Mothers and Sons

Poem: "Son at Seventeen" by Francette Cerulli from The Spirits Need to Eat.

Son at Seventeen
My son, an expert by overexposure,
recognizes the song before I do,
the best one of the year
about how sex is good for everybody.
This large man who was a boy a year ago
cranks up the radio till the car
is a bulging capsule of sound,
heavy on the bass.
As he drives, he sings every word loudly,
with cellular belief.
He will have it all, give it all in his time, probably soon.
My heart begins to vibrate dangerously
at the lowest frequencies.
Tonight I feel old enough to be mother to a man.
I mime my fear to him,
My hand on my chest, my eyes wide.
I can feel it in my chest, I scream.
He stops singing long enough to nod,
Delighted that I have noticed.
It gets better, he yells.

***
Lately I've been thinking about how one's life can change according to a)if you have children, b)if you have a girl and a boy, c)if you have only girls, and d) if you have only boys.
So I will be the mother of two boys. I'll be the first female in their lives, the most important one (I like to think). While giving Luke a bath the other night I asked, "Will you let Mama pick out all your girlfriends?" He said yes. I will have to remind him of this promise one day.
I read an excerpt from the book Between Mothers and Sons yesterday and it really did something to me. I must read the whole book. Go and read their excerpt if you have a chance. Other books I want to read are on the Amazon list--Raising Cain: Protecting the Emotional Lives of Boys, Strong Mothers, Strong Sons: Raising the Next Generation of Men, and Speaking of Boys: Answers to the Most Asked Questions About Raising Sons.

I could try to be "profound" and write more on on this subject, I know, and hopefully I will one day...but I'm sick today. Luke seems to be getting better and my body is congested and fever-y. Fun fun! Off to watch yet another day of Noggin.

Maybe this will make my male students want to read?? Babes With Books
A site Chris will find amusing: Cute Girls in Stupid SunGlasses
Perhaps half the reason for Sanjaya's "success"? (The other half being 12 year old girls)

Thursday

I'm playing nursemaid this week it seems. Luke came home yesterday sick with a fever and nose problems. It was a long night, getting up with him several times for more medicine to knock the fever down...obviously I'm home today. Two days ago Chris had the ick--I'd rarely seen him that sick before. He was BURNING UP and sleeping all day. Scary stuff.

I suppose I'm next after my men get better.

Anyone watch Lost last night? Thoughts? I liked the ending, but the rest was eh..
Wednesday nights are good--Friday Night Lights, American Idol (sometimes), and Lost.

A student whipped out a photo of my student in his casket yesterday. I was really pissed off about it. She didn't know any better I guess, but a)I think it's ignorant to take pics of people in their casket and b)the reason I didn't go to the funeral was because I didn't want to have that image in my head. Thanks a lot. Ugh.

My other baby! (Not the snake, silly, the magazine!)

Isn't that cool? One of my students drew that. He's excited to be in the magazine because he doesn't get a lot of attention for anything positive. I'm excited too! Hopefully it will go to the publisher for real printing at the end of the week! Say a prayer that we get the extra funding that we need from the powers that be!

If anyone wants to purchase one, let me know!

Random

RANKING
My son's ranking system of superheroes as of today:
1. Spiderman
2. Batman
3. Superman "Spacerman" (I have no idea why he calls him that) (PS Crystal, I'm sure Daniel would be disappointed in this ranking.)

SOAKED
Today he got in trouble at his inhome daycare because he turned on the hose outside and drenched all the other kids. Thanks Pawpaw for teaching him that trick! :) Mrs P's husband, "How did he know how to do that?"

BIGNESS
I'm getting huge. Just thought I'd tell you.

BOREDOM
Dancing with the Stars is kind of boring and...long.
I'm totally tired of Anna Nicole.

NEXT TIME ON THE AMAZING RACE!!!!
Here's what you would see/hear if Chris and I were on The Amazing Race:
My husband getting mad or annoyed at me for:
1. Wanting a nap "But I'm so tired!"
2. Wanting a snack "But I'm so hungry!"
3. Trying to find a place to check my email
4. Stopping to take pictures "I'll never be in Thailand again, Chris!"
5. Wanting to shop at junk markets. "It's only a DOLLAR!"
6. In response to him blowing his fuse, saying, "Let's have a GOOD day today."
7. In response to something not working out, saying, "It'll all work out."
8. Saying, "But I'm just so OVERWHELMED!"

You would also see the following:
1. Chris wearing AU gear.
2. A montage of Chris pootin' (hilarity would ensue)
3. Reactions of terrified bystanders
4. Jen wearing shirts like "Ponies are Pretty"
5. Chris stealing all the other clues from the box and getting in trouble
6. Jen finally squeezing Chris's face in frustration.

I guess we'd better never go on The Amazing Race.

Chris, while watching an Indian making a dreamcatcher on Blue's Clues:

"Dreamcatchers are a complete scam. I wouldn't want that crappy widget."

What do you think is a complete scam? (Asked in my teacher-voice)

3 Movies

We've seen three movies lately thanks to our buddy Netflix. Here are my quick reviews...
The Departed--I really liked it and Chris did too. Luckily we had to pause it many times to get Luke back in bed, get him milk, change his diaper, etc. We also had moments where we said, "Wait a minute. Pause." And then we'd question each other, "Did this just happen? Okay. Go ahead." I couldn't have seen this movie in the movie theatre because I would have been either confused or really annoying. I thought Leonardo Dicaprio was hot stuff in here. I wanted his bod. As Dora's backpack would say, "Yum Yum Yum Yum! Delicioso!"

Last night we saw two movies--Idiocracy and Marie Antoinette.
Idiocracy is a Mike Judge movie and we thought it would be as good as Office Space. Wrong. While there were some funny moments at the beginning, we got bored bored bored as we sludged through the middle and finally just turned it off.

Chris was worried when I told him Marie Antoinette was next. I think he thought, "Jen's broken my no powdered wig movie rule." I told him this one was different. "It's all like, rock and roll or something."

He endured it. We both liked the "prettiness" of the movie--a lot of eye candy. I learned a lot about Marie A--after checking online, I realized that Sofia Coppola went right by the book with it, even though I thought, "That surely didn't happen, right?" (Especially concerning the public birthing of the first kid.) I adored the soundtrack. When a Cure song started playing, I was thinking, "That's not...yes, it is! Wow!" (I was like a dork gushing over this song while Chris rolled his eyes a little at me---he never has liked the Cure.)

Prayer Request

Please say a prayer for the family of Anthony S. Anthony was a student in my class this year. He was only 17. This past Tuesday he was playing on a rope swing on a river and a freak accident happened. I'm still not real sure about the details, but somehow he drowned.

He was such a good kid; he had the highest average in my fifth period class and was also a very talented artist. We had already selected his art to be on the cover and in the literary magazine. I'm so glad I bragged on him last week. He seemed so pleased. Do you know he even turned in his research paper early to get his twenty extra points? Bless his heart. I felt sick to my stomach when I reached into my research paper basket and pulled his out, with "A Plus PLEASE!" written on the outside manilla envelope.

Here are two pieces of Anthony's artwork.

Name Game

Okay, so today we aren't feeling the "Jacob/Jake" name thing, since it's so incredibly common...
Here are some others we threw around. Get any good feelings on any of these? Think of it with our last name too and see what you think.

Alexander
Nicholas/Nick
Reed
Landon
William/Will
Chandler
Henry
Jesse
Caleb
Pax (that's a joke)

Don't be negative/keep it positive. You'll feel weird if we choose the one you swore you hated! :)
Jen: "How about Simon?"
Chris: "Simon's a nerd name. It's also Simon Cowell...SIMON! It's also a chipmunk's name."
He doesn't like some of my favorite names at all---Jonah/Noah/Aidan. :(

Concerning Your Bushes and Being Reasonable

One of the funny things people do on Freecycle is reply to all or forward to all, for some reason. Sometimes I read them and today's error was a true gem. Enjoy.

Subject: Re: [Freecycle ********] TAKEN: AZALEA BUSHES
Virginia, I am dissappointed in not getting all nine of them. I wanted to plant them on my property line and I would work with you on getting them if you had not given them to the lady from Troy. I am at work but I feel like leaving work and getting them now. I just work off Perry Hill Road. But Idon't want to loose my job over the bushes. Sorry you could not wait untilI get off today. I did not get your email until this morning and I called as soon as I could. Please give me your street and house number so I canget them soon. I will let the manager of this website know how I was treated in this matter. You have not been reasonable with me on getting your bushes. I am very sorry about it too. Carol

Quite the shopper

A few funny things about this receipt from yesterday.

1. This was right after the incident with the rude woman. (Hence, notice what solace I turned to.)

2. I swear to you I did not buy a dinosaur's ass for my son.

3. By the way, it was Dutch Chocolate Blue Bell. Sue me.

I just realized tonight that that's Claire Danes in the Gap commercial...Awesome.

Bed Advice

Okay. We are turning the guest room into the new baby's room and we still want a place for people to sleep if they spend the night. Really the only people who spend the night with us are Casey and Meg, and I think they will be cool with these choices, but I still need some guidance.

Okay,
should we get a simple daybed with trundle?
should we go ahead and get a bunkbed (and move the ladder right now) since the boys will eventually use one?
should we get a futon couch thingy?
should we put a hideaway bed/couch thing in there?

Help!

ALSO, if you live in the area and want to sell one of those items to us, contact me.

Ugh.

I just got back from delivering my literary magazine thing to the copy shop. While there, one of the employees, a pinched-faced snobby looking woman, kept giving me and Luke the evil eye--especially when the man helping us was not around. I couldn't figure out why she was being so rude--even when I stared back directly at her like, "What???" she kept the same stony face.

Was she upset that Luke was touching things? He wasn't destroying anything or hurting anything. I swear to you. He was touching cards and naming them, "Frog" etc.

She was staring at Luke and me like we were the poo on the bottom of her shoes, like "look at that kid with the crazy hair (yes he needs a haircut) whose pregnant mama is letting run wild"...(he wasn't that bad). Why would someone be so deliberately assy?

It really hurt my feelings. I haven't encountered such a direct bitchy attitude in a while. If I go back there and she's there, and she's rude again, I'm gonna have to remind her, "B****, you work as a cashier at a copy place. Who do you think you are?"

Any other moms have experiences like this?

It's a...

Take a guess.

You sure?

It's a...

I love this ultrasound. Look at him.

Just look at him--sleeping on his side

all snuggly.

While I was getting this ultrasound done, Luke kept grabbing my foot, trying to yank me off the table.

Ideas for bathing suits. Just for you.

Sunday Comics

Two Things I Never Thought I'd Hear Myself Say:
"Son, don't put your feet in my food!"
(We were sitting on the couch and he kept trying to insert his dirty feet onto my plate.)

"Grab your nipple and let's go!"
(I've been going through boxes and bags from the attic of baby stuff and Luke plucked a bottle nipple from a box and has not let it go for days. He's walking around like it's a pacifier, acting like a baby. I said this when I was trying to get him out of our bedroom and into the den with me.)

A van I can't believe ever existed...

A Prank, A Pair of Tongs, a Walk, and Dancin'!

This is Chris's latest find on the internet: The Sit Up Prank. (NSFW) Try my favorite video of the week. It's much nicer and just plain happy!

In other news, Luke is walking around the house with a pair of tongs, picking up one item after another, trying to pinch Frank with them, and coming dangerously close to my face with them. Nice. I guess I could just take them away from him, but he looks like he's having so much fun...





In still other news, I saw the end to A Walk to Remember today for the first time. Talk about tear-jerker...AND implausibility...hmph. That boy wouldn't have changed like that. Just my pessimistic opinion. Your thoughts? However, I really like the character's name--Landon.

It's Pee Your Pants Excitement!

These were taken two weeks ago when we went to AU to visit Jennie and Dan. Sweet, huh?
In other updates, I now have to pee about a zillion times a day because this baby sits on my bladder constantly. I sneezed today due to allergies and something really weird happened that I don't really want to get into...but let's say it is a pregnancy trademark...yeah. Must be more likely in second pregs? Anyway...Nice.

Update on Mr. Bob next door. The man is still alive and kickin'. Luke likes to go see "Bob! Bob!" all the time. Now that it's spring, or springish, the old man is sitting out on his porch more and waving at us. His caregivers get louder and louder every month, thinking that they need to holler and carry on at 9 at night when the shift changes...right under Luke's window...sigh. Don't think I'll be saying anything or leaving any notes. I did learn a few things from neighbor hell of 2003/04...

Update on children's movies: I've been watching Hercules for the first time ever. I'm liking it. I like the "go the distance" song. Luke loves Hercules, though he calls him "Tercehculees" (sounds faintly dirty).

Update on school: spring break next week. I'm soooo glad. Research papers and my "students" are driving me CRAZY.

I can't wait to find out what we are having...Monday!!!!!!!! I know you are on the edge of your seat too! Don't pee!

English teachers will love this one...

Google Lit Trips! Cool!

Sharp Lookin People...

Check out these adorable pics from last weekend. Casey, Meg, and Dylan were in a wedding. Dylan didn't look too happy to be all dressed up in a tux!

Post Secret

I had noticed this secret on Postsecret the other day too; thought it was funny that it grabbed others' attention. I wonder who the baby daddy truly is. Your guess? (Mine is Ryan Phillipe cuz she put him in the center and Reese would not like that too much...)

PS Be sure to read the comments that follow the link.

A funny.

Go read this. I was in pain from laughing.

Baby in Belly

Jen: "Look, there's a baby in my belly."

Luke: "Baby in my belly too!" (Shows us)

Finally

A belly shot. Me at 16 weeks

Yes, I'm 20 weeks now. You'll get that pic in a month I guess. ;)

Luke and Andrew, the little visitor

Our friends Jamie (go say hey) and Jason came over yesterday for lunch and brought the adorable five-month-old Andrew. Luke was noticeably jealous about the baby and especially when I held the baby. He started trying to show off for our guest, running and jumping like crazy. I tried to get him involved with Andrew and he brought over his new Batman action figure to show to him. "Batman!" Luke didn't like that Andrew wanted to play with the pull-the-string truck that vibrates and rocks. "Mine..." Luke whispered. "We share, sweetie..."

When we sat down at the table Luke put his head on my arm and whispered, "You're my mama." I just hugged him and told him what a big boy he was and how much I loved him.
After a while, when Jamie fed Andrew in Luke's rocker and I played with Luke with his trains, the baby seemed to grow on Luke. He got upset when he had to leave. He enjoyed rubbing his little head of hair. "Soft!"

A few hours later, Luke crawled up in my lap and started acting like a baby, acting like he wanted a bottle and wahhhing like a baby. So funny. Anyone have any ideas on making sure things go smoothly when Luke's brother or sister arrives this summer? We are already talking about the baby, but not too much. I also don't blame "the baby" for being tired and not being able to play as much with him (I read this causes resentment early). And of course, we do the whole "big brother" thing with him. I can already tell I'm gonna miss Luke when I'm at the hospital and I worry how he's gonna take all this change in his life. I guess pretty typical fears.

Whoop!!! Hair it Is...

At the lunchtable recently we were discussing our eighties hair. I described this particular look and called it my "Oceanspray fall".

Whoosh! It took forever to get it like that. And the hardness. Oooh, you could touch it and HURT yourself, son.

School Days

Yesterday one of my students told me that one of the ATM robbers/students got out on bond. (Not the one waving and shooting the gun at people. His bond is set VERY high.) Another student in the class thought that meant that he paid money and never has to go back to jail, that the whole thing is behind him now. Like he bought his way out. Ha. Right, kid. I had to expain the whole way things are to her. Lordy.

Bananas were served at lunch yesterday and a couple of girls in the lunchroom entertained male students at the tables by showing off how big their mouths were, if you know what I'm saying. Gross. How do you teach kids to have enough respect for themselves not to do crap like that??? You can't--that's primarily a PARENT's job. You can't typically change this type of behavior once they are in senior high.

In positive news, my school raised 600 dollars in about an hour last week for Enterprise victims. That impressed me.

We are doing the graduation exam thing this week so the whole school has to stop regular business and stuff. I finished getting all the stuff typed in for the literary magazine, and hope to match artwork with it today in the artroom. Send good vibes that we don't run into any hitches with anything (especially financial stuff).

See ya.

No thanks. I see a tragedy looming. Maybe it's just that I need my anti-anxiety meds. ;)

Astronut Case

Here's a question: How come Shipman's personal email got broadcast to the world when she wasn't doing anything wrong? Am I wrong here? Novak wanted to break up two single people and the guy's girlfriend's email message gets put on Fox News? Craziness. That's just not right.

Random Luke today

This morning, woke up Luke:
"Time to get up, Luker."
"Go awayyyyyy..." Turned back over and pulled covers back on him.
Nice.

While I am scrapbooking with Luke:
Luke: "Gimme glue stick."
Me: "Say please."
Luke: "Please."
Me: "Please what?"
Luke: "Please what."
I just laughed at that one.

Calls up to his daddy who is in the attic, "You alright, Dada???"

Comes up to me, announces, "Baby sister coming, Mama."
"Really?"
"Uh HUH!" Runs off.

We'll see...

Computers, Kickball, and Church!

This has been quite the weekend for getting off our butts! Well, after Friday night of course. Friday night, our "movie night", was good. We finally watched Prairie Home Companion after having it sit on the TV for 2 weeks or so. It was okay. Different. I don't know what I expected, but it was not quite that. I was surprised Chris sat through it with me, as it seemed very Capri-movie to me (and yes, it did play there) and he actually enjoyed it. We especially liked Woody Harrellson and John C. Reilly's Lefty and Dusty. Lindsay Lohan had a smaller role than I thought she would have, and that was okay, since she makes me wanna puke. Although I loved the whole "She stuck a hose in his tailpipe!!!!!" part. Heh heh. The last movie we watched was The Last Seduction from back when. It's one of my all time favorites which makes me seem quite sick, I realize. But hey, it's a different kind of movie. I just love the female character and how take charge she is, even if I would and could never be that way. I like that, Peter Berg, and the way the money she "came into" gave her so much freedom. Plus, of course, the rather cool ending. See it if you haven't so far. It's a little dirty, but not too bad.

Our next movie will be The Departed. I hope it's as good as everyone says it is.

Saturday we headed to AU to spend some time with Jennie, Dan, and PJ at their home. Chris helped Dan with some computer issues while PJ tried to entertain Luke.
"He has such a short attention span!" PJ told us, exasperated after an hour. Bless his heart. He gave Luke all kinds of presents to keep him occupied, but he was ready for new challenges soon after getting all the toys.
"Welcome to two-year-olds!" We told him.
After eating a million pounds of salsa and chips, Jennie, PJ, Luke, and I headed outside to watch the neighborhood kids play kickball in the cul-de-sac. It was a beautiful afternoon and the neighborhood was so nice and quiet and so well mannered that I didn't worry too much about Luke running around with them. This is how people SHOULD live. Just a beautiful neighborhood. The kids were sweet to Luke, never getting mad when he tried to steal bases...literally...he would pick up the Frisbees they were using as bases and throw them. He seemed to get a real thrill from hanging out with older children and I watched and smiled from the curb. Every now and then he'd come sit beside me and stroke my hair, shout "GO!!!" at the other kids, and then race off again. Good food and friends later that night. Fantastic.

And hey, this morning, we went to church. Yes friends, we attended a house of worship. Amazing, huh? :) Chris's co-worker was getting his first shot at doing a sermon so we went to check that out and also check out the church. We liked it and plan on trying it again next week. Luke even liked his little 2-3 year old room, you know, after much crying and gnashing of teeth... I asked him how he liked it i and said he had new friends. Awww...

After church we had a nice lunch at The Olive Garden and Luke actually stayed in his chair. That was amazing in itself. So anyway, we had a fantastic, busy, and well, blessed weekend. How about that?

Also, we feel at peace with some decisions we have been making about the future and it feels GOOD. Just had to get that out!

I Located Her!

After an hour of web sleuthing, I found my ole college buddy Shondra. Here are some recent pics of her and her daughter and one of us from 97. If any other mutual friends would like her contact info, email me and I'll send it your way!

PS She's not in Enterprise anymore so she's safe.

It really shouldn't take a natural disaster for me to locate old friends...right Jason? :)

Must be in the air

You know, young people robbing banks. I honestly don't know what to make of this one. Two beautiful girls with lives ahead of them...putting on sunglasses and robbing a bank? Huh? Then laughing?

Bet they aren't laughing anymore.

In Like a Lion...

Well it's March 1 and we have tornadoes in Alabama. If you are not from around here, you've probably seen the video---especially from Enterprise and the high school there. Ugh. Very disturbing. I find myself wondering about a college friend who teaches there with her husband now...hope they are okay. Haven't talked with her for years, but I still wonder.

Bad weather really freaks me out. Just ask Chris. While I huddle in the hallway with Luke and pillows, he's usually watching TV (non weather stuff) or is checking out football forums. He thinks I over-react to the sirens. I just think it's better to be safe than sorry. A few weeks ago I cleaned out the hall closet and sat in there with Luke and he thought that was a real hoot. If I weren't pregnant, I would have been sippin' on some of Grandma's cough medicine, if you know what I mean.

I left work a little early when my inclusion teacher told me she'd take care of things and I picked up Luke. As I headed his way, I drove carefully in the rain, saying things like, "Slow and steady wins the race." Where the hell did I get that saying? When did I turn eighty years old?

I knocked on P's door and the first thing I saw, besides P, was Luke on his cot.
"Hi Mama," he said, "This is my cot."
"Really? I like your cot!"
"Going home?" He asks with a grin.
"Yes. You wanna go home with Mama?"
"Yes. Get my shoes..." He went straight to where his Diego shoes were.

We laughed out in the rain as we got in the car and headed home. The sirens have been on and off all day and I'm tired of watching the fancy Doppler radar. I hope Entertainment Tonight won't be cancelled because of this crap. You know I need updates on Anna Nicole's pink funeral plans.

I am one sick puppy.