A Luke Quickie

I have started to watch all of the Harry Potter movies with my children.  Currently we are in the middle of the Prisoner of Azkaban.  While we were watching it earlier today, it came to the part where the Dementor came on the train to get Harry.  When its hooded, floating body opened the carriage door with its bony fingers, Cindy asked, "What is that?!"  And then Luke replied, "I think that's the Lord of the Rings."

2012: A Lunch Oddity

For those of you that didn't know, I had a job interview this past Tuesday.  And this interview was for a position as a school "Food Nutrition Assistant."  Wait a minute, let me just run that little phrase through my handy dandy universal translator that I happen to have right here....beep..boop...deee-lop...zing...(actual noises)... Oh, yes, that is uppity speak for "Lunch Lady."  Yep, I have conceded the search for a job that will pay something reasonable and have set my sights on minimum wage glory!  Not to say that being a lunch lady is not a fine job, after all it does provide benefits, holidays and summers off and allows me to be with the kids and Jacob at all the right times.  However, I have come to realize that working with the school board is not the pleasantly efficient, lightning-fast experience I was hoping for.  I have been waiting since mid-October just for this pre-screening interview and at the end of the very weird interview I was told to be on the lookout for a "letter that will come in the mail to explain what happens next."  I'm not quite sure what a "letter that comes in the mail" actually is, but if you are wondering why the interview was weird, well...


First off, I was interviewed by these two:

Interviewer #2

Interviewer #1

Secondly, usually when I tell someone about being my job experience as a mobile DJ, I get a smile or at least a "That's very interesting" sort of reaction.  I think these two misunderstood me and thought I said that I have a job on the weekends where I dig up caskets from the ground.  They were not impressed in any way shape or form.  In fact, I think they highly disapproved of a profession that involves "having fun."

Furthermore, as the interview progressed they seemed quite put off by my lack of  "food service experience."  This was, of course, after I told them that not only do I have a 4-year college degree but I also can lift over 25 lbs, work without air conditioning AND can stand for more than 4 hours.  Do you hear that horn tooting? Yes, that was my own.  And what was even worse is that they had a copy of my originally submitted generic school board application, (which I completed initially when applying only for several paraprofessional jobs) and on that application I listed my interest in Food Service as a "Level 0."  That was an awkward moment.

Anyway, so here I sit. Waiting. For the mailman??  On the bright side, even if I was currently a lunch lady, I would have all next week off with Jacob and the kids, so I am just going to pretend that that my hairnet and scrubs are hung in the closet and will be waiting for me after the holidays :)

The Death of Common Sense

The past few days Cindy has been complaining of a sore throat.  Now, since I am one of those parents that pretty much will not take my kid to the doctor unless she is missing an appendage (and even then I'm pretty sure I could find a DIY limb attachment tutorial on Pinterest anyway), I have pretty much just been giving her Vitamin C, a little liquid pain medicine and then yesterday I finally bought her some cough drops to ease her along.  This seems to have given her the relief she needs.  She has no other symptoms and she has been acting like the same, sweet Cindy she always is :)  This morning I sent her to school with a handful of cough drops and as an afterthought I wrote a little note to the teacher, just let her know that I was paying attention to Cindy's sore throat.  Today I got a call from the school nurse telling me that Cindy is not allowed to have "those" cough drops in class and there is only one kind she can have on her at school without a doctor's note.  Today she would give Cindy one of the cough drops from home, but a note would be needed for future use.  Really?  REALLY?  This kind of stuff makes me crazy!  It serves no purpose.  All it does is create drama and make my child feel that suddenly they now have to go to the doctor.  Let's be honest, what would the doctor say?  "Suck on a cough drop.  That will be $60."  I don't want to raise children that go to the doctor first for every minor bruise, cough, twitch and scrape.  This is what WebMD is for, people!  To tell you that you have a terminal illness no matter your symptoms.  Plus, this type of micromanagement on the part of the school is killing all common sense in our children. You know the kind of common sense that says, "Gee, my throat hurts, I think I will suck on some cough drops and take care of my own problem."  Suddenly it's now become "Hmm, I have a sore throat, but I'm probably too stupid to handle the responsibility of a cough drop, so I better ask a doctor if an over-the-counter lozenge made mainly of sugar is safe.  And then I better take a note to my school to prove to them I didn't use my own thinking to come to this decision."  This is the kind of nanny-state crap I do not appreciate from the schools.  Stop underestimating me and my child's intelligence.  I am the parent and I am not a moron.  Let me do my job. No matter what you think of it :)

p.s. I still like Cindy's school and her teachers.  I am not going to yank my kids out to home school them or sign a petition to secede from the Union.   I'm just releasing my inner caps lock for a paragraph or two.

And just for sitting through that rant, I am here to reward you with, what else?  An awesome cat video, courtesy of my friend Sam on Facebook:  Wait for iiiiiiiiit.......

In The Books

Last night was Luke's final t-ball game of the season.  I am actually so glad he got to play this year. True, his heart wasn't really in it, but compared to the experience of soccer, this was magical.  He wasn't as shy, he got out and socialized and ended up with some good ninja pants out of the deal.  Luke had some really fun kids on his team too, and although we could never get really more than 6 kids to show up to a game at any one time (while the other teams had 12 or more), at least that meant that we got to bat our lineup twice and there was more hitting action for the kids.  Luke I can tell is very sad that it's over.  I told him it was his last game and he said, "YAY! Now I get to be in Karate!"  It's just a front to cover his disappointment.

The final swings...

I love this picture because Randall is looking at the other team, Trayvon is getting the ball, Luke is a boy of leisure laying in the grass, Railyn is so excited he can't stand himself, McKenzie is doing a cartwheel and Lucas is doing the robot. And that pretty much sums up t-ball.

We made it!  

Also, a huge THANK YOU to my parents and to DeAnne who helped out A LOT during the season with going to games, cheering loudly for all the kids and providing copious amounts of snack bar money to my children :)

And since it's been way too long since one of these....

TOP TEN HIGHLIGHTS OF LUKE'S T-BALL SEASON

10.  When he used his glove for a hat
9.   When he used his glove for a pillow
8.  When he had a conversation with his shadow
7.  When he was still laying on the field when the game was over & both teams were lined up to shake hands
6.  Every time he used the phrase "pitcher's mountain"
5.  Watching coach re-tie his shoes 37 times
4.  Every time he threw the ball to someone underhand
3.  Watching him take three slow, deliberate practice swings to line up his hit and then whiffing gloriously
2.  When he would slide into home plate (which really meant sitting on home plate)
1.  "Hey Cindy!  Where'd you get that snow cone?"

A Luke Quickie

Last night we got to have a fire in the backyard!  But I also decided to firmly cement my status of 'World's Coolest Mom' so we also cooked our dinner on the fire.  I made up a few foil dinners and then got some hot dogs AND actual hot dog buns.  (If you know me, we NEVER get to use actual hot dog buns.  Bread folded in half only.)  What was this, Memorial Day?!  The foil dinners turned out great and after I cooked up a hot dog to the point that you could hear it juicily cooking on the stick, I handed it over to Luke, who brought the hot dog near his nose, inhaled and then dreamily said, "Ahhhh, this smells just like it was cooked in the microwave!"  Which was followed by Jacob asking me, "Where did we go wrong?"

In other Luke news, his report card had the following message from the teacher:

And now this is the official song of Luke Sweeney:

O Ye Fair Ones

Wow.  Honestly after the results of the election last night I almost have nothing to say.  I would be lying if I told you that I haven't shed some tears over this.  I have been really trying to get a handle on why I am so emotional.  I mean, it's just a stupid election, right?  But as I have examined my thoughts and feelings, I realize that this election wasn't just about my candidate winning and not just about having a Democrat president, but to me it symbolizes where our beliefs are as a country and sadly, where we are headed.  For the first time I feel that the morals, values and principles that founded this country really are becoming a thing of the past.  For the first time I feel that the pride of American exceptionalism will die out over time.  For the first time I feel that America has firmly taken the first steps on the road to serfdom.  And the hardest part to accept is that for the first time I feel that the majority of the country is okay with that.  At the risk making this post too over the top (too late), I echo the thoughts of my Dad this morning.   The only thing we can equate our feelings to is to the experience of Moroni in the Book of Mormon.  I think I finally, genuinely understand what Moroni experienced.  He watched over time as his people fell from righteousness and prosperity to terrible wickedness and Godlessness.  He prayed for them, worried for them, cared about them, tried to lead and guide them, but ultimately in his heart he knew the road they were headed down.  And all he could do was keep the faith :)


Internet cats!  Where are you?  SAVE ME FROM THIS DRAMATIC POST!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!




Ahh, that's better :)

Hodge-Podgeyness

I think I have discovered that once soccer season starts, time goes by at a factor multiplied by 7.  Every time I turn around another week has gone by.  So in the interest of catching you (and me) up on everything that has happened over the last few days....

For Halloween we were able to download the very popular computer game "Plants vs. Zombies" for free. My children have been up and dressed for school amazingly fast every morning just so they can play a few games before school.  I admit that even I have really gotten addicted to it.  This game is a favorite of their Grandpa Sweeney, so when he comes back in December for a few days, the kids are dying to show him how much they have progressed since they last time they played together.  Hypno-mushroom?  Fog lamp?  Death rake?  Tangle Kelp?  Potato Mine?  Yeah, we got all those now....

They actually sit like this every morning.

Thursday night after Cindy's softball game her coach made good on his promise to buy the whole team ice cream if any of them ever caught a fly ball to make an out.  This happened for the first time on Monday night, however it also happened on Tuesday and then again on Thursday when Cindy was playing catcher and caught a whizzing backward pop fly with her cat-like reflexes.  It was pretty incredible!  The other team's coach ran in to give her a high-five and at the end of the game he gave her a York Peppermint Patty.  Cindy will do anything for candy or chocolate.

Cute girls- Cindy, Taylor, Ashlynn and Catfish.

So you know how a pitcher in the major leagues always hopes of pitching a 'perfect game'?  Well, as a DJ, on Saturday night, I did the "perfect reception."  I almost feel the need to retire now just because it was so good.  It just came together so well.  The location was good, I was prepared, the crowd was just the right size, the bride and groom didn't overdo their expectations-  it was totally magical.  I got a bazillion compliments (tooting my own horn, sorry) and the food was great too.  Cindy came home with flowers, paper lanterns and belly full of cake and macaroni and cheese.   Total win-win in every way possible.  One of the reasons the music was so good was because of Mr. Buble.  He is the. best.   I have known this for a while, but I think I remembered it again that night that this is one of my favorite songs of all time:

Sunday was my mom's birthday!  She turned the big 6-0.  This was her first post-chemo/cancer birthday and I hope she has many, many more :)

 Also on Sunday a friend at church gave Luke an incredibly cool Darth Vader mask!  He pretty much wears this all the time now.  And what better way to play  R2D2 Trouble than while wearing a giant helmet that blocks your vision...  Just another day in the Sweeney house.

Yesterday I went to give blood and get my free movie tickets, but I failed the iron test.  Which means I didn't get any movie tickets but did walk away with getting two of my fingers stuck to draw the blood.  I HATE that!  Sigh.  

And finally, as if you didn't know, today is election day.  I already voted early last week and you know my feelings about our current President, but here is a secret about me;  I think I am actually much more of a libertarian.  So me and John Stossel see eye to eye on a lot of things.   Like this....

And finally, I made this pancake the other day.  

Cats Beats No Cats. Everytime.

I love that my ever deepening relationships with all my brothers- and sisters-in-law is basically based on a love for internet cat videos and finding assorted random things that make each other laugh.  Here is yet another jewel to add to the crown.

This was sent to me by Sean.  I admit, it took me halfway through the commercial to get the hook, but once I did, I was a goner.   Tell me your verdict....

It Was A Treat

I don't normally post things on this blog in real time, however, since Luke takes about an hour (minimum) to complete most tasks we give him, I decided to upload some pictures while he takes his shower.

Tonight we trick-or-treated with a big group over in DeAnne's neighborhood.  It was so much fun!  The neighborhood had barely any kids out but TONS of candy, and yes, there were even houses that were giving out the FULL SIZE candy bars.  Whoa.  And the biggest bonus of all is that the weather was cool enough to wear a hoodie.  You read that right, it is not a typo.  I finally got to see what pretty much everyone else in the world feels like when they trick or treat.  Ahhh, so nice :)


The few pics I managed....

Cindy, Maddie and Isabella.

Look at this candy, man!

See?  HOODIES!!!  Okay, the jeans were a little of a stretch, but there were still mosquitoes, so they were still necessary.

 Luke decided his bucket was too heavy after about halfway through trick or treating.  

Well, I guess he had a point.

Now THIS is a great Halloween picture :)

 She makes a cute witch.  And she enjoyed the last day of the year she is allowed to wear mascara.

I so had my little heart set on taking Cindy's picture with her two black cats.  And then I remembered that they are cats.  They don't care.  And they would have none of this nonsense.

Guess Who's Getting Retakes?

Ugh.