Shopping Spree

Joan and I took Twelve shopping yesterday to look for some clothes. Twelve has two events to go to (reluctantly) and she needed a dress to wear. We found a wonderful dress (which Aunt Joan picked out) and some darling shoes for Twelve, along with a couple of tops. As an added bonus, I found a skirt and top to wear to one of the events, a couple of tops, and a pair of boots. Joan still wasn't feeling 100% so she didn't purchase anything, but she certainly had a jolly good time spending my money for me... and I am greatful!

While shopping in one of the stores, Twelve asked me when she was going to be able to get her ears pierced. (This is something that we had discussed, and decided that she would be able to do for her 13th birthday. I had mentioned to DH, earlier in the morning, that I might have Twelve get her ears pierced while out shopping...he thought that would be a fabulous idea. ) When she asked me and I told her that I was planning on having them done while shopping, her face lit up. The look of wonder, excitement, and awe at what I had just said, was absolutely precious.

We found a store that does 'free' ear piercing and gives you 'complimentary' cleaner. Yeah right...free. hahaha. It's free for the ear piercing, but they charge you for the earrings.

So now between the gorgeous dress, cute shoes and pierced ears, Twelve looks, in her words 'hot'. I'm not sure how I feel about that. That's a post for another day.

Keeping My Mouth Shut

I feel as if I am walking a fine line. Twelve has been complaining since the end of the summer, that her friend, formerly known as Eventempered, is a B*tch! I observed some of the b*tchy behavior when the two girls were volunteering at a Girl Scout Camp for 1 week in August.

I've also observered, in the past, Twelve acting the same way towards Eventempered, and spoke to her about her behavior at that time. Now they have two classes together, and Twelve complains about Eventempered to me at least once a week.

Eventempered's mother and I remain friends. We are both there for each other, willing to pick up each other's younger children from school, when needed. We are both aware of the current unrest between our two angelic daughters.

I have found out about a fabulous Girl Scout event that is set to take place in January. Twelve does not want me to tell Eventempered's mother about the event, because she does not want Eventempered to go (even driving seperately with her mother). I feel awkward because I know that my friend would definitely want Eventempered to attend this event, yet I cannot mention the event (which is being put on by a different service unit) to my friend because Twelve is adamant that she does not want Eventempered attending this event. (The only way that my friend would find out about this event is if I tell her about it)

Now I have to be careful what I say to my friend, and certainly as January approaches, remember to keep my mouth shut. That is not an easy thing for me to do. Have you ever found yourself in a situation like this? If so, what did you do?

It's Definitely Not Doublemint Gum

I am now on double the dose of the little purple pill. I don't think taking it twice a day will be 'double the fun'. Getting older stinks!

I'm Baaaaack

I think that I must have fallen into some sort of time-warp continuum. That is the only explanation I can come up with for my basically being absent from blogging for 6 days. Where in the heck did the time go?

I went to work, took the kids to various activities, suddenly I turned around and I had lost six days. Six precious days of visiting with my blogging friends. That's about 144 hours of zoning out. Could I be losing my mind? Could I have been abducted by aliens? Could time have suddenly speeded up?

Oh wait, never mind, I think I know what happened...the newscasters predicted a 'freak' early winter storm. Each day they kept saying that it was coming. Finally, there was a very strange phenomenon that occured here in Southern California. The temperature fell below 70 degrees and water fell from the sky. It must have shifted my mind into a different vortex, in which blogging did not exist.

Thank goodness I have successfully fought my way out of it. I'm baaaaack.

Only Time Will Tell

This has been a hectic week. Work has been busy, and I now have an 'Associate Teacher' working with me 3 days/week. She is a graduate student, and will have her Masters Degree and Credential at the end of this semester.

Right now, she is overwhelmed at the number of students that I see everyday. I've told her that sometimes I am overwhelmed too. She has been meeting my students for the first time, and will start providing therapy the end of this week. I am excited to see what she has learned in school. I figure that if she has made it this far in the graduate program, then she must be pretty smart.

Time will tell...in the meantime, everything is taking twice as long to complete, because I am taking the time to explain to her what I am doing and I am trying to get her to think in a way that she hasn't had to think before (ie: real world thinking, not academic thinking). If all goes according to plan, we will be able to accomplish quite a bit in the time that we are together. I am keeping my fingers crossed.

Who?

The other night, I was sitting at the dining room table with my mother and Twelve. We were all eating, when my mother and I had the following conversation:

Mom - Is that all you're eating?

Me - Yeah, my stomach is bothering me.

Mom - Is this something new?

Me - No, I have acid reflux.

Mom- What's that? I've never heard of it.

Me - It's what dad had.

Mom - Really ? I don't remember my mother telling me that he had that.

Me - Not YOUR dad...MY dad.

Mom- (with a somewhat blank look on her face) He had that? I didn't know.

Me - Mom, remember he used to eat a lot of Tums and sleep with the head of his bed elevated?

Mom - No, I don't remember that.


I feel so sad, that after 53 years of marriage, it is evident that my mother doesn't remember my dad. True he died six years ago, but I would have thought that he would have remained in her long term memory. I guess that she only remembers people from her childhood, and people from now...everyone in between is gone to her.

Whenever I mention my dad in conversation, my mom looks at me with a slightly lost look. She smiles and nods her head at the right times, but never volunteers any information about the two of them, or their life together. She done that with events from the past, but somehow, I continued to believe that she remembered my dad. My dad...her husband for G-d's sake! How could she not know who I was talking about? I thought that her dementia was affecting only her short term memory. I now see that she's been robbed of much of her long term memory as well. This makes me so sad, and truly breaks my heart.

My mother has a picture, sitting on her dresser, of my mother and father together looking at the camera and smiling. I wonder who she thinks the man is. I don't have the heart, or the courage, to ask her. I've known, for a few years, that she has forgotten much of my childhood. As sad as that's made me feel, at least she still remembers me...but now I know that she doesn't remember my dad...and that hurts me to my very core.

The Joys Of Aging

The stars must be aligning in a strange way. Recently, Meno blogged about AARP, then today, a friend of mine sent me an email with the following bumper stickers. My birthday isn't until the end of November. Could the universe be trying to tell me something?