Day 22: What’s in your purse?

OK, I'm Back!

Whew! Some great partying was had, some resting and recuperating, and now I am finding my way back to my groove!

SO, the official topic is "What's in your purse?"

For a long time, I didn't even carry a purse, because of my tendency to have a huge bag of EVERYTHING. Now I have a not hugely big purse, that has a lot of nice pockets, and holds the weird stuff I need to have with me quite well.



So--starting at the top, going left to right:
A Pass-along card (you can find out more, here)
Our Handicapped Parking Tag (which I ONLY use when I have SmallDaughter and the WonderDog with me--and I get IRATE about people who abuse handicapped spots!)
Stamps

Feminine Supplies, Allergy Pills, Bandaids
Breathmints
Pill Bottle (with everything I might need--SmallDaughters Prescriptions, Aleve, Melatonin, Tylenol, etc.)
Lysterine Breath Strips--both for me, and for the ultimate punishment for SmallDaughter, "hotmouth" which is reserved for biting or for taking off her seatbelt in a moving car!
"Lip-Junk"--Clinique Lipstick (I have been spoiled and can no longer use cheap lipstick!), and a "Mounds" flavored lip balm that was a Christmas gift from LargeBoy. (I use the "chappie" more than the "lippy")
SmallDaughter's medication log for doctor visits

SmallDaughter's Tape Supply--the cheapest tape Walmart carries, which is the very best kind for taping down sleeves, gloves and cuffs, and cloth medical tape, for apply directly over the wounds, to slow down the picking (and hopefully allow them to heal).
JoAnn Fabric, Pet Supplies Plus & Sam's Club Coupons.
My FlyLady Wallet LOVE! (So thin, so well organized!)
GPS--which I HAVE to have, since my green minivan only has working dashboard gauges occasionally--so the GPS works as my speedometer.
Checkbook (yes, I still use it--not often, but enough!)

Supply of rewards and treats for WonderDog, as well as "emergency poop cleaning supplies" for both of them! (truly, the WonderDog has only had 2 accidents in 5 years, and both were my fault for not letting him "go" before we left the house!)
Pens & Pencils--for list making, calendaring and entertaining LargeBoy who is perfectly happy with a pencil, paper and being left alone!
Lotion (always in a yummy "food scent"--I really dislike most flowery scents, but I LOVE the food ones. Current favorite is Bath & Body Works "Lemon Vanilla" which smells like a lemon cake!) YUM!

There should also be a package of kleenex in there, but poor BigGirl's sinus junk has used them all up!

Also, there is almost always 1 or 2 books--and this purse can even hold a hardback nicely!
I would also like to express my gratitude to this post for making me clean out my purse!

40th Birthday!

I had a great birthday! It wasn't a wildly exciting day--took LargeBoy to an Order of the Arrow Lodge Meeting, took SmallDaughter and the Wonderdog with us to Walmart, got to talk to all the dog lovers who need to tell the person who has their dog with them in the store all about their dog(s), and all about the amazing things they can train dogs to do now (which always happens when I go out with SD & the WD!).

We came home and I fixed a big pot of Corn and Bacon Chowder, and then a few friends came over for a cutthroat game of Michigan Bankroll. I think this is a game that has evolved within our family confines (it is similar to Skip-bo, with increasingly difficult rounds of sets and runs,but sneakier rules!). I had a stellar opening, and then lost, but not horribly!

My dear Aunt A made two pans of her amazing brownies (one with nuts, one without) and a batch of homemade caramel nut frosting (like you put on German Chocolate cake) for them. HEAVEN!

The Big Brag

Time is zooming by so fast, and I have (as always) so much going n, that it is hard to remember what I need to post about. So, here is a short review of how awesome my peeps (both animal and human!) really are:

At the fair:

Each of the 3 children did 2 projects. Each of them got Grade A Blue Ribbons on all projects. One of the children also went to the State Fair for their project AND their Demonstration. We also ended up with 3 silver platters, which are what they give instead of trophies for "Best in Class Overall".

The projects were:
LargeCousin & BigGirl both took the same projects--"Savvy Shopping", where they learned about clothing selection and care (including Laundry Care) and assembled a complete outfit from Thrift Stores, and then they modeled their outfit, and "Designing Interiors" where they learned principles of design and then used them in a room*.

LargeBoy did "Exploring Electricity" and can now tell you all about circuits and such (with a HUGE shout out to Mr. Ken, our dear friend--and electrician/teacher extraordinaire, who made the process painless!) He also did Meat Chickens, which are a whole category unto themselves. They are Cornish/Rock cross breeds (also known as "White Broilers". They are bred to grow to full size in 12 weeks. Normal chickens start laying at 20 weeks. They grow more than twice as fast as the layers. If you don't butcher them at 11 or 12 weeks, they start dying of heart attacks, because they grow so big!

The WonderDog has gone back to 4 Paws for a "tuneup"--just to brush up on his training.

The chicks we got this spring just started laying their super cute, tiny little pullet eggs. The eggs are smaller than ping-pong balls, and the yolks are the size of marbles, but they are perfectly formed, and very beautiful!

I got to spend the weekend with my sisters (two of them!) and it was great--but not enough time!

SmallDaughter has started back to school, and I am not sure how I like the new setup--they switched schools and teachers again, but this teacher is out on maternity leave, so we have a long term substitute...anyway, I am hoping for the best.

Early morning Seminary starts tomorrow. LargeCousin is in the Main Class, and I am teaching the "far hinterlands" class again--which includes my own BigGirl this year! I am super excited--it is Old Testament, which is my favorite!

*BigGirl did a much needed bedroom makeover. LargeCousin was planning on re-doing the room she was supposed to inherit from her brother, but circumstances...circumstanced, and she ended up redoing the tiny 1/4 bathroom off of her old bedroom. They both did a really good job--on rooms that REALLY needed redoing, and I am very pleased with the results--and with the girls, too!

Christmas Musings

Sometimes Christmas can be pretty disappointing for moms. You work to make sure everybody has the perfect present, and boxes and packages of wonderful, charming magical things, and you get...a vacuum.

This can be difficult for those of us whose "love language" is gift giving.

One year, my sweet littles asked what I wanted for Christmas. All I really wanted was a card of small, sparkly earrings, that I could wear everyday. They were very sneaky, and went shopping with dear Miss K, who helped them wrap the gift. They sneakily told me that they put my gift in a big box, so I would never guess what it was! And I didn't! Because when I unwrapped it, it was a frying pan.

However, as they have gotten older the gifts have improved, and this year was pretty excellent. My Favorite Gentleman, who knows me well got me really good lotion (in a food scent--Mango Melon--not a flowery scent--urg!)and two pairs of the best socks in the world (which I LOVE and can NOT buy for myself because A) I really hate shopping, B) I really, REALLY hate shopping for socks, and C)I REALLY, REALLY, REALLY hate shopping for myself--and I always have cold feet, so they truly are the gift that keeps on giving, and that make me feel loved and cared for all year long.) SmallDaughter went on a shopping field trip with her class that netted me a candle and a box of thin mints. I got other lovely stuff, and got to watch a movie with MFG (Sergeant York, which I really recommend, even though it is hard to find!).

In the "do I laugh or do I cry" category: While we were upstairs watching the movie, SmallDaughter poured the whole bottle of lotion onto the carpet, and opened up the thin mints, and fed them to the WonderDog, who (luckily) barfed them up on the carpet, too.

I spent the last half of the afternoon with my carpet shampooer. Boy am I grateful for the carpet cleaner! It has gotten a workout this week! Chocolate syrup (again--she just LOVES it!) and eggs, milk and flour at different times.

Kitty Update

We are all liking the new kitty-to greater or lesser degrees--except for The WonderDog, who is TERRIFIED of her. No matter that he weighs 10 times more than she does, or even that his (huge, deep, masculine) bark would probably lift her off the ground, he is terrified.

She has been named--several times! The final names are: Athena (for the big kids) and Cat-Cat for SmallDaughter. I think Cat-Cat is the one that is going to stick, which makes me laugh! She is settling in well, and has figured out the litter box, and she is really awesome with SmallDaughter, so she can probably stay.

New Arrival

We seem to have acquired a cat. At least temporarily. If it doesn't do anything particularly egregious. So far, it seems to be a very nice kitty.

She is a gray shorthair, with white boots (shorter in front, long in back). She has behaved nicely with all the people--SmallDaughter is quite enchanted by her. The WonderDog would like to be friends, but he is still scared of her, and she is having none of it!

Since she is very friendly, and wearing a flea collar, we know she has had a family at some point. We put up posters yesterday. However, she is also extremely skinny, so either her family has abandoned her or she has gotten lost.

We shall see.

The WonderDog!

SmallDaughter just finished her first week of the school year. She has attended a self contained Multiple Disability class for the past two years, and the WonderDog has attended with her. I have been very pleased with her teacher and the classroom assistants. They genuinely love her, and have her long-term best interests at heart, and have helped her achieve many physical and academic goals.

The week before school began, SmallDaughter's teacher called me. For the first time since SmallDaughter started in this class, they were getting new students, and one of them was scared of dogs. Teacher wanted to know if there was a 4 Paws protocol for introducing a child who was scared of dogs to a service dog.

I called Jeremy the head trainer at 4 Paws for Ability, and he gave me good advice, which I passed on to Teacher. On Saturday, she called me to report on how the week had gone (and having the teacher call me still makes me nervous that there are major problems!). She said “I want to thank you for letting us have the WonderDog. One of our new students has lots of emotional issues, and from the information in his file, we expected him to have between 3 and 6 major meltdowns every day, lasting up to half an hour each. This is the student who is scared of dogs, so I was really nervous for the first day of class.

SmallDaughter and WonderDog came into class and took their places (SD at the table, WD on his “place”) and the new student looked pretty alarmed, but then he went over and inspected every inch of WD—including opening his mouth to look inside it! I was a bit concerned, but WD was totally mellow. Whenever the student was getting ready to melt down, he told me ‘I pet dog’, and went over to WD and petted him three times—one, two, three, then said ‘I better now’, and returned to his place. We have not had one meltdown, and I know it is because of having the WonderDog in our classroom.”

“Also when we had a Police Officer come in to visit our classroom, he asked who had the Service Dog, BOTH of our new students claimed WD was theirs! When we walk down the hall, SD holds onto her handles and the boy who used to be afraid of dogs walks on WD's other side, holding onto his harness, while the other new student holds onto WonderDog's tail like a rudder! WD just loves all the attention!”

SD has settled into her classroom routine perfectly, and the only time she has had any issues at all, was when Teacher corrected one of the new students, and SD thought she had done something wrong!

Also, the new Superintendent stopped by their classroom, and WD behaved so perfectly that he totally won him over! Yay for 4 Paws and for the WonderDog who has made our lives SO MUCH BETTER!