Chocolate Temptations and Wild Cards

Chocolate. Need I Say More?

Last Saturday was the Chocolate Festival in Glendale. I’m glad some friends asked us if we wanted to go. I wouldn’t have gone on my own because of how far Glendale is (not as far as Wickenburg, but far enough...), but when you caravan with a bunch of friends, it’s worth it. 

We also toured the Cerreta’s Chocolate Factory in Glendale. However, standing there in line for the tour and seeing all the chocolate and product, I was kind of tortured. My sweet tooth is quite my nemesis (next to cold cereal) and I was having a hard time.

Some people can have the sweets and it's enough and it's out of their system. Sadly, it doesn't work that way with me. I just want more. I think there is something in that addiction lobe of my brain that is out of whack. 

Except with the Chocolate, etc...

I could totally "Scrooge McDuck" the sweets. Instead of it being a pile of money that Scrooge dives into, for me it would be candy, carbs, cereal, cookie-dough, etc etc.

 I also agreed to go because it was a nice cloudy/rainy day in the 50s. Walking around outdoors when it’s too sunny just gives me a headache and makes me sick to my stomach. 

Therefore, the stars lined up perfectly for the event. Well, the fronts lined up perfectly. Plus, it's fun when you have your friend grab your daughter and make her pose behind the goofy picture. She won't get as mad at him then if you or her Dad grabbed her and made her do it:

I don't know what's funnier...the far off look of wonderment
n Mikelle's face, or Tev poking out from the back...

Not the first time Mikelle confidently brandished a firearm...

        

Jackson Hole, Wyoming. December 2009 Age 9

Anyway, after Glendale, we went to La Tolteca in Phoenix for dinner.

Where's our food, man?

I'm so glad we got the kids away from their electronic-driven lives into the real world where 
we could sit and socialize with others. Oh, wait..

This was from earlier in the day at a McDonalds, but it's cute, so I'm throwing it in...

And the Turtle. Have to show X-Man on the Turtle.

February 11th - Valentines Day Observed

Another Valentines has come and gone, and to be honest, I was glad Chris and I celebrated a few days earlier on the 11^th. It was a weekday too (like the actual Valentines Day this year), but the restaurant wouldn’t have been crowded like it would have been on a weekend or on the actual Valentines Day. 

However, it was hard leaving the kids.

Mikelle does okay taking care of Alexander, but Christian is a wild card. He and Mikelle will get into power struggles and fight and it gets ugly. 

She is a typical bossy older sister, but I think she takes it too far. I mean, sometimes she should have German subtitles, I swear. Therefore, we don’t leave the three of them alone together that often. In fact, when I have aerobics in the evening, Chris is still en route from work. Most of the time I take Christian. He’s okay with it because he brings his homework or the laptop.

However, what happened the pseudo-Valentines evening that Chris and I were to leave, was Christian became really upset and even began to cry because we were leaving to go out. He was upset that after not seeing us because after he was at school all day, he came home only to find out that we were going to leave for the evening. 

I tried to explain that Dad and I rarely did anything like this on a Monday, and it was because we were celebrating Valentines Day a few days early due to Dad’s work schedule.

But Christian’s crying was heartbreaking. It wasn’t a bratty “I’m not getting my way” kind of cry. It was a “You’re leaving me and crushing my soul” kind of cry. Therefore, I found myself scrambling for a solution and it involved him hanging out with a friend and running errands with the friend’s family. I felt awful to put someone out at the last minute like that. If I knew Christian would react the way he did, I would have planned better.   

Like I said, he’s a wild card.

For example, a few weeks ago, I attended a funeral on a Saturday with Mikelle and Alexander. Chris had to do some kind of work project across town and took Christian with him.  We were home from the funeral hours before Chris and Christian got home. When Chris and Christian got home, I noticed Christian seemed sad and I was certain he had tears in his eyes. But he said he was fine. 

A few minutes later, I was in my bathroom messing around with something in my closet. I don’t exactly remember, but my bedroom door was locked.  Next thing I know, Christian is crying because he wanted to be with me and was upset that I was in my room. I was surprised by that. I wasn’t going anywhere and his reaction to my short absence was really out of left field. 

We brought it up with his psychiatrist a week or so later because we already had an appointment scheduled. She said it was because he knew I was at a funeral and it’s hard for him to understand the emotions and sadness behind it. However, I really don’t think that was it. I mean, it could be, but I doubt it. Christian won’t tell me. He gets so upset when we try to talk to him about his “upset” feelings.

Anyway, back to our Valentines celebration, we told Mikelle we’d be home before 10. We knew Christian would arrive back home before we did, and of course when we were about 20 minutes from home, we both got a text from him (no he doesn’t have a phone. He can text from his I-pod at home).

“I got home about a half hour ago, you should be home already.  :-(   "

I really love my Thing 2 and I hope we're not screwing him up too much.  This just goes to show that he needs more concrete scheduling at home, and when things do change (like a Monday night out), we need to prepare him better. That's where I messed up.

Back in 2008 - Age 4. He has grown up so much since then...:sniff:

 

The Mama Executive Order

I woke up this morning with Annie's Song by John Denver in my head. It's such a peaceful song. For some reason, it's on my playlist twice.

In a way, it represents the peace that I need to find (you know, that "switch" I referred to in my previous post) that I have a hard time feeling inside.

For Valentines Day last year, Chris gave me a yearly Massage Envy gift card. Every time I went for my monthly massage, I was told I need to relax more. I was even asked the question, "Do you have a hard time relaxing?"

My response: "You have no idea..."

So far I have not heard from the nice lady who took the boys and I home the other day. I am confident it is because she hasn't noticed the stuff in her backseat. I did notify my customer and she seems understanding. However, I feel just sick about it. One thing I can't stand is when someone says they'll do something and then they don't. And when I'm the guilty party, I'm doubly hard on myself. 

Yesterday was a picture day, and Mikelle was upset that I fought her to have a simple side french braid for it. Thanks Mindy for doing that! Man, I wish I could french braid. I've tried, believe me.

Mikelle begged me to let her take it out when she got home, but I had her hold on long enough for a few snapshots. It seemed Alexander shared the feeling of not wanting the paparazzi moment. But I am the mama, and if I want pictures of my beautiful children that I love, devote my time to and nurture, then I'm going to do it.

Plus, I didn't throw up for months and have a list of other pregnancy complications with these three goofballs to NOT take a million pictures and show them off.

You know, it's like a Mama Executive Order. 

Christian wasn't home when I took these. He was off with Mindy's son somewhere - hopefully not doing any permanent damage to someone or something.

I'll play the Mama Executive Order Card again with the next post. We went to the Chocolate Festival in Glendale today with some friends. And let's just say, there's more fun shots of Mikelle that I cannot wait to post.

Until then...

Wait...What JUST Happened?

Real life is certainly stranger than fiction sometimes. This week certainly proves that. 

First of all, the same day as my previous post, something amazing happened that gave me that self-esteem boost when it comes to my career choice.I wanted to come back and add it, but it didn't feel right after I blasted children's programming.

I'm at Circle K on Tuesday 2/5 (to the locals here in the QC: Yes, the ghetto one) and it's busy and crazy and I'm holding X-man who is being very much a 2 year old. 

Then a former student sees me and was so excited to see me. She was a junior the 2009-2010 year. Despite the chaos and Alexander trying to squirm free and letting the entire zip code know it, we chatted it up for a few seconds. As she was leaving, she was very forthcoming and said, "Thank you so much for everything you taught me. I am so grateful for the experience."

Chris always says I should go back to teaching when we move to Wickenburg and Alexander goes to Pre-school or Kindergarten. I still don't know. I probably have to go back to work, but part of me is hoping my little freelance art projects I have going on here will take off and I won't have to return to work.  

Yes, I know I'm a dreamer too.

I guess I'm very discouraged with the whole educational system. Sure, it's messed up everywhere in the country, but it's REALLY messed up here in Arizona.  It's not so much my paycheck that I am concerned about. If I could get the necessary supplies in my classroom and administrative support for supplies, the arts, and discipline support when it comes to students who are disrespectful and vandalize others art projects, then they can keep paying me next to nothing. 

However, when you have the whole package: No supplies for the classroom, no administrative support, the inmates running the asylum, a trend in the country that puts teachers on the guillotine, AND a tiny paycheck, it makes it unbearable and depressing.

Not only that, but when there is funding, it goes into a top heavy system that barely makes it into the classroom. And our lovely demographics around here don't value education and fear extra fees and taxes. Overrides and propositions to help schools are repeatedly voted down.  Sure, there are some exceptions, but the mantra here in Kookoozona, especially with the voters and those who work at the State Capitol, is "Just Say No to Education."  

There are problems all around with our system.

Plus, I can't find the "switch" to stop trying to save the world. I wanted to do too much as a teacher, and I burned out. Sure, I resigned at the end of the 2010-2011 year because I had Alexander. I know I would have stayed on if I didn't have him, but I still felt burned out.  


One thing this student (the one I ran into at Circle K) said was, "Don't worry about all the problems. It was a crappy school." Sure, it's a relief that others see that the problem was huge and much bigger than me. However, like I said, I put too much on my shoulders and I wanted to save the world - one art lesson and project at a time, and I am ineffective at finding the switch to shut off the "world saving worry".  

On a somewhat related note, a church leader once told me personally that I needed to give Christ my burdens. But I don't know how. Seriously, where is the switch? I know I can let Christ and His angels help me (this goes beyond just teaching), but I struggle at how to do that.

Moving on...

I completed another custom order and was all set to send it out.

Names and other Personal Details on this Work have been blurred and obscured for privacy reasons.

However, only the print will make it to the customer for the time being and the original is lost. I hope it's only lost temporarily. 

So what happened? It's one of those situations that is clearly stranger than fiction. I feel like I was in some kind of crazy movie or sit-com plot only meant to annoy and irritate. 

Wednesday 2/6, I park at the Post Office here in the QC with the original artwork to send off to the customer. I have Christian and Alexander with me. I had to get my X-man out of the car, so Christian was holding the Customs slip (it's a Canadian customer) and the package containing the original artwork. 

Christian closed the door to the car before I could grab the key and my purse after I took Alexander out of his car-seat. We were locked out. I didn't tell Christian that it was his fault. No need to make his anxiety worse. 

We only had the artwork with us. My phone was also in the car. Sadly, it’s not the old days where a simple wire hanger can unlock a car door. Sometimes advances in technology can really screw us over.

I borrowed a phone from a postal worker inside and called my friend (only to get her voice mail), so I then called Chris, knowing that he was at work, which is almost 100 miles away. I didn’t have other numbers memorized because they were on my contact list in my phone that was locked in the car. That is another detriment to advancing technology. If this had happened 20 years ago, or even 10 years ago, I'd have a lot of numbers memorized. Just an observation.

The “roadside assistance” info was in the glove box which was locked in the car and it’s not the AAA service that a lot of people use. It’s a lesser known service through our car insurance. Chris had that information, but I also had to pick up Mikelle from her after school activity in a half hour, so I had to leave the car there and try to borrow a car from someone and deal with the car issue later.

A nice lady overheard me on the phone when I was talking to my husband and she offered to take me and the boys home. We didn’t live far and I knew it was safe to go with her even though I didn’t know her.

I was so worried about picking up Mikelle, that I didn’t notice we left the original artwork in this nice woman's vehicle when she dropped us off at our house!!!

This About Sums it Up

Not knowing what I had done, we quickly got out and went over to my neighbor's house (hi Mindy!) where I could borrow her car to go pick up Mikelle.  I know I wouldn’t have forgotten the artwork if I wasn’t so pre-occupied with worrying about  my daughter being picked up.  It was when I was driving Mindy's vehicle to the school that I realized the artwork was left in the nice woman’s vehicle.

My heart sank.

I had no way to get a hold of this nice lady to get the artwork back. However, the Customs form with my address is with the work. She drove to my house once, and if she forgets where I live, my address is on the Customs slip and it’s on the return address on the package with the artwork. I am confident that she’ll bring it to me as soon as she notices. But she was in a big SUV. I don’t know when she’ll notice the stuff in the back.

I am so embarrassed about this and I am still having a hard time believing this as I write it. I am confident the artwork will make its way back to me, and then I’ll immediately turn around and send it to the customer. It’s just a matter of when.

Thankfully, I scan all my artwork. As soon as this happened, I immediately had a 20x20 color print made of the work. I sent that out yesterday, Thursday February 7^th.

Still, the order was for a custom original and that is what the customer paid for.

I waited until yesterday to see if the nice lady would show up at my house. When she didn't and I had to send out the print of the original, I also had to bite the bullet and e-mail the customer. I told her the whole story. I also included an attachment of the above work, so she knows it was completed, what it looks like, and that I'm not full of excuses.  And whether or not the original makes its way back to me, I also assured my customer that she can have her next color original completely free. And it won’t be lost, either.

I am still having a hard time wrapping my head around it. It feels like a crazy plot line in an annoying movie or sit-com on TV. This order was already from a return customer and I really hope I haven't lost her business as a result of this.

And here we are - Friday. I'm not sure if I should be relieved or not. Still holding out hope that the artwork comes back home. 

I end this post with a picture of Newborn Platypuses. Is that how you say it? Platypuses? I'll quote George Takei: Are they chicks? pups? platypups?

Something this adorable and this weird really shows that there is hope for the future and that God has a sense of humor. God's sense of humor has been kind of mean to me with what happened on Thursday, but like I said before, humor is humor. 

Surviving Kids' TV Programming

My sense of humor gets me in trouble. Some perceive it as negative, when really, it's just a weird cynical way of seeing humor. I've been told I can find humor in difficult situations. Yes, sometimes it's inappropriate humor and ill-timed humor, but humor is humor.

When I was pregnant with Christian and was hit with a severe depression, my doctor (and family friend) knew something was wrong because he hadn't seen me laugh or witnessed that usual cynical humor and jokes despite difficult situations.  He said he saw that whole side of me vanish. 

But I don't want to talk about that. 

'Siblings' on Dinosaur Train. One is
going to grow up to eat the other.

Back to today.

Today's cynical humor comes in the form of surviving kid shows. For example, I do love some PBS shows.  I love Arthur and Martha Speaks.

However, others drive me crazy.  I cannot stand Dinosaur Train. In fact, I just thought of a wonderful way for Dinosaur Train to wrap up the series that can make quite the "impact":

I know, I'm terrible. But if you don't believe me, watch the Dinosaur Poop episode of Dinosaur Train. Then after that, maybe you'll wish for the finale as well.

Mr. Rogers and the Most Annoying Cat in the Universe

And then there's how I would handle the character of Henrietta on Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood.

For those of you born after us Generation Xers, there was a show called Mister Rogers Neighborhood on PBS. Fred Rogers was a sweet man who loved to engage kids in learning and imagination. However, the cat, Henrietta was annoying.  Yes, even more annoying than Nermal on Garfield and Friends.

Now they have an animated reincarnation of Mr. Rogers Neighborhood for the new Millennial Generation of kids called Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood. It's way cute and Alexander loves it. Sure, it's repetitive and can grind on any parents' nerves, but it does have some nice nostalgic memories of the Fred Rogers legacy. 

However, Henrietta is back. I don't think they needed to bring her back. If they had to, they should have at least lost the stupid "meow meow" language in between her words. 

But thankfully, Henrietta isn't in every episode. 

My friend Wendy has a four year old son and he already figured out that Henrietta is bit "off". And like I said,  he's four!

And I think I plainly stated my solution for Henrietta:

But I guess I'd have to shoot Henrietta 8 more times, since she's a stupid cat with nine lives and all.

My other gripe is Word World. I love the concept. When I was teaching, there was plenty of times we'd use words to create pictures (and vice versa) in order to expand the creativity and push the students to think outside the box.

For that reason,  I like the artwork in Word World and he idea behind it. 

However, the creators really missed the mark with the characters and how to present the stories. Why do the animals of Word World have to be presented as if they're dumber than dirt? I mean, Patrick on Spongebob is smarter than these characters! 

Some may say that it's because the demographic this show focuses on (little kids) need to feel smart, so the characters are supposed to be dumber. I call B.S. There are plenty of shows for the young kids that don't portray the characters as helpless and without a brain inside their skull as the Word World gang. Yes, even Henrietta and the Dinosaurs pull it off better than the Word World characters.  

Word World needs an episode where they put "B" and "RAIN" together to make Brain. (Let's Build a Word! We Built it! We Built it!) And it needs to be done for every character on the show. 

Actually, it needs to be done for the writers.  

But I should be lucky for some shows I haven't been subjected to now or in the past, such as:

Yo Gabba Gabba

The Wiggles

Barney 

Caillou and his cat, Gilbert, who is
 definitely not annoying like Henrietta

I should count myself very lucky! Alexander sometimes watches a little bit of Caillou, but he's not as interested like Christian was. 

However, I still have some questions about that show.  Caillou is four years old. Why does this kid not have any hair? I maintain that his mom had an affair with Kojak. Okay, Telly Savalas (Kojak) has been dead too long. Maybe a Mr. Clean wannabe Plumber who came over one day to snake her drain and flush her pipes while her husband had to work late?

And why do Caillou's parents not put him in an extended timeout for whining? 

I do feel his parents are being portrayed as wayyyyy too patient. I wonder if they're doing the cannabis calypso in order to stay so, um, "chill".  Maybe that's why Caillou doesn't have any hair. His mother may have been doing that dance when he was in utero. 

How else do you explain a name like Caillou?

A Piece of Work

So Alexander escaped Nursery *again* today. This time it was kind of funny  (the other time? Not so much). 

Apparently, Alexander kept bringing his shoes (that he keeps taking off) to Dorothy Curry (sweet lady...she really is!) to have her put them on. Since this is a continual thing, she said to him, "No, your Mom is going to have to do that..." 

Therefore, my way-too-smart-for-his-age toddler thought, "Okay...!" He showed up down the hall holding his shoes out to me. I looked around, puzzled, wondering where he came from and who had him. Good thing this occurred at the end of church and I was already on my way to the nursery.  

This kid is a piece of work. 

He barely turned two just over a month ago, and it was a month or so before that where he began showing us letters and saying their names. He also points to pictures and says what they are. That sounds normal, but he points to a picture of a planet and says, "Earf.." (earth) and the way he points out different animals is amazing too. Not only that, but he is quite the acrobat (headstands on a rocking chair?! Oh yes...he does that...), athlete and a dancing clown.  And can I just say that the way he says his brother's name is just adorable? For Christian, he says "Nin-nin..." He sometimes calls Mikelle "Kell", but we sometimes hear the "m" sound too.

This kid has so much personality, that my descriptions just don't give it as much justice as it deserves. 

Moving onto another piece of work is part of a project I'm finishing up in the next couple of days. This is a custom piece from a return customer. I've already added the color accents, but here are some little snippets before that stage:

This wasn't saved "upside down". This is how it keeps coming up. Grrrrrrr........

And my LUCKY Blocks are done! I haven't posted them (they're "Made to Order") on my Etsy shop yet because I'd like to take some better pictures of them first. The above Custom project has taken precedence over that. 

Until next time...

Loopy Deadbeat

I certainly understand why those that abuse drugs and alcohol can ruin the lives of those around them and turn into deadbeats. Well, I understand it in a comical way that only lasted a few hours. Six, maybe? Eight? Maybe it was ten.

I've had dental work done before. I have bad dental genetics. I'm no stranger to Novocain, numb mouths, drilling, fillings, crowns, and in my adulthood, root canals. 

However, for some reason, this week's root canal yielded a crazy side effect - loopy. I don't know if it's because he had to work on the furthest tooth that was hard to access and the Novocain shot had to be more "evasive" or something? I don't know.  What was also weird, is the most loopy period didn't start right away. I left the appointment all numb and still tried to eat a sandwich on the non-numb side, but I wasn't feeling crazy tired and drugged out. 

I should have known though that this was different, because I fell asleep for a few minutes during the procedure.

But it was when I picked up Christian from school that I just wanted to sleeeeeep. I took him straight to his piano lesson and decided not to go home while he was in his lesson. Even though his lesson isn't too far away, the traffic in between home and that neighborhood is horrendous that time of day. I just found a spot to park while he was in his lesson (Alexander was sleeping in his car seat) and thought I would work on a client's custom order that I had in the car with me. Plus, there was sadly a shooting at an office complex in Phoenix and I wanted to listen to the ongoing coverage and developments.

However, I had a hard time concentrating on drawing and next thing I know, I wake up and I'm still sitting up. The radio is talking about something different (still the shooting, but a different part of the coverage that I remember hearing) and 20 minutes had passed. I don't sleep like that. Plus, my mouth was wide open. I was definitely under the influence of something. I don't know if it has anything to do with the fact that the dentist said I had long nerves - whatever that means.

After picking Christian up from piano and kind of sharing with his teacher my plight (so she wouldn't think I hit the bar with a toddler during Christian's lesson), we go home and thankfully, Alexander wanted a long nap that day. I sacked out on the bed with him.  Poor Christian - I just ignored him and left him to his own devices. I think he did his homework. lol And then Mikelle came home and I think they began the usual bickering. Then my Cub Scout partner texted me about Bears that night and I completely dropped the ball with her. I just sent a drowsy stoned out text that I didn't feel well. I totally left her hanging with the boys that night. 

Later, I tried to start dinner but was interrupted with another "Mom's Taxi" duty. Then Chris called and said he was on his way home and asked me if he should pick up a "Hot and Ready" at Little Ceasars. I said, "But I already started Ice Cream."  Ice Cream? I already started dinner. Clearly I wasn't with it yet. I told him to go ahead and get the pizza and could he please grab me a Vanilla cone in the McDonald's Drive-Thru.  He was quite amused with the "Ice Cream/Dinner" comment. Since he's really squeamish about medical procedures, he was really attentive and sweet as if I just came out of open heart surgery.  Plus, he didn't seem all that surprised that I was having trouble that day. I guess the loopy part is more common in people. It just wasn't common with me.

Chris says this is the truth. No, it's not. But those two do look like Mikelle and Christian.

Now that that's over, it's time for some Friday humor. This picture is by no means connected to my root canal story or the fact that I already posted a giraffe picture.

A New Defintion of "Pool Shark"

And to end on typical adorability look what I found in the toy Box last week: