High School Crush

I just finished watching My-So Called Life (a sadly underrated series that didn't even get to finish out a season) and I'm remembering now why I love it so much. In two words... Jordan Catalano, AKA Jared Leto. This show was pretty much his debut and let me tell you, it was a beautiful one. (Sadly, in recent years, Jared Leto has been in a handful of movies, plays in a weird band, and sometimes sports eyeliner). And don't worry, my husband's well aware of my crush.

Now, I never had many of the issues that Angela Chase (played by Clare Danes) had in high school. I never had a best friend who was an alcoholic, and another best friend who was gay. And I never had a crush on someone as beautiful and hopelessly confusing as Jordan Catalano. (And yes, you have to say the first and last name every time. The show does it and I love it.) But some of her innermost thoughts, and conversations with her friends and parents totally take me back. And now I can watch the exchanges with her parents and see how my life might be in several years with a teenager who won't confide in me and thinks I'm completely out of touch.

If you've never seen this show, I highly recommend renting it. And then, rent Freaks and Geeks (another high school show, this one set in the early 80s and absolutely hilarious). I defy you to not completely fall in love with Bill, who's hopelessly nerdy and completely endearing.

Please and Thank you

Just be polite... that's all I ask for, really. We've been struggling with a few issues with the kids lately (I feel like I may have written that before...) and one of the biggest ones is just common courtesy. When your mother speaks to you, acknowledge her presence, would you? And instead of "I need some milk; get it now," I would love to hear "please" the first time around. It might just be wishful thinking but I've got to believe that my children can show respect for us and for others. Anyway, manners was the subject of FHE tonight. (This is at least the second time we've had the lesson.) We all picked a few phrases that we're really going to work on. I know that it starts with the parents first. And I think we really do try. But after asking someone nicely to do something six times, the patience begins to wear a little thin. So of course when the disobedience and lack of respect happen again, say two minutes later, I may be slightly less patient. Maybe.

Anyway, we talked a lot about how the example starts at the top, with miss S and on down. By the time it gets to the T man, the attitude is not always pretty. I'm sure we'll revisit the issue tomorrow, the next day, and maybe even a refresher course next Monday night. :)

Pet Peeve

This really isn't a post about all of my pet peeves. I'll save that for later (wearing socks when you walk into a puddle on your kitchen floor, anyone?). This will just be about one of my biggest ones: not being able to breathe through my nose when I'm trying to sleep. I hate it. I really can't fall asleep otherwise. Sometimes the Breathe Right strips work, and sometimes they don't. Since I've had a cold on and off (mostly on) since Christmas Eve (yeah, when I realized it had been that long, I kind of freaked), night-time has not been a good time for me. I should have known it was a sinus infection and gone to the doctor for drugs much sooner, but I just kept thinking, "Well, the sinus pressure isn't too bad... my teeth aren't completely killing me yet." And I really do believe in the power of my immune system to defeat the microscopic bugs in my body. I write about natural products for a living, after all.

*Sigh.* After a hideous cough added itself to the mix last week, I decided it was time to throw in the towel. I went to the doctor yesterday and he gave me a bit of a lecture about waiting so long to come in. Yeah, yeah, I know. Anyway, I've got my antibiotics and hopefully, I'll stop coughing, sneezing, and hacking up a lung. And maybe, just maybe, I'll be able to breathe through my nose at night...

No sleep last night

So, T and I had a fantastic night last night. He woke up around midnight and decided he didn't want to go to sleep. After both A and I went in there a few times to tell him to stop whispering his brother's name (why shouldn't H wake up and join the fun?) I couldn't take the back and forth anymore so I went and laid down in his bed with him. I thought maybe he just needed his mom with him. Umm, no. He spent the next TWO hours moving around, sitting up, laying down, getting out of bed, taking his socks on and off, whispering to his brother, and doing a lot of not sleeping. Finally, I gave up and went back to my bed and he eventually went to sleep. You would think he would be exhausted and sleep in. No such luck. He woke up just after 7 this morning, all chatty and chipper. We'll see how long that lasts. My bet's on a meltdown around lunchtime.

A few pictures from a happier time--yesterday. A was experimenting with our new camera. H and T had just watched the movie Underdog and H kept jumping around, calling himself "Underman."

Happy New Year, indeed

So, 2008 has begun and I'm back to work. Awesome. The kids are all in bad moods today (especially T --my ears hurt from all of his yelling) and I've got a pile of work to get through in the next few days.

I really don't take much stock in New Year's resolutions, mostly because so many of them get ignored. Case in point: Beginning in January, the gym I go to becomes super crowded. And I hate it. The treadmills are all taken and don't even think about snagging a bike at one of the spin classes. (Seriously--those classes start at 5:15 AM and people get there at 4:45 AM to get a bike. I gave up on those a long time ago.) The truly sad thing is that around the middle of February, it all dies back down to where it was before. The "resolutioners" quietly go away and I stop muttering under my breath every time I go to the gym. It's an annoying phenomenon for me every year, but more sad than anything that so many people start out the year with good intentions and then ditch them so quickly.

So... I don't like resolutions much. But I have thought of one thing that I want to work on this year--being more joyful. I want to be a happier person, take more time to appreciate the small things that I have to be grateful for, not always worry so much about work deadlines, and pay more attention to my kids when they need me during the workday.

That's it. We'll see how I do. :)