Swim Forrest Swim

Well, it happened. Our first casualty in our fish tank. Poor Forrest. He was a bit smaller than Bubba and the other fish picked on him (including Bubba). The other fishies picked on him from the begining and I would often say "Swim Forest Swim" when I saw them picking on him. I thought if he just swam away and avoided the other fish, that they would leave him alone. But they picked on him and ate away at his fins until he died. I know he was just a fish - but I still feel bad for him. I wonder if the other fish will feel bad for what they did. I wonder if they miss him. I wonder if they will even remember him next week. I wonder if the bullies from highschool ever feel bad for picking on the other kids. I wonder if they even remember the names of the kids they picked on. I wonder if the fish (and bullies) even realize that they are being mean. Anyway - Forrest is in a glass right now. It did not seem right to just flush him down the toilet. I know I must - but I just can not seem to make myself do it. He is starting to smell a little, so I am sure Chris will flush him when he gets home from work - but until then, I just don't have the heart to say goodbye :(

Just a housewife

Yesterday while signing in at the diagnostic center, the receptionist asked me "Are you just a housewife?" I was so shocked by the question that I could barely utter the word "yes". I am usually quick with a cute little comeback with comments and questions that I find a little irritating and/or offensive - like maybe say "For now I am just a house wife, but I have aspirations of being a receptionist just like you" I know, I know - not really kind - but the way I felt like I was not as good as her because SHE worked.... I have to admit, I was pretty much speechless. But, yeah, I guess I am "just" a house wife. I have not worked a "job" for a year now. This is by choice - I feel I paid my dues the 20 months I was in Iraq. Not to mention the time Chris finished school and I solely supported us on my income alone. I like to think of myself as a "kept woman" - but being referred to as "just a housewife" really bothered me. I may be "just a house wife" but I make sure my husband has a nice clean, pressed shirt to wear every morning, he gets a decent breakfast, I make him really good lunches, I make sure he has dinner every night, I keep the house clean, I keep the lawn mowed, I keep the animals clean and fed, I do most of the household chores.... but.... I am "just a housewife". For some reason that makes me feel less of a person - less important - less qualified - a peon - a peasant - all kinds of less than attractive words come to my mind when I think of myself as "just a house wife". After all, I am not married to a HOUSE, I am married to a wonderful, generous, hardworking man. I have on many times been referred to as "Chris's wife" - but I am usually quick to quip back - "no, he is my husband". I am sure that it makes no sense to people when I do that - but I am just trying to reiterated that I am ME and I was me before I met and married Chris. I am Sandy. Although I am married to Chris and happy to be his wife - I prefer to be referred as "Sandy" - not Chris's wife and definately NOT just house wife.
So, while so much craziness is going on in the world around me, I will take a few minutes to ponder over and stew in my mind the thought that many people refer to me as "just a housewife". Now.... back to reality..... (after all, I do have clothes to launder, dishes to wash, meals to cook, cookies to bake .... ;-)

My panties in a Bunch

Yes - I have my panties in a bunch this morning and am going to have a heck of a time getting them out! We all have childhood memories. Some that were wonderful and a few that were not. One of my earliest child hood memories is of my frustrations with my speech impediment. I remember getting so frustrated (yet not really understanding what those feelings were that I was feeling) when I would say something, and then the person I was talking to would look at my sister and say "what did she say?". My sister, God bless her, was my translator for years. No one else could interpret what I was saying except her. One would think that she would go in to Speech and Language Technology, but instead she became a Neurologist. I can remember having to go to speech therapy while my sister got to go swimming. I missed out on a lot because of my speech therapy. It was a half hour drive there and a half hour drive back - plus my actual time in therapy. There were many things that my sister was able to do that I could not because I had to go learn to talk so other people could understand me. Don't get me wrong. I am SO grateful for my parents for getting me help. Especially my mom. I grew up during an era that early intervention was not the norm. My mom was told repeatedly that I would eventually learn and if I had not learned by the time I was in kindergarten, for her to come back. My mom did not give up. My mom knew that her baby needed help. She finally found a program through the Easter Seals that accepted me (even though I was under their age limit). After that program ended, she got me in to another program at Marshall University. It was a joke in our home that I went to College before I ever went to kindergarten. By the time I was in the 4th grade, I had mastered every thing but the Rs. The therapists thought that perhaps I needed a break from all of the therapy and hoped I may eventually pick it up on my own. Well, I did finally master my Rsss. To this day, while I am alone, I often use some of the tricks they taught me to help me make the r sound. The speech therapy worked so good for me that my husband did not even realize until I told him, that I had a major speech impediment. I remember in kindergarten, all of the kids getting a chance to talk in to the microphone of a tape recorder. I remember hating that - because I knew that the children would laugh when my voice played back. I guess because of my experiences with my own problems, what happened in Florida with a 5 year old boy has got me all worked up. It has me wondering if we need to have some type of test for the teachers to see if they have compassion and common sense. Let me explain what has me so worked up.
It has to do with this Kindergarten teacher, Wendy Portillo, from Port St Lucie, Florida.

And this little 5 year old boy, "Alex":


This little boy is in the process of being diagnosed with asperger syndrome. For more information on the diagnosis, please click here: http://www.aspergers.com/ Anyway, the teacher (after sending the little boy to the principal for an undisclosed reason). Decided to have a type of poll, election, jury - whatever you want to call it. She decided to let the other children in the class (these are FIVE year olds remember) take turns saying what they don't like about this child and then casting a vote of either evicting the child or letting him stay in the class room. Well, I don't know about you, but I think that teacher needs to get a life and stop watching so much reality tv! Can you imagine being 5 years old and your classmates are allowed to stand up and say all the reasons why they do not like you? And you have to listen to all of the mean things they are saying.... means things that are being encouraged by the teacher that should be keeping them from saying mean things? What on earth was this teacher thinking? I think what she did was HORRIBLE. As if children do not get enough bullying from their peers without it being coerced by a teacher.
This child has not been back to school since the incident and when he rides with his mommy to drop off the other siblings - he screams and cries. Can you imagine what this poor child must be feeling. I am trying to have enough faith in our educational system to believe that this teacher will be relieved of her duties - and soon. Heaven help this woman if she would have done this to one of my nieces or nephews. I am not sure how she sleeps at night or how she looks in a mirror. She has yet to make a public apology - she has only verified that the incident took place. I have racked my brains trying to figure out why an adult would behave like this. Why an adult who has chosen a career of teaching our children would do such a horrible thing. It saddens me at what she is actually teaching the children......

Weekend Retreat

This past weekend I went to the Red Rooster Retreat for a scrapbook retreat. The Red Rooster is in Cullman (Crane Hill). It is located right on the lake with a swimming pool and hot tub. It is a lovely place and one of the highlights there is the food. It is so yummy! This was my second retreat at the Red Rooster. The first time was in October. The last time I was there, I bought one of their cookbooks and Chris has been enjoying me trying them out on him. They are all yummy - but not nearly as yummy as they are when prepared by the ladies who cook at the Red Rooster. The first retreat I finished about 14 pages from our trip to Dubai in April 2006. This year, I completed a small album I made as a gift. I also started working on one to give to Chris for our 15 year anniversary in October. Can you believe we have been married for 15 years?

Chris is loving his new job. So far he has not had to travel, but I know it is just a matter of time before he has to pack his bags.

Chris is still working on getting the pool open. He had to replace the motor on the pump because the other one was fried when we got back in town. The days are really warming up and I am hoping he is able to get it fixed and the pool open soon.

Life with us has been pretty boring lately - so there is really not much to blog about...

We have Fish! Finally!

The weekend I went to pick up my new car, Chris decided to go ahead and set our fish tank up. It is something we have procrastinated for years (every since we left VA). Now that we are back in Alabama for good - setting up the tank is kind of symbolic to us being permantly back. This has been a learning experience for us - because we have only had freshwater tanks before. We have never had saltwater tanks. One of the big things we have learned is that saltwater tanks are much more expensive than freshwater. Also, you have to get the entire ecosystem going on the saltwater tanks before you actually add the fish. We have been taking water samples every weekend to Coral Reef Aquatics (http://www.coralreefaquatics.com/). FINALLY - this weekend - they said we were ready for fish! We got some coral, 10 little hermit crabs, and 4 fish. I picked out two pretty blue fish with yellow tails (I forget what type of fish they all are). I named mine Forrest and Bubba. Chris picked out a pretty silverish blue fish. When I said she was the color of Marge Simpson's hair, Chris decided to name her Marge. The fourth fish was chosen by Chris - it is kind of oblong and blue and yellow. Chris named it Zipper because it zips in and out of the reef. We will get another fish in a couple weeks (a maroon and gold clown fish) and our final fish (a yellow tang) a little later. The guys at the fish store are awesome - and very patient with us and our lack of knowledge. They are not just there to sell fish - they actually want to help you set up your saltwater tank to be successful. It is a great place if anyone decides to start a saltwater tank. Anyway - our reef tank is coming along and pretty exciting to see it progress. Duchess is really enjoying watching the fish. She sits on her little kitty tower and watches the fishies.

It has actually been a very good day. I got the lawn mowed and two more of my flower beds weeded - well, they are weeded as well as I can weed (I am sure I pulled some things that are not weeds and left some that are - but at least it looks better).

For the last 3 years - weekends have not been much different than any other day - but now that Chris is working a regular job with regular office hours - I love the weekends.