Yikes!!

Do you ever go back and read some of your old blogs and think "Yikes, I know I proof read that. How'd I miss that ginormous grammatical error?" Or "Yikes, I spell checked too, why is there so many misspellings?" No? Just me? Oh, ok then.

Jeez Louise, I'm a fairly intelligent person, but reading over some of my past blogs I'm embarrassed. I even made good grades in college comp class. Glad none of these blogs are being submitted for a grade. They're just in internet land for all time. Awesome. I'll be more careful in the future. My bad.

FAMILY

Family, it's what I live for. I do everything for my family. Without them, I'd have no purpose. The funny thing about family is sometimes they make you inpatient crazy, other days I'm pretty sure I wouldn't be able to go on without them.

I have an amazing extended family. My family through marriage is pretty amazing too. That's who this blog is about. See, my inlaws have been through some life altering changes recently. Nick's grandmother has reached the point in her life where she is no longer able to live on her own. I remember one of the last times we visited his grandmother at her home, she had me open some cans of soup for her. I offered to heat them up for her, but she assured me she could do it herself. As we left, I had a sick feeling that she was going to eat the soup right out of the can. It made me so sad. I knew at that point that what my inlaws were right, she couldn't live on her own. But why alter their lives? Although it was none of my business and not my decision, I had questioned the decision to move her in to their home. This would change their lives. Three generations in one home. They were still raising kids. It would be hard. It is hard. But, it was the right thing to do. How can I be so sure? Just look at his Memaw.

We have been taking Memaw to church with us on Sunday's and I can see such a tremendous difference in her. She walks better, she finds her words better, her color is better, and she's happier. Most of the time, she even remembers our names. Don't kid yourself, it's not all sunshine and roses. I'm sure they fight. I'm sure my mother-in-law is frequently tempted to slip some sleepy medicine in Memaw's food at least once a day. I'm sure they all question the decision weekly, but the last years of Memaw's life will be infinitely better all because my inlaws have made huge sacrifices. Particularly my mother-in-law who is her primary caregiver. Talk about an impossible job. My mother-in-law is a wife, mother, nurse, cook, housekeeper, taxi, banker, family manager, secretary, and on and on. Memaw is so much healthier, because of family. Say it with me...family. Family is the best medicine.

Mother Of The Year...Not!

I have a "proud parenting moment" to confess. First, let me define "proud parenting moment" for you. By "proud parenting moment" I mean one of those parenting moments where you realize you really sucked and hope and pray you haven't damaged your child for life.

Let me set this up for you. I have been blessed with an extremely well behaved child who aims to please adults and those in authority. Those who know Nick and I well, know who he gets that trait from. Hint: it's not Nick. Anyway, last year in school Isaac got in trouble once. He scratched a girl who was bothering him. Isaac was very honest about it and told me the second I picked him up. If you ask me, she had it coming. If you ask the teacher, she had it coming. If you ask her parents, I'm sure they'll disagree with me and the teacher. Even with that incident he came home with a good behavior sticker every school day. Every. Day.

This year in kindergarten, they have a similar behavior chart that comes home daily. I checked Isaac's yesterday and he didn't have a stamp. I asked if he got in trouble at school and he said no. I asked why he didn't have a stamp, he said he might of been in trouble during rest time, but he was on "green" all day. I explained to him he must have been in trouble otherwise he would have received his stamp. Isaac then started crying big, sad, I didn't do it tears. We had a conversation about lying and how he would be in more trouble for lying. Isaac's explanation was that Mrs. Wilson must have forgot to stamp his chart. Isaac doesn't lie, why would I doubt him? I did though and was very disappointed that he didn't feel safe enough to tell the truth.

Nick took Isaac to school today and asked Mrs. Wilson what color Isaac ended up on yesterday. She quickly informed my husband that Isaac was on green, and that he was always on green. Apparently, Isaac was right. She had forgotten to stamp his chart yesterday. He came home today with the stamp filled in for Tuesday. Oopsie.

Man, do I feel like a giant DB. Why wouldn't I believe my kid? He has never given me any reason to doubt him. So there you have it, my "proud parenting moment" for this week. Poor Isaac. Hopefully he's not scarred for life. Yet.

9/11 Ten Years Later

I've been watching the 9/11 footage all weekend thinking I should blog about it, but there just doesn't seem to be appropriate words to describe how I feel about that day. Ten years ago, I wasn't a wife or mother. I had been at my "grown up" job for about a month. My dear friend Nick, was just a few days into basic training with the army, hoping to get a little college money. I had no idea that him being in the army and my concern for him would bring us closer together to the point where we would get married a year later. I remember none of us at the Justice Center that day were very productive, we were all glued to the TV. We were confused, angry, scared, united. I remember being glued to the non-stop coverage then much like I am now.

You all know I have experienced tragedy. What I have experienced is nothing compared to those who died or lost loved one's ten years ago. My loss wasn't because of hate. I watch stories of the victims and my heart is so heavy for the widows/widowers, the parents who lost children, the children who lost or never knew their parents, and all the rescue workers who so bravely ran into those towers that day to save lives. My heart is also heavy for all the service members who have selflessly and bravely fought to keep me and my family free and safe.

My life has changed a lot in the last ten years, but I will never forget. I'm not sure how anyone ever could.

Peace Out Summer

Since college football has officially started, it can only mean one thing. Summer is over. Despite the ridiculously insane temperatures this summer, I'd say Team Zumwalt had a super fantastic summer. We had lots of family time riding bikes, swimming, playing outside, and watching movies when it was too hot to do much else. We had a super fun vacation that ended our summer on a high note.

It was a great summer indeed, but I'm not sad to see it go. I love fall. It's my favorite time of year. I love college football season, although I'm not a huge fan of any particular team. I love game day even though I don't really have a team I root for. Maybe it's the football munchies I like most. Maybe I like it because it's a connection to college. Fall brings back so many memories of going back to college, which were some pretty amazing times in my life. I met some of the most amazing people I've ever known in college, particularly Team James. Those are some good people. If you don't know them, you're missing out.

Fall is also a time for Team Zumwalt to purge, which if you read my blog regularly, you'll know that purging the clutter was one of my New Year's Resolutions. The last two weekends, we have been purging fools. It feels good to get rid of all the clutter. Fall is almost here my friends, and I can almost smell the smores, pumpkins, and soups already. I can feel the crisp evening air in my lungs and I'm ready to make the next season as amazing as the last!!! Bring it!

The Kindergarten Diet

So, apparently my concerns about my child starving to death at school were not entirely unwarranted. It's been a week now and I figured we'd have this lunch thing figured out by now, but it seems as though it's a work in progress. The two days he had school last week he took his lunch to school. He was able to successfully open and close his lunch box so at least that worked out. He was not however, able to figure out how to buy milk. I sure am glad I sent a drink with him on the off chance he wasn't able to work it out. (I probably should explain why I'm so concerned about this milk thing. See, my child is weird. He doesn't drink juice boxes, capri-sun's, or any of that type of drink. Bizzarre, right?) Then comes Monday. He decided to eat in the cafeteria since they were having pizza. I was excited of course because I though he would finally be able to figure out this milk situation. He said lunch was good and he got milk. Success, finally. Or not. He told me the next morning that he wasn't able to finish his lunch and the lady made him take it to the classroom. Apparently, I have a slow eater. After he stood in line for food, he didn't have enough time to finish his lunch. Fortunately, they let him take it to class so he wouldn't starve. So, he decided to take his lunch after that so he'd have more time to eat. Tuesday he promised me he got milk although I didn't see on his account where he was charged for it. That probably means one of two things. 1. I have a thief for a son. 2. I have a liar for a son. I'm not sure which I would prefer, but oh well. Today, he came home and he had only eaten his sandwich for lunch. Nothing else. How do I know this? Well, I went through his lunch box. But he has also been a bottomless pit since he got home. We had only been home an hour and he ate two snack size M&M bags, a Hershey's mini, two Gogurts, and some pringles. All before dinner. Clearly he was starving, so I asked him why he didn't eat his lunch. He informed me he just didn't have enough time. Clearly my child has no concept of time. That or he's a ridiculously slow eater. They even have recess before lunch so I would think he'd be ravenous enough to eat quickly. Not so, apparently. Call me crazy though, it does seem a little frantic to expect five year olds to eat in just 20 minutes. I just hope he gets in the swing of things soon, all this worrying about his lunch is exhausting.