes our dog INSANE of course, so HE barks and barks at the windows again. “yay” (heavy sarcasm for those that miss that kind of thing)

I, being the “funnest, coolest mom a kid could ever have” (as declared one day by the above mentioned 5 year old) had gotten him a pool to splash around in this summer. Nothing too fancy, and he didn’t get to play in it much, because I didn’t get any kind of cover for it, and the thing was always just a few degrees warmer than Lake Superior, but it was there. Since school started, it’s been on the “boy, I should really take care of that” list every day, but every day, a hundred other, more appealing things, like cleaning out the fridge, and scrubbing the toilet seemed to bump it off the top of the list.

Then, “Black Thursday” arrived; a day of great sadness in our house. I was fixing dinner, and looked out the kitchen window, and saw “something” in the pool. “Honey? Can you go see what’s in the pool, and then maybe pull the plug, so I can get it cleaned up before winter?” (way to pass off that unsightly task, eh?) Honey goes out to the yard, and says, “It’s a squirrel”. The 5 year old says, “Who are you talking to?” I say, “Daddy. There’s a dead squirrel in the pool” “OH COOL! Can I go see the dead squirrel?” (shudder from me) “sure, knock yourself out” and off he runs. By the time he gets out there, Daddy has the hole dug, and then goes and scoops “Rocky” out of the pool, and puts him in the hole, and THEN the waterworks start. In comes the 5 year old, HUGE tears running down his face, “that was my FAVORITE squirrel, Mom!” Said with all the heartache that he can muster. So I told him that the squirrel was enjoying squirrel heaven, and no dogs will ever chase him again, and he’s got a pile of acorns the size of our house all to himself. This seems to lessen his pain a bit, and off he goes to play. Man, I sure miss those days when Mom could fix everything with a few words and a hug. But it sure is cool being the one who can fix a broken heart with a hug, though!

My Dinna

August 27, 2008 · Posted in Photo, Ramblings · Comment

I sure miss her

I was surfing through some of my pictures today and realized how long she has been gone and it made me sad.
This picture was taken in Lisbon ND Either 1993 or 1994 after dad died. This was out first family get together since his funeral. The ENTIRE family was there and as you can see by the ’smile”, we were having a good time.

They sure look alike don't they?

As you can see here the 2 sisters , Mom, and my 2 nieces are having a good chat.

Check out the lazy bum on the grass! HAHA!

This was dad’s favorite little city park and none of us had been there in at least 15-20 years and it looked exactly the same as last time!

I (We) lost Linda almost 8 1/2 years ago to cancer. Not a day gos by that I dont think about her.

Son anxious for school

August 19, 2008 · Posted in Tribune articles · Comment

Here we are again, that last month before school starts. Most kids are getting long-faced at the demise of their summer freedom. Some are already “practicing” getting to bed at the right time to allow them to make the bus, or the van, whichever the case may be. MY son, however, didn’t, apparently realize that there were these 31 days of August between him and kindergarten, because all summer long, he’s been saying, “How many days till July 31, Mom?”. I was wondering why in the world he was worried about “July 31”, but have concluded that sometimes it’s best to just not ask, where that child is concerned.

July 31 rolls around, and he was literally bouncing all day. “Goody, goody! Today is July thirty firtz!” and clapping his hands like some creepy little junior cheerleader. (not that cheerleaders are all creepy, but there are those few who are SO cheery, you just want to pinch them to make ‘em stop for just a minute or two) So I finally said to him, “WHY is it such a big deal that today is July 31, Buddy?” And he says, “Because TOMORROW, I get to go to KINDERGARTEN!” And I said, “No, tomorrow is August 1, and then there are 31 days in August, and then you will start school on Sept. 2, I believe.”

I could not have wounded him more, if I had told him that all the chocolate factories in the world had closed down, and he’d never have chocolate ice cream again. OH the look of anguish in his little face! I don’t know if you’ve experienced looking at sad eyes through a prescription for a kid who is very far sighted, but the eyes are magnified. And when big, brown eyes get magnified, and then tears come rolling out of them in big old drops, it will just about tear your heart out! The poor little guy was just devastated! “THIRTY ONE DAYS!” he said, with all the same emotion that you could imagine he’d use to express dismay over that whole chocolate thing, “I can’t MAKE it that long!”

I don’t know yet, who his teacher is going to be in Kindergarten, but I DO sincerely hope he or she lives up to his expectations! He has a whole list of things he plans to learn while there, and I won’t hesitate to assume he will just raise his hand and ASK to learn about the things they don’t cover the first day! He already know all the addition facts from 1 to 10, and is working on up to 20. He’s figured out that if 5 plus 5 equals 10, then 50 plus 50 equals 100. Teacher better watch out for this one. He’s going places, with or without the rest of the class! We’re almost there, Buddy, we’re almost there!

Teacher huh?

May 10, 2008 · Posted in New, Tribune articles · Comment

This months installment from wifes column! {clap}

Well, this last month hasn’t quite been the giant bowl of yucks that it has been in the past. My mom has had to go to a nursing home for the long haul, and that has kind of sucked the joy out of a lot of things for me. Her memory has gone to the point where most days, she thinks I’m her sister, 50 years ago or so, and my oldest son is her brother before he got married and moved away. And the younger grandkids are just cute little kids she has pictures of. She doesn’t really recognize my Dad as her husband, some days either. That’s not easy to see. On the 20th, they’ll have been married for 58 years. That’s pretty impressive, in my opinion. I can’t imagine that much time under one roof with anyone. I like my “me” time!

But the other day, after we’d been to see Grandma, taken Grandpa back home, and were FINALLY (said with all the exasperation that a 4 year old can muster, complete, I’m sure with a GIANT eye roll) on our way back home, Andy announced to me: “When I grow up, I’m going to work at Checkers!” Said with the same enthusiasm that he usually reserves for “I’m going to have cake!” Now, mind you, there’s nothing wrong with working fast food. I’ve done it. It paid my bills for several years. I went to school to manage restaurants, and despite what people think, even fast food with a drive through counts as a restaurant. It’s like a denim jumper compared to a ball gown. They’re both dresses, just not in the same category. But with this child’s wicked imagination, and intelligence, I just feel that maybe we should aspire to something a little “more” than fast food.

I said “Well, honey, I think that maybe you should be like a scientist, or a doctor when you grow up! You are so smart, you could come up with a cure for cancer, so nobody else’s Daddy has to go through cancer like your Dad did.” And he says, “OR! I could be a TEACHER! If a school doesn’t have a teacher, then I can be the teacher, and if the kids want a “A” then I’ll give ‘em a “A”, and if they want a “F” then that’s what they’ll get! It’ll just be an “A” and “F” school! Isn’t THAT a great idea?” You know, the more I think about it, maybe that’s the way schools SHOULD be. So much of life is ”Pass/Fail”, maybe school should prepare you for it. It could be a charter school, maybe. You go through the lessons, and you take a test, and you either get it, or you don’t. Time to start going to school board meetings! I’ll lobby for the pass/fail system! Like Bonnie Rait says in her song; “Let’s Give ‘em Somethin’ to Talk About!” Wouldn’t THAT be an interesting brew-ha-ha!

{clap}

Blue water

April 8, 2008 · Posted in Tribune articles · Comment

The latest from my wife’s monthly newspaper column. Hilarious!

I’ve got a little story for the next time you’re having a bad day. Yes, it’s another story about the joys of raising my 4 year old. This kid is incredible! He can be SO charming, loveable, and fun, and then, there are days like the following:

On Monday, we went to see a family counselor. We basically need to learn how THIS 4 year old works, so that we can find the strategies that are going to work with HIM. We DID learn that there are 4 personality types, and that my husband is one, I’m a different type, and the 4 year old is NOT a combination of US, but his own, unique type. He’s a Lion. Always wanting to be in charge. The counselor said that raising a Lion is VERY difficult, because children are NOT in charge, they CAN’T be in charge of most things, and thus, are almost always in turmoil. Yep, that’s MY kid! So anyway, we’re embarking on this new chapter, hoping that it will lead to more harmony, and less strife in our world. Pray for us.

On Monday evening, I was in the living room, watching some TV, and Andy was playing with his cars on the floor. I told him it was time to brush his teeth. He actually got up and went to the bathroom, (I almost fell over) I heard water running, and then when he was finished, he came out of the bathroom with the orange cup that’s kept in there for mouth rinsing. He was sipping out of it along the way. He says, “I brought you a drink of water, Mom.” I really don’t like drinking water. I know it’s good for me, but ick. But because he was so thoughtful, I took a teeny little sip. My thought at the moment was, “Note to self, make sure that cup gets to the dishwasher tonight”, because it smelled just a bit “funky”. Then, Andy took a big drink from it, and says, “Hmmm. That doesn’t TASTE like toilet water at all, does it Mom?” I grabbed the cup, took it to the kitchen, poured the water into a white bowl, and sure enough, there was the faintest blue tint there! MY CHILD FED ME TOILET WATER! The ONLY thing keeping me from just puking every time I think about it is the fact that there was that one little girl who did a study, and swabbed the toilet water at a fast food restaurant, and also took swabs of the drink dispenser, and the ice dispenser, and the toilet water was actually cleaner than the other areas of the restaurant.

So, there’s my little public service announcement for the month. Whenever things are going tough, you can sit back and say, “At least I didn’t drink toilet water today!” Just about everything else is less icky. Just about.