Girl Scout Meltdown Story!

Okay so here's my latest meltdown story....

So a couple of months ago my co-leader and I sat our troop down and offered them 3 choices for summer camp this year....after much debate discussion, and many many many questions they decided on one. I talked to all the parent's about financial aid as I always do, however with the economy being in the state it currently is I knew this year more people than ever would be needing the aid, so I sent the apps in a month before the camp was to start. Ridiculously thinking that would surely be enough time to get approval and registration done. Our original camp date was the first week of June, I had several conversations with the Representative at the council about when the app's would be done and I could get the girls registered. Keep in mind there are limited spaces for camp so I wanted to get the girls registered as quickly as possible to ensure availability. I was told on two different occasions, that the apps would be complete the following week....on both occasions the app's were not finished as promised....in fact the apps were not complete before the June camp date came....I was frantic thinking the girls had lost the chance to go to camp....so the Representative and I changed the camp date for the girls to a July date. The app's were finally finished and the girls were registered for camp as of June 1st. I have called at least once a week every week for a month asking for a supplies list and schedule. Camp is this coming Monday. I have 2 parent's who received letters of supplies and schedules. One received it last Monday, and one received it yesterday! I and 3 other parent's never received any notification. So basically the Girl Scouts gave 4 sets of parent's 48hrs....on a holiday weekend to get everything their child needed for camp....some of the parent's have older children that have gone to camp, and have most of the supplies....well....one parent does....for the rest of us, we spent all day yesterday and today scrambling to put all the supplies together for our girls. Consequentially I copied and rushed 3 supply lists all over town yesterday and then made a frantic dash to wal-mart and a few other stores to get my girl ready for camp. To say this entire process has been frustrating is an understatement....I am appalled at the way my girls and parent's have been treated. I have two girls who are leaving the troop because of this camp fiasco, and one who's parents took her out of camp completely due to the fact they are out of town and had no way to get the required supplies.....she has since put her child back into the camp....so my girl is all packed and excited and ready for camp....by gods she better have good time.

That is my Girl Scout Meltdown story!

It's been awhile

Wow I haven't blogged in forever and a day....of course I'm blogging now because I have been left alone with my thoughts....as we all know that is never a totally safe thing...Wow there has been so much going on...I hardly know where to start. Ok.....let's see....Well, BigDaddy has been working out of town for a while now...I think a month....um....yeah I think a month. Anywho...that sux and I mean I love my man for being one of those men who provides for his family, and well....I just miss him like crazy! We've been making the best of it...he come's home on weekends, so we are alot luckier than some husbands and wives....(may the gods bless all the soldiers and their families)....It's hard when your husband is your best friend...not because you have no friends.....just because you prefer him to almost any other human being on the planet! So this week BigDaddy didn't even get to come home for the weekend....his big boss informed his foreman that they were to stay there until the job was done...so hopefully..... he will be home next weekend.

Shy has been a joy as always....she is going through this new phase though....everything is a question or is meant to be questioned....EVERYTHING....and I do mean everything....true examples from the last couple of days....
Shy:"Mom what are you doing?"
Mom:"Reading my magazine, did you need something?"
Shy:"No I was just wandering what you were doing in here by yourself."
Mom:"Ok well, now you know. Did you want to come get a book and read with me?"
Shy:"Yeah...mom what is this for (lifting up a perfume bottle)?"
Mom:"It's so I smell good." (mom goes back to reading)
Shy:"How do they make it?"
Mom:"I don't know remind me later and we'll google it!" (mom goes back to reading)
Shy:"What is this?"
Mom:(looking up from her magazine again)"It's make-up."
Shy:"This is make-up....What kind of make-up?"
Mom:"It's foundation I put it on before anything else to make my skin look good."
Shy:"Why?"
Mom:"I guess I just want to look my best."
Shy:"Why?"
Mom:"I don't know I guess I'm vain."

Now keep in mind by this time I'm really just wanting to get back to my reading, so I make the mistake of answering a question with a word my daughter may or may not understand hence my mistake....I left the door open to yet another question....I will spare you the rest of this conversation just know I have yet to finish reading that article, and the conversation lasted at least another 20 mins.

I dropped her off with her dad today...I've called her once since I dropped her off, but I've been dying to talk to her all day....silly mom! Though the quiet is nice....I totally miss my girl like crazy!


Finally me....I'm doing great I'm missing my family, but I'm totally not taking them for granted either, absence has that effect! I am packing....still....not as aggressively as I once was, but I am still pluggin away at it....I cannot wait to be done with the move settled in and enjoying our new house....well new to us!! we still have a ton of stuff to do before the move actually takes place....and it looks like BigDaddy will be out of town working....again during the move, but once it is all done....the complete and utter joy of it all being done will wash over me like waves of absolute satisfaction! I'm pretty excited! Shy has camp in July...Girl Scout that is....volley-ball camp was earlier this month...I took some awesome pics that I can't wait to scrap....after the move....my scrap supplies are all packed away....for now....after the move I will have an entire scrap room....not just a space or an area....an entire room....color me tickled pink! Anywho...so this year at G.S. camp Shy will be going by herself....it will be the first time she's been to overnight camp....I am a little freaked out, but being an admitted overly protected and overbearing mother I think it will be good for her....and me....a reluctant me, but yes me as well. We also have Shy's birthday and Mall madness the same day....Shy's birthday theme will be flip-flop's this year....I have all kinds of flip-flop related arts and crafts and giveaways....all to be done while were locked in the mall!! I'm really excited last year at mall madness, we discovered it was the perfect opportunity to get an entire new school and fall wardrobe....the sales are incredible...they get to get rid of stock and we get to cash in....most of the clothes are fall, or summer....but I think that's perfect...we usually buy everything a bit big and Shy is still wearing this summer clothes we bought her at mall madness last summer....Of course their will also be the crafts projects I have for the girls to do and cake....I am nixing the ice-cream, but I am planning of having a 3 tierd....wedding cake style cake...should be fabulous!


Well I think that pretty much catches everyone up on all our going's on....we'll talk to you all soon...Blessed BE!

Change.....

I was talking to a very young friend tonight when I found myself admitting something to her...I hate change...I told her....I am better at it 'cuse I'm older and unfortunately increase in age is the cause of much change....but I still hate it...now don't misunderstand...I appreciate change...I understand it....hell I've even asked for it....yearned for it....implored it to come....yet it always seems it's a long time into the new before I get my feet back in a comfortable place....before my level of confidence is fully restored. After our talk I began to think....nay....ponder this query....why am I so totally wanton of change yet still so fearful of it.... is this something we grow out of in time or is this a personality trait like....always being the class clown or being a rejection junkie....I wander if the changes in my life have been more toward the negative than the positive....perhaps that's why I am still so uneasy about it. For instance I have had a book in my head since I was in my twenties....now although I have always had superior maturity to my peers of age....even I didn't have the stability to actually write it in my twenties....this book has come up again and again lately....I've had dreams about it...I have daydreamed and seen myself writing it....I know I have the talent to write it I know if I did it well it would go somewhere....at least that's what I tell myself....so why haven't I done it...I'm scared when I write it...well what if it's all that's kept my head full all these years...what will happen to my inner thoughts when the story is actually out on paper and not inside me anymore...I have turned to this memoir for everything from something to do when I'm in the line at the grocery store to using it as a mental sanctuary during times of horror. Even as I write this blog entry I know it sounds nuts and a weak reason but it's simply just the idea of change. A change of internal thought. Oh I don't know. I'm at this time in my life once again hoping for change...once again imploring it to come into being....maybe....just maybe....this time I won't have as long an adjustment time as I have had in the past....maybe...hopefully!

Our Wonderful Day!

Oh we had such a wonderful day! We started by going shopping....what great day doesn't begin this way! We got Shy a new swim suit...It's too adorable....and very patriotic I might add....she also got three really great outfits! In large part to BigDaddy who was working the floor while I handled the dressing room....after doing things like shopping for her clothes and swimsuits by myself for so long I had never realized how wonderful it could be to have help....anyone who knows me knows I am not one of those...spend all day in the store or five different stores finding three really great outfits...kinda girl. I am much happier going in getting lucky and getting out. Today was a dream shopping trip for me...she choose three suits we tried them all on and told her to pick her favorite...it literally took 15mins to get the suit...Whoo Hoo...then she tried on three pairs of pants so we knew what size to go after and away we went a quick stop on the way out for a new pair of flip flops to match the new suit...a summer must have...and we were on our way!! Voila...my idea of a perfect and successful shopping trip!

Then my part of the day....for Easter this year we got Shy a gift card for a pedi and mani...one of her most favorite activities in the world...however she was grounded on Easter and for weeks afterward...part of the now infamous...we can walk anywhere we want to even if we were told no and no one knows were going or where were going incident....the first weekend she was ungrounded she was with her father and the next weekend J came and stayed for the weekend, so we finally got to it this weekend....It was amazing I just love my ultimate pedi....the massage chair, the warm water, my mp3 in my ear, the massage, the hot rocks, the warm towel, the scratchy rubby stuff, the exotic and intoxicating smell of the lotions, the finale of the uber cute toes...ahhhh I can not tell you how happy this simply yet luxurious act makes me feel...I believe pedi's are proof the Goddess loves us and wants us to be happy. Shy was right next to me getting her pedi on as well she was sooo cute she kept looking over at me and then laying her head back and closing her eyes....she was really getting into it...I love that my girl knows these kind of small yet wonderful little pleasures of life....her future husband in screwed!

Then our nails I went with a totally unlike me color and I am quite happy with it! BigDaddy described it as too bubble gum like for me....it's not bubble gum color it's darker but it is a bit lighter than I usually go...my usual is black...so I was thrilled that I liked the way it looked. I have been doing my nails so long I see it more as maintenance than a sheer joy but when Shy is with me her excitement is catching...so even simple maintenance was relaxing and joyful today.

After our spa session we headed off to spend some attention on BigDaddy who can be even worse to shop for than Shy. Unlike the norm this also went really well and in about 30mins we were out the door. We got home after visiting some friends. Shy was quite bored and asked me to play a game with her....a Hannah Montana CD game. I being the attentive and fun loving mom that I am agreed....so after I did some quick updates on my many blogs and scrap sites, I sat down and began the game before this thing was over I was dancing to Hannah Montana music like I was a ballerina, singing Hannah Montana with Shy as a duet as loud as possible and acting out words such as paparazzi and band! Shy was thrilled and I am never above making myself look like an ass to impress my kid! We had a wonderful dinner....discussing our days and the upcoming inevitable leaving of BigDaddy. Then decided we would start a game of Monopoly on Sun. that should take us through Mon.

So all in all it really was an incredibly wonderful day...while Shy nor I are looking forward to BigDaddy being gone I'm glad were a strong enough family unit that we make the most of the time we have. Even though all is not rosy all the time days like today remind me to keep loving, laughing, singing, and cherishing this most precious of all our many blessings....Each Other!

The last day.

It's the last day of school and while I don't get upset and cry about it, I do get somewhat sentimental and mushy. The last day that means another year has gone by. That means Summer is here, it's time for trips to the pool, weekends at the lake, volleyball camp, volleyball, Girl Scout camp, mall madness, Shy's birthday and a tentatively planned family vacation. I look back at the friends she's had since kindergarten, the new one's she made this year. The strides and bounds she made with her grades. She fabulous school pictures. I get kinda sad. I have always been told that once they start school the time just flies by. It has. I can remember her first day of preschool. I remember her excitement over learning to tie her shoes the summer before kindergarten. How much we have appreciated the teachers she's been blessed enough to have. How much she has matured and grown in the last year. It's over, a whole other year....gone with wind....I remember her first day of school this year. The fights over homework and spelling words. The peanut butter and jelly sandwiches I've made for every field trip. The groundings as she tried to spread her wings, sometimes a little to far. The arguments over what she couldn't wear. The class projects we were up till midnight helping her get ready for. It's the last day.

She walked out of the house this morning armed with her usual last day supplies. A cheap disposable camera, so she can take pics of whatever and whoever she wants....scrap media for the summer. She also had a bottle of chocolate fudge in her hand. Her teacher is serving ice cream today and invited the kids to bring a topping. I can remember she learned she didn't like pizza day in the cafeteria. I can remember it's the first year she didn't have to be moved seats because she was constantly talking to her neighbor. She learned who Rosa Parks was. She learned what "Gay" means. She learned if you take off walking from a friends house after you've been told no, you will sit in your room and read for a month. She learned to like reading. She learned it's ok if mommy and Big Daddy fight sometimes....no one's gonna leave. She learned....so much.

I do get sentimental. Every last day brings her closer to the end of her school career. It brings her closer to the day when she'll leave and not come back for a long time....perhaps ever, other than for visits. I have watched the year in fast forward. I have watched her prove she can not only do well, but she can exceed expectations. I have watched her fall in "like" with 3 different boys this year and learn to deal when one of them "liked" a friend of hers. She had to deal with friends lying to and about her this year. I watched her handle these "friends" with grace, fairness, and forgiveness. Last year people started telling me how much her personality was coming out, how she seemed to be coming out of her shell and maturing. I'm ashamed to say I didn't notice it till it was pointed out. I see it now. I see her sense of style coming into being. I see her learn to combine her sense of style with what I am willing to allow. I've seen her and Big Daddy come to love each other over the course of the last year even more than before. I've seen her see her father for what he really is and while she didn't have the heart to tell him herself she did have the intelligence to know she had to tell us what was hurting and making her so angry.

My darling girl this is the last day of school. It's the 5th last day of school we've been through. This one seems somehow to be turning point. like your shaking off the last bit of down and growing into the feathers you will someday use to fly away with. Next year the school politics will be even more dramatic and dire. You will have perhaps just one or two "boyfriends" and they will be oh so serious. You will begin to choose friends who are more like you, you may even loose one's you have had up to this point. I am so proud of you. I'm proud of your strength, courage, fairness, forgiveness, beauty, intelligence. You make me proud to be blessed enough to call myself your mother. Have a wonderful last day, enjoy, their will be more to come and with them first days. I love you.

In my next life.

In my next life....I will be less serious
In my next life....I will talk less and listen more
In my next life....I will have more children
In my next life....I will not settle for less than I want
In my next life....I will not be a product of my environment
In my next life....I will allow myself to hate with good reason
In my next life....I will work harder to keep my friendships good
In my next life....I will not make judgments on other people
In my next life....I will be more intellectual
In my next life....I will be more involved
In my next life....I will watch the news
In my next life....I will be an outside girl
In my next life....I will be more forgiving
In my next life....I will sing karaoke
In my next life....I will write a bestselling novel
In my next life....I will wear high heels a lot
In my next life....I will be a photographer
In my next life....I will be a world traveler
In my next life....I will still be in love with my husband
In my next life....I will still have my daughter as my first born
In my next life....I will keep in better touch with my family
In my next life....I will be a protector for all things unprotected
In my next life....I will be nicer
In my next life....I will live somewhere tropical...at least sometimes
In my next life....I will be tanner
In my next life....I will be thinner
In my next life....I will be more there

My Quiz results

You Are a Marilyn!




You are a Marilyn -- "I am affectionate and skeptical."


Marilyns are responsible, trustworthy, and value loyalty to family, friends, groups, and causes. Their personalities range broadly from reserved and timid to outspoken and confrontative.







How to Get Along with Me
* Be direct and clear
* Listen to me carefully
* Don't judge me for my anxiety
* Work things through with me
* Reassure me that everything is OK between us
* Laugh and make jokes with me
* Gently push me toward new experiences
* Try not to overreact to my overreacting.




What I Like About Being a Marilyn
* being committed and faithful to family and friends
* being responsible and hardworking
* being compassionate toward others
* having intellect and wit
* being a nonconformist
* confronting danger bravely
* being direct and assertive




What's Hard About Being a Marilyn
* the constant push and pull involved in trying to make up my mind
* procrastinating because of fear of failure; having little confidence in myself
* fearing being abandoned or taken advantage of
* exhausting myself by worrying and scanning for danger
* wishing I had a rule book at work so I could do everything right
* being too critical of myself when I haven't lived up to my expectations




Marilyns as Children Often
* are friendly, likable, and dependable, and/or sarcastic, bossy, and stubborn
* are anxious and hypervigilant; anticipate danger
* form a team of "us against them" with a best friend or parent
* look to groups or authorities to protect them and/or question authority and rebel
* are neglected or abused, come from unpredictable or alcoholic families, and/or take on the fearfulness of an overly anxious parent




Marilyns as Parents
* are often loving, nurturing, and have a strong sense of duty
* are sometimes reluctant to give their children independence
* worry more than most that their children will get hurt
* sometimes have trouble saying no and setting boundaries