My New Obsession

A couple months ago, I started hearing rumblings about these books called, "The Hunger Games".  I had heard about the movie that was coming out in March, but  knew nothing of it.  It wasn't on my radar at all.  Then I went to my monthly meeting for the board I'm on at the school I take Lana and Georgia to.  Someone mentioned the movie and the books, and one of the moms started telling us how great they were and briefly described the premise.  It intrigued me, but I was in the middle of a book at the time, so I just filed it away in my memory bank for a later date.  Except things tend to get lost in there these day, so I kinda forgot about it.  Then about a month ago, I started hearing more and more about the books everywhere, due to the movie soon to be released.  Anyone who had read the books loved them, so I decided to give 'em a go.


I ordered the first one from Amazon and by the time I got it, I was ready to start a new book.  I was immediately sucked in and found myself trying to find any time to read even a page.  I stayed up way later than I should have, spent extra time in the bathroom, and let the kids play a bit longer in the bathtub, just so I could read more.  It was SO DAMN GOOD!  I hadn't been into a book like that since "Harry Potter".  Most of the time it takes me a few weeks to get through a book, because I rarely have time to read.  But when you're staying up until 1am, turns out you can get through a book in a week.  Which is what I did.  


When I ordered that book, I thought about ordering all three, but decided against it.  What if I didn't like the first one and didn't care about reading the others.  This is kind of how I felt about "The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo".  Not that it wasn't good, I just don't really care all that much about reading the others.  It never hooked me like this one did.  Well, once I read the last page of "The Hunger Games", I was cursing myself that I didn't get the other two.  


I thought about going on line and ordering them on Amazon, but that would take a few days for them to arrive.  I didn't think I could wait even an hour to see what sort of fate waited for Katniss and Peeta.  I had to go to Target anyway that week, so why not just pick up the books while I was there?  Okay, perhaps I went to Target to get the books and got other things I needed while I was there, but whatever.  I didn't go just to get the books.  You can't go to Target to just get one thing anyway.  Ever.   I swear there are subliminal messages hiding in that store to make you buy more stuff.  


When I got there, I immediately went to the book section.  It's not big, but they always have the latest best selling books.  I stood in front of the best selling fiction section searching for the final two books in the series.  Nothing.  Didn't see them anywhere.  Could the be sold out?  No, there wasn't even a tag for them anywhere.  I scanned each row of books, convinced I was just overlooking them.  How could they NOT be there?  This was the most popular book series of the moment.  How could Target not sell them?  It seemed impossible to me.  Then I realized there were books on the next aisle behind the ones I was looking at.  But I was looking at the best sellers, which I was certain they were, so what on earth was on the other side?  I turned the corner and found my books in the section marked:


Young Adult


Yup.  I like the books for kids!  Okay, but young adult means at least 18-24ish right?  So that's not THAT bad.  I mean I'm going to be 38 in two weeks, but whatever.  Then I reminded myself, that wait, I don't care.  That first book was awesome and I can't wait to read the second and third one.  Besides, I was and am a huge fan of the "Harry Potter" series and those weren't exactly meant for middle age adults either.  Yet just about everyone I know has read them.  And really the way Sonya reads, she just might ask to read "The Hunger Games" in the next couple of years.  I have to make sure it's appropriate for her age, so let's just call it research. 


I grabbed the books and threw them in my cart, then went and found the other $80 worth of things I didn't really need to buy.  It took me less than a week to read the second and I'm currently on the last book.  I'm trying to take my time with this one though, because I know it's the last one.  Plus I REALLY needed to start going to bed earlier.  I was starting to feel like I did when the girls were newborns.  Oh and I needed to stop neglecting them for the books because one day, when I was trying to sneak a read in, Sonya said to me,


"Boy!  You really do like those Hunger Games books!"


Yes, yes I do.  But hey, I will try to cut you a little slack in a couple years when you are hiding under your covers with these books and a flashlight until 11pm trying to get, "just one more chapter" in.  

Quickly Approaching 40

Today is my birthday. 

 I am 37.

LATE 30s.

 Urgh!  How did this happen?  When did I get to be someone in their late 30's?  It really just snuck up on me and to be honest, most of the time I still feel like I'm in my late 20's.  Alas, I am not.  I was feeling kinda depressed about this upcoming birthday, and then I got my new licence in the mail.  You remember, the one I went to get a month ago that I almost couldn't get because my brain malfunctioned on me.  Anyway-when I saw the envelope was from the DMV, I immediately ripped it  open to see how my picture came out.  I have to say I was pleasantly surprised.  

Then I pulled out my old licence to compare the two and see just how much older I looked. To be honest, I think I look better now than I did when I was 23.  At least in the license picture.  Can't really say the same for my body, but thankfully the licence is only a headshot.  I look like such a baby in my license at 23 but this one at 37, I actually look like an adult.  However, I don't look OLD, which is what I was afraid of.  

So I suppose turning 37 isn't so bad after all.  I mean not as long as I'm still hanging on to my super model good looks. 

(The first picture is at 23, the second is from last month. Not like you couldn't have figured that out for yourself or anything.)

Brain Fart

Last week I had an appointment at the DMV to have my licence renewed.  It expires next month on my birthday when I turn 29-again.  I made the appointment purposely for last week, because my in-laws were in town and that meant free unlimited babysitting.  This was the DMV, and even though I had an appointment, who knew how long it would take.  Although I did have people tell me that making an appointment was the way to go.  Still, I was skeptical.


I arrived for my appointment EARLY.  This in of itself is good for me, because I am usually late to everything.  It's hard to be early or even on time for things when you have three extra people to get ready and tag along with you.  When I don't have to take them with me or get them ready to go somewhere, I can actually be punctual.  


I walked in and filled out my paperwork.  Within five minutes I was called to a window to start processing my renewal.  This was taking no time at all.  The appointment WAS the way to go!  I would be out of there in 15 minutes and have plenty of time to run other errands!  I love the DMV!


The lady behind the counter asked me for my paperwork, my current license and my $31.  Crap. I forgot about the $31.  They didn't take credit cards, I had $5 short of the $31 I needed in cash and I didn't have my checkbook on me.  Who carries THOSE around anymore?  They did however take debit cards.  Oh good!  Well I have one of those!  Now this is where I had one of those ideas run through my head for some unknown reason that proved itself to be true.  That thought was "what if I forgot my pin number".  Then my brain had a malfunction meltdown, that wiped away that pin number I'd had in my head for TEN YEARS.


I gave the lady my debit card, she ran it and handed me the keypad to punch my number in and at first I drew a blank.  Then I remembered the first two numbers, but the second two eluded me.  I tried three times and kept getting denied.  I felt my cheeks start to get hot and flushed as I stood there feeling like an idiot.  My heart started pounding in my ears and I started to go into panic mode.  The lady behind the counter looked at me like I was an idiot.  She seemed a bit annoyed, which I guess is how most DMV workers seem anyway, but this, I'm sure, was not making her day. Then she told me,


"Go and see if you can figure it out.  I have a line forming behind you."


I went to my car and sat there trying to recall the numbers.  Why could I not remember? A couple of numbers popped in my head but where the RIGHT numbers?  I went back inside to try.  No they were not.  Part of the problem was the pin number I have is not one that is special to me.  They are just four random numbers Wells Fargo gave me when I first got the card.  I planned on changing it to something that did mean something to me in the beginning, but then I memorized those four so I left it alone.  Now I was wishing the numbers were my birth date.  At least THAT I could remember.  Even if the year I was born gets a little confusing sometimes.  


I left again and desperately searched for $5 in my car, but all I could find was a buck fifty in quarters.  Perhaps I could beg for $5 on the street.  I was in Hollywood after all.  It probably wouldn't take me to long to acquire that much.  I refused to give up and go home.  I had an appointment dammit!  I couldn't just leave and come back another day.  My free unlimited babysitting would be gone by the next week.  I had to figure something out.


I decided to drive to the nearest ATM.  Perhaps if I was actually in front of the machine my pin would come back to me more easily.  I found one in a liquor store down the street.  Which was perfect.  I mean if my pin didn't come back to me, then what better place to beg for money?  Or perhaps turn a $5 trick.  I decided to try the ATM first.  


I tried four different numbers, all wrong.  Then that ATM shut me out.  I decided to call Andy to see if he knew the pin number to our credit card.  Then I could get money off of that.   Of course he wanted to know why I was asking and I had to explain to him my situation.  His response wasn't surprising.  He laughed.  For a while.  Why did I call him?  When he stopped laughing, he told me to try and calm down and relax and the number would come back to me.  Only too bad for me, because I had myself in such a tizzy that not even a Burke Williams massage could have calm me down.  


Then I called Wells Fargo.  Surely they could help me.  Yeah, except they're not so keen on giving out pin numbers over the phone.  I suppose that's good MOST of the time, but not this time.  The woman did tell me that I could go to the nearest Wells Fargo and reset my pin number in the bank.  I decided that would be my last resort.  I remembered, from when I used to work in Hollywood, that there was a Wells Fargo nearby.  I could go there, try the ATM one last time and if it didn't come to me, I would go change the pin.  Hopefully I could still get back to the DMV


I drove down to Sunset and Vine where the Wells Fargo is.  Or was.  It was no longer there.


W. T. F.???


Instead I went to the Bank of America next door to try the ATM one last time.  I didn't care that they wanted to charge me $3 to use it.  If I could get my money, it would be worth it.


On the drive over, two more numbers had popped in my head.  I was sure one of them had to be it.  Although, I had been sure of a few others that hadn't worked.  My brain couldn't really be trusted right now.  It was freezing me out.


I walked up to the machine and punched in the first number in my head.  Nope.  Then I tried the second one.  The machine was taking a little longer this time.  Then came the sweet sound of money being dispensed.  FINALLY!  I remembered it!  Wait, what was it again?  No, I got it I got it.  And I got my $20 I needed to make up the difference of the cash I already had.


Now, I just hoped the lady, who had become annoyed with my memory lapse at the DMV, would be okay with me coming back 45 minutes later.  I walked back in and waited in line at her window for about five minutes. When it was my turn I walked up holding $31 in cash and said to her,


"I brought cash this time."


She burst into laughter and I knew she wasn't going to turn me away.  I think this time I did make her day.  I finished up my renewal in ten minutes.  When all was said and done I spent over an hour and a half getting my licenced renewed when it would have taken me 15, 20 minutes tops.


I don't think I've ever been so mad at myself and my malfunctioning brain.  I suppose I could blame my weekly wine consumption for killing those memory cells too.   I have to say though having kids helps you to find a way to get something done no matter what.  If this would have happened before kids, I would have just given up, gone home and rescheduled for another day.  That was not an option for me, so I knew I had to do something then and there.


So if you have to go to the DMV in California, I highly suggest you make an appointment.  You really will get in and out of there in no time.  However, make sure you have plenty of cash.  You know, just in case. 

Girls Behaving Badly

Yesterday I broke down and decided to call the Doctor for myself. I've been feeling crappy, but mostly I was tired of getting only three hours of sleep every night. I was spending the rest of the night coughing up my left lung. Or my right. Who can tell, really?

My regular physician had no appointment times, but the nice receptionist found me an appointment with another doctor at 1pm. This was not exactly the best time for me, but I had to take what I could get. Since it was a last minute appointment, the girls had to come with me, because I had nobody to watch them. Oh, and it was in the middle of Lana and GG's nap time. I was hoping for something fun like this to happen! Then I could write about it on here!

I explained to them all, when I picked Sonya up from school, that we were going to the doctor's for Mommy and everyone was to be on their VERY best behavior. I told them if they were really good, they would get a treat later. Perhaps a popsicle when they played outside in the afternoon. They all agreed they were going to be very good and listen to me. Well, Sonya and Lana promised. Georgia would go along with whatever the other two were doing. I reminded them and gave them this speech again on the way to the doctor's and then on our way up in the elevator. They once again swore they would be extra good.

We walked into the waiting room and, thankfully, there was nobody else there. I checked in, and the girls found chairs to sit on. Then they decided to see what was in my backpack to keep them busy. Sonya and Lana found something to color and Georgia occupied herself with some shiny Mardi-Gras type beads. They were all quiet and behaving nicely. Then Lana decided she needed to pee-pee RIGHT NOW! We quickly packed everything up and the receptionist pointed us in the direction of the rest room. When we came out there was a nurse waiting to take me to a room. She led us to a bigger room to accommodate my stroller and even got an extra chair so the girls could all sit. She kept commenting on how cute and sweet they were. And they were. They were being extremely pleasant... at that moment.

After the nurse took my blood pressure, and my reason for the visit, she left while telling me the doctor would be in shortly. I praised the girls on how great they were acting and told them to keep it up. I took out some snacks to make sure we got through the rest of the appointment quietly.

Then the doctor walked in.

My quiet sweet girls immediatly left the room and were replaced with screaming, rambunctious demon children. I really have no idea what happened. One minute they were sitting there calmly eating their goldfish, and the next they were fighting over the bag and who was sitting where on the chairs. At one point Lana screamed. Piercingly loud. Meanwhile, I'm trying to referee them while telling the nice doctor lady how I couldn't sleep because of my cough. She just gave me a look, that said maybe it was more than the cough keeping me up. I apologized a few times for them, but she didn't seem too bothered by it. I, however, was a bit mortified by how my children were acting. Then, as she was leaving the room to write me a couple prescriptions, she looked around and said,

"Maybe we can find a plastic glove to blow up and entertain them with." Which pretty much translates to- "Wow! Your kids are bad!"

No, no, don't worry, because I'm going to entertain them with my mad mommy face and hushed can't-really-yell-in-here mad mommy voice. Oh and the promise of no treats. If that doesn't work, I'll take away Christmas. So after the door was closed that's just what I did. I told them how badly they were behaving and that there would be no popsicle if this didn't stop RIGHT NOW. They all looked at me wide eyed and innocent, like they had no idea they were doing wrong. Then Sonya said,

"But this is booooring!"

"I understand that, and I don't want to be here either, but we have to be so PLEASE! Just behave for five more minutes," I asked.

They did manage to redeem themselves when the doctor walked back in to give me my prescriptions. They sat and didn't fight or argue. Even if it was only for a couple minutes this time. The good news is that doctor was not my normal doctor and I most likely won't ever have to see her again. This way she can't think of me as the patient with those, "out of control kids." Hopefully, that's not the kind of thing they write down in your chart, otherwise I am SO screwed.

Bucket O' Money

Now that everyone in my house is almost completely healthy, I of course, started to get sick on Friday. I had no time to be sick.

Saturday, Sonya had a school carnival, and I had volunteered weeks ago to work one of the game booths for a couple hours. Even though I wasn't feeling my best, off we went for fun and games. I was actually not feeling that badly most of the day. Andy was there with the little girls for a bit, then took them home for a nap. Sonya stayed with me, to play more games and help me with the booth. After I was done we walked around a bit more. I bought some tickets to try and win a few things they were giving away. I'll just tell you right here. I have ZERO luck. I never win in Vegas, unless it's winning money I've already lost. Unlike my friend Melissa who wins EVERY TIME she goes. I'm not even kidding about that. Even though I've bought tickets for raffles and such throughout my life, I've never been the lucky recipient. I can't even win office Super Bowl pools. Okay there was the one time I won tickets to a Poison concert on the radio when I was fifteen. That was 20 years ago, though. So when I was buying the tickets for the raffles, I just looked at it as more money I was contributing to support the school.

Sonya finished playing the games. When she did, she got a special prize for playing them all and a ticket to put into a raffle to win either a Nintendo DS or a Bucket o' Money. We opted for the money, since my kids have NO idea what a Nintendo DS is, and that's just fine by me for now. We left as the carnival was winding down and they were starting to call out the names of those who had won the prizes. I was sure Dadekian wouldn't be one of those names, so we headed home.

Yesterday I was talking to one of the other mom's, who has a kid in Sonya's class, and she asked me if we won anything. Of course we had not. Her kid had won lunch with their teacher, which was one of the raffles I tried for. Oh well! Better luck next time.

Then this morning around 9:30 my phone rang. I was changing G's diaper and just assumed it was one of my sister's, and I figured I'd call them back. I grabbed the phone, when I was done, and called my voice mail. I was completely surprised to hear the voice of a woman, I didn't recognize, informing me I had WON THE BUCKET O' MONEY!! I WON! Or Sonya had. Not sure which now. I mean it was because of her playing the games we got into the raffle, but it was my money that bought the tickets to play the games. No matter. We were getting a BUCKET O' MONEY!! I made arrangements with the lovely woman, and asked if she knew just how much was in a Bucket o' Money. She told me $100. Okay so it wasn't the 25 grand I was hoping for, but still! I actually WON SOMETHING. Or Sonya and I did. Either way. BUCKET O' MONEY!!

I stopped to claim my prize before I picked up Sonya from school. When we were walking back to the car I told her I had a surprise. I opened the door to the car and she saw Lana holding the bucket. She gasped, threw her hand over her mouth and said,

"Mom WE WON!!"

"I KNOW!" I yelled back.

Then she said to me, "I've never won ANYTHING!"

"Me Either!" I told her.

So I guess we both kinda won. I figured we could all do something fun together this weekend, since my birthday is on Sunday. Maybe some mini golf or bowling followed by a meal out. Who knows if $100 will even cover that, but at least it'll pay for most of it. As far as I'm concerned won money should be spent having fun. Well, when it's not 25 grand anyway. It almost makes up for the two weeks of sickness we've had to deal with. Almost.

BUCKET O' MONEY!!!

The Dadekian Infirmary Part 2

Okay, so here is the next part of the ongoing saga of my life in the petri dish.

Wednesday morning Sonya started the day telling me that she kept waking up and taking "sleepbuggers" out of her eyes all night.

"Let me see your eyes," I ordered.

Sure enough, the right one was red. Great. I threw a couple drops in and sent her to school. I noticed Georgia also had an abundance of eye buggers which looked a lot like pink-eye. I made a phone call to the pediatrician's office and asked if they could call in another prescription. I wasn't sure I'd have enough with the first one. They asked if I wanted to bring them in to confirm that was what it was. No thanks. I know. No need to make ANOTHER trip in there. Little did I know I would be back there anyway that day.

The most unfortunate part about Wednesday, was my parents leaving. I had no backup once I dropped them off at the Burbank/Bob Hope Airport. I felt bad they spent most of their time visiting, helping with sick children. I was very appreciative of it, however. Andy was back at work, even though still not feeling well, and I had another kid with pink eye at the very least. When I returned from picking Sonya up from school yesterday, Lana was a hot mess and I mean that literally. Her fever was back up and Georgia's was just back. I, once again, called the ped, who I now had on speed dial number 2, and made an appointment for that afternoon.

Now, at first I felt stupid going in yet AGAIN. I mean Georgia and Lana were in on Friday and he didn't see anything serious, and the Dr on Monday checked Lana's ears finding nothing. Turns out bacteria grows fast. Here's the list of ailments we walked out of there with:

Sonya-Pink Eye (so far)

Lana-Bad ear infection in the left ear, pink-eye

Georgia (the worst one) double ear infection, pink eye, sinus infection, bronchitis

Needless to say, two of them were put on antibiotics, which taste yucky, according to them. So THAT'S been fun trying to make them take it. Georgia has an inhaler, which she doesn't "yike". And they all have to have the eye drops, not twice a day, but FOUR TIMES A DAY, for FIVE DAYS! Damn you Boxstein! The other doctor only said twice! You have not lived until you've had to give three kids eye drops in their eyes, FOUR TIMES A DAY! I'm thinking of developing it into a game show.

I'd like to tell you that is where the story stops everyone is better now, the end. But you come here for more fun than that right? Well we deliver!

Wednesday night, Sonya started to act lethargic and said her throat was hurting. I was hoping it was all in her head, since everyone else had been sick. I had felt the same way most days at one point in time. It was not. She woke up Thursday morning with a slight fever and not acting like herself at all. I called the school and let them know she would be out sick, and turned on the TV for everyone. For the day. I didn't care anymore. I wanted them all to sit and relax as much as possible, so that's just the way it was going to be. They decided to watch Cinderella and I went to my room to workout. In the middle of my workout, Sonya walked in nearly in tears, telling me her ear hurt. This was NOT possible. The doctor checked her YESTERDAY, and she had nothing but the pink eye.

I gave her some Motrin and called my good friends to let them know I'd be visiting once again that afternoon.

"Can ear infections happen this fast, she was just checked yesterday?" I asked the nurse on the phone.

"Oh yeah," was her response.

So after naps off we went to see David. We're on a first name basis now. I mean this is four times in ONE week. I think I saw him more than my husband at this point. When he walked into the room and saw us, he just said,

"But I checked her yesterday!"

"I know, but she was complaining that her ear hurt and she had a little fever this morning," I told him.

He took a look in her ear and looked over at me nodding his head.

"Yup. Ear infection. Just starting," he informed me.

Then he looked at her throat, and added possible strep throat to that list. Good news though! The antibiotics for the ear infection will clear up any possible strep.

So let's review, just in case you're having a hard time keeping up. Between everyone sick in my house the ailments are: pink eye, sinus infections, ear infections, bronchitis, and strep throat. The medications are: antibiotics, eye drops and an inhaler.

By this morning, everyone seems to be feeling much better. I guess it's only natural, that I started to feel like crap. I've been warding it off for two weeks now with Emergen-C, ignoring it, and wine. I guess that only works for so long, when your surrounded by crazy germs. Unfortunately, I can not take the day off or watch TV all day, so I will power through, with Motrin and more Emergen-C. The bad news is Sonya's school carnival is tomorrow and I'm working a booth. The good news is I'm leaving all day on Sunday to get my hair done with my friends. If I wasn't a mom, I would probably stay home and rest, but since I am, I'll get more rest at the hairdressers. I'm looking forward to it.

Now, I'm off to call Terminex to see if they have a way to Lysol bomb my entire house.

On more thing-

Thanks again Mom and Dad for all your help and the day at the spa! It was so helpful having you here. I promise next time you come, I'll lock the girls up for four days beforehand to keep them away from ANY germs.

Fright Night

I know I've mentioned on here a few times before about Sonya being a bit of a scared kid, mostly when it comes to movies. Truth be told this is an inherited trait, as I am a bit of a baby myself when it comes to watching scary movies or shows. Well, that's not entirely true. I actually LIKE to watch them to scare the crap out of myself. This always leads to me having nightmares for a couple nights. Although, I should point out that I won't watch ALL scary movies. I can no longer watch Zombie movies, because they really freak me out, for whatever reason. I've never been a fan of slasher/gory movies either, like Saw. I prefer a good ghost story or other supernatural type of tale. Poltergeist is probably my all time favorite, as far as scary movies go, and I love the TV show Supernatural. So the other night when I saw Andy had recorded Amityville Horror on our DVR, I was all for watching it. Even if it was the silly remake with Ryan Reynolds. (At least he's fun to look at.) However, it was what happened at the very end of the movie that frightened me the most.

The kids have had colds for a few days now and nobody has been sleeping great in our house. The night that we watched the movie, was probably the night Lana was feeling the worst. Thankfully, she didn't wake up at all during the movie, as I sat on the couch tense yelling at the stupid people in the movie to GET OUT OF THE FREAKING HOUSE, ALREADY! If you haven't seen it, I don't want to spoil for you entirely, but they do finally leave at the end. Okay, I spoiled it, sorry.

Anyway, after they make their escape, the camera goes back to a shot of the creepy house. It leads you back inside where the little ghost girl, with a bullet shot in her head, stands at the bottom of the staircase. She's about four years old and clutching her stuffed bear with a single tear on her face. I ask you is there anything creepier than little ghost kids or demonic kids, like in The Omen? For some reason when kids are evil, it's just extra creepy. I digress. So there the little ghost girl stands at the bottom of the stairs. Then, suddenly, she gets pulled through the floor by another ghost and credits roll. The moment right before the credits, right after the ghost girl disappears, we hear a loud THUD! from Sonya and Lana's room. I look at Andy he looks at me and we both freeze for a minute. Needless to say I was completely FREAKED OUT.

"What the HELL was that?" I asked.

"Don't know," Andy answered. "Sounds like someone fell out of bed."

Andy being the more rational and much less scared one in the family, immediately stood up and walked toward the direction of the noise, while I sat glued to the couch. Then Lana started to cry.

We open the door to find Lana lying on the ground whimpering. She had indeed fallen out of her little bed. Now, this act in itself isn't so weird, because kids fall out of their beds all the time. Sonya used to fall out of hers when she first started sleeping in it, even though there is a guard rail. Because they are all over the place when they sleep, they manage to work past the rail and fall out at the end of the bed. Here's the weird part, Lana has been sleeping in her bed since November and NOT ONCE has she fallen out. So why now, on a night we watch a SCARY MOVIE, does she fall out? And the timing! At the very end when the scary ghost girl gets pulled through the floor? Why? WHY? Well, I was of course convinced she was pushed by the ghost girl, but knowing that Andy would just roll his eyes at me, I kept this thought to myself.

We calmed her down and placed her back in her bed. Then for the rest of the night when I had to get up to check on her or one of the other girls, I was convinced I was going to be greeted by a ghost girl in the hallway. The only way to combat this... run into the hall to get the light to pop on. Ghosts don't like the light.

That little experience reminded me of how ridiculous I can be when I watch something scary. I have a bit of an overactive imagination I guess. So I suppose the next time Sonya freaks out about not wanting to watch The Little Mermaid because of the Sea Witch, I'll be more compassionate. After all, the Sea Witch to her is the creepy ghost girl to me. Crap, I think I may be scared of The Little Mermaid now.

Noteworthy

Yesterday, Sonya got a bit ticked off at me, because I wouldn't let her have a notebook. Here's the thing, I bought a couple notebooks at Target last week in the dollar section for myself. I need notebooks to jot down thoughts and things that happen throughout the day, so I have all these lovely stories to present you with. I find if I don't write things down I'm walking around going, "I KNOW there was SOMETHING funny Lana said yesterday. What the hell was it?" I've bought quite a few notebooks in the past, and they are always absconded by one of the girls. They find a notebook and immediately it belongs to them. No matter that mommy has writing in it. Instead, it becomes a place to draw flowers and rainbows. Recently, Sonya has even started writing sentences in the notebooks. I appreciate that they love to draw, and that Sonya loves to write, but all I wanted was ONE notebook all to myself. Is that so wrong?? If you ask my oldest, then yes.

She found my new notebook in our secretary/desk/junk holder, in the kitchen. As soon as she saw it she, oooohhed and went to grab it.

"No, no, no," I said. "That one is mine. You can't have it."

"Please!" She said. "Can't I just draw in a few pages?"

"No, Sonya. Here is another pad and pen you can write with." I handed her one of those free notepads you get in the mail from Realtors.

She frowned at it and claimed it wasn't pretty like the other notebook.

"Too bad, " I said. "It's this or nothing. Besides, you have other notebooks that used to be mine somewhere."

"I don't know where they are!" She was getting angry now.

"Oh well. You'll have to use this. The other one is mine. Sorry." I tried to hand her the other paper again. This time she grabbed it from me scowling, and stomped off to her room.

I took Georgia in to her room to change her diaper and put her down for her nap. When I left the room, there was a piece of the paper that I had given her, lying on the ground. I picked it up and read this:

"Mom is macing me mad and I am going to hit her"

Nice, right? Now rest assured that we do not, in any way,, hit in this house. Our kids are punished through time-outs. Not that I haven't WANTED to smack them a time or two, but I just don't think it's an effective way to discipline. Nonetheless, Sonya wanted to hit me. So then we had a discussion about how this wasn't a nice thing to write and how it hurt my feelings. I could tell she felt bad and in the middle of our discussion, began writing another note. This one read:

"Mom, I loves me Sonya"

I wasn't sure what this meant, and at first I thought she was being nice, but no. She was taking a page out of her father's playbook and was trying to joke her way of the situation, or at least so she told me. She said it was a joke and that it meant she was telling me she loved herself. At this point I just walked away from the situation. That's when she started to really feel bad, because this was the flurry of notes that I received over the next ten minutes:

"I love mom" Followed by:

"I am sorry I gave you that not I wille give you a new one" And finally:

"Mom is the Geratist"

I know... awwwwww. Okay, so she redeemed herself in the end. She did feel remorse for the original note, which is a good sign. I showed Andy the notes when he got home and we had a good chuckle over them. And because she made things right and apologized on her own accord, when I went to Target today I spent a WHOLE dollar on a new notebook for her. Too bad it'll be gone in a week, and she'll be back to trying to steal mine.