Lara and I have a new tagline for Cristian..."Go speedracer..." For those of you that have seen the movie Speedracer, you will know why.  There is a scene at the beginning of the movie where "Speed" is sitting in his classroom but instead of paying attention he is ALL into his drawings of racing and his drawings are so vivid and real to him.  That is SO Cristian minus the racing theme.  Everytime he brings his schoolwork home we flip the pages and on the back of the page is usually a slew of drawings he "worked" on.  He has a full blown detailed story on every single thing he doodles..and I mean every single one.  Elaborate characters..the whole enchilada.  I absolutely love how imaginative he is.  He completely loses himself in his drawings and doodles and I love to listen to him tell me about what is going on in his pictures.  He has started carrying a notebook everywhere with him lately and just sits there and draws all kinds of things.  Here are his doodles from dinner time to bed time today:

It is Sunday which means it is the last day of the weekend and back to work I go in the morning.  But, you know what?  I am so glad this week is over that I don't even mind getting up bright eyed and bushy tailed and ready to hit work at 7am.  No sir...I say bring it on because this week couldn't end fast enough.

We have passed a few more hurdles on the house.  The option period has expired - out #1 for the buyer.  The HOA document review and acceptance period has expired - out #2 bit the dust.  The inspection has been completed and we are left with somewhere between $1,000 and $1,500 in repairs to make but the amendment for repairs has been signed and with it went out #3.  Now the only 2 out's left the buyer has is if for some reason her house doesn't close on June 23 since that is a contingency of the contract or if the appraisal doesn't appraise the house for the sale price.  I am keeping my fingers crossed...We have to rent the larger storage unit this week and reserve the UHAUL for the weekend.  We will have Saturday to take apart all the furniture in the house, move everything we own except computers for the most part to storage along with all the stuff in our small storage unit we have been keeping since it is the last weekend left before we close on July 1. Doesn't that sound like fun?  You are more than welcome to come join the party. :)  Rainsoft comes to disconnect our water purification system as well on Friday.  I hope everything goes through okay.  This has been one stressful experience...

We had our niece up this past week as well who is 17 1/2.  It never ceases to amaze me how little influence years and years of positive modeling and open communication has on a person.  Today while going through the McDonald's drive thru for Lara's Iced Coffee Cristian asked, "Mims can I please have a drink, I am thirsty."  So I ordered him a small orange juice and handed it to him in the back seat.  He took it and said, "thank you for buying me some juice Mims!"  Amazing...I can hear thank you from my 7 yr old for something small like spending $1 on juice but not a single ounce of appreciation or thanks for anything done for someone 10 years older than him. 

He also decided he wanted to buy his "buddy Charles" (Manager at Boston Market that Cristian just loves) a present for his birthday.  Last time we ate there Charles told him his birthday was coming up.  He only had 50 cents left from his allowance after spending $4.50 on a Sid the Science Kid DVD and paying me $2 for the mac n cheese dinner at Chili's he didn't eat when we took Lara's dad out for Father's Day.  Yes, I am a mean mommy who made him pay me for his wasted food.  I know you are thinking it - it's okay, I don't mind you thinking I am mean.  I have heard an earful of how high up on the mean parent list that puts me...When we go out to eat I tell him that I am happy to buy him whatever he wants to order off the kid's menu as long as he eats half of it.  If he doesn't want to eat half of what he orders then he is welcome to pay me back for the food instead.  Low and behold...contrary to popular belief by some...he hasn't been perm. scarred or anything.  So, he took his 50 cents left over and bought Charles a jumbo bouncy ball so he could have "something fun to play with at work when he isn't busy."  That boy...He is always so thoughtful and sweet and is always willing to help people or buy them presents.  Not because he is asked to but because he wants to.  I just love him.  Shame he doesn't rub off on some other people I know...

Speaking of the "entitlement" complex people seem to have...I ran into some grown ups this weekend with that.  Good to see first hand what the majority of the next generation will grow up to be like.  Really makes you want to hole up in your room and not come back out sometimes.  At what point did humans lose their humanity...along with common decency, compassion, selflessness, and sense of brother/sisterhood?  It just rubs me the wrong way.

On a lighter note - while we took our niece summer clothes shopping while she was here with the money her great aunt sent her for just that purpose we had a funny Cristian moment...well it is funny now but maybe not so much in the moment :)

At Kohl's in the bathing suit aisle...
C:  "Mom look at those BOOBIES"   (pointing to the mannequin with a bikini on)
L:  "Yeah I see that.  Let's not talk about that out loud in the store."
C:  "But mommy she has boobies..look at it!" (as he TOUCHED it)
L:  "Cristian stop that.  We don't touch, that is not appropriate."
C:  "Okay, sorry."
(walking around to another rack and spotting a mannequin with nipples completely nude...he busts out laughing and giggling)
C:  "Now, that's what I'm talking about!"
L:  (horrified)  "Cristian!"
C:  "What?  Look she has NO clothes on!  That is so funny!"

Yes, this child is ALL boy...only my child would grope a damn naked mannequin...who said shopping isn't interesting with a 7 yr old in tow?  Not me...  :)

Haven't been sleeping well again.  I hate the never-ending cycles of lack of sleep.  People are always saying.."I wish I had a mute button." I say...forget wishing for a mute button...I want an erase button.  "Now, that's what I'm talking about!" :)

Inspection day is set for Tuesday afternoon for the house and the option period ends on the 16th!  I am hoping that everything goes well.  I am so nervous about it all.  I don't know of anything wrong in the house but that doesn't mean there isn't something!  Lara has been a jack of all trades lately.  She figured out how to squeeze under the 12" wide cabinet and change out the double sink faucets, change the copper water lines, fix a leaky washing machine, changed the toilet flapper so the toilet would stop running, change weather stripping, change a ballast, and fix a fallen recessed light.  She is my home improvement hero :)  Isn't it amazing how significantly useless one can feel in just minutes?  I felt completely useless.  I can't figure things out like that to save my life.  I would have to call a professional to change the damn flapper on the toilet.  I am simply pathetic.

Finding a place to live that is reasonably priced has also been much harder than I anticipated.  :(  We are supposed to close on July 1.  We plan to visit my sis in MA for 4 weeks so Cristian can spend time with the family he doesn't get to see often and his awesome cousins.  But, we still need a place to live from August to October because the new house won't be ready until then.  I thought we could find an Extended Stay hotel for like $200 a week but rates are more like $55 a night.  When you add that to the $800 we are paying for animal boarding and the $300 for the storage unit we will need to upgrade to after July 1 to hold all our furniture, etc...that is pretty steep.  Didn't have any luck with apartments either.  Most won't do a 3 month lease and those that would were almost as expensive as the hotel and that doesn't include furniture or utilities.  I don't know...I feel like taking a break from the stress of it all.  The problem will still be there tomorrow.  :)

Today has been a trying day...I love when people think the whole world revolves around them and that you should of course drop everything the second they declare they need you, don't you?  I have had to get in touch with my inner zen several times today in order to evade the orange jump suit :) 

This evening Cristian and I got to be entertainment in the Neighborhood Walmart parking lot as well.  Didn't you know there was an improv show in town?  No?  Bummer...you missed it.  It started with him wanting to spend the night at our friend's house with her 11 yr old.  He packed his bag, his toys, and his scooter and helmet.  We had ice cream at Baskin robbins with them and I loaded him up in their car when he all of sudden in his VERY tired and sleepy state he started crying that he wanted to go have fun but wanted his parents and so he wanted to come sleep at home.  I tried to talk to him and tell him he could go with them and come home tomorrow morning or he could just come home with us now and go over there a different day.  Simple right?  Not with an overly tired 7 yr old!  No, he wanted to go with them but also be home with us and didn't want to get out of the car.  So he starts doing the tired crying/whining tid bit where no amount of reasoning would do any good...In an effort to not be in the parking lot ALL night I picked him up in the booster he was sitting in and carried him out of the car while he yelled at me, "Nooooooooooooooo" and what do you know?  The arm of the booster I was holding onto came apart and he fell on the pavement (landed on his feet mostly).  Let the finale of the show begin...He started hitting me in the head with his elephant stuffed animal he was holding while crying and screaming "I HATE YOU MIMI.  KEEP YOUR HANDS TO YOURSELF.  I HATE YOU. I HATE YOU. I HATE YOU."  After everyone in the parking lot stared at me like I was the world's worst mother who probably beat her child we got in the car and drove the 1 mile back to the house.  I heard the "I hate Mimi" scream/rant the whole way home, on the way into the house, and a good 5 min after being home until he passed smooth out in his bed still holding his stuffed animal and fully dressed with shoes on and all....Wow...days like this really make me miss smoking.  What an ending to an already stressful evening.

19 more days in my house...I think I am going to miss it...

Cheers,
M E

Nothing like kicking off the day with some Love & Logic and a hard dose of Life Lessons to boot.  Cristian has been saving every dollar he has received from his allowance or any other method of earning money for a LONG time for this $50 LEGO Pirate Ship he wants.  He has now saved $38 so he is almost there.  So, you can imagine how the thought of losing ALL that money to replace something he messed up would not sit well with him.  Here is a snapshot of how all this unfolded today in the bedroom...

I went into my room to change so that I could take my lunch hour and grab a bite to eat and noticed many spots and streaks of black, blue, and red marker on my new Duvet.  Now, let me point out that little man was told twice yesterday that he was welcome to color on the night stand in the bedroom or the floor but the bed was not a place for his markers and coloring projects.  So, when I saw these marks on the cover that were not there yesterday, I knew that they must have happened sometime today.  Let me just say though I was not worried a bit.  It was not my problem :)

M E:  Cristian, can you come into my room for a minute please?
C:  Yes?
M E:  Can you tell me what places are good places to color in my room?
C:  (Looking at the bed and mumbling) 
M E:  I was wondering, did you color on my bed today?
C:  (Already a wreck with tears pouring down)  Yes
M E:  Are these marker marks on the covers from your coloring?
C: (In fit mode already) YEEEEEEEEEEEEES
M E:  Oh boy...What do you think you are going to do to take care of this?
C:  (Screaming and crying)  Noooooo I don't want to spend my LEGO money!  I can't spend my money!  Noooooo  (He was stomping and throwing an award winning fit)

After calmly asking him to talk in a calm voice so I could understand him and him just getting louder and tossing into a further fit I picked him up, carried him to the front door, opened it, placed him on the step in front of the door and told him to feel free to come back inside when he feels ready to talk to me in a calm voice.  I left the front door open and headed back into the hallway.  What do you know, he follows right behind, shuts the door and goes back to begging to keep his money for his LEGO.  As soon as he saw me walk back to the front door all of a sudden the water works stopped like some drought miracle and he found his "normal" voice free of crying and whining.  Imagine that.

C:  I'm ready to talk about it.  I'm done crying.
M E:  Okay.  Have you thought about how you are going to take care of this problem or do you need some ideas to help you?
C:  I need some ideas (starts crying again)
L:  Some kids might help their mom wash the comforter and see if the marks that the markers made come out in the wash.  What do you think about that?
C:  Noooooo because they AREN'T going to come out and they are going to be STUCK and it is going to be RUINED and I don't want to SPEND MY LEGO MONEY!  (and back to the meltdown we go...)

Lara told him that when he was ready to talk to us in the same voice we are talking to him we would be happy to talk to him and until then he needed to leave the room because his screaming and crying was hurting our ears.

He took his meltdown into the other room and finally calmed himself down about 10 minutes later.  We got dressed and headed out to grab a bite for lunch which went from 60 min to 40 min at this point.

In the car...
M E:  Are you feeling better?
C:  Yes.
M E:  Have you thought of any ideas that might help you take care of this?
C:  Mommy gave me some ideas but I don't agree with them. (I wanted to laugh SO hard at this)
M E:  I see.  What choices didn't you like?
C:  Buying a new comforter if the washing machine doesn't take out the markers with MY LEGO MONEY!  I don't want to spend my money.  I want to keep my money.  I HATE THIS!
M E:  Wow...you sound really upset.  I sure would be upset if I had to spend money that took me a long long time to save up too.  That would make me so sad. 
C:  I'm upset.  I don't want to give up my money.  (back to crying but no screaming thank goodness)
L:  I know.
C:  I HATE this.
L:  I know.
C:  Mims, I want to buy my LEGO.  I don't want to lose all my money!!!
M E:  I know.

so this goes on for a good 5 minutes and then he just goes quiet.  We ate lunch and he went back to his happy self, playing with his paper pirate ship he brought, being silly, making jokes...and in the car on his own he says..
C:  "OK...I thought about it and if the washer doesn't get the marker out then I will buy a new one to fix it and then save up more pay day monies for my LEGO.  But it is making me sad..."

Needless to say that since we got home he hasn't as much thought to put anything on our stuff.  He was playing with his paper pirate ship on the night stand and then decided he would play on the floor instead so "it doesn't scratch anything." and then is all proud asking if that was a good idea.

I hope those markers weren't washable because better to have a lesson early in life with something small like $30 than with something bigger later in life.  It may even be cheaper than that...it was from IKEA after all :)

Anyhow - there is the cliff note version of all the fun you missed at our house today.  Now, don't you wish you lived here? LOL

Cheers,
M E 

Yesterday I got back on "the wagon" and back in line with my healthy lifestyle.  I have started tracking my calories again and getting back into the workout routine.  Leslie and I are going to be great morning friends with her "3 Mile - Walk Off the Pounds" and Lara, Cristian, and I are going to start walking/jogging together around the lakes although Cristian has already started negotiating riding his scooter instead.  That boy is a natural salesman.  He could sell ice to Eskimos as they say...I feel better than I have in a couple of months.  It is nice to get back into the swing of things and to get out of this depressive slump I feel like I have dragged myself into (health wise).  Anyone want to wager on how many minutes I can jog before I drop into a fit of asthmatic breathing? Ha... should be interesting.

Okay so that is probably only a half truth because there is one thing that still has me holding on to the back of the wagon kicking my feet up to avoid hitting the rocks I am being dragged over.  I gave up soda in January and recently I have started drinking it again.  Let's just say that in times of very high stress I crave not so great for me addictions like smoking or diet coke.  Since I promised myself years ago I would never pick back up another cigarette I thought the aspartame was a little less deadly and so the addiction begins again.  As silly as it sounds there is not a thing in the world I miss more than smoking...especially late at night when I can't sleep.  Those were the times I used to go chill outside in the patio chair in the backyard and smoke to calm my nerves.  Ugh...But, never ever again.  As for the Diet Coke - even though I have only been drinking it once in a while if we eat out somewhere I feel the cravings all the time like I did during my withdrawal period when I gave it up initially.  It totally sucks :(  I am working on it...but I am just not sure I can give it up 100% yet.  Things have just been really tough lately...really tough...and I get tired of hearing "what doesn't kill you makes you stronger" and all that philosophical mess.  Is it true?  Sure...what hasn't killed me has made me stronger but damn...can I get a time out for good behavior?  Any stronger and I am going to be a body builder :) 

I am still really struggling with being vegetarian.  It is so hard to lay off the pasta when making dinner because there are only so many other variations of food.  But, I found this website full of meatless Monday recipes that I am going to start trying to add some variety.  I am planning out a week's worth of menu's for lunch and dinner, grocery shopping for that list, and then cook off of that so that it is planned out in advance.  I think that will make a difference vs opening the fridge/freezer at 5pm and saying.."hmmm what should I make for dinner tonight".  Will see how things go...

Last night a couple friends of ours offered to take Cristian while Lara and I enjoyed a night out.  He got to romp around with kids, watch movies, play, and just had a great time after he got over his sadness of us not being there.  It was so nice to have a night out - just us.  By that, I mean without a 7 yr old.  I haven't had a night out like that in so long...We had passes to see Xmen - First Class as a pre-screening and I have to say it was actually a pretty good movie.  A friend joined us for the showing too which made the wait out in line more enjoyable. She is fun company.  :)  Usually, I have to pass up screenings or go alone because either it is not kid friendly enough to take Cristian with us or it is too late in the day for him to be out.  It was a much needed break and one I must do again soon. 

Today is Cristian's last day of school.  While I am happy to be parting with certain parents in the classroom I am going to miss the faculty at his school since he won't be returning there next year.  The principal, assistant, administrative staff, teachers, etc...are all so sweet and worked so well with Cristian.  It is an awesome group and Cristian was lucky to end up in a school with such caring and dedicated people.  I hate that he is going to lose all that next year when he starts in a new school.  It also means having to rebuild all those relationships and trusts with new faces...I hope we made the right decision for him.  Sometimes it is decisions like this that really impact your child that make parenting tough. 

I constantly hear from people how crappy the public school system is, how kids are just left behind or pushed through to the next grade even though they don't know the material just so the school can get funding, or how they only teach what is on the TAKS test and it just isn't a good education and I find myself having to frequently defend why we took Cristian out of a private school and put him into the "horrible public education system".  What a perception for faculty to fight on a daily basis huh?  I couldn't disagree more...a child's education doesn't start and stop at school, it continues in their daily life at home as well.  If a parent does nothing to engage or develop their child at home and just sends them off to school with he expectation that the teacher will do all the work for them then yes, the system may fail your child.  Why?  Because as parents you need to help your child develop and expand on the foundations they learn in class.  Imagine that...

Kids do not just get pushed through - in fact mine is being pushed back this year.  The teacher and staff at a school matter more than the school you send your child to.  Having a really great teacher is what makes the difference in their education - not the sign on the outside of the building.  While I am not going to get on my rant on everyone's arguements on the teaching for testing, I will say this...has anyone stopped to think at all that maybe the TAKS tests that are pieced together cover an extensive amount of material and that the reason the curriculumn teaches for the test is because the test covers all the major things that the children should know?  What exactly are they not teaching in school, that is not on the test, that you feel your child is being deprived of?  I think it is human nature to want to find things to blame for failure because it stops people from having to look inside themselves.  Education, like anything else in life, is going to be what you make of it.  It isn't really about what is handed to you - it is about what you do with what you are given.  My hope for him as he gets older is that he can see that and make the most out of the opportunities in his life. 

On another note - we are supposed to hear whether or not the potential buyer accepts our counter offer on the house today.  I never thought I would be so excited about the prospect of being homeless, lol.  I really want to put the stress of selling the house behind me so if we close on July 1, finding a temp. place to stay until end of September is a much better problem to have than to sit around with the house on the market wondering if we will sell and close on it before the end of September.  :) 

Wish us luck!

Cheers,
M E