Wednesday, February 29, 2012

EDD

B. applied for disability benefits. Did it all on his own including going to the doctor and getting all the paperwork filled out. He told J. that whatever he gets for disability, he will give to me since today is the last day of February and he has yet to pay anything towards his monthly expenses - due on the 1st of every month.

With relief, he was notified that he's been approved and will receive a payment of $344.57! Yeah!

They are sending a debit card with the funds loaded onto the card.

There are instructions for how to transfer those funds to a bank account.

Here's hoping 'cuz he can't pay his parents his insurance contribution, cell phone payment, etc. with a debit card.

We're not that sophisticated.

He returns to work on 3/5. His ankle/foot is much better. He's still not back to running but he is able to get around. We'll see how he does on his feet for his first shift and if it swells up again, he'll go back to the doctor to go back on disability and then get the MRI.

J. is at a work dinner thing so he won't be home until late. I picked up Subway sandwiches for dinner. And also stopped to get Lotto tickets and then milk at the grocery store. There were girl scouts outside and since not a single girl has come to my door to sell me cookies, I bought five boxes ($20 total) from them. And that was after also buying a bag of the stores baked chocolate chip cookies. Those were for H. 'cuz they are his favorite.....chewy and delicious!

I should never go to the store when I'm hungry. Two gallons of milk and $25.50 in cookies. Not a good trip. OH - and a warm loaf of sweet french bread just out of the oven.....

We have a meeting at work tomorrow so I am making cake batter rice krispie treats - a Pinterest recipe!

Pressure

One word: Pinterest.

Have you tried it? Follow anyone? I did. And now I do.

But even worse than that?

People are following me.

I am not creating any new ideas. I look at some of the remarkable things people 'pin' on their boards - things they or others have come up with....and I just marvel.

Tic Tac boxes for ribbon holders. Brilliant! Take toilet paper rolls and slit down the tube and then use it as a 'clip' for wrapping paper. Also brilliant!

It's too much pressure to get emails all day telling me 'so and so is now following you on Pinterst'. Yikes. Too much responsibility for a non-creative type like me.

It is great fun and I've found really clever ideas and great recipes. And a possible solution for our awkward corner pantry dilemma - have the guy install giant lazy suzans on each and every shelf. Use the unused side spaces for other storage but store the bulk of the items on the turntables. It's brilliant and just might be the solution to our 'what in the world can we do to the pantry to make it more usable' question.

Sidenote: we joined Angie's list to help find the businesses that can help us with our house projects. The fence guy was a good choice.

We are also looking to get additional insulation in the garage ceiling. The insulation company we called today tried to convince J. that we most likely had adequate insulation. He is so wrong. Ever watch 'Holmes on Homes'? In virtually every house he visits, homes with rooms over the garage are almost always seriously lacking insulation. Given the other things our builder has taken short cuts with - and given that you can walk through our garage in the summer and feel the AC from above or walk through in the winter and feel the heat from above - we are positive we need more insulation. They 'finished' the garage without doing much (if any) insulating. But the guy didn't want to come out. So now I have to decide. Do I leave a comment - mainly just mentioning that he didn't seem to want to come out as far as Tracy and instead, tried to convince us our insulation was adequate? 'Cuz that's how Angie's List works - the more reviews you get, the more likely a search will result in your business being listed. And then the good/bad reviews create a 'grade' - so others will see how they did. It's another sort of 'pressure' thing....do we leave a so-so comment on the guy who really just didn't want to come out to Tracy?

And in the mean time, we're still looking for someone who can come check the insulation to see if it really is enough. I mean, at the very least, if we were willing to pay for a 'service call' to have it checked out, shouldn't the guy come out?

And my final 'pressure' themed subject is: my sinuses are a mess. I washed my face in the shower this morning and literally can't touch my face without it hurting. My eyes are sore. My teeth hurt. Time for Claritin!

Leap!

Happy Leap Year! Someone retired at the County Office of Education - and I'm sure he retired yesterday 'cuz if you retire on 2/29, you can only celebrate the anniversary of your retirement once every four years!

Tuesday, February 28, 2012

Elephants

A quick post to break my weekend only posting mode. And a shout out and thanks to my cousin S. who emailed me this morning to tell me she enjoys reading my blog. You made my day! Week! Month!

It's just past 6AM and I am throwing caution to the wind and not rushing! No meetings today - unheard of. So a nice day of plodding through all the stuff that requires plodding.

I borrowed Like Water for Elephants from the Kindle lending library and am now rushing to read it - postponing the 3rd Hunger Games book for awhile. Everyone says Elephants is an awesome read - and I agree. But it's also making me uncomfortable. Animal cruelty makes me sad. In any form. Even in a great story. So I read it and just feel 'sick' all the time - and have to say I'm not enjoying it much. I'm about 1/2 way through and it's all I can do to keep going....I hope the ending makes the torture worth it.

B. is heading up to MEPS again Thursday. His appeal was approved....so we'll see what that means and what will happen next. He said if they offer him a Ranger contract, he's going to sign it that day. So we wait. It's never as 'easy' or 'clear' as he implies so I am sort of cautious about getting all excited about something that may not happen. On a good note, his ankle is much better and he returns to work Monday.

H. is looking and looking for a job - went to a warehouse in town and applied. Took two tests to 'qualify' for applying (actually filling out an application for employment) and then was able to apply - but still, he waits. Poor kid is scrubbing the tile grout in the family room with bleach to earn money. It's tough work but he does an hour or two a day for some pocket money.

Cleaning ladies come today! Yeah!

We started getting a delivery every other week of farm-fresh organic produce. Last night, I sauteed leeks and kale in a little butter. Season salt and garlic. It was yummy. Also steamed fresh broccoli and a pink cauliflower. Tonight we're steaming beets and turnips - from Winco, not the farm. More veggies in our diet is a good thing. Only problem is: I appear to have tossed the list of items in the farm box and there are two 'root' looking things that I have no idea what they are nor how to prepare them. I think we'll peel them, chunk them and steam them. Hard to go wrong with steam. I hope.

I spent all day yesterday feeling like it was Tuesday. After two Mondays in a row off, it was hard to accept that I was actually going to have to work a Monday. It was a long, long day.

Today should be better -

Sunday, February 26, 2012

Cat in the Box

This is Klink sleeping in his 'box'. The box is a shoe box lid - left on the floor when J. got new shoes a few months back. Klink started sitting it in - first just sitting on his haunches and then curling up in the lid.

I brought home a copier paper box lid from work thinking he'd like a bigger space.

He didn't. This is his favorite place to curl up and sleep lately. Guess the box lid provides just enough resistance to help him curl up and get warm and snuggly all by himself.

And yes, he is huge. 15 pounds at least. He's ginormous. And as sweet as he can be.

Except when he's peeing on the floor. Then I want to kill him.

But I won't. His green eyes are beautiful and bright and he adores us all...including Chloe. He is an extraordinary cat. The Cat in the Box.

Squeeze

Observations on life....

Why is there never a sale on Farmville cash when I need Farmville cash? I don't mind paying for the game currencies on Zynga - but I always, ALWAYS buy it when it's on sale. FV hasn't had a sale in forever....and I am out. Argh!

Last night, we went to the new Squeeze Inn that just opened. I have a picture on my cell phone of the absolutely magnificent Squeeze Burger with Cheese. The cheese is a 'cheese skirt' and they are famous for it. Ever accidentally spill grated cheese on a griddle and let it cook into a scrumptious melted cheese 'coin'? I used to call them 'skittles' - and they didn't happen often 'cuz who would ever think of grilling cheese? Just cheese? But that's what the cheese skirt is on this burger - a giant 'skirt' of cheese that extends well past the bun to form a skirt around the burger. I savored every bite of that crispy, melted cheese and then finally got to the burger - just as delicious! It was yummy!! A nice treat - definitely not something I could eat every day. So..I have a picture but I've emailed it to myself and to J. several times and it isn't coming through our emails. Darn it! 'cuz a description via words doesn't do it justice.

Yesterday, J. and I did our annual torture session of finalizing our taxes. Entering our donated 'items' onto the It'sDeductible site and then importing it into our tax software. We finally finished and viola! This year, what we owe to the feds, we are getting back from the state! So for the first time in YEARS, we are breaking even! It's a miracle. I'm so excited!! We're still going to wait until April to file - and will triple/quadruple check before we submit. But boy, what a relief!

I culled out the pantry a bit today and thought to myself 'I could save us the expense of having this redone if I would just take a half hour every week to cull/tidy/organize and inventory what's there'. So that's my 'new' goal - keep it tidy and organized and not over-full and then perhaps we won't spend $2-3K to have it ripped out and redone? We'll see.

I am heading to my office for a couple of hours - not too many meetings this week but there are parts of a major report that are better done in quiet and solitude with no interruptions - so that's what I plan to do.

It's another absolutely gorgeous day outside. Watched two doves on the fence this morning 'grooming' each other. Sweetest things. Heard them cooing to each other...also sweet. Spring is so close....

Saturday, February 25, 2012

Only on Weekends

I'm becoming a blogger who only posts on weekends - which implies that there is no 'life' happening here between M-F. Sort-of-kind-of true given that the stuff happening during the week is work related...there are shitloads of crap happening M-F but as they most decidedly ARE work related and I dare not write about them, that leaves slim pickings during the week. I come home each evening tamping down all the 'stuff' that simmers through my day and attempt to regroup enough to have some semblance of decent sleep. Sleep being my one 'must have' thing in life. Well, sleep and coffee. And Starbucks. And possibly Castleville. OK - I am apparently more high-need than I like to admit.

The other stuff happening M-F that relates to the two young adult males living here is just the usual run-of-the-mill stuff. At a work lunch yesterday, one of my co-workers shared that she can't ever imagine not wanting to spend every waking minute with her children. She has two adorable blond boys - ages 3 and just turned 1 - and she is pained to be apart from them every day while she's at work. She simply wants to 'immerse' herself in them 24/7 and can't imagine ever feeling any other way. Just not possible, she said. And all the parents of teens piped up and said 'oh, just give it about 10-13 years and see where you're at with that'. She said 'I will miss them so much' and I said 'I want to miss mine. I'm looking forward to missing them. Let the missing them begin ASAP'. She can't relate - yet. But someday, she will. The great circle of life and all that. It isn't about loving them - I adore and love my kids with every ounce of my being. But my rational self doesn't actually like one of them too much these days - and the other one is a joy most of the time....but he's far from self supporting. They both are....and that pains me. Both in my wallet and in my heart. Boys....they just take a long time to mature.

There are so many things happening at work that when my boss and I go to lunch, we have taken to making a list of the things we are going to fret about and the things we aren't. The state's budget crisis is making our district budget a nightmare and it's been hard for me to cope with. Not that the last five years have been any kind of cake walk on the budget front - the economic crisis started shortly after I started my job in 2007 - but we are at a very different place after weathering five years of drastically reduced revenue. It stresses me out a fair amount....so it helps to prioritize what to focus the stress on, actually - instead of just stressing about every little thing. It will all resolve - one way or another - and while it's certainly hard for us now, I take sad comfort in realizing that as hard as it is for us, there are other districts in our county and state that are far more perilously on the brink than we have ever been - or hopefully ever will be. It's just sad times for education - and remember that the people who will suffer the most are kids. We continue to focus every effort on preserving what we have for the students we serve - but boy, howdy - that's getting really, really challenging. Scary times in our state.

It's a beautiful, sunny Saturday. H. is upstairs cleaning! His room is spotless and he's now vacuuming the upstairs. Next he will come downstairs and scrub the tile grout with bleach. He's earning money to go with friends to Bass Pro Shop and maybe the movies. I don't know what there is to do at Bass Pro Shop but apparently, it's a happening place 'cuz B. frequently goes there with his friends, too. B. is in Marysville visiting a friend and is expected home today sometime. Never know his schedule. Oh well.

I am heading out to run errands soon. And plan to do some gardening. Our bulbs are already up six inches or so - it's so warm these days. Spring appears to be early....

Sunday, February 19, 2012

To the Mall

My iPhone has been acting up for several months....the receiver appeared to be 'bad'. It worked perfectly if it was 'synced' to my car - the car receiver works perfectly because it's going through the sound system/speakers of the car. But if I used it as a hand held, I couldn't hear anyone. If I made calls, they could hear me but then couldn't figure out why I wasn't responding. If I received calls, the phone would pick up but then I couldn't hear at all so I would just hang up. We thought at first it might be related to the Sync function - but a couple months of fiddling with it didn't resolve the issue. Last weekend, J. spent time on the phone with Apple tech support and they weren't able to help either - so we made an appointment at our 'local' Apple store - 12:40 yesterday afternoon. We turned the trek over the Altamont into a date -

We had a wonderful lunch at PF Chang's. Ordered lettuce wraps and crab wontons as appetizers and then had the small lunch special - and the appetizers were so delicious that I had no room for the lunch - so we brought leftovers home.

We were there a little early so I went to Sephora and J. went to 'The Art of Shaving' where he quickly decided that for Father's Day, he wants to go back and get 'the works'. A shave and a haircut - from an old fashioned 'barber' style salon.

The Apple Store can only be described as organized chaos. Always, always so incredibly busy and even with an appointment, it still felt crazy. But a wonderful 'genius' (that's what they call the staff who help with repairs, etc.) assisted me in moving all my photos off the phone (sent them to myself via email) and then we cleared the phone. Another tech guy helped our tech guy decide that running the diagnostics wasn't really worth it because 95% of the time, the issue is a hardware issue - so I left the store with a new phone! Complete with the latest iPhone operating system so now I am backing up to The Cloud nightly! No charge! Still under warranty! We headed home and quickly and easily put all my apps and stuff back on the phone through the iTunes hook up. And once again, I am so impressed with technology - it is amazing how things are so simple in so many ways. I personally think H. should get trained in the Apple tech stuff 'cuz those skills will be so marketable in the future....amazing things in that store.

J. is at church this morning and I am heading upstairs to get dressed and out the door to my office where I will have the day 'to myself' to work on things that require concentration. Two four day weeks in a row are lovely but that day 'lost' ends up making it feel like what it is - five plus days of worked crammed into four. Especially because I am trying really, really hard to not work too much on the weekends. Today will be the first day I've worked (enough to count as a work day, anyway) in a couple months. Which feels good only technically, not...'cuz the less I work, the more behind I feel. Hence today where I just give up and decide to work basically a day. Oh well.

I hear movement upstairs so someone is up. Dog is snoozing on the floor behind me. It's Sunday and once again, looking forward to also being off tomorrow. At the very least, sleeping in three days in a row is incredibly rejuvenating. And I can use all the rejuvenation I can get.

B. is off work an additional two weeks - on disability which we hope will result in him receiving some funds. His ankle/foot is improved (they are not as deeply purple as they have been) and he is putting weight on it - but it is still pretty swollen. So our doctor ordered an MRI and kept him off work. Considering his entire job is being on his feet - helping customers, cleaning, etc. - it is better to keep him off. He can get around more easily - but being on his foot for an eight hour shift would not work - just hoping disability pays him something.

Shower stopped so it's my turn. Waiting a bit for more hot water to heat up. Boys take the longest showers EVER.

Sunday, February 12, 2012

Taxing

Decided to spend the day getting started on our taxes....might as well know the damage well in advance of when we will have to write the check.

Unlike last year, we appear to have avoided AMT - and so far, we owe to the feds about what we'll get back from the state. This is a rare, rare year where it appears we will not be writing a huge check to the IRS! I'm giddy with relief!

And the best part is we still have tomorrow off! Love when we're getting stuff done and there's still another day of the weekend....it's such a great feeling!

I also perused the Park Seed catalog and am planning an order to update the flower beds in front and back. We are going to use brown bark as a ground cover - less maintenance and it looks nice....but J. and I both agree that we enjoy having pretty color 'pops' in the beds so I'm looking at what we might try this year. Looking for things that are low maintenance and 'free-flowing' - pretty yellows, blues and purples to 'pop' in the beds. Should be fun! I love Park Seed! and love looking forward to spring.

The tax savings has me longing for the beach in Playa....but alas, this year is not a summer I can be away from the office for that many days. Maybe J. and I will be able to take a trip in the fall to Europe. That's a nice dream and goal to start planning for. I'm determined we should travel a bit BEFORE he retires - makes the expenses easier to handle when there are still paychecks coming in to offset. I know once he's not bringing in a paycheck, my 'Nervous Nellie' will take over and I won't want to spend a dime on anything 'fun'.

A leisurely Sunday and still Monday to go!

To the Right

I wrote a letter recently to a long-time family friend - my third grade teacher who we have been friends with forever - I think she taught my older siblings, too, though I'm not positive about that. Anyway, I wrote a letter and in that letter, I inquired about any properties available in the beach front development my family had a cabin in for years. I have written about it in this blog...how thinking about it makes my heart hurt; how I regret so much not having found a way to purchase the cabin from my mom. We just couldn't swing it back then - and I think it was for the best given that would have only been yet another bone of contention between some family members and me. But when I think about 'the beach', I think about that place - and wish I could get back there.

I haven't mailed the letter - because all the next day, I kept thinking about the 'what if's' that would imply. Suppose there is a property available and suppose we did buy it? The development is unique because it was the first on this 18 mile stretch of white sand beach - and the homeowners prohibit renting out units - so there would be no rental income to offset expenses. And there would be expenses. Monthly fees; maintenance; upkeep; care-taking. And as J. has often said 'if we own a place, we will feel obligated to go there for every vacation - obligated to try to make the expenses 'worth it' by going there as often as we can'. And that's the final 'no' - because as beautiful as this place is, it is about 17 hours away from us by car. Do-able? Sure. But thinking about a two week vacation with two travel days on either end just isn't all that appealing. We could fly to Phoenix and then drive the five hours south - but that still involves renting a car and rental companies don't really 'allow' you to take the car into a different country without all kinds of paperwork and more money. So truthfully, how often would we go?

And while I can't rent out the place for profit, I can let others use it - and would be glad to - but that adds additional complexity - scheduling and timing and negotiating the turbulent waters of my familial relationships.

So the letter stays unmailed. I plan to update it to make it even more newsy and mention the cabin and mention that I'd be curious to know if a place is ever available - but I'm deleting all the sort of heart-felt wishing and just sticking with the facts. Because if she called me next Friday and said someone wants to sell now and here's the price, I'm not honestly sure I'd be ready to do it. I'd want to - with every ounce of my being - but I'm not sure we would.

Apparently owning a second property is on my mind, because last night I dreamed that we had a chance to get a beach front lot on Lake Tahoe in a brand new, recently discovered 'cove' for the rock bottom price of $110,700. In the dream, when they told me the price of the lot, I almost couldn't believe it. You could buy the lot now and move in a mobile home or just pitch a tent for as long as you wanted until you could afford or decided to build. Very not 'Tahoe' - but hey, this was a dream!

There was only one down side. The development was started by a group of acquaintances - people I know through work or social things here in Tracy - and they were all seriously far, far 'to the right' politically. OK - I described them to J. as 'right wing nut jobs'...but as I was getting the checkbook out, I thought (again, this is a dream) 'I'm sure I can get J. to just keep his mouth shut for three days every weekend - he will just have to hunker down with his blogs and his books and agree to NOT make it known that we are so not to the right, we would be considered aliens to these folks'. Seemed completely plausible in a dream....

It was a little slice of paradise - and while a lake beach is not really my idea of a beach, I think all I'm really craving is a place to escape to....just a little secluded get away that gives us a reason to pack up on Fridays and skip town for a few days. Hunker down with books, videos, walks, cooking, sleeping, etc. Some forced down time.

My sister and her hubby own a motor home that is parked on their property - and they frequently spend nights out there - just outside their house. Watching movies. Checking out from their 'life' and heading to their escape pod. I think that sounds lovely, too, only we don't have a place to park a motor home outside our house - we'd have to store it at the storage facility a mile away - and somehow, spending the night at a storage facility sort of loses the charm.

A friend of mine owns a few acres and their house and yard are on only one acre of their property - and we joke that if we win the lottery (we buy tickets every week - just the two of us - makes our boss crazy because if we happen to win and both leave at the same time, he is screwed - but oh well - it's a 'dream' and not likely reality), I would buy a couple (two or three) rail cars and have them craned onto slabs and have someone 'design' a weekend retreat for me. We could be 'in the country' and 'away' in about 10 minutes - and I love her house because it's truly isolated. So quiet. Serene. Orchards all around - but no traffic. Few neighbors. I would love to hang out there each weekend and recharge.

She and I read Sunset magazine and get so many ideas of 'tiny spaces' you could make happen fairly easily.

I'm taking all these ideas and dreams as a sign that I need to find a way to better decompress. Being in this house with animals and adult children and 'stuff to do' everywhere is just not cutting it. Apparently.

Second day of a three day weekend is beginning. It's almost 11 and we're all still in our PJs. I'm going to cook a lot today! I love to cook when I have the time to do it- and I can enjoy the Breaking Dawn Part 1 movie!! Happy Sunday made even happier!

Sunday, February 05, 2012

Micro

One nice thing about having a 21 year old in the house? He's really enjoying trying different beers - and consequently, so are we! Even J. said tonight 'I think I'm starting to like beer'. The most recent stellar brew is Barrel Trolley Amber Ale. OMG - it is DELICIOUS. I gave B. the OK to use his Discover card for a couple more six packs and I will pay for them. Did I mention he has a Discover Card? He's had it a few months and so far, he uses it for things that we agree to pay for - hair cuts, toiletries, some food, etc. It's working out well for him - he's establishing a stellar payment record (granted, they are very small balances) because the card is paid in full each month (by his parents). It's a good start to what we hope will help him have decent credit when he comes home from the army. Whenever that may be.
No, we don't have a date yet. Still waiting.

It's Super Bowl Sunday which translates into chips and dip, homemade chili (it was such a hit last time I made it, I'm making it again and adding bread bowls), broccoli cheese soup (also in bread bowls and only because we have it on hand and are attempting to eat what's here). Strawberry oat bars for dessert and/or breakfast tomorrow.

J. and I divided and conquered our errands. He dropped me off at WinCo while he went to Costco. We were done and home and unloading by 1PM.

Next weekend is a three day weekend - and I'm looking forward to it. I worked my first full Friday in a month last week and it was sort of hard. I survived.

I finished the second book of the Hunger Games series - and it was as amazing as the first. Now onto the third, which I am sort of afraid to start. Mostly because I know once I start, I won't be able to stop reading - and then it will be over - and that feels terrible. Like Harry Potter, they are just so great - I don't want the story to end.

Monday will be here soon....I feel the need for a nap (and no, it's not the beer - I felt that way before the beer and now I DEFINITELY wish I could nap) but I'm not going to. Having enough trouble sleeping these days without sleeping during the afternoon - especially this late.

Wednesday, February 01, 2012

Friendly Drama

I have no idea where this post will take me on this cold-ish winter morning...and I admit right from the start that the actual purpose of the post is quite possibly avoidance. I don't want to go upstairs and take a shower and put on work clothes and then head in to my office around 6AM-ish. But that's what I will be doing - after letting off some steam via words.

H. got caught in a stupid, stupid lie last night. It is so ridiculous that I will spare you all the 'details'....but that's kind of hard because the devil is in the details. Suffice it to say that his story about something he supposedly did with friends - something as innocuous as seeing a movie - didn't add up. And I am the Chief of Police Regarding Things Not Adding Up around here and I ferreted out the (now) supposed truth. I don't think that story is the truth either - but I may never know the actual truth of what really happened. Though as the COPRTNAU around here, I will do my level best to get it out of him.

He doesn't do 'dishonest' well and I suspect his queasy stomach sometime in the next few days will be the 'tell' and then it will all come spilling out...seemingly out of nowhere after days of that gnawing feeling in the pit of your stomach gets the best of you.

If he were any other kid and if I were any other parent and if we hadn't spent a year in hell with him sorting through mountains of crap and putting our family through a ringer that we all barely survived, I might lighten up and move on. But we are not that family - and I am not that mother - and he is not that kid.

I told J. a few weeks ago 'I'm starting to think of H. as the 'easy' kid again - and the last time I felt that way, all hell broke loose'. And so it is.....

I don't think he's doing anything horribly bad. But the truth is I don't know. And there's an easy answer out there somewhere - peeing in a cup, for example - and we may be doing that again. Haven't in awhile. But might be. He resents that - he's an 'adult'. But as I frequently remind him, he's living in our home as an adult and therefore, our rules still trump his righteous indignation at being forced to pee in a cup.

Life's a bitch. And so's your mother. (That would make a great book title).

He will likely call or text me at work today attempting to re-establish communication...and I have a very busy day that isn't jammed full of meetings and a million things to do so I don't think I'll be entertaining conversation about the events of the past couple days - thank you very much - but eventually it will happen.

I have a new favorite album these days - the new Snow Patrol album. I listen to it over and over and over - it's so rare to have an album where you love every single song. And I have another post forming about a particular song on that album and how it's resonating for me and B. regarding his life's direction. I read the liner notes (downloaded from iTunes and I absolutely LOVE how they also included the entire album's lyrics and dedications, etc.). I always miss that when downloading tunes from iTunes but they included it.

And one of their dedications is this simple phrase: Parents be patient with your children.

So true. I'm sure the Snow Patrol guys parents had moments of 'are you kidding me? You intend to make a living making music and being in a band'? But their patience paid off - 'cuz they are doing just that.

So I trudge upstairs saying in my head that phrase: be patient with your children. Though every ounce of my being wants to rip his sweet head off his neck at the moment, I will be patient with my child.

And then I'll be patient with the other one, too.

Parents, be patient with your children. Lather, rinse and repeat. And repeat again. And again. And.....

March

I'm starting to think maybe I will just do a monthly post and call it what it is - whatever month we're in.  Here we are winding dow...