Jordan Wants Kitten

Jordan has been begging and pleading for a kitten for quite some time. Well, between Ken and I really not wanting one, and Mandy being allergic to cats, we have kept telling her "no." So, starting last week, Jordan decided that she was going to work to find a situation in which I could NOT tell her no and let her have a kitten.

One day, Jordan asked if she could have a kitten if she had her own home. Of course, I told her she could, but then it may be difficult for her sister to visit. Jordan said that it would be no problem since she would just hide the kitten in the bathroom while Mandy was visiting. I started laughing and told Jordan she better have a home with two bathrooms then or no one was going to be able to pee. Jordan said that wouldn't be a problem since she'll have a really great home.  

Well, Jordan saying that she was going to have "a really great home" led to this next part. I asked Jordan how she was going to be able to afford a really great home. She said that she was going to get a great job and she could get a really great home.....oh! and she would be able to take me and Daddy on vacations to thank us for taking such good care of her, and for when Mama buys her a kitten!

A few days later, I asked her how she was going to get her great job that would let her get her great home which would let me buy her a kitten. She said that she is going to go to college and then everyone will want her to work for them. My next question was how was she going to get to college, and Jordan quickly responded because she is going to be really great in school.  Now, I'm just having fun with her. So I ask her if she plans on dating at all and having boyfriends in high school and college.  She said, "Of course!" Then I pointed out that sometimes a boyfriend will cause girls to stop going to school and then they get busy being wives and mothers. Jordan said she is NOT going to have a baby until she has her own home. 

Ah-ha!! Now I've got her!  So, I told Jordan that if she were to only have guy friends and not have a baby, and then get through high school and then college and get a really great job that will let her have a really great home that she lives in, THEN I would buy her a kitten.  Jordan's eyes lit up, she jumped up and gave me a big hug.  

"You promise Mama?!"

"Yes, I promise Jordan. If you can do all of those things and end up in your own home, then I will buy you a kitten." 

Jordan made me pinky promise and cross my heart and hope to die - which, of course, I did.  Then I made her complete this contract, which she signed in cursive to be exact and then added her own little clause at the bottom:

Post-script: I showed this to Jordan, and she exclaimed, "Why did you put it in the book??" I told her so that she and I would already remember our promise to each other. Jordan thought about it for a moment, and then asked, "Wait?! I can't have a boyfriend??" I told her she could have boyfriends, but she should probably just be friends and not be serious because then that can lead to sex and babies. Jordan scrunched up her face, "Yuck! I am definitely NOT doing that!"  I told her that was a good idea.

Jordan continued, however, "Yeah, and you're probably going to have to give me the paper when I go to college so I don't forget about this. Oh! and you'll want to call me a lot and remind me no sex and no babies."

Oh my freaking God!

Slipping on Ice.....In the Desert!!

I posted about the snow that we got the other day, but we were left with super cold temperatures that resulted in ice. This made it for an interesting Friday for me. I was still completely swamped with work, and I had 14 reports left to write. However, I received a call from the school nurse for Taylor because she refuses to wear a winter coat and got sick again. Ugh!! Apparently, it's better to be sick than to look stupid being warm.

Literally, 26 minutes after picking up Taylor, I got another call from the school nurse. This time, it was about Jordan who was excitedly running to class, slipped on ice and crashed right on her face. I was totally handling the conversation until I heard "she chipped her tooth." Shit!!!! Apparently, Jordan is seriously the tough chick because she was asking for the Peroxide to get cleaned up so she could return to class. And then there was Mama who could only think about the impending dentist visit to fix the tooth that will cost me more money I don't have. Crap!!

Ken picked her up from school, and Jordan cracks me up. She comes inside, "Hey Mama, Jordan's home!" Yeah, like I could have missed her. So, then I take a look at her face. Wow! She really ate it!!

The tooth isn't as bad as I envisioned, but it is going to require a visit to the dentist next week to polish it out a little. I'm also happy that she chipped the incisor on the left. It won't be as noticeable when she's older. Whew! 

Now, because Jordan is Jordan, what would this be without something that "only Jordan would say." I am happy to report, that we have a Jordanism.

After Jordan let me take the picture of her scrapes and look at her tooth, she showed me the little tooth holder from school.  Apparently, she made the principal let her look for the chipped part. It was NECESSARY!!  I started laughing when Jordan was telling me the story, and she stopped cold and stared at me. 

"Mama, WHY are you laughing?! I'm serious!! I had to find the piece of tooth!"

Me, "Why did you have to find a small piece of the tooth? It wasn't like you popped out the entire thing and we had to have it surgically implanted."

Jordan, "Because how else will I get a visit from the tooth fairy if I didn't have the tooth that fell out."

Now, Ken and I are both laughing at her.  Me, "Jordan, the tooth fairy doesn't make a visit for an adult tooth - that's #1. Number 2 - the Tooth Fairy definitely doesn't make a visit for a piece of a tooth."

Jordan stopped dead in her tracks and just stared at me. Her shoulders visibly drooped, and she totally looked deflated in every sense of her being. Then, she looks up at me and says, "So, the Tooth Fairy is a cheap chick and won't bring me money because it's not the entire tooth?!"

A CHEAP CHICK!!  Oh...My...God....!!! I started laughing so very hard, and I'm really glad that she didn't try saying "a cheap bitch" or something like that, but it was obvious that Jordan meant just that!  

I had to leave the room because of my completely inappropriate laughing, and Ken sat down with her and was a great and loving parent on this one. He explained that the Tooth Fairy doesn't reward damaging the adult teeth because we're supposed to take care of them, etc. Jordan just kept looking at Ken like he grew a second head and couldn't believe that she was hearing that she would not receive money for her chipped piece of tooth. After some pizza, popcorn and a movie for Friday Family Night, she seemed to be fine with it all. 

Oh, and she still isn't complaining about her face hurting even this morning when it actually looks worse now that it's scabbed over, and I managed to get a better picture where you can see the chip in her tooth. She really is a tough little chick.

Happy 2013!

Welcome to a New Year!! Ken and I thoroughly enjoyed hosting our party last night, and I am happy to report that everyone stayed within their alcohol limit and arrived home safely afterwards. 

We had way too much food as usual, but everyone had options on what they wanted to snack on. The decorations were tasteful (and I do say so myself) and then the friends were awesome!!  I am also happy to report that clean up this morning took less than an hour. Whoo-hoo!! AND, Mandy actually made it to the midnight toast - the first time ever!!

 Getting the house decorated and ready as well as setting out the party favors

 Ermanno wanted to be festive but didn't want to take off his hat

 Barbara (on the right) and her sister, Nancy

 Ken and Martin getting close again.

 Ken and Ermanno played a trick on Michael - they drank the beer he had, filled his glass to the same point with MGD and then colored it with Sweet Vermouth for color to match

 I thought for SURE that Michael would smell the problem

 Nope! He took a large swig and then regretted it!

 Ken and Ermanno getting close now.

 And then there's the love Ermanno and Ken have for Michael with Taylor looking on

 Ken goosed the ladies!

 Taylor was excited to play in her first poker game - which Mama totally won!

The best moment of the evening came with Jordan's celebration techniques. I am such the proud Mama as my youngest's skills: Jordan's New Year 2013 Celebration

This morning, we slept in, so we watched the last half of the Rose Parade and then watched the repeat in order to see what we missed. I loved the Dr. Seuss theme and the house favorite was The Cat in the Hat float! 

Ken had to work on a plumbing issue today, and I spent time getting everything ready for our Anniversary trip which starts tomorrow. Time for the beach!!

The Nutcracker

Ken and I had taken the girls to see a high school production of The Nutcracker a few years ago, but I really wanted them to see a good production of it. So, I did a search a few months ago and found that we have a local ballet company down in Claremont:

Inland Pacific Ballet

I purchased tickets for the family, and it was finally time to go see the play yesterday. The girls did not really remember the ballet they saw before so they weren't sure they were going to like it or not. Ken was quite the trooper and enjoyed the ballet with us even though it isn't really his style, however,  he really enjoyed himself once I purchased a program and he could read about what was going on in the ballet.

Taylor's most "favorite" memory of the ballet was the tights on the men. She felt that they were too tight and it was rather disgusting. HA!! Jordan, of course, now believes that she is a prima ballerina and is practicing her moves all the time. Mandy, sadly, wants to return to ballet lessons. I so wish we could afford to put her in ballet, but Ken and I just can't afford it with everything else we have to take care of. Even more sadly, is her father won't pay for them either (nasty statements coming.....yeah, and it's not like he sends any support ever......6 years and still waiting).

After the ballet, the girls picked one ornament for our Christmas tree so they will always have a reminder of their visit to the ballet for Christmas. I was told that I got one heck of a snowglobe from the girls and Ken is grateful that he doesn't have to take them shopping for me now.  HeeHee.

Jordan went around and got some autographs from the characters and she loved taking pictures with everyone. Mandy and Taylor were selective in their choices - they wanted pictures with Clara and The Nutcracker. Sadly, the Nutcracker was already gone by the time we were done in line for Clara. Jordan managed to get a picture with The Sugarplum Fairy even though she was supposed to be done as well.  Good for her!

We got home later than planned, but Taylor and Mandy were dropped off at home (they were both coughing too much) and off we went to Martin and Kathy's for their annual Christmas party. Martin kept giving me shit because we failed to show up last year after Sheryl refused to leave our house, and he said that since she's in Texas, we have no good excuse to miss it this year. 

The party was a ton of fun!! I enjoyed meeting Joey Lies and his wife, Maryann.  They both teach at Encore and were hired after my departure. Joey was Brian's teacher at one time, and he could not get over the difference between Ken and Brian. He kept joking around that he cannot see why Brian is as dull as he is with Ken as a father - "are all of your traits recessive?" HAHA!

Ken and I had a great time, and it was tough, but I made Ken leave the party early (after 10 pm) since he has been sick as well. Ken was still going on and on about how HE won the game for us by randomly screaming out Finding Nemo, but everyone knows it was all about me.  

Ken complained all the way home that he wasn't tired and didn't want to leave the party, but he was asleep the second his head hit the pillow. 

Winter is Here

Winter finally decided to join us. We weren't totally prepared for it like we should have been, but then, it is mid-December and we were still enjoying summer temperatures. We have had a couple really good rain storms, and I'm getting an ice warning from my car each morning. The girls were hoping for snow, and we did get close but it just didn't happen.  

On Friday, December 14th, I actually went to the range with Ken after getting my hair trimmed, but the weather was so bad that we didn't shoot very much. He spent most of his time at the indoor range because of the cold, but he wanted me to shoot his new AR as well. 

Ironically and sadly, at the same time we were at the Gun Club there was a shooting at an elementary school in Connecticut. The entire U.S. has gone insane again about gun control, and no one wants to look at the mental illness problem in this country or that blaming the pistol that was used is like blaming the car for the drunk driver. This shooting killed 27 people and 20 of those were small children. Now, we are being faced with new gun laws, political description of what "evil" looks like, etc. It's ridiculous to me that so many are happy to give up their rights and be subjected to government control, but hopefully, these new laws will not go into effect. I'm so sad for the families, and I cannot imagine the grief of losing my children. The entire Nation is mourning the loss of these people right now

The Hobbit opened in theaters last week, so we took the girls to see the movie for our Friday Night Family Night. They loved going to supper first and then to the show. It is obvious to them that they can't stay up late because towards the end of the movie, they were complaining about being tired. 

This is Amanda's face when she saw the sundaes. 

Ken was supposed to be gone all this week, but fate allowed me to keep him at home. It's not that I don't want him to go out and have fun, but I really hate not having him around. Plus, it allowed me some time with our eldest son as well which was really cool!

Ken was supposed to take off early Monday morning for an overnight hike with Sean and Justin. Unfortunately, the weather went totally winter, and there was no way that Ken wanted to be camping in 10* weather with rain forecasted. So, Sean decided to spend the couple of days at our house since he had them off work anyway. My favorite part was that Sean wanted me to actually go with him and Ken to lunch on Monday AND he wanted a picture with all three of us. I know, I'm a sap, but it's the little things that make a difference, right? After going through the phase with these boys about how I'm NOT their mother, and all that crap, it's a great feeling.

Lunch was sushi for the men and Chicken teriaki for me along with a lot of laughing and talking. It's the time together that makes it the most fun for me.

Jordan had her Christmas performance at school on Tuesday. Ken and I were thrilled that it was our only school event to deal with. I don't mind celebrating my children, but I do hate fighting with the other parents to do it.  What a difference there has been in Jordan though!! She is behaving in school which is such a relief! I hated visiting her principal so much, and you could tell that she has been finding her centre during this performance. She was not acting out, but she was full of her acting and drama during the performance. Jordan was the only child who used acting for each and every song. You could tell that Jordan was "in to" her performance.

 Mandy loved hanging out with Samara before the show.

There just aren't words to describe Justin's face!

 I loved watching Jordan perform and then getting a picture of the kids all together!

For my last official day of work, I chose to have a "Team Building" meeting with my counterpart, Jen Hubbard. We met at Victoria Gardens, got pedicures and then lunch. She had some Christmas shopping to do, so I tagged along with her while she finished it up.  Sadly, I'm a complete dork and failed to take ANY pictures of us together. 

We had a great time catching up with each other's lives and we did talk about work a little bit so we could justify the work time. Ha!! After she had to get going, I ran the errands that needed to be done in a more civilized location - they have stores we just don't including Trader Joe's. God, I would LOVE to get a Trader Joe's by us!! 

As I was waiting out the traffic and the nasty weather, I got a text message from Gary Stiles (Old Costa friend) who was actually thinking he could meet with me. Ken was cool with it, so I hung around a little longer and met Gary for a drink. 

Yesterday, I enjoyed doing the last of the work stuff that HAD to be done before the Break and then shutting down my computer. Oh what a relief that is!! My boss was able to convince the higher-ups that we needed another full time Transition Specialist and we got one!! It's going to be crazy when we return with all of the staff changes and incoming students and then I'll have training a newbie on top of it, but I'm hoping that it will all work out well. I'm also looking forward to taking some of the load from Jen's and my shoulders and actually breathing during this next semester.

Last night, we watched a movie since it was the girls' last day of school for the year as well. I purchased the new Tinkerbell movie, and they loved it! Jordan's reaction was typical after the movie - she sang and danced with the ending song which always entertains us. This time, I managed to be ready with the camera because Addie got involved.

Now, it's time to seriously prepare for Christmas!! I've also got to mentally prepare myself for Ken's youngest who actually wants to join us for the two week break but left here hating me. Oh the fun!!