Dr. Emmett Brown invented the flux capacitor, making time travel possible. Historical moment for sure. 🙂

I still "tuck in" every kid (and Lord help me if I forget - I do not hear the end of it!) and then check before I go to bed as well. For a while I stopped when our older dc were still home, then I blinked and they were all moved out and I realized how quickly beds become empty. I love seeing all those lumps under blankets (we have 4-5/room). It just feels good for me to do so, and sometimes if a child stirs I get to give another hug and tell them I love them again.

This is typically the case but this is also the tournament so the dilemma is that the players from the other 2 teams don't exactly want to help this third team to win. So now do these kids, if they are pulled to sub, play their best? If they take a shot and miss, would that be interpreted as they did it on purpose? One of my dc is on the short benched team but is not bothered by that, but she is bothered at the prospect of the other 2 teams having players sub in, at least for this tournament. I wish I could say that this Rec league is about playing and not winning, but not for this short-benched team. They are (with the exception of my dd and her friend) intensely competitive and will go for a win at any cost. If there are 5 penalties in a game, 4 are on their players. Off the rink they intimidate and bully players on the other teams. So it's not like the other teams are really wanting to support this team, but they may be forced to and that, imo, is what is not fair. I guess with the asthma thing if that is one reason thrown out for putting in a sub for one team then a sub should be provided for the other team should something happen to one of their players. To tell the entire 13U group that the rule against subbing during a tournament is going to be ignored for the player who made a choice of activity but no one else and no other team gets the same privilege, even if it's something they cannot help/prevent, is grossly wrong. Should be interesting to see how this plays out. From the rumblings I'm hearing, if players from the other 2 teams are told to sub, they won't play at all. The short-benched team's reputation is just that bad - these kids would rather give up the tournament than play for the bully team. What a mess. 😞

Rec, but some intense travel players are involved mainly on the team with the short bench. There are 3 teams in 13U and 3 on 11U (many of the 11U/13U players have played on teams together over the last few years). The one team would have a 6-player bench so the team not playing at the time would have one of their players subbing. So instead of the players getting a rest before the next game, some would be playing back to back.

Would this seem fair to you? 13U, 3 teams, each with 7 players. One team knows from the 2nd week that one of their players will not be present on tournament day (got pulled for a hunting tag). Rather than have a short bench at the tournament, it is suggested to bring a player up from 11U who is totally capable of playing w/13U players. Teach coach decides (w/o talking to any parents or at least not all the parents) that having 8 players would take away time during the season for the original 7 players, so team remains at 7 players. Announcement goes out a week before tournament that the solution is to pull a player from the other 2 teams as a substitute for the player who will not be there. So if teams A and B are playing, a sub from team C will be pulled to play. Does all of that make sense? Basically, the coach chose a short bench and pulling players from teams who are trying to beat this one team rather than having another player join the team for the duration of the season. Also, no substitutions have ever been allowed during tournament and the message to families clearly stated that this is the one and only exception. So if the other 2 teams lose a player to illness or injury this coming week, too bad - no subs allowed. Doesn't matter than no one plans or chooses illness/injury but this other player chose to go hunting... Yet another reason given for bringing in subs for the one team is that there is a player w/asthma and expecting that player to be out on the rink even more is not fair. But no mention of the player on another team who also has asthma - a team which would not get a sub if there is illness/injury. And if it makes any difference, rink is outdoor and temps are expected to be high 60s/low 70s. As a parent of players on the two teams where the subs would be pulled, what would you think/say/do? One last thing...the team which will be short benched has lost every game save for one (when they had a good sub come in) and they play dirty - and I mean ugly, nasty, bully dirty both on the rink and off. One of my dc is on that team and she hates it. So unfortunately the team's reputation is a factor - it's not a team anyone wants to be associated with or play for. And the more they lose to the other 2 teams, the worse the players/parents become. Thoughts? If your kid's name was pulled (they are making a list of players of similar ability and will draw names from a hat for subbing) and your dc didn't want to, would you support him/her in that? Would you make it known ahead of time that no way was your dc's name to be on the list for subs? We're still new to this world of hockey but something about this just isn't sitting right...

I posted a couple weeks ago that dd (3000 miles away in Boston) was really sick. She got through that but got sick again this last week and now has a horrid cough. She'll go into the campus health tomorrow and was told to bring stuff w/her in case she has to be isolated. I have sent every medication, food, drink, and comfort item I can think of and she asks for. But I'm over this. I'm over being where I cannot put my hand on her head and immediately know not just that she has a temperature but what that temperature is. I'm over not being able to see her and know just from her eyes or skin color if all is well. I am over being this far away from her. I know there are worse situations/scenarios so forgive me if this is trite, but this mama wants her girl home right now where I can check on her during the night and care for her during the day.

I have always bought a bit more than we immediately needed for most non-perishable supplies simply because it is cheaper in the long run for me to buy a box of something than buy things individually. With prices rising and availability decreasing, I have made sure to have about a year's worth of supplies on hand not only for our own use but to help others if need be. It felt really great during spring 2020 to give out flour, Lysol, baby wipes, etc. to those not used to buying in bulk. Basically my goal was to not have to go out to stores or have to scramble to find things as much as possible. With the amount of food and nonfood items our family consumes, I don't want to empty shelves or even close to it should supplies get hard to find, so I've slowly bought/stocked up over the last 6 months or so. Eggs are one thing we would not have, otherwise we have these for about a year: toothbrushes/floss toothpaste Band-aids, ointments, etc. Bar soap Dish soap Shampoo/conditioner Deodorant (whew, that stuff was hard to find last year!) Feminine hygiene items Diapers/wipes Disinfectant stuff (Lysol, etc. - we go through this stuff like crazy thanks to stinky hockey equipment X 8!) Spices, flour, sugar, oils, etc. Vitamins Pasta/sauce Rice/Quinoa Cornmeal Soup (big soup eaters here) Fruit in jars, not cans (applesauce, pineapple, peaches) Juice Powdered milk Cheese (grated/frozen) Meat (frozen) Veggies (frozen) Butter (frozen) Crackers/snacks (not frozen, lol) Peanut butter/Nutella/Jelly/Jam Tea/Coffee/Hot Chocolate (only a necessity to the kids, lol) Paper towels/toilet paper Again, it just felt really great to get a request for something no one could find on shelves (like Lysol) and send it out. Whatever we buy, we will use or give away - we're not piled to the ceiling with stuff but we don't have to face crowds in stores when things get tight here - and with the population boom we've had but no new stores, things do get interesting rather quickly. It was very stressful watching stuff sell out in stores or on-line and realize that the one can of soup I might find would give each of us 1-2 bites for a meal. So with our family size, we are wanting to be more prepared than not. And it just saves money in the long run to buy in bulk for us, pandemic and supply issues aside.

Update: COVID test was negative. Dd is following the meds/supplements/nutrition suggestions I've been sending her way and says she feels 80% better today. Instructors have been very supportive and understanding. I am so, so relieved. And my "over buying" (dh) on juice, soup, etc. paid off because that girl was fully stocked and ready for not being able to leave her room! Thank you all for your support and advice. I have to say that while I'm happy she's in the college environment she wanted, it's way too far away.

They are making my girl WALK across campus to get her COVID test. She is so sick and she has to walk?!?! Concerned mama bear mode has morphed into raging mama bear protector. Edit: She's calling the campus security to come get her. Good thing because I would have called myself.

I'm ready to buy a plane ticket or something because this mama is most fretful and unhappy right now. Thursday she had a sore throat and by Friday she felt rotten. Saturday sore throat, nauseous, headache (no fever). Today is even worse. She has every med I could think of with her along with thermometer, pulse oximeter, heating pad, heat packs, etc. We stocked her room with soup, tea, juice, dried fruit, and anything else she might need as soon as she arrived. She's going in for a COVID test this evening but has not gotten any homework done and she's really worried/upset about that. But she can't function. And I can't be there to help her. 😞 ETA: And now she says she can't keep anything down. No fever but her face feels hot.

On 8/22 I didn't think I would make it. I could not breathe. I could not think. I could not stop crying. One of the dearest people I have ever known (dd18) left for school across the country - this is a girl I miss like crazy if she's gone for a weekend! It was beyond hard. It's way more fun bringing babies home than watching them "fly" from the nest.

To this day I cannot stand the sight of stainless steel mixing bowls - the nesting ones with the handles on the side. Those are what my mom used.

Thanks, ladies! I'm passing any input to my traveling bunch.

Kids/dh are heading for Amarillo, TX (they were in Grants, NM about an hour ago). I just got a message asking for the best route from Indianapolis to Boston. Any traveling people here who can give input? My sphere of travel is about 4 miles in diameter - to stores and home. So I'm no help to them.

I had no intention of going the AP route yet ended up with dd taking 8 exams (I facilitated the courses save for Stats). Dd chose AP after taking a few CLEP exams and not feeling satisfied with the rigor/content, so she went through the same classes again (much faster) and took AP exams. Once she realized how much she enjoyed the work load/content at the AP level she decided for herself which courses she wanted to tackle. For that particular dc it was the right course of action as her plans post-high school were achieved in great part by her academic record. Even had she not gotten into the school she wanted, she had no regrets with AP level work save for that there were more classes she wanted to take but not enough time. For dd, the APs were done from sheer love of learning and wanting the higher challenge. She didn't set a number or have any goal save for jumping full force into each class and doing her best. I personally love the AP rigor and challenge now (I balked at first when dd asked if she could take her first class/exam).

I've tried something like that but my dh does not have a positive thought in his brain. I'm not exaggerating when I say that I can share something good that the dc did or anything positive and he will, without even hesitating, say something negative. He even did it to college-bound dd last night and she just sat there, silent. If anyone tries to point this out to him (again) he gets angry. He has had everyone from friends and family to co-workers and a professional counselor talk to him about this but nothing changes. And I'm done. Especially when it involves the safety/health of our dc. Heck, if it was up to him the gas company would not have been called, we would have gone to bed the night we brought dc #12 home, and God knows what would have happened with the leak. I'm just done.

I need to vent about something real quick. Last night I was up until about 1am AZ time following updated news/weather reports. I went on the airline site and saw the notification that flights might be delayed/canceled. Dh was doing work on his laptop while I was trying to do anything I could think of to get our girl to Boston. When I interrupted him he got really angry and insisted that it would be nothing more than a storm surge. My repeated attempts to show him the weather pattern and the resulting effect on the eastern side, flooding, even tornado possibility were dismissed. I told him that we might want to reschedule now while there may be flights still available on Wednesday but no, I was being dramatic and ridiculous, I didn't know anything, flights won't be cancelled, etc. He will not admit I was right. This morning every single excuse for his being wrong and he will.not.admit.I.was.right. 25 years of this. 25 years of him needing to be right and smart which means I have to be wrong and dumb. From weather to health to a gas leak he insisted was not there (it was). Front yard wasn't landscaped properly but oh no, it's fine, nothing will happen. 4 years later our house still has not been fixed from the flood that resulted. Nothing wrong with the van...how could I possibly know what I'm talking about. Van breaks down 2 days later. We won't need to put the fridge on home warranty. Fridge dies a month later. This countertop will just come right off...totally busted and contractor looks right at me and says, "You were right." We don't need to save up that much money for van repairs. 2K worth of work needed over the next few weeks. The bike barn he constructed is just fine - sturdy as can be. Total collapse 4 days later, thankfully none of our kids was underneath that monstrosity. Every.single.d*mn.time. 25 years of being told I am wrong, ignorant, foolish only to find that my instinct/thought was right. I'm not a stupid woman but my dh needs me to be so he can feel smarter. 25 years of excuses for why he was wrong and it's never because he was actually wrong. There's always some ridiculous reason provided.

Nope, road trip. One-way rental from AZ. Dh throwing stuff into a suitcase, total change of plans. 3 days of almost non-stop driving ahead of them.

Flight canceled. Nothing available until Th.

3 of my dc were supposed to fly to Boston today but their flight was canceled. Now I'm a bit worried as they are to fly out tomorrow but from what I'm seeing on-line, things are supposed to get really bad on Sunday and even into M/T. I'm afraid they will get stuck in an airport somewhere and don't know if I should admonish them to try and change their flight now or take their chances. 3 kids, a LOT of luggage, and a Thursday check-in date for dd18. WWYD?

will ask this ? on new post

Warm fuzzy update in first post. 🙂

The boots and me not giving in to my mom's demand to return the boots so she could purchase them. Oh, and telling her that she is selfish. And not playing the game of "Hi, this is Ann." Or it's about us drawing and maintaining the boundary of decent, acceptable behavior which is not something my mom wants anyone doing as far as she is concerned. Which makes me want to cry because what she is giving up...no, throwing away...is not worth this anger and need to hurt others because she is upset.

Dd25 was coming into town with her new baby on Wednesday and asked my mom to come over to our house (2 streets down) and join the family for an evening of laughter and fun. My mom said no. Dd also asked if she could stop by yesterday and just say 'hi' briefly but my mom, who left for a trip this morning takes 3-4 days to pack for a trip, said no. Dd18 invited my mom to come over this last week and visit since my mom won't be here when dd leaves for college. My mom said no. She has somehow gathered lady friends from whatever church she is now attending (I was sore tempted to leave notes on their windshields last week warning them to hold on to their checkbooks, retirement funds, furniture, etc.) so she has her circle of those who will dote on my mom, tsk tsk over her lot in life, etc. She's gone for another month. Thank goodness.

If she was just 6 weeks that would be one thing but at 9 weeks an u/s is very definitive. Is she having her hcg levels monitored? I would choose that - to see if the levels are going down and I might m/c on my own. It absolutely sucks to have pregnancy symptoms (especially nausea) but not a viable pregnancy. As far as the situation seeming "right", it's pretty common. A lot of women go into their first OB appointment at 12-13 weeks only to find that the pregnancy stopped being viable weeks prior despite ongoing symptoms. It's a pretty horrid, cruel thing.