FRIDAY HIGH FIVE

Time for Friday High Five!

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Make a list of 5 things ~ ANY five things you want! 5 favorite things, Top 5 Vacation spots, 5 most embarrassing moments, 5 favorite pics, 5 reasons to not pick your nose......A LIST OF ANYTHING YOU WANT IT TO BE!

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Post about it, linking back to me then sign Mr. Linky!Please use the Friday High Five URL post in Mr. Linky's URL section instead of your blog URL and here is how: write the post, publish the post, go to edit posts, VIEW the High Five post, copy the URL in the address portion at the top of the screen then paste it in the URL section of Mr.Linky!!

Sounds complicated but it isn't too bad! If you need help, let me know in the comment section!

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Have fun!

I had this post done and planned on reading through it again this morning before posting (since I was typing into the wee hours) when low and behold the internet would NOT WORK! Why? Only Cox knows and they aren't even sure!! Hopefully by the time I make it home after going to see my friend's new baby, my internet will be working again. I had to stop by my work to get this published ~ not an addict at all! If I do not comment today, then just know it is only because the internet is still not working!

5 REALIZATIONS FROM THIS WEEK

5. I am unsure if anyone in the house can read besides me! I wrote a note ON the lid to the hot dog container in the refrigerator saying:

If you can NOT shut the lid, then you can NOT eat the hot dogs!

Literally, I grabbed a sharpie and wrote it ON the lid!

Pretty straightforward if you ask me but are they shutting the lid ~ NO!

I will remedy this problem by no longer buying the nasty things!

4. For some reason I think I failed to read the entire contract when we bought the house. THIS house is not self cleaning!! Hmmm...I really should have researched that aspect a little more. I totally should have researched self cleaning hardwoods like I would a stove! Self-mopping hardwoods would rock!!

3. No one in my house can load a dishwasher correctly except for me. After a few years of complaining about Hubs dishwasher loading skills, I ceased. I decided at least he was putting them in there and trying although a very sad attempt. Instead of complaining, I resorted to a quick 30 second loading overhaul before starting. I just don't get it! I used to say, "Why aren't these in the dishwasher too?" while pointing to dishes in the sink. He would reply with, "because it is full!" I then would open the dishwasher to see the ever so full top rack aka FOUR CEREAL BOWLS SPREAD APART AS IF CARRYING DISEASES then begin to rearrange. UGH! Four bowls ~ are you freaking kidding me?!?! After Tez came to live with us, he acquired a chore list that I strongly believe every child should have. One of his regular chores is to load and unload the dishwasher. I've discovered the dishwasher skills must be genetic. Tez puts things in the oddest places when he unloads. It has been about a year and a half and he still puts things in random cabinets. Then IF he reloads the washer he'll only do plates, utensils and bowls. Forget it if there are pots, pans, mixing bowls or measuring cups!! So the other day after seeing his genetic case of the four-bowl-full-top-rack-disease I said to him, "Since the day you came to live here you have been unloading the dishwasher, correct?" Tez, "Yes!" I respond with, "Then if you see the way it is loaded EVERY. SINGLE. TIME. you unload it, why can't you load it that very same way!?!?! And don't just load the dishes you want ~ load them ALL!" Seriously people it drives me nuts!! If you unload the dishwasher almost daily, then you should see how the dishes are placed and be able to load them in that same manner!

2. I think I might need to be studied. For some queer reason, I believe I can gain weight JUST by looking or even thinking about food! Hey some call it denial, some call it an excuse but I think I might just be a freak of nature. I just seem to be getting bigger and NO I am NOT pregnant!!

#1

While over at Jenners reading her post on Men, I laughed because it is just a man thing. For years, I have called this inability to look "MAN EYES". Most, not all, men I know don't know how to look. I don't mean open a cabinet or drawer and look in that direction. I mean LOOK! Looking may involve moving objects or bending down. I laughed really hard while reading her post and finding the bread myself in .2seconds and said, "Oh Jenners man has a bad case of man eyes today!" I did not laugh so hard when I thought to myself that maybe Man Eyes is universal and {insert scary music} genetic! {insert bad actress in a scary movie screaming while running through the woods chased by a mass murderer ~ why do they do that?} While getting ready the next morning, Isaiah was.....well let's go with "not motivated"......SO I tried to motivate him by saying, "WE are leaving! Good bye! Don't go outside while you are home alone today!" I tiptoe into his room where he is crying "I can't find my other shoe!" He has one shoe on and tears streaming down his cute little face when I see his shoe about three inches from his foot. I said, "It is right there baby!" He turns around kneels down beginning to look under the bed. "No baby it is right by your foot!" He begins to circle himself starring at the floor. "It is right there Zay!", while pointing to the floor by his foot. I then decide to pick it up and show it to him when he says, "Oh thank you Mommy I thought I yost (lost) it!" OK! The whole "Man Eyes" problem is not so funny when you realize it must be genetic and you live in a house with four related males!

WRITER'S WORKSHOP WEDNESDAY

A bit late but I intended to do it so I am GOING. TO. DO. IT.

What is normal?

This prompt caught my eye as I was questioned by a Mother about our hectic life due to "letting" our kids play sports and our schedule not being "normal"! Here's my rant!

According to Webster's, normal is conforming with a standard, pattern, level or type - typical - functioning or occurring in a natural way.

Typical ~ let's go with that one!

Raising a step-son with special needs, I really don't like the word "normal". I have come to realize that "normal" is different for everyone. Yes, he has special needs but that is HIS normal. Yes, some of the things he reacts different to are not considered normal but they are typical reactions for him thereby making them his "normal" reactions. People often say after finding out he is Intellectually Disabled (the new PC term for Mentally Retarded) ~ "WOW I never would've guessed since he looks so normal!" OK! Well it is true he does not have any of the outward appearance features that most people associate with mental retardation. I think most people think you have to either have Downs Syndrome, be in a wheelchair unable to control your own body with drool hanging down or completely unable to form a sentence to be labeled ID. NOT TRUE! To look at Tez you would not know he has anything wrong with him. He looks "normal"! His gross motor skills are great and he is very active in sports. His fine motor skills are horrid at best. He is a 9th grader with elementary writing, reading and math skills. He is right on level with a 4th grader when it comes to his education but you would only know that if you were told or asked him to complete some on level 9th grade material. No this may not be "normal" if you include the standards of education they use to evaluate him or if you compare him to other children his age BUT this is HIS normal! I think people focus to much on labeling people or their responses to their own normal.

"Normal" is different for everyone and everyone sets different standards for their life.

What is acceptable for one may not be acceptable for another.

What one child can do may be impossible for the next but who are we to say they are not normal?

Who are we to judge because someone doesn't fit our personal definition of normal??

What I consider not the norm is another's norm.

Yes I have been known to say, "Now that's just not normal!" and I guess I was wrong because it could be normal for them!

Some people do not consider our hectic life normal but for us it is all we know. Are we supposed to sit around and let our children pass up on sports or other activities to become lazy bumps on a log to avoid the hustle and bustle of the "soccer mom" life?

NO!

I want my kids to be involved and active. I will support them in their chosen activities whether football, basketball, soccer, band, dance or choir. I must admit baseball and golf would pretty much bore me to death and I would rather rip all of the hair out of my head than to watch either one BUT I would be there sitting in the stands ripping each and every hair out between cheers! YES, it is exhausting and tough but I will not be an uninvolved parent. SO for now this is our norm. Football practices, scrimmages and games ~ our norm. Basketball practices and games ~ our norm. Drive to three different schools each day, volunteer at this school, chaperoning at this activity, coaching this team, working, taking kids to this appointment, going to countless birthday parties, taking snacks to this class or that, reading to them when all I want to do is sit or sleep, helping with homework, attending this meeting, I could go on and on ~ our norm. Some people are home bodies and that is their norm. Our norm these days is hectic at best but we love OUR normal.

We are parents and that is what we signed up for ~ to be involved in our kids lives by supporting them in what they choose not pushing them to be what they don't desire and helping them learn along the way about life while showering them with love.

THAT my friends is OUR normal!!

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A THOUSAND WORDS THURSDAY: THE SECRET LETTER

Dear Tez,

Today you turn 15 years old! Wow how time flies! You will never read this letter since I am writing it more to get things off of my chest that I can not say to you at this age. We met a little over 8 years ago not long before you turned 7. You were so much smaller then and did not eat much at all. The only things you ate were macaroni n' cheese with sugar on it {{gaggaggagagag}}, corn dogs, hot dogs and peanut butter sandwiches. Before you met me, you hadn't even eaten a piece of pizza. You now eat an array of foods...well I guess I should say you have tried an array of foods although to hear it from you some would think you are allergic to vegetables. Ha! You are handsome with a beautiful and contagious smile like your Father. I love your smile when you get embarrassed and don't know what to say and I love your smile when you realize how proud we are of you. You came to live with us when you were almost 8 but your Mother got angry over some small matter and took you back. The State leans toward the biological Mother in custody issues. At the time, we had no money to hire an attorney to fight for custody and boy do we regret that now. Over the years you made your regular visits all the while you and your mother definitely had your issues.

About two years ago she decided she did not like the "label" the school system had given you since you started school. No one wants their kid to have to be "labeled" but you have to accept it and move on to get them the help they so desperately need. Sometimes the labels are a necessary evil. She yanked you out of the special needs programs you were in and put you into the mainstream classes without informing us. The only thing this did is prove the school system was 100 % right. Your grades dropped tremendously and you began to get into trouble since now kids were making fun of you because you were not on level. She also decided that if she was tired then you did not have to go to school. For several months, you only attended two to three times per week which only made your situation worse. Of course, she was not telling us all of this until the calls started from the school. The last call was them telling us you needed to be picked up because you had been suspended the day before so you were not supposed to be on school property. They tried calling your Mother who was only one mile from the school and she told them to call your Father b/c she was tired of dealing with it and didn't know what to do. Taking you to school and putting you where you needed to be would've been a good start but in her eyes she had done the right thing. Your Father called me in a seriously bad mood saying he was leaving work to get you from school. I knew he would not be able to talk calmly to the Principal simply b/c he was so angry with your Mother for letting it come to this point without us knowing. We had been lied to for a very long time! I told him to stay at work and I would handle the situation the best I could. Upon my arrival I learned that not only had you been yanked out of your special classes because of her ego but you were not suspended. You had been expelled and were being sent to alternative school the following week. I was so shocked because you are not a bad kid. You were put in a bad situation and were falling even further behind. At the time the alternative school was getting its fair share of bad publicity and I was not about to let you be sent there without a fight only to get lost in the system that probably would not offer the courses you needed. I asked to speak to the Principal, Vice Principal and Counselors immediately and I was not leaving until I had an acceptable resolution because I was not going to let you fall through the cracks. They heard me and I was so excited. I had a mere 24 hours to pull some major strings actually less if you just count the hours of operation of the places I had to go. I had to file guardianship papers with the courts, go to the courthouse, withdrawal you from one district, enroll you into another district AND get you into the special classes that you needed. If I could do this before end of school the next day, then they would totally erase the matter and you would be ready for a fresh start with nothing on your permanent school record. I was angry, sad, scared, proud and stressed but I was willing to this do for YOU! I explained this to your Mother who and I quote said, "You can have him, where do I sign!" Now some would say she was doing this for you but I will have you know this is not true. She did not want the responsibility anymore. Your Father should have fixed things when you were little and he would go to pick you up only to find you strapped in a car seat in front of the television. Alas, he was young, stupid and broke so he did not know what to do besides love you with all of his heart and try to make the system work. Don't even get me started on the system! I think the school agreed to the terms thinking I could not get every thing done within their time line! Wrong! I managed to get everything done by 11am the next morning and then you had to go back to her house when the huge ice storm struck a few days later and we were without power. I have been to countless school meetings, 3 IEP meetings (not fun!), dentist appts., eye doctor appts., many court hearings, meeting with the lawyers, we are still paying child support even though for over 15months WE HAVE HAD CUSTODY and I totally rearranged my schedule to make sure you get to and from school EVERY DAY ON TIME! While you were with her you had actually missed more school than you had attended and this was alright in her eyes. NOW you have missed a total of three days in two years!! I think you resented us for awhile believing we "took" you away from your Mother who you are very attached to but your Mother willingly and excitedly gave you up. She showed up saying, "Where do I sign?" and repeatedly asked when it would all be done like she could not wait for it all to be legally out of her hands. We never asked for a dime of child support FROM HER as long as we could just get you into a better environment and school. I am not saying this to get Mom of the year but I have a simple request ~ when people naturally refer to me as your Mother don't give them a dirty look and rudely say, "SHE IS NOT MY MOM!" I know you like me but it sure does NOT seem that way in the moment. I have never tried to take your Mother's place but I am definitely doing HER duties as a Mother and I believe I love you more than she ever could because I don't think I could excitedly sign away any child of mine even if it was for their own good. A Mother should never want to lose her child! It hurts me every time you do it! I am an adult and I have been silent but it kills me like you would be ashamed to be my child. I have never resorted to talking trash about your Mother to you or in front of you for the simple fact that I would never want you to resent me for it. At times I think you need the whole truth and nothing but the truth but not from me. I have faith that one day in the future you will realize I have been more of a "Mother" to you then she ever has or probably ever will. I have to have this faith so my heart doesn't break. I have faith that one day you will love me like I am your Mother even though I am not well not naturally. Most of the time she doesn't even want you on her weekends but I make excuses for her so you don't get hurt. I am tired of making those excuses but you hold her in such high regard that I know it would kill you to know the truth. I guess you will have to figure it out on your own. I think at times you know but you just are in denial.

I took you in willingly and I treat you like my own. You are earning all A's and B's now and I am prouder than ever of the young man you have become. You have never been a "bad" kid at least not around us and we knew you could do it if given the right opportunities, boundaries, environment and LOVE. We never had the problems that your Mother has reported but I know it is not all her because I am sure you had to act out to get attention. You are a good, kind, loving and RESPECTFUL young man. People compliment us as parents all the time because of how well you behave and how respectful you are. Yes, you get in trouble from time to time and you are extremely moody but find me a teenager that never gets in trouble or isn't moody and I'll give you a million dollars! Well you know far too well I don't have a million BUT you get the point. I don't necessarily need you to call me Mom or say to others that I am BUT I do wish you wouldn't get so offended when people naturally think I am your Mother. I do everything for you that a Mother is supposed to do and more just like I do with your little brothers and people do NOT automatically know your situation. I am proud of you son and I love you dearly! I just wish you could love me and be proud of me too!

Love always,

Angela

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MY DEC 8TH PHOTO

Join the December *08 Photo Project:

One year ago yesterday my stepson Tez finally came to live with us!

I NEEDED A MAP!

Today was schedule pickup for Tez at South Intermediate! I offered to take him since I went to South I would be able to show him around OR so I thought! From the second I walked into the door it felt rearranged which is highly likely since it had 16 years since I had been to anything besides the gym at South. I don't remember the office being where it was and the counselor's offices wait now that I am typing it......I am remembering.......they did move the offices and counselor's offices which could be the whole problem therefore ending my thoughts that I am getting old! hehe In my defense, it also could be that Tez is in all ID/remedial classes and I didn't have classes in that end of the school when I went there. So we go to the cafeteria to get the schedule and fill out the required paperwork and then starts my "off the wall out of the way tour"! I cracked myself up and I think I worried Tez a little. Poor guy is going to be so lost on his first day! So I am walking to his first class saying, "ok you are going to walk in the main doors, go to the cafeteria turn right, take the first left and go up the stairs then turn left and then left again and you are at room # 200 with a few "wait a second"s in between this turn and that turn! Wow I think I even confused myself! I then see there are stairs right next to his class door and decide to journey down them to see where they go.....the west end front door!! I then said, "Forget everything I just told you! I will drop you off at these doors so you will just walk in the door and go up the stairs for your first two classes!" He just smiled and looked confused so I said let's start all over and get another map! Poor me for having a failing memory of South and poor Tez for having to rely on my memory for a tour of his new school!

HE'S BACK!

Tonight Tez came home from camp and HE LOVED IT! He had so much fun and so much to tell! Apparently he fell in love with a couple of girls...........aren't teens hilarious! I can't laugh too hard I spent many a church camp going boy crazy! He can't wait to go on the next trip. He said, "Colorado is cold! You wake up in the morning and you are just frozen. We went to the top of a mountain and wow Angela it was the most beautiful thing I have ever seen!" I am really glad he had a good time and I am glad he is with us so that he had the opportunity to go!

We go to court Monday for the actual Custody deal pray that it goes well!!

YOUTHQUAKE 2008

I am so excited for Tez I could just bust!! Tez left this afternoon for church camp in Como, Colorado with my niece Kristin and her church youth group. This is his first camping trip - wish I could watch it could be funny! I went to camp in cabins at a camp site but they are actually going camping in the mountains! Tez went with us to Branson a few weeks ago and I think that was the first out of state trip that he can remember. I am so excited for him! He is going to have more fun than he can even imagine! I think Martez is a little jealous b/c he keeps saying I didn't get to go to camp like he is still a teenager. I went to camp every year from second grade through my senior year in high school plus annual church trips to Six Flags, retreats a couple of times per year and Youth Congress in Florida. I loved every minute of those trips and the memories I still have even though somehow our bus broke down on every trip to Six Flags. I can't even begin to count how many pictures I have aside the highway while we still had fun waiting for help to arrive - pre-cellphone days! Although buying the plethora of camping items was tedious I was just so excited I didn't really care! I can't wait to hear all about the trip! He seemed a little nervous and unsure when I dropped him off but still excited for his adventure ahead! Isaiah on the other hand was so upset his big brother was leaving that he screamed and cried himself to sleep on the way home! ;(

You know what really irritated me....well I am about to tell you. Tez's mother kept saying, "Well does he really want to go." YES we aren't forcing him to use the opportunity to have fun in the mountains of Colorado. The my MIL kept asking questions like, "Did you give them a phone number to call if something happens? What if he doesn't like it? Does he know anyone he is going with? Will he be the only black kid?" My answers: First of all they would not allow him to go without emergency contact info. Second of all do you really think we would send him to the mountains of Colorado to camp and not give them an emergency phone number. If he doesn't like it we are not going to go get him anyway so he can suck it up and try to act his age. He is going with his cousin Kristin and the other teens from the youth group he has been going to for months. I don't know if any other black children will be there and it should NOT even matter!!! I seriously doubt they will have a Christian lynching of the black boy. We try not to send our kids to a racist church camp. I wanted to say he experiences far more racism from you than he ever will with the WHITE people we associate with!! SERIOUSLY THAT CRAP IS SO IRRITATING, STUPID, JUVENILE, IMMATURE, IDIOTIC..............you get the point right! WHO IS THE RACIST HERE? I SWEAR IT NEVER ENDS.

MY NEW EXCITEMENT

I forgot to tell you all about my new excitement for my stepson Tez. As many of you know he came to live with us in December and is attending BA schools. He has special educational needs and I have been to my handful of stressful meetings to get everything arranged for him and I had yet another one this past Monday. Getting him fitted with the appropriate "label" is a necessary evil in order for him to get the help he needs. I know no parent wants their child labeled but it is necessary for them to get the proper educational help that they need. In order for us to get him the proper help, Tez had two labels but one didn't match him so we had to get him labeled correctly which meant we had to disprove one diagnosis so he could then get help in the area of the other major label. I am sorry if that did not make sense but that is the easiest way to explain it! My amazing friend aka momacita Cleta agreed to go with me to the new IEP/psychological evaluation to help me out and support Tez's needs. She was a teacher in BA for many years and had been to her own share of IEP meetings and I wanted to make sure I was understanding all the mumbo jumbo being presented to me and add her perspective about our situation. The good long winded news is he will placed into a program that will meet his needs with a bunch of hands-on learning! I am very excited for him and hopefully it will be easier on me when I am helping him with his homework. Can't wait to see the results! I want to say Thank You to Cleta and Shan....It meant a lot that Cleta and Shandolynne rearranged their schedules so Cleta could attend the meeting and it was nice to have someone there who understood my concerns and was in sync with me in my concern for Tez's education. Thank you girls from the bottom of my heart! Love you guys! And thank you to the Oliver Middle School and South Intermediate High School staff for all the help, time and concern! Hopefully all of this will make our lives a little easier and we all know every little bit helps!

2 CONTACTS ARE BETTER THAN ONE

For about a month I have wondered about Tez's vision noticing him sitting closer to the television and doing a fair amount of squinting. Although when I would ask him if he could see he would always say yes. Tez's school had to start some new testing to reevaluate his IEP and placement for next year but discovered he needed to see an eye doctor first because he failed his vision screening. They would not resume testing until his vision problem had been seen by a doctor. Last Monday after the stressful Zoo field trip with Elijah and half of the area public schools, I took Tez to the eye doctor. I asked if he would be able to wear contacts and she said yes. I knew he was absolutely against wearing glasses and I said I would be willing to work with him to see if he would be responsible enough to wear and take care of contacts. Martez totally disagreed with me saying sternly, "Well if he needs glasses then he will just HAVE to wear them!" At his age short of screwing the glasses directly into his skull you can't "make" him wear glasses if you aren't around and Tez isn't exactly careful when playing sports. I totally disagree with this philosophy and since I have been in Tez's shoes at a much much younger age I understand the situation. I had glasses (very thick) when I went into third grade and wore glasses until my parents allowed me to try contacts at the age of 13. They bought me one pair which at the time were $375.00 for gas permeable lenses and if I lost them I would not get another pair unless I paid. I treated those babies like they were gold!!! I have since been able to switch to soft contacts which nowadays are so cheap - yeah - especially if you wear them longer than the recommended 2 weeks like I do! LOL I didn't feel Martez had any sympathy for Tez and I didn't feel like he really understood the emotional crap that comes along with a 14 yr old boy getting glasses. I am not saying glasses are bad in any way, shape or form but I also now how it feels as a kid AND I know better than him that kids will take their glasses off from time to time when not in the presence of parents. I also believe that contacts will be a better fit for Tez's lifestyle. He is VERY active and I am positive glasses would get broken or lost in no time at all. Seriously once Tez is out of my car and into the school building I have no doubt the glasses will be off of his face!! There is no visible difference when wearing contacts so if he will wear them willingly and can handle the responsibility then why not let him try. SOOOOOO we got him a trial pair of contacts and trust me the first 3 or 4 days of putting them in were a chore. He would get so frustrated and I would tell him "I am willing to help you learn how to put in your contacts but you have to stay calm and not give up until you learn or I won't buy them for you and you will just have to adjust to wearing glasses!" The mere idea of wearing glasses would make him readjust his attitude and he did better than I thought he would. The first day he came home all excited saying, "wow I could read the chalkboard from my chair!" It was also funny when he asked how long he would have to wear them and I said anytime you want to actually see the world around you. I think he thought he wear contacts for a couple of weeks and then his vision would miraculously be restored. Well it has now been a week and today I get a call from him all stressed out at school because a contact fell out. I told him it was no big deal just to put it in the case. He said he lost it and again I said don't stress out you have to go back to the eye doctor today for a recheck so she will just give you another one. Of course, his father freaked out more than myself saying see he just needs to wear glasses. I told him he should have a more positive light on the situation. I thought Tez would've lost many contacts by now but I think he has done extremely well considering he hasn't had any problems once they are actually in his eye which Martez could admittingly NEVER do!! Fast forward to later today......we get to the eye doctor and knowing the contacts have to be on for awhile before they check the eyes I tell them he lost his left contact so he would need a new one. He then informs me that he took out the right one after he had lost the left one and didn't bring it with him. I tell them nevermind he will just need a new pair to put on while he waits for me to be examined. So he sits and waits while I get checked then when it was his turn I was sitting in the chair watching him totally butcher the eye chart. I was sitting there thinking to myself why in the world can't he read this with his contacts in his eyes. I think the assistant thought the same since she made him reread the chart about 5 times and he really read it with confidence like it was correct! Worried the doctor took him in to have a look and she came out laughing! She said he took the right contact out at school however he never actually lost the left contact so when he put the new pair in at the office he then had one right contact and two left contacts in his eyes. Just goes to show more is not always better because it really screwed with his vision! I then was trying to get him to pick out a pair of glasses to wear when he wouldn't be wearing contacts.....wow that was a feat!!! I was getting really annoyed at his attitude and had to explain MANY times even though we would be buying him contacts he would still need a pair of glasses to wear at night after he takes out his contacts so HE CAN SEE!! Two and a half hours later......we decided on some glasses for both of us and I was so ready to be home it wasn't even funny!!!

LINCOLN AT THE MOVIES

Elijah has been learning about different Presidents in school. He comes home telling us all about George Washington, Abraham Lincoln and George Bush. Last week I had to pick Tez up from track after I had picked up Elijah. Here is how the story goes:

Elijah doing the normal ride home from school trivia, "Mommy did you know Abraham Lincoln was the sixteenth president and he died."

Mommy driving says, "Mmm hmmm!"

Elijah continues with, "He was shot in the head at a theater."

Mommy driving says, "Mmm hmmm!"

Elijah says, "It’s so sad! Poor President just got shot in the head and died."

Tez jumps in with, "Poor guy just got shot in the head at the movies!"

Mommy laughing so hard she can’t drive so I stop and reply with still laughing "They didn’t have movies back then!"

In unison they say, "Well why was he at a theater!"

It still makes me laugh even now! Well gotta go buy tickets to a musical or play of some sort so my children know about the theater!

WOW THAT ONE HURT!

So Saturday night I went into Elijah's room so all of the kids at the house could pet the rat and we started playing trivia! Basically we just sit around asking each other questions about anything and everything to see who can stump who. My stepson Tez who now lives with us was asking questions. He said, "How old is Angela?" One of the boys says "28"! Tez replies with a loud backstabbing "NOOOOOOOO WAY SHE DOESN'T LOOK THAT YOUNG!!" I just gasped! With a look of terror but still smiling he says "I didn't mean it that way I'm sorry!" How else could you mean that? I then had to defend my ageless looks with 28 is only 4 years younger than I am and normally people don't believe I am 32!! Wow that cut like a knife! Then I went to examine myself in the mirror for saggy skin and age spots! Ha! Really though I did!! Do I look old? I remember when I was young I thought 30 was OLD or when you were in college and people would date someone that was 25.....dodododo...now I am the OLD one to the babies of the world. Wow time flies when you are having fun!