my girl's gonna be a brace face

my girl has been counting down the days till she finally gets braces -literally counting the days... yeah, she's THAT big of a goober! now, I don't want her to be completely disillusioned because 1) I've BTDT b) she's got a fair amount of work to be done, and 3) the word HEADGEAR has been mentioned -so I tried telling her, it might *seem* like fun but, they're really kind of a pain (pun intended)... not just because of the sore teeth after an adjustment or the raw spots from the brackets rubbing, etc... but because of all the stuff you can't (well, aren't supposed to) eat, and constantly having to worry that you have icky stuff smooshed in the brackets. *sigh* she just won't hear it - it's gonna be "so cool" and she "can't wait to pick out the rubber band colors"... whatever -just don't say I never warned ya, mmm-kay?

so, I took Kendall to the orthodontist yesterday for her preliminary visit; lots of pics, x-rays, all kinds of molds and casts of her teef -holy moses, I don't remember having to do more than bite down and grind my teef on a piece of carbon paper when I got braces -course that was 100 years ago and I've done my best to block out most of those awful memories. the staff at this office is really awesome, they do ortho work on adults but they're totally geared for working with kids and I gotta say, whoever does the hiring must do one heckuva screening job because the folks have such great temperments and bedside (chairside?) manners. they explain EVERYTHING in such a way that the kids, and even dorks like me, can clearly understand.

in between procedures, we were checking things out (ie: snooping) and found a little ring with different colored rubber strips -which, we surmised, must be the different colors for the rubber bands. Kendall's eyes lit up and she started telling me how she's already got it all figured out what her first colors are going to be (blue and pink or maybe blue and purple) and that she's definitely going to stay away from the white rubber bands because they turn yellow and then black (looovely). I asked how she knows that and she says that so and so told her... she's got a few friends who already have braces and apparently, they're her go to people. ugh, anyway, I got the royal eyeroll when I suggested that perhaps those were the bands that the doc puts on to see who actually brushes their teef and who is into growing science experiments in their moufs. *shrug* I'm just sayin... that would be a kick ass idea.

after all the fun and shenanigans, a gal from the office popped in and handed me a booklet with FAQ's, smiled warmly and said, "oh and there's a form tucked inside with the financial breakdown for PHASE I." and then beat a hasty retreat. holy crap! it's a good thing I was sitting down. I actually looked over at K and had a brief moment where I thought, 'you know, she's cute enough that a few crooked teef aren't going to matter ...much'. lol -kidding, kidding... but, thank goodness for the payment plan.

my girl was more than a little disappointed to be walking out of the office yesterday minus a mouthful of metal... I told her it wouldn't happen that fast, but eh, she's a little hardheaded -and really, what do I know (insert my own royal eye roll here)?! her next appointment will be Dec. 16, from there on out, all we'll need is a good metal detector to keep tabs on her. :D

d'oh!

When you're feeling smug because, even though you know this afternoon and evening you'll be doing the sports mom hustle; picking kids up, cracking the whip to get homework done and then taxiing to and from basketball practice, -you're still going to rock your family's world with one of their favorite dinners WITHOUT having to break a sweat when you get home! -all because you had the foresight to bust out the crock pot and git-r-done early (pats self on back)...

*ahem*

yeeeahh, uhm... note to self:

It's usually a good idea to make sure that you have actually plugged in the freakin crock pot! *GAAAH!* sadly, this is a classic leafa mcbirdie move. ppfffftt... what a dork.

takin the day off

No school today, so the boys are out hunting (goose and duck), and the girl and I are veggin' out here at home. It's cold, wet and gray outside and we've both been fighting colds the past few days so we decided to take it easy (I know, nothing new for me, right?) and lay low -in fact, we're still in our jams -I love days like this! Kendall baked a dozen lemon/blueberry muffins earlier today and she's been having a blast playing Webkinz with her bff, Carson -it's so funny, Kendall has him on speaker-phone and they're hootin' and hollerin' at each other -pretty much the same as when they're together in person -little goobers! They're pretty dang cute! Poor Jack had to work. No rest for the weary -even if it is a federal holiday.

many thanks for our veterans

Seeing as it's Veteran's Day, I want to send out a huge, heartfelt THANK YOU to all of the brave men and women who fight or have fought for our feedom and safety. I admit there are times I'm guilty of taking for granted the security I have from day to day, but I do know, if not for our veterans, we would have an entirely different existence -so I say it today, but I hold it in my heart always, thank you, thank you, thank you for all that you do on behalf of our country.



The flower of rememberance in honor of those who have given thier lives for the nation's freedom.

On a separate, but not entirely unrelated, note; last night my oldest son Andrew, who turned 17 a couple of weeks ago, casually informed me that he and a friend had gone to see a Marine recruiter yesterday afternoon. When he told me, I'm not gonna lie, my first reaction was complete and utter fear -the idea that my boy might ever be in harms way leaves me nauseous, with deep, sharp pains in my heart. Next, I was shocked and then pretty bent that he would do this without talking to his dad and I first. He went on to explain that he had only gone along for the ride with his best friend (who turns 18 tomorrow) to see the recruiter who had been "bugging him" to come in. Since he was there, the recruiter asked Andrew to take some sort of placement test, which apparently he scored well on, and then, as Andrew tells it, the guy says he can pretty much do anything he wants. *sigh* My boy is all about doing whatever he wants, so that must have been music to his ears.

I must say that, while I was irritated to hear about this "appointment" after the fact and that my mommy radar kept screaming that my kid was being taken advantage of, today, I realized that ultimately, when the time comes, the choice will be Andrew's. I love him beyond measure and have a profound pride that this tall gangly kid, who's smart as a whip (maybe too smart for his own good) is growing into an amazing young man. Yes, he's given his dad and I a pretty good run for our money these past few years and continues to present us with challenges as parents but he is a good boy and I am just going to pray that he makes well informed choices and keep the faith that God will be watching over him.

get out and VOTE!! -or shut your cake hole.

Pile your dishes in the sink, walk past that mountain of dirty laundry, wedge a hat down over your bushy old bed-head and GO VOTE!! Okay, so that's just my plan but cereally, people, if you don't get out and do the voting thang, I do NOT wanna hear ya bitchin when you aren't happy with what's going on -you vote, you can bitch all ya want. I am absolutely floored when I hear peeps say things like 'my vote doesn't matter', 'I haven't really been following things, I don't know what's what'. It grates on me, what a lackadaisical 'take care of me' society we've become, that people can't even be bothered to put out the effort to educate themselves on the issues that shape our future. It's not rocket science -crap, even my 14 and 17 year old boys know what's going on in the political arena {and yes, I'm disgustingly proud!}... it's not that hard, people!

Folks are expressing concern about having to {gasp} stand in long lines "just to vote" -yet (*irony alert*) those bellyachers are probably the same peeps who are willing to get up at 3am to {gasp} stand in mile-long lines, in the cold and dark, smashed against other crazies waiting to throw down over a good deal on the the latest greatest wii game. *gaah* I know lines are probably going to be long today (which actually, is a good thing, meaning that people are doing their part & having their say), so don't tell Clinton and Stacy, lest I end up on an episode of What Not to Wear, but I'm wearing my sweats and sporting my comfy tennies... yes, out. in. pub-lic. I'm gonna take a snack, because mama can't concentrate when her tummy is growling, a drink -let's hope this isn't the year they start making us take a breathalyzer before we vote! (kidding people, kid-ding!) and a book, which I probably won't even open because this will be a primo people watching opportunity! Yeah, I'm good to go.

Leafa McBirdie -out gettin me vote on! yeeee-ooow!