Pokey, who used to be a weed

(The photo above is of my so-very-close-to-16-year-old daughter and a plant that used to be a weed, if you accept the definition of a weed being an unwanted plant. At some point, Pokey – who I really wanted to call Audrey III, but I was outnumbered – got big enough to capture our attention, and after that, if he was wilting due to the hot sun, we’d go out and water him. He’s kind of our plant mascot now.)*

No recipe today, because I didn’t end up cooking dinner last night. I went to my mom’s in the early afternoon, and ended up hanging out, discussing current events, reminiscing about my childhood, and most importantly, hearing family stories.

My mom and I have had a rocky relationship since I’ve been an adult. We’d get along one day, and not the next. We were pushing each other’s buttons — usually unintentionally, but sometimes we’d get hurt or irritated and we’d let it snowball into a big irritation. I think we’ve both worked hard to communicate better, and more importantly, to let those irritations go before they grew into something bigger. “Don’t sweat the small stuff”, I guess. But it makes me really happy to spend time with my mom and enjoy it — a lot.

So anyway, I didn’t get home until 9pm or so, so the kids had fended for themselves. The boys had quesadillas, and my almost-16-year-old made herself an omelet. I had a Lean Cuisine when I got home. (I know, I’m pretty much against processed foods, but the Lean Cuisine Cheese Ravioli is pretty tasty.)

This morning, we got up early to get my daughter’s best friend from the airport. She’s staying with us over the weekend so that she can attend Sylvia’s 16th birthday party. How cool is that?

*And yes, my daughter has purple dye in her hair. She had just dyed it for her party when I asked her to come outside and pose for me.

Linked to: Wordless Wednesday

One of our favorite things to do when she lived here, and when she comes to visit, is go shopping. I’m not big on shopping as a “fun thing to do” normally, but throw my daughter into the deal, and it’s a good time.  It’s a great time – from “Look at this jacket! Isn’t it gorgeous?” to “Look at these boots! They are the ugliest thing I’ve ever seen.”

One of our favorite places to shop is a chain store called New York & Company. In our favorite mall, it’s right across from Sephora, so you know we are going to have a good time (most of the time, by the time we hit both of those stores, we are out of time). We’ll try on clothes for hours – that store has great stuff, and fantastic sales.

The reason my daughter called me today is that the online version of New York & Company is having a 50% off sale. She was thinking of sending me a gift card for Mother’s Day, and decided instead to have me pick something out while we were on the phone, so I could get that discount (she wasn’t sure when the sale ends).  So we spent a couple hours on the phone, shopping virtually, and she bought me a great tunic and a maxi dress.

So for Mother’s Day, I got a “shopping trip” with my daughter, some new clothes, and the fun of anticipating a package in the mail!

Plum Tree Buds

And today, it’s covered in blossoms.

Plum Tree Blossoms

It’s been a wreck of a day. Two of the kids have nasty colds, our television wouldn’t turn on and started smelling like burning something, my daughter dropped her cell phone in the toilet, my card reader died, my child support is still not in. But somehow it’s hard to get too down when you have a bunch of blossoms just outside your kitchen window.

My daughter is busing to the mall, though, and so I had her text me whether or not my car is out in the parking lot, and it’s not. So they must be working on it now. I hope.

I’m supposed to be going out to dinner with my best friend tonight. It’s Restaurant Week here right now, and this really neat restaurant that we had brunch at once is participating, and we’re going there tonight. We’ve both been looking forward to it, so my car had better get fixed in time!

I also went to look around a furniture store yesterday, and like a dummy, put my glasses in my coat pocket instead of in my glasses case in my purse. So of course I lost them somewhere in the store. I tried to find them, but couldn’t, so I left my number at the customer service desk. They called me last night to tell me that they’d found them, and I’d really like to have time to go get those today!

We got home safely, and a friend had time to take me on a quick grocery shopping trip yesterday. So I’ll be taking the car to the shop (only two blocks away! Yay!) in the morning, and today I’m working on my menu plan for the week using pantry and freezer contents, along with the little bit of stuff I picked up yesterday.

And hoping like crazy that the fix is low-cost and quick.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/lara604/ / CC BY 2.0

When I was  a little girl, preschool age at best, I had a Raggedy Ann doll. I carried her everywhere. At some point, her face had been destroyed (my mom thinks chewed off by a dog) and my aunt had created a new one out of sheeting and embroidered Ann a new face. I carried her everywhere.

After a visit to the park with some teen babysitters and a rushed departure, I realized I had lost my beloved doll. The babysitters refused to turn back — after all, it was just a doll.  My mom was livid at their dismissive attitude. She fired the girls and took me back to the park, but the doll was nowhere to be found.

* * *

A few years later, I was walking to the (different) babysitters after kindergarten. I stopped at a four-way stop sign, and waited for the car that was coming. He pulled to a stop and waved me on, annoyed — or at least it seemed so to a 5 year-old. I was afraid to step out in front of that big car with that annoyed man driving, but waiting just made him more annoyed, so I stepped out into the street.

The memory ends there, and I’m sure it ended well, since I was never run over by a car as a child. But, strangely, that memory comes back to me every single time I’m at a four-way stop and there’s a pedestrian. Every time.

* * *

It’s funny what memories stick with you. It makes me pause and wonder what things my kids will carry with them as adults. Will they remember a particular fun thing we did, or will it end up in a vague jumble of  fun things? Will Bobo remember last night, when I heard him tossing and turning on my way to bed, and invited him out for a cup of herbal tea to help him sleep? Will the dark year before their father and I were divorced overshadow the happier memories that came before and after?

I hope that my kids will remember that parents are just people, and they do the best they can. I do know that the one thing my kids will take with them from childhood is that they were absolutely unconditionally loved.  And I know that will serve them well.

On the health front, I finally saw a specialist a couple of weeks ago, and got a preliminary diagnosis, and got referred to another specialist. Then I got a phone call with some other findings from the lab tests, so I’ve got two diagnoses, with possibly more to come  in January. I’ve got some medications now, but it hasn’t been enough time to see if they’ll help – either that, or they don’t help. We’ll see…

I’ve also been busy crafting and making Christmas presents. I don’t dare post them here, since my family reads this, but I’ll be sure to post about them after Christmas.

I am also making a folder on Evernote for all the amazingly cool gift ideas I’m seeing as I surf around. People are doing some really neat things out there!

I will be back in a day or two with some stuff I can post about without spoiling the surprise for any of my family and friends.

Today is the actual event of International Towne. After weeks of training and excitement, my kids are about to burst this morning.  I’m beyond glad that my kids have this opportunity, but it does mean a second day in a row of no (real) blogging for me.

And I’ve got so much to talk about! See you tomorrow!

My fifteen year-old daughter came home from camp with an ear infection, and on Monday, her eardrum ruptured. After several days on the amoxicillin for that, she suddenly broke out in an itchy rash all over – it turns out she’s allergic to amoxicillin. We stopped the amoxicillin and went back to the doctor, who informed us that her infection had moved to her outer ear, and things were so swollen that he couldn’t see how the eardrum was doing, so we had to go to a specialist. The specialist said her eardrum is healing well, but decided to go aggressive on the infection, so he put her on a heavy-duty antibiotic, antibiotic ear drops, and some strong decongestant.

And then she fainted dead away in the hallway, bashing her nose on the hardwood. We don’t think that had anything to do with the meds and a lot to do with her not eating all day, but the doctor said to stop taking the decongestant just in case.

And, my point is that it’s been a busy, distracting week. That fainting thing? One of the scariest moments of my life, rivaled only by the time my now-twelve year-old ran out into the street in front of a big red truck when he was two.

But things are on the mend with my girl, so I’ll be finishing up the party recipes soon!