Grumpy, Jumpy, and Lumpy

Now we have the money and the new class is starting up and Andi tells me she doesn't want to do hip hop dance. Ugh... She was such a grumpy bear this morning and last night.
Cole's new alarm clock wasn't successful, but I got him thinking with my "I wonder" technique I read in one of my ADHD books. On the drive to school today I said, "hmmm, I wonder what part in your brain in being so stubborn not letting the ears tell your eyes to open. It's like your ears are hearing it but the brain is blocking the signal for you to wake up". You could see him thinking as I quickly changed the subject and kept rambling on before he could interject and argue. Yesterday he got another after school detention for being tardy 4 days in a row. One of those was for a doctors/ortho appt so I don't think it's fair. He doesn't mind though, probably because it's considered cool to get a tardy detention. Or because it's a forced study hall and he can catch up/get ahead on his homework.
Jake's in the middle of a break up. He's not talking much about it, but is stressed. The other day when his friend got home from the DMV he came over to get Jake. They wanted to go for a walk and 'chill'. I said, "Why, Are you gonna talk about Anna stuff?". They both just grinned. Then I yelled, "Wait, wait...I have something for you". He come back upstairs where I dig a silly key chain out of Ara's dresser and tuck it in his shirt pocket while saying, "Talk towards your pocket. This is NOT a recording device." "Mommmm you are such a dork." "Well, you won't tell me anything and it's driving me crazy. I wanna know what's going on with you".

Point of View

This recently came to me in an email, and since I'm a nut about not sending forwards, I'm sharing here, because I agree wholeheartedly with the moral.

Barbara Walters, of television's "20/20," did a story on gender roles in Kabul, Afghanistan several years before the Afghan conflict. She noted that women customarily walked five paces behind their husbands. She recently returned to Kabul and observed that women still walk behind their husbands. From Ms. Walters' vantage point, despite the overthrow of the oppressive Taliban regime, the women now seem to walk even further back behind their husbands, and are happy to maintain the old custom. Ms. Walters approached one of the Afghani women and asked, "Why do you now seem happy with an old custom that you once tried so desperately to change?" The woman looked Ms. Walters straight in the eye, and without hesitation said, "Land mines." Moral of the story: No matter what language you speak or where you go: Behind every man there is a smart woman!

So I guess when Ara is 15 paces ahead of me instead of thinking 'What a jerk!', I should be reveling in the fact that I'm the smart one. Or would that be prideful. hmmmm.
Oh by the way, Thanks you know who you are for listening to me whine on and on about dear husband yesterday. He's still irritating, but it was great to vent and know I'm not alone in my married life struggles. I'm not even mad about toothpaste tubes or socks on the floor, I'm just sick of the self centeredness and inability of him to recognize any one's feelings. I think we are coming from two different points of view. I think the most important thing in life is the relationships you create so I operate from there. I have no idea where he's coming from, but based on actions he's not concerned about his relationships with them or me. It seems like he's more concerned with being the center of attention and has a great need to create excitement by stirring up any situation by being argumentative or teasing to tears or getting a chuckle from his actions. It's just all very tiring (and old). Still love him and he's my best friend, but sometimes I don't want to live with my best friend.

shiney stainless steel beauties

Over the weekend Ara decided that if he can plunk down money on a new xbox that he can replace our flaky pots and pans. We've probably ingested more than healthy amounts of Teflon over the years. So now our kitchen is decked out with these shiny stainless steel beauties.

Of course mine aren't as attractively displayed. Mine are in the traditional spot of haphazardly thrown near the sink waiting for some attentive person to scrub.

I am toying with the idea of introducing a GFCF diet to the fam. I know, I know. I get on my kicks, always looking for the perfect food solution. Organic, Vegetarian, and now gluten-free-casein-free. Nothing is cast in stone. It's just that Ara has had chronic tummy troubles since I have know him and his ears are always bright red, and chronic sinus problems and a chronic itchy rash. So I'm gonna try it. But it looks like I have to welcome meat back in if I'm taking away bread and cheese. The goal is to stay married, not run him off with my whacked out kitchen experiments. I am a fan of Hillbilly Housewife...well her site is now in the hands of another...still a good site...and her new site is http://frugalabundance.com/ See what happens when I have the day to myself reading, napping and surfing the net.

And I took Megs advice and blasted my music, fell asleep, missed Jake's frantic phone calls and text from school that he was puking and in the nurses office. It was a great nap (3 hours solid) but now has guilt attached because my poor guy had to endure the day feeling terrible. What an unlucky day for him. Oh Well! makes a man out of him...someday he'll be at work feeling pukey and endure that day. Guilt absolved.

HAPPY ST PATTY DAY

I woke up the fighting Irish today. Well, he's not exactly Irish, more like Italian, but he was all spit and vinegar this morning. We made it to school only one hour late today. I am really getting burned out with this everyday. We've seen pcp after pcp, allergist, had all kinds of blood test, counseling, an adhd diagnosis, and now the psych wants to send Cole to a neurology center to address his sleep problems. Any possible college money has gone straight to medical attention these last two years. I'm sick of having appointments every week. I wish Ara could be more of a help, but he's barely holding it together. He can't seem to control himself any better that Cole. I am so sleep deprived that I hurt from head to toe.
I'm really am hooked on this Yiruma. I heard it on Dorshan's old blog and you tubed it and showed Ara, who eventually put a disc together for me. So today I'm gonna blast it and stare at the ceiling all day. It really is beautiful and relaxing.