Reason #857 why I will never leave Chicago....

This is what today is SUPPOSED to be about...

However, THIS is what today has looked like all day here in ChiTown...

Right now, it's about 33 degrees, and the wind is howling with wind gusts of about 40 MPH.  I LOVE IT!

Sorry, Jen.  I know you're swearing up a storm (in your head, of course!) and probably turning that mug of coffee into a tasty adult beverage right about now.

I do feel bad for my Monkey, though.  But, she's got plenty of Halloweens coming to make up for it.  Plus, she went to an awesome Halloween party with her mommy last Friday, so I think she'll be fine.

By the way....

 It was about 80 here on Monday....

And, I have a story about Monday that I plan to share soon. =)

Email of the Day

Ok, I know this is old, but my dad sent me the link in an email today, and I just had to share.  The last three snippets made me literally tear up.

I can't wait to watch Jimmy tonight to see this year's collection of videos.  (I think this was last year's?)

*I think this NaBloPoMo thing must be working already.  TWO posts in one day?!?! ;-)

Happy Halloween

I didn’t quite think that through enough…

*This post is from LAST Sunday. I wrote it when the internet was out, not thinking it would be out for five freakin' days!! I just found the draft sitting here, and realized I never published it. Sorry. Truthfully, I don't think I actually finished writing it, but I'm not up to a big edit right now.

Stud just decided this past Wednesday night to accept an invitation to a costume party that last night. It was being held at the house of one of his besties other besties. (did that make sense?) His bestie, George, came with us Wednesday when we went to get our hair done at my girlfriend’s place. He used the ride there to convince Stud to go.

(Quick side note, here’s his finished ‘do. As usual, he’s THRILLED to have his picture taken by me!!)

Anyway, while my sister and I were getting our hair done, the two of them disappeared outside for a while. I went outside to check on them (because it was after 10pm, and they were outside in a big, empty parking lot) and Stud was on the phone with his wife. Turns out, he invited her to come to the party! They were discussing what they should wear.

They came up The Annoying Couple. You know that couple. They dress alike, the act alike, they talk alike, they act lovey-dovey every minute of the day. THAT couple.

On the drive home, we were trying to figure out what they could wear. They wanted to dress alike, and I remembered that Stud and I have matching pajama pants (you’ve all seen mine before because I live in them. Naturally, they have penguins on them!) I usually wear just a navy blue t-shirt with mine, and I knew Stud had one, too, so they were going to wear those. Ah, but then I thought, why not white t-shirts? Then, we could write something annoying on them, like “I’m with him ---->, <---- I’m with her” or “I love my husband, I love my wife” You get the idea.

After an INCREDIBLY long day out at the bar (because Stud cleans at a snail’s pace, but that’s another post!) we rushed straight over to his wife’s house, already 45 minutes late. Because of Stud’s turtle speed, we were SO late. I had left him cleaning earlier to go to the store and get the t-shirts, and the plan was I would make them while he was getting ready, then we’d go get the wife, blah, blah, blah. Well, we didn’t even pick up Wifey until the time the party was to start. Ugh! I HATE being late for things!!!!

I told Wife I hadn’t even had a chance to make the shirts yet, and the two of them were deciding what they wanted on them. After talking about the ideas we had had the other night, Stud came up with, “We should just write something on them that makes it so you have to stand together to read it.” Then it hit me – half-hearts on both shirts so when they stand together it makes a complete heart! We were cracking up.

We rushed home, Stud jumped in the shower, and I grabbed my paint markers and the shirts. As I was trying to get the hearts on the shirts, it hit me – write something in the hearts. Wife and I were so geeked up, I was having a hard time drawing. We couldn’t stop giggling. Here’s the idea we came up with.

Now, unfortunately, I didn’t think this through enough. I simply laid the shirts side by side, and drew. I didn’t take into consideration the depth of their bodies. Poop. I also didn’t take into consideration the fact that Stud is taller than his wife! Argh!! If I had to do them again, I know exactly how I’d adjust them. Sadly, there was no time to fix them, since they were already an hour late for the party. (George called every 5 minutes for that hour, by the way!)

Sadly, because of my poor planning, the hearts looked more like a circle when they stood next to each other. But, they still looked pretty cute. Oh, and I forgot to mention the fact that I had matching shoes for them, too! (I really wanted to stop at a dollar store and pick up some cute reading glasses. I had planned to just pop the lenses out so they could matching glasses, too. But, once again, Stud was TOO DAMN SLOW!)

I think they still looked adorable. Wife had a great time, as did Stud. I figured they were enjoying themselves when he never called for a ride. I would have given him the car to drive them, but kids under 18 can’t drive past 11:00 on the weekend. I didn’t want them to have to cut their evening short, which is why I drove them. Stud kept trying to convince Wife that they should just leave before 11, and then come back here and hang out, just the two of them, for a while. I kept telling him to wait and see, because they just might not want to leave early, which is exactly what happened. (Sheesh, why are we moms always right?!)

In the windup, George, who turned 18 the night before, drove them back to our house (Thank you, George!) and then we drove Wife home. They weren’t quite ready to leave each other, but it was late, and I was exhausted. All the way to Wife’s house, Stud was trying to convince her to hang out today. I don’t think it’s going to happen. It’s almost 10:30, he’s still asleep, and she has to babysit later today. It seems they have they found the secret to a long-lasting marriage – lots of time apart! Hey, it works for MY parents!

Damn you, Brachs Candy Company!!

I wait all year to indulge in one of my favorite treats - candy corn! I've learned that there are two very clear groups of people when it comes to candy corn. Either you love it or you hate it. Obviously, I LOVE it!

I had to go to Walgreen's tonight to drop off some prescriptions, and pick up some medicine for Stud, who came home sick from school today. I dropped the prescriptions off at the window, then went down the cold medicine aisle. I still had some time to kill until the prescriptions were going to be ready, so I went down the Halloween aisle. Much to my delight/dismay, there was a big, giant display of candy corn. AND, it was on sale! Damn it!!!

There were some new and interesting flavors on this display. This one immediately caught my eye.
And, damn if it wasn't as good as it sounded!! I opened it as soon as I got home, and there's barely half a bag left. I made myself put it up on a shelf so I wouldn't finish it while I typed this!

Instead of "regular" candy corn, I got this Indian Corn. It has a chocolate stripe!!!
Oh, and this one sounded interesting. I hope it's as great a find as the caramel flavor.Hi, my name is ChiTown Girl, and I'm a candy corn-aholic.

NaBloPoMo Day 1

Ok, here it is - my first post for NaBloPoMo. And, whatta ya know, I have nothing to say. Sheesh, this is gonna be a loonngg month....

Well, I suppose I can tell you all about how I hid from trick-or-treaters all day yesterday. Yes, I really did. I know, what a wicked witch, right? I just was NOT in a very Halloween-y place this year. Most of you know it's been a very rough and stressful year for me. The past few weeks have been particularly hard, and I just wasn't feeling it. Truthfully, that caused me even MORE stress, since Halloween has always been one of my very favorite holidays. I feel bad that I just blew it off this year.

I didn't decorate my home, I didn't decorate my classroom, I just couldn't get in the spirit. On the bright side, I won't be running around today taking down and packing away decorations. That's definitely a plus.

Another plus is that since I didn't even buy any candy to pass out, that means there's no 'left-over' candy here to tempt me. And, Stud is too old to trick-or-treat now, so he doesn't have a stash for me to sneak from, either. Gee, the more I think about, the more this sounds like a win-win!

Has it really been a week?

I can't believe I let an entire week go by without a post. Shame on me!! I better get back on track, huh? I was so good last school year, and literally posted every single school day. Man, I've become such a slacker...


*****
Recent conversation:

Smart Boy: Mrs. L., Twin Boy keeps breathing by me!!!

Me: And....

Smart Boy: His breath STANKS!!

Me: Oh....hmmm....Twin Boy, did you remember to brush your teeth this morning?

Twin Boy: No. I don't have a toothbrush.

Me: (Trying to hide my shock/disgust) You don't have a toothbrush?!

Twin Girl: Yes he does! He just doesn't use it!

Me: (Now stifling a giggle) Ok....well, Twin Boy, you need to brush in the morning, ok? Twin Girl, maybe you can remind him.

Twin Girl just looked at him in disgust and turned around.


*****
When the babies finish their name papers, I let them turn them over and draw me a picture while the rest finish. Last week, naturally, all the babies had Halloween on the brain. On Thursday, David drew an awesome picture of three "things" that I thought were kids in Halloween costumes. When I asked him, he said, "No, those are monsters!" Then he went back to drawing. When it was time to clean up, he brought me his paper, and showed me what else he drew. "That's me. And those are the monsters, and I'm kicking their butts!" I gave him a 'look,' because I tend not to condone violence, but he thought the look was for something else. He looked panic-stricken and immediately says, "Oh, um, I mean I'm kicking their bottoms." It was hysterical!

*****
So, last Wednesday, Glasses decided to steal from me. He wouldn't be still or quiet during rest time, so I finally had to make him sit by the door (our naughty spot). Suddenly, I hear the sound of a bunch of 'things' hitting the floor. I look over at him, and I see a few of my counting bears on the floor. I asked, "Where did those come from?" and he just looks at me. I tell him to put them away, and go back and sit down. He does, and a few minutes later, the same thing happens. So I say, "Do you have my counting bears in your pockets?" He shakes his head. I tell him to come over to my desk, and I ask him again if he has my counting bears in his pockets. Again, he says no. So I tell him, "Come here, I want to check your pockets." Well, then he looked worried. Sure enough, he pocket was filled with my counting bears! Ugh! I wanted to smack him!! Not so much for taking the bears (he certainly isn't the first to do that, and he won't be the last) but for lying right to my face about it! There is NOTHING I hate more than lying. NOTHING! I let him have it, telling him, among other things, that the next time he steals from me, I'll be calling the police. Then I sent him back to the door.

Forward to Friday (Halloween). Every Friday, the babies take their Treasure Test, which is simply a test on their sight words. The Treasure Words (sight words) are from our reading program. I don't like the way they introduce words because I think they go WAY too slow. We are now 10 weeks into school, and they are only expected to know 7 freakin' words!! But, I digress. If they can read all the Treasure Words to me on Friday, they get a treat. I always give them Smarties. (Smarties for my smarties!) There are a couple of kids who still haven't passed the test even once, despite there only being six words on the list up to that point. D.B. is one of those kids. Last week, I gave the babies two "bonus words," and told them that if they could read the bonus words, too, they would get an extra treat. OK, so D.B. comes over for his test. Up until this point, he's only been able to tell me "we." Well, he had obviously been working hard that week on his words, because he was able to read 5 out of the six words, and one bonus word!! I was shocked and thrilled! He finally earned his Smarties!

What the hell does all this have to do with Glasses you're wondering, right? Well, normally I give them their treats in the afternoon, but last Friday, we did our test before lunch since the rest of the day was going to be tied up with Halloween activities. When we were lining up for lunch, D.B. comes over and bangs on my arm, and says, "My candy." (If you're a regular reader, you'll know that's only the third time he's said more than one word at a time to me.) I figure out that he doesn't have his candy, so I ask, "Did someone pick up D.B.'s candy?" Nobody had it. I ask again, "Who has D.B.'s candy? It didn't just disappear." No one 'fesses up. I finally say, "We are NOT going to lunch until D.B. gets his candy back!" A couple of the babies say, "Glasses took it." So I ask him, "Do you have D.B.'s candy?" "No." I get closer to him. "Did you take D.B.'s candy?" Again, "No." "So, if I check your pockets right now, I'm not going to find his candy?" "No." I took a couple of steps toward him, and he knew I was going to check, so he says, "Well, maybe if somebody put it there." I seriously saw red!!! I had to stop myself from cracking him one! Naturally, the candy was in his pocket. My blood was seriously boiling. Again, it was more the lying RIGHT TO MY FUCKING FACE that bothered me than the stealing. Although, the stealing really pissed me off, too, because poor D.B. worked hard to earn that treat, and this little shit goes and steals it!! AAAUUUGGGHHH!! Naturally, Glasses is one of the three that hasn't learned his words yet. I really want to smack his parents for being so completely uninvolved with their child. Again, I digress...

I made him sit at the table with me during lunch, away from the rest of the babies. I already told him before we left the room that he would NOT be going to the parade, he would NOT be participating in the party, he would NOT be getting any treats, etc... On the way to the lunchroom, I brought him over to our security guard to ask her if she would keep him while the rest of us went to the parade, and she laid into him, too. She suggested we call the police. I said I was going to seriously think about it. On Friday, we have gym, so of course, I made him stay with the security guard while I took the rest of the class up to the gym. Then, while walking back down the four freakin' flights of stairs (!) I decided that I was just going to call his house and have him picked up. There was no reason for him to stay, since he was NOT going to be participating in ANY of the Halloween fun.

I called his home number, and got no answer. I called the emergency number, which I think was his aunt, and a woman answered. I told her who I was, and that I tried calling his mom, but there was no answer, and then asked if she had another number. She asked what number I called, and I told her, and she says, "Oh, that's the right number. As a matter of fact, I was just talking to her." So, I figure, that's why she didn't answer, she was on the other line. I thank the aunt, and tell her I'm going to call again. She says, "Oh, no, I'll call for you. If she sees it's the school, she won't answer." Of course!! Why would you answer if your child's school is calling? I mean, hell, your child could have been in a terrible accident or something, so why would you need to know that?! Ugh! Anyway, I tell the aunt the whole story and tell her to tell the mom that she needs to come get him right now. That was at 11:00. Guess who was still there at 2:45? Guess who had to sit in the naughty spot all freakin' day (because I couldn't send him to another classroom, since everyone was celebrating)? Guess who bugged me all afternoon, mostly because everytime I turned my back, he was poking his head around the corner and making faces at the rest of the class? Eh....alright, ChiTown, let it go, it was days ago.... Glasses didn't come to school yesterday, although I doubt it had anything to do with what happened on Friday. Guess who didn't really care, and just enjoyed a day without Glasses? Now guess who is on the express train to hell for feeling that way about a little boy? Just trying to keep it real....

Wow, I guess this saga makes up for a week of no posts, huh? I'm gonna let you off the hook, and not write anymore tonight. I think my son and I are going to have a movie night, since the only thing on TV right now is all election related, and I can't take anymore!

Next Season on Dancing with the Stars...

(Thanks, Bro, for emailing me this! It made me laugh out loud!)

The past few days have been so unbelievably sad, that I wanted to take a mental break for something silly and light-hearted. (Isn't Photoshop amazing?)

Yesterday, I sent Twin Boy home with a note because he had such a GREAT day! He kept his hands and feet to himself all day, he was pretty quiet for the most part, and he did just about everything I asked of him. The rest of the babies noticed it too, just like last time, and they all had to high-five him at the end of the day. He was beaming!! This morning, his dad brought him, and I asked if he saw the note. He did, and I told him how proud I was of Twin Boy, and Twin Boy assured me that today would be a great day, too. Yeah....well.....not so much.

I had to send him back to his seat during calendar time because he absolutely would NOT stop touching the kids around him. When we were ready to go on to some counting activities (about 5 minutes later) I told the group to hold on a minute because I wanted Twin Boy to come back, because "he's so good at this game." He came back, sat right next to me, and then started to cry. Not loud, disruptive crying, but just big, sad tears rolling down his chubby cheeks. I wish I knew what was going through his head at that particular moment. Was he feeling bad for disrupting our calendar time? Was he embarrassed? Was he moved because I said he was good at the game? I truly wish I knew what it was that made him cry.

Twin Boy is also back to all the disgusting nose-digging again!! Ugh!!! I think he does it just to set off the others, because they all start yelling, "Twin Boy is digging in his nose!" I can't stand it. It's absolutely revolting. Between his nose and his ears, that boy digs more than a miner! Ick! I know it sounds mean, but that's what keeps me from hugging him more. I just don't want him touching me with those hands, I'm sorry.

The babies have been busy making Halloween projects. I finally remembered to take my camera to school today to show you what they've been up to. I may just take some close-ups tomorrow to you can see them in detail. I cut out the scarecrows, but they cut out their own witches. The pumpkin lanterns were all them, except that I stapled them together. There's something about little kids' arts and crafts that touches me somewhere deep inside. I think it's because they aren't afraid to truly express themselves creatively yet. I love it!

OK, this has nothing to do with school, but I have to show these pictures to somebody! Last Friday, I picked up my son and his best friend from school, and then we all came here. Long story short, his buddy never went home, and spent the night. (Not an unusual occurrance.) The next morning, I went down in the basement to do some laundry, and saw this. (That's my gorgeous new bamboo floor in the basement, by the way. Don't you love it!?)

I was cracking up!! It was like looking at a father and son's shoes. Oh, wait! I just remembered that you saw my son and his best friend's picture together from homecoming. It's so funny to me that they are so different in size. His buddy is just now wearing clothes I handed down to him in about 4th or 5th grade. My son refers to his buddy as "Mini Me" sometimes, which cracks us all up.

OK, I gotta run because Dancing with the Stars is on, and I'm waiting to hear that Cloris Leachman is leaving tonight. Good Lord, it had BETTER be her!! I'm so glad Carrie Anne (I haven't a clue how she actually spells her name) finally said what the rest of us were thinking last night. You go, Girl! Ugh, it's time for Michael Flatley (again, no idea how to spell that) is about to perform. Maybe this is a good time to run downstairs and do some laundry...

Ta dah!

This is the pumpkin my son finished last night before going to the dance.
He'll be carving a second one this afternoon. I wonder what he's going to do with that one...

The dance was nice. On the way there, my son said something about how maybe he really didn't want to go, and so on, but I reminded him that two of his best friends were going to be there (because they have younger siblings that still attend that school) so he kind of just sucked it up. But, once we got there, he was thrilled that he went. I couldn't believe how many of the kids from his class were there. It was great to see them, since we hadn't seen most of them since June.

After the dance, we had to head over to my friend's salon to get our hair done. My son actually wanted to come with me and get his hair cut. I was a bit surprised, but I wasn't going to say no! Needless to say, it was a late night, and I'm very sleepy today. As a matter of fact, I'm going to play hooky today from work. It's a staff development day today, so the kids aren't there anyway. I could use a long weekend. And, I certainly don't have the strength nor energy to sit through one boring meeting after another at school today. I'm not in the mood to listen to the Big Cheese butcher the English language, either.

I felt bad for my baby, though, this morning, because he had a hard time getting up. He's gonna be tired and cranky all day at school. But, he can go right to sleep when he comes home :) He had planned to try and stay up all night, then sleep during the day tomorrow because they're having a Freshmen Overnight tomorrow at his school. The kids are basically locked in the school from 9:00 Saturday night until 7:00 am Sunday morning. They will have access to the pool and the gym,and they'll be watching movies and playing games. Apparently, the only thing they WON'T be doing is sleeping. He's excited about it, and I'm excited for him.

I was originally going to play hooky with a friend, but he just called and the plans have changed. Damn!! Maybe I'll just go to work....I don't know....crap, crap, crap! OK, I'm going to go figure out what the hell to do. Now I'm annoyed!!!