"The Christmas Without A Stocking"

Once upon a time there was a young lady named Hannah (I have it on good authority that this young lady is certainly not a child anymore). Hannah was very excited about Christmas because she had asked for all new, all expensive presents that every 'tween child, I mean, young lady that ever stands a chance of having friends or, more importantly, a boyfriend, would ever need. Only one thing stood in her way of the perfect Christmas....her overworked, overwrought, very evil mother. This awful person had done the impossible. She had LOST Hannah's stocking. Now, it didn't matter that the stocking was one of those red felt ones with the white fur trim that this same evil person had purchased at the exclusive and tawny store, Garden Ridge, for a ridiculous price of .99 cents. It didn't matter that Hannah's name had been very carefully applied in red glitter across the soft fur by the unsteady hand of her terrible mother. What mattered most was that Hannah and only Hannah (not her better-loved siblings) had no stocking for Christmas morning. What's an evil mother to do??? Well, this mother will be heading out into the fray to find a CVS, another very exclusive store, to purchase a stocking for her beloved daughter two days before Christmas morn so that it may be filled with all the wonderous things a stocking can hold....oranges and impossible-to-crack nuts. The conclusion of our story finds the harried but still evil mother grumbling about Christmas and the beloved but now slightly scarred daughter having something to discuss with her therapist when she gets older.

To be continued....

Late as usual!!

Wow...I said not like Jonathan and yet, here I am, a month later, trying to pretend that I am on the ball. Actually, nothing is on the ball right now. Our Christmas tree is still not decorated. The kids have been gone every weekend in December so far, either to the exes or Hannah's swim meet. On the bright side, David and I have bought every single Christmas present without the use of a credit card. NO MORE DEBT is our new slogan.

Hannah just competed in her first out of town meet. It was kinda neat because it was in Rock Hill, which is where I started college, met Lee and fled after three years. Lee's mom was able to come and see her swim though. Hannah had her best meet ever, dropping seconds like it was nothing. So much so, that her coach has decided to move her up to the next training group. I get this email about it and print it to show Hannah. She was reading a bedtime story to Macon that night so when she was done, I went in to say prayers with Macon and handed the email to Hannah on her way out. She closed the door, I turned out Macon's light, knelt down to start prayers and hear Hannah say, "Yes!" Then I feel the floor start to shake and paper begin to rattle as she does a happy dance in the hallway. Needless to say, she was excited.

Last night, Hannah had two girls spend the night. I was gone when they arrived, picking Katy up from a birthday party and driving her back to Lee's to spend the night there. When I got back, David was playing Monopoly with the giggling girls. I remember when we first got serious about dating, he asked me why the girls made that noise. "What noise?" as silly sounds emanate from the other room. "That noise....the high-pitch sound coming from their little bitty lips" Oh, the sounds of little girls and here he is making them giggle by pretending to have stolen their Monopoly money. What a long way we have come in seven years!!

I have three parties to attend this week, a cookie swap, Bunco and a couples' party Saturday night. Thank goodness they are all on different nights because I cannot wait for them all!! The cookie swap and Bunco are two different groups of women and I love both of them. The couples' party is at a good friend of ours and they have invited lots of fun people. The kids are spending the night with David's parents that night so David and I get to stay out WAAAAY past our bedtime.

Speaking of past bedtime...I have to go to bed now. Macon is our only child in the house tonight and I think I have convinced David to let me sleep late in the morning but I cannot count on it. Macon is my little alarm clock. He'll sneak in to tell me what time it is. "Mom, mom, it's seven--dot-dot--zero-two. That means it's time to get up." I LOVE to sleep and have never been the mom who wakes up the minute her little darlings do but with three Rushton men in the house, that is hard to do. They get up early and they make no bones about the fact that if they are awake, then everyone else should be too!! Bless David's heart, he cannot be quiet to save his soul. He also has a tendency to wake me up in order to ask me what time I want him to wake me up. My response is always the same. "Well, what time is it now??" "Seven--dot-dot-zero two (He and Macon tell time the same way:)" "Well, then, wake me up at 7:02."

I'll try not to let so much time pass.....you know how it flies when you are having fun :)

Deliquent!!

Okay...so I have been terribly deliquent in updating my blog. Somehow, the enthuasism left for awhile but I visited Jonathan's page and realized that I couldn't be like him so....also, the fact that my DAD has one now too is kinda motivating me to get back in the game.

Anyway, quick updates about me, David & kids....

David has sent his PACE application into SC Board of Education. He is thinking of joining the teacher ranks as a special ed high school teacher. That way, he keeps his state pension and benefits but gets to leave the mental health center. Plus, he will get back to working with kids which he enjoyed more. If the Board of Ed accepts him, then at least he has a choice!! He is also thinking about the possibility of taking a full-time position with the drug & alcohol comission where he has been doing part-time group therapy.

Hannah has been swimming now for almost 3 months and I cannot say she LOVES it but at least she still enjoys it. Last meet, she swam a 200-meter IM under 3 minutes, which for the first time, is a good time. Actually, just the fact that she swam it amazes me. Someone would have had to pull me out mid-way because I would have drowned. Anyway, she gets better and better each meet and it is fantastic exercise.
She is also quite the little socialite, which for those who knew her when, is quite funny. This was the child that hid behind me whenever anyone dared look her way. She had her 11th birthday party at our local park with about 20 kids. Of course, she threw up towards the end but we bravely partied on!!

Knox has finished standing around on the baseball field, uh, I mean, playing baseball this fall. It was excruitating to watch. He was scared silly of the pitches and being the youngest and smallest on the team, always got put in the outfield. For some reason though, he really wants to play so I guess it is back to spring ball after Christmas.
He is about 1/3 the way through with his braces and the difference is AMAZING!! Best $2000 we have ever spent. I don't have a close-up pic but I'll have to post one and then you can comment on how AMAZING the change is!!

Katy has started horseback riding lessons again. When we pulled up to the barn the first time, she just about had tears in her eyes. She looked around and reverently said, "Mooommmm, look at the hooorsssesss!!" The man 1/2 of the couple that own the barn is European and Katy cannot understand a word he says. It's great fun to watch him try to tell her something while she is riding and her just stare blankly at him. Her trainer has to translate his English for her. I think we may be destined for a horse someday, after I win the lottery.
A little boy in her class has got a massive crush on Katy and I am friends with the mom. We are planning a June wedding.

Macon is, well, Macon. God bless him, he is going to kill me one of these days. The child has got to be the most stubborn person ever created and I thought I was horribly stubborn. Suggest something to him and he is sure to do the opposite, unless you try to use it against him, and then he is sure to do something completely different. He doesn't outright disobey, neccessarily, but, whoo boy, does he like his way.
He is involved in a reading program at our school called Reading Counts where students take tests and receive points for books they have read. He just completely a second-grade book. Uggh, what are we doing in Kindergarten??
He is also playing flag football. They are actually running plays, which of course the kids completely telegraph by pointing and yelling, "Hey, coach, I'm running that way, right?" It's been really really fun because we have a group of five boys from our neighborhood on the team. The parents of this group are the troublemakers :)

I am still busy on PTA. I have figured out that I am pretty good at what I do. I think I mentioned before that I wish there was a job where I could get paid for doing what I am doing for PTA. I like helping out the school but we sure could use the money for that horse!!

Okay, so I said quick but anyone who knows me knows I cannot be quick when I am talking!!

Live from New York

Well...we have been in New York for two days now, going on the third. So far, cons of New York---trasportation, or lack thereof, people who do not smile at you when you smile at them (for southern people, that will send you straight to h-e-double hockey sticks), and rain. Pros of New York--FANTASTIC food (each restaurant we've been to has been fabulous!!!) and FANTASTIC shopping (and that's only Macy's, Sak's and Toys R'Us---hey I've got 4 kids).
We did the touristy thing today and went on a bus tour. Got to see all of NY in 5 1/2 hours. Then we went up in the Empire State Building, the one thing Knox asked me to do. Did not like it. Too many people shoved into little bitty elevators going up waaaay high off the ground. We did get an audio tour that was very interesting. If I can remember some of it, Knox will be very interested. Like it took only 14 months to build, only 5 men were killed, every 20 floors there was a cafeteria of sorts and the limestone came from Indiana.
We've taken tons of pictures so the kids can see what I've been up to. Hopefully, some of them will be good!

When it Rains, it Pours

Okay, seriously...this is becoming somewhat ridiculous!! We thought that we had the plumbing problems fixed but a week to the day, they came back. And I mean literally. We can flush our toilets but no one can take a shower and I cannot wash clothes. Too much water is being dumped into the pipes when we do that. Sooo we have been going over to mom & dad's to take care of those activities. It's not that we don't want to fix the plumbing, its that it is going to be a major fix. We now have someone else coming out to give us a second opinion. The first plumber did come back and said the magic word, "thousands" so we thought we had better see what someone else had to say. Even after we decide on someone, they have to shut the water off for at least a day. The boys can pee off the porch (which Macon still enjoys!) but us girls need some where to sit. Ugggh...this whole thing is giving me a better perspective on pioneer people. Heck, my parents didn't even have inside plumbing when they went to visit their grandparents. A little history tidbit you learn when your plumbing goes haywire. Mom said, "Well, when I was young, we didn't have indoor plumbing and you had to go in a chamber pot that had a handle on it. And it sat in the hallway and you threw the @#%&$ out the backdoor when you were done." This was at the house of the grandparents who didn't have heat either so they put hot water bottles in the beds to get them warm before going to sleep. AND I think my mother and father walked five miles to school, uphill both ways, barefoot in six feet of snow.

Blow Up Toilets

Okay, I guess when it rains, it pours. On Sunday morning, when I went to take a shower to get ready for church, the toilet in our bathroom started to stop up. David got the plunger and do what all men do....plunge away as hard as possible so that water is slopping over the side of the toilet onto the floor. No luck. So, he tries harder....still no luck. I stand by watching the mess he is creating and notice that it is now coming up in the bathtub drain. I go out to the kitchen and realize that it is now coming up and over the toilet in the 1/2 bath off the kitchen. Lovely.... it’s always exciting to run around throwing towels on poopy water emitting from your toilets, shower drains and bathtubs while your husband turns the water off in the yard wearing nothing but his skivvies. The plumber fixed it by snaking out two sewer lines but warned that the trees in our yard may someday find that lovely water appealing and suddenly begin to grow their roots through our pipes, necessitating their removal and draining our already-taxed pocketbook.
The plumber didn't come until Monday and of course we had no toilets or showers to use soooo the boys, David and I head over to Mom and Dad's to spend the night on Sunday. David took the boys to Chuck-E-Cheese (Macon already had a scheduled birthday party) while I went back home to try to contain the mess. When I come back, mom has a fan blowing on the hardwood floors, all the furniture is moved and the rugs are pulled up in her TV room. Knox had used the bathroom upstairs and that toilet begin to leak. Water dripped through the recessed lights onto the floor below. Seriously!! All of this in one day. Marissa called and, when she found out what was happening, told us we are not allowed at her house!
I meant it when I said it rained and poured!

School in Full Swing

School is going swimmingly....Hannah and Knox seem to be enjoying fifth grade. Hannah is in Challenge (we called it Gifted and Talented when I was growing up) which means she misses 1 hour and 40 minutes of regular classroom two times a week. It's a lot of work to make up and she is not thrilled about it. However, she loves Challenge! This year the fifth graders are doing independent research projects which include making their own websites. I have told her to enjoy it...she is going to be so much better off having to work hard. Actually, I think that is part of the problem. Hannah is used to things coming easy for her so when faced with a challenge, she gets somewhat surprised. Anyway, she has started practice for year-round swimming and her first meet is October 6th. I'll be interested to see what her times are now. She has several good friends on the team so I think she is also having fun. Man, is it expensive though!
Knox is doing well also. He is coming out of his shell more and more. Lots of boys in our neighborhood so the doorbell is always ringing! I have instituted a rule that no one rings it before 4pm ( thank you Terese for that little tidbit). That way we can get a snack, homework and downtime in before the craziness starts. Knox popped the wire on his braces last Friday, necessitating a trip to the orthodontist who said to expect to happen again. But, his teeth have already visibly moved so that is exciting. He still has the overbite, which we expected, but his front teeth are lining up more. I think it will be a dramatic change when it is all over.
Katy has not said a whole lot about fourth grade but I know she is tired when she comes home. Poor thing, has to work a little harder than her sister to make good grades, but make them she does! I am proud of her for overcoming her frustrations and establishing good study habits. She seems very popular among the girls but does not have one best friend. She sort of hangs out with everyone. There doesn't seem to be the pettiness among her peer group that I have seen with Hannah's in the past. Maybe Katy has picked better people to hang out with?? Anyway, she is certainly more comfortable with herself that I ever was. She is very stylish and loves dressing up in what I think are fashion-forward outfits. I keep telling her that one day she will be a famous clothing designer but she insists that she will be a vet. We are looking into getting her to volunteer at the animal shelter or a vet's office so she can be more hands-on with the animals. This morning, when she went outside to feed the dog, she found that the cat had left us a present (dead) on the deck. Katy decides to handle it herself by using two sticks to pick up the present and toss it into the woods. Just thinking about it makes me shiver....I guess she has more tolerance for the yuckiness that goes along with animals.
Macon is doing exactly what I thought he would in school. He gets in trouble almost daily for talking at inappropriate times. I guess it could be much worse....he could be hitting or being mean or something. Nope, he is just a social fellow who doesn't understand why he has to wait to tell his friend that one important tidbit of information. Our principal, who has drawings from Macon on her wall, says that she shakes his hand now so that when he becomes President, she can say that she was one of the first to shake his hand. He is a very bright boy who is way beyond the academics of Kindergarten but not yet ready for the first grade. He is reading very complex books and we are working on comprehension skills. His reasoning ability is unreal...and yet, he still is a immature little boy. He can't quite sit still when it is required of him but he will stay and play a game of Life or Monopoly when he wants to. I can't believe he is six years old already!!
I am busy with my volunteer work on the PTA. I have actually become quite good at organizing events and delegating tasks. Too bad they don't pay you to do that!!
David is still looking for a job. He has another interview on Friday with the same drug company. This one is for a position in Greenville or Hickory NC. I don't want to move so I am hoping for the Greenville job. If that doesn't work out, he may just hang out his hat and have a go at being a private practioner. Anything to stop working for the state!!