Hold that Garbage Man Thought Jack!

Good grief I'm tired tonight - probably because the clocks wet back last night huh. The boys were up fairly early and then I took them to a 6-year old's birthday party. I'm not sure what it is about kid's birthday parties but they completely bugger me up. That's the 2nd 6 year-old I know of now in Jack's class which means they have a good 9-10 months on him age-wise. I do hope he's not struggling to keep up with these older kids.

I met a mum today that I really liked. She's actually the Nana but raising the little girl as her own since she told me that the real mum (her daughter) isn't ready to be a parent. This woman was so interesting and funny. She's a professional career woman but also a musician and a psychic reader, and got the most beautiful and piercing eyes I have ever seen. She told me some people are afraid of her, that they think she's a witch and I laughed but silently agreed. She gave me her card and I'm itching to go and get a reading! She asked me a few questions about Jack & Danny and then gave me a few snippets on what she believes they will be like in life, based mainly on their birth signs. It's really interesting to have someone tell you what path they think your kids will take and what their adult personalities will be like. I'm especially glad that she told me Jack would be a carer, like a veterinarian, since he told me recently that he wants to be a garbage man.

Craig think it's all twaddle of course but I've always loved this stuff. My last reading was in New Orleans in 2004 when a lady on the street in Jackson Square told me I'd have 2 kids and I said no way I wanted kids! and then went partying in the French Quarter with Craig and we both laughed at the suggestion.

Fidget Pie - Yummy!

Tonight we went to an expat Bonfire night with 30 other Brits and it was great. We met people from the north and south of England (south mainly - something to mull over later about why). The host is a fabulous lady called Maureen that I really like and we keep promising each other that we'll get together but never do. Anyway, we had to take regional food to this party and I baked (YES I did) Lancashire Parkin. And it was popular! Maybe I'm not such a crap cook.

The other English food included:

• Fidget Pie - which I have never had before but absolutely loved! From Sussex apparantly.
• Toad in the hole - including mini toad in the holes as cupcakes!
• Apple crumble
• Sausage rolls
• Pasties
• Trifle
• Cottage pie & shepherd's pie
• Samosas and bombay mix
• Scotch eggs
• Quality Street chocolates
• Cheshire cheese & crackers

Highlight of the night? More great Brits as friends.

Low of the night? Crazy pretend-British people that I want to strangle. Like the crazy woman that has now introduced herself to me by 3 different names in the last year. She is from the Caribbean and as mad as a bloody hatter - and not in a funny way. Her daughter was equally nuts and has called her 9 month old daughter "On a Journey". Not kidding. Crazy bastards.

Other than the crazies that are obviously drawn to British meet up groups for some reason, I had a great time tonight. All the adults were great with the boys and it was fab to talk about the homeland that we all miss. And the really good thing is that clocks go back tonight so I get an extra hours sleep. Woo hoo!

Bommy Night Fare & Kisses

We're off to a party tomorrow for Bommy night, otherwise known as Bonfire Night or Guy Fawkes night. I'm supposed to take something English as a side dish so thought I'd cheat and swing by World Market on the way home from work to get some treacle toffee but alas they had none. They did have copious amount of cans of mushy peas for $5 a can though. Scandalous!
You could make treacle toffee yourself you might say, but then I'd have to tell you about my attempt to buy Tate & Lyle treacle years ago only to eventually work out after about ten hours of investigation that it's called black molasses over here and then our disastrous attempt to make it less like liquid goo and more like crunchy toffee.

My next cheat might be toffee apples. I think I might have seen them in the supermarket or was that tubs of caramel sat next to the apples? Should have paid more attention obviously.

I can't take something like pumpkin pie and swear it's a traditional English dish because I'll be partying with other Brits and they'll know I'm lying. The same could be said for brownies if I tried to pass them off as Parkin

Lancashire hotpot is an option but that means I have to cook and I have decided that to be happy in life I'm never cooking again.

Flapjacks sound easy but they probably aren't.

Maybe I'll just make the boys wear England shirts and take some sparklers?

To add a touch of romance, tomorrow marks mine and Craig's first kiss, sixteen years ago. We got together at a bonfire party, of course.

Epic Fail at Parenting

My youngest won't eat. Well actually he will eat as long as it's his choice of food in his own sweet time, which would be okay if my life solely revolved around his eating habits but it does not.

When I got home at 5.45pm tonight he was once again refusing to even try the food that Craig had cooked him so I turned off the tv and sat him in the kitchen with me while I cleaned (and yes I just confessed that my kids sit and eat while watching a bit of telly sometimes).

He still refused to eat and I got angry and did the discipline thing which was a bit of a nightmare when he's pointedly asking "why?" and I'm saying because daddy cooked it and you don't waste food and his face says huh? and then he repeats why? So I said okay if you won't eat it you can just go to bed. So he looked at me with defiance and went to his bedroom and got in bed, even though he was crying at this point and it was only 6pm.

When I got back to the kitchen and sat down it felt horrible. It's only 6pm and he's in bed already, which means I won't get to see him today. Sometimes I feel like such a crap mum.

After 10 minutes I went in to see him and he was fast asleep. He didn't nap today and I guess he had a snack at 4pm so probably wasn't hungry. He looked so angelic while he was sleeping that it was a double whammy to my guilt bank.

So here's the struggle for me. I can't ignore his behaviour and just let him eat crappy food whenever he wants, which means I'll always have a struggle on my hands. But I need to learn to deal with that better. I even asked myself today what Nanny 911 would do. That isn't a cry for help in case any friends are thinking about signing me up for nanny's help. I would say a big fat NO. Of course if any of my real mummy friends want to offer advice I'd much appreciate it.

Music to my Ears

I'm a huge fan of XFactor I'm sorry to say. I've been called a sad individual on Facebook for liking such nonsense, but oh well. The older I get the more I really don't care what people think I should like. By the time I'm 65 I'll be wearing purple wigs, dancing to hip-hop and drinking Bloody Marys for breakfast probably. At least I hope so. For those of you that haven't watched it yet it's not too late - the final 12 started the live show tonight and one will get voted off tomorrow. My favourite 3 that I voted for are Chris Rene, Melanie Amaro and Josh Krajcik from COLUMBUS O-H-I-O!!! He used to make burritos and now we all think he's fabulous!!

But anyway, the reason for my blog tonight was to post a song that I love but had forgotten how awesome it was until I heard it again at the weekend. It's poignant because it is by the deceased but incredibly talented Amy Winehouse. God damn she was good. I can't wait to hear the new album that will be released soon. Whenever this song comes on my Pandora radio channel on the telly at home I have to stop what I'm doing and listen to her. She had an amazing talent.

Lost Some Gnashers

I had two of my wisdom teeth pulled out at 7.30am this morning which actually wasn't too bad. When people knew I was getting them pulled they felt inclined to share their horror story with me so I've heard everything from bleeding mouths, black eyes, swollen faces and even a few days of delirium. It was the same when I was pregnant and people wanted to tell me how awful childbirth was and how they nearly died, which wasn't helpful at all really.

Anyway, I took two days off work which was a bit extreme but I didn't know if I'd look like John Merrick afterwards and anyway, I wanted to take the time so I did. I took it off as vacation in case I wanted to do yard work or anything else that might make me look like a lazy skiver. This is probably hard for someone to imagine in the UK but having vacation time in the USA is quite rare and there are people I work with that pride themselves on never having taken a day off. I'm sure even now there's been mutterings at work about why I possibly needed to take TWO WHOLE DAYS off work when I only had a couple of gnashers pulled.

Not that I've been lazing about eating Hargen Daaz and watching Jerry Springer I may add. Oh no. I've had pre-school runs and runs back to pre-school for diaper changes, then a run to Linda's house and the school pick-up for Jack. I think I had about 2 hours in the middle of all that where I tried to do a spot of housework but just gave up. I did manage to de-Halloween the front of the house and do a spot of work (for actual work) this morning but that's it.

Talking of Jack - he dropped the F Bomb last night! Right in front of me he told Danny to "get in the F'ing bedroom" I nearly choked. I demanded to know where he'd heard that word from and he said "you mom" so I said and who else? (thinking surely there's a scapegoat out there that can get me out of this sticky spot) and he said no one, just you moma. Oops. What's strange it that he repeated it exactly as I would have said it with him in ear shot - not the full word but a sort-of fnkn mutter under the breath. Looks like I'll have to restrict my language in front of old waggy-ears from now on.

Role on November!

Well Halloween is over and I'm a bit glad. October is a bit of a drag for me as it marks the start of the looooong and cold Ohio winter and it just seems so rainy & grey. Not that we haven't had some fun this month with farm visits and costume parades and trick-or-treat tonight.

Both boys were Power Rangers of course. What else? They both had school parades but I missed Jack's today. I swear the paperwork from school didn't mention parent involvement so Craig and I thought we couldn't go. Turns out we were probably the only parents that didn't go so Jack was upset, and so am I.

I am now ready to move on to November for a few reasons. First, we have a trip planned to Nashville to see friends. Then it's Thanksgiving. And lastly we'll have the OSU:Michigan game. So I like November. And I have decided that I will once again participate in National Blog Posting Month by posting every day for 30 days so please come by and leave me a comment if you have time.

My Big Brave Superhero

It was Danny's Halloween parade today at pre-school. He didn't want to put his costume on at home, he hated his cape and he cried when we got to school. But he did it!

Mmmm, not sure about this mum...

Once he saw me on the parade route, he wanted to lock me in like a stealth bomber eyeballing his target. Of course he's the one that refused to hold the rope that all the kids held as they marched. He got to hang out at the back & hold the teacher's hand instead.

Here he comes - looking shocked but I did get a hint of a smile.

What a little trooper he was. He hated it, but he did it.

Seeking Happiness

I'm really enjoying the book about seeking happiness that I bought last week. It's opened my eyes and most importantly made me feel like perhaps I'm not the worst parent in the world or the most miserable human being to ever walk the earth.

In one chapter she examines what hobbies make us happy and comes to the conclusion that the kinds of things we think we want to do is not necessarily what makes us happy. So I was thinking about this this week. I've always thought that maybe one day I'd return to skydiving. Mainly because I love skydivers (they are wonderful people) and the adrenaline rush after you've landed is not something that could ever be beaten. But you know what? It scares the crap out of me and I don't want to do it. The same can be said for climbing a high mountain and water skiing. Other things I always thought I'd get good at one day but probably won't? Cooking, enjoying classical music and opera, learning to sew, skiing, going to the gym, and playing with lego. I really have no desire to do these things. They do not make me happy.

What makes me really happy is reading, gardening and hiking. I also love to read with my kids and draw with them. I enjoy making crafts with them and taking them outdoors. I do not like crawling round on the floor playing with blocks. Not do I like pretending to be a power ranger (sorry Jack) but that's probably because I'm 42 and don't look great in lycra. I also really enjoy organizing my photos and music and making projects with them. I rarely make the time to do that and I should. At this point in my life maybe I can accept that I'm not going to do those other things in life and maybe concentrate on things I know makes me happy? Just "Be Pam" as the author suggests.

I know it looks like dirty dish water but I really like root-beer floats

What's not to love about rambling through the countryside?

I would love to hear from other bloggers about what makes them genuinely happy. And what things they might just accept that they'll never do in life, because, well, they just don't want to.

Animals on the Loose!

Bizarre news tonight from Zanesville, Ohio! The little town I took my family to last year and home to the famous wild west author Zane Grey has had a horrible turn of events.

The owner of an exotic animal farm has been shot dead and his animals released. All 48 of them, including grizzly bears, wolves, tigers, lions, giraffes, camels, cougars, and cheetahs. Can you imagine how terrifying that is for a mum taking her kids to school tomorrow? Or someone getting out of their car, on a dark driveway at home tonight? You lock your car then turn around and see a grizzly! The words poo and pants come to mind. So far 25 of the animals have been killed and the Sheriff has a "shoot to kill" strategy given that his number one concern has to be public safety.

Meanwhile, I am just glad I do not live in Zanesville right now, since I still have poorly feet and can't run. Our Cody wouldn't fare too well either with his old man paunch. We'd have to wait until the elderly neighbour left the house and just hope he looks more tasty.

My Last 3 Books

I've read two fabulous books this past couple of weeks and just started a third.

First off, I read "Seabiscuit" by Laura Hillenbrand. I thought her book "Unbroken" was one of the best books I've read in years so thought I'd give this one a go too and I wasn't disappointed. It's fascinating stuff about the life of the jockeys and of course very heartwarming about Seabiscuit's challenges and rise to fame. It was also interesting to read about his link to thoroughbred greats like Man O' War and War Admiral. You don't have to be nuts about horses to read it but it certainly does make you have an enormous amount of respect for the horses & jockeys after you've read it.

Last Friday morning as I was leaving for Texas, I snatched a couple of books from the shelf, chose "Waiting to exhale" and was out the door when Linda suggested that I take "Labor Day" by Joyce Maynard instead as she had read both. By the time my shuttle dropped me at the Hyatt in San Antonio I could hardly say thank you to the driver I was so engrossed. By later that afternoon I'd read the whole thing. Unputdownable - if there is such a word! It's the bizarre but wonderful story from the perspective of a 13-year old boy over a Labor Day weekend. You really get to like the characters and it makes you feel like being a better person after you've read it. Highly recommended!

When I left San Antonio to come home today I had a conundrum. There's no way I could travel for 6 hours without a book but I hate to buy books from the airport. I like to get my books from thrift shops and the library (cheapskate I know). As I was browsing the books at the airport I couldn't find a single one - even the flimsy paperbacks - for less than $15! Scandalous I tell you. Still, I absolutely cannot travel without a book so I had to suck it up and bought "The Happiness Project" by Gretchen Rubin. This is going to be an interesting book. It's a diary, or blog type book written by a woman who realises one day that she's not happy. Not depressed, but not happy. She then goes on a quest to look at happiness with a commitment to increasing her happiness and therefore the happiness of all around her (husband, kids, family, work colleagues). So far it's been very good - enlightening almost and makes me want to come up with my own happiness project. The stories she recounts of snapping at her kids and picking on her husband rings a bit too true for me not to at least try to soak as much of this book up as I can. It is not a self-help or preachy book at all - like I said, she writes it almost like a blog and it's witty and honest. I'm going to like it a lot and maybe I can take some things from it. I'm sure my husband and kids would very much appreciate it!