my OCD

Hi, my name is Dawn

Hi Dawn

I am here to admit that I have a slight OCD problem...with food sitting out.

Go ahead...Explain.

I teach. Each year the health department comes and presents in my room. Each year I listen to the health lady explain how quickly bacteria spreads on lukewarm food that sits out on your counter. Each year I hear her describe how a few days later people get sick from food poisoning and try to blame it on the flu, when really it is their Thanksgiving meal sitting out for hours upon end.)So when I host Thanksgiving, after we eat, the food it immediately put up. If someone wants something else, they are more than welcome to get it...from my fridge. lol

It's okay...admitting that you have a problem is the first step.

Thanksgiving

I have to honestly say that Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday.

Growing up, this day meant a table that got the sleeves put in and then could easily sit 12. We always had LOTS of family and ANY friends that didn't have somewhere else to go. This was also the day that the fine china and a full place setting came out. It was something to look forward to. Everyone helped out in getting everything ready. I'm sure at the time, I (as a child) did not find this appealing about that day, but now I look back at it fondly.

After my mom died, Thanksgiving wasn't the same. No "home" to go to. After I got married, I decided that my house was going to be what my mom's had always been... and it was.

Last year with being divorced being a new thing, my ex and I spent it together still with both of our families all at my house. I'm sure it was a little strange all the way around. But that is how we had always done Thanksgiving, and it was hard to break from the norm.

Things are different this year. This year other people are involved in both of our lives. Our children have multiple families that are vying for their attendance. So, today, the day my house should be jammed packed with everyone I know and love, sits empty.

My boys are with their dad celebrating with his girlfriend's family. I am celebrating with Spencer's fam. Then tomorrow my brother and his wife will come to my house and we will celebrate together.
Not the BIG celebrating of the past...but I guess it will do.

I swear I wasn't looking...OR I've still got it!

This weekend we took Spencer's kids to a birthday party at the skating rink.

Now if you think I am getting ready to tell you I laced up the skates and went at it...I am not. Not that I can't! Just not this weekend I couldn't. Remember I ran that 5k? Remember I can barely move? Yeah...any other time I would be all about that skating rink showing off my stuff - so instead, we sat in the designated party area with all of the other parents.

Spencer and I sat on the same side of the bench so we could people watch...
hey, (shrugging shoulders) it's what we do.

At the next table over, there was a dad at another birthday party. He had asked me to borrow a pen. I loaned him one. Then Spencer pointed out to me that his cell phone was about to fall out of his pocket. (I'm one of those people that you can't give little bits of info like that to and expect me to just sit on it.) I go to lean over and tell the guy. Spencer stops me. He says the guy will figure it out when he stands up or when it fall out, whatever comes first.

That's great and all...but this meant that I kept catching myself looking over repeatedly to see if the phone had fallen yet.

Somehow, this sent the message that I was interested.

oops.

When Spencer walked off for a minute, the guy asked me if I was dating the guy I was with.

"Yep."
"Oh...well....then I guess I won't ask for your number then, huh?"
"nope."

I guess I could have left it at that, but I wanted the guy to know there had been a reason I kept staring his direction. (Not having anything to do with attraction.) So I explained.

I really wanted to say, "I wasn't checking out your junk"...but I think he got the message without my added bonus of words.

Guess I really need to pay attention to who I watch, where I watch, and for how long.

Sore

Running a 5k with no pre-training is like springing an unwanted surprise party on your body.

... It sounds like a good idea at the time, but the sometimes the affects are ill and unwanted.

So when you see me shuffling down the hall trying to hide the grimace on my face, please keep the laughter to a quiet snicker.

Mis?Fortune

Spencer and I headed to eat before we both left town and headed back to our separate states.

Somehow we always manage to find the one resturant that has the worst lunch possible. And, no, we aren't going back to the same place either!

Today, it was chinese. Not only was the buffet bad, but the fortune cookies were stale.

I mean, really, who can ruin a pre-packaged fortune coookie?

Here's what my fortune read:

My response is...what if I don't want my life to become more interesting? My life seems crazy enough...or maybe I should say "interesting" enough.

I realize fortunes don't necessarily come true...but on the slim chance that they do, I would like one that reads:

Stating the obvious

Here is a sign that I saw this weekend:



I mean ...really? Did the name of the place not already tell you that?
I guess sometimes we have to state the obvious.

Yeah...I'm just a little competitive ~My first 5k

Yesterday morning I ran in my first 5K. It was awful exhilarating! Yes, my time was by no means fast - 40.37. But I was told that you have to start somewhere.

(This is where I wanted to have a really cool picture of me running, but who really wants to see me red-faced and sweaty?)

I by no means finished first...but I also didn't finish last either. Truly that was my goal...not to finish last. Oh!...and to beat Spencer to the finish line. Let me clarify for all of you that don't know Spencer and I. He runs. I don't. He also bikes and swims. I don't. He has told he is okay with the fact that I am not uber athletic. Yet, I still like to try (a little).

So when I say I wanted to beat him, I didn't want to beat him in distance for distance, time for time. No, there is NO way in H-E-double hockey sticks that could have happened! But I still needed to beat him back to the finish line. I was running a 5K. He was running a 10K.

I did it....just barely.

See before we left, I asked him how much time it would take him to run the 10K. He told me, "Eh, 45-50 minutes." That was all the info I needed. Without fail, I knew I would be back to that finish line before 45 minutes. I didn't care how hard I had to push myself. I didn't care if I had to crawl sprint across that finish line. Spencer finished the 10K in 51 minutes. This was by no means his fastest time. But it didn't matter, in my mind, I won. :)

All in the family

My boys were wrestling around in the floor of our living room while I made supper.
This is normal.
I let them go at it until someone screams...,"Grandpa!"

...WHA??

Yeah...I really do need to discuss with them which male relative you yell out when you give up.

Mental Block

As I was out at recess duty on Friday, I got a text from Spencer mentioning his boss and his boss's wife's name. Without thinking, I read it aloud to my co-worker/friend(M.).


Her jaw drops.

She stares at me.

"You are friends with her?" she asks dumbfounded.


"Yeah, on Facebook...so? She is Spencer's boss's wife. Why?" I ask.

"I just never thought you would be friends with HER!" M says.


"What?!! You don't even know her. She lives in Texas. What's the big deal?" I ask completely confused.


M. looks at me as if I have totally lost my mind. "Is that NOT the same name as the person R.(my ex) had an affair with?"


It takes me more than a few seconds to file through my brain for her name. It's not a name I pull up often. Yep. Same name.


Funny how our mind mentally blocks things that could potentially hurt us.


....Wishing now that observation was never brought to my attention.

In my corner

I was SO thankful to have someone in my corner this evening.

I have surrogate parents. They adopted me (unofficially) into their family back when I was in high school. Their daughter(EE) and I were inseparable back then. I spent a good portion of my waking hours at their house (when I wasn't required to be at school.) I'm surprise that they didn't ever kick me out...I mean, I was seriously there way too late some nights ...and then way too early other mornings.

Through the years, EE and I aren't always at each other's door step, but we are always there if the other one needs anything. Friends like that are good to have. We don't question when we haven't heard from one another in months...but we are always happy to see each other when we do. And as an added bonus, on top of having such a wonderful friend, I also got her parents.

Like I said... her parents adopted me.
They are wonderful grandparents to my boys!
...And they are wonderful parents to me.

Tonight they came to watch the boys play flag football.
Without knowing any of the nonsense that happened yesterday, they were there... in my corner.
As my ex's whole family cheered on my boys, I didn't feel displaced and unbalanced... because I was represented too. I had family there cheering right along with me.

It was also nice to know that they understood things that I didn't have to express... like when my ex announced to everyone that they were headed to Wendy's to eat... that I didn't want to go.

"We are all longing to go home to some place we have never been - a place half-remembered and half-envisioned we can only catch glimpses of from time to time. Community. Somewhere, there are people to whom we can speak with passion without having the words catch in our throats. Somewhere a circle of hands will open to receive us, eyes will light up as we enter, voices will celebrate with us whenever we come into our own power. Community means strength that joins our strength to do the work that needs to be done. Arms to hold us when we falter. A circle of healing. A circle of friends. Someplace where we can be free." ~Starhawk

Thank you both for being there for me!

Ughhhh!

It wasn't meant to be a fight.
I had no intentions of arguing.
I just wanted my concerns to be voiced...and heard.

My oldest has "bumps." They are similar to warts, but they aren't warts. We have to treat them nightly, in hopes that they won't spread (which they still currently do). We have been to a dermatologist and we have medicine to treat them with.

Recently one of these bumps has appeared on my son's penis. We checked with the doctor to make sure it was okay to treat it. It was.

I found out, last night, that my ex's girlfriend (W.) is the one who puts medicine on the bumps when the boys are with my ex.

Now, I have no problems with her putting medicine on my boys...but when it is on their private parts, I do.

Today, I voiced my concern to my ex(R.). He told me I was being ridiculous - that she would never touch our boys in a sexual nature. I told him I understood and that I wasn't accusing her of such, but that I did not feel comfortable with her applying medicine to our son's penis.

I suggested that she put a dab of medicine on C's finger finger and that he apply it. Again, he told me I was being ridiculous.

I reminded him that we have always taught the boys that NO one is allowed to touch their private areas and that we would be sending mixed messages if we wavered on this. He told me that she is like a mother figure to them, and that the boys view her as such, so there was no problem.

He said, "To prove it to you, we'll ask C." "C, who is okay to touch your penis like to put medicine or wash you?"

C - "You or Mom."

R - "What about W. or S.? (both of our significant others) Is it okay if they touch your penis to put medicine on or wash you?"

C - "Nope."

"See?" I said. "Even our 6 year old knows. It's common sense"

That was somehow me attacking his intelligence, and so he hung up on me.
I am SO frustrated I could just scream!

my poor funny bone

Colby (with his new found freedom of reading) reads jokes from his joke book almost nightly.

Tonight after Colby was done reading, we sat around telling jokes that we knew. I told some oldies, but goodies like:

• What's black and white and red all over? a newspaper...or a penguin falling down the stairs
• Why did the turkey cross the road? because it was the chicken's day off

Colby shared some that he (I guess) heard at school.

Sam (of course) didn't want to be left out. Poor boy thinks his jokes are hilarious....and it takes all of me to muster a snicker, much less a full fledged laugh.

His jokes go something like this:

• Why did the chicken cross the road? because there's ketchup on the light switch. hahahaha
• Why did the ghost say boo? because the fork drove a pineapple car. hahhaaha

Seriously... I know it takes time to master the art of telling (much less, come up with) your own jokes, but I hope it happens soon....for the sake of my funny bone.

Dead Car...new dad

"...so how does that happen?"

That was my question at lunch.

A student told one of my co-workers that his dad was picking him up today. The boy then pauses and says, "But I don't know why he's my dad... Our car broke down and we stopped at his house to ask for his help ...and we started living there...so now he's my dad."


I know to take what kids say with a grain of salt sometimes...but, normally, interlaced in all those grains is a speck of truth.

So how exactly does that happen?