Mommmmm

I know there will come a day when I will miss having every sentence I hear from dawn to dusk out of the mouth of my babes begin with "Mommmmm" and quickly followed with the blow of yet another request or demand, but right now I just can't imagine that day.

"Mom, LOOK...Mom, watch this...Mom, he kicked me in the butt...Mom, can we make cookies today, you said...Mom, will you sit with me?...Mom, can I sleep on your floor tonight?...Mom, maybe later if we...can we...after that if it's not snowing can you take us...maybe if Dad gets home in time can we...Mom, you said yesterday that if...so can we now....can we later...can we maybe...maybe if we do maybe can they come too...Mom, how come you never let anyone come over...Mom, why did you get her three and me only one...Mom, you never...MOMMMM you always...Mom, what are we having for dinner tonight...You KNOW I HATE that...Where do you think we will go on vacation this year?...Do you think we'll ever go to Disney again?...Mom, I don't think people like my drawings and people don't play with me at recess...Mom, what does this mean?...Can I go on the computer?...Mom, after he's done can I go on?...Mom, can I order a online...you said...how do I...will you show me...where is my...maybe after David goes to bed maybe can we go to the rec center...Mommmmm, what are we going to do today anyway...are we even going to do ANYTHING?!"

And this was all before I was out of bed this morning. Okay, not literally, but it felt like it.

Kool Aid

I love learning new words. Always have. I have subscribed to Webster.com's word of the day. I grew up with It Pays to Enrich Your Word Power. I keep a notepad handy when reading anything, and frequently make mental notes throughout my day of words and pop culture phrases to dissect and define at a later time. Trashy as it may be, a richly valuable resource I have repeatedly referred to is urbandictionary.com. Just yesterday I was baffled when I heard "kool aid" used in a context which sounded very much as if it meant someone's girlfriend. So quickly I hit the bookmarked site to discover that indeed...

Kool aid: In the deepest parts of the hood--can be meant as a metaphor for someone's personal business...A man's personal business. Specifically his girl.

"You best be steppin' off! Why you all up in my kool aid?"..."Back off my kool aid!"

I likely will never have occasion to use this gem, but at least now I know.

Name Game

"Boys in the United States with common names like Michael and David are less likely to commit crimes than those named Ernest or Ivan." (Full Article)

Good news for all the David's in our life, and our uncle Michael Jackson, but yeaaah...I'm concerned about my dad, Elmwood. And what about Evan? And what about my friend's brother whose name is David Michael Ernie? Can the two former good names redeem the latter? Is there any hope?

Jukebox Hero

You know you are old when you totally rock out to the Foreigner concert aired on public television on a Friday night and consider it quality entertainment.

"I am the ice cream man...running over little kids in my van!" ~As sung by Grant D. Morris to the tune of Iron Man by Black Sabbath

Street Swagger

Here's my entry for yesterday: There are some days in motherhood when I feel as if my brain cells are literally falling from my ears landing where'er they may all about my house, much like socks dropping from my armload of fresh, warm laundry as I walk from the dryer to my bed to fold it, dropping a few more each time I bend over to gather the lost pieces, but then there are days when I am SO stinkin' magnificently brilliant that I swear I must have some of Rhonda Randall's blood running through my veins...and then I remember that I kind of do!

Just giving a shout out to my Street peeps, but only the SMART ones...the less mentally endowed need not respond. =) Abram's and Hazen's shall be recognized another day. But raise your hand if you love Busch beer and NASCAR! Here, here!

Another element I would like to include in my blog this year, on the days I actually write, is a quote at the end of each entry: either something I have read or something that has been said in my presence that day. Thanks for the idea, DL. And maybe I will get better at posting on the day it happened rather than the morning after. Maybe.

"But I knew one thing: I knew silence, which like an exotic poison - odorless, tasteless - brings a subtle madness to the victim." ~The Story of a Marriage by Andrew Sean Greer

Distilled Goodness

U.S. News and World Report suggests keeping a simple diary as #20 in the "50 Ways to Improve Your Life in 2009" cover story.

"Distill your day's experiences into a single sentence each day. Call it a "clothes hanger" journal: It provides a framework on which to hang the larger raiments of memory. A few well-chosen words can transport you back to where you were days or years ago. And-if you're persistent-it can show you the shape of your life over time."

I absolutely adore this idea! Unfortunately since I am not and never will be a woman of few words, and because I have so much clutter littering my mental landscape, and because so much happens in a "typical" day this task seems overwhelmingly daunting.

So yesterday's distilled entry could have read something like this, "Detroit is a scary place and I am glad I do not have to live there or get accosted by the butch half of an African-American pregnant lesbian couple or the the socket wrench-wielding man at the stoplight."

If I could condense it further, and if I were a better word weaver, perhaps I could find a way to also include that I really enjoy days that my mother keeps David; I don't enjoy cleansing melted chocolate from the entire contents of my purse, including my iPod, in a public restroom; I wish someone would just confess to putting their fundraiser packet in the fridge in order to ensure it grabbed my attention fully; Enchilada soup isn't nearly as good in the crockpot; and that was a reeeeeeally good book I started reading before bed last night.

A Long Good-Bye

Today it's been a year. Already. It doesn't seem possible...and all those other cliches. What can even be said that hasn't been said? Thought that hasn't been thought? Felt that hasn't been felt? We love you, Mom, and miss you dearly!